to your peers. Vertical transmission --> to the next generation.\nGhosts Whereas revenants are dead people returning to haunt the living for various reasons, ghosts usually appear as impersonal spooks. Most often they appear at night, making their presence known by shouting or wailing, seizing hold of people, stopping horses on the road, or by other undefined movements and actions. The encounter with ghosts often causes sickness and, at times, even death.\nGiants In the oldest literature of Scandinavia, we find primordial giants identified with the origin and creation of the world. They are usually cast in the role of enemies of the gods and the human community. With the introduction of Christianity, they became enemies of the church as well. In more recent folk tradition, the giants usually appear as imaginary figures rather than as preternatural beings people actually believed in. They play a major role in fabulats and etiological legends explaining the origin of natural phenomena such as huge rock formations, lakes, and the so-called jættegryter (\"giant potholes\"). [jätte (Swedish), troll / jotun (Norwegian), jætte (Danish)]\ntrolls Often this word refers to all the mythical beings, but there really is a distinction. Trolls, which belong to a distant past, are huge and grotesque, may only have a single eye in the middle of their forehead, and very often have three heads. They are terribly strong but are also stupid and are easily tricked by a quick-witted person. They abhor the sounds of churchbells and they have a predilection for eating human flesh. Their homeland was the dark, ice-covered land of Trollebotn, the huge frozen bay which was assumed to connect Greenland to north of Scandinavia. Gyger (or Gjöger) are female trolls, giantesses.\nJakob & Wilhelm Grimm They were collectors of legends in Germany, one book of which was called \"Deutsch Sagen\". In the United States they are known for \"Grimm's Fairytales\". One of them was quoted as saying, \"Das Märchen ist poetischer, die Sage historischer.\" (The folklore is poetic, the legend historical.\"\nHealing Healing, bleeding, love potions, spells, etc. Magical, special abilities were involved with problem-solving. These acts were sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Means for healing: inanimate objects, sympathetic magic, must be done in private, exorcism, urinating in the kitchen fire, etc. Stuff that can also be done: put out or control wildfires, get rid of rat infestations, open broken locks, binding and loosing, tracking down thieves, creating wind for sailing, etc.\nHousehold Spirits They are almost always males, usually small, very old or very young, strong, loyal to the farm, and sometimes wear a little red hat and grey. Some common motifs include teasing the nisse (eating food that was meant for it, leaving feces as food for it instead, not putting the butter on top of the porridge), sending the nisse to steal from other people's farms, the heavy burden, etc. If, for some reason, the nisse is exorcised from the farm, then he takes with him all that he brought or did, thus the farm falls to ruin. [arma�ur \"hearth man\", tomte \"homestead man\"]\nnisse The nisse are related to the huldre-folk, but are not so dangerous. They are guardians of the house or farm who will defend its welfare. They are inordinately strong, but of diminutive size. The term nisse is derived from the Danish / German St. Nicholas, and the nisse themselves are thus distant relations of Santa Claus.\ngardvord From \"farm guardian\", these nisse are more sinister and are very big (some have seen them lay there elbows upon the roof). In a variation of the Lanky Tor story, the gardvord saves the guy by chasing after the trolls. [tunkall or \"yard fellow\" (common in western and northern Norway), godbonde]\nklabautermann This is spirit who guards the ship. In one story it woke up the ship's mate when the lamp went out, and in another it held the masts together.\nHug The hug is the human soul. It refers to the mental life of the individual to personality, thoughts, feelings, and desires. The hug could affect both animate and inanimate objects, including other people, either consciously or unconsciously. The deliberate manipulation of the hug is the basis of all magic. It can manifest itself invisibly or it can take on a shape. It was was movable and can preface a real appearance, exist somewhere else at the same time, be in different places, etc. Sometimes it appears just before death, just at death, or right after death. It was somewhat like a human döppelganger. Sometimes it would be in the form of a mouse that exits the person's mouth while s/he sleeps, or maybe it would be a vapor that would float around the area. [sjel (Norwegian), håg or själ (Swedish), hu or sjæl (Danish)]\ndream-soul This leaves the body during sleep, explores the world (sometimes passing some kind of treasure), and the experiences are remembered by the sleeper as a dream.\nelsk According to wide-spread belief, a person could get ill in body and mind from being longed for by someone else. Usually the longing, traditionally called elsk (love), was of an erotic nature. The lover might be a human or a supranormal being. But even the dead were known to impose an elsk on a surviving relative and thereby make him or her sick, or a living person could long for the dead and keep the loved one from finding peace in the grave.\nenvy A particularly powerful manifestation of the hug is referred to in folk tradition as \"envy\" which was feared by many people. It was believed that this emotion had a strong, adverse effect on human beings and animals, as well as on inanimate objects. [avind (Danish), ovund (Norwegian), avund (Swedish)]\nEvil Eye It was generally believed that the power of the hug could be transferred to another being or object through sight, touch, or the spoken word, often with the intent to do harm. Hence, the expressions evil eye, evil hand, evil foot, and evil tongue.\nfree-soul This is the soul sent from the body in magic flight.\nfylgje The fylgje is a projection of the hug that accompanies a person. It takes either human shpae or that of an animal. Normally, only animals or people with second sight can see the fylgje. In medieval literature, notably the Icelandic sagas, the fylgje also had a protective function, which was alter assumed by the Christian angel. In recent tradition, belief in the fylgje spills over into that of the vardoger and is often called by that name.\nvardöger or fyreferd These refer to a visual or auditory experience presaging a person's approach. [förfäl (Swedish)]\nvord The vord was a kind of presence accompanying the individual. [vård (Swedish)]\nInversion This is one theme through certain folklore stories in which there is some kind of reversal. Stuff that is part of our culture is not part of that of the huldre-folk, and vice versa. Examples: farms vs. nature, food vs. not food (people, leaves, woodchips, excrement), Christianity vs. no religion, normal vs. abnormal, alive vs. undead, etc.\nInvisible Folk There are widespread traditions in Scandinavia about preternatural beings of various kinds. Although they are invisible, from time to time they appear to ordinary people, and when they do, they are in human shape. The \"invisible folk\" constitute quite heterogenous groupings in the different geographical areas of Scandinavia and are called by a variety of names.\nhuldre They lived in the mountains (bergfolk) or hills, or even right under the ground (underjordiske), cellar (kjellerman), grave-mounds (haugfolk), house, or barn. They also sometimes lived in the seters during the off-season. The huldre are much more closely related to man than, say, the jutal or trolls, since they are very human-like in appearance. They were often mistaken for man and there were often intermarriages. They can be very beautiful or they can be grotesque. Sometimes they had a hidden feature such as a cow's tail. Despite their similarity to us, contact with them is risky and dangerous. They steal infants (see changeling above), attempt marry brides-to-be left alone at the seter, kidnap people, and might share some dangerous food or drink. Female huldre are known as hulder. [vetter or vithrar (supernatural beings that live on the edge of the area inhabited by human beings), tufte-folk (probably also related, although vaguely defined), tusse (another term for a supernatural being, often a gnome or goblin)]\nLilith Some stories say that the Bible's Adam had a first wife before Eve and that the huldre-folk are descended from her. In one legend, a tusse minister explains the Lilith story this way, \"That woman, who was created in the very beginning, was Adam's equal in every way, and would never be under him in anything. She considered herself as just as good a creation as he. But God said that it wasn't good for man and woman to be equal, and so he sent her and her offspring away, and put them into the hills to live. They are without sin, and they stay there inside the hills, except when they themselves want to be seen. But in the second chapter, God took a rib out of Adam's side and made a woman out of it, and then Adam said 'This time,' because she was taken out of the man. Her offspring have sin, and that's why God had to give them the New Testament. The tusse-folk only need the Old.\" Another variant says that the invisible folk were actually descendents of Eve's children whom God forever cursed to remain invisible after she hid them from him since she was so ashamed of how many kids she was having.\ngood relations Because the huldre were thought to live side-by-side with human beings, the work rhythms and daily needs of both groups overlapped in many ways. Thus, in many instances, legends tell us how the invisible folk help humans and vice-versa. People looked to preternatural beings for advice, special tools, and perhaps for help in emergency situations. The invisible folk requested aid from humans when, for example, a child was to be born. It was important that contact between the worlds respected certain norms and limits. And in spite of generally good and neighborly relations, there remained an element of fear based on the realization that the invisible folk were more powerful than humans.\njutal Also known as Jotuns or Jötnar, they are the giants that especially appeared in the older mythology as enemies of the gods, especially of Thor.\nfairies Charcoal burners, lumberjacks, and half-grown boys and girls tending the cattle on the outlying summer farms often experienced the preternatural beings as erotically seductive. Legends reveal that people were simultaneously attracted and afraid of these beings. A young man might throw steel over the forest woman to bind her to himself, or he might use some protective magic to be rid of her. The marriage ceremony between a girl and a fairy lover might be interrupted at the last moment. There might be an actual liaison between a human and one of the invisible folk, resulting in the birth of a child, the disappearance of the person, or, inversely, the absorption of the supranormal being into human society. Sometimes, refusal of the erotic attentions of the fairy lover caused sickness, madness, even death. One of the important functions of legends about fairy lovers was to enforce certain rules of behavior on the men and women working in isolated areas.\nThe Spirit of the Mill In Norway, and in Sweden mostly along the Norwegian border, folk traditions exist about the mill spirit. This preternatural being is known to stop the mill if it is run at night or on a holy day. The implied sanction against such inappropriate use of the mill is not unequivocal, however, because the mill sprite is invariably pacified or driven away. The mill spirit is disruptive and threatens the human who has to resolve the problem. [kvarngubben \"old man of the mill\" (Swedish), kvernknurren \"mill snarl\"]\nThe Spirit of the Mine Mining legends constitute one of the largest categories in the folk tradition of continental Europe. They are not nearly as numerous in Scandinavia because of the relative scarcity of mining activities there. In Norway and Sweden, the spirit of the mine appears most often as a solitary, female being. The spirit helps the miner find the ore and protects him while he is working in the shaft. But she is also believed to jealously guard the wealth hidden below ground, causing the loss of life and other disasters in the mine. There are also traditions about the invisible folk exploiting the mines, a tradition which has its antecedents in mythological stories about dwarfs as miners and smiths. [gruvrå \"ruler of the mine\", gruvröken, \"lady of the mine\", sølvmora \"silver mother\"]\nSpirits of the Sea The sea, like any other aspect of nature, was believed to be populated by various preternatural beings, both solitary and collective. As a group they correspond in nature and function to the invisible folk of forests, fields, rivers, and farmsteads, but they are modified to reflect the environment of the sea. They include the sjørå (\"sea ruler\"), mermaid and merman, draug, sea horses, sea monsters, and inhabitants of fabulous islands.\ndraug These ghosts (or \"living dead person\") were usually victims of drownings and didn't get a proper funeral. They are sinister, malevolent beings and often got into battles with the land draugs at the cemetery. Their appearance or their shrieking are usually omens of impending disaster. The draug may be taken aboard in the form of a moss-covered stone which will grow too heavy for the boat to stay afloat. Closeup, the face is a bundle of sea wrack. [Rawga (Lappish)]\nmermaids, mermen They are kinder people of the sea that were human-like from the waist up, but had a fish- or porpoise-like body in place of the legs. Mermen often showed gratitude for gifts, such as mittens.\nsea serpents They breed in inland lakes and, when they are old enough, eventually try to get to the open sea. One famous folktale account is one at Lake Mjösen which was killed between 1520 and 1530.\nseals The seals were actually people who had drowned in suicide attempts and were now condemned to wear seal-skins. In one story somebody manages to steal one seal-woman's skin on the one day of the year that they secretly take it off. He forced her to marry him and kept her in human-form until she was able to get her skin back.\nUtröst Group of mysterious, disappearing / reappearing islands where supernatural beings similar to the huldre-folk live.\nSkogsra forest sprite, female creature that is entirely human-like except for a hollowed-out back or sometimes a tail. The back is somewhat like a kneeding trough or a stable scoop (crude tool).\nThe Water Sprites The spirits of waterfalls, rivers, and lakes appear variously in human or horse shape. [another term besides nøkk and grim is stromkarl]\nnøkk Often a demonic being, they are water-creatures in human- or horse-like form. Often in the form of a white horse grazing by the lakeside, it tempts young boys onto its back (and it can stretch to accomodate many riders) and then jumps into the lake.. A magic word (usually its name) will make it disappear or return back to the water. [näck (Swedish), nix (English)]\nfossegrim They live in waterfalls and rivers and have taught many eminent fiddlers how to play.\ngrim Norwegian variant, also applied to the spirit of the church and graveyard in Sweden and Denmark.\nThe Wild Hunt / Spirits of the Air In Scandinavian folk tradition, there are two chief types of night riders: the hunter and his dogs pursuing a woman, and the host flying through the air especially at Christmastime. In Norway this host is usually called oskorei or jolareidi.\noskorei The \"terrible host\" of evil spirits, it sweeps through Norwegian valleys on winter nights, especially before Christmas time. It was often said that the host consisted of those who were not bad enough to go to Hell, nor good enough to go to Heaven. The oskorei were hostile and would often carry people away to some distant place or would settle down for awhile on a farm. [jolerei (another term for it, this one implies that it is particularly dangerous at Christmas), gyro (name from fiction or ancient romance), sluagh (Scotland and Ireland)]\ngangferd This term is \"the wild hunt\" of the osorei, et al. It refers to restless, unhappy ghosts who sometimes compel living persons to follow them about.\nwood sprite some say that this is a huldre that lives by itself, others say there is no difference\nJagt This is a kind of fishing boat.\nLanky Tor He lived in the mountains, wouldn't stay home in his parish, and wanted to live alone and by hunting only. He didn't know what day of the week it was, hence he had no idea when it was Sunday, the Lord's Day of Rest. On Christmas Eve, the trolls scared him by saying loudly (and as if they didn't know Lanky Tor was listening) that they would boil him for dinner. He returned back to the parish and gave up his life in the mountains.\nLegends\nMigratory Legends The story is flexible enough or non-specific enough that it can easily spread to other localities. Also known as fabulates, they can be localized, but the story no longer has the direct personal touch and instead follows a definite pattern.\nLocal Legends The story is bound by its content to a local place and cannot spread too easily. An example are the legends about Dwinelle Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus.\nHistorical Legends This possibly has its origins in a historical event.\nUrban Legends Modern folklore stories such as the Kentucky Fried Rat, the Hook, the psycho babysitter, sexual references in Disney films, the sperm on the cheek cell culture, Richard Gere and the gerbil, etc. Check out The Urban Legends Page for a good reference of types.\nMemorate This is a first- or second-hand account of a supernatural experience that are almost always connected with some landmark, locality, or person.\nLenore The dead lover returns to bring a message, to take revenge, or to respond to the grief of his beloved. The most famous interpretation of this popular motif is found in G.A. B�rger's ballad \"Lenore\".\nLiminal Status This somewhat means \"on the threshold\", as if the thing it is describing is not quite in our world but not quite in that of the supernatural either. One example are the gasts (ghosts) who aren't fully in either the world of the dead or the living. Mares and witches are partly supernatural, but also partly our friends or neighbors. There can be lots of ambiguity. Liminal Status relates to the ideas of the Rites of Passage in that the person is on the threshold between two important stages in his or her life.\nLimited Good Phenomenon or idea brought up by George Foster in which there is only so much good in the world, so that if one person is prospering he must be doing it at the expense of someone else. Nisse were household spirits that stole from a neighbor, thus increasing the prosperity of the farmer who owns that nisse. There can't be a winner without a loser. People who get ahead often make pacts with the Devil, but this can be seen as a way out of Limited Good since in this case they are not getting ahead at someone else's expense. The witches related to Limited Good in the sense that their stealing (through knife-milking, troll cats, etc.) always had to be at someone else's expense. Boundary ghosts also related to Limited Good.\nMara The dream experience commonly referred to as a nightmare was interpreted as the visitation of someone's hug. Sexual dreams play a large part in this context. The mare is usually described as a weight on the sleeper's chest. Both human beings and animals could be \"ridden\" by the mare. In time the mare developed into a separate supranormal being. It was believed that a woman could ease birth pains by crawling through the fetal membrane of a foal. But her offspring would become a mare, if female, a werewolf, if male. Mares are one of the oldest kinds of supernatural beings and can cause the person also to get cold sweats, go into paralyis, and become oppressed.\nthe master builder A common motif in Norway and Sweden was the folktale of a supernatural creature being hired to finish construction of a cathedral, usually to put on the final spire. If the minister found out the creature's name, he was saved from himself becoming payment for the work.\nMidnight Mass of the Dead The stories about the midnight mass of the dead constitute a type of migratory legend. As early as the 4th century c.e. in stories about saints' lives, the midnight mass is celebrated by angels, the blessed dead, and the saint. Another version, possibly based on popular tradition, is found in Gregory of Tours' De Gloria Confessorum (sixth century), in which the midnight mass is attended by the dead and ordinary people rather than by angels and saints. In folk legends the story is consistently focused on the fear of the dead and on the narrow escape of the unwitting observer.\nKing Olav He ruled Norway from 995 to 1030 c.e. He is the national saint of Norway and is exceedingly popular in Norwegian oral tradition, being especially well known as an adversary of trolls and giants. This trait he seems to have inherited from the pagan Norse god, Thor, who was at one time more celebrated in Norway than in any other area of Scandinavia. St. Olav was frequently the protagonist in the \"master builder\" tales.\nRites of Passage Birth (Baptism), Marriage (Wedding), Death (Funeral). These are vulnerable times when someone is susceptible to attack by a supernatural being. The parson performs the ceremonies for the rites of passage, traveling from parish to parish doing his services. Satan is a threat to these and the religious nature of the community.\nSatan Features: cloven hoof, horrible to look at, well-dressed, can change shape (fly, dog, etc.), tail, beard. Good things that the Devil can do for you: give you a ride quickly somewhere, make you rich, give you success with the opposite sex, can appear when you need him (like a Genie), success in hunting and fishing, etc. Bad things: take stuff away from you (shadow, child, soul). He requires a written letter or contract. In such, people often demand for large amounts of money. This can be a way out of Limited Good since you don't have to take from others to get ahead. Some common euphemisms for the Devil include Old Erik, Old Jerker, Old Peter, the Goat, the Evil One, the old guy, etc. The0rural view was the reading and writing were magical, and the Devil himself was skilled in such, through his use of the Black Book and the way he kept a written tally of who were not paying attention at the church sermons. Satan could be called by cursing or through inexperienced use of the Black Book. To get rid of him, the owner of the Book would make him do something that is beyond even his power, like make a rope out of sand or reverse the flow of a waterfall. Satan can be tricked by a clever person and he can even volunatarily help somebody (like the charcoal-burners). Society did not look at dancing too favorably and Satan himself would often dance somebody to death.\nChristen Pedersen and Johannes Geremiæson They were real-life people who wrote out contracts that they hoped to make with the Devil. The act of actually acting on something from folk belief such as this is known as ostension.\nPetter Dass (1647-1707) Dass was a minister, as well as the most popular Norwegian author of his time. He was best known as the author of hymns based on holy scripture and the catechism. In legendary tradition, he is characterized as the owner of the Black Book and a master magician. In one story he got a ride from the Devil on his way to preach in Copenhagen. In return the Devil would take the souls of everyone sleeping in church that day. Petter Dass, without any notes prepared ahead of time, \"preached a sermon the likes of which no one had ever heard before\", and thus Satan didn't get any souls since nobody was sleeping.\nScandinavia Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Iceland. Geographically, Finland is a part of Scandinavia, but culturally it is very different.\nSeter An outfarm n the mountains inhabited only in the summer. Unmarried women generally take care of the cattle and do churning and cheesemaking there.\nCarl Wilhelm von Sydow He was a famous folklorist who coined many terms. He's also the father of actor Max von Sydow from \"Dune\" and \"Needful Things\".\nValborg It was the evening of April 30th when people would get drunk and jump into the frozen river. Special significance to the witches.\nWerewolves and Man-Bears Throughout most of the world there are traditions about human beings changing into wolves or bears. In this instance it is not a matter of the hug separating from the body and taking on another shape; rather, the whole person is transformed, body and soul, into an animal being. The transformation may be self-induced or may be due to hostile magic. In medical context the phenomenon has been characterized as a form of insanity (lycanthropoy). Both werewolves and man-bears are well-known from medieval literature. The so-called berserks often formed the bodyguard of early Scandinavian kings and chieftains.\nWitchcraft Witches usually acquired their supernatural powers through a pact with the Devil. They live within the human community and are not so solitary, but are often social people. Some of their functions: theft (milk, brandy, cream, butter), flight (to the witches' sabbath), harm (animals and people), winds (whirlwind for travel and destruction, sailing winds), shamanic behavior (second sight). Often the witches were the \"others\" in a community through ethnicity (gypsy, Saami) , location, social status, parentage (orphans), or religion (not Christian) but they might also be very much not an \"other\" the parson's wife, or the rich and powerful mother. Witches could fly by applying salve and a spell to stuff like brooms, barrels, people, and bones. They often sent out trolls cats, bunnies, or wool to do certain chores. They did voodoo curses by sticking pins into dolls to hurt a person, and could replenish the same food over and over (i.e. the same meat returns back to the herring bone). Witches are not deterred by metal, but use it to their advantage for example, one witch could not be burned as long as a metal piece was stuck in her back.\nMarte Holon She was a famous witch from Northern Norway who had a troll cat and a Black Book. Hans Tofte found troll cat vomit around his farm, so he sealed it up in the barrel of his gun and heated it over the forge. Marta Holon came running into the smithy and desperately asked for something to drink. Hans and the blacksmith offered her a mug of their urine while Hans then hit her across the mouth with his shoe so that two teeth fell out and blood started flowing.\nknife-milking Knife-milking was sticking a knife into the wall and catching in a bucket the milk that would spout from the end of the handle. The milk is magically coming from someone else cow. If one were to knife-milk too long, blood would start to come out and then cow would die.\nmagic shot Also known as Finn shot, this was the name given to projectiles supposedly causing sickness or sudden death. They were imagined to be sent in the form of bullets, insects, clouds or vapor, and so on. Many legends are concerned with the means by which one could protect oneself against this type of magic.\nsalve The salve was made of herbs, roots, and hallucinogens. They smeared it on an object or on themselves. Often imagination and masturbation were involved.\nsei�r A specially potent and malevolent form of magic was referred to as sei�r. It was used to rob its victims of their sanity, their health, even their life, and generally to cause misfortune. This was a usually feminine form of magic that was also applied to the god Odin. Skills attributed to him are essentially the same as those identified in later tradition with the practitioners of magic, notably shape-changing, magic flight, and the use of spells to control the elements and conjure the dead.\ntroll cat When stealing from her neighbors, the witch supposedly had help from a familiar, variously referred to as a troll cat, milk rabbit, troll ball, puck, etc.\nwhirlwind In general, people regarded the whirlwind as the manifestation of the witch's or trollman's power. It was believed that the witch traveled in the whirlwind to inflict harm on people and cattle or to steal hay.\nwitches' sabbath They were often held in churches, on mountaintops (such as Blåkollen or Blue Mountain), at a mill, etc. on nights such as Easter or Valborg. The Devil was there and often the total number of participants was thirteen. There would be other witches, as well as a new initiate (and also the spy who is reporting the occurrences). The Devil is a little gray man, wears black robes and is well-dressed, and has the Black Book. The witches had to pay homage to the Devil, renew pacts, write their names in the Black Book, and have the initiate take an oath. The baptism ceremony for the initiate involved blood, consumption of menstrual blood, feast of good / bad foods, eating of human infants, etc. At the sabbaths there was dance, music, a satanic orchestra, and orgies.\nScandinavian Mythology & Folklore","Santa Claus - Heroes Wiki - Wikia\nSanta Claus also known as Saint Nicholas, ... a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, ... Each Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their ...\nSanta Claus | Heroes Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\n~ Santa Claus' famous catchphrase\n✔\nSanta Claus also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and simply \"Santa\", is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. The modern figure was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, which, in turn, may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure gift giver Saint Nicholas, who was said to have dropped bags of gold down poor people's chimneys. A nearly identical story is attributed by Greek and Byzantine folklore to Basil of Caesarea. Basil's feast day on January 1 is considered the time of exchanging gifts in Greece.\nContents\n[ show ]\nAppearance\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no mustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films. The North American depiction of Santa Claus as it developed in the 19th and 20th century in turn influenced the modern perceptions of Father Christmas, Sinterklaas and Saint Nicholas in European culture.\nHistory\nAccording to a tradition which can be traced to the 1820s, Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, with a large number of magical elves, and nine (originally eight) flying reindeers. Since the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\"naughty\" or \"nice\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the reindeer who pull his sleigh.\nThe modern figure of Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, which, in turn, has part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of Christian bishop and gift-giver Saint Nicholas . During the Christianization of Germanic Europe, this figure may have absorbed elements of the god Odin , who was associated with the Germanic pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. Over time, traits of this character and the British folklore character Father Christmas merged to form the modern Santa Claus known today.\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children. Images of him rarely have a beard with no mustache. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of the 1823 poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.\nSince the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\"naughty\" or \"nice\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. He is commonly portrayed as living at the North Pole and saying \"ho ho ho\" often.\nPredecessor figures\nSaint Nicholas\nSaint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes.\nThe remains of Saint Nicholas are in Italy. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Saint. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was conquered by Italian sailors and his relics were taken to Bari where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout. Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and taken to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow.\nDuring the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to the veneration of saints in many countries on the 24 and 25 December. So Saint Nicholas changed to Santa Claus. The custom of gifting of children at Christmas has been propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for the people.\nDutch folklore\nIn the Netherlands and Belgium, next to Sinterklaas, the character of Santa Claus is also known. He is known as de Kerstman in Dutch (\"the Christmas man\") and Père Noël (\"Father Christmas\") in French. But for children in the Netherlands Sinterklaas is the predominant gift-giver in December (36% of the population only give presents on Sinterklaas day), Christmas is used by another fifth of the Dutch population to give presents. (21% give presents on Christmas only). Some 26% of the Dutch population give presents on both days. In Belgium, presents are given to children only, but to almost all of them, on Sinterklaas day. On Christmas Day, everybody receives presents, but often without Santa Claus's help. In the Netherlands Sinterklass' helper is Zwarte Piet not an elf.\nScandinavian folklore\nIn the 1840s, a being in Nordic folklore called \"Tomte\" or \"Nisse\" started to deliver the Christmas presents in Denmark. The Tomte was portrayed as a short, bearded man dressed in gray clothes and a red hat. This new version of the age-old folkloric creature was inspired by the Santa Claus traditions that were now spreading to Scandinavia. By the end of the 19th century this tradition had also spread to Norway and Sweden, replacing the Yule Goat. The same thing happened in Finland, but there the more human figure retained the Yule Goat name. But even though the tradition of the Yule Goat as a bringer of presents is now all but extinct, a straw goat is still a common Christmas decoration in all of Scandinavia. Iceland has 13 Yule Lads that originate from folklore rather than Christianity and start arriving from the mountains into towns 13 days before 24 December.\nFather Christmas\nFather Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during the reign of Henry VIII, when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance was variable, with one famous image being John Leech's illustration of the \"Ghost of Christmas Present\" in Charles Dickens's festive classic A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace.\nFather Christmas is now widely seen as synonymous with the Santa Claus figure.\nOrigins\nGermanic paganism, Odin, and Christianization\nPrior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English; Old English geola or guili) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule. With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Odin and he bears the Old Norse names Jólnir, meaning \"yule figure\" and the name Langbarðr, meaning \"long-beard\" (see \"List of names of Odin\").\nThe god Odin's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (see Odin's horse Sleipnir), which was traded for reindeer in North America. Margaret Baker comments that \"The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. … Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild became a leading player on the Christmas stage.\"\nPre-modern representations of the gift-giver from church history and folklore, notably St Nicholas and Sinterklaas, merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the character known to Americans and the rest of the English-speaking world as Santa Claus.\nIn the English and later British colonies of North America, and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into \"Santa Claus\" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.\n19th century\n“\n\"December 24, 1864. This has usually been a very busy day with me, preparing for Christmas not only for my own tables, but for gifts for my servants. Now how changed! No confectionary, cakes, or pies can I have. We are all sad; no loud, jovial laugh from our boys is heard. Christmas Eve, which has ever been gaily celebrated here, which has witnessed the popping of firecrackers … and the hanging up of stockings, is an occasion now of sadness and gloom. I have nothing even to put in 8-year-old daughter Sadai's stocking, which hangs so invitingly for Santa Claus. How disappointed she will be in the morning, though I have explained to her why he cannot come. Poor children! Why must the innocent suffer with the guilty?\"\n„\nDiary of Dolly Lunt Burge, a Maine native, widow of Thomas Burge, and resident living c. 40 miles southeast of Atlanta near Covington, Georgia. This entry from Mrs. Burge's diary was five weeks after most of General T. Sherman's U.S. Army forces had passed on their blackened-earth \"march across Georgia\" toward Savanna, after the army's destruction of Atlanta in mid-November 1864. U.S. Army mop-up companies and stragglers during those intervening weeks continued to \"forage\", loot, burn, and liberate slaves, hence, the concern of Mrs. Burge and her household. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" (better known today as \"The Night Before Christmas\") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on 23 December 1823; the poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. Many of his modern attributes are established in this poem, such as riding in a sleigh that lands on the roof, entering through the chimney, and having a bag full of toys. St. Nick is described as being \"chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf\" with \"a little round belly\", that \"shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly\", in spite of which the \"miniature sleigh\" and \"tiny reindeer\" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from the old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen).\nAs the years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.\nThe story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works, which included the caption \"Santa Claussville, N.P.\" A color collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled \"Santa Claus and His Works\" by George P. Webster, who wrote that Santa Claus's home was \"near the North Pole, in the ice and snow\". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, \"If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey.\"\nThe idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in the poem \"Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride\".\n\"Is There a Santa Claus?\" was the title of an editorial appearing in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply \"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus\", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas lore in the United States and Canada.\n20th century\nL. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book, further popularized Santa Claus. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not set in stone at the time, leaving Baum to give his \"Neclaus\" (Necile's Little One) a wide variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality was earned, much like his title (\"Santa\"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.\nImages of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colors used to promote the Coca-Cola brand. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising—White Rock Beverages had already used a red and white Santa to sell mineral water in 1915 and then in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923. Earlier still, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in the first few years of the 20th century.\nThe image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.\nIn 1937, Charles W. Howard, who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously-run such school in the world.\nIn some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner.\nThe 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, \"Mrs. Santa Claus\", and the 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the popular imagination.\nSeabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the \"story\" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 9th and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter.\nIn popular culture\nBy the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives and/or managers. An excerpt from a 2004 article, from a supply chain managers' trade magazine, aptly illustrates this depiction:\nSanta has been described as a positive male cultural icon:\n“\nSanta is really the only cultural icon we have who's male, does not carry a gun, and is all about peace, joy, giving, and caring for other people. That's part of the magic for me, especially in a culture where we've become so commercialized and hooked into manufactured icons. Santa is much more organic, integral, connected to the past, and therefore connected to the future.\n„\n~ TV producer Jonathan Meath who portrays Santa, 2011.\nMany television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, a Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and \"short broads,” with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer.\nIn The Sopranos episode, \"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power\", Paulie Gualtieri says he \"Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there. ... The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids a beatin', and gave the good ones toys.\"\nIn Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared the Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan.\nThe Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Derry City, Northern Ireland. On 9 September 2007. A total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helper brought down the previous record of 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted top the world record, but failed with only 3939 Santas.\nTraditions and rituals\nChimney tradition\nThe tradition of Santa Claus entering dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In pre-Christian Norse tradition, Odin would often enter through chimneys and fire holes on the solstice. In the Italian Befana tradition, the gift-giving witch is perpetually covered with soot from her trips down the chimneys of children's homes. In the tale of Saint Nicholas, the saint tossed coins through a window, and, in a later version of the tale, down a chimney when he finds the window locked. In Dutch artist Jan Steen's painting, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, adults and toddlers are glancing up a chimney with amazement on their faces while other children play with their toys. The hearth was held sacred in primitive belief as a source of beneficence, and popular belief had elves and fairies bringing gifts to the house through this portal. Santa's entrance into homes on Christmas Eve via the chimney was made part of American tradition through the poem \"A Visit from St. Nicholas\" where the author described him as an elf. Walsh, Joseph J.. Were They Wise Men Or Kings?: The Book of Christmas Questions. Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 0-664-22312-5 .\nChristmas Eve rituals\nIn the United States and Canada, children traditionally leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies; in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer, and mince pies instead. In Sweden and Norway, children leave rice porridge. In Ireland it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies.\nIn Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) comes on the night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden colored birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve \"Little Jesus\" comes and gives gifts for everyone.\nIn Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in the evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day.\nNew Zealander, British, Australian, Irish, Canadian and American children also leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will \"put out their shoe\"—that is, leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed—sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond. The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued.\nOther Christmas Eve Santa Claus rituals in the United States include reading A Visit from St. Nicholas or other tale about Santa Claus, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated program on television (such as the aforementioned Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and similar specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among many others), and the singing of Santa Claus songs such as \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", \"Here Comes Santa Claus\", and \"Up on the House Top\". Last minute rituals for children before going to bed include aligning stockings at the mantelpiece or other place where Santa cannot fail to see them, peeking up the chimney (in homes with a fireplace), glancing out a window and scanning the heavens for Santa's sleigh, and (in homes without a fireplace) unlocking an exterior door so Santa can easily enter the house. Tags on gifts for children are sometimes signed by their parents \"From Santa Claus\" before the gifts are laid beneath the tree.\nHome\nSanta Claus's home traditionally includes a residence and a workshop where he creates—often with the aid of elves or other supernatural beings—the gifts he delivers to good children at Christmas. Some stories and legends include a village, inhabited by his helpers, surrounding his home and shop.\nIn North American tradition (in the United States and Canada), Santa lives on the North Pole, which according to Canada Post lies within Canadian jurisdiction in postal code H0H 0H0 (a reference to \"ho ho ho\", Santa's notable saying, although postal codes starting with H are usually reserved for the island of Montreal in Québec). On 23 December 2008, Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, formally awarded Canadian citizenship status to Santa Claus. \"The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete,\" Kenney said in an official statement.\nThere is also a city named North Pole in Alaska where a tourist attraction known as the \"Santa Claus House\" has been established. The US postal service uses the city's zip code of 99705 as their advertised postal code for Santa Claus. A Wendy's in North Pole, AK has also claimed to have a \"sleigh fly through\".\nEach Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their territory. Norway claims he lives in Drøbak. In Denmark, he is said to live in Greenland (near Uummannaq). In Sweden, the town of Mora has a theme park named Tomteland. The national postal terminal in Tomteboda in Stockholm receives children's letters for Santa. In Finland, Korvatunturi has long been known as Santa's home, and two theme parks, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park are located near Rovaniemi.\nParades, department stores, and shopping malls\nSanta Claus appears in the weeks before Christmas in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. The practice of this has been credited to James Edgar, as he started doing this in 1890 in his Brockton, Massachusetts department store. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actors (often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore associated with Santa. Santa's function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by listening to their wishlist while having them sit on his knee (a practice now under review by some organisations in Britain, and Switzerland). Sometimes a photograph of the child and Santa are taken. Having a Santa set up to take pictures with children is a ritual that dates back at least to 1918.\nThe area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously \"Santa's Grotto\", \"Santa's Workshop\" or a similar term. In the United States, the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City—he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. This was popularized by the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street with Santa Claus being called Kris Kringle. The Macy's Santa Claus in New York City is often said to be the real Santa. Essayist David Sedaris is known for the satirical SantaLand Diaries he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which were turned into a famous radio segment and later published.\nQuite often the Santa, if and when he is detected to be fake, explains that he is not the real Santa and is helping him at this time of year. Most young children accept this explanation. At family parties, Santa is sometimes impersonated by the male head of the household or other adult male family member.\nIn Canada, malls operated by Oxford Properties established a process by which autistic children could visit Santa Claus at the mall without having to contend with crowds. The malls open early to allow entry only to families with autistic children, who have a private visit with Santa Claus. In 2012, the Southcentre Mall in Calgary was the first mall to offer this service.\nThere are schools offering instruction on how to act as Santa Claus. For example, children's television producer Jonathan Meath studied at the International School of Santa Claus and earned the degree Master of Santa Claus in 2006. It blossomed into a second career for him, and after appearing in parades and malls.\nLetter writing to Santa\nWriting letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. Some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. Girls generally write longer but more polite lists and express the nature of Christmas more in their letters than in letters written by boys. Girls also more often request gifts for other people.\nMany postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus. These letters may be answered by postal workers and/or outside volunteers.\nAccording to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the oldest Santa letter answering effort by a national postal system. The USPS Santa letter answering effort started in 1912 out of the historic James Farley Post Office in New York, and since 1940 has been called \"Operation Santa\" to ensure that letters to Santa are adopted by charitable organizations, major corporations, local businesses and individuals in order to make children's holiday dreams come true from coast to coast. Those seeking a North Pole holiday postmark through the USPS, are told to send their letter from Santa or a holiday greeting card by 10 December to: North Pole Holiday Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998.\nIn 2006, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, France's Postal Service received the most letters for Santa Claus or \"Père Noël\" with 1,220,000 letters received from 126 countries.\nOther interesting Santa letter processing information, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, are:\nCountries whose national postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019), United Kingdom (750,000).\nIn 2006, Finland's national postal operation received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France's Postal Service from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries, and Slovakia from 20 countries.\nIn 2007, Canada Post replied to letters in 26 languages and Deutsche Post in 16 languages.\nSome national postal operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail through the national postal operators, proving that children still write letters. National postal operators offering the ability to use an on-line web form (with or without a return e-mail address) to Santa and obtain a reply include Canada Post. In France, by 6 December 2010, a team of 60 postal elves had sent out reply cards in response to 80,000 e-mail on-line request forms and more than 500,000 physical letters.\nCanada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0. Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poor communities, or from children's hospitals, and give them presents they would not otherwise receive. In 2009, 1,000 workers answered 1.1 million letters and 39,500 e-mail on-line request forms from children in 30 different languages, including Braille.\nIn Britain it was traditional for some to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However this has been found to be less efficient than the use of the normal postal service, and this tradition is dying out in modern times, especially with few homes having open fires.\nAccording to the Royal Mail website, Santa's address for letters from British children is: Santa/Father Christmas, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ.\nIn Mexico and other Latin American countries, besides using the mail, sometimes children wrap their letters to a small helium balloon, releasing them into the air so Santa magically receives them. Other nonconformist Christians condemn the materialist focus of contemporary gift giving and see Santa Claus as the symbol of that culture.\nCondemnation of Christmas was prevalent among the 17th-century English Puritans and Dutch Calvinists who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. The American colonies established by these groups reflected this view. Tolerance for Christmas increased after the Restoration but the Puritan opposition to the holiday persisted in New England for almost two centuries. In the Dutch New Netherland colony, season celebrations focused on New Year's Day.\nFollowing the Restoration of the monarchy and with Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686) Nissenbaum, chap. 1.\nRev. Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracted controversy in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a \"pagan goblin\" after Santa's image was used on fund-raising materials for a Danish welfare organization Clar, 337. One prominent religious group that refuses to celebrate Santa Claus, or Christmas itself, for similar reasons is the Jehovah's Witnesses. A number of denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus, which range from acceptance to denouncement.\nSome Christians prefer the holiday focus on the actual birth of Jesus, believing that Christmas stemmed from pagan festivals such as the Roman Saturnalia and Germanic Yule that were subsumed within ancient Christianity. An even smaller subset of Reformed Christians actually prefer the secularized version of the holiday for the same reasons, believing that to relegate Christ's birth to Christmas is wrong.\nSymbol of commercialism\nIn his book Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus, writer Jeremy Seal describes how the commercialization of the Santa Claus figure began in the 19th century. \"In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells,\" said Seal in an interview. How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory, interview with Jeremy Seal at the St. Nicholas Center. \"They are simply the actual bearings in the world from which he emerged. At that time, sleighs were how you got about Manhattan.\"\nWriting in Mothering, writer Carol Jean-Swanson makes similar points, noting that the original figure of St. Nicholas gave only to those who were needy and that today Santa Claus seems to be more about conspicuous consumption:\n“\nOur jolly old Saint Nicholas reflects our culture to a T, for he is fanciful, exuberant, bountiful, over-weight, and highly commercial. He also mirrors some of our highest ideals: childhood purity and innocence, selfless giving, unfaltering love, justice, and mercy. (What child has ever received a coal for Christmas?) The problem is that, in the process, he has become burdened with some of society's greatest challenges: materialism, corporate greed, and domination by the media. Here, Santa carries more in his baggage than toys alone!\n„\nIn the Czech Republic, a group of advertising professionals started a website against Santa Claus, a relatively recent phenomenon in that country. Hilda Hoy, The Prague Post, 13 December 2006. \"Czech Christmases are intimate and magical. All that Santa stuff seems to me like cheap show business,\" said David König of the Creative Copywriters Club, pointing out that it is primarily an American and British tradition. \"I'm not against Santa himself. I'm against Santa in my country only.\" In the Czech tradition, presents are delivered by Ježíšek, which translates as Baby Jesus.\nIn the United Kingdom, Father Christmas was historically depicted wearing a green cloak. As Father Christmas has been increasingly merged into the image of Santa Claus, that has been changed to the more commonly known red suit. One school in the seaside town of Brighton banned the use of a red suit erroneously believing it was only indicative of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign. School spokesman Sarah James said: \"The red-suited Santa was created as a marketing tool by Coca-Cola, it is a symbol of commercialism.\" Parents see red over school's green-suited santa], Olinka Koster, The Daily Mail (UK), 22 November 2007. However, Santa had been portrayed in a red suit in the 19th century by Thomas Nast among others.\nControversy about deceiving children\nVarious psychologists and researchers have wrestled with the ways that parents collude to convince young children of the existence of Santa Claus, and have wondered whether children's abilities to critically weigh real-world evidence may be undermined by their belief in this or other imaginary figures. For example, University of Texas psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley helped conduct a study that found, to the contrary, that children seemed competent in their use of logic, evidence, and comparative reasoning even though they might conclude that Santa Claus or other fanciful creatures were real:\n“\nThe adults they count on to provide reliable information about the world introduce them to Santa. Then his existence is affirmed by friends, books, TV and movies. It is also validated by hard evidence: the half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses by the tree on Christmas morning. In other words, children do a great job of scientifically evaluating Santa. And adults do a great job of duping them.\n„\nWoolley posited that it is perhaps \"kinship with the adult world\" that causes children not to be angry that they were lied to for so long. However, the criticism about this deception is not that it is a simple lie, but a complicated series of very large lies. Objections include that it is unethical for parents to lie to children without good cause, and that it discourages healthy skepticism in children. With no greater good at the heart of the lie, some have charged that it is more about the parents than it is about the children. For instance, writer Austin Cline posed the question: \"Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?\"\nOthers, however, see no harm in the belief in Santa Claus. Psychologist Tamar Murachver said that because it is a cultural, not parental, lie, it does not undermine parental trust. The New Zealand Skeptics also see no harm in parents telling their children that Santa is real. Spokesperson Vicki Hyde said, \"It would be a hard-hearted parent indeed who frowned upon the innocent joys of our children's cultural heritage. We save our bah humbugs for the things that exploit the vulnerable.\"\nDr. John Condry of Cornell University interviewed more than 500 children for a study of the issue and found that not a single child was angry at his or her parents for telling them Santa Claus was real. According to Dr. Condry, \"The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not\".\nSanta Claus in different versions\nSanta from \"Frosty the Snowman\"","Santa_Claus.txt\nSanta Claus\nSanta Claus, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santy, or simply Santa is a mythical figure with historical origins who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of well-behaved, \"good\" children on Christmas Eve (24 December) and the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December). The modern Santa Claus is derived from the British figure of Father Christmas, the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, and Saint Nicholas, the historical Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra. During the Christianization of Germanic Europe, this figure may also have absorbed elements of the god Odin, who was associated with the Germanic pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky.\n\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children. Images of him rarely have a beard with no moustache. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of the 1823 poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.\n\nSanta Claus is believed to make lists of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\"naughty\" or \"nice\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. He is commonly portrayed as living at the North Pole and saying \"ho ho ho\" often.\n\nPredecessor figures\n\nFather Christmas\n\nFather Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during the reign of Henry VIII, when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance was variable, with one famous image being John Leech's illustration of the \"Ghost of Christmas Present\" in Charles Dickens's festive classic A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace. \n\nFather Christmas is now widely seen as synonymous with the Santa Claus figure.\n\nSaint Nicholas\n\nSaint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Empire, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes.\n\nThe remains of Saint Nicholas are in Italy. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Saint. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was conquered by Italian sailors and his relics were taken to Bari where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout. Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and taken to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow. \n\nDuring the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to the veneration of saints in many countries on the 24 and 25 December. So Saint Nicholas changed to Santa Claus. The custom of gifting of children at Christmas has been propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for the people. \n\nDutch and Belgian folklore\n\nIn the Netherlands and Belgium the character of Santa Claus has to compete with that of Sinterklaas, Santa's presumed progenitor. Santa Claus is known as de Kerstman in Dutch (\"the Christmas man\") and Père Noël (\"Father Christmas\") in French. But for children in the Netherlands Sinterklaas remains the predominant gift-giver in December; 36% of the Dutch only give presents on Sinterklaas day, whereas Christmas is used by another 21% to give presents. Some 26% of the Dutch population gives presents on both days. In Belgium, Sinterklaas day presents are offered exclusively to children, whereas on Christmas Day, all ages may receive presents. Sinterklaas' assistants are called \"Zwarte Pieten\" (in Dutch, \"Pères Fouettard\" in French), so they are not elves. \n\nGermanic paganism, Odin, and Christianization\n\nPrior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule (Old English geola or guili). With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Odin and he bears the Old Norse names Jólnir, meaning \"yule figure\" and the name Langbarðr, meaning \"long-beard\" (see list of names of Odin). \n\nThe god Odin's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (see Odin's horse Sleipnir), which was traded for reindeer in North America. Margaret Baker comments that \"The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. … Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild became a leading player on the Christmas stage.\" \n\nHistory\n\nOrigins\n\nPre-modern representations of the gift-giver from Church history and folklore, notably St Nicholas (known in Dutch as Sinterklaas), merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the character known to Americans and the rest of the English-speaking world as \"Santa Claus\" (a phonetic derivation of \"Sinterklaas\").\n\nIn the English and later British colonies of North America, and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into \"Santa Claus\" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.\n\n19th century\n\nIn 1821, the book A New-year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve was published in New York. It contained Old Santeclaus, an anonymous poem describing an old man on a reindeer sleigh, bringing presents to children. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" (better known today as \"The Night Before Christmas\") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on 23 December 1823; the poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. Many of his modern attributes are established in this poem, such as riding in a sleigh that lands on the roof, entering through the chimney, and having a bag full of toys. St. Nick is described as being \"chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf\" with \"a little round belly\", that \"shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly\", in spite of which the \"miniature sleigh\" and \"tiny reindeer\" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from the old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen). \n\nA magazine article from 1853, describing American Christmas customs to British readers, refers to children hanging up their stockings on Christmas Eve for 'a fabulous personage' whose name varies: in Pennsylvania he is usually called 'Krishkinkle' but in New York he is 'St. Nicholas' or 'Santa Claus'. The author quotes Moore's poem in its entirety, saying that its descriptions apply to Krishkinkle too. \n\nAs the years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.\n\nThomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the 3 January 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly. Santa was dressed in an American flag, and had a puppet with the name \"Jeff\" written on it, reflecting its Civil War context.\nThe story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works, which included the caption \"Santa Claussville, N.P.\" A color collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled \"Santa Claus and His Works\" by George P. Webster, who wrote that Santa Claus's home was \"near the North Pole, in the ice and snow\". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, \"If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey.\" \n\nThe idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in the poem \"Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride\".\n\n\"Is There a Santa Claus?\" was the title of an editorial appearing in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply \"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus\", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas lore in the United States and Canada.\n\n20th century\n\nL. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book, further popularized Santa Claus. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not set in stone at the time, leaving Baum to give his \"Neclaus\" (Necile's Little One) a wide variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality was earned, much like his title (\"Santa\"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.\n\nImages of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colors used to promote the Coca-Cola brand. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising—White Rock Beverages had already used a red and white Santa to sell mineral water in 1915 and then in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923. White Rock Beverages, \"[http://www.bevnet.com/news/2006/12-18-2006-white_rock_coke_santa_claus.asp Coca-Cola's Santa Claus: Not The Real Thing!],\" BevNET.com, 18 December 2006 . Retrieved 19 January 2007. Earlier still, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in the first few years of the 20th century. \n\nThe image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.\n\nIn 1937, Charles W. Howard, who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously-run such school in the world. \n\nIn some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner.\n\nThe 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, \"Mrs. Santa Claus\", and the 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the popular imagination.\n\nSeabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the \"story\" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 9th and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter.\n\nIn popular culture\n\nBy the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives and/or managers. An excerpt from a 2004 article, from a supply chain managers' trade magazine, aptly illustrates this depiction:\n\nIn the carton base, Santa has been voiced by several people, including Stan Francis, John Goodman, and Keith Wickham. \n\nSanta has been described as a positive male cultural icon:\n\nMany television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, a Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and \"short broads,” with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer. In The Sopranos episode, \"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power\", Paulie Gualtieri says he \"Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there... The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids a beatin', and gave the good ones toys.\"\n\nIn Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared the Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan. \n\nThe Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Thrissur, Kerala, India where on 27 December 2014, 18,112 Santas came overtaking the current record of Derry City, Northern Ireland. On 9 September 2007 where a total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helper which previously brought down the record of 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted to top the world record, but failed with only 3939 Santas. \n\nTraditions and rituals\n\nChimney tradition\n\nThe tradition of Santa Claus entering dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In pre-Christian Norse tradition, Odin would often enter through chimneys and fire holes on the solstice. In the Italian Befana tradition, the gift-giving witch is perpetually covered with soot from her trips down the chimneys of children's homes. In the tale of Saint Nicholas, the saint tossed coins through a window, and, in a later version of the tale, down a chimney when he finds the window locked. In Dutch artist Jan Steen's painting, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, adults and toddlers are glancing up a chimney with amazement on their faces while other children play with their toys. The hearth was held sacred in primitive belief as a source of beneficence, and popular belief had elves and fairies bringing gifts to the house through this portal. Santa's entrance into homes on Christmas Eve via the chimney was made part of American tradition through the poem \"A Visit from St. Nicholas\" where the author described him as an elf. \n\nChristmas Eve rituals\n\nIn the United States and Canada, children traditionally leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies; in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer, and mince pies instead. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, it is common for children to leave him rice porridge with cinnamon sugar instead. In Ireland it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies.\n\nIn Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) comes on the night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden colored birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve \"Little Jesus\" comes and gives gifts for everyone.\n\nIn Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in the evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day.\n\nNew Zealander, British, Australian, Irish, Canadian, and American children also leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will \"put out their shoe\" (leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed, sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond). The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued.\n\nOther Christmas Eve Santa Claus rituals in the United States include reading A Visit from St. Nicholas or other tale about Santa Claus, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated program on television (such as the aforementioned Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and similar specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among many others), and the singing of Santa Claus songs such as \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", \"Here Comes Santa Claus\", and \"Up on the House Top\". Last minute rituals for children before going to bed include aligning stockings at the mantelpiece or other place where Santa cannot fail to see them, peeking up the chimney (in homes with a fireplace), glancing out a window and scanning the heavens for Santa's sleigh, and (in homes without a fireplace) unlocking an exterior door so Santa can easily enter the house. Tags on gifts for children are sometimes signed by their parents \"From Santa Claus\" before the gifts are laid beneath the tree.\n\nHo, ho, ho\n\nHo ho ho is the way that many languages write out how Santa Claus laughs. \"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!\" It is the textual rendition of a particular type of deep-throated laugh or chuckle, most associated today with Santa Claus and Father Christmas, it was connected in the 17th century with the English mythological figure of Puck.\n\nThe laughter of Santa Claus has long been an important attribute by which the character is identified, but it also does not appear in many non-English-speaking countries. The traditional Christmas poem A Visit from St. Nicholas relates that Santa has:\n\n. . . a little round bellyThat shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly\n\nHome\n\nSanta Claus's home traditionally includes a residence and a workshop where he creates—often with the aid of elves or other supernatural beings—the gifts he delivers to good children at Christmas. Some stories and legends include a village, inhabited by his helpers, surrounding his home and shop.\n\nIn North American tradition (in the United States and Canada), Santa lives on the North Pole, which according to Canada Post lies within Canadian jurisdiction in postal code H0H 0H0 (a reference to \"ho ho ho\", Santa's notable saying, although postal codes starting with H are usually reserved for the island of Montreal in Québec). On 23 December 2008, Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, formally awarded Canadian citizenship status to Santa Claus. \"The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete,\" Kenney said in an official statement. \n\nThere is also a city named North Pole in Alaska where a tourist attraction known as the \"Santa Claus House\" has been established. The US postal service uses the city's zip code of 99705 as their advertised postal code for Santa Claus. A Wendy's in North Pole, AK has also claimed to have a \"sleigh fly through\". \n\nEach Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their territory. Norway claims he lives in Drøbak. In Denmark, he is said to live in Greenland (near Uummannaq). In Sweden, the town of Mora has a theme park named Tomteland. The national postal terminal in Tomteboda in Stockholm receives children's letters for Santa. In Finland, Korvatunturi has long been known as Santa's home, and two theme parks, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park are located near Rovaniemi. In Belarus there is a home of Ded Moroz in Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park. \n\nParades, department stores, and shopping malls\n\nSanta Claus appears in the weeks before Christmas in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. The practice of this has been credited to James Edgar, as he started doing this in 1890 in his Brockton, Massachusetts department store. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actors (often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore associated with Santa. Santa's function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by listening to their wishlist while having them sit on his knee (a practice now under review by some organisations in Britain, and Switzerland ). Sometimes a photograph of the child and Santa are taken. Having a Santa set up to take pictures with children is a ritual that dates back at least to 1918. \n\nThe area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously \"Santa's Grotto\", \"Santa's Workshop\" or a similar term. In the United States, the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City—he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. This was popularized by the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street with Santa Claus being called Kris Kringle. The Macy's Santa Claus in New York City is often said to be the real Santa. Essayist David Sedaris is known for the satirical SantaLand Diaries he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which were turned into a famous radio segment and later published.\n\nQuite often the Santa, if and when he is detected to be fake, explains that he is not the real Santa and is helping him at this time of year. Most young children accept this explanation. At family parties, Santa is sometimes impersonated by the male head of the household or other adult male family member.\n\nIn Canada, malls operated by Oxford Properties established a process by which autistic children could visit Santa Claus at the mall without having to contend with crowds. The malls open early to allow entry only to families with autistic children, who have a private visit with Santa Claus. In 2012, the Southcentre Mall in Calgary was the first mall to offer this service. \n\nThere are schools offering instruction on how to act as Santa Claus. For example, children's television producer Jonathan Meath studied at the International School of Santa Claus and earned the degree Master of Santa Claus in 2006. It blossomed into a second career for him, and after appearing in parades and malls, he appeared on the cover of the American monthly Boston Magazine as Santa. There are associations with members who portray Santa; for example, Mr. Meath is a board member of the international organization called Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas.\n\nLetter writing to Santa\n\nWriting letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. Some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. Girls generally write longer but more polite lists and express the nature of Christmas more in their letters than in letters written by boys. Girls also more often request gifts for other people. \n\nMany postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus. These letters may be answered by postal workers and/or outside volunteers. Writing letters to Santa Claus has the educational benefits of promoting literacy, computer literacy, and e-mail literacy. A letter to Santa is often a child's first experience of correspondence. Written and sent with the help of a parent or teacher, children learn about the structure of a letter, salutations, and the use of an address and postcode. \n\nAccording to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the oldest Santa letter answering effort by a national postal system. The USPS Santa letter answering effort started in 1912 out of the historic James Farley Post Office in New York, and since 1940 has been called \"Operation Santa\" to ensure that letters to Santa are adopted by charitable organizations, major corporations, local businesses and individuals in order to make children's holiday dreams come true from coast to coast. Those seeking a North Pole holiday postmark through the USPS, are told to send their letter from Santa or a holiday greeting card by 10 December to: North Pole Holiday Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998. \n\nIn 2006, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, France's Postal Service received the most letters for Santa Claus or \"Père Noël\" with 1,220,000 letters received from 126 countries. France's Postal Service in 2007 specially recruited someone to answer the enormous volume of mail that was coming from Russia for Santa Claus.\n\nOther interesting Santa letter processing information, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, are:\n* Countries whose national postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019), United Kingdom (750,000).\n* In 2006, Finland's national postal operation received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France's Postal Service from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries, and Slovakia from 20 countries.\n* In 2007, Canada Post replied to letters in 26 languages and Deutsche Post in 16 languages.\n* Some national postal operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail through the national postal operators, proving that children still write letters. National postal operators offering the ability to use an on-line web form (with or without a return e-mail address) to Santa and obtain a reply include Canada Post (on-line web request form in English and French), France's Postal Service (on-line web request form in French), and New Zealand Post (on-line web request form in English). In France, by 6 December 2010, a team of 60 postal elves had sent out reply cards in response to 80,000 e-mail on-line request forms and more than 500,000 physical letters.\n\nCanada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0 (see also: Ho ho ho). (This postal code, in which zeroes are used for the letter \"O\" is consistent with the alternating letter-number format of all Canadian postal codes.) Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poor communities, or from children's hospitals, and give them presents they would not otherwise receive. In 2009, 1,000 workers answered 1.1 million letters and 39,500 e-mail on-line request forms from children in 30 different languages, including Braille.\n\nIn Britain it was traditional for some to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However this has been found to be less efficient than the use of the normal postal service, and this tradition is dying out in modern times, especially with few homes having open fires.\nAccording to the Royal Mail website, Santa's address for letters from British children is: Santa/Father Christmas, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ \n\nIn Mexico and other Latin American countries, besides using the mail, sometimes children wrap their letters to a small helium balloon, releasing them into the air so Santa magically receives them.'Letters to Santa Claus'. (2000). In The World Encyclopedia of Christmas. Gerry Bowler, Editor. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited. pp. 131–132.\n\nIn 2010, the Brazilian National Post Service, \"Correios\" formed partnerships with public schools and social institutions to encourage children to write letters and make use of postcodes and stamps. In 2009, the Brazilian National Post Service, \"Correios\" answered almost two million children's letters, and spread some seasonal cheer by donating 414,000 Christmas gifts to some of Brazil's neediest citizens.\n\nThrough the years, the Finnish Santa Claus (Joulupukki or \"Yule Goat\") has received over eight million letters. He receives over 600,000 letters every year from over 198 different countries with Togo being the most recent country added to the list. Children from Great Britain, Poland and Japan are the busiest writers. The Finnish Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi, however the Santa Claus Main Post Office is situated in Rovaniemi precisely at the Arctic circle. His address is: Santa Claus' Main Post Office, Santa Claus Village, FIN-96930 Arctic Circle. The post office welcomes 300,000 visitors a year, with 70,000 visitors in December alone.\n\nChildren can also receive a letter from Santa through a variety of private agencies and organizations, and on occasion public and private cooperative ventures. An example of a public and private cooperative venture is the opportunity for expatriate and local children and parents to receive postmarked mail and greeting cards from Santa during December in the Finnish Embassy in Beijing, People's Republic of China, Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland, and the People's Republic of China Postal System's Beijing International Post Office. Parents can order a personalized \"Santa letter\" to be sent to their child, often with a North Pole postmark. The \"Santa Letter\" market generally relies on the internet as a medium for ordering such letters rather than retail stores. \n\nSanta tracking, Santa websites and email to and from Santa\n\nOver the years there have been a number of websites created by various organizations that have purported to track Santa Claus. Some, such as NORAD Tracks Santa, the Airservices Australia Tracks Santa Project, the Santa Update Project, and the MSNBC and Bing Maps Platform Tracks Santa Project have endured. Others, such as the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's Tracks Santa Project, the Santa Retro Radar – Lehigh Valley Project, and the NASA Tracks Santa Project, have fallen by the wayside.\n\nIn 1955, a Sears Roebuck store in Colorado Springs, Colorado, gave children a number to call a \"Santa hotline\". The number was mistyped and children called the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) on Christmas Eve instead. The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first call for Santa and responded by telling children that there were signs on the radar that Santa was indeed heading south from the North Pole. A tradition began which continued under the name NORAD Tracks Santa when in 1958 Canada and the United States jointly created the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). This tracking can now be done via the Internet and NORAD's website.\n\nIn the past, many local television stations in the United States and Canada likewise claimed they \"tracked Santa Claus\" in their own metropolitan areas through the stations' meteorologists. In December 2000, the Weather Channel built upon these local efforts to provide a national Christmas Eve \"Santa tracking\" effort, called \"SantaWatch\" in cooperation with NASA, the International Space Station, and Silicon Valley-based new multimedia firm Dreamtime Holdings. In the 21st century, most local television stations in the United States and Canada rely upon outside established \"Santa tracking\" efforts, such as NORAD Tracks Santa. \n\nMany other websites are available year-round that are devoted to Santa Claus and purport to keep tabs on his activities in his workshop. Many of these websites also include email addresses which allow children to send email to Santa Claus. Most of these websites use volunteer living people as \"elves\" to answer email sent to Santa. Some websites, such as Santa's page on Microsoft's Windows Live Spaces, however have used or still use \"bots\" to compose and send email replies, with occasional unfortunate results. \n\nIn addition to providing holiday-themed entertainment, \"Santa tracking\" websites raise interest in space technology and exploration, serve to educate children in geography. and encourage them to take an interest in science. \n\nCriticism\n\nCalvinist and Puritan opposition\n\nSanta Claus has partial Christian roots in Saint Nicholas, particularly in the high church denominations that practice the veneration of him, in addition to other saints. In addition, he has also become a secular representation of Christmas. In light of these facts, the character has sometimes been the focus of controversy over the holiday and its meanings. Some Christians, particularly Calvinists and Puritans, disliked the idea of Santa Claus, as well as Christmas in general, believing that the lavish celebrations were not in accordance with their faith. Other nonconformist Christians condemn the materialist focus of contemporary gift giving and see Santa Claus as the symbol of that culture. \n\nCondemnation of Christmas was prevalent among the 17th-century English Puritans and Dutch Calvinists who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. The American colonies established by these groups reflected this view. Tolerance for Christmas increased after the Restoration but the Puritan opposition to the holiday persisted in New England for almost two centuries. In the Dutch New Netherland colony, season celebrations focused on New Year's Day.\n\nFollowing the Restoration of the monarchy and with Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686). \n\nReverend Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracted controversy in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a \"pagan goblin\" (translated from Danish) after Santa's image was used on fundraising materials for a Danish welfare organization Clar, 337. A number of denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus, which range from acceptance to denouncement. \n\nMary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science movement, wrote: \"the children should not be taught that Santa Claus has aught to do with this [Christmas] pastime. A deceit or falsehood is never wise. Too much cannot be done towards guarding and guiding well the germinating and inclining thought of childhood. To mould aright the first impressions of innocence, aids in perpetuating purity and in unfolding the immortal model, man in His image and likeness.\" \n\nOpposition under state atheism\n\nUnder the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of state atheism in the Soviet Union after its foundation in 1917, Christmas celebrations—along with other religious holidays—were prohibited as a result of the Soviet antireligious campaign. The League of Militant Atheists encouraged school pupils to campaign against Christmas traditions, among them being Santa Claus and the Christmas tree, as well as other Christian holidays including Easter; the League established an antireligious holiday to be the 31st of each month as a replacement. \n\nSymbol of commercialism\n\nIn his book Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus, writer Jeremy Seal describes how the commercialization of the Santa Claus figure began in the 19th century. \"In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells,\" said Seal in an interview.[http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID\n611 How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory], interview with Jeremy Seal at the St. Nicholas Center. \"They are simply the actual bearings in the world from which he emerged. At that time, sleighs were how you got about Manhattan.\"\n\nWriting in Mothering, writer Carol Jean-Swanson makes similar points, noting that the original figure of St. Nicholas gave only to those who were needy and that today Santa Claus seems to be more about conspicuous consumption:\n\nIn the Czech Republic, a group of advertising professionals started a website against Santa Claus, a relatively recent phenomenon in that country., Hilda Hoy, The Prague Post, 13 December 2006. \"Czech Christmases are intimate and magical. All that Santa stuff seems to me like cheap show business,\" said David König of the Creative Copywriters Club, pointing out that it is primarily an American and British tradition. \"I'm not against Santa himself. I'm against Santa in my country only.\" In the Czech tradition, presents are delivered by Ježíšek, which translates as Baby Jesus.\n\nIn the United Kingdom, Father Christmas was historically depicted wearing a green cloak. As Father Christmas has been increasingly merged into the image of Santa Claus, that has been changed to the more commonly known red suit. One school in the seaside town of Brighton banned the use of a red suit erroneously believing it was only indicative of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign. School spokesman Sarah James said: \"The red-suited Santa was created as a marketing tool by Coca-Cola, it is a symbol of commercialism.\" However, Santa had been portrayed in a red suit in the 19th century by Thomas Nast among others. \n\nControversy about deceiving children\n\nVarious psychologists and researchers have wrestled with the ways that parents collude to convince young children of the existence of Santa Claus, and have wondered whether children's abilities to critically weigh real-world evidence may be undermined by their belief in this or other imaginary figures. For example, University of Texas psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley helped conduct a study that found, to the contrary, that children seemed competent in their use of logic, evidence, and comparative reasoning even though they might conclude that Santa Claus or other fanciful creatures were real:\n\nWoolley posited that it is perhaps \"kinship with the adult world\" that causes children not to be angry that they were lied to for so long. However, the criticism about this deception is not that it is a simple lie, but a complicated series of very large lies.[http://atheism.about.com/od/christmasholidayseason/p/SantaMyth.htm Santa Claus: Should Parents Perpetuate the Santa Claus Myth?], Austin Cline, About.com Objections include that it is unethical for parents to lie to children without good cause, and that it discourages healthy skepticism in children. With no greater good at the heart of the lie, some have charged that it is more about the parents than it is about the children. For instance, writer Austin Cline posed the question: \"Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?\"\n\nOthers, however, see no harm in the belief in Santa Claus. Psychologist Tamar Murachver said that because it is a cultural, not parental, lie, it does not undermine parental trust. The New Zealand Skeptics also see no harm in parents telling their children that Santa is real. Spokesperson Vicki Hyde said, \"It would be a hard-hearted parent indeed who frowned upon the innocent joys of our children's cultural heritage. We save our bah humbugs for the things that exploit the vulnerable.\"\n\nDr. John Condry of Cornell University interviewed more than 500 children for a study of the issue and found that not a single child was angry at his or her parents for telling them Santa Claus was real. According to Dr. Condry, \"The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not\".","Donald Duck - The Disney Wiki - Wikia\nDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a US cartoon character ... name to be Donald Fauntleroy Duck ... a character named Donald Duck, the character's first ...\nDonald Duck | The Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nDuck\nRelatives\nLudwig Von Drake (uncle) Scrooge McDuck (uncle) Huey, Dewey, and Louie (nephews) Grandma Duck (grandmother) Bertie Duck (aunt) Della Duck (sister) Quackmore Duck (father) Hortense McDuck (mother) Duffy Duck (brother) Gus Goose (second cousin)\nDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a US cartoon character from the Walt Disney Company . Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt , cap, and a red bow tie , but no trousers (except when he goes swimming). Donald's most famous personality trait is his easily provoked and explosive temper. Donald Duck has been officially honored as the third most popular cartoon character of all time with Bugs Bunny of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies at number two and fellow Disney creation Mickey Mouse who is number one. Template:Citation needed\nAccording to the Disney canon, Donald's birthday is officially recognized as June 9, 1934, [1] the day his debut film, The Wise Little Hen , was released. However, in The Three Caballeros (1944), his birthday is given as simply \" Friday the 14th \", which is in reference to the bad luck he experiences in almost all his cartoon appearances. Donald's Happy Birthday (short) gives his birthday as March 13. The 1942 short \"Donald Gets Drafted\", as well as the Quack Pack episode All Hands on Duck, also reveals his full name to be Donald Fauntleroy Duck. [2] Donald Duck is a well-known and very popular character especially in Scandinavian countries. [3] Donald's 1942 short film, Der Fuehrer's Face , won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film .\nDonald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence \"Ducky\" Nash up to his death in 1985. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Nash's rise to stardom. Template:Citation needed In 1969, Disney On Parade which toured all over the United States and Canada, hired Valeria G. as the live voice of Donald Duck. Ms. Valeria did the voice for 3 years. Since 1985, Donald has been voiced by Tony Anselmo , who was trained by Nash for the role. Template:Citation needed\nContents\nTemplate:Details\nDonald Duck as he first appeared in The Wise Little Hen\nAccording to Adeytola in his introduction to The Chronological Donald - Volume 1, Donald was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his \"duck\" voice while reciting \" Mary had a little lamb \". Mickey Mouse had lost some of his edge since becoming a role model for children and Disney wanted a character that could portray some of the more negative character traits he could no longer bestow on Mickey.\nDonald Duck first appeared in the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934 (though he is mentioned in a 1931 Disney storybook). Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy , is similar to his modern look—the feather and beak colors are the same, as is the blue sailor shirt and hat—but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet smaller. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story.\nBurt Gillett , director of The Wise Little Hen, Template:Citation needed brought Donald back in his Mickey Mouse cartoon, Orphan's Benefit on August 11, 1934. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and Little Boy Blue , but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans heckle him, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come.\nDonald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing regularly in most Mickey Mouse cartoons. Cartoons from this period, such as the 1935 cartoon The Band Concert —in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of The William Tell Overture by playing Turkey in the Straw —are regularly hailed by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also minted the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon Mickey's Service Station.\nIn 1936, Donald was redesigned to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was the January 9, 1937 Ben Sharpsteen cartoon, Don Donald . This short also introduced a love interest of Donald's, Donna Duck, who evolved into Daisy Duck . [4] Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie , would make their first animated appearance a year later in the April 15, 1938 film, Donald's Nephews , directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip by Al Taliaferro , see below). By 1938, at most, polls showed that Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse. [5] Disney could, however, help Mickey regain popularity by redesigning him, giving him his most appealing design as production for the Fantasia segment \"The Sorcerer's Apprentice\" began in 1938.\nAfter his early appearances, he went on to become part of the famed trio Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. He appeared in many of the cartoons, includingMoving Day.\nWartime Donald\nDonald in Der Fuehrer's Face\nSeveral of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films, most notably Der Fuehrer's Face , released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in \"Nutzi Land\" ( Nazi Germany ). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Führer ( Adolf Hitler ). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey until he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a dream. At the end of the short Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1942 Academy Award for Animated Short Film . Der Fuehrer's Face was also the first of two animated short films to be set during the War to win an Oscar, the other being Tom & Jerry 's short film, The Yankee Doodle Mouse .\nOther notable shorts from this period include the Army shorts, seven films that follow Donald's life in the US Army from his drafting to his life in basic training under sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include:\nCommando Duck (June 2, 1944)\nDonald Gets Drafted also featured Donald having a physical examination before joining the army. According to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue, which is a type of color blindness . Also in this cartoon sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline.\nThanks to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of WWII Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the B-29 Superfortress . Template:Citation needed\nDonald also appears as a mascot—such as in the Army Air Corps 309th Fighter Squadron [6] and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary , which showed Donald as a fierce-looking pirate ready to defend the American coast from invaders. [7] Donald also appeared as a mascot emblem for: 415th Fighter Squadron ; 438th Fighter Squadron ; 479th Bombardment Squadron ; 531st Bombardment Squadron .\nDuring World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported into Occupied Europe . Since this cost Disney a lot of money, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South America . He decided to make a trip through various Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature length animation films. The first was Saludos Amigos , which consisted of four short segments, two of them with Donald Duck. In the first, he meets his parrot pal Jose Carioca . The second film was The Three Caballeros , in which he meets his rooster friend Panchito .\nPost-war animation\nEdit\nMany of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the chipmunks Chip 'n Dale , or by other characters such as Humphrey the Bear , Spike the Bee , Bootle Beetle , the Aracuan Bird , Louie the Mountain Lion , or a colony of ants. In effect, the Disney artists had reversed the classic screwball scenario perfected by Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the instigator of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them.\nThe post-war Donald also starred in educational films , such as Donald in Mathmagic Land and How to Have an Accident at Work (both 1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and the Disneyland television show (1959). For this latter show, Donald's uncle Ludwig von Drake was created in 1961.\nClarence Nash voiced Donald for the last time in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), making Donald the only character in the film to be voiced by his original actor. Since Nash's death in 1985, Donald's voice has been provided by Tony Anselmo , who was mentored by Nash. Anselmo's voice is heard for the first time in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? . In this movie, Donald has a piano duel scene with the Warner Brothers duck Daffy Duck voiced by Mel Blanc and wins the duel with a cartoon cannon . Many fans call this confrontation between the 2 ducks as one of the greatest duels in animation history.\nDonald has since appeared in a lot of different television shows and (short) animated movies. He played roles in Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Prince and the Pauper and made a cameo appearance in A Goofy Movie .NOTE:During a Darkwing Duck episode a star is scorned and everyone thinks Darkwing is Donald. He later dresses up like Donald to sneak in with Goslyn dressed as Huey\nDonald had a rather small part in the animated television series DuckTales . There, Donald joins the Navy, and leaves his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie with their Uncle Scrooge , who then has to take care of them. Donald's role in the overall series was fairly limited, as he only ended up appearing in a handful of episodes. Some of the stories in the series were loosely based on the comics by Carl Barks .\nDonald made some cameo appearances in Bonkers , before getting his own television show Quack Pack . This series featured a modernized Duck family. Donald was no longer wearing his sailor suit and hat, but a Hawaiian shirt. Huey, Dewey, and Louie now are teenagers, with distinct clothing, voices, and personalities. Daisy Duck has lost her pink dress and bow and has a new hairdo. Oddly enough, no other family members, besides Ludwig von Drake, appear in Quack Pack, and all other Duckburg citizens are humans, and not dogs.\nHe made a comeback as the star of the \"Noah's Ark\" segment of Fantasia 2000 , as first mate to Noah. Donald musters the animals to the Ark and attempts to control them. He tragically believes that Daisy has been lost, while she believes the same of him, but they are reunited at the end. All this to Edward Elgar 's Pomp and Circumstance Marches 1o4.\nIn an alternate opening for the 2005 Disney film Chicken Little , Donald would have made a cameo appearance as \"Ducky Lucky\". This scene can be found on the Chicken Little DVD.\nDonald also played an important role in Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse . In the latter show, he is the co-owner of Mickey's night club. He is in the TV show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as well.\nCharacterization\nEdit\nDonald's dominant personality trait is his short temper and, in contrast, his positive look on life. Many Donald shorts start with Donald in a happy mood, without a care in the world, until something comes and spoils his day. His anger is a great cause of suffering in the duck's life, and he has on multiple occasions got in over his head and lost competitions because of it. There are times when he fights to keep his temper, and he has succeeded a few times, but he always returns to his well known, aggressive self at the end of the day.\nDonald's aggressive nature is a double-edged sword however, and while it at times is a hindrance and even a handicap for him, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced against a threat of some kind, Donald may get frightened and even intimidated (mostly by Pete), but rather than getting scared, he gets mad and has taken up fights with ghosts , sharks , mountain goats and even the forces of nature . And, more often than not, Donald has come out on top.\nDonald can at times be a bit of a bully and a tease, especially against his nephews and Chip 'n Dale . As animator Fred Spencer once wrote:\nThe Duck gets a big kick out of imposing on other people or annoying them, but he immediately loses his temper when the tables are turned. In other words, he can dish it out, but he can't take it. [8]\nHowever, there is seldom any malice in Donald's pranks. He is never out to hurt anyone, and if he ever goes too far in his pranks he is always very regretful. In Truant Officer Donald , for example, when he is tricked into believing he accidentally killed Huey, Dewey and Louie he shows great remorse, blaming himself and willingly takes a kick handed out by one of the “angel” nephews. That is, of course, until he realizes he has been played a sap and directly loses his temper.\nDonald has also been shown to be a bit of a show-off. He likes to brag, especially when he is very skilled at something. This has a tendency to get him into trouble, however, as he also tends to get in over his head.\nStill, Donald has proven that he is a Jack of all Trades and are, among other things, a good fisher and hockey player.\nAmong his personality traits is his stubbornness and commitment. Even though Donald at times can be lazy, and he has stated many times that his favorite place is in the hammock , once he has committed to something he goes in for it 100%, sometimes going to extreme measures to reach his goal.\nPhrases\nEdit\nDonald has a few memorable phrases that he occasionally comes out with in given situations. \"What's the Big Idea!?\" is a common one, which Donald usually says when stumbling across other characters in the midst of planning some sort of retaliation or prank, and sometimes when certain things don't go as planned or don't work properly. \"Aw Phooey!\" is another memorable saying Donald makes, usually after giving up on a particular action or event. Another popular phrase Donald says, in particular to Daisy, is, \"Hiya, toots!\". \"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy\" is yet another common phrase Donald says, usually when he's very excited about something.\nHealth\nEdit\nA running gag in the Donald Duck comics is about his physical condition. Usually, some character close to Donald believes that because of his laziness, Donald needs to do some exercise, which annoys Donald. But, in spite of his apparent lazy condition, Donald proves that he is physically strong, as evidenced in one of his shorts, Sea Scouts, where Donald travels in a boat with his nephews, but a shark attacks the boat and Donald, after several misadventures, finally defeats the shark with a single punch.\nRivalry with Mickey Mouse\nEdit\nThrough out his career, Donald has shown that he's jealous of Mickey and wants his job as Disney's greatest star. This is very similar to the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck rivalry. In the early Disney shorts, Mickey and Donald were partners, but by the time The Mickey Mouse Club aired on television, it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight. One animated short that rivaled the famous Mickey Mouse March song was showing Huey, Dewey, and Louie as Boy Scouts and Donald as their Scoutmaster at a cliff near a remote forest and Donald leads them in a song mirroring the Mouseketeers theme \"D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K-! Donald Duck!\" The rivalry would cause Donald some problems, in a 1988 TV special , where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the kidnapping of Mickey, as he is considered to be the chief suspect, due to their rivalry. However, Donald did later get the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence. Walt Disney , in his Wonderful World of Color, would sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic birthday cake and commented how it was \"even bigger than Mickey's\", which pleased Donald. The clip was rebroadcast in November 1984 during a TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday, with Dick Van Dyke substituting for Walt.\nThe rivalry between Mickey and Donald has also been shown in Disney's House of Mouse . It was shown that Donald wanted to be the Club's founder and wanted to change the name from House of Mouse to House of Duck. However, in later episodes, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable.\nMickey Mouse has failed to realize how much Donald does not like him at times, and always counts him as one of his best friends. Despite the rivalry, Donald seems to be an honest friend of Mickey's, and will be faithful to him in tough situations, such as working with Mickey and Goofy as a team akin to The Three Musketeers . In the Kingdom Hearts games, Donald is quite loyal to Mickey, even briefly leaving Sora to follow King Mickey's orders.\nThe rivalry between Mickey and Donald is not unlike that of Warner Bros. characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck , and many animation fans have commented on the parallels present among the four characters, the main difference being that Bugs actually realises that Daffy doesn't always like him, and uses this fact to play tricks on the duck.\nNemesis\nIn the videogame Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers , he saves Daisy from Merlock .\nDonald in comics\nMain article: Donald Duck in comics\nWhile Donald's cartoons enjoy vast popularity in the United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their greatest popularity in many European countries, especially Sweden , Denmark , Norway , Finland and Iceland , but also Germany , Italy , the Netherlands , and Greece . Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the Walt Disney Company in Italy and by Egmont in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. In Germany, the comics are published by Ehapa which has since become part of the Egmont empire. Donald-comics are also being produced in The Netherlands and France. Donald also has been appeared in Japanese comics published by Kodansha and Tokyopop .\nEdit\nThough a 1931 Disney publication called Mickey Mouse Annual mentioned a character named Donald Duck, the character's first appearance in comic-strip format was a newspaper cartoon that was based on the short The Wise Little Hen and published in 1934. For the next few years, Donald made a few more appearances in Disney-themed strips, and by 1936, he had grown to be one of the most popular characters in the Silly Symphonies comic strip. Ted Osborne was the primary writer of these strips, with Al Taliaferro as his artist. Osborne and Taliaferro also introduced several members of Donald's supporting cast, including his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie .\nIn 1937, an Italian publisher named Mondadori created the first Donald Duck story intended specifically for comic books . The eighteen-page story, written by Federico Pedrocchi , is the first to feature Donald as an adventurer rather than simply a comedic character. Fleetway in England also began publishing comic-book stories featuring the duck.\nDevelopments under Taliaferro\nEdit\nA daily Donald Duck comic strip drawn by Taliaferro and written by Bob Karp began running in the United States on February 2, 1938; the Sunday strip began the following year. Taliaferro and Karp created an even larger cast of characters for Donald's world. He got a new St. Bernard named Bolivar , and his family grew to include cousin Gus Goose and grandmother Elvira Coot . Donald's new rival girlfriends were Donna and Daisy Duck . Taliaferro also gave Donald his very own automobile, a 1934 Belchfire Runabout , in a 1938 story.\nDevelopments under Barks\nCarl Barks (1994)\nIn 1942, Western Publishing began creating original comic-book stories about Donald and other Disney characters. Bob Karp worked on the earliest of these, a story called \" Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold \". The new publisher meant new illustrators, however: Carl Barks and Jack Hannah . Barks would later repeat the treasure-hunting theme in many more stories.\nBarks soon took over the major development of the comic-book version of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, the comic version of Donald diverged even further from his animated counterpart, becoming more adventurous, less temperamental, and more eloquent. Pete was the only other major character from the Mickey Mouse comic strip to feature in Barks' new Donald Duck universe .\nBarks placed Donald in the city of Duckburg , which he populated with a host of supporting players, including Neighbour Jones (1944), Uncle Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), April, May and June (1953), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), and Magica de Spell (1961) also John D. Rockerduck (1961). Many of Taliaferro's characters made the move to Barks' world as well, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Barks placed Donald in both domestic and adventure scenarios, and Uncle Scrooge became one of his favorite characters to pair up with Donald. Scrooge's popularity grew, and by 1952, the character had a comic book of his own. At this point, Barks concentrated his major efforts on the Scrooge stories, and Donald's appearances became more focused on comedy or he was recast as Scrooge's reluctant helper, following his rich uncle around the globe.\nFurther developments\nEdit\nDozens of writers continued to utilize Donald in their stories around the world.\nFor example the Disney Studio artists, who made comics directly for the European market. Two of them, Dick Kinney (1917–1985) and Al Hubbard (1915–1984) created Donald's cousin Fethry Duck .\nThe American artists Vic Lockman and Tony Strobl (1915–1991), who were working directly for the American comic books, created Moby Duck . Strobl was one of the most productive Disney artists of all time, and drew a lot of stories which Barks wrote and sketched after his retirement. In the 1990s and early 2000s, these scripts were re-drawn in a style closer to Barks' own by Dutch artist Daan Jippes .\nItalian publisher Mondadori created many of the stories that were published throughout Europe. They also introduced numerous new characters who are today well known in Europe. One example is Donald Duck's alter-ego, a superhero called Paperinik in Italian , created in 1969 by Guido Martina (1906–1991) and Giovan Battista Carpi (1927–1999).\nGiorgio Cavazzano and Carlo Chendi created Umperio Bogarto, a detective whose name is an obvious parody on Humphrey Bogart . They also created O.K Quack , an extraterrestrial Duck who landed on earth in a spaceship in the shape of a coin. He however lost his spaceship, and befriended Scrooge, and now is allowed to search through his moneybin time after time, looking for his ship.\nRomano Scarpa (1927–2005), who was a very important and influential Italian Disney artist, created Brigitta McBridge , a female Duck who is madly in love with Scrooge. Her affections are never answered by him, though, but she keeps trying. Scarpa also came up with Dickie Duck , the granddaughter of Glittering Goldie (Scrooge's possible love-interest from his days in the Klondike) and Kildare Coot , a nephew of Grandma Duck.\nItalian artist Corrado Mastantuono created Bum Bum Ghigno, a cynical, grumpy and not too good looking Duck who teams up with Donald and Gyro a lot.\nThe American artist William van Horn also introduced a new character: Rumpus McFowl , an old and rather corpulent Duck with a giant appetite and laziness, who is first said to be a cousin of Scrooge. Only later, Scrooge reveals to his nephews Rumpus is actually his half-brother. Later, Rumpus also finds out.\nWorking for the Danish editor Egmont, artist Daniel Branca (1951–2005) and script-writers Paul Halas and Charlie Martin created Sonny Seagull, an orphan who befriends Huey, Dewey and Louie, and his rival, Mr. Phelps.\nThe most productive Duck-artist today is Victor Arriagada Rios , who is better known under the name Vicar. He has his own studio where he and his assistants draw the stories sent in by Egmont. With writer/editors Stefan and Unn Printz-Påhlson, Vicar created the character Oona, a prehistoric duck princess who traveled to modern Duckburg by using Gyro's time-machine. She stayed, and is still seen in occasional modern stories.\nThe best-known and most popular Duck-artist of this time is American Don Rosa . He started doing Disney comics in 1987 for the American publisher Gladstone. He later worked briefly for the Dutch editors, but moved to work directly for Egmont soon afterwards. His stories contain many direct references to stories by Carl Barks, and he also wrote and illustrated a 12-part series of stories about the life of Scrooge McDuck , which won him two Eisner awards.\nOther important artists who have worked with Donald are Freddy Milton and Daan Jippes , who made 18 ten-pagers which experts claim were very difficult to separate from Barks' own work from the late 1940s.\nJapanese artist Shiro Amano worked with Donald on the graphic novel Kingdom Hearts based on the Disney- SquareEnix videogame.\nDonald Duck outside the United States\nDonald Duck has a slightly different character abroad. Template:Citation needed Template:How\nNordic Countries\nEdit\nTemplate:Ref improve section Donald Duck (Kalle Anka in Sweden, Anders And in Denmark, Andrés Önd in Iceland, Donald Duck in Norway and Aku Ankka in Finland) is a very popular character in Nordic countries. In the mid-1930s, Robert S. Hartman , a German who served as a representative of Walt Disney, visited Sweden to supervise the merchandise distribution of Sagokonst (The Art of Fables). Hartman found a studio called L'Ateljé Dekoratör, which produced illustrated cards that were published by Sagokonst. Since the Disney characters on the cards appeared to be exactly 'on-model', Hartman asked the studio to create a local version of the English-language Mickey Mouse Weekly . In 1937 L'Ateljé Dekoratör began publishing Musse Pigg Tidningen (Mickey Mouse Magazine), which had high production values and spanned 23 issues; most of the magazine's content came from local producers, while some material consisted of reprints from Mickey Mouse Weekly. The comic anthology ended in 1938. Hartman helped Disney establish offices in all Nordic countries before he left Disney in 1941. Donald became the most popular of the Disney characters in Scandinavia, and Scandinavians recognise him better than Mickey Mouse.{citation needed} Kalle Anka & Co, Donald's first dedicated Swedish anthology, started in September 1948. In 2001 the Finnish Post Office issued a stamp set to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of Donald's presence in Finland. By 2005 around one out of every four Norwegians read the Norwegian edition Donald Duck & Co. per week, translating to around 1.3 million regular readers. During the same year, every week 434,000 Swedes read Kalle Anka & Co. By 2005 in Finland the Donald Duck anthology Aku Ankka sold 270,000 copies per issue. Tim Pilcher and Brad Books, authors of The Essential Guide to World Comics, described the Donald anthologies as \"the Scandinavian equivalent of the UK's Beano or Dandy , a comic that generations have grown up with, from grandparents to grandchildren.\" [9]\nHannu Raittila, an author, says that Finnish people recognize an aspect of themselves in Donald; Raittila cites that Donald attempts to retrieve himself from \"all manner of unexpected and unreasonable scrapes using only his wits and the slim resources he can put his hands on, all of which meshes nicely with the popular image of Finland as driftwood in the crosscurrents of world politics.\" Finnish voters placing \"protest votes\" typically write \"Donald Duck\" as the candidate. [10]\nBy 1978, within Finland there was extensive debate over the morality of Donald Duck. Some observers criticized Donald for living with Daisy while not being married to her, for not wearing trousers, and for, in the words of the Library Journal , being \"too bourgeois \". Some observers from Finland from the same time period supported Donald, referring to him as a \"genuine proletarian...forced to sell his labor at slave rates to make a living\". The Library Journal stated that it had been revealed that, since 1950, Donald had secretly been married to Daisy. [11]\nAn annual Christmas special in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden is From All of Us to All of You , in Norway and Sweden with a title of Donald Duck and His Friends Celebrate Christmas. Segments include Ferdinand the Bull , a short with Chip 'n' Dale, a segment from Lady and the Tramp , a sneak preview of a coming Disney movie and concludes with Jiminy Cricket performing \"When You Wish Upon a Star\". To many people watching this special is a tradition as important as having a Christmas tree. Template:Citation needed\nGermany\nEdit\nDonald Duck is very popular in Germany, where Donald themed comics sell an average of 250,000 copies each week, mostly published in the kids’ weekly Micky Maus and the monthly Donald Duck Special (for adults). [12] The Wall Street Journal called Donald Duck \"The Jerry Lewis of Germany\", a reference to American star Jerry Lewis 's popularity in France. [12] Donald's dialogue in German comics tends to be more sophisticated and philosophical, he \"quotes from German literature, speaks in grammatically complex sentences and is prone to philosophical musings, while the stories often take a more political tone than their American counterparts\", [12] features especially associated with Erika Fuchs 's popular German translations of the comics created by The Good Duck Artist Carl Barks . Christian Pfeiler – president of D.O.N.A.L.D., a German acronym which stands for \"German Organization for Non-commercial Followers of Pure Donaldism\" – says Donald is popular in Germany because \"almost everyone can identify with him. He has strengths and weaknesses, he lacks polish but is also very cultured and well-read.\" [12] It is through this everyman persona that Donald is able to voice philosophical truths about German society that appeal to both children and adults. [12] Donald's writers and illustrators Carl Barks , Don Rosa and Ub Iwerks are well known in Germany, and have their own fan clubs .\nDisney theme parks\nEdit\nDonald Duck has played a major role in many Disney theme parks over the years. He has actually been seen in more attractions and shows at the parks than Mickey Mouse has. He has appeared over the years in such attractions as Mickey Mouse Revue , Mickey's PhilharMagic , Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years , Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros and the updated version of It's a Small World . He also is seen in the parks as a meet-and-greet character.\nOne long-ago-scrapped idea was also to have a bumper boat ride themed to Donald Duck. Template:Citation needed\nDonalds in children's books\nIn 2005, Donald received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd [16] joining other fictional characters such as Mickey Mouse , Bugs Bunny , Woody Woodpecker , The Simpsons , Winnie the Pooh , Kermit the Frog , Big Bird , Godzilla and Snow White .\nDonald's fame has led Disney to license the character for a number of video games, such as the Kingdom Hearts series, where Donald is the court magician of Disney Castle. He accompanies Goofy and a young boy named Sora on a quest to find King Mickey Mouse, defeat the Heartless and destroy the evil Organization XIII. He is voiced by Tony Anselmo in the English version and Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese version.\nAsteroid 12410 was named after Donald Duck.\nAppearances","Santa Claus:Where Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\nThe origin of Santa Claus depends on which country ... gave further impetus to the idea of presents. Santa Claus provided ... Santa Claus, or \"Father Christmas ...\nSanta Claus:Where Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\nAll comments should be directed to Michael McCann at > mccann@nc.rr.com\nSanta Claus:\nWhere Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\nThe origin of Santa Claus depends on which country's story you choose to adopt. Santa Claus comes from the Dutch words \"Sinter Klaas\", which is what they call their favorite saint, St. Nicholas. He is said to have died on December 6, A.D. 342. December 6th is celebrated as his feast day, and in many countries this is the day he arrives with his presents and punishments.\nNicholas lived in what is now called Turkey. He was born about A.D. 280 in the town of Patras. His parents were wealthy and he was well educated. Nicholas seems to have had a remarkable childhood. While still a young boy he was made Bishop of Myra, and because of this he has been known ever since as the Boy Bishop. He was renowned for his extreme kindness and generosity – often going out at night and taking presents to the needy. Santa's rise to fame can be traced to two legends – the three daughters and the children at the Inn.\nThe Three Daughters\nThe first story shows his generosity. There were three unmarried girls living in Patras who came from a respectable family, but they could not get married because their father had lost all his money and had no dowries for the girls. The only thing the father thought he could do was to sell them when they reached the age to marry. Hearing of the imminent fate, Nicholas secretly delivered a bag of gold to the eldest daughter, who was at the right age for marriage but had despaired of ever finding a suitor. Her family was thrilled at her good fortune and she went on to become happily married. When the next daughter came of age, Nicholas also delivered gold to her.\nAccording to the story handed down, Nicholas threw the bag through the window and it landed in the daughter's stocking, which she had hung by the fire to dry. Another version claims that Nicholas dropped the bag of gold down the chimney.\nBy the time the youngest daughter was old enough for marriage, the father was determined to discover his daughters' benefactor. He, quite naturally, thought that she might be given a bag of gold too, so he decided to keep watch all night. Nicholas, true to form, arrived and was seized, and his identity and generosity were made known to all. As similar stories of the bishop's generosity spread, anyone who received an unexpected gift thanked St. Nicholas.\nSt. Nicholas and Children\nAnother one of the many stories told about St. Nicholas explains why he was made a patron saint of children. On a journey to Nicaea, he stopped on the way for the night at an inn. During the night he dreamt that a terrible crime had been committed in the building. His dream was quite horrifying. In it three young sons of a wealthy Asian, on their way to study in Athens, had been murdered and robbed by the innkeeper. The next morning he confronted the innkeeper and forced him to confess. Apparently the innkeeper had previously murdered other guests and salted them down for pork or had dismembered their bodies and pickled them in casks of brine. The three boys were still in their casks, and Nicholas made the sign of the cross over them and they were restored to life.\nWhere did religion come in? …\nIn newly Christianized areas where the pagan Celtic and Germanic cults remained strong, legends of the god Wodan were blended with those of various Christian saints; Saint Nicholas was one of these. There were Christian areas where Saint Nicholas ruled alone; in other locations, he was assisted by the pagan Dark Helper (the slave he had inherited from the Germanic god Wodan). In other remote areas, where the Church held little power, ancient pockets of the Olde Religion controlled traditions. Here the Dark Helper ruled alone, sometimes in a most confusing manner, using the cover name of Saint Nicholas or \"Klaus,\" without in any way changing his threatening, Herne/Pan, fur-clad appearance. (This was the figure later used by the artist Nast as the model for the early American Santa Claus.)\nThe Catholic Saint Nicholas also had a confusing past. He was a compilation of two separate saints (one from Myra in Asia Minor, the other from Pinora), both of whom were – as the Church now admits – nothing more than Christianized water deities (possibly related to the Greco-Roman god Poseidon/Neptune.)\nAfter the Vikings raided the Mediterranean, they brought the Christian Saint Nicholas cult from Italy to northern Europe, and there proceeded to build Saint Nicholas churches for the protection of their sailors. When, for instance, William the Conqueror's fleet was hit by a storm during his invasion of England, he is known to have called out for protection to Saint Nicholas. Although in those days, church services only mentioned Saint Nicholas as the protector of seafarers, they initially condoned a blending of the Mediterranean Nicholas myths with some that had been attached to the pagan Germanic god Wodan and to those of the even earlier Herne/Pan traditions.\nBy absorbing such pagan feasts and traditions, the Christian Church could subtly bring in its own theology: in this case, establishing the good Saint Nicholas, bringer of love and gifts, while grudgingly allowing the presence of the Olde Religion's Herne/Pan, but only as a slave to Saint Nicholas. Thus, in parts of Europe, the Church turned Herne into Saint Nicholas' captive, chained Dark Helper; none other than Satan, the Dark One, symbolic of all evil. His only remaining tasks now were to carry the bag, scare maidens and children into devout behavior, and drag sinners and pagans off to the Christian hell. Yet, in spite of this character assassination, the poor masses continued to see in this enslaved Dark Helper a reflection of their own enslavement. He remained their Herne, thumbing his nose at the Christian Church; a mischievous, nostalgic reminder of the days of their own free and lusty pagan past.\nIn Holland and several other European countries, the Saint Nicholas figure is still highly esteemed. He appears as a tall dignified bearded white-haired old man dressed as a Catholic bishop complete with cloak, mytre, and pastoral staff, a seemingly genuine Catholic saint, but with a bizarre quite unsaintly habit of riding through the skies on a white horse followed by his Dark Helper. It seems that our Catholic saint inherited some of these customs from the pagan Germanic god Wodan, who had also been a bearded, white-haired old man, also dressed in a hat and cloak, carried a staff (or spear), rode a holy white horse and dragged along the same dark slave/helper on a chain.\nThe Dutch Sinterklaas brings gifts to good children, while bad children are harassed by Zwarte Piet, the Dark Helper, who – brandishing his peculiar broom-like rod – threatens to put sassy young women and naughty children in the sack in which he has carried the gifts, the idea being that he will take them away to some terrible place in Spain (where Saint Nicholas, for no known historical reason, was supposed to have come from). This, of course, never happens since the good Christian Sinterklaas always intervenes on behalf of the naughty child – provided the child promises to better his or her ways. The bad (pagan) Dark Helper is then admonished by Sinterklaas and ordered to stop threatening the children.\nNext, Sinterklaas distributes gifts to all \"who have been good\" (or until the twentieth century, to all \"who knew their prayers\"). In exchange, the children are supposed to leave food offerings for the saint's horse (usually hay and carrots), placed in either a shoe or stocking. In some areas, a glass of gin is also left as an offering for the good saint himself. When, by daybreak, the offerings have disappeared and been replaced by gifts, it proves that Sinterklaas has indeed paid a visit during the night.\nWe can clearly recognize in all this the lesson taught the pagans by the Christian Church, here represented by Saint Nicholas: You may enjoy your old fall/winter feasts, as long as you have learned your prayers and become good Christians. You will then be rewarded, but if you have not done so, you will be dragged away to hell by your own fearful, pagan past and its representative, the dark Herne/Pan – who is none other than Satan himself – unless you repent, here and now!\nSt. Nicholas with a European Flair …\nNicholas' natural affinity with children led him to be adopted as their patron saint, and his generosity to the custom of giving gifts to them on his feast day. The custom became especially widespread in the Low Countries, where the Dutch seamen had carried reports home of the saint's generosity. St. Nicholas was, however, a tremendously popular saint everywhere. Both Russia and Greece adopted him as their patron saint, and there are more churches in the world named after him than any of the apostles (especially The Netherlands).\nIn the European countries, St. Nicholas is usually pictured as a bearded saint, wearing ecclesiastical robes and riding a white horse. He carries a basket of gifts for the good children and a batch of rods for the naughty ones.\nIn old Czechoslovakia, Svaty Mikulas was brought down from heaven on a golden cord by an angel. When he arrived on Christmas Day, the children rushed to the table to say their prayers. If they did well, he told the angel who came with him to give them presents.\nIn parts of the Alps, \"ghosts of the field\" cleared the way for St. Nicholas. Behind them came a man wearing a goat's head, and a masked demon with a birch switch. In Germany, twelve young men dressed in straw and wearing animal masks danced along after St. Nicholas, ringing cowbells. At each house, after gifts were given, the masked men drove the young people out and pretended to beat them!\nFor the children of the Netherlands, December 6th is still more exciting than Christmas Day, for then St. Nicholas arrives. His arrival is celebrated and this is the day when children receive their presents. The excitement begins on the last Sunday in November, where everywhere can be heard the words, \"Look there is the steamer bringing us St. Nick!\"\nSt. Nicholas traditionally arrives by sea and disembarks at Amsterdam. He then mounts a white horse for a processional ride through the streets. Clothed in a bishop's scarlet cope and mitre, he wears white gloves and an enormous bishop's ring on his left hand. Black Peter accompanies Nicholas. St. Nicholas' arrival is greeted with cheers from the thousands of children and adults who line the route. Supposedly the bishop came from Spain. This story can be traced back to the sixteenth century when the Spanish dominated the Low Countries. The doublet, puffed velvet breeches, hose and plumed berets worn by his attendants – in particular Black Peter – are another forcible reminder of that period. Black Peter carries a large sack in which he is said to put all the boys and girls who have misbehaved during the course of the last 12 months. With bad kids in his sack, Black Peter then takes them away to Spain.\nImmigrants to the New World must have recognized something familiar in the little figure of St. Nick. His fur costume suggested Pelz-Nicol to a Bavarian, and the little gnome-like figure Jule-nissen to a Scandinavian. His elfish qualities rang bells with other nationalities too, for example the Irish with their tradition of the \"little people\". In many ways, Santa was recognizable for many people, which probably helps to explain why he was adopted so readily – a new, but familiar, symbol for a new country.\nGift-Giving Comes of Age\nAs in many other European countries, if presents were exchanged at this season, it was usually done at New Year's Eve and they were between adults rather than for children. In the 1840s, however, there was an increasing emphasis on Christmas Day. This seems to have happened for several reasons. The press – which now reached a far wider audience – stressed the fact that Christmas Day was the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Birthdays had always been a day for giving presents and it was a natural step to celebrate Jesus' birth by giving gifts on that day.\nBefore Christmas had been banned by Oliver Cromwell from 1644 to 1660, there had been an old custom of giving sweets and small presents to children on Christmas Day. This had virtually stopped, but now the custom was enjoying a revival, in part because of the many articles that were being written in the Christmas editions of magazines about the \"old traditions\" of Christmas. Another influential element was that, just as in America, children were becoming a greater focus in society, and it seemed appropriate to use this time to give them greater emphasis.\nThe importation of the Christmas tree from Germany, and the accompanying rituals of gift giving on Christmas Eve, gave further impetus to the idea of presents. Santa Claus provided the final influence. By the end of the century, Christmas Day was firmly fixed – in England at least – as a children's festival and the day on which presents were given.\nSanta Claus, or \"Father Christmas\", came back into English Christmas festivities when people were reminded of him from America. This injected new life into the English Christmas and was the answer to those who prayed that Father Christmas and his customs may be restored \"to some portion of their ancient honours\".\nCelebrations around the midwinter solstice had been used for gift giving since Roman times. At the Roman winter festival – called the Saturnalia because they worshipped Saturn as the god of everything that grew – the Romans had a public holiday that lasted for a week. Everyone took part in the feasting and games. Even the slaves were made free for a day and allowed to say and do what they liked. People exchanged presents; a custom called Strenae, as a symbol of goodwill. At first, these gifts were green boughs from the grove of the goddess Strenia. Later, gifts were given of sweet pastries to ensure a pleasant year, precious stones, gold or silver coins to symbolize wealth, and, the most popular of all, candles as a symbol of warmth and light. As the Roman Empire spread, so did this custom of gift giving to other parts of the world. Since the Saturnalia marked the beginning of a new year, in most countries presents were given on New Year's Day, not Christmas Day. The advent and spread of Christianity caused the gift giving to be moved to other times of the year.\nIn Germany, the packages of Christmas gifts were called \"Christ-bundles\" and often came in bundles of three. There was something rewarding, something useful and something for discipline. In the seventeenth century, a typical bundle would contain candy, sugarplums, cakes, apples, nuts, dolls and toys. The useful things would be clothes, caps, mittens, stockings, shoes and slippers. The gifts \"that belong to teaching, obedience and discipline\" were items such as ABC tables, paper, pencils, books and the \"Christ-rod\". This rod, attached to the bundle, was a pointed reminder for good behavior. Another way of presenting gifts was the old German custom of the \"Christmas ship\", in which bundles for children were stored away. To some extent, this custom was also adopted in England, but never with the same degree of popularity.\nIn the centuries before Santa Claus was well known, and still today in many countries where he has not been widely adopted, the child Jesus is the gift-bringer. He comes with the angels during the night, trimming the tree and putting the presents underneath.\nIn Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, the child Jesus (el Nino Jesus) brings Christmas gifts for the children during Holy Night. He is found in the morning in the previously empty crib, and all the presents are arranged in front of it.\nThe German name of the Christ Child is Christkind, commonly used in its diminutive form Christkindel. His messenger, a young girl with a golden crown who holds a tiny \"Tree of Light\", brings the gifts of the Christ Child. Still today in America, \"Kriss Kringle\" – deriving from the German Christkindel – is another name used for Santa Claus.\nSanta may appear under different names and in different guises. For example, French children leave their shoes by the fireplace on Christmas Eve so that they can be filled with gifts by Pere Noel. In the morning they find that the shoes have been filled and that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have also been hung on the branches of the tree.\nIn Sweden, the children wait eagerly for Jultomten, whose sleigh is drawn by the Julbocker, the goats of the thunder god Thor. With his red suit and cap, and a bulging sack on his back, he looks much like Santa Claus as we know him. In Denmark, too, the gift-bringer Julemanden carries a sack and is brought by reindeer. Elves known as Juul Nisse come from the attic, where they live, to help with the chores during Yuletide. The children put a saucer of milk or rice pudding for them in the attic and are delighted to find it empty in the morning.\nThe children of Poland receive their gifts from the stars, while in Hungary the angels bring them. Children of Syria receive theirs from the Youngest Camel on January 6th, which is Three Kings' Day. The children of Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and South American countries also receive gifts at this time as well as on Holy Night, but from the Three Kings.\nIn Italy, an unusual figure is the gift bringer for children. It is the \"Lady Befana\" or \"Bufana\" (La Befana), the ageless wanderer. Apparently La Befana refused to go to Bethlehem with the wise men when they passed her door, and she has been searching for the Christ Child ever since. On the Eve of Three Kings' Day (Epiphany), she wanders from house to house, peering into the faces of the children and leaving gifts. On that day, the children roam the streets, blowing their paper trumpets and receiving the gifts which La Befana has given them. Her name comes from the word \"Epiphany\".\nIn Russia, Kolyada is the name for Christmas. The word is derived from the old Roman Kalends, the celebration of the New Year at the first of January. Kolyada is also the name of the white-robed woman who rides a sled drawn by a single white horse from house to house on Christmas Eve to bring gifts to the children. Kolya (Nicholas), who leaves wheat cakes on the windowsills, joins her. The gift bringer in Russia is also a legendary woman, called Babushka (Grandmother). She is said to have misdirected the Magi when they inquired their way to Bethlehem. According to another version, she refused hospitality to the Holy Family on its way to Egypt. Whatever her fault, she repented of her unkindness and, to make reparation for her sin, she now goes about the world on Christmas Eve looking for the Christ Child and distributing gifts to the children.\nSanta Invades New York\nIn Europe, after the Reformation of the seventeenth century, the feast and veneration of Saint Nicholas was abolished in many places, including England, where a figure known as Father Christmas was substituted. Father Christmas is a winter deity, white-haired and bearded, who wears a crown of holly. The German settlers brought their beliefs and stories about Saint Nicholas with them to this country during the two great waves of immigration, in the early 1700s and the middle 1800s, and Hollanders brought their Sinter Klaas to their settlement of New Amsterdam. As the English colonized New York, they adopted their Father Christmas, who did not bring gifts, to these traditions, and Santa Claus as we know him today was born.\nWashington Irving first described Santa's sleigh flying. The sleigh was said to be pulled by reindeer – giving St. Nick an exotic link with the far north – a land of cold and snow where few, if any, people traveled and was hence mysterious and remote. The reindeer, however, were not first told by Irving. In a publication called The Children's Friend, a writer had described in 1821 \"Old Sante Claus with much delight, His reindeer drives this frosty night\". Washington Irving, in A History of New York, published in 1809, helped create the Americanized version of this mythic figure when he described the saint as \"laying a finger beside his nose\" and dropping gifts down chimneys.\nClement Moore's \"An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas\" (popularly known as \"The Night Before Christmas\"} was published on December 23, 1823. Clement C. Moore told of eight reindeer and gave their names. Some scholars think that this poem was actually written by Henry Livingston, Jr., and there is compelling evidence to support this point of view. Perhaps Livingston had written a poem that Moore adapted. Whatever the case, in the now-famous poem, Santa is described as a \"jolly old elf,\" with a team of eight reindeer, who comes to children on Christmas Eve Day, rather than December 6 or New Year's Day. One story recounts that Dr. Clement Moore was inspired to draw the present day Santa Claus by a short, chubby Dutch friend of his, who had sat by the fire telling stories of St. Nicholas.\nThomas Nast is another contributor to the American development of Santa Claus. Although he was born in Bavaria in the 1840s, he came to the United States when he was six years old. He grew up to become an editorial cartoonist and illustrator with flair; he is credited with creating and popularizing the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey, the symbols of the two major political parties. He is also considered the primary source for the way we picture Santa Claus because of a series of drawings he did for Harper's Weekly between 1863 and 1886. Not having the vaguest idea what Santa Claus was supposed to look like, the Bavarian-born Nast drew Santa Claus as the winter holiday figure he remembered from the mountain villages in his Bavarian Alps; a rather scary, less-than-friendly gnome, dressed in animal skins and carrying a short broom-like rod with which to threaten girls and boys.\nOver the years, Nast's Santa became a bit friendlier, until, in 1931, the Coca-Cola Company decided that they wanted to increase their sales to children. The law at the time did not allow advertisements showing children drinking Coca-Cola, so how about showing a friendlier Santa Claus, relaxing with a Coke served to him by children? The artist Haddon Sundblom was assigned to come up with a new, more commercial Santa. Instead of Moore's elf or Nast's grumpy gnome, Sundblom came up with a large, jolly fellow in the well-known, bright red suit with white fur trim (the Coca-Cola colors).\nTogether, Irving, Moore, Nast and Sundblom are largely responsible for the way we in America envision Santa Claus.\nCopyright 2001, Michael McCann with The Business Cafe. All Rights Reserved.","Hans Christian Andersen on iBooks - iTunes\nPreview and download books by Hans Christian Andersen, ... Mary Rodgers' musical Once Upon a Mattress ... Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (Unabridged)\nHans Christian Andersen on iBooks\nOpen iTunes to buy and download books\nBiography\nBorn in a slum and struggling through his youth to break through Denmark's class structure, Hans Christian Andersen always considered himself an outsider. And so his plays, novels, and especially his fairy tales are populated by outsiders, some of whom do not live happily ever after. The young Andersen initially hoped to rise from his impoverishment as an actor, but a theater director instead raised money to send him to school. In 1829, he gained his first success not as an actor but as a writer, with \"A Walk From Holmen's Canal to the East Point of the Island of Amager in the Years 1828 and 1829.\" Despite its unwieldy travelogue title, this was a tale of fantasy inspired by the work of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Still attached to the theater, Andersen went on to write several plays, few of which were particularly successful. He made his name more as a novelist, with such works as The Improviser (1835) and Only a Fiddler (1837). It was during this early phase of novel writing that Andersen also began turning out original little tales in folk style. The first of what would amount to 156 stories was published in 1835 as Eventyr, or Tales Told for Children. Eventyr was expanded in 1837 and a second volume came out in 1842. Related collections of stories were regularly issued through 1852, with a last publication, New Fairy Tales and Stories, finally arriving in 1872. One key to Andersen's popularity was his style, which was colloquial rather than literary. Yet he refused to write down to children; he introduced dark feelings and sinister turns of events and expressed special sympathy for outcasts, not just heroes and princesses. Some of his tales celebrated the triumph of goodness and were, indeed, overtly Christian, but others were pessimistic in the tradition of German Romanticism. Andersen was also a poet, and his verse has been set to music by such composers as Grieg, Nielsen, and Schumann (notably Der Spielmann). But his fairy tales have made the strongest impression on composers. Among musical adaptations, sometimes quite loose, of Andersen's tales are Prokofiev's song The Ugly Duckling, Mary Rodgers' musical Once Upon a Mattress (based on \"The Princess and the Pea\"), and Disney's animated feature The Little Mermaid.\nTop Books","Full text of \"A History of Nursery Rhymes\" - archive.org\nFull text of \"A History of Nursery Rhymes\" See other formats ...\nFull text of \"A History of Nursery Rhymes\"\nSee other formats\nThe Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Nursery Rhymes, by Percy B. Green This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A History of Nursery Rhymes Author: Percy B. Green Release Date: December 28, 2007 [EBook #24065] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES *** Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES BY PERCY B. GREEN LONDON GREENING & CO., LTD. 20, CECIL COURT CHARING CROSS ROAD 1899 Now Reissued by Singing Tree Press 1249 Washington Blvd., Detroit, Michigan. 1968 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 68-31082 Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst significant amendments are noted at the end of the text. Archaic and dialect spellings remain as printed. Greek text appears as originally printed. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION xiii PART I. CHAP. I. Prehistoric man--His language one of signs and sounds--The story of Psammetichus and the Two Babies--Idiom of language a survival of primitive peoples 1 II. Modern types of early man--Sign-language of people living on the globe to-day--The custom of the UVINZA grandees--The \"good-morning\" of the Walunga tribe--Signs of hospitality in the sign vocabulary of the North American Indian--The \"attingere extremis digitis\" of the Romans--Clap-hands one of the first lessons of the Nursery--The modern survival of hand-clapping--\"Is it rude to shake hands, Nurse?\"--A hypercritical mother--Plato's rebuke--Agesilaus and his children--Nursery classics and critical babies--\"Lalla, lalla, lalla\" of the Roman child--The well-known baby dance of \"Crow and caper, caper and crow\" 8 III. Writers on comparative religions show that entire religious observances come down to modern peoples from heathen sources--The Bohemian Peasant and his Apple Tree--A myth of long descent found in the rhyme of \"A Woman, a Spaniel, and Walnut Tree\"; our modern \"Pippin, pippin, fly away,\" indicates the same sentiment--The fairy tale of Ashputtel and the Golden Slipper, the legend from which came our story of Cinderella--Tylor on Children's Sports--The mystery of Northern Europe at Christ's coming--The Baby's Rattle--Ancestral worship follows sun and moon worship, and gives us the tales of fairies, goblins, and elves--Boyd Dawkins' story of the Isle of Man farmer--A Scandinavian Manxman--Modernised lullaby of a Polish mother--\"Shine, Stars\"--\"Rain, rain, go away\"--Wind making--LULLABIES--Bulgarian, German, \"Sleep, Baby, Sleep\"--The lullaby of the Black Guitar--\"Baby, go to Sleep\"--English version, \"Hush thee, my Babby\"--Danish lullaby of \"Sweetly sleep, my little Child\"--\"Bye, baby bunting\" 17 IV. Elf-land--Old-time superstitions--A custom of providing a feast for the dead known in Yorkshire, North-west Ireland, and in Armenia--The Erl King of Goethe--Ballet of the Leaf-dressed Girl--The Spirit of the Waters--An Irish legend of Fior Usga--Scotch superstition--Jenny Greenteeth of Lancashire--The Merrow of the West of Ireland--Soul Cages--The German rhyme of \"O Man of the Sea, come list unto Me\"--Mysticism among uncivilised races--The Corn Spirit--The Rye-wolf--\"The Cow's in the Corn\"--\"Ring a ring a rosies\"--\"Cuckoo Cherry Tree\"--Our earliest song, \"Summer is a-coming in\"--\"Hot Cockles\" at Yorkshire funerals--\"Over the Cuckoo Hill, I oh!\"--Indian Lore 34 PART II. I. GAMES--Whipping-tops, Marbles, etc.--\"I am good at Scourging of my Toppe,\" date 15--(?)--Dice and Pitch-and-Toss--\"Dab a Prin in my Lottery Book\"--\"A' the Birds of the Air\"--Hop Scotch--\"Zickety, dickety, dock\"--\"All good Children go to Heaven\"--\"Mary at the Cottage Door.\" MARRIAGE GAMES--\"If ever I Marry I'll Marry a Maid,\" 1557 A.D.--London Street Games--A Wedding--\"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you\"--\"Rosy Apple, Lemon, and Pear\"--The King of the Barbarines--\"I've got Gold and I've got Silver\"--A Lancashire Round Game--\"Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, I do\"--Round Game of the Mulberry Bush--\"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\"--\"Mother, buy me a Milking Can\"--\"Here comes a Poor Sailor from Botany Bay\"--\"Can I get there by Candle-light?\" 58 II. NURSERY GAMES--A Game for a Wet Day--\"Cows and Horses walk on four legs\"--A Game nearly 300 years old--\"There were two birds sitting on a stone\"--A B C Game--\"Hi diddle diddle\"--\"I Apprentice my Son\"--An Armenian Child's Game, \"Jack's Alive\"--Russian Superstition 80 III. JEWISH RHYMES--\"A kid, a kid my father bought for two pieces of money--a kid! a kid!\"--\"The house that Jack built\"--The Scotch version, \"There was an old woman swept her house and found a silver penny\"--The Chad Gadyâ--\"Who knoweth One\" 89 IV. An ancient English Rhyme--\"A Frog who would a-wooing go,\" the version of same sung in Henry VIII.'s reign--Songs of London Boys in Tudor times--\"Quoth John to Joan\"--\"Good parents in good manners do instruct their child\"--\"Tom a Lin\"--\"Bryan O'Lynn\"--Four songs sung by children in Elizabeth's reign--\"We'll have a Wedding at our House\" 100 V. CAT RHYMES--\"Pussy-cat, pussy-cat\"--\"Ten little mice sat down to spin\"--\"The rose is red, the grass is green\"--\"I Love little Pussy\"--\"Three Cats sat by the Fireside\"--\"There was a Crooked Man\"--\"Ding dong bell\"--Cat tale of Dick Whittington 112 VI. A Cradle Song of the first century, \"Sleep, O son, sleep\" 117 VII. JACK RHYMES 123 VIII. RIDDLE MAKING--German riddle of \"Seven White and Seven Black Horses\"--Greek riddle of the Two Sisters; another of \"The year, months, and days\"--\"Old Mother Needle\"--\"Purple, yellow, red, and green\"--\"As round as an Apple\"--\"Humpty Dumpty\"--The Phœnix fable--\"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home\" 127 IX. NURSERY CHARMS--\"When a twister twisting twists him a twist\"--An Essex Charm for a Churn--\"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John\" Charms. MONEY RHYMES--\"How a lass gave her lover three slips for a tester\"--\"Little Mary Esther\"--\"Sing a Song of Sixpence\"--\"There was an old man in a velvet coat\"--\"See-saw\"--\"One a penny\"--\"There's never a maiden in all the town\"--\"Pinky, pinky, bow-bell\"--Numerical Nursery Rhyme--Baker's Man 134 X. SCRAPS--\"Oh, slumber, my darling, thy sire is a knight\"--\"Bye, baby bumpkin\"--\"Nose, nose, jolly red nose\"--\"I saw a man in the moon\"--A Henry VIII. Rhyme--\"Peg-Peg\"--\"Round about\"--\"Father Long-legs\"--\"Two-penny rice\"--\"Come when you're called\"--A Game--\"Nanny Natty Coat\"--\"As I was going down Sandy Lane\"--\"There was an old woman\"--\"Robert Rowley\"--\"Little General Monk\"--\"Dr. Tom Tit\"--\"Tommy Trot\"--\"Goosey Gander\"--\"The White Dove sat on the Castell Wall\"--\"This Little Pig\"--\"Little Bo Peep\"--\"See-saw, Margery Daw\"--\"Four-and-twenty Tailors\"--\"Little Moppet\"--\"Hub-a-dub, dub\"--\"Diddle Dumpling\"--\"Jack and Jyll\"--\"The Cat and the Fiddle\"--\"Baa! baa! black sheep\"--\"Here comes a poor Duke out of Spain\"--\"Ride to the market\"--\"Cross-patch\"--\"The Man of the South\"--A Lancashire Fragment--\"Dickery dock\"--\"There was an old woman toss'd up in a blanket\"--\"We're all in the dumps\"--A Proverb--A Compliment--The Reverse 141 XI. SONGS--\"Will the love that you're so rich in?\"--\"Cock-a-doodle doo\"--\"King Cole\"--\"Rowsty dowt\"--\"There was a Little Man\"--The Creole's Song--\"Dapple Grey\"--\"Blue Betty\"--\"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son\"--\"Oh dear, what can the matter be?\"--\"Simple Simon\"--\"I saw a Ship a-sailing\"--\"David the Welshman\"--\"My Father he Died\" 152 XII. SCOTCH RHYMES--\"As I went up the Brandy Hill\"--Scotch version of Bryan O'Lynn--\"Cripple Dick\"--\"Pan, Pan, Play\"--\"Gi'e a thing\"--A Gruesome Riddle--\"King and Queen of Cantelon\"--Hidee--\"Wha's your Daddie?\"--\"The Moon is a Lady\" 162 XIII. A favourite Nursery Hymn--The Latin version of the Virgin's Lullaby 169 XIV. \"There was a maid came out of Kent\"--\"Martin Smart\"--\"Great A, little B\"--A Nursery Tale--\"A duck, a drake\"--\"Hark! Hark!\"--A B C Jingles--A Catch Rhyme 173 XV. BELL RHYMES--\"Banbury Cross\"--\"Gay go up, and gay go down\"--\"Mary, Mary, quite contrary\"--The Provençal \"Ding-dong\" 178 XVI. Political Significations of Nursery Rhymes--\"Come, Jack\"--\"A man of words\"--Pastorini, Lord Grey, Lyttleton, Dan O'Connell, and Lord Brougham caricatured 185 INTRODUCTION Without advancing any theory touching the progression of the mother's song to her babe, other than declaring lullabies to be about as old as babies, a statement which recalls to mind an old story, entitled \"The Owl's Advice to an Inquisitive Cat.\" \"O cat,\" said the sage owl of the legend, \"to pass life agreeably most of all you need a philosophy; you and I indeed enjoy many things in common, especially night air and mice, yet you sadly need a philosophy to search after, and think about matters most difficult to discover.\" After saying this the owl ruffled his feathers and pretended to think. But the cat observed that it was foolish to search after such things. \"Indeed,\" she purringly said, \"I only trouble about easy matters.\" \"Ah! I will give you an example of my philosophy, and how inquiry ought to be made. You at least know, I presume,\" scoffingly exclaimed the owl, \"that the chicken arises from the egg, and the egg comes from the hen. Now the object of true philosophy is to examine this statement in all its bearings, and consider which was first, the egg or the bird.\" The cat was quite struck with the proposition. \"It is quite clear,\" went on the owl, \"to all but the ignorant, one or other appeared first, since neither is immortal.\" The cat inquired, \"Do you find out this thing by philosophy?\" \"Really! how absurd of you to ask,\" concluded the feathered one. \"And I thank the gods for it, were it as you suggest, O cat, philosophy would give no delight to inquirers, for knowing all things would mean the end and destruction of philosophy.\" With this owl's apology nursery-lore is presented to my readers without the legion of verified references of that character demanded as corroborative evidence in the schools of criticism to-day. A few leading thoughts culled from such men as Tylor, Lubbock, Wilson, McLennan, Frazer, and Boyd Dawkins, etc., the experiences of our modern travellers among primitive races, Indian and European folk-lore, the world's credulities past and present, have helped me to fix the idea that amongst the true historians of mankind the children of our streets find a place. A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES PART I. CHAPTER I. \"The scene was savage, but the scene was new.\" Scientists tell us many marvellous tales, none the less true because marvellous, about the prehistoric past. Like the owl in the preface, they are not discouraged because the starting-point is beyond reach; and we, like the cat, should try to awaken our interest when evidences are presented to us that on first hearing sound like the wonderful tales of the Orient. Thousands of years ago in our own land dwelt two races of people, the River Drift-men and the Cave-dwellers. The River Drift-man was a hunter of a very low order, possessing only the limited intelligence of the modern Australian native. This man supported life much in the same way we should expect a man to do, surrounded by similar conditions; but, on the other hand, the Cave-dweller showed a singular talent for representing the animals he hunted, and his sketches reveal to us the capacity he had for seeing the beauty and grace of natural objects. Were a visit to be paid to the British Museum, his handicraft, rude when compared to modern art, could be seen in the fragments beyond all cavil recording his primitive culture. Without, then, any very great stretch of imagination we can picture to ourselves this man as belonging to one of the most primitive types of our race, having little occasion to use a vocabulary--save of a most meagre order; and indeed his language would embody only a supply of words just expressive of his few simple wants. Without daring to compare primitive culture with modern advancement, this prototype's appetites would have been possibly served for the greater part by sign-language, and the use of a few easy protophones. To-day, after the lapse of ages since this Second Stone Age, man went up and possessed the land; we with our new inventions, wants, and newly-acquired tastes have added a legion of scientifically constructed sounds, built up on the foundation he laid with his first utterances, for language is not the outcome of race, but of social contact. As an interpolation the tale of the Egyptian Psammetichus is worth telling at this stage. Desirous of finding--as the ancients then thought existed--the original language of mankind, Psammetichus isolated two babies from birth in separate apartments, and for two years they were not allowed to hear the sound of a human voice. At the end of that time they were brought together and kept for a few hours without food. Psammetichus then entered the room, and both children uttered the same strange cry, \"Becos, Becos.\" \"Ah!\" said Psammetichus, \"'Becos, Becos,' why! that is Phrygian for bread,\" and Phrygian was said to have been the ancient universal language of man. Still, however one feels disposed to imagine what took place in the Baby Kingdom of these remote ages, brief allusions only will be made to the veiled past, when either sign-language, or relics, or myths of long descent are presented to us in the form of nursery-lore. How many thousands of years have gone by since the period known to scientists as the Pleistocene was here--a time when the whole of Britain and North-West Europe wore a glistening mantle of ice, and when man could scarce exist, save on the fringe of the south-east littoral of England--none can say. At all events it may be safely assumed that not till the end of the Pleistocene Era was Britain or Scandinavia the abode of man, when the fauna and flora assumed approximately their present condition, and the state of things called Recent by geologists set in. Whether the Aryans be accepted as the first people to inhabit our ice-bound shores in the remote past matters little, and from whence they sprang (according to Max Müller \"somewhere in Asia,\" or Dr. Schrader \"European Russia,\" or Herr Penka \"from the east to the far west of the Scandinavian Peninsula\") matters still less, \"for,\" says Professor Huxley, \"the speakers of primitive Aryan may have been (themselves) a mixture of two or more races, just as are the speakers of English or of French at the present time\"; and archæology takes us no further back than into the Neolithic or Second Stone Age, when the poetry of the human voice gave a dramatic value to the hitherto primitive sign-language limitation of the Old Drift-men. At this age, the Neolithic, arithmetical questions arising in the course of life would necessarily assume a vocal value instead of a digital one. No longer would fifteen be counted by holding out ten fingers and five toes, but an idiomatic phrase, descriptive of the former sign-language, \"_of two hands and one foot's worth_\" would be used, just as to-day an African would express the same problem in a number of cows, and as the comparatively modern Roman used such pictorial phrases as \"_to condemn a person of his head_.\" From this era, centuries before the Celt traversed our shores, \"the progress of civilisation\" has gone on in one unbroken continuity from the Second Stone Age man to the present time. CHAPTER II. \"O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam et vacet annales nostrorum audire laborum. Ante diem clauso componat Vesper Olympo.\"--VERGIL, _Æneid_, Book I. 372. \"O goddess, if I were to proceed retracing them from their first origin, and thou hadst leisure to hear the records of our labours before (the end), the Evening Star would lull the day to rest, Olympus being closed.\" However, granting the scientific imagination to assume a starting-point when the vast Ice Period was vanishing and language was not the test of race, but of social contact, it must be allowed that the River Drift-man was the first of his species that touched our shores, followed by the Cave-dwellers some thousands of years later; the latter man having his abode fixed to a locality, and his wanderings within prescribed limits. He may have, this prehistoric man, this Cave-dweller, chattered like a monkey in a patois understood only by his own family; but what is more reasonable to suppose than that the Drift-men of the marshes and coastlines had only a restricted use for vocal sounds, sign-language being expressive enough to meet their few wants? Meagre social conditions, peculiar isolation, savagery, strife for life, call for no complex language, but sign-language has the authority of people living on the globe to-day, not only amongst uncivilised races, but traces are seen in our very midst. The few examples of custom and signs given below will better illustrate the force of the statement. \"Amongst the Uvinza, when two grandees meet, the junior leans forward, bends his knees, and places the palms of his hands on the ground, one on either side his feet, while the senior claps hands over him six or seven times.\" In the morning among the Walunga all the villagers turn out, and a continuous clapping is kept up to the vocalisation of a shrill \"Kwi-tata?\" or \"How do you do?\" Two special signs for \"good\" are in the sign-vocabulary of the North American Indians, and are worth recording. The person greeting holds the right hand, back up, in front of and close to the heart, with the fingers extended and pointing to the left. Another habit is that of passing the open right hand, palm downwards, from the heart, towards the person greeted. A stranger making his appearance on the frontier line of an Indian camp seldom fails to recognise the true sentiment of the chief's salutation, the extended fingers on the left side meaning-- \"You are near my heart--expect no treachery,\" a most solemn surety; while the hand sent from the heart towards the visitor seems to say-- \"I extend hospitality to you.\" The \"attingere extremis digitis\" of the Romans expressed the same temperate conduct. But greeting by gesture and hand-clapping still live, and are discovered in the first lessons given by a mother to her babe. \"Clap hands, papa comes,\" and \"Pat a cake, pat a cake, my little man, Yes, I will, mother, as fast as I can\" have a universal significance in Child Land. Unfortunately this survival of hand-clapping, a vestige of a habit belonging to primitive people, does not begin and end in our modern nursery. \"When I was a child I spake as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things,\" is a resolve daily forgotten. In the theatre, when our sentiment is awakened by the craft of the stage player, we show approbation by a round of hand-clapping not one whit less savage than the habit of the Uvinza grandee or the good-morning among the Walunga tribe. \"O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us!\" This demonstration of feeling may have more _corps d'esprit_ than the feeble \"hear, hear\" of the educated or self-restrained man, but sign-language, especially among the Anglo-Saxon race, is on the wane. Its exodus is slowly going on, lingering anon in the ritual of religions, yet in social life ever being expelled. \"It is rude to point,\" says the nursemaid to her little charge. \"Is it rude to shake hands, nurse?\" once exclaimed a child cynic. The nurse was nonplussed. The middle-class mother answers the child's question-- \"Yes, dear--with anyone in a lower position.\" \"That's a case,\" said an Irishman on hearing it, \"of twopence-halfpenny looking down on twopence,\" or by another comparison, it is a case of one English grandee clapping his hands over another grandee's head. Still, though educational influences and nine-tenths of the coterie of society wage war against sign-language, ill-mannered men and badly-behaved children must always be with us. \"'Tis rude to laugh\" is another precept of the hypercritical mother. Why? Goodness only knows!--for none but a pompous blockhead or a solemn prig will pretend that he never relaxes. But let ancient Plato, brimful as he was of philosophy, answer the question \"When not to laugh?\" Indulging one day in idle waggery, Plato, on seeing a staid disciple approach, suddenly exclaimed to his fellows, \"Let's be wise now, for I see a fool coming,\" and under hypocrisy's mask all merriment ceased. Agesilaus in mere sport romped with his children, and delighted them by riding on a stick round the nursery, possibly singing, after the manner of many a modern rollicking nursery-loving father-- \"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross.\" With men, however, kingly proclamations, laws, empires pass away and are forgotten, time obliterates their memories, but in Child Land all the inhabitants, from the tiniest crower to the ten-year-old boy, show an eager appreciation in the conservation of the pleasing lore contained in the lullabies, the jingles, the tales, the riddles, the proverbs, and the games of the nursery classics. And what terrible critics these babies are! What a perverse preference they have for the soft jingle of nonsensical melody; blank verse with its five accents and want of rhythm does not soothe: they must have the-- \"Lalla, lalla, lalla, Aut dormi, aut lacta\" of their prototype of Roman days. How they revel and delight in the mother's measured song of-- \"Dance, little baby, dance up high, Never mind, baby, mother is nigh; Crow and caper, caper and crow, There, little baby, there you go. Up to the ceiling, down to the ground, Backwards and forwards, round and round; So dance, little baby, and mother will sing, With a high cockolorum and tingle, ting ting.\" Or-- \"With a merry, gay coral, and tingle, ting ting.\"[A] FOOTNOTES: [A] First printed in a selection of nursery rhymes by Taylor, 1828. A modern well-known baby dance. CHAPTER III. \"The moon is up; by Heaven, a lovely eve! Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand.\" The Norwegian explorer, Dr. Nansen, in his address to the Royal Geographical Society on February 9th, 1897, stated:-- \"The long Arctic day was beautiful in itself, though one soon got tired of it. But when that day vanished and the long Polar night began, then began the kingdom of beauty, then they had the moon sailing through the peculiar silence of night and day. The light of the moon shining when all was marble had a most singular effect.\"[B] Writers on Comparative Religions for the most part assert that moon worship amongst the almost utterly savage tribes in Africa and America, the hunting, nomad races of to-day, is a noteworthy feature. \"It is not the sun that first attracted the attention of the savage.\"[C] \"In order of birth the worship of the night sky, inclusive of that of the moon, precedes that of the day sky and the sun. It was observed long ago that wherever sun worship existed moon worship was to be found, being a residuum of an earlier state of religion.\"[D] What the early primal melody of thousands of years ago may have been one can hardly suggest, but that the subject-matter of the song was mythical there can be very little doubt, and, like folk-lore tales, built upon and around nature worship; for as the capacity for creating language does not exhaust all its force at once, but still continues to form new modes of speech whenever an alteration of circumstances demands them, so it is with myths. The moon during a long Polar night reigning in a kingdom of crystalline beauty, when all around is silence and grandeur, would suggest to the dweller on the fringe of the ice fields--his deity. The sun, in like manner shedding forth its genial warmth, the agriculturist would learn to welcome, and to ascribe to its power the increase of his crop, and just as the limitation of reason holds the untutored man in bondage, so the myth, the outcome of his ignorance, becomes his god. Even though social advancement has made rapid strides among comparatively modern peoples and nations, not only traces of mythological, but entire religious observances, reclothed in Christian costumes, are still kept up. Praying to an apple tree to yield an abundant crop was the habit of the Bohemian peasant, until Christian teaching influenced him for the better; yet such a hold had the tradition of his ancestors over him that the custom still survives, and yearly on Good Friday before sunrise he enters his garden, and there on his knees says-- \"I pray, O green tree, that God may make thee good.\" The old form ran thus-- \"I pray thee, O green tree, that thou yield abundantly.\" In some districts the lash of the Bohemian peasant's whip is well applied to the bark of the tree, reminding one of the terse verse-- \"A woman, a spaniel, and walnut tree, The more you beat them the better they be.\" There is also something akin, in this Bohemian's former sentiment, to the wish our nursery children make while eating apples. Coming to the cores they take out the pippins and throw them over the left shoulder, exclaiming-- \"Pippin, pippin, fly away; Bring me an apple another day.\" Surely a tree hidden within its fruit. In the German fairy tale of Ashputtel, also known as the golden slipper--a similar legend is extant amongst the Welsh people--and from which our modern tale of Cinderella and her glass slipper came, a tree figured as the mysterious power. After suffering many disappointments Ashputtel, so the legend relates, goes to a hazel tree and complains that she has no clothes in which to go to the great feast of the king. \"Shake, shake, hazel tree, Gold and silver over me,\" she exclaims, and her friends the birds weave garments for her while the tree makes her resplendent with jewels of gold and silver. \"Children's sport, popular sayings, absurd customs, may be practically unimportant, but they are not philosophically insignificant, bearing as they do on primitive culture.\"[E] Trans-Alpine Europe was a greater mystery to the nations on the littoral of the Mediterranean at the time of Christ's appearance in Syria than any spot in Central Africa is to us to-day. Across the Northern mountain chains were regions unaffected by Greek or Roman culture, and the only light shed on the memorials of Northern Europe's early youth comes from the contributory and dimly illuminative rays of folk-lore. THE BABY'S RATTLE at this juncture is worth according a passing notice, though degenerated into the bauble it now is. Among the Siberian, Brazilian, and Redskin tribes it was held as a sacred and mysterious weapon. This sceptre of power of the modern nursery--the token primitive man used, and on which the Congo negro takes his oath--has lost its significance. The Red Indian of North America had his Rattle man, who, as physician, used it as a universal prescription in the cure of all disease, believing, no doubt, that its jargon would allay pain, in like manner as it attracts and soothes a cross child; and this modern type of primitive man, the Red Indian, although fast dying out, has no obscured visions of the records of childhood; they have remained since his _anno mundi_ ran back to zero. To him the great sources of religious and moral suasion which gave birth to mediæval and modern Europe, and so largely contributed to the polity of Asia and the upraising of Africa, have been a dead letter, which spell his extinction. He lived up to his racial traditions, and is fast dying with them. His language, his arts, his religious rites are of an unfamiliar past. Leaving the Red Indian moon worshipper with his death rattle awhile and harking back to Europe, Norway stands out as the richest country in legendary lore, for old-time superstitions have lingered among the simple and credulous people, living pent up on the horrid crags, where torrents leap from cliff to valley. Their tales of goblins and spirits, tales of trolls, gnomes, and a legendary host of other uncanny creatures, point to the former nature and ancestral worship of a people cut off from the advancing civilisation of their time. Luckily for the archæologist, superstitious beliefs and folk-lore tales have preserved the graves of the Stone Age inhabitants of the country from desecration. As in Norway so in the Isle of Man, and in the western districts of Ireland. In Man until the fifties many of the inhabitants believed in the Spirit of the Mountains; indeed, even in County Donegal and the West Riding of Yorkshire, up to the last twenty years, fairy superstition was rife. Boyd Dawkins gives in his chapter, \"Superstition of the Stone Age: Early Man in Britain,\" an account of an Isle of Man farmer who, having allowed investigation to be made in the interests of science on portions of his lands, becoming so awed at the thought of having sanctioned the disturbing of the dead, that he actually offered up a heifer as a burnt sacrifice to avert the wrath of the Manes. After lunar and solar worships this ancestral worship of the Isle of Man farmer ranks next in point of age, a survival of which is seen in the respect paid by country people to the fairies, the goblins, and the elves. Equally so has the spirit of former beliefs been handed down to us in the song of the nurse, and in the practices of rural people. A modernised lullaby of a Polish mother bears traces in the last stanza of a quasi-native worship-- \"Shine, stars, God's sentinels on high, Proclaimers of His power and might, May all things evil from us fly; O stars, good-night, good-night!\" Other instances of nature worshippers are amusing as well as being instructive. The Ojebway Indians believe in the mortality of the sun, for when an eclipse takes place the whole tribe, in the hope of rekindling the obscured light, keep up a continual discharge of fire-tipped arrows from their bows until they perceive again his majesty of light. Amongst the New Caledonians the wizard, if the season continue to be wet and cloudy, ascends the highest accessible peak on a mountain-range and fires a peculiar sacrifice, invoking his ancestors, and exclaiming-- \"Sun, this I do that you may be burning hot, And eat up all the black clouds of the sky,\" reminding one of the puerile cry of the weather-bound nursery child-- \"Rain, rain, go away, Come again another day.\" Wind-making among primitive people was universally adopted; even at a late period the cultured Greeks and Romans believed in a mythical wind god. It was the custom of the wind clan of the Omahas to flap their overalls to start a breeze, while a sorcerer of New Britain desirous of appeasing the wind god throws burnt lime into the air, and towards the point of the compass he wishes to make a prosperous journey, chanting meanwhile a song. Finnish wizards made a pretence of selling wind to land-bound sailors. A Norwegian witch once boasted of sinking a vessel by opening a wind-bag she possessed. Homer speaks of Ulysses receiving the winds as a present from Æolus, the King of Winds, in a leather bag. In the highlands of Ethiopia no storm-driven wind ever sweeps down without being stabbed at by a native to wound the evil spirit riding on the blast. In some parts of Austria a heavy gale is propitiated by the act and speech of a peasant who, as the demon wings his flight in the raging storm, opens the window and casts a handful of meal or chaff to the enraged sprite as a peace offering, at the same time shouting-- \"There, that's for you; stop, stop!\" A pretty romance is known in Bulgarian folk-lore. The wife of a peasant who had been mysteriously enticed away by the fairies was appealed to by her husband's mother to return. \"Who is to feed the babe, and rock its cradle?\" sang the grandmother, and the wind wafted back the reply-- \"If it cry for food, I will feed it with copious dews; If it wish to sleep, I will rock its cradle with a gentle breeze.\" How devoid of all sentiment our Englished version of the same tale reads. \"Hush-a-bye, baby, on a tree top, When the wind blows the cradle will rock, When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, Down comes the baby and cradle and all.\" No wonder this purposeless lullaby is satirised in the orthodox libretto of Punch's Opera or the Dominion of Fancy, for Punch, having sung it, throws the child out of the window. The poetic instinct of the German mother is rich in expression, her voice soothing and magnetic as she sways her babe to and fro to the melody of-- \"Sleep, baby, sleep! Thy father tends the sheep, Thy mother shakes the branches small, Whence happy dreams in showers fall. Sleep, baby, sleep! \"Sleep, baby, sleep! The sky is full of sheep, The stars the lambs of heaven are, For whom the shepherd moon doth care. Sleep, baby, sleep!\"[F] The lullaby of the Black Guitar, told by the Grimm brothers in their German fairy tales, gives us the same thought. \"Thou art sleeping, my son, and at ease, Lulled by the whisperings of the trees.\" Another German nurse song of a playful yet commanding tone translates-- \"Baby, go to sleep! Mother has two little sheep, One is black and one is white; If you do not sleep to-night, First the black and then the white Shall give your little toe a bite.\" A North Holland version has degenerated into the flabby Dutch of-- \"Sleep, baby, sleep! Outside there stands a sheep With four white feet, That drinks its milk so sweet. Sleep, baby, sleep!\" The old English cradle rhyme, evidently written to comfort fathers more than babies, is given by way of contrast, and, as is usual with our own countrymen, the versification is thoroughly British, slurred over and slovenly-- \"Hush thee, my babby, Lie still with thy daddy, Thy mammy has gone to the mill To grind thee some wheat To make thee some meat, Oh, my dear babby, do lie still!\" The Danish lullaby of \"Sweetly sleep, my little child, Lie quiet and still. The bird nests in the wood, The flower rests in the meadow grass; Sweetly sleep, my little child.\" This last recalls the esteem our Teuton ancestors had for their scalds, or polishers of language, when poetry and music were linked together by the voice and harp of minstrelsy, and when the divine right to fill the office of bard meant the divine faculty to invent a few heroic stanzas to meet a dramatic occasion. One more well-known British lullaby-- \"Bye, baby bunting, Daddy's gone a-hunting To get a little _hare skin_ To wrap the baby bunting in.\" The more modern version gives \"_rabbit skin_.\" FOOTNOTES: [B] _Times'_ report, February 10th, 1897. [C] F. SPIEGEL. [D] WELCKER, _Griechische Götterlehre_, i. 551. [E] TYLOR. [F] Wagner introduced the music to which it is sung in his _Siegfried_ idyll. CHAPTER IV. \"One very dark night, when the goblins' light Was as long and as white as a feather, A fairy spirit bade me stray Amongst the gorse and heather. The pixies' glee enamoured me, They were as merry as merry could be. \"They held in each hand a gold rope of sand, To every blue-bell that grew in the dell They tied a strand, Then the fairies and pixies and goblins and elves Danced to the music of the bells By themselves, merry, merry little selves.\" To the kingdom of elf-land few English nursery poems have any reference. Our continental neighbours have preserved a few, but the major number are found in versions of the folk-lore tales belonging to the people dwelling in the hilly districts of remote parts of Europe. Norway, Switzerland, Italy, and even Poland present weird romances, and our own country folk in the \"merrie north country,\" and in the lowlands of \"bonnie Scotland,\" add to the collection. The age to which most of them may be traced is uncertain; at all events, they bear evidences of belonging to a period when nature worship was universal, and the veneration of the mysterious in life common to our ancestors. The Second Stone Age men, it is said, cremated their dead who were worthy of reverence, and worshipped their shades, and the nursery tales of pixies and goblins and elves are but the mythical remains of their once prevailing religion--universal the world over. The inception of this ancestral worship probably took place during that period known as the Neolithic Age, when the moon, stars, and sun no longer remained the mysterious in life to be feared and worshipped. In the dreary process of evolution a gradual development took place, and nature worship and ancestral veneration evolved into the more comprehensive systems of Buddha, Confucius, and the later polytheism of Greece, Ancient Tuscany, and Rome, leaving high and dry, stranded, as it were, in Northern Europe, Ireland, and North Britain, an undisturbed residuum of ante-chronological man's superstitions. Evidences of primitive man's religion are seen in the customs and practices of our rural folk to-day. In vast forest districts, or in hilly regions far away from the refining influences of social contact, the old-time superstitions lingered, changing little in the theme, and inspiring the succeeding generations, as they unfolded in the long roll-call of life, with the same fears of the mystery of death and of a future life. One of the customs of recent practice is fitly described as follows:-- In Yorkshire and in north-west Irish homesteads, and even far away in the East amongst the Armenian peasantry, a custom was, until late years, in vogue, of providing a feast for the departed relatives on certain fixed dates. All Hallows' Eve being one of the occasions a meal was prepared, and the feast spread as though ordinary living visitants were going to sit round the \"gay and festive board.\" The chain hanging down from the centre of the chimney to the fireplace was removed--a boundary line of the domestic home--but at these times especial care was taken to remove it so that the \"pixies and goblins and elves\" could have a licence to enter the house. In spite of Christian teaching and other widening influences the belief remained fixed in the minds of the rural classes that elves, goblins, sprites, pixies, and the manes were stern realities. The Erl King of Goethe, a sprite endowed with more than human passions, elegantly portrays the modern idea of an old theme. How he haunted the regions of the Black Forest in Thuringia, snatching up children rambling in the shades of the leafed wood, to kill them in his terrible shambles. The King of the Wood and the Spirit of the Waters were both early among the terrors of old-time European peasantry's superstitions. Another surviving custom, carried out with much picturesque ceremony, is common to the peoples of the Balkan States. In time of water-famine, more particularly in Servia, the girls go through the neighbouring villages singing a Dodolo song of-- \"We go through the village, The clouds go in the sky; We go faster, Faster go the clouds; They have overtaken us, And wetted the corn and wine.\" Precisely as the hawthorn bushes were stripped of their blossoms by Maying parties in England in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, so in Servia the ballet of the leaf-dressed girl, encircled by a party of holiday-makers, proceeds through the hamlets invoking not the Fair Flora, but the Spirit of the Waters; the central figure, the girl in green, being besprinkled by each cottager. The Greeks, Bulgarians, and Roumanians observe a similar ceremony, but on the confines of Russia so intense is the belief in the superstition of the water goblin that in times of long drought a traveller journeying along the road has often been seized by the ruthless hands of the villagers and ceremoniously flung into a rivulet--a sacrifice to appease the spirit that lay in the waters. In Ireland the fairy-tale of Fior Usga--Princess Spring-water--has a kindred meaning; she, so the legend relates, sank down in a well with her golden pitcher, and the flood-gates opened and swamped the parched and barren countryside near Kinsale. In Germany, when a person is drowned, people recollect the fancies of childhood, and exclaim, \"The River Spirit claims its yearly sacrifice.\" Even the hard-reasoning Scotch, years ago, clung to the same superstitious fancy which oftentimes prevented some of the most selfish of their race from saving their drowning fellows. \"He will do you an injury if you save him from the water\" was one of their fears. In England, too, the north-country people speak of the River Sprite as Jenny Greenteeth, and children dread the green, slimy-covered rocks on a stream's bank or on the brink of a black pool. \"Jenny Greenteeth will have thee if thee goest on't river banks\" is the warning of a Lancashire mother to her child. The Irish fisherman's belief in the Souls' Cages and the Merrow, or Man of the Sea, was once held in general esteem by the men who earned a livelihood on the shores of the Atlantic. This Merrow, or Spirit of the Waters, sometimes took upon himself a half-human form, and many a sailor on the rocky coast of Western Ireland has told the tale of how he saw the Merrow basking in the sun, watching a storm-driven ship. His form is described as that of half man, half fish, a thing with green hair, long _green teeth_, legs with scales on them, short arms like fins, a fish's tail, and a huge red nose. He wore no clothes, and had a cocked hat like a sugar-loaf, which was carried under the arm--never to be put on the head unless for the purpose of diving into the sea. At such times he caught all the souls of those drowned at sea and put them in cages made like lobster pots. The child's tale of the German fisherman and his wife tells the same story-- \"O Man of the Sea, come list unto me, For Alice, my wife, the plague of my life, Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee.\" Unless such past credulities as these be considered it would be most difficult to account for many of the sayings of child-days, and the archaic ideas that have drifted into our folk-lore tales. On all hands it is admitted that it is no unusual thing to find a game or practice outliving the serious performance of which it is an imitation. The condition of a people who originally held such mystic and crude ideas is seen to-day in types of aborigines and uncivilised races. In Halmahero, a large island to the west of New Guinea, a wizard goes through a ceremony somewhat similar to the Servian village maid's. Cutting down branches, he dips them into the water and sprinkles the parched ground. In Ceram the outer barks of certain trees are cast on the surface of running streams and rivulets and dedicated to the spirits that lie in the waters, that after this offering they may arise from the depths of the deep and clothe the earth with a cloud of mist. THE CORN SPIRIT. Another spirit, dreaded by all European peoples, was the Spirit of the Corn. In Russia especially children of the rural class sing songs of a very distant age, mother handing down to child themes unexposed to foreign influence. It is true the Church has altered the application of many by dressing up afresh pagan observances in Christian costumes. There are several, but one of the songs of the Russian serf to his prattling offspring illustrates this statement. Before reading it, it should be borne in mind that Ovsen is the Teutonic _Sun God_ who possessed a boar, and that the antiquity of the song belongs to a time when the Russian peasant's forefathers worshipped the glories of the heavens, deifying the Sun for his fire and lustre. The translation of this poem of the fire worshippers is taken from Ralston's _Songs of the Russian People_, and runs as follows. Imagine the crooning voice of the old Slav woman singing it to her nurse child. \"In the forest, in the pine forest, There stood a pine tree, Green and shaggy. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen! \"The Boyars came, Cut down the pine, Sawed it into planks, Built a bridge, Fastened it with nails. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen! \"Who will go Over the bridge? Ovsen will go there, And the New Year. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen!\" Another song asks-- \"On what will he come? On a dusky swine. What will he chase? A brisk little pig.\" The present singers of songs about Ovsen receive presents in lieu of the old contributions towards a sacrifice to the gods. The habit is to ask in some such words as these-- \"Give us a pig for Vasily's Eve.\" Pigs' trotters used to be offered as a sacrifice at the beginning of the New Year, and the custom still prevails in Russia of proffering such dishes at this time. The compliments of the season are commemorated by giving away the feet of the \"brisk little pig.\" The first day of the New Year was Ovsen's day, but now consecrated to the memory of St. Basil the Great. The previous evening was called St. Basil's Eve, or Vasily's Eve. In one of the little Russian songs it is said-- \"Ilya comes on Vasily's Day,\" meaning on St. Basil's, or New Year's Day, comes the Sun-god, or thunder-bearer, originally Pevan, who, under Christian influences, becomes Elijah, or Ilya. \"Ilya comes on Vasily's Day; He holds a whip of iron wire, And another of tin. Hither he comes, Thither he waves, Corn grows.\" This supports the inference that the agriculturist was a nature worshipper. But quite apart from sun worshippers, and their songs about corn-growing, the children of the rural classes in many other parts of Europe have fixed ideas, or beliefs, in the \"Spirit of the Cornfield\"; their sayings are represented by different figures, \"a mad dog in the corn,\" \"a wolf in the corn,\" are found amongst the many shibboleths of the youngsters playing in the fields prior to harvest-time. That they dread the wavy movement of the grain-laden stalks is certain, and the red poppy, the blue cornflower, the yellow dandelion, and the marguerite daisy, although plucked by tiny hands on the fringe of the fields, it is not often tiny feet trample down the golden stalks. At nightfall, in Germany, an old peasant, observing the gentle undulating motion of the ripe crop while seated before his cottage, will exclaim-- \"There goes the rye-wolf. The wolf is passing through the corn.\" In some parts the \"corn spirit\" was said to be a cow. \"The cow's in the corn.\" In one of our home counties--Hertfordshire--it is a \"mare,\" and the custom of \"crying the mare\" has allusion to the corn spirit, and is spoken of in some villages to-day. There are several rhymes that carry a notice of cornfield games. \"Ring a ring a rosies, A pocket full of posies. Hush!--The Cry?--Hush!--The Cry? All fall down.\" * * * * * \"Little boy blue come blow me thy horn, The sheep in the meadow, The cow's in the corn. Where is the boy that looks after the sheep? Under the haystack fast asleep.\" The \"Little Boy Blue\" rhyme, it has been urged, had only reference to the butcher's boy. The rhyme is very much older than the blue-smocked butcher's boy, and in truth it may be said the butcher boy of a century ago wore white overalls. The former rhyme, \"Ring a Ring a Rosies,\" is known in Italy and Germany. In the northern counties of England the children use the words, \"Hushu! Hushu!\" in the third line. The Spirit of the Cornfield is dreaded by children of all European countries. In Saxon Transylvania the children gather maize leaves and completely cover one of their playmates with them. This game is intended to prefigure death. \"CUCKOOS!\" \"Cuckoo cherrytree, catch a bird And give it to me.\"[G] The people of the Oral and Tula Governments, especially the maidens, christen the cuckoo \"gossip darlings!\" In one of the Lithuanian districts the girls sing-- \"Sister, dear, Mottled cuckoo! Thou who feedest The horses of thy brother, Thou who spinnest silken threads, Sing, O cuckoo, Shall I soon be married?\" In _Love's Labour's Lost_ a passage occurs where the two seasons, Spring and Winter, vie with each other in extolling the cuckoo and the owl. _Spring._ \"When daisies pied, and violets blue, And lady-smocks all silver white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight, The cuckoo then, on every tree, Mocks married men, for thus sings he-- Cuckoo! Cuckoo! cuckoo! O word of fear, Unpleasing to the married ear!\" Thus is cuckoo gossip perpetuated in rhyme and song; but an old belief in the mysteriously disappearing bird gave an opportunity to children to await its return in the early summer, and then address to it all kinds of ridiculous questions. \"How many years have I to live?\" is a favourite query. The other like that of the Lithuanian maid, \"Shall I soon be married?\" meets with favour amongst single girls. A German song, entitled \"The Shepherd Maiden,\" indicates this custom. The words being-- \"A shepherd maiden, one fine day, Two lambs to pasture led, To verdant fields where daisies grew, And bloomed the clover red; There spied she in a hedge close by A cuckoo, call with merry cry, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\" After chasing the immortal bird from tree to tree to have her question, \"Shall I soon be married?\" answered, the song concludes with this taunting refrain-- \"Two hundred then she counted o'er, The cuckoo still cried as before, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\" In our earliest published song, words and music composed by John of Forsete, monk of Reading Abbey, date 1225, and entitled \"Sumer is icumen in,\" the cuckoo is also extolled-- \"Summer is a-coming in, loudly sing, cuckoo; Groweth the seed, bloweth the mead, and springeth wood anew. Sing, cuckoo! Merry sing, cuckoo, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\" The peasantry of Russia, India, and Germany contribute to the collection of cuckoo-lore. Grimm mentions a Cuckoo Hill in Gauchsberg. The cuckoo and not the hill may have had the mystic sense. Identical with this Cuckoo Hill, in its solemn significance, there occurs a passage in the game of Hot Cockles, played formerly at Yorkshire funerals. \"Where is the poor man to go?\" the friends whine, and the mutes who are in readiness to follow the coffin beat their knees with open hands and reply-- \"Over the Cuckoo Hill, I oh!\" The association of ideas about the prophetic notes of the cuckoo's mocking voice--in matters of marriage and death--are pretty general, and there are still further many points of identity in the tales told by the children of India and Southern Russia. Like the Phœnix idea amongst the people of Egypt, Persia, and India, these traditions allegorise the soul's immortality. A WORD ON INDIAN LORE. The old prose editions of the sacred books of India--the law codes of the Aryans--were suitably arranged in verse to enable the contents to be committed to memory by the students. In these rules the ritual of the simplest rites is set forth. New and full moon offerings are given, and regulations minutely describing as to the way salutation shall be made. Much after the fashion of the grandees or the Red Indian moon worshipper of North America, it is told how a Brâhmana must salute stretching forth his right hand level with his ear, a Kshalriza holding it level with the breast, a Sûdra holding it low--all caste observances and relics of a sign-language. \"A householder shall worship gods, manes, men, goblins, and rishis,\" remains of ancestral worship. \"Adoration must be given to him who wears the moon on his forehead,\" the oldest known form of worship, possibly, of the Drift-man's period, \"and he shall offer libations of water, oblations of clarified butter, and worship the moon.\" The butter oblation was practised by the Celts! They have a lunar penance, \"he shall fast on the day of the new moon.\" These observances belonged to a people who, without doubt, migrated from the West to the East. The manes and goblins are pre-Celtic, and have likewise been preserved by those who travelled, as the journey became possible, towards Asia. Some of our nursery tales, children's games, are likewise known to them. The same legends are extant in the East and West, all of which have a common origin, and that a religious one. FOOTNOTES: [G] An old English child rhyme mentioned in BARNES' _Shropshire Folk-lore_. PART II. CHAPTER I. \"Oh, Love! young Love! bound in thy rosy band, Let sage or cynic prattle as he will, These hours, and only these, redeemed Life's years of ill!\" GAMES. The annual calendar of dates when certain of the pastimes and songs of our street children become fashionable is an uncertain one, yet games have their seasons most wonderfully and faithfully marked. Yearly all boys seem to know the actual time for the revivification of a custom, whether it be of whipping tops, flirting marbles, spinning peg-tops, or playing tip-cat or piggy. This survival of custom speaks eloquently of the child influence on civilisation, for the conservation of the human family may be found literally portrayed in the pastimes, games, and songs of the children of our streets. Curious relics of past cruelties are shadowed forth in many of the present games--some of which are not uninteresting. The barbarous custom of whipping martyrs at the stake is perpetuated by the game of whip-top. In a black-letter book in the British Museum, date 15--(?) occurs this passage-- \"I am good at scourging of my toppe, You would laugh to see me morsel the pegge, Upon one foot I can hoppe, And dance trimly round an egge.\" The apprentices of the London craftsmen followed the popular diversion of cock-throwing on Shrove Tuesday and tossing pancakes in the frying-pan--the latter custom is still kept up at Westminster School. Both bear allusion to the sufferings and torments of men who died for conscience sake. Dice and pitch-and-toss, also modern games of the present gutter children, in primitive times were the ways and means adopted by the learned to consult the oracles. Much in the same way the Scotch laddie and wee lassie play-- \"Dab a prin in my lottery-book; Dab ane, dab two, dab a' your prins awa',\" by sticking at random pins in their school-books, between the leaves of which little pictures are placed. This is the lottery-box, the pictures the prizes, and the pins the forfeits. Another favourite Scotch game is-- \"A' the birds of the air, and the days of the week.\" Girls' pleasures are by no means so diversified as those of boys. It would be considered a trifle too effeminate were the little men to amuse themselves with their sisters' game of Chucks--an enchanting amusement, played with a large-sized marble and four octagonal pieces of chalk. Beds, another girlish game, is also played on the pavement--a piece of broken pot, china or earthenware, being kicked from one of the beds or divisions marked out on the flags to another, the girls hopping on one leg while doing so. It is a pastime better known as Hop Scotch, and is played in every village and town of the British Isles, varying slightly in detail. The rhymes used by street children to decide who is to begin the game are numerous. The Scotch version of a well-known one is given below-- \"Zickety, dickety, dock, the mouse ran up the nock, The nock struck one, down the mouse ran, Zickety, dickety, dock.\" \"Anery, twaery, tickery, seven, Aliby, crackeby, ten or eleven; Pin pan, muskidan, Tweedlum, twodlum, twenty-one.\" Amongst the notable men in the world's history who have depicted children's games, St. Luke the Evangelist tells in a pleasant passage of how Jesus likened the men of His day to children sitting in the market-place and calling to their playmates-- \"We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; We have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept.\" A vivid picture, illustrating puerile peevishness. In the thousands of years that street plays have been enacted by the youngsters, no poet's, philosopher's, nor teacher's words have been more to the point. Every child wants to take the most prominent part in a game, but all cannot be chief mourners, else there will be no sympathising weepers. \"Who'll be chief mourner? I, said the dove, I'll mourn for my love.\" To-day things are better arranged, a counting-out rhyme settles the question of appointment to the coveted post. Like the \"Zickety, dickety, dock, the mouse ran up the clock\" of the north-country children. \"Whoever I touch must be he\" ends and begins the counting-out verse of the Southern youngsters, which runs as follows-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. My mother says the last one I touch must be he.\" Of the numerous variations of this rhyme the one at present in demand by London children is-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. A penny on the water, twopence on the sea, Threepence on the railway, and out goes she.\" Another and more generally known rhyme of-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, Mary at the cottage door Eating cherries off a plate, 5, 6, 7, 8,\" is also used for the same purpose. But are there no peevish children to-day? None sulking in nursery or playground over games just as the little Israelites did 1900 years ago in the market-place at Nain? Remember the lesson of old-- \"We have piped, and ye have not danced; We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.\" MARRIAGE GAMES. In India and Japan marriage ceremonies bear a feature of youthful play. Amongst the Moslems in the former country--where the doll is forbidden--the day previous to a real wedding the young friends of the bridegroom are summoned to join in a wedding game. On the eve of the day they all meet and surround the bridegroom-elect, then they make for the house of the bride's parents. On arrival at the gates the bride's relatives shut the doors and mount guard. \"Who are you,\" exclaims the bridegroom, \"to dare obstruct the king's cavalcade? Behold the bridegroom cometh! Go ye not out to meet him?\" The answer comes from within the abode. \"It is a ruse--so many thieves roam about, more than probable you and your band are of them.\" * * * * * In England in 1557 the boys of London town sang a rhyme at their mock wedding feasts of-- \"If ever I marry I'll marry a maid, To marry a widow I'm sore afraid, For maids are simple and never will grudge, But widows full oft as they say know too much.\" This song was entered at the Stationers' Hall, 1557 A.D. LONDON STREET GAMES. A WEDDING. After the preliminary rhyme of-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. A penny on the water, twopence on the sea, Threepence on the railway, and out goes she,\" has been said, the lot falls on one of the girls to be the bride. A ring is formed and a merry dance begins, all the children singing this invitation-- \"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you.\" The girl bride then selects a groom from the rest of the other children. He steps into the centre of the ring, joins hands and kisses her, after which, collecting a posy from each of the others, he decorates her with flowers and green leaves. A fresh ring is now formed--figuratively the wedding ring; the whole of the children caper round singing-- \"Rosy apple, lemon and pear, Bunch of roses she shall wear, Gold and silver by her side, I know who shall be my bride.\" \"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you.\" \"Take her by her lily-white hand, Lead her across the water, Give her kisses one, two, three, Mrs. ---- daughter.\" THE KING OF THE BARBARINES. In this street game an entire regal court is appointed, the children taking the characters of king, queen, princes, and courtiers. When these preliminaries are settled two children join hands and whisper something--supposed to be a great state secret--to each other. This at once causes a rivalry amongst certain of the mock courtiers, and the dissatisfaction spreads, culminating in an open rebellion. The children take sides. Things now look serious; the prime minister tells the king he fears rebellion, and for safety his little majesty, attired in royal robes, and wearing a paper crown, retires to his palace--one of those places \"built without walls.\" The soldiers, the king's bodyguard, are summoned, and orders are given to them to suppress the insurrection and capture the little rebels. As each one is taken prisoner the soldiers ask-- \"Will you surrender? Oh, will you surrender To the King of the Barbarines?\" During the struggle reinforcements come up from the rebel camp and try to beat off the king's soldiers, exclaiming-- \"We won't surrender, we won't surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"We'll make you surrender, we'll make you surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"You can't make us surrender, you can't make us surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"We'll go to the King, we'll go to the King, To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"You can go to the King, you can go to the King, To the King of the Barbarines.\" The rebels now build an imaginary castle by joining hands. The king's soldiers surround the place, and after a skirmish break it down. \"We'll break down your castle, we'll break down your castle For the King of the Barbarines.\" A LANCASHIRE ROUND GAME. Two rows of lassies and lads face each other; the boys, hand in hand, move backwards and forwards towards the girls, saying-- \"I've got gold, and I've got silver, I've got copper, and I've got brass, I've got all the world can give me, All I want is a nice young lass.\" \"Fly to the east, fly to the west, Fly to the one you love the best.\" In the scramble which takes place the young lass of each one's choice is seized. A ring is formed, and a rollicking dance takes places to the characteristic chorus of-- \"Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, I do; Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, dey.\" ROUND GAME OF THE MULBERRY BUSH. \"Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush; Here we go round the mulberry bush On a cold and frosty morning. \"This is the way we wash our hands, We wash our hands, we wash our hands; This is the way we wash our hands On a cold and frosty morning. \"This is the way we do our hair,\" etc. \"This is the way we mend our shoes,\" etc. \"This is the way we scrub our clothes,\" etc. \"This is the way we dust our room,\" etc. \"PRAY, MR. FOX, WHAT TIME IS IT?\" A child stands on a hillock, or slightly elevated ground. A party of children, hand in hand, approach him whom they denominate Mr. Fox with the question-- \"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\" \"One o'clock,\" answers Mr. Fox. They are safe and fall back to their den. Making another venture they repeat the question. \"Twelve o'clock,\" shouts Mr. Fox, at the same time bounding towards them and scattering them in all directions. Those he can catch before they get back to their den are his prisoners, and the game is played until one remains, who of course becomes the fox. \"Twelve o'clock,\" it is to be observed, is the sly, foxy answer to the question, \"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\" \"One,\" \"two,\" \"three,\" \"four,\" etc., are but evasive replies. \"MOTHER, BUY ME A MILKING CAN.\" A boisterous game, played by girls, especially favoured in Paddington and Marylebone. \"Mother, buy me a milking can, A, I, O. Where's the money to come from, A, I, O? Sell my father's feather bed. Where must your father sleep? Sleep in the boys' bed. Where will the boys sleep? Sleep in the cradle. Where will the baby sleep? Sleep in the thimble. What shall I sew with? Sew with the poker. Suppose I burn myself? Serve you right.\" At the time of saying \"serve you right\" all the children scamper away from the girl who acts the part of mother. It is little more than a mild reproof on the over-indulgent mother who would sell or give anything to satisfy the fancies of her children, and the \"serve you right\" is a girl's idea of what a foolish mother deserves--less impudent than corrective. * * * * * The town and country boys' game of \"Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day, One o'clock, two o'clock, three and away,\" comes into fashion with all the reckless frivolity of early years, when the old English festivities of Maying take place, reminding one of the old custom of bringing the May-pole from the neighbouring woods, when each of the eighty oxen yoked to the May-pole waggon had a nosegay of wild-flowers tied to the horns. \"HERE COMES A POOR SAILOR FROM BOTANY BAY.\" \"Here comes a poor sailor from Botany Bay; Pray, what are you going to give him to-day?\" is played as a preliminary game to decide who shall join sides in the coming tug-of-war. The chief delight of the youngsters playing \"Here comes a poor sailor,\" is in putting and answering questions. All are warned before replying. \"You must say neither 'Yes,' 'No,' 'Nay,' 'Black,' 'White,' or 'Grey.'-- Now what are you going to give him to-day?\" \"A pair of boots.\" \"What colour are they?\" \"Brown.\" \"Have you anything else to give him?\" \"I think so; I'll go and see.\" \"What colour is it?\" \"Red.\" \"What is this made of?\" pointing to a coat or other article. \"Cloth.\" \"And the colour?\" \"Brown.\" \"Have you anything else to give him?\" \"I don't think so.\" \"Would you like a sweet?\" \"Yes.\" The examination is finished, for one of the fatal replies has been given. The child who exclaimed \"Yes\" goes to a den. After taking all the children through the same form of questioning the youngsters are found divided into two classes, those who avoided answering in the prohibited terms, \"Yes,\" \"No,\" \"Nay,\" \"Black,\" \"White,\" \"Grey,\" and the little culprits in the den or prison who have failed in the examination. The tug-of-war now begins, either class being pitted against the other. No rope is used; arms are entwined round waists, skirts pulled, or coat-tails taken hold of. \"CAN I GET THERE BY CANDLE-LIGHT?\" This is one of the most universally played chain games in the British Isles. It belongs as much to the child with a rich Dublin brogue as to the Cockney boy, one thing being altered in the verse--the place, \"How many miles to Wexford or Dublin\" being substituted for Wimbledon. Coventry and Burslem take the child fancy in the North of England. It probably dates from Tudor times. The expression, \"Can I get there by candle-light?\" and \"He went out of town as far as a farthing candle would light him,\" were amongst the common sayings of the people of Elizabeth's time. \"How many miles to Wimbledon? Three score and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes! and back again. Then open the gates and let me go. Not without a beck and a bow. Here's a beck and there's a bow; Now open the gates and we'll all pass thro'.\" The chain of children first formed to play this game is re-formed into two smaller ones. Hands are then uplifted by one of the sides to form an archway; the other children, marching in single file, approach the sentinel near the gateway of arched hands and ask-- \"How many miles to Wimbledon?\" The answer is given-- \"Three score and ten,\" etc. When the gates are opened those who are alert enough pass through, but others are caught and made prisoners. CHAPTER II. NURSERY GAMES. A GAME FOR A WET DAY. \"Cows and horses walk on four legs, Little children walk on two legs; Fishes swim in water clear, Birds fly up into the air. One, two, three, four, five, Catching fishes all alive. Why did you let them go? Because they bit my finger so. Which finger did they bite? This little finger on the right.\" The enthusiasm with which children of all ages play this somewhat noisy game can hardly be imagined. Try it, you fun-loving parents, and be rewarded by the tears of joy their mirth and laughter will cause. It is played after this fashion. However, it will not be amiss to remove the tea-things before anything is attempted. All seated, the parent or nurse then places the first and second fingers of each hand on the coverlet, the youngsters imitating her. Everybody's fingers are now moved up and down in a perpendicular way, like the needle of a sewing machine. All singing-- \"Cows and horses walk on four legs.\" The next line requires a change, only one finger on each hand being used, and-- \"Little children walk on two legs\" (_sung_). * * * \"Fishes swim in water clear\" demands the waving of arms horizontally, to imitate the action of swimming in water. \"Birds fly up into the air.\" When this line is sung the hands are held up, and moved from the wrists like the wings of birds flapping in the air. \"One, two, three, four, five\" is said to the clapping of hands. \"Catching fishes all alive\" is sung to the action of grabbing at supposed fishes with the fingers. \"Why did you let them go?\" Everybody shakes their head and replies-- \"Because they bit my finger so!\" \"Which finger did they bite?\" Holding up the little finger, you answer-- \"This little finger on the right!\" \"ANOTHER NURSERY TABLE GAME, BUT NEARLY 300 YEARS OLD.\" Some of the thousands of the nursery tales in vogue come to us without a trace as to their origin. In James I.'s time the ending of ballads ran with a tuneful \"Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.\" A collection of ballads in book-form by John Hilton, and called \"Garlands,\" are also described as the \"Ayres and Fa las\" in the title-page. Halliwell gives \"The tale of two birds sitting on a stone\" the same date. It is scarcely a tale, but a game still played by all classes of children-- \"There were two birds sitting on a stone, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. One flew away, and then there was one, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. The other flew after, and then there was none, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. And so the poor stone was left all alone, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de!\" The way boys play it may be briefly told as follows:--Pieces of paper are wetted and fixed on the fingers, the first finger of each hand. Being thus ornamented, they are placed on the table or knee, and the rhyme repeated-- \"There were two birds sitting on a stone.\" Then by a sudden upward movement, throwing the paper on one finger, as it were, over the shoulder, the next finger--the second--is substituted for it, and the hand is again brought down and placed beside the remaining paper bird-- \"Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.\" \"One flew away, and then there was one.\" The same sleight-of-hand is gone through with the other finger-- \"The other flew away, and then there was none, And so the poor stone was left all alone.\" Another but more modern game, embodying the same idea, is told in-- \"There were two blackbirds sitting on a hill, One named Jack and the other named Jyll. Fly away, Jack, fly away, Jyll. Come again, Jack, come again, Jyll\"-- to the wonderment of the child watching the quick change of fingers. It is the earliest sleight-of-hand trick taught to the nursery child. A B C GAME. A spirited game may be played after this fashion. All seated round the table or fireplace. One child sings a solo--a verse of some nursery rhyme. For instance-- \"Hi diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed to see such fine sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.\" A chorus of voices takes up the tune and the solo is repeated, after which the alphabet is sung through, and the last letter, Z, sustained and repeated again and again, to bother the next child whose turn it now is to sing the next solo. The new solo must be a nursery rhyme not hitherto sung by any of the company. If unable to supply a fresh rhyme the child stands out of the game and pays forfeit. \"I APPRENTICE MY SON.\" In another parlour game of a rather interesting kind the youngest in the room begins by saying-- \"I apprentice my son to a butcher; the first thing he sold was a pound of M.\" Each has a turn to guess what M may stand for--some kind of meat the butcher usually sells. Should the first person in the circle guess the correct meaning, it becomes his or her turn to ask the next question. Baker or grocer, chemist or draper, in fact any trade may be selected by the person whose turn it is to put the question. AN ARMENIAN CHILD'S GAME of a thousand years ago is still played by the Christian children of Asia. Like our Western street games of tops and tip-cats it perpetuates the cruelties of the persecutions which their ancestors suffered, a most terrible instance of the child's game outliving the serious performance of that which it represented. The frontier of the Armenian kingdom had been destroyed by one of the Christian Byzantine emperors, thus enabling the Seljouck Turks to pass through the Armenian kingdom, and deal out to the unoffending Asiatic Christians the terrors of pillage by firing their peaceful homesteads. England, France, and Germany have a modification of the game. In France the youngsters hand round a burning faggot, exclaiming-- \"Petit bonhomme vit encore.\" German children play a similar game with a stick instead of a firebrand, and Halliwell gives the rhyme describing the English game as-- \"Jack's alive and in very good health, If he die in your hand you must look to yourself.\" RUSSIAN SUPERSTITION. An old custom of the Russian maiden--identical with the English girl's habit on St. Valentine's Day--is still in vogue. Going into the street she asks the first man she meets his Christian name, believing that her future husband will be sure to bear the same. CHAPTER III. JEWISH RHYMES. Sports, games, and amusements were unknown until a late day in Jewish history. Within the walls of Jerusalem, or indeed throughout the whole length of Palestine, no theatre, circus, hippodrome, nor even gallery was to be found, until Jason, the Greek-Jew of the Maccabees dynasty, became ruler, and built a place of exercise under the very tower of the Temple itself. (2 Macc. iv. 10-14.) Herod subsequently completed what Jason had begun, and erected a hippodrome within the Holy City to the delight of the younger Hebrews, later building another at Cæsarea. Even the festivals were not of Mosaic appointment, and it is not difficult to understand how certain gloomy censors and theologians condemn merriment. To serve the Lord with gladness was quite an after-thought of the Israelitish leaders and teachers. But when the great fairs or wakes of the whole nation were held, pastimes and diversions crept in similar to the merry meetings of our own times, and religion, commerce, and amusement became the cardinal features of the great Jewish fairs. The Guy Fawkes Festival of Judaism, the Purim Feast, appointed by Esther and Mordecai, commemorating deliverance from massacre which Hamar had determined by lot against them, gave occasion for relaxation. Even the most austere and gloomy rejoiced, while the younger people abandoned themselves to dissolute mirth, opposite sexes dressing up in the clothes of each other; a habit at present in favour amongst the coster fraternity of East London on Bank Holidays. The Jews were a peculiar people. No old-time imagery of the older nations enchanted them; they were carefully taught to live for themselves and by themselves, but to make their profit out of others whenever possible to do so. The spoiling of the Egyptians took place more than once in their history. Whatever nation they colonised amongst had to enforce strict laws and rigid punishments in defence of their own less shrewd people. Even their nursery rhymes are distinctive, full of religious and national sentiment, and may be counted on the fingers of one hand. They necessarily know the ones in common use belonging to the country of their adoption, but so important are the two Hebrew rhymes considered to be that every pious Jew teaches his child their significance. A translation of the principal one, found in the Sepher Haggadah, a Hebrew hymn in the Chaldee language, runs thus:-- _Recitative._ \"A kid, a kid, my father bought For two pieces of money--A kid! a kid! * * * Then came the cat and ate the kid That my father bought for two pieces of money. Then came the dog and bit the cat that ate the kid that my father bought for two pieces of money. Then came the staff and beat the dog that bit the cat, etc. Then came the fire that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, etc. Then came the water and quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, etc. Then came the ox and drank the water, etc. Then came the butcher and slew the ox, that drank the water, etc. Then came the Angel of Death and killed the butcher, etc. Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He! and slew the Angel of Death, that killed the butcher, that slew the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, that my father bought for two pieces of money--A kid! a kid!\" Now for the interpretation--for it is a historical and a prophetic nursery rhyme. The kid which Jehovah the father purchased denotes the select Hebrew race; the two pieces of money represent Moses and Aaron; the cat signifies the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were taken into captivity; the dog is representative of the Babylonians; the staff typifies the Persians; the fire is Alexander the Great at the head of the Grecian Empire; the water the Roman domination over the Jews; the ox the Saracens who subdued the Holy Land and brought it under the Caliph; the butcher is a symbol of the Crusaders' slaughter; the Angel of Death the Turkish power; the last stanza is to show that God will take vengeance on the Turks when Israel will again become a fixed nation and occupy Palestine. The Edomites (the Europeans) will combine and drive out the Turks. Everyone, big and little, will recognise the source of the nursery fable of \"The house that Jack built.\" \"This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house, etc. This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt, etc. This is the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc. This is the cow with a crumpled horn that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc. This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, etc. This is the man all tatters and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, etc. This is the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn to the maiden all forlorn, etc. This is the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man, etc. This is the farmer sowing his corn, that fed the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn unto the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built.\" A Scotch and North of England nursery tale, two centuries old, is cast in the same mould, or rather built on the hymn of the Hebrews found in the Sepher Haggadah. It is given below. \"There was an old woman swept her house and found a silver penny, And she went to market and bought a kid; But when she came to drive it home kid would not go. She went a little further and met a stick, and said to it, 'Stick, stick, beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.' But the stick would not. She went a little further and met a fire. 'Fire, fire, burn stick, stick won't beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.' But the fire would not. She went a little further and met with water. 'Water, water, quench fire, fire won't burn stick,' etc. But the water would not. She went a little further and met an ox. 'Ox, ox, drink water,' etc. She went a little further and met a butcher, etc. She went a little further and met a rope, etc. She went a little further and met some grease, etc. 'Grease, grease, grease rope.' She went a little further and met a rat. 'Rat, rat, eat grease,' etc. She went a little further and met a cat. 'Cat, cat, kill rat,' etc. The cat began to bite the rat, the rat began to eat the grease, the grease began to grease the rope, the rope to hang the butcher, the butcher to kill the ox, the ox to drink the water, the water to quench the fire, the fire to burn the stick, the stick to beat the kid, and so the kid went home.\" In other accounts of the same tale the kid is a pig, the silver penny a crooked sixpence; the pig would not go over the stile, and the old woman could not get her old man's supper ready. The several prefigurations are not difficult to make out. Very many of the babblings put into the mouths of English children are of foreign origin; the story of \"The Kid\" was known in Leipsic and sung by German children in 1731, very possibly coming in this way from the Jewish colony. In Denmark it is also a favourite with the school children. The other Jewish rhyme, kept in remembrance by modern Jews, is printed at the end of their Passover Service in English and in Hebrew. ONE is known as the Chad Gadyâ. It is an arithmetical poem, and begins-- \"Who knoweth One?\" \"I know One, One is God, who is over heaven and earth!\" \"Who knoweth two?\" \"I know two, two tables of the Covenant, but One is God, who reigneth over heaven and earth!\" When the Latin of our churches was on the lips of everyone in the Middle Ages, an adaptation of this childish creed was taught to little Christians, beginning-- \"Unus est Deus,\" but with a Christian theme. CHAPTER IV. AN ANCIENT ENGLISH RHYME From which came the well-known nursery tale of-- \"A frog, who would a-wooing go. Hey, oh! says Rowly. Whether his mother would let him or no, With a Rowly Powly Gammon and Spinach, Hey, oh! says Anthony Rowly.\" In 1549 the Scottish shepherds sang a song, entitled \"The frog that came to the myl dur.\" In 1580 a later ballad, called \"A most strange wedding of a frog and a mouse,\" was licensed by the Stationers' Company. There is a second version extant in _Pills to Purge Melancholy_. The following was commonly sung in the early years of Henry VIII.'s reign:-- \"It was a frog in the well, Humbledum, humbledum, And the merry mouse in the mill, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. The frog he would a-wooing ride, Humbledum, humbledum, Sword and buckler by his side, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. When upon his high horse set, Humbledum, humbledum, His boots they shone as black as jet, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. \"Then he came to the merry mill-pin, Saying, 'Lady mouse, be you within?' Then out came the dusty mouse, Saying, 'I'm the lady of this house.' \"'Hast thou any mind of me?' asked the gallant Sir Froggy. 'I have e'en great mind of thee,' her ladyship replied. 'Who shall make our marriage?' suggested the frog. 'Our lord, the rat!' exclaimed the mouse. 'What shall we have for supper?' the thoughtful frog exclaimed. 'Barley, beans, and bread and butter!' generously replied Miss Mouse. But when the supper they were at, The frog, the mouse, and the rat, In came Gib, our cat, And caught the mouse by the back; Then did they separate. The frog leapt on the floor so flat, In came Dick, our drake, And drew the frog into the lake. The rat ran up the wall, And so the company parted all.\" The rhyming tale of \"The frog who would a-wooing go\" is similar in every way to the above. In Japan one of the most notable fairy-tales relates a story of a mouse's wedding. SONGS OF LONDON BOYS IN TUDOR TIMES. In the next two reigns, Edward VI. and Philip and Mary's, the musical abilities of the London boy were carefully looked after and cultivated. The ballads he sang recommended him to employers wanting apprentices. Christ's Blue Coat School and Bridewell Seminary offered unusual facilities for voice training. One happy illustration of the customs of the sixteenth century was the habit of the barber-surgeon's boy, who amused the customers, waiting for \"next turn\" to be shaved or bled, with his ballad or rhyming verse; and a boy with a good voice proved a rare draw to the \"bloods\" about town, and those who frequented the taverns and ordinaries within the City. In the next reign the condition of the poor was much improved; the effect of the land sales in Henry VII.'s reign, when the moneyed classes purchased two-thirds of the estates of the nobility, and spent their amassed wealth in cultivating and improving the neglected lands. This factor--as well as the cessation of the Wars of the Roses--was beginning to work a lasting benefit to the poor, as the street cries of 1557 show, for, according to the register of the Stationers' Company that year, a licence was granted to John Wallye and Mrs. Toye to print a ballad, entitled-- \"Who lyve so mery and make such sporte As they that be of the poorest sort?\" \"Who liveth so merry in all the land As doth the poor widow who selleth the sand? And ever she singeth, as I can guess, 'Will you buy my sand--any sand--mistress?' _Chorus._ \"Who would desire a pleasanter thing Than all the day long to do nothing but sing? Who liveth so merry and maketh such sport As those who be of the poorer sort?\" Even Daniel De Foe, writing one hundred and twenty years after, paid a passing tribute to Queen Elizabeth, and said \"that the faint-hearted economists of 1689 would show something worthy of themselves if they employed the poor to the same glorious advantage as did Queen Elizabeth.\" Going back to the centuries prior to the Tudor period, one is reminded that all the best efforts at minstrelsy--song, glee, or romance--came from the northern counties, or from just on either side the borders. The prevalence of a northern dialect in the compositions show this suggestion to be in a great degree real. The poems of minstrelsy, however, claim something more than dialect--the martial spirit, ever fever-heat on the borders of the kingdoms of England and Scotland; the age of chivalry furnishing the minstrel with the subject of his poem. But with the strife of war ended, on Henry VII.'s accession, ballads took the place of war-songs in the heart affections of the people, and they sang songs of peace and contentment. Bard, scald, minstrel, gleeman, with their heroic rhymes and long metrical romances, gave way in the evolution of song and harmony to the ballad-monger with his licence. However, in turn they became an intolerable nuisance, and a wag wrote of them in 1740-- \"Of all sorts of wit he's most fond of a ballad, But asses choose thistles instead of a salad.\" Another of the wayside songs of Henry VIII.'s time, sung by man, woman, and child, ran-- \"Quoth John to Joan, Wilt thou have me? I prithee, now wilt? and I'se marry with thee My cow, my calf, my house, my rents, And all my land and tenements-- Oh, say, my Joan, will that not do? I cannot come each day to woo. I've corn and hay in the barn hard by, And three fat hogs pent up in a sty; I have a mare, and she's coal black; I ride on her tail to save her back. I have cheese upon the shelf, And I cannot eat it all myself. I've three good marks that lie in a rag In the nook of the chimney instead of a bag.\" The London surgeon-barber's boy pleased his master's patrons with a whole host of similar extravagances, but he was not alone in the habit, for so usual was it for the poorest of the poor to indulge in mirth, that literary men of the day wrote against the practice. In a black-letter book--a copy of which is in the British Museum, date 1560--and entitled, \"The longer thou livest more fool thou art,\" W. Wager, the author, says in the prologue-- \"Good parents in good manners do instruct their child, Correcting him when he beginneth to grow wild.\" The subject matter of this book also gives a fair view of the customs and habits of the boys of that age. In the character of Moros, a youth enters the stage, \"counterfeiting a vain gesture and foolish countenance, singing the 'foote' or burden of many songs, as fools are wont.\" Amongst the many rhymes enumerated by Moros, which he claims were taught to him by his mother, occur: \"Broome on the hill,\" \"Robin lend me thy bow,\" \"There was a maid came out of Kent,\" \"Dainty love, dainty love,\" \"Come o'er the bourne, Bessie,\" and \"Tom a Lin, and his wife and his wife's mother, They all went over the bridge together; The bridge was broken and they fell in, 'The devil go with all,' quoth Tom a Lin.\" Another version, more particularly the Irish one, runs-- \"Bryan O'Lynn, and his wife and wife's mother, All went over the bridge together; The bridge was loose, they all fell in, 'What a precious concern,' cried Bryan O'Lynn. \"Bryan O'Lynn had no breeches to wear, So he got a sheep's skin to make him a pair.\" This rhyme is evidently much older than the Tudor age, and one is reminded of the time when cloth and woollen goods were not much used by the lower classes. The Tzigane of Hungary to-day wears his sheep-skin breeches, and hands them down to posterity, with a plentiful supply of quick-silver and grease to keep them soft and clean. \"Bye baby bunting\" and the little \"hare skin\" is the other nursery rhyme having a reference to skins of animals being used for clothing. But \"Baby bunting\" has no purpose to point to, unless indeed the habits of the Esquimaux are taken in account. In the list of nursery songs sung by children in Elizabeth's reign, the following extract from \"The longer thou livest the more foole thou art\" gives four:-- \"I have twentie mo songs yet, A fond woman to my mother; As I war wont in her lappe to sit, She taught me these and many other. \"I can sing a song of 'Robin Redbreast,' And 'My litle pretie Nightingale,' 'There dwelleth a Jolly Fisher here by the west,' Also, 'I com to drink som of you Christmas ale.' \"Whan I walke by myselfe alone, It doth me good my songs to render; Such pretie thinges would soone be gon If I should not sometime them remembre.\" To get back again to the true nursery lyrics, one more marriage game of this period is given, entitled-- \"WE'LL HAVE A WEDDING AT OUR HOUSE.\" \"A cat came fiddling out of a barn With a pair of bagpipes under her arm; She could pipe nothing but fiddle-cum-fee, The mouse hath married the bumble-bee. Pipe, cat; dance, mouse; We'll have a wedding at our house.\" CHAPTER V. CAT RHYMES. The old saying of \"A cat may look at the queen\" is thus expressed in a dialogue between a ward nurse of Elizabeth's time and a truant tom on its return to the nursery. \"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been? \"_Cat_: I've been to London to see the queen. \"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there? \"_Cat_: I frightened a little mouse from under her chair.\" No doubt the incident giving rise to this verse had to do with the terrible fright Queen Bess is supposed to have had on discovering a mouse in the folds of her dress--for it was she of virgin fame to whom pussy-cat paid the visit. It has been asked again and again, \"Why are old maids so fond of cats?\" and \"Why are their lives so linked together?\" Maybe it is to scare, as did the cat in the rhyme, \"a little mouse from under her chair.\" * * * * * \"Ten little mice sat down to spin, Pussy looked down, and she looked in. What are you doing, my little men? We're making some clothes for gentlemen. Shall I come in to cut your threads? No, kind sir, you'll bite off our heads.\" * * * * * One more rhyme of Queen Elizabeth's time begins-- \"The rose is red, the grass is green, Serve Queen Bess, our noble queen.\" * * * * * \"Kitty, the spinner, Will sit down to dinner, And eat the leg of a frog. All the good people Will look o'er the steeple And see a cat play with a dog.\" * * * * * \"I love little pussy, her coat is so warm, And if I don't hurt her she'll do me no harm; I won't pull her tail, nor drive her away, But pussy and I together will play.\" * * * * * \"Three cats sat by the fireside, In a basket full of coal-dust; One cat said to the other, 'Su pu, pell mell--Queen Anne's dead!' 'Is she?' quoth Grimalkin, 'then I'll reign in her stead.' Then up, up, up, they flew, up the chimney.\" * * * * * \"Great A, little b, The cat's in the cupboard And she can't C.\" * * * * * \"There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile; He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, she caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house.\" * * * * * \"Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well. Who put her in? Little Tommy Thin. Who pulled her out? Little Johnny Stout. What a naughty boy was that To drown poor pussy cat!\" Or-- \"What a naughty trick was that to drown my granny's pussy cat, Who never did any harm, but caught the mice in father's barn.\" CAT TALE OF DICK WHITTINGTON. This legend of Dick Whittington is of Eastern origin. The story of the poor boy whose ill-fortune was so strangely reversed by the performances of his cat and its kittens finds a parallel in a cat tale found in \"Arlott's Italian Novels,\" published 1485. The Lord Mayor of London bearing the name of Richard Whittington was a knight's son, a citizen of London, and never poor. The possible explanation of the cat in the career of Whittington of London had reference to a coal-boat known as a \"cat,\" and far more likely to make a fortune for the future Lord Mayor than a good mouser would be. CHAPTER VI. A CRADLE SONG OF THE FIRST CENTURY. Many authorities pronounce this lullaby to be of the earliest Christian era. Some believe that in times of yore the Virgin herself sang it to the infant Jesus. \"Sleep, O son, sleep, Thy mother sings to her firstborn; Sleep, O boy, sleep, Thy father cries out to his little child. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \"Sleep, my heart and my throne, Sleep, thou joy of thy mother; Let a soothing, hushed lullaby Come murmuring to thy heavenly ears. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \"May nothing be wanting to thee, With roses I will cover thee, With violet garlands I will entwine thee. Thy bed shall be among the hyacinthus, Thy cradle built up with the petals of white lilies. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \"If thou wishest for music I will instantly call together the shepherds. None are before them, No mortal sings more holy songs. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands.\" If aught be distinct in this early Christian lullaby, it is that old-time ideas of \"stars on high,\" \"the sky is full of sleep,\" and other similar figures of mythical word-pictures are wanting. A mother's sympathy and affection alone bind together the words of her song in illimitable praises--a thousand thousand thousands. Milton says-- \"But see the Virgin blest Hath laid her babe to rest.\" What a bright sanctified glory the child King brought to his baby throne. \"Thee in all children, the eternal child. Thee to whom the wise men gave adoration, and the shepherds praise.\" What countless hosts of child-bands are ever singing some dreamy lullaby of praise to their child King. In the pastoral district of Vallauria, in the heart of the Ligurian Alps, within a day's journey from the orange groves of Mentone, a yearly festival takes place, when the children of the mountains sing a stanza recalling the Virgin's song-- \"If thou wishest for music I will instantly call together the shepherds. None are before them.\" \"Lo! the shepherd band draws nigh, Horns they play, Thee, their King, to glorify, Rest thee, my soul's delight.\" No lyrics of the nursery have come down to us fashioned after the first-century song of the Virgin. The older types have survived, and in such an unvarying mould have they been cast that there is in each European country's song the same old pagan imagery obstinately repeating itself in spite of Christianity, so that the songs of the Christian Church became exclusively the hymns of her faithful people, the carols of her festivals, and in the Middle Ages the libretto of her Church mystery plays, setting forth her history and doctrines to the lower orders. If one were to remove the obstacles of idiom and grammar in the poetry of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, or even Russia, and expose the subject of the theme, a mere skeleton of past delusions would remain. Long before modern European nations received this imagery of past credulities the poets of Greece and Rome had versified the same old-time beliefs. Before Rome was founded the Etruscan race, who flourished in what is now modern Tuscany, had the Books of the Tages fashioned in rhythmical mould, from which their traditions, ordinances, and religious teachings were drawn. They believed in genii as fervently as a Persian. Here is one Etruscan legend of the nursery, recalling \"How the wondrous boy-Tages sprang out of the soil just previously turned over by the plough in the fields of Tarquinii, and communicated to Lucamones the doctrines of divination, by sacrifice, by flight of birds, and by observation of the lightning, a son of genius and grandson of Jupiter.\"--_Cic. de Divin._ ii. 23. It was the ancient tale of \"Jack and the Beanstalk.\" CHAPTER VII. JACK RHYMES. In the preceding chapter it was noted how the wondrous boy-Tages was believed in by the ancients. \"Jack and the Beanstalk,\" our modern tale, though adapted to the present age, is the same legend, and known and told in their own way by the Zulus in South Africa and by the Redskin of North America, as well as to other isolated peoples. In these tales of primitive peoples the same wonderful miracle of the soil's fertility takes place, in the one case by the birth of the boy-Tages, in the other by the marvellous growth of the twisting beanstalks which in one night reach up--up--up to the land of the gods and giants. \"Jack the Giant Killer,\" a similar legend but from a Celtic source, was known in France in the twelfth century, and at that period translated into Latin by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Both \"Jack and the Beanstalk\" and \"Jack the Giant Killer\" are found in the folk-lore tales of Scandinavia. ANOTHER JACK OF THE NURSERY CLASSICS sprang up into being after the wars of Parliament, when the pleasure-hating Puritan gained an ascendency in the land, and when the pastimes of all classes, but more especially those of the lower orders who had been so happy and contented under the Tudor sovereigns, suffered a miserable suspension. They who were in authority longed to change the robe of revel for the shroud. Not only were theatres and public gardens closed, but a war of bigotry was waged against May-poles, wakes, fairs, church music, fiddles, dancing, puppet shows, Whitsun ales--in short, everything wearing the attire of popular amusement and diversion. The rhyme recording Jack Horner's gloomy conduct was, in fact, a satire on Puritanical aversion to Christmas festivities. \"Jack Horner was a pretty lad, near London he did dwell, His father's heart he made full glad, his mother loved him well. A pretty boy of curious wit, all people spoke his praise, And in a corner he would sit on Christmas Holy-days. When friends they did together meet to pass away the time, Why, little Jack, he sure would eat his Christmas pie in rhyme, And say, 'Jack Horner, in the corner, eats good Christmas pie, And with his thumb pulls out a plum, Saying, What a good boy am I.'\" The copy of the history of Jack Horner, containing his witty pranks and the tricks he played upon people from his youth to old age, is preserved in the Bodleian Library. There are a number of men and women who recall a time when the rhymes of \"Jack Horner\" and \"Jack the Giant Killer\" appeared finer than anything in Shakespeare; but this much may be said for \"Jack Horner,\" the cavalier's song of derision at the straight-laced Puritan, that it soon lost its political signification, gradually becoming used as a mark of respect. \"Thus few were like him far and nigh, When he to age was come, As being only fourteen inches high, A giant to Tom Thumb.\" CHAPTER VIII. RIDDLE-MAKING. Riddle-making is not left alone by the purveyors of nursery yarns, though belonging to the mythologic state of thought. The Hindu calls the sun seven-horsed; so the German riddle asks-- \"What is the chariot drawn by?\" \"Seven white and seven black horses.\" The Greek riddle of the two sisters--Day and Night. Another one given by _Diog. Lært._ i. 91, _Athenagoras_ x. 451, runs-- \"One is father, twelve the children, and born to each other Maidens thirty, whose twain form is parted asunder, White to behold on the one side, black to behold on the other, All immortal in being, all doomed to dwindle and perish.\"[H] \"The year, months, and days.\" * * * * * An interesting English rhyme says-- \"Old mother needle had but one eye, A very long tail which she let fly, Every time she went through a gap She left a bit of her tail in the trap.\" \"Needle and sewing cotton.\" * * * * * \"Purple, yellow, red, and green, The king cannot reach, nor yet the queen, Nor can Old Noll, whose power's so great, Tell me this riddle while I count eight.\" \"A rainbow.\" This nursery rhyme's date is fixed by the reference to Old Noll, the Lord Protector. * * * * * \"As round as an apple, as deep as a cup, And all the king's horses can't pull it up.\" \"A well.\" * * * * * \"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; Three score men, and three score more, Cannot make Humpty Dumpty as before again.\" \"An egg.\" Or-- \"And all the king's horses, and all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.\" Plutarch says of Homer that he died of chagrin, being unable to solve a riddle. The Phœnix myth, once believed in by the Egyptian priests, is now, and had even so long ago as in Herodotus' time, degenerated into a mere child-story of a bird, who lived, and died, and rose again from its own ashes. As a relic of a mysterious faith, this fabulous bird has come down to us with diminished glory each century. Old Herodotus, the father of history, tells us that he saw it once--not the bird itself, but a painting of it--at Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, in Egypt. Even this old Greek historian could not quite believe the current story in his day concerning this bird; that it was supposed to revisit the earth after a five-hundred-year sojourn in the land of gods was to him, at least, a little strange. Pliny, the Roman, likewise gives a description of it. \"I have been told,\" he writes, \"it was as big as an eagle, yellow in colour, glittering as gold about the neck, with a body-plumage of deep red-purple. Its tail is sky-blue, with some of the pennæ of a light rose colour. The head is adorned with a crest and pinnacle beautiful to the sight.\" Another ancient retells the story somewhat different to both the Greek and Roman historians. Thus runs the Indian version. Bear in mind, however, before reading it, that, like the Second Stone Age people, it was the habit of many races in India to cremate their dead:-- \"A high funeral pyre is erected of dry wood, on which the body of the dead is laid, and in course of time after igniting the faggots the corpse is consumed. While this cineration is going on vultures and carrion fowl not infrequently pounce down upon the body, and tear away pieces of flesh from the ghastly, smoking corpse. These charred parts of the body they carry away to their nests to feast upon at leisure. But oftentimes dire results follow; the home of sun-dried sticks and litter ignites, and the bird is seen by some of the superstitious peasantry to rise up out of fire and smoke and disappear.\" Then the Phœnix fable comes to mind, \"It is the sun-god; he has thrown fire and consumed the nest, and the old bird,\" and they hastily conclude that the bird they just now beheld flying away is a new one, and has, in fact, arisen out of the ashes they witnessed falling from the branches of the tall tree. The Phœnix in truth! The German child's rhyme, given by Grimm brothers, of \"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home,\" is not out of place here. It evidences a state of mythologic thought. \"Ladybird! ladybird! pretty one, stay! Come, sit on my finger, so happy and gay. Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home, Thy house is a-fire, thy children will roam. Then ladybird! ladybird! fly away home. Hark! hark! to thy children bewailing.\" Yearly, as these harvest bugs, with their crimson or golden-coloured shields, appear in our country lanes, the village youngsters delight in capturing them, and play a game similar to the German child's. They sing-- \"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home, Your house is on fire, your children will roam, Excepting the youngest, and her name is Ann, And she has crept under the dripping-pan.\" FOOTNOTES: [H] \"εἱς ὁ πατήρ, παῖδες δὲ δυώδεκα· τῶν δέ γ' ἑκάστῳ παῖδες ἔασι τριήκοντ' ἄνδιχα εἶδος ἔχουσαι· Ἡι μὲν λευκαὶ ἔασιν ἰδειν· ἧ δ' αὖτε μέλαιναι Ἀθάνατοι δέ τ' ἐοῦσαι αποφθίνουσιν ἅπασαι.\" CHAPTER IX. NURSERY CHARMS. To charm away the hiccup one must repeat these four lines thrice in one breath, and a cure will be certain-- \"When a twister twisting twists him a twist, For twisting a twist three twists he must twist; But if one of the twists untwists from the twist, The twist untwisting untwists all the twist.\" AN ESSEX CHARM FOR A CHURN, 1650 A.D. \"Come, butter, come; come, butter, come, Peter stands at the gate Waiting for his buttered cake; Come, butter, come.\" * * * * * The late Sir Humphry Davy is said to have learnt this cure for cramp when a boy-- \"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, ease us, I beg! The devil has tied a knot in my leg; Crosses three † † † we make to ease us, Two for the robbers and one for Jesus.\" A CHARM AGAINST GHOSTS. \"There are four corners at my bed, There are four angels there. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, God bless the bed that I lay on.\" The Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John rhymes were well known in Essex in Elizabeth's time. Ady, in his \"Candle after dark,\" 1655, mentions an old woman he knew, who had lived from Queen Mary's time, and who had been taught by the priests in those days many Popish charms. The old woman, amongst other rhymes, repeated-- \"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, The bed be blest that I lay on.\" This was to be repeated yearly, thrice on Twelfth Night, and it would act as a charm until the following year against evil spirits. In 1601 a charm in general esteem against lightning was a laurel leaf. \"Reach the bays\" (or laurel leaves), \"and wear one.\" \"I'll tie a garland here about his head, 'Twill keep my boy from lightning.\" Even Tiberius Cæsar wore a chaplet of laurel leaves about his neck. Pliny reported that \"laurel leaves were never blasted by lightning.\" MONEY RHYMES. \"How a lass gave her lover three slips for a tester, And married another a week before Easter.\" * * * * * \"Little Mary Esther sat upon a tester, Eating curds and whey; There came a big spider, and sat down beside her, And frightened little Mary Esther away!\" * * * * * \"Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie. \"When the pie was opened The birds began to sing, Was not that a dainty dish To set before the king? \"The king was in his counting-house, Counting out his money, The queen was in the parlour Eating bread and honey. \"The maid was in the garden Hanging out the clothes, Then came a little blackbird And snapped off her nose.\" In Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_ Sir Toby alludes to the \"Sing a Song a Sixpence,\" Act II., Sc. 3:-- \"Come on, there is a sixpence for you; let's have a song.\" In Beaumont and Fletcher's _Bonduca_ it is also quoted. * * * * * \"There was an old man in a velvet coat, He kiss'd a maid and gave her a groat; The groat was cracked and would not go, Ah, old man, d'ye serve me so?\" * * * * * \"See-saw a penny a day, Tommy must have a new master. Why must he have but a penny a day? Because he can work no faster.\" * * * * * \"One a penny, two a penny, hot-cross buns, If your daughters do not like them give them to your sons; But if you should have none of these pretty little elves You cannot do much better if you eat them all yourselves.\" Written about 1608:-- \"There's never a maiden in the town but she knows that malt's come down; Malt's come down, malt's come down from an old angel to a French crown. The greatest drunkards in the town are very, very glad that malt's come down.\" In New York the children have a common saying when making a swop or change of one toy for another, and no bargain is supposed to be concluded between boys and girls unless they interlock fingers--the little finger on the right hand--and repeat the following doggerel:-- \"Pinky, pinky bow-bell, Whoever tells a lie Will sink down to the bad place, And never rise up again.\" NUMERICAL NURSERY RHYME. \"One, two, buckle my shoe; Three, four, shut the door; Five, six, pick up sticks; Seven, eight, lay them straight; Nine, ten, a good fat hen; Eleven, twelve, who will delve? Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting; Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen; Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting; Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty.\" BAKER'S MAN. \"Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man. Yes, I will, master, as fast as I can. Prick it and prick it, and mark it with B, And toss it in the oven for baby and me.\" CHAPTER X. SCRAPS. \"Oh, slumber, my darling, thy sire is a knight; Thy mother a lady so lovely and bright. The hills and the dales and the towers which you see, They all shall belong, my dear baby, to thee.\" * * * * * \"Bye, baby bumpkin, where's Tony Lumpkin? My lady's on her death-bed, with eating half a pumpkin.\" * * * * * \"Nose, nose, jolly red nose. And who gave thee this jolly red nose? Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, And they gave me this jolly red nose.\" * * * * * Story-telling in the Reformation period was so prevalent that the wonderful tales were satirised in the following rhyme, dated 1588:-- \"I saw a man in the moon. Fie, man, fie. I saw a hare chase a hound. Fie, man, fie. Twenty miles above the ground. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?\" \"I saw a goose ring a hog, And a snail bite a dog! I saw a mouse catch a cat, And a cheese eat a rat. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?\" * * * * * A Henry VIII. rhyme:-- \"My pretty little one, my pretty honey one, She is a jolly one, and as gentle as can be; With a beck she comes anon, With a wink and she is gone.\" * * * * * \"Peg, Peg, with a wooden leg, Her father was a miller; He tossed a dumpling at her head, And swore that he would kill her.\" * * * * * \"Round about, round about Maggotty pie (magpie), My father loves good ale, And so do I.\" * * * * * \"Old father long-legs will not say his prayers, Take him by the left leg and throw him downstairs.\" * * * * * \"Half a pound of twopenny rice, Half a pound of treacle, Stir it up and make it nice, Pop goes the weasel.\" * * * * * In 1754 mothers used to say to their children-- \"Come when you're called, Do what you're bid, Shut the door after you, Never be chid.\" A GAME. \"A great big wide-mouth waddling frog, Two pudding ends would choke a dog.\" * * * * * \"Little Nanny Natty Coat Has a white petticoat, The longer she lives The shorter she grows.\" _Answer_--A candle. * * * * * \"As I was going down Sandy Lane I met a man who had seven wives; each wife had a bag, each bag held a cat, each cat a kit. Now riddle-me-ree, how many were going down Sandy Lane?\" _Answer_--One going down; the others were going up. * * * * * \"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, She had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread, And whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.\" * * * * * \"Robert Rowley rolled a round roll round, A round roll Robert Rowley rolled round; Round rolled the round roll Robert Rowley rolled round.\" * * * * * \"Little General Monk Sat upon a trunk Eating a crust of bread; There fell a hot coal And burnt into his clothes a hole, Now little General Monk is dead. Keep always from the fire, If it catch your attire You too, like General Monk, will be dead.\" MORE FRAGMENTS. \"With hartshorn in his hand Came Doctor Tom-tit, Saying, 'Really, good sirs, It's only a fit.'\" * * * * * \"Cowardly, cowardly custard, Eats his mother's mustard.\" * * * * * \"Tommy Trot, a man of law, Sold his bed and lay on straw, Sold the straw and slept on grass To buy his wife a looking-glass.\" * * * * * \"Goosey, goosey, gander, Whither shall I wander, Upstairs, downstairs, In my lady's chamber?\" * * * * * \"Dilly, dilly, dilly, dilly, Come here and be killed.\" A nursery-tale rhyme of Henry VIII.'s time:-- \"The white dove sat on the castell wall, I bend my bow and shoote her I shall; I put hir in my cloue, both fethers and all; I layd my bridle on the shelfe. If you will any more sing it yourself.\" * * * * * \"This little pig went to market, This one stayed at home, This one had a sugar-stick, This one had none, And this one cried out wee, wee, wee, I'll tell my mother when I get home.\" * * * * * \"Little Bo Peep she lost her sheep, And could not tell where to find them; Let them alone and they'll come home, Carrying their tails behind them.\" * * * * * \"See-saw, Margery Daw, sold her bed and lay in the straw; Was not she a dirty slut to sell her bed and lie in the dirt?\" * * * * * \"Four-and-twenty tailors went to kill a snail, The best man among them dare not touch her tail; She put out her horns like a little Kyloe cow, Run, tailors, run, or she'll kill you all e'en now.\" * * * * * \"I had a little moppet, I put it in my pocket, And fed it on corn and hay, There came a proud beggar And swore he would wed her, and stole my little moppet away.\" * * * * * \"Hub-a-dub dub, Three men in a tub, The butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker, They all jumped out of a rotten potato.\" * * * * * \"Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John Went to bed with his stockings on; One shoe off, one shoe on, Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John.\" * * * * * \"Jack and Jyll went up the hill To fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jyll came tumbling after.\" * * * * * \"Hi diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon, The little dog laughed to see such fine sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.\" * * * * * \"Baa! baa! black sheep, have you any wool? Yes, sir; yes, sir, three bags full, One for the master, another for the maid, And one for the little child that cried in the lane.\" * * * * * \"Here comes a poor duke out of Spain, He comes to court your daughter Jane.\" * * * * * \"Ride to the market to buy a fat pig, Home again, home again, jiggerty-jig. Ride to the market to buy a fat hog, Home again, home again, jiggerty-jog.\" * * * * * \"Cross-patch, draw the latch, Sit by the fire and spin; Take a cup and drink it up, And call your neighbours in.\" * * * * * \"The man of the _South_[I] he burnt his mouth By eating cold plum porridge, The man in the moon came down too soon To ask the way to Norwich.\" A LANCASHIRE FRAGMENT. \"Dance a babby diddy, What'll th' mammy do wi' thee? Come sit on her lap, theart rosy and fat, Dance a babby diddy.\" * * * * * \"Dickery, dickery, dock, The mouse ran up the clock, The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Dickery, dickery, dock. The clock struck three, The mouse ran away, Dickery, dickery, dock. The clock struck ten, The mouse came again, Dickery, dickery, dock.\" * * * * * \"There was an old woman toss'd up in a blanket Ninety-nine times as high as the moon, But where she was going no mortal could tell, For under her arm she carried a broom. 'Old woman, old woman, old woman,' said I, 'Whither, ah! whither, whither so high?' 'Oh, I'm sweeping the cobwebs off the sky, And I'll be with you by-and-by!'\" The wildest idea is suggested by the rhyme of-- \"We're all in the dumps, for diamonds are trumps, And the kittens are gone to St. Paul's; All the babies are bit, and the moon's in a fit, And the houses are built without walls.\" The economy of the little boy who lived all alone is seen in-- \"When I was a little boy I lived by myself, All the bread and cheese I got I put upon the shelf.\" * * * * * \"Draw a pail of water For my lady's daughter, My father's a king and my mother's a queen, My two little sisters are dressed up in green.\" The baby game of tickling the palm of the hand will be remembered in-- \"Round about, round about, runs the little hare, First it runs that way, then it runs up there.\" A PROVERB. \"Needles and pins, needles and pins, When you get married your trouble begins; Trouble begins, trouble begins, When you get married your trouble begins.\" A COMPLIMENT. \"The rose is red, the violet's blue, Pinks are sweet, and so are you.\" THE REVERSE. \"The rose is red, the violet's blue, The grass is green, and so are you.\" * * * * * \"Little Tommy Tupper, waiting for his supper, What must he have? Some brown bread and butter.\" FOOTNOTES: [I] _South Devon._ CHAPTER XI. SONGS. \"WILL THE LOVE THAT YOU'RE SO RICH IN.\" \"There was a little man and he woo'd a little maid, And he said, 'Little maid, will you wed--wed--wed? I have little more to say than will you--Yea or Nay? For the least said is soonest mended--ded--ded--ded.' \"The little maid replied, some say a little sighed, 'But what shall we have for to eat--eat--eat? Will the love that you're so rich in Make a fire in the kitchen, Or the little God of Love turn the spit, spit, spit?'\" * * * * * \"Cock-a-doodle doo, my dame has lost her shoe; My master's lost his fiddling stick and doesn't know what to do. Cock-a-doodle doo, what is my dame to do? Till master finds his fiddling stick she'll dance without her shoe. \"Cock-a-doodle doo, my dame has found her shoe, and master's found his fiddling stick. Sing doodle, doodle doo--Cock-a-doodle doo, My dame will dance with you, While master fiddles his fiddling stick For dame and doodle doo.\" The third-century monarch, King Cole, is seriously libelled in the nursery jingle of-- \"Old King Cole was a merry old soul, A merry old soul was he, He called for his glass, he called for his pipe, He called for his fiddlers three.\" * * * * * \"Rowsty dowt, my fire's all out, My little Dame Trot is not at home! Oh my! But I'll saddle my cock and bridle my hen, And fetch my little dame home again! Home again! Home she came, tritty-ti-trot, She asked for some dinner she left in the pot; Some she ate and some she shod, And the rest she gave to the truckler's dog. She took up the ladle and knocked its head, And now poor dapsy dog is dead!\" * * * * * \"There was a little man and he had a little gun, And his bullets they were made of lead, He went to the brook and shot a little duck Right through its head, head, head. \"He took it home to his wife Joan And bade her a good fire to make, While he went to the brook where he shot the little duck To see if he could shoot the little drake. \"The drake was a-swimming With its curly tail, The little man made it his mark, He let off his gun But fired too soon, And the drake flew away with a quack, quack, quack.\" The Creole's slave-song to her infant is built on the same lines, and runs-- \"If you were a little bird And myself a gun, I would shoot you. Bum! Bum! Bum! \"Oh! my precious little jewel Of mahogany, I love you As a hog loves mud.\" * * * * * \"Some say the devil's dead, And buried in cold harbour; Some say he's alive again, And 'prenticed to a barber.\" * * * * * \"I had a little pony, his name was Dapple Grey; I lent him to a lady, to ride a mile away. She whipped him and she lashed him, She rode him through the mire; I would not lend my pony now For all that lady's hire.\" * * * * * \"Little Blue Betty, she lived in a den, She sold good ale to gentlemen. Gentlemen came every day, And little Blue Betty she skipped away. She hopped upstairs to make her bed, But tumbled down and broke her head.\" TOM, TOM, THE PIPER'S SON. \"Tom, he was a piper's son, He learned to play when he was young; But the only tune that he could play Was 'Over the hills and far away.' Over the hills and a great way off, And the wind will blow my top-knot off. \"Now Tom with his pipe made such a noise That he pleased both the girls and boys, And they stopped to hear him play 'Over the hills and far away.' \"Tom on his pipe did play with such skill That those who heard him could never keep still; Whenever they heard him they began to dance, Even pigs on their hind legs would after him prance. \"As Dolly was milking the cows one day Tom took out his pipe and began to play; So Doll and the cows danced the Cheshire cheese round, Till the pail was broke and the milk spilt on the ground. \"He met old Dame Trot with a basket of eggs, He used his pipe, she used her legs. She danced, he piped, the eggs were all broke; Dame Trot began to fret, Tom laughed at his joke. \"He saw a cross fellow beating an ass Laden with pots, pans, dishes, and glass; Tom took out his pipe and played a tune, And the jackass's load was lightened full soon.\" \"OH DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE?\" \"Oh dear, what can the matter be? Oh dear, what can the matter be? Oh dear, what can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons To tie up my bonny brown hair.\" SIMPLE SIMON. \"Simple Simon went a-fishing For to catch a whale, All the water he had got Was in his mother's pail. \"Simple Simon went to look If plums grew on a thistle, He pricked his fingers very much, Which made poor Simon whistle. \"Simple Simon went to town To buy a piece of meat, He tied it to his horse's tail To keep it clean and sweet.\" \"I SAW A SHIP A-SAILING.\" \"I saw a ship a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea, And it was filled with pretty things For baby and for me. There were raisins in the cabin, Sugar kisses in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold. Gold--gold--gold! The masts were made of gold. \"There were four-and-twenty sailors A-sitting on the deck, And these were little white mice, With rings around their neck. The captain was a duck, With a jacket on his back, And when the ship began to sail The captain cried 'Quack! quack!' Quack!--quack!--quack! The captain cried 'Quack! quack!'\" DAVID THE WELSHMAN. \"Taffy was a wicked Welshman, Taffy was a wicked thief, Taffy came to my house And stole a piece of beef. I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed, I got the poker And hit him on the head.\" Sung in derision along the Welsh borders on St. David's Day. Formerly it was the custom of the London mob on this day to dress up a guy and carry him round the principal thoroughfares. The ragged urchins following sang the rhyme of \"Taffy was a wicked Welshman.\" \"MY FATHER HE DIED.\" The historical value of nursery rhymes is incapable of being better illustrated than in the following old English doggerel:-- \"My father he died, I cannot tell how, He left me six horses to drive out my plough, With a wimmy lo! wommy lo! Jack Straw, blazey boys. Wimmy lo! wimmy lo! wob, wob, wob.\" Mr. Halliwell dates it as of Richard II.'s time, and this much may be said for this opinion, that there is no greater authority than he on the subject of early English rhymes and carols. Mr. Halliwell also believes that of British nursery rhymes it is the earliest extant. There are those, however, who dissent from this view, holding that many of the child's songs sung to-day were known to our Saxon forefathers. In 1835 Mr. Gowler, who wrote extensively on the archæology of English phrases and nursery rhymes, ingeniously attempted to claim whole songs and tales, giving side by side the Saxon and the English versions. There certainly was a phonetic similarity between them, but the local value of the Saxon, when translated, reads in a strange way, being little more than a protest against the Church's teaching and influence. \"Who killed Cock Robin?\" is given at length by Mr. Gowler, as well as many scraps of other nursery rhymes. Mr. Gowler seemed to claim that though the lettered language of each succeeding age fashions afresh, the Baby Kingdom knows no such vocal revolutions. CHAPTER XII. SCOTCH RHYMES. The great and alluring exercise of \"Through the needle-e'e, boys\" has this immemorial rhyme:-- \"As I went up the Brandy Hill I met my father wi' gude will; He had jewels, he had rings, He had many braw things, He'd a cat-and-nine-tails, He'd a hammer wantin' nails. Up Jock, down Tam, Blaw the bellows, auld man, Through the needle-e'e, boys! Brother Jock, if ye were mine, I would give you claret wine; Claret wine's gude and fine, Through the needle-e'e, boys!\" THE SCOTCH VERSION OF BRYAN O'LYNN. \"Tam o' the Lin and a' his bairns Fell n' i' the fire in other's arms! Oh, quo' the bunemost, I ha'e a het skin!! It's hetter below, quo' Tam o' the Lin.\" * * * * * \"Cripple Dick upon a stick, Sand your soo, ride away To Galloway To buy a pound o' woo.\" * * * * * \"Pan, pan, play, Pan, pan, play, And gi'e the bairn meal, It's gotten nane the day.\" * * * * * \"The robin and the wren Are God's cock and hen.\" * * * * * \"Gi'e a thing, tak' a thing, Auld man's deid ring; Lie butt, lie ben, Lie amang the dead men.\" The above is said by Scotch children as a reproach to one who takes back what he gave. A GRUESOME RIDDLE. \"I sat wi' my love and I drank wi' my love, And my love she gave me licht; I'll gi'e any mon a pint o' wine That'll read my riddle right.\" A person sitting in a chair made of the bones of a relation, drinking out of the skull, and reading by the light of a candle made from the marrow-bones. * * * * * Street game rhyme, something like the well-known \"How many miles to Wimbledon?\":-- \"King and Queen of Cantelon, How many miles to Babylon? It's eight and eight and other eight, Try to win these wi' 'candle licht.'\" To discover a particular person in the company wearing a ring, Scotch children of last century used to say-- \"Two before 1, and 3 before 5, Now 2, and then 2, and 4 come _belive_. Now 1, and then 1, and 3 at a cast, Now 1, and _twise_ 2, and Jack up at last.\" In the game of Hidee the laddies and lassies cry-- \"Keep in, keep in, where'ver ye be, The greedy gled's seekin' ye.\" \"WHA'S YOUR DADDIE?\" \"Little wee laddie, Wha's your daddie? I cam out o' a buskit, lady, A buskit, lady's owre fine; I cam out o' a bottle o' wine, A bottle o' wine's owre dear; I cam out o' a bottle o' beer, A bottle o' beer's owre thick; I cam out o' a gauger's stick, A gauger's stick's butt and ben; I cam out o' a peacock hen.\" In Lancashire, where this rhyme is a popular one, the reading differs, \"candlestick\" being used for \"gauger's stick.\" \"A candlestick is over-fat, I came out of a gentleman's hat; A gentleman's hat is over-tall, I came over the garden wall; The garden wall is over-high, An angel dropped me from the sky.\" The Scotch \"Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe\" is a sad jumble of \"Old Mother Hubbard\" and \"Little Blue Betty.\" \"There was a wee bit wifie Who lived in a shoe, She had so many bairns She kenn'd na what to do. \"She gaed to the market To buy a sheep's head, When she came back They were a' lying dead. \"She went to the wright To get them a coffin, When she came back They were a' lying laughin'. \"She gaed up the stair To ring the bell, The bell-rope broke, And down she fell.\" \"THE MOON IS A LADY.\" \"The moon is a lady who reigns in the sky As queen of the kingdom of night; The stars are her army she leads forth on high As bright little soldiers of light. \"Her captains are Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, Three glittering warriors bold; And the Milky Way's studded with forces of stars In numbers that cannot be told. \"When Aurora comes up through the Orient gate, And chanticleer crows to the sun, The moon will retire, and the stars in her wake Will follow their queen every one.\" R. A. FOSTER.[J] FOOTNOTES: [J] When I asked my friend, Robert Adams Foster, whose _Boy Ballads_ are being read with unusual interest in Scotland, to write a Scotch lullaby, he sent me the above verses. CHAPTER XIII. A FAVOURITE NURSERY HYMN. Known to the rustics of England, France, and Italy since the days of the great Charlemagne, has a peculiar history. Like many other rhymes of yore it is fast dying out of memory. The educational influences of the National Schools in the former part of this century, and the Board Schools at a later date, have killed this little suppliant's prayer, as well as most of the other rural rhymes and folk-lore tales handed down by mother to child. The hymn, though still used in some parts of Northern England, and especially amongst the Nonconformists, as a child's evening ode of praise, runs-- \"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon this little child; Pity my simplicity, Suffer me to come to Thee.\" The next verse, a more modern addition, is-- \"Fain I would to Thee be brought, Lamb of God, forbid it not; In the kingdom of Thy grace Give this little child a place.\" Leo III. is the supposed author of the book in which it is found, viz., _Enchiridion Leonis Papae_. However, the _Enchiridion_ was a book of magic, and not authorised by the Church of Rome, but used by spurious monks and charlatans, wizards and quacks, in their exploits amongst the credulous rural folk. It was full of charms, prayers, and rhymes to ward off evil spirits. The Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John verses are part of the same \"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.\" The _Enchiridion_ was first published in 1532. This hymn was, in the main, derived from the White Paternoster, and handed down to posterity and preserved by the rustics. THE LATIN VERSION OF THE VIRGIN'S LULLABY. \"Dormi fili, dormi! mater Cantat unigenito, Dormi, puer, dormi! pater Nato clamat parvulo: Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \"Dormi cor, et meus thronus, Dormi matris jubilum; Aurium cœlestis sonus. Et suave sibilum! Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \"Ne quid desit, sternam rosis Sternam fœnum violis, Pavimentum hyacinthis Et praesepe liliis Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \"Si vis musicam, pastores Convocabo protinus Illis nulli sunt priores; Nemo canit castius Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies.\" CHAPTER XIV. \"THERE WAS A MAID CAME OUT OF KENT.\" \"There was a maid came out of Kent, Dangerous be, dangerous be; There was a maid came out of Kent, Fayre, propre, small, and gent As ever upon the ground went, For so should it be.\" Of authentic currency in Mary's time. * * * * * \"Martin Smart and his man, fodledum, fodledum; Martin Smart and his man, fodledum, bell.\" Same date. * * * * * \"I see the moon, and the moon sees me; God bless the moon, and God bless me.\" Child's saying. * * * * * \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I caught a hare alive; 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, I let her go again.\" Counting-out rhyme. * * * * * \"Great | A was a | larm'd at | B's bad be | haviour, Be | cause C | D, E, F de | nied G a | favour; H had a | husband with | I, J, | K and L; M married | Mary, and | taught | her scholars | how to spell A B C, D E F G, H I J K L M, N O P Q, R S T U, V W X Y Z, Z, Z.\" * * * * * \"Hush-a-by, baby, on a green bock (Saxon for bough); When the wind blows the cradle will rock.\" A NURSERY TALE. \"I saddled my sow with a sieve of butter-milk, put my foot into the stirrup, and leaped up nine miles beyond the moon into the land of temperance, where there was nothing but hammers and hatchets and candlesticks, and there lay bleeding Old Noll. I let him lie and sent for Old Hipper Noll, and asked him if he could grind green steel five times finer than wheat flour. He said he could not. Gregory's wife was up a pear tree gathering nine corns of buttered beans to pay St. James's rent. St. James was in a meadow mowing oat cakes; he heard a noise, hung his scythe to his heels, stumbled at the battledore, tumbled over the barn door ridge, and broke his shins against a bag of moonshine that stood behind the stairs-foot door; and if that isn't true, you know as well as I all about it.\" * * * * * \"A duck, a drake, a barley cake, A penny to pay the baker; A hop, a scotch, another notch-- Slitherum, slitherum, take her.\" A verse repeated when playing at skimming shells or stones on the water of a pond or lake. * * * * * \"Hark! hark! the dogs do bark, The beggars are coming to town. There are some in rags, There are some in tags, And one in a velvet gown.\" * * * * * \"Bow-wow-wow, Whose dog art thou? I'm Tommy Tucker's dog, Bow-wow-wow!\" Pope wrote an epigram which he had engraved on the collar of a dog, and gave it to H.R.H.:-- \"I am his Highness' dog at Kew; Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?\" A B C JINGLES. \"A was an Archer that shot at a frog, B was a Butcher--he had a big dog, C was a Captain all covered with lace, D was a Dunce with a very long face.\" \"A was an apple pie; B bit it, C cut it, D danced for it, E eat it, F fought for it, G got it, H hid it,\" etc. etc. A CATCH RHYME. \"Tottle 'em, bottle 'em, bother aboo, Who can count from one to two?\" \"I can, I can!\" \"Do, do.\" \"One and two----\" \"See, calf, see, That's not two, but three, three.\" \"Three or two's all one to me.\" CHAPTER XV. BELL RHYMES. The jingle of the bells in nursery poetry is certainly the prettiest of all the features in the poetical fictions of Baby-land. The oft-repeated rhyme of-- \"Ride a cock-horse to _Banbury Cross_,[K] To see a _fair_[L] lady upon a white horse; _Bells_[M] on her fingers and bells on her toes, She will have music wherever she goes,\" has a charm with every child. The ride of my Lady of Godiva is fancifully suggested by the Coventry version. * * * * * \"Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day? One o'clock, two o'clock, three and away.\" * * * * * \"_Gay go up and gay go down_ To ring the bells of London town. \"Bull's-eyes and targets, say the bells of St. Marg'-ret's; Brick-bats and tiles, chime the bells of St. Giles'; Halfpence and farthings, ring the bells of St. Martin's; Oranges and lemons, toll the bells of St. Clement's; Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's; Two sticks and an apple, say the bells of Whitechapel; Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate; You owe me ten shillings, say the bells of St. Helen's; When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey; When I grow rich, chime the bells of Shoreditch; Pray when will that be? ask the bells of Stepney; I'm sure I don't know, tolled the big bell at _Bow_. \"Gay go up and gay go down To ring the bells of London town.\" This almost forgotten nursery song and game of \"The Bells of London Town\" has a descriptive burden or ending to each line, giving an imitation of the sounds of the bell-peals of the principal churches in each locality of the City and the old London suburbs. The game is played by girls and boys holding hands and racing round sideways, as they do in \"Ring a Ring a Rosies,\" after each line has been sung as a solo by the children in turns. The \"Gay go up and gay go down To ring the bells of London town\" is chorussed by all the company, and then the rollicking dance begins; the feet stamping out a noisy but enjoyable accompaniment to the words, \"Gay go up, gay go down.\" The intonation of the little vocal bell-ringers alters with each line, \"Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's,\" being sung to a quick tune and in a high key; \"Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate,\" suggesting a very slow movement and a deep, low tone. The round singing of the ancients, of which this game is a fitting illustration, is probably a relic of Celtic festivity. The burden of a song, chorussed by the entire company, followed the stanza sung by the vocalist, and this soloist, having finished, had licence to appoint the next singer, \"canere ad myrtum,\" by handing him the myrtle branch. At all events round singing was anciently so performed by the Druids, the Bardic custom of the men of the wand. * * * * * In Lancashire-- \"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With cockle shells and silver bells, And pretty maids all in a row,\" is one of the songs the cottage mother sings to her child. The Provençal-- \"Ding dong, ding dong, Ring the bells of St. John's. Now they are saying prayers. Why ring so high? 'Tis the little children in the sky!\" * * * * * \"Maids in white aprons, say the bells of St. Catherine's.\" * * * * * Every locality furnishes examples of bell rhymes. Selling the church bells of Hutton, in Lincolnshire, gave rise to this satire of the children-- \"The poor Hutton people Sold their bells to mend the steeple. Ah! wicked people, To sell their bells To build the steeple.\" In 1793 Newington Church, London, was pulled down, the bells sold, and the sacred edifice rebuilt without a belfry. The children of the neighbouring parishes soon afterwards jeered at the Newingtonians. \"Pious parson\" (they sang), \"pious people, Sold their bells to build a steeple. A very fine trick of the Newington people To sell their bells and build no steeple.\" In Derbyshire a large number of the churches have bells with peculiar peals-- \"Crich has two roller-boulders, Wingfield ting-tangs, Alfreton kettles, And Pentrich pans. Kirk-Hallan candlesticks, Corsall cow-bells, Denby cracked puncheons, And Horsley merry bells.\" The bells of Bow Church ringing out the invitation to Dick Whittington to return to his master's house should not be forgotten-- \"Turn again, Whit-ting-ton, Lord-Mayor-of London.\" In New York, U.S.A., the little school urchins sing a bell rhyme of-- \"Hark, the merry bells from Trinity Charm the ear with their musical din, Telling all throughout the vicinity Holy-day gambols are now to begin.\" FOOTNOTES: [K] Or Coventry Cross. [L] Fine. [M] Rings. CHAPTER XVI. POLITICAL SIGNIFICATIONS OF NURSERY RHYMES. In 1660, when the Restoration of Charles II. took place, the great procession of State to St. Paul's Cathedral called forth this rhyme:-- \"Come, Jack, let's drink a pot of ale, And I shall tell thee such a tale Will make thine ears to ring. My coin is spent, my time is lost, And I this only fruit can boast, That once I saw my king!\" A Roundhead sneer at the man in the street, after the Royalist rejoicings were over. In a copy of rhyming proverbs in the British Museum, written about the year 1680, occurs the following Puritan satire on Charles II.'s changeability:-- \"A man of words and not of deeds, Is like a garden full of weeds; And when the weeds begin to grow, It's like a garden full of snow; And when the snow begins to fall, It's like a bird upon the wall; And when the bird away does fly, It's like an eagle in the sky; And when the sky begins to roar, It's like a lion at your door; And when the door begins to crack, It's like a stick across your back; And when your back begins to smart, It's like a penknife in your heart; And when your heart begins to bleed, You're dead, you're dead, and dead indeed.\" Among Marvel's works (vol. i. pp. 434-5) a witty representation of the king's style of speech is given with the _jeu d'esprit_ so distinctively peculiar to Marvel:-- \"My proclamation is the true picture of my mind. Some may perhaps be startled and cry, 'How comes this sudden change?' To which I answer, 'I am a changeling, and that's sufficient, I think. But, to convince men further that I mean what I say, these are the arguments. First, I tell you so, and you know I never break my word; secondly, my Lord Treasurer says so, and he never told a lie in his life; thirdly, my Lord Lauderdale will undertake it for me. I should be loath by any act of mine he should forfeit the credit he has with you.'\" In England Charles gave his Royal Indulgence to Dissenters, and granted them full liberty of conscience. They who had been horribly plundered and ill-treated now built meeting-houses, and thronged to them in public. Shaftesbury, who afterwards became a Papist, exclaimed, \"Let us bless God and the king that our religion is safe, that parliaments are safe, that our properties and liberties are safe. What more hath a good Englishman to ask, but that the king may long reign, and that this triple alliance of king, parliament, and the people may never be dissolved?\" But Charles had a standing army in Scotland, with the Duke of Lauderdale as Lord High Commissioner, and all classes of people in that country were obliged to depose on oath their knowledge of persons worshipping as Dissenters, on penalty of fine, imprisonment, banishment, transportation, and of being sold as slaves. Persecutions of former times were surpassed, the thumbscrew and the boot were used as mild punishments, the rack dislocated the limbs of those who respected conscience, and the stake consumed their bodies to ashes. Villagers were driven to the mountains, and eighteen thousand Dissenters perished, not counting those who were accused of rebellion. He was \"a man of words,\" and the rhyme of this period depicts his whole character. * * * * * Two of the courtezans of Charles II.'s time were Lucy Locket and Kitty Fisher. The following rhyme suggests that Kitty Fisher supplanted Lucy Locket in Charles' fickle esteem-- \"Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Nothing in it, nothing in it, But the binding round it.\" On his death-bed the monarch commended the Duchesses of Cleveland and Portsmouth to his successor, and said to James, \"Do not let poor Nelly (Nell Gwynne) starve!\" Even their pockets were as badly lined as Lucy Locket's. The hatred of the Roman Catholic religion \"had become,\" said Macaulay, \"one of the ruling passions of the community, and was as strong in the ignorant and profane as in those who were Protestants from conviction.\" Charles II. was suspected by many of leaning towards the Roman Catholic religion. His brother, and heir presumptive, was discovered to be a bigoted Catholic, and in defiance to the remonstrances of the House of Commons had married another papist--Mary of Modena. The common people apprehended a return of the times of her whom they unreasonably called Bloody Mary. Sons of this marriage, they feared, meant a long succession of princes and kings hostile to the Protestant faith and government by the people. In 1689, when William of Orange became king in James II.'s place, a political squib went off in the style of a nursery lullaby, entitled \"Father Peter's policy discovered; or, the Prince of Wales proved a Popish Perkin\"-- \"In Rome there is a fearful rout, And what do you think it's all about? Because the birth of the Babe's come out! Sing, Lalla by babee, by, by, by.\" The Douce MS. contains-- \"See-saw, sack a day, Monmouth is a pretie boy, Richmond is another; Grafton is my onely joy, and why should I these three destroy To please a pious brother?\" At the beginning of this present century the renowned Pastorini contributed his share to simple rhyming. A writer in the _Morning Chronicle_ of that period points out Pastorini as being no less a personage than the Right Rev. Charles Walmesley, D.D., a Roman Catholic prelate, whose false prophecies under the name of Pastorini were intended to bring about the events they pretended to foretell--the destruction of the Irish Protestants in 1825. Just previous to this year every bush and bramble in Ireland had this remarkable couplet affixed to it-- \"In the year eighteen hundred and twenty-five There shall not be a Protestant left alive.\" In 1835, when the efforts of the Whig Ministry to despoil the Irish Church proved so strong, a writer in the Press caricatured Lord Grey, Lyttleton, Dan O'Connell, and Lord Brougham in the following nursery rhymes. The attempt was ingenious, but only of small value as showing the rhymes to be the popular ones of that day. \"There was an old woman, as I've heard tell, She went to the market her eggs to sell.\" And-- \"Robbin, a bobbin, the big-bellied Ben, He ate more meat than threescore men; He eat a cow, he eat a calf, He eat a butcher and a half; He eat a church, he eat a steeple, He eat the priest and all the people.\" The other rhymes were-- \"There was an old woman went up in a basket Ninety-nine times as high as the moon, Where she was going I couldn't but ask it, For in her hand she carried a Brougham! Old woman, old woman, old woman, said I, Why are you going up so high? To sweep the cobwebs off the sky, But I'll be with you by-and-by.\" * * * * * \"Old Mother Bunch, shall we visit the moon? Come, mount on your broom, I'll stride on the spoon; Then hey to go, we shall be there soon!\" This rhyme was sung at the time in derision to Earl Grey's and Lord Brougham's aerial, vapoury projects of setting the Church's house in order. \"Lord Grey,\" said the satire-monger, \"provided the cupboards and larders for himself and relatives. He was a paradoxical 'old woman' who could never keep quiet.\" \"There was an old woman, and what do you think, She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink; Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet, And yet this old woman could never keep quiet.\" As a prototype of reform this old woman was further caricatured as Madame Reform. The going \"up in a basket ninety-nine times as high as the moon\" referred to Lord Grey's command to the English bishops to speedily set their house in order. The ascent was flighty enough, \"ninety-nine times as high as the moon, to sweep the cobwebs off the sky\"--in other words, to set the Church, our cathedrals and bishops' palaces in order--and augured well; but this old woman journeyed not alone, in her hand she carried a broom (Brougham). It may have been a case of ultra-lunacy this journey of ninety-nine times as high as the moon, and \"one cannot help thinking,\" said a writer of that period, \"of the song, 'Long life to the Moon'; but this saying became common, 'If that time goes the coach, pray what time goes the basket?'\" The \"Robbin, a bobbin, the big-bellied Ben\" parody alluded to Dan O'Connell; the butcher and a half to the Northamptonshire man and his driver; eating \"church\" and \"steeple\" meant Church cess. O'Connell certainly did cut the Church measure about. In his curtailment he would not leave a room or a church for Irish Protestants to pray in. \"Little dog\" refers to Lyttleton in the nursery rhyme, for when the under-trafficing came to light, Lord Grey, it is said, was so bewildered at his position that he doubted his own identity, and exclaimed-- \"If I be I, as I suppose I be, Well, I've a 'Little dog,' and he'll know me!\" FINIS Transcriber's Endnote: The following amendments have been made to the original text: P. 96. _But the stick would not._ has been added as line 6 of the poem beginning \"There was an old woman swept her house ...\" End of Project Gutenberg's A History of Nursery Rhymes, by Percy B. 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The story is beloved around the world as a tale about personal transformation for the better. “The Ugly Duckling” was first published 11 November 1843, with three other tales by Andersen in Copenhagen, Denmark to great critical acclaim. The tale has been adapted to various media including opera, musical, and animated film. The tale is completely Andersen's invention and owes no debt to fairy tales or folklore.\n\nPlot summary\n\nWhen the tale begins, a mother duck's eggs hatch. One of the little birds is perceived by the other birds and animals on the farm as a homely little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse from them. He wanders sadly from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. He finds a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen tease him mercilessly and again he sets off on his own.\n\nThe duckling sees a flock of migrating wild swans. He is delighted and excited, but he cannot join them, for he is too young and cannot fly. Winter arrives. A farmer finds and carries the freezing little duckling home, but the foundling is frightened by the farmer’s noisy children and flees the house. He spends a miserable winter alone in the outdoors, mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over. When spring arrives a flock of swans descends on the now thawing lake.\n\nThe ugly duckling, now having fully grown and matured, unable to endure a life of solitude and hardship any more and decides to throw himself at the flock of swans deciding that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness and misery. He is shocked when the swans welcome and accept him, only to realize by looking at his reflection in the water that he has grown into one of them. The flock takes to the air, and the ugly duckling spreads his beautiful large wings and takes flight with the rest of his new family.\n\nComposition and publication history\n\nAndersen first conceived the story in 1842 while enjoying the beauty of nature during his stay at the country estate of Bregentved, and lavished a year's worth of attention upon it. He initially considered \"The Young Swans\" as the tale's title but, not wanting to spoil the element of surprise in the protagonist’s transformation, discarded it for \"The Ugly Duckling\". He later confessed that the story was \"a reflection of my own life\", and, when the critic Georg Brandes questioned Andersen about whether he would write his autobiography, the poet claimed that it had already been written — \"The Ugly Duckling\". \n\n“The Ugly Duckling” was first published in Copenhagen, Denmark 11 November 1843 in New Fairy Tales. First Book. First Collection. 1844. (Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Første Samling. 1844.). For the first time the phrase \"told for children\" was not part of the title—an omission Andersen scholar Jackie Wullschlager believes exhibited a new confidence on Andersen's part: \"These [tales] were the most mature and perfectly constructed tales he had written, and though some of them at once became, and have remained, favorites of children, Andersen here melds together the childlike and the profound with exceptional artistry.\" The first edition of 850 was sold out by December 18, and Reitzel planned another 850. \n\nThe tale was fourth and last in the volume that included (in contents order), \"The Angel\" (\"Englen\"), \"The Nightingale\" (\"Nattergalen\"), and \"The Sweethearts; or, The Top and the Ball\" (\"Kjærestefolkene [Toppen og bolden]\"). The volume sold out almost immediately and Andersen wrote on December 18, 1843: “The book is selling like hot cakes. All the papers are praising it, everyone is reading it! No books of mine are appreciated in the way these fairy tales are!” Andersen promoted the tale by reading it aloud at social gatherings. The tale was republished 18 December 1849 in Fairy Tales. 1850. (Eventyr. 1850.) and again 15 December 1862 in Fairy Tales and Stories. First Volume. 1862. (Eventyr og Historier. Første Bind. 1862.) The tale has since been translated into various languages and published around the world and has become the most famous story by Andersen.\n\nCommentaries and criticism\n\nIn reviewing Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life by biographer Jens Andersen, British journalist Anne Chisholm writes “Andersen himself was a tall, ugly boy with a big nose and big feet, and when he grew up with a beautiful singing voice and a passion for the theater he was cruelly teased and mocked by other children\". The ugly duckling is the child of a swan whose egg accidentally rolled into a duck's nest. \n\nSpeculation suggests that Andersen was the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederik (later King Christian VIII of Denmark), and found this out some time before he wrote the book, and then that being a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for inner beauty and talent but also for secret royal lineage. \n\nBruno Bettelheim observes in The Uses of Enchantment that the Ugly Duckling is not confronted with the tasks, tests, or trials of the typical fairy tale hero. “No need to accomplish anything is expressed in “The Ugly Duckling”. Things are simply fated and unfold accordingly, whether or not the hero takes some action.” In conjunction with Bettelheim’s assessment, Maria Tatar notes in ’’The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen’’ that Andersen suggests the Ugly Duckling‘s superiority resides in the fact that he is of a breed different from the barnyard rabble, and that dignity and worth, moral and aesthetic superiority are determined by nature rather than accomplishment.\n\nAccording to Carole Rosen, the story was inspired in part by Andersen's friend Jenny Lind. \n\nAdaptations\n\n\"The Ugly Duckling\" became one of Andersen's best loved tales and was reprinted around the world. The tale was adapted to a variety of media. Films based on the tale include two Silly Symphonies animated shorts produced by Walt Disney called The Ugly Duckling. The first was produced in 1931 in black and white, and a remake in 1939 in Technicolor. The latter film won the 1939 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), and was the last Silly Symphony to be made. The main difference between the Andersen story and the Disney version is that, in the latter, the little bird's ordeal lasts for only a few minutes, not for months. In 1936, the Fleischer brothers adapted the story for their animated short \"The Little Stranger\", reversing the story by having an odd chick born into a family of ducks. In 1956 the Soviet animation studio Soyuzmultfilm produced its own 19 minutes version of The Ugly Duckling. The anime Princess Tutu is about a duck that turns into a swan-like ballerina. In 2006, the Danish animation studio A. Film produced a spin-off CG feature called The Ugly Duckling and Me!, and later produced a children's CG television series Ugly Duckling Junior which featured the same characters as the movie. The 1954 Tom and Jerry cartoon Downhearted Duckling is also based on the famous story.\n\nThe tale has seen various musical adaptations. In 1914, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev composed a work for voice and piano based on Nina Meshcherskaya's adaptation of the tale and, in 1932, arranged the work for voice and orchestra. This was transcribed by Lev Konov in 1996, and his opera was a great success in Russia. Other musical versions include the song “The Ugly Duckling” composed by Frank Loesser and sung by Danny Kaye for the 1952 Charles Vidor musical film Hans Christian Andersen, and Honk!, a musical based on the tale which was produced in Britain and won an Olivier Award. The tale was adapted to a musical by Gail Deschamps and Paul Hamilton with a planned United States tour 2002-2003. In 1998, the musical played the Piccolo Spoleto for seventeen days. \n\nIn 2009, the Dance Theatre of Bradenton, Florida, presented the ballet version of the popular tale (Allison Norton: The Ugly Duckling).\n\nIn 2010, Garri Bardin directed a feature-length stop-motion musical of the story set to Tchaikovsky's ballet music.\n\nIn 2012, a musical adaptation of the story, with ten original songs, was released by JJ’s Tunes & Tales. The album, titled “The Ugly Duckling: Story with Songs” contains both songs and spoken narration, and was released independently on CD Baby and iTunes. Examples of song titles include: Hatching of the Eggs; A Better Place; Song of the Swans; What’s the Matter with You; It’s a Big, Big World; Pretty Good Place to Live.\n\nGivingTales – in 2015 a storytelling app for children was created in aid of Unicef. The Ugly Duckling read by Stephen Fry is included in this collection of fairy tales, along with other Hans Christian Andersen stories."],"string":"[\n \"Scandinavian_folklore.txt\\nScandinavian folklore\\nScandinavian folklore or Nordic folklore is the folklore of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands.\\n\\nCollecting folklore began when Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden sent out instructions to all of the priests in all of the parishes to collect the folklore of their area in the 1630s. They collected customs, beliefs that were not sanctioned by the church, and other traditional material.\\n\\nIn Scandinavia, the term 'folklore' is not often used in academic circles; instead terms such as Folketro (folk belief; older Almuetro) or Folkesagn (folktales) have been coined. In common speech, it is simply referred to as den Gamle Tro (the old belief), or perhaps sæd skik og brug (customs, the way). It evolved from Norse paganism, and it is in technical terms labelled low-mythology, while the Norse mythology is called high-mythology. High-mythology builds on low-mythology in its parts.\\n\\nIceland and the Faroe Islands are not part of Scandinavia (although they are Nordic countries), but should nevertheless be regarded as Scandinavian in folkloric terms. Because of their common Germanic origin, Scandinavian folklore shows a large correspondence with folklores elsewhere, such as England and Germany, among others. Most of what has survived there might be found, of a similar nature, in Finland and Sapmi and to a lesser extent in the Baltic countries.\\n\\nGods and goddesses\\n\\nIn Scandinavian folklore, belief in the old gods still exists, but not in the form they show in high mythology. Some of the ones known in both forms of mythology are Odin (Odin), who is said to lead the Wild Hunt; Thor (Tor) who still chases trolls with his thunder, both in this context regarded as \\\"jegere\\\" (hunters), and we see also Ull (as Ul) and Hœnir in this role. Loki (Loke), as a housegod of the house fire, and sometimes Freyja, show up.\\n\\nBeings of Scandinavian folklore\\n\\nThe best way to gain an understanding of Scandinavian folklore is to examine the creatures of the tales. A large number of different mythological creatures (or rather races, since few of them can be considered animals) from Norse mythology continue to live on, surprisingly little affected by Christian beliefs, even though the wicked ones at times find an ally in the Devil or had problems with Christian symbols. Nothing was surer, though, to scare these beings than a piece of iron or steel, such as a strategically placed pair of scissors or a knife, or with salt and fire. The stories about the livings and doings of these beings, and their interaction with humans, constitute the major part of Scandinavian folklore. Even the helpful tomte, nisse, gårdbo or gårdbuk could turn into a fearsome adversary if not treated with caution and respect. Many of them blend into each other when their morals and/or place of residence are similar, and equally when one moves from one region in Scandinavia to another (the same is true for Norse mythology). When the folktales were collected and printed, the illustrators started to give shape to the creatures that had hitherto lingered in obscurity. The creatures underwent a metamorphosis and became concrete figures to the people of Scandinavian countries.\\n\\nTrolls\\n\\nPerhaps most abundant are the stories about the race of trolls (Danish: trolde, Swedish/Norwegian: troll). Scandinavian trolls tend to be very big, hairy, stupid, and slow to act. Any human with courage and presence of mind can outwit a troll, and those whose faith is strong can even challenge them to mortal combat. They are said to have a temperament like a bear—which are, incidentally, their favorite pets—good-natured when they are left in peace, and savage when they are teased. Trolls come in many different shapes and forms, and are generally not fair to behold, as they can have as many as nine heads. Trolls live throughout the land, dwelling in mountains, under bridges, and at the bottom of lakes. While the trolls who live in the mountains are very wealthy, hoarding mounds of gold and silver in their cliff dwellings, the most dangerous trolls live in lonely huts in the forest. While few trolls have female trolls, trollkoner, as wives, most possess a regrettable tendency to spirit away beautiful maidens, preferably princesses, who are forced to spin by day and scratch the troll's head by night. The trolls have their own king, called Dovregubben, who lives inside the Dovre Mountains with his court. Dovregubben and his court are described in detail in Ibsen's Peer Gynt. After the integration of Christianity into Scandinavian folklore, trolls developed a hatred of church-bells and the smell of Christians.\\nTrolls are often said to be able to change their appearance and did so in order to trick humans into doing what they wanted. For example, Trolls may present a beautiful appearance in order to trick a character into following them into their mountain home, then hold the character captive for years (bergatagen). (See the similarities with Irish \\\"elven/fiery hills.\\\") In older tales, the word troll/trold (trolla as a verb) may simply mean \\\"to badly harm/hurt someone\\\"; someone who is a troll is someone who may eat human flesh or engage in other socially-unacceptable acts, such as rape. Luckily, trolls are said to turn into stone when exposed to sunlight.\\n\\nFemale creatures\\n\\nHuldra\\n\\nThe Huldra, Hylda, Skogsrå or Skogfru (Forest wife/woman) is a dangerous seductress who lives in the forest. The Huldra is said to lure men down into endless cavesystems, that they would not be able to find their way out from, or lure them into the forest in order to secure her freedom or sometimes to suck the life out of a man. One of her methods is to appear suddenly out of the rain and mist, friendly and enticing to the point that no man can resist her charm. She has a long cow's tail that she ties under her skirt in order to hide it from men. If she can manage to get married in a church, her tail falls off and she becomes human. However, she also becomes very ugly. It is often said, however, that the young and beautiful Huldra is moody and dangerous, but when she becomes old and ugly, she also becomes gentle and caring to the man who made her Christian. She has an aquatic counterpart called \\\"havsfrun\\\" or \\\"Havsrå\\\" (sea wife/woman) who is very similar to the Sirens Odysseus meets in The Odyssey.\\n\\nNattmara | Nightmare\\n\\nIn Scandinavia, there existed the famous race of she-werewolves known with a name of Nattmara. The mara (or nightmare, as is the English word for them) appears as a skinny young woman, dressed in a night gown, with pale skin and long black hair and nails. As sand they could slip through the slightest crack in the wood of a wall and terrorize the sleeping by \\\"riding\\\" on their chest, thus giving them nightmares. They would sometimes ride cattle that, when touched by the Mara, would have their hair or fur tangled and energy drained, while trees would curl up and wilt. In some tales they had a similar role to the Banshee as an omen of death and if one were to leave a dirty doll in a family livingroom, one of the members would soon fall ill and die of tuberculosis (also called \\\"lung soot\\\", referring to how the lack of proper chimneys in old 18-19th century homes led to many contracting aforementioned disease due to inhaling smoke at a daily basis).\\n\\nThere is controversy as to how they came into being and in some tales the Maras are simply restless children, whose souls leave their body at night to haunt the living. If a woman were to have a horse placenta pulled over her head before giving birth, the children would be delivered safely; but all the boys will turn into werewolves, and all the girls will become Maras.\\n\\nTo avoid being haunted by a Mara a man could place his shoes at the front of the bed, as it is from there that the mara climbs up and seeing as something is in the way will deter her, or nail a horse shoe over it.\\n\\nOthers\\n\\nMermaids in most mythology have a bad reputation of luring men to their watery demise. In Scandinavian folklore, they are good-natured beings who sit on rocks and comb their beautiful gold hair. Quite unlike their wicked sister, Lorelei, who does lure men to their death, mermaids warn seafaring men of storms and other dangers. They can foretell the future, and because of this, there is often an air of melancholy around them.\\n\\nWitches in Scandinavian folklore in particular are recognized by their long noses and cats, just as in other lands. There are at least three species of witch in this branch of folklore.\\n* Trollkärringar, trollpackor or trollkonor, is a troll's wife who possesses magical powers. They greatly resemble their ugly troll husbands.\\n* The \\\"classic\\\" witch lives alone in a little cottage in the woods. She dabbles in magic, has a long nose and black cats, and brews mysterious potions. If one calls her \\\"Mother\\\" and presents her with tobacco and other gifts, she will do a favor in return. This species of witch can summon all the birds and all the animals in the woods; she can quell the north wind; and she will give one advice in an emergency.\\n* The third kind of witch is the most dangerous, as they thrive under the power of evil. They appear to be ordinary women during the day who attend church and keep house, but at night they ride through the air, bewitching people and their livestock. They also frequently change themselves into animals in order to trick humans.\\n\\nWater creatures\\n\\nFossegrimen\\n\\nFossegrimen is a spirit who lives in waterfalls and is neither good nor evil. The Fossegrim is a magnificent musician who plays the fiddle day and night. If an aspiring fiddle player ventures to seek his help, the Fossegrim will gladly help, for a price of course. He must go to the waterfall and offer him a nice meal, usually a good plump joint of meat. Many stories tell of travelers who have tried to palm the Fossegrim off with an inadequate piece of meat, resulting in the him just teaching the student how to tune his fiddle rather than play it. He is said to be young and handsome though never leaves his waterfall.\\n\\nNøkken\\n\\nNøkken, näcken, or strömkarlen, is a fresh water dwelling relative of Fossegrimen, but unlike his kinsman, the nøkk is both dangerous and clever. The nøkk plays a violin to lure his victims out onto thin ice or in leaky boats and then draws them down to the bottom of the water where he is waiting for them. The nøkk is also a known shapeshifter, usually changing into a horse or a man in order to lure his victims to him.\\n\\nDraugen\\n\\nIn the depths of the sea, lives the draug or the Strandvaskare. The draug is the spirit of a person who died at sea. He sails through the sea in half a boat. If a man happens to see a draug, he is in mortal danger unless he races the draug and wins. The word Strandvaskere is found in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. It refers to a drowned person washing up on the shore.\\n\\nOthers\\n\\nWater spirits, among others the nix, are often presented in the shape of a devil. A water spirit would hide in the rapids and lure people into the water to drown. the brook horse was believed to be one and the same (bäckahästen).\\n\\nIn Scandinavian folklore, dragons are commonly known as lindworms, monstrous serpents with or without hind legs. In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, they typically live in the ocean, and here, tales of marine monsters appear to have the widest dissemination, although a famous specimen is also said to reside in the Swedish lake Storsjön. The Norwegian lake Seljordsvatnet is also famous for its claimed inhabitant, a serpent known as Selma. The coasts of Scandinavia are reportedly also haunted by the terrifying Kraken. Sea serpents, with their glowing eyes and long manes, are also prevalent in Scandinavian folklore, as well as their invisible kin the sea-whip.\\n\\nOther creatures\\n\\nInvisible creatures\\n\\nThe Nisse or tomte (in the southern Sweden and Norway and Denmark) is a good wight who takes care of the house and barn when the farmer is asleep, but only if the farmer reciprocates by setting out food for the nisse and he himself also takes care of his family, farm and animals. If the nisse is ignored or maltreated or the farm is not cared for, he can sabotage a lot of the work on the farm to teach the farmer a lesson or two. Although the nisse should be treated with respect and some degree of kindness, he should not be treated too kindly. In fact, there's a Swedish story in which a farmer and his wife enters their barn an early morning and finds the little grey old man brushing the floor. They see his clothing, which is nothing more than torn rags, so the wife decides to make him some new clothes but when the nisse finds them in the barn he now thinks he is too elegant to perform any more farm labour and thus disappears from the farm. Nisser are also usually associated with Christmas and the yule time. It is normal that farms may place bowls of rice porridge on the doorsteps in a similar manner that cookies and milk are put out for Santa Claus. In the morning the porridge would have been eaten. Some believe that the nisse brings the presents as well. In Swedish, the word Tomten (Tomte in singular) is very closely linked to the word for the plot of land where a house or cottage is built, which spells the same both in singular and plural (Tomten/tomterna) but is pronounced with slightly longer vocals. Therefore some scholars believe that the wight Tomten originates from some sort of general house god or deity from before the Asa belief. A Nisse/Tomte is said to be able to change his size between that of a 5-year-old child and a thumb, and also to have the ability to make himself invisible.\\n\\nA type of wight from Northern Sweden called Vittra lives underground, is invisible most of the time and has its own cattle. Most of the time Vittra are rather distant and do not meddle in human affairs, but are fearsome when enraged. This can be achieved by not respecting them properly, for example by neglecting to perform certain rituals (such as saying \\\"look out\\\" when putting out hot water or going to the toilet so they can move out of the way) or building your home to close to or, even worse, on top of their home, disturbing their cattle or blocking their roads. They can make your life very very miserable or even dangerous - they do whatever it takes to drive you away, even arrange accidents that will harm or even kill you. Even in modern days, people have rebuilt or moved houses in order not to block a \\\"Vittra-way\\\", or moved from houses that are deemed a \\\"Vittra-place\\\" (Vittra ställe) because of bad luck - although this is rather uncommon. In tales told in the north of Sweden, Vittra often take the place that trolls, tomte and vättar hold in the same stories told in other parts of the country. Vittra are believed to sometimes \\\"borrow\\\" cattle that later would be returned to the owner with the ability to give more milk as a sign of gratitude. This tradition is heavily influenced by the fact that it was developed during a time when people let their cattle graze on mountains or in the forest for long periods of the year.\\n\\nSome say that the dwarves of Scandinavian folklore lived on as wights (vättar or huldrefolk), although with somewhat different characteristics. Wights live underground, often right next to human settlements, and are commonly a menace to their ground-dwelling neighbors.\\n\\nLand creatures\\n\\nThe race of dwarves (or Svartálfar/dark/black elves as opposite of the light elves \\\"ljusalfer\\\") were not short in the beginning, lived underground, had dark hair and gray or pale skin, and were not very fond of the sun. They were master smiths with good knowledge in various kinds of magic and rather greedy folk - in short, not very pleasant to do business with. Some scholars believe that they may have originated from some kind of Indo-European worship of dead spirits or ancestors with great knowledge, thus their original physical appearance. Over time, they grew short and less and less ghoulish and evolved into the dwarves whom we see in Snorres Edda and later tales. The actual Dwarven size is believed by some to have originated from German tales which were in their turn influenced by Roman stories of child slave labor in mines - but this cannot be proven.\\n\\nElves (in Swedish, Älva if female and Alf if male, Alv in Norwegian) are in some parts mostly described as female (in contrast to the light and dark elves in the Edda), otherworldly, beautiful and seductive residents of forests, meadows and mires. They are skilled in magic and illusions. Sometimes they are described as small fairies, sometimes as full-sized women and sometimes as half transparent spirits, or a mix thereof. They are closely linked to the mist and it is often said in Sweden that, \\\"the Elves are dancing in the mist\\\". The female form of Elves may have originated from the female deities called Dís (singular) and Díser (plural) found in pre-Christian Scandinavian religion. They were very powerful spirits closely linked to the seid magic. Even today the word \\\"dis\\\" is a synonym for mist or very light rain in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. Particularly in Denmark, the female elves have merged with the dangerous and seductive huldra, skogsfrun or \\\"keeper of the forest\\\", often called hylde. In some parts of Sweden the elves also got some features from Skogsfrun, Huldra\\\", or Hylda\\\", and can seduce and bewitch careless men and suck the life out of them or make them go down in the mire and drown. But at the same time the Skogsrå exists as its own being, with other distinct features clearly separating it from the elves. In more modern tales, it isn't uncommon for a rather ugly male Tomte, Troll, Vätte or a Dwarf to fall in love with a beautiful Elven female, as the beginning of a story of impossible or forbidden love.\\n\\nEllepiger (alder tree girls) are the most famous of the Ellefolket (the alder tree people) in Danish folklore. The girls dance around at night, luring many a young man to join them and to never be heard of again. They are beautiful but their backs are hollow.\\n\\nOne of the most notable, and evil, creatures from folklore is the Devil himself, called Fanden in Scandinavian folklore. He is depicted with horns, a goatee, and a hoof instead of a left foot. He is also tall and lean and wears a top-hat. The Norwegian devil has no wife, but his great-grandmother keeps house for him. While he tends to be very cunning, it is hard for him to outwit a human, as he is extremely gullible and prideful. For example, in one story, the human escapes after betting the devil he cannot fit inside an empty nutshell (which the devil does just to prove he can).\\n\\nMany of the terms in Nordic beliefs are used for different kinds of creatures, and to really know what is meant, one usually needs to put them into context. That characteristics are sometimes flowing into each other does not make it easier. Vætter (evil little creatures), Underjordiske (the hidden ones/they below ground) and småfolk (little people) can be used loosely as terms for nearly all of the small beings in the old beliefs.\\n\\nThe myling is the ghost of a child left to die in the wilderness, and the mara is a wraith said to cause nightmares and sleep paralysis. Stories also tell of the will o' the wisp (irrbloss, lyktgubbar or lygtemænd), often assumed to be the spirits of people who had drowned in lakes and marshes. According to some stories, they could lead a lost wanderer to a death similar to their own; according to others, they could lead him home.\\n\\nThese are only a few of the mythical creatures, and only shortly explained.\\n\\nEffect of Christianity on folklore\\n\\nThe Christianization of Scandinavia completed by the 11th century meant that the high-mythology more or less phased out of use. This process may have been quite rapid because these never were the beliefs of the lower classes. While mythology was phased out, the gods, heroes and stories are brought to life through folklore. Folklore was a key instrument in integrating Christianity into Scandinavian society, and legends once focused on the pagan religion picked up Christian aspects. After Christian beliefs and traditions were introduced into society, there was a noticeable change in the characteristics of some of the creatures. For example, the horrid and evil trolls of the mountains developed a fear of church-bells, and the huldre preyed on good Christian men. The \\\"evil\\\" creatures of folklore began to fight the heroes and great kings over Christian symbols, such in the tale of King Olav Haraldsson and the trolls, with the Christians always appearing to prevail. Folklore also started to develop morals about being good Christian citizens. For example, only the strong of faith could defeat the draugr. \\n\\nScandinavian folklore in popular media\\n\\nThe creatures, symbols, and themes of Scandinavian folklore can be seen readily in the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R Tolkien. For example, the \\\"one ring\\\" comes from folklore, such as the famous legend, The Volsunga Saga. In this story, a magic ring owned by a dwarf named Andvari is stolen. When Loki, the god of Deseit and tricks, steals the ring, Andvari shouts \\\"I curse you for this! The ring will carry my curse forever. All who possesses the ring will be destroyed!\\\" This only leads to death and destruction, and later Fafnir morphs into a serpentdragon, whose outer body matches his inner evil created by the ring. This theme seems to carry over into the story behind the character Gollum. Also, there is a parallel between the Nordic legend of Frotha-Firth who stood as a peacemaker, and Frodo, the seeker of peace. \\n\\nClassic Scandinavian folk tales\\n\\n* The Three Billy Goats Gruff\\n** A classic example of cunning, talking, and human-like animals vs. a not-so-smart troll.\\n* Prince Lindworm\\n** Another story of a human outwitting a creature\\n* The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body\\n** A great example of a hero rescuing a princess after she is kidnapped by an evil creature.\\n* The Seven Foals\",\n \"Hans_Christian_Andersen.txt\\nHans Christian Andersen\\nHans Christian Andersen (;; often referred to in Scandinavia as H. C. Andersen; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories, called in Danish, express themes that transcend age and nationality.\\n\\nAndersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include \\\"The Emperor's New Clothes\\\", \\\"The Little Mermaid\\\", \\\"The Nightingale\\\", \\\"The Snow Queen\\\", \\\"The Ugly Duckling\\\", \\\"Thumbelina\\\", and many more.\\n\\nHis stories have inspired ballets, both animated and live-action films, and plays. \\n\\nEarly life\\n\\nHans Christian Andersen was born in the town of Odense, Denmark, on 2 April 1805. He was an only child. Andersen's father, also Hans, considered himself related to nobility. His paternal grandmother had told his father that their family had in the past belonged to a higher social class, but investigations prove these stories unfounded. Theories suggesting that Andersen may have been an illegitimate son of King Christian VIII of Denmark persist.\\n\\nAndersen's father, who had received an elementary education, introduced Andersen to literature, reading to him Arabian Nights. Andersen's mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, was uneducated and worked as a washerwoman following his father's death in 1816; she remarried in 1818. Andersen was sent to a local school for poor children where he received a basic education and was forced to support himself, working as an apprentice for a weaver and, later, for a tailor. At 14, he moved to Copenhagen to seek employment as an actor. Having an excellent soprano voice, he was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre, but his voice soon changed. A colleague at the theatre told him that he considered Andersen a poet. Taking the suggestion seriously, Andersen began to focus on writing.\\n\\nJonas Collin, director of the Royal Danish Theatre, felt a great affection for Andersen and sent him to a grammar school in Slagelse, persuading King Frederick VI to pay part of the youth's education. Andersen had already published his first story, \\\"The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave\\\" (1822). Though not a keen student, he also attended school at Elsinore until 1827. \\n\\nHe later said his years in school were the darkest and most bitter of his life. At one school, he lived at his schoolmaster's home. There he was abused in order \\\"to improve his character\\\", he was told. He later said the faculty had discouraged him from writing in general, causing him to enter a state of depression.\\n\\nCareer\\n\\nEarly work\\n\\nA very early fairy tale by Andersen, called \\\"The Tallow Candle\\\" (), was discovered in a Danish archive in October 2012. The story, written in the 1820s, was about a candle who did not feel appreciated. It was written while Andersen was still in school and dedicated to a benefactor, in whose family's possession it remained until it turned up among other family papers in a suitcase in a local archive. \\n\\nIn 1829, Andersen enjoyed considerable success with the short story \\\"A Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager\\\". Its protagonist meets characters ranging from Saint Peter to a talking cat. Andersen followed this success with a theatrical piece, Love on St. Nicholas Church Tower, and a short volume of poems. Though he made little progress writing and publishing immediately thereafter, in 1833 he received a small traveling grant from the King, enabling him to set out on the first of many journeys through Europe. At Jura, near Le Locle, Switzerland, Andersen wrote the story \\\"Agnete and the Merman\\\". He spent an evening in the Italian seaside village of Sestri Levante the same year, inspiring the name, \\\"The Bay of Fables\\\". In October 1834, he arrived in Rome. Andersen's travels in Italy would be reflected in his first novel, an autobiography titled The Improvisatore () which was published in 1835, receiving instant acclaim.\\n\\nFairy tales and poetry\\n\\nHis initial attempts at writing fairy tales were revisions of stories that he heard as a child. Andersen then brought this genre to a new level by writing a vast number of fairy tales that were both bold and original. Initially they were not met with recognition, due partly to the difficulty in translating them and capturing his genius for humor and dark pathos.\\n\\nIt was during 1835 that Andersen published the first two installments of his immortal Fairy Tales (; lit. \\\"fantastic tales\\\"). More stories, completing the first volume, were published in 1837. The collection comprises nine tales, including \\\"The Tinderbox\\\", \\\"The Princess and the Pea\\\", \\\"Thumbelina\\\", \\\"The Little Mermaid\\\", and \\\"The Emperor's New Clothes\\\". The quality of these stories was not immediately recognized, and they sold poorly. At the same time, Andersen enjoyed more success with two novels, O.T. (1836) and Only a Fiddler (1837); the latter was reviewed by the young Søren Kierkegaard.\\n\\nAfter a visit to Sweden in 1837, Andersen became inspired by Scandinavism and committed himself to writing a poem that would convey the relatedness of Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians. It was in July 1839, during a visit to the island of Funen, that Andersen first wrote the text of his poem, Jeg er en Skandinav (\\\"I am a Scandinavian\\\"). Andersen composed the poem to capture \\\"the beauty of the Nordic spirit, the way the three sister nations have gradually grown together\\\", as part of a Scandinavian national anthem. Composer Otto Lindblad set the poem to music, and the composition was published in January 1840. Its popularity peaked in 1845, after which it was seldom sung. Andersen spent two weeks at the Augustenborg Palace in the autumn of 1844. \\n\\nAndersen returned to the fairy tale genre in 1838 with another collection, Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. First Booklet (), which consists of \\\"The Daisy\\\", \\\"The Steadfast Tin Soldier\\\", and \\\"The Wild Swans\\\".\\n\\nThe year 1845 heralded a breakthrough for Andersen with the publication of four different translations of his fairy tales. \\\"The Little Mermaid\\\" appeared in the periodical Bentley's Miscellany. It was followed by a second volume, Wonderful Stories for Children. Two other volumes enthusiastically received were A Danish Story Book and Danish Fairy Tales and Legends. A review that appeared in the London journal The Athenæum (February 1846) said of Wonderful Stories, \\\"This is a book full of life and fancy; a book for grandfathers no less than grandchildren, not a word of which will be skipped by those who have it once in hand.\\\"\\n\\nAndersen would continue to write fairy tales, and he published them in installments until 1872.\\n\\nTravelogues\\n\\nIn 1851, he published to wide acclaim In Sweden, a volume of travel sketches. A keen traveler, Andersen published several other long travelogues: Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831, A Poet's Bazaar, In Spain, and A Visit to Portugal in 1866. (The latter describes his visit with his Portuguese friends Jorge and Jose O'Neill, who were his fellows in the mid-1820s while living in Copenhagen.) In his travelogues, Andersen took heed of some of the contemporary conventions about travel writing, but always developed the genre to suit his own purposes. Each of his travelogues combines documentary and descriptive accounts of the sights he saw with more philosophical passages on topics such as being an author, immortality, and the nature of fiction in the literary travel report. Some of the travelogues, such as In Sweden, even contain fairy-tales.\\n\\nIn the 1840s, Andersen's attention returned to the stage, but with little success. He had better fortune with the publication of the Picture-Book without Pictures (1840). A second series of fairy tales began in 1838 and a third in 1845. Andersen was now celebrated throughout Europe, although his native Denmark still showed some resistance to his pretensions.\\n\\nBetween 1845 and 1864, H. C. Andersen lived at 67 Nyhavn, Copenhagen, where a memorial plaque now stands. \\n\\nPersonal life\\n\\nMeetings with Dickens\\n\\nIn June 1847, Andersen paid his first visit to England and enjoyed a triumphal social success during the summer. The Countess of Blessington invited him to her parties where intellectual people could meet, and it was at one such party that he met Charles Dickens for the first time. They shook hands and walked to the veranda, about which Andersen wrote in his diary: \\\"We had come to the veranda, I was so happy to see and speak to England's now living writer, whom I love the most.\\\" \\n\\nThe two authors respected each other's work and shared something important in common as writers: depictions of the poor and the underclass, who often had difficult lives affected both by the Industrial Revolution and by abject poverty. In the Victorian era there was a growing sympathy for children and an idealization of the innocence of childhood.\\n\\nTen years later, Andersen visited England again, primarily to meet Dickens. He extended a brief visit to Dickens' home at Gads Hill Place into a five-week stay, to the distress of Dickens' family. After Andersen was told to leave, Dickens gradually stopped all correspondence between them, to the great disappointment and confusion of Andersen, who had quite enjoyed the visit and never understood why his letters went unanswered.\\n\\nLove life\\n\\nIn Andersen's early life, his private journal records his refusal to have sexual relations.Recorded using \\\"special Greek symbols\\\".\\n\\nAndersen often fell in love with unattainable women, and many of his stories are interpreted as references. At one point, he wrote in his diary: \\\"Almighty God, thee only have I; thou steerest my fate, I must give myself up to thee! Give me a livelihood! Give me a bride! My blood wants love, as my heart does!\\\" A girl named Riborg Voigt was the unrequited love of Andersen's youth. A small pouch containing a long letter from Riborg was found on Andersen's chest when he died, several decades after he first fell in love with her, and after he supposedly fell in love with others. Other disappointments in love included Sophie Ørsted, the daughter of the physicist Hans Christian Ørsted, and Louise Collin, the youngest daughter of his benefactor Jonas Collin. One of his stories, \\\"The Nightingale\\\", was written as an expression of his passion for Jenny Lind and became the inspiration for her nickname, the \\\"Swedish Nightingale\\\". Andersen was often shy around women and had extreme difficulty in proposing to Lind. When Lind was boarding a train to go to an opera concert, Andersen gave Lind a letter of proposal. Her feelings towards him were not the same; she saw him as a brother, writing to him in 1844: \\\"farewell... God bless and protect my brother is the sincere wish of his affectionate sister, Jenny\\\". \\n\\nAndersen certainly experienced same-sex love as well: he wrote to Edvard Collin: \\\"I languish for you as for a pretty Calabrian wench... my sentiments for you are those of a woman. The femininity of my nature and our friendship must remain a mystery.\\\" Collin, who preferred women, wrote in his own memoir: \\\"I found myself unable to respond to this love, and this caused the author much suffering.\\\" Likewise, the infatuations of the author for the Danish dancer Harald Scharff and Carl Alexander, the young hereditary duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, did not result in any relationships.\\n\\nAccording to Anne Klara Bom and Anya Aarenstrup from the H. C. Andersen Centre of University of Southern Denmark, \\\"To conclude, it is correct to point to the very ambivalent (and also very traumatic) elements in Andersen's emotional life concerning the sexual sphere, but it is decidedly just as wrong to describe him as homosexual and maintain that he had physical relationships with men. He did not. Indeed that would have been entirely contrary to his moral and religious ideas, aspects that are quite outside the field of vision of Wullschlager and her like.\\\" \\n\\nDeath\\n\\nIn the spring of 1872, Andersen fell out of his bed and was severely hurt; he never recovered. Soon afterward, he started to show signs of liver cancer. \\n\\nHe died on 4 August 1875, in a house called Rolighed (literally: calmness), near Copenhagen, the home of his close friends, the banker Moritz Melchior and his wife. Shortly before his death, Andersen had consulted a composer about the music for his funeral, saying: \\\"Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps.\\\" His body was interred in the Assistens Kirkegård in the Nørrebro area of Copenhagen.\\n\\nAt the time of his death, Andersen was internationally revered, and the Danish Government paid him an annual stipend as a \\\"national treasure\\\". \\n\\nLegacy and cultural influence\\n\\nArchives, collections, and museums\\n\\n*The Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Solvang, California, a city founded by Danes, is devoted to presenting the author's life and works. Displays include models of Andersen's childhood home and of \\\"The Princess and the Pea\\\". The museum also contains hundreds of volumes of Andersen's works, including many illustrated first editions. \\n*The Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division was bequeathed an extensive collection of Andersen materials by the Danish-American actor, Jean Hersholt. Of particular note is an original scrapbook Andersen prepared for the young Jonas Drewsen. \\n\\nArt, entertainment, and media\\n\\nFilms\\n\\n* \\\"La petite marchande d'allumettes\\\" (1928; in English: The Little Match Girl), film by Jean Renoir based on \\\"The Little Match Girl\\\"\\n*Andersen was played by Joachim Gottschalk in the German film The Swedish Nightingale (1941), which portrays his relationship with the singer Jenny Lind.\\n*Hans Christian Andersen (1952), an American musical film starring Danny Kaye that, though inspired by Andersen's life and literary legacy, was meant to be neither historically nor biographically accurate; it begins by saying, \\\"This is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about this great spinner of fairy tales\\\"\\n*The Rankin/Bass Productions-produced fantasy film, The Daydreamer (1966), depicts the young Hans Christian Andersen imaginatively conceiving the stories he would later write.\\n* The World of Hans Christian Andersen (1968), a Japanese anime fantasy film from Toei Doga, based on the works of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen\\n* The Little Mermaid, a 1989 animated film based on The Little Mermaid produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios\\n* Thumbelina, a 1994 animated film based on the \\\"Thumbelina\\\" produced by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment\\n* One Fantasia 2000 segment is based off The Steadfast Tin Soldier.\\n* Frozen, a 2013 animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, was initially intended to be based on The Snow Queen, though numerous changes were made until the end result bore almost no resemblance to the original story.\\n\\nLiterature\\n\\nAndersen's stories laid the groundwork for other children's classics, such as The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame and Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) by A.A. Milne. The technique of making inanimate objects, such as toys, come to life (\\\"Little Ida's Flowers\\\") would later also be used by Lewis Carroll and Beatrix Potter.\\n\\n* \\\"Match Girl,\\\" a short story by Anne Bishop (published in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears)\\n* \\\"The Chrysanthemum Robe\\\", a short story by Kara Dalkey (based on \\\"The Emperor's New Clothes\\\" and published in The Armless Maiden)\\n* The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey, lyrical adult fantasy novel set in the courts of old Japan\\n* The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf by Kathryn Davis, a contemporary novel about fairy tales and opera\\n* \\\"Sparks\\\", a short story by Gregory Frost (based on \\\"The Tinder Box\\\", published in Black Swan, White Raven)\\n* \\\"The Pangs of Love\\\", a short story by Jane Gardam (based on \\\"The Little Mermaid\\\", published in Close Company: Stories of Mothers and Daughters)\\n* \\\"The Last Poems About the Snow Queen,\\\" a poem cycle by Sandra Gilbert (published in Blood Pressure).\\n* The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan, a gentle Young Adult fantasy novel that brings out the tale's subtle pagan and shamanic elements\\n* The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr, a novel that brings Andersen's fairy tale to colonial and modern America\\n* \\\"Steadfast\\\", a short story by Nancy Kress (based on \\\"The Steadfast Tin Soldier\\\", published in Black Swan, White Raven)\\n* \\\"In the Witch's Garden\\\" (October 2002), a short story by Naomi Kritzer (based on \\\"The Snow Queen\\\", published in Realms of Fantasy magazine)\\n* Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, a romantic fantasy novel, set in early Ireland (thematically linked to \\\"The Wild Swans\\\")\\n* \\\"The Snow Queen\\\", a short story by Patricia A. McKillip (published in Snow White, Blood Red)\\n* \\\"You, Little Match Girl,\\\" a short story by Joyce Carol Oates (published in Black Heart, Ivory Bones)\\n* \\\"The Real Princess,\\\" a short story by Susan Palwick (based on \\\"The Princess and the Pea\\\", published in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears)\\n* \\\"The Naked King\\\" (\\\"Голый Король (Goliy Korol)\\\" 1937), \\\"The Shadow\\\" (\\\"Тень (Ten)\\\" 1940), and \\\"The Snow Queen\\\" (\\\"Снежная Королева (Sniezhenaya Koroleva)\\\" 1948) by Eugene Schwartz, reworked and adapted to the contemporary reality plays by one of Russia's playwrights. Schwartz's versions of \\\"The Shadow\\\" and \\\"The Snow Queen\\\" were later made into movies (1971 and 1966, respectively).\\n* \\\"The Sea Hag,\\\" a short story by Melissa Lee Shaw (based on \\\"The Little Mermaid\\\", published in Silver Birch, Blood Moon)\\n* The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge, an award-winning novel that reworks \\\"The Snow Queen\\\"'s themes into epic science fiction\\n* \\\"The Steadfast Tin Soldier,\\\" a short story by Joan D. Vinge (published in Women of Wonder)\\n* [http://hazlitt.net/authors/sophia-foster-dimino \\\"Swim Thru Fire,\\\"] a comic by [http://www.hellophia.com/ Sophia Foster-Dimino] and [http://heyanniemok.com/ Annie Mok], based partially off of \\\"The Little Mermaid.\\\"\\n\\nMobile app\\n\\n* GivingTales – the storytelling app for children was created in aid of UNICEF in 2015. Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales are read by Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Joan Collins and Joanna Lumley. \\n\\nMonuments and sculptures\\n\\n*Hans Christian Andersen (1880), even before his death, steps had already been taken to erect, in Andersen's honor, a large statue by sculptor August Saabye, which can now be seen in the Rosenborg Castle Gardens in Copenhagen.\\n* Hans Christian Andersen (1896) by the Danish sculptor Johannes Gelert, at Lincoln Park in Chicago, on Stockton Drive near Webster Avenue \\n*Hans Christian Andersen (1956), a statue by sculptor Georg J. Lober and designer Otto Frederick Langman, at Central Park Lake in New York City, opposite East 74th Street (40.7744306°N, 73.9677972°W)\\n\\nMusic\\n\\n* Hans Christian Andersen (album), a 1994 album by Franciscus Henri\\n* The Song is a Fairytale (Sangen er et Eventyr), a song cycle based on fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, composed by Frederik Magle\\n\\nStage productions\\n\\n* Sam the Lovesick Snowman at the Center for Puppetry Arts: a contemporary puppet show by Jon Ludwig inspired by The Snow Man. \\n* Striking Twelve, a modern musical take on \\\"The Little Match Girl\\\", created and performed by GrooveLily. \\n* The musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress is based on Andersen' work 'The Princess and the Pea'.\\n\\nTelevision\\n\\n* Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale (2001), a semi-biographical television miniseries that fictionalizes the young life of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and includes fairytales as short interludes, intertwined into the events of the young author's life\\n*In the \\\"Metal Fish\\\" episode of the Disney TV series The Little Mermaid, Andersen is a vital character whose inspiration for writing his tale is shown to have been granted by an encounter with the show's protagonists\\n*The Fairytaler, a 2004 Danish animated television series based on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen.\\n*Young Andersen, a 2005 biographical television miniseries that tells of the formative boarding school years of fairy tale writer.\\n\\nWebseries\\n\\n* Classic Alice (2014), a YouTube webseries, had a five-episode arc based on \\\"The Butterfly\\\"\\n\\nAwards\\n\\n* Hans Christian Andersen Awards, prizes awarded annually by the International Board on Books for Young People to an author and illustrator whose complete works have made lasting contributions to children's literature. \\n* Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, a Danish literary award established in 2010\\n\\nEvents and holidays\\n\\n*Andersen's birthday, 2 April, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day. \\n*The year 2005, designated \\\"Andersen Year\\\" in Denmark, was the bicentenary of Andersen's birth, and his life and work was celebrated around the world.\\n*In Denmark, a well-attended \\\"once in a lifetime\\\" show was staged in Copenhagen's Parken Stadium during \\\"Andersen Year\\\" to celebrate the writer and his stories.\\n*The annual H.C. Andersen Marathon, established in 2000, is held in Odense, Denmark\\n\\nPlaces named after Andersen\\n\\n* Hans Christian Andersen Airport, small airport servicing the Danish city of Odense\\n* Instituto Hans Christian Andersen, Chilean high school located in San Fernando, Colchagua Province, Chile\\n\\nPostage stamps\\n\\n* Andersen's legacy includes the postage stamps of Denmark and of Kazakhstan depicted above, depicting Andersen's profile.\\n\\nTheme parks\\n\\n*A $13-million theme park based on Andersen's tales and life opened in Shanghai at the end of 2006. Multi-media games and cultural contests related to the fairy tales are available to visitors. Andersen is said to have been celebrated because he was \\\"a nice, hardworking person who was not afraid of poverty\\\".\\n*The Japanese city of Funabashi also has a children's theme park named after Andersen. \\n\\nSelected Works\\n\\nAndersen's fairy tales include:\\n\\n* The Angel (1843)\\n* The Bell\\n* The Emperor's New Clothes (1837)\\n* The Fir-Tree (1844)\\n* The Galoshes of Fortune (1838)\\n* The Happy Family\\n* The Ice-Maiden (1863)\\n* It's Quite True!\\n* Later Tales, published during 1867 & 1868 (1869)\\n* The Little Match Girl (1845)\\n* The Little Mermaid (1837)\\n* Little Tuck\\n* The Most Incredible Thing (1870)\\n* The Nightingale (1843)\\n* The Old House\\n* The Princess and the Pea (1835)\\n* The Red Shoes (1845)\\n* Sandman (1841)\\n* The Shadow (1847)\\n* The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep (1845)\\n* The Snow Queen (1844)\\n* The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1838)\\n* The Story of a Mother (1847)\\n* The Swineherd (1841)\\n* Thumbelina (1835)\\n* The Tinderbox (1835)\\n* The Ugly Duckling (1843)\\n* The Wild Swans (1838)\",\n \"SCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE - Scott Trimble\\nSCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE: ... Scandinavian 165 (Scandinavian Folklore), ... malevolent beings and often got into battles with the land draugs at the cemetery.\\nSCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE\\nSCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE\\nFolktales of Norway, edited by Reidar Th. Christiansen, 1964.\\nScandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, Reimund Kvideland & Henning K. Sehmsdorf, 1988.\\nScandinavian 165 (Scandinavian Folklore), course by John Lindow, U.C. Berkeley, Spring 1997.\\nnot yet completed, under construction as of 6 March 1997\\nP. Chr. Asbjörnsen Many of the folktales were collected by this guy in the mid- to late-1800s.\\nBergtagning This is the term for when people are kidnapped by the huldre-folk, literally \\\"taking into the mountain\\\". This was sometimes done with a motive, but often not.\\nBlack Book Also known as Cyprianus, it is the textbook of the Black School at Wittenburg, the book from which a witch or sorceror gets his spells.\\nBlack School at Wittenburg In the folktales, this was a place in Germany where one went to learn the black arts. One common motif was that the teacher, the Devil, would grab the last graduating pupil, but that the student would escape by instead giving up his coat or shadow instead.\\nBoundary Ghost Ownership of land was the very basis of rural life. Magic rituals accompanied the placing of boundary stones, and stealing land by moving such a stone was severely punished. According to medieval Norwegian law, anyone stealing land was declared an outlaw. In recent tradition the thief is forced to walk again after death, struggling in vain to return the boundary stone to its proper place.\\nChangelings A baby or being from the other world that occupies the place of the human baby in this world. A switch is accomplished while the human baby is unattended, but usually the humans eventually are able to get the creature to take the baby back by treating the changeling poorly, getting it to reveal its name, taking it to get baptised, etc. Some signs that the child is a changeling are excessive crying, won't speak, dark or ugly, won't grow, misshapen, over-eats, sudden changes, etc. The parents could have protected their child by baptism, putting a piece of metal in the cradle, or carving a cross on the cradle's headboard. The word \\\"byting\\\" refers to an exchange.\\nChurches Churches are the site for the rites of passage (see below) and are also a window between the world of the living and the dead or the invisible. It is interesting that the churches were often stone buildings while others were not trolls turned into stone when hit by sunlight. The church could often be inhabited by the supernatural usually when we are not there, an example being the Midnight Mass of the Dead (see below).\\nEllevolk elves\\nFinns The Finns (Laplanders, Saami) are famous in Norwegian folklore for their abilities in witchcraft. Especially they are able to to let the soul travel to foreign places while the body is in a trance.\\nFoaf Friend Of A Friend, i.e. where most folklore stories and urban legends seem to originate from.\\nFolklore The word itself was coined by William Thoms in 1846. feautures: oral transmission, anonymous origin, tradition, uneducated folk, group, certain forms, ownership, dynamic. Horizontal transmission --> to your peers. Vertical transmission --> to the next generation.\\nGhosts Whereas revenants are dead people returning to haunt the living for various reasons, ghosts usually appear as impersonal spooks. Most often they appear at night, making their presence known by shouting or wailing, seizing hold of people, stopping horses on the road, or by other undefined movements and actions. The encounter with ghosts often causes sickness and, at times, even death.\\nGiants In the oldest literature of Scandinavia, we find primordial giants identified with the origin and creation of the world. They are usually cast in the role of enemies of the gods and the human community. With the introduction of Christianity, they became enemies of the church as well. In more recent folk tradition, the giants usually appear as imaginary figures rather than as preternatural beings people actually believed in. They play a major role in fabulats and etiological legends explaining the origin of natural phenomena such as huge rock formations, lakes, and the so-called jættegryter (\\\"giant potholes\\\"). [jätte (Swedish), troll / jotun (Norwegian), jætte (Danish)]\\ntrolls Often this word refers to all the mythical beings, but there really is a distinction. Trolls, which belong to a distant past, are huge and grotesque, may only have a single eye in the middle of their forehead, and very often have three heads. They are terribly strong but are also stupid and are easily tricked by a quick-witted person. They abhor the sounds of churchbells and they have a predilection for eating human flesh. Their homeland was the dark, ice-covered land of Trollebotn, the huge frozen bay which was assumed to connect Greenland to north of Scandinavia. Gyger (or Gjöger) are female trolls, giantesses.\\nJakob & Wilhelm Grimm They were collectors of legends in Germany, one book of which was called \\\"Deutsch Sagen\\\". In the United States they are known for \\\"Grimm's Fairytales\\\". One of them was quoted as saying, \\\"Das Märchen ist poetischer, die Sage historischer.\\\" (The folklore is poetic, the legend historical.\\\"\\nHealing Healing, bleeding, love potions, spells, etc. Magical, special abilities were involved with problem-solving. These acts were sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Means for healing: inanimate objects, sympathetic magic, must be done in private, exorcism, urinating in the kitchen fire, etc. Stuff that can also be done: put out or control wildfires, get rid of rat infestations, open broken locks, binding and loosing, tracking down thieves, creating wind for sailing, etc.\\nHousehold Spirits They are almost always males, usually small, very old or very young, strong, loyal to the farm, and sometimes wear a little red hat and grey. Some common motifs include teasing the nisse (eating food that was meant for it, leaving feces as food for it instead, not putting the butter on top of the porridge), sending the nisse to steal from other people's farms, the heavy burden, etc. If, for some reason, the nisse is exorcised from the farm, then he takes with him all that he brought or did, thus the farm falls to ruin. [arma�ur \\\"hearth man\\\", tomte \\\"homestead man\\\"]\\nnisse The nisse are related to the huldre-folk, but are not so dangerous. They are guardians of the house or farm who will defend its welfare. They are inordinately strong, but of diminutive size. The term nisse is derived from the Danish / German St. Nicholas, and the nisse themselves are thus distant relations of Santa Claus.\\ngardvord From \\\"farm guardian\\\", these nisse are more sinister and are very big (some have seen them lay there elbows upon the roof). In a variation of the Lanky Tor story, the gardvord saves the guy by chasing after the trolls. [tunkall or \\\"yard fellow\\\" (common in western and northern Norway), godbonde]\\nklabautermann This is spirit who guards the ship. In one story it woke up the ship's mate when the lamp went out, and in another it held the masts together.\\nHug The hug is the human soul. It refers to the mental life of the individual to personality, thoughts, feelings, and desires. The hug could affect both animate and inanimate objects, including other people, either consciously or unconsciously. The deliberate manipulation of the hug is the basis of all magic. It can manifest itself invisibly or it can take on a shape. It was was movable and can preface a real appearance, exist somewhere else at the same time, be in different places, etc. Sometimes it appears just before death, just at death, or right after death. It was somewhat like a human döppelganger. Sometimes it would be in the form of a mouse that exits the person's mouth while s/he sleeps, or maybe it would be a vapor that would float around the area. [sjel (Norwegian), håg or själ (Swedish), hu or sjæl (Danish)]\\ndream-soul This leaves the body during sleep, explores the world (sometimes passing some kind of treasure), and the experiences are remembered by the sleeper as a dream.\\nelsk According to wide-spread belief, a person could get ill in body and mind from being longed for by someone else. Usually the longing, traditionally called elsk (love), was of an erotic nature. The lover might be a human or a supranormal being. But even the dead were known to impose an elsk on a surviving relative and thereby make him or her sick, or a living person could long for the dead and keep the loved one from finding peace in the grave.\\nenvy A particularly powerful manifestation of the hug is referred to in folk tradition as \\\"envy\\\" which was feared by many people. It was believed that this emotion had a strong, adverse effect on human beings and animals, as well as on inanimate objects. [avind (Danish), ovund (Norwegian), avund (Swedish)]\\nEvil Eye It was generally believed that the power of the hug could be transferred to another being or object through sight, touch, or the spoken word, often with the intent to do harm. Hence, the expressions evil eye, evil hand, evil foot, and evil tongue.\\nfree-soul This is the soul sent from the body in magic flight.\\nfylgje The fylgje is a projection of the hug that accompanies a person. It takes either human shpae or that of an animal. Normally, only animals or people with second sight can see the fylgje. In medieval literature, notably the Icelandic sagas, the fylgje also had a protective function, which was alter assumed by the Christian angel. In recent tradition, belief in the fylgje spills over into that of the vardoger and is often called by that name.\\nvardöger or fyreferd These refer to a visual or auditory experience presaging a person's approach. [förfäl (Swedish)]\\nvord The vord was a kind of presence accompanying the individual. [vård (Swedish)]\\nInversion This is one theme through certain folklore stories in which there is some kind of reversal. Stuff that is part of our culture is not part of that of the huldre-folk, and vice versa. Examples: farms vs. nature, food vs. not food (people, leaves, woodchips, excrement), Christianity vs. no religion, normal vs. abnormal, alive vs. undead, etc.\\nInvisible Folk There are widespread traditions in Scandinavia about preternatural beings of various kinds. Although they are invisible, from time to time they appear to ordinary people, and when they do, they are in human shape. The \\\"invisible folk\\\" constitute quite heterogenous groupings in the different geographical areas of Scandinavia and are called by a variety of names.\\nhuldre They lived in the mountains (bergfolk) or hills, or even right under the ground (underjordiske), cellar (kjellerman), grave-mounds (haugfolk), house, or barn. They also sometimes lived in the seters during the off-season. The huldre are much more closely related to man than, say, the jutal or trolls, since they are very human-like in appearance. They were often mistaken for man and there were often intermarriages. They can be very beautiful or they can be grotesque. Sometimes they had a hidden feature such as a cow's tail. Despite their similarity to us, contact with them is risky and dangerous. They steal infants (see changeling above), attempt marry brides-to-be left alone at the seter, kidnap people, and might share some dangerous food or drink. Female huldre are known as hulder. [vetter or vithrar (supernatural beings that live on the edge of the area inhabited by human beings), tufte-folk (probably also related, although vaguely defined), tusse (another term for a supernatural being, often a gnome or goblin)]\\nLilith Some stories say that the Bible's Adam had a first wife before Eve and that the huldre-folk are descended from her. In one legend, a tusse minister explains the Lilith story this way, \\\"That woman, who was created in the very beginning, was Adam's equal in every way, and would never be under him in anything. She considered herself as just as good a creation as he. But God said that it wasn't good for man and woman to be equal, and so he sent her and her offspring away, and put them into the hills to live. They are without sin, and they stay there inside the hills, except when they themselves want to be seen. But in the second chapter, God took a rib out of Adam's side and made a woman out of it, and then Adam said 'This time,' because she was taken out of the man. Her offspring have sin, and that's why God had to give them the New Testament. The tusse-folk only need the Old.\\\" Another variant says that the invisible folk were actually descendents of Eve's children whom God forever cursed to remain invisible after she hid them from him since she was so ashamed of how many kids she was having.\\ngood relations Because the huldre were thought to live side-by-side with human beings, the work rhythms and daily needs of both groups overlapped in many ways. Thus, in many instances, legends tell us how the invisible folk help humans and vice-versa. People looked to preternatural beings for advice, special tools, and perhaps for help in emergency situations. The invisible folk requested aid from humans when, for example, a child was to be born. It was important that contact between the worlds respected certain norms and limits. And in spite of generally good and neighborly relations, there remained an element of fear based on the realization that the invisible folk were more powerful than humans.\\njutal Also known as Jotuns or Jötnar, they are the giants that especially appeared in the older mythology as enemies of the gods, especially of Thor.\\nfairies Charcoal burners, lumberjacks, and half-grown boys and girls tending the cattle on the outlying summer farms often experienced the preternatural beings as erotically seductive. Legends reveal that people were simultaneously attracted and afraid of these beings. A young man might throw steel over the forest woman to bind her to himself, or he might use some protective magic to be rid of her. The marriage ceremony between a girl and a fairy lover might be interrupted at the last moment. There might be an actual liaison between a human and one of the invisible folk, resulting in the birth of a child, the disappearance of the person, or, inversely, the absorption of the supranormal being into human society. Sometimes, refusal of the erotic attentions of the fairy lover caused sickness, madness, even death. One of the important functions of legends about fairy lovers was to enforce certain rules of behavior on the men and women working in isolated areas.\\nThe Spirit of the Mill In Norway, and in Sweden mostly along the Norwegian border, folk traditions exist about the mill spirit. This preternatural being is known to stop the mill if it is run at night or on a holy day. The implied sanction against such inappropriate use of the mill is not unequivocal, however, because the mill sprite is invariably pacified or driven away. The mill spirit is disruptive and threatens the human who has to resolve the problem. [kvarngubben \\\"old man of the mill\\\" (Swedish), kvernknurren \\\"mill snarl\\\"]\\nThe Spirit of the Mine Mining legends constitute one of the largest categories in the folk tradition of continental Europe. They are not nearly as numerous in Scandinavia because of the relative scarcity of mining activities there. In Norway and Sweden, the spirit of the mine appears most often as a solitary, female being. The spirit helps the miner find the ore and protects him while he is working in the shaft. But she is also believed to jealously guard the wealth hidden below ground, causing the loss of life and other disasters in the mine. There are also traditions about the invisible folk exploiting the mines, a tradition which has its antecedents in mythological stories about dwarfs as miners and smiths. [gruvrå \\\"ruler of the mine\\\", gruvröken, \\\"lady of the mine\\\", sølvmora \\\"silver mother\\\"]\\nSpirits of the Sea The sea, like any other aspect of nature, was believed to be populated by various preternatural beings, both solitary and collective. As a group they correspond in nature and function to the invisible folk of forests, fields, rivers, and farmsteads, but they are modified to reflect the environment of the sea. They include the sjørå (\\\"sea ruler\\\"), mermaid and merman, draug, sea horses, sea monsters, and inhabitants of fabulous islands.\\ndraug These ghosts (or \\\"living dead person\\\") were usually victims of drownings and didn't get a proper funeral. They are sinister, malevolent beings and often got into battles with the land draugs at the cemetery. Their appearance or their shrieking are usually omens of impending disaster. The draug may be taken aboard in the form of a moss-covered stone which will grow too heavy for the boat to stay afloat. Closeup, the face is a bundle of sea wrack. [Rawga (Lappish)]\\nmermaids, mermen They are kinder people of the sea that were human-like from the waist up, but had a fish- or porpoise-like body in place of the legs. Mermen often showed gratitude for gifts, such as mittens.\\nsea serpents They breed in inland lakes and, when they are old enough, eventually try to get to the open sea. One famous folktale account is one at Lake Mjösen which was killed between 1520 and 1530.\\nseals The seals were actually people who had drowned in suicide attempts and were now condemned to wear seal-skins. In one story somebody manages to steal one seal-woman's skin on the one day of the year that they secretly take it off. He forced her to marry him and kept her in human-form until she was able to get her skin back.\\nUtröst Group of mysterious, disappearing / reappearing islands where supernatural beings similar to the huldre-folk live.\\nSkogsra forest sprite, female creature that is entirely human-like except for a hollowed-out back or sometimes a tail. The back is somewhat like a kneeding trough or a stable scoop (crude tool).\\nThe Water Sprites The spirits of waterfalls, rivers, and lakes appear variously in human or horse shape. [another term besides nøkk and grim is stromkarl]\\nnøkk Often a demonic being, they are water-creatures in human- or horse-like form. Often in the form of a white horse grazing by the lakeside, it tempts young boys onto its back (and it can stretch to accomodate many riders) and then jumps into the lake.. A magic word (usually its name) will make it disappear or return back to the water. [näck (Swedish), nix (English)]\\nfossegrim They live in waterfalls and rivers and have taught many eminent fiddlers how to play.\\ngrim Norwegian variant, also applied to the spirit of the church and graveyard in Sweden and Denmark.\\nThe Wild Hunt / Spirits of the Air In Scandinavian folk tradition, there are two chief types of night riders: the hunter and his dogs pursuing a woman, and the host flying through the air especially at Christmastime. In Norway this host is usually called oskorei or jolareidi.\\noskorei The \\\"terrible host\\\" of evil spirits, it sweeps through Norwegian valleys on winter nights, especially before Christmas time. It was often said that the host consisted of those who were not bad enough to go to Hell, nor good enough to go to Heaven. The oskorei were hostile and would often carry people away to some distant place or would settle down for awhile on a farm. [jolerei (another term for it, this one implies that it is particularly dangerous at Christmas), gyro (name from fiction or ancient romance), sluagh (Scotland and Ireland)]\\ngangferd This term is \\\"the wild hunt\\\" of the osorei, et al. It refers to restless, unhappy ghosts who sometimes compel living persons to follow them about.\\nwood sprite some say that this is a huldre that lives by itself, others say there is no difference\\nJagt This is a kind of fishing boat.\\nLanky Tor He lived in the mountains, wouldn't stay home in his parish, and wanted to live alone and by hunting only. He didn't know what day of the week it was, hence he had no idea when it was Sunday, the Lord's Day of Rest. On Christmas Eve, the trolls scared him by saying loudly (and as if they didn't know Lanky Tor was listening) that they would boil him for dinner. He returned back to the parish and gave up his life in the mountains.\\nLegends\\nMigratory Legends The story is flexible enough or non-specific enough that it can easily spread to other localities. Also known as fabulates, they can be localized, but the story no longer has the direct personal touch and instead follows a definite pattern.\\nLocal Legends The story is bound by its content to a local place and cannot spread too easily. An example are the legends about Dwinelle Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus.\\nHistorical Legends This possibly has its origins in a historical event.\\nUrban Legends Modern folklore stories such as the Kentucky Fried Rat, the Hook, the psycho babysitter, sexual references in Disney films, the sperm on the cheek cell culture, Richard Gere and the gerbil, etc. Check out The Urban Legends Page for a good reference of types.\\nMemorate This is a first- or second-hand account of a supernatural experience that are almost always connected with some landmark, locality, or person.\\nLenore The dead lover returns to bring a message, to take revenge, or to respond to the grief of his beloved. The most famous interpretation of this popular motif is found in G.A. B�rger's ballad \\\"Lenore\\\".\\nLiminal Status This somewhat means \\\"on the threshold\\\", as if the thing it is describing is not quite in our world but not quite in that of the supernatural either. One example are the gasts (ghosts) who aren't fully in either the world of the dead or the living. Mares and witches are partly supernatural, but also partly our friends or neighbors. There can be lots of ambiguity. Liminal Status relates to the ideas of the Rites of Passage in that the person is on the threshold between two important stages in his or her life.\\nLimited Good Phenomenon or idea brought up by George Foster in which there is only so much good in the world, so that if one person is prospering he must be doing it at the expense of someone else. Nisse were household spirits that stole from a neighbor, thus increasing the prosperity of the farmer who owns that nisse. There can't be a winner without a loser. People who get ahead often make pacts with the Devil, but this can be seen as a way out of Limited Good since in this case they are not getting ahead at someone else's expense. The witches related to Limited Good in the sense that their stealing (through knife-milking, troll cats, etc.) always had to be at someone else's expense. Boundary ghosts also related to Limited Good.\\nMara The dream experience commonly referred to as a nightmare was interpreted as the visitation of someone's hug. Sexual dreams play a large part in this context. The mare is usually described as a weight on the sleeper's chest. Both human beings and animals could be \\\"ridden\\\" by the mare. In time the mare developed into a separate supranormal being. It was believed that a woman could ease birth pains by crawling through the fetal membrane of a foal. But her offspring would become a mare, if female, a werewolf, if male. Mares are one of the oldest kinds of supernatural beings and can cause the person also to get cold sweats, go into paralyis, and become oppressed.\\nthe master builder A common motif in Norway and Sweden was the folktale of a supernatural creature being hired to finish construction of a cathedral, usually to put on the final spire. If the minister found out the creature's name, he was saved from himself becoming payment for the work.\\nMidnight Mass of the Dead The stories about the midnight mass of the dead constitute a type of migratory legend. As early as the 4th century c.e. in stories about saints' lives, the midnight mass is celebrated by angels, the blessed dead, and the saint. Another version, possibly based on popular tradition, is found in Gregory of Tours' De Gloria Confessorum (sixth century), in which the midnight mass is attended by the dead and ordinary people rather than by angels and saints. In folk legends the story is consistently focused on the fear of the dead and on the narrow escape of the unwitting observer.\\nKing Olav He ruled Norway from 995 to 1030 c.e. He is the national saint of Norway and is exceedingly popular in Norwegian oral tradition, being especially well known as an adversary of trolls and giants. This trait he seems to have inherited from the pagan Norse god, Thor, who was at one time more celebrated in Norway than in any other area of Scandinavia. St. Olav was frequently the protagonist in the \\\"master builder\\\" tales.\\nRites of Passage Birth (Baptism), Marriage (Wedding), Death (Funeral). These are vulnerable times when someone is susceptible to attack by a supernatural being. The parson performs the ceremonies for the rites of passage, traveling from parish to parish doing his services. Satan is a threat to these and the religious nature of the community.\\nSatan Features: cloven hoof, horrible to look at, well-dressed, can change shape (fly, dog, etc.), tail, beard. Good things that the Devil can do for you: give you a ride quickly somewhere, make you rich, give you success with the opposite sex, can appear when you need him (like a Genie), success in hunting and fishing, etc. Bad things: take stuff away from you (shadow, child, soul). He requires a written letter or contract. In such, people often demand for large amounts of money. This can be a way out of Limited Good since you don't have to take from others to get ahead. Some common euphemisms for the Devil include Old Erik, Old Jerker, Old Peter, the Goat, the Evil One, the old guy, etc. The0rural view was the reading and writing were magical, and the Devil himself was skilled in such, through his use of the Black Book and the way he kept a written tally of who were not paying attention at the church sermons. Satan could be called by cursing or through inexperienced use of the Black Book. To get rid of him, the owner of the Book would make him do something that is beyond even his power, like make a rope out of sand or reverse the flow of a waterfall. Satan can be tricked by a clever person and he can even volunatarily help somebody (like the charcoal-burners). Society did not look at dancing too favorably and Satan himself would often dance somebody to death.\\nChristen Pedersen and Johannes Geremiæson They were real-life people who wrote out contracts that they hoped to make with the Devil. The act of actually acting on something from folk belief such as this is known as ostension.\\nPetter Dass (1647-1707) Dass was a minister, as well as the most popular Norwegian author of his time. He was best known as the author of hymns based on holy scripture and the catechism. In legendary tradition, he is characterized as the owner of the Black Book and a master magician. In one story he got a ride from the Devil on his way to preach in Copenhagen. In return the Devil would take the souls of everyone sleeping in church that day. Petter Dass, without any notes prepared ahead of time, \\\"preached a sermon the likes of which no one had ever heard before\\\", and thus Satan didn't get any souls since nobody was sleeping.\\nScandinavia Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Iceland. Geographically, Finland is a part of Scandinavia, but culturally it is very different.\\nSeter An outfarm n the mountains inhabited only in the summer. Unmarried women generally take care of the cattle and do churning and cheesemaking there.\\nCarl Wilhelm von Sydow He was a famous folklorist who coined many terms. He's also the father of actor Max von Sydow from \\\"Dune\\\" and \\\"Needful Things\\\".\\nValborg It was the evening of April 30th when people would get drunk and jump into the frozen river. Special significance to the witches.\\nWerewolves and Man-Bears Throughout most of the world there are traditions about human beings changing into wolves or bears. In this instance it is not a matter of the hug separating from the body and taking on another shape; rather, the whole person is transformed, body and soul, into an animal being. The transformation may be self-induced or may be due to hostile magic. In medical context the phenomenon has been characterized as a form of insanity (lycanthropoy). Both werewolves and man-bears are well-known from medieval literature. The so-called berserks often formed the bodyguard of early Scandinavian kings and chieftains.\\nWitchcraft Witches usually acquired their supernatural powers through a pact with the Devil. They live within the human community and are not so solitary, but are often social people. Some of their functions: theft (milk, brandy, cream, butter), flight (to the witches' sabbath), harm (animals and people), winds (whirlwind for travel and destruction, sailing winds), shamanic behavior (second sight). Often the witches were the \\\"others\\\" in a community through ethnicity (gypsy, Saami) , location, social status, parentage (orphans), or religion (not Christian) but they might also be very much not an \\\"other\\\" the parson's wife, or the rich and powerful mother. Witches could fly by applying salve and a spell to stuff like brooms, barrels, people, and bones. They often sent out trolls cats, bunnies, or wool to do certain chores. They did voodoo curses by sticking pins into dolls to hurt a person, and could replenish the same food over and over (i.e. the same meat returns back to the herring bone). Witches are not deterred by metal, but use it to their advantage for example, one witch could not be burned as long as a metal piece was stuck in her back.\\nMarte Holon She was a famous witch from Northern Norway who had a troll cat and a Black Book. Hans Tofte found troll cat vomit around his farm, so he sealed it up in the barrel of his gun and heated it over the forge. Marta Holon came running into the smithy and desperately asked for something to drink. Hans and the blacksmith offered her a mug of their urine while Hans then hit her across the mouth with his shoe so that two teeth fell out and blood started flowing.\\nknife-milking Knife-milking was sticking a knife into the wall and catching in a bucket the milk that would spout from the end of the handle. The milk is magically coming from someone else cow. If one were to knife-milk too long, blood would start to come out and then cow would die.\\nmagic shot Also known as Finn shot, this was the name given to projectiles supposedly causing sickness or sudden death. They were imagined to be sent in the form of bullets, insects, clouds or vapor, and so on. Many legends are concerned with the means by which one could protect oneself against this type of magic.\\nsalve The salve was made of herbs, roots, and hallucinogens. They smeared it on an object or on themselves. Often imagination and masturbation were involved.\\nsei�r A specially potent and malevolent form of magic was referred to as sei�r. It was used to rob its victims of their sanity, their health, even their life, and generally to cause misfortune. This was a usually feminine form of magic that was also applied to the god Odin. Skills attributed to him are essentially the same as those identified in later tradition with the practitioners of magic, notably shape-changing, magic flight, and the use of spells to control the elements and conjure the dead.\\ntroll cat When stealing from her neighbors, the witch supposedly had help from a familiar, variously referred to as a troll cat, milk rabbit, troll ball, puck, etc.\\nwhirlwind In general, people regarded the whirlwind as the manifestation of the witch's or trollman's power. It was believed that the witch traveled in the whirlwind to inflict harm on people and cattle or to steal hay.\\nwitches' sabbath They were often held in churches, on mountaintops (such as Blåkollen or Blue Mountain), at a mill, etc. on nights such as Easter or Valborg. The Devil was there and often the total number of participants was thirteen. There would be other witches, as well as a new initiate (and also the spy who is reporting the occurrences). The Devil is a little gray man, wears black robes and is well-dressed, and has the Black Book. The witches had to pay homage to the Devil, renew pacts, write their names in the Black Book, and have the initiate take an oath. The baptism ceremony for the initiate involved blood, consumption of menstrual blood, feast of good / bad foods, eating of human infants, etc. At the sabbaths there was dance, music, a satanic orchestra, and orgies.\\nScandinavian Mythology & Folklore\",\n \"Santa Claus - Heroes Wiki - Wikia\\nSanta Claus also known as Saint Nicholas, ... a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, ... Each Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their ...\\nSanta Claus | Heroes Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\\n~ Santa Claus' famous catchphrase\\n✔\\nSanta Claus also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and simply \\\"Santa\\\", is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. The modern figure was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, which, in turn, may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure gift giver Saint Nicholas, who was said to have dropped bags of gold down poor people's chimneys. A nearly identical story is attributed by Greek and Byzantine folklore to Basil of Caesarea. Basil's feast day on January 1 is considered the time of exchanging gifts in Greece.\\nContents\\n[ show ]\\nAppearance\\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no mustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem \\\"A Visit From St. Nicholas\\\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films. The North American depiction of Santa Claus as it developed in the 19th and 20th century in turn influenced the modern perceptions of Father Christmas, Sinterklaas and Saint Nicholas in European culture.\\nHistory\\nAccording to a tradition which can be traced to the 1820s, Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, with a large number of magical elves, and nine (originally eight) flying reindeers. Since the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song \\\"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\\\", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\\\"naughty\\\" or \\\"nice\\\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the reindeer who pull his sleigh.\\nThe modern figure of Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, which, in turn, has part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of Christian bishop and gift-giver Saint Nicholas . During the Christianization of Germanic Europe, this figure may have absorbed elements of the god Odin , who was associated with the Germanic pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. Over time, traits of this character and the British folklore character Father Christmas merged to form the modern Santa Claus known today.\\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children. Images of him rarely have a beard with no mustache. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of the 1823 poem \\\"A Visit From St. Nicholas\\\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.\\nSince the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song \\\"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\\\", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\\\"naughty\\\" or \\\"nice\\\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. He is commonly portrayed as living at the North Pole and saying \\\"ho ho ho\\\" often.\\nPredecessor figures\\nSaint Nicholas\\nSaint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes.\\nThe remains of Saint Nicholas are in Italy. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Saint. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was conquered by Italian sailors and his relics were taken to Bari where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout. Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and taken to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow.\\nDuring the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to the veneration of saints in many countries on the 24 and 25 December. So Saint Nicholas changed to Santa Claus. The custom of gifting of children at Christmas has been propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for the people.\\nDutch folklore\\nIn the Netherlands and Belgium, next to Sinterklaas, the character of Santa Claus is also known. He is known as de Kerstman in Dutch (\\\"the Christmas man\\\") and Père Noël (\\\"Father Christmas\\\") in French. But for children in the Netherlands Sinterklaas is the predominant gift-giver in December (36% of the population only give presents on Sinterklaas day), Christmas is used by another fifth of the Dutch population to give presents. (21% give presents on Christmas only). Some 26% of the Dutch population give presents on both days. In Belgium, presents are given to children only, but to almost all of them, on Sinterklaas day. On Christmas Day, everybody receives presents, but often without Santa Claus's help. In the Netherlands Sinterklass' helper is Zwarte Piet not an elf.\\nScandinavian folklore\\nIn the 1840s, a being in Nordic folklore called \\\"Tomte\\\" or \\\"Nisse\\\" started to deliver the Christmas presents in Denmark. The Tomte was portrayed as a short, bearded man dressed in gray clothes and a red hat. This new version of the age-old folkloric creature was inspired by the Santa Claus traditions that were now spreading to Scandinavia. By the end of the 19th century this tradition had also spread to Norway and Sweden, replacing the Yule Goat. The same thing happened in Finland, but there the more human figure retained the Yule Goat name. But even though the tradition of the Yule Goat as a bringer of presents is now all but extinct, a straw goat is still a common Christmas decoration in all of Scandinavia. Iceland has 13 Yule Lads that originate from folklore rather than Christianity and start arriving from the mountains into towns 13 days before 24 December.\\nFather Christmas\\nFather Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during the reign of Henry VIII, when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance was variable, with one famous image being John Leech's illustration of the \\\"Ghost of Christmas Present\\\" in Charles Dickens's festive classic A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace.\\nFather Christmas is now widely seen as synonymous with the Santa Claus figure.\\nOrigins\\nGermanic paganism, Odin, and Christianization\\nPrior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English; Old English geola or guili) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule. With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Odin and he bears the Old Norse names Jólnir, meaning \\\"yule figure\\\" and the name Langbarðr, meaning \\\"long-beard\\\" (see \\\"List of names of Odin\\\").\\nThe god Odin's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (see Odin's horse Sleipnir), which was traded for reindeer in North America. Margaret Baker comments that \\\"The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. … Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild became a leading player on the Christmas stage.\\\"\\nPre-modern representations of the gift-giver from church history and folklore, notably St Nicholas and Sinterklaas, merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the character known to Americans and the rest of the English-speaking world as Santa Claus.\\nIn the English and later British colonies of North America, and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into \\\"Santa Claus\\\" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.\\n19th century\\n“\\n\\\"December 24, 1864. This has usually been a very busy day with me, preparing for Christmas not only for my own tables, but for gifts for my servants. Now how changed! No confectionary, cakes, or pies can I have. We are all sad; no loud, jovial laugh from our boys is heard. Christmas Eve, which has ever been gaily celebrated here, which has witnessed the popping of firecrackers … and the hanging up of stockings, is an occasion now of sadness and gloom. I have nothing even to put in 8-year-old daughter Sadai's stocking, which hangs so invitingly for Santa Claus. How disappointed she will be in the morning, though I have explained to her why he cannot come. Poor children! Why must the innocent suffer with the guilty?\\\"\\n„\\nDiary of Dolly Lunt Burge, a Maine native, widow of Thomas Burge, and resident living c. 40 miles southeast of Atlanta near Covington, Georgia. This entry from Mrs. Burge's diary was five weeks after most of General T. Sherman's U.S. Army forces had passed on their blackened-earth \\\"march across Georgia\\\" toward Savanna, after the army's destruction of Atlanta in mid-November 1864. U.S. Army mop-up companies and stragglers during those intervening weeks continued to \\\"forage\\\", loot, burn, and liberate slaves, hence, the concern of Mrs. Burge and her household. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem \\\"A Visit From St. Nicholas\\\" (better known today as \\\"The Night Before Christmas\\\") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on 23 December 1823; the poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. Many of his modern attributes are established in this poem, such as riding in a sleigh that lands on the roof, entering through the chimney, and having a bag full of toys. St. Nick is described as being \\\"chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf\\\" with \\\"a little round belly\\\", that \\\"shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly\\\", in spite of which the \\\"miniature sleigh\\\" and \\\"tiny reindeer\\\" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from the old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen).\\nAs the years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.\\nThe story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works, which included the caption \\\"Santa Claussville, N.P.\\\" A color collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled \\\"Santa Claus and His Works\\\" by George P. Webster, who wrote that Santa Claus's home was \\\"near the North Pole, in the ice and snow\\\". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, \\\"If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey.\\\"\\nThe idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in the poem \\\"Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride\\\".\\n\\\"Is There a Santa Claus?\\\" was the title of an editorial appearing in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply \\\"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus\\\", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas lore in the United States and Canada.\\n20th century\\nL. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book, further popularized Santa Claus. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not set in stone at the time, leaving Baum to give his \\\"Neclaus\\\" (Necile's Little One) a wide variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality was earned, much like his title (\\\"Santa\\\"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.\\nImages of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colors used to promote the Coca-Cola brand. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising—White Rock Beverages had already used a red and white Santa to sell mineral water in 1915 and then in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923. Earlier still, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in the first few years of the 20th century.\\nThe image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.\\nIn 1937, Charles W. Howard, who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously-run such school in the world.\\nIn some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner.\\nThe 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, \\\"Mrs. Santa Claus\\\", and the 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the popular imagination.\\nSeabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the \\\"story\\\" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 9th and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter.\\nIn popular culture\\nBy the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives and/or managers. An excerpt from a 2004 article, from a supply chain managers' trade magazine, aptly illustrates this depiction:\\nSanta has been described as a positive male cultural icon:\\n“\\nSanta is really the only cultural icon we have who's male, does not carry a gun, and is all about peace, joy, giving, and caring for other people. That's part of the magic for me, especially in a culture where we've become so commercialized and hooked into manufactured icons. Santa is much more organic, integral, connected to the past, and therefore connected to the future.\\n„\\n~ TV producer Jonathan Meath who portrays Santa, 2011.\\nMany television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, a Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and \\\"short broads,” with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer.\\nIn The Sopranos episode, \\\"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power\\\", Paulie Gualtieri says he \\\"Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there. ... The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids a beatin', and gave the good ones toys.\\\"\\nIn Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared the Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan.\\nThe Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Derry City, Northern Ireland. On 9 September 2007. A total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helper brought down the previous record of 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted top the world record, but failed with only 3939 Santas.\\nTraditions and rituals\\nChimney tradition\\nThe tradition of Santa Claus entering dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In pre-Christian Norse tradition, Odin would often enter through chimneys and fire holes on the solstice. In the Italian Befana tradition, the gift-giving witch is perpetually covered with soot from her trips down the chimneys of children's homes. In the tale of Saint Nicholas, the saint tossed coins through a window, and, in a later version of the tale, down a chimney when he finds the window locked. In Dutch artist Jan Steen's painting, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, adults and toddlers are glancing up a chimney with amazement on their faces while other children play with their toys. The hearth was held sacred in primitive belief as a source of beneficence, and popular belief had elves and fairies bringing gifts to the house through this portal. Santa's entrance into homes on Christmas Eve via the chimney was made part of American tradition through the poem \\\"A Visit from St. Nicholas\\\" where the author described him as an elf. Walsh, Joseph J.. Were They Wise Men Or Kings?: The Book of Christmas Questions. Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 0-664-22312-5 .\\nChristmas Eve rituals\\nIn the United States and Canada, children traditionally leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies; in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer, and mince pies instead. In Sweden and Norway, children leave rice porridge. In Ireland it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies.\\nIn Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) comes on the night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden colored birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve \\\"Little Jesus\\\" comes and gives gifts for everyone.\\nIn Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in the evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day.\\nNew Zealander, British, Australian, Irish, Canadian and American children also leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will \\\"put out their shoe\\\"—that is, leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed—sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond. The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued.\\nOther Christmas Eve Santa Claus rituals in the United States include reading A Visit from St. Nicholas or other tale about Santa Claus, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated program on television (such as the aforementioned Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and similar specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among many others), and the singing of Santa Claus songs such as \\\"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\\\", \\\"Here Comes Santa Claus\\\", and \\\"Up on the House Top\\\". Last minute rituals for children before going to bed include aligning stockings at the mantelpiece or other place where Santa cannot fail to see them, peeking up the chimney (in homes with a fireplace), glancing out a window and scanning the heavens for Santa's sleigh, and (in homes without a fireplace) unlocking an exterior door so Santa can easily enter the house. Tags on gifts for children are sometimes signed by their parents \\\"From Santa Claus\\\" before the gifts are laid beneath the tree.\\nHome\\nSanta Claus's home traditionally includes a residence and a workshop where he creates—often with the aid of elves or other supernatural beings—the gifts he delivers to good children at Christmas. Some stories and legends include a village, inhabited by his helpers, surrounding his home and shop.\\nIn North American tradition (in the United States and Canada), Santa lives on the North Pole, which according to Canada Post lies within Canadian jurisdiction in postal code H0H 0H0 (a reference to \\\"ho ho ho\\\", Santa's notable saying, although postal codes starting with H are usually reserved for the island of Montreal in Québec). On 23 December 2008, Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, formally awarded Canadian citizenship status to Santa Claus. \\\"The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete,\\\" Kenney said in an official statement.\\nThere is also a city named North Pole in Alaska where a tourist attraction known as the \\\"Santa Claus House\\\" has been established. The US postal service uses the city's zip code of 99705 as their advertised postal code for Santa Claus. A Wendy's in North Pole, AK has also claimed to have a \\\"sleigh fly through\\\".\\nEach Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their territory. Norway claims he lives in Drøbak. In Denmark, he is said to live in Greenland (near Uummannaq). In Sweden, the town of Mora has a theme park named Tomteland. The national postal terminal in Tomteboda in Stockholm receives children's letters for Santa. In Finland, Korvatunturi has long been known as Santa's home, and two theme parks, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park are located near Rovaniemi.\\nParades, department stores, and shopping malls\\nSanta Claus appears in the weeks before Christmas in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. The practice of this has been credited to James Edgar, as he started doing this in 1890 in his Brockton, Massachusetts department store. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actors (often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore associated with Santa. Santa's function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by listening to their wishlist while having them sit on his knee (a practice now under review by some organisations in Britain, and Switzerland). Sometimes a photograph of the child and Santa are taken. Having a Santa set up to take pictures with children is a ritual that dates back at least to 1918.\\nThe area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously \\\"Santa's Grotto\\\", \\\"Santa's Workshop\\\" or a similar term. In the United States, the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City—he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. This was popularized by the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street with Santa Claus being called Kris Kringle. The Macy's Santa Claus in New York City is often said to be the real Santa. Essayist David Sedaris is known for the satirical SantaLand Diaries he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which were turned into a famous radio segment and later published.\\nQuite often the Santa, if and when he is detected to be fake, explains that he is not the real Santa and is helping him at this time of year. Most young children accept this explanation. At family parties, Santa is sometimes impersonated by the male head of the household or other adult male family member.\\nIn Canada, malls operated by Oxford Properties established a process by which autistic children could visit Santa Claus at the mall without having to contend with crowds. The malls open early to allow entry only to families with autistic children, who have a private visit with Santa Claus. In 2012, the Southcentre Mall in Calgary was the first mall to offer this service.\\nThere are schools offering instruction on how to act as Santa Claus. For example, children's television producer Jonathan Meath studied at the International School of Santa Claus and earned the degree Master of Santa Claus in 2006. It blossomed into a second career for him, and after appearing in parades and malls.\\nLetter writing to Santa\\nWriting letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. Some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. Girls generally write longer but more polite lists and express the nature of Christmas more in their letters than in letters written by boys. Girls also more often request gifts for other people.\\nMany postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus. These letters may be answered by postal workers and/or outside volunteers.\\nAccording to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the oldest Santa letter answering effort by a national postal system. The USPS Santa letter answering effort started in 1912 out of the historic James Farley Post Office in New York, and since 1940 has been called \\\"Operation Santa\\\" to ensure that letters to Santa are adopted by charitable organizations, major corporations, local businesses and individuals in order to make children's holiday dreams come true from coast to coast. Those seeking a North Pole holiday postmark through the USPS, are told to send their letter from Santa or a holiday greeting card by 10 December to: North Pole Holiday Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998.\\nIn 2006, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, France's Postal Service received the most letters for Santa Claus or \\\"Père Noël\\\" with 1,220,000 letters received from 126 countries.\\nOther interesting Santa letter processing information, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, are:\\nCountries whose national postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019), United Kingdom (750,000).\\nIn 2006, Finland's national postal operation received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France's Postal Service from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries, and Slovakia from 20 countries.\\nIn 2007, Canada Post replied to letters in 26 languages and Deutsche Post in 16 languages.\\nSome national postal operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail through the national postal operators, proving that children still write letters. National postal operators offering the ability to use an on-line web form (with or without a return e-mail address) to Santa and obtain a reply include Canada Post. In France, by 6 December 2010, a team of 60 postal elves had sent out reply cards in response to 80,000 e-mail on-line request forms and more than 500,000 physical letters.\\nCanada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0. Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poor communities, or from children's hospitals, and give them presents they would not otherwise receive. In 2009, 1,000 workers answered 1.1 million letters and 39,500 e-mail on-line request forms from children in 30 different languages, including Braille.\\nIn Britain it was traditional for some to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However this has been found to be less efficient than the use of the normal postal service, and this tradition is dying out in modern times, especially with few homes having open fires.\\nAccording to the Royal Mail website, Santa's address for letters from British children is: Santa/Father Christmas, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ.\\nIn Mexico and other Latin American countries, besides using the mail, sometimes children wrap their letters to a small helium balloon, releasing them into the air so Santa magically receives them. Other nonconformist Christians condemn the materialist focus of contemporary gift giving and see Santa Claus as the symbol of that culture.\\nCondemnation of Christmas was prevalent among the 17th-century English Puritans and Dutch Calvinists who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. The American colonies established by these groups reflected this view. Tolerance for Christmas increased after the Restoration but the Puritan opposition to the holiday persisted in New England for almost two centuries. In the Dutch New Netherland colony, season celebrations focused on New Year's Day.\\nFollowing the Restoration of the monarchy and with Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686) Nissenbaum, chap. 1.\\nRev. Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracted controversy in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a \\\"pagan goblin\\\" after Santa's image was used on fund-raising materials for a Danish welfare organization Clar, 337. One prominent religious group that refuses to celebrate Santa Claus, or Christmas itself, for similar reasons is the Jehovah's Witnesses. A number of denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus, which range from acceptance to denouncement.\\nSome Christians prefer the holiday focus on the actual birth of Jesus, believing that Christmas stemmed from pagan festivals such as the Roman Saturnalia and Germanic Yule that were subsumed within ancient Christianity. An even smaller subset of Reformed Christians actually prefer the secularized version of the holiday for the same reasons, believing that to relegate Christ's birth to Christmas is wrong.\\nSymbol of commercialism\\nIn his book Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus, writer Jeremy Seal describes how the commercialization of the Santa Claus figure began in the 19th century. \\\"In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells,\\\" said Seal in an interview. How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory, interview with Jeremy Seal at the St. Nicholas Center. \\\"They are simply the actual bearings in the world from which he emerged. At that time, sleighs were how you got about Manhattan.\\\"\\nWriting in Mothering, writer Carol Jean-Swanson makes similar points, noting that the original figure of St. Nicholas gave only to those who were needy and that today Santa Claus seems to be more about conspicuous consumption:\\n“\\nOur jolly old Saint Nicholas reflects our culture to a T, for he is fanciful, exuberant, bountiful, over-weight, and highly commercial. He also mirrors some of our highest ideals: childhood purity and innocence, selfless giving, unfaltering love, justice, and mercy. (What child has ever received a coal for Christmas?) The problem is that, in the process, he has become burdened with some of society's greatest challenges: materialism, corporate greed, and domination by the media. Here, Santa carries more in his baggage than toys alone!\\n„\\nIn the Czech Republic, a group of advertising professionals started a website against Santa Claus, a relatively recent phenomenon in that country. Hilda Hoy, The Prague Post, 13 December 2006. \\\"Czech Christmases are intimate and magical. All that Santa stuff seems to me like cheap show business,\\\" said David König of the Creative Copywriters Club, pointing out that it is primarily an American and British tradition. \\\"I'm not against Santa himself. I'm against Santa in my country only.\\\" In the Czech tradition, presents are delivered by Ježíšek, which translates as Baby Jesus.\\nIn the United Kingdom, Father Christmas was historically depicted wearing a green cloak. As Father Christmas has been increasingly merged into the image of Santa Claus, that has been changed to the more commonly known red suit. One school in the seaside town of Brighton banned the use of a red suit erroneously believing it was only indicative of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign. School spokesman Sarah James said: \\\"The red-suited Santa was created as a marketing tool by Coca-Cola, it is a symbol of commercialism.\\\" Parents see red over school's green-suited santa], Olinka Koster, The Daily Mail (UK), 22 November 2007. However, Santa had been portrayed in a red suit in the 19th century by Thomas Nast among others.\\nControversy about deceiving children\\nVarious psychologists and researchers have wrestled with the ways that parents collude to convince young children of the existence of Santa Claus, and have wondered whether children's abilities to critically weigh real-world evidence may be undermined by their belief in this or other imaginary figures. For example, University of Texas psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley helped conduct a study that found, to the contrary, that children seemed competent in their use of logic, evidence, and comparative reasoning even though they might conclude that Santa Claus or other fanciful creatures were real:\\n“\\nThe adults they count on to provide reliable information about the world introduce them to Santa. Then his existence is affirmed by friends, books, TV and movies. It is also validated by hard evidence: the half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses by the tree on Christmas morning. In other words, children do a great job of scientifically evaluating Santa. And adults do a great job of duping them.\\n„\\nWoolley posited that it is perhaps \\\"kinship with the adult world\\\" that causes children not to be angry that they were lied to for so long. However, the criticism about this deception is not that it is a simple lie, but a complicated series of very large lies. Objections include that it is unethical for parents to lie to children without good cause, and that it discourages healthy skepticism in children. With no greater good at the heart of the lie, some have charged that it is more about the parents than it is about the children. For instance, writer Austin Cline posed the question: \\\"Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?\\\"\\nOthers, however, see no harm in the belief in Santa Claus. Psychologist Tamar Murachver said that because it is a cultural, not parental, lie, it does not undermine parental trust. The New Zealand Skeptics also see no harm in parents telling their children that Santa is real. Spokesperson Vicki Hyde said, \\\"It would be a hard-hearted parent indeed who frowned upon the innocent joys of our children's cultural heritage. We save our bah humbugs for the things that exploit the vulnerable.\\\"\\nDr. John Condry of Cornell University interviewed more than 500 children for a study of the issue and found that not a single child was angry at his or her parents for telling them Santa Claus was real. According to Dr. Condry, \\\"The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not\\\".\\nSanta Claus in different versions\\nSanta from \\\"Frosty the Snowman\\\"\",\n \"Santa_Claus.txt\\nSanta Claus\\nSanta Claus, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santy, or simply Santa is a mythical figure with historical origins who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of well-behaved, \\\"good\\\" children on Christmas Eve (24 December) and the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December). The modern Santa Claus is derived from the British figure of Father Christmas, the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, and Saint Nicholas, the historical Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra. During the Christianization of Germanic Europe, this figure may also have absorbed elements of the god Odin, who was associated with the Germanic pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky.\\n\\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children. Images of him rarely have a beard with no moustache. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of the 1823 poem \\\"A Visit From St. Nicholas\\\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.\\n\\nSanta Claus is believed to make lists of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\\\"naughty\\\" or \\\"nice\\\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. He is commonly portrayed as living at the North Pole and saying \\\"ho ho ho\\\" often.\\n\\nPredecessor figures\\n\\nFather Christmas\\n\\nFather Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during the reign of Henry VIII, when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance was variable, with one famous image being John Leech's illustration of the \\\"Ghost of Christmas Present\\\" in Charles Dickens's festive classic A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace. \\n\\nFather Christmas is now widely seen as synonymous with the Santa Claus figure.\\n\\nSaint Nicholas\\n\\nSaint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Empire, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes.\\n\\nThe remains of Saint Nicholas are in Italy. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Saint. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was conquered by Italian sailors and his relics were taken to Bari where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout. Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and taken to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow. \\n\\nDuring the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to the veneration of saints in many countries on the 24 and 25 December. So Saint Nicholas changed to Santa Claus. The custom of gifting of children at Christmas has been propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for the people. \\n\\nDutch and Belgian folklore\\n\\nIn the Netherlands and Belgium the character of Santa Claus has to compete with that of Sinterklaas, Santa's presumed progenitor. Santa Claus is known as de Kerstman in Dutch (\\\"the Christmas man\\\") and Père Noël (\\\"Father Christmas\\\") in French. But for children in the Netherlands Sinterklaas remains the predominant gift-giver in December; 36% of the Dutch only give presents on Sinterklaas day, whereas Christmas is used by another 21% to give presents. Some 26% of the Dutch population gives presents on both days. In Belgium, Sinterklaas day presents are offered exclusively to children, whereas on Christmas Day, all ages may receive presents. Sinterklaas' assistants are called \\\"Zwarte Pieten\\\" (in Dutch, \\\"Pères Fouettard\\\" in French), so they are not elves. \\n\\nGermanic paganism, Odin, and Christianization\\n\\nPrior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule (Old English geola or guili). With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Odin and he bears the Old Norse names Jólnir, meaning \\\"yule figure\\\" and the name Langbarðr, meaning \\\"long-beard\\\" (see list of names of Odin). \\n\\nThe god Odin's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (see Odin's horse Sleipnir), which was traded for reindeer in North America. Margaret Baker comments that \\\"The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. … Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild became a leading player on the Christmas stage.\\\" \\n\\nHistory\\n\\nOrigins\\n\\nPre-modern representations of the gift-giver from Church history and folklore, notably St Nicholas (known in Dutch as Sinterklaas), merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the character known to Americans and the rest of the English-speaking world as \\\"Santa Claus\\\" (a phonetic derivation of \\\"Sinterklaas\\\").\\n\\nIn the English and later British colonies of North America, and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into \\\"Santa Claus\\\" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.\\n\\n19th century\\n\\nIn 1821, the book A New-year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve was published in New York. It contained Old Santeclaus, an anonymous poem describing an old man on a reindeer sleigh, bringing presents to children. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem \\\"A Visit From St. Nicholas\\\" (better known today as \\\"The Night Before Christmas\\\") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on 23 December 1823; the poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. Many of his modern attributes are established in this poem, such as riding in a sleigh that lands on the roof, entering through the chimney, and having a bag full of toys. St. Nick is described as being \\\"chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf\\\" with \\\"a little round belly\\\", that \\\"shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly\\\", in spite of which the \\\"miniature sleigh\\\" and \\\"tiny reindeer\\\" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from the old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen). \\n\\nA magazine article from 1853, describing American Christmas customs to British readers, refers to children hanging up their stockings on Christmas Eve for 'a fabulous personage' whose name varies: in Pennsylvania he is usually called 'Krishkinkle' but in New York he is 'St. Nicholas' or 'Santa Claus'. The author quotes Moore's poem in its entirety, saying that its descriptions apply to Krishkinkle too. \\n\\nAs the years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.\\n\\nThomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the 3 January 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly. Santa was dressed in an American flag, and had a puppet with the name \\\"Jeff\\\" written on it, reflecting its Civil War context.\\nThe story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works, which included the caption \\\"Santa Claussville, N.P.\\\" A color collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled \\\"Santa Claus and His Works\\\" by George P. Webster, who wrote that Santa Claus's home was \\\"near the North Pole, in the ice and snow\\\". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, \\\"If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey.\\\" \\n\\nThe idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in the poem \\\"Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride\\\".\\n\\n\\\"Is There a Santa Claus?\\\" was the title of an editorial appearing in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply \\\"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus\\\", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas lore in the United States and Canada.\\n\\n20th century\\n\\nL. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book, further popularized Santa Claus. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not set in stone at the time, leaving Baum to give his \\\"Neclaus\\\" (Necile's Little One) a wide variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality was earned, much like his title (\\\"Santa\\\"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.\\n\\nImages of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colors used to promote the Coca-Cola brand. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising—White Rock Beverages had already used a red and white Santa to sell mineral water in 1915 and then in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923. White Rock Beverages, \\\"[http://www.bevnet.com/news/2006/12-18-2006-white_rock_coke_santa_claus.asp Coca-Cola's Santa Claus: Not The Real Thing!],\\\" BevNET.com, 18 December 2006 . Retrieved 19 January 2007. Earlier still, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in the first few years of the 20th century. \\n\\nThe image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.\\n\\nIn 1937, Charles W. Howard, who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously-run such school in the world. \\n\\nIn some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner.\\n\\nThe 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, \\\"Mrs. Santa Claus\\\", and the 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the popular imagination.\\n\\nSeabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the \\\"story\\\" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 9th and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter.\\n\\nIn popular culture\\n\\nBy the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives and/or managers. An excerpt from a 2004 article, from a supply chain managers' trade magazine, aptly illustrates this depiction:\\n\\nIn the carton base, Santa has been voiced by several people, including Stan Francis, John Goodman, and Keith Wickham. \\n\\nSanta has been described as a positive male cultural icon:\\n\\nMany television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, a Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and \\\"short broads,” with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer. In The Sopranos episode, \\\"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power\\\", Paulie Gualtieri says he \\\"Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there... The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids a beatin', and gave the good ones toys.\\\"\\n\\nIn Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared the Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan. \\n\\nThe Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Thrissur, Kerala, India where on 27 December 2014, 18,112 Santas came overtaking the current record of Derry City, Northern Ireland. On 9 September 2007 where a total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helper which previously brought down the record of 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted to top the world record, but failed with only 3939 Santas. \\n\\nTraditions and rituals\\n\\nChimney tradition\\n\\nThe tradition of Santa Claus entering dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In pre-Christian Norse tradition, Odin would often enter through chimneys and fire holes on the solstice. In the Italian Befana tradition, the gift-giving witch is perpetually covered with soot from her trips down the chimneys of children's homes. In the tale of Saint Nicholas, the saint tossed coins through a window, and, in a later version of the tale, down a chimney when he finds the window locked. In Dutch artist Jan Steen's painting, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, adults and toddlers are glancing up a chimney with amazement on their faces while other children play with their toys. The hearth was held sacred in primitive belief as a source of beneficence, and popular belief had elves and fairies bringing gifts to the house through this portal. Santa's entrance into homes on Christmas Eve via the chimney was made part of American tradition through the poem \\\"A Visit from St. Nicholas\\\" where the author described him as an elf. \\n\\nChristmas Eve rituals\\n\\nIn the United States and Canada, children traditionally leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies; in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer, and mince pies instead. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, it is common for children to leave him rice porridge with cinnamon sugar instead. In Ireland it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies.\\n\\nIn Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) comes on the night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden colored birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve \\\"Little Jesus\\\" comes and gives gifts for everyone.\\n\\nIn Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in the evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day.\\n\\nNew Zealander, British, Australian, Irish, Canadian, and American children also leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will \\\"put out their shoe\\\" (leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed, sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond). The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued.\\n\\nOther Christmas Eve Santa Claus rituals in the United States include reading A Visit from St. Nicholas or other tale about Santa Claus, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated program on television (such as the aforementioned Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and similar specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among many others), and the singing of Santa Claus songs such as \\\"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\\\", \\\"Here Comes Santa Claus\\\", and \\\"Up on the House Top\\\". Last minute rituals for children before going to bed include aligning stockings at the mantelpiece or other place where Santa cannot fail to see them, peeking up the chimney (in homes with a fireplace), glancing out a window and scanning the heavens for Santa's sleigh, and (in homes without a fireplace) unlocking an exterior door so Santa can easily enter the house. Tags on gifts for children are sometimes signed by their parents \\\"From Santa Claus\\\" before the gifts are laid beneath the tree.\\n\\nHo, ho, ho\\n\\nHo ho ho is the way that many languages write out how Santa Claus laughs. \\\"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!\\\" It is the textual rendition of a particular type of deep-throated laugh or chuckle, most associated today with Santa Claus and Father Christmas, it was connected in the 17th century with the English mythological figure of Puck.\\n\\nThe laughter of Santa Claus has long been an important attribute by which the character is identified, but it also does not appear in many non-English-speaking countries. The traditional Christmas poem A Visit from St. Nicholas relates that Santa has:\\n\\n. . . a little round bellyThat shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly\\n\\nHome\\n\\nSanta Claus's home traditionally includes a residence and a workshop where he creates—often with the aid of elves or other supernatural beings—the gifts he delivers to good children at Christmas. Some stories and legends include a village, inhabited by his helpers, surrounding his home and shop.\\n\\nIn North American tradition (in the United States and Canada), Santa lives on the North Pole, which according to Canada Post lies within Canadian jurisdiction in postal code H0H 0H0 (a reference to \\\"ho ho ho\\\", Santa's notable saying, although postal codes starting with H are usually reserved for the island of Montreal in Québec). On 23 December 2008, Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, formally awarded Canadian citizenship status to Santa Claus. \\\"The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete,\\\" Kenney said in an official statement. \\n\\nThere is also a city named North Pole in Alaska where a tourist attraction known as the \\\"Santa Claus House\\\" has been established. The US postal service uses the city's zip code of 99705 as their advertised postal code for Santa Claus. A Wendy's in North Pole, AK has also claimed to have a \\\"sleigh fly through\\\". \\n\\nEach Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their territory. Norway claims he lives in Drøbak. In Denmark, he is said to live in Greenland (near Uummannaq). In Sweden, the town of Mora has a theme park named Tomteland. The national postal terminal in Tomteboda in Stockholm receives children's letters for Santa. In Finland, Korvatunturi has long been known as Santa's home, and two theme parks, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park are located near Rovaniemi. In Belarus there is a home of Ded Moroz in Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park. \\n\\nParades, department stores, and shopping malls\\n\\nSanta Claus appears in the weeks before Christmas in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. The practice of this has been credited to James Edgar, as he started doing this in 1890 in his Brockton, Massachusetts department store. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actors (often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore associated with Santa. Santa's function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by listening to their wishlist while having them sit on his knee (a practice now under review by some organisations in Britain, and Switzerland ). Sometimes a photograph of the child and Santa are taken. Having a Santa set up to take pictures with children is a ritual that dates back at least to 1918. \\n\\nThe area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously \\\"Santa's Grotto\\\", \\\"Santa's Workshop\\\" or a similar term. In the United States, the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City—he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. This was popularized by the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street with Santa Claus being called Kris Kringle. The Macy's Santa Claus in New York City is often said to be the real Santa. Essayist David Sedaris is known for the satirical SantaLand Diaries he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which were turned into a famous radio segment and later published.\\n\\nQuite often the Santa, if and when he is detected to be fake, explains that he is not the real Santa and is helping him at this time of year. Most young children accept this explanation. At family parties, Santa is sometimes impersonated by the male head of the household or other adult male family member.\\n\\nIn Canada, malls operated by Oxford Properties established a process by which autistic children could visit Santa Claus at the mall without having to contend with crowds. The malls open early to allow entry only to families with autistic children, who have a private visit with Santa Claus. In 2012, the Southcentre Mall in Calgary was the first mall to offer this service. \\n\\nThere are schools offering instruction on how to act as Santa Claus. For example, children's television producer Jonathan Meath studied at the International School of Santa Claus and earned the degree Master of Santa Claus in 2006. It blossomed into a second career for him, and after appearing in parades and malls, he appeared on the cover of the American monthly Boston Magazine as Santa. There are associations with members who portray Santa; for example, Mr. Meath is a board member of the international organization called Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas.\\n\\nLetter writing to Santa\\n\\nWriting letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. Some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. Girls generally write longer but more polite lists and express the nature of Christmas more in their letters than in letters written by boys. Girls also more often request gifts for other people. \\n\\nMany postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus. These letters may be answered by postal workers and/or outside volunteers. Writing letters to Santa Claus has the educational benefits of promoting literacy, computer literacy, and e-mail literacy. A letter to Santa is often a child's first experience of correspondence. Written and sent with the help of a parent or teacher, children learn about the structure of a letter, salutations, and the use of an address and postcode. \\n\\nAccording to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the oldest Santa letter answering effort by a national postal system. The USPS Santa letter answering effort started in 1912 out of the historic James Farley Post Office in New York, and since 1940 has been called \\\"Operation Santa\\\" to ensure that letters to Santa are adopted by charitable organizations, major corporations, local businesses and individuals in order to make children's holiday dreams come true from coast to coast. Those seeking a North Pole holiday postmark through the USPS, are told to send their letter from Santa or a holiday greeting card by 10 December to: North Pole Holiday Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998. \\n\\nIn 2006, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, France's Postal Service received the most letters for Santa Claus or \\\"Père Noël\\\" with 1,220,000 letters received from 126 countries. France's Postal Service in 2007 specially recruited someone to answer the enormous volume of mail that was coming from Russia for Santa Claus.\\n\\nOther interesting Santa letter processing information, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, are:\\n* Countries whose national postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019), United Kingdom (750,000).\\n* In 2006, Finland's national postal operation received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France's Postal Service from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries, and Slovakia from 20 countries.\\n* In 2007, Canada Post replied to letters in 26 languages and Deutsche Post in 16 languages.\\n* Some national postal operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail through the national postal operators, proving that children still write letters. National postal operators offering the ability to use an on-line web form (with or without a return e-mail address) to Santa and obtain a reply include Canada Post (on-line web request form in English and French), France's Postal Service (on-line web request form in French), and New Zealand Post (on-line web request form in English). In France, by 6 December 2010, a team of 60 postal elves had sent out reply cards in response to 80,000 e-mail on-line request forms and more than 500,000 physical letters.\\n\\nCanada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0 (see also: Ho ho ho). (This postal code, in which zeroes are used for the letter \\\"O\\\" is consistent with the alternating letter-number format of all Canadian postal codes.) Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poor communities, or from children's hospitals, and give them presents they would not otherwise receive. In 2009, 1,000 workers answered 1.1 million letters and 39,500 e-mail on-line request forms from children in 30 different languages, including Braille.\\n\\nIn Britain it was traditional for some to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However this has been found to be less efficient than the use of the normal postal service, and this tradition is dying out in modern times, especially with few homes having open fires.\\nAccording to the Royal Mail website, Santa's address for letters from British children is: Santa/Father Christmas, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ \\n\\nIn Mexico and other Latin American countries, besides using the mail, sometimes children wrap their letters to a small helium balloon, releasing them into the air so Santa magically receives them.'Letters to Santa Claus'. (2000). In The World Encyclopedia of Christmas. Gerry Bowler, Editor. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited. pp. 131–132.\\n\\nIn 2010, the Brazilian National Post Service, \\\"Correios\\\" formed partnerships with public schools and social institutions to encourage children to write letters and make use of postcodes and stamps. In 2009, the Brazilian National Post Service, \\\"Correios\\\" answered almost two million children's letters, and spread some seasonal cheer by donating 414,000 Christmas gifts to some of Brazil's neediest citizens.\\n\\nThrough the years, the Finnish Santa Claus (Joulupukki or \\\"Yule Goat\\\") has received over eight million letters. He receives over 600,000 letters every year from over 198 different countries with Togo being the most recent country added to the list. Children from Great Britain, Poland and Japan are the busiest writers. The Finnish Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi, however the Santa Claus Main Post Office is situated in Rovaniemi precisely at the Arctic circle. His address is: Santa Claus' Main Post Office, Santa Claus Village, FIN-96930 Arctic Circle. The post office welcomes 300,000 visitors a year, with 70,000 visitors in December alone.\\n\\nChildren can also receive a letter from Santa through a variety of private agencies and organizations, and on occasion public and private cooperative ventures. An example of a public and private cooperative venture is the opportunity for expatriate and local children and parents to receive postmarked mail and greeting cards from Santa during December in the Finnish Embassy in Beijing, People's Republic of China, Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland, and the People's Republic of China Postal System's Beijing International Post Office. Parents can order a personalized \\\"Santa letter\\\" to be sent to their child, often with a North Pole postmark. The \\\"Santa Letter\\\" market generally relies on the internet as a medium for ordering such letters rather than retail stores. \\n\\nSanta tracking, Santa websites and email to and from Santa\\n\\nOver the years there have been a number of websites created by various organizations that have purported to track Santa Claus. Some, such as NORAD Tracks Santa, the Airservices Australia Tracks Santa Project, the Santa Update Project, and the MSNBC and Bing Maps Platform Tracks Santa Project have endured. Others, such as the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's Tracks Santa Project, the Santa Retro Radar – Lehigh Valley Project, and the NASA Tracks Santa Project, have fallen by the wayside.\\n\\nIn 1955, a Sears Roebuck store in Colorado Springs, Colorado, gave children a number to call a \\\"Santa hotline\\\". The number was mistyped and children called the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) on Christmas Eve instead. The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first call for Santa and responded by telling children that there were signs on the radar that Santa was indeed heading south from the North Pole. A tradition began which continued under the name NORAD Tracks Santa when in 1958 Canada and the United States jointly created the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). This tracking can now be done via the Internet and NORAD's website.\\n\\nIn the past, many local television stations in the United States and Canada likewise claimed they \\\"tracked Santa Claus\\\" in their own metropolitan areas through the stations' meteorologists. In December 2000, the Weather Channel built upon these local efforts to provide a national Christmas Eve \\\"Santa tracking\\\" effort, called \\\"SantaWatch\\\" in cooperation with NASA, the International Space Station, and Silicon Valley-based new multimedia firm Dreamtime Holdings. In the 21st century, most local television stations in the United States and Canada rely upon outside established \\\"Santa tracking\\\" efforts, such as NORAD Tracks Santa. \\n\\nMany other websites are available year-round that are devoted to Santa Claus and purport to keep tabs on his activities in his workshop. Many of these websites also include email addresses which allow children to send email to Santa Claus. Most of these websites use volunteer living people as \\\"elves\\\" to answer email sent to Santa. Some websites, such as Santa's page on Microsoft's Windows Live Spaces, however have used or still use \\\"bots\\\" to compose and send email replies, with occasional unfortunate results. \\n\\nIn addition to providing holiday-themed entertainment, \\\"Santa tracking\\\" websites raise interest in space technology and exploration, serve to educate children in geography. and encourage them to take an interest in science. \\n\\nCriticism\\n\\nCalvinist and Puritan opposition\\n\\nSanta Claus has partial Christian roots in Saint Nicholas, particularly in the high church denominations that practice the veneration of him, in addition to other saints. In addition, he has also become a secular representation of Christmas. In light of these facts, the character has sometimes been the focus of controversy over the holiday and its meanings. Some Christians, particularly Calvinists and Puritans, disliked the idea of Santa Claus, as well as Christmas in general, believing that the lavish celebrations were not in accordance with their faith. Other nonconformist Christians condemn the materialist focus of contemporary gift giving and see Santa Claus as the symbol of that culture. \\n\\nCondemnation of Christmas was prevalent among the 17th-century English Puritans and Dutch Calvinists who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. The American colonies established by these groups reflected this view. Tolerance for Christmas increased after the Restoration but the Puritan opposition to the holiday persisted in New England for almost two centuries. In the Dutch New Netherland colony, season celebrations focused on New Year's Day.\\n\\nFollowing the Restoration of the monarchy and with Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686). \\n\\nReverend Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracted controversy in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a \\\"pagan goblin\\\" (translated from Danish) after Santa's image was used on fundraising materials for a Danish welfare organization Clar, 337. A number of denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus, which range from acceptance to denouncement. \\n\\nMary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science movement, wrote: \\\"the children should not be taught that Santa Claus has aught to do with this [Christmas] pastime. A deceit or falsehood is never wise. Too much cannot be done towards guarding and guiding well the germinating and inclining thought of childhood. To mould aright the first impressions of innocence, aids in perpetuating purity and in unfolding the immortal model, man in His image and likeness.\\\" \\n\\nOpposition under state atheism\\n\\nUnder the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of state atheism in the Soviet Union after its foundation in 1917, Christmas celebrations—along with other religious holidays—were prohibited as a result of the Soviet antireligious campaign. The League of Militant Atheists encouraged school pupils to campaign against Christmas traditions, among them being Santa Claus and the Christmas tree, as well as other Christian holidays including Easter; the League established an antireligious holiday to be the 31st of each month as a replacement. \\n\\nSymbol of commercialism\\n\\nIn his book Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus, writer Jeremy Seal describes how the commercialization of the Santa Claus figure began in the 19th century. \\\"In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells,\\\" said Seal in an interview.[http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID\\n611 How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory], interview with Jeremy Seal at the St. Nicholas Center. \\\"They are simply the actual bearings in the world from which he emerged. At that time, sleighs were how you got about Manhattan.\\\"\\n\\nWriting in Mothering, writer Carol Jean-Swanson makes similar points, noting that the original figure of St. Nicholas gave only to those who were needy and that today Santa Claus seems to be more about conspicuous consumption:\\n\\nIn the Czech Republic, a group of advertising professionals started a website against Santa Claus, a relatively recent phenomenon in that country., Hilda Hoy, The Prague Post, 13 December 2006. \\\"Czech Christmases are intimate and magical. All that Santa stuff seems to me like cheap show business,\\\" said David König of the Creative Copywriters Club, pointing out that it is primarily an American and British tradition. \\\"I'm not against Santa himself. I'm against Santa in my country only.\\\" In the Czech tradition, presents are delivered by Ježíšek, which translates as Baby Jesus.\\n\\nIn the United Kingdom, Father Christmas was historically depicted wearing a green cloak. As Father Christmas has been increasingly merged into the image of Santa Claus, that has been changed to the more commonly known red suit. One school in the seaside town of Brighton banned the use of a red suit erroneously believing it was only indicative of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign. School spokesman Sarah James said: \\\"The red-suited Santa was created as a marketing tool by Coca-Cola, it is a symbol of commercialism.\\\" However, Santa had been portrayed in a red suit in the 19th century by Thomas Nast among others. \\n\\nControversy about deceiving children\\n\\nVarious psychologists and researchers have wrestled with the ways that parents collude to convince young children of the existence of Santa Claus, and have wondered whether children's abilities to critically weigh real-world evidence may be undermined by their belief in this or other imaginary figures. For example, University of Texas psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley helped conduct a study that found, to the contrary, that children seemed competent in their use of logic, evidence, and comparative reasoning even though they might conclude that Santa Claus or other fanciful creatures were real:\\n\\nWoolley posited that it is perhaps \\\"kinship with the adult world\\\" that causes children not to be angry that they were lied to for so long. However, the criticism about this deception is not that it is a simple lie, but a complicated series of very large lies.[http://atheism.about.com/od/christmasholidayseason/p/SantaMyth.htm Santa Claus: Should Parents Perpetuate the Santa Claus Myth?], Austin Cline, About.com Objections include that it is unethical for parents to lie to children without good cause, and that it discourages healthy skepticism in children. With no greater good at the heart of the lie, some have charged that it is more about the parents than it is about the children. For instance, writer Austin Cline posed the question: \\\"Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?\\\"\\n\\nOthers, however, see no harm in the belief in Santa Claus. Psychologist Tamar Murachver said that because it is a cultural, not parental, lie, it does not undermine parental trust. The New Zealand Skeptics also see no harm in parents telling their children that Santa is real. Spokesperson Vicki Hyde said, \\\"It would be a hard-hearted parent indeed who frowned upon the innocent joys of our children's cultural heritage. We save our bah humbugs for the things that exploit the vulnerable.\\\"\\n\\nDr. John Condry of Cornell University interviewed more than 500 children for a study of the issue and found that not a single child was angry at his or her parents for telling them Santa Claus was real. According to Dr. Condry, \\\"The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not\\\".\",\n \"Donald Duck - The Disney Wiki - Wikia\\nDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a US cartoon character ... name to be Donald Fauntleroy Duck ... a character named Donald Duck, the character's first ...\\nDonald Duck | The Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\\nDuck\\nRelatives\\nLudwig Von Drake (uncle) Scrooge McDuck (uncle) Huey, Dewey, and Louie (nephews) Grandma Duck (grandmother) Bertie Duck (aunt) Della Duck (sister) Quackmore Duck (father) Hortense McDuck (mother) Duffy Duck (brother) Gus Goose (second cousin)\\nDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a US cartoon character from the Walt Disney Company . Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt , cap, and a red bow tie , but no trousers (except when he goes swimming). Donald's most famous personality trait is his easily provoked and explosive temper. Donald Duck has been officially honored as the third most popular cartoon character of all time with Bugs Bunny of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies at number two and fellow Disney creation Mickey Mouse who is number one. Template:Citation needed\\nAccording to the Disney canon, Donald's birthday is officially recognized as June 9, 1934, [1] the day his debut film, The Wise Little Hen , was released. However, in The Three Caballeros (1944), his birthday is given as simply \\\" Friday the 14th \\\", which is in reference to the bad luck he experiences in almost all his cartoon appearances. Donald's Happy Birthday (short) gives his birthday as March 13. The 1942 short \\\"Donald Gets Drafted\\\", as well as the Quack Pack episode All Hands on Duck, also reveals his full name to be Donald Fauntleroy Duck. [2] Donald Duck is a well-known and very popular character especially in Scandinavian countries. [3] Donald's 1942 short film, Der Fuehrer's Face , won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film .\\nDonald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence \\\"Ducky\\\" Nash up to his death in 1985. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Nash's rise to stardom. Template:Citation needed In 1969, Disney On Parade which toured all over the United States and Canada, hired Valeria G. as the live voice of Donald Duck. Ms. Valeria did the voice for 3 years. Since 1985, Donald has been voiced by Tony Anselmo , who was trained by Nash for the role. Template:Citation needed\\nContents\\nTemplate:Details\\nDonald Duck as he first appeared in The Wise Little Hen\\nAccording to Adeytola in his introduction to The Chronological Donald - Volume 1, Donald was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his \\\"duck\\\" voice while reciting \\\" Mary had a little lamb \\\". Mickey Mouse had lost some of his edge since becoming a role model for children and Disney wanted a character that could portray some of the more negative character traits he could no longer bestow on Mickey.\\nDonald Duck first appeared in the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934 (though he is mentioned in a 1931 Disney storybook). Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy , is similar to his modern look—the feather and beak colors are the same, as is the blue sailor shirt and hat—but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet smaller. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story.\\nBurt Gillett , director of The Wise Little Hen, Template:Citation needed brought Donald back in his Mickey Mouse cartoon, Orphan's Benefit on August 11, 1934. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and Little Boy Blue , but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans heckle him, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come.\\nDonald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing regularly in most Mickey Mouse cartoons. Cartoons from this period, such as the 1935 cartoon The Band Concert —in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of The William Tell Overture by playing Turkey in the Straw —are regularly hailed by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also minted the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon Mickey's Service Station.\\nIn 1936, Donald was redesigned to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was the January 9, 1937 Ben Sharpsteen cartoon, Don Donald . This short also introduced a love interest of Donald's, Donna Duck, who evolved into Daisy Duck . [4] Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie , would make their first animated appearance a year later in the April 15, 1938 film, Donald's Nephews , directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip by Al Taliaferro , see below). By 1938, at most, polls showed that Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse. [5] Disney could, however, help Mickey regain popularity by redesigning him, giving him his most appealing design as production for the Fantasia segment \\\"The Sorcerer's Apprentice\\\" began in 1938.\\nAfter his early appearances, he went on to become part of the famed trio Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. He appeared in many of the cartoons, includingMoving Day.\\nWartime Donald\\nDonald in Der Fuehrer's Face\\nSeveral of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films, most notably Der Fuehrer's Face , released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in \\\"Nutzi Land\\\" ( Nazi Germany ). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Führer ( Adolf Hitler ). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey until he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a dream. At the end of the short Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1942 Academy Award for Animated Short Film . Der Fuehrer's Face was also the first of two animated short films to be set during the War to win an Oscar, the other being Tom & Jerry 's short film, The Yankee Doodle Mouse .\\nOther notable shorts from this period include the Army shorts, seven films that follow Donald's life in the US Army from his drafting to his life in basic training under sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include:\\nCommando Duck (June 2, 1944)\\nDonald Gets Drafted also featured Donald having a physical examination before joining the army. According to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue, which is a type of color blindness . Also in this cartoon sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline.\\nThanks to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of WWII Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the B-29 Superfortress . Template:Citation needed\\nDonald also appears as a mascot—such as in the Army Air Corps 309th Fighter Squadron [6] and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary , which showed Donald as a fierce-looking pirate ready to defend the American coast from invaders. [7] Donald also appeared as a mascot emblem for: 415th Fighter Squadron ; 438th Fighter Squadron ; 479th Bombardment Squadron ; 531st Bombardment Squadron .\\nDuring World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported into Occupied Europe . Since this cost Disney a lot of money, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South America . He decided to make a trip through various Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature length animation films. The first was Saludos Amigos , which consisted of four short segments, two of them with Donald Duck. In the first, he meets his parrot pal Jose Carioca . The second film was The Three Caballeros , in which he meets his rooster friend Panchito .\\nPost-war animation\\nEdit\\nMany of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the chipmunks Chip 'n Dale , or by other characters such as Humphrey the Bear , Spike the Bee , Bootle Beetle , the Aracuan Bird , Louie the Mountain Lion , or a colony of ants. In effect, the Disney artists had reversed the classic screwball scenario perfected by Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the instigator of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them.\\nThe post-war Donald also starred in educational films , such as Donald in Mathmagic Land and How to Have an Accident at Work (both 1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and the Disneyland television show (1959). For this latter show, Donald's uncle Ludwig von Drake was created in 1961.\\nClarence Nash voiced Donald for the last time in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), making Donald the only character in the film to be voiced by his original actor. Since Nash's death in 1985, Donald's voice has been provided by Tony Anselmo , who was mentored by Nash. Anselmo's voice is heard for the first time in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? . In this movie, Donald has a piano duel scene with the Warner Brothers duck Daffy Duck voiced by Mel Blanc and wins the duel with a cartoon cannon . Many fans call this confrontation between the 2 ducks as one of the greatest duels in animation history.\\nDonald has since appeared in a lot of different television shows and (short) animated movies. He played roles in Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Prince and the Pauper and made a cameo appearance in A Goofy Movie .NOTE:During a Darkwing Duck episode a star is scorned and everyone thinks Darkwing is Donald. He later dresses up like Donald to sneak in with Goslyn dressed as Huey\\nDonald had a rather small part in the animated television series DuckTales . There, Donald joins the Navy, and leaves his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie with their Uncle Scrooge , who then has to take care of them. Donald's role in the overall series was fairly limited, as he only ended up appearing in a handful of episodes. Some of the stories in the series were loosely based on the comics by Carl Barks .\\nDonald made some cameo appearances in Bonkers , before getting his own television show Quack Pack . This series featured a modernized Duck family. Donald was no longer wearing his sailor suit and hat, but a Hawaiian shirt. Huey, Dewey, and Louie now are teenagers, with distinct clothing, voices, and personalities. Daisy Duck has lost her pink dress and bow and has a new hairdo. Oddly enough, no other family members, besides Ludwig von Drake, appear in Quack Pack, and all other Duckburg citizens are humans, and not dogs.\\nHe made a comeback as the star of the \\\"Noah's Ark\\\" segment of Fantasia 2000 , as first mate to Noah. Donald musters the animals to the Ark and attempts to control them. He tragically believes that Daisy has been lost, while she believes the same of him, but they are reunited at the end. All this to Edward Elgar 's Pomp and Circumstance Marches 1o4.\\nIn an alternate opening for the 2005 Disney film Chicken Little , Donald would have made a cameo appearance as \\\"Ducky Lucky\\\". This scene can be found on the Chicken Little DVD.\\nDonald also played an important role in Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse . In the latter show, he is the co-owner of Mickey's night club. He is in the TV show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as well.\\nCharacterization\\nEdit\\nDonald's dominant personality trait is his short temper and, in contrast, his positive look on life. Many Donald shorts start with Donald in a happy mood, without a care in the world, until something comes and spoils his day. His anger is a great cause of suffering in the duck's life, and he has on multiple occasions got in over his head and lost competitions because of it. There are times when he fights to keep his temper, and he has succeeded a few times, but he always returns to his well known, aggressive self at the end of the day.\\nDonald's aggressive nature is a double-edged sword however, and while it at times is a hindrance and even a handicap for him, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced against a threat of some kind, Donald may get frightened and even intimidated (mostly by Pete), but rather than getting scared, he gets mad and has taken up fights with ghosts , sharks , mountain goats and even the forces of nature . And, more often than not, Donald has come out on top.\\nDonald can at times be a bit of a bully and a tease, especially against his nephews and Chip 'n Dale . As animator Fred Spencer once wrote:\\nThe Duck gets a big kick out of imposing on other people or annoying them, but he immediately loses his temper when the tables are turned. In other words, he can dish it out, but he can't take it. [8]\\nHowever, there is seldom any malice in Donald's pranks. He is never out to hurt anyone, and if he ever goes too far in his pranks he is always very regretful. In Truant Officer Donald , for example, when he is tricked into believing he accidentally killed Huey, Dewey and Louie he shows great remorse, blaming himself and willingly takes a kick handed out by one of the “angel” nephews. That is, of course, until he realizes he has been played a sap and directly loses his temper.\\nDonald has also been shown to be a bit of a show-off. He likes to brag, especially when he is very skilled at something. This has a tendency to get him into trouble, however, as he also tends to get in over his head.\\nStill, Donald has proven that he is a Jack of all Trades and are, among other things, a good fisher and hockey player.\\nAmong his personality traits is his stubbornness and commitment. Even though Donald at times can be lazy, and he has stated many times that his favorite place is in the hammock , once he has committed to something he goes in for it 100%, sometimes going to extreme measures to reach his goal.\\nPhrases\\nEdit\\nDonald has a few memorable phrases that he occasionally comes out with in given situations. \\\"What's the Big Idea!?\\\" is a common one, which Donald usually says when stumbling across other characters in the midst of planning some sort of retaliation or prank, and sometimes when certain things don't go as planned or don't work properly. \\\"Aw Phooey!\\\" is another memorable saying Donald makes, usually after giving up on a particular action or event. Another popular phrase Donald says, in particular to Daisy, is, \\\"Hiya, toots!\\\". \\\"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy\\\" is yet another common phrase Donald says, usually when he's very excited about something.\\nHealth\\nEdit\\nA running gag in the Donald Duck comics is about his physical condition. Usually, some character close to Donald believes that because of his laziness, Donald needs to do some exercise, which annoys Donald. But, in spite of his apparent lazy condition, Donald proves that he is physically strong, as evidenced in one of his shorts, Sea Scouts, where Donald travels in a boat with his nephews, but a shark attacks the boat and Donald, after several misadventures, finally defeats the shark with a single punch.\\nRivalry with Mickey Mouse\\nEdit\\nThrough out his career, Donald has shown that he's jealous of Mickey and wants his job as Disney's greatest star. This is very similar to the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck rivalry. In the early Disney shorts, Mickey and Donald were partners, but by the time The Mickey Mouse Club aired on television, it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight. One animated short that rivaled the famous Mickey Mouse March song was showing Huey, Dewey, and Louie as Boy Scouts and Donald as their Scoutmaster at a cliff near a remote forest and Donald leads them in a song mirroring the Mouseketeers theme \\\"D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K-! Donald Duck!\\\" The rivalry would cause Donald some problems, in a 1988 TV special , where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the kidnapping of Mickey, as he is considered to be the chief suspect, due to their rivalry. However, Donald did later get the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence. Walt Disney , in his Wonderful World of Color, would sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic birthday cake and commented how it was \\\"even bigger than Mickey's\\\", which pleased Donald. The clip was rebroadcast in November 1984 during a TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday, with Dick Van Dyke substituting for Walt.\\nThe rivalry between Mickey and Donald has also been shown in Disney's House of Mouse . It was shown that Donald wanted to be the Club's founder and wanted to change the name from House of Mouse to House of Duck. However, in later episodes, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable.\\nMickey Mouse has failed to realize how much Donald does not like him at times, and always counts him as one of his best friends. Despite the rivalry, Donald seems to be an honest friend of Mickey's, and will be faithful to him in tough situations, such as working with Mickey and Goofy as a team akin to The Three Musketeers . In the Kingdom Hearts games, Donald is quite loyal to Mickey, even briefly leaving Sora to follow King Mickey's orders.\\nThe rivalry between Mickey and Donald is not unlike that of Warner Bros. characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck , and many animation fans have commented on the parallels present among the four characters, the main difference being that Bugs actually realises that Daffy doesn't always like him, and uses this fact to play tricks on the duck.\\nNemesis\\nIn the videogame Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers , he saves Daisy from Merlock .\\nDonald in comics\\nMain article: Donald Duck in comics\\nWhile Donald's cartoons enjoy vast popularity in the United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their greatest popularity in many European countries, especially Sweden , Denmark , Norway , Finland and Iceland , but also Germany , Italy , the Netherlands , and Greece . Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the Walt Disney Company in Italy and by Egmont in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. In Germany, the comics are published by Ehapa which has since become part of the Egmont empire. Donald-comics are also being produced in The Netherlands and France. Donald also has been appeared in Japanese comics published by Kodansha and Tokyopop .\\nEdit\\nThough a 1931 Disney publication called Mickey Mouse Annual mentioned a character named Donald Duck, the character's first appearance in comic-strip format was a newspaper cartoon that was based on the short The Wise Little Hen and published in 1934. For the next few years, Donald made a few more appearances in Disney-themed strips, and by 1936, he had grown to be one of the most popular characters in the Silly Symphonies comic strip. Ted Osborne was the primary writer of these strips, with Al Taliaferro as his artist. Osborne and Taliaferro also introduced several members of Donald's supporting cast, including his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie .\\nIn 1937, an Italian publisher named Mondadori created the first Donald Duck story intended specifically for comic books . The eighteen-page story, written by Federico Pedrocchi , is the first to feature Donald as an adventurer rather than simply a comedic character. Fleetway in England also began publishing comic-book stories featuring the duck.\\nDevelopments under Taliaferro\\nEdit\\nA daily Donald Duck comic strip drawn by Taliaferro and written by Bob Karp began running in the United States on February 2, 1938; the Sunday strip began the following year. Taliaferro and Karp created an even larger cast of characters for Donald's world. He got a new St. Bernard named Bolivar , and his family grew to include cousin Gus Goose and grandmother Elvira Coot . Donald's new rival girlfriends were Donna and Daisy Duck . Taliaferro also gave Donald his very own automobile, a 1934 Belchfire Runabout , in a 1938 story.\\nDevelopments under Barks\\nCarl Barks (1994)\\nIn 1942, Western Publishing began creating original comic-book stories about Donald and other Disney characters. Bob Karp worked on the earliest of these, a story called \\\" Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold \\\". The new publisher meant new illustrators, however: Carl Barks and Jack Hannah . Barks would later repeat the treasure-hunting theme in many more stories.\\nBarks soon took over the major development of the comic-book version of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, the comic version of Donald diverged even further from his animated counterpart, becoming more adventurous, less temperamental, and more eloquent. Pete was the only other major character from the Mickey Mouse comic strip to feature in Barks' new Donald Duck universe .\\nBarks placed Donald in the city of Duckburg , which he populated with a host of supporting players, including Neighbour Jones (1944), Uncle Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), April, May and June (1953), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), and Magica de Spell (1961) also John D. Rockerduck (1961). Many of Taliaferro's characters made the move to Barks' world as well, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Barks placed Donald in both domestic and adventure scenarios, and Uncle Scrooge became one of his favorite characters to pair up with Donald. Scrooge's popularity grew, and by 1952, the character had a comic book of his own. At this point, Barks concentrated his major efforts on the Scrooge stories, and Donald's appearances became more focused on comedy or he was recast as Scrooge's reluctant helper, following his rich uncle around the globe.\\nFurther developments\\nEdit\\nDozens of writers continued to utilize Donald in their stories around the world.\\nFor example the Disney Studio artists, who made comics directly for the European market. Two of them, Dick Kinney (1917–1985) and Al Hubbard (1915–1984) created Donald's cousin Fethry Duck .\\nThe American artists Vic Lockman and Tony Strobl (1915–1991), who were working directly for the American comic books, created Moby Duck . Strobl was one of the most productive Disney artists of all time, and drew a lot of stories which Barks wrote and sketched after his retirement. In the 1990s and early 2000s, these scripts were re-drawn in a style closer to Barks' own by Dutch artist Daan Jippes .\\nItalian publisher Mondadori created many of the stories that were published throughout Europe. They also introduced numerous new characters who are today well known in Europe. One example is Donald Duck's alter-ego, a superhero called Paperinik in Italian , created in 1969 by Guido Martina (1906–1991) and Giovan Battista Carpi (1927–1999).\\nGiorgio Cavazzano and Carlo Chendi created Umperio Bogarto, a detective whose name is an obvious parody on Humphrey Bogart . They also created O.K Quack , an extraterrestrial Duck who landed on earth in a spaceship in the shape of a coin. He however lost his spaceship, and befriended Scrooge, and now is allowed to search through his moneybin time after time, looking for his ship.\\nRomano Scarpa (1927–2005), who was a very important and influential Italian Disney artist, created Brigitta McBridge , a female Duck who is madly in love with Scrooge. Her affections are never answered by him, though, but she keeps trying. Scarpa also came up with Dickie Duck , the granddaughter of Glittering Goldie (Scrooge's possible love-interest from his days in the Klondike) and Kildare Coot , a nephew of Grandma Duck.\\nItalian artist Corrado Mastantuono created Bum Bum Ghigno, a cynical, grumpy and not too good looking Duck who teams up with Donald and Gyro a lot.\\nThe American artist William van Horn also introduced a new character: Rumpus McFowl , an old and rather corpulent Duck with a giant appetite and laziness, who is first said to be a cousin of Scrooge. Only later, Scrooge reveals to his nephews Rumpus is actually his half-brother. Later, Rumpus also finds out.\\nWorking for the Danish editor Egmont, artist Daniel Branca (1951–2005) and script-writers Paul Halas and Charlie Martin created Sonny Seagull, an orphan who befriends Huey, Dewey and Louie, and his rival, Mr. Phelps.\\nThe most productive Duck-artist today is Victor Arriagada Rios , who is better known under the name Vicar. He has his own studio where he and his assistants draw the stories sent in by Egmont. With writer/editors Stefan and Unn Printz-Påhlson, Vicar created the character Oona, a prehistoric duck princess who traveled to modern Duckburg by using Gyro's time-machine. She stayed, and is still seen in occasional modern stories.\\nThe best-known and most popular Duck-artist of this time is American Don Rosa . He started doing Disney comics in 1987 for the American publisher Gladstone. He later worked briefly for the Dutch editors, but moved to work directly for Egmont soon afterwards. His stories contain many direct references to stories by Carl Barks, and he also wrote and illustrated a 12-part series of stories about the life of Scrooge McDuck , which won him two Eisner awards.\\nOther important artists who have worked with Donald are Freddy Milton and Daan Jippes , who made 18 ten-pagers which experts claim were very difficult to separate from Barks' own work from the late 1940s.\\nJapanese artist Shiro Amano worked with Donald on the graphic novel Kingdom Hearts based on the Disney- SquareEnix videogame.\\nDonald Duck outside the United States\\nDonald Duck has a slightly different character abroad. Template:Citation needed Template:How\\nNordic Countries\\nEdit\\nTemplate:Ref improve section Donald Duck (Kalle Anka in Sweden, Anders And in Denmark, Andrés Önd in Iceland, Donald Duck in Norway and Aku Ankka in Finland) is a very popular character in Nordic countries. In the mid-1930s, Robert S. Hartman , a German who served as a representative of Walt Disney, visited Sweden to supervise the merchandise distribution of Sagokonst (The Art of Fables). Hartman found a studio called L'Ateljé Dekoratör, which produced illustrated cards that were published by Sagokonst. Since the Disney characters on the cards appeared to be exactly 'on-model', Hartman asked the studio to create a local version of the English-language Mickey Mouse Weekly . In 1937 L'Ateljé Dekoratör began publishing Musse Pigg Tidningen (Mickey Mouse Magazine), which had high production values and spanned 23 issues; most of the magazine's content came from local producers, while some material consisted of reprints from Mickey Mouse Weekly. The comic anthology ended in 1938. Hartman helped Disney establish offices in all Nordic countries before he left Disney in 1941. Donald became the most popular of the Disney characters in Scandinavia, and Scandinavians recognise him better than Mickey Mouse.{citation needed} Kalle Anka & Co, Donald's first dedicated Swedish anthology, started in September 1948. In 2001 the Finnish Post Office issued a stamp set to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of Donald's presence in Finland. By 2005 around one out of every four Norwegians read the Norwegian edition Donald Duck & Co. per week, translating to around 1.3 million regular readers. During the same year, every week 434,000 Swedes read Kalle Anka & Co. By 2005 in Finland the Donald Duck anthology Aku Ankka sold 270,000 copies per issue. Tim Pilcher and Brad Books, authors of The Essential Guide to World Comics, described the Donald anthologies as \\\"the Scandinavian equivalent of the UK's Beano or Dandy , a comic that generations have grown up with, from grandparents to grandchildren.\\\" [9]\\nHannu Raittila, an author, says that Finnish people recognize an aspect of themselves in Donald; Raittila cites that Donald attempts to retrieve himself from \\\"all manner of unexpected and unreasonable scrapes using only his wits and the slim resources he can put his hands on, all of which meshes nicely with the popular image of Finland as driftwood in the crosscurrents of world politics.\\\" Finnish voters placing \\\"protest votes\\\" typically write \\\"Donald Duck\\\" as the candidate. [10]\\nBy 1978, within Finland there was extensive debate over the morality of Donald Duck. Some observers criticized Donald for living with Daisy while not being married to her, for not wearing trousers, and for, in the words of the Library Journal , being \\\"too bourgeois \\\". Some observers from Finland from the same time period supported Donald, referring to him as a \\\"genuine proletarian...forced to sell his labor at slave rates to make a living\\\". The Library Journal stated that it had been revealed that, since 1950, Donald had secretly been married to Daisy. [11]\\nAn annual Christmas special in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden is From All of Us to All of You , in Norway and Sweden with a title of Donald Duck and His Friends Celebrate Christmas. Segments include Ferdinand the Bull , a short with Chip 'n' Dale, a segment from Lady and the Tramp , a sneak preview of a coming Disney movie and concludes with Jiminy Cricket performing \\\"When You Wish Upon a Star\\\". To many people watching this special is a tradition as important as having a Christmas tree. Template:Citation needed\\nGermany\\nEdit\\nDonald Duck is very popular in Germany, where Donald themed comics sell an average of 250,000 copies each week, mostly published in the kids’ weekly Micky Maus and the monthly Donald Duck Special (for adults). [12] The Wall Street Journal called Donald Duck \\\"The Jerry Lewis of Germany\\\", a reference to American star Jerry Lewis 's popularity in France. [12] Donald's dialogue in German comics tends to be more sophisticated and philosophical, he \\\"quotes from German literature, speaks in grammatically complex sentences and is prone to philosophical musings, while the stories often take a more political tone than their American counterparts\\\", [12] features especially associated with Erika Fuchs 's popular German translations of the comics created by The Good Duck Artist Carl Barks . Christian Pfeiler – president of D.O.N.A.L.D., a German acronym which stands for \\\"German Organization for Non-commercial Followers of Pure Donaldism\\\" – says Donald is popular in Germany because \\\"almost everyone can identify with him. He has strengths and weaknesses, he lacks polish but is also very cultured and well-read.\\\" [12] It is through this everyman persona that Donald is able to voice philosophical truths about German society that appeal to both children and adults. [12] Donald's writers and illustrators Carl Barks , Don Rosa and Ub Iwerks are well known in Germany, and have their own fan clubs .\\nDisney theme parks\\nEdit\\nDonald Duck has played a major role in many Disney theme parks over the years. He has actually been seen in more attractions and shows at the parks than Mickey Mouse has. He has appeared over the years in such attractions as Mickey Mouse Revue , Mickey's PhilharMagic , Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years , Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros and the updated version of It's a Small World . He also is seen in the parks as a meet-and-greet character.\\nOne long-ago-scrapped idea was also to have a bumper boat ride themed to Donald Duck. Template:Citation needed\\nDonalds in children's books\\nIn 2005, Donald received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd [16] joining other fictional characters such as Mickey Mouse , Bugs Bunny , Woody Woodpecker , The Simpsons , Winnie the Pooh , Kermit the Frog , Big Bird , Godzilla and Snow White .\\nDonald's fame has led Disney to license the character for a number of video games, such as the Kingdom Hearts series, where Donald is the court magician of Disney Castle. He accompanies Goofy and a young boy named Sora on a quest to find King Mickey Mouse, defeat the Heartless and destroy the evil Organization XIII. He is voiced by Tony Anselmo in the English version and Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese version.\\nAsteroid 12410 was named after Donald Duck.\\nAppearances\",\n \"Santa Claus:Where Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\\nThe origin of Santa Claus depends on which country ... gave further impetus to the idea of presents. Santa Claus provided ... Santa Claus, or \\\"Father Christmas ...\\nSanta Claus:Where Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\\nAll comments should be directed to Michael McCann at > mccann@nc.rr.com\\nSanta Claus:\\nWhere Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\\nThe origin of Santa Claus depends on which country's story you choose to adopt. Santa Claus comes from the Dutch words \\\"Sinter Klaas\\\", which is what they call their favorite saint, St. Nicholas. He is said to have died on December 6, A.D. 342. December 6th is celebrated as his feast day, and in many countries this is the day he arrives with his presents and punishments.\\nNicholas lived in what is now called Turkey. He was born about A.D. 280 in the town of Patras. His parents were wealthy and he was well educated. Nicholas seems to have had a remarkable childhood. While still a young boy he was made Bishop of Myra, and because of this he has been known ever since as the Boy Bishop. He was renowned for his extreme kindness and generosity – often going out at night and taking presents to the needy. Santa's rise to fame can be traced to two legends – the three daughters and the children at the Inn.\\nThe Three Daughters\\nThe first story shows his generosity. There were three unmarried girls living in Patras who came from a respectable family, but they could not get married because their father had lost all his money and had no dowries for the girls. The only thing the father thought he could do was to sell them when they reached the age to marry. Hearing of the imminent fate, Nicholas secretly delivered a bag of gold to the eldest daughter, who was at the right age for marriage but had despaired of ever finding a suitor. Her family was thrilled at her good fortune and she went on to become happily married. When the next daughter came of age, Nicholas also delivered gold to her.\\nAccording to the story handed down, Nicholas threw the bag through the window and it landed in the daughter's stocking, which she had hung by the fire to dry. Another version claims that Nicholas dropped the bag of gold down the chimney.\\nBy the time the youngest daughter was old enough for marriage, the father was determined to discover his daughters' benefactor. He, quite naturally, thought that she might be given a bag of gold too, so he decided to keep watch all night. Nicholas, true to form, arrived and was seized, and his identity and generosity were made known to all. As similar stories of the bishop's generosity spread, anyone who received an unexpected gift thanked St. Nicholas.\\nSt. Nicholas and Children\\nAnother one of the many stories told about St. Nicholas explains why he was made a patron saint of children. On a journey to Nicaea, he stopped on the way for the night at an inn. During the night he dreamt that a terrible crime had been committed in the building. His dream was quite horrifying. In it three young sons of a wealthy Asian, on their way to study in Athens, had been murdered and robbed by the innkeeper. The next morning he confronted the innkeeper and forced him to confess. Apparently the innkeeper had previously murdered other guests and salted them down for pork or had dismembered their bodies and pickled them in casks of brine. The three boys were still in their casks, and Nicholas made the sign of the cross over them and they were restored to life.\\nWhere did religion come in? …\\nIn newly Christianized areas where the pagan Celtic and Germanic cults remained strong, legends of the god Wodan were blended with those of various Christian saints; Saint Nicholas was one of these. There were Christian areas where Saint Nicholas ruled alone; in other locations, he was assisted by the pagan Dark Helper (the slave he had inherited from the Germanic god Wodan). In other remote areas, where the Church held little power, ancient pockets of the Olde Religion controlled traditions. Here the Dark Helper ruled alone, sometimes in a most confusing manner, using the cover name of Saint Nicholas or \\\"Klaus,\\\" without in any way changing his threatening, Herne/Pan, fur-clad appearance. (This was the figure later used by the artist Nast as the model for the early American Santa Claus.)\\nThe Catholic Saint Nicholas also had a confusing past. He was a compilation of two separate saints (one from Myra in Asia Minor, the other from Pinora), both of whom were – as the Church now admits – nothing more than Christianized water deities (possibly related to the Greco-Roman god Poseidon/Neptune.)\\nAfter the Vikings raided the Mediterranean, they brought the Christian Saint Nicholas cult from Italy to northern Europe, and there proceeded to build Saint Nicholas churches for the protection of their sailors. When, for instance, William the Conqueror's fleet was hit by a storm during his invasion of England, he is known to have called out for protection to Saint Nicholas. Although in those days, church services only mentioned Saint Nicholas as the protector of seafarers, they initially condoned a blending of the Mediterranean Nicholas myths with some that had been attached to the pagan Germanic god Wodan and to those of the even earlier Herne/Pan traditions.\\nBy absorbing such pagan feasts and traditions, the Christian Church could subtly bring in its own theology: in this case, establishing the good Saint Nicholas, bringer of love and gifts, while grudgingly allowing the presence of the Olde Religion's Herne/Pan, but only as a slave to Saint Nicholas. Thus, in parts of Europe, the Church turned Herne into Saint Nicholas' captive, chained Dark Helper; none other than Satan, the Dark One, symbolic of all evil. His only remaining tasks now were to carry the bag, scare maidens and children into devout behavior, and drag sinners and pagans off to the Christian hell. Yet, in spite of this character assassination, the poor masses continued to see in this enslaved Dark Helper a reflection of their own enslavement. He remained their Herne, thumbing his nose at the Christian Church; a mischievous, nostalgic reminder of the days of their own free and lusty pagan past.\\nIn Holland and several other European countries, the Saint Nicholas figure is still highly esteemed. He appears as a tall dignified bearded white-haired old man dressed as a Catholic bishop complete with cloak, mytre, and pastoral staff, a seemingly genuine Catholic saint, but with a bizarre quite unsaintly habit of riding through the skies on a white horse followed by his Dark Helper. It seems that our Catholic saint inherited some of these customs from the pagan Germanic god Wodan, who had also been a bearded, white-haired old man, also dressed in a hat and cloak, carried a staff (or spear), rode a holy white horse and dragged along the same dark slave/helper on a chain.\\nThe Dutch Sinterklaas brings gifts to good children, while bad children are harassed by Zwarte Piet, the Dark Helper, who – brandishing his peculiar broom-like rod – threatens to put sassy young women and naughty children in the sack in which he has carried the gifts, the idea being that he will take them away to some terrible place in Spain (where Saint Nicholas, for no known historical reason, was supposed to have come from). This, of course, never happens since the good Christian Sinterklaas always intervenes on behalf of the naughty child – provided the child promises to better his or her ways. The bad (pagan) Dark Helper is then admonished by Sinterklaas and ordered to stop threatening the children.\\nNext, Sinterklaas distributes gifts to all \\\"who have been good\\\" (or until the twentieth century, to all \\\"who knew their prayers\\\"). In exchange, the children are supposed to leave food offerings for the saint's horse (usually hay and carrots), placed in either a shoe or stocking. In some areas, a glass of gin is also left as an offering for the good saint himself. When, by daybreak, the offerings have disappeared and been replaced by gifts, it proves that Sinterklaas has indeed paid a visit during the night.\\nWe can clearly recognize in all this the lesson taught the pagans by the Christian Church, here represented by Saint Nicholas: You may enjoy your old fall/winter feasts, as long as you have learned your prayers and become good Christians. You will then be rewarded, but if you have not done so, you will be dragged away to hell by your own fearful, pagan past and its representative, the dark Herne/Pan – who is none other than Satan himself – unless you repent, here and now!\\nSt. Nicholas with a European Flair …\\nNicholas' natural affinity with children led him to be adopted as their patron saint, and his generosity to the custom of giving gifts to them on his feast day. The custom became especially widespread in the Low Countries, where the Dutch seamen had carried reports home of the saint's generosity. St. Nicholas was, however, a tremendously popular saint everywhere. Both Russia and Greece adopted him as their patron saint, and there are more churches in the world named after him than any of the apostles (especially The Netherlands).\\nIn the European countries, St. Nicholas is usually pictured as a bearded saint, wearing ecclesiastical robes and riding a white horse. He carries a basket of gifts for the good children and a batch of rods for the naughty ones.\\nIn old Czechoslovakia, Svaty Mikulas was brought down from heaven on a golden cord by an angel. When he arrived on Christmas Day, the children rushed to the table to say their prayers. If they did well, he told the angel who came with him to give them presents.\\nIn parts of the Alps, \\\"ghosts of the field\\\" cleared the way for St. Nicholas. Behind them came a man wearing a goat's head, and a masked demon with a birch switch. In Germany, twelve young men dressed in straw and wearing animal masks danced along after St. Nicholas, ringing cowbells. At each house, after gifts were given, the masked men drove the young people out and pretended to beat them!\\nFor the children of the Netherlands, December 6th is still more exciting than Christmas Day, for then St. Nicholas arrives. His arrival is celebrated and this is the day when children receive their presents. The excitement begins on the last Sunday in November, where everywhere can be heard the words, \\\"Look there is the steamer bringing us St. Nick!\\\"\\nSt. Nicholas traditionally arrives by sea and disembarks at Amsterdam. He then mounts a white horse for a processional ride through the streets. Clothed in a bishop's scarlet cope and mitre, he wears white gloves and an enormous bishop's ring on his left hand. Black Peter accompanies Nicholas. St. Nicholas' arrival is greeted with cheers from the thousands of children and adults who line the route. Supposedly the bishop came from Spain. This story can be traced back to the sixteenth century when the Spanish dominated the Low Countries. The doublet, puffed velvet breeches, hose and plumed berets worn by his attendants – in particular Black Peter – are another forcible reminder of that period. Black Peter carries a large sack in which he is said to put all the boys and girls who have misbehaved during the course of the last 12 months. With bad kids in his sack, Black Peter then takes them away to Spain.\\nImmigrants to the New World must have recognized something familiar in the little figure of St. Nick. His fur costume suggested Pelz-Nicol to a Bavarian, and the little gnome-like figure Jule-nissen to a Scandinavian. His elfish qualities rang bells with other nationalities too, for example the Irish with their tradition of the \\\"little people\\\". In many ways, Santa was recognizable for many people, which probably helps to explain why he was adopted so readily – a new, but familiar, symbol for a new country.\\nGift-Giving Comes of Age\\nAs in many other European countries, if presents were exchanged at this season, it was usually done at New Year's Eve and they were between adults rather than for children. In the 1840s, however, there was an increasing emphasis on Christmas Day. This seems to have happened for several reasons. The press – which now reached a far wider audience – stressed the fact that Christmas Day was the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Birthdays had always been a day for giving presents and it was a natural step to celebrate Jesus' birth by giving gifts on that day.\\nBefore Christmas had been banned by Oliver Cromwell from 1644 to 1660, there had been an old custom of giving sweets and small presents to children on Christmas Day. This had virtually stopped, but now the custom was enjoying a revival, in part because of the many articles that were being written in the Christmas editions of magazines about the \\\"old traditions\\\" of Christmas. Another influential element was that, just as in America, children were becoming a greater focus in society, and it seemed appropriate to use this time to give them greater emphasis.\\nThe importation of the Christmas tree from Germany, and the accompanying rituals of gift giving on Christmas Eve, gave further impetus to the idea of presents. Santa Claus provided the final influence. By the end of the century, Christmas Day was firmly fixed – in England at least – as a children's festival and the day on which presents were given.\\nSanta Claus, or \\\"Father Christmas\\\", came back into English Christmas festivities when people were reminded of him from America. This injected new life into the English Christmas and was the answer to those who prayed that Father Christmas and his customs may be restored \\\"to some portion of their ancient honours\\\".\\nCelebrations around the midwinter solstice had been used for gift giving since Roman times. At the Roman winter festival – called the Saturnalia because they worshipped Saturn as the god of everything that grew – the Romans had a public holiday that lasted for a week. Everyone took part in the feasting and games. Even the slaves were made free for a day and allowed to say and do what they liked. People exchanged presents; a custom called Strenae, as a symbol of goodwill. At first, these gifts were green boughs from the grove of the goddess Strenia. Later, gifts were given of sweet pastries to ensure a pleasant year, precious stones, gold or silver coins to symbolize wealth, and, the most popular of all, candles as a symbol of warmth and light. As the Roman Empire spread, so did this custom of gift giving to other parts of the world. Since the Saturnalia marked the beginning of a new year, in most countries presents were given on New Year's Day, not Christmas Day. The advent and spread of Christianity caused the gift giving to be moved to other times of the year.\\nIn Germany, the packages of Christmas gifts were called \\\"Christ-bundles\\\" and often came in bundles of three. There was something rewarding, something useful and something for discipline. In the seventeenth century, a typical bundle would contain candy, sugarplums, cakes, apples, nuts, dolls and toys. The useful things would be clothes, caps, mittens, stockings, shoes and slippers. The gifts \\\"that belong to teaching, obedience and discipline\\\" were items such as ABC tables, paper, pencils, books and the \\\"Christ-rod\\\". This rod, attached to the bundle, was a pointed reminder for good behavior. Another way of presenting gifts was the old German custom of the \\\"Christmas ship\\\", in which bundles for children were stored away. To some extent, this custom was also adopted in England, but never with the same degree of popularity.\\nIn the centuries before Santa Claus was well known, and still today in many countries where he has not been widely adopted, the child Jesus is the gift-bringer. He comes with the angels during the night, trimming the tree and putting the presents underneath.\\nIn Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, the child Jesus (el Nino Jesus) brings Christmas gifts for the children during Holy Night. He is found in the morning in the previously empty crib, and all the presents are arranged in front of it.\\nThe German name of the Christ Child is Christkind, commonly used in its diminutive form Christkindel. His messenger, a young girl with a golden crown who holds a tiny \\\"Tree of Light\\\", brings the gifts of the Christ Child. Still today in America, \\\"Kriss Kringle\\\" – deriving from the German Christkindel – is another name used for Santa Claus.\\nSanta may appear under different names and in different guises. For example, French children leave their shoes by the fireplace on Christmas Eve so that they can be filled with gifts by Pere Noel. In the morning they find that the shoes have been filled and that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have also been hung on the branches of the tree.\\nIn Sweden, the children wait eagerly for Jultomten, whose sleigh is drawn by the Julbocker, the goats of the thunder god Thor. With his red suit and cap, and a bulging sack on his back, he looks much like Santa Claus as we know him. In Denmark, too, the gift-bringer Julemanden carries a sack and is brought by reindeer. Elves known as Juul Nisse come from the attic, where they live, to help with the chores during Yuletide. The children put a saucer of milk or rice pudding for them in the attic and are delighted to find it empty in the morning.\\nThe children of Poland receive their gifts from the stars, while in Hungary the angels bring them. Children of Syria receive theirs from the Youngest Camel on January 6th, which is Three Kings' Day. The children of Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and South American countries also receive gifts at this time as well as on Holy Night, but from the Three Kings.\\nIn Italy, an unusual figure is the gift bringer for children. It is the \\\"Lady Befana\\\" or \\\"Bufana\\\" (La Befana), the ageless wanderer. Apparently La Befana refused to go to Bethlehem with the wise men when they passed her door, and she has been searching for the Christ Child ever since. On the Eve of Three Kings' Day (Epiphany), she wanders from house to house, peering into the faces of the children and leaving gifts. On that day, the children roam the streets, blowing their paper trumpets and receiving the gifts which La Befana has given them. Her name comes from the word \\\"Epiphany\\\".\\nIn Russia, Kolyada is the name for Christmas. The word is derived from the old Roman Kalends, the celebration of the New Year at the first of January. Kolyada is also the name of the white-robed woman who rides a sled drawn by a single white horse from house to house on Christmas Eve to bring gifts to the children. Kolya (Nicholas), who leaves wheat cakes on the windowsills, joins her. The gift bringer in Russia is also a legendary woman, called Babushka (Grandmother). She is said to have misdirected the Magi when they inquired their way to Bethlehem. According to another version, she refused hospitality to the Holy Family on its way to Egypt. Whatever her fault, she repented of her unkindness and, to make reparation for her sin, she now goes about the world on Christmas Eve looking for the Christ Child and distributing gifts to the children.\\nSanta Invades New York\\nIn Europe, after the Reformation of the seventeenth century, the feast and veneration of Saint Nicholas was abolished in many places, including England, where a figure known as Father Christmas was substituted. Father Christmas is a winter deity, white-haired and bearded, who wears a crown of holly. The German settlers brought their beliefs and stories about Saint Nicholas with them to this country during the two great waves of immigration, in the early 1700s and the middle 1800s, and Hollanders brought their Sinter Klaas to their settlement of New Amsterdam. As the English colonized New York, they adopted their Father Christmas, who did not bring gifts, to these traditions, and Santa Claus as we know him today was born.\\nWashington Irving first described Santa's sleigh flying. The sleigh was said to be pulled by reindeer – giving St. Nick an exotic link with the far north – a land of cold and snow where few, if any, people traveled and was hence mysterious and remote. The reindeer, however, were not first told by Irving. In a publication called The Children's Friend, a writer had described in 1821 \\\"Old Sante Claus with much delight, His reindeer drives this frosty night\\\". Washington Irving, in A History of New York, published in 1809, helped create the Americanized version of this mythic figure when he described the saint as \\\"laying a finger beside his nose\\\" and dropping gifts down chimneys.\\nClement Moore's \\\"An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas\\\" (popularly known as \\\"The Night Before Christmas\\\"} was published on December 23, 1823. Clement C. Moore told of eight reindeer and gave their names. Some scholars think that this poem was actually written by Henry Livingston, Jr., and there is compelling evidence to support this point of view. Perhaps Livingston had written a poem that Moore adapted. Whatever the case, in the now-famous poem, Santa is described as a \\\"jolly old elf,\\\" with a team of eight reindeer, who comes to children on Christmas Eve Day, rather than December 6 or New Year's Day. One story recounts that Dr. Clement Moore was inspired to draw the present day Santa Claus by a short, chubby Dutch friend of his, who had sat by the fire telling stories of St. Nicholas.\\nThomas Nast is another contributor to the American development of Santa Claus. Although he was born in Bavaria in the 1840s, he came to the United States when he was six years old. He grew up to become an editorial cartoonist and illustrator with flair; he is credited with creating and popularizing the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey, the symbols of the two major political parties. He is also considered the primary source for the way we picture Santa Claus because of a series of drawings he did for Harper's Weekly between 1863 and 1886. Not having the vaguest idea what Santa Claus was supposed to look like, the Bavarian-born Nast drew Santa Claus as the winter holiday figure he remembered from the mountain villages in his Bavarian Alps; a rather scary, less-than-friendly gnome, dressed in animal skins and carrying a short broom-like rod with which to threaten girls and boys.\\nOver the years, Nast's Santa became a bit friendlier, until, in 1931, the Coca-Cola Company decided that they wanted to increase their sales to children. The law at the time did not allow advertisements showing children drinking Coca-Cola, so how about showing a friendlier Santa Claus, relaxing with a Coke served to him by children? The artist Haddon Sundblom was assigned to come up with a new, more commercial Santa. Instead of Moore's elf or Nast's grumpy gnome, Sundblom came up with a large, jolly fellow in the well-known, bright red suit with white fur trim (the Coca-Cola colors).\\nTogether, Irving, Moore, Nast and Sundblom are largely responsible for the way we in America envision Santa Claus.\\nCopyright 2001, Michael McCann with The Business Cafe. All Rights Reserved.\",\n \"Hans Christian Andersen on iBooks - iTunes\\nPreview and download books by Hans Christian Andersen, ... Mary Rodgers' musical Once Upon a Mattress ... Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (Unabridged)\\nHans Christian Andersen on iBooks\\nOpen iTunes to buy and download books\\nBiography\\nBorn in a slum and struggling through his youth to break through Denmark's class structure, Hans Christian Andersen always considered himself an outsider. And so his plays, novels, and especially his fairy tales are populated by outsiders, some of whom do not live happily ever after. The young Andersen initially hoped to rise from his impoverishment as an actor, but a theater director instead raised money to send him to school. In 1829, he gained his first success not as an actor but as a writer, with \\\"A Walk From Holmen's Canal to the East Point of the Island of Amager in the Years 1828 and 1829.\\\" Despite its unwieldy travelogue title, this was a tale of fantasy inspired by the work of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Still attached to the theater, Andersen went on to write several plays, few of which were particularly successful. He made his name more as a novelist, with such works as The Improviser (1835) and Only a Fiddler (1837). It was during this early phase of novel writing that Andersen also began turning out original little tales in folk style. The first of what would amount to 156 stories was published in 1835 as Eventyr, or Tales Told for Children. Eventyr was expanded in 1837 and a second volume came out in 1842. Related collections of stories were regularly issued through 1852, with a last publication, New Fairy Tales and Stories, finally arriving in 1872. One key to Andersen's popularity was his style, which was colloquial rather than literary. Yet he refused to write down to children; he introduced dark feelings and sinister turns of events and expressed special sympathy for outcasts, not just heroes and princesses. Some of his tales celebrated the triumph of goodness and were, indeed, overtly Christian, but others were pessimistic in the tradition of German Romanticism. Andersen was also a poet, and his verse has been set to music by such composers as Grieg, Nielsen, and Schumann (notably Der Spielmann). But his fairy tales have made the strongest impression on composers. Among musical adaptations, sometimes quite loose, of Andersen's tales are Prokofiev's song The Ugly Duckling, Mary Rodgers' musical Once Upon a Mattress (based on \\\"The Princess and the Pea\\\"), and Disney's animated feature The Little Mermaid.\\nTop Books\",\n \"Full text of \\\"A History of Nursery Rhymes\\\" - archive.org\\nFull text of \\\"A History of Nursery Rhymes\\\" See other formats ...\\nFull text of \\\"A History of Nursery Rhymes\\\"\\nSee other formats\\nThe Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Nursery Rhymes, by Percy B. Green This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A History of Nursery Rhymes Author: Percy B. Green Release Date: December 28, 2007 [EBook #24065] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES *** Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES BY PERCY B. GREEN LONDON GREENING & CO., LTD. 20, CECIL COURT CHARING CROSS ROAD 1899 Now Reissued by Singing Tree Press 1249 Washington Blvd., Detroit, Michigan. 1968 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 68-31082 Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst significant amendments are noted at the end of the text. Archaic and dialect spellings remain as printed. Greek text appears as originally printed. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION xiii PART I. CHAP. I. Prehistoric man--His language one of signs and sounds--The story of Psammetichus and the Two Babies--Idiom of language a survival of primitive peoples 1 II. Modern types of early man--Sign-language of people living on the globe to-day--The custom of the UVINZA grandees--The \\\"good-morning\\\" of the Walunga tribe--Signs of hospitality in the sign vocabulary of the North American Indian--The \\\"attingere extremis digitis\\\" of the Romans--Clap-hands one of the first lessons of the Nursery--The modern survival of hand-clapping--\\\"Is it rude to shake hands, Nurse?\\\"--A hypercritical mother--Plato's rebuke--Agesilaus and his children--Nursery classics and critical babies--\\\"Lalla, lalla, lalla\\\" of the Roman child--The well-known baby dance of \\\"Crow and caper, caper and crow\\\" 8 III. Writers on comparative religions show that entire religious observances come down to modern peoples from heathen sources--The Bohemian Peasant and his Apple Tree--A myth of long descent found in the rhyme of \\\"A Woman, a Spaniel, and Walnut Tree\\\"; our modern \\\"Pippin, pippin, fly away,\\\" indicates the same sentiment--The fairy tale of Ashputtel and the Golden Slipper, the legend from which came our story of Cinderella--Tylor on Children's Sports--The mystery of Northern Europe at Christ's coming--The Baby's Rattle--Ancestral worship follows sun and moon worship, and gives us the tales of fairies, goblins, and elves--Boyd Dawkins' story of the Isle of Man farmer--A Scandinavian Manxman--Modernised lullaby of a Polish mother--\\\"Shine, Stars\\\"--\\\"Rain, rain, go away\\\"--Wind making--LULLABIES--Bulgarian, German, \\\"Sleep, Baby, Sleep\\\"--The lullaby of the Black Guitar--\\\"Baby, go to Sleep\\\"--English version, \\\"Hush thee, my Babby\\\"--Danish lullaby of \\\"Sweetly sleep, my little Child\\\"--\\\"Bye, baby bunting\\\" 17 IV. Elf-land--Old-time superstitions--A custom of providing a feast for the dead known in Yorkshire, North-west Ireland, and in Armenia--The Erl King of Goethe--Ballet of the Leaf-dressed Girl--The Spirit of the Waters--An Irish legend of Fior Usga--Scotch superstition--Jenny Greenteeth of Lancashire--The Merrow of the West of Ireland--Soul Cages--The German rhyme of \\\"O Man of the Sea, come list unto Me\\\"--Mysticism among uncivilised races--The Corn Spirit--The Rye-wolf--\\\"The Cow's in the Corn\\\"--\\\"Ring a ring a rosies\\\"--\\\"Cuckoo Cherry Tree\\\"--Our earliest song, \\\"Summer is a-coming in\\\"--\\\"Hot Cockles\\\" at Yorkshire funerals--\\\"Over the Cuckoo Hill, I oh!\\\"--Indian Lore 34 PART II. I. GAMES--Whipping-tops, Marbles, etc.--\\\"I am good at Scourging of my Toppe,\\\" date 15--(?)--Dice and Pitch-and-Toss--\\\"Dab a Prin in my Lottery Book\\\"--\\\"A' the Birds of the Air\\\"--Hop Scotch--\\\"Zickety, dickety, dock\\\"--\\\"All good Children go to Heaven\\\"--\\\"Mary at the Cottage Door.\\\" MARRIAGE GAMES--\\\"If ever I Marry I'll Marry a Maid,\\\" 1557 A.D.--London Street Games--A Wedding--\\\"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you\\\"--\\\"Rosy Apple, Lemon, and Pear\\\"--The King of the Barbarines--\\\"I've got Gold and I've got Silver\\\"--A Lancashire Round Game--\\\"Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, I do\\\"--Round Game of the Mulberry Bush--\\\"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\\\"--\\\"Mother, buy me a Milking Can\\\"--\\\"Here comes a Poor Sailor from Botany Bay\\\"--\\\"Can I get there by Candle-light?\\\" 58 II. NURSERY GAMES--A Game for a Wet Day--\\\"Cows and Horses walk on four legs\\\"--A Game nearly 300 years old--\\\"There were two birds sitting on a stone\\\"--A B C Game--\\\"Hi diddle diddle\\\"--\\\"I Apprentice my Son\\\"--An Armenian Child's Game, \\\"Jack's Alive\\\"--Russian Superstition 80 III. JEWISH RHYMES--\\\"A kid, a kid my father bought for two pieces of money--a kid! a kid!\\\"--\\\"The house that Jack built\\\"--The Scotch version, \\\"There was an old woman swept her house and found a silver penny\\\"--The Chad Gadyâ--\\\"Who knoweth One\\\" 89 IV. An ancient English Rhyme--\\\"A Frog who would a-wooing go,\\\" the version of same sung in Henry VIII.'s reign--Songs of London Boys in Tudor times--\\\"Quoth John to Joan\\\"--\\\"Good parents in good manners do instruct their child\\\"--\\\"Tom a Lin\\\"--\\\"Bryan O'Lynn\\\"--Four songs sung by children in Elizabeth's reign--\\\"We'll have a Wedding at our House\\\" 100 V. CAT RHYMES--\\\"Pussy-cat, pussy-cat\\\"--\\\"Ten little mice sat down to spin\\\"--\\\"The rose is red, the grass is green\\\"--\\\"I Love little Pussy\\\"--\\\"Three Cats sat by the Fireside\\\"--\\\"There was a Crooked Man\\\"--\\\"Ding dong bell\\\"--Cat tale of Dick Whittington 112 VI. A Cradle Song of the first century, \\\"Sleep, O son, sleep\\\" 117 VII. JACK RHYMES 123 VIII. RIDDLE MAKING--German riddle of \\\"Seven White and Seven Black Horses\\\"--Greek riddle of the Two Sisters; another of \\\"The year, months, and days\\\"--\\\"Old Mother Needle\\\"--\\\"Purple, yellow, red, and green\\\"--\\\"As round as an Apple\\\"--\\\"Humpty Dumpty\\\"--The Phœnix fable--\\\"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home\\\" 127 IX. NURSERY CHARMS--\\\"When a twister twisting twists him a twist\\\"--An Essex Charm for a Churn--\\\"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John\\\" Charms. MONEY RHYMES--\\\"How a lass gave her lover three slips for a tester\\\"--\\\"Little Mary Esther\\\"--\\\"Sing a Song of Sixpence\\\"--\\\"There was an old man in a velvet coat\\\"--\\\"See-saw\\\"--\\\"One a penny\\\"--\\\"There's never a maiden in all the town\\\"--\\\"Pinky, pinky, bow-bell\\\"--Numerical Nursery Rhyme--Baker's Man 134 X. SCRAPS--\\\"Oh, slumber, my darling, thy sire is a knight\\\"--\\\"Bye, baby bumpkin\\\"--\\\"Nose, nose, jolly red nose\\\"--\\\"I saw a man in the moon\\\"--A Henry VIII. Rhyme--\\\"Peg-Peg\\\"--\\\"Round about\\\"--\\\"Father Long-legs\\\"--\\\"Two-penny rice\\\"--\\\"Come when you're called\\\"--A Game--\\\"Nanny Natty Coat\\\"--\\\"As I was going down Sandy Lane\\\"--\\\"There was an old woman\\\"--\\\"Robert Rowley\\\"--\\\"Little General Monk\\\"--\\\"Dr. Tom Tit\\\"--\\\"Tommy Trot\\\"--\\\"Goosey Gander\\\"--\\\"The White Dove sat on the Castell Wall\\\"--\\\"This Little Pig\\\"--\\\"Little Bo Peep\\\"--\\\"See-saw, Margery Daw\\\"--\\\"Four-and-twenty Tailors\\\"--\\\"Little Moppet\\\"--\\\"Hub-a-dub, dub\\\"--\\\"Diddle Dumpling\\\"--\\\"Jack and Jyll\\\"--\\\"The Cat and the Fiddle\\\"--\\\"Baa! baa! black sheep\\\"--\\\"Here comes a poor Duke out of Spain\\\"--\\\"Ride to the market\\\"--\\\"Cross-patch\\\"--\\\"The Man of the South\\\"--A Lancashire Fragment--\\\"Dickery dock\\\"--\\\"There was an old woman toss'd up in a blanket\\\"--\\\"We're all in the dumps\\\"--A Proverb--A Compliment--The Reverse 141 XI. SONGS--\\\"Will the love that you're so rich in?\\\"--\\\"Cock-a-doodle doo\\\"--\\\"King Cole\\\"--\\\"Rowsty dowt\\\"--\\\"There was a Little Man\\\"--The Creole's Song--\\\"Dapple Grey\\\"--\\\"Blue Betty\\\"--\\\"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\\"--\\\"Oh dear, what can the matter be?\\\"--\\\"Simple Simon\\\"--\\\"I saw a Ship a-sailing\\\"--\\\"David the Welshman\\\"--\\\"My Father he Died\\\" 152 XII. SCOTCH RHYMES--\\\"As I went up the Brandy Hill\\\"--Scotch version of Bryan O'Lynn--\\\"Cripple Dick\\\"--\\\"Pan, Pan, Play\\\"--\\\"Gi'e a thing\\\"--A Gruesome Riddle--\\\"King and Queen of Cantelon\\\"--Hidee--\\\"Wha's your Daddie?\\\"--\\\"The Moon is a Lady\\\" 162 XIII. A favourite Nursery Hymn--The Latin version of the Virgin's Lullaby 169 XIV. \\\"There was a maid came out of Kent\\\"--\\\"Martin Smart\\\"--\\\"Great A, little B\\\"--A Nursery Tale--\\\"A duck, a drake\\\"--\\\"Hark! Hark!\\\"--A B C Jingles--A Catch Rhyme 173 XV. BELL RHYMES--\\\"Banbury Cross\\\"--\\\"Gay go up, and gay go down\\\"--\\\"Mary, Mary, quite contrary\\\"--The Provençal \\\"Ding-dong\\\" 178 XVI. Political Significations of Nursery Rhymes--\\\"Come, Jack\\\"--\\\"A man of words\\\"--Pastorini, Lord Grey, Lyttleton, Dan O'Connell, and Lord Brougham caricatured 185 INTRODUCTION Without advancing any theory touching the progression of the mother's song to her babe, other than declaring lullabies to be about as old as babies, a statement which recalls to mind an old story, entitled \\\"The Owl's Advice to an Inquisitive Cat.\\\" \\\"O cat,\\\" said the sage owl of the legend, \\\"to pass life agreeably most of all you need a philosophy; you and I indeed enjoy many things in common, especially night air and mice, yet you sadly need a philosophy to search after, and think about matters most difficult to discover.\\\" After saying this the owl ruffled his feathers and pretended to think. But the cat observed that it was foolish to search after such things. \\\"Indeed,\\\" she purringly said, \\\"I only trouble about easy matters.\\\" \\\"Ah! I will give you an example of my philosophy, and how inquiry ought to be made. You at least know, I presume,\\\" scoffingly exclaimed the owl, \\\"that the chicken arises from the egg, and the egg comes from the hen. Now the object of true philosophy is to examine this statement in all its bearings, and consider which was first, the egg or the bird.\\\" The cat was quite struck with the proposition. \\\"It is quite clear,\\\" went on the owl, \\\"to all but the ignorant, one or other appeared first, since neither is immortal.\\\" The cat inquired, \\\"Do you find out this thing by philosophy?\\\" \\\"Really! how absurd of you to ask,\\\" concluded the feathered one. \\\"And I thank the gods for it, were it as you suggest, O cat, philosophy would give no delight to inquirers, for knowing all things would mean the end and destruction of philosophy.\\\" With this owl's apology nursery-lore is presented to my readers without the legion of verified references of that character demanded as corroborative evidence in the schools of criticism to-day. A few leading thoughts culled from such men as Tylor, Lubbock, Wilson, McLennan, Frazer, and Boyd Dawkins, etc., the experiences of our modern travellers among primitive races, Indian and European folk-lore, the world's credulities past and present, have helped me to fix the idea that amongst the true historians of mankind the children of our streets find a place. A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES PART I. CHAPTER I. \\\"The scene was savage, but the scene was new.\\\" Scientists tell us many marvellous tales, none the less true because marvellous, about the prehistoric past. Like the owl in the preface, they are not discouraged because the starting-point is beyond reach; and we, like the cat, should try to awaken our interest when evidences are presented to us that on first hearing sound like the wonderful tales of the Orient. Thousands of years ago in our own land dwelt two races of people, the River Drift-men and the Cave-dwellers. The River Drift-man was a hunter of a very low order, possessing only the limited intelligence of the modern Australian native. This man supported life much in the same way we should expect a man to do, surrounded by similar conditions; but, on the other hand, the Cave-dweller showed a singular talent for representing the animals he hunted, and his sketches reveal to us the capacity he had for seeing the beauty and grace of natural objects. Were a visit to be paid to the British Museum, his handicraft, rude when compared to modern art, could be seen in the fragments beyond all cavil recording his primitive culture. Without, then, any very great stretch of imagination we can picture to ourselves this man as belonging to one of the most primitive types of our race, having little occasion to use a vocabulary--save of a most meagre order; and indeed his language would embody only a supply of words just expressive of his few simple wants. Without daring to compare primitive culture with modern advancement, this prototype's appetites would have been possibly served for the greater part by sign-language, and the use of a few easy protophones. To-day, after the lapse of ages since this Second Stone Age, man went up and possessed the land; we with our new inventions, wants, and newly-acquired tastes have added a legion of scientifically constructed sounds, built up on the foundation he laid with his first utterances, for language is not the outcome of race, but of social contact. As an interpolation the tale of the Egyptian Psammetichus is worth telling at this stage. Desirous of finding--as the ancients then thought existed--the original language of mankind, Psammetichus isolated two babies from birth in separate apartments, and for two years they were not allowed to hear the sound of a human voice. At the end of that time they were brought together and kept for a few hours without food. Psammetichus then entered the room, and both children uttered the same strange cry, \\\"Becos, Becos.\\\" \\\"Ah!\\\" said Psammetichus, \\\"'Becos, Becos,' why! that is Phrygian for bread,\\\" and Phrygian was said to have been the ancient universal language of man. Still, however one feels disposed to imagine what took place in the Baby Kingdom of these remote ages, brief allusions only will be made to the veiled past, when either sign-language, or relics, or myths of long descent are presented to us in the form of nursery-lore. How many thousands of years have gone by since the period known to scientists as the Pleistocene was here--a time when the whole of Britain and North-West Europe wore a glistening mantle of ice, and when man could scarce exist, save on the fringe of the south-east littoral of England--none can say. At all events it may be safely assumed that not till the end of the Pleistocene Era was Britain or Scandinavia the abode of man, when the fauna and flora assumed approximately their present condition, and the state of things called Recent by geologists set in. Whether the Aryans be accepted as the first people to inhabit our ice-bound shores in the remote past matters little, and from whence they sprang (according to Max Müller \\\"somewhere in Asia,\\\" or Dr. Schrader \\\"European Russia,\\\" or Herr Penka \\\"from the east to the far west of the Scandinavian Peninsula\\\") matters still less, \\\"for,\\\" says Professor Huxley, \\\"the speakers of primitive Aryan may have been (themselves) a mixture of two or more races, just as are the speakers of English or of French at the present time\\\"; and archæology takes us no further back than into the Neolithic or Second Stone Age, when the poetry of the human voice gave a dramatic value to the hitherto primitive sign-language limitation of the Old Drift-men. At this age, the Neolithic, arithmetical questions arising in the course of life would necessarily assume a vocal value instead of a digital one. No longer would fifteen be counted by holding out ten fingers and five toes, but an idiomatic phrase, descriptive of the former sign-language, \\\"_of two hands and one foot's worth_\\\" would be used, just as to-day an African would express the same problem in a number of cows, and as the comparatively modern Roman used such pictorial phrases as \\\"_to condemn a person of his head_.\\\" From this era, centuries before the Celt traversed our shores, \\\"the progress of civilisation\\\" has gone on in one unbroken continuity from the Second Stone Age man to the present time. CHAPTER II. \\\"O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam et vacet annales nostrorum audire laborum. Ante diem clauso componat Vesper Olympo.\\\"--VERGIL, _Æneid_, Book I. 372. \\\"O goddess, if I were to proceed retracing them from their first origin, and thou hadst leisure to hear the records of our labours before (the end), the Evening Star would lull the day to rest, Olympus being closed.\\\" However, granting the scientific imagination to assume a starting-point when the vast Ice Period was vanishing and language was not the test of race, but of social contact, it must be allowed that the River Drift-man was the first of his species that touched our shores, followed by the Cave-dwellers some thousands of years later; the latter man having his abode fixed to a locality, and his wanderings within prescribed limits. He may have, this prehistoric man, this Cave-dweller, chattered like a monkey in a patois understood only by his own family; but what is more reasonable to suppose than that the Drift-men of the marshes and coastlines had only a restricted use for vocal sounds, sign-language being expressive enough to meet their few wants? Meagre social conditions, peculiar isolation, savagery, strife for life, call for no complex language, but sign-language has the authority of people living on the globe to-day, not only amongst uncivilised races, but traces are seen in our very midst. The few examples of custom and signs given below will better illustrate the force of the statement. \\\"Amongst the Uvinza, when two grandees meet, the junior leans forward, bends his knees, and places the palms of his hands on the ground, one on either side his feet, while the senior claps hands over him six or seven times.\\\" In the morning among the Walunga all the villagers turn out, and a continuous clapping is kept up to the vocalisation of a shrill \\\"Kwi-tata?\\\" or \\\"How do you do?\\\" Two special signs for \\\"good\\\" are in the sign-vocabulary of the North American Indians, and are worth recording. The person greeting holds the right hand, back up, in front of and close to the heart, with the fingers extended and pointing to the left. Another habit is that of passing the open right hand, palm downwards, from the heart, towards the person greeted. A stranger making his appearance on the frontier line of an Indian camp seldom fails to recognise the true sentiment of the chief's salutation, the extended fingers on the left side meaning-- \\\"You are near my heart--expect no treachery,\\\" a most solemn surety; while the hand sent from the heart towards the visitor seems to say-- \\\"I extend hospitality to you.\\\" The \\\"attingere extremis digitis\\\" of the Romans expressed the same temperate conduct. But greeting by gesture and hand-clapping still live, and are discovered in the first lessons given by a mother to her babe. \\\"Clap hands, papa comes,\\\" and \\\"Pat a cake, pat a cake, my little man, Yes, I will, mother, as fast as I can\\\" have a universal significance in Child Land. Unfortunately this survival of hand-clapping, a vestige of a habit belonging to primitive people, does not begin and end in our modern nursery. \\\"When I was a child I spake as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things,\\\" is a resolve daily forgotten. In the theatre, when our sentiment is awakened by the craft of the stage player, we show approbation by a round of hand-clapping not one whit less savage than the habit of the Uvinza grandee or the good-morning among the Walunga tribe. \\\"O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us!\\\" This demonstration of feeling may have more _corps d'esprit_ than the feeble \\\"hear, hear\\\" of the educated or self-restrained man, but sign-language, especially among the Anglo-Saxon race, is on the wane. Its exodus is slowly going on, lingering anon in the ritual of religions, yet in social life ever being expelled. \\\"It is rude to point,\\\" says the nursemaid to her little charge. \\\"Is it rude to shake hands, nurse?\\\" once exclaimed a child cynic. The nurse was nonplussed. The middle-class mother answers the child's question-- \\\"Yes, dear--with anyone in a lower position.\\\" \\\"That's a case,\\\" said an Irishman on hearing it, \\\"of twopence-halfpenny looking down on twopence,\\\" or by another comparison, it is a case of one English grandee clapping his hands over another grandee's head. Still, though educational influences and nine-tenths of the coterie of society wage war against sign-language, ill-mannered men and badly-behaved children must always be with us. \\\"'Tis rude to laugh\\\" is another precept of the hypercritical mother. Why? Goodness only knows!--for none but a pompous blockhead or a solemn prig will pretend that he never relaxes. But let ancient Plato, brimful as he was of philosophy, answer the question \\\"When not to laugh?\\\" Indulging one day in idle waggery, Plato, on seeing a staid disciple approach, suddenly exclaimed to his fellows, \\\"Let's be wise now, for I see a fool coming,\\\" and under hypocrisy's mask all merriment ceased. Agesilaus in mere sport romped with his children, and delighted them by riding on a stick round the nursery, possibly singing, after the manner of many a modern rollicking nursery-loving father-- \\\"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross.\\\" With men, however, kingly proclamations, laws, empires pass away and are forgotten, time obliterates their memories, but in Child Land all the inhabitants, from the tiniest crower to the ten-year-old boy, show an eager appreciation in the conservation of the pleasing lore contained in the lullabies, the jingles, the tales, the riddles, the proverbs, and the games of the nursery classics. And what terrible critics these babies are! What a perverse preference they have for the soft jingle of nonsensical melody; blank verse with its five accents and want of rhythm does not soothe: they must have the-- \\\"Lalla, lalla, lalla, Aut dormi, aut lacta\\\" of their prototype of Roman days. How they revel and delight in the mother's measured song of-- \\\"Dance, little baby, dance up high, Never mind, baby, mother is nigh; Crow and caper, caper and crow, There, little baby, there you go. Up to the ceiling, down to the ground, Backwards and forwards, round and round; So dance, little baby, and mother will sing, With a high cockolorum and tingle, ting ting.\\\" Or-- \\\"With a merry, gay coral, and tingle, ting ting.\\\"[A] FOOTNOTES: [A] First printed in a selection of nursery rhymes by Taylor, 1828. A modern well-known baby dance. CHAPTER III. \\\"The moon is up; by Heaven, a lovely eve! Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand.\\\" The Norwegian explorer, Dr. Nansen, in his address to the Royal Geographical Society on February 9th, 1897, stated:-- \\\"The long Arctic day was beautiful in itself, though one soon got tired of it. But when that day vanished and the long Polar night began, then began the kingdom of beauty, then they had the moon sailing through the peculiar silence of night and day. The light of the moon shining when all was marble had a most singular effect.\\\"[B] Writers on Comparative Religions for the most part assert that moon worship amongst the almost utterly savage tribes in Africa and America, the hunting, nomad races of to-day, is a noteworthy feature. \\\"It is not the sun that first attracted the attention of the savage.\\\"[C] \\\"In order of birth the worship of the night sky, inclusive of that of the moon, precedes that of the day sky and the sun. It was observed long ago that wherever sun worship existed moon worship was to be found, being a residuum of an earlier state of religion.\\\"[D] What the early primal melody of thousands of years ago may have been one can hardly suggest, but that the subject-matter of the song was mythical there can be very little doubt, and, like folk-lore tales, built upon and around nature worship; for as the capacity for creating language does not exhaust all its force at once, but still continues to form new modes of speech whenever an alteration of circumstances demands them, so it is with myths. The moon during a long Polar night reigning in a kingdom of crystalline beauty, when all around is silence and grandeur, would suggest to the dweller on the fringe of the ice fields--his deity. The sun, in like manner shedding forth its genial warmth, the agriculturist would learn to welcome, and to ascribe to its power the increase of his crop, and just as the limitation of reason holds the untutored man in bondage, so the myth, the outcome of his ignorance, becomes his god. Even though social advancement has made rapid strides among comparatively modern peoples and nations, not only traces of mythological, but entire religious observances, reclothed in Christian costumes, are still kept up. Praying to an apple tree to yield an abundant crop was the habit of the Bohemian peasant, until Christian teaching influenced him for the better; yet such a hold had the tradition of his ancestors over him that the custom still survives, and yearly on Good Friday before sunrise he enters his garden, and there on his knees says-- \\\"I pray, O green tree, that God may make thee good.\\\" The old form ran thus-- \\\"I pray thee, O green tree, that thou yield abundantly.\\\" In some districts the lash of the Bohemian peasant's whip is well applied to the bark of the tree, reminding one of the terse verse-- \\\"A woman, a spaniel, and walnut tree, The more you beat them the better they be.\\\" There is also something akin, in this Bohemian's former sentiment, to the wish our nursery children make while eating apples. Coming to the cores they take out the pippins and throw them over the left shoulder, exclaiming-- \\\"Pippin, pippin, fly away; Bring me an apple another day.\\\" Surely a tree hidden within its fruit. In the German fairy tale of Ashputtel, also known as the golden slipper--a similar legend is extant amongst the Welsh people--and from which our modern tale of Cinderella and her glass slipper came, a tree figured as the mysterious power. After suffering many disappointments Ashputtel, so the legend relates, goes to a hazel tree and complains that she has no clothes in which to go to the great feast of the king. \\\"Shake, shake, hazel tree, Gold and silver over me,\\\" she exclaims, and her friends the birds weave garments for her while the tree makes her resplendent with jewels of gold and silver. \\\"Children's sport, popular sayings, absurd customs, may be practically unimportant, but they are not philosophically insignificant, bearing as they do on primitive culture.\\\"[E] Trans-Alpine Europe was a greater mystery to the nations on the littoral of the Mediterranean at the time of Christ's appearance in Syria than any spot in Central Africa is to us to-day. Across the Northern mountain chains were regions unaffected by Greek or Roman culture, and the only light shed on the memorials of Northern Europe's early youth comes from the contributory and dimly illuminative rays of folk-lore. THE BABY'S RATTLE at this juncture is worth according a passing notice, though degenerated into the bauble it now is. Among the Siberian, Brazilian, and Redskin tribes it was held as a sacred and mysterious weapon. This sceptre of power of the modern nursery--the token primitive man used, and on which the Congo negro takes his oath--has lost its significance. The Red Indian of North America had his Rattle man, who, as physician, used it as a universal prescription in the cure of all disease, believing, no doubt, that its jargon would allay pain, in like manner as it attracts and soothes a cross child; and this modern type of primitive man, the Red Indian, although fast dying out, has no obscured visions of the records of childhood; they have remained since his _anno mundi_ ran back to zero. To him the great sources of religious and moral suasion which gave birth to mediæval and modern Europe, and so largely contributed to the polity of Asia and the upraising of Africa, have been a dead letter, which spell his extinction. He lived up to his racial traditions, and is fast dying with them. His language, his arts, his religious rites are of an unfamiliar past. Leaving the Red Indian moon worshipper with his death rattle awhile and harking back to Europe, Norway stands out as the richest country in legendary lore, for old-time superstitions have lingered among the simple and credulous people, living pent up on the horrid crags, where torrents leap from cliff to valley. Their tales of goblins and spirits, tales of trolls, gnomes, and a legendary host of other uncanny creatures, point to the former nature and ancestral worship of a people cut off from the advancing civilisation of their time. Luckily for the archæologist, superstitious beliefs and folk-lore tales have preserved the graves of the Stone Age inhabitants of the country from desecration. As in Norway so in the Isle of Man, and in the western districts of Ireland. In Man until the fifties many of the inhabitants believed in the Spirit of the Mountains; indeed, even in County Donegal and the West Riding of Yorkshire, up to the last twenty years, fairy superstition was rife. Boyd Dawkins gives in his chapter, \\\"Superstition of the Stone Age: Early Man in Britain,\\\" an account of an Isle of Man farmer who, having allowed investigation to be made in the interests of science on portions of his lands, becoming so awed at the thought of having sanctioned the disturbing of the dead, that he actually offered up a heifer as a burnt sacrifice to avert the wrath of the Manes. After lunar and solar worships this ancestral worship of the Isle of Man farmer ranks next in point of age, a survival of which is seen in the respect paid by country people to the fairies, the goblins, and the elves. Equally so has the spirit of former beliefs been handed down to us in the song of the nurse, and in the practices of rural people. A modernised lullaby of a Polish mother bears traces in the last stanza of a quasi-native worship-- \\\"Shine, stars, God's sentinels on high, Proclaimers of His power and might, May all things evil from us fly; O stars, good-night, good-night!\\\" Other instances of nature worshippers are amusing as well as being instructive. The Ojebway Indians believe in the mortality of the sun, for when an eclipse takes place the whole tribe, in the hope of rekindling the obscured light, keep up a continual discharge of fire-tipped arrows from their bows until they perceive again his majesty of light. Amongst the New Caledonians the wizard, if the season continue to be wet and cloudy, ascends the highest accessible peak on a mountain-range and fires a peculiar sacrifice, invoking his ancestors, and exclaiming-- \\\"Sun, this I do that you may be burning hot, And eat up all the black clouds of the sky,\\\" reminding one of the puerile cry of the weather-bound nursery child-- \\\"Rain, rain, go away, Come again another day.\\\" Wind-making among primitive people was universally adopted; even at a late period the cultured Greeks and Romans believed in a mythical wind god. It was the custom of the wind clan of the Omahas to flap their overalls to start a breeze, while a sorcerer of New Britain desirous of appeasing the wind god throws burnt lime into the air, and towards the point of the compass he wishes to make a prosperous journey, chanting meanwhile a song. Finnish wizards made a pretence of selling wind to land-bound sailors. A Norwegian witch once boasted of sinking a vessel by opening a wind-bag she possessed. Homer speaks of Ulysses receiving the winds as a present from Æolus, the King of Winds, in a leather bag. In the highlands of Ethiopia no storm-driven wind ever sweeps down without being stabbed at by a native to wound the evil spirit riding on the blast. In some parts of Austria a heavy gale is propitiated by the act and speech of a peasant who, as the demon wings his flight in the raging storm, opens the window and casts a handful of meal or chaff to the enraged sprite as a peace offering, at the same time shouting-- \\\"There, that's for you; stop, stop!\\\" A pretty romance is known in Bulgarian folk-lore. The wife of a peasant who had been mysteriously enticed away by the fairies was appealed to by her husband's mother to return. \\\"Who is to feed the babe, and rock its cradle?\\\" sang the grandmother, and the wind wafted back the reply-- \\\"If it cry for food, I will feed it with copious dews; If it wish to sleep, I will rock its cradle with a gentle breeze.\\\" How devoid of all sentiment our Englished version of the same tale reads. \\\"Hush-a-bye, baby, on a tree top, When the wind blows the cradle will rock, When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, Down comes the baby and cradle and all.\\\" No wonder this purposeless lullaby is satirised in the orthodox libretto of Punch's Opera or the Dominion of Fancy, for Punch, having sung it, throws the child out of the window. The poetic instinct of the German mother is rich in expression, her voice soothing and magnetic as she sways her babe to and fro to the melody of-- \\\"Sleep, baby, sleep! Thy father tends the sheep, Thy mother shakes the branches small, Whence happy dreams in showers fall. Sleep, baby, sleep! \\\"Sleep, baby, sleep! The sky is full of sheep, The stars the lambs of heaven are, For whom the shepherd moon doth care. Sleep, baby, sleep!\\\"[F] The lullaby of the Black Guitar, told by the Grimm brothers in their German fairy tales, gives us the same thought. \\\"Thou art sleeping, my son, and at ease, Lulled by the whisperings of the trees.\\\" Another German nurse song of a playful yet commanding tone translates-- \\\"Baby, go to sleep! Mother has two little sheep, One is black and one is white; If you do not sleep to-night, First the black and then the white Shall give your little toe a bite.\\\" A North Holland version has degenerated into the flabby Dutch of-- \\\"Sleep, baby, sleep! Outside there stands a sheep With four white feet, That drinks its milk so sweet. Sleep, baby, sleep!\\\" The old English cradle rhyme, evidently written to comfort fathers more than babies, is given by way of contrast, and, as is usual with our own countrymen, the versification is thoroughly British, slurred over and slovenly-- \\\"Hush thee, my babby, Lie still with thy daddy, Thy mammy has gone to the mill To grind thee some wheat To make thee some meat, Oh, my dear babby, do lie still!\\\" The Danish lullaby of \\\"Sweetly sleep, my little child, Lie quiet and still. The bird nests in the wood, The flower rests in the meadow grass; Sweetly sleep, my little child.\\\" This last recalls the esteem our Teuton ancestors had for their scalds, or polishers of language, when poetry and music were linked together by the voice and harp of minstrelsy, and when the divine right to fill the office of bard meant the divine faculty to invent a few heroic stanzas to meet a dramatic occasion. One more well-known British lullaby-- \\\"Bye, baby bunting, Daddy's gone a-hunting To get a little _hare skin_ To wrap the baby bunting in.\\\" The more modern version gives \\\"_rabbit skin_.\\\" FOOTNOTES: [B] _Times'_ report, February 10th, 1897. [C] F. SPIEGEL. [D] WELCKER, _Griechische Götterlehre_, i. 551. [E] TYLOR. [F] Wagner introduced the music to which it is sung in his _Siegfried_ idyll. CHAPTER IV. \\\"One very dark night, when the goblins' light Was as long and as white as a feather, A fairy spirit bade me stray Amongst the gorse and heather. The pixies' glee enamoured me, They were as merry as merry could be. \\\"They held in each hand a gold rope of sand, To every blue-bell that grew in the dell They tied a strand, Then the fairies and pixies and goblins and elves Danced to the music of the bells By themselves, merry, merry little selves.\\\" To the kingdom of elf-land few English nursery poems have any reference. Our continental neighbours have preserved a few, but the major number are found in versions of the folk-lore tales belonging to the people dwelling in the hilly districts of remote parts of Europe. Norway, Switzerland, Italy, and even Poland present weird romances, and our own country folk in the \\\"merrie north country,\\\" and in the lowlands of \\\"bonnie Scotland,\\\" add to the collection. The age to which most of them may be traced is uncertain; at all events, they bear evidences of belonging to a period when nature worship was universal, and the veneration of the mysterious in life common to our ancestors. The Second Stone Age men, it is said, cremated their dead who were worthy of reverence, and worshipped their shades, and the nursery tales of pixies and goblins and elves are but the mythical remains of their once prevailing religion--universal the world over. The inception of this ancestral worship probably took place during that period known as the Neolithic Age, when the moon, stars, and sun no longer remained the mysterious in life to be feared and worshipped. In the dreary process of evolution a gradual development took place, and nature worship and ancestral veneration evolved into the more comprehensive systems of Buddha, Confucius, and the later polytheism of Greece, Ancient Tuscany, and Rome, leaving high and dry, stranded, as it were, in Northern Europe, Ireland, and North Britain, an undisturbed residuum of ante-chronological man's superstitions. Evidences of primitive man's religion are seen in the customs and practices of our rural folk to-day. In vast forest districts, or in hilly regions far away from the refining influences of social contact, the old-time superstitions lingered, changing little in the theme, and inspiring the succeeding generations, as they unfolded in the long roll-call of life, with the same fears of the mystery of death and of a future life. One of the customs of recent practice is fitly described as follows:-- In Yorkshire and in north-west Irish homesteads, and even far away in the East amongst the Armenian peasantry, a custom was, until late years, in vogue, of providing a feast for the departed relatives on certain fixed dates. All Hallows' Eve being one of the occasions a meal was prepared, and the feast spread as though ordinary living visitants were going to sit round the \\\"gay and festive board.\\\" The chain hanging down from the centre of the chimney to the fireplace was removed--a boundary line of the domestic home--but at these times especial care was taken to remove it so that the \\\"pixies and goblins and elves\\\" could have a licence to enter the house. In spite of Christian teaching and other widening influences the belief remained fixed in the minds of the rural classes that elves, goblins, sprites, pixies, and the manes were stern realities. The Erl King of Goethe, a sprite endowed with more than human passions, elegantly portrays the modern idea of an old theme. How he haunted the regions of the Black Forest in Thuringia, snatching up children rambling in the shades of the leafed wood, to kill them in his terrible shambles. The King of the Wood and the Spirit of the Waters were both early among the terrors of old-time European peasantry's superstitions. Another surviving custom, carried out with much picturesque ceremony, is common to the peoples of the Balkan States. In time of water-famine, more particularly in Servia, the girls go through the neighbouring villages singing a Dodolo song of-- \\\"We go through the village, The clouds go in the sky; We go faster, Faster go the clouds; They have overtaken us, And wetted the corn and wine.\\\" Precisely as the hawthorn bushes were stripped of their blossoms by Maying parties in England in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, so in Servia the ballet of the leaf-dressed girl, encircled by a party of holiday-makers, proceeds through the hamlets invoking not the Fair Flora, but the Spirit of the Waters; the central figure, the girl in green, being besprinkled by each cottager. The Greeks, Bulgarians, and Roumanians observe a similar ceremony, but on the confines of Russia so intense is the belief in the superstition of the water goblin that in times of long drought a traveller journeying along the road has often been seized by the ruthless hands of the villagers and ceremoniously flung into a rivulet--a sacrifice to appease the spirit that lay in the waters. In Ireland the fairy-tale of Fior Usga--Princess Spring-water--has a kindred meaning; she, so the legend relates, sank down in a well with her golden pitcher, and the flood-gates opened and swamped the parched and barren countryside near Kinsale. In Germany, when a person is drowned, people recollect the fancies of childhood, and exclaim, \\\"The River Spirit claims its yearly sacrifice.\\\" Even the hard-reasoning Scotch, years ago, clung to the same superstitious fancy which oftentimes prevented some of the most selfish of their race from saving their drowning fellows. \\\"He will do you an injury if you save him from the water\\\" was one of their fears. In England, too, the north-country people speak of the River Sprite as Jenny Greenteeth, and children dread the green, slimy-covered rocks on a stream's bank or on the brink of a black pool. \\\"Jenny Greenteeth will have thee if thee goest on't river banks\\\" is the warning of a Lancashire mother to her child. The Irish fisherman's belief in the Souls' Cages and the Merrow, or Man of the Sea, was once held in general esteem by the men who earned a livelihood on the shores of the Atlantic. This Merrow, or Spirit of the Waters, sometimes took upon himself a half-human form, and many a sailor on the rocky coast of Western Ireland has told the tale of how he saw the Merrow basking in the sun, watching a storm-driven ship. His form is described as that of half man, half fish, a thing with green hair, long _green teeth_, legs with scales on them, short arms like fins, a fish's tail, and a huge red nose. He wore no clothes, and had a cocked hat like a sugar-loaf, which was carried under the arm--never to be put on the head unless for the purpose of diving into the sea. At such times he caught all the souls of those drowned at sea and put them in cages made like lobster pots. The child's tale of the German fisherman and his wife tells the same story-- \\\"O Man of the Sea, come list unto me, For Alice, my wife, the plague of my life, Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee.\\\" Unless such past credulities as these be considered it would be most difficult to account for many of the sayings of child-days, and the archaic ideas that have drifted into our folk-lore tales. On all hands it is admitted that it is no unusual thing to find a game or practice outliving the serious performance of which it is an imitation. The condition of a people who originally held such mystic and crude ideas is seen to-day in types of aborigines and uncivilised races. In Halmahero, a large island to the west of New Guinea, a wizard goes through a ceremony somewhat similar to the Servian village maid's. Cutting down branches, he dips them into the water and sprinkles the parched ground. In Ceram the outer barks of certain trees are cast on the surface of running streams and rivulets and dedicated to the spirits that lie in the waters, that after this offering they may arise from the depths of the deep and clothe the earth with a cloud of mist. THE CORN SPIRIT. Another spirit, dreaded by all European peoples, was the Spirit of the Corn. In Russia especially children of the rural class sing songs of a very distant age, mother handing down to child themes unexposed to foreign influence. It is true the Church has altered the application of many by dressing up afresh pagan observances in Christian costumes. There are several, but one of the songs of the Russian serf to his prattling offspring illustrates this statement. Before reading it, it should be borne in mind that Ovsen is the Teutonic _Sun God_ who possessed a boar, and that the antiquity of the song belongs to a time when the Russian peasant's forefathers worshipped the glories of the heavens, deifying the Sun for his fire and lustre. The translation of this poem of the fire worshippers is taken from Ralston's _Songs of the Russian People_, and runs as follows. Imagine the crooning voice of the old Slav woman singing it to her nurse child. \\\"In the forest, in the pine forest, There stood a pine tree, Green and shaggy. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen! \\\"The Boyars came, Cut down the pine, Sawed it into planks, Built a bridge, Fastened it with nails. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen! \\\"Who will go Over the bridge? Ovsen will go there, And the New Year. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen!\\\" Another song asks-- \\\"On what will he come? On a dusky swine. What will he chase? A brisk little pig.\\\" The present singers of songs about Ovsen receive presents in lieu of the old contributions towards a sacrifice to the gods. The habit is to ask in some such words as these-- \\\"Give us a pig for Vasily's Eve.\\\" Pigs' trotters used to be offered as a sacrifice at the beginning of the New Year, and the custom still prevails in Russia of proffering such dishes at this time. The compliments of the season are commemorated by giving away the feet of the \\\"brisk little pig.\\\" The first day of the New Year was Ovsen's day, but now consecrated to the memory of St. Basil the Great. The previous evening was called St. Basil's Eve, or Vasily's Eve. In one of the little Russian songs it is said-- \\\"Ilya comes on Vasily's Day,\\\" meaning on St. Basil's, or New Year's Day, comes the Sun-god, or thunder-bearer, originally Pevan, who, under Christian influences, becomes Elijah, or Ilya. \\\"Ilya comes on Vasily's Day; He holds a whip of iron wire, And another of tin. Hither he comes, Thither he waves, Corn grows.\\\" This supports the inference that the agriculturist was a nature worshipper. But quite apart from sun worshippers, and their songs about corn-growing, the children of the rural classes in many other parts of Europe have fixed ideas, or beliefs, in the \\\"Spirit of the Cornfield\\\"; their sayings are represented by different figures, \\\"a mad dog in the corn,\\\" \\\"a wolf in the corn,\\\" are found amongst the many shibboleths of the youngsters playing in the fields prior to harvest-time. That they dread the wavy movement of the grain-laden stalks is certain, and the red poppy, the blue cornflower, the yellow dandelion, and the marguerite daisy, although plucked by tiny hands on the fringe of the fields, it is not often tiny feet trample down the golden stalks. At nightfall, in Germany, an old peasant, observing the gentle undulating motion of the ripe crop while seated before his cottage, will exclaim-- \\\"There goes the rye-wolf. The wolf is passing through the corn.\\\" In some parts the \\\"corn spirit\\\" was said to be a cow. \\\"The cow's in the corn.\\\" In one of our home counties--Hertfordshire--it is a \\\"mare,\\\" and the custom of \\\"crying the mare\\\" has allusion to the corn spirit, and is spoken of in some villages to-day. There are several rhymes that carry a notice of cornfield games. \\\"Ring a ring a rosies, A pocket full of posies. Hush!--The Cry?--Hush!--The Cry? All fall down.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Little boy blue come blow me thy horn, The sheep in the meadow, The cow's in the corn. Where is the boy that looks after the sheep? Under the haystack fast asleep.\\\" The \\\"Little Boy Blue\\\" rhyme, it has been urged, had only reference to the butcher's boy. The rhyme is very much older than the blue-smocked butcher's boy, and in truth it may be said the butcher boy of a century ago wore white overalls. The former rhyme, \\\"Ring a Ring a Rosies,\\\" is known in Italy and Germany. In the northern counties of England the children use the words, \\\"Hushu! Hushu!\\\" in the third line. The Spirit of the Cornfield is dreaded by children of all European countries. In Saxon Transylvania the children gather maize leaves and completely cover one of their playmates with them. This game is intended to prefigure death. \\\"CUCKOOS!\\\" \\\"Cuckoo cherrytree, catch a bird And give it to me.\\\"[G] The people of the Oral and Tula Governments, especially the maidens, christen the cuckoo \\\"gossip darlings!\\\" In one of the Lithuanian districts the girls sing-- \\\"Sister, dear, Mottled cuckoo! Thou who feedest The horses of thy brother, Thou who spinnest silken threads, Sing, O cuckoo, Shall I soon be married?\\\" In _Love's Labour's Lost_ a passage occurs where the two seasons, Spring and Winter, vie with each other in extolling the cuckoo and the owl. _Spring._ \\\"When daisies pied, and violets blue, And lady-smocks all silver white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight, The cuckoo then, on every tree, Mocks married men, for thus sings he-- Cuckoo! Cuckoo! cuckoo! O word of fear, Unpleasing to the married ear!\\\" Thus is cuckoo gossip perpetuated in rhyme and song; but an old belief in the mysteriously disappearing bird gave an opportunity to children to await its return in the early summer, and then address to it all kinds of ridiculous questions. \\\"How many years have I to live?\\\" is a favourite query. The other like that of the Lithuanian maid, \\\"Shall I soon be married?\\\" meets with favour amongst single girls. A German song, entitled \\\"The Shepherd Maiden,\\\" indicates this custom. The words being-- \\\"A shepherd maiden, one fine day, Two lambs to pasture led, To verdant fields where daisies grew, And bloomed the clover red; There spied she in a hedge close by A cuckoo, call with merry cry, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\\\" After chasing the immortal bird from tree to tree to have her question, \\\"Shall I soon be married?\\\" answered, the song concludes with this taunting refrain-- \\\"Two hundred then she counted o'er, The cuckoo still cried as before, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\\\" In our earliest published song, words and music composed by John of Forsete, monk of Reading Abbey, date 1225, and entitled \\\"Sumer is icumen in,\\\" the cuckoo is also extolled-- \\\"Summer is a-coming in, loudly sing, cuckoo; Groweth the seed, bloweth the mead, and springeth wood anew. Sing, cuckoo! Merry sing, cuckoo, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\\\" The peasantry of Russia, India, and Germany contribute to the collection of cuckoo-lore. Grimm mentions a Cuckoo Hill in Gauchsberg. The cuckoo and not the hill may have had the mystic sense. Identical with this Cuckoo Hill, in its solemn significance, there occurs a passage in the game of Hot Cockles, played formerly at Yorkshire funerals. \\\"Where is the poor man to go?\\\" the friends whine, and the mutes who are in readiness to follow the coffin beat their knees with open hands and reply-- \\\"Over the Cuckoo Hill, I oh!\\\" The association of ideas about the prophetic notes of the cuckoo's mocking voice--in matters of marriage and death--are pretty general, and there are still further many points of identity in the tales told by the children of India and Southern Russia. Like the Phœnix idea amongst the people of Egypt, Persia, and India, these traditions allegorise the soul's immortality. A WORD ON INDIAN LORE. The old prose editions of the sacred books of India--the law codes of the Aryans--were suitably arranged in verse to enable the contents to be committed to memory by the students. In these rules the ritual of the simplest rites is set forth. New and full moon offerings are given, and regulations minutely describing as to the way salutation shall be made. Much after the fashion of the grandees or the Red Indian moon worshipper of North America, it is told how a Brâhmana must salute stretching forth his right hand level with his ear, a Kshalriza holding it level with the breast, a Sûdra holding it low--all caste observances and relics of a sign-language. \\\"A householder shall worship gods, manes, men, goblins, and rishis,\\\" remains of ancestral worship. \\\"Adoration must be given to him who wears the moon on his forehead,\\\" the oldest known form of worship, possibly, of the Drift-man's period, \\\"and he shall offer libations of water, oblations of clarified butter, and worship the moon.\\\" The butter oblation was practised by the Celts! They have a lunar penance, \\\"he shall fast on the day of the new moon.\\\" These observances belonged to a people who, without doubt, migrated from the West to the East. The manes and goblins are pre-Celtic, and have likewise been preserved by those who travelled, as the journey became possible, towards Asia. Some of our nursery tales, children's games, are likewise known to them. The same legends are extant in the East and West, all of which have a common origin, and that a religious one. FOOTNOTES: [G] An old English child rhyme mentioned in BARNES' _Shropshire Folk-lore_. PART II. CHAPTER I. \\\"Oh, Love! young Love! bound in thy rosy band, Let sage or cynic prattle as he will, These hours, and only these, redeemed Life's years of ill!\\\" GAMES. The annual calendar of dates when certain of the pastimes and songs of our street children become fashionable is an uncertain one, yet games have their seasons most wonderfully and faithfully marked. Yearly all boys seem to know the actual time for the revivification of a custom, whether it be of whipping tops, flirting marbles, spinning peg-tops, or playing tip-cat or piggy. This survival of custom speaks eloquently of the child influence on civilisation, for the conservation of the human family may be found literally portrayed in the pastimes, games, and songs of the children of our streets. Curious relics of past cruelties are shadowed forth in many of the present games--some of which are not uninteresting. The barbarous custom of whipping martyrs at the stake is perpetuated by the game of whip-top. In a black-letter book in the British Museum, date 15--(?) occurs this passage-- \\\"I am good at scourging of my toppe, You would laugh to see me morsel the pegge, Upon one foot I can hoppe, And dance trimly round an egge.\\\" The apprentices of the London craftsmen followed the popular diversion of cock-throwing on Shrove Tuesday and tossing pancakes in the frying-pan--the latter custom is still kept up at Westminster School. Both bear allusion to the sufferings and torments of men who died for conscience sake. Dice and pitch-and-toss, also modern games of the present gutter children, in primitive times were the ways and means adopted by the learned to consult the oracles. Much in the same way the Scotch laddie and wee lassie play-- \\\"Dab a prin in my lottery-book; Dab ane, dab two, dab a' your prins awa',\\\" by sticking at random pins in their school-books, between the leaves of which little pictures are placed. This is the lottery-box, the pictures the prizes, and the pins the forfeits. Another favourite Scotch game is-- \\\"A' the birds of the air, and the days of the week.\\\" Girls' pleasures are by no means so diversified as those of boys. It would be considered a trifle too effeminate were the little men to amuse themselves with their sisters' game of Chucks--an enchanting amusement, played with a large-sized marble and four octagonal pieces of chalk. Beds, another girlish game, is also played on the pavement--a piece of broken pot, china or earthenware, being kicked from one of the beds or divisions marked out on the flags to another, the girls hopping on one leg while doing so. It is a pastime better known as Hop Scotch, and is played in every village and town of the British Isles, varying slightly in detail. The rhymes used by street children to decide who is to begin the game are numerous. The Scotch version of a well-known one is given below-- \\\"Zickety, dickety, dock, the mouse ran up the nock, The nock struck one, down the mouse ran, Zickety, dickety, dock.\\\" \\\"Anery, twaery, tickery, seven, Aliby, crackeby, ten or eleven; Pin pan, muskidan, Tweedlum, twodlum, twenty-one.\\\" Amongst the notable men in the world's history who have depicted children's games, St. Luke the Evangelist tells in a pleasant passage of how Jesus likened the men of His day to children sitting in the market-place and calling to their playmates-- \\\"We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; We have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept.\\\" A vivid picture, illustrating puerile peevishness. In the thousands of years that street plays have been enacted by the youngsters, no poet's, philosopher's, nor teacher's words have been more to the point. Every child wants to take the most prominent part in a game, but all cannot be chief mourners, else there will be no sympathising weepers. \\\"Who'll be chief mourner? I, said the dove, I'll mourn for my love.\\\" To-day things are better arranged, a counting-out rhyme settles the question of appointment to the coveted post. Like the \\\"Zickety, dickety, dock, the mouse ran up the clock\\\" of the north-country children. \\\"Whoever I touch must be he\\\" ends and begins the counting-out verse of the Southern youngsters, which runs as follows-- \\\"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. My mother says the last one I touch must be he.\\\" Of the numerous variations of this rhyme the one at present in demand by London children is-- \\\"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. A penny on the water, twopence on the sea, Threepence on the railway, and out goes she.\\\" Another and more generally known rhyme of-- \\\"1, 2, 3, 4, Mary at the cottage door Eating cherries off a plate, 5, 6, 7, 8,\\\" is also used for the same purpose. But are there no peevish children to-day? None sulking in nursery or playground over games just as the little Israelites did 1900 years ago in the market-place at Nain? Remember the lesson of old-- \\\"We have piped, and ye have not danced; We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.\\\" MARRIAGE GAMES. In India and Japan marriage ceremonies bear a feature of youthful play. Amongst the Moslems in the former country--where the doll is forbidden--the day previous to a real wedding the young friends of the bridegroom are summoned to join in a wedding game. On the eve of the day they all meet and surround the bridegroom-elect, then they make for the house of the bride's parents. On arrival at the gates the bride's relatives shut the doors and mount guard. \\\"Who are you,\\\" exclaims the bridegroom, \\\"to dare obstruct the king's cavalcade? Behold the bridegroom cometh! Go ye not out to meet him?\\\" The answer comes from within the abode. \\\"It is a ruse--so many thieves roam about, more than probable you and your band are of them.\\\" * * * * * In England in 1557 the boys of London town sang a rhyme at their mock wedding feasts of-- \\\"If ever I marry I'll marry a maid, To marry a widow I'm sore afraid, For maids are simple and never will grudge, But widows full oft as they say know too much.\\\" This song was entered at the Stationers' Hall, 1557 A.D. LONDON STREET GAMES. A WEDDING. After the preliminary rhyme of-- \\\"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. A penny on the water, twopence on the sea, Threepence on the railway, and out goes she,\\\" has been said, the lot falls on one of the girls to be the bride. A ring is formed and a merry dance begins, all the children singing this invitation-- \\\"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you.\\\" The girl bride then selects a groom from the rest of the other children. He steps into the centre of the ring, joins hands and kisses her, after which, collecting a posy from each of the others, he decorates her with flowers and green leaves. A fresh ring is now formed--figuratively the wedding ring; the whole of the children caper round singing-- \\\"Rosy apple, lemon and pear, Bunch of roses she shall wear, Gold and silver by her side, I know who shall be my bride.\\\" \\\"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you.\\\" \\\"Take her by her lily-white hand, Lead her across the water, Give her kisses one, two, three, Mrs. ---- daughter.\\\" THE KING OF THE BARBARINES. In this street game an entire regal court is appointed, the children taking the characters of king, queen, princes, and courtiers. When these preliminaries are settled two children join hands and whisper something--supposed to be a great state secret--to each other. This at once causes a rivalry amongst certain of the mock courtiers, and the dissatisfaction spreads, culminating in an open rebellion. The children take sides. Things now look serious; the prime minister tells the king he fears rebellion, and for safety his little majesty, attired in royal robes, and wearing a paper crown, retires to his palace--one of those places \\\"built without walls.\\\" The soldiers, the king's bodyguard, are summoned, and orders are given to them to suppress the insurrection and capture the little rebels. As each one is taken prisoner the soldiers ask-- \\\"Will you surrender? Oh, will you surrender To the King of the Barbarines?\\\" During the struggle reinforcements come up from the rebel camp and try to beat off the king's soldiers, exclaiming-- \\\"We won't surrender, we won't surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\\\" \\\"We'll make you surrender, we'll make you surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\\\" \\\"You can't make us surrender, you can't make us surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\\\" \\\"We'll go to the King, we'll go to the King, To the King of the Barbarines.\\\" \\\"You can go to the King, you can go to the King, To the King of the Barbarines.\\\" The rebels now build an imaginary castle by joining hands. The king's soldiers surround the place, and after a skirmish break it down. \\\"We'll break down your castle, we'll break down your castle For the King of the Barbarines.\\\" A LANCASHIRE ROUND GAME. Two rows of lassies and lads face each other; the boys, hand in hand, move backwards and forwards towards the girls, saying-- \\\"I've got gold, and I've got silver, I've got copper, and I've got brass, I've got all the world can give me, All I want is a nice young lass.\\\" \\\"Fly to the east, fly to the west, Fly to the one you love the best.\\\" In the scramble which takes place the young lass of each one's choice is seized. A ring is formed, and a rollicking dance takes places to the characteristic chorus of-- \\\"Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, I do; Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, dey.\\\" ROUND GAME OF THE MULBERRY BUSH. \\\"Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush; Here we go round the mulberry bush On a cold and frosty morning. \\\"This is the way we wash our hands, We wash our hands, we wash our hands; This is the way we wash our hands On a cold and frosty morning. \\\"This is the way we do our hair,\\\" etc. \\\"This is the way we mend our shoes,\\\" etc. \\\"This is the way we scrub our clothes,\\\" etc. \\\"This is the way we dust our room,\\\" etc. \\\"PRAY, MR. FOX, WHAT TIME IS IT?\\\" A child stands on a hillock, or slightly elevated ground. A party of children, hand in hand, approach him whom they denominate Mr. Fox with the question-- \\\"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\\\" \\\"One o'clock,\\\" answers Mr. Fox. They are safe and fall back to their den. Making another venture they repeat the question. \\\"Twelve o'clock,\\\" shouts Mr. Fox, at the same time bounding towards them and scattering them in all directions. Those he can catch before they get back to their den are his prisoners, and the game is played until one remains, who of course becomes the fox. \\\"Twelve o'clock,\\\" it is to be observed, is the sly, foxy answer to the question, \\\"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\\\" \\\"One,\\\" \\\"two,\\\" \\\"three,\\\" \\\"four,\\\" etc., are but evasive replies. \\\"MOTHER, BUY ME A MILKING CAN.\\\" A boisterous game, played by girls, especially favoured in Paddington and Marylebone. \\\"Mother, buy me a milking can, A, I, O. Where's the money to come from, A, I, O? Sell my father's feather bed. Where must your father sleep? Sleep in the boys' bed. Where will the boys sleep? Sleep in the cradle. Where will the baby sleep? Sleep in the thimble. What shall I sew with? Sew with the poker. Suppose I burn myself? Serve you right.\\\" At the time of saying \\\"serve you right\\\" all the children scamper away from the girl who acts the part of mother. It is little more than a mild reproof on the over-indulgent mother who would sell or give anything to satisfy the fancies of her children, and the \\\"serve you right\\\" is a girl's idea of what a foolish mother deserves--less impudent than corrective. * * * * * The town and country boys' game of \\\"Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day, One o'clock, two o'clock, three and away,\\\" comes into fashion with all the reckless frivolity of early years, when the old English festivities of Maying take place, reminding one of the old custom of bringing the May-pole from the neighbouring woods, when each of the eighty oxen yoked to the May-pole waggon had a nosegay of wild-flowers tied to the horns. \\\"HERE COMES A POOR SAILOR FROM BOTANY BAY.\\\" \\\"Here comes a poor sailor from Botany Bay; Pray, what are you going to give him to-day?\\\" is played as a preliminary game to decide who shall join sides in the coming tug-of-war. The chief delight of the youngsters playing \\\"Here comes a poor sailor,\\\" is in putting and answering questions. All are warned before replying. \\\"You must say neither 'Yes,' 'No,' 'Nay,' 'Black,' 'White,' or 'Grey.'-- Now what are you going to give him to-day?\\\" \\\"A pair of boots.\\\" \\\"What colour are they?\\\" \\\"Brown.\\\" \\\"Have you anything else to give him?\\\" \\\"I think so; I'll go and see.\\\" \\\"What colour is it?\\\" \\\"Red.\\\" \\\"What is this made of?\\\" pointing to a coat or other article. \\\"Cloth.\\\" \\\"And the colour?\\\" \\\"Brown.\\\" \\\"Have you anything else to give him?\\\" \\\"I don't think so.\\\" \\\"Would you like a sweet?\\\" \\\"Yes.\\\" The examination is finished, for one of the fatal replies has been given. The child who exclaimed \\\"Yes\\\" goes to a den. After taking all the children through the same form of questioning the youngsters are found divided into two classes, those who avoided answering in the prohibited terms, \\\"Yes,\\\" \\\"No,\\\" \\\"Nay,\\\" \\\"Black,\\\" \\\"White,\\\" \\\"Grey,\\\" and the little culprits in the den or prison who have failed in the examination. The tug-of-war now begins, either class being pitted against the other. No rope is used; arms are entwined round waists, skirts pulled, or coat-tails taken hold of. \\\"CAN I GET THERE BY CANDLE-LIGHT?\\\" This is one of the most universally played chain games in the British Isles. It belongs as much to the child with a rich Dublin brogue as to the Cockney boy, one thing being altered in the verse--the place, \\\"How many miles to Wexford or Dublin\\\" being substituted for Wimbledon. Coventry and Burslem take the child fancy in the North of England. It probably dates from Tudor times. The expression, \\\"Can I get there by candle-light?\\\" and \\\"He went out of town as far as a farthing candle would light him,\\\" were amongst the common sayings of the people of Elizabeth's time. \\\"How many miles to Wimbledon? Three score and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes! and back again. Then open the gates and let me go. Not without a beck and a bow. Here's a beck and there's a bow; Now open the gates and we'll all pass thro'.\\\" The chain of children first formed to play this game is re-formed into two smaller ones. Hands are then uplifted by one of the sides to form an archway; the other children, marching in single file, approach the sentinel near the gateway of arched hands and ask-- \\\"How many miles to Wimbledon?\\\" The answer is given-- \\\"Three score and ten,\\\" etc. When the gates are opened those who are alert enough pass through, but others are caught and made prisoners. CHAPTER II. NURSERY GAMES. A GAME FOR A WET DAY. \\\"Cows and horses walk on four legs, Little children walk on two legs; Fishes swim in water clear, Birds fly up into the air. One, two, three, four, five, Catching fishes all alive. Why did you let them go? Because they bit my finger so. Which finger did they bite? This little finger on the right.\\\" The enthusiasm with which children of all ages play this somewhat noisy game can hardly be imagined. Try it, you fun-loving parents, and be rewarded by the tears of joy their mirth and laughter will cause. It is played after this fashion. However, it will not be amiss to remove the tea-things before anything is attempted. All seated, the parent or nurse then places the first and second fingers of each hand on the coverlet, the youngsters imitating her. Everybody's fingers are now moved up and down in a perpendicular way, like the needle of a sewing machine. All singing-- \\\"Cows and horses walk on four legs.\\\" The next line requires a change, only one finger on each hand being used, and-- \\\"Little children walk on two legs\\\" (_sung_). * * * \\\"Fishes swim in water clear\\\" demands the waving of arms horizontally, to imitate the action of swimming in water. \\\"Birds fly up into the air.\\\" When this line is sung the hands are held up, and moved from the wrists like the wings of birds flapping in the air. \\\"One, two, three, four, five\\\" is said to the clapping of hands. \\\"Catching fishes all alive\\\" is sung to the action of grabbing at supposed fishes with the fingers. \\\"Why did you let them go?\\\" Everybody shakes their head and replies-- \\\"Because they bit my finger so!\\\" \\\"Which finger did they bite?\\\" Holding up the little finger, you answer-- \\\"This little finger on the right!\\\" \\\"ANOTHER NURSERY TABLE GAME, BUT NEARLY 300 YEARS OLD.\\\" Some of the thousands of the nursery tales in vogue come to us without a trace as to their origin. In James I.'s time the ending of ballads ran with a tuneful \\\"Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.\\\" A collection of ballads in book-form by John Hilton, and called \\\"Garlands,\\\" are also described as the \\\"Ayres and Fa las\\\" in the title-page. Halliwell gives \\\"The tale of two birds sitting on a stone\\\" the same date. It is scarcely a tale, but a game still played by all classes of children-- \\\"There were two birds sitting on a stone, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. One flew away, and then there was one, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. The other flew after, and then there was none, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. And so the poor stone was left all alone, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de!\\\" The way boys play it may be briefly told as follows:--Pieces of paper are wetted and fixed on the fingers, the first finger of each hand. Being thus ornamented, they are placed on the table or knee, and the rhyme repeated-- \\\"There were two birds sitting on a stone.\\\" Then by a sudden upward movement, throwing the paper on one finger, as it were, over the shoulder, the next finger--the second--is substituted for it, and the hand is again brought down and placed beside the remaining paper bird-- \\\"Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.\\\" \\\"One flew away, and then there was one.\\\" The same sleight-of-hand is gone through with the other finger-- \\\"The other flew away, and then there was none, And so the poor stone was left all alone.\\\" Another but more modern game, embodying the same idea, is told in-- \\\"There were two blackbirds sitting on a hill, One named Jack and the other named Jyll. Fly away, Jack, fly away, Jyll. Come again, Jack, come again, Jyll\\\"-- to the wonderment of the child watching the quick change of fingers. It is the earliest sleight-of-hand trick taught to the nursery child. A B C GAME. A spirited game may be played after this fashion. All seated round the table or fireplace. One child sings a solo--a verse of some nursery rhyme. For instance-- \\\"Hi diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed to see such fine sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.\\\" A chorus of voices takes up the tune and the solo is repeated, after which the alphabet is sung through, and the last letter, Z, sustained and repeated again and again, to bother the next child whose turn it now is to sing the next solo. The new solo must be a nursery rhyme not hitherto sung by any of the company. If unable to supply a fresh rhyme the child stands out of the game and pays forfeit. \\\"I APPRENTICE MY SON.\\\" In another parlour game of a rather interesting kind the youngest in the room begins by saying-- \\\"I apprentice my son to a butcher; the first thing he sold was a pound of M.\\\" Each has a turn to guess what M may stand for--some kind of meat the butcher usually sells. Should the first person in the circle guess the correct meaning, it becomes his or her turn to ask the next question. Baker or grocer, chemist or draper, in fact any trade may be selected by the person whose turn it is to put the question. AN ARMENIAN CHILD'S GAME of a thousand years ago is still played by the Christian children of Asia. Like our Western street games of tops and tip-cats it perpetuates the cruelties of the persecutions which their ancestors suffered, a most terrible instance of the child's game outliving the serious performance of that which it represented. The frontier of the Armenian kingdom had been destroyed by one of the Christian Byzantine emperors, thus enabling the Seljouck Turks to pass through the Armenian kingdom, and deal out to the unoffending Asiatic Christians the terrors of pillage by firing their peaceful homesteads. England, France, and Germany have a modification of the game. In France the youngsters hand round a burning faggot, exclaiming-- \\\"Petit bonhomme vit encore.\\\" German children play a similar game with a stick instead of a firebrand, and Halliwell gives the rhyme describing the English game as-- \\\"Jack's alive and in very good health, If he die in your hand you must look to yourself.\\\" RUSSIAN SUPERSTITION. An old custom of the Russian maiden--identical with the English girl's habit on St. Valentine's Day--is still in vogue. Going into the street she asks the first man she meets his Christian name, believing that her future husband will be sure to bear the same. CHAPTER III. JEWISH RHYMES. Sports, games, and amusements were unknown until a late day in Jewish history. Within the walls of Jerusalem, or indeed throughout the whole length of Palestine, no theatre, circus, hippodrome, nor even gallery was to be found, until Jason, the Greek-Jew of the Maccabees dynasty, became ruler, and built a place of exercise under the very tower of the Temple itself. (2 Macc. iv. 10-14.) Herod subsequently completed what Jason had begun, and erected a hippodrome within the Holy City to the delight of the younger Hebrews, later building another at Cæsarea. Even the festivals were not of Mosaic appointment, and it is not difficult to understand how certain gloomy censors and theologians condemn merriment. To serve the Lord with gladness was quite an after-thought of the Israelitish leaders and teachers. But when the great fairs or wakes of the whole nation were held, pastimes and diversions crept in similar to the merry meetings of our own times, and religion, commerce, and amusement became the cardinal features of the great Jewish fairs. The Guy Fawkes Festival of Judaism, the Purim Feast, appointed by Esther and Mordecai, commemorating deliverance from massacre which Hamar had determined by lot against them, gave occasion for relaxation. Even the most austere and gloomy rejoiced, while the younger people abandoned themselves to dissolute mirth, opposite sexes dressing up in the clothes of each other; a habit at present in favour amongst the coster fraternity of East London on Bank Holidays. The Jews were a peculiar people. No old-time imagery of the older nations enchanted them; they were carefully taught to live for themselves and by themselves, but to make their profit out of others whenever possible to do so. The spoiling of the Egyptians took place more than once in their history. Whatever nation they colonised amongst had to enforce strict laws and rigid punishments in defence of their own less shrewd people. Even their nursery rhymes are distinctive, full of religious and national sentiment, and may be counted on the fingers of one hand. They necessarily know the ones in common use belonging to the country of their adoption, but so important are the two Hebrew rhymes considered to be that every pious Jew teaches his child their significance. A translation of the principal one, found in the Sepher Haggadah, a Hebrew hymn in the Chaldee language, runs thus:-- _Recitative._ \\\"A kid, a kid, my father bought For two pieces of money--A kid! a kid! * * * Then came the cat and ate the kid That my father bought for two pieces of money. Then came the dog and bit the cat that ate the kid that my father bought for two pieces of money. Then came the staff and beat the dog that bit the cat, etc. Then came the fire that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, etc. Then came the water and quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, etc. Then came the ox and drank the water, etc. Then came the butcher and slew the ox, that drank the water, etc. Then came the Angel of Death and killed the butcher, etc. Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He! and slew the Angel of Death, that killed the butcher, that slew the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, that my father bought for two pieces of money--A kid! a kid!\\\" Now for the interpretation--for it is a historical and a prophetic nursery rhyme. The kid which Jehovah the father purchased denotes the select Hebrew race; the two pieces of money represent Moses and Aaron; the cat signifies the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were taken into captivity; the dog is representative of the Babylonians; the staff typifies the Persians; the fire is Alexander the Great at the head of the Grecian Empire; the water the Roman domination over the Jews; the ox the Saracens who subdued the Holy Land and brought it under the Caliph; the butcher is a symbol of the Crusaders' slaughter; the Angel of Death the Turkish power; the last stanza is to show that God will take vengeance on the Turks when Israel will again become a fixed nation and occupy Palestine. The Edomites (the Europeans) will combine and drive out the Turks. Everyone, big and little, will recognise the source of the nursery fable of \\\"The house that Jack built.\\\" \\\"This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house, etc. This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt, etc. This is the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc. This is the cow with a crumpled horn that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc. This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, etc. This is the man all tatters and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, etc. This is the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn to the maiden all forlorn, etc. This is the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man, etc. This is the farmer sowing his corn, that fed the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn unto the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built.\\\" A Scotch and North of England nursery tale, two centuries old, is cast in the same mould, or rather built on the hymn of the Hebrews found in the Sepher Haggadah. It is given below. \\\"There was an old woman swept her house and found a silver penny, And she went to market and bought a kid; But when she came to drive it home kid would not go. She went a little further and met a stick, and said to it, 'Stick, stick, beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.' But the stick would not. She went a little further and met a fire. 'Fire, fire, burn stick, stick won't beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.' But the fire would not. She went a little further and met with water. 'Water, water, quench fire, fire won't burn stick,' etc. But the water would not. She went a little further and met an ox. 'Ox, ox, drink water,' etc. She went a little further and met a butcher, etc. She went a little further and met a rope, etc. She went a little further and met some grease, etc. 'Grease, grease, grease rope.' She went a little further and met a rat. 'Rat, rat, eat grease,' etc. She went a little further and met a cat. 'Cat, cat, kill rat,' etc. The cat began to bite the rat, the rat began to eat the grease, the grease began to grease the rope, the rope to hang the butcher, the butcher to kill the ox, the ox to drink the water, the water to quench the fire, the fire to burn the stick, the stick to beat the kid, and so the kid went home.\\\" In other accounts of the same tale the kid is a pig, the silver penny a crooked sixpence; the pig would not go over the stile, and the old woman could not get her old man's supper ready. The several prefigurations are not difficult to make out. Very many of the babblings put into the mouths of English children are of foreign origin; the story of \\\"The Kid\\\" was known in Leipsic and sung by German children in 1731, very possibly coming in this way from the Jewish colony. In Denmark it is also a favourite with the school children. The other Jewish rhyme, kept in remembrance by modern Jews, is printed at the end of their Passover Service in English and in Hebrew. ONE is known as the Chad Gadyâ. It is an arithmetical poem, and begins-- \\\"Who knoweth One?\\\" \\\"I know One, One is God, who is over heaven and earth!\\\" \\\"Who knoweth two?\\\" \\\"I know two, two tables of the Covenant, but One is God, who reigneth over heaven and earth!\\\" When the Latin of our churches was on the lips of everyone in the Middle Ages, an adaptation of this childish creed was taught to little Christians, beginning-- \\\"Unus est Deus,\\\" but with a Christian theme. CHAPTER IV. AN ANCIENT ENGLISH RHYME From which came the well-known nursery tale of-- \\\"A frog, who would a-wooing go. Hey, oh! says Rowly. Whether his mother would let him or no, With a Rowly Powly Gammon and Spinach, Hey, oh! says Anthony Rowly.\\\" In 1549 the Scottish shepherds sang a song, entitled \\\"The frog that came to the myl dur.\\\" In 1580 a later ballad, called \\\"A most strange wedding of a frog and a mouse,\\\" was licensed by the Stationers' Company. There is a second version extant in _Pills to Purge Melancholy_. The following was commonly sung in the early years of Henry VIII.'s reign:-- \\\"It was a frog in the well, Humbledum, humbledum, And the merry mouse in the mill, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. The frog he would a-wooing ride, Humbledum, humbledum, Sword and buckler by his side, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. When upon his high horse set, Humbledum, humbledum, His boots they shone as black as jet, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. \\\"Then he came to the merry mill-pin, Saying, 'Lady mouse, be you within?' Then out came the dusty mouse, Saying, 'I'm the lady of this house.' \\\"'Hast thou any mind of me?' asked the gallant Sir Froggy. 'I have e'en great mind of thee,' her ladyship replied. 'Who shall make our marriage?' suggested the frog. 'Our lord, the rat!' exclaimed the mouse. 'What shall we have for supper?' the thoughtful frog exclaimed. 'Barley, beans, and bread and butter!' generously replied Miss Mouse. But when the supper they were at, The frog, the mouse, and the rat, In came Gib, our cat, And caught the mouse by the back; Then did they separate. The frog leapt on the floor so flat, In came Dick, our drake, And drew the frog into the lake. The rat ran up the wall, And so the company parted all.\\\" The rhyming tale of \\\"The frog who would a-wooing go\\\" is similar in every way to the above. In Japan one of the most notable fairy-tales relates a story of a mouse's wedding. SONGS OF LONDON BOYS IN TUDOR TIMES. In the next two reigns, Edward VI. and Philip and Mary's, the musical abilities of the London boy were carefully looked after and cultivated. The ballads he sang recommended him to employers wanting apprentices. Christ's Blue Coat School and Bridewell Seminary offered unusual facilities for voice training. One happy illustration of the customs of the sixteenth century was the habit of the barber-surgeon's boy, who amused the customers, waiting for \\\"next turn\\\" to be shaved or bled, with his ballad or rhyming verse; and a boy with a good voice proved a rare draw to the \\\"bloods\\\" about town, and those who frequented the taverns and ordinaries within the City. In the next reign the condition of the poor was much improved; the effect of the land sales in Henry VII.'s reign, when the moneyed classes purchased two-thirds of the estates of the nobility, and spent their amassed wealth in cultivating and improving the neglected lands. This factor--as well as the cessation of the Wars of the Roses--was beginning to work a lasting benefit to the poor, as the street cries of 1557 show, for, according to the register of the Stationers' Company that year, a licence was granted to John Wallye and Mrs. Toye to print a ballad, entitled-- \\\"Who lyve so mery and make such sporte As they that be of the poorest sort?\\\" \\\"Who liveth so merry in all the land As doth the poor widow who selleth the sand? And ever she singeth, as I can guess, 'Will you buy my sand--any sand--mistress?' _Chorus._ \\\"Who would desire a pleasanter thing Than all the day long to do nothing but sing? Who liveth so merry and maketh such sport As those who be of the poorer sort?\\\" Even Daniel De Foe, writing one hundred and twenty years after, paid a passing tribute to Queen Elizabeth, and said \\\"that the faint-hearted economists of 1689 would show something worthy of themselves if they employed the poor to the same glorious advantage as did Queen Elizabeth.\\\" Going back to the centuries prior to the Tudor period, one is reminded that all the best efforts at minstrelsy--song, glee, or romance--came from the northern counties, or from just on either side the borders. The prevalence of a northern dialect in the compositions show this suggestion to be in a great degree real. The poems of minstrelsy, however, claim something more than dialect--the martial spirit, ever fever-heat on the borders of the kingdoms of England and Scotland; the age of chivalry furnishing the minstrel with the subject of his poem. But with the strife of war ended, on Henry VII.'s accession, ballads took the place of war-songs in the heart affections of the people, and they sang songs of peace and contentment. Bard, scald, minstrel, gleeman, with their heroic rhymes and long metrical romances, gave way in the evolution of song and harmony to the ballad-monger with his licence. However, in turn they became an intolerable nuisance, and a wag wrote of them in 1740-- \\\"Of all sorts of wit he's most fond of a ballad, But asses choose thistles instead of a salad.\\\" Another of the wayside songs of Henry VIII.'s time, sung by man, woman, and child, ran-- \\\"Quoth John to Joan, Wilt thou have me? I prithee, now wilt? and I'se marry with thee My cow, my calf, my house, my rents, And all my land and tenements-- Oh, say, my Joan, will that not do? I cannot come each day to woo. I've corn and hay in the barn hard by, And three fat hogs pent up in a sty; I have a mare, and she's coal black; I ride on her tail to save her back. I have cheese upon the shelf, And I cannot eat it all myself. I've three good marks that lie in a rag In the nook of the chimney instead of a bag.\\\" The London surgeon-barber's boy pleased his master's patrons with a whole host of similar extravagances, but he was not alone in the habit, for so usual was it for the poorest of the poor to indulge in mirth, that literary men of the day wrote against the practice. In a black-letter book--a copy of which is in the British Museum, date 1560--and entitled, \\\"The longer thou livest more fool thou art,\\\" W. Wager, the author, says in the prologue-- \\\"Good parents in good manners do instruct their child, Correcting him when he beginneth to grow wild.\\\" The subject matter of this book also gives a fair view of the customs and habits of the boys of that age. In the character of Moros, a youth enters the stage, \\\"counterfeiting a vain gesture and foolish countenance, singing the 'foote' or burden of many songs, as fools are wont.\\\" Amongst the many rhymes enumerated by Moros, which he claims were taught to him by his mother, occur: \\\"Broome on the hill,\\\" \\\"Robin lend me thy bow,\\\" \\\"There was a maid came out of Kent,\\\" \\\"Dainty love, dainty love,\\\" \\\"Come o'er the bourne, Bessie,\\\" and \\\"Tom a Lin, and his wife and his wife's mother, They all went over the bridge together; The bridge was broken and they fell in, 'The devil go with all,' quoth Tom a Lin.\\\" Another version, more particularly the Irish one, runs-- \\\"Bryan O'Lynn, and his wife and wife's mother, All went over the bridge together; The bridge was loose, they all fell in, 'What a precious concern,' cried Bryan O'Lynn. \\\"Bryan O'Lynn had no breeches to wear, So he got a sheep's skin to make him a pair.\\\" This rhyme is evidently much older than the Tudor age, and one is reminded of the time when cloth and woollen goods were not much used by the lower classes. The Tzigane of Hungary to-day wears his sheep-skin breeches, and hands them down to posterity, with a plentiful supply of quick-silver and grease to keep them soft and clean. \\\"Bye baby bunting\\\" and the little \\\"hare skin\\\" is the other nursery rhyme having a reference to skins of animals being used for clothing. But \\\"Baby bunting\\\" has no purpose to point to, unless indeed the habits of the Esquimaux are taken in account. In the list of nursery songs sung by children in Elizabeth's reign, the following extract from \\\"The longer thou livest the more foole thou art\\\" gives four:-- \\\"I have twentie mo songs yet, A fond woman to my mother; As I war wont in her lappe to sit, She taught me these and many other. \\\"I can sing a song of 'Robin Redbreast,' And 'My litle pretie Nightingale,' 'There dwelleth a Jolly Fisher here by the west,' Also, 'I com to drink som of you Christmas ale.' \\\"Whan I walke by myselfe alone, It doth me good my songs to render; Such pretie thinges would soone be gon If I should not sometime them remembre.\\\" To get back again to the true nursery lyrics, one more marriage game of this period is given, entitled-- \\\"WE'LL HAVE A WEDDING AT OUR HOUSE.\\\" \\\"A cat came fiddling out of a barn With a pair of bagpipes under her arm; She could pipe nothing but fiddle-cum-fee, The mouse hath married the bumble-bee. Pipe, cat; dance, mouse; We'll have a wedding at our house.\\\" CHAPTER V. CAT RHYMES. The old saying of \\\"A cat may look at the queen\\\" is thus expressed in a dialogue between a ward nurse of Elizabeth's time and a truant tom on its return to the nursery. \\\"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been? \\\"_Cat_: I've been to London to see the queen. \\\"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there? \\\"_Cat_: I frightened a little mouse from under her chair.\\\" No doubt the incident giving rise to this verse had to do with the terrible fright Queen Bess is supposed to have had on discovering a mouse in the folds of her dress--for it was she of virgin fame to whom pussy-cat paid the visit. It has been asked again and again, \\\"Why are old maids so fond of cats?\\\" and \\\"Why are their lives so linked together?\\\" Maybe it is to scare, as did the cat in the rhyme, \\\"a little mouse from under her chair.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Ten little mice sat down to spin, Pussy looked down, and she looked in. What are you doing, my little men? We're making some clothes for gentlemen. Shall I come in to cut your threads? No, kind sir, you'll bite off our heads.\\\" * * * * * One more rhyme of Queen Elizabeth's time begins-- \\\"The rose is red, the grass is green, Serve Queen Bess, our noble queen.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Kitty, the spinner, Will sit down to dinner, And eat the leg of a frog. All the good people Will look o'er the steeple And see a cat play with a dog.\\\" * * * * * \\\"I love little pussy, her coat is so warm, And if I don't hurt her she'll do me no harm; I won't pull her tail, nor drive her away, But pussy and I together will play.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Three cats sat by the fireside, In a basket full of coal-dust; One cat said to the other, 'Su pu, pell mell--Queen Anne's dead!' 'Is she?' quoth Grimalkin, 'then I'll reign in her stead.' Then up, up, up, they flew, up the chimney.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Great A, little b, The cat's in the cupboard And she can't C.\\\" * * * * * \\\"There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile; He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, she caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well. Who put her in? Little Tommy Thin. Who pulled her out? Little Johnny Stout. What a naughty boy was that To drown poor pussy cat!\\\" Or-- \\\"What a naughty trick was that to drown my granny's pussy cat, Who never did any harm, but caught the mice in father's barn.\\\" CAT TALE OF DICK WHITTINGTON. This legend of Dick Whittington is of Eastern origin. The story of the poor boy whose ill-fortune was so strangely reversed by the performances of his cat and its kittens finds a parallel in a cat tale found in \\\"Arlott's Italian Novels,\\\" published 1485. The Lord Mayor of London bearing the name of Richard Whittington was a knight's son, a citizen of London, and never poor. The possible explanation of the cat in the career of Whittington of London had reference to a coal-boat known as a \\\"cat,\\\" and far more likely to make a fortune for the future Lord Mayor than a good mouser would be. CHAPTER VI. A CRADLE SONG OF THE FIRST CENTURY. Many authorities pronounce this lullaby to be of the earliest Christian era. Some believe that in times of yore the Virgin herself sang it to the infant Jesus. \\\"Sleep, O son, sleep, Thy mother sings to her firstborn; Sleep, O boy, sleep, Thy father cries out to his little child. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \\\"Sleep, my heart and my throne, Sleep, thou joy of thy mother; Let a soothing, hushed lullaby Come murmuring to thy heavenly ears. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \\\"May nothing be wanting to thee, With roses I will cover thee, With violet garlands I will entwine thee. Thy bed shall be among the hyacinthus, Thy cradle built up with the petals of white lilies. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \\\"If thou wishest for music I will instantly call together the shepherds. None are before them, No mortal sings more holy songs. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands.\\\" If aught be distinct in this early Christian lullaby, it is that old-time ideas of \\\"stars on high,\\\" \\\"the sky is full of sleep,\\\" and other similar figures of mythical word-pictures are wanting. A mother's sympathy and affection alone bind together the words of her song in illimitable praises--a thousand thousand thousands. Milton says-- \\\"But see the Virgin blest Hath laid her babe to rest.\\\" What a bright sanctified glory the child King brought to his baby throne. \\\"Thee in all children, the eternal child. Thee to whom the wise men gave adoration, and the shepherds praise.\\\" What countless hosts of child-bands are ever singing some dreamy lullaby of praise to their child King. In the pastoral district of Vallauria, in the heart of the Ligurian Alps, within a day's journey from the orange groves of Mentone, a yearly festival takes place, when the children of the mountains sing a stanza recalling the Virgin's song-- \\\"If thou wishest for music I will instantly call together the shepherds. None are before them.\\\" \\\"Lo! the shepherd band draws nigh, Horns they play, Thee, their King, to glorify, Rest thee, my soul's delight.\\\" No lyrics of the nursery have come down to us fashioned after the first-century song of the Virgin. The older types have survived, and in such an unvarying mould have they been cast that there is in each European country's song the same old pagan imagery obstinately repeating itself in spite of Christianity, so that the songs of the Christian Church became exclusively the hymns of her faithful people, the carols of her festivals, and in the Middle Ages the libretto of her Church mystery plays, setting forth her history and doctrines to the lower orders. If one were to remove the obstacles of idiom and grammar in the poetry of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, or even Russia, and expose the subject of the theme, a mere skeleton of past delusions would remain. Long before modern European nations received this imagery of past credulities the poets of Greece and Rome had versified the same old-time beliefs. Before Rome was founded the Etruscan race, who flourished in what is now modern Tuscany, had the Books of the Tages fashioned in rhythmical mould, from which their traditions, ordinances, and religious teachings were drawn. They believed in genii as fervently as a Persian. Here is one Etruscan legend of the nursery, recalling \\\"How the wondrous boy-Tages sprang out of the soil just previously turned over by the plough in the fields of Tarquinii, and communicated to Lucamones the doctrines of divination, by sacrifice, by flight of birds, and by observation of the lightning, a son of genius and grandson of Jupiter.\\\"--_Cic. de Divin._ ii. 23. It was the ancient tale of \\\"Jack and the Beanstalk.\\\" CHAPTER VII. JACK RHYMES. In the preceding chapter it was noted how the wondrous boy-Tages was believed in by the ancients. \\\"Jack and the Beanstalk,\\\" our modern tale, though adapted to the present age, is the same legend, and known and told in their own way by the Zulus in South Africa and by the Redskin of North America, as well as to other isolated peoples. In these tales of primitive peoples the same wonderful miracle of the soil's fertility takes place, in the one case by the birth of the boy-Tages, in the other by the marvellous growth of the twisting beanstalks which in one night reach up--up--up to the land of the gods and giants. \\\"Jack the Giant Killer,\\\" a similar legend but from a Celtic source, was known in France in the twelfth century, and at that period translated into Latin by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Both \\\"Jack and the Beanstalk\\\" and \\\"Jack the Giant Killer\\\" are found in the folk-lore tales of Scandinavia. ANOTHER JACK OF THE NURSERY CLASSICS sprang up into being after the wars of Parliament, when the pleasure-hating Puritan gained an ascendency in the land, and when the pastimes of all classes, but more especially those of the lower orders who had been so happy and contented under the Tudor sovereigns, suffered a miserable suspension. They who were in authority longed to change the robe of revel for the shroud. Not only were theatres and public gardens closed, but a war of bigotry was waged against May-poles, wakes, fairs, church music, fiddles, dancing, puppet shows, Whitsun ales--in short, everything wearing the attire of popular amusement and diversion. The rhyme recording Jack Horner's gloomy conduct was, in fact, a satire on Puritanical aversion to Christmas festivities. \\\"Jack Horner was a pretty lad, near London he did dwell, His father's heart he made full glad, his mother loved him well. A pretty boy of curious wit, all people spoke his praise, And in a corner he would sit on Christmas Holy-days. When friends they did together meet to pass away the time, Why, little Jack, he sure would eat his Christmas pie in rhyme, And say, 'Jack Horner, in the corner, eats good Christmas pie, And with his thumb pulls out a plum, Saying, What a good boy am I.'\\\" The copy of the history of Jack Horner, containing his witty pranks and the tricks he played upon people from his youth to old age, is preserved in the Bodleian Library. There are a number of men and women who recall a time when the rhymes of \\\"Jack Horner\\\" and \\\"Jack the Giant Killer\\\" appeared finer than anything in Shakespeare; but this much may be said for \\\"Jack Horner,\\\" the cavalier's song of derision at the straight-laced Puritan, that it soon lost its political signification, gradually becoming used as a mark of respect. \\\"Thus few were like him far and nigh, When he to age was come, As being only fourteen inches high, A giant to Tom Thumb.\\\" CHAPTER VIII. RIDDLE-MAKING. Riddle-making is not left alone by the purveyors of nursery yarns, though belonging to the mythologic state of thought. The Hindu calls the sun seven-horsed; so the German riddle asks-- \\\"What is the chariot drawn by?\\\" \\\"Seven white and seven black horses.\\\" The Greek riddle of the two sisters--Day and Night. Another one given by _Diog. Lært._ i. 91, _Athenagoras_ x. 451, runs-- \\\"One is father, twelve the children, and born to each other Maidens thirty, whose twain form is parted asunder, White to behold on the one side, black to behold on the other, All immortal in being, all doomed to dwindle and perish.\\\"[H] \\\"The year, months, and days.\\\" * * * * * An interesting English rhyme says-- \\\"Old mother needle had but one eye, A very long tail which she let fly, Every time she went through a gap She left a bit of her tail in the trap.\\\" \\\"Needle and sewing cotton.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Purple, yellow, red, and green, The king cannot reach, nor yet the queen, Nor can Old Noll, whose power's so great, Tell me this riddle while I count eight.\\\" \\\"A rainbow.\\\" This nursery rhyme's date is fixed by the reference to Old Noll, the Lord Protector. * * * * * \\\"As round as an apple, as deep as a cup, And all the king's horses can't pull it up.\\\" \\\"A well.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; Three score men, and three score more, Cannot make Humpty Dumpty as before again.\\\" \\\"An egg.\\\" Or-- \\\"And all the king's horses, and all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.\\\" Plutarch says of Homer that he died of chagrin, being unable to solve a riddle. The Phœnix myth, once believed in by the Egyptian priests, is now, and had even so long ago as in Herodotus' time, degenerated into a mere child-story of a bird, who lived, and died, and rose again from its own ashes. As a relic of a mysterious faith, this fabulous bird has come down to us with diminished glory each century. Old Herodotus, the father of history, tells us that he saw it once--not the bird itself, but a painting of it--at Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, in Egypt. Even this old Greek historian could not quite believe the current story in his day concerning this bird; that it was supposed to revisit the earth after a five-hundred-year sojourn in the land of gods was to him, at least, a little strange. Pliny, the Roman, likewise gives a description of it. \\\"I have been told,\\\" he writes, \\\"it was as big as an eagle, yellow in colour, glittering as gold about the neck, with a body-plumage of deep red-purple. Its tail is sky-blue, with some of the pennæ of a light rose colour. The head is adorned with a crest and pinnacle beautiful to the sight.\\\" Another ancient retells the story somewhat different to both the Greek and Roman historians. Thus runs the Indian version. Bear in mind, however, before reading it, that, like the Second Stone Age people, it was the habit of many races in India to cremate their dead:-- \\\"A high funeral pyre is erected of dry wood, on which the body of the dead is laid, and in course of time after igniting the faggots the corpse is consumed. While this cineration is going on vultures and carrion fowl not infrequently pounce down upon the body, and tear away pieces of flesh from the ghastly, smoking corpse. These charred parts of the body they carry away to their nests to feast upon at leisure. But oftentimes dire results follow; the home of sun-dried sticks and litter ignites, and the bird is seen by some of the superstitious peasantry to rise up out of fire and smoke and disappear.\\\" Then the Phœnix fable comes to mind, \\\"It is the sun-god; he has thrown fire and consumed the nest, and the old bird,\\\" and they hastily conclude that the bird they just now beheld flying away is a new one, and has, in fact, arisen out of the ashes they witnessed falling from the branches of the tall tree. The Phœnix in truth! The German child's rhyme, given by Grimm brothers, of \\\"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home,\\\" is not out of place here. It evidences a state of mythologic thought. \\\"Ladybird! ladybird! pretty one, stay! Come, sit on my finger, so happy and gay. Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home, Thy house is a-fire, thy children will roam. Then ladybird! ladybird! fly away home. Hark! hark! to thy children bewailing.\\\" Yearly, as these harvest bugs, with their crimson or golden-coloured shields, appear in our country lanes, the village youngsters delight in capturing them, and play a game similar to the German child's. They sing-- \\\"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home, Your house is on fire, your children will roam, Excepting the youngest, and her name is Ann, And she has crept under the dripping-pan.\\\" FOOTNOTES: [H] \\\"εἱς ὁ πατήρ, παῖδες δὲ δυώδεκα· τῶν δέ γ' ἑκάστῳ παῖδες ἔασι τριήκοντ' ἄνδιχα εἶδος ἔχουσαι· Ἡι μὲν λευκαὶ ἔασιν ἰδειν· ἧ δ' αὖτε μέλαιναι Ἀθάνατοι δέ τ' ἐοῦσαι αποφθίνουσιν ἅπασαι.\\\" CHAPTER IX. NURSERY CHARMS. To charm away the hiccup one must repeat these four lines thrice in one breath, and a cure will be certain-- \\\"When a twister twisting twists him a twist, For twisting a twist three twists he must twist; But if one of the twists untwists from the twist, The twist untwisting untwists all the twist.\\\" AN ESSEX CHARM FOR A CHURN, 1650 A.D. \\\"Come, butter, come; come, butter, come, Peter stands at the gate Waiting for his buttered cake; Come, butter, come.\\\" * * * * * The late Sir Humphry Davy is said to have learnt this cure for cramp when a boy-- \\\"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, ease us, I beg! The devil has tied a knot in my leg; Crosses three † † † we make to ease us, Two for the robbers and one for Jesus.\\\" A CHARM AGAINST GHOSTS. \\\"There are four corners at my bed, There are four angels there. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, God bless the bed that I lay on.\\\" The Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John rhymes were well known in Essex in Elizabeth's time. Ady, in his \\\"Candle after dark,\\\" 1655, mentions an old woman he knew, who had lived from Queen Mary's time, and who had been taught by the priests in those days many Popish charms. The old woman, amongst other rhymes, repeated-- \\\"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, The bed be blest that I lay on.\\\" This was to be repeated yearly, thrice on Twelfth Night, and it would act as a charm until the following year against evil spirits. In 1601 a charm in general esteem against lightning was a laurel leaf. \\\"Reach the bays\\\" (or laurel leaves), \\\"and wear one.\\\" \\\"I'll tie a garland here about his head, 'Twill keep my boy from lightning.\\\" Even Tiberius Cæsar wore a chaplet of laurel leaves about his neck. Pliny reported that \\\"laurel leaves were never blasted by lightning.\\\" MONEY RHYMES. \\\"How a lass gave her lover three slips for a tester, And married another a week before Easter.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Little Mary Esther sat upon a tester, Eating curds and whey; There came a big spider, and sat down beside her, And frightened little Mary Esther away!\\\" * * * * * \\\"Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie. \\\"When the pie was opened The birds began to sing, Was not that a dainty dish To set before the king? \\\"The king was in his counting-house, Counting out his money, The queen was in the parlour Eating bread and honey. \\\"The maid was in the garden Hanging out the clothes, Then came a little blackbird And snapped off her nose.\\\" In Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_ Sir Toby alludes to the \\\"Sing a Song a Sixpence,\\\" Act II., Sc. 3:-- \\\"Come on, there is a sixpence for you; let's have a song.\\\" In Beaumont and Fletcher's _Bonduca_ it is also quoted. * * * * * \\\"There was an old man in a velvet coat, He kiss'd a maid and gave her a groat; The groat was cracked and would not go, Ah, old man, d'ye serve me so?\\\" * * * * * \\\"See-saw a penny a day, Tommy must have a new master. Why must he have but a penny a day? Because he can work no faster.\\\" * * * * * \\\"One a penny, two a penny, hot-cross buns, If your daughters do not like them give them to your sons; But if you should have none of these pretty little elves You cannot do much better if you eat them all yourselves.\\\" Written about 1608:-- \\\"There's never a maiden in the town but she knows that malt's come down; Malt's come down, malt's come down from an old angel to a French crown. The greatest drunkards in the town are very, very glad that malt's come down.\\\" In New York the children have a common saying when making a swop or change of one toy for another, and no bargain is supposed to be concluded between boys and girls unless they interlock fingers--the little finger on the right hand--and repeat the following doggerel:-- \\\"Pinky, pinky bow-bell, Whoever tells a lie Will sink down to the bad place, And never rise up again.\\\" NUMERICAL NURSERY RHYME. \\\"One, two, buckle my shoe; Three, four, shut the door; Five, six, pick up sticks; Seven, eight, lay them straight; Nine, ten, a good fat hen; Eleven, twelve, who will delve? Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting; Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen; Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting; Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty.\\\" BAKER'S MAN. \\\"Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man. Yes, I will, master, as fast as I can. Prick it and prick it, and mark it with B, And toss it in the oven for baby and me.\\\" CHAPTER X. SCRAPS. \\\"Oh, slumber, my darling, thy sire is a knight; Thy mother a lady so lovely and bright. The hills and the dales and the towers which you see, They all shall belong, my dear baby, to thee.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Bye, baby bumpkin, where's Tony Lumpkin? My lady's on her death-bed, with eating half a pumpkin.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Nose, nose, jolly red nose. And who gave thee this jolly red nose? Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, And they gave me this jolly red nose.\\\" * * * * * Story-telling in the Reformation period was so prevalent that the wonderful tales were satirised in the following rhyme, dated 1588:-- \\\"I saw a man in the moon. Fie, man, fie. I saw a hare chase a hound. Fie, man, fie. Twenty miles above the ground. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?\\\" \\\"I saw a goose ring a hog, And a snail bite a dog! I saw a mouse catch a cat, And a cheese eat a rat. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?\\\" * * * * * A Henry VIII. rhyme:-- \\\"My pretty little one, my pretty honey one, She is a jolly one, and as gentle as can be; With a beck she comes anon, With a wink and she is gone.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Peg, Peg, with a wooden leg, Her father was a miller; He tossed a dumpling at her head, And swore that he would kill her.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Round about, round about Maggotty pie (magpie), My father loves good ale, And so do I.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Old father long-legs will not say his prayers, Take him by the left leg and throw him downstairs.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Half a pound of twopenny rice, Half a pound of treacle, Stir it up and make it nice, Pop goes the weasel.\\\" * * * * * In 1754 mothers used to say to their children-- \\\"Come when you're called, Do what you're bid, Shut the door after you, Never be chid.\\\" A GAME. \\\"A great big wide-mouth waddling frog, Two pudding ends would choke a dog.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Little Nanny Natty Coat Has a white petticoat, The longer she lives The shorter she grows.\\\" _Answer_--A candle. * * * * * \\\"As I was going down Sandy Lane I met a man who had seven wives; each wife had a bag, each bag held a cat, each cat a kit. Now riddle-me-ree, how many were going down Sandy Lane?\\\" _Answer_--One going down; the others were going up. * * * * * \\\"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, She had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread, And whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Robert Rowley rolled a round roll round, A round roll Robert Rowley rolled round; Round rolled the round roll Robert Rowley rolled round.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Little General Monk Sat upon a trunk Eating a crust of bread; There fell a hot coal And burnt into his clothes a hole, Now little General Monk is dead. Keep always from the fire, If it catch your attire You too, like General Monk, will be dead.\\\" MORE FRAGMENTS. \\\"With hartshorn in his hand Came Doctor Tom-tit, Saying, 'Really, good sirs, It's only a fit.'\\\" * * * * * \\\"Cowardly, cowardly custard, Eats his mother's mustard.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Tommy Trot, a man of law, Sold his bed and lay on straw, Sold the straw and slept on grass To buy his wife a looking-glass.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Goosey, goosey, gander, Whither shall I wander, Upstairs, downstairs, In my lady's chamber?\\\" * * * * * \\\"Dilly, dilly, dilly, dilly, Come here and be killed.\\\" A nursery-tale rhyme of Henry VIII.'s time:-- \\\"The white dove sat on the castell wall, I bend my bow and shoote her I shall; I put hir in my cloue, both fethers and all; I layd my bridle on the shelfe. If you will any more sing it yourself.\\\" * * * * * \\\"This little pig went to market, This one stayed at home, This one had a sugar-stick, This one had none, And this one cried out wee, wee, wee, I'll tell my mother when I get home.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Little Bo Peep she lost her sheep, And could not tell where to find them; Let them alone and they'll come home, Carrying their tails behind them.\\\" * * * * * \\\"See-saw, Margery Daw, sold her bed and lay in the straw; Was not she a dirty slut to sell her bed and lie in the dirt?\\\" * * * * * \\\"Four-and-twenty tailors went to kill a snail, The best man among them dare not touch her tail; She put out her horns like a little Kyloe cow, Run, tailors, run, or she'll kill you all e'en now.\\\" * * * * * \\\"I had a little moppet, I put it in my pocket, And fed it on corn and hay, There came a proud beggar And swore he would wed her, and stole my little moppet away.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Hub-a-dub dub, Three men in a tub, The butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker, They all jumped out of a rotten potato.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John Went to bed with his stockings on; One shoe off, one shoe on, Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Jack and Jyll went up the hill To fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jyll came tumbling after.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Hi diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon, The little dog laughed to see such fine sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Baa! baa! black sheep, have you any wool? Yes, sir; yes, sir, three bags full, One for the master, another for the maid, And one for the little child that cried in the lane.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Here comes a poor duke out of Spain, He comes to court your daughter Jane.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Ride to the market to buy a fat pig, Home again, home again, jiggerty-jig. Ride to the market to buy a fat hog, Home again, home again, jiggerty-jog.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Cross-patch, draw the latch, Sit by the fire and spin; Take a cup and drink it up, And call your neighbours in.\\\" * * * * * \\\"The man of the _South_[I] he burnt his mouth By eating cold plum porridge, The man in the moon came down too soon To ask the way to Norwich.\\\" A LANCASHIRE FRAGMENT. \\\"Dance a babby diddy, What'll th' mammy do wi' thee? Come sit on her lap, theart rosy and fat, Dance a babby diddy.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Dickery, dickery, dock, The mouse ran up the clock, The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Dickery, dickery, dock. The clock struck three, The mouse ran away, Dickery, dickery, dock. The clock struck ten, The mouse came again, Dickery, dickery, dock.\\\" * * * * * \\\"There was an old woman toss'd up in a blanket Ninety-nine times as high as the moon, But where she was going no mortal could tell, For under her arm she carried a broom. 'Old woman, old woman, old woman,' said I, 'Whither, ah! whither, whither so high?' 'Oh, I'm sweeping the cobwebs off the sky, And I'll be with you by-and-by!'\\\" The wildest idea is suggested by the rhyme of-- \\\"We're all in the dumps, for diamonds are trumps, And the kittens are gone to St. Paul's; All the babies are bit, and the moon's in a fit, And the houses are built without walls.\\\" The economy of the little boy who lived all alone is seen in-- \\\"When I was a little boy I lived by myself, All the bread and cheese I got I put upon the shelf.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Draw a pail of water For my lady's daughter, My father's a king and my mother's a queen, My two little sisters are dressed up in green.\\\" The baby game of tickling the palm of the hand will be remembered in-- \\\"Round about, round about, runs the little hare, First it runs that way, then it runs up there.\\\" A PROVERB. \\\"Needles and pins, needles and pins, When you get married your trouble begins; Trouble begins, trouble begins, When you get married your trouble begins.\\\" A COMPLIMENT. \\\"The rose is red, the violet's blue, Pinks are sweet, and so are you.\\\" THE REVERSE. \\\"The rose is red, the violet's blue, The grass is green, and so are you.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Little Tommy Tupper, waiting for his supper, What must he have? Some brown bread and butter.\\\" FOOTNOTES: [I] _South Devon._ CHAPTER XI. SONGS. \\\"WILL THE LOVE THAT YOU'RE SO RICH IN.\\\" \\\"There was a little man and he woo'd a little maid, And he said, 'Little maid, will you wed--wed--wed? I have little more to say than will you--Yea or Nay? For the least said is soonest mended--ded--ded--ded.' \\\"The little maid replied, some say a little sighed, 'But what shall we have for to eat--eat--eat? Will the love that you're so rich in Make a fire in the kitchen, Or the little God of Love turn the spit, spit, spit?'\\\" * * * * * \\\"Cock-a-doodle doo, my dame has lost her shoe; My master's lost his fiddling stick and doesn't know what to do. Cock-a-doodle doo, what is my dame to do? Till master finds his fiddling stick she'll dance without her shoe. \\\"Cock-a-doodle doo, my dame has found her shoe, and master's found his fiddling stick. Sing doodle, doodle doo--Cock-a-doodle doo, My dame will dance with you, While master fiddles his fiddling stick For dame and doodle doo.\\\" The third-century monarch, King Cole, is seriously libelled in the nursery jingle of-- \\\"Old King Cole was a merry old soul, A merry old soul was he, He called for his glass, he called for his pipe, He called for his fiddlers three.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Rowsty dowt, my fire's all out, My little Dame Trot is not at home! Oh my! But I'll saddle my cock and bridle my hen, And fetch my little dame home again! Home again! Home she came, tritty-ti-trot, She asked for some dinner she left in the pot; Some she ate and some she shod, And the rest she gave to the truckler's dog. She took up the ladle and knocked its head, And now poor dapsy dog is dead!\\\" * * * * * \\\"There was a little man and he had a little gun, And his bullets they were made of lead, He went to the brook and shot a little duck Right through its head, head, head. \\\"He took it home to his wife Joan And bade her a good fire to make, While he went to the brook where he shot the little duck To see if he could shoot the little drake. \\\"The drake was a-swimming With its curly tail, The little man made it his mark, He let off his gun But fired too soon, And the drake flew away with a quack, quack, quack.\\\" The Creole's slave-song to her infant is built on the same lines, and runs-- \\\"If you were a little bird And myself a gun, I would shoot you. Bum! Bum! Bum! \\\"Oh! my precious little jewel Of mahogany, I love you As a hog loves mud.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Some say the devil's dead, And buried in cold harbour; Some say he's alive again, And 'prenticed to a barber.\\\" * * * * * \\\"I had a little pony, his name was Dapple Grey; I lent him to a lady, to ride a mile away. She whipped him and she lashed him, She rode him through the mire; I would not lend my pony now For all that lady's hire.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Little Blue Betty, she lived in a den, She sold good ale to gentlemen. Gentlemen came every day, And little Blue Betty she skipped away. She hopped upstairs to make her bed, But tumbled down and broke her head.\\\" TOM, TOM, THE PIPER'S SON. \\\"Tom, he was a piper's son, He learned to play when he was young; But the only tune that he could play Was 'Over the hills and far away.' Over the hills and a great way off, And the wind will blow my top-knot off. \\\"Now Tom with his pipe made such a noise That he pleased both the girls and boys, And they stopped to hear him play 'Over the hills and far away.' \\\"Tom on his pipe did play with such skill That those who heard him could never keep still; Whenever they heard him they began to dance, Even pigs on their hind legs would after him prance. \\\"As Dolly was milking the cows one day Tom took out his pipe and began to play; So Doll and the cows danced the Cheshire cheese round, Till the pail was broke and the milk spilt on the ground. \\\"He met old Dame Trot with a basket of eggs, He used his pipe, she used her legs. She danced, he piped, the eggs were all broke; Dame Trot began to fret, Tom laughed at his joke. \\\"He saw a cross fellow beating an ass Laden with pots, pans, dishes, and glass; Tom took out his pipe and played a tune, And the jackass's load was lightened full soon.\\\" \\\"OH DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE?\\\" \\\"Oh dear, what can the matter be? Oh dear, what can the matter be? Oh dear, what can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons To tie up my bonny brown hair.\\\" SIMPLE SIMON. \\\"Simple Simon went a-fishing For to catch a whale, All the water he had got Was in his mother's pail. \\\"Simple Simon went to look If plums grew on a thistle, He pricked his fingers very much, Which made poor Simon whistle. \\\"Simple Simon went to town To buy a piece of meat, He tied it to his horse's tail To keep it clean and sweet.\\\" \\\"I SAW A SHIP A-SAILING.\\\" \\\"I saw a ship a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea, And it was filled with pretty things For baby and for me. There were raisins in the cabin, Sugar kisses in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold. Gold--gold--gold! The masts were made of gold. \\\"There were four-and-twenty sailors A-sitting on the deck, And these were little white mice, With rings around their neck. The captain was a duck, With a jacket on his back, And when the ship began to sail The captain cried 'Quack! quack!' Quack!--quack!--quack! The captain cried 'Quack! quack!'\\\" DAVID THE WELSHMAN. \\\"Taffy was a wicked Welshman, Taffy was a wicked thief, Taffy came to my house And stole a piece of beef. I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed, I got the poker And hit him on the head.\\\" Sung in derision along the Welsh borders on St. David's Day. Formerly it was the custom of the London mob on this day to dress up a guy and carry him round the principal thoroughfares. The ragged urchins following sang the rhyme of \\\"Taffy was a wicked Welshman.\\\" \\\"MY FATHER HE DIED.\\\" The historical value of nursery rhymes is incapable of being better illustrated than in the following old English doggerel:-- \\\"My father he died, I cannot tell how, He left me six horses to drive out my plough, With a wimmy lo! wommy lo! Jack Straw, blazey boys. Wimmy lo! wimmy lo! wob, wob, wob.\\\" Mr. Halliwell dates it as of Richard II.'s time, and this much may be said for this opinion, that there is no greater authority than he on the subject of early English rhymes and carols. Mr. Halliwell also believes that of British nursery rhymes it is the earliest extant. There are those, however, who dissent from this view, holding that many of the child's songs sung to-day were known to our Saxon forefathers. In 1835 Mr. Gowler, who wrote extensively on the archæology of English phrases and nursery rhymes, ingeniously attempted to claim whole songs and tales, giving side by side the Saxon and the English versions. There certainly was a phonetic similarity between them, but the local value of the Saxon, when translated, reads in a strange way, being little more than a protest against the Church's teaching and influence. \\\"Who killed Cock Robin?\\\" is given at length by Mr. Gowler, as well as many scraps of other nursery rhymes. Mr. Gowler seemed to claim that though the lettered language of each succeeding age fashions afresh, the Baby Kingdom knows no such vocal revolutions. CHAPTER XII. SCOTCH RHYMES. The great and alluring exercise of \\\"Through the needle-e'e, boys\\\" has this immemorial rhyme:-- \\\"As I went up the Brandy Hill I met my father wi' gude will; He had jewels, he had rings, He had many braw things, He'd a cat-and-nine-tails, He'd a hammer wantin' nails. Up Jock, down Tam, Blaw the bellows, auld man, Through the needle-e'e, boys! Brother Jock, if ye were mine, I would give you claret wine; Claret wine's gude and fine, Through the needle-e'e, boys!\\\" THE SCOTCH VERSION OF BRYAN O'LYNN. \\\"Tam o' the Lin and a' his bairns Fell n' i' the fire in other's arms! Oh, quo' the bunemost, I ha'e a het skin!! It's hetter below, quo' Tam o' the Lin.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Cripple Dick upon a stick, Sand your soo, ride away To Galloway To buy a pound o' woo.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Pan, pan, play, Pan, pan, play, And gi'e the bairn meal, It's gotten nane the day.\\\" * * * * * \\\"The robin and the wren Are God's cock and hen.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Gi'e a thing, tak' a thing, Auld man's deid ring; Lie butt, lie ben, Lie amang the dead men.\\\" The above is said by Scotch children as a reproach to one who takes back what he gave. A GRUESOME RIDDLE. \\\"I sat wi' my love and I drank wi' my love, And my love she gave me licht; I'll gi'e any mon a pint o' wine That'll read my riddle right.\\\" A person sitting in a chair made of the bones of a relation, drinking out of the skull, and reading by the light of a candle made from the marrow-bones. * * * * * Street game rhyme, something like the well-known \\\"How many miles to Wimbledon?\\\":-- \\\"King and Queen of Cantelon, How many miles to Babylon? It's eight and eight and other eight, Try to win these wi' 'candle licht.'\\\" To discover a particular person in the company wearing a ring, Scotch children of last century used to say-- \\\"Two before 1, and 3 before 5, Now 2, and then 2, and 4 come _belive_. Now 1, and then 1, and 3 at a cast, Now 1, and _twise_ 2, and Jack up at last.\\\" In the game of Hidee the laddies and lassies cry-- \\\"Keep in, keep in, where'ver ye be, The greedy gled's seekin' ye.\\\" \\\"WHA'S YOUR DADDIE?\\\" \\\"Little wee laddie, Wha's your daddie? I cam out o' a buskit, lady, A buskit, lady's owre fine; I cam out o' a bottle o' wine, A bottle o' wine's owre dear; I cam out o' a bottle o' beer, A bottle o' beer's owre thick; I cam out o' a gauger's stick, A gauger's stick's butt and ben; I cam out o' a peacock hen.\\\" In Lancashire, where this rhyme is a popular one, the reading differs, \\\"candlestick\\\" being used for \\\"gauger's stick.\\\" \\\"A candlestick is over-fat, I came out of a gentleman's hat; A gentleman's hat is over-tall, I came over the garden wall; The garden wall is over-high, An angel dropped me from the sky.\\\" The Scotch \\\"Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe\\\" is a sad jumble of \\\"Old Mother Hubbard\\\" and \\\"Little Blue Betty.\\\" \\\"There was a wee bit wifie Who lived in a shoe, She had so many bairns She kenn'd na what to do. \\\"She gaed to the market To buy a sheep's head, When she came back They were a' lying dead. \\\"She went to the wright To get them a coffin, When she came back They were a' lying laughin'. \\\"She gaed up the stair To ring the bell, The bell-rope broke, And down she fell.\\\" \\\"THE MOON IS A LADY.\\\" \\\"The moon is a lady who reigns in the sky As queen of the kingdom of night; The stars are her army she leads forth on high As bright little soldiers of light. \\\"Her captains are Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, Three glittering warriors bold; And the Milky Way's studded with forces of stars In numbers that cannot be told. \\\"When Aurora comes up through the Orient gate, And chanticleer crows to the sun, The moon will retire, and the stars in her wake Will follow their queen every one.\\\" R. A. FOSTER.[J] FOOTNOTES: [J] When I asked my friend, Robert Adams Foster, whose _Boy Ballads_ are being read with unusual interest in Scotland, to write a Scotch lullaby, he sent me the above verses. CHAPTER XIII. A FAVOURITE NURSERY HYMN. Known to the rustics of England, France, and Italy since the days of the great Charlemagne, has a peculiar history. Like many other rhymes of yore it is fast dying out of memory. The educational influences of the National Schools in the former part of this century, and the Board Schools at a later date, have killed this little suppliant's prayer, as well as most of the other rural rhymes and folk-lore tales handed down by mother to child. The hymn, though still used in some parts of Northern England, and especially amongst the Nonconformists, as a child's evening ode of praise, runs-- \\\"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon this little child; Pity my simplicity, Suffer me to come to Thee.\\\" The next verse, a more modern addition, is-- \\\"Fain I would to Thee be brought, Lamb of God, forbid it not; In the kingdom of Thy grace Give this little child a place.\\\" Leo III. is the supposed author of the book in which it is found, viz., _Enchiridion Leonis Papae_. However, the _Enchiridion_ was a book of magic, and not authorised by the Church of Rome, but used by spurious monks and charlatans, wizards and quacks, in their exploits amongst the credulous rural folk. It was full of charms, prayers, and rhymes to ward off evil spirits. The Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John verses are part of the same \\\"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.\\\" The _Enchiridion_ was first published in 1532. This hymn was, in the main, derived from the White Paternoster, and handed down to posterity and preserved by the rustics. THE LATIN VERSION OF THE VIRGIN'S LULLABY. \\\"Dormi fili, dormi! mater Cantat unigenito, Dormi, puer, dormi! pater Nato clamat parvulo: Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \\\"Dormi cor, et meus thronus, Dormi matris jubilum; Aurium cœlestis sonus. Et suave sibilum! Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \\\"Ne quid desit, sternam rosis Sternam fœnum violis, Pavimentum hyacinthis Et praesepe liliis Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \\\"Si vis musicam, pastores Convocabo protinus Illis nulli sunt priores; Nemo canit castius Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies.\\\" CHAPTER XIV. \\\"THERE WAS A MAID CAME OUT OF KENT.\\\" \\\"There was a maid came out of Kent, Dangerous be, dangerous be; There was a maid came out of Kent, Fayre, propre, small, and gent As ever upon the ground went, For so should it be.\\\" Of authentic currency in Mary's time. * * * * * \\\"Martin Smart and his man, fodledum, fodledum; Martin Smart and his man, fodledum, bell.\\\" Same date. * * * * * \\\"I see the moon, and the moon sees me; God bless the moon, and God bless me.\\\" Child's saying. * * * * * \\\"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I caught a hare alive; 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, I let her go again.\\\" Counting-out rhyme. * * * * * \\\"Great | A was a | larm'd at | B's bad be | haviour, Be | cause C | D, E, F de | nied G a | favour; H had a | husband with | I, J, | K and L; M married | Mary, and | taught | her scholars | how to spell A B C, D E F G, H I J K L M, N O P Q, R S T U, V W X Y Z, Z, Z.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Hush-a-by, baby, on a green bock (Saxon for bough); When the wind blows the cradle will rock.\\\" A NURSERY TALE. \\\"I saddled my sow with a sieve of butter-milk, put my foot into the stirrup, and leaped up nine miles beyond the moon into the land of temperance, where there was nothing but hammers and hatchets and candlesticks, and there lay bleeding Old Noll. I let him lie and sent for Old Hipper Noll, and asked him if he could grind green steel five times finer than wheat flour. He said he could not. Gregory's wife was up a pear tree gathering nine corns of buttered beans to pay St. James's rent. St. James was in a meadow mowing oat cakes; he heard a noise, hung his scythe to his heels, stumbled at the battledore, tumbled over the barn door ridge, and broke his shins against a bag of moonshine that stood behind the stairs-foot door; and if that isn't true, you know as well as I all about it.\\\" * * * * * \\\"A duck, a drake, a barley cake, A penny to pay the baker; A hop, a scotch, another notch-- Slitherum, slitherum, take her.\\\" A verse repeated when playing at skimming shells or stones on the water of a pond or lake. * * * * * \\\"Hark! hark! the dogs do bark, The beggars are coming to town. There are some in rags, There are some in tags, And one in a velvet gown.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Bow-wow-wow, Whose dog art thou? I'm Tommy Tucker's dog, Bow-wow-wow!\\\" Pope wrote an epigram which he had engraved on the collar of a dog, and gave it to H.R.H.:-- \\\"I am his Highness' dog at Kew; Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?\\\" A B C JINGLES. \\\"A was an Archer that shot at a frog, B was a Butcher--he had a big dog, C was a Captain all covered with lace, D was a Dunce with a very long face.\\\" \\\"A was an apple pie; B bit it, C cut it, D danced for it, E eat it, F fought for it, G got it, H hid it,\\\" etc. etc. A CATCH RHYME. \\\"Tottle 'em, bottle 'em, bother aboo, Who can count from one to two?\\\" \\\"I can, I can!\\\" \\\"Do, do.\\\" \\\"One and two----\\\" \\\"See, calf, see, That's not two, but three, three.\\\" \\\"Three or two's all one to me.\\\" CHAPTER XV. BELL RHYMES. The jingle of the bells in nursery poetry is certainly the prettiest of all the features in the poetical fictions of Baby-land. The oft-repeated rhyme of-- \\\"Ride a cock-horse to _Banbury Cross_,[K] To see a _fair_[L] lady upon a white horse; _Bells_[M] on her fingers and bells on her toes, She will have music wherever she goes,\\\" has a charm with every child. The ride of my Lady of Godiva is fancifully suggested by the Coventry version. * * * * * \\\"Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day? One o'clock, two o'clock, three and away.\\\" * * * * * \\\"_Gay go up and gay go down_ To ring the bells of London town. \\\"Bull's-eyes and targets, say the bells of St. Marg'-ret's; Brick-bats and tiles, chime the bells of St. Giles'; Halfpence and farthings, ring the bells of St. Martin's; Oranges and lemons, toll the bells of St. Clement's; Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's; Two sticks and an apple, say the bells of Whitechapel; Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate; You owe me ten shillings, say the bells of St. Helen's; When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey; When I grow rich, chime the bells of Shoreditch; Pray when will that be? ask the bells of Stepney; I'm sure I don't know, tolled the big bell at _Bow_. \\\"Gay go up and gay go down To ring the bells of London town.\\\" This almost forgotten nursery song and game of \\\"The Bells of London Town\\\" has a descriptive burden or ending to each line, giving an imitation of the sounds of the bell-peals of the principal churches in each locality of the City and the old London suburbs. The game is played by girls and boys holding hands and racing round sideways, as they do in \\\"Ring a Ring a Rosies,\\\" after each line has been sung as a solo by the children in turns. The \\\"Gay go up and gay go down To ring the bells of London town\\\" is chorussed by all the company, and then the rollicking dance begins; the feet stamping out a noisy but enjoyable accompaniment to the words, \\\"Gay go up, gay go down.\\\" The intonation of the little vocal bell-ringers alters with each line, \\\"Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's,\\\" being sung to a quick tune and in a high key; \\\"Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate,\\\" suggesting a very slow movement and a deep, low tone. The round singing of the ancients, of which this game is a fitting illustration, is probably a relic of Celtic festivity. The burden of a song, chorussed by the entire company, followed the stanza sung by the vocalist, and this soloist, having finished, had licence to appoint the next singer, \\\"canere ad myrtum,\\\" by handing him the myrtle branch. At all events round singing was anciently so performed by the Druids, the Bardic custom of the men of the wand. * * * * * In Lancashire-- \\\"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With cockle shells and silver bells, And pretty maids all in a row,\\\" is one of the songs the cottage mother sings to her child. The Provençal-- \\\"Ding dong, ding dong, Ring the bells of St. John's. Now they are saying prayers. Why ring so high? 'Tis the little children in the sky!\\\" * * * * * \\\"Maids in white aprons, say the bells of St. Catherine's.\\\" * * * * * Every locality furnishes examples of bell rhymes. Selling the church bells of Hutton, in Lincolnshire, gave rise to this satire of the children-- \\\"The poor Hutton people Sold their bells to mend the steeple. Ah! wicked people, To sell their bells To build the steeple.\\\" In 1793 Newington Church, London, was pulled down, the bells sold, and the sacred edifice rebuilt without a belfry. The children of the neighbouring parishes soon afterwards jeered at the Newingtonians. \\\"Pious parson\\\" (they sang), \\\"pious people, Sold their bells to build a steeple. A very fine trick of the Newington people To sell their bells and build no steeple.\\\" In Derbyshire a large number of the churches have bells with peculiar peals-- \\\"Crich has two roller-boulders, Wingfield ting-tangs, Alfreton kettles, And Pentrich pans. Kirk-Hallan candlesticks, Corsall cow-bells, Denby cracked puncheons, And Horsley merry bells.\\\" The bells of Bow Church ringing out the invitation to Dick Whittington to return to his master's house should not be forgotten-- \\\"Turn again, Whit-ting-ton, Lord-Mayor-of London.\\\" In New York, U.S.A., the little school urchins sing a bell rhyme of-- \\\"Hark, the merry bells from Trinity Charm the ear with their musical din, Telling all throughout the vicinity Holy-day gambols are now to begin.\\\" FOOTNOTES: [K] Or Coventry Cross. [L] Fine. [M] Rings. CHAPTER XVI. POLITICAL SIGNIFICATIONS OF NURSERY RHYMES. In 1660, when the Restoration of Charles II. took place, the great procession of State to St. Paul's Cathedral called forth this rhyme:-- \\\"Come, Jack, let's drink a pot of ale, And I shall tell thee such a tale Will make thine ears to ring. My coin is spent, my time is lost, And I this only fruit can boast, That once I saw my king!\\\" A Roundhead sneer at the man in the street, after the Royalist rejoicings were over. In a copy of rhyming proverbs in the British Museum, written about the year 1680, occurs the following Puritan satire on Charles II.'s changeability:-- \\\"A man of words and not of deeds, Is like a garden full of weeds; And when the weeds begin to grow, It's like a garden full of snow; And when the snow begins to fall, It's like a bird upon the wall; And when the bird away does fly, It's like an eagle in the sky; And when the sky begins to roar, It's like a lion at your door; And when the door begins to crack, It's like a stick across your back; And when your back begins to smart, It's like a penknife in your heart; And when your heart begins to bleed, You're dead, you're dead, and dead indeed.\\\" Among Marvel's works (vol. i. pp. 434-5) a witty representation of the king's style of speech is given with the _jeu d'esprit_ so distinctively peculiar to Marvel:-- \\\"My proclamation is the true picture of my mind. Some may perhaps be startled and cry, 'How comes this sudden change?' To which I answer, 'I am a changeling, and that's sufficient, I think. But, to convince men further that I mean what I say, these are the arguments. First, I tell you so, and you know I never break my word; secondly, my Lord Treasurer says so, and he never told a lie in his life; thirdly, my Lord Lauderdale will undertake it for me. I should be loath by any act of mine he should forfeit the credit he has with you.'\\\" In England Charles gave his Royal Indulgence to Dissenters, and granted them full liberty of conscience. They who had been horribly plundered and ill-treated now built meeting-houses, and thronged to them in public. Shaftesbury, who afterwards became a Papist, exclaimed, \\\"Let us bless God and the king that our religion is safe, that parliaments are safe, that our properties and liberties are safe. What more hath a good Englishman to ask, but that the king may long reign, and that this triple alliance of king, parliament, and the people may never be dissolved?\\\" But Charles had a standing army in Scotland, with the Duke of Lauderdale as Lord High Commissioner, and all classes of people in that country were obliged to depose on oath their knowledge of persons worshipping as Dissenters, on penalty of fine, imprisonment, banishment, transportation, and of being sold as slaves. Persecutions of former times were surpassed, the thumbscrew and the boot were used as mild punishments, the rack dislocated the limbs of those who respected conscience, and the stake consumed their bodies to ashes. Villagers were driven to the mountains, and eighteen thousand Dissenters perished, not counting those who were accused of rebellion. He was \\\"a man of words,\\\" and the rhyme of this period depicts his whole character. * * * * * Two of the courtezans of Charles II.'s time were Lucy Locket and Kitty Fisher. The following rhyme suggests that Kitty Fisher supplanted Lucy Locket in Charles' fickle esteem-- \\\"Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Nothing in it, nothing in it, But the binding round it.\\\" On his death-bed the monarch commended the Duchesses of Cleveland and Portsmouth to his successor, and said to James, \\\"Do not let poor Nelly (Nell Gwynne) starve!\\\" Even their pockets were as badly lined as Lucy Locket's. The hatred of the Roman Catholic religion \\\"had become,\\\" said Macaulay, \\\"one of the ruling passions of the community, and was as strong in the ignorant and profane as in those who were Protestants from conviction.\\\" Charles II. was suspected by many of leaning towards the Roman Catholic religion. His brother, and heir presumptive, was discovered to be a bigoted Catholic, and in defiance to the remonstrances of the House of Commons had married another papist--Mary of Modena. The common people apprehended a return of the times of her whom they unreasonably called Bloody Mary. Sons of this marriage, they feared, meant a long succession of princes and kings hostile to the Protestant faith and government by the people. In 1689, when William of Orange became king in James II.'s place, a political squib went off in the style of a nursery lullaby, entitled \\\"Father Peter's policy discovered; or, the Prince of Wales proved a Popish Perkin\\\"-- \\\"In Rome there is a fearful rout, And what do you think it's all about? Because the birth of the Babe's come out! Sing, Lalla by babee, by, by, by.\\\" The Douce MS. contains-- \\\"See-saw, sack a day, Monmouth is a pretie boy, Richmond is another; Grafton is my onely joy, and why should I these three destroy To please a pious brother?\\\" At the beginning of this present century the renowned Pastorini contributed his share to simple rhyming. A writer in the _Morning Chronicle_ of that period points out Pastorini as being no less a personage than the Right Rev. Charles Walmesley, D.D., a Roman Catholic prelate, whose false prophecies under the name of Pastorini were intended to bring about the events they pretended to foretell--the destruction of the Irish Protestants in 1825. Just previous to this year every bush and bramble in Ireland had this remarkable couplet affixed to it-- \\\"In the year eighteen hundred and twenty-five There shall not be a Protestant left alive.\\\" In 1835, when the efforts of the Whig Ministry to despoil the Irish Church proved so strong, a writer in the Press caricatured Lord Grey, Lyttleton, Dan O'Connell, and Lord Brougham in the following nursery rhymes. The attempt was ingenious, but only of small value as showing the rhymes to be the popular ones of that day. \\\"There was an old woman, as I've heard tell, She went to the market her eggs to sell.\\\" And-- \\\"Robbin, a bobbin, the big-bellied Ben, He ate more meat than threescore men; He eat a cow, he eat a calf, He eat a butcher and a half; He eat a church, he eat a steeple, He eat the priest and all the people.\\\" The other rhymes were-- \\\"There was an old woman went up in a basket Ninety-nine times as high as the moon, Where she was going I couldn't but ask it, For in her hand she carried a Brougham! Old woman, old woman, old woman, said I, Why are you going up so high? To sweep the cobwebs off the sky, But I'll be with you by-and-by.\\\" * * * * * \\\"Old Mother Bunch, shall we visit the moon? Come, mount on your broom, I'll stride on the spoon; Then hey to go, we shall be there soon!\\\" This rhyme was sung at the time in derision to Earl Grey's and Lord Brougham's aerial, vapoury projects of setting the Church's house in order. \\\"Lord Grey,\\\" said the satire-monger, \\\"provided the cupboards and larders for himself and relatives. He was a paradoxical 'old woman' who could never keep quiet.\\\" \\\"There was an old woman, and what do you think, She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink; Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet, And yet this old woman could never keep quiet.\\\" As a prototype of reform this old woman was further caricatured as Madame Reform. The going \\\"up in a basket ninety-nine times as high as the moon\\\" referred to Lord Grey's command to the English bishops to speedily set their house in order. The ascent was flighty enough, \\\"ninety-nine times as high as the moon, to sweep the cobwebs off the sky\\\"--in other words, to set the Church, our cathedrals and bishops' palaces in order--and augured well; but this old woman journeyed not alone, in her hand she carried a broom (Brougham). It may have been a case of ultra-lunacy this journey of ninety-nine times as high as the moon, and \\\"one cannot help thinking,\\\" said a writer of that period, \\\"of the song, 'Long life to the Moon'; but this saying became common, 'If that time goes the coach, pray what time goes the basket?'\\\" The \\\"Robbin, a bobbin, the big-bellied Ben\\\" parody alluded to Dan O'Connell; the butcher and a half to the Northamptonshire man and his driver; eating \\\"church\\\" and \\\"steeple\\\" meant Church cess. O'Connell certainly did cut the Church measure about. In his curtailment he would not leave a room or a church for Irish Protestants to pray in. \\\"Little dog\\\" refers to Lyttleton in the nursery rhyme, for when the under-trafficing came to light, Lord Grey, it is said, was so bewildered at his position that he doubted his own identity, and exclaimed-- \\\"If I be I, as I suppose I be, Well, I've a 'Little dog,' and he'll know me!\\\" FINIS Transcriber's Endnote: The following amendments have been made to the original text: P. 96. _But the stick would not._ has been added as line 6 of the poem beginning \\\"There was an old woman swept her house ...\\\" End of Project Gutenberg's A History of Nursery Rhymes, by Percy B. 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Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: http://www.gutenberg.org This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.\",\n \"The_Ugly_Duckling.txt\\nThe Ugly Duckling\\n\\\"The Ugly Duckling\\\" (Danish: Den grimme ælling) is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805 – 1875). The story tells of a homely little bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from the others around him until, much to his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a beautiful swan, the most beautiful bird of all. The story is beloved around the world as a tale about personal transformation for the better. “The Ugly Duckling” was first published 11 November 1843, with three other tales by Andersen in Copenhagen, Denmark to great critical acclaim. The tale has been adapted to various media including opera, musical, and animated film. The tale is completely Andersen's invention and owes no debt to fairy tales or folklore.\\n\\nPlot summary\\n\\nWhen the tale begins, a mother duck's eggs hatch. One of the little birds is perceived by the other birds and animals on the farm as a homely little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse from them. He wanders sadly from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. He finds a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen tease him mercilessly and again he sets off on his own.\\n\\nThe duckling sees a flock of migrating wild swans. He is delighted and excited, but he cannot join them, for he is too young and cannot fly. Winter arrives. A farmer finds and carries the freezing little duckling home, but the foundling is frightened by the farmer’s noisy children and flees the house. He spends a miserable winter alone in the outdoors, mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over. When spring arrives a flock of swans descends on the now thawing lake.\\n\\nThe ugly duckling, now having fully grown and matured, unable to endure a life of solitude and hardship any more and decides to throw himself at the flock of swans deciding that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness and misery. He is shocked when the swans welcome and accept him, only to realize by looking at his reflection in the water that he has grown into one of them. The flock takes to the air, and the ugly duckling spreads his beautiful large wings and takes flight with the rest of his new family.\\n\\nComposition and publication history\\n\\nAndersen first conceived the story in 1842 while enjoying the beauty of nature during his stay at the country estate of Bregentved, and lavished a year's worth of attention upon it. He initially considered \\\"The Young Swans\\\" as the tale's title but, not wanting to spoil the element of surprise in the protagonist’s transformation, discarded it for \\\"The Ugly Duckling\\\". He later confessed that the story was \\\"a reflection of my own life\\\", and, when the critic Georg Brandes questioned Andersen about whether he would write his autobiography, the poet claimed that it had already been written — \\\"The Ugly Duckling\\\". \\n\\n“The Ugly Duckling” was first published in Copenhagen, Denmark 11 November 1843 in New Fairy Tales. First Book. First Collection. 1844. (Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Første Samling. 1844.). For the first time the phrase \\\"told for children\\\" was not part of the title—an omission Andersen scholar Jackie Wullschlager believes exhibited a new confidence on Andersen's part: \\\"These [tales] were the most mature and perfectly constructed tales he had written, and though some of them at once became, and have remained, favorites of children, Andersen here melds together the childlike and the profound with exceptional artistry.\\\" The first edition of 850 was sold out by December 18, and Reitzel planned another 850. \\n\\nThe tale was fourth and last in the volume that included (in contents order), \\\"The Angel\\\" (\\\"Englen\\\"), \\\"The Nightingale\\\" (\\\"Nattergalen\\\"), and \\\"The Sweethearts; or, The Top and the Ball\\\" (\\\"Kjærestefolkene [Toppen og bolden]\\\"). The volume sold out almost immediately and Andersen wrote on December 18, 1843: “The book is selling like hot cakes. All the papers are praising it, everyone is reading it! No books of mine are appreciated in the way these fairy tales are!” Andersen promoted the tale by reading it aloud at social gatherings. The tale was republished 18 December 1849 in Fairy Tales. 1850. (Eventyr. 1850.) and again 15 December 1862 in Fairy Tales and Stories. First Volume. 1862. (Eventyr og Historier. Første Bind. 1862.) The tale has since been translated into various languages and published around the world and has become the most famous story by Andersen.\\n\\nCommentaries and criticism\\n\\nIn reviewing Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life by biographer Jens Andersen, British journalist Anne Chisholm writes “Andersen himself was a tall, ugly boy with a big nose and big feet, and when he grew up with a beautiful singing voice and a passion for the theater he was cruelly teased and mocked by other children\\\". The ugly duckling is the child of a swan whose egg accidentally rolled into a duck's nest. \\n\\nSpeculation suggests that Andersen was the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederik (later King Christian VIII of Denmark), and found this out some time before he wrote the book, and then that being a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for inner beauty and talent but also for secret royal lineage. \\n\\nBruno Bettelheim observes in The Uses of Enchantment that the Ugly Duckling is not confronted with the tasks, tests, or trials of the typical fairy tale hero. “No need to accomplish anything is expressed in “The Ugly Duckling”. Things are simply fated and unfold accordingly, whether or not the hero takes some action.” In conjunction with Bettelheim’s assessment, Maria Tatar notes in ’’The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen’’ that Andersen suggests the Ugly Duckling‘s superiority resides in the fact that he is of a breed different from the barnyard rabble, and that dignity and worth, moral and aesthetic superiority are determined by nature rather than accomplishment.\\n\\nAccording to Carole Rosen, the story was inspired in part by Andersen's friend Jenny Lind. \\n\\nAdaptations\\n\\n\\\"The Ugly Duckling\\\" became one of Andersen's best loved tales and was reprinted around the world. The tale was adapted to a variety of media. Films based on the tale include two Silly Symphonies animated shorts produced by Walt Disney called The Ugly Duckling. The first was produced in 1931 in black and white, and a remake in 1939 in Technicolor. The latter film won the 1939 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), and was the last Silly Symphony to be made. The main difference between the Andersen story and the Disney version is that, in the latter, the little bird's ordeal lasts for only a few minutes, not for months. In 1936, the Fleischer brothers adapted the story for their animated short \\\"The Little Stranger\\\", reversing the story by having an odd chick born into a family of ducks. In 1956 the Soviet animation studio Soyuzmultfilm produced its own 19 minutes version of The Ugly Duckling. The anime Princess Tutu is about a duck that turns into a swan-like ballerina. In 2006, the Danish animation studio A. Film produced a spin-off CG feature called The Ugly Duckling and Me!, and later produced a children's CG television series Ugly Duckling Junior which featured the same characters as the movie. The 1954 Tom and Jerry cartoon Downhearted Duckling is also based on the famous story.\\n\\nThe tale has seen various musical adaptations. In 1914, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev composed a work for voice and piano based on Nina Meshcherskaya's adaptation of the tale and, in 1932, arranged the work for voice and orchestra. This was transcribed by Lev Konov in 1996, and his opera was a great success in Russia. Other musical versions include the song “The Ugly Duckling” composed by Frank Loesser and sung by Danny Kaye for the 1952 Charles Vidor musical film Hans Christian Andersen, and Honk!, a musical based on the tale which was produced in Britain and won an Olivier Award. The tale was adapted to a musical by Gail Deschamps and Paul Hamilton with a planned United States tour 2002-2003. In 1998, the musical played the Piccolo Spoleto for seventeen days. \\n\\nIn 2009, the Dance Theatre of Bradenton, Florida, presented the ballet version of the popular tale (Allison Norton: The Ugly Duckling).\\n\\nIn 2010, Garri Bardin directed a feature-length stop-motion musical of the story set to Tchaikovsky's ballet music.\\n\\nIn 2012, a musical adaptation of the story, with ten original songs, was released by JJ’s Tunes & Tales. The album, titled “The Ugly Duckling: Story with Songs” contains both songs and spoken narration, and was released independently on CD Baby and iTunes. Examples of song titles include: Hatching of the Eggs; A Better Place; Song of the Swans; What’s the Matter with You; It’s a Big, Big World; Pretty Good Place to Live.\\n\\nGivingTales – in 2015 a storytelling app for children was created in aid of Unicef. The Ugly Duckling read by Stephen Fry is included in this collection of fairy tales, along with other Hans Christian Andersen stories.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124614,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"The metric prefix femto is shown as ten to the power of minus what?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"15"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Femto-.txt\nFemto-\nFemto- (symbol f) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−15 or . Adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures, it was added in 1964 to the SI. It is derived from the Danish word , meaning \"fifteen\".\n\nExamples of use:\n* The HIV-1 virus weighs about 1 x 10−18 kg or 1 fg. Orders of magnitude (mass)\n* a proton has a diameter of about 1.6 to 1.7 femtometres.\n* More examples available.\n \nThe femtometre shares the unit symbol (fm) with the older non-SI unit fermi, to which it is equivalent. The fermi, named in honour of Enrico Fermi, is often encountered in nuclear physics.","10_(number).txt\n10 (number)\n10 (ten) is an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. The reason for the choice of ten is assumed to be that humans have ten fingers (digits). \n\nCommon usage and derived terms \n\n* A collection of ten items (most often ten years) is called a decade.\n* The ordinal adjective is decimal; the distributive adjective is denary.\n* Increasing a quantity by one order of magnitude is most widely understood to mean multiplying the quantity by ten.\n* To reduce something by one tenth is to decimate. (In ancient Rome, the killing of one in ten soldiers in a cohort was the punishment for cowardice or mutiny; or, one-tenth of the able-bodied men in a village as a form of retribution, thus causing a labor shortage and threat of starvation in agrarian societies.)\n\nIn mathematics\n\nTen is a composite number, its proper divisors being , and . Ten is the smallest noncototient, a number that cannot be expressed as the difference between any integer and the total number of coprimes below it. \n\nTen is the second discrete semiprime (2 × 5) and the second member of the (2 × q) discrete semiprime family. Ten has an aliquot sum σ(n) of 8 and is accordingly the first discrete semiprime to be in deficit. All subsequent discrete semiprimes are in deficit. The aliquot sequence for 10 comprises five members (10,8,7,1,0) with this number being the second composite member of the 7-aliquot tree.\n\nTen is the smallest semiprime that is the sum of all the distinct prime numbers from its lower factor through its higher factor (10 2 + 3 + 5 \n 2 . 5) Only three other small semiprimes (39, 155, and 371) share this attribute.\n\nIt is the aliquot sum of only one number the discrete semiprime 14.\n\nTen is a semi-meandric number.\n\nTen is the sum of the first three prime numbers, of the four first numbers (1 + 2 + 3 + 4), of the square of the two first odd numbers and also of the first four factorials (0! + 1! + 2! + 3!). Ten is the eighth Perrin number, preceded in the sequence by 5, 5, 7.\n\nA polygon with ten sides is a decagon, and 10 is a decagonal number. Because 10 is the product of a power of 2 (namely 21) with nothing but distinct Fermat primes (specifically 5), a regular decagon is a constructible polygon.\n\nTen is also a triangular number, a centered triangular number, and a tetrahedral number. \n\nTen is the number of n queens problem solutions for n = 5.\n\nTen is the smallest number whose status as a possible friendly number is unknown.\n\nIn numeral systems\n\nDecimal system \n\nAs is the case for any base in its system, ten is the first two-digit number in decimal and thus the lowest number where the position of a numeral affects its value. Any integer written in the decimal system can be multiplied by ten by adding a zero to the end (e.g. 855 × 10 = 8550).\n\nRoman numerals \n\nThe Roman numeral for ten is X (which looks like two V's [the Roman numeral for 5] put together); it is thought that the V for five is derived from an open hand (five digits displayed), and X for ten from both hands. Incidentally, the Chinese word numeral for ten, is also a cross: .\n\nPositional numeral systems other than decimal \n\nThe digit '1' followed by '0' is how the value of p is written in base p. (E.g. 16 in hexadecimal is 10.)\n\nProperties:\n* Ten is a Harshad number in bases 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and all others above.\n* In bases 15, 18 and 30, ten is a 1-automorphic number (displayed as the numeral 'A')..\n\nList of basic calculations\n\nIn science\n\nThe SI prefix for 10 is \"deca-\".\n\nThe meaning \"10\" is part of the following terms:\n* decapoda, an order of crustaceans with ten feet\n* decane, a hydrocarbon with 10 carbon atoms\n\nAlso, the number 10 plays a role in the following: \n* The atomic number of neon.\n* The number of hydrogen atoms in butane, a hydrocarbon.\n* The number of spacetime dimensions in some superstring theories.\n\nAstronomy\n\n* The New General Catalogue [http://www.ngcicproject.org/ object] NGC 10, a magnitude 12.5 spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor.\n* The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEsaros/SEsaroscat.html number] of the solar eclipse series which began on February 28, 2467 BC and ended on April 18, 1169 BC. The duration of Saros series 10 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 solar eclipses.\n* The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html number] of the lunar eclipse series which began on June 17, 2454 BC and ended on August 15, 1138 BC. The duration of Saros series 10 was 1316.2 years, and it contained 74 lunar eclipses.\n* Messier object M10, a magnitude 6.4 globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.\n\nIn religion and philosophy\n\n* References in the Bible, Judaism and Christianity:\n** The Ten Commandments of Exodus and Deuteronomy are considered a cornerstone of Judaism and Christianity.\n** People traditionally tithed one-tenth of their produce. The practice of tithing is still common in Christian churches today, though it is disputed in some circles as to whether or not it is required of Christians.\n** In Deuteronomy 26:12, the Torah commands Jews to give one-tenth of their produce to the poor (Maaser Ani). From this verse and from an earlier verse (Deut. 14:22) there derives a practice for Jews to give one-tenth of all earnings to the poor. \n** Ten Plagues were inflicted on Egypt in \n** Jews observe the annual Ten Days of Repentance beginning on Rosh Hashanah and ending on Yom Kippur.\n** In Jewish liturgy, Ten Martyrs are singled out as a group.\n** There are said to be Ten Lost Tribes of Israel (those other than Judah and Benjamin)\n** There are Ten Sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life\n** In Judaism, ten men are the required quorum, called a minyan, for prayer services.\n** Interpretations of Genesis in Talmudic and Midrashic teachings suggest that on the first day, God drew forth ten primal elements from the abyss in order to construct all of Creation: Heaven (or Fire), Earth, Chaos, Void, Light, Darkness, Wind (or Spirit), Water, Day, and Night. See also Bereshit (parsha).\n** Jesus tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins in .\n* In Pythagoreanism, the number 10 played an important role and was symbolized by the tetractys.\n* In Hinduism, Lord Vishnu appeared on the earth in 10 incarnations.\n\nIn money\n\nMost countries issue coins and bills with a denomination of 10 (See e.g. 10 dollar note). Of these, the U.S. dime, with the value of ten cents, or one tenth of a dollar, derives its name from the meaning \"one-tenth\" − see Dime (United States coin)#Denomination history and etymology.\n\nIn music\n\n* The interval of a major tenth is an octave plus a major third.\n* The interval of a minor tenth is an octave plus a minor third.\n* The title of quite a few albums. See Ten (album).\n* \"Ten lords a-leaping\" is the gift on the tenth day of Christmas in the carol \"The Twelve Days of Christmas\"\n\nIn sports and games\n\nThe meaning \"10\" is part of the following terms:\n* decathlon, a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events.\n\nAlso, the number 10 plays a role in the following: \n* In American football, the end zones are 10 yards deep.\n* In association football, the number 10 is traditionally worn by the team's advanced playmaker. This use has led to \"Number 10\" becoming a synonym for the player in that particular role, even if he or she does not wear that number.\n* In Australian rules football, considered the break even amount of games won in a regular 22 game season.\n* In baseball, 10 is the minimum number of players on the field at any given time during play (including the batter).\n* In basketball:\n** The top of the rim (goal) is 10 feet from the floor.\n** In standard full-court basketball, there are 10 players on the court (5 on each team).\n* In blackjack, the Ten, Jack, Queen and King are all worth 10 points.\n* In boxing, if the referees counts to 10 whether the boxer is unconscious or not, it will declare a winner by knockout. \n* In cricket, 10 is the number of wickets required to be taken by the bowling side for the batting side to be bowled out.\n* In gridiron football, 10 is the number of yards the offense must advance to maintain possession in a single set of downs—four in American and three in Canadian.\n* In most rugby league competitions, the number 10 is worn by one of the two starting props. (One exception to this rule is the European Super League, which uses static squad numbering.)\n* In rugby union, the starting fly-half wears the 10 shirt.\n* In ten-pin bowling, 10 pins are arranged in a triangular pattern and there are 10 frames per game.\n* The highest score possible in Olympics gymnastics competitions.\n* Driving a racing car at ten-tenths is driving as fast as possible, on the limit.\n*Danica Patrick's car number in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.\n\nThe jersey number 10 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL.\n\nIn technology\n\n* Ten-codes are commonly used on emergency service radio systems.\n* Ten refers to the \"meter band\" on the radio spectrum between 28 and 29.7 MHz, used by amateur radio.\n* ASCII and Unicode code point for line feed\n* In MIDI, Channel 10 is reserved for unpitched percussion instruments.\n* In the Rich Text Format specification, all language codes for regional variants of the Spanish language are congruent to 10 mod 256.\n* In OS X, the F10 function key tiles all the windows of the current application and grays the windows of other applications.\n* The IP addresses in the range 10.0.0.0/8 (meaning the interval between 10.0.0.0 and 10.255.255.255) is reserved for use by Private networks by RFC 1918.\n\nIn other fields\n\n* Blake Edwards' 1979 movie 10.\n* Series on HBO entitled 1st & Ten which aired between December 1984 and January 1991.\n* Series on ESPN and ESPN2 entitled 1st and 10 which launched on ESPN in October 2003 to 2008 and moved to ESPN2 from 2008 to present.\n* In astrology, Capricorn is the 10th astrological sign of the Zodiac.\n* In Chinese astrology, the 10 Heavenly Stems, refer to a cyclic number system that is used also for time reckoning.\n* A 1977 short documentary film Powers of Ten depicts the relative scale of the Universe in factors of ten (orders of magnitude).\n* CBS has a game show called Power of 10, where the player's prize goes up and down by either the previous or next power of ten.\n* \"Ten Chances\" is one the pricing games on The Price is Right.\n* There are ten official inkblots in the Rorschach inkblot test.\n* The traditional Snellen chart uses 10 different letters.\n* Ten is an Australian television network. The Sydney member of the network has the three-letter call-sign TEN and used to broadcast in analogue on VHF Channel 10.\n* Number Ten (also called Ella) is a character in the book series Lorien Legacies\n* The ten-code may be used in law-enforcement brevity communications.\n\nTen is:\n* Number of kingdoms in Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period\n* House number of 10 Downing Street.\n* The number of Provinces in Canada.\n* The designation of United States Interstate 10, a freeway that runs from California to Florida.\n* Number of dots in a tetractys.\n* The number of the French department Aube.\n* The number of regions in Ghana.\n* The state number of Virginia."],"string":"[\n \"Femto-.txt\\nFemto-\\nFemto- (symbol f) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−15 or . Adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures, it was added in 1964 to the SI. It is derived from the Danish word , meaning \\\"fifteen\\\".\\n\\nExamples of use:\\n* The HIV-1 virus weighs about 1 x 10−18 kg or 1 fg. Orders of magnitude (mass)\\n* a proton has a diameter of about 1.6 to 1.7 femtometres.\\n* More examples available.\\n \\nThe femtometre shares the unit symbol (fm) with the older non-SI unit fermi, to which it is equivalent. The fermi, named in honour of Enrico Fermi, is often encountered in nuclear physics.\",\n \"10_(number).txt\\n10 (number)\\n10 (ten) is an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. The reason for the choice of ten is assumed to be that humans have ten fingers (digits). \\n\\nCommon usage and derived terms \\n\\n* A collection of ten items (most often ten years) is called a decade.\\n* The ordinal adjective is decimal; the distributive adjective is denary.\\n* Increasing a quantity by one order of magnitude is most widely understood to mean multiplying the quantity by ten.\\n* To reduce something by one tenth is to decimate. (In ancient Rome, the killing of one in ten soldiers in a cohort was the punishment for cowardice or mutiny; or, one-tenth of the able-bodied men in a village as a form of retribution, thus causing a labor shortage and threat of starvation in agrarian societies.)\\n\\nIn mathematics\\n\\nTen is a composite number, its proper divisors being , and . Ten is the smallest noncototient, a number that cannot be expressed as the difference between any integer and the total number of coprimes below it. \\n\\nTen is the second discrete semiprime (2 × 5) and the second member of the (2 × q) discrete semiprime family. Ten has an aliquot sum σ(n) of 8 and is accordingly the first discrete semiprime to be in deficit. All subsequent discrete semiprimes are in deficit. The aliquot sequence for 10 comprises five members (10,8,7,1,0) with this number being the second composite member of the 7-aliquot tree.\\n\\nTen is the smallest semiprime that is the sum of all the distinct prime numbers from its lower factor through its higher factor (10 2 + 3 + 5 \\n 2 . 5) Only three other small semiprimes (39, 155, and 371) share this attribute.\\n\\nIt is the aliquot sum of only one number the discrete semiprime 14.\\n\\nTen is a semi-meandric number.\\n\\nTen is the sum of the first three prime numbers, of the four first numbers (1 + 2 + 3 + 4), of the square of the two first odd numbers and also of the first four factorials (0! + 1! + 2! + 3!). Ten is the eighth Perrin number, preceded in the sequence by 5, 5, 7.\\n\\nA polygon with ten sides is a decagon, and 10 is a decagonal number. Because 10 is the product of a power of 2 (namely 21) with nothing but distinct Fermat primes (specifically 5), a regular decagon is a constructible polygon.\\n\\nTen is also a triangular number, a centered triangular number, and a tetrahedral number. \\n\\nTen is the number of n queens problem solutions for n = 5.\\n\\nTen is the smallest number whose status as a possible friendly number is unknown.\\n\\nIn numeral systems\\n\\nDecimal system \\n\\nAs is the case for any base in its system, ten is the first two-digit number in decimal and thus the lowest number where the position of a numeral affects its value. Any integer written in the decimal system can be multiplied by ten by adding a zero to the end (e.g. 855 × 10 = 8550).\\n\\nRoman numerals \\n\\nThe Roman numeral for ten is X (which looks like two V's [the Roman numeral for 5] put together); it is thought that the V for five is derived from an open hand (five digits displayed), and X for ten from both hands. Incidentally, the Chinese word numeral for ten, is also a cross: .\\n\\nPositional numeral systems other than decimal \\n\\nThe digit '1' followed by '0' is how the value of p is written in base p. (E.g. 16 in hexadecimal is 10.)\\n\\nProperties:\\n* Ten is a Harshad number in bases 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and all others above.\\n* In bases 15, 18 and 30, ten is a 1-automorphic number (displayed as the numeral 'A')..\\n\\nList of basic calculations\\n\\nIn science\\n\\nThe SI prefix for 10 is \\\"deca-\\\".\\n\\nThe meaning \\\"10\\\" is part of the following terms:\\n* decapoda, an order of crustaceans with ten feet\\n* decane, a hydrocarbon with 10 carbon atoms\\n\\nAlso, the number 10 plays a role in the following: \\n* The atomic number of neon.\\n* The number of hydrogen atoms in butane, a hydrocarbon.\\n* The number of spacetime dimensions in some superstring theories.\\n\\nAstronomy\\n\\n* The New General Catalogue [http://www.ngcicproject.org/ object] NGC 10, a magnitude 12.5 spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor.\\n* The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEsaros/SEsaroscat.html number] of the solar eclipse series which began on February 28, 2467 BC and ended on April 18, 1169 BC. The duration of Saros series 10 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 solar eclipses.\\n* The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html number] of the lunar eclipse series which began on June 17, 2454 BC and ended on August 15, 1138 BC. The duration of Saros series 10 was 1316.2 years, and it contained 74 lunar eclipses.\\n* Messier object M10, a magnitude 6.4 globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.\\n\\nIn religion and philosophy\\n\\n* References in the Bible, Judaism and Christianity:\\n** The Ten Commandments of Exodus and Deuteronomy are considered a cornerstone of Judaism and Christianity.\\n** People traditionally tithed one-tenth of their produce. The practice of tithing is still common in Christian churches today, though it is disputed in some circles as to whether or not it is required of Christians.\\n** In Deuteronomy 26:12, the Torah commands Jews to give one-tenth of their produce to the poor (Maaser Ani). From this verse and from an earlier verse (Deut. 14:22) there derives a practice for Jews to give one-tenth of all earnings to the poor. \\n** Ten Plagues were inflicted on Egypt in \\n** Jews observe the annual Ten Days of Repentance beginning on Rosh Hashanah and ending on Yom Kippur.\\n** In Jewish liturgy, Ten Martyrs are singled out as a group.\\n** There are said to be Ten Lost Tribes of Israel (those other than Judah and Benjamin)\\n** There are Ten Sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life\\n** In Judaism, ten men are the required quorum, called a minyan, for prayer services.\\n** Interpretations of Genesis in Talmudic and Midrashic teachings suggest that on the first day, God drew forth ten primal elements from the abyss in order to construct all of Creation: Heaven (or Fire), Earth, Chaos, Void, Light, Darkness, Wind (or Spirit), Water, Day, and Night. See also Bereshit (parsha).\\n** Jesus tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins in .\\n* In Pythagoreanism, the number 10 played an important role and was symbolized by the tetractys.\\n* In Hinduism, Lord Vishnu appeared on the earth in 10 incarnations.\\n\\nIn money\\n\\nMost countries issue coins and bills with a denomination of 10 (See e.g. 10 dollar note). Of these, the U.S. dime, with the value of ten cents, or one tenth of a dollar, derives its name from the meaning \\\"one-tenth\\\" − see Dime (United States coin)#Denomination history and etymology.\\n\\nIn music\\n\\n* The interval of a major tenth is an octave plus a major third.\\n* The interval of a minor tenth is an octave plus a minor third.\\n* The title of quite a few albums. See Ten (album).\\n* \\\"Ten lords a-leaping\\\" is the gift on the tenth day of Christmas in the carol \\\"The Twelve Days of Christmas\\\"\\n\\nIn sports and games\\n\\nThe meaning \\\"10\\\" is part of the following terms:\\n* decathlon, a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events.\\n\\nAlso, the number 10 plays a role in the following: \\n* In American football, the end zones are 10 yards deep.\\n* In association football, the number 10 is traditionally worn by the team's advanced playmaker. This use has led to \\\"Number 10\\\" becoming a synonym for the player in that particular role, even if he or she does not wear that number.\\n* In Australian rules football, considered the break even amount of games won in a regular 22 game season.\\n* In baseball, 10 is the minimum number of players on the field at any given time during play (including the batter).\\n* In basketball:\\n** The top of the rim (goal) is 10 feet from the floor.\\n** In standard full-court basketball, there are 10 players on the court (5 on each team).\\n* In blackjack, the Ten, Jack, Queen and King are all worth 10 points.\\n* In boxing, if the referees counts to 10 whether the boxer is unconscious or not, it will declare a winner by knockout. \\n* In cricket, 10 is the number of wickets required to be taken by the bowling side for the batting side to be bowled out.\\n* In gridiron football, 10 is the number of yards the offense must advance to maintain possession in a single set of downs—four in American and three in Canadian.\\n* In most rugby league competitions, the number 10 is worn by one of the two starting props. (One exception to this rule is the European Super League, which uses static squad numbering.)\\n* In rugby union, the starting fly-half wears the 10 shirt.\\n* In ten-pin bowling, 10 pins are arranged in a triangular pattern and there are 10 frames per game.\\n* The highest score possible in Olympics gymnastics competitions.\\n* Driving a racing car at ten-tenths is driving as fast as possible, on the limit.\\n*Danica Patrick's car number in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.\\n\\nThe jersey number 10 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL.\\n\\nIn technology\\n\\n* Ten-codes are commonly used on emergency service radio systems.\\n* Ten refers to the \\\"meter band\\\" on the radio spectrum between 28 and 29.7 MHz, used by amateur radio.\\n* ASCII and Unicode code point for line feed\\n* In MIDI, Channel 10 is reserved for unpitched percussion instruments.\\n* In the Rich Text Format specification, all language codes for regional variants of the Spanish language are congruent to 10 mod 256.\\n* In OS X, the F10 function key tiles all the windows of the current application and grays the windows of other applications.\\n* The IP addresses in the range 10.0.0.0/8 (meaning the interval between 10.0.0.0 and 10.255.255.255) is reserved for use by Private networks by RFC 1918.\\n\\nIn other fields\\n\\n* Blake Edwards' 1979 movie 10.\\n* Series on HBO entitled 1st & Ten which aired between December 1984 and January 1991.\\n* Series on ESPN and ESPN2 entitled 1st and 10 which launched on ESPN in October 2003 to 2008 and moved to ESPN2 from 2008 to present.\\n* In astrology, Capricorn is the 10th astrological sign of the Zodiac.\\n* In Chinese astrology, the 10 Heavenly Stems, refer to a cyclic number system that is used also for time reckoning.\\n* A 1977 short documentary film Powers of Ten depicts the relative scale of the Universe in factors of ten (orders of magnitude).\\n* CBS has a game show called Power of 10, where the player's prize goes up and down by either the previous or next power of ten.\\n* \\\"Ten Chances\\\" is one the pricing games on The Price is Right.\\n* There are ten official inkblots in the Rorschach inkblot test.\\n* The traditional Snellen chart uses 10 different letters.\\n* Ten is an Australian television network. The Sydney member of the network has the three-letter call-sign TEN and used to broadcast in analogue on VHF Channel 10.\\n* Number Ten (also called Ella) is a character in the book series Lorien Legacies\\n* The ten-code may be used in law-enforcement brevity communications.\\n\\nTen is:\\n* Number of kingdoms in Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period\\n* House number of 10 Downing Street.\\n* The number of Provinces in Canada.\\n* The designation of United States Interstate 10, a freeway that runs from California to Florida.\\n* Number of dots in a tetractys.\\n* The number of the French department Aube.\\n* The number of regions in Ghana.\\n* The state number of Virginia.\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2281"],"string":"[\n \"2281\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["SI prefixes for decimal multiples - Optus\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples. ... (the sixth power of 10 3) ... The names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, ...\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nThere are 20 internationally accepted prefixes to denote 10n multiples of units. 10 of these prefixes denote (n>0) multiples, and other 10 denote (n<0) submultiples:\nSI Prefixes for decimal multiples\nNumber\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1024\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1021\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1018\n1 000 000 000 000 000\n1015\n1 000 000 000 000\n1012\n0.000 000 000 000 001\n10-15\n0.000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-18\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-21\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-24\nyocto\ny\nEach prefix is represented by its own symbol. The symbols are case sensitive. Thus, m means milli and M means mega.\nPrefixes ranging from milli to kilo were first introduced in 1793 by the French Academy of Sciences under direction of French National Assembly as part of the Metric System. Greek prefixes were used for multiples of 10 and Latin prefixes for submultiples of 10. In 1874 BAAS adapted these prefixes as part of their CGS system, and added prefixes micro and mega. Later, 12 prefixes ranging from pico to tera were defined as part of the International System of Units — SI , which was adopted in 1960. SI is maintained by BIPM under exclusive supervision of CIPM and resolutions made by CGPM . Further 8 prefixes were added to SI in years 1964 (femto, atto), 1975 (peta, exa) and 1991 (zetta, zepto, yotta, yocto).\nThe prefixes have the following etymology:\nexa — alteration of hexa from Greek hex meaning “six” (the sixth power of 103)\npeta — alteration of penta from Greek pente meaning “five” (the fifth power of 103)\ntera — from Greek teras meaning “monster”\ngiga — from Greek gigas meaning “giant”\nmega — from Greek megas meaning “great”\nkilo — from Greek khilioi meaning “thousand”\nhecto — French, alteration of Greek hekaton meaning “hundred”\ndeca — from Greek deka meaning “ten”\ndeci — from Latin decimus meaning tenth, from decem meaning “ten”\ncenti — from Latin centi-, from centum meaning “hundred”\nmilli — from Latin mille meaning “thousand”\nmicro — from Greek mikros meaning “small”\nnano — from Greek nannos meaning “dwarf”\npico — from Spanish pico meaning “small quantity”\nfemto — from Danish, or Norwegian word femten meaning “fifteen”\natto — from Danish, or Norwegian word atten meaning “eighteen”\nThe names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, from Latin septem which means seven (the seventh power of 103) and the letter ‘z’ is substituted for the letter ‘s’ to avoid the duplicate use of the letter ‘s’ as a symbol in SI . The names yocto and yotta are derived from Latin octo which means eight (the eighth power of 103); the letter ‘y’ is added to avoid the use of the letter ‘o’ as a symbol because it may be confused with the number zero. The CGPM has decided to name the prefixes, starting with the seventh power of 103, with the letters of the Latin alphabet, but starting from the end. Therefore the choice of letters ‘z’ and ‘y’. The initial letter ‘h’ of the word hexa in standard French is silent, so it was removed in order to simplify things.","SI prefixes for decimal multiples - Optus\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples. ... 10-6: micro: µ: 0.000 000 001: 10-9: nano: n: 0.000 000 000 001: ... (the eighth power of 10 3); ...\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nThere are 20 internationally accepted prefixes to denote 10n multiples of units. 10 of these prefixes denote (n>0) multiples, and other 10 denote (n<0) submultiples:\nSI Prefixes for decimal multiples\nNumber\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1024\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1021\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1018\n1 000 000 000 000 000\n1015\n1 000 000 000 000\n1012\n0.000 000 000 000 001\n10-15\n0.000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-18\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-21\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-24\nyocto\ny\nEach prefix is represented by its own symbol. The symbols are case sensitive. Thus, m means milli and M means mega.\nPrefixes ranging from milli to kilo were first introduced in 1793 by the French Academy of Sciences under direction of French National Assembly as part of the Metric System. Greek prefixes were used for multiples of 10 and Latin prefixes for submultiples of 10. In 1874 BAAS adapted these prefixes as part of their CGS system, and added prefixes micro and mega. Later, 12 prefixes ranging from pico to tera were defined as part of the International System of Units — SI , which was adopted in 1960. SI is maintained by BIPM under exclusive supervision of CIPM and resolutions made by CGPM . Further 8 prefixes were added to SI in years 1964 (femto, atto), 1975 (peta, exa) and 1991 (zetta, zepto, yotta, yocto).\nThe prefixes have the following etymology:\nexa — alteration of hexa from Greek hex meaning “six” (the sixth power of 103)\npeta — alteration of penta from Greek pente meaning “five” (the fifth power of 103)\ntera — from Greek teras meaning “monster”\ngiga — from Greek gigas meaning “giant”\nmega — from Greek megas meaning “great”\nkilo — from Greek khilioi meaning “thousand”\nhecto — French, alteration of Greek hekaton meaning “hundred”\ndeca — from Greek deka meaning “ten”\ndeci — from Latin decimus meaning tenth, from decem meaning “ten”\ncenti — from Latin centi-, from centum meaning “hundred”\nmilli — from Latin mille meaning “thousand”\nmicro — from Greek mikros meaning “small”\nnano — from Greek nannos meaning “dwarf”\npico — from Spanish pico meaning “small quantity”\nfemto — from Danish, or Norwegian word femten meaning “fifteen”\natto — from Danish, or Norwegian word atten meaning “eighteen”\nThe names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, from Latin septem which means seven (the seventh power of 103) and the letter ‘z’ is substituted for the letter ‘s’ to avoid the duplicate use of the letter ‘s’ as a symbol in SI . The names yocto and yotta are derived from Latin octo which means eight (the eighth power of 103); the letter ‘y’ is added to avoid the use of the letter ‘o’ as a symbol because it may be confused with the number zero. The CGPM has decided to name the prefixes, starting with the seventh power of 103, with the letters of the Latin alphabet, but starting from the end. Therefore the choice of letters ‘z’ and ‘y’. The initial letter ‘h’ of the word hexa in standard French is silent, so it was removed in order to simplify things.","Units: Metric Prefixes - The University of North Carolina ...\nMetric Prefixes. To help the SI units ... nano- (n-) 10-9. 1 billionth. pico- (p-) 10-12. ... The last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the ...\nUnits: Metric Prefixes\nUsing the Dictionary\nMetric Prefixes\nTo help the SI units apply to a wide range of phenomena, the 19th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1991 extended the list of metric prefixes so that it reaches from yotta- at 1024 (one septillion) to yocto- at 10-24 (one septillionth). Here are the metric prefixes, with their numerical equivalents stated in the American system for naming large numbers :\nyotta- (Y-)\n \nNotes:\nI am often asked about prefixes for other multiples, such as 104, 105, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was formerly used for 104, but it is now considered obsolete and it is not accepted in the SI. To the best of my knowledge, no prefixes were ever accepted generally for 105, 10-4, or 10-5.\nThere is a widespread misconception that prefixes for positive powers of ten are all capitalized, leading to the use of K- for kilo- and D- for deca-. Although this does seem like a useful idea, it is not correct.\n**The SI Brochure spelling of this prefix is deca-, but the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends deka-. National variations in spelling of the prefixes are allowed by the SI . In Italian, for example, hecto- is spelled etto- and kilo- is spelled chilo-. The symbols, however, are the same in all languages, so dam (not dkm) is the symbol for the dekameter and km is the symbol for the Italian chilometro.\nThe prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.\nThe last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the unit name is a vowel, causing the combination to be hard to pronounce otherwise. Thus 100 ares is a hectare and 1 million ohms is a megohm. However, the last letter of the prefix is not omitted if pronunciation is not a problem, as in the case of the milliampere. The letter \"l\" is sometimes added to prefixes before the erg, so 1 million ergs is a megalerg (sounds odd, but better than \"megerg\").\nBinary prefixes\nIn computing, a custom arose of using the metric prefixes to specify powers of 2. For example, a kilobit is usually 210 = 1024 bits instead of 1000 bits. This practice leads to considerable confusion. In an effort to eliminate this confusion, in 1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission approved new prefixes for the powers of 2. These prefixes are as follows:\nkibi-\nEi-\n260 = 1 152 921 504 606 846 976\nThe Commission's ruling is that the metric prefixes should be used in computing just as they are used in other fields. Thus, 5 gigabytes (GB) should mean exactly 5 000 000 000 bytes, and 5 gibibytes (GiB) should mean exactly 5 368 709 120 bytes.\nThe fate of this innovation is uncertain. So far, very few people are using the IEC binary prefixes. Searches for them on the Internet turn up, for the most part, complaints by people who don't want to use them.\nReturn to the Dictionary Contents page .\nYou are welcome to email the author (rowlett@email.unc.edu) with comments and suggestions.\nAll material in this folder is copyright © 2005 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Permission is granted for personal use and for use by individual teachers in conducting their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to make links to this page, but please do not copy the contents of any page in this folder to another site. The material at this site will be updated from time to time.\nApril 16, 2005","Units: Metric Prefixes - The University of North Carolina ...\nMetric Prefixes. To help the SI units ... zetta- (Z-) 10 21. 1 sextillion. exa- (E-) 10 18. ... such as 10 4, 10 5, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was ...\nUnits: Metric Prefixes\nUsing the Dictionary\nMetric Prefixes\nTo help the SI units apply to a wide range of phenomena, the 19th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1991 extended the list of metric prefixes so that it reaches from yotta- at 1024 (one septillion) to yocto- at 10-24 (one septillionth). Here are the metric prefixes, with their numerical equivalents stated in the American system for naming large numbers :\nyotta- (Y-)\n \nNotes:\nI am often asked about prefixes for other multiples, such as 104, 105, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was formerly used for 104, but it is now considered obsolete and it is not accepted in the SI. To the best of my knowledge, no prefixes were ever accepted generally for 105, 10-4, or 10-5.\nThere is a widespread misconception that prefixes for positive powers of ten are all capitalized, leading to the use of K- for kilo- and D- for deca-. Although this does seem like a useful idea, it is not correct.\n**The SI Brochure spelling of this prefix is deca-, but the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends deka-. National variations in spelling of the prefixes are allowed by the SI . In Italian, for example, hecto- is spelled etto- and kilo- is spelled chilo-. The symbols, however, are the same in all languages, so dam (not dkm) is the symbol for the dekameter and km is the symbol for the Italian chilometro.\nThe prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.\nThe last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the unit name is a vowel, causing the combination to be hard to pronounce otherwise. Thus 100 ares is a hectare and 1 million ohms is a megohm. However, the last letter of the prefix is not omitted if pronunciation is not a problem, as in the case of the milliampere. The letter \"l\" is sometimes added to prefixes before the erg, so 1 million ergs is a megalerg (sounds odd, but better than \"megerg\").\nBinary prefixes\nIn computing, a custom arose of using the metric prefixes to specify powers of 2. For example, a kilobit is usually 210 = 1024 bits instead of 1000 bits. This practice leads to considerable confusion. In an effort to eliminate this confusion, in 1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission approved new prefixes for the powers of 2. These prefixes are as follows:\nkibi-\nEi-\n260 = 1 152 921 504 606 846 976\nThe Commission's ruling is that the metric prefixes should be used in computing just as they are used in other fields. Thus, 5 gigabytes (GB) should mean exactly 5 000 000 000 bytes, and 5 gibibytes (GiB) should mean exactly 5 368 709 120 bytes.\nThe fate of this innovation is uncertain. So far, very few people are using the IEC binary prefixes. Searches for them on the Internet turn up, for the most part, complaints by people who don't want to use them.\nReturn to the Dictionary Contents page .\nYou are welcome to email the author (rowlett@email.unc.edu) with comments and suggestions.\nAll material in this folder is copyright © 2005 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Permission is granted for personal use and for use by individual teachers in conducting their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to make links to this page, but please do not copy the contents of any page in this folder to another site. The material at this site will be updated from time to time.\nApril 16, 2005","Lessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I (DC) - Chapter 4\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I ... (from 10 to the 6th power to 10 to the -3rd power ... All the user has to do is memorize a few prefix/power combinations, ...\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I (DC) - Chapter 4\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I\nChapter 4\nScientific notation\nIn many disciplines of science and engineering, very large and very small numerical quantities must be managed. Some of these quantities are mind-boggling in their size, either extremely small or extremely large. Take for example the mass of a proton, one of the constituent particles of an atom's nucleus:\nProton mass = 0.00000000000000000000000167 grams\nOr, consider the number of electrons passing by a point in a circuit every second with a steady electric current of 1 amp:\n1 amp = 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second\nA lot of zeros, isn't it? Obviously, it can get quite confusing to have to handle so many zero digits in numbers such as this, even with the help of calculators and computers.\nTake note of those two numbers and of the relative sparsity of non-zero digits in them. For the mass of the proton, all we have is a \"167\" preceded by 23 zeros before the decimal point. For the number of electrons per second in 1 amp, we have \"625\" followed by 16 zeros. We call the span of non-zero digits (from first to last), plus any zero digits not merely used for placeholding, the \"significant digits\" of any number.\nThe significant digits in a real-world measurement are typically reflective of the accuracy of that measurement. For example, if we were to say that a car weighs 3,000 pounds, we probably don't mean that the car in question weighs exactly 3,000 pounds, but that we've rounded its weight to a value more convenient to say and remember. That rounded figure of 3,000 has only one significant digit: the \"3\" in front -- the zeros merely serve as placeholders. However, if we were to say that the car weighed 3,005 pounds, the fact that the weight is not rounded to the nearest thousand pounds tells us that the two zeros in the middle aren't just placeholders, but that all four digits of the number \"3,005\" are significant to its representative accuracy. Thus, the number \"3,005\" is said to have four significant figures.\nIn like manner, numbers with many zero digits are not necessarily representative of a real-world quantity all the way to the decimal point. When this is known to be the case, such a number can be written in a kind of mathematical \"shorthand\" to make it easier to deal with. This \"shorthand\" is called scientific notation.\nWith scientific notation, a number is written by representing its significant digits as a quantity between 1 and 10 (or -1 and -10, for negative numbers), and the \"placeholder\" zeros are accounted for by a power-of-ten multiplier. For example:\n1 amp = 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second\n. . . can be expressed as . . .\n1 amp = 6.25 x 1018 electrons per second\n10 to the 18th power (1018) means 10 multiplied by itself 18 times, or a \"1\" followed by 18 zeros. Multiplied by 6.25, it looks like \"625\" followed by 16 zeros (take 6.25 and skip the decimal point 18 places to the right). The advantages of scientific notation are obvious: the number isn't as unwieldy when written on paper, and the significant digits are plain to identify.\nBut what about very small numbers, like the mass of the proton in grams? We can still use scientific notation, except with a negative power-of-ten instead of a positive one, to shift the decimal point to the left instead of to the right:\nProton mass = 0.00000000000000000000000167 grams\n. . . can be expressed as . . .\nProton mass = 1.67 x 10-24 grams\n10 to the -24th power (10-24) means the inverse (1/x) of 10 multiplied by itself 24 times, or a \"1\" preceded by a decimal point and 23 zeros. Multiplied by 1.67, it looks like \"167\" preceded by a decimal point and 23 zeros. Just as in the case with the very large number, it is a lot easier for a human being to deal with this \"shorthand\" notation. As with the prior case, the significant digits in this quantity are clearly expressed.\nBecause the significant digits are represented \"on their own,\" away from the power-of-ten multiplier, it is easy to show a level of precision even when the number looks round. Taking our 3,000 pound car example, we could express the rounded number of 3,000 in scientific notation as such:\ncar weight = 3 x 103 pounds\nIf the car actually weighed 3,005 pounds (accurate to the nearest pound) and we wanted to be able to express that full accuracy of measurement, the scientific notation figure could be written like this:\ncar weight = 3.005 x 103 pounds\nHowever, what if the car actually did weigh 3,000 pounds, exactly (to the nearest pound)? If we were to write its weight in \"normal\" form (3,000 lbs), it wouldn't necessarily be clear that this number was indeed accurate to the nearest pound and not just rounded to the nearest thousand pounds, or to the nearest hundred pounds, or to the nearest ten pounds. Scientific notation, on the other hand, allows us to show that all four digits are significant with no misunderstanding:\ncar weight = 3.000 x 103 pounds\nSince there would be no point in adding extra zeros to the right of the decimal point (placeholding zeros being unnecessary with scientific notation), we know those zeros must be significant to the precision of the figure.\nArithmetic with scientific notation\nThe benefits of scientific notation do not end with ease of writing and expression of accuracy. Such notation also lends itself well to mathematical problems of multiplication and division. Let's say we wanted to know how many electrons would flow past a point in a circuit carrying 1 amp of electric current in 25 seconds. If we know the number of electrons per second in the circuit (which we do), then all we need to do is multiply that quantity by the number of seconds (25) to arrive at an answer of total electrons:\n(6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second) x (25 seconds) =\n156,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons passing by in 25 seconds\nUsing scientific notation, we can write the problem like this:\n(6.25 x 1018 electrons per second) x (25 seconds)\nIf we take the \"6.25\" and multiply it by 25, we get 156.25. So, the answer could be written as:\n156.25 x 1018 electrons\nHowever, if we want to hold to standard convention for scientific notation, we must represent the significant digits as a number between 1 and 10. In this case, we'd say \"1.5625\" multiplied by some power-of-ten. To obtain 1.5625 from 156.25, we have to skip the decimal point two places to the left. To compensate for this without changing the value of the number, we have to raise our power by two notches (10 to the 20th power instead of 10 to the 18th):\n1.5625 x 1020 electrons\nWhat if we wanted to see how many electrons would pass by in 3,600 seconds (1 hour)? To make our job easier, we could put the time in scientific notation as well:\n(6.25 x 1018 electrons per second) x (3.6 x 103 seconds)\nTo multiply, we must take the two significant sets of digits (6.25 and 3.6) and multiply them together; and we need to take the two powers-of-ten and multiply them together. Taking 6.25 times 3.6, we get 22.5. Taking 1018 times 103, we get 1021 (exponents with common base numbers add). So, the answer is:\n22.5 x 1021 electrons\n. . . or more properly . . .\n2.25 x 1022 electrons\nTo illustrate how division works with scientific notation, we could figure that last problem \"backwards\" to find out how long it would take for that many electrons to pass by at a current of 1 amp:\n(2.25 x 1022 electrons) / (6.25 x 1018 electrons per second)\nJust as in multiplication, we can handle the significant digits and powers-of-ten in separate steps (remember that you subtract the exponents of divided powers-of-ten):\n(2.25 / 6.25) x (1022 / 1018)\nAnd the answer is: 0.36 x 104, or 3.6 x 103, seconds. You can see that we arrived at the same quantity of time (3600 seconds). Now, you may be wondering what the point of all this is when we have electronic calculators that can handle the math automatically. Well, back in the days of scientists and engineers using \"slide rule\" analog computers, these techniques were indispensable. The \"hard\" arithmetic (dealing with the significant digit figures) would be performed with the slide rule while the powers-of-ten could be figured without any help at all, being nothing more than simple addition and subtraction.\nREVIEW:\nSignificant digits are representative of the real-world accuracy of a number.\nScientific notation is a \"shorthand\" method to represent very large and very small numbers in easily-handled form.\nWhen multiplying two numbers in scientific notation, you can multiply the two significant digit figures and arrive at a power-of-ten by adding exponents.\nWhen dividing two numbers in scientific notation, you can divide the two significant digit figures and arrive at a power-of-ten by subtracting exponents.\nMetric notation\nThe metric system, besides being a collection of measurement units for all sorts of physical quantities, is structured around the concept of scientific notation. The primary difference is that the powers-of-ten are represented with alphabetical prefixes instead of by literal powers-of-ten. The following number line shows some of the more common prefixes and their respective powers-of-ten:\nLooking at this scale, we can see that 2.5 Gigabytes would mean 2.5 x 109 bytes, or 2.5 billion bytes. Likewise, 3.21 picoamps would mean 3.21 x 10-12 amps, or 3.21 1/trillionths of an amp.\nOther metric prefixes exist to symbolize powers of ten for extremely small and extremely large multipliers. On the extremely small end of the spectrum, femto (f) = 10-15, atto (a) = 10-18, zepto (z) = 10-21, and yocto (y) = 10-24. On the extremely large end of the spectrum, Peta (P) = 1015, Exa (E) = 1018, Zetta (Z) = 1021, and Yotta (Y) = 1024.\nBecause the major prefixes in the metric system refer to powers of 10 that are multiples of 3 (from \"kilo\" on up, and from \"milli\" on down), metric notation differs from regular scientific notation in that the mantissa can be anywhere between 1 and 999, depending on which prefix is chosen. For example, if a laboratory sample weighs 0.000267 grams, scientific notation and metric notation would express it differently:\n2.67 x 10-4 grams (scientific notation)\n267 µgrams (metric notation)\nThe same figure may also be expressed as 0.267 milligrams (0.267 mg), although it is usually more common to see the significant digits represented as a figure greater than 1.\nIn recent years a new style of metric notation for electric quantities has emerged which seeks to avoid the use of the decimal point. Since decimal points (\".\") are easily misread and/or \"lost\" due to poor print quality, quantities such as 4.7 k may be mistaken for 47 k. The new notation replaces the decimal point with the metric prefix character, so that \"4.7 k\" is printed instead as \"4k7\". Our last figure from the prior example, \"0.267 m\", would be expressed in the new notation as \"0m267\".\nREVIEW:\nThe metric system of notation uses alphabetical prefixes to represent certain powers-of-ten instead of the lengthier scientific notation.\nMetric prefix conversions\nTo express a quantity in a different metric prefix that what it was originally given, all we need to do is skip the decimal point to the right or to the left as needed. Notice that the metric prefix \"number line\" in the previous section was laid out from larger to smaller, left to right. This layout was purposely chosen to make it easier to remember which direction you need to skip the decimal point for any given conversion.\nExample problem: express 0.000023 amps in terms of microamps.\n0.000023 amps (has no prefix, just plain unit of amps)\nFrom UNITS to micro on the number line is 6 places (powers of ten) to the right, so we need to skip the decimal point 6 places to the right:\n0.000023 amps = 23. , or 23 microamps (µA)\nExample problem: express 304,212 volts in terms of kilovolts.\n304,212 volts (has no prefix, just plain unit of volts)\nFrom the (none) place to kilo place on the number line is 3 places (powers of ten) to the left, so we need to skip the decimal point 3 places to the left:\n304,212. = 304.212 kilovolts (kV)\nExample problem: express 50.3 Mega-ohms in terms of milli-ohms.\n50.3 M ohms (mega = 106)\nFrom mega to milli is 9 places (powers of ten) to the right (from 10 to the 6th power to 10 to the -3rd power), so we need to skip the decimal point 9 places to the right:\n50.3 M ohms = 50,300,000,000 milli-ohms (mΩ)\nREVIEW:\nFollow the metric prefix number line to know which direction you skip the decimal point for conversion purposes.\nA number with no decimal point shown has an implicit decimal point to the immediate right of the furthest right digit (i.e. for the number 436 the decimal point is to the right of the 6, as such: 436.)\nHand calculator use\nTo enter numbers in scientific notation into a hand calculator, there is usually a button marked \"E\" or \"EE\" used to enter the correct power of ten. For example, to enter the mass of a proton in grams (1.67 x 10-24 grams) into a hand calculator, I would enter the following keystrokes:\n[1] [.] [6] [7] [EE] [2] [4] [+/-]\nThe [+/-] keystroke changes the sign of the power (24) into a -24. Some calculators allow the use of the subtraction key [-] to do this, but I prefer the \"change sign\" [+/-] key because its more consistent with the use of that key in other contexts.\nIf I wanted to enter a negative number in scientific notation into a hand calculator, I would have to be careful how I used the [+/-] key, lest I change the sign of the power and not the significant digit value. Pay attention to this example:\nNumber to be entered: -3.221 x 10-15:\n[3] [.] [2] [2] [1] [+/-] [EE] [1] [5] [+/-]\nThe first [+/-] keystroke changes the entry from 3.221 to -3.221; the second [+/-] keystroke changes the power from 15 to -15.\nDisplaying metric and scientific notation on a hand calculator is a different matter. It involves changing the display option from the normal \"fixed\" decimal point mode to the \"scientific\" or \"engineering\" mode. Your calculator manual will tell you how to set each display mode.\nThese display modes tell the calculator how to represent any number on the numerical readout. The actual value of the number is not affected in any way by the choice of display modes -- only how the number appears to the calculator user. Likewise, the procedure for entering numbers into the calculator does not change with different display modes either. Powers of ten are usually represented by a pair of digits in the upper-right hand corner of the display, and are visible only in the \"scientific\" and \"engineering\" modes.\nThe difference between \"scientific\" and \"engineering\" display modes is the difference between scientific and metric notation. In \"scientific\" mode, the power-of-ten display is set so that the main number on the display is always a value between 1 and 10 (or -1 and -10 for negative numbers). In \"engineering\" mode, the powers-of-ten are set to display in multiples of 3, to represent the major metric prefixes. All the user has to do is memorize a few prefix/power combinations, and his or her calculator will be \"speaking\" metric!\nPOWER METRIC PREFIX ----- ------------- 12 ......... Tera (T) 9 .......... Giga (G) 6 .......... Mega (M) 3 .......... Kilo (k) 0 .......... UNITS (plain) -3 ......... milli (m) -6 ......... micro (u) -9 ......... nano (n) -12 ........ pico (p)\nREVIEW:\nUse the [EE] key to enter powers of ten.\nUse \"scientific\" or \"engineering\" to display powers of ten, in scientific or metric notation, respectively.\nScientific notation in SPICE\nThe SPICE circuit simulation computer program uses scientific notation to display its output information, and can interpret both scientific notation and metric prefixes in the circuit description files. If you are going to be able to successfully interpret the SPICE analyses throughout this book, you must be able to understand the notation used to express variables of voltage, current, etc. in the program.\nLet's start with a very simple circuit composed of one voltage source (a battery) and one resistor:\nTo simulate this circuit using SPICE, we first have to designate node numbers for all the distinct points in the circuit, then list the components along with their respective node numbers so the computer knows which component is connected to which, and how. For a circuit of this simplicity, the use of SPICE seems like overkill, but it serves the purpose of demonstrating practical use of scientific notation:\nTyping out a circuit description file, or netlist, for this circuit, we get this:\nsimple circuit v1 1 0 dc 24 r1 1 0 5 .end\nThe line \"v1 1 0 dc 24\" describes the battery, positioned between nodes 1 and 0, with a DC voltage of 24 volts. The line \"r1 1 0 5\" describes the 5 Ω resistor placed between nodes 1 and 0.\nUsing a computer to run a SPICE analysis on this circuit description file, we get the following results:\nnode voltage ( 1) 24.0000\nvoltage source currents name current v1 -4.800E+00 total power dissipation 1.15E+02 watts\nSPICE tells us that the voltage \"at\" node number 1 (actually, this means the voltage between nodes 1 and 0, node 0 being the default reference point for all voltage measurements) is equal to 24 volts. The current through battery \"v1\" is displayed as -4.800E+00 amps. This is SPICE's method of denoting scientific notation. What its really saying is \"-4.800 x 100 amps,\" or simply -4.800 amps. The negative value for current here is due to a quirk in SPICE and does not indicate anything significant about the circuit itself. The \"total power dissipation\" is given to us as 1.15E+02 watts, which means \"1.15 x 102 watts,\" or 115 watts.\nLet's modify our example circuit so that it has a 5 kΩ (5 kilo-ohm, or 5,000 ohm) resistor instead of a 5 Ω resistor and see what happens.\nOnce again is our circuit description file, or \"netlist:\"\nsimple circuit v1 1 0 dc 24 r1 1 0 5k .end\nThe letter \"k\" following the number 5 on the resistor's line tells SPICE that it is a figure of 5 kΩ, not 5 Ω. Let's see what result we get when we run this through the computer:\nnode voltage ( 1) 24.0000\nvoltage source currents name current v1 -4.800E-03 total power dissipation 1.15E-01 watts\nThe battery voltage, of course, hasn't changed since the first simulation: its still at 24 volts. The circuit current, on the other hand, is much less this time because we've made the resistor a larger value, making it more difficult for electrons to flow. SPICE tells us that the current this time is equal to -4.800E-03 amps, or -4.800 x 10-3 amps. This is equivalent to taking the number -4.8 and skipping the decimal point three places to the left.\nOf course, if we recognize that 10-3 is the same as the metric prefix \"milli,\" we could write the figure as -4.8 milliamps, or -4.8 mA.\nLooking at the \"total power dissipation\" given to us by SPICE on this second simulation, we see that it is 1.15E-01 watts, or 1.15 x 10-1 watts. The power of -1 corresponds to the metric prefix \"deci,\" but generally we limit our use of metric prefixes in electronics to those associated with powers of ten that are multiples of three (ten to the power of . . . -12, -9, -6, -3, 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.). So, if we want to follow this convention, we must express this power dissipation figure as 0.115 watts or 115 milliwatts (115 mW) rather than 1.15 deciwatts (1.15 dW).\nPerhaps the easiest way to convert a figure from scientific notation to common metric prefixes is with a scientific calculator set to the \"engineering\" or \"metric\" display mode. Just set the calculator for that display mode, type any scientific notation figure into it using the proper keystrokes (see your owner's manual), press the \"equals\" or \"enter\" key, and it should display the same figure in engineering/metric notation.\nAgain, I'll be using SPICE as a method of demonstrating circuit concepts throughout this book. Consequently, it is in your best interest to understand scientific notation so you can easily comprehend its output data format.\nContributors to this chapter are listed in chronological order of their contributions, from most recent to first. See Appendix 2 (Contributor List) for dates and contact information.\nJason Starck (June 2000): HTML document formatting, which led to a much better-looking second edition.\nLessons In Electric Circuits copyright (C) 2000-2015 Tony R. Kuphaldt, under the terms and conditions of the Design Science License .","What is Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that ...\nzetta-Z: 10 21 * 2 70: ... Examples of quantities or phenomena in which power-of-10 prefix multipliers apply ... What's the largest amount of data we'll be able to ...\nWhat is Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that? - Definition from WhatIs.com\nAlso see Kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi, pebi, and all that , which are relatively new prefixes designed to express power-of-two multiples.\nKilo, mega, giga, tera, and peta are among the list of prefixes that are used to denote the quantity of something, such as, in computing and telecommunications, a byte or a bit . Sometimes called prefix multipliers, these prefixes are also used in electronics and physics. Each multiplier consists of a one-letter abbreviation and the prefix that it stands for.\nDownload this free guide\nLetters from the Editor: 2016 State of Storage\nRich Castagna – the VP of Editorial, Storage – shares his candid, expert, and often very funny view on today’s storage market. In these six “Letters from the Editor,” originally featured in our monthly Storage magazine, Rich covers topics such as flash, data storage, SDS, storage hardware, data protection, convergence, and more.\nStart Download\nYou forgot to provide an Email Address.\nThis email address doesn’t appear to be valid.\nThis email address is already registered. Please login .\nYou have exceeded the maximum character limit.\nPlease provide a Corporate E-mail Address.\nBy submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.\nBy submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers.\nYou also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy .\nIn communications, electronics, and physics, multipliers are defined in powers of 10 from 10-24 to 1024, proceeding in increments of three orders of magnitude (103 or 1,000). In IT and data storage , multipliers are defined in powers of 2 from 210 to 280, proceeding in increments of ten orders of magnitude (210 or 1,024). These multipliers are denoted in the following table.\n \n* Not generally used to express data speed\n** k = 103 and K = 210\nExamples of quantities or phenomena in which power-of-10 prefix multipliers apply include frequency (including computer clock speeds), physical mass, power, energy, electrical voltage, and electrical current. Power-of-10 multipliers are also used to define binary data speeds. Thus, for example, 1 kbps (one kilobit per second) is equal to 103, or 1,000, bps (bits per second); 1 Mbps (one megabit per second) is equal to 106, or 1,000,000, bps. (The lowercase k is the technically correct symbol for kilo- when it represents 103, although the uppercase K is often used instead.)\nWhen binary data is stored in memory or fixed media such as a hard drive, diskette, ZIP disk, tape, or CD-ROM , power-of-2 multipliers are used. Technically, the uppercase K should be used for kilo- when it represents 210. Therefore 1 KB (one kilobyte) is 210, or 1,024, bytes; 1 MB (one megabyte) is 220, or 1,048,576 bytes.\nThe choice of power-of-10 versus power-of-2 prefix multipliers can appear arbitrary. It helps to remember that in common usage, multiples of bits are almost always expressed in powers of 10, while multiples of bytes are almost always expressed in powers of 2. Rarely is data speed expressed in bytes per second, and rarely is data storage or memory expressed in bits. Such usages are considered improper. Confusion is not likely, therefore, provided one adheres strictly to the standard usages of the terms bit and byte.\nThis was last updated in April 2008\nContinue Reading About Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that","(M-14) Powers of Numbers - NASA\nRaising a numbers to the power which is a positive whole number The concept of logarithms arose from that of powers of numbers. ... Most square roots ...\nThe Powers of a Number\n\"Two to the 6th power\" or simply \"2 to the 6th\"\"\n and so on...\n The number in the subscript is known as an \"exponent.\" The special names for \"squared\" and \"cubed\" come because a square of side 2 has area 22 and a cube of side 2 has volume 23. Similarly, a square of side 16.3 has area (16.3)2 and a cube of side 9.25 has volume (9.25)3. Note the use of parentheses--they are not absolutely needed, but they help make clear what is raised to the second of 3rd power.\nQuick Quiz:\nThe Greek Pythagoras showed (about 500 BC) that if (a,b,c) are lengths of the sides of a right-angled triangle, with c the longest, then a2 + b2 = c2 In a right angles triangle, a = 12, b = 5. Can you guess c?\nWhich is larger--23 or 32? 27 or 53?\nAn slight modification of and old riddle goes:\nAs I was going to St. Ives\nI met a man with seven wives\nEach wife had seven sacks\nEach sack had seven cats\nEach cat had seven kits\nKits, cats, man, wives--how many were coming from St. Ives?\nIt all involves powers of 7:\nMan -- 70 = 1\nNote that\n(23).(22) = 25\nsince the first term contributes three factors of 2 and the second term contributes two--together, 5 multiplications by 2. The same will hold is \"2\" is replaced by any number. So, if that number is represented by \"x\" we get\n(x3).(x2) = x5\nand in general (since there is nothing special about 2 and 3 which will not hold for other whole numbers)\n(xa).(xb) = x(a+b)\nwhere a and b are any whole numbers.\n The most widely used powers by whole numbers, for users of the decimal system, are of course those of 10\n101 = 10 (\"ten\")\n105 = 100,000 (\"a hundred thousand\")\n106 = 1,000,000 (\"a million\")\n Note that here the \"power index\" also gives the number of zeros. For larger numbers, it used to be that in the US 109 = 1,000,000,000 was called \"a billion\" while in Europe it was called a \"milliard\" and one had to advance to 1012 to reach a \"billion.\" These days the US convention is gaining ground, but the world remains divided between nations where the comma denotes what we call \"the decimal point\", while the point divides large numbers, e.g. 109 = 1.000.000.000 (in the US commas would be used).\n It also should be noted that some cultures have assigned names to some other powers of 10--e.g. the Greeks used \"myriad\" for 10,000 while the Hebrew Bible named it \"r'vavah,\" and in India \"Lakh\" still means 100,000. A 9-year old in 1920 coined the name \"Googol\" for 10100, but the word found little use beyond inspiring the name of a search engine on the world-wide web.\nDividing one power by another\nIn a manner very similar to the above, we can write\n(25) / (22) = 23\nsince dividing a power of 2 by some smaller power means canceling from the numeraor a number of factors equal to those in the denominator. Writing it out in detail\n(2.2.2.2.2) / (2.2) = 2.2.2\nHere too the number raised to higher power need not be 2--again, denote it by x--and the powers need not be 5 and 2, but can be any two whole numbers, say a and b:\n(xa) / (xb) = x(a–b)\nHere however a new twist is added, because subtraction can also yield zero, or even negative numbers. Before exploring that direction, it helps outline a general course to follow.\nExpanding the meaning of \"Number\"\n Back at the dim beginnings of humanity, \"numbers\" simply meant positive whole numbers (\"integers\"): one apple, two apples, three apples...\nSimple fractions were also found useful--1/2, 1/3 and so on.\nThen zero was added, originally from India.\nThen negative numbers were given full status--rather than view subtraction as a separate operation, it was re-interpreted as addition of a negative number.\n Similarly, to every integer x there corresponded an \"inverse\" number (1/x) (many calculators have a 1/x button too). In ancient Egypt, 5000 years ago, these were the only fractions recognized, and they are therefore still sometimes called \"Egyptian fractions.\" When an Egyptian of that time wanted to express 3/4, it was presented as (1/2 + 1/4). Sometimes long expressions were needed, e.g\n99/100 = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/25\nbut it always worked.\n The ancient Greeks went further and defined as \"rational number\" (or \"logical\" numbers--\"rational\" comes from Latin) any multiple of such an inverse, for instance 4/13, 22/7 or 355/113. Rational numbers are dense: no matter how close two of them are to each other, one could always place another rational number between them--for instance, half their sum is one choice among many. Decimal fractions which stop at some length are rational numbers too, though decimal fractions having infinite length but with a repeating pattern (0.33333..., 0.575757... etc.) can always be expressed as rational fractions.\n Greek philosophers in the early days of mathematics were therefore surprised to find that in spite of that density, some extra numbers could still \"hide\" between rational ones, and could not be represented by any rational number. For instance, √2 is of this class, the number whose square equals 2. Most square roots and solutions of equations are also of this kind, as is π, the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter (denoted by the Greek letter \"pi\"). Pi has a fair approximation in 22/7 and a much better one in 355/113, but its exact value can never be represented by any fraction. Mathematicians view all the preceding types of number as a single class of \"real numbers\".\nLogarithms of positive numbers are real numbers, too. When one writes\n2 = 100.3010299.. so that 0.3010299.. = log 2\n(the dots represent an irregular continuation) one views it as 10 raised to a power which is some real number.Earlier, powers were integers, denoting the number of times some number was multiplied by itself. To make the above expression meaningful, it is therefore necessary to generalize the concept of raising a number to some power to where any real number can be the power index.\nLogarithms of powers of 10\nThese are all whole numbers::\n101 = 10\nThese logarithms also satisfy the rules we found\n(xa).(xb) = x(a+b)\n U = (10a) V = (10b) W = (10(a+b)) = U.V\nthen since\n a = log U b = logV (a+b) = log W\nwe have\n logV + log U = log (U.V)\n This relation holds whenever U and V are powers of 10:\nThe logarithm of the product is the sum of the logarithms\nof the multiplied numbers.\n as demonstrated in the overview in the preceding section.\n As the concept of logarithm is broadened, that property always remains. That is what originally made logarithms useful: converting multiplication into addition. Instead of having to multiply U and V, we only need add their logarithms and then look for the number whose logarithm equals that sum: that will be the product (U.V).\nSimilarly,\n U = (10a) V = (10b) W = (10(a–b)) = U/V\nthen in the division we have\nlogV – log U = log (U/V)\nor \"the logarithm of the quotient is the difference between the logarithms of the divided numbers,\" e.g. 107 / 104 = 103 which agrees with 7 – 4 = 3. Division, though, opens up a new territory: by the same rule, for instance\n 1040 / 1043 = 10–3 = 0.001\nAnd\n 104 / 104 = 100 = 1\nsince a number is being divided by itself must equal 1. Indeed, this is consistent with the rule, the adding or subtracting 1 to the logarithm moves its number one decimal to the right of left. Earlier\n106 = 1,000,000\nq = 1.60219 10–19 coulomb\n If this were to be written as a decimal fraction, the expression would take about half a line, with 18 zeros following the decimal point in front of the significant digits--and a quick look at it would not give much information, one still would have had to count the zeros. The mass of the electron is similarly small\nm = 9.1095 10–29 kg\nScientific notation simplifies writing such numbers. Yet another example is the speed of light\nc = 2.99792 108 meter/second\n Scientific notation also makes multiplication and division easier and less error prone. One multiplies or divides separately the numerical factors, each between 1 and 10, and usually sees at a glance if the result is of the right range of magnitude. Separately, one adds together all power exponents of multiplied factors, and subtracts those of divided ones, to get the appropriate power of 10 which then appears in scientific notation.\n Of course, in any calculation, one must use consistent units--it would not do to mix meters and inches, or pounds and grams (such inconsistent use apparently led to an error which caused a space probe to Mars to miss the planet and get lost). The most common consistent system in physics and technology is the MKS system, measuring distance in meters, mass in kilograms and time in seconds. All other units are determined by the choice of these three standards, and as long as one stays in the MKS system, results conform to units of that system too (e.g. if energy is being calculated, it always comes out in joules ).\nAn example\n Electrons of the polar aurora (\"northern lights\") move at about 1/5 the velocity of light, in a magnetic field B which near the ground is about 5 10–5 Tesla (the Tesla is the MKS unit of magnetic field: at the pole of an iron magnet you get about 1 Tesla). The magnetic field causes an electron to spiral around the direction of the magnetic force (\"magnetic field line\") with a radius of\nr = mv/(qB)\nwhere v is the part of the velocity perpendicular to the direction of B. If v--the component perpendicular to B--is half the total velocity, what is r?\nWe have","Metric_prefix.txt\nMetric prefix\nA metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or fraction of the unit. While all metric prefixes in common use today are decadic, historically there have been a number of binary metric prefixes as well. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol. The prefix kilo-, for example, may be added to gram to indicate multiplication by one thousand: one kilogram is equal to one thousand grams. The prefix milli-, likewise, may be added to metre to indicate division by one thousand; one millimetre is equal to one thousandth of a metre.\n\nDecimal multiplicative prefixes have been a feature of all forms of the metric system with six dating back to the system's introduction in the 1790s. Metric prefixes have even been prepended to non-metric units. The SI prefixes are standardized for use in the International System of Units (SI) by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in resolutions dating from 1960 to 1991. Since 2009, they have formed part of the International System of Quantities.\n\nList of SI prefixes\n\nThe BIPM specifies twenty prefixes for the International System of Units (SI).\n\nEach prefix name has a symbol which is used in combination with the symbols for units of measure. For example, the symbol for kilo- is 'k', and is used to produce 'km', 'kg', and 'kW', which are the SI symbols for kilometre, kilogram, and kilowatt, respectively.\n\nPrefixes may not be used in combination. This also applies to mass, for which the SI base unit (kilogram) already contains a prefix. For example, milligram (mg) is used instead of microkilogram (µkg).\n\nIn arithmetic of measurements having prefixed units, the prefixes must be expanded to their numeric multiplier, except when adding or subtracting values with identical units.\nHence, × × \n = .\n\nPrefixes corresponding to an integer power of one thousand are generally preferred. Hence 100 m is preferred over 1 hm (hectometre) or 10 dam (decametres). The prefixes hecto, deca, deci, and centi were commonly used for everyday purposes, especially the centimetre (cm) is common. However, some modern building codes require that the millimetre be used in preference to the centimetre, because \"use of centimetres leads to extensive usage of decimal points and confusion\". \n\nWhen units occur in exponentiation, for example, in square and cubic forms, the multiplication prefix must be considered part of the unit, and thus included in the exponentiation.\n* 1 km2 means one square kilometre, or the area of a square of by and not square metres.\n* 2 Mm3 means two cubic megametres, or the volume of two cubes of by by or , and not cubic metres ().\n\n;Examples\n* \n = 0.05 m\n* \n \n = \n* 3 MW \n 3 × = \n\nApplication to units of measurement\n\nThe use of prefixes can be traced back to the introduction of the metric system in the 1790s, long before the 1960 introduction of the SI. The prefixes, including those introduced after 1960, are used with any metric unit, whether officially included in the SI or not (e.g. millidynes and milligauss). Metric prefixes may also be used with non-metric units.\n\nThe choice of prefixes with a given unit is usually dictated by convenience of use. Unit prefixes for amounts that are much larger or smaller than those actually encountered are seldom used, though they remain valid combinations. In most contexts only a few most common combinations are established as standard.\n\nMetric units \n\nMass\n\nIn use, the kilogram, gram, milligram, microgram, and smaller are fairly common. However, megagram (and gigagram, teragram, etc.) are rarely used; tonnes (and kilotonnes, megatonnes, etc.) or scientific notation are used instead. Megagram is occasionally used to disambiguate the metric tonne from the various non-metric tons. An exception is pollution emission rates, which are typically on the order of Tg/yr. Sometimes only one element is denoted for an emission, such as Tg C/yr or Tg N/yr, so that inter-comparisons of different compounds are easier.\n\nUniquely among SI units, the base unit of mass, the kilogram, already includes a prefix. The prefixes do not, therefore, indicate corresponding multiples of the base unit in the case of mass; for example, a megagram is kg, whereas mega- indicates a multiple of .\n\nVolume\n\nThe litre (equal to a cubic decimetre), millilitre (equal to a cubic centimetre), microlitre, and smaller are common. In Europe, the centilitre is often used for packaged products (such as wine) and the decilitre less frequently. (The latter two items include prefixes corresponding to an exponent that is not divisible by three.)\n\nLarger volumes are usually denoted in kilolitres, megalitres or gigalitres, or else in cubic metres (1 cubic metre 1 kilolitre) or cubic kilometres (1 cubic kilometre \n 1 teralitre). For scientific purposes the cubic metre is usually used.\n\nLength\n\nThe kilometre, metre, centimetre, millimetre, and smaller are common. (However, the decimetre is rarely used.) The micrometre is often referred to by the non-SI term micron. In some fields such as chemistry, the angstrom (equal to 0.1 nm) historically competed with the nanometre. The femtometre, used mainly in particle physics, is usually called a fermi. For large scales, megametre, gigametre, and larger are rarely used. Instead, non-metric units are used, such as astronomical units, light years, and parsecs; the astronomical unit is mentioned in the SI standards as an accepted non-SI unit.\n\nTime and angles\n\nThe second, millisecond, microsecond, and shorter are common. The kilosecond and megasecond also have some use, though for these and longer times one usually uses either scientific notation or minutes, hours, and so on.\n\nOfficial policies about the use of these prefixes vary slightly between the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); and some of the policies of both bodies are at variance with everyday practice. For instance, the NIST advises that \"to avoid confusion, prefix symbols (and prefixes) are not used with the time-related unit symbols (names) min (minute), h (hour), d (day); nor with the angle-related symbols (names) ° (degree), ′ (minute), and ″ (second).\" \n\nThe BIPM’s position on the use of SI prefixes with units of time larger than the second is the same as that of the NIST but their position with regard to angles differs: they state \"However astronomers use milliarcsecond, which they denote mas, and microarcsecond, µas, which they use as units for measuring very small angles.\" The SI unit of angle is the radian, but, as mentioned above, degrees, minutes and seconds see some scientific use.\n\nTemperature\n\nOfficial policy also varies from common practice for the degree Celsius (°C). NIST states:[http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP811/sec06.html] \"Prefix symbols may be used with the unit symbol °C and prefixes may be used with the unit name 'degree Celsius'. For example, 12 m°C (12 millidegrees Celsius) is acceptable.\" In practice, it is more common for prefixes to be used with the kelvin when it is desirable to denote extremely large or small absolute temperatures or temperature differences. Thus, temperatures of star interiors may be given in units of MK (megakelvins), and molecular cooling may be described in mK (millikelvins).\n\nEnergy\n\nThere exist a number of definitions for the non-SI unit, the calorie. There are gram calories and kilogram calories. One kilogram calorie, which equals one thousand gram calories, often appears capitalized and without a prefix (i.e. 'Cal') when referring to \"dietary calories\" in food. It is common to apply metric prefixes to the gram calorie but not to the kilogram calorie: thus, for example, 1 kcal 1000 cal \n 1 Cal.\n\nNon-metric units\n\nMetric prefixes are widely used outside the system of metric units. Common examples include the megabyte and the decibel. Metric prefixes rarely appear with imperial or US units except in some special cases (e.g., microinch, kilofoot, kilopound or 'kip'). They are also used with other specialized units used in particular fields (e.g., megaelectronvolt, gigaparsec, millibarn). They are also occasionally used with currency units (e.g., gigadollar), mainly by people who are familiar with the prefixes from scientific usage. In geology and paleontology, the year, with symbol a (from the Latin annus), is commonly used with metric prefixes: ka, Ma, and Ga.\n\nPresentation\n\nPronunciation\n\nThe prefix giga is usually pronounced but sometimes. According to the American writer Kevin Self, in the 1920s a German committee member of the International Electrotechnical Commission proposed giga as a prefix for 109, drawing on a verse (evidently \"Anto-logie\") by the humorous poet Christian Morgenstern that appeared in the third (1908) edition of Galgenlieder (Gallows Songs). \n\nThis suggests a hard German g was originally intended as the pronunciation. Self was unable to ascertain when the (soft g) pronunciation was accepted, but as of 1995 current practice had returned to (hard g). \n \n\nWhen an SI prefix is affixed to a root word, the prefix carries the stress, while the root drops its stress but retains a full vowel in the syllable that is stressed when the root word stands alone. For example, gigabyte is, with stress on the first syllable. However, words in common use outside the scientific community may follow idiosyncratic stress rules. In English speaking countries kilometre is often pronounced, with reduced vowels on both syllables of metre.\n\nTypesetting\n\nThe LaTeX typesetting system features an SIunitx package, in which the units of measurement are spelled out, for example, \\SI{3}{\\tera\\hertz} formats as \"3 THz\".\n\nNon-standard prefixes\n\nObsolete metric prefixes\n\nSome of the prefixes formerly used in the metric system have fallen into disuse and were not adopted into the SI. The decimal prefix myria- (sometimes also written as myrio-) (ten thousand) as well as the binary prefixes double- and demi-, denoting a factor of 2 and (one half), respectively, were parts of the original metric system adopted by France in 1795. These were not retained when the SI prefixes were internationally adopted by the 11th CGPM conference in 1960. The halving and doubling prefixes were dropped because they were neither decimal nor symmetrical.\n\nDouble prefixes\n\nDouble prefixes have been used in the past, such as micromillimetres or \"millimicrons\" (now nanometres), micromicrofarads (now picofarads), kilomegatons (now gigatons), hectokilometres (now 100 kilometres) and the derived adjective hectokilometric (typically used for qualifying the fuel consumption measures). These were disallowed with the introduction of the SI.\n\nOther obsolete double prefixes included \"decimilli-\" (10−4), which was contracted to \"dimi-\" (a translation of the French original Esprit et bon usage du systeme metrique, 1965) and standardized in France up to 1961.\n\n\"Hella\" prefix proposal\n\nIn 2010, UC Davis student Austin Sendek started a petition to designate \"hella\" as the SI prefix for one octillion (1027). The petition gathered over 60,000 supporters by circulating through Facebook and receiving a significant amount of media coverage. Although the Consultative Committee for Units considered the proposal, it was ultimately rejected. However, hella has been adopted by certain websites, such as Google Calculator and Wolfram Alpha. \n\nX, W and V\n\nBrian C. Lacki follows Z and Y with the adopted prefixes X, W and V to mean , and respectively, thus continuing the inverse alphabetical order.\n\nSimilar symbols and abbreviations\n\nIn written English, the symbol K is often used informally to mean a multiple of thousand in many contexts. For example, one may talk of a 40K salary (), or call the Year 2000 problem the Y2K problem. In these cases an uppercase K is often used (although it should not, the uppercase K being the symbol for Kelvin). This informal postfix is read or spoken as \"thousand\" or \"grand\", or just \"k\", but never \"kilo\" (despite that being the origin of the letter).\n\nThe financial and general news media mostly use m/M, b/B and t/T as abbreviations for million, billion (109) and trillion (1012) for large quantities, typically currency and population.\n \n\nThe medical and automotive fields in the United States use the abbreviations \"cc\" or \"ccm\" for cubic centimetres. 1 cubic centimetre is equivalent to 1 millilitre. Most nations use millilitres in preference to cubic centimetres.\n\nFor nearly a century, the electrical construction industry used the abbreviation \"MCM\" to designate a \"thousand circular mils\" in specifying thicknesses of large electrical cables. Since the mid-1990s, \"kcmil\" has been adopted as the \"official\" designation of a thousand circular mils, but the designation \"MCM\" still remains in wide use. A similar system is used in natural gas sales in the United States: m (or M) for thousands and mm (or MM) for millions of British thermal units or therms, and in the oil industry, where 'MMbbl' is the symbol for 'millions of barrels'.\n\nBinary prefixes\n\nIn some fields of information technology it has been common to designate non-decimal multiples based on powers of 1024, rather than 1000, for some SI prefixes (kilo, mega, giga), contrary to the definitions in the International System of Units (SI). This practice has been sanctioned by some industry associations, including JEDEC. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standardized the system of binary prefixes (kibi, mebi, gibi, etc.) for this purpose. The names and symbols of the binary prefixes proposed by the IEC include\n* kibi (Ki) 210 \n \n* mebi (Mi) 220 \n 2 = \n* gibi (Gi) 230 \n 3 = \netc.","SI Prefixes List - Unit Converter - unitarium.com\nList of SI-Prefixes (..., mili, centy, decy, kilo, ... 10 6: Million/Million: kilo ... In long scale Billion prefix (10 12) is tera, Trillion prefix (10 18) ...\nSI Prefixes List\nSI Prefixes List\nAn SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple. The abbreviation SI is from the French language name Système International d’Unités (also known as International System of Units). SI prefixes are used to reduce the quantity of zeroes in numerical equivalencies. Twenty SI prefixes are available to combine with units of measure. On this page you can see SI Prefix Chart\nInfo from wikipedia.org\nNews & Info\nIf you have found any bugs please report it to: bugs [AT] unitarium.com\nWe will appreciate any comments and suggestions for improving this site. Send them please to: admin [AT] unitarium.com\n \n \nBelow, you can find the chart of 24 prefixes introduced and governed by Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (eng. International Bureau of Weights and Measures ) .The abbreviation SI is from the French language name Système International d’Unités (eng: International System of Units )\nSI Prefixes List\nQuadrillionth/Septillionth\nShort And Long Scale\nIn most English-speaking countries short scale is used. In short scale Billion prefix (109) is giga, Trillion prefix (1012) is tera, Billionth prefix (10-9) is nano, Trillionth prefix (10-12 is pico, and so on.\nIn most European countries long scale is used. In long scale Billion prefix (1012) is tera, Trillion prefix (1018) is eksa, Billionth prefix (10-12) is pico, Trillionth prefix (10-18) is atto, and so on.\nPrefixes In Computing\nPrefixes k,M,G,T,P (kilo,mega,giga,tera,peta) are commonly used in computing, where they are applied to information and storage units. Since informational systems are based on power of 2, this led to following meaning of prefixes in computer science:\nPrefix","Definitions of the SI units: The twenty SI prefixes\n10 21: zetta: Z: 10 18: exa: E: ... in the case of the kilogram the prefix names of Table 5 are used with ... Because the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10, ...\nDefinitions of the SI units: The twenty SI prefixes\nConsider the earlier example of the height of the Washington Monument. We may write\nhW = 169 000 mm = 16 900 cm = 169 m = 0.169 km\nusing the millimeter (SI prefix milli, symbol m), centimeter (SI prefix centi, symbol c), or kilometer (SI prefix kilo, symbol k).\nBecause the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10, they should not be used to represent powers of 2. Thus, one kilobit, or 1 kbit, is 1000 bit and not\n210 bit = 1024 bit.\nTo alleviate this ambiguity, prefixes for binary multiples have been adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for use in information technology."],"string":"[\n \"SI prefixes for decimal multiples - Optus\\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples. ... (the sixth power of 10 3) ... The names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, ...\\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\\nThere are 20 internationally accepted prefixes to denote 10n multiples of units. 10 of these prefixes denote (n>0) multiples, and other 10 denote (n<0) submultiples:\\nSI Prefixes for decimal multiples\\nNumber\\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\\n1024\\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\\n1021\\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000\\n1018\\n1 000 000 000 000 000\\n1015\\n1 000 000 000 000\\n1012\\n0.000 000 000 000 001\\n10-15\\n0.000 000 000 000 000 001\\n10-18\\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001\\n10-21\\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001\\n10-24\\nyocto\\ny\\nEach prefix is represented by its own symbol. The symbols are case sensitive. Thus, m means milli and M means mega.\\nPrefixes ranging from milli to kilo were first introduced in 1793 by the French Academy of Sciences under direction of French National Assembly as part of the Metric System. Greek prefixes were used for multiples of 10 and Latin prefixes for submultiples of 10. In 1874 BAAS adapted these prefixes as part of their CGS system, and added prefixes micro and mega. Later, 12 prefixes ranging from pico to tera were defined as part of the International System of Units — SI , which was adopted in 1960. SI is maintained by BIPM under exclusive supervision of CIPM and resolutions made by CGPM . Further 8 prefixes were added to SI in years 1964 (femto, atto), 1975 (peta, exa) and 1991 (zetta, zepto, yotta, yocto).\\nThe prefixes have the following etymology:\\nexa — alteration of hexa from Greek hex meaning “six” (the sixth power of 103)\\npeta — alteration of penta from Greek pente meaning “five” (the fifth power of 103)\\ntera — from Greek teras meaning “monster”\\ngiga — from Greek gigas meaning “giant”\\nmega — from Greek megas meaning “great”\\nkilo — from Greek khilioi meaning “thousand”\\nhecto — French, alteration of Greek hekaton meaning “hundred”\\ndeca — from Greek deka meaning “ten”\\ndeci — from Latin decimus meaning tenth, from decem meaning “ten”\\ncenti — from Latin centi-, from centum meaning “hundred”\\nmilli — from Latin mille meaning “thousand”\\nmicro — from Greek mikros meaning “small”\\nnano — from Greek nannos meaning “dwarf”\\npico — from Spanish pico meaning “small quantity”\\nfemto — from Danish, or Norwegian word femten meaning “fifteen”\\natto — from Danish, or Norwegian word atten meaning “eighteen”\\nThe names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, from Latin septem which means seven (the seventh power of 103) and the letter ‘z’ is substituted for the letter ‘s’ to avoid the duplicate use of the letter ‘s’ as a symbol in SI . The names yocto and yotta are derived from Latin octo which means eight (the eighth power of 103); the letter ‘y’ is added to avoid the use of the letter ‘o’ as a symbol because it may be confused with the number zero. The CGPM has decided to name the prefixes, starting with the seventh power of 103, with the letters of the Latin alphabet, but starting from the end. Therefore the choice of letters ‘z’ and ‘y’. The initial letter ‘h’ of the word hexa in standard French is silent, so it was removed in order to simplify things.\",\n \"SI prefixes for decimal multiples - Optus\\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples. ... 10-6: micro: µ: 0.000 000 001: 10-9: nano: n: 0.000 000 000 001: ... (the eighth power of 10 3); ...\\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\\nThere are 20 internationally accepted prefixes to denote 10n multiples of units. 10 of these prefixes denote (n>0) multiples, and other 10 denote (n<0) submultiples:\\nSI Prefixes for decimal multiples\\nNumber\\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\\n1024\\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\\n1021\\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000\\n1018\\n1 000 000 000 000 000\\n1015\\n1 000 000 000 000\\n1012\\n0.000 000 000 000 001\\n10-15\\n0.000 000 000 000 000 001\\n10-18\\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001\\n10-21\\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001\\n10-24\\nyocto\\ny\\nEach prefix is represented by its own symbol. The symbols are case sensitive. Thus, m means milli and M means mega.\\nPrefixes ranging from milli to kilo were first introduced in 1793 by the French Academy of Sciences under direction of French National Assembly as part of the Metric System. Greek prefixes were used for multiples of 10 and Latin prefixes for submultiples of 10. In 1874 BAAS adapted these prefixes as part of their CGS system, and added prefixes micro and mega. Later, 12 prefixes ranging from pico to tera were defined as part of the International System of Units — SI , which was adopted in 1960. SI is maintained by BIPM under exclusive supervision of CIPM and resolutions made by CGPM . Further 8 prefixes were added to SI in years 1964 (femto, atto), 1975 (peta, exa) and 1991 (zetta, zepto, yotta, yocto).\\nThe prefixes have the following etymology:\\nexa — alteration of hexa from Greek hex meaning “six” (the sixth power of 103)\\npeta — alteration of penta from Greek pente meaning “five” (the fifth power of 103)\\ntera — from Greek teras meaning “monster”\\ngiga — from Greek gigas meaning “giant”\\nmega — from Greek megas meaning “great”\\nkilo — from Greek khilioi meaning “thousand”\\nhecto — French, alteration of Greek hekaton meaning “hundred”\\ndeca — from Greek deka meaning “ten”\\ndeci — from Latin decimus meaning tenth, from decem meaning “ten”\\ncenti — from Latin centi-, from centum meaning “hundred”\\nmilli — from Latin mille meaning “thousand”\\nmicro — from Greek mikros meaning “small”\\nnano — from Greek nannos meaning “dwarf”\\npico — from Spanish pico meaning “small quantity”\\nfemto — from Danish, or Norwegian word femten meaning “fifteen”\\natto — from Danish, or Norwegian word atten meaning “eighteen”\\nThe names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, from Latin septem which means seven (the seventh power of 103) and the letter ‘z’ is substituted for the letter ‘s’ to avoid the duplicate use of the letter ‘s’ as a symbol in SI . The names yocto and yotta are derived from Latin octo which means eight (the eighth power of 103); the letter ‘y’ is added to avoid the use of the letter ‘o’ as a symbol because it may be confused with the number zero. The CGPM has decided to name the prefixes, starting with the seventh power of 103, with the letters of the Latin alphabet, but starting from the end. Therefore the choice of letters ‘z’ and ‘y’. The initial letter ‘h’ of the word hexa in standard French is silent, so it was removed in order to simplify things.\",\n \"Units: Metric Prefixes - The University of North Carolina ...\\nMetric Prefixes. To help the SI units ... nano- (n-) 10-9. 1 billionth. pico- (p-) 10-12. ... The last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the ...\\nUnits: Metric Prefixes\\nUsing the Dictionary\\nMetric Prefixes\\nTo help the SI units apply to a wide range of phenomena, the 19th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1991 extended the list of metric prefixes so that it reaches from yotta- at 1024 (one septillion) to yocto- at 10-24 (one septillionth). Here are the metric prefixes, with their numerical equivalents stated in the American system for naming large numbers :\\nyotta- (Y-)\\n \\nNotes:\\nI am often asked about prefixes for other multiples, such as 104, 105, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was formerly used for 104, but it is now considered obsolete and it is not accepted in the SI. To the best of my knowledge, no prefixes were ever accepted generally for 105, 10-4, or 10-5.\\nThere is a widespread misconception that prefixes for positive powers of ten are all capitalized, leading to the use of K- for kilo- and D- for deca-. Although this does seem like a useful idea, it is not correct.\\n**The SI Brochure spelling of this prefix is deca-, but the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends deka-. National variations in spelling of the prefixes are allowed by the SI . In Italian, for example, hecto- is spelled etto- and kilo- is spelled chilo-. The symbols, however, are the same in all languages, so dam (not dkm) is the symbol for the dekameter and km is the symbol for the Italian chilometro.\\nThe prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.\\nThe last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the unit name is a vowel, causing the combination to be hard to pronounce otherwise. Thus 100 ares is a hectare and 1 million ohms is a megohm. However, the last letter of the prefix is not omitted if pronunciation is not a problem, as in the case of the milliampere. The letter \\\"l\\\" is sometimes added to prefixes before the erg, so 1 million ergs is a megalerg (sounds odd, but better than \\\"megerg\\\").\\nBinary prefixes\\nIn computing, a custom arose of using the metric prefixes to specify powers of 2. For example, a kilobit is usually 210 = 1024 bits instead of 1000 bits. This practice leads to considerable confusion. In an effort to eliminate this confusion, in 1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission approved new prefixes for the powers of 2. These prefixes are as follows:\\nkibi-\\nEi-\\n260 = 1 152 921 504 606 846 976\\nThe Commission's ruling is that the metric prefixes should be used in computing just as they are used in other fields. Thus, 5 gigabytes (GB) should mean exactly 5 000 000 000 bytes, and 5 gibibytes (GiB) should mean exactly 5 368 709 120 bytes.\\nThe fate of this innovation is uncertain. So far, very few people are using the IEC binary prefixes. Searches for them on the Internet turn up, for the most part, complaints by people who don't want to use them.\\nReturn to the Dictionary Contents page .\\nYou are welcome to email the author (rowlett@email.unc.edu) with comments and suggestions.\\nAll material in this folder is copyright © 2005 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Permission is granted for personal use and for use by individual teachers in conducting their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to make links to this page, but please do not copy the contents of any page in this folder to another site. The material at this site will be updated from time to time.\\nApril 16, 2005\",\n \"Units: Metric Prefixes - The University of North Carolina ...\\nMetric Prefixes. To help the SI units ... zetta- (Z-) 10 21. 1 sextillion. exa- (E-) 10 18. ... such as 10 4, 10 5, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was ...\\nUnits: Metric Prefixes\\nUsing the Dictionary\\nMetric Prefixes\\nTo help the SI units apply to a wide range of phenomena, the 19th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1991 extended the list of metric prefixes so that it reaches from yotta- at 1024 (one septillion) to yocto- at 10-24 (one septillionth). Here are the metric prefixes, with their numerical equivalents stated in the American system for naming large numbers :\\nyotta- (Y-)\\n \\nNotes:\\nI am often asked about prefixes for other multiples, such as 104, 105, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was formerly used for 104, but it is now considered obsolete and it is not accepted in the SI. To the best of my knowledge, no prefixes were ever accepted generally for 105, 10-4, or 10-5.\\nThere is a widespread misconception that prefixes for positive powers of ten are all capitalized, leading to the use of K- for kilo- and D- for deca-. Although this does seem like a useful idea, it is not correct.\\n**The SI Brochure spelling of this prefix is deca-, but the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends deka-. National variations in spelling of the prefixes are allowed by the SI . In Italian, for example, hecto- is spelled etto- and kilo- is spelled chilo-. The symbols, however, are the same in all languages, so dam (not dkm) is the symbol for the dekameter and km is the symbol for the Italian chilometro.\\nThe prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.\\nThe last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the unit name is a vowel, causing the combination to be hard to pronounce otherwise. Thus 100 ares is a hectare and 1 million ohms is a megohm. However, the last letter of the prefix is not omitted if pronunciation is not a problem, as in the case of the milliampere. The letter \\\"l\\\" is sometimes added to prefixes before the erg, so 1 million ergs is a megalerg (sounds odd, but better than \\\"megerg\\\").\\nBinary prefixes\\nIn computing, a custom arose of using the metric prefixes to specify powers of 2. For example, a kilobit is usually 210 = 1024 bits instead of 1000 bits. This practice leads to considerable confusion. In an effort to eliminate this confusion, in 1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission approved new prefixes for the powers of 2. These prefixes are as follows:\\nkibi-\\nEi-\\n260 = 1 152 921 504 606 846 976\\nThe Commission's ruling is that the metric prefixes should be used in computing just as they are used in other fields. Thus, 5 gigabytes (GB) should mean exactly 5 000 000 000 bytes, and 5 gibibytes (GiB) should mean exactly 5 368 709 120 bytes.\\nThe fate of this innovation is uncertain. So far, very few people are using the IEC binary prefixes. Searches for them on the Internet turn up, for the most part, complaints by people who don't want to use them.\\nReturn to the Dictionary Contents page .\\nYou are welcome to email the author (rowlett@email.unc.edu) with comments and suggestions.\\nAll material in this folder is copyright © 2005 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Permission is granted for personal use and for use by individual teachers in conducting their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to make links to this page, but please do not copy the contents of any page in this folder to another site. The material at this site will be updated from time to time.\\nApril 16, 2005\",\n \"Lessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I (DC) - Chapter 4\\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I ... (from 10 to the 6th power to 10 to the -3rd power ... All the user has to do is memorize a few prefix/power combinations, ...\\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I (DC) - Chapter 4\\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I\\nChapter 4\\nScientific notation\\nIn many disciplines of science and engineering, very large and very small numerical quantities must be managed. Some of these quantities are mind-boggling in their size, either extremely small or extremely large. Take for example the mass of a proton, one of the constituent particles of an atom's nucleus:\\nProton mass = 0.00000000000000000000000167 grams\\nOr, consider the number of electrons passing by a point in a circuit every second with a steady electric current of 1 amp:\\n1 amp = 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second\\nA lot of zeros, isn't it? Obviously, it can get quite confusing to have to handle so many zero digits in numbers such as this, even with the help of calculators and computers.\\nTake note of those two numbers and of the relative sparsity of non-zero digits in them. For the mass of the proton, all we have is a \\\"167\\\" preceded by 23 zeros before the decimal point. For the number of electrons per second in 1 amp, we have \\\"625\\\" followed by 16 zeros. We call the span of non-zero digits (from first to last), plus any zero digits not merely used for placeholding, the \\\"significant digits\\\" of any number.\\nThe significant digits in a real-world measurement are typically reflective of the accuracy of that measurement. For example, if we were to say that a car weighs 3,000 pounds, we probably don't mean that the car in question weighs exactly 3,000 pounds, but that we've rounded its weight to a value more convenient to say and remember. That rounded figure of 3,000 has only one significant digit: the \\\"3\\\" in front -- the zeros merely serve as placeholders. However, if we were to say that the car weighed 3,005 pounds, the fact that the weight is not rounded to the nearest thousand pounds tells us that the two zeros in the middle aren't just placeholders, but that all four digits of the number \\\"3,005\\\" are significant to its representative accuracy. Thus, the number \\\"3,005\\\" is said to have four significant figures.\\nIn like manner, numbers with many zero digits are not necessarily representative of a real-world quantity all the way to the decimal point. When this is known to be the case, such a number can be written in a kind of mathematical \\\"shorthand\\\" to make it easier to deal with. This \\\"shorthand\\\" is called scientific notation.\\nWith scientific notation, a number is written by representing its significant digits as a quantity between 1 and 10 (or -1 and -10, for negative numbers), and the \\\"placeholder\\\" zeros are accounted for by a power-of-ten multiplier. For example:\\n1 amp = 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second\\n. . . can be expressed as . . .\\n1 amp = 6.25 x 1018 electrons per second\\n10 to the 18th power (1018) means 10 multiplied by itself 18 times, or a \\\"1\\\" followed by 18 zeros. Multiplied by 6.25, it looks like \\\"625\\\" followed by 16 zeros (take 6.25 and skip the decimal point 18 places to the right). The advantages of scientific notation are obvious: the number isn't as unwieldy when written on paper, and the significant digits are plain to identify.\\nBut what about very small numbers, like the mass of the proton in grams? We can still use scientific notation, except with a negative power-of-ten instead of a positive one, to shift the decimal point to the left instead of to the right:\\nProton mass = 0.00000000000000000000000167 grams\\n. . . can be expressed as . . .\\nProton mass = 1.67 x 10-24 grams\\n10 to the -24th power (10-24) means the inverse (1/x) of 10 multiplied by itself 24 times, or a \\\"1\\\" preceded by a decimal point and 23 zeros. Multiplied by 1.67, it looks like \\\"167\\\" preceded by a decimal point and 23 zeros. Just as in the case with the very large number, it is a lot easier for a human being to deal with this \\\"shorthand\\\" notation. As with the prior case, the significant digits in this quantity are clearly expressed.\\nBecause the significant digits are represented \\\"on their own,\\\" away from the power-of-ten multiplier, it is easy to show a level of precision even when the number looks round. Taking our 3,000 pound car example, we could express the rounded number of 3,000 in scientific notation as such:\\ncar weight = 3 x 103 pounds\\nIf the car actually weighed 3,005 pounds (accurate to the nearest pound) and we wanted to be able to express that full accuracy of measurement, the scientific notation figure could be written like this:\\ncar weight = 3.005 x 103 pounds\\nHowever, what if the car actually did weigh 3,000 pounds, exactly (to the nearest pound)? If we were to write its weight in \\\"normal\\\" form (3,000 lbs), it wouldn't necessarily be clear that this number was indeed accurate to the nearest pound and not just rounded to the nearest thousand pounds, or to the nearest hundred pounds, or to the nearest ten pounds. Scientific notation, on the other hand, allows us to show that all four digits are significant with no misunderstanding:\\ncar weight = 3.000 x 103 pounds\\nSince there would be no point in adding extra zeros to the right of the decimal point (placeholding zeros being unnecessary with scientific notation), we know those zeros must be significant to the precision of the figure.\\nArithmetic with scientific notation\\nThe benefits of scientific notation do not end with ease of writing and expression of accuracy. Such notation also lends itself well to mathematical problems of multiplication and division. Let's say we wanted to know how many electrons would flow past a point in a circuit carrying 1 amp of electric current in 25 seconds. If we know the number of electrons per second in the circuit (which we do), then all we need to do is multiply that quantity by the number of seconds (25) to arrive at an answer of total electrons:\\n(6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second) x (25 seconds) =\\n156,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons passing by in 25 seconds\\nUsing scientific notation, we can write the problem like this:\\n(6.25 x 1018 electrons per second) x (25 seconds)\\nIf we take the \\\"6.25\\\" and multiply it by 25, we get 156.25. So, the answer could be written as:\\n156.25 x 1018 electrons\\nHowever, if we want to hold to standard convention for scientific notation, we must represent the significant digits as a number between 1 and 10. In this case, we'd say \\\"1.5625\\\" multiplied by some power-of-ten. To obtain 1.5625 from 156.25, we have to skip the decimal point two places to the left. To compensate for this without changing the value of the number, we have to raise our power by two notches (10 to the 20th power instead of 10 to the 18th):\\n1.5625 x 1020 electrons\\nWhat if we wanted to see how many electrons would pass by in 3,600 seconds (1 hour)? To make our job easier, we could put the time in scientific notation as well:\\n(6.25 x 1018 electrons per second) x (3.6 x 103 seconds)\\nTo multiply, we must take the two significant sets of digits (6.25 and 3.6) and multiply them together; and we need to take the two powers-of-ten and multiply them together. Taking 6.25 times 3.6, we get 22.5. Taking 1018 times 103, we get 1021 (exponents with common base numbers add). So, the answer is:\\n22.5 x 1021 electrons\\n. . . or more properly . . .\\n2.25 x 1022 electrons\\nTo illustrate how division works with scientific notation, we could figure that last problem \\\"backwards\\\" to find out how long it would take for that many electrons to pass by at a current of 1 amp:\\n(2.25 x 1022 electrons) / (6.25 x 1018 electrons per second)\\nJust as in multiplication, we can handle the significant digits and powers-of-ten in separate steps (remember that you subtract the exponents of divided powers-of-ten):\\n(2.25 / 6.25) x (1022 / 1018)\\nAnd the answer is: 0.36 x 104, or 3.6 x 103, seconds. You can see that we arrived at the same quantity of time (3600 seconds). Now, you may be wondering what the point of all this is when we have electronic calculators that can handle the math automatically. Well, back in the days of scientists and engineers using \\\"slide rule\\\" analog computers, these techniques were indispensable. The \\\"hard\\\" arithmetic (dealing with the significant digit figures) would be performed with the slide rule while the powers-of-ten could be figured without any help at all, being nothing more than simple addition and subtraction.\\nREVIEW:\\nSignificant digits are representative of the real-world accuracy of a number.\\nScientific notation is a \\\"shorthand\\\" method to represent very large and very small numbers in easily-handled form.\\nWhen multiplying two numbers in scientific notation, you can multiply the two significant digit figures and arrive at a power-of-ten by adding exponents.\\nWhen dividing two numbers in scientific notation, you can divide the two significant digit figures and arrive at a power-of-ten by subtracting exponents.\\nMetric notation\\nThe metric system, besides being a collection of measurement units for all sorts of physical quantities, is structured around the concept of scientific notation. The primary difference is that the powers-of-ten are represented with alphabetical prefixes instead of by literal powers-of-ten. The following number line shows some of the more common prefixes and their respective powers-of-ten:\\nLooking at this scale, we can see that 2.5 Gigabytes would mean 2.5 x 109 bytes, or 2.5 billion bytes. Likewise, 3.21 picoamps would mean 3.21 x 10-12 amps, or 3.21 1/trillionths of an amp.\\nOther metric prefixes exist to symbolize powers of ten for extremely small and extremely large multipliers. On the extremely small end of the spectrum, femto (f) = 10-15, atto (a) = 10-18, zepto (z) = 10-21, and yocto (y) = 10-24. On the extremely large end of the spectrum, Peta (P) = 1015, Exa (E) = 1018, Zetta (Z) = 1021, and Yotta (Y) = 1024.\\nBecause the major prefixes in the metric system refer to powers of 10 that are multiples of 3 (from \\\"kilo\\\" on up, and from \\\"milli\\\" on down), metric notation differs from regular scientific notation in that the mantissa can be anywhere between 1 and 999, depending on which prefix is chosen. For example, if a laboratory sample weighs 0.000267 grams, scientific notation and metric notation would express it differently:\\n2.67 x 10-4 grams (scientific notation)\\n267 µgrams (metric notation)\\nThe same figure may also be expressed as 0.267 milligrams (0.267 mg), although it is usually more common to see the significant digits represented as a figure greater than 1.\\nIn recent years a new style of metric notation for electric quantities has emerged which seeks to avoid the use of the decimal point. Since decimal points (\\\".\\\") are easily misread and/or \\\"lost\\\" due to poor print quality, quantities such as 4.7 k may be mistaken for 47 k. The new notation replaces the decimal point with the metric prefix character, so that \\\"4.7 k\\\" is printed instead as \\\"4k7\\\". Our last figure from the prior example, \\\"0.267 m\\\", would be expressed in the new notation as \\\"0m267\\\".\\nREVIEW:\\nThe metric system of notation uses alphabetical prefixes to represent certain powers-of-ten instead of the lengthier scientific notation.\\nMetric prefix conversions\\nTo express a quantity in a different metric prefix that what it was originally given, all we need to do is skip the decimal point to the right or to the left as needed. Notice that the metric prefix \\\"number line\\\" in the previous section was laid out from larger to smaller, left to right. This layout was purposely chosen to make it easier to remember which direction you need to skip the decimal point for any given conversion.\\nExample problem: express 0.000023 amps in terms of microamps.\\n0.000023 amps (has no prefix, just plain unit of amps)\\nFrom UNITS to micro on the number line is 6 places (powers of ten) to the right, so we need to skip the decimal point 6 places to the right:\\n0.000023 amps = 23. , or 23 microamps (µA)\\nExample problem: express 304,212 volts in terms of kilovolts.\\n304,212 volts (has no prefix, just plain unit of volts)\\nFrom the (none) place to kilo place on the number line is 3 places (powers of ten) to the left, so we need to skip the decimal point 3 places to the left:\\n304,212. = 304.212 kilovolts (kV)\\nExample problem: express 50.3 Mega-ohms in terms of milli-ohms.\\n50.3 M ohms (mega = 106)\\nFrom mega to milli is 9 places (powers of ten) to the right (from 10 to the 6th power to 10 to the -3rd power), so we need to skip the decimal point 9 places to the right:\\n50.3 M ohms = 50,300,000,000 milli-ohms (mΩ)\\nREVIEW:\\nFollow the metric prefix number line to know which direction you skip the decimal point for conversion purposes.\\nA number with no decimal point shown has an implicit decimal point to the immediate right of the furthest right digit (i.e. for the number 436 the decimal point is to the right of the 6, as such: 436.)\\nHand calculator use\\nTo enter numbers in scientific notation into a hand calculator, there is usually a button marked \\\"E\\\" or \\\"EE\\\" used to enter the correct power of ten. For example, to enter the mass of a proton in grams (1.67 x 10-24 grams) into a hand calculator, I would enter the following keystrokes:\\n[1] [.] [6] [7] [EE] [2] [4] [+/-]\\nThe [+/-] keystroke changes the sign of the power (24) into a -24. Some calculators allow the use of the subtraction key [-] to do this, but I prefer the \\\"change sign\\\" [+/-] key because its more consistent with the use of that key in other contexts.\\nIf I wanted to enter a negative number in scientific notation into a hand calculator, I would have to be careful how I used the [+/-] key, lest I change the sign of the power and not the significant digit value. Pay attention to this example:\\nNumber to be entered: -3.221 x 10-15:\\n[3] [.] [2] [2] [1] [+/-] [EE] [1] [5] [+/-]\\nThe first [+/-] keystroke changes the entry from 3.221 to -3.221; the second [+/-] keystroke changes the power from 15 to -15.\\nDisplaying metric and scientific notation on a hand calculator is a different matter. It involves changing the display option from the normal \\\"fixed\\\" decimal point mode to the \\\"scientific\\\" or \\\"engineering\\\" mode. Your calculator manual will tell you how to set each display mode.\\nThese display modes tell the calculator how to represent any number on the numerical readout. The actual value of the number is not affected in any way by the choice of display modes -- only how the number appears to the calculator user. Likewise, the procedure for entering numbers into the calculator does not change with different display modes either. Powers of ten are usually represented by a pair of digits in the upper-right hand corner of the display, and are visible only in the \\\"scientific\\\" and \\\"engineering\\\" modes.\\nThe difference between \\\"scientific\\\" and \\\"engineering\\\" display modes is the difference between scientific and metric notation. In \\\"scientific\\\" mode, the power-of-ten display is set so that the main number on the display is always a value between 1 and 10 (or -1 and -10 for negative numbers). In \\\"engineering\\\" mode, the powers-of-ten are set to display in multiples of 3, to represent the major metric prefixes. All the user has to do is memorize a few prefix/power combinations, and his or her calculator will be \\\"speaking\\\" metric!\\nPOWER METRIC PREFIX ----- ------------- 12 ......... Tera (T) 9 .......... Giga (G) 6 .......... Mega (M) 3 .......... Kilo (k) 0 .......... UNITS (plain) -3 ......... milli (m) -6 ......... micro (u) -9 ......... nano (n) -12 ........ pico (p)\\nREVIEW:\\nUse the [EE] key to enter powers of ten.\\nUse \\\"scientific\\\" or \\\"engineering\\\" to display powers of ten, in scientific or metric notation, respectively.\\nScientific notation in SPICE\\nThe SPICE circuit simulation computer program uses scientific notation to display its output information, and can interpret both scientific notation and metric prefixes in the circuit description files. If you are going to be able to successfully interpret the SPICE analyses throughout this book, you must be able to understand the notation used to express variables of voltage, current, etc. in the program.\\nLet's start with a very simple circuit composed of one voltage source (a battery) and one resistor:\\nTo simulate this circuit using SPICE, we first have to designate node numbers for all the distinct points in the circuit, then list the components along with their respective node numbers so the computer knows which component is connected to which, and how. For a circuit of this simplicity, the use of SPICE seems like overkill, but it serves the purpose of demonstrating practical use of scientific notation:\\nTyping out a circuit description file, or netlist, for this circuit, we get this:\\nsimple circuit v1 1 0 dc 24 r1 1 0 5 .end\\nThe line \\\"v1 1 0 dc 24\\\" describes the battery, positioned between nodes 1 and 0, with a DC voltage of 24 volts. The line \\\"r1 1 0 5\\\" describes the 5 Ω resistor placed between nodes 1 and 0.\\nUsing a computer to run a SPICE analysis on this circuit description file, we get the following results:\\nnode voltage ( 1) 24.0000\\nvoltage source currents name current v1 -4.800E+00 total power dissipation 1.15E+02 watts\\nSPICE tells us that the voltage \\\"at\\\" node number 1 (actually, this means the voltage between nodes 1 and 0, node 0 being the default reference point for all voltage measurements) is equal to 24 volts. The current through battery \\\"v1\\\" is displayed as -4.800E+00 amps. This is SPICE's method of denoting scientific notation. What its really saying is \\\"-4.800 x 100 amps,\\\" or simply -4.800 amps. The negative value for current here is due to a quirk in SPICE and does not indicate anything significant about the circuit itself. The \\\"total power dissipation\\\" is given to us as 1.15E+02 watts, which means \\\"1.15 x 102 watts,\\\" or 115 watts.\\nLet's modify our example circuit so that it has a 5 kΩ (5 kilo-ohm, or 5,000 ohm) resistor instead of a 5 Ω resistor and see what happens.\\nOnce again is our circuit description file, or \\\"netlist:\\\"\\nsimple circuit v1 1 0 dc 24 r1 1 0 5k .end\\nThe letter \\\"k\\\" following the number 5 on the resistor's line tells SPICE that it is a figure of 5 kΩ, not 5 Ω. Let's see what result we get when we run this through the computer:\\nnode voltage ( 1) 24.0000\\nvoltage source currents name current v1 -4.800E-03 total power dissipation 1.15E-01 watts\\nThe battery voltage, of course, hasn't changed since the first simulation: its still at 24 volts. The circuit current, on the other hand, is much less this time because we've made the resistor a larger value, making it more difficult for electrons to flow. SPICE tells us that the current this time is equal to -4.800E-03 amps, or -4.800 x 10-3 amps. This is equivalent to taking the number -4.8 and skipping the decimal point three places to the left.\\nOf course, if we recognize that 10-3 is the same as the metric prefix \\\"milli,\\\" we could write the figure as -4.8 milliamps, or -4.8 mA.\\nLooking at the \\\"total power dissipation\\\" given to us by SPICE on this second simulation, we see that it is 1.15E-01 watts, or 1.15 x 10-1 watts. The power of -1 corresponds to the metric prefix \\\"deci,\\\" but generally we limit our use of metric prefixes in electronics to those associated with powers of ten that are multiples of three (ten to the power of . . . -12, -9, -6, -3, 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.). So, if we want to follow this convention, we must express this power dissipation figure as 0.115 watts or 115 milliwatts (115 mW) rather than 1.15 deciwatts (1.15 dW).\\nPerhaps the easiest way to convert a figure from scientific notation to common metric prefixes is with a scientific calculator set to the \\\"engineering\\\" or \\\"metric\\\" display mode. Just set the calculator for that display mode, type any scientific notation figure into it using the proper keystrokes (see your owner's manual), press the \\\"equals\\\" or \\\"enter\\\" key, and it should display the same figure in engineering/metric notation.\\nAgain, I'll be using SPICE as a method of demonstrating circuit concepts throughout this book. Consequently, it is in your best interest to understand scientific notation so you can easily comprehend its output data format.\\nContributors to this chapter are listed in chronological order of their contributions, from most recent to first. See Appendix 2 (Contributor List) for dates and contact information.\\nJason Starck (June 2000): HTML document formatting, which led to a much better-looking second edition.\\nLessons In Electric Circuits copyright (C) 2000-2015 Tony R. Kuphaldt, under the terms and conditions of the Design Science License .\",\n \"What is Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that ...\\nzetta-Z: 10 21 * 2 70: ... Examples of quantities or phenomena in which power-of-10 prefix multipliers apply ... What's the largest amount of data we'll be able to ...\\nWhat is Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that? - Definition from WhatIs.com\\nAlso see Kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi, pebi, and all that , which are relatively new prefixes designed to express power-of-two multiples.\\nKilo, mega, giga, tera, and peta are among the list of prefixes that are used to denote the quantity of something, such as, in computing and telecommunications, a byte or a bit . Sometimes called prefix multipliers, these prefixes are also used in electronics and physics. Each multiplier consists of a one-letter abbreviation and the prefix that it stands for.\\nDownload this free guide\\nLetters from the Editor: 2016 State of Storage\\nRich Castagna – the VP of Editorial, Storage – shares his candid, expert, and often very funny view on today’s storage market. In these six “Letters from the Editor,” originally featured in our monthly Storage magazine, Rich covers topics such as flash, data storage, SDS, storage hardware, data protection, convergence, and more.\\nStart Download\\nYou forgot to provide an Email Address.\\nThis email address doesn’t appear to be valid.\\nThis email address is already registered. Please login .\\nYou have exceeded the maximum character limit.\\nPlease provide a Corporate E-mail Address.\\nBy submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.\\nBy submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers.\\nYou also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy .\\nIn communications, electronics, and physics, multipliers are defined in powers of 10 from 10-24 to 1024, proceeding in increments of three orders of magnitude (103 or 1,000). In IT and data storage , multipliers are defined in powers of 2 from 210 to 280, proceeding in increments of ten orders of magnitude (210 or 1,024). These multipliers are denoted in the following table.\\n \\n* Not generally used to express data speed\\n** k = 103 and K = 210\\nExamples of quantities or phenomena in which power-of-10 prefix multipliers apply include frequency (including computer clock speeds), physical mass, power, energy, electrical voltage, and electrical current. Power-of-10 multipliers are also used to define binary data speeds. Thus, for example, 1 kbps (one kilobit per second) is equal to 103, or 1,000, bps (bits per second); 1 Mbps (one megabit per second) is equal to 106, or 1,000,000, bps. (The lowercase k is the technically correct symbol for kilo- when it represents 103, although the uppercase K is often used instead.)\\nWhen binary data is stored in memory or fixed media such as a hard drive, diskette, ZIP disk, tape, or CD-ROM , power-of-2 multipliers are used. Technically, the uppercase K should be used for kilo- when it represents 210. Therefore 1 KB (one kilobyte) is 210, or 1,024, bytes; 1 MB (one megabyte) is 220, or 1,048,576 bytes.\\nThe choice of power-of-10 versus power-of-2 prefix multipliers can appear arbitrary. It helps to remember that in common usage, multiples of bits are almost always expressed in powers of 10, while multiples of bytes are almost always expressed in powers of 2. Rarely is data speed expressed in bytes per second, and rarely is data storage or memory expressed in bits. Such usages are considered improper. Confusion is not likely, therefore, provided one adheres strictly to the standard usages of the terms bit and byte.\\nThis was last updated in April 2008\\nContinue Reading About Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that\",\n \"(M-14) Powers of Numbers - NASA\\nRaising a numbers to the power which is a positive whole number The concept of logarithms arose from that of powers of numbers. ... Most square roots ...\\nThe Powers of a Number\\n\\\"Two to the 6th power\\\" or simply \\\"2 to the 6th\\\"\\\"\\n and so on...\\n The number in the subscript is known as an \\\"exponent.\\\" The special names for \\\"squared\\\" and \\\"cubed\\\" come because a square of side 2 has area 22 and a cube of side 2 has volume 23. Similarly, a square of side 16.3 has area (16.3)2 and a cube of side 9.25 has volume (9.25)3. Note the use of parentheses--they are not absolutely needed, but they help make clear what is raised to the second of 3rd power.\\nQuick Quiz:\\nThe Greek Pythagoras showed (about 500 BC) that if (a,b,c) are lengths of the sides of a right-angled triangle, with c the longest, then a2 + b2 = c2 In a right angles triangle, a = 12, b = 5. Can you guess c?\\nWhich is larger--23 or 32? 27 or 53?\\nAn slight modification of and old riddle goes:\\nAs I was going to St. Ives\\nI met a man with seven wives\\nEach wife had seven sacks\\nEach sack had seven cats\\nEach cat had seven kits\\nKits, cats, man, wives--how many were coming from St. Ives?\\nIt all involves powers of 7:\\nMan -- 70 = 1\\nNote that\\n(23).(22) = 25\\nsince the first term contributes three factors of 2 and the second term contributes two--together, 5 multiplications by 2. The same will hold is \\\"2\\\" is replaced by any number. So, if that number is represented by \\\"x\\\" we get\\n(x3).(x2) = x5\\nand in general (since there is nothing special about 2 and 3 which will not hold for other whole numbers)\\n(xa).(xb) = x(a+b)\\nwhere a and b are any whole numbers.\\n The most widely used powers by whole numbers, for users of the decimal system, are of course those of 10\\n101 = 10 (\\\"ten\\\")\\n105 = 100,000 (\\\"a hundred thousand\\\")\\n106 = 1,000,000 (\\\"a million\\\")\\n Note that here the \\\"power index\\\" also gives the number of zeros. For larger numbers, it used to be that in the US 109 = 1,000,000,000 was called \\\"a billion\\\" while in Europe it was called a \\\"milliard\\\" and one had to advance to 1012 to reach a \\\"billion.\\\" These days the US convention is gaining ground, but the world remains divided between nations where the comma denotes what we call \\\"the decimal point\\\", while the point divides large numbers, e.g. 109 = 1.000.000.000 (in the US commas would be used).\\n It also should be noted that some cultures have assigned names to some other powers of 10--e.g. the Greeks used \\\"myriad\\\" for 10,000 while the Hebrew Bible named it \\\"r'vavah,\\\" and in India \\\"Lakh\\\" still means 100,000. A 9-year old in 1920 coined the name \\\"Googol\\\" for 10100, but the word found little use beyond inspiring the name of a search engine on the world-wide web.\\nDividing one power by another\\nIn a manner very similar to the above, we can write\\n(25) / (22) = 23\\nsince dividing a power of 2 by some smaller power means canceling from the numeraor a number of factors equal to those in the denominator. Writing it out in detail\\n(2.2.2.2.2) / (2.2) = 2.2.2\\nHere too the number raised to higher power need not be 2--again, denote it by x--and the powers need not be 5 and 2, but can be any two whole numbers, say a and b:\\n(xa) / (xb) = x(a–b)\\nHere however a new twist is added, because subtraction can also yield zero, or even negative numbers. Before exploring that direction, it helps outline a general course to follow.\\nExpanding the meaning of \\\"Number\\\"\\n Back at the dim beginnings of humanity, \\\"numbers\\\" simply meant positive whole numbers (\\\"integers\\\"): one apple, two apples, three apples...\\nSimple fractions were also found useful--1/2, 1/3 and so on.\\nThen zero was added, originally from India.\\nThen negative numbers were given full status--rather than view subtraction as a separate operation, it was re-interpreted as addition of a negative number.\\n Similarly, to every integer x there corresponded an \\\"inverse\\\" number (1/x) (many calculators have a 1/x button too). In ancient Egypt, 5000 years ago, these were the only fractions recognized, and they are therefore still sometimes called \\\"Egyptian fractions.\\\" When an Egyptian of that time wanted to express 3/4, it was presented as (1/2 + 1/4). Sometimes long expressions were needed, e.g\\n99/100 = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/25\\nbut it always worked.\\n The ancient Greeks went further and defined as \\\"rational number\\\" (or \\\"logical\\\" numbers--\\\"rational\\\" comes from Latin) any multiple of such an inverse, for instance 4/13, 22/7 or 355/113. Rational numbers are dense: no matter how close two of them are to each other, one could always place another rational number between them--for instance, half their sum is one choice among many. Decimal fractions which stop at some length are rational numbers too, though decimal fractions having infinite length but with a repeating pattern (0.33333..., 0.575757... etc.) can always be expressed as rational fractions.\\n Greek philosophers in the early days of mathematics were therefore surprised to find that in spite of that density, some extra numbers could still \\\"hide\\\" between rational ones, and could not be represented by any rational number. For instance, √2 is of this class, the number whose square equals 2. Most square roots and solutions of equations are also of this kind, as is π, the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter (denoted by the Greek letter \\\"pi\\\"). Pi has a fair approximation in 22/7 and a much better one in 355/113, but its exact value can never be represented by any fraction. Mathematicians view all the preceding types of number as a single class of \\\"real numbers\\\".\\nLogarithms of positive numbers are real numbers, too. When one writes\\n2 = 100.3010299.. so that 0.3010299.. = log 2\\n(the dots represent an irregular continuation) one views it as 10 raised to a power which is some real number.Earlier, powers were integers, denoting the number of times some number was multiplied by itself. To make the above expression meaningful, it is therefore necessary to generalize the concept of raising a number to some power to where any real number can be the power index.\\nLogarithms of powers of 10\\nThese are all whole numbers::\\n101 = 10\\nThese logarithms also satisfy the rules we found\\n(xa).(xb) = x(a+b)\\n U = (10a) V = (10b) W = (10(a+b)) = U.V\\nthen since\\n a = log U b = logV (a+b) = log W\\nwe have\\n logV + log U = log (U.V)\\n This relation holds whenever U and V are powers of 10:\\nThe logarithm of the product is the sum of the logarithms\\nof the multiplied numbers.\\n as demonstrated in the overview in the preceding section.\\n As the concept of logarithm is broadened, that property always remains. That is what originally made logarithms useful: converting multiplication into addition. Instead of having to multiply U and V, we only need add their logarithms and then look for the number whose logarithm equals that sum: that will be the product (U.V).\\nSimilarly,\\n U = (10a) V = (10b) W = (10(a–b)) = U/V\\nthen in the division we have\\nlogV – log U = log (U/V)\\nor \\\"the logarithm of the quotient is the difference between the logarithms of the divided numbers,\\\" e.g. 107 / 104 = 103 which agrees with 7 – 4 = 3. Division, though, opens up a new territory: by the same rule, for instance\\n 1040 / 1043 = 10–3 = 0.001\\nAnd\\n 104 / 104 = 100 = 1\\nsince a number is being divided by itself must equal 1. Indeed, this is consistent with the rule, the adding or subtracting 1 to the logarithm moves its number one decimal to the right of left. Earlier\\n106 = 1,000,000\\nq = 1.60219 10–19 coulomb\\n If this were to be written as a decimal fraction, the expression would take about half a line, with 18 zeros following the decimal point in front of the significant digits--and a quick look at it would not give much information, one still would have had to count the zeros. The mass of the electron is similarly small\\nm = 9.1095 10–29 kg\\nScientific notation simplifies writing such numbers. Yet another example is the speed of light\\nc = 2.99792 108 meter/second\\n Scientific notation also makes multiplication and division easier and less error prone. One multiplies or divides separately the numerical factors, each between 1 and 10, and usually sees at a glance if the result is of the right range of magnitude. Separately, one adds together all power exponents of multiplied factors, and subtracts those of divided ones, to get the appropriate power of 10 which then appears in scientific notation.\\n Of course, in any calculation, one must use consistent units--it would not do to mix meters and inches, or pounds and grams (such inconsistent use apparently led to an error which caused a space probe to Mars to miss the planet and get lost). The most common consistent system in physics and technology is the MKS system, measuring distance in meters, mass in kilograms and time in seconds. All other units are determined by the choice of these three standards, and as long as one stays in the MKS system, results conform to units of that system too (e.g. if energy is being calculated, it always comes out in joules ).\\nAn example\\n Electrons of the polar aurora (\\\"northern lights\\\") move at about 1/5 the velocity of light, in a magnetic field B which near the ground is about 5 10–5 Tesla (the Tesla is the MKS unit of magnetic field: at the pole of an iron magnet you get about 1 Tesla). The magnetic field causes an electron to spiral around the direction of the magnetic force (\\\"magnetic field line\\\") with a radius of\\nr = mv/(qB)\\nwhere v is the part of the velocity perpendicular to the direction of B. If v--the component perpendicular to B--is half the total velocity, what is r?\\nWe have\",\n \"Metric_prefix.txt\\nMetric prefix\\nA metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or fraction of the unit. While all metric prefixes in common use today are decadic, historically there have been a number of binary metric prefixes as well. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol. The prefix kilo-, for example, may be added to gram to indicate multiplication by one thousand: one kilogram is equal to one thousand grams. The prefix milli-, likewise, may be added to metre to indicate division by one thousand; one millimetre is equal to one thousandth of a metre.\\n\\nDecimal multiplicative prefixes have been a feature of all forms of the metric system with six dating back to the system's introduction in the 1790s. Metric prefixes have even been prepended to non-metric units. The SI prefixes are standardized for use in the International System of Units (SI) by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in resolutions dating from 1960 to 1991. Since 2009, they have formed part of the International System of Quantities.\\n\\nList of SI prefixes\\n\\nThe BIPM specifies twenty prefixes for the International System of Units (SI).\\n\\nEach prefix name has a symbol which is used in combination with the symbols for units of measure. For example, the symbol for kilo- is 'k', and is used to produce 'km', 'kg', and 'kW', which are the SI symbols for kilometre, kilogram, and kilowatt, respectively.\\n\\nPrefixes may not be used in combination. This also applies to mass, for which the SI base unit (kilogram) already contains a prefix. For example, milligram (mg) is used instead of microkilogram (µkg).\\n\\nIn arithmetic of measurements having prefixed units, the prefixes must be expanded to their numeric multiplier, except when adding or subtracting values with identical units.\\nHence, × × \\n = .\\n\\nPrefixes corresponding to an integer power of one thousand are generally preferred. Hence 100 m is preferred over 1 hm (hectometre) or 10 dam (decametres). The prefixes hecto, deca, deci, and centi were commonly used for everyday purposes, especially the centimetre (cm) is common. However, some modern building codes require that the millimetre be used in preference to the centimetre, because \\\"use of centimetres leads to extensive usage of decimal points and confusion\\\". \\n\\nWhen units occur in exponentiation, for example, in square and cubic forms, the multiplication prefix must be considered part of the unit, and thus included in the exponentiation.\\n* 1 km2 means one square kilometre, or the area of a square of by and not square metres.\\n* 2 Mm3 means two cubic megametres, or the volume of two cubes of by by or , and not cubic metres ().\\n\\n;Examples\\n* \\n = 0.05 m\\n* \\n \\n = \\n* 3 MW \\n 3 × = \\n\\nApplication to units of measurement\\n\\nThe use of prefixes can be traced back to the introduction of the metric system in the 1790s, long before the 1960 introduction of the SI. The prefixes, including those introduced after 1960, are used with any metric unit, whether officially included in the SI or not (e.g. millidynes and milligauss). Metric prefixes may also be used with non-metric units.\\n\\nThe choice of prefixes with a given unit is usually dictated by convenience of use. Unit prefixes for amounts that are much larger or smaller than those actually encountered are seldom used, though they remain valid combinations. In most contexts only a few most common combinations are established as standard.\\n\\nMetric units \\n\\nMass\\n\\nIn use, the kilogram, gram, milligram, microgram, and smaller are fairly common. However, megagram (and gigagram, teragram, etc.) are rarely used; tonnes (and kilotonnes, megatonnes, etc.) or scientific notation are used instead. Megagram is occasionally used to disambiguate the metric tonne from the various non-metric tons. An exception is pollution emission rates, which are typically on the order of Tg/yr. Sometimes only one element is denoted for an emission, such as Tg C/yr or Tg N/yr, so that inter-comparisons of different compounds are easier.\\n\\nUniquely among SI units, the base unit of mass, the kilogram, already includes a prefix. The prefixes do not, therefore, indicate corresponding multiples of the base unit in the case of mass; for example, a megagram is kg, whereas mega- indicates a multiple of .\\n\\nVolume\\n\\nThe litre (equal to a cubic decimetre), millilitre (equal to a cubic centimetre), microlitre, and smaller are common. In Europe, the centilitre is often used for packaged products (such as wine) and the decilitre less frequently. (The latter two items include prefixes corresponding to an exponent that is not divisible by three.)\\n\\nLarger volumes are usually denoted in kilolitres, megalitres or gigalitres, or else in cubic metres (1 cubic metre 1 kilolitre) or cubic kilometres (1 cubic kilometre \\n 1 teralitre). For scientific purposes the cubic metre is usually used.\\n\\nLength\\n\\nThe kilometre, metre, centimetre, millimetre, and smaller are common. (However, the decimetre is rarely used.) The micrometre is often referred to by the non-SI term micron. In some fields such as chemistry, the angstrom (equal to 0.1 nm) historically competed with the nanometre. The femtometre, used mainly in particle physics, is usually called a fermi. For large scales, megametre, gigametre, and larger are rarely used. Instead, non-metric units are used, such as astronomical units, light years, and parsecs; the astronomical unit is mentioned in the SI standards as an accepted non-SI unit.\\n\\nTime and angles\\n\\nThe second, millisecond, microsecond, and shorter are common. The kilosecond and megasecond also have some use, though for these and longer times one usually uses either scientific notation or minutes, hours, and so on.\\n\\nOfficial policies about the use of these prefixes vary slightly between the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); and some of the policies of both bodies are at variance with everyday practice. For instance, the NIST advises that \\\"to avoid confusion, prefix symbols (and prefixes) are not used with the time-related unit symbols (names) min (minute), h (hour), d (day); nor with the angle-related symbols (names) ° (degree), ′ (minute), and ″ (second).\\\" \\n\\nThe BIPM’s position on the use of SI prefixes with units of time larger than the second is the same as that of the NIST but their position with regard to angles differs: they state \\\"However astronomers use milliarcsecond, which they denote mas, and microarcsecond, µas, which they use as units for measuring very small angles.\\\" The SI unit of angle is the radian, but, as mentioned above, degrees, minutes and seconds see some scientific use.\\n\\nTemperature\\n\\nOfficial policy also varies from common practice for the degree Celsius (°C). NIST states:[http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP811/sec06.html] \\\"Prefix symbols may be used with the unit symbol °C and prefixes may be used with the unit name 'degree Celsius'. For example, 12 m°C (12 millidegrees Celsius) is acceptable.\\\" In practice, it is more common for prefixes to be used with the kelvin when it is desirable to denote extremely large or small absolute temperatures or temperature differences. Thus, temperatures of star interiors may be given in units of MK (megakelvins), and molecular cooling may be described in mK (millikelvins).\\n\\nEnergy\\n\\nThere exist a number of definitions for the non-SI unit, the calorie. There are gram calories and kilogram calories. One kilogram calorie, which equals one thousand gram calories, often appears capitalized and without a prefix (i.e. 'Cal') when referring to \\\"dietary calories\\\" in food. It is common to apply metric prefixes to the gram calorie but not to the kilogram calorie: thus, for example, 1 kcal 1000 cal \\n 1 Cal.\\n\\nNon-metric units\\n\\nMetric prefixes are widely used outside the system of metric units. Common examples include the megabyte and the decibel. Metric prefixes rarely appear with imperial or US units except in some special cases (e.g., microinch, kilofoot, kilopound or 'kip'). They are also used with other specialized units used in particular fields (e.g., megaelectronvolt, gigaparsec, millibarn). They are also occasionally used with currency units (e.g., gigadollar), mainly by people who are familiar with the prefixes from scientific usage. In geology and paleontology, the year, with symbol a (from the Latin annus), is commonly used with metric prefixes: ka, Ma, and Ga.\\n\\nPresentation\\n\\nPronunciation\\n\\nThe prefix giga is usually pronounced but sometimes. According to the American writer Kevin Self, in the 1920s a German committee member of the International Electrotechnical Commission proposed giga as a prefix for 109, drawing on a verse (evidently \\\"Anto-logie\\\") by the humorous poet Christian Morgenstern that appeared in the third (1908) edition of Galgenlieder (Gallows Songs). \\n\\nThis suggests a hard German g was originally intended as the pronunciation. Self was unable to ascertain when the (soft g) pronunciation was accepted, but as of 1995 current practice had returned to (hard g). \\n \\n\\nWhen an SI prefix is affixed to a root word, the prefix carries the stress, while the root drops its stress but retains a full vowel in the syllable that is stressed when the root word stands alone. For example, gigabyte is, with stress on the first syllable. However, words in common use outside the scientific community may follow idiosyncratic stress rules. In English speaking countries kilometre is often pronounced, with reduced vowels on both syllables of metre.\\n\\nTypesetting\\n\\nThe LaTeX typesetting system features an SIunitx package, in which the units of measurement are spelled out, for example, \\\\SI{3}{\\\\tera\\\\hertz} formats as \\\"3 THz\\\".\\n\\nNon-standard prefixes\\n\\nObsolete metric prefixes\\n\\nSome of the prefixes formerly used in the metric system have fallen into disuse and were not adopted into the SI. The decimal prefix myria- (sometimes also written as myrio-) (ten thousand) as well as the binary prefixes double- and demi-, denoting a factor of 2 and (one half), respectively, were parts of the original metric system adopted by France in 1795. These were not retained when the SI prefixes were internationally adopted by the 11th CGPM conference in 1960. The halving and doubling prefixes were dropped because they were neither decimal nor symmetrical.\\n\\nDouble prefixes\\n\\nDouble prefixes have been used in the past, such as micromillimetres or \\\"millimicrons\\\" (now nanometres), micromicrofarads (now picofarads), kilomegatons (now gigatons), hectokilometres (now 100 kilometres) and the derived adjective hectokilometric (typically used for qualifying the fuel consumption measures). These were disallowed with the introduction of the SI.\\n\\nOther obsolete double prefixes included \\\"decimilli-\\\" (10−4), which was contracted to \\\"dimi-\\\" (a translation of the French original Esprit et bon usage du systeme metrique, 1965) and standardized in France up to 1961.\\n\\n\\\"Hella\\\" prefix proposal\\n\\nIn 2010, UC Davis student Austin Sendek started a petition to designate \\\"hella\\\" as the SI prefix for one octillion (1027). The petition gathered over 60,000 supporters by circulating through Facebook and receiving a significant amount of media coverage. Although the Consultative Committee for Units considered the proposal, it was ultimately rejected. However, hella has been adopted by certain websites, such as Google Calculator and Wolfram Alpha. \\n\\nX, W and V\\n\\nBrian C. Lacki follows Z and Y with the adopted prefixes X, W and V to mean , and respectively, thus continuing the inverse alphabetical order.\\n\\nSimilar symbols and abbreviations\\n\\nIn written English, the symbol K is often used informally to mean a multiple of thousand in many contexts. For example, one may talk of a 40K salary (), or call the Year 2000 problem the Y2K problem. In these cases an uppercase K is often used (although it should not, the uppercase K being the symbol for Kelvin). This informal postfix is read or spoken as \\\"thousand\\\" or \\\"grand\\\", or just \\\"k\\\", but never \\\"kilo\\\" (despite that being the origin of the letter).\\n\\nThe financial and general news media mostly use m/M, b/B and t/T as abbreviations for million, billion (109) and trillion (1012) for large quantities, typically currency and population.\\n \\n\\nThe medical and automotive fields in the United States use the abbreviations \\\"cc\\\" or \\\"ccm\\\" for cubic centimetres. 1 cubic centimetre is equivalent to 1 millilitre. Most nations use millilitres in preference to cubic centimetres.\\n\\nFor nearly a century, the electrical construction industry used the abbreviation \\\"MCM\\\" to designate a \\\"thousand circular mils\\\" in specifying thicknesses of large electrical cables. Since the mid-1990s, \\\"kcmil\\\" has been adopted as the \\\"official\\\" designation of a thousand circular mils, but the designation \\\"MCM\\\" still remains in wide use. A similar system is used in natural gas sales in the United States: m (or M) for thousands and mm (or MM) for millions of British thermal units or therms, and in the oil industry, where 'MMbbl' is the symbol for 'millions of barrels'.\\n\\nBinary prefixes\\n\\nIn some fields of information technology it has been common to designate non-decimal multiples based on powers of 1024, rather than 1000, for some SI prefixes (kilo, mega, giga), contrary to the definitions in the International System of Units (SI). This practice has been sanctioned by some industry associations, including JEDEC. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standardized the system of binary prefixes (kibi, mebi, gibi, etc.) for this purpose. The names and symbols of the binary prefixes proposed by the IEC include\\n* kibi (Ki) 210 \\n \\n* mebi (Mi) 220 \\n 2 = \\n* gibi (Gi) 230 \\n 3 = \\netc.\",\n \"SI Prefixes List - Unit Converter - unitarium.com\\nList of SI-Prefixes (..., mili, centy, decy, kilo, ... 10 6: Million/Million: kilo ... In long scale Billion prefix (10 12) is tera, Trillion prefix (10 18) ...\\nSI Prefixes List\\nSI Prefixes List\\nAn SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple. The abbreviation SI is from the French language name Système International d’Unités (also known as International System of Units). SI prefixes are used to reduce the quantity of zeroes in numerical equivalencies. Twenty SI prefixes are available to combine with units of measure. On this page you can see SI Prefix Chart\\nInfo from wikipedia.org\\nNews & Info\\nIf you have found any bugs please report it to: bugs [AT] unitarium.com\\nWe will appreciate any comments and suggestions for improving this site. Send them please to: admin [AT] unitarium.com\\n \\n \\nBelow, you can find the chart of 24 prefixes introduced and governed by Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (eng. International Bureau of Weights and Measures ) .The abbreviation SI is from the French language name Système International d’Unités (eng: International System of Units )\\nSI Prefixes List\\nQuadrillionth/Septillionth\\nShort And Long Scale\\nIn most English-speaking countries short scale is used. In short scale Billion prefix (109) is giga, Trillion prefix (1012) is tera, Billionth prefix (10-9) is nano, Trillionth prefix (10-12 is pico, and so on.\\nIn most European countries long scale is used. In long scale Billion prefix (1012) is tera, Trillion prefix (1018) is eksa, Billionth prefix (10-12) is pico, Trillionth prefix (10-18) is atto, and so on.\\nPrefixes In Computing\\nPrefixes k,M,G,T,P (kilo,mega,giga,tera,peta) are commonly used in computing, where they are applied to information and storage units. Since informational systems are based on power of 2, this led to following meaning of prefixes in computer science:\\nPrefix\",\n \"Definitions of the SI units: The twenty SI prefixes\\n10 21: zetta: Z: 10 18: exa: E: ... in the case of the kilogram the prefix names of Table 5 are used with ... Because the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10, ...\\nDefinitions of the SI units: The twenty SI prefixes\\nConsider the earlier example of the height of the Washington Monument. We may write\\nhW = 169 000 mm = 16 900 cm = 169 m = 0.169 km\\nusing the millimeter (SI prefix milli, symbol m), centimeter (SI prefix centi, symbol c), or kilometer (SI prefix kilo, symbol k).\\nBecause the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10, they should not be used to represent powers of 2. Thus, one kilobit, or 1 kbit, is 1000 bit and not\\n210 bit = 1024 bit.\\nTo alleviate this ambiguity, prefixes for binary multiples have been adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for use in information technology.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124615,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"What name is given to the concept that an animal hitting keys at random on a typewriter for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Infinite monkey theorem"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Infinite_monkey_theorem.txt\nInfinite monkey theorem\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\n\nIn this context, \"almost surely\" is a mathematical term with a precise meaning, and the \"monkey\" is not an actual monkey, but a metaphor for an abstract device that produces an endless random sequence of letters and symbols. One of the earliest instances of the use of the \"monkey metaphor\" is that of French mathematician Émile Borel in 1913, but the first instance may be even earlier. The probability of a universe full of monkeys typing a complete work such as Shakespeare's Hamlet is so tiny that the chance of it occurring during a period of time hundreds of thousands of orders of magnitude longer than the age of the universe is extremely low (but technically not zero).\n\nVariants of the theorem include multiple and even infinitely many typists, and the target text varies between an entire library and a single sentence. The history of these statements can be traced back to Aristotle's On Generation and Corruption and Cicero's De natura deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), through Blaise Pascal and Jonathan Swift, and finally to modern statements with their iconic simians and typewriters. In the early 20th century, Borel and Arthur Eddington used the theorem to illustrate the timescales implicit in the foundations of statistical mechanics.\n\nSolution\n\nDirect proof\n\nThere is a straightforward proof of this theorem. As an introduction, recall that if two events are statistically independent, then the probability of both happening equals the product of the probabilities of each one happening independently. For example, if the chance of rain in Moscow on a particular day in the future is 0.4 and the chance of an earthquake in San Francisco on any particular day is 0.00003, then the chance of both happening on the same day is , assuming that they are indeed independent.\n\nSuppose the typewriter has 50 keys, and the word to be typed is banana. If the keys are pressed randomly and independently, it means that each key has an equal chance of being pressed. Then, the chance that the first letter typed is 'b' is 1/50, and the chance that the second letter typed is a is also 1/50, and so on. Therefore, the chance of the first six letters spelling banana is\n(1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) (1/50)6 \n 1/15 625 000 000 ,\nless than one in 15 billion, but not zero, hence a possible outcome.\n\nFrom the above, the chance of not typing banana in a given block of 6 letters is 1 − (1/50)6. Because each block is typed independently, the chance Xn of not typing banana in any of the first n blocks of 6 letters is\n\nX_n=\\left(1-\\frac{1}{50^6}\\right)^n.\n\nAs n grows, Xn gets smaller. For an n of a million, Xn is roughly 0.9999, but for an n of 10 billion Xn is roughly 0.53 and for an n of 100 billion it is roughly 0.0017. As n approaches infinity, the probability Xn approaches zero; that is, by making n large enough, Xn can be made as small as is desired, This shows that the probability of typing \"banana\" in one of the predefined non-overlapping blocks of six letters tends to 1. In addition the word may appear across two blocks, so the estimate given is conservative. and the chance of typing banana approaches 100%.\n\nThe same argument shows why at least one of infinitely many monkeys will produce a text as quickly as it would be produced by a perfectly accurate human typist copying it from the original. In this case Xn = (1 − (1/50)6)n where Xn represents the probability that none of the first n monkeys types banana correctly on their first try. When we consider 100 billion monkeys, the probability falls to 0.17%, and as the number of monkeys n increases, the value of Xn – the probability of the monkeys failing to reproduce the given text – approaches zero arbitrarily closely. The limit, for n going to infinity, is zero. So the probability of the word banana appearing at some point after an infinite number of keystrokes is equal to one.\n\nInfinite strings\n\nThis can be stated more generally and compactly in terms of strings, which are sequences of characters chosen from some finite alphabet:\n* Given an infinite string where each character is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a substring at some position.\n* Given an infinite sequence of infinite strings, where each character of each string is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a prefix of one of these strings.\n\nBoth follow easily from the second Borel–Cantelli lemma. For the second theorem, let Ek be the event that the kth string begins with the given text. Because this has some fixed nonzero probability p of occurring, the Ek are independent, and the below sum diverges,\n\\sum_{k1}^\\infty P(E_k) \n \\sum_{k1}^\\infty p \n \\infty,\nthe probability that infinitely many of the Ek occur is 1. The first theorem is shown similarly; one can divide the random string into nonoverlapping blocks matching the size of the desired text, and make Ek the event where the kth block equals the desired string.The first theorem is proven by a similar if more indirect route in \n\nProbabilities\n\nHowever, for physically meaningful numbers of monkeys typing for physically meaningful lengths of time the results are reversed. If there were as many monkeys as there are atoms in the observable universe typing extremely fast for trillions of times the life of the universe, the probability of the monkeys replicating even a single page of Shakespeare is unfathomably minute.\n\nIgnoring punctuation, spacing, and capitalization, a monkey typing letters uniformly at random has a chance of one in 26 of correctly typing the first letter of Hamlet. It has a chance of one in 676 (26 × 26) of typing the first two letters. Because the probability shrinks exponentially, at 20 letters it already has only a chance of one in 2620 19,928,148,895,209,409,152,340,197,376 (almost 2 × 1028). In the case of the entire text of Hamlet, the probabilities are so vanishingly small as to be inconceivable. The text of Hamlet contains approximately 130,000 letters.Using the Hamlet text [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws2611.txt from gutenberg], there are 132680 alphabetical letters and 199749 characters overall Thus there is a probability of one in 3.4 × 10183,946 to get the text right at the first trial. The average number of letters that needs to be typed until the text appears is also 3.4 × 10183,946,\n\nFor any required string of 130,000 letters from the set a-z, the average number of letters that needs to be typed until the string appears is (rounded) 3.4 × 10183,946, except in the case that all letters of the required string are equal, in which case the value is about 4% more, 3.6 × 10183,946. In that case failure to have the correct string starting from a particular position reduces with about 4% the probability of a correct string starting from the next position (i.e., for overlapping positions the events of having the correct string are not independent; in this case there is a positive correlation between the two successes, so the chance of success after a failure is smaller than the chance of success in general). The figure 3.4 × 10183,946 is derived from n 26130000 by taking the logarithm of both sides: log10(n) \n 1300000×log10(26) 183946.5352, therefore n \n 100.5352 × 10183946 = 3.429 × 10183946.\n\n or including punctuation, 4.4 × 10360,783.26 letters ×2 for capitalisation, 12 for punctuation characters \n 64, 199749×log10(64) = 4.4 × 10360,783 (this is generous as it assumes capital letters are separate keys, as opposed to a key combination, which makes the problem vastly harder).\n\nEven if every proton in the observable universe were a monkey with a typewriter, typing from the Big Bang until the end of the universe (when protons no longer exist), they would still need a still far greater amount of time – more than three hundred and sixty thousand orders of magnitude longer – to have even a 1 in 10500 chance of success. To put it another way, for a one in a trillion chance of success, there would need to be 10360,641 universes made of atomic monkeys.\n\nThere are ~1080 protons in the observable universe. Assume the monkeys write for 1038 years (1020 years is when all stellar remnants will have either been ejected from their galaxies or fallen into black holes, 1038 years is when all but 0.1% of protons have decayed). Assuming the monkeys type non-stop at a ridiculous 400 words per minute (the world record is 216wpm for a single minute), that's about 2000 characters per minute (Shakespeare's average word length is a bit under 5 letters). There are about half a million minutes in a year, this means each monkey types half a billion characters per year. This gives a total of 1080×1038×10910127 letters typed – which is still zero in comparison to 10360,783. For a one in a trillion chance, multiply the letters typed by a trillion: 10127×1015\n10145. 10360,783/10145=10360,641.\n\n As Kittel and Kroemer put it in their textbook on thermodynamics, the field whose statistical foundations motivated the first known expositions of typing monkeys, \"The probability of Hamlet is therefore zero in any operational sense of an event...\", and the statement that the monkeys must eventually succeed \"gives a misleading conclusion about very, very large numbers.\"\n\nIn fact there is less than a one in a trillion chance of success that such a universe made of monkeys could type any particular document a mere 79 characters long.As explained at http://www.nutters.org/docs/more-monkeys, the problem can be approximated further. 10145/log10(64)\n78.9 characters.\n\nAlmost surely\n\nThe probability that an infinite randomly generated string of text will contain a particular finite substring is 1. However, this does not mean the substring's absence is \"impossible\", despite the absence having a prior probability of 0. For example, the immortal monkey could randomly type G as its first letter, G as its second, and G as every single letter thereafter, producing an infinite string of Gs; at no point must the monkey be \"compelled\" to type anything else. (To assume otherwise implies the gambler's fallacy.) However long a randomly generated finite string is, there is a small but nonzero chance that it will turn out to consist of the same character repeated throughout; this chance approaches zero as the string's length approaches infinity. There is nothing special about such a monotonous sequence except that it is easy to describe; the same fact applies to any nameable specific sequence, such as \"RGRGRG\" repeated forever, or \"a-b-aa-bb-aaa-bbb-...\", or \"Three, Six, Nine, Twelve…\".\n\nIf the hypothetical monkey has a typewriter with 90 equally likely keys that include numerals and punctuation, then the first typed keys might be \"3.14\" (the first three digits of pi) with a probability of (1/90)4, which is 1/65,610,000. Equally probable is any other string of four characters allowed by the typewriter, such as \"GGGG\", \"mATh\", or \"q%8e\". The probability that 100 randomly typed keys will consist of the first 99 digits of pi (including the separator key), or any other particular sequence of that length, is much lower: (1/90)100. If the monkey's allotted length of text is infinite, the chance of typing only the digits of pi is 0, which is just as possible (mathematically probable) as typing nothing but Gs (also probability 0).\n\nThe same applies to the event of typing a particular version of Hamlet followed by endless copies of itself; or Hamlet immediately followed by all the digits of pi; these specific strings are equally infinite in length, they are not prohibited by the terms of the thought problem, and they each have a prior probability of 0. In fact, any particular infinite sequence the immortal monkey types will have had a prior probability of 0, even though the monkey must type something.\n\nThis is an extension of the principle that a finite string of random text has a lower and lower probability of being a particular string the longer it is (though all specific strings are equally unlikely). This probability approaches 0 as the string approaches infinity. Thus, the probability of the monkey typing an endlessly long string, such as all of the digits of pi in order, on a 90-key keyboard is (1/90)∞ which equals (1/∞) which is essentially 0. At the same time, the probability that the sequence contains a particular subsequence (such as the word MONKEY, or the 12th through 999th digits of pi, or a version of the King James Bible) increases as the total string increases. This probability approaches 1 as the total string approaches infinity, and thus the original theorem is correct.\n\nCorrespondence between strings and numbers\n\nIn a simplification of the thought experiment, the monkey could have a typewriter with just two keys: 1 and 0. The infinitely long string thusly produced would correspond to the binary digits of a particular real number between 0 and 1. A countably infinite set of possible strings end in infinite repetitions, which means the corresponding real number is rational. Examples include the strings corresponding to one-third (010101…), five-sixths (11010101…) and five-eighths (1100000…). Only a subset of such real number strings (albeit a countably infinite subset) contains the entirety of Hamlet (if the text is translated from ASCII to binary).\n\nMeanwhile, there is an uncountably infinite set of strings which do not end in such repetition; these correspond to the irrational numbers. These can be sorted into two uncountably infinite subsets: those which contain Hamlet and those which do not. However, the \"largest\" subset of all the real numbers are those which not only contain Hamlet, but which contain every other possible string of any length, and with equal distribution of such strings. These irrational numbers are called normal. Because almost all numbers are normal, almost all possible strings contain all possible finite substrings. Hence, the probability of the monkey typing a normal number is 1. The same principles apply regardless of the number of keys from which the monkey can choose; a 90-key keyboard can be seen as a generator of numbers written in base 90.\n\nHistory\n\nStatistical mechanics\n\nIn one of the forms in which probabilists now know this theorem, with its \"dactylographic\" [i.e., typewriting] monkeys (; the French word singe covers both the monkeys and the apes), appeared in Émile Borel's 1913 article \"Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité\" (Statistical mechanics and irreversibility), and in his book \"Le Hasard\" in 1914. His \"monkeys\" are not actual monkeys; rather, they are a metaphor for an imaginary way to produce a large, random sequence of letters. Borel said that if a million monkeys typed ten hours a day, it was extremely unlikely that their output would exactly equal all the books of the richest libraries of the world; and yet, in comparison, it was even more unlikely that the laws of statistical mechanics would ever be violated, even briefly.\n\nThe physicist Arthur Eddington drew on Borel's image further in The Nature of the Physical World (1928), writing:\n\nThese images invite the reader to consider the incredible improbability of a large but finite number of monkeys working for a large but finite amount of time producing a significant work, and compare this with the even greater improbability of certain physical events. Any physical process that is even less likely than such monkeys' success is effectively impossible, and it may safely be said that such a process will never happen. It is clear from the context that Eddington is not suggesting that the probability of this happening is worthy of serious consideration. On the contrary, it was a rhetorical illustration of the fact that below certain levels of probability, the term improbable is functionally equivalent to impossible.\n\nOrigins and \"The Total Library\"\n\nIn a 1939 essay entitled \"The Total Library\", Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges traced the infinite-monkey concept back to Aristotle's Metaphysics. Explaining the views of Leucippus, who held that the world arose through the random combination of atoms, Aristotle notes that the atoms themselves are homogeneous and their possible arrangements only differ in shape, position and ordering. In On Generation and Corruption, the Greek philosopher compares this to the way that a tragedy and a comedy consist of the same \"atoms\", i.e., alphabetic characters. Three centuries later, Cicero's De natura deorum (On the Nature of the Gods) argued against the atomist worldview:\n\nBorges follows the history of this argument through Blaise Pascal and Jonathan Swift, then observes that in his own time, the vocabulary had changed. By 1939, the idiom was \"that a half-dozen monkeys provided with typewriters would, in a few eternities, produce all the books in the British Museum.\" (To which Borges adds, \"Strictly speaking, one immortal monkey would suffice.\") Borges then imagines the contents of the Total Library which this enterprise would produce if carried to its fullest extreme:\n\nBorges' total library concept was the main theme of his widely read 1941 short story \"The Library of Babel\", which describes an unimaginably vast library consisting of interlocking hexagonal chambers, together containing every possible volume that could be composed from the letters of the alphabet and some punctuation characters.\n\nReal monkeys\n\nIn 2003, lecturers and students from the University of Plymouth MediaLab Arts course used a £2,000 grant from the Arts Council to study the literary output of real monkeys. They left a computer keyboard in the enclosure of six Celebes crested macaques in Paignton Zoo in Devon in England for a month, with a radio link to broadcast the results on a website. \n\nNot only did the monkeys produce nothing but five total pages largely consisting of the letter S, the lead male began by bashing the keyboard with a stone, and the monkeys continued by urinating and defecating on it. Mike Phillips, director of the university's Institute of Digital Arts and Technology (i-DAT), said that the artist-funded project was primarily performance art, and they had learned \"an awful lot\" from it. He concluded that monkeys \"are not random generators. They're more complex than that. ... They were quite interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter, something happened. There was a level of intention there.\" \n\nApplications and criticisms\n\nEvolution\n\nIn his 1931 book The Mysterious Universe, Eddington's rival James Jeans attributed the monkey parable to a \"Huxley\", presumably meaning Thomas Henry Huxley. This attribution is incorrect. Today, it is sometimes further reported that Huxley applied the example in a now-legendary debate over Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species with the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, held at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford on June 30, 1860. This story suffers not only from a lack of evidence, but the fact that in 1860 the typewriter itself had yet to emerge. \n\nDespite the original mix-up, monkey-and-typewriter arguments are now common in arguments over evolution. For example, Doug Powell argues as a Christian apologist that even if a monkey accidentally types the letters of Hamlet, it has failed to produce Hamlet because it lacked the intention to communicate. His parallel implication is that natural laws could not produce the information content in DNA. A more common argument is represented by Reverend John F. MacArthur, who claims that the genetic mutations necessary to produce a tapeworm from an amoeba are as unlikely as a monkey typing Hamlet's soliloquy, and hence the odds against the evolution of all life are impossible to overcome. \n\nEvolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins employs the typing monkey concept in his book The Blind Watchmaker to demonstrate the ability of natural selection to produce biological complexity out of random mutations. In a simulation experiment Dawkins has his weasel program produce the Hamlet phrase METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL, starting from a randomly typed parent, by \"breeding\" subsequent generations and always choosing the closest match from progeny that are copies of the parent, with random mutations. The chance of the target phrase appearing in a single step is extremely small, yet Dawkins showed that it could be produced rapidly (in about 40 generations) using cumulative selection of phrases. The random choices furnish raw material, while cumulative selection imparts information. As Dawkins acknowledges, however, the weasel program is an imperfect analogy for evolution, as \"offspring\" phrases were selected \"according to the criterion of resemblance to a distant ideal target.\" In contrast, Dawkins affirms, evolution has no long-term plans and does not progress toward some distant goal (such as humans). The weasel program is instead meant to illustrate the difference between non-random cumulative selection, and random single-step selection. In terms of the typing monkey analogy, this means that Romeo and Juliet could be produced relatively quickly if placed under the constraints of a nonrandom, Darwinian-type selection because the fitness function will tend to preserve in place any letters that happen to match the target text, improving each successive generation of typing monkeys.\n\nA different avenue for exploring the analogy between evolution and an unconstrained monkey lies in the problem that the monkey types only one letter at a time, independently of the other letters. Hugh Petrie argues that a more sophisticated setup is required, in his case not for biological evolution but the evolution of ideas:\n\nJames W. Valentine, while admitting that the classic monkey's task is impossible, finds that there is a worthwhile analogy between written English and the metazoan genome in this other sense: both have \"combinatorial, hierarchical structures\" that greatly constrain the immense number of combinations at the alphabet level. \n\nLiterary theory\n\nR. G. Collingwood argued in 1938 that art cannot be produced by accident, and wrote as a sarcastic aside to his critics,\n\nNelson Goodman took the contrary position, illustrating his point along with Catherine Elgin by the example of Borges' \"Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote\",\n\nIn another writing, Goodman elaborates, \"That the monkey may be supposed to have produced his copy randomly makes no difference. It is the same text, and it is open to all the same interpretations....\" Gérard Genette dismisses Goodman's argument as begging the question. \n\nFor Jorge J. E. Gracia, the question of the identity of texts leads to a different question, that of author. If a monkey is capable of typing Hamlet, despite having no intention of meaning and therefore disqualifying itself as an author, then it appears that texts do not require authors. Possible solutions include saying that whoever finds the text and identifies it as Hamlet is the author; or that Shakespeare is the author, the monkey his agent, and the finder merely a user of the text. These solutions have their own difficulties, in that the text appears to have a meaning separate from the other agents: what if the monkey operates before Shakespeare is born, or if Shakespeare is never born, or if no one ever finds the monkey's typescript? \n\nRandom document generation\n\nThe theorem concerns a thought experiment which cannot be fully carried out in practice, since it is predicted to require prohibitive amounts of time and resources. Nonetheless, it has inspired efforts in finite random text generation.\n\nOne computer program run by Dan Oliver of Scottsdale, Arizona, according to an article in The New Yorker, came up with a result on August 4, 2004: After the group had worked for 42,162,500,000 billion billion monkey-years, one of the \"monkeys\" typed, \"VALENTINE. Cease toIdor:eFLP0FRjWK78aXzVOwm)-‘;8.t\" The first 19 letters of this sequence can be found in \"The Two Gentlemen of Verona\". Other teams have reproduced 18 characters from \"Timon of Athens\", 17 from \"Troilus and Cressida\", and 16 from \"Richard II\". \n\nA website entitled The Monkey Shakespeare Simulator, launched on July 1, 2003, contained a Java applet that simulated a large population of monkeys typing randomly, with the stated intention of seeing how long it takes the virtual monkeys to produce a complete Shakespearean play from beginning to end. For example, it produced this partial line from Henry IV, Part 2, reporting that it took \"2,737,850 million billion billion billion monkey-years\" to reach 24 matching characters:\nRUMOUR. Open your ears; 9r\"5j5&?OWTY Z0d...\n\nDue to processing power limitations, the program used a probabilistic model (by using a random number generator or RNG) instead of actually generating random text and comparing it to Shakespeare. When the simulator \"detected a match\" (that is, the RNG generated a certain value or a value within a certain range), the simulator simulated the match by generating matched text. \n\nMore sophisticated methods are used in practice for natural language generation. If instead of simply generating random characters one restricts the generator to a meaningful vocabulary and conservatively following grammar rules, like using a context-free grammar, then a random document generated this way can even fool some humans (at least on a cursory reading) as shown in the experiments with SCIgen, snarXiv, and the Postmodernism Generator.\n\nTesting of random-number generators\n\nQuestions about the statistics describing how often an ideal monkey is expected to type certain strings translate into practical tests for random-number generators; these range from the simple to the \"quite sophisticated\". Computer-science professors George Marsaglia and Arif Zaman report that they used to call one such category of tests \"overlapping m-tuple tests\" in lectures, since they concern overlapping m-tuples of successive elements in a random sequence. But they found that calling them \"monkey tests\" helped to motivate the idea with students. They published a report on the class of tests and their results for various RNGs in 1993. \n\nIn popular culture\n\nThe infinite monkey theorem and its associated imagery is considered a popular and proverbial illustration of the mathematics of probability, widely known to the general public because of its transmission through popular culture rather than through formal education.Examples of the theorem being referred to as proverbial include: Why Creativity Is Not like the Proverbial Typing Monkey. Jonathan W. Schooler, Sonya Dougal, Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 10, No. 4 (1999); and The Case of the Midwife Toad (Arthur Koestler, New York, 1972, page 30): \"Neo-Darwinism does indeed carry the nineteenth-century brand of materialism to its extreme limits—to the proverbial monkey at the typewriter, hitting by pure chance on the proper keys to produce a Shakespeare sonnet.\" The latter is sourced from [http://www.angelfire.com/in/hypnosonic/Parable_of_the_Monkeys.html Parable of the Monkeys], a collection of historical references to the theorem in various formats.\n\nIn The Simpsons episode \"Last Exit to Springfield,\" Mr. Burns shows Homer \"a room with a thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters. Someday one of them will write the great American novel.\"\n\nIn his 1978 radio play, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams invoked the theorem to illustrate the power of the 'Infinite Improbability Drive' that powered a spaceship. From Episode 2: \"Ford\", there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out.\"\n\nA quotation attributed to a 1996 speech by Robert Wilensky stated, \"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.\"\n\nThe enduring, widespread popularity of the theorem was noted in the introduction to a 2001 paper, \"Monkeys, Typewriters and Networks: The Internet in the Light of the Theory of Accidental Excellence\" (Hoffmann & Hofmann, 2001). In 2002, an article in The Washington Post said, \"Plenty of people have had fun with the famous notion that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters and an infinite amount of time could eventually write the works of Shakespeare.\"\n In 2003, the previously mentioned Arts Council funded experiment involving real monkeys and a computer keyboard received widespread press coverage. In 2007, the theorem was listed by Wired magazine in a list of eight classic thought experiments.","Make Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners ...\n... a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter ... will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\" ...\nMake Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners are... | Smashboards\nMake Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners are...\n-The Infinite Sakurai Theorem-\nThe Idea\n\"The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\"-Wikipedia\nNow if we assume that there is an infinite number of alternate universes, that means there's also an infinite number of Sakurais, which means that there's an infinite number of Brawls, which means that every character who has ever existed will somehow make it into Brawl!\nNow let's bring this totally scientific theorem to its completely illogical conclusion, right?\n-Make Your Move-\nThe Thread\nBrawl is out. By now, you all know the roster. By now, you all know that it lacks something.\nFor instance, it lacks all the shoe-ins that we defended so much in our spare time!\nBut, actually, it also lacks some less likely characters as well.\nIn fact, it shows a remarkable lack of completely obscure characters.\nIn fact, Brawl would be the best game ever if it had the hero from my favourite cartoon, or the antagonist from that novel I'm writing, or even better, myself!\nSo thinks the Smash fanatic and giggles to himself.\nThis thread welcomes all crazy Smash fanatics who like to let their imagination run wild! If you love a certain fictional character, person, animal or inanimate object, and you want to show the world how awesome they'd look in Smash, here's the place to do it.\nJust show us the character and give them some moves!\nAny submission with a bit of effort put into it will join the list of current submissions in the appropriate category, with the name and author, a snazzy avatar, and a rating on a three-star-scale, plus a link to the respective post that will allow people browsing the first post to check out what you wrote!\nAssist Trophy/Secondary Character Section:\nYou can also enter Assist Trophies, or Secondary Characters, whatever you want to call them!\nIf you have a character idea that doesn't have as much potential as some of your others, or if you're not willing to put too much effort into a character, here's your section.\nThis also opens up possibilities for a possible Subspace Emissary plot: Give your character a non-playable boss... or maybe a non-playable ally!\nAs I said, no limits.\nCHARACTER IMAGE SHOP:\nAs a little addition, if you don't have an image of your character, you can ask me to draw one for you. I'm not an extremely good artist, but I get better.\nAnd that's all you need to know about this part!\n-Super Smash Boards Brawl-\nThe Contest\nThe Super Smash Boards Brawl contest is a contest held within the thread of Make Your Move.\nWhen the thread was born, the goal was to amass at least enough high-quality submissions to be able to create a mock Brawl character select screen after the image of the true select screen.\nBy now, the deadline is over, and over 120 characters from all manners of origin have qualified to participate. It's truly amazing to look back at it to see some of the fantastic work people have delivered.\nOf course, such awesomeness cannot possibly be contained within 35 character slots.\nThe final Super Smash Boards Brawl character select screen will hold 50 characters!\nBut that's not all.\nWith the help of Comrade Canada's flash skills, the select screen will become interactive, to show all the 50 winners in all their splendor.\nFor a unified style, all winners will be drawn by me.\nAn announcer will emphatically shout out their names when selected.\nIt will be awesome.\nAnd even until that select screen is finally completed, a complete Adventure Mode plot will be written starring the winners and all their related characters.\nNow, the question is... who will the winners be?\n-The Voting-\nThe voting!\nTo qualify for the contest, characters had to have gained a 3-star rating before the end of the deadline.\nNow, the rest depends on you. Vote for the ones you deem worthy. Here are the rules:\nOut of the list of eligible characters, you may choose up to 50 to give normal votes to.\nYou don't have to make a full list. You can also vote for just a handful of characters who caught your attention if you like. You may also vote for your own submissions.\nYou can turn a normal vote into a Super Vote with more influence on the final result. The condition is that you have to write a review of at the very least three whole lines for the submission in question. Turning a normal vote into a Super Vote does not give you any more normal votes. In the end, you can only have 50.\nThe review must contain valid points regarding the quality of the post. \"I like the character\" is not a valid point. \"I like the character and the post has managed to perfectly capture the reason I like him because...\" is a valid point.\nSince you obviously can't review your own submissions, giving yourself a Super Vote is out of the question.\nIf you chose 50 characters and there are still some submissions that you think deserve some recognition, you may list them as runners-up, which gives them votes with less effect on the final outcome.\nThe deadline for voting is March 14, the same time the Dojo! updates go up. Until then, no votes are final. You may post to list your current list of votes, give feedback to those you are unsure about, do whatever you like. Until March 14, no votes are counted. Keep checking back here to see whether anyone updated their submissions!\nAdditionally, please take into account these guidelines:\nPlease respect Original Creations. While you probably didn't know them before coming to this thread since they were made up by other members of these forums, coming up with an Original Creation takes far more creativity than just grabbing someone from an already existing story and coming up with stuff for them. If you see a potentially interesting OC in the list, go ahead and check them out. Chances are they're more interesting than characters you already knew.\nVote for quality! It's only natural for you to vote for characters you love. But please take into account that there are authors around here who spent a good few hours working hard on their submissions. Be nice to them.\nYou are encouraged to give feedback. Giving feedback does not automatically mean you're giving someone a Super Vote. The review rule was introduced to ensure that effort is more important than popularity. Simple feedback serves to give an author the chance to improve, or to simply make them a little bit happier.\nNow to get to the actual list of characters.\n-The Index-\nWhere you'll find all the shiny characters.\nFirst, let me explain some things about those images.\nCategories: There are several categories. A character will always have a line inserted in one of the new, big category images. Fact: This is awesome. It allows for all characters to be displayed adequately, thus blasting away all previous boundaries, it allows for casual passers-by to look for what they're interested in in characters, makes the thread prettier and allows for me to update more easily and with less stress, which means more updates. Hooray!\nStar ratings:\n3 Stars: Movesets with 3 stars are solid and definitely worthy of a read-through. Submissions with this rating will participate in the final voting.\n2 Stars: The line is often quite blurry between what is complete and what isn't. 2 star ratings mean that there is still something missing to make the submission complete.\n1 Star: For very incomplete submissions.\nNo Star: ...\n!Exlamation mark!\nThis sexy little sign denotes characters who are outstanding in some way. Got a backstory the size of a small novel? 5 movesets in one? Is it FUN to read? There are many things that make a submission outstanding.\nThe exclamation mark has no bearing on the contest, it's just a sort of trophy that draws attention to those who had original ideas or put a special kind of effort into their work. This piece is what all true warriors strive for! If you think you deserve an exclamation mark, go ahead and argue with me, and I'll listen and see what I can do about it. After all, I never claimed to be able to keep track of a hundred small pieces of art.\nOC\nThe green OC sign denotes Original Characters, which were created by the writer himself. These deserve a special kind of attention, I believe.\nAnd now that that's done with, let's get to the good stuff.\nSECONDARY CHARACTERS: ( to be updated soon )\nantimatter:\nTycho & Gabe (Penny Arcade) ( page 20, post 291 )\nCopperpot:\nFerver and the 100 Wolf Armada ( page 3, post 36 )\nGreatClayMonkey:\nBump! I will update this with mine when I have the time.\n \n-Taga-\nDescription:\nYes, the very character that Eaode created that you did not know about joins the Brawl!!!\nTaga is a Bouxrie (Booh-Ree) Dragon, a Bipedal Species of Reptile that has unique attributes such as the ability to speak, a human level intelligence, and the ability to summon electricity at will.\nStats:\nTaga is average height compared to the rest of the cast.\nWeight: **\nTaga's weight is a little bit below average.\nSpeed: ****\nTaga is decently speedy, having a fast running speed and relatively speedy attack execution\nPower: ***\nTaga doesn't have too much power, but enough to be able to rack up damages and get kills at around 100%\nRange: ***\nTaga has average range on his regular atacks, but gets more range when using electricity.\nFall Speed: ****\nTaga falls a bit faster than most characters, increasing his combo ability and his ability to get comboed.\nAttacks:\nA: Taga jabs out with his left hand. No knockback.\nAA: Taga Spins counter-clockwise, hitting opponents with his tail. If A is not pressed again he will stay facing the other direction. Low knockback\nAAA: Taga completes the spin with a right hook. Has knockback equal to Mario's AAA, and hits enemies up and away.\nForward Tilt: Taga jumps in the air, spinning clockwise, striking with his tail and kicking immediately after with his right foot. Has decent knockback but a little bit of lag afterward.\nUp Tilt: Taga quickly thrusts his right fist staright above him while clenching his left in anger.\nDown Tilt: Taga quickly does a crouching spin and sweeps the ground with his tail. Pops the opponent up in the air with knockback like Roy's Dtilt in Melee.\nForward Smash: Taga brings his arms back quickly and then thrusts them forward in a kamehameha-like stance, unleashing a small explosion of electricity in his hands kncoking opponents up and away. this move won't kill outright on most characters until about 125% but you can at least knock them off and edgeguard.\nDown Smash: Taga turns and jerks both his arms at a downward angle toward the ground, releasing small lightning bolts quickly downward with decent knockback. If the lightning does not hit the ground, it will continue downward at it's predetermined angle until it hits something. But it will lose knockback the more distance it covers. This move is great for edgeguarding because it will shoot down off the stage at a 45 degree angle and hit recovering opponents.\nUp Smash: Taga crouches down and then launches himself into the air doing a barrel roll. He hits the opponents with a double kick and his tail (if the kicks don't connect). The final tail hit only connects if the kicks do not,m and the tail doesn't have as much knockback as the second kick. This move combos well at low percents, and at higher percents if you hit with the tail instead.\nForward Aerial: Starts out like Mario's Fair in SSB64, Taga spins and kicks with his left foot and then flips and delivers a second kick with his right foot at an upward angle. This move is great for combos because if knocks them upward without to much knockback and has decent stun.\nUp Aerial: Taga does a backflip and kicks the enemy twice and then lands. The end of this move has an additional hit from his tail in the back that sends people at a slightly downward horizontal angle with weak knockback. The regular part of this move if just like Mario's or Falcon's in that it can continue combos well.\nNeutral Aerial: Sex Kick with decent knocback.\nBack Aerial: Taga spins back and extend a kick with good reach. Works like Samus's Bair in Melee but not quite as strong.\nDown Aerial: Taga lifts up his legs and swipes downward with his tail like Mewtwo's Dair without the flip, and a little faster. This is a meteor smash.\nSpecials:\nUp Special: Cloud Strike. A Cloud Zips by Taga's head and he grabs onto it's tail, hanging onto it for a little while before jumping off with a kick forward.\nDemonstration:\nNeutral Special: Taga puts his hands together very briefly and summons a ball of electricity in his hand. This acts like an item, he can throw it in any direction with warying degrees of strength. Once he throws it, it will elongated and travel in a straight path (if sent up/down) or in an arc (if thrown to the side). It gives decen damage and a bit of knockback. It can be followed up because it has a little stun like YLink's arrows in Melee.\nDemonstration:\nForward Special: Taga reaches one hand out and Summons electromagnetic force to pull distant enemies toward him. Has little lag so it can be followed up by a grab, attack, etc. Does not damage opponent. (this could be great for saving your teammate as well :D)\nDemonstration:\nDown Special: Taga summons a huge lightningbolt down from the heavens to strike himself. If the opponent is hit by the bolt above Taga they will receive decent damage but barely any knockback. However, when the Lightning Bolt hits Taga, he will redirect it through his body and out of his hands on both sides of him. This delivers good knockback and damage, and has good range, but is very laggy afterwards.\nIllustration:\nGrab: Taga reaches out his right arm and grabs the opponents.\nGrab Attack: Taga jerks the opponents by their neck while jolting electric current through them.\nForward Throw: Taga holds the enemy in place and kicks them away, like Link's Fthrow but more powerful.\nDown Throw: Slams the enemy into the ground and then stomps them, popping them into the air a little bit. Good for starting combos\nBack Throw: Heaves the opponent into the air behind him and then sends out a Thunderbolt to intercept them, giving additional knockback and damage.\nUp Throw: Just tosses them up into the air. Can be followed up at lower percents.\nGet up Attacks:\n< 100%: Taga pushes himself into a backflip and land on his feet.\n> 100%: Taga Struggles to get up, and then punches in both directions.\nLedge attack:\n< 100%: Taga springs himself up like a gymnast and kicks his enemies out of the way\n> 100%: Taga gets one le back on the stage, swipes his tail, and gets up.\nTaunts:\nUp: Taga raises his head toward the sky and laughs\nSide: Taga motions with his hands toward the side with a \"WTF\" motion\nDown: Taga makes an open hand gesture and says \"Of Course.\" in a sigh.\nFINAL SMASH: IONIZATION\nTaga Takes a powerful stance and stomps onto the ground. Electricty flows through the stage as all solid platforms and sage elements become an electrical hazard. Characters that touch the ground will take 10% damage and be knocked into the air with a bit of stun. Taga is immune to the danger and can roam the stage dealing additional damage to his enemies. This effect lasts for 15 seconds.\n \nCloud Strike Is Taga's Up-B :D\n \nThis character is entirely made up by me. He's the character I use in the RP I do with my girlfriend.\nName: Kurai Scaten-Oscuro\nAge: 20 (although his body was affected by some sort of magic, so he's physically 15)\nSex: Male\nPrimary Weapon: Sword\nWorld Icon:\nPicture of Kurai Oscuro (picture drawn by the IRL peofun1) His skin is actually a dark blackish color, what with him being of a dark race and all that.\n\"When the Red Shadow has all but consumed the land, a hybrid will come. This hybrid will have a power unlike any other. He shall have a form of a dark angel, and he, with the help of his light, shall bring down the furious thunder unto the Source, and return Nallthen to the age it was once in.\"\nThis is the Prophecy of the Dark Angel. The prophecy speaks of Kurai Oscuro, a boy who was born a hybrid between a normal Nallen woman, and an Elite Nallen. Kurai attempted to save his home planet of Nallthen from a dark substance known as the \"Red Shadow\" when he was fourteen, but he failed. He was forced to kill the girl he loved, and he fled to an alternate dimension, to a planet called \"Earth\".\nKurai saw Earth as a very strange planet. It seemed to mirror Nallthen. The terrain was nearly identical.\nEarth also seemed to be the opposite of Nallthen. Nallthen, while beautiful in its own right, was very dark and depressing. Earth was a brighter planet.\nThe process of crossing dimensions seemed to have affected Kurai physically. His body became five years younger. He went from being fourteen to being nine.\nKurai also had very limited power to alter the minds of humans. Although he couldn't use it much. He was able to alter the minds of a human family to cause them to believe that he was their son. Kurai was known as \"Matt\" on Earth.\nBy the time he was physically 14 again, Kurai had fallen in love with a girl on Earth named Christine. Kurai never shared his true identity with Christine.\nOne day, however, Kurai's most hated enemy, Nerez Scaten, came to Earth from Nallthen in search of him. Kurai and Christine were attacked, and Kurai was forced to reveal his identity in front of Christine.\nHowever, Christine also had an identity to reveal. She was not human either. She was of a species called \"Linck\". Lincks were creatures that had different \"kinds\". Christine was a cat-Linck named peofun1 Akiuri.\nScaten was not the only danger to them. A witch named Illismerillia had followed peo to this dimension with intentions to torture her, both physically and mentally, and then kill her.\nThe more Kurai and peo fought alongside each other, the stronger they became, and the stronger their love became. They see each other as motivation to fight their hardest to survive.\nA day would come when it was finally time to save Nallthen from the Red Shadow. Kurai, peo, peo's twin sister Negi, Kurai's female clone Kalah, and even Illismerillia (who seemed to also be in danger because of the Red Shadow) traveled to Kurai's home planet where they fought Nerez Scaten. Scaten was stabbed through the stomach, and thrown through the window of a building, plummeting to the ground below. It wasn't long until the group found the Source, a dark being that seemed to have created the Red Shadow.They fought the source, and defeated it. But the Red Shadow did not disappear. It was not tied to the Source, it was instead tied to Nerez Scaten, who had somehow survived the earlier battle. Scaten did not fight the entire group. He would only fight Kurai and peo, he formed a barrier keeping everyone else out. It was an intense fight, but Kurai and peo eventually won. Scaten apparantly died, and the Red Shadow disappeared forever.\nIllismerillia disappeared after the battle, swearing that this partnership was a one time deal, and she still wanted to kill peo, and Kurai.\npeo and Negi returned to Earth, but Kurai still had things he needed to do. He returned to Earth one month later, with a scar over his left eye, and his left arm replaced with a mechanical one.\nIllismerillia held up her promise that she would return. She was not especially unkind to Kurai as well as peo. One day, Illismerillia even ***** Kurai and got pregnant. The witch went to another dimension known as \"Oblivion\". She controlled the passage of time, so she gave birth and raised Kurai's son, Kraken, for twelve years before a week on Earth passed. Once Kraken was twelve years old, Illismerillia sent Kraken to kill Kurai without telling him that he was his father. Kraken eventually learned the truth, and turned on his mother. Kraken then returned to Oblivion, where he slowed time so that time would move faster on Earth.\nIn time, Kurai would face his path, and learn horrible truths about it. Kurai's own father, Nifun Oscuro, who treated him like crap when he was young and even killed his mother, fell in love with the witch. Illismerillia became pregnant again, but Nifun was soon killed by peo. The witch was not going to let them off easy though. six \"years\" later, Illismerillia sent her daughter, Karmen, to kill Kraken. Upon learning of his son's death, Kurai hated the witch more than ever before. He also wanted to hate Karmen, but he couldn't, as Kraken's dying wish was for him to \"save her, like you saved me\". Kurai and peo soon confronted the witch one last time in a final battle to the death. At the end of the battle, Illismerillia revealed a horrible secret that answered many questions about Kurai's past: Nifun was not Kurai's father. Kurai's father was really his most hated enemy; Nerez Scaten.\nStatistics\nHe's based off me. And I'm overweight. So I made him a bit heavier.\n...yeah.\nOne of the faster characters, but far from the fastest.\nPower: **\nKurai relies more on speed than power.\nRange: ***\nAAA: Finishes with a stab.\nForward tilt: A kick\nUp tilt: Uppercut punch (like Mario's)\nDown tilt: Spins with his sword facing outright at a downward angle\nForward Smash: Holds the sword by the top of the hilt, and hits the enemy with the hilt. Doesn't have good range or knockback, but good damage.\nUp Smash: Holds hand left hand in the air and fires a column of flames into the air.\nDown Smash: Summons shadows up from the ground around him that damage the enemy.\nNeutral air: Spins in the air with his sword facing outright\nForward air: Dives forward with sword facing in front of him. Does strong damage if it hits. Kurai is unable to move until he lands after this attack. (think Falcon's forward B)\nUp air: A sword slice above him\nBack air: Turns around and slices with his sword. He stays turned around after this.\nDown air: Holds sword in front of him and stays like that until he lands (think of how Ike holds his sword while coming down during Aether)\nGrab: Kurai grabs the enemy with his left hand.\nGrab attack: Kurai forms a flame with his left hand which burns the enemy\nForward throw: Lets go of the opponent and quickly fires a Nova beam (see below) at them, knocking them away from him.\nDown throw: Hits the enemy on the head with his sword, knocking them out of his grip and to the ground.\nUp throw: A simple throw into the air\nBack throw: Throws the enemy backwards and fires dark energy at them while they're in the air.\nSpecial Moves\nStandard: Nova\n\"Nova\" is a beam of green energy. It comes from his palm, and goes straight until it hits something. It has strong knockback, but does little damage.\nSide: Shadow Sword\nKurai throws his sword and it spins (if you've played Star Wars Battlefront II, then it spins like when you throw the lightsaber). After it lands on the ground, it sinks into the shadows. It then comes out from the shadows under Kurai's right sleeve and into his right hand.\nDown: Hypermode\nBased off of hypermode from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the gauntlet on Kurai's right hand glows red, and he now does double damage and knockback. However, Kurai gains 5% damage for every second Hypermode is active. Hypermode can be disabled the same way it was activated, and that is the only way it's deactivated.\nUp: Shadow Grab (tether recovery)\nKurai shoots a shadow from his arm, which grabs the ledge and pulls him up.\nFinal Smash\nDark Angel\nWhen it begins, Kurai grows black angel wings and his eyes turn cyan. Shadows fly from him in one direction towards another player, similar to how Link's FS is activated. Then, using his enhanced speed, he flies to the player trapped in the shadows and grabs them. Kurai then fires several Novas in to the player's stomach. He then throws the other player high into the air, and flies into the air after them and meteor-smashes them into the ground with his sword. He finishes by shooting a fireball out of his left hand at them while they're on the ground. Visually, it would be one of the more impressive Final Smashes in the game.\nTaunts\n1. Kurai spins his sword around at his side.\n2. Kurai shouts \"BISHAAN!!\"\n3: Kurai forms a fireball in his left hand, looks at it for a moment, and it disappears.\nVictory Poses\n1. Kurai tosses his sword into the air and the hilt hits him on the head, knocking him out.\n2. Kurai stands in his Dark Angel form, glaring at the camera.\n3. Kurai licks the blood off of his sword.\nAssist Trophy:\npeofun1 Akiuri\nPicture: Here (drawn by the IRL peofun1) (lol chibi)\npeofun1 is a Linck from an alternate dimension. When her home was wiped out by the witch, Illismerillia, she came to Earth. peo, as a Linck, has many useful abilities that could be used. But unfortunately, like with most Assist Trophies, she gets the \"run in and slash wildly\" treatment.\npeo wields dual blades. She runs in and does devastating damage, but little knockback. She can jump onto platforms to attack enemies. Before she disappears, she licks blood off of her sword.\n \nSan Antonio, TX\nThat's right ladies and gentlemen, Waldo of Where's Waldo book fame joins the brawl! :O *gazes out at the startled and horrified faces*\nUtilizing mad trickery skills, he annoys and confuses his opponents until they inevitably homerun themselves to escape the voices in their brain!\nUp Smash - Clone Flipkick - Waldo stuffs his hands into his pockets at the beginning of the move, then when released he pulls them out and performs a majestic flying kick straight upwards, but somehow he's still standing where he was looking as if he's thrown himself into the air. When he lands they conjoin into one person again, but during the move both can be hit to interrupt / cause damage.\nDown Smash - Book Burst - He holds out a big book and waits until the release where he drops it and drives his heel into the binding, causing a burst of pages on either side of him that cause rapid light hits based on how many pages touch the enemy.\nForward Smash - Tricky Fists - Leaning back with a fist ready, Waldo appears as though he's going to deck someone directly in front of him. However when he pulls the move off he suddenly pulls the held back arm into his shirt and punches with both hands through the same sleeve.\nSpecial Moves:\nUp B - Hat Trick - Tossing his little striped cap into the sky, Waldo magically flies up and reconnects it to his head as if he were a powerful magnet. His enemies are left shaking their cracked and bleeding fists at the sky in hopes that he will fall back to them.\nSide B - Scroll of Doom - Waldo chunks an indistinct bound scroll in front of him. When an enemy collides with it, a random character from his books will briefly poof into existence long enough to make players cry.\nDown B - Lost Shoe - The most notorious of all Waldo skills, he not so accidentally drops one of his loafers which can then be stepped upon by a foe, ensnaring their leg and making them walk half as fast as it clunks along.\nStandard B - Blinding Spectacles - Holding his glasses at just the right angle, Waldo momentarily blinds any opponent directly in front of him, causing them to hold their eyes in distress while he proceeds to cold clock them.\nFinal Smash: One Versus One Hundred - In an epic move, Waldo plasters the screen in a red and white striped haze as many versions of himself suddenly come running in along the stripes with canes ready to clobber those who would try and find the original!\nStats:\nSize - Medium (Extremely thin but almost as tall as Mewtwo.)\nWeight / Falling - Very Light (Almost appears to drift as he falls from lightness.)\nSpeed - Medium (Looks like an average human when performing attacks.)\nReach - Long (Longer than the common fool due to height.)\nPower - Weak (Has little to back up his swings with.)\n \nHoly crap, Eaode. You came prepared, didn't you? That was impressive. o_o\nDarkurai said: ↑\n[Kurai Oscuro]\nClick to expand...\nAlright, I added yours as well. I gave you a placeholder avatar for now, tell me when you have any better images available!\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nNot in my game you won't!\n... actually, that's kinda brilliant.\nI'll add him later. Keeping this thread updated turned out to be more work than expected. ^^;\n \nFawriel said: ↑\nHoly crap, Eaode. You came prepared, didn't you? That was impressive. o_o\nAlright, I added yours as well. I gave you a placeholder avatar for now, tell me when you have any better images available!\nNot in my game you won't!\n... actually, that's kinda brilliant.\nI'll add him later. Keeping this thread updated turned out to be more work than expected. ^^;\nClick to expand...\nHaha, thanks for taking it seriously because the more I thought about it the more I thought \"hey... he'd actually kind of work.\" Plus I do believe there was one crappy Waldo game for SNES or something.\nIt was an NES game, and my thread for Waldo got shutdown but at least the dream can live on.\n \nThe Eternal Will of the Swarm\nPremium\nNNID:\nPsychoIncarnate\nI got a character pic, but it would take me a while to think up what exactly his moves would be...\n \nCool... a very interesting design. I'll anticipate a moveset!\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nHaha, thanks for taking it seriously because the more I thought about it the more I thought \"hey... he'd actually kind of work.\" Plus I do believe there was one crappy Waldo game for SNES or something.\nIt was an NES game, and my thread for Waldo got shutdown but at least the dream can live on.[/QUOTE]\nHey, I encourage you to be as crazy as you want here. Add some smashes or so and he's a perfectly viable choice.\nClick to expand...\nSan Antonio, TX\nFawriel said: ↑\nHey, I encourage you to be as crazy as you want here. Add some smashes or so and he's a perfectly viable choice.\nClick to expand...\nAlright, I added the regular smash attacks and some basic statistics for him. I truthfully can't think of all the regular moves cause they'd probably just be random punches and kicks, hope it's ok to leave those out.\n \nEaode said: ↑\nFINAL SMASH: IONIZATION\nTaga Takes a powerful stance and stomps onto the ground. Electricty flows through the stage as all solid platforms and sage elements become an electrical hazard. Characters that touch the ground will take 10% damage and be knocked into the air with a bit of stun. Taga is immune to the danger and can roam the stage dealing additional damage to his enemies. This effect lasts for 15 seconds.\nClick to expand...\nI like your entire concept frankly but the Final Smash stood out as being totally awesome. Turning the stage against the enemies without giving Taga any other super power, pretty cool idea. Makes their life hell and lets you laugh... and laugh... and laugh.\n \nyep. It finally happened. EDDIE from \"Iron Maiden\" has joined the Brawl!!!\nSpecials:\nB: Guitar Solo\n-Eddie whips out his guitar and proceeds to shred through a face-melting solo. All within Eddies awesomeness get their faces melted.\nVB: Eat Brains.\n-Eddie chomps the brains of the guy in front of him, turning him into a brainless minion of METAL\n>B: Shoot with a Gun\n-Eddie whips out his gun from \"Ed Hunter\" and blows the guy standing far away into a skinless heap\n^B: Flaming Horns\n-Eddie flashes the Flaming Horns of the Goat and rises upward, as if lifted by the most excellent music. Anyone caught in his path is impaled and lit in flame with rock and roll.\nFinal Smash: Iron Maiden in Concert!\n-Iron Maiden is shown playing in the background of the stage. Eddie is jamming right with them. Everybody who is a slave to the man dies.\nAll of his other attacks involve brains, spears, and riffs. And beating people with a guitar.\nEDDIE FOR BRAWL!!!\nGark430\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nThat's right ladies and gentlemen, Waldo of Where's Waldo book fame joins the brawl! :O *gazes out at the startled and horrified faces*\nUtilizing mad trickery skills, he annoys and confuses his opponents until they inevitably homerun themselves to escape the voices in their brain!\nUp Smash - Clone Flipkick - Waldo stuffs his hands into his pockets at the beginning of the move, then when released he pulls them out and performs a majestic flying kick straight upwards, but somehow he's still standing where he was looking as if he's thrown himself into the air. When he lands they conjoin into one person again, but during the move both can be hit to interrupt / cause damage.\nDown Smash - Book Burst - He holds out a big book and waits until the release where he drops it and drives his heel into the binding, causing a burst of pages on either side of him that cause rapid light hits based on how many pages touch the enemy.\nForward Smash - Tricky Fists - Leaning back with a fist ready, Waldo appears as though he's going to deck someone directly in front of him. However when he pulls the move off he suddenly pulls the held back arm into his shirt and punches with both hands through the same sleeve.\nSpecial Moves:\nUp B - Hat Trick - Tossing his little striped cap into the sky, Waldo magically flies up and reconnects it to his head as if he were a powerful magnet. His enemies are left shaking their cracked and bleeding fists at the sky in hopes that he will fall back to them.\nSide B - Scroll of Doom - Waldo chunks an indistinct bound scroll in front of him. When an enemy collides with it, a random character from his books will briefly poof into existence long enough to make players cry.\nDown B - Lost Shoe - The most notorious of all Waldo skills, he not so accidentally drops one of his loafers which can then be stepped upon by a foe, ensnaring their leg and making them walk half as fast as it clunks along.\nStandard B - Blinding Spectacles - Holding his glasses at just the right angle, Waldo momentarily blinds any opponent directly in front of him, causing them to hold their eyes in distress while he proceeds to cold clock them.\nFinal Smash: One Versus One Hundred - In an epic move, Waldo plasters the screen in a red and white striped haze as many versions of himself suddenly come running in along the stripes with canes ready to clobber those who would try and find the original!\nStats:\nSize - Medium (Extremely thin but almost as tall as Mewtwo.)\nWeight / Falling - Very Light (Almost appears to drift as he falls from lightness.)\nSpeed - Medium (Looks like an average human when performing attacks.)\nReach - Long (Longer than the common fool due to height.)\nPower - Weak (Has little to back up his swings with.)\nClick to expand...\nOh my god, that's worse than Bill nye the Science guy (yes, I saw it on another forum).\n \nWarning: Spoilers for Metroid Prime 3 ahead!\nPhaaze\nThat's right. Phaaze, the sentient planet from Metroid Prime 3! It enters the roster as the largest and heaviest character in the game!\nSpecial Moves\nPhaaze explodes. The match then ends. Everyone dies and the stage is completely obliterated.\nSide: Leviathan\nPhaaze sends a Leviathan seed to strike the stage, obliterating the stages and killing everyone.\nDown: Crush\nPhaaze crushes the stage, obliterating it and killing everyone.\nUp: Out of Orbit\nPhaaze exits the stage and dies.\nFinal Smash\nPhazon corrupts all the fighters, killing them.\n \noblivion~\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nAlright, I added the regular smash attacks and some basic statistics for him. I truthfully can't think of all the regular moves cause they'd probably just be random punches and kicks, hope it's ok to leave those out.\nClick to expand...\nThose are some really imaginative moves. I like them. ^^\nZ. Hoot said: ↑\n[Eddie]\nClick to expand...\nThe idea is kinda awesome, but the moves.. don't really work. Oh well, I won't be picky for now. =P\nCommander Blitzkrieg said: ↑\nOh my god, that's worse than Bill nye the Science guy (yes, I saw it on another forum).\nClick to expand...\nIf that idea wasn't so completely idiotic, I'd reject it.\nThose moves... totally don't work, though. But you knew that. =P\nAdded everyone, by the way.\nFor now, the bar is set low for new entries, but once I get more, I'll have to get more critical. Keep 'em coming! *shakes fist*\n \nGreat idea, I'll add mine when I think of it.\n \nFawriel said: ↑\nThose are some really imaginative moves. I like them. ^^\nThe idea is kinda awesome, but the moves.. don't really work. Oh well, I won't be picky for now. =P\nNo it isn't.\nIf that idea wasn't so completely idiotic, I'd reject it.\nThose moves... totally don't work, though. But you knew that. =P\nAdded everyone, by the way.\nFor now, the bar is set low for new entries, but once I get more, I'll have to get more critical. Keep 'em coming! *shakes fist*\nClick to expand...\nIt was a stupid idea, but Phaaze is alive, so it's technically a character. I couldn't resist.\nIt's not easy thinking up a moveset for a planet...\n \nViewtiful Joe is my character.\n \nhttp://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn...images/LenerdnervsurNintendo_143A3/ASSSS1.jpg\nThis is a movelist/description of the Angry Video Game Nerd, the angriest gamer there is. If you don't know this guy, I can't do him justice, but you may want to consider watching one of his videos, because they're hilarious. A list of his videos, with a couple missing. Lots of profanity. http://www.screwattack.com/AngryNerdMain.html\nThe Foulest, most perverse, angriest guy known to game-kind storms into brawl to take bad videogame characters by the throat, ending their lives as efficiently as he has some of the older games. Poorly thought out ideas and sub-par gameplay, beware, for he's come prepared, with Power Glove and Zapper!\nSTATS:\nPower: 4 The Nerd may not be amazingly strong physically, but his wrath makes up for that.\nSpeed: 2 He's a Nerd. He's not the fastest of guys, but he can run when he really needs to.\nWeight: 3 He's average weight, and falls only a little faster than Mario.\nTraction: 4 He has good shoes, oddly enough. However, it isn't anything really special, and ice will still cause him to slip around.\nSize: 3.5 He's around Link's height.\nThe Nerd stands perfectly still in combat, a tribute to the times when characters didn't move from the 8-bit era. He stands perfectly straight, and is walk is merely a straight walk, the leg movements slightly choppy. His dash reduces his height very little, and his legs get reasonably far apart at the apex. As far as dashes go, it lands between Mario and Links, probably just a hair faster than Samus. His run is much more fluent than his walk.\nHis jumps are roughly average, but he does next to no flips, maximum of one each jump. He doesn't appear at home in the air, his stance less confident appearing than the one on the ground. His duck cuts his height by about half. He crouches on one knee.\nGROUND MOVES\nStandard Combo: He quick, weak jab. Not much range, although for an A attack it is decent. There is no second hit, but the lag both on the start-up and after-delay is minimal. He says D amn while using this tech.\nForward tilt: He uses Simon's Whip, sending it out quickly before taking it back in. This attack is extremely quick, and has good range, but very little damage and knockback, not enough to make a fan-like effect. Primarily used for a tactic to stop other people from charging in. The Whip is brown normally, but there's a 5% chance it'll be a flame whip, which is the same speed, but much more damage and knockback, although not enough to be a cool move. He gives a cry of frustration when he uses this tech.\nDown tilt: His uses the silver surfer board to jab at his enemies feet. Decent Damage and knockback, but has a second worth of delay after using it where he's vulnerable.\nUp tilt: He raises his hand slightly and a ghost from ghost busters flies out directly above him for a second. This attack's hitbox is very large, covering his entire upper body for a couple seconds while the ghost appears. However, the ghost does very little damage, unless timed so that they are beneath him while the ghost goes up. In this case it launches them in the air at the end of the attack, and they take weak damage during it. However, the Nerd's lower half is completely vulnerable during the attack. It can be guard canceled half-way through, reducing vulnerability. The trade-off is that if someone is caught in the attack while you do this, they are simply let go. During the full attack, he says: \"They might as well have just called it Boo! Haunter house.\"\nForward Smash: Rolling Rock bottle. This is a very fast smash attack, with little start up lag. There's one frame that appears before the charge, and one that appears before the actual attack, meaning this can be a quick smash. He pulls back a Rolling Rock Bottle, and at the charge, lets go. This does a decent damage, although a little sub-par for a Smash, and knocks them into the air, but not far back. Generally considered good for combos. If it is charged for more than a six seconds, Nerd yells @#$%! and has a little wind-up for his swing, which does much more damage and knockback than normal, and is an excellent kill move.\nDown Smash: He pulls out either Bugs Bunny or Roger Rabbit by the ears, and swings them around on the floor similar to Mario's Forward Throw. At the end of it he doesn't throw them, however, they just disappear. There is a difference between Roger Rabbit and Bugs Bunny. Bugs does more damage, but Roger has more range. He yells the name of whatever character he used.\nUp Smash: He clenches his fist, and shoots the power glove up when released. It lacks a great amount of range, but does good damage. It also has a bit of delay before he puts his fist down, but during this delay his fist is still a hitbox that does a tiny amount of electric damage and knockback.\nDash Attack: His pulls out a ghostbusting vacuum, which gives the attack good range, and a large hitbox directly in front of him, but once the attack is down, there is a two second lag, which can be fatal. Pro AVGN players avoid this attack.\nAIR MOVES\nNeutral Aerial: Text block. The Nerd freezes in place for a second, while a text block surrounds him, saying something from Castlevania 2, Simon's Quest. It lasts two and a half seconds, and is not cancelable. It does good damage if the person is in the box while it appears but no knockback(one frame) and mediocre damage but a ton of knockback if they hit it after it appears, from the outside. IF someone hits him during this attack it does damage, but the actual attack bestows super armor.\nUp Aerial: 32X Add on. He holds a 32X for the Sega Genesis up above him, while saying 'another #$^*ing power adapter!' Does stun if it hits, with moderate damage and knockback. It has a disjointed hitbox from the Nerd, and goes out and in quickly as well. All in all, a quick attack for comboing.\nForward Aerial: He swings the massive Atari 5200 straight down. This is a meteor spike if hit in the right location, at the center of gravity for the 5200. The rest is just mediocre damage and knockback. Also, the lag after the attack is longer than most aerials, and it takes him a couple seconds to right himself. However, this attack is insanely powerful if it hits, on par with the knee.\nBack Aerial: Nintendo Power! He pulls an issue of Nintendo power and hits the person behind him at fan-speed. This can be repeated as quickly as the fan can, and shares the same basic attributes, except due to the fact it is in mid-air, it is difficult to use it as one normally would the fan. It is a favourite of edge-guarders who dislike the 5200.\nDown Aerial: ***! He goes down butt first. This attack speeds his decent, forces him in a much more linear direction, nearly straight down, and has no range. However, if they get hit by it, they take quite a bit of damage, and are poisoned, similar to the effect the Lip Stick gives.\nGRABS\nHe can uses a NES controller like a hookshot, and uses them to grab. This is different from the /\\B he uses, as it actually leads to him grabbing and throwing them. Once he gets them with the controller he reels them in quickly, and grabs them by the neck with his power glove. His attack during this is shooting them with the Zapper.\nForward Throw: He grabs their head, and shoots them through the stomach with the Zapper, sending them flying away. Decent damage, and a reliable throw, especially near an edge if facing the right way.\nUp Throw: He throws them somewhat, catching their leg in the air, and spinning, hitting them against the ground twice before shooting them straight into the air with the Zapper.\nBack Throw: He drops them behind him, and tries to take a dump while their head is right there. This is one, single decent hit with low knockback and damage, but has the same effect as his down aerial.\nDown Throw: He holds them to the ground, less than an inch away, and then his power glove goes berzerk, vibrating madly doing a lot of hits for 1 damage each before just dropping them. This attack's length is based on two things - how fast you can hit A, and how fast they can escape grabs. They can speed it up, while you slow it down. It automatically ends after they've taken 30 damage, however, and The Nerd takes some as well due to the electricity.\nSPECIAL MOVES\nNeutral Special: Lightgun. This attack is a simple shot, which can be aimed by holding B and moving the joystick. It gains some power when charged, but not very much in comparison to other charged attacks. However, he can shoot from straight up to a 70 degree angle, meaning it is good for keeping people at bay, annoying them. It has slow charge time. In midair he shoots it in whatever direction you happen to be pressing, and it cannot be charged.\nSide Special: He Shouts a loud, obnoxious swearword that does damage but no knockback to all within a small radius of him. This attack has a second of delay and start up, but is good to punish people with attacks like that of their own, as it does a fair bit of damage quickly.\nUp Special: He throws a NES controller in the air, which goes in a wide arc, while he keeps the chord. If it grabs a ledge or person, it wraps around them and he jumps next to them. This attack does little damage to the person, and also pulls them into the Nerd's direction. They can still move about freely during this period, but the Nerd can speed or slow his approach by using A and B, A making him get there in an instant, and B stopping him. This can lead to a mindgame of it's own, because the Nerd can use aerial attacks after using this.\nDown Special: He pulls out a game he's reviewed, and can throw it as an item, each one doing different damage and a special effect. Friday the 13 does no damage, but good knockback. Silver Surfer flies in a perfectly straight line, and never falls, but does little damage and knockback. Top Gun explodes. Bart Simpson Games do poison damage, Ghostbusters hit them in the opposite direction of whatever way they were supposed to go normally, and the rarest and most fiendish one of all, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde do no knockback, but 50 damage. It is extremely rare, however.\nTaunts:\n1 Turns to the screen, and pretends to shoot as his fingers on the power glove until only the middle finger remains.\n2 He looks directly at the screen and says 'You and your friends are Dead. Game Over. '\n3 Takes out a Roland Rock and takes a drink.\nEntrance: The tangled mess of wires as big as bowser burst into pieces, as the Nerd emerges from the ooze, a stream of swearwords emerging from his mouth as the wires fall to the side and he stands up, prepared for another battle!\nAlt. Costumes:\nNormal Nerd: He wears a white, short-sleeved dress shirt, has brown hair with normal glasses, and brown pants.\n'Emo' Nerd: He wears a black short-sleeved dress shirt, has black hair with thick glasses, is much paler than usual, and has black dress pants.\n'Sega' Nerd: He wears a blue, short-sleeved dress shirt with white arms, has blond-ish hair, and normal glasses. Has black pants.\n'Nintendo' Nerd: He wears a red, short-sleeved dress shirt with white arms, has brown hair with normal glasses, and gray pants.\n'Legend of Zelda' Nerd: He wears an emerald green short-sleeved dress shirt, with dark-green pants. His hair is slightly lighter.\n'Mario' Nerd: He wears a red short-sleeved dress shirt, and blue pants. He has slightly darker hair with this one.\nFINAL SMASH: TOP GUN\nThis cruel technique summons a word box at the bottom of the screen. If anyone besides the Nerd touches this, they take good damage. The Nerd can stand on it as he wishes. In the box, commands appear. All other characters must comply with this, and every frame they don't they take 3% damage. The command changes every second, and they can do whatever else they want so long as they did the command once. This lasts for 10 seconds before disappearing, and the commands are random. The AV Nerd is free to do whatever he wants during this period. The possible commands are: Up! Down! Left! Right! A! B! Taunt! Shield! Up, down left and right can be dealt with the C-Stick, Joystick, or D-pad.\nItem Moves: While the Angry Videogame Nerd holds a baseball bat, beam-sword, or anything of the sort, his movelist changes slightly. Below are all the changes.\nStandard Combo: He swings in a small arc relatively close to him. It doesn't do much damage or potential knockback, nor does it have range. It is faster than his normal A, however, although it has worse delay after the attack.\nForward Smash: He charges by holding the Rolling Rock Bottle as usual, but when it hits, they stay where they are, and he brings the other weapon up to send them straight in the air doing moderate damage. The second hit only sends them flying if they're hit by the first attack, otherwise it does weak damage and knockback. It has a slower start-up time than his original smash.\nDash Attack: He swings vertically, with an attack that, although slow both starting and ending, has impressive range and disjointed hit-box, making it a useful attack when you get an item. It also does fairly good damage, and is unusually good for a dash attack with a weapon.\nStage: Castlevania 2, Simon's Quest\nhttp://sydlexia.com/imagesandstuff/nes100/castlevania2.png\nThis? What is this? This is a screen shot from the very first videogame The Angry Video Game Nerd ever reviewed, Castlevania 2. In many ways, it was the grounds where he learned how to be an Angry Video Game Nerd. He returns there now to kick the *** of anyone who dares challenge him!\nThis is a medium sized walk-off level. The wall at the top right corner of the screen is not there, and that platform is raised, as well as the ones which the stairs go to, although not very much. The stairs themselves are just decoration. During the level, Simon Belmont occasionally appears on the right hand side underneath the platform, on the raised ledge. He throws knives, axes, and occasionally just uses a flaming whip. He cannot be destroyed, and stays for 15-20 seconds before retreating back off stage.\nSound: The choice for his music is clear: The AVGN theme that plays at the start of most of his episodes. However, it isn't exactly conductive to battling on it's own. However, the Spiderman episode has a good instrumental version. Therefor, his Brawl music is simple: that style of the complete version, viewable in Sega CD, with the lyrics there, but reduced to increase the guitar, and a slight increase in the tempo to make the perfect music to fight to!\n \n3. Big + Heavy = easier to combo\n4. Low floatiness makes aerial combos hard to do.\n5. Bad throws\nEntrance: Falls down from the top of the screen\nJab: A punch followed by a scimitar swing\n5%/8%\nDash Attack: A lunging knee attack\n13%\nFtilt: A short ranged, weak punch. Setup for F-Smash\n7%\nUtilt: A weak uppercut. Setup for U-Smash\n7%\nDtilt: His most powerful tilt. A downwards jab of the sword.\n12%\nF-Smash: The Kick. Y'know, THE kick.\n19% (sweetspot at heel does 25%) Full charge = 23%/25%\nU-Smash: Leonidas jumps into a powerful uppercut. And, by powerful, I mean you don't want to get hit by it. Srsly.\n25%, Full charge = 30%\nD-Smash: The two sided sword swipe that all human swordsmen have.\n12%/17%; Full charge = 15%/20%\nNair: A sex kick\nFair: A sword slash with forwards momentum. Can be used in recoveries.\n15% (no sweetspot)\nBair: Leonidas jabs backwards with his sword.\n11% normal, 17% tipped\nUair: Mid-air uppercut\n11%\nDair: Leonidas curls up into a ball and does to strong punch downwards. Meteor smash and most powerful aerial move, however its lag prevents it from being overused.\n22%\nGrab jab: A punch to the face\n7%\nFthrow: Tossing the opponent forwards. F-Smash setup\n7%\nBthrow: Throwing the opponent backwards into a sword slash\n13%\nUthrow: Tossing the opponent up followed by a strong uppercut\n15%\nDthrow: Throwing the opponent into the ground and jabbing them with the sword\n10%\nGet-up Attack: Punches both sides.\n7% each\nLedge Attack (<100%): A weak sword swing. Avoid using it.\n2%\nLedge Attack (100%+): Leonidas PUUUUUNCH. Do use this move.\n15%\nJabs his sword forward and poses. This move effectively has two hitboxes.\nThe first one is the actual sword which does some damage and medium knockback.\nThe second one is a small area beyond the sword's edge. If the oppnent is in that hitbox, they stop moving and any attack they were going to do is canceled.\nHas just enough lag so that it's not spammable, but not so much that it's unusable.\n5%\n>B: Epic Spear Throw\nIf I have to explain this, you didn't watch 300. It also does massive damage to shields and has good priority.\n10%\n^B: \"THIS IS SPARTA!!!!\"\nYells \"THIS IS SPARTA!!!!\" downward. The sheer force propels him upwards and knocks anyone under him downwards. No damage.\nVB: Fighting in the Shade\nLeonidas cloaks himself with darkness to avoid attacks. Length of time the cloak lasts depends on time of day. You are also immobile when cloaked, so using >B is the best way to get opponents away from you.\nDon't let your opponent get behind you.\nFS: 300\nSummons his 299 comrades, who swarm the stage and attack everyone.\nTaunts:\n1. Beats his sword against his shield thrice\n2. Does the pose in the above pic.\n3. Looks up at the sky\nVictory Poses\n2. Drops his shield and sword, and looks directly at the players\n3. Jabs the spear in the ground, crosses his arms, and glares\nCombos:\nUtilt -> Usmash -> Nair -> Dash attack\nPseudo-Ken Combo\nLeonidas also has an alt. costume...\nStage: Thermopylae Pass\nHazards: A walk-off edge on the right side\nStage Music\nFrom the 300 Soundtrack: To Victory, The Hot Gates, Fight In The Shade, Immortals Battle, Fever Dream, Glory","Travis' Security Concepts - www.subspacefield.org\nI am comfortable with certain derivative works, such as translation ... programs” an absurd amount of the time; ... for binding text and tests to a name. ...\nSecurity Concepts\nSecurity Concepts\ntravis+security@subspacefield.org\nAbstract\nThis is an online book about computer, network, technical, physical, information and cryptographic security. It is a labor of love, incomplete until the day I am finished.\nTable of Contents\n1 Metadata\nThe books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.\n-- Theodore Parker\n1.1 Copyright and Distribution Control\nKindly link a person to it instead of redistributing it, so that people may always receive the latest version. However, even an outdated copy is better than none. The PDF version is preferred and more likely to render properly (especially graphics and special mathematical characters), but the HTML version is simply too convenient to not have it available. The latest version is always here:\nhttp://www.subspacefield.org/security/security_concepts.html\nThis is a copyrighted work, with some rights reserved. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . This means you may redistribute it for non-commercial purposes, and that you must attribute me properly (without suggesting I endorse your work). For attribution, please include a prominent link back to this original work and some text describing the changes. I am comfortable with certain derivative works, such as translation into other languages, but not sure about others, so have yet not explicitly granted permission for all derivative uses. If you have any questions, please email me and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you.\n1.2 Goals\nI wrote this paper to try and examine the typical problems in computer security and related areas, and attempt to extract from them principles for defending systems. To this end I attempt to synthesize various fields of knowledge, including computer security, network security, cryptology, and intelligence. I also attempt to extract the principles and implicit assumptions behind cryptography and the protection of classified information, as obtained through reverse-engineering (that is, informed speculation based on existing regulations and stuff I read in books), where they are relevant to technological security.\n1.3 Audience\nWhen I picture a perfect reader, I always picture a monster of courage and curiosity, also something supple, cunning, cautious, a born adventurer and discoverer.\n-- Friedreich Nietzsche\nThis is not intended to be an introductory text, although a beginner could gain something from it. The reason behind this is that beginners think in terms of tactics, rather than strategy, and of details rather than generalities. There are many fine books on computer and network security tactics (and many more not-so-fine books), and tactics change quickly, and being unpaid for this work, I am a lazy author. The reason why even a beginner may gain from it is that I have attempted to extract abstract concepts and strategies which are not necessarily tied to computer security. And I have attempted to illustrate the points with interesting and entertaining examples and would love to have more, so if you can think of an example for one of my points, please send it to me!\nI’m writing this for you, noble reader, so your comments are very welcome; you will be helping me make this better for every future reader. If you send a contribution or comment, you’ll save me a lot of work if you tell me whether you wish to be mentioned in the credits (see 39↓ ) or not; I want to respect the privacy of anonymous contributors. If you’re concerned that would be presumptuous, don’t be; I consider it considerate of you to save me an email exchange. Security bloggers will find plenty of fodder by looking for new URLs added to this page, and I encourage you to do it, since I simply don’t have time to comment on everything I link to. If you link to this paper from your blog entry, all the better.\n1.4 About This Work\nI have started this book with some terminology as a way to frame the discussion. Then I get into the details of the technology. Since this is adequately explained in other works, these sections are somewhat lean and may merely be a list of links. Then I get into my primary contribution, which is the fundamental principles of security which I have extracted from the technological details. Afterwards, I summarize some common arguments that one sees among security people, and I finish up with some of my personal observations and opinions.\n1.5 On the HTML Version\nSince this document is constantly being revised, I suggest that you start with the table of contents and click on the subject headings so that you can see which ones you have read already. If I add a section, it will show up as unread. By the time it has expired from your browser’s history, it is probably time to re-read it anyway, since the contents have probably been updated.\nSee the end of this page for the date it was generated (which is also the last update time). I currently update this about once every two weeks.\nSome equations may fail to render in HTML. Thus, you may wish to view the PDF version instead.\n1.6 About Writing This\nPart of the challenge with writing about this topic is that we are always learning and it never seems to settle down, nor does one ever seem to get a sense of completion. I consider it more permanent and organized than a blog, more up-to-date than a book, and more comprehensive and self-contained than most web pages. I know it’s uneven; in some areas it’s just a heading with a paragraph, or a few links, in other places it can be as smoothly written as a book. I thought about breaking it up into multiple documents, so I could release each with much more fanfare, but that’s just not the way I write, and it makes it difficult to do as much cross-linking as I’d like.\nThis is to my knowledge the first attempt to publish a computer security book on the web before printing it, so I have no idea if it will even be possible to print it commercially. That’s okay; I’m not writing for money. I’d like for the Internet to be the public library of the 21 st century, and this is my first significant donation to the collection. I am reminded of the advice of a staffer in the computer science department, who said, “do what you love, and the money will take care of itself”.\nThat having been said, if you wanted towards the effort, you can help me defray the costs of maintaining a server and such by visiting our donation page . If you would like to donate but cannot, you may wait until such a time as you can afford to, and then give something away (i.e. pay it forward).\n1.7 Tools Used To Create This Book\nI use LyX , but I’m still a bit of a novice. I have a love/hate relationship with it and the underlying typesetting language LaTeX .\n2 Security Properties\nWhat do we mean by secure? When I say secure, I mean that an adversary can’t make the system do something that its owner (or designer, or administrator, or even user) did not intend. Often this involves a violation of a general security property. Some security properties include:\nconfidentiality refers to whether the information in question is disclosed or remains private.\nintegrity refers to whether the systems (or data) remain uncorrupted. The opposite of this is malleability, where it is possible to change data without detection, and believe it or not, sometimes this is a desirable security property.\navailability is whether the system is available when you need it or not.\nconsistency is whether the system behaves the same each time you use it.\nauditability is whether the system keeps good records of what has happened so it can be investigated later. Direct-record electronic voting machines (with no paper trail) are unauditable.\ncontrol is whether the system obeys only the authorized users or not.\nauthentication is whether the system can properly identify users. Sometimes, it is desirable that the system cannot do so, in which case it is anonymous or pseudonymous.\nnon-repudiation is a relatively obscure term meaning that if you take an action, you won’t be able to deny it later. Sometimes, you want the opposite, in which case you want repudiability (“plausible deniability”).\nPlease forgive the slight difference in the way they are named; while English is partly to blame, these properties are not entirely parallel. For example, confidentiality refers to information (or inferences drawn on such) just as program refers to an executable stored on the disk, whereas control implies an active system just as process refers to a running program (as they say, “a process is a program in motion”). Also, you can compromise my data confidentiality with a completely passive attack such as reading my backup tapes, whereas controlling my system is inherently detectable since it involves interacting with it in some way.\n2.1 Information Security is a PAIN\nYou can remember the security properties of information as PAIN; Privacy, Authenticity, Integrity, Non-repudiation.\n2.2 Parkerian Hexad\nThere is something similar known as the “Parkerian Hexad”, defined by Donn B. Parker, which is six fundamental, atomic, non-overlapping attributes of information that are protected by information security measures:\nconfidentiality\n2.4 Security Equivalency\nI consider two objects to be security equivalent if they are identical with respect to the security properties under discussion; for precision, I may refer to confidentiality-equivalent pieces of information if the sets of parties to which they may be disclosed (without violating security) are exactly the same (and conversely, so are the sets of parties to which they may not be disclosed). In this case, I’m discussing objects which, if treated improperly, could lead to a compromise of the security goal of confidentiality. Or I could say that two cryptosystems are confidentiality-equivalent, in which case the objects help achieve the security goal. To be perverse, these last two examples could be combined; if the information in the first example was actually the keys for the cryptosystem in the second example, then disclosure of the first could impact the confidentiality of the keys and thus the confidentiality of anything handled by the cryptosystems. Alternately, I could refer to access-control equivalence between two firewall implementations; in this case, I am discussing objects which implement a security mechanism which helps us achieve the security goal, such as confidentiality of something.\nThere is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.\n-- General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)\nThese are important concepts which appear to apply across multiple security domains.\n4.1 The Classification Problem\nMany times in security you wish to distinguish between classes of data. This occurs in firewalls, where you want to allow certain traffic but not all, and in intrusion detection where you want to allow benign traffic but not allow malicious traffic, and in operating system security, we wish to allow the user to run their programs but not malware (see 16.7↓ ). In doing so, we run into a number of limitations in various domains that deserve mention together.\n4.1.1 Classification Errors\nFalse Positives vs. False Negatives, also called Type I and Type II errors. Discuss equal error rate (EER) and its use in biometrics.\nA more sophisticated measure is its Receiver Operating Characteristic curve, see:\nInformation Awareness: A Prospective Technical Assessment\n4.1.2 The Base-Rate Fallacy\nIn The Base Rate Fallacy and its Implications for Intrusion Detection , the author essentially points out that there’s a lot of benign traffic for every attack, and so even a small chance of a false positive will quickly overwhelm any true positives. Put another way, if one out of every 10,001 connections is malicious, and the test has a 1% false positive error rate, then for every 1 real malicious connection there 10,000 benign connections, and hence 100 false positives.\n4.1.3 Test Efficiency\nIn other cases, you are perfectly capable of performing an accurate test, but not on all the traffic. You may want to apply a cheap test with some errors on one side before applying a second, more expensive test on the side with errors to weed them out. In medicine, this is done with a “screening” test which has low false negatives, and then having concentrated the high risk population, you now diagnose with a more complex procedure with a low false positive rate because you’re now diagnosing a high-prevalence population. This is done in BSD Unix with packet capturing via tcpdump, which uploads a coarse filter into the kernel, and then applies a more expensive but finer-grained test in userland which only operates on the packets which pass the first test.\n4.1.4 Incompletely-Defined Sets\nAs far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.\n-- Albert Einstein\nStop for a moment and think about the difficulty of trying to list all the undesirable things that your computer shouldn’t do. If you find yourself finished, then ask yourself; did you include that it shouldn’t attack other computers? Did you include that it shouldn’t transfer $1000 to a mafia-run web site when you really intended to transfer $100 to your mother? Did you include that it shouldn’t send spam to your address book? The list goes on and on.\nThus, if we had a complete list of everything that was bad, we’d block it and never have to worry about it again. However, often we either don’t know, or the set is infinite.\nIn some cases, it may be possible to define a list of good things (see 34.1↓ ); for example, the list of programs you might need to use in your job may be small, and so they could be enumerated. However, it is easy to imagine where whitelisting would be impossible; for example, it would be impractical to enumerate all the possible “good” network packets, because there’s just so many of them.\nIt is probably true that computer security is interesting because it is open-ended; we simply don’t know ahead of time whether something is good or bad.\n4.1.5 The Guessing Hazard\nSo often we can’t enumerate all the things we would want to do, nor all the things that we would not want to do. Because of this, intrusion detection systems (see 16↓ ) often simply guess; they try to detect attacks unknown to them by looking for features that are likely to be present in exploits but not in normal traffic. At the current moment, you can find out if your traffic is passing through an IPS by trying to send a long string of 0x90 octets (x86 NOPs) in a session. This isn’t malicious by itself, but is a common letter with which people pad exploits (see 24.6↓ ). In this case, it’s a great example of a false positive, or collateral damage, generated through guilt-by-association; there’s nothing inherently bad about NOPs, it’s just that exploit writers use them a lot, and IPS vendors decided that made them suspicious. I’m not a big fan of these because I feel that it breaks functionality that doesn’t threaten the system, and that it could be used as evidence of malfeasance against someone by someone who doesn’t really understand the technology. I’m already irritated by the false-positives or excessive warnings about security tools from anti-virus software; it seems to alert to “potentially-unwanted programs” an absurd amount of the time; most novices don’t understand that the anti-virus software reads the disk even though I’m not running the programs, and that you have nothing to fear if you don’t run the programs. I fear that one day my Internet Service Provider will start filtering them out of my email or network streams, but fortunately they just don’t care that much.\n4.2 Security Layers\nI like to think of security as a hierarchy. At the base, you have physical security. On top of that is OS security, and on top of that is application security, and on top of that, network security. The width of each layer of the hierarchy can be thought of as the level of security assurance, so that it forms a pyramid.\nYou may have an unbeatable firewall, but if your OS doesn’t require a password and your adversary has physical access to the system, you lose. So each layer of the pyramid can not be more secure (in an absolute sense) as the layer below it. Ideally, each layer should be available to fewer adversaries than the layer above it, so that one has a sort of balance or risk equivalency.\nnetwork security\nhardware security\nphysical security\nIn network security, we concern ourselves with nodes in networks (that is, individual computers), and do not distinguish between users of each system. In some sense, we are assigning rights to computers and not people. We are defining which computers may talk to which other computers, or perhaps even to which applications. This is often justified since it is usually easier to leverage one user’s access to gain another’s within the same system than to gain access to another system (but this is not a truism).\nIn application or database security, we are concerned about how software applications handle security. For example, most databases have notions of users, and one may allow certain users to access certain databases, tables, or rows and not others. It is assumed that the adversary is one of the users of the system, and the discussion centers around what that user can or cannot do within the application, assuming that the user cannot\nIn operating system security, we distinguish between users of the system, and perhaps the roles they are fulfilling, and only concern ourselves with activities within that computer. It is assumed that the adversary has some access, but less than full privileges on the system.\nHardware security receives little discussion in security circles, but as processors and chipsets get more complex, there are more vulnerabilities being found within them. In hardware security, we assume that the adversary has root-level access on the system, and discuss what that enables the adversary to do.\nWhen we discuss physical security, we assume that the adversary may physically approach the campus, building, room, or computer. We tend to create concentric security zones around the system, and try to keep adversaries as far away from it as possible. This is because if an adversary gains physical, unmonitored access to the computer system, it is virtually impossible to maintain the security of the system. This kind of discussion is particularly interesting to designers of tamper-resistant systems, such as digital satellite TV receivers.\nHere’s a taxonomy of some commonly-useful privilege levels.\nAnonymous, remote systems\nKernel (privileged mode, ring 0)\nHardware (TPM, ring -1, hypervisors, trojaned hardware)\nActual systems may vary, levels may not be strictly hierarchical, etc. Basically the higher the privilege level you get, the harder you can be to detect. The gateways between the levels are access control devices, analogous with firewalls.\n4.4 What is a Vulnerability?\nNow that you know what a security property is, what constitutes (or should constitute) a vulnerability? On the arguable end of the scale we have “loss of availability”, or susceptibility to denial of service (DoS). On the inarguable end of the scale, we have “loss of control”, which usually arbitrary code execution, which often means that the adversary can do whatever he wants with the system, and therefore can violate any other security property.\nIn an ideal world, every piece of software would state its assumptions about its environment, and then state the security properties it attempts to guarantee; this would be a security policy. Any violation of these explicitly-stated security properties would then be a vulnerability, and any other security properties would simply be “outside the design goals”. However, I only know of one piece of commonly-available software which does this, and that’s OpenSSL ( http://oss-institute.org/FIPS_733/SecurityPolicy-1.1.1_733.pdf ).\nA vulnerability is a hole or a weakness in the application, which can be a design flaw or an implementation bug, that allows an attacker to cause harm to the stakeholders of an application. Stakeholders include the application owner, application users, and other entities that rely on the application. The term “vulnerability” is often used very loosely. However, here we need to distinguish threats, attacks, and countermeasures.\n-- OWASP Vulnerabilities Category ( http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:Vulnerability )\nVulnerabilities can be divided roughly into two categories, implementation bugs and design flaws. Gary McGraw ( http://www.cigital.com/~gem/ ), the host of the Silver Bullet Security Podcast ( http://www.cigital.com/silverbullet/ ), reports that the vulnerabilities he finds are split into these two categories roughly evenly.\n4.5 Vulnerability Databases\n4.5.1 National Vulnerability Database\nNVD is the U.S. government repository of standards based vulnerability management data represented using the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). This data enables automation of vulnerability management, security measurement, and compliance. NVD includes databases of security checklists, security related software flaws, misconfigurations, product names, and impact metrics.\n-- NVD Home Page\nNational Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ )\n4.5.2 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures\nInternational in scope and free for public use, CVE is a dictionary of publicly known information security vulnerabilities and exposures.\nCVE’s common identifiers enable data exchange between security products and provide a baseline index point for evaluating coverage of tools and services.\n-- CVE Home Page\nCommon Vulnerabilities and Exposures ( http://cve.mitre.org/ )\n4.5.3 Common Weakness Enumeration\nThe Common Weakness Enumeration Specification (CWE) provides a common language of discourse for discussing, finding and dealing with the causes of software security vulnerabilities as they are found in code, design, or system architecture. Each individual CWE represents a single vulnerability type. CWE is currently maintained by the MITRE Corporation with support from the National Cyber Security Division (DHS). A detailed CWE list is currently available at the MITRE website; this list provides a detailed definition for each individual CWE.\n-- CWE Home Page\nCommon Weakness Enumeration ( http://cwe.mitre.org/ )\n4.5.4 Open Source Vulnerability Database\nOSVDB is an independent and open source database created by and for the community. Our goal is to provide accurate, detailed, current, and unbiased technical information.\n-- OSVDB Home Page\nThe Open Source Vulnerability Database ( http://osvdb.org/ )\n4.6 Accuracy Limitations in Making Decisions That Impact Security\nOn two occasions I have been asked, “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?” In one case a member of the Upper, and in the other a member of the Lower, House put this question. I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.\n-- Charles Babbage\nThis is sometimes called the GIGO rule (Garbage In, Garbage Out). Stated this way, this seems self-evident. However, you should realize that this applies to systems as well as programs. For example, if your system depends on DNS to locate a host, then the correctness of your system’s operation depends on DNS. Whether or not this is exploitable (beyond a simple denial of service) depends a great deal on the details of the procedures. This is a parallel to the question of whether it is possible to exploit a program via an unsanitized input.\nYou can never be more accurate than the data you used for your input. Try to be neither precisely inaccurate, nor imprecisely accurate. Learn to use footnotes.\n4.7 Rice’s Theorem\nThis appears to relate to the undecidability of certain problems related to arbitrary programs, of certain issues related to program correctness, and has important consequences like “no modern general-purpose computer can solve the general problem of determining whether or not a program is virus free”. A friend pointed out to me that the entire anti-virus industry depends on the public not realizing that this is proven to be an unsolvable (not just a difficult) problem. The anti-virus industry, when it attempts to generate signatures or “enumerate badness” (see 34.1↓ ), is playing a constant game of catch-up, usually a step or two behind their adversaries.\nUnfortunately, really understanding and (even moreso) explaining decidability problems requires a lot of thinking, and I’m not quite up to the task at the moment, so I’ll punt.\nWikipedia article on Rice’s Theorem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice%27s_theorem )\n5 Economics of Security\n5.1 How Expensive are Security Failures?\nHere are some of the examples I could dig up.\n5.1.1 TJ Maxx\nTJ Maxx was using WEP at their stores and suffered a major loss of data, and large fines:\n5.1.5 Egghead Software\nEgghead was hurt by a December 2000 revelation that hackers had accessed its systems and potentially compromised customer credit card data. The company filed for bankruptcy in August 2001. After a deal to sell the company to Fry’s Electronics for $10 million fell through, its assets were acquired by Amazon.com for $6.1 million.\n…\nIn December 2000, the company’s IIS-based servers were compromised, potentially releasing credit card data of over 3.6 million people. In addition to poor timing near the Christmas season, the handling of the breach by publicly denying that there was a problem, then notifying Visa, who in turn notified banks, who notified consumers, caused the breach to escalate into a full blown scandal.\n-- Wikipedia\nhttp://securityblog.verizonbusiness.com/2009/04/15/2009-dbir/\n5.2 Abuse Detection and Response: A Cost-Benefit Perspective\nAs I mentioned earlier, abuse detection is a kind of classification problem (see 4.1↑ ), which will forever be an imprecise science.\nIn general, you want to balance the costs of false positives and false negatives. If we assume “rate” means “per unit of time”, or “per number of interactions with the outside world”, then the equation would be:\nfprate*fpcost = fnrate*fncost\nNote that the definitions are very important to the equation! The ratio of abuse or intrusion attempts to legitimate traffic is usually rather low, and so naively substituting “the chance of failing to recognize a valid abuse attempt” as the fprate above will give an incorrect result. This is related to the base-rate fallacy described above (see 4.1.2↑ ). What you probably want then is to define the abuse ratio (abrat) as the number of abuse attempts per incoming requests, and you get:\nfprate = abrat*fpchance\nfnrate = (1 − abrat)*fnchance\nThus, if we wish to avoid the term “rate” as being misleading, then the equation should really be:\nabrat*fpchance*fpcost = (1 − abrat)*fnchance*fncost\nAbuse detection (see 16↓ ) is all about the failure chances (and thus, rates as defined above). Abuse response choices (see 17↓ ) determine the cost. For example, anomaly detection will give a higher false positive rate (and lower false negative rate) than misuse detection (see 16.2↓ ).\nIf your response to abuse causes an alert (see 17.1↓ ) to be generated, and a human must investigate it, then the false positive cost will be high, so you might want to (for example) do some further validation of the detection event to lower the false positive rate. For example, if your IDS detected a Win32 attack against a Linux system, you might want to avoid generating an alert.\nOn the other hand, if you can cheaply block an abuser, and suffer no ill effects from doing so even if it was a false positive, then you can take a liberal definition of what you consider abusive. To use the above example, one might wish to taint the source (see 17.2.2↓ ) and shun him, even if the Win32 attack he launched could not have worked against the Linux box.\nIntrusion detection is merely a subset of abuse detection, since an intrusion is only one kind of abuse of a system.\n6 Adversary Modeling\nIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.\nIf you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.\nIf you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.\n-- Sun Tzu, The Art of War ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War )\nAfter deciding what you need to protect (your assets), you need to know about the threats you wish to protect it against, or the adversaries (sometimes called threat agents) which may threaten it. Generally intelligence units have threat shops, where they monitor and keep track of the people who may threaten their operations. This is natural, since it is easier to get an idea of who will try and do something than how some unspecified person may try to do it, and can help by hardening systems in enemy territory more than those in safer areas, leading to more efficient use of resources. I shall call this adversary modeling.\nIn adversary modeling, the implicit assumptions are that you have a limited budget and the number of threats is so large that you cannot defend against all of them. So you now need to decide where to allocate your resources. Part of this involves trying to figure out who your adversaries are and what their capabilities and intentions are, and thus how much to worry about particular domains of knowledge or technology. You don’t have to know their name, location and social security number; it can be as simple as “some high school student on the Internet somewhere who doesn’t like us”, “a disgruntled employee” (as opposed to a gruntled employee), or “some sexually frustrated script-kiddie on IRC who doesn’t like the fact that he is a jerk who enjoys abusing people and therefore his only friends are other dysfunctional jerks like him”. People in charge of doing attacker-centric threat modeling must understand their adversaries and be willing to take chances by allocating resources against an adversary which hasn’t actually attacked them yet, or else they will always be defending against yesterday’s adversary, and get caught flat-footed by a new one.\n6.1 Common Psychological Errors\nThe excellent but poorly titled [A] [A] Stumbling on Happiness is actually a book of psychological illusions, ways that our mind tends to trick us, and not a self-help book. book Stumbling on Happiness tells us that we make two common kinds of errors when reasoning about other humans:\nOverly different; if you looked at grapes all day, you’d know a hundred different kinds, and naturally think them very different. But they all squish when you step on them, they are all fruits and frankly, not terribly different at all. So too we are conditioned to see people as different because the things that matter most to us, like finding an appropriate mate or trusting people, cannot be discerned with questions like “do you like breathing?”. An interesting experiment showed that a description of how they felt by people who had gone through a process is more accurate in predicting how a person will feel after the process than a description of the process itself. Put another way, people assume that the experience of others is too dependent on the minor differences between humans that we mentally exaggerate.\nOverly similar; people assume that others are motivated by the same things they are motivated by; we project onto them a reflection of our self. If a financier or accountant has ever climbed mount Everest, I am not aware of it. Surely it is a cost center, yes?\n6.2 Cost-Benefit\nOften, the lower layers of the security hierarchy cost more to build out than the higher levels. Physical security requires guards, locks, iron bars, shatterproof windows, shielding, and various other things which, being physical, cost real money. On the other hand, network security may only need a free software firewall. However, what an adversary could cost you during a physical attack (e.g. a burglar looting your home) may be greater than an adversary could cost you by defacing your web site.\n6.3 Risk Tolerance\nWe may assume that the distribution of risk tolerance among adversaries is monotonically decreasing; that is, the number of adversaries who are willing to try a low-risk attack is greater than the number of adversaries who are willing to attempt a high-risk attack to get the same result. Beware of risk evaluation though; while a hacker may be taking a great risk to gain access to your home, local law enforcement with a valid warrant is not going to be risking as much.\nSo, if you are concerned about a whole spectrum of adversaries, known and unknown, you may wish to have greater network security than physical security, simply because there are going to be more remote attacks.\n6.4 Capabilities\nYou only have to worry about things to the extent they may lie within the capabilities of your adversaries. It is rare that adversaries use outside help when it comes to critical intelligence; it could, for all they know, be disinformation, or the outsider could be an agent-provocateur.\n6.5 Sophistication Distribution\nIf they were capable, honest, and hard-working, they wouldn’t need to steal.\nAlong similar lines, one can assume a monotonically decreasing number of adversaries with a certain level of sophistication. My rule of thumb is that for every person who knows how to perform a technique, there are x people who know about it, where x is a small number, perhaps 3 to 10. The same rule applies to people with the ability to write an exploit versus those able to download and use it (the so-called script kiddies). Once an exploit is coded into a worm, the chance of a compromised host having been compromised by the worm (instead of a human who targets it specifically) approaches 100%.\n6.6 Goals\nWe’ve all met or know about people who would like nothing more than to break things, just for the heck of it; schoolyard bullies who feel hurt and want to hurt others, or their overgrown sadist kin. Vandals who merely want to write their name on your storefront. A street thug who will steal a cell phone just to throw it through a window. I’m sure the sort of person reading this isn’t like that, but unfortunately some people are. What exactly are your adversary’s goals? Are they to maximize ROI (Return On Investment) for themselves, or are they out to maximize pain (tax your resources) for you? Are they monetarily or ideologically motivated? What do they consider investment? What do they consider a reward? Put another way, you can’t just assign a dollar value on assets, you must consider their value to the adversary.\n7 Threat Modeling\nMen of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war.\n-- Aristophanes\nIn technology, people tend to focus on how rather than who, which seems to work better when anyone can potentially attack any system (like with publicly-facing systems on the Internet) and when protection mechanisms have low or no incremental cost (like with free and open-source software). I shall call modeling these threat modeling ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threat_model ).\n7.1 Common Platform Enumeration\nCPE is a structured naming scheme for information technology systems, software, and packages. Based upon the generic syntax for Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI), CPE includes a formal name format, a method for checking names against a system, and a description format for binding text and tests to a name.\n-- CPE Home Page\nThe first part of threat modelling should be, what is it I want to protect? And once you start to compile a list of things you wish to protect, you might want a consistent naming system for your computer assets. The CPE may help you here.\nCommon Platform Enumeration ( http://cpe.mitre.org/ )\n7.2 A Taxonomy of Privacy Breaches\nA Taxonomy of Privacy ( http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/03/a_taxonomy_of_p.html )\nIn the above article, Daniel Solove suggests that breaches of privacy are not of a single type, but can mean a variety of things:\nsurveillance\nGnothi Seauton (“Know Thyself”)\n-- ancient Greek aphorism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself )\nWhen discussing security, it’s often useful to analyze the part which may interact with a particular adversary (or set of adversaries). For example, let’s assume you are only worried about remote adversaries. If your system or network is only connected to outside world via the Internet, then the attack surface is the parts of your system that interact with things on the Internet, or the parts of your system which accept input from the Internet. A firewall, then, limits the attack surface to a smaller portion of your systems by filtering some of your network traffic. Often, the firewall blocks all incoming connections.\nSometimes the attack surface is pervasive. For example, if you have a network-enabled embedded device like a web cam on your network that has a vulnerability in its networking stack, then anything which can send it packets may be able to exploit it. Since you probably can’t fix the software in it, you must then use a firewall to attempt to limit what can trigger the bug. Similarly, there was a bug in Sendmail that could be exploited by sending a carefully-crafted email through a vulnerable server. The interesting bit here is that it might be an internal server that wasn’t exposed to the Internet; the exploit was data-directed and so could be passed through your infrastructure until it hit a vulnerable implementation. That’s why I consistently use one implementation (not Sendmail) throughout my network now.\nIf plugging a USB drive into your system causes it to automatically run things like a standard Microsoft Windows XP installation, then any plugged-in device is part of the attack surface. But even if it does not, then by plugging a USB device in you could potentially overflow the code which handles the USB or the driver for the particular device which is loaded; thus, the USB networking code and all drivers are part of the attack surface if you can control what is plugged into the system.\nMalware Distribution through Physical Media a Growing Concern ( http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/13/1533243 )\nusbroken, a USB fuzzer based on Arduino ( http://code.google.com/p/usbroken/ )\nSchneier Hacking Computers over USB ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/06/hacking_compute.html )\nUSB Devices can Crack Windows ( http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/USB-Devices-Can-Crack-Windows/ )\npsgroove, a jailbreak exploit for PS3 ( http://github.com/psgroove/psgroove )\nMoreover, a recent vulnerability ( http://it.slashdot.org/it/08/01/14/1319256.shtml ) illustrates that when you have something which inspects network traffic, such as uPNP devices or port knocking daemons, then their code forms part of the attack surface.\nSometimes you will hear people talk about the anonymous attack surface; this is the attack surface available to everyone (on the Internet). Since this number of people is so large, and you usually can’t identify them or punish them, you want to be really sure that the anonymous attack surface is limited and doesn’t have any so-called “pre-auth” vulnerabilities, because those can be exploited prior to identification and authentication.\n7.6 Attack Trees\nThe next logical step is to move from defining the attack surface to modeling attacks and quantify risk levels.\nWikipedia on Attack Tree ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_tree )\nSchneier on Attack Trees ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-attacktrees-ddj-ft.html )\nMicrosoft on Attack Trees ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff648644.aspx )\n7.7 The Weakest Link\nAmdahl’s law, also known as Amdahl’s argument, is named after computer architect Gene Amdahl, and is used to find the maximum expected improvement to an overall system when only part of the system is improved.\nYou are the weakest link, goodbye!\n-- The Weakest Link (TV series)\nLet us think of our security posture for whatever we’re protecting as being composed of a number of systems (or groups of systems possibly offering defense-in-depth). The strength of these systems to attack may vary. You may wish to pour all your resources into one, but the security will likely be broken at the weakest point, either by chance or by an intelligent adversary.\nThis is an analogy to Amdahl’s law, stated above, in that we can only increase our overall security posture by maintaining a delicate balance between the different defenses to attack vectors. Most of the time, your resources are best spent on the weakest area, which for some institutions (financial, military) is usually personnel.\nThe reasons you might not balance all security systems may include:\nEconomics matter here; it may be much cheaper and reliable to buy a firewall than put your employees through security training. Software security measures sometimes have zero marginal cost, but hardware almost always has a marginal cost.\nExposure affects your risk calculations; an Internet attack is much more likely than a physical attack, so you may put more effort into Internet defense than physical defense.\nCapability implies in that organizations have varying abilities. For example, the military may simply make carrying a thumb drive into the facility a punishable offense, but a commercial organization may find that too difficult or unpopular to enforce. An Internet company, by contrast, may have a strong technical capability, and so might choose to write software to prevent the use of thumb drives.\n8 Physical Security\nWhen people think of physical security, these often are the limit on the strength of access control devices; I recall a story of a cat burglar who used a chainsaw to cut through victim’s walls, bypassing any access control devices. I remember reading someone saying that a deep space probe is the ultimate in physical security.\nWikipedia article on Physical Security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_security )\n8.1 No Physical Security Means No Security\nWhile the locks are getting tougher, the door and frame are getting weaker. A well-placed kick usually does the trick.\n-- a burglar\nA couple of limitations come up without physical security for a system. For confidentiality, all of the sensitive data needs to be encrypted. But even if you encrypt the data, an adversary with physical access could trojan the OS and capture the data (this is a control attack now, not just confidentiality breach; go this far and you’ve protected against overt seizure, theft, improper disposal and such). So you’ll need to you protect the confidentiality and integrity of the OS, he trojans the kernel. If you protect the kernel, he trojans the boot loader. If you protect the boot loader (say by putting on a removable medium), he trojans the BIOS. If you protect the BIOS, he trojans the CPU. So you put a tamper-evident label on it, with your signature on it, and check it every time. But he can install a keyboard logger. So suppose you make a sealed box with everything in it, and connectors on the front. Now he gets measurements and photos of your machine, spends a fortune replicating it, replaces your system with an outwardly identical one of his design (the trojan box), which communicates (say, via encrypted spread-spectrum radio) to your real box. When you type plaintext, it goes through his system, gets logged, and relayed to your system as keystrokes. Since you talk plaintext, neither of you are the wiser.\nThe physical layer is a common place to facilitate a side-channel attack (see 31.2↓ ).\n8.2 Data Remanence\nI know what your computer did last summer.\nData remanence is the the residual physical representation of your information on media after you believe that you have removed it (definition thanks to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_remanence ). This is a disputed region of technology, with a great deal of speculation, self-styled experts, but very little hard science.\nA Guide to Understanding Data Remanence in Automated Information Systems (Ver.2 09/91) ( http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/rainbow/tg025-2.htm )\nNational Security Agency/CSS Degausser Products List 25 Sep 2001 ( http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/degausse.pdf )\nLast time I looked most of the degaussers require 220V power and may not work on hard drives, due to their high coercivity.\nAs of 2006, the most definitive study seems to be the NIST Computer Security Division paper Guidelines for Media Sanitization ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-88/NISTSP800-88_rev1.pdf ). NIST is known to work with the NSA on some topics, and this may be one of them. It introduces some useful terminology:\ndisposing is the act of discarding media with no other considerations\nclearing is a level of media sanitization that resists anything you could do at the keyboard or remotely, and usually involves overwriting the data at least once\npurging is a process that protects against a laboratory attack (signal processing equipment and specially trained personnel)\ndestroying is the ultimate form of sanitization, and means that the medium can no longer be used as originally intended\n8.2.1 Magnetic Storage Media (Disks)\nThe seminal paper on this is Peter Gutmann’s Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/secure_del.html ). In early versions of his paper, he speculated that one could extract data due to hysteresis effects even after a single overwrite, but on subsequent revisions he stated that there was no evidence a single overwrite was insufficient. Simson Garfinkel wrote about it recently in his blog ( https://www.techreview.com/blog/garfinkel/17567/ ).\nThe NIST paper has some interesting tidbits in it. Obviously, disposal cannot protect confidentiality of unencrypted media. Clearing is probably sufficient security for 99% of all data; I highly recommend Darik’s Boot and Nuke ( http://dban.sourceforge.net/ ), which is a bootable floppy or CD based on Linux. However, it cannot work if the storage device stops working properly, and it does not overwrite sectors or tracks marked bad and transparently relocated by the drive firmware. With all ATA drives over 15GB, there is a “secure delete” ATA command which can be accessed from hdparm within Linux, and Gordon Hughes has some interesting documents and a Microsoft-based utility ( http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml ). There’s a useful blog entry about it ( http://storagemojo.com/2007/05/02/secure-erase-data-security-you-already-own/ ). In the case of very damaged disks, you may have to resort to physical destruction. However, with disk densities being what they are, even 1/125” of a disk platter may hold a full sector, and someone with absurd amounts of money could theoretically extract small quantities of data. Fortunately, nobody cares this much about your data.\nNow, you may wonder what you can do about very damaged disks, or what to do if the media isn’t online (for example, you buried it in an underground bunker), or if you have to get rid of the data fast. I would suggest that encrypted storage (see 28.7↓ ) would almost always be a good idea. If you use it, you merely have to protect the confidentiality of the key, and if you can properly sanitize the media, all the better. Recently Simson Garfinkel re-discovered a technique for getting the data off broken drives; freezing them. Another technique that I have used is to replace the logic board with one from a working drive.\nHard drive’s data survives shuttle explosion ( http://blocksandfiles.com/article/5056 )\nGerman firm probes final World Trade Center deals ( http://www.prisonplanet.com/german_firm_probes_final_world_trade_center_deals.htm )\nWikipedia entry on Data Recovery ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_recovery )\n200 ways to recover your data ( http://btjunkie.org/torrent/200-Ways-To-Recover-Revive-Your-Hard-Drive/4358cd27083f53a0d4dc3a7ec8354d22b61574534c96 )\nData Recovery blog ( http://datarecovery-hddrecovery.blogspot.com/ )\n8.2.2 Semiconductor Storage (RAM)\nPeter Gutmann’s Data Remanence in Semiconductor Devices ( http://www.cypherpunks.to/~peter/usenix01.pdf ) shows that if a particular value is held in RAM for extended periods of time, various processes such as electromigration make permanent changes to the semiconductor’s structure. In some cases, it is possible for the value to be “burned in” to the cell, such that it cannot hold another value.\nCold Boot Attack\nRecently a Princeton team ( http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/ ) found that the values held in DRAM decay in predictable ways after power is removed, such that one can merely reboot the system and recover keys for most encrypted storage systems ( http://citp.princeton.edu/pub/coldboot.pdf ). By cooling the chip first, this data remains longer. This generated much talk in the industry. This prompted an interesting overview of attacks against encrypted storage systems ( http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9876060-38.html ).\nBoingBoing video demonstration ( http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/12/bbtv-hacker-howto-co.html )\nDirect Memory Access\nIt turns out that certain peripheral devices, notably Firewire, have direct memory access.\nThis means that you can plug something into the computer and read data directly out of RAM.\nThat means you can read passwords directly out of memory:\nReading RAM With A Laser\nOn A New Way to Read Data from Memory ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/SISW02.pdf )\n8.3 Smart Card Attacks\nThis section deserves great expansion.\nInstead I’ll punt and point you at the latest USENIX conference on this:\n9.1 Introduction\nHardware security is a term I invented to describe the security models provided by a CPU ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit ), associated chipset ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipset ) and peripheral hardware. The assumption here is that the adversary can create and execute program code of his own choosing, possibly as an administrator (root). As computer hardware and firmware ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware ) becomes more complex, there will be more and more vulnerabilities found in it, so this section is likely to grow over time.\nEach computer hardware architecture is going to have its own security models, so this discussion is going to be specific to the hardware platform under consideration.\n9.2 Protection Rings\nMost modern computer systems have at least two modes of operation; normal operation and privileged mode. The vast majority of software runs in normal mode, and the operating system, or more accurately the kernel, runs in privileged mode. Similarly, most of the functionality of the CPU is available in normal mode, whereas a small but significant portion, such as that related to memory management and communicating with hardware, is restricted to that operating in privileged mode.\nSome CPU architectures, go farther and define a series of hierarchical protection domains that are often called protection rings ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_(computer_security) ). This is a simple extrapolation of the two-level normal/privileged mode into multiple levels, or rings.\n9.3 Operating Modes\nThe Intel architectures in particular has several operating modes. These are not privilege rings, but rather represent the state that the CPU is in, which affects how various instructions are interpreted\n9.4 NX bit\nThe NX bit, which stands for No eXecute, is a technology used in CPUs to segregate areas of memory for use by either storage of processor instructions (or code) or for storage of data, a feature normally only found in Harvard architecture processors. However, the NX bit is being increasingly used in conventional von Neumann architecture processors, for security reasons.\nAn operating system with support for the NX bit may mark certain areas of memory as non-executable. The processor will then refuse to execute any code residing in these areas of memory. The general technique, known as executable space protection, is used to prevent certain types of malicious software from taking over computers by inserting their code into another program’s data storage area and running their own code from within this section; this is known as a buffer overflow attack.\n-- Wikipedia\n10 Distributed Systems\n10.1 Network Security Overview\nThe things involved in network security are called nodes. One can talk about networks composed of humans (social networks), but that’s not the kind of network we’re talking about here; I always mean a computer unless I say otherwise. Often in network security the adversary is assumed to control the network in whole or part; this is a bit of a holdover from the days when the network was radio, or when the node was an embassy in a country controlled by the adversary. In modern practice, this doesn’t seem to usually be the case, but it’d be hard to know for sure. In the application of network security to the Internet, we almost always assume the adversary controls at least one of the nodes on the network.\nIn network security, we can lure an adversary to a system, tempt them with something inviting; such a system is called a honeypot, and a network of such systems is sometimes called a honeynet. A honeypot may or may not be instrumented for careful monitoring; sometimes systems so instrumented are called fishbowls, to emphasize the transparent nature of activity within them. Often one doesn’t want to allow a honeypot to be used as a launch point for attacks, so outbound network traffic is sanitized or scrubbed; if traffic to other hosts is blocked completely, some people call it a jail, but that is also the name of an operating system security technology used by FreeBSD, so I consider it confusing.\nTo reduce a distributed system problem to a physical security (see 8↑ ) problem, you can use an air gap, or sneakernet between one system and another. However, the data you transport between them may be capable of exploiting the offline system. One could keep a machine offline except during certain windows; this could be as simple as a cron job which turns on or off the network interface via ifconfig. However, an offline system may be difficult to administer, or keep up-to-date with security patches.\n10.2 Network Access Control: Packet Filters, Firewalls, Security Zones\nMost network applications use TCP, a connection-oriented protocol, and they use a client/server model. The client initiates a handshake with the server, and then they have a conversation. Sometimes people use the terms client and server to mean the application programs, and other times they mean the node itself. Other names for server applications include services and daemons. Obviously if you can’t speak with the server at all, or (less obviously) if you can’t properly complete a handshake, you will find it difficult to attack the server application. This is what a packet filter does; it allows or prevents communication between a pair of sockets. A packet filter does not generally do more than a simple all-or-nothing filtering. Now, every computer can potentially have a network access control device, or packet filter, on it. For security, this would be the ideal; each machine defends itself, opening up the minimum number of ports to external traffic. However, tuning a firewall for minimum exposure can be a difficult, time-consuming process and so does not scale well. It would be better for network daemons to not accept connections from across the network, and there definitely has been a move this direction. In some cases, a packet filter would merely be redundant to a system which does not have any extraneous open ports.\nThe firewall was originally defined as a device between different networks that had different security characteristics; it was named after the barrier between a automobile interior and the engine, which is designed to prevent a engine fire from spreading to the passenger cabin. Nowadays, they could be installed on every system, protecting it from all other systems.\nAs our understanding of network security improved, people started to define various parts of their network. The canonical types of networks are:\nTrusted networks were internal to your corporation.\nAn untrusted network may be the Internet, or a wifi network, or any network with open, public access.\nDemilitarized zones (DMZs) were originally defined as an area for placing machines that must talk to nodes on both trusted and untrusted networks. At first they were placed outside the firewall but inside a border router, then as a separate leg of the firewall, and now in are defined and protected in a variety of ways.\nWhat these definitions all have in common is that they end up defining security zones (this term thanks to the authors of Extreme Exploits). All the nodes inside a security zone have roughly equivalent access to or from other security zones. I believe this is the most important and fundamental way of thinking of network security. Do not confuse this with the idea that all the systems in the zone have the same relevance to the network’s security, or that the systems have the same impact if compromised; that is a complication and more of a matter of operating system security than network security. In other words, two systems (a desktop and your DNS server) may not be security equivalent, but they may be in the same security zone.\n10.3 Network Reconnaissance: Ping Sweeps, Port Scanning\nTypically an adversary needs to know what he can attack before he can attack it. This is called reconnaissance, and involves gathering information about the target and identifying ways in which he can attack the target. In network security, the adversary may want to know what systems are available for attack, and a technique such as a ping sweep of your network block may facilitate this. Then, he may choose to enumerate (get a list of) all the services available via a technique such as a port scan. A port scan may be a horizontal scan (one port, many IP addresses) or vertical scan (one IP address, multiple ports), or some combination thereof. You can sometimes determine what service (and possibly what implementation) it is by banner grabbing or fingerprinting the service.\nIn an ideal world, knowing that you can talk to a service does not matter. Thus, a port scan should only reveal what you already assumed your adversary already knew. However, it is considered very rude, even antisocial, like walking down the street and trying to open the front door of every house or business that you pass; people will assume you are trying to trespass, and possibly illicitly copy their data.\nTypical tools used for network reconnaissance include:\nfirewalk ( http://www.packetfactory.net/projects/firewalk/ )\n10.4 Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention\nMost security-conscious organizations are capable of detecting most scans using [network] intrusion detection systems (IDS) or intrusion prevention systems (IPS); see 16↓ .\nSnort IDS ( http://www.snort.org/ )\n10.5 Cryptography is the Sine Qua Non of Secure Distributed Systems\nAll cryptography lets you do is create trust relationships across untrustworthy media; the problem is still trust between endpoints and transitive trust.\n-- Marcus Ranum\nPut simply, you can’t have a secure distributed system (with the normal assumptions of untrusted nodes and network links potentially controlled by the adversary) without using cryptography somewhere (“sine qua non” is Latin for “without which it could not be”). If the adversary can read communications, then to protect the confidentiality of the network traffic, it must be encrypted. If the adversary can modify network communication, then it must have its integrity protected and be authenticated (that is, to have the source identified). Even physical layer communication security technologies, like the KLJN cipher, quantum cryptography, and spread-spectrum communication, use cryptography in one way or another.\nI would go farther and say that performing network security decisions on anything other than cryptographic keys is never going to be as strong as if it depended on cryptography. Very few Internet adversaries currently have the capability to arbitrarily route data around. Most cannot jump between VLANs on a tagged port. Some don’t even have the capability to sniff on their LAN. But none of the mechanisms preventing this are stronger than strong cryptography, and often they are much weaker, possibly only security through obscurity. Let me put it to you this way; to support a general argument otherwise, think about how much assurance a firewall has that a packet claiming to be from a given IP address is actually from the system the firewall maintainer believes it to be. Often these things are complex, and way beyond his control. However, it would be totally reasonable to filter on IP address first, and only then allow a cryptographic check; this makes it resistant to resource consumption attacks from anyone who cannot spoof a legitimate IP address (see 4.1.1↑ ).\n10.6 Hello, My Name is 192.168.1.1\nHumans are incapable of securely storing high-quality cryptographic keys, and they have unacceptable speed and accuracy when performing cryptographic operations. (They are also large, expensive to maintain, difficult to manage, and they pollute the environment. It is astonishing that these devices continue to be manufactured and deployed. But they are sufficiently pervasive that we must design our protocols around their limitations).\n-- Network Security / PRIVATE Communication in a PUBLIC World by Charlie Kaufman, Radia Perlman, & Mike Speciner (Prentice Hall 2002; p.237)\nBecause humans communicate in slowly, in plaintext, and don’t plug into a network, we consider the nodes within the network to be computing devices. The system a person interacts with has equivalency with them; break into the system administrator’s console, and you have access to anything he or she accesses. In some cases, you may have access to anything he or she can access. You may think that the your LDAP or Kerberos server is the most important, but isn’t the node of the guy who administers it just as critical? This is especially true if OS security is weak and any user can control the system, or if the administrator is not trusted, but it is also convenient because packets do not have user names, just source IPs. When some remote system connects to a server, unless both are under the control of the same entity, the server has no reason to trust the remote system’s claim about who is using it, nor does it have any reason to treat one user on the remote system different than any other.\n10.7 Source Tapping; The First Hop and Last Mile\nOne can learn a lot more about a target by observing the first link from them than from some more remote place. That is, the best vantage point is one closest to the target. For this reason, the first hop is far more critical than any other. An exception may involve a target that is more network-mobile than the eavesdropper. The more common exception is tunneling/encryption (to include tor and VPN technologies); these relocate the first hop somewhere else which is not physically proximate to the target’s meat space coordinates, which may make it more difficult to locate.\nThings to consider here involve the difficulty of interception, which is a secondary concern (it is never all that difficult). For example, it is probably less confidential from the ISP to use an ISP’s caching proxy than to access the service directly, since most proxy software makes it trivial to log the connection and content; however, one should not assume that one is safe by not using the proxy (especially now that many do transparent proxying). However, it is less anonymous from the remote site to access the remote site directly; using the ISP’s proxy affords some anonymity (unless the remote site colludes with the ISP).\n10.8 Security Equivalent Things Go Together\nOne issue that always seems to come up is availability versus other goals. For example, suppose you install a new biometric voice recognition system. Then you have a cold and can’t get in. Did you prioritize correctly? Which is more important? Similar issues come up in almost every place with regard to security. For example, your system may authenticate users versus a global server, or it may have a local database for authentication. The former means that one can revoke a user’s credentials globally immediately, but also means that if the global server is down, nobody can authenticate. Attempts to get the best of both worlds (“authenticate locally if global server is unreachable”) often reduce to availability (adversary just DOSes link between system and global server to force local authentication).\nMy philosophy on this is simple; put like things together. That is, I think authentication information for a system should be on the system. That way, the system is essentially a self-contained unit. By spreading the data out, one multiplies potential attack targets, and reduces availability. If someone can hack the local system, then being able to alter a local authentication database is relatively insignificant.\n10.9 Man In The Middle\nHow do we detect MITM or impersonation in web, PGP/GPG, SSH contexts?\nThe typical process for creating an Internet connection involves a DNS resolution at the application layer (unless you use IP addresses), then sending packets to the IP address (at the network layer), which have to be routed; at the link layer, ARP typically is used to find the next hop at each stage, and then bits are marshalled between devices at the physical layer. Each of these steps creates the opportunity for a man-in-the-middle attack.\n10.9.1 DNS MITM Issues\nWikipedia article on DNS cache poisoning ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_cache_poisoning )\nSpoofing replies - transaction ID predictability ( http://www.net-security.org/dl/articles/Attacking_the_DNS_Protocol.pdf , http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30131 )\nMaybe you are querying a DNS server the adversary controls (i.e. your ISP)\n10.9.2 IP Routing MITM Issues\nThe adversary could announce bogus BGP routes ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4272 ).\nThe adversary could naturally sit between you and the remote system.\n10.9.3 Link Layer MITM Issues\nThe adversary could use ARP spoofing or poisoning, such as with these tools:\n10.9.4 Physical Layer MITM Issues\nTapping the wire (or listening to wireless)\nThere is something used by the military called an identification friend or foe (IFF) device. You can read about it on the Wikipedia page ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identification_friend_or_foe ). What is interesting is that it can be defeated using a MITM attack; the challenger sends his challenge towards the adversary, and the adversary relays the challenge to a system friendly to the challenger, and relays the response back. What is interesting here is that, in this case, the IFF device can enforce a reasonable time limit, so that a MITM attack fails due to speed-of-light constraints. In this case, it could be considered a kind of “somewhere you are” authentication factor (see 11.8↓ ).\nAT&T Invents Programming Language for Mass Surveillance ( http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/att-invents-pro.html )\n10.11 Push vs. Pull Updates\nWhen moving data between systems on a regular basis, I find myself wondering whether it is better to push data or to have the system pull it. In a push model, the pushing system connects to an open port on the destination, which implies that there is the possibility that the destination system could have data pushed to it from another machine. In a pull model, the machine asks for the data it wants, and the sender of the data must have an open port. This is a complex subject. Sometimes push models are inadequate because one of the recipient machines may be unreachable when you are doing the push. Sometimes pull models are inadequate because the pull may come too late for an important security update. Sometimes you need both, where you push to a class of systems and any which are down automagically request the data when they come back up. With SSH, rsync, and proper key management, this is not really a significant security issue, but with other systems implementing their own file distribution protocols, this could be a major security hole. Be careful that any file transfer you establish is a secure one.\n10.12 DNS Issues\nDNS is perhaps the most widely deployed distributed system, and it can be abused in many ways. The main investigator of DNS abuse is Dan Kaminsky; he can tunnel SSH sessions over DNS, store data in DNS like a very fast FTP server, use it to distribute real-time audio data, and snoop on caches to see if you’ve requested a certain DNS name.\nDan Kaminski’s web site ( http://www.doxpara.com/ )\n10.13 Network Topology\nOrganizational systems prone to intrusion, or with porous perimeters, should make liberal use of internal firewalls. This applies to organizational structures as well, so that organizations prone to personnel infiltration, should make use of the revolutionary cell structure for their communication topology.\nIt is possible to triangulate the location of a system using ping times from three locations. Note that it’s not the physical locations that you use to triangulate, but the network locations; it’s no good if all three share the same long pipe to the target. You need separate paths that converge as close to the target as possible.\n11 Identification and Authentication\nIdentification is necessary before making any sort of access control decisions. Often it can reduce abuse, because an identified individual knows that if they do something there can be consequences or sanctions. For example, if an employee abuses the corporate network, they may find themselves on the receiving end of the sysadmin’s luser attitude readjustment tool (LART). I tend to think of authentication as a process you perform on objects (like paintings, antiques, and digitally signed documents), and identification as a process that subjects (people) perform, but in network security you’re really looking at data created by a person for the purpose of identifying them, so I use them interchangeably.\nSometimes I suspect I’m not who I think I am.\n-- Ghost in the Shell\nAn identity, for our purposes, is an abstract concept; it does not map to a person, it maps to a persona. Some people call this a digital ID, but since this paper doesn’t talk about non-digital identities, I’m dropping the qualifier. Identities are different from authenticators, which are something you use to prove your identity. An identifier is shorthand, a handle; like a pointer to the full identity.\nTo make this concrete, let us take the Unix operating system as an example. Your identity corresponds to a row in the /etc/passwd file. Your identifier is your username, which is used to look up your identity, and your password is an authenticator.\n11.2 Identity Management\nIn relational database design, it is considered a good practice for the primary key ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_key ) of a table to be an integer, perhaps a row number, that is not used for anything else. That is because the primary key is used as an identifier for the row; it allows us to modify the object itself, so that the modification occurs in all use cases simultaneously (for a normalized database). Most competent DBAs realize that people change names, phone numbers, locations, and so on; they may even change social security numbers. They also realize that people may share any of these things (even social security numbers are not necessarily unique, especially if they lie about it). So to be able to identify a person across any of these changes, you need to use a row number. The exact same principle applies with security systems; you should always keep the identifiers separate from identities and authenticators.\nThis is good, because the authenticator (password) may be changed without losing the idea of the identity of the person. However, there are subtle gotchas. In Unix, the username is mapped to a user ID (UID), which is the real way that Unix keeps track of identity. It isn’t necessarily a one-to-one mapping. Also, a poor system administer may reassign an unused user ID without going through the file system and looking for files owned by the old user, in which case their ownership is silently reassigned.\nPGP/GPG made the mistake of using a cryptographic key as an identifier. If one has to revoke that key, one basically loses anything (such as signatures) which applied to that key, and the trust that other people have indicated towards that key. And if you have multiple keys, friends of yours who have all of them cannot treat them all as equivalent, since GPG can’t be told that they are associated to the same identity, because the keys are the identity. Instead, they must manage statements about you (such as how much they trust you to act as an introducer) on each key independently.\nSome web sites are using email addresses as identities, which makes life difficult when it changes; in some cases, you are effectively a different person if you change email addresses. In my opinion, identifiers like email addresses should only serve to look up an identity; it should not be the identity.\nFor an excellent paper on identity in an Internet context, see:\nKim Cameron’s “The Laws of Identity” ( http://www.identityblog.com/?p=354 )\nBen Laurie’s “Selective Disclosure” ( http://www.links.org/files/selective-disclosure.pdf )\n11.3 The Identity Continuum\nIdentification can range from fully anonymous to pseudonymous, to full identification. Ensuring identity can be expensive, and is never perfect. Think about what you are trying to accomplish. Applies to cookies from web sites, email addresses, “real names”, and so on.\n11.4 Problems Remaining Anonymous\nIn cyberspace everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes.\n-- Graham Greenleaf\nWhat can we learn from anonymizer, mixmaster, tor, and so on? Often one can de-anonymize. Some people have de-anonymized search queries this way, and census data, and many more data sets that are supposed to be anonymous.\n11.5 Problems with Identifying People\nRandomly-Chosen Identity\n11.6 What Authority?\nDoes it follow that I reject all authority? Far from me such a thought. In the matter of boots, I refer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult that of the architect or the engineer.\n-- Mikhail Bakunin, What is Authority? 1882 ( http://www.panarchy.org/bakunin/authority.1871.html )\nWhen we are attempting to identify someone, we are relying upon some authority, usually the state government. When you register a domain name with a registrar, they record your personal information in the WHOIS database; this is the system of record ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_of_record ). No matter how careful we are, we can never have a higher level of assurance than this authority has. If the government gave that person a false identity, or the person bribed a DMV clerk to do so, we can do absolutely nothing about it. This is an important implication of the limitations of accuracy (see 4.6↑ ).\n11.7 Goals of Authentication\nAuthentication serves two related goals; it is designed to allow us in while keeping other people out. These goals are two sides of the same coin, but have different requirements. The goal to allow us in requires that authentication be convenient, while the goal of keeping others out requires that authentication be secure. These goals are often in direct conflict with each other and an example of a more general trade-off between convenience and security.\n11.8 Authentication Factors\nThere are many ways you can prove your identity to a system. They may include one or more authentication factors such as:\nsomething you are like biometric signatures such as the pattern of capillaries on your retina, your fingerprints, etc.\nsomething you have like a token, physical key, or thumb drive\nsomething you know like a passphrase or password\nsomewhere you are if you put a GPS device in a computer, or did direction-finding on transmissions, or simply require a person to be physically present somewhere to operate the system\nsomewhere you can be reached like a mailing address, network address, email address, or phone number\nAt the risk of self-promotion, I want to point out that, to my knowledge, the last factor has not been explicitly stated in computer security literature, although it is demonstrated every time a web site emails you your password, or every time a financial company mails something to your home.\nMy voice is my passport; verify me.\n-- Sneakers, the motion picture\nThe oldest and still most common method for authenticating individuals consists of using passwords. However, there are many problems with using passwords, and I humbly suggest that people start to design systems with the goal of minimizing the use of passwords, passphrases, and other reusable authenticators.\nStrong Passwords Not As Good As You Think ( http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/13/1336235 )\nStrong Web Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/07/strong_web_pass.html )\nDo Strong Web Passwords Accomplish Anything? ( http://www.usenix.org/event/hotsec07/tech/full_papers/florencio/florencio.pdf )\n11.9.1 People Pick Lousy Passwords\nThe first and most important issue is that people pick lousy passwords.\nReal World Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/12/realworld_passw.html )\nA current plague of security problems stems from rampant password guessing for remote services (specifically, ssh). There have been a number of suggestions for dealing with this, as we shall see.\n11.9.2 Picking Secure Passwords\nOne thing that most people could do to improve their security is to pick better passwords:\nChoosing Secure Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/01/choosing_secure.html )\n11.9.3 Preventing Weak Passwords\nOne invaluable tool for dealing with password guessing involves weeding out weak passwords. No password lockouts will help you when your users pick passwords such as “password” and an adversary guesses that on the first try.\nThere are two ways of doing this; in the older post facto method, one tries to crack the password hashes. However, it is desirable to store passwords only after they have been passed through a one-way function, or hash. In this case, it’s often much more efficient to check them before hashing than to try to crack them post-facto; however, you must locate and guard all the places passwords can be set.\n11.9.4 Remembering Passwords\nThe problem with preventing weak passwords is that if the passwords are hard to guess, they are hard to remember, and users may write them down on post-it notes or simply forget them more often. More sophisticated users may store them in their wallets, or in a password database program like Password Safe:\nhttp://www.schneier.com/passsafe.html\n11.9.5 Password Guessing Lockouts\nMost systems employ some sort of abuse detection (lockout) to prevent guessing passwords. In the naive model, this checks for multiple guesses on a single username. For example, the Unix console login has you enter a username, and then prompts for a password; if you get the password wrong three times, it freezes the terminal for a period of time. Guessing multiple passwords for one username is sometimes called the forward hack. Some network login programs like SSH do the same thing, with the sshd_config entry MaxAuthTries determining how many guesses are possible. As a result, some SSH brute-forcing programs try the same password on multiple accounts, the so-called reverse hack.\nIt also opens up the door for a denial-of-service attack; the adversary can try various passwords until the account gets locked, denying the legitimate owner in.\nOne other problem with this is that unless one can centralize all authentication in something like PAM (pluggable authentication modules), then an adversary may simply multiplex guesses over different services which all consult the same authentication information. One such example is THC’s Hyda:\nhttp://freeworld.thc.org/thc-hydra/\n11.9.6 Limited Password Lifetimes\nSome systems require you to change your password frequently, minimizing the amount of time it is good for if it is guessed, ostensibly making it less valuable. The problem with this is that once a password is guessed, the adversary is likely to use it right away, and perhaps set up a back door for later entry into the system. It’s very difficult to detect a well-placed back door. This is also extremely inconvenient to users, and they often end up varying their passwords by some predictable mechanism.\nThere is another advantage to limited password lifetimes; if the passwords take a long time to guess or crack, then rotating them with a shorter time frame means that a cracked password is no longer valuable. This was more appropriate when any user could read the hashed passwords from the file /etc/passwd; modern systems keep them in another file and don’t make it readable to anyone but root, meaning that cracking password hashes would have to occur after cracking the root account, for later access to the same system or to other systems where the users might have the same passwords.\n11.9.7 Password Reset Procedure\nEnforcing difficult-to-guess passwords and limited password lifetimes increases the chance that users will forget their passwords. This means more users having to reset their passwords, resulting in increased administrative burden and inconvenience to users. In the most secure case, the procedure to reset passwords should be as secure as the mechanism to create accounts; I have worked in places where this required a physical visit and presentation of ID. In most cases, the password reset procedure is as simple as a phone call.\n11.9.8 Security Questions\nIn many cases, this burden is too high or impractical, particularly for web sites. In these situations, the user is often asked to select certain security questions which will allow them to reset their password. The traditional method was to require their mother’s maiden name, but nowadays there are wide variety of questions, many of which are (unfortunately) easy to guess, especially for people who know the user in question personally.\n11.9.9 Disabling Root Logins\nSome security pundits have suggested that you disable logins for root to avoid someone getting in as the administrator; then one must guess the user name of a specific administrator as well, but this really isn’t all that hard, and makes it impossible to, say, rsync an entire file system over ssh (since one cannot log in directly as root, one cannot directly access files as root).\nI find it simpler and safer to disallow password-based authentication altogether, wherever possible.\nFor remote administration, let’s compare the scenario they are suggesting (reusable passphrases but no direct root logins), with my scenario (cryptographic logins, direct root access). My scenario has the following obvious attack vectors:\nThe adversary takes control of the system you’re sitting at, where your ssh key is stored, in which case he could impersonate you anyway (he may have to wait for you to log in to sniff the reusable passphrase, or to hijack an existing connection, but I think it’s not worth worrying about the details; if they have root on your console, you’re hosed).\nThe adversary guesses your 4096-bit private RSA key, possibly without access to the public key. In this case, he could probably use the same technique against the encryption used to protect the SSH or IPsec sessions you’re using to communicate over anyway (host keys are often much smaller than 4096-bit), and in the alternate scenario (no direct root logins, but allowing reusable passphrases) he would get access to the reusable passphrases (and all other communication).\nBy contrast, their scenario has the same vulnerabilities, plus:\nSomeone guesses the login and password. Login names are not secrets, and never have been treated as secrets (e.g. they’re often in your email address). They may not even be encrypted in the SSH login procedure. Passwords may be something guessable to your adversary but not you; for example, a word in a dictionary you don’t have, an “alternative spelling” that you didn’t think of, or perhaps the user uses the same passphrase to access a web site (perhaps even via unencrypted HTTP).\n11.9.10 Eliminating Reusable Authenticators\nThus, it is undesirable to use re-usable authentication over the network. However, these other kinds of authentication present difficulties:\nEncrypted storage; this is like using encryption to communicate with your future self. Obviously, you must reuse the same key, or somehow re-encrypt the disk. One could, theoretically, disallow direct access to the key used to encrypt the storage, and re-encrypt it each time with a different passphrase, but to protect it from the administrator you’d need to use some sort of hardware decryption device, and to protect it against someone with physical access you’d need tamper-resistant hardware (e.g. TPM).\nAuthenticating to the system you’re sitting at; even then, one could use S/Key or another system for one-time authenticators written down and stored in your wallet, combined with a memorized passphrase.\n11.10 Biometrics\nEntire books have been written about biometrics, and I am not an expert in the field. Thus, this section is just a stub, waiting for me to flesh it out.\nAuthenticating People By Their Typing Patterns ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/authenticating.html )\nPSYLock: a typing behavior based psychometrical authentication method ( http://pc50461.uni-regensburg.de/ibi/de/leistungen/research/projekte/risk/psylock_english.htm )\n11.11 Authentication Issues: When, What\nIn Unix, a console login or remote login (via e.g., SSH) requires authentication only once, and then all commands issued in the session are executed without additional authentication. This is the traditional authentication scheme used by most multi-user systems today.\nThere historically was a system whereby rsh (and later, SSH) could be configured to trust other systems; the current system trusted the other system to only make such a request on behalf of a duly authorized user, and presumably both systems were in the same administrative domain. However, this turned out to be problematic; the adversary or his software could easily exploit these transitive trust relationships to seize control of multiple, sometimes all, systems in the administrative domain. For this reason, this system authentication method is rarely used, however, it is implicitly the model used in network security. A somewhat weaker model is used by firewalls, which only use the IP address (somewhere you claim to be reachable) as the authenticator.\nChanging a user’s password is a significant change; it can lock someone out of their account unless and until the person can convince an administrator to reset it. For this reason, the passwd command (and it alone) required entering the old password before you could change it; this prevented someone from sitting down at a logged-in terminal and locking the person out of their own account (and potentially allowing the adversary in from another, safer, location).\nAs another example, there is also a relatively standard way to perform actions as the root, or most privileged user called sudo. The sudo program allows administrators to operate as normal users most of the time, which reduces the risk of accidentally issuing a privileged command, which is a good thing. In this sense, it is similar to role-based access control (see 12.3↓ ). However, the relevant point here is that it started by requiring your account password with each command issued through it. In this way, it prevented accidental issuance of commands by oneself, but also prevented someone from using an administrator’s console to issue a command. This is authentication of an individual transaction or command. Later this was found to be too inconvenient, and so the authentication was cached for a short period of time so that one could issue multiple commands at once while only being prompted for a password once.\nThis suggests that Unix has evolved a rather hybrid authentication scheme over the years; it authenticates the session only for most things, but in certain cases it authenticates individual commands.\nSo when designing a system, it seems useful to ask ourselves when we want to authenticate; per session, or per transaction. It is also worth asking what is being authenticated; remote systems, transactions, or people.\n11.12 Remote Attestation\nA concept in network security involves knowing that the remote system is a particular program or piece of hardware is called remote attestation. When I connect securely over the network to a machine I believe I have full privileges on, how do I know I’m actually talking to the machine, and not a similar system controlled by the adversary? This is usually attempted by hiding an encryption key in some tamper-proof part of the system, but is vulnerable to all kinds of disclosure and side-channel attacks, especially if the owner of the remote system is the adversary.\nThe most successful example seems to be the satellite television industry, where they embed cryptographic and software secrets in an inexpensive smart card with restricted availability, and change them frequently enough that the resources required to reverse engineer each new card exceeds the cost of the data it is protecting. In the satellite TV industry, there’s something they call ECMs (electronic counter-measures), which are program updates of the form “look at memory location 0xFC, and if it’s not 0xFA, then HCF” (Halt and Catch Fire). The obvious crack is to simply remove that part of the code, but then you will trigger another check that looks at the code for the first check, and so on.\nThe sorts of non-cryptographic self-checks they request the card to do, such as computing a checksum (such as a CRC) over some memory locations, are similar to the sorts of protections against reverse engineering, where the program computes a checksum to detect modifications to itself.\n11.13 Advanced Authentication Tools\nSimple Authentication and Security Layer ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Authentication_and_Security_Layer ) is a three-layer library (interface, mechanism, method) that supports multiple authentication methods for various systems; LDAP, SMTP AUTH, etc.\n12 Authorization - Access Control\n12.1 Privilege Escalation\nIdeally, all services would be impossible to abuse. Since this is difficult or impossible, we often restrict access to them, to limit the potential pool of adversaries. Of course, if some users can do some things and others can’t, this creates the opportunity for the adversary to perform an unauthorized action, but that’s often unavoidable. For example, you probably want to be able to do things to your computer, like reformat it and install a new operating system, that you wouldn’t want others to do. You will want your employees to do things an anonymous Internet user cannot (see 4.3↑ ). Thus, many adversaries want to escalate their privileges to that of some more powerful user, possibly you. Generally, privilege escalation attacks refer to techniques that require some level of access above that of an anonymous remote system, but grant an even higher level of access, bypassing access controls.\nThey can come in horizontal (user becomes another user) or vertical (normal user becomes root or Administrator) escalations.\n12.2 Physical Access Control\nThese include locks. I like Medeco, but none are perfect. It’s easy to find guides to lock picking:\nGuide to Lock Picking http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html\nFree Lock Picking Guide http://www.free-lock-picking-guide.com/\n12.3 Operating System Access Control\n12.3.1 Discretionary Access Control\nDiscretionary Access Control, or DAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discretionary_access_control ) is up to the end-user. They can choose to let other people write (or read, etc.) to their files, if they wish, and the defaults tend to be global. This is how file permissions on classic Unix and Windows work.\n12.3.2 Mandatory Access Control\nA potentially more secure system often involves Mandatory Access Control, or MAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_access_control ), where the security administrator sets up the permissions globally. Some examples of MAC types are Type Enforcement and Domain Type Enforcement. Often they are combined, where the access request has to pass both tests, meaning that the effective permission set is the intersection of the MAC and DAC permissions. Another way of looking at this configuration is that MAC sets the maximum permissions that can be given away by a user with DAC.\nSecurity Modes of Operation in MAC systems ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Modes )\nDan Walsh’s blog ( http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/ )\n12.3.3 Role-Based Access Control\nRole-Based Access Control, or RBAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-based_access_control ) could be considered a form of MAC. In RBAC, there are roles to whom permissions are assigned, and one switches roles to change permission sets. For example, you might have a security administrator role, but you don’t need that to read email or surf the web, so you only switch to it when doing security administrator stuff. This prevents you from accidentally running malware (see 16.7↓ ) with full permissions. Unix emulates this with pseudo-users and sudo.\nNote that it may not be possible to prevent a user from giving his own access away; as a trivial example, on most operating systems, it is possible for a user to grant shell access with his permissions by creating a listening socket that forwards commands to a shell (often via netcat). It is also very easy for a user to install a listening service that, unbeknownst to him, has a vulnerability that allows remote code execution, or fails to do proper authentication/authorization.\n12.3.4 Other OS Access Control Techniques\nAn operating system authorization usually depends on:\nBeing root or Administrator (uid=0 in Unix)\nThe identity of the user, this being the effective UID (or EUID in Unix)\nThe group(s) in which that user participates\nTags, labels, and other things related to advanced topics (see 12.3↑ )\nThere are other factors involved in authorization decisions but these are just examples. Instead of tying things to one system, let’s keep it simple and pretend we’re allowing or denying natural numbers, rather than usernames or things of that nature. Let’s also define some access control matching primitives such as:\nodd\nless than x\ngreater than y\nIn a well-designed system these primitive functions would be rather complete and not the few we have here. Further, there should be some easy way to compose these tests to achieve the desired access control:\nAND\nOR\nNOT\nSystems which do not do this kind of authorization are necessarily incomplete, and cannot express all desired combinations of sets.\n12.4.1 Standard Whitelist and Blacklist\nIn this configuration, there’s a blacklist of bad guys, and a whitelist of guys we know (or must assume) to be good, and the whitelist always takes precedence. The rule is “you may communicate with us unless you’re on the blacklist, unless you’re also on the whitelist”. Anything whitelisted can always communicate with us, no matter what.\nIn the context of IPs and firewalls, this allows us to blacklist people trying to exploit us using UDP attacks, which area easily forged, but keep our default gateway and root DNS servers, which we really do want to be able to communicate with, even if forged attacks appear to come from them.\nIn the context of domains, for example in a web proxy filter, we may whitelist example.com, but be unable to blacklist badguy.example.com, because whitelists always take precedence over blacklists, and both match. Similar issues come up when we want to blacklist CIDR blocks instead of individual IP addresses. In these cases, it seems you want a more complex access control mechanism to capture the complexity of the sets you are describing.\nAnd remember, blacklisting is always playing catch-up. It’s a good example of starting off by giving people too much privilege (see 34.1↓ ), but may be necessary in today’s web world, where everyone is a desired customer.\n12.4.2 Apache Access Control\nApache has three access control directives\nAllow specifies who can use the resource\nDeny specifies who can not use the resource\nOrder specifies the ordering of evaluation of those directives as either ’deny, allow’, ’allow, deny’, or mutual-failure.\ndeny, allow means that the deny directives are evaluated first, and is the default. This basically is an example of enumerating badness ( 34.1↓ ). This may make sense for a public webserver where anyone on the Internet should be able to browse, but blacklisting is not an effective way to run a secure operation.\nallow, deny is the more secure option, only allowing those who pass the allow operation to continue, but it still processes the deny section and anyone who was allowed in and then later denied is still rejected.\nmutual-failure means hosts that appear on the allow list but not appear on the deny list are granted access. This seems to be redundant with “allow, deny”.\nThis is unfortunately quite confusing, and it’s hard to know where to start. By having an allow list and a deny list, we have four sets of objects defined:\nThose that are neither allowed nor denied\nThose that are allowed\nThose that are denied\nThose that are both allowed and denied\nThe truth table for this is as follows (D means default, O means open, X means denied):\n1\nX\nX\nDo you see what I mean? AD and MF are essentially the same, unless I misread this section in the O’Reilly book.\nNow, suppose we wish to allow in everyone except the naughty prime numbers. We would write:\ndeny primes\nallow all\norder deny, allow\nSo far so good, right? Now let’s say that we want to deny the large primes but allow the number 2 in. Unless our combiners for access-control primitives were powerful enough to express “primes greater than two”, we might be stuck already. Apache has no way to combine primitives, so is unable to offer such access control. But given that it’s the web, we can’t rail on it too harshly.\nWhat we really want is a list of directives that express the set we wish very easily. For example, imagine that we didn’t have an order directive, but we could simply specify what deny and allow rules we have in such a way that earlier takes precedence (the so-called “short circuit” evaluation)\nallow 2\ndeny primes\nallow all\nHowever, we’re unable to do that in Apache. Put simply, one can’t easily treat subsets of sets created by access control matching in a different manner than the set they reside in. We couldn’t allow in “2” while denying primes, unless the access control matching functions were more sophisticated.\nSquid has one of the more powerful access control systems in use.\nPrimitives\nThey may then be allowed or denied to certain resources.\n12.5 IPTables, IPChains, Netfilter\nAside from the bad user interface of having numbers, netfilter has a number of problems when compared to pf that have always bothered me. I’m going to try and describe some things you just can’t do with netfilter’s rule set when I get the time.\n12.6 PF\nMy main complaint with pf is that it rearranges the order of your rules such that certain types all get processed before others. It supports the “quick” modifier to any rule which means that if the rule matches, that is the final answer. By leaving off quick rules, one gets the default of “last matched rule applies”, but with the inefficiency of going through all the rules. I have not yet seen a case where the config file couldn’t be written using quick rules, and presumably at much higher efficiency. Still, it is my favorite language for explaining firewall rules.\n12.7 Keynote\nKeynote, or something like it, is definitely the best authorization (trust management) framework I have found. OpenBSD has incorporated it into their IPsec keying daemon, isakmpd. If your program makes complicated access decisions, or you want it to be able to do so, you should check it out.\n13.4 Change Management\nChange management is the combination of both pro-active declaring and approving of intended changes, and retroactively monitoring the system for changes, comparing them to the approved changes, and altering and escalating any unapproved changes. Change management is based on the theory that unapproved changes are potentially bad, and therefore related to anomaly detection (see 16.2↓ ). It is normally applied to files and databases.\n13.5 Self-Healing Systems\nThere is a system administration tool called cfengine ( http://www.cfengine.org/ ) which implements a concept called “self-healing systems”, whereby any changes made on a given machine are automatically reverted to the (ostensibly correct and secure) state periodically. Any change to these parameters made on a given system but not in the central configuration file are considered to be accidents or attacks, and so if you really want to make a change it has to be done on the centrally-managed and ostensibly monitored configuration file. You can also implement similar concepts by using a tool like rsync to manage the contents of part of the file system.\n13.6 Heterogeneous vs. Homogeneous Defenses\nOften homogeneous solutions are easier to administer. Having different systems requires more resources, in training yourself, learning to use them properly, keeping up with vulnerabilities, and increases the risk of misconfiguration (assuming you aren’t as good at N systems as you would be at one). But there are cases where heterogeneity is easier, or where homogeneity is impossible. Maybe a particular OS you’re installing comes with Sendmail as the default, and changing it leads to headaches (or the one you want just isn’t available on it, because it is a proprietary platform). Embedded devices often have a fixed TCP/IP stack that can’t be changed, so if you are to guard against things like such things, you must either run only one kind of software on all Internet-enabled systems, denying yourself the convenience of all the new network-enabled devices, or you must break Internet-level connectivity with a firewall and admit impotency to defend against internal threats (and anyone who can bypass the perimeter).\nSee the principle of uniform fronts ( 34.8↓ ) and defense-in-depth ( 34.7↓ ) for more information.\n14.1 Synchronized Time\nIt is absolutely vital that your systems have consistent timestamps. Consistency is more important than accuracy, because you are primarily going to be comparing logs between your systems. There are a number of problems comparing timestamps with other systems, including time zones and the fact that their clocks may be skewed. However, ideally, you’d want both, so that you could compare if the other systems are accurate, and so you can make it easier for others to compare their logs with yours. Thus, the Network Time Protocol (NTP) is vital. My suggestion is to have one system at every physical location that act as NTP servers for the location, so that if the network connections go down, the site remains consistent. They should all feed into one server for your administrative domain, and that should connect with numerous time servers. This also minimizes network traffic and having a nearby server is almost always better for reducing jitter.\nSee the SAGE booklet on “Building a Logging Infrastructure”.\n14.3 Cryptographically Untamperable Logs\nBruce Schneier has a paper on cryptographically secure logs, whereby a system’s logs cannot be altered without being noticed (merely erased). The basic premise is that they form a hash chain, where each line includes a hash of the last line. These systems can be linked together, where one periodically sends its hash to another, which makes the receiving system within the detection envelope. They can even cross-link, where they form a lattice, mutually supporting one another.\nCryptographic Support for Secure Logs on Untrusted Machines ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-secure-logs.html )\n15.1 Change Reporting\nI spend a lot of time reading the same things over and over in security reports. I’d like to be able to filter things that I decided were okay last time without tweaking every single security reporting script. What I want is something that will let me see the changes from day to day. Ideally, I’d be able to review the complete data, but normally I read the reports every day and only want to know what has changed from one day to the next.\n15.2 Artificial Ignorance\nTo be able to specify things that I want to ignore in reports is what perhaps Marcus Ranum termed “artificial ignorance” back around 1994 (described here: http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/papers/ai/index.html ). Instead of specifying what I want to see, which is akin to misuse detection, I want to see anything I haven’t already said was okay, which is anomaly detection. Put another way, what you don’t know can hurt you (see 32.7↓ ), which is why “default deny” is usually a safer access control strategy (see 34.1↓ ).\n15.3 Dead Man’s Switch\nIn some movies, a character has a switch which goes off if they die, which is known as a dead man’s switch, which can be applied to software ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man’s_switch#Software_uses ) I want to see if some subsystem has not reported in. If an adversary overtly disables our system, we are aware that it has been disabled, and we can assume that something security-relevant occurred during that time. But if through some oversight on our side, we allow a system to stop monitoring something, we do not know if anything has occurred during that time. Therefore, we must be vigilant that our systems are always monitoring, to avoid that sort of ambiguity. Therefore, we want to know if they are not reporting because of a misconfiguration or failure. Therefore, we need a periodic heartbeat or system test, and a dead man’s switch.\n-- Russian Proverb ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_Verify )\nIt is becoming apparent that there’s more to computers than shell access nowadays. One wants to allow benign email, and stop unsolicited bulk email. For wikis and blogs, one wants to allow collaboration, but doesn’t want “comment spam”. Some still want to read topical USENET messages, and not read spam (I feel that’s a lost cause now). If you’re an ISP, you want to allow customers to do some things but don’t want them spamming or hacking. If you have a public wifi hot-spot, you’d like people to use it but not abuse it. So I generalized IDS, anti-virus, and anti-spam as abuse detection.\n16.1 Physical Intrusion Detection\nTrust not in fences, but neighbors.\n-- old saying\nBurglar Alarms ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burglar_alarm )\n16.2 Misuse Detection vs. Anomaly Detection\nMost intrusion detection systems categorize behavior, making it an instance of the classification problem (see 4.1↑ ). Generally, there are two kinds of intrusion detection systems, commonly called misuse detection and anomaly detection. Misuse detection involves products with signature databases which indicate bad behavior. By analogy, this is like a cop who is told to look for guys in white-and-black striped jumpsuits with burlap sacks with dollar signs printed on them. This is how physical alarm sensors work; they detect the separation of two objects, or the breaking of a piece of glass, or some specific thing. The second is called anomaly detection, which is like a cop who is told to look for “anything out of the ordinary”. The first has more false negatives and fewer false positives than the second. The first (theoretically) only finds security-relevant events, whereas the second (theoretically) notes any major changes. This can play out in operating system security (as anti-virus and other anti-malware products) or in network security (as NIDS/IPS). The first is great for vendors; they get to sell you a subscription to the signature database. The second is virtually non-existent and probably rather limited in practice (you have to decide what to measure/quantify in the first place).\nIn misuse detection, you need to have a good idea of what the adversary is after, or how they may operate. If you get this guess wrong, your signature may be completely ineffective; it may minimize false positives at the risk of false negatives, particularly if the adversary is actually a script that isn’t smart enough to take the bait. In this sense, misuse detection is a kind of enumerating badness, which means anything not specifically listed is allowed, and therefore violates the principle of least privilege (see 34.1↓ ).\n16.3 Computer Immune Systems\nThis is an interesting research direction which draws inspiration from biological systems which distinguish self from non-self and destroy non-self objects.\n16.4 Behavior-Based Detection\nMost anti-virus software looks for certain signatures present in virii. Instead, they could look at what the virii is attempting to do, by simulating running it. This would be called “behavior-based detection”, and it is slow to emulate running something. Perhaps virtual machines may help to run a quarantined virus at nearly real speed.\n16.5 Honey Traps\nTart words make no friends; a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.\n-- Benjamin Franklin\nNoted security expert Marcus Ranum gave a talk on burglar alarms once at Usenix Security, and had a lesson that applies to computer security. He said that when a customer of theirs had an alarm sensor that was disguised as a jewelry container or a gun cabinet, it was almost always sure to trick the burglar, and trigger the alarm. Criminals, by and large, are opportunistic, and when something valuable is offered to them, they rarely look a gift horse in the mouth. I also recall a sting operation where a law enforcement agency had a list of criminals they wanted to locate but who never seemed to be home. They sent winning sweepstakes tickets to wanted criminals who dutifully showed up to claim their “prize”. So a honey trap may well be the cheapest and most effective misuse detection mechanism you can employ.\nOne of the ways to detect spam is to have an email address which should never receive any email; if any email is received, then it is from a spammer. These are called spamtraps. Unix systems may have user accounts which may have guessable passwords and no actual owners, so they should never have any legitimate logins. I’ve also heard of banks which have trap accounts; these tend to be large accounts which should never have a legitimate transaction; they exist on paper only. Any transaction on such an account is, by definition, fraudulent and a sign of a compromised system. One could even go farther and define a profile of transactions, possibly pseudo-random, any deviation from which is considered very important to investigate. The advantage of these types of traps are the extremely low false-positive rate, and as a deterrent to potential adversaries who fear being caught and punished. Similarly, databases may have honey tokens, or a row of some unique data that shouldn’t normally be pulled out of the database system.\nkojoney, a honey pot that emulates sshd ( http://kojoney.sourceforge.net/ )\nshark, a spy honey pot with advanced redirection kit ( http://www.laas.fr/MonAM2007/Ion_Alberdi.pdf )\n16.6 Tripwires and Booby Traps\nOther misuse detection methods involve detecting some common activity after the intrusion, such as fetching additional tools (outbound TFTP connections to servers in Eastern Europe are not usually authorized) or connecting back to the adversary’s system to bypass ingress rules on the firewall (e.g. shoveling application output to a remote X server). Marcus Ranum once recompiled “ls” to shut down the system if it was run as root, and he learned to habitually use “echo *” instead. One may wish to check that it has a controlling tty as well, so that root-owned scripts do not set it off. In fact, having a root-owned shell with no controlling tty may be an event worth logging.\n16.7 Malware and Anti-Malware\n16.7.1 Terminology\nmalware is a general term for software that does something that the user did not wish to have done. See Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware ) for more details.\nvirus is a term for a program that replicates itself by infecting objects (e.g. executable files, or possibly computers). See Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus ) for more details.\nworm is a term for a program which propagates between computers on its own, locating and infecting victim computers (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_worm for more details).\nrootkit is a term for a program which is installed at the same level as the operating system, such that it can hide itself (or other malware) from detection. See the Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit ) for more details.\ntrojan is a term for a program which appears to do one thing that the user desires, but covertly performs some action that the user does not desire (e.g. infect their system with a virus). For more information, read the Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing) ).\nspyware is a term for software that invades your privacy and collects what should be private information (for more details, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware )\nThese terms are not mutually exclusive; a given piece of malware may be a trojan which installs a rootkit and then spies on the user.\nIf you find malware on your system, there are few good responses (see 20.2↓ ).\n16.7.2 Anti-Virus\nThere are a wide variety of anti-virus products out there, and it’s hard for consumers to evaluate them. Unfortunately, it seems that virus authors test their viruses against the more popular scanners and tweak them until they don’t get caught any more. Therefore, it may be wise to avoid the big names. Here are some tools that I find particularly good.\nKaspersky Anti-Virus ( http://www.kaspersky.com/kaspersky_anti-virus ) regularly gets better detection rates than any other.\nVexira Anti-Virus ( http://www.centralcommand.com/ ) is available for nearly every operating system (including many flavors of Unix!)\nAvira ( http://www.avira.com/en/products/index.php ) produces a number of anti-virus products, and appears to offer them for Linux as well as Microsoft Windows.\nAVG Free ( http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition ) is a free anti-virus tool you can use on Windows computers. It’s not as effective as the for-pay products, but it is pretty good compared to nothing, and it costs nothing!\nClam AV ( http://www.clamav.net/ ) is an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways.\n16.8.3 Velocity Checks\nThis is an application of anomaly detection to differentiate computers and humans, or to differentiate between use and abuse. You simply look at how many transactions they are doing. You can take a baseline of what you think a human can do, and trigger any time an entity exceeds this. Or, you can profile each entity and trigger if they exceed their normal statistical profile, possibly applying machine learning algorithms to adjust expectations over time.\n16.8.4 Typing Mistakes\nThe kojoney honey pot ( http://kojoney.sourceforge.net/ ) emulates an SSH server in order to gather intelligence against adversaries. Regarding how it separates bots from humans, it says:\nWe, the humans, are clumsy. The script seeks for SUPR and BACKSPACE characters in the executed commands.\nThe script also checks if the intruder tried to change the window size or tried to forward X11 requests.\n16.9 Host-Based Intrusion Detection\nThat’s it man, game over man, game over!\n-- Aliens, the motion picture\nOne important thing is that you really can’t defend against an intruder with full privileges. First discussed in Ken Thompson’s 1984 classic, Reflections on Trusting Trust ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html ), these stealthy backdoors became known as rootkits, which were installed on a compromised system (requiring root privileges) and hid the existence of various things which would give away the adversary’s presence. These evolved from simple log cleaners to trojan system programs, and have now burrowed deeper into the system as LKMs (loadable kernel modules). I have heard rumors of some which reside in flash memory on graphics cards, and run on the GPU (which has DMA, direct memory access), completely bypassing the main CPU. Notice I say “full privileges” instead of “administrator rights” or “root access”, because various people are experimenting with limiting these levels of access in various ways (including BSD securelevel, MAC, and tamper-proof hardware like the TPM).\nSome HIDS (host-based intrusion detection) systems that detect corruption, like tripwire, compare cryptographic hashes (checksums, or more generally “fingerprints”) against saved values to detect modification of system files. However, this strategy has a number of limitations:\nSome files (e.g. log files) change all the time.\nYou may update your system frequently, and so must distinguish expected changes from unexpected.\nThe place where the hashes are stored might be modifiable (if not, how do you update the baseline to ignore expected changes?) and if so, the intruder could update the stored hashes so that they match the corrupted (trojaned) files.\nThe attacker could simply alter the HIDS system itself.\nThe first two problems are soluble in fairly obvious ways. The advice experts give on the third problem is to store the hashes on another system, or on removable media. However, if the intruder has full privileges and knows how you get the hashes onto the system (i.e. what programs are used), they could alter the programs (or kernel routines) used to alter the hashes on the way in, and you’d have no way of knowing. They could also alter them on the way back out, so that printing them on another system and comparing wouldn’t help. Similarly, if you detect the intrusion, you shouldn’t simply log it to a file, or send it to a local email address, since the intruder could simply erase it. This brings up a couple of interesting issues that led me to the following principles.\n16.10 Intrusion Detection Principles\nIntrusions present a slightly more difficult issue than other abuse detection, because the intruder is has got control of the system, and thus may attempt to interfere with alerting and response.\nYou should keep your detection mechanism(s) a secret, just like a cryptographic key.\nThe intrusion creates changes in data (unprocessed logs as well as intrusion alerts per se) that move away from the intruder, creating what I call a detection envelope. The intruder tries to acquire privileges to expand his reach. It is not enough to detect and report an intrusion; you must get that information to a place where the adversary cannot be alter it to hide his tracks, which I call out-of-reach (OOR) or the point of no revocation.\nYou have a window of time I call the detection window where the adversary has not yet figured out how you are going to detect his presence and pass the alert beyond his reach. You can think of the detection envelope expanding, and the adversary attempting to catch up with it. Often he need not compromise every system along the way, merely the one at the edge of the envelope, to stop the propagation.\nOffline is usually out of reach, but may not be when the facility is not physically secure or if the adversaries include an insider.\n16.11 Intrusion Information Collection\nSo when you detect an intrusion, you usually have a single datum; an IP address, or a UID, something like that. This might be a good time to collect more data about the intrusion for later analysis. For example, you might pull DNS records and WHOIS associated with that IP, because the databases might be under the control of the adversary, or they may change for other reasons before you collect the information. This may tip off a very clever opponent that you have detected them, but chances are that they are more worried about being detected than you need to worry about them detecting you detecting them, since conducting an intrusion is frowned upon, if not outright illegal.\n17 Abuse Response\nSuppose you’ve detected attempted abuse; now what? If you didn’t intend to do something about it, then why did you bother to detect it in the first place? Suppose further that you detect someone doing a network scan, or worse, trying to exploit your code. This is an obvious example of I&Ws (see 33.1↓ ), and if you detect this kind of behavior, but fail to do anything to prevent exploitation, you may not be lucky enough to detect a successful attempt, leading to a silent failure. Thus, because the set of successful attacks is incompletely-defined (see 4.1.4↑ ), you cannot guarantee detection, so it is often desirable to attempt to thwart the attack by identifying and shunning the adversary (as opposed to blocking the individual attempts themselves).\nRelated work:\n17.1 Abuse Alerting\nAll alerting systems are vulnerable to flooding, whereby the adversary causes many to be generated, and analyzing them consumes resources and takes time. In theory, this could buy the adversary some time (expanding the detection window), whereby he can get access to a system without generating an alert, and cover his tracks, so that when all the alerts are handled, he’s still left with covert control of a system.\nIt is often easier to flood once you have control of a system, which would suggest a preference for a system which never overwrites alerts (until read or passed on). However, it should be checked, read, and emptied on a regular basis.\nAlerting systems tend to be less vulnerable to running out of space since they are less voluminous than logs, and also because the intruder gives up surprise.\nYou can see an obvious problem if your false positives (failed attacks) or informational alerts (attacks which are blocked at the border) are mixed in with alerts about successful attacks (actual penetrations into the network). While I can see the value in determining adversary intentions, when the bullets start to fly, the intent is obvious and you want to focus on real threats, not diversions.\nAll alert recording systems may run out of space. If you overwrite old data (a circular buffer), you know the last system(s) compromised, where the adversary may not have had time to cover his tracks. A system which does not overwrite will show the original entry point into your systems. A system which does overwrite will show the last few systems intruded upon.\n17.1.1 Possible Abuse Alerting Solutions\nTsutomu Shimomura emailed his logs to another system, which means that in order to hide his tracks the adversary must compromise that other system. Thus the detection envelope expanded to include that remote system. Ideally, it should be as different a system as possible (i.e. different OS, so the combination requires more skills by the adversary to compromise), and should be as protected as possible (in this case, it should only allow email access, but if we were using syslog then only syslog access). Similarly, he had his sniffer send alerts to a pager, which is effectively irrevocable.\nOthers have suggested printing logs on a printer (logs until it runs out of paper), or over a serial port connection to a MS-DOS system running a terminal program with a scrollback buffer enabled (logs are preserved until they are overwritten, and it’s better than paper since “you can’t grep dead trees”).\nOne method I thought of would be to export the file system via read-only NFS, and check it from another system. Another method involves a removable hard drive which is analyzed periodically on another system.\nAlso see 14.3↑ .\n17.1.2 Confidentiality vs Availability Tradeoffs\nAbuse alerting is an interesting case where the tradeoffs between privacy and reliability aren’t clear. What good is alerting if it doesn’t alert you when you need it?\nI have heard of one company that uses IRC internally to do their security alerting. While not the most confidential of systems, it has been designed in a very hostile network environment subject to lots of availability attacks.\n17.2 How to Respond to Abuse\n17.2.1 On Observable Responses\nA side-effect of taking an observable response to an adversary’s stimulus is that they know that you are monitoring it, and based on attempts and responses, can map out your detection signatures, allowing them to form a feedback loop. They can spew random data at your system and detect when you terminate the connection, and the signature is then known to be in the last few packets. They also know when that their successes have bypassed the reactive mechanism, since the connection is not terminated. Of course, the same is true of a “passive” firewall; they simply try connecting to every possible port, and any attempts that succeed obviously imply one has bypassed the access control.\nOne amusing anecdote I heard was of someone in Ireland who was organizing political rallies; he suspected his phone was tapped, so he called a co-conspirator and let him know about a big rally at a local pub; they went to the pub at the appropriate time and found a large number of police in the area, which confirmed his suspicion about the tapping. In this case, he was observing a reaction of people observing his communication, and was thus able to determine the line was tapped indirectly. This is an example of inference (see 18.8↓ ).\n17.2.2 Tainted Sources\nAn adversary usually starts an attack by enumerating the attack surface (see 7.5↑ ). During this stage, some of his probes may be indistinguishable from allowed traffic, and some may be identifiable as abusive, simply by the fact that such probes or requests are not normally allowed (see 16↑ ). Once one has identified that a given source is tainted as abusive, one can decide to thwart his enumeration by engaging in a sticky defense; that is, every probe/query/request from that source address is considered abusive. This is very effective at making network scans expensive; they will have to figure out where the probe responses ceased being legitimate and started being abuse responses in order to get an accurate enumeration.\nI happen to like automated responses, because I’m lazy. For example, my dynamic firewall daemon ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/dfd/ ) is an example of me trying to automate some parts of this problem.\n17.2.3 Possible Responses to Network Abuse\nThere are a couple of strategies one can take with regard to responding to stimuli:\nHonest Rejection\nMost systems may respond to abuse attempts with an honest rejection message, which may optionally be offensive if a human reads it. The down side of this is that it gives the intruder a feedback loop, and they may become more interested in your site than if you remained silent. For example, if someone sends a SYN packet to a TCP port which isn’t open, the OS usually sends back a TCP RST (reset).\nThe Silent Treatment\nSilence is the obvious response. In network security, dropping all unauthorized packets without any response is known as the black hole strategy, and prevents the adversary from even knowing if you are listening to that IP address. Permanently ignoring the host is called shunning, though terms vary. The adversary must at this point go back to the last successful response and start over again from a different source address.\nFaux Positives\nA false positive is when a person makes an error in classification. Faux positives involve intentionally giving the adversary what they were hoping to hear, instead of the correct answer. For example, a network scan could receive a SYN-ACK for every SYN it sends, making it look like every port is open. This technique means that the adversary must do a more extensive test to determine which ports are really open or not; effectively this negates the value of the original test by forcing it to return positive all the time.\nRandom Response\nRandom responses may confuse the adversary; he may try something abusive (like connecting to a port he isn’t supposed to, or (in a more advanced system) attempting an exploit, and it only appears to succeed some of the time. What is nasty about this is that he doesn’t get “all yes” or “all no”, but rather a more complicated result.\nWhen a game of chance pays out on a random schedule, this is known as “random reinforcement” and has been demonstrated to increase the number of times that a person plays the game. It may even make them do it compulsively, trying to figure out what the pattern is. It may also lead to “magical ideation”, whereby the person makes up a fanciful reason to explain the results (“I always roll seven after rolling five”). This is misinformation (see 32.11↓ ).\nWhen one does this in a “sticky” manner - that is, once you detect an adversary, you always return a random response, even to non-abusive queries (like connecting to port 80 on a public web server), you can cause the opponent to enter a very strange and frustrating scenario, and even if they figure out what is going on, they do not know exactly when it started, so have to verify their scan results - but attempting the same scan will generally get them detected in the same place!\nResource Consumption Defenses\nIn these, one attempts to make the adversary spend as many resources as possible. Most frequently, this involves time, so this is a delaying tactic.\nTarpit / Teergrube ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarpit_%28networking%29 )\nThe Simulation Defense\nSimulation is the most sophisticated and subtle technique; you allow the target to think that they have done something they have not. If you determine that someone has infiltrated your organization, you can assign them to tasks that give your adversary a misleading view of your organization. This is disinformation (see 32.11↓ ).\nIn an authentication system which re-uses guessable passwords (see 11.9↑ ), you could strengthen it by connecting them not to the real system, but to a honeypot system. Similarly, a web site could fake a successful login and give the adversary a GUI which appears to work but actually does nothing. One of the implications of the base-rate fallacy (see 4.1.2↑ ) is that if you give a false positive at a very low rate (say .1%), then someone who has a small chance of succeeding (say .01%) is going to have 10 false positives for every correct password. However, a user who gets their password correct 50% of the time (a very poor typist) has only one false positive for every 1000 correct password entries. Thus, adversaries are much more likely to be redirected to the simulation than real users. The purpose of this could be to confuse, delay, trace, or feed disinformation (see 32.11↓ ) to the adversary. For example, if the person is using your system to steal money, you may have some plausible-sounding reason why you cannot get it to them in the way they expected, and by catching them off-guard, get them to give you some identifying information which could allow you to have them arrested.\nhttp://ha.ckers.org/blog/20071216/matrix-re-loaded/\nFishbowls\nIf you prevent an attack, you learn very little about the goals and intentions of the adversary. IDS systems alert you to an adversary, and so you can monitor and learn about them. By contrast, an IPS terminates the connection and possibly blocks the adversary, so you prevent the attack but learn very little about their intentions. Transparently redirecting them to a fishbowl seems to get the both of best worlds; they interact with a simulated system, and you monitor them to gain intelligence about their motives, and possibly about their identity. The earliest example of this kind of virtualized monitoring I know of is recounted in An Evening with Berferd ( http://www.all.net/books/berferd/berferd.html ). Usually people refer to these systems as honeypots (see 16.5↑ ), but I call them fishbowls here to make a distinction between drawing in the adversary and covertly monitoring them.\nHack-Back\nFirst, let me say don’t do this, since it is probably illegal. I include it only for completeness.\nReverse-Hack\nIf they try guessing accounts and passwords on you, simply try them against the remote peer.\nMirror Defense\nMarcus Ranum suggested simply swapping the destination and source IPs, and send the packet back out. That way, they end up scanning or hacking themselves. This could be a bit tricky to get the return traffic back to them though.\nCounterhack\nWho knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?\nThe Shadow knows!\n-- The Shadow radio drama ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow )\nCounterhacking is using hacking techniques against hackers. It is possible to exploit vulnerabilities in malware and exploit code ( http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/researcher-demo.html ). In fact, many PoC exploits are written in C and have buffer overflows in them, and it would be relatively trivial to exploit the exploit. One can imagine systems that listen for network attacks generated by vulnerable exploit code and automatically respond in kind, which despite usually being illegal, has a certain symmetry and poetic justice to it. Do such systems exist? Only the shadow knows.\n17.3 Identification Issues\nSo when someone is abusing your system, you may be limited in your ability to identify the principal involved. It may be malware on a user’s machine, someone using a sniffed or stolen password, someone at an Internet café, someone on a shared system, etc. Also, people who abuse your system tend to take measures to anonymize themselves. Therefore, your identification will run a spectrum like this:\nA network address\nA user on a remote host\nA particular account within your system (via key, passphrase, etc.)\nA person (via biometrics)\nThus, when you detect abuse, one or more of these identities may accumulates “negative karma”. For example, a particular IP may hammer your system. You could block that particular IP, but you may also wish to see which accounts have logged in from that IP recently and apply some sort of mild punishment there as well, like rate-limiting or something like that.\n17.4 Resource Consumption Defenses\nA resource consumption attack is often called Denial of Service or DoS. In this case, the adversary tries to deprive the rightful users of some system some critical resource.\nThe best way to defend against these is to set a limit or quota to some entity that you can identify (see 17.3↑ ). Often times you can’t identify people or groups, but merely some address, like an email address or an IP address. If any anonymous user can access your service, for example because it is a public web site, then the adversary may be able to respond to quotas by simply using more identities (e.g. coming from multiple IPs by using a botnet). Therefore, you want your site to be scalable.\nBasically, DoS is a numbers game. What you want to do is identify malicious requests from legitimate ones via some signature, and do as little work as possible on the malicious ones before deciding to ignore them. So ideally, you do the cheap tests first; there are a number of little tricks that fall into this category:\nBefore letting a packet in, your firewall decides if the IP address is allowed in, otherwise it blocks it\nBefore letting a packet in, your firewall might be able to tell if the packet is from an IP address that you can respond to, otherwise (e.g. bogon list, http://www.cymru.com/Documents/bogon-list.html ) you reject it.\nDigital signatures are expensive, so before computing one, see if the key used to sign it is one that you trust; otherwise, why check the digital signature? Of course, this means an API where you can tell it what keys are trusted before any operations take place.\nIf you have a list of authorized users, do as little work as you can before identifying them. For example, the secure networking protocol Photuris ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2522 ) sends an “anti-clogging token”, or cookie, to the remote peer and waits for the peer to send it back before doing any more work. Of course this can add a round-trip to some protocols, but if it prevents doing an expensive operation it may be worth it.\n17.5 Proportional Response\nDue to the risk of false positives in detection, the difficulty of identification, legal ramifications, and the possibility of collateral damage, you want to have a flexible response. Responding with “overwhelming force”, while tempting, may hurt more than it helps:\nYou may lose the “moral high ground”, and the public may turn against you.\nYou may lose the sympathy of a jury, or judge, or someone whose opinion you cherish.\nYou may cause your adversaries to hate you, at which point they may decide that instead of wanting to maximize their gain, they want to maximizing your pain. They may even decide that they would give up everything in order to harm you, in which case they will almost certainly succeed. Even if they don’t, you will spend more resources defending yourself than if you had merely thwarted their plans in a way that didn’t arouse such enmity.\nHere is a sample spectrum of responses, ranging from trivial to emphatic:\nLog the event for manual audit but take no other action\nTemporarily lock the account\nCut power to the data center\nSend a team of ventilation engineers to the adversary’s geographical location to aspirate them\nLaunch an anti-radiation missile ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-radiation_missile ) in the general direction of their signal as indicated by the direction-finding ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direction_finding ) equipment [B] [B] This is the standard response to people who set up jammers in military engagements. Don’t try that at home.\nNot all detection events are created equal! You may want to respond to some in one way, and others in another way.\nPerhaps someone should apply a scoring mechanism (like those of spam signatures) to network events to decide when to shun or do other things.\n-- Scientific Adage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance )\nForensics has limits. For example, it’s not uncommon when dealing with skilled intruders to find that they’ve symlinked a shell history file to /dev/null, or that the last line of a log file is something like rm /var/log/sudo or bash -i. It is even possible that a very skilled and disciplined adversary would leave the system in a state that the forensics indicate one thing, but is disinformation; I’ve never heard of anything that subtle in practice, but then again, what are the chances I would? When you’re compromised, you don’t know when it originally happened, and so backups are of little use; one can’t be sure if the backups contain back doors. Thus, it seems like the only way to be sure of extermination is to wipe the state of any machines that might be compromised or corrupted, and start from scratch. However, before doing so, you should do your best to make a full backup of the compromised system for forensic analysis. You’d like to identify any possible intrusion vectors and make sure the new system doesn’t have the same vulnerabilities, lest the situation repeat itself.\n18.3 Ephemeral Data\nSuch as the data in a page file. It’s valuable because people usually don’t realize it’s there, and so fail to wipe it.\n18.4 Remnant Data\nSuch as the recently-deleted data in Word documents. Apparently it’s just a memory dump, eww. It’s interesting because it’s not normally visible.\n18.5 Hidden Data\nSuch as UUIDs embedded in any MS Office document. It is even possible to identify computers remotely by their TCP clock skew ( http://www.caida.org/publications/papers/2005/fingerprinting/ ).\nSuch as access times. Shimomura used access times to figure out what Mitnick compiled.\nThe Coroner’s Toolkit ( http://www.porcupine.org/forensics/tct.html )\nThe Sleuth Kit ( http://www.sleuthkit.org/ )\n18.8 Forensic Inference\nOften, what qualifies as proof in a courtroom isn’t the same thing a mathematician considers proof. Further, in civil cases in the US you don’t need proof, just a preponderance of evidence. And intelligence (or now, terrorism) investigations usually have far less of a burden of proof. And even if you are going for solid proof, you hardly ever begin an investigation with it; that’s why it’s called investigation. Thus, hunches are quite valuable.\nIf you believe that a person murdered someone in his kitchen, and there’s a spot of bleach residue on the floor but in a blood spatter pattern, then you can reasonably assume that he did not spatter bleach on his kitchen floor, although that is possible in theory. Thus, if doing thing A implies B, and one is unlikely to do B alone, then if B is indicated, one may infer a likelihood of A.\n“You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”\n-- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 21 Jan 1999\n19.1 Mix-Based Systems\nMix-based systems essentially rely on a node having multiple inputs and outputs, and an outside observer cannot tell which maps to which because they are encrypted on one or (ideally) both sides, and there may be a random delay between input and output. Sometimes mixes operate with one output coincident with one input, so a certain amount of traffic is required to keep it “alive”. The job of the mix is to hide the correlation between input of a message and its output. Generally the communication exits the mix system unencrypted, which means the exit nodes have more privilege to see traffic than other nodes in the “cloud”.\n19.1.1 Anonymous Remailers\nAnonymous remailers attempted to mail things through a confusing network in an attempt to hide who originally sent an email.\n20 Intrusion Response\nI say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.\n-- Aliens, the motion picture\n20.1 Response to Worms and Human Perpetrators\nDue to the limitations of forensics and our ability to know what a particularly clever intruder did while in our network, and the possibility of the intruder leaving back doors or covert channels, my philosophy favors the extreme method of reinstalling every system which you believe may have been affected by the intruder. This is one reason why I favor prevention over detection.\nEven that may be insufficient, in certain cases.\nNevertheless, that is far too extreme for many people, and the vast majority of intruders are “script kiddies”, whose modus operandi are obvious, especially if you can acquire their script. The trend now seems to be low-level intrusion with no privilege escalation, because acquiring root tends to draw the attention of the system administrators, whereas non-root users are sufficient for sending spam, performing DoS, and logging into IRC. Thus, in some ways, the evolution of intrusions mirrors that of infections diseases, in that things which elicit a lethal response from the host are evolutionary disadvantages.\n20.2 Response to Malware\nBack in the early days of virii, it was possible to find out what the virus did and cure the computer of the infection by undoing whatever it did.\nHowever, now the trend seems to be that an initial malware installation is a “bot” that acquires a communication channel to the “botmaster”, who can then direct the malware to download other programs, possibly rootkits, so it becomes difficult to know what exactly has happened to the computer.\nFurthermore, some malware will download and install some easily-found malware, which is there to give the system administrator something to find, while the real bot and malware remain hidden.\nAnother trend is the development of targeted malware to infect certain systems. This malware may not have been seen by the anti-virus vendor, and therefore is unlikely to be caught.\nThus, the recommended solution is to recover an uninfected system from backups. One can not simply rely on anti-malware tools to do the job.\nThere are also web pages out there that purport to tell you how to remove a virus, but in doing so, you install another virus. Caveat emptor!\n21 Network Security\n21.1 The Current State of Things\nAt this point, I have just read the intrusion detection section of Extreme Exploits and find myself unable to add anything to it. What follows is what I wrote prior to reading that, and rather than paraphrase their excellent work, I’m going to punt and just refer you to it. I hope readers understand that I want to focus on adding value, not just repeating what has already been said, and so my time is better spent on other topics until I have something novel to say. What follows is a rough outline I wrote earlier.\nThe current state of network security detection tools breaks down as follows; network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) sit at choke points and look at traffic and alert for what it thinks are intrusions. If they take steps to tear down the connection, it is called a reactive NIDS. If it sits in-line and stops passing data for connections deemed to be malicious, it is called an intrusion prevention device (IPS).\nNetwork security access control devices break down as follows. Firewalls are the most familiar and come as packet filters or proxy-based firewalls. They are starting to get more and more complex, going from stateless (e.g. assumes a TCP ACK corresponds to a valid connection, has difficulty telling valid UDP responses from unsolicited UDP packets) to stateful (tracks valid connections, can firewall UDP effectively) and now the new buzzword is deep packet inspection. That just means it’s looking at layer 7 (application layer) data and making access control decisions on that, so it can block certain kinds of HTTP traffic but not others; this is a natural evolution for packet filters and provides them with most of the benefits of proxy-based firewalls. Virtual Private Network Concentrators (VPN endpoints) basically handle the encryption and decryption for remote systems with VPN connections.\nI can’t think of a good reason why these all need to be separate hardware devices, and suspect that as general-purpose computer performance increases the low end of the market will be increasingly converting to software-based solutions running on commodity hardware. One argument is that dedicated hardware is more reliable, but it will inevitably be cheaper and more effective to ensure reliability and availability with redundancy than with premium hardware. The general belief is that Google’s secret to financial success is “smart software, cheap hardware”. Hardware costs don’t amortize the way software development costs do.\n21.2 Traffic Identification: RPC, Dynamic Ports, User-Specified Ports and Encapsulation\n21.2.1 RPC\nBack in the day, a number of network services used remote procedure calls (RPC). When these services start up, they bind to a port (often in a certain range but not always the same port). They then register themselves with a program called the portmapper. To talk to an RPC service, you first ask the portmapper (on port 111) what port that RPC service is listening on, then you talk to the RPC service. Needless to say, this is extremely difficult to firewall, and even if you could do it right, an internal machine might reboot, and when it comes back up the RPC service might be on a different port. So the normal policy is to simply not allow access to these ports through the firewall, which is easy when the policy is default deny; you just ignore them.\n21.2.2 Dynamic Port Numbers\nOther protocols, like SIP and FTP, use dynamic port numbers. Some fancy packet filters do layer-7 inspection to respond to these, which has the following problem. A user connects to a web site, and the web site has a java applet which connects back to the web site, but on port 20 (FTP control channel). This is allowed because the java applet security model assumes it’s okay for an applet to phone home. The applet then emulates a real FTP connection, but sends an interesting port number as the data channel (say, port 22). The firewall then allows the web site to make another connection back to the internal node’s port 22, thinking that it is part of an FTP transfer. The solution is to use application-layer proxies.\nNow some network administrators would like to give low priority (QoS, DSCP) values to certain traffic (especially bittorrent), or block it entirely. Normally this would be done by classifying the traffic on the canonical port numbers as bittorrent, and assigning it to the bulk queue. However, the end user may not desire that, and so may configure bittorrent to talk on a different port. This is a perfect example of an “insider threat”, though not a particularly malicious one.\n21.2.3 Encapsulation\nA similar issue exists with encapsulation within another protocol, especially HTTP/HTTPS. Although normal HTTP requests for HTML documents are considered essential to business and not a significant network security threat, there are other data transfers done through HTTP, such as WebDAV or streaming media or especially skype, which may have significantly different or unknown security implications. Or the system may be too new to know to the administrator’s satisfaction; security is a process of breaking systems and learning about the flaws we find. Thus “new” means we’re just starting to learn about it, but it does not mean that the security is worse, or that we know less about it than some older system. Take care that you don’t get so lazy that new becomes synonymous with risk, or that risk means undesirable; it may well be that the upside potential is greater than the downside, or that the goodwill it earns you with the users is worth the risk of more security incidents; it all depends on your resources, risk tolerance, consequences of a security breach, and other non-technical factors.\n21.2.4 Possible Solutions\nI suspect that the solution to this mess is twofold; first, we do our network data inspection prior to encryption, which means on the sending machine, where that is possible. It is logical (or at least common) to trust such systems more than systems without such a host-based agent, and to trust those more than systems belonging to other parties (e.g. an ISP’s customers or a business partner), and to trust those less than systems belonging to unidentified parties (wifi, Internet).\nThe second prong would be network security systems which look at network traffic and classify the protocol in use based on the data it contains (like fingerprinting a network service, or like using file(1) to identify what kind of data a file contains). It is not necessary to narrow it down to one protocol; if we say that a certain network flow has permission to pass through the firewall to host X Y or Z, then the stream can be treated as though it had the intersection of the permissions for all possible protocols. For example, if FTP should never pass to anything but port 21, and HTTP can pass only to hosts X and Z, then a stream which may be either may only pass to port 21 on hosts X and Z; this convention prevents violation of any network flow security policy. If our classification is only guesswork, then we need not be so strict, because we can’t end up with more certainty than we started, and it may be reasonable to allow the union of all permissions (so as to avoid stopping legitimate traffic), or some other combination.\n21.3 Brute-Force Defenses\nBrute-force attacks simply try common passwords and other identifiers. They are a major nuisance on the net right now. They are primarily focused at SSH and email services, where users may choose their own passwords. Brute-forcing is usually ineffective at systems which use cryptographic keys to protect a service (see 11.9↑ ).\n21.4 Federated Defense\nIf the same intruder tried something malicious against one machine, and you control two of them, wouldn’t it be prudent to block access to both machines instead of just the one? The same goes with sites, or corporations. DenyHosts ( http://denyhosts.sourceforge.net/ ) can be used in this mode, but I don’t know of any other federated defense systems.\n21.5 VLANs Are Not Security Technologies\n21.6 Advanced Network Security Technologies\nVery cool, but not for the novice. I will annotate these links later.\nPort Scan Auto Detector ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/psad/ ) is a Linux tool that allows you to detect port scans and block them, even if the firewall blocked all of the packets in the scan.\nThe fwsnort program ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/fwsnort/ ) takes snort rules and generates iptables log file patterns which would detect the same things as snort would, but works whether or not iptables blocks the packets.\nThe fwknop program ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/fwknop/ ) allows you to do single-packet authentication (SPA), which is like port knocking, on Linux-based systems.\nThe Dynamic Firewall Daemon ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/dfd/ ) allows you to programmatically access and change firewall rules.\nThe grok project ( http://www.semicomplete.com/projects/grok/ ) parses files and automagically blocks malicious hosts.\n22 Email Security\n22.1 Unsolicited Bulk Email: Email Spam\nSpamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam and junk fax transmissions.\n-- Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_ )\nEvery program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.\n-- Zawinski’s Law ( http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/Z/Zawinskis-Law.html )\nFiltering happens as or after the message has been accepted. There are many kinds of filtering.\nHow to Beat an Adaptive Spam Filter ( http://www.jgc.org/SpamConference011604.pps )\nSignature Matching\nLooks for certain signatures of spam and filters them out.\nBayesian Filtering\ncrm114 ( http://crm114.sourceforge.net/ )\nLimitations\nOnce you’ve accepted an email, it’s on your system. If you now decide it’s spam, you can either choose to drop it silently (incurring the possibility of silent failures for false positives) or bounce it possibly causing backscatter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_%28e-mail%29 ).\nWith Bayesian filtering, spammers increasingly just add a bunch of non-spammy words to their email. It looks like gibberish.\n22.1.2 Throttling and Delays\nGreylisting is my favorite anti-spam technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylisting )\nLimitations\nSpammers just wait a while and retry from the same IP address. Hopefully by that time, they’re blacklisted.\nThere are incompatible senders - for example, they may try delivery once and that’s it, or many systems may work from the same queue and thus the same IP will never retry the send.\n22.1.3 Blocking Known Offenders\nDNS blacklisting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNSBL )\nLimitations\nWhere’s the money in keeping such lists up to date, and defending against spammer lawsuits?\n22.1.4 Authentication for Sending Email\nSMTP-AUTH email authentication ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMTP-AUTH )\nThis makes people prove who they are before they are allowed to send mail via SMTP.\n22.1.5 Network-Level Authentication Techniques\nSender Policy Framework ( http://www.openspf.org/ )\nDomain Keys Identified Mail ( http://www.dkim.org/ ) helped to knock E-Bay and Paypal down from being the number one phishing target\nThese are designed to prove that one’s email is legitimately from your organization, but do not actually say anything about whether it is spam or not.\n22.1.6 Message-Level Authentication Techniques\nS/MIME ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME )\nThese prove that an email is from an individual, but do not actually say anything about whether it is spam or not.\nJeremiah Grossman’s blog ( http://jeremiahgrossman.blogspot.com/ )\nZalweski’s Browser Security Handbook ( http://code.google.com/p/browsersec/ )\n23.2 Indirect Browser Attacks\nThere are many attacks which don’t try to execute arbitrary code in the browser, but instead attack the logic in the browser in order to get the browser to do something for the user which the user didn’t intend. This is a specific instance of something called the confused deputy problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confused_deputy_problem ), first described by Norm Hardy.\n23.2.1 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)\nA good example of the confused deputy problem is cross-site request forgery, also known as CSRF ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSRF ), where the user’s browser is tricked into visiting a URL for a site, and if the user’s cookies are sufficient to authorize the request (i.e. they are logged in at that moment), then the user has actually authorized something without knowing it.\n23.2.2 Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)\nA similar attack is Cross-Site Scripting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_site_scripting ), also known as XSS. In this, the adversary tricks a web site that you trust into displaying some malicious HTML. That is, it exploits your trust for the website, by getting his attack code to appear on the trusted website. This is a good example of a possible vulnerability in giving some subjects more privileges than others; the adversary may be able to masquerade as the privileged entity (i.e. by doing DNS hijacking and presenting a fake SSL certificate), or in this case trick it into doing his bidding.\nThis attack is particularly devastating due to the same origin policy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_origin_policy ), which states that code displayed from one origin can do whatever it wants to the HTML that comes from the same origin. In effect, it gives an attacker near-total control of what happens on that site in the user’s browser, allowing him to steal cookies, capture login credentials, and so on. In fact, it completely neutralizes any CSRF countermeasures the site may deploy.\nThis attack is often used for credential theft.\nStay Ahead of Web 2.0 Worms - XSS Marks the Spot ( http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/01/07/xss_tactics_strategy/ )\nRsnake’s XSS filter evasion ( http://ha.ckers.org/xss.html )\n23.2.3 Session Fixation\nWikipedia article on Session Fixation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_fixation )\nRsnake points out that session fixation could be its own class of attack, as I have indicated here, but that it usually occurs in the context of a cross-site scripting attack.\n23.2.4 UI Attacks\nThese attacks focus on tricking the user by manipulating what he or she sees on the screen.\nClickjacking ( http://www.sectheory.com/clickjacking.htm ), another instance of confused deputy problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confused_deputy_problem )\n23.5 Crawler Attacks\nCrawlers and indexers can be vulnerable to parsing and codec overflows. And if they follow links, they can be tricked into executing some web-based attacks.\n23.6 SSL Certificates Made Redundant\nWe just certified our x.509 SSL certs with the Department of Redundancy Department’s CA certificate.\nWhen you pay a Certification Authority [C] [C] They are a certification authority; not a certificate authority. They are not selling certificates, they are selling the certification process. Anyone can make a certificate. a large sum of money to certify you (and issue a certificate as a by-product of that certification process), they check your information against the system of record to make sure you are the person who owns the domain. Therefore, unless they check something else, they can never give higher assurance than the registrar, which makes you wonder why they even exist; you could just get a certificate from the registrar, and that would, in theory, give us more security. As Lynn Wheeler puts it, these are basically offline checks, derived from letters of credit ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_of_credit ) in the sailing ship days. They are significantly less secure than an online system. To allow for revocation, all clients must check them against a certificate revocation list (CRL). To allow for instant revocation, you have to be online with the source of the CRL. Of course, if you’re already doing that, why use certificates at all? Just ask the person who would have issued the certificate for the appropriate public key (see 11.6↑ ).\n24 Software Security\n24.1 Security is a Subset of Correctness\nIf we make the (rather large) assumption that the design is secure, then one is left with implementation vulnerabilities. These are exploitable bugs. Correct code has no bugs. Thus, we should shoot for correct code, and we will get secure code as a happy side-effect. It is possible to design code so that you can formally verify correctness ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_verification ), but you cannot generally prove correctness for arbitrarily-structured programs.\nAny software system which has not been proven correct may have implementation vulnerabilities. Put another way, any system which processes data which may be controlled or affected by the adversary could be compromised. This includes security monitoring systems; there have been a number of bugs in tcpdump’s decoding routines. If the system can be compromised non-interactively, then even a system which passively records data, and analyzes it offline, could be vulnerable.\nCERT Secure Coding Standards ( http://www.securecoding.cert.org/ )\n24.3 Malware vs. Data-Directed Attacks\nEven though any software could have an implementation bug that causes it to be controlled remotely, a surprising amount of software can be controlled remotely by design. Files and data that are meant to be interpreted by such software are called active content, but it doesn’t mean that it has to be interpreted; one can still view it with a hex editor and do no interpretation whatsoever. Examples of active content include executable files, javascript, flash, Microsoft Office documents, and so forth. Many of these started with the assumption that the authors of such files would always be trustworthy, which eroded over time, until now people routinely download these things and run them without even realizing they are giving control of that software to an anonymous person.\nWhen active content is malicious, it is called malware. When someone exploits software that doesn’t normally allow the data to control it, it is called a data-directed attack. Computer security experts typically have a very good understanding of the difference, and so don’t bother to check documents with anti-virus software unless they use a program which offers control to the document. People act like working with computer virii is risky, but it’s a bit like working with E. Coli; you simply make sure never to ingest it, and you’re fine. And computers only do the things we tell them to, so there’s no risk of accidentally ingesting it if you know what you’re doing.\n24.4.1 C\nC is one the most difficult language in which to write secure code. The primary culprits in this language are:\nThe lack of standard buffer management routines leads to buffer overflows (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_overflow ).\nThere are also format string attacks (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_string_attack ) which deal with being able to control the format string to sprintf and the fact that it can do some weird things when used in bad ways.\nThe string handling routines are notoriously tricky to get right (not to mention not being 8-bit clean, since they treat \\0 as a sentinel value). There is an explanation of the gotchas and an attempt to deal with the trickiness problem by writing easier-to-use routines such as strlcat and strlcpy (see http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix99/millert.html ). Please, every C programmer go read that. Also you may wish to take advantage of the astring library (see http://www.mibsoftware.com/libmib/astring/ ).\nI would argue that unless there’s a good reason for you to use C, you should use C++ instead.\n24.4.2 C++\nC++ is definitely a step up from C. Strings are no longer character arrays, but now first-class objects, making their handling significantly better. Most flaws in C++ code that are dependent on the language tend to be:\nDynamic memory allocation and deallocation problems, leading to heap mismanagement, double-free, and possibly heap overflows\nPointer mismanagement\nI would argue that unless there’s a good reason for you to use C++, you should use Java or Python instead.\n24.4.3 Perl\nPerl is a pretty good tool, but it has some shortcomings as well:\nThe file open call lets you specify a mode in the same parameter as the filename. In most cases, if an attacker can control which file was intended to be opened, he can also start a shell pipeline. This is what happens when you mix control and data together.\nThe system command and backticks provide an easy way for the adversary to do shell injection.\n24.4.4 PHP\nPHP is incredibly difficult to write securely and yet very popular. There have been many security-relevant bugs found in the language itself, and every day seems to be a new vulnerability in PHP code.\nI won’t go into details here right now but let’s just say that you should start with register_globals and allow_url_fopen turned off in your configuration files.\n24.5 Reverse Engineering\nReverse engineering is similar to forensics, except that in forensics you’re looking for evidence, usually data left over by a person, whereas a reverse engineer seeks to understand a system or program in question.\n24.5.1 Tutorials\nSo far, all I’ve read is Fravia’s tutorials (You can find an archive of Fravia’s tutorials here: http://web.archive.org/web/20041119084104/http://fravia.anticrack.de/ ).\n24.5.2 Analyses\nSilver Needle in the Skype ( http://www.secdev.org/conf/skype_BHEU06.pdf ) is an awesome paper that shows what a talented reverse engineer can do.\n24.6 Application Exploitation\nFor arbitrary code execution (the worst kind of vulnerability), one method is to get executable code, such as shellcode ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellcode ) into the memory space of the process. This is called code injection ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_injection ). This can happen through a buffer overflow or a similar technique, such as passing it in an environment variable. Then, transfer control to it by overwriting a function pointer, GOT entry, or return address on the stack. That’s it.\nThere are other forms of vulnerabilities; in some cases, the attacker controls the instructions but not the data (see 24.6.2↓ below), and in other cases, the data but not the instructions (see.\n24.6.4 SQL Injection\nThis is a slightly different class of attack, in that it doesn’t involve arbitrary code execution, but it is remarkably common at the moment (early 2010).\nhttp://projects.webappsec.org/SQL-Injection\n24.7 Application Exploitation Defenses\nThere are a few systems for stopping exploitation without fixing the underlying problems, but obviously each has limitations.\n24.7.1 Stack-Smashing Protection\nStack-smashing protection is described pretty well on the Wikipedia page ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack-smashing_protection ) and its most obvious limitation is that it only works against stack buffer overflows. Particular defenses may have other drawbacks. I’ll expand on this later.\n24.7.2 Address-Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)\nIn the ASLR technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASLR ), the system lays out the regions of memory in an unpredictable way. This is usually done by loading different contiguous sections into different areas of address space at load time, and the loader fixes up the executable (usually via some kind of offset table that maps symbols to addresses) such that it can find other parts of itself. This means that an adversary may overflow a buffer, but they do not know a priori where it resides in memory, so can’t easily transfer control to it. The advantage to this is that you can often do it with a simple recompilation. The disadvantage is that the adversary can sometimes run the program over and over until he lucks out, or he may be able to use a memory disclosure vulnerability to figure out the correct address.\n24.7.3 Write XOR Execute\nIn some processor architectures, memory pages may have access control flags such as “writable” or “executable”. An operating system like OpenBSD may enforce W⊗X ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W^X ) which means that only one of the two flags may be set, so that an adversary may either be able to overflow a buffer, or execute its contents, but not both. The limitation is that the adversary may be able to find a way to write to the buffer and then change the flag to be executable, or that he may not need to run arbitrary code, merely to pass data under his control to an existing routine.\n24.7.4 PaX\nPaX flags data memory as non-executable, program memory as non-writable and randomly arranges the program memory. This effectively prevents many security exploits, such as some kinds of buffer overflows. The former prevents direct code execution absolutely, while the latter makes so-called return-to-libc (ret2libc) attacks difficult to exploit, relying on luck to succeed, but doesn’t prevent variables and pointers overwriting.\n-- Wikipedia\n24.8 Software Complexity\n24.8.1 Complexity of Network Protocols\nWhen evaluating the security of a network application, a good question is how likely is the software to lead to a remotely exploitable compromise? How much code is devoted to interpreting it, and how much other stuff does it interact with? For example, the reason why packet filters are valuable is that it doesn’t take much code to check that a packet isn’t allowed in. This basically is a question designed to evaluate design vulnerabilities. Protocol-level design vulnerabilities are often more obvious than implementation vulnerabilities because simple protocols have less to understand than the source code of the programs that speak them, but only if the protocol is documented. If you have to extract it from source code alone (or worse, reverse-engineer it from executables), then this is more difficult. Of course, if the designers hadn’t thought of the protocol design before writing code, then it probably has plenty of holes. A fellow with the handle “Hobbit” wrote a paper Common Insecurities Fail Scrutiny ( http://insecure.org/stf/cifs.txt ) that details a number of flaws he found in the Microsoft NetBIOS file sharing protocols. Later, a Microsoft representative asked (in mild awe) how he found them, and his response was effectively that he didn’t use their toolset. He reverse-engineered the whole thing from scratch, and that allowed him to see the protocol as it really was, and not as their software intended it to be. This illustrates an interesting point in that software or incomplete descriptions of things can color one’s view of it, and prevent you from seeing something that someone with a lower-level view can see. But really the problem seems to be that the protocol had grown organically and was without coherent design and only appeared secure due to obscurity. To this day, it is considered unsafe to allow an adversary to talk to NetBIOS services.\nThe only solution seems to be to design the protocol independent of the software, because it represents an attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) that requires analysis. Just because your software doesn’t generate a particular message sequence doesn’t mean an adversary will not! Adversaries are not kind enough to always use our tools.\n24.8.2 Polymorphism and Complexity\nIn order to allow any computer to access things on the web, it was decided to allow a restricted character set in HTTP. For example, if your computer could not properly transmit a tilde, or store a file with a tilde in the name, it could use what is called “URI escaping”. In URI escaping, the tilde is %7F, and the space character is %20. This seemed like a good idea for interoperability, but has actually made intrusion detection more complex and less reliable, and it has also become a security problem in a number of cases. The basic problem is that there’s more than one representation (syntax, or encoding) for some meanings (semantics), so it is called polymorphic. So if some piece of software wants to make sure a string that will be URI-decoded doesn’t contain a character (such as a space), it also has to make sure it doesn’t contain the URI-escaped version of it (%20). These sorts of checks end up all over the place, and sooner or later a programmer is going to forget about it, and you’ll end up with a security hole.\nThe only solution seems to be to either avoid polymorphism, avoid having special characters which will need to be checked for, or to come up with a software design that makes sure that you always work with the canonical representation of your data.\n24.9 Failure Modes\nA piece of software, subsystem, or component may fail to do its job properly for various reasons. Its failure mode is the implication of that failure. Sometimes we may classify these failures as erring on the side of safety or security, which is known as fail-safe or fail-secure ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail-safe ). Sometimes the result is safe but not secure, like a door held closed by electromagnetism; in the event of a power failure, it becomes unlocked, which is safe (to people) but not secure (to whatever the door protects). [D] [D] For some wonderful information on safety engineering, see the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_engineering\n“There is no limit to stupidity.”\n-- Dario V. Forte\nUnderstanding Scam Victims: Seven Principles for Systems Security ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-754.pdf )\n25.3 Security Should Be Obvious, and the Default\nBy several of the security design principles described later (see 34↓ ):\nIf code compiles, the programmer assumes he is done. So design security APIs that you can’t successfully compile unless you get it right.\nIf the end user might want something to not be secure, make that harder than normal secure configuration. For example, don’t turn NFS or any other service on by default.\nMake security obvious to the end user; the padlock icons and things of that nature are a good idea. Make the not-secure state as obvious as the secure state, so the user knows which he is in.\n25.4 Security Should Be Easy to Use\nAlma Whitten, Why Johnny Can’t Encrypt: A Usability Evaluation of PGP 5.0 ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~tygar/papers/Why_Johnny_Cant_Encrypt/OReilly.pdf , http://gaudior.net/alma/johnny.pdf )\n25.5 No Hidden Data\nIn tar files, they store the user and group IDs. When system administrator untars these, they remain owned by those UIDs even when the machines making and using the tarfile were not the same. For widespread file distribution, one should not use a format that retains metadata that will not be useful between machines. At least one case of this being a security hole has been documented in a very silly way here:\nhttp://attrition.org/security/advisory/gobbles/GOBBLES-16.txt\nFurthermore, the lists of Iranians who helped the US in depose the Shah was revealed by a NY Times reporter who made the PDF available. He had blocked out the names, but on a different layer. On some slow computers, you could read the names before the layer with the blocks loaded:\n26.1 Attack Taxonomy\nlogic level attacks are usually against applications. For example, a banking application may allow you to transfer a negative amount of money to someone without getting their permission (this is not a made-up example).\napplication protocol level attacks are against the daemon itself, by doing things in an unexpected order, or by in some way violating the intent of the protocol. For example, a daemon may be vulnerable if a string in the attack is too long. Protocol fuzzing helps find these kinds of attacks.\nnetwork protocol level attacks are against the network software (usually the TCP/IP stack), which may or may not be part of the operation system itself. Long ago, some TCP/IP stacks would stop working if you sent it a packet with the same source and destination IP address (this was called the “land” attack).\nidentity spoofing attacks simply try to get access as a legitimate user\nauthorization attacks try to do more with a legitimate user’s privileges than was intended by the owner\nman in the middle attacks involve interposing between two parties that are communicating normally (see 10.9↑ )\n26.2 Attack Properties\nAll attacks are not created equal. They may sometimes be grouped together in various ways, though, and so that leads us to ask whether there are any dimensions, or characteristics, by which we may classify known attacks.\naccess required to execute the attack varies; some attacks require a system account, while others can be exploited by anyone on the Internet.\ndetectability usually means that the attack involves a non-standard interaction with us, and therefore involves something which we could (in theory) look for and recognize. Passive attacks, typically eavesdropping, are very difficult or impossible to detect.\nrecoverability refers to whether we may, after detecting or suspecting an attack, restore the state of the system to a secure one. Usually once an adversary has complete control of a system, we cannot return it to a secure state without some unusual actions, because they may have tampered with any tools we may be using to inspect or fix the system.\npreventability refers to whether there exists a defense which allows us to prevent it, or whether we must be content with detecting it. We can sometimes prevent attacks we cannot detect; for example, we can prevent someone from reading our wireless transmissions by encrypting them properly, but we can’t usually detect whether or not any third party is receiving them.\nscalability means the same attack will probably work against many systems, and does not require human effort to develop or customize for each system.\noffline exploitability means that the attack may be conducted once but exploited several times, as when you steal a cryptographic key.\nsophistication refers to the property of requiring a great deal of skill, versus an unsophisticated attack like guessing a password to a known system account.\nMuch of this list is thanks to the Everest voting machine report ( http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/info/EVEREST/14-AcademicFinalEVERESTReport.pdf ).\nPutting a key in a smart card or TPM or HSM prevents it from being copied and reused later, offline, but it doesn’t prevent it from being abused by the adversary while he has control of its inputs. For example, a trojan can submit bogus documents to a smart card to have them signed, and the user has no way of knowing. Similarly, sometimes techniques like putting passphrases on SSH keys can prevent them from being stolen right away, requiring a second visit (or at least an exfiltration at a later date). However, each interaction with the system by the adversary risks detection, so he wants to do so once only, instead of multiple times.\nFor example, your adversary could pilfer your SSL cert, and then use it to create a phishing site (see 22.2↑ ) elsewhere. This is a single loss of confidentiality, then an authentication attack (forgery) not against you, but against your customers (third parties). Or he could pilfer your GPG key, then use it to forge messages from you (a similar detectable attack) or read your email (passive attack, undetectable). Or he might break in, wanting to copy your SSH key, find that it’s encrypted with a passphrase, install a key logger, and come back later to retrieve the passphrase (two active attacks). Alternately, the key logger could send the data out automatically (exfiltration).\nThis is well discussed in the canonical system-cracking book, Hacking Exposed.\nFootprint - gather information about the target without touching the target\nScan - identify live targets and services\nEnumerate - obtain as much information as you can from the system\nExploit - crack into the system\nEscalate Privileges - if you aren’t already all-powerful, try and become root or Administrator (or whatever)\nPilfering - using your maximum privileges, look for things of value, like saved passwords or access codes\nAfter all that, you’ll probably be able to use that system as an attack platform (this is sometimes called pivoting off the host), repeating steps 2-6 on another target.\n26.4 Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification\nMitre’s CAPAC ( http://capec.mitre.org/ )\n27 Trust and Personnel Security\n27.1 Trust and Trustworthiness\nIn my view, to have real trust, there must be consequences for betrayal. The extent of the consequences defines the extent of trust.\n-- Terry Ritter (personal correspondence)\nTerry and I disagree on our definition of the word “trust”, but there is some truth in what he says. A trusted person is one upon whom our security depends. A trusted part of a system is one which must operate properly to ensure the security of the system. A trustworthy person will look out for your interests even though there would be no consequences if they did not do so (apart from the effect it would have on their conscience and your relationship); in fact, a completely trustworthy person would never betray your interests regardless of the consequences to himself. In any case, trust depends on free will; a person may be trustworthy or untrustworthy, but a business or organization cannot, because they do not make decisions; people within them do. Executives of a publicly-owned corporation are legally liable if they make decisions that they know will not maximize shareholder profit, which generally means that they usually act in the corporation’s financial self-interest, which may diverge from yours. Unfortunately, some people are also like this.\nAs a consequence of this, corporations routinely breach the privacy of customers and third parties by discarding hard drives with their data on it (A Remembrance of Data Past, http://www.computer.org/portal/cms_docs_security/security/v1n1/garfinkel.pdf ). They almost never take the time to encrypt laptop hard drives, even though that software is totally free (see 28.7.5↓ ). Thus, it is often desirable to use take measures to ensure that the other party’s interest and your own overlap as much as possible, and to minimize your dependence on them when your interests diverge. Now would be a good time to re-evaluate anywhere your security relies on a publicly-held corporation, especially when it is a free service.\nSome people would think that paying money is enough, but it may not be; that kind of reasoning (that you can buy security) may work in practice but is not the kind of argument that an “absolute security” person would make (see 35.2↓ ). Would you trust your life to someone merely because you paid them? You would probably want to know if they are qualified, if they are a sociopath, and a number of other things.\n27.2 Who or What Are You Trusting?\nI may know a person who is trustworthy; my grandmother, my friend, or someone else. But in network security, our trust decisions are based on their agents, specifically their computer. In that case, to trust the computer, not only must the person be trustworthy, but they must also be competent enough that their computer does only what they desire it to do. That is simply not often the case except among computer security experts. When someone emails me an executable program to run, I do not run it unless I am expecting it, because too many people’s computers get infected with email viruses that use email to propagate themselves. Again, the person’s computer is not doing what the person wanted in this case. I may receive a cryptographically-signed email from a person, but there are a number of ways that they might not have authorized the signature on the contents:\nThey failed to protect the confidentiality of their private key\nThey lost control of their system when someone hacked in\nTheir system’s integrity was lost when someone modified their message after composition but prior to signing\nThey made a mistake operating the crypto software\nThey failed to maintain physical security of their system, and someone installed a keylogger (and procured a copy of their passphrase-protected private key)\n27.3 Code Provenance: Signed Programs and Trusted Authors\nNo signature? No execute!\n-- Mike Acker\nMost people who aren’t as well-versed in security as we are often mistakenly believe that one can ensure security by only running a small, fixed list of programs that are presumed to be safe, or only visiting certain well-known web sites. You should first remember that the mere fact that something is dangerous to process suggests that our systems may not be properly designed in the first place, but operating systems which don’t allow us to run new programs are pretty boring, so let’s discuss the limitations of author policies. Even a well-known web site can be vulnerable to cross-site scripting (see 23.2↑ ), where they display potentially-malicious content which they did not create. What, exactly, is the criteria to determine if an author, program, or web site is safe or unsafe (see 4.1↑ )?\nMicrosoft has developed several signed ActiveX controls which turned out to be exploitable ( http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/753044 , http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/713779 http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/999 ), so if you indicated that you trusted anything signed by Microsoft, any other programs could call these controls to violate your security. IBM was discovered recently by eEye to have a similarly buggy ActiveX control ( http://osdir.com/ml/security.vulnerabilities.watch.announce/2006-08/msg00005.html ). So clearly, even if the author is trustworthy, we cannot be sure the program cannot violate our security. Nor can we be sure that everyone in a given organization is trustworthy; surely in a company that size, someone is untrustworthy! Knowing who the author is helps, because it increases the likelihood of punishment or retaliation in the case of misbehavior, but can’t prevent incompetence. Signing code does not make it secure; even with signed code, we still have to learn to create and maintain secure systems.\nIn fact, it’s even worse than that. Some SSL certificates were issued in Microsoft’s name and authorized by VeriSign to an individual not associated with Microsoft ( http://www.csl.sri.com/users/neumann/insiderisks.html#132 ). So now, when you trust things signed by Microsoft, you’re also trusting things signed by some talented third party who isn’t afraid of committing some fraud.\nSince many commercial products link against libraries provided by other companies, simply having a signature doesn’t mean that company really wrote a particular piece of code. Similarly, many web sites use content derived from other sources, so the domain may tell us nothing about who created a particular image, or even web page. Did Youtube create all the video content on its site? If not, why should we trust (the motives of) the authors of that content as much as we trust (the motives of) the company that owns the servers and domain name?\nLimiting our list of acceptable software authors to a single company may help that company’s profits, but it won’t necessarily make us secure. One unasked question of signed code is “how do you know who to trust?”, and the answer to that is “those who are trustworthy and write secure code”. The more important unasked question is “given that our software may be vulnerable, how do we know what is safe?”, but the answer is “until you enumerate all the vulnerabilities, you don’t” (see 4.1↑ ).\n27.4 The Incompetence Defense\nNever attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.\n-- Hanlon’s Razor ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon )\nAny sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.\n-- Grey’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey )\nSo suppose that due to a flaw in a vendor’s product, you suffered a serious intrusion. Since most pieces of commercial software come with end-user licensing agreements (EULA) that specifically disclaim any liability, what are you going to do? Even if you knew it was malice, you probably couldn’t prove it. This is an example where you are unable to apply the principle of removing excuses ( 34.13↓ ).\n27.5 Limiting Damage Caused by Trusted People\nAt first glance, it would seem that you could simply replace trusted people with computers. In fact, that often merely increases the number of trusted people; now you must trust the designers, implementers, programmers, installers, and administrators of the hardware, software, and network. There are however a few steps you can take to limit damage caused by trusted people:\nLimit how many people have access. This is the Principle of Minimal Assumptions (see 34.3↓ ).\nLimit how much access each person has according to the Principle of Least Privilege (see 34.1↓ ).\nSplit the security operation between two or more people. This is the Principle of Split Control (see 34.9↓ ).\nTry to establish whether the trusted people are trustworthy. This includes various kinds of background checks. This is the Principle of Personality (see 34.16↓ ).\nDetect breaches of trust and prosecute offenders. This is the Principle of Retaining Control (see 34.15↓ ).\nPay key people well; try to make all employees happy and loyal. Make sure that the trusted few have fates that are tied in with that of the company, perhaps by generous stock options. Avoid making people disgruntled. Have a sensible Human Resources policy.\n28 Cryptography\nCrypto ergo sum.\nIf you have any questions about cryptologic terms, first check Terry Ritter’s excellent glossary: http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/GLOSSARY.HTM\nYou may also wish to view Peter Gutmann’s “Godzilla Crypto Tutorial”: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/tutorial/\nA Survey of the Mathematics of Cryptography ( http://crypto.cs.mcgill.ca/~gsavvi1/547/gebbie.pdf )\n28.1 Things To Know Before Doing Crypto\nThe ratio of unique Greek symbols to numerical constants in any scientific equation is inversely proportional to the comprehensibility.\n-- Dolan’s Law\nAnd, directly proportional to the strength of the argument of the said scientific equation.\n-- Klofa’s Corollary\n28.1.1 Dramatis Personae\nFor the purposes of cryptologic discussions, Alice, Bob, and Charlie are the canonical names of the usual, friendly, players.\nBy convention, when an imaginary cryptographic adversary is only capable of passive attacks (eavesdropping), the adversary is named Eve. When the imaginary adversary is capable of modifying data, the adversary is named Mallory.\nNow that we’re naming imaginary adversaries, you can see how this may lead to paranoid delusions.\n28.1.2 Cryptologic Jargon\nA computationally-bounded adversary has limits to the amount of computation he or she can perform. There is no hard limit defined for this, but for right now (2007) perhaps something on the order of 232 or 264 cryptographic operations might be reasonable. Basically we usually assume this so that we can talk about systems without having to worry about brute-force attacks.\nThus, for most systems, we talk about a computationally-secure level of security, which would be useful against a computationally-bounded adversary. There is a “perfect” security, which is the information-theoretic level of security, but it doesn’t get much discussion because it’s trivial and usually impractical, since the key for each message must be as long as the message you wanted to send.\nAn oracle is something which can perform a cryptographic operation on your behalf, when you cannot do so yourself.\nAn interrogative adversary may ask your system for answers, using it as an oracle.\nSemantic security applies to asymmetric crypto systems, and holds true when a computationally-bounded adversary cannot obtain any information when given an encrypted message and the public key it was encrypted with.\nAn ephemeral key is one that you intend to use for a short period of time. For example, it could be the symmetric key used to encrypt a packet of data, or a single message. In security protocols, these are often negotiated, or derived by consensus between the endpoints.\nForward Secrecy (or security) means that a compromise of a private key today won’t reveal the negotiated message keys of prior communications; as soon as the conversation is done and the ephemeral keys are wiped, nobody can decrypt the old conversation. Though the term is controversial, in one case Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) goes a step further and says this holds true if an older negotiated key will not be compromised even if the negotiated keys are derived from the same long-term keying material. These are sometimes refered to as time-compartmentalized protocols. This can also apply to cryptographically-strong pseudo-random number generators, where compromise of the seed at a given time will not allow the adversary to know the previous values it contained.\n28.1.3 Historical Use of Cryptography\nHistorically, if one physically controlled the communication lines (linesec - see 32.1↓ ), one generally didn’t worry about cryptography. The historical practical use of cryptography was in messages to embassies, which might be intercepted. Then it was used in telegraphic communication where the lines may be subject to eavesdropping. Then it was used in radio communication. Now it is used in wifi networks.\nThere was a time when people thought that switches would control security sufficiently that they didn’t have to encrypt data on their LAN; however, tools like dsniff (see 10.9.3↑ ) have demonstrated that to have been ignorance on the part of network engineers.\nHowever, this is changing. Now, powerful cryptographic systems are available for many kinds of computer-to-computer communication. In fact, most secure distributed systems for use over the Internet involve cryptographic protocols. The ubiquity of the software is demonstrating a trend towards encrypting everything. For example, most system administrators use SSH to control remote systems, even if they are located on a local LAN.\n28.1.4 How Strong Should My Cryptography Be?\nAs always, I think the right rule is “encrypt until it hurts, then back off until it stops hurting”.\n-- Perry Metzger (correspondence to cryptography mailing list)\nNobody knows for sure how much is enough. What seemed good enough yesterday is not today, and might not actually have been yesterday. How much can you afford? How much would it cost you if it were broken?\nIf you don’t have linesec (see 32.1↓ ), then a common assumption is that the adversary may eavesdrop on your communication. And if the adversary can eavesdrop, they can record encrypted conversations. Then, if your cryptography turns out to be weak, or your random number generation turns out to be weak (see 30.6↓ ), your communications are disclosed retroactively.\nIn other words, you can’t just fix your cryptography when it is found to be broken; a prudent designer will build in more cryptographic strength than he needs to prevent against future developments in cryptography.\n28.1.5 Key Lengths\nKey lengths between different algorithms are not directly comparable. Definitely not between public-key and secret-key; they tend to be orders of magnitude different.\nhttp://www.keylength.com\n28.1.6 Eight Bit Clean Handling\nCryptographic keys, encrypted messages, and many other crypto products are binary data. This means that they may contain characters such as 0x00, which means that you can’t store them in normal C strings. What you really need is an eight-bit clean data path. That means no sentinels; instead, you need buffers with associated size fields in order to handle this.\n28.1.7 Encoding Binary Data\nThere are tricks such as using hexadecimal or base64, but please don’t do this in your code because you’ll waste time encoding and decoding every time the data is handled. On the other hand, encoding in hex or base64 is great for giving to humans or pasting into email or any other mostly-text channel, since that channel is likely to NOT be 8-bit clean. I personally prefer hex when giving keys to people, and base64 when giving a computer big blobs of encrypted data (i.e. via XML or HTTP).\n28.1.8 Avoiding Ambiguity\nAnother potential problem comes when we try to combine cryptographic data with other data, or combine datums prior to feeding it to a cryptographic algorithm. In either case, to remain secure, we want an unambiguous representation of the combined data. For example, if we want to digitally sign two datums, “12” and “3”, we can’t just concatenate them; otherwise, the code doesn’t know whether we signed “12” and “3” or “1” and “23”. This sounds obvious but perhaps a real-world example will illustrate the trickiness.\nThere was a Wordpress 2.5 vulnerability lately where they took the user’s name, appended a timestamp in seconds since the epoch, and then encrypted it to create a login authenticator. Unfortunately, this means you could create an account named “admin0”, and you get an authenticator. Next, you try to be admin, provide the same authenticator, and after removing the prospective user’s name, the extra zero becomes part of the timestamp. So here the parser could not tell between the two cases.\nWordpress 2.5 cookie integrity protection vulnerability ( http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2008/04/25/wordpress-25-cookie-integrity-protection-vulnerability/ )\nFurthermore, most cryptographic data can hold any value, making it tricky to combine it (see 28.1.7↑ ). Thus, you can’t just stick a weird character like NUL (0x00) between two cryptographic results and be sure that it will decode properly, because any character might be valid inside the results of a cryptographic operation. There are ways of encoding data unambiguously, however, and we will cover that in a later section (see 28.5.5↓ ).\n28.1.9 End-to-End vs. Hop-by-Hop\nIn courses or books about networking, they often study the ISO OSI model [E] [E] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model . This model shows that it is possible to think about networking between two entities at multiple levels. This is relevant to cryptography as well. For example, wireless networks (so-called wifi or WLAN networks) are sometimes secured with cryptography in the form of WEP [F] [F] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy or WPA [G] [G] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access . These encrypt the network data at the link layer, or the radio link between a wifi client and the wifi access point. In networking parlance, only the first hop is protected. When the cryptographic protections are strong enough, this secures the data between these two nodes, but it does not protect the application-layer data if it travels beyond the WLAN. That is, if you sit in a coffee shop and use your laptop to access a web site on another continent, your data is not protected once it passes the access point and goes across the Internet at large. To do that, you need encryption at a higher level. A common way to protect this data is using TLS [H] [H] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security , historically called SSL. In this case, the data is protected from your browser to the secure web site.\nHowever, even this can sometimes be seen as hop-by-hop security. For example, if that web site passes the data to another web site, that link would need to be secured. Also, if it communicates that data to another server, for example a credit card payment gateway, it is not protected by TLS (that was the point of protocols such as SET [I] [I] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_electronic_transaction ). If using only TLS, one would desire the second link to be secured as well. In fact, if the web server stores your credit card information in a database, one could consider the database, and not the web server, as the true endpoint of the communication.\nThat is not the only case where layers of software and hardware come into the equation. For example, if one wanted to encrypt data on disk, you could do your encryption in the operating system right before data is written to disk (see 28.7↓ ), in the database software, or in the application (for example, in GPG [J] [J] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard ). Encrypting at the database or operating system level allows the data to be intercepted on the way down the stack towards these lower levels; encrypting in the application leaves the smallest attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) available to the adversary. However, one should remember that it often requires administrator-level privileges to intercept this data, and in this case the adversary with administrator privileges could, in theory, peek at the data inside the application.\nIn general, end-to-end encryption is to be preferred to hop-by-hop encryption, because in hop-by-hop encryption one relies on more systems to be secure than in end-to-end encryption, and often, there are different opinions on what constitutes the endpoint of the communication.\n28.2 Limits of Cryptography\nSecure web servers are the equivalent of heavy armored cars. The problem is, they are being used to transfer rolls of coins and checks written in crayon by people on park benches to merchants doing business in cardboard boxes from beneath highway bridges. Further, the roads are subject to random detours, anyone with a screwdriver can control the traffic lights, and there are no police.\n-- Eugene Spafford ( http://homes.cerias.purdue.edu/~spaf/quotes.html )\n28.2.1 The Last Foot of the Communication\nHumans are limited at cryptography and thus read and type plaintext to their computers (see 10.6↑ ). Thus, the protection stops where the encryption stops. We would normally want complete end-to-end encryption, so that it is protected the entire way; however, the endpoints are usually people, so we compromise by doing the encryption on a computer and decryption on another computer, leaving the last “hop” unprotected.\nIf you wish to be able to effectively monitor what a computer user does, there isn’t a much better way than by being the administrator of the machine at which he sits, and relegating him to the role of “simple user”. This means that he is effectively unable to determine what activities are being monitored, and hampers his ability to communicate confidentially with a remote system (to include exfiltrating data). Even if it is impossible to prevent him from recognizing that he is being monitored, sudden changes in furtive activity correlated with other events may be very instructive. This is also one of the reasons why physical-layer side channel attacks (see 31.2.1↓ ) can be so devastating.\nThis brings up an interesting point regarding personnel security, and that is that it is difficult (and very risky to attempt) to conspire with an anonymous monitor that you have never met. By having groups unknown to one another watch each other, you effectively inhibit their ability to conspire. By adding an element of doubt - for example, by making it known that you occasionally test the trustworthiness of personnel - you make it very risky to accept any conspiratorial proposals.\n28.2.2 Limitations Regarding Endpoint Security\nAnother issue is that if we are using cryptography to protect data communications, then we must consider strongly the endpoint security. Perhaps the most secure communication would be protected offline using a non-interactive cryptosystem (i.e. GPG), and transferred via sneakernet to a network-connected machine, and then transmitted. It could potentially be transmitted using an interactive protocol to prevent replay and such.\nOf course, a person can be considered an endpoint as well, and untrustworthy people or rubber hoses may compromise the security of the messages.\n28.2.3 The Secure Bootstrapping Problem\nSuppose for a moment that you wanted to set up a computer to perform some cryptographic operation. You must purchase the computer hardware, download and install an operating system, and download and install the cryptographic software. You should be aware that each step in this process is susceptible to attack. For example, the motherboard could have a transmitter covertly placed in it, the operating system or cryptographic software could have a backdoor in it, etc. In some cases, the product of one step can be used to verify the integrity of the next step; for example, you may install Ubuntu as the operating system and Ubuntu can verify the integrity of a packaged OpenSSH binary to make sure it was not tampered with. However, it is difficult be sure that the original, untampered version of the software does not have a backdoor or security flaw. In general, it is difficult to determine whether a given component can be trusted unless you created it yourself.\n28.2.4 Keys Must Be Exchanged\nImagine that Alice wants to talk securely over the Internet to Bob. How can she verify Bob’s identity? If they don’t share any common information about themselves, Alice can’t identify Bob from some random person Charlie.\nIf they pick a simple question about Bob’s life, someone might already know it (or be able to find it out), and they could only use it once before eavesdropper Eve learns the correct answer. Of course Bob would need to ask Alice something only she would know too, so it destroys two shared secrets in the process of being used.\nGenerally, in order to be effective, they must share a secret (key), and they must not reveal that key to anyone else. Establishing this secret is the Achilles Heel of cryptography, and is discussed later (see 28.9.2↓ ).\n28.2.5 In Practice\nRoss Anderson has an excellent paper called Why Cryptosystems Fail ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/wcf.html ). The main point is that it’s not usually the cryptography that is broken, but rather some other part of the system.\n28.2.6 The Complexity Trap\nSecurity’s worst enemy is complexity.\n-- The Complexity Trap, ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-IPsec.pdf )\nFerguson and Schneier’s A Cryptographic Evaluation of IPsec ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-ipsec.pdf )captures the main argument against IPsec, which is that it is too complex. Alas, this may well be true of any protocol involving cryptography.\n28.3 Cryptographic Algorithms\nThe multiple human needs and desires that demand privacy among two or more people in the midst of social life must inevitably lead to cryptology wherever men thrive and wherever they write.\n-- David Kahn\nTheir proper use; what they guarantee, what they don’t. These are your building blocks. Already covered elsewhere (esp. Ritter’s crypto glossary, http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/GLOSSARY.HTM ).\n28.3.1 Ciphers\nThese are what most people think of when they think of cryptography. The cipher maps any single input (plaintext) to a single output (ciphertext) in a one-to-one manner. Ciphers are usually keyed, meaning the mapping is dependent on the key. The same key must be supplied to encrypt and decrypt in order to give the correct results. Except in very rare cases, the input and output must be of the same cardinality (number of possible values), and the cipher is one-to-one, so that you can encrypt anything and then decrypt it unambiguously.\nAnother way of stating things which may appeal to the mathematicians out there is that a cipher defines a set of permutations, and each key selects one from that family. Thus, if we assume the key is fixed, the encryption function is a permutation of the inputs. For example, the input set may be the four possible symbols “A B C D”. One key could those symbols to “D A C B”, and another key might map them to “B D A C”. This means that ciphers are keyed permutations. You’ll often see something like EK(plaintext) which means that the author is considering the key K to be fixed.\nFigure 1 Block Cipher Encryption\nNow, if we think of all possible permutations of a set consisting of even 256 elements (input values), the number is the factorial of 256, which is very, very large:\n857817775342842654119082271681232625157781520279485619\n408424615936000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\n000000000000000000000\nObviously, we’d need a huge key to be able to select from all those permutations; a key with 256 bits in it will have many fewer values:\n2 256 = 115792089237316195423570985008687907853269984665640564039457584007913129639936\nSince modern block ciphers have block sizes in the 128-bit range, not 8 as above, you’ll see that the number of permutations for a modern-sized cipher input block will be so large that they exceed the number of atoms in the universe. Thus, a cipher defines a very small subset of all possible permutations.\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher\n28.3.2 Block Cipher vs. Stream Cipher\nBlock ciphers operate on a block of text at once. In order to use one, you need to figure out a padding scheme to pad out to the next block boundary. Stream ciphers operate by generating a keystream of arbitrary length which is combined with the plaintext, usually by something simple like XOR.\n28.3.3 Public-Key vs. Private-Key\nUp until the 1970s, the only encryption algorithms publicly known were what we now call private key algorithms, which are also known as secret key or symmetric algorithms, because the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt.\nThen, at several places within the same decade, various parties stumbled on public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric algorithms. These allow encryption to be performed with one key, and decryption to be performed with a different, but related key. In public-key cryptosystems, numerical methods are used to create a key pair; one of the keys is (perhaps confusingly) known as the private key, because you keep it private, and the other key is known as the public key. They are similar to what a chemist would call enantiomers (optical isomers), in that they are a structurally related, but not identical, pair. Others have compared them to a key and the lock which it opens.\nA fairly important but subtle distinction between asymmetric algorithms and their symmetric counterparts is that it is always possible to derive a private key from a public key using numerical methods, but (barring any cryptanalytic shortcuts) a symmetric algorithm must be attacked by trying every possible key. Also, asymmetric algorithms are much, much slower than symmetric ones, so for practical key lengths, the asymmetric key algorithms tend to be weaker than symmetric ones.\nThere is much to be said about the mathematical structures of public-key algorithms, and entire books have been written on single public-key cryptosystems. For that reason, I’m going to punt and refer you to other books for the deep math.\n28.3.4 Cryptographic Hashes\nFigure 2 Hash Functions\nCryptographic hashes ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function ) basically model a random function. That is, each input, or pre-image, is mapped to an output value (known as the image) of some fixed length, and there is no apparent structure to this mapping. Note that they are very unlikely to be a one-to-one function; they are usually many-to-one. When two inputs map to the same output, that is called a collision. All hashes I am aware of have a fixed size, and so many are of the Merkle-Damgård construction ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle-Damgard ).\nFigure 3 Merkle-Damgård Construction\nYou use hashes where you want to represent a large thing with a fixed-size thing. For example a Cyclic Redundancy Check ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check ) may suffice.\nYou use a cryptographic hash function when you want one of the following properties:\ncollision resistance You cannot find two pre-images with the same image. That is, you cannot easily find x ≠ y such that h(x) = h(y).\npreimage resistance Given the image, you cannot compute the pre-image. This is sometimes called the one-way property. That is, given hash z, you cannot find x such that h(x) = z.\nsecond preimage resistance Given a pre-image, you cannot find another pre-image with the same image. You can call this the chosen-collision attack. Stated formally, given x, you cannot find x ≠ y such that h(y) = h(x).\nIn practice, the first two properties are usually what you care about. At first I thought collision resistance implied second preimage resistance, but that’s not the case.\nYou Can’t Hash Small Input Spaces\nSuppose someone wanted to pick between two values, zero and one. Trying to put them through a one-way function, or hash, because the adversary can just try hashing all the possible values himself. Using a fixed, known IV doesn’t help, either, except to make most non-customized rainbow tables useless; the adversary can still hash each guess once and compare it to all the hash values. By varying the IVs, you make the adversary have to hash each unique IV with his guess, and compare against the hash values with the same IV.\n28.3.5 Message Integrity Checks\nWhen you send a message, sometimes you want to make sure that it arrived without alteration. This is called a Message Integrity Check, or MIC. Oftentimes, this is a simple cryptographic hash function (see 28.3.4↑ ). However, if you don’t need the security properties of cryptographic hashes - for example if you are not trying to protect against malicious tampering by an intelligent adversary, this can be wasteful. In those cases, you can use something as simple as a Cyclic Redundancy Check [K] [K] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check or a Universal Hash Function [L] [L] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_hashing .\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_Integrity_Check\n28.3.6 Message Authentication Codes\nNote that if you want to transmit or store data and are concerned about malicious adversaries, you can’t just transmit or store a message integrity check in the same way you transmitted or stored the data itself; Mallory could just substitute her own data and calculate her own message integrity check. Or, she could flip some bits in a way that she knows doesn’t alter the checksum. What you’re really looking for is some kind of keyed checksum. We call this a Message Authentication Code, or MAC. They typically use a hash algorithm as a basis, and a secret key to compute the hash. This is almost like a digital signature, but we use the same key to create and verify the message, so it’s like the symmetric counterpart to the public-key digital signature, which uses different keys at each end.\nHMAC\nMany people have tried to construct these in the obvious ways, such as prepending a secret to the message, or appending it, or doing both, before hashing, and they’ve all been broken. What we’re left with was HMAC (see Figure 1):\nHMACK = h((K⊗opad)||h(K⊗ipad)||m), where\nopad = 0x5c5c5c...5c5c\n28.3.7 Digital Signatures\nWhile some lawmakers define a digital signature to mean any electronic means of saying “okay” to a document, cryptographers always mean a public-key signing algorithm. This is a way of using the private key of a key pair to sign data such that the public key can verify the signature.\nWhat Does A Digital Signature Mean?\nWith data structures, one must decide what to sign; if there is more than one way to represent the data, which one will you choose? Generally you need some kind of canonicalization and serialization and encoding (see 28.5.5↓ ).\nWhat does it mean to sign some data in an application? What does it mean to sign data going between two points in a network? Should you protect the data in the application or at a lower level (see 28.1.9↑ )?\nGenerally, a signature or HMAC attests to the integrity of the data between the point where it is signed to where it is verified. It usually does not mean that a person sent it to you; that is a mistake humans make that leads to the sign-then-encrypt problem (see 28.5.2↓ ).\n28.4 Cryptographic Algorithm Enhancements\nThese are basically slight changes to basic algorithms that are not cryptographic in themselves, but act as a defense against an analytical attack.\n28.4.1 Block Cipher Modes\nWikipedia on Block Cipher Modes of Operation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_cipher_modes_of_operation )\nIn these sections, C is the ciphertext, P is the plaintext, K is the key, and i is the index of the block you are working on; by convention, we start numbering them with 1.\nRegarding the block cipher block size, if you have a n bit block size, then you can only safely encrypt 2(n)/(2) blocks with the same key (this does not apply to ECB mode of course, which is weak after one block).\nElectronic Code Book (ECB)\nThis is the simplest mode; it is the mode most people think of when first doing encryption, and it is the only non-chained mode. In ECB, you simply encrypt each block of the plaintext with the key, and that forms the plaintext block. The trouble with ECB is that macroscopic patterns in the plaintext remain undisturbed in the ciphertext:\nPlaintext image of Tux\nImage of Tux encrypted in other (chained) modes\nEncryption:\nPropagating Cipher Block Chaining (PCBC)\nEncryption:\nCi = EK(Pi⊕Pi − 1⊕Ci − 1)\nDecryption:\nPi = DK(Ci)⊕(Pi − 1⊕Ci − 1)\nCounter (CTR)\nCTR mode turns a block cipher into a stream cipher. This is a very fast, easy to use block cipher mode that allows you to encrypt blocks in parallel, or (equivalently) to encrypt/decrypt blocks at random offsets within the stream, which might be useful for things like encrypted storage (however, there are better modes for that, since encrypted storage has different threat models than most encryption use cases; see 28.7↓ ).\nEncryption:\nc is an arbitrary constant\nDecryption\nPi = Ci⊕DK(c + i)\nIn the case of c = 0, we are using the block number as a counter. It is, however, possible to chose any constant c. In some texts you will see them using a nonce concatenated with a counter, but this is equivalent to picking a non-zero c.\nCipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code (CBC-MAC)\nProvides authentication (not encryption) for a message. To perform CBC-MAC, you encrypt a message in CBC mode and take the last ciphertext block as your MAC.\nWikipedia on CBC-MAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBC-MAC )\nThe Security of the Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/research/tech-reports/1997/CSE-97-15.pdf )\nCipher-Based MAC (CMAC)\nThis algorithm also uses block ciphers to create a MAC.\nWikipedia on CMAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMAC )\nThis algorithm takes a block cipher and produces a MAC. Patent pending.\nWikipedia on PMAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMAC_(cryptography) )\nPMAC Homepage ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/ocb/pmac.htm )\nCounter With CBC-MAC (CCM)\nThis is an “authenticated encryption with associated data” mode, because it provides both authentication and encryption. It combines the CTR mode encryption with CBC-MAC to accomplish these goals. The third link below is the proof of security, based on the security of the underlying block cipher. It requires two block cipher operations per block of plaintext.\nWikipedia on CCM ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCM_mode )\nRFC 3610 on CCM with AES ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3610 )\nOn the Security of CTR + CBC-MAC ( http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/BCM/documents/proposedmodes/ccm/ccm-ad1.pdf )\nA Critique of CCM ( http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/BCM/documents/comments/800-38_Series-Drafts/CCM/RW_CCM_comments.pdf )\nNIST Special Publication 800-38C ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38C/SP800-38C_updated-July20_2007.pdf )\nCWC Mode\nThis algorithm is also an authenticated encryption mode. The homepage claims is patent-free, parallelizable, and provably secure and claims it unique among its kind.\nWikipedia on CWC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CWC_mode )\nCWC: A high-performance conventional authenticated encryption mode ( http://eprint.iacr.org/2003/106 )\nGalois/Counter Mode (GCM)\nThis mode uses CTR mode and the Galois method of authentication to create an authenticated encryption algorithm. It was designed as an improvement to the CWC mode. It requires one block cipher encryption and one 128-bit multiplication in the Galois field per 128-bit block of plaintext. Patent-free.\nWikipedia on GCM ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galois/Counter_Mode )\nNIST Special Publication 800-38D (November, 2007) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38D/SP-800-38D.pdf )\nEAX Mode\nThis mode is an authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) algorithm. It was designed as a replacement to CCM. It requires two passes over the data. It is public-domain, patent free.\nWikipedia on EAX ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EAX_mode )\nNIST: proposed modes of operation ( http://csrc.nist.gov/CryptoToolkit/modes/proposedmodes/index.html )\nEAX: A Conventional Authenticated-Encryption Mode ( http://eprint.iacr.org/2003/069 )\nThe EAX Mode of Operation ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/papers/eax.html )\nANSI C12 22 site ( http://www.c1222.net/ )\nOffset Codebook (OCB)\nThis mode provides authenticated encryption as well. It is patented, but the patent has a special exemption for code released under the GNU General Public License.\nWikipedia on OCB ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCB_mode )\nWikipedia on LRW ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#LRW )\nXEX\nWikipedia on XEX ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#XEX )\nCMC\nWikipedia on CMC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#CMC_and_EME )\nEME\nWikipedia on EME ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#CMC_and_EME )\nESSIV\nWikipedia on ESSIV ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#ESSIV )\nXTS\nWikipedia on XTS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#XTS )\n28.4.2 Speed of Algorithms and the Hybrid Encryption Scheme\nA hash routine with a given output size is usually much slower than an encryption routine with the same block size. However, public-key operations are almost always much more expensive (slower) than symmetric operations. Even the fast ECC encryption routines may take several hundred times (200-400x) longer than symmetric operations such as AES-256.\nTherefore, a good engineer may do more symmetric operations and fewer PK operations, and some CSPRNGs such as Yarrow use block ciphers rather than hashes. In fact, every major asymmetric cryptosystem that the author is aware of uses asymmetric algorithms to either encrypt a symmetric key, or digitally sign a hash of a message, rather than operate on the message itself.\n28.4.3 Hashing Stored Authentication Data\nWhen storing authentication data such as a password or passphrase, it usually is neither desirable nor necessary to store it in the clear, because then an intruder who pilfered the list could use it to authenticate himself directly. It is better to store the result of an application of a one-way-function (OWF) on the data, which people frequently refer to as hashing. Since I lack a verb for “apply a OWF to” I will sometimes call it hashing as well. The input is called the pre-image, and the result is called the image. To authenticate the person, you apply a OWF to the input they send and compare it to the image. That way, they will find it difficult to generate the input which generates the correct output. This property is called pre-image resistance.\nThis also has the nice side effect of not giving the adversary in this case the ability to use that authentication string (passphrase) on other systems, which enhances the user’s privacy, which is a good example of storing only what you need. Note however that if the adversary gets control of the system, they can record all the authentication data. Thus this technique only protects the end user against loss of confidentiality, not all attacks.\nNote that this does not help prevent eavesdropping attacks on network protocols; if the protocol sends the authentication string in the clear, then the adversary sees the pre-image, and can simply replay it to generate the appropriate image. If you apply the OWF on the client side prior to sending, then it is the image that authenticates a person, and he sees the image, and can merely replay it over the network. If you apply the OWF on both the client side and the server side, the adversary can still replay the network data (the results of the first OWF) and when run through the second OWF it would generate the desired value. In summary, applying a OWF to provided authentication data does not help if the adversary can see the input to the system (violating confidentiality), and replay it. Ideally you should never send reusable authentication data across the network (see 11.9↑ ).\n28.4.4 Offline Dictionary Attacks and Iterated Hashes\nIf you are storing the hash of data which was supplied by a human, it may be somewhat predictable in the sense that it is chosen from the set of all possible passphrases non-uniformly. For example, people tend to pick easy-to-remember things, like dictionary words. Thus, the offline dictionary attack involves obtaining the hashes and hashing each dictionary word, and comparing them to see if any match. This is annoying because it can be done without interacting with the system, and is therefore undetectable. This also works against when someone sends hashes of authentication data sent over the network; the adversary captures them, and then attacks them offline.\nOne countermeasure is to iterate the hash a number of times, to make attempting possible inputs take longer. If your iterated algorithm uses only the output from the last round as the input to the next round, then by storing the iteration count as part of the hash you can increase it in the future as computers get faster, without having the original input (just hash N more times, and add N to the iteration count).\nIdeal hashes are modeled as random functions; that is, they have no discernible pattern, and you can think of them as a giant lookup table, where the input is used as an index, and whose contents were randomly-generated. This means that they are not likely to be one-to-one, and so repeated hashing will cause you to enter a cycle of some kind, but this is unlikely to be a problem (consult the Handbook of Applied Cryptography, http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ , for more details). The traditional Unix crypt(3) function used the input as a key to DES, and encrypted a constant (the null vector) as its “hash”. I believe OpenBSD may do something similar for its password encryption, but using Blowfish. In either case, block ciphers are believed to be stronger than hashes, because the community has had more time to analyze them, and they are definitely faster, but it seems like the design criteria of a hash is a more natural fit for this problem.\n28.4.5 Salts vs. Offline Dictionary Attacks and Rainbow Tables\nAnother problem is that an adversary may go through the hashing process once for a given word, and compare it to multiple hashes. A rainbow table ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_tables ) is essentially a clever way to store a bunch of hashes of a certain dictionary (or character set). It still takes the same amount of time to create as a full table, but is smaller, at a small run-time expense.\nTo prevent these kind of attacks, we make each hash a slightly different operation, which means that each must be attacked independently. This is easily done by incorporating an individuating datum known as a salt, so named due to the analogy with adding salt to a food product when cooking it. This datum should be (relatively) unique to different entries, but it can’t remain confidential, since it must be known in order to perform the authentication function. Using a counter is easy, but if an adversary gets lists from different computers, there will be a significant overlap between the salts, so he may attack the lists in parallel. An easy way to prevent this is to simply use random data for the salt. This has a very small chance of a collision; due to the birthday paradox, if you have n2 possible salts, you will statistically have a duplicate 50% of the time after n entries. Another method is to a block cipher in CTR (“counter”) mode, which simply involves encrypting a counter. This will not repeat until the counter repeats. You should obviously use a different key on each system, or they will generate the same sequence. With different keys, the sequences should be statistically unrelated to each other.\n28.4.6 Offline Dictionary Attacks with Partial Confidentiality\nEven if you do all of this, an adversary may still try common choices against each hash. Since an authentication system is a deterministic system which generates a simple yes or no to a given input, there’s nothing you can do to increase the unpredictability of the input. However, if it were possible to keep a certain amount of data away from an adversary (for example, by storing it separately from the hashes, perhaps in a hardware security module), then you could use that data as the key for HMAC instead of using a hash. Since the adversary has no idea which of the n values you’ve chosen, you’ve multiplied the work factor by n.\n28.4.7 Passphrase Handling\nHuman beings are very poor at picking high-entropy values. If you use passphrases (or worse, passwords), you need to hash them before using them as keys because otherwise you will have a very small keyspace; you’ve probably already reduced it to the printable subset of the keyspace. You should think of keys as needing to have a nearly perfect Shannon entropy (see 29.6↓ ), and a simple way to do that is to hash a long passphrase down to a small hash image.\nBut there are substantially better ways of doing this. RSA has a nice standard on how to deal with passwords in cryptographic applications:\nPKCS #5 v2.1 Password Based Cryptography Standard ( ftp://ftp.rsasecurity.com/pub/pkcs/pkcs-5v2/pkcs5v2_1.pdf )\nPBKDF2 - Password-Based Key Derivation Function ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBKDF2 )\nscrypt ( http://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt.html )\n28.4.8 Run Algorithm Inputs through OWF\nIf the adversary discovers that a given algorithm input can break the security of the system, you can prevent him from controlling inputs directly. If you run everything through a one-way function (OWF), the adversary cannot feed that number to the system directly; he must first invert the one-way function to figure out what to give it. So a cheap way of adding security would be to hash all inputs from untrusted sources before use, since a hash is an available one-way function.\n28.5 Cryptographic Combinations\nThese are how the algorithms are combined. Their proper construction from algorithms, rules of thumb, pitfalls to avoid. This is where you stack the blocks together to accomplish some higher-level task. This should not be an experimental science; the rules of combination should be clear and unambiguous; it should be as simple as building a machine with Legos, or simplifying a logic expression. Unfortunately, it’s not… yet.\n28.5.1 Combiners\nCombine two eight bit chunks of data and have eight bits of data as output, but the combination is still in there. Pull one out and the other is what’s left. Look at how Feistel networks work, it’s a trip! Of course it’s not just XOR that can do it; XOR is just addition (without carry) modulo 2, and you could do it with any other modulus, like 28(add octets without carry) or 232. Latin squares can be used too, as can some other finite field operations (see network coding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_coding/ ). They are the simplest element of an encryption scheme and may be used inside certain ciphers.\n28.5.2 The Sign then Encrypt Problem\nBasically, if you (Alice) sign then encrypt something to Bob, he can strip off the encryption (like an “envelope”), then re-encrypt the still-signed message to Charlie, making it look like you sent it (see http://world.std.com/~dtd/sign_encrypt/sign_encrypt7.html ). Really, the problem is not a technical one, but interpretation; we assume that the entity which encrypted it to us is the same as the entity who signed it, when that is not necessarily the case.\n28.5.3 Encrypt-then-MAC\nColin Percival’s blog post on Encrypt-then-MAC ( http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2009-06-24-encrypt-then-mac.html )\nUsing HMAC to authenticate prior to decryption also neatly avoids the PKCS#7 Padding Oracle attack (see 30.5↓ ).\n28.5.4 Key Derivation Functions\nKey derivation functions (KDFs) involve taking a single datum and deriving several independent keys from it. Typically you might use one for signing and one for encryption, or you might use them for different data streams. Many people get this wrong, since there aren’t any standards for it. They are typically very similar to computationally-strong pseudo-random number generators (CSPRNGs), in that you need both sides to generate the same values given the initial seed, and you don’t want a person who gets access to one to be able to determine anything about any other key that was derived from the same source. Simple answers involve using the datum as a key for CTR mode encryption, or using it as a MAC key on some fixed strings.\n28.5.5 Serialization, Record Layers and Encoding\nWhenever you protect the integrity of data (using MIC, MAC, or digital signatures), you will have data about the data, or metadata (data about the data). This extra information is distinct from the data. They are fundamentally different things, and if you want to put them together in a single stream, you’ll have to chop it up and use a record (data structure, message, etc.) with at least two fields; the data and the metadata. Since most cryptographic systems care about the integrity of the data, they also have to perform operations on records of data, instead of streams. That means that if you’re using streams of data, like a file or a TCP connection, you’ll have to implement a record layer on top of it.\nAnd if you have a record with at least two types of data in it, and you want to put it in a stream, you’ll need to figure out how to serialize it, or decide which field goes first. When there are just two kinds of data, this is simple. However, when you’re dealing with large data structures, perhaps with data related to data related to data, this can get tricky.\nFor example, you may want to use an asymmetric algorithm to encrypt a symmetric key for the message, and then use that symmetric key for encrypting the message (see 28.4.2↑ ), and then you may want a MAC (see 28.3.6↑ ). Now you’ll need to start thinking about mixing different kinds of data. If you’re never going to change the data format or protocol, then you can just pick an order to serialize them in, and stick with that. However, most forward-thinking cryptographers know that they may want to change the format of the data, so you need a way to encode the data so that your software knows whether it is looking at a MAC, or a symmetric key, or so on.\nA common way to mix different kinds of data is with type-length-value (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type-length-value ), and it has the nice feature that you can add optional sections later that earlier implementations may skip. Other methods include KLV, or key-length-value ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLV ).\nASN.1 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASN.1 ) is a common but very complex system for serializing and encoding data. It is an abstract notation, meaning that it specifies that certain objects are encoded as sequences of other kinds of objects, but it doesn’t give a way to encode these primitive objects. That is the job of the encoding rules such as BER and DER. Two of its encoding rules are TLV-based and two are not. Cryptographers tend to use DER, because it gives an unambiguous way to encode data. It is used in everything from SNMP to X.509 certificates. It has the advantage of being very compact, and the disadvantage of not being human-readable. If you wish to become versed in the arcana of ASN.1, it may help to start with this (give yourself two readings before you give up):\nA Layman’s Guide to a Subset of ASN.1, BER, and DER ( http://luca.ntop.org/Teaching/Appunti/asn1.html )\nXML ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML ), particularly the XML Signature ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML_Signature ), seems like a good contender to displace ASN.1 but it is still too complicated. Its original job was to mark up text, but it’s much easier to debug since it’s all printable, but it is by no means compact.\n28.5.6 Polymorphic Data and Ambiguity\nJust as an image may be represented in a bitmap, a GIF, or a JPEG, so too may data appear in many forms. It may be necessary, for example, to use printable encoding techniques a la base64 to pass in an HTTP request. Such polymorphic data schemes produce two problems; one, it is necessary to specify (and convert to) a canonical form for authentication (see 28.6.7↓ ) and another in that some choices of encoding may be ambiguous.\nSome very fascinating work is being done on this right now in the XML Signature group ( http://www.w3.org/Signature/ ), but canonicalization is turning out to be full of pre-authentication complexity, which provides a large anonymous attack surface (see 7.5↑ ).\nThis is an evolution of the former section to cover freshness and other communication security concepts.\n28.6.1 DoS and Anti-Clogging Tokens\nSo most of the time, one of the first things a protocol will do is a public-key cryptographic operation of some kind, which is expensive. So this opens up a DoS vector; the client connects to the server, costing little or nothing, and the server has to do a PK operation. The same is possible the other way, but it’s usually more difficult to force a client to connect to you. Regardless, the answer to this is to force the peer to have to receive and respond to a packet, which Photuris ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photuris_%28protocol%29 ) called an anti-clogging cookie; this requires that the first packet to the peer be unpredictable (see 29↓ ). A normal TCP/IP handshake may often fill this purpose since the sequence number should be unpredictable, but it is not required to be so, nor may it be relied upon to be so, and so a very cautious designer would avoid using it as such.\n28.6.2 The Problem with Authenticating within an Encrypted Channel\nSuppose you use Diffie-Hellman to encrypt a channel. Trillian does just this, which is fine against a passive eavesdropper but doesn’t prevent MITM (see 10.9↑ ) since you have no idea to whom you’re encrypting your messages. The naive countermeasure is to authenticate within the channel, but again this does not prevent a MITM; the adversary simply establishes an encrypted channel with you and the remote end, then passes your authentication messages back and forth like the messages themselves. So the authentication messages must also be tied to the parameters of the encrypted tunnel. This is isomorphic to the sign-then-encrypt problem (see 28.5.2↑ ).\n28.6.3 How to Protect the Integrity of a Session\nIn his excellent book Practical Cryptography ( http://www.schneier.com/book-practical.html ), Bruce Schneier suggests that the sender should send a hash of everything it has sent so far with every message. With most hash constructions (i.e. Merkle-Damgård) this is easy, since you can maintain a fixed-size context, and send a finalization every message. The receiver should check the hash every time it receives a message. You do this regardless of whether or not you have negotiated a secure session already. This very simple design principle allows you to detect tampering at the earliest opportunity.\n28.6.4 Freshness and Replay Attacks\nSuppose you had a protocol which allowed for certain operations, like “transfer $1000 from my account to paypal@subspacefield.org”. If Mallory was able to record this message, she could send it a second time to perform what is called a replay attack, even if she wasn’t able to read the message. This may be just an annoyance, but imagine that the messages were actually tactical directives sent to military units; the confusion they caused would be dramatic indeed. If the messages have less context, like “yes”, or “transaction authorized”, then the potential for mischief goes up significantly. What we want to do is ensure freshness, or liveness, of the connection. All of the methods involve a nonce (short for “number used once”), and require that the recipient be able to determine if the number has been used before. All of them also detect re-ordering. Further, the nonces must be combined with the message such that the integrity of both is protected, or else the adversary could simply attach a new nonce to an old message.\nglobal timestamps\nThe obvious method used on military directives is to include a timestamp in each one. You generally want to include a timestamp that is unambiguous, so human-readable dates generally don’t work due to leap years, daylight savings time and time zone differences; I prefer to use a normal Unix timestamp, which is measured in seconds since the epoch. [M] [M] The epoch is the beginning of Jan 1, 1970, universal coordinated time (UTC), and is the de facto standard for Unix timekeeping. This is the only method which does not require keeping state about the peer between messages, but it does require everyone to have an accurate clock. This is also the only method which can detect a delayed message, but if you care about this usually you’d solve this by putting a timestamp in the message itself, and not doing it in the protocol.\nlocal timestamps\nIn this method, you don’t need everyone to have an accurate clock, but merely have one that never goes backwards, which is called monotonically increasing. In this case, each node has to keep the last timestamp from each peer to make sure that each new timestamp is greater to the last, and you need enough resolution to make sure that you don’t send two messages with the same stamp.\nserial numbers\nThis is basically a derivative of local timestamps, but instead of using a clock you just use a counter. It seems preferable to local timestamps in every way.\nchaining\nEach message includes some piece of information derived from prior messages that varies unpredictably. For example, you could use the hash of all previous messages.\nchallenge-response\nIn this method, the peer challenges you with a nonce, and you send it back with the message. This does not require any persistent storage, but does require an interactive protocol (instead of “store and forward”), and a source of unpredictable numbers, and requires an extra half round-trip (which I call a half-trip) in the exchange. This latency may be masked sometimes by overlapping this handshake with another stage of the protocol.\n28.6.5 Preventing Feedback\nIn order to prevent feedback from one part of the protocol to another, the input to each hash function, PRF function, KDF function and signature operation should be extended with a field that uniquely identifies that stage of the protocol.\n28.6.6 Identification\nFor a regular client-server opening, all mutual “authentication” protocols involve at least three half-trips. A simultaneous-open between two peers can occur in two half trips (i.e., a single round trip), but these are rare.\nThe protocol should authenticate what is meant, not what is said.\n-- The Horton Principle ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-ssl.html )\nThis quote suggests that you should authenticate plaintext, not ciphertext. In fact, if the plaintext has more than one encoding (see 28.5.5↑ ), you should pick one to be canonical and authenticate that. Having to convert the data to canonical form before authentication is unfortunate but one of the consequences of multiple encodings.\nMutual Authentication Protocols\nI once took all the mutual authentication protocols in Schneier’s Applied Cryptography and factored out the trusted third party to create simple two-party mutual authentication protocols (apparently those are so trivial he didn’t bother to mention them). It was an interesting exercise, and I noticed that all of the results had three half-trips (1.5 RTTs). Except in the case of a mutual open, it seems like this is the minimum, and probably not coincidentally is the number of half trips needed in the TCP three-way handshake. It seems pretty intuitive to me, but I haven’t seen a proof that this is indeed the minimum.\nSimplest MAP: A->B Ch1, B->A R1Ch2, A->B R2.\n28.6.8 Eschew Multiple Encoding Schemes Unless Necessary\nPolymorphic data (data having multiple encoding schemes) is quite difficult to filter properly; this came up when people learned you could use HTML entity encoding to bypass filters for detecting “bad” things on web servers. Anything, especially middle-boxes like NIDS, have trouble when the number of encodings is too high, and inevitably the false positive goes up. This is also what Ptacek described in Insertion, Evasion, and Denial of Service: Eluding Network Intrusion Detection ( http://cerberus.sourcefire.com/~jeff/papers/Ptacek_and_Newsham/idspaper.html ).\n28.6.9 Key Exchange and Hybrid Encryption Schemes\nTypically at some point the peers will do some public key operations in a key exchange order to get some session keys. By analogy, in data formats such as OpenPGP, they use a hybrid encryption scheme which does a single PK operation to encrypt or decrypt a symmetric message key. One engineering trick is that if you use a KDF to generate two independent keys for each direction during your key exchange, you can use one for MAC and one for encryption, which means that you can do cheap symmetric MAC operations instead of digital signatures, which are expensive public-key operations.\n28.7 Encrypted Storage\nI think it’s a good idea, so you don’t have to worry about someone copying or tampering with your data as they sit on the storage media. If you take this step before using media, apart from the inconvenience of entering a passphrase (possibly as infrequently as once every time you reboot, which can be as little as once a year on Unix), you won’t ever have to worry about “secure deletion”, or losing physical possession of it due to any of the following reasons:\nTheft, loss, or confiscation (see http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/how_to_secure_y.html )\nDrive failure and disposal or returning it under warrantee\nFire, hurricane, flood, or any other disaster\nOwner runs short on funds and wants to liquidate some assets quickly\nIn this case, the confidentiality guarantee is the greater of the confidentiality levels on the key and the media. A randomly-generated key is useless, and the media alone gives a confidentiality guarantee equal to that of the cipher used. Just think of the peace of mind you’ll have not having to worry about loss of physical possession of your storage devices!\nIf you want more information on how to actually set this up, I have given a presentation on it ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/encrypted_storage_slides.pdf ).\nNote that while network encryption protects the data between to positions in space, encrypted storage is protecting the data between two positions in time; in essence, you are encrypting it to your future self.\n28.7.1 Key Escrow for Encrypted Storage\nIn corporate environments it’s often a requirement that you be able to recover the data if the employee forgets their passphrase, leaves the company, and so on. Even with individuals, the idea of losing all your data can be intimidating. The naive and error-prone way of handling this is to simply ask them to submit the passphrase to an escrow account of some kind, and make a policy against not doing so; this makes reminding them to do so sound less like being the security Nazi and more like you are protecting them. However, there is a clever method for avoiding having to do this that uses key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ). In this case the data encryption key is randomly generated, and it is encrypted with the user’s passphrase. However, the tool also encrypts it with a public key for the organization and stores the result of that computation as well. An individual could use the same technique and simply store the private half of the recovery key in a secure second location, like a safety deposit box. This worries some people, but it’s definitely better than not using encryption at all.\n28.7.2 Evolution of Cryptographic Storage Technologies\nUserland applications which require user to manually run them, which are tedious to use and prone to human error.\nFile systems which encrypt files and directories individually and automatically, which turn out to be overly complex due to the complex filesystem APIs in most operating systems.\nBlock devices which encrypt blocks of data, which allow you to put any filesystem on them.\n28.7.3 Filesystem Crypto Layers\nThese basically encrypt the data before storing it on the disk. They are often created as layers over a regular filesystem. If layered over a network file system like NFS, you can store stuff on a remote system without having to trust the confidentiality of the remote system.\nCFS\nTCFS\nOne advantage of this kind of design is that you can build secure delete into the system, as in Radia Perlman’s paper File System Design with Assured Delete ( http://ieeeia.org/sisw/2005/PreProceedings/09.pdf ).\n28.7.4 File Systems with Optional Encryption\nMicrosoft’s Encrypting File System (EFS) is a bit of a black box; the only analysis I have seen of it is in a Black Hat presentation ( http://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-europe-03/bh-europe-03-malyshev.pdf )\nZFS will have some optional encryption\n28.7.5 Block Device Crypto\nNot long ago the US had a SIGINT plane which was forced down in China. They tried to destroy the data they had collected, but were unable to. If only they had used one of these free alternatives, they wouldn’t have had to worry:\nTrueCrypt (highly recommended) ( http://www.truecrypt.org/ )\nFreeOTFE ( http://www.freeotfe.org/ )\nThe Debian installer (and Ubuntu alternate install CD) now let you encrypt the root partition, so only /boot is left in the clear.\nFor more discussion, please read these articles:\nMarcus Ranum reviews TrueCrypt ( http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/diskcrypt/index.html )\nBruce Schneier recommends PGP Disk ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/how_to_secure_y.html )\nUS Government to require full disk encryption ( http://www.full-disk-encryption.net/fde_govt.html )\nWikipedia on Disk Encryption Theory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory )\n28.7.6 The Cryptographically-Strong Pseudo-random Quick Fill\nMany places tell you to pre-fill the lower layer of your encrypted disk device with pseudo-random (/dev/urandom) output before mounting the upper layer, but this is VERY slow, since SHA-1 only generates 160 bits of output per iteration. It’s much faster and almost as good in this context to mount with a random key, write zeroes (/dev/zero) to the upper layer, unmount, remount with another key, then use that as your file system, because then you’re using a cipher to generate your data, and ciphers are quite fast.\n28.7.7 Backups\nWhy don’t you just pipe your backups through something like gpg or any other encryption filter before writing them to tape? Then you could store them anywhere, even a public FTP site. You could also use the program duplicity ( http://www.nongnu.org/duplicity/ ) for secure remote backups.\n28.7.8 Threat Models Against Encrypted Storage\nRemote Access While Mounted The adversary cracks the system’s security while the drive is mounted and thus available in unencrypted form.\nPhysical Seizure The adversary seizes or steals the system, but has to power it off to do so. This is equivalent to one-time physical access.\nPhysical Access While Mounted The adversary gains physical access to the computer while the encrypted storage is mounted (or shortly thereafter) and performs a cold boot attack or direct memory access to recover the encryption keys (see 1↑ , 2↑ ).\nWatermarking The adversary gets your system to store a specific chunk of plaintext on your encrypted disk, and then can prove from the encrypted image that you have that data stored.\n28.8 Deniable Storage\nDeniable storage is a system for hiding the fact that certain data exists. This is similar to, but different from, encrypted storage which merely makes the data unintelligible. This encompasses deniable encryption and steganographic file systems.\n28.8.1 Deniable Encryption\nIn cryptography and steganography, deniable encryption is encryption that allows its users to convincingly deny the fact that the data is encrypted or, assuming that the data is obviously encrypted, its users can convincingly deny that they are able to decrypt it. Such convincing denials may or may not be genuine, e.g., although suspicions might exist that the data is encrypted, it may be impossible to prove it without the cooperation of the users. In any case, even if the data is encrypted then the users genuinely may not have the ability to decrypt it. Deniable encryption serves to undermine an attacker’s confidence either that data is encrypted, or that the person in possession of it can decrypt it and provide the associated plaintext.\n-- Wikipedia\nRubberhose ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberhose_%28file_system%29 )\n28.8.4 Threats Models Against Deniable Storage\nThese are taken from Bruce Schneier’s paper titled Defeating Encrypted and Deniable File Systems: TrueCrypt v5.1a and the Case of the Tattling OS and Applications ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-truecrypt-dfs.html ).\nOne-Time Access The adversary gets a single image of the disk. This might happen if the adversary seizes or steals the computer.\nIntermittent Access The adversary gets multiple snapshots of the disk at different times. This can happen if you cross a border and the border guards are adversaries who take images of the disk each time.\nRegular Access The adversary gets many images of the disk taken at short intervals. This may happen if the adversary gets repeated access to the drive; for example, the secret police may break into someone’s residence and take a drive image each time.\nThree Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,\nSeven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,\nNine for Mortal Men doomed to die,\nOne for the Dark Lord on his dark throne\nIn the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.\nOne Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,\nOne Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them\nIn the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.\n-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring )\nKey management is a term that encompasses a wide variety of problems and solutions:\nKey generation\n28.9.1 Key Generation\nFor symmetric keys, key generation usually amounts to the random generation of a fixed number of bits. You could use a password for a key, since all bitstrings are valid symmetric keys, but you want these bits to be completely unpredictable to an adversary (see 29↓ ). Therefore, I recommend using randomly-generated keys unless a human must enter them. For example, it may require a human to enter a key to decrypt an encrypted storage device (see 28.7↑ ). In that case you should use a cryptographic hash of suitable size (equal to or greater than the key size) to hash a user-supplied passphrase, and then use (as many as possible of) those bits as a key. In many cases where passphrases are used, it may be wise to use a level of key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ) to allow for the passphrase to be changed without changing the underlying key.\nFor asymmetric keys, the process is more involved, usually involving much larger quantities of random numbers in number-theoretic algorithms.\n28.9.2 Key Distribution\nOnce you have generated keys, you need to share them, in whole (symmetric) or part (asymmetric) with anyone you wish to communicate with. This has always been the part of cryptography which involves the most handwaving and impractical solutions.\nDistributing Symmetric Keys\nIn symmetric cryptography, you have to share the key with any intended recipients while not disclosing the key to anyone else (i.e. confidentially). Once you have done this, you will be able to communicate with them securely. Unfortunately, this suffers from a bootstrapping problem; you need a confidential channel in order to distribute the keys.\nOne thing you could do is send them the key and simply hope nobody eavesdrops on it. You could do this via an out-of-band communication channel such as the phone. One could also trade keys on a portable storage medium via the postal service, trusted couriers, or in person. Fortunately, portable data storage devices have such large capacity now that one need only do a physical exchange of keys once.\nIn theory, one could give multiple parties the same key material. Also, since more than one system has the credential, this violates the Principle of Least Privilege ( 34.1↓ ), and now one system may impersonate another, which violates the Principle of Unique Identifiers (see 34.5↓ ). Thus, you will usually want to share a separate key with every party with which you wish to communicate. This means that for n parties, there must be n2 keys.\nDistributing Asymmetric Keys\nEnter asymmetric cryptography. In asymmetric cryptography, you have to share the public key with your intended recipients; by design, you can share the same key with all parties. In this case, you do not need the key exchange to be confidential; your public key may be disclosed to the world; only your private key need be kept confidential. In some cases, people may post a GPG key on their web page. It is also possible to publish those keys into global key servers, which can store and retrieve keys as needed. However, these systems have a flaw; how does one know that the key one retrieved from a web page or key server is the correct key? An adversary could conduct a MITM attack (see 10.9↑ ) by substituting his own key for the one you intended to download. That would set up the preconditions for conducting other MITM attacks against encrypted communications later on. Note that this is a detectable attack, since it is not passive.\nDuckling Model\nIn this model, keys are exchanged upon the first communication, much like a duckling imprints on the first object it sees as its mother (i.e. trusted). It is hoped by the parties involved that the adversary is not conducting a MITM attack during this first communication. This model is often used with key continuity checks (see 57↓ ).\nhttp://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fms27/papers/2001-Stajano-duckling.pdf\nOn-Air Keying (OAK)\nOn-Air Keying is a method for key exchange that involves signalling the next key to use during a secure transmission. This allows for key exchange without a separate, secure key distribution channel. Needless to say, if the adversary has that signal and can find the current key, the next one can be decrypted. It also means that one must get positive verification that the other end got the transmission, lest you lose them forever.\nNormally on-air keying is considered unsafe, because it uses the communication channel as a key exchange channel. However, these conditions may make it acceptable:\nIntegrity protected: Double-check that other side got information properly\nTactical information: information may be valuable for an amount of time smaller than the time it takes to guess the key\nEnemy may not be receiving the information at the key exchange time (mostly for radio nets)\nKey exchange times are laid out in advance with initial, secure key exchange time (mostly for radio nets)\nThere is nothing else available\nThe Broadcast Channel\nOne method for doing this is to publish the key (or its fingerprint) as widely as possible. For example, you could put your GPG fingerprint in your email headers or .signature file, so that anyone can check the key they retrieved against any email they may have received from you. The theory here is that any adversary wishing to conduct a MITM attack (see 10.9↑ ) would have to have started such an attack before you sent the email containing the fingerprint to the recipient.\nIf the recipient has never received an email from you, they could in theory retrieve one from the web, under the theory that an adversary would not be conducting MITM attacks against the recipient by substituting his own fingerprints for yours while he is doing this.\nWeb of Trust\n28.9.3 Key Verification\nThis term refers to the process of ascertaining whether a given (public) key corresponds to the person we believe it to.\nKey Continuity\nIn this case, the cryptographic protocol caches the keys (usually public) from a remote system between uses, and informs the user if they ever change, since that is indicative of a man-in-the-middle attack (either in progress or up until now). This is usually done when using the Duckling model of key distribution (see 53↑ ).\nCertification Authorities\nSoftware like web browsers often come with a cache of certificates (which include public keys) from various CAs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority ). Upon connecting to an SSL-secured web server, the web server’s certificate is sent to the browser. The CA keys bundled with the browser can then be used to check signatures on the web server’s certificate. This is just a form of key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ); instead of having to securely obtain keys from all possible endpoints, you merely have to securely obtain the CA’s key which signed the keys of the endpoints.\nIt turns out that CAs and PKI are very complex subjects, and I cannot do them justice here.\nIt’s worth noting that anyone can generate a certificate; what CAs are really doing is selling the process of certification, so I’ve chosen to call them this rather than “certificate authorities”; be warned that I am in the minority.\nOut-of-Band Comparison\nOne can compare fingerprints of keys over a different, low-bandwidth communication medium (i.e. the phone, postal mail). CAs are basically this but done through middlemen.\nParallel Paths\nOOB comparison is really an example of creating two disjoint paths between two entities and making sure that they give the same results. This can occur in multiple contexts. For example, it can be used for the bootstrapping problem; how can I trust the first connection? By creating two paths I can compare the identities of the peer both places. I once used this to check the integrity of my PGP downloads by downloading it from home and from another location, and comparing the results.\nFormatting\nImagine that the adversary is conducting a MITM against, say, an SSH session, so instead of A<->B it is A<->O<->B. Your countermeasure as A may be to check the IP addresses of the peer at B, so that the adversary would have to spoof IPs in both directions (this is often printed automatically at login). Another technique is to check the host key fingerprint as part of your login sequence, sending the fingerprint through the tunneled connection. The adversary may modify the data at the application layer automatically, to change the fingerprint on the way through. But what if you transformed (e.g. encrypted) the fingerprint using a command-line tool, and represented it as printable characters, and printed them through the tunnel, and inverted the transformation at the local end? Then he’d have a very difficult time writing a program to detect this, especially if you kept the exact mechanism a secret. You could run the program automatically through ssh, so it isn’t stored on the remote system.\n28.9.4 Key Management and Scalability\nKey management is a scalability issue. In a single-person organization, you can trust yourself with all the data. As the organization grows, your risk increases proportionally, and so you want to enforce need-to-know. Then you encrypt data and only give the keys out to those who need them, and tightly control the keys.\nA key server centralizes and hands out keys. A cryptologic server holds the keys and performs encryption or authentication on data provided by other systems. There are hardware security devices like this and they call them hardware security modules, or HSMs.\nIf N participants had to use symmetric cryptography, each person would have to have a key for talking to every other person, or O(N2) keys. Asymmetric cryptosystems let us bring this under control and have only N keys again.\n28.9.5 One Key, One Purpose\nReusing keys in different algorithms may lead to weaknesses. For example, if an encryption algorithm is so weak that (e.g.) a known-plaintext attack could recover the key, then it could compromise every other security property ensured by that key.\nAlternately, a person may be able to use one part of a protocol to act as an oracle to perform cryptographic operations using a key, and then use the result in another part of the algorithm. There is an attack known as the mirror attack where the server takes a challenge, encrypts it with a key, and sends the result back as a response (to prove it knows the key without actually showing it), with its own challenge. The client then creates a second connection, and sends the server’s challenge as its own challenge, and take the response and use it in the original connection. If the same key is used in both directions, you lose. Similar problems exist when the keys are strongly related (i.e. only one bit different), or other trivial modifications.\nIn general, if you are using the same key in two different cryptographic algorithms, that is usually a mistake. You should probably be using a KDF (see 28.5.4↑ ) to derive multiple keys from the datum you’re currently using directly.\nFurthermore, by using different keys in different places, you limit the value of obtaining one key, so that the amount of resources required to recover it exceed its value. If this is known, then it will reduce the total number of attacks on the system and thus the amount you have to spend defending it (or analyzing the intrusions).\nFinally, key should be used in as few places as possible to allow for easy revocation or rotation.\nThis is similar to the principle of unique identifiers (see 34.5↓ ).\n28.9.6 Time Compartmentalization\nForward security in symmetric cipher by running keys through a OWF periodically, and destroying old value. For asymmetric, renegotiate encryption keys in a way that cannot be reconstructed later, even with the authentication keys (e.g. anonymous Diffie-Hellman session key negotiation).\n28.9.7 Key Indirection\nA common problem has to do with key revocation; how do we revoke a key which must be used by many people? I am told that in one part of Fort Meade, each day employees swipe their badges through a sort of vending machine which dispenses physical keys. The physical keys are used by many people, and re-keying a physical lock is hard, so this system allows them to revoke the authorization on the badge without re-keying the locks. By analogy, if the end-user enters one key which unlocks a (secret) encryption key which can decrypt the data (which could be done with a hardware security module), then we can change or revoke the first key without having to change the second. This first key is called a key-encrypting-key (KEK). It is particularly useful in storage crypto, where it may be difficult or impossible to re-encrypt all the encrypted data in a timely manner.\nThe same thing occurs in most public key systems because PK algorithms are so slow. Public key is too slow to perform on all but very small messages; thus, they encrypt a message key with the public-key algorithms, and then use the message key to encrypt the bulk of the data using a fast symmetric cipher. This is called a hybrid crypto system. Almost all network protocols do the same thing, only there the symmetric key is called a session key.\nYou can imagine attacking a KEK system like this; there are two locked doors made of different substances, arranged in parallel (see 34.8↓ ). Behind the first door is a key that unlocks the second. The prize is behind the second door. Obviously, you can either attack the first door or the second and get the prize. However, since PK is usually weaker than symmetric encryption, and since users generally pick poor passwords, the first door is usually easier. Also, since there will be other pairs of doors with the same lock on the first door, finding the key for the first door is more valuable than the second. However, if the first door is made of adamantine and the second door is made of wood, then you might be able to smash through all the second doors without keys, in which case you need never bother with the adamantine doors. If the doors are arranged vice-versa, you can always smash through the first door and get the key to the second.\n28.9.8 Secret Sharing\nSecret sharing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_sharing ) involves requiring a certain number of shares to be combined to reconstruct any of the information. The easiest way to do this is with one-time pads. However, if you wish to do this more than once, you usually have to have a dealer which reconstructs the secret out of the reach of any of the participants (a well-protected system, or perhaps a hardware security module).\nWikipedia Threshhold Cryptosystem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_cryptosystem )\nIntrusion Tolerance via Threshhold Cryptography ( http://www.stanford.edu/~dabo/ITTC/ )\nThere are, however, schemes similar to secret sharing that do not require trusted dealers; these are called threshhold cryptosystems.\n28.10 Cryptographic Standards\n28.10.1 RSA Security Public Key Cryptography Standards\nMore commonly known as PKCS, these standards are the most important to anyone implementing public key cryptographic systems.\nPKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2125 )\nPKCS #3: Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2126 )\nPKCS #5: Password-Based Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2127 )\nPKCS #6: Extended-Certificate Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2128 )\nPKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2129 )\nPKCS #8: Private-Key Information Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2130 )\nPKCS #9: Selected Attribute Types ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2131 )\nPKCS #10: Certification Request Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2132 )\nPKCS #11: Cryptographic Token Interface Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2133 )\nPKCS #12: Personal Information Exchange Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2138 )\nPKCS #13: Elliptic Curve Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2139 )\nPKCS #15: Cryptographic Token Information Format Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2141 )\n28.10.2 Federal Information Processing Standards\nMore commonly known as FIPS, these are government standards, some of which cover security-relevant material.\nWikipedia entry on FIPS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Information_Processing_Standard )\nWikipedia entry on FIPS-140 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS_140 )\nFederal Information Processing Standards Publications ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/ )\nFIPS 140-2 Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips140-2/fips1402.pdf )\nFIPS 180-3 Secure Hash Standard (SHA) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-3/fips180-3_final.pdf )\nFIPS 181 Automated Password Generator (APG) ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip181.htm )\nFIPS 185 Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES) ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip185.htm )\nFIPS 186-2 Digital Signature Standard (DSS) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips186-2/fips186-2-change1.pdf )\nFIPS 196 Entity Authentication Using Public Key Cryptography ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips196/fips196.pdf )\nFIPS 197 Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips197/fips-197.pdf )\nFIPS 198-2 The Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips198-1/FIPS-198-1_final.pdf )\n28.10.3 National Institute of Standards Special Publications\nThis includes the NIST 800 series. There are too many to list individually, so here is the link:\nNIST Special Publications (800 series) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html )\n28.10.4 PGP and GPG\n“The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.”\n-- Robert R. Coveyou of Oak Ridge National Laboratory\nCryptographic Random Numbers ( http://www.std.com/~cme/P1363/ranno.html )\nThe Efficient Generation of Cryptographic Confusion Sequences ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/ARTS/CRNG2ART.HTM )\nRFC 4086: Randomness Recommendations for Security ( http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4086.txt )\nDavid Wagner’s Randomness for Crypto ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/rnd/ )\n29.1 Types of Random Number Generators\nA pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) is an algorithm that starts with a “seed” of unpredictable bits and generates a stream of bits using a deterministic algorithm. These can come in varying strengths, so those meant for use in cryptography are sometimes called cryptographically strong pseudo-random number generators (CSPRNG)\nPRNGs are opposed to “true” random number generators (TRNG), which is one that creates bits via some (analog) noise source. These are sometimes called hardware random number generators (HWRNG), since they usually exist as hardware to be attached to a regular, deterministic computer system.\nWikipedia article on PRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-random_number_generator )\nWikipedia article on CSPRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographically_secure_pseudorandom_number_generator )\nWikipedia article on HWRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generator )\n29.2 Pseudo-Random Number Generators\n29.2.1 Yarrow\nYarrow is a pretty neat CSPRNG because it uses a block cipher to “stretch” a seed significantly. This introduces some slight predictability, but is very fast.\nYarrow: A secure pseudorandom number generator ( http://www.schneier.com/yarrow.html )\n29.3 An Ideal Random Number Generator\nPeriodically, some event happens within an ideal random number generator (IRNG); for example, a photon is shot at a half-silvered mirror. The outcome of each event is one of a finite number of states n; in this example, it is reflected or transmitted through the mirror. The RNG represents measures the outcome, and then encodes it for use by a discrete-logic computer.\nIn an ideal random number generator, the outputs are independent and uniformly distributed among the states. Furthermore, it is unpredictable. Just what constitutes unpredictability? That is the subject we shall now cover.\n29.4 Definitions of Unpredictability\n[W]e will be able to interpret the laws of probability and quantum physics as being the statistical results of the development of completely determined values of variables which are at present hidden from us … The idea of chance … comes in at each stage in the progress of our knowledge, when we are not aware that we are on the brink of a deeper level of reality which still eludes us.\n-- De Broglie ( http://www.eequalsmcsquared.auckland.ac.nz/sites/emc2/tl/philosophy/dice.cfm )\nAssume there is no information that is available to help anyone predict the outcome of an event prior to the event’s occurrence, and the event outcomes are independent and uniformly distributed. Then if there are n states, then anyone’s chance of guessing the outcome prior to the event is exactly (1)/(n). It obviously must not be more, but neither can it be less, because if the probability of one guess being correct were worse than that, then another must necessarily be greater. This is what I call ideally unpredictable.\nIn cryptography, we really only care if the adversary can predict the outcomes. If it is impossible for the adversary to improve his odds at guessing the outcome over pure chance, then the RNG is effectively unpredictable, even if it were possible for us to guess the state (perhaps by observing some physical process hidden from the adversary).\nThe famous physicist De Broglie suggests in the quote above that unpredictability and chance are illusions caused by our ignorance (epistemology), and not related to the nature of the universe itself (ontology). When two people can finish each other’s sentences but someone else cannot, we have proof that what is unpredictable to one person may not be unpredictable to another. Similarly, a randomly-generated number may be stored, as in the RAND corporation’s famous book “A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates”. The transmission of random outcomes may be delayed as in the motion picture The Sting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sting ), and anyone with access to the generated value may know it whereas it remains unpredictable to everyone else.\n29.5 Definitions of Randomness\nThere are many definitions of randomness, but the only one that matters is the definition of effective unpredictability given above. Other fields of thought, such as physics or philosophy, may deal with issues such as determinism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism ). There are multiple kinds of determinism, such as causal determinism (an ontological argument that “what comes before causes what comes after”), and predictive determinism (the universe is causally deterministic, and furthermore we can use our knowledge about the universe and its present state to predict the future). Thus, we can have an IRNG if the universe is causally deterministic, but not if it is predictively deterministic. However, we can have effective unpredictability even if the universe is predictively deterministic.\nThe Several Types of Random ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS3/GLOSRAND.HTM )\n29.6 Types of Entropy\nIf you’re an aspiring cryptologist, the measures of entropy are worth studying, because they are appropriate in different situations and analyses.\nIt’s worth noting that information theoretic calculations of entropy are based on “ensembles” (infinite numbers of streams) of infinite length, for mathematical reasons. This makes reading the works somewhat intimidating for those without adequate mathematical training, and leads to minor problems when applying them to single streams of symbols (especially those of finite length). They also require a priori knowledge about “the source” - one cannot strictly derive a model for a source based on the output (see 29.10↓ ).\n29.6.1 Shannon Entropy\nWhen most computer scientists or cryptologists talk about entropy, they normally are referring to the so-called Shannon Entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_entropy ). It is useful for discussing one-time pads, secret sharing, compression, and some other aspects of computer science.\nIt is calculated by the following formula:\nH(X) = − ⎲⎳ni = 1p(xi)lg p(xi)\nWhere p is the probability mass function (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_mass_function ) for random variable X.\nMore links about Shannon and Entropy:\nA Mathematical Theory of Communication by Claude E. Shannon ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/paper.html )\nThe Many Faces of Entropy ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/talks/JZ.ps.gz )\nShannon Theory and Contemporary Cryptology ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/talks/JLM.ps.gz )\n29.6.2 Min-entropy\nThere is another type of entropy measurement called min-entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min-entropy ). This is useful for analyzing random number generators. This entropy measure has the following formula:\nHinf(X) = − lg maxipi\n29.6.3 Rényi Entropy\nRényi entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9nyi_entropy ) is yet another way to measure entropy. It has the following formula:\nHα(X) = (1)/(1 − α) lg (n⎲⎳i = 1pαi)\nThe Rényi entropy is a generalized form of the Shannon (α = 1) and Min-entropy (α = infinity). This measure of entropy (with α = 2) is useful when analyzing the possibility of hash collisions.\nThe Rényi entropy is a non-increasing function of α, so min-entropy is always the most conservative measure of entropy and usually the best to use for cryptographic evaluation.\nLuby, M., “Pseudorandomness and Cryptographic Applications”, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691025460, 8 Jan 1996 ( http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5154.html )\n29.6.4 Guessing Entropy\nThe “guessing entropy” is the work required by an adversary who knows the distribution of your keys to guess the correct key. It is assumed that the probabilities are summed from largest (i = 0) to smallest (i = n). It is useful when figuring out the amount of work necessary when the keys are non-uniformly distributed.\nHG(X) = lg ⎲⎳ii p(i)\nChristian Cachin, Entropy Measures and Unconditional Security in Cryptography, PhD thesis, ETH Zurich, May 1997 ( ftp://ftp.inf.ethz.ch/pub/publications/dissertations/th12187.ps.gz )\n29.7 Why Entropy and Unpredictability Are Not the Same\nSometimes people use the term entropy to mean unpredictability (information, the amount of surprise we have at seeing the symbol), and it is nice that it is quantitative, however it is not really the best term to use. There are several problems with using this term to mean unpredictability:\nThe term is widely used in physics and is overloaded with a a number of associations that are rather confusing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy ). There is strong debate as to whether the concepts are related in any useful way.\nMost computer scientists use the term in the same sense as Claude Shannon ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_entropy ), but there are several other measures of entropy in information theory (see 29.6↑ ).\nIt takes precise and quantifiable terminology (that is, jargon), and uses it in a general, unquantified, imprecise way.\nSee next section.\n29.7.1 An Argument Against Entropy as Unpredictability\nWhat is the information content of source generating an alternating series of two symbols?\nIf one uses the Shannon entropy formula, one uses a probability mass function (PMF), and the way this is tallied in many cases is to simply count the proportion of events that have a given outcome (the other entropy measurements give identical answers in this case).\nThus, if the random number generator had a binary event (n = 2), and it always came up alternating ones and zeroes (i.e. it is completely correlated), the probability mass function would still be uniform, and entropy would be maximized (H = 1).\nIf, on the other hand, we define a symbol to be represented by “01”, then we can do a simple change of symbols (or binning) and come up with a completely different measurement (H = 0). Thus, the measurement is not stable across a simple substitution of symbols; equating the two would imply changing symbols drastically affects the amount of information in the sequence, which goes against my intuition about the meaning of “information”.\nIn other words, probability mass function is generally ignorant of the adversary’s ability to predict the outcome beyond simple unigram frequencies. Even amateur cryptanalysts use bigrams (Markov models) or higher-powered predictive models to solve the cryptograms in newspapers.\nEven Shannon uses the term loosely; in one study he measures the entropy of English to be about 1-2 bits per character, because humans can guess the letter 25-50% of the time. However, this is not the result of application of strict application of his formula using the PMF, but instead he is using the human as an oracle to estimate a tighter lower bound on the entropy. This suggests that the measure of entropy is not a completely objective measure, but rather depends on the ability of something to predict the next symbol. He did note that it varies with the intelligence of the person making the predictions (and, presumably, the similarity of the person to the author, in terms of writing style and knowledge of the subject).\nFor another example, the digits (decimal or binary) of π are easily computable in non-sequential order (see the BBP formula, http://crd.lbl.gov/~dhbailey/pi/ ), and thus totally predictable, but would also have maximal entropy. Indeed, mathematicians believed the digits not to have a pattern for a very long time.\n29.8 Unpredictability is the Sine Qua Non of Cryptography\nIf you can’t pick crypto keys your adversary can’t guess, there’s little point in using cryptography.\n29.9 Predictability is Provable, Unpredictability is Not\nThere is no such thing as a random number, only a randomly-generated number.\nFor an adversary who only has access to the output of the random number generator (RNG), one assumes that predictability takes the form of a pattern in the output. Any pattern at all means that it is somewhat predictable; for example, if it generates slightly more ones than zeroes, the “DC bias” is off and it is not entirely predictable. But how can we prove there are no patterns, when the number of patterns is infinite? We cannot do this through testing any finite number of patterns at a time.\nThis is what lawyers mean by not being able to prove a negative, but it’s easy to prove some negatives; to prove that there aren’t any pennies in my hand, you can look. It’s negations of claims of existence (it’s not the case that there exists an x such that x is a unicorn) that are hard to prove, because they are universal claims (for all things x, x is not a unicorn). It’s just as difficult to prove a simple positive universal claim, such as “bodies in motion stay in motion”, or that the normal physical laws hold the same everywhere and in all situations.\nThis quandary was summed up in a pithy way in a Dilbert comic ( http://web.archive.org/web/20011027002011/http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2001182781025.gif ).\n29.10 Randomly-Generated Samples Are No Different Than Any Other Sample\nA monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type the complete works of William Shakespeare.\n-- Infinite Monkeys Theorem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem )\nSuppose the output is 01110011; is that more or less random than 00000000? Each sequence is just as likely if the source is random (1 in 256). Looking at either, can we tell whether the source is random? No, we cannot. The output alone says nothing definitive about the source. However, if we have a model of the source, and an output, we can say how likely the source would be to generate that output, but we cannot say how likely an output was to be generated by a particular model of a source, since the number of potential models is infinite.\nXKCD did a funny comic about this ( http://xkcd.org/221/ ).\n29.11 Testing Samples For Predictability\nSo we’ve established that you can’t prove something is randomly-generated, nor can you prove that something is not randomly-generated. However, you can test to see if it is unlikely to be randomly-generated. A good suggestion to test your own random numbers is to upload them to the random number testing service ( http://www.cacert.at/random/ ) and see how they compare to other RNGs ( http://www.cacert.at/cgi-bin/rngresults ).\nRandomness Tests: A Literature Survey ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/RES/RANDTEST.HTM )\n29.12 Testing Noise Sources\nhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E4D61F38F937A3575BC0A96E958260\n29.13.2 Looking Only at 0/1 Bias\nHow you count the values matters. For example, if the RNG always generates one of the octets (“bytes”) 00000000 or 11111111 with equal probability, then the bit distribution is uniform, but the distribution of octets is not. A number of things may be happening here:\nThe RNG is performing some event and sampling an analog result with eight (or more) bits of precision. However, the distribution is not uniform (flat), so there’s only two observed outcomes, each with 50% probability. This may happen if the analog portion has the gain set too high on the amplifier, or there is some other problem sampling the analog event.\nThe RNG is performing some binary event and the outcomes are correlated, meaning that they are not independent of each other. This may happen if there is a resonance or cycle inside the analog portion, if the analog portion is picking up an external signal (i.e. a radio station), or if the outputs of the generator are being incorrectly processed (for example, they may have been transferred as text files between machines with different end-of-line conventions).\nNothing is wrong, it is just a coincidence, and if you wait long enough, it may stop happening. Or maybe not.\n29.13.3 Trying to Correct Bias or Correlation\nThese two things are related and I really need to research this again so I can remember all the issues.\nOne method is to combine (e.g., via XOR) the HWRNG with a PRNG, such as the Mersenne Twister ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_twister ). This is sometimes called whitening. However, in that case, you need to keep the other source unpredictable to the adversary, or else he can cancel out the effects. I advise anyone creating a HWRNG not to do this in a way that is hidden from the end user, lest the biases be hidden from the user but not an intelligent adversary.\nRandom Number Machines: A Literature Survey ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/RES/RNGMACH.HTM )\nThe Hardware Random Number Generator ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/HARDRAND.HTM )\nThe Pentium III RNG ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/PENTRAND.HTM )\nRandom Numbers From A Sound Card ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/RANDSND.HTM )\nFM Radio Noise ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS5/FMRNG.HTM )\n29.14.1 Random Numbers From Deterministic Machine Measurements\nAnyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is, of course, living in a state of sin.\n-- John von Neumann\nSince hardware random number generators are expensive, most people do without them. There are a few ways of doing this, involving making measurements of internal state of the system that should be difficult or impossible for the adversary to guess. There is some controversy over the practice (hence my inclusion of the quote above), as the adversary may have some insight into some of these sources, and we don’t know how random they really are.\nSoftware Generation of Practically Strong Random Numbers ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/usenix98.pdf )\nUnix /dev/random\nMost Unix systems have something similar to /dev/random.\nWikipedia on /dev/random ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//dev/random )\nLinux /dev/random\nThe Linux /dev/random driver manages an area of kernel memory known as the entropy pool. It gathers measurements of low-level system functions such as the amount of time between interrupts and other difficult-to-predict events. It mixes these measurements into the pool in a non-destructive way. It also maintains an estimate of the amount of entropy in the pool. When a program reads from /dev/random, it gets a one-way hash of part of the pool’s contents, and the estimate of the amount of entropy left is reduced by the number of bits read. If the estimated entropy in the pool does not allow for a full hash of data to be read, it blocks until it can gather more information. This is designed to be used as a true random number generator (TRNG).\nThe /dev/random device has a counterpart, called /dev/urandom. This device will not block; instead, if the entropy of the pool runs low, it degrades into a pseudo-random number generator.\nWikipedia article on Linux /dev/random ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//dev/random#Linux )\n/dev/random ( http://everything2.com/title/%252Fdev%252Frandom )\nLinux /dev/erandom\nThis is a provably secure PRNG currently for Linux. As part of improving the PRNG, Seth Hardy is also rewriting the PRNG framework to make it separate from the entropy harvester and to allow for it to be much more extensible and flexible.\nSource code link ( http://www.aculei.net/~shardy/projects/erandom-0.1.tgz )\nLinux /dev/frandom\nfrandom ( http://www.billauer.co.il/frandom.html )\nFreeBSD /dev/random\nThe FreeBSD operating system implements a 256-bit variant of the Yarrow algorithm to provide a pseudorandom stream — this replaced a previous Linux style random device. Unlike the Linux /dev/random, the FreeBSD /dev/random never blocks. It is similar to the Linux /dev/urandom, intended to serve as a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator rather than based on a pool of entropy (FreeBSD links urandom to random).\nFor more information on Yarrow, see 29.2.1↑ . This is not a TRNG, but rather a CSPRNG.\nEntropy Gathering Daemon\nEGD is used on systems that don’t have a convenient source of random bits. It is a user-space program that runs programs like vmstat, w, and last to gather information which may not be knowable by an adversary. It stirs the information it gathers into a pool of entropy, much like the Linux /dev/random, and allows other programs to read out of this pool. It is meant to be used with GPG, but can be used with other programs. It is written in Perl.\nEGD: The Entropy Gathering Daemon ( http://egd.sourceforge.net/ )\nPseudo Random Number Generation Daemon\nThis piece of software (PRNGD) offers the same interface as EGD and is designed to be used as a randomly-generated number source for other programs, especially OpenSSL. Like EGD, it calls system programs to collect unpredictable information. Unlike EGD, it does not create a pool of random bits that can be tapped by other software. Instead, it feeds the unpredictable bits directly to OpenSSL’s PRNG which other tools can call to get randomly-generated bits. This way, the PRNGD is never drained and can never block, so it is also suitable to seed inetd-started applications. It saves its state across reboots so that it can start up fully active on reboot.\nPRNGD - Pseudo Random Number Generator Daemon ( http://prngd.sourceforge.net/ )\n29.14.2 CCD Noise\nLavaRND is a cryptographically strong random number generator. It appears to use a CCD with the gain all the way up in a darkened chamber they call the “LavaCan”. The name is a holdover from the original model which used a camera pointed at a lava lamp.\nTurbid ( http://www.av8n.com/turbid/paper/turbid.htm )\n29.14.4 Quantum Mechanical Random Number Generators\nPerhaps the cleanest solution is to use a single quantum event to create your bits. That is what these HWRNGs do:\nQRBG121 ( http://qrbg.irb.hr/ )\n29.15 The Laws of Unpredictability\nShannon’s entropy experiments showed that the entropy of English was about one bit per letter, but it varies depending on the intelligence of the speaker. So the entropy is defined relative to a predictive model (in the person’s head). What most people call Shannon entropy is the entropy relative to a memory-less predictive model, or zero-order Markov model. Essentially this means that each symbol is treated as the outcome of an independent trial, with no context based on prior symbols. By using bigram or trigram frequencies, or word lists, one can get much better. An intelligent person is the best predictor that we have so far, but that doesn’t prove it is the best. Let me put it to you another way; unless I tell you the algorithm and key, you will probably not be able to distinguish a strongly-encrypted version of the Holy Bible from a random data stream. That is, if you don’t know the hidden pattern, it seems completely unpredictable to you, but that doesn’t mean it’s randomly-generated, nor does it mean it’s unpredictable to someone who is intelligent enough to see the pattern.\nI will call the lowest limit the absolute entropy, and I will measure it in unbits, which are absolutely unpredictable bits. The absolute entropy never changes, no matter what you do to the output of your RNG; if your unpredictability source can only pick n of m states, then encrypting its output (or hashing, or any other deterministic operation) can’t increase the number of states it could be in.\nLet me illustrate this point by an example. Suppose I have a very poor random number generator; it gets into one of two states upon power-up with equal probability; in one state, it always generates ones, and in the other, it always generates zeroes. Since there are two equally-probable states, then it produces one unbit. Regardless of how many bits I have it generate, they must all be either ones or zeroes. If I then encrypt or hash that data, it can still be in only one of two states, though I no longer know what states those are. Thus, it is unpredictable to someone who does not know the transformation, but it still has only one unbit. In a sense, the encryption or hashing obscures the initial state (by making it confidential with a computational level of security), but it does not increase the number of streams the random number could produce. That is because encryption and hashing are deterministic operations, and that deterministic operations cannot introduce unpredictability.\n29.15.1 The First Law of Unpredictability\nIn a closed, deterministic system, unpredictability never increases.\nThus, my first law of unpredictability (by analogy with the second law of thermodynamics) states that in a deterministic system, unpredictability never increases. Put another way, the unpredictability of a completely deterministic system tends to decrease over time; if my pseudo-random number generator is seeded with a certain amount of unpredictability, unless it is carefully designed, it may lose unpredictability over time by mapping n states at time t to the same state at time t+1. For example, if you repeatedly hash a value, since hash functions are designed to be indistinguishable from random functions, and since random functions tend to not to be one-to-one, this system will tend degrade in unpredictability over time and eventually enter a cycle; see The Handbook of Applied Cryptography for an analysis. The analogy we may use here is that mapping n states to a smaller number in a random number generation system is a wasteful operation, analogous to friction, and should be avoided.\n29.15.2 Landauer’s Principle\nAny logically irreversible manipulation of information, such as the erasure of a bit or the merging of two computation paths, must be accompanied by a corresponding entropy increase in non-information bearing degrees of freedom of the information processing apparatus or its environment.\n-- Landauer’s Principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landauer%27s_principle )\nIt is probably no accident that only reversible computations ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_computing ) maintain the unpredictability of the system, and any time we destroy unpredictability (information) by reducing the number of states of the system, we must dissipate energy (in the literal physics sense). This does imply some kind of fundamental connection between entropy and unpredictability (but see 29.7↑ ).\n29.15.3 The Second Law of Unpredictability\nUnpredictability may rise in a deterministic system, but by no more than the amount added, nor may it exceed the state capacity of the deterministic system to which it is added.\nBy extension, when we feed unbits into a deterministic system, we may increase the unbits of the output, but only up to the number of bits total. That is, if I have a sample which has x unbits and y bits total (where x ≤ y) then I may encrypt it using a key of k unbits, and the output may still have y bits, but the number of unbits x’ may have increased by up to k unbits (that is, x ≤ x’ ≤ x + k ≤ y). Thus, the second law of unpredictability is that an increase in the unpredictability of a deterministic system is less than or equal to the amount of unpredictability added. It is certainly possible to throw away unpredictability by mapping two input states onto a single output state, but if we choose our operations carefully, we may retain most of it.\nCommon ways to mix the unpredictability of multiple inputs into a single output involve using:\nhash functions\na combiner like XOR (or addition modulo some other convenient power of two)\na cipher, because encryption is one-to-one (making it conserve unpredictability better than a hash), which has an avalanche effect (making it better than simple XOR)\nI am contemplating doing something like this in a configurable userland daemon.\nThe Linux /dev/random ( 63↑ ) does an interesting thing; it mixes unpredictability by XORing into the “entropy pool” at multiple locations (called taps) whose position within the pool changes irregularly.\n29.15.5 Extracting Unpredictability\nIt is also possible to extract the randomness from weakly-random sources. This is sometimes referred to as compression. There are a few ways to do this:\nCompression Algorithm\nYou can compress a large sample of the randomly-generated numbers using a compression algorithm. However, if you do this, make sure that your compression routine is not adding some non-random headers or “magic numbers” to the output (many compression tools do this to identify the compression scheme in use, or identify the stream as a compressed stream).\nCryptographic Hashing\nYou can take a large pool of weakly-random numbers and run a hash algorithm over it; this is what most Unixes do for their /dev/random and related RNG “devices”. This works but cryptographic hashes are relatively slow in terms of CPU time for the amount of output they create.\nVon Neumann’s Corrector\nIn Von Neumann’s approach, you take two bits from the RNG at a time. If they match, no output is generated. If they are different, the first bit is used. This produces a uniform output even if the distribution of the input bits is not uniform so long as they have the same chance of being 1 and there is no correlation between them. However, those are important conditions; if there is correlation between the bits, you will magnify the correlation.\nVon Neumman Corrector ( http://everything2.com/title/von+Neumann+corrector )\nRFC 4086 Section 4.2 ( http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4086.txt )\nOther Randomness Extractors\nYou can take many weakly-random bits and some strongly-random bits and produce more strongly-random bits. This is done through the use of extractors:\nWikipedia article on extractors ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extractor )\nWikipedia article on randomness extractors ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randomness_extractor )\nDavid Zuckerman’s papers on extractors ( http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/diz/pubs/#extractor )\n30 Cryptanalysis\n30.1 Cryptographic Attack Patterns\nKnown ciphertext attacks assume only that the adversary can obtain (encrypted) ciphertext. All cryptographic systems must prevent these attacks.\nKnown plaintext attacks assume that the adversary knows that the encrypted data corresponds to a known piece of plaintext. All cryptographic systems should prevent these attacks.\nChosen plaintext attacks assume the adversary can choose plaintext; this may happen if he can manage to send data over an encrypted link, or give a statement to a diplomat who will necessarily transmit it back to his home country verbatim.\nAdaptive chosen plaintext attacks assume the adversary can choose plaintexts at will in an attempt to break the security of the system; such attacks are present in smart cards or any oracle [N] [N] In computer security circles, an oracle is an entity that can perform a computation that the adversary cannot., where the oracle will respond with the ciphertext associated with any plaintext.\n30.2 A Priori Knowledge\nThe more you know about the plaintext, the less you have to guess. For example the entropy ( 29.6↑ ) of the data might be a clue as to the source; key material generated by computers, encrypted, hashed, and compressed data have a Shannon entropy (H) nearly equal to one, whereas spoken languages and compiled programs have different ranges.\nIn classic cryptanalysis, a knowledge of the language gives you symbol frequencies of various kinds, and certain patterns that may be useful for breaking classic ciphers. Alan Turing once imagined that one would be able to have a computer “make guesses” about the ciphertext and go on until it reached a contradiction, at which point it would stop and alter one of the guesses. That would be worthless for a modern cipher, but it is essentially still how people solve simple substitution cryptograms like you find in the newspaper. Where do those guesses come from? They come from a priori knowledge. The more of it you have, the better your guesses are.\nA few laws may help.\nZipf’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipf’s_law ) states that many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian distribution, one of a family of related discrete power law probability distributions. For cryptanalysis in particular, it suggests that the frequency distribution of words in a language may be approximated with one of these curves.\nBenford’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benfords_law ) states that in a table of statistics, a given statistic has a 30% chance of starting with a 1, which is a great way to decrypt encrypted betting records made by bookies using simple substitution. It also says that you should drop off the first digit if you want to get really random data, but that will be discussed in the section on Randomness (see 29↑ ).\n30.3 Length Extension Attacks\nMany modern hash functions have a weakness against something known as the length-extension attack. For cryptographic hashes with this weakness, if you are given the hash (h(m)) and length of the message, but not the message m itself, it is possible to select another message m’ and compute h(m|m’).\nThis attack can be used to break many naive authentication schemes based on hashes, such as those that attempt to use h(S|m) as an unforgeable value:\nThai Duong, Juliano Rizzo - Flickr API Signature Vulnerability ( http://netifera.com/research/flickr_api_signature_forgery.pdf )\nTravis H. - Web 2.0 Cryptography ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/web_20_crypto/web_20_crypto.pdf )\nThese occur because Merkle-Damgård hashes typically have a “finalization” of just appending some known padding and a 64-bit length to the block before running it through the compression function.\nOther schemes have been proposed, such as h(m|S) and even h(S|m|S), but those are overly malleable; one can often substitute either partner to a hash collision (see 30.4↓ ) with each other.\nThe HMAC function (see 22↑ ) works around these problems.\nBruce Schneier suggests always using h2(x) ≡ h(h(x)) instead of a regular hash function; it essentially says “hash it again” as part of the finalization.\n30.4 Hash Collisions\nAs discussed in the section on cryptographic hash functions (see 28.3.4↑ ), one of the properties of cryptographic hash functions is collision-resistance, namely that it is difficult to find two inputs that have the same hash value. This section includes links to work that finds or applies hash collisions.\nSlashdot - New Crypto Attack Affects Millions of ASP.NET Apps ( http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/09/13/167239/New-Crypto-Attack-Affects-Millions-of-ASPNET-Apps )\nThreatpost - New Crypto Attack Affects Millions of ASP.NET Apps ( http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/new-crypto-attack-affects-millions-aspnet-apps-091310 )\nThe root cause of the problem, like Netifira’s earlier Flickr API Signature Forgery vulnerability (see 30.3↑ ), is web developers used encryption when they should have used MAC.\nMAC prevents a client from forging a valid value. You can think of it like a digital signature, except that it’s much faster and the same key creates and verifies the data. Given an oracle, this vulnerability does make decrypting a token - and thus getting the plaintext - O(n), instead of O(2n) as brute force would dictate. It doesn’t require plaintext, just a ciphertext, and the attack finds the plaintext a byte at a time, from the end. Their paper doesn’t actually describe the attack (it refers to Vaudenay), but rather just describes how to test for the presence of the vulnerability.\nAnyway, the oracle condition typically occurs when you hand something to the client and check it later, which is really a sign you should be using MAC (specifically HMAC). You can also use encryption if you want to hide the value, but for random nonces and session IDs, it doesn’t usually matter (doesn’t hurt, either). You’ll want to encrypt-then-MAC if you do both.\nPKCS#5 Padding\nIf your input is a multiple of the block length, add a full block of padding. Otherwise, add enough octets to pad to a block length. Each octet of the pad always has the number of octets of padding used. So for example, the plaintext ALWAYS ends with either 01, 02 02, 03 03 03, and so on.\nIn CBC mode\nFlipping bits in the previous ciphertext block flips the same bits in the next plaintext block after decryption (see http://www.subspacefield.org/security/web_20_crypto/web_20_crypto.pdf for a good picture).\nPKCS#5 Oracle Attack\nSuppose your plaintext ends in 04 04 04 04. If I twiddle the last octet of the (previous block of) ciphertext, only one value will give valid padding in the plaintext (01). Now I fix the last octet to 02 (by flipping the two least significant bits), and go to work on the previous octet, trying to make the plaintext end in 02 02. As a side effect, if I know what bits I had to flip to get the valid padding values, I know that your plaintext differs from the valid padding value in exactly those bits. This discloses your plaintext to me, but as a side-effect of being able to forge ciphertexts that will be accepted as valid.\nOptimization\nOnce you learn one padding octet, you know them all (and their value).\nFor Fun\nIf the padding was not 01, then there are two final octets which are valid, but if it was 01, then there is only one. For fun, try and specify the above algorithm formally, then compare to Vaudenay.\n30.6 Cryptanalysis of Random Number Generators\nWikipedia article on Random Number Generator Attacks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_number_generator_attack )\nCryptanalytic Attacks on Pseudorandom Number Generators ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-prngs.html )\n30.6.1 Netscape SSL flaw (1995)\nRandomness and the Netscape Browser ( http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~daw/papers/ddj-netscape.html )\n30.6.2 MS CryptGenRandom (Nov 2007)\nAn optimist sees the glass as half full.\nA pessimist sees the glass as half empty.\nAn engineer sees the glass as twice as big as it needs to be.\n-- Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert comic strip\nOne of the signs of genius is when a person can look at a previously-intractable problem in a new and profitable way. There is a legend that an oracle prophesied that the person who could untie an especially knot ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot ) would become king of all of Asia Minor. It is said that Alexander the Great, unable to find the ends of the rope, pulled out his sword and cut the knot, producing the required ends.\n31.1 Traffic Analysis\nThe field of traffic analysis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_analysis ) concerns itself with everything except the content of the communication. If you just take a regular human-readable protocol and encrypt it, the length of the messages could give it away (“yes” and “no” are of different length). This has been done to fingerprint encrypted web connections:\nFingerprinting Web Sites with Traffic Analysis ( http://guh.nu/projects/ta/safeweb/safeweb.html )\nHere are a couple of ideas:\nMany people use tor ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network) ) for anonymity.\nPosting encrypted messages to Usenet (provides for receiver anonymity)\nSending messages disguised as spam (see spam mimic)\nBroadcasting them on a numbers station, for recipient anonymity.\nKeeping a constant encrypted stream flowing at maximum bandwidth all the time to prevent analysis.\nTime correlation; if Alice sends a message every Sunday at 4-5pm, and Bob receives one every Sunday evening, they might just be related!\nTiming Analysis of Keystrokes and Timing Attacks on SSH ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/papers/ssh-use01.pdf )\n31.2 Side Channels\nSometimes an adversary may have a method to obtain information from your system which you did not anticipate, which allows him to infer things about the system. These are called side-channel attacks in that they differ from the expected methods of communication that an adversary would have with a system. In essence, they create an unexpected channel of communication to the adversary from your monitor, your modem, your power line, or some other component of your system.\n31.2.1 Physical Information-Gathering Attacks and Defenses\nMiscellaneous\nReading RAM with Firewire ( http://md.hudora.de/presentations/#firewire-pacsec , http://www.storm.net.nz/projects/16 )\nElectrical Emanations\nKeyboard Acoustic Emanations Revisited ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~zf/papers/keyboard-ccs05.pdf )\nAcoustic Cryptanalysis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_cryptanalysis ) of general computer noise ( http://people.csail.mit.edu/tromer/acoustic/ )\nRoom audio modulated onto A/C power via incandescent lights ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphonics )\nAcoustic analysis of dot-matrix printers: R. Briol, Emanation: How to keep your data confidential, In Symposium on Electromagnetic Security for Information Protection, SEPI’91, Rome, Italy, Nov 1991\n31.2.2 Signal Injection Attacks and Defenses\nThis does not have to be a read-only channel; many smart card attacks are based on modifying these parameters to affect the system adversely. Glitching the power to a smart card, or putting it in the microwave...\nTamper Resistance: A Cautionary Note ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/tamper.pdf )\n31.2.4 Timing Side-Channels\nOften can be done remotely. Timing attacks don’t necessarily have to be related to cryptography. Back in the 1970s, some hackers on the TENEX system noticed that one could tell if the system paged in something from disk by measuring the amount of time it took to access a page; by arranging a password to cross a page boundary and then calling the system command which checked the password (with a linear scan of the characters), they could tell if the password was correct up until the page boundary ( http://www.securitytechnique.com/2003/11/passwords.html , http://www.st.cs.uni-sb.de/edu/secdesign/coding.pdf ). In a modern context, a database lookup or cryptographic operation may be sufficiently time-consuming as to provide a “tell”, so one could determine if a given web application had performed such an operation or not; such things could tell you if a username or password (but not both) were correct, despite getting an unhelpful error message.\nTENEX Password Timing Attack Hack (see Practical Unix and Internet Security)\nExecution Path Timing Analysis (of Unix Daemons) ( http://ouah.org/epta.pdf )\nCAN-2003-0190 OpenSSH timing flaw with PAM ( http://lab.mediaservice.net/advisory/2003-01-openssh.txt )\nCAN-2003-0078 OpenSSL timing vulnerabilities in CBC mode ( http://www.openssl.org/news/secadv_20030219.txt )\nSide Channel Cryptanalysis of Product Ciphers ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-side-channel.html )\nRecent timing attack versus AES (see AES timing attack: http://cr.yp.to/antiforgery/cachetiming-20050414.pdf , AES timing attack discussion: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/05/aes_timing_atta_1.html , AES timing variability at a glance: http://cr.yp.to/mac/variability1.html )\nKocher’s 1996 Timing Attacks on Implementations of Diffie-Hellman, RSA, DSS and Other Systems ( http://www.cryptography.com/timingattack/paper.html )\nFelten & Schneider (2000) Timing Attacks on Web Privacy ( http://www.cs.princeton.edu/sip/pub/webtiming.pdf )\nBrumley & Boneh (2003) Remote Timing Attacks are Practical ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/~dabo/abstracts/ssl-timing.html )\nChris Karlof , David Wagner , Chris Karlof , David Wagner (2003) Hidden Markov Model Cryptanalysis ( http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/696493.html )\nBortz (2007) XSRT (Cross-Site Request Timing)\nBortz, Boneh, Nandy (2007) Exposing Private Information by Timing Web Applications ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/~abortz/papers/timingweb.pdf )\nLawson 2009, Timing Attack in Google Keyczar Library ( http://rdist.root.org/2009/05/28/timing-attack-in-google-keyczar-library/ )\nHow do we avoid leaking information?\nfixed time implementations are invulnerable to timing side channels, but very hard to do, depending on the resolution of the measurement and the control over the computing environment that the adversary has. The most important part of this is to write branch-free code (note that comparisons for equality are almost always implemented as branches).\nDan Bernstein’s AES timing attacks show that table lookups are not constant-time, and with sufficient number and accuracy of measurements and powerful statistical tools in the hands of the adversary, it would be hard to really know that one has actually performed this task sufficiently well. Therefore, here are some ideas that may or may not be good, but attempt to address this difficulty at the risk of adding complexity:\nadd randomly generated delays which, unfortunately, the adversary can average out over time. This increases number of samples necessary, making attack take longer.\nquantize delay makes the amount of time a multiple of some value, reducing the amount of information gained with each measurement. This is the general case of “wait after computation so that everything takes the same amount of time”. This is hard since precise measurements are hard, sleeping a precise amount of time is hard, and knowing how long is the longest it could take is hard.\nadd unpredictable delays by adding to the delay a cryptographic function of the guess made by an adversary which must be constant over time, yet unpredictable by the adversary (for example, td = g(x, k), where perhaps g(x, k) = HMAC(x, k) ⁄ c). This is the logical improvement over a randomly-generated value, since it cannot be averaged out by repeated measurements with the same guess. If we represent the delay seen as t = tf(x) + tg(x, k) + td, then it seems clear that the adversary has two, possibly three unknowns in one linear equation. This might be soluble if the computed delay has a high enough granularity or low enough range (it is a discrete variable) that it could be separated from the other delays.\nblinding involves not operating on the data, but instead a function of the data, then computing some sort of inverse on the results. Similar to unpredictable delays. Tends to be done with RSA due to the multiplicative identity; unclear if it could be done with other algorithms (possibly Diffie-Hellman).\nhashing involves never operating on user data directly, but instead taking the hash of it before, say, a comparison to a known value (which is also hashed first). Similar to blinding.\nIt’s worth noting that many of the obvious ideas, such as adding delay, are somewhat difficult to do accurately (due to timer availability and scheduling). It also presents problems when the distribution has a long tail (for example, 1% of the time, it takes 100x longer than average); that is why I suggest quantizing the delay rather than waiting for the maximum possible time. Also many of the long output times would be in cases where the machine is in a strange state, such as overloaded by a surge of requests, or in the process of crashing, etc. It is often hard to reproduce these states in testing.\nConstructive Use of Side Channels ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/seclab/sem-09-10/becker.html )\n32 Information and Intelligence\nOne gathers data in a process called collection, and significant data is called information (“information is a difference that makes a difference”, as the saying goes). That may further be processed or refined into stuff you can use called intelligence, or more generally product. Confusingly, intelligence has also come to mean the entire lifecycle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence(information_gathering) ), from gathering to distributing the product. Sometimes intelligence is referred to as “the great game”, but this should be taken in the sense of game theory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory ), and not triviality. In wartime, intelligence can equate to tens of thousands of deaths, possibly more. Spies, saboteurs, terrorists and other criminals can look forward to lifetime imprisonment or execution if caught. In the excellent book Between Silk and Cyanide ( http://books.google.com/books?id=I4zP8hSxIFIC&dq=&pg=PP1&ots=Jisjo9wtgm&sig=tJlaJ77oqyz3r2Th8QNeKo0CNi0 ), Marks of the UK’s SOE states that during WWII the average operational lifetime of a spy in occupied Europe was approximately two weeks.\nSome people see a natural synergy between computer security and warfare, or between computer security and terrorism. The general definitions of information warfare ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare ) and cyberterrorism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberterrorism ) denote the fact that a network intrusions are almost incidental to the actual goal. However, the combination of computer security and espionage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-warfare ) is a perfect fit, since one may directly attain the goal (collecting intelligence) remotely with a computer.\nIn the classified world, spy is a dirty word, virtually synonymous with traitor. People like James Bond, were they to exist, would be referred to as agents, whereas someone on the other side who works for you is called an asset. When something happens in secret, it is clandestine. When appears to happen for one reason (the cover) but actually happens for a secret (“covert”) reason, it is a covert operation. The apparent (“overt”) reason is referred to as the cover story, or simply the cover. Not using the proper euphemisms is considered insensitive, like referring to killing an enemy soldier as murdering or killing him rather than “neutralizing” him. [O] [O] I have often wondered why people consider “liquidation” a euphemism, as it sounds rather unpleasant to me.\nintel is short for intelligence, obviously\nopsec is operational security, a five step process described at Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_security )\ninfosec is information technology security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INFOSEC )\ncomsec is communication security, covering all non-IT forms of communication ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COMSEC )\ntransec is transmission security, a subclass of comsec, focused on keeping transmissions from being intercepted by the adversary ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRANSEC )\nlinesec is line security, making sure that your communication lines go where you want and don’t cause crosstalk or become unintentional radiators\nelectronic warfare is use of the E/M spectrum to improve your own use of the spectrum and deny the adversary use of it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_warfare , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Old_Crows )\nsigsec is signal security, a generic term that includes both communications security and electronics security\nEEFI are the essential elements of friendly information; the things you don’t want to give away to the enemy\n32.2 Controlling Information Flow\nThe only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards - and even then I have my doubts.\n-- Eugene Spafford ( http://homes.cerias.purdue.edu/~spaf/quotes.html )\nIf we can prevent an adversary from sending any information to a system (infiltration), then it becomes clear that this is the ultimate security from active attacks. If we can prevent an adversary from getting any information out of a system (exfiltration), then it prevents all passive attacks. Combined, this amounts to Marcus Ranum’s Ultimate Firewall (see http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/papers/a1-firewall/ ), which is also sold under the more common name “scissors” ( http://www.dumbentia.com/pdflib/scissors.pdf ). Similarly, with communication, if you can keep the communication out of reach of the adversary (for example by using wires instead of radio, or a trustworthy courier to hand-deliver it), then they can’t do a darn thing to break the confidentiality. Once he has a copy, you have only passive information defenses such as cryptography to protect it. Note that passive defenses like cryptography cannot alert you to attempts to defeat them, so the attacks against them are also passive, and thus their failures are silent. Also, once encrypted information falls into the adversary’s hands, you cannot perform key rotations, or meaningfully revoke the key used to encrypt it, or anything along those lines.\n32.3 Labeling and Regulations\nIn certain environments, you may find that documents, or even IP packets, are classified as “proprietary”, “confidential”, “secret”, or something like that (for an example of what those terms mean to the US government, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information_in_the_United_States ). My first reaction is to wonder why people would clearly mark this data, because it makes it easy for an adversaries to identify and collect something that has obvious value. That is a drawback, but there are other, less obvious advantages that dramatically outweigh it.\nThe first advantage of properly labeling information is that it enables a conscientious employee to know the information shouldn’t be casually discarded, and thereby end up in the adversary’s possession. One cannot overstate the importance of this; if the adversary can get ahold of unencrypted information in the first place, you have lost your ability to protect it. Simply hoping that he won’t recognize the importance of it is a very weak defense; it’s essentially security through obscurity.\nThe second advantage of properly labeling information and having well-understood regulations regarding the disposal of classified information, they will not be able to ignore them under the defense that they didn’t know it was sensitive; this is an example of the principle of removing excuses (see 34.13↓ ). Ideally, everyone who handles the information should have as much interest in protecting it as anyone else who has an interest in it. If not, they may decide it’s too much trouble to handle properly, lose control of it, and someone else winds up paying the consequences. Training should also include examples of bad things which happened to a person because an employee failed to follow the regulations. Here you want to make an impact on the person’s conscience, because it is far better to have an employee who truly wants to protect the organization’s information (and other people) than one who merely wants to not get caught failing to protect it.\nThe third advantage of properly labeling information is that it deprives a malicious insider of the ability to improperly dispose of the information with the intention of giving it to the adversary, and then claiming that he didn’t know that it was sensitive. This is sometimes called the “accidentally on-purpose” threat. For this to be effective, the threat of punishment must be credible, and that means making it known that you monitor for leaks. In this case, it is desirable that at least some of your monitoring be done in such a way that the employees do not know when it is happening. The education about the regulations should include examples of punishments given to malicious insiders who deliberately failed to follow regulations; pictures of unhappy-looking traitors in stark cells, prison gear, shackles, and leg irons are usually more effective at influencing a person than repeating the number of years of the sentence. Intentionally removing the label from information without going through proper procedures is obviously a willful violation, puts the person in the “malicious insider” category automatically. I’m not sure why Daniel Ellsberg did this with the Pentagon papers, because removing the label doesn’t make it unclassified.\nFinally, with properly labeled information, it makes it easy to check for accidental leaks; you merely look for the labels in any outbound data. The adversary no better at finding this data than you are, so proper labeling helps you find it at least as much as it helps him.\n32.4 Knowledge is Power\nScientia potentia est.\n-- Sir Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacrae, 1597 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientia_potentia_est )\nUnderstand that information is always on the side of the investigator. One of the national labs used to record every packet that came over their WAN link. It can also help in unexpected ways; for example, if someone calls you up on your VoIP phone, and you record all your VoIP calls to hard disk (only one side needs to be informed in some states), you could happen to record a threatening phone call or someone who defrauds you, and use it as evidence against them later. Note that the person storing the information and the investigator need not be on the same side; during Microsoft’s anti-trust trial, Bill Gates was impugned by emails he sent stored on his own company’s system that contradicted what his sworn testimony.\n32.5 Secrecy is Power\nOccultia potentia est.\nThere is a purported NSA employee security manual on the web [P] [P] The NSA manual may be found here: http://www.tscm.com/NSAsecmanual1.html or here: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/nsaman.pdf , and if it is correct, the very first thing you learn is to remain anonymous. Why? It’s hard for an adversary to target you for anything if he doesn’t know you exist, or if what he knows about you (for example, the name and purpose of your organization) can’t be translated into something he can attack (often an address, like the geographic location of your underground command center, or the netblock for your corporate LAN).\nBy way of example, if you had a secret FEMA bunker (for use in a national emergency) whose location remains unknown to any adversary, you need only worry about people stumbling across it either through curiosity or accident. Thus, if the address of something you are trying to defend remains secret, then you only need to worry about casual (untargeted) attacks. You can reduce the change of accidental intrusion by placing it in a remote location and giving it defenses appropriate to discouraging the passer-by (for example, barbed wire fences). You can prevent people from becoming curious about it by giving it a mundane cover. The rumor is that the new aircraft test location now that Area 51 has closed down is located on a testing range for biological and chemical weapons, which would be a good way of discouraging curious explorers.\nDoes secrecy therefore imply that you are doing something you shouldn’t? That depends; are you the sort of person who plays poker with his cards face up on the table? Given the choice between asking people to keep quiet and asking them to lie, I would prefer they simply keep quiet; having to lie is an unreasonable request to demand of an ethical person, lying undermines your credibility, and the more a person lies, cheats and steals, the more inured they are to the feelings they provoke and the more likely they are to do so in the future. It is a slippery moral slope that ends in disaster. Many revolutionary organizations have self-destructed because the participants go from stealing to fund the cause to stealing and killing for personal gain.\nSo, here are a few questions to consider:\nWhy do you keep passphrases secret?\nWhy do you keep your credit card number a secret?\nWhy do you seal letters in envelopes?\nWhy do you wear clothes?\nWhat is your social security number, full name, and address?\nWhy are many security cameras in “domes of wine-dark opacity” or completely hidden?\nWhy are the locations of data centers, or government offices, often not published?\nWhy do soldiers wear camouflage?\n32.6 Never Confirm Guesses\nPeople will make speculation about secret information, and publish them. It’s generally a policy to never confirm any of them, because the adversary reads the same papers, and probably was already aware of the speculation. Intelligence agencies may well pay people to publish incorrect speculation. Also, it’s possible the person who published the speculation is an adversary, and is attempting to bait you into a public admission!\n32.7 What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You\nYou only get nasty surprises if you don’t expect them.\n-- Thomas Ptacek\nNow that we have established that secrecy is not immoral, let’s discuss practical issues. Prior to the advent of the web, there was a world-wide bulletin board system called Usenet. They had various forums, called news groups, which numbered in the tens of thousands, depending on how you counted them. Now, imagine that you posted under your real name to a support group for dealing with homosexuality, or recovering from mental illness; you had every reason to believe that (by and large) only people dealing with those issues would ever see that article for the week or so it stayed on the news server. Flash forward ten years, and now an Internet search engine like Deja News or Google Groups has indexed it by your real name, making it trivially accessible to a potential employer or anyone with a grudge against you. I avoid using personally-identifying information unless necessary, not because I’m ashamed of anything I do, but because I simply don’t know what the unintended consequences of information disclosure will be. It may be taken out of context. Once disseminated, information cannot effectively be revoked, so it’s always safer to say nothing than to say something. Thus, NSA is sometimes said to stand for “Never Say Anything”.\nIf your opponent knows you know, they can take action to remediate it (see 34.2↓ ). Conversely, if they don’t know you know, they can’t do anything about it. Therefore, silent security failures are the most dangerous kind. Therefore, secret attacks are the most dangerous. Therefore, passive attacks are worrisome. Thus do we find policies such as “need to know”, “default deny”, and so on (see 34.1↓ ).\n32.8 How Secrecy is Lost\nHere I should discuss the bit in The Wizard War ( http://www.vectorsite.net/ttwiz.html ) where the author describes how classified information ends up in unauthorized hands.\n32.9 Costs of Disclosure\nImagine the consequences of leaking a classified document containing the name of an active spy or mole within a foreign government. Alternately, imagine the disclosure of details regarding a clandestine tunnel full of monitoring equipment under the Kremlin; it would be almost impossible to compensate for the disclosure; apart from millions of dollars in sunk costs, people probably risked their freedom and possibly lives to make it possible. And the presence of the tunnel would not have to be disclosed directly; it may merely be that intelligence gained from the tunnel intercepts is used in a careless manner, and that they search for and find the tunnel.\n32.10 Dissemination\nBe careful about leaks and dissemination. In the intelligence business, one does not redistribute information to a third party without explicit permission of the sender; this is called second-sourcing, is considered extremely unprofessional and downright rude. If the source would not give it to the third party, and you do, you’re basically taking a present from them and slapping them with it; it’s a betrayal of trust, it seriously damages the relationship, and you may never get anything from them again. If you were an employee of an intelligence agency and did this without orders to do so, you would likely be fired, and possibly charged with treason.\nSuppose you offer information to customers. It’s virtually impossible to stop a competitor from using an account or front and acquiring your information and using it in some way you didn’t desire. The only leverage you have is being able to be able to terminate the account, which isn’t much leverage if it’s free. One possible countermeasure involves watermarking, or otherwise altering the data imperceptibly so that you can perform traitor-tracing if you get a copy of a leaked document to determine who leaked it.\n32.11 Information, Misinformation, Disinformation\nI don’t let things slip, Hank... I place information.\n-- Dale, King of the Hill (television series)\nYour adversary seeks information. Someone who gives him the wrong answers to his questions is merely spreading misinformation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation ), while someone who is actively thwarting him is feeding him disinformation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation ). If your adversary seeks confidential information, placing some disinformation will make them unsure of anything they get through espionage. It is said ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jesus_Angleton#Increasing_paranoia ) that James Angleton was so shaken by the revelation that Kim Philby (a childhood friend) was a Soviet agent that he became convinced that every defector from the Soviet Union was a plant, and that it essentially prevented the CIA from making use of anything they could learn from the defectors, and made many of his subordinates wonder what they should be doing instead. It is also said (reference needed) that Einstein spent some time coming up with disinformation (equations/theory and research results) about atomic energy that were subtly designed so that they would waste many resources before they were revealed to be bogus. These were then printed in international physics journals. It is also said that the CIA spends half its budget on disinformation and deception, but if that is true, then it is only 50% likely to be true. The only thing I can say about it is that 50% seems the ideal ratio for an adversary to believe, since their gut reaction is that any yes/no question is much cheaper to “answer” just as reliably with a coin toss. However, I suspect that a deception operation is usually much cheaper than a real operation, because you don’t have to really do something, you just have to appear to do it, so the ratio should be lower. My suspicion is that the reported interest in psychic phenomena, mind control, and remote viewing are likely to be like Einstein’s equations; fruitless time sinks for foreign consumption. [Q] [Q] If you doubt this, check out The Amazing Randi’s $1M prize for anyone capable of proving a supernatural ability; he is an extremely clever fellow when it comes to uncovering deception. And as for psychic channeling, how come none of these presumably very advanced entities can provide a proof or disproof of, say, Goldbach’s Conjecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldbach’s_conjecture ?\n33 Conflict and Combat\nNever interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.\n-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)\nOnce is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.\n-- Ian L. Fleming, Goldfinger\nSuppose you’re the secret service, chartered to protect a president. You could do nothing except saturate the area with snipers and hope to notice someone pulling a gun and shoot them, but that’s not likely to be a safe and effective policy. Now suppose that someone belonging to a militant anti-government organization lives in a town the president will visit, buys a hunting rifle shortly before the visit, rents a room along the parade route, and so on. These are not necessarily hard evidence that they will go through with it, but they are indicators and warnings (I&W) of foul intentions, and you’d be remiss in your duties if you didn’t investigate this a little further, and make some preparations to stop this particular event from reaching a point where you might be faced with only undesirable choices. This line of reasoning may apply just as well to network security scans or other forms of reconnaissance (see 17↑ ).\nThe same thing happens in security all the time. Our firewalls are being pounded on, and we do nothing about it.\n33.2 Attacker’s Advantage in Network Warfare\nBut know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.\n-- Matthew 24:43 (English Standard Version)\nIn network warfare, there is only one defender (organization), and potentially a billion independent attackers (for an Internet-facing system). The defender is assumed to be known (e.g. we know who owns Microsoft.com), but not the attacker. The attacker knows, or can trivially enumerate, the attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) on which he must make his attack. The attacker need only make one successful attack to accomplish his objective, whereas the defender successfully thwart all attacks. I call this the attacker’s advantage.\nBruce Schneier points out that cryptography is the exception to the general rule, in that adding a single bit to your key size doubles the adversary’s work factor, while only increasing your work slightly. Thus, absent any new cryptanalytic attacks or advances such as quantum computers (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor ), the defenders may simply pick algorithms with sufficiently large key sizes that a direct attack is infeasible. However, on the Internet they may still often attack the end point directly, or use side channel attacks ( 31.2↑ ).\n33.3 Defender’s Advantage in Network Warfare\nSuspicion always haunts the guilty mind.\n-- William Shakespeare\nThe defenders have an advantage in that they are not breaking the law, and can thus organize openly. To date, I am not aware of commercial corporations federating in any way to protect themselves, but it could be a very powerful strategy. For example, several organizations could agree that an attack on any of them will trigger all of them to shun that network address globally. Or, they could share information related to intrusion, perhaps my having a security monitoring company which monitors network traffic for all of them. Such an organization could become aware of new attacks very early and take measures to reduce or eliminate the vulnerability of all participants before the attack hits them individually. The defenders also have an advantage in that the attackers may organize openly and share ideas and information. This means that defenders may receive the same information at the same time (see 36.10↓ ). Then, we are in a race to see who can fix it or exploit it first (see 33.4↓ ).\nMore generally, if you cannot defend everywhere, all the time, you probably want to defend where and when your adversary attacks. He doesn’t want you to know, and if you want to catch him in the act, you don’t want him to know that you know. Thus, the attacker wants to keep his targets unknown, and the defender wants to keep his collection efforts unknown. This may have implications when deciding between prevention and monitoring (see 35.7↓ ).\n33.4 OODA Loops\nSun Tzu discussed the importance of recognizing opportunities in battle and exploiting them quickly, but John Boyd performed a detailed analysis of feedback loops, breaking them down into four stages; observe, orient, decide, and act. They are called Boyd loops, or OODA loops ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA ), and the basic premise was that if you can make this cycle shorter than your opponent’s, you can react to unfolding events faster than they can, like a person balancing an upright stick on top of their finger.\nAt first, this may not seem to have any application to computer security. However, it has a great deal more relevance than one might think. For example, consider that you are head of computer security at an online financial institution, and your adversaries are everybody who wants to steal money from it. Now, you would be incredibly foolish to simply stick your head in the sand and hope that nobody hacks you, right? Anybody with two neurons connected together can tell that it would be a good idea to know what the adversaries are doing so that you could take countermeasures.\nAlso, it should be clear that you want to know as soon as possible; so, you will want abuse detection systems (see 16↑ ), and it would be ever better for you to monitor computer security web sites, even the gray-hat and black-hat sources, and possibly phishing and fraud-related forums primarily populated by criminals. The fact of the matter is that respectable groups like CERT often don’t tell you the information as quickly as you would like, because they don’t want it getting in the wrong hands. But you are the right hands, and you want to get it as quickly as possible, so it’s in your best interest to do so. The people who will succeed in this endeavor are the ones who are the most connected.\nFinally, you want to be able to evaluate the information and react quickly to limit the exposure or damage; thus, this is related to the principle of agility (see 34.2↓ ). Combined, this forms your OODA loop. In an ideal world, you would be so tapped into your adversary’s thinking process, and so agile, that you could deploy a countermeasure before he was able to field the attack. You can’t do that with your eyes closed. You aren’t going to be able to do that if all you know about your adversary is that they hate freedom, or that they are evil, or similar slogans that subtly imply good people stop thinking at this point. Understanding is not the problem; understanding is the solution (see the quote in 6↑ ). Ideally you would like to avoid conflict, to win without fighting, but most conflicts arise because of lack of understanding or simple callousness.\n33.5 Courses of Action\nA standard military procedure is to develop Courses of Action (CoA) for personnel. This aids in making sure that they take appropriate action in response to stimuli.\nCourse of Action Development and Analysis ( http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/call/call_93-3_ch4.htm )\nObey the principles without being bound by them.\n-- Bruce Lee\nNow that we have an understanding of the issues “in the wild”, I can attempt to extract from them some common lessons, and reformulate them as general principles which may help you build more secure systems.\nOWASP Application Security Principles ( http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:Principle )\nSaltzer & Schroeder’s The Protection of Information in Computer Systems ( http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/protection/ , http://www.ece.rutgers.edu/~parashar/Classes/03-04/ece572/papers/protection.pdf ) Section 1A3\n34.1 The Principle of Least Privilege\nOne basic and obvious tenet is to give every part of the system just enough privileges to get its job done, but no more. It takes a number of forms:\nleast privilege is where you authorize a program or system to do only what it needs to do to accomplish its objectives ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_privilege )\nneed-to-know (NTK) is the personnel security principle to protect confidentiality where you only tell people what they need to know to get their job done\ndefault deny is the access-control principle which states “anything which is not explicitly allowed is denied”\nanomaly detection is when you alert whenever something is out of the ordinary (see 16.2↑ )\nartificial ignorance is when you remove things you know to be alright from your log files and only look at what doesn’t match (see 15.2↑ )\nThe best illustration of this principle that I have found is in Marcus Ranum’s The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security ( http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/dumb/ ). It’s also quite amusing, so you should read it now. He says calls the opposite of this principle “enumerating badness”, because you have to pay someone to sit around and guess or research what bad guys are doing, and you thus always caught flat-footed by a new kind of bad thing. This was described as a bad idea in computer security as early as 1965, by E. Glaser. Saltzer & Schroeder call this principle “fail-safe defaults” or “least privilege”.\nHowever, there are many problems with implementing such a design. First, many systems allow only a certain granularity of privileges. For example, most OSes give each user a privilege set, and any program run as that user inherits that privilege set. To get finer-grained permissions, you usually need a change to the OS, such as MAC (see 12.3↑ ). This requires a much deeper level of knowledge than you would need otherwise. Similarly, most firewalls block on individual ports; blocking on the kind of traffic depends on deeper understanding of the network data (the buzzwords for this change, but may include “layer 7 firewalling” and “deep packet inspection”). But even that may not be enough; some operations within the protocol may be safe, and others not; for example, you may wish to allow someone to read a file with FTP, but not to write. With an undocumented protocol like Microsoft’s SMB/CIFS, you generally must block it entirely because it’s a black box and therefore you can’t know that it is safe. With programs, you must currently grant privileges to the entire program at once, or not at all; if one part of the code can do it, so can another. This means that to remain secure, the program must often be split into multiple pieces (this is the strategy used by the secure mailer Postfix, and it has worked rather well).\nNobody has yet done any work on automatically determining the privileges software needs automatically, because it’s a code coverage (for application security) and generalization problem. For example, the code read “/tmp/aaa”, and “/tmp/aab”; I can create rules which allow this, but it won’t be able to read “/tmp/aac”. But how far do I generalize? Does it need to be able to read “/tmp/bar”?\n34.2 The Principle of Agility\nThe best system is to use a simple, well understood algorithm which relies on the security of a key rather than the algorithm itself. This means if anybody steals a key, you could just roll another and they have to start all over.\n-- Andrew Carol\nMy friend does penetration testing, and tells me that having zero-day exploits (or any exploit with no vendor patch) does him no good because if he reports the customer as being vulnerable, the customer can’t do anything about it. Technically, they could, but they’d probably need to switch technologies, like operating systems. Unfortunately, most are too wed to the relevant technologies to be able to do that.\nAlso, recently some companies have tried to make media only playable on certain devices, and they call this Digital Rights Management (DRM). This usually involves having a secret embedded in the device. Of course consumers wanted to be able to play media they purchased with whatever player they wanted, which is totally reasonable, and so a war ensued. In the first few iterations of this, people extracted the secrets from players and then were able to play the media on whatever they wanted, and the media companies were unable to respond because all the players had secrets in them which could not be changed.\nIn both of these cases, the subjects were unable to deal with a piece of information because they were not agile; they could not react to the new information.\nTo be agile, you want to avoid lock-in to a vulnerable technology. It can happen when a component you depend on has a design vulnerability, or the implementation of that component has a vulnerability but you depend on implementation-specific additions. It seems the key here is to write portable code that adheres to open, well-defined standards, so that you can switch implementations any time you wish. It also militates against “package deals”, or “bundles”, where you can’t change one component without changing the entire bundle.\nOf course, greedy vendors hate this, because having low switching costs means they can’t charge you nearly as much. That may well be the drive behind the Unix workstation fragmentation and Microsoft’s “embrace, extend and extinguish” principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish ). But by being able to switch to a competing product any time you want, you are financially secure. It’s not the smart customer that made them self an enemy; it’s the fact that the vendor’s interest diverged from that of the customer, and so it made the customer their enemy. When companies stop trying to take advantage of their customers by locking them in, and just focus on giving the customer the best value for their money, they will no longer see their customers, smart or otherwise, as enemies.\nSimilarly, it would be nice to identify assumptions about the security environment that may be subject to change, and pick a solution that is not require this assumption to be true to give the desired result. Put another way, one should prefer flexible solutions over brittle ones. In practice, security systems that were properly designed but failed in practice often depend on an assumption that was erroneously believed to be true, or was true initially but ceased to be true over time. So using flexible solutions is also a way to stay agile.\nIn the ancient board game the Japanese call Go ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game) ), there is a strategic concept called aji, which literally means “taste”, but is best translated as “latent potential”. [R] [R] For more Go terms, see the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_terms One can imagine it being similar to an army you hold in reserve in the rear which may be quickly deployed at any location along the front line. Because it stays back there, the adversary cannot easily commit all his troops to a certain part of the front line without you then being able to deploy yours to a weak point along the front line. Similar concepts can exist within security systems; you may not be able to audit all events within the system, but you may choose to audit a set which you believe to be relevant. If you learn information that causes you to change that set, perhaps because of information gathered by forensic examinations of adversary actions, it would be desirable to be agile enough to change it with minimal effort.\nBy way of example, consider if you had standardized on a Windows 1.0 multimedia program. How would you run it? You laugh, but I’ve seen companies with obsolete systems who continue to pay exorbitant costs because the cost of switching to (rewriting for) another system is too prohibitive. As long as the costs increase gradually, there is never sufficient immediate cause to invest in the fix that would provide best long-term gains. Database vendors have long known the vendor lock-in principle, and if you think it’s unimportant, look at IBM, or Oracle (who, as of this writing, recently acquired Sun Microsystems).\n34.3 The Principle of Minimal Assumptions\nPerfection is reached, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.\n-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery\nRoughly speaking, the stronger the defense is, the less assumptions are necessary for it to be effective. It would be nice to minimize the secrecy requirements to keep the defense effective. In cryptography, we want to have the system remain secure when only the key is unknown; this is Kerckhoff’s Second Principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerckhoffs’_principle ), described in la cryptographie militaire ( http://petitcolas.net/fabien/kerckhoffs/ ), and it’s valuable because confidentiality is difficult to maintain, or assure, and loss of it is often undetectable, and if someone did compromise the design of the system, it would be difficult or impossible to change. One can also design a system starting with the assumption that the system is known to the adversary, and when stated that way it is known as Shannon’s maxim, but was also discussed in Saltzer and Schroeder as the principle of open design. In actuality, the real thrust behind Kerckhoff’s Principle is that of agility (see 34.2↑ ); the users can react to disclosure merely by changing keys, and don’t have to redesign the system. Of course if your keys are buried in offline devices and you can’t securely update the keys, then you’re still pretty hosed. Security or strength built on openness are more durable, because there is no secret which may be lost which may compromise that strength.\nPut another way, security which depends on too many things is built on a shaky foundation, because your adversary may target the weakest of those things. Another formulation of this could be called the principle of small numbers, which states that no sufficiently large thing is uniformly good. It basically states that it is difficult to ensure consistency across large numbers of people or other complex systems, and that when the security relies on all of them, then it is best to minimize the number of them involved. My friends who are penetration testers tell me that the larger the organization, the easier it is to find a single weak link in the perimeter. This ties into the principle of uniform fronts (see 34.8↓ ).\nThere is a significant analogy in cryptographic and mathematical proofs; that the more (and stronger) assumptions on which a proof rests, the less important/valuable the result (note that a stronger assumption is one less likely to be true). It is actually very, very common to base proofs on unproven postulates; a common one is that P is not equal to NP. It is often valuable to revisit those parts of the system and see if we can reduce the strength of those assumptions. It is also valuable to ask if we can design a system which is no worse than the current system, but which performs better under additional conditions; one can say that such a system weakly dominates ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_dominance ) the current system.\n34.4 The Principle of Fail-Secure Design\nIt is sometimes suggested that mechanisms that reliably record that a compromise of information has occurred can be used in place of more elaborate mechanisms that completely prevent loss. For example, if a tactical plan is known to have been compromised, it may be possible to construct a different one, rendering the compromised version worthless. An unbreakable padlock on a flimsy file cabinet is an example of such a mechanism. Although the information stored inside may be easy to obtain, the cabinet will inevitably be damaged in the process and the next legitimate user will detect the loss. For another example, many computer systems record the date and time of the most recent use of each file. If this record is tamper-proof and reported to the owner, it may help discover unauthorized use. In computer systems, this approach is used rarely, since it is difficult to guarantee discovery once security is broken. Physical damage usually is not involved, and logical damage (and internally stored records of tampering) can be undone by a clever attacker.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\nIf you system can, fail secure; if you can’t, fail obviously.\nIn A First Tour Like No Other ( https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v41i5a01p.htm ), CIA agent William J. Daugherty recounts what happened when the US Embassy was overrun in Iran. They were under orders not to retain more classified documents than could be destroyed in 30 minutes, which was the rating against forced entry of the vault. However, the document shredder/incinerator was a finicky beast, and shut down within a few minutes, and many documents were disclosed [S] [S] The documents seem rather uninteresting to me, but can be found in the series of books called Documents From the US Espionage Den: http://www.thememoryhole.com/espionage_den/index.htm .\nThus, the general design principle is that a system should fail in such a way that the desired security properties remain intact. For example, if one wants to preserve confidentiality, one should keep the data encrypted whenever practical. That way, if the system fails in foreseeable ways (power loss, theft, etc.) minimal amounts of plaintext are disclosed. This is also a wise thing to do given that emergency procedures hardly ever work as designed. In a crisis, there is confusion, and people act unpredictably (or may be dead). Thus, if one can do a little more work in non-crisis situations to reduce the amount of work required in crisis situations, as you can with encrypted storage (see 28.7↑ ), that is often an excellent trade-off.\nThe converse of this principle is that when it can’t give security, it fails in a glaringly obvious way. Most programmers work on their code until it works, and then stop. Often people assume that if they don’t see an indication of failure, then it must be safe. You should at least give obvious warnings when something is unsecure (repeated warnings are annoying, which is why most browsers allow you to accept a certificate which cannot be guaranteed to be safe for one reason or another; see 34.14↓ ).\nMore generally, if we cannot guarantee fail-secure, we should strive to have a “tamper evident” design; if it fails, the failure is recorded in some way (see 16↑ ).\n34.5 The Principle of Unique Identifiers\nSuppose you are setting up a Unix system, and you set up the root account, and you give out the password to six people. One day you find out that root logged in and ran something which compromised security. You can’t figure out which user did it unless you have some auxiliary information; if they logged in over the network, you can check the logs and see if you can identify who was logged in there at the time, but you may find the same problem there, or that the account credentials were stolen. If they logged in on the console, you can check badge records for the facility and see who was in the area at the time. But ultimately, your ability to know what you want to know depends on factors outside of your control, which is always a bad state of affairs.\nSimilarly, if you have shared accounts on a web server, if someone starts mirroring your server (or otherwise causing mischief), you don’t know who is doing it, or if someone shared (or failed to protect) their account information. Thus, shared accounts are always bad for audit and accountability. You really want each unique identifier (email address, username, etc.) to map to one subject (although it’s okay for a single subject to have multiple identifiers).\nWith cryptography, it gets even more interesting. Suppose you have a network with a shared key, like WEP. Now, everyone who is a member of that network is essentially equal, in the sense that any of them may impersonate the others. If Alice and Bob and Mallory are on the network, Alice can’t know she’s talking to Bob without additional information, because Mallory has the same privileges that Bob does (she could spoof Bob’s IP and MAC address, for example). This is the technique used by airpwn ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/airpwn ), which is capable of doing some amusing things with unencrypted web traffic ( http://www.evilscheme.org/defcon/ ).\nThus, the set of all subjects (active parties which wish to do things with or to our system) who may obtain a specific identity should be as small as possible; ideally, such sets will always be singletons ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_ ); that is, only one subject will be able to obtain the identity (see 11.1↑ ).\n34.6 The Principles of Simplicity\nEverything should be as simple as it can be, but no simpler.\n-- Albert Einstein\nIf one looks around at other engineering disciplines, none has the complexity of computer science. If you told a mechanical engineer that you wanted to have a reliable, safe car with a billion moving parts, he’d think that you were nuts, and yet our CPUs alone have that many transistors. In particular, the brake column on a car is made of a single, solid piece of metal. Thus, for reliability you want as simple a system as possible.\nI have heard that in the US embassy in Moscow, they have a conference room made of plexiglass called “the bubble” inside one of the rooms, and they have their most sensitive discussions there. People who make a living sweeping for bugs, despite all the fancy gadgets, acknowledge that the physical search is the foundation of their craft. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense; it is trivially to visually identify any listening devices placed within such a room. Nobody who goes in there can leave anything without it being easily detected. So they can inspect it constantly, and trivially, without any fancy procedures. Thus, you want a system whose security is as easy to verify as possible.\nThere was a television show about the NSA recently, and one of the employees was discussing a possible use of virtual machines to enforce multi-level security. He said they were trying to come up with a way to make sure that any communication between systems only happened in very carefully-controlled ways. He said, “we have a saying; the more complex the problem we have, the simpler a solution we need.” If you think of the US government as the largest corporation on Earth, then you understand that in order to keep it secure, you need security mechanisms that can be understood by the average eighteen-year-old. If you have a security device that’s complicated to understand, it won’t be used properly or consistently. Thus, you want security mechanisms that are as easy to understand and operate as possible.\nThe earliest description of this principle I have found in this application is Saltzer & Schroeder, where they call it “economy of mechanism”.\n34.7 The Principle of Defense in Depth\nIn the middle ages, a castle might have a large set of walls around it, and then a central keep inside the outer walls; the adversaries needed to breach the outer wall, then the walls of the central keep. Thus, different parts of a security system may be arranged in series, meaning that you have to defeat all of them to defeat the system; this is called defense in depth ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_in_depth ). If the security of a given resource R is protected by two security systems A and B arranged in series, then an adversary must defeat A and B in order to defeat the system; thus R = AxB. If we’d like to analyze how often this combination of systems fail due to random chance, we simply multiply the probabilities.\nHowever, against an intelligent adversary, we’d like to ensure that a given type of attack does not bypass both systems, which we do by making them structurally different. For example, you may use a normal key to pass through an outer layer of access control, and then use a biometric of some kind to pass through an inner layer of access control; this prevents someone who can pick locks from being able to pass through both using the same skill. A similar principle is used by those who employ both humans and dogs in combination as guards; the senses of dogs neatly complement those of humans, so the combination will likely be better than either humans or dogs alone.\nYou might consider defense-in-depth (a/k/a “layered defense”) of the security-critical systems; if one were able to, say, bypass Kerberos security, one might not want the Kerberos server to depend upon the security of Kerberos, because that’s a little like begging the question (assuming something is true and using that assumption to prove that it is true). So perhaps only allow people to SSH into the Kerberos server from one host, and then protect that host with Kerberos. So now, the adversary must compromise the Kerberos-protected host, then compromise the Kerberos server over SSH.\n34.8 The Principle of Uniform Fronts\nA risk accepted by one is shared by all.\n-- USAF IA slogan\nAlternately, a castle may have two gates which grant access to the inside of a restricted area, then you have two access control devices arranged in parallel. In this case, either gate is a single point of failure for the protected area; the adversary need only defeat one to defeat either, thus R = A + B. If we’d like to know the rate of failure due to random chance, we simply add the rates of failure for each system together.\nAn intelligent adversary will analyze each security system and pick the one with which they will have the most success. You’d like to make sure that no particular system in this combination is weaker to them than any other, so the easiest way to do this is to make them homogeneous. I call this the principle of uniform fronts.\nIf you think this is all too simple, ask yourself what principles are being followed with the DNS root name servers. The DNS root name servers are heterogeneous, and all exposed to the public. Are they violating good design principles by applying heterogeneity in parallel?\nIf you think about it (or even if you don’t), the DNS root name servers aren’t defeated by a DoS attack unless the whole system becomes unavailable; in this respect we see that they are actually in a series arrangement, and that they are applying defense-in-depth. They are not worried about confidentiality, because they are providing information to the public. Instead, they want availability, and the system as a whole is still available as long as a sufficient number of the root servers are functioning properly. So again it is important to have in mind what our security goals are, as they affect our analysis and our definitions.\nThis is a slight tightening of “the principle of complete mediation” proposed by Saltzer and Schroeder, who suggest that all accesses be mediated, and that any remembered access decision must be updated systematically if a change in authority (authorization) occurs.\n34.9 The Principle of Split Control\nOne of the principles of creating highly reliable systems is that you shouldn’t allow for a single point of failure (SPOF) in your design. For example, if a disk drive fails, you want enough redundancy (from, e.g. RAID) that the system continues functioning properly. When you’re developing code, you generally copy the code to a second location periodically (such as a version-control repository like subversion) so that you don’t accidentally lose some of it. I believe that this general pattern can be usefully applied to some security systems as well in a way that I call split control. Saltzer and Schroeder called it separation of privilege though according to the folks over at CERIAS ( http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/weblogs/pmeunier/infosec-education/post-139/confusion-of-separation-of-privilege-and-least-privilege/ ), people tend to confuse it with least privilege (see 34.1↑ ), so I try to avoid that term.\nOne of my friends performs security audits and he had a customer who had a data center with a red button near the exit which was the emergency cut-off switch for the power. One of the people leaving the data center thought it was to open the door and pressed it, causing untold losses to their customers. Back in the days of mainframes, a programmer’s toddler daughter named Molly hit the big red switch (BRS) on an IBM 4341 mainframe twice in one day, so they created plexiglass covers for the switch, which is called a “molly guard” to this day. An investment of a few dollars may save many thousands. So by requiring two changes to implement one change, you reduce the chance of it happening accidentally.\nYou are probably also familiar with this principle when you’ve had to wait on a checker to call another person with a special key to authorize a transaction, usually removing an item from your purchase. The idea there is that a checker cannot void off items and pocket the cash without getting the attention of the second person. Similarly, you may have seen movies of missile silos where two keys must be turned simultaneously to launch a missile. Banks often require a manager to authorize transactions over a certain amount. So by requiring two people to implement one change, you reduce the chance of it happening fraudulently.\nIf you had no packet filters or firewalls, than any program which anybody started which listened on a socket would become immediately vulnerable to anyone on the Internet. And when you first installed a computer on your network, it would be similarly vulnerable until you had installed all your patches, turned off services, and otherwise hardened it. So by applying defense in depth (see 34.7↑ ), you decrease the chance that someone may get unintended access to a network service.\nWhen authenticating to an online system, they sometimes require more than one way of verifying the identity of a person (called two-factor authentication). If identifying yourself to the system involves something you have and something you know, then the adversary must get both in order to authenticate himself as you. Thus, by splitting the identity information into two pieces, you reduce the chance of the adversary getting both pieces.\nThe cryptographic technique called secret sharing (see 28.9.8↑ ) involves splitting a secret into multiple pieces and storing them in different places, perhaps controlled by different people. When encrypting financial data for storage, institutions are encouraged to store the encryption keys separately from the information itself (even if the keys themselves are encrypted with a master key), so that loss of one will not compromise the other. So by splitting the secret information into multiple pieces, the chances of an adversary getting the protected information are reduced.\nThe obvious drawback that any controlled change requires manipulating things in two places, and so it increases the amount of effort required to make the change. Since this is integral to the way it protects the system against accidents, this is unavoidable. As a result, you usually wouldn’t want to use this principle on things you will have to change often.\n34.10 The Principle of Minimal Changes\nSo suppose you decide to give a DNS slave a new IP address temporarily. You also have to change your DNS master server’s config file to allow the new IP address to request zone transfers. Now suppose you change the IP address back on the slave, but forget to change the name server configuration file. You’ve now got a hole in your security; if another system gets that IP address, it will be able to do zone transfers.\nThis is a relatively minor example where your security information has to be updated separately from what you intend to be changing. Also it’s an example where the access control is in each individual application, which is a bad design, as you can’t easily audit your access control policies without examining every possible application.\nThis principle may appear superficially to conflict with the principle of split control (see 34.9↑ ), but there is an important but subtle difference. In split control, both places have to be changed to allow the adversary to compromise security. In these examples, only one of the change points needs to allow the adversary access. Thus, there is a similar distinction between split control and minimal change points as between defense in depth and the principle of uniform fronts (see 34.8↑ ); when the systems are arranged in series, you want split control, and when the systems are arranged in parallel you want minimal change points.\nThis is essentially the DRY principle:\nWikipedia on Don’t Repeat Yourself ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself )\n34.11 The Principle of Centralized Management\nWhen you only have to administer one system, you may think that keeping up with it in the available amount of time is easy. However, as you start to manage more and more systems, you will have proportionally less time to spend on understanding and controlling any given system’s state. To maintain the same level of security, you need tools that allow you to understand it faster and control it with less effort. Thus, you will probably want to centralize management of the systems in some way.\nOne of the challenges you face in system administration is making sure people don’t accidentally change the state of things. For example, you may have a publicly-writable directory available via NFS where developers can install libraries and other important data, but sooner or later someone will delete something that another person needs. One strategy is to make the NFS-exported directory world-readable, and only allow writes to the filesystem from a single machine, possibly via a different path name. That way, the chances of someone accidentally deleting it are slim, and if it is deleted, you will more easily be able to determine who did so (and thus, why).\nThere are a number of systems for centralizing control of user accounts, such as NIS and LDAP. Systems like Kerberos do this and also allow you to perform centralized key management for network traffic.\n34.12 The Principle of Least Surprise\nThe principle of least surprise states that the system should do what you intended it to do. If you were to turn off “file sharing”, you wouldn’t expect it to also turn off your firewall; that would be an unpleasant surprise. An implication of this is that the system should have a degree of transparency to the end-user, such that they can verify that the effect of their actions is what they intended. A certain software vendor in Redmond keeps adding complexity to their operating system, despite no customer demand for it, with the sole intention of using this occult knowledge to drive their competitors out of business. As a side effect of this, there are many nooks and crannies in which spyware can hide, and many ways a user can unknowingly reduce their security. Also, it means that developers must continue to buy libraries and development tools from that vendor to make the complexity manageable. However, at least one of their employees has a clue; in Kim Kameron’s Laws of Identity ( http://www.identityblog.com/?p=354 ), he suggests that we “thingify” digital identities, and make them “things” on the desktop that the user can add and delete, select and share. That’s an excellent idea; the user should be able to see at a glance what she is doing with her identity. I say that we should go further and make all security-relevant information easily visible and intelligible to the end-user. That vendor recently acquired “sysinternals” ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx ), a company which was able to develop better tools for understanding their operating system than they were able to develop themselves. One tool in particular, called autoruns ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx ), is able to find all the programs which are automatically run when you start the system. If I recall correctly, there’s more than ten ways in which a program can set itself to be run automatically at start-up, and if you’ve ever wondered why it takes so long for your system to boot, it’s because you have at least a dozen programs starting automatically that don’t need to. As a general rule, when your system is so complex you need specialized tools to understand it, that’s a sign that you’ve screwed up, and you need to go back and refactor your system to make it simpler.\n34.13 The Principle of Removing Excuses\nIf you wanted to run a secure facility, you’d want to put restrooms and perhaps a conference room up in the front, before the security checkpoint. If you didn’t do this, then there may come a time where the security guard must either tell a person they can’t use the restroom, or allow someone to violate the desired physical security properties. It’s a good idea to anticipate any needs like this and allow for them in the design of the system, and therefore avoid any conflict between the desire to be secure and the desire to be a likeable and decent person. By putting the restrooms up front, you’ve also eliminated a possible excuse for someone who was found in the secure area without the proper credentials that they were merely lost and looking for the restroom. Proper application of this technique has two advantages; it prevents violation of the security properties whether the person is an adversary who seeks a cover, or not.\nSimilarly, if you are concerned that someone may do something heinous and then deny responsibility, you’d like to take away that excuse. For example, if you use an access card or other device to protect something very sensitive, then an employee may use it but claim that it was stolen, and it would be difficult to prove otherwise. You’d want to have a camera on the location or use biometrics to verify his identity to remove his ability to use this excuse.\n34.14 The Principle of Usability\nIt is essential that the human interface be designed for ease of use, so that users routinely and automatically apply the protection mechanisms correctly. Also, to the extent that the user’s mental image of his protection goals matches the mechanisms he must use, mistakes will be minimized. If he must translate his image of his protection needs into a radically different specification language, he will make errors.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\nIf the system involves human beings at all, whether as direct users, administrators, implementors, and so on, one should involve a model of a person into the design. That is, if it relies on a human being to use it, is it usable? There is a field of human-computer interaction called security usability which deals with this very issue (see 25↑ ). Also, will the humans who have control over it be tempted to bypass it? It is important to consider the procedural and administrative controls over this part of the process. Saltzer & Schroeder called it the principle of psychological acceptability.\n34.15 The Principle of Retaining Control\nThe government can have my crypto key when it pries it from my cold, dead neurons.\n-- John Perry Barlow, ca. 1991\nThis principle states that any decisions affecting the security of the system should remain in your hands. For example, if your home has no locks on the door, and you buy a lot of expensive electronic equipment from a store, and that store decides to publish customer purchasing history and home address, then you’ve lost your physical security. If you rely on another entity to protect your security, but you have no ability to make sure they do so, you’ve lost control (see 27.1↑ ). As a refinement, let me discuss the hierarchy of assurance by which one may retain control of the security of a system:\nAbsolutely impossible - compromise of the system requires breaking laws of physics or mathematics that are currently considered impossible to break, even in theory. Examples of this level of security include information-theoretic security in cryptographic systems, and trying to hack into a computer on a deep-space probe travelling away from you at nearly the speed of light.\nTechnically infeasible - compromise of the system is possible in theory but requires resources which are considered well outside the realm of feasibility. Examples of this level of security include computational security in cryptographic systems, and conquering all of Asia with ground forces in a land war.\nPractically unbreakable - compromise of the system is possible but the chances of it are remote. Examples include infiltrating and destroying NORAD headquarters in Cheyenne mountain, launching a direct attack against OpenSSH, and penetrating a very secure network.\nPunitively secure - compromise of the system is possible, but you could detect the person responsible and punish them, either militarily, physically or legally. Examples include any system which uses law to enforce it, such as Digital Rights Management (DRM). Classified information has this kind of protection, as does anything involving international law. This system costs money to investigate and punish offenders, so unless the punishment is sufficiently harsh to deter the crime (“punish one, teach a thousand”), it may not be cost-effective. Also, it may be that the person in question was just careless with their computer, and the real offender remains untraceable. Most bank robbers use stolen cars for a reason, you know.\nSpeculatively secure - compromise of the system is possible, but you don’t think anyone would want to break it and you rely on the good will of people to protect it. Examples include anything which relies on security through obscurity (see 35.4↓ ).\nNow, a few points about retaining control. Basically, anything which occurs independently of you is outside your control. Offline abuses (i.e. passive attacks) are undetectable, and thus you cannot react to them, which violates the principle of agility (see 34.2↑ ). Thus, the principle of retaining control implies that you should prefer systems which minimize passive attacks.\nAlso, this principle also implies that since users have varying security needs (since what they are protecting varies in value to them), then users should not be “stuck” with a “one size fits all” security mechanism; instead, they should choose vendors who allow them to retain control over the decisions of mechanisms (see 34.17↓ ).\n34.16 The Principle of Personality\nI’m finding it difficult to establish a good name for this principle, but it ties together a lot of observations about how bad things occur in clusters, and about how the past can sometimes be used predict the future.\nPeople who commit criminal acts tend to have criminal records. This is why companies perform background checks on employees before hiring them.\nPeople with poor secure programming skills, or companies with poor security awareness, tend to create software with more vulnerabilities than those with a more security-conscious attitude. For example, compare the security history of a randomly-selected program against one written by Dan Bernstein, Wietse Venema, or the OpenBSD project.\nSoftware that has had a poor security history tends to have more vulnerabilities discovered over time. I tend to search the National Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ ) before I expose any piece of software to potentially hostile input. If a vulnerability was found every week for the last month, chances are that there are many more that lay dormant.\nThat is, to a certain extent, you can have some insight into future behavior based on the past. This is certainly not a hard and fast rule, and potentially unfair, but it is an easy one that gives pretty good results.\n34.17 The Principle of Least Common Mechanism\nMinimize the amount of mechanism common to more than one user and depended on by all users. Every shared mechanism (especially one involving shared variables) represents a potential information path between users and must be designed with great care to be sure it does not unintentionally compromise security. Further, any mechanism serving all users must be certified to the satisfaction of every user, a job presumably harder than satisfying only one or a few users. For example, given the choice of implementing a new function as a supervisor procedure shared by all users or as a library procedure that can be handled as though it were the user’s own, choose the latter course. Then, if one or a few users are not satisfied with the level of certification of the function, they can provide a substitute or not use it at all. Either way, they can avoid being harmed by a mistake in it.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder, The Protection of Information in Computer Systems, http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/protection/\nThat pretty much says it clearly. The first point has to do with covert channels, and the second has to do with allowing the users to retain control.\n34.18 The Principle of Practice\nAny part of the security design which is not exercised on a regular basis is not actually part of the security system.\nIf you’ve ever been in an emergency situation, you’ll know that things don’t work the way you expect; the batteries in the flashlight haven’t been changed, the door sticks and won’t open, the script which is supposed to work has succumbed to bit rot, security alerts don’t go out, and so on. This is why people hold fire drills.\nSo, for any technical security feature, it must be exercised periodically, and ideally in conditions as similar to those as the situation you’re trying to test as possible. This is most important in abuse detection, response, and alerting (see 16↑ , 17↑ , 17.1↑ ). It is also relevant in access control; generally, consider any code path which isn’t taken often, and make sure it gets tested - that it gets taken, and functions properly. This exercise plan should be considered part of the security design.\nFor any security feature involving people, they should be forced to do perform the required tasks periodically. In some cases, you don’t tell them when, but you probably do want to tell them that it’s a drill when it happens. You should make their compensation dependent on proper execution of their emergency duties, but always apply common sense.\n34.19 Work Factor Calculation\nCompare the cost of circumventing the mechanism with the resources of a potential attacker. The cost of circumventing, commonly known as the \"work factor,\" in some cases can be easily calculated. For example, the number of experiments needed to try all possible four letter alphabetic passwords is 264 = 456 976. If the potential attacker must enter each experimental password at a terminal, one might consider a four-letter password to be adequate. On the other hand, if the attacker could use a large computer capable of trying a million passwords per second, as might be the case where industrial espionage or military security is being considered, a four-letter password would be a minor barrier for a potential intruder. The trouble with the work factor principle is that many computer protection mechanisms are not susceptible to direct work factor calculation, since defeating them by systematic attack may be logically impossible. Defeat can be accomplished only by indirect strategies, such as waiting for an accidental hardware failure or searching for an error in implementation. Reliable estimates of the length of such a wait or search are very difficult to make.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\n34.20 Availability Principles\nObviously, you want to minimize complexity, which is good for security generally, because as humans our brains are very limited in their ability to do combinatorial testing. This could be minimizing the number of moving parts, minimizing the amount of software, minimizing the amount of activity on it. Secondly, you want to minimize changes to that system. Basically, try to separate the things that require changes to other systems. Unfortunately, this means you can’t patch the system very frequently, which may leave it vulnerable. When you do change, you want to test the change on another system, and then do it to the live system. Virtual machines are very handy for this. This can be summarized as “test twice, change once”.\n35 Common Arguments\nI’m starting to summarize common arguments here so that we can just agree, or agree to disagree, and get on with more interesting discussion.\n35.1 Disclosure: Full, Partial, or None?\nThis is such a common debate, and it has been going on since at least the 1850s. The goal here is not to take a position, but to summarize the arguments thus far so that we can avoid fruitless rehashing of old positions.\nFull Disclosure Debate Bibliography, by date ( http://www.wildernesscoast.org/bib/disclosure-by-date.html )\nSchneier: Full Disclosure and the Window of Exposure ( http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0009.html#1 )\n35.1.1 Terminology\nfull when you find a vulnerability, talk openly about it, even publish exploits ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_disclosure )\nlimited when you find a vulnerability, talk only about the vulnerability and attempt to help people protect themselves, but try to avoid giving out details that would help people exploit it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_disclosure#Various_interpretations )\nnone never talk about vulnerabilities; discussing them helps the adversaries\nsecurity through obscurity hoping that nobody knows about, finds out about, or discusses vulnerabilities (see 35.4↓ )\ntime-bounded contact the vendor, give them a finite amount of time to fix it (my term)\ntime-unbounded contact the vendor, give them as long as they need to fix it (my term)\nresponsible can mean a variety of things, meaning “limited” for some, and “time-bounded” for others ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsible_disclosure ). Controversial because it suggests that other methods are irresponsible.\ncoordinated vulnerability disclosure full disclosure after attacks start, no disclosure prior to attacks ( http://blogs.technet.com/b/ecostrat/ ). Seems likely to shift the debate towards what is being exploited.\nRFPolicy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFPolicy )\n35.1.3 Arguments For Disclosure\nA commercial, and in some respects a social doubt has been started within the last year or two, whether or not it is right to discuss so openly the security or insecurity of locks. Many well-meaning persons suppose that the discussion respecting the means for baffling the supposed safety of locks offers a premium for dishonesty, by showing others how to be dishonest. This is a fallacy. Rogues are very keen in their profession, and know already much more than we can teach them respecting their several kinds of roguery.\nRogues knew a good deal about lock-picking long before locksmiths discussed it among themselves, as they have lately done. If a lock, let it have been made in whatever country, or by whatever maker, is not so inviolable as it has hitherto been deemed to be, surely it is to the interest of honest persons to know this fact, because the dishonest are tolerably certain to apply the knowledge practically; and the spread of the knowledge is necessary to give fair play to those who might suffer by ignorance.\nIt cannot be too earnestly urged that an acquaintance with real facts will, in the end, be better for all parties. Some time ago, when the reading public was alarmed at being told how London milk is adulterated, timid persons deprecated the exposure, on the plea that it would give instructions in the art of adulterating milk; a vain fear, milkmen knew all about it before, whether they practiced it or not; and the exposure only taught purchasers the necessity of a little scrutiny and caution, leaving them to obey this necessity or not, as they pleased.\n-- Locks and Safes: The Construction of Locks (1853), http://www.crypto.com/hobbs.html\nOn Responsible Disclosure: Stripping the Veil From Corporate Censorship ( http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/133 )\nA Model for When Disclosure Helps Security: What is Different About Computer and Network Security? ( http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=531782 )\nSecurity Experts\nIf this lock is of any value, it should be known; if it has weak points, let them be pointed out, and they may admit of a remedy; for we ought not to be led to believe a lock is safe which is not so.\n-- A treatise on fire and thief-proof depositories, and locks and keys, George Price\nIf nobody ever disclosed, vendors would never put in the effort to make secure software. Look at the state of security before the Morris worm, or perhaps before about 1997, when stack overflows and the dot-com boom converged. Like physical exercise, it may hurt in the short term, but in the long term it helps.\nIt keeps life interesting. Without (discussion of) vulnerabilities, there would be nothing to study in security; there would be no industry, no science, no magazines or blogs.\nIt keeps us in business.\nIf it exists, then it’s possible someone else already knows about it, or will find it. Whether it has been publicly-discussed or not is irrelevant. Attacks are meant to be stealthy, so whether it has been detected in the wild or not is irrelevant. If it’s possible, it is an unnecessary risk.\nThe number of implementation errors in a finite-sized program is finite, so every one we fix will reduce the amount left.\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t devise protection schemes and countermeasures.\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t devise a way to detect it.\nI’d rather everyone know than just a select few, with vested interests one way or another; putting everyone on the same footing is more civic-minded.\nEconomists\nWithout disclosure, there would be no financial reason for them to put any effort into security, and much reason against it. Officers of publicly-traded companies in the US must act to maximize profit, or else they can be held personally liable, so if you want secure software, you must make it in their (vendors and officers) financial best interest to write secure software.\nWithout perfect information, the market is inherently inefficient.\nEnd Users\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t avoid the vulnerable software.\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t do a proper risk assessment. Having an inaccurate view of risks can only hurt us, our customers, and shareholders.\nI’d rather know it’s not secure than mistakenly think it is (similar to risk assessment argument).\nIn other industries, companies are liable if they put out a defective product. A car company can’t simply stick an EULA on your car and say whatever happens is not their fault.\n35.1.4 Arguments Against Disclosure\nIt is extremely important that the information contained in this book be faithfully guarded so as not to fall into the hands of undesirables.\nWe also suggest after you become proficient in the art of manipulation to destroy this book completely, so as to protect yourself and our craft.\n-- From Clyde Lentz and Bill Kenton, The Art of Manipulation, (privately published in 1953), http://www.crypto.com/hobbs.html\nMatt Mecham: Why Full Disclosure is Bad ( http://ips2.blogs.com/matts_blog/2004/09/why_full_disclo.html )\nVendor\nWhile we both know our product was defective, thanks to you everyone knows about it and so we have to fix it.\nYou didn’t give us time to fix it in our normal release cycle, so now we have to ship something fast and can’t test it properly.\nVendor’s Employees\nI didn’t write this code and would rather not have had to cancel my plans for the weekend so that I can figure it out. I’m salaried, so I don’t get paid overtime, so there’s no upside to this for me.\nI can’t stop programmers from writing vulnerable code, but I end up having to fix it.\nI didn’t make the decision to use this library/code/program, but I’m stuck with the vulnerabilities in it.\nEconomists\nWriting secure software is (impractical, hard, expensive). If you make vendors do it, you’d (pay more, have less software).\nResources spent defending are not spent on more constructive pursuits.\nEnd User\nWe now have to patch our systems but I wanted to sleep tonight. I’m salaried and don’t get paid overtime.\nThe vendor has no solution.\nThe vendor’s solution can’t be tested thoroughly and may cause our operations to grind to a halt.\nI didn’t choose these systems, but I have to maintain them and keep them as secure as I can.\nI would prefer that nobody know these things. Since that’s impossible, I want to squash discussion of them. Discussion of these things puts everyone at risk.\n35.2 Absolute vs. Effective Security\nIn theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.\n-- Yogi Berra (or Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut) [T] [T] For some humor on theory versus practice, see: http://www.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/theory.html\nIn the design of cryptosystems, we must design something now for use in the future. We have only the published facts of the past to stand against all the secret research of the past and future for as long as a cipher is used. It is therefore necessary to speculate on future capabilities. It is not acceptable to wait for a published attack before a weakness is considered in cipher design. It is instead necessary to try to perceive weaknesses which have not yet contributed to full attacks, and close them off.\n-- Terry Ritter\nWhen discussing security, I find two, usually exclusive schools of thought:\ntheorists or absolute security types, believe that we should secure the systems by proving their correctness, and reviewing their design goals and such, and that anything else is doomed to failure, or a waste of time, or a never-ending arms race. They believe that we should only run that which we know to be safe, and nothing else. They are at home with the “default deny” policy (see 34.1↑ ). They prefer to focus on what is possible, not what is probable. When you say “adversary” they think NSA or KGB (or both). They defend this line of reasoning by pointing out that if you prepare for the most skilled adversaries, the less skilled are doubly thwarted. They worry about worst-case scenarios. This school is popular among academicians, intelligence agents, cryptographers, and people suffering from paranoid delusions (there is significant overlap between these groups). They sometimes earn nicknames like “Dr. No”, or “the security Nazi”, because their favorite answer for everything is “no”. They believe that which is not proven (or tested) may not be assumed to be true. They prefer open-source software. Often they are very intelligent or knowledgeable about security, and rarely have an incident, because they’re very careful. They are prone to false positives, because they want to err on the side of safety.\npragmatists or effective security adherents, believe that the theorists will never run anything but toy programs, and that we should identify the major threats or threat agents and deal with them. This school endorses the misuse-detection technologies like signature-based NIDS and anti-virus. When you say adversary, they think of a sixteen-year-old script kiddie. They worry about only the most likely scenarios. They defend this line of reasoning by pointing out that the NSA and KGB have no (additional) reason to spy on them, and that they couldn’t stop them anyway, so there’s no point in worrying about it. They believe that which hasn’t been broken in practice may be assumed to be secure. They are comfortable with commercial software. They are often successful with people and in business, because they’re concerned with helping other people do what they want to do.\nThe problem that theorists should understand is that there may not be a perfectly secure solution. It’s almost impossible to defend a web site against abuse or DoS, for example, especially when the adversary may have thousands of zombie computers at his disposal. The only way to not be vulnerable to DoS would be to not have a site on the Internet. The only way to be sure you never receive unwanted email would be to never receive any email at all. If you cut off all external communication, then you’d have an extremely secure but completely useless system.\nAnd provably secure systems aren’t perfect either; most mathematical proofs start with assumptions, and then how do you prove the proof is correct? Tomorrow may bring a threat you couldn’t have predicted, and which wasn’t a design goal or security property for the system. So, now that we’ve established that there’s no way to know for sure whether there’s a perfect solution or not, it’s out of the black-and-white realm and into gray scale. Don’t worry; if you could predict everything in advance, and thus there was no risk, you’d be astoundingly bored. To eliminate risk entirely, you’d have to start out knowing everything, so that you never received a surprise, and thus you could never learn anything, which would make awfully boring, wouldn’t it?\nFinally, security may simply not be the most important factor; you may care more about security than anyone else. If you’re in business, you’re there to provide for other people, whether they be your boss or customers. If you have to decide between using an AJAX-based but possibly unsecure web site, and not using javascript but having some users experience delays of ten seconds or longer, your users and boss may prefer the latter. After all, if you care more about security than anything else, why turn the computers on at all?\nThe pragmatists often don’t understand that what is merely possible today may become ubiquitous tomorrow. Perhaps it just isn’t being exploited today because nobody is aware of it. Maybe it’s being exploited but nobody knows it. And maybe people don’t have the expertise, but all it takes is an expert to use information technology to encapsulate some of their expertise in a program that anyone can run, or to write a simple “how-to”, and this can happen overnight, without warning. A bit of study of the history of computer security will show that this happens all the time. What’s worse is that it could have already happened, and you don’t know it. They should read about the principle of retaining control (see 34.15↑ ).\nIf you only plan on defending against today’s common attacks, you will always be fighting the last war, instead of the current one. Every new trend and attack will catch you unaware, merely because it’s new. Sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of remediation. Plus, you will usually not be able to get good statistics on intrusions, because many go undetected, and most go unreported.\n35.3 Quantification and Metrics vs. Intuition\nEverything that can be counted doesn’t necessarily count; everything that counts can’t necessarily be counted.\n-- Albert Einstein\nThere’s no sense in being precise when you don’t even know what you’re talking about.\n-- John von Neumann\nProbability is difficult to apply to security. Sometimes people misuse the notion of probability, by asking things like, “what is the probability of that this system has been compromised?”. This is a nonsense question; it is either true or not. Probability refers to a group of similar events. The correct question would be “knowing nothing else, what is the probability that any given system on the Internet has been compromised?”. The implicit assumption here is that these systems are similar enough that this question is meaningful. Often having knowledge about the systems helps; for example, we may ask what the probability that a given object in the sky will appear again will be, and the answer depends heavily on whether that object is a celestial object, a migratory bird, or a baseball. Collecting statistics on all objects in the sky as a group wouldn’t be nearly as useful as classifying them correctly.\nBut what is the chance that someone is covertly monitoring your traffic? The very nature of the event is that it is supposed to remain secret. How can you get good metrics on something like that? You can’t quantify most of the risks you face, and you probably can’t even measure the some that matter (especially passive attacks), and in many cases quantification is slower and costs more than prevention. On the other hand, intuition is highly vulnerable to sampling bias and various cognitive biases; for example I think about security vulnerabilities and intrusions a lot, so I probably think they are more common than they really are.\nThere is a fundamental problem with quantification; we don’t know about the intrusions we don’t know about (see 18.1↑ ), so we always will err on the side of underestimating the risks. On the other hand, as security experts, we are likely to presume a higher level of “interesting” attacks than there actually are, because that’s what we think about all day. That all having been said, if you can get good metrics, then by all means use them; otherwise you are likely to be operating on prejudice. After you do that, put some energy into understanding their limitations, which usually means a thorough understanding of how they are collected and counted.\nSecurity Metrics Mailing List ( http://www.securitymetrics.org/ )\n35.4 Security Through Obscurity\nNote to amateur cryptographers: simple analysis is a good thing, if it doesn’t weaken the cipher … It’s better to be able to prove that an attack won’t work than to have to guess that it won’t because it’s too much work.\n-- Colin Plumb\nMost arguments involving security through obscurity seems to center around different definitions of what the term means. I believe the meaning intended by most security experts is that the information necessary for the security of the system does not have its confidentiality protected other than by being obscure (that is, not impossible to find, but merely difficult, perhaps because few people know it). What this means is that anyone with the interest will probably be able to figure it out if they get lucky. It could be that someone posts the previously-obscure design to the Internet, or it is published in a trade journal, that it’s similar enough to another related system that the adversary figures it out, or that they merely experiment with the system until they figure it out, etc. This does not refer to systems whose strength is protected with some sort of technical measure, such as a cryptographic key, port knock sequence ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_knocking ), or passphrase (see the discussion of Kerckhoff’s Principle in 34.3↑ ). Nor does it refer to the key or passphrase itself, which is protected from disclosure as part of the design. It does refer to a system whose security depends on adversaries being unlucky or unmotivated.\nWikipedia on STO ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_through_obscurity )\n35.5 Security of Open Source vs. Closed Source\nIn God we trust; from all others, we need source code.\nOpen source means defenders and users (who may be customers) can all look for vulnerabilities in the software. Open-source is to closed-source what transparent boxes are to black boxes. Closed source implicitly means that you must trust the vendor that it is secure, but since you can’t hold them liable if it isn’t, so this is what I call “faith-based security”. Only in open-source does an end-user have the ability, if only theoretical, to make an informed decision on the quality of the product before deciding to let his security depend on it. Of course, adversaries may also look at the source, and have more incentive to do so, but properly designed and implemented code does not have exploitable bugs (see 24.1↑ ). Cryptographers have long advocated Kerckhoff’s (second) principle, which is to not rely on the secrecy of the design for the security of the system (see 34.3↑ ).\nGiven the choice between a system I can inspect to be secure, or one I can’t tell, I’ll usually choose the one I can inspect, even if I don’t personally inspect it, because of the psychological impact; the vendor knows he can’t hide any flaws, and so he generally won’t make it open-source unless he’s pretty confident he won’t be embarrassed. I feel that withholding source code may be slightly effective in practice, like all security through obscurity (see 35.4↑ ), but that it’s not as reliable a strategy as looking for and fixing all the problems. Given the choice between an open and closed format, the open format or open-source provides you more security. It’s like having a guarantee if the author gets hit by a bus, or stops making the product, or decides you’re locked in and jacks up rates (see 34.2↑ ).\nThe other side says that adversaries may have more motivation to look for vulnerabilities than a typical end-user. This means the faster bugs are found, the fewer will remain, so highly-inspected code matures more quickly. Code that isn’t inspected much may have dormant bugs which lurk for a long time before being publicized, or they may never become publicly known, but this does not change the fact that they were vulnerable the whole time. Nevertheless, vendors of security software seem to be pretty keen to vulnerabilities, and so their products are usually solid. It’s the vendors who do not know anything about security, or who designed and coded their systems before they learned about security, that are suspect. And most of the time, the kinds of vulnerabilities that worry security agencies and privacy advocates (namely back doors and trojans) don’t appear in commercial software. The other side also says that if you use commercial software, often the vulnerabilities are found internally, and corrected quietly without public disclosure.\nRoss Anderson has a paper on this topic ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/toulouse.pdf ), and he concludes open-source and closed-source have the same security assurance. I haven’t read the paper yet but I figured I’d include it here for balance. In an interesting quantification, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has commissioned coverity to perform a study which found that both open-source software and commercial software have about 1 security bug for every 1000 lines of code ( http://scan.coverity.com/ ).\n35.6 Insider Threat vs. Outsider Threat\nEssentially, perimeter defenses protect against most adversaries, whereas distributed defenses on each host protect against all adversaries (that is, remote systems; local users are the domain of OS security). The idea of pointing outward versus pointing inward is a well-known one in alarm systems. Your typical door and window sensors are perimeter defenses, and the typical motion detector or pressure mat an internal defense. As with alarm systems, the internally-focused defenses are prone to triggering on authorized activity, whereas the perimeter defenses are less so.\nA hardware security module (HSM) basically makes everyone but the vendor an outsider; insurance companies love this because they defend against insider threats as well as outsiders. Financial institutions and the military also focus on insiders, primarily because if they can protect against insiders they can also usually protect against outsiders. However, such environments are no fun to work in. Everyone trusts themselves implicitly, and so when employees are told to implement defenses against themselves, not only does it send the message that management doesn’t trust them, they usually do so with little enthusiasm.\nDave G. of Matasano has published an interesting piece on the insider threat ( http://www.matasano.com/log/984/the-insidious-insider-threat/ ). So does Richard Bejtlich ( http://taosecurity.blogspot.com/2009/05/insider-threat-myth-documentation.html ).\n35.6.1 In Favor of Perimeter Defenses\nMost organizations consider the unauthenticated and unauthorized people on the Internet to be the largest threat (see the definition of anonymous attack surface in 7.5↑ ). Despite hype to the contrary, I believe this is correct. Most people are trustworthy for the sorts of things we trust them for, and if they weren’t, society would probably collapse. The difference is that on the Internet, the pool of potential adversaries is much larger, and while a person can only hold one job, they can easily hack into many different organizations. The veterans (and critics) of Usenet and IRC are well aware of this, where the unbalanced tend to be most vocal and most annoying. Some of them seem to have no goal other than to irritate others.\nIn the real world, people learn to avoid these sorts, and employers choose not to hire them, but on the Internet, it’s a bit more difficult to filter out the chaff, so to speak. Also, if we detect a misbehaving insider, we can usually identify and therefore punish them; by contrast, it is difficult to take a simple IP address and end up with a successful lawsuit or criminal case, particularly if the IP is in another country. Furthermore, most people feel some loyalty towards their employer, and it is easier for an outsider to avoid humanizing the people who work there.\n35.6.2 What Perimeter?\nThe perimeter is not here nor there, but it is inside you, and among you.\nAn interesting point is that when a user on a client machine inside our network accesses a malicious web page, or loads a malicious file, and the system gets compromised, and now that internal node becomes an attacker.\nAnother important issue to consider is series versus parallel defenses (see 34.8↑ ). Suppose the gateway, firewall, and VPN endpoint for your organization’s main office uses the pf firewall (IMHO, the best open-source firewall out there). Now, suppose a remote office wants to connect in from Linux, so they use iptables. Now, should there be an exploitable weakness in iptables, then they might be able to penetrate the remote office, making them inside the perimeter. Courtesy of the VPN tunnel, they are now inside the perimeter of the main office as well, and your perimeter security is worthless. Given the trend towards a more complex and convoluted perimeter, I think this suggests moving away from perimeter defenses and towards distributed defenses; we can start by creating concentric perimeters, or firewalls between internal networks, and move towards (the ideal but probably unreachable goal of) a packet filter on every machine, implementing least privilege on every system.\nSpecifically, the notion of a security perimeter is challenged by the following developments in our computing environments:\nClient-side attacks by malicious servers\nData-driven attacks by malicious files or web pages\nRunning untrustworthy code\n35.6.3 Performance Issues\nI am beginning to think that perimeter defenses are insufficient. As we become more networked, we will have more borders with more systems. End-to-end protocol encryption and VPNs prevent any sort of application-layer data inspection by NIDS devices located at choke points and gateways. High-speed networks, particularly fiber to the desktop, challenge our ability to centralize, inspect, and filter traffic, and requires expensive, high-performance equipment. Encryption (SSL) and firewall-penetrating technologies like skype create tunnels (some may say covert channels) through the firewall. Put simply, the perimeter is everywhere, and the forward-looking should consider how to distribute our security over our assets. For example, everything that is done by a NIDS can be done on the endpoint, and it doesn’t suffer from many of the typical problems that a separate device does (including evasion techniques and interpretation ambiguities). Also, this means each internal node pays for its own security; if I am downloading 1Gbps, I am also inspecting it, whereas an idle system isn’t spending any cycles inspecting traffic. With the proper design, no packets get lost, dropped, or ignored, nor is it necessary to limit bandwidth because of limited inspection capacity at the perimeter. And we can use commodity hardware (the hardware we already have) to do the work.\n35.7 Prevention vs. Detection\nAn ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.\n-- Henry de Braxton\nThose who emphasize monitoring and intrusion detection make the point that no matter how much effort you put into prevention, some (fraction of the) attacks will succeed, and so you should put some effort into detection. I agree with the premise. I would go farther with the argument, and say that no matter how much you put into detection, some successful intrusion will go undetected, especially if the detection system involves human judgment (see the motion picture Andromeda Strain as a good example). So let me use a very contrived numerical example to show that putting resources into detection may not always improve your security. Consider two cases:\nI prevent 99% of the intrusions, and detect 0% of the remainder. For every 100 attempts, one is successful and it always remains undetected.\nI prevent 50% of the intrusions, and detect 50% of the remainder. For every 100 attempts, 50 are successful and 25 remain undetected.\nIn this case, had you chosen the allocation which favors prevention, you do no incident response and you got 25 times fewer undetected intrusions, even though you did no detection. This is an application of the base-rate fallacy (see 4.1.2↑ ). So it’s not clear what is the right mix.\nI would say that the relative value of monitoring depends in part on how effective your prevention mechanisms are. If you are not in the business of providing network services then you should spend almost all of your resources on prevention, and a very little on monitoring (but make sure you monitor those systems very closely). On the other hand, if there are a number of services with bad security histories that you are not able to turn off for business reasons, or you run an intelligence agency, then perhaps the allocation should be reversed. I find this position to be undesirable, though, because if you only detect intrusions, you’re going to spend a lot of resources cleaning up after them, and second-guessing yourself about what they may have done. On the other hand, preventative systems like a packet filter require almost no resources to maintain (in reality you have to adjust them from time to time, but the resources necessary are small by comparison).\nAdditionally, in operating system security, all bets are off once the adversary gets full privileges. At that point, any local logs and tools are suspect. I believe there are often machines which can be similarly critical to network security, such as authentication servers and file servers, but they are less clearly so. My contention is that you should do your best to keep the adversary out, as once they’re in you’re on even terms and thus have lost the most important advantage you have - namely, having more privilege than they.\n35.7.2 Detection over Prevention\nThe more of these are true in your particular situation, the more you’ll want to emphasize detection over prevention.\nPrevention is hard, expensive, or impossible\nDetection is easy\nCleanup is relatively easy (i.e. reimage the system)\nLosses are minimal or limited (i.e. you have no interesting assets or secrets to protect)\n35.7.3 Impact on Intelligence Collection\nIf you are a typical business, you probably want to prevent attacks and intrusions, because you aren’t interested in the motivations of your adversaries, or if you were, you wouldn’t have time to do forensics and analyze their intentions, so you’ll almost always want to block first and ask questions later. But if you were an intelligence agency with lots of resources and were very interested in adversary intentions, you might allow an attack against a non-critical system to occur just to analyze their collection goals and intentions. For example, if India were to allow an intrusion to happen, and learned that the adversary was after force deployments in the disputed region of Kashmir, they could reasonably conclude that Pakistan might have some sort of intention to move into the region, and thus could ready themselves for a rapid response. It is not likely to be important who the actual intruder was, if the information they are after is only useful to one entity. In this case, knowing the adversary’s intentions could be much more valuable than the information the intruder would obtain.\n35.8 Audit vs. Monitoring\nIf you have leverage, even after a security breach takes place, you could substitute audit for monitoring. Banks, the IRS, and other financial institutions may decide to do audits rather than monitoring, because auditing samples takes much less effort than continual monitoring. For example, the IRS requires forms for cash transactions over a few thousand dollars, which is one reason why you can’t pay cash for a new car. Even if you monitor everything, you probably don’t have the human resources to review it all, so you necessarily decide what samples to check. If your adversary knows what rules you use to sample, he will probably try to not be in your sample, so you should probably do a little random sampling too, looking for people trying to fly under the RADAR.\nIt also works with physical security; if I know that I can see whatever went on in a facility at any later time, I may only do spot-checks.\nIf you do want a human to monitor or audit something, it’s a good idea to make sure they know what to look for. I recall a story by a security guru who once saw a terminal with a US Marine guarding it. He wondered if the Marine knew what to look for. However, I think the Marine was there to prevent physical tampering with the computer and not tasked with understanding what the person was doing when typing. In any case, if you’re paying someone to monitor something, it would help if they knew what they’re looking for.\n35.9 Early vs. Late Adopters\nIt seems that different cryptographers have different risk thermostats, especially when it comes to how early to adopt. For example, suppose a new cipher XYZ comes out to replace cipher ABC. The best attacks against it are much less successful than the best attacks against the old cipher. However, there is a discrepancy here; the old cipher has probably had much more study. The early adopters are essentially hopeful that the new cipher will prove to be stronger, often due to a larger key size, due to the fact that it is designed against the known attacks, or simply due to the fact that it’s less well-studied, though the latter is a form of security through obscurity (see 35.4↑ ). The late adopters let other people take the risk that the new cipher will be discovered to be weak, knowing that it is much less likely to have a new, devastating attack discovered against it such as the one discovered against Shamir’s knapsack algorithm demonstrated at CRYPTO ’83 ( http://www.ics.uci.edu/~mingl/knapsack.html ). No one will argue that the uncertainty is often greater in the new cipher than the old, especially when they are structurally different.\n35.10 Sending HTML Email\nI’m sorry, you sent me a web page instead of an email. I don’t use a browser to read email. Please re-submit.\nThe people who don’t understand security (see 23↑ ) see no problem with sending HTML email. “Get in the right century”, they say. The people who understand security hate it, but they also tend to appreciate aesthetics less. Certainly it causes a problem with phishing (see 22.2↑ ).\n36 Editorials, Predictions, Polemics, and Personal Opinions\nThis is basically where I put all the stuff that’s not quite as objective as everything else.\n36.1 So You Think You’re Old School?\nComputer crime has become the “glamor crime” of the 1970s - and experts agree most facilities are unprepared to stop it. Reviewing more than 100 major cases, John M. Carroll concludes that known computer crime is only the tip of the iceberg. And he adds, “There is no computer system in existence that has not been penetrated.”\n-- book flap for Computer Security, John M. Carroll, 1977\n36.2 Security is for Polymaths\nWhen hackers are hacking, they don’t mess around with the superficial world of Metaverses and avatars. They descend below this surface layer and into the netherworld of code and tangled nam-shubs that support it, where everything that you see in the Metaverse, no matter how lifelike and beautiful and three-dimensional, reduces to a simple text file: a series of letters on an electronic page. It is a throwback to the days when people programmed computers through primitive teletypes and IBM punch cards.\n-- Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash\nA human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.\n-- Robert A. Heinlein\nThe best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt on any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man, and punches too good for a Judo man.\n-- Bruce Lee ( http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee )\nWikipedia article on polymaths ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath )\nIf you’ve read up until here, you will likely notice the breadth of topics covered, and it’s far from comprehensive. This started as a paper, but wound up a book; if you include all the papers and pages it references, it would probably end up being a library. Almost every technology has a security component to it, and so if you are to be a master of security you must master all of the fields in which you practice. To be able to write shellcode, you need to know assembly language, even machine language, which is extremely rare knowledge, even among professional programmers. To master cryptology, you will have to understand discrete mathematics. To find bugs, you will need to be an extremely careful programmer. To reverse engineer, you will have to understand compilers. To be able to grok an application, you need to be able to look through the GUI that most people recognize and imagine the code behind it, like the characters in The Matrix. A true hacker realizes that the GUI is a side-effect of the code, and not vice-versa, and that therefore, a GUI can deceive. Thus, it is an excellent place for people who like to learn and truly understand.\nJust as water seeks its own level, system crackers (that is, “black hats”) often seek the easiest way to compromise a system, organization, network, etc. To specialize in one subfield of security is akin to being able to just build moats, walls, arrow slits, or murder-holes. To focus on one area of security to the exclusion of others is akin to building a tall fencepost, rather than a wall.\n36.3 A Proposed Perimeter Defense\nI believe the following design would be a useful design for perimeter defenses for most organizations and individuals.\nFirst, there would be an outer layer of reactive prevention that performs detection of abuse ( 16↑ ) with a very liberal definition of “abuse” (anything that could be abuse is considered one), and then marks the source tainted ( 17.2.2↑ ). Second, there is an inner layer of prevention and detection that acts as a fail-safe mechanism; if the outer preventative defense should fail for some reason (hardware, software, configuration) then incoming connections will be stopped (prevented) by the inner layer and the detection system will alert us (see 17.1↑ ) that something is very wrong.\nThis way, the outer layer may taint the source if it looks slightly hostile. We only get notified if the outer layer failed in some unexpected way; we do not have to worry about the outer layer blocking or detecting adversaries. In other words, it doesn’t require having a human monitor traffic blocked by the outer layer, and therefore the outer layer does not have to put any effort into validating that it is a valid attack.\nThe idea of a dual layer of firewalling is already becoming popular with financial institutions and military networks, but really derives itself from the lessons learned trying to guarantee high availability and specifically the goal of eliminating single points of failure. However, if the outer layer were not reactive, then we would effectively be discarding any useful intelligence that is gained by detecting probes (that is, a failed connection/query/probe/attack is still valuable in determining intent). With a reactive firewall as the outer layer, when an adversary probes our defenses looking for holes or weak spots, we take appropriate action, usually shunning that network address, and this makes enumeration a much more difficult process. With a little imagination, we can construct more deceptive defensive measures, like returning random responses, or redirection to a honey-net (which is essentially just a consistent set of bogus responses, plus monitoring). Since enumeration is strictly an information-gathering activity, the obvious countermeasure is deception. The range of deceptive responses runs from none (that is, complete silence, or lack of information) through random responses (misinformation) to consistent, strategic deception (disinformation). Stronger responses are out of proportion to the provocation (network scans are legal in most countries), and often illegal in any circumstances.\n36.4 Linear Order Please!\nI personally think that directives should be processed in the order they are listed in cases like Apache’s config file, and that would eliminate a need for the order directive at all. Certainly there is room for confusion if it is not near the allow and deny directives that it so explicitly controls, and I suspect it might be easy to pay attention to the first order directive in a stanza, and not a second one which appeared later in the stanza. Already we have an ordering issue, that either defaults to “earlier takes precedence” vs. “later takes precedence”. Let’s not make interpreting the rule sets more complex than that.\n36.5 Computers are Transcending our Limitations\nA human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.\n-- Robert Heinlein\nThe future masters of technology will have to be lighthearted and intelligent. The machine quickly masters the grim and the dumb.\n-- Marshall McLuhan\nAt one time, a single person could know all of the code in the Unix kernel. Now, operating systems may have several million lines of code. At one time, a human could perform encryption; now it is too time-consuming to do anything of significance. At one time, people memorized IP addresses, but with IPv6, they will be too long to remember, or even type comfortably. At one time, a password could be something simple. Now, you need a passphrase. Soon, anything that a human can imagine and remember is going to be too predictable; it will be possible to simply enumerate most, if not all, of the possibilities. Our symmetric ciphers have 256-bit keys, which would require (on average) a 256-character English passphrase to be hashed to give enough unpredictability to max out the input space. Our hashes are so long that it takes at least 40 hex digits to represent the smallest one considered secure, and we’re already using 512-bit hashes which will take 128 hex digits. And some algorithms like RSA use keys which are 8192 bits long, which would take 2048 hex digits to represent.\nMy point in all this is that if a human can reliably do it, remember it, generate it, enter it without a mistake, or tell it to someone else, it is probably not secure. Furthermore, though no single thing is incomprehensible, the whole system is probably already too complex for one person to understand it all. This doesn’t mean that we don’t control them, or that we will inevitably lose control, any more than a manager who cannot lift heavy objects will be replaced by a worker who can. It simply means that you need to stop thinking of people as being participants in the system, and think more of the participant as a computer and a human being forming a symbiotic relationship, each complementing the other. Stop practicing arithmetic and start studying mathematics. If a computer can do it, it’s not an effective use of your time, and it’s probably boring. Furthermore, you need to stop thinking of typing security data to a computer, since it will be too long.\n36.6 Password Length Limits Considered Harmful\nYour password must be seven characters in length, include an prime number greater than three of the following character classes; digits, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, white space, and unprintable characters. It must not begin with a digit, end with a letter, have an even number of letters, have a prime number of digits greater than the sum of the number of white space and unprintable characters, or have a non-decreasing number of elements from the classes mentioned before, were they to be listed in reverse alphabetical order.\nLook, if you hash your darn passphrases, I can pick a normal English sentence which will have plenty of unpredictability (one unbit per letter), and you can stop complaining that it’s too long because hashes can be stored in fixed-size fields, and if the password database is stolen it won’t compromise my passphrase.\n36.7 Everything Will Be Encrypted Soon\nWhen cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.\n-- Anonymous, courtesy of Cryptography Quotes ( http://www.amk.ca/quotations/cryptography/ )\nAccidents happen, and data is leaked. You’re going to want that to be encrypted. Already this is required in many places, but I predict that encryption will be ubiquitous very soon. Right now most storage devices are unencrypted; that will be a thing of the past. Data will be encrypted on the disk, and the documents or emails themselves may be encrypted, with the applications merely requesting keys temporarily. Even bus lines will be encrypted, if the Trusted Computing folks have their way; this may worry reverse-engineers, but it also means that you have less to worry about some compromising emanations. I suspect even data in memory will be encrypted soon. Plaintext will be the exception, not the norm. I suggest you learn to be your own key master.\n36.8 How Universal Digital Signing Will Affect Things\nEverything will be digitally signed, but what do those signatures mean? I propose that we think of objects as having lifetimes, and that they are born unsigned, and get signed with one of several kinds of signatures\nprovenance signatures mean that the signator is the author\ntransmission signatures mean that the signature assures us that the object hasn’t been manipulated by later-acting forces\ncertification signatures bind a key to some other kind of identity (for example, a company name, domain name, email address, legal name)\nEach signature is made at a certain time. Provenance signatures would tend to not include other signatures, whereas transmission signatures would tend to include other signatures. Note that a signature can only include another one if it is made after the first one.\n36.9 Error Propagation Characteristics Usually Don’t Matter\nDiscussion of block cipher modes often includes an analysis of error propagation properties. Who cares? On the Internet and most modern networks, error detection and correction is done at another layer, even if it’s a very weak 16-bit checksum. If you care about your data, you should do a real integrity check, and not rely on half-baked measures like trying to decrypt something and hoping that a corrupted ciphertext will not decrypt to a valid plaintext.\nUsually, it’s safer for computers to discard corrupted messages than to try to guess about what they’re supposed to say. Only if the cost of transmissions is so high that you would rather deal with partial plaintext than retransmit do you want to process incomplete messages. In that case you’d probably want some forward-error correction ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_error_correction ), so that you’d have some redundancy and be able to correct errors.\nI recommend you think of integrity protection, error correction, and encryption as completely separate operations, and don’t mix them all together in your head. If you can’t identify these three things as having different goals, you shouldn’t be designing cryptographic systems. However, I won’t leave you hanging in suspense.\nintegrity protection involves detecting any corruption, however minor, by an intelligent adversary\nerror correction attempts to correct any changes caused by a noisy channel, and is almost the opposite of integrity protection\nencryption attempts to keep your adversary from understanding the meaning of what he intercepts\n36.10 Keep it Legal, Stupid\nIn the days when Sussman was a novice, Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6.\n“What are you doing?” asked Minsky.\n“I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-tac-toe,\" Sussman replied.\n“Why is the net wired randomly?\", asked Minsky.\n“I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play,\" Sussman said.\nMinsky then shut his eyes.\n“Why do you close your eyes?\" Sussman asked his teacher.\n“So that the room will be empty.\"\nAt that moment, Sussman was enlightened.\n-- AI koan in The Jargon File ( http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/index.html )\nI have held what many would consider to be respectable jobs doing computer security in the defense, financial, and information technology industries, yet attended DEF CON ( http://www.defcon.org/ ) frequently, and still read 2600 ( http://www.2600.com/ ), and I don’t find it anything to be ashamed of. I have been reading about computer security since Out of the Inner Circle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Inner_Circle ) was published in 1985 (by Microsoft Press, if you can believe that), I know people who were convicted of felonies and banned from using the Internet, and yet I’ve never broken a computer crime law, nor have I ever victimized anyone. Technology and information, like skill with martial arts, or duct tape ( http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/ducttape.txt ), is a tool that can be used for good or evil.\nFortunately I’m in a position that I can reasonably and ethically justify seeking and having this information, but I fear that cynical fear-mongers, the ignorant and easily-scared fools which follow them, and the minions of greed are already attempting to quash open discussion of security topics. The list of examples is growing long, but includes the MPAA’s suppression of DeCSS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS ), the DMCA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA ), the AACS key controversy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACS_encryption_key_controversy ), and so on. In some cases it’s illegal to put a URL to certain information on your web site, even though you have no control the information at the other end of the URL. It is only a short step away to making it illegal to discuss these things outside of certain tightly-regulated areas, and countries with a history as police states seem to be fond of this kind of this speech suppression.\nIt’s a sign of insecurity, and by that I mean psychologically and not in the technical sense. The irony is that further suppression will only make it more difficult to secure the systems, which will make the adversary even more threatening, and thus justify more draconian laws, and take away more freedoms, earn the enmity of more people, and we end up with a very polarized situation that should be familiar to most people. Not trusting your fellow human beings, and seeking to coerce them is a very contagious attitude, and it will not make you more secure in the long run. Tyrants live with a sword of Damocles ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles ) hanging over their head. Where will this madness end? I think the combination of the DMCA and Trusted Computing may end up something like the movie Brazil ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(film) ), where the government strictly regulates air conditioning repairmen, all of whom are incompetent, and unlicensed HVAC workers who simply want to fix the things are labeled and treated as terrorists.\nHow do you think we learn what the threats are that we need to defend against? How do we learn any lessons from past failures if we can’t openly discuss them? How do you think anyone gains the information, education, and skill to get their first job defending against crime in the first place? How can we test our systems to see if they are vulnerable to something if we can’t get a copy of it?\nThe problem is not information; information is the solution. That’s why I’m publishing this paper. If we know that the systems are not secure, we can possibly fix them. If they can’t be made secure, we can stay educated about those risks to manage them properly. Democracy can’t function if the people voting aren’t allowed to have make informed choices. Capitalism can’t function efficiently unless the parties involved have full information about their purchasing decision. Information is on the side of the people making decisions; when you vote to withhold information, you are depriving people of the ability to make informed decisions, which is a way to take power away from them. It actually behooves the defenders to know exactly what the adversaries are doing; it allows us to get inside their OODA loop (see 33.4↑ ).\nNote that I’m not saying anything about punishing or not punishing pickpockets and leg-breakers, but when it’s merely a matter of discussing something without directly victimizing anyone, I think you should appeal to their conscience and not to a judge. On the other hand, if you’re thinking about publishing detailed plans that could be used to victimize someone, just stop and think about how bad you’ll feel if it really is used to victimize someone. You don’t want that on your conscience. What exactly constitutes “detailed plans” isn’t so much the question as how you would feel about it.\n36.11 Should My Employees Attend “Hacker” Conferences?\nWell first off you should know that these are not criminal events. Penetration testing is a legitimate career, and the talks are typically given by people who do that for a living. Generally speaking, there are not many crimes being committed there; intelligent criminals are too paranoid of being busted, and so tend to remain quiet. Unintelligent criminals don’t attend conferences. Law enforcement is usually fully aware of the conferences, is often present, and would never allow chaos to reign. They have the power to shut them down at a moment’s notice, or arrest people on the spot. There is some allure there of being able to discuss normally-forbidden topics, but that’s about it. This allure often brings the media as well. There’s plenty of openness about it.\nSo if you care about securing your systems, the answer is yes. What, exactly, are you afraid of?\nThe people who attend these events fully expect the defenders to be there. They have a vested interest in keeping apprised of their adversaries. I have made a point of using the term “adversary” instead of “enemy”, because that’s the way you should think about them. If you have no presence there, it makes your organization look ignorant, and if you do have people there, it makes you look savvy. Many of them have no intention of stealing from anyone, and one day aspire (perhaps secretly) to work at savvy companies. The rest are typically no more malicious than your typical “merry prankster”. If there are no people there to provide positive role-models, no “upgrade path” for them, they may become frustrated. It’s no coincidence that a lot of the adversaries on the Internet seem to be coming from Eastern European countries, and seem to have a lot of time on their hands.\n36.12 I’m a Young Hacker, Should I Sell Out and Do Security for a Corporation?\nI recall hearing someone say, “if you’re twenty and you work for a corporation, you’re a loser, but if you’re thirty and you don’t work for a corporation, you’re a loser”. I’m not sure I’d put it quite like that, but let me spell out some common concerns and trade offs for you.\nFirstly, if it’s what you love, then you’re going to want to spend time on it. Who would want to spend eight hours a day doing telemarketing if they could spend it doing something they loved? And if you don’t like what you’re doing for a living, you’re not going to be good at it, and so you will find yourself saying “would you like fries with that?” far more than anyone should have to. Secondly, a person who wants to get good at something and can do it at work and home will be much better at it than someone who does it only at home. I recall hearing of someone working for an Allied spy agency who had to get fake documents made to move around in Europe during WWII; his forger was a document examiner prior to the war, and his documents were superb, absolutely flawless. In most contexts, professionals usually beat amateurs.\nSometimes the person is paranoid that one day he’ll pull off the ultimate heist and he’s concerned that the prosecution would be able to prove he knew something about security. In most cases, all it would take to establish that you knew something about security would be for some casual acquaintance to say that you were really good with computers. It would be difficult to make the case that you actually knew nothing about computers when there’d be so much circumstantial evidence supporting it; you’d have to show it was misleading, and would likely involve a lot of lying. But really, if there’s evidence against you, pretending to not understand computers is unlikely to help. But what you need to do most is stop worrying. In theory, the ultimate heist wouldn’t have a suspect. It wouldn’t have evidence.\nFurthermore, most hacker fantasies about ultimate heists avoid thinking about victims. A good ultimate heist fantasy has some evil, faceless organization as the enemy who has the valuable object. It’s important to the fantasy that you not be stealing a Rembrandt from a feeble but kind senior citizen who has had it in his family for three generations, or a valuable heirloom from a person’s deceased parent, because humanizing the victim allows you to actually feel about it.\nGenerally, if a person did something like that, it’s either for the money, or for the challenge of it. In 1978, a computer programmer named Stanley Rifkin who worked for Security Pacific Bank ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Pacific_Bank ) managed to transfer $10,200,000 out of the bank and use it to buy Russian diamonds. In the version of the story I heard, he contacted a close friend and told him about the crime, but the friend turned him in. [U] [U] That’s not the version described here, though: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/stanley-mark-rifkin-wcs/\nThe crux of the story was that he had apparently done it more for bragging rights than for the money, and by not knowing why he was doing it, he managed to get himself caught. It’s typical for system crackers to get convicted by their own statements (“loose lips sink ships”, as the wartime OPSEC poster says). So either you are contemplating the ultimate heist for the challenge and bragging rights, in which case you should pick something legal, or you’re doing it for the filthy lucre. And if you’re doing the ultimate heist for the money, then what exactly is your objection to getting a job doing security in the first place?\nTrust me, you’re better off staying legit, and if you plan on staying legit, then you should get a job and some respect. Not just any job, but one for a company that appreciates your talents. If you can’t find one, you may have to start it yourself, but there are many security companies out there these days. Computer security is a pretty high-demand talent.\n36.13 Anonymity is not a Crime\nIt’s people like that who give anonymity a bad name.\nAlmost every criminal wants to remain anonymous, but so should non-criminals. Would you publish the name of your eight-year-old daughter, which school she attends, when it gets out, and what her favorite candy is? I could put my full name, social security number, home phone number and address on my emails and web pages, but the world is full of spammers, stalkers, scammers and sick people who really don’t need to have it. Simson Garfinkel tells me he gets death threats for writing books on computer security not unlike this one. Many of the people who write about a certain Internet worm are having their web sites DoSed in retaliation ( http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/102407-storm-worm-security.html ). I know that ultimately they will see judgment, but I’d still rather not be one of their victims. I understand your connotation of anonymity with criminality, but I don’t think it applies in all cases. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has ruled numerous times that anonymous speech is constitutionally protected, and for security reasons I give out personally-identifying information on a need-to-know basis (see 34.1↑ , 32.5↑ and 32.7↑ ). If you have a lawful need for it, you’ll be able to get it.\n36.13.1 Example: Sears Makes Customer Purchase Information Available Online, Provides Spyware to Customers\nWhy should you care? Well, in a recent case, it turns out that Sears made its customer purchase information available to anyone online who can obtain your name and address ( http://www.managemyhome.com/ ). Aside from the simple invasion of privacy, in one blog’s comments ( http://reddit.com/goto?rss=true&id=t3_64jye ), a poster claiming to be a professional burglar states that he finds it rather handy as a way of finding homes with all the latest appliances (and gives name and address information for a person who has such).\nThis is a well-known example of the fact that you can’t trust other parties to protect your security (see 27.1↑ ). What can you do about it? Well, one person mentioned that you can pay cash, or simply not shop at Sears. This is an example of controlling information flow (see 32.2↑ ); if you never give out your home address, nobody can disseminate it. However, if you give it out to even one party, such as Sears, or your credit card company, then they can disseminate it to third parties (see 32.10↑ ) and such dissemination is done “offline” relative to you, in that you can’t approve or disapprove. You could potentially rely on legal remedies to punish someone who got caught violating an agreement, but most of the time you wouldn’t know about it, and most of the remainder you wouldn’t be able to quantify damages.\n36.14 Monitoring Your Employees\nOf all the possible defenses, the cheapest and most effective is to be loved. The best way to be loved is to vanquish your own fear of trusting people.\nThe most effective monitoring involves only hiring people you trust, and who you feel are willing to understand and internalize company policies. Usually, the feeling that your employees might be doing something nefarious online says more about the work environment and the manager than the employee. The manager is insecure because he does not know how his employees spend their time, and he feels that there is a certain amount of hostility between management and employee, and he probably feels like he doesn’t pay them enough to make them want to work there. He feels that the employees, left to themselves, would rob the company, and that he must keep them in fear to keep them in line. This is a self-fulfilling attitude; if you treat them that way, you will find your fears justified. Do managers keep track of what their subordinates spend their time on, and do they get it done, and do they spend enough time them to make sure they aren’t goofing off? Is the environment one where peer pressure would prevent someone from goofing off extensively? Apart from your fears, have there been no incidents where online activity has hurt the company in any significant way? Then do some spot checks, maybe review the web proxy logs occasionally, and otherwise spend your energy on more important things, like making money. Why create a problem where there isn’t one?\n36.15 Trust People in Spite of Counterexamples\nIf, while building a house, a carpenter strikes a nail and it proves faulty by bending, does the carpenter lose faith in all nails and stop building his house?\n-- The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom\nThroughout most of this book, I’m sure I’ve given the impression that I don’t trust anyone. Were you to try to not trust anyone, you would never be able to do anything; it’s as futile as trying to completely eliminate risk. There are significant but non-obvious advantages to trust. Humanity as a whole, corporations, and individuals have a limited amount of resources available to them. Lack of trust is like friction, or antagonistic tension in a muscle; it forces us to spend resources protecting ourselves from others, instead of what we’d really like to be doing. Thus, the logical strategy is to strive to be trustworthy, and to promote and otherwise help those that demonstrate themselves to be so. To the extent that an organization is composed of trustworthy people who look out for each other, the people within it may expend their full resources on the tasks at hand. In short, the benefits of trust vastly outweighs the risks.\n36.16 Do What I Mean vs. Do What I Say\nOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”\n-- Mark 2:23-27\nMost of the security people I know are people who try to understand the reasoning behind things, and spend most of their time trying to figure out how doing what a programmer said (in the form of software) differs from doing what the programmer meant for it it do. Thus, I believe that it is natural for them to assume that everyone thinks the same way. A recent conversation I overheard illustrates the opposite viewpoint.\nThe conversation occurred between two US military personnel, who shall go nameless. One of them was explaining that he had called the troops under him together for a readiness inspection; apparently in this drill, they were to pretend that they were preparing to go into the field and rapidly put together all of their gear and present it for inspection. He explained that one of the people under him shaved his head, and that during this inspection he had failed to include his comb and shampoo, and that he (the speaker) had punished him for this. The other speaker asked the obvious question as to why he would punish a person for failing to bring something he obviously didn’t need, and the speaker stated that, “it’s a test to see if you can follow simple instructions, and he did not”.\nThere may be good reasons why the “do what I say, not what I mean” attitude prevails; it may be that the officers don’t give the enlisted people enough information to understand the meaning, or they may not be mature or intelligent enough, or it may be that the officers don’t trust the people under them enough to give them any “wiggle room”. However, I think the reason is simpler; the speaker simply wanted people below him to obey him. My view is that if you teach people that trying to understand and optimize is a punishable offense, you will end up with people who will never try to understand or improve anything, and the entirety of the organization will suffer.\nFrom my experience, the US military and government is dominated by these kinds of thinkers. I have been told that not all militaries are like this; in particular, the Israeli Defense Forces are said to teach their recruits to try to understand and observe the spirit of their instructions, where they differ from the letter, and they seem to be able to improve upon any military hardware that the US sells them, perhaps for just that reason.\n36.17 You Are Part of the Problem if You…\nIf you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.\n-- Henry J. Tillman ( http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1141.html )\nYou are part of the problem if you:\nUse a mail client that can’t read cryptographically signed email (look Out for a common one) because this prevents people from doing sensible things like using S/MIME to securely sign their emails. This goes double if you receive email for a company.\nDon’t sign emails. This encourages phishing; it would be easy to link into the chrome to show if a message from, say, E-Bay is legit or not. If you don’t sign your emails, people do not expect signatures, and so they fall for phishing. This can be done with S/MIME or Domain Keys, which is probably best if you want all emails signed.\nLet your system stay hacked. This allows system crackers to send SPAM and host malware on your system, so that other people get affected. Clean up your act and get unhacked. Saying “it doesn’t hurt me so I don’t care” is not a valid response here. You are part of the problem.\nMake software that isn’t secure. Doing things like allowing executables in too many places makes it difficult to give security advice. Security should be a simple ritual, but if you’ve ever seen a highly-infected Windows machine you’ll know that’s not true.\nDon’t have a webmaster or postmaster email address. You are required to have a postmaster address.\nSend executables to friends. Don’t inure them to the danger of running programs.\nMany of these have to do with network effects ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_externality )\n36.18 What Do I Do to Not Get Hacked?\n36.18.1 For Computer Users Running Microsoft Windows\nEveryone who uses a Microsoft Windows computer should probably read this. It is quite thoughtful, although I’m not sure it is described at a basic enough level for everyone.\nTerry Ritter’s Basic PC Security ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/COMPSEC/BASPCSEC.HTM )\n36.18.2 For System Administrators and Advanced Users\nBefore you start running software, look it up in the National Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ ). Look up a few competing solutions. Filter out any which don’t have all the features you need. Pick the one with the lowest rate of vulnerability discovery. If it has none, it is either written by a security guru, or it simply hasn’t had enough attention yet. You can tell how popular they are by searching for them on Google and seeing how many hits there are. You might also look at CVE ( http://cve.mitre.org/ ).\n37 Resources\nI make no attempt to be fair or comprehensive here; these reflect my personal biases as to what I think is interesting, useful, comprehensive, or simply the first that come to mind. If you want a comprehensive list, you can just search the web and read every link or book you find; it should only take a century or two.\n37.1 My Other Stuff\nHere’s an outstanding list of important publications:\nWikipedia’s List of Important Publications in Networks and Security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_important_publications_in_networks_and_security )\n37.3 Conferences\nEven if you can’t go, you can learn a lot by searching the web for proceedings from these conferences. You should try to go though, they’re fun. Seriously, the first security conference I went to, I was so intellectually stimulated, I was buzzing the whole time.\nDEF CON ( http://www.defcon.org/ ) is best when you want to get the low-down on how to defeat security systems. You can view some of them on Google video or youtube. In my opinion, the best presentation I’ve ever seen is “No-tech Hacking” by Johnny Long ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2160824376898701015 ), and the wonderful part of it is that even someone who knows nothing about computer security can enjoy it.\nUSENIX Symposium on Security ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/security.html ) is best when you want to know about cutting-edge computer security defense research. All their proceedings are free online, so definitely check those out.\nUSENIX Symposium on Hot Topics in Security ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/hotsec.html ) is a forum for lively discussion of aggressively innovative and potentially disruptive ideas in all aspects of systems security.\nUSENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/woot.html ) aims to bring together researchers and practitioners in system security to present research advancing the understanding of attacks on operating systems, networks, and applications.\nBlack Hat ( http://www.blackhat.com/ ) which is the commercial version of DEF CON, which makes it more appealing to employers.\n37.4 Books\nWhen I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.\n-- Deciderius Erasmus\nI cannot live without books.\n-- Thomas Jefferson\nBooks are fairly common, and have a lot of useful information, but can’t be shared, are hard to grep, can’t easily be referred to, and take up space. If you’re a younger reader, they’re like PDFs, but printed onto flattened pieces of dead trees. Nevertheless, I find them indispensable.\nFree Computer Security Books ( http://freecomputerbooks.com/compscspecialSecurityBooks.html )\n37.4.1 Publishers\nYou can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but you can often get a good approximation from its publisher.\nSAMS and QUE waste of money/space/trees/time\nO’Reilly my favorite for in-depth coverage of practical stuff\nAddison-Wesley and Prentice-Hall Technical Reference good for theory or technical material\nSpringer-Verlag the prestige publisher among academics\nNo Starch Press a recent entrant which is now publishing some excellent security titles\n37.4.2 Titles\nI should probably start a webpage on this, since I have so many ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/recommended_books.jpg ).\nOne day I’ll link to places to buy these, but until then I will assume you know how to locate and purchase books.\nPractical Unix and Internet Security - the de facto standard for defensive operations\nSilence on the Wire - the most novel book on security, covering information disclosure and network forensics ( http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/silence.shtml )\nHacking Exposed - the de facto standard for penetration testing\nPractical Cryptography - this should be your first book on cryptography\nApplied Cryptography - the de facto standard on cryptology; the section on protocols and block cipher modes are outstanding\nHandbook of Applied Cryptography - arguably more useful than AC, and available free online ( http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ )\nThese are often where experts read of stuff first.\nUninformed Journal ( http://www.uninformed.org/ ) has got a lot of stuff about reverse engineering\nMatasano Chargen ( http://www.matasano.com/log/ ) is a good all-around technical blog on security\nSchneier on Security ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/ ) is about the intersection of technology and security, especially “Homeland Security”\nMatt Blaze’s Exhausive Search ( http://www.crypto.com/blog/ )\nMy security blog list ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/security_feeds.opml ) in OPML format suitable for import into akregator\nDo not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.\n-- J. R. R. Tolkien\nThis is where experts discuss and develop things. Lurk, but if I were you I wouldn’t speak unless you’re spoken to.","SwissToni's Place: god is a concept by which we can ...\ngod is a concept by which we can ... keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of ...\nSwissToni's Place: god is a concept by which we can measure our pain....\ngod is a concept by which we can measure our pain....\nI really shouldn't waste my time getting irritated by stuff like this, but....\n**deep breath**\nRemember the atheist bus advertising campaign?\nYou know, the advertising campaign sponsored by the British Humanist Association from an original idea by Ariane Sherine , who had been appalled by some of the religious messages she saw on buses. I'll quote her directly:\n\"Yesterday I walked to work and saw not one, but two London buses with the question: \"When the Son of Man comes, will He find Faith on the earth?\" (Luke 18:8). It seems you wait ages for a bus with an unsettling Bible quote, then two come along at once....There was also a web address on the ad, and when I visited the site, hoping for a straight answer to their rather pressing question, I received the following warning for anyone who doesn't \"accept the word of Jesus on the cross\": \"You will be condemned to everlasting separation from God and then you spend all eternity in torment in hell. Jesus spoke about this as a lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and all his angels (demonic spirits)\" (Matthew 25:41). Lots to look forward to, then. Now, if I wanted to run a bus ad saying \"Beware – there is a giant lion from London Zoo on the loose!\" or \"The 'bits' in orange juice aren't orange but plastic – don't drink them or you'll die!\" I think I might be asked to show my working and back up my claims. But apparently you don't need evidence to run an ad suggesting we'll all face the ire of the son of man when he comes, then link to a website advocating endless pain for atheists.\"\nDetermined to do something about this, Sherine then set about raising enough money to run some atheist adverts on buses... and aren't they a whole lot more uplifting than the usual crap you see on the side of a bus. It makes me smile. It's not saying that there definitely isn't a God, it's just saying that maybe you should be worrying about something else instead.\nRichard Dawkins , as you might imagine, and as pictured on the bus above, thought this was a brilliant idea, but so did lots of other people, and they soon raised £140,000 to run the campaign as widely as possible.\nBrilliant. You'd have to be completely humourless not to see the funny side, wouldn't you?\nOh, apparently The Christian Voice has complained to the Advertising Standards Agency . Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, said:\n\"There is plenty of evidence for God, from people's personal experience, to the complexity, interdependence, beauty and design of the natural world. But there is scant evidence on the other side, so I think the advertisers are really going to struggle to show their claim is not an exaggeration or inaccurate, as the ASA code puts it.\"\nSo you're suggesting that there is more evidence for the existence of God than there is evidence that God doesn't exist? Where exactly?\nWell, the complaint goes on, \"According to growing numbers of scientists, the laws and constants of nature are so \"finely-tuned,\" and so many \"coincidences\" have occurred to allow for the possibility of life, the universe must have come into existence through intentional planning and intelligence. In fact, this \"fine-tuning\" is so pronounced, and the \"coincidences\" are so numerous, many scientists have come to espouse \"The Anthropic Principle,\" which contends that the universe was brought into existence intentionally for the sake of producing mankind. Even those who do not accept The Anthropic Principle admit to the \"fine-tuning\" and conclude that the universe is \"too contrived\" to be a chance event....\"\nThe Anthropic Principle? What about the infinite monkey theorem that states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. That being so, why is it so hard to believe that, in an infinite universe, it might be possible for a series of absurdly unlikely accidents and coincidences to happen and create life? Or is God an infinite monkey? Why am I even attempting a rational argument?\nI'd go on with the detail of their complaint, but I'm rather losing the will to live. You can read the whole thing here , but it cites various scientists, including Sir Fred Hoyle and Stephen Hawking, as apparently all being forced to conclude that God does, indeed, obviously exist.\nBollocks.\nBollocks, bollocks, bollocks.\nActually, that might just be the funniest thing I've ever heard.\nAs I drove home this evening, there was a big sign outside the church just around the corner boldly proclaiming \"JESUS IS HOPE\". No caveat there, is there? Jesus isn't probably hope, he is HOPE. Definitely.\nThe atheist message was originally intended to be \"There is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.\" The Advertising Standards Agency would only allow them to run the campaign if they added the word \"probably\" . Possessing previously unheralded metaphysical authority, the ASA determined that the advert had to leave room for doubt, and they insisted that it acknowledged that there is \"a grey area\".\nSo if the atheists are forced to put in a caveat, how come the christians aren't?\nAnyway, why are christians getting so agitated about this? Why do they feel so threatened by atheists? Why are they so interested in anyone \"proving\" whether God exists or not? I thought the whole point of their religion, and the source of all their smugness and immunity to rational debate, was that it was based upon FAITH. Not hard evidence. After all, there can be no hard evidence that a made up mystical, all powerful being exists, can there? The whole thing is based upon the blind belief that there is something guiding our miserable lives and that there might be somewhere better for us to go once we had died, as long as we'd lived a good and worthy life. Why should they give a shit about proof? And actually, why should they feel that they're a special case, somehow worthy of special treatment, with a right to leave things like copies of their hubristic and mostly fictional propaganda material in every hotel drawer? Who do they think they are? God's chosen people?*\nI realise it's a waste of time being angry about this, but I simply cannot help myself. I pride myself on being a rational, tolerant and reasonably intelligent human being, and I find this kind of bullshit infuriating. Everyone has the right to believe what they want, of course they do, and I know that lots of people draw huge comfort and solace from their faith. I also realise that the silent majority of christians probably aren't in the least bit worried or threatened by these atheist adverts. It's a small but vocal and high profile minority that are kicking up this fuss, and it's them that have annoyed me. Why do they feel the need to inflict themselves on everyone? Why can't they respect anyone else's views or opinions when they don't agree with their own? Why do they have to be so fucking self-righteous about everything?\nGAH!","Infinite monkey theorem - Example Problems\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter ... works of William Shakespeare. ... amount of time will produce a given text.\nInfinite monkey theorem - Example Problems\nInfinite monkey theorem\nFile:Monkey-typing.jpg\nAccording to the second Borel-Cantelli lemma , given enough time, a chimpanzee like this one typing at random will almost certainly eventually type out a copy of one of Shakespeare 's plays.\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard will almost surely eventually type every book in France 's Bibliothèque nationale de France ( National Library ). In the restatement of the theorem most popular among English speakers, the monkeys eventually type out the collected works of William Shakespeare .\nThe original image was presented in Émile Borel 's 1913 book \"Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité,\" J. Phys. 5e série, vol. 3, 1913, pp.189-196. These \"monkeys\" are not actual monkeys; rather, they were a vivid metaphor for an imaginary way to produce a large, random sequence of letters. Borel said that if a million monkeys typed ten hours a day, it was extremely, extremely unlikely that their output would exactly equal all the books of the richest libraries of the world; and yet, in comparison, it was even more unlikely that the laws of statistical mechanics would ever be violated, even briefly. For Borel, the purpose of the monkey image was to illustrate the magnitude of an extraordinarily unlikely event.\nAfter about 1970, popular statements of the monkey image draw upon infinity, saying that an infinite number of monkeys typing for an infinite amount of time will produce a given text. To insist on both infinities, however, is excessive. A single immortal monkey who executes infinitely many keystrokes will almost surely eventually type out any given text, and an infinite number of monkeys will almost surely begin producing all possible texts immediately, with no wait. In fact, in both cases, the text will almost surely be produced an infinite number of times.\nContents\n8 External links\nIntuitive proof sketch\nThe infinite monkey theorem is straightforward to prove, even without appealing to more advanced results. If two events are statistically independent , meaning neither affects the outcome of the other, then the probability of both happening equals the product of the probabilities of each one happening on its own. For example, if the chance of rain in Sydney on a particular day is 0.3 and the chance of an earthquake in San Francisco on that day is 0.8, the chance of both happening on that same day is 0.3 × 0.8 = 0.24.\nNow, suppose the typewriter has 50 keys, and the word to be typed is \"banana\". Typing at random, the chance that the first letter typed is b is 1/50, as is the chance that the second letter typed is a, and so on. These events are independent, so the chance of the first six letters matching \"banana\" is 1/506. For the same reason, the chance that the next 6 letters match \"banana\" is also 1/506, and so on.\nNow, the chance of not typing \"banana\" in each block of 6 letters is 1 − 1/506. Because each block is typed independently, the chance, X, of not typing \"banana\" in any of the first n blocks of 6 letters is X = (1 − 1/506)n. As n grows, X gets smaller. For an n of a million, X is 99.99%, but for an n of 10 billion it is 53% and for an n of 100 billion it is 0.17%. As n approaches infinity, the probability X approaches zero; that is, by making n large enough, X can be made as small as one likes. If we were to count occurrences of \"banana\" that crossed blocks, X would approach zero even more quickly. The same argument applies if the monkey were typing any other string of characters of any length.\nThe same argument shows why infinitely many monkeys (almost surely) produce a text as quickly as it would be produced by a perfectly accurate human typist copying it from the original. In this case X = (1 − 1/506)n where X represents the probability that none of the first n monkeys types \"banana\" correctly on their first try. When we consider 100 billion monkeys, the probability falls to 0.17%, and as the number of monkeys, n increases to infinity the value of X (the probability of all the monkeys failing to reproduce the given text) decreases to zero. This is equivalent to stating that the probability that one or more of an infinite number of monkeys will produce a given text on the first try is 100%, or that it is almost certain they will do so. The only difficulty remaining is in locating a successful monkey.\nFormal statements\nAlthough the infinite monkey theorem is usually stated informally, a precise formal statement clarifies its exact meaning. It is easiest to state in the computer science theory of strings , which are sequences of characters chosen from some finite alphabet. In this setting, the two statements above would be stated formally as follows:\nGiven an infinite string where each character is chosen uniformly at random , any given finite string almost surely (with probability 1) occurs as a substring at some position (and indeed, infinitely many positions).\nGiven an infinite sequence of such infinite strings, where each character of each string is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a prefix of one these infinite strings (and indeed, as a prefix of infinitely many of these strings in the sequence).\nBoth follow easily from the second Borel-Cantelli lemma . Suppose our desired text has length n. For the second theorem, let Ek be the event that the kth string begins with the given text. Because this has some fixed nonzero probability p of occurring, the Ek are independent, and the below sum diverges, the probability that infinitely many of the Ek occur is 1. The first theorem is shown the same way, except that we divide the random string into nonoverlapping blocks of n characters each, and make Ek the event where the kth block equals the desired string.\nIn fact, even going to infinity may be excessive. If the alphabet has size a, then it can be shown that the probability that one of the first an events occurs is at least 1/2. Thus, 20an tries would suffice to type the given text with probability very close to 1. The problem also parallelizes well; k monkeys can type the text k times as quickly ( linear speedup ). For small n this isn't too bad; for example, a thousand monkeys typing random letters at 100 characters per minute would very likely type the word \"banana\" within 6 weeks.\nThe theorem is an instance of Kolmogorov 's zero-one law .\nBecause we need to be precise about whether it is the number of monkeys or the time available which is infinite, the name \"infinite monkey theorem\" is a misnomer ; each individual monkey is finite. Mathematicians would say \"infinite monkeys\" only if they mean each monkey alone is infinite, and \"infinitely many monkeys\" if they mean that.\nProbabilities\nIgnoring punctuation , spacing, and capitalization, and assuming a uniform distribution of letters, a monkey has one chance in 26 of correctly typing the first letter of Hamlet . It has one chance in 676 (26 times 26) of typing the first two letters. Because the probability shrinks exponentially , at 20 letters it already has only one chance in 2620 = 19,928,148,895,209,409,152,340,197,376, roughly equivalent to the probability of buying 4 lottery tickets consecutively and winning the jackpot each time. In the case of the entire text of Hamlet, the probabilities are so vanishingly small they can barely be conceived in human terms. The text of Hamlet, even stripped of all punctuation, contains well over 130,000 letters.\nThe mere fact that there is a chance, however unlikely, is the key to the \"infinite monkey theorem\", because Kolmogorov's zero-one law says that such an infinite series of independent events must have a probability of zero or one. Since we have shown above that the chance is not zero, it must be one. To consider that an event this unlikely is almost guaranteed to occur given infinite time can give a sense of the vastness of infinity .\nGian-Carlo Rota wrote in a textbook on probability (unfinished when he died):\n\"If the monkey could type one keystroke every nanosecond , the expected waiting time until the monkey types out Hamlet is so long that the estimated age of the universe is insignificant by comparison ... this is not a practical method for writing plays. (We cannot resist the temptation to quote from A.N. Whitehead , \"I will not go to infinity\".)\"\nIn The Nature of the Physical World: The Gifford Lectures (Macmillan, New York, 1929, page 72) the physicist Arthur Eddington wrote:\n\"If I let my fingers wander idly over the keys of a typewriter it might happen that my screed made an intelligible sentence. If an army of monkeys were strumming on typewriters they might write all the books in the British Museum. The chance of their doing so is decidedly more favourable than the chance of the molecules returning to one half of the vessel.\"\nIn physics, then, the force of the \"monkeys argument\" lies not in the probability that the monkeys will \"eventually\" produce something intelligible, but in the practical reality that they will not. Any physical process that is even less likely than such monkeys' success is effectively impossible; this is the statistical basis of the second law of thermodynamics .\nMyth about origins\nIt is sometimes reported, though nearly impossible, that Borel's use of monkeys and typewriters in his theorem was inspired by an argument used by Thomas Henry Huxley on June 30 , 1860 . Huxley was involved in a debate with the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce , held at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford, of which Wilberforce was a vice-president, and was sparked by the publication of Charles Darwin ’s Origin of Species seven months earlier, in November 1859. No transcript of the debate exists, but neither contemporary accounts of it nor Huxley's later recollections include any reference to the infinite monkey theorem. The association of the debate with the infinite monkey theorem is probably an urban myth triggered by the fact that the debate certainly did include some byplay about apes: the bishop asked whether Huxley was descended from an ape on his grandmother's or his grandfather's side, and Huxley responded that he would rather be descended from an ape than from someone who argued as dishonestly as the bishop. It is most unlikely that Huxley would have referred to a typewriter. Although patents for machines resembling modern typewriters were granted as early as 1714 , commercial production of typewriters did not begin until 1870 , and a skilled debater like Huxley would hardly have let his point depend on a device whose existence would have been unknown to most of his audience.\nLiterature and popular culture\nJonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels (1782) anticipates the central idea of the theorem, depicting a professor of the Grand Academy of Lagado who attempts to create a complete list of all knowledge of science by having his students constantly create random strings of letters by turning cranks on a mechanism (Part three, Chapter five).\nIn \" Inflexible Logic \" by Russell Maloney , a short story that appeared in The New Yorker in 1940 , the protagonist felt that his wealth put him under an obligation to support the sciences , and so he tested the theory. His monkeys immediately set to work typing, without error, classics of fiction and nonfiction. The rich man was amused to see unexpurgated versions of Samuel Pepys ' diaries, of which he owned only a copy of a bowdlerized edition.\nA similar theme was struck in the story \" The Library of Babel \" by Jorge Luis Borges , which contains a potentially unlimited number of volumes filled with random strings of characters. The narrator notes that every great work of literature is contained in the library; but these are outnumbered by the flawed works (which are vastly outnumbered by the gibberish).\nPopular culture references to this theorem include The Simpsons (in one episode, Montgomery Burns has his own room with 1000 monkeys at typewriters, one of which is chastised for mistyping a word in the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities — \"Blurst of times? You stupid monkey!\"), Family Guy (a group of monkeys is shown collaborating on a line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in a cut scene) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ( Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent , under the influence of the Infinite Improbability Drive , are ambushed by an infinite number of monkeys who want their opinion on the monkeys' script for Hamlet). In the comic strip Dilbert , Dogbert tells Dilbert that his report would take \"three monkeys, ten minutes\". The debut album by Leeds punk rock band the Mekons is called \"The Quality of Mercy is Not Strnen.\" Originally released on Virgin Records in the UK in 1979, its cover features a photo of a typing chimp (which, of course, is not a monkey at all).\nThe theorem is also the basis of a one-act play by David Ives called \"Words, Words, Words\", which appears in his collection All in the Timing . In the one-act, three monkeys named Milton , Swift , and Kafka have been confined to a cage by a scientist until they can write Hamlet. There is a humorous short story by R.A. Lafferty entitled \"Been a Long, Long Time\", in which an angel is punished by having to proofread all the output text until some future time (after trillions of Universes have been created and died) when the monkeys produce a perfect copy of Shakespeare's works.\nIn Tom Stoppard 's play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead , one character says, \"If a million monkeys...\" and then cannot continue, as the characters are actually within Hamlet , one possible topic of this rule. He then finishes the sentence on a different topic.\nIn 2000 , the IETF Internet standards committee's April 1st RFC proposed an \"Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)\", a method of directing a farm of infinitely many monkeys over the Internet.\nWWDN , the blog of author and actor Wil Wheaton , uses the slogan, \"50,000 monkeys at 50,000 typewriters can't be wrong.\" His witticism won him a Bloggie in 2002 for the category \"Best Tagline of a Weblog.\"\nRobert Wilensky once jocularly remarked \"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.\"\nComedian Bob Newhart has a stand-up routine in which a lab technician monitoring an \"infinitely many monkeys\" experiment discovered that one of the monkeys has typed \"To be, or not to be; that is the gezortenblatt.\"\nGoats , a popular webcomic illustrated by Jonathan Rosenberg , featured a story line named infinite typewriters where several characters accidently teleport to an alternate dimension. There they find that this dimension is populated by monkeys with typewriters, presumable typing the scripts of many other dimensions.\nInfinite monkey experiments\nThis is a thought experiment which clearly cannot be carried out in practice, since it calls either for infinite time or infinite resources. Nonetheless, it has inspired efforts in finite random text generation.\n\"The Monkey Shakespeare Simulator\" website, launched on July 1 , 2003 , contains a Java applet that simulates a large population of monkeys typing randomly, with the stated intention of seeing how long it takes the virtual monkeys to produce a complete Shakespearean play from beginning to end. Though it does not update its records anymore, the generator has generated sequences up to 30 letters long (Example: \"Suffolke. As by your high ImpeKnCmV\"WLC3s\"IvWzSCLviA2:tjbh[,s...\" from Henry VI, Part II.) Due to processing power limitations, the program uses a probabilistic model (by using a random number generator ) instead of actually generating random text and comparing it to Shakespeare. When the simulator \"detects a match\" (that is, the RNG generates a certain value or a value within a certain range), the simulator simulates the match by generating matched text.\nIn 2003 , scientists at Paignton Zoo and the University of Plymouth , in Devon in England reported that they had left a computer keyboard in the enclosure of six Sulawesi Crested Macaques for a month; not only did the monkeys produce nothing but five pages ( PDF ) consisting largely of the letter S , they started by attacking the keyboard with a stone, and continued by urinating and defecating on it.\nReferences\nMonkey Theory Proven Wrong (9 May 2003) CBS News\nRFC 2795 — The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)\nExternal links","My Take: The Batman killings and the evil that we do – CNN ...\nEditor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of \"The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation ...\nMy Take: The Batman killings and the evil that we do – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs\nWow .... that was a Mike Tyson KO response.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:45 am |\nBetty\nDont believe this tragedy had anything to do with evil or religion at all. It is about serious mental illness. That man is mentally ill. Nothing more, nothing less.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:40 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nNo, it was planned. Perhaps I am incorrect, but the pattern of gradual purchases indicates a long-term plan to me.\nHe knew what he was doing and that what he was doing was morally wrong – as wrong as can be. I think it is sufficiently bad to be considered evil.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm |\nVoice of Reason\nBetty, I agree with you, the guy is messed-up. As far as the gop nut goes, yes it was planned by a guy that is messed-up. Hello?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:06 am |\nLame\nI am quite curious as to why so many people cannot understand how insane people can actually make and enact very complicated plans, that the existence of a plan is no indication of sanity or insanity. In fact, many do create elaborate scheme. Ted Bundy was insane, but he was very effective at staying hidden because of planning and technique.\nInsane does not necessarily mean incapacitated.\nBasically, Betty is right. It's really about insanity. Not guns or religion or \"society's to blame\", but one guy who by all accounts rapidly deteriorated and did something . . . insane.\nDon't worry. He's not going to get out of punishment.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:36 am |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Lame, etc\nSo you don't think what this person did was evil? ... because he was insane?\nThat was the whole point of the topic.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:45 pm |\nBob\nMoney is the root of all evil, and we live in a land where money is the measure of all things. We are the type of society that Jesus Christ preached against. We have abandoned Christian charity (helping those less fortunate than ourselves) and replaced it with usury (loaning money to those at need and charging them interest on it). When a practice that was forbidden by the ancient religions (and was by Christianity until the reformation) becomes the basis of a nation's economy it is only a matter of time till if collapses. When you have a nation that is one of the wealthiest in the world and has the richest rich people in the world but still has a large percentage of its people living in poverty and without health care because those who have most of the wealth are too greedy to share with the less fortunate, it's a sure sign that the teachings of Jesus Christ have been long forgotten. That our laws protect greed and the acquisition of wealth at the expense of our weakest citizens goes against the teaching of not only Jesus Christ, but also against the teachings of Confucius, who said that the measure of a society was not how well its mightiest members lived, but how well it's weakest members lived. We have a system based on the philosophy of the Teutonic warlords, dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all, might is right, etc. It favors the strong and disregards the weak. What passes for Christianity in the minds of people like Romney is really a form of Paganism. Jesus Christ cautioned his disciples against admitting gentiles (Pagan Romans) into the church, probably for fear that there were so many more Pagans than Christians that his teaching would become watered down or eventually discarded as the Pagan influence became stronger. Nietzsche refers to the apostle Paul as the anti Christ because he chose to disobey the teachings of Christ and welcomed Pagans into the church. Eventually it became the official religion of Pagan Rome, with a few modifications. I think Christ was right to want to steer clear of the Pagans. Over the centuries his teaching have been lost and we now worship money more than God. The Ten Commandments are long forgotten. We kill more of each other every day than citizens of former Pagan lands that have since rejected Paganism and gone back to the ancient religions or adopted secular humanism. No matter how you look at it, we are the greediest, most blood-thirsty land to come out of the merger of Paganism and Christianity. Statistics show that we have more purported Christians per capita than any European country. Yet we have more guns per capita, more gun deaths, more crime, more people in prison and more poverty. We have people living in the streets because our wealthy refuse to pay taxes to help them. All of the things that the average American perceives as being wrong with this country are a reflection of our values. Face it, the Christianity of Jesus Christ is gone. What flies under the banner of Christianity in this country is almost pure Paganism, from it's glorification of wars, weapons and killing, to it's worship and adoration of the greedy and the profane. I could be wrong, of course. There could be another explanation for the rich refusing to pay taxes, for the Republicans refusing to pass legislation that would help the poor, and all the while waving their Bibles and assuring us of their Christian bona fides, but I doubt it. Maybe Heston really thought he was doing God's work by shilling for the NRA, but after reading what Jesus Christ had to say about killing and violence it's hard to picture him waving a six gun and saying he will only give it up when they pry it out of his cold, dead hands. I don't think Christ would have picked up a gun even is his life was threatened. I could be wrong, of course, but I'd rather be wrong than subscribe to a religion that advocates killing and violence and leaving the weak and poor to fall by the wayside while the rich grow ever richer.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:37 pm |\nChuck\nThat awkward moment when Bob the commenter articulates a greater theological claim than the article's own author, a professor of religion at a major university.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:41 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nS ex is actually the root of all evil. People seek money and power to get better s ex. (stupid CNN censors!)\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:47 pm |\nWhoa Dude\nThat block of text looks like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.\nAnd that is about as much interest as I have in it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:54 pm |\nBill P\n“Money is the root of all evil” – not correct. It is the “love of money” which is the root of all kinds of evil. Hence, money is OK, it is the love of it that is the problem. And, the love of it is not the root of ALL evil. Thus, you would be in complete error if you thought someone that was poor could not be evil. (1 Tim 6:10)\nThe charging of interest in the loaning of money was ONLY an issue of loaning amongst the Isra.elites. Charging interest to others was OK. Even Jesus pointed that out in one of His parables.\nI cannot tell what you are saying about Nietzsche and the Apostle Paul as the anti-Christ, about Jesus wanting to keep the gentiles out of the church, etc., but I get the impression that you have no idea what you are talking about.\nThe “rich refusing to pay the taxes”? You are kidding aren’t you?\nRecommendation: stop reading “religious” interpretations and commentaries. Read only the Bible if you want to know what the Bible says.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:04 am |\nVoice of Reason\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:07 am |\nWow?\n\"Yet we have more guns per capita, more gun deaths, more crime, more people in prison and more poverty\"\nI have to tell you I really hate negative people, they are the worse.\nmore gun deaths – Actually we don’t we are ranked around #4 but we are also one of the freest countries out there. Africa, Columbia and Thailand are ahead of us.\nBy the way when it comes to Murder per capita, we aren’t even in the top 25. 😉\nAs for the poverty part, are you JOKING! We’re are ranked 131st when it comes to other countries.\nLet’s guess you’re a conservative right wing nut bag!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:01 pm |\nConvert or go to hell\nFvck all non-Christians.... you will all end up in hell for sure.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:09 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nTroll-la-lol-la-lol-la-lol-lol-lol.\nYour post is not worth any other response.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:12 pm |\nAlan S\nConvert: I can only conclude you intended your comment tongue-in-cheek. A person would have to be absolutely blind to irony to write such a comment seriously.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:15 pm |\nken\nI guess I'd better warm up my rocket sled since thats my choice of transport to that place.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:20 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Alan,\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:21 pm |\nsam stone\nconvert: don't forget to thank jeebus when he sprays his gooey goodness all over your face\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:45 am |\nAverageJoe76\nStill gonna be my roomie in H_ell, right? Like we agreed upon..?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:35 pm |\nShory\nThe Batman killer was an atheist and did it because of his religious cult !!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:08 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nTroll-la-lol-la-lol-la-lol-lol-lol.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:13 pm |\nWhoa Dude\nOh no! Was it the Riddler?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:57 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nTHANK GOD ALL THE TIME\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:05 pm |\nKelly\nI am not posting about gun control. Is anyone else amazed that a whopping 1 in 200 people say they believe they are going to hell? That to me is scary. That's an incredibly large percentage of our society that believes in hell and furthermore thinks they are going there. I'm not judging one way or another a person's religious beliefs, but sometimes I feel like we are living in medieval ages here in America. That sort of question would be ridiculous to a European (and they have much less crime in their cities btw) I don't think this was a well written op ed anyway.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Kelly\nHuh? 70% believe in hell (according to Mr. P.) That's 140 in 200. Only 1 in the 140 who believe in hell, think they are going there. That's not very many.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:59 pm |\nKelly\nyes, bad math. But I guess I can't believe 70% believe in Hell and of those, 1 in 200 believe they are going to hell. In a metropolitan area of 10 million that means 35,000 people believe they are going to hell right?. What are they gonna do with their lives if they really think they are going to hell? I'm saying all this sort of off the cuff, but I'm constantly amazed with how religion affects our policy and our decision making here in America. I should not be surprised.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:09 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nActually it means 50,000 in a population of 10,000,000.\nIt is still a small number. It's smaller than the number of incarcerated inmates for example (73,000 / 10 million). Numerically it means there are lots of inmates who don't believe they are going to hell.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:18 pm |\nGeoff\nSo, let me understand your logic. Europeans would find the question, Is there a heaven, is there a hell?\", rediculous. Is that right? Thus the opinion of Europeans makes the question less than credible. Tell me Kelly, how does the Asians feel? how does that impact the validity of the question? And, Africans? South Americans?\nYou are suggesting that the Europeans are more deeply informed in matters of the spirit? Or, are you suggestiing that you believe what you beleive because of their enlightened vision?\nKelly, let me know when you know for sure because you have been to either heven or hell. Or, have you looked everwhere and found neither and assume because you haven't found them they do not exist?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:20 am |\nCharles Darwin\nWow, it's pretty sad when you can't post the word \"const!tutional\" because it gets censored by the prudes at CNN. Guess they're afraid you're gonna say t!ts. It's pathetic.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:20 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nYup. Horrible naughty words like Constitution, institute, cumulative and Japan.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm |\nLinCA\nCNN uses WordPress blogs for their opinion pieces, and they use automated censoring that looks for words, or fragments of words, that are considered offensive. If your post doesn't show up, it most likely had a forbidden word in it.\nOn the Belief Blog, repeat posts, even those that were previously censored and not displayed, will show a message stating that you posted it before.\nThe following words or word fragments will get your post censored (list is incomplete):\n arse as in Arsenal\n tit as in constitution or title\n twat\n whore\n wtf\nTo circumvent the filters you can break up the words by putting an extra character in, like: consti.tution (breaking the oh so naughty \"tit\").\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\nLOL\n@LinCA, brilliant, you compiled the list.\nThey need better filtering logic. I recommend to their developers:\nIf IsBadWord(aWord.Replace(\" \", \"\")) = True Then RemoveBadWord() Else Exit Sub End If\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:58 pm |\nAlan S\nTo LinCA: Then why wasn't your message, listing all the forbidden words, censored by the program?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:17 pm |\nVoice of Reason\nThat's a tough one for you to figure out, right?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:12 am |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nLinCA's method is known only to atheists. 🙂\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:17 am |\nVoice of Reason\n@0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nBecause we are all evil.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:38 am |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nSorry, can't agree. To be evil you must be a believer like several of the regulars here.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:45 am |\n@LOL\nYou said, \"@LinCA, brilliant, you compiled the list.\"\nI didn't compile the original list. I think it was put together by a poster under the name SumDude. It's been re-posted by others too. Most recently Helpful Hints has also been sharing it. I do try to maintain it (latest addition was smut).\n@Alan S\nYou said, \"Then why wasn't your message, listing all the forbidden words, censored by the program?\"\nPFM\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:45 am |\nHadenuffyet\nWhy , don't you all know , there is no such thing as evil. We'll just wait for those expert pseudo scientists to explain all this destructive behavior in some brain malfunction or such...right?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:37 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nWell, they say that Jared Loughner is mentally ill and not just a teabigot trying to take out a Democrat.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:24 pm |\nLarry Bob\nWell, this will probably chum up a shouting match, but it's already out there, so lets talk about gun control.\nFirst question: Would gun control have stopped this? Maybe, but with this guy in particular, probably not. Assuming that the reports are correct (a dangerous assumption I readily admit), then this guy was capable of creating alternate devices that might well have been even deadlier. I won't mention by name one I am thinking of, but it is very simple to make, uses commonly available materials that no oversight system would be able to discern and which the government could not make unavailable even if they wanted to. Worse, he could have made any number of them, put them on simple timers, and put them all over the place.\nThere are more than just knives out there.\nNow, as to guns themselves, will controlling them work? Or will we just create another black market opportunity for gangs? I don't have the answer, as it probably lies somewhere in between.\nCan we just limit some of them and reduce crime? The answer here is actually no (we will deal with the assault rifle question separately in a moment).\nIs the benefits of removing guns worth the loss of Constitutional liberty, especially as those most hurt would be the law-abiding gun owners? Americans really don't like to remove Constitutional liberties, and for good reason.\nNow, it's going to get really problematic. Does anyone feel it is okay for almost anybody to have ready access to a submachine gun? How about hand grenades? Shoulder-launched ground-to-air missile? 100 round per second Vulcan machine cannon? Thermonuclear warhead? I doubt even the worst NRA zealot would want those. So the question is really, where should the line be drawn? What is okay and what isn't? What is the defining aspects that are okay, and what are not?\nThis is the real debate, because honestly, a full ban probably won't be any more effective than the ban on heroin is, and full access to anything is way too dangerous.\nCan the Constitution and the debates of the Founding Fathers help us? No. All were strongly for unrestricted access to arms, and that is what is in the Constitution. Arms, not just firearms. If you wanted to own your own ship full of cannons, it was fine with them, because that fit into the militia concept of the time. You could own any form of arms at all.\nYou see, the Founding Fathers never imagined that arms would go though the advances they have. High explosives did not even exist yet. The Second Amendment really does not fit the modern world because of that. You are supposed to be able to own everything if you want; that was the intent. It's the right to bear arms, no limits, not just firearms.\nThat is why the Supreme Court has avoided anything but the narrowest, most oblique cases like the plague – because they know that it allows everything, and they really don't want that (and neither do you). Everyone thinks the troublesome word is militia. It isn't. It's \"arms\". This is why a paranoid organization like the NRA has done so well – the Constitution actually allows more than even they would ask for.\nThe Second Amendment is actually the one amendment that needs a rewrite, but it is such a political hot issue that no one wants to touch it. It would make the Health Care act look like a happy interparty picnic.\nSo where is the line, and how do you do it? How do you define something like that when attempts to define what an assault rifle is have failed miserably – too many ways around any definition. If assault rifles are a step too far, how do you ban them when the NRA can and will push it through the courts, to the Supreme Court if necessary, and win again?\nIt's a Constitutional mess, really. I see nothing simple about it.\nIdeas anyone (ducks for cover)?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:34 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Larry Bob,\nIn the current climate of an election year, gun control is way off the table. Regrettably, this debate won't do anything right now.\nThe intent of the 2nd ammendment ended during the War of 1812* when the myth of superiority of a civilian militia over the realities of a standing army was debunked. (It was only 23 years old at the time.) The final erasure of the intent of the 2nd ammendment occured in the civil war. It remains irredeemably perverted into something the founders would not recognize.\nGod, guns, money and exceptionalism are the American pantheon. As a result of the Aurora tragedy, people are more likely to vote for warning labels and age-based purchasing (like 18 and over) for comic books rather than any more gun control.\n* By the way, anyone realize this year is the bicentennial of the War of 1812? Can anyone suggest who won the war of 1812?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:56 pm |\nHadenuffyet\nThe 2nd amendment ended with the war of 1812? I suggest you google \"The Battle of Athens\" an incident that occurred in 1946 in the town of Athens , Tennessee. Government oppression is omnipresent , even on a local level.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:03 pm |\nVoice of Reason\n\"The British won due to the fact that they completed their objectives; defend Canada by killing the Americans who tried to invade.\nAmerican Deaths:11,300 killed, wounded or missing in action.\nBritish Deaths: 8,600 killed, wounded or missing in action.\"\nSource: Answers.com\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:05 pm |\nCharles Darwin\nGun control would probably not have stopped this guy. We have gun control now in some states. Most states require background checks, at least for handguns. I haven't heard anything about this guy having a police record so he would have passed a background check okay. I believe we should have \"reasonable\" gun control, like background checks but I also believe that honest citizens should have the right to own guns. By the way, I'm a Democrat but I believe in all of the amendments to the const!tion.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:14 pm |\nPat Jay\nWell, I think you can't. We have about the best system you can get and still have some from of personal freedom. its sad that people temd to blame objects for the actions of humans. our homes are chuck full of deadly items, our cars are mass murders just look at the highway death toll for just one year. yet no one is saying its time to take big trucks off our roads and put the frate back on the rails roads. witch by the way would save 40% of out imported oil and save up too tens of thousands of lifes. so if I get this right because of a few sickos we rip the freedoms from 500 million Americans to save a few inocents? most muders are thug on thug and helps the reast of us by weeding out the bad actors. in a way its all most like an eivl lottery where the odds of a sicko killing you is very very low but man it makes good head lines. sadder still more loved ones in pain. the truth is freedom is not free it comes with the price of innocent blood. have you all forgoten abortion? the death toll is in the Millions and Millions. I wish I was like your fairy tail Christ or budda and could for give this guys. but freedoms price calls for a price to be payed, and when it comes to this killer it should be payed in blood. but only the guilty should pay for they're sins not the reast of us.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:16 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Voice of Reason, nice anwer – here's my version:\nYes, the British suceeded in protecting their interests in Canada and stopped Madison's expansionism to the north – you could claim that as victory – but at great cost, gaining nothing that they did not have prior to the conflict.\nThe US gained nothing. The US was driven to the brink of bankruptcy and New England was close to secession from the Union.\nThe biggest losers were natives – both in the US and in Canada. The only winners (if you could call it that) were the political careers of James Munroe and Andrew Jackson.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:19 pm |\nTrivia\nMany people don't realize that The Star Spangled Banner was written during the war of 1812 (The Defence of Ft. Henry in 1814), and not during the Revolutionary War.\nAlthough there was not an overwhelming winner/loser of the war, it did affirm that the \"flag was still there\", even after the challenge.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:24 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nEric,\nThat is the dumbest thing anyone has said here in a long time. Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:27 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Hadenuffyet,\nand armed conflict was really necessary in Athens, TN? That's just Hatfields & McCoys Appalachian thinkin' fer ya!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:31 pm |\nEric\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq I agree space time began during the big bang I buy into that theory. However for a mass to be expanding it has to be expanding into something. When the big bang happened...the moment of creation space time was also created. So I do not see how that is stupid. There was a begining a creation point.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:32 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Trivia,\ntrue enough. It's amazing how propaganda works isn't it.\nIt's Fort McHenry by the way. It defended Baltimore from naval attack up the Chesapeake Bay. Mostly, the attack was defended by ships sunk in advance of the British squadron creating a navigational hazard that prevented a close approach to the city.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:36 pm |\nEric\nStupid would be to assume our universe is it. Our observations are limited to our universe we are within it and are stuck. Which is where the word of GOD comes in. If you really read and have an open mind you might learn something.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:36 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nThe Big Bang is expanding into nothing. Space is not nothing. A vacuum is not nothing (excuse the double negative but in this sense, it's correct). Space is something space/time is expanding into nothingness. Nothing is the absence of ANYTHING, including space. It's non-existence. Hard to fathom but that's the way it is.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:39 pm |\nEric\nHow can something come from nothing?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:41 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nEric, I accept there may be more than one universe, but even if there are, that does not mean that there are any gods. But here's your big chance to educate an atheist. Please provide evidence for any god.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nHow can God come from nothing? If you don't believe in the Big Bang because something can't come from nothing, then how did an invisible, supernatural fairytale man in the sky come from nothing?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nEric, you might want to read \"A Universe From Nothing\" by Lawrence Krauss. It's way more factual than The Babble but without the killing and sex.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:48 pm |\nEric\n@Josef Bleaux I can type to my fingers fall off, this is not the best forum for this. However please read the 1st few chapters of genesis and compare it to todays theories you will find that they agree. Let there be light (big bang) seperate the light from darkness(the early universe had a glow due to electrons not attached to atoms) when seperated we entered the age of stars. I can keep going you will find if you really want to know the truth.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:49 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nWe've crossed the beams on these threads but what the heck.\n@Eric,\nI'm very happy that you believe God is the creator of the universe. Good for you. But because you believe that, doesn't mean I should. You believe this based on faith, not reason.\nSomething doesn't have to come from nothing. We don't know what was there before the big bang. Maybe a big blob of high enthalpy stuff that reached a critical state. The old concept of expanding then compressing universes (that Douglas Adams jokingly called a gnab gib) works too. Rinse and repeat from one universe to the next.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nEric – I've read the bible from cover to cover. You didn't answer my question.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm |\nEric\nI believe the big bang occured, I believe it to be the moment of GODs creation. They go together not against. Yes you will find believers that think the world is 6000 years old, well to each ther own it isnt a salvation point.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:52 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nEric – but where did your invisible fairytale man in the sky come from? Did he magically poof himself into existence?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:53 pm |\nEric\nKinda hard to buy the big crunch theory since the rate of universal expansion is increasing.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:54 pm |\nEric\nI cant answer that question for now we know in part. One day we will know fully. He was, is and is yet to come that statement right there goes well behind the comprehension of man thousands of years ago, but there it is. To exist outside space time.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nEric – That's a cop out and you know it. You say you don't believe the Universe could come from nothing but your invisible fairytale man did? That's a contradiction. If a sentient, omnipotent being could suddenly \"poof\" into existence then why not a non-sentient Universe?\nYou believe in the bible because you were indoctrinated to believe it practically since birth. You believe in it because of where you were born. If you'd been born in India, you'd be arguing just as strongly for the Hindu gods. Ditto for China and Buddahism, etc. etc. etc. They're all just ancient mythology. Some of them make a lot more sense than Christianity. Ancient people made up gods and miracles to explain existence and comfort people in the face of their mortality. An intelligent person who uses logic, reason and objectivity sees this immediately.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:01 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Eric,\nthe idea of the 'big crunch' is that at some point the forces driving the universe stop being effective, then gravitation takes over and everything coalesces again.\nProven? No. It's just a theory and it's not much in vogue these days.\nCombining a belief in God and scientific principles is a reasoned approach. Lots of people do this and it is far more rational than thinking the earth is 6,000 years old. I'm glad it works for you, but it still doesn't prove anything.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:03 pm |\nLarry Bob Changes Direction\nEric: The rate of universal expansion cannot be increasing. This is actually where the Second Law of Thermodynamics DOES apply (we finally have true use for it!). What you mean to say is that you think the rate of universal expansion is faster than the gravitational forces can ultimately overcome and reverse.\nThat is all still very theoretical. And it has nothing at all to say or even imply about the existence of a deity.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:08 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nLarry Bob – Eric is correct. Recent studies have shown that the rate of expansion is \"accelerating\". Scientists don't like that answer but it's been proven. They've invented \"dark energy\" in an attempt to explain it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:10 pm |\nPRISM 1234\n\"The heavens declare the glory of God;\nAnd the firmament shows His handiwork.\nDay unto day utters speech,\nAnd night unto night reveals knowledge.\nThere is no speech nor language\nWhere their voice is not heard.\n4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,\nAnd their words to the end of the world.\nIn them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,\nWhich is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,\nAnd rejoices like a strong man to run its race.\nIts rising is from one end of heaven,\nAnd its circuit to the other end;\nAnd there is nothing hidden from its heat.\nThe law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;\nThe testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;\nThe statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;\nThe commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;\nThe fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;\nThe judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.\nMore to be desired are they than gold,\nYea, than much fine gold;\nSweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.\nMoreover by them Your servant is warned,\nAnd in keeping them there is great reward.\nWho can understand his errors?\nCleanse me from secret faults.\nKeep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;\nLet them not have dominion over me.\nThen I shall be blameless,\nAnd I shall be innocent of great transgression.\nLet the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart\nBe acceptable in Your sight,\nO Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.\nPsalm 19\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:22 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\n@PRISM 1234 – Ok... blah blah blah blah blah mumbo jumbo oogah boogah to you too.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:29 pm |\nLarry Bob\nOh! So it is! The Nobel went out last year to the guys who unravelled it. I stand corrected.\nApologies, Eric.\nThough it still doesn't even remotely hint at the existence of a deity.\nAstrophysics is fascinating! I think I just found my new hobby! Never studied it much in university.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:35 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\n@Larry Bob – I agree, it doesn't prove the existence of a deity. But that's really a moot point. You can't disprove it either, like you can't prove or disprove the existence of invisible pink and purple polka-dotted unicorns either. :-).\nBut astrophysics is a good hobby. Science in general is my hobby, but especially astronomy and astrophysics.\nPersonally, I kinda go along with Einstein in believing in \"something like\" Spinoza's god. (which is not really a god at all). But I'm open minded. 🙂\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:42 pm |\nEric\nhuh guess i typed something i shouldnt have my post didnt make it\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:46 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\n@Eric – See LinCA's list of banned words on this blog in the post near the top.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm |\nEric\nDo i have imperical evidence no, i can not provide. Faith is what is required. At some point all of us take something on faith. Some believe the universe is expanding into nothing, still a belief. I do not believe we are an accident. At some point what we can currently observe ends. Maybe in the future we will be able to observe more. I perfer logic and reason and if truly you are looking for the answer you will find it. The main point of christianity is faith if we know like the angels do then how can we believe.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:56 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nI have faith as well. Faith in science. But I don't have faith in ancient mythology and I never will. Science can't explain everything – yet. But given enough time, it will.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:58 pm |\nEric\nI would like to thank you guys for intelligent respectfull conversation. usually its hard to have a discussion through the trolls and haters of every side of a discussion.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:59 pm |\nblah blah blah blah blah\n@Josef\n....and he can't understand one word because in his B-L-A-H mind all he hears is blah blah blah blah..............\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:00 am |\nLarry Bob\nNo invisible pink and purple polka-dotted unicorns? 😥\nWhat have I done? I despise emoticons!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:02 am |\nEric\nwell said you will find we agree on most points. I wasnt very different still am not. I was very anti religion I had some very rough times as a teen. Lost both parents and more bad stuff. Im about 40 now and blamed GOD for all my problems then denied his existance. Now many years later I can look back and see.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:03 am |\nJosef Bleaux\nThanks Eric, same to you. I'm retired so I don't have to work tomorrow but I'm going to hit the sack now. Enjoyed our discussion.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:04 am |\nEric\nThe one thing about todays world view is the assumption the universe is all that there is and many people place GOD within the universe. God is outside the box. we are in the box. even if we could observe outside the box we would have no clue what we are seeing. You ever read flatlanders? that is a good example.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:09 am |\nLarry Bob\nCan I point out a paradox, Eric? You just spent quite a bit of time trying to provide evidence of God, and when it fell apart and you accepted that there is no empirical evidence, you said that faith is required.\nIf you are thinking about evidence and proof and support, then you have subconsciously abandoned faith. You didn't believe in faith, and looked quite extensively for those arguments you provided.\nSo, does this mean that on some level you don't believe? You must not be sure if you have sought evidence.\nAnd the search for evidence must always disappoint you if you are searching for God via anything but your imagination; theologically, God must hide all evidence for there to be faith, and if no God, no evidence.\nEither way, no evidence.\nJust food for thought. No need to answer.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:10 am |\nEric\nLarry that was pretty circular, I am a man yes at times I struggle. There is still always temptation and doubt. As I become stronger in my faith it becomes less and less. I am just the same as you I just believe something different.\nThanks for your time wife calling me to bed.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:19 am |\nVoice of Reason\nLarry Bob, you're a good man and a friend!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:26 am |\nAtheism is not healthy for children and other living things\nPrayer changes things,\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm |\nObserver\nAnd drunk driving does too.\nStill afraid to have to defend your thoughtless blog name?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:05 pm |\njust wondering\nspeaking from personal experience or are you just wishful thinking.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:07 pm |\nParis\nLike that other guy said, yeah, prayer makes you hoard cats.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:28 pm |\nCharles Darwin\nThis guy trolls around here all the time. Ignore him.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:19 pm |\nFluffy the Gerbil of Doom\nPrayer makes you buy ozone depleting hair products.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:20 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nEric,\nYou have not a shred of evidence. You can say anything you NEED to. Doesn't make it true. Show me the money.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:30 pm |\nEric\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq Um ok I have a question. Does darkness exist?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm |\nEric\nOr Cold does cold exist\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:39 pm |\nLarry Bob\n\"Does darkness exist? Does cold exist?\"\nYou are copping out to semantic games here by using unscientific terms that actually refer conditions where energy is low or not there at all. Do conditions of those energy states exist? Of course.\nLet's hear how you were going to use this as proof of God. Go for it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:47 pm |\nJesus\nPrayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.\nAn article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.\nThe statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!|..\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:25 am |\nReligion is not healthy for children and other living things\nPrayer is a complete waste of time.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:36 pm |\nChad\nObviously you think there is something to it, for it to threaten to the point of spending endless time on this blog decrying it's truth.\n\"To \"protest too much\" is to insist so strongly about something not being true that people begin to suspect maybe it is true. Example: \"You do like that girl, don't you?\" Answer: \"No! I don't! Not at all! Why do you think so?\" Reply: \"You protest too much.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:58 pm |\nNo Truth, Just Claims\nHey Chad,\nYou protest too much as well, so I guess you must have concern you are wrong.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:18 pm |\nChad\nI am convinced that the God of Abraham exists, created the world, and sent His Son Jesus Christ.\nSince I have a strong positive belief, I seek to defend erroneous statements about it.\nI spend no time on muslimforum.org, or hinduforum.org because I couldnt care less what they think..\nWhy do YOU spend so much time here?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:48 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Chad,\n\"I am convinced that the God of Abraham exists, created the world, and sent His Son Jesus Christ.\"\nFrom your perspective, I'm curious what you think distinguishes you from people that are convinced that aliens are in communication with them, or paranoid delusional folk who are convinced the government is spying on their actions?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:06 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nSince PATRIOT the government are spying on our actions.\nAlso Chad, Allah is the god of Abraham.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:11 pm |\nNatasha\nI would like to know why nobody is commenting on the fact that there was a 6 year old in the theatre watching an adult themed movie. Pshcho killers like this young guy is a result of this society. Shame to those parents and to AMC theatres for allowing those children in. No 6 year old should be exposed to such violence in movies. And you wonder why we end up with a situation like this!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:11 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:12 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Natasha, I think there are some good blog forums out there for parenting advice. I don't feel it's appropriate or relevant to this particular topic.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm |\nChad\nThe God of Abraham is real, Aliens arent.\nFrom your perspective, what differentiates you from people that believe we have never been to the moon?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nThe evidence for gods and aliens Is exactly the same – none!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:23 pm |\nGodFreeNow\nWell Chad, it's something called evidence. There's amount of it including the little known fact that we left 2-foot panel with 100 mirrors there that acts as a lunar laser ranging retroreflector array which we still use today.\nThere is also more mathematical evidence to suggest that intelligent aliens are real than the god of abraham. However, I will ask again... What distinguishes your claim from theirs? Just saying mine is real and theirs isn't doesn't distinguish you. They also claim their experience is real. What distinguishes your claim from theirs? I ask again, because you are not answering the question.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:25 pm |\ntallulah13\nGiven the sheer numbers of planets in the universe, there is little doubt that there is life on other planets. It seems unlikely that they are visiting this one, but it is more likely they are than that an all-seeing, all-powerful being is listening to every thought of the relatively insignificant beings on this relatively insignificant planet to make sure they are obeying a list of bronze-age rules.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:27 pm |\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:53 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nUnknown of course is completely wrong...\nGiven that we are not making an extraordinary claim (about some invisible imaginary being) we don't need any evidence for what we believe. Theists on the other hand have been talking about, but but not delivering on, their line of bullsh!t for centuries. So Unknown, get back to us when you have more than just talk.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:00 pm |\nYou already did but you ran away like a little coward that you are.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:01 pm |\nObserver\n@Unknown,\n“It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”\n– Mark Twain\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:09 pm |\nChad\n@GodFreeNow \"I will ask again... What distinguishes your claim from theirs? Just saying mine is real and theirs isn't doesn't distinguish you. They also claim their experience is real. What distinguishes your claim from theirs? I ask again, because you are not answering the question.\"\n@Chad: \"well GodFreeNow, it's something called evidence..\n1. Origin of the universe\n2. Origin of life on earth\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\n4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\n5. The empty tomb\n6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:10 pm |\nNo Truth, Just Claims\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:12 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nChad must think he has a new audience that he might be able to fool. That list has been shredded at least 5 times...\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:13 pm |\nThis is blog is not about the religion of non-belief yet atheists storm the blog.\nGrow a pair.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:14 pm |\nEileen\nSo, Chad, not much of a god you've got there if he expects us to believe tales handed down many times about something that might have happened 2000 years ago. Reasonable doubt is more than justified, so either your god is stupid or he doesn't exist. Present modern proof or stop hawking your religion here.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:15 pm |\n\"Modern proof\".A stupid excuse for atheists.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\nEileen\nUnknown, you not only lack a pair. You lack intelligence.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\nEileen\nUnknown, if you can't rebut the statement, just be silent.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:18 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nUnknown, show us how big your pair is – show us your evidence for your useless god. Come on now – no excuses!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:21 pm |\nNo Truth, Just Claims\nMany people have met a 'resurrected' Elvis......proves nothing.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:22 pm |\nI already admitted I can't.Seems like I got the pair.You don't.Atheism weaks you weak not smart.\n•Facepalm•\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:23 pm |\nEileen\nUnknown, if you can't rebut the statement, please just be silent. Your insults aren't helping your case, which was very weak to begin with, and they also demonstrate how hateful and bigoted your religion is.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:26 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nInteresting believer thinking – you can't prove your point which means atheist views are (more) correct and that make atheists weak. Fantastic demonstration of believer mental illness!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:27 pm |\nHadenuffyet\nAs is hope , faith , and love.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:57 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Chad, I expect so much more from you.\n1. Origin of the universe – You, nor anyone else know how the universe began for certain. There are theories. The difference is, scientific theories must be verifiable. Religious ones must be taken on faith. Even if this were evidence of a god, it in no way is evidence of that god being the god of Abraham. Fail.\n2. Origin of life on earth – Explainable by science without deities... and also even if it did point to a deity, again.. no evidence of that deity not being a magical bunny rabbit or a leprechaun. Fail.\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life – Really? where is the evidence that the universe was fine-tuned by a deity and no by the natural forces of entropy, gravity, etc? Fail.\n4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed – No evidence for this claim. At all. Baseless conjecture. Fail.\n5. The empty tomb – Really? This is embarrassing for me to even respond to. There are tons of empty tombs and graves. Dig a hole in the ground, call it Chopin's tomb and tell everyone how he magically disappeared. You don't even have to be as talented a David Copperfield to pull this one off. Glad you're so easily convinced by the empty space in a cave. Epic, epic Fail.\n6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it. Again, not a distinguishing qualifier for my original question. Name one person who claims to have been visited by aliens who doesn't have their own mountain of refutable evidence. They report meeting aliens, getting probed, etc. Fail.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:59 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nStrickly speaking Chad, there is MORE evidence to prove that the Salem women were actually witches, than there is for you resurrection. The Anthropic Principle is debunked, many places. The universe is not fine tuned, (to 80 decimal places the life of black hole/stars =0), the followers of Islam died going into the towers, the empty tomb proves nothing, the origin of the universe in no way proves YOUR god is true, scientists know in general how life arose, or cold have, there are no \"sudden species\", (name one), the followers is the argumentum ad populum. Thus, you have a delusion. Too bad.\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZY2eeozdo8&w=640&h=390]\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xv_Iklb1V4&w=640&h=390]\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:03 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Godfreenow,\nChad's next arguement will be to tell you to read the bible to find his 'evidence'.\nYou won't convince him and he won't acknowledge the rationality of your argument.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:07 pm |\nEric\n@GodFreeNow Um the bible I cant recall any ancient texts that discuss aliens.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:15 pm |\nEric\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq Scientiest have a theory on the physical process that lead to life. They may even be correct, that isnt the point. Even if all the modern theories are correct does not in the least take anything away from creation. GOD existed before the universe. He created everything all the matter, energy space time. All the laws of physics, chemistry, you get the point. No matter what we think we know it still all goes back to GOD if you look deep enough. Lets say Darwin is correct it still doesnt mean it is random the design very well may be devine in nature.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:22 pm |\nYou said, \"it's something called evidence..\n1. Origin of the universe\"\nEven if there is no absolute proof of how the universe got started, that doesn't in any way lend any credibility to your bullshit story of the Tooth Fairy poofing it into existence. Even your pet hypothesis doesn't answer the question as it only pushes it back to \"where did the Tooth Fairy come from?\".\nYou said, \"2. Origin of life on earth\"\nSame as above. Just because you elect to reject out of hand any theory that is different from your little brain fart, doesn't mean that it make the existence of your imaginary friend any more likely.\nYou said, \"3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\"\nAgain, not evidence of a creator. It is simply a prerequisite for life. Had it been any different, we wouldn't have been around to know the difference.\nYou said, \"4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\"\n*Stasis is part of evolution and doesn't in any way support your delusion, and sudden appearance of fully formed new species doesn't happen. A lack of fossil evidence of transition species doesn't prove there is a magic man.\nYou said, \"5. The empty tomb\"\nPlenty of empty tombs around. You have to be particularly dense to believe that the absence of evidence proves anything.\nYou said, \"6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it.\"\nThat must mean that currently the muslim faith is more true than the christian, as there appear to be more of them willing to kill and die for their beliefs.\nJust because people believe something, even if millions do, that doesn't mean it's true. Indoctrination is a very powerful force (just look at yourself), and questioning authority, for those that have the ability to rationally evaluate the bullshit, can be very hazardous to your health. The only difference between a belief in gods and belief in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy is that when children start to question the latter they aren't told to shut up and believe.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:22 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nlEric,\nThat is the dumbest thing anyone has said here in a long time. Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:28 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nFor believers, it's not about acquiring new knowledge and adapting their world view, it's about conjuring up more bullsh!t to defend their childish, and unsupported by facts, beliefs.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:35 pm |\nJohn P\nNot so. I know a number of Christians who pray openly and quite visibly at their place of worship and they are gladdened in the great abundance it has brought them.\nWho, in the real world, stays awake at night thunderstruck by that image of a Mercury Mariner SUV they just can't erase from the inside of their forehead? Nobody. Ever. But if you know a car salesman in the congregation who really prays good and then tells you they'll cut you a special deal, you'll purchase that vapid vehicle at sticker and believe God would have wanted it that way. That's how a lot of crap is marketed and how people who can't do anything become \"blessed\".\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:41 pm |\n¡sʎʞɔnq ןןɐ buıןןɐɔ ¡sʎʞɔnq ןןɐ buıןןɐɔ\nWell, you are onto something I don't really understand particularly well (okay, I don't even pretend to understand it), and there seems to be interest, so here goes: You said \"Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins.\"\nThere is a major paradox with that. If time is fully stopped at singularity and there is no \"before\", there cannot be an \"after\" either. If it is possible for energy to flow out of singularity and change to matter and do all that other amazing universe stuff, then it also has to be possible for energy to flow in as well.\nWhat I am getting at is that time, while it probably behaves very strangely, does not fully absolutely stop. Indeed, if I understand Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems (which I probably do not), then time is ceasing to be linear but becomes a manifold curvature for the duration of the singularity.\nAlso, singularity seems to require infinite mass – but the mass of the universe is finite, so the condition of the universe at the event of Big Bang beginning may not have been fully singular. Hawkings himself says as much: \"There was in fact no singularity at the beginning of the universe\". Time, while distorted, could have still been moving (in some way I will never hope to understand).\nI looked at some stuff, and here is a hypersimplification from an astrophysicist at NASA, who mentions alternative theories (about which I am clueless). http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/060629a.html\nAm I missing something? It does seem that there is no certainty that there was not something before Big Bang, that this is very theoretical stuff hindered by great distance,great time, and physical conditions we may never have the opportunity to\nThe one thing I do not see in these theories is the \"something came from nothing\" argument that the religious apologists keep trying to say we believe in.\nAm I missing something?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:31 pm |\nsam stone\nchad: how can anyone but you make erroneous statements about YOUR belief? do others speak for you?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:51 am |\nTruthPrevails :-)\n\"GOD existed before the universe. He created everything all the matter, energy space time. All the laws of physics, chemistry, you get the point. No matter what we think we know it still all goes back to GOD if you look deep enough\"\nSo if everything needs a creator, what created your god Eric? If you are unable to answer that than your whole claim falls to pieces. The fact is that nothing existed before the universe that anyone can make valid claims to and given that there is not an answer and may never be does not mean you get to plug the 'god of the gaps' in to it. Try reading some actual science books, not creation science...you might actually grow another brain cell or two.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 7:06 am |\nChad\n@GodFreeNow “Origin of the universe – You, nor anyone else know how the universe began for certain”\n@Chad “true, but we do know that it requires a force that existed outside our current universe.\n=============\n@GodFreeNow “. Origin of life on earth – Explainable by science without deities...\n@Chad “really? How? RNA world is out.. What else is there being proposed?\nWhile the experiments carried out by Stanley Miller and others who have built upon his work show that life may have arisen from a primordial soup, that possibility remains theoretical. There is no evidence for pre-cellular life on Earth; what's more, critics of the RNA world hypothesis point out that the experiments that support the concepts were conducted with biologically created RNA. RNA can act as both a template for self-replication and an enzyme for carrying out that process, but these findings have been carried out in controlled laboratory experiments. This doesn't necessarily prove such delicate actions could happen in the seas of the ancient Earth.\nFor reasons like these, the RNA world hypothesis has been largely abandoned by proponents of abiogenesis in favor of other hypotheses, like the simultaneous development of both proteins and genetic templates or the development of life around undersea vents similar to those currently inhabited by today's extremophiles. But there is one criticism that any abiogenesis hypothesis has difficulty overcoming: time. DNA-based life is thought to have developed on Earth beginning around 3.8 billion years ago, giving pre-cellular life forms about 1 billion years to carry out random processes of encoding useful proteins and as sembling them into the precursors of cellular life . Critics of abiogenesis say that simply isn't enough time for inorganic matter to become the theorized precellular life. One estimate suggests it would take 10^450 (10 to the 450th power) years for one useful protein to be randomly created .\nThis is one obstacle that makes panspermia an attractive explanation: It doesn't explain the origin of life, merely the origin of life on Earth. Panspermia hypotheses don't necessarily contradict abiogenesis; they merely shift the origin elsewhere. Yet the jury is still out on several important factors that must be in place for panspermia to be correct. Is it possible, for example, for microbial life to survive during the harsh conditions found in the trip through space, the entrance to Earth's atmosphere and the impact on Earth's surface?\nSome recent hypotheses suggest that it needn't survive. One researcher postulates that dead scraps of DNA could have arrived on Earth via ballistic panspermia and were replicated through a kickstarted process similar to RNA world . Other researchers aim to scour Mars for fossil life and compare any genetic material to that found universally on Earth to determine relation .\nYet if life on Earth did begin elsewhere and travel to our planet the question still remains: What is life's origin?\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life – Really? where is the evidence that the universe was fine-tuned by a deity and no by the natural forces of entropy, gravity, etc? Fail.”\n@Chad “ah.. the confidence of not knowing anything 😉\nNatural forces that allow life is exactly what fine tuning is (not what caused it). You need to explain how those natural forces came into being such that they are precisely designed to allow life.\nYou are confusing cause and effect 🙂\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed – No evidence for this claim. At all. Baseless conjecture. Fail.\n@Chad “ah.. the confidence of not knowing anything 😉\nIt is an accepted fact, see\nEldredge, Niles and S. J. Gould (1972). \"Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism\"\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ The empty tomb – Really? This is embarrassing for me to even respond to. There are tons of empty tombs and graves. Dig a hole in the ground, call it Chopin's tomb and tell everyone how he magically disappeared. “\n@Chad “you forgot to explain HOW it came to be empty…\n“Jesus wasn’t buried there” has been thoroughly debunked and is never even attempted to be put forth as an solution by any “Jesus doubter”\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it. Again, not a distinguishing qualifier for my original question. Name one person who claims to have been visited by aliens who doesn't have their own mountain of refutable evidence. They report meeting aliens, getting probed, etc. Fail.”\n@Chad “couple problems with that:\na. would they be willing to go to their death proclaiming the truth of that fact?\nb. do you have many different people all claiming the same alien encounter, by the same alien?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:08 pm |\nChad\n@LinCA, believe I hit all of your objections in my response to GodFreeNow. Let me know if that is not the case.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:14 pm |\nChad\n@TruthPrevails 🙂 \"So if everything needs a creator, what created your god Eric?\"\n@Chad \"everything that has a beginning needs a creator, our universe had a beginning, we know that.. So it needs some force external to our universe to have \"triggered\" it.\nGod alone has no beginning and no end, so no creator. He is the \"uncaused cause\". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument for an overview of the philosophical argument.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:19 pm |\nChad\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq \"Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\"\n@Chad \"I see a few folks attempt to argue that since time began at the singularity, it is impossible to discuss what \"triggered\" the big bang, what was the source external to the universe that triggered it, because there can be no \"before\" by definition.\nit's a lame argument, which is why serious cosmologists dont make it.\nCosmologists attempt to investigate what triggered the big bang because something must have. Everything can't have arisen from nothing (\"nothing\" being the absence of everything including the laws of nature, the condition \"before\" the big bang singularity).\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:25 pm |\nHuh?\n\"Everything can't have arisen from nothing \"\nChad just prove why there is no God and why the bible is a fake, nice job.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:28 pm |\nChad\n@Huh? \"Everything can't have arisen from nothing \" @Chad just proved why there is no God and why the bible is a fake, nice job.\"\n@Chad \"God didnt arise, He alone has no beginning and no end. The universe had a beginning, and cant have \"arisen\" from nothing (where nothing is the absence of everything)\"\nhope that helps clarify..\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:39 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nYour say-so doesn't make it a fact. Neither does the bible.\nThanks for playing, Chard.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:44 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nWhy do you pretend that because we don't know what triggered the big bang it \"must have been God\"?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:45 pm |\n.\n\"See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument for an overview of the philosophical argument.\"\nChad you've been told over and over again wiki is unreliable, the schools have banned students from using it. It's garbage.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:11 pm |\nJuan\n\"He alone has no beginning and no end. \"\n– If God created the Universe, why did He create it in a precise moment, not sooner or later? It doesn' make sense.\n– If Time didn't exist then God is not everlasting and the Universe didn't have a beginning. God could have not possibly created the Universe in that case because then both God and the Universe emerged simultaneously.\n– If the Universe was eternal like God, then God could have not possibly created the Universe because, like in the previous case, they would have emerged simultaneously.\n– If God was not everlasting then who created Him? We must admit that if God exists, unless the Universe created Him, He must be eternal. If the Universe created God anyway, he could have not created the Universe.\nSo at the end the scenario where God could have possibly created the Universe doesn't seem to exist, does it?\nDo you think that God created the Universe? And how could that happen?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:13 pm |\nChad\n@. \"you've been told over and over again wiki is unreliable, the schools have banned students from using it. It's garbage.\"\n=>:-)\nWikipedia is about as good a source of accurate information as Britannica, the venerable standard-bearer of facts about the world around us, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature.\nFor its study, Nature chose articles from both sites in a wide range of topics and sent them to what it called \"relevant\" field experts for peer review. The experts then compared the competing articles–one from each site on a given topic–side by side, but were not told which article came from which site. Nature got back 42 usable reviews from its field of experts.\nIn the end, the journal found just eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles. Of those, four came from each site. They did, however, discover a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. All told, Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123.\nThat averages out to 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia.\nWhat is your source for \"the schools have banned students from using it\"?\nnow, keep in mind, to support your argument, the ban must have been for reasons of content unreliability, NOT simply because the school wanted kids to do their own research and not use a database like Wikepedia as a shortcut.\n😉\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:23 pm |\nChad\n@Juan, your logic is flawed because it assumes that everything that can have an existence, must exist in this universe.\nSince God exists outside of this universe, He can be eternal.\nOur universe does have a beginning, it is not eternal in the past (see Hoyle red shift and the big bang singularity)\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:55 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nWow, you're still using these tired ass refuted arguments that are all based on fallacies and unjustified assumptions. Good job, you really do have nothing of substance to offer.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm |\nhuh!\n\"Since God exists outside of this universe,\" I see nothing but a man talking out of his a$$..\nHere is a small experiment.. I am gonna claim that I am your god, existing outside this universe, commenting on this site through a wormhole I made here in the US to guide blind heretics like you.. disprove me!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm |\nWow?\nChad, even the wiki founder has stated he is under staffed to keep it maintained properly. Wiki is for lazy uneducated morons. Just google why should wikipedia not be used for research.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:30 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"Wow, you're still using these tired ass refuted arguments that are all based on fallacies and unjustified assumptions.\"\n=>any chance that this time you'll state exactly what fallacies, and demonstrate how the arguments are unjustified or have ever been refuted?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:47 pm |\nChad\nIs this what you meant?\n😉\nWikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is quite clear about the uses of Wikipedia. Asked, \"Do you think students and researchers should cite Wikipedia? during an interview with Business Week in 2005, he replied, \"No, I don't think people should cite it, and I don't think people should cite Britannica, either... People shouldn't be citing encyclopedias in the first place. Wikipedia and other encyclopedias should...give good, solid background information to inform your studies for a deeper level.\"\nWikipedia entries are generally in the forefront of preliminary web research on almost any topic. And teaching students to look critically at the reliability and credibility of any information source is fundamental to the educational process. Figuring out how to evaluate the encyclopedia, then, is one excellent starting point for teaching students how to assess massive amounts of information they're likely to encounter online both for school work and personal exploration.\nWikipedia itself is strong on self-assessment. Encyclopedia editors address accuracy in the entry Reliability of Wikipedia, compiling the results of international third-party assessments across a variety of disciplines. The consensus: the encyclopedia is as accurate as other encyclopedias. And as Cathy Davidson, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, points out in We Can't Ignore the Influence of Digital Technologies (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 23, 2007), unlike comparable print sources, Wikipedia errors can be corrected and often are in a matter of hours after publication.\nhttp://teachinghistory.org\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nTry to stay honest this time Chad. You have plenty of responses to your idiotic points above, and on every other thread you've posted them on. As for the fallacies, I'll go point by point for you.\n1) Begging the question, argument from ignorance\n2) Same\n4) Irrelevant conclusion fallacy\n5) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence.\n6) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence to support the assertion that people saw a resurrected Jesus.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:15 pm |\nChad\napparently you havent actually looked at the fallacy you are claiming.. as they dont bear any similarity to my arguments.. You probably just thought the t itle looked close?\nin any case, one by one:\n============================\n@hawaiiguest \"1 & 2 Begging the question, argument from ignorance\"\n@Chad \"??\nHow exactly to do figure that?\nas a reminder, my statements then the description of the fallacy.. Please demonstrate how your claim is true 🙂\nGood luck!\n1. Origin of the universe [must have come from a force external to our universe]\n2. Origin of life on earth [there are no credible, purely naturalistic, explanations]\nbegging the question\", is committed \"when a proposition which requires proof is a ssumed without proof\", or more generally denotes when an as sumption is used, \"in some form of the very proposition to be proved, as a premise from which to deduce it\"\nargument from ignorance : as serts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false\n==============\n@hawaiiguest \"3) Argument from probability\"\n@Chad \"?? again, please demonstrate how the statement commits the claimed fallacy.\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\nAn appeal to probability is a justification based on probability, sometimes regarded as a logical fallacy,[1][2] when an unwarranted as sumption that something will happen, because it can happen, or when the odds of an occurrence are unrealistically played down in lieu of appropriate precaution\nexample: The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\nactually, atheists use this all the time (\"well of course it's possible that we just were created from nothing, after all, we're here arent we??\"), thanks for letting me know there was a name for this particular fallacy.\n==============\n@hawaiiguest \"4) Irrelevant conclusion fallacy\"\n@Chad \"another one where you didnt read the definition of the fallacy..\nPlease demonstrate how exactly..\n\"4. Stas sis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\"\n\"irrelevant conclusion is the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question. Arguments which shift the focus of debate to \"safer\" but less relevant ground fall into this category\n==============\n@hawaiiguest 5) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence. 6) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence to support the as sertion that people saw a resurrected Jesus.\"\n@Chad \"define what you mean by \"contemporary\". You mean like \"the people who claim to have seen Jesus alive arent here any more\", is that what you mean?\n=================\nyou really should have read the fallacy descriptions and examples first...\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:58 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nPerhaps if you actually put your arguments down it would make sense. You make a case for your god with these points, and yet, you avoid actually putting the argument into those words so you can pretend you have no burden of proof, then shift it over by just listing things, that if put into any kind of argumentative format, would fit those fallacies.\nOrigins, we don't know, and to demand something other than that is begging the question, or saying that since we don't know, therefor your god, then that's an argument from ignorance.\nThe entire fine tuning argument is based on probability, and using it as any kind of argument for the existence of god makes it an appeal to probability.\nAs for the irrelevant conclusion, even if your stasis thing were true, then how would that even matter?\nI hoped you would be somewhat honest Chad, but I guess it's to much to ask from you.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:05 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"Origins, we don't know, and to demand something other than that is begging the question, or saying that since we don't know, therefor your god, then that's an argument from ignorance.\"\n@Chad \"ahh.. no\nA. We know that it had to come from a force external to our universe\nB. Which is all I have EVER claimed can be proved, I have said that a million times\nC. your claim of a fallacious argument is incorrect,\nYou see, the thing is, that when you say some thing is a fallacious argument, you need to show how.\nExample: your statement \"since we don't know, therefor your god,\" is a strawman.\nI never said that,\nyou are attacking something that I never said\n.. so it's a strawman, a fallacious argument.\nA straw man is a type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position\nthe trick is, the accusation has to correspond to the argument... 😉\n===============\n@hawaiiguest \"The entire fine tuning argument is based on probability, and using it as any kind of argument for the existence of god makes it an appeal to probability.\"\n@Chad \"ah.. no.. scroll up, read the definition and the example again. you are just looking at the ti tle 🙂\nnot all arguments that include probability are fallacious \"appeals to probability\"\n===============\n@hawaiiguest \"As for the irrelevant conclusion, even if your stasis thing were true, then how would that even matter?\n@Chad \"ah.. no.. same answer as above.. scroll up, read the definition and the example again. you are just looking at the t itle 🙂\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:31 pm |\n@Chad\nAn external creator has not been shown to be a necessity you moronic fuckstick.\nYou have made a claim the god of abraham is real, and when asked what distinguishes your claim from others, you give these points. They are directly tied to your claim of a specific god. You are so incredibly dishonest Chad, I don't know how you can function in a societal setting.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:41 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"An external creator has not been shown to be a necessity\"\n@Chad \"so, you are going with the \"we came from nothing, as a result of nothing\" theory?? where \"nothing\" is truly nothing, as in the absence of everything (not Kraus' nothing which has laws, virtual particles, etc..).\nSorry, every cosmological proposal for the origin of our universe (that I know of) requires an external force. That force may be a multi-verse, etc.. But its a force external to the entirety of our current universe.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:56 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nLOL, now that's a straw man if ever I've seen one. I pointed to where you made your claim of a god, and even tied it to your points, but I said nothing about believing everything came from nothing. The rejection of X, does not mean acceptance of Y, or is that too complicated for you? Oh man Chad, keep going, and show everyone how dishonest you can be.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:00 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"LOL, now that's a straw man if ever I've seen one. \"\n=>fair enough, so you are saying that the creation of our universe was neither:\na. due to a force external to it\nb. created out of nothing, by nothing.\nI would have thought that covered every possible solution.. but apparently you have another.. what is it?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:12 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nWhat's wrong with the option of \"we don't yet know\", Chad? Or does that just upset you too much? Why is it you so desperately need an answer? Why can't you accept that we don't yet know all?\nAre you so insecure that you have to have an immediate answer to every problem and will therefore grab \"god\" as the default when you don't have one?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:17 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nI can predict the future. Watch! Chad won't respond to my post.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:19 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nThose two are the only possibilities, yes, but once again, not accepting one is not accepting the other. I am non-commital on the issue, and you've once again not addressed my other point.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 7:13 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"Those two are the only possibilities, yes, but once again, not accepting one is not accepting the other. I am non-commital on the issue\"\n@Chad \"ah.. I see 🙂\nactualy, i'm very happy getting atheists to the point where the only answer they have is \"I realize there are only two choices, but as I reject one of hand, and I realize the other is completely untenable, I refuse to comment.\"\n@TTTPS: \"we dont know\" as an answer, when we actually DO know a great deal (like the universe had a beginning), is just one notch below the above statement in terms of refusing to look at reality..\n=======\n@hawaiiguest \", and you've once again not addressed my other point.\"\nI assume it is this one \"You have made a claim the god of abraham is real, and when asked what distinguishes your claim from others, you give these points. They are directly tied to your claim of a specific god.\"\nagain, I dont make the claim that acknowledging the reality that the trigger for the creation of our universe had to exist outside the universe conclusively proves that God exists. What I do say is that it certainly supports the existence of God.\nThe God of Abraham as creator is the best explanation for the facts as we know them.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:35 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nChard, you ninny, if we KNEW, you wouldn't be here blowing your brain-farts all over the place. We don't know and there is no evidence that an invisible being exists, much less that it created anything.\nWhy do you have to lie? If you have faith, why aren't you able to admit that you believe in spite of uncertainty, instead of lying and pretending you have facts?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:39 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nAnother strawman. I do not dismiss one out of hand, I dismiss one because it has no evidence to back it you dishonest little prick. There is no evidence for either, and until there is, a noncommital stance is the only logical one to take. The thought that the universe HAD to have an external cause is not a consensus, and to present it as such is another lie of yours.\n\"\"we dont know\" as an answer, when we actually DO know a great deal (like the universe had a beginning), is just one notch below the above statement in terms of refusing to look at reality..\"\nThe current state of the universe had a beginning, and to postulate anything before that is to rely purely on speculation, so your statement is false.\nI really do wonder how you can even look yourself in the mirror when you are such a dishonest person.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:43 pm |\nChad\nThomas Edison once said \"“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”\nNow, the notion that the God of Abraham created the universe, isnt true merely because we have no other known trigger. That would be a fallacious argument.\nHowever, at the same time, what we know of the origin of the universe being consistent with the biblical description, and requiring an ent ity outside our time/space, is powerful support for the reality of God.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:45 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nNo, it's not, Chard. No matter how many times you click those ruby slippers together, it still won't be a fact.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:47 pm |\nChad\neasy to read overview of the schools of thought regarding the origin of the universe:\nthere are two schools: one says that the beginning happened when the universe transitioned from a timeless quantum fluctuation into the expanding blob we live in. History starts at the bang, so to speak. Another says that we live in a multiverse, a possibly infinite assembly of all kinds of disconnected universes, with different properties. Ours would be but one of these. In this case, the universe, big bang and all, would be a tiny piece of a timeless cosmic entity\nhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/01/11/144958094/what-happened-before-the-big-bang-and-other-weird-cosmic-questions\nAs you can see, cosmologists investigate origins of our universe from forces external to our current universe every day.\nSo many atheists are terrified of acknowledging that indeed cosmologist agrees that there was a beginning of our universe, and a \"before\" our universe. They do so just because they are unfamiliar with cosmology, and to acknowledge that seems to be an acknowledgement of the theistic position.\nWhich goes to a central atheist truth. They believe what they believe in spite of the evidence around them. If at any point the data points to what they think might be a theistic origin, they immediately shut down and refuse further investigation in that direction, that's when \"we dont know\" kicks in.\n\"Open minded\" indeed 😉\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nStill as dishonest as ever Chad. Point to something that states accurately, that all cosmologists are only studying external causes for the current state of the universe, and that there is a unanimous consent among them that there must be an external cause.\nAll you ever do is toss out some random article that in no way says that, and then generalize it. You are incapable of honesty Chad, and you continue to show it.\nJuly 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm |\njust sayin\nChad is no different than most christians.....dishonest to the core.\nJuly 24, 2012 at 2:14 pm |\nReality\nAccomplice #1- the Colorado state government which still does not have strict and enforced gun ownership laws.\nAccomplice #2:\nThe movie theater management which apparently had no security and/or no manned security cameras. Said nut job propped open an emergency exit door and re-entered with his weapons and garb. Why didn't this activate alarms? Or did it activate a silent alarm and what security was present did not respond?\nOpening up an emergency exit door apparently is a typical way to allow non-paying friends into movie theaters. This is done as the paying customers are leaving the normal exits. A friend walks out the emergency exit and his/her friends walk in giving them immediate access to any movie playing in the typical modern multiplex movie theater. Observing this scenario once, I followed the non-paying person to the lobby and reported him to the manager. There were no security personnel there that I could see as they were my first choice.\nI highly recommend reviewing the security at your movie theaters before going again.\nAccomplice #3:\nHomeland Security/FBI. The taxpayers assume that part of our taxes are used to track anyone buying large amounts of ammunition. 6000 rounds of ammunition should have raised red flags in all of the government surveillance computers. Why didn't it???????????????\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:47 pm |\nReality loves her Big Brother\nBlame blame blame.\nAmerica would be a lockdown police state if we responded to every bit of violence as you suggest.\nMaybe we could have Homeland Security check points like at airports everywhere! Stores! Buildings!\nAnd total police scrutiny of every electronic transaction and e-mail and text and all of it! Cameras everywhere.\nWhat fun.\nThere is already way too much of that.\n\"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety\" Benjamin Franklin\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:19 pm |\nObserver\nGuess you skipped the NRA on purpose.\nAccomplice #1 – NRA\nThey constantly fight to enable people to stockpile weapons capable of killing many people in seconds.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:28 pm |\nCurious\nI wonder what you expect the theater security to do when the alarm goes off and they find themselves face to face with a guy in a bulletproof vest, full riot gear, carrying an assault rifle with a 100 round drum magazine?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:46 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nThe only person to blame is the gunman. All this reactionary BS about gun control is just hysterical left wing drivel.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:54 pm |\nObserver\nRational Libertarian,\nPretending that the NRA's efforts to support people to have weapons shooting 40 rounds without a reload didn't affect things it typical hysterical rightwing drivel.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:12 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nI know you won't be happy until America is a totalitarian dystopia, so why don't you go live in Cuba or North Korea in the meantime.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:17 pm |\nGodFreeNow\nWhile I understand the desire to not blame, I do think it's important to discuss all of the factors at play. If this man were armed with only a knife it would be a completely different story. My father is a US marine, avid hunter and life member of the NRA. He loves to quote \"guns don't kill people, people kill people.\" This is such an immature argument. It's like saying bombs don't kill people, people kill people. While it is true on its face value, it is lazy in its attempt to gloss over the ease at which it makes killing capable.\nGuns are wonderful. I grew up around them, and I even owned a few myself. However, I don't think they should be in the hands of 97% of the people out there and that include the police. I now live in a country where guns are illegal. If you live in a country where you cannot control your appeti.te to eat foods to the point of obesity, education is one of the lowest in the 1st world, 1% of your population resides in prisons and 45% of your population believes the earth is less than 10k years old, you don't have the maturity to own such a destructive killing instrument. You can't be trusted to make critical and complex decisions about using that weapon. You're barely above the state of animal.\nBut if a bible verse could penetrate your lizard brain and trigger some conscious response, I would submit:\nMatthew 26:52\n\"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.\"\nWelcome to America... this is the reality you've created from your paranoia and lack of critical reasoning.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:19 pm |\nMark from Middle River\nObserver. Can you tell of one Gun Law that can stop such a Criminal as this. If he is willing to break the law and setup explosives in his apartment would he just break the law on getting a fire arm as well?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:20 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Mark from Middle River, I think @Reality already suggested it in the last paragraph. Buying 6k rounds of ammunition should be a red flag just like buying 2 tons of fertilizer would be.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:29 pm |\nObserver\nMark from Middle River,\nObviously, we can never stop people from going crazy or killing others but we can make laws to limit the amount of damage they can do. There is ZERO reason why anyone (outside of the military or law enforcement) NEEDS a weapon that can kill 40 people in seconds before reloading. The NRA cannot justify it without a dosage of paranoia.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:06 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>”but we can make laws to limit the amount of damage they can do. There is ZERO reason why anyone”\nOk, say the police had gone through the front door of his house and the multiple bombs that he set had gone up. There are laws that say that you can not build bombs inside of your home and they did not “limit” this killer from building and setting these devices. So, can you propose a law that can do what the “bomb”laws could not.\nThe NRA has gained all of its ground by just arguing that any law will only work for those that obey the law. The manufacture of firearms and bullets are world wide and beyond the powers of the United States. Basically the same as illegal drugs and they have not been able to stop the movement of that product back and forth across the border.\nAlso, what you and me might consider not a “need” is not always a universal belief. Only thing that I feel we should do is register all firearms and impose almost to execution, draconian punishments for the use of one in a crime. Maybe even every so many years, you have to appear in front a board or committee to decertify a citizens ownership of fire arms.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:07 pm |\nInigo Montoya\nUh, Rational? Left-wingers cannot, by definition, be reactionary.\nYou keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:22 am |\nObserver\nMark from Middle River,\nIf you have a neighbor who acts very odd, lives alone, curses all the neighbors and constantly talks to himself, would you have any problem if he owned a bazooka? After all, where you draw the line is just subjective according to you.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:33 am |\nKarllinen\nIn the perspective of most Americans, this killer in Aurora probably seems insane and evil, but as Mr. Prothero points out, this goes on every hour of every day in the world.\nWe justify killing by calling it war.\nWe justify injustices of all kinds with corrupt laws that allow people to exploit the weak in society, and though we call this Capitalism and free-enterprise, it is, in fact, perpetuation of a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. If we continue to live with these ideals, we will have more Auroras.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:28 pm |\nReality\nOur Defense Against Terror and Aggression:\nAn update (or how we are spending or how we have spent the USA taxpayers’ money to eliminate global terror and aggression)\nThe terror and aggression via a Partial and Recent and Not So Recent Body Count\nAs the koranic/mosque driven acts of terror and horror continue:\nThe Muslim Conquest of India – 11th to 18th century\n■\"The likely death toll is somewhere between 2 million and 80 million. The geometric mean of those two limits is 12.7 million. \"\nand the 19 million killed in the Mideast Slave Trade 7C-19C by Muslims.\nand more recently\n1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured\n1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh\n2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured\n3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US troops killed in action, 3,480 and 928 in non combat roles. 102,522 – 112,049 Iraqi civilians killed as of 9/16/2011/, mostly due to suicide bombers, land mines and bombs of various types, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf\n4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]\n5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.\n6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.\n7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.\n8. UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.\n9) The execution of an eloping couple in Afghanistan on 04/15/2009 by the Taliban.\n10) – Afghanistan: US troops 1,385 killed in action, 273 killed in non-combat situations as of 09/15/2011. Over 40,000 Afghan civilians killed due to the dark-age, koranic-driven Taliban acts of horror\n11) The killing of 13 citizen soldiers at Ft. Hood by a follower of the koran.\n12) 38 Russian citizens killed on March 29, 2010 by Muslim women suicide bombers.\n13) The May 28, 2010 attack on a Islamic religious minority in Pakistan, which have left 98 dead,\n14) Lockerbie is known internationally as the site where, on 21 December 1988, the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 crashed as a result of a terrorist bomb. In the United Kingdom the event is referred to as the Lockerbie disaster, the Lockerbie bombing, or simply Lockerbie. Eleven townspeople were killed in Sherwood Crescent, where the plane's wings and fuel tanks plummeted in a fiery explosion, destroying several houses and leaving a huge crater, with debris causing damage to a number of buildings nearby. The 270 fatalities (259 on the plane, 11 in Lockerbie) were citizens of 21 nations.\n15 The daily suicide and/or roadside and/or mosque bombings in the terror world of Islam.\n16) Bombs sent from Yemen by followers of the koran which fortunately were discovered before the bombs were detonated.\n17) The killing of 58 Christians in a Catholic church in one of the latest acts of horror and terror in Iraq.\n18) Moscow airport suicide bombing: 35 dead, 130 injured. January 25, 2011.\n19) A Pakistani minister, who had said he was getting death threats because of his stance against the country's controversial blasphemy law, was shot and killed Wednesday, 3/2/2011\n20) two American troops killed in Germany by a recently radicalized Muslim, 3/3/2011\n21) the kidnapping and apparent killing of a follower of Zoraster in the dark world of Islamic Pakistan.\n22) Shariatpur, Bangladesh (CNN 3/30/2011) - Hena Akhter's last words to her mother proclaimed her innocence. But it was too late to save the 14-year-old girl. Her fellow villagers in Bangladesh's Shariatpur district had already passed harsh judgment on her. Guilty, they said, of having an affair with a married man. The imam from the local mosque ordered the fatwa, or religious ruling, and the punishment: 101 lashes delivered swiftly, deliberately in public. Hena dropped after 70 and died a week later.\n23) \"October 4, 2011, 100 die as a truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded Tuesday at the gate of compound housing several government ministries on a busy Mogadishu street. It was the deadliest single bombing carried out by the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in Somalia since their insurgency began. \"\no 24) Mon Jun 4, 2012 10:18am EDT\nBAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed car outside a Shi'ite Muslim office in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 190 in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Iraq's al Qaeda affiliate.\nThe bombing on a Shi'ite religious office comes at a sensitive time, with the country's fractious Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs locked in a crisis that threatens to unravel their power-sharing deal and spill into sectarian tensions.\"\n25) Last week's bombing of a bus in Bulgaria.\nContinued below:\nOther elements of our War on Terror and Aggression:\n-Operation Iraqi Freedom- The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops killed in action, 3,480 and 928 in non combat roles as of 09/15/2011/, 102,522 – 112,049 Iraqi civilians killed as of 9/16/2011/, mostly due to suicide bombers, land mines and bombs of various types, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf\n– Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan: US troops 1,385 killed in action, 273 killed in non-combat situations as of 09/15/2011. Over 40,000 Afghan civilians killed mostly due to the dark-age, koranic-driven Taliban acts of horror,\n– Sa-dd-am, his sons and major he-nchmen have been deleted. Sa-dd-am's bravado about WMD was one of his major mistakes. Kuwait was saved.\n– Iran is being been contained. (beside containing the Sunni-Shiite civil war in Baghdad, that is the main reason we are in Iraq. And yes, essential oil continues to flow from the region.)\n– North Korea is still u-ncivil but is contained.\n– Northern Ireland is finally at peace.\n– The Jews and Palestinians are being separated by walls. Hopefully the walls will follow the 1948 UN accords. Unfortunately the Annapolis Peace Conference was not successful. And unfortunately the recent events in Gaza has put this situation back to “squ-are one”. And this significant stupidity is driven by the mythical foundations of both religions!!!\n– – Fa-na–tical Islam has basically been contained to the Middle East but a wall between India and Pakistan would be a plus for world peace. Ditto for a wall between Afghanistan and Pakistan.\n– Timothy McVeigh was exe-cuted. Terry Nichols escaped the death penalty twice because of deadlocked juries. He was sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole,[3][7] and is incarcerated in ADX Florence, a super maximum security prison near Florence, Colorado. He shares a cellblock that is commonly referred to as \"Bombers Row\" with Ramzi Yousef and Ted Kaczynski\n– Eric Ru-dolph is spending three life terms in pri-son with no par-ole.\n– Jim Jones, David Koresh, Kaczynski, the \"nuns\" from Rwanda, and the KKK were all dealt with and either eliminated themselves or are being punished.\n– Islamic Sudan, Dar-fur and So-malia are still terror hot spots.\n– The terror and tor-ture of Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Kuwait were ended by the proper application of the military forces of the USA and her freedom-loving friends. Ra-dovan Karadzic was finally captured on 7/23/08 and is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the law of war – charges related to the 1992-1995 civil war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia.\nThe capture of Ratko Mladić: (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратко Младић, pronounced [râtkɔ mlǎːditɕ], born 12 March 1943[1][2]) is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).[3] His trial began on 3 June 2011.\n– the bloody terror brought about by the Ja-panese, Na-zis and Co-mmunists was with great difficulty eliminated by the good guys.\n– Bin Laden was executed for crimes against humanity on May 1, 2011\n– Ditto for Anwar al-Awlaki on September 30, 2011\n– Ditto for Abu Yahya al-Libi on June 5, 2012\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:52 pm |\nThe Ole Bullsh!t Detector Is Going Off Again\nYour theory falls apart the moment you realize that every other system ever tried also had war and injustice and oppression, and often worse.\nEquating survival of the fittest with capitalism is Social Darwinism, an ugly and thoroughly discredited perversion of what Darwin was really saying. Know who else did it? The Nazis. No joke.\nHere is what you are saying: Capitalism caused Holmes to shoot up a theater. The theory of evolution caused Holmes to shoot up a theater.\nTotally ridiculous. And what is with everyone using that condescending King's We today?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:30 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nNorthern Ireland is in no way at peace.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:59 pm |\nAtheism is not healthy for children and other living things\nPrayer changes things .\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:20 pm |\nObserver\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\njust wondering\nspeaking from experience or wishful thinking?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:48 pm |\nObserver\nThe answer to your ignorant question is \"neither\".\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:08 pm |\njust wondering\nConsider then your ignorant comment responded to.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm |\nJesus\nPrayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.\nAn article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.\nThe statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!|. .\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:26 am |\nTsu Tzu\none one said:\n\"I just read on USA Today that a recent Pew pole reports the percentage of people who say they have no religious affiliation (i.e. the \"nones\") has hit 19%.\"\nMeanwhile, the percentage of people who say that they are atheists, stagnates in between 1 & 4%.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:05 pm |\nObserver\nThat tells you that people are becoming more disatisfied with organized religions and may be more headed towards atheism whether they are ready to admit that or not.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\nGodFreeNow\nI think it also speaks to how strong the addiction and fear is as well. People know what they're doing doesn't make sense, but they're still afraid to let go of their fantasies.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:10 pm |\nAnalyzer\nYou really are good in observing but terribly way off the mark when it comes to analysis.\nYes, it tells us that people are becoming more disatisfied with organized religions\nBUT!\nHow on earth you can you say that \"maybe there is more headed towards atheism\" when atheism rate is not moving?\nI told you to not just OBSERVE but ANALYZE!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:15 pm |\nObserver\nAnalyzer,\nIf you had analyzed things more, you'd realize that religious people who leave towards atheism are going to be very reticent to tell their probably Christian friends, especially when they aren't 100% certain.\nYou need to do more observation.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:21 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\nDoes anybody have a link to the latest survey data? I can't find it at USA Today or Pew.\nWithout the current data, I don't think anyone should take the number thrown out for atheism as fact.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:21 pm |\nReally-O?\n@0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\nHere you go –\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:37 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\nThanks but that's a link to the USA Today story, not the Pew data the story was based on. USA Today does not provide additional detail such as what the percentage of atheists is. I can't find the data collected in 2011 and reported on in 2012 at Pew...\nWhile searching, I did come across an article, based on a different survery, that says in confidence in religion is at an all time low – http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/54505319-80/religion-americans-confidence-percent.html.csp.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:45 pm |\nCurious\nWhere are you gettting your data, Ana.lyzer? Every survey I found showed that atheism doubled over the last decade.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm |\nOne one\nIt's just a matter of time.\nStudy finds that religion is heading toward extinction.\nAmong other things it concludes:\n\"religion may become extinct in Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.\"\n\"In 2008 those claiming no religion rose to 15 percent nationwide, with a maximum in Vermont at 34 percent,\".\n\"The study also found that \"Americans without affiliation comprise the only religious group growing in all 50 states.\"\nSource: Foxnews.com, march 23, 2011\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm |\nAnalyzer\nThat was like claiming that Obama was a closet atheist.\nIt's nothing butn raw as.sumptions and has no historical, statistical and factual basis.\nDo some more analysis.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm |\nCurious\nHere's another weird detail. Depending on the survey, 6-9% of Americans say they do not believe in any god or universal spirit. However, only .7% of Americans will label themselves an atheist.\nThat means that only about 1 in 10 people who are atheists will identify themselves as such. Doesn't that speak volumes about the ugly social stigma that has been put upon us!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm |\nObserver\n\"It has no factual basis.\"\nlol.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:58 pm |\nOne one\n@curious. Your point in right on target. What people say and what they really think may be very different. Especially in a society where a majority constantly preaches that the minority deserve to burn in hell for their beliefs.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:06 pm |\nOne one\nHere is another thought. Atheism existed long before the desert religions. It existed along side of all the other religions as they were created, flourished, and became extinct. And it will still be around after Christianity becomes extinct. You could say it transcends all other religious belief systems.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:13 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@One one,\nwhat Pew poll says that \"unaffiliated is now 19%? Their last US Religions Landsape Survey at pewforum.org still says 16.1% including a total of 4% atheist + agnostic.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:00 pm |\nOne one\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:06 am |\nJohnny Blammo\nYou know, Stephen Prothero is probably a nice guy who wouldn't be a drag to be around, but he isn't much of a writer. His ideas tend to be in the shallow end of the pool, odd conclusions based on lackluster news analysis combined with a theology that never seems to have been subjected to serious critical thought.\nVery tough to take a guy seriously who perceives \"original sin\" to be empirically verifiable, or whose insight into the Aurora Shooting is a very shallow, distorted, and almost totally irrelevant \"we all are part evil.\"\nI would love to chat with Stephen about whether it is even possible for an insane person to be considered evil. Maybe the complexity of that will make him aware that his conclusions are very shallow and unsupportable platitudes.\nI don't know how anyone can draw parallels between the extreme actions of a mentally deranged individual and the vague complacency of otherwise good people who choose to not focus on being involved in easing social ills.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:36 pm |\nMark from Middle River\nI have always thought that Stephen's biggest problem is that he is a professor at a college. Sadly often times when you spend years and decades “talking to” a captive audience, which are dependent on your good graces for a grade, then you go through life never having “listened” to and acknowledged views that are not of your own. The possibility is that unless any of us are tenured Professors, then to Stephen, we are ones meant to be “talked to” not acknowledged.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:48 pm |\nbaby jimmy\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:27 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>“If evil is readily identifiable, it would never get any traction. It would be easily identified and put down.”\nThat is a very deep thought but, would it really be automatically put down? Maybe if we all had a united definition of what was and was not evil or evil actions. Politicians are fast to throw around the evil definition against those who simply voted against one of their bills. Last election I choose not to vote and by the end of the night my cell phone was filled with negative messages from my African American friends and family because I did not vote for Obama and from my Conservative Republican friends for not voting for McCain.\nEither way, I do not know that as we get more of these killings, Ones that target no specific demographic. We are getting closer.\nTry this....\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtAXRygVZFM&w=640&h=390]\nMaybe the answer was in the Batman movies after all.\n“Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn. “\nAnd unless you are ready to go forward with how Alfred finally was able to stop that guy.... We will be seeing more of this in our future.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:26 pm |\nLame\nProbably not a great idea to take your philosophy from a Batman movie.\nAlfred's \"watch the world burn\" sounds nice, but it is super simplistic. In the real world, people who just like to watch the world burn are insane. And \"burning down the forest\" is hardly a realistic solution to anything. And Alfred believes that money is logical.\nIn the future, when you are looking for philosophy, you might actually want to leave the comic book section.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:47 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>“Alfred's \"watch the world burn\" sounds nice, but it is super simplistic. “\nOver the next few weeks the news services will have this speaker and that speaker. All will show their credentials and declare that they know why guys like this do such horrible acts. Some might even stress that we should greatly divert Government funding to their area of study so that they can finally find out why this happened. The political camps of Oba and Rom are disparately hoping that they can spin this tragedy to ether hold on to the White House or retake the White House.\nInsanity, possibly but maybe not. If you use the actual definition, this guy was calculating in his actions that day. The trip wire at his house just showed that he really thought this out. The Gabriel Giffords shooter, vs this guy, would possibly be a better comparison between insanity and just a calculating killer.\nI point to this clip because it is simple. It is not complex and is free from the clinical babble and political spin that we will have shoved down our throats, in the coming weeks. It comes to a point that we in society are too afraid to accept. We believe that these types of folks can be fixed. That if their own political party was in power that this type of event would not happen. We as a society are looking for purpose in such an event and fail to acknowledge that some members of our society just want to see death on a massive scale for no other purpose than it pleases them.\nSome times you do not need DSM-V to explain in tens of thousands of word, an event such as this. It is maybe something that you can get simply from the comic book section.\n>>>”And \"burning down the forest\" is hardly a realistic solution to anything.”\nExactly... Which is why I said “unless” and finished with … “We will be seeing more of this in our future.”And since he did not target a specific race or other demographic should scare us even more, because now any of us can be the target.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\nLame\nYour first paragraph is nothing but a political rant, filled with hyperbole and irrelevant to the discussion.\nPsychotics, schizophrenics, and others with antisocial personality disorders are capable of planning. It took extensive planning for Jim Jones to have the necessary supplies for a mass suicide that occured on short notice. There are many many other examples.\n\"We believe that these types of folks can be fixed. That if their own political party was in power that this type of event would not happen. \" I have never ever EVER heard anyone of any political persuasion say that; I have never run across anyone foolish enough to believe it. Why do you keep dragging partisan politics into something where it is totally irrelevant?\n\"We . . . fail to acknowledge that some members of our society just want to see death on a massive scale for no other purpose than it pleases them.\" Utter nonsense, and totally unsupportable. And there's that weird \"we\" again. I never met any of these \"we\"s you are talking about.\n\"It is maybe something that you can get simply from the comic book section.\" You don't relly want to stand by that comment, do you?\n\"should scare us even more\" Sorry, but I refuse to live in fear, especially over a type of occurance which, while shocking, is actually very rare and incredibly unlikely to affect me or my loved ones. You can live in fear if you like. Go for it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:46 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>”Your first paragraph is nothing but a political rant, filled with hyperbole and irrelevant to the discussion.”\nWell, I will admit that it is a rant but it is in response to your post so it is relevant.\n>>>”It took extensive planning for Jim Jones to have the necessary supplies for a mass suicide that occured on short notice.”\nJim Jones did that all on his own? I am partially familiar with the Jones town mass suicides and that was not a one man job. Not even in the leadership capsity. He might have been the lead player but there were others in the band. I would put him with Charles Mason and in some ways, I would say they are more dangerous than this type of shooter.\nWhen I look at the Gabriel Giffords shooter you do not see the level of planning that this guy had. This guy was more along the lines of the Breivik but to me scarier because Breivik targeted a specific group.\n>>>”I have never ever EVER heard anyone of any political persuasion say that; I have never run across anyone foolish enough to believe it. “\nThis morning, I listened to C-Span radio. They replay the early Sunday morning network talk shows. Diane Fienstien could not help herself from saying over and over that her gun control bill, which expired a few years back, would have stopped this guy from getting the weapons that he used to carry out this attack. I then listened to democratic senator after senator point to other members of their party as everything from lacking backbone or just turning their backs on the citizens of America, for not supporting gun control bills.\nI do not need to politicize this issue. Those who are seeking political power are doing it enough. So because they are slowly dragging partisan politics in, should not we call it, when we see it?\nFor the record, I might be a Republican but the crap that both are offering us these days, is appalling.\n>>>”Utter nonsense, and totally unsupportable. “\nAgain, listen to the news reports and commentary. People over and over … “I don't know why he did it...” , “why would he do such a thing” …. “what made him a killer” ….\nMy point is that maybe just like folks are born Gay or Straight, Black or White, etc... maybe he was just born this way. I fear my comment stands every time you hear some one ask why a person “becomes” a killer. The answer is that he or she might have always been a killer.\nWhat was this guys mom's first words that night when the police woke her up … “I think you have the right guy....”\n“You don't really want to stand by that comment, do you? “... Shakespeare, Clemons and a host of other writers are often seen these days as having remarkable insight into the human condition. Also, this is a movie my friend and not a comic book. The dialogue is substantially more. It is art and if it does suit you then no harm but do not discount a film just because it was based on a comic book.\n>>>”You can live in fear if you like. Go for it.”\nMaybe was a wrong. I will give that lone point but I will say that it concerns folks a bit more when killers do not target specific groups. Remember the DC Sniper shootings? What made that scary … other then them being incredible shots... was that they killed anyone. Including shooting a child being dropped off by mother to school. Many are used to hearing the news report that a certain demographic are the intended targets. Maybe because they were Black, or that they were women of a certain age. For many if they personally did not fit or anyone they knew didn't fit then the worry is diminished. That killers are starting to target anyone breathing is, what I feel a new chapter or rise of a old chapter in such crimes.\nGood post, Lame 🙂\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:07 pm |\nOne one\nMark, how do you embed YouTube videos into a post in the comment section ?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:31 pm |\nLame\nWe'll agree to disagree and let others decide what rings true for them, but yes, a good conversation.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:55 pm |\nEd\nI would tend instead to refer to acts like this as \"ultimate evil\" referring to murder and premeditated murder of unknown people in particular. We all have evil in us. The difference is that we are in control of our actions and our both our rational thinking and conscience prevents evil thoughts from outweighing other thoughts and turning to action. It disturbed me greatly when President Bush used the term evildoers over and over again as if we are righteous and devoid of evil and they are not. The image never sat well with me.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 2:56 pm |\n\"Evil\" is a very misleading word\nI generally agree, but remember that what we all have in us is the capacity to do bad if the right triggers are pulled. I think it is erroneous to say there is evil lurking in us.\nPart of the problem is that to secular people, evil is \"really bad behavior\", but to religious people, it is a supernatural force. To a secular person, you can choose to not respond to the desire to do something bad, but to a religious person, only God can stop it.\nBut you are correct that religious people like Bush often presume that because they assume they are in God's grace, their actions are all God-inspired and inherently good. And not surprisingly, that is where evil becomes possible. Because many if not most of the world's worst atrocities occurred as an enactment of some morality, whether religious or ideological.\nIf you are certain that you are good, you are blind to all bad that you do.\nGood post, Ed.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:14 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>”To a secular person, you can choose to not respond to the desire to do something bad, but to a religious person, only God can stop it. “\nYes, good post but I would offer this. My thought is that the Religious ones in question are not of the thought that God can stop it. If your premise was true then folks would see something negative and go to God in prayer and let that be the end of it. What we get are ones that believe themselves to be God's active avenging hand on Earth. Think about, if your view were wholly correct then it puts your “enactment” position on shaky grounds.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:42 pm |\n\"Evil\" is a very misleading word\nInteresting point, but no. That people commit atrocities in the name of morality, whether based on religion or ideology, is historical fact, strongly evidenced in many many occurances. Far from being shaky, it is verifyable with massive amounts of evidence.\n\"Folks would see something negative and go to God in prayer and let that be the end of it\" No. I did not say anything of the sort. It is obvious that God does not act in the face of identified evil. I said that \"to a religious person, only God can stop it\", not that God would automatically stop it without fail.\n\"What we get are ones that believe themselves to be God's active avenging hand on Earth\" – totally agree. That is my point about \"enacting morality\" – they are the ones doing it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm |\nLeonidasMaximus\nSuch a bland and ill written article!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 2:52 pm |","The CRPG Addict: NetHack: The Blurst of Times\nThe saying goes that given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pounding at a typewriter will eventually produce Hamlet. It's too bad I know it's not true ...\nThe CRPG Addict: NetHack: The Blurst of Times\nNetHack: The Blurst of Times\nNo, I don't want my #$&*@ possessions identified.\nThe saying goes that given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pounding at a typewriter will eventually produce Hamlet. It's too bad I know it's not true. Otherwise, it might give me hope that some random key combination will eventually produce a winning NetHack screen.\nLet's begin by analyzing why the old monkey adage isn't true. First of all, it doesn't matter whether you phrase it as a single monkey on a single typewriter given infinite time or an infinite number of monkeys given a finite amount of time, or whatever. As long as any one of the dimensions of the problem is infinite, the mathematics are essentially the same as if they all are.\nBut if you're going to rest the argument on mathematics, you have to recognize two things:\n1. There isn't enough energy in the universe for the monkey to type long enough to have even a one-in-a-trillion probability of even typing \"the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.\"\n2. Just because a series of events have a cumulative probability of 1 doesn't guarantee that it will ever happen, since each trial is independent. It violates no laws of probability for that monkey to bang at the typewriter for a billion years and never type the letter a, let alone \"This above all: to thine own self be true.\"\nSo while it would be nice to think that all the time I've spent on NetHack will eventually produce an ascension, it's really just a gambler's fallacy. I could easily never ascend. It's entirely possible for none of my characters to get past Level 1 from now on, even.\nI was reminded of this a couple months ago, when a reader wrote to me about his NetHack experience. At first, I thought it was a little odd that he was telling me, but then I realized that when your Level 20 character dies on Level 26 with two dozen active intrinsics and a blessed scroll of genocide you never got to use, who else are you going to tell? Your co-workers? Your spouse? The bartender at Applebee's? No, you have to write to someone who will empathize with that tragedy, and that's a service I'm happy to provide.\nAnyway, my correspondent started his posting with: \"I had some time off this week, and was resolved to finally ascend in NetHack after 25 years of intermittent tries.\"\nTemporary insanity is really the only explanation for this statement. Anyone who's played the game for more than 25 hours, let alone 25 years, should know that you can't simply \"decide\" to ascend no matter how much time you're willing to put into it. It's like saying, \"I had a week off so I decided to go to Vegas and make $20,000.\" (Actually, I think that might be easier.)\nThis is just a random image to show how much a loose NPC dwarf can mess up a level with his pick-axe.\nIt's been a while since I posted on NetHack, but that isn't because I haven't been playing. To the contrary, I've fielded almost four dozen characters in the past six months. But I wanted to wait until I had something more significant to report than I did last time, when Haran the Barbarian reached the castle and upper levels of Hell, although without much of a plan, and without having really explored the castle.\nShortly after Haran's discouraging death, I decided that you were all right: there was no way I was ever going to win the game without looking at spoilers. Not unless I was willing to jettison the rest of my blog and spend all my time on NetHack. My posting on \" The Great Heist \"--and I admit it wasn't all that clear in this regard--was supposed to convey that I had, in fact, looked at spoilers, had seen what major steps \"ascending\" required, and was assembling a master plan to reach that point--a plan that included a detailed \"shopping list\" of items and intrinsics needed before hitting the castle. Experienced players call this their \" ascension kit .\"\nBased on the intrinsics that I wanted in my kit, I decided to spend the rest of NetHack 3.0.9 playing an elf. The elf starts with reasonably decent statistics--not as good as the barbarian, but decent. More important, he comes with several intrinsics: automatic searching, see invisibility, sleep resistance, and speed. Some of these are hard to obtain through the normal mechanism of eating corpses. Automatic searching, for instance, is not available through any corpse-eating; you have to be a archaeologist or tourist at Level 10 (monks and rangers aren't in this version) or an elf at any level or find a Ring of Searching (thus wasting a ring slot). Seeing invisibility only comes from one creature--the stalker--and you have to already be invisible when you eat it. Sleep resistance is another intrinsic that only comes from one monster: an orange dragon.\nThe many benefits of being an elf.\n \nThe second reason I decided to stick to the elf is that it's not available as a class in later versions. Somewhere around version 3.2, races and classes are separated, and the elf's abilities are absorbed by the ranger class.\nThus I have since December thrown a company of elves into the Mazes of Menace, most of them dying around Level 8 or 9, often at the jaws of soldier ants. (Man, I know I'm supposed to save Scrolls of Genocide for higher-level creatures, but I sure would love to use them on soldier ants)\nFor a while, I gave all my elf characters different names, but I got sick of thinking them up, so I eventually settled on Ellasar and used it over and over. The one I'm about to describe might have been my 20th or so. I didn't really start taking notes about his adventures until he made it to duungeon level 15. At that point, he was at character level 10.\nThe first screenshot I took of this Ellasar. He's just eaten a hill giant corpse and increased his strength to 17.\nI'd been playing him on and off for about four days at this point. Of his adventures, only a few things stand out:\n1) On an early level, I'd taken a chance drinking from a fountain and a water demon offered me a wish. I asked for a Scroll of Genocide, one of the top things for any ascension kit. Later, I found another one. By the time I reached level 15, I had two potions of water in my inventory, and I was just waiting for an alignment-friendly altar to turn them into holy water and bless the Scrolls of Genocide. Blessed Scrolls of Genocide wipe out entire monster classes rather than individual monsters, and my plan was to use them on some of the more troublesome creatures at higher levels--probably liches and mind flayers.\n2) Up to Level 15, I hadn't found a single store. I was walking around with a ton of cash--more than 4,000 gold pieces.\n3) I don't think I encountered any soldier ants, either.\n4) The only altar I found was back on Level 3. I kept trekking back up there from lower levels to test whether certain items in my inventory were cursed.\n5) It took me a long time to improve my weapons and armor. I never found a good replacement for the blessed elven short sword that my elf started with, nor the elven mithril coat he was wearing. It took me until about Level 13 when I killed some soldiers to get some good supplementary armor, including a +1 small shield, a pair of fencing gloves, a pair of hard shoes, and--best of all--a cloak of displacement. Also on the same level, I found what turned out to be a blessed scroll of enchant weapon, which turned my +1 short sword into a +4.\nI really like the cloak of displacement.\nMy inventory at this point was pretty good. I was wearing a circular amulet whose purpose I didn't know at the time (it later turned out to be a resist poison amulet, which was redundant with my intrinsic resistance), plenty of food, a ring of fire resistance and a ring of protection, two wands of cancellation (very effective against magic monsters), a wand of lightning for engraving ELBERETH, two unicorn horns (for dispelling blindness, confusion, etc.), a lizard corpse in case a cockatrice hissed at me, and a pick axe for carving my own paths. The major item lacking from my desired \"kit\" at this point was a blindfold. I had the \"telepathic\" intrinsic from eating a floating eye, and in previous games I found the combination of that and a blindfold almost essential.\nPart of Ellasar's Level 15 inventory.\nFor other intrinsics, thanks to careful eating of the right monsters, I was poison resistant, fire resistant, cold resistant, and sleep resistant. I had hoped to find a Ring of Teleport Control so I could then eat something that granted teleportitis; other than that, shock resistance was the only thing on my shopping list.\n \nAt this point, I was still cautious. I'd been here before, plenty of times. My last Ellasar, in fact, had died at Level 20.\nThe level featured a barracks of soliders, which I defeated one-by-one, then spent a ridiculous amount of time--like all day one day--carefully testing much of their gear. But when I was done, I had an armor class of -17, so it was well worth it.\nAnd to think I nearly fled when I saw this many soldiers.\nHighlights from the next few levels included:\nI found an identify spellbook on Level 18. I was delighted when I saw what it was. Unfortunately, none of my castings worked, and I ended up wearing it out without identifying a single thing.\nEllasar's spell list is a little paltry.\nOn Level 20, I ran into a stone giant. I was satiated at the time, so I retreated to the stairs and waited upstairs until I was hungry so I could eat it and get a point of strength from. While I was waiting upstairs, I made the rookie mistake of holding down the SPACE bar too long (instead of just typing in a number of turns, which is like NetHack 101) and nearly got killed by something called a \"baluchitherium.\"\nLater on Level 20, I finally found my blindfold! This is when I started to think Ellasar might be going places.\nThis is that weird \"fungus level\" I don't really understand.\nOn Level 21, I killed my first dragon of the game--a blue one. I was pissed. I needed to eat a blue dragon for shock resistance, but I was already satiated. I decided not to risk choking and moved on.\nLevel 22 brought an altar with a priestess. I gave her the huge pile of gold I was carrying, and she gave me the \"protected\" intrinsic. I tried to convert my potions of water to holy water, but it didn't work. It turns out the altar was \"neutral\" and I was lawful. I started to despair of ever getting holy water.\nEllasar fails the \"atheist\" conduct.\nBut Level 23 brought an altar to a chaotic god, so I started to have hope about Level 24. Then I stepped on a teleport trap and ended back on Level 6. It took me a while to work my way back down. I killed a wraith on the way, ate its corpse, and rose to Level 14.\nI finally found a lawful altar on Level 25, made 4 potions of holy water, and dipped my Scrolls of Genocide within them. Bring on the liches!\nThe power is mine! Bwu-ha-ha-ha-ha!\nOn Level 26, a bunch of statues clued me in as to the presence of a medusa. I put on my blindfold and took care of her. There was also a \"treasure zoo\" on the level, which I dismantled with rapidity. With my 18+ strength, -18 AC, and pile of wands, I was feeling pretty invincible. I at last descended below the Dungeons of Doom for perhaps only the third time since December.\nIn the maze levels that followed, I stopped and searched for traps a couple of times between steps, checked my blindfold frequently, and walked slowly. It was tedious, and I forced myself to take breaks when it seemed like I was getting impatient and going too quickly. The way to play NetHack at all levels, but especially at these levels, is step, pause, scan, search, think, step.\nI'm glad I didn't step on that.\nAt length, I arrived at the \"castle\" level, and unlike usual, I had a way to cross the moat: a pair of \"boots of water walking\" I'd found a few levels prior. I skirted the castle, dealing with the eels in the moat, the xans on the rampart, and the assorted minotaur. After that, it took me a while to get in. The wiki says something about playing a tune on a musical instrument, but that must have come in a later version because I've never found a musical instrument in this game. What worked for me was a Wand of Striking on the drawbridge.\nThe center of the castle was full of liches, who immediately tried to start cursing my stuff. It was time to shine. I read the Scroll of Genocide and wiped the entire lich race from the dungeon!\nI really wish I could use this on cliff racers.\nAt last--for the first time--I had the fabled Wand of Wishing from the castle. Because I hadn't otherwise found one, and I needed it to progress, I made my first wish for a Ring of Teleport Control. Unfortunately, that was my only wish: the Wand had no more charges. I held onto it in case I found a Scroll of Charging later.\nYou've probably been reading all of this wondering how Ellasar ultimately died, so here's the twist: he's not dead. But he's stuck. As experienced NetHack players know, there are no \"down\" stairs after the castle; you have to get to the levels in Hell by teleporting. The options for doing so are limited. I need either a level teleport trap (they disappear when you first trigger them, though, and I can't find any more), a cursed potion of gain level, or a cursed scroll of teleportation. Actually, since I have some unholy water, regular versions of those items would work, too. Or a Scroll of Charging to recharge my Wand of Wishing.\nThus, for the last few days, for an hour or so a day, I've had Ellasar mincing about the lower levels, fighting random encounters, hoping to run into some foe that has one of these items. But there's a palpable sense of impending doom as I do so; it seems all but inevitable that something will eventually kill me, or rust monsters will slowly ruin all my equipment, or I'll accidentally walk into a patch of water and drown.\nI'll let you know how Ellasar ultimately fares, but however it ends, I suspect he'll be my last character in this version.\nPosted by CRPG Addict at 6:45 AM"],"string":"[\n \"Infinite_monkey_theorem.txt\\nInfinite monkey theorem\\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\\n\\nIn this context, \\\"almost surely\\\" is a mathematical term with a precise meaning, and the \\\"monkey\\\" is not an actual monkey, but a metaphor for an abstract device that produces an endless random sequence of letters and symbols. One of the earliest instances of the use of the \\\"monkey metaphor\\\" is that of French mathematician Émile Borel in 1913, but the first instance may be even earlier. The probability of a universe full of monkeys typing a complete work such as Shakespeare's Hamlet is so tiny that the chance of it occurring during a period of time hundreds of thousands of orders of magnitude longer than the age of the universe is extremely low (but technically not zero).\\n\\nVariants of the theorem include multiple and even infinitely many typists, and the target text varies between an entire library and a single sentence. The history of these statements can be traced back to Aristotle's On Generation and Corruption and Cicero's De natura deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), through Blaise Pascal and Jonathan Swift, and finally to modern statements with their iconic simians and typewriters. In the early 20th century, Borel and Arthur Eddington used the theorem to illustrate the timescales implicit in the foundations of statistical mechanics.\\n\\nSolution\\n\\nDirect proof\\n\\nThere is a straightforward proof of this theorem. As an introduction, recall that if two events are statistically independent, then the probability of both happening equals the product of the probabilities of each one happening independently. For example, if the chance of rain in Moscow on a particular day in the future is 0.4 and the chance of an earthquake in San Francisco on any particular day is 0.00003, then the chance of both happening on the same day is , assuming that they are indeed independent.\\n\\nSuppose the typewriter has 50 keys, and the word to be typed is banana. If the keys are pressed randomly and independently, it means that each key has an equal chance of being pressed. Then, the chance that the first letter typed is 'b' is 1/50, and the chance that the second letter typed is a is also 1/50, and so on. Therefore, the chance of the first six letters spelling banana is\\n(1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) (1/50)6 \\n 1/15 625 000 000 ,\\nless than one in 15 billion, but not zero, hence a possible outcome.\\n\\nFrom the above, the chance of not typing banana in a given block of 6 letters is 1 − (1/50)6. Because each block is typed independently, the chance Xn of not typing banana in any of the first n blocks of 6 letters is\\n\\nX_n=\\\\left(1-\\\\frac{1}{50^6}\\\\right)^n.\\n\\nAs n grows, Xn gets smaller. For an n of a million, Xn is roughly 0.9999, but for an n of 10 billion Xn is roughly 0.53 and for an n of 100 billion it is roughly 0.0017. As n approaches infinity, the probability Xn approaches zero; that is, by making n large enough, Xn can be made as small as is desired, This shows that the probability of typing \\\"banana\\\" in one of the predefined non-overlapping blocks of six letters tends to 1. In addition the word may appear across two blocks, so the estimate given is conservative. and the chance of typing banana approaches 100%.\\n\\nThe same argument shows why at least one of infinitely many monkeys will produce a text as quickly as it would be produced by a perfectly accurate human typist copying it from the original. In this case Xn = (1 − (1/50)6)n where Xn represents the probability that none of the first n monkeys types banana correctly on their first try. When we consider 100 billion monkeys, the probability falls to 0.17%, and as the number of monkeys n increases, the value of Xn – the probability of the monkeys failing to reproduce the given text – approaches zero arbitrarily closely. The limit, for n going to infinity, is zero. So the probability of the word banana appearing at some point after an infinite number of keystrokes is equal to one.\\n\\nInfinite strings\\n\\nThis can be stated more generally and compactly in terms of strings, which are sequences of characters chosen from some finite alphabet:\\n* Given an infinite string where each character is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a substring at some position.\\n* Given an infinite sequence of infinite strings, where each character of each string is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a prefix of one of these strings.\\n\\nBoth follow easily from the second Borel–Cantelli lemma. For the second theorem, let Ek be the event that the kth string begins with the given text. Because this has some fixed nonzero probability p of occurring, the Ek are independent, and the below sum diverges,\\n\\\\sum_{k1}^\\\\infty P(E_k) \\n \\\\sum_{k1}^\\\\infty p \\n \\\\infty,\\nthe probability that infinitely many of the Ek occur is 1. The first theorem is shown similarly; one can divide the random string into nonoverlapping blocks matching the size of the desired text, and make Ek the event where the kth block equals the desired string.The first theorem is proven by a similar if more indirect route in \\n\\nProbabilities\\n\\nHowever, for physically meaningful numbers of monkeys typing for physically meaningful lengths of time the results are reversed. If there were as many monkeys as there are atoms in the observable universe typing extremely fast for trillions of times the life of the universe, the probability of the monkeys replicating even a single page of Shakespeare is unfathomably minute.\\n\\nIgnoring punctuation, spacing, and capitalization, a monkey typing letters uniformly at random has a chance of one in 26 of correctly typing the first letter of Hamlet. It has a chance of one in 676 (26 × 26) of typing the first two letters. Because the probability shrinks exponentially, at 20 letters it already has only a chance of one in 2620 19,928,148,895,209,409,152,340,197,376 (almost 2 × 1028). In the case of the entire text of Hamlet, the probabilities are so vanishingly small as to be inconceivable. The text of Hamlet contains approximately 130,000 letters.Using the Hamlet text [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws2611.txt from gutenberg], there are 132680 alphabetical letters and 199749 characters overall Thus there is a probability of one in 3.4 × 10183,946 to get the text right at the first trial. The average number of letters that needs to be typed until the text appears is also 3.4 × 10183,946,\\n\\nFor any required string of 130,000 letters from the set a-z, the average number of letters that needs to be typed until the string appears is (rounded) 3.4 × 10183,946, except in the case that all letters of the required string are equal, in which case the value is about 4% more, 3.6 × 10183,946. In that case failure to have the correct string starting from a particular position reduces with about 4% the probability of a correct string starting from the next position (i.e., for overlapping positions the events of having the correct string are not independent; in this case there is a positive correlation between the two successes, so the chance of success after a failure is smaller than the chance of success in general). The figure 3.4 × 10183,946 is derived from n 26130000 by taking the logarithm of both sides: log10(n) \\n 1300000×log10(26) 183946.5352, therefore n \\n 100.5352 × 10183946 = 3.429 × 10183946.\\n\\n or including punctuation, 4.4 × 10360,783.26 letters ×2 for capitalisation, 12 for punctuation characters \\n 64, 199749×log10(64) = 4.4 × 10360,783 (this is generous as it assumes capital letters are separate keys, as opposed to a key combination, which makes the problem vastly harder).\\n\\nEven if every proton in the observable universe were a monkey with a typewriter, typing from the Big Bang until the end of the universe (when protons no longer exist), they would still need a still far greater amount of time – more than three hundred and sixty thousand orders of magnitude longer – to have even a 1 in 10500 chance of success. To put it another way, for a one in a trillion chance of success, there would need to be 10360,641 universes made of atomic monkeys.\\n\\nThere are ~1080 protons in the observable universe. Assume the monkeys write for 1038 years (1020 years is when all stellar remnants will have either been ejected from their galaxies or fallen into black holes, 1038 years is when all but 0.1% of protons have decayed). Assuming the monkeys type non-stop at a ridiculous 400 words per minute (the world record is 216wpm for a single minute), that's about 2000 characters per minute (Shakespeare's average word length is a bit under 5 letters). There are about half a million minutes in a year, this means each monkey types half a billion characters per year. This gives a total of 1080×1038×10910127 letters typed – which is still zero in comparison to 10360,783. For a one in a trillion chance, multiply the letters typed by a trillion: 10127×1015\\n10145. 10360,783/10145=10360,641.\\n\\n As Kittel and Kroemer put it in their textbook on thermodynamics, the field whose statistical foundations motivated the first known expositions of typing monkeys, \\\"The probability of Hamlet is therefore zero in any operational sense of an event...\\\", and the statement that the monkeys must eventually succeed \\\"gives a misleading conclusion about very, very large numbers.\\\"\\n\\nIn fact there is less than a one in a trillion chance of success that such a universe made of monkeys could type any particular document a mere 79 characters long.As explained at http://www.nutters.org/docs/more-monkeys, the problem can be approximated further. 10145/log10(64)\\n78.9 characters.\\n\\nAlmost surely\\n\\nThe probability that an infinite randomly generated string of text will contain a particular finite substring is 1. However, this does not mean the substring's absence is \\\"impossible\\\", despite the absence having a prior probability of 0. For example, the immortal monkey could randomly type G as its first letter, G as its second, and G as every single letter thereafter, producing an infinite string of Gs; at no point must the monkey be \\\"compelled\\\" to type anything else. (To assume otherwise implies the gambler's fallacy.) However long a randomly generated finite string is, there is a small but nonzero chance that it will turn out to consist of the same character repeated throughout; this chance approaches zero as the string's length approaches infinity. There is nothing special about such a monotonous sequence except that it is easy to describe; the same fact applies to any nameable specific sequence, such as \\\"RGRGRG\\\" repeated forever, or \\\"a-b-aa-bb-aaa-bbb-...\\\", or \\\"Three, Six, Nine, Twelve…\\\".\\n\\nIf the hypothetical monkey has a typewriter with 90 equally likely keys that include numerals and punctuation, then the first typed keys might be \\\"3.14\\\" (the first three digits of pi) with a probability of (1/90)4, which is 1/65,610,000. Equally probable is any other string of four characters allowed by the typewriter, such as \\\"GGGG\\\", \\\"mATh\\\", or \\\"q%8e\\\". The probability that 100 randomly typed keys will consist of the first 99 digits of pi (including the separator key), or any other particular sequence of that length, is much lower: (1/90)100. If the monkey's allotted length of text is infinite, the chance of typing only the digits of pi is 0, which is just as possible (mathematically probable) as typing nothing but Gs (also probability 0).\\n\\nThe same applies to the event of typing a particular version of Hamlet followed by endless copies of itself; or Hamlet immediately followed by all the digits of pi; these specific strings are equally infinite in length, they are not prohibited by the terms of the thought problem, and they each have a prior probability of 0. In fact, any particular infinite sequence the immortal monkey types will have had a prior probability of 0, even though the monkey must type something.\\n\\nThis is an extension of the principle that a finite string of random text has a lower and lower probability of being a particular string the longer it is (though all specific strings are equally unlikely). This probability approaches 0 as the string approaches infinity. Thus, the probability of the monkey typing an endlessly long string, such as all of the digits of pi in order, on a 90-key keyboard is (1/90)∞ which equals (1/∞) which is essentially 0. At the same time, the probability that the sequence contains a particular subsequence (such as the word MONKEY, or the 12th through 999th digits of pi, or a version of the King James Bible) increases as the total string increases. This probability approaches 1 as the total string approaches infinity, and thus the original theorem is correct.\\n\\nCorrespondence between strings and numbers\\n\\nIn a simplification of the thought experiment, the monkey could have a typewriter with just two keys: 1 and 0. The infinitely long string thusly produced would correspond to the binary digits of a particular real number between 0 and 1. A countably infinite set of possible strings end in infinite repetitions, which means the corresponding real number is rational. Examples include the strings corresponding to one-third (010101…), five-sixths (11010101…) and five-eighths (1100000…). Only a subset of such real number strings (albeit a countably infinite subset) contains the entirety of Hamlet (if the text is translated from ASCII to binary).\\n\\nMeanwhile, there is an uncountably infinite set of strings which do not end in such repetition; these correspond to the irrational numbers. These can be sorted into two uncountably infinite subsets: those which contain Hamlet and those which do not. However, the \\\"largest\\\" subset of all the real numbers are those which not only contain Hamlet, but which contain every other possible string of any length, and with equal distribution of such strings. These irrational numbers are called normal. Because almost all numbers are normal, almost all possible strings contain all possible finite substrings. Hence, the probability of the monkey typing a normal number is 1. The same principles apply regardless of the number of keys from which the monkey can choose; a 90-key keyboard can be seen as a generator of numbers written in base 90.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nStatistical mechanics\\n\\nIn one of the forms in which probabilists now know this theorem, with its \\\"dactylographic\\\" [i.e., typewriting] monkeys (; the French word singe covers both the monkeys and the apes), appeared in Émile Borel's 1913 article \\\"Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité\\\" (Statistical mechanics and irreversibility), and in his book \\\"Le Hasard\\\" in 1914. His \\\"monkeys\\\" are not actual monkeys; rather, they are a metaphor for an imaginary way to produce a large, random sequence of letters. Borel said that if a million monkeys typed ten hours a day, it was extremely unlikely that their output would exactly equal all the books of the richest libraries of the world; and yet, in comparison, it was even more unlikely that the laws of statistical mechanics would ever be violated, even briefly.\\n\\nThe physicist Arthur Eddington drew on Borel's image further in The Nature of the Physical World (1928), writing:\\n\\nThese images invite the reader to consider the incredible improbability of a large but finite number of monkeys working for a large but finite amount of time producing a significant work, and compare this with the even greater improbability of certain physical events. Any physical process that is even less likely than such monkeys' success is effectively impossible, and it may safely be said that such a process will never happen. It is clear from the context that Eddington is not suggesting that the probability of this happening is worthy of serious consideration. On the contrary, it was a rhetorical illustration of the fact that below certain levels of probability, the term improbable is functionally equivalent to impossible.\\n\\nOrigins and \\\"The Total Library\\\"\\n\\nIn a 1939 essay entitled \\\"The Total Library\\\", Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges traced the infinite-monkey concept back to Aristotle's Metaphysics. Explaining the views of Leucippus, who held that the world arose through the random combination of atoms, Aristotle notes that the atoms themselves are homogeneous and their possible arrangements only differ in shape, position and ordering. In On Generation and Corruption, the Greek philosopher compares this to the way that a tragedy and a comedy consist of the same \\\"atoms\\\", i.e., alphabetic characters. Three centuries later, Cicero's De natura deorum (On the Nature of the Gods) argued against the atomist worldview:\\n\\nBorges follows the history of this argument through Blaise Pascal and Jonathan Swift, then observes that in his own time, the vocabulary had changed. By 1939, the idiom was \\\"that a half-dozen monkeys provided with typewriters would, in a few eternities, produce all the books in the British Museum.\\\" (To which Borges adds, \\\"Strictly speaking, one immortal monkey would suffice.\\\") Borges then imagines the contents of the Total Library which this enterprise would produce if carried to its fullest extreme:\\n\\nBorges' total library concept was the main theme of his widely read 1941 short story \\\"The Library of Babel\\\", which describes an unimaginably vast library consisting of interlocking hexagonal chambers, together containing every possible volume that could be composed from the letters of the alphabet and some punctuation characters.\\n\\nReal monkeys\\n\\nIn 2003, lecturers and students from the University of Plymouth MediaLab Arts course used a £2,000 grant from the Arts Council to study the literary output of real monkeys. They left a computer keyboard in the enclosure of six Celebes crested macaques in Paignton Zoo in Devon in England for a month, with a radio link to broadcast the results on a website. \\n\\nNot only did the monkeys produce nothing but five total pages largely consisting of the letter S, the lead male began by bashing the keyboard with a stone, and the monkeys continued by urinating and defecating on it. Mike Phillips, director of the university's Institute of Digital Arts and Technology (i-DAT), said that the artist-funded project was primarily performance art, and they had learned \\\"an awful lot\\\" from it. He concluded that monkeys \\\"are not random generators. They're more complex than that. ... They were quite interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter, something happened. There was a level of intention there.\\\" \\n\\nApplications and criticisms\\n\\nEvolution\\n\\nIn his 1931 book The Mysterious Universe, Eddington's rival James Jeans attributed the monkey parable to a \\\"Huxley\\\", presumably meaning Thomas Henry Huxley. This attribution is incorrect. Today, it is sometimes further reported that Huxley applied the example in a now-legendary debate over Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species with the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, held at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford on June 30, 1860. This story suffers not only from a lack of evidence, but the fact that in 1860 the typewriter itself had yet to emerge. \\n\\nDespite the original mix-up, monkey-and-typewriter arguments are now common in arguments over evolution. For example, Doug Powell argues as a Christian apologist that even if a monkey accidentally types the letters of Hamlet, it has failed to produce Hamlet because it lacked the intention to communicate. His parallel implication is that natural laws could not produce the information content in DNA. A more common argument is represented by Reverend John F. MacArthur, who claims that the genetic mutations necessary to produce a tapeworm from an amoeba are as unlikely as a monkey typing Hamlet's soliloquy, and hence the odds against the evolution of all life are impossible to overcome. \\n\\nEvolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins employs the typing monkey concept in his book The Blind Watchmaker to demonstrate the ability of natural selection to produce biological complexity out of random mutations. In a simulation experiment Dawkins has his weasel program produce the Hamlet phrase METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL, starting from a randomly typed parent, by \\\"breeding\\\" subsequent generations and always choosing the closest match from progeny that are copies of the parent, with random mutations. The chance of the target phrase appearing in a single step is extremely small, yet Dawkins showed that it could be produced rapidly (in about 40 generations) using cumulative selection of phrases. The random choices furnish raw material, while cumulative selection imparts information. As Dawkins acknowledges, however, the weasel program is an imperfect analogy for evolution, as \\\"offspring\\\" phrases were selected \\\"according to the criterion of resemblance to a distant ideal target.\\\" In contrast, Dawkins affirms, evolution has no long-term plans and does not progress toward some distant goal (such as humans). The weasel program is instead meant to illustrate the difference between non-random cumulative selection, and random single-step selection. In terms of the typing monkey analogy, this means that Romeo and Juliet could be produced relatively quickly if placed under the constraints of a nonrandom, Darwinian-type selection because the fitness function will tend to preserve in place any letters that happen to match the target text, improving each successive generation of typing monkeys.\\n\\nA different avenue for exploring the analogy between evolution and an unconstrained monkey lies in the problem that the monkey types only one letter at a time, independently of the other letters. Hugh Petrie argues that a more sophisticated setup is required, in his case not for biological evolution but the evolution of ideas:\\n\\nJames W. Valentine, while admitting that the classic monkey's task is impossible, finds that there is a worthwhile analogy between written English and the metazoan genome in this other sense: both have \\\"combinatorial, hierarchical structures\\\" that greatly constrain the immense number of combinations at the alphabet level. \\n\\nLiterary theory\\n\\nR. G. Collingwood argued in 1938 that art cannot be produced by accident, and wrote as a sarcastic aside to his critics,\\n\\nNelson Goodman took the contrary position, illustrating his point along with Catherine Elgin by the example of Borges' \\\"Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote\\\",\\n\\nIn another writing, Goodman elaborates, \\\"That the monkey may be supposed to have produced his copy randomly makes no difference. It is the same text, and it is open to all the same interpretations....\\\" Gérard Genette dismisses Goodman's argument as begging the question. \\n\\nFor Jorge J. E. Gracia, the question of the identity of texts leads to a different question, that of author. If a monkey is capable of typing Hamlet, despite having no intention of meaning and therefore disqualifying itself as an author, then it appears that texts do not require authors. Possible solutions include saying that whoever finds the text and identifies it as Hamlet is the author; or that Shakespeare is the author, the monkey his agent, and the finder merely a user of the text. These solutions have their own difficulties, in that the text appears to have a meaning separate from the other agents: what if the monkey operates before Shakespeare is born, or if Shakespeare is never born, or if no one ever finds the monkey's typescript? \\n\\nRandom document generation\\n\\nThe theorem concerns a thought experiment which cannot be fully carried out in practice, since it is predicted to require prohibitive amounts of time and resources. Nonetheless, it has inspired efforts in finite random text generation.\\n\\nOne computer program run by Dan Oliver of Scottsdale, Arizona, according to an article in The New Yorker, came up with a result on August 4, 2004: After the group had worked for 42,162,500,000 billion billion monkey-years, one of the \\\"monkeys\\\" typed, \\\"VALENTINE. Cease toIdor:eFLP0FRjWK78aXzVOwm)-‘;8.t\\\" The first 19 letters of this sequence can be found in \\\"The Two Gentlemen of Verona\\\". Other teams have reproduced 18 characters from \\\"Timon of Athens\\\", 17 from \\\"Troilus and Cressida\\\", and 16 from \\\"Richard II\\\". \\n\\nA website entitled The Monkey Shakespeare Simulator, launched on July 1, 2003, contained a Java applet that simulated a large population of monkeys typing randomly, with the stated intention of seeing how long it takes the virtual monkeys to produce a complete Shakespearean play from beginning to end. For example, it produced this partial line from Henry IV, Part 2, reporting that it took \\\"2,737,850 million billion billion billion monkey-years\\\" to reach 24 matching characters:\\nRUMOUR. Open your ears; 9r\\\"5j5&?OWTY Z0d...\\n\\nDue to processing power limitations, the program used a probabilistic model (by using a random number generator or RNG) instead of actually generating random text and comparing it to Shakespeare. When the simulator \\\"detected a match\\\" (that is, the RNG generated a certain value or a value within a certain range), the simulator simulated the match by generating matched text. \\n\\nMore sophisticated methods are used in practice for natural language generation. If instead of simply generating random characters one restricts the generator to a meaningful vocabulary and conservatively following grammar rules, like using a context-free grammar, then a random document generated this way can even fool some humans (at least on a cursory reading) as shown in the experiments with SCIgen, snarXiv, and the Postmodernism Generator.\\n\\nTesting of random-number generators\\n\\nQuestions about the statistics describing how often an ideal monkey is expected to type certain strings translate into practical tests for random-number generators; these range from the simple to the \\\"quite sophisticated\\\". Computer-science professors George Marsaglia and Arif Zaman report that they used to call one such category of tests \\\"overlapping m-tuple tests\\\" in lectures, since they concern overlapping m-tuples of successive elements in a random sequence. But they found that calling them \\\"monkey tests\\\" helped to motivate the idea with students. They published a report on the class of tests and their results for various RNGs in 1993. \\n\\nIn popular culture\\n\\nThe infinite monkey theorem and its associated imagery is considered a popular and proverbial illustration of the mathematics of probability, widely known to the general public because of its transmission through popular culture rather than through formal education.Examples of the theorem being referred to as proverbial include: Why Creativity Is Not like the Proverbial Typing Monkey. Jonathan W. Schooler, Sonya Dougal, Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 10, No. 4 (1999); and The Case of the Midwife Toad (Arthur Koestler, New York, 1972, page 30): \\\"Neo-Darwinism does indeed carry the nineteenth-century brand of materialism to its extreme limits—to the proverbial monkey at the typewriter, hitting by pure chance on the proper keys to produce a Shakespeare sonnet.\\\" The latter is sourced from [http://www.angelfire.com/in/hypnosonic/Parable_of_the_Monkeys.html Parable of the Monkeys], a collection of historical references to the theorem in various formats.\\n\\nIn The Simpsons episode \\\"Last Exit to Springfield,\\\" Mr. Burns shows Homer \\\"a room with a thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters. Someday one of them will write the great American novel.\\\"\\n\\nIn his 1978 radio play, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams invoked the theorem to illustrate the power of the 'Infinite Improbability Drive' that powered a spaceship. From Episode 2: \\\"Ford\\\", there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out.\\\"\\n\\nA quotation attributed to a 1996 speech by Robert Wilensky stated, \\\"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.\\\"\\n\\nThe enduring, widespread popularity of the theorem was noted in the introduction to a 2001 paper, \\\"Monkeys, Typewriters and Networks: The Internet in the Light of the Theory of Accidental Excellence\\\" (Hoffmann & Hofmann, 2001). In 2002, an article in The Washington Post said, \\\"Plenty of people have had fun with the famous notion that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters and an infinite amount of time could eventually write the works of Shakespeare.\\\"\\n In 2003, the previously mentioned Arts Council funded experiment involving real monkeys and a computer keyboard received widespread press coverage. In 2007, the theorem was listed by Wired magazine in a list of eight classic thought experiments.\",\n \"Make Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners ...\\n... a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter ... will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\\\" ...\\nMake Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners are... | Smashboards\\nMake Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners are...\\n-The Infinite Sakurai Theorem-\\nThe Idea\\n\\\"The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\\\"-Wikipedia\\nNow if we assume that there is an infinite number of alternate universes, that means there's also an infinite number of Sakurais, which means that there's an infinite number of Brawls, which means that every character who has ever existed will somehow make it into Brawl!\\nNow let's bring this totally scientific theorem to its completely illogical conclusion, right?\\n-Make Your Move-\\nThe Thread\\nBrawl is out. By now, you all know the roster. By now, you all know that it lacks something.\\nFor instance, it lacks all the shoe-ins that we defended so much in our spare time!\\nBut, actually, it also lacks some less likely characters as well.\\nIn fact, it shows a remarkable lack of completely obscure characters.\\nIn fact, Brawl would be the best game ever if it had the hero from my favourite cartoon, or the antagonist from that novel I'm writing, or even better, myself!\\nSo thinks the Smash fanatic and giggles to himself.\\nThis thread welcomes all crazy Smash fanatics who like to let their imagination run wild! If you love a certain fictional character, person, animal or inanimate object, and you want to show the world how awesome they'd look in Smash, here's the place to do it.\\nJust show us the character and give them some moves!\\nAny submission with a bit of effort put into it will join the list of current submissions in the appropriate category, with the name and author, a snazzy avatar, and a rating on a three-star-scale, plus a link to the respective post that will allow people browsing the first post to check out what you wrote!\\nAssist Trophy/Secondary Character Section:\\nYou can also enter Assist Trophies, or Secondary Characters, whatever you want to call them!\\nIf you have a character idea that doesn't have as much potential as some of your others, or if you're not willing to put too much effort into a character, here's your section.\\nThis also opens up possibilities for a possible Subspace Emissary plot: Give your character a non-playable boss... or maybe a non-playable ally!\\nAs I said, no limits.\\nCHARACTER IMAGE SHOP:\\nAs a little addition, if you don't have an image of your character, you can ask me to draw one for you. I'm not an extremely good artist, but I get better.\\nAnd that's all you need to know about this part!\\n-Super Smash Boards Brawl-\\nThe Contest\\nThe Super Smash Boards Brawl contest is a contest held within the thread of Make Your Move.\\nWhen the thread was born, the goal was to amass at least enough high-quality submissions to be able to create a mock Brawl character select screen after the image of the true select screen.\\nBy now, the deadline is over, and over 120 characters from all manners of origin have qualified to participate. It's truly amazing to look back at it to see some of the fantastic work people have delivered.\\nOf course, such awesomeness cannot possibly be contained within 35 character slots.\\nThe final Super Smash Boards Brawl character select screen will hold 50 characters!\\nBut that's not all.\\nWith the help of Comrade Canada's flash skills, the select screen will become interactive, to show all the 50 winners in all their splendor.\\nFor a unified style, all winners will be drawn by me.\\nAn announcer will emphatically shout out their names when selected.\\nIt will be awesome.\\nAnd even until that select screen is finally completed, a complete Adventure Mode plot will be written starring the winners and all their related characters.\\nNow, the question is... who will the winners be?\\n-The Voting-\\nThe voting!\\nTo qualify for the contest, characters had to have gained a 3-star rating before the end of the deadline.\\nNow, the rest depends on you. Vote for the ones you deem worthy. Here are the rules:\\nOut of the list of eligible characters, you may choose up to 50 to give normal votes to.\\nYou don't have to make a full list. You can also vote for just a handful of characters who caught your attention if you like. You may also vote for your own submissions.\\nYou can turn a normal vote into a Super Vote with more influence on the final result. The condition is that you have to write a review of at the very least three whole lines for the submission in question. Turning a normal vote into a Super Vote does not give you any more normal votes. In the end, you can only have 50.\\nThe review must contain valid points regarding the quality of the post. \\\"I like the character\\\" is not a valid point. \\\"I like the character and the post has managed to perfectly capture the reason I like him because...\\\" is a valid point.\\nSince you obviously can't review your own submissions, giving yourself a Super Vote is out of the question.\\nIf you chose 50 characters and there are still some submissions that you think deserve some recognition, you may list them as runners-up, which gives them votes with less effect on the final outcome.\\nThe deadline for voting is March 14, the same time the Dojo! updates go up. Until then, no votes are final. You may post to list your current list of votes, give feedback to those you are unsure about, do whatever you like. Until March 14, no votes are counted. Keep checking back here to see whether anyone updated their submissions!\\nAdditionally, please take into account these guidelines:\\nPlease respect Original Creations. While you probably didn't know them before coming to this thread since they were made up by other members of these forums, coming up with an Original Creation takes far more creativity than just grabbing someone from an already existing story and coming up with stuff for them. If you see a potentially interesting OC in the list, go ahead and check them out. Chances are they're more interesting than characters you already knew.\\nVote for quality! It's only natural for you to vote for characters you love. But please take into account that there are authors around here who spent a good few hours working hard on their submissions. Be nice to them.\\nYou are encouraged to give feedback. Giving feedback does not automatically mean you're giving someone a Super Vote. The review rule was introduced to ensure that effort is more important than popularity. Simple feedback serves to give an author the chance to improve, or to simply make them a little bit happier.\\nNow to get to the actual list of characters.\\n-The Index-\\nWhere you'll find all the shiny characters.\\nFirst, let me explain some things about those images.\\nCategories: There are several categories. A character will always have a line inserted in one of the new, big category images. Fact: This is awesome. It allows for all characters to be displayed adequately, thus blasting away all previous boundaries, it allows for casual passers-by to look for what they're interested in in characters, makes the thread prettier and allows for me to update more easily and with less stress, which means more updates. Hooray!\\nStar ratings:\\n3 Stars: Movesets with 3 stars are solid and definitely worthy of a read-through. Submissions with this rating will participate in the final voting.\\n2 Stars: The line is often quite blurry between what is complete and what isn't. 2 star ratings mean that there is still something missing to make the submission complete.\\n1 Star: For very incomplete submissions.\\nNo Star: ...\\n!Exlamation mark!\\nThis sexy little sign denotes characters who are outstanding in some way. Got a backstory the size of a small novel? 5 movesets in one? Is it FUN to read? There are many things that make a submission outstanding.\\nThe exclamation mark has no bearing on the contest, it's just a sort of trophy that draws attention to those who had original ideas or put a special kind of effort into their work. This piece is what all true warriors strive for! If you think you deserve an exclamation mark, go ahead and argue with me, and I'll listen and see what I can do about it. After all, I never claimed to be able to keep track of a hundred small pieces of art.\\nOC\\nThe green OC sign denotes Original Characters, which were created by the writer himself. These deserve a special kind of attention, I believe.\\nAnd now that that's done with, let's get to the good stuff.\\nSECONDARY CHARACTERS: ( to be updated soon )\\nantimatter:\\nTycho & Gabe (Penny Arcade) ( page 20, post 291 )\\nCopperpot:\\nFerver and the 100 Wolf Armada ( page 3, post 36 )\\nGreatClayMonkey:\\nBump! I will update this with mine when I have the time.\\n \\n-Taga-\\nDescription:\\nYes, the very character that Eaode created that you did not know about joins the Brawl!!!\\nTaga is a Bouxrie (Booh-Ree) Dragon, a Bipedal Species of Reptile that has unique attributes such as the ability to speak, a human level intelligence, and the ability to summon electricity at will.\\nStats:\\nTaga is average height compared to the rest of the cast.\\nWeight: **\\nTaga's weight is a little bit below average.\\nSpeed: ****\\nTaga is decently speedy, having a fast running speed and relatively speedy attack execution\\nPower: ***\\nTaga doesn't have too much power, but enough to be able to rack up damages and get kills at around 100%\\nRange: ***\\nTaga has average range on his regular atacks, but gets more range when using electricity.\\nFall Speed: ****\\nTaga falls a bit faster than most characters, increasing his combo ability and his ability to get comboed.\\nAttacks:\\nA: Taga jabs out with his left hand. No knockback.\\nAA: Taga Spins counter-clockwise, hitting opponents with his tail. If A is not pressed again he will stay facing the other direction. Low knockback\\nAAA: Taga completes the spin with a right hook. Has knockback equal to Mario's AAA, and hits enemies up and away.\\nForward Tilt: Taga jumps in the air, spinning clockwise, striking with his tail and kicking immediately after with his right foot. Has decent knockback but a little bit of lag afterward.\\nUp Tilt: Taga quickly thrusts his right fist staright above him while clenching his left in anger.\\nDown Tilt: Taga quickly does a crouching spin and sweeps the ground with his tail. Pops the opponent up in the air with knockback like Roy's Dtilt in Melee.\\nForward Smash: Taga brings his arms back quickly and then thrusts them forward in a kamehameha-like stance, unleashing a small explosion of electricity in his hands kncoking opponents up and away. this move won't kill outright on most characters until about 125% but you can at least knock them off and edgeguard.\\nDown Smash: Taga turns and jerks both his arms at a downward angle toward the ground, releasing small lightning bolts quickly downward with decent knockback. If the lightning does not hit the ground, it will continue downward at it's predetermined angle until it hits something. But it will lose knockback the more distance it covers. This move is great for edgeguarding because it will shoot down off the stage at a 45 degree angle and hit recovering opponents.\\nUp Smash: Taga crouches down and then launches himself into the air doing a barrel roll. He hits the opponents with a double kick and his tail (if the kicks don't connect). The final tail hit only connects if the kicks do not,m and the tail doesn't have as much knockback as the second kick. This move combos well at low percents, and at higher percents if you hit with the tail instead.\\nForward Aerial: Starts out like Mario's Fair in SSB64, Taga spins and kicks with his left foot and then flips and delivers a second kick with his right foot at an upward angle. This move is great for combos because if knocks them upward without to much knockback and has decent stun.\\nUp Aerial: Taga does a backflip and kicks the enemy twice and then lands. The end of this move has an additional hit from his tail in the back that sends people at a slightly downward horizontal angle with weak knockback. The regular part of this move if just like Mario's or Falcon's in that it can continue combos well.\\nNeutral Aerial: Sex Kick with decent knocback.\\nBack Aerial: Taga spins back and extend a kick with good reach. Works like Samus's Bair in Melee but not quite as strong.\\nDown Aerial: Taga lifts up his legs and swipes downward with his tail like Mewtwo's Dair without the flip, and a little faster. This is a meteor smash.\\nSpecials:\\nUp Special: Cloud Strike. A Cloud Zips by Taga's head and he grabs onto it's tail, hanging onto it for a little while before jumping off with a kick forward.\\nDemonstration:\\nNeutral Special: Taga puts his hands together very briefly and summons a ball of electricity in his hand. This acts like an item, he can throw it in any direction with warying degrees of strength. Once he throws it, it will elongated and travel in a straight path (if sent up/down) or in an arc (if thrown to the side). It gives decen damage and a bit of knockback. It can be followed up because it has a little stun like YLink's arrows in Melee.\\nDemonstration:\\nForward Special: Taga reaches one hand out and Summons electromagnetic force to pull distant enemies toward him. Has little lag so it can be followed up by a grab, attack, etc. Does not damage opponent. (this could be great for saving your teammate as well :D)\\nDemonstration:\\nDown Special: Taga summons a huge lightningbolt down from the heavens to strike himself. If the opponent is hit by the bolt above Taga they will receive decent damage but barely any knockback. However, when the Lightning Bolt hits Taga, he will redirect it through his body and out of his hands on both sides of him. This delivers good knockback and damage, and has good range, but is very laggy afterwards.\\nIllustration:\\nGrab: Taga reaches out his right arm and grabs the opponents.\\nGrab Attack: Taga jerks the opponents by their neck while jolting electric current through them.\\nForward Throw: Taga holds the enemy in place and kicks them away, like Link's Fthrow but more powerful.\\nDown Throw: Slams the enemy into the ground and then stomps them, popping them into the air a little bit. Good for starting combos\\nBack Throw: Heaves the opponent into the air behind him and then sends out a Thunderbolt to intercept them, giving additional knockback and damage.\\nUp Throw: Just tosses them up into the air. Can be followed up at lower percents.\\nGet up Attacks:\\n< 100%: Taga pushes himself into a backflip and land on his feet.\\n> 100%: Taga Struggles to get up, and then punches in both directions.\\nLedge attack:\\n< 100%: Taga springs himself up like a gymnast and kicks his enemies out of the way\\n> 100%: Taga gets one le back on the stage, swipes his tail, and gets up.\\nTaunts:\\nUp: Taga raises his head toward the sky and laughs\\nSide: Taga motions with his hands toward the side with a \\\"WTF\\\" motion\\nDown: Taga makes an open hand gesture and says \\\"Of Course.\\\" in a sigh.\\nFINAL SMASH: IONIZATION\\nTaga Takes a powerful stance and stomps onto the ground. Electricty flows through the stage as all solid platforms and sage elements become an electrical hazard. Characters that touch the ground will take 10% damage and be knocked into the air with a bit of stun. Taga is immune to the danger and can roam the stage dealing additional damage to his enemies. This effect lasts for 15 seconds.\\n \\nCloud Strike Is Taga's Up-B :D\\n \\nThis character is entirely made up by me. He's the character I use in the RP I do with my girlfriend.\\nName: Kurai Scaten-Oscuro\\nAge: 20 (although his body was affected by some sort of magic, so he's physically 15)\\nSex: Male\\nPrimary Weapon: Sword\\nWorld Icon:\\nPicture of Kurai Oscuro (picture drawn by the IRL peofun1) His skin is actually a dark blackish color, what with him being of a dark race and all that.\\n\\\"When the Red Shadow has all but consumed the land, a hybrid will come. This hybrid will have a power unlike any other. He shall have a form of a dark angel, and he, with the help of his light, shall bring down the furious thunder unto the Source, and return Nallthen to the age it was once in.\\\"\\nThis is the Prophecy of the Dark Angel. The prophecy speaks of Kurai Oscuro, a boy who was born a hybrid between a normal Nallen woman, and an Elite Nallen. Kurai attempted to save his home planet of Nallthen from a dark substance known as the \\\"Red Shadow\\\" when he was fourteen, but he failed. He was forced to kill the girl he loved, and he fled to an alternate dimension, to a planet called \\\"Earth\\\".\\nKurai saw Earth as a very strange planet. It seemed to mirror Nallthen. The terrain was nearly identical.\\nEarth also seemed to be the opposite of Nallthen. Nallthen, while beautiful in its own right, was very dark and depressing. Earth was a brighter planet.\\nThe process of crossing dimensions seemed to have affected Kurai physically. His body became five years younger. He went from being fourteen to being nine.\\nKurai also had very limited power to alter the minds of humans. Although he couldn't use it much. He was able to alter the minds of a human family to cause them to believe that he was their son. Kurai was known as \\\"Matt\\\" on Earth.\\nBy the time he was physically 14 again, Kurai had fallen in love with a girl on Earth named Christine. Kurai never shared his true identity with Christine.\\nOne day, however, Kurai's most hated enemy, Nerez Scaten, came to Earth from Nallthen in search of him. Kurai and Christine were attacked, and Kurai was forced to reveal his identity in front of Christine.\\nHowever, Christine also had an identity to reveal. She was not human either. She was of a species called \\\"Linck\\\". Lincks were creatures that had different \\\"kinds\\\". Christine was a cat-Linck named peofun1 Akiuri.\\nScaten was not the only danger to them. A witch named Illismerillia had followed peo to this dimension with intentions to torture her, both physically and mentally, and then kill her.\\nThe more Kurai and peo fought alongside each other, the stronger they became, and the stronger their love became. They see each other as motivation to fight their hardest to survive.\\nA day would come when it was finally time to save Nallthen from the Red Shadow. Kurai, peo, peo's twin sister Negi, Kurai's female clone Kalah, and even Illismerillia (who seemed to also be in danger because of the Red Shadow) traveled to Kurai's home planet where they fought Nerez Scaten. Scaten was stabbed through the stomach, and thrown through the window of a building, plummeting to the ground below. It wasn't long until the group found the Source, a dark being that seemed to have created the Red Shadow.They fought the source, and defeated it. But the Red Shadow did not disappear. It was not tied to the Source, it was instead tied to Nerez Scaten, who had somehow survived the earlier battle. Scaten did not fight the entire group. He would only fight Kurai and peo, he formed a barrier keeping everyone else out. It was an intense fight, but Kurai and peo eventually won. Scaten apparantly died, and the Red Shadow disappeared forever.\\nIllismerillia disappeared after the battle, swearing that this partnership was a one time deal, and she still wanted to kill peo, and Kurai.\\npeo and Negi returned to Earth, but Kurai still had things he needed to do. He returned to Earth one month later, with a scar over his left eye, and his left arm replaced with a mechanical one.\\nIllismerillia held up her promise that she would return. She was not especially unkind to Kurai as well as peo. One day, Illismerillia even ***** Kurai and got pregnant. The witch went to another dimension known as \\\"Oblivion\\\". She controlled the passage of time, so she gave birth and raised Kurai's son, Kraken, for twelve years before a week on Earth passed. Once Kraken was twelve years old, Illismerillia sent Kraken to kill Kurai without telling him that he was his father. Kraken eventually learned the truth, and turned on his mother. Kraken then returned to Oblivion, where he slowed time so that time would move faster on Earth.\\nIn time, Kurai would face his path, and learn horrible truths about it. Kurai's own father, Nifun Oscuro, who treated him like crap when he was young and even killed his mother, fell in love with the witch. Illismerillia became pregnant again, but Nifun was soon killed by peo. The witch was not going to let them off easy though. six \\\"years\\\" later, Illismerillia sent her daughter, Karmen, to kill Kraken. Upon learning of his son's death, Kurai hated the witch more than ever before. He also wanted to hate Karmen, but he couldn't, as Kraken's dying wish was for him to \\\"save her, like you saved me\\\". Kurai and peo soon confronted the witch one last time in a final battle to the death. At the end of the battle, Illismerillia revealed a horrible secret that answered many questions about Kurai's past: Nifun was not Kurai's father. Kurai's father was really his most hated enemy; Nerez Scaten.\\nStatistics\\nHe's based off me. And I'm overweight. So I made him a bit heavier.\\n...yeah.\\nOne of the faster characters, but far from the fastest.\\nPower: **\\nKurai relies more on speed than power.\\nRange: ***\\nAAA: Finishes with a stab.\\nForward tilt: A kick\\nUp tilt: Uppercut punch (like Mario's)\\nDown tilt: Spins with his sword facing outright at a downward angle\\nForward Smash: Holds the sword by the top of the hilt, and hits the enemy with the hilt. Doesn't have good range or knockback, but good damage.\\nUp Smash: Holds hand left hand in the air and fires a column of flames into the air.\\nDown Smash: Summons shadows up from the ground around him that damage the enemy.\\nNeutral air: Spins in the air with his sword facing outright\\nForward air: Dives forward with sword facing in front of him. Does strong damage if it hits. Kurai is unable to move until he lands after this attack. (think Falcon's forward B)\\nUp air: A sword slice above him\\nBack air: Turns around and slices with his sword. He stays turned around after this.\\nDown air: Holds sword in front of him and stays like that until he lands (think of how Ike holds his sword while coming down during Aether)\\nGrab: Kurai grabs the enemy with his left hand.\\nGrab attack: Kurai forms a flame with his left hand which burns the enemy\\nForward throw: Lets go of the opponent and quickly fires a Nova beam (see below) at them, knocking them away from him.\\nDown throw: Hits the enemy on the head with his sword, knocking them out of his grip and to the ground.\\nUp throw: A simple throw into the air\\nBack throw: Throws the enemy backwards and fires dark energy at them while they're in the air.\\nSpecial Moves\\nStandard: Nova\\n\\\"Nova\\\" is a beam of green energy. It comes from his palm, and goes straight until it hits something. It has strong knockback, but does little damage.\\nSide: Shadow Sword\\nKurai throws his sword and it spins (if you've played Star Wars Battlefront II, then it spins like when you throw the lightsaber). After it lands on the ground, it sinks into the shadows. It then comes out from the shadows under Kurai's right sleeve and into his right hand.\\nDown: Hypermode\\nBased off of hypermode from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the gauntlet on Kurai's right hand glows red, and he now does double damage and knockback. However, Kurai gains 5% damage for every second Hypermode is active. Hypermode can be disabled the same way it was activated, and that is the only way it's deactivated.\\nUp: Shadow Grab (tether recovery)\\nKurai shoots a shadow from his arm, which grabs the ledge and pulls him up.\\nFinal Smash\\nDark Angel\\nWhen it begins, Kurai grows black angel wings and his eyes turn cyan. Shadows fly from him in one direction towards another player, similar to how Link's FS is activated. Then, using his enhanced speed, he flies to the player trapped in the shadows and grabs them. Kurai then fires several Novas in to the player's stomach. He then throws the other player high into the air, and flies into the air after them and meteor-smashes them into the ground with his sword. He finishes by shooting a fireball out of his left hand at them while they're on the ground. Visually, it would be one of the more impressive Final Smashes in the game.\\nTaunts\\n1. Kurai spins his sword around at his side.\\n2. Kurai shouts \\\"BISHAAN!!\\\"\\n3: Kurai forms a fireball in his left hand, looks at it for a moment, and it disappears.\\nVictory Poses\\n1. Kurai tosses his sword into the air and the hilt hits him on the head, knocking him out.\\n2. Kurai stands in his Dark Angel form, glaring at the camera.\\n3. Kurai licks the blood off of his sword.\\nAssist Trophy:\\npeofun1 Akiuri\\nPicture: Here (drawn by the IRL peofun1) (lol chibi)\\npeofun1 is a Linck from an alternate dimension. When her home was wiped out by the witch, Illismerillia, she came to Earth. peo, as a Linck, has many useful abilities that could be used. But unfortunately, like with most Assist Trophies, she gets the \\\"run in and slash wildly\\\" treatment.\\npeo wields dual blades. She runs in and does devastating damage, but little knockback. She can jump onto platforms to attack enemies. Before she disappears, she licks blood off of her sword.\\n \\nSan Antonio, TX\\nThat's right ladies and gentlemen, Waldo of Where's Waldo book fame joins the brawl! :O *gazes out at the startled and horrified faces*\\nUtilizing mad trickery skills, he annoys and confuses his opponents until they inevitably homerun themselves to escape the voices in their brain!\\nUp Smash - Clone Flipkick - Waldo stuffs his hands into his pockets at the beginning of the move, then when released he pulls them out and performs a majestic flying kick straight upwards, but somehow he's still standing where he was looking as if he's thrown himself into the air. When he lands they conjoin into one person again, but during the move both can be hit to interrupt / cause damage.\\nDown Smash - Book Burst - He holds out a big book and waits until the release where he drops it and drives his heel into the binding, causing a burst of pages on either side of him that cause rapid light hits based on how many pages touch the enemy.\\nForward Smash - Tricky Fists - Leaning back with a fist ready, Waldo appears as though he's going to deck someone directly in front of him. However when he pulls the move off he suddenly pulls the held back arm into his shirt and punches with both hands through the same sleeve.\\nSpecial Moves:\\nUp B - Hat Trick - Tossing his little striped cap into the sky, Waldo magically flies up and reconnects it to his head as if he were a powerful magnet. His enemies are left shaking their cracked and bleeding fists at the sky in hopes that he will fall back to them.\\nSide B - Scroll of Doom - Waldo chunks an indistinct bound scroll in front of him. When an enemy collides with it, a random character from his books will briefly poof into existence long enough to make players cry.\\nDown B - Lost Shoe - The most notorious of all Waldo skills, he not so accidentally drops one of his loafers which can then be stepped upon by a foe, ensnaring their leg and making them walk half as fast as it clunks along.\\nStandard B - Blinding Spectacles - Holding his glasses at just the right angle, Waldo momentarily blinds any opponent directly in front of him, causing them to hold their eyes in distress while he proceeds to cold clock them.\\nFinal Smash: One Versus One Hundred - In an epic move, Waldo plasters the screen in a red and white striped haze as many versions of himself suddenly come running in along the stripes with canes ready to clobber those who would try and find the original!\\nStats:\\nSize - Medium (Extremely thin but almost as tall as Mewtwo.)\\nWeight / Falling - Very Light (Almost appears to drift as he falls from lightness.)\\nSpeed - Medium (Looks like an average human when performing attacks.)\\nReach - Long (Longer than the common fool due to height.)\\nPower - Weak (Has little to back up his swings with.)\\n \\nHoly crap, Eaode. You came prepared, didn't you? That was impressive. o_o\\nDarkurai said: ↑\\n[Kurai Oscuro]\\nClick to expand...\\nAlright, I added yours as well. I gave you a placeholder avatar for now, tell me when you have any better images available!\\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\\nNot in my game you won't!\\n... actually, that's kinda brilliant.\\nI'll add him later. Keeping this thread updated turned out to be more work than expected. ^^;\\n \\nFawriel said: ↑\\nHoly crap, Eaode. You came prepared, didn't you? That was impressive. o_o\\nAlright, I added yours as well. I gave you a placeholder avatar for now, tell me when you have any better images available!\\nNot in my game you won't!\\n... actually, that's kinda brilliant.\\nI'll add him later. Keeping this thread updated turned out to be more work than expected. ^^;\\nClick to expand...\\nHaha, thanks for taking it seriously because the more I thought about it the more I thought \\\"hey... he'd actually kind of work.\\\" Plus I do believe there was one crappy Waldo game for SNES or something.\\nIt was an NES game, and my thread for Waldo got shutdown but at least the dream can live on.\\n \\nThe Eternal Will of the Swarm\\nPremium\\nNNID:\\nPsychoIncarnate\\nI got a character pic, but it would take me a while to think up what exactly his moves would be...\\n \\nCool... a very interesting design. I'll anticipate a moveset!\\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\\nHaha, thanks for taking it seriously because the more I thought about it the more I thought \\\"hey... he'd actually kind of work.\\\" Plus I do believe there was one crappy Waldo game for SNES or something.\\nIt was an NES game, and my thread for Waldo got shutdown but at least the dream can live on.[/QUOTE]\\nHey, I encourage you to be as crazy as you want here. Add some smashes or so and he's a perfectly viable choice.\\nClick to expand...\\nSan Antonio, TX\\nFawriel said: ↑\\nHey, I encourage you to be as crazy as you want here. Add some smashes or so and he's a perfectly viable choice.\\nClick to expand...\\nAlright, I added the regular smash attacks and some basic statistics for him. I truthfully can't think of all the regular moves cause they'd probably just be random punches and kicks, hope it's ok to leave those out.\\n \\nEaode said: ↑\\nFINAL SMASH: IONIZATION\\nTaga Takes a powerful stance and stomps onto the ground. Electricty flows through the stage as all solid platforms and sage elements become an electrical hazard. Characters that touch the ground will take 10% damage and be knocked into the air with a bit of stun. Taga is immune to the danger and can roam the stage dealing additional damage to his enemies. This effect lasts for 15 seconds.\\nClick to expand...\\nI like your entire concept frankly but the Final Smash stood out as being totally awesome. Turning the stage against the enemies without giving Taga any other super power, pretty cool idea. Makes their life hell and lets you laugh... and laugh... and laugh.\\n \\nyep. It finally happened. EDDIE from \\\"Iron Maiden\\\" has joined the Brawl!!!\\nSpecials:\\nB: Guitar Solo\\n-Eddie whips out his guitar and proceeds to shred through a face-melting solo. All within Eddies awesomeness get their faces melted.\\nVB: Eat Brains.\\n-Eddie chomps the brains of the guy in front of him, turning him into a brainless minion of METAL\\n>B: Shoot with a Gun\\n-Eddie whips out his gun from \\\"Ed Hunter\\\" and blows the guy standing far away into a skinless heap\\n^B: Flaming Horns\\n-Eddie flashes the Flaming Horns of the Goat and rises upward, as if lifted by the most excellent music. Anyone caught in his path is impaled and lit in flame with rock and roll.\\nFinal Smash: Iron Maiden in Concert!\\n-Iron Maiden is shown playing in the background of the stage. Eddie is jamming right with them. Everybody who is a slave to the man dies.\\nAll of his other attacks involve brains, spears, and riffs. And beating people with a guitar.\\nEDDIE FOR BRAWL!!!\\nGark430\\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\\nThat's right ladies and gentlemen, Waldo of Where's Waldo book fame joins the brawl! :O *gazes out at the startled and horrified faces*\\nUtilizing mad trickery skills, he annoys and confuses his opponents until they inevitably homerun themselves to escape the voices in their brain!\\nUp Smash - Clone Flipkick - Waldo stuffs his hands into his pockets at the beginning of the move, then when released he pulls them out and performs a majestic flying kick straight upwards, but somehow he's still standing where he was looking as if he's thrown himself into the air. When he lands they conjoin into one person again, but during the move both can be hit to interrupt / cause damage.\\nDown Smash - Book Burst - He holds out a big book and waits until the release where he drops it and drives his heel into the binding, causing a burst of pages on either side of him that cause rapid light hits based on how many pages touch the enemy.\\nForward Smash - Tricky Fists - Leaning back with a fist ready, Waldo appears as though he's going to deck someone directly in front of him. However when he pulls the move off he suddenly pulls the held back arm into his shirt and punches with both hands through the same sleeve.\\nSpecial Moves:\\nUp B - Hat Trick - Tossing his little striped cap into the sky, Waldo magically flies up and reconnects it to his head as if he were a powerful magnet. His enemies are left shaking their cracked and bleeding fists at the sky in hopes that he will fall back to them.\\nSide B - Scroll of Doom - Waldo chunks an indistinct bound scroll in front of him. When an enemy collides with it, a random character from his books will briefly poof into existence long enough to make players cry.\\nDown B - Lost Shoe - The most notorious of all Waldo skills, he not so accidentally drops one of his loafers which can then be stepped upon by a foe, ensnaring their leg and making them walk half as fast as it clunks along.\\nStandard B - Blinding Spectacles - Holding his glasses at just the right angle, Waldo momentarily blinds any opponent directly in front of him, causing them to hold their eyes in distress while he proceeds to cold clock them.\\nFinal Smash: One Versus One Hundred - In an epic move, Waldo plasters the screen in a red and white striped haze as many versions of himself suddenly come running in along the stripes with canes ready to clobber those who would try and find the original!\\nStats:\\nSize - Medium (Extremely thin but almost as tall as Mewtwo.)\\nWeight / Falling - Very Light (Almost appears to drift as he falls from lightness.)\\nSpeed - Medium (Looks like an average human when performing attacks.)\\nReach - Long (Longer than the common fool due to height.)\\nPower - Weak (Has little to back up his swings with.)\\nClick to expand...\\nOh my god, that's worse than Bill nye the Science guy (yes, I saw it on another forum).\\n \\nWarning: Spoilers for Metroid Prime 3 ahead!\\nPhaaze\\nThat's right. Phaaze, the sentient planet from Metroid Prime 3! It enters the roster as the largest and heaviest character in the game!\\nSpecial Moves\\nPhaaze explodes. The match then ends. Everyone dies and the stage is completely obliterated.\\nSide: Leviathan\\nPhaaze sends a Leviathan seed to strike the stage, obliterating the stages and killing everyone.\\nDown: Crush\\nPhaaze crushes the stage, obliterating it and killing everyone.\\nUp: Out of Orbit\\nPhaaze exits the stage and dies.\\nFinal Smash\\nPhazon corrupts all the fighters, killing them.\\n \\noblivion~\\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\\nAlright, I added the regular smash attacks and some basic statistics for him. I truthfully can't think of all the regular moves cause they'd probably just be random punches and kicks, hope it's ok to leave those out.\\nClick to expand...\\nThose are some really imaginative moves. I like them. ^^\\nZ. Hoot said: ↑\\n[Eddie]\\nClick to expand...\\nThe idea is kinda awesome, but the moves.. don't really work. Oh well, I won't be picky for now. =P\\nCommander Blitzkrieg said: ↑\\nOh my god, that's worse than Bill nye the Science guy (yes, I saw it on another forum).\\nClick to expand...\\nIf that idea wasn't so completely idiotic, I'd reject it.\\nThose moves... totally don't work, though. But you knew that. =P\\nAdded everyone, by the way.\\nFor now, the bar is set low for new entries, but once I get more, I'll have to get more critical. Keep 'em coming! *shakes fist*\\n \\nGreat idea, I'll add mine when I think of it.\\n \\nFawriel said: ↑\\nThose are some really imaginative moves. I like them. ^^\\nThe idea is kinda awesome, but the moves.. don't really work. Oh well, I won't be picky for now. =P\\nNo it isn't.\\nIf that idea wasn't so completely idiotic, I'd reject it.\\nThose moves... totally don't work, though. But you knew that. =P\\nAdded everyone, by the way.\\nFor now, the bar is set low for new entries, but once I get more, I'll have to get more critical. Keep 'em coming! *shakes fist*\\nClick to expand...\\nIt was a stupid idea, but Phaaze is alive, so it's technically a character. I couldn't resist.\\nIt's not easy thinking up a moveset for a planet...\\n \\nViewtiful Joe is my character.\\n \\nhttp://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn...images/LenerdnervsurNintendo_143A3/ASSSS1.jpg\\nThis is a movelist/description of the Angry Video Game Nerd, the angriest gamer there is. If you don't know this guy, I can't do him justice, but you may want to consider watching one of his videos, because they're hilarious. A list of his videos, with a couple missing. Lots of profanity. http://www.screwattack.com/AngryNerdMain.html\\nThe Foulest, most perverse, angriest guy known to game-kind storms into brawl to take bad videogame characters by the throat, ending their lives as efficiently as he has some of the older games. Poorly thought out ideas and sub-par gameplay, beware, for he's come prepared, with Power Glove and Zapper!\\nSTATS:\\nPower: 4 The Nerd may not be amazingly strong physically, but his wrath makes up for that.\\nSpeed: 2 He's a Nerd. He's not the fastest of guys, but he can run when he really needs to.\\nWeight: 3 He's average weight, and falls only a little faster than Mario.\\nTraction: 4 He has good shoes, oddly enough. However, it isn't anything really special, and ice will still cause him to slip around.\\nSize: 3.5 He's around Link's height.\\nThe Nerd stands perfectly still in combat, a tribute to the times when characters didn't move from the 8-bit era. He stands perfectly straight, and is walk is merely a straight walk, the leg movements slightly choppy. His dash reduces his height very little, and his legs get reasonably far apart at the apex. As far as dashes go, it lands between Mario and Links, probably just a hair faster than Samus. His run is much more fluent than his walk.\\nHis jumps are roughly average, but he does next to no flips, maximum of one each jump. He doesn't appear at home in the air, his stance less confident appearing than the one on the ground. His duck cuts his height by about half. He crouches on one knee.\\nGROUND MOVES\\nStandard Combo: He quick, weak jab. Not much range, although for an A attack it is decent. There is no second hit, but the lag both on the start-up and after-delay is minimal. He says D amn while using this tech.\\nForward tilt: He uses Simon's Whip, sending it out quickly before taking it back in. This attack is extremely quick, and has good range, but very little damage and knockback, not enough to make a fan-like effect. Primarily used for a tactic to stop other people from charging in. The Whip is brown normally, but there's a 5% chance it'll be a flame whip, which is the same speed, but much more damage and knockback, although not enough to be a cool move. He gives a cry of frustration when he uses this tech.\\nDown tilt: His uses the silver surfer board to jab at his enemies feet. Decent Damage and knockback, but has a second worth of delay after using it where he's vulnerable.\\nUp tilt: He raises his hand slightly and a ghost from ghost busters flies out directly above him for a second. This attack's hitbox is very large, covering his entire upper body for a couple seconds while the ghost appears. However, the ghost does very little damage, unless timed so that they are beneath him while the ghost goes up. In this case it launches them in the air at the end of the attack, and they take weak damage during it. However, the Nerd's lower half is completely vulnerable during the attack. It can be guard canceled half-way through, reducing vulnerability. The trade-off is that if someone is caught in the attack while you do this, they are simply let go. During the full attack, he says: \\\"They might as well have just called it Boo! Haunter house.\\\"\\nForward Smash: Rolling Rock bottle. This is a very fast smash attack, with little start up lag. There's one frame that appears before the charge, and one that appears before the actual attack, meaning this can be a quick smash. He pulls back a Rolling Rock Bottle, and at the charge, lets go. This does a decent damage, although a little sub-par for a Smash, and knocks them into the air, but not far back. Generally considered good for combos. If it is charged for more than a six seconds, Nerd yells @#$%! and has a little wind-up for his swing, which does much more damage and knockback than normal, and is an excellent kill move.\\nDown Smash: He pulls out either Bugs Bunny or Roger Rabbit by the ears, and swings them around on the floor similar to Mario's Forward Throw. At the end of it he doesn't throw them, however, they just disappear. There is a difference between Roger Rabbit and Bugs Bunny. Bugs does more damage, but Roger has more range. He yells the name of whatever character he used.\\nUp Smash: He clenches his fist, and shoots the power glove up when released. It lacks a great amount of range, but does good damage. It also has a bit of delay before he puts his fist down, but during this delay his fist is still a hitbox that does a tiny amount of electric damage and knockback.\\nDash Attack: His pulls out a ghostbusting vacuum, which gives the attack good range, and a large hitbox directly in front of him, but once the attack is down, there is a two second lag, which can be fatal. Pro AVGN players avoid this attack.\\nAIR MOVES\\nNeutral Aerial: Text block. The Nerd freezes in place for a second, while a text block surrounds him, saying something from Castlevania 2, Simon's Quest. It lasts two and a half seconds, and is not cancelable. It does good damage if the person is in the box while it appears but no knockback(one frame) and mediocre damage but a ton of knockback if they hit it after it appears, from the outside. IF someone hits him during this attack it does damage, but the actual attack bestows super armor.\\nUp Aerial: 32X Add on. He holds a 32X for the Sega Genesis up above him, while saying 'another #$^*ing power adapter!' Does stun if it hits, with moderate damage and knockback. It has a disjointed hitbox from the Nerd, and goes out and in quickly as well. All in all, a quick attack for comboing.\\nForward Aerial: He swings the massive Atari 5200 straight down. This is a meteor spike if hit in the right location, at the center of gravity for the 5200. The rest is just mediocre damage and knockback. Also, the lag after the attack is longer than most aerials, and it takes him a couple seconds to right himself. However, this attack is insanely powerful if it hits, on par with the knee.\\nBack Aerial: Nintendo Power! He pulls an issue of Nintendo power and hits the person behind him at fan-speed. This can be repeated as quickly as the fan can, and shares the same basic attributes, except due to the fact it is in mid-air, it is difficult to use it as one normally would the fan. It is a favourite of edge-guarders who dislike the 5200.\\nDown Aerial: ***! He goes down butt first. This attack speeds his decent, forces him in a much more linear direction, nearly straight down, and has no range. However, if they get hit by it, they take quite a bit of damage, and are poisoned, similar to the effect the Lip Stick gives.\\nGRABS\\nHe can uses a NES controller like a hookshot, and uses them to grab. This is different from the /\\\\B he uses, as it actually leads to him grabbing and throwing them. Once he gets them with the controller he reels them in quickly, and grabs them by the neck with his power glove. His attack during this is shooting them with the Zapper.\\nForward Throw: He grabs their head, and shoots them through the stomach with the Zapper, sending them flying away. Decent damage, and a reliable throw, especially near an edge if facing the right way.\\nUp Throw: He throws them somewhat, catching their leg in the air, and spinning, hitting them against the ground twice before shooting them straight into the air with the Zapper.\\nBack Throw: He drops them behind him, and tries to take a dump while their head is right there. This is one, single decent hit with low knockback and damage, but has the same effect as his down aerial.\\nDown Throw: He holds them to the ground, less than an inch away, and then his power glove goes berzerk, vibrating madly doing a lot of hits for 1 damage each before just dropping them. This attack's length is based on two things - how fast you can hit A, and how fast they can escape grabs. They can speed it up, while you slow it down. It automatically ends after they've taken 30 damage, however, and The Nerd takes some as well due to the electricity.\\nSPECIAL MOVES\\nNeutral Special: Lightgun. This attack is a simple shot, which can be aimed by holding B and moving the joystick. It gains some power when charged, but not very much in comparison to other charged attacks. However, he can shoot from straight up to a 70 degree angle, meaning it is good for keeping people at bay, annoying them. It has slow charge time. In midair he shoots it in whatever direction you happen to be pressing, and it cannot be charged.\\nSide Special: He Shouts a loud, obnoxious swearword that does damage but no knockback to all within a small radius of him. This attack has a second of delay and start up, but is good to punish people with attacks like that of their own, as it does a fair bit of damage quickly.\\nUp Special: He throws a NES controller in the air, which goes in a wide arc, while he keeps the chord. If it grabs a ledge or person, it wraps around them and he jumps next to them. This attack does little damage to the person, and also pulls them into the Nerd's direction. They can still move about freely during this period, but the Nerd can speed or slow his approach by using A and B, A making him get there in an instant, and B stopping him. This can lead to a mindgame of it's own, because the Nerd can use aerial attacks after using this.\\nDown Special: He pulls out a game he's reviewed, and can throw it as an item, each one doing different damage and a special effect. Friday the 13 does no damage, but good knockback. Silver Surfer flies in a perfectly straight line, and never falls, but does little damage and knockback. Top Gun explodes. Bart Simpson Games do poison damage, Ghostbusters hit them in the opposite direction of whatever way they were supposed to go normally, and the rarest and most fiendish one of all, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde do no knockback, but 50 damage. It is extremely rare, however.\\nTaunts:\\n1 Turns to the screen, and pretends to shoot as his fingers on the power glove until only the middle finger remains.\\n2 He looks directly at the screen and says 'You and your friends are Dead. Game Over. '\\n3 Takes out a Roland Rock and takes a drink.\\nEntrance: The tangled mess of wires as big as bowser burst into pieces, as the Nerd emerges from the ooze, a stream of swearwords emerging from his mouth as the wires fall to the side and he stands up, prepared for another battle!\\nAlt. Costumes:\\nNormal Nerd: He wears a white, short-sleeved dress shirt, has brown hair with normal glasses, and brown pants.\\n'Emo' Nerd: He wears a black short-sleeved dress shirt, has black hair with thick glasses, is much paler than usual, and has black dress pants.\\n'Sega' Nerd: He wears a blue, short-sleeved dress shirt with white arms, has blond-ish hair, and normal glasses. Has black pants.\\n'Nintendo' Nerd: He wears a red, short-sleeved dress shirt with white arms, has brown hair with normal glasses, and gray pants.\\n'Legend of Zelda' Nerd: He wears an emerald green short-sleeved dress shirt, with dark-green pants. His hair is slightly lighter.\\n'Mario' Nerd: He wears a red short-sleeved dress shirt, and blue pants. He has slightly darker hair with this one.\\nFINAL SMASH: TOP GUN\\nThis cruel technique summons a word box at the bottom of the screen. If anyone besides the Nerd touches this, they take good damage. The Nerd can stand on it as he wishes. In the box, commands appear. All other characters must comply with this, and every frame they don't they take 3% damage. The command changes every second, and they can do whatever else they want so long as they did the command once. This lasts for 10 seconds before disappearing, and the commands are random. The AV Nerd is free to do whatever he wants during this period. The possible commands are: Up! Down! Left! Right! A! B! Taunt! Shield! Up, down left and right can be dealt with the C-Stick, Joystick, or D-pad.\\nItem Moves: While the Angry Videogame Nerd holds a baseball bat, beam-sword, or anything of the sort, his movelist changes slightly. Below are all the changes.\\nStandard Combo: He swings in a small arc relatively close to him. It doesn't do much damage or potential knockback, nor does it have range. It is faster than his normal A, however, although it has worse delay after the attack.\\nForward Smash: He charges by holding the Rolling Rock Bottle as usual, but when it hits, they stay where they are, and he brings the other weapon up to send them straight in the air doing moderate damage. The second hit only sends them flying if they're hit by the first attack, otherwise it does weak damage and knockback. It has a slower start-up time than his original smash.\\nDash Attack: He swings vertically, with an attack that, although slow both starting and ending, has impressive range and disjointed hit-box, making it a useful attack when you get an item. It also does fairly good damage, and is unusually good for a dash attack with a weapon.\\nStage: Castlevania 2, Simon's Quest\\nhttp://sydlexia.com/imagesandstuff/nes100/castlevania2.png\\nThis? What is this? This is a screen shot from the very first videogame The Angry Video Game Nerd ever reviewed, Castlevania 2. In many ways, it was the grounds where he learned how to be an Angry Video Game Nerd. He returns there now to kick the *** of anyone who dares challenge him!\\nThis is a medium sized walk-off level. The wall at the top right corner of the screen is not there, and that platform is raised, as well as the ones which the stairs go to, although not very much. The stairs themselves are just decoration. During the level, Simon Belmont occasionally appears on the right hand side underneath the platform, on the raised ledge. He throws knives, axes, and occasionally just uses a flaming whip. He cannot be destroyed, and stays for 15-20 seconds before retreating back off stage.\\nSound: The choice for his music is clear: The AVGN theme that plays at the start of most of his episodes. However, it isn't exactly conductive to battling on it's own. However, the Spiderman episode has a good instrumental version. Therefor, his Brawl music is simple: that style of the complete version, viewable in Sega CD, with the lyrics there, but reduced to increase the guitar, and a slight increase in the tempo to make the perfect music to fight to!\\n \\n3. Big + Heavy = easier to combo\\n4. Low floatiness makes aerial combos hard to do.\\n5. Bad throws\\nEntrance: Falls down from the top of the screen\\nJab: A punch followed by a scimitar swing\\n5%/8%\\nDash Attack: A lunging knee attack\\n13%\\nFtilt: A short ranged, weak punch. Setup for F-Smash\\n7%\\nUtilt: A weak uppercut. Setup for U-Smash\\n7%\\nDtilt: His most powerful tilt. A downwards jab of the sword.\\n12%\\nF-Smash: The Kick. Y'know, THE kick.\\n19% (sweetspot at heel does 25%) Full charge = 23%/25%\\nU-Smash: Leonidas jumps into a powerful uppercut. And, by powerful, I mean you don't want to get hit by it. Srsly.\\n25%, Full charge = 30%\\nD-Smash: The two sided sword swipe that all human swordsmen have.\\n12%/17%; Full charge = 15%/20%\\nNair: A sex kick\\nFair: A sword slash with forwards momentum. Can be used in recoveries.\\n15% (no sweetspot)\\nBair: Leonidas jabs backwards with his sword.\\n11% normal, 17% tipped\\nUair: Mid-air uppercut\\n11%\\nDair: Leonidas curls up into a ball and does to strong punch downwards. Meteor smash and most powerful aerial move, however its lag prevents it from being overused.\\n22%\\nGrab jab: A punch to the face\\n7%\\nFthrow: Tossing the opponent forwards. F-Smash setup\\n7%\\nBthrow: Throwing the opponent backwards into a sword slash\\n13%\\nUthrow: Tossing the opponent up followed by a strong uppercut\\n15%\\nDthrow: Throwing the opponent into the ground and jabbing them with the sword\\n10%\\nGet-up Attack: Punches both sides.\\n7% each\\nLedge Attack (<100%): A weak sword swing. Avoid using it.\\n2%\\nLedge Attack (100%+): Leonidas PUUUUUNCH. Do use this move.\\n15%\\nJabs his sword forward and poses. This move effectively has two hitboxes.\\nThe first one is the actual sword which does some damage and medium knockback.\\nThe second one is a small area beyond the sword's edge. If the oppnent is in that hitbox, they stop moving and any attack they were going to do is canceled.\\nHas just enough lag so that it's not spammable, but not so much that it's unusable.\\n5%\\n>B: Epic Spear Throw\\nIf I have to explain this, you didn't watch 300. It also does massive damage to shields and has good priority.\\n10%\\n^B: \\\"THIS IS SPARTA!!!!\\\"\\nYells \\\"THIS IS SPARTA!!!!\\\" downward. The sheer force propels him upwards and knocks anyone under him downwards. No damage.\\nVB: Fighting in the Shade\\nLeonidas cloaks himself with darkness to avoid attacks. Length of time the cloak lasts depends on time of day. You are also immobile when cloaked, so using >B is the best way to get opponents away from you.\\nDon't let your opponent get behind you.\\nFS: 300\\nSummons his 299 comrades, who swarm the stage and attack everyone.\\nTaunts:\\n1. Beats his sword against his shield thrice\\n2. Does the pose in the above pic.\\n3. Looks up at the sky\\nVictory Poses\\n2. Drops his shield and sword, and looks directly at the players\\n3. Jabs the spear in the ground, crosses his arms, and glares\\nCombos:\\nUtilt -> Usmash -> Nair -> Dash attack\\nPseudo-Ken Combo\\nLeonidas also has an alt. costume...\\nStage: Thermopylae Pass\\nHazards: A walk-off edge on the right side\\nStage Music\\nFrom the 300 Soundtrack: To Victory, The Hot Gates, Fight In The Shade, Immortals Battle, Fever Dream, Glory\",\n \"Travis' Security Concepts - www.subspacefield.org\\nI am comfortable with certain derivative works, such as translation ... programs” an absurd amount of the time; ... for binding text and tests to a name. ...\\nSecurity Concepts\\nSecurity Concepts\\ntravis+security@subspacefield.org\\nAbstract\\nThis is an online book about computer, network, technical, physical, information and cryptographic security. It is a labor of love, incomplete until the day I am finished.\\nTable of Contents\\n1 Metadata\\nThe books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.\\n-- Theodore Parker\\n1.1 Copyright and Distribution Control\\nKindly link a person to it instead of redistributing it, so that people may always receive the latest version. However, even an outdated copy is better than none. The PDF version is preferred and more likely to render properly (especially graphics and special mathematical characters), but the HTML version is simply too convenient to not have it available. The latest version is always here:\\nhttp://www.subspacefield.org/security/security_concepts.html\\nThis is a copyrighted work, with some rights reserved. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . This means you may redistribute it for non-commercial purposes, and that you must attribute me properly (without suggesting I endorse your work). For attribution, please include a prominent link back to this original work and some text describing the changes. I am comfortable with certain derivative works, such as translation into other languages, but not sure about others, so have yet not explicitly granted permission for all derivative uses. If you have any questions, please email me and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you.\\n1.2 Goals\\nI wrote this paper to try and examine the typical problems in computer security and related areas, and attempt to extract from them principles for defending systems. To this end I attempt to synthesize various fields of knowledge, including computer security, network security, cryptology, and intelligence. I also attempt to extract the principles and implicit assumptions behind cryptography and the protection of classified information, as obtained through reverse-engineering (that is, informed speculation based on existing regulations and stuff I read in books), where they are relevant to technological security.\\n1.3 Audience\\nWhen I picture a perfect reader, I always picture a monster of courage and curiosity, also something supple, cunning, cautious, a born adventurer and discoverer.\\n-- Friedreich Nietzsche\\nThis is not intended to be an introductory text, although a beginner could gain something from it. The reason behind this is that beginners think in terms of tactics, rather than strategy, and of details rather than generalities. There are many fine books on computer and network security tactics (and many more not-so-fine books), and tactics change quickly, and being unpaid for this work, I am a lazy author. The reason why even a beginner may gain from it is that I have attempted to extract abstract concepts and strategies which are not necessarily tied to computer security. And I have attempted to illustrate the points with interesting and entertaining examples and would love to have more, so if you can think of an example for one of my points, please send it to me!\\nI’m writing this for you, noble reader, so your comments are very welcome; you will be helping me make this better for every future reader. If you send a contribution or comment, you’ll save me a lot of work if you tell me whether you wish to be mentioned in the credits (see 39↓ ) or not; I want to respect the privacy of anonymous contributors. If you’re concerned that would be presumptuous, don’t be; I consider it considerate of you to save me an email exchange. Security bloggers will find plenty of fodder by looking for new URLs added to this page, and I encourage you to do it, since I simply don’t have time to comment on everything I link to. If you link to this paper from your blog entry, all the better.\\n1.4 About This Work\\nI have started this book with some terminology as a way to frame the discussion. Then I get into the details of the technology. Since this is adequately explained in other works, these sections are somewhat lean and may merely be a list of links. Then I get into my primary contribution, which is the fundamental principles of security which I have extracted from the technological details. Afterwards, I summarize some common arguments that one sees among security people, and I finish up with some of my personal observations and opinions.\\n1.5 On the HTML Version\\nSince this document is constantly being revised, I suggest that you start with the table of contents and click on the subject headings so that you can see which ones you have read already. If I add a section, it will show up as unread. By the time it has expired from your browser’s history, it is probably time to re-read it anyway, since the contents have probably been updated.\\nSee the end of this page for the date it was generated (which is also the last update time). I currently update this about once every two weeks.\\nSome equations may fail to render in HTML. Thus, you may wish to view the PDF version instead.\\n1.6 About Writing This\\nPart of the challenge with writing about this topic is that we are always learning and it never seems to settle down, nor does one ever seem to get a sense of completion. I consider it more permanent and organized than a blog, more up-to-date than a book, and more comprehensive and self-contained than most web pages. I know it’s uneven; in some areas it’s just a heading with a paragraph, or a few links, in other places it can be as smoothly written as a book. I thought about breaking it up into multiple documents, so I could release each with much more fanfare, but that’s just not the way I write, and it makes it difficult to do as much cross-linking as I’d like.\\nThis is to my knowledge the first attempt to publish a computer security book on the web before printing it, so I have no idea if it will even be possible to print it commercially. That’s okay; I’m not writing for money. I’d like for the Internet to be the public library of the 21 st century, and this is my first significant donation to the collection. I am reminded of the advice of a staffer in the computer science department, who said, “do what you love, and the money will take care of itself”.\\nThat having been said, if you wanted towards the effort, you can help me defray the costs of maintaining a server and such by visiting our donation page . If you would like to donate but cannot, you may wait until such a time as you can afford to, and then give something away (i.e. pay it forward).\\n1.7 Tools Used To Create This Book\\nI use LyX , but I’m still a bit of a novice. I have a love/hate relationship with it and the underlying typesetting language LaTeX .\\n2 Security Properties\\nWhat do we mean by secure? When I say secure, I mean that an adversary can’t make the system do something that its owner (or designer, or administrator, or even user) did not intend. Often this involves a violation of a general security property. Some security properties include:\\nconfidentiality refers to whether the information in question is disclosed or remains private.\\nintegrity refers to whether the systems (or data) remain uncorrupted. The opposite of this is malleability, where it is possible to change data without detection, and believe it or not, sometimes this is a desirable security property.\\navailability is whether the system is available when you need it or not.\\nconsistency is whether the system behaves the same each time you use it.\\nauditability is whether the system keeps good records of what has happened so it can be investigated later. Direct-record electronic voting machines (with no paper trail) are unauditable.\\ncontrol is whether the system obeys only the authorized users or not.\\nauthentication is whether the system can properly identify users. Sometimes, it is desirable that the system cannot do so, in which case it is anonymous or pseudonymous.\\nnon-repudiation is a relatively obscure term meaning that if you take an action, you won’t be able to deny it later. Sometimes, you want the opposite, in which case you want repudiability (“plausible deniability”).\\nPlease forgive the slight difference in the way they are named; while English is partly to blame, these properties are not entirely parallel. For example, confidentiality refers to information (or inferences drawn on such) just as program refers to an executable stored on the disk, whereas control implies an active system just as process refers to a running program (as they say, “a process is a program in motion”). Also, you can compromise my data confidentiality with a completely passive attack such as reading my backup tapes, whereas controlling my system is inherently detectable since it involves interacting with it in some way.\\n2.1 Information Security is a PAIN\\nYou can remember the security properties of information as PAIN; Privacy, Authenticity, Integrity, Non-repudiation.\\n2.2 Parkerian Hexad\\nThere is something similar known as the “Parkerian Hexad”, defined by Donn B. Parker, which is six fundamental, atomic, non-overlapping attributes of information that are protected by information security measures:\\nconfidentiality\\n2.4 Security Equivalency\\nI consider two objects to be security equivalent if they are identical with respect to the security properties under discussion; for precision, I may refer to confidentiality-equivalent pieces of information if the sets of parties to which they may be disclosed (without violating security) are exactly the same (and conversely, so are the sets of parties to which they may not be disclosed). In this case, I’m discussing objects which, if treated improperly, could lead to a compromise of the security goal of confidentiality. Or I could say that two cryptosystems are confidentiality-equivalent, in which case the objects help achieve the security goal. To be perverse, these last two examples could be combined; if the information in the first example was actually the keys for the cryptosystem in the second example, then disclosure of the first could impact the confidentiality of the keys and thus the confidentiality of anything handled by the cryptosystems. Alternately, I could refer to access-control equivalence between two firewall implementations; in this case, I am discussing objects which implement a security mechanism which helps us achieve the security goal, such as confidentiality of something.\\nThere is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.\\n-- General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)\\nThese are important concepts which appear to apply across multiple security domains.\\n4.1 The Classification Problem\\nMany times in security you wish to distinguish between classes of data. This occurs in firewalls, where you want to allow certain traffic but not all, and in intrusion detection where you want to allow benign traffic but not allow malicious traffic, and in operating system security, we wish to allow the user to run their programs but not malware (see 16.7↓ ). In doing so, we run into a number of limitations in various domains that deserve mention together.\\n4.1.1 Classification Errors\\nFalse Positives vs. False Negatives, also called Type I and Type II errors. Discuss equal error rate (EER) and its use in biometrics.\\nA more sophisticated measure is its Receiver Operating Characteristic curve, see:\\nInformation Awareness: A Prospective Technical Assessment\\n4.1.2 The Base-Rate Fallacy\\nIn The Base Rate Fallacy and its Implications for Intrusion Detection , the author essentially points out that there’s a lot of benign traffic for every attack, and so even a small chance of a false positive will quickly overwhelm any true positives. Put another way, if one out of every 10,001 connections is malicious, and the test has a 1% false positive error rate, then for every 1 real malicious connection there 10,000 benign connections, and hence 100 false positives.\\n4.1.3 Test Efficiency\\nIn other cases, you are perfectly capable of performing an accurate test, but not on all the traffic. You may want to apply a cheap test with some errors on one side before applying a second, more expensive test on the side with errors to weed them out. In medicine, this is done with a “screening” test which has low false negatives, and then having concentrated the high risk population, you now diagnose with a more complex procedure with a low false positive rate because you’re now diagnosing a high-prevalence population. This is done in BSD Unix with packet capturing via tcpdump, which uploads a coarse filter into the kernel, and then applies a more expensive but finer-grained test in userland which only operates on the packets which pass the first test.\\n4.1.4 Incompletely-Defined Sets\\nAs far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.\\n-- Albert Einstein\\nStop for a moment and think about the difficulty of trying to list all the undesirable things that your computer shouldn’t do. If you find yourself finished, then ask yourself; did you include that it shouldn’t attack other computers? Did you include that it shouldn’t transfer $1000 to a mafia-run web site when you really intended to transfer $100 to your mother? Did you include that it shouldn’t send spam to your address book? The list goes on and on.\\nThus, if we had a complete list of everything that was bad, we’d block it and never have to worry about it again. However, often we either don’t know, or the set is infinite.\\nIn some cases, it may be possible to define a list of good things (see 34.1↓ ); for example, the list of programs you might need to use in your job may be small, and so they could be enumerated. However, it is easy to imagine where whitelisting would be impossible; for example, it would be impractical to enumerate all the possible “good” network packets, because there’s just so many of them.\\nIt is probably true that computer security is interesting because it is open-ended; we simply don’t know ahead of time whether something is good or bad.\\n4.1.5 The Guessing Hazard\\nSo often we can’t enumerate all the things we would want to do, nor all the things that we would not want to do. Because of this, intrusion detection systems (see 16↓ ) often simply guess; they try to detect attacks unknown to them by looking for features that are likely to be present in exploits but not in normal traffic. At the current moment, you can find out if your traffic is passing through an IPS by trying to send a long string of 0x90 octets (x86 NOPs) in a session. This isn’t malicious by itself, but is a common letter with which people pad exploits (see 24.6↓ ). In this case, it’s a great example of a false positive, or collateral damage, generated through guilt-by-association; there’s nothing inherently bad about NOPs, it’s just that exploit writers use them a lot, and IPS vendors decided that made them suspicious. I’m not a big fan of these because I feel that it breaks functionality that doesn’t threaten the system, and that it could be used as evidence of malfeasance against someone by someone who doesn’t really understand the technology. I’m already irritated by the false-positives or excessive warnings about security tools from anti-virus software; it seems to alert to “potentially-unwanted programs” an absurd amount of the time; most novices don’t understand that the anti-virus software reads the disk even though I’m not running the programs, and that you have nothing to fear if you don’t run the programs. I fear that one day my Internet Service Provider will start filtering them out of my email or network streams, but fortunately they just don’t care that much.\\n4.2 Security Layers\\nI like to think of security as a hierarchy. At the base, you have physical security. On top of that is OS security, and on top of that is application security, and on top of that, network security. The width of each layer of the hierarchy can be thought of as the level of security assurance, so that it forms a pyramid.\\nYou may have an unbeatable firewall, but if your OS doesn’t require a password and your adversary has physical access to the system, you lose. So each layer of the pyramid can not be more secure (in an absolute sense) as the layer below it. Ideally, each layer should be available to fewer adversaries than the layer above it, so that one has a sort of balance or risk equivalency.\\nnetwork security\\nhardware security\\nphysical security\\nIn network security, we concern ourselves with nodes in networks (that is, individual computers), and do not distinguish between users of each system. In some sense, we are assigning rights to computers and not people. We are defining which computers may talk to which other computers, or perhaps even to which applications. This is often justified since it is usually easier to leverage one user’s access to gain another’s within the same system than to gain access to another system (but this is not a truism).\\nIn application or database security, we are concerned about how software applications handle security. For example, most databases have notions of users, and one may allow certain users to access certain databases, tables, or rows and not others. It is assumed that the adversary is one of the users of the system, and the discussion centers around what that user can or cannot do within the application, assuming that the user cannot\\nIn operating system security, we distinguish between users of the system, and perhaps the roles they are fulfilling, and only concern ourselves with activities within that computer. It is assumed that the adversary has some access, but less than full privileges on the system.\\nHardware security receives little discussion in security circles, but as processors and chipsets get more complex, there are more vulnerabilities being found within them. In hardware security, we assume that the adversary has root-level access on the system, and discuss what that enables the adversary to do.\\nWhen we discuss physical security, we assume that the adversary may physically approach the campus, building, room, or computer. We tend to create concentric security zones around the system, and try to keep adversaries as far away from it as possible. This is because if an adversary gains physical, unmonitored access to the computer system, it is virtually impossible to maintain the security of the system. This kind of discussion is particularly interesting to designers of tamper-resistant systems, such as digital satellite TV receivers.\\nHere’s a taxonomy of some commonly-useful privilege levels.\\nAnonymous, remote systems\\nKernel (privileged mode, ring 0)\\nHardware (TPM, ring -1, hypervisors, trojaned hardware)\\nActual systems may vary, levels may not be strictly hierarchical, etc. Basically the higher the privilege level you get, the harder you can be to detect. The gateways between the levels are access control devices, analogous with firewalls.\\n4.4 What is a Vulnerability?\\nNow that you know what a security property is, what constitutes (or should constitute) a vulnerability? On the arguable end of the scale we have “loss of availability”, or susceptibility to denial of service (DoS). On the inarguable end of the scale, we have “loss of control”, which usually arbitrary code execution, which often means that the adversary can do whatever he wants with the system, and therefore can violate any other security property.\\nIn an ideal world, every piece of software would state its assumptions about its environment, and then state the security properties it attempts to guarantee; this would be a security policy. Any violation of these explicitly-stated security properties would then be a vulnerability, and any other security properties would simply be “outside the design goals”. However, I only know of one piece of commonly-available software which does this, and that’s OpenSSL ( http://oss-institute.org/FIPS_733/SecurityPolicy-1.1.1_733.pdf ).\\nA vulnerability is a hole or a weakness in the application, which can be a design flaw or an implementation bug, that allows an attacker to cause harm to the stakeholders of an application. Stakeholders include the application owner, application users, and other entities that rely on the application. The term “vulnerability” is often used very loosely. However, here we need to distinguish threats, attacks, and countermeasures.\\n-- OWASP Vulnerabilities Category ( http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:Vulnerability )\\nVulnerabilities can be divided roughly into two categories, implementation bugs and design flaws. Gary McGraw ( http://www.cigital.com/~gem/ ), the host of the Silver Bullet Security Podcast ( http://www.cigital.com/silverbullet/ ), reports that the vulnerabilities he finds are split into these two categories roughly evenly.\\n4.5 Vulnerability Databases\\n4.5.1 National Vulnerability Database\\nNVD is the U.S. government repository of standards based vulnerability management data represented using the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). This data enables automation of vulnerability management, security measurement, and compliance. NVD includes databases of security checklists, security related software flaws, misconfigurations, product names, and impact metrics.\\n-- NVD Home Page\\nNational Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ )\\n4.5.2 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures\\nInternational in scope and free for public use, CVE is a dictionary of publicly known information security vulnerabilities and exposures.\\nCVE’s common identifiers enable data exchange between security products and provide a baseline index point for evaluating coverage of tools and services.\\n-- CVE Home Page\\nCommon Vulnerabilities and Exposures ( http://cve.mitre.org/ )\\n4.5.3 Common Weakness Enumeration\\nThe Common Weakness Enumeration Specification (CWE) provides a common language of discourse for discussing, finding and dealing with the causes of software security vulnerabilities as they are found in code, design, or system architecture. Each individual CWE represents a single vulnerability type. CWE is currently maintained by the MITRE Corporation with support from the National Cyber Security Division (DHS). A detailed CWE list is currently available at the MITRE website; this list provides a detailed definition for each individual CWE.\\n-- CWE Home Page\\nCommon Weakness Enumeration ( http://cwe.mitre.org/ )\\n4.5.4 Open Source Vulnerability Database\\nOSVDB is an independent and open source database created by and for the community. Our goal is to provide accurate, detailed, current, and unbiased technical information.\\n-- OSVDB Home Page\\nThe Open Source Vulnerability Database ( http://osvdb.org/ )\\n4.6 Accuracy Limitations in Making Decisions That Impact Security\\nOn two occasions I have been asked, “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?” In one case a member of the Upper, and in the other a member of the Lower, House put this question. I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.\\n-- Charles Babbage\\nThis is sometimes called the GIGO rule (Garbage In, Garbage Out). Stated this way, this seems self-evident. However, you should realize that this applies to systems as well as programs. For example, if your system depends on DNS to locate a host, then the correctness of your system’s operation depends on DNS. Whether or not this is exploitable (beyond a simple denial of service) depends a great deal on the details of the procedures. This is a parallel to the question of whether it is possible to exploit a program via an unsanitized input.\\nYou can never be more accurate than the data you used for your input. Try to be neither precisely inaccurate, nor imprecisely accurate. Learn to use footnotes.\\n4.7 Rice’s Theorem\\nThis appears to relate to the undecidability of certain problems related to arbitrary programs, of certain issues related to program correctness, and has important consequences like “no modern general-purpose computer can solve the general problem of determining whether or not a program is virus free”. A friend pointed out to me that the entire anti-virus industry depends on the public not realizing that this is proven to be an unsolvable (not just a difficult) problem. The anti-virus industry, when it attempts to generate signatures or “enumerate badness” (see 34.1↓ ), is playing a constant game of catch-up, usually a step or two behind their adversaries.\\nUnfortunately, really understanding and (even moreso) explaining decidability problems requires a lot of thinking, and I’m not quite up to the task at the moment, so I’ll punt.\\nWikipedia article on Rice’s Theorem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice%27s_theorem )\\n5 Economics of Security\\n5.1 How Expensive are Security Failures?\\nHere are some of the examples I could dig up.\\n5.1.1 TJ Maxx\\nTJ Maxx was using WEP at their stores and suffered a major loss of data, and large fines:\\n5.1.5 Egghead Software\\nEgghead was hurt by a December 2000 revelation that hackers had accessed its systems and potentially compromised customer credit card data. The company filed for bankruptcy in August 2001. After a deal to sell the company to Fry’s Electronics for $10 million fell through, its assets were acquired by Amazon.com for $6.1 million.\\n…\\nIn December 2000, the company’s IIS-based servers were compromised, potentially releasing credit card data of over 3.6 million people. In addition to poor timing near the Christmas season, the handling of the breach by publicly denying that there was a problem, then notifying Visa, who in turn notified banks, who notified consumers, caused the breach to escalate into a full blown scandal.\\n-- Wikipedia\\nhttp://securityblog.verizonbusiness.com/2009/04/15/2009-dbir/\\n5.2 Abuse Detection and Response: A Cost-Benefit Perspective\\nAs I mentioned earlier, abuse detection is a kind of classification problem (see 4.1↑ ), which will forever be an imprecise science.\\nIn general, you want to balance the costs of false positives and false negatives. If we assume “rate” means “per unit of time”, or “per number of interactions with the outside world”, then the equation would be:\\nfprate*fpcost = fnrate*fncost\\nNote that the definitions are very important to the equation! The ratio of abuse or intrusion attempts to legitimate traffic is usually rather low, and so naively substituting “the chance of failing to recognize a valid abuse attempt” as the fprate above will give an incorrect result. This is related to the base-rate fallacy described above (see 4.1.2↑ ). What you probably want then is to define the abuse ratio (abrat) as the number of abuse attempts per incoming requests, and you get:\\nfprate = abrat*fpchance\\nfnrate = (1 − abrat)*fnchance\\nThus, if we wish to avoid the term “rate” as being misleading, then the equation should really be:\\nabrat*fpchance*fpcost = (1 − abrat)*fnchance*fncost\\nAbuse detection (see 16↓ ) is all about the failure chances (and thus, rates as defined above). Abuse response choices (see 17↓ ) determine the cost. For example, anomaly detection will give a higher false positive rate (and lower false negative rate) than misuse detection (see 16.2↓ ).\\nIf your response to abuse causes an alert (see 17.1↓ ) to be generated, and a human must investigate it, then the false positive cost will be high, so you might want to (for example) do some further validation of the detection event to lower the false positive rate. For example, if your IDS detected a Win32 attack against a Linux system, you might want to avoid generating an alert.\\nOn the other hand, if you can cheaply block an abuser, and suffer no ill effects from doing so even if it was a false positive, then you can take a liberal definition of what you consider abusive. To use the above example, one might wish to taint the source (see 17.2.2↓ ) and shun him, even if the Win32 attack he launched could not have worked against the Linux box.\\nIntrusion detection is merely a subset of abuse detection, since an intrusion is only one kind of abuse of a system.\\n6 Adversary Modeling\\nIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.\\nIf you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.\\nIf you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.\\n-- Sun Tzu, The Art of War ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War )\\nAfter deciding what you need to protect (your assets), you need to know about the threats you wish to protect it against, or the adversaries (sometimes called threat agents) which may threaten it. Generally intelligence units have threat shops, where they monitor and keep track of the people who may threaten their operations. This is natural, since it is easier to get an idea of who will try and do something than how some unspecified person may try to do it, and can help by hardening systems in enemy territory more than those in safer areas, leading to more efficient use of resources. I shall call this adversary modeling.\\nIn adversary modeling, the implicit assumptions are that you have a limited budget and the number of threats is so large that you cannot defend against all of them. So you now need to decide where to allocate your resources. Part of this involves trying to figure out who your adversaries are and what their capabilities and intentions are, and thus how much to worry about particular domains of knowledge or technology. You don’t have to know their name, location and social security number; it can be as simple as “some high school student on the Internet somewhere who doesn’t like us”, “a disgruntled employee” (as opposed to a gruntled employee), or “some sexually frustrated script-kiddie on IRC who doesn’t like the fact that he is a jerk who enjoys abusing people and therefore his only friends are other dysfunctional jerks like him”. People in charge of doing attacker-centric threat modeling must understand their adversaries and be willing to take chances by allocating resources against an adversary which hasn’t actually attacked them yet, or else they will always be defending against yesterday’s adversary, and get caught flat-footed by a new one.\\n6.1 Common Psychological Errors\\nThe excellent but poorly titled [A] [A] Stumbling on Happiness is actually a book of psychological illusions, ways that our mind tends to trick us, and not a self-help book. book Stumbling on Happiness tells us that we make two common kinds of errors when reasoning about other humans:\\nOverly different; if you looked at grapes all day, you’d know a hundred different kinds, and naturally think them very different. But they all squish when you step on them, they are all fruits and frankly, not terribly different at all. So too we are conditioned to see people as different because the things that matter most to us, like finding an appropriate mate or trusting people, cannot be discerned with questions like “do you like breathing?”. An interesting experiment showed that a description of how they felt by people who had gone through a process is more accurate in predicting how a person will feel after the process than a description of the process itself. Put another way, people assume that the experience of others is too dependent on the minor differences between humans that we mentally exaggerate.\\nOverly similar; people assume that others are motivated by the same things they are motivated by; we project onto them a reflection of our self. If a financier or accountant has ever climbed mount Everest, I am not aware of it. Surely it is a cost center, yes?\\n6.2 Cost-Benefit\\nOften, the lower layers of the security hierarchy cost more to build out than the higher levels. Physical security requires guards, locks, iron bars, shatterproof windows, shielding, and various other things which, being physical, cost real money. On the other hand, network security may only need a free software firewall. However, what an adversary could cost you during a physical attack (e.g. a burglar looting your home) may be greater than an adversary could cost you by defacing your web site.\\n6.3 Risk Tolerance\\nWe may assume that the distribution of risk tolerance among adversaries is monotonically decreasing; that is, the number of adversaries who are willing to try a low-risk attack is greater than the number of adversaries who are willing to attempt a high-risk attack to get the same result. Beware of risk evaluation though; while a hacker may be taking a great risk to gain access to your home, local law enforcement with a valid warrant is not going to be risking as much.\\nSo, if you are concerned about a whole spectrum of adversaries, known and unknown, you may wish to have greater network security than physical security, simply because there are going to be more remote attacks.\\n6.4 Capabilities\\nYou only have to worry about things to the extent they may lie within the capabilities of your adversaries. It is rare that adversaries use outside help when it comes to critical intelligence; it could, for all they know, be disinformation, or the outsider could be an agent-provocateur.\\n6.5 Sophistication Distribution\\nIf they were capable, honest, and hard-working, they wouldn’t need to steal.\\nAlong similar lines, one can assume a monotonically decreasing number of adversaries with a certain level of sophistication. My rule of thumb is that for every person who knows how to perform a technique, there are x people who know about it, where x is a small number, perhaps 3 to 10. The same rule applies to people with the ability to write an exploit versus those able to download and use it (the so-called script kiddies). Once an exploit is coded into a worm, the chance of a compromised host having been compromised by the worm (instead of a human who targets it specifically) approaches 100%.\\n6.6 Goals\\nWe’ve all met or know about people who would like nothing more than to break things, just for the heck of it; schoolyard bullies who feel hurt and want to hurt others, or their overgrown sadist kin. Vandals who merely want to write their name on your storefront. A street thug who will steal a cell phone just to throw it through a window. I’m sure the sort of person reading this isn’t like that, but unfortunately some people are. What exactly are your adversary’s goals? Are they to maximize ROI (Return On Investment) for themselves, or are they out to maximize pain (tax your resources) for you? Are they monetarily or ideologically motivated? What do they consider investment? What do they consider a reward? Put another way, you can’t just assign a dollar value on assets, you must consider their value to the adversary.\\n7 Threat Modeling\\nMen of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war.\\n-- Aristophanes\\nIn technology, people tend to focus on how rather than who, which seems to work better when anyone can potentially attack any system (like with publicly-facing systems on the Internet) and when protection mechanisms have low or no incremental cost (like with free and open-source software). I shall call modeling these threat modeling ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threat_model ).\\n7.1 Common Platform Enumeration\\nCPE is a structured naming scheme for information technology systems, software, and packages. Based upon the generic syntax for Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI), CPE includes a formal name format, a method for checking names against a system, and a description format for binding text and tests to a name.\\n-- CPE Home Page\\nThe first part of threat modelling should be, what is it I want to protect? And once you start to compile a list of things you wish to protect, you might want a consistent naming system for your computer assets. The CPE may help you here.\\nCommon Platform Enumeration ( http://cpe.mitre.org/ )\\n7.2 A Taxonomy of Privacy Breaches\\nA Taxonomy of Privacy ( http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/03/a_taxonomy_of_p.html )\\nIn the above article, Daniel Solove suggests that breaches of privacy are not of a single type, but can mean a variety of things:\\nsurveillance\\nGnothi Seauton (“Know Thyself”)\\n-- ancient Greek aphorism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself )\\nWhen discussing security, it’s often useful to analyze the part which may interact with a particular adversary (or set of adversaries). For example, let’s assume you are only worried about remote adversaries. If your system or network is only connected to outside world via the Internet, then the attack surface is the parts of your system that interact with things on the Internet, or the parts of your system which accept input from the Internet. A firewall, then, limits the attack surface to a smaller portion of your systems by filtering some of your network traffic. Often, the firewall blocks all incoming connections.\\nSometimes the attack surface is pervasive. For example, if you have a network-enabled embedded device like a web cam on your network that has a vulnerability in its networking stack, then anything which can send it packets may be able to exploit it. Since you probably can’t fix the software in it, you must then use a firewall to attempt to limit what can trigger the bug. Similarly, there was a bug in Sendmail that could be exploited by sending a carefully-crafted email through a vulnerable server. The interesting bit here is that it might be an internal server that wasn’t exposed to the Internet; the exploit was data-directed and so could be passed through your infrastructure until it hit a vulnerable implementation. That’s why I consistently use one implementation (not Sendmail) throughout my network now.\\nIf plugging a USB drive into your system causes it to automatically run things like a standard Microsoft Windows XP installation, then any plugged-in device is part of the attack surface. But even if it does not, then by plugging a USB device in you could potentially overflow the code which handles the USB or the driver for the particular device which is loaded; thus, the USB networking code and all drivers are part of the attack surface if you can control what is plugged into the system.\\nMalware Distribution through Physical Media a Growing Concern ( http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/13/1533243 )\\nusbroken, a USB fuzzer based on Arduino ( http://code.google.com/p/usbroken/ )\\nSchneier Hacking Computers over USB ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/06/hacking_compute.html )\\nUSB Devices can Crack Windows ( http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/USB-Devices-Can-Crack-Windows/ )\\npsgroove, a jailbreak exploit for PS3 ( http://github.com/psgroove/psgroove )\\nMoreover, a recent vulnerability ( http://it.slashdot.org/it/08/01/14/1319256.shtml ) illustrates that when you have something which inspects network traffic, such as uPNP devices or port knocking daemons, then their code forms part of the attack surface.\\nSometimes you will hear people talk about the anonymous attack surface; this is the attack surface available to everyone (on the Internet). Since this number of people is so large, and you usually can’t identify them or punish them, you want to be really sure that the anonymous attack surface is limited and doesn’t have any so-called “pre-auth” vulnerabilities, because those can be exploited prior to identification and authentication.\\n7.6 Attack Trees\\nThe next logical step is to move from defining the attack surface to modeling attacks and quantify risk levels.\\nWikipedia on Attack Tree ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_tree )\\nSchneier on Attack Trees ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-attacktrees-ddj-ft.html )\\nMicrosoft on Attack Trees ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff648644.aspx )\\n7.7 The Weakest Link\\nAmdahl’s law, also known as Amdahl’s argument, is named after computer architect Gene Amdahl, and is used to find the maximum expected improvement to an overall system when only part of the system is improved.\\nYou are the weakest link, goodbye!\\n-- The Weakest Link (TV series)\\nLet us think of our security posture for whatever we’re protecting as being composed of a number of systems (or groups of systems possibly offering defense-in-depth). The strength of these systems to attack may vary. You may wish to pour all your resources into one, but the security will likely be broken at the weakest point, either by chance or by an intelligent adversary.\\nThis is an analogy to Amdahl’s law, stated above, in that we can only increase our overall security posture by maintaining a delicate balance between the different defenses to attack vectors. Most of the time, your resources are best spent on the weakest area, which for some institutions (financial, military) is usually personnel.\\nThe reasons you might not balance all security systems may include:\\nEconomics matter here; it may be much cheaper and reliable to buy a firewall than put your employees through security training. Software security measures sometimes have zero marginal cost, but hardware almost always has a marginal cost.\\nExposure affects your risk calculations; an Internet attack is much more likely than a physical attack, so you may put more effort into Internet defense than physical defense.\\nCapability implies in that organizations have varying abilities. For example, the military may simply make carrying a thumb drive into the facility a punishable offense, but a commercial organization may find that too difficult or unpopular to enforce. An Internet company, by contrast, may have a strong technical capability, and so might choose to write software to prevent the use of thumb drives.\\n8 Physical Security\\nWhen people think of physical security, these often are the limit on the strength of access control devices; I recall a story of a cat burglar who used a chainsaw to cut through victim’s walls, bypassing any access control devices. I remember reading someone saying that a deep space probe is the ultimate in physical security.\\nWikipedia article on Physical Security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_security )\\n8.1 No Physical Security Means No Security\\nWhile the locks are getting tougher, the door and frame are getting weaker. A well-placed kick usually does the trick.\\n-- a burglar\\nA couple of limitations come up without physical security for a system. For confidentiality, all of the sensitive data needs to be encrypted. But even if you encrypt the data, an adversary with physical access could trojan the OS and capture the data (this is a control attack now, not just confidentiality breach; go this far and you’ve protected against overt seizure, theft, improper disposal and such). So you’ll need to you protect the confidentiality and integrity of the OS, he trojans the kernel. If you protect the kernel, he trojans the boot loader. If you protect the boot loader (say by putting on a removable medium), he trojans the BIOS. If you protect the BIOS, he trojans the CPU. So you put a tamper-evident label on it, with your signature on it, and check it every time. But he can install a keyboard logger. So suppose you make a sealed box with everything in it, and connectors on the front. Now he gets measurements and photos of your machine, spends a fortune replicating it, replaces your system with an outwardly identical one of his design (the trojan box), which communicates (say, via encrypted spread-spectrum radio) to your real box. When you type plaintext, it goes through his system, gets logged, and relayed to your system as keystrokes. Since you talk plaintext, neither of you are the wiser.\\nThe physical layer is a common place to facilitate a side-channel attack (see 31.2↓ ).\\n8.2 Data Remanence\\nI know what your computer did last summer.\\nData remanence is the the residual physical representation of your information on media after you believe that you have removed it (definition thanks to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_remanence ). This is a disputed region of technology, with a great deal of speculation, self-styled experts, but very little hard science.\\nA Guide to Understanding Data Remanence in Automated Information Systems (Ver.2 09/91) ( http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/rainbow/tg025-2.htm )\\nNational Security Agency/CSS Degausser Products List 25 Sep 2001 ( http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/degausse.pdf )\\nLast time I looked most of the degaussers require 220V power and may not work on hard drives, due to their high coercivity.\\nAs of 2006, the most definitive study seems to be the NIST Computer Security Division paper Guidelines for Media Sanitization ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-88/NISTSP800-88_rev1.pdf ). NIST is known to work with the NSA on some topics, and this may be one of them. It introduces some useful terminology:\\ndisposing is the act of discarding media with no other considerations\\nclearing is a level of media sanitization that resists anything you could do at the keyboard or remotely, and usually involves overwriting the data at least once\\npurging is a process that protects against a laboratory attack (signal processing equipment and specially trained personnel)\\ndestroying is the ultimate form of sanitization, and means that the medium can no longer be used as originally intended\\n8.2.1 Magnetic Storage Media (Disks)\\nThe seminal paper on this is Peter Gutmann’s Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/secure_del.html ). In early versions of his paper, he speculated that one could extract data due to hysteresis effects even after a single overwrite, but on subsequent revisions he stated that there was no evidence a single overwrite was insufficient. Simson Garfinkel wrote about it recently in his blog ( https://www.techreview.com/blog/garfinkel/17567/ ).\\nThe NIST paper has some interesting tidbits in it. Obviously, disposal cannot protect confidentiality of unencrypted media. Clearing is probably sufficient security for 99% of all data; I highly recommend Darik’s Boot and Nuke ( http://dban.sourceforge.net/ ), which is a bootable floppy or CD based on Linux. However, it cannot work if the storage device stops working properly, and it does not overwrite sectors or tracks marked bad and transparently relocated by the drive firmware. With all ATA drives over 15GB, there is a “secure delete” ATA command which can be accessed from hdparm within Linux, and Gordon Hughes has some interesting documents and a Microsoft-based utility ( http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml ). There’s a useful blog entry about it ( http://storagemojo.com/2007/05/02/secure-erase-data-security-you-already-own/ ). In the case of very damaged disks, you may have to resort to physical destruction. However, with disk densities being what they are, even 1/125” of a disk platter may hold a full sector, and someone with absurd amounts of money could theoretically extract small quantities of data. Fortunately, nobody cares this much about your data.\\nNow, you may wonder what you can do about very damaged disks, or what to do if the media isn’t online (for example, you buried it in an underground bunker), or if you have to get rid of the data fast. I would suggest that encrypted storage (see 28.7↓ ) would almost always be a good idea. If you use it, you merely have to protect the confidentiality of the key, and if you can properly sanitize the media, all the better. Recently Simson Garfinkel re-discovered a technique for getting the data off broken drives; freezing them. Another technique that I have used is to replace the logic board with one from a working drive.\\nHard drive’s data survives shuttle explosion ( http://blocksandfiles.com/article/5056 )\\nGerman firm probes final World Trade Center deals ( http://www.prisonplanet.com/german_firm_probes_final_world_trade_center_deals.htm )\\nWikipedia entry on Data Recovery ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_recovery )\\n200 ways to recover your data ( http://btjunkie.org/torrent/200-Ways-To-Recover-Revive-Your-Hard-Drive/4358cd27083f53a0d4dc3a7ec8354d22b61574534c96 )\\nData Recovery blog ( http://datarecovery-hddrecovery.blogspot.com/ )\\n8.2.2 Semiconductor Storage (RAM)\\nPeter Gutmann’s Data Remanence in Semiconductor Devices ( http://www.cypherpunks.to/~peter/usenix01.pdf ) shows that if a particular value is held in RAM for extended periods of time, various processes such as electromigration make permanent changes to the semiconductor’s structure. In some cases, it is possible for the value to be “burned in” to the cell, such that it cannot hold another value.\\nCold Boot Attack\\nRecently a Princeton team ( http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/ ) found that the values held in DRAM decay in predictable ways after power is removed, such that one can merely reboot the system and recover keys for most encrypted storage systems ( http://citp.princeton.edu/pub/coldboot.pdf ). By cooling the chip first, this data remains longer. This generated much talk in the industry. This prompted an interesting overview of attacks against encrypted storage systems ( http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9876060-38.html ).\\nBoingBoing video demonstration ( http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/12/bbtv-hacker-howto-co.html )\\nDirect Memory Access\\nIt turns out that certain peripheral devices, notably Firewire, have direct memory access.\\nThis means that you can plug something into the computer and read data directly out of RAM.\\nThat means you can read passwords directly out of memory:\\nReading RAM With A Laser\\nOn A New Way to Read Data from Memory ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/SISW02.pdf )\\n8.3 Smart Card Attacks\\nThis section deserves great expansion.\\nInstead I’ll punt and point you at the latest USENIX conference on this:\\n9.1 Introduction\\nHardware security is a term I invented to describe the security models provided by a CPU ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit ), associated chipset ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipset ) and peripheral hardware. The assumption here is that the adversary can create and execute program code of his own choosing, possibly as an administrator (root). As computer hardware and firmware ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware ) becomes more complex, there will be more and more vulnerabilities found in it, so this section is likely to grow over time.\\nEach computer hardware architecture is going to have its own security models, so this discussion is going to be specific to the hardware platform under consideration.\\n9.2 Protection Rings\\nMost modern computer systems have at least two modes of operation; normal operation and privileged mode. The vast majority of software runs in normal mode, and the operating system, or more accurately the kernel, runs in privileged mode. Similarly, most of the functionality of the CPU is available in normal mode, whereas a small but significant portion, such as that related to memory management and communicating with hardware, is restricted to that operating in privileged mode.\\nSome CPU architectures, go farther and define a series of hierarchical protection domains that are often called protection rings ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_(computer_security) ). This is a simple extrapolation of the two-level normal/privileged mode into multiple levels, or rings.\\n9.3 Operating Modes\\nThe Intel architectures in particular has several operating modes. These are not privilege rings, but rather represent the state that the CPU is in, which affects how various instructions are interpreted\\n9.4 NX bit\\nThe NX bit, which stands for No eXecute, is a technology used in CPUs to segregate areas of memory for use by either storage of processor instructions (or code) or for storage of data, a feature normally only found in Harvard architecture processors. However, the NX bit is being increasingly used in conventional von Neumann architecture processors, for security reasons.\\nAn operating system with support for the NX bit may mark certain areas of memory as non-executable. The processor will then refuse to execute any code residing in these areas of memory. The general technique, known as executable space protection, is used to prevent certain types of malicious software from taking over computers by inserting their code into another program’s data storage area and running their own code from within this section; this is known as a buffer overflow attack.\\n-- Wikipedia\\n10 Distributed Systems\\n10.1 Network Security Overview\\nThe things involved in network security are called nodes. One can talk about networks composed of humans (social networks), but that’s not the kind of network we’re talking about here; I always mean a computer unless I say otherwise. Often in network security the adversary is assumed to control the network in whole or part; this is a bit of a holdover from the days when the network was radio, or when the node was an embassy in a country controlled by the adversary. In modern practice, this doesn’t seem to usually be the case, but it’d be hard to know for sure. In the application of network security to the Internet, we almost always assume the adversary controls at least one of the nodes on the network.\\nIn network security, we can lure an adversary to a system, tempt them with something inviting; such a system is called a honeypot, and a network of such systems is sometimes called a honeynet. A honeypot may or may not be instrumented for careful monitoring; sometimes systems so instrumented are called fishbowls, to emphasize the transparent nature of activity within them. Often one doesn’t want to allow a honeypot to be used as a launch point for attacks, so outbound network traffic is sanitized or scrubbed; if traffic to other hosts is blocked completely, some people call it a jail, but that is also the name of an operating system security technology used by FreeBSD, so I consider it confusing.\\nTo reduce a distributed system problem to a physical security (see 8↑ ) problem, you can use an air gap, or sneakernet between one system and another. However, the data you transport between them may be capable of exploiting the offline system. One could keep a machine offline except during certain windows; this could be as simple as a cron job which turns on or off the network interface via ifconfig. However, an offline system may be difficult to administer, or keep up-to-date with security patches.\\n10.2 Network Access Control: Packet Filters, Firewalls, Security Zones\\nMost network applications use TCP, a connection-oriented protocol, and they use a client/server model. The client initiates a handshake with the server, and then they have a conversation. Sometimes people use the terms client and server to mean the application programs, and other times they mean the node itself. Other names for server applications include services and daemons. Obviously if you can’t speak with the server at all, or (less obviously) if you can’t properly complete a handshake, you will find it difficult to attack the server application. This is what a packet filter does; it allows or prevents communication between a pair of sockets. A packet filter does not generally do more than a simple all-or-nothing filtering. Now, every computer can potentially have a network access control device, or packet filter, on it. For security, this would be the ideal; each machine defends itself, opening up the minimum number of ports to external traffic. However, tuning a firewall for minimum exposure can be a difficult, time-consuming process and so does not scale well. It would be better for network daemons to not accept connections from across the network, and there definitely has been a move this direction. In some cases, a packet filter would merely be redundant to a system which does not have any extraneous open ports.\\nThe firewall was originally defined as a device between different networks that had different security characteristics; it was named after the barrier between a automobile interior and the engine, which is designed to prevent a engine fire from spreading to the passenger cabin. Nowadays, they could be installed on every system, protecting it from all other systems.\\nAs our understanding of network security improved, people started to define various parts of their network. The canonical types of networks are:\\nTrusted networks were internal to your corporation.\\nAn untrusted network may be the Internet, or a wifi network, or any network with open, public access.\\nDemilitarized zones (DMZs) were originally defined as an area for placing machines that must talk to nodes on both trusted and untrusted networks. At first they were placed outside the firewall but inside a border router, then as a separate leg of the firewall, and now in are defined and protected in a variety of ways.\\nWhat these definitions all have in common is that they end up defining security zones (this term thanks to the authors of Extreme Exploits). All the nodes inside a security zone have roughly equivalent access to or from other security zones. I believe this is the most important and fundamental way of thinking of network security. Do not confuse this with the idea that all the systems in the zone have the same relevance to the network’s security, or that the systems have the same impact if compromised; that is a complication and more of a matter of operating system security than network security. In other words, two systems (a desktop and your DNS server) may not be security equivalent, but they may be in the same security zone.\\n10.3 Network Reconnaissance: Ping Sweeps, Port Scanning\\nTypically an adversary needs to know what he can attack before he can attack it. This is called reconnaissance, and involves gathering information about the target and identifying ways in which he can attack the target. In network security, the adversary may want to know what systems are available for attack, and a technique such as a ping sweep of your network block may facilitate this. Then, he may choose to enumerate (get a list of) all the services available via a technique such as a port scan. A port scan may be a horizontal scan (one port, many IP addresses) or vertical scan (one IP address, multiple ports), or some combination thereof. You can sometimes determine what service (and possibly what implementation) it is by banner grabbing or fingerprinting the service.\\nIn an ideal world, knowing that you can talk to a service does not matter. Thus, a port scan should only reveal what you already assumed your adversary already knew. However, it is considered very rude, even antisocial, like walking down the street and trying to open the front door of every house or business that you pass; people will assume you are trying to trespass, and possibly illicitly copy their data.\\nTypical tools used for network reconnaissance include:\\nfirewalk ( http://www.packetfactory.net/projects/firewalk/ )\\n10.4 Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention\\nMost security-conscious organizations are capable of detecting most scans using [network] intrusion detection systems (IDS) or intrusion prevention systems (IPS); see 16↓ .\\nSnort IDS ( http://www.snort.org/ )\\n10.5 Cryptography is the Sine Qua Non of Secure Distributed Systems\\nAll cryptography lets you do is create trust relationships across untrustworthy media; the problem is still trust between endpoints and transitive trust.\\n-- Marcus Ranum\\nPut simply, you can’t have a secure distributed system (with the normal assumptions of untrusted nodes and network links potentially controlled by the adversary) without using cryptography somewhere (“sine qua non” is Latin for “without which it could not be”). If the adversary can read communications, then to protect the confidentiality of the network traffic, it must be encrypted. If the adversary can modify network communication, then it must have its integrity protected and be authenticated (that is, to have the source identified). Even physical layer communication security technologies, like the KLJN cipher, quantum cryptography, and spread-spectrum communication, use cryptography in one way or another.\\nI would go farther and say that performing network security decisions on anything other than cryptographic keys is never going to be as strong as if it depended on cryptography. Very few Internet adversaries currently have the capability to arbitrarily route data around. Most cannot jump between VLANs on a tagged port. Some don’t even have the capability to sniff on their LAN. But none of the mechanisms preventing this are stronger than strong cryptography, and often they are much weaker, possibly only security through obscurity. Let me put it to you this way; to support a general argument otherwise, think about how much assurance a firewall has that a packet claiming to be from a given IP address is actually from the system the firewall maintainer believes it to be. Often these things are complex, and way beyond his control. However, it would be totally reasonable to filter on IP address first, and only then allow a cryptographic check; this makes it resistant to resource consumption attacks from anyone who cannot spoof a legitimate IP address (see 4.1.1↑ ).\\n10.6 Hello, My Name is 192.168.1.1\\nHumans are incapable of securely storing high-quality cryptographic keys, and they have unacceptable speed and accuracy when performing cryptographic operations. (They are also large, expensive to maintain, difficult to manage, and they pollute the environment. It is astonishing that these devices continue to be manufactured and deployed. But they are sufficiently pervasive that we must design our protocols around their limitations).\\n-- Network Security / PRIVATE Communication in a PUBLIC World by Charlie Kaufman, Radia Perlman, & Mike Speciner (Prentice Hall 2002; p.237)\\nBecause humans communicate in slowly, in plaintext, and don’t plug into a network, we consider the nodes within the network to be computing devices. The system a person interacts with has equivalency with them; break into the system administrator’s console, and you have access to anything he or she accesses. In some cases, you may have access to anything he or she can access. You may think that the your LDAP or Kerberos server is the most important, but isn’t the node of the guy who administers it just as critical? This is especially true if OS security is weak and any user can control the system, or if the administrator is not trusted, but it is also convenient because packets do not have user names, just source IPs. When some remote system connects to a server, unless both are under the control of the same entity, the server has no reason to trust the remote system’s claim about who is using it, nor does it have any reason to treat one user on the remote system different than any other.\\n10.7 Source Tapping; The First Hop and Last Mile\\nOne can learn a lot more about a target by observing the first link from them than from some more remote place. That is, the best vantage point is one closest to the target. For this reason, the first hop is far more critical than any other. An exception may involve a target that is more network-mobile than the eavesdropper. The more common exception is tunneling/encryption (to include tor and VPN technologies); these relocate the first hop somewhere else which is not physically proximate to the target’s meat space coordinates, which may make it more difficult to locate.\\nThings to consider here involve the difficulty of interception, which is a secondary concern (it is never all that difficult). For example, it is probably less confidential from the ISP to use an ISP’s caching proxy than to access the service directly, since most proxy software makes it trivial to log the connection and content; however, one should not assume that one is safe by not using the proxy (especially now that many do transparent proxying). However, it is less anonymous from the remote site to access the remote site directly; using the ISP’s proxy affords some anonymity (unless the remote site colludes with the ISP).\\n10.8 Security Equivalent Things Go Together\\nOne issue that always seems to come up is availability versus other goals. For example, suppose you install a new biometric voice recognition system. Then you have a cold and can’t get in. Did you prioritize correctly? Which is more important? Similar issues come up in almost every place with regard to security. For example, your system may authenticate users versus a global server, or it may have a local database for authentication. The former means that one can revoke a user’s credentials globally immediately, but also means that if the global server is down, nobody can authenticate. Attempts to get the best of both worlds (“authenticate locally if global server is unreachable”) often reduce to availability (adversary just DOSes link between system and global server to force local authentication).\\nMy philosophy on this is simple; put like things together. That is, I think authentication information for a system should be on the system. That way, the system is essentially a self-contained unit. By spreading the data out, one multiplies potential attack targets, and reduces availability. If someone can hack the local system, then being able to alter a local authentication database is relatively insignificant.\\n10.9 Man In The Middle\\nHow do we detect MITM or impersonation in web, PGP/GPG, SSH contexts?\\nThe typical process for creating an Internet connection involves a DNS resolution at the application layer (unless you use IP addresses), then sending packets to the IP address (at the network layer), which have to be routed; at the link layer, ARP typically is used to find the next hop at each stage, and then bits are marshalled between devices at the physical layer. Each of these steps creates the opportunity for a man-in-the-middle attack.\\n10.9.1 DNS MITM Issues\\nWikipedia article on DNS cache poisoning ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_cache_poisoning )\\nSpoofing replies - transaction ID predictability ( http://www.net-security.org/dl/articles/Attacking_the_DNS_Protocol.pdf , http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30131 )\\nMaybe you are querying a DNS server the adversary controls (i.e. your ISP)\\n10.9.2 IP Routing MITM Issues\\nThe adversary could announce bogus BGP routes ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4272 ).\\nThe adversary could naturally sit between you and the remote system.\\n10.9.3 Link Layer MITM Issues\\nThe adversary could use ARP spoofing or poisoning, such as with these tools:\\n10.9.4 Physical Layer MITM Issues\\nTapping the wire (or listening to wireless)\\nThere is something used by the military called an identification friend or foe (IFF) device. You can read about it on the Wikipedia page ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identification_friend_or_foe ). What is interesting is that it can be defeated using a MITM attack; the challenger sends his challenge towards the adversary, and the adversary relays the challenge to a system friendly to the challenger, and relays the response back. What is interesting here is that, in this case, the IFF device can enforce a reasonable time limit, so that a MITM attack fails due to speed-of-light constraints. In this case, it could be considered a kind of “somewhere you are” authentication factor (see 11.8↓ ).\\nAT&T Invents Programming Language for Mass Surveillance ( http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/att-invents-pro.html )\\n10.11 Push vs. Pull Updates\\nWhen moving data between systems on a regular basis, I find myself wondering whether it is better to push data or to have the system pull it. In a push model, the pushing system connects to an open port on the destination, which implies that there is the possibility that the destination system could have data pushed to it from another machine. In a pull model, the machine asks for the data it wants, and the sender of the data must have an open port. This is a complex subject. Sometimes push models are inadequate because one of the recipient machines may be unreachable when you are doing the push. Sometimes pull models are inadequate because the pull may come too late for an important security update. Sometimes you need both, where you push to a class of systems and any which are down automagically request the data when they come back up. With SSH, rsync, and proper key management, this is not really a significant security issue, but with other systems implementing their own file distribution protocols, this could be a major security hole. Be careful that any file transfer you establish is a secure one.\\n10.12 DNS Issues\\nDNS is perhaps the most widely deployed distributed system, and it can be abused in many ways. The main investigator of DNS abuse is Dan Kaminsky; he can tunnel SSH sessions over DNS, store data in DNS like a very fast FTP server, use it to distribute real-time audio data, and snoop on caches to see if you’ve requested a certain DNS name.\\nDan Kaminski’s web site ( http://www.doxpara.com/ )\\n10.13 Network Topology\\nOrganizational systems prone to intrusion, or with porous perimeters, should make liberal use of internal firewalls. This applies to organizational structures as well, so that organizations prone to personnel infiltration, should make use of the revolutionary cell structure for their communication topology.\\nIt is possible to triangulate the location of a system using ping times from three locations. Note that it’s not the physical locations that you use to triangulate, but the network locations; it’s no good if all three share the same long pipe to the target. You need separate paths that converge as close to the target as possible.\\n11 Identification and Authentication\\nIdentification is necessary before making any sort of access control decisions. Often it can reduce abuse, because an identified individual knows that if they do something there can be consequences or sanctions. For example, if an employee abuses the corporate network, they may find themselves on the receiving end of the sysadmin’s luser attitude readjustment tool (LART). I tend to think of authentication as a process you perform on objects (like paintings, antiques, and digitally signed documents), and identification as a process that subjects (people) perform, but in network security you’re really looking at data created by a person for the purpose of identifying them, so I use them interchangeably.\\nSometimes I suspect I’m not who I think I am.\\n-- Ghost in the Shell\\nAn identity, for our purposes, is an abstract concept; it does not map to a person, it maps to a persona. Some people call this a digital ID, but since this paper doesn’t talk about non-digital identities, I’m dropping the qualifier. Identities are different from authenticators, which are something you use to prove your identity. An identifier is shorthand, a handle; like a pointer to the full identity.\\nTo make this concrete, let us take the Unix operating system as an example. Your identity corresponds to a row in the /etc/passwd file. Your identifier is your username, which is used to look up your identity, and your password is an authenticator.\\n11.2 Identity Management\\nIn relational database design, it is considered a good practice for the primary key ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_key ) of a table to be an integer, perhaps a row number, that is not used for anything else. That is because the primary key is used as an identifier for the row; it allows us to modify the object itself, so that the modification occurs in all use cases simultaneously (for a normalized database). Most competent DBAs realize that people change names, phone numbers, locations, and so on; they may even change social security numbers. They also realize that people may share any of these things (even social security numbers are not necessarily unique, especially if they lie about it). So to be able to identify a person across any of these changes, you need to use a row number. The exact same principle applies with security systems; you should always keep the identifiers separate from identities and authenticators.\\nThis is good, because the authenticator (password) may be changed without losing the idea of the identity of the person. However, there are subtle gotchas. In Unix, the username is mapped to a user ID (UID), which is the real way that Unix keeps track of identity. It isn’t necessarily a one-to-one mapping. Also, a poor system administer may reassign an unused user ID without going through the file system and looking for files owned by the old user, in which case their ownership is silently reassigned.\\nPGP/GPG made the mistake of using a cryptographic key as an identifier. If one has to revoke that key, one basically loses anything (such as signatures) which applied to that key, and the trust that other people have indicated towards that key. And if you have multiple keys, friends of yours who have all of them cannot treat them all as equivalent, since GPG can’t be told that they are associated to the same identity, because the keys are the identity. Instead, they must manage statements about you (such as how much they trust you to act as an introducer) on each key independently.\\nSome web sites are using email addresses as identities, which makes life difficult when it changes; in some cases, you are effectively a different person if you change email addresses. In my opinion, identifiers like email addresses should only serve to look up an identity; it should not be the identity.\\nFor an excellent paper on identity in an Internet context, see:\\nKim Cameron’s “The Laws of Identity” ( http://www.identityblog.com/?p=354 )\\nBen Laurie’s “Selective Disclosure” ( http://www.links.org/files/selective-disclosure.pdf )\\n11.3 The Identity Continuum\\nIdentification can range from fully anonymous to pseudonymous, to full identification. Ensuring identity can be expensive, and is never perfect. Think about what you are trying to accomplish. Applies to cookies from web sites, email addresses, “real names”, and so on.\\n11.4 Problems Remaining Anonymous\\nIn cyberspace everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes.\\n-- Graham Greenleaf\\nWhat can we learn from anonymizer, mixmaster, tor, and so on? Often one can de-anonymize. Some people have de-anonymized search queries this way, and census data, and many more data sets that are supposed to be anonymous.\\n11.5 Problems with Identifying People\\nRandomly-Chosen Identity\\n11.6 What Authority?\\nDoes it follow that I reject all authority? Far from me such a thought. In the matter of boots, I refer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult that of the architect or the engineer.\\n-- Mikhail Bakunin, What is Authority? 1882 ( http://www.panarchy.org/bakunin/authority.1871.html )\\nWhen we are attempting to identify someone, we are relying upon some authority, usually the state government. When you register a domain name with a registrar, they record your personal information in the WHOIS database; this is the system of record ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_of_record ). No matter how careful we are, we can never have a higher level of assurance than this authority has. If the government gave that person a false identity, or the person bribed a DMV clerk to do so, we can do absolutely nothing about it. This is an important implication of the limitations of accuracy (see 4.6↑ ).\\n11.7 Goals of Authentication\\nAuthentication serves two related goals; it is designed to allow us in while keeping other people out. These goals are two sides of the same coin, but have different requirements. The goal to allow us in requires that authentication be convenient, while the goal of keeping others out requires that authentication be secure. These goals are often in direct conflict with each other and an example of a more general trade-off between convenience and security.\\n11.8 Authentication Factors\\nThere are many ways you can prove your identity to a system. They may include one or more authentication factors such as:\\nsomething you are like biometric signatures such as the pattern of capillaries on your retina, your fingerprints, etc.\\nsomething you have like a token, physical key, or thumb drive\\nsomething you know like a passphrase or password\\nsomewhere you are if you put a GPS device in a computer, or did direction-finding on transmissions, or simply require a person to be physically present somewhere to operate the system\\nsomewhere you can be reached like a mailing address, network address, email address, or phone number\\nAt the risk of self-promotion, I want to point out that, to my knowledge, the last factor has not been explicitly stated in computer security literature, although it is demonstrated every time a web site emails you your password, or every time a financial company mails something to your home.\\nMy voice is my passport; verify me.\\n-- Sneakers, the motion picture\\nThe oldest and still most common method for authenticating individuals consists of using passwords. However, there are many problems with using passwords, and I humbly suggest that people start to design systems with the goal of minimizing the use of passwords, passphrases, and other reusable authenticators.\\nStrong Passwords Not As Good As You Think ( http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/13/1336235 )\\nStrong Web Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/07/strong_web_pass.html )\\nDo Strong Web Passwords Accomplish Anything? ( http://www.usenix.org/event/hotsec07/tech/full_papers/florencio/florencio.pdf )\\n11.9.1 People Pick Lousy Passwords\\nThe first and most important issue is that people pick lousy passwords.\\nReal World Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/12/realworld_passw.html )\\nA current plague of security problems stems from rampant password guessing for remote services (specifically, ssh). There have been a number of suggestions for dealing with this, as we shall see.\\n11.9.2 Picking Secure Passwords\\nOne thing that most people could do to improve their security is to pick better passwords:\\nChoosing Secure Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/01/choosing_secure.html )\\n11.9.3 Preventing Weak Passwords\\nOne invaluable tool for dealing with password guessing involves weeding out weak passwords. No password lockouts will help you when your users pick passwords such as “password” and an adversary guesses that on the first try.\\nThere are two ways of doing this; in the older post facto method, one tries to crack the password hashes. However, it is desirable to store passwords only after they have been passed through a one-way function, or hash. In this case, it’s often much more efficient to check them before hashing than to try to crack them post-facto; however, you must locate and guard all the places passwords can be set.\\n11.9.4 Remembering Passwords\\nThe problem with preventing weak passwords is that if the passwords are hard to guess, they are hard to remember, and users may write them down on post-it notes or simply forget them more often. More sophisticated users may store them in their wallets, or in a password database program like Password Safe:\\nhttp://www.schneier.com/passsafe.html\\n11.9.5 Password Guessing Lockouts\\nMost systems employ some sort of abuse detection (lockout) to prevent guessing passwords. In the naive model, this checks for multiple guesses on a single username. For example, the Unix console login has you enter a username, and then prompts for a password; if you get the password wrong three times, it freezes the terminal for a period of time. Guessing multiple passwords for one username is sometimes called the forward hack. Some network login programs like SSH do the same thing, with the sshd_config entry MaxAuthTries determining how many guesses are possible. As a result, some SSH brute-forcing programs try the same password on multiple accounts, the so-called reverse hack.\\nIt also opens up the door for a denial-of-service attack; the adversary can try various passwords until the account gets locked, denying the legitimate owner in.\\nOne other problem with this is that unless one can centralize all authentication in something like PAM (pluggable authentication modules), then an adversary may simply multiplex guesses over different services which all consult the same authentication information. One such example is THC’s Hyda:\\nhttp://freeworld.thc.org/thc-hydra/\\n11.9.6 Limited Password Lifetimes\\nSome systems require you to change your password frequently, minimizing the amount of time it is good for if it is guessed, ostensibly making it less valuable. The problem with this is that once a password is guessed, the adversary is likely to use it right away, and perhaps set up a back door for later entry into the system. It’s very difficult to detect a well-placed back door. This is also extremely inconvenient to users, and they often end up varying their passwords by some predictable mechanism.\\nThere is another advantage to limited password lifetimes; if the passwords take a long time to guess or crack, then rotating them with a shorter time frame means that a cracked password is no longer valuable. This was more appropriate when any user could read the hashed passwords from the file /etc/passwd; modern systems keep them in another file and don’t make it readable to anyone but root, meaning that cracking password hashes would have to occur after cracking the root account, for later access to the same system or to other systems where the users might have the same passwords.\\n11.9.7 Password Reset Procedure\\nEnforcing difficult-to-guess passwords and limited password lifetimes increases the chance that users will forget their passwords. This means more users having to reset their passwords, resulting in increased administrative burden and inconvenience to users. In the most secure case, the procedure to reset passwords should be as secure as the mechanism to create accounts; I have worked in places where this required a physical visit and presentation of ID. In most cases, the password reset procedure is as simple as a phone call.\\n11.9.8 Security Questions\\nIn many cases, this burden is too high or impractical, particularly for web sites. In these situations, the user is often asked to select certain security questions which will allow them to reset their password. The traditional method was to require their mother’s maiden name, but nowadays there are wide variety of questions, many of which are (unfortunately) easy to guess, especially for people who know the user in question personally.\\n11.9.9 Disabling Root Logins\\nSome security pundits have suggested that you disable logins for root to avoid someone getting in as the administrator; then one must guess the user name of a specific administrator as well, but this really isn’t all that hard, and makes it impossible to, say, rsync an entire file system over ssh (since one cannot log in directly as root, one cannot directly access files as root).\\nI find it simpler and safer to disallow password-based authentication altogether, wherever possible.\\nFor remote administration, let’s compare the scenario they are suggesting (reusable passphrases but no direct root logins), with my scenario (cryptographic logins, direct root access). My scenario has the following obvious attack vectors:\\nThe adversary takes control of the system you’re sitting at, where your ssh key is stored, in which case he could impersonate you anyway (he may have to wait for you to log in to sniff the reusable passphrase, or to hijack an existing connection, but I think it’s not worth worrying about the details; if they have root on your console, you’re hosed).\\nThe adversary guesses your 4096-bit private RSA key, possibly without access to the public key. In this case, he could probably use the same technique against the encryption used to protect the SSH or IPsec sessions you’re using to communicate over anyway (host keys are often much smaller than 4096-bit), and in the alternate scenario (no direct root logins, but allowing reusable passphrases) he would get access to the reusable passphrases (and all other communication).\\nBy contrast, their scenario has the same vulnerabilities, plus:\\nSomeone guesses the login and password. Login names are not secrets, and never have been treated as secrets (e.g. they’re often in your email address). They may not even be encrypted in the SSH login procedure. Passwords may be something guessable to your adversary but not you; for example, a word in a dictionary you don’t have, an “alternative spelling” that you didn’t think of, or perhaps the user uses the same passphrase to access a web site (perhaps even via unencrypted HTTP).\\n11.9.10 Eliminating Reusable Authenticators\\nThus, it is undesirable to use re-usable authentication over the network. However, these other kinds of authentication present difficulties:\\nEncrypted storage; this is like using encryption to communicate with your future self. Obviously, you must reuse the same key, or somehow re-encrypt the disk. One could, theoretically, disallow direct access to the key used to encrypt the storage, and re-encrypt it each time with a different passphrase, but to protect it from the administrator you’d need to use some sort of hardware decryption device, and to protect it against someone with physical access you’d need tamper-resistant hardware (e.g. TPM).\\nAuthenticating to the system you’re sitting at; even then, one could use S/Key or another system for one-time authenticators written down and stored in your wallet, combined with a memorized passphrase.\\n11.10 Biometrics\\nEntire books have been written about biometrics, and I am not an expert in the field. Thus, this section is just a stub, waiting for me to flesh it out.\\nAuthenticating People By Their Typing Patterns ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/authenticating.html )\\nPSYLock: a typing behavior based psychometrical authentication method ( http://pc50461.uni-regensburg.de/ibi/de/leistungen/research/projekte/risk/psylock_english.htm )\\n11.11 Authentication Issues: When, What\\nIn Unix, a console login or remote login (via e.g., SSH) requires authentication only once, and then all commands issued in the session are executed without additional authentication. This is the traditional authentication scheme used by most multi-user systems today.\\nThere historically was a system whereby rsh (and later, SSH) could be configured to trust other systems; the current system trusted the other system to only make such a request on behalf of a duly authorized user, and presumably both systems were in the same administrative domain. However, this turned out to be problematic; the adversary or his software could easily exploit these transitive trust relationships to seize control of multiple, sometimes all, systems in the administrative domain. For this reason, this system authentication method is rarely used, however, it is implicitly the model used in network security. A somewhat weaker model is used by firewalls, which only use the IP address (somewhere you claim to be reachable) as the authenticator.\\nChanging a user’s password is a significant change; it can lock someone out of their account unless and until the person can convince an administrator to reset it. For this reason, the passwd command (and it alone) required entering the old password before you could change it; this prevented someone from sitting down at a logged-in terminal and locking the person out of their own account (and potentially allowing the adversary in from another, safer, location).\\nAs another example, there is also a relatively standard way to perform actions as the root, or most privileged user called sudo. The sudo program allows administrators to operate as normal users most of the time, which reduces the risk of accidentally issuing a privileged command, which is a good thing. In this sense, it is similar to role-based access control (see 12.3↓ ). However, the relevant point here is that it started by requiring your account password with each command issued through it. In this way, it prevented accidental issuance of commands by oneself, but also prevented someone from using an administrator’s console to issue a command. This is authentication of an individual transaction or command. Later this was found to be too inconvenient, and so the authentication was cached for a short period of time so that one could issue multiple commands at once while only being prompted for a password once.\\nThis suggests that Unix has evolved a rather hybrid authentication scheme over the years; it authenticates the session only for most things, but in certain cases it authenticates individual commands.\\nSo when designing a system, it seems useful to ask ourselves when we want to authenticate; per session, or per transaction. It is also worth asking what is being authenticated; remote systems, transactions, or people.\\n11.12 Remote Attestation\\nA concept in network security involves knowing that the remote system is a particular program or piece of hardware is called remote attestation. When I connect securely over the network to a machine I believe I have full privileges on, how do I know I’m actually talking to the machine, and not a similar system controlled by the adversary? This is usually attempted by hiding an encryption key in some tamper-proof part of the system, but is vulnerable to all kinds of disclosure and side-channel attacks, especially if the owner of the remote system is the adversary.\\nThe most successful example seems to be the satellite television industry, where they embed cryptographic and software secrets in an inexpensive smart card with restricted availability, and change them frequently enough that the resources required to reverse engineer each new card exceeds the cost of the data it is protecting. In the satellite TV industry, there’s something they call ECMs (electronic counter-measures), which are program updates of the form “look at memory location 0xFC, and if it’s not 0xFA, then HCF” (Halt and Catch Fire). The obvious crack is to simply remove that part of the code, but then you will trigger another check that looks at the code for the first check, and so on.\\nThe sorts of non-cryptographic self-checks they request the card to do, such as computing a checksum (such as a CRC) over some memory locations, are similar to the sorts of protections against reverse engineering, where the program computes a checksum to detect modifications to itself.\\n11.13 Advanced Authentication Tools\\nSimple Authentication and Security Layer ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Authentication_and_Security_Layer ) is a three-layer library (interface, mechanism, method) that supports multiple authentication methods for various systems; LDAP, SMTP AUTH, etc.\\n12 Authorization - Access Control\\n12.1 Privilege Escalation\\nIdeally, all services would be impossible to abuse. Since this is difficult or impossible, we often restrict access to them, to limit the potential pool of adversaries. Of course, if some users can do some things and others can’t, this creates the opportunity for the adversary to perform an unauthorized action, but that’s often unavoidable. For example, you probably want to be able to do things to your computer, like reformat it and install a new operating system, that you wouldn’t want others to do. You will want your employees to do things an anonymous Internet user cannot (see 4.3↑ ). Thus, many adversaries want to escalate their privileges to that of some more powerful user, possibly you. Generally, privilege escalation attacks refer to techniques that require some level of access above that of an anonymous remote system, but grant an even higher level of access, bypassing access controls.\\nThey can come in horizontal (user becomes another user) or vertical (normal user becomes root or Administrator) escalations.\\n12.2 Physical Access Control\\nThese include locks. I like Medeco, but none are perfect. It’s easy to find guides to lock picking:\\nGuide to Lock Picking http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html\\nFree Lock Picking Guide http://www.free-lock-picking-guide.com/\\n12.3 Operating System Access Control\\n12.3.1 Discretionary Access Control\\nDiscretionary Access Control, or DAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discretionary_access_control ) is up to the end-user. They can choose to let other people write (or read, etc.) to their files, if they wish, and the defaults tend to be global. This is how file permissions on classic Unix and Windows work.\\n12.3.2 Mandatory Access Control\\nA potentially more secure system often involves Mandatory Access Control, or MAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_access_control ), where the security administrator sets up the permissions globally. Some examples of MAC types are Type Enforcement and Domain Type Enforcement. Often they are combined, where the access request has to pass both tests, meaning that the effective permission set is the intersection of the MAC and DAC permissions. Another way of looking at this configuration is that MAC sets the maximum permissions that can be given away by a user with DAC.\\nSecurity Modes of Operation in MAC systems ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Modes )\\nDan Walsh’s blog ( http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/ )\\n12.3.3 Role-Based Access Control\\nRole-Based Access Control, or RBAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-based_access_control ) could be considered a form of MAC. In RBAC, there are roles to whom permissions are assigned, and one switches roles to change permission sets. For example, you might have a security administrator role, but you don’t need that to read email or surf the web, so you only switch to it when doing security administrator stuff. This prevents you from accidentally running malware (see 16.7↓ ) with full permissions. Unix emulates this with pseudo-users and sudo.\\nNote that it may not be possible to prevent a user from giving his own access away; as a trivial example, on most operating systems, it is possible for a user to grant shell access with his permissions by creating a listening socket that forwards commands to a shell (often via netcat). It is also very easy for a user to install a listening service that, unbeknownst to him, has a vulnerability that allows remote code execution, or fails to do proper authentication/authorization.\\n12.3.4 Other OS Access Control Techniques\\nAn operating system authorization usually depends on:\\nBeing root or Administrator (uid=0 in Unix)\\nThe identity of the user, this being the effective UID (or EUID in Unix)\\nThe group(s) in which that user participates\\nTags, labels, and other things related to advanced topics (see 12.3↑ )\\nThere are other factors involved in authorization decisions but these are just examples. Instead of tying things to one system, let’s keep it simple and pretend we’re allowing or denying natural numbers, rather than usernames or things of that nature. Let’s also define some access control matching primitives such as:\\nodd\\nless than x\\ngreater than y\\nIn a well-designed system these primitive functions would be rather complete and not the few we have here. Further, there should be some easy way to compose these tests to achieve the desired access control:\\nAND\\nOR\\nNOT\\nSystems which do not do this kind of authorization are necessarily incomplete, and cannot express all desired combinations of sets.\\n12.4.1 Standard Whitelist and Blacklist\\nIn this configuration, there’s a blacklist of bad guys, and a whitelist of guys we know (or must assume) to be good, and the whitelist always takes precedence. The rule is “you may communicate with us unless you’re on the blacklist, unless you’re also on the whitelist”. Anything whitelisted can always communicate with us, no matter what.\\nIn the context of IPs and firewalls, this allows us to blacklist people trying to exploit us using UDP attacks, which area easily forged, but keep our default gateway and root DNS servers, which we really do want to be able to communicate with, even if forged attacks appear to come from them.\\nIn the context of domains, for example in a web proxy filter, we may whitelist example.com, but be unable to blacklist badguy.example.com, because whitelists always take precedence over blacklists, and both match. Similar issues come up when we want to blacklist CIDR blocks instead of individual IP addresses. In these cases, it seems you want a more complex access control mechanism to capture the complexity of the sets you are describing.\\nAnd remember, blacklisting is always playing catch-up. It’s a good example of starting off by giving people too much privilege (see 34.1↓ ), but may be necessary in today’s web world, where everyone is a desired customer.\\n12.4.2 Apache Access Control\\nApache has three access control directives\\nAllow specifies who can use the resource\\nDeny specifies who can not use the resource\\nOrder specifies the ordering of evaluation of those directives as either ’deny, allow’, ’allow, deny’, or mutual-failure.\\ndeny, allow means that the deny directives are evaluated first, and is the default. This basically is an example of enumerating badness ( 34.1↓ ). This may make sense for a public webserver where anyone on the Internet should be able to browse, but blacklisting is not an effective way to run a secure operation.\\nallow, deny is the more secure option, only allowing those who pass the allow operation to continue, but it still processes the deny section and anyone who was allowed in and then later denied is still rejected.\\nmutual-failure means hosts that appear on the allow list but not appear on the deny list are granted access. This seems to be redundant with “allow, deny”.\\nThis is unfortunately quite confusing, and it’s hard to know where to start. By having an allow list and a deny list, we have four sets of objects defined:\\nThose that are neither allowed nor denied\\nThose that are allowed\\nThose that are denied\\nThose that are both allowed and denied\\nThe truth table for this is as follows (D means default, O means open, X means denied):\\n1\\nX\\nX\\nDo you see what I mean? AD and MF are essentially the same, unless I misread this section in the O’Reilly book.\\nNow, suppose we wish to allow in everyone except the naughty prime numbers. We would write:\\ndeny primes\\nallow all\\norder deny, allow\\nSo far so good, right? Now let’s say that we want to deny the large primes but allow the number 2 in. Unless our combiners for access-control primitives were powerful enough to express “primes greater than two”, we might be stuck already. Apache has no way to combine primitives, so is unable to offer such access control. But given that it’s the web, we can’t rail on it too harshly.\\nWhat we really want is a list of directives that express the set we wish very easily. For example, imagine that we didn’t have an order directive, but we could simply specify what deny and allow rules we have in such a way that earlier takes precedence (the so-called “short circuit” evaluation)\\nallow 2\\ndeny primes\\nallow all\\nHowever, we’re unable to do that in Apache. Put simply, one can’t easily treat subsets of sets created by access control matching in a different manner than the set they reside in. We couldn’t allow in “2” while denying primes, unless the access control matching functions were more sophisticated.\\nSquid has one of the more powerful access control systems in use.\\nPrimitives\\nThey may then be allowed or denied to certain resources.\\n12.5 IPTables, IPChains, Netfilter\\nAside from the bad user interface of having numbers, netfilter has a number of problems when compared to pf that have always bothered me. I’m going to try and describe some things you just can’t do with netfilter’s rule set when I get the time.\\n12.6 PF\\nMy main complaint with pf is that it rearranges the order of your rules such that certain types all get processed before others. It supports the “quick” modifier to any rule which means that if the rule matches, that is the final answer. By leaving off quick rules, one gets the default of “last matched rule applies”, but with the inefficiency of going through all the rules. I have not yet seen a case where the config file couldn’t be written using quick rules, and presumably at much higher efficiency. Still, it is my favorite language for explaining firewall rules.\\n12.7 Keynote\\nKeynote, or something like it, is definitely the best authorization (trust management) framework I have found. OpenBSD has incorporated it into their IPsec keying daemon, isakmpd. If your program makes complicated access decisions, or you want it to be able to do so, you should check it out.\\n13.4 Change Management\\nChange management is the combination of both pro-active declaring and approving of intended changes, and retroactively monitoring the system for changes, comparing them to the approved changes, and altering and escalating any unapproved changes. Change management is based on the theory that unapproved changes are potentially bad, and therefore related to anomaly detection (see 16.2↓ ). It is normally applied to files and databases.\\n13.5 Self-Healing Systems\\nThere is a system administration tool called cfengine ( http://www.cfengine.org/ ) which implements a concept called “self-healing systems”, whereby any changes made on a given machine are automatically reverted to the (ostensibly correct and secure) state periodically. Any change to these parameters made on a given system but not in the central configuration file are considered to be accidents or attacks, and so if you really want to make a change it has to be done on the centrally-managed and ostensibly monitored configuration file. You can also implement similar concepts by using a tool like rsync to manage the contents of part of the file system.\\n13.6 Heterogeneous vs. Homogeneous Defenses\\nOften homogeneous solutions are easier to administer. Having different systems requires more resources, in training yourself, learning to use them properly, keeping up with vulnerabilities, and increases the risk of misconfiguration (assuming you aren’t as good at N systems as you would be at one). But there are cases where heterogeneity is easier, or where homogeneity is impossible. Maybe a particular OS you’re installing comes with Sendmail as the default, and changing it leads to headaches (or the one you want just isn’t available on it, because it is a proprietary platform). Embedded devices often have a fixed TCP/IP stack that can’t be changed, so if you are to guard against things like such things, you must either run only one kind of software on all Internet-enabled systems, denying yourself the convenience of all the new network-enabled devices, or you must break Internet-level connectivity with a firewall and admit impotency to defend against internal threats (and anyone who can bypass the perimeter).\\nSee the principle of uniform fronts ( 34.8↓ ) and defense-in-depth ( 34.7↓ ) for more information.\\n14.1 Synchronized Time\\nIt is absolutely vital that your systems have consistent timestamps. Consistency is more important than accuracy, because you are primarily going to be comparing logs between your systems. There are a number of problems comparing timestamps with other systems, including time zones and the fact that their clocks may be skewed. However, ideally, you’d want both, so that you could compare if the other systems are accurate, and so you can make it easier for others to compare their logs with yours. Thus, the Network Time Protocol (NTP) is vital. My suggestion is to have one system at every physical location that act as NTP servers for the location, so that if the network connections go down, the site remains consistent. They should all feed into one server for your administrative domain, and that should connect with numerous time servers. This also minimizes network traffic and having a nearby server is almost always better for reducing jitter.\\nSee the SAGE booklet on “Building a Logging Infrastructure”.\\n14.3 Cryptographically Untamperable Logs\\nBruce Schneier has a paper on cryptographically secure logs, whereby a system’s logs cannot be altered without being noticed (merely erased). The basic premise is that they form a hash chain, where each line includes a hash of the last line. These systems can be linked together, where one periodically sends its hash to another, which makes the receiving system within the detection envelope. They can even cross-link, where they form a lattice, mutually supporting one another.\\nCryptographic Support for Secure Logs on Untrusted Machines ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-secure-logs.html )\\n15.1 Change Reporting\\nI spend a lot of time reading the same things over and over in security reports. I’d like to be able to filter things that I decided were okay last time without tweaking every single security reporting script. What I want is something that will let me see the changes from day to day. Ideally, I’d be able to review the complete data, but normally I read the reports every day and only want to know what has changed from one day to the next.\\n15.2 Artificial Ignorance\\nTo be able to specify things that I want to ignore in reports is what perhaps Marcus Ranum termed “artificial ignorance” back around 1994 (described here: http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/papers/ai/index.html ). Instead of specifying what I want to see, which is akin to misuse detection, I want to see anything I haven’t already said was okay, which is anomaly detection. Put another way, what you don’t know can hurt you (see 32.7↓ ), which is why “default deny” is usually a safer access control strategy (see 34.1↓ ).\\n15.3 Dead Man’s Switch\\nIn some movies, a character has a switch which goes off if they die, which is known as a dead man’s switch, which can be applied to software ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man’s_switch#Software_uses ) I want to see if some subsystem has not reported in. If an adversary overtly disables our system, we are aware that it has been disabled, and we can assume that something security-relevant occurred during that time. But if through some oversight on our side, we allow a system to stop monitoring something, we do not know if anything has occurred during that time. Therefore, we must be vigilant that our systems are always monitoring, to avoid that sort of ambiguity. Therefore, we want to know if they are not reporting because of a misconfiguration or failure. Therefore, we need a periodic heartbeat or system test, and a dead man’s switch.\\n-- Russian Proverb ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_Verify )\\nIt is becoming apparent that there’s more to computers than shell access nowadays. One wants to allow benign email, and stop unsolicited bulk email. For wikis and blogs, one wants to allow collaboration, but doesn’t want “comment spam”. Some still want to read topical USENET messages, and not read spam (I feel that’s a lost cause now). If you’re an ISP, you want to allow customers to do some things but don’t want them spamming or hacking. If you have a public wifi hot-spot, you’d like people to use it but not abuse it. So I generalized IDS, anti-virus, and anti-spam as abuse detection.\\n16.1 Physical Intrusion Detection\\nTrust not in fences, but neighbors.\\n-- old saying\\nBurglar Alarms ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burglar_alarm )\\n16.2 Misuse Detection vs. Anomaly Detection\\nMost intrusion detection systems categorize behavior, making it an instance of the classification problem (see 4.1↑ ). Generally, there are two kinds of intrusion detection systems, commonly called misuse detection and anomaly detection. Misuse detection involves products with signature databases which indicate bad behavior. By analogy, this is like a cop who is told to look for guys in white-and-black striped jumpsuits with burlap sacks with dollar signs printed on them. This is how physical alarm sensors work; they detect the separation of two objects, or the breaking of a piece of glass, or some specific thing. The second is called anomaly detection, which is like a cop who is told to look for “anything out of the ordinary”. The first has more false negatives and fewer false positives than the second. The first (theoretically) only finds security-relevant events, whereas the second (theoretically) notes any major changes. This can play out in operating system security (as anti-virus and other anti-malware products) or in network security (as NIDS/IPS). The first is great for vendors; they get to sell you a subscription to the signature database. The second is virtually non-existent and probably rather limited in practice (you have to decide what to measure/quantify in the first place).\\nIn misuse detection, you need to have a good idea of what the adversary is after, or how they may operate. If you get this guess wrong, your signature may be completely ineffective; it may minimize false positives at the risk of false negatives, particularly if the adversary is actually a script that isn’t smart enough to take the bait. In this sense, misuse detection is a kind of enumerating badness, which means anything not specifically listed is allowed, and therefore violates the principle of least privilege (see 34.1↓ ).\\n16.3 Computer Immune Systems\\nThis is an interesting research direction which draws inspiration from biological systems which distinguish self from non-self and destroy non-self objects.\\n16.4 Behavior-Based Detection\\nMost anti-virus software looks for certain signatures present in virii. Instead, they could look at what the virii is attempting to do, by simulating running it. This would be called “behavior-based detection”, and it is slow to emulate running something. Perhaps virtual machines may help to run a quarantined virus at nearly real speed.\\n16.5 Honey Traps\\nTart words make no friends; a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.\\n-- Benjamin Franklin\\nNoted security expert Marcus Ranum gave a talk on burglar alarms once at Usenix Security, and had a lesson that applies to computer security. He said that when a customer of theirs had an alarm sensor that was disguised as a jewelry container or a gun cabinet, it was almost always sure to trick the burglar, and trigger the alarm. Criminals, by and large, are opportunistic, and when something valuable is offered to them, they rarely look a gift horse in the mouth. I also recall a sting operation where a law enforcement agency had a list of criminals they wanted to locate but who never seemed to be home. They sent winning sweepstakes tickets to wanted criminals who dutifully showed up to claim their “prize”. So a honey trap may well be the cheapest and most effective misuse detection mechanism you can employ.\\nOne of the ways to detect spam is to have an email address which should never receive any email; if any email is received, then it is from a spammer. These are called spamtraps. Unix systems may have user accounts which may have guessable passwords and no actual owners, so they should never have any legitimate logins. I’ve also heard of banks which have trap accounts; these tend to be large accounts which should never have a legitimate transaction; they exist on paper only. Any transaction on such an account is, by definition, fraudulent and a sign of a compromised system. One could even go farther and define a profile of transactions, possibly pseudo-random, any deviation from which is considered very important to investigate. The advantage of these types of traps are the extremely low false-positive rate, and as a deterrent to potential adversaries who fear being caught and punished. Similarly, databases may have honey tokens, or a row of some unique data that shouldn’t normally be pulled out of the database system.\\nkojoney, a honey pot that emulates sshd ( http://kojoney.sourceforge.net/ )\\nshark, a spy honey pot with advanced redirection kit ( http://www.laas.fr/MonAM2007/Ion_Alberdi.pdf )\\n16.6 Tripwires and Booby Traps\\nOther misuse detection methods involve detecting some common activity after the intrusion, such as fetching additional tools (outbound TFTP connections to servers in Eastern Europe are not usually authorized) or connecting back to the adversary’s system to bypass ingress rules on the firewall (e.g. shoveling application output to a remote X server). Marcus Ranum once recompiled “ls” to shut down the system if it was run as root, and he learned to habitually use “echo *” instead. One may wish to check that it has a controlling tty as well, so that root-owned scripts do not set it off. In fact, having a root-owned shell with no controlling tty may be an event worth logging.\\n16.7 Malware and Anti-Malware\\n16.7.1 Terminology\\nmalware is a general term for software that does something that the user did not wish to have done. See Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware ) for more details.\\nvirus is a term for a program that replicates itself by infecting objects (e.g. executable files, or possibly computers). See Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus ) for more details.\\nworm is a term for a program which propagates between computers on its own, locating and infecting victim computers (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_worm for more details).\\nrootkit is a term for a program which is installed at the same level as the operating system, such that it can hide itself (or other malware) from detection. See the Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit ) for more details.\\ntrojan is a term for a program which appears to do one thing that the user desires, but covertly performs some action that the user does not desire (e.g. infect their system with a virus). For more information, read the Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing) ).\\nspyware is a term for software that invades your privacy and collects what should be private information (for more details, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware )\\nThese terms are not mutually exclusive; a given piece of malware may be a trojan which installs a rootkit and then spies on the user.\\nIf you find malware on your system, there are few good responses (see 20.2↓ ).\\n16.7.2 Anti-Virus\\nThere are a wide variety of anti-virus products out there, and it’s hard for consumers to evaluate them. Unfortunately, it seems that virus authors test their viruses against the more popular scanners and tweak them until they don’t get caught any more. Therefore, it may be wise to avoid the big names. Here are some tools that I find particularly good.\\nKaspersky Anti-Virus ( http://www.kaspersky.com/kaspersky_anti-virus ) regularly gets better detection rates than any other.\\nVexira Anti-Virus ( http://www.centralcommand.com/ ) is available for nearly every operating system (including many flavors of Unix!)\\nAvira ( http://www.avira.com/en/products/index.php ) produces a number of anti-virus products, and appears to offer them for Linux as well as Microsoft Windows.\\nAVG Free ( http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition ) is a free anti-virus tool you can use on Windows computers. It’s not as effective as the for-pay products, but it is pretty good compared to nothing, and it costs nothing!\\nClam AV ( http://www.clamav.net/ ) is an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways.\\n16.8.3 Velocity Checks\\nThis is an application of anomaly detection to differentiate computers and humans, or to differentiate between use and abuse. You simply look at how many transactions they are doing. You can take a baseline of what you think a human can do, and trigger any time an entity exceeds this. Or, you can profile each entity and trigger if they exceed their normal statistical profile, possibly applying machine learning algorithms to adjust expectations over time.\\n16.8.4 Typing Mistakes\\nThe kojoney honey pot ( http://kojoney.sourceforge.net/ ) emulates an SSH server in order to gather intelligence against adversaries. Regarding how it separates bots from humans, it says:\\nWe, the humans, are clumsy. The script seeks for SUPR and BACKSPACE characters in the executed commands.\\nThe script also checks if the intruder tried to change the window size or tried to forward X11 requests.\\n16.9 Host-Based Intrusion Detection\\nThat’s it man, game over man, game over!\\n-- Aliens, the motion picture\\nOne important thing is that you really can’t defend against an intruder with full privileges. First discussed in Ken Thompson’s 1984 classic, Reflections on Trusting Trust ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html ), these stealthy backdoors became known as rootkits, which were installed on a compromised system (requiring root privileges) and hid the existence of various things which would give away the adversary’s presence. These evolved from simple log cleaners to trojan system programs, and have now burrowed deeper into the system as LKMs (loadable kernel modules). I have heard rumors of some which reside in flash memory on graphics cards, and run on the GPU (which has DMA, direct memory access), completely bypassing the main CPU. Notice I say “full privileges” instead of “administrator rights” or “root access”, because various people are experimenting with limiting these levels of access in various ways (including BSD securelevel, MAC, and tamper-proof hardware like the TPM).\\nSome HIDS (host-based intrusion detection) systems that detect corruption, like tripwire, compare cryptographic hashes (checksums, or more generally “fingerprints”) against saved values to detect modification of system files. However, this strategy has a number of limitations:\\nSome files (e.g. log files) change all the time.\\nYou may update your system frequently, and so must distinguish expected changes from unexpected.\\nThe place where the hashes are stored might be modifiable (if not, how do you update the baseline to ignore expected changes?) and if so, the intruder could update the stored hashes so that they match the corrupted (trojaned) files.\\nThe attacker could simply alter the HIDS system itself.\\nThe first two problems are soluble in fairly obvious ways. The advice experts give on the third problem is to store the hashes on another system, or on removable media. However, if the intruder has full privileges and knows how you get the hashes onto the system (i.e. what programs are used), they could alter the programs (or kernel routines) used to alter the hashes on the way in, and you’d have no way of knowing. They could also alter them on the way back out, so that printing them on another system and comparing wouldn’t help. Similarly, if you detect the intrusion, you shouldn’t simply log it to a file, or send it to a local email address, since the intruder could simply erase it. This brings up a couple of interesting issues that led me to the following principles.\\n16.10 Intrusion Detection Principles\\nIntrusions present a slightly more difficult issue than other abuse detection, because the intruder is has got control of the system, and thus may attempt to interfere with alerting and response.\\nYou should keep your detection mechanism(s) a secret, just like a cryptographic key.\\nThe intrusion creates changes in data (unprocessed logs as well as intrusion alerts per se) that move away from the intruder, creating what I call a detection envelope. The intruder tries to acquire privileges to expand his reach. It is not enough to detect and report an intrusion; you must get that information to a place where the adversary cannot be alter it to hide his tracks, which I call out-of-reach (OOR) or the point of no revocation.\\nYou have a window of time I call the detection window where the adversary has not yet figured out how you are going to detect his presence and pass the alert beyond his reach. You can think of the detection envelope expanding, and the adversary attempting to catch up with it. Often he need not compromise every system along the way, merely the one at the edge of the envelope, to stop the propagation.\\nOffline is usually out of reach, but may not be when the facility is not physically secure or if the adversaries include an insider.\\n16.11 Intrusion Information Collection\\nSo when you detect an intrusion, you usually have a single datum; an IP address, or a UID, something like that. This might be a good time to collect more data about the intrusion for later analysis. For example, you might pull DNS records and WHOIS associated with that IP, because the databases might be under the control of the adversary, or they may change for other reasons before you collect the information. This may tip off a very clever opponent that you have detected them, but chances are that they are more worried about being detected than you need to worry about them detecting you detecting them, since conducting an intrusion is frowned upon, if not outright illegal.\\n17 Abuse Response\\nSuppose you’ve detected attempted abuse; now what? If you didn’t intend to do something about it, then why did you bother to detect it in the first place? Suppose further that you detect someone doing a network scan, or worse, trying to exploit your code. This is an obvious example of I&Ws (see 33.1↓ ), and if you detect this kind of behavior, but fail to do anything to prevent exploitation, you may not be lucky enough to detect a successful attempt, leading to a silent failure. Thus, because the set of successful attacks is incompletely-defined (see 4.1.4↑ ), you cannot guarantee detection, so it is often desirable to attempt to thwart the attack by identifying and shunning the adversary (as opposed to blocking the individual attempts themselves).\\nRelated work:\\n17.1 Abuse Alerting\\nAll alerting systems are vulnerable to flooding, whereby the adversary causes many to be generated, and analyzing them consumes resources and takes time. In theory, this could buy the adversary some time (expanding the detection window), whereby he can get access to a system without generating an alert, and cover his tracks, so that when all the alerts are handled, he’s still left with covert control of a system.\\nIt is often easier to flood once you have control of a system, which would suggest a preference for a system which never overwrites alerts (until read or passed on). However, it should be checked, read, and emptied on a regular basis.\\nAlerting systems tend to be less vulnerable to running out of space since they are less voluminous than logs, and also because the intruder gives up surprise.\\nYou can see an obvious problem if your false positives (failed attacks) or informational alerts (attacks which are blocked at the border) are mixed in with alerts about successful attacks (actual penetrations into the network). While I can see the value in determining adversary intentions, when the bullets start to fly, the intent is obvious and you want to focus on real threats, not diversions.\\nAll alert recording systems may run out of space. If you overwrite old data (a circular buffer), you know the last system(s) compromised, where the adversary may not have had time to cover his tracks. A system which does not overwrite will show the original entry point into your systems. A system which does overwrite will show the last few systems intruded upon.\\n17.1.1 Possible Abuse Alerting Solutions\\nTsutomu Shimomura emailed his logs to another system, which means that in order to hide his tracks the adversary must compromise that other system. Thus the detection envelope expanded to include that remote system. Ideally, it should be as different a system as possible (i.e. different OS, so the combination requires more skills by the adversary to compromise), and should be as protected as possible (in this case, it should only allow email access, but if we were using syslog then only syslog access). Similarly, he had his sniffer send alerts to a pager, which is effectively irrevocable.\\nOthers have suggested printing logs on a printer (logs until it runs out of paper), or over a serial port connection to a MS-DOS system running a terminal program with a scrollback buffer enabled (logs are preserved until they are overwritten, and it’s better than paper since “you can’t grep dead trees”).\\nOne method I thought of would be to export the file system via read-only NFS, and check it from another system. Another method involves a removable hard drive which is analyzed periodically on another system.\\nAlso see 14.3↑ .\\n17.1.2 Confidentiality vs Availability Tradeoffs\\nAbuse alerting is an interesting case where the tradeoffs between privacy and reliability aren’t clear. What good is alerting if it doesn’t alert you when you need it?\\nI have heard of one company that uses IRC internally to do their security alerting. While not the most confidential of systems, it has been designed in a very hostile network environment subject to lots of availability attacks.\\n17.2 How to Respond to Abuse\\n17.2.1 On Observable Responses\\nA side-effect of taking an observable response to an adversary’s stimulus is that they know that you are monitoring it, and based on attempts and responses, can map out your detection signatures, allowing them to form a feedback loop. They can spew random data at your system and detect when you terminate the connection, and the signature is then known to be in the last few packets. They also know when that their successes have bypassed the reactive mechanism, since the connection is not terminated. Of course, the same is true of a “passive” firewall; they simply try connecting to every possible port, and any attempts that succeed obviously imply one has bypassed the access control.\\nOne amusing anecdote I heard was of someone in Ireland who was organizing political rallies; he suspected his phone was tapped, so he called a co-conspirator and let him know about a big rally at a local pub; they went to the pub at the appropriate time and found a large number of police in the area, which confirmed his suspicion about the tapping. In this case, he was observing a reaction of people observing his communication, and was thus able to determine the line was tapped indirectly. This is an example of inference (see 18.8↓ ).\\n17.2.2 Tainted Sources\\nAn adversary usually starts an attack by enumerating the attack surface (see 7.5↑ ). During this stage, some of his probes may be indistinguishable from allowed traffic, and some may be identifiable as abusive, simply by the fact that such probes or requests are not normally allowed (see 16↑ ). Once one has identified that a given source is tainted as abusive, one can decide to thwart his enumeration by engaging in a sticky defense; that is, every probe/query/request from that source address is considered abusive. This is very effective at making network scans expensive; they will have to figure out where the probe responses ceased being legitimate and started being abuse responses in order to get an accurate enumeration.\\nI happen to like automated responses, because I’m lazy. For example, my dynamic firewall daemon ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/dfd/ ) is an example of me trying to automate some parts of this problem.\\n17.2.3 Possible Responses to Network Abuse\\nThere are a couple of strategies one can take with regard to responding to stimuli:\\nHonest Rejection\\nMost systems may respond to abuse attempts with an honest rejection message, which may optionally be offensive if a human reads it. The down side of this is that it gives the intruder a feedback loop, and they may become more interested in your site than if you remained silent. For example, if someone sends a SYN packet to a TCP port which isn’t open, the OS usually sends back a TCP RST (reset).\\nThe Silent Treatment\\nSilence is the obvious response. In network security, dropping all unauthorized packets without any response is known as the black hole strategy, and prevents the adversary from even knowing if you are listening to that IP address. Permanently ignoring the host is called shunning, though terms vary. The adversary must at this point go back to the last successful response and start over again from a different source address.\\nFaux Positives\\nA false positive is when a person makes an error in classification. Faux positives involve intentionally giving the adversary what they were hoping to hear, instead of the correct answer. For example, a network scan could receive a SYN-ACK for every SYN it sends, making it look like every port is open. This technique means that the adversary must do a more extensive test to determine which ports are really open or not; effectively this negates the value of the original test by forcing it to return positive all the time.\\nRandom Response\\nRandom responses may confuse the adversary; he may try something abusive (like connecting to a port he isn’t supposed to, or (in a more advanced system) attempting an exploit, and it only appears to succeed some of the time. What is nasty about this is that he doesn’t get “all yes” or “all no”, but rather a more complicated result.\\nWhen a game of chance pays out on a random schedule, this is known as “random reinforcement” and has been demonstrated to increase the number of times that a person plays the game. It may even make them do it compulsively, trying to figure out what the pattern is. It may also lead to “magical ideation”, whereby the person makes up a fanciful reason to explain the results (“I always roll seven after rolling five”). This is misinformation (see 32.11↓ ).\\nWhen one does this in a “sticky” manner - that is, once you detect an adversary, you always return a random response, even to non-abusive queries (like connecting to port 80 on a public web server), you can cause the opponent to enter a very strange and frustrating scenario, and even if they figure out what is going on, they do not know exactly when it started, so have to verify their scan results - but attempting the same scan will generally get them detected in the same place!\\nResource Consumption Defenses\\nIn these, one attempts to make the adversary spend as many resources as possible. Most frequently, this involves time, so this is a delaying tactic.\\nTarpit / Teergrube ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarpit_%28networking%29 )\\nThe Simulation Defense\\nSimulation is the most sophisticated and subtle technique; you allow the target to think that they have done something they have not. If you determine that someone has infiltrated your organization, you can assign them to tasks that give your adversary a misleading view of your organization. This is disinformation (see 32.11↓ ).\\nIn an authentication system which re-uses guessable passwords (see 11.9↑ ), you could strengthen it by connecting them not to the real system, but to a honeypot system. Similarly, a web site could fake a successful login and give the adversary a GUI which appears to work but actually does nothing. One of the implications of the base-rate fallacy (see 4.1.2↑ ) is that if you give a false positive at a very low rate (say .1%), then someone who has a small chance of succeeding (say .01%) is going to have 10 false positives for every correct password. However, a user who gets their password correct 50% of the time (a very poor typist) has only one false positive for every 1000 correct password entries. Thus, adversaries are much more likely to be redirected to the simulation than real users. The purpose of this could be to confuse, delay, trace, or feed disinformation (see 32.11↓ ) to the adversary. For example, if the person is using your system to steal money, you may have some plausible-sounding reason why you cannot get it to them in the way they expected, and by catching them off-guard, get them to give you some identifying information which could allow you to have them arrested.\\nhttp://ha.ckers.org/blog/20071216/matrix-re-loaded/\\nFishbowls\\nIf you prevent an attack, you learn very little about the goals and intentions of the adversary. IDS systems alert you to an adversary, and so you can monitor and learn about them. By contrast, an IPS terminates the connection and possibly blocks the adversary, so you prevent the attack but learn very little about their intentions. Transparently redirecting them to a fishbowl seems to get the both of best worlds; they interact with a simulated system, and you monitor them to gain intelligence about their motives, and possibly about their identity. The earliest example of this kind of virtualized monitoring I know of is recounted in An Evening with Berferd ( http://www.all.net/books/berferd/berferd.html ). Usually people refer to these systems as honeypots (see 16.5↑ ), but I call them fishbowls here to make a distinction between drawing in the adversary and covertly monitoring them.\\nHack-Back\\nFirst, let me say don’t do this, since it is probably illegal. I include it only for completeness.\\nReverse-Hack\\nIf they try guessing accounts and passwords on you, simply try them against the remote peer.\\nMirror Defense\\nMarcus Ranum suggested simply swapping the destination and source IPs, and send the packet back out. That way, they end up scanning or hacking themselves. This could be a bit tricky to get the return traffic back to them though.\\nCounterhack\\nWho knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?\\nThe Shadow knows!\\n-- The Shadow radio drama ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow )\\nCounterhacking is using hacking techniques against hackers. It is possible to exploit vulnerabilities in malware and exploit code ( http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/researcher-demo.html ). In fact, many PoC exploits are written in C and have buffer overflows in them, and it would be relatively trivial to exploit the exploit. One can imagine systems that listen for network attacks generated by vulnerable exploit code and automatically respond in kind, which despite usually being illegal, has a certain symmetry and poetic justice to it. Do such systems exist? Only the shadow knows.\\n17.3 Identification Issues\\nSo when someone is abusing your system, you may be limited in your ability to identify the principal involved. It may be malware on a user’s machine, someone using a sniffed or stolen password, someone at an Internet café, someone on a shared system, etc. Also, people who abuse your system tend to take measures to anonymize themselves. Therefore, your identification will run a spectrum like this:\\nA network address\\nA user on a remote host\\nA particular account within your system (via key, passphrase, etc.)\\nA person (via biometrics)\\nThus, when you detect abuse, one or more of these identities may accumulates “negative karma”. For example, a particular IP may hammer your system. You could block that particular IP, but you may also wish to see which accounts have logged in from that IP recently and apply some sort of mild punishment there as well, like rate-limiting or something like that.\\n17.4 Resource Consumption Defenses\\nA resource consumption attack is often called Denial of Service or DoS. In this case, the adversary tries to deprive the rightful users of some system some critical resource.\\nThe best way to defend against these is to set a limit or quota to some entity that you can identify (see 17.3↑ ). Often times you can’t identify people or groups, but merely some address, like an email address or an IP address. If any anonymous user can access your service, for example because it is a public web site, then the adversary may be able to respond to quotas by simply using more identities (e.g. coming from multiple IPs by using a botnet). Therefore, you want your site to be scalable.\\nBasically, DoS is a numbers game. What you want to do is identify malicious requests from legitimate ones via some signature, and do as little work as possible on the malicious ones before deciding to ignore them. So ideally, you do the cheap tests first; there are a number of little tricks that fall into this category:\\nBefore letting a packet in, your firewall decides if the IP address is allowed in, otherwise it blocks it\\nBefore letting a packet in, your firewall might be able to tell if the packet is from an IP address that you can respond to, otherwise (e.g. bogon list, http://www.cymru.com/Documents/bogon-list.html ) you reject it.\\nDigital signatures are expensive, so before computing one, see if the key used to sign it is one that you trust; otherwise, why check the digital signature? Of course, this means an API where you can tell it what keys are trusted before any operations take place.\\nIf you have a list of authorized users, do as little work as you can before identifying them. For example, the secure networking protocol Photuris ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2522 ) sends an “anti-clogging token”, or cookie, to the remote peer and waits for the peer to send it back before doing any more work. Of course this can add a round-trip to some protocols, but if it prevents doing an expensive operation it may be worth it.\\n17.5 Proportional Response\\nDue to the risk of false positives in detection, the difficulty of identification, legal ramifications, and the possibility of collateral damage, you want to have a flexible response. Responding with “overwhelming force”, while tempting, may hurt more than it helps:\\nYou may lose the “moral high ground”, and the public may turn against you.\\nYou may lose the sympathy of a jury, or judge, or someone whose opinion you cherish.\\nYou may cause your adversaries to hate you, at which point they may decide that instead of wanting to maximize their gain, they want to maximizing your pain. They may even decide that they would give up everything in order to harm you, in which case they will almost certainly succeed. Even if they don’t, you will spend more resources defending yourself than if you had merely thwarted their plans in a way that didn’t arouse such enmity.\\nHere is a sample spectrum of responses, ranging from trivial to emphatic:\\nLog the event for manual audit but take no other action\\nTemporarily lock the account\\nCut power to the data center\\nSend a team of ventilation engineers to the adversary’s geographical location to aspirate them\\nLaunch an anti-radiation missile ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-radiation_missile ) in the general direction of their signal as indicated by the direction-finding ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direction_finding ) equipment [B] [B] This is the standard response to people who set up jammers in military engagements. Don’t try that at home.\\nNot all detection events are created equal! You may want to respond to some in one way, and others in another way.\\nPerhaps someone should apply a scoring mechanism (like those of spam signatures) to network events to decide when to shun or do other things.\\n-- Scientific Adage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance )\\nForensics has limits. For example, it’s not uncommon when dealing with skilled intruders to find that they’ve symlinked a shell history file to /dev/null, or that the last line of a log file is something like rm /var/log/sudo or bash -i. It is even possible that a very skilled and disciplined adversary would leave the system in a state that the forensics indicate one thing, but is disinformation; I’ve never heard of anything that subtle in practice, but then again, what are the chances I would? When you’re compromised, you don’t know when it originally happened, and so backups are of little use; one can’t be sure if the backups contain back doors. Thus, it seems like the only way to be sure of extermination is to wipe the state of any machines that might be compromised or corrupted, and start from scratch. However, before doing so, you should do your best to make a full backup of the compromised system for forensic analysis. You’d like to identify any possible intrusion vectors and make sure the new system doesn’t have the same vulnerabilities, lest the situation repeat itself.\\n18.3 Ephemeral Data\\nSuch as the data in a page file. It’s valuable because people usually don’t realize it’s there, and so fail to wipe it.\\n18.4 Remnant Data\\nSuch as the recently-deleted data in Word documents. Apparently it’s just a memory dump, eww. It’s interesting because it’s not normally visible.\\n18.5 Hidden Data\\nSuch as UUIDs embedded in any MS Office document. It is even possible to identify computers remotely by their TCP clock skew ( http://www.caida.org/publications/papers/2005/fingerprinting/ ).\\nSuch as access times. Shimomura used access times to figure out what Mitnick compiled.\\nThe Coroner’s Toolkit ( http://www.porcupine.org/forensics/tct.html )\\nThe Sleuth Kit ( http://www.sleuthkit.org/ )\\n18.8 Forensic Inference\\nOften, what qualifies as proof in a courtroom isn’t the same thing a mathematician considers proof. Further, in civil cases in the US you don’t need proof, just a preponderance of evidence. And intelligence (or now, terrorism) investigations usually have far less of a burden of proof. And even if you are going for solid proof, you hardly ever begin an investigation with it; that’s why it’s called investigation. Thus, hunches are quite valuable.\\nIf you believe that a person murdered someone in his kitchen, and there’s a spot of bleach residue on the floor but in a blood spatter pattern, then you can reasonably assume that he did not spatter bleach on his kitchen floor, although that is possible in theory. Thus, if doing thing A implies B, and one is unlikely to do B alone, then if B is indicated, one may infer a likelihood of A.\\n“You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”\\n-- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 21 Jan 1999\\n19.1 Mix-Based Systems\\nMix-based systems essentially rely on a node having multiple inputs and outputs, and an outside observer cannot tell which maps to which because they are encrypted on one or (ideally) both sides, and there may be a random delay between input and output. Sometimes mixes operate with one output coincident with one input, so a certain amount of traffic is required to keep it “alive”. The job of the mix is to hide the correlation between input of a message and its output. Generally the communication exits the mix system unencrypted, which means the exit nodes have more privilege to see traffic than other nodes in the “cloud”.\\n19.1.1 Anonymous Remailers\\nAnonymous remailers attempted to mail things through a confusing network in an attempt to hide who originally sent an email.\\n20 Intrusion Response\\nI say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.\\n-- Aliens, the motion picture\\n20.1 Response to Worms and Human Perpetrators\\nDue to the limitations of forensics and our ability to know what a particularly clever intruder did while in our network, and the possibility of the intruder leaving back doors or covert channels, my philosophy favors the extreme method of reinstalling every system which you believe may have been affected by the intruder. This is one reason why I favor prevention over detection.\\nEven that may be insufficient, in certain cases.\\nNevertheless, that is far too extreme for many people, and the vast majority of intruders are “script kiddies”, whose modus operandi are obvious, especially if you can acquire their script. The trend now seems to be low-level intrusion with no privilege escalation, because acquiring root tends to draw the attention of the system administrators, whereas non-root users are sufficient for sending spam, performing DoS, and logging into IRC. Thus, in some ways, the evolution of intrusions mirrors that of infections diseases, in that things which elicit a lethal response from the host are evolutionary disadvantages.\\n20.2 Response to Malware\\nBack in the early days of virii, it was possible to find out what the virus did and cure the computer of the infection by undoing whatever it did.\\nHowever, now the trend seems to be that an initial malware installation is a “bot” that acquires a communication channel to the “botmaster”, who can then direct the malware to download other programs, possibly rootkits, so it becomes difficult to know what exactly has happened to the computer.\\nFurthermore, some malware will download and install some easily-found malware, which is there to give the system administrator something to find, while the real bot and malware remain hidden.\\nAnother trend is the development of targeted malware to infect certain systems. This malware may not have been seen by the anti-virus vendor, and therefore is unlikely to be caught.\\nThus, the recommended solution is to recover an uninfected system from backups. One can not simply rely on anti-malware tools to do the job.\\nThere are also web pages out there that purport to tell you how to remove a virus, but in doing so, you install another virus. Caveat emptor!\\n21 Network Security\\n21.1 The Current State of Things\\nAt this point, I have just read the intrusion detection section of Extreme Exploits and find myself unable to add anything to it. What follows is what I wrote prior to reading that, and rather than paraphrase their excellent work, I’m going to punt and just refer you to it. I hope readers understand that I want to focus on adding value, not just repeating what has already been said, and so my time is better spent on other topics until I have something novel to say. What follows is a rough outline I wrote earlier.\\nThe current state of network security detection tools breaks down as follows; network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) sit at choke points and look at traffic and alert for what it thinks are intrusions. If they take steps to tear down the connection, it is called a reactive NIDS. If it sits in-line and stops passing data for connections deemed to be malicious, it is called an intrusion prevention device (IPS).\\nNetwork security access control devices break down as follows. Firewalls are the most familiar and come as packet filters or proxy-based firewalls. They are starting to get more and more complex, going from stateless (e.g. assumes a TCP ACK corresponds to a valid connection, has difficulty telling valid UDP responses from unsolicited UDP packets) to stateful (tracks valid connections, can firewall UDP effectively) and now the new buzzword is deep packet inspection. That just means it’s looking at layer 7 (application layer) data and making access control decisions on that, so it can block certain kinds of HTTP traffic but not others; this is a natural evolution for packet filters and provides them with most of the benefits of proxy-based firewalls. Virtual Private Network Concentrators (VPN endpoints) basically handle the encryption and decryption for remote systems with VPN connections.\\nI can’t think of a good reason why these all need to be separate hardware devices, and suspect that as general-purpose computer performance increases the low end of the market will be increasingly converting to software-based solutions running on commodity hardware. One argument is that dedicated hardware is more reliable, but it will inevitably be cheaper and more effective to ensure reliability and availability with redundancy than with premium hardware. The general belief is that Google’s secret to financial success is “smart software, cheap hardware”. Hardware costs don’t amortize the way software development costs do.\\n21.2 Traffic Identification: RPC, Dynamic Ports, User-Specified Ports and Encapsulation\\n21.2.1 RPC\\nBack in the day, a number of network services used remote procedure calls (RPC). When these services start up, they bind to a port (often in a certain range but not always the same port). They then register themselves with a program called the portmapper. To talk to an RPC service, you first ask the portmapper (on port 111) what port that RPC service is listening on, then you talk to the RPC service. Needless to say, this is extremely difficult to firewall, and even if you could do it right, an internal machine might reboot, and when it comes back up the RPC service might be on a different port. So the normal policy is to simply not allow access to these ports through the firewall, which is easy when the policy is default deny; you just ignore them.\\n21.2.2 Dynamic Port Numbers\\nOther protocols, like SIP and FTP, use dynamic port numbers. Some fancy packet filters do layer-7 inspection to respond to these, which has the following problem. A user connects to a web site, and the web site has a java applet which connects back to the web site, but on port 20 (FTP control channel). This is allowed because the java applet security model assumes it’s okay for an applet to phone home. The applet then emulates a real FTP connection, but sends an interesting port number as the data channel (say, port 22). The firewall then allows the web site to make another connection back to the internal node’s port 22, thinking that it is part of an FTP transfer. The solution is to use application-layer proxies.\\nNow some network administrators would like to give low priority (QoS, DSCP) values to certain traffic (especially bittorrent), or block it entirely. Normally this would be done by classifying the traffic on the canonical port numbers as bittorrent, and assigning it to the bulk queue. However, the end user may not desire that, and so may configure bittorrent to talk on a different port. This is a perfect example of an “insider threat”, though not a particularly malicious one.\\n21.2.3 Encapsulation\\nA similar issue exists with encapsulation within another protocol, especially HTTP/HTTPS. Although normal HTTP requests for HTML documents are considered essential to business and not a significant network security threat, there are other data transfers done through HTTP, such as WebDAV or streaming media or especially skype, which may have significantly different or unknown security implications. Or the system may be too new to know to the administrator’s satisfaction; security is a process of breaking systems and learning about the flaws we find. Thus “new” means we’re just starting to learn about it, but it does not mean that the security is worse, or that we know less about it than some older system. Take care that you don’t get so lazy that new becomes synonymous with risk, or that risk means undesirable; it may well be that the upside potential is greater than the downside, or that the goodwill it earns you with the users is worth the risk of more security incidents; it all depends on your resources, risk tolerance, consequences of a security breach, and other non-technical factors.\\n21.2.4 Possible Solutions\\nI suspect that the solution to this mess is twofold; first, we do our network data inspection prior to encryption, which means on the sending machine, where that is possible. It is logical (or at least common) to trust such systems more than systems without such a host-based agent, and to trust those more than systems belonging to other parties (e.g. an ISP’s customers or a business partner), and to trust those less than systems belonging to unidentified parties (wifi, Internet).\\nThe second prong would be network security systems which look at network traffic and classify the protocol in use based on the data it contains (like fingerprinting a network service, or like using file(1) to identify what kind of data a file contains). It is not necessary to narrow it down to one protocol; if we say that a certain network flow has permission to pass through the firewall to host X Y or Z, then the stream can be treated as though it had the intersection of the permissions for all possible protocols. For example, if FTP should never pass to anything but port 21, and HTTP can pass only to hosts X and Z, then a stream which may be either may only pass to port 21 on hosts X and Z; this convention prevents violation of any network flow security policy. If our classification is only guesswork, then we need not be so strict, because we can’t end up with more certainty than we started, and it may be reasonable to allow the union of all permissions (so as to avoid stopping legitimate traffic), or some other combination.\\n21.3 Brute-Force Defenses\\nBrute-force attacks simply try common passwords and other identifiers. They are a major nuisance on the net right now. They are primarily focused at SSH and email services, where users may choose their own passwords. Brute-forcing is usually ineffective at systems which use cryptographic keys to protect a service (see 11.9↑ ).\\n21.4 Federated Defense\\nIf the same intruder tried something malicious against one machine, and you control two of them, wouldn’t it be prudent to block access to both machines instead of just the one? The same goes with sites, or corporations. DenyHosts ( http://denyhosts.sourceforge.net/ ) can be used in this mode, but I don’t know of any other federated defense systems.\\n21.5 VLANs Are Not Security Technologies\\n21.6 Advanced Network Security Technologies\\nVery cool, but not for the novice. I will annotate these links later.\\nPort Scan Auto Detector ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/psad/ ) is a Linux tool that allows you to detect port scans and block them, even if the firewall blocked all of the packets in the scan.\\nThe fwsnort program ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/fwsnort/ ) takes snort rules and generates iptables log file patterns which would detect the same things as snort would, but works whether or not iptables blocks the packets.\\nThe fwknop program ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/fwknop/ ) allows you to do single-packet authentication (SPA), which is like port knocking, on Linux-based systems.\\nThe Dynamic Firewall Daemon ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/dfd/ ) allows you to programmatically access and change firewall rules.\\nThe grok project ( http://www.semicomplete.com/projects/grok/ ) parses files and automagically blocks malicious hosts.\\n22 Email Security\\n22.1 Unsolicited Bulk Email: Email Spam\\nSpamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam and junk fax transmissions.\\n-- Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_ )\\nEvery program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.\\n-- Zawinski’s Law ( http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/Z/Zawinskis-Law.html )\\nFiltering happens as or after the message has been accepted. There are many kinds of filtering.\\nHow to Beat an Adaptive Spam Filter ( http://www.jgc.org/SpamConference011604.pps )\\nSignature Matching\\nLooks for certain signatures of spam and filters them out.\\nBayesian Filtering\\ncrm114 ( http://crm114.sourceforge.net/ )\\nLimitations\\nOnce you’ve accepted an email, it’s on your system. If you now decide it’s spam, you can either choose to drop it silently (incurring the possibility of silent failures for false positives) or bounce it possibly causing backscatter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_%28e-mail%29 ).\\nWith Bayesian filtering, spammers increasingly just add a bunch of non-spammy words to their email. It looks like gibberish.\\n22.1.2 Throttling and Delays\\nGreylisting is my favorite anti-spam technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylisting )\\nLimitations\\nSpammers just wait a while and retry from the same IP address. Hopefully by that time, they’re blacklisted.\\nThere are incompatible senders - for example, they may try delivery once and that’s it, or many systems may work from the same queue and thus the same IP will never retry the send.\\n22.1.3 Blocking Known Offenders\\nDNS blacklisting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNSBL )\\nLimitations\\nWhere’s the money in keeping such lists up to date, and defending against spammer lawsuits?\\n22.1.4 Authentication for Sending Email\\nSMTP-AUTH email authentication ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMTP-AUTH )\\nThis makes people prove who they are before they are allowed to send mail via SMTP.\\n22.1.5 Network-Level Authentication Techniques\\nSender Policy Framework ( http://www.openspf.org/ )\\nDomain Keys Identified Mail ( http://www.dkim.org/ ) helped to knock E-Bay and Paypal down from being the number one phishing target\\nThese are designed to prove that one’s email is legitimately from your organization, but do not actually say anything about whether it is spam or not.\\n22.1.6 Message-Level Authentication Techniques\\nS/MIME ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME )\\nThese prove that an email is from an individual, but do not actually say anything about whether it is spam or not.\\nJeremiah Grossman’s blog ( http://jeremiahgrossman.blogspot.com/ )\\nZalweski’s Browser Security Handbook ( http://code.google.com/p/browsersec/ )\\n23.2 Indirect Browser Attacks\\nThere are many attacks which don’t try to execute arbitrary code in the browser, but instead attack the logic in the browser in order to get the browser to do something for the user which the user didn’t intend. This is a specific instance of something called the confused deputy problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confused_deputy_problem ), first described by Norm Hardy.\\n23.2.1 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)\\nA good example of the confused deputy problem is cross-site request forgery, also known as CSRF ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSRF ), where the user’s browser is tricked into visiting a URL for a site, and if the user’s cookies are sufficient to authorize the request (i.e. they are logged in at that moment), then the user has actually authorized something without knowing it.\\n23.2.2 Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)\\nA similar attack is Cross-Site Scripting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_site_scripting ), also known as XSS. In this, the adversary tricks a web site that you trust into displaying some malicious HTML. That is, it exploits your trust for the website, by getting his attack code to appear on the trusted website. This is a good example of a possible vulnerability in giving some subjects more privileges than others; the adversary may be able to masquerade as the privileged entity (i.e. by doing DNS hijacking and presenting a fake SSL certificate), or in this case trick it into doing his bidding.\\nThis attack is particularly devastating due to the same origin policy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_origin_policy ), which states that code displayed from one origin can do whatever it wants to the HTML that comes from the same origin. In effect, it gives an attacker near-total control of what happens on that site in the user’s browser, allowing him to steal cookies, capture login credentials, and so on. In fact, it completely neutralizes any CSRF countermeasures the site may deploy.\\nThis attack is often used for credential theft.\\nStay Ahead of Web 2.0 Worms - XSS Marks the Spot ( http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/01/07/xss_tactics_strategy/ )\\nRsnake’s XSS filter evasion ( http://ha.ckers.org/xss.html )\\n23.2.3 Session Fixation\\nWikipedia article on Session Fixation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_fixation )\\nRsnake points out that session fixation could be its own class of attack, as I have indicated here, but that it usually occurs in the context of a cross-site scripting attack.\\n23.2.4 UI Attacks\\nThese attacks focus on tricking the user by manipulating what he or she sees on the screen.\\nClickjacking ( http://www.sectheory.com/clickjacking.htm ), another instance of confused deputy problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confused_deputy_problem )\\n23.5 Crawler Attacks\\nCrawlers and indexers can be vulnerable to parsing and codec overflows. And if they follow links, they can be tricked into executing some web-based attacks.\\n23.6 SSL Certificates Made Redundant\\nWe just certified our x.509 SSL certs with the Department of Redundancy Department’s CA certificate.\\nWhen you pay a Certification Authority [C] [C] They are a certification authority; not a certificate authority. They are not selling certificates, they are selling the certification process. Anyone can make a certificate. a large sum of money to certify you (and issue a certificate as a by-product of that certification process), they check your information against the system of record to make sure you are the person who owns the domain. Therefore, unless they check something else, they can never give higher assurance than the registrar, which makes you wonder why they even exist; you could just get a certificate from the registrar, and that would, in theory, give us more security. As Lynn Wheeler puts it, these are basically offline checks, derived from letters of credit ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_of_credit ) in the sailing ship days. They are significantly less secure than an online system. To allow for revocation, all clients must check them against a certificate revocation list (CRL). To allow for instant revocation, you have to be online with the source of the CRL. Of course, if you’re already doing that, why use certificates at all? Just ask the person who would have issued the certificate for the appropriate public key (see 11.6↑ ).\\n24 Software Security\\n24.1 Security is a Subset of Correctness\\nIf we make the (rather large) assumption that the design is secure, then one is left with implementation vulnerabilities. These are exploitable bugs. Correct code has no bugs. Thus, we should shoot for correct code, and we will get secure code as a happy side-effect. It is possible to design code so that you can formally verify correctness ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_verification ), but you cannot generally prove correctness for arbitrarily-structured programs.\\nAny software system which has not been proven correct may have implementation vulnerabilities. Put another way, any system which processes data which may be controlled or affected by the adversary could be compromised. This includes security monitoring systems; there have been a number of bugs in tcpdump’s decoding routines. If the system can be compromised non-interactively, then even a system which passively records data, and analyzes it offline, could be vulnerable.\\nCERT Secure Coding Standards ( http://www.securecoding.cert.org/ )\\n24.3 Malware vs. Data-Directed Attacks\\nEven though any software could have an implementation bug that causes it to be controlled remotely, a surprising amount of software can be controlled remotely by design. Files and data that are meant to be interpreted by such software are called active content, but it doesn’t mean that it has to be interpreted; one can still view it with a hex editor and do no interpretation whatsoever. Examples of active content include executable files, javascript, flash, Microsoft Office documents, and so forth. Many of these started with the assumption that the authors of such files would always be trustworthy, which eroded over time, until now people routinely download these things and run them without even realizing they are giving control of that software to an anonymous person.\\nWhen active content is malicious, it is called malware. When someone exploits software that doesn’t normally allow the data to control it, it is called a data-directed attack. Computer security experts typically have a very good understanding of the difference, and so don’t bother to check documents with anti-virus software unless they use a program which offers control to the document. People act like working with computer virii is risky, but it’s a bit like working with E. Coli; you simply make sure never to ingest it, and you’re fine. And computers only do the things we tell them to, so there’s no risk of accidentally ingesting it if you know what you’re doing.\\n24.4.1 C\\nC is one the most difficult language in which to write secure code. The primary culprits in this language are:\\nThe lack of standard buffer management routines leads to buffer overflows (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_overflow ).\\nThere are also format string attacks (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_string_attack ) which deal with being able to control the format string to sprintf and the fact that it can do some weird things when used in bad ways.\\nThe string handling routines are notoriously tricky to get right (not to mention not being 8-bit clean, since they treat \\\\0 as a sentinel value). There is an explanation of the gotchas and an attempt to deal with the trickiness problem by writing easier-to-use routines such as strlcat and strlcpy (see http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix99/millert.html ). Please, every C programmer go read that. Also you may wish to take advantage of the astring library (see http://www.mibsoftware.com/libmib/astring/ ).\\nI would argue that unless there’s a good reason for you to use C, you should use C++ instead.\\n24.4.2 C++\\nC++ is definitely a step up from C. Strings are no longer character arrays, but now first-class objects, making their handling significantly better. Most flaws in C++ code that are dependent on the language tend to be:\\nDynamic memory allocation and deallocation problems, leading to heap mismanagement, double-free, and possibly heap overflows\\nPointer mismanagement\\nI would argue that unless there’s a good reason for you to use C++, you should use Java or Python instead.\\n24.4.3 Perl\\nPerl is a pretty good tool, but it has some shortcomings as well:\\nThe file open call lets you specify a mode in the same parameter as the filename. In most cases, if an attacker can control which file was intended to be opened, he can also start a shell pipeline. This is what happens when you mix control and data together.\\nThe system command and backticks provide an easy way for the adversary to do shell injection.\\n24.4.4 PHP\\nPHP is incredibly difficult to write securely and yet very popular. There have been many security-relevant bugs found in the language itself, and every day seems to be a new vulnerability in PHP code.\\nI won’t go into details here right now but let’s just say that you should start with register_globals and allow_url_fopen turned off in your configuration files.\\n24.5 Reverse Engineering\\nReverse engineering is similar to forensics, except that in forensics you’re looking for evidence, usually data left over by a person, whereas a reverse engineer seeks to understand a system or program in question.\\n24.5.1 Tutorials\\nSo far, all I’ve read is Fravia’s tutorials (You can find an archive of Fravia’s tutorials here: http://web.archive.org/web/20041119084104/http://fravia.anticrack.de/ ).\\n24.5.2 Analyses\\nSilver Needle in the Skype ( http://www.secdev.org/conf/skype_BHEU06.pdf ) is an awesome paper that shows what a talented reverse engineer can do.\\n24.6 Application Exploitation\\nFor arbitrary code execution (the worst kind of vulnerability), one method is to get executable code, such as shellcode ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellcode ) into the memory space of the process. This is called code injection ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_injection ). This can happen through a buffer overflow or a similar technique, such as passing it in an environment variable. Then, transfer control to it by overwriting a function pointer, GOT entry, or return address on the stack. That’s it.\\nThere are other forms of vulnerabilities; in some cases, the attacker controls the instructions but not the data (see 24.6.2↓ below), and in other cases, the data but not the instructions (see.\\n24.6.4 SQL Injection\\nThis is a slightly different class of attack, in that it doesn’t involve arbitrary code execution, but it is remarkably common at the moment (early 2010).\\nhttp://projects.webappsec.org/SQL-Injection\\n24.7 Application Exploitation Defenses\\nThere are a few systems for stopping exploitation without fixing the underlying problems, but obviously each has limitations.\\n24.7.1 Stack-Smashing Protection\\nStack-smashing protection is described pretty well on the Wikipedia page ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack-smashing_protection ) and its most obvious limitation is that it only works against stack buffer overflows. Particular defenses may have other drawbacks. I’ll expand on this later.\\n24.7.2 Address-Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)\\nIn the ASLR technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASLR ), the system lays out the regions of memory in an unpredictable way. This is usually done by loading different contiguous sections into different areas of address space at load time, and the loader fixes up the executable (usually via some kind of offset table that maps symbols to addresses) such that it can find other parts of itself. This means that an adversary may overflow a buffer, but they do not know a priori where it resides in memory, so can’t easily transfer control to it. The advantage to this is that you can often do it with a simple recompilation. The disadvantage is that the adversary can sometimes run the program over and over until he lucks out, or he may be able to use a memory disclosure vulnerability to figure out the correct address.\\n24.7.3 Write XOR Execute\\nIn some processor architectures, memory pages may have access control flags such as “writable” or “executable”. An operating system like OpenBSD may enforce W⊗X ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W^X ) which means that only one of the two flags may be set, so that an adversary may either be able to overflow a buffer, or execute its contents, but not both. The limitation is that the adversary may be able to find a way to write to the buffer and then change the flag to be executable, or that he may not need to run arbitrary code, merely to pass data under his control to an existing routine.\\n24.7.4 PaX\\nPaX flags data memory as non-executable, program memory as non-writable and randomly arranges the program memory. This effectively prevents many security exploits, such as some kinds of buffer overflows. The former prevents direct code execution absolutely, while the latter makes so-called return-to-libc (ret2libc) attacks difficult to exploit, relying on luck to succeed, but doesn’t prevent variables and pointers overwriting.\\n-- Wikipedia\\n24.8 Software Complexity\\n24.8.1 Complexity of Network Protocols\\nWhen evaluating the security of a network application, a good question is how likely is the software to lead to a remotely exploitable compromise? How much code is devoted to interpreting it, and how much other stuff does it interact with? For example, the reason why packet filters are valuable is that it doesn’t take much code to check that a packet isn’t allowed in. This basically is a question designed to evaluate design vulnerabilities. Protocol-level design vulnerabilities are often more obvious than implementation vulnerabilities because simple protocols have less to understand than the source code of the programs that speak them, but only if the protocol is documented. If you have to extract it from source code alone (or worse, reverse-engineer it from executables), then this is more difficult. Of course, if the designers hadn’t thought of the protocol design before writing code, then it probably has plenty of holes. A fellow with the handle “Hobbit” wrote a paper Common Insecurities Fail Scrutiny ( http://insecure.org/stf/cifs.txt ) that details a number of flaws he found in the Microsoft NetBIOS file sharing protocols. Later, a Microsoft representative asked (in mild awe) how he found them, and his response was effectively that he didn’t use their toolset. He reverse-engineered the whole thing from scratch, and that allowed him to see the protocol as it really was, and not as their software intended it to be. This illustrates an interesting point in that software or incomplete descriptions of things can color one’s view of it, and prevent you from seeing something that someone with a lower-level view can see. But really the problem seems to be that the protocol had grown organically and was without coherent design and only appeared secure due to obscurity. To this day, it is considered unsafe to allow an adversary to talk to NetBIOS services.\\nThe only solution seems to be to design the protocol independent of the software, because it represents an attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) that requires analysis. Just because your software doesn’t generate a particular message sequence doesn’t mean an adversary will not! Adversaries are not kind enough to always use our tools.\\n24.8.2 Polymorphism and Complexity\\nIn order to allow any computer to access things on the web, it was decided to allow a restricted character set in HTTP. For example, if your computer could not properly transmit a tilde, or store a file with a tilde in the name, it could use what is called “URI escaping”. In URI escaping, the tilde is %7F, and the space character is %20. This seemed like a good idea for interoperability, but has actually made intrusion detection more complex and less reliable, and it has also become a security problem in a number of cases. The basic problem is that there’s more than one representation (syntax, or encoding) for some meanings (semantics), so it is called polymorphic. So if some piece of software wants to make sure a string that will be URI-decoded doesn’t contain a character (such as a space), it also has to make sure it doesn’t contain the URI-escaped version of it (%20). These sorts of checks end up all over the place, and sooner or later a programmer is going to forget about it, and you’ll end up with a security hole.\\nThe only solution seems to be to either avoid polymorphism, avoid having special characters which will need to be checked for, or to come up with a software design that makes sure that you always work with the canonical representation of your data.\\n24.9 Failure Modes\\nA piece of software, subsystem, or component may fail to do its job properly for various reasons. Its failure mode is the implication of that failure. Sometimes we may classify these failures as erring on the side of safety or security, which is known as fail-safe or fail-secure ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail-safe ). Sometimes the result is safe but not secure, like a door held closed by electromagnetism; in the event of a power failure, it becomes unlocked, which is safe (to people) but not secure (to whatever the door protects). [D] [D] For some wonderful information on safety engineering, see the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_engineering\\n“There is no limit to stupidity.”\\n-- Dario V. Forte\\nUnderstanding Scam Victims: Seven Principles for Systems Security ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-754.pdf )\\n25.3 Security Should Be Obvious, and the Default\\nBy several of the security design principles described later (see 34↓ ):\\nIf code compiles, the programmer assumes he is done. So design security APIs that you can’t successfully compile unless you get it right.\\nIf the end user might want something to not be secure, make that harder than normal secure configuration. For example, don’t turn NFS or any other service on by default.\\nMake security obvious to the end user; the padlock icons and things of that nature are a good idea. Make the not-secure state as obvious as the secure state, so the user knows which he is in.\\n25.4 Security Should Be Easy to Use\\nAlma Whitten, Why Johnny Can’t Encrypt: A Usability Evaluation of PGP 5.0 ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~tygar/papers/Why_Johnny_Cant_Encrypt/OReilly.pdf , http://gaudior.net/alma/johnny.pdf )\\n25.5 No Hidden Data\\nIn tar files, they store the user and group IDs. When system administrator untars these, they remain owned by those UIDs even when the machines making and using the tarfile were not the same. For widespread file distribution, one should not use a format that retains metadata that will not be useful between machines. At least one case of this being a security hole has been documented in a very silly way here:\\nhttp://attrition.org/security/advisory/gobbles/GOBBLES-16.txt\\nFurthermore, the lists of Iranians who helped the US in depose the Shah was revealed by a NY Times reporter who made the PDF available. He had blocked out the names, but on a different layer. On some slow computers, you could read the names before the layer with the blocks loaded:\\n26.1 Attack Taxonomy\\nlogic level attacks are usually against applications. For example, a banking application may allow you to transfer a negative amount of money to someone without getting their permission (this is not a made-up example).\\napplication protocol level attacks are against the daemon itself, by doing things in an unexpected order, or by in some way violating the intent of the protocol. For example, a daemon may be vulnerable if a string in the attack is too long. Protocol fuzzing helps find these kinds of attacks.\\nnetwork protocol level attacks are against the network software (usually the TCP/IP stack), which may or may not be part of the operation system itself. Long ago, some TCP/IP stacks would stop working if you sent it a packet with the same source and destination IP address (this was called the “land” attack).\\nidentity spoofing attacks simply try to get access as a legitimate user\\nauthorization attacks try to do more with a legitimate user’s privileges than was intended by the owner\\nman in the middle attacks involve interposing between two parties that are communicating normally (see 10.9↑ )\\n26.2 Attack Properties\\nAll attacks are not created equal. They may sometimes be grouped together in various ways, though, and so that leads us to ask whether there are any dimensions, or characteristics, by which we may classify known attacks.\\naccess required to execute the attack varies; some attacks require a system account, while others can be exploited by anyone on the Internet.\\ndetectability usually means that the attack involves a non-standard interaction with us, and therefore involves something which we could (in theory) look for and recognize. Passive attacks, typically eavesdropping, are very difficult or impossible to detect.\\nrecoverability refers to whether we may, after detecting or suspecting an attack, restore the state of the system to a secure one. Usually once an adversary has complete control of a system, we cannot return it to a secure state without some unusual actions, because they may have tampered with any tools we may be using to inspect or fix the system.\\npreventability refers to whether there exists a defense which allows us to prevent it, or whether we must be content with detecting it. We can sometimes prevent attacks we cannot detect; for example, we can prevent someone from reading our wireless transmissions by encrypting them properly, but we can’t usually detect whether or not any third party is receiving them.\\nscalability means the same attack will probably work against many systems, and does not require human effort to develop or customize for each system.\\noffline exploitability means that the attack may be conducted once but exploited several times, as when you steal a cryptographic key.\\nsophistication refers to the property of requiring a great deal of skill, versus an unsophisticated attack like guessing a password to a known system account.\\nMuch of this list is thanks to the Everest voting machine report ( http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/info/EVEREST/14-AcademicFinalEVERESTReport.pdf ).\\nPutting a key in a smart card or TPM or HSM prevents it from being copied and reused later, offline, but it doesn’t prevent it from being abused by the adversary while he has control of its inputs. For example, a trojan can submit bogus documents to a smart card to have them signed, and the user has no way of knowing. Similarly, sometimes techniques like putting passphrases on SSH keys can prevent them from being stolen right away, requiring a second visit (or at least an exfiltration at a later date). However, each interaction with the system by the adversary risks detection, so he wants to do so once only, instead of multiple times.\\nFor example, your adversary could pilfer your SSL cert, and then use it to create a phishing site (see 22.2↑ ) elsewhere. This is a single loss of confidentiality, then an authentication attack (forgery) not against you, but against your customers (third parties). Or he could pilfer your GPG key, then use it to forge messages from you (a similar detectable attack) or read your email (passive attack, undetectable). Or he might break in, wanting to copy your SSH key, find that it’s encrypted with a passphrase, install a key logger, and come back later to retrieve the passphrase (two active attacks). Alternately, the key logger could send the data out automatically (exfiltration).\\nThis is well discussed in the canonical system-cracking book, Hacking Exposed.\\nFootprint - gather information about the target without touching the target\\nScan - identify live targets and services\\nEnumerate - obtain as much information as you can from the system\\nExploit - crack into the system\\nEscalate Privileges - if you aren’t already all-powerful, try and become root or Administrator (or whatever)\\nPilfering - using your maximum privileges, look for things of value, like saved passwords or access codes\\nAfter all that, you’ll probably be able to use that system as an attack platform (this is sometimes called pivoting off the host), repeating steps 2-6 on another target.\\n26.4 Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification\\nMitre’s CAPAC ( http://capec.mitre.org/ )\\n27 Trust and Personnel Security\\n27.1 Trust and Trustworthiness\\nIn my view, to have real trust, there must be consequences for betrayal. The extent of the consequences defines the extent of trust.\\n-- Terry Ritter (personal correspondence)\\nTerry and I disagree on our definition of the word “trust”, but there is some truth in what he says. A trusted person is one upon whom our security depends. A trusted part of a system is one which must operate properly to ensure the security of the system. A trustworthy person will look out for your interests even though there would be no consequences if they did not do so (apart from the effect it would have on their conscience and your relationship); in fact, a completely trustworthy person would never betray your interests regardless of the consequences to himself. In any case, trust depends on free will; a person may be trustworthy or untrustworthy, but a business or organization cannot, because they do not make decisions; people within them do. Executives of a publicly-owned corporation are legally liable if they make decisions that they know will not maximize shareholder profit, which generally means that they usually act in the corporation’s financial self-interest, which may diverge from yours. Unfortunately, some people are also like this.\\nAs a consequence of this, corporations routinely breach the privacy of customers and third parties by discarding hard drives with their data on it (A Remembrance of Data Past, http://www.computer.org/portal/cms_docs_security/security/v1n1/garfinkel.pdf ). They almost never take the time to encrypt laptop hard drives, even though that software is totally free (see 28.7.5↓ ). Thus, it is often desirable to use take measures to ensure that the other party’s interest and your own overlap as much as possible, and to minimize your dependence on them when your interests diverge. Now would be a good time to re-evaluate anywhere your security relies on a publicly-held corporation, especially when it is a free service.\\nSome people would think that paying money is enough, but it may not be; that kind of reasoning (that you can buy security) may work in practice but is not the kind of argument that an “absolute security” person would make (see 35.2↓ ). Would you trust your life to someone merely because you paid them? You would probably want to know if they are qualified, if they are a sociopath, and a number of other things.\\n27.2 Who or What Are You Trusting?\\nI may know a person who is trustworthy; my grandmother, my friend, or someone else. But in network security, our trust decisions are based on their agents, specifically their computer. In that case, to trust the computer, not only must the person be trustworthy, but they must also be competent enough that their computer does only what they desire it to do. That is simply not often the case except among computer security experts. When someone emails me an executable program to run, I do not run it unless I am expecting it, because too many people’s computers get infected with email viruses that use email to propagate themselves. Again, the person’s computer is not doing what the person wanted in this case. I may receive a cryptographically-signed email from a person, but there are a number of ways that they might not have authorized the signature on the contents:\\nThey failed to protect the confidentiality of their private key\\nThey lost control of their system when someone hacked in\\nTheir system’s integrity was lost when someone modified their message after composition but prior to signing\\nThey made a mistake operating the crypto software\\nThey failed to maintain physical security of their system, and someone installed a keylogger (and procured a copy of their passphrase-protected private key)\\n27.3 Code Provenance: Signed Programs and Trusted Authors\\nNo signature? No execute!\\n-- Mike Acker\\nMost people who aren’t as well-versed in security as we are often mistakenly believe that one can ensure security by only running a small, fixed list of programs that are presumed to be safe, or only visiting certain well-known web sites. You should first remember that the mere fact that something is dangerous to process suggests that our systems may not be properly designed in the first place, but operating systems which don’t allow us to run new programs are pretty boring, so let’s discuss the limitations of author policies. Even a well-known web site can be vulnerable to cross-site scripting (see 23.2↑ ), where they display potentially-malicious content which they did not create. What, exactly, is the criteria to determine if an author, program, or web site is safe or unsafe (see 4.1↑ )?\\nMicrosoft has developed several signed ActiveX controls which turned out to be exploitable ( http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/753044 , http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/713779 http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/999 ), so if you indicated that you trusted anything signed by Microsoft, any other programs could call these controls to violate your security. IBM was discovered recently by eEye to have a similarly buggy ActiveX control ( http://osdir.com/ml/security.vulnerabilities.watch.announce/2006-08/msg00005.html ). So clearly, even if the author is trustworthy, we cannot be sure the program cannot violate our security. Nor can we be sure that everyone in a given organization is trustworthy; surely in a company that size, someone is untrustworthy! Knowing who the author is helps, because it increases the likelihood of punishment or retaliation in the case of misbehavior, but can’t prevent incompetence. Signing code does not make it secure; even with signed code, we still have to learn to create and maintain secure systems.\\nIn fact, it’s even worse than that. Some SSL certificates were issued in Microsoft’s name and authorized by VeriSign to an individual not associated with Microsoft ( http://www.csl.sri.com/users/neumann/insiderisks.html#132 ). So now, when you trust things signed by Microsoft, you’re also trusting things signed by some talented third party who isn’t afraid of committing some fraud.\\nSince many commercial products link against libraries provided by other companies, simply having a signature doesn’t mean that company really wrote a particular piece of code. Similarly, many web sites use content derived from other sources, so the domain may tell us nothing about who created a particular image, or even web page. Did Youtube create all the video content on its site? If not, why should we trust (the motives of) the authors of that content as much as we trust (the motives of) the company that owns the servers and domain name?\\nLimiting our list of acceptable software authors to a single company may help that company’s profits, but it won’t necessarily make us secure. One unasked question of signed code is “how do you know who to trust?”, and the answer to that is “those who are trustworthy and write secure code”. The more important unasked question is “given that our software may be vulnerable, how do we know what is safe?”, but the answer is “until you enumerate all the vulnerabilities, you don’t” (see 4.1↑ ).\\n27.4 The Incompetence Defense\\nNever attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.\\n-- Hanlon’s Razor ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon )\\nAny sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.\\n-- Grey’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey )\\nSo suppose that due to a flaw in a vendor’s product, you suffered a serious intrusion. Since most pieces of commercial software come with end-user licensing agreements (EULA) that specifically disclaim any liability, what are you going to do? Even if you knew it was malice, you probably couldn’t prove it. This is an example where you are unable to apply the principle of removing excuses ( 34.13↓ ).\\n27.5 Limiting Damage Caused by Trusted People\\nAt first glance, it would seem that you could simply replace trusted people with computers. In fact, that often merely increases the number of trusted people; now you must trust the designers, implementers, programmers, installers, and administrators of the hardware, software, and network. There are however a few steps you can take to limit damage caused by trusted people:\\nLimit how many people have access. This is the Principle of Minimal Assumptions (see 34.3↓ ).\\nLimit how much access each person has according to the Principle of Least Privilege (see 34.1↓ ).\\nSplit the security operation between two or more people. This is the Principle of Split Control (see 34.9↓ ).\\nTry to establish whether the trusted people are trustworthy. This includes various kinds of background checks. This is the Principle of Personality (see 34.16↓ ).\\nDetect breaches of trust and prosecute offenders. This is the Principle of Retaining Control (see 34.15↓ ).\\nPay key people well; try to make all employees happy and loyal. Make sure that the trusted few have fates that are tied in with that of the company, perhaps by generous stock options. Avoid making people disgruntled. Have a sensible Human Resources policy.\\n28 Cryptography\\nCrypto ergo sum.\\nIf you have any questions about cryptologic terms, first check Terry Ritter’s excellent glossary: http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/GLOSSARY.HTM\\nYou may also wish to view Peter Gutmann’s “Godzilla Crypto Tutorial”: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/tutorial/\\nA Survey of the Mathematics of Cryptography ( http://crypto.cs.mcgill.ca/~gsavvi1/547/gebbie.pdf )\\n28.1 Things To Know Before Doing Crypto\\nThe ratio of unique Greek symbols to numerical constants in any scientific equation is inversely proportional to the comprehensibility.\\n-- Dolan’s Law\\nAnd, directly proportional to the strength of the argument of the said scientific equation.\\n-- Klofa’s Corollary\\n28.1.1 Dramatis Personae\\nFor the purposes of cryptologic discussions, Alice, Bob, and Charlie are the canonical names of the usual, friendly, players.\\nBy convention, when an imaginary cryptographic adversary is only capable of passive attacks (eavesdropping), the adversary is named Eve. When the imaginary adversary is capable of modifying data, the adversary is named Mallory.\\nNow that we’re naming imaginary adversaries, you can see how this may lead to paranoid delusions.\\n28.1.2 Cryptologic Jargon\\nA computationally-bounded adversary has limits to the amount of computation he or she can perform. There is no hard limit defined for this, but for right now (2007) perhaps something on the order of 232 or 264 cryptographic operations might be reasonable. Basically we usually assume this so that we can talk about systems without having to worry about brute-force attacks.\\nThus, for most systems, we talk about a computationally-secure level of security, which would be useful against a computationally-bounded adversary. There is a “perfect” security, which is the information-theoretic level of security, but it doesn’t get much discussion because it’s trivial and usually impractical, since the key for each message must be as long as the message you wanted to send.\\nAn oracle is something which can perform a cryptographic operation on your behalf, when you cannot do so yourself.\\nAn interrogative adversary may ask your system for answers, using it as an oracle.\\nSemantic security applies to asymmetric crypto systems, and holds true when a computationally-bounded adversary cannot obtain any information when given an encrypted message and the public key it was encrypted with.\\nAn ephemeral key is one that you intend to use for a short period of time. For example, it could be the symmetric key used to encrypt a packet of data, or a single message. In security protocols, these are often negotiated, or derived by consensus between the endpoints.\\nForward Secrecy (or security) means that a compromise of a private key today won’t reveal the negotiated message keys of prior communications; as soon as the conversation is done and the ephemeral keys are wiped, nobody can decrypt the old conversation. Though the term is controversial, in one case Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) goes a step further and says this holds true if an older negotiated key will not be compromised even if the negotiated keys are derived from the same long-term keying material. These are sometimes refered to as time-compartmentalized protocols. This can also apply to cryptographically-strong pseudo-random number generators, where compromise of the seed at a given time will not allow the adversary to know the previous values it contained.\\n28.1.3 Historical Use of Cryptography\\nHistorically, if one physically controlled the communication lines (linesec - see 32.1↓ ), one generally didn’t worry about cryptography. The historical practical use of cryptography was in messages to embassies, which might be intercepted. Then it was used in telegraphic communication where the lines may be subject to eavesdropping. Then it was used in radio communication. Now it is used in wifi networks.\\nThere was a time when people thought that switches would control security sufficiently that they didn’t have to encrypt data on their LAN; however, tools like dsniff (see 10.9.3↑ ) have demonstrated that to have been ignorance on the part of network engineers.\\nHowever, this is changing. Now, powerful cryptographic systems are available for many kinds of computer-to-computer communication. In fact, most secure distributed systems for use over the Internet involve cryptographic protocols. The ubiquity of the software is demonstrating a trend towards encrypting everything. For example, most system administrators use SSH to control remote systems, even if they are located on a local LAN.\\n28.1.4 How Strong Should My Cryptography Be?\\nAs always, I think the right rule is “encrypt until it hurts, then back off until it stops hurting”.\\n-- Perry Metzger (correspondence to cryptography mailing list)\\nNobody knows for sure how much is enough. What seemed good enough yesterday is not today, and might not actually have been yesterday. How much can you afford? How much would it cost you if it were broken?\\nIf you don’t have linesec (see 32.1↓ ), then a common assumption is that the adversary may eavesdrop on your communication. And if the adversary can eavesdrop, they can record encrypted conversations. Then, if your cryptography turns out to be weak, or your random number generation turns out to be weak (see 30.6↓ ), your communications are disclosed retroactively.\\nIn other words, you can’t just fix your cryptography when it is found to be broken; a prudent designer will build in more cryptographic strength than he needs to prevent against future developments in cryptography.\\n28.1.5 Key Lengths\\nKey lengths between different algorithms are not directly comparable. Definitely not between public-key and secret-key; they tend to be orders of magnitude different.\\nhttp://www.keylength.com\\n28.1.6 Eight Bit Clean Handling\\nCryptographic keys, encrypted messages, and many other crypto products are binary data. This means that they may contain characters such as 0x00, which means that you can’t store them in normal C strings. What you really need is an eight-bit clean data path. That means no sentinels; instead, you need buffers with associated size fields in order to handle this.\\n28.1.7 Encoding Binary Data\\nThere are tricks such as using hexadecimal or base64, but please don’t do this in your code because you’ll waste time encoding and decoding every time the data is handled. On the other hand, encoding in hex or base64 is great for giving to humans or pasting into email or any other mostly-text channel, since that channel is likely to NOT be 8-bit clean. I personally prefer hex when giving keys to people, and base64 when giving a computer big blobs of encrypted data (i.e. via XML or HTTP).\\n28.1.8 Avoiding Ambiguity\\nAnother potential problem comes when we try to combine cryptographic data with other data, or combine datums prior to feeding it to a cryptographic algorithm. In either case, to remain secure, we want an unambiguous representation of the combined data. For example, if we want to digitally sign two datums, “12” and “3”, we can’t just concatenate them; otherwise, the code doesn’t know whether we signed “12” and “3” or “1” and “23”. This sounds obvious but perhaps a real-world example will illustrate the trickiness.\\nThere was a Wordpress 2.5 vulnerability lately where they took the user’s name, appended a timestamp in seconds since the epoch, and then encrypted it to create a login authenticator. Unfortunately, this means you could create an account named “admin0”, and you get an authenticator. Next, you try to be admin, provide the same authenticator, and after removing the prospective user’s name, the extra zero becomes part of the timestamp. So here the parser could not tell between the two cases.\\nWordpress 2.5 cookie integrity protection vulnerability ( http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2008/04/25/wordpress-25-cookie-integrity-protection-vulnerability/ )\\nFurthermore, most cryptographic data can hold any value, making it tricky to combine it (see 28.1.7↑ ). Thus, you can’t just stick a weird character like NUL (0x00) between two cryptographic results and be sure that it will decode properly, because any character might be valid inside the results of a cryptographic operation. There are ways of encoding data unambiguously, however, and we will cover that in a later section (see 28.5.5↓ ).\\n28.1.9 End-to-End vs. Hop-by-Hop\\nIn courses or books about networking, they often study the ISO OSI model [E] [E] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model . This model shows that it is possible to think about networking between two entities at multiple levels. This is relevant to cryptography as well. For example, wireless networks (so-called wifi or WLAN networks) are sometimes secured with cryptography in the form of WEP [F] [F] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy or WPA [G] [G] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access . These encrypt the network data at the link layer, or the radio link between a wifi client and the wifi access point. In networking parlance, only the first hop is protected. When the cryptographic protections are strong enough, this secures the data between these two nodes, but it does not protect the application-layer data if it travels beyond the WLAN. That is, if you sit in a coffee shop and use your laptop to access a web site on another continent, your data is not protected once it passes the access point and goes across the Internet at large. To do that, you need encryption at a higher level. A common way to protect this data is using TLS [H] [H] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security , historically called SSL. In this case, the data is protected from your browser to the secure web site.\\nHowever, even this can sometimes be seen as hop-by-hop security. For example, if that web site passes the data to another web site, that link would need to be secured. Also, if it communicates that data to another server, for example a credit card payment gateway, it is not protected by TLS (that was the point of protocols such as SET [I] [I] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_electronic_transaction ). If using only TLS, one would desire the second link to be secured as well. In fact, if the web server stores your credit card information in a database, one could consider the database, and not the web server, as the true endpoint of the communication.\\nThat is not the only case where layers of software and hardware come into the equation. For example, if one wanted to encrypt data on disk, you could do your encryption in the operating system right before data is written to disk (see 28.7↓ ), in the database software, or in the application (for example, in GPG [J] [J] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard ). Encrypting at the database or operating system level allows the data to be intercepted on the way down the stack towards these lower levels; encrypting in the application leaves the smallest attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) available to the adversary. However, one should remember that it often requires administrator-level privileges to intercept this data, and in this case the adversary with administrator privileges could, in theory, peek at the data inside the application.\\nIn general, end-to-end encryption is to be preferred to hop-by-hop encryption, because in hop-by-hop encryption one relies on more systems to be secure than in end-to-end encryption, and often, there are different opinions on what constitutes the endpoint of the communication.\\n28.2 Limits of Cryptography\\nSecure web servers are the equivalent of heavy armored cars. The problem is, they are being used to transfer rolls of coins and checks written in crayon by people on park benches to merchants doing business in cardboard boxes from beneath highway bridges. Further, the roads are subject to random detours, anyone with a screwdriver can control the traffic lights, and there are no police.\\n-- Eugene Spafford ( http://homes.cerias.purdue.edu/~spaf/quotes.html )\\n28.2.1 The Last Foot of the Communication\\nHumans are limited at cryptography and thus read and type plaintext to their computers (see 10.6↑ ). Thus, the protection stops where the encryption stops. We would normally want complete end-to-end encryption, so that it is protected the entire way; however, the endpoints are usually people, so we compromise by doing the encryption on a computer and decryption on another computer, leaving the last “hop” unprotected.\\nIf you wish to be able to effectively monitor what a computer user does, there isn’t a much better way than by being the administrator of the machine at which he sits, and relegating him to the role of “simple user”. This means that he is effectively unable to determine what activities are being monitored, and hampers his ability to communicate confidentially with a remote system (to include exfiltrating data). Even if it is impossible to prevent him from recognizing that he is being monitored, sudden changes in furtive activity correlated with other events may be very instructive. This is also one of the reasons why physical-layer side channel attacks (see 31.2.1↓ ) can be so devastating.\\nThis brings up an interesting point regarding personnel security, and that is that it is difficult (and very risky to attempt) to conspire with an anonymous monitor that you have never met. By having groups unknown to one another watch each other, you effectively inhibit their ability to conspire. By adding an element of doubt - for example, by making it known that you occasionally test the trustworthiness of personnel - you make it very risky to accept any conspiratorial proposals.\\n28.2.2 Limitations Regarding Endpoint Security\\nAnother issue is that if we are using cryptography to protect data communications, then we must consider strongly the endpoint security. Perhaps the most secure communication would be protected offline using a non-interactive cryptosystem (i.e. GPG), and transferred via sneakernet to a network-connected machine, and then transmitted. It could potentially be transmitted using an interactive protocol to prevent replay and such.\\nOf course, a person can be considered an endpoint as well, and untrustworthy people or rubber hoses may compromise the security of the messages.\\n28.2.3 The Secure Bootstrapping Problem\\nSuppose for a moment that you wanted to set up a computer to perform some cryptographic operation. You must purchase the computer hardware, download and install an operating system, and download and install the cryptographic software. You should be aware that each step in this process is susceptible to attack. For example, the motherboard could have a transmitter covertly placed in it, the operating system or cryptographic software could have a backdoor in it, etc. In some cases, the product of one step can be used to verify the integrity of the next step; for example, you may install Ubuntu as the operating system and Ubuntu can verify the integrity of a packaged OpenSSH binary to make sure it was not tampered with. However, it is difficult be sure that the original, untampered version of the software does not have a backdoor or security flaw. In general, it is difficult to determine whether a given component can be trusted unless you created it yourself.\\n28.2.4 Keys Must Be Exchanged\\nImagine that Alice wants to talk securely over the Internet to Bob. How can she verify Bob’s identity? If they don’t share any common information about themselves, Alice can’t identify Bob from some random person Charlie.\\nIf they pick a simple question about Bob’s life, someone might already know it (or be able to find it out), and they could only use it once before eavesdropper Eve learns the correct answer. Of course Bob would need to ask Alice something only she would know too, so it destroys two shared secrets in the process of being used.\\nGenerally, in order to be effective, they must share a secret (key), and they must not reveal that key to anyone else. Establishing this secret is the Achilles Heel of cryptography, and is discussed later (see 28.9.2↓ ).\\n28.2.5 In Practice\\nRoss Anderson has an excellent paper called Why Cryptosystems Fail ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/wcf.html ). The main point is that it’s not usually the cryptography that is broken, but rather some other part of the system.\\n28.2.6 The Complexity Trap\\nSecurity’s worst enemy is complexity.\\n-- The Complexity Trap, ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-IPsec.pdf )\\nFerguson and Schneier’s A Cryptographic Evaluation of IPsec ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-ipsec.pdf )captures the main argument against IPsec, which is that it is too complex. Alas, this may well be true of any protocol involving cryptography.\\n28.3 Cryptographic Algorithms\\nThe multiple human needs and desires that demand privacy among two or more people in the midst of social life must inevitably lead to cryptology wherever men thrive and wherever they write.\\n-- David Kahn\\nTheir proper use; what they guarantee, what they don’t. These are your building blocks. Already covered elsewhere (esp. Ritter’s crypto glossary, http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/GLOSSARY.HTM ).\\n28.3.1 Ciphers\\nThese are what most people think of when they think of cryptography. The cipher maps any single input (plaintext) to a single output (ciphertext) in a one-to-one manner. Ciphers are usually keyed, meaning the mapping is dependent on the key. The same key must be supplied to encrypt and decrypt in order to give the correct results. Except in very rare cases, the input and output must be of the same cardinality (number of possible values), and the cipher is one-to-one, so that you can encrypt anything and then decrypt it unambiguously.\\nAnother way of stating things which may appeal to the mathematicians out there is that a cipher defines a set of permutations, and each key selects one from that family. Thus, if we assume the key is fixed, the encryption function is a permutation of the inputs. For example, the input set may be the four possible symbols “A B C D”. One key could those symbols to “D A C B”, and another key might map them to “B D A C”. This means that ciphers are keyed permutations. You’ll often see something like EK(plaintext) which means that the author is considering the key K to be fixed.\\nFigure 1 Block Cipher Encryption\\nNow, if we think of all possible permutations of a set consisting of even 256 elements (input values), the number is the factorial of 256, which is very, very large:\\n857817775342842654119082271681232625157781520279485619\\n408424615936000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\\n000000000000000000000\\nObviously, we’d need a huge key to be able to select from all those permutations; a key with 256 bits in it will have many fewer values:\\n2 256 = 115792089237316195423570985008687907853269984665640564039457584007913129639936\\nSince modern block ciphers have block sizes in the 128-bit range, not 8 as above, you’ll see that the number of permutations for a modern-sized cipher input block will be so large that they exceed the number of atoms in the universe. Thus, a cipher defines a very small subset of all possible permutations.\\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher\\n28.3.2 Block Cipher vs. Stream Cipher\\nBlock ciphers operate on a block of text at once. In order to use one, you need to figure out a padding scheme to pad out to the next block boundary. Stream ciphers operate by generating a keystream of arbitrary length which is combined with the plaintext, usually by something simple like XOR.\\n28.3.3 Public-Key vs. Private-Key\\nUp until the 1970s, the only encryption algorithms publicly known were what we now call private key algorithms, which are also known as secret key or symmetric algorithms, because the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt.\\nThen, at several places within the same decade, various parties stumbled on public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric algorithms. These allow encryption to be performed with one key, and decryption to be performed with a different, but related key. In public-key cryptosystems, numerical methods are used to create a key pair; one of the keys is (perhaps confusingly) known as the private key, because you keep it private, and the other key is known as the public key. They are similar to what a chemist would call enantiomers (optical isomers), in that they are a structurally related, but not identical, pair. Others have compared them to a key and the lock which it opens.\\nA fairly important but subtle distinction between asymmetric algorithms and their symmetric counterparts is that it is always possible to derive a private key from a public key using numerical methods, but (barring any cryptanalytic shortcuts) a symmetric algorithm must be attacked by trying every possible key. Also, asymmetric algorithms are much, much slower than symmetric ones, so for practical key lengths, the asymmetric key algorithms tend to be weaker than symmetric ones.\\nThere is much to be said about the mathematical structures of public-key algorithms, and entire books have been written on single public-key cryptosystems. For that reason, I’m going to punt and refer you to other books for the deep math.\\n28.3.4 Cryptographic Hashes\\nFigure 2 Hash Functions\\nCryptographic hashes ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function ) basically model a random function. That is, each input, or pre-image, is mapped to an output value (known as the image) of some fixed length, and there is no apparent structure to this mapping. Note that they are very unlikely to be a one-to-one function; they are usually many-to-one. When two inputs map to the same output, that is called a collision. All hashes I am aware of have a fixed size, and so many are of the Merkle-Damgård construction ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle-Damgard ).\\nFigure 3 Merkle-Damgård Construction\\nYou use hashes where you want to represent a large thing with a fixed-size thing. For example a Cyclic Redundancy Check ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check ) may suffice.\\nYou use a cryptographic hash function when you want one of the following properties:\\ncollision resistance You cannot find two pre-images with the same image. That is, you cannot easily find x ≠ y such that h(x) = h(y).\\npreimage resistance Given the image, you cannot compute the pre-image. This is sometimes called the one-way property. That is, given hash z, you cannot find x such that h(x) = z.\\nsecond preimage resistance Given a pre-image, you cannot find another pre-image with the same image. You can call this the chosen-collision attack. Stated formally, given x, you cannot find x ≠ y such that h(y) = h(x).\\nIn practice, the first two properties are usually what you care about. At first I thought collision resistance implied second preimage resistance, but that’s not the case.\\nYou Can’t Hash Small Input Spaces\\nSuppose someone wanted to pick between two values, zero and one. Trying to put them through a one-way function, or hash, because the adversary can just try hashing all the possible values himself. Using a fixed, known IV doesn’t help, either, except to make most non-customized rainbow tables useless; the adversary can still hash each guess once and compare it to all the hash values. By varying the IVs, you make the adversary have to hash each unique IV with his guess, and compare against the hash values with the same IV.\\n28.3.5 Message Integrity Checks\\nWhen you send a message, sometimes you want to make sure that it arrived without alteration. This is called a Message Integrity Check, or MIC. Oftentimes, this is a simple cryptographic hash function (see 28.3.4↑ ). However, if you don’t need the security properties of cryptographic hashes - for example if you are not trying to protect against malicious tampering by an intelligent adversary, this can be wasteful. In those cases, you can use something as simple as a Cyclic Redundancy Check [K] [K] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check or a Universal Hash Function [L] [L] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_hashing .\\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_Integrity_Check\\n28.3.6 Message Authentication Codes\\nNote that if you want to transmit or store data and are concerned about malicious adversaries, you can’t just transmit or store a message integrity check in the same way you transmitted or stored the data itself; Mallory could just substitute her own data and calculate her own message integrity check. Or, she could flip some bits in a way that she knows doesn’t alter the checksum. What you’re really looking for is some kind of keyed checksum. We call this a Message Authentication Code, or MAC. They typically use a hash algorithm as a basis, and a secret key to compute the hash. This is almost like a digital signature, but we use the same key to create and verify the message, so it’s like the symmetric counterpart to the public-key digital signature, which uses different keys at each end.\\nHMAC\\nMany people have tried to construct these in the obvious ways, such as prepending a secret to the message, or appending it, or doing both, before hashing, and they’ve all been broken. What we’re left with was HMAC (see Figure 1):\\nHMACK = h((K⊗opad)||h(K⊗ipad)||m), where\\nopad = 0x5c5c5c...5c5c\\n28.3.7 Digital Signatures\\nWhile some lawmakers define a digital signature to mean any electronic means of saying “okay” to a document, cryptographers always mean a public-key signing algorithm. This is a way of using the private key of a key pair to sign data such that the public key can verify the signature.\\nWhat Does A Digital Signature Mean?\\nWith data structures, one must decide what to sign; if there is more than one way to represent the data, which one will you choose? Generally you need some kind of canonicalization and serialization and encoding (see 28.5.5↓ ).\\nWhat does it mean to sign some data in an application? What does it mean to sign data going between two points in a network? Should you protect the data in the application or at a lower level (see 28.1.9↑ )?\\nGenerally, a signature or HMAC attests to the integrity of the data between the point where it is signed to where it is verified. It usually does not mean that a person sent it to you; that is a mistake humans make that leads to the sign-then-encrypt problem (see 28.5.2↓ ).\\n28.4 Cryptographic Algorithm Enhancements\\nThese are basically slight changes to basic algorithms that are not cryptographic in themselves, but act as a defense against an analytical attack.\\n28.4.1 Block Cipher Modes\\nWikipedia on Block Cipher Modes of Operation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_cipher_modes_of_operation )\\nIn these sections, C is the ciphertext, P is the plaintext, K is the key, and i is the index of the block you are working on; by convention, we start numbering them with 1.\\nRegarding the block cipher block size, if you have a n bit block size, then you can only safely encrypt 2(n)/(2) blocks with the same key (this does not apply to ECB mode of course, which is weak after one block).\\nElectronic Code Book (ECB)\\nThis is the simplest mode; it is the mode most people think of when first doing encryption, and it is the only non-chained mode. In ECB, you simply encrypt each block of the plaintext with the key, and that forms the plaintext block. The trouble with ECB is that macroscopic patterns in the plaintext remain undisturbed in the ciphertext:\\nPlaintext image of Tux\\nImage of Tux encrypted in other (chained) modes\\nEncryption:\\nPropagating Cipher Block Chaining (PCBC)\\nEncryption:\\nCi = EK(Pi⊕Pi − 1⊕Ci − 1)\\nDecryption:\\nPi = DK(Ci)⊕(Pi − 1⊕Ci − 1)\\nCounter (CTR)\\nCTR mode turns a block cipher into a stream cipher. This is a very fast, easy to use block cipher mode that allows you to encrypt blocks in parallel, or (equivalently) to encrypt/decrypt blocks at random offsets within the stream, which might be useful for things like encrypted storage (however, there are better modes for that, since encrypted storage has different threat models than most encryption use cases; see 28.7↓ ).\\nEncryption:\\nc is an arbitrary constant\\nDecryption\\nPi = Ci⊕DK(c + i)\\nIn the case of c = 0, we are using the block number as a counter. It is, however, possible to chose any constant c. In some texts you will see them using a nonce concatenated with a counter, but this is equivalent to picking a non-zero c.\\nCipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code (CBC-MAC)\\nProvides authentication (not encryption) for a message. To perform CBC-MAC, you encrypt a message in CBC mode and take the last ciphertext block as your MAC.\\nWikipedia on CBC-MAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBC-MAC )\\nThe Security of the Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/research/tech-reports/1997/CSE-97-15.pdf )\\nCipher-Based MAC (CMAC)\\nThis algorithm also uses block ciphers to create a MAC.\\nWikipedia on CMAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMAC )\\nThis algorithm takes a block cipher and produces a MAC. Patent pending.\\nWikipedia on PMAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMAC_(cryptography) )\\nPMAC Homepage ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/ocb/pmac.htm )\\nCounter With CBC-MAC (CCM)\\nThis is an “authenticated encryption with associated data” mode, because it provides both authentication and encryption. It combines the CTR mode encryption with CBC-MAC to accomplish these goals. The third link below is the proof of security, based on the security of the underlying block cipher. It requires two block cipher operations per block of plaintext.\\nWikipedia on CCM ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCM_mode )\\nRFC 3610 on CCM with AES ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3610 )\\nOn the Security of CTR + CBC-MAC ( http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/BCM/documents/proposedmodes/ccm/ccm-ad1.pdf )\\nA Critique of CCM ( http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/BCM/documents/comments/800-38_Series-Drafts/CCM/RW_CCM_comments.pdf )\\nNIST Special Publication 800-38C ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38C/SP800-38C_updated-July20_2007.pdf )\\nCWC Mode\\nThis algorithm is also an authenticated encryption mode. The homepage claims is patent-free, parallelizable, and provably secure and claims it unique among its kind.\\nWikipedia on CWC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CWC_mode )\\nCWC: A high-performance conventional authenticated encryption mode ( http://eprint.iacr.org/2003/106 )\\nGalois/Counter Mode (GCM)\\nThis mode uses CTR mode and the Galois method of authentication to create an authenticated encryption algorithm. It was designed as an improvement to the CWC mode. It requires one block cipher encryption and one 128-bit multiplication in the Galois field per 128-bit block of plaintext. Patent-free.\\nWikipedia on GCM ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galois/Counter_Mode )\\nNIST Special Publication 800-38D (November, 2007) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38D/SP-800-38D.pdf )\\nEAX Mode\\nThis mode is an authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) algorithm. It was designed as a replacement to CCM. It requires two passes over the data. It is public-domain, patent free.\\nWikipedia on EAX ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EAX_mode )\\nNIST: proposed modes of operation ( http://csrc.nist.gov/CryptoToolkit/modes/proposedmodes/index.html )\\nEAX: A Conventional Authenticated-Encryption Mode ( http://eprint.iacr.org/2003/069 )\\nThe EAX Mode of Operation ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/papers/eax.html )\\nANSI C12 22 site ( http://www.c1222.net/ )\\nOffset Codebook (OCB)\\nThis mode provides authenticated encryption as well. It is patented, but the patent has a special exemption for code released under the GNU General Public License.\\nWikipedia on OCB ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCB_mode )\\nWikipedia on LRW ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#LRW )\\nXEX\\nWikipedia on XEX ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#XEX )\\nCMC\\nWikipedia on CMC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#CMC_and_EME )\\nEME\\nWikipedia on EME ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#CMC_and_EME )\\nESSIV\\nWikipedia on ESSIV ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#ESSIV )\\nXTS\\nWikipedia on XTS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#XTS )\\n28.4.2 Speed of Algorithms and the Hybrid Encryption Scheme\\nA hash routine with a given output size is usually much slower than an encryption routine with the same block size. However, public-key operations are almost always much more expensive (slower) than symmetric operations. Even the fast ECC encryption routines may take several hundred times (200-400x) longer than symmetric operations such as AES-256.\\nTherefore, a good engineer may do more symmetric operations and fewer PK operations, and some CSPRNGs such as Yarrow use block ciphers rather than hashes. In fact, every major asymmetric cryptosystem that the author is aware of uses asymmetric algorithms to either encrypt a symmetric key, or digitally sign a hash of a message, rather than operate on the message itself.\\n28.4.3 Hashing Stored Authentication Data\\nWhen storing authentication data such as a password or passphrase, it usually is neither desirable nor necessary to store it in the clear, because then an intruder who pilfered the list could use it to authenticate himself directly. It is better to store the result of an application of a one-way-function (OWF) on the data, which people frequently refer to as hashing. Since I lack a verb for “apply a OWF to” I will sometimes call it hashing as well. The input is called the pre-image, and the result is called the image. To authenticate the person, you apply a OWF to the input they send and compare it to the image. That way, they will find it difficult to generate the input which generates the correct output. This property is called pre-image resistance.\\nThis also has the nice side effect of not giving the adversary in this case the ability to use that authentication string (passphrase) on other systems, which enhances the user’s privacy, which is a good example of storing only what you need. Note however that if the adversary gets control of the system, they can record all the authentication data. Thus this technique only protects the end user against loss of confidentiality, not all attacks.\\nNote that this does not help prevent eavesdropping attacks on network protocols; if the protocol sends the authentication string in the clear, then the adversary sees the pre-image, and can simply replay it to generate the appropriate image. If you apply the OWF on the client side prior to sending, then it is the image that authenticates a person, and he sees the image, and can merely replay it over the network. If you apply the OWF on both the client side and the server side, the adversary can still replay the network data (the results of the first OWF) and when run through the second OWF it would generate the desired value. In summary, applying a OWF to provided authentication data does not help if the adversary can see the input to the system (violating confidentiality), and replay it. Ideally you should never send reusable authentication data across the network (see 11.9↑ ).\\n28.4.4 Offline Dictionary Attacks and Iterated Hashes\\nIf you are storing the hash of data which was supplied by a human, it may be somewhat predictable in the sense that it is chosen from the set of all possible passphrases non-uniformly. For example, people tend to pick easy-to-remember things, like dictionary words. Thus, the offline dictionary attack involves obtaining the hashes and hashing each dictionary word, and comparing them to see if any match. This is annoying because it can be done without interacting with the system, and is therefore undetectable. This also works against when someone sends hashes of authentication data sent over the network; the adversary captures them, and then attacks them offline.\\nOne countermeasure is to iterate the hash a number of times, to make attempting possible inputs take longer. If your iterated algorithm uses only the output from the last round as the input to the next round, then by storing the iteration count as part of the hash you can increase it in the future as computers get faster, without having the original input (just hash N more times, and add N to the iteration count).\\nIdeal hashes are modeled as random functions; that is, they have no discernible pattern, and you can think of them as a giant lookup table, where the input is used as an index, and whose contents were randomly-generated. This means that they are not likely to be one-to-one, and so repeated hashing will cause you to enter a cycle of some kind, but this is unlikely to be a problem (consult the Handbook of Applied Cryptography, http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ , for more details). The traditional Unix crypt(3) function used the input as a key to DES, and encrypted a constant (the null vector) as its “hash”. I believe OpenBSD may do something similar for its password encryption, but using Blowfish. In either case, block ciphers are believed to be stronger than hashes, because the community has had more time to analyze them, and they are definitely faster, but it seems like the design criteria of a hash is a more natural fit for this problem.\\n28.4.5 Salts vs. Offline Dictionary Attacks and Rainbow Tables\\nAnother problem is that an adversary may go through the hashing process once for a given word, and compare it to multiple hashes. A rainbow table ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_tables ) is essentially a clever way to store a bunch of hashes of a certain dictionary (or character set). It still takes the same amount of time to create as a full table, but is smaller, at a small run-time expense.\\nTo prevent these kind of attacks, we make each hash a slightly different operation, which means that each must be attacked independently. This is easily done by incorporating an individuating datum known as a salt, so named due to the analogy with adding salt to a food product when cooking it. This datum should be (relatively) unique to different entries, but it can’t remain confidential, since it must be known in order to perform the authentication function. Using a counter is easy, but if an adversary gets lists from different computers, there will be a significant overlap between the salts, so he may attack the lists in parallel. An easy way to prevent this is to simply use random data for the salt. This has a very small chance of a collision; due to the birthday paradox, if you have n2 possible salts, you will statistically have a duplicate 50% of the time after n entries. Another method is to a block cipher in CTR (“counter”) mode, which simply involves encrypting a counter. This will not repeat until the counter repeats. You should obviously use a different key on each system, or they will generate the same sequence. With different keys, the sequences should be statistically unrelated to each other.\\n28.4.6 Offline Dictionary Attacks with Partial Confidentiality\\nEven if you do all of this, an adversary may still try common choices against each hash. Since an authentication system is a deterministic system which generates a simple yes or no to a given input, there’s nothing you can do to increase the unpredictability of the input. However, if it were possible to keep a certain amount of data away from an adversary (for example, by storing it separately from the hashes, perhaps in a hardware security module), then you could use that data as the key for HMAC instead of using a hash. Since the adversary has no idea which of the n values you’ve chosen, you’ve multiplied the work factor by n.\\n28.4.7 Passphrase Handling\\nHuman beings are very poor at picking high-entropy values. If you use passphrases (or worse, passwords), you need to hash them before using them as keys because otherwise you will have a very small keyspace; you’ve probably already reduced it to the printable subset of the keyspace. You should think of keys as needing to have a nearly perfect Shannon entropy (see 29.6↓ ), and a simple way to do that is to hash a long passphrase down to a small hash image.\\nBut there are substantially better ways of doing this. RSA has a nice standard on how to deal with passwords in cryptographic applications:\\nPKCS #5 v2.1 Password Based Cryptography Standard ( ftp://ftp.rsasecurity.com/pub/pkcs/pkcs-5v2/pkcs5v2_1.pdf )\\nPBKDF2 - Password-Based Key Derivation Function ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBKDF2 )\\nscrypt ( http://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt.html )\\n28.4.8 Run Algorithm Inputs through OWF\\nIf the adversary discovers that a given algorithm input can break the security of the system, you can prevent him from controlling inputs directly. If you run everything through a one-way function (OWF), the adversary cannot feed that number to the system directly; he must first invert the one-way function to figure out what to give it. So a cheap way of adding security would be to hash all inputs from untrusted sources before use, since a hash is an available one-way function.\\n28.5 Cryptographic Combinations\\nThese are how the algorithms are combined. Their proper construction from algorithms, rules of thumb, pitfalls to avoid. This is where you stack the blocks together to accomplish some higher-level task. This should not be an experimental science; the rules of combination should be clear and unambiguous; it should be as simple as building a machine with Legos, or simplifying a logic expression. Unfortunately, it’s not… yet.\\n28.5.1 Combiners\\nCombine two eight bit chunks of data and have eight bits of data as output, but the combination is still in there. Pull one out and the other is what’s left. Look at how Feistel networks work, it’s a trip! Of course it’s not just XOR that can do it; XOR is just addition (without carry) modulo 2, and you could do it with any other modulus, like 28(add octets without carry) or 232. Latin squares can be used too, as can some other finite field operations (see network coding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_coding/ ). They are the simplest element of an encryption scheme and may be used inside certain ciphers.\\n28.5.2 The Sign then Encrypt Problem\\nBasically, if you (Alice) sign then encrypt something to Bob, he can strip off the encryption (like an “envelope”), then re-encrypt the still-signed message to Charlie, making it look like you sent it (see http://world.std.com/~dtd/sign_encrypt/sign_encrypt7.html ). Really, the problem is not a technical one, but interpretation; we assume that the entity which encrypted it to us is the same as the entity who signed it, when that is not necessarily the case.\\n28.5.3 Encrypt-then-MAC\\nColin Percival’s blog post on Encrypt-then-MAC ( http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2009-06-24-encrypt-then-mac.html )\\nUsing HMAC to authenticate prior to decryption also neatly avoids the PKCS#7 Padding Oracle attack (see 30.5↓ ).\\n28.5.4 Key Derivation Functions\\nKey derivation functions (KDFs) involve taking a single datum and deriving several independent keys from it. Typically you might use one for signing and one for encryption, or you might use them for different data streams. Many people get this wrong, since there aren’t any standards for it. They are typically very similar to computationally-strong pseudo-random number generators (CSPRNGs), in that you need both sides to generate the same values given the initial seed, and you don’t want a person who gets access to one to be able to determine anything about any other key that was derived from the same source. Simple answers involve using the datum as a key for CTR mode encryption, or using it as a MAC key on some fixed strings.\\n28.5.5 Serialization, Record Layers and Encoding\\nWhenever you protect the integrity of data (using MIC, MAC, or digital signatures), you will have data about the data, or metadata (data about the data). This extra information is distinct from the data. They are fundamentally different things, and if you want to put them together in a single stream, you’ll have to chop it up and use a record (data structure, message, etc.) with at least two fields; the data and the metadata. Since most cryptographic systems care about the integrity of the data, they also have to perform operations on records of data, instead of streams. That means that if you’re using streams of data, like a file or a TCP connection, you’ll have to implement a record layer on top of it.\\nAnd if you have a record with at least two types of data in it, and you want to put it in a stream, you’ll need to figure out how to serialize it, or decide which field goes first. When there are just two kinds of data, this is simple. However, when you’re dealing with large data structures, perhaps with data related to data related to data, this can get tricky.\\nFor example, you may want to use an asymmetric algorithm to encrypt a symmetric key for the message, and then use that symmetric key for encrypting the message (see 28.4.2↑ ), and then you may want a MAC (see 28.3.6↑ ). Now you’ll need to start thinking about mixing different kinds of data. If you’re never going to change the data format or protocol, then you can just pick an order to serialize them in, and stick with that. However, most forward-thinking cryptographers know that they may want to change the format of the data, so you need a way to encode the data so that your software knows whether it is looking at a MAC, or a symmetric key, or so on.\\nA common way to mix different kinds of data is with type-length-value (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type-length-value ), and it has the nice feature that you can add optional sections later that earlier implementations may skip. Other methods include KLV, or key-length-value ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLV ).\\nASN.1 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASN.1 ) is a common but very complex system for serializing and encoding data. It is an abstract notation, meaning that it specifies that certain objects are encoded as sequences of other kinds of objects, but it doesn’t give a way to encode these primitive objects. That is the job of the encoding rules such as BER and DER. Two of its encoding rules are TLV-based and two are not. Cryptographers tend to use DER, because it gives an unambiguous way to encode data. It is used in everything from SNMP to X.509 certificates. It has the advantage of being very compact, and the disadvantage of not being human-readable. If you wish to become versed in the arcana of ASN.1, it may help to start with this (give yourself two readings before you give up):\\nA Layman’s Guide to a Subset of ASN.1, BER, and DER ( http://luca.ntop.org/Teaching/Appunti/asn1.html )\\nXML ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML ), particularly the XML Signature ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML_Signature ), seems like a good contender to displace ASN.1 but it is still too complicated. Its original job was to mark up text, but it’s much easier to debug since it’s all printable, but it is by no means compact.\\n28.5.6 Polymorphic Data and Ambiguity\\nJust as an image may be represented in a bitmap, a GIF, or a JPEG, so too may data appear in many forms. It may be necessary, for example, to use printable encoding techniques a la base64 to pass in an HTTP request. Such polymorphic data schemes produce two problems; one, it is necessary to specify (and convert to) a canonical form for authentication (see 28.6.7↓ ) and another in that some choices of encoding may be ambiguous.\\nSome very fascinating work is being done on this right now in the XML Signature group ( http://www.w3.org/Signature/ ), but canonicalization is turning out to be full of pre-authentication complexity, which provides a large anonymous attack surface (see 7.5↑ ).\\nThis is an evolution of the former section to cover freshness and other communication security concepts.\\n28.6.1 DoS and Anti-Clogging Tokens\\nSo most of the time, one of the first things a protocol will do is a public-key cryptographic operation of some kind, which is expensive. So this opens up a DoS vector; the client connects to the server, costing little or nothing, and the server has to do a PK operation. The same is possible the other way, but it’s usually more difficult to force a client to connect to you. Regardless, the answer to this is to force the peer to have to receive and respond to a packet, which Photuris ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photuris_%28protocol%29 ) called an anti-clogging cookie; this requires that the first packet to the peer be unpredictable (see 29↓ ). A normal TCP/IP handshake may often fill this purpose since the sequence number should be unpredictable, but it is not required to be so, nor may it be relied upon to be so, and so a very cautious designer would avoid using it as such.\\n28.6.2 The Problem with Authenticating within an Encrypted Channel\\nSuppose you use Diffie-Hellman to encrypt a channel. Trillian does just this, which is fine against a passive eavesdropper but doesn’t prevent MITM (see 10.9↑ ) since you have no idea to whom you’re encrypting your messages. The naive countermeasure is to authenticate within the channel, but again this does not prevent a MITM; the adversary simply establishes an encrypted channel with you and the remote end, then passes your authentication messages back and forth like the messages themselves. So the authentication messages must also be tied to the parameters of the encrypted tunnel. This is isomorphic to the sign-then-encrypt problem (see 28.5.2↑ ).\\n28.6.3 How to Protect the Integrity of a Session\\nIn his excellent book Practical Cryptography ( http://www.schneier.com/book-practical.html ), Bruce Schneier suggests that the sender should send a hash of everything it has sent so far with every message. With most hash constructions (i.e. Merkle-Damgård) this is easy, since you can maintain a fixed-size context, and send a finalization every message. The receiver should check the hash every time it receives a message. You do this regardless of whether or not you have negotiated a secure session already. This very simple design principle allows you to detect tampering at the earliest opportunity.\\n28.6.4 Freshness and Replay Attacks\\nSuppose you had a protocol which allowed for certain operations, like “transfer $1000 from my account to paypal@subspacefield.org”. If Mallory was able to record this message, she could send it a second time to perform what is called a replay attack, even if she wasn’t able to read the message. This may be just an annoyance, but imagine that the messages were actually tactical directives sent to military units; the confusion they caused would be dramatic indeed. If the messages have less context, like “yes”, or “transaction authorized”, then the potential for mischief goes up significantly. What we want to do is ensure freshness, or liveness, of the connection. All of the methods involve a nonce (short for “number used once”), and require that the recipient be able to determine if the number has been used before. All of them also detect re-ordering. Further, the nonces must be combined with the message such that the integrity of both is protected, or else the adversary could simply attach a new nonce to an old message.\\nglobal timestamps\\nThe obvious method used on military directives is to include a timestamp in each one. You generally want to include a timestamp that is unambiguous, so human-readable dates generally don’t work due to leap years, daylight savings time and time zone differences; I prefer to use a normal Unix timestamp, which is measured in seconds since the epoch. [M] [M] The epoch is the beginning of Jan 1, 1970, universal coordinated time (UTC), and is the de facto standard for Unix timekeeping. This is the only method which does not require keeping state about the peer between messages, but it does require everyone to have an accurate clock. This is also the only method which can detect a delayed message, but if you care about this usually you’d solve this by putting a timestamp in the message itself, and not doing it in the protocol.\\nlocal timestamps\\nIn this method, you don’t need everyone to have an accurate clock, but merely have one that never goes backwards, which is called monotonically increasing. In this case, each node has to keep the last timestamp from each peer to make sure that each new timestamp is greater to the last, and you need enough resolution to make sure that you don’t send two messages with the same stamp.\\nserial numbers\\nThis is basically a derivative of local timestamps, but instead of using a clock you just use a counter. It seems preferable to local timestamps in every way.\\nchaining\\nEach message includes some piece of information derived from prior messages that varies unpredictably. For example, you could use the hash of all previous messages.\\nchallenge-response\\nIn this method, the peer challenges you with a nonce, and you send it back with the message. This does not require any persistent storage, but does require an interactive protocol (instead of “store and forward”), and a source of unpredictable numbers, and requires an extra half round-trip (which I call a half-trip) in the exchange. This latency may be masked sometimes by overlapping this handshake with another stage of the protocol.\\n28.6.5 Preventing Feedback\\nIn order to prevent feedback from one part of the protocol to another, the input to each hash function, PRF function, KDF function and signature operation should be extended with a field that uniquely identifies that stage of the protocol.\\n28.6.6 Identification\\nFor a regular client-server opening, all mutual “authentication” protocols involve at least three half-trips. A simultaneous-open between two peers can occur in two half trips (i.e., a single round trip), but these are rare.\\nThe protocol should authenticate what is meant, not what is said.\\n-- The Horton Principle ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-ssl.html )\\nThis quote suggests that you should authenticate plaintext, not ciphertext. In fact, if the plaintext has more than one encoding (see 28.5.5↑ ), you should pick one to be canonical and authenticate that. Having to convert the data to canonical form before authentication is unfortunate but one of the consequences of multiple encodings.\\nMutual Authentication Protocols\\nI once took all the mutual authentication protocols in Schneier’s Applied Cryptography and factored out the trusted third party to create simple two-party mutual authentication protocols (apparently those are so trivial he didn’t bother to mention them). It was an interesting exercise, and I noticed that all of the results had three half-trips (1.5 RTTs). Except in the case of a mutual open, it seems like this is the minimum, and probably not coincidentally is the number of half trips needed in the TCP three-way handshake. It seems pretty intuitive to me, but I haven’t seen a proof that this is indeed the minimum.\\nSimplest MAP: A->B Ch1, B->A R1Ch2, A->B R2.\\n28.6.8 Eschew Multiple Encoding Schemes Unless Necessary\\nPolymorphic data (data having multiple encoding schemes) is quite difficult to filter properly; this came up when people learned you could use HTML entity encoding to bypass filters for detecting “bad” things on web servers. Anything, especially middle-boxes like NIDS, have trouble when the number of encodings is too high, and inevitably the false positive goes up. This is also what Ptacek described in Insertion, Evasion, and Denial of Service: Eluding Network Intrusion Detection ( http://cerberus.sourcefire.com/~jeff/papers/Ptacek_and_Newsham/idspaper.html ).\\n28.6.9 Key Exchange and Hybrid Encryption Schemes\\nTypically at some point the peers will do some public key operations in a key exchange order to get some session keys. By analogy, in data formats such as OpenPGP, they use a hybrid encryption scheme which does a single PK operation to encrypt or decrypt a symmetric message key. One engineering trick is that if you use a KDF to generate two independent keys for each direction during your key exchange, you can use one for MAC and one for encryption, which means that you can do cheap symmetric MAC operations instead of digital signatures, which are expensive public-key operations.\\n28.7 Encrypted Storage\\nI think it’s a good idea, so you don’t have to worry about someone copying or tampering with your data as they sit on the storage media. If you take this step before using media, apart from the inconvenience of entering a passphrase (possibly as infrequently as once every time you reboot, which can be as little as once a year on Unix), you won’t ever have to worry about “secure deletion”, or losing physical possession of it due to any of the following reasons:\\nTheft, loss, or confiscation (see http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/how_to_secure_y.html )\\nDrive failure and disposal or returning it under warrantee\\nFire, hurricane, flood, or any other disaster\\nOwner runs short on funds and wants to liquidate some assets quickly\\nIn this case, the confidentiality guarantee is the greater of the confidentiality levels on the key and the media. A randomly-generated key is useless, and the media alone gives a confidentiality guarantee equal to that of the cipher used. Just think of the peace of mind you’ll have not having to worry about loss of physical possession of your storage devices!\\nIf you want more information on how to actually set this up, I have given a presentation on it ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/encrypted_storage_slides.pdf ).\\nNote that while network encryption protects the data between to positions in space, encrypted storage is protecting the data between two positions in time; in essence, you are encrypting it to your future self.\\n28.7.1 Key Escrow for Encrypted Storage\\nIn corporate environments it’s often a requirement that you be able to recover the data if the employee forgets their passphrase, leaves the company, and so on. Even with individuals, the idea of losing all your data can be intimidating. The naive and error-prone way of handling this is to simply ask them to submit the passphrase to an escrow account of some kind, and make a policy against not doing so; this makes reminding them to do so sound less like being the security Nazi and more like you are protecting them. However, there is a clever method for avoiding having to do this that uses key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ). In this case the data encryption key is randomly generated, and it is encrypted with the user’s passphrase. However, the tool also encrypts it with a public key for the organization and stores the result of that computation as well. An individual could use the same technique and simply store the private half of the recovery key in a secure second location, like a safety deposit box. This worries some people, but it’s definitely better than not using encryption at all.\\n28.7.2 Evolution of Cryptographic Storage Technologies\\nUserland applications which require user to manually run them, which are tedious to use and prone to human error.\\nFile systems which encrypt files and directories individually and automatically, which turn out to be overly complex due to the complex filesystem APIs in most operating systems.\\nBlock devices which encrypt blocks of data, which allow you to put any filesystem on them.\\n28.7.3 Filesystem Crypto Layers\\nThese basically encrypt the data before storing it on the disk. They are often created as layers over a regular filesystem. If layered over a network file system like NFS, you can store stuff on a remote system without having to trust the confidentiality of the remote system.\\nCFS\\nTCFS\\nOne advantage of this kind of design is that you can build secure delete into the system, as in Radia Perlman’s paper File System Design with Assured Delete ( http://ieeeia.org/sisw/2005/PreProceedings/09.pdf ).\\n28.7.4 File Systems with Optional Encryption\\nMicrosoft’s Encrypting File System (EFS) is a bit of a black box; the only analysis I have seen of it is in a Black Hat presentation ( http://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-europe-03/bh-europe-03-malyshev.pdf )\\nZFS will have some optional encryption\\n28.7.5 Block Device Crypto\\nNot long ago the US had a SIGINT plane which was forced down in China. They tried to destroy the data they had collected, but were unable to. If only they had used one of these free alternatives, they wouldn’t have had to worry:\\nTrueCrypt (highly recommended) ( http://www.truecrypt.org/ )\\nFreeOTFE ( http://www.freeotfe.org/ )\\nThe Debian installer (and Ubuntu alternate install CD) now let you encrypt the root partition, so only /boot is left in the clear.\\nFor more discussion, please read these articles:\\nMarcus Ranum reviews TrueCrypt ( http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/diskcrypt/index.html )\\nBruce Schneier recommends PGP Disk ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/how_to_secure_y.html )\\nUS Government to require full disk encryption ( http://www.full-disk-encryption.net/fde_govt.html )\\nWikipedia on Disk Encryption Theory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory )\\n28.7.6 The Cryptographically-Strong Pseudo-random Quick Fill\\nMany places tell you to pre-fill the lower layer of your encrypted disk device with pseudo-random (/dev/urandom) output before mounting the upper layer, but this is VERY slow, since SHA-1 only generates 160 bits of output per iteration. It’s much faster and almost as good in this context to mount with a random key, write zeroes (/dev/zero) to the upper layer, unmount, remount with another key, then use that as your file system, because then you’re using a cipher to generate your data, and ciphers are quite fast.\\n28.7.7 Backups\\nWhy don’t you just pipe your backups through something like gpg or any other encryption filter before writing them to tape? Then you could store them anywhere, even a public FTP site. You could also use the program duplicity ( http://www.nongnu.org/duplicity/ ) for secure remote backups.\\n28.7.8 Threat Models Against Encrypted Storage\\nRemote Access While Mounted The adversary cracks the system’s security while the drive is mounted and thus available in unencrypted form.\\nPhysical Seizure The adversary seizes or steals the system, but has to power it off to do so. This is equivalent to one-time physical access.\\nPhysical Access While Mounted The adversary gains physical access to the computer while the encrypted storage is mounted (or shortly thereafter) and performs a cold boot attack or direct memory access to recover the encryption keys (see 1↑ , 2↑ ).\\nWatermarking The adversary gets your system to store a specific chunk of plaintext on your encrypted disk, and then can prove from the encrypted image that you have that data stored.\\n28.8 Deniable Storage\\nDeniable storage is a system for hiding the fact that certain data exists. This is similar to, but different from, encrypted storage which merely makes the data unintelligible. This encompasses deniable encryption and steganographic file systems.\\n28.8.1 Deniable Encryption\\nIn cryptography and steganography, deniable encryption is encryption that allows its users to convincingly deny the fact that the data is encrypted or, assuming that the data is obviously encrypted, its users can convincingly deny that they are able to decrypt it. Such convincing denials may or may not be genuine, e.g., although suspicions might exist that the data is encrypted, it may be impossible to prove it without the cooperation of the users. In any case, even if the data is encrypted then the users genuinely may not have the ability to decrypt it. Deniable encryption serves to undermine an attacker’s confidence either that data is encrypted, or that the person in possession of it can decrypt it and provide the associated plaintext.\\n-- Wikipedia\\nRubberhose ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberhose_%28file_system%29 )\\n28.8.4 Threats Models Against Deniable Storage\\nThese are taken from Bruce Schneier’s paper titled Defeating Encrypted and Deniable File Systems: TrueCrypt v5.1a and the Case of the Tattling OS and Applications ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-truecrypt-dfs.html ).\\nOne-Time Access The adversary gets a single image of the disk. This might happen if the adversary seizes or steals the computer.\\nIntermittent Access The adversary gets multiple snapshots of the disk at different times. This can happen if you cross a border and the border guards are adversaries who take images of the disk each time.\\nRegular Access The adversary gets many images of the disk taken at short intervals. This may happen if the adversary gets repeated access to the drive; for example, the secret police may break into someone’s residence and take a drive image each time.\\nThree Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,\\nSeven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,\\nNine for Mortal Men doomed to die,\\nOne for the Dark Lord on his dark throne\\nIn the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.\\nOne Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,\\nOne Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them\\nIn the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.\\n-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring )\\nKey management is a term that encompasses a wide variety of problems and solutions:\\nKey generation\\n28.9.1 Key Generation\\nFor symmetric keys, key generation usually amounts to the random generation of a fixed number of bits. You could use a password for a key, since all bitstrings are valid symmetric keys, but you want these bits to be completely unpredictable to an adversary (see 29↓ ). Therefore, I recommend using randomly-generated keys unless a human must enter them. For example, it may require a human to enter a key to decrypt an encrypted storage device (see 28.7↑ ). In that case you should use a cryptographic hash of suitable size (equal to or greater than the key size) to hash a user-supplied passphrase, and then use (as many as possible of) those bits as a key. In many cases where passphrases are used, it may be wise to use a level of key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ) to allow for the passphrase to be changed without changing the underlying key.\\nFor asymmetric keys, the process is more involved, usually involving much larger quantities of random numbers in number-theoretic algorithms.\\n28.9.2 Key Distribution\\nOnce you have generated keys, you need to share them, in whole (symmetric) or part (asymmetric) with anyone you wish to communicate with. This has always been the part of cryptography which involves the most handwaving and impractical solutions.\\nDistributing Symmetric Keys\\nIn symmetric cryptography, you have to share the key with any intended recipients while not disclosing the key to anyone else (i.e. confidentially). Once you have done this, you will be able to communicate with them securely. Unfortunately, this suffers from a bootstrapping problem; you need a confidential channel in order to distribute the keys.\\nOne thing you could do is send them the key and simply hope nobody eavesdrops on it. You could do this via an out-of-band communication channel such as the phone. One could also trade keys on a portable storage medium via the postal service, trusted couriers, or in person. Fortunately, portable data storage devices have such large capacity now that one need only do a physical exchange of keys once.\\nIn theory, one could give multiple parties the same key material. Also, since more than one system has the credential, this violates the Principle of Least Privilege ( 34.1↓ ), and now one system may impersonate another, which violates the Principle of Unique Identifiers (see 34.5↓ ). Thus, you will usually want to share a separate key with every party with which you wish to communicate. This means that for n parties, there must be n2 keys.\\nDistributing Asymmetric Keys\\nEnter asymmetric cryptography. In asymmetric cryptography, you have to share the public key with your intended recipients; by design, you can share the same key with all parties. In this case, you do not need the key exchange to be confidential; your public key may be disclosed to the world; only your private key need be kept confidential. In some cases, people may post a GPG key on their web page. It is also possible to publish those keys into global key servers, which can store and retrieve keys as needed. However, these systems have a flaw; how does one know that the key one retrieved from a web page or key server is the correct key? An adversary could conduct a MITM attack (see 10.9↑ ) by substituting his own key for the one you intended to download. That would set up the preconditions for conducting other MITM attacks against encrypted communications later on. Note that this is a detectable attack, since it is not passive.\\nDuckling Model\\nIn this model, keys are exchanged upon the first communication, much like a duckling imprints on the first object it sees as its mother (i.e. trusted). It is hoped by the parties involved that the adversary is not conducting a MITM attack during this first communication. This model is often used with key continuity checks (see 57↓ ).\\nhttp://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fms27/papers/2001-Stajano-duckling.pdf\\nOn-Air Keying (OAK)\\nOn-Air Keying is a method for key exchange that involves signalling the next key to use during a secure transmission. This allows for key exchange without a separate, secure key distribution channel. Needless to say, if the adversary has that signal and can find the current key, the next one can be decrypted. It also means that one must get positive verification that the other end got the transmission, lest you lose them forever.\\nNormally on-air keying is considered unsafe, because it uses the communication channel as a key exchange channel. However, these conditions may make it acceptable:\\nIntegrity protected: Double-check that other side got information properly\\nTactical information: information may be valuable for an amount of time smaller than the time it takes to guess the key\\nEnemy may not be receiving the information at the key exchange time (mostly for radio nets)\\nKey exchange times are laid out in advance with initial, secure key exchange time (mostly for radio nets)\\nThere is nothing else available\\nThe Broadcast Channel\\nOne method for doing this is to publish the key (or its fingerprint) as widely as possible. For example, you could put your GPG fingerprint in your email headers or .signature file, so that anyone can check the key they retrieved against any email they may have received from you. The theory here is that any adversary wishing to conduct a MITM attack (see 10.9↑ ) would have to have started such an attack before you sent the email containing the fingerprint to the recipient.\\nIf the recipient has never received an email from you, they could in theory retrieve one from the web, under the theory that an adversary would not be conducting MITM attacks against the recipient by substituting his own fingerprints for yours while he is doing this.\\nWeb of Trust\\n28.9.3 Key Verification\\nThis term refers to the process of ascertaining whether a given (public) key corresponds to the person we believe it to.\\nKey Continuity\\nIn this case, the cryptographic protocol caches the keys (usually public) from a remote system between uses, and informs the user if they ever change, since that is indicative of a man-in-the-middle attack (either in progress or up until now). This is usually done when using the Duckling model of key distribution (see 53↑ ).\\nCertification Authorities\\nSoftware like web browsers often come with a cache of certificates (which include public keys) from various CAs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority ). Upon connecting to an SSL-secured web server, the web server’s certificate is sent to the browser. The CA keys bundled with the browser can then be used to check signatures on the web server’s certificate. This is just a form of key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ); instead of having to securely obtain keys from all possible endpoints, you merely have to securely obtain the CA’s key which signed the keys of the endpoints.\\nIt turns out that CAs and PKI are very complex subjects, and I cannot do them justice here.\\nIt’s worth noting that anyone can generate a certificate; what CAs are really doing is selling the process of certification, so I’ve chosen to call them this rather than “certificate authorities”; be warned that I am in the minority.\\nOut-of-Band Comparison\\nOne can compare fingerprints of keys over a different, low-bandwidth communication medium (i.e. the phone, postal mail). CAs are basically this but done through middlemen.\\nParallel Paths\\nOOB comparison is really an example of creating two disjoint paths between two entities and making sure that they give the same results. This can occur in multiple contexts. For example, it can be used for the bootstrapping problem; how can I trust the first connection? By creating two paths I can compare the identities of the peer both places. I once used this to check the integrity of my PGP downloads by downloading it from home and from another location, and comparing the results.\\nFormatting\\nImagine that the adversary is conducting a MITM against, say, an SSH session, so instead of A<->B it is A<->O<->B. Your countermeasure as A may be to check the IP addresses of the peer at B, so that the adversary would have to spoof IPs in both directions (this is often printed automatically at login). Another technique is to check the host key fingerprint as part of your login sequence, sending the fingerprint through the tunneled connection. The adversary may modify the data at the application layer automatically, to change the fingerprint on the way through. But what if you transformed (e.g. encrypted) the fingerprint using a command-line tool, and represented it as printable characters, and printed them through the tunnel, and inverted the transformation at the local end? Then he’d have a very difficult time writing a program to detect this, especially if you kept the exact mechanism a secret. You could run the program automatically through ssh, so it isn’t stored on the remote system.\\n28.9.4 Key Management and Scalability\\nKey management is a scalability issue. In a single-person organization, you can trust yourself with all the data. As the organization grows, your risk increases proportionally, and so you want to enforce need-to-know. Then you encrypt data and only give the keys out to those who need them, and tightly control the keys.\\nA key server centralizes and hands out keys. A cryptologic server holds the keys and performs encryption or authentication on data provided by other systems. There are hardware security devices like this and they call them hardware security modules, or HSMs.\\nIf N participants had to use symmetric cryptography, each person would have to have a key for talking to every other person, or O(N2) keys. Asymmetric cryptosystems let us bring this under control and have only N keys again.\\n28.9.5 One Key, One Purpose\\nReusing keys in different algorithms may lead to weaknesses. For example, if an encryption algorithm is so weak that (e.g.) a known-plaintext attack could recover the key, then it could compromise every other security property ensured by that key.\\nAlternately, a person may be able to use one part of a protocol to act as an oracle to perform cryptographic operations using a key, and then use the result in another part of the algorithm. There is an attack known as the mirror attack where the server takes a challenge, encrypts it with a key, and sends the result back as a response (to prove it knows the key without actually showing it), with its own challenge. The client then creates a second connection, and sends the server’s challenge as its own challenge, and take the response and use it in the original connection. If the same key is used in both directions, you lose. Similar problems exist when the keys are strongly related (i.e. only one bit different), or other trivial modifications.\\nIn general, if you are using the same key in two different cryptographic algorithms, that is usually a mistake. You should probably be using a KDF (see 28.5.4↑ ) to derive multiple keys from the datum you’re currently using directly.\\nFurthermore, by using different keys in different places, you limit the value of obtaining one key, so that the amount of resources required to recover it exceed its value. If this is known, then it will reduce the total number of attacks on the system and thus the amount you have to spend defending it (or analyzing the intrusions).\\nFinally, key should be used in as few places as possible to allow for easy revocation or rotation.\\nThis is similar to the principle of unique identifiers (see 34.5↓ ).\\n28.9.6 Time Compartmentalization\\nForward security in symmetric cipher by running keys through a OWF periodically, and destroying old value. For asymmetric, renegotiate encryption keys in a way that cannot be reconstructed later, even with the authentication keys (e.g. anonymous Diffie-Hellman session key negotiation).\\n28.9.7 Key Indirection\\nA common problem has to do with key revocation; how do we revoke a key which must be used by many people? I am told that in one part of Fort Meade, each day employees swipe their badges through a sort of vending machine which dispenses physical keys. The physical keys are used by many people, and re-keying a physical lock is hard, so this system allows them to revoke the authorization on the badge without re-keying the locks. By analogy, if the end-user enters one key which unlocks a (secret) encryption key which can decrypt the data (which could be done with a hardware security module), then we can change or revoke the first key without having to change the second. This first key is called a key-encrypting-key (KEK). It is particularly useful in storage crypto, where it may be difficult or impossible to re-encrypt all the encrypted data in a timely manner.\\nThe same thing occurs in most public key systems because PK algorithms are so slow. Public key is too slow to perform on all but very small messages; thus, they encrypt a message key with the public-key algorithms, and then use the message key to encrypt the bulk of the data using a fast symmetric cipher. This is called a hybrid crypto system. Almost all network protocols do the same thing, only there the symmetric key is called a session key.\\nYou can imagine attacking a KEK system like this; there are two locked doors made of different substances, arranged in parallel (see 34.8↓ ). Behind the first door is a key that unlocks the second. The prize is behind the second door. Obviously, you can either attack the first door or the second and get the prize. However, since PK is usually weaker than symmetric encryption, and since users generally pick poor passwords, the first door is usually easier. Also, since there will be other pairs of doors with the same lock on the first door, finding the key for the first door is more valuable than the second. However, if the first door is made of adamantine and the second door is made of wood, then you might be able to smash through all the second doors without keys, in which case you need never bother with the adamantine doors. If the doors are arranged vice-versa, you can always smash through the first door and get the key to the second.\\n28.9.8 Secret Sharing\\nSecret sharing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_sharing ) involves requiring a certain number of shares to be combined to reconstruct any of the information. The easiest way to do this is with one-time pads. However, if you wish to do this more than once, you usually have to have a dealer which reconstructs the secret out of the reach of any of the participants (a well-protected system, or perhaps a hardware security module).\\nWikipedia Threshhold Cryptosystem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_cryptosystem )\\nIntrusion Tolerance via Threshhold Cryptography ( http://www.stanford.edu/~dabo/ITTC/ )\\nThere are, however, schemes similar to secret sharing that do not require trusted dealers; these are called threshhold cryptosystems.\\n28.10 Cryptographic Standards\\n28.10.1 RSA Security Public Key Cryptography Standards\\nMore commonly known as PKCS, these standards are the most important to anyone implementing public key cryptographic systems.\\nPKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2125 )\\nPKCS #3: Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2126 )\\nPKCS #5: Password-Based Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2127 )\\nPKCS #6: Extended-Certificate Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2128 )\\nPKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2129 )\\nPKCS #8: Private-Key Information Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2130 )\\nPKCS #9: Selected Attribute Types ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2131 )\\nPKCS #10: Certification Request Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2132 )\\nPKCS #11: Cryptographic Token Interface Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2133 )\\nPKCS #12: Personal Information Exchange Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2138 )\\nPKCS #13: Elliptic Curve Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2139 )\\nPKCS #15: Cryptographic Token Information Format Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2141 )\\n28.10.2 Federal Information Processing Standards\\nMore commonly known as FIPS, these are government standards, some of which cover security-relevant material.\\nWikipedia entry on FIPS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Information_Processing_Standard )\\nWikipedia entry on FIPS-140 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS_140 )\\nFederal Information Processing Standards Publications ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/ )\\nFIPS 140-2 Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips140-2/fips1402.pdf )\\nFIPS 180-3 Secure Hash Standard (SHA) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-3/fips180-3_final.pdf )\\nFIPS 181 Automated Password Generator (APG) ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip181.htm )\\nFIPS 185 Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES) ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip185.htm )\\nFIPS 186-2 Digital Signature Standard (DSS) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips186-2/fips186-2-change1.pdf )\\nFIPS 196 Entity Authentication Using Public Key Cryptography ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips196/fips196.pdf )\\nFIPS 197 Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips197/fips-197.pdf )\\nFIPS 198-2 The Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips198-1/FIPS-198-1_final.pdf )\\n28.10.3 National Institute of Standards Special Publications\\nThis includes the NIST 800 series. There are too many to list individually, so here is the link:\\nNIST Special Publications (800 series) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html )\\n28.10.4 PGP and GPG\\n“The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.”\\n-- Robert R. Coveyou of Oak Ridge National Laboratory\\nCryptographic Random Numbers ( http://www.std.com/~cme/P1363/ranno.html )\\nThe Efficient Generation of Cryptographic Confusion Sequences ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/ARTS/CRNG2ART.HTM )\\nRFC 4086: Randomness Recommendations for Security ( http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4086.txt )\\nDavid Wagner’s Randomness for Crypto ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/rnd/ )\\n29.1 Types of Random Number Generators\\nA pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) is an algorithm that starts with a “seed” of unpredictable bits and generates a stream of bits using a deterministic algorithm. These can come in varying strengths, so those meant for use in cryptography are sometimes called cryptographically strong pseudo-random number generators (CSPRNG)\\nPRNGs are opposed to “true” random number generators (TRNG), which is one that creates bits via some (analog) noise source. These are sometimes called hardware random number generators (HWRNG), since they usually exist as hardware to be attached to a regular, deterministic computer system.\\nWikipedia article on PRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-random_number_generator )\\nWikipedia article on CSPRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographically_secure_pseudorandom_number_generator )\\nWikipedia article on HWRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generator )\\n29.2 Pseudo-Random Number Generators\\n29.2.1 Yarrow\\nYarrow is a pretty neat CSPRNG because it uses a block cipher to “stretch” a seed significantly. This introduces some slight predictability, but is very fast.\\nYarrow: A secure pseudorandom number generator ( http://www.schneier.com/yarrow.html )\\n29.3 An Ideal Random Number Generator\\nPeriodically, some event happens within an ideal random number generator (IRNG); for example, a photon is shot at a half-silvered mirror. The outcome of each event is one of a finite number of states n; in this example, it is reflected or transmitted through the mirror. The RNG represents measures the outcome, and then encodes it for use by a discrete-logic computer.\\nIn an ideal random number generator, the outputs are independent and uniformly distributed among the states. Furthermore, it is unpredictable. Just what constitutes unpredictability? That is the subject we shall now cover.\\n29.4 Definitions of Unpredictability\\n[W]e will be able to interpret the laws of probability and quantum physics as being the statistical results of the development of completely determined values of variables which are at present hidden from us … The idea of chance … comes in at each stage in the progress of our knowledge, when we are not aware that we are on the brink of a deeper level of reality which still eludes us.\\n-- De Broglie ( http://www.eequalsmcsquared.auckland.ac.nz/sites/emc2/tl/philosophy/dice.cfm )\\nAssume there is no information that is available to help anyone predict the outcome of an event prior to the event’s occurrence, and the event outcomes are independent and uniformly distributed. Then if there are n states, then anyone’s chance of guessing the outcome prior to the event is exactly (1)/(n). It obviously must not be more, but neither can it be less, because if the probability of one guess being correct were worse than that, then another must necessarily be greater. This is what I call ideally unpredictable.\\nIn cryptography, we really only care if the adversary can predict the outcomes. If it is impossible for the adversary to improve his odds at guessing the outcome over pure chance, then the RNG is effectively unpredictable, even if it were possible for us to guess the state (perhaps by observing some physical process hidden from the adversary).\\nThe famous physicist De Broglie suggests in the quote above that unpredictability and chance are illusions caused by our ignorance (epistemology), and not related to the nature of the universe itself (ontology). When two people can finish each other’s sentences but someone else cannot, we have proof that what is unpredictable to one person may not be unpredictable to another. Similarly, a randomly-generated number may be stored, as in the RAND corporation’s famous book “A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates”. The transmission of random outcomes may be delayed as in the motion picture The Sting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sting ), and anyone with access to the generated value may know it whereas it remains unpredictable to everyone else.\\n29.5 Definitions of Randomness\\nThere are many definitions of randomness, but the only one that matters is the definition of effective unpredictability given above. Other fields of thought, such as physics or philosophy, may deal with issues such as determinism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism ). There are multiple kinds of determinism, such as causal determinism (an ontological argument that “what comes before causes what comes after”), and predictive determinism (the universe is causally deterministic, and furthermore we can use our knowledge about the universe and its present state to predict the future). Thus, we can have an IRNG if the universe is causally deterministic, but not if it is predictively deterministic. However, we can have effective unpredictability even if the universe is predictively deterministic.\\nThe Several Types of Random ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS3/GLOSRAND.HTM )\\n29.6 Types of Entropy\\nIf you’re an aspiring cryptologist, the measures of entropy are worth studying, because they are appropriate in different situations and analyses.\\nIt’s worth noting that information theoretic calculations of entropy are based on “ensembles” (infinite numbers of streams) of infinite length, for mathematical reasons. This makes reading the works somewhat intimidating for those without adequate mathematical training, and leads to minor problems when applying them to single streams of symbols (especially those of finite length). They also require a priori knowledge about “the source” - one cannot strictly derive a model for a source based on the output (see 29.10↓ ).\\n29.6.1 Shannon Entropy\\nWhen most computer scientists or cryptologists talk about entropy, they normally are referring to the so-called Shannon Entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_entropy ). It is useful for discussing one-time pads, secret sharing, compression, and some other aspects of computer science.\\nIt is calculated by the following formula:\\nH(X) = − ⎲⎳ni = 1p(xi)lg p(xi)\\nWhere p is the probability mass function (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_mass_function ) for random variable X.\\nMore links about Shannon and Entropy:\\nA Mathematical Theory of Communication by Claude E. Shannon ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/paper.html )\\nThe Many Faces of Entropy ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/talks/JZ.ps.gz )\\nShannon Theory and Contemporary Cryptology ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/talks/JLM.ps.gz )\\n29.6.2 Min-entropy\\nThere is another type of entropy measurement called min-entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min-entropy ). This is useful for analyzing random number generators. This entropy measure has the following formula:\\nHinf(X) = − lg maxipi\\n29.6.3 Rényi Entropy\\nRényi entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9nyi_entropy ) is yet another way to measure entropy. It has the following formula:\\nHα(X) = (1)/(1 − α) lg (n⎲⎳i = 1pαi)\\nThe Rényi entropy is a generalized form of the Shannon (α = 1) and Min-entropy (α = infinity). This measure of entropy (with α = 2) is useful when analyzing the possibility of hash collisions.\\nThe Rényi entropy is a non-increasing function of α, so min-entropy is always the most conservative measure of entropy and usually the best to use for cryptographic evaluation.\\nLuby, M., “Pseudorandomness and Cryptographic Applications”, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691025460, 8 Jan 1996 ( http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5154.html )\\n29.6.4 Guessing Entropy\\nThe “guessing entropy” is the work required by an adversary who knows the distribution of your keys to guess the correct key. It is assumed that the probabilities are summed from largest (i = 0) to smallest (i = n). It is useful when figuring out the amount of work necessary when the keys are non-uniformly distributed.\\nHG(X) = lg ⎲⎳ii p(i)\\nChristian Cachin, Entropy Measures and Unconditional Security in Cryptography, PhD thesis, ETH Zurich, May 1997 ( ftp://ftp.inf.ethz.ch/pub/publications/dissertations/th12187.ps.gz )\\n29.7 Why Entropy and Unpredictability Are Not the Same\\nSometimes people use the term entropy to mean unpredictability (information, the amount of surprise we have at seeing the symbol), and it is nice that it is quantitative, however it is not really the best term to use. There are several problems with using this term to mean unpredictability:\\nThe term is widely used in physics and is overloaded with a a number of associations that are rather confusing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy ). There is strong debate as to whether the concepts are related in any useful way.\\nMost computer scientists use the term in the same sense as Claude Shannon ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_entropy ), but there are several other measures of entropy in information theory (see 29.6↑ ).\\nIt takes precise and quantifiable terminology (that is, jargon), and uses it in a general, unquantified, imprecise way.\\nSee next section.\\n29.7.1 An Argument Against Entropy as Unpredictability\\nWhat is the information content of source generating an alternating series of two symbols?\\nIf one uses the Shannon entropy formula, one uses a probability mass function (PMF), and the way this is tallied in many cases is to simply count the proportion of events that have a given outcome (the other entropy measurements give identical answers in this case).\\nThus, if the random number generator had a binary event (n = 2), and it always came up alternating ones and zeroes (i.e. it is completely correlated), the probability mass function would still be uniform, and entropy would be maximized (H = 1).\\nIf, on the other hand, we define a symbol to be represented by “01”, then we can do a simple change of symbols (or binning) and come up with a completely different measurement (H = 0). Thus, the measurement is not stable across a simple substitution of symbols; equating the two would imply changing symbols drastically affects the amount of information in the sequence, which goes against my intuition about the meaning of “information”.\\nIn other words, probability mass function is generally ignorant of the adversary’s ability to predict the outcome beyond simple unigram frequencies. Even amateur cryptanalysts use bigrams (Markov models) or higher-powered predictive models to solve the cryptograms in newspapers.\\nEven Shannon uses the term loosely; in one study he measures the entropy of English to be about 1-2 bits per character, because humans can guess the letter 25-50% of the time. However, this is not the result of application of strict application of his formula using the PMF, but instead he is using the human as an oracle to estimate a tighter lower bound on the entropy. This suggests that the measure of entropy is not a completely objective measure, but rather depends on the ability of something to predict the next symbol. He did note that it varies with the intelligence of the person making the predictions (and, presumably, the similarity of the person to the author, in terms of writing style and knowledge of the subject).\\nFor another example, the digits (decimal or binary) of π are easily computable in non-sequential order (see the BBP formula, http://crd.lbl.gov/~dhbailey/pi/ ), and thus totally predictable, but would also have maximal entropy. Indeed, mathematicians believed the digits not to have a pattern for a very long time.\\n29.8 Unpredictability is the Sine Qua Non of Cryptography\\nIf you can’t pick crypto keys your adversary can’t guess, there’s little point in using cryptography.\\n29.9 Predictability is Provable, Unpredictability is Not\\nThere is no such thing as a random number, only a randomly-generated number.\\nFor an adversary who only has access to the output of the random number generator (RNG), one assumes that predictability takes the form of a pattern in the output. Any pattern at all means that it is somewhat predictable; for example, if it generates slightly more ones than zeroes, the “DC bias” is off and it is not entirely predictable. But how can we prove there are no patterns, when the number of patterns is infinite? We cannot do this through testing any finite number of patterns at a time.\\nThis is what lawyers mean by not being able to prove a negative, but it’s easy to prove some negatives; to prove that there aren’t any pennies in my hand, you can look. It’s negations of claims of existence (it’s not the case that there exists an x such that x is a unicorn) that are hard to prove, because they are universal claims (for all things x, x is not a unicorn). It’s just as difficult to prove a simple positive universal claim, such as “bodies in motion stay in motion”, or that the normal physical laws hold the same everywhere and in all situations.\\nThis quandary was summed up in a pithy way in a Dilbert comic ( http://web.archive.org/web/20011027002011/http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2001182781025.gif ).\\n29.10 Randomly-Generated Samples Are No Different Than Any Other Sample\\nA monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type the complete works of William Shakespeare.\\n-- Infinite Monkeys Theorem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem )\\nSuppose the output is 01110011; is that more or less random than 00000000? Each sequence is just as likely if the source is random (1 in 256). Looking at either, can we tell whether the source is random? No, we cannot. The output alone says nothing definitive about the source. However, if we have a model of the source, and an output, we can say how likely the source would be to generate that output, but we cannot say how likely an output was to be generated by a particular model of a source, since the number of potential models is infinite.\\nXKCD did a funny comic about this ( http://xkcd.org/221/ ).\\n29.11 Testing Samples For Predictability\\nSo we’ve established that you can’t prove something is randomly-generated, nor can you prove that something is not randomly-generated. However, you can test to see if it is unlikely to be randomly-generated. A good suggestion to test your own random numbers is to upload them to the random number testing service ( http://www.cacert.at/random/ ) and see how they compare to other RNGs ( http://www.cacert.at/cgi-bin/rngresults ).\\nRandomness Tests: A Literature Survey ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/RES/RANDTEST.HTM )\\n29.12 Testing Noise Sources\\nhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E4D61F38F937A3575BC0A96E958260\\n29.13.2 Looking Only at 0/1 Bias\\nHow you count the values matters. For example, if the RNG always generates one of the octets (“bytes”) 00000000 or 11111111 with equal probability, then the bit distribution is uniform, but the distribution of octets is not. A number of things may be happening here:\\nThe RNG is performing some event and sampling an analog result with eight (or more) bits of precision. However, the distribution is not uniform (flat), so there’s only two observed outcomes, each with 50% probability. This may happen if the analog portion has the gain set too high on the amplifier, or there is some other problem sampling the analog event.\\nThe RNG is performing some binary event and the outcomes are correlated, meaning that they are not independent of each other. This may happen if there is a resonance or cycle inside the analog portion, if the analog portion is picking up an external signal (i.e. a radio station), or if the outputs of the generator are being incorrectly processed (for example, they may have been transferred as text files between machines with different end-of-line conventions).\\nNothing is wrong, it is just a coincidence, and if you wait long enough, it may stop happening. Or maybe not.\\n29.13.3 Trying to Correct Bias or Correlation\\nThese two things are related and I really need to research this again so I can remember all the issues.\\nOne method is to combine (e.g., via XOR) the HWRNG with a PRNG, such as the Mersenne Twister ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_twister ). This is sometimes called whitening. However, in that case, you need to keep the other source unpredictable to the adversary, or else he can cancel out the effects. I advise anyone creating a HWRNG not to do this in a way that is hidden from the end user, lest the biases be hidden from the user but not an intelligent adversary.\\nRandom Number Machines: A Literature Survey ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/RES/RNGMACH.HTM )\\nThe Hardware Random Number Generator ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/HARDRAND.HTM )\\nThe Pentium III RNG ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/PENTRAND.HTM )\\nRandom Numbers From A Sound Card ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/RANDSND.HTM )\\nFM Radio Noise ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS5/FMRNG.HTM )\\n29.14.1 Random Numbers From Deterministic Machine Measurements\\nAnyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is, of course, living in a state of sin.\\n-- John von Neumann\\nSince hardware random number generators are expensive, most people do without them. There are a few ways of doing this, involving making measurements of internal state of the system that should be difficult or impossible for the adversary to guess. There is some controversy over the practice (hence my inclusion of the quote above), as the adversary may have some insight into some of these sources, and we don’t know how random they really are.\\nSoftware Generation of Practically Strong Random Numbers ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/usenix98.pdf )\\nUnix /dev/random\\nMost Unix systems have something similar to /dev/random.\\nWikipedia on /dev/random ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//dev/random )\\nLinux /dev/random\\nThe Linux /dev/random driver manages an area of kernel memory known as the entropy pool. It gathers measurements of low-level system functions such as the amount of time between interrupts and other difficult-to-predict events. It mixes these measurements into the pool in a non-destructive way. It also maintains an estimate of the amount of entropy in the pool. When a program reads from /dev/random, it gets a one-way hash of part of the pool’s contents, and the estimate of the amount of entropy left is reduced by the number of bits read. If the estimated entropy in the pool does not allow for a full hash of data to be read, it blocks until it can gather more information. This is designed to be used as a true random number generator (TRNG).\\nThe /dev/random device has a counterpart, called /dev/urandom. This device will not block; instead, if the entropy of the pool runs low, it degrades into a pseudo-random number generator.\\nWikipedia article on Linux /dev/random ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//dev/random#Linux )\\n/dev/random ( http://everything2.com/title/%252Fdev%252Frandom )\\nLinux /dev/erandom\\nThis is a provably secure PRNG currently for Linux. As part of improving the PRNG, Seth Hardy is also rewriting the PRNG framework to make it separate from the entropy harvester and to allow for it to be much more extensible and flexible.\\nSource code link ( http://www.aculei.net/~shardy/projects/erandom-0.1.tgz )\\nLinux /dev/frandom\\nfrandom ( http://www.billauer.co.il/frandom.html )\\nFreeBSD /dev/random\\nThe FreeBSD operating system implements a 256-bit variant of the Yarrow algorithm to provide a pseudorandom stream — this replaced a previous Linux style random device. Unlike the Linux /dev/random, the FreeBSD /dev/random never blocks. It is similar to the Linux /dev/urandom, intended to serve as a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator rather than based on a pool of entropy (FreeBSD links urandom to random).\\nFor more information on Yarrow, see 29.2.1↑ . This is not a TRNG, but rather a CSPRNG.\\nEntropy Gathering Daemon\\nEGD is used on systems that don’t have a convenient source of random bits. It is a user-space program that runs programs like vmstat, w, and last to gather information which may not be knowable by an adversary. It stirs the information it gathers into a pool of entropy, much like the Linux /dev/random, and allows other programs to read out of this pool. It is meant to be used with GPG, but can be used with other programs. It is written in Perl.\\nEGD: The Entropy Gathering Daemon ( http://egd.sourceforge.net/ )\\nPseudo Random Number Generation Daemon\\nThis piece of software (PRNGD) offers the same interface as EGD and is designed to be used as a randomly-generated number source for other programs, especially OpenSSL. Like EGD, it calls system programs to collect unpredictable information. Unlike EGD, it does not create a pool of random bits that can be tapped by other software. Instead, it feeds the unpredictable bits directly to OpenSSL’s PRNG which other tools can call to get randomly-generated bits. This way, the PRNGD is never drained and can never block, so it is also suitable to seed inetd-started applications. It saves its state across reboots so that it can start up fully active on reboot.\\nPRNGD - Pseudo Random Number Generator Daemon ( http://prngd.sourceforge.net/ )\\n29.14.2 CCD Noise\\nLavaRND is a cryptographically strong random number generator. It appears to use a CCD with the gain all the way up in a darkened chamber they call the “LavaCan”. The name is a holdover from the original model which used a camera pointed at a lava lamp.\\nTurbid ( http://www.av8n.com/turbid/paper/turbid.htm )\\n29.14.4 Quantum Mechanical Random Number Generators\\nPerhaps the cleanest solution is to use a single quantum event to create your bits. That is what these HWRNGs do:\\nQRBG121 ( http://qrbg.irb.hr/ )\\n29.15 The Laws of Unpredictability\\nShannon’s entropy experiments showed that the entropy of English was about one bit per letter, but it varies depending on the intelligence of the speaker. So the entropy is defined relative to a predictive model (in the person’s head). What most people call Shannon entropy is the entropy relative to a memory-less predictive model, or zero-order Markov model. Essentially this means that each symbol is treated as the outcome of an independent trial, with no context based on prior symbols. By using bigram or trigram frequencies, or word lists, one can get much better. An intelligent person is the best predictor that we have so far, but that doesn’t prove it is the best. Let me put it to you another way; unless I tell you the algorithm and key, you will probably not be able to distinguish a strongly-encrypted version of the Holy Bible from a random data stream. That is, if you don’t know the hidden pattern, it seems completely unpredictable to you, but that doesn’t mean it’s randomly-generated, nor does it mean it’s unpredictable to someone who is intelligent enough to see the pattern.\\nI will call the lowest limit the absolute entropy, and I will measure it in unbits, which are absolutely unpredictable bits. The absolute entropy never changes, no matter what you do to the output of your RNG; if your unpredictability source can only pick n of m states, then encrypting its output (or hashing, or any other deterministic operation) can’t increase the number of states it could be in.\\nLet me illustrate this point by an example. Suppose I have a very poor random number generator; it gets into one of two states upon power-up with equal probability; in one state, it always generates ones, and in the other, it always generates zeroes. Since there are two equally-probable states, then it produces one unbit. Regardless of how many bits I have it generate, they must all be either ones or zeroes. If I then encrypt or hash that data, it can still be in only one of two states, though I no longer know what states those are. Thus, it is unpredictable to someone who does not know the transformation, but it still has only one unbit. In a sense, the encryption or hashing obscures the initial state (by making it confidential with a computational level of security), but it does not increase the number of streams the random number could produce. That is because encryption and hashing are deterministic operations, and that deterministic operations cannot introduce unpredictability.\\n29.15.1 The First Law of Unpredictability\\nIn a closed, deterministic system, unpredictability never increases.\\nThus, my first law of unpredictability (by analogy with the second law of thermodynamics) states that in a deterministic system, unpredictability never increases. Put another way, the unpredictability of a completely deterministic system tends to decrease over time; if my pseudo-random number generator is seeded with a certain amount of unpredictability, unless it is carefully designed, it may lose unpredictability over time by mapping n states at time t to the same state at time t+1. For example, if you repeatedly hash a value, since hash functions are designed to be indistinguishable from random functions, and since random functions tend to not to be one-to-one, this system will tend degrade in unpredictability over time and eventually enter a cycle; see The Handbook of Applied Cryptography for an analysis. The analogy we may use here is that mapping n states to a smaller number in a random number generation system is a wasteful operation, analogous to friction, and should be avoided.\\n29.15.2 Landauer’s Principle\\nAny logically irreversible manipulation of information, such as the erasure of a bit or the merging of two computation paths, must be accompanied by a corresponding entropy increase in non-information bearing degrees of freedom of the information processing apparatus or its environment.\\n-- Landauer’s Principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landauer%27s_principle )\\nIt is probably no accident that only reversible computations ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_computing ) maintain the unpredictability of the system, and any time we destroy unpredictability (information) by reducing the number of states of the system, we must dissipate energy (in the literal physics sense). This does imply some kind of fundamental connection between entropy and unpredictability (but see 29.7↑ ).\\n29.15.3 The Second Law of Unpredictability\\nUnpredictability may rise in a deterministic system, but by no more than the amount added, nor may it exceed the state capacity of the deterministic system to which it is added.\\nBy extension, when we feed unbits into a deterministic system, we may increase the unbits of the output, but only up to the number of bits total. That is, if I have a sample which has x unbits and y bits total (where x ≤ y) then I may encrypt it using a key of k unbits, and the output may still have y bits, but the number of unbits x’ may have increased by up to k unbits (that is, x ≤ x’ ≤ x + k ≤ y). Thus, the second law of unpredictability is that an increase in the unpredictability of a deterministic system is less than or equal to the amount of unpredictability added. It is certainly possible to throw away unpredictability by mapping two input states onto a single output state, but if we choose our operations carefully, we may retain most of it.\\nCommon ways to mix the unpredictability of multiple inputs into a single output involve using:\\nhash functions\\na combiner like XOR (or addition modulo some other convenient power of two)\\na cipher, because encryption is one-to-one (making it conserve unpredictability better than a hash), which has an avalanche effect (making it better than simple XOR)\\nI am contemplating doing something like this in a configurable userland daemon.\\nThe Linux /dev/random ( 63↑ ) does an interesting thing; it mixes unpredictability by XORing into the “entropy pool” at multiple locations (called taps) whose position within the pool changes irregularly.\\n29.15.5 Extracting Unpredictability\\nIt is also possible to extract the randomness from weakly-random sources. This is sometimes referred to as compression. There are a few ways to do this:\\nCompression Algorithm\\nYou can compress a large sample of the randomly-generated numbers using a compression algorithm. However, if you do this, make sure that your compression routine is not adding some non-random headers or “magic numbers” to the output (many compression tools do this to identify the compression scheme in use, or identify the stream as a compressed stream).\\nCryptographic Hashing\\nYou can take a large pool of weakly-random numbers and run a hash algorithm over it; this is what most Unixes do for their /dev/random and related RNG “devices”. This works but cryptographic hashes are relatively slow in terms of CPU time for the amount of output they create.\\nVon Neumann’s Corrector\\nIn Von Neumann’s approach, you take two bits from the RNG at a time. If they match, no output is generated. If they are different, the first bit is used. This produces a uniform output even if the distribution of the input bits is not uniform so long as they have the same chance of being 1 and there is no correlation between them. However, those are important conditions; if there is correlation between the bits, you will magnify the correlation.\\nVon Neumman Corrector ( http://everything2.com/title/von+Neumann+corrector )\\nRFC 4086 Section 4.2 ( http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4086.txt )\\nOther Randomness Extractors\\nYou can take many weakly-random bits and some strongly-random bits and produce more strongly-random bits. This is done through the use of extractors:\\nWikipedia article on extractors ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extractor )\\nWikipedia article on randomness extractors ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randomness_extractor )\\nDavid Zuckerman’s papers on extractors ( http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/diz/pubs/#extractor )\\n30 Cryptanalysis\\n30.1 Cryptographic Attack Patterns\\nKnown ciphertext attacks assume only that the adversary can obtain (encrypted) ciphertext. All cryptographic systems must prevent these attacks.\\nKnown plaintext attacks assume that the adversary knows that the encrypted data corresponds to a known piece of plaintext. All cryptographic systems should prevent these attacks.\\nChosen plaintext attacks assume the adversary can choose plaintext; this may happen if he can manage to send data over an encrypted link, or give a statement to a diplomat who will necessarily transmit it back to his home country verbatim.\\nAdaptive chosen plaintext attacks assume the adversary can choose plaintexts at will in an attempt to break the security of the system; such attacks are present in smart cards or any oracle [N] [N] In computer security circles, an oracle is an entity that can perform a computation that the adversary cannot., where the oracle will respond with the ciphertext associated with any plaintext.\\n30.2 A Priori Knowledge\\nThe more you know about the plaintext, the less you have to guess. For example the entropy ( 29.6↑ ) of the data might be a clue as to the source; key material generated by computers, encrypted, hashed, and compressed data have a Shannon entropy (H) nearly equal to one, whereas spoken languages and compiled programs have different ranges.\\nIn classic cryptanalysis, a knowledge of the language gives you symbol frequencies of various kinds, and certain patterns that may be useful for breaking classic ciphers. Alan Turing once imagined that one would be able to have a computer “make guesses” about the ciphertext and go on until it reached a contradiction, at which point it would stop and alter one of the guesses. That would be worthless for a modern cipher, but it is essentially still how people solve simple substitution cryptograms like you find in the newspaper. Where do those guesses come from? They come from a priori knowledge. The more of it you have, the better your guesses are.\\nA few laws may help.\\nZipf’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipf’s_law ) states that many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian distribution, one of a family of related discrete power law probability distributions. For cryptanalysis in particular, it suggests that the frequency distribution of words in a language may be approximated with one of these curves.\\nBenford’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benfords_law ) states that in a table of statistics, a given statistic has a 30% chance of starting with a 1, which is a great way to decrypt encrypted betting records made by bookies using simple substitution. It also says that you should drop off the first digit if you want to get really random data, but that will be discussed in the section on Randomness (see 29↑ ).\\n30.3 Length Extension Attacks\\nMany modern hash functions have a weakness against something known as the length-extension attack. For cryptographic hashes with this weakness, if you are given the hash (h(m)) and length of the message, but not the message m itself, it is possible to select another message m’ and compute h(m|m’).\\nThis attack can be used to break many naive authentication schemes based on hashes, such as those that attempt to use h(S|m) as an unforgeable value:\\nThai Duong, Juliano Rizzo - Flickr API Signature Vulnerability ( http://netifera.com/research/flickr_api_signature_forgery.pdf )\\nTravis H. - Web 2.0 Cryptography ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/web_20_crypto/web_20_crypto.pdf )\\nThese occur because Merkle-Damgård hashes typically have a “finalization” of just appending some known padding and a 64-bit length to the block before running it through the compression function.\\nOther schemes have been proposed, such as h(m|S) and even h(S|m|S), but those are overly malleable; one can often substitute either partner to a hash collision (see 30.4↓ ) with each other.\\nThe HMAC function (see 22↑ ) works around these problems.\\nBruce Schneier suggests always using h2(x) ≡ h(h(x)) instead of a regular hash function; it essentially says “hash it again” as part of the finalization.\\n30.4 Hash Collisions\\nAs discussed in the section on cryptographic hash functions (see 28.3.4↑ ), one of the properties of cryptographic hash functions is collision-resistance, namely that it is difficult to find two inputs that have the same hash value. This section includes links to work that finds or applies hash collisions.\\nSlashdot - New Crypto Attack Affects Millions of ASP.NET Apps ( http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/09/13/167239/New-Crypto-Attack-Affects-Millions-of-ASPNET-Apps )\\nThreatpost - New Crypto Attack Affects Millions of ASP.NET Apps ( http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/new-crypto-attack-affects-millions-aspnet-apps-091310 )\\nThe root cause of the problem, like Netifira’s earlier Flickr API Signature Forgery vulnerability (see 30.3↑ ), is web developers used encryption when they should have used MAC.\\nMAC prevents a client from forging a valid value. You can think of it like a digital signature, except that it’s much faster and the same key creates and verifies the data. Given an oracle, this vulnerability does make decrypting a token - and thus getting the plaintext - O(n), instead of O(2n) as brute force would dictate. It doesn’t require plaintext, just a ciphertext, and the attack finds the plaintext a byte at a time, from the end. Their paper doesn’t actually describe the attack (it refers to Vaudenay), but rather just describes how to test for the presence of the vulnerability.\\nAnyway, the oracle condition typically occurs when you hand something to the client and check it later, which is really a sign you should be using MAC (specifically HMAC). You can also use encryption if you want to hide the value, but for random nonces and session IDs, it doesn’t usually matter (doesn’t hurt, either). You’ll want to encrypt-then-MAC if you do both.\\nPKCS#5 Padding\\nIf your input is a multiple of the block length, add a full block of padding. Otherwise, add enough octets to pad to a block length. Each octet of the pad always has the number of octets of padding used. So for example, the plaintext ALWAYS ends with either 01, 02 02, 03 03 03, and so on.\\nIn CBC mode\\nFlipping bits in the previous ciphertext block flips the same bits in the next plaintext block after decryption (see http://www.subspacefield.org/security/web_20_crypto/web_20_crypto.pdf for a good picture).\\nPKCS#5 Oracle Attack\\nSuppose your plaintext ends in 04 04 04 04. If I twiddle the last octet of the (previous block of) ciphertext, only one value will give valid padding in the plaintext (01). Now I fix the last octet to 02 (by flipping the two least significant bits), and go to work on the previous octet, trying to make the plaintext end in 02 02. As a side effect, if I know what bits I had to flip to get the valid padding values, I know that your plaintext differs from the valid padding value in exactly those bits. This discloses your plaintext to me, but as a side-effect of being able to forge ciphertexts that will be accepted as valid.\\nOptimization\\nOnce you learn one padding octet, you know them all (and their value).\\nFor Fun\\nIf the padding was not 01, then there are two final octets which are valid, but if it was 01, then there is only one. For fun, try and specify the above algorithm formally, then compare to Vaudenay.\\n30.6 Cryptanalysis of Random Number Generators\\nWikipedia article on Random Number Generator Attacks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_number_generator_attack )\\nCryptanalytic Attacks on Pseudorandom Number Generators ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-prngs.html )\\n30.6.1 Netscape SSL flaw (1995)\\nRandomness and the Netscape Browser ( http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~daw/papers/ddj-netscape.html )\\n30.6.2 MS CryptGenRandom (Nov 2007)\\nAn optimist sees the glass as half full.\\nA pessimist sees the glass as half empty.\\nAn engineer sees the glass as twice as big as it needs to be.\\n-- Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert comic strip\\nOne of the signs of genius is when a person can look at a previously-intractable problem in a new and profitable way. There is a legend that an oracle prophesied that the person who could untie an especially knot ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot ) would become king of all of Asia Minor. It is said that Alexander the Great, unable to find the ends of the rope, pulled out his sword and cut the knot, producing the required ends.\\n31.1 Traffic Analysis\\nThe field of traffic analysis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_analysis ) concerns itself with everything except the content of the communication. If you just take a regular human-readable protocol and encrypt it, the length of the messages could give it away (“yes” and “no” are of different length). This has been done to fingerprint encrypted web connections:\\nFingerprinting Web Sites with Traffic Analysis ( http://guh.nu/projects/ta/safeweb/safeweb.html )\\nHere are a couple of ideas:\\nMany people use tor ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network) ) for anonymity.\\nPosting encrypted messages to Usenet (provides for receiver anonymity)\\nSending messages disguised as spam (see spam mimic)\\nBroadcasting them on a numbers station, for recipient anonymity.\\nKeeping a constant encrypted stream flowing at maximum bandwidth all the time to prevent analysis.\\nTime correlation; if Alice sends a message every Sunday at 4-5pm, and Bob receives one every Sunday evening, they might just be related!\\nTiming Analysis of Keystrokes and Timing Attacks on SSH ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/papers/ssh-use01.pdf )\\n31.2 Side Channels\\nSometimes an adversary may have a method to obtain information from your system which you did not anticipate, which allows him to infer things about the system. These are called side-channel attacks in that they differ from the expected methods of communication that an adversary would have with a system. In essence, they create an unexpected channel of communication to the adversary from your monitor, your modem, your power line, or some other component of your system.\\n31.2.1 Physical Information-Gathering Attacks and Defenses\\nMiscellaneous\\nReading RAM with Firewire ( http://md.hudora.de/presentations/#firewire-pacsec , http://www.storm.net.nz/projects/16 )\\nElectrical Emanations\\nKeyboard Acoustic Emanations Revisited ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~zf/papers/keyboard-ccs05.pdf )\\nAcoustic Cryptanalysis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_cryptanalysis ) of general computer noise ( http://people.csail.mit.edu/tromer/acoustic/ )\\nRoom audio modulated onto A/C power via incandescent lights ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphonics )\\nAcoustic analysis of dot-matrix printers: R. Briol, Emanation: How to keep your data confidential, In Symposium on Electromagnetic Security for Information Protection, SEPI’91, Rome, Italy, Nov 1991\\n31.2.2 Signal Injection Attacks and Defenses\\nThis does not have to be a read-only channel; many smart card attacks are based on modifying these parameters to affect the system adversely. Glitching the power to a smart card, or putting it in the microwave...\\nTamper Resistance: A Cautionary Note ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/tamper.pdf )\\n31.2.4 Timing Side-Channels\\nOften can be done remotely. Timing attacks don’t necessarily have to be related to cryptography. Back in the 1970s, some hackers on the TENEX system noticed that one could tell if the system paged in something from disk by measuring the amount of time it took to access a page; by arranging a password to cross a page boundary and then calling the system command which checked the password (with a linear scan of the characters), they could tell if the password was correct up until the page boundary ( http://www.securitytechnique.com/2003/11/passwords.html , http://www.st.cs.uni-sb.de/edu/secdesign/coding.pdf ). In a modern context, a database lookup or cryptographic operation may be sufficiently time-consuming as to provide a “tell”, so one could determine if a given web application had performed such an operation or not; such things could tell you if a username or password (but not both) were correct, despite getting an unhelpful error message.\\nTENEX Password Timing Attack Hack (see Practical Unix and Internet Security)\\nExecution Path Timing Analysis (of Unix Daemons) ( http://ouah.org/epta.pdf )\\nCAN-2003-0190 OpenSSH timing flaw with PAM ( http://lab.mediaservice.net/advisory/2003-01-openssh.txt )\\nCAN-2003-0078 OpenSSL timing vulnerabilities in CBC mode ( http://www.openssl.org/news/secadv_20030219.txt )\\nSide Channel Cryptanalysis of Product Ciphers ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-side-channel.html )\\nRecent timing attack versus AES (see AES timing attack: http://cr.yp.to/antiforgery/cachetiming-20050414.pdf , AES timing attack discussion: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/05/aes_timing_atta_1.html , AES timing variability at a glance: http://cr.yp.to/mac/variability1.html )\\nKocher’s 1996 Timing Attacks on Implementations of Diffie-Hellman, RSA, DSS and Other Systems ( http://www.cryptography.com/timingattack/paper.html )\\nFelten & Schneider (2000) Timing Attacks on Web Privacy ( http://www.cs.princeton.edu/sip/pub/webtiming.pdf )\\nBrumley & Boneh (2003) Remote Timing Attacks are Practical ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/~dabo/abstracts/ssl-timing.html )\\nChris Karlof , David Wagner , Chris Karlof , David Wagner (2003) Hidden Markov Model Cryptanalysis ( http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/696493.html )\\nBortz (2007) XSRT (Cross-Site Request Timing)\\nBortz, Boneh, Nandy (2007) Exposing Private Information by Timing Web Applications ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/~abortz/papers/timingweb.pdf )\\nLawson 2009, Timing Attack in Google Keyczar Library ( http://rdist.root.org/2009/05/28/timing-attack-in-google-keyczar-library/ )\\nHow do we avoid leaking information?\\nfixed time implementations are invulnerable to timing side channels, but very hard to do, depending on the resolution of the measurement and the control over the computing environment that the adversary has. The most important part of this is to write branch-free code (note that comparisons for equality are almost always implemented as branches).\\nDan Bernstein’s AES timing attacks show that table lookups are not constant-time, and with sufficient number and accuracy of measurements and powerful statistical tools in the hands of the adversary, it would be hard to really know that one has actually performed this task sufficiently well. Therefore, here are some ideas that may or may not be good, but attempt to address this difficulty at the risk of adding complexity:\\nadd randomly generated delays which, unfortunately, the adversary can average out over time. This increases number of samples necessary, making attack take longer.\\nquantize delay makes the amount of time a multiple of some value, reducing the amount of information gained with each measurement. This is the general case of “wait after computation so that everything takes the same amount of time”. This is hard since precise measurements are hard, sleeping a precise amount of time is hard, and knowing how long is the longest it could take is hard.\\nadd unpredictable delays by adding to the delay a cryptographic function of the guess made by an adversary which must be constant over time, yet unpredictable by the adversary (for example, td = g(x, k), where perhaps g(x, k) = HMAC(x, k) ⁄ c). This is the logical improvement over a randomly-generated value, since it cannot be averaged out by repeated measurements with the same guess. If we represent the delay seen as t = tf(x) + tg(x, k) + td, then it seems clear that the adversary has two, possibly three unknowns in one linear equation. This might be soluble if the computed delay has a high enough granularity or low enough range (it is a discrete variable) that it could be separated from the other delays.\\nblinding involves not operating on the data, but instead a function of the data, then computing some sort of inverse on the results. Similar to unpredictable delays. Tends to be done with RSA due to the multiplicative identity; unclear if it could be done with other algorithms (possibly Diffie-Hellman).\\nhashing involves never operating on user data directly, but instead taking the hash of it before, say, a comparison to a known value (which is also hashed first). Similar to blinding.\\nIt’s worth noting that many of the obvious ideas, such as adding delay, are somewhat difficult to do accurately (due to timer availability and scheduling). It also presents problems when the distribution has a long tail (for example, 1% of the time, it takes 100x longer than average); that is why I suggest quantizing the delay rather than waiting for the maximum possible time. Also many of the long output times would be in cases where the machine is in a strange state, such as overloaded by a surge of requests, or in the process of crashing, etc. It is often hard to reproduce these states in testing.\\nConstructive Use of Side Channels ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/seclab/sem-09-10/becker.html )\\n32 Information and Intelligence\\nOne gathers data in a process called collection, and significant data is called information (“information is a difference that makes a difference”, as the saying goes). That may further be processed or refined into stuff you can use called intelligence, or more generally product. Confusingly, intelligence has also come to mean the entire lifecycle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence(information_gathering) ), from gathering to distributing the product. Sometimes intelligence is referred to as “the great game”, but this should be taken in the sense of game theory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory ), and not triviality. In wartime, intelligence can equate to tens of thousands of deaths, possibly more. Spies, saboteurs, terrorists and other criminals can look forward to lifetime imprisonment or execution if caught. In the excellent book Between Silk and Cyanide ( http://books.google.com/books?id=I4zP8hSxIFIC&dq=&pg=PP1&ots=Jisjo9wtgm&sig=tJlaJ77oqyz3r2Th8QNeKo0CNi0 ), Marks of the UK’s SOE states that during WWII the average operational lifetime of a spy in occupied Europe was approximately two weeks.\\nSome people see a natural synergy between computer security and warfare, or between computer security and terrorism. The general definitions of information warfare ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare ) and cyberterrorism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberterrorism ) denote the fact that a network intrusions are almost incidental to the actual goal. However, the combination of computer security and espionage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-warfare ) is a perfect fit, since one may directly attain the goal (collecting intelligence) remotely with a computer.\\nIn the classified world, spy is a dirty word, virtually synonymous with traitor. People like James Bond, were they to exist, would be referred to as agents, whereas someone on the other side who works for you is called an asset. When something happens in secret, it is clandestine. When appears to happen for one reason (the cover) but actually happens for a secret (“covert”) reason, it is a covert operation. The apparent (“overt”) reason is referred to as the cover story, or simply the cover. Not using the proper euphemisms is considered insensitive, like referring to killing an enemy soldier as murdering or killing him rather than “neutralizing” him. [O] [O] I have often wondered why people consider “liquidation” a euphemism, as it sounds rather unpleasant to me.\\nintel is short for intelligence, obviously\\nopsec is operational security, a five step process described at Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_security )\\ninfosec is information technology security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INFOSEC )\\ncomsec is communication security, covering all non-IT forms of communication ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COMSEC )\\ntransec is transmission security, a subclass of comsec, focused on keeping transmissions from being intercepted by the adversary ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRANSEC )\\nlinesec is line security, making sure that your communication lines go where you want and don’t cause crosstalk or become unintentional radiators\\nelectronic warfare is use of the E/M spectrum to improve your own use of the spectrum and deny the adversary use of it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_warfare , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Old_Crows )\\nsigsec is signal security, a generic term that includes both communications security and electronics security\\nEEFI are the essential elements of friendly information; the things you don’t want to give away to the enemy\\n32.2 Controlling Information Flow\\nThe only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards - and even then I have my doubts.\\n-- Eugene Spafford ( http://homes.cerias.purdue.edu/~spaf/quotes.html )\\nIf we can prevent an adversary from sending any information to a system (infiltration), then it becomes clear that this is the ultimate security from active attacks. If we can prevent an adversary from getting any information out of a system (exfiltration), then it prevents all passive attacks. Combined, this amounts to Marcus Ranum’s Ultimate Firewall (see http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/papers/a1-firewall/ ), which is also sold under the more common name “scissors” ( http://www.dumbentia.com/pdflib/scissors.pdf ). Similarly, with communication, if you can keep the communication out of reach of the adversary (for example by using wires instead of radio, or a trustworthy courier to hand-deliver it), then they can’t do a darn thing to break the confidentiality. Once he has a copy, you have only passive information defenses such as cryptography to protect it. Note that passive defenses like cryptography cannot alert you to attempts to defeat them, so the attacks against them are also passive, and thus their failures are silent. Also, once encrypted information falls into the adversary’s hands, you cannot perform key rotations, or meaningfully revoke the key used to encrypt it, or anything along those lines.\\n32.3 Labeling and Regulations\\nIn certain environments, you may find that documents, or even IP packets, are classified as “proprietary”, “confidential”, “secret”, or something like that (for an example of what those terms mean to the US government, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information_in_the_United_States ). My first reaction is to wonder why people would clearly mark this data, because it makes it easy for an adversaries to identify and collect something that has obvious value. That is a drawback, but there are other, less obvious advantages that dramatically outweigh it.\\nThe first advantage of properly labeling information is that it enables a conscientious employee to know the information shouldn’t be casually discarded, and thereby end up in the adversary’s possession. One cannot overstate the importance of this; if the adversary can get ahold of unencrypted information in the first place, you have lost your ability to protect it. Simply hoping that he won’t recognize the importance of it is a very weak defense; it’s essentially security through obscurity.\\nThe second advantage of properly labeling information and having well-understood regulations regarding the disposal of classified information, they will not be able to ignore them under the defense that they didn’t know it was sensitive; this is an example of the principle of removing excuses (see 34.13↓ ). Ideally, everyone who handles the information should have as much interest in protecting it as anyone else who has an interest in it. If not, they may decide it’s too much trouble to handle properly, lose control of it, and someone else winds up paying the consequences. Training should also include examples of bad things which happened to a person because an employee failed to follow the regulations. Here you want to make an impact on the person’s conscience, because it is far better to have an employee who truly wants to protect the organization’s information (and other people) than one who merely wants to not get caught failing to protect it.\\nThe third advantage of properly labeling information is that it deprives a malicious insider of the ability to improperly dispose of the information with the intention of giving it to the adversary, and then claiming that he didn’t know that it was sensitive. This is sometimes called the “accidentally on-purpose” threat. For this to be effective, the threat of punishment must be credible, and that means making it known that you monitor for leaks. In this case, it is desirable that at least some of your monitoring be done in such a way that the employees do not know when it is happening. The education about the regulations should include examples of punishments given to malicious insiders who deliberately failed to follow regulations; pictures of unhappy-looking traitors in stark cells, prison gear, shackles, and leg irons are usually more effective at influencing a person than repeating the number of years of the sentence. Intentionally removing the label from information without going through proper procedures is obviously a willful violation, puts the person in the “malicious insider” category automatically. I’m not sure why Daniel Ellsberg did this with the Pentagon papers, because removing the label doesn’t make it unclassified.\\nFinally, with properly labeled information, it makes it easy to check for accidental leaks; you merely look for the labels in any outbound data. The adversary no better at finding this data than you are, so proper labeling helps you find it at least as much as it helps him.\\n32.4 Knowledge is Power\\nScientia potentia est.\\n-- Sir Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacrae, 1597 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientia_potentia_est )\\nUnderstand that information is always on the side of the investigator. One of the national labs used to record every packet that came over their WAN link. It can also help in unexpected ways; for example, if someone calls you up on your VoIP phone, and you record all your VoIP calls to hard disk (only one side needs to be informed in some states), you could happen to record a threatening phone call or someone who defrauds you, and use it as evidence against them later. Note that the person storing the information and the investigator need not be on the same side; during Microsoft’s anti-trust trial, Bill Gates was impugned by emails he sent stored on his own company’s system that contradicted what his sworn testimony.\\n32.5 Secrecy is Power\\nOccultia potentia est.\\nThere is a purported NSA employee security manual on the web [P] [P] The NSA manual may be found here: http://www.tscm.com/NSAsecmanual1.html or here: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/nsaman.pdf , and if it is correct, the very first thing you learn is to remain anonymous. Why? It’s hard for an adversary to target you for anything if he doesn’t know you exist, or if what he knows about you (for example, the name and purpose of your organization) can’t be translated into something he can attack (often an address, like the geographic location of your underground command center, or the netblock for your corporate LAN).\\nBy way of example, if you had a secret FEMA bunker (for use in a national emergency) whose location remains unknown to any adversary, you need only worry about people stumbling across it either through curiosity or accident. Thus, if the address of something you are trying to defend remains secret, then you only need to worry about casual (untargeted) attacks. You can reduce the change of accidental intrusion by placing it in a remote location and giving it defenses appropriate to discouraging the passer-by (for example, barbed wire fences). You can prevent people from becoming curious about it by giving it a mundane cover. The rumor is that the new aircraft test location now that Area 51 has closed down is located on a testing range for biological and chemical weapons, which would be a good way of discouraging curious explorers.\\nDoes secrecy therefore imply that you are doing something you shouldn’t? That depends; are you the sort of person who plays poker with his cards face up on the table? Given the choice between asking people to keep quiet and asking them to lie, I would prefer they simply keep quiet; having to lie is an unreasonable request to demand of an ethical person, lying undermines your credibility, and the more a person lies, cheats and steals, the more inured they are to the feelings they provoke and the more likely they are to do so in the future. It is a slippery moral slope that ends in disaster. Many revolutionary organizations have self-destructed because the participants go from stealing to fund the cause to stealing and killing for personal gain.\\nSo, here are a few questions to consider:\\nWhy do you keep passphrases secret?\\nWhy do you keep your credit card number a secret?\\nWhy do you seal letters in envelopes?\\nWhy do you wear clothes?\\nWhat is your social security number, full name, and address?\\nWhy are many security cameras in “domes of wine-dark opacity” or completely hidden?\\nWhy are the locations of data centers, or government offices, often not published?\\nWhy do soldiers wear camouflage?\\n32.6 Never Confirm Guesses\\nPeople will make speculation about secret information, and publish them. It’s generally a policy to never confirm any of them, because the adversary reads the same papers, and probably was already aware of the speculation. Intelligence agencies may well pay people to publish incorrect speculation. Also, it’s possible the person who published the speculation is an adversary, and is attempting to bait you into a public admission!\\n32.7 What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You\\nYou only get nasty surprises if you don’t expect them.\\n-- Thomas Ptacek\\nNow that we have established that secrecy is not immoral, let’s discuss practical issues. Prior to the advent of the web, there was a world-wide bulletin board system called Usenet. They had various forums, called news groups, which numbered in the tens of thousands, depending on how you counted them. Now, imagine that you posted under your real name to a support group for dealing with homosexuality, or recovering from mental illness; you had every reason to believe that (by and large) only people dealing with those issues would ever see that article for the week or so it stayed on the news server. Flash forward ten years, and now an Internet search engine like Deja News or Google Groups has indexed it by your real name, making it trivially accessible to a potential employer or anyone with a grudge against you. I avoid using personally-identifying information unless necessary, not because I’m ashamed of anything I do, but because I simply don’t know what the unintended consequences of information disclosure will be. It may be taken out of context. Once disseminated, information cannot effectively be revoked, so it’s always safer to say nothing than to say something. Thus, NSA is sometimes said to stand for “Never Say Anything”.\\nIf your opponent knows you know, they can take action to remediate it (see 34.2↓ ). Conversely, if they don’t know you know, they can’t do anything about it. Therefore, silent security failures are the most dangerous kind. Therefore, secret attacks are the most dangerous. Therefore, passive attacks are worrisome. Thus do we find policies such as “need to know”, “default deny”, and so on (see 34.1↓ ).\\n32.8 How Secrecy is Lost\\nHere I should discuss the bit in The Wizard War ( http://www.vectorsite.net/ttwiz.html ) where the author describes how classified information ends up in unauthorized hands.\\n32.9 Costs of Disclosure\\nImagine the consequences of leaking a classified document containing the name of an active spy or mole within a foreign government. Alternately, imagine the disclosure of details regarding a clandestine tunnel full of monitoring equipment under the Kremlin; it would be almost impossible to compensate for the disclosure; apart from millions of dollars in sunk costs, people probably risked their freedom and possibly lives to make it possible. And the presence of the tunnel would not have to be disclosed directly; it may merely be that intelligence gained from the tunnel intercepts is used in a careless manner, and that they search for and find the tunnel.\\n32.10 Dissemination\\nBe careful about leaks and dissemination. In the intelligence business, one does not redistribute information to a third party without explicit permission of the sender; this is called second-sourcing, is considered extremely unprofessional and downright rude. If the source would not give it to the third party, and you do, you’re basically taking a present from them and slapping them with it; it’s a betrayal of trust, it seriously damages the relationship, and you may never get anything from them again. If you were an employee of an intelligence agency and did this without orders to do so, you would likely be fired, and possibly charged with treason.\\nSuppose you offer information to customers. It’s virtually impossible to stop a competitor from using an account or front and acquiring your information and using it in some way you didn’t desire. The only leverage you have is being able to be able to terminate the account, which isn’t much leverage if it’s free. One possible countermeasure involves watermarking, or otherwise altering the data imperceptibly so that you can perform traitor-tracing if you get a copy of a leaked document to determine who leaked it.\\n32.11 Information, Misinformation, Disinformation\\nI don’t let things slip, Hank... I place information.\\n-- Dale, King of the Hill (television series)\\nYour adversary seeks information. Someone who gives him the wrong answers to his questions is merely spreading misinformation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation ), while someone who is actively thwarting him is feeding him disinformation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation ). If your adversary seeks confidential information, placing some disinformation will make them unsure of anything they get through espionage. It is said ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jesus_Angleton#Increasing_paranoia ) that James Angleton was so shaken by the revelation that Kim Philby (a childhood friend) was a Soviet agent that he became convinced that every defector from the Soviet Union was a plant, and that it essentially prevented the CIA from making use of anything they could learn from the defectors, and made many of his subordinates wonder what they should be doing instead. It is also said (reference needed) that Einstein spent some time coming up with disinformation (equations/theory and research results) about atomic energy that were subtly designed so that they would waste many resources before they were revealed to be bogus. These were then printed in international physics journals. It is also said that the CIA spends half its budget on disinformation and deception, but if that is true, then it is only 50% likely to be true. The only thing I can say about it is that 50% seems the ideal ratio for an adversary to believe, since their gut reaction is that any yes/no question is much cheaper to “answer” just as reliably with a coin toss. However, I suspect that a deception operation is usually much cheaper than a real operation, because you don’t have to really do something, you just have to appear to do it, so the ratio should be lower. My suspicion is that the reported interest in psychic phenomena, mind control, and remote viewing are likely to be like Einstein’s equations; fruitless time sinks for foreign consumption. [Q] [Q] If you doubt this, check out The Amazing Randi’s $1M prize for anyone capable of proving a supernatural ability; he is an extremely clever fellow when it comes to uncovering deception. And as for psychic channeling, how come none of these presumably very advanced entities can provide a proof or disproof of, say, Goldbach’s Conjecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldbach’s_conjecture ?\\n33 Conflict and Combat\\nNever interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.\\n-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)\\nOnce is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.\\n-- Ian L. Fleming, Goldfinger\\nSuppose you’re the secret service, chartered to protect a president. You could do nothing except saturate the area with snipers and hope to notice someone pulling a gun and shoot them, but that’s not likely to be a safe and effective policy. Now suppose that someone belonging to a militant anti-government organization lives in a town the president will visit, buys a hunting rifle shortly before the visit, rents a room along the parade route, and so on. These are not necessarily hard evidence that they will go through with it, but they are indicators and warnings (I&W) of foul intentions, and you’d be remiss in your duties if you didn’t investigate this a little further, and make some preparations to stop this particular event from reaching a point where you might be faced with only undesirable choices. This line of reasoning may apply just as well to network security scans or other forms of reconnaissance (see 17↑ ).\\nThe same thing happens in security all the time. Our firewalls are being pounded on, and we do nothing about it.\\n33.2 Attacker’s Advantage in Network Warfare\\nBut know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.\\n-- Matthew 24:43 (English Standard Version)\\nIn network warfare, there is only one defender (organization), and potentially a billion independent attackers (for an Internet-facing system). The defender is assumed to be known (e.g. we know who owns Microsoft.com), but not the attacker. The attacker knows, or can trivially enumerate, the attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) on which he must make his attack. The attacker need only make one successful attack to accomplish his objective, whereas the defender successfully thwart all attacks. I call this the attacker’s advantage.\\nBruce Schneier points out that cryptography is the exception to the general rule, in that adding a single bit to your key size doubles the adversary’s work factor, while only increasing your work slightly. Thus, absent any new cryptanalytic attacks or advances such as quantum computers (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor ), the defenders may simply pick algorithms with sufficiently large key sizes that a direct attack is infeasible. However, on the Internet they may still often attack the end point directly, or use side channel attacks ( 31.2↑ ).\\n33.3 Defender’s Advantage in Network Warfare\\nSuspicion always haunts the guilty mind.\\n-- William Shakespeare\\nThe defenders have an advantage in that they are not breaking the law, and can thus organize openly. To date, I am not aware of commercial corporations federating in any way to protect themselves, but it could be a very powerful strategy. For example, several organizations could agree that an attack on any of them will trigger all of them to shun that network address globally. Or, they could share information related to intrusion, perhaps my having a security monitoring company which monitors network traffic for all of them. Such an organization could become aware of new attacks very early and take measures to reduce or eliminate the vulnerability of all participants before the attack hits them individually. The defenders also have an advantage in that the attackers may organize openly and share ideas and information. This means that defenders may receive the same information at the same time (see 36.10↓ ). Then, we are in a race to see who can fix it or exploit it first (see 33.4↓ ).\\nMore generally, if you cannot defend everywhere, all the time, you probably want to defend where and when your adversary attacks. He doesn’t want you to know, and if you want to catch him in the act, you don’t want him to know that you know. Thus, the attacker wants to keep his targets unknown, and the defender wants to keep his collection efforts unknown. This may have implications when deciding between prevention and monitoring (see 35.7↓ ).\\n33.4 OODA Loops\\nSun Tzu discussed the importance of recognizing opportunities in battle and exploiting them quickly, but John Boyd performed a detailed analysis of feedback loops, breaking them down into four stages; observe, orient, decide, and act. They are called Boyd loops, or OODA loops ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA ), and the basic premise was that if you can make this cycle shorter than your opponent’s, you can react to unfolding events faster than they can, like a person balancing an upright stick on top of their finger.\\nAt first, this may not seem to have any application to computer security. However, it has a great deal more relevance than one might think. For example, consider that you are head of computer security at an online financial institution, and your adversaries are everybody who wants to steal money from it. Now, you would be incredibly foolish to simply stick your head in the sand and hope that nobody hacks you, right? Anybody with two neurons connected together can tell that it would be a good idea to know what the adversaries are doing so that you could take countermeasures.\\nAlso, it should be clear that you want to know as soon as possible; so, you will want abuse detection systems (see 16↑ ), and it would be ever better for you to monitor computer security web sites, even the gray-hat and black-hat sources, and possibly phishing and fraud-related forums primarily populated by criminals. The fact of the matter is that respectable groups like CERT often don’t tell you the information as quickly as you would like, because they don’t want it getting in the wrong hands. But you are the right hands, and you want to get it as quickly as possible, so it’s in your best interest to do so. The people who will succeed in this endeavor are the ones who are the most connected.\\nFinally, you want to be able to evaluate the information and react quickly to limit the exposure or damage; thus, this is related to the principle of agility (see 34.2↓ ). Combined, this forms your OODA loop. In an ideal world, you would be so tapped into your adversary’s thinking process, and so agile, that you could deploy a countermeasure before he was able to field the attack. You can’t do that with your eyes closed. You aren’t going to be able to do that if all you know about your adversary is that they hate freedom, or that they are evil, or similar slogans that subtly imply good people stop thinking at this point. Understanding is not the problem; understanding is the solution (see the quote in 6↑ ). Ideally you would like to avoid conflict, to win without fighting, but most conflicts arise because of lack of understanding or simple callousness.\\n33.5 Courses of Action\\nA standard military procedure is to develop Courses of Action (CoA) for personnel. This aids in making sure that they take appropriate action in response to stimuli.\\nCourse of Action Development and Analysis ( http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/call/call_93-3_ch4.htm )\\nObey the principles without being bound by them.\\n-- Bruce Lee\\nNow that we have an understanding of the issues “in the wild”, I can attempt to extract from them some common lessons, and reformulate them as general principles which may help you build more secure systems.\\nOWASP Application Security Principles ( http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:Principle )\\nSaltzer & Schroeder’s The Protection of Information in Computer Systems ( http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/protection/ , http://www.ece.rutgers.edu/~parashar/Classes/03-04/ece572/papers/protection.pdf ) Section 1A3\\n34.1 The Principle of Least Privilege\\nOne basic and obvious tenet is to give every part of the system just enough privileges to get its job done, but no more. It takes a number of forms:\\nleast privilege is where you authorize a program or system to do only what it needs to do to accomplish its objectives ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_privilege )\\nneed-to-know (NTK) is the personnel security principle to protect confidentiality where you only tell people what they need to know to get their job done\\ndefault deny is the access-control principle which states “anything which is not explicitly allowed is denied”\\nanomaly detection is when you alert whenever something is out of the ordinary (see 16.2↑ )\\nartificial ignorance is when you remove things you know to be alright from your log files and only look at what doesn’t match (see 15.2↑ )\\nThe best illustration of this principle that I have found is in Marcus Ranum’s The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security ( http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/dumb/ ). It’s also quite amusing, so you should read it now. He says calls the opposite of this principle “enumerating badness”, because you have to pay someone to sit around and guess or research what bad guys are doing, and you thus always caught flat-footed by a new kind of bad thing. This was described as a bad idea in computer security as early as 1965, by E. Glaser. Saltzer & Schroeder call this principle “fail-safe defaults” or “least privilege”.\\nHowever, there are many problems with implementing such a design. First, many systems allow only a certain granularity of privileges. For example, most OSes give each user a privilege set, and any program run as that user inherits that privilege set. To get finer-grained permissions, you usually need a change to the OS, such as MAC (see 12.3↑ ). This requires a much deeper level of knowledge than you would need otherwise. Similarly, most firewalls block on individual ports; blocking on the kind of traffic depends on deeper understanding of the network data (the buzzwords for this change, but may include “layer 7 firewalling” and “deep packet inspection”). But even that may not be enough; some operations within the protocol may be safe, and others not; for example, you may wish to allow someone to read a file with FTP, but not to write. With an undocumented protocol like Microsoft’s SMB/CIFS, you generally must block it entirely because it’s a black box and therefore you can’t know that it is safe. With programs, you must currently grant privileges to the entire program at once, or not at all; if one part of the code can do it, so can another. This means that to remain secure, the program must often be split into multiple pieces (this is the strategy used by the secure mailer Postfix, and it has worked rather well).\\nNobody has yet done any work on automatically determining the privileges software needs automatically, because it’s a code coverage (for application security) and generalization problem. For example, the code read “/tmp/aaa”, and “/tmp/aab”; I can create rules which allow this, but it won’t be able to read “/tmp/aac”. But how far do I generalize? Does it need to be able to read “/tmp/bar”?\\n34.2 The Principle of Agility\\nThe best system is to use a simple, well understood algorithm which relies on the security of a key rather than the algorithm itself. This means if anybody steals a key, you could just roll another and they have to start all over.\\n-- Andrew Carol\\nMy friend does penetration testing, and tells me that having zero-day exploits (or any exploit with no vendor patch) does him no good because if he reports the customer as being vulnerable, the customer can’t do anything about it. Technically, they could, but they’d probably need to switch technologies, like operating systems. Unfortunately, most are too wed to the relevant technologies to be able to do that.\\nAlso, recently some companies have tried to make media only playable on certain devices, and they call this Digital Rights Management (DRM). This usually involves having a secret embedded in the device. Of course consumers wanted to be able to play media they purchased with whatever player they wanted, which is totally reasonable, and so a war ensued. In the first few iterations of this, people extracted the secrets from players and then were able to play the media on whatever they wanted, and the media companies were unable to respond because all the players had secrets in them which could not be changed.\\nIn both of these cases, the subjects were unable to deal with a piece of information because they were not agile; they could not react to the new information.\\nTo be agile, you want to avoid lock-in to a vulnerable technology. It can happen when a component you depend on has a design vulnerability, or the implementation of that component has a vulnerability but you depend on implementation-specific additions. It seems the key here is to write portable code that adheres to open, well-defined standards, so that you can switch implementations any time you wish. It also militates against “package deals”, or “bundles”, where you can’t change one component without changing the entire bundle.\\nOf course, greedy vendors hate this, because having low switching costs means they can’t charge you nearly as much. That may well be the drive behind the Unix workstation fragmentation and Microsoft’s “embrace, extend and extinguish” principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish ). But by being able to switch to a competing product any time you want, you are financially secure. It’s not the smart customer that made them self an enemy; it’s the fact that the vendor’s interest diverged from that of the customer, and so it made the customer their enemy. When companies stop trying to take advantage of their customers by locking them in, and just focus on giving the customer the best value for their money, they will no longer see their customers, smart or otherwise, as enemies.\\nSimilarly, it would be nice to identify assumptions about the security environment that may be subject to change, and pick a solution that is not require this assumption to be true to give the desired result. Put another way, one should prefer flexible solutions over brittle ones. In practice, security systems that were properly designed but failed in practice often depend on an assumption that was erroneously believed to be true, or was true initially but ceased to be true over time. So using flexible solutions is also a way to stay agile.\\nIn the ancient board game the Japanese call Go ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game) ), there is a strategic concept called aji, which literally means “taste”, but is best translated as “latent potential”. [R] [R] For more Go terms, see the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_terms One can imagine it being similar to an army you hold in reserve in the rear which may be quickly deployed at any location along the front line. Because it stays back there, the adversary cannot easily commit all his troops to a certain part of the front line without you then being able to deploy yours to a weak point along the front line. Similar concepts can exist within security systems; you may not be able to audit all events within the system, but you may choose to audit a set which you believe to be relevant. If you learn information that causes you to change that set, perhaps because of information gathered by forensic examinations of adversary actions, it would be desirable to be agile enough to change it with minimal effort.\\nBy way of example, consider if you had standardized on a Windows 1.0 multimedia program. How would you run it? You laugh, but I’ve seen companies with obsolete systems who continue to pay exorbitant costs because the cost of switching to (rewriting for) another system is too prohibitive. As long as the costs increase gradually, there is never sufficient immediate cause to invest in the fix that would provide best long-term gains. Database vendors have long known the vendor lock-in principle, and if you think it’s unimportant, look at IBM, or Oracle (who, as of this writing, recently acquired Sun Microsystems).\\n34.3 The Principle of Minimal Assumptions\\nPerfection is reached, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.\\n-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery\\nRoughly speaking, the stronger the defense is, the less assumptions are necessary for it to be effective. It would be nice to minimize the secrecy requirements to keep the defense effective. In cryptography, we want to have the system remain secure when only the key is unknown; this is Kerckhoff’s Second Principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerckhoffs’_principle ), described in la cryptographie militaire ( http://petitcolas.net/fabien/kerckhoffs/ ), and it’s valuable because confidentiality is difficult to maintain, or assure, and loss of it is often undetectable, and if someone did compromise the design of the system, it would be difficult or impossible to change. One can also design a system starting with the assumption that the system is known to the adversary, and when stated that way it is known as Shannon’s maxim, but was also discussed in Saltzer and Schroeder as the principle of open design. In actuality, the real thrust behind Kerckhoff’s Principle is that of agility (see 34.2↑ ); the users can react to disclosure merely by changing keys, and don’t have to redesign the system. Of course if your keys are buried in offline devices and you can’t securely update the keys, then you’re still pretty hosed. Security or strength built on openness are more durable, because there is no secret which may be lost which may compromise that strength.\\nPut another way, security which depends on too many things is built on a shaky foundation, because your adversary may target the weakest of those things. Another formulation of this could be called the principle of small numbers, which states that no sufficiently large thing is uniformly good. It basically states that it is difficult to ensure consistency across large numbers of people or other complex systems, and that when the security relies on all of them, then it is best to minimize the number of them involved. My friends who are penetration testers tell me that the larger the organization, the easier it is to find a single weak link in the perimeter. This ties into the principle of uniform fronts (see 34.8↓ ).\\nThere is a significant analogy in cryptographic and mathematical proofs; that the more (and stronger) assumptions on which a proof rests, the less important/valuable the result (note that a stronger assumption is one less likely to be true). It is actually very, very common to base proofs on unproven postulates; a common one is that P is not equal to NP. It is often valuable to revisit those parts of the system and see if we can reduce the strength of those assumptions. It is also valuable to ask if we can design a system which is no worse than the current system, but which performs better under additional conditions; one can say that such a system weakly dominates ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_dominance ) the current system.\\n34.4 The Principle of Fail-Secure Design\\nIt is sometimes suggested that mechanisms that reliably record that a compromise of information has occurred can be used in place of more elaborate mechanisms that completely prevent loss. For example, if a tactical plan is known to have been compromised, it may be possible to construct a different one, rendering the compromised version worthless. An unbreakable padlock on a flimsy file cabinet is an example of such a mechanism. Although the information stored inside may be easy to obtain, the cabinet will inevitably be damaged in the process and the next legitimate user will detect the loss. For another example, many computer systems record the date and time of the most recent use of each file. If this record is tamper-proof and reported to the owner, it may help discover unauthorized use. In computer systems, this approach is used rarely, since it is difficult to guarantee discovery once security is broken. Physical damage usually is not involved, and logical damage (and internally stored records of tampering) can be undone by a clever attacker.\\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\\nIf you system can, fail secure; if you can’t, fail obviously.\\nIn A First Tour Like No Other ( https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v41i5a01p.htm ), CIA agent William J. Daugherty recounts what happened when the US Embassy was overrun in Iran. They were under orders not to retain more classified documents than could be destroyed in 30 minutes, which was the rating against forced entry of the vault. However, the document shredder/incinerator was a finicky beast, and shut down within a few minutes, and many documents were disclosed [S] [S] The documents seem rather uninteresting to me, but can be found in the series of books called Documents From the US Espionage Den: http://www.thememoryhole.com/espionage_den/index.htm .\\nThus, the general design principle is that a system should fail in such a way that the desired security properties remain intact. For example, if one wants to preserve confidentiality, one should keep the data encrypted whenever practical. That way, if the system fails in foreseeable ways (power loss, theft, etc.) minimal amounts of plaintext are disclosed. This is also a wise thing to do given that emergency procedures hardly ever work as designed. In a crisis, there is confusion, and people act unpredictably (or may be dead). Thus, if one can do a little more work in non-crisis situations to reduce the amount of work required in crisis situations, as you can with encrypted storage (see 28.7↑ ), that is often an excellent trade-off.\\nThe converse of this principle is that when it can’t give security, it fails in a glaringly obvious way. Most programmers work on their code until it works, and then stop. Often people assume that if they don’t see an indication of failure, then it must be safe. You should at least give obvious warnings when something is unsecure (repeated warnings are annoying, which is why most browsers allow you to accept a certificate which cannot be guaranteed to be safe for one reason or another; see 34.14↓ ).\\nMore generally, if we cannot guarantee fail-secure, we should strive to have a “tamper evident” design; if it fails, the failure is recorded in some way (see 16↑ ).\\n34.5 The Principle of Unique Identifiers\\nSuppose you are setting up a Unix system, and you set up the root account, and you give out the password to six people. One day you find out that root logged in and ran something which compromised security. You can’t figure out which user did it unless you have some auxiliary information; if they logged in over the network, you can check the logs and see if you can identify who was logged in there at the time, but you may find the same problem there, or that the account credentials were stolen. If they logged in on the console, you can check badge records for the facility and see who was in the area at the time. But ultimately, your ability to know what you want to know depends on factors outside of your control, which is always a bad state of affairs.\\nSimilarly, if you have shared accounts on a web server, if someone starts mirroring your server (or otherwise causing mischief), you don’t know who is doing it, or if someone shared (or failed to protect) their account information. Thus, shared accounts are always bad for audit and accountability. You really want each unique identifier (email address, username, etc.) to map to one subject (although it’s okay for a single subject to have multiple identifiers).\\nWith cryptography, it gets even more interesting. Suppose you have a network with a shared key, like WEP. Now, everyone who is a member of that network is essentially equal, in the sense that any of them may impersonate the others. If Alice and Bob and Mallory are on the network, Alice can’t know she’s talking to Bob without additional information, because Mallory has the same privileges that Bob does (she could spoof Bob’s IP and MAC address, for example). This is the technique used by airpwn ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/airpwn ), which is capable of doing some amusing things with unencrypted web traffic ( http://www.evilscheme.org/defcon/ ).\\nThus, the set of all subjects (active parties which wish to do things with or to our system) who may obtain a specific identity should be as small as possible; ideally, such sets will always be singletons ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_ ); that is, only one subject will be able to obtain the identity (see 11.1↑ ).\\n34.6 The Principles of Simplicity\\nEverything should be as simple as it can be, but no simpler.\\n-- Albert Einstein\\nIf one looks around at other engineering disciplines, none has the complexity of computer science. If you told a mechanical engineer that you wanted to have a reliable, safe car with a billion moving parts, he’d think that you were nuts, and yet our CPUs alone have that many transistors. In particular, the brake column on a car is made of a single, solid piece of metal. Thus, for reliability you want as simple a system as possible.\\nI have heard that in the US embassy in Moscow, they have a conference room made of plexiglass called “the bubble” inside one of the rooms, and they have their most sensitive discussions there. People who make a living sweeping for bugs, despite all the fancy gadgets, acknowledge that the physical search is the foundation of their craft. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense; it is trivially to visually identify any listening devices placed within such a room. Nobody who goes in there can leave anything without it being easily detected. So they can inspect it constantly, and trivially, without any fancy procedures. Thus, you want a system whose security is as easy to verify as possible.\\nThere was a television show about the NSA recently, and one of the employees was discussing a possible use of virtual machines to enforce multi-level security. He said they were trying to come up with a way to make sure that any communication between systems only happened in very carefully-controlled ways. He said, “we have a saying; the more complex the problem we have, the simpler a solution we need.” If you think of the US government as the largest corporation on Earth, then you understand that in order to keep it secure, you need security mechanisms that can be understood by the average eighteen-year-old. If you have a security device that’s complicated to understand, it won’t be used properly or consistently. Thus, you want security mechanisms that are as easy to understand and operate as possible.\\nThe earliest description of this principle I have found in this application is Saltzer & Schroeder, where they call it “economy of mechanism”.\\n34.7 The Principle of Defense in Depth\\nIn the middle ages, a castle might have a large set of walls around it, and then a central keep inside the outer walls; the adversaries needed to breach the outer wall, then the walls of the central keep. Thus, different parts of a security system may be arranged in series, meaning that you have to defeat all of them to defeat the system; this is called defense in depth ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_in_depth ). If the security of a given resource R is protected by two security systems A and B arranged in series, then an adversary must defeat A and B in order to defeat the system; thus R = AxB. If we’d like to analyze how often this combination of systems fail due to random chance, we simply multiply the probabilities.\\nHowever, against an intelligent adversary, we’d like to ensure that a given type of attack does not bypass both systems, which we do by making them structurally different. For example, you may use a normal key to pass through an outer layer of access control, and then use a biometric of some kind to pass through an inner layer of access control; this prevents someone who can pick locks from being able to pass through both using the same skill. A similar principle is used by those who employ both humans and dogs in combination as guards; the senses of dogs neatly complement those of humans, so the combination will likely be better than either humans or dogs alone.\\nYou might consider defense-in-depth (a/k/a “layered defense”) of the security-critical systems; if one were able to, say, bypass Kerberos security, one might not want the Kerberos server to depend upon the security of Kerberos, because that’s a little like begging the question (assuming something is true and using that assumption to prove that it is true). So perhaps only allow people to SSH into the Kerberos server from one host, and then protect that host with Kerberos. So now, the adversary must compromise the Kerberos-protected host, then compromise the Kerberos server over SSH.\\n34.8 The Principle of Uniform Fronts\\nA risk accepted by one is shared by all.\\n-- USAF IA slogan\\nAlternately, a castle may have two gates which grant access to the inside of a restricted area, then you have two access control devices arranged in parallel. In this case, either gate is a single point of failure for the protected area; the adversary need only defeat one to defeat either, thus R = A + B. If we’d like to know the rate of failure due to random chance, we simply add the rates of failure for each system together.\\nAn intelligent adversary will analyze each security system and pick the one with which they will have the most success. You’d like to make sure that no particular system in this combination is weaker to them than any other, so the easiest way to do this is to make them homogeneous. I call this the principle of uniform fronts.\\nIf you think this is all too simple, ask yourself what principles are being followed with the DNS root name servers. The DNS root name servers are heterogeneous, and all exposed to the public. Are they violating good design principles by applying heterogeneity in parallel?\\nIf you think about it (or even if you don’t), the DNS root name servers aren’t defeated by a DoS attack unless the whole system becomes unavailable; in this respect we see that they are actually in a series arrangement, and that they are applying defense-in-depth. They are not worried about confidentiality, because they are providing information to the public. Instead, they want availability, and the system as a whole is still available as long as a sufficient number of the root servers are functioning properly. So again it is important to have in mind what our security goals are, as they affect our analysis and our definitions.\\nThis is a slight tightening of “the principle of complete mediation” proposed by Saltzer and Schroeder, who suggest that all accesses be mediated, and that any remembered access decision must be updated systematically if a change in authority (authorization) occurs.\\n34.9 The Principle of Split Control\\nOne of the principles of creating highly reliable systems is that you shouldn’t allow for a single point of failure (SPOF) in your design. For example, if a disk drive fails, you want enough redundancy (from, e.g. RAID) that the system continues functioning properly. When you’re developing code, you generally copy the code to a second location periodically (such as a version-control repository like subversion) so that you don’t accidentally lose some of it. I believe that this general pattern can be usefully applied to some security systems as well in a way that I call split control. Saltzer and Schroeder called it separation of privilege though according to the folks over at CERIAS ( http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/weblogs/pmeunier/infosec-education/post-139/confusion-of-separation-of-privilege-and-least-privilege/ ), people tend to confuse it with least privilege (see 34.1↑ ), so I try to avoid that term.\\nOne of my friends performs security audits and he had a customer who had a data center with a red button near the exit which was the emergency cut-off switch for the power. One of the people leaving the data center thought it was to open the door and pressed it, causing untold losses to their customers. Back in the days of mainframes, a programmer’s toddler daughter named Molly hit the big red switch (BRS) on an IBM 4341 mainframe twice in one day, so they created plexiglass covers for the switch, which is called a “molly guard” to this day. An investment of a few dollars may save many thousands. So by requiring two changes to implement one change, you reduce the chance of it happening accidentally.\\nYou are probably also familiar with this principle when you’ve had to wait on a checker to call another person with a special key to authorize a transaction, usually removing an item from your purchase. The idea there is that a checker cannot void off items and pocket the cash without getting the attention of the second person. Similarly, you may have seen movies of missile silos where two keys must be turned simultaneously to launch a missile. Banks often require a manager to authorize transactions over a certain amount. So by requiring two people to implement one change, you reduce the chance of it happening fraudulently.\\nIf you had no packet filters or firewalls, than any program which anybody started which listened on a socket would become immediately vulnerable to anyone on the Internet. And when you first installed a computer on your network, it would be similarly vulnerable until you had installed all your patches, turned off services, and otherwise hardened it. So by applying defense in depth (see 34.7↑ ), you decrease the chance that someone may get unintended access to a network service.\\nWhen authenticating to an online system, they sometimes require more than one way of verifying the identity of a person (called two-factor authentication). If identifying yourself to the system involves something you have and something you know, then the adversary must get both in order to authenticate himself as you. Thus, by splitting the identity information into two pieces, you reduce the chance of the adversary getting both pieces.\\nThe cryptographic technique called secret sharing (see 28.9.8↑ ) involves splitting a secret into multiple pieces and storing them in different places, perhaps controlled by different people. When encrypting financial data for storage, institutions are encouraged to store the encryption keys separately from the information itself (even if the keys themselves are encrypted with a master key), so that loss of one will not compromise the other. So by splitting the secret information into multiple pieces, the chances of an adversary getting the protected information are reduced.\\nThe obvious drawback that any controlled change requires manipulating things in two places, and so it increases the amount of effort required to make the change. Since this is integral to the way it protects the system against accidents, this is unavoidable. As a result, you usually wouldn’t want to use this principle on things you will have to change often.\\n34.10 The Principle of Minimal Changes\\nSo suppose you decide to give a DNS slave a new IP address temporarily. You also have to change your DNS master server’s config file to allow the new IP address to request zone transfers. Now suppose you change the IP address back on the slave, but forget to change the name server configuration file. You’ve now got a hole in your security; if another system gets that IP address, it will be able to do zone transfers.\\nThis is a relatively minor example where your security information has to be updated separately from what you intend to be changing. Also it’s an example where the access control is in each individual application, which is a bad design, as you can’t easily audit your access control policies without examining every possible application.\\nThis principle may appear superficially to conflict with the principle of split control (see 34.9↑ ), but there is an important but subtle difference. In split control, both places have to be changed to allow the adversary to compromise security. In these examples, only one of the change points needs to allow the adversary access. Thus, there is a similar distinction between split control and minimal change points as between defense in depth and the principle of uniform fronts (see 34.8↑ ); when the systems are arranged in series, you want split control, and when the systems are arranged in parallel you want minimal change points.\\nThis is essentially the DRY principle:\\nWikipedia on Don’t Repeat Yourself ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself )\\n34.11 The Principle of Centralized Management\\nWhen you only have to administer one system, you may think that keeping up with it in the available amount of time is easy. However, as you start to manage more and more systems, you will have proportionally less time to spend on understanding and controlling any given system’s state. To maintain the same level of security, you need tools that allow you to understand it faster and control it with less effort. Thus, you will probably want to centralize management of the systems in some way.\\nOne of the challenges you face in system administration is making sure people don’t accidentally change the state of things. For example, you may have a publicly-writable directory available via NFS where developers can install libraries and other important data, but sooner or later someone will delete something that another person needs. One strategy is to make the NFS-exported directory world-readable, and only allow writes to the filesystem from a single machine, possibly via a different path name. That way, the chances of someone accidentally deleting it are slim, and if it is deleted, you will more easily be able to determine who did so (and thus, why).\\nThere are a number of systems for centralizing control of user accounts, such as NIS and LDAP. Systems like Kerberos do this and also allow you to perform centralized key management for network traffic.\\n34.12 The Principle of Least Surprise\\nThe principle of least surprise states that the system should do what you intended it to do. If you were to turn off “file sharing”, you wouldn’t expect it to also turn off your firewall; that would be an unpleasant surprise. An implication of this is that the system should have a degree of transparency to the end-user, such that they can verify that the effect of their actions is what they intended. A certain software vendor in Redmond keeps adding complexity to their operating system, despite no customer demand for it, with the sole intention of using this occult knowledge to drive their competitors out of business. As a side effect of this, there are many nooks and crannies in which spyware can hide, and many ways a user can unknowingly reduce their security. Also, it means that developers must continue to buy libraries and development tools from that vendor to make the complexity manageable. However, at least one of their employees has a clue; in Kim Kameron’s Laws of Identity ( http://www.identityblog.com/?p=354 ), he suggests that we “thingify” digital identities, and make them “things” on the desktop that the user can add and delete, select and share. That’s an excellent idea; the user should be able to see at a glance what she is doing with her identity. I say that we should go further and make all security-relevant information easily visible and intelligible to the end-user. That vendor recently acquired “sysinternals” ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx ), a company which was able to develop better tools for understanding their operating system than they were able to develop themselves. One tool in particular, called autoruns ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx ), is able to find all the programs which are automatically run when you start the system. If I recall correctly, there’s more than ten ways in which a program can set itself to be run automatically at start-up, and if you’ve ever wondered why it takes so long for your system to boot, it’s because you have at least a dozen programs starting automatically that don’t need to. As a general rule, when your system is so complex you need specialized tools to understand it, that’s a sign that you’ve screwed up, and you need to go back and refactor your system to make it simpler.\\n34.13 The Principle of Removing Excuses\\nIf you wanted to run a secure facility, you’d want to put restrooms and perhaps a conference room up in the front, before the security checkpoint. If you didn’t do this, then there may come a time where the security guard must either tell a person they can’t use the restroom, or allow someone to violate the desired physical security properties. It’s a good idea to anticipate any needs like this and allow for them in the design of the system, and therefore avoid any conflict between the desire to be secure and the desire to be a likeable and decent person. By putting the restrooms up front, you’ve also eliminated a possible excuse for someone who was found in the secure area without the proper credentials that they were merely lost and looking for the restroom. Proper application of this technique has two advantages; it prevents violation of the security properties whether the person is an adversary who seeks a cover, or not.\\nSimilarly, if you are concerned that someone may do something heinous and then deny responsibility, you’d like to take away that excuse. For example, if you use an access card or other device to protect something very sensitive, then an employee may use it but claim that it was stolen, and it would be difficult to prove otherwise. You’d want to have a camera on the location or use biometrics to verify his identity to remove his ability to use this excuse.\\n34.14 The Principle of Usability\\nIt is essential that the human interface be designed for ease of use, so that users routinely and automatically apply the protection mechanisms correctly. Also, to the extent that the user’s mental image of his protection goals matches the mechanisms he must use, mistakes will be minimized. If he must translate his image of his protection needs into a radically different specification language, he will make errors.\\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\\nIf the system involves human beings at all, whether as direct users, administrators, implementors, and so on, one should involve a model of a person into the design. That is, if it relies on a human being to use it, is it usable? There is a field of human-computer interaction called security usability which deals with this very issue (see 25↑ ). Also, will the humans who have control over it be tempted to bypass it? It is important to consider the procedural and administrative controls over this part of the process. Saltzer & Schroeder called it the principle of psychological acceptability.\\n34.15 The Principle of Retaining Control\\nThe government can have my crypto key when it pries it from my cold, dead neurons.\\n-- John Perry Barlow, ca. 1991\\nThis principle states that any decisions affecting the security of the system should remain in your hands. For example, if your home has no locks on the door, and you buy a lot of expensive electronic equipment from a store, and that store decides to publish customer purchasing history and home address, then you’ve lost your physical security. If you rely on another entity to protect your security, but you have no ability to make sure they do so, you’ve lost control (see 27.1↑ ). As a refinement, let me discuss the hierarchy of assurance by which one may retain control of the security of a system:\\nAbsolutely impossible - compromise of the system requires breaking laws of physics or mathematics that are currently considered impossible to break, even in theory. Examples of this level of security include information-theoretic security in cryptographic systems, and trying to hack into a computer on a deep-space probe travelling away from you at nearly the speed of light.\\nTechnically infeasible - compromise of the system is possible in theory but requires resources which are considered well outside the realm of feasibility. Examples of this level of security include computational security in cryptographic systems, and conquering all of Asia with ground forces in a land war.\\nPractically unbreakable - compromise of the system is possible but the chances of it are remote. Examples include infiltrating and destroying NORAD headquarters in Cheyenne mountain, launching a direct attack against OpenSSH, and penetrating a very secure network.\\nPunitively secure - compromise of the system is possible, but you could detect the person responsible and punish them, either militarily, physically or legally. Examples include any system which uses law to enforce it, such as Digital Rights Management (DRM). Classified information has this kind of protection, as does anything involving international law. This system costs money to investigate and punish offenders, so unless the punishment is sufficiently harsh to deter the crime (“punish one, teach a thousand”), it may not be cost-effective. Also, it may be that the person in question was just careless with their computer, and the real offender remains untraceable. Most bank robbers use stolen cars for a reason, you know.\\nSpeculatively secure - compromise of the system is possible, but you don’t think anyone would want to break it and you rely on the good will of people to protect it. Examples include anything which relies on security through obscurity (see 35.4↓ ).\\nNow, a few points about retaining control. Basically, anything which occurs independently of you is outside your control. Offline abuses (i.e. passive attacks) are undetectable, and thus you cannot react to them, which violates the principle of agility (see 34.2↑ ). Thus, the principle of retaining control implies that you should prefer systems which minimize passive attacks.\\nAlso, this principle also implies that since users have varying security needs (since what they are protecting varies in value to them), then users should not be “stuck” with a “one size fits all” security mechanism; instead, they should choose vendors who allow them to retain control over the decisions of mechanisms (see 34.17↓ ).\\n34.16 The Principle of Personality\\nI’m finding it difficult to establish a good name for this principle, but it ties together a lot of observations about how bad things occur in clusters, and about how the past can sometimes be used predict the future.\\nPeople who commit criminal acts tend to have criminal records. This is why companies perform background checks on employees before hiring them.\\nPeople with poor secure programming skills, or companies with poor security awareness, tend to create software with more vulnerabilities than those with a more security-conscious attitude. For example, compare the security history of a randomly-selected program against one written by Dan Bernstein, Wietse Venema, or the OpenBSD project.\\nSoftware that has had a poor security history tends to have more vulnerabilities discovered over time. I tend to search the National Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ ) before I expose any piece of software to potentially hostile input. If a vulnerability was found every week for the last month, chances are that there are many more that lay dormant.\\nThat is, to a certain extent, you can have some insight into future behavior based on the past. This is certainly not a hard and fast rule, and potentially unfair, but it is an easy one that gives pretty good results.\\n34.17 The Principle of Least Common Mechanism\\nMinimize the amount of mechanism common to more than one user and depended on by all users. Every shared mechanism (especially one involving shared variables) represents a potential information path between users and must be designed with great care to be sure it does not unintentionally compromise security. Further, any mechanism serving all users must be certified to the satisfaction of every user, a job presumably harder than satisfying only one or a few users. For example, given the choice of implementing a new function as a supervisor procedure shared by all users or as a library procedure that can be handled as though it were the user’s own, choose the latter course. Then, if one or a few users are not satisfied with the level of certification of the function, they can provide a substitute or not use it at all. Either way, they can avoid being harmed by a mistake in it.\\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder, The Protection of Information in Computer Systems, http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/protection/\\nThat pretty much says it clearly. The first point has to do with covert channels, and the second has to do with allowing the users to retain control.\\n34.18 The Principle of Practice\\nAny part of the security design which is not exercised on a regular basis is not actually part of the security system.\\nIf you’ve ever been in an emergency situation, you’ll know that things don’t work the way you expect; the batteries in the flashlight haven’t been changed, the door sticks and won’t open, the script which is supposed to work has succumbed to bit rot, security alerts don’t go out, and so on. This is why people hold fire drills.\\nSo, for any technical security feature, it must be exercised periodically, and ideally in conditions as similar to those as the situation you’re trying to test as possible. This is most important in abuse detection, response, and alerting (see 16↑ , 17↑ , 17.1↑ ). It is also relevant in access control; generally, consider any code path which isn’t taken often, and make sure it gets tested - that it gets taken, and functions properly. This exercise plan should be considered part of the security design.\\nFor any security feature involving people, they should be forced to do perform the required tasks periodically. In some cases, you don’t tell them when, but you probably do want to tell them that it’s a drill when it happens. You should make their compensation dependent on proper execution of their emergency duties, but always apply common sense.\\n34.19 Work Factor Calculation\\nCompare the cost of circumventing the mechanism with the resources of a potential attacker. The cost of circumventing, commonly known as the \\\"work factor,\\\" in some cases can be easily calculated. For example, the number of experiments needed to try all possible four letter alphabetic passwords is 264 = 456 976. If the potential attacker must enter each experimental password at a terminal, one might consider a four-letter password to be adequate. On the other hand, if the attacker could use a large computer capable of trying a million passwords per second, as might be the case where industrial espionage or military security is being considered, a four-letter password would be a minor barrier for a potential intruder. The trouble with the work factor principle is that many computer protection mechanisms are not susceptible to direct work factor calculation, since defeating them by systematic attack may be logically impossible. Defeat can be accomplished only by indirect strategies, such as waiting for an accidental hardware failure or searching for an error in implementation. Reliable estimates of the length of such a wait or search are very difficult to make.\\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\\n34.20 Availability Principles\\nObviously, you want to minimize complexity, which is good for security generally, because as humans our brains are very limited in their ability to do combinatorial testing. This could be minimizing the number of moving parts, minimizing the amount of software, minimizing the amount of activity on it. Secondly, you want to minimize changes to that system. Basically, try to separate the things that require changes to other systems. Unfortunately, this means you can’t patch the system very frequently, which may leave it vulnerable. When you do change, you want to test the change on another system, and then do it to the live system. Virtual machines are very handy for this. This can be summarized as “test twice, change once”.\\n35 Common Arguments\\nI’m starting to summarize common arguments here so that we can just agree, or agree to disagree, and get on with more interesting discussion.\\n35.1 Disclosure: Full, Partial, or None?\\nThis is such a common debate, and it has been going on since at least the 1850s. The goal here is not to take a position, but to summarize the arguments thus far so that we can avoid fruitless rehashing of old positions.\\nFull Disclosure Debate Bibliography, by date ( http://www.wildernesscoast.org/bib/disclosure-by-date.html )\\nSchneier: Full Disclosure and the Window of Exposure ( http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0009.html#1 )\\n35.1.1 Terminology\\nfull when you find a vulnerability, talk openly about it, even publish exploits ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_disclosure )\\nlimited when you find a vulnerability, talk only about the vulnerability and attempt to help people protect themselves, but try to avoid giving out details that would help people exploit it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_disclosure#Various_interpretations )\\nnone never talk about vulnerabilities; discussing them helps the adversaries\\nsecurity through obscurity hoping that nobody knows about, finds out about, or discusses vulnerabilities (see 35.4↓ )\\ntime-bounded contact the vendor, give them a finite amount of time to fix it (my term)\\ntime-unbounded contact the vendor, give them as long as they need to fix it (my term)\\nresponsible can mean a variety of things, meaning “limited” for some, and “time-bounded” for others ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsible_disclosure ). Controversial because it suggests that other methods are irresponsible.\\ncoordinated vulnerability disclosure full disclosure after attacks start, no disclosure prior to attacks ( http://blogs.technet.com/b/ecostrat/ ). Seems likely to shift the debate towards what is being exploited.\\nRFPolicy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFPolicy )\\n35.1.3 Arguments For Disclosure\\nA commercial, and in some respects a social doubt has been started within the last year or two, whether or not it is right to discuss so openly the security or insecurity of locks. Many well-meaning persons suppose that the discussion respecting the means for baffling the supposed safety of locks offers a premium for dishonesty, by showing others how to be dishonest. This is a fallacy. Rogues are very keen in their profession, and know already much more than we can teach them respecting their several kinds of roguery.\\nRogues knew a good deal about lock-picking long before locksmiths discussed it among themselves, as they have lately done. If a lock, let it have been made in whatever country, or by whatever maker, is not so inviolable as it has hitherto been deemed to be, surely it is to the interest of honest persons to know this fact, because the dishonest are tolerably certain to apply the knowledge practically; and the spread of the knowledge is necessary to give fair play to those who might suffer by ignorance.\\nIt cannot be too earnestly urged that an acquaintance with real facts will, in the end, be better for all parties. Some time ago, when the reading public was alarmed at being told how London milk is adulterated, timid persons deprecated the exposure, on the plea that it would give instructions in the art of adulterating milk; a vain fear, milkmen knew all about it before, whether they practiced it or not; and the exposure only taught purchasers the necessity of a little scrutiny and caution, leaving them to obey this necessity or not, as they pleased.\\n-- Locks and Safes: The Construction of Locks (1853), http://www.crypto.com/hobbs.html\\nOn Responsible Disclosure: Stripping the Veil From Corporate Censorship ( http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/133 )\\nA Model for When Disclosure Helps Security: What is Different About Computer and Network Security? ( http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=531782 )\\nSecurity Experts\\nIf this lock is of any value, it should be known; if it has weak points, let them be pointed out, and they may admit of a remedy; for we ought not to be led to believe a lock is safe which is not so.\\n-- A treatise on fire and thief-proof depositories, and locks and keys, George Price\\nIf nobody ever disclosed, vendors would never put in the effort to make secure software. Look at the state of security before the Morris worm, or perhaps before about 1997, when stack overflows and the dot-com boom converged. Like physical exercise, it may hurt in the short term, but in the long term it helps.\\nIt keeps life interesting. Without (discussion of) vulnerabilities, there would be nothing to study in security; there would be no industry, no science, no magazines or blogs.\\nIt keeps us in business.\\nIf it exists, then it’s possible someone else already knows about it, or will find it. Whether it has been publicly-discussed or not is irrelevant. Attacks are meant to be stealthy, so whether it has been detected in the wild or not is irrelevant. If it’s possible, it is an unnecessary risk.\\nThe number of implementation errors in a finite-sized program is finite, so every one we fix will reduce the amount left.\\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t devise protection schemes and countermeasures.\\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t devise a way to detect it.\\nI’d rather everyone know than just a select few, with vested interests one way or another; putting everyone on the same footing is more civic-minded.\\nEconomists\\nWithout disclosure, there would be no financial reason for them to put any effort into security, and much reason against it. Officers of publicly-traded companies in the US must act to maximize profit, or else they can be held personally liable, so if you want secure software, you must make it in their (vendors and officers) financial best interest to write secure software.\\nWithout perfect information, the market is inherently inefficient.\\nEnd Users\\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t avoid the vulnerable software.\\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t do a proper risk assessment. Having an inaccurate view of risks can only hurt us, our customers, and shareholders.\\nI’d rather know it’s not secure than mistakenly think it is (similar to risk assessment argument).\\nIn other industries, companies are liable if they put out a defective product. A car company can’t simply stick an EULA on your car and say whatever happens is not their fault.\\n35.1.4 Arguments Against Disclosure\\nIt is extremely important that the information contained in this book be faithfully guarded so as not to fall into the hands of undesirables.\\nWe also suggest after you become proficient in the art of manipulation to destroy this book completely, so as to protect yourself and our craft.\\n-- From Clyde Lentz and Bill Kenton, The Art of Manipulation, (privately published in 1953), http://www.crypto.com/hobbs.html\\nMatt Mecham: Why Full Disclosure is Bad ( http://ips2.blogs.com/matts_blog/2004/09/why_full_disclo.html )\\nVendor\\nWhile we both know our product was defective, thanks to you everyone knows about it and so we have to fix it.\\nYou didn’t give us time to fix it in our normal release cycle, so now we have to ship something fast and can’t test it properly.\\nVendor’s Employees\\nI didn’t write this code and would rather not have had to cancel my plans for the weekend so that I can figure it out. I’m salaried, so I don’t get paid overtime, so there’s no upside to this for me.\\nI can’t stop programmers from writing vulnerable code, but I end up having to fix it.\\nI didn’t make the decision to use this library/code/program, but I’m stuck with the vulnerabilities in it.\\nEconomists\\nWriting secure software is (impractical, hard, expensive). If you make vendors do it, you’d (pay more, have less software).\\nResources spent defending are not spent on more constructive pursuits.\\nEnd User\\nWe now have to patch our systems but I wanted to sleep tonight. I’m salaried and don’t get paid overtime.\\nThe vendor has no solution.\\nThe vendor’s solution can’t be tested thoroughly and may cause our operations to grind to a halt.\\nI didn’t choose these systems, but I have to maintain them and keep them as secure as I can.\\nI would prefer that nobody know these things. Since that’s impossible, I want to squash discussion of them. Discussion of these things puts everyone at risk.\\n35.2 Absolute vs. Effective Security\\nIn theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.\\n-- Yogi Berra (or Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut) [T] [T] For some humor on theory versus practice, see: http://www.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/theory.html\\nIn the design of cryptosystems, we must design something now for use in the future. We have only the published facts of the past to stand against all the secret research of the past and future for as long as a cipher is used. It is therefore necessary to speculate on future capabilities. It is not acceptable to wait for a published attack before a weakness is considered in cipher design. It is instead necessary to try to perceive weaknesses which have not yet contributed to full attacks, and close them off.\\n-- Terry Ritter\\nWhen discussing security, I find two, usually exclusive schools of thought:\\ntheorists or absolute security types, believe that we should secure the systems by proving their correctness, and reviewing their design goals and such, and that anything else is doomed to failure, or a waste of time, or a never-ending arms race. They believe that we should only run that which we know to be safe, and nothing else. They are at home with the “default deny” policy (see 34.1↑ ). They prefer to focus on what is possible, not what is probable. When you say “adversary” they think NSA or KGB (or both). They defend this line of reasoning by pointing out that if you prepare for the most skilled adversaries, the less skilled are doubly thwarted. They worry about worst-case scenarios. This school is popular among academicians, intelligence agents, cryptographers, and people suffering from paranoid delusions (there is significant overlap between these groups). They sometimes earn nicknames like “Dr. No”, or “the security Nazi”, because their favorite answer for everything is “no”. They believe that which is not proven (or tested) may not be assumed to be true. They prefer open-source software. Often they are very intelligent or knowledgeable about security, and rarely have an incident, because they’re very careful. They are prone to false positives, because they want to err on the side of safety.\\npragmatists or effective security adherents, believe that the theorists will never run anything but toy programs, and that we should identify the major threats or threat agents and deal with them. This school endorses the misuse-detection technologies like signature-based NIDS and anti-virus. When you say adversary, they think of a sixteen-year-old script kiddie. They worry about only the most likely scenarios. They defend this line of reasoning by pointing out that the NSA and KGB have no (additional) reason to spy on them, and that they couldn’t stop them anyway, so there’s no point in worrying about it. They believe that which hasn’t been broken in practice may be assumed to be secure. They are comfortable with commercial software. They are often successful with people and in business, because they’re concerned with helping other people do what they want to do.\\nThe problem that theorists should understand is that there may not be a perfectly secure solution. It’s almost impossible to defend a web site against abuse or DoS, for example, especially when the adversary may have thousands of zombie computers at his disposal. The only way to not be vulnerable to DoS would be to not have a site on the Internet. The only way to be sure you never receive unwanted email would be to never receive any email at all. If you cut off all external communication, then you’d have an extremely secure but completely useless system.\\nAnd provably secure systems aren’t perfect either; most mathematical proofs start with assumptions, and then how do you prove the proof is correct? Tomorrow may bring a threat you couldn’t have predicted, and which wasn’t a design goal or security property for the system. So, now that we’ve established that there’s no way to know for sure whether there’s a perfect solution or not, it’s out of the black-and-white realm and into gray scale. Don’t worry; if you could predict everything in advance, and thus there was no risk, you’d be astoundingly bored. To eliminate risk entirely, you’d have to start out knowing everything, so that you never received a surprise, and thus you could never learn anything, which would make awfully boring, wouldn’t it?\\nFinally, security may simply not be the most important factor; you may care more about security than anyone else. If you’re in business, you’re there to provide for other people, whether they be your boss or customers. If you have to decide between using an AJAX-based but possibly unsecure web site, and not using javascript but having some users experience delays of ten seconds or longer, your users and boss may prefer the latter. After all, if you care more about security than anything else, why turn the computers on at all?\\nThe pragmatists often don’t understand that what is merely possible today may become ubiquitous tomorrow. Perhaps it just isn’t being exploited today because nobody is aware of it. Maybe it’s being exploited but nobody knows it. And maybe people don’t have the expertise, but all it takes is an expert to use information technology to encapsulate some of their expertise in a program that anyone can run, or to write a simple “how-to”, and this can happen overnight, without warning. A bit of study of the history of computer security will show that this happens all the time. What’s worse is that it could have already happened, and you don’t know it. They should read about the principle of retaining control (see 34.15↑ ).\\nIf you only plan on defending against today’s common attacks, you will always be fighting the last war, instead of the current one. Every new trend and attack will catch you unaware, merely because it’s new. Sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of remediation. Plus, you will usually not be able to get good statistics on intrusions, because many go undetected, and most go unreported.\\n35.3 Quantification and Metrics vs. Intuition\\nEverything that can be counted doesn’t necessarily count; everything that counts can’t necessarily be counted.\\n-- Albert Einstein\\nThere’s no sense in being precise when you don’t even know what you’re talking about.\\n-- John von Neumann\\nProbability is difficult to apply to security. Sometimes people misuse the notion of probability, by asking things like, “what is the probability of that this system has been compromised?”. This is a nonsense question; it is either true or not. Probability refers to a group of similar events. The correct question would be “knowing nothing else, what is the probability that any given system on the Internet has been compromised?”. The implicit assumption here is that these systems are similar enough that this question is meaningful. Often having knowledge about the systems helps; for example, we may ask what the probability that a given object in the sky will appear again will be, and the answer depends heavily on whether that object is a celestial object, a migratory bird, or a baseball. Collecting statistics on all objects in the sky as a group wouldn’t be nearly as useful as classifying them correctly.\\nBut what is the chance that someone is covertly monitoring your traffic? The very nature of the event is that it is supposed to remain secret. How can you get good metrics on something like that? You can’t quantify most of the risks you face, and you probably can’t even measure the some that matter (especially passive attacks), and in many cases quantification is slower and costs more than prevention. On the other hand, intuition is highly vulnerable to sampling bias and various cognitive biases; for example I think about security vulnerabilities and intrusions a lot, so I probably think they are more common than they really are.\\nThere is a fundamental problem with quantification; we don’t know about the intrusions we don’t know about (see 18.1↑ ), so we always will err on the side of underestimating the risks. On the other hand, as security experts, we are likely to presume a higher level of “interesting” attacks than there actually are, because that’s what we think about all day. That all having been said, if you can get good metrics, then by all means use them; otherwise you are likely to be operating on prejudice. After you do that, put some energy into understanding their limitations, which usually means a thorough understanding of how they are collected and counted.\\nSecurity Metrics Mailing List ( http://www.securitymetrics.org/ )\\n35.4 Security Through Obscurity\\nNote to amateur cryptographers: simple analysis is a good thing, if it doesn’t weaken the cipher … It’s better to be able to prove that an attack won’t work than to have to guess that it won’t because it’s too much work.\\n-- Colin Plumb\\nMost arguments involving security through obscurity seems to center around different definitions of what the term means. I believe the meaning intended by most security experts is that the information necessary for the security of the system does not have its confidentiality protected other than by being obscure (that is, not impossible to find, but merely difficult, perhaps because few people know it). What this means is that anyone with the interest will probably be able to figure it out if they get lucky. It could be that someone posts the previously-obscure design to the Internet, or it is published in a trade journal, that it’s similar enough to another related system that the adversary figures it out, or that they merely experiment with the system until they figure it out, etc. This does not refer to systems whose strength is protected with some sort of technical measure, such as a cryptographic key, port knock sequence ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_knocking ), or passphrase (see the discussion of Kerckhoff’s Principle in 34.3↑ ). Nor does it refer to the key or passphrase itself, which is protected from disclosure as part of the design. It does refer to a system whose security depends on adversaries being unlucky or unmotivated.\\nWikipedia on STO ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_through_obscurity )\\n35.5 Security of Open Source vs. Closed Source\\nIn God we trust; from all others, we need source code.\\nOpen source means defenders and users (who may be customers) can all look for vulnerabilities in the software. Open-source is to closed-source what transparent boxes are to black boxes. Closed source implicitly means that you must trust the vendor that it is secure, but since you can’t hold them liable if it isn’t, so this is what I call “faith-based security”. Only in open-source does an end-user have the ability, if only theoretical, to make an informed decision on the quality of the product before deciding to let his security depend on it. Of course, adversaries may also look at the source, and have more incentive to do so, but properly designed and implemented code does not have exploitable bugs (see 24.1↑ ). Cryptographers have long advocated Kerckhoff’s (second) principle, which is to not rely on the secrecy of the design for the security of the system (see 34.3↑ ).\\nGiven the choice between a system I can inspect to be secure, or one I can’t tell, I’ll usually choose the one I can inspect, even if I don’t personally inspect it, because of the psychological impact; the vendor knows he can’t hide any flaws, and so he generally won’t make it open-source unless he’s pretty confident he won’t be embarrassed. I feel that withholding source code may be slightly effective in practice, like all security through obscurity (see 35.4↑ ), but that it’s not as reliable a strategy as looking for and fixing all the problems. Given the choice between an open and closed format, the open format or open-source provides you more security. It’s like having a guarantee if the author gets hit by a bus, or stops making the product, or decides you’re locked in and jacks up rates (see 34.2↑ ).\\nThe other side says that adversaries may have more motivation to look for vulnerabilities than a typical end-user. This means the faster bugs are found, the fewer will remain, so highly-inspected code matures more quickly. Code that isn’t inspected much may have dormant bugs which lurk for a long time before being publicized, or they may never become publicly known, but this does not change the fact that they were vulnerable the whole time. Nevertheless, vendors of security software seem to be pretty keen to vulnerabilities, and so their products are usually solid. It’s the vendors who do not know anything about security, or who designed and coded their systems before they learned about security, that are suspect. And most of the time, the kinds of vulnerabilities that worry security agencies and privacy advocates (namely back doors and trojans) don’t appear in commercial software. The other side also says that if you use commercial software, often the vulnerabilities are found internally, and corrected quietly without public disclosure.\\nRoss Anderson has a paper on this topic ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/toulouse.pdf ), and he concludes open-source and closed-source have the same security assurance. I haven’t read the paper yet but I figured I’d include it here for balance. In an interesting quantification, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has commissioned coverity to perform a study which found that both open-source software and commercial software have about 1 security bug for every 1000 lines of code ( http://scan.coverity.com/ ).\\n35.6 Insider Threat vs. Outsider Threat\\nEssentially, perimeter defenses protect against most adversaries, whereas distributed defenses on each host protect against all adversaries (that is, remote systems; local users are the domain of OS security). The idea of pointing outward versus pointing inward is a well-known one in alarm systems. Your typical door and window sensors are perimeter defenses, and the typical motion detector or pressure mat an internal defense. As with alarm systems, the internally-focused defenses are prone to triggering on authorized activity, whereas the perimeter defenses are less so.\\nA hardware security module (HSM) basically makes everyone but the vendor an outsider; insurance companies love this because they defend against insider threats as well as outsiders. Financial institutions and the military also focus on insiders, primarily because if they can protect against insiders they can also usually protect against outsiders. However, such environments are no fun to work in. Everyone trusts themselves implicitly, and so when employees are told to implement defenses against themselves, not only does it send the message that management doesn’t trust them, they usually do so with little enthusiasm.\\nDave G. of Matasano has published an interesting piece on the insider threat ( http://www.matasano.com/log/984/the-insidious-insider-threat/ ). So does Richard Bejtlich ( http://taosecurity.blogspot.com/2009/05/insider-threat-myth-documentation.html ).\\n35.6.1 In Favor of Perimeter Defenses\\nMost organizations consider the unauthenticated and unauthorized people on the Internet to be the largest threat (see the definition of anonymous attack surface in 7.5↑ ). Despite hype to the contrary, I believe this is correct. Most people are trustworthy for the sorts of things we trust them for, and if they weren’t, society would probably collapse. The difference is that on the Internet, the pool of potential adversaries is much larger, and while a person can only hold one job, they can easily hack into many different organizations. The veterans (and critics) of Usenet and IRC are well aware of this, where the unbalanced tend to be most vocal and most annoying. Some of them seem to have no goal other than to irritate others.\\nIn the real world, people learn to avoid these sorts, and employers choose not to hire them, but on the Internet, it’s a bit more difficult to filter out the chaff, so to speak. Also, if we detect a misbehaving insider, we can usually identify and therefore punish them; by contrast, it is difficult to take a simple IP address and end up with a successful lawsuit or criminal case, particularly if the IP is in another country. Furthermore, most people feel some loyalty towards their employer, and it is easier for an outsider to avoid humanizing the people who work there.\\n35.6.2 What Perimeter?\\nThe perimeter is not here nor there, but it is inside you, and among you.\\nAn interesting point is that when a user on a client machine inside our network accesses a malicious web page, or loads a malicious file, and the system gets compromised, and now that internal node becomes an attacker.\\nAnother important issue to consider is series versus parallel defenses (see 34.8↑ ). Suppose the gateway, firewall, and VPN endpoint for your organization’s main office uses the pf firewall (IMHO, the best open-source firewall out there). Now, suppose a remote office wants to connect in from Linux, so they use iptables. Now, should there be an exploitable weakness in iptables, then they might be able to penetrate the remote office, making them inside the perimeter. Courtesy of the VPN tunnel, they are now inside the perimeter of the main office as well, and your perimeter security is worthless. Given the trend towards a more complex and convoluted perimeter, I think this suggests moving away from perimeter defenses and towards distributed defenses; we can start by creating concentric perimeters, or firewalls between internal networks, and move towards (the ideal but probably unreachable goal of) a packet filter on every machine, implementing least privilege on every system.\\nSpecifically, the notion of a security perimeter is challenged by the following developments in our computing environments:\\nClient-side attacks by malicious servers\\nData-driven attacks by malicious files or web pages\\nRunning untrustworthy code\\n35.6.3 Performance Issues\\nI am beginning to think that perimeter defenses are insufficient. As we become more networked, we will have more borders with more systems. End-to-end protocol encryption and VPNs prevent any sort of application-layer data inspection by NIDS devices located at choke points and gateways. High-speed networks, particularly fiber to the desktop, challenge our ability to centralize, inspect, and filter traffic, and requires expensive, high-performance equipment. Encryption (SSL) and firewall-penetrating technologies like skype create tunnels (some may say covert channels) through the firewall. Put simply, the perimeter is everywhere, and the forward-looking should consider how to distribute our security over our assets. For example, everything that is done by a NIDS can be done on the endpoint, and it doesn’t suffer from many of the typical problems that a separate device does (including evasion techniques and interpretation ambiguities). Also, this means each internal node pays for its own security; if I am downloading 1Gbps, I am also inspecting it, whereas an idle system isn’t spending any cycles inspecting traffic. With the proper design, no packets get lost, dropped, or ignored, nor is it necessary to limit bandwidth because of limited inspection capacity at the perimeter. And we can use commodity hardware (the hardware we already have) to do the work.\\n35.7 Prevention vs. Detection\\nAn ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.\\n-- Henry de Braxton\\nThose who emphasize monitoring and intrusion detection make the point that no matter how much effort you put into prevention, some (fraction of the) attacks will succeed, and so you should put some effort into detection. I agree with the premise. I would go farther with the argument, and say that no matter how much you put into detection, some successful intrusion will go undetected, especially if the detection system involves human judgment (see the motion picture Andromeda Strain as a good example). So let me use a very contrived numerical example to show that putting resources into detection may not always improve your security. Consider two cases:\\nI prevent 99% of the intrusions, and detect 0% of the remainder. For every 100 attempts, one is successful and it always remains undetected.\\nI prevent 50% of the intrusions, and detect 50% of the remainder. For every 100 attempts, 50 are successful and 25 remain undetected.\\nIn this case, had you chosen the allocation which favors prevention, you do no incident response and you got 25 times fewer undetected intrusions, even though you did no detection. This is an application of the base-rate fallacy (see 4.1.2↑ ). So it’s not clear what is the right mix.\\nI would say that the relative value of monitoring depends in part on how effective your prevention mechanisms are. If you are not in the business of providing network services then you should spend almost all of your resources on prevention, and a very little on monitoring (but make sure you monitor those systems very closely). On the other hand, if there are a number of services with bad security histories that you are not able to turn off for business reasons, or you run an intelligence agency, then perhaps the allocation should be reversed. I find this position to be undesirable, though, because if you only detect intrusions, you’re going to spend a lot of resources cleaning up after them, and second-guessing yourself about what they may have done. On the other hand, preventative systems like a packet filter require almost no resources to maintain (in reality you have to adjust them from time to time, but the resources necessary are small by comparison).\\nAdditionally, in operating system security, all bets are off once the adversary gets full privileges. At that point, any local logs and tools are suspect. I believe there are often machines which can be similarly critical to network security, such as authentication servers and file servers, but they are less clearly so. My contention is that you should do your best to keep the adversary out, as once they’re in you’re on even terms and thus have lost the most important advantage you have - namely, having more privilege than they.\\n35.7.2 Detection over Prevention\\nThe more of these are true in your particular situation, the more you’ll want to emphasize detection over prevention.\\nPrevention is hard, expensive, or impossible\\nDetection is easy\\nCleanup is relatively easy (i.e. reimage the system)\\nLosses are minimal or limited (i.e. you have no interesting assets or secrets to protect)\\n35.7.3 Impact on Intelligence Collection\\nIf you are a typical business, you probably want to prevent attacks and intrusions, because you aren’t interested in the motivations of your adversaries, or if you were, you wouldn’t have time to do forensics and analyze their intentions, so you’ll almost always want to block first and ask questions later. But if you were an intelligence agency with lots of resources and were very interested in adversary intentions, you might allow an attack against a non-critical system to occur just to analyze their collection goals and intentions. For example, if India were to allow an intrusion to happen, and learned that the adversary was after force deployments in the disputed region of Kashmir, they could reasonably conclude that Pakistan might have some sort of intention to move into the region, and thus could ready themselves for a rapid response. It is not likely to be important who the actual intruder was, if the information they are after is only useful to one entity. In this case, knowing the adversary’s intentions could be much more valuable than the information the intruder would obtain.\\n35.8 Audit vs. Monitoring\\nIf you have leverage, even after a security breach takes place, you could substitute audit for monitoring. Banks, the IRS, and other financial institutions may decide to do audits rather than monitoring, because auditing samples takes much less effort than continual monitoring. For example, the IRS requires forms for cash transactions over a few thousand dollars, which is one reason why you can’t pay cash for a new car. Even if you monitor everything, you probably don’t have the human resources to review it all, so you necessarily decide what samples to check. If your adversary knows what rules you use to sample, he will probably try to not be in your sample, so you should probably do a little random sampling too, looking for people trying to fly under the RADAR.\\nIt also works with physical security; if I know that I can see whatever went on in a facility at any later time, I may only do spot-checks.\\nIf you do want a human to monitor or audit something, it’s a good idea to make sure they know what to look for. I recall a story by a security guru who once saw a terminal with a US Marine guarding it. He wondered if the Marine knew what to look for. However, I think the Marine was there to prevent physical tampering with the computer and not tasked with understanding what the person was doing when typing. In any case, if you’re paying someone to monitor something, it would help if they knew what they’re looking for.\\n35.9 Early vs. Late Adopters\\nIt seems that different cryptographers have different risk thermostats, especially when it comes to how early to adopt. For example, suppose a new cipher XYZ comes out to replace cipher ABC. The best attacks against it are much less successful than the best attacks against the old cipher. However, there is a discrepancy here; the old cipher has probably had much more study. The early adopters are essentially hopeful that the new cipher will prove to be stronger, often due to a larger key size, due to the fact that it is designed against the known attacks, or simply due to the fact that it’s less well-studied, though the latter is a form of security through obscurity (see 35.4↑ ). The late adopters let other people take the risk that the new cipher will be discovered to be weak, knowing that it is much less likely to have a new, devastating attack discovered against it such as the one discovered against Shamir’s knapsack algorithm demonstrated at CRYPTO ’83 ( http://www.ics.uci.edu/~mingl/knapsack.html ). No one will argue that the uncertainty is often greater in the new cipher than the old, especially when they are structurally different.\\n35.10 Sending HTML Email\\nI’m sorry, you sent me a web page instead of an email. I don’t use a browser to read email. Please re-submit.\\nThe people who don’t understand security (see 23↑ ) see no problem with sending HTML email. “Get in the right century”, they say. The people who understand security hate it, but they also tend to appreciate aesthetics less. Certainly it causes a problem with phishing (see 22.2↑ ).\\n36 Editorials, Predictions, Polemics, and Personal Opinions\\nThis is basically where I put all the stuff that’s not quite as objective as everything else.\\n36.1 So You Think You’re Old School?\\nComputer crime has become the “glamor crime” of the 1970s - and experts agree most facilities are unprepared to stop it. Reviewing more than 100 major cases, John M. Carroll concludes that known computer crime is only the tip of the iceberg. And he adds, “There is no computer system in existence that has not been penetrated.”\\n-- book flap for Computer Security, John M. Carroll, 1977\\n36.2 Security is for Polymaths\\nWhen hackers are hacking, they don’t mess around with the superficial world of Metaverses and avatars. They descend below this surface layer and into the netherworld of code and tangled nam-shubs that support it, where everything that you see in the Metaverse, no matter how lifelike and beautiful and three-dimensional, reduces to a simple text file: a series of letters on an electronic page. It is a throwback to the days when people programmed computers through primitive teletypes and IBM punch cards.\\n-- Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash\\nA human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.\\n-- Robert A. Heinlein\\nThe best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt on any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man, and punches too good for a Judo man.\\n-- Bruce Lee ( http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee )\\nWikipedia article on polymaths ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath )\\nIf you’ve read up until here, you will likely notice the breadth of topics covered, and it’s far from comprehensive. This started as a paper, but wound up a book; if you include all the papers and pages it references, it would probably end up being a library. Almost every technology has a security component to it, and so if you are to be a master of security you must master all of the fields in which you practice. To be able to write shellcode, you need to know assembly language, even machine language, which is extremely rare knowledge, even among professional programmers. To master cryptology, you will have to understand discrete mathematics. To find bugs, you will need to be an extremely careful programmer. To reverse engineer, you will have to understand compilers. To be able to grok an application, you need to be able to look through the GUI that most people recognize and imagine the code behind it, like the characters in The Matrix. A true hacker realizes that the GUI is a side-effect of the code, and not vice-versa, and that therefore, a GUI can deceive. Thus, it is an excellent place for people who like to learn and truly understand.\\nJust as water seeks its own level, system crackers (that is, “black hats”) often seek the easiest way to compromise a system, organization, network, etc. To specialize in one subfield of security is akin to being able to just build moats, walls, arrow slits, or murder-holes. To focus on one area of security to the exclusion of others is akin to building a tall fencepost, rather than a wall.\\n36.3 A Proposed Perimeter Defense\\nI believe the following design would be a useful design for perimeter defenses for most organizations and individuals.\\nFirst, there would be an outer layer of reactive prevention that performs detection of abuse ( 16↑ ) with a very liberal definition of “abuse” (anything that could be abuse is considered one), and then marks the source tainted ( 17.2.2↑ ). Second, there is an inner layer of prevention and detection that acts as a fail-safe mechanism; if the outer preventative defense should fail for some reason (hardware, software, configuration) then incoming connections will be stopped (prevented) by the inner layer and the detection system will alert us (see 17.1↑ ) that something is very wrong.\\nThis way, the outer layer may taint the source if it looks slightly hostile. We only get notified if the outer layer failed in some unexpected way; we do not have to worry about the outer layer blocking or detecting adversaries. In other words, it doesn’t require having a human monitor traffic blocked by the outer layer, and therefore the outer layer does not have to put any effort into validating that it is a valid attack.\\nThe idea of a dual layer of firewalling is already becoming popular with financial institutions and military networks, but really derives itself from the lessons learned trying to guarantee high availability and specifically the goal of eliminating single points of failure. However, if the outer layer were not reactive, then we would effectively be discarding any useful intelligence that is gained by detecting probes (that is, a failed connection/query/probe/attack is still valuable in determining intent). With a reactive firewall as the outer layer, when an adversary probes our defenses looking for holes or weak spots, we take appropriate action, usually shunning that network address, and this makes enumeration a much more difficult process. With a little imagination, we can construct more deceptive defensive measures, like returning random responses, or redirection to a honey-net (which is essentially just a consistent set of bogus responses, plus monitoring). Since enumeration is strictly an information-gathering activity, the obvious countermeasure is deception. The range of deceptive responses runs from none (that is, complete silence, or lack of information) through random responses (misinformation) to consistent, strategic deception (disinformation). Stronger responses are out of proportion to the provocation (network scans are legal in most countries), and often illegal in any circumstances.\\n36.4 Linear Order Please!\\nI personally think that directives should be processed in the order they are listed in cases like Apache’s config file, and that would eliminate a need for the order directive at all. Certainly there is room for confusion if it is not near the allow and deny directives that it so explicitly controls, and I suspect it might be easy to pay attention to the first order directive in a stanza, and not a second one which appeared later in the stanza. Already we have an ordering issue, that either defaults to “earlier takes precedence” vs. “later takes precedence”. Let’s not make interpreting the rule sets more complex than that.\\n36.5 Computers are Transcending our Limitations\\nA human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.\\n-- Robert Heinlein\\nThe future masters of technology will have to be lighthearted and intelligent. The machine quickly masters the grim and the dumb.\\n-- Marshall McLuhan\\nAt one time, a single person could know all of the code in the Unix kernel. Now, operating systems may have several million lines of code. At one time, a human could perform encryption; now it is too time-consuming to do anything of significance. At one time, people memorized IP addresses, but with IPv6, they will be too long to remember, or even type comfortably. At one time, a password could be something simple. Now, you need a passphrase. Soon, anything that a human can imagine and remember is going to be too predictable; it will be possible to simply enumerate most, if not all, of the possibilities. Our symmetric ciphers have 256-bit keys, which would require (on average) a 256-character English passphrase to be hashed to give enough unpredictability to max out the input space. Our hashes are so long that it takes at least 40 hex digits to represent the smallest one considered secure, and we’re already using 512-bit hashes which will take 128 hex digits. And some algorithms like RSA use keys which are 8192 bits long, which would take 2048 hex digits to represent.\\nMy point in all this is that if a human can reliably do it, remember it, generate it, enter it without a mistake, or tell it to someone else, it is probably not secure. Furthermore, though no single thing is incomprehensible, the whole system is probably already too complex for one person to understand it all. This doesn’t mean that we don’t control them, or that we will inevitably lose control, any more than a manager who cannot lift heavy objects will be replaced by a worker who can. It simply means that you need to stop thinking of people as being participants in the system, and think more of the participant as a computer and a human being forming a symbiotic relationship, each complementing the other. Stop practicing arithmetic and start studying mathematics. If a computer can do it, it’s not an effective use of your time, and it’s probably boring. Furthermore, you need to stop thinking of typing security data to a computer, since it will be too long.\\n36.6 Password Length Limits Considered Harmful\\nYour password must be seven characters in length, include an prime number greater than three of the following character classes; digits, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, white space, and unprintable characters. It must not begin with a digit, end with a letter, have an even number of letters, have a prime number of digits greater than the sum of the number of white space and unprintable characters, or have a non-decreasing number of elements from the classes mentioned before, were they to be listed in reverse alphabetical order.\\nLook, if you hash your darn passphrases, I can pick a normal English sentence which will have plenty of unpredictability (one unbit per letter), and you can stop complaining that it’s too long because hashes can be stored in fixed-size fields, and if the password database is stolen it won’t compromise my passphrase.\\n36.7 Everything Will Be Encrypted Soon\\nWhen cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.\\n-- Anonymous, courtesy of Cryptography Quotes ( http://www.amk.ca/quotations/cryptography/ )\\nAccidents happen, and data is leaked. You’re going to want that to be encrypted. Already this is required in many places, but I predict that encryption will be ubiquitous very soon. Right now most storage devices are unencrypted; that will be a thing of the past. Data will be encrypted on the disk, and the documents or emails themselves may be encrypted, with the applications merely requesting keys temporarily. Even bus lines will be encrypted, if the Trusted Computing folks have their way; this may worry reverse-engineers, but it also means that you have less to worry about some compromising emanations. I suspect even data in memory will be encrypted soon. Plaintext will be the exception, not the norm. I suggest you learn to be your own key master.\\n36.8 How Universal Digital Signing Will Affect Things\\nEverything will be digitally signed, but what do those signatures mean? I propose that we think of objects as having lifetimes, and that they are born unsigned, and get signed with one of several kinds of signatures\\nprovenance signatures mean that the signator is the author\\ntransmission signatures mean that the signature assures us that the object hasn’t been manipulated by later-acting forces\\ncertification signatures bind a key to some other kind of identity (for example, a company name, domain name, email address, legal name)\\nEach signature is made at a certain time. Provenance signatures would tend to not include other signatures, whereas transmission signatures would tend to include other signatures. Note that a signature can only include another one if it is made after the first one.\\n36.9 Error Propagation Characteristics Usually Don’t Matter\\nDiscussion of block cipher modes often includes an analysis of error propagation properties. Who cares? On the Internet and most modern networks, error detection and correction is done at another layer, even if it’s a very weak 16-bit checksum. If you care about your data, you should do a real integrity check, and not rely on half-baked measures like trying to decrypt something and hoping that a corrupted ciphertext will not decrypt to a valid plaintext.\\nUsually, it’s safer for computers to discard corrupted messages than to try to guess about what they’re supposed to say. Only if the cost of transmissions is so high that you would rather deal with partial plaintext than retransmit do you want to process incomplete messages. In that case you’d probably want some forward-error correction ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_error_correction ), so that you’d have some redundancy and be able to correct errors.\\nI recommend you think of integrity protection, error correction, and encryption as completely separate operations, and don’t mix them all together in your head. If you can’t identify these three things as having different goals, you shouldn’t be designing cryptographic systems. However, I won’t leave you hanging in suspense.\\nintegrity protection involves detecting any corruption, however minor, by an intelligent adversary\\nerror correction attempts to correct any changes caused by a noisy channel, and is almost the opposite of integrity protection\\nencryption attempts to keep your adversary from understanding the meaning of what he intercepts\\n36.10 Keep it Legal, Stupid\\nIn the days when Sussman was a novice, Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6.\\n“What are you doing?” asked Minsky.\\n“I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-tac-toe,\\\" Sussman replied.\\n“Why is the net wired randomly?\\\", asked Minsky.\\n“I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play,\\\" Sussman said.\\nMinsky then shut his eyes.\\n“Why do you close your eyes?\\\" Sussman asked his teacher.\\n“So that the room will be empty.\\\"\\nAt that moment, Sussman was enlightened.\\n-- AI koan in The Jargon File ( http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/index.html )\\nI have held what many would consider to be respectable jobs doing computer security in the defense, financial, and information technology industries, yet attended DEF CON ( http://www.defcon.org/ ) frequently, and still read 2600 ( http://www.2600.com/ ), and I don’t find it anything to be ashamed of. I have been reading about computer security since Out of the Inner Circle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Inner_Circle ) was published in 1985 (by Microsoft Press, if you can believe that), I know people who were convicted of felonies and banned from using the Internet, and yet I’ve never broken a computer crime law, nor have I ever victimized anyone. Technology and information, like skill with martial arts, or duct tape ( http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/ducttape.txt ), is a tool that can be used for good or evil.\\nFortunately I’m in a position that I can reasonably and ethically justify seeking and having this information, but I fear that cynical fear-mongers, the ignorant and easily-scared fools which follow them, and the minions of greed are already attempting to quash open discussion of security topics. The list of examples is growing long, but includes the MPAA’s suppression of DeCSS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS ), the DMCA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA ), the AACS key controversy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACS_encryption_key_controversy ), and so on. In some cases it’s illegal to put a URL to certain information on your web site, even though you have no control the information at the other end of the URL. It is only a short step away to making it illegal to discuss these things outside of certain tightly-regulated areas, and countries with a history as police states seem to be fond of this kind of this speech suppression.\\nIt’s a sign of insecurity, and by that I mean psychologically and not in the technical sense. The irony is that further suppression will only make it more difficult to secure the systems, which will make the adversary even more threatening, and thus justify more draconian laws, and take away more freedoms, earn the enmity of more people, and we end up with a very polarized situation that should be familiar to most people. Not trusting your fellow human beings, and seeking to coerce them is a very contagious attitude, and it will not make you more secure in the long run. Tyrants live with a sword of Damocles ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles ) hanging over their head. Where will this madness end? I think the combination of the DMCA and Trusted Computing may end up something like the movie Brazil ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(film) ), where the government strictly regulates air conditioning repairmen, all of whom are incompetent, and unlicensed HVAC workers who simply want to fix the things are labeled and treated as terrorists.\\nHow do you think we learn what the threats are that we need to defend against? How do we learn any lessons from past failures if we can’t openly discuss them? How do you think anyone gains the information, education, and skill to get their first job defending against crime in the first place? How can we test our systems to see if they are vulnerable to something if we can’t get a copy of it?\\nThe problem is not information; information is the solution. That’s why I’m publishing this paper. If we know that the systems are not secure, we can possibly fix them. If they can’t be made secure, we can stay educated about those risks to manage them properly. Democracy can’t function if the people voting aren’t allowed to have make informed choices. Capitalism can’t function efficiently unless the parties involved have full information about their purchasing decision. Information is on the side of the people making decisions; when you vote to withhold information, you are depriving people of the ability to make informed decisions, which is a way to take power away from them. It actually behooves the defenders to know exactly what the adversaries are doing; it allows us to get inside their OODA loop (see 33.4↑ ).\\nNote that I’m not saying anything about punishing or not punishing pickpockets and leg-breakers, but when it’s merely a matter of discussing something without directly victimizing anyone, I think you should appeal to their conscience and not to a judge. On the other hand, if you’re thinking about publishing detailed plans that could be used to victimize someone, just stop and think about how bad you’ll feel if it really is used to victimize someone. You don’t want that on your conscience. What exactly constitutes “detailed plans” isn’t so much the question as how you would feel about it.\\n36.11 Should My Employees Attend “Hacker” Conferences?\\nWell first off you should know that these are not criminal events. Penetration testing is a legitimate career, and the talks are typically given by people who do that for a living. Generally speaking, there are not many crimes being committed there; intelligent criminals are too paranoid of being busted, and so tend to remain quiet. Unintelligent criminals don’t attend conferences. Law enforcement is usually fully aware of the conferences, is often present, and would never allow chaos to reign. They have the power to shut them down at a moment’s notice, or arrest people on the spot. There is some allure there of being able to discuss normally-forbidden topics, but that’s about it. This allure often brings the media as well. There’s plenty of openness about it.\\nSo if you care about securing your systems, the answer is yes. What, exactly, are you afraid of?\\nThe people who attend these events fully expect the defenders to be there. They have a vested interest in keeping apprised of their adversaries. I have made a point of using the term “adversary” instead of “enemy”, because that’s the way you should think about them. If you have no presence there, it makes your organization look ignorant, and if you do have people there, it makes you look savvy. Many of them have no intention of stealing from anyone, and one day aspire (perhaps secretly) to work at savvy companies. The rest are typically no more malicious than your typical “merry prankster”. If there are no people there to provide positive role-models, no “upgrade path” for them, they may become frustrated. It’s no coincidence that a lot of the adversaries on the Internet seem to be coming from Eastern European countries, and seem to have a lot of time on their hands.\\n36.12 I’m a Young Hacker, Should I Sell Out and Do Security for a Corporation?\\nI recall hearing someone say, “if you’re twenty and you work for a corporation, you’re a loser, but if you’re thirty and you don’t work for a corporation, you’re a loser”. I’m not sure I’d put it quite like that, but let me spell out some common concerns and trade offs for you.\\nFirstly, if it’s what you love, then you’re going to want to spend time on it. Who would want to spend eight hours a day doing telemarketing if they could spend it doing something they loved? And if you don’t like what you’re doing for a living, you’re not going to be good at it, and so you will find yourself saying “would you like fries with that?” far more than anyone should have to. Secondly, a person who wants to get good at something and can do it at work and home will be much better at it than someone who does it only at home. I recall hearing of someone working for an Allied spy agency who had to get fake documents made to move around in Europe during WWII; his forger was a document examiner prior to the war, and his documents were superb, absolutely flawless. In most contexts, professionals usually beat amateurs.\\nSometimes the person is paranoid that one day he’ll pull off the ultimate heist and he’s concerned that the prosecution would be able to prove he knew something about security. In most cases, all it would take to establish that you knew something about security would be for some casual acquaintance to say that you were really good with computers. It would be difficult to make the case that you actually knew nothing about computers when there’d be so much circumstantial evidence supporting it; you’d have to show it was misleading, and would likely involve a lot of lying. But really, if there’s evidence against you, pretending to not understand computers is unlikely to help. But what you need to do most is stop worrying. In theory, the ultimate heist wouldn’t have a suspect. It wouldn’t have evidence.\\nFurthermore, most hacker fantasies about ultimate heists avoid thinking about victims. A good ultimate heist fantasy has some evil, faceless organization as the enemy who has the valuable object. It’s important to the fantasy that you not be stealing a Rembrandt from a feeble but kind senior citizen who has had it in his family for three generations, or a valuable heirloom from a person’s deceased parent, because humanizing the victim allows you to actually feel about it.\\nGenerally, if a person did something like that, it’s either for the money, or for the challenge of it. In 1978, a computer programmer named Stanley Rifkin who worked for Security Pacific Bank ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Pacific_Bank ) managed to transfer $10,200,000 out of the bank and use it to buy Russian diamonds. In the version of the story I heard, he contacted a close friend and told him about the crime, but the friend turned him in. [U] [U] That’s not the version described here, though: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/stanley-mark-rifkin-wcs/\\nThe crux of the story was that he had apparently done it more for bragging rights than for the money, and by not knowing why he was doing it, he managed to get himself caught. It’s typical for system crackers to get convicted by their own statements (“loose lips sink ships”, as the wartime OPSEC poster says). So either you are contemplating the ultimate heist for the challenge and bragging rights, in which case you should pick something legal, or you’re doing it for the filthy lucre. And if you’re doing the ultimate heist for the money, then what exactly is your objection to getting a job doing security in the first place?\\nTrust me, you’re better off staying legit, and if you plan on staying legit, then you should get a job and some respect. Not just any job, but one for a company that appreciates your talents. If you can’t find one, you may have to start it yourself, but there are many security companies out there these days. Computer security is a pretty high-demand talent.\\n36.13 Anonymity is not a Crime\\nIt’s people like that who give anonymity a bad name.\\nAlmost every criminal wants to remain anonymous, but so should non-criminals. Would you publish the name of your eight-year-old daughter, which school she attends, when it gets out, and what her favorite candy is? I could put my full name, social security number, home phone number and address on my emails and web pages, but the world is full of spammers, stalkers, scammers and sick people who really don’t need to have it. Simson Garfinkel tells me he gets death threats for writing books on computer security not unlike this one. Many of the people who write about a certain Internet worm are having their web sites DoSed in retaliation ( http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/102407-storm-worm-security.html ). I know that ultimately they will see judgment, but I’d still rather not be one of their victims. I understand your connotation of anonymity with criminality, but I don’t think it applies in all cases. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has ruled numerous times that anonymous speech is constitutionally protected, and for security reasons I give out personally-identifying information on a need-to-know basis (see 34.1↑ , 32.5↑ and 32.7↑ ). If you have a lawful need for it, you’ll be able to get it.\\n36.13.1 Example: Sears Makes Customer Purchase Information Available Online, Provides Spyware to Customers\\nWhy should you care? Well, in a recent case, it turns out that Sears made its customer purchase information available to anyone online who can obtain your name and address ( http://www.managemyhome.com/ ). Aside from the simple invasion of privacy, in one blog’s comments ( http://reddit.com/goto?rss=true&id=t3_64jye ), a poster claiming to be a professional burglar states that he finds it rather handy as a way of finding homes with all the latest appliances (and gives name and address information for a person who has such).\\nThis is a well-known example of the fact that you can’t trust other parties to protect your security (see 27.1↑ ). What can you do about it? Well, one person mentioned that you can pay cash, or simply not shop at Sears. This is an example of controlling information flow (see 32.2↑ ); if you never give out your home address, nobody can disseminate it. However, if you give it out to even one party, such as Sears, or your credit card company, then they can disseminate it to third parties (see 32.10↑ ) and such dissemination is done “offline” relative to you, in that you can’t approve or disapprove. You could potentially rely on legal remedies to punish someone who got caught violating an agreement, but most of the time you wouldn’t know about it, and most of the remainder you wouldn’t be able to quantify damages.\\n36.14 Monitoring Your Employees\\nOf all the possible defenses, the cheapest and most effective is to be loved. The best way to be loved is to vanquish your own fear of trusting people.\\nThe most effective monitoring involves only hiring people you trust, and who you feel are willing to understand and internalize company policies. Usually, the feeling that your employees might be doing something nefarious online says more about the work environment and the manager than the employee. The manager is insecure because he does not know how his employees spend their time, and he feels that there is a certain amount of hostility between management and employee, and he probably feels like he doesn’t pay them enough to make them want to work there. He feels that the employees, left to themselves, would rob the company, and that he must keep them in fear to keep them in line. This is a self-fulfilling attitude; if you treat them that way, you will find your fears justified. Do managers keep track of what their subordinates spend their time on, and do they get it done, and do they spend enough time them to make sure they aren’t goofing off? Is the environment one where peer pressure would prevent someone from goofing off extensively? Apart from your fears, have there been no incidents where online activity has hurt the company in any significant way? Then do some spot checks, maybe review the web proxy logs occasionally, and otherwise spend your energy on more important things, like making money. Why create a problem where there isn’t one?\\n36.15 Trust People in Spite of Counterexamples\\nIf, while building a house, a carpenter strikes a nail and it proves faulty by bending, does the carpenter lose faith in all nails and stop building his house?\\n-- The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom\\nThroughout most of this book, I’m sure I’ve given the impression that I don’t trust anyone. Were you to try to not trust anyone, you would never be able to do anything; it’s as futile as trying to completely eliminate risk. There are significant but non-obvious advantages to trust. Humanity as a whole, corporations, and individuals have a limited amount of resources available to them. Lack of trust is like friction, or antagonistic tension in a muscle; it forces us to spend resources protecting ourselves from others, instead of what we’d really like to be doing. Thus, the logical strategy is to strive to be trustworthy, and to promote and otherwise help those that demonstrate themselves to be so. To the extent that an organization is composed of trustworthy people who look out for each other, the people within it may expend their full resources on the tasks at hand. In short, the benefits of trust vastly outweighs the risks.\\n36.16 Do What I Mean vs. Do What I Say\\nOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”\\n-- Mark 2:23-27\\nMost of the security people I know are people who try to understand the reasoning behind things, and spend most of their time trying to figure out how doing what a programmer said (in the form of software) differs from doing what the programmer meant for it it do. Thus, I believe that it is natural for them to assume that everyone thinks the same way. A recent conversation I overheard illustrates the opposite viewpoint.\\nThe conversation occurred between two US military personnel, who shall go nameless. One of them was explaining that he had called the troops under him together for a readiness inspection; apparently in this drill, they were to pretend that they were preparing to go into the field and rapidly put together all of their gear and present it for inspection. He explained that one of the people under him shaved his head, and that during this inspection he had failed to include his comb and shampoo, and that he (the speaker) had punished him for this. The other speaker asked the obvious question as to why he would punish a person for failing to bring something he obviously didn’t need, and the speaker stated that, “it’s a test to see if you can follow simple instructions, and he did not”.\\nThere may be good reasons why the “do what I say, not what I mean” attitude prevails; it may be that the officers don’t give the enlisted people enough information to understand the meaning, or they may not be mature or intelligent enough, or it may be that the officers don’t trust the people under them enough to give them any “wiggle room”. However, I think the reason is simpler; the speaker simply wanted people below him to obey him. My view is that if you teach people that trying to understand and optimize is a punishable offense, you will end up with people who will never try to understand or improve anything, and the entirety of the organization will suffer.\\nFrom my experience, the US military and government is dominated by these kinds of thinkers. I have been told that not all militaries are like this; in particular, the Israeli Defense Forces are said to teach their recruits to try to understand and observe the spirit of their instructions, where they differ from the letter, and they seem to be able to improve upon any military hardware that the US sells them, perhaps for just that reason.\\n36.17 You Are Part of the Problem if You…\\nIf you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.\\n-- Henry J. Tillman ( http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1141.html )\\nYou are part of the problem if you:\\nUse a mail client that can’t read cryptographically signed email (look Out for a common one) because this prevents people from doing sensible things like using S/MIME to securely sign their emails. This goes double if you receive email for a company.\\nDon’t sign emails. This encourages phishing; it would be easy to link into the chrome to show if a message from, say, E-Bay is legit or not. If you don’t sign your emails, people do not expect signatures, and so they fall for phishing. This can be done with S/MIME or Domain Keys, which is probably best if you want all emails signed.\\nLet your system stay hacked. This allows system crackers to send SPAM and host malware on your system, so that other people get affected. Clean up your act and get unhacked. Saying “it doesn’t hurt me so I don’t care” is not a valid response here. You are part of the problem.\\nMake software that isn’t secure. Doing things like allowing executables in too many places makes it difficult to give security advice. Security should be a simple ritual, but if you’ve ever seen a highly-infected Windows machine you’ll know that’s not true.\\nDon’t have a webmaster or postmaster email address. You are required to have a postmaster address.\\nSend executables to friends. Don’t inure them to the danger of running programs.\\nMany of these have to do with network effects ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_externality )\\n36.18 What Do I Do to Not Get Hacked?\\n36.18.1 For Computer Users Running Microsoft Windows\\nEveryone who uses a Microsoft Windows computer should probably read this. It is quite thoughtful, although I’m not sure it is described at a basic enough level for everyone.\\nTerry Ritter’s Basic PC Security ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/COMPSEC/BASPCSEC.HTM )\\n36.18.2 For System Administrators and Advanced Users\\nBefore you start running software, look it up in the National Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ ). Look up a few competing solutions. Filter out any which don’t have all the features you need. Pick the one with the lowest rate of vulnerability discovery. If it has none, it is either written by a security guru, or it simply hasn’t had enough attention yet. You can tell how popular they are by searching for them on Google and seeing how many hits there are. You might also look at CVE ( http://cve.mitre.org/ ).\\n37 Resources\\nI make no attempt to be fair or comprehensive here; these reflect my personal biases as to what I think is interesting, useful, comprehensive, or simply the first that come to mind. If you want a comprehensive list, you can just search the web and read every link or book you find; it should only take a century or two.\\n37.1 My Other Stuff\\nHere’s an outstanding list of important publications:\\nWikipedia’s List of Important Publications in Networks and Security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_important_publications_in_networks_and_security )\\n37.3 Conferences\\nEven if you can’t go, you can learn a lot by searching the web for proceedings from these conferences. You should try to go though, they’re fun. Seriously, the first security conference I went to, I was so intellectually stimulated, I was buzzing the whole time.\\nDEF CON ( http://www.defcon.org/ ) is best when you want to get the low-down on how to defeat security systems. You can view some of them on Google video or youtube. In my opinion, the best presentation I’ve ever seen is “No-tech Hacking” by Johnny Long ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2160824376898701015 ), and the wonderful part of it is that even someone who knows nothing about computer security can enjoy it.\\nUSENIX Symposium on Security ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/security.html ) is best when you want to know about cutting-edge computer security defense research. All their proceedings are free online, so definitely check those out.\\nUSENIX Symposium on Hot Topics in Security ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/hotsec.html ) is a forum for lively discussion of aggressively innovative and potentially disruptive ideas in all aspects of systems security.\\nUSENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/woot.html ) aims to bring together researchers and practitioners in system security to present research advancing the understanding of attacks on operating systems, networks, and applications.\\nBlack Hat ( http://www.blackhat.com/ ) which is the commercial version of DEF CON, which makes it more appealing to employers.\\n37.4 Books\\nWhen I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.\\n-- Deciderius Erasmus\\nI cannot live without books.\\n-- Thomas Jefferson\\nBooks are fairly common, and have a lot of useful information, but can’t be shared, are hard to grep, can’t easily be referred to, and take up space. If you’re a younger reader, they’re like PDFs, but printed onto flattened pieces of dead trees. Nevertheless, I find them indispensable.\\nFree Computer Security Books ( http://freecomputerbooks.com/compscspecialSecurityBooks.html )\\n37.4.1 Publishers\\nYou can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but you can often get a good approximation from its publisher.\\nSAMS and QUE waste of money/space/trees/time\\nO’Reilly my favorite for in-depth coverage of practical stuff\\nAddison-Wesley and Prentice-Hall Technical Reference good for theory or technical material\\nSpringer-Verlag the prestige publisher among academics\\nNo Starch Press a recent entrant which is now publishing some excellent security titles\\n37.4.2 Titles\\nI should probably start a webpage on this, since I have so many ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/recommended_books.jpg ).\\nOne day I’ll link to places to buy these, but until then I will assume you know how to locate and purchase books.\\nPractical Unix and Internet Security - the de facto standard for defensive operations\\nSilence on the Wire - the most novel book on security, covering information disclosure and network forensics ( http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/silence.shtml )\\nHacking Exposed - the de facto standard for penetration testing\\nPractical Cryptography - this should be your first book on cryptography\\nApplied Cryptography - the de facto standard on cryptology; the section on protocols and block cipher modes are outstanding\\nHandbook of Applied Cryptography - arguably more useful than AC, and available free online ( http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ )\\nThese are often where experts read of stuff first.\\nUninformed Journal ( http://www.uninformed.org/ ) has got a lot of stuff about reverse engineering\\nMatasano Chargen ( http://www.matasano.com/log/ ) is a good all-around technical blog on security\\nSchneier on Security ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/ ) is about the intersection of technology and security, especially “Homeland Security”\\nMatt Blaze’s Exhausive Search ( http://www.crypto.com/blog/ )\\nMy security blog list ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/security_feeds.opml ) in OPML format suitable for import into akregator\\nDo not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.\\n-- J. R. R. Tolkien\\nThis is where experts discuss and develop things. Lurk, but if I were you I wouldn’t speak unless you’re spoken to.\",\n \"SwissToni's Place: god is a concept by which we can ...\\ngod is a concept by which we can ... keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of ...\\nSwissToni's Place: god is a concept by which we can measure our pain....\\ngod is a concept by which we can measure our pain....\\nI really shouldn't waste my time getting irritated by stuff like this, but....\\n**deep breath**\\nRemember the atheist bus advertising campaign?\\nYou know, the advertising campaign sponsored by the British Humanist Association from an original idea by Ariane Sherine , who had been appalled by some of the religious messages she saw on buses. I'll quote her directly:\\n\\\"Yesterday I walked to work and saw not one, but two London buses with the question: \\\"When the Son of Man comes, will He find Faith on the earth?\\\" (Luke 18:8). It seems you wait ages for a bus with an unsettling Bible quote, then two come along at once....There was also a web address on the ad, and when I visited the site, hoping for a straight answer to their rather pressing question, I received the following warning for anyone who doesn't \\\"accept the word of Jesus on the cross\\\": \\\"You will be condemned to everlasting separation from God and then you spend all eternity in torment in hell. Jesus spoke about this as a lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and all his angels (demonic spirits)\\\" (Matthew 25:41). Lots to look forward to, then. Now, if I wanted to run a bus ad saying \\\"Beware – there is a giant lion from London Zoo on the loose!\\\" or \\\"The 'bits' in orange juice aren't orange but plastic – don't drink them or you'll die!\\\" I think I might be asked to show my working and back up my claims. But apparently you don't need evidence to run an ad suggesting we'll all face the ire of the son of man when he comes, then link to a website advocating endless pain for atheists.\\\"\\nDetermined to do something about this, Sherine then set about raising enough money to run some atheist adverts on buses... and aren't they a whole lot more uplifting than the usual crap you see on the side of a bus. It makes me smile. It's not saying that there definitely isn't a God, it's just saying that maybe you should be worrying about something else instead.\\nRichard Dawkins , as you might imagine, and as pictured on the bus above, thought this was a brilliant idea, but so did lots of other people, and they soon raised £140,000 to run the campaign as widely as possible.\\nBrilliant. You'd have to be completely humourless not to see the funny side, wouldn't you?\\nOh, apparently The Christian Voice has complained to the Advertising Standards Agency . Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, said:\\n\\\"There is plenty of evidence for God, from people's personal experience, to the complexity, interdependence, beauty and design of the natural world. But there is scant evidence on the other side, so I think the advertisers are really going to struggle to show their claim is not an exaggeration or inaccurate, as the ASA code puts it.\\\"\\nSo you're suggesting that there is more evidence for the existence of God than there is evidence that God doesn't exist? Where exactly?\\nWell, the complaint goes on, \\\"According to growing numbers of scientists, the laws and constants of nature are so \\\"finely-tuned,\\\" and so many \\\"coincidences\\\" have occurred to allow for the possibility of life, the universe must have come into existence through intentional planning and intelligence. In fact, this \\\"fine-tuning\\\" is so pronounced, and the \\\"coincidences\\\" are so numerous, many scientists have come to espouse \\\"The Anthropic Principle,\\\" which contends that the universe was brought into existence intentionally for the sake of producing mankind. Even those who do not accept The Anthropic Principle admit to the \\\"fine-tuning\\\" and conclude that the universe is \\\"too contrived\\\" to be a chance event....\\\"\\nThe Anthropic Principle? What about the infinite monkey theorem that states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. That being so, why is it so hard to believe that, in an infinite universe, it might be possible for a series of absurdly unlikely accidents and coincidences to happen and create life? Or is God an infinite monkey? Why am I even attempting a rational argument?\\nI'd go on with the detail of their complaint, but I'm rather losing the will to live. You can read the whole thing here , but it cites various scientists, including Sir Fred Hoyle and Stephen Hawking, as apparently all being forced to conclude that God does, indeed, obviously exist.\\nBollocks.\\nBollocks, bollocks, bollocks.\\nActually, that might just be the funniest thing I've ever heard.\\nAs I drove home this evening, there was a big sign outside the church just around the corner boldly proclaiming \\\"JESUS IS HOPE\\\". No caveat there, is there? Jesus isn't probably hope, he is HOPE. Definitely.\\nThe atheist message was originally intended to be \\\"There is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.\\\" The Advertising Standards Agency would only allow them to run the campaign if they added the word \\\"probably\\\" . Possessing previously unheralded metaphysical authority, the ASA determined that the advert had to leave room for doubt, and they insisted that it acknowledged that there is \\\"a grey area\\\".\\nSo if the atheists are forced to put in a caveat, how come the christians aren't?\\nAnyway, why are christians getting so agitated about this? Why do they feel so threatened by atheists? Why are they so interested in anyone \\\"proving\\\" whether God exists or not? I thought the whole point of their religion, and the source of all their smugness and immunity to rational debate, was that it was based upon FAITH. Not hard evidence. After all, there can be no hard evidence that a made up mystical, all powerful being exists, can there? The whole thing is based upon the blind belief that there is something guiding our miserable lives and that there might be somewhere better for us to go once we had died, as long as we'd lived a good and worthy life. Why should they give a shit about proof? And actually, why should they feel that they're a special case, somehow worthy of special treatment, with a right to leave things like copies of their hubristic and mostly fictional propaganda material in every hotel drawer? Who do they think they are? God's chosen people?*\\nI realise it's a waste of time being angry about this, but I simply cannot help myself. I pride myself on being a rational, tolerant and reasonably intelligent human being, and I find this kind of bullshit infuriating. Everyone has the right to believe what they want, of course they do, and I know that lots of people draw huge comfort and solace from their faith. I also realise that the silent majority of christians probably aren't in the least bit worried or threatened by these atheist adverts. It's a small but vocal and high profile minority that are kicking up this fuss, and it's them that have annoyed me. Why do they feel the need to inflict themselves on everyone? Why can't they respect anyone else's views or opinions when they don't agree with their own? Why do they have to be so fucking self-righteous about everything?\\nGAH!\",\n \"Infinite monkey theorem - Example Problems\\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter ... works of William Shakespeare. ... amount of time will produce a given text.\\nInfinite monkey theorem - Example Problems\\nInfinite monkey theorem\\nFile:Monkey-typing.jpg\\nAccording to the second Borel-Cantelli lemma , given enough time, a chimpanzee like this one typing at random will almost certainly eventually type out a copy of one of Shakespeare 's plays.\\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard will almost surely eventually type every book in France 's Bibliothèque nationale de France ( National Library ). In the restatement of the theorem most popular among English speakers, the monkeys eventually type out the collected works of William Shakespeare .\\nThe original image was presented in Émile Borel 's 1913 book \\\"Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité,\\\" J. Phys. 5e série, vol. 3, 1913, pp.189-196. These \\\"monkeys\\\" are not actual monkeys; rather, they were a vivid metaphor for an imaginary way to produce a large, random sequence of letters. Borel said that if a million monkeys typed ten hours a day, it was extremely, extremely unlikely that their output would exactly equal all the books of the richest libraries of the world; and yet, in comparison, it was even more unlikely that the laws of statistical mechanics would ever be violated, even briefly. For Borel, the purpose of the monkey image was to illustrate the magnitude of an extraordinarily unlikely event.\\nAfter about 1970, popular statements of the monkey image draw upon infinity, saying that an infinite number of monkeys typing for an infinite amount of time will produce a given text. To insist on both infinities, however, is excessive. A single immortal monkey who executes infinitely many keystrokes will almost surely eventually type out any given text, and an infinite number of monkeys will almost surely begin producing all possible texts immediately, with no wait. In fact, in both cases, the text will almost surely be produced an infinite number of times.\\nContents\\n8 External links\\nIntuitive proof sketch\\nThe infinite monkey theorem is straightforward to prove, even without appealing to more advanced results. If two events are statistically independent , meaning neither affects the outcome of the other, then the probability of both happening equals the product of the probabilities of each one happening on its own. For example, if the chance of rain in Sydney on a particular day is 0.3 and the chance of an earthquake in San Francisco on that day is 0.8, the chance of both happening on that same day is 0.3 × 0.8 = 0.24.\\nNow, suppose the typewriter has 50 keys, and the word to be typed is \\\"banana\\\". Typing at random, the chance that the first letter typed is b is 1/50, as is the chance that the second letter typed is a, and so on. These events are independent, so the chance of the first six letters matching \\\"banana\\\" is 1/506. For the same reason, the chance that the next 6 letters match \\\"banana\\\" is also 1/506, and so on.\\nNow, the chance of not typing \\\"banana\\\" in each block of 6 letters is 1 − 1/506. Because each block is typed independently, the chance, X, of not typing \\\"banana\\\" in any of the first n blocks of 6 letters is X = (1 − 1/506)n. As n grows, X gets smaller. For an n of a million, X is 99.99%, but for an n of 10 billion it is 53% and for an n of 100 billion it is 0.17%. As n approaches infinity, the probability X approaches zero; that is, by making n large enough, X can be made as small as one likes. If we were to count occurrences of \\\"banana\\\" that crossed blocks, X would approach zero even more quickly. The same argument applies if the monkey were typing any other string of characters of any length.\\nThe same argument shows why infinitely many monkeys (almost surely) produce a text as quickly as it would be produced by a perfectly accurate human typist copying it from the original. In this case X = (1 − 1/506)n where X represents the probability that none of the first n monkeys types \\\"banana\\\" correctly on their first try. When we consider 100 billion monkeys, the probability falls to 0.17%, and as the number of monkeys, n increases to infinity the value of X (the probability of all the monkeys failing to reproduce the given text) decreases to zero. This is equivalent to stating that the probability that one or more of an infinite number of monkeys will produce a given text on the first try is 100%, or that it is almost certain they will do so. The only difficulty remaining is in locating a successful monkey.\\nFormal statements\\nAlthough the infinite monkey theorem is usually stated informally, a precise formal statement clarifies its exact meaning. It is easiest to state in the computer science theory of strings , which are sequences of characters chosen from some finite alphabet. In this setting, the two statements above would be stated formally as follows:\\nGiven an infinite string where each character is chosen uniformly at random , any given finite string almost surely (with probability 1) occurs as a substring at some position (and indeed, infinitely many positions).\\nGiven an infinite sequence of such infinite strings, where each character of each string is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a prefix of one these infinite strings (and indeed, as a prefix of infinitely many of these strings in the sequence).\\nBoth follow easily from the second Borel-Cantelli lemma . Suppose our desired text has length n. For the second theorem, let Ek be the event that the kth string begins with the given text. Because this has some fixed nonzero probability p of occurring, the Ek are independent, and the below sum diverges, the probability that infinitely many of the Ek occur is 1. The first theorem is shown the same way, except that we divide the random string into nonoverlapping blocks of n characters each, and make Ek the event where the kth block equals the desired string.\\nIn fact, even going to infinity may be excessive. If the alphabet has size a, then it can be shown that the probability that one of the first an events occurs is at least 1/2. Thus, 20an tries would suffice to type the given text with probability very close to 1. The problem also parallelizes well; k monkeys can type the text k times as quickly ( linear speedup ). For small n this isn't too bad; for example, a thousand monkeys typing random letters at 100 characters per minute would very likely type the word \\\"banana\\\" within 6 weeks.\\nThe theorem is an instance of Kolmogorov 's zero-one law .\\nBecause we need to be precise about whether it is the number of monkeys or the time available which is infinite, the name \\\"infinite monkey theorem\\\" is a misnomer ; each individual monkey is finite. Mathematicians would say \\\"infinite monkeys\\\" only if they mean each monkey alone is infinite, and \\\"infinitely many monkeys\\\" if they mean that.\\nProbabilities\\nIgnoring punctuation , spacing, and capitalization, and assuming a uniform distribution of letters, a monkey has one chance in 26 of correctly typing the first letter of Hamlet . It has one chance in 676 (26 times 26) of typing the first two letters. Because the probability shrinks exponentially , at 20 letters it already has only one chance in 2620 = 19,928,148,895,209,409,152,340,197,376, roughly equivalent to the probability of buying 4 lottery tickets consecutively and winning the jackpot each time. In the case of the entire text of Hamlet, the probabilities are so vanishingly small they can barely be conceived in human terms. The text of Hamlet, even stripped of all punctuation, contains well over 130,000 letters.\\nThe mere fact that there is a chance, however unlikely, is the key to the \\\"infinite monkey theorem\\\", because Kolmogorov's zero-one law says that such an infinite series of independent events must have a probability of zero or one. Since we have shown above that the chance is not zero, it must be one. To consider that an event this unlikely is almost guaranteed to occur given infinite time can give a sense of the vastness of infinity .\\nGian-Carlo Rota wrote in a textbook on probability (unfinished when he died):\\n\\\"If the monkey could type one keystroke every nanosecond , the expected waiting time until the monkey types out Hamlet is so long that the estimated age of the universe is insignificant by comparison ... this is not a practical method for writing plays. (We cannot resist the temptation to quote from A.N. Whitehead , \\\"I will not go to infinity\\\".)\\\"\\nIn The Nature of the Physical World: The Gifford Lectures (Macmillan, New York, 1929, page 72) the physicist Arthur Eddington wrote:\\n\\\"If I let my fingers wander idly over the keys of a typewriter it might happen that my screed made an intelligible sentence. If an army of monkeys were strumming on typewriters they might write all the books in the British Museum. The chance of their doing so is decidedly more favourable than the chance of the molecules returning to one half of the vessel.\\\"\\nIn physics, then, the force of the \\\"monkeys argument\\\" lies not in the probability that the monkeys will \\\"eventually\\\" produce something intelligible, but in the practical reality that they will not. Any physical process that is even less likely than such monkeys' success is effectively impossible; this is the statistical basis of the second law of thermodynamics .\\nMyth about origins\\nIt is sometimes reported, though nearly impossible, that Borel's use of monkeys and typewriters in his theorem was inspired by an argument used by Thomas Henry Huxley on June 30 , 1860 . Huxley was involved in a debate with the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce , held at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford, of which Wilberforce was a vice-president, and was sparked by the publication of Charles Darwin ’s Origin of Species seven months earlier, in November 1859. No transcript of the debate exists, but neither contemporary accounts of it nor Huxley's later recollections include any reference to the infinite monkey theorem. The association of the debate with the infinite monkey theorem is probably an urban myth triggered by the fact that the debate certainly did include some byplay about apes: the bishop asked whether Huxley was descended from an ape on his grandmother's or his grandfather's side, and Huxley responded that he would rather be descended from an ape than from someone who argued as dishonestly as the bishop. It is most unlikely that Huxley would have referred to a typewriter. Although patents for machines resembling modern typewriters were granted as early as 1714 , commercial production of typewriters did not begin until 1870 , and a skilled debater like Huxley would hardly have let his point depend on a device whose existence would have been unknown to most of his audience.\\nLiterature and popular culture\\nJonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels (1782) anticipates the central idea of the theorem, depicting a professor of the Grand Academy of Lagado who attempts to create a complete list of all knowledge of science by having his students constantly create random strings of letters by turning cranks on a mechanism (Part three, Chapter five).\\nIn \\\" Inflexible Logic \\\" by Russell Maloney , a short story that appeared in The New Yorker in 1940 , the protagonist felt that his wealth put him under an obligation to support the sciences , and so he tested the theory. His monkeys immediately set to work typing, without error, classics of fiction and nonfiction. The rich man was amused to see unexpurgated versions of Samuel Pepys ' diaries, of which he owned only a copy of a bowdlerized edition.\\nA similar theme was struck in the story \\\" The Library of Babel \\\" by Jorge Luis Borges , which contains a potentially unlimited number of volumes filled with random strings of characters. The narrator notes that every great work of literature is contained in the library; but these are outnumbered by the flawed works (which are vastly outnumbered by the gibberish).\\nPopular culture references to this theorem include The Simpsons (in one episode, Montgomery Burns has his own room with 1000 monkeys at typewriters, one of which is chastised for mistyping a word in the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities — \\\"Blurst of times? You stupid monkey!\\\"), Family Guy (a group of monkeys is shown collaborating on a line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in a cut scene) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ( Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent , under the influence of the Infinite Improbability Drive , are ambushed by an infinite number of monkeys who want their opinion on the monkeys' script for Hamlet). In the comic strip Dilbert , Dogbert tells Dilbert that his report would take \\\"three monkeys, ten minutes\\\". The debut album by Leeds punk rock band the Mekons is called \\\"The Quality of Mercy is Not Strnen.\\\" Originally released on Virgin Records in the UK in 1979, its cover features a photo of a typing chimp (which, of course, is not a monkey at all).\\nThe theorem is also the basis of a one-act play by David Ives called \\\"Words, Words, Words\\\", which appears in his collection All in the Timing . In the one-act, three monkeys named Milton , Swift , and Kafka have been confined to a cage by a scientist until they can write Hamlet. There is a humorous short story by R.A. Lafferty entitled \\\"Been a Long, Long Time\\\", in which an angel is punished by having to proofread all the output text until some future time (after trillions of Universes have been created and died) when the monkeys produce a perfect copy of Shakespeare's works.\\nIn Tom Stoppard 's play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead , one character says, \\\"If a million monkeys...\\\" and then cannot continue, as the characters are actually within Hamlet , one possible topic of this rule. He then finishes the sentence on a different topic.\\nIn 2000 , the IETF Internet standards committee's April 1st RFC proposed an \\\"Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)\\\", a method of directing a farm of infinitely many monkeys over the Internet.\\nWWDN , the blog of author and actor Wil Wheaton , uses the slogan, \\\"50,000 monkeys at 50,000 typewriters can't be wrong.\\\" His witticism won him a Bloggie in 2002 for the category \\\"Best Tagline of a Weblog.\\\"\\nRobert Wilensky once jocularly remarked \\\"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.\\\"\\nComedian Bob Newhart has a stand-up routine in which a lab technician monitoring an \\\"infinitely many monkeys\\\" experiment discovered that one of the monkeys has typed \\\"To be, or not to be; that is the gezortenblatt.\\\"\\nGoats , a popular webcomic illustrated by Jonathan Rosenberg , featured a story line named infinite typewriters where several characters accidently teleport to an alternate dimension. There they find that this dimension is populated by monkeys with typewriters, presumable typing the scripts of many other dimensions.\\nInfinite monkey experiments\\nThis is a thought experiment which clearly cannot be carried out in practice, since it calls either for infinite time or infinite resources. Nonetheless, it has inspired efforts in finite random text generation.\\n\\\"The Monkey Shakespeare Simulator\\\" website, launched on July 1 , 2003 , contains a Java applet that simulates a large population of monkeys typing randomly, with the stated intention of seeing how long it takes the virtual monkeys to produce a complete Shakespearean play from beginning to end. Though it does not update its records anymore, the generator has generated sequences up to 30 letters long (Example: \\\"Suffolke. As by your high ImpeKnCmV\\\"WLC3s\\\"IvWzSCLviA2:tjbh[,s...\\\" from Henry VI, Part II.) Due to processing power limitations, the program uses a probabilistic model (by using a random number generator ) instead of actually generating random text and comparing it to Shakespeare. When the simulator \\\"detects a match\\\" (that is, the RNG generates a certain value or a value within a certain range), the simulator simulates the match by generating matched text.\\nIn 2003 , scientists at Paignton Zoo and the University of Plymouth , in Devon in England reported that they had left a computer keyboard in the enclosure of six Sulawesi Crested Macaques for a month; not only did the monkeys produce nothing but five pages ( PDF ) consisting largely of the letter S , they started by attacking the keyboard with a stone, and continued by urinating and defecating on it.\\nReferences\\nMonkey Theory Proven Wrong (9 May 2003) CBS News\\nRFC 2795 — The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)\\nExternal links\",\n \"My Take: The Batman killings and the evil that we do – CNN ...\\nEditor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of \\\"The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation ...\\nMy Take: The Batman killings and the evil that we do – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs\\nWow .... that was a Mike Tyson KO response.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:45 am |\\nBetty\\nDont believe this tragedy had anything to do with evil or religion at all. It is about serious mental illness. That man is mentally ill. Nothing more, nothing less.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:40 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\nNo, it was planned. Perhaps I am incorrect, but the pattern of gradual purchases indicates a long-term plan to me.\\nHe knew what he was doing and that what he was doing was morally wrong – as wrong as can be. I think it is sufficiently bad to be considered evil.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm |\\nVoice of Reason\\nBetty, I agree with you, the guy is messed-up. As far as the gop nut goes, yes it was planned by a guy that is messed-up. Hello?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:06 am |\\nLame\\nI am quite curious as to why so many people cannot understand how insane people can actually make and enact very complicated plans, that the existence of a plan is no indication of sanity or insanity. In fact, many do create elaborate scheme. Ted Bundy was insane, but he was very effective at staying hidden because of planning and technique.\\nInsane does not necessarily mean incapacitated.\\nBasically, Betty is right. It's really about insanity. Not guns or religion or \\\"society's to blame\\\", but one guy who by all accounts rapidly deteriorated and did something . . . insane.\\nDon't worry. He's not going to get out of punishment.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:36 am |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Lame, etc\\nSo you don't think what this person did was evil? ... because he was insane?\\nThat was the whole point of the topic.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:45 pm |\\nBob\\nMoney is the root of all evil, and we live in a land where money is the measure of all things. We are the type of society that Jesus Christ preached against. We have abandoned Christian charity (helping those less fortunate than ourselves) and replaced it with usury (loaning money to those at need and charging them interest on it). When a practice that was forbidden by the ancient religions (and was by Christianity until the reformation) becomes the basis of a nation's economy it is only a matter of time till if collapses. When you have a nation that is one of the wealthiest in the world and has the richest rich people in the world but still has a large percentage of its people living in poverty and without health care because those who have most of the wealth are too greedy to share with the less fortunate, it's a sure sign that the teachings of Jesus Christ have been long forgotten. That our laws protect greed and the acquisition of wealth at the expense of our weakest citizens goes against the teaching of not only Jesus Christ, but also against the teachings of Confucius, who said that the measure of a society was not how well its mightiest members lived, but how well it's weakest members lived. We have a system based on the philosophy of the Teutonic warlords, dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all, might is right, etc. It favors the strong and disregards the weak. What passes for Christianity in the minds of people like Romney is really a form of Paganism. Jesus Christ cautioned his disciples against admitting gentiles (Pagan Romans) into the church, probably for fear that there were so many more Pagans than Christians that his teaching would become watered down or eventually discarded as the Pagan influence became stronger. Nietzsche refers to the apostle Paul as the anti Christ because he chose to disobey the teachings of Christ and welcomed Pagans into the church. Eventually it became the official religion of Pagan Rome, with a few modifications. I think Christ was right to want to steer clear of the Pagans. Over the centuries his teaching have been lost and we now worship money more than God. The Ten Commandments are long forgotten. We kill more of each other every day than citizens of former Pagan lands that have since rejected Paganism and gone back to the ancient religions or adopted secular humanism. No matter how you look at it, we are the greediest, most blood-thirsty land to come out of the merger of Paganism and Christianity. Statistics show that we have more purported Christians per capita than any European country. Yet we have more guns per capita, more gun deaths, more crime, more people in prison and more poverty. We have people living in the streets because our wealthy refuse to pay taxes to help them. All of the things that the average American perceives as being wrong with this country are a reflection of our values. Face it, the Christianity of Jesus Christ is gone. What flies under the banner of Christianity in this country is almost pure Paganism, from it's glorification of wars, weapons and killing, to it's worship and adoration of the greedy and the profane. I could be wrong, of course. There could be another explanation for the rich refusing to pay taxes, for the Republicans refusing to pass legislation that would help the poor, and all the while waving their Bibles and assuring us of their Christian bona fides, but I doubt it. Maybe Heston really thought he was doing God's work by shilling for the NRA, but after reading what Jesus Christ had to say about killing and violence it's hard to picture him waving a six gun and saying he will only give it up when they pry it out of his cold, dead hands. I don't think Christ would have picked up a gun even is his life was threatened. I could be wrong, of course, but I'd rather be wrong than subscribe to a religion that advocates killing and violence and leaving the weak and poor to fall by the wayside while the rich grow ever richer.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:37 pm |\\nChuck\\nThat awkward moment when Bob the commenter articulates a greater theological claim than the article's own author, a professor of religion at a major university.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:41 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nS ex is actually the root of all evil. People seek money and power to get better s ex. (stupid CNN censors!)\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:47 pm |\\nWhoa Dude\\nThat block of text looks like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.\\nAnd that is about as much interest as I have in it.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:54 pm |\\nBill P\\n“Money is the root of all evil” – not correct. It is the “love of money” which is the root of all kinds of evil. Hence, money is OK, it is the love of it that is the problem. And, the love of it is not the root of ALL evil. Thus, you would be in complete error if you thought someone that was poor could not be evil. (1 Tim 6:10)\\nThe charging of interest in the loaning of money was ONLY an issue of loaning amongst the Isra.elites. Charging interest to others was OK. Even Jesus pointed that out in one of His parables.\\nI cannot tell what you are saying about Nietzsche and the Apostle Paul as the anti-Christ, about Jesus wanting to keep the gentiles out of the church, etc., but I get the impression that you have no idea what you are talking about.\\nThe “rich refusing to pay the taxes”? You are kidding aren’t you?\\nRecommendation: stop reading “religious” interpretations and commentaries. Read only the Bible if you want to know what the Bible says.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:04 am |\\nVoice of Reason\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:07 am |\\nWow?\\n\\\"Yet we have more guns per capita, more gun deaths, more crime, more people in prison and more poverty\\\"\\nI have to tell you I really hate negative people, they are the worse.\\nmore gun deaths – Actually we don’t we are ranked around #4 but we are also one of the freest countries out there. Africa, Columbia and Thailand are ahead of us.\\nBy the way when it comes to Murder per capita, we aren’t even in the top 25. 😉\\nAs for the poverty part, are you JOKING! We’re are ranked 131st when it comes to other countries.\\nLet’s guess you’re a conservative right wing nut bag!\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:01 pm |\\nConvert or go to hell\\nFvck all non-Christians.... you will all end up in hell for sure.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:09 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\nTroll-la-lol-la-lol-la-lol-lol-lol.\\nYour post is not worth any other response.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:12 pm |\\nAlan S\\nConvert: I can only conclude you intended your comment tongue-in-cheek. A person would have to be absolutely blind to irony to write such a comment seriously.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:15 pm |\\nken\\nI guess I'd better warm up my rocket sled since thats my choice of transport to that place.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:20 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Alan,\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:21 pm |\\nsam stone\\nconvert: don't forget to thank jeebus when he sprays his gooey goodness all over your face\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:45 am |\\nAverageJoe76\\nStill gonna be my roomie in H_ell, right? Like we agreed upon..?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:35 pm |\\nShory\\nThe Batman killer was an atheist and did it because of his religious cult !!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:08 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\nTroll-la-lol-la-lol-la-lol-lol-lol.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:13 pm |\\nWhoa Dude\\nOh no! Was it the Riddler?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:57 pm |\\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\nTHANK GOD ALL THE TIME\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:05 pm |\\nKelly\\nI am not posting about gun control. Is anyone else amazed that a whopping 1 in 200 people say they believe they are going to hell? That to me is scary. That's an incredibly large percentage of our society that believes in hell and furthermore thinks they are going there. I'm not judging one way or another a person's religious beliefs, but sometimes I feel like we are living in medieval ages here in America. That sort of question would be ridiculous to a European (and they have much less crime in their cities btw) I don't think this was a well written op ed anyway.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Kelly\\nHuh? 70% believe in hell (according to Mr. P.) That's 140 in 200. Only 1 in the 140 who believe in hell, think they are going there. That's not very many.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:59 pm |\\nKelly\\nyes, bad math. But I guess I can't believe 70% believe in Hell and of those, 1 in 200 believe they are going to hell. In a metropolitan area of 10 million that means 35,000 people believe they are going to hell right?. What are they gonna do with their lives if they really think they are going to hell? I'm saying all this sort of off the cuff, but I'm constantly amazed with how religion affects our policy and our decision making here in America. I should not be surprised.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:09 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\nActually it means 50,000 in a population of 10,000,000.\\nIt is still a small number. It's smaller than the number of incarcerated inmates for example (73,000 / 10 million). Numerically it means there are lots of inmates who don't believe they are going to hell.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:18 pm |\\nGeoff\\nSo, let me understand your logic. Europeans would find the question, Is there a heaven, is there a hell?\\\", rediculous. Is that right? Thus the opinion of Europeans makes the question less than credible. Tell me Kelly, how does the Asians feel? how does that impact the validity of the question? And, Africans? South Americans?\\nYou are suggesting that the Europeans are more deeply informed in matters of the spirit? Or, are you suggestiing that you believe what you beleive because of their enlightened vision?\\nKelly, let me know when you know for sure because you have been to either heven or hell. Or, have you looked everwhere and found neither and assume because you haven't found them they do not exist?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:20 am |\\nCharles Darwin\\nWow, it's pretty sad when you can't post the word \\\"const!tutional\\\" because it gets censored by the prudes at CNN. Guess they're afraid you're gonna say t!ts. It's pathetic.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:20 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\nYup. Horrible naughty words like Constitution, institute, cumulative and Japan.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm |\\nLinCA\\nCNN uses WordPress blogs for their opinion pieces, and they use automated censoring that looks for words, or fragments of words, that are considered offensive. If your post doesn't show up, it most likely had a forbidden word in it.\\nOn the Belief Blog, repeat posts, even those that were previously censored and not displayed, will show a message stating that you posted it before.\\nThe following words or word fragments will get your post censored (list is incomplete):\\n arse as in Arsenal\\n tit as in constitution or title\\n twat\\n whore\\n wtf\\nTo circumvent the filters you can break up the words by putting an extra character in, like: consti.tution (breaking the oh so naughty \\\"tit\\\").\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\\nLOL\\n@LinCA, brilliant, you compiled the list.\\nThey need better filtering logic. I recommend to their developers:\\nIf IsBadWord(aWord.Replace(\\\" \\\", \\\"\\\")) = True Then RemoveBadWord() Else Exit Sub End If\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:58 pm |\\nAlan S\\nTo LinCA: Then why wasn't your message, listing all the forbidden words, censored by the program?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:17 pm |\\nVoice of Reason\\nThat's a tough one for you to figure out, right?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:12 am |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nLinCA's method is known only to atheists. 🙂\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:17 am |\\nVoice of Reason\\n@0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nBecause we are all evil.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:38 am |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nSorry, can't agree. To be evil you must be a believer like several of the regulars here.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:45 am |\\n@LOL\\nYou said, \\\"@LinCA, brilliant, you compiled the list.\\\"\\nI didn't compile the original list. I think it was put together by a poster under the name SumDude. It's been re-posted by others too. Most recently Helpful Hints has also been sharing it. I do try to maintain it (latest addition was smut).\\n@Alan S\\nYou said, \\\"Then why wasn't your message, listing all the forbidden words, censored by the program?\\\"\\nPFM\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:45 am |\\nHadenuffyet\\nWhy , don't you all know , there is no such thing as evil. We'll just wait for those expert pseudo scientists to explain all this destructive behavior in some brain malfunction or such...right?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:37 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nWell, they say that Jared Loughner is mentally ill and not just a teabigot trying to take out a Democrat.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:24 pm |\\nLarry Bob\\nWell, this will probably chum up a shouting match, but it's already out there, so lets talk about gun control.\\nFirst question: Would gun control have stopped this? Maybe, but with this guy in particular, probably not. Assuming that the reports are correct (a dangerous assumption I readily admit), then this guy was capable of creating alternate devices that might well have been even deadlier. I won't mention by name one I am thinking of, but it is very simple to make, uses commonly available materials that no oversight system would be able to discern and which the government could not make unavailable even if they wanted to. Worse, he could have made any number of them, put them on simple timers, and put them all over the place.\\nThere are more than just knives out there.\\nNow, as to guns themselves, will controlling them work? Or will we just create another black market opportunity for gangs? I don't have the answer, as it probably lies somewhere in between.\\nCan we just limit some of them and reduce crime? The answer here is actually no (we will deal with the assault rifle question separately in a moment).\\nIs the benefits of removing guns worth the loss of Constitutional liberty, especially as those most hurt would be the law-abiding gun owners? Americans really don't like to remove Constitutional liberties, and for good reason.\\nNow, it's going to get really problematic. Does anyone feel it is okay for almost anybody to have ready access to a submachine gun? How about hand grenades? Shoulder-launched ground-to-air missile? 100 round per second Vulcan machine cannon? Thermonuclear warhead? I doubt even the worst NRA zealot would want those. So the question is really, where should the line be drawn? What is okay and what isn't? What is the defining aspects that are okay, and what are not?\\nThis is the real debate, because honestly, a full ban probably won't be any more effective than the ban on heroin is, and full access to anything is way too dangerous.\\nCan the Constitution and the debates of the Founding Fathers help us? No. All were strongly for unrestricted access to arms, and that is what is in the Constitution. Arms, not just firearms. If you wanted to own your own ship full of cannons, it was fine with them, because that fit into the militia concept of the time. You could own any form of arms at all.\\nYou see, the Founding Fathers never imagined that arms would go though the advances they have. High explosives did not even exist yet. The Second Amendment really does not fit the modern world because of that. You are supposed to be able to own everything if you want; that was the intent. It's the right to bear arms, no limits, not just firearms.\\nThat is why the Supreme Court has avoided anything but the narrowest, most oblique cases like the plague – because they know that it allows everything, and they really don't want that (and neither do you). Everyone thinks the troublesome word is militia. It isn't. It's \\\"arms\\\". This is why a paranoid organization like the NRA has done so well – the Constitution actually allows more than even they would ask for.\\nThe Second Amendment is actually the one amendment that needs a rewrite, but it is such a political hot issue that no one wants to touch it. It would make the Health Care act look like a happy interparty picnic.\\nSo where is the line, and how do you do it? How do you define something like that when attempts to define what an assault rifle is have failed miserably – too many ways around any definition. If assault rifles are a step too far, how do you ban them when the NRA can and will push it through the courts, to the Supreme Court if necessary, and win again?\\nIt's a Constitutional mess, really. I see nothing simple about it.\\nIdeas anyone (ducks for cover)?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:34 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Larry Bob,\\nIn the current climate of an election year, gun control is way off the table. Regrettably, this debate won't do anything right now.\\nThe intent of the 2nd ammendment ended during the War of 1812* when the myth of superiority of a civilian militia over the realities of a standing army was debunked. (It was only 23 years old at the time.) The final erasure of the intent of the 2nd ammendment occured in the civil war. It remains irredeemably perverted into something the founders would not recognize.\\nGod, guns, money and exceptionalism are the American pantheon. As a result of the Aurora tragedy, people are more likely to vote for warning labels and age-based purchasing (like 18 and over) for comic books rather than any more gun control.\\n* By the way, anyone realize this year is the bicentennial of the War of 1812? Can anyone suggest who won the war of 1812?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:56 pm |\\nHadenuffyet\\nThe 2nd amendment ended with the war of 1812? I suggest you google \\\"The Battle of Athens\\\" an incident that occurred in 1946 in the town of Athens , Tennessee. Government oppression is omnipresent , even on a local level.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:03 pm |\\nVoice of Reason\\n\\\"The British won due to the fact that they completed their objectives; defend Canada by killing the Americans who tried to invade.\\nAmerican Deaths:11,300 killed, wounded or missing in action.\\nBritish Deaths: 8,600 killed, wounded or missing in action.\\\"\\nSource: Answers.com\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:05 pm |\\nCharles Darwin\\nGun control would probably not have stopped this guy. We have gun control now in some states. Most states require background checks, at least for handguns. I haven't heard anything about this guy having a police record so he would have passed a background check okay. I believe we should have \\\"reasonable\\\" gun control, like background checks but I also believe that honest citizens should have the right to own guns. By the way, I'm a Democrat but I believe in all of the amendments to the const!tion.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:14 pm |\\nPat Jay\\nWell, I think you can't. We have about the best system you can get and still have some from of personal freedom. its sad that people temd to blame objects for the actions of humans. our homes are chuck full of deadly items, our cars are mass murders just look at the highway death toll for just one year. yet no one is saying its time to take big trucks off our roads and put the frate back on the rails roads. witch by the way would save 40% of out imported oil and save up too tens of thousands of lifes. so if I get this right because of a few sickos we rip the freedoms from 500 million Americans to save a few inocents? most muders are thug on thug and helps the reast of us by weeding out the bad actors. in a way its all most like an eivl lottery where the odds of a sicko killing you is very very low but man it makes good head lines. sadder still more loved ones in pain. the truth is freedom is not free it comes with the price of innocent blood. have you all forgoten abortion? the death toll is in the Millions and Millions. I wish I was like your fairy tail Christ or budda and could for give this guys. but freedoms price calls for a price to be payed, and when it comes to this killer it should be payed in blood. but only the guilty should pay for they're sins not the reast of us.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:16 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Voice of Reason, nice anwer – here's my version:\\nYes, the British suceeded in protecting their interests in Canada and stopped Madison's expansionism to the north – you could claim that as victory – but at great cost, gaining nothing that they did not have prior to the conflict.\\nThe US gained nothing. The US was driven to the brink of bankruptcy and New England was close to secession from the Union.\\nThe biggest losers were natives – both in the US and in Canada. The only winners (if you could call it that) were the political careers of James Munroe and Andrew Jackson.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:19 pm |\\nTrivia\\nMany people don't realize that The Star Spangled Banner was written during the war of 1812 (The Defence of Ft. Henry in 1814), and not during the Revolutionary War.\\nAlthough there was not an overwhelming winner/loser of the war, it did affirm that the \\\"flag was still there\\\", even after the challenge.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:24 pm |\\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\\nEric,\\nThat is the dumbest thing anyone has said here in a long time. Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \\\"before\\\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:27 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Hadenuffyet,\\nand armed conflict was really necessary in Athens, TN? That's just Hatfields & McCoys Appalachian thinkin' fer ya!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:31 pm |\\nEric\\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq I agree space time began during the big bang I buy into that theory. However for a mass to be expanding it has to be expanding into something. When the big bang happened...the moment of creation space time was also created. So I do not see how that is stupid. There was a begining a creation point.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:32 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Trivia,\\ntrue enough. It's amazing how propaganda works isn't it.\\nIt's Fort McHenry by the way. It defended Baltimore from naval attack up the Chesapeake Bay. Mostly, the attack was defended by ships sunk in advance of the British squadron creating a navigational hazard that prevented a close approach to the city.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:36 pm |\\nEric\\nStupid would be to assume our universe is it. Our observations are limited to our universe we are within it and are stuck. Which is where the word of GOD comes in. If you really read and have an open mind you might learn something.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:36 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nThe Big Bang is expanding into nothing. Space is not nothing. A vacuum is not nothing (excuse the double negative but in this sense, it's correct). Space is something space/time is expanding into nothingness. Nothing is the absence of ANYTHING, including space. It's non-existence. Hard to fathom but that's the way it is.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:39 pm |\\nEric\\nHow can something come from nothing?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:41 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nEric, I accept there may be more than one universe, but even if there are, that does not mean that there are any gods. But here's your big chance to educate an atheist. Please provide evidence for any god.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nHow can God come from nothing? If you don't believe in the Big Bang because something can't come from nothing, then how did an invisible, supernatural fairytale man in the sky come from nothing?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nEric, you might want to read \\\"A Universe From Nothing\\\" by Lawrence Krauss. It's way more factual than The Babble but without the killing and sex.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:48 pm |\\nEric\\n@Josef Bleaux I can type to my fingers fall off, this is not the best forum for this. However please read the 1st few chapters of genesis and compare it to todays theories you will find that they agree. Let there be light (big bang) seperate the light from darkness(the early universe had a glow due to electrons not attached to atoms) when seperated we entered the age of stars. I can keep going you will find if you really want to know the truth.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:49 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\nWe've crossed the beams on these threads but what the heck.\\n@Eric,\\nI'm very happy that you believe God is the creator of the universe. Good for you. But because you believe that, doesn't mean I should. You believe this based on faith, not reason.\\nSomething doesn't have to come from nothing. We don't know what was there before the big bang. Maybe a big blob of high enthalpy stuff that reached a critical state. The old concept of expanding then compressing universes (that Douglas Adams jokingly called a gnab gib) works too. Rinse and repeat from one universe to the next.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nEric – I've read the bible from cover to cover. You didn't answer my question.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm |\\nEric\\nI believe the big bang occured, I believe it to be the moment of GODs creation. They go together not against. Yes you will find believers that think the world is 6000 years old, well to each ther own it isnt a salvation point.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:52 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nEric – but where did your invisible fairytale man in the sky come from? Did he magically poof himself into existence?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:53 pm |\\nEric\\nKinda hard to buy the big crunch theory since the rate of universal expansion is increasing.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:54 pm |\\nEric\\nI cant answer that question for now we know in part. One day we will know fully. He was, is and is yet to come that statement right there goes well behind the comprehension of man thousands of years ago, but there it is. To exist outside space time.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nEric – That's a cop out and you know it. You say you don't believe the Universe could come from nothing but your invisible fairytale man did? That's a contradiction. If a sentient, omnipotent being could suddenly \\\"poof\\\" into existence then why not a non-sentient Universe?\\nYou believe in the bible because you were indoctrinated to believe it practically since birth. You believe in it because of where you were born. If you'd been born in India, you'd be arguing just as strongly for the Hindu gods. Ditto for China and Buddahism, etc. etc. etc. They're all just ancient mythology. Some of them make a lot more sense than Christianity. Ancient people made up gods and miracles to explain existence and comfort people in the face of their mortality. An intelligent person who uses logic, reason and objectivity sees this immediately.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:01 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Eric,\\nthe idea of the 'big crunch' is that at some point the forces driving the universe stop being effective, then gravitation takes over and everything coalesces again.\\nProven? No. It's just a theory and it's not much in vogue these days.\\nCombining a belief in God and scientific principles is a reasoned approach. Lots of people do this and it is far more rational than thinking the earth is 6,000 years old. I'm glad it works for you, but it still doesn't prove anything.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:03 pm |\\nLarry Bob Changes Direction\\nEric: The rate of universal expansion cannot be increasing. This is actually where the Second Law of Thermodynamics DOES apply (we finally have true use for it!). What you mean to say is that you think the rate of universal expansion is faster than the gravitational forces can ultimately overcome and reverse.\\nThat is all still very theoretical. And it has nothing at all to say or even imply about the existence of a deity.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:08 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nLarry Bob – Eric is correct. Recent studies have shown that the rate of expansion is \\\"accelerating\\\". Scientists don't like that answer but it's been proven. They've invented \\\"dark energy\\\" in an attempt to explain it.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:10 pm |\\nPRISM 1234\\n\\\"The heavens declare the glory of God;\\nAnd the firmament shows His handiwork.\\nDay unto day utters speech,\\nAnd night unto night reveals knowledge.\\nThere is no speech nor language\\nWhere their voice is not heard.\\n4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,\\nAnd their words to the end of the world.\\nIn them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,\\nWhich is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,\\nAnd rejoices like a strong man to run its race.\\nIts rising is from one end of heaven,\\nAnd its circuit to the other end;\\nAnd there is nothing hidden from its heat.\\nThe law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;\\nThe testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;\\nThe statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;\\nThe commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;\\nThe fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;\\nThe judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.\\nMore to be desired are they than gold,\\nYea, than much fine gold;\\nSweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.\\nMoreover by them Your servant is warned,\\nAnd in keeping them there is great reward.\\nWho can understand his errors?\\nCleanse me from secret faults.\\nKeep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;\\nLet them not have dominion over me.\\nThen I shall be blameless,\\nAnd I shall be innocent of great transgression.\\nLet the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart\\nBe acceptable in Your sight,\\nO Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.\\nPsalm 19\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:22 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\n@PRISM 1234 – Ok... blah blah blah blah blah mumbo jumbo oogah boogah to you too.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:29 pm |\\nLarry Bob\\nOh! So it is! The Nobel went out last year to the guys who unravelled it. I stand corrected.\\nApologies, Eric.\\nThough it still doesn't even remotely hint at the existence of a deity.\\nAstrophysics is fascinating! I think I just found my new hobby! Never studied it much in university.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:35 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\n@Larry Bob – I agree, it doesn't prove the existence of a deity. But that's really a moot point. You can't disprove it either, like you can't prove or disprove the existence of invisible pink and purple polka-dotted unicorns either. :-).\\nBut astrophysics is a good hobby. Science in general is my hobby, but especially astronomy and astrophysics.\\nPersonally, I kinda go along with Einstein in believing in \\\"something like\\\" Spinoza's god. (which is not really a god at all). But I'm open minded. 🙂\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:42 pm |\\nEric\\nhuh guess i typed something i shouldnt have my post didnt make it\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:46 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\n@Eric – See LinCA's list of banned words on this blog in the post near the top.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm |\\nEric\\nDo i have imperical evidence no, i can not provide. Faith is what is required. At some point all of us take something on faith. Some believe the universe is expanding into nothing, still a belief. I do not believe we are an accident. At some point what we can currently observe ends. Maybe in the future we will be able to observe more. I perfer logic and reason and if truly you are looking for the answer you will find it. The main point of christianity is faith if we know like the angels do then how can we believe.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:56 pm |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nI have faith as well. Faith in science. But I don't have faith in ancient mythology and I never will. Science can't explain everything – yet. But given enough time, it will.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:58 pm |\\nEric\\nI would like to thank you guys for intelligent respectfull conversation. usually its hard to have a discussion through the trolls and haters of every side of a discussion.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:59 pm |\\nblah blah blah blah blah\\n@Josef\\n....and he can't understand one word because in his B-L-A-H mind all he hears is blah blah blah blah..............\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:00 am |\\nLarry Bob\\nNo invisible pink and purple polka-dotted unicorns? 😥\\nWhat have I done? I despise emoticons!\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:02 am |\\nEric\\nwell said you will find we agree on most points. I wasnt very different still am not. I was very anti religion I had some very rough times as a teen. Lost both parents and more bad stuff. Im about 40 now and blamed GOD for all my problems then denied his existance. Now many years later I can look back and see.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:03 am |\\nJosef Bleaux\\nThanks Eric, same to you. I'm retired so I don't have to work tomorrow but I'm going to hit the sack now. Enjoyed our discussion.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:04 am |\\nEric\\nThe one thing about todays world view is the assumption the universe is all that there is and many people place GOD within the universe. God is outside the box. we are in the box. even if we could observe outside the box we would have no clue what we are seeing. You ever read flatlanders? that is a good example.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:09 am |\\nLarry Bob\\nCan I point out a paradox, Eric? You just spent quite a bit of time trying to provide evidence of God, and when it fell apart and you accepted that there is no empirical evidence, you said that faith is required.\\nIf you are thinking about evidence and proof and support, then you have subconsciously abandoned faith. You didn't believe in faith, and looked quite extensively for those arguments you provided.\\nSo, does this mean that on some level you don't believe? You must not be sure if you have sought evidence.\\nAnd the search for evidence must always disappoint you if you are searching for God via anything but your imagination; theologically, God must hide all evidence for there to be faith, and if no God, no evidence.\\nEither way, no evidence.\\nJust food for thought. No need to answer.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:10 am |\\nEric\\nLarry that was pretty circular, I am a man yes at times I struggle. There is still always temptation and doubt. As I become stronger in my faith it becomes less and less. I am just the same as you I just believe something different.\\nThanks for your time wife calling me to bed.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:19 am |\\nVoice of Reason\\nLarry Bob, you're a good man and a friend!\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:26 am |\\nAtheism is not healthy for children and other living things\\nPrayer changes things,\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm |\\nObserver\\nAnd drunk driving does too.\\nStill afraid to have to defend your thoughtless blog name?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:05 pm |\\njust wondering\\nspeaking from personal experience or are you just wishful thinking.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:07 pm |\\nParis\\nLike that other guy said, yeah, prayer makes you hoard cats.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:28 pm |\\nCharles Darwin\\nThis guy trolls around here all the time. Ignore him.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:19 pm |\\nFluffy the Gerbil of Doom\\nPrayer makes you buy ozone depleting hair products.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:20 pm |\\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\\nEric,\\nYou have not a shred of evidence. You can say anything you NEED to. Doesn't make it true. Show me the money.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:30 pm |\\nEric\\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq Um ok I have a question. Does darkness exist?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm |\\nEric\\nOr Cold does cold exist\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:39 pm |\\nLarry Bob\\n\\\"Does darkness exist? Does cold exist?\\\"\\nYou are copping out to semantic games here by using unscientific terms that actually refer conditions where energy is low or not there at all. Do conditions of those energy states exist? Of course.\\nLet's hear how you were going to use this as proof of God. Go for it.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:47 pm |\\nJesus\\nPrayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.\\nAn article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.\\nThe statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!|..\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:25 am |\\nReligion is not healthy for children and other living things\\nPrayer is a complete waste of time.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:36 pm |\\nChad\\nObviously you think there is something to it, for it to threaten to the point of spending endless time on this blog decrying it's truth.\\n\\\"To \\\"protest too much\\\" is to insist so strongly about something not being true that people begin to suspect maybe it is true. Example: \\\"You do like that girl, don't you?\\\" Answer: \\\"No! I don't! Not at all! Why do you think so?\\\" Reply: \\\"You protest too much.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:58 pm |\\nNo Truth, Just Claims\\nHey Chad,\\nYou protest too much as well, so I guess you must have concern you are wrong.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:18 pm |\\nChad\\nI am convinced that the God of Abraham exists, created the world, and sent His Son Jesus Christ.\\nSince I have a strong positive belief, I seek to defend erroneous statements about it.\\nI spend no time on muslimforum.org, or hinduforum.org because I couldnt care less what they think..\\nWhy do YOU spend so much time here?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:48 pm |\\nGodFreeNow\\n@Chad,\\n\\\"I am convinced that the God of Abraham exists, created the world, and sent His Son Jesus Christ.\\\"\\nFrom your perspective, I'm curious what you think distinguishes you from people that are convinced that aliens are in communication with them, or paranoid delusional folk who are convinced the government is spying on their actions?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:06 pm |\\nRational Libertarian\\nSince PATRIOT the government are spying on our actions.\\nAlso Chad, Allah is the god of Abraham.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:11 pm |\\nNatasha\\nI would like to know why nobody is commenting on the fact that there was a 6 year old in the theatre watching an adult themed movie. Pshcho killers like this young guy is a result of this society. Shame to those parents and to AMC theatres for allowing those children in. No 6 year old should be exposed to such violence in movies. And you wonder why we end up with a situation like this!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:11 pm |\\nRational Libertarian\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:12 pm |\\nGodFreeNow\\n@Natasha, I think there are some good blog forums out there for parenting advice. I don't feel it's appropriate or relevant to this particular topic.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm |\\nChad\\nThe God of Abraham is real, Aliens arent.\\nFrom your perspective, what differentiates you from people that believe we have never been to the moon?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nThe evidence for gods and aliens Is exactly the same – none!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:23 pm |\\nGodFreeNow\\nWell Chad, it's something called evidence. There's amount of it including the little known fact that we left 2-foot panel with 100 mirrors there that acts as a lunar laser ranging retroreflector array which we still use today.\\nThere is also more mathematical evidence to suggest that intelligent aliens are real than the god of abraham. However, I will ask again... What distinguishes your claim from theirs? Just saying mine is real and theirs isn't doesn't distinguish you. They also claim their experience is real. What distinguishes your claim from theirs? I ask again, because you are not answering the question.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:25 pm |\\ntallulah13\\nGiven the sheer numbers of planets in the universe, there is little doubt that there is life on other planets. It seems unlikely that they are visiting this one, but it is more likely they are than that an all-seeing, all-powerful being is listening to every thought of the relatively insignificant beings on this relatively insignificant planet to make sure they are obeying a list of bronze-age rules.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:27 pm |\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:53 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nUnknown of course is completely wrong...\\nGiven that we are not making an extraordinary claim (about some invisible imaginary being) we don't need any evidence for what we believe. Theists on the other hand have been talking about, but but not delivering on, their line of bullsh!t for centuries. So Unknown, get back to us when you have more than just talk.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:00 pm |\\nYou already did but you ran away like a little coward that you are.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:01 pm |\\nObserver\\n@Unknown,\\n“It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”\\n– Mark Twain\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:09 pm |\\nChad\\n@GodFreeNow \\\"I will ask again... What distinguishes your claim from theirs? Just saying mine is real and theirs isn't doesn't distinguish you. They also claim their experience is real. What distinguishes your claim from theirs? I ask again, because you are not answering the question.\\\"\\n@Chad: \\\"well GodFreeNow, it's something called evidence..\\n1. Origin of the universe\\n2. Origin of life on earth\\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\\n4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\\n5. The empty tomb\\n6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:10 pm |\\nNo Truth, Just Claims\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:12 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nChad must think he has a new audience that he might be able to fool. That list has been shredded at least 5 times...\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:13 pm |\\nThis is blog is not about the religion of non-belief yet atheists storm the blog.\\nGrow a pair.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:14 pm |\\nEileen\\nSo, Chad, not much of a god you've got there if he expects us to believe tales handed down many times about something that might have happened 2000 years ago. Reasonable doubt is more than justified, so either your god is stupid or he doesn't exist. Present modern proof or stop hawking your religion here.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:15 pm |\\n\\\"Modern proof\\\".A stupid excuse for atheists.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\\nEileen\\nUnknown, you not only lack a pair. You lack intelligence.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\\nEileen\\nUnknown, if you can't rebut the statement, just be silent.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:18 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nUnknown, show us how big your pair is – show us your evidence for your useless god. Come on now – no excuses!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:21 pm |\\nNo Truth, Just Claims\\nMany people have met a 'resurrected' Elvis......proves nothing.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:22 pm |\\nI already admitted I can't.Seems like I got the pair.You don't.Atheism weaks you weak not smart.\\n•Facepalm•\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:23 pm |\\nEileen\\nUnknown, if you can't rebut the statement, please just be silent. Your insults aren't helping your case, which was very weak to begin with, and they also demonstrate how hateful and bigoted your religion is.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:26 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nInteresting believer thinking – you can't prove your point which means atheist views are (more) correct and that make atheists weak. Fantastic demonstration of believer mental illness!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:27 pm |\\nHadenuffyet\\nAs is hope , faith , and love.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:57 pm |\\nGodFreeNow\\n@Chad, I expect so much more from you.\\n1. Origin of the universe – You, nor anyone else know how the universe began for certain. There are theories. The difference is, scientific theories must be verifiable. Religious ones must be taken on faith. Even if this were evidence of a god, it in no way is evidence of that god being the god of Abraham. Fail.\\n2. Origin of life on earth – Explainable by science without deities... and also even if it did point to a deity, again.. no evidence of that deity not being a magical bunny rabbit or a leprechaun. Fail.\\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life – Really? where is the evidence that the universe was fine-tuned by a deity and no by the natural forces of entropy, gravity, etc? Fail.\\n4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed – No evidence for this claim. At all. Baseless conjecture. Fail.\\n5. The empty tomb – Really? This is embarrassing for me to even respond to. There are tons of empty tombs and graves. Dig a hole in the ground, call it Chopin's tomb and tell everyone how he magically disappeared. You don't even have to be as talented a David Copperfield to pull this one off. Glad you're so easily convinced by the empty space in a cave. Epic, epic Fail.\\n6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it. Again, not a distinguishing qualifier for my original question. Name one person who claims to have been visited by aliens who doesn't have their own mountain of refutable evidence. They report meeting aliens, getting probed, etc. Fail.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:59 pm |\\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\\nStrickly speaking Chad, there is MORE evidence to prove that the Salem women were actually witches, than there is for you resurrection. The Anthropic Principle is debunked, many places. The universe is not fine tuned, (to 80 decimal places the life of black hole/stars =0), the followers of Islam died going into the towers, the empty tomb proves nothing, the origin of the universe in no way proves YOUR god is true, scientists know in general how life arose, or cold have, there are no \\\"sudden species\\\", (name one), the followers is the argumentum ad populum. Thus, you have a delusion. Too bad.\\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZY2eeozdo8&w=640&h=390]\\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xv_Iklb1V4&w=640&h=390]\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:03 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@Godfreenow,\\nChad's next arguement will be to tell you to read the bible to find his 'evidence'.\\nYou won't convince him and he won't acknowledge the rationality of your argument.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:07 pm |\\nEric\\n@GodFreeNow Um the bible I cant recall any ancient texts that discuss aliens.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:15 pm |\\nEric\\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq Scientiest have a theory on the physical process that lead to life. They may even be correct, that isnt the point. Even if all the modern theories are correct does not in the least take anything away from creation. GOD existed before the universe. He created everything all the matter, energy space time. All the laws of physics, chemistry, you get the point. No matter what we think we know it still all goes back to GOD if you look deep enough. Lets say Darwin is correct it still doesnt mean it is random the design very well may be devine in nature.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:22 pm |\\nYou said, \\\"it's something called evidence..\\n1. Origin of the universe\\\"\\nEven if there is no absolute proof of how the universe got started, that doesn't in any way lend any credibility to your bullshit story of the Tooth Fairy poofing it into existence. Even your pet hypothesis doesn't answer the question as it only pushes it back to \\\"where did the Tooth Fairy come from?\\\".\\nYou said, \\\"2. Origin of life on earth\\\"\\nSame as above. Just because you elect to reject out of hand any theory that is different from your little brain fart, doesn't mean that it make the existence of your imaginary friend any more likely.\\nYou said, \\\"3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\\\"\\nAgain, not evidence of a creator. It is simply a prerequisite for life. Had it been any different, we wouldn't have been around to know the difference.\\nYou said, \\\"4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\\\"\\n*Stasis is part of evolution and doesn't in any way support your delusion, and sudden appearance of fully formed new species doesn't happen. A lack of fossil evidence of transition species doesn't prove there is a magic man.\\nYou said, \\\"5. The empty tomb\\\"\\nPlenty of empty tombs around. You have to be particularly dense to believe that the absence of evidence proves anything.\\nYou said, \\\"6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it.\\\"\\nThat must mean that currently the muslim faith is more true than the christian, as there appear to be more of them willing to kill and die for their beliefs.\\nJust because people believe something, even if millions do, that doesn't mean it's true. Indoctrination is a very powerful force (just look at yourself), and questioning authority, for those that have the ability to rationally evaluate the bullshit, can be very hazardous to your health. The only difference between a belief in gods and belief in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy is that when children start to question the latter they aren't told to shut up and believe.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:22 pm |\\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\\nlEric,\\nThat is the dumbest thing anyone has said here in a long time. Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \\\"before\\\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:28 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\\nFor believers, it's not about acquiring new knowledge and adapting their world view, it's about conjuring up more bullsh!t to defend their childish, and unsupported by facts, beliefs.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:35 pm |\\nJohn P\\nNot so. I know a number of Christians who pray openly and quite visibly at their place of worship and they are gladdened in the great abundance it has brought them.\\nWho, in the real world, stays awake at night thunderstruck by that image of a Mercury Mariner SUV they just can't erase from the inside of their forehead? Nobody. Ever. But if you know a car salesman in the congregation who really prays good and then tells you they'll cut you a special deal, you'll purchase that vapid vehicle at sticker and believe God would have wanted it that way. That's how a lot of crap is marketed and how people who can't do anything become \\\"blessed\\\".\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:41 pm |\\n¡sʎʞɔnq ןןɐ buıןןɐɔ ¡sʎʞɔnq ןןɐ buıןןɐɔ\\nWell, you are onto something I don't really understand particularly well (okay, I don't even pretend to understand it), and there seems to be interest, so here goes: You said \\\"Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \\\"before\\\" time begins.\\\"\\nThere is a major paradox with that. If time is fully stopped at singularity and there is no \\\"before\\\", there cannot be an \\\"after\\\" either. If it is possible for energy to flow out of singularity and change to matter and do all that other amazing universe stuff, then it also has to be possible for energy to flow in as well.\\nWhat I am getting at is that time, while it probably behaves very strangely, does not fully absolutely stop. Indeed, if I understand Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems (which I probably do not), then time is ceasing to be linear but becomes a manifold curvature for the duration of the singularity.\\nAlso, singularity seems to require infinite mass – but the mass of the universe is finite, so the condition of the universe at the event of Big Bang beginning may not have been fully singular. Hawkings himself says as much: \\\"There was in fact no singularity at the beginning of the universe\\\". Time, while distorted, could have still been moving (in some way I will never hope to understand).\\nI looked at some stuff, and here is a hypersimplification from an astrophysicist at NASA, who mentions alternative theories (about which I am clueless). http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/060629a.html\\nAm I missing something? It does seem that there is no certainty that there was not something before Big Bang, that this is very theoretical stuff hindered by great distance,great time, and physical conditions we may never have the opportunity to\\nThe one thing I do not see in these theories is the \\\"something came from nothing\\\" argument that the religious apologists keep trying to say we believe in.\\nAm I missing something?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:31 pm |\\nsam stone\\nchad: how can anyone but you make erroneous statements about YOUR belief? do others speak for you?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:51 am |\\nTruthPrevails :-)\\n\\\"GOD existed before the universe. He created everything all the matter, energy space time. All the laws of physics, chemistry, you get the point. No matter what we think we know it still all goes back to GOD if you look deep enough\\\"\\nSo if everything needs a creator, what created your god Eric? If you are unable to answer that than your whole claim falls to pieces. The fact is that nothing existed before the universe that anyone can make valid claims to and given that there is not an answer and may never be does not mean you get to plug the 'god of the gaps' in to it. Try reading some actual science books, not creation science...you might actually grow another brain cell or two.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 7:06 am |\\nChad\\n@GodFreeNow “Origin of the universe – You, nor anyone else know how the universe began for certain”\\n@Chad “true, but we do know that it requires a force that existed outside our current universe.\\n=============\\n@GodFreeNow “. Origin of life on earth – Explainable by science without deities...\\n@Chad “really? How? RNA world is out.. What else is there being proposed?\\nWhile the experiments carried out by Stanley Miller and others who have built upon his work show that life may have arisen from a primordial soup, that possibility remains theoretical. There is no evidence for pre-cellular life on Earth; what's more, critics of the RNA world hypothesis point out that the experiments that support the concepts were conducted with biologically created RNA. RNA can act as both a template for self-replication and an enzyme for carrying out that process, but these findings have been carried out in controlled laboratory experiments. This doesn't necessarily prove such delicate actions could happen in the seas of the ancient Earth.\\nFor reasons like these, the RNA world hypothesis has been largely abandoned by proponents of abiogenesis in favor of other hypotheses, like the simultaneous development of both proteins and genetic templates or the development of life around undersea vents similar to those currently inhabited by today's extremophiles. But there is one criticism that any abiogenesis hypothesis has difficulty overcoming: time. DNA-based life is thought to have developed on Earth beginning around 3.8 billion years ago, giving pre-cellular life forms about 1 billion years to carry out random processes of encoding useful proteins and as sembling them into the precursors of cellular life . Critics of abiogenesis say that simply isn't enough time for inorganic matter to become the theorized precellular life. One estimate suggests it would take 10^450 (10 to the 450th power) years for one useful protein to be randomly created .\\nThis is one obstacle that makes panspermia an attractive explanation: It doesn't explain the origin of life, merely the origin of life on Earth. Panspermia hypotheses don't necessarily contradict abiogenesis; they merely shift the origin elsewhere. Yet the jury is still out on several important factors that must be in place for panspermia to be correct. Is it possible, for example, for microbial life to survive during the harsh conditions found in the trip through space, the entrance to Earth's atmosphere and the impact on Earth's surface?\\nSome recent hypotheses suggest that it needn't survive. One researcher postulates that dead scraps of DNA could have arrived on Earth via ballistic panspermia and were replicated through a kickstarted process similar to RNA world . Other researchers aim to scour Mars for fossil life and compare any genetic material to that found universally on Earth to determine relation .\\nYet if life on Earth did begin elsewhere and travel to our planet the question still remains: What is life's origin?\\n==============\\n@GodFreeNow “ Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life – Really? where is the evidence that the universe was fine-tuned by a deity and no by the natural forces of entropy, gravity, etc? Fail.”\\n@Chad “ah.. the confidence of not knowing anything 😉\\nNatural forces that allow life is exactly what fine tuning is (not what caused it). You need to explain how those natural forces came into being such that they are precisely designed to allow life.\\nYou are confusing cause and effect 🙂\\n==============\\n@GodFreeNow “ Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed – No evidence for this claim. At all. Baseless conjecture. Fail.\\n@Chad “ah.. the confidence of not knowing anything 😉\\nIt is an accepted fact, see\\nEldredge, Niles and S. J. Gould (1972). \\\"Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism\\\"\\n==============\\n@GodFreeNow “ The empty tomb – Really? This is embarrassing for me to even respond to. There are tons of empty tombs and graves. Dig a hole in the ground, call it Chopin's tomb and tell everyone how he magically disappeared. “\\n@Chad “you forgot to explain HOW it came to be empty…\\n“Jesus wasn’t buried there” has been thoroughly debunked and is never even attempted to be put forth as an solution by any “Jesus doubter”\\n==============\\n@GodFreeNow “ The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it. Again, not a distinguishing qualifier for my original question. Name one person who claims to have been visited by aliens who doesn't have their own mountain of refutable evidence. They report meeting aliens, getting probed, etc. Fail.”\\n@Chad “couple problems with that:\\na. would they be willing to go to their death proclaiming the truth of that fact?\\nb. do you have many different people all claiming the same alien encounter, by the same alien?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:08 pm |\\nChad\\n@LinCA, believe I hit all of your objections in my response to GodFreeNow. Let me know if that is not the case.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:14 pm |\\nChad\\n@TruthPrevails 🙂 \\\"So if everything needs a creator, what created your god Eric?\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"everything that has a beginning needs a creator, our universe had a beginning, we know that.. So it needs some force external to our universe to have \\\"triggered\\\" it.\\nGod alone has no beginning and no end, so no creator. He is the \\\"uncaused cause\\\". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument for an overview of the philosophical argument.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:19 pm |\\nChad\\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq \\\"Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \\\"before\\\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"I see a few folks attempt to argue that since time began at the singularity, it is impossible to discuss what \\\"triggered\\\" the big bang, what was the source external to the universe that triggered it, because there can be no \\\"before\\\" by definition.\\nit's a lame argument, which is why serious cosmologists dont make it.\\nCosmologists attempt to investigate what triggered the big bang because something must have. Everything can't have arisen from nothing (\\\"nothing\\\" being the absence of everything including the laws of nature, the condition \\\"before\\\" the big bang singularity).\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:25 pm |\\nHuh?\\n\\\"Everything can't have arisen from nothing \\\"\\nChad just prove why there is no God and why the bible is a fake, nice job.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:28 pm |\\nChad\\n@Huh? \\\"Everything can't have arisen from nothing \\\" @Chad just proved why there is no God and why the bible is a fake, nice job.\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"God didnt arise, He alone has no beginning and no end. The universe had a beginning, and cant have \\\"arisen\\\" from nothing (where nothing is the absence of everything)\\\"\\nhope that helps clarify..\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:39 pm |\\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\nYour say-so doesn't make it a fact. Neither does the bible.\\nThanks for playing, Chard.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:44 pm |\\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\nWhy do you pretend that because we don't know what triggered the big bang it \\\"must have been God\\\"?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:45 pm |\\n.\\n\\\"See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument for an overview of the philosophical argument.\\\"\\nChad you've been told over and over again wiki is unreliable, the schools have banned students from using it. It's garbage.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:11 pm |\\nJuan\\n\\\"He alone has no beginning and no end. \\\"\\n– If God created the Universe, why did He create it in a precise moment, not sooner or later? It doesn' make sense.\\n– If Time didn't exist then God is not everlasting and the Universe didn't have a beginning. God could have not possibly created the Universe in that case because then both God and the Universe emerged simultaneously.\\n– If the Universe was eternal like God, then God could have not possibly created the Universe because, like in the previous case, they would have emerged simultaneously.\\n– If God was not everlasting then who created Him? We must admit that if God exists, unless the Universe created Him, He must be eternal. If the Universe created God anyway, he could have not created the Universe.\\nSo at the end the scenario where God could have possibly created the Universe doesn't seem to exist, does it?\\nDo you think that God created the Universe? And how could that happen?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:13 pm |\\nChad\\n@. \\\"you've been told over and over again wiki is unreliable, the schools have banned students from using it. It's garbage.\\\"\\n=>:-)\\nWikipedia is about as good a source of accurate information as Britannica, the venerable standard-bearer of facts about the world around us, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature.\\nFor its study, Nature chose articles from both sites in a wide range of topics and sent them to what it called \\\"relevant\\\" field experts for peer review. The experts then compared the competing articles–one from each site on a given topic–side by side, but were not told which article came from which site. Nature got back 42 usable reviews from its field of experts.\\nIn the end, the journal found just eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles. Of those, four came from each site. They did, however, discover a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. All told, Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123.\\nThat averages out to 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia.\\nWhat is your source for \\\"the schools have banned students from using it\\\"?\\nnow, keep in mind, to support your argument, the ban must have been for reasons of content unreliability, NOT simply because the school wanted kids to do their own research and not use a database like Wikepedia as a shortcut.\\n😉\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:23 pm |\\nChad\\n@Juan, your logic is flawed because it assumes that everything that can have an existence, must exist in this universe.\\nSince God exists outside of this universe, He can be eternal.\\nOur universe does have a beginning, it is not eternal in the past (see Hoyle red shift and the big bang singularity)\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:55 pm |\\nhawaiiguest\\n@Chad\\nWow, you're still using these tired ass refuted arguments that are all based on fallacies and unjustified assumptions. Good job, you really do have nothing of substance to offer.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm |\\nhuh!\\n\\\"Since God exists outside of this universe,\\\" I see nothing but a man talking out of his a$$..\\nHere is a small experiment.. I am gonna claim that I am your god, existing outside this universe, commenting on this site through a wormhole I made here in the US to guide blind heretics like you.. disprove me!\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm |\\nWow?\\nChad, even the wiki founder has stated he is under staffed to keep it maintained properly. Wiki is for lazy uneducated morons. Just google why should wikipedia not be used for research.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:30 pm |\\nChad\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"Wow, you're still using these tired ass refuted arguments that are all based on fallacies and unjustified assumptions.\\\"\\n=>any chance that this time you'll state exactly what fallacies, and demonstrate how the arguments are unjustified or have ever been refuted?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:47 pm |\\nChad\\nIs this what you meant?\\n😉\\nWikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is quite clear about the uses of Wikipedia. Asked, \\\"Do you think students and researchers should cite Wikipedia? during an interview with Business Week in 2005, he replied, \\\"No, I don't think people should cite it, and I don't think people should cite Britannica, either... People shouldn't be citing encyclopedias in the first place. Wikipedia and other encyclopedias should...give good, solid background information to inform your studies for a deeper level.\\\"\\nWikipedia entries are generally in the forefront of preliminary web research on almost any topic. And teaching students to look critically at the reliability and credibility of any information source is fundamental to the educational process. Figuring out how to evaluate the encyclopedia, then, is one excellent starting point for teaching students how to assess massive amounts of information they're likely to encounter online both for school work and personal exploration.\\nWikipedia itself is strong on self-assessment. Encyclopedia editors address accuracy in the entry Reliability of Wikipedia, compiling the results of international third-party assessments across a variety of disciplines. The consensus: the encyclopedia is as accurate as other encyclopedias. And as Cathy Davidson, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, points out in We Can't Ignore the Influence of Digital Technologies (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 23, 2007), unlike comparable print sources, Wikipedia errors can be corrected and often are in a matter of hours after publication.\\nhttp://teachinghistory.org\\nhawaiiguest\\n@Chad\\nTry to stay honest this time Chad. You have plenty of responses to your idiotic points above, and on every other thread you've posted them on. As for the fallacies, I'll go point by point for you.\\n1) Begging the question, argument from ignorance\\n2) Same\\n4) Irrelevant conclusion fallacy\\n5) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence.\\n6) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence to support the assertion that people saw a resurrected Jesus.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:15 pm |\\nChad\\napparently you havent actually looked at the fallacy you are claiming.. as they dont bear any similarity to my arguments.. You probably just thought the t itle looked close?\\nin any case, one by one:\\n============================\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"1 & 2 Begging the question, argument from ignorance\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"??\\nHow exactly to do figure that?\\nas a reminder, my statements then the description of the fallacy.. Please demonstrate how your claim is true 🙂\\nGood luck!\\n1. Origin of the universe [must have come from a force external to our universe]\\n2. Origin of life on earth [there are no credible, purely naturalistic, explanations]\\nbegging the question\\\", is committed \\\"when a proposition which requires proof is a ssumed without proof\\\", or more generally denotes when an as sumption is used, \\\"in some form of the very proposition to be proved, as a premise from which to deduce it\\\"\\nargument from ignorance : as serts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false\\n==============\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"3) Argument from probability\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"?? again, please demonstrate how the statement commits the claimed fallacy.\\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\\nAn appeal to probability is a justification based on probability, sometimes regarded as a logical fallacy,[1][2] when an unwarranted as sumption that something will happen, because it can happen, or when the odds of an occurrence are unrealistically played down in lieu of appropriate precaution\\nexample: The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\\nactually, atheists use this all the time (\\\"well of course it's possible that we just were created from nothing, after all, we're here arent we??\\\"), thanks for letting me know there was a name for this particular fallacy.\\n==============\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"4) Irrelevant conclusion fallacy\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"another one where you didnt read the definition of the fallacy..\\nPlease demonstrate how exactly..\\n\\\"4. Stas sis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\\\"\\n\\\"irrelevant conclusion is the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question. Arguments which shift the focus of debate to \\\"safer\\\" but less relevant ground fall into this category\\n==============\\n@hawaiiguest 5) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence. 6) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence to support the as sertion that people saw a resurrected Jesus.\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"define what you mean by \\\"contemporary\\\". You mean like \\\"the people who claim to have seen Jesus alive arent here any more\\\", is that what you mean?\\n=================\\nyou really should have read the fallacy descriptions and examples first...\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:58 pm |\\nhawaiiguest\\n@Chad\\nPerhaps if you actually put your arguments down it would make sense. You make a case for your god with these points, and yet, you avoid actually putting the argument into those words so you can pretend you have no burden of proof, then shift it over by just listing things, that if put into any kind of argumentative format, would fit those fallacies.\\nOrigins, we don't know, and to demand something other than that is begging the question, or saying that since we don't know, therefor your god, then that's an argument from ignorance.\\nThe entire fine tuning argument is based on probability, and using it as any kind of argument for the existence of god makes it an appeal to probability.\\nAs for the irrelevant conclusion, even if your stasis thing were true, then how would that even matter?\\nI hoped you would be somewhat honest Chad, but I guess it's to much to ask from you.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:05 pm |\\nChad\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"Origins, we don't know, and to demand something other than that is begging the question, or saying that since we don't know, therefor your god, then that's an argument from ignorance.\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"ahh.. no\\nA. We know that it had to come from a force external to our universe\\nB. Which is all I have EVER claimed can be proved, I have said that a million times\\nC. your claim of a fallacious argument is incorrect,\\nYou see, the thing is, that when you say some thing is a fallacious argument, you need to show how.\\nExample: your statement \\\"since we don't know, therefor your god,\\\" is a strawman.\\nI never said that,\\nyou are attacking something that I never said\\n.. so it's a strawman, a fallacious argument.\\nA straw man is a type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position\\nthe trick is, the accusation has to correspond to the argument... 😉\\n===============\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"The entire fine tuning argument is based on probability, and using it as any kind of argument for the existence of god makes it an appeal to probability.\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"ah.. no.. scroll up, read the definition and the example again. you are just looking at the ti tle 🙂\\nnot all arguments that include probability are fallacious \\\"appeals to probability\\\"\\n===============\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"As for the irrelevant conclusion, even if your stasis thing were true, then how would that even matter?\\n@Chad \\\"ah.. no.. same answer as above.. scroll up, read the definition and the example again. you are just looking at the t itle 🙂\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:31 pm |\\n@Chad\\nAn external creator has not been shown to be a necessity you moronic fuckstick.\\nYou have made a claim the god of abraham is real, and when asked what distinguishes your claim from others, you give these points. They are directly tied to your claim of a specific god. You are so incredibly dishonest Chad, I don't know how you can function in a societal setting.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:41 pm |\\nChad\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"An external creator has not been shown to be a necessity\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"so, you are going with the \\\"we came from nothing, as a result of nothing\\\" theory?? where \\\"nothing\\\" is truly nothing, as in the absence of everything (not Kraus' nothing which has laws, virtual particles, etc..).\\nSorry, every cosmological proposal for the origin of our universe (that I know of) requires an external force. That force may be a multi-verse, etc.. But its a force external to the entirety of our current universe.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:56 pm |\\nhawaiiguest\\n@Chad\\nLOL, now that's a straw man if ever I've seen one. I pointed to where you made your claim of a god, and even tied it to your points, but I said nothing about believing everything came from nothing. The rejection of X, does not mean acceptance of Y, or is that too complicated for you? Oh man Chad, keep going, and show everyone how dishonest you can be.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:00 pm |\\nChad\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"LOL, now that's a straw man if ever I've seen one. \\\"\\n=>fair enough, so you are saying that the creation of our universe was neither:\\na. due to a force external to it\\nb. created out of nothing, by nothing.\\nI would have thought that covered every possible solution.. but apparently you have another.. what is it?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:12 pm |\\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\nWhat's wrong with the option of \\\"we don't yet know\\\", Chad? Or does that just upset you too much? Why is it you so desperately need an answer? Why can't you accept that we don't yet know all?\\nAre you so insecure that you have to have an immediate answer to every problem and will therefore grab \\\"god\\\" as the default when you don't have one?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:17 pm |\\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\nI can predict the future. Watch! Chad won't respond to my post.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:19 pm |\\nhawaiiguest\\n@Chad\\nThose two are the only possibilities, yes, but once again, not accepting one is not accepting the other. I am non-commital on the issue, and you've once again not addressed my other point.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 7:13 pm |\\nChad\\n@hawaiiguest \\\"Those two are the only possibilities, yes, but once again, not accepting one is not accepting the other. I am non-commital on the issue\\\"\\n@Chad \\\"ah.. I see 🙂\\nactualy, i'm very happy getting atheists to the point where the only answer they have is \\\"I realize there are only two choices, but as I reject one of hand, and I realize the other is completely untenable, I refuse to comment.\\\"\\n@TTTPS: \\\"we dont know\\\" as an answer, when we actually DO know a great deal (like the universe had a beginning), is just one notch below the above statement in terms of refusing to look at reality..\\n=======\\n@hawaiiguest \\\", and you've once again not addressed my other point.\\\"\\nI assume it is this one \\\"You have made a claim the god of abraham is real, and when asked what distinguishes your claim from others, you give these points. They are directly tied to your claim of a specific god.\\\"\\nagain, I dont make the claim that acknowledging the reality that the trigger for the creation of our universe had to exist outside the universe conclusively proves that God exists. What I do say is that it certainly supports the existence of God.\\nThe God of Abraham as creator is the best explanation for the facts as we know them.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:35 pm |\\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\nChard, you ninny, if we KNEW, you wouldn't be here blowing your brain-farts all over the place. We don't know and there is no evidence that an invisible being exists, much less that it created anything.\\nWhy do you have to lie? If you have faith, why aren't you able to admit that you believe in spite of uncertainty, instead of lying and pretending you have facts?\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:39 pm |\\nhawaiiguest\\n@Chad\\nAnother strawman. I do not dismiss one out of hand, I dismiss one because it has no evidence to back it you dishonest little prick. There is no evidence for either, and until there is, a noncommital stance is the only logical one to take. The thought that the universe HAD to have an external cause is not a consensus, and to present it as such is another lie of yours.\\n\\\"\\\"we dont know\\\" as an answer, when we actually DO know a great deal (like the universe had a beginning), is just one notch below the above statement in terms of refusing to look at reality..\\\"\\nThe current state of the universe had a beginning, and to postulate anything before that is to rely purely on speculation, so your statement is false.\\nI really do wonder how you can even look yourself in the mirror when you are such a dishonest person.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:43 pm |\\nChad\\nThomas Edison once said \\\"“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”\\nNow, the notion that the God of Abraham created the universe, isnt true merely because we have no other known trigger. That would be a fallacious argument.\\nHowever, at the same time, what we know of the origin of the universe being consistent with the biblical description, and requiring an ent ity outside our time/space, is powerful support for the reality of God.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:45 pm |\\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\\nNo, it's not, Chard. No matter how many times you click those ruby slippers together, it still won't be a fact.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:47 pm |\\nChad\\neasy to read overview of the schools of thought regarding the origin of the universe:\\nthere are two schools: one says that the beginning happened when the universe transitioned from a timeless quantum fluctuation into the expanding blob we live in. History starts at the bang, so to speak. Another says that we live in a multiverse, a possibly infinite assembly of all kinds of disconnected universes, with different properties. Ours would be but one of these. In this case, the universe, big bang and all, would be a tiny piece of a timeless cosmic entity\\nhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/01/11/144958094/what-happened-before-the-big-bang-and-other-weird-cosmic-questions\\nAs you can see, cosmologists investigate origins of our universe from forces external to our current universe every day.\\nSo many atheists are terrified of acknowledging that indeed cosmologist agrees that there was a beginning of our universe, and a \\\"before\\\" our universe. They do so just because they are unfamiliar with cosmology, and to acknowledge that seems to be an acknowledgement of the theistic position.\\nWhich goes to a central atheist truth. They believe what they believe in spite of the evidence around them. If at any point the data points to what they think might be a theistic origin, they immediately shut down and refuse further investigation in that direction, that's when \\\"we dont know\\\" kicks in.\\n\\\"Open minded\\\" indeed 😉\\nhawaiiguest\\n@Chad\\nStill as dishonest as ever Chad. Point to something that states accurately, that all cosmologists are only studying external causes for the current state of the universe, and that there is a unanimous consent among them that there must be an external cause.\\nAll you ever do is toss out some random article that in no way says that, and then generalize it. You are incapable of honesty Chad, and you continue to show it.\\nJuly 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm |\\njust sayin\\nChad is no different than most christians.....dishonest to the core.\\nJuly 24, 2012 at 2:14 pm |\\nReality\\nAccomplice #1- the Colorado state government which still does not have strict and enforced gun ownership laws.\\nAccomplice #2:\\nThe movie theater management which apparently had no security and/or no manned security cameras. Said nut job propped open an emergency exit door and re-entered with his weapons and garb. Why didn't this activate alarms? Or did it activate a silent alarm and what security was present did not respond?\\nOpening up an emergency exit door apparently is a typical way to allow non-paying friends into movie theaters. This is done as the paying customers are leaving the normal exits. A friend walks out the emergency exit and his/her friends walk in giving them immediate access to any movie playing in the typical modern multiplex movie theater. Observing this scenario once, I followed the non-paying person to the lobby and reported him to the manager. There were no security personnel there that I could see as they were my first choice.\\nI highly recommend reviewing the security at your movie theaters before going again.\\nAccomplice #3:\\nHomeland Security/FBI. The taxpayers assume that part of our taxes are used to track anyone buying large amounts of ammunition. 6000 rounds of ammunition should have raised red flags in all of the government surveillance computers. Why didn't it???????????????\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:47 pm |\\nReality loves her Big Brother\\nBlame blame blame.\\nAmerica would be a lockdown police state if we responded to every bit of violence as you suggest.\\nMaybe we could have Homeland Security check points like at airports everywhere! Stores! Buildings!\\nAnd total police scrutiny of every electronic transaction and e-mail and text and all of it! Cameras everywhere.\\nWhat fun.\\nThere is already way too much of that.\\n\\\"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety\\\" Benjamin Franklin\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:19 pm |\\nObserver\\nGuess you skipped the NRA on purpose.\\nAccomplice #1 – NRA\\nThey constantly fight to enable people to stockpile weapons capable of killing many people in seconds.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:28 pm |\\nCurious\\nI wonder what you expect the theater security to do when the alarm goes off and they find themselves face to face with a guy in a bulletproof vest, full riot gear, carrying an assault rifle with a 100 round drum magazine?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:46 pm |\\nRational Libertarian\\nThe only person to blame is the gunman. All this reactionary BS about gun control is just hysterical left wing drivel.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:54 pm |\\nObserver\\nRational Libertarian,\\nPretending that the NRA's efforts to support people to have weapons shooting 40 rounds without a reload didn't affect things it typical hysterical rightwing drivel.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:12 pm |\\nRational Libertarian\\nI know you won't be happy until America is a totalitarian dystopia, so why don't you go live in Cuba or North Korea in the meantime.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:17 pm |\\nGodFreeNow\\nWhile I understand the desire to not blame, I do think it's important to discuss all of the factors at play. If this man were armed with only a knife it would be a completely different story. My father is a US marine, avid hunter and life member of the NRA. He loves to quote \\\"guns don't kill people, people kill people.\\\" This is such an immature argument. It's like saying bombs don't kill people, people kill people. While it is true on its face value, it is lazy in its attempt to gloss over the ease at which it makes killing capable.\\nGuns are wonderful. I grew up around them, and I even owned a few myself. However, I don't think they should be in the hands of 97% of the people out there and that include the police. I now live in a country where guns are illegal. If you live in a country where you cannot control your appeti.te to eat foods to the point of obesity, education is one of the lowest in the 1st world, 1% of your population resides in prisons and 45% of your population believes the earth is less than 10k years old, you don't have the maturity to own such a destructive killing instrument. You can't be trusted to make critical and complex decisions about using that weapon. You're barely above the state of animal.\\nBut if a bible verse could penetrate your lizard brain and trigger some conscious response, I would submit:\\nMatthew 26:52\\n\\\"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.\\\"\\nWelcome to America... this is the reality you've created from your paranoia and lack of critical reasoning.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:19 pm |\\nMark from Middle River\\nObserver. Can you tell of one Gun Law that can stop such a Criminal as this. If he is willing to break the law and setup explosives in his apartment would he just break the law on getting a fire arm as well?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:20 pm |\\nGodFreeNow\\n@Mark from Middle River, I think @Reality already suggested it in the last paragraph. Buying 6k rounds of ammunition should be a red flag just like buying 2 tons of fertilizer would be.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:29 pm |\\nObserver\\nMark from Middle River,\\nObviously, we can never stop people from going crazy or killing others but we can make laws to limit the amount of damage they can do. There is ZERO reason why anyone (outside of the military or law enforcement) NEEDS a weapon that can kill 40 people in seconds before reloading. The NRA cannot justify it without a dosage of paranoia.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:06 pm |\\nMark from Middle River\\n>>>”but we can make laws to limit the amount of damage they can do. There is ZERO reason why anyone”\\nOk, say the police had gone through the front door of his house and the multiple bombs that he set had gone up. There are laws that say that you can not build bombs inside of your home and they did not “limit” this killer from building and setting these devices. So, can you propose a law that can do what the “bomb”laws could not.\\nThe NRA has gained all of its ground by just arguing that any law will only work for those that obey the law. The manufacture of firearms and bullets are world wide and beyond the powers of the United States. Basically the same as illegal drugs and they have not been able to stop the movement of that product back and forth across the border.\\nAlso, what you and me might consider not a “need” is not always a universal belief. Only thing that I feel we should do is register all firearms and impose almost to execution, draconian punishments for the use of one in a crime. Maybe even every so many years, you have to appear in front a board or committee to decertify a citizens ownership of fire arms.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:07 pm |\\nInigo Montoya\\nUh, Rational? Left-wingers cannot, by definition, be reactionary.\\nYou keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:22 am |\\nObserver\\nMark from Middle River,\\nIf you have a neighbor who acts very odd, lives alone, curses all the neighbors and constantly talks to himself, would you have any problem if he owned a bazooka? After all, where you draw the line is just subjective according to you.\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:33 am |\\nKarllinen\\nIn the perspective of most Americans, this killer in Aurora probably seems insane and evil, but as Mr. Prothero points out, this goes on every hour of every day in the world.\\nWe justify killing by calling it war.\\nWe justify injustices of all kinds with corrupt laws that allow people to exploit the weak in society, and though we call this Capitalism and free-enterprise, it is, in fact, perpetuation of a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. If we continue to live with these ideals, we will have more Auroras.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:28 pm |\\nReality\\nOur Defense Against Terror and Aggression:\\nAn update (or how we are spending or how we have spent the USA taxpayers’ money to eliminate global terror and aggression)\\nThe terror and aggression via a Partial and Recent and Not So Recent Body Count\\nAs the koranic/mosque driven acts of terror and horror continue:\\nThe Muslim Conquest of India – 11th to 18th century\\n■\\\"The likely death toll is somewhere between 2 million and 80 million. The geometric mean of those two limits is 12.7 million. \\\"\\nand the 19 million killed in the Mideast Slave Trade 7C-19C by Muslims.\\nand more recently\\n1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured\\n1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh\\n2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured\\n3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US troops killed in action, 3,480 and 928 in non combat roles. 102,522 – 112,049 Iraqi civilians killed as of 9/16/2011/, mostly due to suicide bombers, land mines and bombs of various types, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf\\n4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]\\n5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.\\n6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.\\n7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.\\n8. UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.\\n9) The execution of an eloping couple in Afghanistan on 04/15/2009 by the Taliban.\\n10) – Afghanistan: US troops 1,385 killed in action, 273 killed in non-combat situations as of 09/15/2011. Over 40,000 Afghan civilians killed due to the dark-age, koranic-driven Taliban acts of horror\\n11) The killing of 13 citizen soldiers at Ft. Hood by a follower of the koran.\\n12) 38 Russian citizens killed on March 29, 2010 by Muslim women suicide bombers.\\n13) The May 28, 2010 attack on a Islamic religious minority in Pakistan, which have left 98 dead,\\n14) Lockerbie is known internationally as the site where, on 21 December 1988, the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 crashed as a result of a terrorist bomb. In the United Kingdom the event is referred to as the Lockerbie disaster, the Lockerbie bombing, or simply Lockerbie. Eleven townspeople were killed in Sherwood Crescent, where the plane's wings and fuel tanks plummeted in a fiery explosion, destroying several houses and leaving a huge crater, with debris causing damage to a number of buildings nearby. The 270 fatalities (259 on the plane, 11 in Lockerbie) were citizens of 21 nations.\\n15 The daily suicide and/or roadside and/or mosque bombings in the terror world of Islam.\\n16) Bombs sent from Yemen by followers of the koran which fortunately were discovered before the bombs were detonated.\\n17) The killing of 58 Christians in a Catholic church in one of the latest acts of horror and terror in Iraq.\\n18) Moscow airport suicide bombing: 35 dead, 130 injured. January 25, 2011.\\n19) A Pakistani minister, who had said he was getting death threats because of his stance against the country's controversial blasphemy law, was shot and killed Wednesday, 3/2/2011\\n20) two American troops killed in Germany by a recently radicalized Muslim, 3/3/2011\\n21) the kidnapping and apparent killing of a follower of Zoraster in the dark world of Islamic Pakistan.\\n22) Shariatpur, Bangladesh (CNN 3/30/2011) - Hena Akhter's last words to her mother proclaimed her innocence. But it was too late to save the 14-year-old girl. Her fellow villagers in Bangladesh's Shariatpur district had already passed harsh judgment on her. Guilty, they said, of having an affair with a married man. The imam from the local mosque ordered the fatwa, or religious ruling, and the punishment: 101 lashes delivered swiftly, deliberately in public. Hena dropped after 70 and died a week later.\\n23) \\\"October 4, 2011, 100 die as a truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded Tuesday at the gate of compound housing several government ministries on a busy Mogadishu street. It was the deadliest single bombing carried out by the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in Somalia since their insurgency began. \\\"\\no 24) Mon Jun 4, 2012 10:18am EDT\\nBAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed car outside a Shi'ite Muslim office in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 190 in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Iraq's al Qaeda affiliate.\\nThe bombing on a Shi'ite religious office comes at a sensitive time, with the country's fractious Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs locked in a crisis that threatens to unravel their power-sharing deal and spill into sectarian tensions.\\\"\\n25) Last week's bombing of a bus in Bulgaria.\\nContinued below:\\nOther elements of our War on Terror and Aggression:\\n-Operation Iraqi Freedom- The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops killed in action, 3,480 and 928 in non combat roles as of 09/15/2011/, 102,522 – 112,049 Iraqi civilians killed as of 9/16/2011/, mostly due to suicide bombers, land mines and bombs of various types, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf\\n– Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan: US troops 1,385 killed in action, 273 killed in non-combat situations as of 09/15/2011. Over 40,000 Afghan civilians killed mostly due to the dark-age, koranic-driven Taliban acts of horror,\\n– Sa-dd-am, his sons and major he-nchmen have been deleted. Sa-dd-am's bravado about WMD was one of his major mistakes. Kuwait was saved.\\n– Iran is being been contained. (beside containing the Sunni-Shiite civil war in Baghdad, that is the main reason we are in Iraq. And yes, essential oil continues to flow from the region.)\\n– North Korea is still u-ncivil but is contained.\\n– Northern Ireland is finally at peace.\\n– The Jews and Palestinians are being separated by walls. Hopefully the walls will follow the 1948 UN accords. Unfortunately the Annapolis Peace Conference was not successful. And unfortunately the recent events in Gaza has put this situation back to “squ-are one”. And this significant stupidity is driven by the mythical foundations of both religions!!!\\n– – Fa-na–tical Islam has basically been contained to the Middle East but a wall between India and Pakistan would be a plus for world peace. Ditto for a wall between Afghanistan and Pakistan.\\n– Timothy McVeigh was exe-cuted. Terry Nichols escaped the death penalty twice because of deadlocked juries. He was sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole,[3][7] and is incarcerated in ADX Florence, a super maximum security prison near Florence, Colorado. He shares a cellblock that is commonly referred to as \\\"Bombers Row\\\" with Ramzi Yousef and Ted Kaczynski\\n– Eric Ru-dolph is spending three life terms in pri-son with no par-ole.\\n– Jim Jones, David Koresh, Kaczynski, the \\\"nuns\\\" from Rwanda, and the KKK were all dealt with and either eliminated themselves or are being punished.\\n– Islamic Sudan, Dar-fur and So-malia are still terror hot spots.\\n– The terror and tor-ture of Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Kuwait were ended by the proper application of the military forces of the USA and her freedom-loving friends. Ra-dovan Karadzic was finally captured on 7/23/08 and is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the law of war – charges related to the 1992-1995 civil war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia.\\nThe capture of Ratko Mladić: (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратко Младић, pronounced [râtkɔ mlǎːditɕ], born 12 March 1943[1][2]) is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).[3] His trial began on 3 June 2011.\\n– the bloody terror brought about by the Ja-panese, Na-zis and Co-mmunists was with great difficulty eliminated by the good guys.\\n– Bin Laden was executed for crimes against humanity on May 1, 2011\\n– Ditto for Anwar al-Awlaki on September 30, 2011\\n– Ditto for Abu Yahya al-Libi on June 5, 2012\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:52 pm |\\nThe Ole Bullsh!t Detector Is Going Off Again\\nYour theory falls apart the moment you realize that every other system ever tried also had war and injustice and oppression, and often worse.\\nEquating survival of the fittest with capitalism is Social Darwinism, an ugly and thoroughly discredited perversion of what Darwin was really saying. Know who else did it? The Nazis. No joke.\\nHere is what you are saying: Capitalism caused Holmes to shoot up a theater. The theory of evolution caused Holmes to shoot up a theater.\\nTotally ridiculous. And what is with everyone using that condescending King's We today?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:30 pm |\\nRational Libertarian\\nNorthern Ireland is in no way at peace.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:59 pm |\\nAtheism is not healthy for children and other living things\\nPrayer changes things .\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:20 pm |\\nObserver\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\\njust wondering\\nspeaking from experience or wishful thinking?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:48 pm |\\nObserver\\nThe answer to your ignorant question is \\\"neither\\\".\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:08 pm |\\njust wondering\\nConsider then your ignorant comment responded to.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm |\\nJesus\\nPrayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.\\nAn article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.\\nThe statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!|. .\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:26 am |\\nTsu Tzu\\none one said:\\n\\\"I just read on USA Today that a recent Pew pole reports the percentage of people who say they have no religious affiliation (i.e. the \\\"nones\\\") has hit 19%.\\\"\\nMeanwhile, the percentage of people who say that they are atheists, stagnates in between 1 & 4%.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:05 pm |\\nObserver\\nThat tells you that people are becoming more disatisfied with organized religions and may be more headed towards atheism whether they are ready to admit that or not.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\\nGodFreeNow\\nI think it also speaks to how strong the addiction and fear is as well. People know what they're doing doesn't make sense, but they're still afraid to let go of their fantasies.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:10 pm |\\nAnalyzer\\nYou really are good in observing but terribly way off the mark when it comes to analysis.\\nYes, it tells us that people are becoming more disatisfied with organized religions\\nBUT!\\nHow on earth you can you say that \\\"maybe there is more headed towards atheism\\\" when atheism rate is not moving?\\nI told you to not just OBSERVE but ANALYZE!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:15 pm |\\nObserver\\nAnalyzer,\\nIf you had analyzed things more, you'd realize that religious people who leave towards atheism are going to be very reticent to tell their probably Christian friends, especially when they aren't 100% certain.\\nYou need to do more observation.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:21 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\\nDoes anybody have a link to the latest survey data? I can't find it at USA Today or Pew.\\nWithout the current data, I don't think anyone should take the number thrown out for atheism as fact.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:21 pm |\\nReally-O?\\n@0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\\nHere you go –\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:37 pm |\\n0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\\nThanks but that's a link to the USA Today story, not the Pew data the story was based on. USA Today does not provide additional detail such as what the percentage of atheists is. I can't find the data collected in 2011 and reported on in 2012 at Pew...\\nWhile searching, I did come across an article, based on a different survery, that says in confidence in religion is at an all time low – http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/54505319-80/religion-americans-confidence-percent.html.csp.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:45 pm |\\nCurious\\nWhere are you gettting your data, Ana.lyzer? Every survey I found showed that atheism doubled over the last decade.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm |\\nOne one\\nIt's just a matter of time.\\nStudy finds that religion is heading toward extinction.\\nAmong other things it concludes:\\n\\\"religion may become extinct in Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.\\\"\\n\\\"In 2008 those claiming no religion rose to 15 percent nationwide, with a maximum in Vermont at 34 percent,\\\".\\n\\\"The study also found that \\\"Americans without affiliation comprise the only religious group growing in all 50 states.\\\"\\nSource: Foxnews.com, march 23, 2011\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm |\\nAnalyzer\\nThat was like claiming that Obama was a closet atheist.\\nIt's nothing butn raw as.sumptions and has no historical, statistical and factual basis.\\nDo some more analysis.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm |\\nCurious\\nHere's another weird detail. Depending on the survey, 6-9% of Americans say they do not believe in any god or universal spirit. However, only .7% of Americans will label themselves an atheist.\\nThat means that only about 1 in 10 people who are atheists will identify themselves as such. Doesn't that speak volumes about the ugly social stigma that has been put upon us!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm |\\nObserver\\n\\\"It has no factual basis.\\\"\\nlol.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:58 pm |\\nOne one\\n@curious. Your point in right on target. What people say and what they really think may be very different. Especially in a society where a majority constantly preaches that the minority deserve to burn in hell for their beliefs.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:06 pm |\\nOne one\\nHere is another thought. Atheism existed long before the desert religions. It existed along side of all the other religions as they were created, flourished, and became extinct. And it will still be around after Christianity becomes extinct. You could say it transcends all other religious belief systems.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:13 pm |\\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\\n@One one,\\nwhat Pew poll says that \\\"unaffiliated is now 19%? Their last US Religions Landsape Survey at pewforum.org still says 16.1% including a total of 4% atheist + agnostic.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:00 pm |\\nOne one\\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:06 am |\\nJohnny Blammo\\nYou know, Stephen Prothero is probably a nice guy who wouldn't be a drag to be around, but he isn't much of a writer. His ideas tend to be in the shallow end of the pool, odd conclusions based on lackluster news analysis combined with a theology that never seems to have been subjected to serious critical thought.\\nVery tough to take a guy seriously who perceives \\\"original sin\\\" to be empirically verifiable, or whose insight into the Aurora Shooting is a very shallow, distorted, and almost totally irrelevant \\\"we all are part evil.\\\"\\nI would love to chat with Stephen about whether it is even possible for an insane person to be considered evil. Maybe the complexity of that will make him aware that his conclusions are very shallow and unsupportable platitudes.\\nI don't know how anyone can draw parallels between the extreme actions of a mentally deranged individual and the vague complacency of otherwise good people who choose to not focus on being involved in easing social ills.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:36 pm |\\nMark from Middle River\\nI have always thought that Stephen's biggest problem is that he is a professor at a college. Sadly often times when you spend years and decades “talking to” a captive audience, which are dependent on your good graces for a grade, then you go through life never having “listened” to and acknowledged views that are not of your own. The possibility is that unless any of us are tenured Professors, then to Stephen, we are ones meant to be “talked to” not acknowledged.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:48 pm |\\nbaby jimmy\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:27 pm |\\nMark from Middle River\\n>>>“If evil is readily identifiable, it would never get any traction. It would be easily identified and put down.”\\nThat is a very deep thought but, would it really be automatically put down? Maybe if we all had a united definition of what was and was not evil or evil actions. Politicians are fast to throw around the evil definition against those who simply voted against one of their bills. Last election I choose not to vote and by the end of the night my cell phone was filled with negative messages from my African American friends and family because I did not vote for Obama and from my Conservative Republican friends for not voting for McCain.\\nEither way, I do not know that as we get more of these killings, Ones that target no specific demographic. We are getting closer.\\nTry this....\\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtAXRygVZFM&w=640&h=390]\\nMaybe the answer was in the Batman movies after all.\\n“Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn. “\\nAnd unless you are ready to go forward with how Alfred finally was able to stop that guy.... We will be seeing more of this in our future.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:26 pm |\\nLame\\nProbably not a great idea to take your philosophy from a Batman movie.\\nAlfred's \\\"watch the world burn\\\" sounds nice, but it is super simplistic. In the real world, people who just like to watch the world burn are insane. And \\\"burning down the forest\\\" is hardly a realistic solution to anything. And Alfred believes that money is logical.\\nIn the future, when you are looking for philosophy, you might actually want to leave the comic book section.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:47 pm |\\nMark from Middle River\\n>>>“Alfred's \\\"watch the world burn\\\" sounds nice, but it is super simplistic. “\\nOver the next few weeks the news services will have this speaker and that speaker. All will show their credentials and declare that they know why guys like this do such horrible acts. Some might even stress that we should greatly divert Government funding to their area of study so that they can finally find out why this happened. The political camps of Oba and Rom are disparately hoping that they can spin this tragedy to ether hold on to the White House or retake the White House.\\nInsanity, possibly but maybe not. If you use the actual definition, this guy was calculating in his actions that day. The trip wire at his house just showed that he really thought this out. The Gabriel Giffords shooter, vs this guy, would possibly be a better comparison between insanity and just a calculating killer.\\nI point to this clip because it is simple. It is not complex and is free from the clinical babble and political spin that we will have shoved down our throats, in the coming weeks. It comes to a point that we in society are too afraid to accept. We believe that these types of folks can be fixed. That if their own political party was in power that this type of event would not happen. We as a society are looking for purpose in such an event and fail to acknowledge that some members of our society just want to see death on a massive scale for no other purpose than it pleases them.\\nSome times you do not need DSM-V to explain in tens of thousands of word, an event such as this. It is maybe something that you can get simply from the comic book section.\\n>>>”And \\\"burning down the forest\\\" is hardly a realistic solution to anything.”\\nExactly... Which is why I said “unless” and finished with … “We will be seeing more of this in our future.”And since he did not target a specific race or other demographic should scare us even more, because now any of us can be the target.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\\nLame\\nYour first paragraph is nothing but a political rant, filled with hyperbole and irrelevant to the discussion.\\nPsychotics, schizophrenics, and others with antisocial personality disorders are capable of planning. It took extensive planning for Jim Jones to have the necessary supplies for a mass suicide that occured on short notice. There are many many other examples.\\n\\\"We believe that these types of folks can be fixed. That if their own political party was in power that this type of event would not happen. \\\" I have never ever EVER heard anyone of any political persuasion say that; I have never run across anyone foolish enough to believe it. Why do you keep dragging partisan politics into something where it is totally irrelevant?\\n\\\"We . . . fail to acknowledge that some members of our society just want to see death on a massive scale for no other purpose than it pleases them.\\\" Utter nonsense, and totally unsupportable. And there's that weird \\\"we\\\" again. I never met any of these \\\"we\\\"s you are talking about.\\n\\\"It is maybe something that you can get simply from the comic book section.\\\" You don't relly want to stand by that comment, do you?\\n\\\"should scare us even more\\\" Sorry, but I refuse to live in fear, especially over a type of occurance which, while shocking, is actually very rare and incredibly unlikely to affect me or my loved ones. You can live in fear if you like. Go for it.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:46 pm |\\nMark from Middle River\\n>>>”Your first paragraph is nothing but a political rant, filled with hyperbole and irrelevant to the discussion.”\\nWell, I will admit that it is a rant but it is in response to your post so it is relevant.\\n>>>”It took extensive planning for Jim Jones to have the necessary supplies for a mass suicide that occured on short notice.”\\nJim Jones did that all on his own? I am partially familiar with the Jones town mass suicides and that was not a one man job. Not even in the leadership capsity. He might have been the lead player but there were others in the band. I would put him with Charles Mason and in some ways, I would say they are more dangerous than this type of shooter.\\nWhen I look at the Gabriel Giffords shooter you do not see the level of planning that this guy had. This guy was more along the lines of the Breivik but to me scarier because Breivik targeted a specific group.\\n>>>”I have never ever EVER heard anyone of any political persuasion say that; I have never run across anyone foolish enough to believe it. “\\nThis morning, I listened to C-Span radio. They replay the early Sunday morning network talk shows. Diane Fienstien could not help herself from saying over and over that her gun control bill, which expired a few years back, would have stopped this guy from getting the weapons that he used to carry out this attack. I then listened to democratic senator after senator point to other members of their party as everything from lacking backbone or just turning their backs on the citizens of America, for not supporting gun control bills.\\nI do not need to politicize this issue. Those who are seeking political power are doing it enough. So because they are slowly dragging partisan politics in, should not we call it, when we see it?\\nFor the record, I might be a Republican but the crap that both are offering us these days, is appalling.\\n>>>”Utter nonsense, and totally unsupportable. “\\nAgain, listen to the news reports and commentary. People over and over … “I don't know why he did it...” , “why would he do such a thing” …. “what made him a killer” ….\\nMy point is that maybe just like folks are born Gay or Straight, Black or White, etc... maybe he was just born this way. I fear my comment stands every time you hear some one ask why a person “becomes” a killer. The answer is that he or she might have always been a killer.\\nWhat was this guys mom's first words that night when the police woke her up … “I think you have the right guy....”\\n“You don't really want to stand by that comment, do you? “... Shakespeare, Clemons and a host of other writers are often seen these days as having remarkable insight into the human condition. Also, this is a movie my friend and not a comic book. The dialogue is substantially more. It is art and if it does suit you then no harm but do not discount a film just because it was based on a comic book.\\n>>>”You can live in fear if you like. Go for it.”\\nMaybe was a wrong. I will give that lone point but I will say that it concerns folks a bit more when killers do not target specific groups. Remember the DC Sniper shootings? What made that scary … other then them being incredible shots... was that they killed anyone. Including shooting a child being dropped off by mother to school. Many are used to hearing the news report that a certain demographic are the intended targets. Maybe because they were Black, or that they were women of a certain age. For many if they personally did not fit or anyone they knew didn't fit then the worry is diminished. That killers are starting to target anyone breathing is, what I feel a new chapter or rise of a old chapter in such crimes.\\nGood post, Lame 🙂\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:07 pm |\\nOne one\\nMark, how do you embed YouTube videos into a post in the comment section ?\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:31 pm |\\nLame\\nWe'll agree to disagree and let others decide what rings true for them, but yes, a good conversation.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:55 pm |\\nEd\\nI would tend instead to refer to acts like this as \\\"ultimate evil\\\" referring to murder and premeditated murder of unknown people in particular. We all have evil in us. The difference is that we are in control of our actions and our both our rational thinking and conscience prevents evil thoughts from outweighing other thoughts and turning to action. It disturbed me greatly when President Bush used the term evildoers over and over again as if we are righteous and devoid of evil and they are not. The image never sat well with me.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 2:56 pm |\\n\\\"Evil\\\" is a very misleading word\\nI generally agree, but remember that what we all have in us is the capacity to do bad if the right triggers are pulled. I think it is erroneous to say there is evil lurking in us.\\nPart of the problem is that to secular people, evil is \\\"really bad behavior\\\", but to religious people, it is a supernatural force. To a secular person, you can choose to not respond to the desire to do something bad, but to a religious person, only God can stop it.\\nBut you are correct that religious people like Bush often presume that because they assume they are in God's grace, their actions are all God-inspired and inherently good. And not surprisingly, that is where evil becomes possible. Because many if not most of the world's worst atrocities occurred as an enactment of some morality, whether religious or ideological.\\nIf you are certain that you are good, you are blind to all bad that you do.\\nGood post, Ed.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:14 pm |\\nMark from Middle River\\n>>>”To a secular person, you can choose to not respond to the desire to do something bad, but to a religious person, only God can stop it. “\\nYes, good post but I would offer this. My thought is that the Religious ones in question are not of the thought that God can stop it. If your premise was true then folks would see something negative and go to God in prayer and let that be the end of it. What we get are ones that believe themselves to be God's active avenging hand on Earth. Think about, if your view were wholly correct then it puts your “enactment” position on shaky grounds.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:42 pm |\\n\\\"Evil\\\" is a very misleading word\\nInteresting point, but no. That people commit atrocities in the name of morality, whether based on religion or ideology, is historical fact, strongly evidenced in many many occurances. Far from being shaky, it is verifyable with massive amounts of evidence.\\n\\\"Folks would see something negative and go to God in prayer and let that be the end of it\\\" No. I did not say anything of the sort. It is obvious that God does not act in the face of identified evil. I said that \\\"to a religious person, only God can stop it\\\", not that God would automatically stop it without fail.\\n\\\"What we get are ones that believe themselves to be God's active avenging hand on Earth\\\" – totally agree. That is my point about \\\"enacting morality\\\" – they are the ones doing it.\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm |\\nLeonidasMaximus\\nSuch a bland and ill written article!\\nJuly 22, 2012 at 2:52 pm |\",\n \"The CRPG Addict: NetHack: The Blurst of Times\\nThe saying goes that given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pounding at a typewriter will eventually produce Hamlet. It's too bad I know it's not true ...\\nThe CRPG Addict: NetHack: The Blurst of Times\\nNetHack: The Blurst of Times\\nNo, I don't want my #$&*@ possessions identified.\\nThe saying goes that given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pounding at a typewriter will eventually produce Hamlet. It's too bad I know it's not true. Otherwise, it might give me hope that some random key combination will eventually produce a winning NetHack screen.\\nLet's begin by analyzing why the old monkey adage isn't true. First of all, it doesn't matter whether you phrase it as a single monkey on a single typewriter given infinite time or an infinite number of monkeys given a finite amount of time, or whatever. As long as any one of the dimensions of the problem is infinite, the mathematics are essentially the same as if they all are.\\nBut if you're going to rest the argument on mathematics, you have to recognize two things:\\n1. There isn't enough energy in the universe for the monkey to type long enough to have even a one-in-a-trillion probability of even typing \\\"the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.\\\"\\n2. Just because a series of events have a cumulative probability of 1 doesn't guarantee that it will ever happen, since each trial is independent. It violates no laws of probability for that monkey to bang at the typewriter for a billion years and never type the letter a, let alone \\\"This above all: to thine own self be true.\\\"\\nSo while it would be nice to think that all the time I've spent on NetHack will eventually produce an ascension, it's really just a gambler's fallacy. I could easily never ascend. It's entirely possible for none of my characters to get past Level 1 from now on, even.\\nI was reminded of this a couple months ago, when a reader wrote to me about his NetHack experience. At first, I thought it was a little odd that he was telling me, but then I realized that when your Level 20 character dies on Level 26 with two dozen active intrinsics and a blessed scroll of genocide you never got to use, who else are you going to tell? Your co-workers? Your spouse? The bartender at Applebee's? No, you have to write to someone who will empathize with that tragedy, and that's a service I'm happy to provide.\\nAnyway, my correspondent started his posting with: \\\"I had some time off this week, and was resolved to finally ascend in NetHack after 25 years of intermittent tries.\\\"\\nTemporary insanity is really the only explanation for this statement. Anyone who's played the game for more than 25 hours, let alone 25 years, should know that you can't simply \\\"decide\\\" to ascend no matter how much time you're willing to put into it. It's like saying, \\\"I had a week off so I decided to go to Vegas and make $20,000.\\\" (Actually, I think that might be easier.)\\nThis is just a random image to show how much a loose NPC dwarf can mess up a level with his pick-axe.\\nIt's been a while since I posted on NetHack, but that isn't because I haven't been playing. To the contrary, I've fielded almost four dozen characters in the past six months. But I wanted to wait until I had something more significant to report than I did last time, when Haran the Barbarian reached the castle and upper levels of Hell, although without much of a plan, and without having really explored the castle.\\nShortly after Haran's discouraging death, I decided that you were all right: there was no way I was ever going to win the game without looking at spoilers. Not unless I was willing to jettison the rest of my blog and spend all my time on NetHack. My posting on \\\" The Great Heist \\\"--and I admit it wasn't all that clear in this regard--was supposed to convey that I had, in fact, looked at spoilers, had seen what major steps \\\"ascending\\\" required, and was assembling a master plan to reach that point--a plan that included a detailed \\\"shopping list\\\" of items and intrinsics needed before hitting the castle. Experienced players call this their \\\" ascension kit .\\\"\\nBased on the intrinsics that I wanted in my kit, I decided to spend the rest of NetHack 3.0.9 playing an elf. The elf starts with reasonably decent statistics--not as good as the barbarian, but decent. More important, he comes with several intrinsics: automatic searching, see invisibility, sleep resistance, and speed. Some of these are hard to obtain through the normal mechanism of eating corpses. Automatic searching, for instance, is not available through any corpse-eating; you have to be a archaeologist or tourist at Level 10 (monks and rangers aren't in this version) or an elf at any level or find a Ring of Searching (thus wasting a ring slot). Seeing invisibility only comes from one creature--the stalker--and you have to already be invisible when you eat it. Sleep resistance is another intrinsic that only comes from one monster: an orange dragon.\\nThe many benefits of being an elf.\\n \\nThe second reason I decided to stick to the elf is that it's not available as a class in later versions. Somewhere around version 3.2, races and classes are separated, and the elf's abilities are absorbed by the ranger class.\\nThus I have since December thrown a company of elves into the Mazes of Menace, most of them dying around Level 8 or 9, often at the jaws of soldier ants. (Man, I know I'm supposed to save Scrolls of Genocide for higher-level creatures, but I sure would love to use them on soldier ants)\\nFor a while, I gave all my elf characters different names, but I got sick of thinking them up, so I eventually settled on Ellasar and used it over and over. The one I'm about to describe might have been my 20th or so. I didn't really start taking notes about his adventures until he made it to duungeon level 15. At that point, he was at character level 10.\\nThe first screenshot I took of this Ellasar. He's just eaten a hill giant corpse and increased his strength to 17.\\nI'd been playing him on and off for about four days at this point. Of his adventures, only a few things stand out:\\n1) On an early level, I'd taken a chance drinking from a fountain and a water demon offered me a wish. I asked for a Scroll of Genocide, one of the top things for any ascension kit. Later, I found another one. By the time I reached level 15, I had two potions of water in my inventory, and I was just waiting for an alignment-friendly altar to turn them into holy water and bless the Scrolls of Genocide. Blessed Scrolls of Genocide wipe out entire monster classes rather than individual monsters, and my plan was to use them on some of the more troublesome creatures at higher levels--probably liches and mind flayers.\\n2) Up to Level 15, I hadn't found a single store. I was walking around with a ton of cash--more than 4,000 gold pieces.\\n3) I don't think I encountered any soldier ants, either.\\n4) The only altar I found was back on Level 3. I kept trekking back up there from lower levels to test whether certain items in my inventory were cursed.\\n5) It took me a long time to improve my weapons and armor. I never found a good replacement for the blessed elven short sword that my elf started with, nor the elven mithril coat he was wearing. It took me until about Level 13 when I killed some soldiers to get some good supplementary armor, including a +1 small shield, a pair of fencing gloves, a pair of hard shoes, and--best of all--a cloak of displacement. Also on the same level, I found what turned out to be a blessed scroll of enchant weapon, which turned my +1 short sword into a +4.\\nI really like the cloak of displacement.\\nMy inventory at this point was pretty good. I was wearing a circular amulet whose purpose I didn't know at the time (it later turned out to be a resist poison amulet, which was redundant with my intrinsic resistance), plenty of food, a ring of fire resistance and a ring of protection, two wands of cancellation (very effective against magic monsters), a wand of lightning for engraving ELBERETH, two unicorn horns (for dispelling blindness, confusion, etc.), a lizard corpse in case a cockatrice hissed at me, and a pick axe for carving my own paths. The major item lacking from my desired \\\"kit\\\" at this point was a blindfold. I had the \\\"telepathic\\\" intrinsic from eating a floating eye, and in previous games I found the combination of that and a blindfold almost essential.\\nPart of Ellasar's Level 15 inventory.\\nFor other intrinsics, thanks to careful eating of the right monsters, I was poison resistant, fire resistant, cold resistant, and sleep resistant. I had hoped to find a Ring of Teleport Control so I could then eat something that granted teleportitis; other than that, shock resistance was the only thing on my shopping list.\\n \\nAt this point, I was still cautious. I'd been here before, plenty of times. My last Ellasar, in fact, had died at Level 20.\\nThe level featured a barracks of soliders, which I defeated one-by-one, then spent a ridiculous amount of time--like all day one day--carefully testing much of their gear. But when I was done, I had an armor class of -17, so it was well worth it.\\nAnd to think I nearly fled when I saw this many soldiers.\\nHighlights from the next few levels included:\\nI found an identify spellbook on Level 18. I was delighted when I saw what it was. Unfortunately, none of my castings worked, and I ended up wearing it out without identifying a single thing.\\nEllasar's spell list is a little paltry.\\nOn Level 20, I ran into a stone giant. I was satiated at the time, so I retreated to the stairs and waited upstairs until I was hungry so I could eat it and get a point of strength from. While I was waiting upstairs, I made the rookie mistake of holding down the SPACE bar too long (instead of just typing in a number of turns, which is like NetHack 101) and nearly got killed by something called a \\\"baluchitherium.\\\"\\nLater on Level 20, I finally found my blindfold! This is when I started to think Ellasar might be going places.\\nThis is that weird \\\"fungus level\\\" I don't really understand.\\nOn Level 21, I killed my first dragon of the game--a blue one. I was pissed. I needed to eat a blue dragon for shock resistance, but I was already satiated. I decided not to risk choking and moved on.\\nLevel 22 brought an altar with a priestess. I gave her the huge pile of gold I was carrying, and she gave me the \\\"protected\\\" intrinsic. I tried to convert my potions of water to holy water, but it didn't work. It turns out the altar was \\\"neutral\\\" and I was lawful. I started to despair of ever getting holy water.\\nEllasar fails the \\\"atheist\\\" conduct.\\nBut Level 23 brought an altar to a chaotic god, so I started to have hope about Level 24. Then I stepped on a teleport trap and ended back on Level 6. It took me a while to work my way back down. I killed a wraith on the way, ate its corpse, and rose to Level 14.\\nI finally found a lawful altar on Level 25, made 4 potions of holy water, and dipped my Scrolls of Genocide within them. Bring on the liches!\\nThe power is mine! Bwu-ha-ha-ha-ha!\\nOn Level 26, a bunch of statues clued me in as to the presence of a medusa. I put on my blindfold and took care of her. There was also a \\\"treasure zoo\\\" on the level, which I dismantled with rapidity. With my 18+ strength, -18 AC, and pile of wands, I was feeling pretty invincible. I at last descended below the Dungeons of Doom for perhaps only the third time since December.\\nIn the maze levels that followed, I stopped and searched for traps a couple of times between steps, checked my blindfold frequently, and walked slowly. It was tedious, and I forced myself to take breaks when it seemed like I was getting impatient and going too quickly. The way to play NetHack at all levels, but especially at these levels, is step, pause, scan, search, think, step.\\nI'm glad I didn't step on that.\\nAt length, I arrived at the \\\"castle\\\" level, and unlike usual, I had a way to cross the moat: a pair of \\\"boots of water walking\\\" I'd found a few levels prior. I skirted the castle, dealing with the eels in the moat, the xans on the rampart, and the assorted minotaur. After that, it took me a while to get in. The wiki says something about playing a tune on a musical instrument, but that must have come in a later version because I've never found a musical instrument in this game. What worked for me was a Wand of Striking on the drawbridge.\\nThe center of the castle was full of liches, who immediately tried to start cursing my stuff. It was time to shine. I read the Scroll of Genocide and wiped the entire lich race from the dungeon!\\nI really wish I could use this on cliff racers.\\nAt last--for the first time--I had the fabled Wand of Wishing from the castle. Because I hadn't otherwise found one, and I needed it to progress, I made my first wish for a Ring of Teleport Control. Unfortunately, that was my only wish: the Wand had no more charges. I held onto it in case I found a Scroll of Charging later.\\nYou've probably been reading all of this wondering how Ellasar ultimately died, so here's the twist: he's not dead. But he's stuck. As experienced NetHack players know, there are no \\\"down\\\" stairs after the castle; you have to get to the levels in Hell by teleporting. The options for doing so are limited. I need either a level teleport trap (they disappear when you first trigger them, though, and I can't find any more), a cursed potion of gain level, or a cursed scroll of teleportation. Actually, since I have some unholy water, regular versions of those items would work, too. Or a Scroll of Charging to recharge my Wand of Wishing.\\nThus, for the last few days, for an hour or so a day, I've had Ellasar mincing about the lower levels, fighting random encounters, hoping to run into some foe that has one of these items. But there's a palpable sense of impending doom as I do so; it seems all but inevitable that something will eventually kill me, or rust monsters will slowly ruin all my equipment, or I'll accidentally walk into a patch of water and drown.\\nI'll let you know how Ellasar ultimately fares, but however it ends, I suspect he'll be my last character in this version.\\nPosted by CRPG Addict at 6:45 AM\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2282"],"string":"[\n \"2282\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Typewriter.txt\nTypewriter\nA typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for writing in characters similar to those produced by printer's movable type by means of keyboard-operated types striking a ribbon to transfer ink or carbon impressions onto paper. Typically one character is printed on each keypress. The machine prints characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the sorts used in movable type letterpress printing.\n\nAt the end of the nineteenth century the term typewriter was also applied to a person who used such a machine. \n\nAfter their invention in the 1860s, typewriters quickly became indispensable tools for practically all writing other than personal correspondence. They were widely used by professional writers, in offices, and for business correspondence in private homes. By the end of the 1980s, word processors and personal computers had largely displaced typewriters in most of these uses in the Western world, but as of the 2010s the typewriter is still prominent in many parts of the world, including India. \n\nNotable typewriter manufacturers included E. Remington and Sons, IBM, Imperial Typewriters, Oliver Typewriter Company, Olivetti, Royal Typewriter Company, Smith Corona, Underwood Typewriter Company, Adler Typewriter Company and Olympia Werke.Article about Olympia Werke is available only in German Wikipedia.\n\nHistory\n\nAlthough many modern typewriters have one of several similar designs, their invention was incremental, developed by numerous inventors working independently or in competition with each other over a series of decades. As with the automobile, telephone, and telegraph, a number of people contributed insights and inventions that eventually resulted in ever more commercially successful instruments. Historians have estimated that some form of typewriter was invented 52 times as thinkers tried to come up with a workable design. \n\nEarly innovations\n\nSome of the early typing instruments: \n*In 1575 an Italian printmaker, Francesco Rampazzetto, invented the scrittura tattile, a machine to impress letters in papers.\n*In 1714, Henry Mill obtained a patent in Britain for a machine that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a typewriter. The patent shows that this machine was actually created: \"[he] hath by his great study and paines & expence invented and brought to perfection an artificial machine or method for impressing or transcribing of letters, one after another, as in writing, whereby all writing whatsoever may be engrossed in paper or parchment so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print; that the said machine or method may be of great use in settlements and public records, the impression being deeper and more lasting than any other writing, and not to be erased or counterfeited without manifest discovery.\" \n*In 1802 Italian Agostino Fantoni developed a particular typewriter to enable his blind sister to write.\n*In 1808 Italian Pellegrino Turri invented a typewriter. He also invented carbon paper to provide the ink for his machine.\n*In 1823 Italian Pietro Conti di Cilavegna invented a new model of typewriter, the tachigrafo, also known as tachitipo.\n\n*In 1829, William Austin Burt patented a machine called the \"Typographer\" which, in common with many other early machines, is listed as the \"first typewriter\". The Science Museum (London) describes it merely as \"the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented,\" but even that claim may be excessive, since Turri's invention pre-dates it. Even in the hands of its inventor, this machine was slower than handwriting. Burt and his promoter John D. Sheldon never found a buyer for the patent, so the invention was never commercially produced. Because the typographer used a dial, rather than keys, to select each character, it was called an \"index typewriter\" rather than a \"keyboard typewriter.\" Index typewriters of that era resemble the squeeze-style embosser from the 1960s more than they resemble the modern keyboard typewriter.\nBy the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had created a need for mechanization of the writing process. Stenographers and telegraphers could take down information at rates up to 130 words per minute, whereas a writer with a pen was limited to a maximum of 30 words per minute (the 1853 speed record). \n\nFrom 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production. \n*Charles Thurber developed multiple patents, of which his first in 1843 was developed as an aid to the blind, such as the 1845 Chirographer.\n*In 1855, the Italian Giuseppe Ravizza created a prototype typewriter called Cembalo scrivano o macchina da scrivere a tasti (\"Scribe harpsichord, or machine for writing with keys\"). It was an advanced machine that let the user see the writing as it was typed.\n*In 1861, Father Francisco João de Azevedo, a Brazilian priest, made his own typewriter with basic materials and tools, such as wood and knives. In that same year the Brazilian emperor D. Pedro II, presented a gold medal to Father Azevedo for this invention. Many Brazilian people as well as the Brazilian federal government recognize Fr. Azevedo as the inventor of the typewriter, a claim that has been the subject of some controversy. In 1865, John Pratt, of Centre, Alabama, built a machine called the Pterotype which appeared in an 1867 Scientific American article and inspired other inventors. Between 1864 and 1867 , a carpenter from South Tyrol (then part of Austria) developed several models and a fully functioning prototype typewriter in 1867. \n*1895 saw brief production of the Ford typewriter, which featured the first typewriter with aluminum construction and forward-thrust key movement.\n\nHansen Writing Ball\n\nIn 1865, Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen of Denmark invented the Hansen Writing Ball, which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and was reported as being used in offices in London as late as 1909. Malling-Hansen used a solenoid escapement to return the carriage on some of his models which makes him a candidate for the title of inventor of the first \"electric\" typewriter. \n\nAccording to the book Hvem er skrivekuglens opfinder? (English: Who is the inventor of the Writing Ball?), written by Malling-Hansen's daughter, Johanne Agerskov, in 1865, Malling-Hansen made a porcelain model of the keyboard of his writing ball and experimented with different placements of the letters to achieve the fastest writing speed. Malling-Hansen placed the letters on short pistons that went directly through the ball and down to the paper. This, together with the placement of the letters so that the fastest writing fingers struck the most frequently used letters, made the Hansen Writing Ball the first typewriter to produce text substantially faster than a person could write by hand. \n\nThe Hansen Writing Ball was produced with only upper-case characters. The Writing Ball was used as a template for inventor Frank Haven Hall to create a derivative that would produce letter prints cheaper and faster. \n\nMalling-Hansen developed his typewriter further through the 1870s and 1880s and made many improvements, but the writing head remained the same. On the first model of the writing ball from 1870, the paper was attached to a cylinder inside a wooden box. In 1874, the cylinder was replaced by a carriage, moving beneath the writing head. Then, in 1875, the well-known \"tall model\" was patented, which was the first of the writing balls that worked without electricity. Malling-Hansen attended the world exhibitions in Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1878 and he received the first-prize for his invention at both exhibitions. \n\nSholes and Glidden Type-writer\n\nThe first typewriter to be commercially successful was invented in 1868 by Americans Christopher Latham Sholes, Frank Haven Hall, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although Sholes soon disowned the machine and refused to use, or even to recommend it. It looked \"like something like a cross between a piano and a kitchen table.\" The working prototype was made by the machinist Matthias Schwalbach. The patent (US 79,265) was sold for $12,000 to Densmore and Yost, who made an agreement with E. Remington and Sons (then famous as a manufacturer of sewing machines) to commercialize the machine as the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. \n\nThis was the origin of the term typewriter. Remington began production of its first typewriter on March 1, 1873, in Ilion, New York. It had a QWERTY keyboard layout, which because of the machine's success, was slowly adopted by other typewriter manufacturers. As with most other early typewriters, because the typebars strike upwards, the typist could not see the characters as they were typed.\n\nStandardization\n\nBy about 1910, the \"manual\" or \"mechanical\" typewriter had reached a somewhat standardized design. There were minor variations from one manufacturer to another, but most typewriters followed the concept that each key was attached to a typebar that had the corresponding letter molded, in reverse, into its striking head. When a key was struck briskly and firmly, the typebar hit a ribbon (usually made of inked fabric), making a printed mark on the paper wrapped around a cylindrical platen. The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved left or right, automatically advancing the typing position horizontally after each character was typed. The paper, rolled around the typewriter's platen, was then advanced vertically by the \"carriage return\" lever (at the far left, or sometimes on the far right) into position for each new line of text. A small bell was struck to warn the operator when the side lever had to be used to shift the paper back to the beginning of each line. \n\nFrontstriking\n\nIn most of the early typewriters, the typebars struck upward against the paper, pressed against the bottom of the platen, so the typist could not see the text as it was typed. What was typed was not visible until a carriage return caused it to scroll into view. The difficulty with any other arrangement was ensuring the typebars fell back into place reliably when the key was released. This was eventually achieved with various ingenious mechanical designs and so-called \"visible typewriters\" which used frontstriking, in which the typebars struck forward against the front side of the platen, became standard. \n\nOne of the first was the Daugherty Visible, introduced in 1893, which also introduced the four-bank keyboard that became standard, although the Underwood which came out two years later was the first major typewriter with these features. However, older \"nonvisible\" models continued in production to as late as 1915.\n\nShift key\n\nA significant innovation was the shift key, introduced with the Remington No. 2 in 1878. This key physically \"shifted\" either the basket of typebars, in which case the typewriter is described as \"basket shift\", or the paper-holding carriage, in which case the typewriter is described as \"carriage shift\". Either mechanism caused a different portion of the typebar to come in contact with the ribbon/platen. The result is that each typebar could type two different characters, cutting the number of keys and typebars in half (and simplifying the internal mechanisms considerably). The obvious use for this was to allow letter keys to type both upper and lower case, but normally the number keys were also duplexed, allowing access to special symbols such as percent (%) and ampersand (&). \n\nBefore the shift key, typewriters had to have a separate key and typebar for upper-case letters; in essence, the typewriter had two keyboards, one above the other. With the shift key, manufacturing costs (and therefore purchase price) were greatly reduced, and typist operation was simplified; both factors contributed greatly to mass adoption of the technology. Certain models, such as the Barlet, had a double shift so that each key performed three functions. These little three-row machines were portable and could be used by journalists.\n\nHowever, because the shift key required more force to push (its mechanism was moving a much larger mass than other keys), and was operated by the little finger (normally the weakest finger on the hand), it was difficult to hold the shift down for more than two or three consecutive strokes. The \"shift lock\" key (the precursor to the modern caps lock) allowed the shift operation to be maintained indefinitely.\n\nTab key\n\nTo facilite typewriter use in business settings, a tab (tabulator) key was added in the late nineteenth century. Before using the key, the operator had to set mechanical \"tab stops\", pre-designated locations to which the carriage would advance when the tab key was pressed. This facilitated the typing of columns of numbers, freeing the operator from the need to manually position the carriage. The first models had one tab stop and one tab key; later ones allowed as many stops as desired, and sometimes had multiple tab keys, each of which moved the carriage a different number of spaces ahead of the decimal point (the tab stop), to facilitate the typing of columns with numbers of different length ($1.00, $10.00, $100.00, etc.)\n\nCharacter sizes\n\nIn English-speaking countries, the commonplace typewriters printing fixed-width characters were standardized to print six horizontal lines per vertical inch, and had either of two variants of character width, called \"pica\" for ten characters per horizontal inch and \"elite\" for twelve. This differed from the use of these terms in printing, where they refer to the height of the characters on the page (\"pica\" designating ten horizontal lines per vertical inch).\n\nSome typewriters were designed to print extra large type (commonly double height, double width) for labelling purposes. Classification numbers on books in libraries could be done this way.\n\nColor\n\nSome ribbons were inked in black and red stripes, each being half the width and running the entire length of the ribbon. A lever on most machines allowed switching between colors, which was useful for bookkeeping entries where negative amounts were highlighted in red. The red color was also used on some selected characters in running text, for emphasis. When a typewriter had this facility, it could still be fitted with a solid black ribbon; the lever was then used to switch to fresh ribbon when the first stripe ran out of ink. Some typewriters also had a third position which stopped the ribbon being struck at all. This enabled the keys to hit the paper unobstructed, and was used for cutting stencils for stencil duplicators (aka mimeograph machines).\n\n\"Noiseless\" designs\n\nIn the early part of the 20th century, a typewriter was marketed under the name \"Noiseless\" and advertised as \"silent.\" It was developed by Wellington Parker Kidder and the first model was marketed by the Noiseless Typewriter Company in 1917. An agreement with Remington in 1924 saw production transferred to Remington, and a further agreement in 1929 allowed Underwood to produce it as well.[http://web.archive.org/web/20091028054256/http://www.geocities.com/wbd641/UndNoiselessAd.html OOcities.com] Reproduction of advertisement for Noiseless typewriters, with list of models and diagram of typebar mechanism Noiseless portables sold well in the 1930s and 1940s, and noiseless standards continued to be manufactured until the 1960s.\n\nIn a conventional typewriter the typebar reaches the end of its travel simply by striking the ribbon and paper. A \"noiseless\" typewriter has a complex lever mechanism that decelerates the typebar mechanically before pressing it against the ribbon and paper in an attempt to dampen the noise. It certainly reduced the high-frequency content of the sound, rendering it more of a \"clunk\" than a \"clack\" and arguably less intrusive, but such advertising claims as \"A machine that can be operated a few feet away from your desk — And not be heard\" were not true.\n\nElectric designs\n\nAlthough electric typewriters would not achieve widespread popularity until nearly a century later, the basic groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by the Universal Stock Ticker, invented by Thomas Edison in 1870. This device remotely printed letters and numbers on a stream of paper tape from input generated by a specially designed typewriter at the other end of a telegraph line.\n\nEarly electric models\n\nThe first electric typewriter was produced by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company, of Stamford, Connecticut, in 1902. Like the manual Blickensderfer typewriters, it used a cylindrical typewheel rather than individual typebars. It was not a commercial success, which may have been because at the time electricity had not been standardized and voltage differed from city to city. The next step in the development of the electric typewriter came in 1910, when Charles and Howard Krum filed a patent for the first practical teletypewriter. The Krums' machine, named the Morkrum Printing Telegraph, used a typewheel rather than individual typebars. This machine was used for the first commercial teletypewriter system on Postal Telegraph Company lines between Boston and New York City in 1910. \n\nThe first Olympia typewriter was invented in 1903, but the first successful Olympia model, the Model 3, was released in 1923. Olympia typewriters were most successful in Germany, the country of invention, but between 1950 and 1970, manufacturing facilities were opening in Canada, Ireland, Mexico, and Chile. The Olympia portable typewriters were the most popular out of all the different models that Olympia produced. Olympia typewriters were known for their \"craftsmanship, eye-catching design, and continuous innovation.\" Some of the Olympia typewriter’s novel features were individually spring-loaded keys, which provided extra comfort and cushioning; different colors like caramel, mint aquamarine, and pink; and script-typing options. There was even a one-handed version of an Olympia typewriter, the Model 8, for disabled users.\n\nJames Fields Smathers of Kansas City invented what is considered the first practical power-operated typewriter in 1914. In 1920, after returning from Army service, he produced a successful model and in 1923 turned it over to the Northeast Electric Company of Rochester for development. Northeast was interested in finding new markets for their electric motors and developed Smathers's design so that it could be marketed to typewriter manufacturers, and from 1925 Remington Electric typewriters were produced powered by Northeast's motors.\n\nAfter some 2,500 electric typewriters had been produced, Northeast asked Remington for a firm contract for the next batch. However, Remington was engaged in merger talks which would eventually result in the creation of Remington Rand and no executives were willing to commit to a firm order. Northeast instead decided to enter the typewriter business for itself, and in 1929 produced the first Electromatic Typewriter.\n\nIn 1928, Delco, a division of General Motors, purchased Northeast Electric, and the typewriter business was spun off as Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. In 1933, Electromatic was acquired by IBM, which then spent on a redesign of the Electromatic Typewriter, launching the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 in 1935. By 1958 IBM was deriving 8% of its revenue from the sale of electric typewriters.\n\nIn 1931, an electric typewriter was introduced by Varityper Corporation. It was called the Varityper, because a narrow cylinder-like wheel could be replaced to change the font. \n\nElectrical typewriter designs removed the direct mechanical connection between the keys and the element that struck the paper. Not to be confused with later electronic typewriters, electric typewriters contained only a single electrical component: the motor. Where the keystroke had previously moved a typebar directly, now it engaged mechanical linkages that directed mechanical power from the motor into the typebar.\n\nIn 1941, IBM announced the Electromatic Model 04 electric typewriter, featuring the revolutionary concept of proportional spacing. By assigning varied rather than uniform spacing to different sized characters, the Type 4 recreated the appearance of a printed page, an effect that was further enhanced by a typewriter ribbon innovation that produced clearer, sharper words on the page. The proportional spacing feature became a staple of the IBM Executive series typewriters.\n\nIBM Selectric\n\nIBM and Remington Rand electric typewriters were the leading models until IBM introduced the IBM Selectric typewriter in 1961, which replaced the typebars with a spherical element (or typeball) slightly smaller than a golf ball, with reverse-image letters molded into its surface. The Selectric used a system of latches, metal tapes, and pulleys driven by an electric motor to rotate the ball into the correct position and then strike it against the ribbon and platen. The typeball moved laterally in front of the paper, instead of the previous designs using a platen-carrying carriage moving the paper across a stationary print position.\n\nDue to the physical similarity, the typeball was sometimes referred to as a \"golfball\". The typeball design had many advantages, especially the elimination of \"jams\" (when more than one key was struck at once and the typebars became entangled) and in the ability to change the typeball, allowing multiple fonts to be used in a single document.\n\nThe IBM Selectric became a commercial success, dominating the office typewriter market for at least two decades. IBM also gained an advantage by marketing more heavily to schools than did Remington, with the idea that students who learned to type on a Selectric would later choose IBM typewriters over the competition in the workplace as businesses replaced their old manual models. By the 1970s, IBM had succeeded in establishing the Selectric as the de facto standard typewriter in mid- to high-end office environments, replacing the raucous \"clack\" of older typebar machines with the quieter sound of gyrating typeballs.\n\nLater models of IBM Executives and Selectrics replaced inked fabric ribbons with \"carbon film\" ribbons that had a dry black or colored powder on a clear plastic tape. These could be used only once, but later models used a cartridge that was simple to replace. A side effect of this technology was that the text typed on the machine could be easily read from the used ribbon, raising issues where the machines were used for preparing classified documents (ribbons had to be accounted for to ensure that typists did not carry them from the facility). \n\nA variation known as \"Correcting Selectrics\" introduced a correction feature, where a sticky tape in front of the carbon film ribbon could remove the black-powdered image of a typed character, eliminating the need for little bottles of white dab-on correction fluid and for hard erasers that could tear the paper. These machines also introduced selectable \"pitch\" so that the typewriter could be switched between pica type (10 characters per inch) and elite type (12 per inch), even within one document. Even so, all Selectrics were monospaced—each character and letterspace was allotted the same width on the page, from a capital \"W\" to a period. Although IBM had produced a successful typebar-based machine with five levels of proportional spacing, called the IBM Executive, proportional spacing was not provided with the Selectric typewriter or its successors the Selectric II and Selectric III.\n\nThe only fully electromechanical Selectric Typewriter with fully proportional spacing and which used a Selectric type element was the expensive Selectric Composer, which was capable of right-margin justification and was considered a typesetting machine rather than a typewriter.\n\nIn addition to its electronic successors, the Magnetic Tape Selectric Composer (MT/SC), the Mag Card Selectric Composer, and the Electronic Selectric Composer, IBM also made electronic typewriters with proportional spacing using the Selectric element that were considered typewriters or word processors instead of typesetting machines.\n\nThe first of these was the relatively obscure Mag Card Executive, which used 88-character elements. Later, some of the same typestyles used for it were used on the 96-character elements used on the IBM Electronic Typewriter 50 and the later models 65 and 85.\n\nBy 1970, as offset printing began to replace letterpress printing, the Composer would be adapted as the output unit for a typesetting system. The system included a computer-driven input station to capture the key strokes on magnetic tape and insert the operator's format commands, and a Composer unit to read the tape and produce the formatted text for photo reproduction.\n\nAdvantages:\n\n* reasonably fast, jam-free, and reliable\n* relatively quiet, and more importantly, free of major vibrations\n* could produce high quality lower- and upper-case output, compared to competitors such as Teletype machines\n* could be activated by a short, low-force mechanical action, allowing easier interfacing to electronic controls\n* did not require the movement of a heavy \"type basket\" to shift between lower- and upper-case, allowing higher speed without heavy impacts\n* did not require the platen roller assembly to move from side to side (a problem with continuous-feed paper used for automated printing)\n\nThe IBM 2741 terminal was a popular example of a Selectric-based computer terminal, and similar mechanisms were employed as the console devices for many IBM System/360 computers. These mechanisms used \"ruggedized\" designs compared to those in standard office typewriters.\n\nLater electric models\n\nSome of IBM's advances were later adopted in less expensive machines from competitors. For example, Smith-Corona electric typewriters of the 1970s used interchangeable ribbon cartridges, including fabric, film, erasing, and two-color versions. At about the same time, the advent of photocopying meant that carbon copies and erasers were less and less necessary; only the original need be typed, and photocopies made from it.\n\nTypewriter/printer hybrids\n\nTowards the end of the commercial popularity of typewriters in the 1970s, a number of hybrid designs combining features of printers were introduced. These often incorporated keyboards from existing models of typewriters and printing mechanisms of dot-matrix printers. The generation of teleprinters with impact pin-based printing engines was not adequate for the demanding quality required for typed output, and alternative thermal transfer technologies used in thermal label printers had become technically feasible for typewriters.\n\nIBM produced a series of typewriters called Thermotronic with letter-quality output and correcting tape along with printers tagged Quietwriter. Brother extended the life of their typewriter product line with similar products. The development of these proprietary printing engines provided the vendors with exclusive markets in consumable ribbons and the ability to use standardized printing engines with varying degrees of electronic and software sophistication to develop product lines. Although these changes reduced prices—and greatly increased the convenience—of typewriters, the technological disruption posed by word processors left these improvements with only a short-term low-end market. To extend the life of these products, many examples were provided with communication ports to connect them to computers as printers.\n\nElectronic typewriters\n\nThe final major development of the typewriter was the \"electronic\" typewriter. Most of these replaced the typeball with a plastic or metal daisy wheel mechanism (a disk with the letters molded on the outside edge of the \"petals\"). The daisy wheel concept first emerged in printers developed by Diablo Systems in the 1970s. In 1981, Xerox Corporation, who by then had bought Diablo Systems, introduced a line of Electronic Typewriters incorporating this technology (the Memorywriter product line). For a time, these products were quite successful as their plastic daisy-wheel was much simpler and cheaper than the metal typeball and their electronic memory and display allowed the user to easily see errors and correct them before they were actually printed. One problem with the plastic daisy wheel was that they were not always durable. To solve this problem, more durable metal daisy wheels were made available (but at a slightly higher price). \n\nThese and similar electronic typewriters were in essence dedicated word processors with either single-line LCD displays or multi-line CRT displays, built-in line editors in ROM, a spelling and grammar checker, a few kilobytes of internal RAM and optional cartridge, magnetic card or diskette external memory-storage devices for storing text and even document formats. Text could be entered a line or paragraph at a time and edited using the display and built-in software tools before being committed to paper. \n\nUnlike the Selectrics and earlier models, these really were \"electronic\" and relied on integrated circuits and multiple electromechanical components. These typewriters were sometimes called display typewriters, dedicated word processors or word-processing typewriters, though the latter term was also frequently applied to less sophisticated machines that featured only a tiny, sometimes just single-row display. Sophisticated models were also called word processors, though today that term almost always denotes a type of software program. Manufacturers of such machines included Brother (Brother WP1 and WP500 etc., where WP stood for word processor), Canon (Canon Cat), Smith-Corona (PWP, i.e. Personal Word Processor line) and Philips/Magnavox (VideoWriter).\n\nImage:type.jpg|Electronic typewriter – the final stage in typewriter development. A 1989 Canon Typestar 110\nFile:Brother WP1-IMG 6991.jpg|The Brother WP1, an electronic typewriter complete with a small screen and a floppy disk reader\n\nEnd of an era\n\nThe 1970s and early 1980s were a time of transition for typewriters and word processors. At one point in time, most small-business offices would be completely 'old-style', while large corporations and government departments would already be 'new-style'; other offices would have a mixture. The pace of change was so rapid that it was common for clerical staff to have to learn several new systems, one after the other, in just a few years. While such rapid change is commonplace today, and is taken for granted, this was not always so; in fact, typewriting technology changed very little in its first 80 or 90 years.\n\nDue to falling sales, IBM sold its typewriter division in 1991 to Lexmark, completely exiting from a market it once dominated.\n\nThe increasing dominance of personal computers, desktop publishing, the introduction of low-cost, truly high-quality laser and inkjet printer technologies, and the pervasive use of web publishing, e-mail and other electronic communication techniques have largely replaced typewriters in the United States. Still, , typewriters continued to be used by a number of government agencies and other institutions in the USA, where they are primarily used to fill preprinted forms. According to a Boston typewriter repairman quoted by The Boston Globe, \"Every maternity ward has a typewriter, as well as funeral homes\". \nA fairly major typewriter user is the City of New York, which in 2008 purchased several thousand typewriters, mostly for use by the New York Police Department, at the total cost of $982,269. Another $99,570 was spent in 2009 for the maintenance of the existing typewriters. New York police officers would use the machines to type property and evidence vouchers on carbon paper forms. \n\nA rather specialized market for typewriters exists due to the regulations of many correctional systems in the USA, where prisoners are prohibited from having computers or telecommunication equipment, but are allowed to own typewriters. The Swintec corporation (headquartered in Moonachie, New Jersey), which, as of 2011, still produced typewriters at its overseas factories (in Japan, Indonesia, and/or Malaysia), manufactures a variety of typewriters for use in prisons, made of clear plastic (to make it harder for prisoners to hide prohibited items inside it). As of 2011, the company had contracts with prisons in 43 US states. \n\nIn April 2011, Godrej and Boyce, a Mumbai-based manufacturer of mechanical typewriters, closed its doors, leading to a flurry of erroneous news reports that the \"world's last typewriter factory\" had shut down. The reports were quickly debunked. \n\nIn November 2012, Brother's UK factory manufactured what it claimed to be the last typewriter ever made in the UK; the typewriter was donated to the London Science Museum. \n\nRussian typewriters use Cyrillic, which has made the ongoing Azerbaijani reconversion from Cyrillic to Roman alphabet more difficult. In 1997, the government of Turkey offered to donate western typewriters to the Republic of Azerbaijan in exchange for more zealous and exclusive promotion of the Roman alphabet for the Azerbaijani language; this offer, however, was declined.\n\nIn Latin America and Africa, mechanical typewriters are still common because they can be used without electrical power. In Latin America, the typewriters used are most often Brazilian models – Brazil continues to produce mechanical (Facit) and electronic (Olivetti) typewriters to the present day. \n\nThe 21st century has seen a revival of interest in typewriters among certain subcultures, including makers, steampunks, hipsters, and street poets. \n\nCorrection technologies\n\nAccording to the standards taught in secretarial schools in the mid-20th century, a business letter was supposed to have no mistakes and no visible corrections. Accuracy was prized as much as speed. Indeed, typing speeds, as scored in proficiency tests and typewriting speed competitions, included a deduction of ten words for every mistake. Corrections were, of course, necessary, and many methods were developed.\n\nIn practice, several methods would often be combined. For example, if six extra copies of a letter were needed, the fluid-corrected original would be photocopied, but only for the two recipients getting \"c.c.\"s; the other four copies, the less-important file copies that stayed in various departments at the office, would be cheaper, hand-erased, less-distinct bond paper copies or even \"flimsies\" of different colors (tissue papers interleaved with black carbon paper) that were all typed as a \"carbon pack\" at the same time as the original.\n\nIn informal applications such as personal letters where low priority was placed on the appearance of the document, or conversely in highly formal applications in which it was important that any corrections be obvious, the backspace key could be used to back up over the error and then overstrike it with hyphens, slashes, Xs, or the like.\n\nTypewriter erasers\n\nThe traditional erasing method involved the use of a special typewriter eraser made of hard rubber that contained an abrasive material. Some were thin, flat disks, pink or gray, approximately 2 in in diameter by ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick, with a brush attached from the center, while others looked like pink pencils, with a sharpenable eraser at the \"lead\" end and a stiff nylon brush at the other end. Either way, these tools made possible erasure of individual typed letters. Business letters were typed on heavyweight, high-rag-content bond paper, not merely to provide a luxurious appearance, but also to stand up to erasure. \n\nTypewriter eraser brushes were necessary for clearing eraser crumbs and paper dust, and using the brush properly was an important element of typewriting skill; if erasure detritus fell into the typewriter, a small buildup could cause the typebars to jam in their narrow supporting grooves.\n\nEraser shield\n\nErasing a set of carbon copies was particularly difficult, and called for the use of a device called an eraser shield (a thin stainless-steel rectangle about 2 by with several tiny holes in it) to prevent the pressure of erasing on the upper copies from producing carbon smudges on the lower copies. To correct copies, typists had to go from carbon copy to carbon copy, trying not to get their fingers dirty as they leafed through the carbon papers, and moving and repositioning the eraser shield and eraser for each copy.\n\nErasable bond\n\nPaper companies produced a special form of typewriter paper called erasable bond (for example, Eaton's Corrasable Bond). This incorporated a thin layer of material that prevented ink from penetrating and was relatively soft and easy to remove from the page. An ordinary soft pencil eraser could quickly produce perfect erasures on this kind of paper. However, the same characteristics that made the paper erasable made the characters subject to smudging due to ordinary friction and deliberate alteration after the fact, making it unacceptable for business correspondence, contracts, or any archival use.\n\nCorrection fluid\n\nIn the 1950s and 1960s, correction fluid made its appearance, under brand names such as Liquid Paper, Wite-Out and Tipp-Ex; it was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham. Correction fluid was a kind of opaque, white, fast-drying paint that produced a fresh white surface onto which, when dry, a correction could be retyped. However, when held to the light, the covered-up characters were visible, as was the patch of dry correction fluid (which was never perfectly flat, and frequently not a perfect match for the color, texture, and luster of the surrounding paper). The standard trick for solving this problem was photocopying the corrected page, but this was possible only with high quality photocopiers.\n\nA different fluid was available for correcting stencils. It sealed up the stencil ready for retyping but did not attempt to color match.\n\nDry correction\n\nDry correction products (such as correction paper) under brand names such as \"Ko-Rec-Type\" were introduced in the 1970s and functioned like white carbon paper. A strip of the product was placed over the letters needing correction, and the incorrect letters were retyped, causing the black character to be overstruck with a white overcoat. Similar material was soon incorporated in carbon-film electric typewriter ribbons; like the traditional two-color black-and-red inked ribbon common on manual typewriters, a black and white correcting ribbon became commonplace on electric typewriters. But the black or white coating could be partly rubbed off with handling, so such corrections were generally not acceptable in legal documents.\n\nThe pinnacle of this kind of technology was the IBM Electronic Typewriter series. These machines, and similar products from other manufacturers, used a separate correction ribbon and a character memory. With a single keystroke, the typewriter was capable of automatically backspacing and then overstriking the previous characters with minimal marring of the paper. White cover-up ribbons were used with fabric ink ribbons, or an alternate premium design featured plastic lift-off correction ribbons which were used with carbon film typing ribbons. This latter technology actually lifted the carbon film forming a typed letter, leaving nothing more than a flattened depression in the surface of the paper, with the advantage that no color matching of the paper was needed.\n\nLegacy\n\nKeyboard layouts\n\nQWERTY\n\nThe 1874 Sholes & Glidden typewriters established the \"QWERTY\" layout for the letter keys. During the period in which Sholes and his colleagues were experimenting with this invention, other keyboard arrangements were apparently tried, but these are poorly documented. The QWERTY layout of keys has become the de facto standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards. Other languages written in the Latin alphabet sometimes use variants of the QWERTY layouts, such as the French AZERTY, the Italian QZERTY and the German QWERTZ layouts.\n\nThe QWERTY layout is not the most efficient layout possible for the English language, since it requires a touch-typist to move his or her fingers between rows to type the most common letters. Although the QWERTY keyboard was the most commonly used layout in typewriters, a better, less strenuous keyboard was being searched for throughout the late 1900s. \n\nOne popular but widely debunked[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-the-legend-of-the-qwerty-keyboard-49863249/?no-ist Fact of Fiction? The Legend of the QWERTY Keyboard | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian] explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine. \n\nAnother story is that the QWERTY layout allowed early typewriter salesmen to impress their customers by being able to easily type out the example word \"typewriter\" without having learned the full keyboard layout , because \"typewriter\" can be spelled purely on the top row of the keyboard. However, there is no evidence to support these claims.\n\nOther layouts\n\nA number of radically different layouts such as Dvorak have been proposed to reduce the perceived inefficiencies of QWERTY, but none have been able to displace the QWERTY layout; their proponents claim considerable advantages, but so far none has been widely used. The Blickensderfer typewriter with its DHIATENSOR layout may have possibly been the first attempt at optimizing the keyboard layout for efficiency advantages. \n\nMany non-Latin alphabets have keyboard layouts that have nothing to do with QWERTY. The Russian layout, for instance, puts the common trigrams ыва, про, and ить on adjacent keys so that they can be typed by rolling the fingers. The Greek layout, on the other hand, is a variant of QWERTY.\n\nTypewriters were also made for East Asian languages with thousands of characters, such as Chinese or Japanese. They were not easy to operate, but professional typists used them for a long time until the development of electronic word processors and laser printers in the 1980s (See the gallery at the end of this article for pictures of East Asian mechanical typewriters).\n\nOn modern keyboards, the exclamation point is the shifted character on the 1 key, a direct result of the historical fact that these were the last characters to become \"standard\" on keyboards. Holding the spacebar pressed down usually suspended the carriage advance mechanism (a so-called \"dead key\" feature), allowing one to superimpose multiple keystrikes on a single location. The ¢ symbol (meaning cents) was located above the number 6 on electric typewriters, while ASCII computer keyboards have ^ instead.\n\nTypewriter conventions\n\nA number of typographical conventions originate from the widespread use of the typewriter, based on the characteristics and limitations of the typewriter itself. For example, the QWERTY keyboard typewriter did not include keys for the en dash and the em dash. To overcome this limitation, users typically typed more than one adjacent hyphen to approximate these symbols. This typewriter convention is still sometimes used today, even though modern computer word processing applications can input the correct en and em dashes for each font type. \n\nOther examples of typewriter practices that are sometimes still used in desktop publishing systems include inserting a double space at the end of a sentence, and the use of straight quotes (or \"dumb quotes\") as quotation marks and prime marks. The practice of underlining text in place of italics and the use of all capitals to provide emphasis are additional examples of typographical conventions that derived from the limitations of the typewriter keyboard that still carry on today. \n\nMany older typewriters did not include a separate key for the numeral 1 or the exclamation point, and some even older ones also lacked the numeral zero. Typists who trained on these machines learned the habit of using the lowercase letter l (\"ell\") for the digit 1, and the uppercase O for the zero. A cents symbol (¢) was created by combining (over-striking) a lower case 'c' with a slash character (typing 'c', then backspace, then '/'). \n\nSimilarly, the exclamation point was created by combining an apostrophe and a period. These characters were omitted to simplify design and reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs; they were chosen specifically because they were \"redundant\" and could be recreated using other keys.\n\nComputer jargon\n\nSome terminology from the typewriter age has survived into the personal computer era. Examples include:\n* backspace (BS) – a keystroke that moved the cursor backwards one position (on a physical platen, this is the exact opposite of the space key), for the purpose of overtyping a character. This could be for combining characters (e.g. an apostrophe, backspace, and period make an exclamation point—a character missing on some early typewriters), or for correction such as with the correcting tape that developed later.\n* carriage return (CR) – return to the first column of text and, in some systems, switch to the next line.\n* cursor – a marker used to indicate where the next character will be printed. The cursor, however, was originally a term to describe the clear slider on a slide rule.\n* cut and paste – taking text, a numerical table, or an image and pasting it into a document. The term originated when such compound documents were created using manual paste up techniques for typographic page layout. Actual brushes and paste were later replaced by hot-wax machines equipped with cylinders that applied melted adhesive wax to developed prints of \"typeset\" copy. This copy was then cut out with knives and rulers, and slid into position on layout sheets on slanting layout tables. After the \"copy\" had been correctly positioned and squared up using a T-square and set square, it was pressed down with a brayer, or roller. The whole point of the exercise was to create so-called \"camera-ready copy\" which existed only to be photographed and then printed, usually by offset lithography.\n* dead key – describes a key that when typed, does not advance the typing position, thus allowing another character to be overstruck on top of the original character. This was typically used to combine diacritical marks with letters they modified (e.g. è can be generated by first pressing ` and then e). The dead key feature was often implemented mechanically by having the typist press and hold the space bar while typing the characters to be superimposed.\n* line feed (LF), also called \"newline\" – moving the cursor to the next on-screen line of text in a word processor document.\n*shift – a modifier key used to type capital letters and other alternate \"upper case\" characters; when pressed and held down, would shift a typewriter's mechanism to allow a different typebar impression (such as 'D' instead of 'd') to press into the ribbon and print on a page. The concept of a shift key or modifier key was later extended to Ctrl, Alt, and Super (\"Windows\" or \"Apple\") keys on modern computer keyboards. The generalized concept of a shift key reached its apotheosis in the MIT space-cadet keyboard.\n* tab (HT), shortened from \"horizontal tab\" or \"tabulator stop\" – caused the print position to advance horizontally to the next pre-set \"tab stop\". This was used for typing lists and tables with vertical columns of numbers or words. The related term \"vertical tab\" (VT) never came into widespread use.\n* tty, short for teletypewriter – used in Unix-like operating systems to designate a given \"terminal\".\n\nIn the above listing, the two-letter codes in parentheses are abbreviations for the ASCII characters derived from typewriter usage.\n\nEarly social effects\n\nWhen Remington started marketing typewriters, the company assumed the machine would not be used for composing but for transcribing dictation, and that the person typing would be a woman. The 1800s Sholes and Glidden typewriter had floral ornamentation on the case. \n\nDuring World War I and II, increasing numbers of women were entering the workforce. In the United States, women often started in the professional workplace as typists. Questions about morals made a salacious businessman making sexual advances to a female typist into a cliché of office life, appearing in vaudeville and movies. Being a typist was considered the right choice for a \"good girl\" meaning women who present themselves as being chaste and having good conduct. According to the 1900 census, 94.9 percent of stenographers and typists were unmarried women. \n\nThe \"Tijuana bibles\" — adult comic books produced in Mexico for the American market, starting in the 1930s — often featured women typists. In one panel, a businessman in a three-piece suit, ogling his secretary’s thigh, says, \"Miss Higby, are you ready for—ahem!—er—dictation?\"[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage\nall Newyorker.com] Acocella, Joan, \"The Typing Life: How writers used to write\", The New Yorker, April 9, 2007, a review of The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting (Cornell) 2007, by Darren Wershler-Henry\n\nAuthors and writers who had notable relationships with typewriters\n\nEarly adopters\n\n*Henry James dictated to a typist.\n*Mark Twain claimed in his autobiography that he was the first important writer to present a publisher with a typewritten manuscript, for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Research showed that Twain's memory was incorrect and that the first book submitted in typed form was Life on the Mississippi (1883, also by Twain). \n\nOthers\n\n*William S. Burroughs wrote in some of his novels—and possibly believed—that \"a machine he called the 'Soft Typewriter' was writing our lives, and our books, into existence,\" according to a book review in The New Yorker. And, in the film adaptation of his novel Naked Lunch, his typewriter is a living, insect-like entity (voiced by North American actor Peter Boretski) and actually dictates the book to him. \n*Writer Zack Helm and director Mark Forster explored the potential mechanics of the \"Soft Typewriter\" philosophy in the movie Stranger than Fiction, in which the very act of typing up her handwritten notes gives a fiction writer the power to kill or otherwise manipulate her main character in real life.\n*Ernest Hemingway used to write his books standing up in front of a Royal typewriter suitably placed on a tall bookshelf. This typewriter, still on its bookshelf, is kept in Finca Vigia, Hemingway's Havana house (now a museum) where he lived until 1960, the year before his death.\n*J. R. R. Tolkien was likewise accustomed to typing from awkward positions: \"balancing his typewriter on his attic bed, because there was no room on his desk\". In his Foreword to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien stated that \"the whole story ... had to be typed, and re-typed: by me; the cost of professional typing by the ten-fingered was beyond my means.\"\n*Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper. Within two weeks of starting to write On the Road, Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, 120 feet long. Some scholars say the scroll was shelf paper; others contend it was a Thermo-fax roll; another theory is that the roll consisted of sheets of architect’s paper taped together. His rapid work earned the famous rebuke from Truman Capote, \"That's not writing, it's typing.\"\n*Another fast typist of the Beat Generation was Richard Brautigan, who said that he thought out the plots of his books in detail beforehand, then typed them out at speeds approaching 90 to 100 words a minute. \n*Tom Robbins waxed philosophical about the Remington SL3, a typewriter that he bought to write Still Life with Woodpecker. He eventually did away with it because it is too complicated and inhuman for the writing of poetry.\n*After completing the novel Beautiful Losers, Leonard Cohen is said to have flung his typewriter into the Aegean Sea.\n*Don Marquis purposely used the limitations of a typewriter (or more precisely, a particular typist) in his archy and mehitabel series of newspaper columns, which were later compiled into a series of books. According to his literary conceit, a cockroach named \"Archy\" was a reincarnated free-verse poet, who would type articles overnight by jumping onto the keys of a manual typewriter. The writings were typed completely in lower case, because of the cockroach's inability to generate the heavy force needed to operate the shift key. The lone exception is the poem \"CAPITALS AT LAST\" from archys life of mehitabel, written in 1933.\n*Author Ray Bradbury used a typewriter for rent at the library to write his work known as \"Fahrenheit 451\", which was published in 1953. \n\nLate users\n\n*Andy Rooney and William F. Buckley Jr. (1982) were among many writers who were very reluctant to switch from typewriters to computers.\n*David McCullough bought a second-hand Royal typewriter in 1965 and has used it to compose every book he has published.\n*Hunter S. Thompson kept a typewriter in his kitchen and is believed to have written his \"Hey, Rube!\" column for ESPN.com on a typewriter. He used a typewriter until his suicide in 2005.\n*Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, wrote his manifesto as well as his letters on a manual typewriter.\n*David Sedaris used a typewriter to write his essay collections through Me Talk Pretty One Day at least.\n*Richard Polt, a philosophy professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati who collects typewriters, edits ETCetera, a quarterly magazine about historic writing machines, and is the author of the book [http://typewriterrevolution.com The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century].\n*William Gibson used a Hermes 2000 model manual typewriter to write Neuromancer and half of Count Zero before a mechanical failure and lack of replacement parts forced him to upgrade to an Apple IIc computer. \n*Harlan Ellison has used typewriters for his entire career, and when he was no longer able to have them repaired, learned to do it himself; he has repeatedly stated his belief that computers are bad for writing, maintaining, \"Art is not supposed to be easier!\" \n*Author Cormac McCarthy continues to write his novels on an Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter to the present day. In 2009, the Lettera he obtained from a pawn shop in 1963, on which nearly all his novels and screenplays have been written, was auctioned for charity at Christie's for $254,500 USD; McCarthy obtained an identical replacement for $20 to continue writing on. \n*Will Self explains why he uses a manual typewriter: \"I think the computer user does their thinking on the screen, and the non-computer user is compelled, because he or she has to retype a whole text, to do a lot more thinking in the head.\" \n\nTypewriters in popular culture\n\nIn music\n\n* The composer Pablo Sorozábal includes in a scene of his zarzuela La eterna canción (1945) a typewriter, accompanied by an orchestra and vocal soloists: the scene is in a police station, where a policeman is deposing witnesses, and is singing while he types the report.\n* The composer Leroy Anderson wrote The Typewriter (1950) for orchestra and typewriter, and it has since been used as the theme for numerous radio programs. The solo instrument is a real typewriter played by a percussionist. The piece was later made famous by comedian Jerry Lewis as part of his regular routine both on screen and stage, most notably in the 1963 film Who's Minding the Store?.\n* Pink Floyd used a typewriter, complete with carriage return bell, as a percussion instrument on their song \"Money\" (1973)\n* The clacking of typewriter keys can be heard at the beginning of Dolly Parton's song 9 to 5. Parton has said in interviews that when writing the song, to mimic the typing keys sound, she would run her acrylic fingernails back and forth against each other. \n* The song \"Embassy Lament\" from the 1986 Musical Chess mimics the sound of typing in the bridge.\n* A typewriter provides the percussive backing for Stereo Total's \"Dactylo Rock\" - the first song from their debut album (1995)\n* An Estonian prog-rock band In Spe features typewriters as a rhythmic instruments in their album Typewriter Concerto in D Major (1994)\n* A suite of songs entitled \"Green Typewriters\" is on The Olivia Tremor Control's album Dusk At Cubist Castle (1996), and the sounds of typewriters can be heard in a few of the sections.\n* Guster's 1999 song Barrel of a Gun features a typewriter as percussion.\n* American singer-songwriter Marian Call accompanies herself on a typewriter on \"Nerd Anthem\" (c. 1998)\n* American musician Beck's 2005 music video for \"Black Tambourine\" features typewriter characters to animate Beck's moving and playing guitar.\n* The title track of Heernt's 2006 album Locked in a Basement prominently features the typewriter as a percussion instrument.\n* The Boston Typewriter Orchestra (BTO) has performed at numerous art festivals, clubs, and parties since at least 2008. The group consists of a half-dozen performers who use typewriters as percussive musical instruments, under the slogan, \"The revolution will be typewritten\".\n*South Korean improviser Ryu Hankil frequently performs typewriters, most prominently in his 2009 album\"Becoming Typewriter\". \n* Lead singer/songwriter Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam types many of the band's lyrics on vintage typewriters.\n\nOther\n\n*In the film The History of the Typewriter recited by Michael Winslow, voice sound effect performer Michael Winslow recreates the sounds of 32 typewriters from history.\n* The word \"typewriter\" is often cited as the longest English word that can be typed using only one row of keys of a QWERTY keyboard. This is untrue, since \"rupturewort\" (a kind of flowering plant) has 11 letters, while \"typewriter\" has only 10. Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary defines \"uropyoureter\" (12 letters).\n* A sentence which uses every letter of the alphabet (a pangram), \"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog\" can be used to check typewriters quickly.\n* The early Resident Evil video games used a typewriter as the save feature, and used one ink ribbon per save.\n* The opening title sequence of Murder She Wrote prominently features Jessica Fletcher touch-typing a manuscript with a 1940s Royal KMM Manual Typewriter. Although in one episode Fletcher rejects a character's offer to sell her a computer to replace the old Royal (which he calls a \"dinosaur\"), towards the series end, she, too begins using a computer and word-processing typewriter.\n* In Rome the Altare della Patria, National Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II, used to be nicknamed \"the typewriter\" (la macchina per scrivere in Italian) because of its strange shape and popular dislike toward it.\n* The 2012 French comedy movie Populaire, starring Romain Duris and Déborah François, centers around a young secretary in the 1950s striving to win typewriting speed competitions. \n* 2012 AU Education Research claimed that proper typing position and distance to the screen are the main factors of typing faster.\n\nForensic examination\n\nTypewritten documents may be examined by forensic document examiners. This is done primarily to determine 1) the make and/or model of the typewriter used to produce a document, or 2) whether or not a particular suspect typewriter might have been used to produce a document. In some situations, an ink or correction ribbon may also be examined.\n\nThe determination of a make and/or model of typewriter is a 'classification' problem and several systems have been developed for this purpose. These include the original Haas Typewriter Atlases (Pica version) and (Non-Pica version) and the TYPE system developed by Dr. Philip Bouffard, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Termatrex Typewriter classification system, and the Interpol's Typewriter classification system, among others.\n\nBecause of the tolerances of the mechanical parts, slight variation in the alignment of the letters and their uneven wear, each typewriter has an individual \"signature\" or \"fingerprint\", which may permit a typewritten document to be traced back to the typewriter on which it was produced. For devices utilizing replaceable components, such as a typeball element, any association may be restricted to a specific element, rather than to the typewriter as a whole.\n\nThe earliest reference in fictional literature to the potential identification of a typewriter as having produced a document was by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote \"A Case of Identity\" in 1891. In non-fiction, the first document examiner to describe how a typewriter might be identified was William E. Hagan who wrote, in 1894, \"All typewriter machines, even when using the same kind of type, become more or less peculiar by use as to the work done by them\". Other early discussions of the topic were provided by A. S. Osborn in his 1908 treatise, Typewriting as Evidence, and again in his 1929 textbook, Questioned Documents.\n A modern description of the examination procedure is laid out in ASTM Standard E2494-08 (Standard Guide for Examination of Typewritten Items). \n\nTypewriter examination was used in the Leopold and Loeb and Alger Hiss cases. In the Eastern Bloc, typewriters (together with printing presses, copy machines, and later computer printers) were a controlled technology, with secret police in charge of maintaining files of the typewriters and their owners. In the Soviet Union, the First Department of each organization sent data on organization's typewriters to the KGB. This posed a significant risk for dissidents and samizdat authors. In Romania, according to State Council Decree No. 98 of March 28, 1983, owning a typewriter, both by businesses or by private persons, was subject to an approval given by the local police authorities. People previously convicted of any crime or those who because of their behaviour were considered to be \"a danger to public order or to the security of the state\" were refused approval. In addition, once a year, typewriter owners had to take the typewriter to the local police station, where they would be asked to type down a sample of all the typewriter's characters. It was also forbidden to borrow, lend, or repair typewriters other than at the places that had been authorized by the police.\n\nThe ribbon can be read vertically, although only if it has not been typed over more than once. This can be very hard to do as it does not include spaces, but can be done, giving even a typewriter a \"memory\".\n\nGallery\n\nFile:Azevedotw.jpg|Fr. Francisco Azevedo's 1861 typewriter\nFile:1864 Schreibmaschine Peter Mitterhofer.jpg|Peter Mitterhofer 1864 typewriter\nFile:Skrivekugle 1870.jpg|Hansen Writing Ball, invented in 1865 (1870 model)\nFile:TypewriterPatent1868.jpg|1868 patent drawing for the Sholes, Glidden, and Soule typewriter\nFile:Hammond 1B typewriter.png|Hammond 1B typewriter, invented 1870s, manufactured 1881\nFile:1910s typewriter.jpg|Hammond 1B, as used by a newspaper office in Saskatoon around 1910\nFile:Typewriters.jpg|Typebars in a 1920s typewriter\nFile:Chinese typewriter.jpg|Chinese typewriter produced by Shuangge, with 2,450 characters\nFile:Japanese typewriter SH-280.jpg|Japanese typewriter SH-280, a small machine with 2,268 characters\nFile:Typemachine binnenkant.JPG|Hermes 3000 typewriter\nFile:1920s Underwood SE layout.JPG|1920s Underwood typewriter with Swedish layout\nFile:Chinese typewriter at Deutsche Technikmuseum.jpg|Chinese typewriter at Deutsches Technikmuseum","Look at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it ...\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY ... QWERTY is the only ... ‘typewriter’ is the longest word you can spell with the top line of a qwerty keyboard. ...\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word? | Dictionary.com Blog\nHome » Science and Technology » Look at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word?\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word?\nSeptember 20, 2010 by: Dictionary.com 173 Comments\nMost of us take our keyboards for granted. If we’re touch typists , we automatically position our fingers above the same eight keys and our muscle memory takes over. We just type !\n( What are those eight keys called? And what do they have to do with a popular Google search? Read about that here .)\nBut our keyboards have an interesting history. Most English language keyboards have a QWERTY layout. And QWERTY isn’t an acronym or neologism . The name is simply the first six characters in the top far left row of letters. A Milwaukee newspaper editor and printer named Christopher Sholes invented the QWERTY layout. He sold the design to Remington in 1874, the year the format debuted on typewriters.\nSholes was also one of the inventors of the “ Type Writer ,” an early text-producing machine. The first version had problems caused by type bar jamming . In an effort to resolve the problem, Sholes eventually ditched the machines’ original alphabetical key arrangement and moved toward the QWERTY layout. Did you know that with the QWERTY keyboard thousands of English words can be spelled using only the left hand, but only a couple hundred can be composed with the right?\nDo you use an alternative to QWERTY, such as Colemak or Dvorak Simplified Keyboard? Let us know which you prefer.","Dumb Facts » Language\nDumb Facts » Language. ... typed with only the left hand. The longest words that can be typed using only the right hand in proper typing form are ”lollipop” and ...\nDumb Facts » Language\nDumb Facts » Language\nOn average, a secretary’s left hand does 56% of the typing.\nThe words ”stewardesses” and ”reverberated” are the longest words (12 letters) typed with only the left hand.\nThe longest words that can be typed using only the right hand in proper typing form are ”lollipop” and “monopoly”.\nCheck this out, look at your keyboard, the only ten letter word that you can spell with the top row of letters is “typewriter”.\nSkepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing.\nThe first novel ever written on a typewriter was “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”\nDr. Seuss coined the word “nerd” in his 1950 book “If I Ran the Zoo”.\nIt’s estimated that more than 6 billion copies of The Bible have been printed.\nThe Bible is the most shoplifted book in the United States.","Rube_Goldberg_machine.txt\nRube Goldberg machine\nA Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption, invention, device, or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883–1970).\n\nOver the years, the expression has expanded to mean any confusing or complicated system. For example, news headlines include \"Is Rep. Bill Thomas the Rube Goldberg of Legislative Reform?\" and \"Retirement 'insurance' as a Rube Goldberg machine\". \n\nOrigin\n\nRube Goldberg's cartoons became well known for depicting complicated devices that performed simple tasks in indirect convoluted ways. The example on the right is Goldberg's \"Professor Butts and the Self-Operating Napkin\", which was later reprinted in a few book collections, including the postcard book Rube Goldberg's Inventions! and the hardcover Rube Goldberg: Inventions, both compiled by Maynard Frank Wolfe from the Rube Goldberg Archives. The \"Self-Operating Napkin\" is activated when soup spoon (A) is raised to mouth, pulling string (B) and thereby jerking ladle (C), which throws cracker (D) past parrot (E). Parrot jumps after cracker and perch (F) tilts, upsetting seeds (G) into pail (H). Extra weight in pail pulls cord (I), which opens and ignites lighter (J), setting off skyrocket (K), which causes sickle (L) to cut string (M), allowing pendulum with attached napkin to swing back and forth, thereby wiping chin.\n\nIn 1931, the Merriam-Webster dictionary adopted the word \"Rube Goldberg\" as an adjective defined as accomplishing something simple through complicated means. \n\nSimilar expressions worldwide\n\n* Australia — cartoonist Bruce Petty depicts such themes as the economy, international relations or other social issues as complicated interlocking machines that manipulate, or are manipulated by, people.\n* Austria — Franz Gsellmann worked for decades on a machine that he named the Weltmaschine (\"world machine\"), having many similarities to a Rube Goldberg machine.\n* Denmark — called Storm P maskiner (\"Storm P machines\"), after the Danish inventor and cartoonist Robert Storm Petersen (1882–1949).\n* France — a similar machine is called usine à gaz, or gas refinery, suggesting a very complicated factory with pipes running everywhere and a risk of explosion. It is now used mainly among programmers to indicate a complicated program, or in journalism to refer to a bewildering law or regulation.\n* Germany — such machines are often called \"Was-passiert-dann-Maschine\" (\"What happens next machine\") for the German name of similar devices used by Kermit the Frog in the children's TV show Sesame Street.\n* United Kingdom — a \"Heath Robinson contraption\", named after the fantastical comic machinery illustrated by British cartoonist W. Heath Robinson, has a similar meaning but predates the Rube Goldberg machine, originating in the UK in 1912. Though Heath Robinson's drawings are extremely similar to the example shown and described above, the expression has gained more a sense of a ramshackle solution to a problem that nevertheless works (though with the implication that it might not do so for long, unlike the 'proper' solution), rather than something needlessly complicated, though it shared that sense initially.\n* India — the humorist and children's author Sukumar Ray, in his nonsense poem \"Abol tabol\", had a character (Uncle) with a Rube Goldberg-like machine called \"Uncle's contraption\"(khuror kol). This word is used colloquially in Bengali to mean a complicated and useless object.\n* Japan — \"Pythagorean devices\" or \"Pythagoras switch\". PythagoraSwitch (ピタゴラスイッチ, \"Pitagora Suicchi\") is the name of a TV show featuring such devices. Another related genre is the Japanese art of chindōgu, which involves inventions that are hypothetically useful but of limited actual utility.\n* Norway — cartoonist and storyteller Kjell Aukrust created a cartoon character named Reodor Felgen, who constantly invented complicated machinery. Though it was often built out of unlikely parts, it always performed very well. Felgen stars as the inventor of an extremely powerful but over-complicated car, Il Tempo Gigante, in the Ivo Caprino animated puppet film Flåklypa Grand Prix (1975).\n* Spain — devices akin to Goldberg's machines are known as Inventos del TBO (tebeo), named after those that several cartoonists (Nit, Tínez, Marino Benejam, Frances Tur and finally Ramón Sabatés) made up and drew for a section in the TBO magazine, allegedly designed by some \"Professor Franz\" from Copenhagen.\n* Turkey — such devices are known as Zihni Sinir Projeleri, allegedly invented by a certain Prof. Zihni Sinir (\"Crabby Mind\"), a curious scientist character created by İrfan Sayar in 1977 for the cartoon magazine Gırgır. The cartoonist later went on to open a studio selling actual working implementations of his designs.\n\nMany of his ideas were utilized in movies and TV shows for the comedic effect of creating such rigmarole for such a simple task such as the breakfast machine on television's 'Pee Wee's Playhouse'. In 'Ernest Goes to Jail' , Ernest P. Worrell uses his invention to simply turn his TV on. Plus other movies such as 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and 'Diving into the Money Pit' have featured Goldberg's idea.\n\nProfessional artists\n\n* Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist and illustrator best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines for achieving simple objectives.\n* Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Swiss artists known for their art installation movie Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things Go, 1987). It documents a 30-minute long causal chain assembled of everyday objects, resembling a Rube Goldberg machine.\n* Tim Hawkinson has made several art pieces that contain complicated apparatuses that are generally used to make abstract art or music. Many of them are centered on the randomness of other devices (such as a slot machine) and are dependent on them to create some menial effect.\n\nCompetitions\n\nIn early 1987, Purdue University in Indiana started the annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, organized by the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau, a national engineering fraternity. In 2009, the Epsilon Chapter of Theta Tau established a similar annual contest at the University of California, Berkeley. \n\nSince around 1997, the kinetic artist Arthur Ganson has been the emcee of the annual \"Friday After Thanksgiving\" (FAT) competition sponsored by the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Teams of contestants construct elaborate Rube Goldberg style chain-reaction machines on tables arranged around a large gymnasium. Each apparatus is linked by a string to its predecessor and successor machine. The initial string is ceremonially pulled, and the ensuing events are videotaped in closeup, and simultaneously projected on large screens for viewing by the live audience. After the entire cascade of events has finished, prizes are then awarded in various categories and age levels. Videos from several previous years' contests are view-able on the MIT Museum website.\n\nThe [http://www.chainreactioncontest.org/ Chain Reaction Contraption Contest] is an annual event hosted at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA where high school teams each build a Rube Goldberg machine to complete some simple task (which changes from year to year) in 20 steps or more (with some additional constraints on size, timing, safety, etc.).\n\nOn the TV show Food Network Challenge, competitors in 2011 were once required to create a Rube Goldberg machine out of sugar.\n\nAn event called [http://www.soinc.org/mission_c Mission Possible] in Science Olympiad involves students building a Rube Goldberg-like device to perform a certain series of tasks.\n\nIn April 2012, the Bosch company hosted an event called the \"Playground of Engineers\" in Hungary where the participant teams had to perform a series of tasks wherein they collected coins. Later that day, the main challenge was to build an over-complicated Goldberg Machine, the goal of which was to switch on a car dashboard. The teams were able to buy additional items with their collected coins above the standard issue equipment to make their machine more complicated. The main criteria of the judges were complexity, operating time and the number of components used.","Touch_typing.txt\nTouch typing\nTouch typing (also called touch type or touch keyboarding) is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory. Touch typing typically involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the home row) and having them reach for other keys. Both two-handed touch typing and one-handed touch typing are possible.\n\nFrank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City, Utah who taught typing classes, reportedly invented touch typing in 1888.\nOn a standard keyboard for English speakers the home row keys are: \"ASDF\" for the left hand and \"JKL;\" for the right hand. The keyboard is called a QWERTY keyboard because these are the first six letters on the keyboard. Most modern computer keyboards have a raised dot or bar on the home keys for the index fingers to help touch typists maintain and rediscover the correct position on the keyboard quickly with no need to look at the keys. More recently, the ability to touch type on touchscreen phones has been made possible with the use of specialized virtual keyboard software for touch typing.\n\nHistory \n\nOriginal layouts for the first few mechanical typewriters were in alphabetical order (ABCDE etc.) but the frequent jams suffered by experienced typists forced the manufacturers to change the layout of the letters, placing keys that are often pressed in a sequence as far as possible from each other. This allows engaging the second printing bar of the typewriter before the first falls down, increasing the speed of the mechanism. Equal distribution of the load over most of fingers also increased the speed as the keys of the mechanical typewriter are more difficult to press.\n\nThe calculations for keyboard layout were based on the language being typed and this meant different keyboard layouts would be needed for each language. In English speaking countries for example the first row is QWERTY, but in French speaking countries it is AZERTY. Though mechanical typewriters are now rarely used, moves to change the layout to increase speed have been largely ignored or resisted due to familiarity with the existing layout among touch typists.\n\nOn July 25, 1888, McGurrin, who was reportedly the only person using touch typing at the time, won a decisive victory over Louis Traub (operating Caligraph with eight-finger method) in a typing contest held in Cincinnati. The results were displayed on the front pages of many newspapers. McGurrin won US$500 (equivalent to $12,580 in 2012 USD) and popularized the new typing method.\n\nWhether McGurrin was actually the first person to touch type or simply the first to be popularly noticed, is disputed. Speeds attained by other typists in other typing competitions at the time suggest that they must have been using similar systems. \n\nIn 1889 Bates Torrey coined the words \"writing by touch\" in his article. In 1890 Lovisa Ellen Bullard Barnes defined the words \"write by touch\" in her book as follows: \n\nThe most common other form of typing is search and peck typing (or two-fingered typing). This method is slower than touch typing because instead of relying on the memorized position of keys, the typist is required to find each key by sight and move fingers a greater distance. Many idiosyncratic styles in between those two exist — for example, many people will type blindly, but using only two to five fingers and not always in a systematic way.\n\nAdvantages \n\nSpeed \n\nTouch type training can improve any individual's typing speed and accuracy dramatically. The accepted average typing speed is 41 WPM (words per minute), and professional career typists can exceed 100 WPM repeatedly and continuously (secretarial, data entry, etc.). Every individual learns at a different pace, and routine practice is required to maintain a high typing speed and accuracy.\n\nReduced switching of attention \n\nA touch typist does not need to move the sight between the keyboard (that is obscured with fingers and may be poorly lit) and other areas that require attention. This increases productivity and reduces the number of errors.\n\nDisputes over advantages \n\nThere are many idiosyncratic typing styles in between novice-style \"hunt and peck\" and touch typing. For example, many \"hunt and peck\" typists have the keyboard layout memorized and are able to type while focusing their gaze on the screen. One study examining 30 subjects, of varying different styles and expertise, has found minimal difference in typing speed between touch typists and self-taught hybrid typists. \n\nAccording to the study, \"The number of fingers does not determine typing speed... People using self-taught typing strategies were found to be as fast as trained typists... instead of the number of fingers, there are other factors that predict typing speed... fast typists... keep their hands fixed on one position, instead of moving them over the keyboard, and more consistently use the same finger to type a certain letter.\" To quote doctoral candidate Anna Feit: \"We were surprised to observe that people who took a typing course, performed at similar average speed and accuracy, as those that taught typing to themselves and only used 6 fingers on average\"\n\nTraining \n\nA touch typist starts by placing their fingers on the \"start position\" in the middle row and knows which finger to move and how much to move it for reaching any required key. Learning typically includes first printing exercises containing only letters on or near the standard position and then gradually mastering other rows. It is important to learn placing fingers into the start position blindly as the hands are frequently raised from the keyboard to operate the line feed lever (in the past) or (more recently) the computer mouse. The keys F and J frequently contain some surface features that allow the typist to recognize them by touch alone, thus removing the need to look down at the keys to reset the fingers at the home row.\n\nThe typing speed can be increased gradually and speeds of 60 WPM or higher can be achieved. The rate of speed increase varies between individuals. Many websites and software products are available to learn touch typing and many of these are free. Learning touch typing can be stressful both to the fingers as well as the mind in the beginning, but once it is learned to a decent level, it exerts minimal stress on the fingers. For individuals with past typing experience, learning to touch type is particularly difficult due to motivational reasons: the initial performance level in touch typing is far lower than in visually guided typing; therefore it does not initially seem worthwhile to study touch typing. \n\nTyping speed generally improves with practice. While practicing, it is important to ensure that there are no weak keys. Typing speed is typically determined by how slow these weak keys are typed rather than how fast the remaining keys are typed. If a stage is reached where irrespective of the amount of practice, typing speed is not increasing, it is advisable to let some time pass and continue serious practice thereafter as typing speeds typically tend to increase with time even when no serious practice is done.\n\nHome row \n\nThe \"home row\" is the center row of keys on a typewriter or computer keyboard. On the most common type of English language keyboard, the QWERTY layout, \" \" are the home keys on the home row. \n\nThe middle row of the keyboard is termed \"home row\" because typists are trained to keep their fingers on these keys and/or return to them after pressing any other key that is not on the home row.\n\nSome keyboards have a small bump on certain keys of the home row. This helps returning the fingers to the home row for touch typing.\n\nFor instance, to type the word poll on a QWERTY keyboard, one would place all of one's fingers on the home row. (The right hand should be covering \" \" with the thumb on the while the left hand covers \" \".) The typist will then use their little finger to reach for the \"\" key located just above the semicolon and then return the pinky back to the semicolon key from which it originated. The ring finger, located on the \"\" key will be moved directly upwards to press the \"\" key and then back. Finally, the same ring finger will remain on the \"\" key and press it twice. Experienced typists can do this at speeds of over 100 words per minute, but the method is that they always return their fingers to the home row when they are not in use. This provides for quick, easy access to all of the keys on the keyboard.\n\nRepetitive stress injuries \n\nTyping regularly can put a user at risk for repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis. Proper posture can greatly reduce risk of injury. \n\nOther methods \n\nA method taught since the 1960s (and perhaps earlier): The left little finger is used for the keys , the ring finger for , the middle — , the left index finger is responsible for and . On the right side of the keyboard: index — and , middle — , ring — and the little — all other keys on the right side of the upper row. Probably these two methods reflect the layout of the typewriters from early days when some of them had no and/or keys.\n\nThere exist special ergonomic keyboards designed for both typing methods. The keyboard is split between the keys and or and .\n\nSome specialized high-end computer keyboards are designed for touch typists. For example, many manufacturers provide blank mechanical keyboards. A trained touch typist should not mind using a blank keyboard. This kind of keyboard may force hunt and peck users to type without looking, similar to Braille keyboards used by the visually impaired.","Philosophy | Cambridge Forecast Group Blog | Page 13\n... sets out to attribute an ... In his memoirs he also developed a curious theory about the economic causes of World War II, ... future leaders of Third World ...\nPhilosophy | Cambridge Forecast Group Blog | Page 13\nCambridge Forecast Group Blog\nMan lebt nicht einmal einmal\n(you don’t even live once)\nKarl Kraus – Aphorisms\nSprüche und Widersprüche 1909\n(Sayings and Gainsayings)\nKarl Kraus (1874-1936) is widely regarded as one of the most talented and influential satirists of the twentieth century. He was an enormously productive writer of poetry, critical essays, and aphorisms, and spent the bulk…\nKarl Kraus\nKarl Kraus (April 28, 1874 – June 12, 1936) was an eminent Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is generally considered one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially known for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics.\nEarly life\nKraus was born into a wealthy Jewish family of Jacob Kraus, a papermaker, and his wife Ernestine, née Kantor, in Gitschin, Bohemia (now Jičín in the Czech Republic). The family moved to Vienna in 1877. His mother died in 1891.\nKraus enrolled as a law student at the University of Vienna in 1892. Beginning in April of the same year he began contributing to the paper Wiener Literaturzeitung, starting with a critique of Gerhart Hauptmann’s Die Weber. Around that time, he unsuccessfully tried to perform as an actor in a small theater. In 1894 he changed his field of studies to philosophy and German literature. He discontinued his studies in 1896. His friendship to Peter Altenberg originated in this time.\nWriting\nIn 1896 he left university without a diploma to begin work as an actor, stage-director and performer, joining the Jung Wien (Young Vienna) group, which included Peter Altenberg, Leopold Andrian, Hermann Bahr, Richard Beer-Hofmann, Felix Dörmann, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Felix Salten. In 1897, however, Kraus broke from this group with a biting satire Die demolierte Literatur [Demolished Literature], and was named Vienna correspondent for the newspaper Breslauer Zeitung. One year later, as an uncompromising advocate of Jewish assimilation, he attacked the Zionist Theodor Herzl with his polemic Eine Krone für Zion [A Crown for Zion] (1898).\nOn April 1, 1899, he renounced Judaism and in the same year founded his own newspaper, Die Fackel (The Torch), which he continued to direct, publish, and write until his death, and from which he launched his attacks on hypocrisy, psychoanalysis, corruption of the Habsburg empire, nationalism of the pan-German movement, laissez-faire economic policies, and numerous other bêtes noires. In 1901, Kraus was sued by Hermann Bahr and Emmerich Bukovics, who felt they had been attacked by Die Fackel. Many lawsuits by diverse offended parties would follow in later years. Also in 1901, Kraus found out that his publisher, Moriz Frisch, had taken over his magazine while he was absent on a months-long journey: Moriz Frisch had registered the magazine’s front cover as a trademark and published the Neue Fackel (New Torch). Kraus sued and won. From that time, Die Fackel was published (without a cover page) by the printer Jahoda & Siegel\nWhile at the beginning Die Fackel was similar to journals like the magazine Weltbühne, it became more and more a magazine that was privileged in its editorial independence, which Kraus could provide by his funding. Die Fackel printed what Kraus wanted to be printed. In its first decade, contributors included many well-known writers and artists such as Peter Altenberg, Richard Dehmel, Egon Friedell, Oskar Kokoschka, Else Lasker-Schüler, Adolf Loos, Heinrich Mann, Arnold Schönberg, August Strindberg, Georg Trakl, Frank Wedekind, Franz Werfel, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Oscar Wilde. After 1911, however, Kraus was usually the sole author. Kraus’ work was published nearly exclusively in Die Fackel, of which 922 irregularly-issued numbers appeared in total.\nAuthors who were supported by Kraus include Peter Altenberg, Else Lasker-Schüler, and Georg Trakl.\nDie Fackel targeted corruption, journalists and brutish behaviour. Notable enemies were Maximilian Harden (in the mud of the Harden-Eulenburg affair), Moriz Benedikt (owner of the newspaper Neue Freie Presse), Alfred Kerr, Hermann Bahr, Imre Bekessy and Johannes Schober.\nIn 1902, Kraus published Sittlichkeit und Kriminalität (Morality and Crimical Justice), for the first time commenting on what was to become one of the main issues in his writings: the allegedly necessary defense of sexual morality by means of criminal justice (Der Skandal fängt an, wenn die Polizei ihm ein Ende macht, The scandal starts when the police is stopping it)[1].\nStarting in 1906, Kraus published the first of his aphorisms in Die Fackel; they were collected in 1909 in the book Sprüche und Widersprüche (Sayings and Gainsayings).\nIn addition to his writings, Kraus gave numerous highly influential public readings during his career – between 1892 and 1936 he put on approximately 700 one-man performances, reading from the dramas of Bertolt Brecht, Gerhart Hauptmann, Johann Nestroy, Goethe, and Shakespeare, and also performing Offenbach’s operettas, accompanied by piano and singing all the roles himself. Elias Canetti, who regularly attended Kraus’ lectures, titled the second volume of his autobiography “Die Fackel im Ohr” (translation : The Torch in the Ear) in reference to the magazine and its author.\nIn 1907, Kraus attacked his erstwhile benefactor Maximilian Harden because of his role in the Eulenburg trial in the first of his spectacular Erledigungen (dispatches).\nAfter an obituary for Franz Ferdinand who had been assassinated in Sarajevo, Die Fackel was not published for many months. In the December of 1914, it appeared again with an essay titled\nIn dieser großen Zeit (In this grand time): „In dieser großen Zeit, die ich noch gekannt habe, wie sie so klein war; die wieder klein werden wird, wenn ihr dazu noch Zeit bleibt; […] in dieser lauten Zeit, die da dröhnt von der schauerlichen Symphonie der Taten, die Berichte hervorbringen, und der Berichte, welche Taten verschulden: in dieser da mögen Sie von mir kein eigenes Wort erwarten.“[2]\n(In this grand time that I still know from when it was very small; that will become small again if it has the time; […] in this loud time that resounds from the ghastly symphony of deeds that spawn reports, and from reports that are to blame for deeds: in this one, you may not expect any word of my own. In the subsequent time, Kraus wrote against the World War, and editions of Die Fackel were repeatedly confiscated or obstructed by censors.\nKraus’ masterpiece is generally considered to be the massive satiric play about the First World War, Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind), which combines dialogue from contemporary documents with apocalyptic fantasy and commentary from two characters called “the Grumbler” and “the Optimist”. The play was begun in 1915 and first published as a series of special Fackel issues in 1919. Its epilogue, Die letzte Nacht (The last night) had already been published in 1918 as a special issue. Edward Timms has called the work a “faulted masterpiece” and a “fissured text” because the evolution of Kraus’ attitude during the time of its composition (from aristocratic conservative to democratic republican) means that the text has structural inconsistencies resembling a geological fault.[cite this quote] Also in 1919, Kraus published his collected war texts under the title Weltgericht (World court of justice). In 1920, he published the satire Literatur oder Man wird doch da sehn (Literature or One will see there) as a reply to Franz Werfel’s Spiegelmensch (Mirror man), an attack against Kraus.\nDuring January of 1924, he started to fight against Imre Békessy, publisher of the tabloid Die Stunde (The hour). Békessy retaliated with a libel campagne against Kraus, who in turn launched an Erledigung with the catchphrase Hinaus aus Wien mit dem Schuft! (Throw the scoundrel out of Vienna). In 1926, Békessy indeed fled Vienna in order to avoid his being arrested. In the following year, Kraus unsuccessfully tried a similar undertaking against Johann Schober, police prefect during the forcefully suppressed July Revolt.\nIn 1928, the play Die Unüberwindlichen (The insurmountables) was published. It included allusions to the fights against Békessy and Schober. During that same year, Kraus also published the records of a lawsuit that Kerr had filed against him after Kraus had published Kerr’s war poems in Die Fackel.\nIn 1932, Kraus re-translated Shakespeare’s sonnets. He supported Engelbert Dollfuß, hoping Dollfuß could prevent Nazism from engulfing Austria. This estranged him from some of his followers. When asked why he never said anything about Hitler, he reportedly answered: “I cannot think of anything to say about Hitler.”\nHis last work, which he declined to publish for fear of Nazi reprisals, was the verbally rich, densely allusive anti-Nazi polemic Die Dritte Walpurgisnacht (The Third Walpurgisnacht). However, lengthy extracts appear in his apologia for his silence at Hitler’s coming to power, Warum die Fackel nicht erscheint (Why the Fackel Does Not Appear), a 315-page edition of his periodical. The last issue of the Fackel appeared in February of 1936. Karl Kraus died of an embolism of the heart in Vienna on June 12th, 1936 after a short illness.\nKraus never married, but from 1913 until his death, he had a conflict-prone but close relationship with the Baroness Sidonie Nádherný von Borutin (1885-1950). Many of his works were written in Janowitz castle, Nádherny family property. Sidonie Nádherny became an important pen-friend and addressee of books and poems.\nIn 1911 he was baptized as a Catholic, but in 1923 he left the Catholic Church, because he disapproved of the revival of the Salzburg Festival. He is buried in the Zentralfriedhof cemetery outside Vienna.\nKraus was the subject of two books written by noted libertarian author Dr.Thomas Szasz. Karl Kraus and the Soul Doctors and Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus’s Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry portrayed Kraus as a harsh critic of Sigmund Freud and of psychoanalysis in general. Other commentators, such as Edward Timms (Karl Kraus – Apocalyptic Satirist) have argued that Kraus respected Freud, though with reservations about the application of some of his theories, and that his views were far less black-and-white than Szasz suggests.\nPerson\nKarl Kraus has been a subject of opposing opinions throughout his lifetime. This polarisation was undoubtedly strengthened by his immense awareness of his own importance. This self-image was not completely unfounded: those who attended his performances were fascinated by his personality. His followers saw in him an infallible authority, someone who would do anything to help those he supported.\nTo the numerous enemies he made due to the inflexibility and intensity of his partisanship, however, he was a bitter misanthrope and poor would-be (Alfred Kerr). He was accused of wallowing in hateful denouncements and Erledigungen.\nKarl Kraus and language\nKarl Kraus was convinced that every little error, albeit of an importance that was seemingly limited in time and space, shows the great evils of the world and era. Thus, he could see in a missing comma a symptom of that state of the world that would allow a world war. One of the main points of his writings was to show the great evils inherent in such seemingly small errors.\nLanguage was to him the most important tell-tale for the wrongs of the world. He viewed his contemporaries’ careless treatment of language as a sign for their careless treatment of the world as a whole.\nErnst Křenek reported the following typical episode:\nAls man sich gerade über die Beschießung von Shanghai durch die Japaner erregte und ich Karl Kraus bei einem der berühmten Beistrich-Problemen antraf, sagte er ungefähr: Ich weiß, daß das alles sinnlos ist, wenn das Haus in Brand steht. Aber solange das irgend möglich ist, muß ich das machen, denn hätten die Leute, die dazu verpflichtet sind, immer darauf geachtet, daß die Beistriche am richtigen Platz stehen, so würde Shanghai nicht brennen.“[3]\n(At a time when one was generally decrying the bombardment of Shanghai by the Japanese, I met Karl Kraus struggling over one of his famous comma problems. He said something like: I know that everything is futile when the house is burning. But I have to do this, as long as it is at all possible; for if those who are obliged to look after commas had always made sure they were in the right place, then Shanghai would not be burning.)\nHe accused people — and most of all journalists and authors — of using language as a means that they believed to command rather than serving it as an end. To Kraus, language is not a means to distribute ready-made opinions, but rather the medium of thought itself. As such, it is in need of critical reflection. Therefore, dejournalising his readers was an important concern of Kraus in “a time that is thoroughly journalised, that is informed by the spirit but is deaf to the unity of form and contents”. He wanted to educate his readers to an “understanding of the cause of the German language, to that height at which the written word is understood as a necessary incarnation of the thought, and not simply a shell demanded by society around an opinion.”\nKraus maintained that language may not be entirely subjected to man’s wishes. Even in its most maimed state, it will still show the true state of the world. Even war enthusiasts will unwittingly point out the cruel butchery during the war when calling it Mordshetz (an Austrian word for great fun that can also be read as murderous chase).\nKraus saw the press as his supreme enemy and the “nether regions” of literature: his views on societal and cultural issues were less clearly defined, and his political preferences were shifting. He sympathized now with Social Democrats, now with Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In some ways, Kraus’ criticism prefigured contemporary critics of the press such as Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman. But it must not be forgotten that Kraus’ criticism was primarily moral, not political. Moreover, his cultural background was not that of the ‘New Left’ but instead that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: his emphasis on precision, and his dislike of rhetoric and the baroque demonstrates links between his views and those of Ludwig Wittgenstein (in his early works) and Adolf Loos, amongst others.\nSelected works:\nDie demolirte Literatur [Demolished Literature] (1897)\nEine Krone für Zion [A Crown for Zion] (1898)\nSittlichkeit und Kriminalität [Morality and Crimical Justice] (1908)\nSprüche und Widersprüche [Sayings and Contradictions] (1909)\nDie chinesische Mauer [The Wall of China] (1910)\nPro domo et mundo [For Home and for the World] (1912)\nNestroy und die Nachwelt [ Nestroy and Posterity](1913)\nWorte in Versen (1916-30)\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit (1918)\nWeltgericht [World Court] (1919)\nUntergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie [The End of the World Through Black Magic](1922)\nLiteratur (1921)\nTraumstück [Dream Piece] (1922)\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit: Tragödie in fünf Akten mit Vorspiel und Epilog [The Last Days of Mankind: Tragedy in Five Acts with Preamble and Epilogue] (1922)\nWolkenkuckucksheim [Cloud Cuckoo Land] (1923)\nTraumtheater [Dream Theatre] (1924)\nDie Unüberwindlichen [The Insurmountables] (1928)\nLiteratur und Lüge [Literature and Lies] (1929)\nShakespeares Sonette (1933)\nDie Sprache [Language] (posthumous, 1937)\nDie dritte Walpurgisnacht [The Third Walpurgis Night] (posthumous, 1952)\nSome work has been re-issued in recent years:\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit, Bühnenfassung des Autors, 1992 Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-22091-8\nDie Sprache, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37817-1\nDie chinesische Mauer, mit acht Illustrationen von Oskar Kokoschka, 1999, Insel, ISBN 3-458-19199-2\nAphorismen. Sprüche und Widersprüche. Pro domo et mundo. Nachts, 1986, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37818-X\nSittlichkeit und Krimininalität, 1987, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37811-2\nDramen. Literatur, Traumstück, Die unüberwindlichen u.a., 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37821-X\nLiteratur und Lüge, 1999, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37813-9\nShakespeares Sonette, Nachdichtung, 1977, Diogenes, ISBN 3-257-20381-0\nTheater der Dichtung mit Bearbeitungen von Shakespeare-Dramen, Suhrkamp 1994, ISBN 3-518-37825-2\nHüben und Drüben, 1993, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37828-7\nDie Stunde des Gerichts, 1992, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37827-9\nUntergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie, 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37814-7\nBrot und Lüge, 1991, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37826-0\nDie Katastrophe der Phrasen, 1994, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37829-5\nWorks in English translation\nThe Last Days of Mankind: a Tragedy in Five Acts (1974), an abridgement tr. Alexander Gode and Sue Allen Wright\nIn These Great Times: A Karl Kraus Reader (1984), ed. Harry Zohn, contains translated excerpts from Die Fackel, including poems with the original German text alongside, and a drastically abridged translation of The Last Days of Mankind.\nAnti-Freud: Karl Kraus’ Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry (1990) by Thomas Szasz contains Szasz’s translations of several of Kraus’ articles and aphorisms on psychiatry and psychoanalysis.\nDicta and Contradicta, tr. Jonathan McVity (2001), a collection of aphorisms.\nHalf Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths: selected aphorisms translated by Hary Zohn. Chicago (1990) ISBN 0226452689.\nReferences:\nquoted following Sprüche und Widersprüche (Sayings and Gainsayings), Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M. 1984, p. 42\nDie Fackel No. 404, December 1914, p. 1\nWeigel, Kraus oder die Macht der Ohnmacht (Kraus or the power of powerlessness), p. 128\nKarl Kraus by L. Liegler (1921)\nKarl Kraus by W. Benjamin (1931)\nKarl Kraus by R. von Schaukal (1933)\nKarl Kraus in Sebstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten by P. Schick (1965)\nThe Last Days of Mankind: Karl Kraus and His Vienna by Frank Field (1967)\nKarl Kraus by W.A. Iggers (1967)\nKarl Kraus by H. Zohn (1971)\nWittgenstein’s Vienna by A. Janik and S. Toulmin (1973)\nKarl Kraus and the Soul Doctors by T.S. Szasz (1976)\nMasks of the Prophet: The Theatrical World of Karl Kraus by Kari Grimstad (1981)\nMcGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, vol. 3, ed. by Stanley Hochman (1984)\nKarl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: Culture and Catastrophe in Habsburg Vienna by Edward Timms (1986) Yale University Press ISBN 0300044836 reviews: [1] [2] [3] [4]\nKarl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: The Post-War Crisis and the Rise of the Swastika by Edward Timms (2005)\nAnti-Freud: Karl Kraus’s Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry by Thomas Szasz (1990)\nThe Paper Ghetto: Karl Kraus and Anti-Semitism by John Theobald (1996)\nKarl Kraus and the Critics by Harry Zohn (1997)\nOtto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna by Chandak Sengoopta pp.6, 23, 35-36, 39-41, 43-44, 137, 141-45\nKarl Kraus (1874-1936)\nMay 6, 2008 at 10:03 pm | Posted in Books , Globalization , History , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , United Kingdom | Leave a comment\nCarlyle, “Signs of the Times”\nIn his essay “Signs of the Times” (1829), Thomas Carlyle declares his time to be a “Mechanical Age”–an age likely to produce “a mighty change in our whole manner of existence”\nThomas Carlyle:\nSigns of the Times: The “Mechanical Age”\n1829\nWere we required to characterise this age of ours by any single epithet, we should be tempted to call it, not an Heroical, Devotional, Philosophical, or Moral Age, but, above all others, the Mechanical Age.\nIt is the Age of Machinery, in every outward and inward sense of that word; the age which, with its whole undivided might, forwards, teaches and practises the great art of adapting means to ends. Nothing is now done directly, or by hand; all is by rule and calculated contrivance. For the simplest operation, some helps and accompaniments, some cunning abbreviating process is in readiness. Our old modes of exertion are all discredited, and thrown aside. On every hand, the living artisan is driven from his workshop, to make room for a speedier, inanimate one. The shuttle drops from the fingers of the weaver, and falls into iron fingers that ply it faster. The sailor furls his sail, and lays down his oar; and bids a strong, unwearied servant, on vaporous wings, bear him through the waters. Men have crossed oceans by steam; the Birmingham Fire-king has visited the fabulous East; and the genius of the Cape, were there any Cameons now to sing it, has again been alarmed, and with far stranger thunders than Gamas. There is no end to machinery. Even the horse is stripped of his harness, and finds a fleet firehorse yoked in his stead. Nay, we have an artist that hatches chickens by steam; the very brood-hen is to be superseded! For all earthly, and for some unearthly purposes, we have machines and mechanic furtherances; for mincing our cabbages; for casting us into magnetic sleep. We remove mountains, and make seas our smooth highway; nothing can resist us. We war with rude Nature; and, by our resistless engines, come off always victorious, and loaded with spoils.\nWhat wonderful accessions have thus been made, and are still making, to the physical power of mankind; how much better fed, clothed, lodged and, in all outward respects, accommodated men now are, or might be, by a given quantity of labour, is a grateful reflection which forces itself on every one. What changes, too, this addition of power is introducing into the Social System; how wealth has more and more increased, and at the same time gathered itself more and more into masses, strangely altering the old relations, and increasing the distance between the rich and the poor, will be a question for Political Economists, and a much more complex and important one than any they have yet engaged with.\nBut leaving these matters for the present, let us observe how the mechanical genius of our time has diffused itself into quite other provinces. Not the external and physical alone is now managed by machinery, but the internal and spiritual also. Here too nothing follows its spontaneous course, nothing is left to be accomplished by old natural methods. Everything has its cunningly devised implements, its preestablished apparatus; it is not done by hand, but by machinery. Thus we have machines for Education: Lancastrian machines; Hamiltonian machines; monitors, maps, and emblems. Instruction, that mysterious communing of Wisdom with Ignorance, is no longer an indefinable tentative process, requiring a study of individual aptitudes, and a perpetual variation of means and methods, to attain the same end; but a secure, universal, straightforward business, to be conducted in the gross, by proper mechanism, with such intellect as comes to hand. Then, we have Religious machines, of all imaginable varieties; the Bible-Society, professing a far higher and heavenly structure, is found, on inquiry, to be altogether an earthly contrivance: supported by collection of moneys, by fomenting of vanities, by puffing, intrigue and chicane; a machine for converting the Heathen. It is the same in all other departments. Has any man, or any society of men, a truth to speak, a piece of spiritual work to do; they can nowise proceed at once and with the mere natural organs, but must first call a public meeting, appoint committees, issue prospectuses, eat a public dinner; in a word, construct or borrow machinery, wherewith to speak it and do it. Without machinery they were hopeless, helpless; a colony of Hindoo weavers squatting in the heart of Lancashire.\nRICARDO:\nOn the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation\n“On Machinery” Chapter 31\nIn his famous Chapter 31 “On Machinery” (added in 1821 to the third edition of his Principles), he noted that technical progress requires the introduction of labor-saving machinery. This is costly to purchase and install, and so will reduce the wages fund. In this case, either wages must fall or workers must be fired. Some of these unemployed workers may be mopped up by the greater amount of accumulation that the extra profits will permit, but it might not be enough. A pool of unemployed might remain, placing downward pressure and wages and leading to the general misery of the working classes.\nTitle: On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation\nPublished: London: John Murray, 1821. Third edition.\nFirst published: 1817\nto the Third Edition\nPublished: London: John Murray, 1821. Third edition.\nIn this Edition I have endeavoured to explain more fully than in the last, my opinion on the difficult subject of VALUE, and for that purpose have made a few additions to the first chapter. I have also inserted a new chapter on the subject of MACHINERY, and on the effects of its improvement on the interests of the different classes of the State.\nMarch 26, 1821\n1822 Charles Babbage\nCharles Babbage FRS ( 26 December 1791 London , England – 18 October 1871 Marylebone , London , England ) was an English mathematician , philosopher , and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer . Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum . In 1991 a perfectly functioning difference engine was constructed from Babbage’s original plans. Built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage’s machine would have worked. Nine years later, the Science Museum completed the printer Babbage had designed for the difference engine, an astonishingly complex device for the 19th century. Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs.\nThe Difference Engine was designed to tabulate polynomial functions , and as both logarithmic and trigonometric functions can be approximated by polynomials, such a machine is more general than it appears at first.\nIn 1822, Charles Babbage proposed the use of such a machine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society on 14 June entitled “Note on the application of machinery to the computation of very big mathematical tables.” This machine used the decimal number system and was powered by cranking a handle. The British government initially financed the project, but withdrew funding when Babbage repeatedly asked for more money whilst making no apparent progress on building the machine. Babbage went on to design his much more general analytical engine but later produced an improved difference engine design (his “Difference Engine No. 2”) between 1847 and 1849. Inspired by Babbage’s difference engine plans, Per Georg Scheutz built several difference engines from 1855 onwards; one was sold to the British government in 1859. Martin Wiberg improved Scheutz’s construction but used his device only for producing and publishing printed logarithmic tables.\nBased on Babbage’s original plans, the London Science Museum constructed a working Difference Engine No. 2 from 1989 to 1991, under Doron Swade , the then Curator of Computing. This was to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Babbage’s birth. In 2000, the printer which Babbage originally designed for the difference engine was also completed. The conversion of the original design drawings into drawings suitable for engineering manufacturers’ use revealed some minor errors in Babbage’s design, which had to be corrected.\nOnce completed, both the engine and its printer worked flawlessly, and still do. The difference engine and printer were constructed to tolerances achievable with 19th century technology, resolving a long-standing debate whether Babbage’s design would actually have worked. (One of the reasons formerly advanced for the non-completion of Babbage’s engines had been that engineering methods were insufficiently developed in the Victorian era.) In addition to funding the construction of the output mechanism for the Science Museum’s Difference Engine No. 2, Nathan Myhrvold commissioned the construction of a second complete Difference Engine No. 2, which will be on exhibit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California from 10 May 2008 through April 2009\nFrom 1828 to 1839 Babbage was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. He contributed largely to several scientific periodicals, and was instrumental in founding the Astronomical Society in 1820 and the Statistical Society in 1834. However, he dreamt of designing mechanical calculating machines.\n“… I was sitting in the rooms of the Analytical Society, at Cambridge, my head leaning forward on the table in a kind of dreamy mood, with a table of logarithms lying open before me. Another member, coming into the room, and seeing me half asleep, called out, “Well, Babbage, what are you dreaming about?” to which I replied “I am thinking that all these tables” (pointing to the logarithms) “might be calculated by machinery. “\n \nApril 22, 2008 at 2:18 am | Posted in Books , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology | Leave a comment\nMind in Life\nEvan Thompson\nNeurophenomenology\nHow is life related to the mind? The question has long confounded philosophers and scientists, and it is this so-called explanatory gap between biological life and consciousness that Evan Thompson explores in Mind in Life.\nThompson draws upon sources as diverse as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, artificial life, complex systems theory, neuroscience, psychology, Continental Phenomenology, and analytic philosophy to argue that mind and life are more continuous than has previously been accepted, and that current explanations do not adequately address the myriad facets of the biology and phenomenology of mind. Where there is life, Thompson argues, there is mind: life and mind share common principles of self-organization, and the self-organizing features of mind are an enriched version of the self-organizing features of life. Rather than trying to close the explanatory gap, Thompson marshals philosophical and scientific analyses to bring unprecedented insight to the nature of life and consciousness. This synthesis of phenomenology and biology helps make Mind in Life a vital and long-awaited addition to his landmark volume The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (coauthored with Eleanor Rosch and Francisco Varela).\nEndlessly interesting and accessible, Mind in Life is a groundbreaking addition to the fields of the theory of the mind, life science, and phenomenology.\nDr. Thompson is currently writing a new book entitled Buddha and the Brain: Contemplative Neuroscience and the Nature of Consciousness, which explores how Asian contemplative traditions and Western mind-brain science can collaborate beyond the science/religion divide in order to create new ways of scientifically investigating human consciousness and of fostering contemplative wisdom and cognitive spirituality.\nEditorial Reviews\nReview\nThe overarching topic of Thompson’s book is nothing less than the nature of life and mind, where life and mind are conceived not as they often are–that is, as fundamentally separate subjects in need of largely nonintersecting theoretical frameworks–but rather as tightly intertwined phenomena in need of a common explanatory language. The long-anticipated follow-up to The Embodied Mind, this book is even better–clear, lively, original, and compelling. Mind in Life is a work for which a great number of thinkers in philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences have been eagerly waiting.\n–Michael Wheeler, author of Reconstructing the Cognitive World: The Next Step\nEvan Thompson has emerged as a major presence in the science of the mind. His new book is quite wonderful to read, and I found it impossible to put down. In particular, his discussion of Husserl’s phenomenology is a revelation, as are his reasons for reversing his former criticisms of Husserl. His discussion of one of the central issues driving modern cognitive neuroscience, the binding problem, is particularly valuable and should compel a major reexamination of experiments being carried out in this field. Evan Thompson is doing important work in re-framing the very questions that define cognitive science.\n–Merlin Donald, Case Western Reserve University\nThere is no deeper prison of the modern mind than the Cartesian legacy that splits mind from life, and no more arduous climb to escape. Thompson provides a topo map–rich, multifaceted, superbly documented–by detailing the work of the many (but relatively few among contemporary scientists and philosophers) who recognize the impasse and strive to transcend it.\n–Walter J. Freeman, author of How Brains Make Up Their Minds\nNeurophenomenology is the majestic method we naturalists have been seeking to blend experience, behavior, and the brain. This long-awaited book will open up the discussion of what experience is and where it is, and how we explain the connection between the objective world of physical activity and that of pain, love, and imagining. Thompson enacts the method he espouses, neurophenomenology, in each chapter with in-depth examples that mind scientists will find compelling. A tour de force!\n–Owen Flanagan\nIs Mind continuous with Life? Can better phenomenology improve our scientific understanding of consciousness and cognition? In this elegant and thought-provoking treatment, Evan Thompson explores a vision of mind and life that traces a path from simple cellular organizations all the way to consciousness, intersubjectivity, and culture. A wonderful and important journey, and a compulsory trip for all those interested in the explanation of mind and experience.\n–Andy Clark, author of Being There: Putting Brain, Body and World Together Again\nThough modesty prevents him from claiming an original theory or dramatic new synthesis, in Mind in Life, one of the world’s top philosophers offers a brilliant and inspired treatise into the so-called “explanatory gap” between life and mind, nature and consciousness. Thompson stands apart in his ability to link objective descriptions of life and mind with our subjective experience of them. Here he weaves the phenomenological analysis of experience and the latest developments in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and biology into a rich coordinated whole in which life and mind are seen to be intrinsically and essentially dynamic and self-organizing. Curious people who want to appreciate this hard won insight and better understand the deep continuity of life and mind will want to read this unique and illuminating book.\n–J.A. Scott Kelso, author of Dynamic Patterns: the Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior and (with David A. Engstrom) co-author of The Complementary Nature.\nBook Description\nHow is life related to the mind? The question has long confounded philosophers and scientists, and it is this so-called explanatory gap between biological life and consciousness that Evan Thompson explores in Mind in Life.\nThompson draws upon sources as diverse as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, artificial life, complex systems theory, neuroscience, psychology, Continental Phenomenology, and analytic philosophy to argue that mind and life are more continuous than has previously been accepted, and that current explanations do not adequately address the myriad facets of the biology and phenomenology of mind. Where there is life, Thompson argues, there is mind: life and mind share common principles of self-organization, and the self-organizing features of mind are an enriched version of the self-organizing features of life. Rather than trying to close the explanatory gap, Thompson marshals philosophical and scientific analyses to bring unprecedented insight to the nature of life and consciousness. This synthesis of phenomenology and biology helps make Mind in Life a vital and long-awaited addition to his landmark volume The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (coauthored with Eleanor Rosch and Francisco Varela).\nEndlessly interesting and accessible, Mind in Life is a groundbreaking addition to the fields of the theory of the mind, life science, and phenomenology.\nProduct Details:\nApril 14, 2008 at 3:35 am | Posted in Books , History , Philosophy | Leave a comment\nOverdetermination\nOverdetermination, the idea that a single observed effect is determined by multiple causes at once (any one of which alone might be enough to account for the effect), was originally a key concept of Sigmund Freud ‘s psychoanalysis .\nFor Freud and Psychoanalysis\nFreud wrote in The Interpretation of Dreams that many features of dreams were usually “overdetermined,” in that they were caused by multiple factors in the life of the dreamer, from the “residue of the day” (superficial memories of recent life) to deeply repressed traumas and unconscious wishes, these being “potent thoughts”. Freud favored interpretations which accounted for such features not only once, but many times, in the context of various levels and complexes of the dreamer’s psyche.\nThe concept was later borrowed for a variety of other realms of thought.\nIn the Philosophy of Causation\nIn contemporary analytic philosophy an event or state of affairs is said to be overdetermined if there are more than one distinct, sufficient causes of it. Whereas there may unproblematically be recognised many different necessary conditions of the event’s occurrence, no two distinct events may lay claim to be sufficient conditions, since this would lead to overdetermination. A much used example is that of firing squads, the members of which simultaneously firing at and ‘killing’ their targets. Apparently, no one member can be said to have caused the victims’ deaths, since they would have been killed anyway. Overdetermination is problematic in particular from the viewpoint of a standard counterfactual understanding of causation, according to which an event is the cause of another event if and only if the latter would not have occurred, had the former not occurred. In order to employ this formula to actual complex situations, implicit or explicit conditions need to be accepted to be circumstantial, since the list of counterfactually acceptable causes would otherwise be impractically long (e.g. the earth’s continued existence could be said to be the (necessary) cause of one drinking one’s coffee). Unless a circumstance-clause is included, the putative cause to which one wishes to draw attention could never be considered sufficient, and hence not comply with the counterfactual analysis.\nFor Richards and literature\nThe New Critic I.A. Richards used the idea of overdetermination in order to explain the importance of ambiguity : in rhetoric , the philosophy of language , and literary criticism .\nFor Althusser and Structuralist Marxism\nThe Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser imported the concept into Marxist politics in an influential essay, “Contradiction and Overdetermination”. Drawing, in an unusual combination, from both Freud and Mao Zedong , Althusser used the idea of overdetermination as a way of thinking about the multiple, often opposed, forces active at once in any political situation, without falling into an over-simple idea of these forces being simply “contradictory.” Brewster, in Althusser et al’s Reading Capital defines overdetermination as such:\n“the representation of dream thoughts in images privileged by their condensation of a number of thoughts in a single image (condensation), or by the transference of psychic energy from a particularly potent thought to apparently trivial things … [For Althusser] overdetermination of a contradiction is the reflection in it of its conditions of existence within the complex whole.”\nThus, for Althusser’s reiterating of Marxist thought, overdetermination is what [concealed/unaccepted] “determinant contradictions”, or capital-economic incongruities (i.e., abstract labour resulting in “isolation” — the class struggle), which are analogous to Freud’s “potent thoughts”, apply to instances that are more really, slight, understandable. An instance of a popular riot calling for revolution could exemplify this. The event has to it, in capitalist culture, an over-application (determination) of agitation. The determinant contradictions (the reasons for popular revolt) are not addressed and so their great mass is “displaced” onto the singular event.\nFor Baudrillard and Theoretical Sociology towards a Theory of Hyperreality\nAnother conception of overdetermination is present in the later writings of Jean Baudrillard . His derives from Althusser’s conception, but breaks with it just as Baudrillard breaks with structural Marxism in general.\nReferences\nLouis Althusser. “Contradiction and Overdetermination.” In For Marx Verso 1985 ISBN 0-902308-79-3\nLouis Althusser et al. Reading Capital Verso 1993 ISBN 1-85984-164-3\nSigmund Freud. The Interpretation of Dreams HarperCollins 1976 ISBN 0-89966-441-5 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-380-01000-3 (Paperback)\nI.A. Richards. The Philosophy of Rhetoric Oxford University Press 1965 ISBN 0-415-21738-5 (Library Binding) ISBN 0-19-500715-8 (Paperback)\nOverdetermination\nApril 12, 2008 at 2:02 am | Posted in Asia , Books , Germany , Globalization , Japan , Philosophy | Leave a comment\nTetsuro Watsuji\n( March 1 , 1889 – December 26 , 1960 )\nLife\nWatsuji was born in Himeji , Hyōgo Prefecture to a physician. During his youth he enjoyed poetry and had a passion for Western literature. For a short time he was the coeditor of a literary magazine and was involved in writing poems and plays. His interests in Philosophy came to light while he was a student at First Higher School in Tokyo, although his interest in literature would always remain strong throughout his life. In his early writings (between 1913 and 1915) he introduced the work of Soren Kierkegaard to Japan, as well as working on Friedrich Nietzsche , but in 1918 he turned against this earlier position, criticizing Western philosophical individualism , and attacking its influence on Japanese thought and life. This led to a study of the roots of Japanese culture, including Japanese Buddhist art , and notably the work of the mediæval Zen Buddhist Dogen . Watsuji was also interested in the famous Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki , whose books were influential during\nWatsuji’s early years.\nIn 1925 Watsuji became professor of ethics at Kyoto University , joining the other leading philosophers of the time, Nishida Kitaro and Tanabe Hajime . He held the university’s chair in ethics from 1934 until 1949. During World War II his ethical theories (which claimed the superiority of Japanese approaches to and understanding of human nature and ethics, and argued for the negation of self) provided support for certain nationalistic, military factions — a fact which, after the war, he said that he regretted.\nWatsuji died at the age of seventy-one, his philosophical influence in Japan continuing long after his death.\nWork\nWatsuji’s three main works were his two-volume 1954 History of Japanese Ethical Thought, his three-volume Rinrigaku (Ethics), first published in 1937, 1942, and 1949, and his 1935 Fudo. The last of these develops his most distinctive thought. In it, Watsuji argues for an essential relationship between climate and other environmental factors and the nature of human cultures, and he distinguished three types of culture: pastoral, desert, and monsoon. (The French philosopher Montesquieu had developed a theory along similar lines, though with very different conclusions.)\nWritings\n1961–1963: Watsuji Tetsurō Zenshū (Complete Works of Tetsuro Watsuji) 20 volumes (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten)\nEnglish translations\n1988: Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study trans. from Fudo by Geoffrey Bownas (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press)\n1996: Watsuji Tetsurō’s Rinrigaku: Ethics in Japan trans. from Rinigaku by Seisaku Yamamoto & Robert Carter (Albany: State University of New York Press)\nIn this Japanese name , the family name is Watsuji.\nName\nb. Mar 22, 1914 in Osaka, Japan – d. Aug 15, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan\ncountry/nation/culture: Japanese\nfield of study: history of political thought, history of philosophy, history of social institutions\nMain Works\nNihon seiji shisôshi kenkyû, 1952 (Studies in the Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan, 1974)\nSeiji no sekai [The World of Politics], 1952\nGendai seiji no shisô to kôdô, 2 vols., 1956 (Thought and Behavior in modern Japanese Politics, 1963; enlarged edition 1969)\nNihon no shisô, 1957 (Japanese Thought, 1964)\nKindai Nihon no shisô to bungaku – Hitotsu no kêsu sutadi to shite [Thought and Literature in modern Japan], 1959\nChûsei to Hangyaku, 1960 (Loyalty and Rebellion, 1996)\nRekishi ishiki no ‘kosô [The old Substrata of historical Consciousness], 1972\nBiography\nMasao Maruyama was the son of the journalist Kanji Maruyama. He took all his degrees from Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied from 1934. Upon receiving his doctorate 1937, Maruyama started teaching. In 1940, he was named professor at the Faculty of Law, then a prestigious school that trained the political and economic elite of Japan. Though first posted to northern Korea in 1944, he was then sent to Hiroshima, where he remained until the end of the war. In 1950 Maruyama became the first holder of the chair in history of political ideas. He resigned in 1971 for health reasons. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences of Japan, a foreign member of the Royal Society of Great Britain, and Doctor honoris causa of both Harvard and Princeton Universities.\nCharacterization\nBefore and during the Second World War, much intellectual discussion in Japan sought to find a basis for an irrational rejection of Western values, by promoting the notion of overcoming modernity. In that climate, Maruyama published three articles, brought together into Nihon seiji shisôshi kenkyû. With unrivaled erudition, Maruyama set out here the problematic that would constitute the principal direction of all his work: the question of modernity, or rather non-modernity, of Japan.\nMaruyama found significant how the dominant neo-Confucianism of the School of Zhuxi (1130-1200) was questioned by the Confucian circles of the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868). The innovators preferred a new mode of thought, brilliantly set out by Ogyû Sorai (1666-1728), founded upon the absolutization of the Confucian saints (in parallel with European absolutism in politics). Maruyama saw in Sorai’s thought a progressive dissolution of a continuist, naturalist mode of thought, which set out a mode of social relations analogous to that of Gemeinschaft, moving toward the birth of a new type of reflection which promoted historical consciousness, itself the precursor of modern consciousness. Maruyama also showed that the thought of the Tokugawa Period could be seen as a part of a continuous evolution toward modernity. However, Maruyama saw that despite the sometimes brilliant application of Sorai’s methodology in his school, especially in the work of Moto’ori Noringa (1730-1801), the evolution toward modernity and the values that it carries (universalism, democracy and nationalism) was aborted, and made Japanese modernity a very particular combination of ultra-modernity and pre-modernity, hence precipitating the catastrophe that is all too well known.\nIn an article “Chôkokkashugi no ronri to shinri” [Theory and Psychology of Ultra-Nationalism] (reprinted in: Gendai seiji no shisô to kôdô) Maruyama showed in 1946 that Japanese fascism, far from representing an accidental deviation, constituted the logical endpoint of an evolution that had begun in the Meiji Period, when imperial power had arrogated to itself all power to create values, leaving the society in a psychological paralysis that produced a generalized irresponsibility.\nNihon no shisô, a concise and penetrating essay, has become one of Maruyama’s most famous. He understands the state of thought in Japan as a space in which many disparate ways of thought exist together without orderly relation, a result of an unstructured tradition. In the various essays published as Gendai seiji no shisô to kôdô, the author, in setting out the methodological foundations of research on Japanese fascism, sets out to attribute an intellectual autonomy to the history of political ideas. Maruyama engages in his own revision of his initial theory on the history of modernization, especially in Chusei to Hangyaku, where he carries out a critique of his own work: the notion of loyalty at the outset of the Tokugawa Period referred to a loyalty toward the system, but the regime of the late nineteenth century would reinterpret it in terms of loyalty to origins, which is to say to the imperial house, allowing the imperial party to be the key element in overcoming the rule of the shoguns. Maruyama would later admit to a 180-degree turn in his understanding of the history of ideas of the Tokugawa Period.\nMethod\nMaruyama never ceased to assert the importance of method, including this term (hōhō) in the very title of some essays. Like the great majority of Japanese intellectuals of his time, Maruyama was greatly influenced by Marxist thought, but, as Maruyama himself points out, the influence of Marxism as an intellectual movement is not at all limited to the ideology of the left. When Marxism identifies a base or infrastructure that underlies many substructures, it also proposes an exhaustive explanation of changes that affect social systems. If the Japanese threw themselves into great leaps of thought, it was through the influence of Marxism that they had been able to meet the universalism of the Renaissance and the critical spirit of the Enlightenment.\nMaruyama, who was deeply imbued with German thought, read Marxist philosophy in a way that was profoundly tributary to the neo-Kantian philosophers of Heidelberg like Wilhelm Windelband (whom he cites often) and Heinrich Rickert, who both attempted to reconcile history and science, and to find an adequate place for consciousness, ethics and values inside the process of scientific knowledge. Hence, considered in a humanist perspective, alienation represents the sacrifice of personal autonomy. Maruyama also feels indebted to Karl Mannheim for discussing the autonomous existence of history as a discipline, thanks to the positive status he gives to the facts of consciousness.\nMaruyama even claimed an idealist vision of things: idealism, by his account, does not in itself imply a lack of realism. It is, on the contrary, the failure to adhere to values that transcend reality that makes us become the plaything of circumstances, and which permitted the triumph of fascism and state repression. Reality is not objective but derives from a ceaseless creation of values: it is no more than a construction emanating from autonomous personalities, taking on the responsibility for attributing values: Confucian saints, a certain period, the promoters of pacifism in the aftermath of World War Two.\nImpact\nThe influence of Maruyama’s work was, and remains today, immense in Japan. Besides determining the direction of future studies on the Tokugawa Period, his writing renewed the question of modernity in Japan. In the aftermath of the war, Maruyama was not content with the sham democracy imposed by the occupying power. Often compared to Sartre in his influence over young people, he played an important role as an opinion leader in postwar democratic Japan. He participated actively in debating such questions as the responsibility of Emperor Hirohito or of the Communist Party during the war, and above all, the question of renewing the Treaty of Peace and Security with the USA. This last debate gave him much opportunity to plead for Japanese pacifism, of which he was one of the great theoreticians.\nJapanization of Mostly German Ideas:\nWatsuji Tetsuro & Maruyama Masao\nDr. Alois Hudal, Roman Catholic\nbishop – and, during the 1930s, a\nTitle page of the book\nThe Foundations of National Socialism\n(1937)\nPicture of Theodor Kardinal Innitzer above\nHUDAL:\nAlois Hudal (also known as Luigi Hudal; born 31 May 1885 in Graz, Austro-Hungarian Empire; died 13 May 1963 in Rome, Italy) was a Rome-based bishop of Austrian descent. He is famous for his 1937 book The Foundations of National Socialism, in which he praised Hitler and some of his policies, and for the “ratline” he helped to establish after the end of World War II, allowing prominent Nazi war criminals to escape trial.\nBiography\nA career in Rome\nBishop Alois Hudal was born on 31 May 1885, the son of a shoemaker in the Austrian city of Graz, where he studied theology (1904-1908) and was ordained to the priesthood in July 1908. Though the professorate promised to him at Vienna’s university was never given, Hudal became a noted specialist on the liturgy, doctrine and spirituality of the Slavic-speaking Eastern Orthodox Churches. He ministered as a parish chaplain in Kindberg, before leaving to study in Rome. In 1911 he became a Doctor in Theolgy in Graz. After completing his doctorate studies, he entered the Pontifical College of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome where he was a chaplain (1911-1913), attending courses in Old Testament at the Biblical Institute. There he took his second doctoral degree, on Die religioesen und sittlichen Ideen des Spruchbuches (“The religious and moral ideas of the Book of Proverbs”). This dissertation was published in 1914. He took residency in the faculty for Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz in 1914. He was an assistant military chaplain during a period of service in the First World War. In 1917 he published his sermons to the soldiers, Soldatenpredigten (see below his selected works), in which he expressed the idea that “loyalty to the flag is loyalty to God”, though also warning against “national chauvinism” at that time [1]. In 1923 he was nominated rector of the Collegio Teutonico di Santa Maria dell’Anima (or simply “Anima”) in Rome, a theological seminary for German and Austrian priests where he had lodged as a doctorate student[2]. In 1930 he was appointed a consultant to the Holy Office by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, whom Hudal in his memoirs considered a “grand seigneur of the Church” [3]. In June 1933 Hudal was ordained Titular Bishop of Aela by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who succeeded Merry del Val as the cardinal protector of the German national church at Rome [4]. Hudal was also a protégé of Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, ten years his elder and Archbishop of Vienna from 1932 to 1955.\nWinds of nationalism and anti-Semitism\nFrom 1933 on, Hudal embraced publicly the pan-Germanic nationalism he had previously condemned, proclaiming on July of that year that he always wished to be a “servant and herald” of “the total German cause” [5]. His invectives against the Jews also became more frequent, linking the so-called “Semitic race” – which allegedly “sought to set itself apart and dominate” – with the nefarious movements of democracy and cosmopolitanism and even denouncing an alleged Jewish conspiracy to become “the financial masters of the Eternal City” [6]. His opportunism and duplicity are patent in several moves he made at the time. For example, he was capable of writing a preface to an Italian biography of Engelbert Dollfuss in 1935 without mentioning that the Austrian politician with whom he sympathized had been murdered by Austrian Nazis in the previous year. [7]\nBolshevism and Liberalism as enemies\nHudal was a committed anti-Communist, but he also vehemently opposed Liberalism. Before Nazism, he was already highly critical of Parliamentary Democracy. His ideas were most similar to the political and economic ideas of his fellow Austrians Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg, as well as Franz von Papen in Germany, Salazar in Portugal and, in a less clear way, of Benito Mussolini in Italy. According to Greg Whitlock, “Hudal squarely fitted into a formula current at the time, the category of Clero-Fascism.”[8] Don Luigi Sturzo, the exiled Italian Catholic priest and Christian Democrat leader coined the term ‘Clerical-Fascism’ in the mid-20s to refer specifically to the faction of the Catholic party Italian People’s Party (Partito Popolare Italiano-PPI) who chose to support Mussolini. It was used afterwards to describe various authoritarian situations and regimes supported by members of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, including Dollfuss’s politics (Clerical Fascism and Austrofascism).\nHudal was most concerned about the class conflict tearing apart European society, in particular the rise of the international Communist movement and worker parties in Austria. Fear of “Bolshevism”, as he called it, was his starting point, but this feeling turned into an aggressive political doctrine towards Russia: “Essential to understanding Hudal’s politics is his fear that Bolshevist military forces would invade Italy through Eastern Europe or the Balkans and would be unstoppable until they destroyed the Church. Like many within the Church, he embraced the bulwark theory, which placed hope in a strong German-Austrian military shield to protect Rome. This protection involved a pre-emptive attack on godless Communism, Hudal believed, and so he felt an urgent need for a Christian army from Central Europe to invade Russia and eliminate the Bolshevist threat to Rome” [9].\nHowever, Communism was not his sole (and surely not his oldest) concern about Russia, since he was aiming at Eastern Christianity as well. In fact, Hudal’s long-term goals were also “the reunification of Rome with the Eastern Orthodox Church and the conversion of the Balkans from the Serbian Orthodox Church to Catholicism” [10]. He expected that the invasion of the Soviet Union would also serve these fundamental aims. Especially since Pope Benedict XV and the Russian Revolution of 1917, which crushed the Russian Orthodox Church and was regarded by Catholics as a historical opportunity, Rome was anxious about ending the thousand-year East-West Schism that separated Christianity [11].\n“Good” and “bad” National Socialism\nHudal is said to have received a Golden Nazi Party membership badge [12], but the fact is disputed. In 1937, in Vienna, Hudal published a book entitled The Foundations of National Socialism, with an imprimatur from Archbishop Innitzer, which was an enthusiastic endorsement of Hitler. Hudal sent Hitler a copy with a handwritten dedicacy praising him as “the new Siegfried of Germany’s greatness” [13]. Nevertheless, the book was not allowed to circulate freely in Germany by the Nazis — who generally detested the Roman Catholic Church and did not wish its leading members to “clericalize” their ranks — though it was not banned. During the Nuremberg trials, Franz von Papen declared that, at first, Hudal’s book had “very much impressed” Hitler, whose “anti-Christian advisers” were allegedly to blame for not allowing a free German edition. “All I could obtain was permission to print 2,000 copies, which Hitler wanted to distribute among leading Party members for a study of the problem”, Von Papen said.[14]\nHudal was highly critical of the works of several Nazi ideologues, like Alfred Rosenberg or Ernst Bergmann, who despised Christianity and considered it “alien to Germanic genius” [15]. The condemnation in 1934 by the Holy Office of Reich secretary Alfred Rosenberg’s The Myth of the Twentieth Century and, shortly thereafter, of Ernst Bergmann’s The German National Church had in fact been based on Hudal’s secret assessment of both works [16] In his own 1937 book, Alois Hudal proposed a reconciliation and a compromise between Nazism and Christianity, leaving the education of the youth to the Churches, while the latter would leave politics entirely to National Socialism. This had been the line followed by prominent German Catholic politician and former Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen too. In the autumn of 1934, Hudal had already explained this strategy to Pius XI, who received him in audience: the “good” ought to be separated from the “bad” in Nazism. The bad – that is Rosenberg, Bergmann and others – according to Hudal represented the “left wing” of the Nazi party. The “conservatives” – headed, he believed, by Hitler – should be redirected toward Rome, Christianized and used against the Communists and the Eastern danger [17]. This may help explain why Hitler’s hate-filled book, Mein Kampf was never put on the Index by Rome, as censors continually postponed and eventually terminated its examination, balking at taking on the “legal” chancellor of Germany [18]. Hudal saw the danger in Hitler’s entourage, not in his person. More than Hitler, he feared Baldur von Schirach’s influence over the German youth.\nThe reaction of Rosenberg to Hudal’s ideas was violent, and eventually the circulation of the Foundations of National Socialism was restricted in Germany. “We do not allow the fundaments of the Movement to be analyzed and criticized by a Roman Bishop” – said Rosenberg [19]. In 1935, even before he wrote the Foundations of National Socialism, Hudal had said about Rosenberg: “If National Socialism wants to replace Christianity by the notions of race and blood, we will have to face the greatest heresy of the twentieth century. It must be rejected by the Church as decisively as, if not more severely than […] the Action Française, with which it shares some errors. But Rosenberg’s doctrine is more imbued with negation and creates, above all in the youth, a hatred against Christianity greater than that of Nietzsche” [20].\nDespite the restrictions imposed on his book, and despite many harsh National Socialist restrictions against German monasteries and parishes, and effective attempts by the Nazi government to forbid Catholic education at schools, going as far as banning the crucifix in schools and other public areas (see the Oldenburg crucifix struggle of November 1936), even despite the Nazi dissolution and confiscation of Austrian monasteries and the official banning of Catholic newspapers and associations in annexed Austria (“Ostmark”), Bishop Hudal remained close to some of the Nazi regime’s officials, as he was convinced that the Nazi new order would nevertheless prevail. Hudal was particularly close to Franz von Papen, who as the Reich’s ambassador in Vienna prepared the German-Austrian agreement of 11 July 1936, which paved the way for the Anschluss. This agreement was enthusiastically backed by Hudal in the Austrian press, against the position of several Austrian Bishops.[21] The former Centre politician Von Papen, who was considered dangerous and disliked by the Nazis for his Catholicism, was later on sent to the German Embassy in Ankara.\nRatline organizer\nAt the end of the war, Hudal, who was already “Commissioner of the Episcopate for German speaking Catholics in Italy, as well as Father Confessor to Rome’s German community”[22], became involved with processing displaced persons. In 1944, when the Pope’s Pontifical Commission of Assistance (PCA) was divided into some 20 regional subcommittees, the Austrian section (Assistenza Austriaca) was placed under Hudal’s control.[23] This allowed him and other PCA priests to piece together their network and organise the escape of war criminals such as Franz Stangl, commanding officer of Treblinka. Stangl himself told Gitta Sereny [24] that he went looking for Hudal in Rome, because he had heard that the bishop was helping the Germans. Hudal arranged quarters in Rome for him till his papers came through, then gave him money and a Red Cross passport with a visa to Syria. Stangl then left for Damascus, where the bishop had found him a job in a textile factory[25]. Other highly prominent Nazi war criminals helped by the Hudal network were SS captain Edward Roschmann, known as the “Butcher of Riga”, doctor Josef Mengele, known as the “Angel of Death” at Auschwitz, Gustav Wagner, commanding officer of Sobibor, Alois Brunner, organizer of deportations from France and Slovakia to German concentration camps, and above all Adolf Eichmann, the man who had been put in charge of implementing the murder of European Jewry[26]. In 1994 Erich Priebke, a former SS captain, told Italian journalist Emanuela Audisio, of La Repubblica, that bishop Hudal helped him reach Buenos Aires, which was later admitted by Vatican historian Robert Graham SJ [27].\nIn 1945 Hudal gave refuge in Rome to Otto Wächter, who had played a leading role in the July Putsch of 1934 in Austria, which led to the assassination of Dollfuss. In 1938-1939, he headed the “Wächter-Kommission”, the government body named after him that was responsible for the dismissal and/or compulsory retirement of all Jewish officials in Austria.[28]. From 1939 on, as governor of the Cracow district, Wächter organized the persecution of the Jews and ordered the establishment of the Cracow Ghetto in 1941. Wächter is mentioned as one of the leading advocates in the General Government who were in favor of the Jewish extermination by gassing and as a member of the SS team who under Himmler’s supervision and Odilo Globocnik’s direction planned Operation Reinhard, the first phase of the Final Solution, leading to the death of more than 2,000,000 Polish Jews[29]. After the war Wächter lived in a Roman monastery “as a monk”[30], under the protection of Bishop Hudal. He died on July 14, 1949, in the Roman hospital of Santo Spirito “in the arms” of Bishop Hudal[31].\nResignation and death\nHudal’s activities caused a press scandal in 1947, after he was accused of leading a Nazi smuggling ring by the Passauer Neue Presse, a Catholic newspaper, but he only resigned as rector of Santa Maria dell’Anima in 1952, under pressure from the German and Austrian bishops and the Holy See. In January 1952, the Bishop of Salzburg told Hudal that the Holy See wanted to dismiss him. In June Hudal announced to the cardinal protector of Santa Maria dell’Anima that he had decided to leave the College, though disapproving of the Church allegedly being governed by the Allies.[32] He resided afterwards in Grottaferrata, near the city of Rome, where in 1962 he wrote his embittered memoirs called Römische Tagebücher. Lebensbeichte eines alten Bischofs (Diaries of Rome. The Confession of Life of an Old Bishop), published posthumously in 1976. Until his death in 1963, he never gave up in trying to obtain an amnesty to Nazis.[33] Despite his protests against anti-Semitism in the 1930s, in his memoirs, with full knowledge of the Holocaust as of 1962, the “Brown Bishop” [34] said of his actions in favour of war criminals and genocide perpetrators and participants: “I thank God that He opened my eyes and allowed me to visit and comfort many victims in their prisons and concentration camps and [to help] them escape with false identity papers” — where these so-called “victims” were in fact Axis prisoners of war and their “concentration camps” Allied detention camps.[35]\nCloseness to the Vatican\nHudal’s promotion to Bishop has been cited as evidence that he had close ties to members of the Roman Curia, particularly Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (an ex-Secretary of State who died as early as 1930), and Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pius XII who had previously been Papal Nuncio in Germany. Given Hudal’s open sympathy for National Socialism since the 1930s, it is very meaningful that he was given work with refugees after the war, and that he was chosen to minister to German internees in Italy. The Vatican, which was involved in a great deal of post-war humanitarian work concerning displaced persons, arranged for him to have an Allied travel pass for this purpose. One may wonder why the head of a Roman college would be given this task. Hudal’s successor as rector of the Anima in 1952, Father Jakob Weinbacher, future Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna (1962-1985), recalled in an interview with Gitta Sereny that “Hudal was very close to Pius XII… they were friends”.[36] A more recent rector, Dr. Johannes Nedbal admitted instead that Hudal was very close to Pius XI.[37]\nSome historians take the view that Hudal was only a small player whose Ratline activities did not reflect any official policy at all. In particular, Catholic historians like Robert A. Graham (1913-1997) – an American Jesuit and a longtime Vatican operative who was co-editor of the 11-volume Acts and Documents of the Holy See relative to the Second World War[38] – estimated Hudal as “small fish” and as someone who was acting on his own behalf.\nIn 1999, however, Italian researcher Matteo Sanfilippo revealed a letter drafted on 31 August 1948 by Bishop Hudal to Argentinian President Juan Perón, requesting 5,000 visas, 3,000 for German and 2,000 for Austrian «soldiers» [39]. In the letter Hudal explained that these were not (Nazi) refugees, but anti-Communist fighters whose wartime «sacrifice» had saved Europe from Soviet domination. [40] According to Argentine researcher Uki Goñi, the documents he uncovered in 2003 show the Roman Catholic Church was also deeply involved in the secret network. “The Perón government authorized the arrival of the first Nazi collaborators [in Argentina], as a result of a meeting in March 1946 between Antonio Caggiano, a [newly elevated] Argentine cardinal, and Eugène Tisserant, a French cardinal attached to the Vatican”.[41]\nA French Jesuit historian, Fr. Pierre Blet, another co-editor of the above-cited Acts and Documents, only mentioned Hudal to signal his role, at the direct request of the pope’s nephew Carlo Pacelli, for the contacts of the Vatican with the Nazi authorities in October 1943, in order to end the razzias and spare the life of thousands of Jews sheltered in the priories and convents of Rome, after the city was occupied by the Germans in September of that year. His intervention, which was preceded by diplomatic contacts between Cardinal Maglione and German ambassador in Rome Weizsäcker, was apparently successful. Several thousand Jewish lives were saved by this initiative of the pope, according to Blet. According to another author, however, the idea of Hudal’s intervention came from the German ambassador himself, who asked the rector of the Anima to sign a letter to the military commander of Rome, General Reiner Stahel, requesting that the arrests be halted, otherwise the pope would take a position in public as being against the razzias.[42] Ambassador Weizsäcker argued that he opted for this ruse because Hitler might have reacted against the Vatican and the pope if it had been the German embassy to convey the warning, instead of the Nazi friendly bishop.[43]\nAccording to several sources, Hudal may at the same time have been a Vatican-based informer of German intelligence under the Nazi regime. Vatican historian Fr. Robert Graham SJ held that view more categorically in his book Nothing Sacred.[44] [45] Several other authors mention his contacts in Rome with SS intelligence chief Walter Rauff, the developer of the mobile extermination with gas vans[46]. In September 1943, Rauff was sent to Milan, where he took charge of all Gestapo and SD operations throughout northwest Italy[47]. Hudal is said to have met Rauff then and to have begun some cooperation with him that was useful afterwards in the setting up of an escape network for Nazis, including for Rauff himself. After the war Rauff escaped from a prisoner camp in Rimini and “hid in a number of Italian convents, apparently under the protection of Bishop Alois Hudal”[48], eventually finding safe haven in Syria and later in Chile.\nAfter the war Hudal was in fact one of the main Catholic organizers of the Ratline nets, along with Monsignor Karlo Petranovic, an Ustasha war criminal who fled to Austria and then to Italy after 1945[49], Father Edoardo Dömöter, the Franciscan of Hungarian origin who forged the identity of Eichmann’s passport, issued by the Red Cross in the name of Riccardo Klement [50], and Father Krunoslav Draganović, a Croatian professor of Theology [51]. Draganović, a smuggler of fascist (ustasha) war criminals who had also been involved in pro-Fascist espionage, was recycled by the U.S. during the Cold War – his name appears in the Pentagon payrolls in the late 1950s and early 1960s – and was eventually granted immunity in Tito’s Yugoslavia, where he died in 1983 at 79. Monsignor Karl Bayer, the Rome Director of Caritas International after the war, also cooperated with this ring. Interviewed in the 70s by Gitta Sereny, Monsignor Bayer recalled how he and Hudal had helped Nazis to Southern America with the Vatican’s support: “The Pope [Pius XII] did provide money for this; in driblets sometimes, but it did come” [52] Hudal’s Ratline was also supposedly financed by his friend Walter Rauff, with some funds allegedly coming from Giuseppe Siri, the recently appointed Auxiliary Bishop (1944) and Archbishop (1946) of Genoa [53]. Siri however was “a hero of the Resistance movement in Italy” during the German occupation of northern Italy.[54] Siri’s involvement remains unproven.\nAccording to Uki Goñi, “some of the financing for Hudal’s escape network came from the United States”, precising that the Italian delegate of the American National Catholic Welfare Conference provided Hudal “with substantial funds for his ‘humanitarian’ aid”.[55]\nFurthermore, since the works of Graham and Blet were published, historian Michael Phayer, a professor at Marquette University (a Catholic, Jesuit University), has alleged the close collaboration between the Vatican (Pope Pius XII and Giovanni Battista Montini, then “Substitute” of the Secretariat of State, and later Paul VI), on the one side and Draganović and Hudal on the other, and has sustained that Pius XII himself was directly engaged in ratline activity. Against these allegations of the direct involvement of Pope Pius XII and his staff there are some opposing testimonies and the denial by Vatican officials of any involvement of Pius XII himself. But according to Michael Phayer, the American Bishop Aloisius Muench, Pius XII’s own envoy to occupied western Germany after the war, “wrote to the Vatican warning the pope to desist from his efforts to have convicted war criminals excused”. The letter, written in Italian, “is available in the archives of the Catholic University of America”, according to Michael Phayer [56].\nIn his posthumously published memoirs, Hudal instead recalls with bitterness the lack of support he found the Holy See to give to Nazi Germany’s battle against “godless Bolshevism” at the Eastern Front. Hudal several times in this work claims to have received criticism of the Nazi system rather than support for it from the Vatican diplomats under Pius XII. He assumed that the Holy See’s policy during and after the war was entirely controlled by the western Allies. Until his death Hudal was convinced he had done the right thing, and said that he considered saving German and other fascist officers and politicians from the hands of Allied prosecution, a “just thing” and “what should have been expected of a true Christian”, adding: “We do not believe in the eye for an eye of the Jew”.[57] He said that the justice of the Allies and the Soviets had resulted in show trials and lynchings, including the major trials at Nuremberg.[58] In his memoirs he also developed a curious theory about the economic causes of World War II, which allowed him to plainly justify for himself his acts in favour of Nazi and Fascist war criminals: «The Allies’ War against Germany was not a crusade, but the rivalry of economic complexes for whose victory they had been fighting. This so-called business … used catchwords like democracy, race, religious liberty and Christianity as a bait for the masses. All these experiences were the reason why I felt duty bound after 1945 to devote my whole charitable work mainly to former National Socialists and Fascists, especially to so-called ‘war criminals’».[59]\nNotes\nPeter Godman, Hitler and the Vatican, New York, 2004, p. 44\nSee “Collegio Teutonico di Santa Maria dell’Anima” (in German) [1].\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, p. 41, cited by Philippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme”, RSCI, January 2003.\nSee “Hudal, Alois C.” in BBKL [2] and Peter Godman, op. cit.\nPeter Godman, op. cit., p. 45, citing Hudal’s Ecclesiae et nationi…, 1934, see below his works.\nIbid., p. 45, quoting Hudal’s Vom deutschen Schaffen in Rom…, 1933, see below his works.\nIbid., p. 46.\nGreg Whitlock, “Alois Hudal: Clero-Fascist Nietzsche critic”, Nietzsche-Studien, volume 32, 2003.\nIbid.\nHansjakob Stehle, Eastern Politics of the Vatican 1917-1979. Athens, Ohio University Press, 1981\nKarlheinz Deschner, Ein Jahrhundert Heilsgeschichte, vol. II, Leck, 1983, pp. 135, 139.\nErnst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe, Frankfurt, 1991 (see below the Bibliography)\nNuremberg Trials Proceedings, vol. 16, p. 285 [3].\nE. Bergmann, Die deutsche Nationalkirche (The German National Church), Breslau, 1933, cited by Peter Godman, op. cit., p. 51.\nPeter Godman, op. cit.\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, cited by Peter Godman, op. cit., p. 53.\nTom Heneghan, “Secrets Behind The Forbidden Books”, America, February 7, 2005 [4]\nCited by Mark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, New York, 1991, p. 31.\nA. Hudal, Das deutsche Volk und christliches Abenland, p. 24, cited by Greg Whitlock, op. cit\nPhilippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme (1933-1938)”, see below the Bibliography.\nMark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, p 25.\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, London, 2002, p.229-251.\nGitta Sereny, Into that Darkness, London, 1974.\nIbid., p. 289.\nSee Michael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Cold War, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2007, pp. 195ff, and Uki Goñi, op. cit.\nGraham statements to ANSA news agency, 10 May 1994, cited by Uki Goñi, op. cit., p. 261 and note 453.\n“1938: NS-Herrschaft in Österreich” (1938: The Nazi Rule in Austria) [5]\nRobin O’Neil, Belzec: Prototype for the Final Solution, chapters 5 and 10[6].\n“Axis Biographical Research”, page “Generalgouvernment” [7]\nErnst Klee, Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945, S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2003, and Alois Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, pp. 162-163.\nMatteo Sanfilippo, “Los papeles de Hudal como fuente para la historia de la migración de alemanes y nazis después de la segunda guerra mundial”, Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos, 43, 1999, p. 185-209).\nIn 1959-1960, for example, Hudal’s correspondence shows his efforts to obtain an amnesty in Greece and West Germany (Matteo Sanfilippo, op. cit.)\nIn 1949, Hudal was labeled in German “church circles” as the “brauner Bischof”, according to the German newspapers Nord Press (December 6, 1949, p. 4) and the above cited Passauer Neue Press (December 13, 1949, p. 3).\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, English translation quoted in Greg Whitlock, op. cit.\nGitta Sereny, op. cit., p. 305, cited by Aarons and Loftus, op. cit.\nAarons and Loftus, op. cit., p. 32.\nVatican City, 1965-1981\nMatteo Sanfilippo, op. cit. Argentinian author Uki Goñi also mentions the fact in The Real Odessa, op. cit., p. 229\nIbid.\nLarry Rohter, “Argentina, a Haven for Nazis, Balks at Opening Its Files”, New York Times, March 7, 2003 [8].\nDan Kurzman, A Special Mission, Da Capo Press, 2007, pp. 183-185.\nDan Kurzman, Id.\nRobert Graham and David Alvarez, Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945, London, 1998.\nOn Hudal as a German spy, see also Klaus Voigt, Zuflucht auf Widerruf. Exil in Italien 1933-1945 (Precarious refuge. Exile in Italy 1933-1945), vol. I, Stuttgart, Klett-Cotta, 1989.\n“The Development of the Gas-Van in the Murdering of the Jews”, in Jewish Virtual Library [9].\n“5 September 2005 releases: German intelligence officers”, in Security Service, MI5, [10].\n“Opening of CIA Records under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act”, in The National Archives, Press Release, May 8, 2002 [11]\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, op. cit., p. 235-236. According to this author, Monsignor Petranovic “was himself a war criminal and Ustasha captain who had been deputy to the local Ustasha leader at Ogulin, a district that saw the extermination of some 2,000 Serbs during the war.” He adds: “The Monsignor organized and instigated many of these murders, personally directing the arrest and execution of 70 prominent Serbs.” A request for his extradition by Yugoslavia “was ignored by the British authorities in 1947” (ibid., p. 235).\n“Un frate francescano firmò la fuga di Genova di Eichmann”, Il Secolo XIX, August 14, 2003, p. 4. [12]\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, chapter “A Roman ‘Sanctuary'”, pp. 229-251.\nGitta Sereny, op. cit., p. 289.\nMark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, p. 39-40.\n“24 Hats”, Time Magazine [December 8, 1952 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817551-2,00.html ]\nUki Goñi, op. cit., p. 230.\nM. Phayer, “The Author replies”, Commonweal, June 6, 2003 [13]\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, pp. 21.\nIbid., pp. 220-254.\nSelected works of Alois Hudal\nSoldatenpredigten (Graz, 1917) – Sermons to the Soldiers.\nDie serbisch-orthodoxe Nationalkirche (Graz, 1922) – The Serbian Orthodox National Church.\nVom deutschen Schaffen in Rom. Predigten, Ansprachen und Vorträge, (Innsbruck, Vienna and München, 1933) – On the German Work in Rome. Sermons, Speeches and Lectures.\nDie deutsche Kulturarbeit in Italien (Münster, 1934) – The German Cultural Activity in Italy.\nEcclesiae et nationi. Katholische Gedanken in einer Zeitenwende (Rome, 1934) – The Church and the Nations. Catholic Thoughts in the Turn of an Era.\nRom, Christentum und deutsches Volk (Rome, 1935) – Rome, the Christendom and the German People.\nDeutsches Volk und christliches Abendland (Innsbruck, 1935) – The German People and the Christian Occident.\nDer Vatikan und die modernen Staaten (Innsbruck, 1935) – The Vatican and the Modern States.\nDas Rassenproblem (Lobnig, 1935) – The Race Problem.\nDie Grundlagen des Nationalsozialismus (Leipzig and Vienna, 1936-37 and facsimile edition Bremen, 1982) – The Foundations of National Socialism.\nNietzsche und die moderne Welt (Rome, 1937) – Nietzsche and the Modern World.\nEuropas religiöse Zukunft (Rome, 1943) – The Religious Future of Europe.\nRömische Tagebücher. Lebensbeichte eines alten Bischofs (Graz, 1976) – Diaries of Rome. The Confession of Life of an Old Bishop.\nBibliography\nRobert Graham and David Alvarez, Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945, London: Frank Cass, 1998.\nMichael Phayer, The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1965, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2000.\nMichael Phayer, “Canonizing Pius XII. Why did the pope help Nazis escape?”, Commonweal, May 9, 2003 / Vol. CXXX (9) [14].\nMichael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 2007. Hudal is mentioned throughout the book, and especially in chapter 8, “Bishop Hudal’s Ratline”, pp. 195-207.\nPierre Blet, Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican, New York, Paulist Press, 1997.\nGreg Whitlock, “Alois Hudal: Clero-Fascist Nietzsche critic”, Nietzsche-Studien, volume 32, 2003.\nGitta Sereny, Into that Darkness, London, Deutsch, 1974.\nErnst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe. Wie die Kirchen den Nazis halfen (Whitewash Certificates and False Passports. How the Churches Helped the Nazis), Frankfurt, Fischer Geschichte, 1991.\nErnst Klee, Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945, S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2003.\nRobert Katz, Dossier Priebke. Anatomia di un processo, Milano, Rizzoli, 1996.\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa. How Perón Brought the Nazi War Criminals to Argentina, London, Granta, 2002 (with many valuable references to Hudal and the “Ratlines”, including new details on Hudal’s role in Eichmann’s escape to Argentina).\nPeter Godman, Hitler and the Vatican, New York, Free Press, 2004 (one of the most reliable and up-to-date sources on Hudal).\nMarcus Langer, Alois Hudal, Bischof zwischen Kreuz und Hakenkreuz. Versuch eine Biographie (Bishop Alois Hudal : Between Cross and Swastika. Attempt at a biography), PhD thesis, Vienna, 1995.\nDan Kurzman, A Special Mission : Hitler’s Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius XII, Cambridge, Da Capo Press, 2007.\nMatteo Sanfilippo, “Los papeles de Hudal como fuente para la historia de la migración de alemanes y nazis después de la segunda guerra mundial” (Hudal’s papers as a source for the history of the migration of Germans and Nazis after World War II), Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos, 43, 1999, p. 185-209.\nPhilippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme 1933-1938”, Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia, January/July 2003, p.133-154.\nMark Aarons and John Loftus Ratlines: How the Vatican’s Nazi Networks Betrayed Western Intelligence to the Soviets, London, Heinemann, 1991 (republished in the U.S. as Unholy Trinity, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1991).\nCOMMENT: See the 1963 film, “The Cardinal” directed by Otto Preminger. Cardinal Innitzer of Vienna, mentioned above, figures in this film.\nFather Tiso of Slovakia is the customary exemplar of WW II clerico-fascism.\nApril 3, 2008 at 11:41 am | Posted in Books , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , United Kingdom | Leave a comment\nMichael Faraday (1791-1867)\nThe Chemical History of A Candle,\n1860\nThe Chemical History of a Candle was the title of a series of lectures on the chemistry and physics of flames given by Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution . This was the origin of the Christmas lectures for young people that are still given there every year and bear his name.\nThe lectures were first printed as a book in 1861.\nThe Global History of 1919\nand the Replacement of the\nEuropean Lens by a Global Lens\nAnother artifact of the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is often viewed is the common conceptualization of that moment as a clash of two opposing visions of world order: liberal internationalism vs. communist internationalism, or “Wilson vs. Lenin,” to use Arno Mayer’s memorable phrase.\nOnce we remove the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is most often written, it becomes clear that the significance of the “brief interval” of Wilson’s ascendance far transcended the confines of Europe. An examination of how the ascendance of Wilson and the United States during this period was interpreted by leading intellectuals and refracted in public discourses in Asian societies would expand our view of the international history of 1919.\nInternational historians, however, have tended to leave in the shadows the very same issues that were marginalized or ignored, whether by design or neglect, by the Great Power leaders themselves in their deliberations. Foremost among these issues were the demands for self-determination of representatives of peoples outside Europe, most especially in those cases—China, Korea, Egypt, Tunisia, India, Indochina, and others—in which the interests of one or more of the victorious Allied powers stood to be compromised if the demands were entertained. The spring of 1919 saw the launching of revolts against empire in numerous non-European societies and the expansion of anticolonial nationalism to unprecedented intensity and scope, and a few international historians have indeed noted in passing the significance of 1919 in the world outside Europe and identified it as a watershed in the rise of anticolonial nationalism as a broad, international phenomenon. 7\nWhen Woodrow Wilson landed in the harbor of Brest on the French Atlantic coast on Friday, December 13, 1918, the city’s mayor met him at the dock and greeted him as an apostle of liberty, come to release the peoples of Europe from their suffering. The next morning, Wilson drove along the streets of Paris through cheering throngs, and the French press across the political spectrum hailed him as “the incarnation of the hope of the future.” The U.S. president met similar receptions in England and Italy over the next several weeks. 2 H. G. Wells captured the essence of popular sentiments a few years later, when he noted the intense yet fleeting nature of Wilson’s apotheosis:\n“For a brief interval, Wilson stood alone for mankind. And in that brief interval there was a very extraordinary and significant wave of response to him throughout the earth … He ceased to be a common statesman; he became a Messiah.” 3\nDespite such high passions, however, the story of the ecstatic reception accorded the U.S. president in Europe is remembered today as little more than an ironic footnote to the history of the Great War. Most of the hopes and expectations associated with Wilson were quickly disappointed, and the widespread reverence of the U.S. leader in Europe and elsewhere quickly turned into bitter disillusionment. 4\nThe terms of the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, fell far short of the expectations that Wilson had inspired, and it was repudiated by most of his former admirers around the world, and also by the U.S. Senate and the American public, who were eager to return to the comforting embrace of “normalcy.” 51\nThere is, of course, voluminous historiography on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the U.S. role in it, but it has remained rather single-mindedly focused on Europe, and specifically on the policies, decisions, and leaders of the Great Powers. 6\nMuch of the literature, in fact, seems to follow closely the Great Power agenda at the negotiation table, with the volume of writings on specific issues and regions often matching the attention that the major Allied leaders paid to them at the time. This is hardly surprising, since many of the issues debated in Paris were indeed of momentous import, both for the immediate shape of the peace settlement and, in some cases, for the subsequent history of Europe.\nInternational historians, however, have tended to leave in the shadows the very same issues that were marginalized or ignored, whether by design or neglect, by the Great Power leaders themselves in their deliberations. Foremost among these issues were the demands for self-determination of representatives of peoples outside Europe, most especially in those cases—China, Korea, Egypt, Tunisia, India, Indochina, and others—in which the interests of one or more of the victorious Allied powers stood to be compromised if the demands were entertained. The spring of 1919 saw the launching of revolts against empire in numerous non-European societies and the expansion of anticolonial nationalism to unprecedented intensity and scope, and a few international historians have indeed noted in passing the significance of 1919 in the world outside Europe and identified it as a watershed in the rise of anticolonial nationalism as a broad, international phenomenon. 7\nHowever, these movements and the goals and perceptions that drove them, though of course prominent in their respective national and regional histories, have received little sustained or detailed attention in the international histories of 1919. 82\nOnce we remove the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is most often written, it becomes clear that the significance of the “brief interval” of Wilson’s ascendance far transcended the confines of Europe. An examination of how the ascendance of Wilson and the United States during this period was interpreted by leading intellectuals and refracted in public discourses in Asian societies would expand our view of the international history of 1919; at the same time, it would illuminate the connections between the transformative events that took place in Asian societies during this period, which have typically been studied within historiographical disciplines that have remained separate and distinct, and the wider international context of the period. Though no single essay could capture the full story of Asian responses to Wilson, there is nevertheless a strong argument for a transnational approach, since an inquiry limited to a single Asian society, however valuable, would still produce a narrative confined within the enclosure of national history, one that would have persisted in naturalizing the nation “as the skin that contains the experience of the past.” 10 By examining responses to Wilson’s rhetoric and the construction of his image within two major Asian societies—China and India—we can better capture the broad scope of the “Wilsonian moment” in Asia. 3\nThere were, of course, myriad differences in the historical experiences and circumstances of these two societies in 1919, not least in the specific characters of their respective relationships with empire. India had long been the crown jewel of the British imperial edifice and, despite some minor political reforms in the years immediately before the war, continued to be ruled directly and autocratically by a British-led bureaucracy. China, on the other hand, was recognized as an independent state in theory. In practice, however, China existed in a state of semicolonial subjugation, severely limited in the exercise of its sovereignty by a web of “unequal treaties” with the major powers; and Chinese intellectuals in 1919, like their Indian counterparts, viewed their struggle for self-determination as part of a broader revolt against imperialism. 11 Thus, the war and its immediate aftermath saw similar developments in China and India. Both societies at the time had emergent nationalist movements and leaders that were engaged in a search for a greater measure of sovereignty in domestic and international affairs. In the heady months from the fall of 1918, when Allied victory was in sight, to the spring of 1919, when the actual terms of the peace began to emerge, leaders and publics in the two societies paid close attention to the shifts in the discourses of international power and legitimacy that Wilson’s rise appeared to herald, and strove to interpret and shape the significance of these shifts for their specific circumstances. 4\nHistorians have often noted how the spectacle of material destruction and moral degeneration that was the Great War helped launch a broad critique among Afro-Asian intellectuals of the West’s claim to superior civilization. 12\nThis insight, important as it is, elides the widespread if short-lived adulation in Asia of that quintessential product of the “West,” Woodrow Wilson. The war itself, to be sure, brought dislocation and suffering and showcased European savagery, but it also inspired great expectations for a postwar transformation in which a chastened Europe would change its ways, and for a new international order that would accord non-European peoples their rightful place among nations. The war could be seen as evidence for the degeneracy of Europe, but Europe did not encompass the “West” in its entirety; the United States could still appear as a rising force that would salvage and fulfill the promise of “Western civilization.” Indeed, it is arguable that during the 1918–1919 period, the United States appeared to Chinese and Indians to hold greater promise than at any time before or since. 13 The disappointments of the peace, rather than the devastations of the war as such, sealed the postwar indictment of Asian intellectuals against the West. 5\nAnother artifact of the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is often viewed is the common conceptualization of that moment as a clash of two opposing visions of world order: liberal internationalism vs. communist internationalism, or “Wilson vs. Lenin,” to use Arno Mayer’s memorable phrase. 14\nMayer, however, coined the phrase specifically to describe the wartime struggle between Bolshevism and Wilsonian reformism over the hearts and minds of the European left, and in the context of the world outside Europe, that parallel opposition is less applicable. 15 At least until the spring of 1919, when evidence of Wilson’s failure to implement his vaunted principles began to emerge from Paris, it was Wilson, not Lenin, who loomed far larger in the imaginations of Asian intellectuals, both as an inspiration for expectations and rhetoric and as a putative source of practical support for self-determination. It was only after the collapse of the Wilsonian moment in mid-1919 that Lenin and Russian Bolshevism began to gain importance as a potential model and ally for many movements for self-determination in Asia. 6\nWhile the moment lasted, however, many in Asia believed that President Wilson had both the intent and the power to construct a new mode of international relations predicated on the principles of “self-determination” and “the equality of nations,” in which the prewar imperial arrangements, with Asian nations consigned to various forms of subjugation and subordination, would be rendered illegitimate. Along with the millions in Europe who cheered Wilson upon his arrival there, Indians and Chinese saw Wilson’s wartime rhetoric as a blueprint for a more peaceful and inclusive international order, one in which Asian nations could achieve a greater measure of equality and sovereignty. Asian intellectuals pondered not only the responses that Wilson’s arrival on the continent would have elicited, as Srinivasa Sastri did, but also, much more importantly, how his plans for the postwar world, as they understood them, might mediate the chasm in international relations between “East” and “West” and allow Asian peoples to put their relationships with the West on a footing of equality and mutual respect. In order to better understand that transformative juncture in international history, historians must imagine Woodrow Wilson in Asia, just as many of his contemporaries there did. 7\nDespite the perception of Wilson in the minds of many at the time and later as the leading champion of a postwar order based on a right to “self-determination,” it was the Russian Bolsheviks, not Wilson, who introduced this term into the wartime international discourse. The principle of “national self-determination” and its relationship to socialist revolution had long been a staple of debate among European socialists, and some saw nationalism as a barrier to class solidarity and a dangerous diversion from the revolutionary mission. For Lenin, however, support for colonial liberation was an important tool for undermining the capitalist-imperialist world order. 16\nEven before his return to Russia in April 1917, Lenin declared that when the Bolsheviks came to power, their peace plan would include “the liberation of all colonies” and of “all dependent, oppressed, and unequal nations.” Shortly thereafter, the Provisional Government in Russia, under pressure from the Bolshevik-controlled Petrograd Soviet, became the first among the belligerent governments to call officially for a peace settlement “on the basis of self-determination of peoples.” 17 After the Bolsheviks took control of the revolution in November, the newly appointed commissar of foreign affairs, Leon Trotsky, immediately demanded that the Allied powers “give the right of self-determination to the peoples of Ireland, Egypt, India, Madagascar, Indochina, et cetera.” Otherwise, their claim to be fighting the war for the freedom of small nations would be little more than “the most naked, the most cynical imperialism.” 18 8\nThe Bolshevik calls in late 1917 for a settlement based on national self-determination found great resonance within the anti-imperialist left in Europe. In Britain, it helped inflame the dissatisfaction of the Labour Party opposition with the vagueness of their government’s war aims, a sentiment already stoked, after the American entry into the war in April 1917, by Wilson’s repeated calls for a postwar settlement based on “the consent of the governed.” Prime Minister David Lloyd George, concerned that the enthusiasm of the left in Britain and other Allied countries for the rhetorics of Wilson and Lenin would compromise popular support for the war effort, moved quickly to redefine British war aims in more progressive terms. 19\nSpeaking before the British Trades Union League on January 5, 1918, Lloyd George performed an act of rhetorical legerdemain, merging the divergent discourses of Wilson and Lenin into one: the peace, he said, must be based “on the right of self-determination or the consent of the governed.” 20 By equating the Bolshevik call for “national self-determination” for ethnic minorities to Wilson’s notion of a peace based on the principle of popular consent, Lloyd George managed to obfuscate the differences between the revolutionary agenda of the former and the liberal reformism implied in the latter. 9\nWilson himself completed this conflation in the following months. Although he had never before uttered, or perhaps even encountered, the term “self-determination,” he quickly adopted it as his own, with growing fervor and emphasis. Despite popular conceptions to the contrary, the term itself was nowhere to be found in the Fourteen Points address. Several of the points, however—the resurrection of Poland, the evacuation of Belgium, and his call for the “autonomous development” of the peoples of the Ottoman and Habsburg empires—seemed to imply that peace depended on the rollback of imperial rule and conquest, at least in some cases. 21\nThe following month, Wilson spoke explicitly for the first time of a right of “self-determination” in international affairs. The coming world settlement, he said in another address to Congress, must respect the voices of the people: “national aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent.” Although he was introducing a new phrase into his political vocabulary, he was quite emphatic in advocating it: “‘Self-determination’ is not a mere phrase. It is an imperative principle of action, which statesmen will henceforth ignore at their peril.” 22\nWilson, then, did not present this principle as a theoretical construct that he wished to implement, but as an independent force already at work in world politics, one that must be recognized and accommodated. 10\nIn Wilson’s usage, however, the meaning of “self-determination” was far vaguer and more elastic than it was in Lenin’s. For the Bolsheviks, who almost always preceded the term with the adjective “national,” it was a call for the revolutionary overthrow of imperial rule through an appeal to the national identity and aspirations of subject peoples. Wilson, on the other hand, rarely if ever uttered the specific term “national self-determination”; he used the more general, vaguer phrase “self-determination,” and usually equated the term with popular consent, conjuring an international order based on democratic forms of government. He did at times advocate redrawing borders along ethnic lines, as in the cases of Poland and Italy, but he saw the independence of ethnic or national units as only one among several ways to implement self-determination. In the case of the peoples of Austria-Hungary, for example, Wilson supported autonomy rather than full independence as compatible with the principle of self-determination until the collapse of the Vienna government made that option impractical. If Lenin saw self-determination as a revolutionary principle and sought to use it as a wrecking ball against the reactionary multiethnic empires of Europe, Wilson hoped that self-determination would serve precisely in the opposite role: as a bulwark against radical, revolutionary challenges to existing orders. If revolution, as Wilson and other Progressives believed, was a reaction to oppression by autocratic, unaccountable regimes, then the application of self-determination, defined as government by consent, would help to remove the revolutionary impulse and promote change through gradual reforms. 23 11\nWilson, then, grafted the new term onto his old ideas, and used it in his addresses as essentially synonymous with the notions of popular sovereignty and government by consent, which had long been central in his wartime rhetoric, and indeed in the tradition of Anglo-American political thought. If he saw any distinction between the new principle of “self-determination” and the old one of government by consent, the documentary record gives us no such clue. And like his old notions of consent, this new principle was phrased in universal language; theoretically, at least, it applied to all peoples everywhere. But if Wilson, in his speeches, did not explicitly limit the application of the principle to Europe, it is clear that as a practical matter, he saw it as immediately relevant only to the European territories of the defeated empires—German, Austrian-Hungarian, and Ottoman. Eventually, he imagined, it might apply in other colonial situations, but if so, it would be through gradual processes of tutelage and reform such as he himself had initiated in the U.S. colonial administration of the Philippines—not, if he could help it, through the violent overthrow of colonial rule. 24 12\nIn the final months of the war, calls for a peace based on “self-determination” recurred regularly and with increasing emphasis alongside references to the “consent of the governed” in Wilson’s public rhetoric. In his Independence Day address in July 1918, the U.S. president described the war as an epic struggle between oppressive regimes whose time had passed and the progressive ideals to which the future belonged. In the aftermath of the struggle, he said, American ideals of government by consent must extend over the entire globe, encompassing people of many races and regions.\nThe postwar settlement must include “the settlement of every question, whether of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrangement, or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned.” 25\nIn the end, Wilson’s incorporation of Bolshevik rhetoric may not have significantly altered the essence of his vision in his own mind, but it lent his pronouncements a more radical tone, amplifying their impact on the imaginations of colonial peoples worldwide who heard them. 13\nOnce Wilson adopted the rhetoric of “self-determination” as his own, it spread quickly around the world, and by the time of the armistice it was intimately identified with the figure of the U.S. president. Wilson’s proclamations were carried across Asia on the infrastructure for the production and dissemination of news about international events that was in place across much of the globe by the time of the war. It included the cable and wireless telegraph networks that disseminated the information, 26 but also, no less importantly, the global press agencies that often provided the content of the news and the local newspapers that carried it. As early as 1905, India already had more than 1,300 newspapers in English and in Indian languages, which were estimated to reach 2 million subscribers and an unknowable number of additional readers. 27\nIn China, the popular press, launched in the coastal cities in the 1890s, also burgeoned in the first decades of the twentieth century. Those with access to such information remained, to be sure, a small minority; nevertheless, by 1918 there had emerged in both societies nationally aware, articulate publics who were interested in and informed about international developments. 28 14\nBy the last year of the war, the U.S. president’s words were widely available in the print media across Asia, echoing far beyond the American and European audiences to whom they were primarily addressed. Partly, this was due to the global propaganda campaign, entirely unprecedented in its scale and purpose, that the Wilson administration had launched after the United States entered the war. The campaign, carried out by the Committee for Public Information (CPI) that Wilson established in 1917, aimed “to drive home the absolute justice of America’s cause, the absolute selflessness of America’s aims.” CPI propaganda, reported its chairman, made use of the recent advances in communication and media technologies, such as wireless telegraphy and moving pictures, in pursuit of that goal: “The printed word, the spoken word, the motion picture, the poster, the signboard—all these were used in our campaign.” 29\nWilson’s public addresses and declarations, from the Fourteen Points on, were the linchpin of CPI propaganda, especially in its foreign operations. Although the focus of the committee’s work abroad was Europe and Latin America, it also opened a branch in China, where CPI agents distributed news summaries, posters, and newsreels. 30 15\nBut the impact of the CPI in creating and disseminating Wilson’s image in Asia was not nearly as decisive as its boosters imagined. Far more important was the role of the global commercial news agencies, especially the British agency Reuters. In both China and India, indeed in most of Asia at the time, the “foreign news” sections of mainstream newspapers, which usually lacked the funds to employ foreign correspondents of their own, consisted primarily of copy from pro-Allied news services. 31\nNews and analyses sympathetic to the Allied cause dominated the global flows of information, and Wilson’s wartime addresses and proclamations were widely and favorably reported in Asia. In India, where no significant American propaganda machinery existed, knowledge of Wilson’s words spread no less rapidly than in China, and his major addresses were prominently featured in the press, often verbatim. Interest among educated Indians and Chinese in the U.S. president and his plans for the postwar world, as reflected in press reports and editorials, grew steadily during the first part of 1918, and then increased exponentially in the last months of that year, as Allied victory began to appear imminent and news spread that the peace would be based on Wilson’s principles. 32 16\nNationalists in Asia quickly recognized the potential utility of Wilson’s rhetoric for their causes, even if its scope and intent remained unclear. A leading nationalist paper in Calcutta, commenting in February 1918 on the address in which Wilson first used the term “self-determination,” immediately probed the possible application of his words to India. The American president, it noted, had declared that the “whole world” was affected by the issues at hand, but it remained unclear whether India, and the rest of Asia and Africa, was to be included in the postwar reconstruction of world order.\nThe real cause of wars was the condition of “the helpless and unprotected regions and peoples of Asia and Africa,” and peace would not come “until Asia and Africa have secured full national autonomy.” 33\nIn China, too, the publication of Wilson’s important speeches was accompanied by commentary that related his rhetoric to Chinese concerns. A major Shanghai daily accompanied the text of the Fourteen Points with an editorial comment noting that the U.S. president’s ideas for peace were “a beacon of light for the world’s peoples.” They were credible, too, the editorial added: the United States already had enough resources to become the most powerful nation in the world, and therefore Wilson could not be suspected of ulterior motives in promoting these ideals. 34 17\nShortly after the armistice, Ganesh, a prominent nationalist press in India, published a collection of the U.S. president’s addresses under the rousing title President Wilson: The Modern Apostle of Freedom. In numerous ads that ran in the Indian press in early 1919, the book prominently headlined Ganesh’s list of patriotic publications. The text of the ads described the U.S. president as “the most striking personality in the world” and a “man of destiny,” whose speeches, “one of the finest and sweetest fruits of the deadly war,” would “bring solace to a war-weary world and hope to small and weak nationalities.” 35\nSuch glowing copy was surely, at least in part, an adman’s pitch, but the publisher clearly believed that it would strike patriotic Indians as plausible. Indeed, one reviewer exclaimed that “the eloquent addresses of this great inspiring apostle of Modern Freedom … must find a place in every household of a true patriot,” and would enormously help the “itinerant Home Rule propagandist to advocate, in sober but clear and emphatic terms, the cause of liberty before his countrymen.” 36\nIn Shanghai, the venerable Commercial Press published a similar volume that compiled the texts of Wilson’s wartime speeches. The book was published in two editions: one in Chinese translation only, and a second, more costly edition containing the original English texts with their Chinese translations alongside. This collection, too, was widely advertised in the press and became something of a bestseller, going through several printings. 37\nDescription\nDuring the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, while key decisions were debated by the victorious Allied powers, a multitude of smaller nations and colonies held their breath, waiting to see how their fates would be decided. President Woodrow Wilson, in his Fourteen Points, had called for “a free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims,” giving equal weight to the opinions of the colonized peoples and the colonial powers. Among those nations now paying close attention to Wilson’s words and actions were the budding nationalist leaders of four disparate non-Western societies–Egypt, India, China, and Korea. That spring, Wilson’s words would help ignite political upheavals in all four of these countries.\nThis book is the first to place the 1919 Revolution in Egypt, the Rowlatt Satyagraha in India, the May Fourth movement in China, and the March First uprising in Korea in the context of a broader “Wilsonian moment” that challenged the existing international order. Using primary source material from America, Europe, and Asia, historian Erez Manela tells the story of how emerging nationalist movements appropriated Wilsonian language and adapted it to their own local culture and politics as they launched into action on the international stage. The rapid disintegration of the Wilsonian promise left a legacy of disillusionment and facilitated the spread of revisionist ideologies and movements in these societies; future leaders of Third World liberation movements–Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, and Jawaharlal Nehru, among others–were profoundly shaped by their experiences at the time.\nThe importance of the Paris Peace Conference and Wilson’s influence on international affairs far from the battlefields of Europe cannot be underestimated. Now, for the first time, we can clearly see just how the events played out at Versailles sparked a wave of nationalism that is still resonating globally today.\nNotes:\n1 Woodrow Wilson’s Message for Eastern Nations, Selected by Himself from His Public Addresses, Foreword by the Rt. Hon. V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (Calcutta, 1925), iv–v. Sastri (1860–1946) was a leading liberal intellectual and politician in pre-independence India. See Ray T. Smith, “V. S. Srinivasa Sastri and the Moderate Style in Indian Politics,” South Asia 2 (1972): 81–100.\n2 “Two Million Cheer Wilson,” New York Times, December 15, 1918, 1; Charles T. Thompson, The Peace Conference Day by Day: A Presidential Pilgrimage Leading to the Discovery of Europe (New York, 1920), 6, 55–56, 67–68. Also Arthur Walworth, Woodrow Wilson, 3rd ed. (New York, 1978), 2: 221–234.\n3 H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come (New York, 1933), 82.\nComment: See earlier Cambridge Forecast Group Blog for post on Wells book and movie.\n4 Wilson himself seems to have foreseen this, telling his adviser George Creel that the expectations of the United States were so unrealistic that they would inevitably lead to a “tragedy of disappointment.” Creel, The War, the World and Wilson (New York, 1920), 161–162. Another instance showing Wilson to be “very nervous” that the inflated expectation would lead to “revulsion” when people discovered that he could not do all they had hoped is recorded in the Diary of Edith Benham, February 2, 1919, in Woodrow Wilson, The Papers of Woodrow Wilson [hereafter PWW], ed. Arthur S. Link et al., 69 vols. (Princeton, N.J., 1966–1994), 54: 432–433.\n5 John Milton Cooper, Jr., Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations (Cambridge, 2001); Lloyd E. Ambrosius, Woodrow Wilson and the American Diplomatic Tradition: The Treaty Fight in Perspective (Cambridge, 1987).\n6 Leading works include Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York, 2002); Manfred F. Boemeke et al., eds., The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Years (Cambridge, 1998); Erik Goldstein, Winning the Peace: British Diplomatic Strategy, Peace Planning, and the Paris Peace Conference, 1916–1920 (New York, 1991); Arthur Walworth, Wilson and His Peacemakers: American Diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 (New York, 1986); Marc Trachtenberg, “Versailles after Sixty Years,” Journal of Contemporary History 17 (1982): 487–506; Arno J. Mayer, Politics and Diplomacy of Peacemaking: Containment and Counterrevolution at Versailles, 1918–1919 (New York, 1967); Seth P. Tillman, Anglo-American Relations at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (Princeton, N.J., 1961).\n7 Geoffrey Barraclough, An Introduction to Contemporary History (New York, 1964), 151–155; Henri Grimal, Decolonization: The British, French, Dutch and Belgian Empires, 1919–1963 (Boulder, Colo., 1978), 17–18.\n8 Macmillan, Paris 1919, devotes more attention than previous accounts to some of the demands for self-determination ignored by the conference, but even so, the topic takes up no more than a few pages in the book (see 322–325, 339–341, 402–403). Erez Manela, The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism (New York, 2007, forthcoming), aims to begin closing this historiographical gap.\n9 E.g., on China see Chow Tse-tsung, The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China (Cambridge, Mass., 1960), and Andrew J. Nathan, Peking Politics, 1918–1923 (Berkeley, Calif., 1976). On India, see Judith M. Brown, Gandhi’s Rise to Power: Indian Politics, 1915–1922 (Cambridge, 1972), and DeWitt C. Ellinwood and S. D. Pradhan, eds., India and World War 1 (New Delhi, 1978). On Indochina, see Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Radicalism and the Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution (Cambridge, Mass., 1992). On Korea, see Michael Edson Robinson, Cultural Nationalism in Colonial Korea, 1920–1925 (Seattle, Wash., 1988).\n10 Prasenjit Duara, “Transnationalism and the Challenge of National Histories,” in Thomas Bender, ed., Rethinking American History in a Global Age (Berkeley, Calif., 2002), 25. A number of leading international historians have written on the importance of eschewing what Akira Iriye has called a “uninational” approach to international history. See, e.g., Iriye, “Internationalizing International History,” in Bender, Rethinking American History, 47–62; Michael H. Hunt, “Internationalizing U.S. Diplomatic History: A Practical Agenda,” Diplomatic History 15, no. 1 (1991): 1–11.\n11 Madeleine Chi, “China and Unequal Treaties at the Paris Conference of 1919,” Asian Profile 1, no. 1 (1973): 49–61. For China’s place in the prewar international system and its impact on intellectual developments there, see Zhang Yongjin, China in the International System, 1918–1920: The Middle Kingdom at the Periphery (Oxford, 1991), 15–38.\n12 Michael Adas, “Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault on the Civilizing Mission Ideology,” Journal of World History 15, no. 1 (2004): 31–63. Such critiques of Western modernity were, of course, also common in the West itself in the postwar period.\n13 The American pursuit of a revised Wilsonian program in the wake of World War II was much more circumspect, and could not replicate the sense of possibility of 1918–1919. See Elizabeth Borgwardt, A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights (Cambridge, Mass., 2005).\n14 Arno Mayer, Wilson vs. Lenin: Political Origins of the New Diplomacy, 1917–1918 (New York, 1967).\n15 Ibid., 245–266.\n16 V. I. Lenin, “Theses on the Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination,” in Lenin, Collected Works, 45 vols. (Moscow, 1960–1970), 22: 143–156. This essay, completed in March 1916 and first published in October 1916, expressed ideas that Lenin formed in 1915–1916, in the course of writing his treatise Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. For a detailed analysis of the early socialist and Bolshevik debates on the national question, see Jeremy Smith, The Bolsheviks and the National Question, 1917–1923 (London, 1999), 3–22.\n17 V. I. Lenin, “Fourth Letter from Afar,” March 25, 1917, in Lenin, Collected Works, 23: 338; “Statement by the Provisional Government regarding the War,” April 9, 1917, in C. K. Cumming and Walter W. Pettit, eds., Russian-American Relations, March 1917–March 1920 (New York, 1920), 9–10.\n18 Address from the Bolsheviks “To Peoples and Governments of Allied Countries,” December 31, 1917, PWW, 45: 412–413. See also John M. Thompson, Russia, Bolshevism, and the Versailles Peace (Princeton, N.J., 1966), chap. 1.\n19 Mayer, Wilson vs. Lenin, 385–387; Tillman, Anglo-American Relations, 26; George W. Egerton, Great Britain and the Creation of the League of Nations: Strategy, Politics and International Organization, 1914–1919 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1978), 57–59.\n20 David Lloyd George, British War Aims: Statement by the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable David Lloyd George, on January 5, 1918 (London, 1918). See also Thomas J. Knock, To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order (New York, 1992), 143.\n21 Address to a Joint Session of Congress, January 8, 1918, PWW, 45: 534–539.\n22 Address to Congress, February 11, 1918, PWW, 46: 321.\n23 For more extended discussion of Wilson’s usage of “self-determination,” see Michla Pomerance, “The United States and Self-Determination: Perspectives on the Wilsonian Conception,” American Journal of International Law 70 (1976): 1–27; Betty Miller Unterberger, “The United States and National Self-Determination: A Wilsonian Perspective,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 26 (1996): 926–941; Lloyd E. Ambrosius, “Dilemmas of National Self-Determination: Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy,” in Ambrosius, Wilsonianism: Woodrow Wilson and His Legacy in American Foreign Relations (New York, 2002), 125–143; William R. Keylor, “Versailles and International Diplomacy,” in Boemeke et al., The Treaty of Versailles, 475 and n. 12.\n24 N. Gordon Levin, Woodrow Wilson and World Politics: America’s Response to War and Revolution (New York, 1968), 247–251. The literature on Wilson’s policy in the Philippines is surprisingly sparse, but see William Christopher Hamel, “Race and Responsible Government: Woodrow Wilson and the Philippines” (Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 2002), esp. chap. 6.\n25 Address at Mount Vernon, July 4, 1918, PWW, 48: 515–516.\n26 On the expansion of telegraphy into Asia, see Daniel R. Headrick, The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851–1945 (New York, 1991), esp. chap. 4.\n27 On the rise of the popular press in India, see S. Natarajan, A History of the Press in India (Bombay, 1962), 147–225; Nadig Krishna Murthy, Indian Journalism: Origin, Growth and Development of Indian Journalism, from Asoka to Nehru (Mysore, 1966), chap. 8; Judith M. Brown, Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1994), 139.\n28 Leo Lee and Andrew J. Nathan, “The Beginnings of Mass Culture,” in David Johnson et al., eds., Popular Culture in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, Calif., 1985), 368–378; Stephen R. MacKinnon, “Toward a History of the Chinese Press in the Republican Period,” Modern China 23, no. 1 (1997): 3–32. Benedict Anderson famously identified mass print media as agents of national identity construction, delineating the boundaries of the nation while at the same time locating it within the context of a wider world of structurally equivalent and morally equal national entities. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, rev. ed. (London, 1991), esp. chaps. 2–3. For a development of these ideas in the specific context of the rise of nationalism and of global historical consciousness in early-twentieth-century China, see Rebecca E. Karl, Staging the World: Chinese Nationalism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Durham, N.C., 2002); and Karl, “Creating Asia: China in the World in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century,” AHR 103, no. 4 (October 1998): 1096–1118.\n29 George Creel, Complete Report of the Chairman of the Committee on Public Information (Washington, D.C., 1920), 1–2. For accounts of the CPI and its activities during the war, see Gregg Wolper, “The Origins of Public Diplomacy: Woodrow Wilson, George Creel, and the Committee on Public Information” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1991); James R. Mock and Cedric Larson, Words That Won the War: The Story of the Committee on Public Information, 1917–1919 (Princeton, N.J., 1939); and Creel’s own celebratory account, How We Advertised America: The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe (New York, 1920).\n30 Carl Crow, “The Great War on the China Front,” unpublished typescript, Carl Crow Papers, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Columbia. Also Hans Schmidt, “Democracy for China: American Propaganda and the May Fourth Movement,” Diplomatic History 22, no. 1 (1998): 1–28; Kazuyuki Matsuo, “American Propaganda in China: The U.S. Committee on Public Information, 1918–1919,” Journal of American and Canadian Studies 14 (1996): 19–42.\n31 On the role of Reuters as the main supplier of international news across the British Empire and East Asia during this period, see Donald Read, The Power of News: The History of Reuters, 2nd ed. (New York, 1999), chaps. 3–6.\n32 See, e.g., “America Asks for War,” Amrita Bazar Patrika [hereafter ABP], April 5, 1917; “President Wilson’s Speech and Needed Change in British Policy,” Mahratta, October 6, 1918, 473–474. The Amrita Bazar Patrika was a major nationalist daily, published in Calcutta but read widely across India. See Murthy, Indian Journalism, 81. Mahratta was a weekly magazine published in Pune by the scholar, journalist, and nationalist leader B. G. Tilak. The New York Times boasted at the time: “Extracts from President Wilson’s speeches are being quoted by villagers in the remotest part of India,” and his words “have gripped their hearts as nothing else has done since the war began.” See “Wilson’s Words in India,” New York Times, October 5, 1918, 12.\n33 Wilson’s speech, made on February 11, was reported with extensive excepts by Reuters and carried in “President Wilson, Address to Congress, Situation Reviewed,” ABP, February 14, 1918; the paper’s editorial analysis appeared two days later, “Dr. Wilson’s Peace Pronouncement,” ABP, February 16, 1918. See also Natarajan, Press in India, 183.\n34 “Mei zongtong zhi yihe tiaojian,” Shibao, January 11, 1918, 2. Also see “Mei zongtong yanshuo heping tiaojian,” Dagongbao, January 11, 1918, 3. Shibao was a major Shanghai daily; on its emergence and impact, see Joan Judge, Print and Politics: “Shibao” and the Culture of Reform in Late Qing China (Stanford, Calif., 1996). Dagongbao was a major daily published in Tianjin.\n35 The advertisement appeared numerous times in January and February 1919, e.g., in New India, January 6 and 11, 1919; ABP, February 18, 1919. Other books advertised in the same list, below the Wilson collection, included volumes by such luminaries of the national movement as C. R. Das and Sarojini Naidu and a biography of Mahatma Gandhi. New India was published daily in Madras and associated with Annie Besant’s India Home Rule League.\n36 “Reviews and Notices,” Mahratta, February 2, 1919, 59.\n37 “Meiguo zongtong Wei-er-xun canzhan yanshuo chuban,” Shibao, November 16, 1918, 1; the advertisement appeared several more times in this newspaper over the next weeks. Also in Shenbao, November 21, 1918, 1. Shenbao was a major daily published in Shanghai but read across China. On its reach into the countryside during this period, see Henrietta Harrison, “Newspapers and Nationalism in Rural China 1890–1929,” Past & Present 166 (2000): 181–204.\n38 See Shibao, December 24, 1918, 1, on the degree from the Sorbonne; Shibao, December 29, 1918, 1, on the welcome in London. Also “Yingwang yu Mei zongtong zhi yanshuo,” Shenbao, December 30, 1918. In India, “President Wilson Visits His Mother’s Birthplace,” ABP, January 3, 1919; “Wilson’s Address to Italian Parliament,” ABP, January 7, 1919.\n39 “President Wilson’s Speech,” Mahratta, October 6, 1918, 473–474. For the impact of the war on the Indian nationalist movement, see Ellinwood and Pradhan, India and World War 1, esp. the essays by Brown, Barrier, Bose, and Wolpert.\n40 “The Lesson of the War,” Tribune (Lahore), December 20, 1918, L/R/5/201, 3; “India after the War,” Kesari (Pune), n.d., L/R/5/200, 596. India Office Records, British Library, London.\n41 “India and the Peace Conference,” Mahratta, December 1, 1918, 559.\n42 “Cejin yongjiu hepinghui xuanyan shu,” Shibao, December 16, 1918; Hollington K. Tong, “What Can President Wilson Do for China?” Millard’s Review, November 16, 1918, 431–434. This article was reprinted in Chinese translation as “Zhongguo yu heping huiyi,” Shibao, December 18, 1918.\n43 Editorial in Meizhou pinglun, December 22, 1918, in Chen Duxiu, Duxiu wencun (Hefei, 1987), 388. On Chen, see Lee Feigon, Chen Duxiu, Founder of the Chinese Communist Party (Princeton, N.J., 1983).\n44 “Jielu Wei-er-xun `xunci,'” in Hu Shi, Hu Shi liuxue riji (Changsha, 2000), 334. On Hu Shih and his role in the May Fourth movement, see Jerome B. Grieder, Hu Shih and the Chinese Renaissance: Liberalism in the Chinese Revolution, 1917–37 (Cambridge, Mass., 1970).\n45 Stephen N. Hay, Asian Ideas of East and West: Tagore and His Critics in Japan, China, and India (Cambridge, Mass., 1970), 126–143.\n46 Hu, “Wei-er-xun,” July 12, 1914, and Hu Shih liuxue riji, 208.\n47 Tagore to Wilson, May 9, 1918, and Tagore interview with Gertrude Stevenson, Boston Journal, December 2, 1916, cited in Stephen N. Hay, “Rabindranath Tagore in America,” American Quarterly 14, no. 3 (1962): 449, 451. Tagore’s publisher, Macmillan, wrote the president requesting his permission for the dedication, but Wilson’s adviser, Colonel Edward M. House, counseled against it because his British contacts had warned him that Tagore was involved with Indian revolutionaries living in the United States. When news of this reached Tagore, he wrote Wilson a long, outraged letter of protest against such “lying calumny.” The letter was shuffled around at the Department of State; Wilson probably never saw it. Woodrow Wilson to Macmillan and Company, April 9, 1917, PWW, 42: 21; Rabindranath Tagore, The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore, ed. Sisir Kumar Das, 3 vols. (New Delhi, 1994–1996), 2: 770–771; Hay, “Tagore in America,” 451–452.\n48 The phrase “League of Nations” was commonly rendered into Chinese at the time using the term datong, e.g., as “wanguo datong meng” or “guoji datong meng.” Like other terms in Confucian philosophy, datong has no single accepted translation into English. Laurence G. Thomson, who translated Kang’s book, rendered it as “One World,” but noted more than a dozen other possibilities. Jonathan D. Spence translated it as “Great Community,” and Kang Youwei himself rendered the term into English literally as “Great Concord.” See Kang Youwei, Ta T’ung Shu: The One-World Philosophy of K’ang Yu-wei, trans. Laurence G. Thompson (London, 1958), esp. 29–30; Jonathan D. Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution (New York, 1981), 64–73; Chow, The May Fourth Movement, 97–98 and note n there. For more on Kang and his ideas, see Prasenjit Duara, “Transnationalism and the Predicament of Sovereignty: China, 1900–1945,” AHR 102, no. 4 (October 1997): 1034–1035; Kung-chuan Hsiao, A Modern China and a New World: Kang Yu-wei, Reformer and Utopian, 1858–1927 (Seattle, Wash., 1975), esp. pt. 4; Jung-pang Lo, ed., K’ang Yu-wei: A Biography and a Symposium (Tucson, Ariz., 1967), esp. 341–354.\n49 “Cu Nan Bei su yihe yi ying Ouzhou heju dian,” Shibao, December 30, 1918, reprinted in Kang Youwei, Kang Youwei zhenglun ji, ed. Yang Zhijun, 2 vols. (Beijing, 1981), 2: 1061–1063; Hollington Tong, “Kang Yu-wei as Chinese Advocate of League of Nations,” Millard’s Review, February 8, 1919, 342–345.\n50 In 1919, Kang noted that when he had written his book on datong in the 1880s, he had hoped that its principles would be realized “in the century to come,” and was surprised to see them realized so soon. Lo, K’ang Yu-wei, 238.\n51 Tagore to Rothenstein, April 1(?), 1913, in Mary M. Lago, ed., Imperfect Encounter: Letters of William Rothenstein and Rabindranath Tagore, 1911–1941 (Cambridge, Mass., 1972), 106–107.\n52 Portland Telegram, September 26, 1916, cited in Hay, “Tagore in America,” 447.\n53 E.g., “Mei zhi duli jinian,” Shenbao, July 4, 1918, 11, which emphasized the United States’ “democratic spirit” and its commitment to “uphold justice and humanity in the world.”\n54 Luo Jialun, “Jinri shijie zhi xinchao,” Xinchao 1, no. 1 (January 1, 1919): 19–23.\n55 Woodrow Wilson, “Democracy and Efficiency,” Atlantic Monthly 87 (March 1901): 289–299.\n56 Address to a Joint Session of Congress, January 8, 1918, PWW, 45: 537.\n57 The Wilson administration’s policies on race and their broader context are explored in Michael Dennis, “Looking Backward: Woodrow Wilson, the New South, and the Question of Race,” American Nineteenth Century History 3, no. 1 (2002): 77–104; Nicholas Patler, Jim Crow and the Wilson Administration: Protesting Federal Segregation in the Early Twentieth Century (Boulder, Colo., 2004). For the encounters with Wilson of two prominent African American leaders at the time, see Christine A. Lunardini, “Standing Firm: William Monroe Trotter’s Meetings with Woodrow Wilson, 1913–1914,” Journal of Negro History 64, no. 3 (1979): 244–264; Kenneth M. Glazier, “W. E. B. Du Bois’ Impressions of Woodrow Wilson,” Journal of Negro History 58, no. 4 (1973): 452–459.\n58 Lala Lajpat Rai, The United States of America: A Hindu’s Impressions and a Study (Calcutta, 1916), 77–172; Tagore quoted in “Rabindranath Tagore in America,” Modern Review 21, no. 6 (1917): 663.\n59 On the boycott, see Guanhua Wang, In Search of Justice: The 1905–1906 Chinese Anti-American Boycott (Cambridge, Mass., 2001). On Chinese views on U.S. conquest and rule in the Philippines, see also Karl, Staging the World, chap. 4; Michael H. Hunt, The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy (New York, 1996), 90.\n60 Kang Youwei, “Jiu wang lun,” in Kang, Kang Youwei zhenglun ji, 2: 653.\n61 “Greatest Living Poet of Hindustan Arrives,” Los Angeles Times, September 19, 1916, 11. Tagore laid out his opposition to nationalism in the book Nationalism (New York, 1917), which he unsuccessfully attempted to dedicate to Wilson (see n. 47 above). Since Wilson understood his advocacy of “self-determination” as a step toward international cooperation rather than as a call to ethnic exclusivism, Tagore’s wish was perhaps not as ironic as it might initially appear.\n62 See, e.g., “Educational Policy in the Philippines,” Mahratta, June 11, 1916, 281; “America’s Work in the Philippines,” pts. 1 and 2, Modern Review 21, no. 3 (March 1917): 328–336, and no. 4 (April 1917): 455–460; “Parallel between India and the Philippines,” ABP, February 22, 1919; Lajpat Rai, The United States, 296–325. In its favorable review of the latter book, the Mahratta (December 17, 1916) noted that the chapter that dealt with U.S. rule in the Philippines should be studied by every Indian, and especially by “our rulers,” but that the topic was so well-known to readers that it need not be elaborated.\n63 Zhi Fei, “Zhimin de wenti,” Guomingongbao, December 6, 1918, 5. Guomingongbao was a major Beijing daily and considered a venue for “liberal opinion”; see Hu Shi, “Intellectual China in 1919,” The Chinese Social and Political Science Review 4, no. 4 (December 1919): 345–355.\n64 Open letter to Wilson, written in late 1917, in M. N. Roy, Selected Works of M. N. Roy, ed. Sibnarayan Ray, 4 vols. (Delhi, 1987), 1: 67–83.\n65 Li Dazhao, “Bolshevism de shengli,” Xin qingnian 5, no. 5 (November 1918): 442–448. The word “Bolshevism” appeared in English in the title of the piece. Li nevertheless noted elsewhere Wilson’s “deep love of world peace,” praised the United States as the leading example of a successful federal system, and described the League of Nations as leading toward the ideal of world federation. Li Dazhao, “Wei-er-xun yu pinghe,” February 11, 1917, in Li Dazhao, Li Dazhao wenji, 5 vols. (Beijing, 1999), 1: 271; Li Dazhao, “Lianzhizhuyi yu shijie zuzhi,” Xinchao 1, no. 2 (February 1, 1919): 151–156. On Li’s role as a pioneering Chinese Marxist, see Maurice Meisner, Li Ta-chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism (Cambridge, Mass., 1967); Li Danyang, “Makesi xueshuo yanjiuhui yu Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi zuzhi de qiyuan,” Shixue yuekan 6 (2004): 51–59.\n66 “Pining for the Perfect Day,” Mahratta, April 22, 1917.\n67 For India, see, e.g., ABP, July 6, 1918, 3, where a laudatory report of Wilson’s July Fourth address sat next to headlines announcing “Further Bolshevik Submission to Germany” and reporting on the march of White forces on Moscow. ABP, January 16, 1919, “Reuters Telegrams” section, reported on “Bolshevik Destruction” in Poland and losses in Estonia; a separate item associates the spread of Bolshevism in Germany with riots and criminality. New India, January 15, 1919, also reported on the “Bolshevist Peril” in numerous items on p. 9. In China, see similar themes in “Eguo geming xiaoxi,” Shibao, January 8, 1918, 2, and January 15, 1918, 2; and items on the Russian Bolsheviks in Shibao, December 17, 1918, 1; December 30, 1918, 1; and January 7, 1919, 2. Shenbao, January 13, 1919, 6, reported on the “miserable conditions” of Chinese laborers in Russia who were being conscripted into the Red Army. See also “Full Story of How China Is Menaced by the Bolsheviki; Horrors in Russian Turkistan,” Peking Leader, July 12, 1918, 3. On Lenin as a “mysterious” figure, see Sudhindra Bose, “The Russian Situation,” Modern Review 25 (1919): 131; “Lenin,” Mahratta, February 3, 1918, 60.\n68 Michael Weiner, “Comintern in East Asia, 1919–39,” in Kevin McDermott and Jeremy Agnew, eds., The Comintern: A History of International Communism from Lenin to Stalin (London, 1996), 158–163. Weiner notes that at the First Comintern Congress in March 1919, “very little time or discussion was devoted to the `colonial’ question,” and that Asian representation there was insignificant. By the Second Comintern Congress in the summer of 1920, however, the failure of the European revolutions, on the one hand, and the eruption of mass anticolonial protests in Asia, on the other, gave Asian communists a more substantial role, which was reflected in M. N. Roy’s forceful contestation of Lenin’s views on the colonial question. On the Roy-Lenin debate, see John P. Haithcox, “The Roy-Lenin Debate on Colonial Policy: A New Interpretation,” Journal of Asian Studies 23, no. 1 (1963): 93–101. Although many Indian and Chinese intellectuals had some general familiarity with socialist ideas before the war, specific interest in Marxist-Leninist doctrine and its potential relevance for India and China began to develop only in late 1919, after expectations for the peace conference collapsed and the Bolsheviks began to consolidate their regime. See Arif Dirlik, The Origins of Chinese Communism (Oxford, 1989), 23–25; Sankar Ghose, Socialism and Communism in India (Bombay, 1971), 8–16.\n69 Thirty-third Indian National Congress Session, Delhi, December 1918, All-India Congress Committee Papers [hereafter AICC], File 1, pt. 2, p. 347, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi [hereafter NMML].\n70 Memorandum, dated London, December 11, 1918, enclosed in Tilak to Khaparde, December 18, 1918, G. S. Khaparde Papers, File 1, pp. 1–2, National Archives of India, New Delhi [hereafter NAI]; Tilak to D. W. Gokhale, dated London, January 23, 1919, Khaparde Papers, File 1, pp. 4–7, NAI.\n71 Burma Provincial Congress Committee [hereafter PCC] to secretary of AICC, January 15, 1919, AICC Papers, File 7, pp. 3–5; secretary of Bihar & Orissa PCC to secretary of AICC, February 1, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 171; secretary of Bengal PCC to secretary of AICC, February 7, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 183; secretary of Madras PCC to AICC, February 13, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 193, all in NMML.\n72 Tilak to Wilson, January 2, 1919, Series 5F, Reel 446, Woodrow Wilson Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Wilson’s personal secretary acknowledged receipt of this missive and implied that the president had seen it, but upon receiving word of the exchange, an official at the British Foreign Office commented: “not much attention need be paid to Pres. Wilson’s acknowledgement.” Still, in the Indian press, Wilson’s terse acknowledgment was a topic of much hopeful discussion and speculation. Close to Tilak, January 14, 1919, cited in Foreign Office memo, February 12, 1919, FO 608/211, fol. 124–125, UK National Archives, Kew; “India before the U.S.A. Senate,” Mahratta, October 19, 1919, 499; “International Forum,” Mahratta, November 9, 1919, 518.\n73 See, e.g., Wilson to Tumulty, June 27, 1919, PWW, 61: 291. Other claims for self-determination that Wilson and the peace conference ignored include those of Koreans and Egyptians, but also of Irish and Catalan nationalists. The story is recounted in detail in Manela, The Wilsonian Moment.\n74 “Ouzhan hehui yu woguo guanxi,” Shenbao, November 22, 1918, 6; Wunsz King, China at the Peace Conference in 1919 (Jamaica, N.Y., 1961), 3.\n75 V. K. Wellington Koo and Cheng-ting T. Wang, China and the League of Nations (London, 1919), 2.\n76 For the Supreme Council discussions on Shandong, see Paul Mantoux, The Deliberations of the Council of Four (March 24–June 28, 1919): Notes of the Official Interpreter, trans. and ed. Arthur S. Link, 2 vols. (Princeton, N.J., 1992), 1: 399–408, 425–427.\n77 From an interview with a student at Beijing University, quoted in Tsi C. Wang, The Youth Movement in China (New York, 1928), 161–162.\n78 On the central role of the May Fourth movement in the history of modern China, see Rana Mitter, A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World (New York, 2004).\n79 On the impact of the events of the spring of 1919 on the course of the nationalist movement in India, see R. Kumar, ed., Essays on Gandhian Politics: The Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919 (Oxford, 1971), esp. 1–16.\n80 See, e.g., Shibao, April 23–26 and 29, 1919, for numerous reports of “riots” and “chaos” in India, as well as in Egypt and Korea. In India, see, e.g., Mahratta, October 19, 1919, which reports on “President Wilson’s Betrayals” of numerous nations, including Korea, Ireland, and Egypt.\n81 Mao Zedong, “Afghanistan Picks Up the Sword” and “So Much for National Self-Determination!,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Stuart R. Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912–1949, 7 vols. (Armonk, N.Y., 1992– ), 1: 335, 337. Mao added with characteristic sarcasm that he “felt sorry” for “poor Wilson,” who was in Paris “like an ant on a hot skillet,” and “could not speak his mind.” Mao Zedong, “Poor Wilson,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Schram, Mao’s Road to Power, 1: 338.\n82 Incomplete and unpublished review of Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom: Socialism, Anarchism, and Syndicalism (London, 1918), undated but written sometime in the summer of 1919. Jawaharlal Nehru Papers, Writings and Speeches, serial no. 21, NMML.\n83 Ibid.; Mao Zedong, “Study of the Extremist Party,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Schram, Mao’s Road to Power, 1: 332 and n. 1.\n84 The full intellectual genealogy of Wilson’s thinking on self-determination ideas is traced in Pomerance, “The United States and Self-Determination.” But compare Knock, To End All Wars, esp. chaps. 2–4.\n85 On the evolution of international society toward the inclusion of non-Western nations, see Hedley Bull, “The Emergence of Universal Society” and “The Revolt against the West,” both in Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, eds., The Expansion of International Society (New York, 1984), 117–126, 217–228; Gerrit W. Gong, The Standard of “Civilization” in International Society (Oxford, 1984), esp. chaps. 2–4.\nFeatures\nHow the Wilsonian moment sparked movements for self-determination around the world\nReviews\n“Trawling through four national archives, Manela has produced an immensely rich and important work of comparative politics.”–Pankaj Mishra, London Review of Books\n“A probing historical study. Manela presents an enlightening analysis of a shortsighted failure whose convulsive effects are still with us.”–Publishers Weekly\n“…an important work.”–The Independent\n“…sophisticated in its analysis…. Manela’s work rests on extensive archival research in many countries and languages….”–The Weekly Standard\n“The international relations at the end of World War I have been much studied by historians but, as Erez Manela points out, mainly from the perspective of the center. Manela examines the periphery and shows how ideas, actions, and decisions taken by the powers interacted with local conditions and players. The Wilsonian Moment is a much-needed reminder that the non-European world was moving along its own tracks, which were affected but not necessarily determined by the center, and a significant contribution to our understanding of a crucial period.”–Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World\n“Manela provides an impressive demonstration of the adoption of Wilsonian rhetoric by nationalist movements in China, Egypt, India, and Korea–and of their responses to the betrayal of their hopes and expectations at Versailles. His analysis goes a long way toward revealing the roots of anti-Americanism among African and Asian intellectuals.”–Warren I. Cohen, University of Maryland, Baltimore County\n“Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawharlal Nehru, Syngman Rhee–they all responded to the ‘Wilsonian Moment’–the dream of self-determination of subject people inspired, often in spite of himself, by the American president and the dashing of that dream at the end of World War I. Erez Manela shows with great sensitivity and insight how this moment affected different indigenous leaders and followers in the Middle East and South and East Asia. He shows how the outcome of this moment shaped much of the course of the twentieth century. This is the new ‘international history’ at its best.”–John Milton Cooper, author of Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations\n“Woodrow Wilson belonged to the tradition of colonial reform, not liberation, but nationalists everywhere used his slogan of self-determination to advance their own causes. The Wilsonian Moment will be indispensable to all scholars seeking to understand the political transformation of the colonial world in the aftermath of World War I.”–Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas at Austin\n“Erez Manela does a superb job both of telling stories that need to be told and changing his readers’ understanding both of Wilson and the world. And given its emphasis on the tragedy of disappointed expectations raised by universalist rhetoric, this book should be read more by anyone interested not only in history, but in American foreign policy.”–Anne-Marie Slaughter, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University\nProduct Details\n352 pages; 20 halftones; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN 13: 978-0-19-517615-5 ISBN 10: 0-19-517615-4\nAbout the Author(s)\nErez Manela is Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History at Harvard University.\nThis book is the first to place the 1919 Revolution in Egypt, the Rowlatt Satyagraha in India, the May Fourth movement in China, and the March First uprising in Korea in the context of a broader “Wilsonian moment” that challenged the existing international order.\nMarch 28, 2008 at 6:16 am | Posted in Asia , Books , Globalization , Japan , Literary , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , Third World , World-system | Leave a comment\nThe Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy oscillated between complex analyses of human existence in the Heidegger fashion and parallel analyses of world history, imperialism, and Japan’s role in the world-system.\nIt should be noted that some Western writers think most criticism misplaced, and have defended the school and its major thinkers as fundamentally right in their reading of the historical logic of Japan’s long war against the imperialist ‘White’ world.\n(KU Philosophy Dept. ?, Chair, 1928-35?)\n \n \n(KU Philosophy Dept. 1928-35, Chair 1935-63)\nThe Kyoto School is the name given to the Japanese “philosophical movement centered at Kyoto University that assimilated Western philosophy and religious ideas and used them to reformulate religious and moral insights unique to the East Asian cultural tradition.” [1] . It is used however also of the many postwar scholars from various disciplines who have taught at the same university, been influenced by the foundational thinkers of Kyoto school philosophy, and who have developed distinctive theories of Japanese uniqueness. Therefore, thinkers and writers covered by this second sense will be treated under The Kyoto University Research Centre for the Cultural Sciences .\nBeginning roughly in 1913 with Nishida Kitaro , it survived the serious controversy it garnered after W.W.II to develop into a moderately well-known and active movement today. However, it is not a “school” of philosophy in the traditional sense of the phrase, such as with the Frankfurt School or Plato’s Academy . Instead, the group of academics gathered around Kyoto University as a de facto meeting place, and as its founder, Kitaro steadfastly encouraged independent thinking. According to James Heisig, the name “Kyoto School” was first used in 1932 by a student of Kitaro and Tanabe, Tosaka Jun (1900-45) – himself considered to be part of the ‘ marxist left-wing ‘ of the school. [2] Afterwards, the media and other academic institutions outside of Japan began to use the moniker, and by the 1970s it had become a universal title – practically by default.\n Shizuteru Ueda\nHistory\nMasao Abe writes in his introduction to a new English translation of Nishida’s magnum opus, that if one thinks of philosophy in terms of Kant and Hegel , then there is no philosophy taking place in Japan. But if it is instead thought of in terms of the tradition carried out by Augustine and Kierkegaard , then Japan has a rich philosophical history, composed of the great thinkers Kūkai , Shinran , Dogen and others. [3]\nThe group of philosophers involved with the Kyoto School in its nearly 100 year history (so far), is a diverse one. Individual members would sometimes come from very different backgrounds, and were not hesitant to criticise each others’ work. However, to be formally accepted as a member of the movement, one had to:\neither be teaching at Kyoto University or at a nearby affiliated school,\nshare Nishida’s basic assumptions regarding metaphysics and the concept of “ nothingness “, and\nuse the same philosophical vocabulary as Nishida. [4]\nGenerally, most were strongly influenced by the German philosophical tradition, especially through the thought of Nietzsche and Heidegger . In addition, all had strong ties to the Buddhist religion, and while their work was not expressly religious, it was informed significantly by it.\nAlthough the group was fluidic and largely informal, traditionally whoever occupied the Chair of the Department of Modern Philosophy at the university was considered its leader. Nishida was the first, from 1913 to 1928. Hajime Tanabe succeeded him until the mid-1930s. By this time, Nishitani had graduated from Kyoto University, studied with Martin Heidegger for two years in Germany , and returned to a teaching post since 1928. From 1955 to 1963, Nishitani officially occupied the Chair and since his departure, leadership of the school has crumbled – turning the movement into a very decentralized group of philosophers with common beliefs and common interests.\n \nSignificance of its notable members\nThe significance of the group continues to grow, especially in American departments of religion and philosophy. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a growing interest in East/West dialogue , especially inter-faith scholarship. Masao Abe , now the most well-known living member, has traveled to both coasts of the United States on professorships, and lectured to many groups on Buddhist-Christian relations.\nIn addition, although Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was closely connected to the Kyoto school and in some ways critical to the development of thought that occurred there—indeed, Suzuki personally knew Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani—he is not considered a true member of the group. [5]\n \nNishida Kitaro\nNishida, the school’s founder, is most known for his groundbreaking work An Inquiry into the Good and later for his elucidation of the “logic of basho” (Japanese: basho; usually translated as place or topos) – which brought him fame outside of Japan, and contributed largely to the attention later paid to philosophers from the Kyoto School.\n \nNishida’s work is notable for a few reasons, chief among them however is how much they are related to the German tradition of philosophy since Schopenhauer . The logic of Basho is a non-dualistic ‘concrete’ logic, meant to overcome the inadequacy of the subject-object distinction essential to the subject logic of Aristotle and the predicate logic of Kant , through the affirmation of what he calls the ‘absolutely contradictory self-identity’, a dynamic tension of opposites that, unlike the dialectical logic of Hegel, does not resolve in a synthesis, but rather defines its proper subject by maintaining the tension between affirmation and negation as opposite poles or perspectives.\nNishitani describes East Asian philosophy as something very different from what the Western tradition of Descartes , Leibniz or Hume would indicate,\nIt is ‘intuitive and practical,’ with its emphasis on religious aspects of expereince not lending themselves readily to theoretical description. True wisdom is to be distinguished from intellectual understanding of the kind appropriate to the sciences. The ‘appropriation’ of Nishida’s thought,…’embraces difficulties entirely different from those of intellectual understanding’…and those who ‘pretend to understand much but do not really understand, no matter how much they intellectually understand’ are the object of his scorn. [6]\nBefore his death, Nishida wrote The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview, developing more fully the religious implications of his work and philosophy through “Absolute Nothingness.” God or the Absolute, he says, is best understood by absolute nothingness because it “contains its own absolute self-negations within itself.” [7] Meaning, that while the divine is dynamically paradoxical, it should not be construed as pantheism , or transcendent theism . Both Nishitani and Abe have spent much of their academic lives dedicated to this development of nothingness and the Absolute, leading on occasion to panentheism\n \nA disciple of Keiji Nishitani.\n \nCriticism of the Kyoto School\nToday, there is a great deal of critical research into the school’s role prior to and during the Second World War . Hajime Tanabe bears the greatest brunt of the criticism for bringing his work on “The Logic of Species” into Japanese politics, supporting the intellectual culture in being prepared for a modified version of colonialism and “manifest destiny” beliefs. [8] [9] However, it should be noted that some Western writers think this criticism misplaced, and have defended the school and its major thinkers as fundamentally right in their reading of the historical logic of Japan’s long war against the imperialist ‘White’ world. [10]\nMembers\nSuggested Reading\nScholarly Books\nThe Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School. Edited by Frederick Franck. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1982.\n—Seventeen essays, most from The Eastern Buddhist , on Zen and Pure Land Buddhism.\nThe Philosophy of the Kyoto School, edited by Fujita Masakatsu. 2001.\n—Anthology of texts by Kyoto scholars themselves, with additional biographical essays.\nThe Thought of the Kyoto School, edited by Ohashi Ryosuke. 2004.\n—Collection of essays dealing with the history of its name, and its members contributions to philosophy.\nPhilosophers of Nothingness by James Heisig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8248-2481-4\n—Excellent introduction to the School’s history and content; includes rich multilingual bibliography.\nAbsolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, Hans Waldenfels. New York: Paulist Press, 1980.\n—Good early work, focuses mostly on Nishitani’s relevance for the perspective of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.\nJournal Articles\n“The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School: An Overview,” by James Heisig. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Vol.17, No.1, (1990), p51-81.\n“Heidegger and Buddhism,” by T. Umehara. Philosophy East and West, Vol.20 (1970), p271-281.\n“Nishida’s Philosophy of ‘Place’,” by Masao Abe, International Philosophical Quarterly Vol.28, No.4 (Winter 1988), p.355-371.\n“In Memoriam: Keiji Nishitani (1900-1990),” by E. Kawamura-Hanoka. Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol.12 (1992), p241-245.\n \nFor further information, see the Nanzan Institute’s Complete Bibliography for all Kyoto School members\nKitaro Nishida, An Inquiry into the Good, Translated by Masao Abe and Christopher Ives. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987 (1921).\n——, Art and Morality, Translated by D. Dilworth and Valdo Viglielmo. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.\n——, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Translated by Robert Schinzinger. Westport: 1958.\nHajime Tanabe, Philosophy as Metanoetics, translated by Yoshinori Takeuchi. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.\n——, Logic of the Species (no English translation yet)\nKeiji Nishitani, Religion and Nothingness, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. ISBN 0-520-04946-2\n——, The Self-overcoming of Nihilism, translated by Graham Parkes and Setsuko Aiharo. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.\nYoshinori Takeuchi, The Heart of Buddhism, translated by James Heisig. New York: 1983.\n \nSecondary sources on individual members\nNishida Kitaro, by Nishitani Keiji, translated by Yamamoto Sesaku and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.\nThe Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, edited by Taitetsu Unno and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.\nThe Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji, edited by Taitetsu Unno. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.\nReferences\nRelated Entries\n1. Introduction\nThe unintentional founder of the Kyoto School is Nishida Kitarô[ 1 ] (1870–1945), who is generally considered to be modern Japan’s greatest philosopher. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), when Japan reopened itself to the world after more than two centuries of national isolation, a generation of scholars devoted themselves to importing Western academic fields of inquiry, including “philosophy.” After many years of studying Western philosophy and Eastern classics, and after a decade of intense practice of Zen Buddhism, Nishida was the first modern Japanese thinker to go beyond learning from the West to construct his own original system of thought. This he began to do in his maiden work, An Inquiry into the Good, published in 1911 (see Nishida 1990). On the basis of this work he obtained a position in the Philosophy Department of Kyoto University, where he went on to ceaselessly develop his thought and to decisively influence subsequent generations of original philosophers, including the two other most prominent members of the Kyoto School, Tanabe Hajime (1885–1962) and Nishitani Keiji (1900–1990).\nAs is reflected in the name of the School, its founding members were associated with Kyoto University, the most prestigious university in Japan next to Tokyo University. It is perhaps no coincidence that the school formed in Kyoto, the ancient capital and center of traditional Japanese culture, rather than Tokyo, the new capital and center of modernization, i.e., Westernization. While the Kyoto School philosophers all devoted themselves to the study of Western philosophy (indeed they made lasting contributions to the ongoing effort to introduce Western philosophy into Japan), they also kept one foot firmly planted in their own traditions of thought. One scholar of the Kyoto School writes in this regard: “The keynote of the Kyoto school, as persons educated in the traditions of the East despite all they have learned from the West, has been the attempt to bring the possibilities latent in traditional culture into encounter with Western culture” (Minamoto 1994, 217).\nIt would be misleading, however, if we were to think of the Kyoto School as merely ‘putting a Western rational mask over Eastern intuitive wisdom’. Nor would it be entirely accurate to think of them as simply ‘using Western philosophical idioms and modes of thought to give modern expression to East Asian Buddhist thought’. For not only is the Western influence on their thought more than skin deep, their philosophies are far too original to be straightforwardly equated with traditional Eastern thought. Insofar as they can be identified as East Asian or Mahâyâna Buddhist thinkers, this must be understood in the sense of having critically and creatively developed these traditions in philosophical dialogue with Western thought. It should be kept in mind that their primary commitment is not to a cultural self-expression, or even to a dialogue between world religions, but rather to a genuinely philosophical search for truth.\nThe Kyoto School has become most well known, especially in the West, for its philosophies of religion. Indeed the reception of the Kyoto School in North America in particular has more often than not taken place in university departments of Religious Studies, where their philosophies of religion have frequently been viewed as representative of Mahâyâna Buddhism, specifically of the latter’s Zen and Shin (True Pure Land) forms.[ 2 ] While the exchange on these terms has been fruitful, this view can be misleading in two respects. First of all, even if for most of the Kyoto School thinkers a philosophy of religion is the ultimate arche and telos of their thought, it is hardly their sole concern. They address a full array of philosophical issues: metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, logic, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of history, philosophy of culture, ethics, political theory, philosophy of art, etc.\nSecondly, even when their focus is on the philosophy of religion, they approach this topic in a non-dogmatic and often surprisingly non-sectarian manner, drawing on and reinterpreting, for example, Christian sources along with Buddhist ones. Even Nishitani, who did in fact come to identify his thought with “the standpoint of Zen,” adamantly refused the label of a “natural theologian of Zen.” He claimed that: “If I have frequently had occasion to deal with the standpoints of Buddhism, and particularly Zen Buddhism, the fundamental reason is that [the original form of reality and the original countenance of human being] seem to me to appear there most plainly and unmistakably” (NKC X, 288; Nishitani 1982, 261).\nThe legacy of the Kyoto School, therefore, should be understood neither as Buddhist thought forced into Western garb, nor as universal discourse (which the West happened to have invented or discovered) dressed up in Japanese garb. Rather, it is best understood as a set of unique contributions from the perspective of modern Japan—that is, from a Japan that remains fundamentally determined by its historical layers of traditional culture at the same time as being essentially conditioned by its most recent layer of contact with the West—to a nascent worldwide dialogue of cross-cultural philosophy.\nIn conclusion to this introductory section, let me briefly sketch the content of the remaining sections of this article. In the following section, I will consider the preliminary issues of how to define the Kyoto School and who to include as its members. The name “Kyoto School” has been used in the past, in some cases rather loosely, to refer to a variety of sets of thinkers. It is therefore necessary to begin by discussing the question: Just who belongs to exactly what? The third and central section of this article will treat what is generally considered to be the central philosophical contribution of the Kyoto School, namely, the idea of “Absolute Nothingness.” After discussing the ostensible contrast between “Western Being” and “Eastern Nothingness,” and after looking at some of the Eastern sources of the idea of Absolute Nothingness, I will discuss the topological, dialectical, phenomenological and existential philosophies of Absolute Nothingness developed by Nishida Kitarô, Tanabe Hajime, Nishitani Keiji, and most recently by Ueda Shizuteru (1926–). The fourth section will address the political controversy surrounding the wartime writings and activities of the Kyoto School. The first wave of attention paid to the Kyoto School in the West in the 1980s largely ignored the political controversy that had long surrounded the School in Japan. While this lacuna in Western scholarship was amended in the 1990s, notably with the publication of Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School and the Question of Nationalism (Heisig/Maraldo 1994), the political ventures and misadventures of the Kyoto School remain a highly debated subject. In the final section of this article I will return to the question of the cross-cultural legacy of the Kyoto School as a group of thinkers that stood between—or perhaps moved beyond—East and West.\n2. Identity and Membership: Who Belongs to What?\n2.1 A History of External Naming\nThere has been considerable debate surrounding the question of how to define the “Kyoto School,” and who to include as its members. By all accounts Nishida Kitarô is considered its originator. Yet it was never his intention to institute a “school” based on his own thought; in fact he is reported to have always encouraged independent thinking in his students. Moreover, unlike Plato’s Academy or the Frankfurt School, the Kyoto School never founded an academic institution, its relation with Kyoto University being a de facto one. Indeed the name “Kyoto School” only came into use by the “members” themselves much later, when at all.\nNames do not only tell us who or what something is; they also tell us who or what something is not. Definitions not only seek to reveal an internal essence; they also draw a line of demarcation between inside and outside. It is thus not surprising that names and definitions often have their origin in labels appended from without. These labels may subsequently degenerate into stereotypes; or, conversely, they may be positively appropriated and redefined by the group itself. Both of these processes can be seen in the history of the “Kyoto School.”\nThe name “Kyoto School,” in fact, originated from without; or, more precisely speaking, it originated from the fringes of the School itself. Tosaka Jun (1900–1945), a student of Nishida and Tanabe, coined the expression in 1932 in reference to Nishida, Tanabe and Miki Kiyoshi (1897–1945) as purportedly representative of the epitome of “bourgeois philosophy in Japan” (see Heisig 2001, 4). Tosaka’s own developing thought had an explicitly materialist and Marxist orientation, and in his article he criticized the School as promulgating a bourgeois idealism that ignores material historical conditions and issues of social praxis. While Tosaka’s critique undoubtedly had an impact on the subsequent development of the Kyoto School’s philosophies, ironically Tosaka himself is often considered today, together with Miki, to be a member of the “left wing” of the Kyoto School (see Hattori 2004).\nThe second significant moment in the naming (or “labeling”) of the “Kyoto School” came more clearly from without, and in an even more politically charged context. As Nishitani was to recollect years later: “The name ‘Kyoto School’ is a name journalists used in connection with discussions that friends of mine and I held immediately before and during the war” (NKC XI, 207; see Heisig 2001, 277). Nishitani is referring here to two symposia that addressed the question of the meaning and direction of the Pacific War and the question of “overcoming modernity.” These two controversial symposia will be discussed in section 4.3 of this article.\nIn these comments, written in 1977, Nishitani goes on to say that by that time the name “Kyoto School” had come to be used by Americans and others to “indicate purely a school of thought.” Since the 1970s the name “Kyoto School” has gradually recovered its underlying philosophical ring, which for several decades in Japan (especially outside of Kyoto) had been drowned out by its political overtones. This recovery happened first of all in the West, where scholars neglected the political controversies in their enthusiastic reception of the School’s philosophies of religion. While the political controversies returned with a vengeance to Western academia a couple of decades later, in a kind of pendulum swing to the hyper-critical, the initial positive attention from without had by then helped to rehabilitate the image of the “Kyoto School” back home in Japan.\nFujita Masakatsu suggests that the question of defining the identity of the Kyoto School has often been a more pressing issue for Western scholars than for the Japanese themselves. He speculates that this has two reasons. One is that the Kyoto School never really had any noteworthy competing schools of original thought within Japan with which to contrast itself, and over against which to explicitly define its own identity. The second reason is that, while Westerners tend to draw out and focus on the shared general characteristics of the School’s members, usually in contrast with the general characteristics of Western thought, for Japanese scholars of the Kyoto School the differences between the various members often appear in sharper relief than do their shared commonalities (Fujita 2001, ii).\nIn any case, just as the formation of the Kyoto School’s ideas took place between Western and Eastern horizons of thought, so has the scholarly study and, to some extent, even the defining of the “Kyoto School” taken place between scholars in Japan on the one hand and those in Europe and North America on the other. Since one of the defining characteristics of the Kyoto School philosophers is their attempt to set Japan and their own thought in the context of the wider world, it is fitting that, with the increasingly international study of the Kyoto School, their thought is finally becoming what it always intended to be, namely, “Japanese philosophy in the world” (see Heisig 2004; Fujita/Davis 2005).\n2.2 The Question of Definition\nRecently in Japan two important volumes have appeared with the name “Kyoto School” in their titles: The Philosophy of the Kyoto School, edited by Fujita Masakatsu (2001), which consists of an anthology of texts by eight Kyoto School thinkers together with an essay on each one by a contemporary scholar; and The Thought of the Kyoto School, edited by Ôhashi Ryôsuke (2004), which contains five essays detailing the controversial history of the name “Kyoto School” as well as seven essays on potential contributions of their thought to various fields of contemporary philosophy. While the two books complement one other in many respects, they nevertheless each suggest a somewhat different approach to defining the school.\nFujita agrees with Takeda Atsushi’s working definition of the Kyoto School as: “the intellectual network that was centered on Nishida and Tanabe, and mutually formed by those who were directly influenced in both a personal and scholarly manner by them” (Fujita 2001, ii and 234–35). Accordingly, Fujita’s book features such thinkers as Tosaka and Miki, as well as more unanimously accepted figures such as Hisamatsu Shinichi (1889–1980) and Nishitani. As Fujita points out, the relatively open definition of the Kyoto School as such a scholarly and interpersonal “network” has the advantage of highlighting the mutuality of the flow of influence between its members, as well as the fact that “membership” in the unofficial group did not preclude serious disagreement with the thought of Nishida or Tanabe. While critical exchanges did sometimes lead to severed personal relations (Nishida and Tanabe infamously stopped speaking to one another), this was not always the case (Nishitani and Tosaka remained on good personal terms despite their political and philosophical differences). And in either case mutual criticism was philosophically taken seriously, and it frequently provided impetus to further developments in each member’s thought. In this sense, according to Fujita, an acceptance of mutual criticism could well be considered one of the defining characteristics of the School.\nOne point that Tosaka made early on, which often gets repeated still today, is that without Tanabe’s critical appropriation of Nishida’s thought there would be no tradition of the Kyoto School; we would have only successors of “Nishida Philosophy” and not a genuine school of mutually related yet independent thinkers. The question remains, however, just how independent a thinker can be with respect to Nishida’s thought and still be considered a member of the School. For even when subsequent figures in the School sharply questioned certain aspects of Nishida’s thought, they tended at the same time to appropriate and creatively develop other shared concepts and motifs. (A movement of self-critical development can in fact be seen in the ceaseless progression of Nishida’s own thought. Nishida thought of himself as a “miner” who never managed to stay put in one place long enough to “refine the ore” he had unearthed.)\nHence the Kyoto School, perhaps like any vibrant school of thought, should be seen as a cluster of original thinkers who, while not uncritically subscribing to any prescribed dogma, nevertheless came to share, and dispute, a number of common concerns as well as basic concepts and terminology. As we shall see, the most fundamental of their shared and disputed concepts is that of “Absolute Nothingness,” a notion that has, in fact, most often been used as a point of reference for defining the School.\nÔhashi explicitly questions the appropriateness of defining the Kyoto School merely in terms of a network of personal and scholarly relations. According to Ôhashi, in order for a group of thinkers to form a genuine “school” of philosophy, “there must be the common possession or formation of a thought” (Ôhashi 2004, 9). For Ôhashi, this common thought of the Kyoto School is “Absolute Nothingness,” and he accordingly suggests the following as a definition of the School: “a group of philosophers spanning several generations who developed their thought in several areas of philosophy with the idea of ‘Nothingness’ as a basis” (ibid., 10; see Ôhashi 2001, 13). While he does include Hattori Kenji’s essay on the “left wing of the Kyoto School” as the opening chapter of his The Thought of the Kyoto School, previously Ôhashi explicitly excluded Miki from the School on account of his principally Marxists orientations (Ôhashi 1990, 12). (We might note here in passing that, in his major later period work, The Logic of Imagination, Miki does affirm the Nishida inspired idea that “Nothingness is what transcends the subjective and the objective and envelopes them” (quoted in Fujita 2004, 125).)\nAmong Western scholars, John Maraldo has most thoroughly probed the question of Kyoto School identity and membership. He isolates six criteria that scholars have used to include and exclude thinkers from the Kyoto School: (1) connection with Nishida; (2) association with Kyoto University; (3) stance toward Japanese and Eastern intellectual traditions; (4) stance toward the interrelated matters of Marxism, the nation state, and the Pacific War; (5) stance toward Buddhism and toward religion in general; and (6) stance toward the notion of Absolute Nothingness. Maraldo shows how each one of these criteria have been used in various ways, consciously or unconsciously, since the 1930s to either promote the philosophical significance or disparage the political ideology of the Kyoto School (Maraldo 2005, 33–38).\nI would add two more related and interrelated criteria. One is an essentially ambivalent stance (i.e., neither simple rejection nor simple acceptance) toward Western philosophy and the West in general. For example, Nishida and others undertake a critical reception of Western ontology in order to develop an Eastern meontology or “logic of Nothingness,” and attempt to combine a Western “logic of things” with an Eastern “logic of heart-mind.” I will discuss such issues in section 3 of this article.\nAnother criterion that could be used to define the School is an essentially ambivalent attitude toward Western modernity (or toward modernization as Westernization). A critical stance toward a unilateral globalization of Western modernity, a stance which at the same time accepts in part its unavoidability and in some respects even affirms its necessity, gave rise to the idea of “overcoming modernity”—an overcoming that would take place not by retreating from Western modernity, but by going through and beyond it. This going through and beyond, moreover, would not simply be a matter of going further down the road of linear progress; it would entail a hermeneutical as well as ultimately a (me)ontological and existential re-gress, a radical “step back.” For the Kyoto School, a critical and creative retrieval of the traditions of the East, those of East Asian Mahâyâna Buddhism in particular, is thought to enable the radical religious and philosophical “trans-descendence” necessary to move through and beyond the limits and problems of Western modernity.\nThis idea of “overcoming modernity” has proven to be both one of the more stimulating and one of the more controversial aspects of their thought. For some it promises to contribute an important new East Asian perspective to the current debates over post-modernism in philosophy and post-colonialism in culture studies. Yet because the Kyoto School’s ideas of “overcoming modernity” developed in conjunction with their wartime political theories, theories which typically saw the nation of Japan as playing a key role in the historical movement through and beyond Western modernity, it has also proven to be one of the more often criticized aspects of their thought. (It is noteworthy in this regard that contemporary Japanese epigones of (Western) post-modernism have for the most part eschewed making the connection between their adoption of recent Western self-criticism of modernity/Eurocentrism and the Kyoto School’s earlier critique of these.) In any case, it is true that even after the Kyoto School ceased formulating the idea of overcoming modernity in political terms, the idea lives on in their postwar philosophies of religion and culture. Hence, a radical problematization of Western modernity can be considered an important aspect of their identity as a school of thought.\nAnother significant Western contributor to the question of the Kyoto School’s identity is James Heisig, who succeeded Jan Van Bragt as the head of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, an institute which has for several decades now been at the center of international research on the Kyoto School. In his recent book, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Heisig suggests that we follow the lead of Takeuchi Yoshinori (1913–2002) and define the School by “triangulating” it around the three leading figures of Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani (Heisig 2001, 3–7 and 275–78).\nIt is indeed these three figures that form the core of what has become known as the Kyoto School, and in this article I will accordingly focus my attention primarily on them, if also at times on Ueda Shizuteru as the current leading figure of the School. It should nevertheless be kept in mind that these are only three or four of a much wider group of original thinkers, some squarely within and some on the fringes of the Kyoto School.\n2.3 Members, Associate Members, and Related Thinkers\nÔhashi Ryôsuke’s thesis, advanced already in his landmark German anthology, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule (1990), is that the Kyoto School should be understood as a group of thinkers involved in a pluralistic yet cooperative and sustained attempt to think on the basis of an idea of “Nothingness” or “Absolute Nothingness.” This distinguishes their thought from that of traditional Western onto-logy with its basis of “being.” With this definition in mind, Ôhashi lists the central members of the Kyoto School according to generation as follows: Nishida and Tanabe make up the first generation; Hisamatsu, Nishitani, Kôsaka Masaaki (1900–1969), Shimomura Toratarô (1900–1995), Kôyama Iwao (1905–1993), and Suzuki Shigetaka (1907–1988) make up the second generation; and Takeuchi Yoshinori, Tsujimura Kôichi (1922–), and Ueda Shizuteru make up the third generation. Elsewhere he also suggests that the psychologist Kimura Bin (1931–) could be considered part of the third generation of the School, particularly if we shift the criterion of definition from interpersonal relations to a genealogy of thought (Ôhashi 2004, 9).\nOf the third generation, Ueda Shizuteru, who has done extensive original work on Meister Eckhart, Zen, and Nishida, is considered by most to be the central figure of the Kyoto School active today. Tsujimura Kôichi, who studied under Heidegger as well as under Hisamatsu and Nishitani, has provocatively and influentially written on Heidegger’s thought from a Zen and Kyoto School perspective. Abe Masao (1915–), a former student of Hisamatsu, has been an important representative of the Kyoto School and an inter-religious dialogue catalyst in North America, although he is less well known in Japan itself. If we were to view the Kyoto School as living past its third generation, Ôhashi Ryôsuke (1944–), a prolific philosopher in his own right, whose works in both Japanese and German address a broad range of philosophical issues, would undoubtedly count as a central figure of its fourth generation. Other contemporary active affiliates of the School, who could be seen as belonging to its fourth generation, include Hase Shôtô, Horio Tsutomu, Ômine Akira, Fujita Masakatsu, Mori Tetsurô, Kawamura Eiko, Matsumura Hideo, Nakaoka Narifumi, Okada Katsuaki, and Keta Masako. If the School shows promise of living on to future generations, it is with young scholars such as Minobe Hitoshi and Akitomi Katsuya, with advanced doctoral candidates in Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University such as Mizuno Tomoharu and Sugimoto Kôichi, as well as with a handful of non-Japanese philosophers who have studied with members of the third and fourth generations of the School.\nYet we appear to be at a turning point in the history of the Kyoto School, as is reflected in current retrospective attempts to define it. With Ueda’s and then Hase’s retirements from Kyoto University, on the one hand, and with the recent creation in 1998 of a Department of the History of Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University[ 3 ] (see the web site listed below) under the head of Fujita Masakatsu on the other, the Kyoto School is perhaps becoming, for better and for worse, more an object of scholarship than a predominantly living tradition. However, as with most schools of philosophy, the line between critical scholarship and creative appropriation is hardly a clear one, and in practice the retrospective study of the Kyoto School often blends together with its further development as a vibrant school of thought.\nIt is also important to point out that today in Japan the Kyoto School is not only studied in Kyoto. Since the appearance of Tokyo based philosopher Nakamura Yûjiô’s first book on Nishida in 1983, Nishida and the Kyoto School have steadily began receiving serious attention once again from scholars and students in areas of Japan outside of Kyoto. Worth special mention in this regard is Kosaka Kunitsugu, whose lucid and prolific scholarship on Nishida and others has done a great deal for the sympathetic yet sober textual analysis of the Kyoto School. The recent creation of the Nishida Philosophy Association (see the website listed below) promises to bring about a new era of cooperative exchange between Tokyo based and Kyoto based scholars of the School.\nTo return to the question of membership, consideration should also be given to those who could be referred to as “related thinkers” or “associate members” of the Kyoto School. The widest understandings (or misunderstandings[ 4 ]) of the Kyoto School include in it a number of thinkers who have a more or less occasional relation to the inner circle of the School. On the one hand, there is the case of D. T. Suzuki (Suzuki Daisetsu) (1870–1966). Suzuki maintained a long personal relationship with Nishida since their days as schoolmates. He not only helped introduce the young Nishida to the practice of Zen, his articulation of Mahâyâna Buddhist thought is also acknowledged as having influenced the formation of certain key ideas in Nishida’s last essay on the philosophy of religion. But Suzuki—who is justifiably famous in his own right for, among other things, helping introduce Zen to the West—was neither trained as a philosopher nor was he associated with Kyoto University; and thus he is perhaps best thought of as a “closely related thinker” to the School.\nThen there are the cases of Watsuji Tetsurô (1889–1960) and Kuki Shûzô (1888–1941). Both of these philosophers were brought to Kyoto University by Nishida, and both developed philosophies which were more or less influenced by Nishida’s thought (see Maraldo 2005, 34 and 52). And yet, both their thought and their activities remained too independent to count them among the inner circle of the School. It should be kept in mind, however, that these two “associate members” in particular are first rate philosophers in their own right, whose original work outshines that of many of the less original though full-fledged members of the School. Watsuji’s novel theory of “culture and climate” (fûdo), together with his major work on the ethics of “betweenness” (aidagara), and Kuki’s combination of logical rigor and existential insight in his major writings on the problem of contingency, together with his provocative works on Japanese aesthetics (notably his hermeneutical phenomenology of “iki”), have each made lasting contributions to philosophy and are worthy of international scholarly attention.\nFinally, there is the matter of thinkers who have developed their ideas more or less under the influence of Nishida and other members of the Kyoto School. A complete list of this group of “influenced thinkers” would be long, but it would include such names as Takahashi Satomi, Takizawa Katsumi, Mutai Risaku, Yuasa Yasuo, Kimura Bin, Sakabe Megumi, and Nakamura Yûjirô. A number of non-philosophers, such as the world-famous architect Andô Tadao (Tadao Ando), who designed the Ishikawa Nishida Kitaro Museum of Philosophy (see the website listed below), have also been influenced by Nishida and the Kyoto School.\n3. Absolute Nothingness: Giving Philosophical Form to the Formless\nHave discussed issues of definition and membership of the Kyoto School, we are now prepared to pursue the question of what unifies their thought as a school of philosophy. I will here follow the suggestion of Ôhashi, Nishitani, and other representatives of the Kyoto School itself, and focus on the shared—and at times disputed—idea of “Absolute Nothingness” (zettai-mu).[ 5 ]\n3.1 Western Being vs. Eastern Nothingness? Ontology vs. Meontology?\nNishitani wrote the following with regard to Nishida and Tanabe: “[Their] philosophies share a distinctive and common basis that sets them apart from traditional Western philosophy: Absolute Nothingness. … Clearly the idea of Absolute Nothingness came to awareness in the spirituality of the East; but the fact that it has also been posited as a foundation for philosophical thought represents a new step virtually without counterpart in the history of Western philosophy” (NKC IX, 225–26; Nishitani 1991, 161).\n“First philosophy” in the Western tradition is ontology, which asks the question of “being qua being,” and tends to answer this question either in terms of the most universal “being-ness” or in terms of the “highest being.” For Aristotle, the essence of being was “substance,” ambiguously thought either as the particular (Socrates) or the concrete universal form (human being), and the highest being was the “unmoved mover.” Greek ontology later influenced the Christian theological tradition to think of God as the “highest being,” such that the dual threads of the Western tradition as a whole took shape as what Heidegger calls “onto-theology.” Hence, the fundamental philosophical question of the onto-theological mainstream of the West is, “What is being?” On the other hand, the counter-question which the Kyoto School finds in the East is, “What is Nothingness?” In place of an ontology, first philosophy in the East is more often a “meontology”: a philosophy of non-being or Nothingness.\nPerhaps we should say “mu-logy” rather than “meontology”; for, strictly speaking, the Greek meon, “non-being,” should be translated into Japanese as hi-u. What I am translating as “Nothingnesss,” mu, is written with a single character rather than as a negation (hi) of being (u). This is crucial since the Nothingness with which they are concerned is not the simple negation or privation of being. It is closer to Heidegger’s “question of being,” which, attentive to what he calls the “ontological difference” between being (das Sein) and beings (das Seiende), asks after that which can only appear as “no-thing” when we think only in terms of things, that is, when we think (or calculate) merely in terms of determinate beings. Heidegger thus calls “the Nothing” (das Nichts) the “veil of being.” Das Sein or das Nichts is for Heidegger that which grants an open place, a clearing (Lichtung), for beings to show themselves. Just as “nature (phusis) loves to hide” (Heraclitus), being lets beings come to presence by itself withdrawing into absence or self-concealment (see Heidegger 1975, Vol. 9, 103–22; and Vol. 65, 246–47).\nTanabe studied with Heidegger in the early 1920s. (In fact, upon returning to Japan in 1924, Tanabe was the first scholar in the world to write an article on Heidegger’s thought.) When he later wrote the following, Tanabe no doubt had Heidegger’s 1929 “What is Metaphysics?” lecture in mind: “All science needs to take some entity or other as its object of study. The point of contact is always in being, not in nothing. The discipline that has to do with Nothingness is philosophy” (THZ VI, 156; see Heisig 2001, 121).\nHeidegger was of course not the first Western philosopher to ask after that which is radically other than beings, or even “beyond being” as such.[ 6 ] For example, Tanabe could have also found support for the idea that philosophy investigates Nothingness in the following passage from Hegel: “Das Erste der Philosophie aber ist, das absolute Nichts zu erdenken” [Yet the first task of philosophy is to conceive of absolute Nothingness] (quoted from Hegel’s “Glauben und Wissen” in Ôhashi 1984, 203). The Kyoto School might even be thought of as recovering a suggestion from one of the first Presocratic philosophers, Anaximander: namely, to think finite beings as determinations, or delimitations, of “the Indefinite” or “the Unlimited” (to apeiron).\nMoreover, as Kyoto School thinkers frequently do point out, Christian negative theologians and mystics, most notably Meister Eckhart, at times make use of the notion of “the Nothing” to refer to that which transcends all concepts and all oppositions. For Eckhart, “Nothing” (niht) was one way of indicating the “Godhead” (gôtheit) beyond “God” delimited as a personal being (see Eckehart 1963, 328). Niht here is an expression, at the limits of language, which attempts to indicate “the nothingness of indistinct fullness from which flow … all oppositions and relations” (Schürmann 1978, 168). Eckhart speaks of a breakthrough, not only beyond the ego, but also beyond God Himself, a breakthrough, that is, to an abyssal Godhead understood as “the silent desert into which no distinction ever gazed, of Father, Son, or Holy Ghost” (Eckehart 1963, 316). Analogously, Nishida writes that “when we truly enter thoroughly into the consciousness of Absolute Nothingness, there is neither I nor God” (NKZ V, 182; see Nishida 1958, 137).\nNishitani affirms Eckhart’s intimations of a Godhead of Absolute Nothingness, even though he notes that this is “markedly distant from orthodox Christian faith,” which limits the concept of nothingness to the relative nothingness expressed in the nihilum of creatio ex nihilo, that is, to the absolute privation of being out of which the highest being creates lesser beings (NKC X, 75; Nishitani 1982, 66; also see NKC VII). Yet Nishitani’s student and Eckhart scholar Ueda Shizuteru, despite profound appreciation for Eckhart’s thought and its nearness to Zen, argues in the end that Eckhart’s Nothingness, like that of negative theology in general, still points to an inexpressibly higher being (see USS VIII, 146). Critically adapting Heidegger’s expression, we might say that the Nothing is still understood as “the veil” of this inexpressibly higher being. Both Nishitani and Ueda ultimately look to Zen for a Nothingness so absolute that, in thoroughly negating any traces of opposition to beings (i.e., as a higher being transcending worldly beings), it is paradoxically found fully in the concrete facts and activities of the here and now (see USS VIII, 5ff.).\nÔhashi stresses, however, that neither the Buddhist tradition nor the Kyoto School should be thought of as having a patent on the radical “thinking of Nothingness.” In fact, he argues, “this thought slowly came to the fore within Western philosophy itself,” a process that indeed set the stage for Kyoto School contributions to contemporary philosophy (Ôhashi 2004, 12–13). Nishitani had in fact explored a number of resonant notions of Nothingness, not only in the Neoplatonic and Christian mystical traditions, but also in 19th and 20th century Western philosophers such as Nietzsche and Heidegger (see NKC VIII; Nishitani 1990). And yet, here again Nishitani finds residues of an ontological bias, where a kind of “relative nothingness” is posited as either a simple negation of or as a veil for being. Nishitani ultimately concludes that Nietzsche succeeded only in expressing a “standpoint of relative absolute nothingness”; and even in Heidegger, he critically suggests, “traces of the representation of nothingness as some ‘thing’ that is nothingness still remain” (NKC X, 75 and 108; Nishitani 1982, 66 and 96).[ 7 ]\nIn any case, it is fair to say that the Kyoto School thinkers generally consider the purest sources for the idea of Absolute Nothingness to lie in the traditions of the East. Hisamatsu went so far as to speak of Absolute Nothingness as “Oriental Nothingness” (Hisamatsu 1960); though it is important to bear in mind that his claim is that this idea was first clearly discovered in the traditions of East. Absolute Nothingness is by no means only relevant to Eastern cultures, anymore than in 1500 CE the earth was only round in the West. Moreover, if the idea of Absolute Nothingness “came to awareness in the spirituality of the East,” as Nishitani says, the philosophy of Absolute Nothingness is generally considered to be the Kyoto School’s own contribution to the contemporary world of thought opened up by the meeting of East and West.\nNishida—who could hardly be accused of underestimating what Japan had to learn from Western philosophy—also spoke at times in very general terms of Eastern Nothingness in contrast with Western being. In his essay, “The Types of Culture of the Classical Periods of East and West Seen from a Metaphysical Perspective,” he wrote: “How then are we to distinguish between the types of culture of the West and East from a metaphysical point of view? I think we can do this by dividing them into that [i.e., the culture of the West] which considers the ground of reality to be being, and that [i.e., the culture of the East] which considers this ground to be Nothingness.” In Greek philosophy, he goes on to say, “that which has form and determination was regarded as the real”; or even, as in Plato, reality, that which has true being, was understood as the Forms. Judeo-Christian culture, however radically different in various ways it was from Greek culture, and despite negative theology’s indications of a Deus absconditus as a kind of Nothingness, nevertheless primarily considered the person of God as “the most perfect being” to be the basis of reality. In radical contrast to both the Greek and Judeo-Christian origins of Western culture, Indian culture, like that of China and Japan, took “the profoundest idea of Nothingness as its basis” (NKZ VII, 429–33; see Nishida 1970, 21–23).\nIn the closing lines of the preface to his 1926 book, From That Which Acts to That Which Sees, a book many scholars view as the beginning of “Nishida Philosophy” proper, we find the following famous and programmatic lines: “It goes without saying that there is much to admire, and much to learn from, in the impressive achievements of Western culture, which thought form as being and the giving of form as good. However, does there not lie hidden at the base of our Eastern culture, preserved and passed down by our ancestors for several thousand years, something which sees the form of the formless and hears the voice of the voiceless? Our hearts and minds endlessly seek this something; and it is my wish to provide this quest with a philosophical foundation” (NKZ IV, 6).\n3.2 The Eastern Background for the Idea of Absolute Nothingness\nBefore looking more specifically at how Nishida and other members of the Kyoto School attempt to give philosophical form to the formless, it will be helpful to look at some of the threads in Eastern traditions on which the Kyoto School thinkers are explicitly and implicitly drawing as they weave their texts on Absolute Nothingness.\nTheir explicit references are primarily to Mahâyâna Buddhism, especially to the East Asian schools of Zen and/or Pure Land (predominantly Shinran’s Shin) Buddhism. The key Sanskrit term in Mahâyâna Buddhism here is śûnyatâ (“Emptiness”; kû in Japanese). With the noteworthy exception of the later Nishitani, however, the Kyoto School tends to favor the Chinese glyph mu (“Nothingness”; wu in Chinese), which is found predominantly in Zen, and which reflects the early attempt to “match terms” with Daoism in the translation and interpretive development of Buddhism in China. Let us briefly examine both of these Asian sources for the Kyoto School’s philosophies of Absolute Nothingness, śûnyatâ and wu/mu.[ 8 ]\nIn Mahâyâna Buddhism śûnyatâ refers first of all to the fact that all things come into being in “interdependent origination” (Sanskrit: pratîtya-samutpâda; Japanese: engi), and they are therefore “empty” of any independent substantial self-nature or “own-being” (Sanskrit: svabhâva). This thought is closely tied to the basic Buddhist thesis of “no-self” or “non-ego” (Sanskrit: anâtman; Japanese: muga). All beings, including the ego, are interconnected and in flux. Psychologically, śûnyatâ refers also to the releasement from all attachment to beings, from all reification and willful appropriation of them. Such attachments are both based on and in turn support the primary attachment to the fabricated ego, since the ego both strives to possess and is unwittingly possessed by its reification of beings. Awakening to the emptiness of all things, to their lack of substantial own-being or egoity (Japanese: shogyômuga), thus frees one both from an ego-centered and reified view of things, and from the illusion of the substantial ego itself.\nHowever, if the movement of negation stops here at a one-sided negation of being (i.e., at negation of the independent substantial reality of things and the ego), and if the idea of “Emptiness” is not itself emptied,[ 9 ] then we are left either with a pessimistic nihilism or with an ironically reified view of śûnyatâ. These are what the Buddhist tradition calls “śûnyatâ-sickness” (Japanese: kûbyô). True śûnyatâ must be understood to dynamically negate the very opposition of being and (relative) nothingness (see Nakamura 1975, Vol. 1, 278). Hence, in Mahâyâna we find an explicit return—through a “great negation” of reification and attachment to being—to a “great affirmation” of a non-reified understanding of being. Emptiness thoroughly understood is nothing separate from or opposed to “being” properly understood. As the often chanted lines of the Heart Sutra put it: “[phenomenal] form is emptiness; emptiness is also [phenomenal] form; emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness” (see Bercholz/Kohn 1993, 155). The famous Mahâyâna Buddhist philosopher of śûnyatâ Nâgârjuna (ca. 150–250 CE) went so far as to provocatively state: “The limits (i.e., realm) of nirvâna are the limits of samsâra. Between the two, also, there is not the slightest difference whatsoever” (Inada 1993, 158). In other words, nirvâna is neither a nihilistic extinction of nor a transcendent escape from the phenomenal world (samsâra); it is rather an enlightened manner of being-in-the-world here and now (see Garfield 1995, 332). This radical reaffirmation of the phenomenal world was particularly stressed in East Asian developments of Mahâyâna Buddhism, where we find such remarkably affirmative phrases as: “true Emptiness, marvelous being” (Japanese: shinkû-myôu).\nIn his mature writings Nishitani explicitly employs the Mahâyâna term śûnyatâ (even though he never disavows the term Nishida coined, “Absolute Nothingness”) in his attempt to think a way beyond both the exacerbated attachment to being and the reactive nihilism that together plague the modern world. Nishitani writes as follows: On the one hand, śûnyatâ or Emptiness can be termed “an absolute negativity, inasmuch as it is a standpoint that has negated and thereby transcended nihility, which was itself the transcendence-through-negation of all being.” In this sense, “Emptiness can well be described as ‘outside’ of and absolutely ‘other’ than the standpoint shackled to being, provided we avoid the misconception that Emptiness is some ‘thing’ distinct from being and subsisting ‘outside’ it.” On the other hand, then, Emptiness is truly Emptiness “only when it empties itself even of the standpoint that represents it as some ‘thing’ that is Emptiness. … [True Emptiness] is to be realized as something united to and self-identical with being” (NKC X, 109–10; Nishitani 1982, 97). Following in the wake of Nishida’s topological thinking of Absolute Nothingness (see section 3.3 below), Nishitani also thinks of śûnyatâ as a “place” or “field” wherein beings can appear as they truly are in their proper basis or “home-ground” (moto).\nThe idea of a Nothingness that radically transcends, or underlies, both being and its simple negation can also be traced back to pre-Buddhist Chinese thought. A recent Chinese scholar laments the philosophical ambiguity inherent in the Chinese character wu (Nothingness). He writes that “in Chinese ‘wu’ can mean both the contrasting pair of ‘you’ [i.e., ‘being’] and the metaphysical source of both ‘you’ and ‘wu’” (Zhang 2002, 150). In the terminology of the Kyoto School, the former sense of wu (mu in Japanese) is a matter of “relative nothingness,” while the latter sense is akin to what they call “Absolute Nothingness.” The latter sense of wu is expressed in chapter 40 of the Laozi (Daodejing) as follows: “The myriad things under heaven are generated from being. Being is generated from Nothingness (wu).” This unnamable non-dualistic source of all being and relative non-being is also referred to as the Way (dao). Of the latter it is said, in chapter 14 of the Laozi: “It is called the shapeless shape, the image of no-thing” (see Izutsu 2001, 50–51 and 104). It is not hard to link this thought with Nishida’s professed intention of giving philosophical foundation to the “form of the formless” that lies at the heart of the traditions of the East.\nIn the Daoist tradition we also find an idea of Nothingness used in the context of radically emptying the mind in order to attune the finite self to the in-finite[ 10 ] rhythm of the Way. The Zhuangzi speaks in this regard of the practice of “sitting down and forgetting everything” and of “being empty like a mirror” (see Watson 1968, 90 and 97). When Zen talks of returning to one’s “original face before one’s parents were born,” we find the Daoist ideas of “forgetting the ego” and “returning to the root” linked together with the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of the “original purity of the mind.” The original brightness and purity of the mind, which lies hidden beneath the clouds of defiling passion, is also frequently expressed in Mahâyâna texts with the analogy of a mirror that is able to spontaneously reflect the world without egoistic discriminations.\nZen presumably inherits this analogy of the original mind as mirror from both Mahâyâna and Daoist sources. In the traditional edition of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, however, all residues of dualistic discrimination—including those that remain even in the notion of a mirror that needs to be continually wiped clean of impurities—are swept away in the famous lines: “Originally there is not a single thing” (Chinese: benlai wu-yi-wu; Japanese: honrai mu-ichi-motsu). In this quintessential Zen expression are wedded together the meontological and psychological senses of wu/mu: a metaphysical assertion of the aboriginality of a non-dualistic Nothingness, and an expression of the non-ego’s radical freedom from attachment and freedom for spontaneous creativity and compassion.\nIn Zen we discover the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of Emptiness and the Daoist notion of Nothingness fully intertwined and developed into a practice of living both completely unattached and completely engaged in the world of “true Emptiness, marvelous being.” In the famous Wu or Mu kôan that opens the Gateless Barrier, Wumen (Mumon) urges those who wish to reach enlightenment, that is, those who wish to pass through the “barrier of the gate of Nothingness,” to concentrate their entire life force on this Wu (Mu), taking care to understand it neither as “nihilistic nothingness” nor “in terms of being and non-being” (Nishimura 1994, 22; see Cleary 1999, 71). This was the kôan that Nishida finally passed after nearly a decade of intense practice of Zen (see Yusa 2002, 45ff.). And as Nishida confided many years later to Nishitani, it was from early on his “impossible desire” to somehow bring Zen and philosophy together (NKZ XIX, 224–25; see Davis 2004b, 256ff.).\n3.3 Nishida’s Topology of Absolute Nothingness\nBesides contrasting Western Being with Eastern Nothingness, in his later writings Nishida also at times makes a broad distinction between a Western “logic of things” and an Eastern “logic of the heart-mind (kokoro).” While Western thought tends to begin with an objective logic of substances (be these physical or mental), he claims that in Buddhism one can find the germ of a logic of the heart-mind, even if traditionally this remained largely at the level of an expression of personal experience rather than being fully developed into a genuinely philosophical logic (see Nishida 1964, 356). (Scholars of Buddhism may want to argue that it was Nishida’s own knowledge of Buddhism that remained too much at the level of personal experience, rather than the sophisticated teachings of the Mâdhyamaka, Yogâchâra, Tiantai, and Huayan traditions of Mahâyâna philosophy.)\nIn any case, in the development of Nishida’s logic of Nothingness, “being” is thought of in terms of the objectivity of determinate things, “relative nothingness” is understood as a mere privation or simple negation of being, and an enveloping sense of “Nothingness” is initially associated with a kind of transcendental subjectivity of consciousness or the heart-mind. Ultimately, however, Nishida comes to posit Absolute Nothingness as the “place” (basho) that embraces both subjective (noetic) and objective (noematic) polarities of reality. Thus, in the end he thus relegates not only privation of being but also subjective nothingness, in the sense of the “field of consciousness,” to a type of “relative nothingness.”[ 11 ]\nIn 1934 Nishida writes: “Reality is being and at the same time nothingness; it is being-and-nothingness [u-soku-mu], nothingness-and-being; it is both subjective and objective, noetic and noematic. Reality is the unity of subjectivity and objectivity, and thus the self-identity of what is absolutely contradictory. Or rather, it is not that [the separate spheres of] subjectivity and objectivity come to unite, and then we first have reality. [The opposition of] subjectivity and objectivity must instead be thought from out of a dynamically dialectical reality that is self-determining” (NKZ VII, 441; see Nishida 1970, 29). Reality, as the dialectical “self-determination of Absolute Nothingness,” is in Nishida’s later works understood as a dynamic “identity of the absolute contradiction” between subjective (relative) nothingness and objective being. Absolute Nothingness is the temporal and spatial “place” wherein individual persons and things determine one another in their mutual interactions.\nThe “place of Absolute Nothingess” (zettai-mu no basho) first became the central concept of Nishida’s thought in the mid-1920s, though he continued to develop and rethink the idea up until his last completed essay in 1945, “The Logic of Place and the Religious World-View.” Nishida first explicitly worked out an idea of Absolute Nothingness in his 1926 book, From That Which Acts to That Which Sees (NKZ IV), a book which inaugurated his middle-period of thought. In this work, which includes an important essay entitled “Place” (“Basho”), Nishida’s topological reasoning develops in rough outline as follows 12 ]:\nJust as all events must “take place” somewhere, all beings must be situated in some place. Beings always exist in relation to other beings, and any relation requires a third term, namely, the place wherein they are related. In other words, for A and B to be related, there must be some place, C, in which their relation is situated. To begin with, we can understand this C as the spatial “context” in which objects are situated in relation to one another. But the context in which things are defined is more than spatial; a thing is not only here as opposed to there. Things are determined according to a number of criteria, each of which operates within its own field of judgment. Hence, the place C can be further understood as a “category” of judgment, such as “color.” Red and blue are revealed, and contrasted with one another, as colors within the category field of color.\nIn order to let concrete things reveal themselves yet more fully, however, we should think of C as “consciousness.” Our minds are able to correlate various categories of judgment, such as color, size, shape, location, etc., and therefore to perceive individual things as composed of unique combinations of various qualities. For example, we are conscious of a certain thing as a round, soft, red, sweet, apple sitting on a table. The field of consciousness is the field in which these different categories are unified in the perception and judgment of a particular thing in relation to other particular things and their qualities.\nUltimately, however, there is a crucial limit to the subjective “field of consciousness.” As Kant demonstrated, subjective consciousness cannot reflect things as they are in themselves, but only as they appear under the projection of subjective categories. What, then, is the ultimate place wherein not only objects but subjects too exist? According to Nishida, this must be the place where persons and things not only undergo changes in accidental categorical qualities, but essentially and existentially “come to be and pass away.” It is the place, not just of intellectual judgments, but of birth and death. This ultimate “groundless ground,” which “envelopes” all beings, yet which does so in such a way that lets them contain their own principle of self-determination, Nishida calls “the place of true Nothingness.” Although in no sense a determinate being, neither is this place of true or absolute Nothingness a mere static vacuity. In some sense, it must be thought of as both the source of consciousness, and as the metaphysically creative origin of beings.\nAlthough Nishida comes to the idea of the place of Absolute Nothingness most directly through his confrontations with Kant and Neo-Kantianism, he does not shy from thinking this place in metaphysical as well as epistemological terms: Nothingness is not merely a reflective, but is also a creative principle (NKZ IV, 238–39). As he writes much later, “Absolute Nothingness at once transcends everything and is that by which everything is constituted” (NKZ IX, 6). And yet, Nishida repeatedly tells us that, as no-thing outside of or other than the place of the coming to be and passing away of truly individual beings, Absolute Nothingness is not to be thought of as a “transcendent being.” Nor is it to be understood as the processional unfolding of a “potential being,” that is to say, as a kind of Hegelian “world Spirit” with its own cunning reason at work behind the scenes of its historical march toward self-realization. The Absolute, according to Nishida, must be thought of as Nothingness in order to distinguish it from all ontologies that would reduce the uniqueness and autonomy of truly individual beings either to a transcendent being or to an underlying teleological process.\nOne of the driving concerns behind Nishida’s repeated insistence that the Absolute be thought of in the meontological terms of a formless, indeterminate place of Absolute Nothingness, is that only therein can the irreducible and self-determining singular individual be given its due. All ontologies of universal being fail to allow for the existence of the true individual, or for the genuine encounter between individuals. Since “there is no universal [of being] whatsoever that subsumes the I and the thou” (NKZ VI, 381), the locus of genuine interpersonal encounter must be thought of in terms of the place of Absolute Nothingness.\nIt should be pointed out that the Japanese term for “absolute,” zettai, literally means a “severing of opposition,” which implies the sense of “without an opposing other.” The contrasting term is sôtai, which indicates “relativity” in the sense of “mutual opposition.” The true Absolute must embrace, rather than stand over against, the relative. The Absolute, therefore, must not oppose itself to relative beings; rather, its self-determination must be such as to allow their mutual autonomous relations to take place. According to Nishida, it is only a philosophy of the place of Absolute Nothingness that can do justice to the notion of the Absolute as well as account for both the autonomy and the mutual relativity of individuals.\nWhile on the one hand Nishida becomes increasingly concerned with allowing for radical interpersonal alterity within the place of Absolute Nothingness, on the other hand he also consistently argues from early on that “consciousness” should not be thought to necessarily entail an unbridgeable epistemological subject-object split. Although he initially adopted, and adapted, the notion of “pure experience” from William James and others to express this non-dual basis of knowledge, Nishida later drops this expression in favor of the notion of “self-awareness” (jikaku). According to Nishida, self-awareness can be defined as a “self reflecting itself within itself” (NKZ IV, 215).[ 13 ] Since Absolute Nothingness is not a “self” in the sense of a subject standing over against an object, any more than it is an ego with its own interested categories of perception, the self-awareness of Absolute Nothingness must be that of a “seeing without a seer” or a “knowing without a knower.” “Since there is no-thing that reflects, it is like a mirror reflecting the mirror itself” (ibid., 181).\nIn Nishida’s middle period, the paradigm for knowing is a “pure seeing” (tada miru) beyond all acting and volition. Nishida claims that as finite individuals we can approach this ideal by way of thoroughly negating or emptying the ego. “By truly emptying the self, the field of consciousness can reflect an object just as it is” (NKZ IV, 221). The self reaches the place of Absolute Nothingness, and therefore first truly comes into contact with other beings, by way of thoroughly emptying itself in a movement of “immanent transcendence” that takes it back through the depths of the field of consciousness.\nIn his last completed text, “The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview,” Nishida most fully developed the religious implications of the idea of Absolute Nothingness. There he thinks Absolute Nothingness as the best way to understand God or the Absolute, which he defines as that which “contains its own absolute self-negation within itself” (NKZ XI, 397). As Absolute Nothingness, God is the dynamic principle of affirmation by way of absolute self-negation. The true Absolute essentially negates its transcendent divinity and expresses itself in the forms of the relative.[ 14 ]\nYet Nishida insists that this idea of God can be understood no more in terms of an immanent pantheism than in terms of a transcendent theism. It may perhaps best be called “panentheism”; but for Nishida this too remains a static term of “objective logic” and fails to capture the necessity of thinking God as both irreducibly transcendent and thoroughly immanent. As Nishida is fond of saying, God or the Buddha is “immanently transcendent.” It is the paradoxical logic one finds in the Prajñâpâramitâ Sutras of Mahâyâna Buddhism (i.e., what D. T. Suzuki called the “logic of soku-hi,” a logic of “is and is not”) that Nishida thinks most profoundly expresses the “absolute dialectic” of the divine as the dynamic principle of Absolute Nothingness (NKZ XI, 399; see Nishida 1987, 69–71).\nIf we as finite relative beings can and do touch the Infinite Absolute, it is only by way of a mutual self-negation. Nishida calls this mutual self-negation “inverse correspondence” (gyakutaiô). By way of radically emptying ourselves, we can touch that which is the radical origin of self-emptying, the Absolute as an essentially self-negating Absolute Nothingness. According to Nishida, an immanent principle of self-negation is, in fact, the very essence of life. “True life (seimei) must contain within itself an Absolute Nothingness, a [principle of] absolute negation” (NKZ VIII, 341). It is such a life that can truly be self-determining as a “creative element of a creative world.”\nIn his middle period, inaugurated by the first formulations of the idea of “the place of Absolute Nothingness” in From That Which Acts to That Which Sees, Nishida’s thought was characterized by a shift from his earlier voluntarism to a kind of intuitionism of pure seeing without a seer (see NKZ IV, 3–6). In his later period, however, Nishida’s epistemology became much more dynamic and dialectical; rather than “pure seeing,” his key epistemological phrase then becomes “active-intuition.” Although self-emptying still plays a vital role, this is understood not as preparation for a passive intuition, but rather as an active process of “seeing a thing by becoming it.” In other words, intuition happens only in the process of acting upon and in turn being acted upon by things.\nIn his later period, the place of Absolute Nothingness is accordingly reconceived much more dynamically as the “self-determination of the dialectical world,” a world which continually moves according to the principle of “from created to creating.” The Absolute finds expression now only in the midst of the mutual interaction of individuals and things, and true individuals are both determined by and “counter-determine” (gyaku-gentei suru) the movement of the dialectical world (see NKZ VII, 305ff.; VIII, 313–14). Although one can to some extent trace an immanent unfolding of Nishida’s thought in this direction, it is also undeniable that a major impetus for his dialectical development of the idea of Absolute Nothingness can be found in the criticism he received from his junior colleague, Tanabe Hajime.\n3.4 Tanabe’s Absolute Nothingness as the Other-Power of Absolute Mediation\nIt is Tanabe’s declaration of partial independence from Nishida’s thought in an essay written in 1930, “Looking up to Professor Nishida” (THZ IV, 305–328), that many see as the origin of the Kyoto School as more than a group of disciples of “Nishida Philosophy.” In this essay Tanabe sharply criticizes Nishida’s middle-period philosophy of the “place of Absolute Nothingness,” claiming that it falls into kind of Plotinian “emanationism” that ultimately rests on a religious or mystical intuition. For Tanabe, this posed two serious problems for a genuine philosophy of Absolute Nothingness.\nTo begin with, in crossing the line between philosophical reason, based on ordinary experience, and supra-rational intuition, based on extra-ordinary religious experience, Nishida had purportedly committed a methodological transgression. Here Tanabe poses a question that still resounds in (some would say haunts) the halls of Kyoto School studies to this day. As James Heisig puts it, the Kyoto School thinkers in general do not share an important assumption of Western philosophy as a whole, namely, a “clear delineation between philosophy and religion” (Heisig 2001, 13–14). This is a complex issue, since the Western concept of “religion” was just as much an import to Japan as was “philosophy.” The problems faced and the possibilities opened up by a Zen Buddhist “philosophy of religion” in particular differ in significant ways from a Judeo-Christian one, insofar as the former calls for extending rational thought in the direction of a “practice of awakening,” rather than in the direction of a leap of faith.\nI have addressed the provocative methodological ambivalences involved in Nishida’s and Nishitani’s philosophies of Zen in detail elsewhere (Davis 2004b; and Davis 2006). Let it suffice to say in this context that Tanabe too later crisscrosses the line between philosophy and religion as much as any Kyoto School thinker, although his Shin Buddhist inclinations took him in the direction of “faith” rather than “intuition.”[ 15 ] After this religious turn in his thinking, Tanabe claimed that philosophy and faith must be mediated by a personal act of metanoesis (Tanabe 2000, 34; Tanabe 1986, 29), and that, in order to develop a genuine philosophy of religion, “in the end one must have faith and become self-aware by means of religious faith” (Tanabe 2003, 27).\nFor his part, Nishida responded to Tanabe’s early critique by affirming that his idea of the self-awareness of Absolute Nothingness does indeed entail the profound significance of religious experience. Yet he claims that this is neither mystical in the sense of “religious ecstasy” nor “is it thought in the direction of substance, as is Plotinus’ One.” He denied the charge of emanationism, claiming that in his thought “it is not a matter of the self-determination of being, but rather the self-determination of Nothingness” (NKZ VI, 154). For Nishida, only if the Absolute is thought in terms of a self-negating Nothingness, rather than in terms of a transcendent plenum of the One, is it possible to truly affirm the world of the many. The Absolute is found in the very midst of beings, not beyond them. It is “because this is Absolute Nothingness,” Nishida writes in the parlance of Zen, “that the mountain is mountain, the river is river, and all beings are just as they are” (NKZ V, 182; see Nishida 1958, 137).\nBut the other major concern of Tanabe’s critique of Nishida was that, insofar as Absolute Nothingness is made into an unchanging basis or enveloping “place” of a system of reality, and insofar as it is seen as transcending the dialectical interactions among beings, then such a philosophy ends up falling back into a metaphysics of being after all. In order to radically think the idea of Absolute Nothingness, Tanabe argues, we must conceive of it rather in terms of “absolute mediation” or “absolute dialectic.” Absolute Nothingness must be thought, not as an enveloping place, but as the very movement of “absolute negation,” a movement which originates in the self-negation of Absolute Nothingness itself. Tanabe writes: “Since the Absolute, as Nothingness, must act as an absolute mediating force, it presupposes relative being as its medium. In contrast with the doctrine of the creation of the world maintained by the theist, or the theory of emanation propounded by the pantheist, [for] historical thinking the Absolute and the relative, Nothingness and being, are interrelated each with the other as indispensable elements of absolute mediation” (Tanabe 2000, 27; Tanabe 1986, 23).\nIn this later text, Philosophy as Metanoetics, written around the same time as Nishida was elaborating his own kenotic idea of a self-negating Absolute Nothingness, Tanabe, in a putative critique of Nishida, also writes: “Because the absolute subject of Other-power is Absolute Nothingness … it must be thoroughly mediated by the relative self. In contrast to a mere ‘self-identity of absolute contradictories’, only that which entails the absolute existential mediation of the death and resurrection of the self can be called Absolute Nothingness” (Tanabe 2000, 13; Tanabe 1986, 8). Tanabe’s passing dismissal of Nishida’s terminology here is hardly convincing, since in fact Nishida too speaks of the absolute self-negation of Absolute Nothingness and of the existential death and resurrection of the finite self. In any case, Tanabe’s philosophy as the “way of metanoetics” (zangedô) entails the ceaseless movement of what he calls “absolute critique,” where the self-power of finite reason again and again runs up against antinomies, and is reborn only by way of Absolute Nothingness as what he calls, in the parlance of Shinran’s Shin Buddhism, the workings of Other-power (tariki).\nAs Nishitani and others have pointed out (see NKC IX, 212ff.; Nishitani 1991, 161ff.), Tanabe’s criticisms often fail to do justice to Nishida’s thought, and we should not forget the impetuses Tanabe acknowledges having received from his erstwhile mentor. Yet, on the other hand, his criticisms were frequently not without their point, and his provocations certainly did serve as counter-impetuses that spurred Nishida on, not just to clarify, but also to further develop his philosophy of Absolute Nothingness (see Sugimoto 2004; Kopf 2004). No doubt in large part due to the persistent attention given by Tanabe to the historical world, to the irrational element of the specific through which the individual and the universal must be mediated, and to the dialectical relations between finite beings, Nishida gradually moved away from an at times static and individualistic conception of an artistic or religious intuition of the place of Absolute Nothingness, and toward a much more dynamic conception of Absolute Nothingness as the self-determination of the dialectical world, a self-determination which takes place only by way of the mutual interactions between individual persons and things.\n3.5 Nishitani’s Fields of Nihility and Śûnyatâ, and Ueda’s Two-Layered-World\nIn the tradition of the Kyoto School, Tanabe’s role has often been seen, justly or unjustly, as a less significant if albeit highly original counterpoint to Nishida. While such thinkers as Takeuchi Yoshinori and Hase Shôtô have been profoundly influenced by Tanabe’s approach to Absolute Nothingness in Shin Buddhist terms of the absolute mediation of Other-power, on the other hand Nishitani, Ueda and others have drawn their primary inspiration for thinking Absolute Nothingness from Nishida’s more topological approach, as well as from his primary orientation to and from Zen Buddhism. Following the lead of Nishida’s own creative appropriation of Tanabe’s critique of his middle-period philosophy of place, subsequent Kyoto School figures have often tended to incorporate Tanabe’s dialectical thinking into, rather than seeing it as a replacement for, Nishida’s topological thinking of Absolute Nothingness.\nTanabe’s method of thinking was intensely dialectical, a method he developed through his prolonged study of Hegel. Nishitani, on the other hand, began his study of Western thought by focusing on Bergson, Schelling, Nietzsche and the German Mystics. Between 1937 and 1939, Nishitani studied with Heidegger, who was at the time beginning to grapple with the question of nihilism, and whose phenomenology had developed into a thinking of the “clearing of being” or what he would later characterize as a “topology of being” (Heidegger 1975, Vol. 15, 335). Influenced no doubt in part by his contact with Heidegger (and perhaps in turn influencing Heidegger, who frequently invited him to his house to learn about Zen), Nishitani developed, in his own highly original manner, existential and phenomenological aspects of Nishida’s topology of Absolute Nothingness.\nThe problem of nihilism gradually became the major focus of Nishitani’s personal and scholarly attention. The historical phenomenon of nihilism was understood by Nishitani in terms of a vacuous nothingness that assaults the modern world, a world bereft of its ethical and religious moorings. Despite the profundity of his mentor Nishida’s philosophy, it failed to adequately address this crucial modern problem. According to Nishitani, Nishida’s philosophy, whether it be his early thought of “pure experience” or the later notion of “active-intuition,” begins already from a standpoint where the dualistic consciousness of the ego has already been broken though (see NKC IX 247–48; Nishitani 1991, 184–85). For his part, Nishitani was concerned with the question of how to think the topological pathway leading to such a breakthrough to non-duality.\nThe question of how to open up an existential pathway to the place of Absolute Nothingness was particularly acute given the prevalence of the pendulum swing between two extremes endemic to modernity: on the one hand, an extreme reification of the subjective ego together with a corresponding objectification and technological manipulation of things; and, on the other hand, a reactive nihilism which threatens to nullify the very reality of both the self and things. For Nishitani, humanism and science were incapable of overcoming this dilemma of reification/nullification; in fact, they had helped create it. In an age of secular egoism and nihilism, how could an experience of the place of Absolute Nothingness take place?\nTo begin with, we must heed the call of Nietzsche’s madman and cease fleeing from the experience of nihilism. God as the highest being is dead, and it remains an open question whether he can be reborn as Absolute Nothingness. In any case, the venture of Nishitani’s philosophy of Zen is more concerned with the existential imperative of letting go of attachments than it is with immediately grasping hold of a new concept for God. In order to finally free humans from their egoistic obsessions and manipulative objectifications in the experiential “field of being and consciousness,” Nishitani argued for the necessity of first boldly stepping back into the “field of nihility.”\nYet the real breakthrough to a non-dualistic reaffirmation of the self and the world only occurs when the relative nothingness of nihility is in turn broken through to a genuine experience of Absolute Nothingness or true Emptiness on the “field of śûnyatâ.” Nishitani thus explained the personal encounter with nihilism as an experience of the extreme relative nothingness of “nihility” or “vacuous nothingness” (kyomu), and for him the central task of “overcoming nihilism by passing through nihilism” entailed transgressing beneath (i.e., “trans-descending”) the “field of nihility” to the “field of śûnyatâ” (see NKC X, 109 and 122ff.; Nishitani 1986, 97 and 108ff.).[ 16 ] As mentioned earlier (section 3.2), the “field of śûnyatâ” is not a vacuum of relative nothingness that assaults beings from without; it is an open clearing wherein beings are neither nullified nor reified, but rather let be in the mutual freedom of their coming to be and passing away.\nWhile Nishitani’s “field of śûnyatâ” (kû no ba) corresponds in many respects to what Nishida calls the “place of Absolute Nothingness” (zettai-mu no basho), Nishitani takes the peculiar problems that beset the modern secular and technological world, as well as postmodern critiques of metaphysics and subjectivity (especially those of Nietzsche and Heidegger), far more seriously than did Nishida. Nishitani also connects his thought much more closely with the tradition of Mahâyâna Buddhism than did Nishida, explicitly writing on, and writing from, what he calls the “standpoint of Zen” (see NKC XI).\nUeda Shizuteru—a student of Nishitani who has since the 1980s been at the center of the revival of Nishida studies—also takes a topological, phenomenological, and existential approach to the idea of Absolute Nothingness; and he too explicitly orients himself to and from the standpoint of Zen. Following in the tradition of the Kyoto School’s dialogue with Western philosophers, in one of his influential works Ueda engages the work of Husserl, Heidegger and other phenomenologists to articulate a religiously charged philosophy of what he calls “twofold being-in-the-world” (nijûsekainaisonzai).\nWhile the first layer in which the self is located is the historical horizon of the everyday life-world, this horizon itself is ultimately found to rest in an absolutely “empty-expanse,” a place of Absolute Nothingness that both enfolds the everyday world as well as grounds the radical freedom of the individual “self-negating self” (see USS IX, 22–24 and 324ff.). Ueda finds this idea of returning, by way of absolute self-negation, to a primordial wellspring of existence that is “empty and free” (ledig und frei) in Meister Eckhart, and, in an even more rarified form, in Zen Buddhism. It is from the latter that he borrows the term “empty-expanse” (kokû) as a topological expression for śûnyatâ.\nFor Ueda, then, the two-layered-world is inhabited by a two-layered-self, or, more precisely, by a “self that is not a self.” The self, as being-in-the-world, ultimately realizes itself in a moment of absolute self-negation where it dies to itself and stands as a “non-ego” or “empty-being” in the “empty-expanse” which envelopes the horizonal life-world. The true self, as a self that becomes itself by passing through the absolute negation of its ego, is a two-layered being-in-and-beyond-the-world; it stands in the horizon of the world which, in turn, rests in the empty-expanse of Absolute Nothingness.\n3.6 The “Self that is not a Self” and the Nothingness of Radical Subjectivity\nUeda argues that both the ego of the Cartesian cogito, as well as the non-ego (Sanskrit: anâtman; Japanese: muga) of Buddhism, must ultimately be comprehended on the basis of an understanding of the self as a repeated movement through a radical self-negation to a genuine self-affirmation. Ueda’s formula for this movement is: “I, not being I, am I.” Even when one says “I am I,” if we listen closely there is a pause, a breath, between the first and the second “I.” Precisely that opening—which necessarily occurs as a moment in the ceaseless movement by which the identity of the self is constituted—is the “ecstatic space” wherein an open encounter with another person is possible.\nSuch a genuine encounter with another person no longer takes place simply within my, or your, or even our world-horizon. Ueda uses the greeting of the bow as a concrete example to illustrate how mutual self-negation—the emptying of all ego-centered presumptions and agendas—returns us to a communal place where we, paradoxically, share Nothing in common. “There, by way of making oneself into a Nothingness, one returns into the infinite depths of that ‘between’ where there is neither an I nor a you. … Then, when we rise again so as to come back to life anew and face one another, this becomes a matter of, as Dôgen puts it: thus am I; thus are you” (Ueda 1991, 67; see USS X, 107ff.). Open to the other, and to the empty-expanse in which together we dwell, I am I (USS X, 23–24).\nNishitani had earlier used the expression, “the self that is not a self,” to characterize the shared endeavor of Nishida and Tanabe to think “a ‘self that is not a self’ turning on the axis of Absolute Nothingness” (NKC IX, 238; Nishitani 1991, 175). The idea of the true self as a “self that is not a self” expresses an essential aspect of what Nishida and other Kyoto School thinkers call—following D. T. Suzuki, who in turn gleaned the idea from the Diamond Sutra—the “logic of soku-hi,” a logic of “is and is not” or affirmation by way of negation (see Akizuki 1996, 109–152; NKZ XI, 398–99; Nishida 1987, 70). The self finds its most originary freedom, and its most open engagement with others, through a radical self-negation which returns it, not to a higher Will or encompassing Being, but to an essentially self-negating Absolute Nothingness that, in turn, finds expression only in the interaction of truly self-determining individuals. For Nishida, the true individual is an interpersonal self-determining focal point of the self-determination of Absolute Nothingness, in other words, an interactive and creative element in a creative world (see NKZ VIII, 343ff.).\nNishitani’s first book, The Philosophy of Radical Subjectivity, sought a more originary conception of the human subject than had been developed in modern Western philosophy. In general, for Nishitani, modern “subjectivity” remains bound by a reifying attachment to things and ultimately to the ego. Nishitani did recognized certain advances in the direction of a truly “radical subjectivity” in modern ideas such as that of individual “autonomy.” For example, the Kantian idea of the ethical “person,” which opens itself to a universal standpoint by way of a negation of the self-will of the ego, suggested for Nishitani a “kind of standpoint of ‘non-ego’” (see NKC I, 60). However, the autonomy of the Kantian ethical subject can also be seen as asserting a sublated form of self-will, namely in its will to form as well as to conform to the universal. Nishitani finds profounder intimations of a truly radical subjectivity in both Meister Eckhart’s mystical theology and Nietzsche’s radical atheism, which each in their own way go beyond, or dig beneath, attachments to and sublations of egoity. Ultimately Nishitani returns to the language of Zen Buddhism to express his conception of the “radical subjectivity of non-ego [muga]” as a “subjective Nothingness” (shutai-teki mu) (NKC I, 88).\nThis radical subjective Nothingness is not to be confused with the relative nothingness of a “subjective consciousness” which sets itself over against, and objectifies, the world. As with Zen’s kôan of Nothingness (mu), a realization of the radical subjectivity of non-ego (mu-ga) entails breaking through the dualistic barrier that artificially separates self and world. For Nishitani, this breakthrough is expressed as “the self-awareness of the bottom dropping out” (NKC I, iii). It is a radical return, or “trans-descendence,” to “the background of our own selves,” to the Ungrund on which we originally possess “not a single thing” (mu-ichi-motsu) (NKC XI, 243).\nWith Nishitani’s conception of a radical “subjective Nothingness,” understood as a “standpoint of śûnyatâ” realized on the “field of śûnyatâ,” we find an explicit appropriation of both the psychological and the meontological (or mu-logical) paradigms of Nothingness found in the traditions of East Asian. The notions of non-ego (muga) and “no-mind” or “mind of Nothingness” (mushin) are thought in terms of the spontaneous openness of the heart-mind which stands within the field of Emptiness, an open place which grants beings the free space for their unobstructed (muge) interactivity.\nAs we have seen, Nishida, Nishitani, and Ueda each conceived of Absolute Nothingness in both an existential and a topological sense. Although Tanabe eschewed the topological conception of Absolute Nothingness, by understanding both the relative self and the Absolute in terms of a ceaseless movement of affirmation by way of radical negation, he too, in his own way, philosophically appropriated the East Asian paradigms of psychological and meontological Nothingness.\n4. Political Ventures and Misadventures\nAs we have seen, the philosophical stakes involved in the Kyoto School’s thought are high—indeed they invite us to rethink some of our most basic concepts and ways of experiencing the world and ourselves. For this very reason Kyoto School thinkers promise to be especially valuable partners in any post-Eurocentric forum of philosophical dialogue. Genuine philosophy, after all, thrives on the opportunity to call its fundamental presuppositions into question. Unfortunately, however, the world of politics tends to be a far less “dialogical” forum of intercultural relations. The history of Western imperial domination of Asia is well documented (see Panikkar 1969). Yet, in the field of Kyoto School studies, just as often criticized are the purported contributions of these thinkers in the 1930s and early 1940s to the political ideology of the Japanese Empire. However, we need to carefully examine whether and to what extent the political thought of the Kyoto School is deserving of its tainted reputation in this regard.\n4.1 The Razor’s Edge of “Cooperative Resistance”\nThe political ventures and misadventures of philosophers—from Socrates and Plato to Marx and Heidegger in the West, and from Confucius and Hanfeizi to Gandhi and Nishida in the East—represent an enduring and frequently problematic aspect of the histories of thought. Relating the “ideal” world of philosophy to the “real” world of political action is a perilous, if arguably obligatory, undertaking.\nThe pitfalls of political intervention are particularly deep when philosophers find themselves in a nation headed down a road toward injustice and disaster. What is a philosopher to do in such a situation? Barring straightforward complicity, there appear to be three choices: withdraw into reclusion, stand up in overt resistance, or negotiate a reorientation by means of immanent critique or cooperative correction. While many intellectuals in wartime Japan took the first course, a number of courageous Leftists braved the second course. Both Tosaka Jun and Miki Kiyoshi, the central members of the so-called “left wing of the Kyoto School,” died in prison in 1945 as a result of their intellectual resistance. The majority of the Kyoto School thinkers, however, including Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani, took the third course of action.\nIn retrospect Nishitani wrote: “My attempt was, on the one hand, to explain where Japan was situated within the world to those intellectuals remaining on the sidelines [of politics]; and, on the other hand, with respect to the extremely nationalistic thought that was becoming increasingly prevalent at the time, I attempted from within to open up a path for overcoming this extreme nationalism” (NKC IV, 384). Rather than either stand up and die, or sit out and wait, Nishitani and other members of the Kyoto School attempted to walk the razor’s edge of what Ôhashi Ryôsuke has called “anti-establishment cooperation” or “cooperative resistance” (hantaiseiteki kyôryoku) (see Ôhashi 2001, 20ff.).\nTo be sure, the question of how successfully the Kyoto School managed to carry out this “cooperative resistance” (and the question of whether they cooperated more than resisted, or vice versa) is debatable, especially given the fact that they hardly succeeded in altering the disastrous orientation of the regime. Their intentions of cooperative resistance notwithstanding, the fact is that their political writings were more successfully co-opted by the very extreme nationalism that they were trying to reorient or overcome from within. Nevertheless, we must take care to separate their ideals from the reality they were attempting to influence, and bear in mind the constraints of their chosen path of critique from within.\nWhatever their failings, it is clear that certain crudely one-sided condemnations are at least as simplistic and misleading as are the occasional attempts of overzealous acolytes to whitewash everything that was ever said and done by a Kyoto School forefather. It is, for example, highly misleading to refer to the Kyoto School’s philosophy of history as “a thinly disguised justification … for Japanese aggression and continuing imperialism,” or to claim that “no group helped defend the state more consistently and enthusiastically … and none came closer … to defining the philosophic contours of Japanese fascism” (Najita/Harootunian 1998, 238–39; for a severe critique of such polemical claims, see Parkes 1997). The latter dishonor, namely that of attempting to give quasi-philosophical expression to Japanese fascism, surely goes to the proponents of “Imperial Way Philosophy,” who in fact harshly attacked the “world-historical philosophy” of the Kyoto School for being insufficiently Japan-centric (see Ôhashi 2001, 71–72).\nJudicious critics of the wartime political writings of the Kyoto School must surely try to steer a middle course between and beyond what James Heisig aptly calls the “side-steppers and the side-swipers” (see Heisig 1990, 14). With this balance in mind, in the following sections let me highlight some of the key points and episodes of the Kyoto School’s wartime political ventures and misadventures.\n4.2 Nishida’s Reluctant “War over Words” and his Ambivalent Universalism\nIn 1943 Yatsugi Kazuo, a member of the Center for National Strategy, approached Nishida and asked him to contribute a scholarly account of Japan’s role in East Asia, that is, to help provide a rationale for the creation of the so-called “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” Nishida is said to have burst out in anger, shouting something like: “What on earth do government officials and militarists think these days, that scholars are like artisans from whom they can order something to be tailor made?” And yet Yatsugi apparently countered to the effect that not only prominent Japanese scholars, such as Fukuzawa Yukichi, but also Western philosophers, such as Kant and Adam Smith, did not neglect to apply their theoretical insights to practical social and political circumstances (see Ôhashi 2001, 47). In the end Nishida did agree to write an essay, “Principles for a New World Order” (NKZ XII, 426–434; see Arisaka 1996), though his original text had to be edited and “simplified” by a sociologist serving as a go-between. Nishida was even then disappointed that his attempt to “bring out the dimension of universality present in the Japanese spirit” seemed to have had no effect on Prime Minister Tôjô Hideki and his bellicose regime (see Yusa 1994, 124).\nFrom today’s vantage point, Nishida’s political writings appear highly ambivalent. On the one hand, his resistance to fascism and totalitarianism is unmistakable. Indeed it comes as no surprise that he was in danger of being arrested—and apparently only his public stature and the fact that he had influential sympathizers within the moderate ranks of the government kept this from happening—when one reads the warning given in his 1941 speech directly to the emperor: “Any totalitarian system that negates outright the role of the individual is but an anachronism” (NKZ XII, 271; see Yusa 1994, 111). Even in his most compromised text, “Principles for a New World Order,” Nishida urgently claims that the “co-prosperity sphere” must not entail either ethnocentrism, expansionism, imperialism, colonialism, or totalitarianism (see NKZ XII, 432–33). Elsewhere Nishida made clear that his vision was of a multicultural world where neither the West would subsume the East, nor vice versa (NKZ XIV, 404–5), where “various cultures, while maintaining their own individual standpoints, would develop themselves through the mediation of the world” (NKZ VII, 452–53).\nOn the other hand, Nishida did see a special role for the nation—and in particular for the Japanese nation with the emperor at its spiritual center—in the historical formation of this truly “worldly world” (sekai-teki sekai). Moreover, in his writings he did affirmatively employ such problematic phrases as “all the world under one roof” (hakkô-ichiu) and the “imperial way” (kôdô). While there is certainly room for criticism here in light (and hindsight) of the historical record of Japan’s political and cultural “leadership” in Asia at this time, the issue of how to critically evaluate Nishida’s theoretical interventions is complicated by the hermeneutical fact that today we read such catchwords and phrases through the semantic lenses of the right wing ideologues who in the end succeeded in carving their definitions into the annals of history. It must be kept in mind that, at the time, the precise meaning of these phrases was still in dispute. Ueda Shizuteru has aptly spoken of Nishida’s “tug-of-war over meaning,” a struggle which he ultimately lost (Ueda 1994, 97; also see Goto-Jones 2005). Yusa Michiko writes in this regard: “Rather than invent a new vocabulary that would rise above the fray, [Nishida] took up the jargon and slogans of the day and sought to redeem them from their petty provincialism by opening them up to a more universal perspective” (Yusa 1994, 131).\nNevertheless, even after we have carried out a hermeneutically sensitive reconstruction of the context, and after we have finished reading between and behind the lines of his political texts, there no doubt remain a number of controversial aspects of Nishida’s political thought. Affirming the central place of the emperor in Japan as “an identity of contradictions,” Nishida cryptically writes: “Our [i.e., Japan’s] national polity is not simply a totalitarianism. The Imperial House is the beginning and the end of our world, as the absolute present that embraces past and future” (NKZ XII, 430).[ 17 ] And with regard to the central role of Japan in Asia, he claims that “in order to build a particular world, a central figure that carries the burden of the project is necessary. In East Asia today there is no other but Japan” (NKZ XII, 429; Arisaka 1996, 102).\nCritics may argue that Nishida’s universalism is still plagued by an exemplary particularism,[ 18 ] and that he succeeds in questioning Eurocentrism only by way of shifting the locus of the concrete universal to Japan. Yoko Arisaka argues that “the chief claim of the defenders—that Nishida’s philosophical ‘universalism’ is incompatible with nationalist ideology—fails because universalist discourse was used both as a tool of liberation and oppression in Japan’s case” (Arisaka 1999, 242). Arisaka critically adds, however, that “the idea that a particular nation may be the bearer of a universal principle, such as freedom or democracy, and that, therefore, its actions in history serve a higher end, should be familiar from recent American experience” (ibid., 244; also see Maraldo 1994, 355).\nTo be fair to Nishida, we should confess that we today have yet to solve the post-Enlightenment aporia of how to reconcile universal humanism with cultural particularity (a debate we inherit in part from the Kant-Herder controversy). In other words, the question remains of how to configure a multicultural world of dialogue instead of either an imperialistic monoculture or a clash of civilizations. In our search for an answer to this urgent question, we may indeed have much yet to learn from a critical appropriation of Nishida’s thought (see Feenberg 1995; Maraldo 1995; Dallmayr 1996; Davis 2001; and Goto-Jones 2005).\n4.3 Two Controversial Wartime Symposia, and Nishitani’s Nation of Non-Ego\nNishida’s ambivalent political stance—between a post-imperialistic cosmopolitan vision on the one hand, and an affirmation of Japan’s destined world-historical role in realizing this vision on the other—was taken up into even more entangled political engagements by his students Nishitani Keiji, Kôyama Iwao, Kôsaka Masaaki, Suzuki Shigetaka, and to a lesser extent Shimomura Toratarô. As mentioned above, a significant, if stigmatizing, stage in the formation of the identity of the Kyoto School involved the participation of several of its members in two wartime symposia, the Literary World‘s 1942 symposium on “Overcoming Modernity” (reprinted in Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979) and the 1941–43 roundtable discussions published in the pages of Chûôkôron and later as a monograph, The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan (Kôsaka et al 1943).\nThe Overcoming Modernity symposium has been aptly characterized as “a premature challenge to the questions that have yet to be answered today” (Minamoto 1994, 200). Even one of the most critical recent accounts of this symposium—an account which argues that the “only destination reached by the symposium on overcoming modernity was the place where Japan itself had been overcome by modernity”—concedes that: “It is, nevertheless, important to point out that the very critique mounted by Japanese against modernity prefigured precisely all of those doubts and obsessions concerning subjectivity, cultural difference, and even racism that have become the signatures of a Western and putatively global discourse that marks our own historical conjuncture today” (Harootunian 2000, 94).\nAs discussed above (section 2.2), the Kyoto School participants spoke of an overcoming of modernity that can take place only by way of passing through modernity, a stance that represented a countertendency to the simple rejection of modern Western rationality by the Japanese Romantic School and other participants in the symposium. In other words, the Kyoto School participants did not lament the modernization/Westernization of Japan, nor did they nostalgically plea for a return to a pre-modern age; rather, they called for a further step forward, but one that would involve creatively recovering viable elements of Japanese tradition at the same time as building on the best of what could be learned from the West. This stance shows up clearly in Nishitani’s debate with Kobayashi Hideo, who argued for a rejection of modernity and a return to the pre-modern Japanese classics (see Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979, 217ff.). Throughout his career Nishitani consistently spoke of overcoming of modernity only by way of passing through it, and in this process tradition was to be creatively appropriated, not conservatively retreated to. As he later wrote: “There is no turning back to the way things were. … Our tradition must be appropriated from the direction in which we are heading, as a new possibility” (NKC VIII, 183; Nishitani 1990, 179); and: “Simply put, the backward looking return to tradition is straightaway to be forward looking” (NKC XIX, 104; see Davis 2004a, 144ff.).\nIn the Chûôkôron discussions as well the Kyoto School resolutely attempted to think from the “standpoint of world history.” Problematically, however, they asserted a leadership role for Japan in the present moment, which they viewed as a turning point in world history. If the standpoint of world history had indeed been first opened up by both Western universalism and imperialism, it was the non-Western nation of Japan that was purportedly in a unique position to free the world from the chains of the latter in order to realize the true potential of the former.\nIn his book written around the same time, View of the World and the Nation, Nishitani went so far as to claim that this was the moment in time where the “focal point of world history” was to become the Japanese nation, just as previously world history had centered on the Roman Empire and then later on the British Empire. However, Nishitani argued that unlike the former two empires, Japan’s historical mission was to bring about a world that has “no specific center” but rather consists of various “politically and culturally unified spheres” (NKC IV, 298–300). The Japanese nation would be able to carry out this mission, he crucially adds, only if it incorporates a religious moment of self-negation, thus becoming what he calls a “nation of non-ego” rather than a self-centered aggressive empire (NKC IV, 285–86). In this idealistic vision, which unfortunately had little to do with the cruel realities of Japanese expansionism, Japan was to be an altogether new kind of empire, a self-negating and compassionate one that would help other nations to cooperatively form their own identities, rather than an aggressive and “imperialistic” one that would remold others into inferior replicas of itself. (It remains for us to ask how best to characterize today’s political superpowers and economic empires, and how to relate their ideologies to their realities.)\nIf there is a lasting merit to Nishitani’s wartime political writings and the Chûôkôron discussions, it might be found in part in their critique of the contradictions and hypocrisies of Western imperialism (see, for example, Kôsaka et al. 1943, 348ff.), together with their insistence that Japan’s “leading role” in Asia not become that of an imperialist or colonizer (see ibid., 204–5; also see Nishitani’s “My View of ‘Overcoming Modernity’,” reprinted in Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979, 32). The lasting infamy of the Chûôkôron discussions, on the other hand, can be found not only in their general political naïveté, but also in their idealization and even “whitewashing” of political realities, as well as in such disturbing specific suggestion as that of “Japanizing” or “half-Japanizing” some of the “more superior” ethnic groups in Asia in order to assist in instituting the Japanese led “Co-Prosperity Sphere” (Kôsaka et al. 1943, 262–63, 337).\n4.4 The “Ôshima Memos”: Record of a Think Tank for Navy Moderates\nIt has recently been made evident that the political activities of the Kyoto School during the war were even more involved—and even more filled with ambiguity—than was previously thought. Ôhashi Ryôsuke discovered and published in 2001 some wartime notebooks of Ôshima Yasuma, a student of Tanabe. These notebooks document in detail secret meetings regularly held by Kyoto School members at the bequest of the Japanese navy between February 1942 and just before the end of the war (Ôhashi 2001). While on the one hand the existence of these secret meetings demonstrates the existence of an even more intimate connection between the Kyoto School and the military than was previously known, on the other hand it is crucially significant that they were in cooperation with a certain moderate faction of the navy, a faction that was opposed to the extremists that dominated the army. There had long existed a significant tension between the bellicose arrogance of the army and the comparatively more moderate and worldly stance of the navy. As the politically more powerful army was setting a war-bound course for Pearl Harbor, some reticent navy officials evidently petitioned the Kyoto School to shed light on the political situation from their “world-historical standpoint,” presumably in order to sway public sentiment in a more prudent direction.\nIn short, the “Ôshima Memos” help reveal how the Kyoto School found themselves in a position where they were called on to fight a “war of thought” on two fronts: against Western imperialism, they felt themselves called on to determine a world-historical role for Japan in freeing itself and other Asian peoples from colonization and exploitation by the Western empires; and, against Japanese ultra-nationalism, they felt that it was up to them to convince the public and the military of the illegitimacy of an imperialistic response to the problem of imperialism.\nÔshima Yasuma had in fact previously published, in 1965, an often overlooked account of these meetings under the title, “The Pacific War and the Kyoto School: On the Political Participation of Intellectuals” (Ôshima 2000, 274–304; also see Horio 1994, 301ff.). In this article Ôshima summarized the purpose of the secret Kyoto School meetings in three stages: In the very first meetings (which apparently took place prior to those documented in the recovered notebooks), the main theme was “how to avoid the outbreak of war.” Since war in fact broke out very soon thereafter, the theme quickly switched to “how to bring the war to a favorable end as soon as possible, by way of rationally convincing the army.” To do this the Kyoto School reportedly agreed that it would be necessary to overthrow the cabinet of Tôjô Hideki. However, according to Ôshima, all criticism of Tôjô and the army had to be expurgated in the discussions published in the pages of Chûôkôron, and the expressions of the Kyoto School had to be “veiled in two or three layers of cloth” in order to avoid censorship and persecution. Towards the end of the war, the theme of the secret meetings is said to have changed to that of “how to handle the postwar situation.”\nAmong these three themes only the second is recorded in any detail in the notebooks that were recently discovered and published by Ôhashi as the “Ôshima Memos.” Although there may well have been preliminary discussions on how to avoid war, more explicit references to overthrowing Tôjô Hideki, and more lengthy discussions about postwar issues, these do not in fact show up in the recovered notebooks. Nevertheless, the “Ôshima Memos” do show us a more detailed and uncensored account of the “war of thought” on two fronts during a tumultuous and tragic time of what was, in fact, Japan’s imperialistic response to the threat of imperialism.\n4.5 After the War: Tanabe’s Metanoetic Turn and Nishitani’s Other Cheek\nTheir ambivalent wartime stance between supporting the nationalistic ideology and subjecting it to a cosmopolitan critique—in other words, their attempt to walk a razor’s edge of “cooperative resistance”—ironically earned the Kyoto School a suspect reputation in Japan both before and after the end of the war. As Nishitani confided later to a student: “During the war we were struck on the cheek from the right; after the war we were struck on the cheek from the left.”\nDuring the war, the stance of the Kyoto School was considered too cosmopolitan and insufficiently nationalistic, even anti-war. The discussions published in The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan were branded by the “Imperial Way” ideologues as “ivory-tower speculations that risked reducing the Empire to simply one more category of world history,” and further printings of the book were reportedly stopped by the government censors (see Horio 1994, 291). After the war, the Kyoto School’s idealistic attempts to impart meaning and direction to Japan’s “world historical mission” were seen—especially by the emerging Left that had at long last been freed from repression and persecution—as support for its de facto militaristic fascism. Nishitani and others were purged for several years from their university positions. Even when they were later reinstated, the stigma of the Kyoto School as having “cooperated in the war” was hardly lifted. Their political thought in particular was dismissed in toto, and it was not until decades later that the topic of “overcoming modernity” was once again given serious critical attention (see Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979; Hiromatsu 1989; and Ôhashi 1992, 143ff.).\nThe Kyoto School thinkers rarely directly responded to their critics after the war; and we can only speculate on the reasons for this (see Horio 1994, 300). They accepted suspension from their posts without comment or complaint, and continued on with their philosophizing, albeit without the overtly political element of their thought. Nishitani, for example, came into his own as a philosopher of religion in the postwar era. He continued to philosophically develop Eastern ideas, those of Zen Buddhism in particular, in dialogue with medieval Christian mysticism and postmodern existentialism and phenomenology, and in response to what he saw as the central problem of modernity, namely, nihilism. In his mature attempts to “overcome nihilism by way of passing through nihilism” (NKC XX, 192), we find a marked thread of continuity with his pre-war and wartime attempts to overcome (Western) modernity by way of passing through it. But it is nevertheless possible to mark a crucial and self-critical “turn” in his thinking with regard to the question of the political role—or, as it turns out, the lack of one—to be played by the Japanese state in this overcoming of modernity and nihilism by way of passing through them (see Davis 2003).\nTanabe got a head start on the postwar critics, and towards the end of the war began thinking his way through a radical crisis of self-critique. Hardly less controversial than the roundtable discussions of the younger members of the Kyoto School have been Tanabe’s application—or misapplication—of his “logic of the specific” to a discourse on the legitimacy of the self-assertion of the Japanese nation as an archetype for others. The “logic of the specific” had originally been conceived, in critique of Bergson and Nishida, as a reappraisal of the logical and ethical role that ethnic specificity plays in mediating the particular individual and universal humanity. Adapting Hegel’s political philosophy, Tanabe thought that the nation state could both embody the ethnic specificity of the people and raise it out of its inherent irrationality. As a concrete universal, the nation was, if not the Absolute itself, in some sense the dialectical manifestation of the\nAbsolute on earth.\nThe critical lapse came when Tanabe irrationally proposed that the “relative absolute” of the Japanese nation could serve as a kind of “supreme archetype” for other nations (see THZ VI, 232–33). James Heisig writes that, in so doing, Tanabe “took a step that was fatal but really unnecessary, if not outright inconsistent with the principles of his logic…. According to his own logic, the community of the human race is to be made up of a community of nations that have found a way to transcend their specificity without transcending time and culture. Each nation may come about as an instance of the generic universal, but nothing in the logic of the specific allows any one instance to become an archetype for the others. It is as if Tanabe were quoting himself out of context” (Heisig 2001, 136–37; also see Heisig 1994).\nTanabe finally came to his senses and, in a striking metanoetic turn, renounced these political assertions and dove into the philosophy of religion. Philosophy as Metanoetics, the first parts of which were delivered as lectures before the end of the war in 1944, was composed not only as a personal self-critique, but also as a call to self-critique on the part of the entire nation, and indeed ultimately as a call for an “absolute critique” of human rationality as such (see the Preface to THZ X; Tanabe 1986). It is the last of these that is the central theme of the book: the idea that the human reason is inevitably driven to antinomies through which it must repeatedly die to its own self-power in order to be reborn again through the workings of an Other-power. It is nevertheless true that “one looks through that work in vain for any admission of guilt for particular actions or statements that he had made” (Heisig 2001, 151). In any case, Tanabe’s open (if vague) repentance was no more successful than the silence of other Kyoto School thinkers in convincing the majority of postwar Japanese academics to refrain from throwing out the baby of their philosophical insights with the bathwater of their political misadventures.\nOnly in the past two or three decades has the reputation of the Kyoto School begun to be significantly rehabilitated in Japan, due in part to a general recovery of the nation from immersion in the march of postwar economic progress and evasion of unresolved cultural aporias, in part to a general reaffirmation of cultural identity (including all too often a pendulum swing back to reassertion of “Japanese uniqueness”), and in part to the positive attention the School has received from the West. It is worthwhile noting, as Fujita Masakatsu does in his preface to The Philosophy of the Kyoto School, that prior to 2001 surprisingly few articles or books had appeared in Japan with a thematic focus on the “Kyoto School” as such, even though hundreds of studies had treated “Nishida Philosophy.” Yet there are promising signs that we are standing on the brink of a new academic era in which critical yet appreciative work on the Kyoto School can be cooperatively undertaken in Japan, in the West, and recently even in other parts of East Asia (see Fujita et al. 2003; Heisig 2004; Synthesis Philosophica 2004; and Fujita/Davis 2005).\nDespite the persistence of a faction of polemical intellectual historians, perhaps we are reaching a point where philosophers worldwide are beginning to see the political misadventures of the Kyoto School as questionable footnotes to their central philosophical endeavors, rather than the other way around. While research into their political thought—regarding what it tried to say then and regarding what it can or cannot help us to think today—remains necessary and important, at the end of the day many are likely to agree with James Heisig when he emphatically writes: “One has…to ignore the greatest bulk of the writings of these thinkers to arrive at the conclusion that anything approaching or supporting the imperialistic ideology of wartime Japan belongs to the fundamental inspiration of their thought” (Heisig 2001, 6). The philosophical and cross-cultural legacy of the Kyoto School lies elsewhere.\n5. The Cross-Cultural Legacy of the Kyoto School\n5.1 Between or Beyond East and West?\nIn this concluding section, let us return to the question of the legacy of the Kyoto School with regard to comparative or cross-cultural philosophy. As mentioned at the outset, the Kyoto School thinkers were all dedicated scholars of various fields and figures of Western philosophy; and yet, at the same time they kept one foot firmly in touch with their native East Asian traditions, those of Mahâyâna Buddhism in particular. This bipedal stance placed them in an extraordinary position “between East and West.”\nHowever, their philosophies do not simply drift impartially on the seas of academic comparison, nor do they see themselves as primarily mediators of inter-religious dialogue. As existentially engaged philosophers, they are above all seekers after truth, and they argue passionately for the validity of seeing the self and the world in certain ways. As we have seen, while each member of the Kyoto School has his own vision of the truth, they share certain fundamental ideas, such as one or another version of the core notion of Absolute Nothingness and the idea of coming to a genuine self-awareness by way of emptying the ego. And however much the methods and contents of their texts do indeed reflect their intimate dialogue with, and critical appropriation of Western philosophy, one could well argue that many of their fundamental theses nevertheless reflect a predominantly Eastern influence.\nTo be sure, this does not mean that they merely gave modern expression to traditional East Asian Buddhist thought. It would be less inaccurate to say that their philosophies are critical and creative developments of that tradition. But even this way of putting it would not do justice to the substantial (i.e., not just formal) influence on their thought by the Western philosophies with which they grappled so intensely. Although Hisamatsu, Nishitani, and Ueda do explicitly philosophize from the standpoint of Zen, and although Takeuchi, Hase, and others do so from the standpoint of Shin Buddhism, it would be misleading to simply and without qualification characterize either Nishida’s or Tanabe’s multifaceted philosophies as “Eastern” or “Buddhist.”\nFor example, Tanabe’s early “logic of the specific,” with its concern for the manner in which irrational ethnic specificity mediates the particular individual and universal humanity, can be read more as a critical appropriation of Hegelian dialectical logic and political philosophy than as a straightforward development of Eastern or Buddhist thought. And in his various later writings on the philosophy of religion, Tanabe wavers between a preference for Shin Buddhism, Christianity, and finally Zen Buddhism (see Himi 1990, 129–341). With regard to Nishida, an acute concern with questions of epistemology, logic, individual autonomy, creativity, and the historicity of the world are essential to his thought in ways that are more “modern Western” than “traditional Eastern”; and Nishida at times explicitly indicates his dissatisfaction with what he sees as related weaknesses in traditional Buddhist thought.\nNevertheless, one might respond: even if Nishida methodologically takes his questions from Western philosophy, his responses to these questions reflect his East Asian roots at least as much as his Western studies. To the Western ontological question of being, his answer is a meontology of Absolute Nothingness. And even if his systematic philosophical articulations of the idea of Absolute Nothingness owe more to Western than Eastern texts, he nevertheless understands himself to have autonomously (i.e., in the process of engaging in a nonsectarian philosophical search for truth) given expression to the Formless that is harbored in the traditions of the East. In retrospect Nishida wrote: “It is not that I conceived of my way of thinking in dependence on Mahâyâna Buddhism; and yet it has come into accord with it” (NKZ XIV, 408). Nishitani might say something similar of his career through the study of Western philosophy and mysticism and “back” to the standpoint of Zen. Other Kyoto School thinkers took even less of an Occidental excursion before making what Hölderlin called a “homecoming though the foreign.” And some, like Hisamatsu and Takeuchi, began their scholarly pursuits with a self-understanding as a Zen or Shin Buddhist thinker.\nWhat is perhaps most provocative, and questionable, from a cross-cultural politics point of view, is Nishida’s and other Kyoto School thinkers’ suggestion that it is modern Japanese culture and philosophy that, to some extent uniquely, has the potential to be developed so as to make room for the cooperative meeting of the strengths of East and West (see NKZ XIV, 416–17; also Nishida 1964, 365). What are we to make of such bold claims? There appear to be two problematic assertions involved: first, an overly generalized, if not at times hypostatized, split of cultural spheres into “East” and “West”; and second, a claim that an idea with deeper roots in the East, namely Absolute Nothingness, can be developed so as to provide the philosophical meeting place of both East and West.[ 19 ]\nThe Kyoto School’s occasionally sweeping division of cultures spheres into “East” and “West” no doubt both reveals and conceals as much as does, for example, Heidegger’s claim that the entire Western tradition is uniquely founded on philosophy as onto-theology, and that the expression “Western philosophy” is therefore a tautology (Heidegger 1956, 6).[ 20 ] Even sympathetic readers of the Kyoto School are often highly critical of this type of comparative thinking in terms of “East” and “West.” Although he affirms that “the Kyoto-school philosophers give the west a way into the east like none other,” James Heisig complains that “the East” which the Kyoto School sets up over against “the West” was something of an invention: “At best, it is one constellation of a heritage too long and too plural to be represented fairly by Japan” (Heisig 2001, 271–72). John Maraldo goes further and claims that “the problems Nishida deals with are universal, and his way of dealing with them contrasts as much with other Asian philosophers as with philosophers of the so-called West” (Maraldo 1995, 196). Is it necessary and are we ready to do as Maraldo suggests, and “put ‘East’ and ‘West’ to rest”?\nI myself am highly ambivalent regarding this complex issue. While I certainly agree with the wish to avoid overgeneralizations and politically charged polarizations, and while I think the writings of the Kyoto School do need to be read critically in this regard, I am equally wary of a “globalization of thought” that amounts to a colonization of “non-Western” traditions by “Western” methods and categories of thinking. I also continue to believe that the threads of the Greco-Roman-Judeo-Christian-Euro-American tradition are woven tightly enough to warrant provisionally and in certain contexts speaking of “the West.” It is true that “the East” may be a less tightly woven tradition or set of traditions, especially from the perspective of India (which, of course, did not appropriate Chinese traditions the way China appropriated Buddhism). From Japan’s perspective, however, especially from a Japanese Buddhist perspective which intimately weaves together Indo-Sino-Japanese threads, it may indeed make sense provisionally and in certain contexts to speak in terms of “the East.”\nWe cannot think without abstractions, and it is no doubt a matter of “practical wisdom” (phronesis) to know when to construct and when to deconstruct generalizations. Thus, even though we must be careful to discern the appropriate contexts in which it makes sense to speak in such vast categories, it is no more advisable to unequivocally annihilate the categories of “West” and “East” than it is to narrowly define or absolutize their respective coherences and mutual differences.\nWith regard to the hermeneutics of modern cross-cultural thinking, in general I believe that the attempt to completely flatten out the borders that separate cultural differences is as pernicious as the attempt to hermetically seal them up. Of course, this goes for intra- as well as inter-traditional differences. Needless to say, defining, comparing, contrasting, and above all evaluating the relative worth of various traditions, remain undertakings fraught with theoretical, ethical and political pitfalls. The theoretical and cultural legacies of colonialism and Orientalism remain with us long after the political Empires have receded. Moreover, in these postcolonial times we all too often see reactive fabrications of identity and assertions of counter-superiority, reactions which ironically reinforce the same kind of colonial divisions and obsessions with unadulterated self-identity that were imposed by, or imported from, the worst of the West.\nIn Japan, certain retroactive constructions of identity and reactive counter-assertions of superiority have taken the form of what is called nihonjin-ron or theories of “Japaneseness” or “Japanese uniqueness” (see Dale 1986). In modern Japanese history, such reactive cultural assertion has taken either the form of denying Japan’s deep-rooted traditional connections with its East Asian neighbors, or the form of claiming that Japan has uniquely embodied and perfected “the essence of the East.” If the former type of claim is most in evidence in postwar and contemporary Japan, the latter is found, for example, in the Meiji thinker Okakura Tenshin’s declaration that, while “Asia is one,” Japan alone is “the real repository of the trust of Asiatic thought and culture” (Okakura 2000, 1 and 5).\nWhere do the Kyoto School thinkers stand with respect to such culture wars? To be sure, the Chûôkôron discussions in particular often asserted that modern Japan was uniquely suited to institute and represent the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,” and this undoubtedly reflected a widespread post-Meiji Japanese conflation of political, industrial, and military development with cultural superiority. Nishida also felt that modern Japan was in a rather unique political and cultural position to host a fruitful marriage of East and West, and Tanabe went so far as to set the nation of Japan up as an archetype for others. In the Kyoto School’s wartime political writings, there indeed remains much grist for the mills of contemporary cultural critics, especially for those with hermeneutical blindfolds or allegedly perfect hindsight vision. Yet a critique of their political misadventures, as necessary as it is, may in fact reveal something more peripheral than central to the cross-cultural thinking of the Kyoto School. It is at least necessary to keep both eyes open: one ready to criticize and one willing to learn.\nWe should note that even when Nishida broadly contrasts “Western Being” with “Eastern Nothingness,” he in fact immediately goes on to explore finer distinctions between the Greek, Roman, and Judeo-Christian threads of the Western tradition, and between the Indian, Chinese, and Japanese threads of the Eastern tradition. If his essentializing or overgeneralizing of these threads does remain in various respects problematic, it is nevertheless hardly the case that he and the other Kyoto School thinkers never questioned the homogeneity of either “the East” or “the West.” Secondly, although they have been accused both of contributing to the “myth of Japanese uniqueness” and of “reverse Orientalism” (see Faure 1995), the case is far from this simple. In a time of uncritical cultural self-adulation by the Japanese ultranationalists in power, Nishida boldly urged that “both the strong points and weaknesses of our culture should be openly and honestly pointed out,” for “we cannot take any one culture and call it the culture” (Nishida 1964, 351 and 353).\nFighting a conceptual war simultaneously on two fronts, against Western and Japanese ethnocentrisms, Nishida wrote that “until now Westerners have thought that their own culture is the most superior human culture that exists, and that human culture inevitably develops in the direction of their own culture—hence, as Easterners and other peoples who are lagging behind advance forward, they must become the same as [Westerners].” Even some Japanese, he regrets, think this way. And yet, he objects, “there is something radically different in [the culture of] the East.” According to Nishida, the development of the West will subsume this difference no more than the East will subsume the West. Even if humanity does share a common root (what he calls, adapting an expression from Goethe, an “ur-culture” of multiple possibilities), the development of its branches and leaves is a matter of diversification, not homogenization. Globalization should thus be thought of, in Nishida’s vision, as many branches of the same tree supplementing one other on the basis of both their deep-rooted commonality and their irreducible diversity (NKZ XIV, 402–6 and 417).\nTo be sure, there inevitably remains for us the question of the “place” in which this global communication between cultures should take place. But without a “view from nowhere,” can we not only ever attempt to critically and creatively take up ideas that have particular genealogies and dialogically develop them into what are provisionally more universally viable forms? Just as democracy, hermeneutics, and indeed philosophia itself have particular cultural lineages, so do the ideas of śûnyatâ, mu, and the true self as a non-ego that opens itself to an encounter with others by radically emptying itself. Nevertheless, all of these ideas may very well contribute something to an intercultural dialogue concerning the very place in which a genuine encounter between cultures and individuals can and should take place.\n5.2 Japanese Philosophy in the World\nIt is not, then, necessarily ethnocentric for Japanese thinkers to suggest the potential efficacy of Japanese and Eastern originated ideas in a global dialogue of philosophy. The “Japanese philosophy” of the Kyoto School is best understood as a contribution to such a global dialogue, and not as a reactive opposition to philosophical Eurocentrism. We must be careful, therefore, how we understand the noun “philosophy” and the modifier “Japanese” when we speak of “Japanese philosophy.”\nThe Kyoto School never doubted that “philosophy,” in the narrow sense, was a cultural product of the West. But they also recognized that it, like Western science and technology, had universal implications. This does not mean that they thought Western philosophy was free of unrecognized cultural biases and limitations, or that traditional Eastern thought had nothing essential to offer the development of philosophy in a post-Eurocentric world. They recognized the difference between the potentiality and the actuality of philosophy, and their Japanese contributions aimed to make philosophy more, not less, worldly.\nIn an illuminating study of the debate surrounding the concept of “philosophy” in Japan since the Meiji period (1868–1912), John Maraldo has isolated four senses in which the notion of “Japanese philosophy” has been used: (1) Western philosophy as it happens to be practiced by Japanese scholars; (2) traditional Japanese thought (Confucian, Nativist, Buddhist, etc.) as it was formulated prior to the introduction of Western philosophy; (3) a form of inquiry which has methods and themes that are Western in origin, but that can be applied to pre-modern, pre-Westernized, Japanese thinking; and (4) a kind of reverse Orientalism that asserts the superiority of specifically Japanese ways of thinking.\nMaraldo argues for the superior viability of the third of these conceptions, in part because it pays due hermeneutical attention to the Greek origins of the heretofore methods and themes of “philosophy.” And yet, crucially, he also stresses that the very methods and themes of philosophy are essentially always “in the making,” and that the production of “Japanese philosophy” will have to “strike a balance between reading (pre-defined) philosophy into [Japan’s traditional] texts and reading alternatives out of them, constructing contrasts to that [pre-defined] philosophy [of the West]” (Maraldo 2004, 238–44). The Kyoto School in particular can be understood to have taken up the challenge of critically and creatively appropriating philosophy so as to free up for questioning many of its pre-defined Western conceptions.\nA text by Ueda on Nishitani’s philosophy insightfully addresses the question of the adjective, “Japanese,” as follows: “If we are to use the characterization ‘Japanese’, this does not signify merely a particularity of Japan, but rather must be understood in the sense that a certain area of universal primal human possibility has been historically realized particularly in Japan. Hence, ‘European’ does not straightaway mean ‘global’, but rather that a certain area of universal primal human possibility has been historically realized particularly in Europe. … If we understand ourselves as the particularization of something universal, this means, at the same time, that we can understand others as different particularizations of something universal. Only then, within the communication between particular and particular, can something universal come to be realized” (Ueda 1996, 309).\nIn this passage, which recalls Nishida’s vision of communication between diversely determined branches of a shared yet indeterminate root ur-culture, Ueda gives us a clue as to how we might best understand the cross-cultural contributions of the Kyoto School. They are philosophers who strive to express something universal from a particular standpoint. But this does not at all mean that they attempt to reduce universality to their own particularity; for the latter is in turn understood as one particular expression of the formless ur-culture, the indeterminate source of possibilities for individual and cultural determination, that is to say, the originary Nothingness that we all share. The Kyoto School thus presents us with a unique set of attempts to give philosophical form to this formless wellspring of both commonality and uniqueness.\nThe degree to which the Kyoto School thinkers were successful in their boldly paradoxical quest to give philosophical form to the Formless can be debated. It is less easy to deny the exigency of the quest itself. If philosophy today is to mature beyond its Eurocentric pubescence, then it is necessary to deepen its quest for universality by way of radically opening it up to a diversity of cultural perspectives. If cultural pluralism, for its part, is to avoid falling into a relativistic perspectivism, it must call for a metamorphosis rather than an abandonment of the philosophical quest for universality. In any case, we should understand the thought of the Kyoto School, not as Japanese versions of philosophy, but rather as Japanese contributions to the content of—and indeed to the very formation of the forum of—a global dialogue of philosophy in the making.\nBibliography\nWorks Cited\nAbbreviations Used in this Article\nNKC Nishitani Keiji chosakushû [Collected Works of Nishitani Keiji], Tokyo: Sôbunsha, 1986–95. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\nNKZ Nishida Kitarô zenshû [Complete Works of Nishida Kitarô], Tokyo: Iwanami, 1987–89. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\nTHZ Tanabe Hajime zenshû [Complete Works of Tanabe Hajime], Tokyo: Chikuma Shobô, 1964. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\nUSS Ueda Shizuteru shû [Collected Writings of Ueda Shizuteru], Tokyo: Iwanami, 2002. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\nOther Sources Cited in this Article\nAkizuki, Ryômin, 1996, Zettai-mu to basho: Suzuki-zengaku to Nishida-tetsugaku [Absolute Nothingness and Place: Suzuki’s Zen Studies and Nishida’s Philosophy], Tokyo: Seishisha.\nArisaka, Yoko, 1996, “The Nishida Enigma: ‘The Principle of the New World Order’,” Monumenta Nipponica, 51/1: 81–106.\n–––––, 1999, “Beyond East and West: Nishida’s Universalism and Postcolonial Critique,” in Border Crossings: Toward a Comparative Political Theory, Fred Dallmayr (ed.), New York: Lexington Books.\nAristotle, 1973, Introduction to Aristotle, second edition, Richard McKeon (ed.), Chicago: University of Chicago Press.\nBercholz, Samuel and Sherab Chödzin Kohn, 1993, The Buddha and His Teachings, Boston: Shambhala.\nCleary, J. C. (trans.), 1999, Wumen’s Gate, in Three Zen Classics, Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.\nCobb, John B. Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), 1990, The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\nDale, Peter, 1986, The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, New York: St. Martin’s Press.\nDallmayr, Fred, 1993, “Heidegger and Zen Buddhism: a Salute to Nishitani Keiji,” in The Other Heidegger, Fred Dallmayr, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.\n–––––, 1996, Beyond Orientalism, Albany: SUNY Press.\nDavis, Bret W., 2001, “The Displacement of Modernity,” Dokkyo International Review 14: 215–35.\n–––––, 2002, “Introducing the Kyoto School as World Philosophy,” The Eastern Buddhist, 3 4/2: 142–170.\n–––––, 2003, “Shûkyô kara seiji e, seiji kara shûkyô e: Nishitani Keiji no tenkai” [From Religion to Politics, From Politics to Religion: Nishitani’s Turn], in Fujita 2003.\n–––––, 2004a, “The Step Back through Nihilism: The Radical Orientation of Nishitani Keiji’s Philosophy of Zen,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 139–59.\n–––––, 2004b, “Provocative Ambivalences in Japanese Philosophy of Religion: With a Focus on Nishida and Zen,” in Heisig 2004.\n–––––, 2005a, “Kami no shi kara ishi no daishi e: Posuto-Niiche no tetsugakusha toshite no Nishitani Keiji” [From the Death of God to the Great Death of the Will: Nishitani Keiji as a Post-Nietzschean Philosopher], in Fujita/Davis 2005.\n–––––, 2005b, “Kami wa doko made jiko o kûzuruka: Abe Masao no kenôshisu-ron o meguru giron” [How Far Does God Empty Himself? The Debate Surrounding Masao Abe’s Theory of Kenosis], in Fujita/Davis 2005.\n–––––, 2006, “Rethinking Reason, Faith, and Practice: On the Buddhist Background of the Kyoto School,” Kyoto: Shûkyô-tetsugaku Kenkyû (Studies in the Philosophy of Religion) No. 23.\nDerrida, Jacques, 1992, The Other Heading: Reflections on Today’s Europe, Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael B. Naas (trans.), Bloomington: Indiana University Press.\nEckehart, Meister, 1963, Deutsche Predigten und Traktate, Josef Quint (ed. and trans.), München: Carl Hanser.\nFaure, Bernard, 1995, “The Kyoto School and Reverse Orientalism,” in Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives, Charles Wei-Hsun Fu and Steven Heine (eds.), New York: SUNY Press.\nFeenberg, Andrew, 1995, “The Problem of Modernity in Nishida’s Philosophy,” in Alternative Modernity, Andrew Feenberg, Berkeley: University of California Press.\nFrank, Fredrick (ed.), 1982, The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School, New York: Crossroad.\nFriedländer, Paul, 1969, Plato: An Introduction, second edition, Hans Meyerhoff (trans.), Princeton: Princeton University Press.\nFujita, Masakatsu (ed.), 2001, Kyôtogakuha no tetsugaku [The Philosophy of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Shôwadô.\n–––––, 2004, “Logos and Pathos: Miki Kiyoshi’s Logic of the Imagination,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 117–28.\nFujita, Masakatsu et al. (eds.), 2003, Higashiajia to tetsugaku [East Asia and Philosophy], Kyoto: Nakanishiya Press.\nFujita, Masakatsu and Bret W. Davis (eds.), 2005, Sekai no naka no nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy in the World], Kyoto: Shôwadô.\nFukuyama, Francis, 1992, The End of History and the Last Man, New York: The Free Press.\nGadamer, Hans-Georg, 1989, Das Erbe Europas, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.\nGarfield, Jay L., 1995, The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nâgârjuna’s Mûlamadhyamakakârikâ, Oxford: Oxford University Press.\nGoto-Jones, Christopher S., 2005, Political Philosophy in Japan: Nishida, The Kyoto School, and Co-Prosperity, London: Routledge.\nHabermas, Jürgen, 1979, Communication and the Evolution of Society, Thomas McCarthy (trans.), Boston: Beacon Press.\nHarootunian, Harry, 2000, Overcome by Modernity: History, Culture, and Community in Interwar Japan. Princeton: Princeton University Press.\nHattori, Kenji, 2004, “‘Kyôtogakuha-saha’ zô” [The Image of the “Left-Wing of the Kyoto School”], in Ôhashi 2004.\nHeidegger, Martin, 1956, Was ist das—die Philosophie?, Pfullingen: Neske.\n–––––, 1975ff., Gesamtausgabe, Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann.\nHeisig, James W., 1994, “Tanabe’s Logic of the Specific and the Spirit of Nationalism,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\n–––––, 2001, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\n––––– (ed.), 2004, Japanese Philosophy Abroad, Nagoya: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.\nHeisig, James W. and John C. Maraldo (eds.), 1994, Rude Awakenings: Zen, The Kyoto School, and the Question of Nationalism, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\nHimi, Kiyoshi, 1990, Tanabe-tetsugaku kenkyû: Shûkyôgaku no kanten kara [Studies in the Philosophy of Tanabe: From the Perspective of Religious Studies], Tokyo: Hokujushuppan.\nHiromatsu, Wataru, 1989, “Kindai no chôkoku”-ron [Theories on “Overcoming Modernity”], Tokyo: Kôdansha.\nHisamatsu Shin’ichi, 1960, “The Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness,” Richard DeMartino (trans.), Philosophical Studies of Japan 2: 65–97.\nHorio, Tsutomu, 1994, “The Chûôkôron Discussions, Their Background and Meaning,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\nKenneth K. Inada, 1993, Nâgârjuna: A Translation of his Mûlamadhyamakakârikâ with an Introductory Essay, Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.\nIves, Christopher (ed.), 1995, Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International.\nIzutsu, Toshihiko (trans.), 2001, Lao-tzu: The Way and Its Virtue, Tokyo: Keio University Press. (A bilingual edition)\nJacinto Zavala, Agustín, 2001, “On Some Elements of the Concept of Basho,” Dokkyo International Review 14: 119–34.\nKasulis, T. P., 1981, Zen Action/Zen Person, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\nKawakami, Tetsutarô, Takeuchi Yoshimi et al., 1979, Kindai no chôkoku [The Overcoming of Modernity], Sendai: Fuzanbô.\nKopf, Gereon, 2004, “Between Identity and Difference: Three Ways of Reading Nishida’s Non-Dualism,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/1: 73–103.\nKôsaka, Masaaki, Nishitani Keiji, Kôyama Iwao, and Suzuki Shigetaka, 1943, Sekaishi-teki tachiba to Nihon [The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan], Tokyo: Chûôkôronsha.\nLai, Whalen, 1990, “Tanabe and the Dialectics of Mediation: A Critique,” in The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, Taitetsu Unno and James W. Heisig (eds.), Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.\nMaraldo, John, 1995, “The Problem of World Culture: Towards an Appropriation of Nishida’s Philosophy of Nation and Culture,” The Eastern Buddhist 28/2: 183–197.\n–––––, 2004, “Defining Philosophy in the Making,” in Heisig 2004.\n–––––, 2005, “Ôbei no shiten kara mita Kyôtogakuha no yurai to yukue” [The Whence and Whither of the Kyoto School from a Western Perspective], Azumi Yurika (trans.), in Fujita/Davis 2005.\nMinamoto, Ryôen, 1994, “The Symposium on ‘Overcoming Modernity’,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\nNajita, Tetsuo and H. D. Harootunian, 1998, “Japan’s Revolt against the West,” in Modern Japanese Thought, Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.\nNakamura, Hajime (ed.), 1975, Bukkyô-go daijiten [Large Dictionary of Buddhist Terms], Tokyo: Tôkyôshoseki.\nNakamura, Yûjirô, 1983, Nishida Kitarô, Tokyo: Iwanami.\nNishida, Kitarô, 1958, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Robert Schinzinger (trans.), Honolulu: East-West Center Press.\n–––––, 1964, “The Problem of Japanese Culture,” Masao Abe (trans.), in Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2, Ryusaku Tsunoda et al. (eds.), New York: Columbia University Press.\n–––––, 1970, Fundamental Problems of Philosophy, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Tokyo: Sophia University Press.\n–––––, 1987, Last Writings: Nothingness and the Religious Worldview, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\n–––––, 1990, An Inquiry into the Good, Masao Abe and Christopher Ives (trans.), New Haven: Yale University Press.\nNishimura, Eshin (ed.), 1994, Mumonkan [The Gateless Barrier], Tokyo: Iwanami.\nNishitani, Keiji, 1982, Religion and Nothingness, Jan Van Bragt (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\n–––––, 1990, The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism, Graham Parkes with Setsuko Aihara (trans.), Albany: SUNY.\n–––––, 1991, Nishida Kitarô, Yamamoto Seisaku and James W. Heisig (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke, 1984, Zeitlichkeitsanalyse der Hegelschen Logik. Zur Idee einer Phänomenologie des Ortes, Munich: Karl Alber.\n––––– (ed.), 1990, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule, Freiburg: Karl Alber.\n–––––, 1992, Nihon-tekina mono, Yôroppa-tekina mono [Things Japanese, Things European], Tokyo: Shinchôsha.\n–––––, 2001, Kyôtogakuha to Nihon-kaigun [The Kyoto School and the Japanese Navy], Kyoto: PHP Shinsho.\n––––– (ed.), 2004, Kyôtogakuha no shisô [The Thought of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Jinbunshoin.\nÔshima, Yasuma, 2000, “Daitôasensô to Kyôtogakuha: Chishikijin no seijisanka ni tsuite” [The Pacific War and the Kyoto School: On the Political Participation of Intellectuals], in Sekaishi no riron: Kyôtogakuha no rekishigaku ronkô [Theory of World History: The Kyoto School’s Writings on History], Mori Tetsurô (ed.), Kyoto: Tôeisha.\nPanikkar, K. M., 1969, Asia and Western Dominance, Collier Books.\nParkes, Graham, 1996, “Nietzsche and East Asian Thought: Influences, Impacts, and Resonances,” in The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche, Bernd Magnus and Kathleen M. Higgins (eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.\n–––––, 1997, “The Putative Fascism of the Kyoto School and the Political Correctness of the Modern Academy,” Philosophy East and West 47/3: 305–336.\nPlato, 1961, The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns (eds.), Princeton: Princeton University Press.\nSaid, Edward, 1978, Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books.\n–––––, 1993, Culture and Imperialism, New York: Vintage Books.\nSchürmann, Reiner, 1978, Meister Eckhart: Mystic and Philosopher, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.\nSugimoto, Kôichi, 2004, “Tanabe Hajime’s Logic of the Species and the Philosophy of Nishida Kitarô,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 35–47.\nSynthesis Philosophica 37, 2004, Zagreb, Croatia. (A special issue devoted to “Japanese Philosophy.”)\nTakeuchi, Yoshinori, 1999, Takeuchi Yoshinori chosakushû [Collected Works of Takeuchi Yoshinori], Kyoto: Hôzôkan.\nTanabe, Hajime, 1986, Philosophy as Metanoetics, Takeuchi Yoshinori (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\n–––––, 2000, Zangedô toshite no tetsugaku – Shi no tetsugaku [Philosophy as the Way of Metanoetics, The Philosophy of Death], Hase Shôtô (ed.), Kyoto: Tôeisha.\n–––––, 2003, “Shûkyôtetsugaku no kadai to zentei” [The Tasks and Presuppositions of the Philosophy of Religion], in Bukkyô to seiyôtetsugaku [Buddhism and Western Philosophy], Tanabe Hajime, Kosaka Kunitsugu (ed.), Tokyo: Kobushibunko.\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1991, Ikiru to iu koto: keiken to jikaku [What is Called Life: Experience and Self-Awareness], Kyoto: Jinbunshoin.\n–––––, 1994, “Nishida, Nationalism, and the War in Question,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\n–––––, 1996, “Nishitani Keiji: Shûkyô to hishûkyô no aida” [Nishitani Keiji: Between Religion and Non-Religion], in Shûkyô to hishûkyô no aida [Between Religion and Non-Religion], Nishitani Keiji, Ueda Shizuteru (ed.), Tokyo: Iwanami.\nUeda, Yoshifumi, 1990, “Tanabe’s Metanoetics and Shinran’s Thought,” in The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, Taitetsu Unno and James W. Heisig (eds.), Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.\nWargo, Robert J. J., 2005, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\nWatson, Burton, 1968, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, New York: Columbia University Press.\nWilliams, Paul, 1989, Mahâyâna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, London/New York: Routledge.\nYusa, Michiko, 1994, “Nishida and Totalitarianism: A Philosopher’s Resistance,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\nZhang, Dainian, 2002, Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, Edmund Ryden (trans.), New Haven and London: Yale University Press.\nSelected Kyoto School Works available in English and other Western languages\nAnthologies containing works by more than one Kyoto School author. The texts contained in these anthologies are not listed here separately. (For a complete list of Western language translations of works by Nishida, Tanabe, Nishitani, Takeuchi, and Ueda, see the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture website listed below.)\nDilworth, David A. and Valdo H. Viglielmo with Agustín Jacinto Zavala (eds.), 1998, Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents. Westport: Greenwood Press. (A valuable anthology containing translations of selected works by Nishida, Tanabe, Kuki, Watsuji, Miki, Tosaka, and Nishitani, together with helpful editorial material.)\nFrank, Fredrick (ed.), 1982, The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School, New York: Crossroad. (While somewhat misnamed as an anthology of the Kyoto School, this collection does include a good selection of essays by Nishitani, Ueda, and other modern Japanese religious thinkers.)\nJacinto Zavala, Augustín (ed.), 1995, Textos de la filosofía japonesa, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán.\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke (ed.), 1990, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule, Freiburg: Karl Alber. (This remains the most important anthology of the Kyoto School in a Western language. It contains valuable introductions by the editor, as well as translations of key essays by Nishida, Tanabe, Hisamatsu, Nishitani, Kôyama Iwao, Kôsaka Masaaki, Shimomura Toratarô, Suzuki Shigetaka, Takeuchi Yoshinori, Tsujimura Kôichi, and Ueda Shizuteru.)\nOther Kyoto School Works\nAbe, Masao, 1985, Zen and Western Thought, William R. LaFleur (ed.), London: Macmillan Press (published in North America by University of Hawaii Press).\n–––––, 1990, “Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata,” in The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, John B. Cobb, Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\n–––––, 1997, Zen and Comparative Studies, Steven Heine (ed.), London: Macmillan Press (published in North America by University of Hawaii Press).\n–––––, 2003, Zen and the Modern World, Steven Heine (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (Includes Abe’s articles on Nishida.)\nHisamatsu, Shin’ichi, 1960, “The Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness,” Richard DeMartino (trans.), Philosophical Studies of Japan 2: 65–97.\n–––––, 2002, Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition, Christopher Ives and Tokiwa Gishin (ed. and trans.), New York: Palgrave.\nKuki, Shûzô, 2004, A Philosopher’s Poetry and Poetics, Michael F. Marra (trans. and ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\n–––––, 2004, The Stucture of Iki, in The Structure of Detachment: The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Shûzô, Hiroshi Nara (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\nNishida, Kitarô, 1958, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Robert Schinzinger (trans.), Honolulu: East-West Center Press. (Contains translations of three important essays.)\n–––––, 1964, “The Problem of Japanese Culture,” Masao Abe (trans.), in Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2, Ryusaku Tsunoda et al. (eds.), New York: Columbia University Press.\n–––––, 1970, Fundamental Problems of Philosophy, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Tokyo: Sophia University Press.\n–––––, 1986, “The Logic of Topos and the Religious Worldview,” Michiko Yusa (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 19/2: 1–29 & 20/1: 81–119.\n–––––, 1987, Intuition and Reflection in Self-Consciousness, Valdo Viglielmo et al. (trans.), New York, SUNY.\n–––––, 1987, Last Writings: Nothingness and the Religious Worldview, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (Also contains introductory and critical essays by the translator.)\n–––––, 1990, An Inquiry into the Good, Masao Abe and Christopher Ives (trans.), New Haven: Yale University Press.\n–––––, 1990, La culture japonaise en question, Pierre Lavelle (trans.), Paris: Publications Orientalistes de France.\n–––––, 1999, Logik des Ortes. Der Anfang der modernen Philosophie in Japan, Rolf Elberfeld (trans.), Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. (Contains translations of Nishida’s prefaces to his books and of three of his key essays.)\n–––––, 1999, Logique du lieu et vision religieuse de monde, Sugimura Yasuhiko and Sylvain Cardonnel (trans.), Paris: Editions Osiris.\n–––––, 2005, “General Summary” from The System of Self-Consciousness of the Universal, in Robert J. J., Wargo, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp. 186–216.\nNishitani, Keiji, 1982, Religion and Nothingness, Jan Van Bragt (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\n–––––, 1984, “The Standpoint of Zen,” John C. Maraldo (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 18/1: 1–26.\n–––––, 1986, Was is Religion?, Dora Fischer-Barnicol (trans.), Frankfurt: Insel Verlag.\n–––––, 1990, The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism, Graham Parkes with Setsuko Aihara (trans.), Albany: SUNY.\n–––––, 1991, Nishida Kitarô, Yamamoto Seisaku and James W. Heisig (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\n–––––, 1999, “Emptiness and Sameness,” in Modern Japanese Aesthetics, Michele Marra (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\n–––––, 1999, La religión y la nada, Raquel Bouso García (trans.), Madrid: Ediciones Siruela.\nTakeuchi, Yoshinori, 1983, The Heart of Buddhism, James W. Heisig (ed. and trans.), New York: Crossroad.\nTanabe, Hajime, 1959, “Todesdialektik,” in Martin Heidegger zum siebzigsten Geburtstag: Festschrift, Günther Neske (ed.), Pfullingen: Neske.\n–––––, 1969, “The Logic of Species as Dialectics,” David Dilworth and Satô Taira (trans.), Monumenta Nipponica 24/3: 273–88.\n–––––, 1986, Philosophy as Metanoetics, Takeuchi Yoshinori (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1965, Die Gottesgeburt in der Seele und der Durchbruch zu Gott. Die mystische Anthropologie Meister Eckharts und ihre Konfrontation mit der Mystik des Zen Buddhismus. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.\n–––––, 1989, “Eckhart und Zen am Problem ‘Freiheit und Sprache’,” in Beihefte der Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 31, Köln: E. J. Brill.\n–––––, 1993, “Pure Experience, Self-Awareness, ‘Basho’,” Etudes Phénoménologiques 18: 63–86.\n–––––, 1995, “Nishida’s Thought,” Jan Van Bragt (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 28/1: 29–47.\n–––––, 2004, Zen y la filosofia, Raquel Bouso (ed.), Barcelona: Editorial Herder.\nWatsuji, Tetsurô, 1988, Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study, Geoffrey Bownas (trans.), New York: Greenwood Press.\n–––––, 1996, Watsuji Tetsurô’s Rinrigaku: Ethics in Japan, Yamamoto Seisaku and Robert Carter (trans.), Albany: SUNY Press.\nFurther Reading\nSpecial Issue Journals\nThe Eastern Buddhist New Series 25/1, 1992. (A special edition, “In Memoriam Nishitani Keiji 1900–1990.”)\nThe Eastern Buddhist New Series 28/2, 1995. (A “Nishida Kitarô Memorial Issue.”)\nÉtudes phénoménologique 18, 1993. (A special issue devoted to “L’école de Kyôto.”)\nRevue philosophique de Louvain, 1994 (no. 4, Novembre). (A special issue devoted to the theme: “La réception européenne de l’école de Kyôto.”)\nSynthesis Philosophica 37, 2004, Zagreb, Croatia. (A special issue devoted to “Japanese Philosophy,” with articles in German, English, and French, many of which are written by leading Japanese scholars of the Kyoto School.)\nZen Buddhism Today 14, 1997. (An important collection of articles on the theme: “Religion and the Contemporary World in Light of Nishitani Keiji’s Thought.”)\nZen Buddhism Today 15, 1998. (An important collection of articles on the theme: “Nishida’s Philosophy, Nishitani’s Philosophy, and Zen.”)\nOther Works\nAbe, Masao, 1997, “Buddhism in Japan,” in Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Brian Carr and Indira Mahalingam (eds.), London and New York: Routledge. (Provides an overview of the history of Japanese Buddhism, ending with D. T. Suzuki as a modern Buddhist thinker and Nishida as a Buddhism-inspired philosopher.)\nArisaka, Yoko, 1999, “Beyond East and West: Nishida’s Universalism and Postcolonial Critique,” in Border Crossings: Toward a Comparative Political Theory, Fred Dallmayr (ed.), New York: Lexington Books. (An insightful critical treatment of the ambiguities in Nishida’s cultural and political philosophy.)\nBerque, Augustin (ed.), 2000, Logique du lieu et dépassemente de la modernité, two volumes, Bruxelles: Ousia.\nBowers, Russell H. Jr., 1995, Someone or Nothing: Nishitani’s “Religion and Nothingness” as a Foundation for Christian-Buddhist Dialogue, New York: Peter Lang.\nBuchner, Harmut (ed.), 1989, Japan und Heidegger, Sigmaringen: Thorbecke. (Contains chapters on and documents of the relation between Heidegger and the Kyoto School.)\nBuri, Fritz, 1997, The Buddha-Christ as the Lord of the True Self: The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School and Christianity, Macon: Mercer University Press.\nCarter, Robert E., 1997, The Nothingness Beyond God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Nishida Kitarô, second edition, St. Paul: Paragon House.\nCobb, John B. Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), 1990, The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\nDale, Peter, 1986, The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, New York: St. Martin’s Press. (A highly critical study of Japanese cultural nationalism.)\nDavis, Bret W., 2002, “Introducing the Kyoto School as World Philosophy,” The Eastern Buddhist, 3 4/2: 142–170. (Critically examines the interpretive theses of James Heisig’s important work, Philosophers of Nothingness.)\n–––––, 2004, “The Step Back through Nihilism: The Radical Orientation of Nishitani Keiji’s Philosophy of Zen,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 139–59. (An introduction to the central themes of Nishitani’s thought, focusing on his topological phenomenology of a “trans-descendence” through nihilism to the “field of śûnyatâ.”)\n–––––, 2004, “Provocative Ambivalences in Japanese Philosophy of Religion: With a Focus on Nishida and Zen,” in Heisig 2004. (Addresses the relation between “philosophy” and “religion” in the Kyoto School, and argues that Nishida and others provoke us to radically rethink both of these terms as well as the relation between them.)\n–––––, 2005, “Kami no shi kara ishi no daishi e: Posuto-Niiche no tetsugakusha toshite no Nishitani Keiji” [From the Death of God to the Great Death of the Will: Nishitani Keiji as a Post-Nietzschean Philosopher], in Fujita/Davis 2005. (Examines Nishitani’s critique of Nietzsche with regard to the role of the will in nihilism and its overcoming.)\n–––––, 2006, “Rethinking Reason, Faith, and Practice: On the Buddhist Background of the Kyoto School,” Kyoto: Shûkyô-tetsugaku Kenkyû (Studies in the Philosophy of Religion) No. 23.\nDöll, Steffen, 2005, Wozu also suchen? Zur Einführung in das Denken von Ueda Shizuteru, Munich: iudicium. (Contains a scholarly and informative introduction to Ueda’s thought, together with an annotated translation of his “The Place of Self-Awareness.”)\nElberfeld, Rolf, 1999, Kitarô Nishida (1870-1945). Moderne japanische Philosophie und die Frage nach der Interkulturalität, Amsterdam: Rodopi. (Compellingly argues for Nishida’s significance as a cross-cultural philosopher.)\nFaure, Bernard, 1995, “The Kyoto School and Reverse Orientalism,” in Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives, Charles Wei-Hsun Fu and Steven Heine (eds.), New York: SUNY Press. (A severely critical treatment of the nationalistic aspects of the Kyoto School.)\nFujita, Masakatsu (ed.), 1997, Nihon kindai shisô o manabu hito no tame ni [For Students of Modern Japanese Thought], Kyoto: Sekaishisôsha. (Contains helpful introductory chapters on members of the Kyoto School and other key thinkers in modern Japan.)\n–––––, 1998, Gendaishisô toshite no Nishida Kitarô [Nishida Kitarô as Contemporary Thought], Tokyo: Kôdansha. (An introduction to Nishida, focusing on the idea of pure experience, the critique of dualism, and the question of language in his early writings.)\n––––– (ed.), 2000ff., Nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (An annual journal published by the Department of Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University.)\n––––– (ed.), 2001, Kyôtogakuha no tetsugaku [The Philosophy of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (Contains primary texts from, and critical essays on, eight Kyoto School philosophers.)\nFujita, Masakatsu and Bret W. Davis (eds.), 2005, Sekai no naka no nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy in the World], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (A collection of articles by Western, Chinese and Japanese scholars attempting to hermeneutically situate and critically evaluate the significance of modern Japanese philosophy in the world.)\nGoto-Jones, Christopher S., 2005, Political Philosophy in Japan: Nishida, The Kyoto School, and Co-Prosperity, London: Routledge. (A provocative new interpretation of the political dimensions of Nishida’s philosophy, which argues that Nishida’s political thought should be understood neither in terms of Japanese ultranationalism, nor in terms of Western liberalism, but rather as a modern development of Eastern and in particular Mahâyâna Buddhist thought.)\nHashi, Hisaki, 1999, Die Aktualität der Philosophie. Grundriss des Denkwegs der Kyoto-Schule, Wien: Doppelpunkt.\nHeisig, James W. and John C. Maraldo (eds.), 1994, Rude Awakenings: Zen, The Kyoto School, and the Question of Nationalism, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A well-rounded landmark collection of articles on the political controversy surrounding the Kyoto School.)\nHeisig, James W., 1998, “Kyoto School,” in E. Craig (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London: Routledge.\n–––––, 1999, “Philosophy as Spirituality: The Way of the Kyoto School,” in Buddhist Spirituality: Later China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World, Takeuchi Yoshinori (ed.), New York: Crossroad.\n–––––, 2001, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A thorough and lucid introduction to the Kyoto School, focusing on key ideas of Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani; includes a wealth of valuable references to the debates that have surrounded the School, and an extensive multilingual bibliography.)\n––––– (ed.), 2005, Japanese Philosophy Abroad, Nagoya: Nanzan. (A valuable collection of scholarly articles presented at an international conference on the past and future of studies of “Japanese philosophy” in the various regions of the world.)\nHimi, Kiyoshi, 1990, Tanabe tetsugaku kenkyû: Shûkyôgaku no kanten kara [Studies of the Philosophy of Tanabe: From the Perspective of Religious Studies], Tokyo: Hokujushuppan. (The most comprehensive single-author work on Tanabe’s thought, with a predominant focus on the several stages of his later philosophy of religion.)\nJacinto Zavala, Agustín, 1989, Filosofía de la transformación del mundo: Introducción a la filosofía tardía de Nishida Kitarô, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán. (One of many valuable texts and translations by the premier Spanish-speaking Nishida and Kyoto School scholar.)\nKasulis, T. P., 1981, Zen Action/Zen Person, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A classic philosophical introduction to Zen Buddhism by one of the leading scholars of Japanese thought.)\n–––––, 1982, “The Kyoto School and the West,” The Eastern Buddhist 15/2: 125–45. (An early review article which includes insightful critical responses to the literature on the Kyoto School that had appeared in the West prior to 1982.)\nKopf, Gereon, 2001, Beyond Personal Identity: Dôgen, Nishida, and a Phenomenology of No-Self, Richmond, Surry: Curzon Press.\n–––––, 2004, “Between Identity and Difference: Three Ways of Reading Nishida’s Non-Dualism,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/1: 73–103. (A good account of how Nishida’s dialogue with his critics, Takahashi Satomi and Tanabe Hajime, assisted him in the pursuit of a philosophy of non-dualism that does not reduce difference to identity.)\nKosaka, Kunitsugu, 1997, Nishida Kitarô o meguru tetsugakusha gunzô [The Group of Philosophers Surrounding Nishida Kitarô], Kyoto: Minerva. (Contains clear presentations of Nishida’s thought in relation to that of Tanabe, Takahashi Satomi, Miki, Watsuji, and Hisamatsu.)\nLaube, Johannes, 1984, Dialektik der absoluten Vermittlung. Hajime Tanabes Religionsphilosophie als Beitrag zum “Wettstreit der Liebe” zwischen Buddhismus und Christentum, Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder.\nLight, Steven, 1987, Shûzô Kuki and Jean-Paul Sartre: Influence and Counter-Influence in the Early History of Existential Phenomenology, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.\nMaraldo, John, 1997, “Contemporary Japanese Philosophy,” in Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Brian Carr and Indira Mahalingam (eds.), London and New York: Routledge. (A rich overview that situates the Kyoto School in the wider context of modern and contemporary Japanese philosophy.)\n–––––, 2003, “Rethinking God: Heidegger in the Light of Absolute Nothingness, Nishida in the Shadow of Onto-Theology,” in Religious Experience and the End of Metaphysics, Jeffery Bloechl (ed.), Bloomington: Indiana University Press.\n–––––, 2004, “Defining Philosophy in the Making,” in Heisig 2004. (An informative and thought-provoking essay on the question of what “Japanese philosophy” has meant and should mean.)\n–––––, 2005, “Ôbei no shiten kara mita Kyôtogakuha no yurai to yukue” [The Whence and Whither of the Kyoto School from a Western Perspective], Azumi Yurika (trans.), in Fujita/Davis 2005. (An excellent critical essay on the question of defining the “Kyoto School,” which unfortunately has yet to be published in English.)\nMarchianò, Grazia, (ed.), 1996, La Scuola di Kyôto: Kyôto-ha, Messina: Rubberttino.\nMitchell, Donald W., 1998, Masao Abe: A Zen Life of Dialogue, Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Co. (Consists of thirty-five chapters by different authors reflecting on the significance of Abe’s dialogues with philosophers and theologians in the West.)\nNagatomo, Shigenori, 1995, A Philosophical Foundation of Miki Kiyoshi’s Concept of Humanism, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke, 1984, Zeitlichkeitsanalyse der Hegelschen Logik. Zur Idee einer Phänomenologie des Ortes, Munich: Karl Alber. (A provocative Kyoto School oriented reading of Hegel.)\n–––––, 1992, Nihon-tekina mono, Yôroppa-tekina mono [Things Japanese, Things European], Tokyo: Shinchôsha. (Insightfully treats a range of cultural and philosophical issues relating to modern Japan, the Kyoto School and associated thinkers.)\n–––––, 1994, Das Schöne in Japan. Philosophisch-ästhetische Reflexionen zu Geschichte und Moderne, Rolf Elberfeld (trans.), Köln: DuMont Buchverlag. (A classic philosophical interpretation of Japanese aesthetics.)\n–––––, 1995, Nishida-tetsugaku no sekai [The World of Nishida Philosophy], Tokyo: Chikuma.\n–––––, 1998, Hi no genshôron josetsu: Nihontetsugaku no roku têze yori [Prolegomenon to a Phenomenology of Compassion: From Six theses of Japanese Philosophy], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (Includes chapters on the contemporary relevance of key ideas of Nishida, Tanabe, Nishitani, and Hisamatsu.)\n–––––, 1999, Japan im interkulturellen Dialog, München: Iudicium. (Contains a range of essays on Japan’s relation to the West, with chapters on and frequent reference to the Kyoto School.)\n––––– (ed.), 2004, Kyôtogakuha no shisô [The Thought of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Jinbunshoin. (Contains five chapters that critically examine past and present images of the “Kyoto School,” and seven chapters that explore the potential of Kyoto School thought in various areas of contemporary philosophy.)\nParkes, Graham, 1997, “The Putative Fascism of the Kyoto School and the Political Correctness of the Modern Academy,” Philosophy East and West 47/3: 305–336. (A critical response to polemical treatments of the nationalistic aspects of the Kyoto School, including those by Pincus 1996 and Faure 1995.)\nPincus, Leslie, 1996, Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan: Kuki Shûzô and the Rise of National Aesthetics, Berkeley: University of California Press. (A highly critical treatment of the implications of cultural nationalism in Kuki’s aesthetics.)\nPiovesana, Gino K., 1994, Recent Japanese Philosophical Thought, 1862-1996: A Survey, revised edition including a new survey by Naoshi Yamawaki: “The Philosophical Thought of Japan from 1963 to 1996,” Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library (Curzon Press Ltd). (A classic survey of modern Japanese philosophy.)\nStambaugh, Joan, 1999, The Formless Self, Albany: SUNY Press. (Insightfully discusses Dôgen, Hisamatsu, and Nishitani.)\nStevens, Bernard, 2000, Topologie du néant: Une approche de l’école de Kyôto, Paris: Éditions Peeters.\nTakeda, Atsushi, 2001, Monogatari “Kyôto-gakuha” [The Story of the “Kyoto School”], Tokyo: Chûôkôron Shinsha. (An engaging biographical account of the interpersonal relations and scholarly activities of the Kyoto School.)\nTanaka, Kyûbun, 2000, Nihon no “tetsugaku” o yomitoku [Reading Japanese “Philosophy”], Tokyo: Chikuma Shinsho. (Consists of introductory chapters on Nishida, Watsuji, Kuki, and Miki.)\nTremblay, Jacynthe, 2000, Nishida Kitarô: Le jeu de l’individuel et de l’universel, Paris: CNRS Editions.\nTsunetoshi, Sôzaburô, 1998, Nihon no tetsugaku o manabu hito no tame ni [For Students of Japanese Philosophy], Kyoto: Sekaishisôsha. (Consists of introductory chapters mostly on Kyoto School philosophers.)\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1992, Nishida Kitarô o yomu [Reading Nishida Kitarô], Tokyo: Iwanami. (The first of many influential books on Nishida by Ueda, in which Ueda develops his own thought by way of carefully reading Nishida’s texts, beginning with An Inquiry into the Good.)\n––––– (ed.), 1992, Jôi ni okeru kû [Emptiness in Passion], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (An important collection of essays on Nishitani.)\n––––– (ed.), 1994, Nishida-tetsugaku [Nishida Philosophy], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (An important collection of essays on Nishida.)\nUeda, Shizuteru and Horio Tsutomu (eds.), 1998, Zen to gendaisekai [Zen and the Modern World], Kyoto: Zenbunka Kenkyûsho. (Consists of chapters on Nishida, D. T. Suzuki, Nishitani, and Hisamatsu, addressing the relation of their thought to Zen.)\nUnno, Taitetsu (ed.), 1989, The Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. (A landmark collection of responses to Nishitani’s philosophy of religion.)\nUnno, Taitetsu and James W. Heisig (eds.), 1990, The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. (A landmark collection of responses to Tanabe’s philosophy of religion.)\nUnno, Taitetsu, 1998, River of Fire, River of Water: An Introduction to the Pure Land Tradition of Shin Buddhism, New York: Double Day. (An accessible and engaging introduction to Shin Buddhist thought.)\nWaldenfels, Hans, 1980, Absolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, J. W. Heisig (trans.), New York: Paulist Press. (An important early Western work focusing on Nishitani from the perspective of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.)\nWargo, Robert J. J., 2005, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A landmark philosophical study which traces the early development of Nishida’s thought from out of the context of Japanese philosophy in the Meiji period, and which focuses in particular on the subsequent development of his unique “logic of basho.”)\nWilliams, David, 2005, Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power, London/New York: Routledge. (A highly provocative revisionist account of the Pacific War and defense of the Kyoto School’s wartime political thought, which centers on an interpretation of Tanabe as a pioneer “post-White” political philosopher.)\nYusa, Michiko, 1997, “Contemporary Buddhist Philosophy,” in A Companion to World Philosophies, Eliot Deutsch and Ron Bontekoe (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell.\n–––––, 2002, Zen & Philosophy: An Intellectual Biography of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A very informative and lucid account of Nishida’s personal and scholarly life, including his relations with other Kyoto School thinkers.)\nOther Internet Resources\nDefending Japan’s Pacific War:\nThe Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power (review)\nThe Journal of Japanese Studies – Volume 32, Number 2, Summer 2006, pp. 428-433\nSociety for Japanese Studies\nBen-Ami Shillony – Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power (review) – The Journal of Japanese Studies 32:2 The Journal of Japanese Studies 32.2 (2006) 428-433 Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post- White Power. By David Williams. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2004. xxvi, 238 pages. $125.00, cloth; $40.95, paper. David Williams may be right. We should reexamine, as some of us have already done, the image of Japan in World War II. The conventional picture of a fascist and aggressive state is only partially correct. The other side of the coin is the idealistic streak that accompanied Japanese conquests, according to which Japan was liberating Asia from Western imperialism. This alleged goal was dismissed by postwar historians as propaganda, but many Japanese at the time believed in it. Moreover, that propaganda, which camouflaged aggressive intentions, was not different from the wartime declarations of the allied powers, which asserted that they were liberating Asia while they were trying to regain their prewar colonial possessions. The book focuses on the Kyoto School philosophers, who were disciples of the “father of Japanese philosophy,” Nishida Kitaro at Kyoto University. They included Tanabe Hajime, Koyama Iwao, Suzuki Shigetaka, Kosaka Masaaki, and Nishitani Keiji. In a series of symposia in the monthly magazine Chuokoron in the years 1941- 42, they hailed the Greater East Asia…\nThe Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power\nThe film stars Raymond Massey , Ralph Richardson , Margaretta Scott , and Cedric Hardwicke .\nChristopher Frayling of the British Film Institute calls Things to Come “a landmark in cinematic design.”\nA global war begins in 1940. This war drags out over many decades until most of the people still alive (mostly those born after the war started) do not even know who started it or why. Nothing is being manufactured at all any more and society has broken down into primative localized communities. In 1966 a great plague wipes out most of what people are left but small numbers still survive. One day a strange aircraft lands at one of these communities and its pilot tells of an organisation which is rebuilding civilization and slowly moving across the world re-civilizing these groups of survivors. Great reconstruction takes place over the next few decades and society is once again great and strong. The world’s population is now living in underground cities. In the year 2035, on the eve of man’s first flight to the moon, a popular uprising against progress (which some people claim has caused the wars of the past) gains support and becomes violent.\nSynopsis\nThings to Come sets out a future history for the century following 1936. It is set in the fictional English city of ‘Everytown’ (based on London , St Paul’s Cathedral is in the background) and, rather prophetically, begins in 1940 just as a global world war breaks out.\nIn one scene, the pilot of a biplane shoots down a more advanced single-seater enemy bomber whom he stealthily caught from behind. The biplane pilot also happens to be a doctor. He lands his own plane and pulls the enemy pilot from the wreckage. Dwelling on the madness of war they hurry to put on their masks since poison gas is leaking from the bombs in the wreckage. A little girl joins them and the enemy pilot insists she wear his mask. The biplane pilot then hurries to get the girl and himself out of the danger zone, pausing to leave the enemy pilot a gun. The man dwells on the irony that he may have gassed the little girl’s whole family and yet he has saved her. He then commits suicide .\nThe war lasts for decades, long enough for the remaining survivors to have forgotten the reasons for it in the first place. Strategic bombing is so successful that civilisation on both sides is totally devastated. Humanity falls into a new Dark Age where the technology level is reduced to that of medieval times, symbolised with a car being drawn like a cart by a horse. There is even a medieval-type plague sweeping through the land, known as “the wandering sickness”, which was spread by the enemy, who dropped bombs containing the virus from their few remaining aircraft.\nIn 1970, Everytown is run by a local warlord called Rudolf, a.k.a ‘The Boss’ or ‘The Chief’ (played by Ralph Richardson ), who is at constant war with the “Hill People” and obsessed with repairing the remaining biplanes and capturing coal mines in order to convert the coal to petroleum for the aircraft. The Chief consolidated his power over Everytown after having eradicated “the wandering sickness” by shooting all those infected with the disease.\nOne day, a futuristic aeroplane lands outside the town. The Chief and the townspeople are incredulous when the pilot John Cabal (played by Raymond Massey) proclaims that the last surviving band of scientists have formed a society known as ‘ Wings over the World ‘. They are building a civilisation, based in Basra , Iraq , that has renounced war and outlawed independent nation-states. The Chief resists by making the pilot his prisoner, but the Chief’s mechanic (whom he was using to repair biplanes from the war) escapes to Basra in a plane he was testing, and alerts Cabal’s scientist friends to his capture.\n \nWings Over the World mount an attack upon Everytown, and the skies fill with futuristic aeroplanes and bomb the town with a sleeping gas known as “the Gas of Peace” to pacify it. The Chief orders his few biplanes to attack them, but they are all shot down.\nThe populace of Everytown awakens shortly thereafter, to find it occupied by the Airmen, and their Chief dead — presumably from a heart attack brought on by the belief that the gas was deadly, or maybe by suicide in the face of defeat. The mechanic who had escaped to bring the Airmen comments on the Chief’s death, to which Cabal replies, “Yes, dead. And his world with him – and so the New World begins!”.\nA montage sequence follows showing decades of technological progress and human achievement, beginning with Cabal explaining the plans of the Global Conquest by the Airmen of Wings Over the World (“First this zone, then that!”).\nBy 2036, mankind lives in underground cities. Everytown is one of them (the only one shown, with no information given on any others – or if there even are others), and the first flight to the Moon is about to be launched from a space gun nearby. However, Luddites among the population fear this new technology, led by a sculptor who claims mankind needs a “rest” from further technological development, and that shooting people into the cold of space is not “natural”. They start a riot, trying to destroy the space gun before it can be fired. The head scientist Cabal (the great grandson of the pilot in the previous section of the film, and also played by Massey) explains that the crowds are misguided and that technology has in fact saved humanity. He launches the space ship with his daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend as the crew, and the blast from the launch knocks the crowd back.\nThe film ends with Massey’s character delivering a speech to the idea of\nProgress and humanity’s quest for knowledge, claiming that “if Man is merely an Animal then he must fight for every scrap of happiness he can, but if he is something more, then he must strive for more — the Universe or nothing – which shall it be?”\nCast\nH. Fisher White – Extra\nBehind the scenes\nWells is assumed to have had a degree of control over the project that was unprecedented for a screenwriter, and personally supervised nearly every aspect of the film. Posters and the main title bill the film as “H. G. Wells’ THINGS TO COME”, with “an Alexander Korda production” appearing in smaller type. Wells’s film treatment and selected production notes were published in book form in 1935, and was reprinted in 1975. An academic edition annotated by Leon Stover was published in 2007.\nIn fact, Wells ultimately had no control over the finished product, with the result that many scenes, although shot, were either truncated or not included in the finished film. The rough-cut reputedly ran to 130 minutes; the version submitted to the British Board of Film Censors was 117m 13s; it was released as 108m 40s (later cut to 98m 06s) in the UK, and 96m 24s in the United States. The standard version available today is just 92m 42s, although some prints are in circulation in the United States – where the film is in the Public Domain – that retain the additional scenes that constitute the original American release.\nWells originally wanted the music to be recorded in advance, and have the film constructed around the music, but this was considered too radical and so the score, by Arthur Bliss , was fitted to the film afterwards in a more conventional way. A concert suite drawn from the film has remained popular; as of 2003 , there are about half-a-dozen recordings of it in print.\nAfter filming had already begun, the Hungarian abstract artist László Moholy-Nagy was commissioned to produce some of the effects sequences for re-building of Everytown. Moholy-Nagy’s approach was partly to treat it as an abstract light show but only some 90 seconds of material was used (e.g. a protective-suited figure behind corrugated glass), although in the autumn of 1975 a researcher found a further four discarded sequences. [1]\nHistorical parallels\nThe film, written throughout 1934, is notable for predicting World War II , being only 16 months off by having it start on 23 December 1940, rather than 1 September 1939. Its graphic depiction of strategic bombing in the scenes in which Everytown is flattened by air attack and society collapses into barbarism, echo pre-war concerns about the threat of the bomber and the apocalyptic pronouncements of air power prophets. Wells was an air power prophet of sorts, having described aerial warfare in Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908).\nThe use of gas bombs is very much part of the film, from the poison gas used early in the war to the sleeping gas used by the airmen of Wings Over the World. In real life, in the build-up to the World War , there was much concern that the Germans would use poison gas, which they had done during the Great War . Civilians were required to carry gas masks and were trained in their use. When war did break out, however, the Germans did not use gas for military purposes.\nWings Over the World is based in Basra , in southern Iraq , from where it begins a new civilisation. Southern Iraq was also the home of one of the world’s first known civilisations, Sumer .\n \nDuration history and surviving versions\nKnown versions\nThe rough-cut of the film was 130 minutes in length, while the version submitted for classification by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) was 117m 13s. [2] By the time of the 21 February 1936 UK premiere and initial release, this had been reduced to 108m 30s, [3] while the American print premiered on 18 April 1936 was further cut to 96m 24s. By late-1936 a 98m 06s print was in circulation in the UK, [4] and a 72m 13s print was resubmitted for classification by the BBFC and was passed after further cuts for reissue in 1943. A 92m 42s print – cut down from the 96m 24s American print by the removal of four sections of footage – was subsequently reissued in America and the UK in 1947 and 1948 respectively. A continuity script exists for a 104m 41s version of the film, which contains all the material in the 96m 24s and 92m 42s versions, plus a number of other sequences. It is not known if a version of this duration was actually in circulation at any time.\nReferences:\nThe History of the British Film 1929-1939, Rachel Low (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985)\nThe History of the British Film 1929-1939, Rachel Low (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985\nThis early sci-fi masterwork by Herbert George Wells with music by Arthur Bliss is a powerful piece of film-making. Adapted from Wells’ somewhat different work by the author, it presents a look at the human future with the subject of periods of war as versus periods of ‘peace’. The structure is that after a contrasted-pair of episodes of normalcy and gathering clouds of war, the script allows the war to happen. Two families, the Cabells and the Passworthys disagree about what may happen; Passworthy takes a hopeful view of civilization’s “automatic” progress; Cabell is the thinker, the doubter. Their city Everytown–obviously London— becomes wrecked by a war featuring tanks, a magnificent war march by Bliss, and the end of civilization. The second portion finds people living in the wreckage of what had been the city under a “Boss”, played with bravura by Ralph Richardson, whose woman, lovely Margaretta Scott, is as fascinating a dreamer as he is a concrete-bound dictator type. He is trying to rebuild old WWI airplanes so he can attack a nearby hill tribe to complete his petty kingdom; a young scientist complains about having his work continually interrupted demands for planes–etc.–everlastingly; this is Wells’ comment on war versus progress. The survivors are subject to a plague called “The Wandering Sickness” also. Enter a modern flying machine piloted by the Cabell of the first section of the film, now part of Wings Over the World, an International Scientists’ Coalition, who are planning to end warfare forever. This flight-suited modernist has fascinating conversations with the Boss and his woman, their attraction being evident; then Boss sends up his aircraft against them, the Scientists come with huge numbers of planes and drop the “Gas of Peace” onto the ruins of Everytown. Only the Boss dies, fighting too hard against the pacifying. The film then shows ore being mined and by slow steps being made into the girders of a magnificent new futuristic city of towers. In section three, a future Cabell argues with a future Passworthy over the morality of human science. Passworthy wonders if they have a right to send men to the Moon; Cabell champions man’s right to advancement and the need to expand his horizons. The son of Passworthy and Cabell’s daughter, are the astronauts being sent. Theotocopulos, a religious-minded Luddite, makes a fiery speech on a huge screen in the city’s Forum and leads an attack on the ‘space gun’ that is to fire the new rocket free of Earth’s gravity. The climax of the plot is the firing of the space gun successfully; the denouement and ending is a speech by Cabell praising worth and science that is universally considered to be the most profound defense of the mind ever penned. “It is all the universe–or nothing!” Cabell tells Passworthy. “Which shall it be?” As Cabell, Raymond Massey gives perhaps his greatest screen performance; he is thoughtful, compassionate, and reasonable, a true scientist. As the rabble-rouser who wants to end the Age of Science, Cedric Hardwicke is perfect and powerful. Edward Chapman playing Passworthy does admirably impersonating the voice of convention and fear. The storyline is logical, frequently beautiful and always interesting. Given the near-extinction of mankind, the idea of a civilization run by rebuilder scientists is rendered plausible and credible to the viewer. This is a triumph for the director, William Cameron Menzies, for Bliss and for all concerned. Listen to the dialogue with someone you love; within its constructed limits, this is a thinking man’s drama debating two possible human futures–progress or its reactionary opposite.\nThe Book:\nThe Shape of Things to Come\nThe Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells , published in 1933, which speculates on future events from 1933 until the year 2106. It is not a novel, but rather a fictional history book or chronicle , similar in style to Star Maker and Last and First Men , both by Olaf Stapledon .\nWells’ book also shared with Stapledon’s an understanding of the change wrought in the nature of war by the development of air power; both writers included harrowing depictions of cities destroyed in aerial bombardments, which proved an all too accurate prediciton of what was to happen in the actual second World War.\nWells creates a framing device by claiming that the book is his edited version of notes written by an eminent diplomat, Dr Philip Raven, who had been having dream visions of a history textbook published in 2106, and wrote down what he could remember of it.\nThe book is dominated by Wells’s belief in a world state as the solution to mankind’s problems. Wells successfully predicted the Second World War , although he envisaged it dragging on into the 1960s, being finally ended only by a devastating plague that almost destroys civilisation. Wells then envisages a benevolent dictatorship – ‘The Dictatorship of the Air’ (a term obviously modeled on ‘The Dictatorship of the proletariat ‘) – arising from the controllers of the world’s surviving transportation systems (the only people with global power). This dictatorship promotes science, enforces Basic English as a global lingua franca , and eradicates all religion, setting the world on the route to a peaceful utopia . When the dictatorship finds it necessary to kill political opponents, the condemned persons are given a chance to emulate the ancient philosophers Socrates and Seneca and take a poison tablet in a congenial environment of their choice.\nEventually, after a century of re-shaping humanity, the dictatorship is overthrown in a completely bloodless coup, the former rulers are sent into a very honourable retirement, and the world state “withers away” as was predicted by Marx . The last part of the book is a detailed description of the Utopian world which emerges, in some way reminiscent of Edward Bellamy ‘s Looking Backward .\nPredictions:\nPolish Corridor as cause for World War II\nH. G. Wells criticized the Polish Corridor as one of the future Causes of World War II :\nAnd to keep the waters of the Vistula as pure and sweet for Poland as the existence of Danzig at the estuary allowed, the peace-makers ran the Vistula boundary between Poland and east Prussia, not in the usual fashion midway along the stream, but at a little distance on the east Prussian side (Jacques Kayser, La Paix en Péril, 1931). So that the east German population, the peasant cultivator, the erstwhile fisherman, the shepherd with his flocks to water, was pulled up by a line of frontier posts and a Polish rifle within sight of the stream.\nWithin a dozen years of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles the Polish Corridor was plainly the most dangerous factor in the European situation. It mocked every projection of disarmament. It pointed the hypnotized and impotent statescraft of Europe straight towards a resumption of war.\nSubmarine Launched Ballistic Missiles\nWells’s book can be credited with an accurate prediction of the submarine launched ballistic missile , which was to assume a crucial role in the Cold War period. Though the warheads of what he termed “air torpedoes” were envisaged as chemical rather than nuclear, Wells fully grasped – two decades ahead of the military planners – the strategic implications of combining submarines with weapons of mass destruction .\nThe relevant passage (chapter four of the second book) reads:\n“The raider submarines were specially designed as long-distance bases for gas warfare. They carried no guns nor ordinary fighting equipment. They had practically unlimited cruising range, and within them from five to nine aeroplanes were packed with a formidable supply of gas bombs. One of them carried thirty long-range air torpedoes with all the necessary directional apparatus. The smallest of these raiders carried enough of such stuff to ‘prepare’ [euphemism in the original] about eight hundred square miles of territory. Completely successful, it could have turned the most of the London or New York of that time, after some clamour and running and writhing and choking, into a cityful of distorted corpses. These vessels made London vulnerable from Japan, Tokyo vulnerable from Dublin; they abolished the last corners of safety in the world.”\nAs well as predicting this application of submarines, Wells correctly predicted that these fearsome weapons would not be fully utilised and would be mainly used to create deterrence between the various powers holding them.\nThe book displays one of the earliest uses of the C.E. (“ Common Era “) calendar abbreviation after A.D. year dates; Wells preferred the English C.E. in place of the traditional Western Latin A.D. (“ Anno Domini “).\nThe Kipling connection\nWells’s “Air and Sea Control”, the association of pilots and technicians which controls the world’s communications and eventually develops into a world government, seems a clear literary descendant of an institution called the Aerial Board of Control (A.B.C.) in the short stories “ With the Night Mail ” and “ Easy as A.B.C. “, by Rudyard Kipling , with which Wells was certainly familiar. The Kipling stories are set in a post-apocalyptic world where airships are commonly used both for freight and passenger service, as well as for preventing civil unrest using powerful sonic weapons:\n“The A.B.C., that semi-elected, semi-nominated body of a few score persons, controls the Planet. Transportation is Civilisation, our motto runs. Theoretically we do what we please, so long as we do not interfere with the traffic and all it implies. Practically, the A.B.C. confirms or annuls all international arrangements, and, to judge from its last report, finds our tolerant, humorous, lazy little Planet only too ready to shift the whole burden of public administration on its shoulders.”\nThe above description, from Kipling’s “ With the Night Mail “, seems very applicable to the world-wide institution depicted by Wells. However, Kipling’s stories contain dystopian elements.\nComment:\nWells was an air power prophet of sorts, having described aerial warfare in Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908).\nWells’s book can be credited with an accurate prediction of the submarine launched ballistic missile , which was to assume a crucial role in the Cold War period. Though the warheads of what he termed “air torpedoes” were envisaged as chemical rather than nuclear, Wells fully grasped – two decades ahead of the military planners – the strategic implications of combining submarines with weapons of mass destruction .\nWings Over the World is based in Basra , in southern Iraq , from where it begins a new civilisation. Southern Iraq was also the home of one of the world’s first known civilisations, Sumer .\nThe book is dominated by Wells’s belief in a world state as the solution to mankind’s problems.\nThe film ends with Massey’s character delivering a speech to the idea of\nProgress and humanity’s quest for knowledge, claiming that “if Man is merely an Animal then he must fight for every scrap of happiness he can, but if he is something more, then he must strive for more — the Universe or nothing – which shall it be?”","Palindrome.txt\nPalindrome\nA palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of characters which reads the same backward or forward. Allowances may be made for adjustments to capital letters, punctuation, and word dividers. Examples in English include \"A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!\", \"Amor, Roma\", \"race car\", \"stack cats\", \"step on no pets\", \"taco cat\", \"put it up\", \"Was it a car or a cat I saw?\" and \"No 'x' in Nixon\".\n\nComposing literature in palindromes is an example of constrained writing.\n\nThe word \"palindrome\" was coined by the English playwright Ben Jonson in the 17th century from the Greek roots ' (; \"again\") and ' (; \"way, direction\").\n\nHistory\n\nPalindromes date back at least to 79 AD, as a palindrome was found as a graffito at Herculaneum, a city buried by ash in that year. This palindrome, called the Sator Square, consists of a sentence written in Latin: \"Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas\" (\"The sower Arepo holds with effort the wheels\"). It is remarkable for the fact that the first letters of each word form the first word, the second letters form the second word, and so forth. Hence, it can be arranged into a word square that reads in four different ways: horizontally or vertically from either top left to bottom right or bottom right to top left. As such, they can be referred to as palindromatic. \n\nA palindrome with the same property is the Hebrew palindrome, \"We explained the glutton who is in the honey was burned and incinerated\", (פרשנו רעבתן שבדבש נתבער ונשרף; perashnu: ra`avtan shebad'vash nitba'er venisraf), by Abraham ibn Ezra, referring to the halachic question as to whether a fly landing in honey makes the honey treif (non-kosher).\n\nThe palindromic Latin riddle \"In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni\" (\"we go wandering at night and are consumed by fire\") describes the behavior of moths. It is likely that this palindrome is from medieval rather than ancient times.\n\nByzantine Greeks often inscribed the palindrome, \"Wash [the] sins, not only [the] face\" (\"Nīpson anomēmata mē mōnan ōpsin\", engraving \"ps\" with the single Greek letter Ψ, psi), on baptismal fonts. This practice was continued in many English churches. Examples include the font at St. Mary's Church, Nottingham and also the font in the basilica of St. Sophia, Constantinople, the font of St. Stephen d'Egres, Paris; at St. Menin's Abbey, Orléans; at Dulwich College; and at the following churches: Worlingworth (Suffolk), Harlow (Essex), Knapton (Norfolk), St Martin, Ludgate (London), and Hadleigh (Suffolk).\n\nTypes\n\nCharacters, words, or lines\n\nThe most familiar palindromes in English are character-unit palindromes. The characters read the same backward as forward. Some examples of palindromic words are redivider, noon, civic, radar, level, rotor, kayak, reviver, racecar, redder, madam, and refer.\n\nThere are also word-unit palindromes in which the unit of reversal is the word (\"Is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?\"). Word-unit palindromes were made popular in the recreational linguistics community by J. A. Lindon in the 1960s. Occasional examples in English were created in the 19th century. Several in French and Latin date to the Middle Ages. \n\nThere are also line-unit palindromes. \n\nSentences and phrases\n\nPalindromes often consist of a sentence or phrase, e.g., \"Eva, can I stab bats in a cave?\", \"Mr. Owl ate my metal worm\", \"Was it a car or a cat I saw?\", \"A nut for a jar of tuna\", \"Do geese see God?\", \"Ma is as selfless as I am\", \"On a clover, if alive erupts a vast pure evil, a fire volcano\", \"Dammit, I'm mad!\",\"Dog, as a devil deified, lived as a god.\", \"A Toyota's a Toyota\", \"Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog\", \"A Santa lived as a devil at NASA\", and \"An igloo! Cool, Gina!\".\n\nPunctuation, capitalization, and spaces are usually ignored. Some, such as \"Rats live on no evil star\", \"Live on time, emit no evil\", and \"Step on no pets\", include the spaces.\n\nSemordnilap\n\nSemordnilap (palindromes spelled backward) is a name coined for words that spell a different word in reverse. The word was coined by Martin Gardner in his notes to C.C. Bombaugh's book Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature. \n\nAn example of this is the word repaid, which is diaper spelled backward.\n\nThe longest examples of a semordnilap contain eight letters:\n\n* \"stressed\" (\"desserts\")\n* \"rewarder\" (\"redrawer\", one who redraws)\n* \"dioramas\" (\"samaroid\", resembling a samara)\n\nShorter examples are \"deliver\" (\"reviled\"), Zeus (\"Suez\"), and \"swap\" (\"paws\").\n\n\"Noon\" is a palindrome but not a semordnilap because it is the same word whether spelled backward or forward.\n\nSemordnilaps are also known as word reversals, reversible anagrams, heteropalindromes, semi-palindromes, half-palindromes, reversgrams, mynoretehs, or anadromes. They have also sometimes been called antigrams, though this term usually refers to anagrams which have opposite meanings.\n\nFamous English palindromes\n\nSome well-known English palindromes are, \"Able was I ere I saw Elba\", \"A man, a plan, a canal - Panama!\", \"Madam, I'm Adam\" or \"Madam in Eden, I'm Adam\", \"Doc, note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod\" and \"Never odd or even\".\n\nScots poet Alastair Reid is credited with a palindrome of truly stunning length and elegance: \"T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad; I'd assign it a name: gnat dirt upset on drab pot toilet.\" \n\n\"Rise to vote, sir\" was featured in an episode of The Simpsons. \n\nNames\n\nSome names are palindromes. Some examples: given names (Ada, Anna, Bob, Aviva), surnames (Harrah, Renner, Salas, Arora) or both (Eve, Hannah, Maham, Otto). Lon Nol (1913–1985) was Prime Minister of Cambodia. Nisio Isin is a Japanese novelist and manga writer, whose pseudonym (西尾 維新, Nishio Ishin) is a palindrome when romanized using the Kunrei-shiki or the Nihon-shiki systems. (It is often written as NisiOisiN to emphasize this). Some people have changed their name in order to make of it a palindrome (one example is actor Robert Trebor), while others were given a palindromic name at birth (such as the philologist Revilo P. Oliver or the flamenco dancer Sara Baras). Some names can be made part of a larger palindrome, like: \"You have no name, Manon Eva Huoy!\"\n\nPalindromic names are very common in Finland. Examples include Olavi Valo, Emma Lamme, Sanna Rannas, Anni Linna and Asko Oksa.\n\nThere are also palindromic names in fictional media. \"Stanley Yelnats\" is the name of a character in Holes, a 1998 novel and 2003 film. Four of the fictional Pokémon species have palindromic names in English (Eevee, Girafarig, Ho-Oh, and Alomomola).\n\nThe 1970s pop band ABBA is a palindrome using the starting letter of the first name of each of the four band members.\n\nMolecular biology\n\nRestriction enzymes recognize a specific sequence of nucleotides and produce a double-stranded cut in the DNA. While recognition sequences vary widely, with lengths of between 4 and 8 nucleotides, many of them are palindromic, which correspond to nitrogenous base sequences between complementary strands, which, when read from the 5' to 3' direction, are identical sequences.\n\nNumbers\n\n \nA palindromic number is a number whose digits, with decimal representation usually assumed, are the same read backward, for example, 5885. They are studied in recreational mathematics where palindromic numbers with special properties are sought. A palindromic prime is a palindromic number that is a prime number, for example, 191 and 313.\n\nThe continued fraction of + ⌊⌋ is a repeating palindrome when n is an integer, where essentially, for any positive x, ⌊x⌋ denotes the integer part of x.\n\nAcoustics\n\nA palindrome in which a recorded phrase of speech sounds the same when it is played backward was discovered by composer John Oswald in 1974 while he was working on audio tape versions of the cut-up technique using recorded readings by William S. Burroughs. Oswald discovered in repeated instances of Burroughs speaking the phrase \"I got\" that the recordings still sound like \"I got\" when played backward. \n\nIn France, a more complex example has been identified with\n\"Une slave valse nue\"\n(a Slavic girl waltzes naked).\n\nClassical music\n\nJoseph Haydn's Symphony No. 47 in G is nicknamed \"the Palindrome\". The third movement, minuet and trio is a musical palindrome. The second half of the piece is the same as the first but backwards.\n\nThe interlude from Alban Berg's opera Lulu is a palindrome, as are sections and pieces, in arch form, by many other composers, including James Tenney, and most famously Béla Bartók. George Crumb also used musical palindrome to text paint the Federico García Lorca poem \"¿Por qué nací?\", the first movement of three in his fourth book of Madrigals. Igor Stravinsky's final composition, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, is a palindrome.\n\nThe first movement from Constant Lambert's ballet Horoscope (1938) is entitled \"Palindromic Prelude\". Lambert claimed that the theme was dictated to him by the ghost of Bernard van Dieren, who had died in 1936. \n\nBritish composer Robert Simpson also composed music in the palindrome or based on palindromic themes; the slow movement of his Symphony No. 2 is a palindrome, as is the slow movement of his String Quartet No. 1. His hour-long String Quartet No. 9 consists of thirty-two variations and a fugue on a palindromic theme of Haydn (from the minuet of his Symphony No. 47). All of Simpson's thirty-two variations are themselves palindromic.\n\nHin und Zurück (\"There and Back\": 1927) is an operatic 'sketch' (Op. 45a) in one scene by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer. It is essentially a dramatic palindrome. Through the first half, a tragedy unfolds between two lovers, involving jealousy, murder and suicide. Then, in the reversing second half, this is replayed with the lines sung in reverse order to produce a happy ending.\n\nThe music of Anton Webern is often palindromic. Webern, who had studied the music of the Renaissance composer Heinrich Isaac, was extremely interested in symmetries in music, be they horizontal or vertical. An example of horizontal or linear symmetry in Webern's music is the first phrase in the second movement of the symphony, Op. 21. A striking example of vertical symmetry is the second movement of the Piano Variations, Op. 27, in which Webern arranges every pitch of this dodecaphonic work around the central pitch axis of A4. From this, each downward reaching interval is replicated exactly in the opposite direction. For example, a G3—13 half-steps down from A4 is replicated as a B5—13 half-steps above.\n\nJust as the letters of a verbal palindrome are not reversed, so are the elements of a musical palindrome usually presented in the same form in both halves. Although these elements are usually single notes, palindromes may be made using more complex elements. For example, Karlheinz Stockhausen's composition Mixtur, originally written in 1964, consists of twenty sections, called \"moments\", which may be permuted in several different ways, including retrograde presentation, and two versions may be made in a single program. When the composer revised the work in 2003, he prescribed such a palindromic performance, with the twenty moments first played in a \"forwards\" version, and then \"backwards\". Each moment, however, is a complex musical unit, and is played in the same direction in each half of the program. By contrast, Karel Goeyvaerts's 1953 electronic composition, Nummer 5 (met zuivere tonen) is an exact palindrome: not only does each event in the second half of the piece occur according to an axis of symmetry at the centre of the work, but each event itself is reversed, so that the note attacks in the first half become note decays in the second, and vice versa. It is a perfect example of Goeyvaerts's aesthetics, the perfect example of the imperfection of perfection. \n\nIn classical music, a crab canon is a canon in which one line of the melody is reversed in time and pitch from the other.\nA large-scale musical palindrome covering more than one movement is called \"chiasic\", referring to the cross-shaped Greek letter \"χ\" (pronounced /ˈkaɪ/.) This is usually a form of reference to the crucifixion; for example, the ' movement of Bach's Mass in B minor. The purpose of such palindromic balancing is to focus the listener on the central movement, much as one would focus on the center of the cross in the crucifixion. Other examples are found in Bach's cantata BWV 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden, Handel's Messiah and Fauré's Requiem. \n\nA table canon is a rectangular piece of sheet music intended to be played by two musicians facing each other across a table with the music between them, with one musician viewing the music upside down compared to the other. The result is somewhat like two speakers simultaneously reading the Sator square from opposite sides, except that it is typically in two-part polyphony rather than in unison.\n\nLong palindromes\n\nThe longest palindromic word in the Oxford English Dictionary is the onomatopoeic tattarrattat, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses (1922) for a knock on the door. The Guinness Book of Records gives the title to detartrated, the preterite and past participle of detartrate, a chemical term meaning to remove tartrates. Rotavator, a trademarked name for an agricultural machine, is often listed in dictionaries. The term redivider is used by some writers, but appears to be an invented or derived term—only redivide and redivision appear in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. Malayalam, an Indian language, is of equal length.\n\nIn English, two palindromic novels have been published: Satire: Veritas by David Stephens (1980, 58,795 letters), and Dr Awkward & Olson in Oslo by Lawrence Levine (1986, 31,954 words). What is more well known is the 224 word long poem \"Dammit I'm Mad\" by Demetri Martin. \n\nBiological structures\n\nIn most genomes or sets of genetic instructions, palindromic motifs are found. The meaning of palindrome in the context of genetics is slightly different, however, from the definition used for words and sentences. Since the DNA is formed by two paired strands of nucleotides, and the nucleotides always pair in the same way (Adenine (A) with Thymine (T), Cytosine (C) with Guanine (G)), a (single-stranded) sequence of DNA is said to be a palindrome if it is equal to its complementary sequence read backward. For example, the sequence ACCTAGGT is palindromic because its complement is TGGATCCA, which is equal to the original sequence in reverse complement.\n\nA palindromic DNA sequence may form a hairpin. Palindromic motifs are made by the order of the nucleotides that specify the complex chemicals (proteins) that, as a result of those genetic instructions, the cell is to produce. They have been specially researched in bacterial chromosomes and in the so-called Bacterial Interspersed Mosaic Elements (BIMEs) scattered over them. Recently a research genome sequencing project discovered that many of the bases on the Y-chromosome are arranged as palindromes. A palindrome structure allows the Y-chromosome to repair itself by bending over at the middle if one side is damaged.\n\nIt is believed that palindromes frequently are also found in proteins, but their role in the protein function is not clearly known. It has recently been suggested that the prevalence existence of palindromes in peptides might be related to the prevalence of low-complexity regions in proteins, as palindromes frequently are associated with low-complexity sequences. Their prevalence might also be related to an alpha helical formation propensity of these sequences, or in formation of proteins/protein complexes. \n\nComputation theory\n\nIn the automata theory, a set of all palindromes in a given alphabet is a typical example of a language that is context-free, but not regular. This means that it is impossible for a computer with a finite amount of memory to reliably test for palindromes on one pass. (For practical purposes with modern computers, this limitation would apply only to incredibly long letter-sequences.)\n\nIn addition, the set of palindromes may not be reliably tested by a deterministic pushdown automaton which also means that they are not LR(k)-parsable or LL(k)-parsable. When reading a palindrome from left-to-right, it is, in essence, impossible to locate the \"middle\" until the entire word has been read completely.\n\nIt is possible to find the longest palindromic substring of a given input string in linear time. \n\nThe palindromic density of an infinite word w over an alphabet A is defined to be zero if only finitely many prefixes are palindromes; otherwise, letting the palindromic prefixes be of lengths nk for k=1,2,... we define the density to be\n\n d_P(w) = \\left( { \\limsup_{k \\rightarrow \\infty} \\frac{n_{k+1}}{n_k} } \\right)^{-1} \\ . \n\nAmong aperiodic words, the largest possible palindromic density is achieved by the Fibonacci word, which has density 1/φ, where φ is the Golden ratio.\n\nA palstar is a composition of palindromic strings.\n\nNon-English palindromes\n\nAccording to Guinness World Records, the Finnish 19-letter word saippuakivikauppias (a soapstone vendor), is claimed to be the world's longest palindromic word in everyday use. A meaningful derivative from it is the word saippuakalasalakauppias (a soapfish bootlegger). An even longer effort is saippuakuppinippukauppias (a soap dish wholesale vendor), albeit somewhat contrived in its meaning (literally \"a soap dish bundle vendor\").\n\nNotable palindromists\n\n*Simo Frangén & Pasi Heikura (Alivaltiosihteeri)\n*Howard Bergerson\n*Hugo Brandt Corstius\n*Su Hui (poet)\n*J. A. Lindon\n*Leigh Mercer\n*Mark Saltveit\n*Dmitry Avaliani\n*Velimir Khlebnikov\n*Risto Rekola","Pangram.txt\nPangram\nA Pangram (, pan gramma, \"every letter\") or holoalphabetic sentence for a given alphabet is a sentence using every letter of the alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and keyboarding.\n\nThe best known English pangram is \"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\" It has been used since at least the late 19th century, was utilized by Western Union to test Telex / TWX data communication equipment for accuracy and reliability, and is now used by a number of computer programs (most notably the font viewer built into Microsoft Windows) to display computer fonts. An example in another language is ', containing all letters used in German , including every umlaut (ä, ö, ü) plus the ß. It has been used since before 1800.\n\nShort pangrams in English are more difficult to come up with and tend to use uncommon words. A perfect pangram contains every letter of the alphabet only once and can be considered an anagram of the alphabet; it is the shortest possible pangram. An example is the phrase \"Cwm fjord bank glyphs vext quiz\" (', a loan word from Welsh, means a steep-sided valley, particularly in Wales). However, such examples are not usually understood even by native English speakers, and so arguably are not really English pangrams. \n\nHere are some short pangrams using standard written English, not involving abbreviations or proper nouns:\n# \"Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.\" (32 letters)\n# \"Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz.\" (31 letters)\n# \"The five boxing wizards jump quickly.\" (31 letters)\n# \"How vexingly quick daft zebras jump!\" (30 letters)\n# \"Bright vixens jump; dozy fowl quack.\" (29 letters)\n\nLonger pangrams may afford more opportunity for humor, cleverness, or thoughtfulness. \n\nIn a sense, the pangram is the opposite of the lipogram, in which the aim is to omit one or more letters.\n\nLogographic scripts \n\nLogographic scripts, that is, writing systems composed principally of logograms, cannot be used to produce pangrams in the literal sense, since they are radically different from alphabets or other phonetic writing systems. In such scripts, the total number of signs is large and imprecisely defined, so producing a text with every possible sign is impossible. However, various analogies to pangrams are feasible, including traditional pangrams in a romanization. In Japanese, although typical orthography uses kanji (logograms), pangrams are required to contain every kana (syllabic character) when written out in kana alone: the Iroha is a classic example.\n\nIn addition, it is possible to create pangrams that demonstrate certain aspects of logographic characters.\n\nIn Chinese, the Thousand Character Classic is a 1000-character poem in which each character is used exactly once; however, it does not include all Chinese characters. The single character (permanence) incorporates every basic stroke used to write Chinese characters exactly once, as described in the Eight Principles of Yong.\n\nSelf-enumerating pangrams \n\nA self-enumerating pangram is a pangrammatic autogram, or a sentence that inventories its own letters, each of which occurs at least once. The first example was produced by Rudy Kousbroek, a Dutch journalist and essayist, who publicly challenged Lee Sallows, a British recreational mathematician resident in the Netherlands, to produce an English translation of his Dutch pangram. In the sequel, Sallows built an electronic \"pangram machine\", that performed a systematic search among millions of candidate solutions. The machine was successful in identifying the following 'magic' translation: \nThis pangram contains four As, one B, two Cs, one D, thirty Es, six Fs, five Gs, seven Hs, eleven Is, one J, one K, two Ls, two Ms, eighteen Ns, fifteen Os, two Ps, one Q, five Rs, twenty-seven Ss, eighteen Ts, two Us, seven Vs, eight Ws, two Xs, three Ys, & one Z.\n\nChris Patuzzo, a British computer scientist was able to reduce the problem of finding a self-enumerating pangram to the Boolean satisfiability problem. He did this by using a bespoke Hardware description language as a stepping stone and then applied the Tseitin transformation to the resulting chip. \n\nPangrams in literature\n\nThe pangram \"The quick brown fox...\" and searches for a shorter pangram are the cornerstone of the plot of the novel Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. The search successfully comes to an end when the phrase \"Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs\" is discovered.","Longest_word_in_English.txt\nLongest word in English\nThe identity of the longest word in English depends upon the definition of what constitutes a word in the English language, as well as how length should be compared. In addition to words derived naturally from the language's roots (without any known intentional invention), English allows new words to be formed by coinage and construction; place names may be considered words; technical terms may be arbitrarily long. Length may be understood in terms of orthography and number of written letters, or (less commonly) phonology and the number of phonemes.\n\nMajor dictionaries \n\nThe longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis. The word was deliberately coined to be the longest word in English, and has since been used in a close approximation of its originally intended meaning, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim. \n\nThe Oxford English Dictionary contains pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters).\n\nMerriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary does not contain antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters), as the editors found no widespread, sustained usage of the word in its original meaning. The longest word in that dictionary is electroencephalographically (27 letters). \n\nThe longest non-technical word in major dictionaries is floccinaucinihilipilification at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of Latin words meaning \"nothing\" and defined as \"the act of estimating something as worthless\"; its usage has been recorded as far back as 1741. \n\nRoss Eckler has noted that most of the longest English words are not likely to occur in general text, meaning non-technical present-day text seen by casual readers, in which the author did not specifically intend to use an unusually long word. According to Eckler, the longest words likely to be encountered in general text are deinstitutionalization and counterrevolutionaries, with 22 letters each. \n\nA computer study of over a million samples of normal English prose found that the longest word one is likely to encounter on an everyday basis is uncharacteristically, at 20 letters. \n\nThe words Internationalization and localization are abbreviated \"i18n\" and \"l10n\", respectively, the embedded number representing the number of letters between the first and the last.\n\nCreations of long words \n\nCoinages \n\nIn his play Assemblywomen (Ecclesiazousae), the ancient Greek comedic playwright Aristophanes created a word of 171 letters (183 in the transliteration below), which describes a dish by stringing together its ingredients:\n\nLopadotemakhoselakhogaleokranioleipsanodrimypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakekhymenokikhlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptokephalliokigklopeleiolagōiosiraiobaphētraganopterýgōn.\n\nHenry Carey's farce Chrononhotonthologos (1743) holds the opening line: \"Aldiborontiphoscophornio! Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?\"\n\nThomas Love Peacock put these creations into the mouth of the phrenologist Mr. Cranium in his 1816 romp Headlong Hall: osteosarchaematosplanchnochondroneuromuelous (44 characters) and osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary (51 characters).\n\nJames Joyce made up nine 100-letter words plus one 101-letter word in his novel Finnegans Wake, the most famous of which is Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk. Appearing on the first page, it allegedly represents the symbolic thunderclap associated with the fall of Adam and Eve. As it appears nowhere else except in reference to this passage, it is generally not accepted as a real word. Sylvia Plath made mention of it in her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, when the protagonist was reading Finnegans Wake.\n\n\"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious\", the 34-letter title of a song from the movie Mary Poppins, does appear in several dictionaries, but only as a proper noun defined in reference to the song title. The attributed meaning is \"a word that you say when you don't know what to say.\" The idea and invention of the word is credited to songwriters Robert and Richard Sherman.\n\nAgglutinative constructions \n\nThe English language permits the legitimate extension of existing words to serve new purposes by the addition of prefixes and suffixes. This is sometimes referred to as agglutinative construction. This process can create arbitrarily long words: for example, the prefixes pseudo (false, spurious) and anti (against, opposed to) can be added as many times as desired. A word like anti-aircraft (pertaining to the defense against aircraft) is easily extended to anti-anti-aircraft (pertaining to counteracting the defense against aircraft, a legitimate concept) and can from there be prefixed with an endless stream of \"anti-\"s, each time creating a new level of counteraction. More familiarly, the addition of numerous \"great\"s to a relative, e.g. great-great-great-grandfather, can produce words of arbitrary length. In musical notation, a 8192nd note may be called a semihemidemisemihemidemisemihemidemisemiquaver.\n\nAntidisestablishmentarianism is the longest common example of a word formed by agglutinative construction.\n\nTechnical terms \n\nA number of scientific naming schemes can be used to generate arbitrarily long words.\n\nThe IUPAC nomenclature for organic chemical compounds is open-ended, giving rise to the 189,819-letter chemical name Methionylthreonylthreonyl...isoleucine for the protein also known as titin, which is involved in striated muscle formation. In nature, DNA molecules can be much bigger than protein molecules and therefore potentially be referred to with much longer chemical names. For example, the wheat chromosome 3B contains almost 1 billion base pairs, so the sequence of one of its strands, if written out in full like Adenilyladenilylguanilylcystidylthymidyl..., would be about 8 billion letters long. The longest published word, Acetylseryltyrosylseryliso...serine, referring to the coat protein of a certain strain of tobacco mosaic virus, was 1,185-letters long, and appeared in the American Chemical Society's Chemical Abstracts Service in 1964 and 1966.Chemical Abstracts Formula Index, Jan.-June 1964, Page 967F; Chemical Abstracts 7th Coll. Formulas, C23H32-Z, 56-65, 1962–1966, Page 6717F In 1965, the Chemical Abstracts Service overhauled its naming system and started discouraging excessively long names.\n\nJohn Horton Conway and Landon Curt Noll developed an open-ended system for naming powers of 10, in which one sexmilliaquingentsexagintillion, coming from the Latin name for 6560, is the name for 103(6560+1) 1019683. Under the long number scale, it would be 106(6560) \n 1039360. Sbiis Sabian's \"Large Numbers\" website states that the largest number to say (nine hundred ninety nine novemnonagintinongenti-enneennaconteennahectenonecxenaenneennaconteennahecte...nine hundred ninety-nine billion nine hundred ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine) would take 10^{10^{3000}} years to say out, which would be the same amount of characters.\n\nGammaracanthuskytodermogammarus loricatobaicalensis is sometimes cited as the longest binomial name—it is a kind of amphipod. However, this name, proposed by B. Dybowski, was invalidated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.\n\nParastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides is the longest accepted binomial name. It is a species of soldier fly. \n\nAequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic, at 52 letters, describing the spa waters at Bath, England, is attributed to Dr. Edward Strother (1675–1737). The word is composed of the following elements:\n* Aequeo: equal (Latin, aequo )\n* Salino: containing salt (Latin, salinus)\n* Calcalino: calcium (Latin, calx)\n* Ceraceo: waxy (Latin, cera)\n* Aluminoso: alumina (Latin)\n* Cupreo: from \"copper\"\n* Vitriolic: resembling vitriol\n\nNotable long words \n\nPlace names \n\nThere is some debate as to whether a place name is a legitimate word.\n\nThe longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country is\nTaumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters), which is a hill in New Zealand. The name is in the Māori language.\n\nIn Canada, the longest place name is Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde, a township in Ontario, at 61 letters or 68 non-space characters. \n\nThe 58-letter name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a town on Anglesey, an island of Wales. In terms of the traditional Welsh alphabet, the name is only 51 letters long, as certain digraphs in Welsh are considered as single letters, for instance ll, ng and ch. It is generally agreed, however, that this invented name, adopted in the mid-19th century, was contrived solely to be the longest name of any town in Britain. The official name of the place is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, commonly abbreviated to Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG.\n\nThe longest non-contrived place name in the United Kingdom which is a single non-hyphenated word is Cottonshopeburnfoot (19 letters) and the longest which is hyphenated is Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe (29 characters).\n\nThe longest place name in the United States (45 letters) is Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, a lake in Webster, Massachusetts. It means \"Fishing Place at the Boundaries – Neutral Meeting Grounds\" and is sometimes facetiously translated as \"you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle\". The lake is also known as Webster Lake. The longest hyphenated names in the U.S. are Winchester-on-the-Severn, a town in Maryland, and Washington-on-the-Brazos, a notable place in Texas history.\n\nThe longest official geographical name in Australia is Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya. It has 26 letters and is a Pitjantjatjara word meaning \"where the Devil urinates\". \n\nIn Ireland, the longest English placename at 22 letters is Muckanaghederdauhaulia (from the Irish language, Muiceanach Idir Dhá Sháile, meaning \"pig-marsh between two saltwater inlets\") in County Galway. If this is disallowed for being derived from Irish, or not a town, the longest at 19 letters is Newtownmountkennedy in County Wicklow.\n\nPersonal names \n\nGuinness World Records formerly contained a category for longest personal name used.\n* From about 1975 to 1985, the recordholder was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffvoralternwarengewissenhaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeundsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvonangreifendurchihrraubgierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolftausendjahresvorandieerscheinenwanderersteerdemenschderraumschiffgebrauchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlangefahrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchenachdiesternwelchegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinderneurassevonverstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefortplanzenundsicherfreuenanlebenslanglichfreudeundruhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvonandererintelligentgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraum, Senior (746 letters), also known as Wolfe+585, Senior.\n* After 1985 Guinness briefly awarded the record to a newborn girl with a longer name. The category was removed shortly afterward.\n\nLong birth names are often coined in protest of naming laws or for other personal reasons.\n* The naming law in Sweden was challenged by parents Lasse Diding and Elisabeth Hallin, who proposed the given name \"Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116\" for their child (pronounced, 43 characters), which was rejected by a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden.\n\nWords with certain characteristics of notable length \n\n* Schmaltzed and strengthed (10 letters) appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in The Oxford English Dictionary, while scraunched and scroonched appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in Webster's Third New International Dictionary; but squirrelled (11 letters) is the longest if pronounced as one syllable only (as permitted in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary at squirrel, and in Longman Pronunciation Dictionary). Schtroumpfed (12 letters) was coined by Umberto Eco, while broughammed (11 letters) was coined by William Harmon after broughamed (10 letters) was coined by George Bernard Shaw.\n* Strengths is the longest word in the English language containing only one vowel.\n* Euouae, a medieval musical term, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and the word with the most consecutive vowels. However, the \"word\" itself is simply a mnemonic consisting of the vowels to be sung in the phrase \"seculorum Amen\" at the end of the lesser doxology. (Although u was often used interchangeably with v, and the variant \"Evovae\" is occasionally used, the v in these cases would still be a vowel.)\n* The longest words with no repeated letters are dermatoglyphics, misconjugatedly and uncopyrightables. \n* The longest word whose letters are in alphabetical order is the eight-letter Aegilops, a grass genus. However, this is arguably both Latin and a proper noun. There are several six-letter English words with their letters in alphabetical order, including abhors, almost, begins, biopsy, chimps and chintz.\n* The longest words recorded in OED with each vowel only once, and in order, are abstemiously, affectiously, and tragediously (OED). Fracedinously and gravedinously (constructed from adjectives in OED) have thirteen letters; Gadspreciously, constructed from Gadsprecious (in OED), has fourteen letters. Facetiously is among the few other words directly attested in OED with single occurrences of all five vowels and the semivowel y.\n* The longest single palindromic word in English is rotavator, another name for a rotary tiller for breaking and aerating soil.\n\nTyped words \n\n* The longest words typable with only the left hand using conventional hand placement on a QWERTY keyboard are tesseradecades, aftercataracts, and the more common but sometimes hyphenated sweaterdresses. Using the right hand alone, the longest word that can be typed is johnny-jump-up, or, excluding hyphens, monimolimnion and phyllophyllin.\n* The longest English word typable using only the top row of letters has 11 letters: rupturewort. Similar words with 10 letters include: pepperwort, perpetuity, proprietor, requietory, repertoire, tripertite, pourriture and typewriter. The word teetertotter (used in North American English) is longer at 12 letters, although it is usually spelled with a hyphen.\n* The longest using only the middle row is shakalshas (10 letters). Nine-letter words include flagfalls, galahads and alfalfas.\n* Since the bottom row contains no vowels, no standard words can be formed. Exceptions might include Zzz, seen in some dictionaries to denote sleep, or m, the clitic form of my. \n* The longest words typable by alternating left and right hands are antiskepticism and leucocytozoans respectively.\n* On a Dvorak keyboard, the longest \"left-handed\" words are epopoeia, jipijapa, peekapoo, and quiaquia. Other such long words are papaya, Kikuyu, opaque, and upkeep. Kikuyu is typed entirely with the index finger, and so the longest one-fingered word on the Dvorak keyboard. There are no vowels on the right-hand side, and so the longest \"right-handed\" word is crwth.","Letter-by-Letter Word Games - Panix\nThis is an attempt to list the letter-by-letter word games ... up words before we play. Other Scrabble ... a word which contain these three consonants moves ...\nLetter-by-Letter Word Games\nLetter-by-Letter Word Games\nCompiled by Steffan O'Sullivan\nThis page last updated September 14, 1997 [Yikes! I'm way behind! Folks have been sending more titles, and I haven't gotten to entering them yet - bad me. No excuse. Real Soon Now.]\n[Note as of December 24, 1999: no, I never did get around to updating this file. But someone did volunteer to take over! Graham Toal has kindly taken over the task of collating all the notes I had for over two years. The enlarged, updated list can be found at http://www.gtoal.com/wordgames/ .\nI recommend you head there now, as it contains everything that's in this page, plus much more! He's not only added games, but also information and letter distributions for some of the games listed. He's also interested in computer simulations of word games, and has a whole section devoted to that.]\nIf you have information to contribute to this project, you should e-mail it to Graham Toal .\nThe rest of this page has not been updated since 1997.\nBack to Steffan O'Sullivan's Home Page\nThis is an attempt to list the letter-by-letter word games that have been published, that work with the English language. (And the language of the U.S.A., too, for you UK readers...)\nThe phrase \"letter-by-letter\" is used simply to distinguish such word games from word games which use whole words, phrases, sentences, etc. Examples of the latter include Taboo, Guestures, Trivial Pursuit, Charades, etc., all of which can be considered \"word games\", but are outside the scope of this list. Instead, this list focuses on games in which the basic element is a letter, and words are built up from there. Scrabble is probably the best-known letter-by-letter word game today, so think of games similar to that - at least vaguely similar, at any rate.\nThis list is not done yet - there have been an astonishing number of such games published. However, I'm burned out on it - I'm no longer seeking other titles of such games, but still am seeking comments for any game listed which lacks them. I'm also asking for corrections to any misinformation below! Send any such suggestions to gtoal @ gtoal.com .\nContributors: Comments are by:\nCompiled by Steffan O'Sullivan\nAd Lib published by Lowe. A remake of Scribbage (below). [SOS]\nAddiction published by Waddingtons. Choosing one die at a time, place them in a 5x5 grid, making as many words as you can, crossword fashion. [SOS]\nAdministrative Waltz published by Ariel. This is a satirical board game about rising to the top of various bureaucracies (the military, politics, etc.) in the UK, but in some way it incorporates the making of words from letter tiles. [DB]\nAlfred's Other Game published by Selchow & Righter. This tile games is for 1-4 players, and is basically solitaire, whether played alone or with others. Each player has three areas: a place where tiles are laid out randomly at start, a place where completed words are spelled, and a place for leftovers. You form words from each line of six tiles - unused letters go to the leftover area, and can be reused later. Not a great game, unless multi-player solitaire is your thing. By Alfred E. Butts, the creator of Scrabble. [SOS]\nAnagrams published by Selchow & Righter. 200 tiles, build words from them. You can steal your opponents words if you can add one or more letters to make an anagram of their words. I like it. [SOS]\nBali published by Avalon Hill, 1980. Kind of similar to rummy where you build words as melds and they can be stolen with anagrams. [RI]. A word is built out of the players' cards on a common area; by adding letters from one's hand, one hand can steal the word. Numerous variants exist. [DT]\nBits & Pieces published by Samuel Ward. Some of the dice sides have individual letters, some have letter combinations. Race against time. [SOS]\nBoggle (& variants) published by Parker Brothers. Boggle has 16 dice in a 4x4 pattern (Big Boggle, now called Boggle Master, has 25 in a 5x5 pattern). Shake the holder, the dice settle into place with a single side up, and start the timer. You have 3 minutes to find as many words as you can. A word can be spelled by moving from die to die, orthogonally or diagonally, without hitting the same die twice. Each die can only be used once in spelling a given word, but may be used over and over again for each new word. Words must be a minimum of three letters. Very good game. [SOS]\nBuzzle published by Fanjos in 1994. This is the German rerelease of Runes (see below). I believe it was nominated for Spiel des Jahres. [KM]\nBuzzword(s?) published by ??? -- You roll a cup full of dice and put them on a scrabble like board. Recent game (a few years). Not as good as it sounds. Reviewed in Games, maybe in The Game Report (check out online). I have a copy, so if you bug me about it I can find company and year. [BB]\nCampbell's Alphabet Scoop & Spell published by Warren Industries. Scoop piles of letters out of the Campbell's alphabet soup can to spell words. [SOS]\nCatchword published by International Games. Consonants on cards, vowels on dice, which are thrown anew each turn. Variations given. [SOS]\nChessword published by Waddington's House of Games, 1972. Played on an elongated chessboard where the white squares have the alphabet on them, and using only the non-pawn pieces. Each player tries to maneuver any one of his pieces onto the letter he needs for his word, whilst preventing the opponent from doing the same. [DT]\nCountdown published by Piatnik (Austria), designed by frederic Leygonie, 2-6 players aged 10+, pub March '97. Make words by playing letter cards: longest wins. [PE]\nCrash published in the Feb 1971 issue of Word Ways. Related to Jotto, but in this game, you only score crashes: a crash is an instance of the same letter *in the same position* in the target word. Thus shine/canoe scores 1, parse/spear scores 0. This gave rise to a number of variants. [TU]\nCross Cubes published by Baron Scott. 19 letter cubes, 6 black cubes to use as blanks, as in crossword puzzles. Place the black cubes first, then shake the letter dice and start a timer. [SOS]\nCrossCheck published by TSR. A crossword game, something like 'Swoggle, but here you are actually answering clues. [DB]\nCrossword published by MB, 1978. Nearly identical to Scribbage. [AM]\nCrossword Bingo published by Skor-Mor/Samuel Ward. 240 letter tiles. Words must be formed before you can place tiles on bingo cards. Timer, simultaneous play. [SOS]\nCrossword Cubes published by Selchow & Righter. 14 dice, you get two to four tosses (as in Yahtzee), forming words in crossword fashion. You can only score one word of each length from 2-8 letters. [SOS]\nCrossword Dominoes published by Selchow & Righter. These domino-shaped tiles contain two letters. On one side, they are horizontally adjacent, on the other, the same two letters are vertically adjacent. You try to spell words with them, crossword fashion. Each player must link on to a tile played by a previous player - there's a bonus for playing all five tiles in one hand, but they must all touch each other. Excellent game. [SOS]\nCrossword Lexicon published by Parker Bros., 1937. I haven't seen it, but I suspect it is the same as Waddington's Lexcion, below. [SOS]\nCrozzle published by Cadaco. Paper in special holders form crossword frames. Letters are drawn one at a time, and all players fill their own in at the same time, one letter at a time. Try to have the most words when the puzzle is full. [SOS]\nDig-It published by Cadaco. 378 letter tiles, many cards with a subject printed on each. Deal out subject cards, players simply dig into the common pile of letter tiles, spelling words relating to their subject. [SOS]\nDixit published by Waddingtons. [Description needed.]\nDizzy Spell published by Gabriel, 1978. The board is 5x5 with holes which are initially covered with reversible O/X pieces, all on the O side. Then a card with letters which align with the holes is inserted in the base. The first player uncovers two letters, making sure his opponent sees them too, then replaces the plugs, X side up. Play continues with the players alternating. After the third pair of letters has been revealed, each player may guess a word every turn. To do so, announce the word, then expose the letters (from the Xs) in the correct order. If correct, the player keeps the pieces removed and those letters can no longer be used. If incorrect, remove 2 points from the guesser's score. Once all letters are X side up, continue the process but flip the pieces back to the O side. Play continues until all the pieces are back to the O side or both players decide to give up. Score 1 point per piece. [DT]\nEureka published by Amigo Spiel (Germany), designed by Haim Shafir, 2-6 players aged 10+, pub April '97. A word is hidden in the mechanism, players roll dice to enable them to open flaps, revealing letters. When they guess the word they score the values of the closed flaps. [PE]\nFoil published by 3M, 1968. Players score points for forming one or more words from the hand of letter-cards they're dealt. They then scramble the word(s) and show it (them) to their opponents. The latter score bonus points for unscrambling the word(s) within one-minute. [DT]\nForesight (4Cyte) published by MB. Tiles. [Description needed.]\nFour Letter Words published by Lakeside, 1975. Using a 4x4x4 3D tic-tac-toe board, players try to make four letter words. [DT]\nGot a Minute published by Selchow & Righter(?). Seven cubes with letters are ecased in a clear cube & with a minute sand timer. You have 1 minute to find as many words using the 7 letters. [RI]\nGrid Word published by Waddingtons. Cards with two letters on them, must be played with other cards to make four-letter words. [SOS]\nHangman published by MB. Each player's word is kept hidden from the opponent - simultaneous classic hangman, basically. [SOS] When a player missed, a dial on the case showing a hangman was turned adding another \"body part\" until you were hung. The only problem is there were far too many misses allowed (something like 12). [RI]\nHearts published by MB (old). Dice. [Description needed.]\nInVerse: The Poetry Game, unpublished, written by Stan Anderson. Link to description . [SA]\nIpswich published by Selchow & Righter, 1983. Each of the up to 4 players has a board with crossword spaces on it (4 intersecting word tracks). Each player draws 14 tiles and arranges as many of them as possible to make up words on his board within 10 minutes. Within the first minute, you have the option of trading tiles in for new ones (this costs score). There are bonuses for making words that intersect. After this first round, players retain any 4 tiles of their choice and then pass the boards, with their remaining tiles, to the left. Each player draws 2 more tiles. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds. [DT]\nJarnac published by Chieftain in Canada (also published in France by a different company). An outstanding and heady Anagrams game in which two players build words on individual boards but have the option to steal letters from their opponents. Superb scoring system. [MT] My favorite word game. [BF]\nJitters published by MB. Jitters has dice with letters and cards with crossword patterns. Start the (noisy) timer, turn over a card, throw the dice, and then use some or all of the dice to form a word pattern that matches the card. If you're stumped you can reroll all the dice. When you succeed, you have the choice of stopping the timer or turning another card and rerolling. If the timer goes off by itself, you lose credit for all the cards you finished that turn. Some of the patterns are easier than others. The harder the card, the more points it's worth. [DW]\nJotto published commercially in 1957 by The Jotto Corporation, later Selchow & Righter. [MK] Basically Mastermind with letters - an excellent game, especially while waiting for your food in a crowded restaraunt - you just need two pieces of paper and two pencils. Here are the rules as I learned them. [SOS]\nKan-U-Go published by Waddingtons. Old (50s, 60s?) card game. Players make words from the cards in their hand, adding them to what's on the table in crossword style. If you can't go you pick up a card, first to get rid of all their cards ends the hand. Score is values of cards left in hand, which count against you. Games ends when someone reaches 100 points and player with fewest points wins. [PE]\nKeep Quiet published by Kopptronix. Letter dice with the manual alphabet for the deaf on them. One game is crossword-style, another longest word. [SOS]\nKeep Quiet Reword published by Kopptronix. Cards are played four or five at a time to make words, then words can be partially covered up to make new words, as in Up Words. The cards have the English alphabet on the reverse side of manual alphabet. [SOS]\nKeyword published by Parker Brothers. Similar to Scrabble, but each letter is 5 points unless played on your color, in which case it's 10 points. There are also keyword squares, which are worth +20 points. And keyword cards, which are turned over one at a time until claimed - if you spell the keyword, claim the card which will add 50 points to your score at the end of the game. The board has four colors of tiles, mostly clumped together in each of the corners. I have fond memories of this game, as it was my grandmother's favorite game, and I played many times with her while growing up. [SOS]\nKontrast published by Matthews & Marshall. 112 cards - empty hand by spelling words. [SOS]\nLast Word published by Milton-Bradley, 1985. A 10x10 board is loaded with tiles, randomly. Players then walk their piece across the board, picking up tiles as they go, trying not to become stranded. On your turn, you get to pick up an entire word, so this goes pretty fast. The board is treated as wrap-around (toroidal continuity), which keeps the edges from being traps. Bonus points for isolating an opponent and for being the last to pick up a word. [DT]\nLast Word by Sid Sackson, published in the book A Gamut of Games by Random House (1969), Pantheon (1982), & Dover (1992). Pencil and paper game of filling in a 9x9 grid. Start with the middle 9 spaces filed with letters taken from a random sentence, then play one letter at a time in an empty space, adjacent to at least two other letters already played. Score for words formed - you may rearrange the letters, but not skip any, when scoring. [SOS]\nLetter Pile publisher unknown. Stylized letters are printed on clear plastic cards. Players gather the letters of their secret words into stacks; opponents try to guess the words by examining the lines and curves on the pile of overlapping cards.[BB2]\nLexicon published by Waddingtons. First published in 1933, this game uses cards, crossword fashion. Cards left in hand when someone goes out count against you - low score wins. Combine two sets to play with up to eight. [SOS]\nLewis Carroll's Chess Wordgame published by Kadon. Played on a chess board, each player starts with a letter in each of his first rank squares. You try to spell words on your fifth rank, moving letters one at a time as if they were queens. You may not stop on your fourth or eighth rank, but may move to your sixth or seventh, in an attempt to block your opponent. Despite the name, it's actually by Martin Gardner, based on a brief mention of the idea in one of Lewis Carroll's notebooks. It's okay - neither great nor bad. [SOS]\nLingo published by Lingo Games. Words are built on a 5x5 grid, any direction, even diagonally. [SOS]\nLogomachy, or War of Words published by F.A. Wright Co., 1874. Mentioned in Sid Sackson's book, A Gamut of Games. [SOS]\nMontage published by Gamut of Games, designed by Prince Djoli Kansil. You form a word on a board with chips, each color of which signifies several different letters, and give a clue to it; your partner tries to guess it before either opponent can. Whichever side gets it owns those chips. [TU]\nMy Word published by Gamut of Games (similar to Jotto) [MK]\nMy Word published by Waddingtons. I think this is a different game than the above - anyone know for sure? [Description needed.] [SOS]\nNexus published by Lodestone Games. Contains many games, some similar to Anagrams. Some tiles have letters, others syllables, the latter scoring more points. [SOS]\nOption published by Parker Brothers, 1983. A crossword game using prisms. Play includes flipping prisms already on the board to switch them to the alternate letter. Players score extra if the word is all in one color. Why they didn't use all three sides of the prisms is a mystery. [DT]\nOverturn published by Pressman. The letters are printed right on the board in this game. The board for a single game is made up of 9 small squares, each with four letters on them. There are 18 squares included - rotate and shuffle them after each play, and you'll get a different set-up each time. There are circles (green on one side, silver on the other) which fit over the letters. Spell a word as in Boggle and claim those letters by placing circles around them, your color up. The next player must use at least one new letter and one used letter, flipping any circles around letters used to his color. Very good game. I have an article on three-player Overturn . [SOS]\nPalabra published by Kondrick. Seven-card hands. Two or three stars on some cards serve as multipliers so you can score 2*2*3*3*3 times the base score if lucky and careful. Player interaction is minor. [TU]\nPass the Bomb published by Gibsons Games, 1996 (box text: \"Invented by Los Rodriguez and licenced by Weekend Games; Made in Austria by Piatnik, 1994\"). Like Hot Potato, you don't want to be the one holding the bomb when it explodes. In order to pass it to the next person, however, you must first say a valid word containing a given sequence of letters (or, since bluffing is encouraged, make people _think_ you did...). [BB2]\nPerfect 10 published by Smethport. Identical to Anagrams (above), but with only 100 tiles. [SOS]\nPerquackey published by Pressman. Players roll 7 dice, then rattle off all 3+ letter words. You can only get points for the first 5 words with the same # of letters (5 3 letter words, 5 4 letter words). Point scoring is based on number of words of each type. Once you are vulnerable, you add a few red dice (with more obscure letters) and must start with 4 letter words. Solitairish (take turns, race point score). [BB]\nPhlounder published by 3M, 1962. Letters are fed randomly through chute-like troughs; players try to make words out of what comes out. [DT]\nPick Two published by Tah Dah. Form words with cards as quickly as possible. When you form one the other players have to take two more cards and continue. [RI]\nPlay On Wordz published by Milton Bradley, 1986. It has a plastic case with 9 dice (called a dice roller). There are 6 dice in an outer circle and 3 dice in the middle. Each die is in a cavity and can't be removed. A player rubs his hand over the dice, rotating them, and places the game on the table for everyone to see. The object is to use the letters shown to make words of 4 or more letters. Letters do not have to be adjacent. First player to make 10 words says STOP and players compare lists. Duplicate words are eliminated. Each remaining word counts one point. Words with more than 4 letters get an extra point for each letter over 4. We like it a lot, and adjust the rules for younger players or poor spellers as needed. [CK]\nProbe published by PB. Word guessing game like Hangman. [RI]. Sort of simultaneous Hangman. [DT]\nPronto published by Selchow and Righter in the late 1970's or early 1980's. A letter dice game, where you receive credit for various combinations. Similar to word yahtzee but with different scoring possibilities. Excellent solitaire. [MT]\nQuadtriple published by Eltron. [Description needed.]\nQue published by Knots. Cards with letters - some have one letter, others two-letters, and there are two wild-cards. Many variants given. [SOS]\nQuibble published by Just Games. Ten wooden sticks have 10 letters on each edge. Randomly place them to make a 10x10 square of letters. Some variants require finding words in a given row, others in the whole array. [SOS]\nQuizzle published by Copp Clark Games, Canada, 1978. There are four plastic crossword grids, a supply of cardboard letter tiles (also wild blanks and black squares) and a special die marked (1 1 2 2 3 *). On a player's turn, he rolls the die and places that many letters of his choice on the grid (other players simultaneously draw the same tiles but place them on their own grids as they choose). A Joker (*) counts for either 3 tiles or the replacement of an already-played tile. The game ends once the grid is filled. Only completed words count for score. [DT]\nQwink published by Selchow & Righter. [Description needed.]\nRätsel Turm, a game by Heinz Meister, published by FX Schmid, 1992. The aim of the game is to build towers with coloured blocks, the lowest block representing the first letter of a word, etc. There are blocks of different colours: green means A, B or C; yellow D, E or F, etc. Five different games use this basic system. For example, each player on his turn builds a tower, and the first other player who finds a corresponding word scores 1 point. Another example: The first player chooses a block, and each player on his turn must add a block on the top of the tower, or accuse the former player of bluffing when he cannot name a corresponding word. [BF]\nRazzle published by Parker Bros. Try to move a carriage towards your opponent. The carriage has six letter dice which rotate when the carriage is moved. First to find a word formed with the letters showing moves the carriage towards his opponent, which then rotates the dice to reveal different letters. [SOS]\nRed Letter published by Games Gang. Like Scrabble, except all letters are worth 1 pt. Letters can be either upper or lower case allowing proper nouns, bonuses for using all red letters (especially in the red zone -- outmost 5 rows/columns of the board) and bonuses for using words that fit a category listed on a card and with so many letters. [RI]\nRondo published by Ravensburger/FX Schmidt (Germany), designed by Abrahami/Netz, 2-4 players aged 12+, pub 97. Stand holds letter cards and can be extended as the length of the word increases. Players make words by adding, changing or blanking out a letter in the word that's already there. [PE]\nRoyalty published by US Games. Similar to Word Rummy except you only score if no one can steal your word in one round. [RI]\nRPM published by Selchow ↦ Righter(?). The board is round and it winds up and revolves. You spell words with wood letter tiles as the board rotates into your area. [CL]\nRSVP published by Selchow & Righter. You have an upright grid, in which letters can be placed from either side. A letter placed shows on both sides - but if one reads \"BY\" on one side of the grid, it reads \"YB\" on the other. Object is to score more words than your opponent, taking turns placing one letter at a time. [SOS]\nRunes published by Eon. The basic component of this game is actually the letter element: a small straight, a large straight, a small curve and a large curve. Each player's board lists each letter with the one legal way to create the letter using the letter elements. Think of a secret word (five or six letters, determine before starting), and the others try to guess first what elements compose a given letter, then which letter it is, then which word. Excellent game with four players, a bit lacking with less. Longer review. [SOS]\nScoring Anagrams published by Selchow & Righter. Similar to Anagrams, with a scoring system instead of final goal. [SOS]\nScrabble designed by Alfred E. Butts, published by Selchow & Righter, later MB. Originally published in 1931 as Criss Cross. 15x15 board with 104 tiles. The letters are given a value (not always in keeping with their frequency - \"H\" is worth far too much, for example - Alfred got his original distribution by counting letters on the front page of an issue of the New York Times!), and some spaces are special: double-letter, double-word, triple-letter, triple-word scoring spaces. We play with the official Scrabble Dictionary, and are allowed to look up words before we play. Other Scrabble players find this practice blasphemous, but I suspect they haven't tried it - it makes it a better game, at least from our worldview. This is definitely the classic wordgame - one of the best. R. Wayne Schmittberger has a Scrabble variant with no luck involved: you lay out the tiles at the beginning of the game, randomly, face-up, around the board, so that there are two distinct ends to the line of tiles. After you play, you may draw from either end - but all letters taken in one turn must be from the same end. [SOS]\nScrabble Duplicate published by Selchow & Righter. 7 cards were displayed in a rack. Each player using their own scorepad (with Scrabble board on it) would write in the word they used. And then 7 new letters would be displayed. This way everyone would get the same rack on every turn. [RI]\nScrabble for Juniors published by Selchow & Righter. Actually the side of the board where you could make your own words would count as a legitimate game. [RI] (I had originally requested no pure children's game, listing this game as an example, but Rich Irving rightly points out that it should be included.) [SOS]\nScrabble Overturn(?) published by Selchow & Righter. The letters were on cylindars which could be rotated to change the color of the player getting credit for it. Different than the Pressman game. [RI]\nScrabble Up published by MB. Build words up a rack while the letter come sliding down another track. [RI]\nScribbage published by Lowe. Archetypal game of shake the dice, roll them out, you have X minutes to create words in a crossword pattern using as many dice as you can, pass the dice and cup to the next player, etc. The dice in Scribbage have both letters and a value for each letter on the faces - many dice games have just letters. [SOS]\nShoot & Spell published by Tiger Games, 1989. Letters are shot out of dispensers at each corner of the boxing-ring-like board. Players must make a word as quickly as possible from the displayed letters. [DT]\nSI (Sports Illustrated Words) published by Parker Bros. I own this, but no rules, so am not 100% certain that what follows is correct. There are 30 dice, each side a letter, and a number of cards. The cards are specific to a given sport, and have Bonus Words on them. I'm assuming you draw a card, roll the dice, and have X minutes to form as many words as you can related to the sport - scoring extra if you can spell the Bonus Words. [SOS] [Description needed.]\nSkirmish published by KDS Industries. Battleship with letters. Really. You make a word using pegs to form the letters, and try to hit the other player's pegs and guess the word. [DB]\nSpeed Scrabble, unpublished, uses Scrabble tiles. Heath Haley sent me the rules, but does not know who wrote them. I'm reluctant to post them without being able to credit the author. Anyone know who wrote this variant of Scrabble which is played without the board, simultaneously, to your own crossword-shaped words in front of each player?\nSpellbinder published by Mattell. [Description needed]\nSpellbound published by Lakeside. Letter dice fall into an upright stand which shows letters vertically, on four different sides at once. Each side requires players to find a different type of word formation. Timer. [SOS]\nSpellwell published by Value Wargames. Mostly a table using a percentile dice - roll the dice X times, make words. Then make sentences with your words. [SOS]\nSpill & Spell published by Parker Bros. 15 dice, timer, make crossword-type words, longer words score more; variants included. [SOS]\nSum-Words published by MPH Games. [Description needed.]\n'Swoggle published by Chieftan Products (Canada). One of my favorite games and good to play with just two players. One problem is there's a little too much luck for my taste. On your turn, you roll one die and whatever you roll is how many letters (of your choice) you can add to the board. If you roll a one you're really screwed. The best house rule we found to fix this is to just let the player roll again and add it to the 1. [JG]\nTake A Letter published by Rainbow Games, 1985. The board is a 17 x 17 grid with two corners taken out, with a variety of markings on it. There is also a track going around the board featuring letters and a few other squares. Players strive to make words of certain lengths or containing specific letters, as designated by their Word Play cards. The letter track is used to garner the required letters; Word Play cards also allow letters to be stolen from other players. [DT]\nThat's Incredible published by MPH Games. Actually nine games, only the first one, Zenith, is a word game. Using 81 letter cards, build a 9x9 crossword puzzle. [SOS]"],"string":"[\n \"Typewriter.txt\\nTypewriter\\nA typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for writing in characters similar to those produced by printer's movable type by means of keyboard-operated types striking a ribbon to transfer ink or carbon impressions onto paper. Typically one character is printed on each keypress. The machine prints characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the sorts used in movable type letterpress printing.\\n\\nAt the end of the nineteenth century the term typewriter was also applied to a person who used such a machine. \\n\\nAfter their invention in the 1860s, typewriters quickly became indispensable tools for practically all writing other than personal correspondence. They were widely used by professional writers, in offices, and for business correspondence in private homes. By the end of the 1980s, word processors and personal computers had largely displaced typewriters in most of these uses in the Western world, but as of the 2010s the typewriter is still prominent in many parts of the world, including India. \\n\\nNotable typewriter manufacturers included E. Remington and Sons, IBM, Imperial Typewriters, Oliver Typewriter Company, Olivetti, Royal Typewriter Company, Smith Corona, Underwood Typewriter Company, Adler Typewriter Company and Olympia Werke.Article about Olympia Werke is available only in German Wikipedia.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nAlthough many modern typewriters have one of several similar designs, their invention was incremental, developed by numerous inventors working independently or in competition with each other over a series of decades. As with the automobile, telephone, and telegraph, a number of people contributed insights and inventions that eventually resulted in ever more commercially successful instruments. Historians have estimated that some form of typewriter was invented 52 times as thinkers tried to come up with a workable design. \\n\\nEarly innovations\\n\\nSome of the early typing instruments: \\n*In 1575 an Italian printmaker, Francesco Rampazzetto, invented the scrittura tattile, a machine to impress letters in papers.\\n*In 1714, Henry Mill obtained a patent in Britain for a machine that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a typewriter. The patent shows that this machine was actually created: \\\"[he] hath by his great study and paines & expence invented and brought to perfection an artificial machine or method for impressing or transcribing of letters, one after another, as in writing, whereby all writing whatsoever may be engrossed in paper or parchment so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print; that the said machine or method may be of great use in settlements and public records, the impression being deeper and more lasting than any other writing, and not to be erased or counterfeited without manifest discovery.\\\" \\n*In 1802 Italian Agostino Fantoni developed a particular typewriter to enable his blind sister to write.\\n*In 1808 Italian Pellegrino Turri invented a typewriter. He also invented carbon paper to provide the ink for his machine.\\n*In 1823 Italian Pietro Conti di Cilavegna invented a new model of typewriter, the tachigrafo, also known as tachitipo.\\n\\n*In 1829, William Austin Burt patented a machine called the \\\"Typographer\\\" which, in common with many other early machines, is listed as the \\\"first typewriter\\\". The Science Museum (London) describes it merely as \\\"the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented,\\\" but even that claim may be excessive, since Turri's invention pre-dates it. Even in the hands of its inventor, this machine was slower than handwriting. Burt and his promoter John D. Sheldon never found a buyer for the patent, so the invention was never commercially produced. Because the typographer used a dial, rather than keys, to select each character, it was called an \\\"index typewriter\\\" rather than a \\\"keyboard typewriter.\\\" Index typewriters of that era resemble the squeeze-style embosser from the 1960s more than they resemble the modern keyboard typewriter.\\nBy the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had created a need for mechanization of the writing process. Stenographers and telegraphers could take down information at rates up to 130 words per minute, whereas a writer with a pen was limited to a maximum of 30 words per minute (the 1853 speed record). \\n\\nFrom 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production. \\n*Charles Thurber developed multiple patents, of which his first in 1843 was developed as an aid to the blind, such as the 1845 Chirographer.\\n*In 1855, the Italian Giuseppe Ravizza created a prototype typewriter called Cembalo scrivano o macchina da scrivere a tasti (\\\"Scribe harpsichord, or machine for writing with keys\\\"). It was an advanced machine that let the user see the writing as it was typed.\\n*In 1861, Father Francisco João de Azevedo, a Brazilian priest, made his own typewriter with basic materials and tools, such as wood and knives. In that same year the Brazilian emperor D. Pedro II, presented a gold medal to Father Azevedo for this invention. Many Brazilian people as well as the Brazilian federal government recognize Fr. Azevedo as the inventor of the typewriter, a claim that has been the subject of some controversy. In 1865, John Pratt, of Centre, Alabama, built a machine called the Pterotype which appeared in an 1867 Scientific American article and inspired other inventors. Between 1864 and 1867 , a carpenter from South Tyrol (then part of Austria) developed several models and a fully functioning prototype typewriter in 1867. \\n*1895 saw brief production of the Ford typewriter, which featured the first typewriter with aluminum construction and forward-thrust key movement.\\n\\nHansen Writing Ball\\n\\nIn 1865, Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen of Denmark invented the Hansen Writing Ball, which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and was reported as being used in offices in London as late as 1909. Malling-Hansen used a solenoid escapement to return the carriage on some of his models which makes him a candidate for the title of inventor of the first \\\"electric\\\" typewriter. \\n\\nAccording to the book Hvem er skrivekuglens opfinder? (English: Who is the inventor of the Writing Ball?), written by Malling-Hansen's daughter, Johanne Agerskov, in 1865, Malling-Hansen made a porcelain model of the keyboard of his writing ball and experimented with different placements of the letters to achieve the fastest writing speed. Malling-Hansen placed the letters on short pistons that went directly through the ball and down to the paper. This, together with the placement of the letters so that the fastest writing fingers struck the most frequently used letters, made the Hansen Writing Ball the first typewriter to produce text substantially faster than a person could write by hand. \\n\\nThe Hansen Writing Ball was produced with only upper-case characters. The Writing Ball was used as a template for inventor Frank Haven Hall to create a derivative that would produce letter prints cheaper and faster. \\n\\nMalling-Hansen developed his typewriter further through the 1870s and 1880s and made many improvements, but the writing head remained the same. On the first model of the writing ball from 1870, the paper was attached to a cylinder inside a wooden box. In 1874, the cylinder was replaced by a carriage, moving beneath the writing head. Then, in 1875, the well-known \\\"tall model\\\" was patented, which was the first of the writing balls that worked without electricity. Malling-Hansen attended the world exhibitions in Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1878 and he received the first-prize for his invention at both exhibitions. \\n\\nSholes and Glidden Type-writer\\n\\nThe first typewriter to be commercially successful was invented in 1868 by Americans Christopher Latham Sholes, Frank Haven Hall, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although Sholes soon disowned the machine and refused to use, or even to recommend it. It looked \\\"like something like a cross between a piano and a kitchen table.\\\" The working prototype was made by the machinist Matthias Schwalbach. The patent (US 79,265) was sold for $12,000 to Densmore and Yost, who made an agreement with E. Remington and Sons (then famous as a manufacturer of sewing machines) to commercialize the machine as the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. \\n\\nThis was the origin of the term typewriter. Remington began production of its first typewriter on March 1, 1873, in Ilion, New York. It had a QWERTY keyboard layout, which because of the machine's success, was slowly adopted by other typewriter manufacturers. As with most other early typewriters, because the typebars strike upwards, the typist could not see the characters as they were typed.\\n\\nStandardization\\n\\nBy about 1910, the \\\"manual\\\" or \\\"mechanical\\\" typewriter had reached a somewhat standardized design. There were minor variations from one manufacturer to another, but most typewriters followed the concept that each key was attached to a typebar that had the corresponding letter molded, in reverse, into its striking head. When a key was struck briskly and firmly, the typebar hit a ribbon (usually made of inked fabric), making a printed mark on the paper wrapped around a cylindrical platen. The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved left or right, automatically advancing the typing position horizontally after each character was typed. The paper, rolled around the typewriter's platen, was then advanced vertically by the \\\"carriage return\\\" lever (at the far left, or sometimes on the far right) into position for each new line of text. A small bell was struck to warn the operator when the side lever had to be used to shift the paper back to the beginning of each line. \\n\\nFrontstriking\\n\\nIn most of the early typewriters, the typebars struck upward against the paper, pressed against the bottom of the platen, so the typist could not see the text as it was typed. What was typed was not visible until a carriage return caused it to scroll into view. The difficulty with any other arrangement was ensuring the typebars fell back into place reliably when the key was released. This was eventually achieved with various ingenious mechanical designs and so-called \\\"visible typewriters\\\" which used frontstriking, in which the typebars struck forward against the front side of the platen, became standard. \\n\\nOne of the first was the Daugherty Visible, introduced in 1893, which also introduced the four-bank keyboard that became standard, although the Underwood which came out two years later was the first major typewriter with these features. However, older \\\"nonvisible\\\" models continued in production to as late as 1915.\\n\\nShift key\\n\\nA significant innovation was the shift key, introduced with the Remington No. 2 in 1878. This key physically \\\"shifted\\\" either the basket of typebars, in which case the typewriter is described as \\\"basket shift\\\", or the paper-holding carriage, in which case the typewriter is described as \\\"carriage shift\\\". Either mechanism caused a different portion of the typebar to come in contact with the ribbon/platen. The result is that each typebar could type two different characters, cutting the number of keys and typebars in half (and simplifying the internal mechanisms considerably). The obvious use for this was to allow letter keys to type both upper and lower case, but normally the number keys were also duplexed, allowing access to special symbols such as percent (%) and ampersand (&). \\n\\nBefore the shift key, typewriters had to have a separate key and typebar for upper-case letters; in essence, the typewriter had two keyboards, one above the other. With the shift key, manufacturing costs (and therefore purchase price) were greatly reduced, and typist operation was simplified; both factors contributed greatly to mass adoption of the technology. Certain models, such as the Barlet, had a double shift so that each key performed three functions. These little three-row machines were portable and could be used by journalists.\\n\\nHowever, because the shift key required more force to push (its mechanism was moving a much larger mass than other keys), and was operated by the little finger (normally the weakest finger on the hand), it was difficult to hold the shift down for more than two or three consecutive strokes. The \\\"shift lock\\\" key (the precursor to the modern caps lock) allowed the shift operation to be maintained indefinitely.\\n\\nTab key\\n\\nTo facilite typewriter use in business settings, a tab (tabulator) key was added in the late nineteenth century. Before using the key, the operator had to set mechanical \\\"tab stops\\\", pre-designated locations to which the carriage would advance when the tab key was pressed. This facilitated the typing of columns of numbers, freeing the operator from the need to manually position the carriage. The first models had one tab stop and one tab key; later ones allowed as many stops as desired, and sometimes had multiple tab keys, each of which moved the carriage a different number of spaces ahead of the decimal point (the tab stop), to facilitate the typing of columns with numbers of different length ($1.00, $10.00, $100.00, etc.)\\n\\nCharacter sizes\\n\\nIn English-speaking countries, the commonplace typewriters printing fixed-width characters were standardized to print six horizontal lines per vertical inch, and had either of two variants of character width, called \\\"pica\\\" for ten characters per horizontal inch and \\\"elite\\\" for twelve. This differed from the use of these terms in printing, where they refer to the height of the characters on the page (\\\"pica\\\" designating ten horizontal lines per vertical inch).\\n\\nSome typewriters were designed to print extra large type (commonly double height, double width) for labelling purposes. Classification numbers on books in libraries could be done this way.\\n\\nColor\\n\\nSome ribbons were inked in black and red stripes, each being half the width and running the entire length of the ribbon. A lever on most machines allowed switching between colors, which was useful for bookkeeping entries where negative amounts were highlighted in red. The red color was also used on some selected characters in running text, for emphasis. When a typewriter had this facility, it could still be fitted with a solid black ribbon; the lever was then used to switch to fresh ribbon when the first stripe ran out of ink. Some typewriters also had a third position which stopped the ribbon being struck at all. This enabled the keys to hit the paper unobstructed, and was used for cutting stencils for stencil duplicators (aka mimeograph machines).\\n\\n\\\"Noiseless\\\" designs\\n\\nIn the early part of the 20th century, a typewriter was marketed under the name \\\"Noiseless\\\" and advertised as \\\"silent.\\\" It was developed by Wellington Parker Kidder and the first model was marketed by the Noiseless Typewriter Company in 1917. An agreement with Remington in 1924 saw production transferred to Remington, and a further agreement in 1929 allowed Underwood to produce it as well.[http://web.archive.org/web/20091028054256/http://www.geocities.com/wbd641/UndNoiselessAd.html OOcities.com] Reproduction of advertisement for Noiseless typewriters, with list of models and diagram of typebar mechanism Noiseless portables sold well in the 1930s and 1940s, and noiseless standards continued to be manufactured until the 1960s.\\n\\nIn a conventional typewriter the typebar reaches the end of its travel simply by striking the ribbon and paper. A \\\"noiseless\\\" typewriter has a complex lever mechanism that decelerates the typebar mechanically before pressing it against the ribbon and paper in an attempt to dampen the noise. It certainly reduced the high-frequency content of the sound, rendering it more of a \\\"clunk\\\" than a \\\"clack\\\" and arguably less intrusive, but such advertising claims as \\\"A machine that can be operated a few feet away from your desk — And not be heard\\\" were not true.\\n\\nElectric designs\\n\\nAlthough electric typewriters would not achieve widespread popularity until nearly a century later, the basic groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by the Universal Stock Ticker, invented by Thomas Edison in 1870. This device remotely printed letters and numbers on a stream of paper tape from input generated by a specially designed typewriter at the other end of a telegraph line.\\n\\nEarly electric models\\n\\nThe first electric typewriter was produced by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company, of Stamford, Connecticut, in 1902. Like the manual Blickensderfer typewriters, it used a cylindrical typewheel rather than individual typebars. It was not a commercial success, which may have been because at the time electricity had not been standardized and voltage differed from city to city. The next step in the development of the electric typewriter came in 1910, when Charles and Howard Krum filed a patent for the first practical teletypewriter. The Krums' machine, named the Morkrum Printing Telegraph, used a typewheel rather than individual typebars. This machine was used for the first commercial teletypewriter system on Postal Telegraph Company lines between Boston and New York City in 1910. \\n\\nThe first Olympia typewriter was invented in 1903, but the first successful Olympia model, the Model 3, was released in 1923. Olympia typewriters were most successful in Germany, the country of invention, but between 1950 and 1970, manufacturing facilities were opening in Canada, Ireland, Mexico, and Chile. The Olympia portable typewriters were the most popular out of all the different models that Olympia produced. Olympia typewriters were known for their \\\"craftsmanship, eye-catching design, and continuous innovation.\\\" Some of the Olympia typewriter’s novel features were individually spring-loaded keys, which provided extra comfort and cushioning; different colors like caramel, mint aquamarine, and pink; and script-typing options. There was even a one-handed version of an Olympia typewriter, the Model 8, for disabled users.\\n\\nJames Fields Smathers of Kansas City invented what is considered the first practical power-operated typewriter in 1914. In 1920, after returning from Army service, he produced a successful model and in 1923 turned it over to the Northeast Electric Company of Rochester for development. Northeast was interested in finding new markets for their electric motors and developed Smathers's design so that it could be marketed to typewriter manufacturers, and from 1925 Remington Electric typewriters were produced powered by Northeast's motors.\\n\\nAfter some 2,500 electric typewriters had been produced, Northeast asked Remington for a firm contract for the next batch. However, Remington was engaged in merger talks which would eventually result in the creation of Remington Rand and no executives were willing to commit to a firm order. Northeast instead decided to enter the typewriter business for itself, and in 1929 produced the first Electromatic Typewriter.\\n\\nIn 1928, Delco, a division of General Motors, purchased Northeast Electric, and the typewriter business was spun off as Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. In 1933, Electromatic was acquired by IBM, which then spent on a redesign of the Electromatic Typewriter, launching the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 in 1935. By 1958 IBM was deriving 8% of its revenue from the sale of electric typewriters.\\n\\nIn 1931, an electric typewriter was introduced by Varityper Corporation. It was called the Varityper, because a narrow cylinder-like wheel could be replaced to change the font. \\n\\nElectrical typewriter designs removed the direct mechanical connection between the keys and the element that struck the paper. Not to be confused with later electronic typewriters, electric typewriters contained only a single electrical component: the motor. Where the keystroke had previously moved a typebar directly, now it engaged mechanical linkages that directed mechanical power from the motor into the typebar.\\n\\nIn 1941, IBM announced the Electromatic Model 04 electric typewriter, featuring the revolutionary concept of proportional spacing. By assigning varied rather than uniform spacing to different sized characters, the Type 4 recreated the appearance of a printed page, an effect that was further enhanced by a typewriter ribbon innovation that produced clearer, sharper words on the page. The proportional spacing feature became a staple of the IBM Executive series typewriters.\\n\\nIBM Selectric\\n\\nIBM and Remington Rand electric typewriters were the leading models until IBM introduced the IBM Selectric typewriter in 1961, which replaced the typebars with a spherical element (or typeball) slightly smaller than a golf ball, with reverse-image letters molded into its surface. The Selectric used a system of latches, metal tapes, and pulleys driven by an electric motor to rotate the ball into the correct position and then strike it against the ribbon and platen. The typeball moved laterally in front of the paper, instead of the previous designs using a platen-carrying carriage moving the paper across a stationary print position.\\n\\nDue to the physical similarity, the typeball was sometimes referred to as a \\\"golfball\\\". The typeball design had many advantages, especially the elimination of \\\"jams\\\" (when more than one key was struck at once and the typebars became entangled) and in the ability to change the typeball, allowing multiple fonts to be used in a single document.\\n\\nThe IBM Selectric became a commercial success, dominating the office typewriter market for at least two decades. IBM also gained an advantage by marketing more heavily to schools than did Remington, with the idea that students who learned to type on a Selectric would later choose IBM typewriters over the competition in the workplace as businesses replaced their old manual models. By the 1970s, IBM had succeeded in establishing the Selectric as the de facto standard typewriter in mid- to high-end office environments, replacing the raucous \\\"clack\\\" of older typebar machines with the quieter sound of gyrating typeballs.\\n\\nLater models of IBM Executives and Selectrics replaced inked fabric ribbons with \\\"carbon film\\\" ribbons that had a dry black or colored powder on a clear plastic tape. These could be used only once, but later models used a cartridge that was simple to replace. A side effect of this technology was that the text typed on the machine could be easily read from the used ribbon, raising issues where the machines were used for preparing classified documents (ribbons had to be accounted for to ensure that typists did not carry them from the facility). \\n\\nA variation known as \\\"Correcting Selectrics\\\" introduced a correction feature, where a sticky tape in front of the carbon film ribbon could remove the black-powdered image of a typed character, eliminating the need for little bottles of white dab-on correction fluid and for hard erasers that could tear the paper. These machines also introduced selectable \\\"pitch\\\" so that the typewriter could be switched between pica type (10 characters per inch) and elite type (12 per inch), even within one document. Even so, all Selectrics were monospaced—each character and letterspace was allotted the same width on the page, from a capital \\\"W\\\" to a period. Although IBM had produced a successful typebar-based machine with five levels of proportional spacing, called the IBM Executive, proportional spacing was not provided with the Selectric typewriter or its successors the Selectric II and Selectric III.\\n\\nThe only fully electromechanical Selectric Typewriter with fully proportional spacing and which used a Selectric type element was the expensive Selectric Composer, which was capable of right-margin justification and was considered a typesetting machine rather than a typewriter.\\n\\nIn addition to its electronic successors, the Magnetic Tape Selectric Composer (MT/SC), the Mag Card Selectric Composer, and the Electronic Selectric Composer, IBM also made electronic typewriters with proportional spacing using the Selectric element that were considered typewriters or word processors instead of typesetting machines.\\n\\nThe first of these was the relatively obscure Mag Card Executive, which used 88-character elements. Later, some of the same typestyles used for it were used on the 96-character elements used on the IBM Electronic Typewriter 50 and the later models 65 and 85.\\n\\nBy 1970, as offset printing began to replace letterpress printing, the Composer would be adapted as the output unit for a typesetting system. The system included a computer-driven input station to capture the key strokes on magnetic tape and insert the operator's format commands, and a Composer unit to read the tape and produce the formatted text for photo reproduction.\\n\\nAdvantages:\\n\\n* reasonably fast, jam-free, and reliable\\n* relatively quiet, and more importantly, free of major vibrations\\n* could produce high quality lower- and upper-case output, compared to competitors such as Teletype machines\\n* could be activated by a short, low-force mechanical action, allowing easier interfacing to electronic controls\\n* did not require the movement of a heavy \\\"type basket\\\" to shift between lower- and upper-case, allowing higher speed without heavy impacts\\n* did not require the platen roller assembly to move from side to side (a problem with continuous-feed paper used for automated printing)\\n\\nThe IBM 2741 terminal was a popular example of a Selectric-based computer terminal, and similar mechanisms were employed as the console devices for many IBM System/360 computers. These mechanisms used \\\"ruggedized\\\" designs compared to those in standard office typewriters.\\n\\nLater electric models\\n\\nSome of IBM's advances were later adopted in less expensive machines from competitors. For example, Smith-Corona electric typewriters of the 1970s used interchangeable ribbon cartridges, including fabric, film, erasing, and two-color versions. At about the same time, the advent of photocopying meant that carbon copies and erasers were less and less necessary; only the original need be typed, and photocopies made from it.\\n\\nTypewriter/printer hybrids\\n\\nTowards the end of the commercial popularity of typewriters in the 1970s, a number of hybrid designs combining features of printers were introduced. These often incorporated keyboards from existing models of typewriters and printing mechanisms of dot-matrix printers. The generation of teleprinters with impact pin-based printing engines was not adequate for the demanding quality required for typed output, and alternative thermal transfer technologies used in thermal label printers had become technically feasible for typewriters.\\n\\nIBM produced a series of typewriters called Thermotronic with letter-quality output and correcting tape along with printers tagged Quietwriter. Brother extended the life of their typewriter product line with similar products. The development of these proprietary printing engines provided the vendors with exclusive markets in consumable ribbons and the ability to use standardized printing engines with varying degrees of electronic and software sophistication to develop product lines. Although these changes reduced prices—and greatly increased the convenience—of typewriters, the technological disruption posed by word processors left these improvements with only a short-term low-end market. To extend the life of these products, many examples were provided with communication ports to connect them to computers as printers.\\n\\nElectronic typewriters\\n\\nThe final major development of the typewriter was the \\\"electronic\\\" typewriter. Most of these replaced the typeball with a plastic or metal daisy wheel mechanism (a disk with the letters molded on the outside edge of the \\\"petals\\\"). The daisy wheel concept first emerged in printers developed by Diablo Systems in the 1970s. In 1981, Xerox Corporation, who by then had bought Diablo Systems, introduced a line of Electronic Typewriters incorporating this technology (the Memorywriter product line). For a time, these products were quite successful as their plastic daisy-wheel was much simpler and cheaper than the metal typeball and their electronic memory and display allowed the user to easily see errors and correct them before they were actually printed. One problem with the plastic daisy wheel was that they were not always durable. To solve this problem, more durable metal daisy wheels were made available (but at a slightly higher price). \\n\\nThese and similar electronic typewriters were in essence dedicated word processors with either single-line LCD displays or multi-line CRT displays, built-in line editors in ROM, a spelling and grammar checker, a few kilobytes of internal RAM and optional cartridge, magnetic card or diskette external memory-storage devices for storing text and even document formats. Text could be entered a line or paragraph at a time and edited using the display and built-in software tools before being committed to paper. \\n\\nUnlike the Selectrics and earlier models, these really were \\\"electronic\\\" and relied on integrated circuits and multiple electromechanical components. These typewriters were sometimes called display typewriters, dedicated word processors or word-processing typewriters, though the latter term was also frequently applied to less sophisticated machines that featured only a tiny, sometimes just single-row display. Sophisticated models were also called word processors, though today that term almost always denotes a type of software program. Manufacturers of such machines included Brother (Brother WP1 and WP500 etc., where WP stood for word processor), Canon (Canon Cat), Smith-Corona (PWP, i.e. Personal Word Processor line) and Philips/Magnavox (VideoWriter).\\n\\nImage:type.jpg|Electronic typewriter – the final stage in typewriter development. A 1989 Canon Typestar 110\\nFile:Brother WP1-IMG 6991.jpg|The Brother WP1, an electronic typewriter complete with a small screen and a floppy disk reader\\n\\nEnd of an era\\n\\nThe 1970s and early 1980s were a time of transition for typewriters and word processors. At one point in time, most small-business offices would be completely 'old-style', while large corporations and government departments would already be 'new-style'; other offices would have a mixture. The pace of change was so rapid that it was common for clerical staff to have to learn several new systems, one after the other, in just a few years. While such rapid change is commonplace today, and is taken for granted, this was not always so; in fact, typewriting technology changed very little in its first 80 or 90 years.\\n\\nDue to falling sales, IBM sold its typewriter division in 1991 to Lexmark, completely exiting from a market it once dominated.\\n\\nThe increasing dominance of personal computers, desktop publishing, the introduction of low-cost, truly high-quality laser and inkjet printer technologies, and the pervasive use of web publishing, e-mail and other electronic communication techniques have largely replaced typewriters in the United States. Still, , typewriters continued to be used by a number of government agencies and other institutions in the USA, where they are primarily used to fill preprinted forms. According to a Boston typewriter repairman quoted by The Boston Globe, \\\"Every maternity ward has a typewriter, as well as funeral homes\\\". \\nA fairly major typewriter user is the City of New York, which in 2008 purchased several thousand typewriters, mostly for use by the New York Police Department, at the total cost of $982,269. Another $99,570 was spent in 2009 for the maintenance of the existing typewriters. New York police officers would use the machines to type property and evidence vouchers on carbon paper forms. \\n\\nA rather specialized market for typewriters exists due to the regulations of many correctional systems in the USA, where prisoners are prohibited from having computers or telecommunication equipment, but are allowed to own typewriters. The Swintec corporation (headquartered in Moonachie, New Jersey), which, as of 2011, still produced typewriters at its overseas factories (in Japan, Indonesia, and/or Malaysia), manufactures a variety of typewriters for use in prisons, made of clear plastic (to make it harder for prisoners to hide prohibited items inside it). As of 2011, the company had contracts with prisons in 43 US states. \\n\\nIn April 2011, Godrej and Boyce, a Mumbai-based manufacturer of mechanical typewriters, closed its doors, leading to a flurry of erroneous news reports that the \\\"world's last typewriter factory\\\" had shut down. The reports were quickly debunked. \\n\\nIn November 2012, Brother's UK factory manufactured what it claimed to be the last typewriter ever made in the UK; the typewriter was donated to the London Science Museum. \\n\\nRussian typewriters use Cyrillic, which has made the ongoing Azerbaijani reconversion from Cyrillic to Roman alphabet more difficult. In 1997, the government of Turkey offered to donate western typewriters to the Republic of Azerbaijan in exchange for more zealous and exclusive promotion of the Roman alphabet for the Azerbaijani language; this offer, however, was declined.\\n\\nIn Latin America and Africa, mechanical typewriters are still common because they can be used without electrical power. In Latin America, the typewriters used are most often Brazilian models – Brazil continues to produce mechanical (Facit) and electronic (Olivetti) typewriters to the present day. \\n\\nThe 21st century has seen a revival of interest in typewriters among certain subcultures, including makers, steampunks, hipsters, and street poets. \\n\\nCorrection technologies\\n\\nAccording to the standards taught in secretarial schools in the mid-20th century, a business letter was supposed to have no mistakes and no visible corrections. Accuracy was prized as much as speed. Indeed, typing speeds, as scored in proficiency tests and typewriting speed competitions, included a deduction of ten words for every mistake. Corrections were, of course, necessary, and many methods were developed.\\n\\nIn practice, several methods would often be combined. For example, if six extra copies of a letter were needed, the fluid-corrected original would be photocopied, but only for the two recipients getting \\\"c.c.\\\"s; the other four copies, the less-important file copies that stayed in various departments at the office, would be cheaper, hand-erased, less-distinct bond paper copies or even \\\"flimsies\\\" of different colors (tissue papers interleaved with black carbon paper) that were all typed as a \\\"carbon pack\\\" at the same time as the original.\\n\\nIn informal applications such as personal letters where low priority was placed on the appearance of the document, or conversely in highly formal applications in which it was important that any corrections be obvious, the backspace key could be used to back up over the error and then overstrike it with hyphens, slashes, Xs, or the like.\\n\\nTypewriter erasers\\n\\nThe traditional erasing method involved the use of a special typewriter eraser made of hard rubber that contained an abrasive material. Some were thin, flat disks, pink or gray, approximately 2 in in diameter by ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick, with a brush attached from the center, while others looked like pink pencils, with a sharpenable eraser at the \\\"lead\\\" end and a stiff nylon brush at the other end. Either way, these tools made possible erasure of individual typed letters. Business letters were typed on heavyweight, high-rag-content bond paper, not merely to provide a luxurious appearance, but also to stand up to erasure. \\n\\nTypewriter eraser brushes were necessary for clearing eraser crumbs and paper dust, and using the brush properly was an important element of typewriting skill; if erasure detritus fell into the typewriter, a small buildup could cause the typebars to jam in their narrow supporting grooves.\\n\\nEraser shield\\n\\nErasing a set of carbon copies was particularly difficult, and called for the use of a device called an eraser shield (a thin stainless-steel rectangle about 2 by with several tiny holes in it) to prevent the pressure of erasing on the upper copies from producing carbon smudges on the lower copies. To correct copies, typists had to go from carbon copy to carbon copy, trying not to get their fingers dirty as they leafed through the carbon papers, and moving and repositioning the eraser shield and eraser for each copy.\\n\\nErasable bond\\n\\nPaper companies produced a special form of typewriter paper called erasable bond (for example, Eaton's Corrasable Bond). This incorporated a thin layer of material that prevented ink from penetrating and was relatively soft and easy to remove from the page. An ordinary soft pencil eraser could quickly produce perfect erasures on this kind of paper. However, the same characteristics that made the paper erasable made the characters subject to smudging due to ordinary friction and deliberate alteration after the fact, making it unacceptable for business correspondence, contracts, or any archival use.\\n\\nCorrection fluid\\n\\nIn the 1950s and 1960s, correction fluid made its appearance, under brand names such as Liquid Paper, Wite-Out and Tipp-Ex; it was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham. Correction fluid was a kind of opaque, white, fast-drying paint that produced a fresh white surface onto which, when dry, a correction could be retyped. However, when held to the light, the covered-up characters were visible, as was the patch of dry correction fluid (which was never perfectly flat, and frequently not a perfect match for the color, texture, and luster of the surrounding paper). The standard trick for solving this problem was photocopying the corrected page, but this was possible only with high quality photocopiers.\\n\\nA different fluid was available for correcting stencils. It sealed up the stencil ready for retyping but did not attempt to color match.\\n\\nDry correction\\n\\nDry correction products (such as correction paper) under brand names such as \\\"Ko-Rec-Type\\\" were introduced in the 1970s and functioned like white carbon paper. A strip of the product was placed over the letters needing correction, and the incorrect letters were retyped, causing the black character to be overstruck with a white overcoat. Similar material was soon incorporated in carbon-film electric typewriter ribbons; like the traditional two-color black-and-red inked ribbon common on manual typewriters, a black and white correcting ribbon became commonplace on electric typewriters. But the black or white coating could be partly rubbed off with handling, so such corrections were generally not acceptable in legal documents.\\n\\nThe pinnacle of this kind of technology was the IBM Electronic Typewriter series. These machines, and similar products from other manufacturers, used a separate correction ribbon and a character memory. With a single keystroke, the typewriter was capable of automatically backspacing and then overstriking the previous characters with minimal marring of the paper. White cover-up ribbons were used with fabric ink ribbons, or an alternate premium design featured plastic lift-off correction ribbons which were used with carbon film typing ribbons. This latter technology actually lifted the carbon film forming a typed letter, leaving nothing more than a flattened depression in the surface of the paper, with the advantage that no color matching of the paper was needed.\\n\\nLegacy\\n\\nKeyboard layouts\\n\\nQWERTY\\n\\nThe 1874 Sholes & Glidden typewriters established the \\\"QWERTY\\\" layout for the letter keys. During the period in which Sholes and his colleagues were experimenting with this invention, other keyboard arrangements were apparently tried, but these are poorly documented. The QWERTY layout of keys has become the de facto standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards. Other languages written in the Latin alphabet sometimes use variants of the QWERTY layouts, such as the French AZERTY, the Italian QZERTY and the German QWERTZ layouts.\\n\\nThe QWERTY layout is not the most efficient layout possible for the English language, since it requires a touch-typist to move his or her fingers between rows to type the most common letters. Although the QWERTY keyboard was the most commonly used layout in typewriters, a better, less strenuous keyboard was being searched for throughout the late 1900s. \\n\\nOne popular but widely debunked[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-the-legend-of-the-qwerty-keyboard-49863249/?no-ist Fact of Fiction? The Legend of the QWERTY Keyboard | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian] explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine. \\n\\nAnother story is that the QWERTY layout allowed early typewriter salesmen to impress their customers by being able to easily type out the example word \\\"typewriter\\\" without having learned the full keyboard layout , because \\\"typewriter\\\" can be spelled purely on the top row of the keyboard. However, there is no evidence to support these claims.\\n\\nOther layouts\\n\\nA number of radically different layouts such as Dvorak have been proposed to reduce the perceived inefficiencies of QWERTY, but none have been able to displace the QWERTY layout; their proponents claim considerable advantages, but so far none has been widely used. The Blickensderfer typewriter with its DHIATENSOR layout may have possibly been the first attempt at optimizing the keyboard layout for efficiency advantages. \\n\\nMany non-Latin alphabets have keyboard layouts that have nothing to do with QWERTY. The Russian layout, for instance, puts the common trigrams ыва, про, and ить on adjacent keys so that they can be typed by rolling the fingers. The Greek layout, on the other hand, is a variant of QWERTY.\\n\\nTypewriters were also made for East Asian languages with thousands of characters, such as Chinese or Japanese. They were not easy to operate, but professional typists used them for a long time until the development of electronic word processors and laser printers in the 1980s (See the gallery at the end of this article for pictures of East Asian mechanical typewriters).\\n\\nOn modern keyboards, the exclamation point is the shifted character on the 1 key, a direct result of the historical fact that these were the last characters to become \\\"standard\\\" on keyboards. Holding the spacebar pressed down usually suspended the carriage advance mechanism (a so-called \\\"dead key\\\" feature), allowing one to superimpose multiple keystrikes on a single location. The ¢ symbol (meaning cents) was located above the number 6 on electric typewriters, while ASCII computer keyboards have ^ instead.\\n\\nTypewriter conventions\\n\\nA number of typographical conventions originate from the widespread use of the typewriter, based on the characteristics and limitations of the typewriter itself. For example, the QWERTY keyboard typewriter did not include keys for the en dash and the em dash. To overcome this limitation, users typically typed more than one adjacent hyphen to approximate these symbols. This typewriter convention is still sometimes used today, even though modern computer word processing applications can input the correct en and em dashes for each font type. \\n\\nOther examples of typewriter practices that are sometimes still used in desktop publishing systems include inserting a double space at the end of a sentence, and the use of straight quotes (or \\\"dumb quotes\\\") as quotation marks and prime marks. The practice of underlining text in place of italics and the use of all capitals to provide emphasis are additional examples of typographical conventions that derived from the limitations of the typewriter keyboard that still carry on today. \\n\\nMany older typewriters did not include a separate key for the numeral 1 or the exclamation point, and some even older ones also lacked the numeral zero. Typists who trained on these machines learned the habit of using the lowercase letter l (\\\"ell\\\") for the digit 1, and the uppercase O for the zero. A cents symbol (¢) was created by combining (over-striking) a lower case 'c' with a slash character (typing 'c', then backspace, then '/'). \\n\\nSimilarly, the exclamation point was created by combining an apostrophe and a period. These characters were omitted to simplify design and reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs; they were chosen specifically because they were \\\"redundant\\\" and could be recreated using other keys.\\n\\nComputer jargon\\n\\nSome terminology from the typewriter age has survived into the personal computer era. Examples include:\\n* backspace (BS) – a keystroke that moved the cursor backwards one position (on a physical platen, this is the exact opposite of the space key), for the purpose of overtyping a character. This could be for combining characters (e.g. an apostrophe, backspace, and period make an exclamation point—a character missing on some early typewriters), or for correction such as with the correcting tape that developed later.\\n* carriage return (CR) – return to the first column of text and, in some systems, switch to the next line.\\n* cursor – a marker used to indicate where the next character will be printed. The cursor, however, was originally a term to describe the clear slider on a slide rule.\\n* cut and paste – taking text, a numerical table, or an image and pasting it into a document. The term originated when such compound documents were created using manual paste up techniques for typographic page layout. Actual brushes and paste were later replaced by hot-wax machines equipped with cylinders that applied melted adhesive wax to developed prints of \\\"typeset\\\" copy. This copy was then cut out with knives and rulers, and slid into position on layout sheets on slanting layout tables. After the \\\"copy\\\" had been correctly positioned and squared up using a T-square and set square, it was pressed down with a brayer, or roller. The whole point of the exercise was to create so-called \\\"camera-ready copy\\\" which existed only to be photographed and then printed, usually by offset lithography.\\n* dead key – describes a key that when typed, does not advance the typing position, thus allowing another character to be overstruck on top of the original character. This was typically used to combine diacritical marks with letters they modified (e.g. è can be generated by first pressing ` and then e). The dead key feature was often implemented mechanically by having the typist press and hold the space bar while typing the characters to be superimposed.\\n* line feed (LF), also called \\\"newline\\\" – moving the cursor to the next on-screen line of text in a word processor document.\\n*shift – a modifier key used to type capital letters and other alternate \\\"upper case\\\" characters; when pressed and held down, would shift a typewriter's mechanism to allow a different typebar impression (such as 'D' instead of 'd') to press into the ribbon and print on a page. The concept of a shift key or modifier key was later extended to Ctrl, Alt, and Super (\\\"Windows\\\" or \\\"Apple\\\") keys on modern computer keyboards. The generalized concept of a shift key reached its apotheosis in the MIT space-cadet keyboard.\\n* tab (HT), shortened from \\\"horizontal tab\\\" or \\\"tabulator stop\\\" – caused the print position to advance horizontally to the next pre-set \\\"tab stop\\\". This was used for typing lists and tables with vertical columns of numbers or words. The related term \\\"vertical tab\\\" (VT) never came into widespread use.\\n* tty, short for teletypewriter – used in Unix-like operating systems to designate a given \\\"terminal\\\".\\n\\nIn the above listing, the two-letter codes in parentheses are abbreviations for the ASCII characters derived from typewriter usage.\\n\\nEarly social effects\\n\\nWhen Remington started marketing typewriters, the company assumed the machine would not be used for composing but for transcribing dictation, and that the person typing would be a woman. The 1800s Sholes and Glidden typewriter had floral ornamentation on the case. \\n\\nDuring World War I and II, increasing numbers of women were entering the workforce. In the United States, women often started in the professional workplace as typists. Questions about morals made a salacious businessman making sexual advances to a female typist into a cliché of office life, appearing in vaudeville and movies. Being a typist was considered the right choice for a \\\"good girl\\\" meaning women who present themselves as being chaste and having good conduct. According to the 1900 census, 94.9 percent of stenographers and typists were unmarried women. \\n\\nThe \\\"Tijuana bibles\\\" — adult comic books produced in Mexico for the American market, starting in the 1930s — often featured women typists. In one panel, a businessman in a three-piece suit, ogling his secretary’s thigh, says, \\\"Miss Higby, are you ready for—ahem!—er—dictation?\\\"[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage\\nall Newyorker.com] Acocella, Joan, \\\"The Typing Life: How writers used to write\\\", The New Yorker, April 9, 2007, a review of The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting (Cornell) 2007, by Darren Wershler-Henry\\n\\nAuthors and writers who had notable relationships with typewriters\\n\\nEarly adopters\\n\\n*Henry James dictated to a typist.\\n*Mark Twain claimed in his autobiography that he was the first important writer to present a publisher with a typewritten manuscript, for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Research showed that Twain's memory was incorrect and that the first book submitted in typed form was Life on the Mississippi (1883, also by Twain). \\n\\nOthers\\n\\n*William S. Burroughs wrote in some of his novels—and possibly believed—that \\\"a machine he called the 'Soft Typewriter' was writing our lives, and our books, into existence,\\\" according to a book review in The New Yorker. And, in the film adaptation of his novel Naked Lunch, his typewriter is a living, insect-like entity (voiced by North American actor Peter Boretski) and actually dictates the book to him. \\n*Writer Zack Helm and director Mark Forster explored the potential mechanics of the \\\"Soft Typewriter\\\" philosophy in the movie Stranger than Fiction, in which the very act of typing up her handwritten notes gives a fiction writer the power to kill or otherwise manipulate her main character in real life.\\n*Ernest Hemingway used to write his books standing up in front of a Royal typewriter suitably placed on a tall bookshelf. This typewriter, still on its bookshelf, is kept in Finca Vigia, Hemingway's Havana house (now a museum) where he lived until 1960, the year before his death.\\n*J. R. R. Tolkien was likewise accustomed to typing from awkward positions: \\\"balancing his typewriter on his attic bed, because there was no room on his desk\\\". In his Foreword to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien stated that \\\"the whole story ... had to be typed, and re-typed: by me; the cost of professional typing by the ten-fingered was beyond my means.\\\"\\n*Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper. Within two weeks of starting to write On the Road, Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, 120 feet long. Some scholars say the scroll was shelf paper; others contend it was a Thermo-fax roll; another theory is that the roll consisted of sheets of architect’s paper taped together. His rapid work earned the famous rebuke from Truman Capote, \\\"That's not writing, it's typing.\\\"\\n*Another fast typist of the Beat Generation was Richard Brautigan, who said that he thought out the plots of his books in detail beforehand, then typed them out at speeds approaching 90 to 100 words a minute. \\n*Tom Robbins waxed philosophical about the Remington SL3, a typewriter that he bought to write Still Life with Woodpecker. He eventually did away with it because it is too complicated and inhuman for the writing of poetry.\\n*After completing the novel Beautiful Losers, Leonard Cohen is said to have flung his typewriter into the Aegean Sea.\\n*Don Marquis purposely used the limitations of a typewriter (or more precisely, a particular typist) in his archy and mehitabel series of newspaper columns, which were later compiled into a series of books. According to his literary conceit, a cockroach named \\\"Archy\\\" was a reincarnated free-verse poet, who would type articles overnight by jumping onto the keys of a manual typewriter. The writings were typed completely in lower case, because of the cockroach's inability to generate the heavy force needed to operate the shift key. The lone exception is the poem \\\"CAPITALS AT LAST\\\" from archys life of mehitabel, written in 1933.\\n*Author Ray Bradbury used a typewriter for rent at the library to write his work known as \\\"Fahrenheit 451\\\", which was published in 1953. \\n\\nLate users\\n\\n*Andy Rooney and William F. Buckley Jr. (1982) were among many writers who were very reluctant to switch from typewriters to computers.\\n*David McCullough bought a second-hand Royal typewriter in 1965 and has used it to compose every book he has published.\\n*Hunter S. Thompson kept a typewriter in his kitchen and is believed to have written his \\\"Hey, Rube!\\\" column for ESPN.com on a typewriter. He used a typewriter until his suicide in 2005.\\n*Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, wrote his manifesto as well as his letters on a manual typewriter.\\n*David Sedaris used a typewriter to write his essay collections through Me Talk Pretty One Day at least.\\n*Richard Polt, a philosophy professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati who collects typewriters, edits ETCetera, a quarterly magazine about historic writing machines, and is the author of the book [http://typewriterrevolution.com The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century].\\n*William Gibson used a Hermes 2000 model manual typewriter to write Neuromancer and half of Count Zero before a mechanical failure and lack of replacement parts forced him to upgrade to an Apple IIc computer. \\n*Harlan Ellison has used typewriters for his entire career, and when he was no longer able to have them repaired, learned to do it himself; he has repeatedly stated his belief that computers are bad for writing, maintaining, \\\"Art is not supposed to be easier!\\\" \\n*Author Cormac McCarthy continues to write his novels on an Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter to the present day. In 2009, the Lettera he obtained from a pawn shop in 1963, on which nearly all his novels and screenplays have been written, was auctioned for charity at Christie's for $254,500 USD; McCarthy obtained an identical replacement for $20 to continue writing on. \\n*Will Self explains why he uses a manual typewriter: \\\"I think the computer user does their thinking on the screen, and the non-computer user is compelled, because he or she has to retype a whole text, to do a lot more thinking in the head.\\\" \\n\\nTypewriters in popular culture\\n\\nIn music\\n\\n* The composer Pablo Sorozábal includes in a scene of his zarzuela La eterna canción (1945) a typewriter, accompanied by an orchestra and vocal soloists: the scene is in a police station, where a policeman is deposing witnesses, and is singing while he types the report.\\n* The composer Leroy Anderson wrote The Typewriter (1950) for orchestra and typewriter, and it has since been used as the theme for numerous radio programs. The solo instrument is a real typewriter played by a percussionist. The piece was later made famous by comedian Jerry Lewis as part of his regular routine both on screen and stage, most notably in the 1963 film Who's Minding the Store?.\\n* Pink Floyd used a typewriter, complete with carriage return bell, as a percussion instrument on their song \\\"Money\\\" (1973)\\n* The clacking of typewriter keys can be heard at the beginning of Dolly Parton's song 9 to 5. Parton has said in interviews that when writing the song, to mimic the typing keys sound, she would run her acrylic fingernails back and forth against each other. \\n* The song \\\"Embassy Lament\\\" from the 1986 Musical Chess mimics the sound of typing in the bridge.\\n* A typewriter provides the percussive backing for Stereo Total's \\\"Dactylo Rock\\\" - the first song from their debut album (1995)\\n* An Estonian prog-rock band In Spe features typewriters as a rhythmic instruments in their album Typewriter Concerto in D Major (1994)\\n* A suite of songs entitled \\\"Green Typewriters\\\" is on The Olivia Tremor Control's album Dusk At Cubist Castle (1996), and the sounds of typewriters can be heard in a few of the sections.\\n* Guster's 1999 song Barrel of a Gun features a typewriter as percussion.\\n* American singer-songwriter Marian Call accompanies herself on a typewriter on \\\"Nerd Anthem\\\" (c. 1998)\\n* American musician Beck's 2005 music video for \\\"Black Tambourine\\\" features typewriter characters to animate Beck's moving and playing guitar.\\n* The title track of Heernt's 2006 album Locked in a Basement prominently features the typewriter as a percussion instrument.\\n* The Boston Typewriter Orchestra (BTO) has performed at numerous art festivals, clubs, and parties since at least 2008. The group consists of a half-dozen performers who use typewriters as percussive musical instruments, under the slogan, \\\"The revolution will be typewritten\\\".\\n*South Korean improviser Ryu Hankil frequently performs typewriters, most prominently in his 2009 album\\\"Becoming Typewriter\\\". \\n* Lead singer/songwriter Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam types many of the band's lyrics on vintage typewriters.\\n\\nOther\\n\\n*In the film The History of the Typewriter recited by Michael Winslow, voice sound effect performer Michael Winslow recreates the sounds of 32 typewriters from history.\\n* The word \\\"typewriter\\\" is often cited as the longest English word that can be typed using only one row of keys of a QWERTY keyboard. This is untrue, since \\\"rupturewort\\\" (a kind of flowering plant) has 11 letters, while \\\"typewriter\\\" has only 10. Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary defines \\\"uropyoureter\\\" (12 letters).\\n* A sentence which uses every letter of the alphabet (a pangram), \\\"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog\\\" can be used to check typewriters quickly.\\n* The early Resident Evil video games used a typewriter as the save feature, and used one ink ribbon per save.\\n* The opening title sequence of Murder She Wrote prominently features Jessica Fletcher touch-typing a manuscript with a 1940s Royal KMM Manual Typewriter. Although in one episode Fletcher rejects a character's offer to sell her a computer to replace the old Royal (which he calls a \\\"dinosaur\\\"), towards the series end, she, too begins using a computer and word-processing typewriter.\\n* In Rome the Altare della Patria, National Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II, used to be nicknamed \\\"the typewriter\\\" (la macchina per scrivere in Italian) because of its strange shape and popular dislike toward it.\\n* The 2012 French comedy movie Populaire, starring Romain Duris and Déborah François, centers around a young secretary in the 1950s striving to win typewriting speed competitions. \\n* 2012 AU Education Research claimed that proper typing position and distance to the screen are the main factors of typing faster.\\n\\nForensic examination\\n\\nTypewritten documents may be examined by forensic document examiners. This is done primarily to determine 1) the make and/or model of the typewriter used to produce a document, or 2) whether or not a particular suspect typewriter might have been used to produce a document. In some situations, an ink or correction ribbon may also be examined.\\n\\nThe determination of a make and/or model of typewriter is a 'classification' problem and several systems have been developed for this purpose. These include the original Haas Typewriter Atlases (Pica version) and (Non-Pica version) and the TYPE system developed by Dr. Philip Bouffard, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Termatrex Typewriter classification system, and the Interpol's Typewriter classification system, among others.\\n\\nBecause of the tolerances of the mechanical parts, slight variation in the alignment of the letters and their uneven wear, each typewriter has an individual \\\"signature\\\" or \\\"fingerprint\\\", which may permit a typewritten document to be traced back to the typewriter on which it was produced. For devices utilizing replaceable components, such as a typeball element, any association may be restricted to a specific element, rather than to the typewriter as a whole.\\n\\nThe earliest reference in fictional literature to the potential identification of a typewriter as having produced a document was by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote \\\"A Case of Identity\\\" in 1891. In non-fiction, the first document examiner to describe how a typewriter might be identified was William E. Hagan who wrote, in 1894, \\\"All typewriter machines, even when using the same kind of type, become more or less peculiar by use as to the work done by them\\\". Other early discussions of the topic were provided by A. S. Osborn in his 1908 treatise, Typewriting as Evidence, and again in his 1929 textbook, Questioned Documents.\\n A modern description of the examination procedure is laid out in ASTM Standard E2494-08 (Standard Guide for Examination of Typewritten Items). \\n\\nTypewriter examination was used in the Leopold and Loeb and Alger Hiss cases. In the Eastern Bloc, typewriters (together with printing presses, copy machines, and later computer printers) were a controlled technology, with secret police in charge of maintaining files of the typewriters and their owners. In the Soviet Union, the First Department of each organization sent data on organization's typewriters to the KGB. This posed a significant risk for dissidents and samizdat authors. In Romania, according to State Council Decree No. 98 of March 28, 1983, owning a typewriter, both by businesses or by private persons, was subject to an approval given by the local police authorities. People previously convicted of any crime or those who because of their behaviour were considered to be \\\"a danger to public order or to the security of the state\\\" were refused approval. In addition, once a year, typewriter owners had to take the typewriter to the local police station, where they would be asked to type down a sample of all the typewriter's characters. It was also forbidden to borrow, lend, or repair typewriters other than at the places that had been authorized by the police.\\n\\nThe ribbon can be read vertically, although only if it has not been typed over more than once. This can be very hard to do as it does not include spaces, but can be done, giving even a typewriter a \\\"memory\\\".\\n\\nGallery\\n\\nFile:Azevedotw.jpg|Fr. Francisco Azevedo's 1861 typewriter\\nFile:1864 Schreibmaschine Peter Mitterhofer.jpg|Peter Mitterhofer 1864 typewriter\\nFile:Skrivekugle 1870.jpg|Hansen Writing Ball, invented in 1865 (1870 model)\\nFile:TypewriterPatent1868.jpg|1868 patent drawing for the Sholes, Glidden, and Soule typewriter\\nFile:Hammond 1B typewriter.png|Hammond 1B typewriter, invented 1870s, manufactured 1881\\nFile:1910s typewriter.jpg|Hammond 1B, as used by a newspaper office in Saskatoon around 1910\\nFile:Typewriters.jpg|Typebars in a 1920s typewriter\\nFile:Chinese typewriter.jpg|Chinese typewriter produced by Shuangge, with 2,450 characters\\nFile:Japanese typewriter SH-280.jpg|Japanese typewriter SH-280, a small machine with 2,268 characters\\nFile:Typemachine binnenkant.JPG|Hermes 3000 typewriter\\nFile:1920s Underwood SE layout.JPG|1920s Underwood typewriter with Swedish layout\\nFile:Chinese typewriter at Deutsche Technikmuseum.jpg|Chinese typewriter at Deutsches Technikmuseum\",\n \"Look at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it ...\\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY ... QWERTY is the only ... ‘typewriter’ is the longest word you can spell with the top line of a qwerty keyboard. ...\\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word? | Dictionary.com Blog\\nHome » Science and Technology » Look at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word?\\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word?\\nSeptember 20, 2010 by: Dictionary.com 173 Comments\\nMost of us take our keyboards for granted. If we’re touch typists , we automatically position our fingers above the same eight keys and our muscle memory takes over. We just type !\\n( What are those eight keys called? And what do they have to do with a popular Google search? Read about that here .)\\nBut our keyboards have an interesting history. Most English language keyboards have a QWERTY layout. And QWERTY isn’t an acronym or neologism . The name is simply the first six characters in the top far left row of letters. A Milwaukee newspaper editor and printer named Christopher Sholes invented the QWERTY layout. He sold the design to Remington in 1874, the year the format debuted on typewriters.\\nSholes was also one of the inventors of the “ Type Writer ,” an early text-producing machine. The first version had problems caused by type bar jamming . In an effort to resolve the problem, Sholes eventually ditched the machines’ original alphabetical key arrangement and moved toward the QWERTY layout. Did you know that with the QWERTY keyboard thousands of English words can be spelled using only the left hand, but only a couple hundred can be composed with the right?\\nDo you use an alternative to QWERTY, such as Colemak or Dvorak Simplified Keyboard? Let us know which you prefer.\",\n \"Dumb Facts » Language\\nDumb Facts » Language. ... typed with only the left hand. The longest words that can be typed using only the right hand in proper typing form are ”lollipop” and ...\\nDumb Facts » Language\\nDumb Facts » Language\\nOn average, a secretary’s left hand does 56% of the typing.\\nThe words ”stewardesses” and ”reverberated” are the longest words (12 letters) typed with only the left hand.\\nThe longest words that can be typed using only the right hand in proper typing form are ”lollipop” and “monopoly”.\\nCheck this out, look at your keyboard, the only ten letter word that you can spell with the top row of letters is “typewriter”.\\nSkepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing.\\nThe first novel ever written on a typewriter was “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”\\nDr. Seuss coined the word “nerd” in his 1950 book “If I Ran the Zoo”.\\nIt’s estimated that more than 6 billion copies of The Bible have been printed.\\nThe Bible is the most shoplifted book in the United States.\",\n \"Rube_Goldberg_machine.txt\\nRube Goldberg machine\\nA Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption, invention, device, or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883–1970).\\n\\nOver the years, the expression has expanded to mean any confusing or complicated system. For example, news headlines include \\\"Is Rep. Bill Thomas the Rube Goldberg of Legislative Reform?\\\" and \\\"Retirement 'insurance' as a Rube Goldberg machine\\\". \\n\\nOrigin\\n\\nRube Goldberg's cartoons became well known for depicting complicated devices that performed simple tasks in indirect convoluted ways. The example on the right is Goldberg's \\\"Professor Butts and the Self-Operating Napkin\\\", which was later reprinted in a few book collections, including the postcard book Rube Goldberg's Inventions! and the hardcover Rube Goldberg: Inventions, both compiled by Maynard Frank Wolfe from the Rube Goldberg Archives. The \\\"Self-Operating Napkin\\\" is activated when soup spoon (A) is raised to mouth, pulling string (B) and thereby jerking ladle (C), which throws cracker (D) past parrot (E). Parrot jumps after cracker and perch (F) tilts, upsetting seeds (G) into pail (H). Extra weight in pail pulls cord (I), which opens and ignites lighter (J), setting off skyrocket (K), which causes sickle (L) to cut string (M), allowing pendulum with attached napkin to swing back and forth, thereby wiping chin.\\n\\nIn 1931, the Merriam-Webster dictionary adopted the word \\\"Rube Goldberg\\\" as an adjective defined as accomplishing something simple through complicated means. \\n\\nSimilar expressions worldwide\\n\\n* Australia — cartoonist Bruce Petty depicts such themes as the economy, international relations or other social issues as complicated interlocking machines that manipulate, or are manipulated by, people.\\n* Austria — Franz Gsellmann worked for decades on a machine that he named the Weltmaschine (\\\"world machine\\\"), having many similarities to a Rube Goldberg machine.\\n* Denmark — called Storm P maskiner (\\\"Storm P machines\\\"), after the Danish inventor and cartoonist Robert Storm Petersen (1882–1949).\\n* France — a similar machine is called usine à gaz, or gas refinery, suggesting a very complicated factory with pipes running everywhere and a risk of explosion. It is now used mainly among programmers to indicate a complicated program, or in journalism to refer to a bewildering law or regulation.\\n* Germany — such machines are often called \\\"Was-passiert-dann-Maschine\\\" (\\\"What happens next machine\\\") for the German name of similar devices used by Kermit the Frog in the children's TV show Sesame Street.\\n* United Kingdom — a \\\"Heath Robinson contraption\\\", named after the fantastical comic machinery illustrated by British cartoonist W. Heath Robinson, has a similar meaning but predates the Rube Goldberg machine, originating in the UK in 1912. Though Heath Robinson's drawings are extremely similar to the example shown and described above, the expression has gained more a sense of a ramshackle solution to a problem that nevertheless works (though with the implication that it might not do so for long, unlike the 'proper' solution), rather than something needlessly complicated, though it shared that sense initially.\\n* India — the humorist and children's author Sukumar Ray, in his nonsense poem \\\"Abol tabol\\\", had a character (Uncle) with a Rube Goldberg-like machine called \\\"Uncle's contraption\\\"(khuror kol). This word is used colloquially in Bengali to mean a complicated and useless object.\\n* Japan — \\\"Pythagorean devices\\\" or \\\"Pythagoras switch\\\". PythagoraSwitch (ピタゴラスイッチ, \\\"Pitagora Suicchi\\\") is the name of a TV show featuring such devices. Another related genre is the Japanese art of chindōgu, which involves inventions that are hypothetically useful but of limited actual utility.\\n* Norway — cartoonist and storyteller Kjell Aukrust created a cartoon character named Reodor Felgen, who constantly invented complicated machinery. Though it was often built out of unlikely parts, it always performed very well. Felgen stars as the inventor of an extremely powerful but over-complicated car, Il Tempo Gigante, in the Ivo Caprino animated puppet film Flåklypa Grand Prix (1975).\\n* Spain — devices akin to Goldberg's machines are known as Inventos del TBO (tebeo), named after those that several cartoonists (Nit, Tínez, Marino Benejam, Frances Tur and finally Ramón Sabatés) made up and drew for a section in the TBO magazine, allegedly designed by some \\\"Professor Franz\\\" from Copenhagen.\\n* Turkey — such devices are known as Zihni Sinir Projeleri, allegedly invented by a certain Prof. Zihni Sinir (\\\"Crabby Mind\\\"), a curious scientist character created by İrfan Sayar in 1977 for the cartoon magazine Gırgır. The cartoonist later went on to open a studio selling actual working implementations of his designs.\\n\\nMany of his ideas were utilized in movies and TV shows for the comedic effect of creating such rigmarole for such a simple task such as the breakfast machine on television's 'Pee Wee's Playhouse'. In 'Ernest Goes to Jail' , Ernest P. Worrell uses his invention to simply turn his TV on. Plus other movies such as 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and 'Diving into the Money Pit' have featured Goldberg's idea.\\n\\nProfessional artists\\n\\n* Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist and illustrator best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines for achieving simple objectives.\\n* Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Swiss artists known for their art installation movie Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things Go, 1987). It documents a 30-minute long causal chain assembled of everyday objects, resembling a Rube Goldberg machine.\\n* Tim Hawkinson has made several art pieces that contain complicated apparatuses that are generally used to make abstract art or music. Many of them are centered on the randomness of other devices (such as a slot machine) and are dependent on them to create some menial effect.\\n\\nCompetitions\\n\\nIn early 1987, Purdue University in Indiana started the annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, organized by the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau, a national engineering fraternity. In 2009, the Epsilon Chapter of Theta Tau established a similar annual contest at the University of California, Berkeley. \\n\\nSince around 1997, the kinetic artist Arthur Ganson has been the emcee of the annual \\\"Friday After Thanksgiving\\\" (FAT) competition sponsored by the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Teams of contestants construct elaborate Rube Goldberg style chain-reaction machines on tables arranged around a large gymnasium. Each apparatus is linked by a string to its predecessor and successor machine. The initial string is ceremonially pulled, and the ensuing events are videotaped in closeup, and simultaneously projected on large screens for viewing by the live audience. After the entire cascade of events has finished, prizes are then awarded in various categories and age levels. Videos from several previous years' contests are view-able on the MIT Museum website.\\n\\nThe [http://www.chainreactioncontest.org/ Chain Reaction Contraption Contest] is an annual event hosted at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA where high school teams each build a Rube Goldberg machine to complete some simple task (which changes from year to year) in 20 steps or more (with some additional constraints on size, timing, safety, etc.).\\n\\nOn the TV show Food Network Challenge, competitors in 2011 were once required to create a Rube Goldberg machine out of sugar.\\n\\nAn event called [http://www.soinc.org/mission_c Mission Possible] in Science Olympiad involves students building a Rube Goldberg-like device to perform a certain series of tasks.\\n\\nIn April 2012, the Bosch company hosted an event called the \\\"Playground of Engineers\\\" in Hungary where the participant teams had to perform a series of tasks wherein they collected coins. Later that day, the main challenge was to build an over-complicated Goldberg Machine, the goal of which was to switch on a car dashboard. The teams were able to buy additional items with their collected coins above the standard issue equipment to make their machine more complicated. The main criteria of the judges were complexity, operating time and the number of components used.\",\n \"Touch_typing.txt\\nTouch typing\\nTouch typing (also called touch type or touch keyboarding) is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory. Touch typing typically involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the home row) and having them reach for other keys. Both two-handed touch typing and one-handed touch typing are possible.\\n\\nFrank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City, Utah who taught typing classes, reportedly invented touch typing in 1888.\\nOn a standard keyboard for English speakers the home row keys are: \\\"ASDF\\\" for the left hand and \\\"JKL;\\\" for the right hand. The keyboard is called a QWERTY keyboard because these are the first six letters on the keyboard. Most modern computer keyboards have a raised dot or bar on the home keys for the index fingers to help touch typists maintain and rediscover the correct position on the keyboard quickly with no need to look at the keys. More recently, the ability to touch type on touchscreen phones has been made possible with the use of specialized virtual keyboard software for touch typing.\\n\\nHistory \\n\\nOriginal layouts for the first few mechanical typewriters were in alphabetical order (ABCDE etc.) but the frequent jams suffered by experienced typists forced the manufacturers to change the layout of the letters, placing keys that are often pressed in a sequence as far as possible from each other. This allows engaging the second printing bar of the typewriter before the first falls down, increasing the speed of the mechanism. Equal distribution of the load over most of fingers also increased the speed as the keys of the mechanical typewriter are more difficult to press.\\n\\nThe calculations for keyboard layout were based on the language being typed and this meant different keyboard layouts would be needed for each language. In English speaking countries for example the first row is QWERTY, but in French speaking countries it is AZERTY. Though mechanical typewriters are now rarely used, moves to change the layout to increase speed have been largely ignored or resisted due to familiarity with the existing layout among touch typists.\\n\\nOn July 25, 1888, McGurrin, who was reportedly the only person using touch typing at the time, won a decisive victory over Louis Traub (operating Caligraph with eight-finger method) in a typing contest held in Cincinnati. The results were displayed on the front pages of many newspapers. McGurrin won US$500 (equivalent to $12,580 in 2012 USD) and popularized the new typing method.\\n\\nWhether McGurrin was actually the first person to touch type or simply the first to be popularly noticed, is disputed. Speeds attained by other typists in other typing competitions at the time suggest that they must have been using similar systems. \\n\\nIn 1889 Bates Torrey coined the words \\\"writing by touch\\\" in his article. In 1890 Lovisa Ellen Bullard Barnes defined the words \\\"write by touch\\\" in her book as follows: \\n\\nThe most common other form of typing is search and peck typing (or two-fingered typing). This method is slower than touch typing because instead of relying on the memorized position of keys, the typist is required to find each key by sight and move fingers a greater distance. Many idiosyncratic styles in between those two exist — for example, many people will type blindly, but using only two to five fingers and not always in a systematic way.\\n\\nAdvantages \\n\\nSpeed \\n\\nTouch type training can improve any individual's typing speed and accuracy dramatically. The accepted average typing speed is 41 WPM (words per minute), and professional career typists can exceed 100 WPM repeatedly and continuously (secretarial, data entry, etc.). Every individual learns at a different pace, and routine practice is required to maintain a high typing speed and accuracy.\\n\\nReduced switching of attention \\n\\nA touch typist does not need to move the sight between the keyboard (that is obscured with fingers and may be poorly lit) and other areas that require attention. This increases productivity and reduces the number of errors.\\n\\nDisputes over advantages \\n\\nThere are many idiosyncratic typing styles in between novice-style \\\"hunt and peck\\\" and touch typing. For example, many \\\"hunt and peck\\\" typists have the keyboard layout memorized and are able to type while focusing their gaze on the screen. One study examining 30 subjects, of varying different styles and expertise, has found minimal difference in typing speed between touch typists and self-taught hybrid typists. \\n\\nAccording to the study, \\\"The number of fingers does not determine typing speed... People using self-taught typing strategies were found to be as fast as trained typists... instead of the number of fingers, there are other factors that predict typing speed... fast typists... keep their hands fixed on one position, instead of moving them over the keyboard, and more consistently use the same finger to type a certain letter.\\\" To quote doctoral candidate Anna Feit: \\\"We were surprised to observe that people who took a typing course, performed at similar average speed and accuracy, as those that taught typing to themselves and only used 6 fingers on average\\\"\\n\\nTraining \\n\\nA touch typist starts by placing their fingers on the \\\"start position\\\" in the middle row and knows which finger to move and how much to move it for reaching any required key. Learning typically includes first printing exercises containing only letters on or near the standard position and then gradually mastering other rows. It is important to learn placing fingers into the start position blindly as the hands are frequently raised from the keyboard to operate the line feed lever (in the past) or (more recently) the computer mouse. The keys F and J frequently contain some surface features that allow the typist to recognize them by touch alone, thus removing the need to look down at the keys to reset the fingers at the home row.\\n\\nThe typing speed can be increased gradually and speeds of 60 WPM or higher can be achieved. The rate of speed increase varies between individuals. Many websites and software products are available to learn touch typing and many of these are free. Learning touch typing can be stressful both to the fingers as well as the mind in the beginning, but once it is learned to a decent level, it exerts minimal stress on the fingers. For individuals with past typing experience, learning to touch type is particularly difficult due to motivational reasons: the initial performance level in touch typing is far lower than in visually guided typing; therefore it does not initially seem worthwhile to study touch typing. \\n\\nTyping speed generally improves with practice. While practicing, it is important to ensure that there are no weak keys. Typing speed is typically determined by how slow these weak keys are typed rather than how fast the remaining keys are typed. If a stage is reached where irrespective of the amount of practice, typing speed is not increasing, it is advisable to let some time pass and continue serious practice thereafter as typing speeds typically tend to increase with time even when no serious practice is done.\\n\\nHome row \\n\\nThe \\\"home row\\\" is the center row of keys on a typewriter or computer keyboard. On the most common type of English language keyboard, the QWERTY layout, \\\" \\\" are the home keys on the home row. \\n\\nThe middle row of the keyboard is termed \\\"home row\\\" because typists are trained to keep their fingers on these keys and/or return to them after pressing any other key that is not on the home row.\\n\\nSome keyboards have a small bump on certain keys of the home row. This helps returning the fingers to the home row for touch typing.\\n\\nFor instance, to type the word poll on a QWERTY keyboard, one would place all of one's fingers on the home row. (The right hand should be covering \\\" \\\" with the thumb on the while the left hand covers \\\" \\\".) The typist will then use their little finger to reach for the \\\"\\\" key located just above the semicolon and then return the pinky back to the semicolon key from which it originated. The ring finger, located on the \\\"\\\" key will be moved directly upwards to press the \\\"\\\" key and then back. Finally, the same ring finger will remain on the \\\"\\\" key and press it twice. Experienced typists can do this at speeds of over 100 words per minute, but the method is that they always return their fingers to the home row when they are not in use. This provides for quick, easy access to all of the keys on the keyboard.\\n\\nRepetitive stress injuries \\n\\nTyping regularly can put a user at risk for repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis. Proper posture can greatly reduce risk of injury. \\n\\nOther methods \\n\\nA method taught since the 1960s (and perhaps earlier): The left little finger is used for the keys , the ring finger for , the middle — , the left index finger is responsible for and . On the right side of the keyboard: index — and , middle — , ring — and the little — all other keys on the right side of the upper row. Probably these two methods reflect the layout of the typewriters from early days when some of them had no and/or keys.\\n\\nThere exist special ergonomic keyboards designed for both typing methods. The keyboard is split between the keys and or and .\\n\\nSome specialized high-end computer keyboards are designed for touch typists. For example, many manufacturers provide blank mechanical keyboards. A trained touch typist should not mind using a blank keyboard. This kind of keyboard may force hunt and peck users to type without looking, similar to Braille keyboards used by the visually impaired.\",\n \"Philosophy | Cambridge Forecast Group Blog | Page 13\\n... sets out to attribute an ... In his memoirs he also developed a curious theory about the economic causes of World War II, ... future leaders of Third World ...\\nPhilosophy | Cambridge Forecast Group Blog | Page 13\\nCambridge Forecast Group Blog\\nMan lebt nicht einmal einmal\\n(you don’t even live once)\\nKarl Kraus – Aphorisms\\nSprüche und Widersprüche 1909\\n(Sayings and Gainsayings)\\nKarl Kraus (1874-1936) is widely regarded as one of the most talented and influential satirists of the twentieth century. He was an enormously productive writer of poetry, critical essays, and aphorisms, and spent the bulk…\\nKarl Kraus\\nKarl Kraus (April 28, 1874 – June 12, 1936) was an eminent Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is generally considered one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially known for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics.\\nEarly life\\nKraus was born into a wealthy Jewish family of Jacob Kraus, a papermaker, and his wife Ernestine, née Kantor, in Gitschin, Bohemia (now Jičín in the Czech Republic). The family moved to Vienna in 1877. His mother died in 1891.\\nKraus enrolled as a law student at the University of Vienna in 1892. Beginning in April of the same year he began contributing to the paper Wiener Literaturzeitung, starting with a critique of Gerhart Hauptmann’s Die Weber. Around that time, he unsuccessfully tried to perform as an actor in a small theater. In 1894 he changed his field of studies to philosophy and German literature. He discontinued his studies in 1896. His friendship to Peter Altenberg originated in this time.\\nWriting\\nIn 1896 he left university without a diploma to begin work as an actor, stage-director and performer, joining the Jung Wien (Young Vienna) group, which included Peter Altenberg, Leopold Andrian, Hermann Bahr, Richard Beer-Hofmann, Felix Dörmann, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Felix Salten. In 1897, however, Kraus broke from this group with a biting satire Die demolierte Literatur [Demolished Literature], and was named Vienna correspondent for the newspaper Breslauer Zeitung. One year later, as an uncompromising advocate of Jewish assimilation, he attacked the Zionist Theodor Herzl with his polemic Eine Krone für Zion [A Crown for Zion] (1898).\\nOn April 1, 1899, he renounced Judaism and in the same year founded his own newspaper, Die Fackel (The Torch), which he continued to direct, publish, and write until his death, and from which he launched his attacks on hypocrisy, psychoanalysis, corruption of the Habsburg empire, nationalism of the pan-German movement, laissez-faire economic policies, and numerous other bêtes noires. In 1901, Kraus was sued by Hermann Bahr and Emmerich Bukovics, who felt they had been attacked by Die Fackel. Many lawsuits by diverse offended parties would follow in later years. Also in 1901, Kraus found out that his publisher, Moriz Frisch, had taken over his magazine while he was absent on a months-long journey: Moriz Frisch had registered the magazine’s front cover as a trademark and published the Neue Fackel (New Torch). Kraus sued and won. From that time, Die Fackel was published (without a cover page) by the printer Jahoda & Siegel\\nWhile at the beginning Die Fackel was similar to journals like the magazine Weltbühne, it became more and more a magazine that was privileged in its editorial independence, which Kraus could provide by his funding. Die Fackel printed what Kraus wanted to be printed. In its first decade, contributors included many well-known writers and artists such as Peter Altenberg, Richard Dehmel, Egon Friedell, Oskar Kokoschka, Else Lasker-Schüler, Adolf Loos, Heinrich Mann, Arnold Schönberg, August Strindberg, Georg Trakl, Frank Wedekind, Franz Werfel, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Oscar Wilde. After 1911, however, Kraus was usually the sole author. Kraus’ work was published nearly exclusively in Die Fackel, of which 922 irregularly-issued numbers appeared in total.\\nAuthors who were supported by Kraus include Peter Altenberg, Else Lasker-Schüler, and Georg Trakl.\\nDie Fackel targeted corruption, journalists and brutish behaviour. Notable enemies were Maximilian Harden (in the mud of the Harden-Eulenburg affair), Moriz Benedikt (owner of the newspaper Neue Freie Presse), Alfred Kerr, Hermann Bahr, Imre Bekessy and Johannes Schober.\\nIn 1902, Kraus published Sittlichkeit und Kriminalität (Morality and Crimical Justice), for the first time commenting on what was to become one of the main issues in his writings: the allegedly necessary defense of sexual morality by means of criminal justice (Der Skandal fängt an, wenn die Polizei ihm ein Ende macht, The scandal starts when the police is stopping it)[1].\\nStarting in 1906, Kraus published the first of his aphorisms in Die Fackel; they were collected in 1909 in the book Sprüche und Widersprüche (Sayings and Gainsayings).\\nIn addition to his writings, Kraus gave numerous highly influential public readings during his career – between 1892 and 1936 he put on approximately 700 one-man performances, reading from the dramas of Bertolt Brecht, Gerhart Hauptmann, Johann Nestroy, Goethe, and Shakespeare, and also performing Offenbach’s operettas, accompanied by piano and singing all the roles himself. Elias Canetti, who regularly attended Kraus’ lectures, titled the second volume of his autobiography “Die Fackel im Ohr” (translation : The Torch in the Ear) in reference to the magazine and its author.\\nIn 1907, Kraus attacked his erstwhile benefactor Maximilian Harden because of his role in the Eulenburg trial in the first of his spectacular Erledigungen (dispatches).\\nAfter an obituary for Franz Ferdinand who had been assassinated in Sarajevo, Die Fackel was not published for many months. In the December of 1914, it appeared again with an essay titled\\nIn dieser großen Zeit (In this grand time): „In dieser großen Zeit, die ich noch gekannt habe, wie sie so klein war; die wieder klein werden wird, wenn ihr dazu noch Zeit bleibt; […] in dieser lauten Zeit, die da dröhnt von der schauerlichen Symphonie der Taten, die Berichte hervorbringen, und der Berichte, welche Taten verschulden: in dieser da mögen Sie von mir kein eigenes Wort erwarten.“[2]\\n(In this grand time that I still know from when it was very small; that will become small again if it has the time; […] in this loud time that resounds from the ghastly symphony of deeds that spawn reports, and from reports that are to blame for deeds: in this one, you may not expect any word of my own. In the subsequent time, Kraus wrote against the World War, and editions of Die Fackel were repeatedly confiscated or obstructed by censors.\\nKraus’ masterpiece is generally considered to be the massive satiric play about the First World War, Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind), which combines dialogue from contemporary documents with apocalyptic fantasy and commentary from two characters called “the Grumbler” and “the Optimist”. The play was begun in 1915 and first published as a series of special Fackel issues in 1919. Its epilogue, Die letzte Nacht (The last night) had already been published in 1918 as a special issue. Edward Timms has called the work a “faulted masterpiece” and a “fissured text” because the evolution of Kraus’ attitude during the time of its composition (from aristocratic conservative to democratic republican) means that the text has structural inconsistencies resembling a geological fault.[cite this quote] Also in 1919, Kraus published his collected war texts under the title Weltgericht (World court of justice). In 1920, he published the satire Literatur oder Man wird doch da sehn (Literature or One will see there) as a reply to Franz Werfel’s Spiegelmensch (Mirror man), an attack against Kraus.\\nDuring January of 1924, he started to fight against Imre Békessy, publisher of the tabloid Die Stunde (The hour). Békessy retaliated with a libel campagne against Kraus, who in turn launched an Erledigung with the catchphrase Hinaus aus Wien mit dem Schuft! (Throw the scoundrel out of Vienna). In 1926, Békessy indeed fled Vienna in order to avoid his being arrested. In the following year, Kraus unsuccessfully tried a similar undertaking against Johann Schober, police prefect during the forcefully suppressed July Revolt.\\nIn 1928, the play Die Unüberwindlichen (The insurmountables) was published. It included allusions to the fights against Békessy and Schober. During that same year, Kraus also published the records of a lawsuit that Kerr had filed against him after Kraus had published Kerr’s war poems in Die Fackel.\\nIn 1932, Kraus re-translated Shakespeare’s sonnets. He supported Engelbert Dollfuß, hoping Dollfuß could prevent Nazism from engulfing Austria. This estranged him from some of his followers. When asked why he never said anything about Hitler, he reportedly answered: “I cannot think of anything to say about Hitler.”\\nHis last work, which he declined to publish for fear of Nazi reprisals, was the verbally rich, densely allusive anti-Nazi polemic Die Dritte Walpurgisnacht (The Third Walpurgisnacht). However, lengthy extracts appear in his apologia for his silence at Hitler’s coming to power, Warum die Fackel nicht erscheint (Why the Fackel Does Not Appear), a 315-page edition of his periodical. The last issue of the Fackel appeared in February of 1936. Karl Kraus died of an embolism of the heart in Vienna on June 12th, 1936 after a short illness.\\nKraus never married, but from 1913 until his death, he had a conflict-prone but close relationship with the Baroness Sidonie Nádherný von Borutin (1885-1950). Many of his works were written in Janowitz castle, Nádherny family property. Sidonie Nádherny became an important pen-friend and addressee of books and poems.\\nIn 1911 he was baptized as a Catholic, but in 1923 he left the Catholic Church, because he disapproved of the revival of the Salzburg Festival. He is buried in the Zentralfriedhof cemetery outside Vienna.\\nKraus was the subject of two books written by noted libertarian author Dr.Thomas Szasz. Karl Kraus and the Soul Doctors and Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus’s Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry portrayed Kraus as a harsh critic of Sigmund Freud and of psychoanalysis in general. Other commentators, such as Edward Timms (Karl Kraus – Apocalyptic Satirist) have argued that Kraus respected Freud, though with reservations about the application of some of his theories, and that his views were far less black-and-white than Szasz suggests.\\nPerson\\nKarl Kraus has been a subject of opposing opinions throughout his lifetime. This polarisation was undoubtedly strengthened by his immense awareness of his own importance. This self-image was not completely unfounded: those who attended his performances were fascinated by his personality. His followers saw in him an infallible authority, someone who would do anything to help those he supported.\\nTo the numerous enemies he made due to the inflexibility and intensity of his partisanship, however, he was a bitter misanthrope and poor would-be (Alfred Kerr). He was accused of wallowing in hateful denouncements and Erledigungen.\\nKarl Kraus and language\\nKarl Kraus was convinced that every little error, albeit of an importance that was seemingly limited in time and space, shows the great evils of the world and era. Thus, he could see in a missing comma a symptom of that state of the world that would allow a world war. One of the main points of his writings was to show the great evils inherent in such seemingly small errors.\\nLanguage was to him the most important tell-tale for the wrongs of the world. He viewed his contemporaries’ careless treatment of language as a sign for their careless treatment of the world as a whole.\\nErnst Křenek reported the following typical episode:\\nAls man sich gerade über die Beschießung von Shanghai durch die Japaner erregte und ich Karl Kraus bei einem der berühmten Beistrich-Problemen antraf, sagte er ungefähr: Ich weiß, daß das alles sinnlos ist, wenn das Haus in Brand steht. Aber solange das irgend möglich ist, muß ich das machen, denn hätten die Leute, die dazu verpflichtet sind, immer darauf geachtet, daß die Beistriche am richtigen Platz stehen, so würde Shanghai nicht brennen.“[3]\\n(At a time when one was generally decrying the bombardment of Shanghai by the Japanese, I met Karl Kraus struggling over one of his famous comma problems. He said something like: I know that everything is futile when the house is burning. But I have to do this, as long as it is at all possible; for if those who are obliged to look after commas had always made sure they were in the right place, then Shanghai would not be burning.)\\nHe accused people — and most of all journalists and authors — of using language as a means that they believed to command rather than serving it as an end. To Kraus, language is not a means to distribute ready-made opinions, but rather the medium of thought itself. As such, it is in need of critical reflection. Therefore, dejournalising his readers was an important concern of Kraus in “a time that is thoroughly journalised, that is informed by the spirit but is deaf to the unity of form and contents”. He wanted to educate his readers to an “understanding of the cause of the German language, to that height at which the written word is understood as a necessary incarnation of the thought, and not simply a shell demanded by society around an opinion.”\\nKraus maintained that language may not be entirely subjected to man’s wishes. Even in its most maimed state, it will still show the true state of the world. Even war enthusiasts will unwittingly point out the cruel butchery during the war when calling it Mordshetz (an Austrian word for great fun that can also be read as murderous chase).\\nKraus saw the press as his supreme enemy and the “nether regions” of literature: his views on societal and cultural issues were less clearly defined, and his political preferences were shifting. He sympathized now with Social Democrats, now with Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In some ways, Kraus’ criticism prefigured contemporary critics of the press such as Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman. But it must not be forgotten that Kraus’ criticism was primarily moral, not political. Moreover, his cultural background was not that of the ‘New Left’ but instead that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: his emphasis on precision, and his dislike of rhetoric and the baroque demonstrates links between his views and those of Ludwig Wittgenstein (in his early works) and Adolf Loos, amongst others.\\nSelected works:\\nDie demolirte Literatur [Demolished Literature] (1897)\\nEine Krone für Zion [A Crown for Zion] (1898)\\nSittlichkeit und Kriminalität [Morality and Crimical Justice] (1908)\\nSprüche und Widersprüche [Sayings and Contradictions] (1909)\\nDie chinesische Mauer [The Wall of China] (1910)\\nPro domo et mundo [For Home and for the World] (1912)\\nNestroy und die Nachwelt [ Nestroy and Posterity](1913)\\nWorte in Versen (1916-30)\\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit (1918)\\nWeltgericht [World Court] (1919)\\nUntergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie [The End of the World Through Black Magic](1922)\\nLiteratur (1921)\\nTraumstück [Dream Piece] (1922)\\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit: Tragödie in fünf Akten mit Vorspiel und Epilog [The Last Days of Mankind: Tragedy in Five Acts with Preamble and Epilogue] (1922)\\nWolkenkuckucksheim [Cloud Cuckoo Land] (1923)\\nTraumtheater [Dream Theatre] (1924)\\nDie Unüberwindlichen [The Insurmountables] (1928)\\nLiteratur und Lüge [Literature and Lies] (1929)\\nShakespeares Sonette (1933)\\nDie Sprache [Language] (posthumous, 1937)\\nDie dritte Walpurgisnacht [The Third Walpurgis Night] (posthumous, 1952)\\nSome work has been re-issued in recent years:\\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit, Bühnenfassung des Autors, 1992 Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-22091-8\\nDie Sprache, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37817-1\\nDie chinesische Mauer, mit acht Illustrationen von Oskar Kokoschka, 1999, Insel, ISBN 3-458-19199-2\\nAphorismen. Sprüche und Widersprüche. Pro domo et mundo. Nachts, 1986, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37818-X\\nSittlichkeit und Krimininalität, 1987, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37811-2\\nDramen. Literatur, Traumstück, Die unüberwindlichen u.a., 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37821-X\\nLiteratur und Lüge, 1999, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37813-9\\nShakespeares Sonette, Nachdichtung, 1977, Diogenes, ISBN 3-257-20381-0\\nTheater der Dichtung mit Bearbeitungen von Shakespeare-Dramen, Suhrkamp 1994, ISBN 3-518-37825-2\\nHüben und Drüben, 1993, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37828-7\\nDie Stunde des Gerichts, 1992, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37827-9\\nUntergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie, 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37814-7\\nBrot und Lüge, 1991, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37826-0\\nDie Katastrophe der Phrasen, 1994, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37829-5\\nWorks in English translation\\nThe Last Days of Mankind: a Tragedy in Five Acts (1974), an abridgement tr. Alexander Gode and Sue Allen Wright\\nIn These Great Times: A Karl Kraus Reader (1984), ed. Harry Zohn, contains translated excerpts from Die Fackel, including poems with the original German text alongside, and a drastically abridged translation of The Last Days of Mankind.\\nAnti-Freud: Karl Kraus’ Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry (1990) by Thomas Szasz contains Szasz’s translations of several of Kraus’ articles and aphorisms on psychiatry and psychoanalysis.\\nDicta and Contradicta, tr. Jonathan McVity (2001), a collection of aphorisms.\\nHalf Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths: selected aphorisms translated by Hary Zohn. Chicago (1990) ISBN 0226452689.\\nReferences:\\nquoted following Sprüche und Widersprüche (Sayings and Gainsayings), Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M. 1984, p. 42\\nDie Fackel No. 404, December 1914, p. 1\\nWeigel, Kraus oder die Macht der Ohnmacht (Kraus or the power of powerlessness), p. 128\\nKarl Kraus by L. Liegler (1921)\\nKarl Kraus by W. Benjamin (1931)\\nKarl Kraus by R. von Schaukal (1933)\\nKarl Kraus in Sebstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten by P. Schick (1965)\\nThe Last Days of Mankind: Karl Kraus and His Vienna by Frank Field (1967)\\nKarl Kraus by W.A. Iggers (1967)\\nKarl Kraus by H. Zohn (1971)\\nWittgenstein’s Vienna by A. Janik and S. Toulmin (1973)\\nKarl Kraus and the Soul Doctors by T.S. Szasz (1976)\\nMasks of the Prophet: The Theatrical World of Karl Kraus by Kari Grimstad (1981)\\nMcGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, vol. 3, ed. by Stanley Hochman (1984)\\nKarl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: Culture and Catastrophe in Habsburg Vienna by Edward Timms (1986) Yale University Press ISBN 0300044836 reviews: [1] [2] [3] [4]\\nKarl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: The Post-War Crisis and the Rise of the Swastika by Edward Timms (2005)\\nAnti-Freud: Karl Kraus’s Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry by Thomas Szasz (1990)\\nThe Paper Ghetto: Karl Kraus and Anti-Semitism by John Theobald (1996)\\nKarl Kraus and the Critics by Harry Zohn (1997)\\nOtto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna by Chandak Sengoopta pp.6, 23, 35-36, 39-41, 43-44, 137, 141-45\\nKarl Kraus (1874-1936)\\nMay 6, 2008 at 10:03 pm | Posted in Books , Globalization , History , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , United Kingdom | Leave a comment\\nCarlyle, “Signs of the Times”\\nIn his essay “Signs of the Times” (1829), Thomas Carlyle declares his time to be a “Mechanical Age”–an age likely to produce “a mighty change in our whole manner of existence”\\nThomas Carlyle:\\nSigns of the Times: The “Mechanical Age”\\n1829\\nWere we required to characterise this age of ours by any single epithet, we should be tempted to call it, not an Heroical, Devotional, Philosophical, or Moral Age, but, above all others, the Mechanical Age.\\nIt is the Age of Machinery, in every outward and inward sense of that word; the age which, with its whole undivided might, forwards, teaches and practises the great art of adapting means to ends. Nothing is now done directly, or by hand; all is by rule and calculated contrivance. For the simplest operation, some helps and accompaniments, some cunning abbreviating process is in readiness. Our old modes of exertion are all discredited, and thrown aside. On every hand, the living artisan is driven from his workshop, to make room for a speedier, inanimate one. The shuttle drops from the fingers of the weaver, and falls into iron fingers that ply it faster. The sailor furls his sail, and lays down his oar; and bids a strong, unwearied servant, on vaporous wings, bear him through the waters. Men have crossed oceans by steam; the Birmingham Fire-king has visited the fabulous East; and the genius of the Cape, were there any Cameons now to sing it, has again been alarmed, and with far stranger thunders than Gamas. There is no end to machinery. Even the horse is stripped of his harness, and finds a fleet firehorse yoked in his stead. Nay, we have an artist that hatches chickens by steam; the very brood-hen is to be superseded! For all earthly, and for some unearthly purposes, we have machines and mechanic furtherances; for mincing our cabbages; for casting us into magnetic sleep. We remove mountains, and make seas our smooth highway; nothing can resist us. We war with rude Nature; and, by our resistless engines, come off always victorious, and loaded with spoils.\\nWhat wonderful accessions have thus been made, and are still making, to the physical power of mankind; how much better fed, clothed, lodged and, in all outward respects, accommodated men now are, or might be, by a given quantity of labour, is a grateful reflection which forces itself on every one. What changes, too, this addition of power is introducing into the Social System; how wealth has more and more increased, and at the same time gathered itself more and more into masses, strangely altering the old relations, and increasing the distance between the rich and the poor, will be a question for Political Economists, and a much more complex and important one than any they have yet engaged with.\\nBut leaving these matters for the present, let us observe how the mechanical genius of our time has diffused itself into quite other provinces. Not the external and physical alone is now managed by machinery, but the internal and spiritual also. Here too nothing follows its spontaneous course, nothing is left to be accomplished by old natural methods. Everything has its cunningly devised implements, its preestablished apparatus; it is not done by hand, but by machinery. Thus we have machines for Education: Lancastrian machines; Hamiltonian machines; monitors, maps, and emblems. Instruction, that mysterious communing of Wisdom with Ignorance, is no longer an indefinable tentative process, requiring a study of individual aptitudes, and a perpetual variation of means and methods, to attain the same end; but a secure, universal, straightforward business, to be conducted in the gross, by proper mechanism, with such intellect as comes to hand. Then, we have Religious machines, of all imaginable varieties; the Bible-Society, professing a far higher and heavenly structure, is found, on inquiry, to be altogether an earthly contrivance: supported by collection of moneys, by fomenting of vanities, by puffing, intrigue and chicane; a machine for converting the Heathen. It is the same in all other departments. Has any man, or any society of men, a truth to speak, a piece of spiritual work to do; they can nowise proceed at once and with the mere natural organs, but must first call a public meeting, appoint committees, issue prospectuses, eat a public dinner; in a word, construct or borrow machinery, wherewith to speak it and do it. Without machinery they were hopeless, helpless; a colony of Hindoo weavers squatting in the heart of Lancashire.\\nRICARDO:\\nOn the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation\\n“On Machinery” Chapter 31\\nIn his famous Chapter 31 “On Machinery” (added in 1821 to the third edition of his Principles), he noted that technical progress requires the introduction of labor-saving machinery. This is costly to purchase and install, and so will reduce the wages fund. In this case, either wages must fall or workers must be fired. Some of these unemployed workers may be mopped up by the greater amount of accumulation that the extra profits will permit, but it might not be enough. A pool of unemployed might remain, placing downward pressure and wages and leading to the general misery of the working classes.\\nTitle: On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation\\nPublished: London: John Murray, 1821. Third edition.\\nFirst published: 1817\\nto the Third Edition\\nPublished: London: John Murray, 1821. Third edition.\\nIn this Edition I have endeavoured to explain more fully than in the last, my opinion on the difficult subject of VALUE, and for that purpose have made a few additions to the first chapter. I have also inserted a new chapter on the subject of MACHINERY, and on the effects of its improvement on the interests of the different classes of the State.\\nMarch 26, 1821\\n1822 Charles Babbage\\nCharles Babbage FRS ( 26 December 1791 London , England – 18 October 1871 Marylebone , London , England ) was an English mathematician , philosopher , and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer . Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum . In 1991 a perfectly functioning difference engine was constructed from Babbage’s original plans. Built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage’s machine would have worked. Nine years later, the Science Museum completed the printer Babbage had designed for the difference engine, an astonishingly complex device for the 19th century. Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs.\\nThe Difference Engine was designed to tabulate polynomial functions , and as both logarithmic and trigonometric functions can be approximated by polynomials, such a machine is more general than it appears at first.\\nIn 1822, Charles Babbage proposed the use of such a machine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society on 14 June entitled “Note on the application of machinery to the computation of very big mathematical tables.” This machine used the decimal number system and was powered by cranking a handle. The British government initially financed the project, but withdrew funding when Babbage repeatedly asked for more money whilst making no apparent progress on building the machine. Babbage went on to design his much more general analytical engine but later produced an improved difference engine design (his “Difference Engine No. 2”) between 1847 and 1849. Inspired by Babbage’s difference engine plans, Per Georg Scheutz built several difference engines from 1855 onwards; one was sold to the British government in 1859. Martin Wiberg improved Scheutz’s construction but used his device only for producing and publishing printed logarithmic tables.\\nBased on Babbage’s original plans, the London Science Museum constructed a working Difference Engine No. 2 from 1989 to 1991, under Doron Swade , the then Curator of Computing. This was to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Babbage’s birth. In 2000, the printer which Babbage originally designed for the difference engine was also completed. The conversion of the original design drawings into drawings suitable for engineering manufacturers’ use revealed some minor errors in Babbage’s design, which had to be corrected.\\nOnce completed, both the engine and its printer worked flawlessly, and still do. The difference engine and printer were constructed to tolerances achievable with 19th century technology, resolving a long-standing debate whether Babbage’s design would actually have worked. (One of the reasons formerly advanced for the non-completion of Babbage’s engines had been that engineering methods were insufficiently developed in the Victorian era.) In addition to funding the construction of the output mechanism for the Science Museum’s Difference Engine No. 2, Nathan Myhrvold commissioned the construction of a second complete Difference Engine No. 2, which will be on exhibit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California from 10 May 2008 through April 2009\\nFrom 1828 to 1839 Babbage was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. He contributed largely to several scientific periodicals, and was instrumental in founding the Astronomical Society in 1820 and the Statistical Society in 1834. However, he dreamt of designing mechanical calculating machines.\\n“… I was sitting in the rooms of the Analytical Society, at Cambridge, my head leaning forward on the table in a kind of dreamy mood, with a table of logarithms lying open before me. Another member, coming into the room, and seeing me half asleep, called out, “Well, Babbage, what are you dreaming about?” to which I replied “I am thinking that all these tables” (pointing to the logarithms) “might be calculated by machinery. “\\n \\nApril 22, 2008 at 2:18 am | Posted in Books , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology | Leave a comment\\nMind in Life\\nEvan Thompson\\nNeurophenomenology\\nHow is life related to the mind? The question has long confounded philosophers and scientists, and it is this so-called explanatory gap between biological life and consciousness that Evan Thompson explores in Mind in Life.\\nThompson draws upon sources as diverse as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, artificial life, complex systems theory, neuroscience, psychology, Continental Phenomenology, and analytic philosophy to argue that mind and life are more continuous than has previously been accepted, and that current explanations do not adequately address the myriad facets of the biology and phenomenology of mind. Where there is life, Thompson argues, there is mind: life and mind share common principles of self-organization, and the self-organizing features of mind are an enriched version of the self-organizing features of life. Rather than trying to close the explanatory gap, Thompson marshals philosophical and scientific analyses to bring unprecedented insight to the nature of life and consciousness. This synthesis of phenomenology and biology helps make Mind in Life a vital and long-awaited addition to his landmark volume The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (coauthored with Eleanor Rosch and Francisco Varela).\\nEndlessly interesting and accessible, Mind in Life is a groundbreaking addition to the fields of the theory of the mind, life science, and phenomenology.\\nDr. Thompson is currently writing a new book entitled Buddha and the Brain: Contemplative Neuroscience and the Nature of Consciousness, which explores how Asian contemplative traditions and Western mind-brain science can collaborate beyond the science/religion divide in order to create new ways of scientifically investigating human consciousness and of fostering contemplative wisdom and cognitive spirituality.\\nEditorial Reviews\\nReview\\nThe overarching topic of Thompson’s book is nothing less than the nature of life and mind, where life and mind are conceived not as they often are–that is, as fundamentally separate subjects in need of largely nonintersecting theoretical frameworks–but rather as tightly intertwined phenomena in need of a common explanatory language. The long-anticipated follow-up to The Embodied Mind, this book is even better–clear, lively, original, and compelling. Mind in Life is a work for which a great number of thinkers in philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences have been eagerly waiting.\\n–Michael Wheeler, author of Reconstructing the Cognitive World: The Next Step\\nEvan Thompson has emerged as a major presence in the science of the mind. His new book is quite wonderful to read, and I found it impossible to put down. In particular, his discussion of Husserl’s phenomenology is a revelation, as are his reasons for reversing his former criticisms of Husserl. His discussion of one of the central issues driving modern cognitive neuroscience, the binding problem, is particularly valuable and should compel a major reexamination of experiments being carried out in this field. Evan Thompson is doing important work in re-framing the very questions that define cognitive science.\\n–Merlin Donald, Case Western Reserve University\\nThere is no deeper prison of the modern mind than the Cartesian legacy that splits mind from life, and no more arduous climb to escape. Thompson provides a topo map–rich, multifaceted, superbly documented–by detailing the work of the many (but relatively few among contemporary scientists and philosophers) who recognize the impasse and strive to transcend it.\\n–Walter J. Freeman, author of How Brains Make Up Their Minds\\nNeurophenomenology is the majestic method we naturalists have been seeking to blend experience, behavior, and the brain. This long-awaited book will open up the discussion of what experience is and where it is, and how we explain the connection between the objective world of physical activity and that of pain, love, and imagining. Thompson enacts the method he espouses, neurophenomenology, in each chapter with in-depth examples that mind scientists will find compelling. A tour de force!\\n–Owen Flanagan\\nIs Mind continuous with Life? Can better phenomenology improve our scientific understanding of consciousness and cognition? In this elegant and thought-provoking treatment, Evan Thompson explores a vision of mind and life that traces a path from simple cellular organizations all the way to consciousness, intersubjectivity, and culture. A wonderful and important journey, and a compulsory trip for all those interested in the explanation of mind and experience.\\n–Andy Clark, author of Being There: Putting Brain, Body and World Together Again\\nThough modesty prevents him from claiming an original theory or dramatic new synthesis, in Mind in Life, one of the world’s top philosophers offers a brilliant and inspired treatise into the so-called “explanatory gap” between life and mind, nature and consciousness. Thompson stands apart in his ability to link objective descriptions of life and mind with our subjective experience of them. Here he weaves the phenomenological analysis of experience and the latest developments in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and biology into a rich coordinated whole in which life and mind are seen to be intrinsically and essentially dynamic and self-organizing. Curious people who want to appreciate this hard won insight and better understand the deep continuity of life and mind will want to read this unique and illuminating book.\\n–J.A. Scott Kelso, author of Dynamic Patterns: the Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior and (with David A. Engstrom) co-author of The Complementary Nature.\\nBook Description\\nHow is life related to the mind? The question has long confounded philosophers and scientists, and it is this so-called explanatory gap between biological life and consciousness that Evan Thompson explores in Mind in Life.\\nThompson draws upon sources as diverse as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, artificial life, complex systems theory, neuroscience, psychology, Continental Phenomenology, and analytic philosophy to argue that mind and life are more continuous than has previously been accepted, and that current explanations do not adequately address the myriad facets of the biology and phenomenology of mind. Where there is life, Thompson argues, there is mind: life and mind share common principles of self-organization, and the self-organizing features of mind are an enriched version of the self-organizing features of life. Rather than trying to close the explanatory gap, Thompson marshals philosophical and scientific analyses to bring unprecedented insight to the nature of life and consciousness. This synthesis of phenomenology and biology helps make Mind in Life a vital and long-awaited addition to his landmark volume The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (coauthored with Eleanor Rosch and Francisco Varela).\\nEndlessly interesting and accessible, Mind in Life is a groundbreaking addition to the fields of the theory of the mind, life science, and phenomenology.\\nProduct Details:\\nApril 14, 2008 at 3:35 am | Posted in Books , History , Philosophy | Leave a comment\\nOverdetermination\\nOverdetermination, the idea that a single observed effect is determined by multiple causes at once (any one of which alone might be enough to account for the effect), was originally a key concept of Sigmund Freud ‘s psychoanalysis .\\nFor Freud and Psychoanalysis\\nFreud wrote in The Interpretation of Dreams that many features of dreams were usually “overdetermined,” in that they were caused by multiple factors in the life of the dreamer, from the “residue of the day” (superficial memories of recent life) to deeply repressed traumas and unconscious wishes, these being “potent thoughts”. Freud favored interpretations which accounted for such features not only once, but many times, in the context of various levels and complexes of the dreamer’s psyche.\\nThe concept was later borrowed for a variety of other realms of thought.\\nIn the Philosophy of Causation\\nIn contemporary analytic philosophy an event or state of affairs is said to be overdetermined if there are more than one distinct, sufficient causes of it. Whereas there may unproblematically be recognised many different necessary conditions of the event’s occurrence, no two distinct events may lay claim to be sufficient conditions, since this would lead to overdetermination. A much used example is that of firing squads, the members of which simultaneously firing at and ‘killing’ their targets. Apparently, no one member can be said to have caused the victims’ deaths, since they would have been killed anyway. Overdetermination is problematic in particular from the viewpoint of a standard counterfactual understanding of causation, according to which an event is the cause of another event if and only if the latter would not have occurred, had the former not occurred. In order to employ this formula to actual complex situations, implicit or explicit conditions need to be accepted to be circumstantial, since the list of counterfactually acceptable causes would otherwise be impractically long (e.g. the earth’s continued existence could be said to be the (necessary) cause of one drinking one’s coffee). Unless a circumstance-clause is included, the putative cause to which one wishes to draw attention could never be considered sufficient, and hence not comply with the counterfactual analysis.\\nFor Richards and literature\\nThe New Critic I.A. Richards used the idea of overdetermination in order to explain the importance of ambiguity : in rhetoric , the philosophy of language , and literary criticism .\\nFor Althusser and Structuralist Marxism\\nThe Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser imported the concept into Marxist politics in an influential essay, “Contradiction and Overdetermination”. Drawing, in an unusual combination, from both Freud and Mao Zedong , Althusser used the idea of overdetermination as a way of thinking about the multiple, often opposed, forces active at once in any political situation, without falling into an over-simple idea of these forces being simply “contradictory.” Brewster, in Althusser et al’s Reading Capital defines overdetermination as such:\\n“the representation of dream thoughts in images privileged by their condensation of a number of thoughts in a single image (condensation), or by the transference of psychic energy from a particularly potent thought to apparently trivial things … [For Althusser] overdetermination of a contradiction is the reflection in it of its conditions of existence within the complex whole.”\\nThus, for Althusser’s reiterating of Marxist thought, overdetermination is what [concealed/unaccepted] “determinant contradictions”, or capital-economic incongruities (i.e., abstract labour resulting in “isolation” — the class struggle), which are analogous to Freud’s “potent thoughts”, apply to instances that are more really, slight, understandable. An instance of a popular riot calling for revolution could exemplify this. The event has to it, in capitalist culture, an over-application (determination) of agitation. The determinant contradictions (the reasons for popular revolt) are not addressed and so their great mass is “displaced” onto the singular event.\\nFor Baudrillard and Theoretical Sociology towards a Theory of Hyperreality\\nAnother conception of overdetermination is present in the later writings of Jean Baudrillard . His derives from Althusser’s conception, but breaks with it just as Baudrillard breaks with structural Marxism in general.\\nReferences\\nLouis Althusser. “Contradiction and Overdetermination.” In For Marx Verso 1985 ISBN 0-902308-79-3\\nLouis Althusser et al. Reading Capital Verso 1993 ISBN 1-85984-164-3\\nSigmund Freud. The Interpretation of Dreams HarperCollins 1976 ISBN 0-89966-441-5 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-380-01000-3 (Paperback)\\nI.A. Richards. The Philosophy of Rhetoric Oxford University Press 1965 ISBN 0-415-21738-5 (Library Binding) ISBN 0-19-500715-8 (Paperback)\\nOverdetermination\\nApril 12, 2008 at 2:02 am | Posted in Asia , Books , Germany , Globalization , Japan , Philosophy | Leave a comment\\nTetsuro Watsuji\\n( March 1 , 1889 – December 26 , 1960 )\\nLife\\nWatsuji was born in Himeji , Hyōgo Prefecture to a physician. During his youth he enjoyed poetry and had a passion for Western literature. For a short time he was the coeditor of a literary magazine and was involved in writing poems and plays. His interests in Philosophy came to light while he was a student at First Higher School in Tokyo, although his interest in literature would always remain strong throughout his life. In his early writings (between 1913 and 1915) he introduced the work of Soren Kierkegaard to Japan, as well as working on Friedrich Nietzsche , but in 1918 he turned against this earlier position, criticizing Western philosophical individualism , and attacking its influence on Japanese thought and life. This led to a study of the roots of Japanese culture, including Japanese Buddhist art , and notably the work of the mediæval Zen Buddhist Dogen . Watsuji was also interested in the famous Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki , whose books were influential during\\nWatsuji’s early years.\\nIn 1925 Watsuji became professor of ethics at Kyoto University , joining the other leading philosophers of the time, Nishida Kitaro and Tanabe Hajime . He held the university’s chair in ethics from 1934 until 1949. During World War II his ethical theories (which claimed the superiority of Japanese approaches to and understanding of human nature and ethics, and argued for the negation of self) provided support for certain nationalistic, military factions — a fact which, after the war, he said that he regretted.\\nWatsuji died at the age of seventy-one, his philosophical influence in Japan continuing long after his death.\\nWork\\nWatsuji’s three main works were his two-volume 1954 History of Japanese Ethical Thought, his three-volume Rinrigaku (Ethics), first published in 1937, 1942, and 1949, and his 1935 Fudo. The last of these develops his most distinctive thought. In it, Watsuji argues for an essential relationship between climate and other environmental factors and the nature of human cultures, and he distinguished three types of culture: pastoral, desert, and monsoon. (The French philosopher Montesquieu had developed a theory along similar lines, though with very different conclusions.)\\nWritings\\n1961–1963: Watsuji Tetsurō Zenshū (Complete Works of Tetsuro Watsuji) 20 volumes (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten)\\nEnglish translations\\n1988: Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study trans. from Fudo by Geoffrey Bownas (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press)\\n1996: Watsuji Tetsurō’s Rinrigaku: Ethics in Japan trans. from Rinigaku by Seisaku Yamamoto & Robert Carter (Albany: State University of New York Press)\\nIn this Japanese name , the family name is Watsuji.\\nName\\nb. Mar 22, 1914 in Osaka, Japan – d. Aug 15, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan\\ncountry/nation/culture: Japanese\\nfield of study: history of political thought, history of philosophy, history of social institutions\\nMain Works\\nNihon seiji shisôshi kenkyû, 1952 (Studies in the Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan, 1974)\\nSeiji no sekai [The World of Politics], 1952\\nGendai seiji no shisô to kôdô, 2 vols., 1956 (Thought and Behavior in modern Japanese Politics, 1963; enlarged edition 1969)\\nNihon no shisô, 1957 (Japanese Thought, 1964)\\nKindai Nihon no shisô to bungaku – Hitotsu no kêsu sutadi to shite [Thought and Literature in modern Japan], 1959\\nChûsei to Hangyaku, 1960 (Loyalty and Rebellion, 1996)\\nRekishi ishiki no ‘kosô [The old Substrata of historical Consciousness], 1972\\nBiography\\nMasao Maruyama was the son of the journalist Kanji Maruyama. He took all his degrees from Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied from 1934. Upon receiving his doctorate 1937, Maruyama started teaching. In 1940, he was named professor at the Faculty of Law, then a prestigious school that trained the political and economic elite of Japan. Though first posted to northern Korea in 1944, he was then sent to Hiroshima, where he remained until the end of the war. In 1950 Maruyama became the first holder of the chair in history of political ideas. He resigned in 1971 for health reasons. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences of Japan, a foreign member of the Royal Society of Great Britain, and Doctor honoris causa of both Harvard and Princeton Universities.\\nCharacterization\\nBefore and during the Second World War, much intellectual discussion in Japan sought to find a basis for an irrational rejection of Western values, by promoting the notion of overcoming modernity. In that climate, Maruyama published three articles, brought together into Nihon seiji shisôshi kenkyû. With unrivaled erudition, Maruyama set out here the problematic that would constitute the principal direction of all his work: the question of modernity, or rather non-modernity, of Japan.\\nMaruyama found significant how the dominant neo-Confucianism of the School of Zhuxi (1130-1200) was questioned by the Confucian circles of the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868). The innovators preferred a new mode of thought, brilliantly set out by Ogyû Sorai (1666-1728), founded upon the absolutization of the Confucian saints (in parallel with European absolutism in politics). Maruyama saw in Sorai’s thought a progressive dissolution of a continuist, naturalist mode of thought, which set out a mode of social relations analogous to that of Gemeinschaft, moving toward the birth of a new type of reflection which promoted historical consciousness, itself the precursor of modern consciousness. Maruyama also showed that the thought of the Tokugawa Period could be seen as a part of a continuous evolution toward modernity. However, Maruyama saw that despite the sometimes brilliant application of Sorai’s methodology in his school, especially in the work of Moto’ori Noringa (1730-1801), the evolution toward modernity and the values that it carries (universalism, democracy and nationalism) was aborted, and made Japanese modernity a very particular combination of ultra-modernity and pre-modernity, hence precipitating the catastrophe that is all too well known.\\nIn an article “Chôkokkashugi no ronri to shinri” [Theory and Psychology of Ultra-Nationalism] (reprinted in: Gendai seiji no shisô to kôdô) Maruyama showed in 1946 that Japanese fascism, far from representing an accidental deviation, constituted the logical endpoint of an evolution that had begun in the Meiji Period, when imperial power had arrogated to itself all power to create values, leaving the society in a psychological paralysis that produced a generalized irresponsibility.\\nNihon no shisô, a concise and penetrating essay, has become one of Maruyama’s most famous. He understands the state of thought in Japan as a space in which many disparate ways of thought exist together without orderly relation, a result of an unstructured tradition. In the various essays published as Gendai seiji no shisô to kôdô, the author, in setting out the methodological foundations of research on Japanese fascism, sets out to attribute an intellectual autonomy to the history of political ideas. Maruyama engages in his own revision of his initial theory on the history of modernization, especially in Chusei to Hangyaku, where he carries out a critique of his own work: the notion of loyalty at the outset of the Tokugawa Period referred to a loyalty toward the system, but the regime of the late nineteenth century would reinterpret it in terms of loyalty to origins, which is to say to the imperial house, allowing the imperial party to be the key element in overcoming the rule of the shoguns. Maruyama would later admit to a 180-degree turn in his understanding of the history of ideas of the Tokugawa Period.\\nMethod\\nMaruyama never ceased to assert the importance of method, including this term (hōhō) in the very title of some essays. Like the great majority of Japanese intellectuals of his time, Maruyama was greatly influenced by Marxist thought, but, as Maruyama himself points out, the influence of Marxism as an intellectual movement is not at all limited to the ideology of the left. When Marxism identifies a base or infrastructure that underlies many substructures, it also proposes an exhaustive explanation of changes that affect social systems. If the Japanese threw themselves into great leaps of thought, it was through the influence of Marxism that they had been able to meet the universalism of the Renaissance and the critical spirit of the Enlightenment.\\nMaruyama, who was deeply imbued with German thought, read Marxist philosophy in a way that was profoundly tributary to the neo-Kantian philosophers of Heidelberg like Wilhelm Windelband (whom he cites often) and Heinrich Rickert, who both attempted to reconcile history and science, and to find an adequate place for consciousness, ethics and values inside the process of scientific knowledge. Hence, considered in a humanist perspective, alienation represents the sacrifice of personal autonomy. Maruyama also feels indebted to Karl Mannheim for discussing the autonomous existence of history as a discipline, thanks to the positive status he gives to the facts of consciousness.\\nMaruyama even claimed an idealist vision of things: idealism, by his account, does not in itself imply a lack of realism. It is, on the contrary, the failure to adhere to values that transcend reality that makes us become the plaything of circumstances, and which permitted the triumph of fascism and state repression. Reality is not objective but derives from a ceaseless creation of values: it is no more than a construction emanating from autonomous personalities, taking on the responsibility for attributing values: Confucian saints, a certain period, the promoters of pacifism in the aftermath of World War Two.\\nImpact\\nThe influence of Maruyama’s work was, and remains today, immense in Japan. Besides determining the direction of future studies on the Tokugawa Period, his writing renewed the question of modernity in Japan. In the aftermath of the war, Maruyama was not content with the sham democracy imposed by the occupying power. Often compared to Sartre in his influence over young people, he played an important role as an opinion leader in postwar democratic Japan. He participated actively in debating such questions as the responsibility of Emperor Hirohito or of the Communist Party during the war, and above all, the question of renewing the Treaty of Peace and Security with the USA. This last debate gave him much opportunity to plead for Japanese pacifism, of which he was one of the great theoreticians.\\nJapanization of Mostly German Ideas:\\nWatsuji Tetsuro & Maruyama Masao\\nDr. Alois Hudal, Roman Catholic\\nbishop – and, during the 1930s, a\\nTitle page of the book\\nThe Foundations of National Socialism\\n(1937)\\nPicture of Theodor Kardinal Innitzer above\\nHUDAL:\\nAlois Hudal (also known as Luigi Hudal; born 31 May 1885 in Graz, Austro-Hungarian Empire; died 13 May 1963 in Rome, Italy) was a Rome-based bishop of Austrian descent. He is famous for his 1937 book The Foundations of National Socialism, in which he praised Hitler and some of his policies, and for the “ratline” he helped to establish after the end of World War II, allowing prominent Nazi war criminals to escape trial.\\nBiography\\nA career in Rome\\nBishop Alois Hudal was born on 31 May 1885, the son of a shoemaker in the Austrian city of Graz, where he studied theology (1904-1908) and was ordained to the priesthood in July 1908. Though the professorate promised to him at Vienna’s university was never given, Hudal became a noted specialist on the liturgy, doctrine and spirituality of the Slavic-speaking Eastern Orthodox Churches. He ministered as a parish chaplain in Kindberg, before leaving to study in Rome. In 1911 he became a Doctor in Theolgy in Graz. After completing his doctorate studies, he entered the Pontifical College of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome where he was a chaplain (1911-1913), attending courses in Old Testament at the Biblical Institute. There he took his second doctoral degree, on Die religioesen und sittlichen Ideen des Spruchbuches (“The religious and moral ideas of the Book of Proverbs”). This dissertation was published in 1914. He took residency in the faculty for Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz in 1914. He was an assistant military chaplain during a period of service in the First World War. In 1917 he published his sermons to the soldiers, Soldatenpredigten (see below his selected works), in which he expressed the idea that “loyalty to the flag is loyalty to God”, though also warning against “national chauvinism” at that time [1]. In 1923 he was nominated rector of the Collegio Teutonico di Santa Maria dell’Anima (or simply “Anima”) in Rome, a theological seminary for German and Austrian priests where he had lodged as a doctorate student[2]. In 1930 he was appointed a consultant to the Holy Office by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, whom Hudal in his memoirs considered a “grand seigneur of the Church” [3]. In June 1933 Hudal was ordained Titular Bishop of Aela by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who succeeded Merry del Val as the cardinal protector of the German national church at Rome [4]. Hudal was also a protégé of Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, ten years his elder and Archbishop of Vienna from 1932 to 1955.\\nWinds of nationalism and anti-Semitism\\nFrom 1933 on, Hudal embraced publicly the pan-Germanic nationalism he had previously condemned, proclaiming on July of that year that he always wished to be a “servant and herald” of “the total German cause” [5]. His invectives against the Jews also became more frequent, linking the so-called “Semitic race” – which allegedly “sought to set itself apart and dominate” – with the nefarious movements of democracy and cosmopolitanism and even denouncing an alleged Jewish conspiracy to become “the financial masters of the Eternal City” [6]. His opportunism and duplicity are patent in several moves he made at the time. For example, he was capable of writing a preface to an Italian biography of Engelbert Dollfuss in 1935 without mentioning that the Austrian politician with whom he sympathized had been murdered by Austrian Nazis in the previous year. [7]\\nBolshevism and Liberalism as enemies\\nHudal was a committed anti-Communist, but he also vehemently opposed Liberalism. Before Nazism, he was already highly critical of Parliamentary Democracy. His ideas were most similar to the political and economic ideas of his fellow Austrians Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg, as well as Franz von Papen in Germany, Salazar in Portugal and, in a less clear way, of Benito Mussolini in Italy. According to Greg Whitlock, “Hudal squarely fitted into a formula current at the time, the category of Clero-Fascism.”[8] Don Luigi Sturzo, the exiled Italian Catholic priest and Christian Democrat leader coined the term ‘Clerical-Fascism’ in the mid-20s to refer specifically to the faction of the Catholic party Italian People’s Party (Partito Popolare Italiano-PPI) who chose to support Mussolini. It was used afterwards to describe various authoritarian situations and regimes supported by members of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, including Dollfuss’s politics (Clerical Fascism and Austrofascism).\\nHudal was most concerned about the class conflict tearing apart European society, in particular the rise of the international Communist movement and worker parties in Austria. Fear of “Bolshevism”, as he called it, was his starting point, but this feeling turned into an aggressive political doctrine towards Russia: “Essential to understanding Hudal’s politics is his fear that Bolshevist military forces would invade Italy through Eastern Europe or the Balkans and would be unstoppable until they destroyed the Church. Like many within the Church, he embraced the bulwark theory, which placed hope in a strong German-Austrian military shield to protect Rome. This protection involved a pre-emptive attack on godless Communism, Hudal believed, and so he felt an urgent need for a Christian army from Central Europe to invade Russia and eliminate the Bolshevist threat to Rome” [9].\\nHowever, Communism was not his sole (and surely not his oldest) concern about Russia, since he was aiming at Eastern Christianity as well. In fact, Hudal’s long-term goals were also “the reunification of Rome with the Eastern Orthodox Church and the conversion of the Balkans from the Serbian Orthodox Church to Catholicism” [10]. He expected that the invasion of the Soviet Union would also serve these fundamental aims. Especially since Pope Benedict XV and the Russian Revolution of 1917, which crushed the Russian Orthodox Church and was regarded by Catholics as a historical opportunity, Rome was anxious about ending the thousand-year East-West Schism that separated Christianity [11].\\n“Good” and “bad” National Socialism\\nHudal is said to have received a Golden Nazi Party membership badge [12], but the fact is disputed. In 1937, in Vienna, Hudal published a book entitled The Foundations of National Socialism, with an imprimatur from Archbishop Innitzer, which was an enthusiastic endorsement of Hitler. Hudal sent Hitler a copy with a handwritten dedicacy praising him as “the new Siegfried of Germany’s greatness” [13]. Nevertheless, the book was not allowed to circulate freely in Germany by the Nazis — who generally detested the Roman Catholic Church and did not wish its leading members to “clericalize” their ranks — though it was not banned. During the Nuremberg trials, Franz von Papen declared that, at first, Hudal’s book had “very much impressed” Hitler, whose “anti-Christian advisers” were allegedly to blame for not allowing a free German edition. “All I could obtain was permission to print 2,000 copies, which Hitler wanted to distribute among leading Party members for a study of the problem”, Von Papen said.[14]\\nHudal was highly critical of the works of several Nazi ideologues, like Alfred Rosenberg or Ernst Bergmann, who despised Christianity and considered it “alien to Germanic genius” [15]. The condemnation in 1934 by the Holy Office of Reich secretary Alfred Rosenberg’s The Myth of the Twentieth Century and, shortly thereafter, of Ernst Bergmann’s The German National Church had in fact been based on Hudal’s secret assessment of both works [16] In his own 1937 book, Alois Hudal proposed a reconciliation and a compromise between Nazism and Christianity, leaving the education of the youth to the Churches, while the latter would leave politics entirely to National Socialism. This had been the line followed by prominent German Catholic politician and former Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen too. In the autumn of 1934, Hudal had already explained this strategy to Pius XI, who received him in audience: the “good” ought to be separated from the “bad” in Nazism. The bad – that is Rosenberg, Bergmann and others – according to Hudal represented the “left wing” of the Nazi party. The “conservatives” – headed, he believed, by Hitler – should be redirected toward Rome, Christianized and used against the Communists and the Eastern danger [17]. This may help explain why Hitler’s hate-filled book, Mein Kampf was never put on the Index by Rome, as censors continually postponed and eventually terminated its examination, balking at taking on the “legal” chancellor of Germany [18]. Hudal saw the danger in Hitler’s entourage, not in his person. More than Hitler, he feared Baldur von Schirach’s influence over the German youth.\\nThe reaction of Rosenberg to Hudal’s ideas was violent, and eventually the circulation of the Foundations of National Socialism was restricted in Germany. “We do not allow the fundaments of the Movement to be analyzed and criticized by a Roman Bishop” – said Rosenberg [19]. In 1935, even before he wrote the Foundations of National Socialism, Hudal had said about Rosenberg: “If National Socialism wants to replace Christianity by the notions of race and blood, we will have to face the greatest heresy of the twentieth century. It must be rejected by the Church as decisively as, if not more severely than […] the Action Française, with which it shares some errors. But Rosenberg’s doctrine is more imbued with negation and creates, above all in the youth, a hatred against Christianity greater than that of Nietzsche” [20].\\nDespite the restrictions imposed on his book, and despite many harsh National Socialist restrictions against German monasteries and parishes, and effective attempts by the Nazi government to forbid Catholic education at schools, going as far as banning the crucifix in schools and other public areas (see the Oldenburg crucifix struggle of November 1936), even despite the Nazi dissolution and confiscation of Austrian monasteries and the official banning of Catholic newspapers and associations in annexed Austria (“Ostmark”), Bishop Hudal remained close to some of the Nazi regime’s officials, as he was convinced that the Nazi new order would nevertheless prevail. Hudal was particularly close to Franz von Papen, who as the Reich’s ambassador in Vienna prepared the German-Austrian agreement of 11 July 1936, which paved the way for the Anschluss. This agreement was enthusiastically backed by Hudal in the Austrian press, against the position of several Austrian Bishops.[21] The former Centre politician Von Papen, who was considered dangerous and disliked by the Nazis for his Catholicism, was later on sent to the German Embassy in Ankara.\\nRatline organizer\\nAt the end of the war, Hudal, who was already “Commissioner of the Episcopate for German speaking Catholics in Italy, as well as Father Confessor to Rome’s German community”[22], became involved with processing displaced persons. In 1944, when the Pope’s Pontifical Commission of Assistance (PCA) was divided into some 20 regional subcommittees, the Austrian section (Assistenza Austriaca) was placed under Hudal’s control.[23] This allowed him and other PCA priests to piece together their network and organise the escape of war criminals such as Franz Stangl, commanding officer of Treblinka. Stangl himself told Gitta Sereny [24] that he went looking for Hudal in Rome, because he had heard that the bishop was helping the Germans. Hudal arranged quarters in Rome for him till his papers came through, then gave him money and a Red Cross passport with a visa to Syria. Stangl then left for Damascus, where the bishop had found him a job in a textile factory[25]. Other highly prominent Nazi war criminals helped by the Hudal network were SS captain Edward Roschmann, known as the “Butcher of Riga”, doctor Josef Mengele, known as the “Angel of Death” at Auschwitz, Gustav Wagner, commanding officer of Sobibor, Alois Brunner, organizer of deportations from France and Slovakia to German concentration camps, and above all Adolf Eichmann, the man who had been put in charge of implementing the murder of European Jewry[26]. In 1994 Erich Priebke, a former SS captain, told Italian journalist Emanuela Audisio, of La Repubblica, that bishop Hudal helped him reach Buenos Aires, which was later admitted by Vatican historian Robert Graham SJ [27].\\nIn 1945 Hudal gave refuge in Rome to Otto Wächter, who had played a leading role in the July Putsch of 1934 in Austria, which led to the assassination of Dollfuss. In 1938-1939, he headed the “Wächter-Kommission”, the government body named after him that was responsible for the dismissal and/or compulsory retirement of all Jewish officials in Austria.[28]. From 1939 on, as governor of the Cracow district, Wächter organized the persecution of the Jews and ordered the establishment of the Cracow Ghetto in 1941. Wächter is mentioned as one of the leading advocates in the General Government who were in favor of the Jewish extermination by gassing and as a member of the SS team who under Himmler’s supervision and Odilo Globocnik’s direction planned Operation Reinhard, the first phase of the Final Solution, leading to the death of more than 2,000,000 Polish Jews[29]. After the war Wächter lived in a Roman monastery “as a monk”[30], under the protection of Bishop Hudal. He died on July 14, 1949, in the Roman hospital of Santo Spirito “in the arms” of Bishop Hudal[31].\\nResignation and death\\nHudal’s activities caused a press scandal in 1947, after he was accused of leading a Nazi smuggling ring by the Passauer Neue Presse, a Catholic newspaper, but he only resigned as rector of Santa Maria dell’Anima in 1952, under pressure from the German and Austrian bishops and the Holy See. In January 1952, the Bishop of Salzburg told Hudal that the Holy See wanted to dismiss him. In June Hudal announced to the cardinal protector of Santa Maria dell’Anima that he had decided to leave the College, though disapproving of the Church allegedly being governed by the Allies.[32] He resided afterwards in Grottaferrata, near the city of Rome, where in 1962 he wrote his embittered memoirs called Römische Tagebücher. Lebensbeichte eines alten Bischofs (Diaries of Rome. The Confession of Life of an Old Bishop), published posthumously in 1976. Until his death in 1963, he never gave up in trying to obtain an amnesty to Nazis.[33] Despite his protests against anti-Semitism in the 1930s, in his memoirs, with full knowledge of the Holocaust as of 1962, the “Brown Bishop” [34] said of his actions in favour of war criminals and genocide perpetrators and participants: “I thank God that He opened my eyes and allowed me to visit and comfort many victims in their prisons and concentration camps and [to help] them escape with false identity papers” — where these so-called “victims” were in fact Axis prisoners of war and their “concentration camps” Allied detention camps.[35]\\nCloseness to the Vatican\\nHudal’s promotion to Bishop has been cited as evidence that he had close ties to members of the Roman Curia, particularly Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (an ex-Secretary of State who died as early as 1930), and Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pius XII who had previously been Papal Nuncio in Germany. Given Hudal’s open sympathy for National Socialism since the 1930s, it is very meaningful that he was given work with refugees after the war, and that he was chosen to minister to German internees in Italy. The Vatican, which was involved in a great deal of post-war humanitarian work concerning displaced persons, arranged for him to have an Allied travel pass for this purpose. One may wonder why the head of a Roman college would be given this task. Hudal’s successor as rector of the Anima in 1952, Father Jakob Weinbacher, future Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna (1962-1985), recalled in an interview with Gitta Sereny that “Hudal was very close to Pius XII… they were friends”.[36] A more recent rector, Dr. Johannes Nedbal admitted instead that Hudal was very close to Pius XI.[37]\\nSome historians take the view that Hudal was only a small player whose Ratline activities did not reflect any official policy at all. In particular, Catholic historians like Robert A. Graham (1913-1997) – an American Jesuit and a longtime Vatican operative who was co-editor of the 11-volume Acts and Documents of the Holy See relative to the Second World War[38] – estimated Hudal as “small fish” and as someone who was acting on his own behalf.\\nIn 1999, however, Italian researcher Matteo Sanfilippo revealed a letter drafted on 31 August 1948 by Bishop Hudal to Argentinian President Juan Perón, requesting 5,000 visas, 3,000 for German and 2,000 for Austrian «soldiers» [39]. In the letter Hudal explained that these were not (Nazi) refugees, but anti-Communist fighters whose wartime «sacrifice» had saved Europe from Soviet domination. [40] According to Argentine researcher Uki Goñi, the documents he uncovered in 2003 show the Roman Catholic Church was also deeply involved in the secret network. “The Perón government authorized the arrival of the first Nazi collaborators [in Argentina], as a result of a meeting in March 1946 between Antonio Caggiano, a [newly elevated] Argentine cardinal, and Eugène Tisserant, a French cardinal attached to the Vatican”.[41]\\nA French Jesuit historian, Fr. Pierre Blet, another co-editor of the above-cited Acts and Documents, only mentioned Hudal to signal his role, at the direct request of the pope’s nephew Carlo Pacelli, for the contacts of the Vatican with the Nazi authorities in October 1943, in order to end the razzias and spare the life of thousands of Jews sheltered in the priories and convents of Rome, after the city was occupied by the Germans in September of that year. His intervention, which was preceded by diplomatic contacts between Cardinal Maglione and German ambassador in Rome Weizsäcker, was apparently successful. Several thousand Jewish lives were saved by this initiative of the pope, according to Blet. According to another author, however, the idea of Hudal’s intervention came from the German ambassador himself, who asked the rector of the Anima to sign a letter to the military commander of Rome, General Reiner Stahel, requesting that the arrests be halted, otherwise the pope would take a position in public as being against the razzias.[42] Ambassador Weizsäcker argued that he opted for this ruse because Hitler might have reacted against the Vatican and the pope if it had been the German embassy to convey the warning, instead of the Nazi friendly bishop.[43]\\nAccording to several sources, Hudal may at the same time have been a Vatican-based informer of German intelligence under the Nazi regime. Vatican historian Fr. Robert Graham SJ held that view more categorically in his book Nothing Sacred.[44] [45] Several other authors mention his contacts in Rome with SS intelligence chief Walter Rauff, the developer of the mobile extermination with gas vans[46]. In September 1943, Rauff was sent to Milan, where he took charge of all Gestapo and SD operations throughout northwest Italy[47]. Hudal is said to have met Rauff then and to have begun some cooperation with him that was useful afterwards in the setting up of an escape network for Nazis, including for Rauff himself. After the war Rauff escaped from a prisoner camp in Rimini and “hid in a number of Italian convents, apparently under the protection of Bishop Alois Hudal”[48], eventually finding safe haven in Syria and later in Chile.\\nAfter the war Hudal was in fact one of the main Catholic organizers of the Ratline nets, along with Monsignor Karlo Petranovic, an Ustasha war criminal who fled to Austria and then to Italy after 1945[49], Father Edoardo Dömöter, the Franciscan of Hungarian origin who forged the identity of Eichmann’s passport, issued by the Red Cross in the name of Riccardo Klement [50], and Father Krunoslav Draganović, a Croatian professor of Theology [51]. Draganović, a smuggler of fascist (ustasha) war criminals who had also been involved in pro-Fascist espionage, was recycled by the U.S. during the Cold War – his name appears in the Pentagon payrolls in the late 1950s and early 1960s – and was eventually granted immunity in Tito’s Yugoslavia, where he died in 1983 at 79. Monsignor Karl Bayer, the Rome Director of Caritas International after the war, also cooperated with this ring. Interviewed in the 70s by Gitta Sereny, Monsignor Bayer recalled how he and Hudal had helped Nazis to Southern America with the Vatican’s support: “The Pope [Pius XII] did provide money for this; in driblets sometimes, but it did come” [52] Hudal’s Ratline was also supposedly financed by his friend Walter Rauff, with some funds allegedly coming from Giuseppe Siri, the recently appointed Auxiliary Bishop (1944) and Archbishop (1946) of Genoa [53]. Siri however was “a hero of the Resistance movement in Italy” during the German occupation of northern Italy.[54] Siri’s involvement remains unproven.\\nAccording to Uki Goñi, “some of the financing for Hudal’s escape network came from the United States”, precising that the Italian delegate of the American National Catholic Welfare Conference provided Hudal “with substantial funds for his ‘humanitarian’ aid”.[55]\\nFurthermore, since the works of Graham and Blet were published, historian Michael Phayer, a professor at Marquette University (a Catholic, Jesuit University), has alleged the close collaboration between the Vatican (Pope Pius XII and Giovanni Battista Montini, then “Substitute” of the Secretariat of State, and later Paul VI), on the one side and Draganović and Hudal on the other, and has sustained that Pius XII himself was directly engaged in ratline activity. Against these allegations of the direct involvement of Pope Pius XII and his staff there are some opposing testimonies and the denial by Vatican officials of any involvement of Pius XII himself. But according to Michael Phayer, the American Bishop Aloisius Muench, Pius XII’s own envoy to occupied western Germany after the war, “wrote to the Vatican warning the pope to desist from his efforts to have convicted war criminals excused”. The letter, written in Italian, “is available in the archives of the Catholic University of America”, according to Michael Phayer [56].\\nIn his posthumously published memoirs, Hudal instead recalls with bitterness the lack of support he found the Holy See to give to Nazi Germany’s battle against “godless Bolshevism” at the Eastern Front. Hudal several times in this work claims to have received criticism of the Nazi system rather than support for it from the Vatican diplomats under Pius XII. He assumed that the Holy See’s policy during and after the war was entirely controlled by the western Allies. Until his death Hudal was convinced he had done the right thing, and said that he considered saving German and other fascist officers and politicians from the hands of Allied prosecution, a “just thing” and “what should have been expected of a true Christian”, adding: “We do not believe in the eye for an eye of the Jew”.[57] He said that the justice of the Allies and the Soviets had resulted in show trials and lynchings, including the major trials at Nuremberg.[58] In his memoirs he also developed a curious theory about the economic causes of World War II, which allowed him to plainly justify for himself his acts in favour of Nazi and Fascist war criminals: «The Allies’ War against Germany was not a crusade, but the rivalry of economic complexes for whose victory they had been fighting. This so-called business … used catchwords like democracy, race, religious liberty and Christianity as a bait for the masses. All these experiences were the reason why I felt duty bound after 1945 to devote my whole charitable work mainly to former National Socialists and Fascists, especially to so-called ‘war criminals’».[59]\\nNotes\\nPeter Godman, Hitler and the Vatican, New York, 2004, p. 44\\nSee “Collegio Teutonico di Santa Maria dell’Anima” (in German) [1].\\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, p. 41, cited by Philippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme”, RSCI, January 2003.\\nSee “Hudal, Alois C.” in BBKL [2] and Peter Godman, op. cit.\\nPeter Godman, op. cit., p. 45, citing Hudal’s Ecclesiae et nationi…, 1934, see below his works.\\nIbid., p. 45, quoting Hudal’s Vom deutschen Schaffen in Rom…, 1933, see below his works.\\nIbid., p. 46.\\nGreg Whitlock, “Alois Hudal: Clero-Fascist Nietzsche critic”, Nietzsche-Studien, volume 32, 2003.\\nIbid.\\nHansjakob Stehle, Eastern Politics of the Vatican 1917-1979. Athens, Ohio University Press, 1981\\nKarlheinz Deschner, Ein Jahrhundert Heilsgeschichte, vol. II, Leck, 1983, pp. 135, 139.\\nErnst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe, Frankfurt, 1991 (see below the Bibliography)\\nNuremberg Trials Proceedings, vol. 16, p. 285 [3].\\nE. Bergmann, Die deutsche Nationalkirche (The German National Church), Breslau, 1933, cited by Peter Godman, op. cit., p. 51.\\nPeter Godman, op. cit.\\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, cited by Peter Godman, op. cit., p. 53.\\nTom Heneghan, “Secrets Behind The Forbidden Books”, America, February 7, 2005 [4]\\nCited by Mark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, New York, 1991, p. 31.\\nA. Hudal, Das deutsche Volk und christliches Abenland, p. 24, cited by Greg Whitlock, op. cit\\nPhilippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme (1933-1938)”, see below the Bibliography.\\nMark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, p 25.\\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, London, 2002, p.229-251.\\nGitta Sereny, Into that Darkness, London, 1974.\\nIbid., p. 289.\\nSee Michael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Cold War, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2007, pp. 195ff, and Uki Goñi, op. cit.\\nGraham statements to ANSA news agency, 10 May 1994, cited by Uki Goñi, op. cit., p. 261 and note 453.\\n“1938: NS-Herrschaft in Österreich” (1938: The Nazi Rule in Austria) [5]\\nRobin O’Neil, Belzec: Prototype for the Final Solution, chapters 5 and 10[6].\\n“Axis Biographical Research”, page “Generalgouvernment” [7]\\nErnst Klee, Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945, S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2003, and Alois Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, pp. 162-163.\\nMatteo Sanfilippo, “Los papeles de Hudal como fuente para la historia de la migración de alemanes y nazis después de la segunda guerra mundial”, Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos, 43, 1999, p. 185-209).\\nIn 1959-1960, for example, Hudal’s correspondence shows his efforts to obtain an amnesty in Greece and West Germany (Matteo Sanfilippo, op. cit.)\\nIn 1949, Hudal was labeled in German “church circles” as the “brauner Bischof”, according to the German newspapers Nord Press (December 6, 1949, p. 4) and the above cited Passauer Neue Press (December 13, 1949, p. 3).\\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, English translation quoted in Greg Whitlock, op. cit.\\nGitta Sereny, op. cit., p. 305, cited by Aarons and Loftus, op. cit.\\nAarons and Loftus, op. cit., p. 32.\\nVatican City, 1965-1981\\nMatteo Sanfilippo, op. cit. Argentinian author Uki Goñi also mentions the fact in The Real Odessa, op. cit., p. 229\\nIbid.\\nLarry Rohter, “Argentina, a Haven for Nazis, Balks at Opening Its Files”, New York Times, March 7, 2003 [8].\\nDan Kurzman, A Special Mission, Da Capo Press, 2007, pp. 183-185.\\nDan Kurzman, Id.\\nRobert Graham and David Alvarez, Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945, London, 1998.\\nOn Hudal as a German spy, see also Klaus Voigt, Zuflucht auf Widerruf. Exil in Italien 1933-1945 (Precarious refuge. Exile in Italy 1933-1945), vol. I, Stuttgart, Klett-Cotta, 1989.\\n“The Development of the Gas-Van in the Murdering of the Jews”, in Jewish Virtual Library [9].\\n“5 September 2005 releases: German intelligence officers”, in Security Service, MI5, [10].\\n“Opening of CIA Records under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act”, in The National Archives, Press Release, May 8, 2002 [11]\\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, op. cit., p. 235-236. According to this author, Monsignor Petranovic “was himself a war criminal and Ustasha captain who had been deputy to the local Ustasha leader at Ogulin, a district that saw the extermination of some 2,000 Serbs during the war.” He adds: “The Monsignor organized and instigated many of these murders, personally directing the arrest and execution of 70 prominent Serbs.” A request for his extradition by Yugoslavia “was ignored by the British authorities in 1947” (ibid., p. 235).\\n“Un frate francescano firmò la fuga di Genova di Eichmann”, Il Secolo XIX, August 14, 2003, p. 4. [12]\\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, chapter “A Roman ‘Sanctuary'”, pp. 229-251.\\nGitta Sereny, op. cit., p. 289.\\nMark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, p. 39-40.\\n“24 Hats”, Time Magazine [December 8, 1952 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817551-2,00.html ]\\nUki Goñi, op. cit., p. 230.\\nM. Phayer, “The Author replies”, Commonweal, June 6, 2003 [13]\\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, pp. 21.\\nIbid., pp. 220-254.\\nSelected works of Alois Hudal\\nSoldatenpredigten (Graz, 1917) – Sermons to the Soldiers.\\nDie serbisch-orthodoxe Nationalkirche (Graz, 1922) – The Serbian Orthodox National Church.\\nVom deutschen Schaffen in Rom. Predigten, Ansprachen und Vorträge, (Innsbruck, Vienna and München, 1933) – On the German Work in Rome. Sermons, Speeches and Lectures.\\nDie deutsche Kulturarbeit in Italien (Münster, 1934) – The German Cultural Activity in Italy.\\nEcclesiae et nationi. Katholische Gedanken in einer Zeitenwende (Rome, 1934) – The Church and the Nations. Catholic Thoughts in the Turn of an Era.\\nRom, Christentum und deutsches Volk (Rome, 1935) – Rome, the Christendom and the German People.\\nDeutsches Volk und christliches Abendland (Innsbruck, 1935) – The German People and the Christian Occident.\\nDer Vatikan und die modernen Staaten (Innsbruck, 1935) – The Vatican and the Modern States.\\nDas Rassenproblem (Lobnig, 1935) – The Race Problem.\\nDie Grundlagen des Nationalsozialismus (Leipzig and Vienna, 1936-37 and facsimile edition Bremen, 1982) – The Foundations of National Socialism.\\nNietzsche und die moderne Welt (Rome, 1937) – Nietzsche and the Modern World.\\nEuropas religiöse Zukunft (Rome, 1943) – The Religious Future of Europe.\\nRömische Tagebücher. Lebensbeichte eines alten Bischofs (Graz, 1976) – Diaries of Rome. The Confession of Life of an Old Bishop.\\nBibliography\\nRobert Graham and David Alvarez, Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945, London: Frank Cass, 1998.\\nMichael Phayer, The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1965, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2000.\\nMichael Phayer, “Canonizing Pius XII. Why did the pope help Nazis escape?”, Commonweal, May 9, 2003 / Vol. CXXX (9) [14].\\nMichael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 2007. Hudal is mentioned throughout the book, and especially in chapter 8, “Bishop Hudal’s Ratline”, pp. 195-207.\\nPierre Blet, Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican, New York, Paulist Press, 1997.\\nGreg Whitlock, “Alois Hudal: Clero-Fascist Nietzsche critic”, Nietzsche-Studien, volume 32, 2003.\\nGitta Sereny, Into that Darkness, London, Deutsch, 1974.\\nErnst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe. Wie die Kirchen den Nazis halfen (Whitewash Certificates and False Passports. How the Churches Helped the Nazis), Frankfurt, Fischer Geschichte, 1991.\\nErnst Klee, Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945, S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2003.\\nRobert Katz, Dossier Priebke. Anatomia di un processo, Milano, Rizzoli, 1996.\\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa. How Perón Brought the Nazi War Criminals to Argentina, London, Granta, 2002 (with many valuable references to Hudal and the “Ratlines”, including new details on Hudal’s role in Eichmann’s escape to Argentina).\\nPeter Godman, Hitler and the Vatican, New York, Free Press, 2004 (one of the most reliable and up-to-date sources on Hudal).\\nMarcus Langer, Alois Hudal, Bischof zwischen Kreuz und Hakenkreuz. Versuch eine Biographie (Bishop Alois Hudal : Between Cross and Swastika. Attempt at a biography), PhD thesis, Vienna, 1995.\\nDan Kurzman, A Special Mission : Hitler’s Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius XII, Cambridge, Da Capo Press, 2007.\\nMatteo Sanfilippo, “Los papeles de Hudal como fuente para la historia de la migración de alemanes y nazis después de la segunda guerra mundial” (Hudal’s papers as a source for the history of the migration of Germans and Nazis after World War II), Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos, 43, 1999, p. 185-209.\\nPhilippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme 1933-1938”, Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia, January/July 2003, p.133-154.\\nMark Aarons and John Loftus Ratlines: How the Vatican’s Nazi Networks Betrayed Western Intelligence to the Soviets, London, Heinemann, 1991 (republished in the U.S. as Unholy Trinity, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1991).\\nCOMMENT: See the 1963 film, “The Cardinal” directed by Otto Preminger. Cardinal Innitzer of Vienna, mentioned above, figures in this film.\\nFather Tiso of Slovakia is the customary exemplar of WW II clerico-fascism.\\nApril 3, 2008 at 11:41 am | Posted in Books , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , United Kingdom | Leave a comment\\nMichael Faraday (1791-1867)\\nThe Chemical History of A Candle,\\n1860\\nThe Chemical History of a Candle was the title of a series of lectures on the chemistry and physics of flames given by Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution . This was the origin of the Christmas lectures for young people that are still given there every year and bear his name.\\nThe lectures were first printed as a book in 1861.\\nThe Global History of 1919\\nand the Replacement of the\\nEuropean Lens by a Global Lens\\nAnother artifact of the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is often viewed is the common conceptualization of that moment as a clash of two opposing visions of world order: liberal internationalism vs. communist internationalism, or “Wilson vs. Lenin,” to use Arno Mayer’s memorable phrase.\\nOnce we remove the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is most often written, it becomes clear that the significance of the “brief interval” of Wilson’s ascendance far transcended the confines of Europe. An examination of how the ascendance of Wilson and the United States during this period was interpreted by leading intellectuals and refracted in public discourses in Asian societies would expand our view of the international history of 1919.\\nInternational historians, however, have tended to leave in the shadows the very same issues that were marginalized or ignored, whether by design or neglect, by the Great Power leaders themselves in their deliberations. Foremost among these issues were the demands for self-determination of representatives of peoples outside Europe, most especially in those cases—China, Korea, Egypt, Tunisia, India, Indochina, and others—in which the interests of one or more of the victorious Allied powers stood to be compromised if the demands were entertained. The spring of 1919 saw the launching of revolts against empire in numerous non-European societies and the expansion of anticolonial nationalism to unprecedented intensity and scope, and a few international historians have indeed noted in passing the significance of 1919 in the world outside Europe and identified it as a watershed in the rise of anticolonial nationalism as a broad, international phenomenon. 7\\nWhen Woodrow Wilson landed in the harbor of Brest on the French Atlantic coast on Friday, December 13, 1918, the city’s mayor met him at the dock and greeted him as an apostle of liberty, come to release the peoples of Europe from their suffering. The next morning, Wilson drove along the streets of Paris through cheering throngs, and the French press across the political spectrum hailed him as “the incarnation of the hope of the future.” The U.S. president met similar receptions in England and Italy over the next several weeks. 2 H. G. Wells captured the essence of popular sentiments a few years later, when he noted the intense yet fleeting nature of Wilson’s apotheosis:\\n“For a brief interval, Wilson stood alone for mankind. And in that brief interval there was a very extraordinary and significant wave of response to him throughout the earth … He ceased to be a common statesman; he became a Messiah.” 3\\nDespite such high passions, however, the story of the ecstatic reception accorded the U.S. president in Europe is remembered today as little more than an ironic footnote to the history of the Great War. Most of the hopes and expectations associated with Wilson were quickly disappointed, and the widespread reverence of the U.S. leader in Europe and elsewhere quickly turned into bitter disillusionment. 4\\nThe terms of the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, fell far short of the expectations that Wilson had inspired, and it was repudiated by most of his former admirers around the world, and also by the U.S. Senate and the American public, who were eager to return to the comforting embrace of “normalcy.” 51\\nThere is, of course, voluminous historiography on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the U.S. role in it, but it has remained rather single-mindedly focused on Europe, and specifically on the policies, decisions, and leaders of the Great Powers. 6\\nMuch of the literature, in fact, seems to follow closely the Great Power agenda at the negotiation table, with the volume of writings on specific issues and regions often matching the attention that the major Allied leaders paid to them at the time. This is hardly surprising, since many of the issues debated in Paris were indeed of momentous import, both for the immediate shape of the peace settlement and, in some cases, for the subsequent history of Europe.\\nInternational historians, however, have tended to leave in the shadows the very same issues that were marginalized or ignored, whether by design or neglect, by the Great Power leaders themselves in their deliberations. Foremost among these issues were the demands for self-determination of representatives of peoples outside Europe, most especially in those cases—China, Korea, Egypt, Tunisia, India, Indochina, and others—in which the interests of one or more of the victorious Allied powers stood to be compromised if the demands were entertained. The spring of 1919 saw the launching of revolts against empire in numerous non-European societies and the expansion of anticolonial nationalism to unprecedented intensity and scope, and a few international historians have indeed noted in passing the significance of 1919 in the world outside Europe and identified it as a watershed in the rise of anticolonial nationalism as a broad, international phenomenon. 7\\nHowever, these movements and the goals and perceptions that drove them, though of course prominent in their respective national and regional histories, have received little sustained or detailed attention in the international histories of 1919. 82\\nOnce we remove the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is most often written, it becomes clear that the significance of the “brief interval” of Wilson’s ascendance far transcended the confines of Europe. An examination of how the ascendance of Wilson and the United States during this period was interpreted by leading intellectuals and refracted in public discourses in Asian societies would expand our view of the international history of 1919; at the same time, it would illuminate the connections between the transformative events that took place in Asian societies during this period, which have typically been studied within historiographical disciplines that have remained separate and distinct, and the wider international context of the period. Though no single essay could capture the full story of Asian responses to Wilson, there is nevertheless a strong argument for a transnational approach, since an inquiry limited to a single Asian society, however valuable, would still produce a narrative confined within the enclosure of national history, one that would have persisted in naturalizing the nation “as the skin that contains the experience of the past.” 10 By examining responses to Wilson’s rhetoric and the construction of his image within two major Asian societies—China and India—we can better capture the broad scope of the “Wilsonian moment” in Asia. 3\\nThere were, of course, myriad differences in the historical experiences and circumstances of these two societies in 1919, not least in the specific characters of their respective relationships with empire. India had long been the crown jewel of the British imperial edifice and, despite some minor political reforms in the years immediately before the war, continued to be ruled directly and autocratically by a British-led bureaucracy. China, on the other hand, was recognized as an independent state in theory. In practice, however, China existed in a state of semicolonial subjugation, severely limited in the exercise of its sovereignty by a web of “unequal treaties” with the major powers; and Chinese intellectuals in 1919, like their Indian counterparts, viewed their struggle for self-determination as part of a broader revolt against imperialism. 11 Thus, the war and its immediate aftermath saw similar developments in China and India. Both societies at the time had emergent nationalist movements and leaders that were engaged in a search for a greater measure of sovereignty in domestic and international affairs. In the heady months from the fall of 1918, when Allied victory was in sight, to the spring of 1919, when the actual terms of the peace began to emerge, leaders and publics in the two societies paid close attention to the shifts in the discourses of international power and legitimacy that Wilson’s rise appeared to herald, and strove to interpret and shape the significance of these shifts for their specific circumstances. 4\\nHistorians have often noted how the spectacle of material destruction and moral degeneration that was the Great War helped launch a broad critique among Afro-Asian intellectuals of the West’s claim to superior civilization. 12\\nThis insight, important as it is, elides the widespread if short-lived adulation in Asia of that quintessential product of the “West,” Woodrow Wilson. The war itself, to be sure, brought dislocation and suffering and showcased European savagery, but it also inspired great expectations for a postwar transformation in which a chastened Europe would change its ways, and for a new international order that would accord non-European peoples their rightful place among nations. The war could be seen as evidence for the degeneracy of Europe, but Europe did not encompass the “West” in its entirety; the United States could still appear as a rising force that would salvage and fulfill the promise of “Western civilization.” Indeed, it is arguable that during the 1918–1919 period, the United States appeared to Chinese and Indians to hold greater promise than at any time before or since. 13 The disappointments of the peace, rather than the devastations of the war as such, sealed the postwar indictment of Asian intellectuals against the West. 5\\nAnother artifact of the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is often viewed is the common conceptualization of that moment as a clash of two opposing visions of world order: liberal internationalism vs. communist internationalism, or “Wilson vs. Lenin,” to use Arno Mayer’s memorable phrase. 14\\nMayer, however, coined the phrase specifically to describe the wartime struggle between Bolshevism and Wilsonian reformism over the hearts and minds of the European left, and in the context of the world outside Europe, that parallel opposition is less applicable. 15 At least until the spring of 1919, when evidence of Wilson’s failure to implement his vaunted principles began to emerge from Paris, it was Wilson, not Lenin, who loomed far larger in the imaginations of Asian intellectuals, both as an inspiration for expectations and rhetoric and as a putative source of practical support for self-determination. It was only after the collapse of the Wilsonian moment in mid-1919 that Lenin and Russian Bolshevism began to gain importance as a potential model and ally for many movements for self-determination in Asia. 6\\nWhile the moment lasted, however, many in Asia believed that President Wilson had both the intent and the power to construct a new mode of international relations predicated on the principles of “self-determination” and “the equality of nations,” in which the prewar imperial arrangements, with Asian nations consigned to various forms of subjugation and subordination, would be rendered illegitimate. Along with the millions in Europe who cheered Wilson upon his arrival there, Indians and Chinese saw Wilson’s wartime rhetoric as a blueprint for a more peaceful and inclusive international order, one in which Asian nations could achieve a greater measure of equality and sovereignty. Asian intellectuals pondered not only the responses that Wilson’s arrival on the continent would have elicited, as Srinivasa Sastri did, but also, much more importantly, how his plans for the postwar world, as they understood them, might mediate the chasm in international relations between “East” and “West” and allow Asian peoples to put their relationships with the West on a footing of equality and mutual respect. In order to better understand that transformative juncture in international history, historians must imagine Woodrow Wilson in Asia, just as many of his contemporaries there did. 7\\nDespite the perception of Wilson in the minds of many at the time and later as the leading champion of a postwar order based on a right to “self-determination,” it was the Russian Bolsheviks, not Wilson, who introduced this term into the wartime international discourse. The principle of “national self-determination” and its relationship to socialist revolution had long been a staple of debate among European socialists, and some saw nationalism as a barrier to class solidarity and a dangerous diversion from the revolutionary mission. For Lenin, however, support for colonial liberation was an important tool for undermining the capitalist-imperialist world order. 16\\nEven before his return to Russia in April 1917, Lenin declared that when the Bolsheviks came to power, their peace plan would include “the liberation of all colonies” and of “all dependent, oppressed, and unequal nations.” Shortly thereafter, the Provisional Government in Russia, under pressure from the Bolshevik-controlled Petrograd Soviet, became the first among the belligerent governments to call officially for a peace settlement “on the basis of self-determination of peoples.” 17 After the Bolsheviks took control of the revolution in November, the newly appointed commissar of foreign affairs, Leon Trotsky, immediately demanded that the Allied powers “give the right of self-determination to the peoples of Ireland, Egypt, India, Madagascar, Indochina, et cetera.” Otherwise, their claim to be fighting the war for the freedom of small nations would be little more than “the most naked, the most cynical imperialism.” 18 8\\nThe Bolshevik calls in late 1917 for a settlement based on national self-determination found great resonance within the anti-imperialist left in Europe. In Britain, it helped inflame the dissatisfaction of the Labour Party opposition with the vagueness of their government’s war aims, a sentiment already stoked, after the American entry into the war in April 1917, by Wilson’s repeated calls for a postwar settlement based on “the consent of the governed.” Prime Minister David Lloyd George, concerned that the enthusiasm of the left in Britain and other Allied countries for the rhetorics of Wilson and Lenin would compromise popular support for the war effort, moved quickly to redefine British war aims in more progressive terms. 19\\nSpeaking before the British Trades Union League on January 5, 1918, Lloyd George performed an act of rhetorical legerdemain, merging the divergent discourses of Wilson and Lenin into one: the peace, he said, must be based “on the right of self-determination or the consent of the governed.” 20 By equating the Bolshevik call for “national self-determination” for ethnic minorities to Wilson’s notion of a peace based on the principle of popular consent, Lloyd George managed to obfuscate the differences between the revolutionary agenda of the former and the liberal reformism implied in the latter. 9\\nWilson himself completed this conflation in the following months. Although he had never before uttered, or perhaps even encountered, the term “self-determination,” he quickly adopted it as his own, with growing fervor and emphasis. Despite popular conceptions to the contrary, the term itself was nowhere to be found in the Fourteen Points address. Several of the points, however—the resurrection of Poland, the evacuation of Belgium, and his call for the “autonomous development” of the peoples of the Ottoman and Habsburg empires—seemed to imply that peace depended on the rollback of imperial rule and conquest, at least in some cases. 21\\nThe following month, Wilson spoke explicitly for the first time of a right of “self-determination” in international affairs. The coming world settlement, he said in another address to Congress, must respect the voices of the people: “national aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent.” Although he was introducing a new phrase into his political vocabulary, he was quite emphatic in advocating it: “‘Self-determination’ is not a mere phrase. It is an imperative principle of action, which statesmen will henceforth ignore at their peril.” 22\\nWilson, then, did not present this principle as a theoretical construct that he wished to implement, but as an independent force already at work in world politics, one that must be recognized and accommodated. 10\\nIn Wilson’s usage, however, the meaning of “self-determination” was far vaguer and more elastic than it was in Lenin’s. For the Bolsheviks, who almost always preceded the term with the adjective “national,” it was a call for the revolutionary overthrow of imperial rule through an appeal to the national identity and aspirations of subject peoples. Wilson, on the other hand, rarely if ever uttered the specific term “national self-determination”; he used the more general, vaguer phrase “self-determination,” and usually equated the term with popular consent, conjuring an international order based on democratic forms of government. He did at times advocate redrawing borders along ethnic lines, as in the cases of Poland and Italy, but he saw the independence of ethnic or national units as only one among several ways to implement self-determination. In the case of the peoples of Austria-Hungary, for example, Wilson supported autonomy rather than full independence as compatible with the principle of self-determination until the collapse of the Vienna government made that option impractical. If Lenin saw self-determination as a revolutionary principle and sought to use it as a wrecking ball against the reactionary multiethnic empires of Europe, Wilson hoped that self-determination would serve precisely in the opposite role: as a bulwark against radical, revolutionary challenges to existing orders. If revolution, as Wilson and other Progressives believed, was a reaction to oppression by autocratic, unaccountable regimes, then the application of self-determination, defined as government by consent, would help to remove the revolutionary impulse and promote change through gradual reforms. 23 11\\nWilson, then, grafted the new term onto his old ideas, and used it in his addresses as essentially synonymous with the notions of popular sovereignty and government by consent, which had long been central in his wartime rhetoric, and indeed in the tradition of Anglo-American political thought. If he saw any distinction between the new principle of “self-determination” and the old one of government by consent, the documentary record gives us no such clue. And like his old notions of consent, this new principle was phrased in universal language; theoretically, at least, it applied to all peoples everywhere. But if Wilson, in his speeches, did not explicitly limit the application of the principle to Europe, it is clear that as a practical matter, he saw it as immediately relevant only to the European territories of the defeated empires—German, Austrian-Hungarian, and Ottoman. Eventually, he imagined, it might apply in other colonial situations, but if so, it would be through gradual processes of tutelage and reform such as he himself had initiated in the U.S. colonial administration of the Philippines—not, if he could help it, through the violent overthrow of colonial rule. 24 12\\nIn the final months of the war, calls for a peace based on “self-determination” recurred regularly and with increasing emphasis alongside references to the “consent of the governed” in Wilson’s public rhetoric. In his Independence Day address in July 1918, the U.S. president described the war as an epic struggle between oppressive regimes whose time had passed and the progressive ideals to which the future belonged. In the aftermath of the struggle, he said, American ideals of government by consent must extend over the entire globe, encompassing people of many races and regions.\\nThe postwar settlement must include “the settlement of every question, whether of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrangement, or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned.” 25\\nIn the end, Wilson’s incorporation of Bolshevik rhetoric may not have significantly altered the essence of his vision in his own mind, but it lent his pronouncements a more radical tone, amplifying their impact on the imaginations of colonial peoples worldwide who heard them. 13\\nOnce Wilson adopted the rhetoric of “self-determination” as his own, it spread quickly around the world, and by the time of the armistice it was intimately identified with the figure of the U.S. president. Wilson’s proclamations were carried across Asia on the infrastructure for the production and dissemination of news about international events that was in place across much of the globe by the time of the war. It included the cable and wireless telegraph networks that disseminated the information, 26 but also, no less importantly, the global press agencies that often provided the content of the news and the local newspapers that carried it. As early as 1905, India already had more than 1,300 newspapers in English and in Indian languages, which were estimated to reach 2 million subscribers and an unknowable number of additional readers. 27\\nIn China, the popular press, launched in the coastal cities in the 1890s, also burgeoned in the first decades of the twentieth century. Those with access to such information remained, to be sure, a small minority; nevertheless, by 1918 there had emerged in both societies nationally aware, articulate publics who were interested in and informed about international developments. 28 14\\nBy the last year of the war, the U.S. president’s words were widely available in the print media across Asia, echoing far beyond the American and European audiences to whom they were primarily addressed. Partly, this was due to the global propaganda campaign, entirely unprecedented in its scale and purpose, that the Wilson administration had launched after the United States entered the war. The campaign, carried out by the Committee for Public Information (CPI) that Wilson established in 1917, aimed “to drive home the absolute justice of America’s cause, the absolute selflessness of America’s aims.” CPI propaganda, reported its chairman, made use of the recent advances in communication and media technologies, such as wireless telegraphy and moving pictures, in pursuit of that goal: “The printed word, the spoken word, the motion picture, the poster, the signboard—all these were used in our campaign.” 29\\nWilson’s public addresses and declarations, from the Fourteen Points on, were the linchpin of CPI propaganda, especially in its foreign operations. Although the focus of the committee’s work abroad was Europe and Latin America, it also opened a branch in China, where CPI agents distributed news summaries, posters, and newsreels. 30 15\\nBut the impact of the CPI in creating and disseminating Wilson’s image in Asia was not nearly as decisive as its boosters imagined. Far more important was the role of the global commercial news agencies, especially the British agency Reuters. In both China and India, indeed in most of Asia at the time, the “foreign news” sections of mainstream newspapers, which usually lacked the funds to employ foreign correspondents of their own, consisted primarily of copy from pro-Allied news services. 31\\nNews and analyses sympathetic to the Allied cause dominated the global flows of information, and Wilson’s wartime addresses and proclamations were widely and favorably reported in Asia. In India, where no significant American propaganda machinery existed, knowledge of Wilson’s words spread no less rapidly than in China, and his major addresses were prominently featured in the press, often verbatim. Interest among educated Indians and Chinese in the U.S. president and his plans for the postwar world, as reflected in press reports and editorials, grew steadily during the first part of 1918, and then increased exponentially in the last months of that year, as Allied victory began to appear imminent and news spread that the peace would be based on Wilson’s principles. 32 16\\nNationalists in Asia quickly recognized the potential utility of Wilson’s rhetoric for their causes, even if its scope and intent remained unclear. A leading nationalist paper in Calcutta, commenting in February 1918 on the address in which Wilson first used the term “self-determination,” immediately probed the possible application of his words to India. The American president, it noted, had declared that the “whole world” was affected by the issues at hand, but it remained unclear whether India, and the rest of Asia and Africa, was to be included in the postwar reconstruction of world order.\\nThe real cause of wars was the condition of “the helpless and unprotected regions and peoples of Asia and Africa,” and peace would not come “until Asia and Africa have secured full national autonomy.” 33\\nIn China, too, the publication of Wilson’s important speeches was accompanied by commentary that related his rhetoric to Chinese concerns. A major Shanghai daily accompanied the text of the Fourteen Points with an editorial comment noting that the U.S. president’s ideas for peace were “a beacon of light for the world’s peoples.” They were credible, too, the editorial added: the United States already had enough resources to become the most powerful nation in the world, and therefore Wilson could not be suspected of ulterior motives in promoting these ideals. 34 17\\nShortly after the armistice, Ganesh, a prominent nationalist press in India, published a collection of the U.S. president’s addresses under the rousing title President Wilson: The Modern Apostle of Freedom. In numerous ads that ran in the Indian press in early 1919, the book prominently headlined Ganesh’s list of patriotic publications. The text of the ads described the U.S. president as “the most striking personality in the world” and a “man of destiny,” whose speeches, “one of the finest and sweetest fruits of the deadly war,” would “bring solace to a war-weary world and hope to small and weak nationalities.” 35\\nSuch glowing copy was surely, at least in part, an adman’s pitch, but the publisher clearly believed that it would strike patriotic Indians as plausible. Indeed, one reviewer exclaimed that “the eloquent addresses of this great inspiring apostle of Modern Freedom … must find a place in every household of a true patriot,” and would enormously help the “itinerant Home Rule propagandist to advocate, in sober but clear and emphatic terms, the cause of liberty before his countrymen.” 36\\nIn Shanghai, the venerable Commercial Press published a similar volume that compiled the texts of Wilson’s wartime speeches. The book was published in two editions: one in Chinese translation only, and a second, more costly edition containing the original English texts with their Chinese translations alongside. This collection, too, was widely advertised in the press and became something of a bestseller, going through several printings. 37\\nDescription\\nDuring the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, while key decisions were debated by the victorious Allied powers, a multitude of smaller nations and colonies held their breath, waiting to see how their fates would be decided. President Woodrow Wilson, in his Fourteen Points, had called for “a free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims,” giving equal weight to the opinions of the colonized peoples and the colonial powers. Among those nations now paying close attention to Wilson’s words and actions were the budding nationalist leaders of four disparate non-Western societies–Egypt, India, China, and Korea. That spring, Wilson’s words would help ignite political upheavals in all four of these countries.\\nThis book is the first to place the 1919 Revolution in Egypt, the Rowlatt Satyagraha in India, the May Fourth movement in China, and the March First uprising in Korea in the context of a broader “Wilsonian moment” that challenged the existing international order. Using primary source material from America, Europe, and Asia, historian Erez Manela tells the story of how emerging nationalist movements appropriated Wilsonian language and adapted it to their own local culture and politics as they launched into action on the international stage. The rapid disintegration of the Wilsonian promise left a legacy of disillusionment and facilitated the spread of revisionist ideologies and movements in these societies; future leaders of Third World liberation movements–Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, and Jawaharlal Nehru, among others–were profoundly shaped by their experiences at the time.\\nThe importance of the Paris Peace Conference and Wilson’s influence on international affairs far from the battlefields of Europe cannot be underestimated. Now, for the first time, we can clearly see just how the events played out at Versailles sparked a wave of nationalism that is still resonating globally today.\\nNotes:\\n1 Woodrow Wilson’s Message for Eastern Nations, Selected by Himself from His Public Addresses, Foreword by the Rt. Hon. V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (Calcutta, 1925), iv–v. Sastri (1860–1946) was a leading liberal intellectual and politician in pre-independence India. See Ray T. Smith, “V. S. Srinivasa Sastri and the Moderate Style in Indian Politics,” South Asia 2 (1972): 81–100.\\n2 “Two Million Cheer Wilson,” New York Times, December 15, 1918, 1; Charles T. Thompson, The Peace Conference Day by Day: A Presidential Pilgrimage Leading to the Discovery of Europe (New York, 1920), 6, 55–56, 67–68. Also Arthur Walworth, Woodrow Wilson, 3rd ed. (New York, 1978), 2: 221–234.\\n3 H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come (New York, 1933), 82.\\nComment: See earlier Cambridge Forecast Group Blog for post on Wells book and movie.\\n4 Wilson himself seems to have foreseen this, telling his adviser George Creel that the expectations of the United States were so unrealistic that they would inevitably lead to a “tragedy of disappointment.” Creel, The War, the World and Wilson (New York, 1920), 161–162. Another instance showing Wilson to be “very nervous” that the inflated expectation would lead to “revulsion” when people discovered that he could not do all they had hoped is recorded in the Diary of Edith Benham, February 2, 1919, in Woodrow Wilson, The Papers of Woodrow Wilson [hereafter PWW], ed. Arthur S. Link et al., 69 vols. (Princeton, N.J., 1966–1994), 54: 432–433.\\n5 John Milton Cooper, Jr., Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations (Cambridge, 2001); Lloyd E. Ambrosius, Woodrow Wilson and the American Diplomatic Tradition: The Treaty Fight in Perspective (Cambridge, 1987).\\n6 Leading works include Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York, 2002); Manfred F. Boemeke et al., eds., The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Years (Cambridge, 1998); Erik Goldstein, Winning the Peace: British Diplomatic Strategy, Peace Planning, and the Paris Peace Conference, 1916–1920 (New York, 1991); Arthur Walworth, Wilson and His Peacemakers: American Diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 (New York, 1986); Marc Trachtenberg, “Versailles after Sixty Years,” Journal of Contemporary History 17 (1982): 487–506; Arno J. Mayer, Politics and Diplomacy of Peacemaking: Containment and Counterrevolution at Versailles, 1918–1919 (New York, 1967); Seth P. Tillman, Anglo-American Relations at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (Princeton, N.J., 1961).\\n7 Geoffrey Barraclough, An Introduction to Contemporary History (New York, 1964), 151–155; Henri Grimal, Decolonization: The British, French, Dutch and Belgian Empires, 1919–1963 (Boulder, Colo., 1978), 17–18.\\n8 Macmillan, Paris 1919, devotes more attention than previous accounts to some of the demands for self-determination ignored by the conference, but even so, the topic takes up no more than a few pages in the book (see 322–325, 339–341, 402–403). Erez Manela, The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism (New York, 2007, forthcoming), aims to begin closing this historiographical gap.\\n9 E.g., on China see Chow Tse-tsung, The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China (Cambridge, Mass., 1960), and Andrew J. Nathan, Peking Politics, 1918–1923 (Berkeley, Calif., 1976). On India, see Judith M. Brown, Gandhi’s Rise to Power: Indian Politics, 1915–1922 (Cambridge, 1972), and DeWitt C. Ellinwood and S. D. Pradhan, eds., India and World War 1 (New Delhi, 1978). On Indochina, see Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Radicalism and the Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution (Cambridge, Mass., 1992). On Korea, see Michael Edson Robinson, Cultural Nationalism in Colonial Korea, 1920–1925 (Seattle, Wash., 1988).\\n10 Prasenjit Duara, “Transnationalism and the Challenge of National Histories,” in Thomas Bender, ed., Rethinking American History in a Global Age (Berkeley, Calif., 2002), 25. A number of leading international historians have written on the importance of eschewing what Akira Iriye has called a “uninational” approach to international history. See, e.g., Iriye, “Internationalizing International History,” in Bender, Rethinking American History, 47–62; Michael H. Hunt, “Internationalizing U.S. Diplomatic History: A Practical Agenda,” Diplomatic History 15, no. 1 (1991): 1–11.\\n11 Madeleine Chi, “China and Unequal Treaties at the Paris Conference of 1919,” Asian Profile 1, no. 1 (1973): 49–61. For China’s place in the prewar international system and its impact on intellectual developments there, see Zhang Yongjin, China in the International System, 1918–1920: The Middle Kingdom at the Periphery (Oxford, 1991), 15–38.\\n12 Michael Adas, “Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault on the Civilizing Mission Ideology,” Journal of World History 15, no. 1 (2004): 31–63. Such critiques of Western modernity were, of course, also common in the West itself in the postwar period.\\n13 The American pursuit of a revised Wilsonian program in the wake of World War II was much more circumspect, and could not replicate the sense of possibility of 1918–1919. See Elizabeth Borgwardt, A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights (Cambridge, Mass., 2005).\\n14 Arno Mayer, Wilson vs. Lenin: Political Origins of the New Diplomacy, 1917–1918 (New York, 1967).\\n15 Ibid., 245–266.\\n16 V. I. Lenin, “Theses on the Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination,” in Lenin, Collected Works, 45 vols. (Moscow, 1960–1970), 22: 143–156. This essay, completed in March 1916 and first published in October 1916, expressed ideas that Lenin formed in 1915–1916, in the course of writing his treatise Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. For a detailed analysis of the early socialist and Bolshevik debates on the national question, see Jeremy Smith, The Bolsheviks and the National Question, 1917–1923 (London, 1999), 3–22.\\n17 V. I. Lenin, “Fourth Letter from Afar,” March 25, 1917, in Lenin, Collected Works, 23: 338; “Statement by the Provisional Government regarding the War,” April 9, 1917, in C. K. Cumming and Walter W. Pettit, eds., Russian-American Relations, March 1917–March 1920 (New York, 1920), 9–10.\\n18 Address from the Bolsheviks “To Peoples and Governments of Allied Countries,” December 31, 1917, PWW, 45: 412–413. See also John M. Thompson, Russia, Bolshevism, and the Versailles Peace (Princeton, N.J., 1966), chap. 1.\\n19 Mayer, Wilson vs. Lenin, 385–387; Tillman, Anglo-American Relations, 26; George W. Egerton, Great Britain and the Creation of the League of Nations: Strategy, Politics and International Organization, 1914–1919 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1978), 57–59.\\n20 David Lloyd George, British War Aims: Statement by the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable David Lloyd George, on January 5, 1918 (London, 1918). See also Thomas J. Knock, To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order (New York, 1992), 143.\\n21 Address to a Joint Session of Congress, January 8, 1918, PWW, 45: 534–539.\\n22 Address to Congress, February 11, 1918, PWW, 46: 321.\\n23 For more extended discussion of Wilson’s usage of “self-determination,” see Michla Pomerance, “The United States and Self-Determination: Perspectives on the Wilsonian Conception,” American Journal of International Law 70 (1976): 1–27; Betty Miller Unterberger, “The United States and National Self-Determination: A Wilsonian Perspective,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 26 (1996): 926–941; Lloyd E. Ambrosius, “Dilemmas of National Self-Determination: Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy,” in Ambrosius, Wilsonianism: Woodrow Wilson and His Legacy in American Foreign Relations (New York, 2002), 125–143; William R. Keylor, “Versailles and International Diplomacy,” in Boemeke et al., The Treaty of Versailles, 475 and n. 12.\\n24 N. Gordon Levin, Woodrow Wilson and World Politics: America’s Response to War and Revolution (New York, 1968), 247–251. The literature on Wilson’s policy in the Philippines is surprisingly sparse, but see William Christopher Hamel, “Race and Responsible Government: Woodrow Wilson and the Philippines” (Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 2002), esp. chap. 6.\\n25 Address at Mount Vernon, July 4, 1918, PWW, 48: 515–516.\\n26 On the expansion of telegraphy into Asia, see Daniel R. Headrick, The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851–1945 (New York, 1991), esp. chap. 4.\\n27 On the rise of the popular press in India, see S. Natarajan, A History of the Press in India (Bombay, 1962), 147–225; Nadig Krishna Murthy, Indian Journalism: Origin, Growth and Development of Indian Journalism, from Asoka to Nehru (Mysore, 1966), chap. 8; Judith M. Brown, Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1994), 139.\\n28 Leo Lee and Andrew J. Nathan, “The Beginnings of Mass Culture,” in David Johnson et al., eds., Popular Culture in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, Calif., 1985), 368–378; Stephen R. MacKinnon, “Toward a History of the Chinese Press in the Republican Period,” Modern China 23, no. 1 (1997): 3–32. Benedict Anderson famously identified mass print media as agents of national identity construction, delineating the boundaries of the nation while at the same time locating it within the context of a wider world of structurally equivalent and morally equal national entities. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, rev. ed. (London, 1991), esp. chaps. 2–3. For a development of these ideas in the specific context of the rise of nationalism and of global historical consciousness in early-twentieth-century China, see Rebecca E. Karl, Staging the World: Chinese Nationalism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Durham, N.C., 2002); and Karl, “Creating Asia: China in the World in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century,” AHR 103, no. 4 (October 1998): 1096–1118.\\n29 George Creel, Complete Report of the Chairman of the Committee on Public Information (Washington, D.C., 1920), 1–2. For accounts of the CPI and its activities during the war, see Gregg Wolper, “The Origins of Public Diplomacy: Woodrow Wilson, George Creel, and the Committee on Public Information” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1991); James R. Mock and Cedric Larson, Words That Won the War: The Story of the Committee on Public Information, 1917–1919 (Princeton, N.J., 1939); and Creel’s own celebratory account, How We Advertised America: The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe (New York, 1920).\\n30 Carl Crow, “The Great War on the China Front,” unpublished typescript, Carl Crow Papers, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Columbia. Also Hans Schmidt, “Democracy for China: American Propaganda and the May Fourth Movement,” Diplomatic History 22, no. 1 (1998): 1–28; Kazuyuki Matsuo, “American Propaganda in China: The U.S. Committee on Public Information, 1918–1919,” Journal of American and Canadian Studies 14 (1996): 19–42.\\n31 On the role of Reuters as the main supplier of international news across the British Empire and East Asia during this period, see Donald Read, The Power of News: The History of Reuters, 2nd ed. (New York, 1999), chaps. 3–6.\\n32 See, e.g., “America Asks for War,” Amrita Bazar Patrika [hereafter ABP], April 5, 1917; “President Wilson’s Speech and Needed Change in British Policy,” Mahratta, October 6, 1918, 473–474. The Amrita Bazar Patrika was a major nationalist daily, published in Calcutta but read widely across India. See Murthy, Indian Journalism, 81. Mahratta was a weekly magazine published in Pune by the scholar, journalist, and nationalist leader B. G. Tilak. The New York Times boasted at the time: “Extracts from President Wilson’s speeches are being quoted by villagers in the remotest part of India,” and his words “have gripped their hearts as nothing else has done since the war began.” See “Wilson’s Words in India,” New York Times, October 5, 1918, 12.\\n33 Wilson’s speech, made on February 11, was reported with extensive excepts by Reuters and carried in “President Wilson, Address to Congress, Situation Reviewed,” ABP, February 14, 1918; the paper’s editorial analysis appeared two days later, “Dr. Wilson’s Peace Pronouncement,” ABP, February 16, 1918. See also Natarajan, Press in India, 183.\\n34 “Mei zongtong zhi yihe tiaojian,” Shibao, January 11, 1918, 2. Also see “Mei zongtong yanshuo heping tiaojian,” Dagongbao, January 11, 1918, 3. Shibao was a major Shanghai daily; on its emergence and impact, see Joan Judge, Print and Politics: “Shibao” and the Culture of Reform in Late Qing China (Stanford, Calif., 1996). Dagongbao was a major daily published in Tianjin.\\n35 The advertisement appeared numerous times in January and February 1919, e.g., in New India, January 6 and 11, 1919; ABP, February 18, 1919. Other books advertised in the same list, below the Wilson collection, included volumes by such luminaries of the national movement as C. R. Das and Sarojini Naidu and a biography of Mahatma Gandhi. New India was published daily in Madras and associated with Annie Besant’s India Home Rule League.\\n36 “Reviews and Notices,” Mahratta, February 2, 1919, 59.\\n37 “Meiguo zongtong Wei-er-xun canzhan yanshuo chuban,” Shibao, November 16, 1918, 1; the advertisement appeared several more times in this newspaper over the next weeks. Also in Shenbao, November 21, 1918, 1. Shenbao was a major daily published in Shanghai but read across China. On its reach into the countryside during this period, see Henrietta Harrison, “Newspapers and Nationalism in Rural China 1890–1929,” Past & Present 166 (2000): 181–204.\\n38 See Shibao, December 24, 1918, 1, on the degree from the Sorbonne; Shibao, December 29, 1918, 1, on the welcome in London. Also “Yingwang yu Mei zongtong zhi yanshuo,” Shenbao, December 30, 1918. In India, “President Wilson Visits His Mother’s Birthplace,” ABP, January 3, 1919; “Wilson’s Address to Italian Parliament,” ABP, January 7, 1919.\\n39 “President Wilson’s Speech,” Mahratta, October 6, 1918, 473–474. For the impact of the war on the Indian nationalist movement, see Ellinwood and Pradhan, India and World War 1, esp. the essays by Brown, Barrier, Bose, and Wolpert.\\n40 “The Lesson of the War,” Tribune (Lahore), December 20, 1918, L/R/5/201, 3; “India after the War,” Kesari (Pune), n.d., L/R/5/200, 596. India Office Records, British Library, London.\\n41 “India and the Peace Conference,” Mahratta, December 1, 1918, 559.\\n42 “Cejin yongjiu hepinghui xuanyan shu,” Shibao, December 16, 1918; Hollington K. Tong, “What Can President Wilson Do for China?” Millard’s Review, November 16, 1918, 431–434. This article was reprinted in Chinese translation as “Zhongguo yu heping huiyi,” Shibao, December 18, 1918.\\n43 Editorial in Meizhou pinglun, December 22, 1918, in Chen Duxiu, Duxiu wencun (Hefei, 1987), 388. On Chen, see Lee Feigon, Chen Duxiu, Founder of the Chinese Communist Party (Princeton, N.J., 1983).\\n44 “Jielu Wei-er-xun `xunci,'” in Hu Shi, Hu Shi liuxue riji (Changsha, 2000), 334. On Hu Shih and his role in the May Fourth movement, see Jerome B. Grieder, Hu Shih and the Chinese Renaissance: Liberalism in the Chinese Revolution, 1917–37 (Cambridge, Mass., 1970).\\n45 Stephen N. Hay, Asian Ideas of East and West: Tagore and His Critics in Japan, China, and India (Cambridge, Mass., 1970), 126–143.\\n46 Hu, “Wei-er-xun,” July 12, 1914, and Hu Shih liuxue riji, 208.\\n47 Tagore to Wilson, May 9, 1918, and Tagore interview with Gertrude Stevenson, Boston Journal, December 2, 1916, cited in Stephen N. Hay, “Rabindranath Tagore in America,” American Quarterly 14, no. 3 (1962): 449, 451. Tagore’s publisher, Macmillan, wrote the president requesting his permission for the dedication, but Wilson’s adviser, Colonel Edward M. House, counseled against it because his British contacts had warned him that Tagore was involved with Indian revolutionaries living in the United States. When news of this reached Tagore, he wrote Wilson a long, outraged letter of protest against such “lying calumny.” The letter was shuffled around at the Department of State; Wilson probably never saw it. Woodrow Wilson to Macmillan and Company, April 9, 1917, PWW, 42: 21; Rabindranath Tagore, The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore, ed. Sisir Kumar Das, 3 vols. (New Delhi, 1994–1996), 2: 770–771; Hay, “Tagore in America,” 451–452.\\n48 The phrase “League of Nations” was commonly rendered into Chinese at the time using the term datong, e.g., as “wanguo datong meng” or “guoji datong meng.” Like other terms in Confucian philosophy, datong has no single accepted translation into English. Laurence G. Thomson, who translated Kang’s book, rendered it as “One World,” but noted more than a dozen other possibilities. Jonathan D. Spence translated it as “Great Community,” and Kang Youwei himself rendered the term into English literally as “Great Concord.” See Kang Youwei, Ta T’ung Shu: The One-World Philosophy of K’ang Yu-wei, trans. Laurence G. Thompson (London, 1958), esp. 29–30; Jonathan D. Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution (New York, 1981), 64–73; Chow, The May Fourth Movement, 97–98 and note n there. For more on Kang and his ideas, see Prasenjit Duara, “Transnationalism and the Predicament of Sovereignty: China, 1900–1945,” AHR 102, no. 4 (October 1997): 1034–1035; Kung-chuan Hsiao, A Modern China and a New World: Kang Yu-wei, Reformer and Utopian, 1858–1927 (Seattle, Wash., 1975), esp. pt. 4; Jung-pang Lo, ed., K’ang Yu-wei: A Biography and a Symposium (Tucson, Ariz., 1967), esp. 341–354.\\n49 “Cu Nan Bei su yihe yi ying Ouzhou heju dian,” Shibao, December 30, 1918, reprinted in Kang Youwei, Kang Youwei zhenglun ji, ed. Yang Zhijun, 2 vols. (Beijing, 1981), 2: 1061–1063; Hollington Tong, “Kang Yu-wei as Chinese Advocate of League of Nations,” Millard’s Review, February 8, 1919, 342–345.\\n50 In 1919, Kang noted that when he had written his book on datong in the 1880s, he had hoped that its principles would be realized “in the century to come,” and was surprised to see them realized so soon. Lo, K’ang Yu-wei, 238.\\n51 Tagore to Rothenstein, April 1(?), 1913, in Mary M. Lago, ed., Imperfect Encounter: Letters of William Rothenstein and Rabindranath Tagore, 1911–1941 (Cambridge, Mass., 1972), 106–107.\\n52 Portland Telegram, September 26, 1916, cited in Hay, “Tagore in America,” 447.\\n53 E.g., “Mei zhi duli jinian,” Shenbao, July 4, 1918, 11, which emphasized the United States’ “democratic spirit” and its commitment to “uphold justice and humanity in the world.”\\n54 Luo Jialun, “Jinri shijie zhi xinchao,” Xinchao 1, no. 1 (January 1, 1919): 19–23.\\n55 Woodrow Wilson, “Democracy and Efficiency,” Atlantic Monthly 87 (March 1901): 289–299.\\n56 Address to a Joint Session of Congress, January 8, 1918, PWW, 45: 537.\\n57 The Wilson administration’s policies on race and their broader context are explored in Michael Dennis, “Looking Backward: Woodrow Wilson, the New South, and the Question of Race,” American Nineteenth Century History 3, no. 1 (2002): 77–104; Nicholas Patler, Jim Crow and the Wilson Administration: Protesting Federal Segregation in the Early Twentieth Century (Boulder, Colo., 2004). For the encounters with Wilson of two prominent African American leaders at the time, see Christine A. Lunardini, “Standing Firm: William Monroe Trotter’s Meetings with Woodrow Wilson, 1913–1914,” Journal of Negro History 64, no. 3 (1979): 244–264; Kenneth M. Glazier, “W. E. B. Du Bois’ Impressions of Woodrow Wilson,” Journal of Negro History 58, no. 4 (1973): 452–459.\\n58 Lala Lajpat Rai, The United States of America: A Hindu’s Impressions and a Study (Calcutta, 1916), 77–172; Tagore quoted in “Rabindranath Tagore in America,” Modern Review 21, no. 6 (1917): 663.\\n59 On the boycott, see Guanhua Wang, In Search of Justice: The 1905–1906 Chinese Anti-American Boycott (Cambridge, Mass., 2001). On Chinese views on U.S. conquest and rule in the Philippines, see also Karl, Staging the World, chap. 4; Michael H. Hunt, The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy (New York, 1996), 90.\\n60 Kang Youwei, “Jiu wang lun,” in Kang, Kang Youwei zhenglun ji, 2: 653.\\n61 “Greatest Living Poet of Hindustan Arrives,” Los Angeles Times, September 19, 1916, 11. Tagore laid out his opposition to nationalism in the book Nationalism (New York, 1917), which he unsuccessfully attempted to dedicate to Wilson (see n. 47 above). Since Wilson understood his advocacy of “self-determination” as a step toward international cooperation rather than as a call to ethnic exclusivism, Tagore’s wish was perhaps not as ironic as it might initially appear.\\n62 See, e.g., “Educational Policy in the Philippines,” Mahratta, June 11, 1916, 281; “America’s Work in the Philippines,” pts. 1 and 2, Modern Review 21, no. 3 (March 1917): 328–336, and no. 4 (April 1917): 455–460; “Parallel between India and the Philippines,” ABP, February 22, 1919; Lajpat Rai, The United States, 296–325. In its favorable review of the latter book, the Mahratta (December 17, 1916) noted that the chapter that dealt with U.S. rule in the Philippines should be studied by every Indian, and especially by “our rulers,” but that the topic was so well-known to readers that it need not be elaborated.\\n63 Zhi Fei, “Zhimin de wenti,” Guomingongbao, December 6, 1918, 5. Guomingongbao was a major Beijing daily and considered a venue for “liberal opinion”; see Hu Shi, “Intellectual China in 1919,” The Chinese Social and Political Science Review 4, no. 4 (December 1919): 345–355.\\n64 Open letter to Wilson, written in late 1917, in M. N. Roy, Selected Works of M. N. Roy, ed. Sibnarayan Ray, 4 vols. (Delhi, 1987), 1: 67–83.\\n65 Li Dazhao, “Bolshevism de shengli,” Xin qingnian 5, no. 5 (November 1918): 442–448. The word “Bolshevism” appeared in English in the title of the piece. Li nevertheless noted elsewhere Wilson’s “deep love of world peace,” praised the United States as the leading example of a successful federal system, and described the League of Nations as leading toward the ideal of world federation. Li Dazhao, “Wei-er-xun yu pinghe,” February 11, 1917, in Li Dazhao, Li Dazhao wenji, 5 vols. (Beijing, 1999), 1: 271; Li Dazhao, “Lianzhizhuyi yu shijie zuzhi,” Xinchao 1, no. 2 (February 1, 1919): 151–156. On Li’s role as a pioneering Chinese Marxist, see Maurice Meisner, Li Ta-chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism (Cambridge, Mass., 1967); Li Danyang, “Makesi xueshuo yanjiuhui yu Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi zuzhi de qiyuan,” Shixue yuekan 6 (2004): 51–59.\\n66 “Pining for the Perfect Day,” Mahratta, April 22, 1917.\\n67 For India, see, e.g., ABP, July 6, 1918, 3, where a laudatory report of Wilson’s July Fourth address sat next to headlines announcing “Further Bolshevik Submission to Germany” and reporting on the march of White forces on Moscow. ABP, January 16, 1919, “Reuters Telegrams” section, reported on “Bolshevik Destruction” in Poland and losses in Estonia; a separate item associates the spread of Bolshevism in Germany with riots and criminality. New India, January 15, 1919, also reported on the “Bolshevist Peril” in numerous items on p. 9. In China, see similar themes in “Eguo geming xiaoxi,” Shibao, January 8, 1918, 2, and January 15, 1918, 2; and items on the Russian Bolsheviks in Shibao, December 17, 1918, 1; December 30, 1918, 1; and January 7, 1919, 2. Shenbao, January 13, 1919, 6, reported on the “miserable conditions” of Chinese laborers in Russia who were being conscripted into the Red Army. See also “Full Story of How China Is Menaced by the Bolsheviki; Horrors in Russian Turkistan,” Peking Leader, July 12, 1918, 3. On Lenin as a “mysterious” figure, see Sudhindra Bose, “The Russian Situation,” Modern Review 25 (1919): 131; “Lenin,” Mahratta, February 3, 1918, 60.\\n68 Michael Weiner, “Comintern in East Asia, 1919–39,” in Kevin McDermott and Jeremy Agnew, eds., The Comintern: A History of International Communism from Lenin to Stalin (London, 1996), 158–163. Weiner notes that at the First Comintern Congress in March 1919, “very little time or discussion was devoted to the `colonial’ question,” and that Asian representation there was insignificant. By the Second Comintern Congress in the summer of 1920, however, the failure of the European revolutions, on the one hand, and the eruption of mass anticolonial protests in Asia, on the other, gave Asian communists a more substantial role, which was reflected in M. N. Roy’s forceful contestation of Lenin’s views on the colonial question. On the Roy-Lenin debate, see John P. Haithcox, “The Roy-Lenin Debate on Colonial Policy: A New Interpretation,” Journal of Asian Studies 23, no. 1 (1963): 93–101. Although many Indian and Chinese intellectuals had some general familiarity with socialist ideas before the war, specific interest in Marxist-Leninist doctrine and its potential relevance for India and China began to develop only in late 1919, after expectations for the peace conference collapsed and the Bolsheviks began to consolidate their regime. See Arif Dirlik, The Origins of Chinese Communism (Oxford, 1989), 23–25; Sankar Ghose, Socialism and Communism in India (Bombay, 1971), 8–16.\\n69 Thirty-third Indian National Congress Session, Delhi, December 1918, All-India Congress Committee Papers [hereafter AICC], File 1, pt. 2, p. 347, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi [hereafter NMML].\\n70 Memorandum, dated London, December 11, 1918, enclosed in Tilak to Khaparde, December 18, 1918, G. S. Khaparde Papers, File 1, pp. 1–2, National Archives of India, New Delhi [hereafter NAI]; Tilak to D. W. Gokhale, dated London, January 23, 1919, Khaparde Papers, File 1, pp. 4–7, NAI.\\n71 Burma Provincial Congress Committee [hereafter PCC] to secretary of AICC, January 15, 1919, AICC Papers, File 7, pp. 3–5; secretary of Bihar & Orissa PCC to secretary of AICC, February 1, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 171; secretary of Bengal PCC to secretary of AICC, February 7, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 183; secretary of Madras PCC to AICC, February 13, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 193, all in NMML.\\n72 Tilak to Wilson, January 2, 1919, Series 5F, Reel 446, Woodrow Wilson Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Wilson’s personal secretary acknowledged receipt of this missive and implied that the president had seen it, but upon receiving word of the exchange, an official at the British Foreign Office commented: “not much attention need be paid to Pres. Wilson’s acknowledgement.” Still, in the Indian press, Wilson’s terse acknowledgment was a topic of much hopeful discussion and speculation. Close to Tilak, January 14, 1919, cited in Foreign Office memo, February 12, 1919, FO 608/211, fol. 124–125, UK National Archives, Kew; “India before the U.S.A. Senate,” Mahratta, October 19, 1919, 499; “International Forum,” Mahratta, November 9, 1919, 518.\\n73 See, e.g., Wilson to Tumulty, June 27, 1919, PWW, 61: 291. Other claims for self-determination that Wilson and the peace conference ignored include those of Koreans and Egyptians, but also of Irish and Catalan nationalists. The story is recounted in detail in Manela, The Wilsonian Moment.\\n74 “Ouzhan hehui yu woguo guanxi,” Shenbao, November 22, 1918, 6; Wunsz King, China at the Peace Conference in 1919 (Jamaica, N.Y., 1961), 3.\\n75 V. K. Wellington Koo and Cheng-ting T. Wang, China and the League of Nations (London, 1919), 2.\\n76 For the Supreme Council discussions on Shandong, see Paul Mantoux, The Deliberations of the Council of Four (March 24–June 28, 1919): Notes of the Official Interpreter, trans. and ed. Arthur S. Link, 2 vols. (Princeton, N.J., 1992), 1: 399–408, 425–427.\\n77 From an interview with a student at Beijing University, quoted in Tsi C. Wang, The Youth Movement in China (New York, 1928), 161–162.\\n78 On the central role of the May Fourth movement in the history of modern China, see Rana Mitter, A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World (New York, 2004).\\n79 On the impact of the events of the spring of 1919 on the course of the nationalist movement in India, see R. Kumar, ed., Essays on Gandhian Politics: The Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919 (Oxford, 1971), esp. 1–16.\\n80 See, e.g., Shibao, April 23–26 and 29, 1919, for numerous reports of “riots” and “chaos” in India, as well as in Egypt and Korea. In India, see, e.g., Mahratta, October 19, 1919, which reports on “President Wilson’s Betrayals” of numerous nations, including Korea, Ireland, and Egypt.\\n81 Mao Zedong, “Afghanistan Picks Up the Sword” and “So Much for National Self-Determination!,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Stuart R. Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912–1949, 7 vols. (Armonk, N.Y., 1992– ), 1: 335, 337. Mao added with characteristic sarcasm that he “felt sorry” for “poor Wilson,” who was in Paris “like an ant on a hot skillet,” and “could not speak his mind.” Mao Zedong, “Poor Wilson,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Schram, Mao’s Road to Power, 1: 338.\\n82 Incomplete and unpublished review of Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom: Socialism, Anarchism, and Syndicalism (London, 1918), undated but written sometime in the summer of 1919. Jawaharlal Nehru Papers, Writings and Speeches, serial no. 21, NMML.\\n83 Ibid.; Mao Zedong, “Study of the Extremist Party,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Schram, Mao’s Road to Power, 1: 332 and n. 1.\\n84 The full intellectual genealogy of Wilson’s thinking on self-determination ideas is traced in Pomerance, “The United States and Self-Determination.” But compare Knock, To End All Wars, esp. chaps. 2–4.\\n85 On the evolution of international society toward the inclusion of non-Western nations, see Hedley Bull, “The Emergence of Universal Society” and “The Revolt against the West,” both in Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, eds., The Expansion of International Society (New York, 1984), 117–126, 217–228; Gerrit W. Gong, The Standard of “Civilization” in International Society (Oxford, 1984), esp. chaps. 2–4.\\nFeatures\\nHow the Wilsonian moment sparked movements for self-determination around the world\\nReviews\\n“Trawling through four national archives, Manela has produced an immensely rich and important work of comparative politics.”–Pankaj Mishra, London Review of Books\\n“A probing historical study. Manela presents an enlightening analysis of a shortsighted failure whose convulsive effects are still with us.”–Publishers Weekly\\n“…an important work.”–The Independent\\n“…sophisticated in its analysis…. Manela’s work rests on extensive archival research in many countries and languages….”–The Weekly Standard\\n“The international relations at the end of World War I have been much studied by historians but, as Erez Manela points out, mainly from the perspective of the center. Manela examines the periphery and shows how ideas, actions, and decisions taken by the powers interacted with local conditions and players. The Wilsonian Moment is a much-needed reminder that the non-European world was moving along its own tracks, which were affected but not necessarily determined by the center, and a significant contribution to our understanding of a crucial period.”–Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World\\n“Manela provides an impressive demonstration of the adoption of Wilsonian rhetoric by nationalist movements in China, Egypt, India, and Korea–and of their responses to the betrayal of their hopes and expectations at Versailles. His analysis goes a long way toward revealing the roots of anti-Americanism among African and Asian intellectuals.”–Warren I. Cohen, University of Maryland, Baltimore County\\n“Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawharlal Nehru, Syngman Rhee–they all responded to the ‘Wilsonian Moment’–the dream of self-determination of subject people inspired, often in spite of himself, by the American president and the dashing of that dream at the end of World War I. Erez Manela shows with great sensitivity and insight how this moment affected different indigenous leaders and followers in the Middle East and South and East Asia. He shows how the outcome of this moment shaped much of the course of the twentieth century. This is the new ‘international history’ at its best.”–John Milton Cooper, author of Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations\\n“Woodrow Wilson belonged to the tradition of colonial reform, not liberation, but nationalists everywhere used his slogan of self-determination to advance their own causes. The Wilsonian Moment will be indispensable to all scholars seeking to understand the political transformation of the colonial world in the aftermath of World War I.”–Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas at Austin\\n“Erez Manela does a superb job both of telling stories that need to be told and changing his readers’ understanding both of Wilson and the world. And given its emphasis on the tragedy of disappointed expectations raised by universalist rhetoric, this book should be read more by anyone interested not only in history, but in American foreign policy.”–Anne-Marie Slaughter, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University\\nProduct Details\\n352 pages; 20 halftones; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN 13: 978-0-19-517615-5 ISBN 10: 0-19-517615-4\\nAbout the Author(s)\\nErez Manela is Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History at Harvard University.\\nThis book is the first to place the 1919 Revolution in Egypt, the Rowlatt Satyagraha in India, the May Fourth movement in China, and the March First uprising in Korea in the context of a broader “Wilsonian moment” that challenged the existing international order.\\nMarch 28, 2008 at 6:16 am | Posted in Asia , Books , Globalization , Japan , Literary , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , Third World , World-system | Leave a comment\\nThe Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy oscillated between complex analyses of human existence in the Heidegger fashion and parallel analyses of world history, imperialism, and Japan’s role in the world-system.\\nIt should be noted that some Western writers think most criticism misplaced, and have defended the school and its major thinkers as fundamentally right in their reading of the historical logic of Japan’s long war against the imperialist ‘White’ world.\\n(KU Philosophy Dept. ?, Chair, 1928-35?)\\n \\n \\n(KU Philosophy Dept. 1928-35, Chair 1935-63)\\nThe Kyoto School is the name given to the Japanese “philosophical movement centered at Kyoto University that assimilated Western philosophy and religious ideas and used them to reformulate religious and moral insights unique to the East Asian cultural tradition.” [1] . It is used however also of the many postwar scholars from various disciplines who have taught at the same university, been influenced by the foundational thinkers of Kyoto school philosophy, and who have developed distinctive theories of Japanese uniqueness. Therefore, thinkers and writers covered by this second sense will be treated under The Kyoto University Research Centre for the Cultural Sciences .\\nBeginning roughly in 1913 with Nishida Kitaro , it survived the serious controversy it garnered after W.W.II to develop into a moderately well-known and active movement today. However, it is not a “school” of philosophy in the traditional sense of the phrase, such as with the Frankfurt School or Plato’s Academy . Instead, the group of academics gathered around Kyoto University as a de facto meeting place, and as its founder, Kitaro steadfastly encouraged independent thinking. According to James Heisig, the name “Kyoto School” was first used in 1932 by a student of Kitaro and Tanabe, Tosaka Jun (1900-45) – himself considered to be part of the ‘ marxist left-wing ‘ of the school. [2] Afterwards, the media and other academic institutions outside of Japan began to use the moniker, and by the 1970s it had become a universal title – practically by default.\\n Shizuteru Ueda\\nHistory\\nMasao Abe writes in his introduction to a new English translation of Nishida’s magnum opus, that if one thinks of philosophy in terms of Kant and Hegel , then there is no philosophy taking place in Japan. But if it is instead thought of in terms of the tradition carried out by Augustine and Kierkegaard , then Japan has a rich philosophical history, composed of the great thinkers Kūkai , Shinran , Dogen and others. [3]\\nThe group of philosophers involved with the Kyoto School in its nearly 100 year history (so far), is a diverse one. Individual members would sometimes come from very different backgrounds, and were not hesitant to criticise each others’ work. However, to be formally accepted as a member of the movement, one had to:\\neither be teaching at Kyoto University or at a nearby affiliated school,\\nshare Nishida’s basic assumptions regarding metaphysics and the concept of “ nothingness “, and\\nuse the same philosophical vocabulary as Nishida. [4]\\nGenerally, most were strongly influenced by the German philosophical tradition, especially through the thought of Nietzsche and Heidegger . In addition, all had strong ties to the Buddhist religion, and while their work was not expressly religious, it was informed significantly by it.\\nAlthough the group was fluidic and largely informal, traditionally whoever occupied the Chair of the Department of Modern Philosophy at the university was considered its leader. Nishida was the first, from 1913 to 1928. Hajime Tanabe succeeded him until the mid-1930s. By this time, Nishitani had graduated from Kyoto University, studied with Martin Heidegger for two years in Germany , and returned to a teaching post since 1928. From 1955 to 1963, Nishitani officially occupied the Chair and since his departure, leadership of the school has crumbled – turning the movement into a very decentralized group of philosophers with common beliefs and common interests.\\n \\nSignificance of its notable members\\nThe significance of the group continues to grow, especially in American departments of religion and philosophy. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a growing interest in East/West dialogue , especially inter-faith scholarship. Masao Abe , now the most well-known living member, has traveled to both coasts of the United States on professorships, and lectured to many groups on Buddhist-Christian relations.\\nIn addition, although Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was closely connected to the Kyoto school and in some ways critical to the development of thought that occurred there—indeed, Suzuki personally knew Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani—he is not considered a true member of the group. [5]\\n \\nNishida Kitaro\\nNishida, the school’s founder, is most known for his groundbreaking work An Inquiry into the Good and later for his elucidation of the “logic of basho” (Japanese: basho; usually translated as place or topos) – which brought him fame outside of Japan, and contributed largely to the attention later paid to philosophers from the Kyoto School.\\n \\nNishida’s work is notable for a few reasons, chief among them however is how much they are related to the German tradition of philosophy since Schopenhauer . The logic of Basho is a non-dualistic ‘concrete’ logic, meant to overcome the inadequacy of the subject-object distinction essential to the subject logic of Aristotle and the predicate logic of Kant , through the affirmation of what he calls the ‘absolutely contradictory self-identity’, a dynamic tension of opposites that, unlike the dialectical logic of Hegel, does not resolve in a synthesis, but rather defines its proper subject by maintaining the tension between affirmation and negation as opposite poles or perspectives.\\nNishitani describes East Asian philosophy as something very different from what the Western tradition of Descartes , Leibniz or Hume would indicate,\\nIt is ‘intuitive and practical,’ with its emphasis on religious aspects of expereince not lending themselves readily to theoretical description. True wisdom is to be distinguished from intellectual understanding of the kind appropriate to the sciences. The ‘appropriation’ of Nishida’s thought,…’embraces difficulties entirely different from those of intellectual understanding’…and those who ‘pretend to understand much but do not really understand, no matter how much they intellectually understand’ are the object of his scorn. [6]\\nBefore his death, Nishida wrote The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview, developing more fully the religious implications of his work and philosophy through “Absolute Nothingness.” God or the Absolute, he says, is best understood by absolute nothingness because it “contains its own absolute self-negations within itself.” [7] Meaning, that while the divine is dynamically paradoxical, it should not be construed as pantheism , or transcendent theism . Both Nishitani and Abe have spent much of their academic lives dedicated to this development of nothingness and the Absolute, leading on occasion to panentheism\\n \\nA disciple of Keiji Nishitani.\\n \\nCriticism of the Kyoto School\\nToday, there is a great deal of critical research into the school’s role prior to and during the Second World War . Hajime Tanabe bears the greatest brunt of the criticism for bringing his work on “The Logic of Species” into Japanese politics, supporting the intellectual culture in being prepared for a modified version of colonialism and “manifest destiny” beliefs. [8] [9] However, it should be noted that some Western writers think this criticism misplaced, and have defended the school and its major thinkers as fundamentally right in their reading of the historical logic of Japan’s long war against the imperialist ‘White’ world. [10]\\nMembers\\nSuggested Reading\\nScholarly Books\\nThe Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School. Edited by Frederick Franck. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1982.\\n—Seventeen essays, most from The Eastern Buddhist , on Zen and Pure Land Buddhism.\\nThe Philosophy of the Kyoto School, edited by Fujita Masakatsu. 2001.\\n—Anthology of texts by Kyoto scholars themselves, with additional biographical essays.\\nThe Thought of the Kyoto School, edited by Ohashi Ryosuke. 2004.\\n—Collection of essays dealing with the history of its name, and its members contributions to philosophy.\\nPhilosophers of Nothingness by James Heisig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8248-2481-4\\n—Excellent introduction to the School’s history and content; includes rich multilingual bibliography.\\nAbsolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, Hans Waldenfels. New York: Paulist Press, 1980.\\n—Good early work, focuses mostly on Nishitani’s relevance for the perspective of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.\\nJournal Articles\\n“The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School: An Overview,” by James Heisig. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Vol.17, No.1, (1990), p51-81.\\n“Heidegger and Buddhism,” by T. Umehara. Philosophy East and West, Vol.20 (1970), p271-281.\\n“Nishida’s Philosophy of ‘Place’,” by Masao Abe, International Philosophical Quarterly Vol.28, No.4 (Winter 1988), p.355-371.\\n“In Memoriam: Keiji Nishitani (1900-1990),” by E. Kawamura-Hanoka. Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol.12 (1992), p241-245.\\n \\nFor further information, see the Nanzan Institute’s Complete Bibliography for all Kyoto School members\\nKitaro Nishida, An Inquiry into the Good, Translated by Masao Abe and Christopher Ives. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987 (1921).\\n——, Art and Morality, Translated by D. Dilworth and Valdo Viglielmo. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.\\n——, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Translated by Robert Schinzinger. Westport: 1958.\\nHajime Tanabe, Philosophy as Metanoetics, translated by Yoshinori Takeuchi. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.\\n——, Logic of the Species (no English translation yet)\\nKeiji Nishitani, Religion and Nothingness, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. ISBN 0-520-04946-2\\n——, The Self-overcoming of Nihilism, translated by Graham Parkes and Setsuko Aiharo. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.\\nYoshinori Takeuchi, The Heart of Buddhism, translated by James Heisig. New York: 1983.\\n \\nSecondary sources on individual members\\nNishida Kitaro, by Nishitani Keiji, translated by Yamamoto Sesaku and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.\\nThe Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, edited by Taitetsu Unno and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.\\nThe Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji, edited by Taitetsu Unno. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.\\nReferences\\nRelated Entries\\n1. Introduction\\nThe unintentional founder of the Kyoto School is Nishida Kitarô[ 1 ] (1870–1945), who is generally considered to be modern Japan’s greatest philosopher. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), when Japan reopened itself to the world after more than two centuries of national isolation, a generation of scholars devoted themselves to importing Western academic fields of inquiry, including “philosophy.” After many years of studying Western philosophy and Eastern classics, and after a decade of intense practice of Zen Buddhism, Nishida was the first modern Japanese thinker to go beyond learning from the West to construct his own original system of thought. This he began to do in his maiden work, An Inquiry into the Good, published in 1911 (see Nishida 1990). On the basis of this work he obtained a position in the Philosophy Department of Kyoto University, where he went on to ceaselessly develop his thought and to decisively influence subsequent generations of original philosophers, including the two other most prominent members of the Kyoto School, Tanabe Hajime (1885–1962) and Nishitani Keiji (1900–1990).\\nAs is reflected in the name of the School, its founding members were associated with Kyoto University, the most prestigious university in Japan next to Tokyo University. It is perhaps no coincidence that the school formed in Kyoto, the ancient capital and center of traditional Japanese culture, rather than Tokyo, the new capital and center of modernization, i.e., Westernization. While the Kyoto School philosophers all devoted themselves to the study of Western philosophy (indeed they made lasting contributions to the ongoing effort to introduce Western philosophy into Japan), they also kept one foot firmly planted in their own traditions of thought. One scholar of the Kyoto School writes in this regard: “The keynote of the Kyoto school, as persons educated in the traditions of the East despite all they have learned from the West, has been the attempt to bring the possibilities latent in traditional culture into encounter with Western culture” (Minamoto 1994, 217).\\nIt would be misleading, however, if we were to think of the Kyoto School as merely ‘putting a Western rational mask over Eastern intuitive wisdom’. Nor would it be entirely accurate to think of them as simply ‘using Western philosophical idioms and modes of thought to give modern expression to East Asian Buddhist thought’. For not only is the Western influence on their thought more than skin deep, their philosophies are far too original to be straightforwardly equated with traditional Eastern thought. Insofar as they can be identified as East Asian or Mahâyâna Buddhist thinkers, this must be understood in the sense of having critically and creatively developed these traditions in philosophical dialogue with Western thought. It should be kept in mind that their primary commitment is not to a cultural self-expression, or even to a dialogue between world religions, but rather to a genuinely philosophical search for truth.\\nThe Kyoto School has become most well known, especially in the West, for its philosophies of religion. Indeed the reception of the Kyoto School in North America in particular has more often than not taken place in university departments of Religious Studies, where their philosophies of religion have frequently been viewed as representative of Mahâyâna Buddhism, specifically of the latter’s Zen and Shin (True Pure Land) forms.[ 2 ] While the exchange on these terms has been fruitful, this view can be misleading in two respects. First of all, even if for most of the Kyoto School thinkers a philosophy of religion is the ultimate arche and telos of their thought, it is hardly their sole concern. They address a full array of philosophical issues: metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, logic, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of history, philosophy of culture, ethics, political theory, philosophy of art, etc.\\nSecondly, even when their focus is on the philosophy of religion, they approach this topic in a non-dogmatic and often surprisingly non-sectarian manner, drawing on and reinterpreting, for example, Christian sources along with Buddhist ones. Even Nishitani, who did in fact come to identify his thought with “the standpoint of Zen,” adamantly refused the label of a “natural theologian of Zen.” He claimed that: “If I have frequently had occasion to deal with the standpoints of Buddhism, and particularly Zen Buddhism, the fundamental reason is that [the original form of reality and the original countenance of human being] seem to me to appear there most plainly and unmistakably” (NKC X, 288; Nishitani 1982, 261).\\nThe legacy of the Kyoto School, therefore, should be understood neither as Buddhist thought forced into Western garb, nor as universal discourse (which the West happened to have invented or discovered) dressed up in Japanese garb. Rather, it is best understood as a set of unique contributions from the perspective of modern Japan—that is, from a Japan that remains fundamentally determined by its historical layers of traditional culture at the same time as being essentially conditioned by its most recent layer of contact with the West—to a nascent worldwide dialogue of cross-cultural philosophy.\\nIn conclusion to this introductory section, let me briefly sketch the content of the remaining sections of this article. In the following section, I will consider the preliminary issues of how to define the Kyoto School and who to include as its members. The name “Kyoto School” has been used in the past, in some cases rather loosely, to refer to a variety of sets of thinkers. It is therefore necessary to begin by discussing the question: Just who belongs to exactly what? The third and central section of this article will treat what is generally considered to be the central philosophical contribution of the Kyoto School, namely, the idea of “Absolute Nothingness.” After discussing the ostensible contrast between “Western Being” and “Eastern Nothingness,” and after looking at some of the Eastern sources of the idea of Absolute Nothingness, I will discuss the topological, dialectical, phenomenological and existential philosophies of Absolute Nothingness developed by Nishida Kitarô, Tanabe Hajime, Nishitani Keiji, and most recently by Ueda Shizuteru (1926–). The fourth section will address the political controversy surrounding the wartime writings and activities of the Kyoto School. The first wave of attention paid to the Kyoto School in the West in the 1980s largely ignored the political controversy that had long surrounded the School in Japan. While this lacuna in Western scholarship was amended in the 1990s, notably with the publication of Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School and the Question of Nationalism (Heisig/Maraldo 1994), the political ventures and misadventures of the Kyoto School remain a highly debated subject. In the final section of this article I will return to the question of the cross-cultural legacy of the Kyoto School as a group of thinkers that stood between—or perhaps moved beyond—East and West.\\n2. Identity and Membership: Who Belongs to What?\\n2.1 A History of External Naming\\nThere has been considerable debate surrounding the question of how to define the “Kyoto School,” and who to include as its members. By all accounts Nishida Kitarô is considered its originator. Yet it was never his intention to institute a “school” based on his own thought; in fact he is reported to have always encouraged independent thinking in his students. Moreover, unlike Plato’s Academy or the Frankfurt School, the Kyoto School never founded an academic institution, its relation with Kyoto University being a de facto one. Indeed the name “Kyoto School” only came into use by the “members” themselves much later, when at all.\\nNames do not only tell us who or what something is; they also tell us who or what something is not. Definitions not only seek to reveal an internal essence; they also draw a line of demarcation between inside and outside. It is thus not surprising that names and definitions often have their origin in labels appended from without. These labels may subsequently degenerate into stereotypes; or, conversely, they may be positively appropriated and redefined by the group itself. Both of these processes can be seen in the history of the “Kyoto School.”\\nThe name “Kyoto School,” in fact, originated from without; or, more precisely speaking, it originated from the fringes of the School itself. Tosaka Jun (1900–1945), a student of Nishida and Tanabe, coined the expression in 1932 in reference to Nishida, Tanabe and Miki Kiyoshi (1897–1945) as purportedly representative of the epitome of “bourgeois philosophy in Japan” (see Heisig 2001, 4). Tosaka’s own developing thought had an explicitly materialist and Marxist orientation, and in his article he criticized the School as promulgating a bourgeois idealism that ignores material historical conditions and issues of social praxis. While Tosaka’s critique undoubtedly had an impact on the subsequent development of the Kyoto School’s philosophies, ironically Tosaka himself is often considered today, together with Miki, to be a member of the “left wing” of the Kyoto School (see Hattori 2004).\\nThe second significant moment in the naming (or “labeling”) of the “Kyoto School” came more clearly from without, and in an even more politically charged context. As Nishitani was to recollect years later: “The name ‘Kyoto School’ is a name journalists used in connection with discussions that friends of mine and I held immediately before and during the war” (NKC XI, 207; see Heisig 2001, 277). Nishitani is referring here to two symposia that addressed the question of the meaning and direction of the Pacific War and the question of “overcoming modernity.” These two controversial symposia will be discussed in section 4.3 of this article.\\nIn these comments, written in 1977, Nishitani goes on to say that by that time the name “Kyoto School” had come to be used by Americans and others to “indicate purely a school of thought.” Since the 1970s the name “Kyoto School” has gradually recovered its underlying philosophical ring, which for several decades in Japan (especially outside of Kyoto) had been drowned out by its political overtones. This recovery happened first of all in the West, where scholars neglected the political controversies in their enthusiastic reception of the School’s philosophies of religion. While the political controversies returned with a vengeance to Western academia a couple of decades later, in a kind of pendulum swing to the hyper-critical, the initial positive attention from without had by then helped to rehabilitate the image of the “Kyoto School” back home in Japan.\\nFujita Masakatsu suggests that the question of defining the identity of the Kyoto School has often been a more pressing issue for Western scholars than for the Japanese themselves. He speculates that this has two reasons. One is that the Kyoto School never really had any noteworthy competing schools of original thought within Japan with which to contrast itself, and over against which to explicitly define its own identity. The second reason is that, while Westerners tend to draw out and focus on the shared general characteristics of the School’s members, usually in contrast with the general characteristics of Western thought, for Japanese scholars of the Kyoto School the differences between the various members often appear in sharper relief than do their shared commonalities (Fujita 2001, ii).\\nIn any case, just as the formation of the Kyoto School’s ideas took place between Western and Eastern horizons of thought, so has the scholarly study and, to some extent, even the defining of the “Kyoto School” taken place between scholars in Japan on the one hand and those in Europe and North America on the other. Since one of the defining characteristics of the Kyoto School philosophers is their attempt to set Japan and their own thought in the context of the wider world, it is fitting that, with the increasingly international study of the Kyoto School, their thought is finally becoming what it always intended to be, namely, “Japanese philosophy in the world” (see Heisig 2004; Fujita/Davis 2005).\\n2.2 The Question of Definition\\nRecently in Japan two important volumes have appeared with the name “Kyoto School” in their titles: The Philosophy of the Kyoto School, edited by Fujita Masakatsu (2001), which consists of an anthology of texts by eight Kyoto School thinkers together with an essay on each one by a contemporary scholar; and The Thought of the Kyoto School, edited by Ôhashi Ryôsuke (2004), which contains five essays detailing the controversial history of the name “Kyoto School” as well as seven essays on potential contributions of their thought to various fields of contemporary philosophy. While the two books complement one other in many respects, they nevertheless each suggest a somewhat different approach to defining the school.\\nFujita agrees with Takeda Atsushi’s working definition of the Kyoto School as: “the intellectual network that was centered on Nishida and Tanabe, and mutually formed by those who were directly influenced in both a personal and scholarly manner by them” (Fujita 2001, ii and 234–35). Accordingly, Fujita’s book features such thinkers as Tosaka and Miki, as well as more unanimously accepted figures such as Hisamatsu Shinichi (1889–1980) and Nishitani. As Fujita points out, the relatively open definition of the Kyoto School as such a scholarly and interpersonal “network” has the advantage of highlighting the mutuality of the flow of influence between its members, as well as the fact that “membership” in the unofficial group did not preclude serious disagreement with the thought of Nishida or Tanabe. While critical exchanges did sometimes lead to severed personal relations (Nishida and Tanabe infamously stopped speaking to one another), this was not always the case (Nishitani and Tosaka remained on good personal terms despite their political and philosophical differences). And in either case mutual criticism was philosophically taken seriously, and it frequently provided impetus to further developments in each member’s thought. In this sense, according to Fujita, an acceptance of mutual criticism could well be considered one of the defining characteristics of the School.\\nOne point that Tosaka made early on, which often gets repeated still today, is that without Tanabe’s critical appropriation of Nishida’s thought there would be no tradition of the Kyoto School; we would have only successors of “Nishida Philosophy” and not a genuine school of mutually related yet independent thinkers. The question remains, however, just how independent a thinker can be with respect to Nishida’s thought and still be considered a member of the School. For even when subsequent figures in the School sharply questioned certain aspects of Nishida’s thought, they tended at the same time to appropriate and creatively develop other shared concepts and motifs. (A movement of self-critical development can in fact be seen in the ceaseless progression of Nishida’s own thought. Nishida thought of himself as a “miner” who never managed to stay put in one place long enough to “refine the ore” he had unearthed.)\\nHence the Kyoto School, perhaps like any vibrant school of thought, should be seen as a cluster of original thinkers who, while not uncritically subscribing to any prescribed dogma, nevertheless came to share, and dispute, a number of common concerns as well as basic concepts and terminology. As we shall see, the most fundamental of their shared and disputed concepts is that of “Absolute Nothingness,” a notion that has, in fact, most often been used as a point of reference for defining the School.\\nÔhashi explicitly questions the appropriateness of defining the Kyoto School merely in terms of a network of personal and scholarly relations. According to Ôhashi, in order for a group of thinkers to form a genuine “school” of philosophy, “there must be the common possession or formation of a thought” (Ôhashi 2004, 9). For Ôhashi, this common thought of the Kyoto School is “Absolute Nothingness,” and he accordingly suggests the following as a definition of the School: “a group of philosophers spanning several generations who developed their thought in several areas of philosophy with the idea of ‘Nothingness’ as a basis” (ibid., 10; see Ôhashi 2001, 13). While he does include Hattori Kenji’s essay on the “left wing of the Kyoto School” as the opening chapter of his The Thought of the Kyoto School, previously Ôhashi explicitly excluded Miki from the School on account of his principally Marxists orientations (Ôhashi 1990, 12). (We might note here in passing that, in his major later period work, The Logic of Imagination, Miki does affirm the Nishida inspired idea that “Nothingness is what transcends the subjective and the objective and envelopes them” (quoted in Fujita 2004, 125).)\\nAmong Western scholars, John Maraldo has most thoroughly probed the question of Kyoto School identity and membership. He isolates six criteria that scholars have used to include and exclude thinkers from the Kyoto School: (1) connection with Nishida; (2) association with Kyoto University; (3) stance toward Japanese and Eastern intellectual traditions; (4) stance toward the interrelated matters of Marxism, the nation state, and the Pacific War; (5) stance toward Buddhism and toward religion in general; and (6) stance toward the notion of Absolute Nothingness. Maraldo shows how each one of these criteria have been used in various ways, consciously or unconsciously, since the 1930s to either promote the philosophical significance or disparage the political ideology of the Kyoto School (Maraldo 2005, 33–38).\\nI would add two more related and interrelated criteria. One is an essentially ambivalent stance (i.e., neither simple rejection nor simple acceptance) toward Western philosophy and the West in general. For example, Nishida and others undertake a critical reception of Western ontology in order to develop an Eastern meontology or “logic of Nothingness,” and attempt to combine a Western “logic of things” with an Eastern “logic of heart-mind.” I will discuss such issues in section 3 of this article.\\nAnother criterion that could be used to define the School is an essentially ambivalent attitude toward Western modernity (or toward modernization as Westernization). A critical stance toward a unilateral globalization of Western modernity, a stance which at the same time accepts in part its unavoidability and in some respects even affirms its necessity, gave rise to the idea of “overcoming modernity”—an overcoming that would take place not by retreating from Western modernity, but by going through and beyond it. This going through and beyond, moreover, would not simply be a matter of going further down the road of linear progress; it would entail a hermeneutical as well as ultimately a (me)ontological and existential re-gress, a radical “step back.” For the Kyoto School, a critical and creative retrieval of the traditions of the East, those of East Asian Mahâyâna Buddhism in particular, is thought to enable the radical religious and philosophical “trans-descendence” necessary to move through and beyond the limits and problems of Western modernity.\\nThis idea of “overcoming modernity” has proven to be both one of the more stimulating and one of the more controversial aspects of their thought. For some it promises to contribute an important new East Asian perspective to the current debates over post-modernism in philosophy and post-colonialism in culture studies. Yet because the Kyoto School’s ideas of “overcoming modernity” developed in conjunction with their wartime political theories, theories which typically saw the nation of Japan as playing a key role in the historical movement through and beyond Western modernity, it has also proven to be one of the more often criticized aspects of their thought. (It is noteworthy in this regard that contemporary Japanese epigones of (Western) post-modernism have for the most part eschewed making the connection between their adoption of recent Western self-criticism of modernity/Eurocentrism and the Kyoto School’s earlier critique of these.) In any case, it is true that even after the Kyoto School ceased formulating the idea of overcoming modernity in political terms, the idea lives on in their postwar philosophies of religion and culture. Hence, a radical problematization of Western modernity can be considered an important aspect of their identity as a school of thought.\\nAnother significant Western contributor to the question of the Kyoto School’s identity is James Heisig, who succeeded Jan Van Bragt as the head of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, an institute which has for several decades now been at the center of international research on the Kyoto School. In his recent book, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Heisig suggests that we follow the lead of Takeuchi Yoshinori (1913–2002) and define the School by “triangulating” it around the three leading figures of Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani (Heisig 2001, 3–7 and 275–78).\\nIt is indeed these three figures that form the core of what has become known as the Kyoto School, and in this article I will accordingly focus my attention primarily on them, if also at times on Ueda Shizuteru as the current leading figure of the School. It should nevertheless be kept in mind that these are only three or four of a much wider group of original thinkers, some squarely within and some on the fringes of the Kyoto School.\\n2.3 Members, Associate Members, and Related Thinkers\\nÔhashi Ryôsuke’s thesis, advanced already in his landmark German anthology, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule (1990), is that the Kyoto School should be understood as a group of thinkers involved in a pluralistic yet cooperative and sustained attempt to think on the basis of an idea of “Nothingness” or “Absolute Nothingness.” This distinguishes their thought from that of traditional Western onto-logy with its basis of “being.” With this definition in mind, Ôhashi lists the central members of the Kyoto School according to generation as follows: Nishida and Tanabe make up the first generation; Hisamatsu, Nishitani, Kôsaka Masaaki (1900–1969), Shimomura Toratarô (1900–1995), Kôyama Iwao (1905–1993), and Suzuki Shigetaka (1907–1988) make up the second generation; and Takeuchi Yoshinori, Tsujimura Kôichi (1922–), and Ueda Shizuteru make up the third generation. Elsewhere he also suggests that the psychologist Kimura Bin (1931–) could be considered part of the third generation of the School, particularly if we shift the criterion of definition from interpersonal relations to a genealogy of thought (Ôhashi 2004, 9).\\nOf the third generation, Ueda Shizuteru, who has done extensive original work on Meister Eckhart, Zen, and Nishida, is considered by most to be the central figure of the Kyoto School active today. Tsujimura Kôichi, who studied under Heidegger as well as under Hisamatsu and Nishitani, has provocatively and influentially written on Heidegger’s thought from a Zen and Kyoto School perspective. Abe Masao (1915–), a former student of Hisamatsu, has been an important representative of the Kyoto School and an inter-religious dialogue catalyst in North America, although he is less well known in Japan itself. If we were to view the Kyoto School as living past its third generation, Ôhashi Ryôsuke (1944–), a prolific philosopher in his own right, whose works in both Japanese and German address a broad range of philosophical issues, would undoubtedly count as a central figure of its fourth generation. Other contemporary active affiliates of the School, who could be seen as belonging to its fourth generation, include Hase Shôtô, Horio Tsutomu, Ômine Akira, Fujita Masakatsu, Mori Tetsurô, Kawamura Eiko, Matsumura Hideo, Nakaoka Narifumi, Okada Katsuaki, and Keta Masako. If the School shows promise of living on to future generations, it is with young scholars such as Minobe Hitoshi and Akitomi Katsuya, with advanced doctoral candidates in Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University such as Mizuno Tomoharu and Sugimoto Kôichi, as well as with a handful of non-Japanese philosophers who have studied with members of the third and fourth generations of the School.\\nYet we appear to be at a turning point in the history of the Kyoto School, as is reflected in current retrospective attempts to define it. With Ueda’s and then Hase’s retirements from Kyoto University, on the one hand, and with the recent creation in 1998 of a Department of the History of Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University[ 3 ] (see the web site listed below) under the head of Fujita Masakatsu on the other, the Kyoto School is perhaps becoming, for better and for worse, more an object of scholarship than a predominantly living tradition. However, as with most schools of philosophy, the line between critical scholarship and creative appropriation is hardly a clear one, and in practice the retrospective study of the Kyoto School often blends together with its further development as a vibrant school of thought.\\nIt is also important to point out that today in Japan the Kyoto School is not only studied in Kyoto. Since the appearance of Tokyo based philosopher Nakamura Yûjiô’s first book on Nishida in 1983, Nishida and the Kyoto School have steadily began receiving serious attention once again from scholars and students in areas of Japan outside of Kyoto. Worth special mention in this regard is Kosaka Kunitsugu, whose lucid and prolific scholarship on Nishida and others has done a great deal for the sympathetic yet sober textual analysis of the Kyoto School. The recent creation of the Nishida Philosophy Association (see the website listed below) promises to bring about a new era of cooperative exchange between Tokyo based and Kyoto based scholars of the School.\\nTo return to the question of membership, consideration should also be given to those who could be referred to as “related thinkers” or “associate members” of the Kyoto School. The widest understandings (or misunderstandings[ 4 ]) of the Kyoto School include in it a number of thinkers who have a more or less occasional relation to the inner circle of the School. On the one hand, there is the case of D. T. Suzuki (Suzuki Daisetsu) (1870–1966). Suzuki maintained a long personal relationship with Nishida since their days as schoolmates. He not only helped introduce the young Nishida to the practice of Zen, his articulation of Mahâyâna Buddhist thought is also acknowledged as having influenced the formation of certain key ideas in Nishida’s last essay on the philosophy of religion. But Suzuki—who is justifiably famous in his own right for, among other things, helping introduce Zen to the West—was neither trained as a philosopher nor was he associated with Kyoto University; and thus he is perhaps best thought of as a “closely related thinker” to the School.\\nThen there are the cases of Watsuji Tetsurô (1889–1960) and Kuki Shûzô (1888–1941). Both of these philosophers were brought to Kyoto University by Nishida, and both developed philosophies which were more or less influenced by Nishida’s thought (see Maraldo 2005, 34 and 52). And yet, both their thought and their activities remained too independent to count them among the inner circle of the School. It should be kept in mind, however, that these two “associate members” in particular are first rate philosophers in their own right, whose original work outshines that of many of the less original though full-fledged members of the School. Watsuji’s novel theory of “culture and climate” (fûdo), together with his major work on the ethics of “betweenness” (aidagara), and Kuki’s combination of logical rigor and existential insight in his major writings on the problem of contingency, together with his provocative works on Japanese aesthetics (notably his hermeneutical phenomenology of “iki”), have each made lasting contributions to philosophy and are worthy of international scholarly attention.\\nFinally, there is the matter of thinkers who have developed their ideas more or less under the influence of Nishida and other members of the Kyoto School. A complete list of this group of “influenced thinkers” would be long, but it would include such names as Takahashi Satomi, Takizawa Katsumi, Mutai Risaku, Yuasa Yasuo, Kimura Bin, Sakabe Megumi, and Nakamura Yûjirô. A number of non-philosophers, such as the world-famous architect Andô Tadao (Tadao Ando), who designed the Ishikawa Nishida Kitaro Museum of Philosophy (see the website listed below), have also been influenced by Nishida and the Kyoto School.\\n3. Absolute Nothingness: Giving Philosophical Form to the Formless\\nHave discussed issues of definition and membership of the Kyoto School, we are now prepared to pursue the question of what unifies their thought as a school of philosophy. I will here follow the suggestion of Ôhashi, Nishitani, and other representatives of the Kyoto School itself, and focus on the shared—and at times disputed—idea of “Absolute Nothingness” (zettai-mu).[ 5 ]\\n3.1 Western Being vs. Eastern Nothingness? Ontology vs. Meontology?\\nNishitani wrote the following with regard to Nishida and Tanabe: “[Their] philosophies share a distinctive and common basis that sets them apart from traditional Western philosophy: Absolute Nothingness. … Clearly the idea of Absolute Nothingness came to awareness in the spirituality of the East; but the fact that it has also been posited as a foundation for philosophical thought represents a new step virtually without counterpart in the history of Western philosophy” (NKC IX, 225–26; Nishitani 1991, 161).\\n“First philosophy” in the Western tradition is ontology, which asks the question of “being qua being,” and tends to answer this question either in terms of the most universal “being-ness” or in terms of the “highest being.” For Aristotle, the essence of being was “substance,” ambiguously thought either as the particular (Socrates) or the concrete universal form (human being), and the highest being was the “unmoved mover.” Greek ontology later influenced the Christian theological tradition to think of God as the “highest being,” such that the dual threads of the Western tradition as a whole took shape as what Heidegger calls “onto-theology.” Hence, the fundamental philosophical question of the onto-theological mainstream of the West is, “What is being?” On the other hand, the counter-question which the Kyoto School finds in the East is, “What is Nothingness?” In place of an ontology, first philosophy in the East is more often a “meontology”: a philosophy of non-being or Nothingness.\\nPerhaps we should say “mu-logy” rather than “meontology”; for, strictly speaking, the Greek meon, “non-being,” should be translated into Japanese as hi-u. What I am translating as “Nothingnesss,” mu, is written with a single character rather than as a negation (hi) of being (u). This is crucial since the Nothingness with which they are concerned is not the simple negation or privation of being. It is closer to Heidegger’s “question of being,” which, attentive to what he calls the “ontological difference” between being (das Sein) and beings (das Seiende), asks after that which can only appear as “no-thing” when we think only in terms of things, that is, when we think (or calculate) merely in terms of determinate beings. Heidegger thus calls “the Nothing” (das Nichts) the “veil of being.” Das Sein or das Nichts is for Heidegger that which grants an open place, a clearing (Lichtung), for beings to show themselves. Just as “nature (phusis) loves to hide” (Heraclitus), being lets beings come to presence by itself withdrawing into absence or self-concealment (see Heidegger 1975, Vol. 9, 103–22; and Vol. 65, 246–47).\\nTanabe studied with Heidegger in the early 1920s. (In fact, upon returning to Japan in 1924, Tanabe was the first scholar in the world to write an article on Heidegger’s thought.) When he later wrote the following, Tanabe no doubt had Heidegger’s 1929 “What is Metaphysics?” lecture in mind: “All science needs to take some entity or other as its object of study. The point of contact is always in being, not in nothing. The discipline that has to do with Nothingness is philosophy” (THZ VI, 156; see Heisig 2001, 121).\\nHeidegger was of course not the first Western philosopher to ask after that which is radically other than beings, or even “beyond being” as such.[ 6 ] For example, Tanabe could have also found support for the idea that philosophy investigates Nothingness in the following passage from Hegel: “Das Erste der Philosophie aber ist, das absolute Nichts zu erdenken” [Yet the first task of philosophy is to conceive of absolute Nothingness] (quoted from Hegel’s “Glauben und Wissen” in Ôhashi 1984, 203). The Kyoto School might even be thought of as recovering a suggestion from one of the first Presocratic philosophers, Anaximander: namely, to think finite beings as determinations, or delimitations, of “the Indefinite” or “the Unlimited” (to apeiron).\\nMoreover, as Kyoto School thinkers frequently do point out, Christian negative theologians and mystics, most notably Meister Eckhart, at times make use of the notion of “the Nothing” to refer to that which transcends all concepts and all oppositions. For Eckhart, “Nothing” (niht) was one way of indicating the “Godhead” (gôtheit) beyond “God” delimited as a personal being (see Eckehart 1963, 328). Niht here is an expression, at the limits of language, which attempts to indicate “the nothingness of indistinct fullness from which flow … all oppositions and relations” (Schürmann 1978, 168). Eckhart speaks of a breakthrough, not only beyond the ego, but also beyond God Himself, a breakthrough, that is, to an abyssal Godhead understood as “the silent desert into which no distinction ever gazed, of Father, Son, or Holy Ghost” (Eckehart 1963, 316). Analogously, Nishida writes that “when we truly enter thoroughly into the consciousness of Absolute Nothingness, there is neither I nor God” (NKZ V, 182; see Nishida 1958, 137).\\nNishitani affirms Eckhart’s intimations of a Godhead of Absolute Nothingness, even though he notes that this is “markedly distant from orthodox Christian faith,” which limits the concept of nothingness to the relative nothingness expressed in the nihilum of creatio ex nihilo, that is, to the absolute privation of being out of which the highest being creates lesser beings (NKC X, 75; Nishitani 1982, 66; also see NKC VII). Yet Nishitani’s student and Eckhart scholar Ueda Shizuteru, despite profound appreciation for Eckhart’s thought and its nearness to Zen, argues in the end that Eckhart’s Nothingness, like that of negative theology in general, still points to an inexpressibly higher being (see USS VIII, 146). Critically adapting Heidegger’s expression, we might say that the Nothing is still understood as “the veil” of this inexpressibly higher being. Both Nishitani and Ueda ultimately look to Zen for a Nothingness so absolute that, in thoroughly negating any traces of opposition to beings (i.e., as a higher being transcending worldly beings), it is paradoxically found fully in the concrete facts and activities of the here and now (see USS VIII, 5ff.).\\nÔhashi stresses, however, that neither the Buddhist tradition nor the Kyoto School should be thought of as having a patent on the radical “thinking of Nothingness.” In fact, he argues, “this thought slowly came to the fore within Western philosophy itself,” a process that indeed set the stage for Kyoto School contributions to contemporary philosophy (Ôhashi 2004, 12–13). Nishitani had in fact explored a number of resonant notions of Nothingness, not only in the Neoplatonic and Christian mystical traditions, but also in 19th and 20th century Western philosophers such as Nietzsche and Heidegger (see NKC VIII; Nishitani 1990). And yet, here again Nishitani finds residues of an ontological bias, where a kind of “relative nothingness” is posited as either a simple negation of or as a veil for being. Nishitani ultimately concludes that Nietzsche succeeded only in expressing a “standpoint of relative absolute nothingness”; and even in Heidegger, he critically suggests, “traces of the representation of nothingness as some ‘thing’ that is nothingness still remain” (NKC X, 75 and 108; Nishitani 1982, 66 and 96).[ 7 ]\\nIn any case, it is fair to say that the Kyoto School thinkers generally consider the purest sources for the idea of Absolute Nothingness to lie in the traditions of the East. Hisamatsu went so far as to speak of Absolute Nothingness as “Oriental Nothingness” (Hisamatsu 1960); though it is important to bear in mind that his claim is that this idea was first clearly discovered in the traditions of East. Absolute Nothingness is by no means only relevant to Eastern cultures, anymore than in 1500 CE the earth was only round in the West. Moreover, if the idea of Absolute Nothingness “came to awareness in the spirituality of the East,” as Nishitani says, the philosophy of Absolute Nothingness is generally considered to be the Kyoto School’s own contribution to the contemporary world of thought opened up by the meeting of East and West.\\nNishida—who could hardly be accused of underestimating what Japan had to learn from Western philosophy—also spoke at times in very general terms of Eastern Nothingness in contrast with Western being. In his essay, “The Types of Culture of the Classical Periods of East and West Seen from a Metaphysical Perspective,” he wrote: “How then are we to distinguish between the types of culture of the West and East from a metaphysical point of view? I think we can do this by dividing them into that [i.e., the culture of the West] which considers the ground of reality to be being, and that [i.e., the culture of the East] which considers this ground to be Nothingness.” In Greek philosophy, he goes on to say, “that which has form and determination was regarded as the real”; or even, as in Plato, reality, that which has true being, was understood as the Forms. Judeo-Christian culture, however radically different in various ways it was from Greek culture, and despite negative theology’s indications of a Deus absconditus as a kind of Nothingness, nevertheless primarily considered the person of God as “the most perfect being” to be the basis of reality. In radical contrast to both the Greek and Judeo-Christian origins of Western culture, Indian culture, like that of China and Japan, took “the profoundest idea of Nothingness as its basis” (NKZ VII, 429–33; see Nishida 1970, 21–23).\\nIn the closing lines of the preface to his 1926 book, From That Which Acts to That Which Sees, a book many scholars view as the beginning of “Nishida Philosophy” proper, we find the following famous and programmatic lines: “It goes without saying that there is much to admire, and much to learn from, in the impressive achievements of Western culture, which thought form as being and the giving of form as good. However, does there not lie hidden at the base of our Eastern culture, preserved and passed down by our ancestors for several thousand years, something which sees the form of the formless and hears the voice of the voiceless? Our hearts and minds endlessly seek this something; and it is my wish to provide this quest with a philosophical foundation” (NKZ IV, 6).\\n3.2 The Eastern Background for the Idea of Absolute Nothingness\\nBefore looking more specifically at how Nishida and other members of the Kyoto School attempt to give philosophical form to the formless, it will be helpful to look at some of the threads in Eastern traditions on which the Kyoto School thinkers are explicitly and implicitly drawing as they weave their texts on Absolute Nothingness.\\nTheir explicit references are primarily to Mahâyâna Buddhism, especially to the East Asian schools of Zen and/or Pure Land (predominantly Shinran’s Shin) Buddhism. The key Sanskrit term in Mahâyâna Buddhism here is śûnyatâ (“Emptiness”; kû in Japanese). With the noteworthy exception of the later Nishitani, however, the Kyoto School tends to favor the Chinese glyph mu (“Nothingness”; wu in Chinese), which is found predominantly in Zen, and which reflects the early attempt to “match terms” with Daoism in the translation and interpretive development of Buddhism in China. Let us briefly examine both of these Asian sources for the Kyoto School’s philosophies of Absolute Nothingness, śûnyatâ and wu/mu.[ 8 ]\\nIn Mahâyâna Buddhism śûnyatâ refers first of all to the fact that all things come into being in “interdependent origination” (Sanskrit: pratîtya-samutpâda; Japanese: engi), and they are therefore “empty” of any independent substantial self-nature or “own-being” (Sanskrit: svabhâva). This thought is closely tied to the basic Buddhist thesis of “no-self” or “non-ego” (Sanskrit: anâtman; Japanese: muga). All beings, including the ego, are interconnected and in flux. Psychologically, śûnyatâ refers also to the releasement from all attachment to beings, from all reification and willful appropriation of them. Such attachments are both based on and in turn support the primary attachment to the fabricated ego, since the ego both strives to possess and is unwittingly possessed by its reification of beings. Awakening to the emptiness of all things, to their lack of substantial own-being or egoity (Japanese: shogyômuga), thus frees one both from an ego-centered and reified view of things, and from the illusion of the substantial ego itself.\\nHowever, if the movement of negation stops here at a one-sided negation of being (i.e., at negation of the independent substantial reality of things and the ego), and if the idea of “Emptiness” is not itself emptied,[ 9 ] then we are left either with a pessimistic nihilism or with an ironically reified view of śûnyatâ. These are what the Buddhist tradition calls “śûnyatâ-sickness” (Japanese: kûbyô). True śûnyatâ must be understood to dynamically negate the very opposition of being and (relative) nothingness (see Nakamura 1975, Vol. 1, 278). Hence, in Mahâyâna we find an explicit return—through a “great negation” of reification and attachment to being—to a “great affirmation” of a non-reified understanding of being. Emptiness thoroughly understood is nothing separate from or opposed to “being” properly understood. As the often chanted lines of the Heart Sutra put it: “[phenomenal] form is emptiness; emptiness is also [phenomenal] form; emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness” (see Bercholz/Kohn 1993, 155). The famous Mahâyâna Buddhist philosopher of śûnyatâ Nâgârjuna (ca. 150–250 CE) went so far as to provocatively state: “The limits (i.e., realm) of nirvâna are the limits of samsâra. Between the two, also, there is not the slightest difference whatsoever” (Inada 1993, 158). In other words, nirvâna is neither a nihilistic extinction of nor a transcendent escape from the phenomenal world (samsâra); it is rather an enlightened manner of being-in-the-world here and now (see Garfield 1995, 332). This radical reaffirmation of the phenomenal world was particularly stressed in East Asian developments of Mahâyâna Buddhism, where we find such remarkably affirmative phrases as: “true Emptiness, marvelous being” (Japanese: shinkû-myôu).\\nIn his mature writings Nishitani explicitly employs the Mahâyâna term śûnyatâ (even though he never disavows the term Nishida coined, “Absolute Nothingness”) in his attempt to think a way beyond both the exacerbated attachment to being and the reactive nihilism that together plague the modern world. Nishitani writes as follows: On the one hand, śûnyatâ or Emptiness can be termed “an absolute negativity, inasmuch as it is a standpoint that has negated and thereby transcended nihility, which was itself the transcendence-through-negation of all being.” In this sense, “Emptiness can well be described as ‘outside’ of and absolutely ‘other’ than the standpoint shackled to being, provided we avoid the misconception that Emptiness is some ‘thing’ distinct from being and subsisting ‘outside’ it.” On the other hand, then, Emptiness is truly Emptiness “only when it empties itself even of the standpoint that represents it as some ‘thing’ that is Emptiness. … [True Emptiness] is to be realized as something united to and self-identical with being” (NKC X, 109–10; Nishitani 1982, 97). Following in the wake of Nishida’s topological thinking of Absolute Nothingness (see section 3.3 below), Nishitani also thinks of śûnyatâ as a “place” or “field” wherein beings can appear as they truly are in their proper basis or “home-ground” (moto).\\nThe idea of a Nothingness that radically transcends, or underlies, both being and its simple negation can also be traced back to pre-Buddhist Chinese thought. A recent Chinese scholar laments the philosophical ambiguity inherent in the Chinese character wu (Nothingness). He writes that “in Chinese ‘wu’ can mean both the contrasting pair of ‘you’ [i.e., ‘being’] and the metaphysical source of both ‘you’ and ‘wu’” (Zhang 2002, 150). In the terminology of the Kyoto School, the former sense of wu (mu in Japanese) is a matter of “relative nothingness,” while the latter sense is akin to what they call “Absolute Nothingness.” The latter sense of wu is expressed in chapter 40 of the Laozi (Daodejing) as follows: “The myriad things under heaven are generated from being. Being is generated from Nothingness (wu).” This unnamable non-dualistic source of all being and relative non-being is also referred to as the Way (dao). Of the latter it is said, in chapter 14 of the Laozi: “It is called the shapeless shape, the image of no-thing” (see Izutsu 2001, 50–51 and 104). It is not hard to link this thought with Nishida’s professed intention of giving philosophical foundation to the “form of the formless” that lies at the heart of the traditions of the East.\\nIn the Daoist tradition we also find an idea of Nothingness used in the context of radically emptying the mind in order to attune the finite self to the in-finite[ 10 ] rhythm of the Way. The Zhuangzi speaks in this regard of the practice of “sitting down and forgetting everything” and of “being empty like a mirror” (see Watson 1968, 90 and 97). When Zen talks of returning to one’s “original face before one’s parents were born,” we find the Daoist ideas of “forgetting the ego” and “returning to the root” linked together with the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of the “original purity of the mind.” The original brightness and purity of the mind, which lies hidden beneath the clouds of defiling passion, is also frequently expressed in Mahâyâna texts with the analogy of a mirror that is able to spontaneously reflect the world without egoistic discriminations.\\nZen presumably inherits this analogy of the original mind as mirror from both Mahâyâna and Daoist sources. In the traditional edition of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, however, all residues of dualistic discrimination—including those that remain even in the notion of a mirror that needs to be continually wiped clean of impurities—are swept away in the famous lines: “Originally there is not a single thing” (Chinese: benlai wu-yi-wu; Japanese: honrai mu-ichi-motsu). In this quintessential Zen expression are wedded together the meontological and psychological senses of wu/mu: a metaphysical assertion of the aboriginality of a non-dualistic Nothingness, and an expression of the non-ego’s radical freedom from attachment and freedom for spontaneous creativity and compassion.\\nIn Zen we discover the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of Emptiness and the Daoist notion of Nothingness fully intertwined and developed into a practice of living both completely unattached and completely engaged in the world of “true Emptiness, marvelous being.” In the famous Wu or Mu kôan that opens the Gateless Barrier, Wumen (Mumon) urges those who wish to reach enlightenment, that is, those who wish to pass through the “barrier of the gate of Nothingness,” to concentrate their entire life force on this Wu (Mu), taking care to understand it neither as “nihilistic nothingness” nor “in terms of being and non-being” (Nishimura 1994, 22; see Cleary 1999, 71). This was the kôan that Nishida finally passed after nearly a decade of intense practice of Zen (see Yusa 2002, 45ff.). And as Nishida confided many years later to Nishitani, it was from early on his “impossible desire” to somehow bring Zen and philosophy together (NKZ XIX, 224–25; see Davis 2004b, 256ff.).\\n3.3 Nishida’s Topology of Absolute Nothingness\\nBesides contrasting Western Being with Eastern Nothingness, in his later writings Nishida also at times makes a broad distinction between a Western “logic of things” and an Eastern “logic of the heart-mind (kokoro).” While Western thought tends to begin with an objective logic of substances (be these physical or mental), he claims that in Buddhism one can find the germ of a logic of the heart-mind, even if traditionally this remained largely at the level of an expression of personal experience rather than being fully developed into a genuinely philosophical logic (see Nishida 1964, 356). (Scholars of Buddhism may want to argue that it was Nishida’s own knowledge of Buddhism that remained too much at the level of personal experience, rather than the sophisticated teachings of the Mâdhyamaka, Yogâchâra, Tiantai, and Huayan traditions of Mahâyâna philosophy.)\\nIn any case, in the development of Nishida’s logic of Nothingness, “being” is thought of in terms of the objectivity of determinate things, “relative nothingness” is understood as a mere privation or simple negation of being, and an enveloping sense of “Nothingness” is initially associated with a kind of transcendental subjectivity of consciousness or the heart-mind. Ultimately, however, Nishida comes to posit Absolute Nothingness as the “place” (basho) that embraces both subjective (noetic) and objective (noematic) polarities of reality. Thus, in the end he thus relegates not only privation of being but also subjective nothingness, in the sense of the “field of consciousness,” to a type of “relative nothingness.”[ 11 ]\\nIn 1934 Nishida writes: “Reality is being and at the same time nothingness; it is being-and-nothingness [u-soku-mu], nothingness-and-being; it is both subjective and objective, noetic and noematic. Reality is the unity of subjectivity and objectivity, and thus the self-identity of what is absolutely contradictory. Or rather, it is not that [the separate spheres of] subjectivity and objectivity come to unite, and then we first have reality. [The opposition of] subjectivity and objectivity must instead be thought from out of a dynamically dialectical reality that is self-determining” (NKZ VII, 441; see Nishida 1970, 29). Reality, as the dialectical “self-determination of Absolute Nothingness,” is in Nishida’s later works understood as a dynamic “identity of the absolute contradiction” between subjective (relative) nothingness and objective being. Absolute Nothingness is the temporal and spatial “place” wherein individual persons and things determine one another in their mutual interactions.\\nThe “place of Absolute Nothingess” (zettai-mu no basho) first became the central concept of Nishida’s thought in the mid-1920s, though he continued to develop and rethink the idea up until his last completed essay in 1945, “The Logic of Place and the Religious World-View.” Nishida first explicitly worked out an idea of Absolute Nothingness in his 1926 book, From That Which Acts to That Which Sees (NKZ IV), a book which inaugurated his middle-period of thought. In this work, which includes an important essay entitled “Place” (“Basho”), Nishida’s topological reasoning develops in rough outline as follows 12 ]:\\nJust as all events must “take place” somewhere, all beings must be situated in some place. Beings always exist in relation to other beings, and any relation requires a third term, namely, the place wherein they are related. In other words, for A and B to be related, there must be some place, C, in which their relation is situated. To begin with, we can understand this C as the spatial “context” in which objects are situated in relation to one another. But the context in which things are defined is more than spatial; a thing is not only here as opposed to there. Things are determined according to a number of criteria, each of which operates within its own field of judgment. Hence, the place C can be further understood as a “category” of judgment, such as “color.” Red and blue are revealed, and contrasted with one another, as colors within the category field of color.\\nIn order to let concrete things reveal themselves yet more fully, however, we should think of C as “consciousness.” Our minds are able to correlate various categories of judgment, such as color, size, shape, location, etc., and therefore to perceive individual things as composed of unique combinations of various qualities. For example, we are conscious of a certain thing as a round, soft, red, sweet, apple sitting on a table. The field of consciousness is the field in which these different categories are unified in the perception and judgment of a particular thing in relation to other particular things and their qualities.\\nUltimately, however, there is a crucial limit to the subjective “field of consciousness.” As Kant demonstrated, subjective consciousness cannot reflect things as they are in themselves, but only as they appear under the projection of subjective categories. What, then, is the ultimate place wherein not only objects but subjects too exist? According to Nishida, this must be the place where persons and things not only undergo changes in accidental categorical qualities, but essentially and existentially “come to be and pass away.” It is the place, not just of intellectual judgments, but of birth and death. This ultimate “groundless ground,” which “envelopes” all beings, yet which does so in such a way that lets them contain their own principle of self-determination, Nishida calls “the place of true Nothingness.” Although in no sense a determinate being, neither is this place of true or absolute Nothingness a mere static vacuity. In some sense, it must be thought of as both the source of consciousness, and as the metaphysically creative origin of beings.\\nAlthough Nishida comes to the idea of the place of Absolute Nothingness most directly through his confrontations with Kant and Neo-Kantianism, he does not shy from thinking this place in metaphysical as well as epistemological terms: Nothingness is not merely a reflective, but is also a creative principle (NKZ IV, 238–39). As he writes much later, “Absolute Nothingness at once transcends everything and is that by which everything is constituted” (NKZ IX, 6). And yet, Nishida repeatedly tells us that, as no-thing outside of or other than the place of the coming to be and passing away of truly individual beings, Absolute Nothingness is not to be thought of as a “transcendent being.” Nor is it to be understood as the processional unfolding of a “potential being,” that is to say, as a kind of Hegelian “world Spirit” with its own cunning reason at work behind the scenes of its historical march toward self-realization. The Absolute, according to Nishida, must be thought of as Nothingness in order to distinguish it from all ontologies that would reduce the uniqueness and autonomy of truly individual beings either to a transcendent being or to an underlying teleological process.\\nOne of the driving concerns behind Nishida’s repeated insistence that the Absolute be thought of in the meontological terms of a formless, indeterminate place of Absolute Nothingness, is that only therein can the irreducible and self-determining singular individual be given its due. All ontologies of universal being fail to allow for the existence of the true individual, or for the genuine encounter between individuals. Since “there is no universal [of being] whatsoever that subsumes the I and the thou” (NKZ VI, 381), the locus of genuine interpersonal encounter must be thought of in terms of the place of Absolute Nothingness.\\nIt should be pointed out that the Japanese term for “absolute,” zettai, literally means a “severing of opposition,” which implies the sense of “without an opposing other.” The contrasting term is sôtai, which indicates “relativity” in the sense of “mutual opposition.” The true Absolute must embrace, rather than stand over against, the relative. The Absolute, therefore, must not oppose itself to relative beings; rather, its self-determination must be such as to allow their mutual autonomous relations to take place. According to Nishida, it is only a philosophy of the place of Absolute Nothingness that can do justice to the notion of the Absolute as well as account for both the autonomy and the mutual relativity of individuals.\\nWhile on the one hand Nishida becomes increasingly concerned with allowing for radical interpersonal alterity within the place of Absolute Nothingness, on the other hand he also consistently argues from early on that “consciousness” should not be thought to necessarily entail an unbridgeable epistemological subject-object split. Although he initially adopted, and adapted, the notion of “pure experience” from William James and others to express this non-dual basis of knowledge, Nishida later drops this expression in favor of the notion of “self-awareness” (jikaku). According to Nishida, self-awareness can be defined as a “self reflecting itself within itself” (NKZ IV, 215).[ 13 ] Since Absolute Nothingness is not a “self” in the sense of a subject standing over against an object, any more than it is an ego with its own interested categories of perception, the self-awareness of Absolute Nothingness must be that of a “seeing without a seer” or a “knowing without a knower.” “Since there is no-thing that reflects, it is like a mirror reflecting the mirror itself” (ibid., 181).\\nIn Nishida’s middle period, the paradigm for knowing is a “pure seeing” (tada miru) beyond all acting and volition. Nishida claims that as finite individuals we can approach this ideal by way of thoroughly negating or emptying the ego. “By truly emptying the self, the field of consciousness can reflect an object just as it is” (NKZ IV, 221). The self reaches the place of Absolute Nothingness, and therefore first truly comes into contact with other beings, by way of thoroughly emptying itself in a movement of “immanent transcendence” that takes it back through the depths of the field of consciousness.\\nIn his last completed text, “The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview,” Nishida most fully developed the religious implications of the idea of Absolute Nothingness. There he thinks Absolute Nothingness as the best way to understand God or the Absolute, which he defines as that which “contains its own absolute self-negation within itself” (NKZ XI, 397). As Absolute Nothingness, God is the dynamic principle of affirmation by way of absolute self-negation. The true Absolute essentially negates its transcendent divinity and expresses itself in the forms of the relative.[ 14 ]\\nYet Nishida insists that this idea of God can be understood no more in terms of an immanent pantheism than in terms of a transcendent theism. It may perhaps best be called “panentheism”; but for Nishida this too remains a static term of “objective logic” and fails to capture the necessity of thinking God as both irreducibly transcendent and thoroughly immanent. As Nishida is fond of saying, God or the Buddha is “immanently transcendent.” It is the paradoxical logic one finds in the Prajñâpâramitâ Sutras of Mahâyâna Buddhism (i.e., what D. T. Suzuki called the “logic of soku-hi,” a logic of “is and is not”) that Nishida thinks most profoundly expresses the “absolute dialectic” of the divine as the dynamic principle of Absolute Nothingness (NKZ XI, 399; see Nishida 1987, 69–71).\\nIf we as finite relative beings can and do touch the Infinite Absolute, it is only by way of a mutual self-negation. Nishida calls this mutual self-negation “inverse correspondence” (gyakutaiô). By way of radically emptying ourselves, we can touch that which is the radical origin of self-emptying, the Absolute as an essentially self-negating Absolute Nothingness. According to Nishida, an immanent principle of self-negation is, in fact, the very essence of life. “True life (seimei) must contain within itself an Absolute Nothingness, a [principle of] absolute negation” (NKZ VIII, 341). It is such a life that can truly be self-determining as a “creative element of a creative world.”\\nIn his middle period, inaugurated by the first formulations of the idea of “the place of Absolute Nothingness” in From That Which Acts to That Which Sees, Nishida’s thought was characterized by a shift from his earlier voluntarism to a kind of intuitionism of pure seeing without a seer (see NKZ IV, 3–6). In his later period, however, Nishida’s epistemology became much more dynamic and dialectical; rather than “pure seeing,” his key epistemological phrase then becomes “active-intuition.” Although self-emptying still plays a vital role, this is understood not as preparation for a passive intuition, but rather as an active process of “seeing a thing by becoming it.” In other words, intuition happens only in the process of acting upon and in turn being acted upon by things.\\nIn his later period, the place of Absolute Nothingness is accordingly reconceived much more dynamically as the “self-determination of the dialectical world,” a world which continually moves according to the principle of “from created to creating.” The Absolute finds expression now only in the midst of the mutual interaction of individuals and things, and true individuals are both determined by and “counter-determine” (gyaku-gentei suru) the movement of the dialectical world (see NKZ VII, 305ff.; VIII, 313–14). Although one can to some extent trace an immanent unfolding of Nishida’s thought in this direction, it is also undeniable that a major impetus for his dialectical development of the idea of Absolute Nothingness can be found in the criticism he received from his junior colleague, Tanabe Hajime.\\n3.4 Tanabe’s Absolute Nothingness as the Other-Power of Absolute Mediation\\nIt is Tanabe’s declaration of partial independence from Nishida’s thought in an essay written in 1930, “Looking up to Professor Nishida” (THZ IV, 305–328), that many see as the origin of the Kyoto School as more than a group of disciples of “Nishida Philosophy.” In this essay Tanabe sharply criticizes Nishida’s middle-period philosophy of the “place of Absolute Nothingness,” claiming that it falls into kind of Plotinian “emanationism” that ultimately rests on a religious or mystical intuition. For Tanabe, this posed two serious problems for a genuine philosophy of Absolute Nothingness.\\nTo begin with, in crossing the line between philosophical reason, based on ordinary experience, and supra-rational intuition, based on extra-ordinary religious experience, Nishida had purportedly committed a methodological transgression. Here Tanabe poses a question that still resounds in (some would say haunts) the halls of Kyoto School studies to this day. As James Heisig puts it, the Kyoto School thinkers in general do not share an important assumption of Western philosophy as a whole, namely, a “clear delineation between philosophy and religion” (Heisig 2001, 13–14). This is a complex issue, since the Western concept of “religion” was just as much an import to Japan as was “philosophy.” The problems faced and the possibilities opened up by a Zen Buddhist “philosophy of religion” in particular differ in significant ways from a Judeo-Christian one, insofar as the former calls for extending rational thought in the direction of a “practice of awakening,” rather than in the direction of a leap of faith.\\nI have addressed the provocative methodological ambivalences involved in Nishida’s and Nishitani’s philosophies of Zen in detail elsewhere (Davis 2004b; and Davis 2006). Let it suffice to say in this context that Tanabe too later crisscrosses the line between philosophy and religion as much as any Kyoto School thinker, although his Shin Buddhist inclinations took him in the direction of “faith” rather than “intuition.”[ 15 ] After this religious turn in his thinking, Tanabe claimed that philosophy and faith must be mediated by a personal act of metanoesis (Tanabe 2000, 34; Tanabe 1986, 29), and that, in order to develop a genuine philosophy of religion, “in the end one must have faith and become self-aware by means of religious faith” (Tanabe 2003, 27).\\nFor his part, Nishida responded to Tanabe’s early critique by affirming that his idea of the self-awareness of Absolute Nothingness does indeed entail the profound significance of religious experience. Yet he claims that this is neither mystical in the sense of “religious ecstasy” nor “is it thought in the direction of substance, as is Plotinus’ One.” He denied the charge of emanationism, claiming that in his thought “it is not a matter of the self-determination of being, but rather the self-determination of Nothingness” (NKZ VI, 154). For Nishida, only if the Absolute is thought in terms of a self-negating Nothingness, rather than in terms of a transcendent plenum of the One, is it possible to truly affirm the world of the many. The Absolute is found in the very midst of beings, not beyond them. It is “because this is Absolute Nothingness,” Nishida writes in the parlance of Zen, “that the mountain is mountain, the river is river, and all beings are just as they are” (NKZ V, 182; see Nishida 1958, 137).\\nBut the other major concern of Tanabe’s critique of Nishida was that, insofar as Absolute Nothingness is made into an unchanging basis or enveloping “place” of a system of reality, and insofar as it is seen as transcending the dialectical interactions among beings, then such a philosophy ends up falling back into a metaphysics of being after all. In order to radically think the idea of Absolute Nothingness, Tanabe argues, we must conceive of it rather in terms of “absolute mediation” or “absolute dialectic.” Absolute Nothingness must be thought, not as an enveloping place, but as the very movement of “absolute negation,” a movement which originates in the self-negation of Absolute Nothingness itself. Tanabe writes: “Since the Absolute, as Nothingness, must act as an absolute mediating force, it presupposes relative being as its medium. In contrast with the doctrine of the creation of the world maintained by the theist, or the theory of emanation propounded by the pantheist, [for] historical thinking the Absolute and the relative, Nothingness and being, are interrelated each with the other as indispensable elements of absolute mediation” (Tanabe 2000, 27; Tanabe 1986, 23).\\nIn this later text, Philosophy as Metanoetics, written around the same time as Nishida was elaborating his own kenotic idea of a self-negating Absolute Nothingness, Tanabe, in a putative critique of Nishida, also writes: “Because the absolute subject of Other-power is Absolute Nothingness … it must be thoroughly mediated by the relative self. In contrast to a mere ‘self-identity of absolute contradictories’, only that which entails the absolute existential mediation of the death and resurrection of the self can be called Absolute Nothingness” (Tanabe 2000, 13; Tanabe 1986, 8). Tanabe’s passing dismissal of Nishida’s terminology here is hardly convincing, since in fact Nishida too speaks of the absolute self-negation of Absolute Nothingness and of the existential death and resurrection of the finite self. In any case, Tanabe’s philosophy as the “way of metanoetics” (zangedô) entails the ceaseless movement of what he calls “absolute critique,” where the self-power of finite reason again and again runs up against antinomies, and is reborn only by way of Absolute Nothingness as what he calls, in the parlance of Shinran’s Shin Buddhism, the workings of Other-power (tariki).\\nAs Nishitani and others have pointed out (see NKC IX, 212ff.; Nishitani 1991, 161ff.), Tanabe’s criticisms often fail to do justice to Nishida’s thought, and we should not forget the impetuses Tanabe acknowledges having received from his erstwhile mentor. Yet, on the other hand, his criticisms were frequently not without their point, and his provocations certainly did serve as counter-impetuses that spurred Nishida on, not just to clarify, but also to further develop his philosophy of Absolute Nothingness (see Sugimoto 2004; Kopf 2004). No doubt in large part due to the persistent attention given by Tanabe to the historical world, to the irrational element of the specific through which the individual and the universal must be mediated, and to the dialectical relations between finite beings, Nishida gradually moved away from an at times static and individualistic conception of an artistic or religious intuition of the place of Absolute Nothingness, and toward a much more dynamic conception of Absolute Nothingness as the self-determination of the dialectical world, a self-determination which takes place only by way of the mutual interactions between individual persons and things.\\n3.5 Nishitani’s Fields of Nihility and Śûnyatâ, and Ueda’s Two-Layered-World\\nIn the tradition of the Kyoto School, Tanabe’s role has often been seen, justly or unjustly, as a less significant if albeit highly original counterpoint to Nishida. While such thinkers as Takeuchi Yoshinori and Hase Shôtô have been profoundly influenced by Tanabe’s approach to Absolute Nothingness in Shin Buddhist terms of the absolute mediation of Other-power, on the other hand Nishitani, Ueda and others have drawn their primary inspiration for thinking Absolute Nothingness from Nishida’s more topological approach, as well as from his primary orientation to and from Zen Buddhism. Following the lead of Nishida’s own creative appropriation of Tanabe’s critique of his middle-period philosophy of place, subsequent Kyoto School figures have often tended to incorporate Tanabe’s dialectical thinking into, rather than seeing it as a replacement for, Nishida’s topological thinking of Absolute Nothingness.\\nTanabe’s method of thinking was intensely dialectical, a method he developed through his prolonged study of Hegel. Nishitani, on the other hand, began his study of Western thought by focusing on Bergson, Schelling, Nietzsche and the German Mystics. Between 1937 and 1939, Nishitani studied with Heidegger, who was at the time beginning to grapple with the question of nihilism, and whose phenomenology had developed into a thinking of the “clearing of being” or what he would later characterize as a “topology of being” (Heidegger 1975, Vol. 15, 335). Influenced no doubt in part by his contact with Heidegger (and perhaps in turn influencing Heidegger, who frequently invited him to his house to learn about Zen), Nishitani developed, in his own highly original manner, existential and phenomenological aspects of Nishida’s topology of Absolute Nothingness.\\nThe problem of nihilism gradually became the major focus of Nishitani’s personal and scholarly attention. The historical phenomenon of nihilism was understood by Nishitani in terms of a vacuous nothingness that assaults the modern world, a world bereft of its ethical and religious moorings. Despite the profundity of his mentor Nishida’s philosophy, it failed to adequately address this crucial modern problem. According to Nishitani, Nishida’s philosophy, whether it be his early thought of “pure experience” or the later notion of “active-intuition,” begins already from a standpoint where the dualistic consciousness of the ego has already been broken though (see NKC IX 247–48; Nishitani 1991, 184–85). For his part, Nishitani was concerned with the question of how to think the topological pathway leading to such a breakthrough to non-duality.\\nThe question of how to open up an existential pathway to the place of Absolute Nothingness was particularly acute given the prevalence of the pendulum swing between two extremes endemic to modernity: on the one hand, an extreme reification of the subjective ego together with a corresponding objectification and technological manipulation of things; and, on the other hand, a reactive nihilism which threatens to nullify the very reality of both the self and things. For Nishitani, humanism and science were incapable of overcoming this dilemma of reification/nullification; in fact, they had helped create it. In an age of secular egoism and nihilism, how could an experience of the place of Absolute Nothingness take place?\\nTo begin with, we must heed the call of Nietzsche’s madman and cease fleeing from the experience of nihilism. God as the highest being is dead, and it remains an open question whether he can be reborn as Absolute Nothingness. In any case, the venture of Nishitani’s philosophy of Zen is more concerned with the existential imperative of letting go of attachments than it is with immediately grasping hold of a new concept for God. In order to finally free humans from their egoistic obsessions and manipulative objectifications in the experiential “field of being and consciousness,” Nishitani argued for the necessity of first boldly stepping back into the “field of nihility.”\\nYet the real breakthrough to a non-dualistic reaffirmation of the self and the world only occurs when the relative nothingness of nihility is in turn broken through to a genuine experience of Absolute Nothingness or true Emptiness on the “field of śûnyatâ.” Nishitani thus explained the personal encounter with nihilism as an experience of the extreme relative nothingness of “nihility” or “vacuous nothingness” (kyomu), and for him the central task of “overcoming nihilism by passing through nihilism” entailed transgressing beneath (i.e., “trans-descending”) the “field of nihility” to the “field of śûnyatâ” (see NKC X, 109 and 122ff.; Nishitani 1986, 97 and 108ff.).[ 16 ] As mentioned earlier (section 3.2), the “field of śûnyatâ” is not a vacuum of relative nothingness that assaults beings from without; it is an open clearing wherein beings are neither nullified nor reified, but rather let be in the mutual freedom of their coming to be and passing away.\\nWhile Nishitani’s “field of śûnyatâ” (kû no ba) corresponds in many respects to what Nishida calls the “place of Absolute Nothingness” (zettai-mu no basho), Nishitani takes the peculiar problems that beset the modern secular and technological world, as well as postmodern critiques of metaphysics and subjectivity (especially those of Nietzsche and Heidegger), far more seriously than did Nishida. Nishitani also connects his thought much more closely with the tradition of Mahâyâna Buddhism than did Nishida, explicitly writing on, and writing from, what he calls the “standpoint of Zen” (see NKC XI).\\nUeda Shizuteru—a student of Nishitani who has since the 1980s been at the center of the revival of Nishida studies—also takes a topological, phenomenological, and existential approach to the idea of Absolute Nothingness; and he too explicitly orients himself to and from the standpoint of Zen. Following in the tradition of the Kyoto School’s dialogue with Western philosophers, in one of his influential works Ueda engages the work of Husserl, Heidegger and other phenomenologists to articulate a religiously charged philosophy of what he calls “twofold being-in-the-world” (nijûsekainaisonzai).\\nWhile the first layer in which the self is located is the historical horizon of the everyday life-world, this horizon itself is ultimately found to rest in an absolutely “empty-expanse,” a place of Absolute Nothingness that both enfolds the everyday world as well as grounds the radical freedom of the individual “self-negating self” (see USS IX, 22–24 and 324ff.). Ueda finds this idea of returning, by way of absolute self-negation, to a primordial wellspring of existence that is “empty and free” (ledig und frei) in Meister Eckhart, and, in an even more rarified form, in Zen Buddhism. It is from the latter that he borrows the term “empty-expanse” (kokû) as a topological expression for śûnyatâ.\\nFor Ueda, then, the two-layered-world is inhabited by a two-layered-self, or, more precisely, by a “self that is not a self.” The self, as being-in-the-world, ultimately realizes itself in a moment of absolute self-negation where it dies to itself and stands as a “non-ego” or “empty-being” in the “empty-expanse” which envelopes the horizonal life-world. The true self, as a self that becomes itself by passing through the absolute negation of its ego, is a two-layered being-in-and-beyond-the-world; it stands in the horizon of the world which, in turn, rests in the empty-expanse of Absolute Nothingness.\\n3.6 The “Self that is not a Self” and the Nothingness of Radical Subjectivity\\nUeda argues that both the ego of the Cartesian cogito, as well as the non-ego (Sanskrit: anâtman; Japanese: muga) of Buddhism, must ultimately be comprehended on the basis of an understanding of the self as a repeated movement through a radical self-negation to a genuine self-affirmation. Ueda’s formula for this movement is: “I, not being I, am I.” Even when one says “I am I,” if we listen closely there is a pause, a breath, between the first and the second “I.” Precisely that opening—which necessarily occurs as a moment in the ceaseless movement by which the identity of the self is constituted—is the “ecstatic space” wherein an open encounter with another person is possible.\\nSuch a genuine encounter with another person no longer takes place simply within my, or your, or even our world-horizon. Ueda uses the greeting of the bow as a concrete example to illustrate how mutual self-negation—the emptying of all ego-centered presumptions and agendas—returns us to a communal place where we, paradoxically, share Nothing in common. “There, by way of making oneself into a Nothingness, one returns into the infinite depths of that ‘between’ where there is neither an I nor a you. … Then, when we rise again so as to come back to life anew and face one another, this becomes a matter of, as Dôgen puts it: thus am I; thus are you” (Ueda 1991, 67; see USS X, 107ff.). Open to the other, and to the empty-expanse in which together we dwell, I am I (USS X, 23–24).\\nNishitani had earlier used the expression, “the self that is not a self,” to characterize the shared endeavor of Nishida and Tanabe to think “a ‘self that is not a self’ turning on the axis of Absolute Nothingness” (NKC IX, 238; Nishitani 1991, 175). The idea of the true self as a “self that is not a self” expresses an essential aspect of what Nishida and other Kyoto School thinkers call—following D. T. Suzuki, who in turn gleaned the idea from the Diamond Sutra—the “logic of soku-hi,” a logic of “is and is not” or affirmation by way of negation (see Akizuki 1996, 109–152; NKZ XI, 398–99; Nishida 1987, 70). The self finds its most originary freedom, and its most open engagement with others, through a radical self-negation which returns it, not to a higher Will or encompassing Being, but to an essentially self-negating Absolute Nothingness that, in turn, finds expression only in the interaction of truly self-determining individuals. For Nishida, the true individual is an interpersonal self-determining focal point of the self-determination of Absolute Nothingness, in other words, an interactive and creative element in a creative world (see NKZ VIII, 343ff.).\\nNishitani’s first book, The Philosophy of Radical Subjectivity, sought a more originary conception of the human subject than had been developed in modern Western philosophy. In general, for Nishitani, modern “subjectivity” remains bound by a reifying attachment to things and ultimately to the ego. Nishitani did recognized certain advances in the direction of a truly “radical subjectivity” in modern ideas such as that of individual “autonomy.” For example, the Kantian idea of the ethical “person,” which opens itself to a universal standpoint by way of a negation of the self-will of the ego, suggested for Nishitani a “kind of standpoint of ‘non-ego’” (see NKC I, 60). However, the autonomy of the Kantian ethical subject can also be seen as asserting a sublated form of self-will, namely in its will to form as well as to conform to the universal. Nishitani finds profounder intimations of a truly radical subjectivity in both Meister Eckhart’s mystical theology and Nietzsche’s radical atheism, which each in their own way go beyond, or dig beneath, attachments to and sublations of egoity. Ultimately Nishitani returns to the language of Zen Buddhism to express his conception of the “radical subjectivity of non-ego [muga]” as a “subjective Nothingness” (shutai-teki mu) (NKC I, 88).\\nThis radical subjective Nothingness is not to be confused with the relative nothingness of a “subjective consciousness” which sets itself over against, and objectifies, the world. As with Zen’s kôan of Nothingness (mu), a realization of the radical subjectivity of non-ego (mu-ga) entails breaking through the dualistic barrier that artificially separates self and world. For Nishitani, this breakthrough is expressed as “the self-awareness of the bottom dropping out” (NKC I, iii). It is a radical return, or “trans-descendence,” to “the background of our own selves,” to the Ungrund on which we originally possess “not a single thing” (mu-ichi-motsu) (NKC XI, 243).\\nWith Nishitani’s conception of a radical “subjective Nothingness,” understood as a “standpoint of śûnyatâ” realized on the “field of śûnyatâ,” we find an explicit appropriation of both the psychological and the meontological (or mu-logical) paradigms of Nothingness found in the traditions of East Asian. The notions of non-ego (muga) and “no-mind” or “mind of Nothingness” (mushin) are thought in terms of the spontaneous openness of the heart-mind which stands within the field of Emptiness, an open place which grants beings the free space for their unobstructed (muge) interactivity.\\nAs we have seen, Nishida, Nishitani, and Ueda each conceived of Absolute Nothingness in both an existential and a topological sense. Although Tanabe eschewed the topological conception of Absolute Nothingness, by understanding both the relative self and the Absolute in terms of a ceaseless movement of affirmation by way of radical negation, he too, in his own way, philosophically appropriated the East Asian paradigms of psychological and meontological Nothingness.\\n4. Political Ventures and Misadventures\\nAs we have seen, the philosophical stakes involved in the Kyoto School’s thought are high—indeed they invite us to rethink some of our most basic concepts and ways of experiencing the world and ourselves. For this very reason Kyoto School thinkers promise to be especially valuable partners in any post-Eurocentric forum of philosophical dialogue. Genuine philosophy, after all, thrives on the opportunity to call its fundamental presuppositions into question. Unfortunately, however, the world of politics tends to be a far less “dialogical” forum of intercultural relations. The history of Western imperial domination of Asia is well documented (see Panikkar 1969). Yet, in the field of Kyoto School studies, just as often criticized are the purported contributions of these thinkers in the 1930s and early 1940s to the political ideology of the Japanese Empire. However, we need to carefully examine whether and to what extent the political thought of the Kyoto School is deserving of its tainted reputation in this regard.\\n4.1 The Razor’s Edge of “Cooperative Resistance”\\nThe political ventures and misadventures of philosophers—from Socrates and Plato to Marx and Heidegger in the West, and from Confucius and Hanfeizi to Gandhi and Nishida in the East—represent an enduring and frequently problematic aspect of the histories of thought. Relating the “ideal” world of philosophy to the “real” world of political action is a perilous, if arguably obligatory, undertaking.\\nThe pitfalls of political intervention are particularly deep when philosophers find themselves in a nation headed down a road toward injustice and disaster. What is a philosopher to do in such a situation? Barring straightforward complicity, there appear to be three choices: withdraw into reclusion, stand up in overt resistance, or negotiate a reorientation by means of immanent critique or cooperative correction. While many intellectuals in wartime Japan took the first course, a number of courageous Leftists braved the second course. Both Tosaka Jun and Miki Kiyoshi, the central members of the so-called “left wing of the Kyoto School,” died in prison in 1945 as a result of their intellectual resistance. The majority of the Kyoto School thinkers, however, including Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani, took the third course of action.\\nIn retrospect Nishitani wrote: “My attempt was, on the one hand, to explain where Japan was situated within the world to those intellectuals remaining on the sidelines [of politics]; and, on the other hand, with respect to the extremely nationalistic thought that was becoming increasingly prevalent at the time, I attempted from within to open up a path for overcoming this extreme nationalism” (NKC IV, 384). Rather than either stand up and die, or sit out and wait, Nishitani and other members of the Kyoto School attempted to walk the razor’s edge of what Ôhashi Ryôsuke has called “anti-establishment cooperation” or “cooperative resistance” (hantaiseiteki kyôryoku) (see Ôhashi 2001, 20ff.).\\nTo be sure, the question of how successfully the Kyoto School managed to carry out this “cooperative resistance” (and the question of whether they cooperated more than resisted, or vice versa) is debatable, especially given the fact that they hardly succeeded in altering the disastrous orientation of the regime. Their intentions of cooperative resistance notwithstanding, the fact is that their political writings were more successfully co-opted by the very extreme nationalism that they were trying to reorient or overcome from within. Nevertheless, we must take care to separate their ideals from the reality they were attempting to influence, and bear in mind the constraints of their chosen path of critique from within.\\nWhatever their failings, it is clear that certain crudely one-sided condemnations are at least as simplistic and misleading as are the occasional attempts of overzealous acolytes to whitewash everything that was ever said and done by a Kyoto School forefather. It is, for example, highly misleading to refer to the Kyoto School’s philosophy of history as “a thinly disguised justification … for Japanese aggression and continuing imperialism,” or to claim that “no group helped defend the state more consistently and enthusiastically … and none came closer … to defining the philosophic contours of Japanese fascism” (Najita/Harootunian 1998, 238–39; for a severe critique of such polemical claims, see Parkes 1997). The latter dishonor, namely that of attempting to give quasi-philosophical expression to Japanese fascism, surely goes to the proponents of “Imperial Way Philosophy,” who in fact harshly attacked the “world-historical philosophy” of the Kyoto School for being insufficiently Japan-centric (see Ôhashi 2001, 71–72).\\nJudicious critics of the wartime political writings of the Kyoto School must surely try to steer a middle course between and beyond what James Heisig aptly calls the “side-steppers and the side-swipers” (see Heisig 1990, 14). With this balance in mind, in the following sections let me highlight some of the key points and episodes of the Kyoto School’s wartime political ventures and misadventures.\\n4.2 Nishida’s Reluctant “War over Words” and his Ambivalent Universalism\\nIn 1943 Yatsugi Kazuo, a member of the Center for National Strategy, approached Nishida and asked him to contribute a scholarly account of Japan’s role in East Asia, that is, to help provide a rationale for the creation of the so-called “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” Nishida is said to have burst out in anger, shouting something like: “What on earth do government officials and militarists think these days, that scholars are like artisans from whom they can order something to be tailor made?” And yet Yatsugi apparently countered to the effect that not only prominent Japanese scholars, such as Fukuzawa Yukichi, but also Western philosophers, such as Kant and Adam Smith, did not neglect to apply their theoretical insights to practical social and political circumstances (see Ôhashi 2001, 47). In the end Nishida did agree to write an essay, “Principles for a New World Order” (NKZ XII, 426–434; see Arisaka 1996), though his original text had to be edited and “simplified” by a sociologist serving as a go-between. Nishida was even then disappointed that his attempt to “bring out the dimension of universality present in the Japanese spirit” seemed to have had no effect on Prime Minister Tôjô Hideki and his bellicose regime (see Yusa 1994, 124).\\nFrom today’s vantage point, Nishida’s political writings appear highly ambivalent. On the one hand, his resistance to fascism and totalitarianism is unmistakable. Indeed it comes as no surprise that he was in danger of being arrested—and apparently only his public stature and the fact that he had influential sympathizers within the moderate ranks of the government kept this from happening—when one reads the warning given in his 1941 speech directly to the emperor: “Any totalitarian system that negates outright the role of the individual is but an anachronism” (NKZ XII, 271; see Yusa 1994, 111). Even in his most compromised text, “Principles for a New World Order,” Nishida urgently claims that the “co-prosperity sphere” must not entail either ethnocentrism, expansionism, imperialism, colonialism, or totalitarianism (see NKZ XII, 432–33). Elsewhere Nishida made clear that his vision was of a multicultural world where neither the West would subsume the East, nor vice versa (NKZ XIV, 404–5), where “various cultures, while maintaining their own individual standpoints, would develop themselves through the mediation of the world” (NKZ VII, 452–53).\\nOn the other hand, Nishida did see a special role for the nation—and in particular for the Japanese nation with the emperor at its spiritual center—in the historical formation of this truly “worldly world” (sekai-teki sekai). Moreover, in his writings he did affirmatively employ such problematic phrases as “all the world under one roof” (hakkô-ichiu) and the “imperial way” (kôdô). While there is certainly room for criticism here in light (and hindsight) of the historical record of Japan’s political and cultural “leadership” in Asia at this time, the issue of how to critically evaluate Nishida’s theoretical interventions is complicated by the hermeneutical fact that today we read such catchwords and phrases through the semantic lenses of the right wing ideologues who in the end succeeded in carving their definitions into the annals of history. It must be kept in mind that, at the time, the precise meaning of these phrases was still in dispute. Ueda Shizuteru has aptly spoken of Nishida’s “tug-of-war over meaning,” a struggle which he ultimately lost (Ueda 1994, 97; also see Goto-Jones 2005). Yusa Michiko writes in this regard: “Rather than invent a new vocabulary that would rise above the fray, [Nishida] took up the jargon and slogans of the day and sought to redeem them from their petty provincialism by opening them up to a more universal perspective” (Yusa 1994, 131).\\nNevertheless, even after we have carried out a hermeneutically sensitive reconstruction of the context, and after we have finished reading between and behind the lines of his political texts, there no doubt remain a number of controversial aspects of Nishida’s political thought. Affirming the central place of the emperor in Japan as “an identity of contradictions,” Nishida cryptically writes: “Our [i.e., Japan’s] national polity is not simply a totalitarianism. The Imperial House is the beginning and the end of our world, as the absolute present that embraces past and future” (NKZ XII, 430).[ 17 ] And with regard to the central role of Japan in Asia, he claims that “in order to build a particular world, a central figure that carries the burden of the project is necessary. In East Asia today there is no other but Japan” (NKZ XII, 429; Arisaka 1996, 102).\\nCritics may argue that Nishida’s universalism is still plagued by an exemplary particularism,[ 18 ] and that he succeeds in questioning Eurocentrism only by way of shifting the locus of the concrete universal to Japan. Yoko Arisaka argues that “the chief claim of the defenders—that Nishida’s philosophical ‘universalism’ is incompatible with nationalist ideology—fails because universalist discourse was used both as a tool of liberation and oppression in Japan’s case” (Arisaka 1999, 242). Arisaka critically adds, however, that “the idea that a particular nation may be the bearer of a universal principle, such as freedom or democracy, and that, therefore, its actions in history serve a higher end, should be familiar from recent American experience” (ibid., 244; also see Maraldo 1994, 355).\\nTo be fair to Nishida, we should confess that we today have yet to solve the post-Enlightenment aporia of how to reconcile universal humanism with cultural particularity (a debate we inherit in part from the Kant-Herder controversy). In other words, the question remains of how to configure a multicultural world of dialogue instead of either an imperialistic monoculture or a clash of civilizations. In our search for an answer to this urgent question, we may indeed have much yet to learn from a critical appropriation of Nishida’s thought (see Feenberg 1995; Maraldo 1995; Dallmayr 1996; Davis 2001; and Goto-Jones 2005).\\n4.3 Two Controversial Wartime Symposia, and Nishitani’s Nation of Non-Ego\\nNishida’s ambivalent political stance—between a post-imperialistic cosmopolitan vision on the one hand, and an affirmation of Japan’s destined world-historical role in realizing this vision on the other—was taken up into even more entangled political engagements by his students Nishitani Keiji, Kôyama Iwao, Kôsaka Masaaki, Suzuki Shigetaka, and to a lesser extent Shimomura Toratarô. As mentioned above, a significant, if stigmatizing, stage in the formation of the identity of the Kyoto School involved the participation of several of its members in two wartime symposia, the Literary World‘s 1942 symposium on “Overcoming Modernity” (reprinted in Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979) and the 1941–43 roundtable discussions published in the pages of Chûôkôron and later as a monograph, The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan (Kôsaka et al 1943).\\nThe Overcoming Modernity symposium has been aptly characterized as “a premature challenge to the questions that have yet to be answered today” (Minamoto 1994, 200). Even one of the most critical recent accounts of this symposium—an account which argues that the “only destination reached by the symposium on overcoming modernity was the place where Japan itself had been overcome by modernity”—concedes that: “It is, nevertheless, important to point out that the very critique mounted by Japanese against modernity prefigured precisely all of those doubts and obsessions concerning subjectivity, cultural difference, and even racism that have become the signatures of a Western and putatively global discourse that marks our own historical conjuncture today” (Harootunian 2000, 94).\\nAs discussed above (section 2.2), the Kyoto School participants spoke of an overcoming of modernity that can take place only by way of passing through modernity, a stance that represented a countertendency to the simple rejection of modern Western rationality by the Japanese Romantic School and other participants in the symposium. In other words, the Kyoto School participants did not lament the modernization/Westernization of Japan, nor did they nostalgically plea for a return to a pre-modern age; rather, they called for a further step forward, but one that would involve creatively recovering viable elements of Japanese tradition at the same time as building on the best of what could be learned from the West. This stance shows up clearly in Nishitani’s debate with Kobayashi Hideo, who argued for a rejection of modernity and a return to the pre-modern Japanese classics (see Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979, 217ff.). Throughout his career Nishitani consistently spoke of overcoming of modernity only by way of passing through it, and in this process tradition was to be creatively appropriated, not conservatively retreated to. As he later wrote: “There is no turning back to the way things were. … Our tradition must be appropriated from the direction in which we are heading, as a new possibility” (NKC VIII, 183; Nishitani 1990, 179); and: “Simply put, the backward looking return to tradition is straightaway to be forward looking” (NKC XIX, 104; see Davis 2004a, 144ff.).\\nIn the Chûôkôron discussions as well the Kyoto School resolutely attempted to think from the “standpoint of world history.” Problematically, however, they asserted a leadership role for Japan in the present moment, which they viewed as a turning point in world history. If the standpoint of world history had indeed been first opened up by both Western universalism and imperialism, it was the non-Western nation of Japan that was purportedly in a unique position to free the world from the chains of the latter in order to realize the true potential of the former.\\nIn his book written around the same time, View of the World and the Nation, Nishitani went so far as to claim that this was the moment in time where the “focal point of world history” was to become the Japanese nation, just as previously world history had centered on the Roman Empire and then later on the British Empire. However, Nishitani argued that unlike the former two empires, Japan’s historical mission was to bring about a world that has “no specific center” but rather consists of various “politically and culturally unified spheres” (NKC IV, 298–300). The Japanese nation would be able to carry out this mission, he crucially adds, only if it incorporates a religious moment of self-negation, thus becoming what he calls a “nation of non-ego” rather than a self-centered aggressive empire (NKC IV, 285–86). In this idealistic vision, which unfortunately had little to do with the cruel realities of Japanese expansionism, Japan was to be an altogether new kind of empire, a self-negating and compassionate one that would help other nations to cooperatively form their own identities, rather than an aggressive and “imperialistic” one that would remold others into inferior replicas of itself. (It remains for us to ask how best to characterize today’s political superpowers and economic empires, and how to relate their ideologies to their realities.)\\nIf there is a lasting merit to Nishitani’s wartime political writings and the Chûôkôron discussions, it might be found in part in their critique of the contradictions and hypocrisies of Western imperialism (see, for example, Kôsaka et al. 1943, 348ff.), together with their insistence that Japan’s “leading role” in Asia not become that of an imperialist or colonizer (see ibid., 204–5; also see Nishitani’s “My View of ‘Overcoming Modernity’,” reprinted in Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979, 32). The lasting infamy of the Chûôkôron discussions, on the other hand, can be found not only in their general political naïveté, but also in their idealization and even “whitewashing” of political realities, as well as in such disturbing specific suggestion as that of “Japanizing” or “half-Japanizing” some of the “more superior” ethnic groups in Asia in order to assist in instituting the Japanese led “Co-Prosperity Sphere” (Kôsaka et al. 1943, 262–63, 337).\\n4.4 The “Ôshima Memos”: Record of a Think Tank for Navy Moderates\\nIt has recently been made evident that the political activities of the Kyoto School during the war were even more involved—and even more filled with ambiguity—than was previously thought. Ôhashi Ryôsuke discovered and published in 2001 some wartime notebooks of Ôshima Yasuma, a student of Tanabe. These notebooks document in detail secret meetings regularly held by Kyoto School members at the bequest of the Japanese navy between February 1942 and just before the end of the war (Ôhashi 2001). While on the one hand the existence of these secret meetings demonstrates the existence of an even more intimate connection between the Kyoto School and the military than was previously known, on the other hand it is crucially significant that they were in cooperation with a certain moderate faction of the navy, a faction that was opposed to the extremists that dominated the army. There had long existed a significant tension between the bellicose arrogance of the army and the comparatively more moderate and worldly stance of the navy. As the politically more powerful army was setting a war-bound course for Pearl Harbor, some reticent navy officials evidently petitioned the Kyoto School to shed light on the political situation from their “world-historical standpoint,” presumably in order to sway public sentiment in a more prudent direction.\\nIn short, the “Ôshima Memos” help reveal how the Kyoto School found themselves in a position where they were called on to fight a “war of thought” on two fronts: against Western imperialism, they felt themselves called on to determine a world-historical role for Japan in freeing itself and other Asian peoples from colonization and exploitation by the Western empires; and, against Japanese ultra-nationalism, they felt that it was up to them to convince the public and the military of the illegitimacy of an imperialistic response to the problem of imperialism.\\nÔshima Yasuma had in fact previously published, in 1965, an often overlooked account of these meetings under the title, “The Pacific War and the Kyoto School: On the Political Participation of Intellectuals” (Ôshima 2000, 274–304; also see Horio 1994, 301ff.). In this article Ôshima summarized the purpose of the secret Kyoto School meetings in three stages: In the very first meetings (which apparently took place prior to those documented in the recovered notebooks), the main theme was “how to avoid the outbreak of war.” Since war in fact broke out very soon thereafter, the theme quickly switched to “how to bring the war to a favorable end as soon as possible, by way of rationally convincing the army.” To do this the Kyoto School reportedly agreed that it would be necessary to overthrow the cabinet of Tôjô Hideki. However, according to Ôshima, all criticism of Tôjô and the army had to be expurgated in the discussions published in the pages of Chûôkôron, and the expressions of the Kyoto School had to be “veiled in two or three layers of cloth” in order to avoid censorship and persecution. Towards the end of the war, the theme of the secret meetings is said to have changed to that of “how to handle the postwar situation.”\\nAmong these three themes only the second is recorded in any detail in the notebooks that were recently discovered and published by Ôhashi as the “Ôshima Memos.” Although there may well have been preliminary discussions on how to avoid war, more explicit references to overthrowing Tôjô Hideki, and more lengthy discussions about postwar issues, these do not in fact show up in the recovered notebooks. Nevertheless, the “Ôshima Memos” do show us a more detailed and uncensored account of the “war of thought” on two fronts during a tumultuous and tragic time of what was, in fact, Japan’s imperialistic response to the threat of imperialism.\\n4.5 After the War: Tanabe’s Metanoetic Turn and Nishitani’s Other Cheek\\nTheir ambivalent wartime stance between supporting the nationalistic ideology and subjecting it to a cosmopolitan critique—in other words, their attempt to walk a razor’s edge of “cooperative resistance”—ironically earned the Kyoto School a suspect reputation in Japan both before and after the end of the war. As Nishitani confided later to a student: “During the war we were struck on the cheek from the right; after the war we were struck on the cheek from the left.”\\nDuring the war, the stance of the Kyoto School was considered too cosmopolitan and insufficiently nationalistic, even anti-war. The discussions published in The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan were branded by the “Imperial Way” ideologues as “ivory-tower speculations that risked reducing the Empire to simply one more category of world history,” and further printings of the book were reportedly stopped by the government censors (see Horio 1994, 291). After the war, the Kyoto School’s idealistic attempts to impart meaning and direction to Japan’s “world historical mission” were seen—especially by the emerging Left that had at long last been freed from repression and persecution—as support for its de facto militaristic fascism. Nishitani and others were purged for several years from their university positions. Even when they were later reinstated, the stigma of the Kyoto School as having “cooperated in the war” was hardly lifted. Their political thought in particular was dismissed in toto, and it was not until decades later that the topic of “overcoming modernity” was once again given serious critical attention (see Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979; Hiromatsu 1989; and Ôhashi 1992, 143ff.).\\nThe Kyoto School thinkers rarely directly responded to their critics after the war; and we can only speculate on the reasons for this (see Horio 1994, 300). They accepted suspension from their posts without comment or complaint, and continued on with their philosophizing, albeit without the overtly political element of their thought. Nishitani, for example, came into his own as a philosopher of religion in the postwar era. He continued to philosophically develop Eastern ideas, those of Zen Buddhism in particular, in dialogue with medieval Christian mysticism and postmodern existentialism and phenomenology, and in response to what he saw as the central problem of modernity, namely, nihilism. In his mature attempts to “overcome nihilism by way of passing through nihilism” (NKC XX, 192), we find a marked thread of continuity with his pre-war and wartime attempts to overcome (Western) modernity by way of passing through it. But it is nevertheless possible to mark a crucial and self-critical “turn” in his thinking with regard to the question of the political role—or, as it turns out, the lack of one—to be played by the Japanese state in this overcoming of modernity and nihilism by way of passing through them (see Davis 2003).\\nTanabe got a head start on the postwar critics, and towards the end of the war began thinking his way through a radical crisis of self-critique. Hardly less controversial than the roundtable discussions of the younger members of the Kyoto School have been Tanabe’s application—or misapplication—of his “logic of the specific” to a discourse on the legitimacy of the self-assertion of the Japanese nation as an archetype for others. The “logic of the specific” had originally been conceived, in critique of Bergson and Nishida, as a reappraisal of the logical and ethical role that ethnic specificity plays in mediating the particular individual and universal humanity. Adapting Hegel’s political philosophy, Tanabe thought that the nation state could both embody the ethnic specificity of the people and raise it out of its inherent irrationality. As a concrete universal, the nation was, if not the Absolute itself, in some sense the dialectical manifestation of the\\nAbsolute on earth.\\nThe critical lapse came when Tanabe irrationally proposed that the “relative absolute” of the Japanese nation could serve as a kind of “supreme archetype” for other nations (see THZ VI, 232–33). James Heisig writes that, in so doing, Tanabe “took a step that was fatal but really unnecessary, if not outright inconsistent with the principles of his logic…. According to his own logic, the community of the human race is to be made up of a community of nations that have found a way to transcend their specificity without transcending time and culture. Each nation may come about as an instance of the generic universal, but nothing in the logic of the specific allows any one instance to become an archetype for the others. It is as if Tanabe were quoting himself out of context” (Heisig 2001, 136–37; also see Heisig 1994).\\nTanabe finally came to his senses and, in a striking metanoetic turn, renounced these political assertions and dove into the philosophy of religion. Philosophy as Metanoetics, the first parts of which were delivered as lectures before the end of the war in 1944, was composed not only as a personal self-critique, but also as a call to self-critique on the part of the entire nation, and indeed ultimately as a call for an “absolute critique” of human rationality as such (see the Preface to THZ X; Tanabe 1986). It is the last of these that is the central theme of the book: the idea that the human reason is inevitably driven to antinomies through which it must repeatedly die to its own self-power in order to be reborn again through the workings of an Other-power. It is nevertheless true that “one looks through that work in vain for any admission of guilt for particular actions or statements that he had made” (Heisig 2001, 151). In any case, Tanabe’s open (if vague) repentance was no more successful than the silence of other Kyoto School thinkers in convincing the majority of postwar Japanese academics to refrain from throwing out the baby of their philosophical insights with the bathwater of their political misadventures.\\nOnly in the past two or three decades has the reputation of the Kyoto School begun to be significantly rehabilitated in Japan, due in part to a general recovery of the nation from immersion in the march of postwar economic progress and evasion of unresolved cultural aporias, in part to a general reaffirmation of cultural identity (including all too often a pendulum swing back to reassertion of “Japanese uniqueness”), and in part to the positive attention the School has received from the West. It is worthwhile noting, as Fujita Masakatsu does in his preface to The Philosophy of the Kyoto School, that prior to 2001 surprisingly few articles or books had appeared in Japan with a thematic focus on the “Kyoto School” as such, even though hundreds of studies had treated “Nishida Philosophy.” Yet there are promising signs that we are standing on the brink of a new academic era in which critical yet appreciative work on the Kyoto School can be cooperatively undertaken in Japan, in the West, and recently even in other parts of East Asia (see Fujita et al. 2003; Heisig 2004; Synthesis Philosophica 2004; and Fujita/Davis 2005).\\nDespite the persistence of a faction of polemical intellectual historians, perhaps we are reaching a point where philosophers worldwide are beginning to see the political misadventures of the Kyoto School as questionable footnotes to their central philosophical endeavors, rather than the other way around. While research into their political thought—regarding what it tried to say then and regarding what it can or cannot help us to think today—remains necessary and important, at the end of the day many are likely to agree with James Heisig when he emphatically writes: “One has…to ignore the greatest bulk of the writings of these thinkers to arrive at the conclusion that anything approaching or supporting the imperialistic ideology of wartime Japan belongs to the fundamental inspiration of their thought” (Heisig 2001, 6). The philosophical and cross-cultural legacy of the Kyoto School lies elsewhere.\\n5. The Cross-Cultural Legacy of the Kyoto School\\n5.1 Between or Beyond East and West?\\nIn this concluding section, let us return to the question of the legacy of the Kyoto School with regard to comparative or cross-cultural philosophy. As mentioned at the outset, the Kyoto School thinkers were all dedicated scholars of various fields and figures of Western philosophy; and yet, at the same time they kept one foot firmly in touch with their native East Asian traditions, those of Mahâyâna Buddhism in particular. This bipedal stance placed them in an extraordinary position “between East and West.”\\nHowever, their philosophies do not simply drift impartially on the seas of academic comparison, nor do they see themselves as primarily mediators of inter-religious dialogue. As existentially engaged philosophers, they are above all seekers after truth, and they argue passionately for the validity of seeing the self and the world in certain ways. As we have seen, while each member of the Kyoto School has his own vision of the truth, they share certain fundamental ideas, such as one or another version of the core notion of Absolute Nothingness and the idea of coming to a genuine self-awareness by way of emptying the ego. And however much the methods and contents of their texts do indeed reflect their intimate dialogue with, and critical appropriation of Western philosophy, one could well argue that many of their fundamental theses nevertheless reflect a predominantly Eastern influence.\\nTo be sure, this does not mean that they merely gave modern expression to traditional East Asian Buddhist thought. It would be less inaccurate to say that their philosophies are critical and creative developments of that tradition. But even this way of putting it would not do justice to the substantial (i.e., not just formal) influence on their thought by the Western philosophies with which they grappled so intensely. Although Hisamatsu, Nishitani, and Ueda do explicitly philosophize from the standpoint of Zen, and although Takeuchi, Hase, and others do so from the standpoint of Shin Buddhism, it would be misleading to simply and without qualification characterize either Nishida’s or Tanabe’s multifaceted philosophies as “Eastern” or “Buddhist.”\\nFor example, Tanabe’s early “logic of the specific,” with its concern for the manner in which irrational ethnic specificity mediates the particular individual and universal humanity, can be read more as a critical appropriation of Hegelian dialectical logic and political philosophy than as a straightforward development of Eastern or Buddhist thought. And in his various later writings on the philosophy of religion, Tanabe wavers between a preference for Shin Buddhism, Christianity, and finally Zen Buddhism (see Himi 1990, 129–341). With regard to Nishida, an acute concern with questions of epistemology, logic, individual autonomy, creativity, and the historicity of the world are essential to his thought in ways that are more “modern Western” than “traditional Eastern”; and Nishida at times explicitly indicates his dissatisfaction with what he sees as related weaknesses in traditional Buddhist thought.\\nNevertheless, one might respond: even if Nishida methodologically takes his questions from Western philosophy, his responses to these questions reflect his East Asian roots at least as much as his Western studies. To the Western ontological question of being, his answer is a meontology of Absolute Nothingness. And even if his systematic philosophical articulations of the idea of Absolute Nothingness owe more to Western than Eastern texts, he nevertheless understands himself to have autonomously (i.e., in the process of engaging in a nonsectarian philosophical search for truth) given expression to the Formless that is harbored in the traditions of the East. In retrospect Nishida wrote: “It is not that I conceived of my way of thinking in dependence on Mahâyâna Buddhism; and yet it has come into accord with it” (NKZ XIV, 408). Nishitani might say something similar of his career through the study of Western philosophy and mysticism and “back” to the standpoint of Zen. Other Kyoto School thinkers took even less of an Occidental excursion before making what Hölderlin called a “homecoming though the foreign.” And some, like Hisamatsu and Takeuchi, began their scholarly pursuits with a self-understanding as a Zen or Shin Buddhist thinker.\\nWhat is perhaps most provocative, and questionable, from a cross-cultural politics point of view, is Nishida’s and other Kyoto School thinkers’ suggestion that it is modern Japanese culture and philosophy that, to some extent uniquely, has the potential to be developed so as to make room for the cooperative meeting of the strengths of East and West (see NKZ XIV, 416–17; also Nishida 1964, 365). What are we to make of such bold claims? There appear to be two problematic assertions involved: first, an overly generalized, if not at times hypostatized, split of cultural spheres into “East” and “West”; and second, a claim that an idea with deeper roots in the East, namely Absolute Nothingness, can be developed so as to provide the philosophical meeting place of both East and West.[ 19 ]\\nThe Kyoto School’s occasionally sweeping division of cultures spheres into “East” and “West” no doubt both reveals and conceals as much as does, for example, Heidegger’s claim that the entire Western tradition is uniquely founded on philosophy as onto-theology, and that the expression “Western philosophy” is therefore a tautology (Heidegger 1956, 6).[ 20 ] Even sympathetic readers of the Kyoto School are often highly critical of this type of comparative thinking in terms of “East” and “West.” Although he affirms that “the Kyoto-school philosophers give the west a way into the east like none other,” James Heisig complains that “the East” which the Kyoto School sets up over against “the West” was something of an invention: “At best, it is one constellation of a heritage too long and too plural to be represented fairly by Japan” (Heisig 2001, 271–72). John Maraldo goes further and claims that “the problems Nishida deals with are universal, and his way of dealing with them contrasts as much with other Asian philosophers as with philosophers of the so-called West” (Maraldo 1995, 196). Is it necessary and are we ready to do as Maraldo suggests, and “put ‘East’ and ‘West’ to rest”?\\nI myself am highly ambivalent regarding this complex issue. While I certainly agree with the wish to avoid overgeneralizations and politically charged polarizations, and while I think the writings of the Kyoto School do need to be read critically in this regard, I am equally wary of a “globalization of thought” that amounts to a colonization of “non-Western” traditions by “Western” methods and categories of thinking. I also continue to believe that the threads of the Greco-Roman-Judeo-Christian-Euro-American tradition are woven tightly enough to warrant provisionally and in certain contexts speaking of “the West.” It is true that “the East” may be a less tightly woven tradition or set of traditions, especially from the perspective of India (which, of course, did not appropriate Chinese traditions the way China appropriated Buddhism). From Japan’s perspective, however, especially from a Japanese Buddhist perspective which intimately weaves together Indo-Sino-Japanese threads, it may indeed make sense provisionally and in certain contexts to speak in terms of “the East.”\\nWe cannot think without abstractions, and it is no doubt a matter of “practical wisdom” (phronesis) to know when to construct and when to deconstruct generalizations. Thus, even though we must be careful to discern the appropriate contexts in which it makes sense to speak in such vast categories, it is no more advisable to unequivocally annihilate the categories of “West” and “East” than it is to narrowly define or absolutize their respective coherences and mutual differences.\\nWith regard to the hermeneutics of modern cross-cultural thinking, in general I believe that the attempt to completely flatten out the borders that separate cultural differences is as pernicious as the attempt to hermetically seal them up. Of course, this goes for intra- as well as inter-traditional differences. Needless to say, defining, comparing, contrasting, and above all evaluating the relative worth of various traditions, remain undertakings fraught with theoretical, ethical and political pitfalls. The theoretical and cultural legacies of colonialism and Orientalism remain with us long after the political Empires have receded. Moreover, in these postcolonial times we all too often see reactive fabrications of identity and assertions of counter-superiority, reactions which ironically reinforce the same kind of colonial divisions and obsessions with unadulterated self-identity that were imposed by, or imported from, the worst of the West.\\nIn Japan, certain retroactive constructions of identity and reactive counter-assertions of superiority have taken the form of what is called nihonjin-ron or theories of “Japaneseness” or “Japanese uniqueness” (see Dale 1986). In modern Japanese history, such reactive cultural assertion has taken either the form of denying Japan’s deep-rooted traditional connections with its East Asian neighbors, or the form of claiming that Japan has uniquely embodied and perfected “the essence of the East.” If the former type of claim is most in evidence in postwar and contemporary Japan, the latter is found, for example, in the Meiji thinker Okakura Tenshin’s declaration that, while “Asia is one,” Japan alone is “the real repository of the trust of Asiatic thought and culture” (Okakura 2000, 1 and 5).\\nWhere do the Kyoto School thinkers stand with respect to such culture wars? To be sure, the Chûôkôron discussions in particular often asserted that modern Japan was uniquely suited to institute and represent the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,” and this undoubtedly reflected a widespread post-Meiji Japanese conflation of political, industrial, and military development with cultural superiority. Nishida also felt that modern Japan was in a rather unique political and cultural position to host a fruitful marriage of East and West, and Tanabe went so far as to set the nation of Japan up as an archetype for others. In the Kyoto School’s wartime political writings, there indeed remains much grist for the mills of contemporary cultural critics, especially for those with hermeneutical blindfolds or allegedly perfect hindsight vision. Yet a critique of their political misadventures, as necessary as it is, may in fact reveal something more peripheral than central to the cross-cultural thinking of the Kyoto School. It is at least necessary to keep both eyes open: one ready to criticize and one willing to learn.\\nWe should note that even when Nishida broadly contrasts “Western Being” with “Eastern Nothingness,” he in fact immediately goes on to explore finer distinctions between the Greek, Roman, and Judeo-Christian threads of the Western tradition, and between the Indian, Chinese, and Japanese threads of the Eastern tradition. If his essentializing or overgeneralizing of these threads does remain in various respects problematic, it is nevertheless hardly the case that he and the other Kyoto School thinkers never questioned the homogeneity of either “the East” or “the West.” Secondly, although they have been accused both of contributing to the “myth of Japanese uniqueness” and of “reverse Orientalism” (see Faure 1995), the case is far from this simple. In a time of uncritical cultural self-adulation by the Japanese ultranationalists in power, Nishida boldly urged that “both the strong points and weaknesses of our culture should be openly and honestly pointed out,” for “we cannot take any one culture and call it the culture” (Nishida 1964, 351 and 353).\\nFighting a conceptual war simultaneously on two fronts, against Western and Japanese ethnocentrisms, Nishida wrote that “until now Westerners have thought that their own culture is the most superior human culture that exists, and that human culture inevitably develops in the direction of their own culture—hence, as Easterners and other peoples who are lagging behind advance forward, they must become the same as [Westerners].” Even some Japanese, he regrets, think this way. And yet, he objects, “there is something radically different in [the culture of] the East.” According to Nishida, the development of the West will subsume this difference no more than the East will subsume the West. Even if humanity does share a common root (what he calls, adapting an expression from Goethe, an “ur-culture” of multiple possibilities), the development of its branches and leaves is a matter of diversification, not homogenization. Globalization should thus be thought of, in Nishida’s vision, as many branches of the same tree supplementing one other on the basis of both their deep-rooted commonality and their irreducible diversity (NKZ XIV, 402–6 and 417).\\nTo be sure, there inevitably remains for us the question of the “place” in which this global communication between cultures should take place. But without a “view from nowhere,” can we not only ever attempt to critically and creatively take up ideas that have particular genealogies and dialogically develop them into what are provisionally more universally viable forms? Just as democracy, hermeneutics, and indeed philosophia itself have particular cultural lineages, so do the ideas of śûnyatâ, mu, and the true self as a non-ego that opens itself to an encounter with others by radically emptying itself. Nevertheless, all of these ideas may very well contribute something to an intercultural dialogue concerning the very place in which a genuine encounter between cultures and individuals can and should take place.\\n5.2 Japanese Philosophy in the World\\nIt is not, then, necessarily ethnocentric for Japanese thinkers to suggest the potential efficacy of Japanese and Eastern originated ideas in a global dialogue of philosophy. The “Japanese philosophy” of the Kyoto School is best understood as a contribution to such a global dialogue, and not as a reactive opposition to philosophical Eurocentrism. We must be careful, therefore, how we understand the noun “philosophy” and the modifier “Japanese” when we speak of “Japanese philosophy.”\\nThe Kyoto School never doubted that “philosophy,” in the narrow sense, was a cultural product of the West. But they also recognized that it, like Western science and technology, had universal implications. This does not mean that they thought Western philosophy was free of unrecognized cultural biases and limitations, or that traditional Eastern thought had nothing essential to offer the development of philosophy in a post-Eurocentric world. They recognized the difference between the potentiality and the actuality of philosophy, and their Japanese contributions aimed to make philosophy more, not less, worldly.\\nIn an illuminating study of the debate surrounding the concept of “philosophy” in Japan since the Meiji period (1868–1912), John Maraldo has isolated four senses in which the notion of “Japanese philosophy” has been used: (1) Western philosophy as it happens to be practiced by Japanese scholars; (2) traditional Japanese thought (Confucian, Nativist, Buddhist, etc.) as it was formulated prior to the introduction of Western philosophy; (3) a form of inquiry which has methods and themes that are Western in origin, but that can be applied to pre-modern, pre-Westernized, Japanese thinking; and (4) a kind of reverse Orientalism that asserts the superiority of specifically Japanese ways of thinking.\\nMaraldo argues for the superior viability of the third of these conceptions, in part because it pays due hermeneutical attention to the Greek origins of the heretofore methods and themes of “philosophy.” And yet, crucially, he also stresses that the very methods and themes of philosophy are essentially always “in the making,” and that the production of “Japanese philosophy” will have to “strike a balance between reading (pre-defined) philosophy into [Japan’s traditional] texts and reading alternatives out of them, constructing contrasts to that [pre-defined] philosophy [of the West]” (Maraldo 2004, 238–44). The Kyoto School in particular can be understood to have taken up the challenge of critically and creatively appropriating philosophy so as to free up for questioning many of its pre-defined Western conceptions.\\nA text by Ueda on Nishitani’s philosophy insightfully addresses the question of the adjective, “Japanese,” as follows: “If we are to use the characterization ‘Japanese’, this does not signify merely a particularity of Japan, but rather must be understood in the sense that a certain area of universal primal human possibility has been historically realized particularly in Japan. Hence, ‘European’ does not straightaway mean ‘global’, but rather that a certain area of universal primal human possibility has been historically realized particularly in Europe. … If we understand ourselves as the particularization of something universal, this means, at the same time, that we can understand others as different particularizations of something universal. Only then, within the communication between particular and particular, can something universal come to be realized” (Ueda 1996, 309).\\nIn this passage, which recalls Nishida’s vision of communication between diversely determined branches of a shared yet indeterminate root ur-culture, Ueda gives us a clue as to how we might best understand the cross-cultural contributions of the Kyoto School. They are philosophers who strive to express something universal from a particular standpoint. But this does not at all mean that they attempt to reduce universality to their own particularity; for the latter is in turn understood as one particular expression of the formless ur-culture, the indeterminate source of possibilities for individual and cultural determination, that is to say, the originary Nothingness that we all share. The Kyoto School thus presents us with a unique set of attempts to give philosophical form to this formless wellspring of both commonality and uniqueness.\\nThe degree to which the Kyoto School thinkers were successful in their boldly paradoxical quest to give philosophical form to the Formless can be debated. It is less easy to deny the exigency of the quest itself. If philosophy today is to mature beyond its Eurocentric pubescence, then it is necessary to deepen its quest for universality by way of radically opening it up to a diversity of cultural perspectives. If cultural pluralism, for its part, is to avoid falling into a relativistic perspectivism, it must call for a metamorphosis rather than an abandonment of the philosophical quest for universality. In any case, we should understand the thought of the Kyoto School, not as Japanese versions of philosophy, but rather as Japanese contributions to the content of—and indeed to the very formation of the forum of—a global dialogue of philosophy in the making.\\nBibliography\\nWorks Cited\\nAbbreviations Used in this Article\\nNKC Nishitani Keiji chosakushû [Collected Works of Nishitani Keiji], Tokyo: Sôbunsha, 1986–95. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\\nNKZ Nishida Kitarô zenshû [Complete Works of Nishida Kitarô], Tokyo: Iwanami, 1987–89. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\\nTHZ Tanabe Hajime zenshû [Complete Works of Tanabe Hajime], Tokyo: Chikuma Shobô, 1964. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\\nUSS Ueda Shizuteru shû [Collected Writings of Ueda Shizuteru], Tokyo: Iwanami, 2002. 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Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), 1990, The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\\nDale, Peter, 1986, The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, New York: St. Martin’s Press.\\nDallmayr, Fred, 1993, “Heidegger and Zen Buddhism: a Salute to Nishitani Keiji,” in The Other Heidegger, Fred Dallmayr, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.\\n–––––, 1996, Beyond Orientalism, Albany: SUNY Press.\\nDavis, Bret W., 2001, “The Displacement of Modernity,” Dokkyo International Review 14: 215–35.\\n–––––, 2002, “Introducing the Kyoto School as World Philosophy,” The Eastern Buddhist, 3 4/2: 142–170.\\n–––––, 2003, “Shûkyô kara seiji e, seiji kara shûkyô e: Nishitani Keiji no tenkai” [From Religion to Politics, From Politics to Religion: Nishitani’s Turn], in Fujita 2003.\\n–––––, 2004a, “The Step Back through Nihilism: The Radical Orientation of Nishitani Keiji’s Philosophy of Zen,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 139–59.\\n–––––, 2004b, “Provocative Ambivalences in Japanese Philosophy of Religion: With a Focus on Nishida and Zen,” in Heisig 2004.\\n–––––, 2005a, “Kami no shi kara ishi no daishi e: Posuto-Niiche no tetsugakusha toshite no Nishitani Keiji” [From the Death of God to the Great Death of the Will: Nishitani Keiji as a Post-Nietzschean Philosopher], in Fujita/Davis 2005.\\n–––––, 2005b, “Kami wa doko made jiko o kûzuruka: Abe Masao no kenôshisu-ron o meguru giron” [How Far Does God Empty Himself? The Debate Surrounding Masao Abe’s Theory of Kenosis], in Fujita/Davis 2005.\\n–––––, 2006, “Rethinking Reason, Faith, and Practice: On the Buddhist Background of the Kyoto School,” Kyoto: Shûkyô-tetsugaku Kenkyû (Studies in the Philosophy of Religion) No. 23.\\nDerrida, Jacques, 1992, The Other Heading: Reflections on Today’s Europe, Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael B. Naas (trans.), Bloomington: Indiana University Press.\\nEckehart, Meister, 1963, Deutsche Predigten und Traktate, Josef Quint (ed. and trans.), München: Carl Hanser.\\nFaure, Bernard, 1995, “The Kyoto School and Reverse Orientalism,” in Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives, Charles Wei-Hsun Fu and Steven Heine (eds.), New York: SUNY Press.\\nFeenberg, Andrew, 1995, “The Problem of Modernity in Nishida’s Philosophy,” in Alternative Modernity, Andrew Feenberg, Berkeley: University of California Press.\\nFrank, Fredrick (ed.), 1982, The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School, New York: Crossroad.\\nFriedländer, Paul, 1969, Plato: An Introduction, second edition, Hans Meyerhoff (trans.), Princeton: Princeton University Press.\\nFujita, Masakatsu (ed.), 2001, Kyôtogakuha no tetsugaku [The Philosophy of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Shôwadô.\\n–––––, 2004, “Logos and Pathos: Miki Kiyoshi’s Logic of the Imagination,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 117–28.\\nFujita, Masakatsu et al. (eds.), 2003, Higashiajia to tetsugaku [East Asia and Philosophy], Kyoto: Nakanishiya Press.\\nFujita, Masakatsu and Bret W. Davis (eds.), 2005, Sekai no naka no nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy in the World], Kyoto: Shôwadô.\\nFukuyama, Francis, 1992, The End of History and the Last Man, New York: The Free Press.\\nGadamer, Hans-Georg, 1989, Das Erbe Europas, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.\\nGarfield, Jay L., 1995, The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nâgârjuna’s Mûlamadhyamakakârikâ, Oxford: Oxford University Press.\\nGoto-Jones, Christopher S., 2005, Political Philosophy in Japan: Nishida, The Kyoto School, and Co-Prosperity, London: Routledge.\\nHabermas, Jürgen, 1979, Communication and the Evolution of Society, Thomas McCarthy (trans.), Boston: Beacon Press.\\nHarootunian, Harry, 2000, Overcome by Modernity: History, Culture, and Community in Interwar Japan. Princeton: Princeton University Press.\\nHattori, Kenji, 2004, “‘Kyôtogakuha-saha’ zô” [The Image of the “Left-Wing of the Kyoto School”], in Ôhashi 2004.\\nHeidegger, Martin, 1956, Was ist das—die Philosophie?, Pfullingen: Neske.\\n–––––, 1975ff., Gesamtausgabe, Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann.\\nHeisig, James W., 1994, “Tanabe’s Logic of the Specific and the Spirit of Nationalism,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\\n–––––, 2001, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\n––––– (ed.), 2004, Japanese Philosophy Abroad, Nagoya: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.\\nHeisig, James W. and John C. Maraldo (eds.), 1994, Rude Awakenings: Zen, The Kyoto School, and the Question of Nationalism, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\nHimi, Kiyoshi, 1990, Tanabe-tetsugaku kenkyû: Shûkyôgaku no kanten kara [Studies in the Philosophy of Tanabe: From the Perspective of Religious Studies], Tokyo: Hokujushuppan.\\nHiromatsu, Wataru, 1989, “Kindai no chôkoku”-ron [Theories on “Overcoming Modernity”], Tokyo: Kôdansha.\\nHisamatsu Shin’ichi, 1960, “The Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness,” Richard DeMartino (trans.), Philosophical Studies of Japan 2: 65–97.\\nHorio, Tsutomu, 1994, “The Chûôkôron Discussions, Their Background and Meaning,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\\nKenneth K. Inada, 1993, Nâgârjuna: A Translation of his Mûlamadhyamakakârikâ with an Introductory Essay, Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.\\nIves, Christopher (ed.), 1995, Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International.\\nIzutsu, Toshihiko (trans.), 2001, Lao-tzu: The Way and Its Virtue, Tokyo: Keio University Press. (A bilingual edition)\\nJacinto Zavala, Agustín, 2001, “On Some Elements of the Concept of Basho,” Dokkyo International Review 14: 119–34.\\nKasulis, T. P., 1981, Zen Action/Zen Person, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\nKawakami, Tetsutarô, Takeuchi Yoshimi et al., 1979, Kindai no chôkoku [The Overcoming of Modernity], Sendai: Fuzanbô.\\nKopf, Gereon, 2004, “Between Identity and Difference: Three Ways of Reading Nishida’s Non-Dualism,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/1: 73–103.\\nKôsaka, Masaaki, Nishitani Keiji, Kôyama Iwao, and Suzuki Shigetaka, 1943, Sekaishi-teki tachiba to Nihon [The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan], Tokyo: Chûôkôronsha.\\nLai, Whalen, 1990, “Tanabe and the Dialectics of Mediation: A Critique,” in The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, Taitetsu Unno and James W. Heisig (eds.), Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.\\nMaraldo, John, 1995, “The Problem of World Culture: Towards an Appropriation of Nishida’s Philosophy of Nation and Culture,” The Eastern Buddhist 28/2: 183–197.\\n–––––, 2004, “Defining Philosophy in the Making,” in Heisig 2004.\\n–––––, 2005, “Ôbei no shiten kara mita Kyôtogakuha no yurai to yukue” [The Whence and Whither of the Kyoto School from a Western Perspective], Azumi Yurika (trans.), in Fujita/Davis 2005.\\nMinamoto, Ryôen, 1994, “The Symposium on ‘Overcoming Modernity’,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\\nNajita, Tetsuo and H. D. Harootunian, 1998, “Japan’s Revolt against the West,” in Modern Japanese Thought, Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.\\nNakamura, Hajime (ed.), 1975, Bukkyô-go daijiten [Large Dictionary of Buddhist Terms], Tokyo: Tôkyôshoseki.\\nNakamura, Yûjirô, 1983, Nishida Kitarô, Tokyo: Iwanami.\\nNishida, Kitarô, 1958, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Robert Schinzinger (trans.), Honolulu: East-West Center Press.\\n–––––, 1964, “The Problem of Japanese Culture,” Masao Abe (trans.), in Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2, Ryusaku Tsunoda et al. (eds.), New York: Columbia University Press.\\n–––––, 1970, Fundamental Problems of Philosophy, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Tokyo: Sophia University Press.\\n–––––, 1987, Last Writings: Nothingness and the Religious Worldview, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\n–––––, 1990, An Inquiry into the Good, Masao Abe and Christopher Ives (trans.), New Haven: Yale University Press.\\nNishimura, Eshin (ed.), 1994, Mumonkan [The Gateless Barrier], Tokyo: Iwanami.\\nNishitani, Keiji, 1982, Religion and Nothingness, Jan Van Bragt (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\\n–––––, 1990, The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism, Graham Parkes with Setsuko Aihara (trans.), Albany: SUNY.\\n–––––, 1991, Nishida Kitarô, Yamamoto Seisaku and James W. Heisig (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke, 1984, Zeitlichkeitsanalyse der Hegelschen Logik. Zur Idee einer Phänomenologie des Ortes, Munich: Karl Alber.\\n––––– (ed.), 1990, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule, Freiburg: Karl Alber.\\n–––––, 1992, Nihon-tekina mono, Yôroppa-tekina mono [Things Japanese, Things European], Tokyo: Shinchôsha.\\n–––––, 2001, Kyôtogakuha to Nihon-kaigun [The Kyoto School and the Japanese Navy], Kyoto: PHP Shinsho.\\n––––– (ed.), 2004, Kyôtogakuha no shisô [The Thought of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Jinbunshoin.\\nÔshima, Yasuma, 2000, “Daitôasensô to Kyôtogakuha: Chishikijin no seijisanka ni tsuite” [The Pacific War and the Kyoto School: On the Political Participation of Intellectuals], in Sekaishi no riron: Kyôtogakuha no rekishigaku ronkô [Theory of World History: The Kyoto School’s Writings on History], Mori Tetsurô (ed.), Kyoto: Tôeisha.\\nPanikkar, K. M., 1969, Asia and Western Dominance, Collier Books.\\nParkes, Graham, 1996, “Nietzsche and East Asian Thought: Influences, Impacts, and Resonances,” in The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche, Bernd Magnus and Kathleen M. Higgins (eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.\\n–––––, 1997, “The Putative Fascism of the Kyoto School and the Political Correctness of the Modern Academy,” Philosophy East and West 47/3: 305–336.\\nPlato, 1961, The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns (eds.), Princeton: Princeton University Press.\\nSaid, Edward, 1978, Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books.\\n–––––, 1993, Culture and Imperialism, New York: Vintage Books.\\nSchürmann, Reiner, 1978, Meister Eckhart: Mystic and Philosopher, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.\\nSugimoto, Kôichi, 2004, “Tanabe Hajime’s Logic of the Species and the Philosophy of Nishida Kitarô,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 35–47.\\nSynthesis Philosophica 37, 2004, Zagreb, Croatia. (A special issue devoted to “Japanese Philosophy.”)\\nTakeuchi, Yoshinori, 1999, Takeuchi Yoshinori chosakushû [Collected Works of Takeuchi Yoshinori], Kyoto: Hôzôkan.\\nTanabe, Hajime, 1986, Philosophy as Metanoetics, Takeuchi Yoshinori (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\\n–––––, 2000, Zangedô toshite no tetsugaku – Shi no tetsugaku [Philosophy as the Way of Metanoetics, The Philosophy of Death], Hase Shôtô (ed.), Kyoto: Tôeisha.\\n–––––, 2003, “Shûkyôtetsugaku no kadai to zentei” [The Tasks and Presuppositions of the Philosophy of Religion], in Bukkyô to seiyôtetsugaku [Buddhism and Western Philosophy], Tanabe Hajime, Kosaka Kunitsugu (ed.), Tokyo: Kobushibunko.\\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1991, Ikiru to iu koto: keiken to jikaku [What is Called Life: Experience and Self-Awareness], Kyoto: Jinbunshoin.\\n–––––, 1994, “Nishida, Nationalism, and the War in Question,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\\n–––––, 1996, “Nishitani Keiji: Shûkyô to hishûkyô no aida” [Nishitani Keiji: Between Religion and Non-Religion], in Shûkyô to hishûkyô no aida [Between Religion and Non-Religion], Nishitani Keiji, Ueda Shizuteru (ed.), Tokyo: Iwanami.\\nUeda, Yoshifumi, 1990, “Tanabe’s Metanoetics and Shinran’s Thought,” in The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, Taitetsu Unno and James W. Heisig (eds.), Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.\\nWargo, Robert J. J., 2005, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\nWatson, Burton, 1968, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, New York: Columbia University Press.\\nWilliams, Paul, 1989, Mahâyâna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, London/New York: Routledge.\\nYusa, Michiko, 1994, “Nishida and Totalitarianism: A Philosopher’s Resistance,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\\nZhang, Dainian, 2002, Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, Edmund Ryden (trans.), New Haven and London: Yale University Press.\\nSelected Kyoto School Works available in English and other Western languages\\nAnthologies containing works by more than one Kyoto School author. The texts contained in these anthologies are not listed here separately. (For a complete list of Western language translations of works by Nishida, Tanabe, Nishitani, Takeuchi, and Ueda, see the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture website listed below.)\\nDilworth, David A. and Valdo H. Viglielmo with Agustín Jacinto Zavala (eds.), 1998, Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents. Westport: Greenwood Press. (A valuable anthology containing translations of selected works by Nishida, Tanabe, Kuki, Watsuji, Miki, Tosaka, and Nishitani, together with helpful editorial material.)\\nFrank, Fredrick (ed.), 1982, The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School, New York: Crossroad. (While somewhat misnamed as an anthology of the Kyoto School, this collection does include a good selection of essays by Nishitani, Ueda, and other modern Japanese religious thinkers.)\\nJacinto Zavala, Augustín (ed.), 1995, Textos de la filosofía japonesa, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán.\\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke (ed.), 1990, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule, Freiburg: Karl Alber. (This remains the most important anthology of the Kyoto School in a Western language. It contains valuable introductions by the editor, as well as translations of key essays by Nishida, Tanabe, Hisamatsu, Nishitani, Kôyama Iwao, Kôsaka Masaaki, Shimomura Toratarô, Suzuki Shigetaka, Takeuchi Yoshinori, Tsujimura Kôichi, and Ueda Shizuteru.)\\nOther Kyoto School Works\\nAbe, Masao, 1985, Zen and Western Thought, William R. LaFleur (ed.), London: Macmillan Press (published in North America by University of Hawaii Press).\\n–––––, 1990, “Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata,” in The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, John B. Cobb, Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\\n–––––, 1997, Zen and Comparative Studies, Steven Heine (ed.), London: Macmillan Press (published in North America by University of Hawaii Press).\\n–––––, 2003, Zen and the Modern World, Steven Heine (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (Includes Abe’s articles on Nishida.)\\nHisamatsu, Shin’ichi, 1960, “The Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness,” Richard DeMartino (trans.), Philosophical Studies of Japan 2: 65–97.\\n–––––, 2002, Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition, Christopher Ives and Tokiwa Gishin (ed. and trans.), New York: Palgrave.\\nKuki, Shûzô, 2004, A Philosopher’s Poetry and Poetics, Michael F. Marra (trans. and ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\n–––––, 2004, The Stucture of Iki, in The Structure of Detachment: The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Shûzô, Hiroshi Nara (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\nNishida, Kitarô, 1958, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Robert Schinzinger (trans.), Honolulu: East-West Center Press. (Contains translations of three important essays.)\\n–––––, 1964, “The Problem of Japanese Culture,” Masao Abe (trans.), in Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2, Ryusaku Tsunoda et al. (eds.), New York: Columbia University Press.\\n–––––, 1970, Fundamental Problems of Philosophy, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Tokyo: Sophia University Press.\\n–––––, 1986, “The Logic of Topos and the Religious Worldview,” Michiko Yusa (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 19/2: 1–29 & 20/1: 81–119.\\n–––––, 1987, Intuition and Reflection in Self-Consciousness, Valdo Viglielmo et al. (trans.), New York, SUNY.\\n–––––, 1987, Last Writings: Nothingness and the Religious Worldview, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (Also contains introductory and critical essays by the translator.)\\n–––––, 1990, An Inquiry into the Good, Masao Abe and Christopher Ives (trans.), New Haven: Yale University Press.\\n–––––, 1990, La culture japonaise en question, Pierre Lavelle (trans.), Paris: Publications Orientalistes de France.\\n–––––, 1999, Logik des Ortes. Der Anfang der modernen Philosophie in Japan, Rolf Elberfeld (trans.), Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. (Contains translations of Nishida’s prefaces to his books and of three of his key essays.)\\n–––––, 1999, Logique du lieu et vision religieuse de monde, Sugimura Yasuhiko and Sylvain Cardonnel (trans.), Paris: Editions Osiris.\\n–––––, 2005, “General Summary” from The System of Self-Consciousness of the Universal, in Robert J. J., Wargo, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp. 186–216.\\nNishitani, Keiji, 1982, Religion and Nothingness, Jan Van Bragt (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\\n–––––, 1984, “The Standpoint of Zen,” John C. Maraldo (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 18/1: 1–26.\\n–––––, 1986, Was is Religion?, Dora Fischer-Barnicol (trans.), Frankfurt: Insel Verlag.\\n–––––, 1990, The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism, Graham Parkes with Setsuko Aihara (trans.), Albany: SUNY.\\n–––––, 1991, Nishida Kitarô, Yamamoto Seisaku and James W. Heisig (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\\n–––––, 1999, “Emptiness and Sameness,” in Modern Japanese Aesthetics, Michele Marra (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\\n–––––, 1999, La religión y la nada, Raquel Bouso García (trans.), Madrid: Ediciones Siruela.\\nTakeuchi, Yoshinori, 1983, The Heart of Buddhism, James W. Heisig (ed. and trans.), New York: Crossroad.\\nTanabe, Hajime, 1959, “Todesdialektik,” in Martin Heidegger zum siebzigsten Geburtstag: Festschrift, Günther Neske (ed.), Pfullingen: Neske.\\n–––––, 1969, “The Logic of Species as Dialectics,” David Dilworth and Satô Taira (trans.), Monumenta Nipponica 24/3: 273–88.\\n–––––, 1986, Philosophy as Metanoetics, Takeuchi Yoshinori (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1965, Die Gottesgeburt in der Seele und der Durchbruch zu Gott. Die mystische Anthropologie Meister Eckharts und ihre Konfrontation mit der Mystik des Zen Buddhismus. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.\\n–––––, 1989, “Eckhart und Zen am Problem ‘Freiheit und Sprache’,” in Beihefte der Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 31, Köln: E. J. Brill.\\n–––––, 1993, “Pure Experience, Self-Awareness, ‘Basho’,” Etudes Phénoménologiques 18: 63–86.\\n–––––, 1995, “Nishida’s Thought,” Jan Van Bragt (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 28/1: 29–47.\\n–––––, 2004, Zen y la filosofia, Raquel Bouso (ed.), Barcelona: Editorial Herder.\\nWatsuji, Tetsurô, 1988, Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study, Geoffrey Bownas (trans.), New York: Greenwood Press.\\n–––––, 1996, Watsuji Tetsurô’s Rinrigaku: Ethics in Japan, Yamamoto Seisaku and Robert Carter (trans.), Albany: SUNY Press.\\nFurther Reading\\nSpecial Issue Journals\\nThe Eastern Buddhist New Series 25/1, 1992. (A special edition, “In Memoriam Nishitani Keiji 1900–1990.”)\\nThe Eastern Buddhist New Series 28/2, 1995. (A “Nishida Kitarô Memorial Issue.”)\\nÉtudes phénoménologique 18, 1993. (A special issue devoted to “L’école de Kyôto.”)\\nRevue philosophique de Louvain, 1994 (no. 4, Novembre). (A special issue devoted to the theme: “La réception européenne de l’école de Kyôto.”)\\nSynthesis Philosophica 37, 2004, Zagreb, Croatia. (A special issue devoted to “Japanese Philosophy,” with articles in German, English, and French, many of which are written by leading Japanese scholars of the Kyoto School.)\\nZen Buddhism Today 14, 1997. (An important collection of articles on the theme: “Religion and the Contemporary World in Light of Nishitani Keiji’s Thought.”)\\nZen Buddhism Today 15, 1998. (An important collection of articles on the theme: “Nishida’s Philosophy, Nishitani’s Philosophy, and Zen.”)\\nOther Works\\nAbe, Masao, 1997, “Buddhism in Japan,” in Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Brian Carr and Indira Mahalingam (eds.), London and New York: Routledge. (Provides an overview of the history of Japanese Buddhism, ending with D. T. Suzuki as a modern Buddhist thinker and Nishida as a Buddhism-inspired philosopher.)\\nArisaka, Yoko, 1999, “Beyond East and West: Nishida’s Universalism and Postcolonial Critique,” in Border Crossings: Toward a Comparative Political Theory, Fred Dallmayr (ed.), New York: Lexington Books. (An insightful critical treatment of the ambiguities in Nishida’s cultural and political philosophy.)\\nBerque, Augustin (ed.), 2000, Logique du lieu et dépassemente de la modernité, two volumes, Bruxelles: Ousia.\\nBowers, Russell H. Jr., 1995, Someone or Nothing: Nishitani’s “Religion and Nothingness” as a Foundation for Christian-Buddhist Dialogue, New York: Peter Lang.\\nBuchner, Harmut (ed.), 1989, Japan und Heidegger, Sigmaringen: Thorbecke. (Contains chapters on and documents of the relation between Heidegger and the Kyoto School.)\\nBuri, Fritz, 1997, The Buddha-Christ as the Lord of the True Self: The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School and Christianity, Macon: Mercer University Press.\\nCarter, Robert E., 1997, The Nothingness Beyond God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Nishida Kitarô, second edition, St. Paul: Paragon House.\\nCobb, John B. Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), 1990, The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\\nDale, Peter, 1986, The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, New York: St. Martin’s Press. (A highly critical study of Japanese cultural nationalism.)\\nDavis, Bret W., 2002, “Introducing the Kyoto School as World Philosophy,” The Eastern Buddhist, 3 4/2: 142–170. (Critically examines the interpretive theses of James Heisig’s important work, Philosophers of Nothingness.)\\n–––––, 2004, “The Step Back through Nihilism: The Radical Orientation of Nishitani Keiji’s Philosophy of Zen,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 139–59. (An introduction to the central themes of Nishitani’s thought, focusing on his topological phenomenology of a “trans-descendence” through nihilism to the “field of śûnyatâ.”)\\n–––––, 2004, “Provocative Ambivalences in Japanese Philosophy of Religion: With a Focus on Nishida and Zen,” in Heisig 2004. (Addresses the relation between “philosophy” and “religion” in the Kyoto School, and argues that Nishida and others provoke us to radically rethink both of these terms as well as the relation between them.)\\n–––––, 2005, “Kami no shi kara ishi no daishi e: Posuto-Niiche no tetsugakusha toshite no Nishitani Keiji” [From the Death of God to the Great Death of the Will: Nishitani Keiji as a Post-Nietzschean Philosopher], in Fujita/Davis 2005. (Examines Nishitani’s critique of Nietzsche with regard to the role of the will in nihilism and its overcoming.)\\n–––––, 2006, “Rethinking Reason, Faith, and Practice: On the Buddhist Background of the Kyoto School,” Kyoto: Shûkyô-tetsugaku Kenkyû (Studies in the Philosophy of Religion) No. 23.\\nDöll, Steffen, 2005, Wozu also suchen? Zur Einführung in das Denken von Ueda Shizuteru, Munich: iudicium. (Contains a scholarly and informative introduction to Ueda’s thought, together with an annotated translation of his “The Place of Self-Awareness.”)\\nElberfeld, Rolf, 1999, Kitarô Nishida (1870-1945). Moderne japanische Philosophie und die Frage nach der Interkulturalität, Amsterdam: Rodopi. (Compellingly argues for Nishida’s significance as a cross-cultural philosopher.)\\nFaure, Bernard, 1995, “The Kyoto School and Reverse Orientalism,” in Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives, Charles Wei-Hsun Fu and Steven Heine (eds.), New York: SUNY Press. (A severely critical treatment of the nationalistic aspects of the Kyoto School.)\\nFujita, Masakatsu (ed.), 1997, Nihon kindai shisô o manabu hito no tame ni [For Students of Modern Japanese Thought], Kyoto: Sekaishisôsha. (Contains helpful introductory chapters on members of the Kyoto School and other key thinkers in modern Japan.)\\n–––––, 1998, Gendaishisô toshite no Nishida Kitarô [Nishida Kitarô as Contemporary Thought], Tokyo: Kôdansha. (An introduction to Nishida, focusing on the idea of pure experience, the critique of dualism, and the question of language in his early writings.)\\n––––– (ed.), 2000ff., Nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (An annual journal published by the Department of Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University.)\\n––––– (ed.), 2001, Kyôtogakuha no tetsugaku [The Philosophy of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (Contains primary texts from, and critical essays on, eight Kyoto School philosophers.)\\nFujita, Masakatsu and Bret W. Davis (eds.), 2005, Sekai no naka no nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy in the World], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (A collection of articles by Western, Chinese and Japanese scholars attempting to hermeneutically situate and critically evaluate the significance of modern Japanese philosophy in the world.)\\nGoto-Jones, Christopher S., 2005, Political Philosophy in Japan: Nishida, The Kyoto School, and Co-Prosperity, London: Routledge. (A provocative new interpretation of the political dimensions of Nishida’s philosophy, which argues that Nishida’s political thought should be understood neither in terms of Japanese ultranationalism, nor in terms of Western liberalism, but rather as a modern development of Eastern and in particular Mahâyâna Buddhist thought.)\\nHashi, Hisaki, 1999, Die Aktualität der Philosophie. Grundriss des Denkwegs der Kyoto-Schule, Wien: Doppelpunkt.\\nHeisig, James W. and John C. Maraldo (eds.), 1994, Rude Awakenings: Zen, The Kyoto School, and the Question of Nationalism, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A well-rounded landmark collection of articles on the political controversy surrounding the Kyoto School.)\\nHeisig, James W., 1998, “Kyoto School,” in E. Craig (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London: Routledge.\\n–––––, 1999, “Philosophy as Spirituality: The Way of the Kyoto School,” in Buddhist Spirituality: Later China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World, Takeuchi Yoshinori (ed.), New York: Crossroad.\\n–––––, 2001, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A thorough and lucid introduction to the Kyoto School, focusing on key ideas of Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani; includes a wealth of valuable references to the debates that have surrounded the School, and an extensive multilingual bibliography.)\\n––––– (ed.), 2005, Japanese Philosophy Abroad, Nagoya: Nanzan. (A valuable collection of scholarly articles presented at an international conference on the past and future of studies of “Japanese philosophy” in the various regions of the world.)\\nHimi, Kiyoshi, 1990, Tanabe tetsugaku kenkyû: Shûkyôgaku no kanten kara [Studies of the Philosophy of Tanabe: From the Perspective of Religious Studies], Tokyo: Hokujushuppan. (The most comprehensive single-author work on Tanabe’s thought, with a predominant focus on the several stages of his later philosophy of religion.)\\nJacinto Zavala, Agustín, 1989, Filosofía de la transformación del mundo: Introducción a la filosofía tardía de Nishida Kitarô, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán. (One of many valuable texts and translations by the premier Spanish-speaking Nishida and Kyoto School scholar.)\\nKasulis, T. P., 1981, Zen Action/Zen Person, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A classic philosophical introduction to Zen Buddhism by one of the leading scholars of Japanese thought.)\\n–––––, 1982, “The Kyoto School and the West,” The Eastern Buddhist 15/2: 125–45. (An early review article which includes insightful critical responses to the literature on the Kyoto School that had appeared in the West prior to 1982.)\\nKopf, Gereon, 2001, Beyond Personal Identity: Dôgen, Nishida, and a Phenomenology of No-Self, Richmond, Surry: Curzon Press.\\n–––––, 2004, “Between Identity and Difference: Three Ways of Reading Nishida’s Non-Dualism,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/1: 73–103. (A good account of how Nishida’s dialogue with his critics, Takahashi Satomi and Tanabe Hajime, assisted him in the pursuit of a philosophy of non-dualism that does not reduce difference to identity.)\\nKosaka, Kunitsugu, 1997, Nishida Kitarô o meguru tetsugakusha gunzô [The Group of Philosophers Surrounding Nishida Kitarô], Kyoto: Minerva. (Contains clear presentations of Nishida’s thought in relation to that of Tanabe, Takahashi Satomi, Miki, Watsuji, and Hisamatsu.)\\nLaube, Johannes, 1984, Dialektik der absoluten Vermittlung. Hajime Tanabes Religionsphilosophie als Beitrag zum “Wettstreit der Liebe” zwischen Buddhismus und Christentum, Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder.\\nLight, Steven, 1987, Shûzô Kuki and Jean-Paul Sartre: Influence and Counter-Influence in the Early History of Existential Phenomenology, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.\\nMaraldo, John, 1997, “Contemporary Japanese Philosophy,” in Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Brian Carr and Indira Mahalingam (eds.), London and New York: Routledge. (A rich overview that situates the Kyoto School in the wider context of modern and contemporary Japanese philosophy.)\\n–––––, 2003, “Rethinking God: Heidegger in the Light of Absolute Nothingness, Nishida in the Shadow of Onto-Theology,” in Religious Experience and the End of Metaphysics, Jeffery Bloechl (ed.), Bloomington: Indiana University Press.\\n–––––, 2004, “Defining Philosophy in the Making,” in Heisig 2004. (An informative and thought-provoking essay on the question of what “Japanese philosophy” has meant and should mean.)\\n–––––, 2005, “Ôbei no shiten kara mita Kyôtogakuha no yurai to yukue” [The Whence and Whither of the Kyoto School from a Western Perspective], Azumi Yurika (trans.), in Fujita/Davis 2005. (An excellent critical essay on the question of defining the “Kyoto School,” which unfortunately has yet to be published in English.)\\nMarchianò, Grazia, (ed.), 1996, La Scuola di Kyôto: Kyôto-ha, Messina: Rubberttino.\\nMitchell, Donald W., 1998, Masao Abe: A Zen Life of Dialogue, Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Co. (Consists of thirty-five chapters by different authors reflecting on the significance of Abe’s dialogues with philosophers and theologians in the West.)\\nNagatomo, Shigenori, 1995, A Philosophical Foundation of Miki Kiyoshi’s Concept of Humanism, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.\\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke, 1984, Zeitlichkeitsanalyse der Hegelschen Logik. Zur Idee einer Phänomenologie des Ortes, Munich: Karl Alber. (A provocative Kyoto School oriented reading of Hegel.)\\n–––––, 1992, Nihon-tekina mono, Yôroppa-tekina mono [Things Japanese, Things European], Tokyo: Shinchôsha. (Insightfully treats a range of cultural and philosophical issues relating to modern Japan, the Kyoto School and associated thinkers.)\\n–––––, 1994, Das Schöne in Japan. Philosophisch-ästhetische Reflexionen zu Geschichte und Moderne, Rolf Elberfeld (trans.), Köln: DuMont Buchverlag. (A classic philosophical interpretation of Japanese aesthetics.)\\n–––––, 1995, Nishida-tetsugaku no sekai [The World of Nishida Philosophy], Tokyo: Chikuma.\\n–––––, 1998, Hi no genshôron josetsu: Nihontetsugaku no roku têze yori [Prolegomenon to a Phenomenology of Compassion: From Six theses of Japanese Philosophy], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (Includes chapters on the contemporary relevance of key ideas of Nishida, Tanabe, Nishitani, and Hisamatsu.)\\n–––––, 1999, Japan im interkulturellen Dialog, München: Iudicium. (Contains a range of essays on Japan’s relation to the West, with chapters on and frequent reference to the Kyoto School.)\\n––––– (ed.), 2004, Kyôtogakuha no shisô [The Thought of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Jinbunshoin. (Contains five chapters that critically examine past and present images of the “Kyoto School,” and seven chapters that explore the potential of Kyoto School thought in various areas of contemporary philosophy.)\\nParkes, Graham, 1997, “The Putative Fascism of the Kyoto School and the Political Correctness of the Modern Academy,” Philosophy East and West 47/3: 305–336. (A critical response to polemical treatments of the nationalistic aspects of the Kyoto School, including those by Pincus 1996 and Faure 1995.)\\nPincus, Leslie, 1996, Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan: Kuki Shûzô and the Rise of National Aesthetics, Berkeley: University of California Press. (A highly critical treatment of the implications of cultural nationalism in Kuki’s aesthetics.)\\nPiovesana, Gino K., 1994, Recent Japanese Philosophical Thought, 1862-1996: A Survey, revised edition including a new survey by Naoshi Yamawaki: “The Philosophical Thought of Japan from 1963 to 1996,” Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library (Curzon Press Ltd). (A classic survey of modern Japanese philosophy.)\\nStambaugh, Joan, 1999, The Formless Self, Albany: SUNY Press. (Insightfully discusses Dôgen, Hisamatsu, and Nishitani.)\\nStevens, Bernard, 2000, Topologie du néant: Une approche de l’école de Kyôto, Paris: Éditions Peeters.\\nTakeda, Atsushi, 2001, Monogatari “Kyôto-gakuha” [The Story of the “Kyoto School”], Tokyo: Chûôkôron Shinsha. (An engaging biographical account of the interpersonal relations and scholarly activities of the Kyoto School.)\\nTanaka, Kyûbun, 2000, Nihon no “tetsugaku” o yomitoku [Reading Japanese “Philosophy”], Tokyo: Chikuma Shinsho. (Consists of introductory chapters on Nishida, Watsuji, Kuki, and Miki.)\\nTremblay, Jacynthe, 2000, Nishida Kitarô: Le jeu de l’individuel et de l’universel, Paris: CNRS Editions.\\nTsunetoshi, Sôzaburô, 1998, Nihon no tetsugaku o manabu hito no tame ni [For Students of Japanese Philosophy], Kyoto: Sekaishisôsha. (Consists of introductory chapters mostly on Kyoto School philosophers.)\\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1992, Nishida Kitarô o yomu [Reading Nishida Kitarô], Tokyo: Iwanami. (The first of many influential books on Nishida by Ueda, in which Ueda develops his own thought by way of carefully reading Nishida’s texts, beginning with An Inquiry into the Good.)\\n––––– (ed.), 1992, Jôi ni okeru kû [Emptiness in Passion], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (An important collection of essays on Nishitani.)\\n––––– (ed.), 1994, Nishida-tetsugaku [Nishida Philosophy], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (An important collection of essays on Nishida.)\\nUeda, Shizuteru and Horio Tsutomu (eds.), 1998, Zen to gendaisekai [Zen and the Modern World], Kyoto: Zenbunka Kenkyûsho. (Consists of chapters on Nishida, D. T. Suzuki, Nishitani, and Hisamatsu, addressing the relation of their thought to Zen.)\\nUnno, Taitetsu (ed.), 1989, The Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. (A landmark collection of responses to Nishitani’s philosophy of religion.)\\nUnno, Taitetsu and James W. Heisig (eds.), 1990, The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. (A landmark collection of responses to Tanabe’s philosophy of religion.)\\nUnno, Taitetsu, 1998, River of Fire, River of Water: An Introduction to the Pure Land Tradition of Shin Buddhism, New York: Double Day. (An accessible and engaging introduction to Shin Buddhist thought.)\\nWaldenfels, Hans, 1980, Absolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, J. W. Heisig (trans.), New York: Paulist Press. (An important early Western work focusing on Nishitani from the perspective of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.)\\nWargo, Robert J. J., 2005, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A landmark philosophical study which traces the early development of Nishida’s thought from out of the context of Japanese philosophy in the Meiji period, and which focuses in particular on the subsequent development of his unique “logic of basho.”)\\nWilliams, David, 2005, Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power, London/New York: Routledge. (A highly provocative revisionist account of the Pacific War and defense of the Kyoto School’s wartime political thought, which centers on an interpretation of Tanabe as a pioneer “post-White” political philosopher.)\\nYusa, Michiko, 1997, “Contemporary Buddhist Philosophy,” in A Companion to World Philosophies, Eliot Deutsch and Ron Bontekoe (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell.\\n–––––, 2002, Zen & Philosophy: An Intellectual Biography of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A very informative and lucid account of Nishida’s personal and scholarly life, including his relations with other Kyoto School thinkers.)\\nOther Internet Resources\\nDefending Japan’s Pacific War:\\nThe Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power (review)\\nThe Journal of Japanese Studies – Volume 32, Number 2, Summer 2006, pp. 428-433\\nSociety for Japanese Studies\\nBen-Ami Shillony – Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power (review) – The Journal of Japanese Studies 32:2 The Journal of Japanese Studies 32.2 (2006) 428-433 Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post- White Power. By David Williams. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2004. xxvi, 238 pages. $125.00, cloth; $40.95, paper. David Williams may be right. We should reexamine, as some of us have already done, the image of Japan in World War II. The conventional picture of a fascist and aggressive state is only partially correct. The other side of the coin is the idealistic streak that accompanied Japanese conquests, according to which Japan was liberating Asia from Western imperialism. This alleged goal was dismissed by postwar historians as propaganda, but many Japanese at the time believed in it. Moreover, that propaganda, which camouflaged aggressive intentions, was not different from the wartime declarations of the allied powers, which asserted that they were liberating Asia while they were trying to regain their prewar colonial possessions. The book focuses on the Kyoto School philosophers, who were disciples of the “father of Japanese philosophy,” Nishida Kitaro at Kyoto University. They included Tanabe Hajime, Koyama Iwao, Suzuki Shigetaka, Kosaka Masaaki, and Nishitani Keiji. In a series of symposia in the monthly magazine Chuokoron in the years 1941- 42, they hailed the Greater East Asia…\\nThe Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power\\nThe film stars Raymond Massey , Ralph Richardson , Margaretta Scott , and Cedric Hardwicke .\\nChristopher Frayling of the British Film Institute calls Things to Come “a landmark in cinematic design.”\\nA global war begins in 1940. This war drags out over many decades until most of the people still alive (mostly those born after the war started) do not even know who started it or why. Nothing is being manufactured at all any more and society has broken down into primative localized communities. In 1966 a great plague wipes out most of what people are left but small numbers still survive. One day a strange aircraft lands at one of these communities and its pilot tells of an organisation which is rebuilding civilization and slowly moving across the world re-civilizing these groups of survivors. Great reconstruction takes place over the next few decades and society is once again great and strong. The world’s population is now living in underground cities. In the year 2035, on the eve of man’s first flight to the moon, a popular uprising against progress (which some people claim has caused the wars of the past) gains support and becomes violent.\\nSynopsis\\nThings to Come sets out a future history for the century following 1936. It is set in the fictional English city of ‘Everytown’ (based on London , St Paul’s Cathedral is in the background) and, rather prophetically, begins in 1940 just as a global world war breaks out.\\nIn one scene, the pilot of a biplane shoots down a more advanced single-seater enemy bomber whom he stealthily caught from behind. The biplane pilot also happens to be a doctor. He lands his own plane and pulls the enemy pilot from the wreckage. Dwelling on the madness of war they hurry to put on their masks since poison gas is leaking from the bombs in the wreckage. A little girl joins them and the enemy pilot insists she wear his mask. The biplane pilot then hurries to get the girl and himself out of the danger zone, pausing to leave the enemy pilot a gun. The man dwells on the irony that he may have gassed the little girl’s whole family and yet he has saved her. He then commits suicide .\\nThe war lasts for decades, long enough for the remaining survivors to have forgotten the reasons for it in the first place. Strategic bombing is so successful that civilisation on both sides is totally devastated. Humanity falls into a new Dark Age where the technology level is reduced to that of medieval times, symbolised with a car being drawn like a cart by a horse. There is even a medieval-type plague sweeping through the land, known as “the wandering sickness”, which was spread by the enemy, who dropped bombs containing the virus from their few remaining aircraft.\\nIn 1970, Everytown is run by a local warlord called Rudolf, a.k.a ‘The Boss’ or ‘The Chief’ (played by Ralph Richardson ), who is at constant war with the “Hill People” and obsessed with repairing the remaining biplanes and capturing coal mines in order to convert the coal to petroleum for the aircraft. The Chief consolidated his power over Everytown after having eradicated “the wandering sickness” by shooting all those infected with the disease.\\nOne day, a futuristic aeroplane lands outside the town. The Chief and the townspeople are incredulous when the pilot John Cabal (played by Raymond Massey) proclaims that the last surviving band of scientists have formed a society known as ‘ Wings over the World ‘. They are building a civilisation, based in Basra , Iraq , that has renounced war and outlawed independent nation-states. The Chief resists by making the pilot his prisoner, but the Chief’s mechanic (whom he was using to repair biplanes from the war) escapes to Basra in a plane he was testing, and alerts Cabal’s scientist friends to his capture.\\n \\nWings Over the World mount an attack upon Everytown, and the skies fill with futuristic aeroplanes and bomb the town with a sleeping gas known as “the Gas of Peace” to pacify it. The Chief orders his few biplanes to attack them, but they are all shot down.\\nThe populace of Everytown awakens shortly thereafter, to find it occupied by the Airmen, and their Chief dead — presumably from a heart attack brought on by the belief that the gas was deadly, or maybe by suicide in the face of defeat. The mechanic who had escaped to bring the Airmen comments on the Chief’s death, to which Cabal replies, “Yes, dead. And his world with him – and so the New World begins!”.\\nA montage sequence follows showing decades of technological progress and human achievement, beginning with Cabal explaining the plans of the Global Conquest by the Airmen of Wings Over the World (“First this zone, then that!”).\\nBy 2036, mankind lives in underground cities. Everytown is one of them (the only one shown, with no information given on any others – or if there even are others), and the first flight to the Moon is about to be launched from a space gun nearby. However, Luddites among the population fear this new technology, led by a sculptor who claims mankind needs a “rest” from further technological development, and that shooting people into the cold of space is not “natural”. They start a riot, trying to destroy the space gun before it can be fired. The head scientist Cabal (the great grandson of the pilot in the previous section of the film, and also played by Massey) explains that the crowds are misguided and that technology has in fact saved humanity. He launches the space ship with his daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend as the crew, and the blast from the launch knocks the crowd back.\\nThe film ends with Massey’s character delivering a speech to the idea of\\nProgress and humanity’s quest for knowledge, claiming that “if Man is merely an Animal then he must fight for every scrap of happiness he can, but if he is something more, then he must strive for more — the Universe or nothing – which shall it be?”\\nCast\\nH. Fisher White – Extra\\nBehind the scenes\\nWells is assumed to have had a degree of control over the project that was unprecedented for a screenwriter, and personally supervised nearly every aspect of the film. Posters and the main title bill the film as “H. G. Wells’ THINGS TO COME”, with “an Alexander Korda production” appearing in smaller type. Wells’s film treatment and selected production notes were published in book form in 1935, and was reprinted in 1975. An academic edition annotated by Leon Stover was published in 2007.\\nIn fact, Wells ultimately had no control over the finished product, with the result that many scenes, although shot, were either truncated or not included in the finished film. The rough-cut reputedly ran to 130 minutes; the version submitted to the British Board of Film Censors was 117m 13s; it was released as 108m 40s (later cut to 98m 06s) in the UK, and 96m 24s in the United States. The standard version available today is just 92m 42s, although some prints are in circulation in the United States – where the film is in the Public Domain – that retain the additional scenes that constitute the original American release.\\nWells originally wanted the music to be recorded in advance, and have the film constructed around the music, but this was considered too radical and so the score, by Arthur Bliss , was fitted to the film afterwards in a more conventional way. A concert suite drawn from the film has remained popular; as of 2003 , there are about half-a-dozen recordings of it in print.\\nAfter filming had already begun, the Hungarian abstract artist László Moholy-Nagy was commissioned to produce some of the effects sequences for re-building of Everytown. Moholy-Nagy’s approach was partly to treat it as an abstract light show but only some 90 seconds of material was used (e.g. a protective-suited figure behind corrugated glass), although in the autumn of 1975 a researcher found a further four discarded sequences. [1]\\nHistorical parallels\\nThe film, written throughout 1934, is notable for predicting World War II , being only 16 months off by having it start on 23 December 1940, rather than 1 September 1939. Its graphic depiction of strategic bombing in the scenes in which Everytown is flattened by air attack and society collapses into barbarism, echo pre-war concerns about the threat of the bomber and the apocalyptic pronouncements of air power prophets. Wells was an air power prophet of sorts, having described aerial warfare in Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908).\\nThe use of gas bombs is very much part of the film, from the poison gas used early in the war to the sleeping gas used by the airmen of Wings Over the World. In real life, in the build-up to the World War , there was much concern that the Germans would use poison gas, which they had done during the Great War . Civilians were required to carry gas masks and were trained in their use. When war did break out, however, the Germans did not use gas for military purposes.\\nWings Over the World is based in Basra , in southern Iraq , from where it begins a new civilisation. Southern Iraq was also the home of one of the world’s first known civilisations, Sumer .\\n \\nDuration history and surviving versions\\nKnown versions\\nThe rough-cut of the film was 130 minutes in length, while the version submitted for classification by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) was 117m 13s. [2] By the time of the 21 February 1936 UK premiere and initial release, this had been reduced to 108m 30s, [3] while the American print premiered on 18 April 1936 was further cut to 96m 24s. By late-1936 a 98m 06s print was in circulation in the UK, [4] and a 72m 13s print was resubmitted for classification by the BBFC and was passed after further cuts for reissue in 1943. A 92m 42s print – cut down from the 96m 24s American print by the removal of four sections of footage – was subsequently reissued in America and the UK in 1947 and 1948 respectively. A continuity script exists for a 104m 41s version of the film, which contains all the material in the 96m 24s and 92m 42s versions, plus a number of other sequences. It is not known if a version of this duration was actually in circulation at any time.\\nReferences:\\nThe History of the British Film 1929-1939, Rachel Low (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985)\\nThe History of the British Film 1929-1939, Rachel Low (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985\\nThis early sci-fi masterwork by Herbert George Wells with music by Arthur Bliss is a powerful piece of film-making. Adapted from Wells’ somewhat different work by the author, it presents a look at the human future with the subject of periods of war as versus periods of ‘peace’. The structure is that after a contrasted-pair of episodes of normalcy and gathering clouds of war, the script allows the war to happen. Two families, the Cabells and the Passworthys disagree about what may happen; Passworthy takes a hopeful view of civilization’s “automatic” progress; Cabell is the thinker, the doubter. Their city Everytown–obviously London— becomes wrecked by a war featuring tanks, a magnificent war march by Bliss, and the end of civilization. The second portion finds people living in the wreckage of what had been the city under a “Boss”, played with bravura by Ralph Richardson, whose woman, lovely Margaretta Scott, is as fascinating a dreamer as he is a concrete-bound dictator type. He is trying to rebuild old WWI airplanes so he can attack a nearby hill tribe to complete his petty kingdom; a young scientist complains about having his work continually interrupted demands for planes–etc.–everlastingly; this is Wells’ comment on war versus progress. The survivors are subject to a plague called “The Wandering Sickness” also. Enter a modern flying machine piloted by the Cabell of the first section of the film, now part of Wings Over the World, an International Scientists’ Coalition, who are planning to end warfare forever. This flight-suited modernist has fascinating conversations with the Boss and his woman, their attraction being evident; then Boss sends up his aircraft against them, the Scientists come with huge numbers of planes and drop the “Gas of Peace” onto the ruins of Everytown. Only the Boss dies, fighting too hard against the pacifying. The film then shows ore being mined and by slow steps being made into the girders of a magnificent new futuristic city of towers. In section three, a future Cabell argues with a future Passworthy over the morality of human science. Passworthy wonders if they have a right to send men to the Moon; Cabell champions man’s right to advancement and the need to expand his horizons. The son of Passworthy and Cabell’s daughter, are the astronauts being sent. Theotocopulos, a religious-minded Luddite, makes a fiery speech on a huge screen in the city’s Forum and leads an attack on the ‘space gun’ that is to fire the new rocket free of Earth’s gravity. The climax of the plot is the firing of the space gun successfully; the denouement and ending is a speech by Cabell praising worth and science that is universally considered to be the most profound defense of the mind ever penned. “It is all the universe–or nothing!” Cabell tells Passworthy. “Which shall it be?” As Cabell, Raymond Massey gives perhaps his greatest screen performance; he is thoughtful, compassionate, and reasonable, a true scientist. As the rabble-rouser who wants to end the Age of Science, Cedric Hardwicke is perfect and powerful. Edward Chapman playing Passworthy does admirably impersonating the voice of convention and fear. The storyline is logical, frequently beautiful and always interesting. Given the near-extinction of mankind, the idea of a civilization run by rebuilder scientists is rendered plausible and credible to the viewer. This is a triumph for the director, William Cameron Menzies, for Bliss and for all concerned. Listen to the dialogue with someone you love; within its constructed limits, this is a thinking man’s drama debating two possible human futures–progress or its reactionary opposite.\\nThe Book:\\nThe Shape of Things to Come\\nThe Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells , published in 1933, which speculates on future events from 1933 until the year 2106. It is not a novel, but rather a fictional history book or chronicle , similar in style to Star Maker and Last and First Men , both by Olaf Stapledon .\\nWells’ book also shared with Stapledon’s an understanding of the change wrought in the nature of war by the development of air power; both writers included harrowing depictions of cities destroyed in aerial bombardments, which proved an all too accurate prediciton of what was to happen in the actual second World War.\\nWells creates a framing device by claiming that the book is his edited version of notes written by an eminent diplomat, Dr Philip Raven, who had been having dream visions of a history textbook published in 2106, and wrote down what he could remember of it.\\nThe book is dominated by Wells’s belief in a world state as the solution to mankind’s problems. Wells successfully predicted the Second World War , although he envisaged it dragging on into the 1960s, being finally ended only by a devastating plague that almost destroys civilisation. Wells then envisages a benevolent dictatorship – ‘The Dictatorship of the Air’ (a term obviously modeled on ‘The Dictatorship of the proletariat ‘) – arising from the controllers of the world’s surviving transportation systems (the only people with global power). This dictatorship promotes science, enforces Basic English as a global lingua franca , and eradicates all religion, setting the world on the route to a peaceful utopia . When the dictatorship finds it necessary to kill political opponents, the condemned persons are given a chance to emulate the ancient philosophers Socrates and Seneca and take a poison tablet in a congenial environment of their choice.\\nEventually, after a century of re-shaping humanity, the dictatorship is overthrown in a completely bloodless coup, the former rulers are sent into a very honourable retirement, and the world state “withers away” as was predicted by Marx . The last part of the book is a detailed description of the Utopian world which emerges, in some way reminiscent of Edward Bellamy ‘s Looking Backward .\\nPredictions:\\nPolish Corridor as cause for World War II\\nH. G. Wells criticized the Polish Corridor as one of the future Causes of World War II :\\nAnd to keep the waters of the Vistula as pure and sweet for Poland as the existence of Danzig at the estuary allowed, the peace-makers ran the Vistula boundary between Poland and east Prussia, not in the usual fashion midway along the stream, but at a little distance on the east Prussian side (Jacques Kayser, La Paix en Péril, 1931). So that the east German population, the peasant cultivator, the erstwhile fisherman, the shepherd with his flocks to water, was pulled up by a line of frontier posts and a Polish rifle within sight of the stream.\\nWithin a dozen years of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles the Polish Corridor was plainly the most dangerous factor in the European situation. It mocked every projection of disarmament. It pointed the hypnotized and impotent statescraft of Europe straight towards a resumption of war.\\nSubmarine Launched Ballistic Missiles\\nWells’s book can be credited with an accurate prediction of the submarine launched ballistic missile , which was to assume a crucial role in the Cold War period. Though the warheads of what he termed “air torpedoes” were envisaged as chemical rather than nuclear, Wells fully grasped – two decades ahead of the military planners – the strategic implications of combining submarines with weapons of mass destruction .\\nThe relevant passage (chapter four of the second book) reads:\\n“The raider submarines were specially designed as long-distance bases for gas warfare. They carried no guns nor ordinary fighting equipment. They had practically unlimited cruising range, and within them from five to nine aeroplanes were packed with a formidable supply of gas bombs. One of them carried thirty long-range air torpedoes with all the necessary directional apparatus. The smallest of these raiders carried enough of such stuff to ‘prepare’ [euphemism in the original] about eight hundred square miles of territory. Completely successful, it could have turned the most of the London or New York of that time, after some clamour and running and writhing and choking, into a cityful of distorted corpses. These vessels made London vulnerable from Japan, Tokyo vulnerable from Dublin; they abolished the last corners of safety in the world.”\\nAs well as predicting this application of submarines, Wells correctly predicted that these fearsome weapons would not be fully utilised and would be mainly used to create deterrence between the various powers holding them.\\nThe book displays one of the earliest uses of the C.E. (“ Common Era “) calendar abbreviation after A.D. year dates; Wells preferred the English C.E. in place of the traditional Western Latin A.D. (“ Anno Domini “).\\nThe Kipling connection\\nWells’s “Air and Sea Control”, the association of pilots and technicians which controls the world’s communications and eventually develops into a world government, seems a clear literary descendant of an institution called the Aerial Board of Control (A.B.C.) in the short stories “ With the Night Mail ” and “ Easy as A.B.C. “, by Rudyard Kipling , with which Wells was certainly familiar. The Kipling stories are set in a post-apocalyptic world where airships are commonly used both for freight and passenger service, as well as for preventing civil unrest using powerful sonic weapons:\\n“The A.B.C., that semi-elected, semi-nominated body of a few score persons, controls the Planet. Transportation is Civilisation, our motto runs. Theoretically we do what we please, so long as we do not interfere with the traffic and all it implies. Practically, the A.B.C. confirms or annuls all international arrangements, and, to judge from its last report, finds our tolerant, humorous, lazy little Planet only too ready to shift the whole burden of public administration on its shoulders.”\\nThe above description, from Kipling’s “ With the Night Mail “, seems very applicable to the world-wide institution depicted by Wells. However, Kipling’s stories contain dystopian elements.\\nComment:\\nWells was an air power prophet of sorts, having described aerial warfare in Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908).\\nWells’s book can be credited with an accurate prediction of the submarine launched ballistic missile , which was to assume a crucial role in the Cold War period. Though the warheads of what he termed “air torpedoes” were envisaged as chemical rather than nuclear, Wells fully grasped – two decades ahead of the military planners – the strategic implications of combining submarines with weapons of mass destruction .\\nWings Over the World is based in Basra , in southern Iraq , from where it begins a new civilisation. Southern Iraq was also the home of one of the world’s first known civilisations, Sumer .\\nThe book is dominated by Wells’s belief in a world state as the solution to mankind’s problems.\\nThe film ends with Massey’s character delivering a speech to the idea of\\nProgress and humanity’s quest for knowledge, claiming that “if Man is merely an Animal then he must fight for every scrap of happiness he can, but if he is something more, then he must strive for more — the Universe or nothing – which shall it be?”\",\n \"Palindrome.txt\\nPalindrome\\nA palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of characters which reads the same backward or forward. Allowances may be made for adjustments to capital letters, punctuation, and word dividers. Examples in English include \\\"A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!\\\", \\\"Amor, Roma\\\", \\\"race car\\\", \\\"stack cats\\\", \\\"step on no pets\\\", \\\"taco cat\\\", \\\"put it up\\\", \\\"Was it a car or a cat I saw?\\\" and \\\"No 'x' in Nixon\\\".\\n\\nComposing literature in palindromes is an example of constrained writing.\\n\\nThe word \\\"palindrome\\\" was coined by the English playwright Ben Jonson in the 17th century from the Greek roots ' (; \\\"again\\\") and ' (; \\\"way, direction\\\").\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nPalindromes date back at least to 79 AD, as a palindrome was found as a graffito at Herculaneum, a city buried by ash in that year. This palindrome, called the Sator Square, consists of a sentence written in Latin: \\\"Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas\\\" (\\\"The sower Arepo holds with effort the wheels\\\"). It is remarkable for the fact that the first letters of each word form the first word, the second letters form the second word, and so forth. Hence, it can be arranged into a word square that reads in four different ways: horizontally or vertically from either top left to bottom right or bottom right to top left. As such, they can be referred to as palindromatic. \\n\\nA palindrome with the same property is the Hebrew palindrome, \\\"We explained the glutton who is in the honey was burned and incinerated\\\", (פרשנו רעבתן שבדבש נתבער ונשרף; perashnu: ra`avtan shebad'vash nitba'er venisraf), by Abraham ibn Ezra, referring to the halachic question as to whether a fly landing in honey makes the honey treif (non-kosher).\\n\\nThe palindromic Latin riddle \\\"In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni\\\" (\\\"we go wandering at night and are consumed by fire\\\") describes the behavior of moths. It is likely that this palindrome is from medieval rather than ancient times.\\n\\nByzantine Greeks often inscribed the palindrome, \\\"Wash [the] sins, not only [the] face\\\" (\\\"Nīpson anomēmata mē mōnan ōpsin\\\", engraving \\\"ps\\\" with the single Greek letter Ψ, psi), on baptismal fonts. This practice was continued in many English churches. Examples include the font at St. Mary's Church, Nottingham and also the font in the basilica of St. Sophia, Constantinople, the font of St. Stephen d'Egres, Paris; at St. Menin's Abbey, Orléans; at Dulwich College; and at the following churches: Worlingworth (Suffolk), Harlow (Essex), Knapton (Norfolk), St Martin, Ludgate (London), and Hadleigh (Suffolk).\\n\\nTypes\\n\\nCharacters, words, or lines\\n\\nThe most familiar palindromes in English are character-unit palindromes. The characters read the same backward as forward. Some examples of palindromic words are redivider, noon, civic, radar, level, rotor, kayak, reviver, racecar, redder, madam, and refer.\\n\\nThere are also word-unit palindromes in which the unit of reversal is the word (\\\"Is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?\\\"). Word-unit palindromes were made popular in the recreational linguistics community by J. A. Lindon in the 1960s. Occasional examples in English were created in the 19th century. Several in French and Latin date to the Middle Ages. \\n\\nThere are also line-unit palindromes. \\n\\nSentences and phrases\\n\\nPalindromes often consist of a sentence or phrase, e.g., \\\"Eva, can I stab bats in a cave?\\\", \\\"Mr. Owl ate my metal worm\\\", \\\"Was it a car or a cat I saw?\\\", \\\"A nut for a jar of tuna\\\", \\\"Do geese see God?\\\", \\\"Ma is as selfless as I am\\\", \\\"On a clover, if alive erupts a vast pure evil, a fire volcano\\\", \\\"Dammit, I'm mad!\\\",\\\"Dog, as a devil deified, lived as a god.\\\", \\\"A Toyota's a Toyota\\\", \\\"Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog\\\", \\\"A Santa lived as a devil at NASA\\\", and \\\"An igloo! Cool, Gina!\\\".\\n\\nPunctuation, capitalization, and spaces are usually ignored. Some, such as \\\"Rats live on no evil star\\\", \\\"Live on time, emit no evil\\\", and \\\"Step on no pets\\\", include the spaces.\\n\\nSemordnilap\\n\\nSemordnilap (palindromes spelled backward) is a name coined for words that spell a different word in reverse. The word was coined by Martin Gardner in his notes to C.C. Bombaugh's book Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature. \\n\\nAn example of this is the word repaid, which is diaper spelled backward.\\n\\nThe longest examples of a semordnilap contain eight letters:\\n\\n* \\\"stressed\\\" (\\\"desserts\\\")\\n* \\\"rewarder\\\" (\\\"redrawer\\\", one who redraws)\\n* \\\"dioramas\\\" (\\\"samaroid\\\", resembling a samara)\\n\\nShorter examples are \\\"deliver\\\" (\\\"reviled\\\"), Zeus (\\\"Suez\\\"), and \\\"swap\\\" (\\\"paws\\\").\\n\\n\\\"Noon\\\" is a palindrome but not a semordnilap because it is the same word whether spelled backward or forward.\\n\\nSemordnilaps are also known as word reversals, reversible anagrams, heteropalindromes, semi-palindromes, half-palindromes, reversgrams, mynoretehs, or anadromes. They have also sometimes been called antigrams, though this term usually refers to anagrams which have opposite meanings.\\n\\nFamous English palindromes\\n\\nSome well-known English palindromes are, \\\"Able was I ere I saw Elba\\\", \\\"A man, a plan, a canal - Panama!\\\", \\\"Madam, I'm Adam\\\" or \\\"Madam in Eden, I'm Adam\\\", \\\"Doc, note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod\\\" and \\\"Never odd or even\\\".\\n\\nScots poet Alastair Reid is credited with a palindrome of truly stunning length and elegance: \\\"T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad; I'd assign it a name: gnat dirt upset on drab pot toilet.\\\" \\n\\n\\\"Rise to vote, sir\\\" was featured in an episode of The Simpsons. \\n\\nNames\\n\\nSome names are palindromes. Some examples: given names (Ada, Anna, Bob, Aviva), surnames (Harrah, Renner, Salas, Arora) or both (Eve, Hannah, Maham, Otto). Lon Nol (1913–1985) was Prime Minister of Cambodia. Nisio Isin is a Japanese novelist and manga writer, whose pseudonym (西尾 維新, Nishio Ishin) is a palindrome when romanized using the Kunrei-shiki or the Nihon-shiki systems. (It is often written as NisiOisiN to emphasize this). Some people have changed their name in order to make of it a palindrome (one example is actor Robert Trebor), while others were given a palindromic name at birth (such as the philologist Revilo P. Oliver or the flamenco dancer Sara Baras). Some names can be made part of a larger palindrome, like: \\\"You have no name, Manon Eva Huoy!\\\"\\n\\nPalindromic names are very common in Finland. Examples include Olavi Valo, Emma Lamme, Sanna Rannas, Anni Linna and Asko Oksa.\\n\\nThere are also palindromic names in fictional media. \\\"Stanley Yelnats\\\" is the name of a character in Holes, a 1998 novel and 2003 film. Four of the fictional Pokémon species have palindromic names in English (Eevee, Girafarig, Ho-Oh, and Alomomola).\\n\\nThe 1970s pop band ABBA is a palindrome using the starting letter of the first name of each of the four band members.\\n\\nMolecular biology\\n\\nRestriction enzymes recognize a specific sequence of nucleotides and produce a double-stranded cut in the DNA. While recognition sequences vary widely, with lengths of between 4 and 8 nucleotides, many of them are palindromic, which correspond to nitrogenous base sequences between complementary strands, which, when read from the 5' to 3' direction, are identical sequences.\\n\\nNumbers\\n\\n \\nA palindromic number is a number whose digits, with decimal representation usually assumed, are the same read backward, for example, 5885. They are studied in recreational mathematics where palindromic numbers with special properties are sought. A palindromic prime is a palindromic number that is a prime number, for example, 191 and 313.\\n\\nThe continued fraction of + ⌊⌋ is a repeating palindrome when n is an integer, where essentially, for any positive x, ⌊x⌋ denotes the integer part of x.\\n\\nAcoustics\\n\\nA palindrome in which a recorded phrase of speech sounds the same when it is played backward was discovered by composer John Oswald in 1974 while he was working on audio tape versions of the cut-up technique using recorded readings by William S. Burroughs. Oswald discovered in repeated instances of Burroughs speaking the phrase \\\"I got\\\" that the recordings still sound like \\\"I got\\\" when played backward. \\n\\nIn France, a more complex example has been identified with\\n\\\"Une slave valse nue\\\"\\n(a Slavic girl waltzes naked).\\n\\nClassical music\\n\\nJoseph Haydn's Symphony No. 47 in G is nicknamed \\\"the Palindrome\\\". The third movement, minuet and trio is a musical palindrome. The second half of the piece is the same as the first but backwards.\\n\\nThe interlude from Alban Berg's opera Lulu is a palindrome, as are sections and pieces, in arch form, by many other composers, including James Tenney, and most famously Béla Bartók. George Crumb also used musical palindrome to text paint the Federico García Lorca poem \\\"¿Por qué nací?\\\", the first movement of three in his fourth book of Madrigals. Igor Stravinsky's final composition, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, is a palindrome.\\n\\nThe first movement from Constant Lambert's ballet Horoscope (1938) is entitled \\\"Palindromic Prelude\\\". Lambert claimed that the theme was dictated to him by the ghost of Bernard van Dieren, who had died in 1936. \\n\\nBritish composer Robert Simpson also composed music in the palindrome or based on palindromic themes; the slow movement of his Symphony No. 2 is a palindrome, as is the slow movement of his String Quartet No. 1. His hour-long String Quartet No. 9 consists of thirty-two variations and a fugue on a palindromic theme of Haydn (from the minuet of his Symphony No. 47). All of Simpson's thirty-two variations are themselves palindromic.\\n\\nHin und Zurück (\\\"There and Back\\\": 1927) is an operatic 'sketch' (Op. 45a) in one scene by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer. It is essentially a dramatic palindrome. Through the first half, a tragedy unfolds between two lovers, involving jealousy, murder and suicide. Then, in the reversing second half, this is replayed with the lines sung in reverse order to produce a happy ending.\\n\\nThe music of Anton Webern is often palindromic. Webern, who had studied the music of the Renaissance composer Heinrich Isaac, was extremely interested in symmetries in music, be they horizontal or vertical. An example of horizontal or linear symmetry in Webern's music is the first phrase in the second movement of the symphony, Op. 21. A striking example of vertical symmetry is the second movement of the Piano Variations, Op. 27, in which Webern arranges every pitch of this dodecaphonic work around the central pitch axis of A4. From this, each downward reaching interval is replicated exactly in the opposite direction. For example, a G3—13 half-steps down from A4 is replicated as a B5—13 half-steps above.\\n\\nJust as the letters of a verbal palindrome are not reversed, so are the elements of a musical palindrome usually presented in the same form in both halves. Although these elements are usually single notes, palindromes may be made using more complex elements. For example, Karlheinz Stockhausen's composition Mixtur, originally written in 1964, consists of twenty sections, called \\\"moments\\\", which may be permuted in several different ways, including retrograde presentation, and two versions may be made in a single program. When the composer revised the work in 2003, he prescribed such a palindromic performance, with the twenty moments first played in a \\\"forwards\\\" version, and then \\\"backwards\\\". Each moment, however, is a complex musical unit, and is played in the same direction in each half of the program. By contrast, Karel Goeyvaerts's 1953 electronic composition, Nummer 5 (met zuivere tonen) is an exact palindrome: not only does each event in the second half of the piece occur according to an axis of symmetry at the centre of the work, but each event itself is reversed, so that the note attacks in the first half become note decays in the second, and vice versa. It is a perfect example of Goeyvaerts's aesthetics, the perfect example of the imperfection of perfection. \\n\\nIn classical music, a crab canon is a canon in which one line of the melody is reversed in time and pitch from the other.\\nA large-scale musical palindrome covering more than one movement is called \\\"chiasic\\\", referring to the cross-shaped Greek letter \\\"χ\\\" (pronounced /ˈkaɪ/.) This is usually a form of reference to the crucifixion; for example, the ' movement of Bach's Mass in B minor. The purpose of such palindromic balancing is to focus the listener on the central movement, much as one would focus on the center of the cross in the crucifixion. Other examples are found in Bach's cantata BWV 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden, Handel's Messiah and Fauré's Requiem. \\n\\nA table canon is a rectangular piece of sheet music intended to be played by two musicians facing each other across a table with the music between them, with one musician viewing the music upside down compared to the other. The result is somewhat like two speakers simultaneously reading the Sator square from opposite sides, except that it is typically in two-part polyphony rather than in unison.\\n\\nLong palindromes\\n\\nThe longest palindromic word in the Oxford English Dictionary is the onomatopoeic tattarrattat, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses (1922) for a knock on the door. The Guinness Book of Records gives the title to detartrated, the preterite and past participle of detartrate, a chemical term meaning to remove tartrates. Rotavator, a trademarked name for an agricultural machine, is often listed in dictionaries. The term redivider is used by some writers, but appears to be an invented or derived term—only redivide and redivision appear in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. Malayalam, an Indian language, is of equal length.\\n\\nIn English, two palindromic novels have been published: Satire: Veritas by David Stephens (1980, 58,795 letters), and Dr Awkward & Olson in Oslo by Lawrence Levine (1986, 31,954 words). What is more well known is the 224 word long poem \\\"Dammit I'm Mad\\\" by Demetri Martin. \\n\\nBiological structures\\n\\nIn most genomes or sets of genetic instructions, palindromic motifs are found. The meaning of palindrome in the context of genetics is slightly different, however, from the definition used for words and sentences. Since the DNA is formed by two paired strands of nucleotides, and the nucleotides always pair in the same way (Adenine (A) with Thymine (T), Cytosine (C) with Guanine (G)), a (single-stranded) sequence of DNA is said to be a palindrome if it is equal to its complementary sequence read backward. For example, the sequence ACCTAGGT is palindromic because its complement is TGGATCCA, which is equal to the original sequence in reverse complement.\\n\\nA palindromic DNA sequence may form a hairpin. Palindromic motifs are made by the order of the nucleotides that specify the complex chemicals (proteins) that, as a result of those genetic instructions, the cell is to produce. They have been specially researched in bacterial chromosomes and in the so-called Bacterial Interspersed Mosaic Elements (BIMEs) scattered over them. Recently a research genome sequencing project discovered that many of the bases on the Y-chromosome are arranged as palindromes. A palindrome structure allows the Y-chromosome to repair itself by bending over at the middle if one side is damaged.\\n\\nIt is believed that palindromes frequently are also found in proteins, but their role in the protein function is not clearly known. It has recently been suggested that the prevalence existence of palindromes in peptides might be related to the prevalence of low-complexity regions in proteins, as palindromes frequently are associated with low-complexity sequences. Their prevalence might also be related to an alpha helical formation propensity of these sequences, or in formation of proteins/protein complexes. \\n\\nComputation theory\\n\\nIn the automata theory, a set of all palindromes in a given alphabet is a typical example of a language that is context-free, but not regular. This means that it is impossible for a computer with a finite amount of memory to reliably test for palindromes on one pass. (For practical purposes with modern computers, this limitation would apply only to incredibly long letter-sequences.)\\n\\nIn addition, the set of palindromes may not be reliably tested by a deterministic pushdown automaton which also means that they are not LR(k)-parsable or LL(k)-parsable. When reading a palindrome from left-to-right, it is, in essence, impossible to locate the \\\"middle\\\" until the entire word has been read completely.\\n\\nIt is possible to find the longest palindromic substring of a given input string in linear time. \\n\\nThe palindromic density of an infinite word w over an alphabet A is defined to be zero if only finitely many prefixes are palindromes; otherwise, letting the palindromic prefixes be of lengths nk for k=1,2,... we define the density to be\\n\\n d_P(w) = \\\\left( { \\\\limsup_{k \\\\rightarrow \\\\infty} \\\\frac{n_{k+1}}{n_k} } \\\\right)^{-1} \\\\ . \\n\\nAmong aperiodic words, the largest possible palindromic density is achieved by the Fibonacci word, which has density 1/φ, where φ is the Golden ratio.\\n\\nA palstar is a composition of palindromic strings.\\n\\nNon-English palindromes\\n\\nAccording to Guinness World Records, the Finnish 19-letter word saippuakivikauppias (a soapstone vendor), is claimed to be the world's longest palindromic word in everyday use. A meaningful derivative from it is the word saippuakalasalakauppias (a soapfish bootlegger). An even longer effort is saippuakuppinippukauppias (a soap dish wholesale vendor), albeit somewhat contrived in its meaning (literally \\\"a soap dish bundle vendor\\\").\\n\\nNotable palindromists\\n\\n*Simo Frangén & Pasi Heikura (Alivaltiosihteeri)\\n*Howard Bergerson\\n*Hugo Brandt Corstius\\n*Su Hui (poet)\\n*J. A. Lindon\\n*Leigh Mercer\\n*Mark Saltveit\\n*Dmitry Avaliani\\n*Velimir Khlebnikov\\n*Risto Rekola\",\n \"Pangram.txt\\nPangram\\nA Pangram (, pan gramma, \\\"every letter\\\") or holoalphabetic sentence for a given alphabet is a sentence using every letter of the alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and keyboarding.\\n\\nThe best known English pangram is \\\"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\\\" It has been used since at least the late 19th century, was utilized by Western Union to test Telex / TWX data communication equipment for accuracy and reliability, and is now used by a number of computer programs (most notably the font viewer built into Microsoft Windows) to display computer fonts. An example in another language is ', containing all letters used in German , including every umlaut (ä, ö, ü) plus the ß. It has been used since before 1800.\\n\\nShort pangrams in English are more difficult to come up with and tend to use uncommon words. A perfect pangram contains every letter of the alphabet only once and can be considered an anagram of the alphabet; it is the shortest possible pangram. An example is the phrase \\\"Cwm fjord bank glyphs vext quiz\\\" (', a loan word from Welsh, means a steep-sided valley, particularly in Wales). However, such examples are not usually understood even by native English speakers, and so arguably are not really English pangrams. \\n\\nHere are some short pangrams using standard written English, not involving abbreviations or proper nouns:\\n# \\\"Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.\\\" (32 letters)\\n# \\\"Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz.\\\" (31 letters)\\n# \\\"The five boxing wizards jump quickly.\\\" (31 letters)\\n# \\\"How vexingly quick daft zebras jump!\\\" (30 letters)\\n# \\\"Bright vixens jump; dozy fowl quack.\\\" (29 letters)\\n\\nLonger pangrams may afford more opportunity for humor, cleverness, or thoughtfulness. \\n\\nIn a sense, the pangram is the opposite of the lipogram, in which the aim is to omit one or more letters.\\n\\nLogographic scripts \\n\\nLogographic scripts, that is, writing systems composed principally of logograms, cannot be used to produce pangrams in the literal sense, since they are radically different from alphabets or other phonetic writing systems. In such scripts, the total number of signs is large and imprecisely defined, so producing a text with every possible sign is impossible. However, various analogies to pangrams are feasible, including traditional pangrams in a romanization. In Japanese, although typical orthography uses kanji (logograms), pangrams are required to contain every kana (syllabic character) when written out in kana alone: the Iroha is a classic example.\\n\\nIn addition, it is possible to create pangrams that demonstrate certain aspects of logographic characters.\\n\\nIn Chinese, the Thousand Character Classic is a 1000-character poem in which each character is used exactly once; however, it does not include all Chinese characters. The single character (permanence) incorporates every basic stroke used to write Chinese characters exactly once, as described in the Eight Principles of Yong.\\n\\nSelf-enumerating pangrams \\n\\nA self-enumerating pangram is a pangrammatic autogram, or a sentence that inventories its own letters, each of which occurs at least once. The first example was produced by Rudy Kousbroek, a Dutch journalist and essayist, who publicly challenged Lee Sallows, a British recreational mathematician resident in the Netherlands, to produce an English translation of his Dutch pangram. In the sequel, Sallows built an electronic \\\"pangram machine\\\", that performed a systematic search among millions of candidate solutions. The machine was successful in identifying the following 'magic' translation: \\nThis pangram contains four As, one B, two Cs, one D, thirty Es, six Fs, five Gs, seven Hs, eleven Is, one J, one K, two Ls, two Ms, eighteen Ns, fifteen Os, two Ps, one Q, five Rs, twenty-seven Ss, eighteen Ts, two Us, seven Vs, eight Ws, two Xs, three Ys, & one Z.\\n\\nChris Patuzzo, a British computer scientist was able to reduce the problem of finding a self-enumerating pangram to the Boolean satisfiability problem. He did this by using a bespoke Hardware description language as a stepping stone and then applied the Tseitin transformation to the resulting chip. \\n\\nPangrams in literature\\n\\nThe pangram \\\"The quick brown fox...\\\" and searches for a shorter pangram are the cornerstone of the plot of the novel Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. The search successfully comes to an end when the phrase \\\"Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs\\\" is discovered.\",\n \"Longest_word_in_English.txt\\nLongest word in English\\nThe identity of the longest word in English depends upon the definition of what constitutes a word in the English language, as well as how length should be compared. In addition to words derived naturally from the language's roots (without any known intentional invention), English allows new words to be formed by coinage and construction; place names may be considered words; technical terms may be arbitrarily long. Length may be understood in terms of orthography and number of written letters, or (less commonly) phonology and the number of phonemes.\\n\\nMajor dictionaries \\n\\nThe longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis. The word was deliberately coined to be the longest word in English, and has since been used in a close approximation of its originally intended meaning, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim. \\n\\nThe Oxford English Dictionary contains pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters).\\n\\nMerriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary does not contain antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters), as the editors found no widespread, sustained usage of the word in its original meaning. The longest word in that dictionary is electroencephalographically (27 letters). \\n\\nThe longest non-technical word in major dictionaries is floccinaucinihilipilification at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of Latin words meaning \\\"nothing\\\" and defined as \\\"the act of estimating something as worthless\\\"; its usage has been recorded as far back as 1741. \\n\\nRoss Eckler has noted that most of the longest English words are not likely to occur in general text, meaning non-technical present-day text seen by casual readers, in which the author did not specifically intend to use an unusually long word. According to Eckler, the longest words likely to be encountered in general text are deinstitutionalization and counterrevolutionaries, with 22 letters each. \\n\\nA computer study of over a million samples of normal English prose found that the longest word one is likely to encounter on an everyday basis is uncharacteristically, at 20 letters. \\n\\nThe words Internationalization and localization are abbreviated \\\"i18n\\\" and \\\"l10n\\\", respectively, the embedded number representing the number of letters between the first and the last.\\n\\nCreations of long words \\n\\nCoinages \\n\\nIn his play Assemblywomen (Ecclesiazousae), the ancient Greek comedic playwright Aristophanes created a word of 171 letters (183 in the transliteration below), which describes a dish by stringing together its ingredients:\\n\\nLopadotemakhoselakhogaleokranioleipsanodrimypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakekhymenokikhlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptokephalliokigklopeleiolagōiosiraiobaphētraganopterýgōn.\\n\\nHenry Carey's farce Chrononhotonthologos (1743) holds the opening line: \\\"Aldiborontiphoscophornio! Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?\\\"\\n\\nThomas Love Peacock put these creations into the mouth of the phrenologist Mr. Cranium in his 1816 romp Headlong Hall: osteosarchaematosplanchnochondroneuromuelous (44 characters) and osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary (51 characters).\\n\\nJames Joyce made up nine 100-letter words plus one 101-letter word in his novel Finnegans Wake, the most famous of which is Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk. Appearing on the first page, it allegedly represents the symbolic thunderclap associated with the fall of Adam and Eve. As it appears nowhere else except in reference to this passage, it is generally not accepted as a real word. Sylvia Plath made mention of it in her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, when the protagonist was reading Finnegans Wake.\\n\\n\\\"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious\\\", the 34-letter title of a song from the movie Mary Poppins, does appear in several dictionaries, but only as a proper noun defined in reference to the song title. The attributed meaning is \\\"a word that you say when you don't know what to say.\\\" The idea and invention of the word is credited to songwriters Robert and Richard Sherman.\\n\\nAgglutinative constructions \\n\\nThe English language permits the legitimate extension of existing words to serve new purposes by the addition of prefixes and suffixes. This is sometimes referred to as agglutinative construction. This process can create arbitrarily long words: for example, the prefixes pseudo (false, spurious) and anti (against, opposed to) can be added as many times as desired. A word like anti-aircraft (pertaining to the defense against aircraft) is easily extended to anti-anti-aircraft (pertaining to counteracting the defense against aircraft, a legitimate concept) and can from there be prefixed with an endless stream of \\\"anti-\\\"s, each time creating a new level of counteraction. More familiarly, the addition of numerous \\\"great\\\"s to a relative, e.g. great-great-great-grandfather, can produce words of arbitrary length. In musical notation, a 8192nd note may be called a semihemidemisemihemidemisemihemidemisemiquaver.\\n\\nAntidisestablishmentarianism is the longest common example of a word formed by agglutinative construction.\\n\\nTechnical terms \\n\\nA number of scientific naming schemes can be used to generate arbitrarily long words.\\n\\nThe IUPAC nomenclature for organic chemical compounds is open-ended, giving rise to the 189,819-letter chemical name Methionylthreonylthreonyl...isoleucine for the protein also known as titin, which is involved in striated muscle formation. In nature, DNA molecules can be much bigger than protein molecules and therefore potentially be referred to with much longer chemical names. For example, the wheat chromosome 3B contains almost 1 billion base pairs, so the sequence of one of its strands, if written out in full like Adenilyladenilylguanilylcystidylthymidyl..., would be about 8 billion letters long. The longest published word, Acetylseryltyrosylseryliso...serine, referring to the coat protein of a certain strain of tobacco mosaic virus, was 1,185-letters long, and appeared in the American Chemical Society's Chemical Abstracts Service in 1964 and 1966.Chemical Abstracts Formula Index, Jan.-June 1964, Page 967F; Chemical Abstracts 7th Coll. Formulas, C23H32-Z, 56-65, 1962–1966, Page 6717F In 1965, the Chemical Abstracts Service overhauled its naming system and started discouraging excessively long names.\\n\\nJohn Horton Conway and Landon Curt Noll developed an open-ended system for naming powers of 10, in which one sexmilliaquingentsexagintillion, coming from the Latin name for 6560, is the name for 103(6560+1) 1019683. Under the long number scale, it would be 106(6560) \\n 1039360. Sbiis Sabian's \\\"Large Numbers\\\" website states that the largest number to say (nine hundred ninety nine novemnonagintinongenti-enneennaconteennahectenonecxenaenneennaconteennahecte...nine hundred ninety-nine billion nine hundred ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine) would take 10^{10^{3000}} years to say out, which would be the same amount of characters.\\n\\nGammaracanthuskytodermogammarus loricatobaicalensis is sometimes cited as the longest binomial name—it is a kind of amphipod. However, this name, proposed by B. Dybowski, was invalidated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.\\n\\nParastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides is the longest accepted binomial name. It is a species of soldier fly. \\n\\nAequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic, at 52 letters, describing the spa waters at Bath, England, is attributed to Dr. Edward Strother (1675–1737). The word is composed of the following elements:\\n* Aequeo: equal (Latin, aequo )\\n* Salino: containing salt (Latin, salinus)\\n* Calcalino: calcium (Latin, calx)\\n* Ceraceo: waxy (Latin, cera)\\n* Aluminoso: alumina (Latin)\\n* Cupreo: from \\\"copper\\\"\\n* Vitriolic: resembling vitriol\\n\\nNotable long words \\n\\nPlace names \\n\\nThere is some debate as to whether a place name is a legitimate word.\\n\\nThe longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country is\\nTaumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters), which is a hill in New Zealand. The name is in the Māori language.\\n\\nIn Canada, the longest place name is Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde, a township in Ontario, at 61 letters or 68 non-space characters. \\n\\nThe 58-letter name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a town on Anglesey, an island of Wales. In terms of the traditional Welsh alphabet, the name is only 51 letters long, as certain digraphs in Welsh are considered as single letters, for instance ll, ng and ch. It is generally agreed, however, that this invented name, adopted in the mid-19th century, was contrived solely to be the longest name of any town in Britain. The official name of the place is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, commonly abbreviated to Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG.\\n\\nThe longest non-contrived place name in the United Kingdom which is a single non-hyphenated word is Cottonshopeburnfoot (19 letters) and the longest which is hyphenated is Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe (29 characters).\\n\\nThe longest place name in the United States (45 letters) is Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, a lake in Webster, Massachusetts. It means \\\"Fishing Place at the Boundaries – Neutral Meeting Grounds\\\" and is sometimes facetiously translated as \\\"you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle\\\". The lake is also known as Webster Lake. The longest hyphenated names in the U.S. are Winchester-on-the-Severn, a town in Maryland, and Washington-on-the-Brazos, a notable place in Texas history.\\n\\nThe longest official geographical name in Australia is Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya. It has 26 letters and is a Pitjantjatjara word meaning \\\"where the Devil urinates\\\". \\n\\nIn Ireland, the longest English placename at 22 letters is Muckanaghederdauhaulia (from the Irish language, Muiceanach Idir Dhá Sháile, meaning \\\"pig-marsh between two saltwater inlets\\\") in County Galway. If this is disallowed for being derived from Irish, or not a town, the longest at 19 letters is Newtownmountkennedy in County Wicklow.\\n\\nPersonal names \\n\\nGuinness World Records formerly contained a category for longest personal name used.\\n* From about 1975 to 1985, the recordholder was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffvoralternwarengewissenhaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeundsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvonangreifendurchihrraubgierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolftausendjahresvorandieerscheinenwanderersteerdemenschderraumschiffgebrauchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlangefahrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchenachdiesternwelchegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinderneurassevonverstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefortplanzenundsicherfreuenanlebenslanglichfreudeundruhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvonandererintelligentgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraum, Senior (746 letters), also known as Wolfe+585, Senior.\\n* After 1985 Guinness briefly awarded the record to a newborn girl with a longer name. The category was removed shortly afterward.\\n\\nLong birth names are often coined in protest of naming laws or for other personal reasons.\\n* The naming law in Sweden was challenged by parents Lasse Diding and Elisabeth Hallin, who proposed the given name \\\"Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116\\\" for their child (pronounced, 43 characters), which was rejected by a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden.\\n\\nWords with certain characteristics of notable length \\n\\n* Schmaltzed and strengthed (10 letters) appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in The Oxford English Dictionary, while scraunched and scroonched appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in Webster's Third New International Dictionary; but squirrelled (11 letters) is the longest if pronounced as one syllable only (as permitted in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary at squirrel, and in Longman Pronunciation Dictionary). Schtroumpfed (12 letters) was coined by Umberto Eco, while broughammed (11 letters) was coined by William Harmon after broughamed (10 letters) was coined by George Bernard Shaw.\\n* Strengths is the longest word in the English language containing only one vowel.\\n* Euouae, a medieval musical term, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and the word with the most consecutive vowels. However, the \\\"word\\\" itself is simply a mnemonic consisting of the vowels to be sung in the phrase \\\"seculorum Amen\\\" at the end of the lesser doxology. (Although u was often used interchangeably with v, and the variant \\\"Evovae\\\" is occasionally used, the v in these cases would still be a vowel.)\\n* The longest words with no repeated letters are dermatoglyphics, misconjugatedly and uncopyrightables. \\n* The longest word whose letters are in alphabetical order is the eight-letter Aegilops, a grass genus. However, this is arguably both Latin and a proper noun. There are several six-letter English words with their letters in alphabetical order, including abhors, almost, begins, biopsy, chimps and chintz.\\n* The longest words recorded in OED with each vowel only once, and in order, are abstemiously, affectiously, and tragediously (OED). Fracedinously and gravedinously (constructed from adjectives in OED) have thirteen letters; Gadspreciously, constructed from Gadsprecious (in OED), has fourteen letters. Facetiously is among the few other words directly attested in OED with single occurrences of all five vowels and the semivowel y.\\n* The longest single palindromic word in English is rotavator, another name for a rotary tiller for breaking and aerating soil.\\n\\nTyped words \\n\\n* The longest words typable with only the left hand using conventional hand placement on a QWERTY keyboard are tesseradecades, aftercataracts, and the more common but sometimes hyphenated sweaterdresses. Using the right hand alone, the longest word that can be typed is johnny-jump-up, or, excluding hyphens, monimolimnion and phyllophyllin.\\n* The longest English word typable using only the top row of letters has 11 letters: rupturewort. Similar words with 10 letters include: pepperwort, perpetuity, proprietor, requietory, repertoire, tripertite, pourriture and typewriter. The word teetertotter (used in North American English) is longer at 12 letters, although it is usually spelled with a hyphen.\\n* The longest using only the middle row is shakalshas (10 letters). Nine-letter words include flagfalls, galahads and alfalfas.\\n* Since the bottom row contains no vowels, no standard words can be formed. Exceptions might include Zzz, seen in some dictionaries to denote sleep, or m, the clitic form of my. \\n* The longest words typable by alternating left and right hands are antiskepticism and leucocytozoans respectively.\\n* On a Dvorak keyboard, the longest \\\"left-handed\\\" words are epopoeia, jipijapa, peekapoo, and quiaquia. Other such long words are papaya, Kikuyu, opaque, and upkeep. Kikuyu is typed entirely with the index finger, and so the longest one-fingered word on the Dvorak keyboard. There are no vowels on the right-hand side, and so the longest \\\"right-handed\\\" word is crwth.\",\n \"Letter-by-Letter Word Games - Panix\\nThis is an attempt to list the letter-by-letter word games ... up words before we play. Other Scrabble ... a word which contain these three consonants moves ...\\nLetter-by-Letter Word Games\\nLetter-by-Letter Word Games\\nCompiled by Steffan O'Sullivan\\nThis page last updated September 14, 1997 [Yikes! I'm way behind! Folks have been sending more titles, and I haven't gotten to entering them yet - bad me. No excuse. Real Soon Now.]\\n[Note as of December 24, 1999: no, I never did get around to updating this file. But someone did volunteer to take over! Graham Toal has kindly taken over the task of collating all the notes I had for over two years. The enlarged, updated list can be found at http://www.gtoal.com/wordgames/ .\\nI recommend you head there now, as it contains everything that's in this page, plus much more! He's not only added games, but also information and letter distributions for some of the games listed. He's also interested in computer simulations of word games, and has a whole section devoted to that.]\\nIf you have information to contribute to this project, you should e-mail it to Graham Toal .\\nThe rest of this page has not been updated since 1997.\\nBack to Steffan O'Sullivan's Home Page\\nThis is an attempt to list the letter-by-letter word games that have been published, that work with the English language. (And the language of the U.S.A., too, for you UK readers...)\\nThe phrase \\\"letter-by-letter\\\" is used simply to distinguish such word games from word games which use whole words, phrases, sentences, etc. Examples of the latter include Taboo, Guestures, Trivial Pursuit, Charades, etc., all of which can be considered \\\"word games\\\", but are outside the scope of this list. Instead, this list focuses on games in which the basic element is a letter, and words are built up from there. Scrabble is probably the best-known letter-by-letter word game today, so think of games similar to that - at least vaguely similar, at any rate.\\nThis list is not done yet - there have been an astonishing number of such games published. However, I'm burned out on it - I'm no longer seeking other titles of such games, but still am seeking comments for any game listed which lacks them. I'm also asking for corrections to any misinformation below! Send any such suggestions to gtoal @ gtoal.com .\\nContributors: Comments are by:\\nCompiled by Steffan O'Sullivan\\nAd Lib published by Lowe. A remake of Scribbage (below). [SOS]\\nAddiction published by Waddingtons. Choosing one die at a time, place them in a 5x5 grid, making as many words as you can, crossword fashion. [SOS]\\nAdministrative Waltz published by Ariel. This is a satirical board game about rising to the top of various bureaucracies (the military, politics, etc.) in the UK, but in some way it incorporates the making of words from letter tiles. [DB]\\nAlfred's Other Game published by Selchow & Righter. This tile games is for 1-4 players, and is basically solitaire, whether played alone or with others. Each player has three areas: a place where tiles are laid out randomly at start, a place where completed words are spelled, and a place for leftovers. You form words from each line of six tiles - unused letters go to the leftover area, and can be reused later. Not a great game, unless multi-player solitaire is your thing. By Alfred E. Butts, the creator of Scrabble. [SOS]\\nAnagrams published by Selchow & Righter. 200 tiles, build words from them. You can steal your opponents words if you can add one or more letters to make an anagram of their words. I like it. [SOS]\\nBali published by Avalon Hill, 1980. Kind of similar to rummy where you build words as melds and they can be stolen with anagrams. [RI]. A word is built out of the players' cards on a common area; by adding letters from one's hand, one hand can steal the word. Numerous variants exist. [DT]\\nBits & Pieces published by Samuel Ward. Some of the dice sides have individual letters, some have letter combinations. Race against time. [SOS]\\nBoggle (& variants) published by Parker Brothers. Boggle has 16 dice in a 4x4 pattern (Big Boggle, now called Boggle Master, has 25 in a 5x5 pattern). Shake the holder, the dice settle into place with a single side up, and start the timer. You have 3 minutes to find as many words as you can. A word can be spelled by moving from die to die, orthogonally or diagonally, without hitting the same die twice. Each die can only be used once in spelling a given word, but may be used over and over again for each new word. Words must be a minimum of three letters. Very good game. [SOS]\\nBuzzle published by Fanjos in 1994. This is the German rerelease of Runes (see below). I believe it was nominated for Spiel des Jahres. [KM]\\nBuzzword(s?) published by ??? -- You roll a cup full of dice and put them on a scrabble like board. Recent game (a few years). Not as good as it sounds. Reviewed in Games, maybe in The Game Report (check out online). I have a copy, so if you bug me about it I can find company and year. [BB]\\nCampbell's Alphabet Scoop & Spell published by Warren Industries. Scoop piles of letters out of the Campbell's alphabet soup can to spell words. [SOS]\\nCatchword published by International Games. Consonants on cards, vowels on dice, which are thrown anew each turn. Variations given. [SOS]\\nChessword published by Waddington's House of Games, 1972. Played on an elongated chessboard where the white squares have the alphabet on them, and using only the non-pawn pieces. Each player tries to maneuver any one of his pieces onto the letter he needs for his word, whilst preventing the opponent from doing the same. [DT]\\nCountdown published by Piatnik (Austria), designed by frederic Leygonie, 2-6 players aged 10+, pub March '97. Make words by playing letter cards: longest wins. [PE]\\nCrash published in the Feb 1971 issue of Word Ways. Related to Jotto, but in this game, you only score crashes: a crash is an instance of the same letter *in the same position* in the target word. Thus shine/canoe scores 1, parse/spear scores 0. This gave rise to a number of variants. [TU]\\nCross Cubes published by Baron Scott. 19 letter cubes, 6 black cubes to use as blanks, as in crossword puzzles. Place the black cubes first, then shake the letter dice and start a timer. [SOS]\\nCrossCheck published by TSR. A crossword game, something like 'Swoggle, but here you are actually answering clues. [DB]\\nCrossword published by MB, 1978. Nearly identical to Scribbage. [AM]\\nCrossword Bingo published by Skor-Mor/Samuel Ward. 240 letter tiles. Words must be formed before you can place tiles on bingo cards. Timer, simultaneous play. [SOS]\\nCrossword Cubes published by Selchow & Righter. 14 dice, you get two to four tosses (as in Yahtzee), forming words in crossword fashion. You can only score one word of each length from 2-8 letters. [SOS]\\nCrossword Dominoes published by Selchow & Righter. These domino-shaped tiles contain two letters. On one side, they are horizontally adjacent, on the other, the same two letters are vertically adjacent. You try to spell words with them, crossword fashion. Each player must link on to a tile played by a previous player - there's a bonus for playing all five tiles in one hand, but they must all touch each other. Excellent game. [SOS]\\nCrossword Lexicon published by Parker Bros., 1937. I haven't seen it, but I suspect it is the same as Waddington's Lexcion, below. [SOS]\\nCrozzle published by Cadaco. Paper in special holders form crossword frames. Letters are drawn one at a time, and all players fill their own in at the same time, one letter at a time. Try to have the most words when the puzzle is full. [SOS]\\nDig-It published by Cadaco. 378 letter tiles, many cards with a subject printed on each. Deal out subject cards, players simply dig into the common pile of letter tiles, spelling words relating to their subject. [SOS]\\nDixit published by Waddingtons. [Description needed.]\\nDizzy Spell published by Gabriel, 1978. The board is 5x5 with holes which are initially covered with reversible O/X pieces, all on the O side. Then a card with letters which align with the holes is inserted in the base. The first player uncovers two letters, making sure his opponent sees them too, then replaces the plugs, X side up. Play continues with the players alternating. After the third pair of letters has been revealed, each player may guess a word every turn. To do so, announce the word, then expose the letters (from the Xs) in the correct order. If correct, the player keeps the pieces removed and those letters can no longer be used. If incorrect, remove 2 points from the guesser's score. Once all letters are X side up, continue the process but flip the pieces back to the O side. Play continues until all the pieces are back to the O side or both players decide to give up. Score 1 point per piece. [DT]\\nEureka published by Amigo Spiel (Germany), designed by Haim Shafir, 2-6 players aged 10+, pub April '97. A word is hidden in the mechanism, players roll dice to enable them to open flaps, revealing letters. When they guess the word they score the values of the closed flaps. [PE]\\nFoil published by 3M, 1968. Players score points for forming one or more words from the hand of letter-cards they're dealt. They then scramble the word(s) and show it (them) to their opponents. The latter score bonus points for unscrambling the word(s) within one-minute. [DT]\\nForesight (4Cyte) published by MB. Tiles. [Description needed.]\\nFour Letter Words published by Lakeside, 1975. Using a 4x4x4 3D tic-tac-toe board, players try to make four letter words. [DT]\\nGot a Minute published by Selchow & Righter(?). Seven cubes with letters are ecased in a clear cube & with a minute sand timer. You have 1 minute to find as many words using the 7 letters. [RI]\\nGrid Word published by Waddingtons. Cards with two letters on them, must be played with other cards to make four-letter words. [SOS]\\nHangman published by MB. Each player's word is kept hidden from the opponent - simultaneous classic hangman, basically. [SOS] When a player missed, a dial on the case showing a hangman was turned adding another \\\"body part\\\" until you were hung. The only problem is there were far too many misses allowed (something like 12). [RI]\\nHearts published by MB (old). Dice. [Description needed.]\\nInVerse: The Poetry Game, unpublished, written by Stan Anderson. Link to description . [SA]\\nIpswich published by Selchow & Righter, 1983. Each of the up to 4 players has a board with crossword spaces on it (4 intersecting word tracks). Each player draws 14 tiles and arranges as many of them as possible to make up words on his board within 10 minutes. Within the first minute, you have the option of trading tiles in for new ones (this costs score). There are bonuses for making words that intersect. After this first round, players retain any 4 tiles of their choice and then pass the boards, with their remaining tiles, to the left. Each player draws 2 more tiles. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds. [DT]\\nJarnac published by Chieftain in Canada (also published in France by a different company). An outstanding and heady Anagrams game in which two players build words on individual boards but have the option to steal letters from their opponents. Superb scoring system. [MT] My favorite word game. [BF]\\nJitters published by MB. Jitters has dice with letters and cards with crossword patterns. Start the (noisy) timer, turn over a card, throw the dice, and then use some or all of the dice to form a word pattern that matches the card. If you're stumped you can reroll all the dice. When you succeed, you have the choice of stopping the timer or turning another card and rerolling. If the timer goes off by itself, you lose credit for all the cards you finished that turn. Some of the patterns are easier than others. The harder the card, the more points it's worth. [DW]\\nJotto published commercially in 1957 by The Jotto Corporation, later Selchow & Righter. [MK] Basically Mastermind with letters - an excellent game, especially while waiting for your food in a crowded restaraunt - you just need two pieces of paper and two pencils. Here are the rules as I learned them. [SOS]\\nKan-U-Go published by Waddingtons. Old (50s, 60s?) card game. Players make words from the cards in their hand, adding them to what's on the table in crossword style. If you can't go you pick up a card, first to get rid of all their cards ends the hand. Score is values of cards left in hand, which count against you. Games ends when someone reaches 100 points and player with fewest points wins. [PE]\\nKeep Quiet published by Kopptronix. Letter dice with the manual alphabet for the deaf on them. One game is crossword-style, another longest word. [SOS]\\nKeep Quiet Reword published by Kopptronix. Cards are played four or five at a time to make words, then words can be partially covered up to make new words, as in Up Words. The cards have the English alphabet on the reverse side of manual alphabet. [SOS]\\nKeyword published by Parker Brothers. Similar to Scrabble, but each letter is 5 points unless played on your color, in which case it's 10 points. There are also keyword squares, which are worth +20 points. And keyword cards, which are turned over one at a time until claimed - if you spell the keyword, claim the card which will add 50 points to your score at the end of the game. The board has four colors of tiles, mostly clumped together in each of the corners. I have fond memories of this game, as it was my grandmother's favorite game, and I played many times with her while growing up. [SOS]\\nKontrast published by Matthews & Marshall. 112 cards - empty hand by spelling words. [SOS]\\nLast Word published by Milton-Bradley, 1985. A 10x10 board is loaded with tiles, randomly. Players then walk their piece across the board, picking up tiles as they go, trying not to become stranded. On your turn, you get to pick up an entire word, so this goes pretty fast. The board is treated as wrap-around (toroidal continuity), which keeps the edges from being traps. Bonus points for isolating an opponent and for being the last to pick up a word. [DT]\\nLast Word by Sid Sackson, published in the book A Gamut of Games by Random House (1969), Pantheon (1982), & Dover (1992). Pencil and paper game of filling in a 9x9 grid. Start with the middle 9 spaces filed with letters taken from a random sentence, then play one letter at a time in an empty space, adjacent to at least two other letters already played. Score for words formed - you may rearrange the letters, but not skip any, when scoring. [SOS]\\nLetter Pile publisher unknown. Stylized letters are printed on clear plastic cards. Players gather the letters of their secret words into stacks; opponents try to guess the words by examining the lines and curves on the pile of overlapping cards.[BB2]\\nLexicon published by Waddingtons. First published in 1933, this game uses cards, crossword fashion. Cards left in hand when someone goes out count against you - low score wins. Combine two sets to play with up to eight. [SOS]\\nLewis Carroll's Chess Wordgame published by Kadon. Played on a chess board, each player starts with a letter in each of his first rank squares. You try to spell words on your fifth rank, moving letters one at a time as if they were queens. You may not stop on your fourth or eighth rank, but may move to your sixth or seventh, in an attempt to block your opponent. Despite the name, it's actually by Martin Gardner, based on a brief mention of the idea in one of Lewis Carroll's notebooks. It's okay - neither great nor bad. [SOS]\\nLingo published by Lingo Games. Words are built on a 5x5 grid, any direction, even diagonally. [SOS]\\nLogomachy, or War of Words published by F.A. Wright Co., 1874. Mentioned in Sid Sackson's book, A Gamut of Games. [SOS]\\nMontage published by Gamut of Games, designed by Prince Djoli Kansil. You form a word on a board with chips, each color of which signifies several different letters, and give a clue to it; your partner tries to guess it before either opponent can. Whichever side gets it owns those chips. [TU]\\nMy Word published by Gamut of Games (similar to Jotto) [MK]\\nMy Word published by Waddingtons. I think this is a different game than the above - anyone know for sure? [Description needed.] [SOS]\\nNexus published by Lodestone Games. Contains many games, some similar to Anagrams. Some tiles have letters, others syllables, the latter scoring more points. [SOS]\\nOption published by Parker Brothers, 1983. A crossword game using prisms. Play includes flipping prisms already on the board to switch them to the alternate letter. Players score extra if the word is all in one color. Why they didn't use all three sides of the prisms is a mystery. [DT]\\nOverturn published by Pressman. The letters are printed right on the board in this game. The board for a single game is made up of 9 small squares, each with four letters on them. There are 18 squares included - rotate and shuffle them after each play, and you'll get a different set-up each time. There are circles (green on one side, silver on the other) which fit over the letters. Spell a word as in Boggle and claim those letters by placing circles around them, your color up. The next player must use at least one new letter and one used letter, flipping any circles around letters used to his color. Very good game. I have an article on three-player Overturn . [SOS]\\nPalabra published by Kondrick. Seven-card hands. Two or three stars on some cards serve as multipliers so you can score 2*2*3*3*3 times the base score if lucky and careful. Player interaction is minor. [TU]\\nPass the Bomb published by Gibsons Games, 1996 (box text: \\\"Invented by Los Rodriguez and licenced by Weekend Games; Made in Austria by Piatnik, 1994\\\"). Like Hot Potato, you don't want to be the one holding the bomb when it explodes. In order to pass it to the next person, however, you must first say a valid word containing a given sequence of letters (or, since bluffing is encouraged, make people _think_ you did...). [BB2]\\nPerfect 10 published by Smethport. Identical to Anagrams (above), but with only 100 tiles. [SOS]\\nPerquackey published by Pressman. Players roll 7 dice, then rattle off all 3+ letter words. You can only get points for the first 5 words with the same # of letters (5 3 letter words, 5 4 letter words). Point scoring is based on number of words of each type. Once you are vulnerable, you add a few red dice (with more obscure letters) and must start with 4 letter words. Solitairish (take turns, race point score). [BB]\\nPhlounder published by 3M, 1962. Letters are fed randomly through chute-like troughs; players try to make words out of what comes out. [DT]\\nPick Two published by Tah Dah. Form words with cards as quickly as possible. When you form one the other players have to take two more cards and continue. [RI]\\nPlay On Wordz published by Milton Bradley, 1986. It has a plastic case with 9 dice (called a dice roller). There are 6 dice in an outer circle and 3 dice in the middle. Each die is in a cavity and can't be removed. A player rubs his hand over the dice, rotating them, and places the game on the table for everyone to see. The object is to use the letters shown to make words of 4 or more letters. Letters do not have to be adjacent. First player to make 10 words says STOP and players compare lists. Duplicate words are eliminated. Each remaining word counts one point. Words with more than 4 letters get an extra point for each letter over 4. We like it a lot, and adjust the rules for younger players or poor spellers as needed. [CK]\\nProbe published by PB. Word guessing game like Hangman. [RI]. Sort of simultaneous Hangman. [DT]\\nPronto published by Selchow and Righter in the late 1970's or early 1980's. A letter dice game, where you receive credit for various combinations. Similar to word yahtzee but with different scoring possibilities. Excellent solitaire. [MT]\\nQuadtriple published by Eltron. [Description needed.]\\nQue published by Knots. Cards with letters - some have one letter, others two-letters, and there are two wild-cards. Many variants given. [SOS]\\nQuibble published by Just Games. Ten wooden sticks have 10 letters on each edge. Randomly place them to make a 10x10 square of letters. Some variants require finding words in a given row, others in the whole array. [SOS]\\nQuizzle published by Copp Clark Games, Canada, 1978. There are four plastic crossword grids, a supply of cardboard letter tiles (also wild blanks and black squares) and a special die marked (1 1 2 2 3 *). On a player's turn, he rolls the die and places that many letters of his choice on the grid (other players simultaneously draw the same tiles but place them on their own grids as they choose). A Joker (*) counts for either 3 tiles or the replacement of an already-played tile. The game ends once the grid is filled. Only completed words count for score. [DT]\\nQwink published by Selchow & Righter. [Description needed.]\\nRätsel Turm, a game by Heinz Meister, published by FX Schmid, 1992. The aim of the game is to build towers with coloured blocks, the lowest block representing the first letter of a word, etc. There are blocks of different colours: green means A, B or C; yellow D, E or F, etc. Five different games use this basic system. For example, each player on his turn builds a tower, and the first other player who finds a corresponding word scores 1 point. Another example: The first player chooses a block, and each player on his turn must add a block on the top of the tower, or accuse the former player of bluffing when he cannot name a corresponding word. [BF]\\nRazzle published by Parker Bros. Try to move a carriage towards your opponent. The carriage has six letter dice which rotate when the carriage is moved. First to find a word formed with the letters showing moves the carriage towards his opponent, which then rotates the dice to reveal different letters. [SOS]\\nRed Letter published by Games Gang. Like Scrabble, except all letters are worth 1 pt. Letters can be either upper or lower case allowing proper nouns, bonuses for using all red letters (especially in the red zone -- outmost 5 rows/columns of the board) and bonuses for using words that fit a category listed on a card and with so many letters. [RI]\\nRondo published by Ravensburger/FX Schmidt (Germany), designed by Abrahami/Netz, 2-4 players aged 12+, pub 97. Stand holds letter cards and can be extended as the length of the word increases. Players make words by adding, changing or blanking out a letter in the word that's already there. [PE]\\nRoyalty published by US Games. Similar to Word Rummy except you only score if no one can steal your word in one round. [RI]\\nRPM published by Selchow ↦ Righter(?). The board is round and it winds up and revolves. You spell words with wood letter tiles as the board rotates into your area. [CL]\\nRSVP published by Selchow & Righter. You have an upright grid, in which letters can be placed from either side. A letter placed shows on both sides - but if one reads \\\"BY\\\" on one side of the grid, it reads \\\"YB\\\" on the other. Object is to score more words than your opponent, taking turns placing one letter at a time. [SOS]\\nRunes published by Eon. The basic component of this game is actually the letter element: a small straight, a large straight, a small curve and a large curve. Each player's board lists each letter with the one legal way to create the letter using the letter elements. Think of a secret word (five or six letters, determine before starting), and the others try to guess first what elements compose a given letter, then which letter it is, then which word. Excellent game with four players, a bit lacking with less. Longer review. [SOS]\\nScoring Anagrams published by Selchow & Righter. Similar to Anagrams, with a scoring system instead of final goal. [SOS]\\nScrabble designed by Alfred E. Butts, published by Selchow & Righter, later MB. Originally published in 1931 as Criss Cross. 15x15 board with 104 tiles. The letters are given a value (not always in keeping with their frequency - \\\"H\\\" is worth far too much, for example - Alfred got his original distribution by counting letters on the front page of an issue of the New York Times!), and some spaces are special: double-letter, double-word, triple-letter, triple-word scoring spaces. We play with the official Scrabble Dictionary, and are allowed to look up words before we play. Other Scrabble players find this practice blasphemous, but I suspect they haven't tried it - it makes it a better game, at least from our worldview. This is definitely the classic wordgame - one of the best. R. Wayne Schmittberger has a Scrabble variant with no luck involved: you lay out the tiles at the beginning of the game, randomly, face-up, around the board, so that there are two distinct ends to the line of tiles. After you play, you may draw from either end - but all letters taken in one turn must be from the same end. [SOS]\\nScrabble Duplicate published by Selchow & Righter. 7 cards were displayed in a rack. Each player using their own scorepad (with Scrabble board on it) would write in the word they used. And then 7 new letters would be displayed. This way everyone would get the same rack on every turn. [RI]\\nScrabble for Juniors published by Selchow & Righter. Actually the side of the board where you could make your own words would count as a legitimate game. [RI] (I had originally requested no pure children's game, listing this game as an example, but Rich Irving rightly points out that it should be included.) [SOS]\\nScrabble Overturn(?) published by Selchow & Righter. The letters were on cylindars which could be rotated to change the color of the player getting credit for it. Different than the Pressman game. [RI]\\nScrabble Up published by MB. Build words up a rack while the letter come sliding down another track. [RI]\\nScribbage published by Lowe. Archetypal game of shake the dice, roll them out, you have X minutes to create words in a crossword pattern using as many dice as you can, pass the dice and cup to the next player, etc. The dice in Scribbage have both letters and a value for each letter on the faces - many dice games have just letters. [SOS]\\nShoot & Spell published by Tiger Games, 1989. Letters are shot out of dispensers at each corner of the boxing-ring-like board. Players must make a word as quickly as possible from the displayed letters. [DT]\\nSI (Sports Illustrated Words) published by Parker Bros. I own this, but no rules, so am not 100% certain that what follows is correct. There are 30 dice, each side a letter, and a number of cards. The cards are specific to a given sport, and have Bonus Words on them. I'm assuming you draw a card, roll the dice, and have X minutes to form as many words as you can related to the sport - scoring extra if you can spell the Bonus Words. [SOS] [Description needed.]\\nSkirmish published by KDS Industries. Battleship with letters. Really. You make a word using pegs to form the letters, and try to hit the other player's pegs and guess the word. [DB]\\nSpeed Scrabble, unpublished, uses Scrabble tiles. Heath Haley sent me the rules, but does not know who wrote them. I'm reluctant to post them without being able to credit the author. Anyone know who wrote this variant of Scrabble which is played without the board, simultaneously, to your own crossword-shaped words in front of each player?\\nSpellbinder published by Mattell. [Description needed]\\nSpellbound published by Lakeside. Letter dice fall into an upright stand which shows letters vertically, on four different sides at once. Each side requires players to find a different type of word formation. Timer. [SOS]\\nSpellwell published by Value Wargames. Mostly a table using a percentile dice - roll the dice X times, make words. Then make sentences with your words. [SOS]\\nSpill & Spell published by Parker Bros. 15 dice, timer, make crossword-type words, longer words score more; variants included. [SOS]\\nSum-Words published by MPH Games. [Description needed.]\\n'Swoggle published by Chieftan Products (Canada). One of my favorite games and good to play with just two players. One problem is there's a little too much luck for my taste. On your turn, you roll one die and whatever you roll is how many letters (of your choice) you can add to the board. If you roll a one you're really screwed. The best house rule we found to fix this is to just let the player roll again and add it to the 1. [JG]\\nTake A Letter published by Rainbow Games, 1985. The board is a 17 x 17 grid with two corners taken out, with a variety of markings on it. There is also a track going around the board featuring letters and a few other squares. Players strive to make words of certain lengths or containing specific letters, as designated by their Word Play cards. The letter track is used to garner the required letters; Word Play cards also allow letters to be stolen from other players. [DT]\\nThat's Incredible published by MPH Games. Actually nine games, only the first one, Zenith, is a word game. Using 81 letter cards, build a 9x9 crossword puzzle. [SOS]\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124616,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"What country, including land from subtropical plains to sub-alpine peaks of over 7,000m (23,000 ft), and currently a monarchy, was rated in 2006 as the eighth happiest country in the world?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Bhutan"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Quality_of_life.txt\nQuality of life\nQuality of life (QOL) is the general well-being of individuals and societies, outlining negative and positive features of life. It observes life satisfaction, including everything from physical health, family, education, employment, wealth, religious beliefs, finance and the environment. QOL has a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, politics and employment. It is important not to mix up the concept of QOL with a more recent growing area of health related QOL (HRQOL ). When we look at HRQOL we in effect look at QOL and its relationship with health.\n\nQuality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of living, which is based primarily on income.\n\nOverview\n\nStandard indicators of the quality of life include not only wealth and employment but also the built environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, and social belonging. \n\nAccording to ecological economist Robert Costanza:\n\nOne approach, called engaged theory, outlined in the journal of Applied Research in the Quality of Life, posits four domains in assessing quality of life: ecology, economics, politics and culture. In the domain of culture, for example, it includes the following subdomains of quality of life:\n\n* Identity and engagement\n* Creativity and recreation\n* Memory and projection\n* Belief and ideas\n* Gender and generations\n* Enquiry and learning\n* Wellbeing and health\n\nAlso frequently related are concepts such as freedom, human rights, and happiness. However, since happiness is subjective and difficult to measure, other measures are generally given priority. It has also been shown that happiness, as much as it can be measured, does not necessarily increase correspondingly with the comfort that results from increasing income. As a result, standard of living should not be taken to be a measure of happiness. Also sometimes considered related is the concept of human security, though the latter may be considered at a more basic level and for all people.\n\nQuantitative measurement\n\nUnlike per capita GDP or standard of living, both of which can be measured in financial terms, it is harder to make objective or long-term measurements of the quality of life experienced by nations or other groups of people. Researchers have begun in recent times to distinguish two aspects of personal well-being: Emotional well-being, in which respondents are asked about the quality of their everyday emotional experiences—the frequency and intensity of their experiences of, for example, joy, stress, sadness, anger, and affection— and life evaluation, in which respondents are asked to think about their life in general and evaluate it against a scale. Such and other systems and scales of measurement have been in use for some time. Research has attempted to examine the relationship between quality of life and productivity. There are many different methods of measuring quality of life in terms of health care, wealth and materialistic goods. However, it is much more difficult to measure meaningful expression of one's desires. One way to do so is to evaluate the scope of how individuals have fulfilled their own ideals. Quality of life can simply mean happiness, the subjective state of mind. By using that mentality, citizens of a developing country appreciate more since they are content with the basic necessities of health care, education and child protection. \n\nHuman Development Index\n\nPerhaps the most commonly used international measure of development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines measures of life expectancy, education, and standard of living, in an attempt to quantify the options available to individuals within a given society. The HDI is used by the United Nations Development Programme in their Human Development Report.\n\nWorld Happiness Report\n\nThe World Happiness Report is a landmark survey on the state of global happiness. It ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, reflecting growing global interest in using happiness and substantial well-being as an indicator of the quality of human development. Its growing purpose has allowed governments, communities and organizations to use appropriate data to record happiness in order to enable policies to provide better lives. The reports review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness. Also developed by the United Nations and published recently along with the HDI, this report combines both objective and subjective measures to rank countries by happiness, which is deemed as the ultimate outcome of a high quality of life. It uses surveys from Gallup, real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, and generosity to derive the final score. Happiness is already recognised as an important concept in global public policy. The World Happiness Report indicates that some regions have in recent years have been experiencing progressive inequality of happiness. Without life, there is no happiness to be realised. \n\nOther measures\n\nThe Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) is a measure developed by sociologist Morris David Morris in the 1970s, based on basic literacy, infant mortality, and life expectancy. Although not as complex as other measures, and now essentially replaced by the Human Development Index, the PQLI is notable for Morris's attempt to show a \"less fatalistic pessimistic picture\" by focusing on three areas where global quality of life was generally improving at the time, and ignoring gross national product and other possible indicators that were not improving. \n\nThe Happy Planet Index, introduced in 2006, is unique among quality of life measures in that, in addition to standard determinants of well-being, it uses each country's ecological footprint as an indicator. As a result, European and North American nations do not dominate this measure. The 2012 list is instead topped by Costa Rica, Vietnam and Colombia. \n\nGallup researchers trying to find the world's happiest countries found Denmark to be at the top of the list. uSwitch publishes an annual quality of life index for European countries. France has topped the list for the last three years. \n\nA 2010 study by two Princeton University professors looked at 1,000 randomly selected U.S. residents over an extended period. It concludes that their life evaluations – that is, their considered evaluations of their life against a stated scale of one to ten – rise steadily with income. On the other hand, their reported quality of emotional daily experiences (their reported experiences of joy, affection, stress, sadness, or anger) levels off after a certain income level (approximately $75,000 per year); income above $75,000 does not lead to more experiences of happiness nor to further relief of unhappiness or stress. Below this income level, respondents reported decreasing happiness and increasing sadness and stress, implying the pain of life’s misfortunes, including disease, divorce, and being alone, is exacerbated by poverty. \n\nGross national happiness and other subjective measures of happiness are being used by the governments of Bhutan and the United Kingdom. The World Happiness report, issued by Columbia University is a meta-analysis of happiness globally and provides an overview of countries and grassroots activists using GNH. The OECD issued a guide for the use of subjective well-being metrics in 2013. In the U.S., cities and communities are using a GNH metric at a grassroots level. \n\nThe Social Progress Index measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. Fifty-two indicators in the areas of basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity show the relative performance of nations. The index uses outcome measures when there is sufficient data available or the closest possible proxies.\n\nDay-Reconstruction Method was another way of measuring happiness, in which researchers asked their subjects to recall various things they did on the previous day and describe their mood during each activity. Being simple and approachable, this method required memory and the experiments have confirmed that the answers that people give are similar to those who repeatedly recalled each subject. The method eventually declined as it called for more effort and thoughtful responses, which often included interpretations and outcomes that do not occur to people who are asked to record every action in their daily lives. \n\nLivability\n\nThe term quality of life is also used by politicians and economists to measure the livability of a given city or nation. Two widely known measures of livability are the Economist Intelligence Unit's Where-to-be-born Index and Mercer's Quality of Living Reports. These two measures calculate the livability of countries and cities around the world, respectively, through a combination of subjective life-satisfaction surveys and objective determinants of quality of life such as divorce rates, safety, and infrastructure. Such measures relate more broadly to the population of a city, state, or country, not to individual quality of life. Livability has a long history and tradition in urban design, and neighborhoods design standards such as LEED-ND are often used in an attempt to influence livability. \n\nCrimes\n\nSome crimes against property (e.g., graffiti and vandalism) and some \"victimless crimes\" have been referred to as \"quality-of-life crimes.\" American sociologist James Q. Wilson encapsulated this argument as the Broken Window Theory, which asserts that relatively minor problems left unattended (such as litter, graffiti, or public urination by homeless individuals) send a subliminal message that disorder in general is being tolerated, and as a result, more serious crimes will end up being committed (the analogy being that a broken window left broken shows an image of general dilapidation).\n\nWilson's theories have been used to justify the implementation of zero tolerance policies by many prominent American mayors, most notably Oscar Goodman in Las Vegas, Richard Riordan in Los Angeles, Rudolph Giuliani in New York City and Gavin Newsom in San Francisco. Such policies refuse to tolerate even minor crimes; proponents argue that this will improve the quality of life of local residents. However, critics of zero tolerance policies believe that such policies neglect investigation on a case-by-case basis and may lead to unreasonably harsh penalties for crimes.\n\nPopsicle index\n\nThe Popsicle Index is a quality of life measurement coined by Catherine Austin Fitts as the percentage of people - in a community who believe that a child in their community can safely leave their home, walk to the nearest possible location to buy a popsicle, and walk back home. \n\nIn healthcare\n\nWithin the field of healthcare, quality of life is often regarded in terms of how a certain ailment affects a patient on an individual level. This may be a debilitating weakness that is not life-threatening; life-threatening illness that is not terminal; terminal illness; the predictable, natural decline in the health of an elder; an unforeseen mental/physical decline of a loved one; or chronic, end-stage disease processes. Researchers at the University of Toronto's Quality of Life Research Unit define quality of life as \"The degree to which a person enjoys the important possibilities of his or her life\" (UofT). Their Quality of Life Model is based on the categories \"being\", \"belonging\", and \"becoming\"; respectively who one is, how one is not connected to one's environment, and whether one achieves one's personal goals, hopes, and aspirations. \n\nIn international development\n\nQuality of life is an important concept in the field of international development, since it allows development to be analyzed on a measure broader than standard of living. Within development theory, however, there are varying ideas concerning what constitutes desirable change for a particular society, and the different ways that quality of life is defined by institutions therefore shapes how these organizations work for its improvement as a whole.\n\nOrganisations such as the World Bank, for example, declare a goal of \"working for a world free of poverty\", with poverty defined as a lack of basic human needs, such as food, water, shelter, freedom, access to education, healthcare, or employment. In other words, poverty is defined as a low quality of life. Using this definition, the World Bank works towards improving quality of life through neoliberal means, with the stated goal of lowering poverty and helping people afford a better quality of life.\n\nOther organizations, however, may also work towards improved global quality of life using a slightly different definition and substantially different methods. Many NGOs do not focus at all on reducing poverty on a national or international scale, but rather attempt to improve quality of life for individuals or communities. One example would be sponsorship programs that provide material aid for specific individuals. Although many organizations of this type may still talk about fighting poverty, the methods are significantly different.\n\nImproving quality of life involves action not only by NGOs, but also by governments. Global health has the potential to achieve greater political presence if governments were to incorporate aspects of human security into foreign policy. Stressing individuals’ basic rights to health, food, shelter, and freedom addresses prominent inter-sectoral problems negatively impacting today’s society and may lead to greater action and resources. Integration of global health concerns into foreign policy may be hampered by approaches that are shaped by the overarching roles of defense and diplomacy.","Bhutan.txt\nBhutan\nBhutan ( or; Dzongkha Dru Ü,), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a sovereign state in South Asia. A landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas, Bhutan borders the People's Republic of China to the north and India to the south, east and west. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim; and further south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu.\n\nAlong with Mongolia, Bhutan is one of two countries where the Vajrayana sect of Buddhism is dominant.\nThe King of Bhutan is known as the Druk Gyalpo, meaning the \"Thunder Dragon King\". The country's landscape ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan mountains in the north, where there are peaks in excess of . The highest mountain in Bhutan is the Gangkhar Puensum. \n\nBhutan enjoyed strong cultural links with Tibet and was located on the Silk Road between China and the Indian subcontinent. Its territory was composed of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century. At the time the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the first Zhabdrung Rinpoche, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. In the early 20th century, Bhutan established relations with the British Empire. During the rise of Chinese communism and its spread to Tibet, Bhutan signed a friendship treaty with newly independent India in 1949. The country departed from its historic isolation under the fourth Druk Gyalpo. In 2008, Bhutan transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy and held its first general election. During the same year, the throne passed to the fifth Druk Gyalpo. Bhutanese democracy has evolved with a bicameral parliament.\n\nA member of the United Nations, Bhutan has diplomatic relations with 52 countries and the European Union. It has a close strategic partnership with neighboring India and is a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It is also a member of BIMSTEC and the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Initiative. The economy of Bhutan depends greatly on hydropower exports. Tourism, mining and fruit production are other key sectors of the economy. Bhutan's per capita income is the second-highest in SAARC after the Maldives.\n\nEtymology\n\nThe precise etymology of \"Bhutan\" is unknown, although it is likely to derive from the Tibetan endonym \"Bod\" used for Tibet. Traditionally, it is taken to be a transcription of the Sanskrit Bhoṭa-anta (भोट-अन्त, \"end of Tibet\"), a reference to Bhutan's position as the southern extremity of the Tibetan plateau and culture. \n\nSince the 17th century the official name of Bhutan has been Dru Ü (country of the Drukpa Lineage, the Dragon People, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a reference to the country's dominant Buddhist sect) and Bhutan only appears in English-language official correspondence.\n\nNames similar to Bhutan — including Bottanthis, Bottan and Bottanter — began to appear in Europe around the 1580s. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier's 1676 Six Voyages is the first to record the name Boutan. However, in every case, these seem to have been describing not modern Bhutan but the Kingdom of Tibet. The modern distinction between the two did not begin until well into the Scottish explorer George Bogle's 1774 expedition — realizing the differences between the two regions, cultures and states, his final report to the East India Company formally proposed labelling the Druk Desi's kingdom as \"Boutan\" and the Panchen Lama's as \"Tibet\". The EIC's surveyor general James Rennell first anglicized the French name as Bootan and then popularized the distinction between it and greater Tibet. \n\nLocally, Bhutan has been known by many names. One of the earliest Western records of Bhutan, the 1627 Relação of the Portuguese Jesuits Estêvão Cacella and João Cabral, records its name variously as Cambirasi (among the Koch Biharis ), Potente, and Mon (an endonym for southern Tibet). The first time a separate Kingdom of Bhutan did appear on a western map, it did so under its local name as \"Broukpa\". Others including Lho Mon (\"Dark Southland\"), Lho Tsendenjong (\"Southland of the Cypress\"), Lhomen Khazhi (\"Southland of the Four Approaches\") and Lho Menjong ( \"Southland of the Herbs\"). \n\nHistory\n\nStone tools, weapons, elephants, and remnants of large stone structures provide evidence that Bhutan was inhabited as early as 2000 BC, although there are no existing records from that time. Historians have theorized that the state of Lhomon (literally, \"southern darkness\"), or Monyul (\"Dark Land\", a reference to the Monpa, the aboriginal peoples of Bhutan) may have existed between 500 BC and AD 600. The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (Sandalwood Country), and Lhomon Khashi, or Southern Mon (country of four approaches), have been found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles. \n\nBuddhism was first introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–649), a convert to Buddhism, who actually had extended the Tibetan Empire into Sikkim and Bhutan, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu (near Paro) in the Paro Valley. Buddhism was propagated in earnest in 746 under King Sindhu Rāja (also Künjom; Sendha Gyab; Chakhar Gyalpo), an exiled Indian king who had established a government in Bumthang at Chakhar Gutho Palace. \n\nMuch of early Bhutanese history is unclear because most of the records were destroyed when fire ravaged the ancient capital, Punakha, in 1827. By the 10th century, Bhutan's political development was heavily influenced by its religious history. Various subsects of Buddhism emerged that were patronized by the various Mongol warlords. After the decline of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century, these subsects vied with each other for supremacy in the political and religious landscape, eventually leading to the ascendancy of the Drukpa Lineage by the 16th century.\n\nUntil the early 17th century, Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms, when the area was unified by the Tibetan lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, who had fled religious persecution in Tibet. To defend the country against intermittent Tibetan forays, Namgyal built a network of impregnable dzongs or fortresses, and promulgated the Tsa Yig, a code of law that helped to bring local lords under centralized control. Many such dzong still exist and are active centers of religion and district administration. Portuguese Jesuits Estêvão Cacella and João Cabral were the first recorded Europeans to visit Bhutan, on their way to Tibet. They met Ngawang Namgyal, presented him with firearms, gunpowder and a telescope, and offered him their services in the war against Tibet, but the Zhabdrung declined the offer. After a stay of nearly eight months Cacella wrote a long letter from the Chagri Monastery reporting on his travels. This is a rare extant report of the Shabdrung. \n\nAfter Ngawang Namgyal's death in 1651, his passing was kept secret for 54 years; after a period of consolidation, Bhutan lapsed into internal conflict. In the year 1711 Bhutan went to war against the Mughal Empire and its Subedars, who restored Koch Bihar in the south. During the chaos that followed, the Tibetans unsuccessfully attacked Bhutan in 1714.\n\nIn the 18th century, the Bhutanese invaded and occupied the kingdom of Cooch Behar to the south. In 1772, Cooch Behar appealed to the British East India Company which assisted them in ousting the Bhutanese and later in attacking Bhutan itself in 1774. A peace treaty was signed in which Bhutan agreed to retreat to its pre-1730 borders. However, the peace was tenuous, and border skirmishes with the British were to continue for the next hundred years. The skirmishes eventually led to the Duar War (1864–65), a confrontation for control of the Bengal Duars. After Bhutan lost the war, the Treaty of Sinchula was signed between British India and Bhutan. As part of the war reparations, the Duars were ceded to the United Kingdom in exchange for a rent of Rs. 50,000. The treaty ended all hostilities between British India and Bhutan.\n\nDuring the 1870s, power struggles between the rival valleys of Paro and Tongsa led to civil war in Bhutan, eventually leading to the ascendancy of Ugyen Wangchuck, the ponlop (governor) of Tongsa. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions during 1882–85.\n\nIn 1907, an epochal year for the country, Ugyen Wangchuck was unanimously chosen as the hereditary king of the country by an assembly of leading Buddhist monks, government officials, and heads of important families. John Claude White, British Political Agent in Bhutan, took photographs of the ceremony. The British government promptly recognized the new monarchy, and in 1910 Bhutan signed the Treaty of Punakha, a subsidiary alliance which gave the British control of Bhutan's foreign affairs and meant that Bhutan was treated as an Indian princely state. This had little real effect, given Bhutan's historical reticence, and also did not appear to affect Bhutan's traditional relations with Tibet. After the new Union of India gained independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, Bhutan became one of the first countries to recognize India's independence. On 8 August 1949, a treaty similar to that of 1910, in which Britain had gained power over Bhutan's foreign relations, was signed with the newly independent India.\n\nIn 1953, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the country's legislature – a 130-member National Assembly – to promote a more democratic form of governance. In 1965, he set up a Royal Advisory Council, and in 1968 he formed a Cabinet. In 1971, Bhutan was admitted to the United Nations, having held observer status for three years. In July 1972, Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended to the throne at the age of sixteen after the death of his father, Dorji Wangchuck.\n\nPolitical reform and modernization\n\nBhutan's political system has recently changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck transferred most of his administrative powers to the Council of Cabinet Ministers and allowing for impeachment of the King by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. \n\nIn 1999, the government lifted a ban on television and the Internet, making Bhutan one of the last countries to introduce television. In his speech, the King said that television was a critical step to the modernisation of Bhutan as well as a major contributor to the country's gross national happiness (Bhutan is the only country to measure happiness), but warned that the \"misuse\" of television could erode traditional Bhutanese values. \n\nA new constitution was presented in early 2005. In December 2005, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck announced that he would abdicate the throne in his son's favour in 2008. On 14 December 2006, he announced that he would be abdicating immediately. This was followed by the first national parliamentary elections in December 2007 and March 2008.\n\nOn 6 November 2008, 28-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, eldest son of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, was crowned King. \n\nGeography\n\nBhutan is located on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas, landlocked between the Tibet Autonomous Region to the north and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to the west and south. It lies between latitudes 26°N and 29°N, and longitudes 88°E and 93°E. The land consists mostly of steep and high mountains crisscrossed by a network of swift rivers, which form deep valleys before draining into the Indian plains. Elevation rises from 200 m in the southern foothills to more than 7000 m. This great geographical diversity combined with equally diverse climate conditions contributes to Bhutan's outstanding range of biodiversity and ecosystems.\n\nThe northern region of Bhutan consists of an arc of Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows reaching up to glaciated mountain peaks with an extremely cold climate at the highest elevations. Most peaks in the north are over 7000 m above sea level; the highest point in Bhutan is Gangkhar Puensum at 7570 m, which has the distinction of being the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The lowest point, at 98 m, is in the valley of Drangme Chhu, where the river crosses the border with India. Watered by snow-fed rivers, alpine valleys in this region provide pasture for livestock, tended by a sparse population of migratory shepherds.\n\nThe Black Mountains in the central region of Bhutan form a watershed between two major river systems: the Mo Chhu and the Drangme Chhu. Peaks in the Black Mountains range between 1500 and above sea level, and fast-flowing rivers have carved out deep gorges in the lower mountain areas. The forests of the central Bhutan mountains consist of Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests in higher elevations and Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests in lower elevations. Woodlands of the central region provide most of Bhutan's forest production. The Torsa, Raidak, Sankosh, and Manas are the main rivers of Bhutan, flowing through this region. Most of the population lives in the central highlands.\n\nIn the south, the Shiwalik Hills are covered with dense Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, alluvial lowland river valleys, and mountains up to around 1500 m above sea level. The foothills descend into the subtropical Duars Plain. Most of the Duars is located in India, although a 10 to wide strip extends into Bhutan. The Bhutan Duars is divided into two parts: the northern and the southern Duars.\n\nThe northern Duars, which abut the Himalayan foothills, have rugged, sloping terrain and dry, porous soil with dense vegetation and abundant wildlife. The southern Duars has moderately fertile soil, heavy savannah grass, dense, mixed jungle, and freshwater springs. Mountain rivers, fed by either the melting snow or the monsoon rains, empty into the Brahmaputra River in India. Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the country had a forest cover of 64% as of October 2005.\n\n File:082 - Gangkar Puensum - 7,570m (Dochula pass) (4677022812).jpg|Gangkar Puensum, the highest mountain in Bhutan\n File:Himalayan Landscape.jpg|Sub-alpine Himalayan landscape \n File:Himalayan peak from Bumthang.jpg|A Himalayan peak from Bumthang\n File:Jigme Dorji National Park, Bhutan.JPG|Jigme Dorji National Park\n File:HaaValley.jpg|thumb|The Haa Valley in Western Bhutan\n\nClimate \n\nThe climate in Bhutan varies with elevation, from subtropical in the south to temperate in the highlands and polar-type climate, with year-round snow in the north. Bhutan experiences five distinct seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. Western Bhutan has the heavier monsoon rains; southern Bhutan has hot humid summers and cool winters; central and eastern Bhutan is temperate and drier than the west with warm summers and cool winters.\n\nBiodiversity\n\nBhutan signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and became a party to the convention on 25 August 1995. It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with two revisions, the most recent of which was received by the convention on 4 February 2010.\n\nAnimals\n\nBhutan has a rich primate life, with rare species such as the golden langur. A variant Assamese macaque has also been recorded, which is regarded by some authorities as a new species, Macaca munzala. \n\nThe Bengal tiger, clouded leopard, hispid hare and the sloth bear live in the lush tropical lowland and hardwood forests in the south. In the temperate zone, grey langur, tiger, goral and serow are found in mixed conifer, broadleaf and pine forests. Fruit-bearing trees and bamboo provide habitat for the Himalayan black bear, red panda, squirrel, sambar, wild pig and barking deer. The alpine habitats of the great Himalayan range in the north are home to the snow leopard, blue sheep, marmot, Tibetan wolf, antelope, Himalayan musk deer and the takin, Bhutan's national animal. The endangered wild water buffalo occurs in southern Bhutan, although in small numbers. \n\nMore than 770 species of bird have been recorded in Bhutan. The globally endangered white-winged duck has been added recently to Bhutan's bird list. \n\nPlants\n\nMore than 5,400 species of plants are found in Bhutan. Fungi form a key part of Bhutanese ecosystems, with mycorrhizal species providing forest trees with mineral nutrients necessary for growth, and with wood decay and litter decomposing species playing an important role in natural recycling.\n\nConservation \n\nThe Eastern Himalayas have been identified as a global biodiversity hotspot and counted among the 234 globally outstanding ecoregions of the world in a comprehensive analysis of global biodiversity undertaken by WWF between 1995 and 1997.\n\nAccording to the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bhutan is viewed as a model for proactive conservation initiatives. The Kingdom has received international acclaim for its commitment to the maintenance of its biodiversity. This is reflected in the decision to maintain at least sixty percent of the land area under forest cover, to designate more than 40% of its territory as national parks, reserves and other protected areas, and most recently to identify a further nine percent of land area as biodiversity corridors linking the protected areas. All of Bhutan's protected land is connected to one another through a vast network of biological corridors, allowing animals to migrate freely throughout the country. Environmental conservation has been placed at the core of the nation's development strategy, the middle path. It is not treated as a sector but rather as a set of concerns that must be mainstreamed in Bhutan's overall approach to development planning and to be buttressed by the force of law. The country's constitution mentions environment standards in multiple sections. \n\nEnvironmental issues\n\nAlthough Bhutan's natural heritage is still largely intact, the government has said that it cannot be taken for granted and that conservation of the natural environment must be considered one of the challenges that will need to be addressed in the years ahead. Nearly 56.3% of all Bhutanese citizens are involved with agriculture, forestry or conservation. The government aims to promote conservation as part of its plan to target Gross National Happiness. It currently has net zero greenhouse gas emissions because the small amount of pollution it creates is absorbed by the forests that cover most of the country. The entire country collectively produces 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. Yet the immense forest covering 72% of the country acts as a carbon sink, absorbing more than four million tons of carbon dioxide every year.\n\nBhutan has a number of progressive environmental policies that have caused the head of the UNFCCC to call it a \"inspiration and role model for the world on how economies and different countries can address climate change while at the same time improving the life of the citizen.\" For example, electric cars have been pushed in the country and make up a tenth of all cars. Because the country gets most of its energy from hydrolelectric power, it does not emit significant greenhouse gases for energy production.\n\nPressures on the natural environment are already evident and will be fuelled by a complex array of forces. They include population pressures, agricultural modernisation, poaching, hydro-power development, mineral extraction, industrialisation, urbanisation, sewage and waste disposal, tourism, competition for available land road construction and the provision of other physical infrastructure associated with social and economic development. \n\nIn practice, the overlap of these extensive protected lands with populated areas has led to mutual habitat encroachment. Protected wildlife has entered agricultural areas, trampling crops and killing livestock. In response, Bhutan has implemented an insurance scheme, begun constructing solar powered alarm fences, watch towers, and search lights, and has provided fodder and salt licks outside human settlement areas to encourage animals to stay away. \n\nThe huge market value of the Ophiocordyceps sinensis fungus crop collected from the wild has also resulted in unsustainable exploitation which is proving very difficult to regulate. \n\nGovernment and politics\n\nBhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. The reigning monarch is Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. The current Prime Minister of Bhutan is Tshering Tobgay, the leader of the People's Democratic Party.\n\nThe Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) is the head of state. The political system grants universal suffrage. It consists of the National Council, an upper house with 25 elected members; and the National Assembly with 47 elected lawmakers from political parties.\n\nExecutive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers led by the prime minister. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. Judicial power is vested in the courts of Bhutan. The legal system originates from the semi-theocratic Tsa Yig code and has been influenced by English common law during the 20th century. The chief justice is the administrative head of the judiciary.\n\nPolitical culture \n\nThe first general elections for the National Assembly were held on 24 March 2008. The chief contestants were the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party (DPT) led by Jigme Thinley and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) led by Sangay Ngedup. The DPT won the elections by taking 45 out of 47 seats. Jigme Thinley served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013.\n\nThe People's Democratic Party came to power in the 2013 elections. It won 32 seats with 54.88% of the vote. PDP leader Tshering Tobgay assumed the office of Prime Minister.\n\nForeign relations\n\nIn the early 20th century, Bhutan's principal foreign relations were with the British Empire and Tibet. The government of British India managed relations with the kingdom from the Bhutan House in Kalimpong. Fearful of Chinese communist expansion, Bhutan signed a friendship treaty with the newly independent Republic of India in 1949. Its concerns were exacerbated after the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Relations with Nepal remained strained due to Bhutanese refugees. Bhutan joined the United Nations in 1971. It was the first country to recognize Bangladesh's independence in 1971. It became a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985. The country is a member of 150 international organizations, including the Bay of Bengal Initiative, BBIN, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Group of 77.\n\nBhutan maintains strong economic, strategic and military relations with neighbouring India. In 2007, Bhutan and India revised their friendship treaty which clarified Bhutan's full control of its foreign relations, including its border with Tibet. Bhutan has very warm relations with Japan, which provides significant development assistance. The Bhutanese royals were hosted by the Japanese imperial family during a state visit in 2011. Japan is also helping Bhutan cope with glacial floods through developing an early warning system.\n\nBhutan enjoys strong political and diplomatic relations with Bangladesh. The Bhutanese king was the guest of honour during celebrations for Bangladesh's 40th anniversary of independence. A 2014 joint statement by the prime ministers of both countries announced cooperation in areas of hydropower, river management and climate change mitigation. \n\nBhutan has diplomatic relations with 52 countries and the European Union and has missions in India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Kuwait. It has two UN missions, one in New York and one in Geneva. Only India and Bangladesh have residential embassies in Bhutan, while Thailand has a consulate office in Bhutan. Other countries maintain informal diplomatic contact via their embassies in New Delhi and Dhaka.\n\nBy a long-standing agreement, Indian and Bhutanese citizens may travel to each other's countries without the need for a passport or visa but only their national identity cards. Bhutanese citizens may also work in India without legal restriction. Bhutan does not have formal diplomatic ties with its northern neighbour, China, although exchanges of visits at various levels between the two have significantly increased in recent times. The first bilateral agreement between China and Bhutan was signed in 1998 and Bhutan has also set up honorary consulates in the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Bhutan's border with China is largely not demarcated and thus disputed in some places. Approximately 269 square kilometers remain under discussion between China and Bhutan. \n\nOn 13 November 2005, Chinese soldiers crossed into the disputed territories between China and Bhutan, and began building roads and bridges. Bhutanese Foreign Minister Khandu Wangchuk took up the matter with Chinese authorities after the issue was raised in the Bhutanese parliament. In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang of the People's Republic of China has said that the border remains in dispute and that the two sides are continuing to work for a peaceful and cordial resolution of the dispute. An Indian intelligence officer has said that a Chinese delegation in Bhutan told the Bhutanese that they were \"overreacting\". The Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel has said that China might use the roads to further Chinese claims along the border.\n\nIn February 2007 the Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty was substantially revised. The Treaty of 1949, Article 2 states: \"The Government of India undertakes to exercise no interference in the internal administration of Bhutan. On its part the Government of Bhutan agrees to be guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations.\" The revised treaty now states \"In keeping with the abiding ties of close friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and India, the Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Government of the Republic of India shall cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.\" The revised treaty also includes this preamble: \"Reaffirming their respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity\", an element that was absent in the earlier version. The Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty of 2007 clarifies Bhutan's status as an independent and sovereign nation.\n\nBhutan maintains formal diplomatic relations with several Asian and European nations, Canada, and Brazil. Other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, have no formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan, but maintain informal contact through their respective embassies in New Delhi and Bhutanese honorary consulate in Washington DC. The United Kingdom has an honorary consul resident in Thimphu. \n\nMilitary \n\nThe Royal Bhutan Army is Bhutan's military service. It includes the royal bodyguard and the Royal Bhutan Police. Membership is voluntary and the minimum age for recruitment is 18. The standing army numbers about 16,000 and is trained by the Indian Army. It has an annual budget of about US$13.7 million (1.8 percent of GDP). Being a landlocked country, Bhutan has no navy. It also has no air force or army aviation corps. The Army relies on the Eastern Air Command of the Indian Air Force for air assistance.\n\nHuman rights\n\nEthnic conflict\n\nIn the 1990s, Bhutan expelled or forced to leave most of its ethnic Lhotshampa population, one-fifth of the country's entire population, demanding conformity in religion, dress, and language. The decision was motivated by the concern that the fast-growing Nepali minority were starting to revolt for a separate independent state, recalling similar events that caused the collapse of the nearby kingdom of Sikkim in 1975. Lhotshampas were arrested and expelled from the country and their property was expropriated. \n\nA harassment campaign escalating in the early 1990s ensued, and afterwards Bhutanese security forces began expelling people. According to the UNHCR, more than 107,000 Bhutanese refugees living in seven camps in eastern Nepal have been documented . Whether all inhabitants are in fact refugees is questionable because the UNHCR did not check the initial inhabitants of the refugee camps adequately. The facilities inside the camp, which were reportedly better than in the surroundings, provided a strong motivation for Nepalese to seek admittance. After many years in refugee camps, many inhabitants are now moving to host nations such as Canada, Norway, the UK, Australia, and the US as refugees. The US has admitted 60,773 refugees from fiscal years 2008 through 2012. \n\nThe Nepalese government does not permit citizenship for Bhutanese refugees, so most of them have become stateless. Careful scrutiny has been used to prevent their relatives from getting ID cards and voting rights. Bhutan considers the political parties of these refugees illegal and terrorist in nature. Human rights groups initially claimed the government interfered with individual rights by requiring all citizens, including ethnic minority members, to wear the traditional dress of the ethnic majority in public places. The government strictly enforced the law in Buddhist religious buildings, government offices, schools, official functions, and public ceremonies.[http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/sca/136086.htm 2009 Human Rights Report: Bhutan], U.S. Department of State, 25 February 2009\n\nPolitical divisions\n\nBhutan is divided into twenty dzongkhags (districts), administered by a body called the Dzongkhak Tshokdu. In certain thromdes (urban municipalities), a further municipal administration is directly subordinate to the Dzongkhak administration. In the vast majority of constituencies, rural geos (village blocks) are administered by bodies called the Geo Tshokde.\n\nThromdes (municipalities) elect Thrompons to lead administration, who in turn represent the Thromde in the Dzongkhag Tshogdu. Likewise, geos elect headmen called gaps, vice-headmen called mangmis, who also sit on the Dzongkhak Tshokdu, as well as other members of the Geo Tshokde. The basis of electoral constituencies in Bhutan is the chiwog, a subdivision of gewogs delineated by the Election Commission.\n\n# Bumthang\n# Chukha (Chhukha)\n# Dagana\n# Gasa\n# Haa\n# Lhuntse\n# Mongar\n# Paro\n# Pemagatshel (Pemagatsel)\n# Punakha\n# Samdrup Jongkhar\n# Samtse (Samchi)\n# Sarpang (Sarbhang)\n# Thimphu\n# Trashigang (Tashigang)\n# Trashiyangtse\n# Trongsa (Tongsa)\n# Tsirang (Chirang)\n# Wangdue Phodrang (Wangdi Phodrang)\n# Zhemgang (Shemgang)\n\nEconomy\n\nBhutan's currency is the ngultrum, whose value is fixed to the Indian rupee. The rupee is also accepted as legal tender in the country.\n\nThough Bhutan's economy is one of the world's smallest, it has grown rapidly in recent years, by eight percent in 2005 and 14 percent in 2006. In 2007, Bhutan had the second-fastest-growing economy in the world, with an annual economic growth rate of 22.4 percent. This was mainly due to the commissioning of the gigantic Tala Hydroelectric Power Station. , Bhutan's per capita income was US$2,420. \n\nBhutan's economy is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sale of hydroelectric power to India. Agriculture provides the main livelihood for 55.4 percent of the population. Agrarian practices consist largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Handicrafts, particularly weaving and the manufacture of religious art for home altars, are a small cottage industry. A landscape that varies from hilly to ruggedly mountainous has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive.\n\nThis, and a lack of access to the sea, has meant that Bhutan has not been able to benefit from significant trading of its produce. Bhutan has no railways, though Indian Railways plans to link southern Bhutan to its vast network under an agreement signed in January 2005. Bhutan and India signed a 'free trade' accord in 2008, which additionally allowed Bhutanese imports and exports from third markets to transit India without tariffs. Bhutan had trade relations with the Tibet region until 1960, when it closed its border with China after an influx of refugees. \n\nThe industrial sector is in a nascent stage, and though most production comes from cottage industry, larger industries are being encouraged and some industries such as cement, steel, and ferroalloy have been set up. Most development projects, such as road construction, rely on Indian contract labour. Agricultural produce includes rice, chilies, dairy (some yak, mostly cow) products, buckwheat, barley, root crops, apples, and citrus and maize at lower elevations. Industries include cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages and calcium carbide.\n\nBhutan has seen recent growth in the technology sector, in areas such as green tech and consumer Internet/e-commerce. In May 2012, Thimphu TechPark launched in the capital and incubates start-ups via the Bhutan Innovation and Technology Centre (BITC). \n\nIncomes of over Nu 100,000 per annum are taxed, but very few wage and salary earners qualify. Bhutan's inflation rate was estimated at about three percent in 2003. Bhutan has a Gross Domestic Product of around US$5.855 billion (adjusted to purchasing power parity), making it the 158th-largest economy in the world. Per capita income (PPP) is around $7,641, ranked 144th. Government revenues total $407.1 million, though expenditures amount to $614 million. 25 percent of the budget expenditure, however, is financed by India's Ministry of External Affairs.India's Ministry of External Affairs provides financial aid to neighbouring countries under \"technical and economic cooperation with other countries and advances to foreign governments.\" \n\nBhutan's exports, principally electricity, cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones and spices, total €128 million (2000 est.). Imports, however, amount to €164 million, leading to a trade deficit. Main items imported include fuel and lubricants, grain, machinery, vehicles, fabrics and rice. Bhutan's main export partner is India, accounting for 58.6 percent of its export goods. Hong Kong (30.1 percent) and Bangladesh (7.3 percent) are the other two top export partners. As its border with Tibet is closed, trade between Bhutan and China is now almost non-existent. Bhutan's import partners include India (74.5 percent), Japan (7.4 percent) and Sweden (3.2 percent).\n\nAgriculture\n\nThe share of the agricultural sector in GDP declined from approximately 55% in 1985 to 33% in 2003. In 2013 the government announced that Bhutan will become the first country in the world with 100 percent organic farming. \n\nEnergy\n\nBhutan's largest export is hydroelectricity. , it generates 5,000 MW of hydropower from Himalayan river valleys. The country has a potential to generate 30,000 MW of hydropower. Power is supplied to various states in India. Future projects are being planned with Bangladesh. Hydropower has been the primary focus for the country's five-year plans. , the Tala Hydroelectric Power Station is its largest power plant, with an installed capacity of 1,020 MW. It has received assistance from India, Austria and the Asian Development Bank in developing hydroelectric projects.\n\nFinancial sector\n\n \nThe two main financial institutions are the Bank of Bhutan, which is based in the southern city of Phuntsholing and is the retail wing of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, and the Bhutan National Bank, which is based in Thimphu. The Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan is the main stock exchange.\n\nThe SAARC Development Fund is based in Thimphu. \n\nTourism\n\nIn 2014, Bhutan received 133,480 international visitors. Seeking to become a high value destination, it imposes a daily fee of US$250 on tourists that covers touring and hotel accommodation. The industry employs 21,000 people and accounts for 1.8% of GDP. \n\nThe country currently has no UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but it has eight declared tentative sites for UNESCO inclusion since 2012. These sites include Ancient Ruin of Drukgyel Dzong, Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, Dzongs: the centre of temporal and religious authorities (Punakha Dzong, Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, Paro Dzong, Trongsa Dzong and Dagana Dzong), Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP), Royal Manas National Park (RMNP), Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo and his descendants, Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS), and Tamzhing Monastery. Bhutan also has numerous tourist sites that are not included in its UNESCO tentative list. Bhutan has one element, the Mask dance of the drums from Drametse, registered in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. \n\nBhutan is also well known for mountain adventure trekking and hiking. Jhomolhari Base Camp Trek, Snowman Trek, Masagang trek are some of the popular treks in Bhutan.\n\nTransport \n\nAir\n\nParo Airport is the only international airport in Bhutan. Yongphulla Airport in Trashigang is a small domestic airport that underwent upgrades through 2010. Yongphulla Airport was scheduled for completion in January 2010 but as of January 2015, the airport remains closed due to ongoing runway repair. National carrier Druk Air operates flights between Paro Airport and airports in Jakar (Bumthang Dzongkhag) and Gelephu (Sarpang Dzongkhag) on a weekly basis. \n\nRail\n\nBhutan has no railways, though it has entered into an agreement with India to link southern Bhutan to India's vast network by constructing an 18 km-long broad gauge rail link between Hashimara in West Bengal and Toribari in Bhutan. The construction of the railway via through Satali, Bharna Bari and Dalsingpara by Indian railways is being funded by India. \n\nRoad\n\nThe Lateral Road is Bhutan's primary east–west corridor, connecting Phuentsholing in the southwest to Trashigang in the east. In between, the Lateral Road runs directly through Wangdue Phodrang, Trongsa and other population centres. The Lateral Road also has spurs connecting to the capital Thimphu and other major population centres such as Paro and Punakha. As with other roads in Bhutan, the Lateral Road presents serious safety concerns due to pavement conditions, sheer drops, hairpin turns, weather and landslides. \n\nDemographics\n\nBhutan has a population of 770,000 people in 2015. Bhutan has a median age of 24.8 years. There are 1,070 males to every 1,000 females. The literacy rate in Bhutan is 59.5 percent. \n\nEthnic groups \n\nBhutanese people primarily consist of the Ngalops and Sharchops, called the Western Bhutanese and Eastern Bhutanese respectively. The Lhotshampa, meaning \"southerner Bhutanese\", are a heterogeneous group of mostly Nepal ancestry. It was claimed they constituted 45% of the population in 1988 census, and include migrants from as early as the 1890s to as recent as the 1980s, who have fought a bitter war with Bhutan over rights to abode, language, and dress. Consequently, there has been mass emigration from Bhutan (both forced and voluntary) resulting in hundreds of thousands of people left stateless in refugee camps of Nepal.\n\nThe Ngalops primarily consist of Bhutanese living in the western part of the country. Their culture is closely related to that of Tibet. Much the same could be said of the Sharchops the dominant group, who traditionally follow the Nyingmapa rather than the official Drukpa Kagyu form of Tibetan Buddhism. In modern times, with improved transportation infrastructure, there has been much intermarriage between these groups. In the early 1970s, intermarriage between the Lhotshampas Bhutanese and mainstream Bhutanese society was encouraged by the government, but after the late 1980s, the Bhutanese government forced about 108,000 Lhotshampas from their homes, seized their land, and expelled them to refugee camps.\n\nCities and towns\n\n* Thimphu, the largest city and capital of Bhutan.\n* Damphu, the administrative headquarters of Tsirang District.\n* Jakar, the administrative headquarters of Bumthang District and the place where Buddhism entered Bhutan.\n* Mongar, the eastern commercial hub of the country.\n* Paro, site of the international airport.\n* Phuentsholing, Bhutan's commercial hub.\n* Punakha, the old capital.\n* Samdrup Jongkhar, the southeastern town on the border with India.\n* Trashigang, administrative headquarters of Trashigang District, the most populous district in the country.\n* Trongsa, in central Bhutan, which has the largest and the most magnificent of all the dzongs in Bhutan.\n\nReligion\n\n]\n\nIt is estimated that between two-thirds and three-quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one-quarter to one-third are followers of Hinduism. Other religions account for less than 1% of the population. The current legal framework, in principle guarantees freedom of religion; proselytism, however, is forbidden by a royal government decision and by judicial interpretation of the Constitution. \n\nBuddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–649), a convert to Buddhism, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu Lhakhang (near Paro) in the Paro Valley.\n\nLanguages\n\nThe national language is Bhutanese (Dzongkha), one of 53 languages in the Tibetan language family. The script, here called Chhokey (\"Dharma language\"), is identical to classical Tibetan. In the schools English is the medium of instruction and Dzongkha is taught as the national language. Ethnologue lists 24 languages currently spoken in Bhutan, all of them in the Tibeto-Burman family, except Nepali, an Indo-Aryan language.\n\nUntil the 1980s, the government sponsored the teaching of Nepali in schools in southern Bhutan. With the adoption of Driglam Namzhag and its expansion into the idea of strengthening the role of Dzongkha, Nepali was dropped from the curriculum. The languages of Bhutan are still not well-characterized, and several have yet to be recorded in an in-depth academic grammar. Before the 1980s, the Lhotshampa (Nepali-speaking community), mainly based in southern Bhutan, constituted approximately 30% of the population. However, after conducting the purge of Lhotshaampas from 1990-1992 this number might not accurately reflect the current population.\n\nDzongkha is partially intelligible with Sikkimese and spoken natively by 25% of the population. Tshangla, the language of the Sharchop and the principal pre-Tibetan language of Bhutan, is spoken by a greater number of people. It is not easily classified and may constitute an independent branch of Tibeto-Burman. Nepali speakers constituted some 40% of the population . The larger minority languages are Dzala (11%), Limbu (10%), Kheng (8%),and Rai (8%). There are no reliable sources for the ethnic or linguistic composition of Bhutan, so these numbers do not add up to 100%.\n\nHealth \n\nBhutan has a life expectancy of 62.2 years (61 for males and 64.5 for females) according to the latest data from the World Bank.\n\nEducation\n\nBhutan has one decentralised university with eleven constituent colleges spread across the kingdom, the Royal University of Bhutan. The first five-year plan provided for a central education authority—in the form of a director of education appointed in 1961—and an organised, modern school system with free and universal primary education.\n\nEducation programmes were given a boost in 1990 when the Asian Development Bank (see Glossary) granted a US$7.13 million loan for staff training and development, specialist services, equipment and furniture purchases, salaries and other recurrent costs, and facility rehabilitation and construction at Royal Bhutan Polytechnic.\n\nCulture and society\n\nBhutan has a rich and unique cultural heritage that has largely remained intact because of its isolation from the rest of the world until the mid-20th century. One of the main attractions for tourists is the country's culture and traditions. Bhutanese tradition is deeply steeped in its Buddhist heritage. Hinduism is the second most dominant religion in Bhutan, being most prevalent in the southern regions. The government is increasingly making efforts to preserve and sustain the current culture and traditions of the country. Because of its largely unspoiled natural environment and cultural heritage, Bhutan has been referred to as The Last Shangri-la. \n\nWhile Bhutanese citizens are free to travel abroad, Bhutan is viewed as inaccessible by many foreigners. Another reason for it being an unpopular destination is the cost, which is high for tourists on tighter budgets. Entry is free for citizens of India, Bangladesh, and the Maldives, but all other foreigners are required to sign up with a Bhutanese tour operator and pay around US$250 per day that they stay in the country, though this fee covers most travel, lodging and meal expenses. Bhutan received 37,482 visitor arrivals in 2011, of which 25% were for meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions. \n\nBhutan is the first nation in the world to ban smoking. It has been illegal to smoke in public or sell tobacco, according to Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010. Violators are fined the equivalent of $232—more than two months' salary in Bhutan.\n\nDress\n\nThe national dress for Bhutanese men is the gho, a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt known as the kera. Women wear an ankle-length dress, the kira, which is clipped at the shoulders with two identical brooches called the koma and tied at the waist with kera. An accompaniment to the kira is a long-sleeved blouse, the wonju which is worn underneath the kira. A long-sleeved jacket-like garment, the toego is worn over the kira. The sleeves of the wonju and the tego are folded together at the cuffs, inside out.\n\nSocial status and class determine the texture, colours, and decorations that embellish the garments. Differently coloured scarves, known as rachu for women (red is the most common colour) and kabney for men, are important indicators of social standing, as Bhutan has traditionally been a feudal society. Jewellery is mostly worn by women, especially during religious festivals (tsechus) and public gatherings. To strengthen Bhutan's identity as an independent country, Bhutanese law requires all Bhutanese government employees to wear the national dress at work and all citizens to wear the national dress while visiting schools and other government offices though many citizens, particularly adults, choose to wear the customary dress as formal attire.\n\nArchitecture\n\nBhutanese architecture remains distinctively traditional, employing rammed earth and wattle and daub construction methods, stone masonry, and intricate woodwork around windows and roofs. Traditional architecture uses no nails or iron bars in construction. Characteristic of the region is a type of castle fortress known as the dzong. Since ancient times, the dzongs have served as the religious and secular administration centres for their respective districts. The University of Texas at El Paso in the United States has adopted Bhutanese architecture for its buildings on campus, as have the nearby Hilton Garden Inn and other buildings in the city of El Paso. \n\nPublic holidays\n\nBhutan has numerous public holidays, most of which centre around traditional, seasonal, secular and religious festivals. They include the Dongzhi or winter solstice (around 1 January, depending on the lunar calendar), Lunar New Year (February or March), the King's birthday and the anniversary of his coronation, the official end of monsoon season (22 September), National Day (17 December), and various Buddhist and Hindu celebrations.\n\nFilm industry\n\nMusic and dance\n\nMasked dances and dance dramas are common traditional features at festivals, usually accompanied by traditional music. Energetic dancers, wearing colourful wooden or composition face masks and stylized costumes, depict heroes, demons, dæmons, death heads, animals, gods, and caricatures of common people. The dancers enjoy royal patronage, and preserve ancient folk and religious customs and perpetuate the ancient lore and art of mask-making.\n\nThe music of Bhutan can generally be divided into traditional and modern varieties; traditional music comprises religious and folk genres, the latter including zhungdra and boedra. The modern rigsar is played on a mix of traditional instruments and electronic keyboards, and dates back to the early 1990s; it shows the influence of Indian popular music, a hybrid form of traditional and Western popular influences. \n\nFamily structure\n\nIn Bhutanese families, inheritance generally passes through the female rather than the male line. Daughters will inherit their parents' house. A man is expected to make his own way in the world and often moves to his wife's home. Love marriages are common in urban areas, but the tradition of arranged marriages is still common in the villages. Although uncommon, polygamy is accepted, often being a device to keep property in a contained family unit rather than dispersing it. The previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who abdicated in 2006, had four queens, all of whom are sisters. The current king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, wed Jetsun Pema, 21, a commoner and daughter of a pilot, on 13 October 2011.\n\nCuisine\n\nRice (red rice), buckwheat, and increasingly maize, are the staples of Bhutanese cuisine. The local diet also includes pork, beef, yak meat, chicken, and lamb. Soups and stews of meat and dried vegetables spiced with chilies and cheese are prepared. Ema datshi, made very spicy with cheese and chilies, might be called the national dish for its ubiquity and the pride that Bhutanese have for it. Dairy foods, particularly butter and cheese from yaks and cows, are also popular, and indeed almost all milk is turned into butter and cheese. Popular beverages include butter tea, black tea, locally brewed ara (rice wine), and beer. Bhutan is the first country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco under its Tobacco Act of 2010.\n\nSports\n\nBhutan's national and most popular sport is archery. Competitions are held regularly in most villages. It differs from Olympic standards in technical details such as the placement of the targets and atmosphere. There are two targets placed over 100 meters apart and teams shoot from one end of the field to the other. Each member of the team shoots two arrows per round. Traditional Bhutanese archery is a social event, and competitions are organized between villages, towns, and amateur teams. There is usually plenty of food and drink complete with singing and dancing. Attempts to distract an opponent include standing around the target and making fun of the shooter's ability. Darts (khuru) is an equally popular outdoor team sport, in which heavy wooden darts pointed with a 10 cm nail are thrown at a paperback-sized target 10 to 20 meters away.\n\nAnother traditional sport is the Digor, which resembles the shot put and horseshoe throwing.\n\nAnother popular sport is basketball. In 2002, Bhutan's national football team played Montserrat, in what was billed as The Other Final; the match took place on the same day Brazil played Germany in the World Cup final, but at the time Bhutan and Montserrat were the world's two lowest ranked teams. The match was held in Thimphu's Changlimithang National Stadium, and Bhutan won 4–0. A documentary of the match was made by the Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer. Bhutan won its first two FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches, beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in Sri Lanka and 2-1 in Bhutan, taking the aggregate at 3–1. Cricket has also gained popularity in Bhutan, particularly since the introduction of television channels from India. The Bhutan national cricket team is one of the most successful affiliate nations in the region."],"string":"[\n \"Quality_of_life.txt\\nQuality of life\\nQuality of life (QOL) is the general well-being of individuals and societies, outlining negative and positive features of life. It observes life satisfaction, including everything from physical health, family, education, employment, wealth, religious beliefs, finance and the environment. QOL has a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, politics and employment. It is important not to mix up the concept of QOL with a more recent growing area of health related QOL (HRQOL ). When we look at HRQOL we in effect look at QOL and its relationship with health.\\n\\nQuality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of living, which is based primarily on income.\\n\\nOverview\\n\\nStandard indicators of the quality of life include not only wealth and employment but also the built environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, and social belonging. \\n\\nAccording to ecological economist Robert Costanza:\\n\\nOne approach, called engaged theory, outlined in the journal of Applied Research in the Quality of Life, posits four domains in assessing quality of life: ecology, economics, politics and culture. In the domain of culture, for example, it includes the following subdomains of quality of life:\\n\\n* Identity and engagement\\n* Creativity and recreation\\n* Memory and projection\\n* Belief and ideas\\n* Gender and generations\\n* Enquiry and learning\\n* Wellbeing and health\\n\\nAlso frequently related are concepts such as freedom, human rights, and happiness. However, since happiness is subjective and difficult to measure, other measures are generally given priority. It has also been shown that happiness, as much as it can be measured, does not necessarily increase correspondingly with the comfort that results from increasing income. As a result, standard of living should not be taken to be a measure of happiness. Also sometimes considered related is the concept of human security, though the latter may be considered at a more basic level and for all people.\\n\\nQuantitative measurement\\n\\nUnlike per capita GDP or standard of living, both of which can be measured in financial terms, it is harder to make objective or long-term measurements of the quality of life experienced by nations or other groups of people. Researchers have begun in recent times to distinguish two aspects of personal well-being: Emotional well-being, in which respondents are asked about the quality of their everyday emotional experiences—the frequency and intensity of their experiences of, for example, joy, stress, sadness, anger, and affection— and life evaluation, in which respondents are asked to think about their life in general and evaluate it against a scale. Such and other systems and scales of measurement have been in use for some time. Research has attempted to examine the relationship between quality of life and productivity. There are many different methods of measuring quality of life in terms of health care, wealth and materialistic goods. However, it is much more difficult to measure meaningful expression of one's desires. One way to do so is to evaluate the scope of how individuals have fulfilled their own ideals. Quality of life can simply mean happiness, the subjective state of mind. By using that mentality, citizens of a developing country appreciate more since they are content with the basic necessities of health care, education and child protection. \\n\\nHuman Development Index\\n\\nPerhaps the most commonly used international measure of development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines measures of life expectancy, education, and standard of living, in an attempt to quantify the options available to individuals within a given society. The HDI is used by the United Nations Development Programme in their Human Development Report.\\n\\nWorld Happiness Report\\n\\nThe World Happiness Report is a landmark survey on the state of global happiness. It ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, reflecting growing global interest in using happiness and substantial well-being as an indicator of the quality of human development. Its growing purpose has allowed governments, communities and organizations to use appropriate data to record happiness in order to enable policies to provide better lives. The reports review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness. Also developed by the United Nations and published recently along with the HDI, this report combines both objective and subjective measures to rank countries by happiness, which is deemed as the ultimate outcome of a high quality of life. It uses surveys from Gallup, real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, and generosity to derive the final score. Happiness is already recognised as an important concept in global public policy. The World Happiness Report indicates that some regions have in recent years have been experiencing progressive inequality of happiness. Without life, there is no happiness to be realised. \\n\\nOther measures\\n\\nThe Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) is a measure developed by sociologist Morris David Morris in the 1970s, based on basic literacy, infant mortality, and life expectancy. Although not as complex as other measures, and now essentially replaced by the Human Development Index, the PQLI is notable for Morris's attempt to show a \\\"less fatalistic pessimistic picture\\\" by focusing on three areas where global quality of life was generally improving at the time, and ignoring gross national product and other possible indicators that were not improving. \\n\\nThe Happy Planet Index, introduced in 2006, is unique among quality of life measures in that, in addition to standard determinants of well-being, it uses each country's ecological footprint as an indicator. As a result, European and North American nations do not dominate this measure. The 2012 list is instead topped by Costa Rica, Vietnam and Colombia. \\n\\nGallup researchers trying to find the world's happiest countries found Denmark to be at the top of the list. uSwitch publishes an annual quality of life index for European countries. France has topped the list for the last three years. \\n\\nA 2010 study by two Princeton University professors looked at 1,000 randomly selected U.S. residents over an extended period. It concludes that their life evaluations – that is, their considered evaluations of their life against a stated scale of one to ten – rise steadily with income. On the other hand, their reported quality of emotional daily experiences (their reported experiences of joy, affection, stress, sadness, or anger) levels off after a certain income level (approximately $75,000 per year); income above $75,000 does not lead to more experiences of happiness nor to further relief of unhappiness or stress. Below this income level, respondents reported decreasing happiness and increasing sadness and stress, implying the pain of life’s misfortunes, including disease, divorce, and being alone, is exacerbated by poverty. \\n\\nGross national happiness and other subjective measures of happiness are being used by the governments of Bhutan and the United Kingdom. The World Happiness report, issued by Columbia University is a meta-analysis of happiness globally and provides an overview of countries and grassroots activists using GNH. The OECD issued a guide for the use of subjective well-being metrics in 2013. In the U.S., cities and communities are using a GNH metric at a grassroots level. \\n\\nThe Social Progress Index measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. Fifty-two indicators in the areas of basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity show the relative performance of nations. The index uses outcome measures when there is sufficient data available or the closest possible proxies.\\n\\nDay-Reconstruction Method was another way of measuring happiness, in which researchers asked their subjects to recall various things they did on the previous day and describe their mood during each activity. Being simple and approachable, this method required memory and the experiments have confirmed that the answers that people give are similar to those who repeatedly recalled each subject. The method eventually declined as it called for more effort and thoughtful responses, which often included interpretations and outcomes that do not occur to people who are asked to record every action in their daily lives. \\n\\nLivability\\n\\nThe term quality of life is also used by politicians and economists to measure the livability of a given city or nation. Two widely known measures of livability are the Economist Intelligence Unit's Where-to-be-born Index and Mercer's Quality of Living Reports. These two measures calculate the livability of countries and cities around the world, respectively, through a combination of subjective life-satisfaction surveys and objective determinants of quality of life such as divorce rates, safety, and infrastructure. Such measures relate more broadly to the population of a city, state, or country, not to individual quality of life. Livability has a long history and tradition in urban design, and neighborhoods design standards such as LEED-ND are often used in an attempt to influence livability. \\n\\nCrimes\\n\\nSome crimes against property (e.g., graffiti and vandalism) and some \\\"victimless crimes\\\" have been referred to as \\\"quality-of-life crimes.\\\" American sociologist James Q. Wilson encapsulated this argument as the Broken Window Theory, which asserts that relatively minor problems left unattended (such as litter, graffiti, or public urination by homeless individuals) send a subliminal message that disorder in general is being tolerated, and as a result, more serious crimes will end up being committed (the analogy being that a broken window left broken shows an image of general dilapidation).\\n\\nWilson's theories have been used to justify the implementation of zero tolerance policies by many prominent American mayors, most notably Oscar Goodman in Las Vegas, Richard Riordan in Los Angeles, Rudolph Giuliani in New York City and Gavin Newsom in San Francisco. Such policies refuse to tolerate even minor crimes; proponents argue that this will improve the quality of life of local residents. However, critics of zero tolerance policies believe that such policies neglect investigation on a case-by-case basis and may lead to unreasonably harsh penalties for crimes.\\n\\nPopsicle index\\n\\nThe Popsicle Index is a quality of life measurement coined by Catherine Austin Fitts as the percentage of people - in a community who believe that a child in their community can safely leave their home, walk to the nearest possible location to buy a popsicle, and walk back home. \\n\\nIn healthcare\\n\\nWithin the field of healthcare, quality of life is often regarded in terms of how a certain ailment affects a patient on an individual level. This may be a debilitating weakness that is not life-threatening; life-threatening illness that is not terminal; terminal illness; the predictable, natural decline in the health of an elder; an unforeseen mental/physical decline of a loved one; or chronic, end-stage disease processes. Researchers at the University of Toronto's Quality of Life Research Unit define quality of life as \\\"The degree to which a person enjoys the important possibilities of his or her life\\\" (UofT). Their Quality of Life Model is based on the categories \\\"being\\\", \\\"belonging\\\", and \\\"becoming\\\"; respectively who one is, how one is not connected to one's environment, and whether one achieves one's personal goals, hopes, and aspirations. \\n\\nIn international development\\n\\nQuality of life is an important concept in the field of international development, since it allows development to be analyzed on a measure broader than standard of living. Within development theory, however, there are varying ideas concerning what constitutes desirable change for a particular society, and the different ways that quality of life is defined by institutions therefore shapes how these organizations work for its improvement as a whole.\\n\\nOrganisations such as the World Bank, for example, declare a goal of \\\"working for a world free of poverty\\\", with poverty defined as a lack of basic human needs, such as food, water, shelter, freedom, access to education, healthcare, or employment. In other words, poverty is defined as a low quality of life. Using this definition, the World Bank works towards improving quality of life through neoliberal means, with the stated goal of lowering poverty and helping people afford a better quality of life.\\n\\nOther organizations, however, may also work towards improved global quality of life using a slightly different definition and substantially different methods. Many NGOs do not focus at all on reducing poverty on a national or international scale, but rather attempt to improve quality of life for individuals or communities. One example would be sponsorship programs that provide material aid for specific individuals. Although many organizations of this type may still talk about fighting poverty, the methods are significantly different.\\n\\nImproving quality of life involves action not only by NGOs, but also by governments. Global health has the potential to achieve greater political presence if governments were to incorporate aspects of human security into foreign policy. Stressing individuals’ basic rights to health, food, shelter, and freedom addresses prominent inter-sectoral problems negatively impacting today’s society and may lead to greater action and resources. Integration of global health concerns into foreign policy may be hampered by approaches that are shaped by the overarching roles of defense and diplomacy.\",\n \"Bhutan.txt\\nBhutan\\nBhutan ( or; Dzongkha Dru Ü,), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a sovereign state in South Asia. A landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas, Bhutan borders the People's Republic of China to the north and India to the south, east and west. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim; and further south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu.\\n\\nAlong with Mongolia, Bhutan is one of two countries where the Vajrayana sect of Buddhism is dominant.\\nThe King of Bhutan is known as the Druk Gyalpo, meaning the \\\"Thunder Dragon King\\\". The country's landscape ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan mountains in the north, where there are peaks in excess of . The highest mountain in Bhutan is the Gangkhar Puensum. \\n\\nBhutan enjoyed strong cultural links with Tibet and was located on the Silk Road between China and the Indian subcontinent. Its territory was composed of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century. At the time the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the first Zhabdrung Rinpoche, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. In the early 20th century, Bhutan established relations with the British Empire. During the rise of Chinese communism and its spread to Tibet, Bhutan signed a friendship treaty with newly independent India in 1949. The country departed from its historic isolation under the fourth Druk Gyalpo. In 2008, Bhutan transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy and held its first general election. During the same year, the throne passed to the fifth Druk Gyalpo. Bhutanese democracy has evolved with a bicameral parliament.\\n\\nA member of the United Nations, Bhutan has diplomatic relations with 52 countries and the European Union. It has a close strategic partnership with neighboring India and is a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It is also a member of BIMSTEC and the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Initiative. The economy of Bhutan depends greatly on hydropower exports. Tourism, mining and fruit production are other key sectors of the economy. Bhutan's per capita income is the second-highest in SAARC after the Maldives.\\n\\nEtymology\\n\\nThe precise etymology of \\\"Bhutan\\\" is unknown, although it is likely to derive from the Tibetan endonym \\\"Bod\\\" used for Tibet. Traditionally, it is taken to be a transcription of the Sanskrit Bhoṭa-anta (भोट-अन्त, \\\"end of Tibet\\\"), a reference to Bhutan's position as the southern extremity of the Tibetan plateau and culture. \\n\\nSince the 17th century the official name of Bhutan has been Dru Ü (country of the Drukpa Lineage, the Dragon People, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a reference to the country's dominant Buddhist sect) and Bhutan only appears in English-language official correspondence.\\n\\nNames similar to Bhutan — including Bottanthis, Bottan and Bottanter — began to appear in Europe around the 1580s. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier's 1676 Six Voyages is the first to record the name Boutan. However, in every case, these seem to have been describing not modern Bhutan but the Kingdom of Tibet. The modern distinction between the two did not begin until well into the Scottish explorer George Bogle's 1774 expedition — realizing the differences between the two regions, cultures and states, his final report to the East India Company formally proposed labelling the Druk Desi's kingdom as \\\"Boutan\\\" and the Panchen Lama's as \\\"Tibet\\\". The EIC's surveyor general James Rennell first anglicized the French name as Bootan and then popularized the distinction between it and greater Tibet. \\n\\nLocally, Bhutan has been known by many names. One of the earliest Western records of Bhutan, the 1627 Relação of the Portuguese Jesuits Estêvão Cacella and João Cabral, records its name variously as Cambirasi (among the Koch Biharis ), Potente, and Mon (an endonym for southern Tibet). The first time a separate Kingdom of Bhutan did appear on a western map, it did so under its local name as \\\"Broukpa\\\". Others including Lho Mon (\\\"Dark Southland\\\"), Lho Tsendenjong (\\\"Southland of the Cypress\\\"), Lhomen Khazhi (\\\"Southland of the Four Approaches\\\") and Lho Menjong ( \\\"Southland of the Herbs\\\"). \\n\\nHistory\\n\\nStone tools, weapons, elephants, and remnants of large stone structures provide evidence that Bhutan was inhabited as early as 2000 BC, although there are no existing records from that time. Historians have theorized that the state of Lhomon (literally, \\\"southern darkness\\\"), or Monyul (\\\"Dark Land\\\", a reference to the Monpa, the aboriginal peoples of Bhutan) may have existed between 500 BC and AD 600. The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (Sandalwood Country), and Lhomon Khashi, or Southern Mon (country of four approaches), have been found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles. \\n\\nBuddhism was first introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–649), a convert to Buddhism, who actually had extended the Tibetan Empire into Sikkim and Bhutan, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu (near Paro) in the Paro Valley. Buddhism was propagated in earnest in 746 under King Sindhu Rāja (also Künjom; Sendha Gyab; Chakhar Gyalpo), an exiled Indian king who had established a government in Bumthang at Chakhar Gutho Palace. \\n\\nMuch of early Bhutanese history is unclear because most of the records were destroyed when fire ravaged the ancient capital, Punakha, in 1827. By the 10th century, Bhutan's political development was heavily influenced by its religious history. Various subsects of Buddhism emerged that were patronized by the various Mongol warlords. After the decline of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century, these subsects vied with each other for supremacy in the political and religious landscape, eventually leading to the ascendancy of the Drukpa Lineage by the 16th century.\\n\\nUntil the early 17th century, Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms, when the area was unified by the Tibetan lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, who had fled religious persecution in Tibet. To defend the country against intermittent Tibetan forays, Namgyal built a network of impregnable dzongs or fortresses, and promulgated the Tsa Yig, a code of law that helped to bring local lords under centralized control. Many such dzong still exist and are active centers of religion and district administration. Portuguese Jesuits Estêvão Cacella and João Cabral were the first recorded Europeans to visit Bhutan, on their way to Tibet. They met Ngawang Namgyal, presented him with firearms, gunpowder and a telescope, and offered him their services in the war against Tibet, but the Zhabdrung declined the offer. After a stay of nearly eight months Cacella wrote a long letter from the Chagri Monastery reporting on his travels. This is a rare extant report of the Shabdrung. \\n\\nAfter Ngawang Namgyal's death in 1651, his passing was kept secret for 54 years; after a period of consolidation, Bhutan lapsed into internal conflict. In the year 1711 Bhutan went to war against the Mughal Empire and its Subedars, who restored Koch Bihar in the south. During the chaos that followed, the Tibetans unsuccessfully attacked Bhutan in 1714.\\n\\nIn the 18th century, the Bhutanese invaded and occupied the kingdom of Cooch Behar to the south. In 1772, Cooch Behar appealed to the British East India Company which assisted them in ousting the Bhutanese and later in attacking Bhutan itself in 1774. A peace treaty was signed in which Bhutan agreed to retreat to its pre-1730 borders. However, the peace was tenuous, and border skirmishes with the British were to continue for the next hundred years. The skirmishes eventually led to the Duar War (1864–65), a confrontation for control of the Bengal Duars. After Bhutan lost the war, the Treaty of Sinchula was signed between British India and Bhutan. As part of the war reparations, the Duars were ceded to the United Kingdom in exchange for a rent of Rs. 50,000. The treaty ended all hostilities between British India and Bhutan.\\n\\nDuring the 1870s, power struggles between the rival valleys of Paro and Tongsa led to civil war in Bhutan, eventually leading to the ascendancy of Ugyen Wangchuck, the ponlop (governor) of Tongsa. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions during 1882–85.\\n\\nIn 1907, an epochal year for the country, Ugyen Wangchuck was unanimously chosen as the hereditary king of the country by an assembly of leading Buddhist monks, government officials, and heads of important families. John Claude White, British Political Agent in Bhutan, took photographs of the ceremony. The British government promptly recognized the new monarchy, and in 1910 Bhutan signed the Treaty of Punakha, a subsidiary alliance which gave the British control of Bhutan's foreign affairs and meant that Bhutan was treated as an Indian princely state. This had little real effect, given Bhutan's historical reticence, and also did not appear to affect Bhutan's traditional relations with Tibet. After the new Union of India gained independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, Bhutan became one of the first countries to recognize India's independence. On 8 August 1949, a treaty similar to that of 1910, in which Britain had gained power over Bhutan's foreign relations, was signed with the newly independent India.\\n\\nIn 1953, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the country's legislature – a 130-member National Assembly – to promote a more democratic form of governance. In 1965, he set up a Royal Advisory Council, and in 1968 he formed a Cabinet. In 1971, Bhutan was admitted to the United Nations, having held observer status for three years. In July 1972, Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended to the throne at the age of sixteen after the death of his father, Dorji Wangchuck.\\n\\nPolitical reform and modernization\\n\\nBhutan's political system has recently changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck transferred most of his administrative powers to the Council of Cabinet Ministers and allowing for impeachment of the King by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. \\n\\nIn 1999, the government lifted a ban on television and the Internet, making Bhutan one of the last countries to introduce television. In his speech, the King said that television was a critical step to the modernisation of Bhutan as well as a major contributor to the country's gross national happiness (Bhutan is the only country to measure happiness), but warned that the \\\"misuse\\\" of television could erode traditional Bhutanese values. \\n\\nA new constitution was presented in early 2005. In December 2005, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck announced that he would abdicate the throne in his son's favour in 2008. On 14 December 2006, he announced that he would be abdicating immediately. This was followed by the first national parliamentary elections in December 2007 and March 2008.\\n\\nOn 6 November 2008, 28-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, eldest son of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, was crowned King. \\n\\nGeography\\n\\nBhutan is located on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas, landlocked between the Tibet Autonomous Region to the north and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to the west and south. It lies between latitudes 26°N and 29°N, and longitudes 88°E and 93°E. The land consists mostly of steep and high mountains crisscrossed by a network of swift rivers, which form deep valleys before draining into the Indian plains. Elevation rises from 200 m in the southern foothills to more than 7000 m. This great geographical diversity combined with equally diverse climate conditions contributes to Bhutan's outstanding range of biodiversity and ecosystems.\\n\\nThe northern region of Bhutan consists of an arc of Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows reaching up to glaciated mountain peaks with an extremely cold climate at the highest elevations. Most peaks in the north are over 7000 m above sea level; the highest point in Bhutan is Gangkhar Puensum at 7570 m, which has the distinction of being the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The lowest point, at 98 m, is in the valley of Drangme Chhu, where the river crosses the border with India. Watered by snow-fed rivers, alpine valleys in this region provide pasture for livestock, tended by a sparse population of migratory shepherds.\\n\\nThe Black Mountains in the central region of Bhutan form a watershed between two major river systems: the Mo Chhu and the Drangme Chhu. Peaks in the Black Mountains range between 1500 and above sea level, and fast-flowing rivers have carved out deep gorges in the lower mountain areas. The forests of the central Bhutan mountains consist of Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests in higher elevations and Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests in lower elevations. Woodlands of the central region provide most of Bhutan's forest production. The Torsa, Raidak, Sankosh, and Manas are the main rivers of Bhutan, flowing through this region. Most of the population lives in the central highlands.\\n\\nIn the south, the Shiwalik Hills are covered with dense Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, alluvial lowland river valleys, and mountains up to around 1500 m above sea level. The foothills descend into the subtropical Duars Plain. Most of the Duars is located in India, although a 10 to wide strip extends into Bhutan. The Bhutan Duars is divided into two parts: the northern and the southern Duars.\\n\\nThe northern Duars, which abut the Himalayan foothills, have rugged, sloping terrain and dry, porous soil with dense vegetation and abundant wildlife. The southern Duars has moderately fertile soil, heavy savannah grass, dense, mixed jungle, and freshwater springs. Mountain rivers, fed by either the melting snow or the monsoon rains, empty into the Brahmaputra River in India. Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the country had a forest cover of 64% as of October 2005.\\n\\n File:082 - Gangkar Puensum - 7,570m (Dochula pass) (4677022812).jpg|Gangkar Puensum, the highest mountain in Bhutan\\n File:Himalayan Landscape.jpg|Sub-alpine Himalayan landscape \\n File:Himalayan peak from Bumthang.jpg|A Himalayan peak from Bumthang\\n File:Jigme Dorji National Park, Bhutan.JPG|Jigme Dorji National Park\\n File:HaaValley.jpg|thumb|The Haa Valley in Western Bhutan\\n\\nClimate \\n\\nThe climate in Bhutan varies with elevation, from subtropical in the south to temperate in the highlands and polar-type climate, with year-round snow in the north. Bhutan experiences five distinct seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. Western Bhutan has the heavier monsoon rains; southern Bhutan has hot humid summers and cool winters; central and eastern Bhutan is temperate and drier than the west with warm summers and cool winters.\\n\\nBiodiversity\\n\\nBhutan signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and became a party to the convention on 25 August 1995. It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with two revisions, the most recent of which was received by the convention on 4 February 2010.\\n\\nAnimals\\n\\nBhutan has a rich primate life, with rare species such as the golden langur. A variant Assamese macaque has also been recorded, which is regarded by some authorities as a new species, Macaca munzala. \\n\\nThe Bengal tiger, clouded leopard, hispid hare and the sloth bear live in the lush tropical lowland and hardwood forests in the south. In the temperate zone, grey langur, tiger, goral and serow are found in mixed conifer, broadleaf and pine forests. Fruit-bearing trees and bamboo provide habitat for the Himalayan black bear, red panda, squirrel, sambar, wild pig and barking deer. The alpine habitats of the great Himalayan range in the north are home to the snow leopard, blue sheep, marmot, Tibetan wolf, antelope, Himalayan musk deer and the takin, Bhutan's national animal. The endangered wild water buffalo occurs in southern Bhutan, although in small numbers. \\n\\nMore than 770 species of bird have been recorded in Bhutan. The globally endangered white-winged duck has been added recently to Bhutan's bird list. \\n\\nPlants\\n\\nMore than 5,400 species of plants are found in Bhutan. Fungi form a key part of Bhutanese ecosystems, with mycorrhizal species providing forest trees with mineral nutrients necessary for growth, and with wood decay and litter decomposing species playing an important role in natural recycling.\\n\\nConservation \\n\\nThe Eastern Himalayas have been identified as a global biodiversity hotspot and counted among the 234 globally outstanding ecoregions of the world in a comprehensive analysis of global biodiversity undertaken by WWF between 1995 and 1997.\\n\\nAccording to the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bhutan is viewed as a model for proactive conservation initiatives. The Kingdom has received international acclaim for its commitment to the maintenance of its biodiversity. This is reflected in the decision to maintain at least sixty percent of the land area under forest cover, to designate more than 40% of its territory as national parks, reserves and other protected areas, and most recently to identify a further nine percent of land area as biodiversity corridors linking the protected areas. All of Bhutan's protected land is connected to one another through a vast network of biological corridors, allowing animals to migrate freely throughout the country. Environmental conservation has been placed at the core of the nation's development strategy, the middle path. It is not treated as a sector but rather as a set of concerns that must be mainstreamed in Bhutan's overall approach to development planning and to be buttressed by the force of law. The country's constitution mentions environment standards in multiple sections. \\n\\nEnvironmental issues\\n\\nAlthough Bhutan's natural heritage is still largely intact, the government has said that it cannot be taken for granted and that conservation of the natural environment must be considered one of the challenges that will need to be addressed in the years ahead. Nearly 56.3% of all Bhutanese citizens are involved with agriculture, forestry or conservation. The government aims to promote conservation as part of its plan to target Gross National Happiness. It currently has net zero greenhouse gas emissions because the small amount of pollution it creates is absorbed by the forests that cover most of the country. The entire country collectively produces 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. Yet the immense forest covering 72% of the country acts as a carbon sink, absorbing more than four million tons of carbon dioxide every year.\\n\\nBhutan has a number of progressive environmental policies that have caused the head of the UNFCCC to call it a \\\"inspiration and role model for the world on how economies and different countries can address climate change while at the same time improving the life of the citizen.\\\" For example, electric cars have been pushed in the country and make up a tenth of all cars. Because the country gets most of its energy from hydrolelectric power, it does not emit significant greenhouse gases for energy production.\\n\\nPressures on the natural environment are already evident and will be fuelled by a complex array of forces. They include population pressures, agricultural modernisation, poaching, hydro-power development, mineral extraction, industrialisation, urbanisation, sewage and waste disposal, tourism, competition for available land road construction and the provision of other physical infrastructure associated with social and economic development. \\n\\nIn practice, the overlap of these extensive protected lands with populated areas has led to mutual habitat encroachment. Protected wildlife has entered agricultural areas, trampling crops and killing livestock. In response, Bhutan has implemented an insurance scheme, begun constructing solar powered alarm fences, watch towers, and search lights, and has provided fodder and salt licks outside human settlement areas to encourage animals to stay away. \\n\\nThe huge market value of the Ophiocordyceps sinensis fungus crop collected from the wild has also resulted in unsustainable exploitation which is proving very difficult to regulate. \\n\\nGovernment and politics\\n\\nBhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. The reigning monarch is Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. The current Prime Minister of Bhutan is Tshering Tobgay, the leader of the People's Democratic Party.\\n\\nThe Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) is the head of state. The political system grants universal suffrage. It consists of the National Council, an upper house with 25 elected members; and the National Assembly with 47 elected lawmakers from political parties.\\n\\nExecutive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers led by the prime minister. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. Judicial power is vested in the courts of Bhutan. The legal system originates from the semi-theocratic Tsa Yig code and has been influenced by English common law during the 20th century. The chief justice is the administrative head of the judiciary.\\n\\nPolitical culture \\n\\nThe first general elections for the National Assembly were held on 24 March 2008. The chief contestants were the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party (DPT) led by Jigme Thinley and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) led by Sangay Ngedup. The DPT won the elections by taking 45 out of 47 seats. Jigme Thinley served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013.\\n\\nThe People's Democratic Party came to power in the 2013 elections. It won 32 seats with 54.88% of the vote. PDP leader Tshering Tobgay assumed the office of Prime Minister.\\n\\nForeign relations\\n\\nIn the early 20th century, Bhutan's principal foreign relations were with the British Empire and Tibet. The government of British India managed relations with the kingdom from the Bhutan House in Kalimpong. Fearful of Chinese communist expansion, Bhutan signed a friendship treaty with the newly independent Republic of India in 1949. Its concerns were exacerbated after the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Relations with Nepal remained strained due to Bhutanese refugees. Bhutan joined the United Nations in 1971. It was the first country to recognize Bangladesh's independence in 1971. It became a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985. The country is a member of 150 international organizations, including the Bay of Bengal Initiative, BBIN, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Group of 77.\\n\\nBhutan maintains strong economic, strategic and military relations with neighbouring India. In 2007, Bhutan and India revised their friendship treaty which clarified Bhutan's full control of its foreign relations, including its border with Tibet. Bhutan has very warm relations with Japan, which provides significant development assistance. The Bhutanese royals were hosted by the Japanese imperial family during a state visit in 2011. Japan is also helping Bhutan cope with glacial floods through developing an early warning system.\\n\\nBhutan enjoys strong political and diplomatic relations with Bangladesh. The Bhutanese king was the guest of honour during celebrations for Bangladesh's 40th anniversary of independence. A 2014 joint statement by the prime ministers of both countries announced cooperation in areas of hydropower, river management and climate change mitigation. \\n\\nBhutan has diplomatic relations with 52 countries and the European Union and has missions in India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Kuwait. It has two UN missions, one in New York and one in Geneva. Only India and Bangladesh have residential embassies in Bhutan, while Thailand has a consulate office in Bhutan. Other countries maintain informal diplomatic contact via their embassies in New Delhi and Dhaka.\\n\\nBy a long-standing agreement, Indian and Bhutanese citizens may travel to each other's countries without the need for a passport or visa but only their national identity cards. Bhutanese citizens may also work in India without legal restriction. Bhutan does not have formal diplomatic ties with its northern neighbour, China, although exchanges of visits at various levels between the two have significantly increased in recent times. The first bilateral agreement between China and Bhutan was signed in 1998 and Bhutan has also set up honorary consulates in the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Bhutan's border with China is largely not demarcated and thus disputed in some places. Approximately 269 square kilometers remain under discussion between China and Bhutan. \\n\\nOn 13 November 2005, Chinese soldiers crossed into the disputed territories between China and Bhutan, and began building roads and bridges. Bhutanese Foreign Minister Khandu Wangchuk took up the matter with Chinese authorities after the issue was raised in the Bhutanese parliament. In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang of the People's Republic of China has said that the border remains in dispute and that the two sides are continuing to work for a peaceful and cordial resolution of the dispute. An Indian intelligence officer has said that a Chinese delegation in Bhutan told the Bhutanese that they were \\\"overreacting\\\". The Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel has said that China might use the roads to further Chinese claims along the border.\\n\\nIn February 2007 the Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty was substantially revised. The Treaty of 1949, Article 2 states: \\\"The Government of India undertakes to exercise no interference in the internal administration of Bhutan. On its part the Government of Bhutan agrees to be guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations.\\\" The revised treaty now states \\\"In keeping with the abiding ties of close friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and India, the Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Government of the Republic of India shall cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.\\\" The revised treaty also includes this preamble: \\\"Reaffirming their respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity\\\", an element that was absent in the earlier version. The Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty of 2007 clarifies Bhutan's status as an independent and sovereign nation.\\n\\nBhutan maintains formal diplomatic relations with several Asian and European nations, Canada, and Brazil. Other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, have no formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan, but maintain informal contact through their respective embassies in New Delhi and Bhutanese honorary consulate in Washington DC. The United Kingdom has an honorary consul resident in Thimphu. \\n\\nMilitary \\n\\nThe Royal Bhutan Army is Bhutan's military service. It includes the royal bodyguard and the Royal Bhutan Police. Membership is voluntary and the minimum age for recruitment is 18. The standing army numbers about 16,000 and is trained by the Indian Army. It has an annual budget of about US$13.7 million (1.8 percent of GDP). Being a landlocked country, Bhutan has no navy. It also has no air force or army aviation corps. The Army relies on the Eastern Air Command of the Indian Air Force for air assistance.\\n\\nHuman rights\\n\\nEthnic conflict\\n\\nIn the 1990s, Bhutan expelled or forced to leave most of its ethnic Lhotshampa population, one-fifth of the country's entire population, demanding conformity in religion, dress, and language. The decision was motivated by the concern that the fast-growing Nepali minority were starting to revolt for a separate independent state, recalling similar events that caused the collapse of the nearby kingdom of Sikkim in 1975. Lhotshampas were arrested and expelled from the country and their property was expropriated. \\n\\nA harassment campaign escalating in the early 1990s ensued, and afterwards Bhutanese security forces began expelling people. According to the UNHCR, more than 107,000 Bhutanese refugees living in seven camps in eastern Nepal have been documented . Whether all inhabitants are in fact refugees is questionable because the UNHCR did not check the initial inhabitants of the refugee camps adequately. The facilities inside the camp, which were reportedly better than in the surroundings, provided a strong motivation for Nepalese to seek admittance. After many years in refugee camps, many inhabitants are now moving to host nations such as Canada, Norway, the UK, Australia, and the US as refugees. The US has admitted 60,773 refugees from fiscal years 2008 through 2012. \\n\\nThe Nepalese government does not permit citizenship for Bhutanese refugees, so most of them have become stateless. Careful scrutiny has been used to prevent their relatives from getting ID cards and voting rights. Bhutan considers the political parties of these refugees illegal and terrorist in nature. Human rights groups initially claimed the government interfered with individual rights by requiring all citizens, including ethnic minority members, to wear the traditional dress of the ethnic majority in public places. The government strictly enforced the law in Buddhist religious buildings, government offices, schools, official functions, and public ceremonies.[http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/sca/136086.htm 2009 Human Rights Report: Bhutan], U.S. Department of State, 25 February 2009\\n\\nPolitical divisions\\n\\nBhutan is divided into twenty dzongkhags (districts), administered by a body called the Dzongkhak Tshokdu. In certain thromdes (urban municipalities), a further municipal administration is directly subordinate to the Dzongkhak administration. In the vast majority of constituencies, rural geos (village blocks) are administered by bodies called the Geo Tshokde.\\n\\nThromdes (municipalities) elect Thrompons to lead administration, who in turn represent the Thromde in the Dzongkhag Tshogdu. Likewise, geos elect headmen called gaps, vice-headmen called mangmis, who also sit on the Dzongkhak Tshokdu, as well as other members of the Geo Tshokde. The basis of electoral constituencies in Bhutan is the chiwog, a subdivision of gewogs delineated by the Election Commission.\\n\\n# Bumthang\\n# Chukha (Chhukha)\\n# Dagana\\n# Gasa\\n# Haa\\n# Lhuntse\\n# Mongar\\n# Paro\\n# Pemagatshel (Pemagatsel)\\n# Punakha\\n# Samdrup Jongkhar\\n# Samtse (Samchi)\\n# Sarpang (Sarbhang)\\n# Thimphu\\n# Trashigang (Tashigang)\\n# Trashiyangtse\\n# Trongsa (Tongsa)\\n# Tsirang (Chirang)\\n# Wangdue Phodrang (Wangdi Phodrang)\\n# Zhemgang (Shemgang)\\n\\nEconomy\\n\\nBhutan's currency is the ngultrum, whose value is fixed to the Indian rupee. The rupee is also accepted as legal tender in the country.\\n\\nThough Bhutan's economy is one of the world's smallest, it has grown rapidly in recent years, by eight percent in 2005 and 14 percent in 2006. In 2007, Bhutan had the second-fastest-growing economy in the world, with an annual economic growth rate of 22.4 percent. This was mainly due to the commissioning of the gigantic Tala Hydroelectric Power Station. , Bhutan's per capita income was US$2,420. \\n\\nBhutan's economy is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sale of hydroelectric power to India. Agriculture provides the main livelihood for 55.4 percent of the population. Agrarian practices consist largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Handicrafts, particularly weaving and the manufacture of religious art for home altars, are a small cottage industry. A landscape that varies from hilly to ruggedly mountainous has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive.\\n\\nThis, and a lack of access to the sea, has meant that Bhutan has not been able to benefit from significant trading of its produce. Bhutan has no railways, though Indian Railways plans to link southern Bhutan to its vast network under an agreement signed in January 2005. Bhutan and India signed a 'free trade' accord in 2008, which additionally allowed Bhutanese imports and exports from third markets to transit India without tariffs. Bhutan had trade relations with the Tibet region until 1960, when it closed its border with China after an influx of refugees. \\n\\nThe industrial sector is in a nascent stage, and though most production comes from cottage industry, larger industries are being encouraged and some industries such as cement, steel, and ferroalloy have been set up. Most development projects, such as road construction, rely on Indian contract labour. Agricultural produce includes rice, chilies, dairy (some yak, mostly cow) products, buckwheat, barley, root crops, apples, and citrus and maize at lower elevations. Industries include cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages and calcium carbide.\\n\\nBhutan has seen recent growth in the technology sector, in areas such as green tech and consumer Internet/e-commerce. In May 2012, Thimphu TechPark launched in the capital and incubates start-ups via the Bhutan Innovation and Technology Centre (BITC). \\n\\nIncomes of over Nu 100,000 per annum are taxed, but very few wage and salary earners qualify. Bhutan's inflation rate was estimated at about three percent in 2003. Bhutan has a Gross Domestic Product of around US$5.855 billion (adjusted to purchasing power parity), making it the 158th-largest economy in the world. Per capita income (PPP) is around $7,641, ranked 144th. Government revenues total $407.1 million, though expenditures amount to $614 million. 25 percent of the budget expenditure, however, is financed by India's Ministry of External Affairs.India's Ministry of External Affairs provides financial aid to neighbouring countries under \\\"technical and economic cooperation with other countries and advances to foreign governments.\\\" \\n\\nBhutan's exports, principally electricity, cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones and spices, total €128 million (2000 est.). Imports, however, amount to €164 million, leading to a trade deficit. Main items imported include fuel and lubricants, grain, machinery, vehicles, fabrics and rice. Bhutan's main export partner is India, accounting for 58.6 percent of its export goods. Hong Kong (30.1 percent) and Bangladesh (7.3 percent) are the other two top export partners. As its border with Tibet is closed, trade between Bhutan and China is now almost non-existent. Bhutan's import partners include India (74.5 percent), Japan (7.4 percent) and Sweden (3.2 percent).\\n\\nAgriculture\\n\\nThe share of the agricultural sector in GDP declined from approximately 55% in 1985 to 33% in 2003. In 2013 the government announced that Bhutan will become the first country in the world with 100 percent organic farming. \\n\\nEnergy\\n\\nBhutan's largest export is hydroelectricity. , it generates 5,000 MW of hydropower from Himalayan river valleys. The country has a potential to generate 30,000 MW of hydropower. Power is supplied to various states in India. Future projects are being planned with Bangladesh. Hydropower has been the primary focus for the country's five-year plans. , the Tala Hydroelectric Power Station is its largest power plant, with an installed capacity of 1,020 MW. It has received assistance from India, Austria and the Asian Development Bank in developing hydroelectric projects.\\n\\nFinancial sector\\n\\n \\nThe two main financial institutions are the Bank of Bhutan, which is based in the southern city of Phuntsholing and is the retail wing of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, and the Bhutan National Bank, which is based in Thimphu. The Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan is the main stock exchange.\\n\\nThe SAARC Development Fund is based in Thimphu. \\n\\nTourism\\n\\nIn 2014, Bhutan received 133,480 international visitors. Seeking to become a high value destination, it imposes a daily fee of US$250 on tourists that covers touring and hotel accommodation. The industry employs 21,000 people and accounts for 1.8% of GDP. \\n\\nThe country currently has no UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but it has eight declared tentative sites for UNESCO inclusion since 2012. These sites include Ancient Ruin of Drukgyel Dzong, Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, Dzongs: the centre of temporal and religious authorities (Punakha Dzong, Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, Paro Dzong, Trongsa Dzong and Dagana Dzong), Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP), Royal Manas National Park (RMNP), Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo and his descendants, Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS), and Tamzhing Monastery. Bhutan also has numerous tourist sites that are not included in its UNESCO tentative list. Bhutan has one element, the Mask dance of the drums from Drametse, registered in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. \\n\\nBhutan is also well known for mountain adventure trekking and hiking. Jhomolhari Base Camp Trek, Snowman Trek, Masagang trek are some of the popular treks in Bhutan.\\n\\nTransport \\n\\nAir\\n\\nParo Airport is the only international airport in Bhutan. Yongphulla Airport in Trashigang is a small domestic airport that underwent upgrades through 2010. Yongphulla Airport was scheduled for completion in January 2010 but as of January 2015, the airport remains closed due to ongoing runway repair. National carrier Druk Air operates flights between Paro Airport and airports in Jakar (Bumthang Dzongkhag) and Gelephu (Sarpang Dzongkhag) on a weekly basis. \\n\\nRail\\n\\nBhutan has no railways, though it has entered into an agreement with India to link southern Bhutan to India's vast network by constructing an 18 km-long broad gauge rail link between Hashimara in West Bengal and Toribari in Bhutan. The construction of the railway via through Satali, Bharna Bari and Dalsingpara by Indian railways is being funded by India. \\n\\nRoad\\n\\nThe Lateral Road is Bhutan's primary east–west corridor, connecting Phuentsholing in the southwest to Trashigang in the east. In between, the Lateral Road runs directly through Wangdue Phodrang, Trongsa and other population centres. The Lateral Road also has spurs connecting to the capital Thimphu and other major population centres such as Paro and Punakha. As with other roads in Bhutan, the Lateral Road presents serious safety concerns due to pavement conditions, sheer drops, hairpin turns, weather and landslides. \\n\\nDemographics\\n\\nBhutan has a population of 770,000 people in 2015. Bhutan has a median age of 24.8 years. There are 1,070 males to every 1,000 females. The literacy rate in Bhutan is 59.5 percent. \\n\\nEthnic groups \\n\\nBhutanese people primarily consist of the Ngalops and Sharchops, called the Western Bhutanese and Eastern Bhutanese respectively. The Lhotshampa, meaning \\\"southerner Bhutanese\\\", are a heterogeneous group of mostly Nepal ancestry. It was claimed they constituted 45% of the population in 1988 census, and include migrants from as early as the 1890s to as recent as the 1980s, who have fought a bitter war with Bhutan over rights to abode, language, and dress. Consequently, there has been mass emigration from Bhutan (both forced and voluntary) resulting in hundreds of thousands of people left stateless in refugee camps of Nepal.\\n\\nThe Ngalops primarily consist of Bhutanese living in the western part of the country. Their culture is closely related to that of Tibet. Much the same could be said of the Sharchops the dominant group, who traditionally follow the Nyingmapa rather than the official Drukpa Kagyu form of Tibetan Buddhism. In modern times, with improved transportation infrastructure, there has been much intermarriage between these groups. In the early 1970s, intermarriage between the Lhotshampas Bhutanese and mainstream Bhutanese society was encouraged by the government, but after the late 1980s, the Bhutanese government forced about 108,000 Lhotshampas from their homes, seized their land, and expelled them to refugee camps.\\n\\nCities and towns\\n\\n* Thimphu, the largest city and capital of Bhutan.\\n* Damphu, the administrative headquarters of Tsirang District.\\n* Jakar, the administrative headquarters of Bumthang District and the place where Buddhism entered Bhutan.\\n* Mongar, the eastern commercial hub of the country.\\n* Paro, site of the international airport.\\n* Phuentsholing, Bhutan's commercial hub.\\n* Punakha, the old capital.\\n* Samdrup Jongkhar, the southeastern town on the border with India.\\n* Trashigang, administrative headquarters of Trashigang District, the most populous district in the country.\\n* Trongsa, in central Bhutan, which has the largest and the most magnificent of all the dzongs in Bhutan.\\n\\nReligion\\n\\n]\\n\\nIt is estimated that between two-thirds and three-quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one-quarter to one-third are followers of Hinduism. Other religions account for less than 1% of the population. The current legal framework, in principle guarantees freedom of religion; proselytism, however, is forbidden by a royal government decision and by judicial interpretation of the Constitution. \\n\\nBuddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–649), a convert to Buddhism, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu Lhakhang (near Paro) in the Paro Valley.\\n\\nLanguages\\n\\nThe national language is Bhutanese (Dzongkha), one of 53 languages in the Tibetan language family. The script, here called Chhokey (\\\"Dharma language\\\"), is identical to classical Tibetan. In the schools English is the medium of instruction and Dzongkha is taught as the national language. Ethnologue lists 24 languages currently spoken in Bhutan, all of them in the Tibeto-Burman family, except Nepali, an Indo-Aryan language.\\n\\nUntil the 1980s, the government sponsored the teaching of Nepali in schools in southern Bhutan. With the adoption of Driglam Namzhag and its expansion into the idea of strengthening the role of Dzongkha, Nepali was dropped from the curriculum. The languages of Bhutan are still not well-characterized, and several have yet to be recorded in an in-depth academic grammar. Before the 1980s, the Lhotshampa (Nepali-speaking community), mainly based in southern Bhutan, constituted approximately 30% of the population. However, after conducting the purge of Lhotshaampas from 1990-1992 this number might not accurately reflect the current population.\\n\\nDzongkha is partially intelligible with Sikkimese and spoken natively by 25% of the population. Tshangla, the language of the Sharchop and the principal pre-Tibetan language of Bhutan, is spoken by a greater number of people. It is not easily classified and may constitute an independent branch of Tibeto-Burman. Nepali speakers constituted some 40% of the population . The larger minority languages are Dzala (11%), Limbu (10%), Kheng (8%),and Rai (8%). There are no reliable sources for the ethnic or linguistic composition of Bhutan, so these numbers do not add up to 100%.\\n\\nHealth \\n\\nBhutan has a life expectancy of 62.2 years (61 for males and 64.5 for females) according to the latest data from the World Bank.\\n\\nEducation\\n\\nBhutan has one decentralised university with eleven constituent colleges spread across the kingdom, the Royal University of Bhutan. The first five-year plan provided for a central education authority—in the form of a director of education appointed in 1961—and an organised, modern school system with free and universal primary education.\\n\\nEducation programmes were given a boost in 1990 when the Asian Development Bank (see Glossary) granted a US$7.13 million loan for staff training and development, specialist services, equipment and furniture purchases, salaries and other recurrent costs, and facility rehabilitation and construction at Royal Bhutan Polytechnic.\\n\\nCulture and society\\n\\nBhutan has a rich and unique cultural heritage that has largely remained intact because of its isolation from the rest of the world until the mid-20th century. One of the main attractions for tourists is the country's culture and traditions. Bhutanese tradition is deeply steeped in its Buddhist heritage. Hinduism is the second most dominant religion in Bhutan, being most prevalent in the southern regions. The government is increasingly making efforts to preserve and sustain the current culture and traditions of the country. Because of its largely unspoiled natural environment and cultural heritage, Bhutan has been referred to as The Last Shangri-la. \\n\\nWhile Bhutanese citizens are free to travel abroad, Bhutan is viewed as inaccessible by many foreigners. Another reason for it being an unpopular destination is the cost, which is high for tourists on tighter budgets. Entry is free for citizens of India, Bangladesh, and the Maldives, but all other foreigners are required to sign up with a Bhutanese tour operator and pay around US$250 per day that they stay in the country, though this fee covers most travel, lodging and meal expenses. Bhutan received 37,482 visitor arrivals in 2011, of which 25% were for meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions. \\n\\nBhutan is the first nation in the world to ban smoking. It has been illegal to smoke in public or sell tobacco, according to Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010. Violators are fined the equivalent of $232—more than two months' salary in Bhutan.\\n\\nDress\\n\\nThe national dress for Bhutanese men is the gho, a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt known as the kera. Women wear an ankle-length dress, the kira, which is clipped at the shoulders with two identical brooches called the koma and tied at the waist with kera. An accompaniment to the kira is a long-sleeved blouse, the wonju which is worn underneath the kira. A long-sleeved jacket-like garment, the toego is worn over the kira. The sleeves of the wonju and the tego are folded together at the cuffs, inside out.\\n\\nSocial status and class determine the texture, colours, and decorations that embellish the garments. Differently coloured scarves, known as rachu for women (red is the most common colour) and kabney for men, are important indicators of social standing, as Bhutan has traditionally been a feudal society. Jewellery is mostly worn by women, especially during religious festivals (tsechus) and public gatherings. To strengthen Bhutan's identity as an independent country, Bhutanese law requires all Bhutanese government employees to wear the national dress at work and all citizens to wear the national dress while visiting schools and other government offices though many citizens, particularly adults, choose to wear the customary dress as formal attire.\\n\\nArchitecture\\n\\nBhutanese architecture remains distinctively traditional, employing rammed earth and wattle and daub construction methods, stone masonry, and intricate woodwork around windows and roofs. Traditional architecture uses no nails or iron bars in construction. Characteristic of the region is a type of castle fortress known as the dzong. Since ancient times, the dzongs have served as the religious and secular administration centres for their respective districts. The University of Texas at El Paso in the United States has adopted Bhutanese architecture for its buildings on campus, as have the nearby Hilton Garden Inn and other buildings in the city of El Paso. \\n\\nPublic holidays\\n\\nBhutan has numerous public holidays, most of which centre around traditional, seasonal, secular and religious festivals. They include the Dongzhi or winter solstice (around 1 January, depending on the lunar calendar), Lunar New Year (February or March), the King's birthday and the anniversary of his coronation, the official end of monsoon season (22 September), National Day (17 December), and various Buddhist and Hindu celebrations.\\n\\nFilm industry\\n\\nMusic and dance\\n\\nMasked dances and dance dramas are common traditional features at festivals, usually accompanied by traditional music. Energetic dancers, wearing colourful wooden or composition face masks and stylized costumes, depict heroes, demons, dæmons, death heads, animals, gods, and caricatures of common people. The dancers enjoy royal patronage, and preserve ancient folk and religious customs and perpetuate the ancient lore and art of mask-making.\\n\\nThe music of Bhutan can generally be divided into traditional and modern varieties; traditional music comprises religious and folk genres, the latter including zhungdra and boedra. The modern rigsar is played on a mix of traditional instruments and electronic keyboards, and dates back to the early 1990s; it shows the influence of Indian popular music, a hybrid form of traditional and Western popular influences. \\n\\nFamily structure\\n\\nIn Bhutanese families, inheritance generally passes through the female rather than the male line. Daughters will inherit their parents' house. A man is expected to make his own way in the world and often moves to his wife's home. Love marriages are common in urban areas, but the tradition of arranged marriages is still common in the villages. Although uncommon, polygamy is accepted, often being a device to keep property in a contained family unit rather than dispersing it. The previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who abdicated in 2006, had four queens, all of whom are sisters. The current king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, wed Jetsun Pema, 21, a commoner and daughter of a pilot, on 13 October 2011.\\n\\nCuisine\\n\\nRice (red rice), buckwheat, and increasingly maize, are the staples of Bhutanese cuisine. The local diet also includes pork, beef, yak meat, chicken, and lamb. Soups and stews of meat and dried vegetables spiced with chilies and cheese are prepared. Ema datshi, made very spicy with cheese and chilies, might be called the national dish for its ubiquity and the pride that Bhutanese have for it. Dairy foods, particularly butter and cheese from yaks and cows, are also popular, and indeed almost all milk is turned into butter and cheese. Popular beverages include butter tea, black tea, locally brewed ara (rice wine), and beer. Bhutan is the first country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco under its Tobacco Act of 2010.\\n\\nSports\\n\\nBhutan's national and most popular sport is archery. Competitions are held regularly in most villages. It differs from Olympic standards in technical details such as the placement of the targets and atmosphere. There are two targets placed over 100 meters apart and teams shoot from one end of the field to the other. Each member of the team shoots two arrows per round. Traditional Bhutanese archery is a social event, and competitions are organized between villages, towns, and amateur teams. There is usually plenty of food and drink complete with singing and dancing. Attempts to distract an opponent include standing around the target and making fun of the shooter's ability. Darts (khuru) is an equally popular outdoor team sport, in which heavy wooden darts pointed with a 10 cm nail are thrown at a paperback-sized target 10 to 20 meters away.\\n\\nAnother traditional sport is the Digor, which resembles the shot put and horseshoe throwing.\\n\\nAnother popular sport is basketball. In 2002, Bhutan's national football team played Montserrat, in what was billed as The Other Final; the match took place on the same day Brazil played Germany in the World Cup final, but at the time Bhutan and Montserrat were the world's two lowest ranked teams. The match was held in Thimphu's Changlimithang National Stadium, and Bhutan won 4–0. A documentary of the match was made by the Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer. Bhutan won its first two FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches, beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in Sri Lanka and 2-1 in Bhutan, taking the aggregate at 3–1. Cricket has also gained popularity in Bhutan, particularly since the introduction of television channels from India. The Bhutan national cricket team is one of the most successful affiliate nations in the region.\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2283"],"string":"[\n \"2283\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Top 30 Poorest Countries in the World - Home\n... armies and is sometimes referred to as the \"African World War\". [4] ... The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people ...\nTop 30 poorest countries - Top 30 Poorest Countries in the World\nTop 30 Poorest Countries in the World\nHere are some countries that have been affected by poverty. We built a little information about these 30 countries. Please enjoy our website. Thank you for visiting our website.\n1.Liberia\n( help · info )\n, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa , bordered by Sierra Leone , Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , and the Atlantic Ocean . As of the 2008 Census, the nation is home to 3,476,608 people and covers 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi). [3]\nLiberia's capital is Monrovia . Liberia has a hot equatorial climate with most rainfall arriving in summer with harsh harmattan winds in the dry season. Liberia's populated Pepper Coast is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the sparsely populated inland is forested, later opening to a plateau of drier grasslands.\nThe history of Liberia is unique among African nations because of its relationship with the United States . It is one of the few countries in Africa, and the only country in West Africa , without roots in the European Scramble for Africa . It was founded and colonized by freed American slaves with the help of a private organization called the American Colonization Society in 1821-22, on the premise American slaves would have greater freedom and equality there. [4]\nSlaves freed from slave ships also were sent there instead of being repatriated to their countries of origin. [5] These colonists formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, they founded the Republic of Liberia, establishing a government modeled on that of the United States, naming Monrovia, their capital city, after James Monroe , the fifth president of the United States and a prominent supporter of the colonization.\nA military-led coup in 1980 overthrew then-president William R. Tolbert , which marked the beginning of a period of instability that eventually led to a civil war that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and devastated the country's economy . Today, Liberia is recovering from the lingering effects of the civil war and related economic dislocation.\n2.Haiti\n[a.iti] ; Haitian Creole : Ayiti,\nHaitian Creole pronunciation: \n[ajiti] ), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti ; Repiblik Ayiti) is a Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic , it occupies the island of Hispaniola , in the Greater Antillean archipelago. Ayiti (land of high mountains) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the mountainous western side of the island. The country's highest point is Pic la Selle , at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi ) and its capital is Port-au-Prince . Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.\nHaiti's regional, historical and ethnolinguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America and the first black -led republic in the world when it gained independence as part of a successful slave rebellion in 1804. [4] Despite having common cultural links with its Hispano-Caribbean neighbors, Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada ) that designate French as an official language ; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements , or collectivités , of France.\nHaiti is the poorest country in the Americas . Contrary to popular belief, however, it is not the poorest in the Western Hemisphere . On various occasions, it has experienced political violence throughout its history. Most recently, in February 2004, an armed rebellion forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide , and a provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Rene Preval , the current president, was elected in the Haitian general election, 2006 .\n3.Zimbabwe\n-bwe ; officially the Republic of Zimbabwe and formerly Southern Rhodesia , the Republic of Rhodesia , and Zimbabwe Rhodesia ) is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa , between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three official languages : English , Shona (a Bantu language ), and Ndebele .\nZimbabwe began as a part of the British crown colony of Rhodesia . Today, Zimbabwe is governed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's administration, with President Robert Mugabe as Head of State. Mugabe has been in power since the country's long war for independence . Although initially during the 1980s his administration was credited with improving the standard of living and the economy; his rule has been characterized by gross economic mismanagement, hyperinflation , and widespread reports of human rights abuses. [3] The collapse of the nation's economy and widespread poverty and unemployment has increased support for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change , which in late 2008 agreed to share power with Mugabe.\n4.Chad\nChad ( French : Tchad, Arabic :\nتشاد\n Tshād), officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa . It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the \"Dead Heart of Africa\".\nChad is divided into three major geographical regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad , after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara , and N'Djamena , (formerly Fort-Lamy), the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups . Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.\nBeginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa .\nIn 1960 Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye . Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby . Recently, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation , with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.\nWhile many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement . Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état (see Battle of N'Djamena (2006) and Battle of N'Djamena (2008) ).\nThe country is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most Chadians live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers . Since 2003 crude oil has become the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry.\n5.Gaza Strip\n Qiṭāʿ Ġazza/Qita' Ghazzah,\nArabic pronunciation: \n[qitˤaːʕ ɣazza] ) lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea . It borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about 41 kilometers (25 mi ) long, and between 6 and 12 kilometers (4–7.5 mi) wide, with a total area of 360 square kilometers (139 sq mi ). This small piece of land is home to about 1.5 million Palestinians. Many of these people lived in other parts of Palestine prior to the 1947 - 49 Israeli War of Independence, when they had to flee. These Palestinians have not been allowed to return to their former villages. The area is recognized internationally as part of the Palestinian territories . [1] [2] [3] [4] Actual control of the area within the Gaza Strip borders are in the hands of Hamas , an organization that won civil parliamentary Palestinian Authority elections in 2006 and took over de facto government in the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority by way of its own political maneuvering and armed militia in July 2007, while consolidating power by violently removing the Palestinian Authority's security forces and civil servants from the Gaza Strip.\nThe Gaza Strip, having previously been a part of the Ottoman Empire and then the British Mandate of Palestine, was occupied by Egypt from 1948–67, and then by Israel following the 1967 war . Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in 1993, the Palestinian Authority was set up as an interim administrative body to govern populated Palestinian centers - with Israel maintaining military control of the Gaza Strip's airspace , some of its land borders and its territorial waters - until a final agreement could be reached. As agreement remained elusive, Occupying Power . [5]\nThe territory takes its name from Gaza , its main city. The population speak a Western Egyptian dialect of Arabic and are estimated by some sources at as high as 1.5 million (July 2009). [6] Refugees of the 1948 Palestinian exodus and their descendants made up 85% of the population as of March 2003. [7]\n6.Sierra Leone\nSierra Leone ( [sieɪrə liˈoːn] ), officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa . It is bordered by Guinea in the north, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi) [4] and has a population estimated at 6.4 million. The country is a constitutional republic comprising three provinces and the Western Area , which are further divided into fourteen districts .\nThe country has a tropical climate , with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests . [5] Freetown is the capital, largest city and economic center. [4] . English is the official language , [6] spoken at schools , government administration and by the media . However, the Krio language (a language derived from English and several African languages and native to the Sierra Leone Krio people ) is the most widely spoken language in virtually all parts of the country. The Krio language is spoken by 97% of the country's population [2] and unites all the different ethnic groups , especially in their trade and interaction with each other. [1] Despite its common use throughout the country, the Krio language has no official status. In December 2002, Sierra Leone’s President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah named Bengali as an \"official language\" in recognition of the work of 5,300 troops from Bangladesh in the peace-keeping force. [7] [8]\nThe Sierra Leone government officially recognizes fifteen ethnic groups , [9] each with its own language and customs. The two largest and most influential are the Mende and Temne peoples, with each comprising 30% of the population.[ citation needed ]\nSierra Leone is very rich in minerals and has relied on mining , especially diamonds, for its economic base. The country is among the top 10 diamond producing nations in the world, and mineral exports remain the main foreign currency earner. Sierra Leone also claims to be home to the third largest natural harbour in the world, the Queen Elizabeth II Quay (also known as the QE II Quay and locally as the Deep Water Quay or Government Warf) [10] [11] .\nEarly inhabitants of Sierra Leone included the Sherbro , Temne and Limba , and Tyra [ disambiguation needed ] peoples, and later the Mende , [12] who knew the country as Romarong, and the Kono who settled in the East of the country. [13] In 1462, it was visited by the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra , who gave it its name Serra de Leão, meaning 'Lion Mountains'. [14] [15] Sierra Leone later became an important centre of the transatlantic trade in slaves until 1792 when Freetown was founded by the Sierra Leone Company as a home for formerly enslaved African Americans . [16] In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown Colony , and in 1896, the interior of the country became a British Protectorate ; [13] in 1961, the two combined and gained independence .\nOver two decades of government neglect of the interior followed by the spilling over of the Liberian conflict into its borders eventually led to the Sierra Leone Civil War , [17] which began in 1991 and was resolved in 2000 after the struggling Nigerian led United Nations troops were heavily reinforced by a British force spearheaded by 42 Commando of the Royal Marines as well as several British Army units. The arrival of this force in what was codenamed OPERATION PALLISER resulted in the defeat of rebel forces and restored the civilian government elected in 1998 to Freetown. Since then, almost 72,500 former combatants have been disarmed [18] and the country has reestablished a functioning democracy . [2] The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002 to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 1996. [19] Sierra Leone is the third-lowest-ranked country on the Human Development Index and seventh-lowest on the Human Poverty Index , suffering from endemic corruption [20] and suppression of the press . [21]\n7.Suriname\nSuriname [5] ( Dutch : Suriname; Sarnami : शर्नम् Sarnam, Sranan Tongo : Sranangron), officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America .\nSuriname is situated between French Guiana to the east and Guyana to the west. The southern border is shared with Brazil and the northern border is the Atlantic coast. The southernmost borders with French Guiana and Guyana are disputed along the Marowijne and Corantijn rivers, respectively; while a part of the disputed maritime boundary with Guyana was arbitrated by the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea on September 20, 2007.\nSuriname is the smallest sovereign state in terms of area and population in South America. The country is the only Dutch-speaking region in the Western Hemisphere that is not a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . Suriname has a typical multicultural society with extreme ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity. Suriname's geographical size is just under 165,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of about 470,000 people. About a quarter of the population live on less than US$ 2 a day. [6]\n8.Mozambique\nMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique ( Portuguese : Moçambique or República de Moçambique,\npronounced \n[ʁɛˈpublikɐ di musɐ̃ˈbiki] ), is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest.\nThe area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonized by Portugal in 1505. Mozambique became independent in 1975, to which it became the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly after, and was the scene of an intense civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992. The country was named Moçambique by the Portuguese after the Island of Mozambique , derived from Musa Al Big or Mossa Al Bique or Mussa Ben Mbiki, an Arab trader who first visited the island and later lived there.\nMozambique is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Commonwealth of Nations and an observer of the Francophonie . Mozambique's life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst ranked in the world due to the excessive malaria carrying mosquitoes . Its Human Development Index is one of the lowest on earth .\n9.Angola\nAngola, officially the Republic of Angola ( Portuguese : República de Angola,\npronounced \n[ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈɡɔlɐ] ; Kongo : Repubilika ya Ngola), is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean . The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nAngola was a Portuguese overseas territory from the 16th century to 1975. After independence, Angola was the scene of an intense civil war from 1975 to 2002 . The country is the second-largest petroleum and diamond producer in sub-Saharan Africa; however, its life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst ranked in the world [3] . In August 2006, a peace treaty was signed with a faction of the FLEC , a separatist guerrilla group from the Cabinda exclave in the North, which is still active. [4] About 65% of Angola's oil comes from that region.\n10.Nigeria\nNigeria (pronounced /naɪˈdʒɪəriə/ ), officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and its Federal Capital Territory , Abuja . The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean . The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa , Igbo and Yoruba . In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religions.\nThe people of Nigeria have an extensive history . Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BC. [4] The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium .\nThe name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw , the future wife of Baron Lugard , a British colonial administrator, in the late 19th century.\nNigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the eighth most populous country in the world , and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is ' black '. It is listed among the \" Next Eleven \" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world , with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. [5] [6] [7] [8] It is the second largest economy in Africa , and is a regional power that is also the hegemon in West Afri\n11.Swaziland\nThe Kingdom of Swaziland (Umbuso weSwatini), sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa , and to the east by Mozambique . The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II .\nSwaziland is a small country, no more than 200 km north to south and 130 km east to west. The western half is mountainous, descending to a lowveld region to the east. The eastern border with Mozambique and South Africa is dominated by the escarpment of the Lebombo Mountains . The climate is temperate in the west, but may reach 40 degrees in summer in the lowveld. Rainfall occurs mainly in the summer and may reach 2 m in the west.\nThe area that Swaziland now covers has been continuously inhabited since prehistory. Today, the population is primarily ethnic Swazis whose language is siSwati , though English is spoken as a second language. The Swazi people descend from the southern Bantu who migrated from Central Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Anglo Boer war saw Britain make Swaziland a protectorate under its direct control. Swaziland gained independence in 1968. Swaziland is a member of the Southern African Development Community , the African Union , and the Commonwealth of Nations . The head of state is the king, who appoints the prime minister and a small number of representatives for both chambers of parliament. Elections are held every five years to determine the majority of the representatives. A new constitution was adopted in 2005.\nSwaziland's economy is dominated by the service industry, manufacturing and agriculture. Some 75% of the population are employed in subsistence farming, and 60% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day. [3] Swaziland's main trading partner is South Africa, and its currency is pegged to the South African rand.\nSwaziland's economic growth and societal integrity is highly endangered by its disastrous HIV epidemic, to an extent where the United Nations Development Program has written that if it continues unabated, the \"longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened.\" [4] The infection rate in the country is unprecedented and the highest in the world at 26.1% of adults [5] and over 50% of adults in their 20s. [4]\n12.Burundi\nBurundi (pronounced [buˈɾundi] ), officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its size is just under 28,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,700,000. Its capital is Bujumbura . Although the country is landlocked , much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika .\nThe Twa , Tutsi , and Hutu peoples have occupied Burundi since the country's formation five centuries ago. Burundi was ruled as a kingdom by the Tutsi for over two hundred years. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Germany and Belgium occupied the region, and Burundi and Rwanda became a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi .\nPolitical unrest occurred throughout the region because of social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, provoking civil war in Burundi throughout the middle twentieth century. Presently, Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic. Sixty-two percent of Burundians are Roman Catholic , eight to ten percent are Muslims and the rest follow indigenous beliefs and other Christian denominations.\nBurundi is one of the ten poorest countries in the world . It has the lowest per capita GDP of any nation in the world. [4] Burundi has a low gross domestic product largely due to civil wars, corruption, poor access to education, and the effects of HIV/AIDS. Burundi is densely populated, with substantial emigration . Cobalt and copper are among Burundi's natural resources. Some of Burundi's main exports include coffee and sugar.\n13.Tajikistan\nTajikistan (pronounced /təˈdʒɪkɨstæn/ or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/; Тоҷикистон\nIPA: \n[tɔd͡ʒikɪsˈtɔn] ), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( Tajik : Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia . Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor .\nMost of Tajikistan's population belongs to the Persian-speaking Tajik ethnic group, who share language, culture and history with Afghanistan and Iran . Once part of the Samanid Empire , Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR). Mountains cover over 90% of this Central Asian republic.\nAfter independence, Tajikistan suffered from a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. Trade in commodities such as cotton and aluminium wire has contributed greatly to this steady improvement. In Tajikistan about 20% of the population lives on less than US$1.25 per day. [7]\n14.Bolivia\nBolivia, officially The Plurinational State of Bolivia, [7] [8] is a landlocked country in central South America . It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west. Prior to European colonization, the Bolivian territory was a part of the Inca Empire , which was the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called \"Upper Peru\" or \"Charcas\" and was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of Spain's South American colonies. After declaring independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on August 6, 1825. Bolivia has struggled through periods of political instability, dictatorships and economic woes.\nBolivia is a democratic republic, divided into nine departments. Its geography is varied from the peaks of the Andes in the west, to the eastern lowlands, situated within the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country, with a medium Human Development Index score, and a poverty level around 60%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, and fishing, mining and manufacturing goods such as textiles, clothing, refined metals, and refined petroleum. Bolivia is very wealthy in minerals especially tin .\nThe Bolivian population, estimated at 9 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians and Africans. The main language spoken is Spanish, although the Aymara and Quechua languages are also common. The large number of different cultures within Bolivia has contributed greatly to a wide diversity in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.\n15.Rwanda\n[ɾɡwanda] ), known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, is a landlocked country located in the Great Lakes region of eastern-central Africa , bordered by Uganda , Burundi , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania .\nAlthough close to the equator , the country has a cool temperate climate due to its high elevation. The terrain consists mostly of grassy uplands and gently rolling hills. Abundant wildlife, including rare mountain gorillas , have resulted in tourism becoming one of the biggest sectors of the country's economy.\nRwanda has received considerable international attention due to its 1994 genocide , in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed. [4] Since then the country has made a recovery and is now considered as a model for developing countries. In 2009 A CNN report labeled Rwanda as Africa's biggest success story, having achieved stability, economic growth (average income has tripled in the past ten years) and international integration. [5] The government is widely seen as one of the more efficient and honest ones in Africa. Fortune magazine published an article recently titled \"Why CEOs Love Rwanda.\" [6] The capital, Kigali , is the first city in Africa to be bestowed with the Habitat Scroll of Honor Award in the recognition of its \"cleanliness, security and urban conservation model.\" [7] In 2008, Rwanda became the first country to elect a national legislature in which a majority of members were women. [8] Rwanda is, as of November 2009, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , making the country one of only two in the Commonwealth without a British colonial past . [9]\n16.Congo\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo ( French : République démocratique du Congo), known until 1997 as Zaire , is a country located in Central Africa , with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country (by area) in Africa . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is, with the population more than 68 million, the eighteenth most populous nation in the world, and the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous country where French is an official language . In order to distinguish it from the neighbouring Republic of the Congo , the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as DR Congo, DROC, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo- Brazzaville for its neighbour).\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo was formerly, in order, the Congo Free State , Belgian Congo , Congo-Léopoldville , Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire (Zaïre in French). Though it is located in the Central African UN subregion , the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo borders the Central African Republic and Sudan to the north; Uganda , Rwanda , and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Republic of the Congo to the west; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika in the east. [1] The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (24.9 mi) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometre wide mouth of the Congo River which opens into the Gulf of Guinea .\nThe Second Congo War , beginning in 1998, devastated the country, involved seven foreign armies and is sometimes referred to as the \"African World War\". [4] Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. In eastern Congo, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. [5] The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II , killing 5.4 million people. [6] [7]\n17.Guatemala\nGuatemala ( Spanish : República de Guatemala,\nSpanish pronunciation: \n[reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala] ) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its area is 108,890 km² (42,043 mi²) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.\nA representative democracy , its capital is Guatemala City . Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica 's designation as a biodiversity hotspot . [3]\n18.Malawi\nThe Republic of Malawi (pronounced /məˈlɑːwi/ ; Chichewa [malaβi] [ need tone ]) is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland . It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi . Its size is over 118,000 km2 (45,560 sq mi) with an estimated population of more than 13,900,000. Its capital is Lilongwe , the biggest city is Blantyre . The name Malawi comes from the Maravi , an old name of the Nyanja people that inhabit the area.\nMalawi was first settled during the 10th century and remained under native rule until 1891 when it was colonized by the British , who ruled the country until 1964. Upon gaining independence it became a single-party state under the presidency of Hastings Banda , who remained president until 1994, when he was ousted from power. Bingu Mutharika , elected in 2004, is the current president. Malawi has a democratic , multi-party government . Malawi has a small military force that includes an army , a navy and an air wing . Malawi's foreign policy is pro-Western and includes positive diplomatic relations with most countries and participation in several international organizations .\nMalawi is among the world's least developed and most densely populated countries . The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population. The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000. The Malawian government faces challenges in growing the economy, improving education, health care and the environmental protection and becoming financially independent. Malawi has several programs developed since 2005 that focus on these issues, and the country's outlook appears to be improving, with improvements in economic growth, education and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008.\nMalawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality . There is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS , which is a drain on the labor force and government expenditures, and is expected to have a significant impact on gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010. There is a diverse population of native peoples , Asians and Europeans , with several languages spoken and an array of religious beliefs. Although there was tribal conflict in the past, by 2008 it had diminished considerably and the concept of a Malawian nationality had begun to form. Malawi has a culture combining native and colonial aspects, including sports, art, dance and music.\n19.Senegal\nSenegal ( French : le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal (République du Sénégal), is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa .It owes its name to the river that borders it to the East and North and that originates from the Fouta Djallon in Guinea . Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds The Gambia , namely on the north, east and south, exempting Gambia's short Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 km², and has an estimated population of about 13.7 million.The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.\nDakar the capital city of Senegal,is located to the westernmost tip of the country, about 300 miles away the Cape Verde Island, off the Atlantic Ocean. During colonial times, a lot of trading Counters, belonging to various colonial empires were established along the coast.The town of St Louis became the capital of French Western Africa( Afrique Occidentale Francaise or AOF) before it was moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France.\n20.Sao Tome and Principe\nSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea , off the western equatorial coast of Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe , located about 140 kilometres (87 mi) apart and about 250 and 225 kilometres (155 and 140 mi), respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon . Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range . São Tomé, the sizable southern island, is situated just north of the equator . It was named in honour of Saint Thomas by Portuguese explorers who happened to arrive at the island on his feast day .\nSão Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest African country in terms of population (the Seychelles being the smallest). It is the smallest country in the world that is not a former British overseas territory , a former United States trusteeship , or one of the European microstates . It is also the smallest Portuguese -speaking country.\nThe name in Portuguese, São Tomé e Príncipe, is pronounced [sɐ̃ũ tuˈmɛ i ˈpɾĩsɨpɨ] . Pronunciation of São Tomé and Príncipe in English varies, with dictionaries citing the most common pronunciations as /ˌsaʊ toʊˈmeɪ ən ˈprɪnsɨpə/\n-sə-pay .\n21.Afghanistan\nThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South - Central Asia . It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, Western Asia , or the Middle East . It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.\nAfghanistan has a long history, and has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and migration . It is an important geostrategic location, connecting East and West Asia or the Middle East. The land has been a target of various invaders, as well as a source from which local powers invaded neighboring regions to form their own empires. Ahmad Shah Durrani created the Durrani Empire in 1747, which is considered the beginning of modern Afghanistan. Its capital was shifted in 1776 from Kandahar to Kabul and most of its territories ceded to neighboring empires. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in \" The Great Game \" played between the British Empire and Russian Empire .\n22.Honduras\nHonduras ( Spanish : República de Honduras,\npronounced \n[reˈpuβlika ðe onˈduɾas] ) is a republic in Central America . It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras (now Belize ). [4] The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala , to the southwest by El Salvador , to the southeast by Nicaragua , to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca , and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras , a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea .\nIts size is just over 112,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,000,000. Its capital is Tegucigalpa . [5]\n23.Kenya\nThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa . Lying along the Indian Ocean , at the equator , Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia (north), Somalia (northeast), Tanzania (south), Uganda plus Lake Victoria (west), and Sudan (northwest). The capital city is Nairobi . The population has grown rapidly in recent decades to nearly 38 million. Kenya has numerous wildlife reserves, containing thousands of animal species.\nThe country is named after Mount Kenya , a significant landmark and the second among the highest mountain peaks of Africa , [4] [5] and both were originally usually pronounced /ˈkiːnjə/ [6] in English, though the native pronunciation and the one intended by the original transcription Kenia was [ˈkɛnja] . [7] During the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta in the 1960s, the current English pronunciation of /ˈkɛnjə/ became widespread because his name retained the native pronunciation. [8] Before 1920, the area now known as Kenya was known as the British East Africa Protectorate and so there was no need to mention mount when referring to the mountain. [4]\n24.Namibia\nNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia ( Afrikaans Republiek van Namibië, German : Republik Namibia), is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean . It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990 following the Namibian War of Independence . Its capital and largest city is Windhoek ( German : Windhuk).\nNamibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the Commonwealth of Nations and many other international organisations. It has been given many names: the land of contrasts, the land God made in anger, the ageless land. For many years it was known only as South West Africa , but it adopted the name Namibia, after the Namib Desert . It is the second least densely populated country in the world, after Mongolia .\nThe dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by Bushmen , Damara , Namaqua , and since about the 14th century AD, by immigrating Bantu who came with the Bantu expansion . It was visited by the British and Dutch missionaries during the late 18th century. It was also visited by Dorsland trekkers (also known as Junker Boers) in 1879, [3] but became a German Imperial protectorate in 1884. In 1920, the League of Nations mandated the country to South Africa, which imposed their laws and from 1948, their apartheid policy.\nIn 1966, uprisings and demands by African leaders led the United Nations to assume direct responsibility over the territory, and recognizing South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) as official representative of the Namibian people in 1973. Namibia, however, remained under South African administration during this time. Following internal violence, South Africa installed an interim administration in Namibia in 1985. Namibia obtained full independence from South Africa in 1990 (with the exception of Walvis Bay - a city that remained under South African control until 1994). The country also officially changed its name from South West Africa to Namibia in 1990.\nNamibia has a population of 2.1 million people and a stable multiparty parliamentary democracy . Agriculture , herding , tourism and mining of precious stones and metals form the backbone of Namibia's economy . Approximately half the population live below the international poverty line of U.S.$1.25 a day, [4] and the nation has suffered heavily from the effects of HIV/AIDS , with 15% of the adult population infected with HIV in 2007. [5]\n25.Ethiopia\nEthiopia (pronounced /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/ ) ( ʾĪtyōṗṗyā), a landlocked state in the Horn of Africa , is one of the most ancient countries in the world.[ citation needed ] Officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, it is the second most populous nation in Africa with over 79.2 million people [5] and the tenth largest by area. The capital is Addis Ababa . Ethiopia is bordered by Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, Eritrea to the north and Sudan to the west.\nThough most African countries are far less than a century old[ citation needed ], Ethiopia has been an independent country since ancient times. A monarchical state for most of its history, the Ethiopian dynasty traces its roots to the 10th century BC. [6] Besides being an ancient country, Ethiopia is one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today—having yielded some of humanity's oldest traces, [7] it might be the place where Homo sapiens first set out for the Middle East and points beyond. [8] [9] [10] When Africa was divided up by European powers at the Berlin Conference , Ethiopia was one of only two countries that retained its independence . It was one of only three African members of the League of Nations , and after a brief period of Italian occupation , Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations . When other African nations received their independence following World War II , many of them adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag , and Addis Ababa became the location of several international organizations focused on Africa.\nThe Modern Ethiopian state, and its current borders, are a result of significant territorial reduction in the north and expansion in the south, toward its present borders, owing to several migrations and commercial integration as well as conquests, particularly by Emperor Menelik II and Ras Gobena . In 1974, the dynasty led by Haile Selassie was overthrown as civil wars intensified. Since then, Ethiopia has been a secular state with a variety of governmental systems. Ethiopia is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), G-77 and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Today, Addis Ababa is still the site of the headquarters of the African Union and [11] UNECA . The country has one of the most powerful militaries in Africa. Ethiopia is the only African country with its own alphabet. [12] Ethiopia also has its own time system and unique calendar, seven to eight years behind the Gregorian Calendar. It has the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. [13]\nThe country is a land of natural contrasts, with spectacular waterfalls and volcanic hot springs. Ethiopia has some of Africa's highest mountains as well as some of the world's lowest points below sea level. The largest cave in Africa is located in Ethiopia at Sof Omar , and the country's northernmost area at Dallol is one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth. There are altogether around 80 different ethnic groups in Ethiopia today, with the two largest being the Oromo and the Amhara , both of which speak Afro-Asiatic languages . The country is also famous for its Olympic gold medalists, rock-hewn churches and as the place where the coffee bean originated. Currently, Ethiopia is the top coffee and honey-producing country in Africa, and home to the largest livestock population in Africa.\nEthiopia has close historical ties to all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions . It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. It still has a Christian majority, but a third of the population is Muslim . Ethiopia is the site of the first hijra in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash . Until the 1980s, a substantial population of Ethiopian Jews resided in Ethiopia. The country is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari religious movement , which is influenced by Pan-Africanism . Ethiopia is the source of over 85% of the total Nile waters flow but it underwent a series of tragic famines in the 1980s, exacerbated by adverse geopolitics and civil wars, resulting in perhaps a million deaths. Slowly, however, the country has begun to recover, and today Ethiopia has the biggest economy in East Africa (GDP) [14] as the Ethiopian economy is also one of the fastest growing in the world and it is a regional powerhouse in the Horn and east Africa. [15] [16] [17] [18]\n26.Madagascar\nMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic, French : République malgache), is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa . The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world , and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to Madagascar.[ citation needed ] They include the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa , three bird families and six baobab species. Two thirds of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. [4]\n27.Eritrea\nEritrea (pronounced /ˌɛrɪˈtreɪə/ , /ˌɛrɪˈtriːə/ ) [4] ( Arabic : إرتريا Iritriya), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa . It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea , directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen . The Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands are part of Eritrea. Its size is just under 118,000 km2 (45,560 sq mi) with an estimated population of 5 million. The capital is Asmara .\n28.South Africa\nThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa , with a 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) coastline [7] [8] on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans . [9] To the north lie Namibia , Botswana and Zimbabwe ; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland ; while Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory. [10] Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for more than 100,000 years. At the time of European contact, the dominant indigenous peoples were tribes who had migrated from other parts of Africa about one thousand years before. From the 4th-5th century CE , Bantu -speaking tribes had steadily moved south, where they displaced, conquered and assimilated original Khoikhoi and San peoples of southern Africa. At the time of European contact, the two major groups were the Xhosa and Zulu peoples.\nIn 1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the Cape Sea Route, the Dutch East India Company founded a refreshment station at what would become Cape Town . [11] Cape Town became a British colony in 1806. European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers (original Dutch , Flemish , German and French settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose among the Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaner groups who competed for territory.\nThe discovery of diamonds and later gold triggered the 19th-century conflict known as the Anglo-Boer War , as the Boers and the British fought for the control of the South African mineral wealth. Although the British defeated the Boers, they gave limited independence to South Africa in 1910 as a British dominion. Within the country, anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation were enacted to control the settlement and movement of native people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws . [12] [13] [14] Power was held by the European colonists.\nIn the Boer republics, [15] from as early as the Pretoria Convention (chapter XXVI), [16] and subsequent South African governments, the system became legally institutionalised segregation , later known as apartheid . The government established three classes of racial stratification: white , coloured , and black , with rights and restrictions for each.\nSouth Africa achieved the status of a republic in 1961. Despite opposition both in and outside of the country, the government legislated for a continuation of apartheid. As the 20th century went on, some Western nations and institutions began to boycott doing business with the country because of its racial policies and oppression of civil rights . After years of internal protests, activism and insurgency by black South Africans and their allies, finally in 1990, the South African government began negotiations that led to dismantling of discriminative laws, and democratic elections in 1994 . The country then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations .\nSouth Africa is known for a diversity in cultures, languages, and religious beliefs. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution . [9] English , despite having a large role in public and commercial life, is only the fifth most-spoken home language. [9] South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest European , Indian , and racially mixed communities in Africa. Although 79.5% of the South African population is black, [4] the people are from a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages , nine of which have official status. [9] About a quarter of the population is unemployed [17] and lives on less than US $1.25 a day. [18]\nSouth Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union , and has the largest economy of all the members. It is also a founding member of the United Nations and NEPAD . South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , Antarctic Treaty System , Group of 77 , South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone , Southern African Customs Union , World Trade Organization , International Monetary Fund , G20 and G8+5 .\n29.Colombia\nColombia (pronounced /kəˈlʌmbiə/ ), officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish : República de Colombia,\npronounced \n ( listen )\n), is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America . Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela [7] and Brazil ; [8] to the south by Ecuador and Peru ; [9] to the north by the Caribbean Sea ; to the northwest by Panama ; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean . Colombia also shares maritime borders with Jamaica , Haiti , the Dominican Republic , Honduras , Nicaragua and Costa Rica . [10] [11] With a population of nearly 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil . Colombia has the third largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico and Spain.\nThe territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous nations including the Muisca , Quimbaya , and Tairona . The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization killing or taking as slaves almost 90% of that native population, and then creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada (comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the northwest region of Brazil and Panama) with its capital in Bogotá . [12] Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 \" Gran Colombia \" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada . The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. [2] Panama seceded in 1903 under pressure to fulfill financial responsibilities towards the United States government to build the Panama Canal.\nColombia has a long tradition of constitutional government. The Liberal and Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849 respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. However, tensions between the two have frequently erupted into violence, most notably in the Thousand Days War (1899–1902) and La Violencia , beginning in 1948. Since the 1960s, government forces , left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries have been engaged in the continent's longest-running armed conflict . Fuelled by the cocaine trade , this escalated dramatically in the 1980s. However, the insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government, and in the recent decade (2000s) the violence has decreased significantly. Many paramilitary groups have demobilized as part of a controversial peace process with the government, and the guerrillas have lost control in many areas where they once dominated. [2] Meanwhile Colombia's homicide rate , for many years one of the highest in Latin America, has almost halved since 2002. [13]\nColombia is a standing middle power [14] with the fourth largest economy in Latin America and a major impact of poverty. It is very ethnically diverse, and the interaction between descendants of the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans brought as slaves and twentieth-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's varied geography. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains , but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest , tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia is one of the world's 18 megadiverse countries (the most biodiverse per unit area). [15]\n30.Lesotho\n ( listen )\n), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave —entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa . It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size with an estimated population of almost 1,800,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru . Lesotho is the southernmost landlocked country in the world. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . The name \"Lesotho\" translates roughly into \"the land of the people who speak Sesotho \". [4] About 40% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. [5]\nCreate a free website","Trekking In Nepal | Trek Nepal - W-Adventures Nepal\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal ... The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point.\nTrekking In Nepal | Trek Nepal - W-Adventures Nepal\nTrekking In Nepal\nSearch by keywords\nMount Everest, Nepal\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level and is the 5th furthest summit from the center of Earth. The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point. Its massif includes neighboring peaks Lhotse, 8,516 m (27,940 ft); Nuptse, 7,855 m (25,771 ft) and Changtse, 7,580 m (24,870 ft).\nPanoramic View, Nepal\nNepal is a beautiful landlocked country with huge white smiling mountains, green hills, flora-fauna, rivers, culture etc. It is a small paradise for the people who loves nature and natural resources.\nPotala Palace, Tibet\nTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas, in China. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 meters (16,000 ft).\n \nTashichoedzong, Bhutan\nBhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, who was fleeing religious persecution in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later, in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, based on a global survey, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world.\nTaj Mahal, India\nBhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, who was fleeing religious persecution in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later, in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, based on a global survey, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in India officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.sia and the eighth-happiest in the world.\nAbout Nepal Trek\nNepal officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 27 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Specifically, the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim border Nepal, whereas across the Himalayas lies the Tibet Autonomous Region. Nepal is separated from Bangladesh by the narrow Indian Siliguri Corridor. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and largest metropolis.\nThe mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in the Nepali language. More than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level are located in Nepal. The southern Terai region is fertile and humid.\nHinduism is practiced by about 81.3% of Nepalis, making it the country with the highest percentage of Hindus. Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal and is practiced by 9%, Islam by 4.4%, Kiratism 3.1%, Christianity 1.4%, and animism 0.4% [citation needed]. A large portion of the population, especially in the hill region, may identify themselves as both Hindu and Buddhist, which can be attributed to the synergetic nature of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal.\nA monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768 - when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms until 2008. A decade-long Civil War involving the Communist Party of Nepal and several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties led to the 12-point agreement of 22 November 2005. The ensuing elections for the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly on 28 May 2008 overwhelmingly favored the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a federal multiparty representative democratic republic.\nThe political parties of Nepal agreed to form an interim government under the leadership of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi in order to hold elections for the Constituent Assembly by 19 November 2013 to end a political deadlock. The election was held successfully and the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly was sworn in, with Sushil Koirala appointed as the new prime minister.\nIn 2014, Nepal ranked 145th of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) and despite several challenges, Nepal has been making steady progress and the Government of Nepal have made commitment to help the nation to graduate towards one of the more developed nations by 2022.","The Largest Countries in the World - WorldAtlas.com\nThe Largest Countries in ... The massive Algerian Sahara extends all the way to the south of the country past its borders with ... The largest country in South ...\nThe Largest Countries in the World - WorldAtlas.com\nThe Largest Countries in the World\nThe worlds largest nations, measured in square kilometers of land area.\nRolling Hills and Vast Vistas in Tuscany, Italy\nFrom Cape Horn all the way to the Arctic Circle, the world’s largest countries provide a beautiful snapshot of the variety of geography, climate and wildlife on the planet. Collectively, the world’s largest countries contain rainforest and tundra, mountains and valleys, coastline and desert.\nAs this we explore the largest nations, we visit five different continents, some of the world’s most spectacular geography, and every type of climate imaginable.\nExcitingly, it’s always changing, too: history has taught that geopolitical boundaries shift dramatically as centuries pass. In the next decades, who’s to say which countries will become the world’s largest?\nWhen 11.5 percent of all the land in the entire world is claimed by just one country, it’s not surprising to learn that the tenth largest country ( Algeria ) could fit into the largest ( Russia ) seven times over. When all 10 of the world's largest countries are taken together, they total 49% of the earth's entire 149 million square kilometres of land.\n10 – Algeria\nThe Algerian Sahara, the largest expanse of Saharan dessert\nAlgeria , at 2.38 million square kilometers, is the tenth-largest country in the world by area and the only African country in the top 10.\nSituated in Northern Africa, Algeria has a Mediterranean coastline 998 km long. 90 percent of the country is desert, and much of its desert regions are highly elevated. The Tell Atlas mountain range runs along the country’s northern border, while the interior, much of it hundreds of meters above sea level, contains the Algerian portion of the Sahara desert. The massive Algerian Sahara extends all the way to the south of the country past its borders with Niger and Mali .\n9 – Kazakhstan\nKazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country\nKazakhstan’s 2.72 million square kilometers stretch over vast plains and highlands. A cool and dry, but not quite desert-like, climate prevails for most of the year. Kazakhstanis experience a great range of temperatures throughout the year, though it doesn’t get as cold in Kazakhstan as it does in parts of its northern neighbor, Russia .\nFormerly part of the USSR, the largest nation in the world for most of the 20th century, Kazakhstan’s current main claim to fame is its status as the largest landlocked country in the world—and the only landlocked country in the top 10.\n8 – Argentina\nMount Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Argentina\nArgentina , the world’s 32nd most populous country, is the world’s eighth largest, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world by area. Its 2.78 million square kilometers include some of the most varied geography and climate in the world.\nSwampy, tropical conditions in the very north give way to freezing glacial regions in the south. Patagonia, one of the most spectacular and dangerous places on the planet, stretches from the southern Andes in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. The southern tip of Argentina, known as Cape Horn, is one of the stormiest locations on the globe.\n6 – Australia\nThe Twelve Apostles, Victoria State, Australia\nThe approximately 4.4 million square kilometer difference between Australia and India represents the second-largest size difference between countries ranked consecutively in the top 10. Australia, at around 7.69 million square kilometers, is over twice the size of India .\nIt’s the largest country in Oceania by far. Technically it is so large that it doesn’t even qualify as an island, it is a continental landmass.\nThe vast majority of its population live in coastal cities like Sydney in the east and Perth in the west, and with good reason: the Australian Outback is one of the world’s driest and hottest regions. Along with extreme climate and geography, Australia is known for its spectacular—and often deadly—wildlife.\n5 – Brazil\nCopacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil\nThe largest country in South America at over 8.51 million square kilometers, Brazil plays home to much of the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon. The Amazon is so dense and vast that explorers and scientists have found human civilizations within—small tribes—that had never made contact with the outside world. Even still, these same experts believe there may be more undiscovered tribes living there unfound still.\nBrazil also has a lengthy Atlantic coastline on the eastern side, which stretches approximately 8,000 km. Most of its major cities, including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, were built along this coastline, detouring the thick Amazon jungle.\n4 – People’s Republic of China\nThe Great Wall of China stretches along a long stretch of the northern border of China\nChina , the United States of America , and Canada each occupy just under seven percent of the globe’s surface. Of these three, China is the smallest—just barely—at approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. It shares a border with 14 different countries, including Afghanistan to the east, Russia to the north, and Vietnam to the south.\nIts climate and its people vary dramatically. In the north, temperatures drop to subarctic levels, the center of the nation holds the Gobi, the world’s 4th largest desert, and in the south temperatures reach tropical levels regularly. With over 1.35 billion citizens, China is home to 56 recognized ethnic groups, has the world’s 18th largest Muslim population, the 19th largest Christian population, and with 1.9 doctors per 1000 people, China has more doctors than the entire population of Qatar .\n3 – United States of America\nLong meandering rivers of North Dakota cut through plains and canyons\nThe United States , just bigger than China but slightly smaller than Canada , occupies 9.63 million square kilometers. Bordered by Mexico to the south, and Canada to the north, the United States is home to a diverse array of geography and wildlife.\nTwo North-South features split the nation into three distinct pieces. West of the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific states are known for year round temperate weather and long expanses of beach along the California coast. Sandwiched between the Rockies and the Mississippi River, the great plains stretch from Canada to Mexico, giving the United States one of the world's most fertile growing areas. Lastly, the third of the nation east of the Mississippi is the industrial and economic hub of America, with major cities spread all along the Eastern seaboard.\n2 – Canada\nThe vast wilderness of Canada is popular for outdoor activity\nCanada’s 9.984 million square kilometers make it the largest country in the western hemisphere, and its 202,080 kilometer coastline means that it has a longer shoreline than any other nation. With a population density of 4 people per square kilometer, this means that each of Canada's 35 million people could have 61 acres for themselves.\nPositioned between the Arctic and the United States, Canada’s massive frozen tundra extends into the Arctic Circle. Split similar to the USA; in the western half of the country, the Rocky Mountains run north to south, and prairies provide huge grain and canola growing areas. Eastern Canada is the traditional heart of the nation, with Toronto, Montreal, and the national capital of Ottawa, all located in the East.\n1 – Russia\nThe Trans-Siberian Railroad is the world's longest railroad\nRussia’s 17.1 million square kilometres easily make it the world’s largest by area. In fact, if Russia were to lop off 7 million square kilometers, it would still be the largest—and the lopped-off section would rank seventh overall!\nLike China , Russia borders 14 different countries. Unlike China, none of Russia is tropical, though humid summers prevail in much of southern Russia. The Taiga, the world’s largest terrestrial biome, extends all the way from Eastern Canada throughout the vast majority of northern Russia. Massive oil reserves exist underneath Russia’s frozen forests and tundra; however, due to the expense and difficulty of extracting it, much of Russia’s oil wealth remains untapped.\n50 Largest Countries in the World By Area\nRank","Monarchy.txt\nMonarchy\nA monarchy is a form of government in which a group, usually a family called the dynasty, embodies the country's national identity and one of its members, called the monarch, exercises a role of sovereignty. The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolical (crowned republic) to partial and restricted (constitutional monarchy) to completely despotic (absolute monarchy). Traditionally and in most cases, the monarch's post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, but there are also elective monarchies where the monarch is elected. Each of these has variations: in some elected monarchies only those of certain pedigrees are eligible, whereas many hereditary monarchies impose requirements regarding the religion, age, gender, mental capacity, and other factors. Occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a monarch's reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved: an invasion being repulsed, for instance. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy.\n\nMonarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Where it exists, it is now usually a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch retains a unique legal and ceremonial role, but exercises limited or no official political power: under the written or unwritten constitution, others have governing authority. Currently, 44 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. All European monarchies are constitutional ones, with the exception of the Vatican City which is an elective monarchy, but sovereigns in the smaller states exercise greater political influence than in the larger. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia \"reign, but do not rule\" although there is considerable variation in the degree of authority they wield. Although they reign under constitutions, the monarchs of Brunei, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland appear to continue to exercise more political influence than any other single source of authority in their nations, either by constitutional mandate or by tradition.\n\nEtymology \n\nThe word \"monarch\" () comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs (from μόνος monos, \"one, singular\", and ἄρχω árkhō, \"to rule\" (compare ἄρχων arkhon, \"leader, ruler, chief\")) which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word monarchy usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule, as elective monarchies are rare nowadays.\n\nHistory \n\n \nTribal kingship is often connected to sacral functions, so that the king acts as a priest, or is considered of Divine ancestry. The sacral function of kingship was transformed into the notion of \"Divine right of kings\" in the Christian Middle Ages, while the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period.\nSince antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where executive power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome (Roman Republic, 509 BC), and Athens (Athenian democracy, 500 BC).\n\nIn Germanic antiquity, kingship was primarily a sacral function, and the king was either directly hereditary for some tribes, while for others he was elected from among eligible members of royal families by the thing.\n\nSuch ancient \"parliamentarism\" declined during the European Middle Ages, but it survived in forms of regional assemblies, such as the Icelandic Commonwealth, the Swiss Landsgemeinde and later Tagsatzung, and the High Medieval communal movement linked to the rise of medieval town privileges.\n\nThe modern resurgence of parliamentarism and anti-monarchism began with the temporary overthrow of the English monarchy by the Parliament of England in 1649, followed by the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1792. One of many opponents of that trend was Elizabeth Dawbarn, whose anonymous Dialogue between Clara Neville and Louisa Mills, on Loyalty (1794) features \"silly Louisa, who admires liberty, Tom Paine and the USA, [who is] lectured by Clara on God's approval of monarchy\" and on the influence women can exert on men. Much of 19th century politics was characterized by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism.\n\nMany countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, especially in the wake of either World War I or World War II. Advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism.\n\nCharacteristics and role \n\nMonarchies are associated with political or sociocultural hereditary rule, in which monarchs rule for life (although some monarchs do not hold lifetime positions: for example, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia serves a five-year term) and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their child or another member of their family when they die. Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the center of the royal household and court. Growing up in a royal family (called a dynasty when it continues for several generations), future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule.\n\nDifferent systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority (Salic law). While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history; the term queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, while a queen consort refers to the wife of a reigning king. Rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. \n\nThe principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of leadership (as seen in the classic phrase \"The King is dead. Long live the King!\").\n\nSome monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected, or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period, but otherwise serve as any other monarch. Three elective monarchies exist today: Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are 20th-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient.\n\nA self-proclaimed monarchy is established when a person claims the monarchy without any historical ties to a previous dynasty. Napoleon I of France declared himself Emperor of the French and ruled the First French Empire after previously calling himself First Consul following his seizure of power in the coup of 18 Brumaire. Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic declared himself \"Emperor\" of the Central African Empire. Yuan Shikai crowned himself Emperor of the short-lived \"Empire of China\" a few years after the Republic of China was founded.\n\nPowers of the monarch \n\nToday, the extent of the monarch's powers varies:\n* In an absolute monarchy, the monarch rules as an autocrat, with absolute power over the state and government — for example, the right to rule by decree, promulgate laws, and impose punishments. Absolute monarchies are not necessarily authoritarian; the enlightened absolutists of the Age of Enlightenment were monarchs who allowed various freedoms.\n* In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is subject to a constitution. The monarch serves as a ceremonial figurehead symbol of national unity and state continuity. The monarch is nominally sovereign but the electorate, through their legislature, exercise (usually limited) political sovereignty. Constitutional monarchs have limited political power, except in Japan and Sweden, where the constitutions grant no power to their monarchs. Typical monarchical powers include granting pardons, granting honours, and reserve powers, e.g. to dismiss the prime minister, refuse to dissolve parliament, or veto legislation (\"withhold Royal Assent\"). They often also have privileges of inviolability, sovereign immunity, and an official residence. A monarch's powers and influence may depend on tradition, precedent, popular opinion, and law.\n* In other cases the monarch's power is limited, not due to constitutional restraints, but to effective military rule. In the late Roman Empire, the Praetorian Guard several times deposed Roman Emperors and installed new emperors. The Hellenistic kings of Macedon and of Epirus were elected by the army, which was similar in composition to the ecclesia of democracies, the council of all free citizens; military service was often linked with citizenship among the male members of the royal house. Military domination of the monarch has occurred in modern Thailand and in medieval Japan (where a hereditary military chief, the shogun, was the de facto ruler, although the Japanese emperor nominally ruled). In Fascist Italy the Savoy monarchy under King Victor Emmanuel III coexisted with the Fascist single-party rule of Benito Mussolini; Romania under the Iron Guard and Greece during the first months of the Colonels' regime were much the same way. Spain under Francisco Franco was officially a monarchy, although there was no monarch on the throne. Upon his death, Franco was succeeded as head of state by the Bourbon heir, Juan Carlos I, who proceeded to make Spain a democracy with himself as a figurehead constitutional monarch.\n\nPerson of monarch \n\nMost states only have a single person acting as monarch at any given time, although two monarchs have ruled simultaneously in some countries, a situation known as diarchy. Historically this was the case in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta or 17th-century Russia, and there are examples of joint sovereignty of spouses or relatives (such as William and Mary in the Kingdoms of England and Scotland). Other examples of joint sovereignty include Tsars Peter I and Ivan V of Russia, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Joanna of Castile of the Crown of Castile.\n\nAndorra currently is the world's sole constitutional diarchy or co-principality. Located in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, it has two co-princes: the Bishop of Urgell (a prince-bishop) in Spain and the President of France (inherited ex officio from the French kings, who themselves inherited the title from the counts of Foix). It is the only situation in which an independent country's (co-)monarch is democratically elected by the citizens of another country.\n\nIn a personal union, separate independent states share the same person as monarch, but each realm has its own crown or monarchy. The sixteen separate Commonwealth realms are sometimes described as being in a personal union with Queen Elizabeth II as monarch, however, they can also be described as being in a shared monarchy.\n\nA regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, absent, or debilitated.\n\nA pretender is a claimant to an abolished throne or to a throne already occupied by somebody else.\n\nAbdication is when a monarch resigns.\n\nMonarchs often take part in certain ceremonies, such as a coronation.\n\nRole of monarch \n\nMonarchy, especially absolute monarchy, sometimes is linked to religious aspects; many monarchs once claimed the right to rule by the will of a deity (Divine Right of Kings, Mandate of Heaven), a special connection to a deity (sacred king) or even purported to be divine kings, or incarnations of deities themselves (imperial cult). Many European monarchs have been styled Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith); some hold official positions relating to the state religion or established church.\n\nIn the Western political tradition, a morally-based, balanced monarchy is stressed as the ideal form of government, and little reverence is paid to modern-day ideals of egalitarian democracy: e.g. Saint Thomas Aquinas unapologetically declares: \"Tyranny is wont to occur not less but more frequently on the basis of polyarchy [rule by many, i.e. oligarchy or democracy] than on the basis of monarchy.\" (On Kingship). However, Thomas Aquinas also stated that the ideal monarchical system would also have at lower levels of government both an aristocracy and elements of democracy in order to create a balance of power. The monarch would also be subject to both natural and divine law, as well, and also be subject to the Church in matters of religion.\n\nIn Dante Alighieri's De Monarchia, a spiritualized, imperial Catholic monarchy is strongly promoted according to a Ghibelline world-view in which the \"royal religion of Melchizedek\" is emphasized against the sacerdotal claims of the rival papal ideology.\n\nIn Saudi Arabia, the king is a head of state who is both the absolute monarch of the country and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of Islam (خادم الحرمين الشريفين).\n––\n\nTitles of monarchs \n\nMonarchs can have various titles. Common European titles of monarchs are emperor or empress (from Latin: imperator or imperatrix), king or queen, grand duke or grand duchess, prince or princess, duke or duchess (in that hierarchical order of nobility). Some early modern European titles (especially in German states) included elector (German: Kurfürst, literally \"prince-elector\"), margrave (German: Markgraf, equivalent to the French title marquis), and burgrave (German: Burggraf, literally \"count of the castle\"). Lesser titles include count, princely count, or imam (Use in Oman). Slavic titles include knyaz and tsar (ц︢рь) or tsaritsa (царица), a word derived from the Roman imperial title Caesar.\n\nIn non-Europe, monarchs can have various titles too. Muslim worlds titles of monarchs include caliph (successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community), padishah (emperor), sultan or sultana, shâhanshâh (emperor), shah, malik (king) or malikah (queen), emir (commander, prince) or emira (princess), sheikh or sheikha. East Asian titles of monarchs include huángdì (emperor or empress regnant), tiānzǐ (son of heaven), tennō (emperor) or josei tennō (empress regnant), wang (king) or yeowang (queen regnant), hwangje (emperor) or yeohwang (empress regnant). South Asian and South East Asian titles included mahārāja (emperor) or maharani (empress), raja (king) and rana (king) or rani (queen) and ratu (South East Asian queen). Historically, Mongolic or Turkic monarchs have used the title khan and khagan (emperor) or khatun and khanum and Ancient Egypt monarchs have used the title pharaoh for men and women. In Ethiopian Empire, monarchs used title nəgusä nägäst (king of kings) or nəgəstä nägäst (queen of kings).\n\nMany monarchs are addressed with particular styles or manners of address, such as \"Majesty\", \"Royal Highness\", \"By the Grace of God\", Amīr al-Mu'minīn (\"Leader of the Faithful\"), Hünkar-i Khanedan-i Âl-i Osman, \"Sovereign of the Sublime House of Osman\"), Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda (\"Majesty\"), Jeonha (\"Majesty\"), Tennō Heika (literally \"His Majesty the heavenly sovereign\"), Bìxià (\"Bottom of the Steps\").\n\nSometimes titles are used to express claims to territories that are not held in fact (for example, English claims to the French throne), or titles not recognized (antipopes). Also, after a monarchy is deposed, often former monarchs and their descendants are given titles (the King of Portugal was given the hereditary title Duke of Braganza).\n\nDependent monarchies \n\nIn some cases monarchs are dependent on other powers (see vassals, suzerainty, puppet state, hegemony). In the British colonial era indirect rule under a paramount power existed, such as the princely states under the British Raj.\n\nIn Botswana, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda, the ancient kingdoms and chiefdoms that were met by the colonialists when they first arrived on the continent are now constitutionally protected as regional and/or sectional entities. Furthermore, in Nigeria, though the dozens of sub-regional polities that exist there are not provided for in the current constitution, they are nevertheless legally recognised aspects of the structure of governance that operates in the nation. In addition to these five countries, peculiar monarchies of varied sizes and complexities exist in various other parts of Africa. \n\nSuccession \n\nThe rules for selection of monarchs varies from country to country. In constitutional monarchies the rule of succession is generally embodied in a law passed by a representative body, such as a parliament.\n\nHereditary monarchies \n\nIn a hereditary monarchy, the position of monarch is inherited according to a statutory or customary order of succession, usually within one royal family tracing its origin through a historical dynasty or bloodline. This usually means that the heir to the throne is known well in advance of becoming monarch to ensure a smooth succession.\n\nPrimogeniture, in which the eldest child of the monarch is first in line to become monarch, is the most common system in hereditary monarchy. The order of succession is usually affected by rules on gender. Historically \"agnatic primogeniture\" or \"patrilineal primogeniture\" was favoured, that is inheritance according to seniority of birth among the sons of a monarch or head of family, with sons and their male issue inheriting before brothers and their issue, and male-line males inheriting before females of the male line. This is the same as semi-Salic primogeniture. Complete exclusion of females from dynastic succession is commonly referred to as application of the Salic law (see Terra salica).\n\nBefore primogeniture was enshrined in European law and tradition, kings would often secure the succession by having their successor (usually their eldest son) crowned during their own lifetime, so for a time there would be two kings in coregency – a senior king and a junior king. Examples include Henry the Young King of England and the early Direct Capetians in France.\n\nSometimes, however, primogeniture can operate through the female line. In some systems a female may rule as monarch only when the male line dating back to a common ancestor is exhausted.\n\nIn 1980, Sweden became the first European monarchy to declare equal (full cognatic) primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne. Other kingdoms (such as the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991, and Denmark) have since followed suit. The United Kingdom adopted absolute (equal) primogeniture on April 25, 2013, following agreement by the prime ministers of the sixteen Commonwealth Realms at the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.\n\nSometimes religion is affected; for example the British monarch, as head of the Church of England, is required to be in communion with the Church, although all other former rules forbidding marriage to non-Protestants were abolished when equal primogeniture was adopted in 2013.\n\nIn the case of the absence of children, the next most senior member of the collateral line (for example, a younger sibling of the previous monarch) becomes monarch. In complex cases, this can mean that there are closer blood relatives to the deceased monarch than the next in line according to primogeniture. This has often led, especially in Europe in the Middle Ages, to conflict between the principle of primogeniture and the principle of proximity of blood.\n\nOther hereditary systems of succession included tanistry, which is semi-elective and gives weight to merit and Agnatic seniority. In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (agnatic seniority).\n\nElective monarchies \n\nIn an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected, or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period, but otherwise serve as any other monarch. There is no popular vote involved in elective monarchies, as the elective body usually consists of a small number of eligible people. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors (chosen by prince-electors, but often coming from the same dynasty), and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. For example, Pepin the Short (father of Charlemagne) was elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish leading men; Stanisław August Poniatowski of Poland was an elected king, as was Frederick I of Denmark. Germanic peoples had elective monarchies.\n\nFour forms of elective monarchies exist today. The pope of the Roman Catholic Church (who rules as Sovereign of the Vatican City State) is elected to a life term by the College of Cardinals. In Malaysia, the federal king, called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected for a five-year term from and by the hereditary rulers (mostly sultans) of nine of the federation's constitutive states, all on the Malay peninsula. The United Arab Emirates also has a procedure for electing its monarch. Furthermore, Andorra has a unique constitutional arrangement as one of its heads of state is the President of the French Republic in the form of a Co-Prince. This is the only instance in the world where the monarch of a state is elected by the citizens of a different country.\n\nAppointment by the current monarch is another system, used in Jordan. It also was used in Imperial Russia; however, it was changed to semi-Salic soon, because the unreliable realization of the appointment system resulted in an age of palace revolutions. In this system, the monarch chooses the successor, who is always his relative.\n\nCurrent monarchies \n\nCurrently there are 43 nations in the world with a monarch as head of state. They fall roughly into the following categories:\n* Commonwealth realms. Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch of sixteen Commonwealth realms (Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). They have evolved out of the British Empire into fully independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations that retain the Queen as head of state, unlike other Commonwealth countries that are either dependencies, republics or have a different royal house. All sixteen realms are constitutional monarchies and full democracies where the Queen has limited powers or a largely ceremonial role. The Queen is head of the established Protestant Christian Church of England in the United Kingdom, while the other 15 realms do not have an established church.\n* Other European constitutional monarchies.\nThe Principality of Andorra, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom of Sweden are fully democratic states in which the monarch has a limited or largely ceremonial role.\n\nThere is generally a Christian religion established as the official church in each of these countries. This is the Lutheran form of Protestantism in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, while Belgium and Andorra are Roman Catholic countries. Spain and the Netherlands have no official State religion. Luxembourg, which is very predominantly Roman Catholic, has five so-called officially recognized cults of national importance (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Greek Orthodoxy, Judaism and Islam), a status which gives to those religions some privileges like the payment of a state salary to their priests.\n\nAndorra is unique among all existing monarchies, as it is, by definition, a diarchy, with the Co-Princeship being shared by the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell. This situation, based on historic precedence, has created a peculiar situation among monarchies, as a) both Co-Princes are not of Andorran descent, b) one is elected by common citizens of a foreign country (France), but not by Andorrans as they cannot vote in the French Presidential Elections, c) the other, the bishop of Urgel, is appointed by a foreign head of state, the Pope.\n* European constitutional/absolute monarchies. Liechtenstein and Monaco are constitutional monarchies in which the Prince retains many powers of an absolute monarch. For example, the 2003 Constitution referendum which gives the Prince of Liechtenstein the power to veto any law that the Landtag (parliament) proposes and the Landtag can veto any law that the Prince tries to pass. The Prince can hire or dismiss any elective member or government employee from his or her post. However, what makes him not an absolute monarch is that the people can call for a referendum to end the monarchy's reign. The Prince of Monaco has simpler powers but cannot hire or dismiss any elective member or government employee from his or her post, but he can elect the minister of state, government council and judges. Both Albert II and Hans-Adam II have quite a bit of political power, but they also own huge tracts of land and are shareholders in many companies.\n* Islamic monarchies. These Islamic monarchs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Kuwait, Malaysia, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates generally retain far more powers than their European or Commonwealth counterparts. The Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remain absolute monarchies; the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait and United Arab Emirates are classified as mixed, meaning there are representative bodies of some kind, but the monarch retains most of his powers. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Malaysia and the Kingdom of Morocco are constitutional monarchies, but their monarchs still retain more substantial powers than European equivalents.\n* East Asian constitutional monarchies. The Kingdom of Bhutan, the Kingdom of Cambodia, Japan, the Kingdom of Thailand have constitutional monarchies where the monarch has a limited or ceremonial role. The Kingdom of Bhutan, Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand are countries that were never colonized by European powers, but Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand have changed from traditional absolute monarchies into constitutional ones during the twentieth century, while the Kingdom of Bhutan changed in 2008. The Kingdom of Cambodia had its own monarchy after independence from the French Colonial Empire, which was deposed after the Khmer Rouge came into power and the subsequent invasion by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The monarchy was subsequently restored in the peace agreement of 1993.\n* Other monarchies. Five monarchies do not fit into one of the above groups by virtue of geography or class of monarchy: the Kingdom of Tonga in Polynesia; the Kingdom of Swaziland and the Kingdom of Lesotho in Africa; the Vatican City State; the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Europe. Of these, the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Kingdom of Tonga are constitutional monarchies, while the Kingdom of Swaziland and the Vatican City State are absolute monarchies. The Kingdom of Swaziland is also unique among these monarchies, often being considered a diarchy. The King, or Ngwenyama, rules alongside his mother, the Ndlovukati, as dual heads of state originally designed to be checks on political power. The Ngwenyama, however, is considered the administrative head of state, while the Ndlovukati is considered the spiritual and national head of state, a position which more or less has become symbolic in recent years. \nThe Pope is the absolute monarch of the Vatican City State (different entity from the Holy See) by virtue of his position as head of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome; he is an elected rather than hereditary ruler and has not to be a citizen of the territory prior to his election by the cardinals.\n\nCurrent reigning monarchies","Meet the world’s other 25 royal families - The Washington Post\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families. ... The al-Khalifa family, which is Sunni, has ruled over this small and majority-Shiite island nation since 1783.\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families - The Washington Post\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families\nThe inside track on Washington politics.\nBe the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published.\nYou’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published.\nYou’re all set!\nGot it\nBy Caitlin Dewey and Max Fisher July 22, 2013\nThis map shows the world's monarchies, divided into those that rule directly and those that simply reign. (Max Fisher/Washington Post)\nWith all the attention around Britain’s forthcoming Royal Baby, you’d think the U.K. had a monopoly on monarchs -- infant or otherwise. In reality, there are 26 monarchies in the world, a fascinating network of kings, queens, sultans, emperors and emirs who rule or reign over 43 countries in all.\nIt goes without saying, of course, that most royal families have a considerably lower international profile than the Windsors. That has a lot to do with Britain’s imperial history: Sixteen countries, including Canada and Australia, are still technically subjects of the British monarchy, which also once ruled much of the world.\nBeyond Queen Elizabeth II, the other monarchies vary widely in how much power they hold, how they're seen, how their family got there and even in what they're called. Here’s a quick tour of the world's 25 other royal families, plus its two elected monarchies, in Malaysia and the Vatican. We've divided them into monarchs who rule -- who have real, direct political power -- and those, like the Windsors, who merely reign.\nMonarchs who rule\nSaudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, which makes Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz the king and prime minister. His deputies, Salman and Muqrin, are also from the ruling House of Saud, and the king-appointed cabinet includes more members of the royal family. While the monarchy is hereditary now, future Saudi kings will be chosen by a committee of Saudi princes, per a 2006 decree. (There are plenty of them: according to some estimates, the ruling family includes as many as 30,000 people .)\nKuwait: Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, age 84, has ruled Kuwait since 2006, when the previous emir died, setting off a minor succession crisis because the next-in-line was physically unable to recite the oath of office, possibly because of age-related health issues. Sabah took over instead; he rules the oil-rich nation as emir and head of the royal family, which has been in some form of power since the early 1700s.\nThen-Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of Qatar at the opening of the 33rd Gulf leaders summit in Bahrain. (EPA)\nQatar: Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is a recent addition to this list, having taken over in June after his father's peaceful abdication. The al-Thani family is known for ostentatious wealth and for working aggressively to expand their country's regional, oil-funded influence. They've ruled Qatar since 1825 and underwent a series of forced abdications in the 20th century, typically instigated by sons or nephews eager to take the throne.\nUnited Arab Emirates: As its name suggests, the United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven districts, each of which is governed by a hereditary monarch who bears the title of emir. Traditionally, the emir of Abu Dhabi is also the federation president. Today that's Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who's been in charge since his father died in 2004. He is thought to have personal wealth of about $5 billion .\nKing Mswati III of Swaziland (AFP/Mohd Rasfanmohd)\nSwaziland: King Mswati III has been the absolute monarch of this small southern African country since inheriting the crown from his father in 1986, when he was barely 18 years old. His formal title is Ngwenyama, an honorific that also means lion.\nBrunei: Sir Hassanal Bolkiah has been Brunei’s sultan and prime minister since 1967, and he appoints virtually all of Brunei’s ruling bodies, including the Legislative Council and the Supreme and Sharia Courts. His 1,800-room palace, the Istana Nurul Iman , is considered the world’s largest private residence.\nOman: Sultan Qaboos bin Said has ruled Oman, its government, its treasury and its military since he overthrew his father in a 1970 palace coup. His family has ruled since the 1700s, although it lost its East African territory in the 1800s.\nBahrain: The al-Khalifa family, which is Sunni, has ruled over this small and majority-Shiite island nation since 1783. The current monarch, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, took over in 1999 and in 2002 changed his title from emir to king. Though the constitutional monarchy grants Shiites some role in the government, it's not much, and pro-democracy protests have roiled the country since 2011.\nJordan: King Abdullah II has ruled since 1999, and though he isn’t technically the head of government -- Jordan has an appointed prime minister -- he has very real political powers, including the ability to veto any law and dissolve parliament at will. His successor, Crown Prince Hussein, is 19 years old.\nMorocco: King Mohammed VI voluntarily shrank some of his powers when, in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, he enacted a series of reforms to Morocco’s government, a constitutional monarchy. While he still has significant powers -- including appointing the prime minister and members of the government -- he can no longer dissolve the parliament or call for new elections.\nThe Vatican: Yes, the pope is considered the monarch of this European city-state. Here's a video explaining it:\nMonarchs with some political power\nMonaco: Prince Albert II has ruled since 2005 and holds a large political role, despite the fact that Monaco has an elected legislature. He gets to appoint the minister of state, for instance, but only from a list of three preselected candidates.\nThailand's King Bhumibol is the world's longest-reigning monarch. (Pairoj/AFP/Getty Images)\nThailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej has reigned for a remarkable 67 years, beating England’s Queen Elizabeth, who has served since 1952. He holds a number of little-used, but still important, constitutional powers, including the ability to veto legislation and pardon criminals. Bhumibol is also an interesting figure on his own merits: The 85-year-old king is an accomplished jazz musician and has patented a waste water aerator.\nLiechtenstein: In a rare move among Western European countries, Liechtenstein actually voted to increase the powers of Prince Hans Adam II in the early aughts. The prince can veto any legislation and dissolve the parliament at will, among other powers. Technically, these official duties have been transferred to his son, Prince Alois, but Hans Adam remains chief of state.\nTonga: King George Tupou V took the throne from his father in 2006 and promptly promised to cede most of his powers to the country’s prime minister. Tonga had been an absolute monarchy, but violent, pro-democracy rallies shortly before Tupou’s coronation caused huge damage in the capital and killed eight people.\nBhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk married the non-royal Jestun Pema in October 2011. (AP Photo)\nBhutan: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk is the Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan, which means Dragon King. Jigme formally took the throne in 2008, two years after his father’s abdication. The coronation was delayed to give 26-year-old Jigme more administrative experience. Reforms in the late 1990s reduced the king's powers. The Wangchuck monarchy is just over 100 years old, having unified the small Himalayan country under its rule with help from the British Empire.\nCeremonial or figurehead monarchs\nNorway: Norway’s King Harald V has a number of important-sounding but entirely ceremonial roles, including appointing the Norwegian cabinet and the prime minister -- with the approval of the parliament, of course. The monarchy is hereditary, and 40-year-old crown prince Haakon Magnus will take over from his father.\nFrom left: Swedish Queen Silvia, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel and their daughter, Princess Estelle. (EPA/Jonas Ekstromer)\nSweden: Sweden is one of the few monarchies that allows female succession, which means Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree will become queen at the end of her father’s reign, so far of 40 years. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the current monarch, is a ceremonial figure.\nThe Netherlands: The Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander took the throne only three months ago, after his mother Beatrix gave up her reign of 33 years. The Netherlands has a bicameral parliament, so the monarch doesn’t rule directly. But King Willem-Alexander still has an important role as the president of the Council of State, an advisory body with roots in the 16th century. No law may be submitted to parliament unless it goes to the council first.\nSpain: Spain's 75-year-old King Juan Carlos I has little power now, but he was instrumental in bringing democracy to Spain. The dictator Francisco Franco named Juan Carlos to succeed him, but shortly after Franco's death, the new king dismantled the Francoist regime and kickstarted the process that would lead to Spain's 1978 constitution. Three years later, Juan Carlos also gave a televised address that shut down the attempted \"23-F\" coup.\nGreenland: Greenland is part of a the Kingdom of Denmark, though it has governed itself through an elected parliament since 1979. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II is still the queen in name there, however; the 73-year-old queen has reigned since 1972 and is to eventually pass the throne to her son Frederik.\nLuxembourg: Luxembourg styles itself as a “Grand Duchy,” not a kingdom, so Henri Guillaume goes by the title Grand Duke Henri. He represents, in the words of the official government Web site , “a symbol of stability, a single figure at the head of state, above the daily political business.”\nThen-Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his wife, Mathilde, arrive at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010. (EPA/Jochen Luebke)\nBelgium: Belgium’s 53-year-old King Philippe inherited a divided country when he was sworn in July 21 , hours after his father abdicated. His position is symbolic but important, given Belgium’s current political climate: Philippe has advocated for greater unity between the country’s warring Flemings and Francophones.\nLesotho: King Letsie III has reigned formally since 1996, and informally since 1990, when his father was in exile. He is a “living symbol of national unity,” per the national constitution, and he has no political powers.\nCambodia: King Norodom Sihamoni was tapped to take over from his father in 2004, when Thailand’s Royal Throne Council picked him from a pool of eligible male royals. Sihamoni's post is a symbolic one, but he had earlier served in real political roles, including as Cambodia’s ambassador to UNESCO.\nMalaysia: The structure of the monarchy in Malaysia is ceremonial and unique. Each state has a hereditary leader, called a sultan; every five years, the sultans elect one of their members to serve as king. Since 2011, Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah has held the throne.\nJapanese Crown Princess Masako, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attend an orchestra concert on July 7 in which Crown Prince Naruhito played viola. (AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)\nJapan: Japan's Yamato dynasty traces its origins back to 660, making it the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The 79-year-old Emperor Akihito has reigned since 1989 and is, according to legend, the 125th emperor in his line, though there's some debate as to the exact count of emperors. His seat is called the Chrysanthemum Throne and sits in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.\nworld","Mountains and Mountain Ranges - 8 | Britannica.com\nThe volcano erupted for several weeks starting in August 1976 ... in the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, ... mountain range in Western Cape province, ...\nMountains and Mountain Ranges - 8 | Britannica.com\nMountains and Mountain Ranges\nlandform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief.\nDisplaying 601 - 700 of 753 results\nSatpura Range range of hills, part of the Deccan plateau, western India. The hills stretch for some 560 miles (900 km) across the widest part of peninsular India, through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states. The range, the name of which means “Seven Folds,” forms...\nSavoy Alps northwestern spurs of the Graian Alps in southeastern France between Lake Geneva (north), the middle Rhône River (west), and the Arc and Isère river valleys (south). The highest peak is Pointe de la Grande Casse (12,631 feet [3,850 m]), a part of the...\nSawatch Range segment of the southern Rocky Mountains in central Colorado, U.S., extending southeastward for 100 miles (160 km) from the Eagle River to the city of Saguache (a variant spelling of Sawatch). Bounded by the Arkansas River (east) and the Elk Mountains...\nSawdāʾ, Qurnat al- peak situated within the Lebanon Mountains in northern Lebanon, 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Beirut. At 10,131 feet (3,088 metres), it is the highest peak in Lebanon.\nSayan Mountains large upland region lying along the frontiers of east-central Russia and Mongolia. Within Russia the mountains occupy the southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk kray (territory) and Irkutsk oblast (region), the northern part of Tyva (Tuva), and the west of...\nSelkirk Mountains major subdivision of the Columbia Mountains, extending for 200 miles (320 km) in a southeasterly arc, mostly in British Columbia, Canada, and just across the U.S. border into northern Idaho and Washington. Bounded by the Purcell Mountains (east) and...\nSelwyn Mountains mountain range in Yukon and Northwest Territories, northwestern Canada. Part of the Rockies, they trend northwest-southeast and rise to 9,750 feet (2,972 metres) in Keele Peak.\nSeshachalam Hills hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats, southern Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. Formed during Precambrian time (i.e., earlier than about 540 million years ago), the ranges contain sandstone and shale interbedded with limestone and are highly dissected,...\nShaʿnabī, Mount Ash- mountain (5,066 feet [1,544 m]) that is the highest in Tunisia. It is part of a spur of the Tebéssa (Tabassah) Mountains, which are part of the Saharan Atlas Mountains. The mountain lies near the Algerian border, 6 miles (10 km) west-northwest of Al-Qaṣrayn...\nShasta, Mount peak (14,162 feet [4,317 metres]) of the Cascade Range in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, northern California, U.S. The peak lies 77 miles (124 km) north of the city of Redding. An impressive double-peaked dormant volcano, it dominates the landscape...\nShebshi Mountains mountain range in eastern Nigeria, extending approximately 100 miles (160 km) in a north-south direction between the Benue and Taraba rivers. Its Dimlang (Vogel) Peak is one of the highest points—with an elevation of 6,699 feet (2,042 metres)—in Nigeria,...\nShevaroy Hills outlying range of the Eastern Ghats, north-central Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The Shevaroy Hills occupy an area of about 150 square miles (390 square km). The highest peaks are in the southwest, reaching 5,231 feet (1,594 metres) at Sanyasimalai...\nShip Rock volcanic neck with radiating dikes located in the northwestern corner of New Mexico, U.S. The landmark stands 1,400 feet (420 metres) above the surrounding area and is the basis of local Navajo legends. Solidified in the vent of an ancient volcano, the...\nSierra Madre mountain system of Mexico. It consists of the Sierra Madre Occidental (to the west), the Sierra Madre Oriental (to the east), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (to the south). These ranges enclose the great central Mexican Plateau, which itself is a part...\nSierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range in Chiapas state, southern Mexico. The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is a crystalline range of block mountains extending to the southeast along the Pacific coast from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into western Guatemala (where it is called the...\nSierra Nevada major mountain range of western North America, running along the eastern edge of the U.S. state of California. Its great mass lies between the large Central Valley depression to the west and the Basin and Range Province to the east. Extending more than...\nSierra Nevada mountain range in southeastern Spain, near the Mediterranean coast, the highest division of the Baetic Cordillera. The range itself is a domed mountain elongated for about 26 miles (42 km) from east to west. It is clearly defined by the faulted troughs...\nSierra San Pedro Mártir mountain range in central Baja California state, northwestern Mexico. The range stretches southward about 90 miles (145 km) from southeast of Ensenada to San Fernando. Farther south the range becomes the Sierra de San Borja. The rugged, granitic mountains,...\nSikhote-Alin mountain complex in the Russian Far East, fronting the Tatar Strait and the Sea of Japan for 750 miles (1,200 km) northeast-southwest. Major geologic fault lines bound the area, and the structural trench of the Ussuri River valley lies along the northwest....\nSilvretta Group mountain range of the Rhaetian Alps along the Austrian-Swiss border, extending eastward from near Klosters to north of Schuls, both in Switzerland. The glacier-covered range rises to Linard Peak (11,191 feet [3,411 metres]) in Switzerland and to Buin...\nSimien Mountains mountains in northern Ethiopia, northeast of Gonder. In the range is Ras Dejen (or Dashen), the highest peak in Ethiopia at 14,872 feet (4,533 metres). The region is the site of Simien National Park, which is home to a number of very rare species that...\nSinai, Mount granitic peak of the south-central Sinai Peninsula, Janūb Sīnāʾ (South Sinai) muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Egypt. Mount Sinai is renowned as the principal site of divine revelation in Jewish history, where God is purported to have appeared to Moses and given...\nSintra Mountains mountain range, Lisboa distrito (“district”), western Portugal. It extends about 10 miles (16 km) from the resort of Sintra to the Cape da Roca on the Atlantic Ocean, reaching its highest point (1,736 feet [529 m]) just south of Sintra. The lush vegetation...\nSiwalik Range sub-Himalayan range of the northern Indian subcontinent. It extends west-northwestward for more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the Tista River in Sikkim state, northeastern India, through Nepal, across northwestern India, and into northern Pakistan....\nSlieve Croob mountain in Banbridge district, N.Ire., the highest point (1,755 feet [535 metres]) of the Slieve Croob or Mid-Down group. It lies between the lower Lagan lowlands to the north and the Mourne Mountains to the south. The uplands are of igneous origin,...\nSlieve Donard highest peak (2,796 feet [852 metres]) in the Mourne Mountains at the border of Down district and Newry and Mourne district, N.Ire. It is near the coast at the northeastern end of the Mournes. Intensive glacial and periglacial action has produced bare...\nSlovak Ore Mountains segment of the Carpathian Mountains, in south-central Slovakia. The mountains extend (west-east) for about 90 miles (145 km) between Zvolen and Košice and rise to 4,846 feet (1,477 m) in Stolica. They are noted for their mineral resources, especially...\nSneeuberg mountain range in south-central South Africa. The range lies on the northeastern edge of the Great Karoo and stretches roughly east-west for 30 miles (48 km) with a slight curve southward at the eastern end. The highest point in the Sneeuberg (“Snow...\nSnowdon mountain in northern Wales that is the highest point in England and Wales and the principal massif in the Snowdonia mountains. It is located in the county of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarvonshire. Snowdon consists of about five main peaks...\nSnowy Mountains range in the Australian Alps, southeastern New South Wales, including several peaks that exceed 7,000 feet (2,100 metres)—notably Mount Kosciuszko, the highest in Australia. On their slopes rise the Murray, Murrumbidgee, and Tumut rivers, which flow...\nSobaek Mountains largest range of mountains in southern South Korea. The range, 220 mi (350 km) long, stretches southwest from north of T’aebaek Mountain (5,121 ft [1,561 m]) in Kangwŏn Province to the Kohŭng Peninsula near Yŏsu. Its high mountains, Sobaek (4,760 ft),...\nSoufrière active volcano on the island of Saint Vincent, in the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which lies within the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The volcano rises to peaks of 3,864 feet (1,178 metres) and 4,048 feet (1,234 metres) north...\nSoufrière (French: “Sulfur Mine”), active volcano on southern Basse-Terre island, Guadeloupe, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It rises to 4,813 feet (1,467 metres) and is the highest point of Guadeloupe. The volcano erupted for several weeks starting in August 1976...\nSouth Mountain northernmost section of the Blue Ridge in the Appalachian Mountains, extending southwestward for 65 miles (105 km) from southern Pennsylvania to northern Virginia, U.S. Quirauk Mountain (2,145 feet [654 m]) in Maryland is the highest point. It is crossed...\nSouthern Alps mountain range on South Island, New Zealand. It is the highest range in Australasia. Making up the loftiest portion of the mountains that extend the length of the island, the Alps extend from Haast Pass, at the head of Wanaka Lake, northeastward to Arthur’s...\nSperrin Mountains mountain range disposed along an arc about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Londonderry city, Northern Ireland. The highest peaks—Sawel, Mullaclogher, and Mullaghaneany—all exceed 2,000 feet (608 m) and are capped with crystalline limestone. The Sperrins...\nSpīn Ghar Range Pashto “White Mountains” mountain range forming a natural frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, extending westward for 100 miles (160 km) from the Vale of Peshāwar (Pakistan) to the Lowrah Valley (Afghanistan). The boundary between the two countries...\nSpruce Knob highest point in West Virginia, U.S., located in the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern part of the state, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Elkins. Spruce Knob lies at an elevation of 4,863 feet (1,482 metres) at the southern end of Spruce Mountain,...\nSredna Mountains range in central Bulgaria, a discontinuous range south of the Balkan Mountains and having a similar east-west orientation. Structurally, the Sredna range is a part of the Rhodope Mountains, from which it is separated by the Thracian Plain. Between the...\nSt. Elias Mountains segment of the Pacific Coast Ranges of northwestern North America. The mountains extend southeastward for about 250 miles (400 km) from the Wrangell Mountains to Cross Sound along the border between Canada (Yukon territory) and the United States (Alaska)....\nStanley, Mount part of the Ruwenzori Range on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, in east- central Africa. Stanley contains 9 of the 10 peaks that rise above 16,000 feet (4,900 metres), including the highest in the range, Margherita...\nStanovoy Range mountain range along the boundary between Amur oblast (province) and Sakha, Russia. It trends east to west, linking the mountains of Transbaikalia to the Dzhugdzhur Mountains, and is part of the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating...\nStirling Range mountains in southwestern Western Australia. They rise from a low plateau 40 miles (65 km) north of Albany and run parallel to the coast for 50 miles (80 km). The range reaches its highest point at Bluff Knoll, 3,596 feet (1,096 m). Sighted in 1802 by...\nSudeten system of east-west mountain ranges of northeastern Bohemia and northern Moravia, Czech Republic, bordering on Poland. The system has three subgroups: the West Sudeten range is composed of the Lusatian Mountains, the Jizera Mountains, and the Giant (Krkonoše)...\nSudirman Range western section of the Maoke Mountains of the central highlands of New Guinea. The Sudirman Range is located in the Indonesian province of Papua. The rugged range, which may have no pass lower than 13,000 feet (4,000 metres), rises to Jaya Peak (formerly...\nSugar Loaf landmark peak overlooking Rio de Janeiro and the entrance of Guanabara Bay, in southeastern Brazil. Named for its shape, the conical, granitic peak (1,296 feet [395 metres]) lies at the end of a short range between Rio de Janeiro and the Atlantic Ocean....\nSulaiman Range mountain mass in central Pakistan, extending southward about 280 miles (450 km) from the Gumal Pass to just north of Jacobabad, separating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab from Balochistan. Its heights gradually decrease toward the south, with summits averaging...\nSulitelma mountain range in Lapland extending for 30 miles (48 km) along the Swedish–Norwegian border. It rises to 6,279 feet (1,914 m), is permanently snow-clad, and gives rise to several glaciers, notably the 10-mile-long Blåmannsisen, which extends north from...\nSuthep, Mount mountain peak of northwestern Thailand, overlooking the city of Chiang Mai and rising to 5,528 feet (1,685 metres). Mount Suthep is the site of the royal resort palace and of a temple complex, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The mountain and temple complex...\nSwartberg mountain range in Western Cape province, South Africa, extending east-west for 150 mi (240 km) from near the town of Willowmore to the edge of the Witteberge, roughly parallel with the Indian Ocean coast. The Swartberg is the barrier dividing the semiarid...\nŚwiętokrzyskie Mountains mountain range, part of the Little Poland Uplands, in south-central Poland, surrounding the city of Kielce. The highest peaks are Łysica (2,008 feet [612 m]) and Łysa Mountain (1,946 feet [593 m]), both in the Łysogóry range. The Świętokrzyskie Mountains...\nTable Mountain flat-topped mountain in southwestern South Africa, overlooking Cape Town and Table Bay and dominating the northern end of the high, rocky Cape Peninsula. Its tabular shape results from nearly horizontal layers of sandstone exposed by vigorous wind and...\nTabor, Mount historic elevation of northern Israel, in Lower Galilee near the edge of the Plain of Esdraelon (ʿEmeq Yizreʿel). Though comparatively low (1,929 feet [588 m]), it dominates the level landscape around it, leading to the biblical expression “like Tabor...\nTaconic Range part of the Appalachian mountain system, U.S., extending southward for 150 miles (240 km) from a point southwest of Brandon, Vt., to northern Putnam county, New York. It rises to Mount Equinox (3,816 feet [1,163 m]) in Vermont and includes Mount Frissell...\nT’aebaek Mountains main ridge of the Korean Peninsula, stretching along the coast of the Sea of Japan (East Sea), north to Hwangnyong Mountain (4,160 feet [1,268 m]), North Korea, and continuing south as the Kyŏngsang Range to Tadae-p’o, a suburb of Pusan, South Korea....\nTahan, Mount highest peak of the Malay Peninsula (7,175 feet [2,187 m]), in the Tahan Range, West Malaysia. Mount Tahan is the central feature of Taman Negara National Park and a destination for mountaineers who begin their ascent from nearby Kuala Tahan, headquarters...\nTai, Mount mountain mass with several peaks along a southwest-northeast axis to the north of the city of Tai’an in Shandong province, eastern China. Mount Tai consists of a much-shattered fault block, mostly composed of archaic crystalline shales and granites and...\nTaihang Mountains mountain range of northern China, stretching some 250 miles (400 km) from north to south and forming the boundary between Shanxi and Hebei provinces and between the Shanxi plateau and the North China Plain. Some Western writers have erroneously called...\nTaïyetos Mountains mountain range, southern Peloponnese (Modern Greek: Pelopónnisos), Greece. The maximum elevation is approximately 7,874 feet (2,400 m) in the range, which imposes a barrier between the regions of Laconia (Lakonía) and Messenia (Messinía). Called the...\nTajumulco Volcano mountain peak in southwestern Guatemala. The highest peak in Central America, Tajumulco rises essentially from sea level to an elevation of 13,845 feet (4,220 metres). The peak is part of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, a mountain range that extends into...\nTalamanca, Cordillera de range in southern Costa Rica, extending to the border with western Panama. Its highest peak, Chirripó Grande, rises to 12,530 feet (3,819 metres). Poor transportation facilities limit access to the Talamanca region, where several national parks and Indian...\nTalas Alataū Range mountain range, a branch of the Tien Shan system that rises to 13,200 feet (4,023 metres) and forms part of the watershed of the upper Talas River in Kyrgyzstan.\nTalish Mountains mountain chain, northwestern Iran, in the northwest section of the Elburz Mountains, extending southeastward from the Azerbaijan border to the lower part of the Safīd Rūd (Safid River). Few peaks rise above 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). The Talish Mountains...\nTalladega Mountain low-lying segment of the Appalachian Mountains, extending northeastward along the border of Clay and Talladega counties and into Cleburne county in east-central Alabama, U.S. Rising to Cheaha Mountain (2,407 feet [734 metres]), the highest point in Alabama,...\nTambora, Mount volcanic mountain on the northern coast of Sumbawa island, Indonesia, that in April 1815 exploded in the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. It is now 2,851 metres (9,354 feet) high, having lost much of its top in the 1815 eruption. The volcano...\nTanggula Mountains mountain range in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwestern China. On the high plateau south of the mountains, there are many large salt lakes. In its eastern part the range forms the boundary between Tibet and Qinghai province. Although many peaks are...\nTannu-Ola mountain range of southern Tyva (Tuva), extending eastward about 350 miles (560 km) from the Altai Mountains in Russia. The average elevation of its summits is 8,200–8,850 feet (2,500–2,700 metres) above sea level, with a maximum elevation of 10,043...\nTaranaki, Mount mountain, west-central North Island, New Zealand, on the Taranaki Peninsula. The symmetrical volcanic cone rises from sea level to 8,260 ft (2,518 m) and has a subsidiary cone, 6,438-ft Fanthams Peak, 1 mi (1.5 km) south of the main crater. Both have...\nTatra Mountains highest range of the Central Carpathians. The mountains rise steeply from a high plateau and extend for approximately 40 miles (64 km) along the Slovakian-Polish frontier, varying in width from 9 to 15 miles (14 to 24 km). About 300 peaks are identified...\nTaum Sauk Mountain mountain in Iron county, southeastern Missouri, U.S., highest point (1,772 feet [540 m]) of the St. Francois Mountains and of the state. Centrepiece of Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, it is part of the main uplift of the forested Ozark Mountains and lies...\nTaunus wooded highland of Germany, extending across parts of the Länder (states) of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. The range is 50 miles (80 km) long and is bounded by the Rhine (west), Main (south), and Lahn (north) rivers. The range slopes steeply along...\nTaurus Mountains mountain range in southern Turkey, a great chain running parallel to the Mediterranean coast. The system extends along a curve from Lake Egridir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates River in the east. Aladağ (10,935 feet [3,333 m]) in the...\nTehachapi Mountains segment of the Coast Ranges (see Pacific mountain system), south-central California, U.S. They extend for about 50 miles (80 km) and link the south end of the Sierra Nevada with the mountains along the coast. Elevations in the Tehachapi Mountains average...\nTeide Peak volcanic peak at the centre of the island of Tenerife, in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia (province) of the Canary Islands comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), Spain. At 12,198 feet (3,718 metres), it is the highest point on Spanish soil....\nTell Atlas range of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, extending about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from eastern Morocco through Algeria to Tunisia. In Morocco, from Ceuta east to Melilla (150 miles [240 km]), the Er-Rif mountain range of the Tell Atlas faces the Mediterranean...\nTemblor Range segment of the Coast Ranges (see Pacific mountain system), south-central California, U.S. It extends southeastward for about 50 miles (80 km) from northwestern Kern county to the San Emigdio Mountains near the southern end of the Central Valley. Peaks...\nTeshio Range mountain range, northwestern Hokkaido, northern Japan. It extends southward for nearly 125 miles (200 km) from Cape Sōya on La Perouse Strait, across the transverse gorge of the Ishikari River, to the Yūbari Mountains. The Kitami Mountains lie to the...\nTeton Range segment of the Middle Rocky Mountains in the western United States, extending southward for 40 miles (64 km) across northwestern Wyoming, from the southern boundary of Yellowstone National Park to Teton Pass, just west of Jackson. Some foothills reach...\nThabana Ntlenyana mountain peak (11,424 feet [3,482 m]) in the Drakensberg and the highest in Africa south of Kilimanjaro. The peak lies in Lesotho, an independent country entirely within South Africa, just west of the border with the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Nearby...\nThuringian Forest range of forested hills and mountains in Germany, extending in an irregular line from the neighbourhood of Eisenach in west-central Thuringia southeastward to the Bavarian frontier, where it merges with the Franconian Forest. Its breadth varies from...\nTiantai Mountains mountain chain in eastern Zhejiang province, eastern China. Tiantai is also the name of a mountain in the chain. The range forms the northeastern extension of the great Xianxia Mountains in southern Zhejiang, which form the watershed between the Ling...\nTibesti part of the Mid-Sahara Rise of the central Sahara. Mostly in northwestern Chad, the mountains extend into northeastern Niger and southern Libya. The formation is about 300 miles (480 km) long and up to 175 miles (280 km) wide. The volcanic summit of...\nTien Shan great mountain system of Central Asia. Its name is Chinese for “Celestial Mountains.” Stretching about 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from west-southwest to east-northeast, it mainly straddles the border between China and Kyrgyzstan and bisects the ancient territory...\nTirich Mir highest peak (25,230 ft [7,690 m]) in the Hindu Kush mountain system, lying 155 mi (249 km) north of Peshāwar, Pak., in the North-West Frontier Province near Afghanistan. The Upper Tirich Glacier basin is formed by Tirich Mir East, Tirich Mir (the main...\nToba, Mount ancient volcano located in the Barisan Mountains, north-central Sumatra, Indonesia. A massive eruption sometime between 71,000 and 74,000 years ago expelled an estimated 2,800 cubic km (about 670 cubic miles) of ash and lava. That event is considered...\nTolima, Mount volcano in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains, west-central Colombia. It is 17,105 feet (5,215 metres) high.\nTörnebohm, Alfred Elis Swedish geologist and pioneer in the study and analysis of mountain structure. In 1888 he presented the first outlines of his theory of the overthrust of the Caledonian Range (the mountainous region in northwestern Europe extending from the British Isles...\nTorngat Mountains range in northern Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada. The Torngat range extends northward for 120 miles (190 km) from Hebron Fjord to Cape Chidley, between the Quebec border (west) and the Atlantic Ocean (east). Named from an Eskimo (Inuit) term Torngarsuak,...\nToubkal, Mount mountain peak that is the highest point (13,665 feet [4,165 metres]) in Morocco and in the Atlas Mountains. The peak is situated 40 miles (60 km) south of Marrakech in the High Atlas (Haut Atlas). Juniper forests covering the mountain’s higher slopes...\nTrans-Alai Range mountain range on the frontier between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is the most northerly range of the Pamirs and extends for about 150 miles (240 km) east-west in an unbroken chain of snow-covered peaks between the lush summer pastures of the broad...\nTrans-Himalayas eastward continuation of the most northerly ranges of the Himalayas in the southern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It consists of an ill-defined mountain area about 600 miles (1,000 km) long and 140 miles (225 km) wide in the centre, narrowing...\nTransantarctic Mountains mountain system subdividing the Antarctic continent into an eastern (East Antarctica) and a western (West Antarctica) region. The Transantarctic Mountains stretch for more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from Victoria Land to the shores of the Weddell Sea....\nTransylvanian Alps mountainous region of south-central Romania. It consists of that section of the Carpathian Mountain arc from the Prahova River valley (east) to the gap in which flow the Timiş and Cerna rivers. Average elevation in the Transylvanian Alps is 4,920–5,740...\nTriglav mountain peak, the highest (9,396 feet [2,864 m]) of Slovenia and of the Julian Alps, situated 40 miles (64 km) northwest of the city of Ljubljana. The north wall of the peak forms an enormous limestone face nearly 2 miles (3 km) wide. From the time...\nTroodos Mountains mountain range in southern Cyprus, beginning immediately inland from Cape Arnauti. It rises to its highest point at Mount Olympus, or Khionistra (6,401 feet [1,951 metres]), about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Nicosia, and gradually descends to narrow...\nTumuc-Humac Mountains mountain range that forms the Brazilian border with French Guiana and Suriname. An eastern extension of the Acarai Mountains, the range extends for about 180 miles (290 km) in an east-west direction and attains elevations of 2,800 feet (850 m). The range...\nTupungato, Mount volcanic peak in the Central Andes Mountains of South America. It is situated on the Chile - Argentina boundary and rises to 22,310 feet (6,800 metres). The peak was first climbed in 1897 by members of the expedition led by the British mountaineer Edward...\nTurkistan Range mountain range in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Branching off from the Alay Mountains, it extends for 200 miles (320 km) east-west between the Fergana and Zeravshan valleys. Its highest point is Piramidalny Peak (18,077 feet [5,510 m]). The...\nUinta Mountains segment of the south-central Rocky Mountains, extending eastward for more than 100 miles (160 km) from the Wasatch Range across northeastern Utah and slightly into southwestern Wyoming, U.S. Many of the range’s summits exceed 13,000 feet (4,000 m), including...\nUmvukwe Range mountain range in northern Zimbabwe, extending about 100 miles (160 km) north from the Hunyani River and rising to a high point of 5,748 feet (1,752 m). The range forms the northern section of an enormous tabular block of igneous rock (norite) and is...","Mountains and Mountain Ranges - 2 | Britannica.com\n... occupies all of Armenia, and includes southern ... mountain range in west County ... (and the country’s highest point), reaches an elevation of more ...\nMountains and Mountain Ranges - 2 | Britannica.com\nMountains and Mountain Ranges\nlandform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief.\nDisplaying 1 - 100 of 753 results\nAbajo Mountains volcanic segment of the Colorado Plateau, in San Juan county, southeastern Utah, U.S. Abajo Peak (11,362 feet [3,463 metres]) is the highest point in the mountains, which comprise eight summits and are embraced by the Manti-LaSal National Forest. The...\nAberdare Range mountain range, forming a section of the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley in west-central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator. The range has an average elevation of 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) and culminates in Oldoinyo...\nAbsaroka Range mountain segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana, U.S. Extending in a northwest-southeast direction, the range is 170 miles (270 km) long and 50 miles wide. A large plateau, the result of volcanic action,...\nAbukuma Mountains range in northern Honshu, Japan. It extends for 106 miles (170 km) north to south and parallels the Pacific Ocean coast of Fukushima prefecture in the Tōhoku region. Its southern end reaches into northern Ibaraki prefecture in the Kantō region. The mountain...\nAcaraí Mountains low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 metres) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon...\nAconcagua, Mount mountain in western Mendoza province, west-central Argentina, on the Chilean border. It is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. Aconcagua lies in the Southern Andes Mountains; although its peak is in Argentina, its western flanks build up from...\nAdam’s Peak mountain in southwestern Sri Lanka (Ceylon), 7,360 feet (2,243 m) high and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Ratnapura; it is located in the Sri Lanka hill country. Its conical summit terminates in an oblong platform about 74 by 24 feet (22 by 7 m), on which...\nAdirondack Mountains mountains in northeastern New York state, U.S. They extend southward from the St. Lawrence River valley and Lake Champlain to the Mohawk River valley. The mountains are only sparsely settled, and much of the area exists in a primitive natural state,...\nAgou, Mount mountain in southwestern Togo, near the border with Ghana. An extreme western outlier of the Atakora Mountains of adjacent Benin, it rises to 3,235 feet (986 metres) and is the highest point in Togo. It was initially named for Oskar Baumann (1864–99),...\nAgung, Mount volcano, northeastern Bali, Indonesia. The highest point in Bali and the object of traditional veneration, it rises to a height of 9,888 feet (3,014 m). In 1963 it erupted after being dormant for 120 years; some 1,600 people were killed and 86,000 left...\nAimorés Mountains mountainous region divided between the estados (states) of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, eastern Brazil, occupying an area of about 3,900 square miles (10,100 square km). The mountains form a crystalline-hill upland with an average elevation of 3,000...\nAïr massif group of granitic mountains rising sharply from the Sahara in central Niger. Several of these mountains approach and exceed 6,000 feet (1,800 m), the highest being Mount Gréboun (6,378 feet [1,944 m]). The mountains are dissected by deep valleys, called...\nAkademii Nauk Range mountain range, western Pamirs, central Tajikistan. The mountains, extending north-south, are approximately 68 miles (110 km) in length and are composed mostly of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, together with some granite. Glaciation from permanent...\nAkhḍar Mountains mountain range of northeastern Libya that extends along the Mediterranean coast for about 100 miles (160 km) in an east-northeasterly direction between the towns of al-Marj and Darnah. Rising sharply in two steps, the first reaching 985 feet (300 m)...\nAkwapim-Togo Ranges narrow belt of ridges and hills in Ghana, western Africa. They extend in a southwest-northeast line for about 200 miles (320 km) from the Densu River mouth (near Accra) on the Atlantic coast to the boundary with Togo. Averaging 1,500 feet (460 m) in...\nAlaska Range one of the components of the Alaskan mountains and a segment of the larger Pacific mountain system of western North America. The range extends generally northward and eastward in an arc for about 400 miles (650 km) from the Aleutian Range to the boundary...\nAlaskan Mountains three principal mountain groups of far northwestern North America —the Brooks Range, Alaska Range, and Aleutian Range —found in the U.S. state of Alaska. The mountain ranges of Alaska give their state a rugged and beautiful terrain across its entire...\nAlban Hills volcanic area in the Lazio (Latium) regione (region) of central Italy, southeast of Rome. The hills consist of an outer circle, 6–8 miles (10–13 km) in diameter, rising to 3,113 feet (949 metres) at Mount Cavo, and an inner crater rim, about 1.5 miles...\nAlbula Alps part of the Rhaetian Alps in eastern Switzerland, lying in Graubünden canton to the north of the resort of Saint Moritz. The mountains extend northeastward from the Splügen Pass (6,932 feet [2,113 m]) to the Flüela Pass (7,818 feet [2,383 m]), and they...\nAleutian Range segment of the Pacific mountain system, western North America. The range extends southwestward for about 600 miles (1,000 km) from the west end of the Alaska Range to the head of Cook Inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, Alaska, U.S. The Aleutian Islands represent...\nAllegheny Mountains mountainous eastern part of the Allegheny Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, U.S. The Allegheny range extends south-southwestward for more than 500 miles (800 km) from north-central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Rising to Mount Davis (3,213...\nAlps a small segment of a discontinuous mountain chain that stretches from the Atlas Mountains of North Africa across southern Europe and Asia to beyond the Himalayas. The Alps extend north from the subtropical Mediterranean coast near Nice, France, to Lake...\nAltai Mountains complex mountain system of Central Asia extending approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km) in a southeast-northwest direction from the Gobi (Desert) to the West Siberian Plain, through China, Mongolia, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The jagged mountain ridges derive...\nAltun Mountains mountain range in the southern part of the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, northwestern China. Branching off from the Kunlun Mountains, the range runs for more than 400 miles (650 km) from southwest to northeast to form the boundary between the...\nAmambaí Mountains highlands in western Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, and eastern Paraguay. Extending south-southwest initially as the Maracaju Mountains for approximately 200 miles (320 km) from Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, they form the western...\nAmargosa Range group of mountains in eastern California and southern Nevada, U.S., separating Death Valley from the Amargosa Desert. Part of the Basin Ranges of eastern California, the Amargosa Range extends 110 miles (180 km) from Grapevine Peak (8,705 feet [2,653...\nAnai Peak peak in eastern Kerala state, southwestern India. Located in the Western Ghats range, it rises to 8,842 feet (2,695 metres) and is peninsular India’s highest peak. From this point radiate three ranges—the Anaimalai to the north, the Palni to the northeast,...\nAnaimalai Hills mountain range in the Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The Anaimalai Hills are located at a junction of the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats and have a general northwest-southeast trend. Anai Peak (8,842 feet [2,695 metres]) lies at the...\nAndes Mountains mountain system of South America and one of the great natural features of the Earth. The Andes consist of a vast series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900...\nAnnamese Cordillera principal mountain range of Indochina and the watershed between the Mekong River and the South China Sea. It extends parallel to the coast in a gentle curve generally northwest-southeast, forming the boundary between Laos and Vietnam. A fairly continuous...\nAnnapurna massif of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal. It forms a ridge some 30 miles (48 km) long between the gorges of the Kali (Kali Gandak; west) and Marsyandi (east) rivers north of the town of Pokhara. The massif contains four main summits, two of which—...\nAnti-Atlas mountain range in Morocco running parallel to and southward of the central range of the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. Although it has a mean elevation of 5,000 feet (1,500 metres), some peaks and passes exceed 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). This rugged,...\nAnti-Lebanon Mountains mountain range that runs northeast-southwest along the Syrian-Lebanese border parallel to the Lebanon Mountains, from which they are separated by the al-Biqāʿ Valley. The range averages 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above sea level, with several peaks exceeding...\nApennine Range series of mountain ranges bordered by narrow coastlands that form the physical backbone of peninsular Italy. From Cadibona Pass in the northwest, close to the Maritime Alps, they form a great arc, which extends as far as the Egadi Islands to the west...\nApo, Mount active volcano, south central Mindanao, 20 miles (32 km) west of Davao City; it is the highest point in the Philippines, rising to 9,692 feet (2,954 metres). Part of the Cordillera Central, it is covered by a forest of tall, tropical hardwoods; two subsidiary...\nAppalachian Highlands the regions of the Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, and Appalachian Plateau in the eastern United States.\nAppalachian Mountains great highland system of North America, the eastern counterpart of the Rocky Mountains. Extending for almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to central Alabama in the United States, the Appalachian Mountains...\nAppalachian Orogenic Belt an old mountain range that extends for more than 3,000 km (1,860 miles) along the eastern margin of North America from Alabama in the southern United States to Newfoundland, Canada, in the north. The geosynclinal theory of mountain building was first...\nApuseni Mountains large mountain chain, a subgroup of the Carpathians, lying north of the Mureş River, northwestern Romania. The Apuseni (Western) Mountains are not high—reaching a maximum elevation of only 6,066 feet (1,849 m)—but as a uniform, imposing group they dominate...\nAragats, Mount mountain in Armenia, northwest of Yerevan and north of the Ararat Plain. The highest point in both Armenia and the Lesser Caucasus range (13,418 feet [4,090 m]), Aragats is a circular, shieldlike mountain composed of both lavas and tufas. A volcanic...\nArarat, Mount volcanic massif in extreme eastern Turkey overlooking the point at which the frontiers of Turkey, Iran, and Armenia converge. Its northern and eastern slopes rise from the broad alluvial plain of the Aras River, about 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) above...\nAravalli Range hill system of northern India, running northeasterly for 350 miles (560 km) through Rajasthan state. Isolated rocky offshoots continue to just south of Delhi. The series of peaks and ridges, with breadths varying from 6 to 60 miles (10 to 100 km), are...\nArgonne wooded, hilly region in eastern France that forms a natural barrier between Champagne and Lorraine. The Argonne is about 40 miles long and 10 miles wide (65 by 15 km). The hilly massif rarely exceeds 650 feet (200 m) in elevation but is slashed with...\nArkatag Mountains one of the complex mountain chains that form the Kunlun Mountains in western China. The Arkatag range is in the east-central portion of the Kunluns. Mount Muztag (Muztagh), at its western end, reaches an elevation of 25,338 feet (7,723 metres) and is...\nArmenian Highland mountainous region of western Asia. It lies mainly in Turkey, occupies all of Armenia, and includes southern Georgia, western Azerbaijan, and northwestern Iran. The highland covers almost 154,400 square miles (400,000 square km). The average elevation...\nArvon, Mount peak, Baraga county, northern Upper Peninsula, Michigan, U.S. Reaching an elevation of 1,979 feet (603 metres), it is the highest point in the state. It lies about 12 miles (20 km) east of L’Anse, inland from the Lake Superior shore in a wilderness recreational...\nAso, Mount volcano, Kumamoto ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, rising to an elevation of 5,223 feet (1,592 m). It has the largest active crater in the world, measuring 71 miles (114 km) in circumference, 17 miles (27 km) from north to south, and 10 miles (16 km)...\nAspiring, Mount mountain in the Southern Alps of west-central South Island, New Zealand. It is a pyramid-shaped peak that rises from the small Bonar, Volta, Therma, and Iso glaciers. Its four ridges reach 9,932 feet (3,027 m), with thick rain forests clothing the western...\nAssam Himalayas eastern section of the Great Himalayas, extending eastward across Sikkim state (India) and Bhutan, into northern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states (India), and along the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region (China). The mountains run eastward for...\nAtakora Mountains mountain range in western Africa, trending north-northeast. The range begins in the Akwapim Hills of southeastern Ghana (see Akwapim-Togo Ranges) and continues northeasterly to the Niger River through Togo and Benin. The mountains average 2,000 feet...\nAthos, Mount mountain in northern Greece, site of a semiautonomous republic of Greek Orthodox monks inhabiting 20 monasteries and dependencies (skíte s), some of which are larger than the parent monasteries. It occupies the easternmost of the three promontories of...\nAtlas Mountains series of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, running generally southwest to northeast to form the geologic backbone of the countries of the Maghrib (the western region of the Arab world)— Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. They extend for more than...\nAurès mountains, part of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria, northern Africa, fronted by rugged cliffs in the north and opening out in the south into the two parallel fertile valleys of the wadies Abiod and ʿAbdi, facing the Sahara. The highest peaks,...\nAustralian Alps mountain mass, a segment of the Great Dividing Range (Eastern Uplands), occupying the southeasternmost corner of Australia, in eastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. In a more local sense, the term denotes the ranges on the states’ border...\nAzov Upland hilly region, southeastern Ukraine. Part of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield, the Azov Upland is an area of denuded mountains, extending from the Dnieper River for 100 miles (160 km) to the Donets Ridge and sloping gently down southeastward to the Sea...\nBabia, Mount highest mountain (5,659 feet [1,725 m] at Diablok) peak in the Beskid Mountains, on the Slovakia-Poland border and one of the highest peaks in Poland. It is 12 miles (19 km) north-northeast of Námestovo, Slovakia, and 12 miles (19 km) south-southwest...\nBackbone Mountain highest point in Maryland, U.S., reaching an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,024 metres). It is located on a ridge of the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains, located in Garrett county 12 miles (19 km) south of Oakland. The ridge is 35 miles (56 km) long...\nBaetic Cordillera mountain system comprising the Andalusian mountains of southeastern Spain. The northern range (called pre-Baetic in Andalusia and sub-Baetic in Valencia) runs about 360 miles (580 km) from Cape Trafalgar in Andalusia to Cape Nao in Valencia, and it continues...\nBago Mountains mountain range of south-central Myanmar (Burma), extending 270 miles (435 km) north-south between the Irrawaddy and Sittang rivers and ending in a ridge at Yangon (Rangoon). The range averages about 2,000 feet (600 metres) in elevation, reaching its...\nBakhuis Gebergte range of hills, west central Suriname, running north–south, about 70 miles (110 km) in length and separating the basins of the Kabalebo and Nickerie rivers (west) from that of the Coppename River (east). The range is relatively low-lying, comprising...\nBakony Mountains mountain range in western Hungary, covering about 1,500 square miles (4,000 square km) between Lake Balaton and the Little Alfold and running southwest-northeast for 70 miles (110 km) from the Zala River. The range forms the major component of the highlands...\nBalaghat Range series of hills in western Maharashtra state, western India. Originating in the Western Ghats at the Harishchandra Range, the Balaghats extend southeastward for about 200 miles (320 km) to the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka states. Its width varies...\nBaldy Mountain summit (11,403 feet [3,476 metres]) in the White Mountains, Apache county, eastern Arizona, U.S. Springs on the mountain’s northern slope form the headwaters of the Little Colorado River. Also called Dzil Ligai (Apache: “Mountain of White Rock”), Baldy...\nBaldy Mountain highest peak in Manitoba, Can., in the southeastern part of Duck Mountain Provincial Park, 36 miles (58 km) northwest of Dauphin. At 2,730 feet (832 metres) above sea level, it is also the highest peak in the 350-mile- (560-km-) long Manitoba Escarpment....\nBale Mountains mountain chain in southern Ethiopia. It rises above 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) near Goba. The Bale Mountain region, including Bale Mountains National Park, is known for its numerous endemic species. Among these are the rare and endangered Ethiopian wolf...\nBalkan Mountains chief range of the Balkan Peninsula and Bulgaria and an extension of the Alpine-Carpathian folds. The range extends from the Timok River valley near the Yugoslav (Serbian) border, spreading out eastward for about 330 miles (530 km) into several spurs,...\nBamba, Mount mountain (2,625 feet [800 metres]) in the Mayombé Massif, in the southwestern part of the Republic of the Congo.\nBandeira Peak peak on the border of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais estados (states), eastern Brazil. It is part of the Caparaó mountain range and lies about 100 miles (160 km) inland from Vitória city on the Atlantic coast. Until 1962, when Neblina Peak (9,888 feet...\nBaoruco, Sierra de mountain range in the southwestern part of the Dominican Republic. It extends about 50 mi (80 km) east from the Haitian border to the Caribbean Sea and lies parallel to the Cordillera Central. Its highest peak is 5,348 ft (1,630 m). Straddling the Haitian...\nBartle Frere, Mount mountain in Bellenden-Ker Range, northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is the highest point in the state and rises to 5,287 ft (1,611 m) in an area reserved as a national park. Its slopes have the climate of a rain forest and provide cover for a variety...\nBavarian Alps northeastern segment of the Central Alps along the German-Austrian border. The mountains extend east-northeastward for 70 miles (110 km) from the Lechtaler Alps to the bend of the Inn River near Kufstein, Austria. Zugspitze (9,718 feet [2,962 metres])...\nBeartooth Range segment of the northern Rocky Mountains in the United States, extending east-southeastward for 50 miles (80 km) from the Stillwater River, in southern Montana, to the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, in northwestern Wyoming. Many peaks rise to more...\nBellenden Ker Range granitic massif, in the Eastern Highlands, northeastern Queensland, Australia, extending for 40 mi (65 km) along the coast northeast from Nerada to Gordonvale, just south of Cairns. Bounded by the Mulgrave River (east), the Innisfail Downs (south), and...\nBelukha, Mount one of the Katun Mountains, a series of snowcapped peaks in Russia. The highest mountain in the Russian portion of the Altai Mountains, Belukha reaches a height of 14,783 feet (4,506 m) in one of its twin peaks. Glaciers cover some 27 square miles (70...\nBen Cruachan mountain in the Highlands, Argyll and Bute council area, Scot., culminating in several peaks, the highest of which is 3,689 feet (1,124 metres). It is situated between Loch (“Lake”) Etive on the north and Loch Awe on the south. The Cruachan hydroelectric...\nBen Nevis highest mountain of the British Isles, in the Highland council area, Scotland. Its summit, reaching an elevation of 4,406 feet (1,343 metres), is a plateau of about 100 acres (40 hectares), with a slight slope to the south and a sheer face to the northeast....\nBen Rinnes mountain in the Moray council area, Scotland, situated 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Keith and about 5 miles (8 km) east of the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Spey. It reaches an elevation of 2,759 feet (841 metres). One of the notable sights associated...\nBen Wyvis mountain in the northern Highlands, Highland council area, Scotland, whose summit stands some 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Dingwall on the Cromarty Firth, which is an inlet of the Moray Firth. The mountain has an elevation of 3,429 feet (1,045 metres)....\nBerkshire Hills segment of the Appalachian Mountains, U.S., mainly in Berkshire county, western Massachusetts. Many summits rise to more than 2,000 feet (600 metres), including Mount Greylock (3,491 feet [1,064 metres]), the highest point in Massachusetts. The scenic...\nBernese Alps segment of the Central Alps lying north of the Upper Rhône River and south of the Brienzer and Thunersee (lakes) in Bern and Valais cantons of southwestern Switzerland. The mountains extend east-northeastward from the bend of the Rhône near Martigny-Ville...\nBernina Alps part of the Rhaetian Alps in eastern Switzerland along the Italian border, lying southeast of the Engadin (valley of the Upper Inn River). The scenic range rises to Bernina Peak (13,284 feet [4,049 m]), which was first ascended in 1850 by the Swiss climber...\nBeskid Mountains discontinuous series of forested mountain ranges lying in the eastern Czech Republic, northwestern Slovakia, and southern Poland. The Czech sections at the western end of the Carpathian Mountains lie south and east of the Moravian Gate and are identified...\nBia, Mount highest peak (9,245 feet [2,818 metres]) in Laos, located among the western spurs of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique) immediately south of the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The massif, which trends northwest-southeast, is isolated from its 8,050–8,500-foot...\nBig Belt Mountains segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, paralleling the eastern bank of the Missouri River for about 80 miles (129 km) in west-central Montana, U.S. The range lies some 20 miles (30 km) east of the city of Helena and the Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The...\nBig Rock Candy Mountain complex of carbonate hills, about 5,500 feet (1,675 metres) tall, on the edge of one segment of Fishlake National Forest, near Marysvale, south-central Utah, U.S. The striped dun- and rose-coloured hills were fancifully named by workers on the Denver...\nBighorn Mountains range of the northern Rocky Mountains in southern Montana, U.S., extending southeastward in an anticlinal arch across north-central Wyoming for 120 miles (193 km). Varying in width between 30 and 50 miles (50 and 80 km), the mountains rise abruptly 4,000...\nBihor Massif mountain massif, the highest part of the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians, western Romania. It is roughly 16 miles (25 km) long from northwest to southeast and 9 miles (14 km) wide. The summit is almost smooth, broken by a few peaks...\nBismarck Range northeastern segment of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Visited in 1886 by the German explorer G.E. von Schleinitz, the range was named for Otto von Bismarck. The mountains reach 14,793 feet (4,509 metres)...\nBitterroot Range segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, U.S., extending southward for 300 mi (480 km) along the Idaho–Montana border. Peaks average about 9,000 ft (2,700 m), with Scott Peak, in Idaho, the highest (11,394 ft). Owing to the inaccessibility of the mountains...\nBlack Hills isolated eroded mountain region in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, U.S., lying largely within Black Hills National Forest. The hills lie between the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers and rise about 3,000 feet (900 metres) above the surrounding...\nBlack Mountain Range southern spur of the Assam Himalayas in Bhutan. It lies between the Sankosh River (west) and the Mangde (Tongsa) River (east), and tributaries of the two rivers run through deep ravines down its steep slopes. The road between Punakha and Tongsa Dzong...\nBlack Mountains mountain range in Yancey and Buncombe counties in western North Carolina, U.S., part of the Appalachian Mountains extending north from the Blue Ridge. The range includes Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet [2,037 metres]), the highest point east of the Mississippi...\nBlack Range mountain range extending 100 miles (160 km) north to south, through Catron and Sierra counties, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. The range follows the Continental Divide for much of its length. Most of the range lies within the Gila National Forest, near...\nBlanc, Mont mountain massif and highest peak (15,771 feet [4,807 metres]) in Europe. Located in the Alps, the massif lies along the French-Italian border and reaches into Switzerland. It extends southwestward from Martigny, Switzerland, for about 25 miles (40 km)...\nBlanca, Cordillera eastern section of the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes, in west central Peru, South America. The snowcapped range extends about 110 mi (180 km) and has a southeast to northwest trend. The highest peak (22,334 ft [6,768 m]) is Nevado (mount) Huascarán....\nBlue Mountains range curving northeastward for 190 mi (310 km) from central Oregon to southeastern Washington, U.S. The range reaches a width of 68 mi and an average elevation of about 6,500 ft (2,000 m); it comprises an uplifted, warped, and dissected lava plateau,...\nBlue Mountains range in eastern Jamaica that extends for about 30 miles (50 km) from Stony Hill, 8 miles north of Kingston, eastward to the Caribbean Sea. The highest point in the range is Blue Mountain Peak (7,402 feet [2,256 metres]). The Blue Mountains are thickly...\nBlue Ridge segment of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States. The mountains extend southwestward for 615 miles (990 km) from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, through parts of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, to Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia. The...\nBoggeragh Mountains mountain range in west County Cork, Ireland, comprising the western end of the Boggeragh-Nagles anticline (upwarp of rock strata), a long line of hills running from County Kerry eastward to the Drum Hills of County Waterford. The Boggeragh Mountains...\nBogong, Mount highest peak (6,516 feet [1,986 m]) of Victoria, Australia. It is in the Australian Alps, 150 miles (240 km) northeast of Melbourne. Well known for winter sports, the peak derived its name from an Aboriginal word meaning “high plains.” Bogong township...","Switzerland - History, Economics, Geography\n... (195 m) Switzerland is a landlocked country in ... given some independence as cantons . ... country is divided into 26 cantons for local ...\nSwitzerland - History, Economics, Geography\nHighest Point: Dufourspitze at 15,203 feet (4,634 m)\nLowest Point: Lake Maggiore at 639 feet (195 m)\nSwitzerland is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is one of the richest countries in the world and it has consistently ranked high for its quality of life. Switzerland is known for its history of being neutral during wartimes.Switzerland is the home of many international organizations like the World Trade Organization but it is not a member of the European Union .\nHistory of Switzerland\nSwitzerland was originally inhabited by the Helvetians and the area that makes up today's country became a part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century B.C.E. When the Roman Empire began to decline, Switzerland was invaded by several German tribes. In 800 Switzerland became a part of Charlemagne's Empire.\ncontinue reading below our video\nWhat are the Seven Wonders of the World\nShortly thereafter control of the country was passed through the Holy Roman emperors.\nIn the 13th century, new trade routes across the Alps opened and Switzerland's mountain valleys became important and were given some independence as cantons . In 1291, the Holy Roman Emperor died and according to the U.S. Department of State, the ruling families of several mountain communities signed a charter to keep peace and keep independent rule.\nFrom 1315 to 1388, Swiss Confederates were involved in several conflicts with the Habsburgs and their borders expanded. In 1499, the Swiss Confederates gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire. Following its independence and a defeat by the French and Venetians in 1515, Switzerland ended its policies of expansion.\nThroughout the 1600s, there were several European conflicts but the Swiss remained neutral. From 1797 to 1798, Napoleon annexed part of the Swiss Confederation and a centrally governed state was established. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna preserved the country's status as a permanently armed neutral state. In 1848 a short civil war between Protestant and Catholic led to the formation of a Federal State modeled after the United States . A Swiss Constitution was then drafted and was amended in 1874 to ensure cantonal independence and democracy.\nIn the 19th century, Switzerland underwent industrialization and it remained neutral during World War I . During World War II , Switzerland also remained neutral despite pressure from surrounding countries. After WWII, Switzerland began to grow its economy. It did not join the Council of Europe until 1963 and it is still not a part of the European Union. In 2002 it joined the United Nations.\nGovernment of Switzerland\nToday Switzerland's government is formally a confederation but it is more similar in structure to a federal republic. It has an executive branch with a chief of state and a head of government that is filled by the President and a bicameral Federal Assembly with the Council of States and the National Council for its legislative branch. Switzerland's judicial branch is made up of a Federal Supreme Court. The country is divided into 26 cantons for local administration and each has a high degree of independence and each is equal in status.\nPeople of Switzerland\nSwitzerland is unique in its demography because it is made up of three linguistic and cultural regions. These are German, French and Italian. As a result, Switzerland is not a nation based on one ethnic identity; instead it is based on its common historical background and shared governmental values. The official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh.\nEconomics and Land Use in Switzerland\nSwitzerland is one of the wealthiest nations in the world and it has a very strong market economy. Unemployment is low and its labor force is also very highly skilled. Agriculture makes up a small part of its economy and the main products include grains, fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs. The largest industries in Switzerland are machinery, chemicals, banking and insurance. In addition, expensive goods such as watches and precision instruments are also produced in Switzerland. Tourism is also a very large industry in the country due to its natural setting in the Alps.\nGeography and Climate of Switzerland\nSwitzerland is located in Western Europe, to the east of France and to the north of Italy. It is known for its mountain landscapes and small mountain villages. The topography of Switzerland is varied but it is mainly mountainous with the Alps in the south and the Jura in the northwest. There is also a central plateau with rolling hills and plains and there are many large lakes throughout the country. Dufourspitze at 15,203 feet (4,634 m) is Switzerland's highest point but there are many other peaks that are at very high elevations as well - the Matterhorn near the town of Zermatt in Valais is the most famous.\nThe climate of Switzerland is temperate but it varies with altitude. Most of the country has cold and rainy to snowy winters and cool to warm and sometimes humid summers. Bern, Switzerland's capital has an average January low temperature of 25.3˚F (-3.7˚C) and an average July high of 74.3˚F (23.5˚C).\nTo learn more about Switzerland, visit the Switzerland page in the Geography and Maps section of this website.\nReferences\nCentral Intelligence Agency. (9 November 2010). CIA - The World Factbook - Switzerland. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sz.html\nInfoplease.com. (n.d.). Switzerland: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108012.html\nUnited States Department of State. (31 March 2010). Switzerland. Retrieved from: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3431.htm\nWikipedia.com. (16 November 2010). Switzerland - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland","Country Fact File - Job Serve Africa\nGhana is a country in West Africa. It borders the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to ... Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered ...\nCountry Fact File - Job Serve Africa\nAlgeria\nAlgeria is a located in North Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area. It is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, a few kilometers of th...\nAngola\nAngola is in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and Zambia to the east. There is also an exclave province Cabinda which lies to the North of Angola which was a Portuguese colony from the 16th century to 1975. The country is the secon...\nBahrain\nBahrain is an Arabic island micro-state in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway, Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The government plans to build the Qatar-Bahrain Friendsh...\nBenin\nBenin, officially the Republic of Benin is a country in Western Africa. An ex French colony it gained full independence on the 1st of August 1960. The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and is largely dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth i...\nBotswana\nThe Republic of Botswana is a landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It is bordered by South Africa to the south & southeast, Namibia to the...\nBurkina Faso\nBurkina Faso also known as Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali , Niger , Benin , Togo and Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Burkina Faso was formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta. Burkina Faso's capital is Ouagadougou. After gaini...\nBurundi\nBurundi , officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in Eastern Africa bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Rwanda to the north, and Tanzania to the south and east. A landlocked country, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika....\nCameroon\nThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria ,Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. Cameroon's coastline is part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called \"A...\nCanada\nCanada is a country occupying by most of the northern North America extending from Atlantic Ocean in the east to Pacific Ocean in the west and the northward into Arctic Ocean and also the world's second largest country. Its shares its world's longest common border with the United States. ...\nCape Verde\nThe Republic of Cape Verde is an ex Portuguese colony, and is a group of islands off the West Coast of Africa. Cape Verde has few natural resources and poor rainfall limits agricultural production. Over 90% of all food consumed in Cape Verde is imported. Cape Verde still has strong ties with Port...\nCentral African Republic\nThe Central African Republic is an ex French Colony and a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad, Sudan , the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world and among the ten ...\nChad\nThe Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger to the west. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic groups and Arabic & French are the official languages. The country is one of the po...\nDemocratic Republic of the Congo\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a former Belgian colony. It is a central African country with a small shoreline on the Atlantic coastline. The country is a member of the Southern African Development Community. The Democratic Republic of the Congo borders Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, A...\nEgypt\nEgypt is a country mainly in North Africa. It covers an area of about 1,010,000 km2 and borders the Mediterranean Sea , Gaza Strip , Israel , the Red Sea, Sudan and Libya. Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its populat...\nEquatorial Guinea\nThe Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a Spanish speaking country located in Central Africa. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa and comprises two regions: a Continental Region and an Insular Region containing Annobón island, Bioko island where the capital Malabo is situated, and s...\nEritrea\nEritrea, is a country in Northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. Eritrea is a single-party state, run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice. Eritrea is a full member state of the African Union. Within the region, Eritr...\nEthiopia\nEthiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with a population of over 80 million people. Its capi...\nGabon\nGabon is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, and Cameroon to the north, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east & south. It has an estimated population of 1,500,000...\nGambia\nGambia is a country in Western Africa and is the smallest country in Africa. The country is less than 48 km wide at its widest point, with a total area of just over 11,000 km² The Gambia has a liberal, market-based economy characterised by traditional ...\nGhana\nGhana is a country in West Africa. It borders the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Export commodities include gold, timber, cocoa, diamond, bauxite, and manganese. An oilfield which is reported to contain up to 3 billio...\nGuinea\nGuinea is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10 and a half million. Guinea's size is almost 246,000 square kilometres. Richly endowed with minerals, Guinea possesses over 25 billion metric tons of bauxite, ...\nGuinea-Bissau\nThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa and one of the smallest nations in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. Its size is nearly 37,000 km² with an estim...\nIran\nIran is the 18th largest country in the world. Its area roughly equals that of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, or slightly less than the state of Alaska It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that sep...\nIraq\nIraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. It shares its borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the nort...\nIsrael\nOfficially, the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest. Even though Israel is a small country, it is home to a vari...\nJordan\nOfficially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, Israel to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the east and sout...\nKenya\nKenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border. Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic...\nKuwait\nThe State of Kuwait, a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, is enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. Kuwait has the world's fifth largest oil reserves and is the third richest country in the world per capita. P...\nLebanon\nLebanon is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanese society is very modern and similar to certain cultures of Mediterranean Europe. It is often considered to serve as Europe's...\nLesotho\nThe Lesotho Government is a constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili, is head of government and has executive authority. The king serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is prohibited from actively participating in po...\nLiberia\nThe history of Liberia is unique among African nations, due to its roots as a colony founded by freed slaves from the United States. These freed slaves formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, formed a government based on that of the United States, naming their capital city after ...\nMadagascar\nMadagascar is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Madagascar is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Senate and the Na...\nMalawi\nMalawi was first settled during the 10th century and remained under native rule until 1891 when it was colonized by the British, who ruled the country until 1964. Malawi is a democratic, multi-party government, currently under the leadership of President Bingu wa Mutharika. The curre...\nMali\nMali is a constitutional democracy governed by the constitution of January 12, 1992, which was amended in 1999. The constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The system of government can be described as \"semi-presidenti...\nMauritania\nA majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 5...\nMauritius\nSince independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been of the order of 5% to 6%. This has been reflected in i...\nMorocco\nThe services sector accounts for just over half of GDP and industry, made up of mining, construction and manufacturing, is an additional quarter. The sectors who recorded the highest growth are the tourism, telecoms and textile sectors. Morocco , however, still depends to an inordinate degree on ...\nMozambique\nMuch of Mozambique's economy was devastated by almost thirty years of internal warfare during which millions of Mozambicans were displaced and many thousands killed or maimed by armed strife. Mozambique's economy is closely integrated with those of southern and South Africa. As li...\nNamibia\nNamibia, previously a colony of Germany, and later occupied by South Africa's apartheid government, following South Africa's withdrawal from Angola, gained full independence in 1990. Namibia is one of Africa's most developed and stable countries. Tourism and diamond mining form th...\nNiger\nNiger's economy centres on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, a 2.9% population growth rate, and the drop in world demand for uranium have undercut the economy. The agricultural economy is based largely upo...\nNigeria\nNigeria is classified as an emerging market, and is rapidly approaching middle income status, with its abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport sectors and Nigerian stock exchange, which is the second largest in Africa. Nigeria is the 12th l...\nOman\nOman is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest. A vast gravel desert plain covers most of central Oman, with mountain ranges along the nort...\nQatar\nQatar is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. An oil-rich nation, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world according to the CIA World Factbook. Before the discovery of oil, the economy o...\nRepublic of Congo\nThe economy is made up of a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector which is largely based on petroleum, support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the econ...\nRepublic of Djibouti\nThe Republic of Djibouti lies in northeast Africa on the Gulf of Aden Djibouti has a 314 km coastline and shares borders with Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia The country is mainly a stony desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands. The economy of Djibouti is mainly based on service activiti...\nRepublic of South Africa\nThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The South African coast stretches 2,798 kilometres and borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, while ...\nRwanda\nRwanda's economy suffered heavily during the 1994 genocide, with widespread loss of life, failure to maintain the infrastructure, looting and neglect of important cash crops causing a large drop in GDP and destroying the country's ability to attract private and external investment Rwanda ...\nSao Tome and Principe\nSince the 1800s, the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe has been based on plantation agriculture The main crop on São Tomé is cocoa, representing about 95% of exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee. Other than agricultu...\nSaudi Arabia\nThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. Sau...\nSeychelles\nSince independence in 1976, per capita output has expanded to roughly seven times the old near-subsistence level. The tourist sector led to this growth, which provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings and employs about 30% of the labour force, and by tuna fishing. The government decided to...\nSierra Leone\nDespite its extensive mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, Sierra Leone is an impoverished country, and has been rated as the world's poorest nation consistently for the past five years. The eight-year civil war and the subsequent hostilities, which have continued since the signing of th...\nSomalia\nPastoralism is the dominant mode of life; both nomadic and sedentary herding of cattle, sheep, goats, and camels are carried on. The major cash crops are bananas, mangoes, and sugarcane. Other important crops include sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sesame seeds, and beans. There is a small fishing...\nSudan\nSudan is an overwhelmingly agricultural country. Much of the farming is of a subsistence kind; agriculture occupies some 80% of the workforce but contributes only 35% of the GDP. Agricultural production varies from year to year because of intermittent droughts that cause widespread famine. The go...\nSwaziland\nSwaziland has excellent farming and ranching land, and 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. Sugarcane is grown on plantations, mainly for export. Other important crops are cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus fruits, pineapples, sorghum, and peanuts. Cattle and goats are ra...\nSyria\nSyria is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north. The population is mainly Sunni Muslim, but with significant Alawi, Druze and Christian minorities....\nTanzania\nTanzania's economy is very much agriculturely based, which accounts for more than half of GDP, provides approximately 85% of exports, and employs roughly 8 out of 10 people for its workforce. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the...\nTogo\nTogo's economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Cotton, coffee, and cocoa together generate about 30% of export earnings. Togo is self-sufficient in basic food goods when harvests are normal, with occasional...\nTurkey\nOfficially known as the Republic of Turkey, it is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight other countries. The Turkish Armed Forces ...\nUganda\nUganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. The country has large amounts of untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas. Agriculture is Uganda's most important sector for the economy, employi...\nUnited Arab Emirates\nThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven states situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. Petroleum and natural gas exports still play an important role in the economy even though the Unit...\nUnited State of America\nThe united state of America is commonly known as united state, U.S, USA or America. USA was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain on 4 July 1776. America is the largest nation in the world and has a low unemployment in the world. United state is the industrial power and ...\nWorld Cup 2010 Hotel Accommodation - South Africa\nAccommodation in South Africa: Apartments, Hotels, Villas, Guest Houses, Cottages South Africa offers a range of accommodation ranging from 5-star hotels, B&B, Guest house and luxury hotels in its major cities.The cheapest accommodation is in basic backpacker lodges but there are also...\nYemen\nThe Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east. The land of Yemen is one of the oldest locations of civil...","The Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries ...\n... The 15 Most Elevated Countries ... There is a special place reserved in respective national consciousnesses for the highest point in a country ... South Africa ...\nThe Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries on Earth | The Basement Geographer\nThe Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries on Earth\nby kuschk\nThere is a special place reserved in respective national consciousnesses for the highest point in a country. Everest, McKinley, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Fuji, Olympus, Ben Nevis – the towering peaks that can be seen for miles across the countryside and are held up as national symbols. They form the basis for religious myths (and political myths ), challenge climbers to scale their heights , and are used to lure tourists from around the world.Not so renowned are the low points – those spots where a country descends to its lowest elevation. ure, there are some places that grab attention – the Dead Sea, the Caspian Sea, Death Valley – but usually for their extreme salinity or harsh environments rather than simply just for their low elevation. For most countries, their low point is simply sea level ; the coastline where land meets ocean. For the world’s landlocked countries , however, the lowest point is usually a bit above sea level , and for the top 15, it’s a fair bit above. Here now, a list of the 15 highest national low points on Earth.\n1. Lesotho: 1400 m, Orange and Makhaleng river confluence . It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprised that a country in which 80% of the land lies above 1 800 m is the leader in the highest low point category. Lesotho takes advantage of its rough, mountainous, highly-elevated terrain via a series of hydroelectric generation projects via which it can sell power to the country that surrounds it, South Africa. It also ensures that Lesotho has a surprisingly cool climate for being located in the subtropics.\n2. Rwanda: 950 m, Ruzizi River. Rwanda’s lowest point occurs at the tripoint between Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the Ruzizi travels en route to Lake Tanganyika in the Great Rift Valley . Rwanda is quite mountainous in the western third of the country , with an abrupt drop down to the Rift. The eastern two-thirds of Rwanda are not nearly as rugged, but the elevation change is gradual. Much like Lesotho, Rwanda’s climate is rather temperate despite its location just south of the Equator. At 1 600 m above sea level, Kigali is one of the highest national capitals on Earth.\n3. Andorra: 840 m, Gran Valira . The exit point into Spain of Andorra’s longest river ( all 35 km of it ) is the lowest point in the Pyrenean principality, whose terrain is comprised entirely of 65 peaks and the narrow mountain valleys surrounding them.\nThe Gran Valira is Andorra’s longest river.\n4. Burundi: 772 m, Lake Tanganyika .With Rwanda at number 2, neighbouring landlocked Burundi was bound not to be far behind. The aforementioned Lake Tanganyika that the Ruzizi River flows into partially lies in Burundi. Straddling the divide between the Nile and Congo watersheds, Burundi is not nearly as mountainous as Rwanda and dominated by a high central plateau .\n5. Uganda: 621 m, Albert Nile . Three of the top five highest low points come from neighbouring East African countries, as Uganda checks in at number five. Uganda is almost entirely plateau with high mountains on the fringes. The Albert Nile departs north into Southern Sudan; it and its antecedent the Victoria Nile originate from the massive Lake Victoria in the southeast of the country and wind their way through the plateau.\n6. Mongolia: 518 m, Hoh Nuur. Even in the second-largest landlocked country on the planet, the outermost fringes don’t fall below 500 m in elevation. High, cold, and windy, the country’s capital of Ulaanbaatar has the honour of being the coldest national capital in the world and the only one to have a mean daily temperature below freezing .\n7. Botswana: 513 m, Limpopo and Shashe river confluence . Being landlocked can even get a flat desert country like Botswana on the list. The desert conditions and flat tableland terrain mean that water resources in Botswana are rather limited . The low point comes at the easternmost part of the country; the Limpopo/Shashe confluence forma a tripoint with Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.\n8. Liechtenstein: 430 m, Rhine River . The sixth-smallest independent country in the world comes in eighth, aided by the fact that it’s doubly-landlocked (surrounded only by countries that are also landlocked). Being located in the heart of the Alps doesn’t hurt, either.\n9. Armenia: 400 m, Debed River . Considering how mountainous and severe much of Armenia’s topography is , I’m actually surprised it ranks this low. The low point comes on the northern border with Georgia.\n10. Central African Republic: 335 m, Ubangi River . There’s quite a drop to the CAR in tenth place; the country is a flat, rolling savanna with just a few mountains in the extreme northwest and northeast. As the Ubangi River is the major body of water in the country, its size ensures its position as the country’s low point (again a tripoint, this time with the two Congos).\n11. Zambia: 329 m, Zambezi River . Zambia is another African country mostly consisting of high plateau , but with some decent hills in the northeast. The low point on Zambia’s share of the Zambezi comes at a tripoint with Zimbabwe and Mozambique, not far downstream from one of the world’s largest hydroelectric projects, the Kariba Dam .\n12. Tajikistan: 300 m, Syr Darya . Despite being a mid-ranking country in terms of size, Tajikistan demonstrates an incredible variance in topography, featuring peaks nearly 7 500 m (24 600 feet) in height, and with half of its area above 3 000 m . Thanks to the purposefully awkward boundaries drawn up in Soviet times , however, the northern panhandle reaches into the Fergana Valley and grabs a chunk of the Syr Darya away from Uzbekstan, giving Tajikistan a low-lying valley to go with its lofty eastern peaks.\n13. Afghanistan: 258 m, Amu Darya . The southern border of Tajikistan is formed by the Amu Darya, and Afghanistan lies on the other side. The river continues westward to form Afghanistan’s border with Uzbekistan, and part of its border with Turkmenistan. Both the Amu Darya and Syr Darya have been polluted and depleted so dramatically in the name of irrigation for cotton production that they dry up before reaching the Aral Sea, resulting in the near-disappearance of what was one the fourth-largest lake in the world.\nT14. Niger: 200 m, Niger River . Another African tripoint, this time with Nigeria and Benin.The Niger River actually spends very little of its 4 180 km length in the country named for the river.Niger is a member of the nine-country Niger Basin Authority which coordinates management of the massive river.\nT14. Burkina Faso: 200m. Black Volta . Just to the west of Niger lies the other country tied for 14th. Burkina Faso’s low point has nothing to do with the Niger River, though; rather, it comes along the Black Volta where it flows into Ghana via Cote d’Ivoire. Burkina Faso is rather flat; the high point in the north near Mali is only 749 m.\nFurther Reading\nEls, A.J.E. and K.M. Rowntree (2001). Water Resources in the Savanna Region of Botswana. Savannas.net. Available at http://www.savannas.net/botswana/ruhydro.htm . Accessed 7 February 2011.\nLesotho Highlands Development Authority (2009). Overview of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). 9 July 2003. Available at http://www.lhwp.org.ls/overview/default.htm . Accessed 6 February 2011."],"string":"[\n \"Top 30 Poorest Countries in the World - Home\\n... armies and is sometimes referred to as the \\\"African World War\\\". [4] ... The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people ...\\nTop 30 poorest countries - Top 30 Poorest Countries in the World\\nTop 30 Poorest Countries in the World\\nHere are some countries that have been affected by poverty. We built a little information about these 30 countries. Please enjoy our website. Thank you for visiting our website.\\n1.Liberia\\n( help · info )\\n, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa , bordered by Sierra Leone , Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , and the Atlantic Ocean . As of the 2008 Census, the nation is home to 3,476,608 people and covers 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi). [3]\\nLiberia's capital is Monrovia . Liberia has a hot equatorial climate with most rainfall arriving in summer with harsh harmattan winds in the dry season. Liberia's populated Pepper Coast is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the sparsely populated inland is forested, later opening to a plateau of drier grasslands.\\nThe history of Liberia is unique among African nations because of its relationship with the United States . It is one of the few countries in Africa, and the only country in West Africa , without roots in the European Scramble for Africa . It was founded and colonized by freed American slaves with the help of a private organization called the American Colonization Society in 1821-22, on the premise American slaves would have greater freedom and equality there. [4]\\nSlaves freed from slave ships also were sent there instead of being repatriated to their countries of origin. [5] These colonists formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, they founded the Republic of Liberia, establishing a government modeled on that of the United States, naming Monrovia, their capital city, after James Monroe , the fifth president of the United States and a prominent supporter of the colonization.\\nA military-led coup in 1980 overthrew then-president William R. Tolbert , which marked the beginning of a period of instability that eventually led to a civil war that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and devastated the country's economy . Today, Liberia is recovering from the lingering effects of the civil war and related economic dislocation.\\n2.Haiti\\n[a.iti] ; Haitian Creole : Ayiti,\\nHaitian Creole pronunciation: \\n[ajiti] ), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti ; Repiblik Ayiti) is a Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic , it occupies the island of Hispaniola , in the Greater Antillean archipelago. Ayiti (land of high mountains) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the mountainous western side of the island. The country's highest point is Pic la Selle , at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi ) and its capital is Port-au-Prince . Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.\\nHaiti's regional, historical and ethnolinguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America and the first black -led republic in the world when it gained independence as part of a successful slave rebellion in 1804. [4] Despite having common cultural links with its Hispano-Caribbean neighbors, Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada ) that designate French as an official language ; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements , or collectivités , of France.\\nHaiti is the poorest country in the Americas . Contrary to popular belief, however, it is not the poorest in the Western Hemisphere . On various occasions, it has experienced political violence throughout its history. Most recently, in February 2004, an armed rebellion forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide , and a provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Rene Preval , the current president, was elected in the Haitian general election, 2006 .\\n3.Zimbabwe\\n-bwe ; officially the Republic of Zimbabwe and formerly Southern Rhodesia , the Republic of Rhodesia , and Zimbabwe Rhodesia ) is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa , between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three official languages : English , Shona (a Bantu language ), and Ndebele .\\nZimbabwe began as a part of the British crown colony of Rhodesia . Today, Zimbabwe is governed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's administration, with President Robert Mugabe as Head of State. Mugabe has been in power since the country's long war for independence . Although initially during the 1980s his administration was credited with improving the standard of living and the economy; his rule has been characterized by gross economic mismanagement, hyperinflation , and widespread reports of human rights abuses. [3] The collapse of the nation's economy and widespread poverty and unemployment has increased support for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change , which in late 2008 agreed to share power with Mugabe.\\n4.Chad\\nChad ( French : Tchad, Arabic :\\nتشاد\\n Tshād), officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa . It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the \\\"Dead Heart of Africa\\\".\\nChad is divided into three major geographical regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad , after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara , and N'Djamena , (formerly Fort-Lamy), the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups . Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.\\nBeginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa .\\nIn 1960 Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye . Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby . Recently, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation , with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.\\nWhile many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement . Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état (see Battle of N'Djamena (2006) and Battle of N'Djamena (2008) ).\\nThe country is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most Chadians live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers . Since 2003 crude oil has become the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry.\\n5.Gaza Strip\\n Qiṭāʿ Ġazza/Qita' Ghazzah,\\nArabic pronunciation: \\n[qitˤaːʕ ɣazza] ) lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea . It borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about 41 kilometers (25 mi ) long, and between 6 and 12 kilometers (4–7.5 mi) wide, with a total area of 360 square kilometers (139 sq mi ). This small piece of land is home to about 1.5 million Palestinians. Many of these people lived in other parts of Palestine prior to the 1947 - 49 Israeli War of Independence, when they had to flee. These Palestinians have not been allowed to return to their former villages. The area is recognized internationally as part of the Palestinian territories . [1] [2] [3] [4] Actual control of the area within the Gaza Strip borders are in the hands of Hamas , an organization that won civil parliamentary Palestinian Authority elections in 2006 and took over de facto government in the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority by way of its own political maneuvering and armed militia in July 2007, while consolidating power by violently removing the Palestinian Authority's security forces and civil servants from the Gaza Strip.\\nThe Gaza Strip, having previously been a part of the Ottoman Empire and then the British Mandate of Palestine, was occupied by Egypt from 1948–67, and then by Israel following the 1967 war . Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in 1993, the Palestinian Authority was set up as an interim administrative body to govern populated Palestinian centers - with Israel maintaining military control of the Gaza Strip's airspace , some of its land borders and its territorial waters - until a final agreement could be reached. As agreement remained elusive, Occupying Power . [5]\\nThe territory takes its name from Gaza , its main city. The population speak a Western Egyptian dialect of Arabic and are estimated by some sources at as high as 1.5 million (July 2009). [6] Refugees of the 1948 Palestinian exodus and their descendants made up 85% of the population as of March 2003. [7]\\n6.Sierra Leone\\nSierra Leone ( [sieɪrə liˈoːn] ), officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa . It is bordered by Guinea in the north, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi) [4] and has a population estimated at 6.4 million. The country is a constitutional republic comprising three provinces and the Western Area , which are further divided into fourteen districts .\\nThe country has a tropical climate , with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests . [5] Freetown is the capital, largest city and economic center. [4] . English is the official language , [6] spoken at schools , government administration and by the media . However, the Krio language (a language derived from English and several African languages and native to the Sierra Leone Krio people ) is the most widely spoken language in virtually all parts of the country. The Krio language is spoken by 97% of the country's population [2] and unites all the different ethnic groups , especially in their trade and interaction with each other. [1] Despite its common use throughout the country, the Krio language has no official status. In December 2002, Sierra Leone’s President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah named Bengali as an \\\"official language\\\" in recognition of the work of 5,300 troops from Bangladesh in the peace-keeping force. [7] [8]\\nThe Sierra Leone government officially recognizes fifteen ethnic groups , [9] each with its own language and customs. The two largest and most influential are the Mende and Temne peoples, with each comprising 30% of the population.[ citation needed ]\\nSierra Leone is very rich in minerals and has relied on mining , especially diamonds, for its economic base. The country is among the top 10 diamond producing nations in the world, and mineral exports remain the main foreign currency earner. Sierra Leone also claims to be home to the third largest natural harbour in the world, the Queen Elizabeth II Quay (also known as the QE II Quay and locally as the Deep Water Quay or Government Warf) [10] [11] .\\nEarly inhabitants of Sierra Leone included the Sherbro , Temne and Limba , and Tyra [ disambiguation needed ] peoples, and later the Mende , [12] who knew the country as Romarong, and the Kono who settled in the East of the country. [13] In 1462, it was visited by the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra , who gave it its name Serra de Leão, meaning 'Lion Mountains'. [14] [15] Sierra Leone later became an important centre of the transatlantic trade in slaves until 1792 when Freetown was founded by the Sierra Leone Company as a home for formerly enslaved African Americans . [16] In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown Colony , and in 1896, the interior of the country became a British Protectorate ; [13] in 1961, the two combined and gained independence .\\nOver two decades of government neglect of the interior followed by the spilling over of the Liberian conflict into its borders eventually led to the Sierra Leone Civil War , [17] which began in 1991 and was resolved in 2000 after the struggling Nigerian led United Nations troops were heavily reinforced by a British force spearheaded by 42 Commando of the Royal Marines as well as several British Army units. The arrival of this force in what was codenamed OPERATION PALLISER resulted in the defeat of rebel forces and restored the civilian government elected in 1998 to Freetown. Since then, almost 72,500 former combatants have been disarmed [18] and the country has reestablished a functioning democracy . [2] The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002 to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 1996. [19] Sierra Leone is the third-lowest-ranked country on the Human Development Index and seventh-lowest on the Human Poverty Index , suffering from endemic corruption [20] and suppression of the press . [21]\\n7.Suriname\\nSuriname [5] ( Dutch : Suriname; Sarnami : शर्नम् Sarnam, Sranan Tongo : Sranangron), officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America .\\nSuriname is situated between French Guiana to the east and Guyana to the west. The southern border is shared with Brazil and the northern border is the Atlantic coast. The southernmost borders with French Guiana and Guyana are disputed along the Marowijne and Corantijn rivers, respectively; while a part of the disputed maritime boundary with Guyana was arbitrated by the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea on September 20, 2007.\\nSuriname is the smallest sovereign state in terms of area and population in South America. The country is the only Dutch-speaking region in the Western Hemisphere that is not a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . Suriname has a typical multicultural society with extreme ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity. Suriname's geographical size is just under 165,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of about 470,000 people. About a quarter of the population live on less than US$ 2 a day. [6]\\n8.Mozambique\\nMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique ( Portuguese : Moçambique or República de Moçambique,\\npronounced \\n[ʁɛˈpublikɐ di musɐ̃ˈbiki] ), is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest.\\nThe area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonized by Portugal in 1505. Mozambique became independent in 1975, to which it became the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly after, and was the scene of an intense civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992. The country was named Moçambique by the Portuguese after the Island of Mozambique , derived from Musa Al Big or Mossa Al Bique or Mussa Ben Mbiki, an Arab trader who first visited the island and later lived there.\\nMozambique is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Commonwealth of Nations and an observer of the Francophonie . Mozambique's life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst ranked in the world due to the excessive malaria carrying mosquitoes . Its Human Development Index is one of the lowest on earth .\\n9.Angola\\nAngola, officially the Republic of Angola ( Portuguese : República de Angola,\\npronounced \\n[ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈɡɔlɐ] ; Kongo : Repubilika ya Ngola), is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean . The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.\\nAngola was a Portuguese overseas territory from the 16th century to 1975. After independence, Angola was the scene of an intense civil war from 1975 to 2002 . The country is the second-largest petroleum and diamond producer in sub-Saharan Africa; however, its life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst ranked in the world [3] . In August 2006, a peace treaty was signed with a faction of the FLEC , a separatist guerrilla group from the Cabinda exclave in the North, which is still active. [4] About 65% of Angola's oil comes from that region.\\n10.Nigeria\\nNigeria (pronounced /naɪˈdʒɪəriə/ ), officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and its Federal Capital Territory , Abuja . The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean . The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa , Igbo and Yoruba . In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religions.\\nThe people of Nigeria have an extensive history . Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BC. [4] The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium .\\nThe name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw , the future wife of Baron Lugard , a British colonial administrator, in the late 19th century.\\nNigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the eighth most populous country in the world , and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is ' black '. It is listed among the \\\" Next Eleven \\\" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world , with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. [5] [6] [7] [8] It is the second largest economy in Africa , and is a regional power that is also the hegemon in West Afri\\n11.Swaziland\\nThe Kingdom of Swaziland (Umbuso weSwatini), sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa , and to the east by Mozambique . The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II .\\nSwaziland is a small country, no more than 200 km north to south and 130 km east to west. The western half is mountainous, descending to a lowveld region to the east. The eastern border with Mozambique and South Africa is dominated by the escarpment of the Lebombo Mountains . The climate is temperate in the west, but may reach 40 degrees in summer in the lowveld. Rainfall occurs mainly in the summer and may reach 2 m in the west.\\nThe area that Swaziland now covers has been continuously inhabited since prehistory. Today, the population is primarily ethnic Swazis whose language is siSwati , though English is spoken as a second language. The Swazi people descend from the southern Bantu who migrated from Central Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Anglo Boer war saw Britain make Swaziland a protectorate under its direct control. Swaziland gained independence in 1968. Swaziland is a member of the Southern African Development Community , the African Union , and the Commonwealth of Nations . The head of state is the king, who appoints the prime minister and a small number of representatives for both chambers of parliament. Elections are held every five years to determine the majority of the representatives. A new constitution was adopted in 2005.\\nSwaziland's economy is dominated by the service industry, manufacturing and agriculture. Some 75% of the population are employed in subsistence farming, and 60% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day. [3] Swaziland's main trading partner is South Africa, and its currency is pegged to the South African rand.\\nSwaziland's economic growth and societal integrity is highly endangered by its disastrous HIV epidemic, to an extent where the United Nations Development Program has written that if it continues unabated, the \\\"longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened.\\\" [4] The infection rate in the country is unprecedented and the highest in the world at 26.1% of adults [5] and over 50% of adults in their 20s. [4]\\n12.Burundi\\nBurundi (pronounced [buˈɾundi] ), officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its size is just under 28,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,700,000. Its capital is Bujumbura . Although the country is landlocked , much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika .\\nThe Twa , Tutsi , and Hutu peoples have occupied Burundi since the country's formation five centuries ago. Burundi was ruled as a kingdom by the Tutsi for over two hundred years. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Germany and Belgium occupied the region, and Burundi and Rwanda became a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi .\\nPolitical unrest occurred throughout the region because of social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, provoking civil war in Burundi throughout the middle twentieth century. Presently, Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic. Sixty-two percent of Burundians are Roman Catholic , eight to ten percent are Muslims and the rest follow indigenous beliefs and other Christian denominations.\\nBurundi is one of the ten poorest countries in the world . It has the lowest per capita GDP of any nation in the world. [4] Burundi has a low gross domestic product largely due to civil wars, corruption, poor access to education, and the effects of HIV/AIDS. Burundi is densely populated, with substantial emigration . Cobalt and copper are among Burundi's natural resources. Some of Burundi's main exports include coffee and sugar.\\n13.Tajikistan\\nTajikistan (pronounced /təˈdʒɪkɨstæn/ or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/; Тоҷикистон\\nIPA: \\n[tɔd͡ʒikɪsˈtɔn] ), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( Tajik : Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia . Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor .\\nMost of Tajikistan's population belongs to the Persian-speaking Tajik ethnic group, who share language, culture and history with Afghanistan and Iran . Once part of the Samanid Empire , Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR). Mountains cover over 90% of this Central Asian republic.\\nAfter independence, Tajikistan suffered from a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. Trade in commodities such as cotton and aluminium wire has contributed greatly to this steady improvement. In Tajikistan about 20% of the population lives on less than US$1.25 per day. [7]\\n14.Bolivia\\nBolivia, officially The Plurinational State of Bolivia, [7] [8] is a landlocked country in central South America . It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west. Prior to European colonization, the Bolivian territory was a part of the Inca Empire , which was the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called \\\"Upper Peru\\\" or \\\"Charcas\\\" and was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of Spain's South American colonies. After declaring independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on August 6, 1825. Bolivia has struggled through periods of political instability, dictatorships and economic woes.\\nBolivia is a democratic republic, divided into nine departments. Its geography is varied from the peaks of the Andes in the west, to the eastern lowlands, situated within the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country, with a medium Human Development Index score, and a poverty level around 60%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, and fishing, mining and manufacturing goods such as textiles, clothing, refined metals, and refined petroleum. Bolivia is very wealthy in minerals especially tin .\\nThe Bolivian population, estimated at 9 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians and Africans. The main language spoken is Spanish, although the Aymara and Quechua languages are also common. The large number of different cultures within Bolivia has contributed greatly to a wide diversity in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.\\n15.Rwanda\\n[ɾɡwanda] ), known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, is a landlocked country located in the Great Lakes region of eastern-central Africa , bordered by Uganda , Burundi , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania .\\nAlthough close to the equator , the country has a cool temperate climate due to its high elevation. The terrain consists mostly of grassy uplands and gently rolling hills. Abundant wildlife, including rare mountain gorillas , have resulted in tourism becoming one of the biggest sectors of the country's economy.\\nRwanda has received considerable international attention due to its 1994 genocide , in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed. [4] Since then the country has made a recovery and is now considered as a model for developing countries. In 2009 A CNN report labeled Rwanda as Africa's biggest success story, having achieved stability, economic growth (average income has tripled in the past ten years) and international integration. [5] The government is widely seen as one of the more efficient and honest ones in Africa. Fortune magazine published an article recently titled \\\"Why CEOs Love Rwanda.\\\" [6] The capital, Kigali , is the first city in Africa to be bestowed with the Habitat Scroll of Honor Award in the recognition of its \\\"cleanliness, security and urban conservation model.\\\" [7] In 2008, Rwanda became the first country to elect a national legislature in which a majority of members were women. [8] Rwanda is, as of November 2009, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , making the country one of only two in the Commonwealth without a British colonial past . [9]\\n16.Congo\\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo ( French : République démocratique du Congo), known until 1997 as Zaire , is a country located in Central Africa , with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country (by area) in Africa . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is, with the population more than 68 million, the eighteenth most populous nation in the world, and the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous country where French is an official language . In order to distinguish it from the neighbouring Republic of the Congo , the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as DR Congo, DROC, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo- Brazzaville for its neighbour).\\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo was formerly, in order, the Congo Free State , Belgian Congo , Congo-Léopoldville , Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire (Zaïre in French). Though it is located in the Central African UN subregion , the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).\\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo borders the Central African Republic and Sudan to the north; Uganda , Rwanda , and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Republic of the Congo to the west; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika in the east. [1] The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (24.9 mi) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometre wide mouth of the Congo River which opens into the Gulf of Guinea .\\nThe Second Congo War , beginning in 1998, devastated the country, involved seven foreign armies and is sometimes referred to as the \\\"African World War\\\". [4] Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. In eastern Congo, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. [5] The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II , killing 5.4 million people. [6] [7]\\n17.Guatemala\\nGuatemala ( Spanish : República de Guatemala,\\nSpanish pronunciation: \\n[reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala] ) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its area is 108,890 km² (42,043 mi²) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.\\nA representative democracy , its capital is Guatemala City . Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica 's designation as a biodiversity hotspot . [3]\\n18.Malawi\\nThe Republic of Malawi (pronounced /məˈlɑːwi/ ; Chichewa [malaβi] [ need tone ]) is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland . It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi . Its size is over 118,000 km2 (45,560 sq mi) with an estimated population of more than 13,900,000. Its capital is Lilongwe , the biggest city is Blantyre . The name Malawi comes from the Maravi , an old name of the Nyanja people that inhabit the area.\\nMalawi was first settled during the 10th century and remained under native rule until 1891 when it was colonized by the British , who ruled the country until 1964. Upon gaining independence it became a single-party state under the presidency of Hastings Banda , who remained president until 1994, when he was ousted from power. Bingu Mutharika , elected in 2004, is the current president. Malawi has a democratic , multi-party government . Malawi has a small military force that includes an army , a navy and an air wing . Malawi's foreign policy is pro-Western and includes positive diplomatic relations with most countries and participation in several international organizations .\\nMalawi is among the world's least developed and most densely populated countries . The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population. The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000. The Malawian government faces challenges in growing the economy, improving education, health care and the environmental protection and becoming financially independent. Malawi has several programs developed since 2005 that focus on these issues, and the country's outlook appears to be improving, with improvements in economic growth, education and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008.\\nMalawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality . There is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS , which is a drain on the labor force and government expenditures, and is expected to have a significant impact on gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010. There is a diverse population of native peoples , Asians and Europeans , with several languages spoken and an array of religious beliefs. Although there was tribal conflict in the past, by 2008 it had diminished considerably and the concept of a Malawian nationality had begun to form. Malawi has a culture combining native and colonial aspects, including sports, art, dance and music.\\n19.Senegal\\nSenegal ( French : le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal (République du Sénégal), is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa .It owes its name to the river that borders it to the East and North and that originates from the Fouta Djallon in Guinea . Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds The Gambia , namely on the north, east and south, exempting Gambia's short Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 km², and has an estimated population of about 13.7 million.The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.\\nDakar the capital city of Senegal,is located to the westernmost tip of the country, about 300 miles away the Cape Verde Island, off the Atlantic Ocean. During colonial times, a lot of trading Counters, belonging to various colonial empires were established along the coast.The town of St Louis became the capital of French Western Africa( Afrique Occidentale Francaise or AOF) before it was moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France.\\n20.Sao Tome and Principe\\nSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea , off the western equatorial coast of Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe , located about 140 kilometres (87 mi) apart and about 250 and 225 kilometres (155 and 140 mi), respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon . Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range . São Tomé, the sizable southern island, is situated just north of the equator . It was named in honour of Saint Thomas by Portuguese explorers who happened to arrive at the island on his feast day .\\nSão Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest African country in terms of population (the Seychelles being the smallest). It is the smallest country in the world that is not a former British overseas territory , a former United States trusteeship , or one of the European microstates . It is also the smallest Portuguese -speaking country.\\nThe name in Portuguese, São Tomé e Príncipe, is pronounced [sɐ̃ũ tuˈmɛ i ˈpɾĩsɨpɨ] . Pronunciation of São Tomé and Príncipe in English varies, with dictionaries citing the most common pronunciations as /ˌsaʊ toʊˈmeɪ ən ˈprɪnsɨpə/\\n-sə-pay .\\n21.Afghanistan\\nThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South - Central Asia . It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, Western Asia , or the Middle East . It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.\\nAfghanistan has a long history, and has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and migration . It is an important geostrategic location, connecting East and West Asia or the Middle East. The land has been a target of various invaders, as well as a source from which local powers invaded neighboring regions to form their own empires. Ahmad Shah Durrani created the Durrani Empire in 1747, which is considered the beginning of modern Afghanistan. Its capital was shifted in 1776 from Kandahar to Kabul and most of its territories ceded to neighboring empires. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in \\\" The Great Game \\\" played between the British Empire and Russian Empire .\\n22.Honduras\\nHonduras ( Spanish : República de Honduras,\\npronounced \\n[reˈpuβlika ðe onˈduɾas] ) is a republic in Central America . It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras (now Belize ). [4] The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala , to the southwest by El Salvador , to the southeast by Nicaragua , to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca , and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras , a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea .\\nIts size is just over 112,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,000,000. Its capital is Tegucigalpa . [5]\\n23.Kenya\\nThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa . Lying along the Indian Ocean , at the equator , Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia (north), Somalia (northeast), Tanzania (south), Uganda plus Lake Victoria (west), and Sudan (northwest). The capital city is Nairobi . The population has grown rapidly in recent decades to nearly 38 million. Kenya has numerous wildlife reserves, containing thousands of animal species.\\nThe country is named after Mount Kenya , a significant landmark and the second among the highest mountain peaks of Africa , [4] [5] and both were originally usually pronounced /ˈkiːnjə/ [6] in English, though the native pronunciation and the one intended by the original transcription Kenia was [ˈkɛnja] . [7] During the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta in the 1960s, the current English pronunciation of /ˈkɛnjə/ became widespread because his name retained the native pronunciation. [8] Before 1920, the area now known as Kenya was known as the British East Africa Protectorate and so there was no need to mention mount when referring to the mountain. [4]\\n24.Namibia\\nNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia ( Afrikaans Republiek van Namibië, German : Republik Namibia), is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean . It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990 following the Namibian War of Independence . Its capital and largest city is Windhoek ( German : Windhuk).\\nNamibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the Commonwealth of Nations and many other international organisations. It has been given many names: the land of contrasts, the land God made in anger, the ageless land. For many years it was known only as South West Africa , but it adopted the name Namibia, after the Namib Desert . It is the second least densely populated country in the world, after Mongolia .\\nThe dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by Bushmen , Damara , Namaqua , and since about the 14th century AD, by immigrating Bantu who came with the Bantu expansion . It was visited by the British and Dutch missionaries during the late 18th century. It was also visited by Dorsland trekkers (also known as Junker Boers) in 1879, [3] but became a German Imperial protectorate in 1884. In 1920, the League of Nations mandated the country to South Africa, which imposed their laws and from 1948, their apartheid policy.\\nIn 1966, uprisings and demands by African leaders led the United Nations to assume direct responsibility over the territory, and recognizing South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) as official representative of the Namibian people in 1973. Namibia, however, remained under South African administration during this time. Following internal violence, South Africa installed an interim administration in Namibia in 1985. Namibia obtained full independence from South Africa in 1990 (with the exception of Walvis Bay - a city that remained under South African control until 1994). The country also officially changed its name from South West Africa to Namibia in 1990.\\nNamibia has a population of 2.1 million people and a stable multiparty parliamentary democracy . Agriculture , herding , tourism and mining of precious stones and metals form the backbone of Namibia's economy . Approximately half the population live below the international poverty line of U.S.$1.25 a day, [4] and the nation has suffered heavily from the effects of HIV/AIDS , with 15% of the adult population infected with HIV in 2007. [5]\\n25.Ethiopia\\nEthiopia (pronounced /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/ ) ( ʾĪtyōṗṗyā), a landlocked state in the Horn of Africa , is one of the most ancient countries in the world.[ citation needed ] Officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, it is the second most populous nation in Africa with over 79.2 million people [5] and the tenth largest by area. The capital is Addis Ababa . Ethiopia is bordered by Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, Eritrea to the north and Sudan to the west.\\nThough most African countries are far less than a century old[ citation needed ], Ethiopia has been an independent country since ancient times. A monarchical state for most of its history, the Ethiopian dynasty traces its roots to the 10th century BC. [6] Besides being an ancient country, Ethiopia is one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today—having yielded some of humanity's oldest traces, [7] it might be the place where Homo sapiens first set out for the Middle East and points beyond. [8] [9] [10] When Africa was divided up by European powers at the Berlin Conference , Ethiopia was one of only two countries that retained its independence . It was one of only three African members of the League of Nations , and after a brief period of Italian occupation , Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations . When other African nations received their independence following World War II , many of them adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag , and Addis Ababa became the location of several international organizations focused on Africa.\\nThe Modern Ethiopian state, and its current borders, are a result of significant territorial reduction in the north and expansion in the south, toward its present borders, owing to several migrations and commercial integration as well as conquests, particularly by Emperor Menelik II and Ras Gobena . In 1974, the dynasty led by Haile Selassie was overthrown as civil wars intensified. Since then, Ethiopia has been a secular state with a variety of governmental systems. Ethiopia is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), G-77 and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Today, Addis Ababa is still the site of the headquarters of the African Union and [11] UNECA . The country has one of the most powerful militaries in Africa. Ethiopia is the only African country with its own alphabet. [12] Ethiopia also has its own time system and unique calendar, seven to eight years behind the Gregorian Calendar. It has the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. [13]\\nThe country is a land of natural contrasts, with spectacular waterfalls and volcanic hot springs. Ethiopia has some of Africa's highest mountains as well as some of the world's lowest points below sea level. The largest cave in Africa is located in Ethiopia at Sof Omar , and the country's northernmost area at Dallol is one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth. There are altogether around 80 different ethnic groups in Ethiopia today, with the two largest being the Oromo and the Amhara , both of which speak Afro-Asiatic languages . The country is also famous for its Olympic gold medalists, rock-hewn churches and as the place where the coffee bean originated. Currently, Ethiopia is the top coffee and honey-producing country in Africa, and home to the largest livestock population in Africa.\\nEthiopia has close historical ties to all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions . It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. It still has a Christian majority, but a third of the population is Muslim . Ethiopia is the site of the first hijra in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash . Until the 1980s, a substantial population of Ethiopian Jews resided in Ethiopia. The country is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari religious movement , which is influenced by Pan-Africanism . Ethiopia is the source of over 85% of the total Nile waters flow but it underwent a series of tragic famines in the 1980s, exacerbated by adverse geopolitics and civil wars, resulting in perhaps a million deaths. Slowly, however, the country has begun to recover, and today Ethiopia has the biggest economy in East Africa (GDP) [14] as the Ethiopian economy is also one of the fastest growing in the world and it is a regional powerhouse in the Horn and east Africa. [15] [16] [17] [18]\\n26.Madagascar\\nMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic, French : République malgache), is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa . The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world , and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to Madagascar.[ citation needed ] They include the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa , three bird families and six baobab species. Two thirds of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. [4]\\n27.Eritrea\\nEritrea (pronounced /ˌɛrɪˈtreɪə/ , /ˌɛrɪˈtriːə/ ) [4] ( Arabic : إرتريا Iritriya), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa . It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea , directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen . The Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands are part of Eritrea. Its size is just under 118,000 km2 (45,560 sq mi) with an estimated population of 5 million. The capital is Asmara .\\n28.South Africa\\nThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa , with a 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) coastline [7] [8] on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans . [9] To the north lie Namibia , Botswana and Zimbabwe ; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland ; while Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory. [10] Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for more than 100,000 years. At the time of European contact, the dominant indigenous peoples were tribes who had migrated from other parts of Africa about one thousand years before. From the 4th-5th century CE , Bantu -speaking tribes had steadily moved south, where they displaced, conquered and assimilated original Khoikhoi and San peoples of southern Africa. At the time of European contact, the two major groups were the Xhosa and Zulu peoples.\\nIn 1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the Cape Sea Route, the Dutch East India Company founded a refreshment station at what would become Cape Town . [11] Cape Town became a British colony in 1806. European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers (original Dutch , Flemish , German and French settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose among the Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaner groups who competed for territory.\\nThe discovery of diamonds and later gold triggered the 19th-century conflict known as the Anglo-Boer War , as the Boers and the British fought for the control of the South African mineral wealth. Although the British defeated the Boers, they gave limited independence to South Africa in 1910 as a British dominion. Within the country, anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation were enacted to control the settlement and movement of native people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws . [12] [13] [14] Power was held by the European colonists.\\nIn the Boer republics, [15] from as early as the Pretoria Convention (chapter XXVI), [16] and subsequent South African governments, the system became legally institutionalised segregation , later known as apartheid . The government established three classes of racial stratification: white , coloured , and black , with rights and restrictions for each.\\nSouth Africa achieved the status of a republic in 1961. Despite opposition both in and outside of the country, the government legislated for a continuation of apartheid. As the 20th century went on, some Western nations and institutions began to boycott doing business with the country because of its racial policies and oppression of civil rights . After years of internal protests, activism and insurgency by black South Africans and their allies, finally in 1990, the South African government began negotiations that led to dismantling of discriminative laws, and democratic elections in 1994 . The country then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations .\\nSouth Africa is known for a diversity in cultures, languages, and religious beliefs. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution . [9] English , despite having a large role in public and commercial life, is only the fifth most-spoken home language. [9] South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest European , Indian , and racially mixed communities in Africa. Although 79.5% of the South African population is black, [4] the people are from a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages , nine of which have official status. [9] About a quarter of the population is unemployed [17] and lives on less than US $1.25 a day. [18]\\nSouth Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union , and has the largest economy of all the members. It is also a founding member of the United Nations and NEPAD . South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , Antarctic Treaty System , Group of 77 , South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone , Southern African Customs Union , World Trade Organization , International Monetary Fund , G20 and G8+5 .\\n29.Colombia\\nColombia (pronounced /kəˈlʌmbiə/ ), officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish : República de Colombia,\\npronounced \\n ( listen )\\n), is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America . Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela [7] and Brazil ; [8] to the south by Ecuador and Peru ; [9] to the north by the Caribbean Sea ; to the northwest by Panama ; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean . Colombia also shares maritime borders with Jamaica , Haiti , the Dominican Republic , Honduras , Nicaragua and Costa Rica . [10] [11] With a population of nearly 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil . Colombia has the third largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico and Spain.\\nThe territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous nations including the Muisca , Quimbaya , and Tairona . The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization killing or taking as slaves almost 90% of that native population, and then creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada (comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the northwest region of Brazil and Panama) with its capital in Bogotá . [12] Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 \\\" Gran Colombia \\\" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada . The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. [2] Panama seceded in 1903 under pressure to fulfill financial responsibilities towards the United States government to build the Panama Canal.\\nColombia has a long tradition of constitutional government. The Liberal and Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849 respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. However, tensions between the two have frequently erupted into violence, most notably in the Thousand Days War (1899–1902) and La Violencia , beginning in 1948. Since the 1960s, government forces , left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries have been engaged in the continent's longest-running armed conflict . Fuelled by the cocaine trade , this escalated dramatically in the 1980s. However, the insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government, and in the recent decade (2000s) the violence has decreased significantly. Many paramilitary groups have demobilized as part of a controversial peace process with the government, and the guerrillas have lost control in many areas where they once dominated. [2] Meanwhile Colombia's homicide rate , for many years one of the highest in Latin America, has almost halved since 2002. [13]\\nColombia is a standing middle power [14] with the fourth largest economy in Latin America and a major impact of poverty. It is very ethnically diverse, and the interaction between descendants of the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans brought as slaves and twentieth-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's varied geography. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains , but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest , tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia is one of the world's 18 megadiverse countries (the most biodiverse per unit area). [15]\\n30.Lesotho\\n ( listen )\\n), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave —entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa . It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size with an estimated population of almost 1,800,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru . Lesotho is the southernmost landlocked country in the world. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . The name \\\"Lesotho\\\" translates roughly into \\\"the land of the people who speak Sesotho \\\". [4] About 40% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. [5]\\nCreate a free website\",\n \"Trekking In Nepal | Trek Nepal - W-Adventures Nepal\\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal ... The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point.\\nTrekking In Nepal | Trek Nepal - W-Adventures Nepal\\nTrekking In Nepal\\nSearch by keywords\\nMount Everest, Nepal\\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level and is the 5th furthest summit from the center of Earth. The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point. Its massif includes neighboring peaks Lhotse, 8,516 m (27,940 ft); Nuptse, 7,855 m (25,771 ft) and Changtse, 7,580 m (24,870 ft).\\nPanoramic View, Nepal\\nNepal is a beautiful landlocked country with huge white smiling mountains, green hills, flora-fauna, rivers, culture etc. It is a small paradise for the people who loves nature and natural resources.\\nPotala Palace, Tibet\\nTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas, in China. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 meters (16,000 ft).\\n \\nTashichoedzong, Bhutan\\nBhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, who was fleeing religious persecution in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later, in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, based on a global survey, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world.\\nTaj Mahal, India\\nBhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, who was fleeing religious persecution in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later, in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, based on a global survey, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in India officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.sia and the eighth-happiest in the world.\\nAbout Nepal Trek\\nNepal officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 27 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Specifically, the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim border Nepal, whereas across the Himalayas lies the Tibet Autonomous Region. Nepal is separated from Bangladesh by the narrow Indian Siliguri Corridor. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and largest metropolis.\\nThe mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in the Nepali language. More than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level are located in Nepal. The southern Terai region is fertile and humid.\\nHinduism is practiced by about 81.3% of Nepalis, making it the country with the highest percentage of Hindus. Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal and is practiced by 9%, Islam by 4.4%, Kiratism 3.1%, Christianity 1.4%, and animism 0.4% [citation needed]. A large portion of the population, especially in the hill region, may identify themselves as both Hindu and Buddhist, which can be attributed to the synergetic nature of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal.\\nA monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768 - when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms until 2008. A decade-long Civil War involving the Communist Party of Nepal and several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties led to the 12-point agreement of 22 November 2005. The ensuing elections for the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly on 28 May 2008 overwhelmingly favored the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a federal multiparty representative democratic republic.\\nThe political parties of Nepal agreed to form an interim government under the leadership of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi in order to hold elections for the Constituent Assembly by 19 November 2013 to end a political deadlock. The election was held successfully and the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly was sworn in, with Sushil Koirala appointed as the new prime minister.\\nIn 2014, Nepal ranked 145th of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) and despite several challenges, Nepal has been making steady progress and the Government of Nepal have made commitment to help the nation to graduate towards one of the more developed nations by 2022.\",\n \"The Largest Countries in the World - WorldAtlas.com\\nThe Largest Countries in ... The massive Algerian Sahara extends all the way to the south of the country past its borders with ... The largest country in South ...\\nThe Largest Countries in the World - WorldAtlas.com\\nThe Largest Countries in the World\\nThe worlds largest nations, measured in square kilometers of land area.\\nRolling Hills and Vast Vistas in Tuscany, Italy\\nFrom Cape Horn all the way to the Arctic Circle, the world’s largest countries provide a beautiful snapshot of the variety of geography, climate and wildlife on the planet. Collectively, the world’s largest countries contain rainforest and tundra, mountains and valleys, coastline and desert.\\nAs this we explore the largest nations, we visit five different continents, some of the world’s most spectacular geography, and every type of climate imaginable.\\nExcitingly, it’s always changing, too: history has taught that geopolitical boundaries shift dramatically as centuries pass. In the next decades, who’s to say which countries will become the world’s largest?\\nWhen 11.5 percent of all the land in the entire world is claimed by just one country, it’s not surprising to learn that the tenth largest country ( Algeria ) could fit into the largest ( Russia ) seven times over. When all 10 of the world's largest countries are taken together, they total 49% of the earth's entire 149 million square kilometres of land.\\n10 – Algeria\\nThe Algerian Sahara, the largest expanse of Saharan dessert\\nAlgeria , at 2.38 million square kilometers, is the tenth-largest country in the world by area and the only African country in the top 10.\\nSituated in Northern Africa, Algeria has a Mediterranean coastline 998 km long. 90 percent of the country is desert, and much of its desert regions are highly elevated. The Tell Atlas mountain range runs along the country’s northern border, while the interior, much of it hundreds of meters above sea level, contains the Algerian portion of the Sahara desert. The massive Algerian Sahara extends all the way to the south of the country past its borders with Niger and Mali .\\n9 – Kazakhstan\\nKazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country\\nKazakhstan’s 2.72 million square kilometers stretch over vast plains and highlands. A cool and dry, but not quite desert-like, climate prevails for most of the year. Kazakhstanis experience a great range of temperatures throughout the year, though it doesn’t get as cold in Kazakhstan as it does in parts of its northern neighbor, Russia .\\nFormerly part of the USSR, the largest nation in the world for most of the 20th century, Kazakhstan’s current main claim to fame is its status as the largest landlocked country in the world—and the only landlocked country in the top 10.\\n8 – Argentina\\nMount Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Argentina\\nArgentina , the world’s 32nd most populous country, is the world’s eighth largest, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world by area. Its 2.78 million square kilometers include some of the most varied geography and climate in the world.\\nSwampy, tropical conditions in the very north give way to freezing glacial regions in the south. Patagonia, one of the most spectacular and dangerous places on the planet, stretches from the southern Andes in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. The southern tip of Argentina, known as Cape Horn, is one of the stormiest locations on the globe.\\n6 – Australia\\nThe Twelve Apostles, Victoria State, Australia\\nThe approximately 4.4 million square kilometer difference between Australia and India represents the second-largest size difference between countries ranked consecutively in the top 10. Australia, at around 7.69 million square kilometers, is over twice the size of India .\\nIt’s the largest country in Oceania by far. Technically it is so large that it doesn’t even qualify as an island, it is a continental landmass.\\nThe vast majority of its population live in coastal cities like Sydney in the east and Perth in the west, and with good reason: the Australian Outback is one of the world’s driest and hottest regions. Along with extreme climate and geography, Australia is known for its spectacular—and often deadly—wildlife.\\n5 – Brazil\\nCopacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil\\nThe largest country in South America at over 8.51 million square kilometers, Brazil plays home to much of the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon. The Amazon is so dense and vast that explorers and scientists have found human civilizations within—small tribes—that had never made contact with the outside world. Even still, these same experts believe there may be more undiscovered tribes living there unfound still.\\nBrazil also has a lengthy Atlantic coastline on the eastern side, which stretches approximately 8,000 km. Most of its major cities, including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, were built along this coastline, detouring the thick Amazon jungle.\\n4 – People’s Republic of China\\nThe Great Wall of China stretches along a long stretch of the northern border of China\\nChina , the United States of America , and Canada each occupy just under seven percent of the globe’s surface. Of these three, China is the smallest—just barely—at approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. It shares a border with 14 different countries, including Afghanistan to the east, Russia to the north, and Vietnam to the south.\\nIts climate and its people vary dramatically. In the north, temperatures drop to subarctic levels, the center of the nation holds the Gobi, the world’s 4th largest desert, and in the south temperatures reach tropical levels regularly. With over 1.35 billion citizens, China is home to 56 recognized ethnic groups, has the world’s 18th largest Muslim population, the 19th largest Christian population, and with 1.9 doctors per 1000 people, China has more doctors than the entire population of Qatar .\\n3 – United States of America\\nLong meandering rivers of North Dakota cut through plains and canyons\\nThe United States , just bigger than China but slightly smaller than Canada , occupies 9.63 million square kilometers. Bordered by Mexico to the south, and Canada to the north, the United States is home to a diverse array of geography and wildlife.\\nTwo North-South features split the nation into three distinct pieces. West of the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific states are known for year round temperate weather and long expanses of beach along the California coast. Sandwiched between the Rockies and the Mississippi River, the great plains stretch from Canada to Mexico, giving the United States one of the world's most fertile growing areas. Lastly, the third of the nation east of the Mississippi is the industrial and economic hub of America, with major cities spread all along the Eastern seaboard.\\n2 – Canada\\nThe vast wilderness of Canada is popular for outdoor activity\\nCanada’s 9.984 million square kilometers make it the largest country in the western hemisphere, and its 202,080 kilometer coastline means that it has a longer shoreline than any other nation. With a population density of 4 people per square kilometer, this means that each of Canada's 35 million people could have 61 acres for themselves.\\nPositioned between the Arctic and the United States, Canada’s massive frozen tundra extends into the Arctic Circle. Split similar to the USA; in the western half of the country, the Rocky Mountains run north to south, and prairies provide huge grain and canola growing areas. Eastern Canada is the traditional heart of the nation, with Toronto, Montreal, and the national capital of Ottawa, all located in the East.\\n1 – Russia\\nThe Trans-Siberian Railroad is the world's longest railroad\\nRussia’s 17.1 million square kilometres easily make it the world’s largest by area. In fact, if Russia were to lop off 7 million square kilometers, it would still be the largest—and the lopped-off section would rank seventh overall!\\nLike China , Russia borders 14 different countries. Unlike China, none of Russia is tropical, though humid summers prevail in much of southern Russia. The Taiga, the world’s largest terrestrial biome, extends all the way from Eastern Canada throughout the vast majority of northern Russia. Massive oil reserves exist underneath Russia’s frozen forests and tundra; however, due to the expense and difficulty of extracting it, much of Russia’s oil wealth remains untapped.\\n50 Largest Countries in the World By Area\\nRank\",\n \"Monarchy.txt\\nMonarchy\\nA monarchy is a form of government in which a group, usually a family called the dynasty, embodies the country's national identity and one of its members, called the monarch, exercises a role of sovereignty. The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolical (crowned republic) to partial and restricted (constitutional monarchy) to completely despotic (absolute monarchy). Traditionally and in most cases, the monarch's post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, but there are also elective monarchies where the monarch is elected. Each of these has variations: in some elected monarchies only those of certain pedigrees are eligible, whereas many hereditary monarchies impose requirements regarding the religion, age, gender, mental capacity, and other factors. Occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a monarch's reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved: an invasion being repulsed, for instance. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy.\\n\\nMonarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Where it exists, it is now usually a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch retains a unique legal and ceremonial role, but exercises limited or no official political power: under the written or unwritten constitution, others have governing authority. Currently, 44 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. All European monarchies are constitutional ones, with the exception of the Vatican City which is an elective monarchy, but sovereigns in the smaller states exercise greater political influence than in the larger. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia \\\"reign, but do not rule\\\" although there is considerable variation in the degree of authority they wield. Although they reign under constitutions, the monarchs of Brunei, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland appear to continue to exercise more political influence than any other single source of authority in their nations, either by constitutional mandate or by tradition.\\n\\nEtymology \\n\\nThe word \\\"monarch\\\" () comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs (from μόνος monos, \\\"one, singular\\\", and ἄρχω árkhō, \\\"to rule\\\" (compare ἄρχων arkhon, \\\"leader, ruler, chief\\\")) which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word monarchy usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule, as elective monarchies are rare nowadays.\\n\\nHistory \\n\\n \\nTribal kingship is often connected to sacral functions, so that the king acts as a priest, or is considered of Divine ancestry. The sacral function of kingship was transformed into the notion of \\\"Divine right of kings\\\" in the Christian Middle Ages, while the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period.\\nSince antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where executive power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome (Roman Republic, 509 BC), and Athens (Athenian democracy, 500 BC).\\n\\nIn Germanic antiquity, kingship was primarily a sacral function, and the king was either directly hereditary for some tribes, while for others he was elected from among eligible members of royal families by the thing.\\n\\nSuch ancient \\\"parliamentarism\\\" declined during the European Middle Ages, but it survived in forms of regional assemblies, such as the Icelandic Commonwealth, the Swiss Landsgemeinde and later Tagsatzung, and the High Medieval communal movement linked to the rise of medieval town privileges.\\n\\nThe modern resurgence of parliamentarism and anti-monarchism began with the temporary overthrow of the English monarchy by the Parliament of England in 1649, followed by the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1792. One of many opponents of that trend was Elizabeth Dawbarn, whose anonymous Dialogue between Clara Neville and Louisa Mills, on Loyalty (1794) features \\\"silly Louisa, who admires liberty, Tom Paine and the USA, [who is] lectured by Clara on God's approval of monarchy\\\" and on the influence women can exert on men. Much of 19th century politics was characterized by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism.\\n\\nMany countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, especially in the wake of either World War I or World War II. Advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism.\\n\\nCharacteristics and role \\n\\nMonarchies are associated with political or sociocultural hereditary rule, in which monarchs rule for life (although some monarchs do not hold lifetime positions: for example, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia serves a five-year term) and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their child or another member of their family when they die. Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the center of the royal household and court. Growing up in a royal family (called a dynasty when it continues for several generations), future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule.\\n\\nDifferent systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority (Salic law). While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history; the term queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, while a queen consort refers to the wife of a reigning king. Rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. \\n\\nThe principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of leadership (as seen in the classic phrase \\\"The King is dead. Long live the King!\\\").\\n\\nSome monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected, or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period, but otherwise serve as any other monarch. Three elective monarchies exist today: Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are 20th-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient.\\n\\nA self-proclaimed monarchy is established when a person claims the monarchy without any historical ties to a previous dynasty. Napoleon I of France declared himself Emperor of the French and ruled the First French Empire after previously calling himself First Consul following his seizure of power in the coup of 18 Brumaire. Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic declared himself \\\"Emperor\\\" of the Central African Empire. Yuan Shikai crowned himself Emperor of the short-lived \\\"Empire of China\\\" a few years after the Republic of China was founded.\\n\\nPowers of the monarch \\n\\nToday, the extent of the monarch's powers varies:\\n* In an absolute monarchy, the monarch rules as an autocrat, with absolute power over the state and government — for example, the right to rule by decree, promulgate laws, and impose punishments. Absolute monarchies are not necessarily authoritarian; the enlightened absolutists of the Age of Enlightenment were monarchs who allowed various freedoms.\\n* In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is subject to a constitution. The monarch serves as a ceremonial figurehead symbol of national unity and state continuity. The monarch is nominally sovereign but the electorate, through their legislature, exercise (usually limited) political sovereignty. Constitutional monarchs have limited political power, except in Japan and Sweden, where the constitutions grant no power to their monarchs. Typical monarchical powers include granting pardons, granting honours, and reserve powers, e.g. to dismiss the prime minister, refuse to dissolve parliament, or veto legislation (\\\"withhold Royal Assent\\\"). They often also have privileges of inviolability, sovereign immunity, and an official residence. A monarch's powers and influence may depend on tradition, precedent, popular opinion, and law.\\n* In other cases the monarch's power is limited, not due to constitutional restraints, but to effective military rule. In the late Roman Empire, the Praetorian Guard several times deposed Roman Emperors and installed new emperors. The Hellenistic kings of Macedon and of Epirus were elected by the army, which was similar in composition to the ecclesia of democracies, the council of all free citizens; military service was often linked with citizenship among the male members of the royal house. Military domination of the monarch has occurred in modern Thailand and in medieval Japan (where a hereditary military chief, the shogun, was the de facto ruler, although the Japanese emperor nominally ruled). In Fascist Italy the Savoy monarchy under King Victor Emmanuel III coexisted with the Fascist single-party rule of Benito Mussolini; Romania under the Iron Guard and Greece during the first months of the Colonels' regime were much the same way. Spain under Francisco Franco was officially a monarchy, although there was no monarch on the throne. Upon his death, Franco was succeeded as head of state by the Bourbon heir, Juan Carlos I, who proceeded to make Spain a democracy with himself as a figurehead constitutional monarch.\\n\\nPerson of monarch \\n\\nMost states only have a single person acting as monarch at any given time, although two monarchs have ruled simultaneously in some countries, a situation known as diarchy. Historically this was the case in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta or 17th-century Russia, and there are examples of joint sovereignty of spouses or relatives (such as William and Mary in the Kingdoms of England and Scotland). Other examples of joint sovereignty include Tsars Peter I and Ivan V of Russia, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Joanna of Castile of the Crown of Castile.\\n\\nAndorra currently is the world's sole constitutional diarchy or co-principality. Located in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, it has two co-princes: the Bishop of Urgell (a prince-bishop) in Spain and the President of France (inherited ex officio from the French kings, who themselves inherited the title from the counts of Foix). It is the only situation in which an independent country's (co-)monarch is democratically elected by the citizens of another country.\\n\\nIn a personal union, separate independent states share the same person as monarch, but each realm has its own crown or monarchy. The sixteen separate Commonwealth realms are sometimes described as being in a personal union with Queen Elizabeth II as monarch, however, they can also be described as being in a shared monarchy.\\n\\nA regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, absent, or debilitated.\\n\\nA pretender is a claimant to an abolished throne or to a throne already occupied by somebody else.\\n\\nAbdication is when a monarch resigns.\\n\\nMonarchs often take part in certain ceremonies, such as a coronation.\\n\\nRole of monarch \\n\\nMonarchy, especially absolute monarchy, sometimes is linked to religious aspects; many monarchs once claimed the right to rule by the will of a deity (Divine Right of Kings, Mandate of Heaven), a special connection to a deity (sacred king) or even purported to be divine kings, or incarnations of deities themselves (imperial cult). Many European monarchs have been styled Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith); some hold official positions relating to the state religion or established church.\\n\\nIn the Western political tradition, a morally-based, balanced monarchy is stressed as the ideal form of government, and little reverence is paid to modern-day ideals of egalitarian democracy: e.g. Saint Thomas Aquinas unapologetically declares: \\\"Tyranny is wont to occur not less but more frequently on the basis of polyarchy [rule by many, i.e. oligarchy or democracy] than on the basis of monarchy.\\\" (On Kingship). However, Thomas Aquinas also stated that the ideal monarchical system would also have at lower levels of government both an aristocracy and elements of democracy in order to create a balance of power. The monarch would also be subject to both natural and divine law, as well, and also be subject to the Church in matters of religion.\\n\\nIn Dante Alighieri's De Monarchia, a spiritualized, imperial Catholic monarchy is strongly promoted according to a Ghibelline world-view in which the \\\"royal religion of Melchizedek\\\" is emphasized against the sacerdotal claims of the rival papal ideology.\\n\\nIn Saudi Arabia, the king is a head of state who is both the absolute monarch of the country and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of Islam (خادم الحرمين الشريفين).\\n––\\n\\nTitles of monarchs \\n\\nMonarchs can have various titles. Common European titles of monarchs are emperor or empress (from Latin: imperator or imperatrix), king or queen, grand duke or grand duchess, prince or princess, duke or duchess (in that hierarchical order of nobility). Some early modern European titles (especially in German states) included elector (German: Kurfürst, literally \\\"prince-elector\\\"), margrave (German: Markgraf, equivalent to the French title marquis), and burgrave (German: Burggraf, literally \\\"count of the castle\\\"). Lesser titles include count, princely count, or imam (Use in Oman). Slavic titles include knyaz and tsar (ц︢рь) or tsaritsa (царица), a word derived from the Roman imperial title Caesar.\\n\\nIn non-Europe, monarchs can have various titles too. Muslim worlds titles of monarchs include caliph (successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community), padishah (emperor), sultan or sultana, shâhanshâh (emperor), shah, malik (king) or malikah (queen), emir (commander, prince) or emira (princess), sheikh or sheikha. East Asian titles of monarchs include huángdì (emperor or empress regnant), tiānzǐ (son of heaven), tennō (emperor) or josei tennō (empress regnant), wang (king) or yeowang (queen regnant), hwangje (emperor) or yeohwang (empress regnant). South Asian and South East Asian titles included mahārāja (emperor) or maharani (empress), raja (king) and rana (king) or rani (queen) and ratu (South East Asian queen). Historically, Mongolic or Turkic monarchs have used the title khan and khagan (emperor) or khatun and khanum and Ancient Egypt monarchs have used the title pharaoh for men and women. In Ethiopian Empire, monarchs used title nəgusä nägäst (king of kings) or nəgəstä nägäst (queen of kings).\\n\\nMany monarchs are addressed with particular styles or manners of address, such as \\\"Majesty\\\", \\\"Royal Highness\\\", \\\"By the Grace of God\\\", Amīr al-Mu'minīn (\\\"Leader of the Faithful\\\"), Hünkar-i Khanedan-i Âl-i Osman, \\\"Sovereign of the Sublime House of Osman\\\"), Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda (\\\"Majesty\\\"), Jeonha (\\\"Majesty\\\"), Tennō Heika (literally \\\"His Majesty the heavenly sovereign\\\"), Bìxià (\\\"Bottom of the Steps\\\").\\n\\nSometimes titles are used to express claims to territories that are not held in fact (for example, English claims to the French throne), or titles not recognized (antipopes). Also, after a monarchy is deposed, often former monarchs and their descendants are given titles (the King of Portugal was given the hereditary title Duke of Braganza).\\n\\nDependent monarchies \\n\\nIn some cases monarchs are dependent on other powers (see vassals, suzerainty, puppet state, hegemony). In the British colonial era indirect rule under a paramount power existed, such as the princely states under the British Raj.\\n\\nIn Botswana, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda, the ancient kingdoms and chiefdoms that were met by the colonialists when they first arrived on the continent are now constitutionally protected as regional and/or sectional entities. Furthermore, in Nigeria, though the dozens of sub-regional polities that exist there are not provided for in the current constitution, they are nevertheless legally recognised aspects of the structure of governance that operates in the nation. In addition to these five countries, peculiar monarchies of varied sizes and complexities exist in various other parts of Africa. \\n\\nSuccession \\n\\nThe rules for selection of monarchs varies from country to country. In constitutional monarchies the rule of succession is generally embodied in a law passed by a representative body, such as a parliament.\\n\\nHereditary monarchies \\n\\nIn a hereditary monarchy, the position of monarch is inherited according to a statutory or customary order of succession, usually within one royal family tracing its origin through a historical dynasty or bloodline. This usually means that the heir to the throne is known well in advance of becoming monarch to ensure a smooth succession.\\n\\nPrimogeniture, in which the eldest child of the monarch is first in line to become monarch, is the most common system in hereditary monarchy. The order of succession is usually affected by rules on gender. Historically \\\"agnatic primogeniture\\\" or \\\"patrilineal primogeniture\\\" was favoured, that is inheritance according to seniority of birth among the sons of a monarch or head of family, with sons and their male issue inheriting before brothers and their issue, and male-line males inheriting before females of the male line. This is the same as semi-Salic primogeniture. Complete exclusion of females from dynastic succession is commonly referred to as application of the Salic law (see Terra salica).\\n\\nBefore primogeniture was enshrined in European law and tradition, kings would often secure the succession by having their successor (usually their eldest son) crowned during their own lifetime, so for a time there would be two kings in coregency – a senior king and a junior king. Examples include Henry the Young King of England and the early Direct Capetians in France.\\n\\nSometimes, however, primogeniture can operate through the female line. In some systems a female may rule as monarch only when the male line dating back to a common ancestor is exhausted.\\n\\nIn 1980, Sweden became the first European monarchy to declare equal (full cognatic) primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne. Other kingdoms (such as the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991, and Denmark) have since followed suit. The United Kingdom adopted absolute (equal) primogeniture on April 25, 2013, following agreement by the prime ministers of the sixteen Commonwealth Realms at the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.\\n\\nSometimes religion is affected; for example the British monarch, as head of the Church of England, is required to be in communion with the Church, although all other former rules forbidding marriage to non-Protestants were abolished when equal primogeniture was adopted in 2013.\\n\\nIn the case of the absence of children, the next most senior member of the collateral line (for example, a younger sibling of the previous monarch) becomes monarch. In complex cases, this can mean that there are closer blood relatives to the deceased monarch than the next in line according to primogeniture. This has often led, especially in Europe in the Middle Ages, to conflict between the principle of primogeniture and the principle of proximity of blood.\\n\\nOther hereditary systems of succession included tanistry, which is semi-elective and gives weight to merit and Agnatic seniority. In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (agnatic seniority).\\n\\nElective monarchies \\n\\nIn an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected, or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period, but otherwise serve as any other monarch. There is no popular vote involved in elective monarchies, as the elective body usually consists of a small number of eligible people. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors (chosen by prince-electors, but often coming from the same dynasty), and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. For example, Pepin the Short (father of Charlemagne) was elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish leading men; Stanisław August Poniatowski of Poland was an elected king, as was Frederick I of Denmark. Germanic peoples had elective monarchies.\\n\\nFour forms of elective monarchies exist today. The pope of the Roman Catholic Church (who rules as Sovereign of the Vatican City State) is elected to a life term by the College of Cardinals. In Malaysia, the federal king, called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected for a five-year term from and by the hereditary rulers (mostly sultans) of nine of the federation's constitutive states, all on the Malay peninsula. The United Arab Emirates also has a procedure for electing its monarch. Furthermore, Andorra has a unique constitutional arrangement as one of its heads of state is the President of the French Republic in the form of a Co-Prince. This is the only instance in the world where the monarch of a state is elected by the citizens of a different country.\\n\\nAppointment by the current monarch is another system, used in Jordan. It also was used in Imperial Russia; however, it was changed to semi-Salic soon, because the unreliable realization of the appointment system resulted in an age of palace revolutions. In this system, the monarch chooses the successor, who is always his relative.\\n\\nCurrent monarchies \\n\\nCurrently there are 43 nations in the world with a monarch as head of state. They fall roughly into the following categories:\\n* Commonwealth realms. Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch of sixteen Commonwealth realms (Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). They have evolved out of the British Empire into fully independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations that retain the Queen as head of state, unlike other Commonwealth countries that are either dependencies, republics or have a different royal house. All sixteen realms are constitutional monarchies and full democracies where the Queen has limited powers or a largely ceremonial role. The Queen is head of the established Protestant Christian Church of England in the United Kingdom, while the other 15 realms do not have an established church.\\n* Other European constitutional monarchies.\\nThe Principality of Andorra, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom of Sweden are fully democratic states in which the monarch has a limited or largely ceremonial role.\\n\\nThere is generally a Christian religion established as the official church in each of these countries. This is the Lutheran form of Protestantism in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, while Belgium and Andorra are Roman Catholic countries. Spain and the Netherlands have no official State religion. Luxembourg, which is very predominantly Roman Catholic, has five so-called officially recognized cults of national importance (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Greek Orthodoxy, Judaism and Islam), a status which gives to those religions some privileges like the payment of a state salary to their priests.\\n\\nAndorra is unique among all existing monarchies, as it is, by definition, a diarchy, with the Co-Princeship being shared by the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell. This situation, based on historic precedence, has created a peculiar situation among monarchies, as a) both Co-Princes are not of Andorran descent, b) one is elected by common citizens of a foreign country (France), but not by Andorrans as they cannot vote in the French Presidential Elections, c) the other, the bishop of Urgel, is appointed by a foreign head of state, the Pope.\\n* European constitutional/absolute monarchies. Liechtenstein and Monaco are constitutional monarchies in which the Prince retains many powers of an absolute monarch. For example, the 2003 Constitution referendum which gives the Prince of Liechtenstein the power to veto any law that the Landtag (parliament) proposes and the Landtag can veto any law that the Prince tries to pass. The Prince can hire or dismiss any elective member or government employee from his or her post. However, what makes him not an absolute monarch is that the people can call for a referendum to end the monarchy's reign. The Prince of Monaco has simpler powers but cannot hire or dismiss any elective member or government employee from his or her post, but he can elect the minister of state, government council and judges. Both Albert II and Hans-Adam II have quite a bit of political power, but they also own huge tracts of land and are shareholders in many companies.\\n* Islamic monarchies. These Islamic monarchs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Kuwait, Malaysia, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates generally retain far more powers than their European or Commonwealth counterparts. The Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remain absolute monarchies; the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait and United Arab Emirates are classified as mixed, meaning there are representative bodies of some kind, but the monarch retains most of his powers. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Malaysia and the Kingdom of Morocco are constitutional monarchies, but their monarchs still retain more substantial powers than European equivalents.\\n* East Asian constitutional monarchies. The Kingdom of Bhutan, the Kingdom of Cambodia, Japan, the Kingdom of Thailand have constitutional monarchies where the monarch has a limited or ceremonial role. The Kingdom of Bhutan, Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand are countries that were never colonized by European powers, but Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand have changed from traditional absolute monarchies into constitutional ones during the twentieth century, while the Kingdom of Bhutan changed in 2008. The Kingdom of Cambodia had its own monarchy after independence from the French Colonial Empire, which was deposed after the Khmer Rouge came into power and the subsequent invasion by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The monarchy was subsequently restored in the peace agreement of 1993.\\n* Other monarchies. Five monarchies do not fit into one of the above groups by virtue of geography or class of monarchy: the Kingdom of Tonga in Polynesia; the Kingdom of Swaziland and the Kingdom of Lesotho in Africa; the Vatican City State; the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Europe. Of these, the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Kingdom of Tonga are constitutional monarchies, while the Kingdom of Swaziland and the Vatican City State are absolute monarchies. The Kingdom of Swaziland is also unique among these monarchies, often being considered a diarchy. The King, or Ngwenyama, rules alongside his mother, the Ndlovukati, as dual heads of state originally designed to be checks on political power. The Ngwenyama, however, is considered the administrative head of state, while the Ndlovukati is considered the spiritual and national head of state, a position which more or less has become symbolic in recent years. \\nThe Pope is the absolute monarch of the Vatican City State (different entity from the Holy See) by virtue of his position as head of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome; he is an elected rather than hereditary ruler and has not to be a citizen of the territory prior to his election by the cardinals.\\n\\nCurrent reigning monarchies\",\n \"Meet the world’s other 25 royal families - The Washington Post\\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families. ... The al-Khalifa family, which is Sunni, has ruled over this small and majority-Shiite island nation since 1783.\\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families - The Washington Post\\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families\\nThe inside track on Washington politics.\\nBe the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published.\\nYou’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published.\\nYou’re all set!\\nGot it\\nBy Caitlin Dewey and Max Fisher July 22, 2013\\nThis map shows the world's monarchies, divided into those that rule directly and those that simply reign. (Max Fisher/Washington Post)\\nWith all the attention around Britain’s forthcoming Royal Baby, you’d think the U.K. had a monopoly on monarchs -- infant or otherwise. In reality, there are 26 monarchies in the world, a fascinating network of kings, queens, sultans, emperors and emirs who rule or reign over 43 countries in all.\\nIt goes without saying, of course, that most royal families have a considerably lower international profile than the Windsors. That has a lot to do with Britain’s imperial history: Sixteen countries, including Canada and Australia, are still technically subjects of the British monarchy, which also once ruled much of the world.\\nBeyond Queen Elizabeth II, the other monarchies vary widely in how much power they hold, how they're seen, how their family got there and even in what they're called. Here’s a quick tour of the world's 25 other royal families, plus its two elected monarchies, in Malaysia and the Vatican. We've divided them into monarchs who rule -- who have real, direct political power -- and those, like the Windsors, who merely reign.\\nMonarchs who rule\\nSaudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, which makes Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz the king and prime minister. His deputies, Salman and Muqrin, are also from the ruling House of Saud, and the king-appointed cabinet includes more members of the royal family. While the monarchy is hereditary now, future Saudi kings will be chosen by a committee of Saudi princes, per a 2006 decree. (There are plenty of them: according to some estimates, the ruling family includes as many as 30,000 people .)\\nKuwait: Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, age 84, has ruled Kuwait since 2006, when the previous emir died, setting off a minor succession crisis because the next-in-line was physically unable to recite the oath of office, possibly because of age-related health issues. Sabah took over instead; he rules the oil-rich nation as emir and head of the royal family, which has been in some form of power since the early 1700s.\\nThen-Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of Qatar at the opening of the 33rd Gulf leaders summit in Bahrain. (EPA)\\nQatar: Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is a recent addition to this list, having taken over in June after his father's peaceful abdication. The al-Thani family is known for ostentatious wealth and for working aggressively to expand their country's regional, oil-funded influence. They've ruled Qatar since 1825 and underwent a series of forced abdications in the 20th century, typically instigated by sons or nephews eager to take the throne.\\nUnited Arab Emirates: As its name suggests, the United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven districts, each of which is governed by a hereditary monarch who bears the title of emir. Traditionally, the emir of Abu Dhabi is also the federation president. Today that's Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who's been in charge since his father died in 2004. He is thought to have personal wealth of about $5 billion .\\nKing Mswati III of Swaziland (AFP/Mohd Rasfanmohd)\\nSwaziland: King Mswati III has been the absolute monarch of this small southern African country since inheriting the crown from his father in 1986, when he was barely 18 years old. His formal title is Ngwenyama, an honorific that also means lion.\\nBrunei: Sir Hassanal Bolkiah has been Brunei’s sultan and prime minister since 1967, and he appoints virtually all of Brunei’s ruling bodies, including the Legislative Council and the Supreme and Sharia Courts. His 1,800-room palace, the Istana Nurul Iman , is considered the world’s largest private residence.\\nOman: Sultan Qaboos bin Said has ruled Oman, its government, its treasury and its military since he overthrew his father in a 1970 palace coup. His family has ruled since the 1700s, although it lost its East African territory in the 1800s.\\nBahrain: The al-Khalifa family, which is Sunni, has ruled over this small and majority-Shiite island nation since 1783. The current monarch, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, took over in 1999 and in 2002 changed his title from emir to king. Though the constitutional monarchy grants Shiites some role in the government, it's not much, and pro-democracy protests have roiled the country since 2011.\\nJordan: King Abdullah II has ruled since 1999, and though he isn’t technically the head of government -- Jordan has an appointed prime minister -- he has very real political powers, including the ability to veto any law and dissolve parliament at will. His successor, Crown Prince Hussein, is 19 years old.\\nMorocco: King Mohammed VI voluntarily shrank some of his powers when, in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, he enacted a series of reforms to Morocco’s government, a constitutional monarchy. While he still has significant powers -- including appointing the prime minister and members of the government -- he can no longer dissolve the parliament or call for new elections.\\nThe Vatican: Yes, the pope is considered the monarch of this European city-state. Here's a video explaining it:\\nMonarchs with some political power\\nMonaco: Prince Albert II has ruled since 2005 and holds a large political role, despite the fact that Monaco has an elected legislature. He gets to appoint the minister of state, for instance, but only from a list of three preselected candidates.\\nThailand's King Bhumibol is the world's longest-reigning monarch. (Pairoj/AFP/Getty Images)\\nThailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej has reigned for a remarkable 67 years, beating England’s Queen Elizabeth, who has served since 1952. He holds a number of little-used, but still important, constitutional powers, including the ability to veto legislation and pardon criminals. Bhumibol is also an interesting figure on his own merits: The 85-year-old king is an accomplished jazz musician and has patented a waste water aerator.\\nLiechtenstein: In a rare move among Western European countries, Liechtenstein actually voted to increase the powers of Prince Hans Adam II in the early aughts. The prince can veto any legislation and dissolve the parliament at will, among other powers. Technically, these official duties have been transferred to his son, Prince Alois, but Hans Adam remains chief of state.\\nTonga: King George Tupou V took the throne from his father in 2006 and promptly promised to cede most of his powers to the country’s prime minister. Tonga had been an absolute monarchy, but violent, pro-democracy rallies shortly before Tupou’s coronation caused huge damage in the capital and killed eight people.\\nBhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk married the non-royal Jestun Pema in October 2011. (AP Photo)\\nBhutan: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk is the Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan, which means Dragon King. Jigme formally took the throne in 2008, two years after his father’s abdication. The coronation was delayed to give 26-year-old Jigme more administrative experience. Reforms in the late 1990s reduced the king's powers. The Wangchuck monarchy is just over 100 years old, having unified the small Himalayan country under its rule with help from the British Empire.\\nCeremonial or figurehead monarchs\\nNorway: Norway’s King Harald V has a number of important-sounding but entirely ceremonial roles, including appointing the Norwegian cabinet and the prime minister -- with the approval of the parliament, of course. The monarchy is hereditary, and 40-year-old crown prince Haakon Magnus will take over from his father.\\nFrom left: Swedish Queen Silvia, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel and their daughter, Princess Estelle. (EPA/Jonas Ekstromer)\\nSweden: Sweden is one of the few monarchies that allows female succession, which means Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree will become queen at the end of her father’s reign, so far of 40 years. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the current monarch, is a ceremonial figure.\\nThe Netherlands: The Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander took the throne only three months ago, after his mother Beatrix gave up her reign of 33 years. The Netherlands has a bicameral parliament, so the monarch doesn’t rule directly. But King Willem-Alexander still has an important role as the president of the Council of State, an advisory body with roots in the 16th century. No law may be submitted to parliament unless it goes to the council first.\\nSpain: Spain's 75-year-old King Juan Carlos I has little power now, but he was instrumental in bringing democracy to Spain. The dictator Francisco Franco named Juan Carlos to succeed him, but shortly after Franco's death, the new king dismantled the Francoist regime and kickstarted the process that would lead to Spain's 1978 constitution. Three years later, Juan Carlos also gave a televised address that shut down the attempted \\\"23-F\\\" coup.\\nGreenland: Greenland is part of a the Kingdom of Denmark, though it has governed itself through an elected parliament since 1979. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II is still the queen in name there, however; the 73-year-old queen has reigned since 1972 and is to eventually pass the throne to her son Frederik.\\nLuxembourg: Luxembourg styles itself as a “Grand Duchy,” not a kingdom, so Henri Guillaume goes by the title Grand Duke Henri. He represents, in the words of the official government Web site , “a symbol of stability, a single figure at the head of state, above the daily political business.”\\nThen-Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his wife, Mathilde, arrive at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010. (EPA/Jochen Luebke)\\nBelgium: Belgium’s 53-year-old King Philippe inherited a divided country when he was sworn in July 21 , hours after his father abdicated. His position is symbolic but important, given Belgium’s current political climate: Philippe has advocated for greater unity between the country’s warring Flemings and Francophones.\\nLesotho: King Letsie III has reigned formally since 1996, and informally since 1990, when his father was in exile. He is a “living symbol of national unity,” per the national constitution, and he has no political powers.\\nCambodia: King Norodom Sihamoni was tapped to take over from his father in 2004, when Thailand’s Royal Throne Council picked him from a pool of eligible male royals. Sihamoni's post is a symbolic one, but he had earlier served in real political roles, including as Cambodia’s ambassador to UNESCO.\\nMalaysia: The structure of the monarchy in Malaysia is ceremonial and unique. Each state has a hereditary leader, called a sultan; every five years, the sultans elect one of their members to serve as king. Since 2011, Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah has held the throne.\\nJapanese Crown Princess Masako, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attend an orchestra concert on July 7 in which Crown Prince Naruhito played viola. (AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)\\nJapan: Japan's Yamato dynasty traces its origins back to 660, making it the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The 79-year-old Emperor Akihito has reigned since 1989 and is, according to legend, the 125th emperor in his line, though there's some debate as to the exact count of emperors. His seat is called the Chrysanthemum Throne and sits in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.\\nworld\",\n \"Mountains and Mountain Ranges - 8 | Britannica.com\\nThe volcano erupted for several weeks starting in August 1976 ... in the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, ... mountain range in Western Cape province, ...\\nMountains and Mountain Ranges - 8 | Britannica.com\\nMountains and Mountain Ranges\\nlandform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief.\\nDisplaying 601 - 700 of 753 results\\nSatpura Range range of hills, part of the Deccan plateau, western India. The hills stretch for some 560 miles (900 km) across the widest part of peninsular India, through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states. The range, the name of which means “Seven Folds,” forms...\\nSavoy Alps northwestern spurs of the Graian Alps in southeastern France between Lake Geneva (north), the middle Rhône River (west), and the Arc and Isère river valleys (south). The highest peak is Pointe de la Grande Casse (12,631 feet [3,850 m]), a part of the...\\nSawatch Range segment of the southern Rocky Mountains in central Colorado, U.S., extending southeastward for 100 miles (160 km) from the Eagle River to the city of Saguache (a variant spelling of Sawatch). Bounded by the Arkansas River (east) and the Elk Mountains...\\nSawdāʾ, Qurnat al- peak situated within the Lebanon Mountains in northern Lebanon, 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Beirut. At 10,131 feet (3,088 metres), it is the highest peak in Lebanon.\\nSayan Mountains large upland region lying along the frontiers of east-central Russia and Mongolia. Within Russia the mountains occupy the southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk kray (territory) and Irkutsk oblast (region), the northern part of Tyva (Tuva), and the west of...\\nSelkirk Mountains major subdivision of the Columbia Mountains, extending for 200 miles (320 km) in a southeasterly arc, mostly in British Columbia, Canada, and just across the U.S. border into northern Idaho and Washington. Bounded by the Purcell Mountains (east) and...\\nSelwyn Mountains mountain range in Yukon and Northwest Territories, northwestern Canada. Part of the Rockies, they trend northwest-southeast and rise to 9,750 feet (2,972 metres) in Keele Peak.\\nSeshachalam Hills hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats, southern Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. Formed during Precambrian time (i.e., earlier than about 540 million years ago), the ranges contain sandstone and shale interbedded with limestone and are highly dissected,...\\nShaʿnabī, Mount Ash- mountain (5,066 feet [1,544 m]) that is the highest in Tunisia. It is part of a spur of the Tebéssa (Tabassah) Mountains, which are part of the Saharan Atlas Mountains. The mountain lies near the Algerian border, 6 miles (10 km) west-northwest of Al-Qaṣrayn...\\nShasta, Mount peak (14,162 feet [4,317 metres]) of the Cascade Range in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, northern California, U.S. The peak lies 77 miles (124 km) north of the city of Redding. An impressive double-peaked dormant volcano, it dominates the landscape...\\nShebshi Mountains mountain range in eastern Nigeria, extending approximately 100 miles (160 km) in a north-south direction between the Benue and Taraba rivers. Its Dimlang (Vogel) Peak is one of the highest points—with an elevation of 6,699 feet (2,042 metres)—in Nigeria,...\\nShevaroy Hills outlying range of the Eastern Ghats, north-central Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The Shevaroy Hills occupy an area of about 150 square miles (390 square km). The highest peaks are in the southwest, reaching 5,231 feet (1,594 metres) at Sanyasimalai...\\nShip Rock volcanic neck with radiating dikes located in the northwestern corner of New Mexico, U.S. The landmark stands 1,400 feet (420 metres) above the surrounding area and is the basis of local Navajo legends. Solidified in the vent of an ancient volcano, the...\\nSierra Madre mountain system of Mexico. It consists of the Sierra Madre Occidental (to the west), the Sierra Madre Oriental (to the east), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (to the south). These ranges enclose the great central Mexican Plateau, which itself is a part...\\nSierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range in Chiapas state, southern Mexico. The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is a crystalline range of block mountains extending to the southeast along the Pacific coast from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into western Guatemala (where it is called the...\\nSierra Nevada major mountain range of western North America, running along the eastern edge of the U.S. state of California. Its great mass lies between the large Central Valley depression to the west and the Basin and Range Province to the east. Extending more than...\\nSierra Nevada mountain range in southeastern Spain, near the Mediterranean coast, the highest division of the Baetic Cordillera. The range itself is a domed mountain elongated for about 26 miles (42 km) from east to west. It is clearly defined by the faulted troughs...\\nSierra San Pedro Mártir mountain range in central Baja California state, northwestern Mexico. The range stretches southward about 90 miles (145 km) from southeast of Ensenada to San Fernando. Farther south the range becomes the Sierra de San Borja. The rugged, granitic mountains,...\\nSikhote-Alin mountain complex in the Russian Far East, fronting the Tatar Strait and the Sea of Japan for 750 miles (1,200 km) northeast-southwest. Major geologic fault lines bound the area, and the structural trench of the Ussuri River valley lies along the northwest....\\nSilvretta Group mountain range of the Rhaetian Alps along the Austrian-Swiss border, extending eastward from near Klosters to north of Schuls, both in Switzerland. The glacier-covered range rises to Linard Peak (11,191 feet [3,411 metres]) in Switzerland and to Buin...\\nSimien Mountains mountains in northern Ethiopia, northeast of Gonder. In the range is Ras Dejen (or Dashen), the highest peak in Ethiopia at 14,872 feet (4,533 metres). The region is the site of Simien National Park, which is home to a number of very rare species that...\\nSinai, Mount granitic peak of the south-central Sinai Peninsula, Janūb Sīnāʾ (South Sinai) muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Egypt. Mount Sinai is renowned as the principal site of divine revelation in Jewish history, where God is purported to have appeared to Moses and given...\\nSintra Mountains mountain range, Lisboa distrito (“district”), western Portugal. It extends about 10 miles (16 km) from the resort of Sintra to the Cape da Roca on the Atlantic Ocean, reaching its highest point (1,736 feet [529 m]) just south of Sintra. The lush vegetation...\\nSiwalik Range sub-Himalayan range of the northern Indian subcontinent. It extends west-northwestward for more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the Tista River in Sikkim state, northeastern India, through Nepal, across northwestern India, and into northern Pakistan....\\nSlieve Croob mountain in Banbridge district, N.Ire., the highest point (1,755 feet [535 metres]) of the Slieve Croob or Mid-Down group. It lies between the lower Lagan lowlands to the north and the Mourne Mountains to the south. The uplands are of igneous origin,...\\nSlieve Donard highest peak (2,796 feet [852 metres]) in the Mourne Mountains at the border of Down district and Newry and Mourne district, N.Ire. It is near the coast at the northeastern end of the Mournes. Intensive glacial and periglacial action has produced bare...\\nSlovak Ore Mountains segment of the Carpathian Mountains, in south-central Slovakia. The mountains extend (west-east) for about 90 miles (145 km) between Zvolen and Košice and rise to 4,846 feet (1,477 m) in Stolica. They are noted for their mineral resources, especially...\\nSneeuberg mountain range in south-central South Africa. The range lies on the northeastern edge of the Great Karoo and stretches roughly east-west for 30 miles (48 km) with a slight curve southward at the eastern end. The highest point in the Sneeuberg (“Snow...\\nSnowdon mountain in northern Wales that is the highest point in England and Wales and the principal massif in the Snowdonia mountains. It is located in the county of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarvonshire. Snowdon consists of about five main peaks...\\nSnowy Mountains range in the Australian Alps, southeastern New South Wales, including several peaks that exceed 7,000 feet (2,100 metres)—notably Mount Kosciuszko, the highest in Australia. On their slopes rise the Murray, Murrumbidgee, and Tumut rivers, which flow...\\nSobaek Mountains largest range of mountains in southern South Korea. The range, 220 mi (350 km) long, stretches southwest from north of T’aebaek Mountain (5,121 ft [1,561 m]) in Kangwŏn Province to the Kohŭng Peninsula near Yŏsu. Its high mountains, Sobaek (4,760 ft),...\\nSoufrière active volcano on the island of Saint Vincent, in the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which lies within the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The volcano rises to peaks of 3,864 feet (1,178 metres) and 4,048 feet (1,234 metres) north...\\nSoufrière (French: “Sulfur Mine”), active volcano on southern Basse-Terre island, Guadeloupe, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It rises to 4,813 feet (1,467 metres) and is the highest point of Guadeloupe. The volcano erupted for several weeks starting in August 1976...\\nSouth Mountain northernmost section of the Blue Ridge in the Appalachian Mountains, extending southwestward for 65 miles (105 km) from southern Pennsylvania to northern Virginia, U.S. Quirauk Mountain (2,145 feet [654 m]) in Maryland is the highest point. It is crossed...\\nSouthern Alps mountain range on South Island, New Zealand. It is the highest range in Australasia. Making up the loftiest portion of the mountains that extend the length of the island, the Alps extend from Haast Pass, at the head of Wanaka Lake, northeastward to Arthur’s...\\nSperrin Mountains mountain range disposed along an arc about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Londonderry city, Northern Ireland. The highest peaks—Sawel, Mullaclogher, and Mullaghaneany—all exceed 2,000 feet (608 m) and are capped with crystalline limestone. The Sperrins...\\nSpīn Ghar Range Pashto “White Mountains” mountain range forming a natural frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, extending westward for 100 miles (160 km) from the Vale of Peshāwar (Pakistan) to the Lowrah Valley (Afghanistan). The boundary between the two countries...\\nSpruce Knob highest point in West Virginia, U.S., located in the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern part of the state, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Elkins. Spruce Knob lies at an elevation of 4,863 feet (1,482 metres) at the southern end of Spruce Mountain,...\\nSredna Mountains range in central Bulgaria, a discontinuous range south of the Balkan Mountains and having a similar east-west orientation. Structurally, the Sredna range is a part of the Rhodope Mountains, from which it is separated by the Thracian Plain. Between the...\\nSt. Elias Mountains segment of the Pacific Coast Ranges of northwestern North America. The mountains extend southeastward for about 250 miles (400 km) from the Wrangell Mountains to Cross Sound along the border between Canada (Yukon territory) and the United States (Alaska)....\\nStanley, Mount part of the Ruwenzori Range on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, in east- central Africa. Stanley contains 9 of the 10 peaks that rise above 16,000 feet (4,900 metres), including the highest in the range, Margherita...\\nStanovoy Range mountain range along the boundary between Amur oblast (province) and Sakha, Russia. It trends east to west, linking the mountains of Transbaikalia to the Dzhugdzhur Mountains, and is part of the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating...\\nStirling Range mountains in southwestern Western Australia. They rise from a low plateau 40 miles (65 km) north of Albany and run parallel to the coast for 50 miles (80 km). The range reaches its highest point at Bluff Knoll, 3,596 feet (1,096 m). Sighted in 1802 by...\\nSudeten system of east-west mountain ranges of northeastern Bohemia and northern Moravia, Czech Republic, bordering on Poland. The system has three subgroups: the West Sudeten range is composed of the Lusatian Mountains, the Jizera Mountains, and the Giant (Krkonoše)...\\nSudirman Range western section of the Maoke Mountains of the central highlands of New Guinea. The Sudirman Range is located in the Indonesian province of Papua. The rugged range, which may have no pass lower than 13,000 feet (4,000 metres), rises to Jaya Peak (formerly...\\nSugar Loaf landmark peak overlooking Rio de Janeiro and the entrance of Guanabara Bay, in southeastern Brazil. Named for its shape, the conical, granitic peak (1,296 feet [395 metres]) lies at the end of a short range between Rio de Janeiro and the Atlantic Ocean....\\nSulaiman Range mountain mass in central Pakistan, extending southward about 280 miles (450 km) from the Gumal Pass to just north of Jacobabad, separating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab from Balochistan. Its heights gradually decrease toward the south, with summits averaging...\\nSulitelma mountain range in Lapland extending for 30 miles (48 km) along the Swedish–Norwegian border. It rises to 6,279 feet (1,914 m), is permanently snow-clad, and gives rise to several glaciers, notably the 10-mile-long Blåmannsisen, which extends north from...\\nSuthep, Mount mountain peak of northwestern Thailand, overlooking the city of Chiang Mai and rising to 5,528 feet (1,685 metres). Mount Suthep is the site of the royal resort palace and of a temple complex, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The mountain and temple complex...\\nSwartberg mountain range in Western Cape province, South Africa, extending east-west for 150 mi (240 km) from near the town of Willowmore to the edge of the Witteberge, roughly parallel with the Indian Ocean coast. The Swartberg is the barrier dividing the semiarid...\\nŚwiętokrzyskie Mountains mountain range, part of the Little Poland Uplands, in south-central Poland, surrounding the city of Kielce. The highest peaks are Łysica (2,008 feet [612 m]) and Łysa Mountain (1,946 feet [593 m]), both in the Łysogóry range. The Świętokrzyskie Mountains...\\nTable Mountain flat-topped mountain in southwestern South Africa, overlooking Cape Town and Table Bay and dominating the northern end of the high, rocky Cape Peninsula. Its tabular shape results from nearly horizontal layers of sandstone exposed by vigorous wind and...\\nTabor, Mount historic elevation of northern Israel, in Lower Galilee near the edge of the Plain of Esdraelon (ʿEmeq Yizreʿel). Though comparatively low (1,929 feet [588 m]), it dominates the level landscape around it, leading to the biblical expression “like Tabor...\\nTaconic Range part of the Appalachian mountain system, U.S., extending southward for 150 miles (240 km) from a point southwest of Brandon, Vt., to northern Putnam county, New York. It rises to Mount Equinox (3,816 feet [1,163 m]) in Vermont and includes Mount Frissell...\\nT’aebaek Mountains main ridge of the Korean Peninsula, stretching along the coast of the Sea of Japan (East Sea), north to Hwangnyong Mountain (4,160 feet [1,268 m]), North Korea, and continuing south as the Kyŏngsang Range to Tadae-p’o, a suburb of Pusan, South Korea....\\nTahan, Mount highest peak of the Malay Peninsula (7,175 feet [2,187 m]), in the Tahan Range, West Malaysia. Mount Tahan is the central feature of Taman Negara National Park and a destination for mountaineers who begin their ascent from nearby Kuala Tahan, headquarters...\\nTai, Mount mountain mass with several peaks along a southwest-northeast axis to the north of the city of Tai’an in Shandong province, eastern China. Mount Tai consists of a much-shattered fault block, mostly composed of archaic crystalline shales and granites and...\\nTaihang Mountains mountain range of northern China, stretching some 250 miles (400 km) from north to south and forming the boundary between Shanxi and Hebei provinces and between the Shanxi plateau and the North China Plain. Some Western writers have erroneously called...\\nTaïyetos Mountains mountain range, southern Peloponnese (Modern Greek: Pelopónnisos), Greece. The maximum elevation is approximately 7,874 feet (2,400 m) in the range, which imposes a barrier between the regions of Laconia (Lakonía) and Messenia (Messinía). Called the...\\nTajumulco Volcano mountain peak in southwestern Guatemala. The highest peak in Central America, Tajumulco rises essentially from sea level to an elevation of 13,845 feet (4,220 metres). The peak is part of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, a mountain range that extends into...\\nTalamanca, Cordillera de range in southern Costa Rica, extending to the border with western Panama. Its highest peak, Chirripó Grande, rises to 12,530 feet (3,819 metres). Poor transportation facilities limit access to the Talamanca region, where several national parks and Indian...\\nTalas Alataū Range mountain range, a branch of the Tien Shan system that rises to 13,200 feet (4,023 metres) and forms part of the watershed of the upper Talas River in Kyrgyzstan.\\nTalish Mountains mountain chain, northwestern Iran, in the northwest section of the Elburz Mountains, extending southeastward from the Azerbaijan border to the lower part of the Safīd Rūd (Safid River). Few peaks rise above 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). The Talish Mountains...\\nTalladega Mountain low-lying segment of the Appalachian Mountains, extending northeastward along the border of Clay and Talladega counties and into Cleburne county in east-central Alabama, U.S. Rising to Cheaha Mountain (2,407 feet [734 metres]), the highest point in Alabama,...\\nTambora, Mount volcanic mountain on the northern coast of Sumbawa island, Indonesia, that in April 1815 exploded in the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. It is now 2,851 metres (9,354 feet) high, having lost much of its top in the 1815 eruption. The volcano...\\nTanggula Mountains mountain range in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwestern China. On the high plateau south of the mountains, there are many large salt lakes. In its eastern part the range forms the boundary between Tibet and Qinghai province. Although many peaks are...\\nTannu-Ola mountain range of southern Tyva (Tuva), extending eastward about 350 miles (560 km) from the Altai Mountains in Russia. The average elevation of its summits is 8,200–8,850 feet (2,500–2,700 metres) above sea level, with a maximum elevation of 10,043...\\nTaranaki, Mount mountain, west-central North Island, New Zealand, on the Taranaki Peninsula. The symmetrical volcanic cone rises from sea level to 8,260 ft (2,518 m) and has a subsidiary cone, 6,438-ft Fanthams Peak, 1 mi (1.5 km) south of the main crater. Both have...\\nTatra Mountains highest range of the Central Carpathians. The mountains rise steeply from a high plateau and extend for approximately 40 miles (64 km) along the Slovakian-Polish frontier, varying in width from 9 to 15 miles (14 to 24 km). About 300 peaks are identified...\\nTaum Sauk Mountain mountain in Iron county, southeastern Missouri, U.S., highest point (1,772 feet [540 m]) of the St. Francois Mountains and of the state. Centrepiece of Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, it is part of the main uplift of the forested Ozark Mountains and lies...\\nTaunus wooded highland of Germany, extending across parts of the Länder (states) of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. The range is 50 miles (80 km) long and is bounded by the Rhine (west), Main (south), and Lahn (north) rivers. The range slopes steeply along...\\nTaurus Mountains mountain range in southern Turkey, a great chain running parallel to the Mediterranean coast. The system extends along a curve from Lake Egridir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates River in the east. Aladağ (10,935 feet [3,333 m]) in the...\\nTehachapi Mountains segment of the Coast Ranges (see Pacific mountain system), south-central California, U.S. They extend for about 50 miles (80 km) and link the south end of the Sierra Nevada with the mountains along the coast. Elevations in the Tehachapi Mountains average...\\nTeide Peak volcanic peak at the centre of the island of Tenerife, in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia (province) of the Canary Islands comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), Spain. At 12,198 feet (3,718 metres), it is the highest point on Spanish soil....\\nTell Atlas range of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, extending about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from eastern Morocco through Algeria to Tunisia. In Morocco, from Ceuta east to Melilla (150 miles [240 km]), the Er-Rif mountain range of the Tell Atlas faces the Mediterranean...\\nTemblor Range segment of the Coast Ranges (see Pacific mountain system), south-central California, U.S. It extends southeastward for about 50 miles (80 km) from northwestern Kern county to the San Emigdio Mountains near the southern end of the Central Valley. Peaks...\\nTeshio Range mountain range, northwestern Hokkaido, northern Japan. It extends southward for nearly 125 miles (200 km) from Cape Sōya on La Perouse Strait, across the transverse gorge of the Ishikari River, to the Yūbari Mountains. The Kitami Mountains lie to the...\\nTeton Range segment of the Middle Rocky Mountains in the western United States, extending southward for 40 miles (64 km) across northwestern Wyoming, from the southern boundary of Yellowstone National Park to Teton Pass, just west of Jackson. Some foothills reach...\\nThabana Ntlenyana mountain peak (11,424 feet [3,482 m]) in the Drakensberg and the highest in Africa south of Kilimanjaro. The peak lies in Lesotho, an independent country entirely within South Africa, just west of the border with the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Nearby...\\nThuringian Forest range of forested hills and mountains in Germany, extending in an irregular line from the neighbourhood of Eisenach in west-central Thuringia southeastward to the Bavarian frontier, where it merges with the Franconian Forest. Its breadth varies from...\\nTiantai Mountains mountain chain in eastern Zhejiang province, eastern China. Tiantai is also the name of a mountain in the chain. The range forms the northeastern extension of the great Xianxia Mountains in southern Zhejiang, which form the watershed between the Ling...\\nTibesti part of the Mid-Sahara Rise of the central Sahara. Mostly in northwestern Chad, the mountains extend into northeastern Niger and southern Libya. The formation is about 300 miles (480 km) long and up to 175 miles (280 km) wide. The volcanic summit of...\\nTien Shan great mountain system of Central Asia. Its name is Chinese for “Celestial Mountains.” Stretching about 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from west-southwest to east-northeast, it mainly straddles the border between China and Kyrgyzstan and bisects the ancient territory...\\nTirich Mir highest peak (25,230 ft [7,690 m]) in the Hindu Kush mountain system, lying 155 mi (249 km) north of Peshāwar, Pak., in the North-West Frontier Province near Afghanistan. The Upper Tirich Glacier basin is formed by Tirich Mir East, Tirich Mir (the main...\\nToba, Mount ancient volcano located in the Barisan Mountains, north-central Sumatra, Indonesia. A massive eruption sometime between 71,000 and 74,000 years ago expelled an estimated 2,800 cubic km (about 670 cubic miles) of ash and lava. That event is considered...\\nTolima, Mount volcano in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains, west-central Colombia. It is 17,105 feet (5,215 metres) high.\\nTörnebohm, Alfred Elis Swedish geologist and pioneer in the study and analysis of mountain structure. In 1888 he presented the first outlines of his theory of the overthrust of the Caledonian Range (the mountainous region in northwestern Europe extending from the British Isles...\\nTorngat Mountains range in northern Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada. The Torngat range extends northward for 120 miles (190 km) from Hebron Fjord to Cape Chidley, between the Quebec border (west) and the Atlantic Ocean (east). Named from an Eskimo (Inuit) term Torngarsuak,...\\nToubkal, Mount mountain peak that is the highest point (13,665 feet [4,165 metres]) in Morocco and in the Atlas Mountains. The peak is situated 40 miles (60 km) south of Marrakech in the High Atlas (Haut Atlas). Juniper forests covering the mountain’s higher slopes...\\nTrans-Alai Range mountain range on the frontier between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is the most northerly range of the Pamirs and extends for about 150 miles (240 km) east-west in an unbroken chain of snow-covered peaks between the lush summer pastures of the broad...\\nTrans-Himalayas eastward continuation of the most northerly ranges of the Himalayas in the southern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It consists of an ill-defined mountain area about 600 miles (1,000 km) long and 140 miles (225 km) wide in the centre, narrowing...\\nTransantarctic Mountains mountain system subdividing the Antarctic continent into an eastern (East Antarctica) and a western (West Antarctica) region. The Transantarctic Mountains stretch for more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from Victoria Land to the shores of the Weddell Sea....\\nTransylvanian Alps mountainous region of south-central Romania. It consists of that section of the Carpathian Mountain arc from the Prahova River valley (east) to the gap in which flow the Timiş and Cerna rivers. Average elevation in the Transylvanian Alps is 4,920–5,740...\\nTriglav mountain peak, the highest (9,396 feet [2,864 m]) of Slovenia and of the Julian Alps, situated 40 miles (64 km) northwest of the city of Ljubljana. The north wall of the peak forms an enormous limestone face nearly 2 miles (3 km) wide. From the time...\\nTroodos Mountains mountain range in southern Cyprus, beginning immediately inland from Cape Arnauti. It rises to its highest point at Mount Olympus, or Khionistra (6,401 feet [1,951 metres]), about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Nicosia, and gradually descends to narrow...\\nTumuc-Humac Mountains mountain range that forms the Brazilian border with French Guiana and Suriname. An eastern extension of the Acarai Mountains, the range extends for about 180 miles (290 km) in an east-west direction and attains elevations of 2,800 feet (850 m). The range...\\nTupungato, Mount volcanic peak in the Central Andes Mountains of South America. It is situated on the Chile - Argentina boundary and rises to 22,310 feet (6,800 metres). The peak was first climbed in 1897 by members of the expedition led by the British mountaineer Edward...\\nTurkistan Range mountain range in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Branching off from the Alay Mountains, it extends for 200 miles (320 km) east-west between the Fergana and Zeravshan valleys. Its highest point is Piramidalny Peak (18,077 feet [5,510 m]). The...\\nUinta Mountains segment of the south-central Rocky Mountains, extending eastward for more than 100 miles (160 km) from the Wasatch Range across northeastern Utah and slightly into southwestern Wyoming, U.S. Many of the range’s summits exceed 13,000 feet (4,000 m), including...\\nUmvukwe Range mountain range in northern Zimbabwe, extending about 100 miles (160 km) north from the Hunyani River and rising to a high point of 5,748 feet (1,752 m). The range forms the northern section of an enormous tabular block of igneous rock (norite) and is...\",\n \"Mountains and Mountain Ranges - 2 | Britannica.com\\n... occupies all of Armenia, and includes southern ... mountain range in west County ... (and the country’s highest point), reaches an elevation of more ...\\nMountains and Mountain Ranges - 2 | Britannica.com\\nMountains and Mountain Ranges\\nlandform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief.\\nDisplaying 1 - 100 of 753 results\\nAbajo Mountains volcanic segment of the Colorado Plateau, in San Juan county, southeastern Utah, U.S. Abajo Peak (11,362 feet [3,463 metres]) is the highest point in the mountains, which comprise eight summits and are embraced by the Manti-LaSal National Forest. The...\\nAberdare Range mountain range, forming a section of the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley in west-central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator. The range has an average elevation of 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) and culminates in Oldoinyo...\\nAbsaroka Range mountain segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana, U.S. Extending in a northwest-southeast direction, the range is 170 miles (270 km) long and 50 miles wide. A large plateau, the result of volcanic action,...\\nAbukuma Mountains range in northern Honshu, Japan. It extends for 106 miles (170 km) north to south and parallels the Pacific Ocean coast of Fukushima prefecture in the Tōhoku region. Its southern end reaches into northern Ibaraki prefecture in the Kantō region. The mountain...\\nAcaraí Mountains low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 metres) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon...\\nAconcagua, Mount mountain in western Mendoza province, west-central Argentina, on the Chilean border. It is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. Aconcagua lies in the Southern Andes Mountains; although its peak is in Argentina, its western flanks build up from...\\nAdam’s Peak mountain in southwestern Sri Lanka (Ceylon), 7,360 feet (2,243 m) high and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Ratnapura; it is located in the Sri Lanka hill country. Its conical summit terminates in an oblong platform about 74 by 24 feet (22 by 7 m), on which...\\nAdirondack Mountains mountains in northeastern New York state, U.S. They extend southward from the St. Lawrence River valley and Lake Champlain to the Mohawk River valley. The mountains are only sparsely settled, and much of the area exists in a primitive natural state,...\\nAgou, Mount mountain in southwestern Togo, near the border with Ghana. An extreme western outlier of the Atakora Mountains of adjacent Benin, it rises to 3,235 feet (986 metres) and is the highest point in Togo. It was initially named for Oskar Baumann (1864–99),...\\nAgung, Mount volcano, northeastern Bali, Indonesia. The highest point in Bali and the object of traditional veneration, it rises to a height of 9,888 feet (3,014 m). In 1963 it erupted after being dormant for 120 years; some 1,600 people were killed and 86,000 left...\\nAimorés Mountains mountainous region divided between the estados (states) of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, eastern Brazil, occupying an area of about 3,900 square miles (10,100 square km). The mountains form a crystalline-hill upland with an average elevation of 3,000...\\nAïr massif group of granitic mountains rising sharply from the Sahara in central Niger. Several of these mountains approach and exceed 6,000 feet (1,800 m), the highest being Mount Gréboun (6,378 feet [1,944 m]). The mountains are dissected by deep valleys, called...\\nAkademii Nauk Range mountain range, western Pamirs, central Tajikistan. The mountains, extending north-south, are approximately 68 miles (110 km) in length and are composed mostly of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, together with some granite. Glaciation from permanent...\\nAkhḍar Mountains mountain range of northeastern Libya that extends along the Mediterranean coast for about 100 miles (160 km) in an east-northeasterly direction between the towns of al-Marj and Darnah. Rising sharply in two steps, the first reaching 985 feet (300 m)...\\nAkwapim-Togo Ranges narrow belt of ridges and hills in Ghana, western Africa. They extend in a southwest-northeast line for about 200 miles (320 km) from the Densu River mouth (near Accra) on the Atlantic coast to the boundary with Togo. Averaging 1,500 feet (460 m) in...\\nAlaska Range one of the components of the Alaskan mountains and a segment of the larger Pacific mountain system of western North America. The range extends generally northward and eastward in an arc for about 400 miles (650 km) from the Aleutian Range to the boundary...\\nAlaskan Mountains three principal mountain groups of far northwestern North America —the Brooks Range, Alaska Range, and Aleutian Range —found in the U.S. state of Alaska. The mountain ranges of Alaska give their state a rugged and beautiful terrain across its entire...\\nAlban Hills volcanic area in the Lazio (Latium) regione (region) of central Italy, southeast of Rome. The hills consist of an outer circle, 6–8 miles (10–13 km) in diameter, rising to 3,113 feet (949 metres) at Mount Cavo, and an inner crater rim, about 1.5 miles...\\nAlbula Alps part of the Rhaetian Alps in eastern Switzerland, lying in Graubünden canton to the north of the resort of Saint Moritz. The mountains extend northeastward from the Splügen Pass (6,932 feet [2,113 m]) to the Flüela Pass (7,818 feet [2,383 m]), and they...\\nAleutian Range segment of the Pacific mountain system, western North America. The range extends southwestward for about 600 miles (1,000 km) from the west end of the Alaska Range to the head of Cook Inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, Alaska, U.S. The Aleutian Islands represent...\\nAllegheny Mountains mountainous eastern part of the Allegheny Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, U.S. The Allegheny range extends south-southwestward for more than 500 miles (800 km) from north-central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Rising to Mount Davis (3,213...\\nAlps a small segment of a discontinuous mountain chain that stretches from the Atlas Mountains of North Africa across southern Europe and Asia to beyond the Himalayas. The Alps extend north from the subtropical Mediterranean coast near Nice, France, to Lake...\\nAltai Mountains complex mountain system of Central Asia extending approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km) in a southeast-northwest direction from the Gobi (Desert) to the West Siberian Plain, through China, Mongolia, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The jagged mountain ridges derive...\\nAltun Mountains mountain range in the southern part of the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, northwestern China. Branching off from the Kunlun Mountains, the range runs for more than 400 miles (650 km) from southwest to northeast to form the boundary between the...\\nAmambaí Mountains highlands in western Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, and eastern Paraguay. Extending south-southwest initially as the Maracaju Mountains for approximately 200 miles (320 km) from Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, they form the western...\\nAmargosa Range group of mountains in eastern California and southern Nevada, U.S., separating Death Valley from the Amargosa Desert. Part of the Basin Ranges of eastern California, the Amargosa Range extends 110 miles (180 km) from Grapevine Peak (8,705 feet [2,653...\\nAnai Peak peak in eastern Kerala state, southwestern India. Located in the Western Ghats range, it rises to 8,842 feet (2,695 metres) and is peninsular India’s highest peak. From this point radiate three ranges—the Anaimalai to the north, the Palni to the northeast,...\\nAnaimalai Hills mountain range in the Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The Anaimalai Hills are located at a junction of the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats and have a general northwest-southeast trend. Anai Peak (8,842 feet [2,695 metres]) lies at the...\\nAndes Mountains mountain system of South America and one of the great natural features of the Earth. The Andes consist of a vast series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900...\\nAnnamese Cordillera principal mountain range of Indochina and the watershed between the Mekong River and the South China Sea. It extends parallel to the coast in a gentle curve generally northwest-southeast, forming the boundary between Laos and Vietnam. A fairly continuous...\\nAnnapurna massif of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal. It forms a ridge some 30 miles (48 km) long between the gorges of the Kali (Kali Gandak; west) and Marsyandi (east) rivers north of the town of Pokhara. The massif contains four main summits, two of which—...\\nAnti-Atlas mountain range in Morocco running parallel to and southward of the central range of the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. Although it has a mean elevation of 5,000 feet (1,500 metres), some peaks and passes exceed 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). This rugged,...\\nAnti-Lebanon Mountains mountain range that runs northeast-southwest along the Syrian-Lebanese border parallel to the Lebanon Mountains, from which they are separated by the al-Biqāʿ Valley. The range averages 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above sea level, with several peaks exceeding...\\nApennine Range series of mountain ranges bordered by narrow coastlands that form the physical backbone of peninsular Italy. From Cadibona Pass in the northwest, close to the Maritime Alps, they form a great arc, which extends as far as the Egadi Islands to the west...\\nApo, Mount active volcano, south central Mindanao, 20 miles (32 km) west of Davao City; it is the highest point in the Philippines, rising to 9,692 feet (2,954 metres). Part of the Cordillera Central, it is covered by a forest of tall, tropical hardwoods; two subsidiary...\\nAppalachian Highlands the regions of the Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, and Appalachian Plateau in the eastern United States.\\nAppalachian Mountains great highland system of North America, the eastern counterpart of the Rocky Mountains. Extending for almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to central Alabama in the United States, the Appalachian Mountains...\\nAppalachian Orogenic Belt an old mountain range that extends for more than 3,000 km (1,860 miles) along the eastern margin of North America from Alabama in the southern United States to Newfoundland, Canada, in the north. The geosynclinal theory of mountain building was first...\\nApuseni Mountains large mountain chain, a subgroup of the Carpathians, lying north of the Mureş River, northwestern Romania. The Apuseni (Western) Mountains are not high—reaching a maximum elevation of only 6,066 feet (1,849 m)—but as a uniform, imposing group they dominate...\\nAragats, Mount mountain in Armenia, northwest of Yerevan and north of the Ararat Plain. The highest point in both Armenia and the Lesser Caucasus range (13,418 feet [4,090 m]), Aragats is a circular, shieldlike mountain composed of both lavas and tufas. A volcanic...\\nArarat, Mount volcanic massif in extreme eastern Turkey overlooking the point at which the frontiers of Turkey, Iran, and Armenia converge. Its northern and eastern slopes rise from the broad alluvial plain of the Aras River, about 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) above...\\nAravalli Range hill system of northern India, running northeasterly for 350 miles (560 km) through Rajasthan state. Isolated rocky offshoots continue to just south of Delhi. The series of peaks and ridges, with breadths varying from 6 to 60 miles (10 to 100 km), are...\\nArgonne wooded, hilly region in eastern France that forms a natural barrier between Champagne and Lorraine. The Argonne is about 40 miles long and 10 miles wide (65 by 15 km). The hilly massif rarely exceeds 650 feet (200 m) in elevation but is slashed with...\\nArkatag Mountains one of the complex mountain chains that form the Kunlun Mountains in western China. The Arkatag range is in the east-central portion of the Kunluns. Mount Muztag (Muztagh), at its western end, reaches an elevation of 25,338 feet (7,723 metres) and is...\\nArmenian Highland mountainous region of western Asia. It lies mainly in Turkey, occupies all of Armenia, and includes southern Georgia, western Azerbaijan, and northwestern Iran. The highland covers almost 154,400 square miles (400,000 square km). The average elevation...\\nArvon, Mount peak, Baraga county, northern Upper Peninsula, Michigan, U.S. Reaching an elevation of 1,979 feet (603 metres), it is the highest point in the state. It lies about 12 miles (20 km) east of L’Anse, inland from the Lake Superior shore in a wilderness recreational...\\nAso, Mount volcano, Kumamoto ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, rising to an elevation of 5,223 feet (1,592 m). It has the largest active crater in the world, measuring 71 miles (114 km) in circumference, 17 miles (27 km) from north to south, and 10 miles (16 km)...\\nAspiring, Mount mountain in the Southern Alps of west-central South Island, New Zealand. It is a pyramid-shaped peak that rises from the small Bonar, Volta, Therma, and Iso glaciers. Its four ridges reach 9,932 feet (3,027 m), with thick rain forests clothing the western...\\nAssam Himalayas eastern section of the Great Himalayas, extending eastward across Sikkim state (India) and Bhutan, into northern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states (India), and along the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region (China). The mountains run eastward for...\\nAtakora Mountains mountain range in western Africa, trending north-northeast. The range begins in the Akwapim Hills of southeastern Ghana (see Akwapim-Togo Ranges) and continues northeasterly to the Niger River through Togo and Benin. The mountains average 2,000 feet...\\nAthos, Mount mountain in northern Greece, site of a semiautonomous republic of Greek Orthodox monks inhabiting 20 monasteries and dependencies (skíte s), some of which are larger than the parent monasteries. It occupies the easternmost of the three promontories of...\\nAtlas Mountains series of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, running generally southwest to northeast to form the geologic backbone of the countries of the Maghrib (the western region of the Arab world)— Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. They extend for more than...\\nAurès mountains, part of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria, northern Africa, fronted by rugged cliffs in the north and opening out in the south into the two parallel fertile valleys of the wadies Abiod and ʿAbdi, facing the Sahara. The highest peaks,...\\nAustralian Alps mountain mass, a segment of the Great Dividing Range (Eastern Uplands), occupying the southeasternmost corner of Australia, in eastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. In a more local sense, the term denotes the ranges on the states’ border...\\nAzov Upland hilly region, southeastern Ukraine. Part of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield, the Azov Upland is an area of denuded mountains, extending from the Dnieper River for 100 miles (160 km) to the Donets Ridge and sloping gently down southeastward to the Sea...\\nBabia, Mount highest mountain (5,659 feet [1,725 m] at Diablok) peak in the Beskid Mountains, on the Slovakia-Poland border and one of the highest peaks in Poland. It is 12 miles (19 km) north-northeast of Námestovo, Slovakia, and 12 miles (19 km) south-southwest...\\nBackbone Mountain highest point in Maryland, U.S., reaching an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,024 metres). It is located on a ridge of the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains, located in Garrett county 12 miles (19 km) south of Oakland. The ridge is 35 miles (56 km) long...\\nBaetic Cordillera mountain system comprising the Andalusian mountains of southeastern Spain. The northern range (called pre-Baetic in Andalusia and sub-Baetic in Valencia) runs about 360 miles (580 km) from Cape Trafalgar in Andalusia to Cape Nao in Valencia, and it continues...\\nBago Mountains mountain range of south-central Myanmar (Burma), extending 270 miles (435 km) north-south between the Irrawaddy and Sittang rivers and ending in a ridge at Yangon (Rangoon). The range averages about 2,000 feet (600 metres) in elevation, reaching its...\\nBakhuis Gebergte range of hills, west central Suriname, running north–south, about 70 miles (110 km) in length and separating the basins of the Kabalebo and Nickerie rivers (west) from that of the Coppename River (east). The range is relatively low-lying, comprising...\\nBakony Mountains mountain range in western Hungary, covering about 1,500 square miles (4,000 square km) between Lake Balaton and the Little Alfold and running southwest-northeast for 70 miles (110 km) from the Zala River. The range forms the major component of the highlands...\\nBalaghat Range series of hills in western Maharashtra state, western India. Originating in the Western Ghats at the Harishchandra Range, the Balaghats extend southeastward for about 200 miles (320 km) to the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka states. Its width varies...\\nBaldy Mountain summit (11,403 feet [3,476 metres]) in the White Mountains, Apache county, eastern Arizona, U.S. Springs on the mountain’s northern slope form the headwaters of the Little Colorado River. Also called Dzil Ligai (Apache: “Mountain of White Rock”), Baldy...\\nBaldy Mountain highest peak in Manitoba, Can., in the southeastern part of Duck Mountain Provincial Park, 36 miles (58 km) northwest of Dauphin. At 2,730 feet (832 metres) above sea level, it is also the highest peak in the 350-mile- (560-km-) long Manitoba Escarpment....\\nBale Mountains mountain chain in southern Ethiopia. It rises above 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) near Goba. The Bale Mountain region, including Bale Mountains National Park, is known for its numerous endemic species. Among these are the rare and endangered Ethiopian wolf...\\nBalkan Mountains chief range of the Balkan Peninsula and Bulgaria and an extension of the Alpine-Carpathian folds. The range extends from the Timok River valley near the Yugoslav (Serbian) border, spreading out eastward for about 330 miles (530 km) into several spurs,...\\nBamba, Mount mountain (2,625 feet [800 metres]) in the Mayombé Massif, in the southwestern part of the Republic of the Congo.\\nBandeira Peak peak on the border of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais estados (states), eastern Brazil. It is part of the Caparaó mountain range and lies about 100 miles (160 km) inland from Vitória city on the Atlantic coast. Until 1962, when Neblina Peak (9,888 feet...\\nBaoruco, Sierra de mountain range in the southwestern part of the Dominican Republic. It extends about 50 mi (80 km) east from the Haitian border to the Caribbean Sea and lies parallel to the Cordillera Central. Its highest peak is 5,348 ft (1,630 m). Straddling the Haitian...\\nBartle Frere, Mount mountain in Bellenden-Ker Range, northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is the highest point in the state and rises to 5,287 ft (1,611 m) in an area reserved as a national park. Its slopes have the climate of a rain forest and provide cover for a variety...\\nBavarian Alps northeastern segment of the Central Alps along the German-Austrian border. The mountains extend east-northeastward for 70 miles (110 km) from the Lechtaler Alps to the bend of the Inn River near Kufstein, Austria. Zugspitze (9,718 feet [2,962 metres])...\\nBeartooth Range segment of the northern Rocky Mountains in the United States, extending east-southeastward for 50 miles (80 km) from the Stillwater River, in southern Montana, to the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, in northwestern Wyoming. Many peaks rise to more...\\nBellenden Ker Range granitic massif, in the Eastern Highlands, northeastern Queensland, Australia, extending for 40 mi (65 km) along the coast northeast from Nerada to Gordonvale, just south of Cairns. Bounded by the Mulgrave River (east), the Innisfail Downs (south), and...\\nBelukha, Mount one of the Katun Mountains, a series of snowcapped peaks in Russia. The highest mountain in the Russian portion of the Altai Mountains, Belukha reaches a height of 14,783 feet (4,506 m) in one of its twin peaks. Glaciers cover some 27 square miles (70...\\nBen Cruachan mountain in the Highlands, Argyll and Bute council area, Scot., culminating in several peaks, the highest of which is 3,689 feet (1,124 metres). It is situated between Loch (“Lake”) Etive on the north and Loch Awe on the south. The Cruachan hydroelectric...\\nBen Nevis highest mountain of the British Isles, in the Highland council area, Scotland. Its summit, reaching an elevation of 4,406 feet (1,343 metres), is a plateau of about 100 acres (40 hectares), with a slight slope to the south and a sheer face to the northeast....\\nBen Rinnes mountain in the Moray council area, Scotland, situated 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Keith and about 5 miles (8 km) east of the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Spey. It reaches an elevation of 2,759 feet (841 metres). One of the notable sights associated...\\nBen Wyvis mountain in the northern Highlands, Highland council area, Scotland, whose summit stands some 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Dingwall on the Cromarty Firth, which is an inlet of the Moray Firth. The mountain has an elevation of 3,429 feet (1,045 metres)....\\nBerkshire Hills segment of the Appalachian Mountains, U.S., mainly in Berkshire county, western Massachusetts. Many summits rise to more than 2,000 feet (600 metres), including Mount Greylock (3,491 feet [1,064 metres]), the highest point in Massachusetts. The scenic...\\nBernese Alps segment of the Central Alps lying north of the Upper Rhône River and south of the Brienzer and Thunersee (lakes) in Bern and Valais cantons of southwestern Switzerland. The mountains extend east-northeastward from the bend of the Rhône near Martigny-Ville...\\nBernina Alps part of the Rhaetian Alps in eastern Switzerland along the Italian border, lying southeast of the Engadin (valley of the Upper Inn River). The scenic range rises to Bernina Peak (13,284 feet [4,049 m]), which was first ascended in 1850 by the Swiss climber...\\nBeskid Mountains discontinuous series of forested mountain ranges lying in the eastern Czech Republic, northwestern Slovakia, and southern Poland. The Czech sections at the western end of the Carpathian Mountains lie south and east of the Moravian Gate and are identified...\\nBia, Mount highest peak (9,245 feet [2,818 metres]) in Laos, located among the western spurs of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique) immediately south of the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The massif, which trends northwest-southeast, is isolated from its 8,050–8,500-foot...\\nBig Belt Mountains segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, paralleling the eastern bank of the Missouri River for about 80 miles (129 km) in west-central Montana, U.S. The range lies some 20 miles (30 km) east of the city of Helena and the Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The...\\nBig Rock Candy Mountain complex of carbonate hills, about 5,500 feet (1,675 metres) tall, on the edge of one segment of Fishlake National Forest, near Marysvale, south-central Utah, U.S. The striped dun- and rose-coloured hills were fancifully named by workers on the Denver...\\nBighorn Mountains range of the northern Rocky Mountains in southern Montana, U.S., extending southeastward in an anticlinal arch across north-central Wyoming for 120 miles (193 km). Varying in width between 30 and 50 miles (50 and 80 km), the mountains rise abruptly 4,000...\\nBihor Massif mountain massif, the highest part of the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians, western Romania. It is roughly 16 miles (25 km) long from northwest to southeast and 9 miles (14 km) wide. The summit is almost smooth, broken by a few peaks...\\nBismarck Range northeastern segment of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Visited in 1886 by the German explorer G.E. von Schleinitz, the range was named for Otto von Bismarck. The mountains reach 14,793 feet (4,509 metres)...\\nBitterroot Range segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, U.S., extending southward for 300 mi (480 km) along the Idaho–Montana border. Peaks average about 9,000 ft (2,700 m), with Scott Peak, in Idaho, the highest (11,394 ft). Owing to the inaccessibility of the mountains...\\nBlack Hills isolated eroded mountain region in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, U.S., lying largely within Black Hills National Forest. The hills lie between the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers and rise about 3,000 feet (900 metres) above the surrounding...\\nBlack Mountain Range southern spur of the Assam Himalayas in Bhutan. It lies between the Sankosh River (west) and the Mangde (Tongsa) River (east), and tributaries of the two rivers run through deep ravines down its steep slopes. The road between Punakha and Tongsa Dzong...\\nBlack Mountains mountain range in Yancey and Buncombe counties in western North Carolina, U.S., part of the Appalachian Mountains extending north from the Blue Ridge. The range includes Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet [2,037 metres]), the highest point east of the Mississippi...\\nBlack Range mountain range extending 100 miles (160 km) north to south, through Catron and Sierra counties, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. The range follows the Continental Divide for much of its length. Most of the range lies within the Gila National Forest, near...\\nBlanc, Mont mountain massif and highest peak (15,771 feet [4,807 metres]) in Europe. Located in the Alps, the massif lies along the French-Italian border and reaches into Switzerland. It extends southwestward from Martigny, Switzerland, for about 25 miles (40 km)...\\nBlanca, Cordillera eastern section of the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes, in west central Peru, South America. The snowcapped range extends about 110 mi (180 km) and has a southeast to northwest trend. The highest peak (22,334 ft [6,768 m]) is Nevado (mount) Huascarán....\\nBlue Mountains range curving northeastward for 190 mi (310 km) from central Oregon to southeastern Washington, U.S. The range reaches a width of 68 mi and an average elevation of about 6,500 ft (2,000 m); it comprises an uplifted, warped, and dissected lava plateau,...\\nBlue Mountains range in eastern Jamaica that extends for about 30 miles (50 km) from Stony Hill, 8 miles north of Kingston, eastward to the Caribbean Sea. The highest point in the range is Blue Mountain Peak (7,402 feet [2,256 metres]). The Blue Mountains are thickly...\\nBlue Ridge segment of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States. The mountains extend southwestward for 615 miles (990 km) from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, through parts of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, to Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia. The...\\nBoggeragh Mountains mountain range in west County Cork, Ireland, comprising the western end of the Boggeragh-Nagles anticline (upwarp of rock strata), a long line of hills running from County Kerry eastward to the Drum Hills of County Waterford. The Boggeragh Mountains...\\nBogong, Mount highest peak (6,516 feet [1,986 m]) of Victoria, Australia. It is in the Australian Alps, 150 miles (240 km) northeast of Melbourne. Well known for winter sports, the peak derived its name from an Aboriginal word meaning “high plains.” Bogong township...\",\n \"Switzerland - History, Economics, Geography\\n... (195 m) Switzerland is a landlocked country in ... given some independence as cantons . ... country is divided into 26 cantons for local ...\\nSwitzerland - History, Economics, Geography\\nHighest Point: Dufourspitze at 15,203 feet (4,634 m)\\nLowest Point: Lake Maggiore at 639 feet (195 m)\\nSwitzerland is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is one of the richest countries in the world and it has consistently ranked high for its quality of life. Switzerland is known for its history of being neutral during wartimes.Switzerland is the home of many international organizations like the World Trade Organization but it is not a member of the European Union .\\nHistory of Switzerland\\nSwitzerland was originally inhabited by the Helvetians and the area that makes up today's country became a part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century B.C.E. When the Roman Empire began to decline, Switzerland was invaded by several German tribes. In 800 Switzerland became a part of Charlemagne's Empire.\\ncontinue reading below our video\\nWhat are the Seven Wonders of the World\\nShortly thereafter control of the country was passed through the Holy Roman emperors.\\nIn the 13th century, new trade routes across the Alps opened and Switzerland's mountain valleys became important and were given some independence as cantons . In 1291, the Holy Roman Emperor died and according to the U.S. Department of State, the ruling families of several mountain communities signed a charter to keep peace and keep independent rule.\\nFrom 1315 to 1388, Swiss Confederates were involved in several conflicts with the Habsburgs and their borders expanded. In 1499, the Swiss Confederates gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire. Following its independence and a defeat by the French and Venetians in 1515, Switzerland ended its policies of expansion.\\nThroughout the 1600s, there were several European conflicts but the Swiss remained neutral. From 1797 to 1798, Napoleon annexed part of the Swiss Confederation and a centrally governed state was established. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna preserved the country's status as a permanently armed neutral state. In 1848 a short civil war between Protestant and Catholic led to the formation of a Federal State modeled after the United States . A Swiss Constitution was then drafted and was amended in 1874 to ensure cantonal independence and democracy.\\nIn the 19th century, Switzerland underwent industrialization and it remained neutral during World War I . During World War II , Switzerland also remained neutral despite pressure from surrounding countries. After WWII, Switzerland began to grow its economy. It did not join the Council of Europe until 1963 and it is still not a part of the European Union. In 2002 it joined the United Nations.\\nGovernment of Switzerland\\nToday Switzerland's government is formally a confederation but it is more similar in structure to a federal republic. It has an executive branch with a chief of state and a head of government that is filled by the President and a bicameral Federal Assembly with the Council of States and the National Council for its legislative branch. Switzerland's judicial branch is made up of a Federal Supreme Court. The country is divided into 26 cantons for local administration and each has a high degree of independence and each is equal in status.\\nPeople of Switzerland\\nSwitzerland is unique in its demography because it is made up of three linguistic and cultural regions. These are German, French and Italian. As a result, Switzerland is not a nation based on one ethnic identity; instead it is based on its common historical background and shared governmental values. The official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh.\\nEconomics and Land Use in Switzerland\\nSwitzerland is one of the wealthiest nations in the world and it has a very strong market economy. Unemployment is low and its labor force is also very highly skilled. Agriculture makes up a small part of its economy and the main products include grains, fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs. The largest industries in Switzerland are machinery, chemicals, banking and insurance. In addition, expensive goods such as watches and precision instruments are also produced in Switzerland. Tourism is also a very large industry in the country due to its natural setting in the Alps.\\nGeography and Climate of Switzerland\\nSwitzerland is located in Western Europe, to the east of France and to the north of Italy. It is known for its mountain landscapes and small mountain villages. The topography of Switzerland is varied but it is mainly mountainous with the Alps in the south and the Jura in the northwest. There is also a central plateau with rolling hills and plains and there are many large lakes throughout the country. Dufourspitze at 15,203 feet (4,634 m) is Switzerland's highest point but there are many other peaks that are at very high elevations as well - the Matterhorn near the town of Zermatt in Valais is the most famous.\\nThe climate of Switzerland is temperate but it varies with altitude. Most of the country has cold and rainy to snowy winters and cool to warm and sometimes humid summers. Bern, Switzerland's capital has an average January low temperature of 25.3˚F (-3.7˚C) and an average July high of 74.3˚F (23.5˚C).\\nTo learn more about Switzerland, visit the Switzerland page in the Geography and Maps section of this website.\\nReferences\\nCentral Intelligence Agency. (9 November 2010). CIA - The World Factbook - Switzerland. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sz.html\\nInfoplease.com. (n.d.). Switzerland: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108012.html\\nUnited States Department of State. (31 March 2010). Switzerland. Retrieved from: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3431.htm\\nWikipedia.com. (16 November 2010). Switzerland - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland\",\n \"Country Fact File - Job Serve Africa\\nGhana is a country in West Africa. It borders the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to ... Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered ...\\nCountry Fact File - Job Serve Africa\\nAlgeria\\nAlgeria is a located in North Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area. It is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, a few kilometers of th...\\nAngola\\nAngola is in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and Zambia to the east. There is also an exclave province Cabinda which lies to the North of Angola which was a Portuguese colony from the 16th century to 1975. The country is the secon...\\nBahrain\\nBahrain is an Arabic island micro-state in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway, Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The government plans to build the Qatar-Bahrain Friendsh...\\nBenin\\nBenin, officially the Republic of Benin is a country in Western Africa. An ex French colony it gained full independence on the 1st of August 1960. The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and is largely dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth i...\\nBotswana\\nThe Republic of Botswana is a landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It is bordered by South Africa to the south & southeast, Namibia to the...\\nBurkina Faso\\nBurkina Faso also known as Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali , Niger , Benin , Togo and Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Burkina Faso was formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta. Burkina Faso's capital is Ouagadougou. After gaini...\\nBurundi\\nBurundi , officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in Eastern Africa bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Rwanda to the north, and Tanzania to the south and east. A landlocked country, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika....\\nCameroon\\nThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria ,Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. Cameroon's coastline is part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called \\\"A...\\nCanada\\nCanada is a country occupying by most of the northern North America extending from Atlantic Ocean in the east to Pacific Ocean in the west and the northward into Arctic Ocean and also the world's second largest country. Its shares its world's longest common border with the United States. ...\\nCape Verde\\nThe Republic of Cape Verde is an ex Portuguese colony, and is a group of islands off the West Coast of Africa. Cape Verde has few natural resources and poor rainfall limits agricultural production. Over 90% of all food consumed in Cape Verde is imported. Cape Verde still has strong ties with Port...\\nCentral African Republic\\nThe Central African Republic is an ex French Colony and a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad, Sudan , the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world and among the ten ...\\nChad\\nThe Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger to the west. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic groups and Arabic & French are the official languages. The country is one of the po...\\nDemocratic Republic of the Congo\\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a former Belgian colony. It is a central African country with a small shoreline on the Atlantic coastline. The country is a member of the Southern African Development Community. The Democratic Republic of the Congo borders Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, A...\\nEgypt\\nEgypt is a country mainly in North Africa. It covers an area of about 1,010,000 km2 and borders the Mediterranean Sea , Gaza Strip , Israel , the Red Sea, Sudan and Libya. Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its populat...\\nEquatorial Guinea\\nThe Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a Spanish speaking country located in Central Africa. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa and comprises two regions: a Continental Region and an Insular Region containing Annobón island, Bioko island where the capital Malabo is situated, and s...\\nEritrea\\nEritrea, is a country in Northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. Eritrea is a single-party state, run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice. Eritrea is a full member state of the African Union. Within the region, Eritr...\\nEthiopia\\nEthiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with a population of over 80 million people. Its capi...\\nGabon\\nGabon is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, and Cameroon to the north, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east & south. It has an estimated population of 1,500,000...\\nGambia\\nGambia is a country in Western Africa and is the smallest country in Africa. The country is less than 48 km wide at its widest point, with a total area of just over 11,000 km² The Gambia has a liberal, market-based economy characterised by traditional ...\\nGhana\\nGhana is a country in West Africa. It borders the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Export commodities include gold, timber, cocoa, diamond, bauxite, and manganese. An oilfield which is reported to contain up to 3 billio...\\nGuinea\\nGuinea is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10 and a half million. Guinea's size is almost 246,000 square kilometres. Richly endowed with minerals, Guinea possesses over 25 billion metric tons of bauxite, ...\\nGuinea-Bissau\\nThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa and one of the smallest nations in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. Its size is nearly 37,000 km² with an estim...\\nIran\\nIran is the 18th largest country in the world. Its area roughly equals that of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, or slightly less than the state of Alaska It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that sep...\\nIraq\\nIraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. It shares its borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the nort...\\nIsrael\\nOfficially, the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest. Even though Israel is a small country, it is home to a vari...\\nJordan\\nOfficially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, Israel to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the east and sout...\\nKenya\\nKenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border. Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic...\\nKuwait\\nThe State of Kuwait, a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, is enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. Kuwait has the world's fifth largest oil reserves and is the third richest country in the world per capita. P...\\nLebanon\\nLebanon is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanese society is very modern and similar to certain cultures of Mediterranean Europe. It is often considered to serve as Europe's...\\nLesotho\\nThe Lesotho Government is a constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili, is head of government and has executive authority. The king serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is prohibited from actively participating in po...\\nLiberia\\nThe history of Liberia is unique among African nations, due to its roots as a colony founded by freed slaves from the United States. These freed slaves formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, formed a government based on that of the United States, naming their capital city after ...\\nMadagascar\\nMadagascar is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Madagascar is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Senate and the Na...\\nMalawi\\nMalawi was first settled during the 10th century and remained under native rule until 1891 when it was colonized by the British, who ruled the country until 1964. Malawi is a democratic, multi-party government, currently under the leadership of President Bingu wa Mutharika. The curre...\\nMali\\nMali is a constitutional democracy governed by the constitution of January 12, 1992, which was amended in 1999. The constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The system of government can be described as \\\"semi-presidenti...\\nMauritania\\nA majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 5...\\nMauritius\\nSince independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been of the order of 5% to 6%. This has been reflected in i...\\nMorocco\\nThe services sector accounts for just over half of GDP and industry, made up of mining, construction and manufacturing, is an additional quarter. The sectors who recorded the highest growth are the tourism, telecoms and textile sectors. Morocco , however, still depends to an inordinate degree on ...\\nMozambique\\nMuch of Mozambique's economy was devastated by almost thirty years of internal warfare during which millions of Mozambicans were displaced and many thousands killed or maimed by armed strife. Mozambique's economy is closely integrated with those of southern and South Africa. As li...\\nNamibia\\nNamibia, previously a colony of Germany, and later occupied by South Africa's apartheid government, following South Africa's withdrawal from Angola, gained full independence in 1990. Namibia is one of Africa's most developed and stable countries. Tourism and diamond mining form th...\\nNiger\\nNiger's economy centres on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, a 2.9% population growth rate, and the drop in world demand for uranium have undercut the economy. The agricultural economy is based largely upo...\\nNigeria\\nNigeria is classified as an emerging market, and is rapidly approaching middle income status, with its abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport sectors and Nigerian stock exchange, which is the second largest in Africa. Nigeria is the 12th l...\\nOman\\nOman is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest. A vast gravel desert plain covers most of central Oman, with mountain ranges along the nort...\\nQatar\\nQatar is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. An oil-rich nation, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world according to the CIA World Factbook. Before the discovery of oil, the economy o...\\nRepublic of Congo\\nThe economy is made up of a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector which is largely based on petroleum, support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the econ...\\nRepublic of Djibouti\\nThe Republic of Djibouti lies in northeast Africa on the Gulf of Aden Djibouti has a 314 km coastline and shares borders with Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia The country is mainly a stony desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands. The economy of Djibouti is mainly based on service activiti...\\nRepublic of South Africa\\nThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The South African coast stretches 2,798 kilometres and borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, while ...\\nRwanda\\nRwanda's economy suffered heavily during the 1994 genocide, with widespread loss of life, failure to maintain the infrastructure, looting and neglect of important cash crops causing a large drop in GDP and destroying the country's ability to attract private and external investment Rwanda ...\\nSao Tome and Principe\\nSince the 1800s, the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe has been based on plantation agriculture The main crop on São Tomé is cocoa, representing about 95% of exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee. Other than agricultu...\\nSaudi Arabia\\nThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. Sau...\\nSeychelles\\nSince independence in 1976, per capita output has expanded to roughly seven times the old near-subsistence level. The tourist sector led to this growth, which provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings and employs about 30% of the labour force, and by tuna fishing. The government decided to...\\nSierra Leone\\nDespite its extensive mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, Sierra Leone is an impoverished country, and has been rated as the world's poorest nation consistently for the past five years. The eight-year civil war and the subsequent hostilities, which have continued since the signing of th...\\nSomalia\\nPastoralism is the dominant mode of life; both nomadic and sedentary herding of cattle, sheep, goats, and camels are carried on. The major cash crops are bananas, mangoes, and sugarcane. Other important crops include sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sesame seeds, and beans. There is a small fishing...\\nSudan\\nSudan is an overwhelmingly agricultural country. Much of the farming is of a subsistence kind; agriculture occupies some 80% of the workforce but contributes only 35% of the GDP. Agricultural production varies from year to year because of intermittent droughts that cause widespread famine. The go...\\nSwaziland\\nSwaziland has excellent farming and ranching land, and 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. Sugarcane is grown on plantations, mainly for export. Other important crops are cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus fruits, pineapples, sorghum, and peanuts. Cattle and goats are ra...\\nSyria\\nSyria is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north. The population is mainly Sunni Muslim, but with significant Alawi, Druze and Christian minorities....\\nTanzania\\nTanzania's economy is very much agriculturely based, which accounts for more than half of GDP, provides approximately 85% of exports, and employs roughly 8 out of 10 people for its workforce. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the...\\nTogo\\nTogo's economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Cotton, coffee, and cocoa together generate about 30% of export earnings. Togo is self-sufficient in basic food goods when harvests are normal, with occasional...\\nTurkey\\nOfficially known as the Republic of Turkey, it is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight other countries. The Turkish Armed Forces ...\\nUganda\\nUganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. The country has large amounts of untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas. Agriculture is Uganda's most important sector for the economy, employi...\\nUnited Arab Emirates\\nThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven states situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. Petroleum and natural gas exports still play an important role in the economy even though the Unit...\\nUnited State of America\\nThe united state of America is commonly known as united state, U.S, USA or America. USA was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain on 4 July 1776. America is the largest nation in the world and has a low unemployment in the world. United state is the industrial power and ...\\nWorld Cup 2010 Hotel Accommodation - South Africa\\nAccommodation in South Africa: Apartments, Hotels, Villas, Guest Houses, Cottages South Africa offers a range of accommodation ranging from 5-star hotels, B&B, Guest house and luxury hotels in its major cities.The cheapest accommodation is in basic backpacker lodges but there are also...\\nYemen\\nThe Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east. The land of Yemen is one of the oldest locations of civil...\",\n \"The Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries ...\\n... The 15 Most Elevated Countries ... There is a special place reserved in respective national consciousnesses for the highest point in a country ... South Africa ...\\nThe Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries on Earth | The Basement Geographer\\nThe Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries on Earth\\nby kuschk\\nThere is a special place reserved in respective national consciousnesses for the highest point in a country. Everest, McKinley, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Fuji, Olympus, Ben Nevis – the towering peaks that can be seen for miles across the countryside and are held up as national symbols. They form the basis for religious myths (and political myths ), challenge climbers to scale their heights , and are used to lure tourists from around the world.Not so renowned are the low points – those spots where a country descends to its lowest elevation. ure, there are some places that grab attention – the Dead Sea, the Caspian Sea, Death Valley – but usually for their extreme salinity or harsh environments rather than simply just for their low elevation. For most countries, their low point is simply sea level ; the coastline where land meets ocean. For the world’s landlocked countries , however, the lowest point is usually a bit above sea level , and for the top 15, it’s a fair bit above. Here now, a list of the 15 highest national low points on Earth.\\n1. Lesotho: 1400 m, Orange and Makhaleng river confluence . It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprised that a country in which 80% of the land lies above 1 800 m is the leader in the highest low point category. Lesotho takes advantage of its rough, mountainous, highly-elevated terrain via a series of hydroelectric generation projects via which it can sell power to the country that surrounds it, South Africa. It also ensures that Lesotho has a surprisingly cool climate for being located in the subtropics.\\n2. Rwanda: 950 m, Ruzizi River. Rwanda’s lowest point occurs at the tripoint between Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the Ruzizi travels en route to Lake Tanganyika in the Great Rift Valley . Rwanda is quite mountainous in the western third of the country , with an abrupt drop down to the Rift. The eastern two-thirds of Rwanda are not nearly as rugged, but the elevation change is gradual. Much like Lesotho, Rwanda’s climate is rather temperate despite its location just south of the Equator. At 1 600 m above sea level, Kigali is one of the highest national capitals on Earth.\\n3. Andorra: 840 m, Gran Valira . The exit point into Spain of Andorra’s longest river ( all 35 km of it ) is the lowest point in the Pyrenean principality, whose terrain is comprised entirely of 65 peaks and the narrow mountain valleys surrounding them.\\nThe Gran Valira is Andorra’s longest river.\\n4. Burundi: 772 m, Lake Tanganyika .With Rwanda at number 2, neighbouring landlocked Burundi was bound not to be far behind. The aforementioned Lake Tanganyika that the Ruzizi River flows into partially lies in Burundi. Straddling the divide between the Nile and Congo watersheds, Burundi is not nearly as mountainous as Rwanda and dominated by a high central plateau .\\n5. Uganda: 621 m, Albert Nile . Three of the top five highest low points come from neighbouring East African countries, as Uganda checks in at number five. Uganda is almost entirely plateau with high mountains on the fringes. The Albert Nile departs north into Southern Sudan; it and its antecedent the Victoria Nile originate from the massive Lake Victoria in the southeast of the country and wind their way through the plateau.\\n6. Mongolia: 518 m, Hoh Nuur. Even in the second-largest landlocked country on the planet, the outermost fringes don’t fall below 500 m in elevation. High, cold, and windy, the country’s capital of Ulaanbaatar has the honour of being the coldest national capital in the world and the only one to have a mean daily temperature below freezing .\\n7. Botswana: 513 m, Limpopo and Shashe river confluence . Being landlocked can even get a flat desert country like Botswana on the list. The desert conditions and flat tableland terrain mean that water resources in Botswana are rather limited . The low point comes at the easternmost part of the country; the Limpopo/Shashe confluence forma a tripoint with Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.\\n8. Liechtenstein: 430 m, Rhine River . The sixth-smallest independent country in the world comes in eighth, aided by the fact that it’s doubly-landlocked (surrounded only by countries that are also landlocked). Being located in the heart of the Alps doesn’t hurt, either.\\n9. Armenia: 400 m, Debed River . Considering how mountainous and severe much of Armenia’s topography is , I’m actually surprised it ranks this low. The low point comes on the northern border with Georgia.\\n10. Central African Republic: 335 m, Ubangi River . There’s quite a drop to the CAR in tenth place; the country is a flat, rolling savanna with just a few mountains in the extreme northwest and northeast. As the Ubangi River is the major body of water in the country, its size ensures its position as the country’s low point (again a tripoint, this time with the two Congos).\\n11. Zambia: 329 m, Zambezi River . Zambia is another African country mostly consisting of high plateau , but with some decent hills in the northeast. The low point on Zambia’s share of the Zambezi comes at a tripoint with Zimbabwe and Mozambique, not far downstream from one of the world’s largest hydroelectric projects, the Kariba Dam .\\n12. Tajikistan: 300 m, Syr Darya . Despite being a mid-ranking country in terms of size, Tajikistan demonstrates an incredible variance in topography, featuring peaks nearly 7 500 m (24 600 feet) in height, and with half of its area above 3 000 m . Thanks to the purposefully awkward boundaries drawn up in Soviet times , however, the northern panhandle reaches into the Fergana Valley and grabs a chunk of the Syr Darya away from Uzbekstan, giving Tajikistan a low-lying valley to go with its lofty eastern peaks.\\n13. Afghanistan: 258 m, Amu Darya . The southern border of Tajikistan is formed by the Amu Darya, and Afghanistan lies on the other side. The river continues westward to form Afghanistan’s border with Uzbekistan, and part of its border with Turkmenistan. Both the Amu Darya and Syr Darya have been polluted and depleted so dramatically in the name of irrigation for cotton production that they dry up before reaching the Aral Sea, resulting in the near-disappearance of what was one the fourth-largest lake in the world.\\nT14. Niger: 200 m, Niger River . Another African tripoint, this time with Nigeria and Benin.The Niger River actually spends very little of its 4 180 km length in the country named for the river.Niger is a member of the nine-country Niger Basin Authority which coordinates management of the massive river.\\nT14. Burkina Faso: 200m. Black Volta . Just to the west of Niger lies the other country tied for 14th. Burkina Faso’s low point has nothing to do with the Niger River, though; rather, it comes along the Black Volta where it flows into Ghana via Cote d’Ivoire. Burkina Faso is rather flat; the high point in the north near Mali is only 749 m.\\nFurther Reading\\nEls, A.J.E. and K.M. Rowntree (2001). Water Resources in the Savanna Region of Botswana. Savannas.net. Available at http://www.savannas.net/botswana/ruhydro.htm . Accessed 7 February 2011.\\nLesotho Highlands Development Authority (2009). Overview of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). 9 July 2003. Available at http://www.lhwp.org.ls/overview/default.htm . Accessed 6 February 2011.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124617,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"Which tree has the Latin name Ilex?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"HOLLY"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Holly.txt\nHolly\nIlex, or holly, is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen or deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones worldwide.\n\nDescription\n\nThe genus Ilex is widespread throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world. It includes species of trees, shrubs, and climbers, with evergreen or deciduous foliage and inconspicuous flowers. Its range was more extended in the Tertiary period and many species are adapted to laurel forest habitat. It occurs from sea level to more than 2000 m with high mountain species. It is a genus of small, evergreen trees with smooth, glabrous, or pubescent branchlets. The plants are generally slow-growing with some species growing to 25 m tall. The type species is the European holly Ilex aquifolium described by Linnaeus.\n\nPlants in this genus have simple, alternate glossy leaves, frequently with a spiny leaf margin. The inconspicuous flower is greenish white, with four petals. They are generally dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants.\n\nThe small fruits of Ilex, although often referred to as berries, are technically drupes. They range in color from red to brown to black, and rarely green or yellow. The \"bones\" contain up to ten seeds each. Some species produce fruits parthenogenetically, such as the cultivar 'Nellie R. Stevens'. The fruits ripen in winter and thus provide winter colour contrast between the bright red of the fruits and the glossy green evergreen leaves. Hence the cut branches, especially of I. aquifolium, are widely used in Christmas decoration. The fruits are generally slightly toxic to humans, and can cause vomiting and diarrhea when ingested. However, they are an important food source for birds and other animals, which help disperse the seeds. Unfortunately this can have negative impacts as well. Along the west coast of North America, from California to British Columbia, English Holly (Ilex aquifolium) -which is grown commercially- is quickly spreading into native forest habitat, where it thrives in shade and crowds out native species. It has been placed on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's monitor list, and is a Class C invasive plant in Portland. \n\nEtymology\n\nIlex in Latin means the holm-oak or evergreen oak (Quercus ilex). Despite the Linnaean classification of Ilex as holly, as late as the 19th century in Britain, the term Ilex was still being applied to the oak as well as the holly – possibly due to the superficial similarity of the leaves. \n\n The name \"holly\" in common speech refers to Ilex aquifolium, specifically stems with berries used in Christmas decoration. By extension, \"holly\" is also applied to the whole genus. The origin of the word \"holly\" is considered a reduced form of Old English ',Middle English Holin, later Hollen.\n\n Middle English Holin, later Hollen. \n\nThe French word for holly, ', derives from the Old Low Franconian *hulis (Middle Dutch huls). Both are related to Old High German ', huls,\n\n as are Low German/Low Franconian terms like ' or '. These Germanic words appear to be related to words for holly in Celtic languages, such as Welsh ', Breton ' and Irish '.\n\nSeveral romance languages use the Latin word acrifolium (turned into aquifolium in modern time), so Italian ', Occitan ', etc.\n\nHistory\n\nThe phylogeography of this group provides examples of various speciation mechanisms at work. In this scenario ancestors of this group became isolated from the remaining Ilex when the Earth mass broke away into Gondwana and Laurasia about 82 million years ago, resulting in a physical separation of the groups and beginning a process of change to adapt to new conditions. This mechanism is called allopatric speciation. Over time survivor species of the holly genus adapted to different ecological niches. This led to reproductive isolation, an example of ecological speciation. In the Pliocene, around five million years ago, mountain formation diversified the landscape and provided new opportunities for speciation within the genus.\n\nThe fossil record indicates that the Ilex lineage was already widespread prior to the end of the Cretaceous period. Based on the molecular clock the common ancestor of most of the extant species probably appeared during the Eocene, about 50 million years ago, suggesting that older representatives of the genus belong to now extinct branches. The laurel forest covered great areas of the Earth during the Paleogene, when the genus was more prosperous. This type of forest extended during the Neogene, more than 20 million years ago. Most of the last remaining temperate evergreen forests are believed to have disappeared about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene. Many of the then existing species with the strictest ecological requirements became extinct because they could not cross the barriers imposed by the geography, but others found refuge as a species relict in coastal enclaves, archipelagos, and coastal mountains sufficiently far from the extreme cold and aridity and protected by the oceanic influence.\n\nThe genus includes about 400 to 600 species, divided into three subgenera:\n* Ilex subg. Byronia, with the type species Ilex polypyrena\n* Ilex subg. Prinos, with 12 species\n* Ilex subg. Ilex, with the rest of the over 400 species\n\nRange\n\nThe genus is distributed throughout the world's different climates. Most species make their home in the tropics and subtropics, with a worldwide distribution in temperate zones. The greatest diversity of species is found in the Americas and in Southeast Asia.\n\nIlex mucronata, formerly the type species of Nemopanthus, is native to eastern North America.[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?429925 Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ilex mucronata] Nemopanthus was treated as a separate genus with eight species. of the family Aquifoliaceae, now transferred to Ilex on molecular data;Powell, M., Savolainen, V., Cuénod, P., Manen, J. F., & Andrews, S. (2000). The mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus: Aquifoliaceae) revisited with molecular data. Kew Bulletin 55: 341–347. it is closely related to Ilex amelanchier.\n\nIn Europe the genus is represented by a single species, the classically named holly Ilex aquifolium, and in continental Africa by this species and (Ilex mitis). Ilex canariensis, from Macaronesia, and Ilex aquifolium arose from a common ancestor in the laurel forests of the Mediterranean. Australia, isolated at an early period, has (Ilex arnhemensis). Of 204 species growing in China, 149 species are endemic. A species which stands out for its economic importance in Spanish-speaking countries is Ilex paraguariensis or Yerba mate. Having evolved numerous species that are endemic to islands and small mountain ranges, and being highly useful plants, many hollies are now becoming rare.\n\nEcology\n\nOften the tropical species are especially threatened by habitat destruction and overexploitation. At least two species of Ilex have become extinct recently, and many others are barely surviving.International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) (2007): 2007IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:Ilex]\n\nThey are extremely important food for numerous species of birds, and also are eaten by other wild animals. In the autumn and early winter the fruits are hard and apparently unpalatable. After being frozen or frosted several times, the fruits soften, and become milder in taste. During winter storms, birds often take refuge in hollies, which provide shelter, protection from predators (by the spiny leaves), and food. The flowers are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Double-striped Pug moth (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata). Other Lepidoptera whose larvae feed on holly include Bucculatrix ilecella, which feeds exclusively on hollies, and The Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia).\n\nToxicity\n\nHolly can contain caffeic acid, caffeoyl derivatives, caffeoylshikimic acid, chlorogenic acid, feruloylquinic acid, quercetin, quinic acid, kaempferol, tannins, rutin, caffeine, and theobromine. \n\nHolly berries can cause vomiting and diarrhea. They are especially dangerous in cases involving accidental consumption by children attracted to the bright red berries. Ingestion of over 20 berries may be fatal to children.\n\nHolly leaves if eaten might cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and stomach and intestinal problems.\n\nHolly plants might be toxic to pets and livestock. \n\nLeaves of some holly species are (or were) used by some cultures to make daily tea. These species are Yerba mate (I. paraguariensis), Ilex guayusa, Kuding (Ilex kaushue), Yaupon (I. vomitoria) and others. Leaves of other species, such as gallberry (I. glabra) are bitter and emetic. In general little is known about inter-species variation in constituents or toxicity of hollies.\n\nOrnamental use\n\nMany of the holly species are widely used as ornamental plants in temperate/European gardens and parks, notably:\n* I. aquifolium (common European holly)\n* I. crenata (box-leaved holly)\n* I. verticillata (winterberry)\nMoreover, many hundreds of hybrids and cultivars have been developed for garden use, among them the very popular \"Highclere holly\", Ilex × altaclerensis (I. aquifolium × I. perado) and the \"blue holly\", Ilex × meserveae (I. aquifolium × I. rugosa).Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5. Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping. \n\nCulture\n\nHolly – more specifically the European holly, Ilex aquifolium – is commonly referenced at Christmas time, and is often referred to by the name Christ's thorn. In many Western Christian cultures, holly is a traditional Christmas decoration, used especially in wreaths and illustrations, for instance on Christmas cards. Since medieval times the plant has carried a Christian symbolism, as expressed in the well-known Christian Christmas carol \"The Holly and the Ivy\", in which the holly represents Jesus and the ivy represents the Virgin Mary. Angie Mostellar discusses the Christian use of holly at Christmas, stating that:\n\nIn heraldry, holly is used to symbolize truth. The Norwegian municipality of Stord has a yellow twig of holly in its Coat-of-arms.\n\nThe Druids held that \"leaves of holly offered protection against evil spirits\" and thus \"wore holly in their hair\".\n\nIn the Harry Potter novels, holly is used as the wood in Harry's wand.\n\nSelected species\n\n* Ilex abscondita\n* Ilex aculeolata\n* Ilex acutidenticulata\n* Ilex affinis\n* Ilex aggregata\n* Ilex × altaclarensis\n* Ilex altiplana\n* Ilex amazonensis –\n* Ilex ambigua – Sand Holly\n* Ilex amboroica\n* Ilex amelanchier\n* Ilex amygdalina\n* Ilex andicola\n* Ilex angulata\n* Ilex anodonta\n* Ilex anomala Hook. & Arn. – Kāwau (Hawaii) \n* Ilex anonoides\n* Ilex apicidens\n* Ilex aquifolium – European Holly, English Holly, Christ's Thorn\n* Ilex aracamuniana\n* Ilex archeri\n* Ilex ardisiifrons\n* Ilex argentina\n* Ilex arimensis\n* Ilex arisanensis\n* Ilex asprella\n* Ilex atabapoensis\n* Ilex atrata\n* Ilex auriculata\n* Ilex austrosinensis\n* Ilex belizensis\n* Ilex berteroi\n* Ilex bidens\n* Ilex bioritsensis\n* Ilex blanchetii\n* Ilex boliviana\n* Ilex brachyphylla\n* Ilex brandegeeana\n* Ilex brasiliensis\n* Ilex brevicuspis\n* Ilex brevipedicellata\n* Ilex buergeri\n* Ilex buxoides\n* Ilex casiquiarensis\n* Ilex cassine – Dahoon Holly, Cassena\n* Ilex cauliflora\n* Ilex centrochinensis\n* Ilex chamaebuxus\n* Ilex chamaedryfolia\n* Ilex championii\n* Ilex chapaensis\n* Ilex chartaceifolia\n* Ilex chengbuensis\n* Ilex chengkouensis\n* Ilex cheniana\n* Ilex chinensis\n* Ilex chingiana\n* Ilex chiriquensis\n* Ilex chuniana\n* Ilex ciliolata\n* Ilex ciliospinosa\n* Ilex cinerea\n* Ilex clementis\n* Ilex cochinchinensis\n* Ilex colchica\n* Ilex colombiana\n* Ilex condensata\n* Ilex confertiflora\n* Ilex corallina\n* Ilex coriacea – Gallberry\n* Ilex cornuta – Chinese Holly, Horned Holly\n* Ilex costaricensis\n* Ilex cowanii\n* Ilex crenata – Japanese Holly, Box-leaved Holly, inutsuge (Japanese)\n* Ilex cubana\n* Ilex culmenicola\n* Ilex cupreonitens\n* Ilex curtissii\n* Ilex cuzcoana\n* Ilex cyrtura\n* Ilex dabieshanensis\n* Ilex danielis\n* Ilex daphnogenea\n* Ilex dasyclada\n* Ilex dasyphylla\n* Ilex davidsei\n* Ilex decidua Walter – Possumhaw (Eastern United States, Northeastern Mexico)\n* Ilex dehongensis\n* Ilex delavayi\n* Ilex denticulata\n* Ilex dianguiensis\n* Ilex dicarpa\n* Ilex dioica\n* Ilex diospyroides\n* Ilex dipyrena – Himalayan Holly\n* Ilex dicolor\n* Ilex diuretica\n* Ilex divaricata\n* Ilex dolichopoda\n* Ilex dubia\n* Ilex dugesii\n* Ilex duidae\n* Ilex dumosa\n* Ilex dunniana\n* Ilex editicostata\n* Ilex elliptica\n* Ilex elmerrilliana\n* Ilex embelioides\n* Ilex ericoides\n* Ilex eoa\n* Ilex ericoides\n* Ilex estriata\n* Ilex euryoides\n* Ilex excelsa\n* Ilex fargesii\n* Ilex fengqingensis\n* Ilex ficifolia\n* Ilex ficoidea\n* Ilex formosana\n* Ilex forrestii\n* Ilex fragilis\n* Ilex franchetiana\n* Ilex fukeinensis\n* Ilex gabinetensis\n* Ilex gabrielleana\n* Ilex gardneriana (extinct: 20th century?)\n* Ilex georgei\n* Ilex gintungensis\n* Ilex glabella\n* Ilex glabra L. A.Gray – Evergreen Winterberry, Bitter Gallberry, Inkberry (Eastern North America)\n* Ilex glaucophylla\n* Ilex gleasoniana\n* Ilex glomerata\n* Ilex godajam\n* Ilex goshiensis\n* Ilex graciliflora\n* Ilex gracilis\n* Ilex gransabanensis\n* Ilex guaiquinimae\n* Ilex guangnanensis\n* Ilex guayusa – Guayusa\n* Ilex guianensis\n* Ilex guizhouensis\n* Ilex gundlachiana\n* Ilex haberi\n* Ilex hainanensis\n* Ilex hanceana\n* Ilex hayatana\n* Ilex hippocrateoides\n* Ilex hirsuta\n* Ilex holstii\n* Ilex hookeri\n* Ilex huachamacariana\n* Ilex hualhayoca\n* Ilex huana\n* Ilex hylonoma\n* Ilex hypaneura\n* Ilex hyreana\n* Ilex ignicola\n* Ilex illustris\n* Ilex integerrima\n* Ilex integra – Mochi Tree, Nepal Holly\n* Ilex intricata\n* Ilex jamaicana Proctor (Jamaica)\n* Ilex jauaensis\n* Ilex jelskii\n* Ilex karuaiana\n* Ilex khasiana\n* Ilex kingiana\n* Ilex kudingcha\n* Ilex kusanoi\n* Ilex laevigata – Smooth Winterberry\n* Ilex lasseri\n* Ilex latifolia – Tarajo Holly, tarayō (Japanese)\n* Ilex lechleri\n* Ilex leucoclada\n* Ilex longipes\n* Ilex longzhouensis\n* Ilex machilifolia\n* Ilex maclurei\n* Ilex macoucoua\n* Ilex macrocarpa\n* Ilex macropoda\n* Ilex magnifructa\n* Ilex maingayi\n* Ilex marahuacae\n* Ilex marginata\n* Ilex margratesavage\n* Ilex mathewsii\n* Ilex × meserveae\n* Ilex microdonta\n* Ilex mitis\n* Ilex montana Torrey & A.Gray – Mountain Winterberry (Eastern United States)\n* Ilex mucronata (L.) M.Powell, Savol., & S.Andrews – Mountain Holly, Catberry (Eastern North America)\n* Ilex myrtifolia – Myrtle Holly, Myrtle Dahoon\n* Ilex neblinensis\n* Ilex nothofagifolia\n* Ilex oblonga\n* Ilex occulta\n* Ilex opaca – American Holly (Eastern United States)\n* Ilex ovalifolia\n* Ilex palawanica\n* Ilex pallida\n* Ilex paraguariensis – Yerba mate (mate, erva-mate)\n* Ilex parvifructa\n* Ilex patens\n* Ilex pauciflora\n* Ilex paujiensis\n* Ilex pedunculosa – Longstalked holly\n* Ilex peiradena\n* Ilex perado – Madeiran Holly\n* Ilex perlata\n* Ilex pernyi – Perny's Holly\n* Ilex polita\n* Ilex praetermissa\n* Ilex pringlei\n* Ilex pseudobuxus\n* Ilex puberula\n* Ilex pubescens\n* Ilex pubiflora\n* Ilex purpurea\n* Ilex qianlingshanensis\n* Ilex quercetorum\n* Ilex quercifolia\n* Ilex rarasanensis\n* Ilex reticulata\n* Ilex rotunda\n* Ilex rugosa\n* Ilex sclerophylla\n* Ilex serrata – Japanese Winterberry\n* Ilex sessilifructa\n* Ilex shimeica\n* Ilex sikkimensis\n* Ilex sintenisii (Urban) Britt. – Sintenis' Holly (Puerto Rico)\n* Ilex sipapoana\n* Ilex socorroensis\n* Ilex spinigera\n* Ilex spruceana\n* Ilex steyermarkii\n* Ilex subrotundifolia\n* Ilex subtriflora\n* Ilex sugerokii\n* Ilex sulcata\n* Ilex syzygiophylla\n* Ilex tahanensis\n* Ilex tarapotina\n* Ilex tateana\n* Ilex taubertiana\n* Ilex ternatiflora (extinct: 20th century?)\n* Ilex theezans\n* Ilex tiricae\n* Ilex tolucana\n* Ilex trachyphylla\n* Ilex trichocarpa\n* Ilex tugitakayamensis\n* Ilex uraiensis\n* Ilex urbaniana – Urban's holly\n* Ilex vaccinoides\n* Ilex venezuelensis\n* Ilex venulosa\n* Ilex verticillata (L.) A.Gray American Winterberry (Eastern North America)\n* Ilex vomitoria – Yaupon Holly, casseena (Spanish)\n* Ilex vulcanicola\n* Ilex walkeri\n* Ilex wenchowensis\n* Ilex williamsii\n* Ilex wilsonii\n* Ilex yunnanensis\n* Ilex wugonshanensis\n* Ilex yuiana \n\nGallery\n\nImage:Starr_020925-0058_Ilex_anomala.jpg|Ilex anomala\nImage:Contorted Hedgehog Holly.JPG|A contorted hedgehog holly Ilex aquifolium 'Ferox'\nImage:Ilex chinensis1.jpg|Ilex chinensis\nImage:Ilex pedunculosa5.jpg|Ilex pedunculosa\nImage:Ilex rotunda5.jpg|Ilex rotunda\n\nImage:Yunnan Holly Ilex yunnanensis Sprig 3008px.jpg|Ilex yunnanensis\nImage:Beautifulflowers6.jpg|Ilex × meserveae\nImage:Ilex-pernyi-leaves.JPG|Ilex pernyi from west China.","Quercus_ilex.txt\nQuercus ilex\nQuercus ilex, the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It takes its name from holm, an ancient name for holly. It is a member of the white oak section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. It was first introduced to the United Kingdom in the 16th century. The first trees to be planted from acorns into England are still to be found growing within the stately grounds of Mamhead Park, Devon. They are uncommonly fine examples; several of these trees are 10 ft in circumference at 3 ft from the ground, and one of them measures in circumference. One specimen in Milo, in Sicily, is reputed to be 700 years old while a small population on the slopes of northern village of Wardija in Malta are said to be between 500 and 1,000 years old. Prior to the Carthaginian period was prevalent on the islands. \n\nDescription\n\nQuercus ilex is a medium-sized tree 5 - tall with finely square-fissured blackish bark and leathery evergreen leaves. The old leaves fall 1–2 years after new leaves emerge. The leaves are dark green above and pale whitish-grey with dense short hairs below. The leaf shape is variable (depending on age and growing conditions), the adult leaves are entire, 4 - long and 1 – broad, while those on the lower branches of young trees are often larger (to 10 cm long), and are toothed or somewhat spiny – possibly as protection from grazing animals. In this, the foliage resembles that of the common European holly Ilex aquifolium, and this resemblance has led to its common and botanic names. The name ' is originally the classical Latin name for the holm oak, but was later also used as a botanical genus name for the hollies. The flowers are catkins, produced in the spring; the fruit is an acorn, which matures in about six months.\n\nSubspecies\n\nThere are two subspecies:\n*Quercus ilex subsp. ilex. Native in the north and east of the species' range, from northern Iberia and France east to Greece. Leaves narrow; acorns 2 cm long, bitter tasting.\n*Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia (syn. Q. rotundifolia, Q. ballota). Native in the southwest of the species' range, in central and southern Iberia (Portugal and Spain) and northwest Africa. Leaves broader; acorns long, sweet tasting.\n\nEcology\n\nHolm oak grows in pure stands or mixed forest in the Mediterranean and often at low or moderate elevations, such as coastal California (the Spanish name for the holm oak, encina, is the origin of the name of many California localities). One of the plant associations in which holm oak is found is the holm oak/Atlas cedar forests of the Atlas Mountains. In Morocco, some of these mixed forests are habitat to the endangered primate, Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus. \n\nHolm oak is prevalent from Portugal to Italy across the north Mediterranean strip. And from Morocco to Tunisia across the South Mediterranean strip.\n\nHolm oak is damaging biodiversity in the United Kingdom, and is listed as an alien invader. Normally the tree is unable to withstand severe frost, which would prevent it from spreading north, but with climate change, it has successfully penetrated these areas. \n\nCultivation and uses\n\nThe wood is hard and tough, and has been used since ancient times for general construction purposes as pillars, tools, wagons (Hesiod, Works and Days 429), vessels, and wine casks. It is also used as firewood, or in charcoal manufacture.\n\nThe holm oak is one of the top three trees used in the establishment of truffle orchards, or truffières. Truffles grow in an ectomycorrhizal association with the tree's roots.\n\nThe acorns, like those of the cork oak, are edible (toasted or as a flour), and are an important food for free-range pigs reared for ibérico ham production. Boiled in water, the acorns can also be used as a medicinal treatment for injury dis-infections.\n\nIt can be clipped to form a tall hedge, and it is suitable for coastal windbreaks, in any well drained soil. It forms a picturesque rounded head, with pendulous low-hanging branches. Its size and solid evergreen character gives it an imposing architectural presence that makes it valuable in many urban and garden settings. While holm oak can be grown in much of maritime northwestern Europe, it is not tolerant of cold continental winters."],"string":"[\n \"Holly.txt\\nHolly\\nIlex, or holly, is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen or deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones worldwide.\\n\\nDescription\\n\\nThe genus Ilex is widespread throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world. It includes species of trees, shrubs, and climbers, with evergreen or deciduous foliage and inconspicuous flowers. Its range was more extended in the Tertiary period and many species are adapted to laurel forest habitat. It occurs from sea level to more than 2000 m with high mountain species. It is a genus of small, evergreen trees with smooth, glabrous, or pubescent branchlets. The plants are generally slow-growing with some species growing to 25 m tall. The type species is the European holly Ilex aquifolium described by Linnaeus.\\n\\nPlants in this genus have simple, alternate glossy leaves, frequently with a spiny leaf margin. The inconspicuous flower is greenish white, with four petals. They are generally dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants.\\n\\nThe small fruits of Ilex, although often referred to as berries, are technically drupes. They range in color from red to brown to black, and rarely green or yellow. The \\\"bones\\\" contain up to ten seeds each. Some species produce fruits parthenogenetically, such as the cultivar 'Nellie R. Stevens'. The fruits ripen in winter and thus provide winter colour contrast between the bright red of the fruits and the glossy green evergreen leaves. Hence the cut branches, especially of I. aquifolium, are widely used in Christmas decoration. The fruits are generally slightly toxic to humans, and can cause vomiting and diarrhea when ingested. However, they are an important food source for birds and other animals, which help disperse the seeds. Unfortunately this can have negative impacts as well. Along the west coast of North America, from California to British Columbia, English Holly (Ilex aquifolium) -which is grown commercially- is quickly spreading into native forest habitat, where it thrives in shade and crowds out native species. It has been placed on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's monitor list, and is a Class C invasive plant in Portland. \\n\\nEtymology\\n\\nIlex in Latin means the holm-oak or evergreen oak (Quercus ilex). Despite the Linnaean classification of Ilex as holly, as late as the 19th century in Britain, the term Ilex was still being applied to the oak as well as the holly – possibly due to the superficial similarity of the leaves. \\n\\n The name \\\"holly\\\" in common speech refers to Ilex aquifolium, specifically stems with berries used in Christmas decoration. By extension, \\\"holly\\\" is also applied to the whole genus. The origin of the word \\\"holly\\\" is considered a reduced form of Old English ',Middle English Holin, later Hollen.\\n\\n Middle English Holin, later Hollen. \\n\\nThe French word for holly, ', derives from the Old Low Franconian *hulis (Middle Dutch huls). Both are related to Old High German ', huls,\\n\\n as are Low German/Low Franconian terms like ' or '. These Germanic words appear to be related to words for holly in Celtic languages, such as Welsh ', Breton ' and Irish '.\\n\\nSeveral romance languages use the Latin word acrifolium (turned into aquifolium in modern time), so Italian ', Occitan ', etc.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nThe phylogeography of this group provides examples of various speciation mechanisms at work. In this scenario ancestors of this group became isolated from the remaining Ilex when the Earth mass broke away into Gondwana and Laurasia about 82 million years ago, resulting in a physical separation of the groups and beginning a process of change to adapt to new conditions. This mechanism is called allopatric speciation. Over time survivor species of the holly genus adapted to different ecological niches. This led to reproductive isolation, an example of ecological speciation. In the Pliocene, around five million years ago, mountain formation diversified the landscape and provided new opportunities for speciation within the genus.\\n\\nThe fossil record indicates that the Ilex lineage was already widespread prior to the end of the Cretaceous period. Based on the molecular clock the common ancestor of most of the extant species probably appeared during the Eocene, about 50 million years ago, suggesting that older representatives of the genus belong to now extinct branches. The laurel forest covered great areas of the Earth during the Paleogene, when the genus was more prosperous. This type of forest extended during the Neogene, more than 20 million years ago. Most of the last remaining temperate evergreen forests are believed to have disappeared about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene. Many of the then existing species with the strictest ecological requirements became extinct because they could not cross the barriers imposed by the geography, but others found refuge as a species relict in coastal enclaves, archipelagos, and coastal mountains sufficiently far from the extreme cold and aridity and protected by the oceanic influence.\\n\\nThe genus includes about 400 to 600 species, divided into three subgenera:\\n* Ilex subg. Byronia, with the type species Ilex polypyrena\\n* Ilex subg. Prinos, with 12 species\\n* Ilex subg. Ilex, with the rest of the over 400 species\\n\\nRange\\n\\nThe genus is distributed throughout the world's different climates. Most species make their home in the tropics and subtropics, with a worldwide distribution in temperate zones. The greatest diversity of species is found in the Americas and in Southeast Asia.\\n\\nIlex mucronata, formerly the type species of Nemopanthus, is native to eastern North America.[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?429925 Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ilex mucronata] Nemopanthus was treated as a separate genus with eight species. of the family Aquifoliaceae, now transferred to Ilex on molecular data;Powell, M., Savolainen, V., Cuénod, P., Manen, J. F., & Andrews, S. (2000). The mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus: Aquifoliaceae) revisited with molecular data. Kew Bulletin 55: 341–347. it is closely related to Ilex amelanchier.\\n\\nIn Europe the genus is represented by a single species, the classically named holly Ilex aquifolium, and in continental Africa by this species and (Ilex mitis). Ilex canariensis, from Macaronesia, and Ilex aquifolium arose from a common ancestor in the laurel forests of the Mediterranean. Australia, isolated at an early period, has (Ilex arnhemensis). Of 204 species growing in China, 149 species are endemic. A species which stands out for its economic importance in Spanish-speaking countries is Ilex paraguariensis or Yerba mate. Having evolved numerous species that are endemic to islands and small mountain ranges, and being highly useful plants, many hollies are now becoming rare.\\n\\nEcology\\n\\nOften the tropical species are especially threatened by habitat destruction and overexploitation. At least two species of Ilex have become extinct recently, and many others are barely surviving.International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) (2007): 2007IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:Ilex]\\n\\nThey are extremely important food for numerous species of birds, and also are eaten by other wild animals. In the autumn and early winter the fruits are hard and apparently unpalatable. After being frozen or frosted several times, the fruits soften, and become milder in taste. During winter storms, birds often take refuge in hollies, which provide shelter, protection from predators (by the spiny leaves), and food. The flowers are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Double-striped Pug moth (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata). Other Lepidoptera whose larvae feed on holly include Bucculatrix ilecella, which feeds exclusively on hollies, and The Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia).\\n\\nToxicity\\n\\nHolly can contain caffeic acid, caffeoyl derivatives, caffeoylshikimic acid, chlorogenic acid, feruloylquinic acid, quercetin, quinic acid, kaempferol, tannins, rutin, caffeine, and theobromine. \\n\\nHolly berries can cause vomiting and diarrhea. They are especially dangerous in cases involving accidental consumption by children attracted to the bright red berries. Ingestion of over 20 berries may be fatal to children.\\n\\nHolly leaves if eaten might cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and stomach and intestinal problems.\\n\\nHolly plants might be toxic to pets and livestock. \\n\\nLeaves of some holly species are (or were) used by some cultures to make daily tea. These species are Yerba mate (I. paraguariensis), Ilex guayusa, Kuding (Ilex kaushue), Yaupon (I. vomitoria) and others. Leaves of other species, such as gallberry (I. glabra) are bitter and emetic. In general little is known about inter-species variation in constituents or toxicity of hollies.\\n\\nOrnamental use\\n\\nMany of the holly species are widely used as ornamental plants in temperate/European gardens and parks, notably:\\n* I. aquifolium (common European holly)\\n* I. crenata (box-leaved holly)\\n* I. verticillata (winterberry)\\nMoreover, many hundreds of hybrids and cultivars have been developed for garden use, among them the very popular \\\"Highclere holly\\\", Ilex × altaclerensis (I. aquifolium × I. perado) and the \\\"blue holly\\\", Ilex × meserveae (I. aquifolium × I. rugosa).Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5. Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping. \\n\\nCulture\\n\\nHolly – more specifically the European holly, Ilex aquifolium – is commonly referenced at Christmas time, and is often referred to by the name Christ's thorn. In many Western Christian cultures, holly is a traditional Christmas decoration, used especially in wreaths and illustrations, for instance on Christmas cards. Since medieval times the plant has carried a Christian symbolism, as expressed in the well-known Christian Christmas carol \\\"The Holly and the Ivy\\\", in which the holly represents Jesus and the ivy represents the Virgin Mary. Angie Mostellar discusses the Christian use of holly at Christmas, stating that:\\n\\nIn heraldry, holly is used to symbolize truth. The Norwegian municipality of Stord has a yellow twig of holly in its Coat-of-arms.\\n\\nThe Druids held that \\\"leaves of holly offered protection against evil spirits\\\" and thus \\\"wore holly in their hair\\\".\\n\\nIn the Harry Potter novels, holly is used as the wood in Harry's wand.\\n\\nSelected species\\n\\n* Ilex abscondita\\n* Ilex aculeolata\\n* Ilex acutidenticulata\\n* Ilex affinis\\n* Ilex aggregata\\n* Ilex × altaclarensis\\n* Ilex altiplana\\n* Ilex amazonensis –\\n* Ilex ambigua – Sand Holly\\n* Ilex amboroica\\n* Ilex amelanchier\\n* Ilex amygdalina\\n* Ilex andicola\\n* Ilex angulata\\n* Ilex anodonta\\n* Ilex anomala Hook. & Arn. – Kāwau (Hawaii) \\n* Ilex anonoides\\n* Ilex apicidens\\n* Ilex aquifolium – European Holly, English Holly, Christ's Thorn\\n* Ilex aracamuniana\\n* Ilex archeri\\n* Ilex ardisiifrons\\n* Ilex argentina\\n* Ilex arimensis\\n* Ilex arisanensis\\n* Ilex asprella\\n* Ilex atabapoensis\\n* Ilex atrata\\n* Ilex auriculata\\n* Ilex austrosinensis\\n* Ilex belizensis\\n* Ilex berteroi\\n* Ilex bidens\\n* Ilex bioritsensis\\n* Ilex blanchetii\\n* Ilex boliviana\\n* Ilex brachyphylla\\n* Ilex brandegeeana\\n* Ilex brasiliensis\\n* Ilex brevicuspis\\n* Ilex brevipedicellata\\n* Ilex buergeri\\n* Ilex buxoides\\n* Ilex casiquiarensis\\n* Ilex cassine – Dahoon Holly, Cassena\\n* Ilex cauliflora\\n* Ilex centrochinensis\\n* Ilex chamaebuxus\\n* Ilex chamaedryfolia\\n* Ilex championii\\n* Ilex chapaensis\\n* Ilex chartaceifolia\\n* Ilex chengbuensis\\n* Ilex chengkouensis\\n* Ilex cheniana\\n* Ilex chinensis\\n* Ilex chingiana\\n* Ilex chiriquensis\\n* Ilex chuniana\\n* Ilex ciliolata\\n* Ilex ciliospinosa\\n* Ilex cinerea\\n* Ilex clementis\\n* Ilex cochinchinensis\\n* Ilex colchica\\n* Ilex colombiana\\n* Ilex condensata\\n* Ilex confertiflora\\n* Ilex corallina\\n* Ilex coriacea – Gallberry\\n* Ilex cornuta – Chinese Holly, Horned Holly\\n* Ilex costaricensis\\n* Ilex cowanii\\n* Ilex crenata – Japanese Holly, Box-leaved Holly, inutsuge (Japanese)\\n* Ilex cubana\\n* Ilex culmenicola\\n* Ilex cupreonitens\\n* Ilex curtissii\\n* Ilex cuzcoana\\n* Ilex cyrtura\\n* Ilex dabieshanensis\\n* Ilex danielis\\n* Ilex daphnogenea\\n* Ilex dasyclada\\n* Ilex dasyphylla\\n* Ilex davidsei\\n* Ilex decidua Walter – Possumhaw (Eastern United States, Northeastern Mexico)\\n* Ilex dehongensis\\n* Ilex delavayi\\n* Ilex denticulata\\n* Ilex dianguiensis\\n* Ilex dicarpa\\n* Ilex dioica\\n* Ilex diospyroides\\n* Ilex dipyrena – Himalayan Holly\\n* Ilex dicolor\\n* Ilex diuretica\\n* Ilex divaricata\\n* Ilex dolichopoda\\n* Ilex dubia\\n* Ilex dugesii\\n* Ilex duidae\\n* Ilex dumosa\\n* Ilex dunniana\\n* Ilex editicostata\\n* Ilex elliptica\\n* Ilex elmerrilliana\\n* Ilex embelioides\\n* Ilex ericoides\\n* Ilex eoa\\n* Ilex ericoides\\n* Ilex estriata\\n* Ilex euryoides\\n* Ilex excelsa\\n* Ilex fargesii\\n* Ilex fengqingensis\\n* Ilex ficifolia\\n* Ilex ficoidea\\n* Ilex formosana\\n* Ilex forrestii\\n* Ilex fragilis\\n* Ilex franchetiana\\n* Ilex fukeinensis\\n* Ilex gabinetensis\\n* Ilex gabrielleana\\n* Ilex gardneriana (extinct: 20th century?)\\n* Ilex georgei\\n* Ilex gintungensis\\n* Ilex glabella\\n* Ilex glabra L. A.Gray – Evergreen Winterberry, Bitter Gallberry, Inkberry (Eastern North America)\\n* Ilex glaucophylla\\n* Ilex gleasoniana\\n* Ilex glomerata\\n* Ilex godajam\\n* Ilex goshiensis\\n* Ilex graciliflora\\n* Ilex gracilis\\n* Ilex gransabanensis\\n* Ilex guaiquinimae\\n* Ilex guangnanensis\\n* Ilex guayusa – Guayusa\\n* Ilex guianensis\\n* Ilex guizhouensis\\n* Ilex gundlachiana\\n* Ilex haberi\\n* Ilex hainanensis\\n* Ilex hanceana\\n* Ilex hayatana\\n* Ilex hippocrateoides\\n* Ilex hirsuta\\n* Ilex holstii\\n* Ilex hookeri\\n* Ilex huachamacariana\\n* Ilex hualhayoca\\n* Ilex huana\\n* Ilex hylonoma\\n* Ilex hypaneura\\n* Ilex hyreana\\n* Ilex ignicola\\n* Ilex illustris\\n* Ilex integerrima\\n* Ilex integra – Mochi Tree, Nepal Holly\\n* Ilex intricata\\n* Ilex jamaicana Proctor (Jamaica)\\n* Ilex jauaensis\\n* Ilex jelskii\\n* Ilex karuaiana\\n* Ilex khasiana\\n* Ilex kingiana\\n* Ilex kudingcha\\n* Ilex kusanoi\\n* Ilex laevigata – Smooth Winterberry\\n* Ilex lasseri\\n* Ilex latifolia – Tarajo Holly, tarayō (Japanese)\\n* Ilex lechleri\\n* Ilex leucoclada\\n* Ilex longipes\\n* Ilex longzhouensis\\n* Ilex machilifolia\\n* Ilex maclurei\\n* Ilex macoucoua\\n* Ilex macrocarpa\\n* Ilex macropoda\\n* Ilex magnifructa\\n* Ilex maingayi\\n* Ilex marahuacae\\n* Ilex marginata\\n* Ilex margratesavage\\n* Ilex mathewsii\\n* Ilex × meserveae\\n* Ilex microdonta\\n* Ilex mitis\\n* Ilex montana Torrey & A.Gray – Mountain Winterberry (Eastern United States)\\n* Ilex mucronata (L.) M.Powell, Savol., & S.Andrews – Mountain Holly, Catberry (Eastern North America)\\n* Ilex myrtifolia – Myrtle Holly, Myrtle Dahoon\\n* Ilex neblinensis\\n* Ilex nothofagifolia\\n* Ilex oblonga\\n* Ilex occulta\\n* Ilex opaca – American Holly (Eastern United States)\\n* Ilex ovalifolia\\n* Ilex palawanica\\n* Ilex pallida\\n* Ilex paraguariensis – Yerba mate (mate, erva-mate)\\n* Ilex parvifructa\\n* Ilex patens\\n* Ilex pauciflora\\n* Ilex paujiensis\\n* Ilex pedunculosa – Longstalked holly\\n* Ilex peiradena\\n* Ilex perado – Madeiran Holly\\n* Ilex perlata\\n* Ilex pernyi – Perny's Holly\\n* Ilex polita\\n* Ilex praetermissa\\n* Ilex pringlei\\n* Ilex pseudobuxus\\n* Ilex puberula\\n* Ilex pubescens\\n* Ilex pubiflora\\n* Ilex purpurea\\n* Ilex qianlingshanensis\\n* Ilex quercetorum\\n* Ilex quercifolia\\n* Ilex rarasanensis\\n* Ilex reticulata\\n* Ilex rotunda\\n* Ilex rugosa\\n* Ilex sclerophylla\\n* Ilex serrata – Japanese Winterberry\\n* Ilex sessilifructa\\n* Ilex shimeica\\n* Ilex sikkimensis\\n* Ilex sintenisii (Urban) Britt. – Sintenis' Holly (Puerto Rico)\\n* Ilex sipapoana\\n* Ilex socorroensis\\n* Ilex spinigera\\n* Ilex spruceana\\n* Ilex steyermarkii\\n* Ilex subrotundifolia\\n* Ilex subtriflora\\n* Ilex sugerokii\\n* Ilex sulcata\\n* Ilex syzygiophylla\\n* Ilex tahanensis\\n* Ilex tarapotina\\n* Ilex tateana\\n* Ilex taubertiana\\n* Ilex ternatiflora (extinct: 20th century?)\\n* Ilex theezans\\n* Ilex tiricae\\n* Ilex tolucana\\n* Ilex trachyphylla\\n* Ilex trichocarpa\\n* Ilex tugitakayamensis\\n* Ilex uraiensis\\n* Ilex urbaniana – Urban's holly\\n* Ilex vaccinoides\\n* Ilex venezuelensis\\n* Ilex venulosa\\n* Ilex verticillata (L.) A.Gray American Winterberry (Eastern North America)\\n* Ilex vomitoria – Yaupon Holly, casseena (Spanish)\\n* Ilex vulcanicola\\n* Ilex walkeri\\n* Ilex wenchowensis\\n* Ilex williamsii\\n* Ilex wilsonii\\n* Ilex yunnanensis\\n* Ilex wugonshanensis\\n* Ilex yuiana \\n\\nGallery\\n\\nImage:Starr_020925-0058_Ilex_anomala.jpg|Ilex anomala\\nImage:Contorted Hedgehog Holly.JPG|A contorted hedgehog holly Ilex aquifolium 'Ferox'\\nImage:Ilex chinensis1.jpg|Ilex chinensis\\nImage:Ilex pedunculosa5.jpg|Ilex pedunculosa\\nImage:Ilex rotunda5.jpg|Ilex rotunda\\n\\nImage:Yunnan Holly Ilex yunnanensis Sprig 3008px.jpg|Ilex yunnanensis\\nImage:Beautifulflowers6.jpg|Ilex × meserveae\\nImage:Ilex-pernyi-leaves.JPG|Ilex pernyi from west China.\",\n \"Quercus_ilex.txt\\nQuercus ilex\\nQuercus ilex, the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It takes its name from holm, an ancient name for holly. It is a member of the white oak section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. It was first introduced to the United Kingdom in the 16th century. The first trees to be planted from acorns into England are still to be found growing within the stately grounds of Mamhead Park, Devon. They are uncommonly fine examples; several of these trees are 10 ft in circumference at 3 ft from the ground, and one of them measures in circumference. One specimen in Milo, in Sicily, is reputed to be 700 years old while a small population on the slopes of northern village of Wardija in Malta are said to be between 500 and 1,000 years old. Prior to the Carthaginian period was prevalent on the islands. \\n\\nDescription\\n\\nQuercus ilex is a medium-sized tree 5 - tall with finely square-fissured blackish bark and leathery evergreen leaves. The old leaves fall 1–2 years after new leaves emerge. The leaves are dark green above and pale whitish-grey with dense short hairs below. The leaf shape is variable (depending on age and growing conditions), the adult leaves are entire, 4 - long and 1 – broad, while those on the lower branches of young trees are often larger (to 10 cm long), and are toothed or somewhat spiny – possibly as protection from grazing animals. In this, the foliage resembles that of the common European holly Ilex aquifolium, and this resemblance has led to its common and botanic names. The name ' is originally the classical Latin name for the holm oak, but was later also used as a botanical genus name for the hollies. The flowers are catkins, produced in the spring; the fruit is an acorn, which matures in about six months.\\n\\nSubspecies\\n\\nThere are two subspecies:\\n*Quercus ilex subsp. ilex. Native in the north and east of the species' range, from northern Iberia and France east to Greece. Leaves narrow; acorns 2 cm long, bitter tasting.\\n*Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia (syn. Q. rotundifolia, Q. ballota). Native in the southwest of the species' range, in central and southern Iberia (Portugal and Spain) and northwest Africa. Leaves broader; acorns long, sweet tasting.\\n\\nEcology\\n\\nHolm oak grows in pure stands or mixed forest in the Mediterranean and often at low or moderate elevations, such as coastal California (the Spanish name for the holm oak, encina, is the origin of the name of many California localities). One of the plant associations in which holm oak is found is the holm oak/Atlas cedar forests of the Atlas Mountains. In Morocco, some of these mixed forests are habitat to the endangered primate, Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus. \\n\\nHolm oak is prevalent from Portugal to Italy across the north Mediterranean strip. And from Morocco to Tunisia across the South Mediterranean strip.\\n\\nHolm oak is damaging biodiversity in the United Kingdom, and is listed as an alien invader. Normally the tree is unable to withstand severe frost, which would prevent it from spreading north, but with climate change, it has successfully penetrated these areas. \\n\\nCultivation and uses\\n\\nThe wood is hard and tough, and has been used since ancient times for general construction purposes as pillars, tools, wagons (Hesiod, Works and Days 429), vessels, and wine casks. It is also used as firewood, or in charcoal manufacture.\\n\\nThe holm oak is one of the top three trees used in the establishment of truffle orchards, or truffières. Truffles grow in an ectomycorrhizal association with the tree's roots.\\n\\nThe acorns, like those of the cork oak, are edible (toasted or as a flour), and are an important food for free-range pigs reared for ibérico ham production. Boiled in water, the acorns can also be used as a medicinal treatment for injury dis-infections.\\n\\nIt can be clipped to form a tall hedge, and it is suitable for coastal windbreaks, in any well drained soil. It forms a picturesque rounded head, with pendulous low-hanging branches. Its size and solid evergreen character gives it an imposing architectural presence that makes it valuable in many urban and garden settings. While holm oak can be grown in much of maritime northwestern Europe, it is not tolerant of cold continental winters.\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2284"],"string":"[\n \"2284\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Ilex aquifolium - San Francisco Botanical Garden\nIlex aquifolium (English) ... Scientific Name: Ilex aquifolium: Family: Aquifoliaceae: Plant Type: Evergreen Tree to 25m: ... Bloom: Small, slightly fragrant ...\nGarden Plant Collections | Ilex aquifolium | San Francisco Botanical Garden\n \nIlex aquifolium (English) | Ilex opaca (American)\n“Deck the halls with boughs of holly, tra la la la la, la la la la.”\nPre-Christian societies celebrated the winter solstice with boughs of holly brought indoors to ward away evil spirits, a household custom continuing today for more benevolent reasons. American holly, Ilex opaca, grows from Canada to Florida. Hollies are not native to the western US. However, English holly, Ilex aquifolium, widely planted in the Pacific Northwest for decades, is now considered invasive.\nHolly trees are dioecious, either female or male, and each must be planted to produce berries. Their leaves have a thick cuticle, often highly polished, with sharp tipped leaves and red berries in their axils. Flowers are greenish white. There are many cultivars, some with yellow or black berries; some have variegated leaves with highly spiny tips, or no spines at all. The bark is usually smooth and pale. The wood is creamy white, hard and clear of knots, excellent for inlaid work and dyes. Black piano keys are often made of holly wood.\nIlex cassine or “Yaupon” holly is a shrubby species from the southern states whose berries can be used as a purgative. Its dried, crumbled leaves are filled with caffeine and make an excellent tea. Ilex paraguariensis from Brazil and Argentina is the source of �Yerba Mate,� an ancient and still popular stimulant made from crushed holly leaves and boiling water.\nProfile","Ilex aquifolium - Plant Finder - Missouri Botanical Garden\nIlex aquifolium, commonly called ... pyramidal, densely-branched, evergreen tree that typically grows to 30-50’ ... Missouri Botanical Garden. 4344 Shaw Blvd., St ...\nIlex aquifolium - Plant Finder\nPlant Finder\nNative Range: Western and southern Europe, north Africa, western Asia\nZone: 7 to 9\nHeight: 30.00 to 50.00 feet\nSpread: 15.00 to 25.00 feet\nBloom Time: May\nSun: Full sun to part shade\nWater: Medium\nGarden locations\nCulture\nGrow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in locations protected from cold winter winds. Part afternoon shade is best in hot summer climates. Avoid poorly drained soils. Prune in winter if needed. Plants of this species are dioecious (separate male and female plants). Female plants need a male pollinator in the area in order to bear fruit. This species can be difficult to grow in the St. Louis area because it dislikes cold winters (not considered winter hardy in USDA Zone 5 and the northern part of USDA Zone 6) and also dislikes hot and humid summers. It grows much better in the climate of the Pacific Northwest where it has naturalized.\nNoteworthy Characteristics\nIlex aquifolium, commonly called English holly, is native to Europe, western Asia and north Africa. It is an erect, pyramidal, densely-branched, evergreen tree that typically grows to 30-50’ (less frequently to 80’) tall. It also may be trained and grown as a large shrub (10-15’ tall). Elliptic, leathery, glossy, wavy-margined, evergreen, dark green leaves (1-3” long) have large spiny teeth. Greenish-white flowers appear in May. Flowers are fragrant but generally inconspicuous. Pollinated flowers give way to berry-like red (less frequently orange or yellow) drupes (1/4” diameter) which ripen in fall and persist into winter. Birds are attracted to the fruit.\nGenus name comes from the Latin name Quercus ilex for holm oak in reference to the foliage similarities (holm oak and many of the shrubs in the genus Ilex have evergreen leaves).\nSpecific epithet comes from the Latin word acus meaning needle and folium meaning leaf in reference to the spiny leaves.\nGarden Uses\nBy reputation, English holly is a better ornamental tree than American holly (see I. opaca), but it has less winter hardiness and is more difficult to grow in the lower Midwest and deep South. Effective as a specimen or in small groups. Foundation plantings. Foliage and fruit provide good color for the winter landscape. Tall hedge.","Table 3.--Index of common names of tree species\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species. Common name Scientific name abelia, ... European Fagus sylvatica birch, ...\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species\nCommon name Scientific name abelia, glossy Abelia chinensis var. grandiflora acacia Acacia spp. acacia, Bailey Acacia baileyana acacia, catclaw Acacia greggii acacia, koa Acacia koa acacia, sweet Acacia farnesiana acacia, twisted Acacia tortuosa acacia, Wright Acacia wrightii ailanthus Ailanthus altissima alder, Arizona Alnus oblongifolia alder, hazel Alnus serrulata alder, mountain Alnus tenuifolia alder, seaside Alnus maritima alder, Sitka Alnus sinuata alder, smooth Alnus serrulata alder, speckled Alnus rugosa alder, thinleaf Alnus tenuifolia alder, white Alnus rhombifolia allspice, Carolina Calycanthus floridus allspice, hairy Calycanthus floridus almond, dwarf flowering Prunus glandulosa apple, common Pyrus malus apple, crab Pyrus spp. apple, Oregon crab Pyrus fusca apple, prairie crab Pyrus ioensis apple, southern crab Pyrus angustifolia apple, sweet crab Pyrus coronaria apricot, desert Prunus fremontii apricot Prunus armeniaca aralia, Japanese Fatsia japonica arbor vitae, Chinese Thuja orientalis arbor vitae, oriental Thuja orientalis ardisia Ardisia japonica arrowwood, downy Viburnum pubescens arrowwood, maple leaved Viburnum acerifolium ash Fraxinus spp. ash, black Fraxinus nigra ash, blue Fraxinus quadrangulata ash, Carolina Fraxinus caroliniana ash, European Fraxinus excelsior ash, fragrant Fraxinus cuspidata ash, green Fraxinus pennsylvanica ash, Gregg Fraxinus greggii ash, Oregon Fraxinus latifolia ash, pumpkin Fraxinus profunda ash, singleleaf Fraxinus anomala ash, Texas Fraxinus texensis ash, velvet Fraxinus velutina ash, white Fraxinus americana aspen, bigtooth Populus grandidentata aspen, quaking Populus tremuloides avocado Persea americana Bahama strongback Bourreria ovata baldcypress Taxodium distichum basswood, American Tilia americana basswood, Carolina Tilia caroliniana basswood, Florida Tilia floridana basswood, white Tilia heterophylla bayberry Myrica cerifera bayberry, Pacific Myrica californica bayberry, southern Myrica cerifera beech, American Fagus grandifolia beech, European Fagus sylvatica birch, black Betula lenta birch, bog Betula pumila birch, cut leaf weeping Betula pendula birch, cut leaved Betula alba birch, European white Betula verrucosa birch, gray Betula populifolia birch, paper Betula papyrifera birch, red Betula nigra birch, river Betula nigra birch, sweet Betula lenta birch, water Betula occidentalis birch, yellow Betula alleghaniensis bitterbush Picramnia pentandra black calabash Amphitecna latifolia black haw Viburnum prunifolium black mangrove Avicennia germinans blue Chinese fir Cunninghamia lanceolata blueblossom Ceanothus thyrsiflorus boxelder Acer negundo buckeye, California Aesculus californica buckeye, Ohio Aesculus glabra buckeye, painted Aesculus sylvatica buckeye, red Aesculus pavia buckeye, yellow Aesculus octandra buckthorn, California Rhamnus californica buckthorn, Carolina Rhamnus caroliniana buckthorn, cascara Rhamnus purshiana buckthorn, European Rhamnus cathartica buckthorn, glossy Rhamnus frangula buckwheat tree Cliftonia monophylla burningbush, eastern Euonymus atropurpureus burningbush, western Euonymus occidentalis butternut Juglans cinerea buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis cajeput tree Melaleuca quinquenervia camphor tree Cinnamomum camphora canella Canella winterana canotia Canotia holacantha catalpa Catalpa spp. catalpa, hardy Catalpa speciosa catalpa, northern Catalpa speciosa catalpa, southern Catalpa bignonioides catclaw, Gregg Acacia greggii catclaw, Wright Acacia wrightii ceanothus Ceanothus maritimus ceanothus Ceanothus spp. ceanothus, feltleaf Ceanothus arboreus ceanothus, greenbark Ceanothus spinosus ceanothus, spiny Ceanothus spinosus Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani cedar, Alaska Chamaecyparis nootkatensis cedar, Atlantic white Chamaecyparis thyoides cedar, Atlas Cedrus atlantica cedar, deodar Cedrus deodara cedar, Port Orford Chamaecyparis lawsoniana cercocarpus, alderleaf Cercocarpus montanus cercocarpus, birchleaf Cercocarpus betuloides cercocarpus, curlleaf Cercocarpus ledifolius cercocarpus, hairy Cercocarpus breviflorus cercocarpus, little Cercocarpus intricatus leaf cherry Prunus spp. cherry laurel, common Prunus laurocerasus cherry, bitter Prunus emarginata cherry, black Prunus serotina cherry, Catalina Prunus lyonii cherry, European bird Prunus padus cherry, pin Prunus pensylvanica cherry, sand Prunus pumila cherry, sweet Prunus avium cherry, West Indies Prunus myrtifolia chestnut, American Castanea dentata China berry Melia azedarach chinkapin, Allegheny Castanea pumila chinkapin, giant Castanopsis chrysophylla chinkapin, Ozark Castanea ozarkensis chittamwood Bumelia lanuginosa chokecherry Prunus virginiana Christmasberry Heteromeles arbutifolia cliffrose Cowania mexicana coast beefwood Casuarina stricta coconut palm Cocos nucifera cocoplum Chrysobalanus icaco coffeetree, Kentucky Gymnocladus dioicus coralbean, eastern Erythrina herbacea coralbean, southeastern Erythrina herbacea corkwood Leitneria floridana cottonwood, black Populus trichocarpa cottonwood, eastern Populus deltoides cottonwood, Fremont Populus fremontii cottonwood, narrowleaf Populus angustifolia cottonwood, plains Populus sargentii cottonwood, swamp Populus heterophylla crabapple Pyrus spp. cranberry bush Viburnum opulus cucumbertree Magnolia acuminata cypress pine, white Callitris glaucophylla cypress, Arizona Cupressus arizonica cypress, Baker Cupressus bakeri cypress, Gowen Cupressus goveniana cypress, Guadalupe Cupressus guadalupensis cypress, Leyland Cupressocyparis leylandii cypress, MacNab Cupressus macnabiana cypress, Monterey Cupressus macrocarpa cypress, Sargent Cupressus sargentii cypress, Tecate Cupressus guadalupensis cyrilla, swamp Cyrilla racemiflora dahoon Ilex cassine deer brush Ceanothus integerrimus desertwillow Chilopsis linearis devils walkingstick Aralia spinosa devilwood Osmanthus americanus dogwood Cornus spp. dogwood, alternate leaf Cornus alternifolia dogwood, flowering Cornus florida dogwood, gray Cornus racemosa dogwood, Pacific Cornus nuttallii dogwood, red osier Cornus stolonifera dogwood, roughleaf Cornus drummondii dogwood, roundleaf Cornus rugosa doveplum Coccoloba diversifolia elder, American Sambucus canadensis elder, Pacific red Sambucus callicarpa elliottia Elliottia racemosa elm Ulmus spp. elm, American Ulmus americana elm, cedar Ulmus crassifolia elm, Chinese Ulmus parvifolia elm, European Ulmus procera elm, rock Ulmus thomasii elm, September Ulmus serotina elm, Siberian Ulmus pumila elm, slippery Ulmus rubra elm, water Planera aquatica elm, winged Ulmus alata elm, Wych Ulmus glabra eucalyptus Eucalyptus spp. eucalyptus, bluegum Eucalyptus globulus eucalyptus, horncap Eucalyptus tereticornis eucalyptus, silver Eucalyptus cinerea dollar euonymus, evergreen Euonymus japonicus falsebox Gyminda latifolia falsebox, West Indies Gyminda latifolia fig, benjamin Ficus benjamina fig, common Ficus carica fig, fiddle leaf Ficus lyrata fig, Florida strangler Ficus aurea filbert, European Corylus avellana fir, balsam Abies balsamea fir, bigcone Douglas Pseudotsuga macrocarpa fir, blue Chinese Cunninghamia lanceolata fir, bristlecone Abies bracteata fir, California red Abies magnifica fir, California white Abies lowiana fir, Douglas Pseudotsuga menziesii fir, Fraser Abies fraseri fir, grand Abies grandis fir, Manchurian Abies holophylla fir, noble Abies procera fir, Pacific silver Abies amabilis fir, Rocky Mountain Abies bifolia alpine fir, Sierra white Abies lowiana fir, subalpine Abies lasiocarpa fir, white Abies concolor fire thorn Pyracantha coccinea fishpoison tree, Piscidia piscipula Florida Florida fiddlewood Citharexylum fruticosum Florida silverpalm Coccothrinax argentata fringe tree Chionanthus virginicus gallberry, large Ilex coriacea geiger tree Cordia sebestena ginko Ginkgo biloba Grevillea Grevillea 'noellii' guava, common Psidium guajava Guiana plum Drypetes lateriflora guiana rapanea Rapanea guianensis gum bumelia Bumelia lanuginosa gum, black Nyssa sylvatica gum, cider Eucalyptus gunnii gum, desert Eucalyptus rudis gum, red Eucalyptus camaldulensis gum, silver dollar Eucalyptus polyanthemos gumbo limbo Bursera simaruba hackberry, dwarf Celtis tenuifolia hackberry, Georgia Celtis tenuifolia hackberry, northern Celtis occidentalis Hakea Hakea spp. hawthorn Crataegus spp. hawthorn, barberry Crataegus berberifolia hawthorn, barberryleaf Crataegus berberifolia hawthorn, Biltmore Crataegus intricata hawthorn, black Crataegus douglasii hawthorn, blueberry Crataegus brachyacantha hawthorn, cockspur Crataegus crus-galli hawthorn, downy Crataegus mollis hawthorn, English Crataegus oxyacantha hawthorn, frosted Crataegus pruinosa hawthorn, littlehip Crataegus spathulata hawthorn, oneseed Crataegus monogyna hawthorn, parsley Crataegus marshallii hawthorn, riverflat Crataegus opaca hawthorn, scarlet Crataegus coccinea hawthorn, willow Crataegus saligna hazelnut, American Corylus americana hazelnut, beaked Corylus cornuta hemlock, Carolina Tsuga caroliniana hemlock, eastern Tsuga canadensis hemlock, mountain Tsuga mertensiana hemlock, western Tsuga heterophylla Hercules club Zanthoxylum clava-herculis hibiscus, Chinese Hibiscus rosa-sinensis hibiscus, sea Hibiscus tiliaceus hickory Carya spp. hickory, bitternut Carya cordiformis hickory, black Carya texana hickory, mockernut Carya tomentosa hickory, nutmeg Carya myristiciformis hickory, pignut Carya glabra hickory, red Carya ovalis hickory, sand Carya pallida hickory, scrub Carya floridana hickory, shagbark Carya ovata hickory, shellbark Carya laciniosa hickory, water Carya aquatica holly, American Ilex opaca holly, English Ilex aquifolium holly, tawnyberry Ilex krugiana honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos hophornbeam, eastern Ostrya virginiana hophornbeam, Knowlton Ostrya knowltonii hoptree, common Ptelea trifoliata hornbeam, American Carpinus caroliniana horsechestnut Aesculus hippocastanum horsetail casuarina Casuarina equisetifolia horsetail tree Casuarina equisetifolia huisache Acacia farnesiana huisachillo Acacia tortuosa incense cedar Calocedrus decurrens inkberry Ilex glabra inkwood Exothea paniculata ironbark, red Eucalyptus sideroxylon ironbark, white Eucalyptus leucoxylon Jamaica caper Capparis cynophallophora jasmine, winter Jasminum nudiflorum Jerusalem thorn Parkinsonia aculeata juniper, alligator Juniperus deppeana juniper, Ashe Juniperus ashei juniper, California Juniperus californica juniper, common Juniperus communis juniper, drooping Juniperus flaccida juniper, one seed Juniperus monosperma juniper, Pinchot Juniperus pinchotii juniper, redberry Juniperus pinchotii juniper, redberry Juniperus erythrocarpa juniper, Rocky Mountain Juniperus scopulorum juniper, Utah Juniperus osteosperma juniper, western Juniperus occidentalis larch, European Larix decidua larch, subalpine Larix lyallii larch, western Larix occidentalis laurel, California Umbellularia californica laurelcherry, Carolina Prunus caroliniana leadwood Krugiodendron ferreum lemon Citrus limon lemonade berry Rhus integrifolia lime Citrus aurantifolia linden, European Tilia europaea linden, little leaf Tilia cordata loblolly bay Gordonia lasianthus locust Robinia spp. locust, black Robinia pseudoacacia locust, clammy Robinia viscosa locust, honey Gleditsia triacanthos locust, New Mexico Robinia neomexicana locust, water Gleditsia aquatica loquat tree Eriobotrya japonica Lyontree Lyonothamnus floribundus lysiloma, Bahama Lysiloma latisiliquum madrone, Arizona Arbutus arizonica madrone, Pacific Arbutus menziesii madrone, Texas Arbutus texana magnolia, Ashe Magnolia ashei magnolia, bigleaf Magnolia macrophylla magnolia, cucumber Magnolia acuminata magnolia, Fraser Magnolia fraseri magnolia, pyramid Magnolia pyramidata magnolia, southern Magnolia grandiflora magnolia, umbrella Magnolia tripetala mahogany, West Indies Swietenia mahogani manchineel Hippomane mancinella mangrove, button Conocarpus erectus mangrove, red Rhizophora mangle mangrove, white Laguncularia racemosa maple, Amur Acer ginnala maple, bigleaf Acer macrophyllum maple, bigtooth Acer grandidentatum maple, black Acer nigrum maple, boxelder Acer negundo maple, canyon Acer grandidentatum maple, chalk Acer leucoderme maple, Florida Acer barbatum maple, fullmoon Acer japonicum maple, hedge Acer campestre maple, Japanese Acer palmatum maple, mountain Acer spicatum maple, Norway Acer platanoides maple, red Acer rubrum maple, Rocky Mountain Acer glabrum maple, silver Acer saccharinum maple, striped Acer pensylvanicum maple, sugar Acer saccharum maple, sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus maple, Tatar Acer tataricum maple, vine Acer circinatum marlberry Ardisia escallonioides mastic, false Mastichodendron foetidissimum mazzard Prunus avium medlar, Chinese Photinia serrulata medlar, European Mespilus germanica melaleuca, lilac Melaleuca decussata mescalbean Sophora secundiflora mesquite, honey Prosopis glandulosa mesquite, screwbean Prosopis pubescens Mexican alvaradoa Alvaradoa amorphoides mountain ash, American Sorbus americana mountain ash, European Sorbus aucuparia mulberry, black Morus nigra mulberry, paper Broussonetia papyrifera mulberry, red Morus rubra mulberry, Russian Morus alba var. tatarica mulberry, Texas Morus microphylla mulberry, white Morus alba myrtle of the river Calyptranthes zuzygium nannyberry Viburnum lentago nectarine Prunus persica oak Quercus spp. oak, Arizona gray Quercus grisea oak, Arizona white Quercus arizonica oak, bear Quercus ilicifolia oak, black Quercus velutina oak, blackjack Quercus marilandica oak, blue Quercus douglasii oak, bluejack Quercus cinerea oak, bluejack Quercus incana oak, bluff Quercus austrina oak, bur Quercus macrocarpa oak, California black Quercus kelloggii oak, California red Quercus kelloggii oak, California white Quercus lobata oak, canyon live Quercus chrysolepis oak, Chapman Quercus chapmanii oak, cherrybark Quercus pagoda oak, chestnut Quercus prinus oak, chinkapin Quercus muehlenbergii oak, coast live Quercus agrifolia oak, cork Quercus suber oak, Darlington Quercus hemisphaerica oak, Durand Quercus durandii oak, Emory Quercus emoryi oak, Engelmann Quercus engelmannii oak, Gambel Quercus gambelii oak, gray Quercus grisea oak, interior live Quercus wislizenii oak, laurel Quercus laurifolia oak, live Quercus virginiana oak, Mexican blue Quercus oblongifolia oak, myrtle Quercus myrtifolia oak, northern pin Quercus ellipsoidalis oak, northern red Quercus rubra oak, Nuttall Quercus nuttallii oak, Oglethorpe Quercus oglethorpensis oak, Oregon white Quercus garryana oak, overcup Quercus lyrata oak, pin Quercus palustris oak, post Quercus stellata oak, sand post Quercus margaretta oak, scarlet Quercus coccinea oak, shingle Quercus imbricaria oak, Shumard Quercus shumardii oak, silverleaf Quercus hypoleucoides oak, southern red Quercus falcata oak, swamp chestnut Quercus michauxii oak, swamp white Quercus bicolor oak, turkey (scrub) Quercus laevis oak, valley Quercus lobata oak, water Quercus nigra oak, white Quercus alba oak, willow Quercus phellos olive Olea europaea olive, Russian Elaeagnus angustifolia orange Citrus sinensis orange, Osage Maclura pomifera oysterwood Gymnanthes lucida pagoda tree, Japanese Sophora japonica pale lidflower Calyptranthes pallens palm, buccaneer Pseudophoenix sargentii palm, California Washingtonia filifera palm, coconut Cocos nucifera palm, Manila Adonidia merrillii palm, paurotis Acoelorrhaphe wrightii palm, queen Arecastrum romanzoffianum palm, wine Caryota urens palmetto, cabbage Sabal palmetto paloverde, blue Cercidium floridum paloverde, yellow Cercidium microphyllum papaya Carica papaya paradise tree Simarouba glauca parasoltree, Chinese Firmiana simplex paulownia, royal Paulownia tomentosa pawpaw Asimina triloba peach Prunus persica pear Pyrus communis pecan Carya illinoensis pepperbush Clethra spp. pepperbush, sweet Clethra alnifolia peppermint, white Eucalyptus pulchella peppertree, California Schinus molle persimmon, common Diospyros virginiana persimmon, Texas Diospyros texana photinia Photinia spp. photinia, Japanese Photinia glabra pigeonplum Coccoloba diversifolia pinckneya Pinckneya pubens pine, Aleppo Pinus halepensis pine, Apache Pinus engelmannii pine, Austrian Pinus nigra pine, bishop Pinus muricata pine, bristlecone Pinus aristata pine, Coulter Pinus coulteri pine, Digger Pinus sabiniana pine, eastern white Pinus strobus pine, foxtail Pinus balfouriana pine, intermountain Pinus longaeva bristlecone pine, Italian stone Pinus pinea pine, jack Pinus banksiana pine, Japanese black Pinus thunbergiana pine, Jeffrey Pinus jeffreyi pine, knobcone Pinus attenuata pine, limber Pinus flexilis pine, loblolly Pinus taeda pine, lodgepole Pinus contorta pine, longleaf Pinus palustris pine, Monterey Pinus radiata pine, pitch Pinus rigida pine, pond Pinus serotina pine, ponderosa Pinus ponderosa pine, red Pinus resinosa pine, sand Pinus clausa pine, Scotch Pinus sylvestris pine, Scots Pinus sylvestris pine, shortleaf Pinus echinata pine, slash Pinus elliottii pine, southwestern Pinus strobiformis white pine, spruce Pinus glabra pine, sugar Pinus lambertiana pine, Swiss mountain Pinus mugo pine, table mountain Pinus pungens pine, Torrey Pinus torreyana pine, Virginia Pinus virginiana pine, Washoe Pinus washoensis pine, western white Pinus monticola pine, whitebark Pinus albicaulis pinyon Pinus edulis pinyon, border Pinus discolor pinyon, Mexican Pinus cembroides pinyon, Parry Pinus quadrifolia pinyon, singleleaf Pinus monophylla pistache, Texas Pistacia texana pistachio Pistacia vera planetree, Oriental Platanus orientalis plum, Allegheny Prunus alleghaniensis plum, American Prunus americana plum, beach Prunus maritima plum, Canada Prunus nigra plum, Chickasaw Prunus angustifolia plum, common Prunus domestica plum, darling Reynosia septentrionalis plum, flatwoods Prunus umbellata plum, Guiana Drypetes lateriflora plum, hortulan Prunus hortulana plum, Japanese Prunus japonica plum, Klamath Prunus subcordata plum, Mexican Prunus mexicana plum, purple leaved Prunus cerasifera var. pissardi plum, wildgoose Prunus munsoniana poisontree, Florida Metopium toxiferum pomegranate Punica granatum pond apple Annona glabra poplar Populus spp. poplar, balsam Populus balsamifera poplar, Lombardy Populus nigra var. italica poplar, tulip Liriodendron tulipifera poplar, white Populus alba poplar, yellow Liriodendron tulipifera possum haw Ilex decidua prickly ash, common Zanthoxylum americanum prickly ash, lime Zanthoxylum fagara princewood Exostema caribaeum princewood, Caribbean Exostema caribaeum privet, swamp Forestiera acuminata quince Cydonia oblonga quince, Japanese Chaenomeles lagenaria rapanea, guiana Rapanea guianensis redbay Persea borbonia redbud, California Cercis occidentalis redbud, eastern Cercis canadensis redbud, western Cercis occidentalis redcedar, eastern Juniperus virginiana redcedar, western Thuja plicata redwood, coast Sequoia sempervirens redwood, dawn Metasequoia glyptostroboides rose Rosa spp. rose, climbing prairie Rosa setigera rose, Macartney Rosa bracteata rose, sweetbriar Rosa eglanteria roseberry Juniperus coahuilensis roughbark lignumvitae Guaiacum sanctum royalpalm, Florida Roystonea elata rubber tree, India Ficus elastica Russian olive Elaeagnus angustifolia rustica rubra Magnolia soulangeana saguaro Cereus giganteus sassafras Sassafras albidum satinleaf Chrysophyllum oliviforme satinwood, West Indies Zanthoxylum flavum seagrape Coccoloba uvifera sequoia, giant Sequoiadendron giganteum serviceberry Amelanchier spp. serviceberry, downy Amelanchier arborea serviceberry, eastern Amelanchier canadensis serviceberry, smooth Amelanchier laevis serviceberry, western Amelanchier alnifolia Siberian pea tree Caragana arborescens silk oak Grevillea robusta silk tassel Garrya fremontii silk tree Albizia julibrissin silver bell Halesia carolina silverbell, Carolina Halesia carolina sloe Prunus spinosa smokethorn Dalea spinosa smoke tree Cotinus coggygria smoketree, American Cotinus obovatus snowberry Symphoricarpos albus soapberry, Florida Sapindus marginatus soapberry, western Sapindus drummondii soapberry, wingleaf Sapindus saponaria soldierwood Colubrina elliptica sophora, Texas Sophora affinis sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum spicebush Lindera benzoin spindle tree, European Euonymus europaeus spirea Spirea bumalda spruce Picea spp. spruce, black Picea mariana spruce, blue Picea pungens spruce, Brewer Picea brewerana spruce, dwarf Alberta Picea glauca var. albertiana spruce, Engelmann Picea engelmannii spruce, Norway Picea abies spruce, red Picea rubens spruce, Sitka Picea sitchensis spruce, tigertail Picea polita spruce, white Picea glauca Stewartia Stewartia koreana Stewartia, mountain Stewartia ovata strawberry tree Arbutus unedo sugarberry Celtis laevigata sumac, lemonade Rhus integrifolia sumac, poison Toxicodendron vernix sumac, shining Rhus copallina sumac, smooth Rhus glabra sumac, staghorn Rhus typhina sweetbay Magnolia virginiana sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua sweetleaf, common Symplocos tinctoria sycamore Platanus occidentalis sycamore, American Platanus occidentalis sycamore, Arizona Platanus wrightii sycamore, California Platanus racemosa Sydney golden wattle Acacia longifolia tallowtree, Chinese Sapium sebiferum tallowwood Ximenia americana tamarack Larix laricina tamerisk, smallflower Tamarix parviflora tanoak Lithocarpus densiflorus tesota Olneya tesota thatchpalm, brittle Thrinax microcarpa thatchpalm, Jamaica Thrinax parviflora torchwood Amyris elemifera torreya, California Torreya californica torreya, Florida Torreya taxifolia toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia tree lyonia Lyonia ferruginea tree of heaven Ailanthus altissima trema, Florida Trema micrantha tulip poplar Liriodendron tulipifera tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera tung oil tree Aleurites fordii tupelo, black Nyssa sylvatica tupelo, Ogeechee Nyssa ogeche tupelo, swamp Nyssa biflora tupelo, water Nyssa aquatica vauquelinia, Torrey Vauquelinia californica velvetseed, elliptic Guettarda elliptica leaf velvetseed, roughleaf Guettarda scabra viburnum Viburnum tomentosum viburnum, leatherleaf Viburnum rhytidophyllum viburnum, oval leafed Viburnum ellipticum wahoo, eastern Euonymus atropurpureus wahoo, western Euonymus occidentalis walnut, Arizona Juglans major walnut, black Juglans nigra walnut, Hinds Juglans hindsii walnut, little Juglans microcarpa walnut, northern Juglans hindsii California walnut, southern Juglans californica California waterlocust Gleditsia aquatica waxmyrtle, Pacific Myrica californica wayfaring tree Viburnum lantana white cedar, northern Thuja occidentalis wild dilly Manilkara bahamensis willow Salix spp. willow bustic Dipholis salicifolia willow, arroyo Salix lasiolepis willow, basket Salix viminalis willow, Bebb Salix bebbiana willow, black Salix nigra willow, Bonpland Salix bonplandiana willow, coastal plain Salix caroliniana willow, crack Salix fragilis willow, diamond Salix eriocephala willow, feltleaf Salix alaxensis willow, golden weeping Salix alba var. tristis willow, heart leaved Salix cordata willow, Hooker Salix hookerana willow, laurel leaved Salix pentandra willow, Mackenzie Salix mackenzieana willow, Pacific Salix lasiandra willow, peachleaf Salix amygdaloides willow, pussy Salix discolor willow, red Salix laevigata willow, sandbar Salix exigua willow, Scouler Salix scoulerana willow, shining Salix lucida willow, weeping Salix babylonica willow, white Salix alba willow, yewleaf Salix taxifolia winterberry, common Ilex verticillata winterberry, mountain Ilex montana witchhazel Hamamelis virginiana yaupon Ilex vomitoria yellow poplar Liriodendron tulipifera yellowwood Cladrastis lutea yew, Florida Taxus floridana yew, Pacific Taxus brevifolia","Ilex_aquifolium.txt\nIlex aquifolium\nIlex aquifolium (holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly), is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia.Flora Europaea: [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF\n&GENUS_XREFIlex&SPECIES_XREF\naquifolium&TAXON_NAME_XREF&RANK\n Ilex aquifolium]Med-Checklist: [http://ww2.bgbm.org/mcl/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId\n1263&PTRefFK1273 Ilex aquifolium]Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.Flora of NW Europe: [http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected\nbeschrijving&menuentrysoorten&id\n3088 Ilex aquifolium] I. aquifolium is the species familiar in Christmas decoration, and is regarded as the type species of the genus Ilex, which by association is also called \"holly\". It is a evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts.\n\nAs a tree, it can exceed 10 m in height. It is usually found as a shrub or a small tree about 1 m tall with a straight trunk and pyramidal crown, which branches from the base. It is slow growing and it does not usually fully mature due to grazing, cutting, or fire. It can live 500 years, but usually does not reach 100.\n\nDescription\n\nHolly is an evergreen tree growing to 10–25 m tall with a woody stem as large as 40–80 cm, rarely 1 m or more, in diameter The leaves are 5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm broad; they are evergreen, lasting about five years, and are dark green on the upper surface and lighter on the underside, oval, leathery, shiny, and about 5 to 9 cm long. In the young and in the lower limbs of mature trees, the leaves have three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward, while leaves of the upper branches in mature trees lack spines.\n\nThe flowers are white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. Holly is dioecious, meaning that there are male plants and female plants. The sex cannot be determined until the plants begin flowering, usually between 4 and 12 years of age. In male specimens, the flowers are yellowish and appear in axillary groups. In the female, flowers are isolated or in groups of three and are small and white or slightly pink, and consist of four petals and four sepals partially fused at the base.\n\nThe fruit is a red drupe, about 6–10 mm in diameter, a bright red or bright yellow, which matures around October or November; at this time they are very bitter due to the ilicin content and so are rarely eaten until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable. They are eaten by rodents, birds and larger herbivores. Each fruit contains 3 to 4 seeds which do not germinate until the second or third spring. The fruit only appears on female plants, which require male plants nearby to fertilise them.\n\nDistribution\n\nToday, holly is found in western Asia and Europe in the undergrowth of oak forest and beech forest in particular, although at times it can form a dense thicket as the dominant species. It requires moist, shady environments, found within forests or in shady slopes, cliffs, and mountain gorges.\n\nAlong the west coast of the United States, from California to British Columbia, non-native English Holly has proved very invasive, quickly spreading into native forest habitat, where it thrives in shade and crowds out native species. It has been placed on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's monitor list, and is a Class C invasive plant in Portland. \n\nDuring the Cenozoic Era, the Mediterranean region, Europe, and northwest Africa had a wetter climate and were largely covered by laurel forests. Holly was a typical representative species of this biome, where many current species of the genus Ilex were present. With the drying of the Mediterranean Basin during the Pliocene, the laurel forests gradually retreated, replaced by more drought-tolerant sclerophyll plant communities. The modern Ilex aquifolium resulted from this change. Most of the last remaining laurel forests around the Mediterranean are believed to have died out approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene.\n\nEcology\n\nHolly is a rugged pioneer species that preserves and enriches the soil facilitating colonization by others. It is an ecological indicator of a well-preserved or recovering area with little human intrusion. It prefers relatively moist areas, up to 600m in elevation, and tolerates Mediterranean summer drought and frost. The plant is common in the garrigue and maquis and is also found in deciduous forest and oak forest.\n\nPure stands of hollies can grow into a labyrinth of vaults in which thrushes and deer take refuge, while smaller birds are protected among their spiny leaves. After the first frost of the season, hollies' fruit becomes soft and falls to the ground serving as important food for winter birds at a time of scarce resources.\n\nThe flowers are attractive as nectar sources for insects such as bees, wasps, flies, and small butterflies.\n\nIt is an invasive species on the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii. \n\nCultivation\n\nIlex aquifolium, the familiar holly of Christmas cards and wreaths, is widely grown in parks and gardens in temperate regions. Both male and female specimens must be grown together to ensure berries (drupes), which are produced only by female plants. Numerous cultivars have been selected, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM):-\n\nThe hybrid Ilex x altaclerensis was developed at Highclere Castle in 1835, a cross between I. aquifolium and the tender species I. perado. The following cultivars have gained the RHS AGM:-\n\nChemistry and toxicity, medicinal and food uses\n\nHolly berries contain alkaloids, caffeine, and theobromine and are generally regarded as toxic to humans, though their poisonous properties are overstated and fatalities almost unknown. Accidental consumption may occur by children or pets attracted to the bright red berries. The berries are emetic. This is described as being due to the drug ilicin, though caffeine and theobromine found throughout the plant are much more toxic, generally, to dogs and cats.\n\nThe leaves of related plants are used to make a caffeine-rich beverage, Yerba Mate, which has caffeine in amounts equal to that of coffee. It is likely that I. aquifolium has equal amounts of caffeine in the leaves. It is described \"The leaves of Holly have been employed in the Black Forest as a substitute for tea\"\n\nHolly is rarely used medicinally, but is diuretic, relieves fevers, and has a laxative action. \n\nIlex aquifolium also contains saponins, theobromine (a xanthine), ilicin, caffeine, caffeic acid, and a yellow pigment, ilexanthin. \n\nOther uses\n\nMany hundreds of hybrids and cultivars have been developed for garden use, among them the very popular \"Highclere holly\", Ilex × altaclerensis (I. aquifolium × I. perado) and the \"blue holly\", Ilex × meserveae (I. aquifolium × I. rugosa).Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5. Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping. \n\nBetween the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, before the introduction of turnips, Ilex aquifolium was cultivated for use as winter fodder for cattle and sheep. Less spiny varieties of holly were preferred, and in practice the leaves growing near the top of the tree have far fewer spines making them more suitable for fodder.\n\nIlex aquifolium was once among the traditional woods for Great Highland bagpipes before tastes turned to imported dense tropical woods such as cocuswood, ebony, and African blackwood.","T.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research ...\nTrees (Exotic) Botanical names A to F with photo; ... Ilex aquifolium (Holly) Kingdom: ... Species: I. aquifolium Binomial name: Ilex aquifolium Common name: ...\nT.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network - Ilex aquifolium (Holly)\nT.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network\nCommon name: Holly, Christmas Holly or Mexican Holly\n As few as twenty berries by adults can be fatal.\nIlex is a genus of approximately 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family.\nEuropean holly (Ilex aquifolium) is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. It is an evergreen tree growing to 10-25 m tall and 40-80 cm (rarely 1 m or more) trunk diameter, with smooth grey bark. The leaves are 5-12 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, variable in shape; on young plants and low branches, with three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward; on higher branches of older trees with few or no spines except for the leaf tip, often entire. The flowers are dioecious, white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. The fruit is a red drupe 6-10 mm diameter, containing four pits; although mature in late autumn, they are very bitter due to the ilicin content, and so are rarely touched by birds until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable.\nThe ilicin content is poisonous to people since it irritates the stomach and intestines, and other constituents render them harmful to the nervous system and heart. Ingestion of as few as twenty berries by adults can be fatal.\nA mature Ilex aquifolium growing at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth.\nHolly Suckers: Suckering is part of the natural habit of plants and is one way they exploit a favourable habitat, instead of relying on seed spread. Suckers are growths that appear from the root systems of many trees and shrubs. They may appear in borders, lawns, between paving stones or through paths, and can become a nuisance.\nHolly leaves","Willow Tree Names and Types of Willow (Salix) Species\nWillow Tree Names and Types of Willows (Salix) Species. ... Botanical Salix Tree Name; ... = Salix alba (White Willow) × Salix babylonica ...\nWillow Tree Names and Types of Willow (Salix) Species\nSalix ×laestadiana = Salix cinerea × Salix lapponum\nSalix ×laurentiana (Laurent's Willow) = Salix discolor (Pussy Willow) × Salix myricoides (Bayberry Willow)\nSalix ×laurina (Laurel-leaf Willow, Lagervide) = Salix caprea × Salix phylicifolia\nSalix ×lyonensis = Salix repens (Creeping Willow) × Salix arbuscula\nSalix ×meyeriana (Shiny-leaf Willow) = Salix pentandra × Salix euxina, (Possibly Salix pentandra × Salix ×fragilis)\nSalix ×mollissima (Sharp-stipule Willow) = Salix triandra (Almond Willow) × Salix viminalis (Basket Willow, Osier)\nSalix ×obtusata (Obtuse Willow) = Salix myricoides (Bayberry Willow) × Salix pyrifolia (Balsam Willow)\nSalix ×pedunculata (Blackbract Willow) = Salix discolor (Pussy Willow, American Willow × Salix pellita (Satiny Willow)\nSalix ×pendulina (Wisconsin Weeping Willow, Weeping Crack Willow, Niobe Willow) = Salix fragilis (Crack Willow) × Salix babylonica (Babylon Willow, Peking Willow, Weeping Willow)\nSalix ×pendulina nothovar. elegantissima (Thurlow Weeping Willow)\nSalix ×pilosiuscula\nSalix ×pontederana = Salix cinerea × Salix purpurea\nSalix ×rubens (Synonym of Salix ×fragilis)\nSalix ×rubra (Green-leaf Willow, Flätvide) = Salix purpurea × Salix viminalis\nSalix ×schneiderii = Salix lucida (Shining Willow) × Salix nigra (Black Willow)\nSalix ×sepulcralis (Golden Weeping Willow, Kemp Willow, Weeping Willow) = Salix alba (White Willow) × Salix babylonica (Peking Willow)\nSalix ×sepulcralis nothovar. chrysocoma (Golden hybrid weeping Willow) = Salix alba ssp. vitellina × Salix babylonica\nSalix ×sepulcralis nothovar. sepulcralis (Weeping Willow) = Salix alba ssp. alba × Salix babylonica\nSalix ×seringeana (Seringe Willow) = Salix caprea (Goat Willow) × Salix elaeagnos (Elaeagnus Willow)\nSalix ×simulatrix (Dvärgrisvide) = Salix arbuscula (Mountain Willow) × Salix herbacea (Snowbed Willow)\nSalix ×smithiana (Broadleaf osier, Silky-leaf Osier, Häckvide) = Salix cinerea (Grey Willow) × Salix viminalis (Basket Willow, Osier)\nSalix ×stipularis (Eared Osier, Dammvide) = Salix atrocinerea × Salix viminalis\nSalix ×subalpina = Salix glauca var. appendiculata × Salix caprea\nSalix ×subsericea = Salix cinerea × Salix repens (Creeping Willow)\nSalix ×tsugaluensis = Salix integra × Salix vulpina\nSalix ×undulata = Salix alba × Salix triandra. Synonym; Salix ×mollissima var. undulata\nSalix ×ungavensis\nSalix ×wiegandii (Wiegand's Willow) = Salix calcicola (Limestone Willow, Woolly Willow) × Salix candida (Sage Willow, Sageleaf Willow)\nSalix ×wimmeriana\nSalix alba 'Caerulea' (Cricket-bat Willow), Synonym; Salix alba var. caerulea\nSalix alba 'Vitellina' (Golden Willow); Synonym; Salix alba var. vitellina\nSalix alba 'Vitellina-Tristis' (Golden weeping Willow), Synonym; 'Tristis'\nSalix alba 'Sericea' (Silver Willow)","CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Plants in the Bible\nPlants in the Bible. ... No doubt the same tree is signified, the double name being due to a mere accidental ... Mastic tree, an alliteration of the Greek ...\nCATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Plants in the Bible\nHome > Catholic Encyclopedia > P > Plants in the Bible\nPlants in the Bible\nHelp support New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download . Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99...\nWhen Moses spoke to the people about the Land of Promise, he described it as a \"land of hills and plains\" ( Deuteronomy 11:11 ), \"a good land, of brooks and of waters, and of fountains: in the plains of which and the hills deep rivers break out: a land of wheat, and barley, and vineyards, wherein fig-trees and pomegranates, and oliveyards grow: a land of oil and honey\" ( Deuteronomy 8:7-8 ). This glowing description, sketched exclusively from an utilitarian point of view, was far from doing justice to the wonderful variety of the country's productions, to which several causes contributed. First the differences of elevation; for between Lebanon, 10,000 feet above sea level, and the shores of the Dead Sea, 1285 feet below the Mediterranean, every gradation of altitude is to be found, within less than 200 miles. Sinuous valleys furrow the highland, causing an incredible variation in topography; hence, cultivated land lies almost side by side with patches of desert . The soil is now of clay, now of clay mixed with lime, farther on of sand; the surface rock is soft limestone, and basalt. In addition to these factors, variations of climate consequent on change of altitude and geographical position cause forms of vegetation which elsewhere grow far apart to thrive side by side within the narrow limits of Palestine. The vegetation along the west coast, like that of Spain , southern Italy , Sicily , and Algeria, is composed of characteristic species of Mediterranean flora. Near the perennial snows of the northern peaks grow the familiar plants of Alpine and sub-Alpine regions; the highlands of Palestine and the eastern slopes of the northern ranges produce the Oriental vegetation of the steppes; whereas the peculiar climate conditions prevailing along the Ghôr and about the Dead Sea favour a sub-tropical flora, characterized by species resembling those which thrive in Nubia and Abyssinia .\nOver 3000 species of Palestinian flora are known to exist, but the Holy Land of our day can give only an imperfect idea of what it was in Biblical times. The hill-country of Juda and the Negeb are, as formerly, the grazing lands of the Judean herds, yet groves, woods, and forest flourished everywhere, few traces of which remain. The cedar-forests of Lebanon had a world-wide reputation; the slopes of Hermon and the mountains of Galaad were covered with luxuriant pine woods; oak forests were the distinctive feature of Basan, throughout Ephraim clumps of terebinths dotted the land, while extensive palm groves were both the ornament and wealth of the Jordan Valley. The arable land, much of which now lies fallow, was all cultivated and amply rewarded the tiller. The husbandman derived from his orchards and vineyards abundant crops of olives, figs, pomegranates, and grapes. Nearly every Jewish peasant had his \"garden of herbs\", furnishing in season vegetables and fruits for the table, flowers, and medicinal plants. Only some 130 plants are mentioned in Scripture, which is not surprising since ordinary people are interested only in a few, whether ornamental or useful. The first attempt to classify this flora is in Genesis 1:11-12 , where it is divided into: (1) deshe, signifying all low plants, e.g., cryptogamia; (2) ‘esebh, including herbaceous plants; (3) ‘es peri, embracing all trees. In the course of time , the curiosity of men was attracted by the riches of Palestinian vegetation; Solomon, in particular, is said to have treated about the trees (i.e., plants) from the lofty cedar \"unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall\" ( 1 Kings 4:33 ). Of the plants mentioned in the Bible , the most common varieties may be identified either with certainty or probability; but a large proportion of the biblical plant-names are generic rather than specific, e.g., briers, grass, nettles, etc.; and just what plants are meant in some cases is impossible to determine, e.g., algum, cockle, gall, etc. A complete alphabetical list of the plant-names found in the English Versions is here given, with an attempt at identification.\nAcanth. See Brier .\nAlgum (A. V., 2 Chronicles, 2:8; D. V., 9:10, 11, \"thyme trees\", \"fir trees\"; written \"almug\" in A.V., 1 Samuel 10:11-12 ). No doubt the same tree is signified, the double name being due to a mere accidental transposition of the letters; if linguistic analogy may be trusted in, almug is correct (cf. Tamil, valguka). The algum tree is spoken of as a valuable exotic product imported to Palestine by Hiram's and Solomon's fleets ( 1 Kings 10:11 ; 2 Chronicles 2:8 ; 9:10 ), suitable for fine joinery and making musical instruments ( 1 Kings 10:12 ; 2 Chronicles 9:11 ). Josephus (Ant., VIII, vii, 1) says it was somewhat like the wood of the fig tree, but whiter and more glittering. According to most modern scholars and certain rabbis, the red sandal-wood, Pterocarpus santalina, is intended, though some of the uses made of it appear to require a stouter material. The identification proposed by Vulg. (see Thyine ) is much more satisfactory.\nAlmond tree, Hebrew luz ( Genesis 30:37 ; \"hazel\" in A. V. is a mistranslation; cf. Arab . laux), apparently an old word later supplanted by shaqed ( Genesis 43:11 ; Numbers 17:8 ; Ecclesiastes 12:5 ); which alludes to the early blossoming of the tree. Almonds are ( Genesis 43:11 ) considered one of the best fruits in the Orient, and the tree, Amygdalus communis, has always been cultivated there. Several varieties, A. orientalis, Ait., or A. argentea, A. lycioides, Spach, A. spartioides, Spach, grow wild in districts such as Lebanon, Carmel, Moab .\nAlmug. See Algum .\nAloes ( Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 4:14 ; John 19:39 ; A. V., Psalm 45:8 ) is reckoned among \"the chief perfumes\". In A. V., Num. xxiv, 6 (\"lign aloes\"; D. V., \"tabernacles\" is an erroneous translation), a tree is clearly intended. The officinal aloes, Liliacea, is not alluded to; the aloes of the Bible is the product of a tree of the genus Aquilaria, perhaps A. agallocha, Roxb., a native of northern India ; at a certain stage of decay, the wood develops a fragrance well known to the ancients (Dioscorides, i, 21), and from it a rare perfume was obtained.\nAmomum ( Revelation 18:13 , neither in the Greek New Testament , Vulg., A. V., nor D. V., but found in critical editions, such as Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Nestle), a perfume well known in antiquity (Dioscor., i, 14; Theophr., \"Hist. plant.\", ix, 7; \"De odor.\", 32; etc.). The Assyrian variety was particularly prized (Virg., Eclog., iv, 25; Josephus , \"Ant.\", XX, ii, 3; Martial., \"Epigr.\", vii, 77; Ovid, \"Heroid.\", xxi, 166; etc.), and probably obtained from Cissus vitignea, a climbing plant native of India but found also in Armenia , Media , and Pontus (Pliny, \"Nat. hist.\", xii, 13).\nAnise ( Matthew 23:23 ), not the anise , Pimpinella anisum, but rather the dill, Anethum graveolens, shabath of the Talmud, shibith of the Arabs , is meant. Dill has always been much cultivated in Palestine; its seeds, leaves, and stems were subject to tithe , according to Rabbi Eliezer (Maasaroth, 1:I; cf. Matthew 23:23 ), which opinion, however, others thought excessive (Schwab, \"Talmud de Jerus.\", III, 182).\nApple tree, Heb., thappuakh (cf. Arab , tiffah; Egypt . dapih, \"apple\") and the description of the tree and its fruit indicate the common apple tree, Malus communis, which is beautiful, affording shade for a tent or a house (Cant., ii, 3; viii, 5), and bears a sweet fruit, the aroma (Cant., vii, 8) of which is used in the East to revive a fainting person (cf. Cant., ii, 5). Apple groves flourished at an early date (Ramses II) in Egypt (Loret, \"Flore pharaonique\", p. 83); place-names like Tappuah ( Joshua 12:17 ) or Beth-tappuah (A. V., Joshua 15:53 ) indicate that they were a distinct feature of certain districts of Palestine.\nArum. See Cockle .\nAsh Tree. Isaiah 44:14 (A. V. for Heb., ’oren; D. V. \"pine\") depicts a planted tree, watered only by rain, whose wood is suitable to be carved into images and useful as fuel ( Isaiah 44:15 ). Probably the tree intended is Pinus pinea, the maritime or stone pine, rather than the ash, as the various species of Fraxinus grow only in the mountains of Syria , outside Palestine.\nAspalathus (Ecclus., xxiv, 20; Greek, xxiv, 20; D. V. \"aromatical balm\") is quite frequently alluded to by ancient writers (Theognis Hippocrates, Theophrastes, Plutarch, Pliny etc.) as a thorny plant yielding a costly perfume. It is impossible to identify it with certainty , but most scholars believe it to be Convolvulus scoparius, also called Lignum rhodium (rose-scented wood).\nAspen. See Mulberry .\nAstragalus a genus of Papilionaceous plants of the tribe Lotea, several species of which yield the gum tragacanth ( Hebrew nek’oth, Arab . neka’at) probably meant in Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 (D.V. \"spices\"; \"storax\"). In 2 Kings 20:13 , and Isaiah 39:2 , Hebrew nekothoth has been mistaken for the plural of nek’oth and mistranslated accordingly \"aromatical spices\"; A.V. and R.V. give, in margin, \"spicery\"; A. V. \"precious things\" is correct. The gum spoken of in Gen. was probably gathered from the species found in Palestine, A. gummifer, A. rousseaunus, A. kurdicus, A. stromatodes.\nBalm, Balsam, the regular translation of Hebrew çori ( Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 ; Jeremiah 8:22 ; 46:11 ; 51:8 ), except in Ezekiel 27:17 ( Hebrew pannag) and Sirach 24:20a (Greek ’aspalathos, see Aspalathus ); xxiv, 20b (Greek smúrna). The çori is described as coming from Galaad ( Jeremiah 8:22 ; 46:11 ) and having medicinal properties ( Jeremiah 51:8 ). It is obtained from Balsamodendron opobalsamum, Kunth., which is extant in tropical regions of east Africa and Arabia and yields the \"balm of Mecca \"; and Amyris gileadensis, a variety of the former, which gave the more extravagantly prized \"balm of Judea\", and is now extinct; it was extensively cultivated around the Lake of Tiberias , in the Jordan Valley, and on the shores of the Dead Sea (Talm. Babyl. Shabbath, 26a; Josephus , \"Ant.\", IX, i, 2; Jerome , \"Quæst in Gen.\", xiv, 7; Pliny, \"Nat. hist.\", xii, 25, etc.). The word çori is also applied to the gum from the mastic tree, or lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus, cf. Arab . daru), and that from Balanites ægyptica, Del., falsely styled \"balm of Galaad\". The meaning of pannag, mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17 , is not known with certainty ; modern commentators agree with R. V. (marginal gloss) that it is \"a kind of confection\".\nBalsam, Aromatical. See Aspalathus.\nBarley ( Hebrew se’orah, \"hairy\", an allusion to the length of the awns) was cultivated through the East as provender for horses and asses ( 1 Kings 4:28 ), also as a staple food among the poor , working men, and the people at large in times of distress. The grain was either roasted ( Leviticus 2:14 ; 2 Kings 4:43 ) or milled, kneaded and cooked in ovens as bread or cake. Barley, being the commonest grain, was considered a type of worthless things, hence the contemptuous force of Ezekiel 13:19 ; Judges, vii, 13; and Osee, iii, 2. Hordeum ithaburense, Boiss., grows wild in many districts of Palestine; cultivation has developed the two (H. distichum), four (H. tetrastichum), and six-rowed (H. hexastichum) barley. The harvest begins in April in the Ghôr, and continues later in higher altitudes; a sheaf of the new crop was offered in oblation on the \"sabbath of the Passover \".\nBay tree, so A.V. in Psalm 36:35 ; D.V. \"Cedar of Libanus\", which renderings are erroneous. The correct meaning of the Heb. text is: \"as a green tree\", any kind of evergreen tree, \"in its native soil\".\nBdellium ( Genesis 2:12 ; Numbers 11:7 ), either a precious stone or the aromatic gum of Amyris agallochum, a small resinous tree of northern India , found also, according to Pliny, in Arabia , Media , and Babylonia .\nBeans ( 2 Samuel 17:28 ; Ezekiel 4:9 ), the horse-bean (Faba vulgaris; cf. Hebrew pol and Arab . ful), an ordinary article of food, extensively cultivated in the East. The string-bean, Vigna sinensis, kidney-bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Phaseolus molliflorus, also grow in Palestine.\nBlasting. See Mildew .\nBorith, a Heb. word transliterated in Jeremiah 2:22 , and translated in Mal., iii, 2 by \"fuller's herb\" (A. V. \"scap\"). St. Jerome in his Commentary on Jeremiah 2:22, identifies borith with the \"fuller's weed\", which was not used, like the Dipsacus fullonum, Mill., to dress cloth, but to wash it; St. Jerome adds that the plant grew on rich, damp soil, which description applies to a species of Saponaria; yet many modern scholars think he refers to some vegetable alkali procured by burning plants like Salsola kali and the Salicornias (S. fructicosa; S. herbacea) abundant on the coast.\nBoxthorn. See Bramble .\nBox tree ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 60:13 ; in D. V., Ezekiel 27:6 , instead of \"ivory and cabins\", we should read: \"ivory inlain in boxwood\"), probably the Hebrew the’ashshur. The box tree does not grow in Palestine, and indeed the Bible nowhere intimates this, but it mentions the box tree of Lebanon , Buxus longifolia, Boiss., and that imported from the islands of the Mediterranean.\nBramble, translated from Hebrew ’atad in Judges, ix, 14-15, also rendered \"thorn\", in Psalm 57:10 . The Latin version has in both places rhamnus, \"buckthorn\"; of which several species grow in Palestine and Syria , but Arabic writers hold that the various kinds of Lycium or boxthorn are meant.\nBriers. (1) Hebrew kharul rendered \"burning\" in D.V., Job 30:7 , \"thorns\" in Proverbs 24:31 and Sophon., ii, 9, according to which texts it must be large enough for people to sit under, and must develop rapidly in uncultivated lands. Its translation as \"thistles\" or \"nettles\" is unsuitable, for these plants do not reach the proportions required by Job 30:7 , hence it is generally believed to be either the acanth , Acanthus spinosus, or rest-harrow, two species of which, Onamis antiquarum, and particularly O. leiosperma, Boiss., are very common in the Holy Land. (2) Hebrew barquanim ( Judges 8:7, 16 ) probably corresponds to the numerous species of Rubus which abound in Palestine; according to Moore (Judges, ad loc.), Phaceopappus scoparius, Boiss., is intended. (3) Hebrew khedeq ( Micah 7:4 ). See Mad-apple . (4) Hebrew shamir ( Isaiah 5:6 ; 9:18 ; 10:17 ; 32:13 ), the flexible Paliurus aculeatus, Lam., Arab . samur, the supposed material of Christ's crown of thorns . (5) Hebrew shqyth ( Isaiah 7:23-5 ), a word not found outside of Isaias, and possibly designating prickly bushes in general.\nBuckthorn. See Bramble .\nBulrush represents three Heb. words: (1) gome Exodus 2:3 ; Isaiah 18:2 ; 35:7 ), Cyperus papyrus, is now extinct in Egypt (cf. Isaiah 19:6-7 ), where it was formerly regarded as the distinctive plant of the country (Strab., xvii, 15) and the Nile was styled \"the papyrus-bearer\" (Ovid, \"Metam.\", xv, 753), but still grows around the Lake of Tiberias , Lake Huleh. (2) ’Agmon (A. V., Isaiah 58:5 ; D. V. \"circle\") is variously rendered (D. V. Isaiah 19:15 ; Job 40:21 ). The plant whose flexibility is alluded to in Isaiah 58:5 , A. V. appears to be either the common reed, Arundo donax, or some kind of rush; Juncus communis, J. maritimus, Lam., J. acutus are abundant in Palestine. (3) Suph ( Isaiah 19:6 ; A. V. \"flag\"; etc.), Egypt . tûf, probably designates the various kinds of rush and sea-weeds ( Jonah 2:6 ). Yam Suph is the Hebrew name for the Red Sea .\nBur, so, D. V., Os., ix, 6; x, 8, translating Vulgate lappa, \"burdock\", for Hebrew khoakh and qosh. Khoakh recurs in Proverbs 26:9 ; Cant., ii, 2 (D. V. \"thorns\"); 2 Kings 14:9 ; 2 Chronicles 25:18 ; Job 31:40 (D.V. \"thistle\"); \"thorn\" is the ordinary meaning of qosh. If burdock is the equivalent of khoakh, then Lappa major, D. C., growing in Lebanon is signified, as Lappa minor, D. C., is unknown in Palestine; however, the many kinds of thistles common in the East suit better the description. Yet, from the resemblance of Arab . khaukh with Hebrew khoakh, some species of blackthorn or sloe tree Prunus ursina, and others, Arab . khaukh al-dib might be intended.\nBurnet. See Thistle (5).\nBush, Burning, Hebrew seneh, \"thorny\" ( Exodus 3:2-4 ; Deuteronomy 33:16 ), probably a kind of whitethorn of goodly proportions (Cratægus sinaitica, Boiss.) common throughout the Sinaitic Peninsula. Arab . sanna is applied to all thorny shrubs.\nCalamus, Hebrew qaneh ( Exodus 30:23 ; Ezekiel 27:19 ; Song of Songs 4:14 , and Isaiah 43:24 ; D. V. \"sweet cane\"; Jeremiah 6:20 : \"sweet-smelling cane\"), a scented reed yielding a perfume entering into the composition of the spices burned in sacrifices ( Isaiah 43:24 ; Jeremiah 6:20 ) and of the oil of unction ( Exodus 30:23-5 ). The qaneh is, according to some, Andropogon schænanthus, which was used in Egypt for making the Kyphi or sacred perfume; according to others, Acorus aromaticus.\nCane, Sweet-smelling ( Jeremiah 6:20 ). See Calamus .\nCamphire (A. V., Song of Songs 1:14 ; D.V. 4:13 ; \"cypress\"). From Hebrew kopher. The modern \"camphor\" was unknown to the ancients. Pliny identifies cyprus with the ligustrum of Italy , but the plant is no other than the henna tree (Lawsonia alba) the Orientals are so fond of. Its red sweet-scented spikes ( Douay Version , Cant., i, 13; \"clusters\") yield the henna oil; from its powdered leaves is obtained the reddish-orange paste with which Eastern women stain their finger and toe nails and dye their hair. Ascalon and Engaddi were particularly renowned for their henna.\nCaper, Hebrew abiyyonah ( Douay Version , Ecclesiastes 12:5 ), the fruit of the caper tree, probably Capparis spinosa; C. herbacea, and C. ægyptiaca are also found in Palestine.\nCarob, Greek kerátion ( Luke 15:16 ), translated \"husks\" (A.V.; D.V.), the coarse pods of the locust tree, Ceratonia siliqua, \"St. John's bread-tree\".\nCassia, Hebrew qiddah ( Exodus 30:24 ; Ezekiel 27:19 ; D. V. \"stacte\"). Egypt . qad, the aromatic bark of Cinnamomum cassia, Bl., of India , an ingredient of the oil of unction ( Exodus 30:24 ), and the Egyptian Kyphi. In Psalm 44:9 , qeçi’ah, the Aramaic equivalent of qiddah,is possibly an explanation of ’ahaloth. There is no Biblical reference to the cassia, from which the senna of medicine is obtained.\nCedar, indiscriminately applied to Cedrus libani, C. bermudensis, Juniperus virginiana, and Cupressus thymoides, as Heb., ’erez was used for three different trees: (1) The cedar wood employed in certain ceremonies of purification ( Leviticus 14:4, 6 ; 49052; Numbers 19:6 ) was either Juniperus phænicea, or J. oxycedrus, which pagans burned during sacrifices and at funeral piles (Hom., \"Odyss.\", v, 60; Ovid, \"Fast.\", ii, 538), and Pliny calls \"little cedar \" (Nat. Hist., XIII, i, 30). (2) The tree growing \"by the waterside\" ( Numbers 24:6 ) appears from Ez., xxxi, 7, to be the Cedrus libani, which usually thrives on dry mountain slopes. (3) In most of the other passages of Holy Writ , Cedrus libani, Barr, is intended, which \"prince of trees\", by its height ( Isaiah 2:13 ; Ezekiel 31:3, 8 ; Amos 2:9 ), appropriately figured the mighty Eastern empires ( Ezekiel 31:3-18 , etc.). From its trunk ship-masts ( Ezekiel 27:5 ), pillars, beams, and boards for temples and palaces ( 1 Kings 6:9 ; 7:2 ) were made; its hard, close-grained wood, capable of receiving a high polish, was a suitable material for carved ornamentations ( 1 Kings 6:18 ) and images ( Isaiah 44:14-5 ). Cedar forests were a paradise of aromatic scent, owing to the fragrant resin exuding from every pore of the bark ( Song of Songs 4:11 ; Hosea 14:7 ); they were \"the glory of Libanus\" ( Isaiah 35:2 ; 60:13 ), as well as a source of riches for their possessors ( 1 Kings 5:6 sqq. ; 1 Chronicles 22:4 ) and an object of envy to the powerful monarchs of Nineveh ( Isaiah 37:24 ; inscr. of several Assyrian kings).\nCedrat, Citrus medica, or C. cedra is, according to the Syriac and Arabic Bibles, the \"Targum\" of Onkelos, Josephus (Ant. III, x, 4) and the Talmud (Sukka, iii, 5), the hadar (D. V. \"the fairest tree\") spoken of in Lev., xxiii, 40, in reference to the feast of Tabernacles.\nCinnamon, Hebrew, qinnamon ( Exodus 30:23 ; Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 4:14 ; Sirach 24:20 ; Revelation 18:13 ), the inner aromatic bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Nees, an ingredient of the oil of unction and of the Kyphi.\nCitron, Citrus limonum, supposed by some Rabbis to be intended in the text of Lev., xxiii, 40; \"boughs of hadar\", used regularly in the service of the synagogue and hardly distinguishable from cedrat.\nCockle, A. V., Job 31:40 , for Hebrew be’osha: D. V. \"thorns\". The marginal renderings of A. V. and R. V. \"stinking weeds\", \"noisome weeds\", are much more correct. D. V., Matthew 13:24-30 , translates the Greek zizánia by cockle. The two names used in the original text point to plants of quite different characters: (1) According to etymology, be’osha must refer to some plant of offensive smell; besides the stink-weed (Datura stramonium) and the ill-smelling goose-weeds (Solanum nigrum) there are several fetid arums, henbanes, and mandrakes in Palestine, hence be’osha appears to be a general term applicable to all noisome and harmful plants. In the English Bibles, Isaiah 5:2-4 , the plural form is translated by \"wild grapes\", a weak rendering in view of the terrible judgment pronounced against the vineyard in the context; be’ushim may mean stinking fruits, as be’osha means stinking weeds. (2) zizánia, from Aram. zonin, stands for Lolium temulentum, or bearded darnel, the only grass with a poisonous seed, \"entirely like wheat till the ear appears\". The rendering of both versions is therefore inaccurate.\nColocynth, Citrullus colocynthis, Schr., Cucumis c., probably the \"wild gourd\" of 2 Kings 4:38-40 , common throughout the Holy Land. In 1 Kings 6:18 ; 7:24 , we read about carvings around the inside of the Temple and the brazen sea, probably representing the ornamental leaves, stems, tendrils, and fruits of the colocynth.\nCoriander seed ( Exodus 16:31 ; Numbers 11:7 ), the fruit of Coriandrum sativum, allied to aniseed and caraway.\nCorn, a general word for cereals in English Bibles, like dagan in Heb. Wheat, barley, spelt (fitches), vetch, millet, pulse; rye and oats are neither mentioned in Scripture nor cultivated in the Holy Land.\nCorn, Winter, Hebrew kussemeth ( Douay Version , Exodus 9:32 ; A.V. \"rye\"), rendered \"spelt\" in Isaiah 28:25 , yet the close resemblance of Arab . kirsanah with Hebrew suggests a leguminous plant, Vicia ervilia.\nCotton, Hebrew or Persian karpas, Gossypium herbaceum, translated \"green\". Probably the shesh of Egypt and the buç of Syria ( Ezekiel 27:7, 16 , \"fine linen\") were also cotton.\nCucumber, Hebrew qishshu’im ( Numbers 11:5 ; Isaiah 1:8 ), evidently the species Cucumis chate (cf. Arab . qiththa), indigenous in Egypt ; C. sativus is also extensively cultivated in Palestine.\nCummin, Hebrew kammon, Arabic kammun, the seed of Cuminum cyminum ( Isaiah 28:25, 27 ; Matthew 23:23 ).\nCypress, in D. V., Cant., i, 16 (A. V., 17) a poor translation of Hebrew ’eç shemen (see Oil tree ); elsewhere Hebrew berosh is rendered \"fir tree\"; in Sirach 24:17 , the original word is not known. Among the identifications proposed for beroth are Pinus halapensis, Miel., and Cupressus sempervirens, the latter more probable.\nCyprus (Cant., i, 13; iv, 13). See Camphire .\nDill (R.V., Matthew 23:23 ). See Anise .\nEar of corn translates three Heb. words: (1) shibboleth, the ripe ear ready for harvest; (2) melilah, the ears that one may pluck to rub in the hands, and eat the grains ( Deuteronomy 23:25 ; Matthew 12:1 ; Mark 2:23 ; Luke 6:1 ); (3) abib, the green and tender ear of corn.\nEbony. Hebrew hobnim, Arab . ebmus ( Ezekiel 27:15 ), the black heart wood of Diospyros ebenum, and allied species of the same genus, imported from coasts of Indian Ocean by merchantmen of Tyre .\nElecampane. See Thistle (6).\nElm translates: (1) Hebrew thidhar ( Douay Version , Isaiah 41:19 ; Isaiah 60:13: \"pine trees\"), possibly Ulmus campestris, Sm. (Arab. derdar); (2) Hebrew ’elah (A. V., Hos., iv, 13; D. V. \"turpentine tree\"). See Terebinth .\nFigs ( Hebrew te’ênim), the fruit of the fig tree ( Hebrew te’ênah), Ficus carica, growing spontaneously and cultivated throughout the Holy Land. The fruit buds, which appear at the time of the \"latter rains\" (spring), are called \"green figs\" ( Song of Songs 2:13 ; Hebrew pag, cf. Beth-phage), which, \"late in spring\" ( Matthew 24:32 ), ripen under the overshadowing leaves, hence Mark 11:13 , and the parable of the barren fig tree ( Matthew 21:19, 21 ; Mark 11:20-6 ; Luke 13:6-9 ). Precociously ripening figs ( Hebrew bikkurah) are particularly relished; the ordinary ripe fruit is eaten fresh or dried in compressed cakes (Hebrew debelah: 1 Samuel 25:18 , etc.). Orientals still regard figs as the best poultice ( 2 Kings 20:7 ; Isaiah 38:21 ; St. Jerome , \"In Isaiam\", xxxviii, 21, in P.L., XXIV, 396).\nFir, applied to all coniferous trees except the cedar , but should be restricted to the genera Abies and Picea, meant by Hebrew siakh ( Genesis 21:15 ; D. V. \"trees\"; cf. Arab ., shukh). Among these, Abies cilicia, Kotsch, and Picea orientalis are found in the Lebanon, Amanus and northward.\nFitches. Hebrew, kussemeth ( Ezekiel 4:9 ), possibly Vicia ervilia, rendered \"gith\" by D.V., \"rye\" and \"spelt\" by A.V. and R.V. in Isaiah 28:25 .\nFlag, Hebrew akhu (A.V., Genesis 41:2, 18 : \"meadow\"; D.V. \"marshy places\", \"green places in a marshy pasture\"; Job 8:11 ; D.V. \"sedge-bush\"), a plant growing in marshes and good for cattle to feed upon, probably Cyperus esculentus.\nFlax, Hebrew pistah ( Exodus 9:31 ; Deuteronomy 22:11 ; \"linen\"; Proverbs 31:13 ), Linum usitatissimum, very early cultivated in Egypt and Palestine.\nFlower of the field, Hebrew khabbaççeth ( Isaiah 25:1 ), kh. sharon (Cant., ii, 1), like Arab . bûseil, by which Narcissus tazetta is designated by the Palestinians. Possibly N. serotinus, or fall Narcissus, was also meant by Heb., which some suppose to mean the meadow-saffron (Colchicum variegatum, C. steveni), abundant in the Holy Land.\nForest translates five Heb. words: (1) Ya’ar, forest proper; (2) horesh, \"wooded height\"; (3) çebak, a clump of trees; (4) ‘abhim, thicket; (5) pardeç, orchard. Among the numerous forests mentioned in the Bible are: Forest of Ephraim, which, in the Canaanite period, extended from Bethel to Bethsan; that between Bethel and the Jordan ( 2 Kings 2:24 ); Forest of Hareth, on the western slopes of the Judean hills; Forest of Aialon, west of Bethoron; Forests of Kiriath Yearim; the forest where Joatham built castles and towers ( 2 Chronicles 27:4 ) in the mountains of Juda; that at the edge of the Judean desert near Ziph ( 1 Samuel 23:15 ); Forest of the South ( Ezekiel 20:46, 47 ); and those of Basan ( Isaiah 2:13 ) and Ephraim ( 2 Samuel 18:6 ). Lebanon, Carmel, Hermon were also covered with luxuriant forests.\nFrankincense ( Hebrew lebonah) should not be confounded with incense ( Hebrew qetorah), which confusion has been made in several passages of the English Bibles, e.g., Isaiah 43:23 ; 60:6 (A.V.); Jeremiah 6:20 . Incense was a mixture of frankincense and other spices ( Exodus 30:34-5 ). Arabian frankincense, the frankincense par excellence, is the aromatical resin of Boswellia sacra, a tree which grows in southern Arabia (Arab. luban); B. papyrifera of Abyssinia yields African frankincense, which is also good.\nFuller's herb ( Malachi 3:2 ). See Borith .\nGalbanum, Hebrew khelbenah ( Exodus 30:34 ; Sirach 24:21 ), a gum produced by Ferula galbaniflua, Boiss. and other umbelliferous plants of the same genus. Its odour is pungent, and it was probably used in the composition of incense to drive away insects from the sanctuary.\nGall translates two Heb. words: (1) mererah, which stands for bile; (2) rosh, a bitter plant associated with wormwood, and growing \"in the furrows of the field\" ( Hosea 10:4 ; D. V. \"bitterness\"), identified with: poison hemlock (A. V., Hos., x, 4), Conium maculatum, not grown in the fields; colocynth, Citrullus colocynthis, not found in ploughed ground; and darnel, Lolium temulentum, not bitter. Probably the poppy, Papaver rheas, or P. somniferum, Arab. ras elhishhash, is meant.\nGarlic, Allium sativum, Hebrew shum (cf. Arab. thum), a favourite article of food in the East. The species most commonly cultivated is the shallot, Allium ascalonicum.\nGith, Hebrew queçath ( Isaiah 28:25, 27 ), Nigella sativa; A.V. \"fitches\" is wrong, nor does queçakh stand for the nutmeg flower, as G.E. Post suggests.\nGoose-weed. See Cockle .\nGopher wood ( Genesis 6:14 ; D.V. \"timber planks\"), a tree suitable for shipbuilding: cypress, cedar , and other resinous trees have been proposed, but interpreters remain at variance.\nGourd, Hebrew qiqayou ( Jonah 4:6-10 ; D.V. \"ivy\"), the bottle-gourd, Cucurbita lagenaria, frequently used to overshadow booths or as a screen along trellises.\nGrape, wild. See Colocynth .\nGrape. See Vine .\nGrape, Wild. See Cockle .\nGrass translates four Heb. words: (1) deshe’, pasture or tender grass, consisting mainly of forage plants; (2) yerek, verdure in general; (3) khaçir, a good equivalent for grass; (4) ’esebh, herbage, including vegetables suitable for human food. It occurs frequently in the Bible , as in Genesis 47:4 ; Numbers 22:4 ; Job 6:5 ; 30:4 (see Mallows ); 40:15 ; Matthew 6:30 ; etc.\nGrove, English rendering of two Hebrew words: (1) asherah, a sacred pole or raised stone in a temple enclosure, which \"groves\" do not concern us here; (2) ’eshel, probably the tamarisk tree (q.v.; cf. Arab . ’athl), but translated \"groves\" in Genesis 21:33 , and rendered elsewhere by \"wood\", as in 1 Samuel 31:6 and 31:13 .\nHay, Hebrew hasas ( Proverbs 27:25 ), a dried herb for cattle. \"Stubble\" in Isaiah 5:24 ; 33:11 , also translates hasas.\nHazel. See Almond tree .\nHeath, Heb. ’ar’ ar’ aro’er (A.V., Jeremiah 17:6 ; 48:6 ; D. V. \"tamaric\", \"heath\"), a green bush bearing red or pink blossoms, and native of the Cape of Good Hope. The only species in Palestine is the Erica verticillata, Forskal. The E. multiflora is abundant in the Mediterranean region.\nHemlock, Hebrew rosh (A. V., Hosea 10:4 ; Amos 6:12 ; D. V. \"bitterness\"; 13 , \"wormwood\"), an umbelliferous plant from which the poisonous alkaloid, conia, is derived. Conium maculatum and Æthusa cynapium are found in Syria . The water- hemlock is found only in colder zones. See Gall .\nHerb. See Grass .\nHerbs, Bitter, Hebrew meorim ( Exodus 12:8 ; Numbers 9:11 ; D. V. \"wild lettuce\"), comprise diverse plants of the family of Compositæ, which were eaten with the paschal lamb . Five species are known: wild lettuce, Hebrew hazeret; endive, ulsin; chicory, tamka; harhabina and maror, whose translation is variously rendered a kind of millet or beet, and the bitter coriander or horehound.\nHolm ( Daniel 13:58 ; Isaiah 44:14 ; A.V. \"cypress\") probably Hebrew tirzah, a kind of evergreen-oak.\nKnapweed. See Thistles .\nLadanum, Hebrew lot (D. V. \"stacte\", A. V. \"myrrh,\" in Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 ), a gum from several plants of the genus Cistus (rock-rose); C. villosus and C. salvifolius are very abundant. In Sirach 24:21 , \"storax\". Hebrew libneh, is the equivalent of Greek stachté, used by Septuagint in the above passages of Gen.; whether ladanum was meant is not clear, as it is frequently the Greek rendering of Hebrew nataf.\nLeeks, Hebrew khaçir ( Numbers 11:5 ), also rendered \"grass\", a vegetable, Allium porrum.\nLentils, Hebrew ’adashim ( Genesis 25:34 ; 2 Samuel 17:28 ; Ezekiel 4:9 ), Arabic adas, Ervum lens, or Lens esculenta, Moench., an important article of diet.\nLentisk. See Balm , Mastic tree .\nLign aloes. See Aloes .\nLily. (1) Hebrew shushan, Arab . susan, a generical term applicable to many widely different flowers, not only of the order Liliaceæ, but of Iridaceæ, Amaryllidaceæ, and others. Lilium candidum is cultivated everywhere; Gladiolus illyricus, Koch, G. septum, Gawl, G. atroviolaceus, Boiss., are indigenous in the Holy Land; Iris sari, Schott, I. palestina, Baker, I. lorteti, Barb., I. helenæ, are likewise abundant in pastures and swampy places. (2) The \"lilies of the field\" surpassing Solomon in glory were lilylike plants; needless to suppose that any others, e.g. the windflower of Palestine, were intended.\nLily of the valleys, Heb. khabbaççeleth. See Flower of the field .\nLocust tree. See Carob .\nLotus. (1) A water plant of the order Nymphæaceæ, the white species of which, Nymphæa lotus, was called in Egyptian seshni, sushin, like the Hebrew shushan, which may have been applied to water-lilies, but the lotus was probably intended in 1 Kings 7:19, 22, 26, 49 . (2) A tree, Hebrew çe ’elim (A.V. Job 40:16-17 : \"shadow\", \"shades\"), Zizyphus lotus, very common in Africa on the river banks.\nMad-apple, Hebrew khodeq ( Proverbs 26:9 ; D. V. \"thorn\"; Micah 7:4 : \"briers\"), Arab . khadaq, Solanum coagulans, Forskal, of the same genus as our mad apple, found near Jericho . Solanum cordatum, Forskal, may also be intended.\nMallows, a mistranslation in A.V., Job 30:4 , for the orache or sea-purslain, Atriplex halimus, from Hebrew malluakh, derived from melakh, \"salt\", as halimus from ’áls. According to Galen, the extremities are edible; the Talmud tells us that the Jews working in the re-construction of the Temple (520-15 B.C.) ate it (Kiddushim, iii, fol. 66a).\nMandrake, from Heb., dud‘, meaning \"love plant\", which Orientals believe ensures conception. All interpreters hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 , and Cant., vii, 13.\nManna of commerce is a sugary secretion of various Oriental plants, Tamarix mannifera, Ehr., Alhaqi camelorum, Fish., Cotoneaster nummularia, Fraxinus ornus, and F. rotundifolia; it has none of the qualifications attributed to the manna of Exodus 16 .\nMastic tree, an alliteration of the Greek schînos, schísei, Aram. pistheqa-pesag ( Daniel 13:54 ), the lentisk, Pistacia lentiscus, common in the East, which exudes a fragrant resin extensively used to flavour sweetmeats, wine, etc. See Balm .\nMeadow saffron. See Flower of the field .\nMelon, Hebrew ’abhattikhim ( Numbers 11:5 ), like Arab . bottikh, old Egypt . buttuga, seems to have a generic connotation, yet it designated primarily the watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris, Shrad.), and secondarily other melons. The passage of Numbers refers only to the melons of Egypt , and there is no mention in the Bible of melons of Palestine, yet they were in old times cultivated as extensively as now.\nMildew, Hebrew yeraqon, occurs three times in D. V. and with it is mentioned shiddaphon, variously rendered ( 2 Chronicles 6:28 : \"blasting\"; Amos 4:9 : \"burning wind\"; Haggai 2:18 : \"blasting wind\"). In Deuteronomy 28:22 , and 1 Kings 8:37 , yeraqon is translated \"blasting\" (A. V. \"mildew\"), and shiddaphon, \"corrupted air\". Translators evidently had no definite idea of the nature and difference of these two plagues. Yeraqon, or mildew, is caused by parasitic fungi like Puccinia graminis and P. straminis which suck out of the grain, on which they develop on account of excessive moisture. Shiddaphon, or smut, manifests itself, in periods of excessive drought, and is caused by fungi of the genus Ustilago, which, when fully developed, with the aid of the khamsin wind, \"blast\" the grain.\nMillet, Hebrew dokhan ( Ezekiel 4:9 ), Arab . dokhn, is applied to Panicum miliaceum, and Setaria italica, Kth. The rendering \"millet\", in D. V., Isaiah 28:25 , is not justified, as Hebrew nisman, found here, means \"put in its place\".\nMint ( Matthew 23:23 ; Luke 11:42 ). Various species are found in Palestine: Mentha sylvestris, the horse-mint, with its variety M. viridis, the spear-mint, grow everywhere; M. sativa, the garden-mint, is cultivated in all gardens; M. piperita, the peppermint, M. aquatica, the water-mint, M. pulegium, the pennyroyal, are also found in abundance. Mint is not mentioned in the Law among tithable things, but the Pharisaic opinion subjecting to tithe all edibles acquired force of law.\nMulberry, Hebrew beka’ im (A. V., 2 Samuel 5:23-4 ; 1 Chronicles 14:14-5 ; D. V. \"pear tree\"), a tree, two species of which are cultivated in Palestine: Morus alba, M. nigra. Neither this nor pear-tree is a likely translation; the context rather suggests a tree the leaves of which rustle like the aspen, Populus tremula. In D.V. Luke 17:6 , \"mulberry tree\" is probably a good translation.\nMustard. Several kinds of mustard-plant grow in the Holy Land, either wild, as the charlock, Sinapis arvensis, and the white mustard, S. Alba, or cultivated, as S. nigra, which last seems the one intended in the Gospel. Our Lord compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed ( Matthew 13:31-2 ), a familiar term to mean the tiniest thing possible (cf. Talmud Jerus. Peah, 7; T. Babyl. Kethub., iiib), \"which a man … sowed in his field\" and which \"when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs\"; the mustard tree attains in Palestine a height of ten feet and is a favourite resort of linnets and finches.\nMyrrh translates two Heb. words: (1) mor (cf. Arab . morr), the aromatic resin produced by Balsamodendron myrrha, Nees, which grows in Arabia and subtropical east Africa, was extensively used among the ancients, not only as a perfume ( Exodus 30:23 ; Psalm 44:9 ; Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 1:12 ; 5:5 ), but also for embalming ( John 19:39 ) and as an anodyne (Mark, xv, 23; (2) lot, see Ladanum .\nMyrtle, Hebrew hadas ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 55:13 ; Zechariah 1:8, 10, 11 ), Myrtus communis, Arab . hadas, an evergreen shrub especially prized for its fragrant leaves, and found in great abundance in certain districts of Palestine. Its height is usually three to four feet, attaining to eight feet in moist soil, and a variety cultivated in Damascus reaches up ten to twelve feet; hence an erroneous translation in almost all the above Scriptural passages.\nNard, pistic (R.V. margin, Mark 14:3 ). See Spikenard .\nNettles translates two Heb. words: (1) kharul, plur. kharulim (A. V., Job 30:7 ; D. V. \"briers\"; Zephaniah 2:9 ; Proverbs 24:31 ; D. V. \"thorns\"), see Bramble ; (2) qimmosh, qimmeshonim ( Proverbs 24:31 ; A. V. \"thorns\"; Isaiah 34:13 ; Hosea 9:6 ): correctly rendered \"nettles\" (Urtica urens, U. dioica, U. pilulifera, U. membranacea, Poir.), which are found everywhere on neglected patches, whilst the deserts abound with Forskahlea tenacissima, a plant akin to the Urtica.\nNut, equivalent of two Heb. words: (1) ’egoz (Cant., vi, 10), Arab . jauz, the walnut tree, universally cultivated in the East; (2) botnim (A. V., Genesis 43:11 ), probably the pistachio nut, Arab . butm. See Pistachio .\nOak, Hebrew ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon, ’allah, ’alon are thus indiscriminately translated. From Osee iv, 13, and Isaiah 6:13 , it appears that the ’elah is different from the ’allon; in fact, ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon, are understood by some to be the terebinth ’allah and ’allon representing the oak. The genus Quercus is largely represented in Palestine and Syria , as to the number of individuals and species, seven of which have been found: (1) Quercus robur is represented by two varieties: Q. cedrorum and Q. pinnatifida; (2) Q. infectoria; (3) Q. ilex; (4) Q. coccifera, or holm oak, of which there are three varieties: Q. calliprinos, Q. palestina, and Q. pseudo- coccifera, this latter, a prickly evergreen oak with leaves like very small holly, most common in the land, especially as brushwood; (5) Q. cerris; (6) Q. ægylops, the Valonia oak, also very common and of which two varieties are known: Q. ithaburensis and Q . look, Ky.; (7) Q. libani, Oliv.\nOil tree, Hebrew ’es shemen ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 1 Kings 6:23, 31-3 ; III Esdras 8:15), the olive-tree in D. V., the oleaster in R. V., and variously rendered in A. V.: \"oil tree\", \"olive tree\" and \"pine\". To meet the requirements of the different passages where the ’es shemen is mentioned, it must be a fat tree, producing oil or resin, an emblem of fertility, capable of furnishing a block of wood out of which an image ten feet high may be carved, it must grow in mountains near Jerusalem , and have a dense foliage. Wild olive, oleaster, Elæagnus angustifolius (Arab., haleph), Balanites ægyptiaca, Del. (Arab. zaqqum), are therefore excluded; some kind of pine is probably meant.\nOlive tree, Olea europæa, one of the most characteristic trees of the Mediterranean region, and universally cultivated in the Holy Land. Scriptural allusions to it are very numerous, and the ruins of oil-presses manifest the extensive use of its enormous produce: olives, the husbandman's only relish; oil which serves as food, medicine, unguent, and fuel for lamps; finally candles and soap. The olive tree was considered the symbol of fruitfulness, blessing, and happiness , the emblem of peace and prosperity.\nOlive, Wild ( Romans 11:17, 24 ), not the oleaster, Elæagnus angustifolia, common throughout Palestine, but the seedling of the olive, on which the Olea europæa is grafted.\nOnion, Hebrew beçalim ( Numbers 11:5 ), Allium cepa, universally cultivated and forming an important and favourite article of diet in the East. Successes in America were immediately owing to the vigorous exertions and prowess of the Irish immigrants who bore arms in that cause\" (Historical Review of the State of Ireland , II, 178). The historians Marmion and Gordon write to the same effect.\nPalm tree, Hebrew thamar ( Exodus 15:27 ), tomer ( Judges 4:5 ), Phænix dactylifera, the date palm. The palm tree flourishes now only in the maritime plain, but the Jordan Valley, Engaddi, Mount Olivet, and many other localities were renowned in antiquity for their palm groves. In fact, the abundance of palm trees in certain places suggested their names: Phœnicia (from Greek phoîniks), Engaddi, formerly named Hazazon Thamar, i.e. \"Palm grove\", Jericho , surnamed \"the City of Palm trees\", Bethany, \"the house of dates\", are among the best known. Dates are a staple article of food among the Bedouins; unlike figs, they are not dried into compressed cakes, but separately; date wine was known throughout the East and is still made in a few places; date honey ( Hebrew debash; cf. Arab . dibs) has always been one of the favourite sweetmeats of the Orientals. There are many allusions in Scripture to palm trees, which are also prominent in architectural ornamentation (Hebrew timmorah, 1 Kings 6:29 ).\nPaper reed, Hebrew aroth (A. V., Isaiah 19:7 ) preferably rendered \"the channel of the river\" (D. V.), as the allusion seems to be to the meadows on the banks of the Nile.\nPear tree. See Mulberry .\nPen, in Psalm 44:2 and Jeremiah 8:8 , is probably the stalk of Arundo donax, which the ancients used for writing, as do also the modern Orientals.\nPeppermint. See Mint .\nPine tree translates the Hebrew words: (1) ’oren ( Isaiah 44:14 ; A.V. \"ash\", possibly Pinus pinea; (2) thidhar ( Isaiah 60:13 ; Isaiah 41:19 ; D.V. \"elm\"), the elm rather than pine.\nPistachio, Hebrew botnim ( Genesis 43:11 ), probably refers to the nut-fruits of Pistacia vera, very common in Palestine; yet Arab. butm is applied to Pistacia terebinthus.\nPlane tree, Hebrew armon ( Genesis 30:37 ; Ezekiel 31:8 ; A. V. \"chestnut tree\"; Sirach 24:19 ). Platanus orientalis, found throughout the East, fulfills well the condition implied in the Heb. name (\"peeled\"), as the outer layers of its bark peel off. A. V. translation is erroneous , for the chestnut tree does not flourish either in Mesopotamia or Palestine.\nPomegranate, the fruit of Punica granatum, a great favourite in the Orient, and very plentiful in Palestine, hence the many allusions to it in the Bible . Pomegranates were frequently taken as a model of ornamentation; several places of the Holy Land were named after the tree (Heb., rimmon): Rimmon, Geth-Remmon, En-Rimmon, etc.\nPoplar, Hebrew libneh ( Genesis 30:37 ; Hosea 4:13 ). Arab. lubna, Styrax officinalis, certainly identified with the tree from the inner layer of whose bark the officinal storax is obtained.\nPoppy. See Gall .\nPulse renders two Heb. words: (1) qali occurs twice in 2 Samuel 17:28 , and is translated by \"parched corn\" and \"pulse\"; the allusion is to cereals, the seeds of peas, beans, lentils, and the like, which, in the East, are roasted in the oven or toasted over the fire; (2) zero‘im, zero‘nim ( Daniel 1:12-16 ) refer to no special plants, but possibly to all edible summer vegetables.\nReed, a general word translating several Hebrew names of plants: ’agmon, gome, sûph (see Bulrush ) and qaneh (see Calamus ).\nRock-rose. See Ladanum .\nRose. (1) Hebrew khabbaççeleth (A. V., Song of Songs 2:1 ; Isaiah 35:1 ) is probably the narcissus (see Flower of the Field ). (2) Wis., ii, 8, seems to indicate the ordinary rose, though roses were known in Egypt only at the epoch of the Ptolemies. (3) The rose plant mentioned in Sirach 24:18 ; 39:17 , is rather the oleander, Nerium oleander, very abundant around Jericho , where it is doubtful whether roses ever flourished except in gardens, although seven different species of the genus Rosa grow in Palestine.\nRue ( Luke 11:42 ), probably Ruta chalepensis, slightly different from R. graveolens, the officinal one. St. Luke implies that Pharisees regarded the rue as subject to tithe , although it was not mentioned in the Law among tithable things ( Leviticus 27:30 ; Numbers 18:21 ; Deuteronomy 14:22 ). This opinion of some overstrict Rabbis did not prevail in the course of time , and the Talmud (Shebiith, ix, 1) distinctly excepts the rue from tithe .\nSea-purslain. See Mallows .\nSedge, Hebrew suph (D.V., Exodus 2:3 ), a generic name for rush. See Bulrush .\nSedge-bush, Heb. ’akhu ( Douay Version , Job 8:11 ; Genesis 41:2, 18 ; \"marshy places\"; A. V., \"meadow\") probably designates all kinds of green plants living in marshes (cf. Egypt . akhah), in particular Cyperus esculentus. See Flag .\nSetim wood, the gum arabic tree, Acacia Seyal, Del., which abounds in the oasis of the Sinaitic Peninsula and in the sultry Wadys about the Dead Sea. The wood is light, though hard and close-grained, of a fine orange-brown hue darkening with age, and was reputed incorruptible.\nShrub, Hebrew na’açuç ( Douay Version , Isaiah 7:19 ; 55:13 ), a particular kind of shrub, probably some jujube tree, either Zizyphus vulgaris, Lamentations , or Z. spina-christi, Willd.\nSpelt, A.V. and R.V. for kussemeth ( Ezekiel 4:9 ). See Fitches . R.V. for qeçakh ( Exodus 9:32 ; Isaiah 28:25 ). See Gith .\nSpices translates three Heb. words: (1) sammum, a generic word including galbanum onycha, the operculum of a strombus, and stacte; (2) basam, another generic term under which come myrrh, cinnamon, sweet cane, and cassia; (3) noko ’oth, possibly the same substance as Arab . noka’ath. See Astragalus .\nSpices, Aromatical ( 2 Kings 20:13 ; Isaiah 39:2 ), a mistranslation for \"precious things\". See Astragalus .\nSpikenard (A. V. Song of Songs 1:11-12 ; 4:14 ; Mark 14:3 ; John 12:3 ), a fragrant essential oil obtained from the root of Nardostachys jatamansi, D. C., a small herbaceous plant of the Himalayas, which is exported all over the East, and was known even to the Romans; the perfume obtained from it was very expensive.\nStorax. (1) Genesis 43:11 : see Astragalus ; (2) Ecclesiasticus 24:21 : see Poplar ; Stacte (1).\nSweet cane. See Cane .\nSycamine (A. V., Luke 17:6 ; D. V. \"mulberry tree\"). As St. Luke distinguishes sukáminos (here) from sukomoréa (xix, 4), they probably differ; sukaminos is admitted by scholars to be the black mulberry, Morus nigra.\nSycamore or Sycomore, Hebrew shiqmim or shiqmoth ( 1 Kings 10:27 ; Psalm 77:47 , \"mulberry\"; Isaiah 9:10 ; A. V. Amos 7:14 ), not the tree commonly called by that name, Acer pseudo-platanus, but Ficus sycomorus, formerly more plentiful in Palestine.\nTamarisk, Hebrew ’eshel ( Genesis 21:33 ; \"grove\"; 1 Samuel 22:6 ; 31:13 ; D.V. \"wood\", A.V. \"tree\"), Arab. ’athl, a tree of which eight or nine species grow in Palestine.\nTeil tree (A.V., Isaiah 6:13 ), a mistranslation of Hebrew ’elah, which is probably the terebinth.\nTerebinth ( Douay Version , Isaiah 6:13 ), Pistacia terebinthus, the turpentine tree, for Hebrew ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon (see Oak ); it grows in dry localities of south and eastern Palestine where the oak cannot thrive. The turpentine, different from that of the pine trees, is a kind of pleasant-smelling oil, obtained by making incisions in the bark, and is widely used in the East to flavour wine, sweet-meats, etc.\nThistles, or numerous prickly plants, are one of the special features of the flora of the Holy Land; hence they are designated by various Hebrew words, inconsistently translated by the versions, where guess-work seems occasionally to have been employed although the general meaning is certain: (1) barqanim, see Briers ; (2) dardar, Arab . shaukat ed-dardar, possibly Centaureas, star-thistles and knapweeds; (3) khedeq, see Mad-apple ; (4) khoakh (see Bur ), a plant, which grows amidst ruins ( Isaiah 24:13 ), in fallow-lands ( Hosea 9:6 ), with lilies (Cant., ii, 2), and in fallow fields where it is harmful to corn ( Job 31:40 ), all which features suit well the various kinds of thistles (Carduus pycnocephalus, C. argentatus, Circium lanceolatum, C. arvense, Attractilis comosa, Carthamus oxyacantha, Scolymus maculatus), most abundant in Palestine; (5) sirim, the various star-thistles, or perhaps the thorny burnet, plentiful in ruins; (6) sirpal, from the Greek rendering, probably the elecampane, Inula viscosa, common on the hills of the Holy Land; (7) qimmeshonim, see Nettles ; (8) shayith and (9) shamir, see Briers .\nThorns, used in the English Bibles to designate plants like thistles, also includes thorny plants, such as (1) ’atal, see Bramble ; (2) mesukah, the general name given to a hedge of any kind of thorny shrubs; (3) na’açuç, see Shrub ; (4) sillôn (cf. Arab . sula), some kind of strong thorns; (5) sarabhim, tangled thorns forming thickets impossible to clear; (6) çinnim, an unidentified thorny plant; (7) qoç, a generic word for thorny bushes; (8) sikkim (cf. Arab . shauk), also a generic name.\nThyine wood, probably Thuya articulata, Desf., especially in Apocalypse 18:12 . See Algum .\nTurpentine tree. See Terebinth .\nVetches (D. V., Isaiah 28:25 ). See Fitches .\nVine, the ordinary grape-vine, Vitis vinifera, of which many varieties are cultivated and thrive in the Holy Land. In Old Testament times vine and wine were so important and popular that in it they are constantly mentioned and alluded to, and a relatively large vocabulary was devoted to expressing varieties of plants and produce. In Ezekiel 15:6 , Hebrew çafçafah is rendered \"vine\", see Willow .\nVine of Sodom ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ), possibly the well known shrub, \"Apple of Sodom\", Calotropis procera, Willd., which peculiar plant grows round the Dead Sea and produces a fruit of the size of an apple, and \"fair to behold\", which bursts when touched and contains only white silky tufts and small seeds, \"dust and ashes\" ( Josephus ).\nWater-mint. See Mint .\nWheat, from Hebrew bar and dagan, also translated \"corn\" and applicable to all cereals, is properly in Hebrew khittah (cf. Arab . khintah), of which two varieties are especially cultivated in Palestine: Triticum æstivum, summer wheat, and T. hybernum, winter wheat; the harvest takes place from May (Ghôr) to June (highlands). Corn is threshed by cattle or pressed out with a sledge, and winnowed with a shovel, by throwing the grain against the wind on threshing floors upon breezy hills.\nWheel ( Psalm 82:14 ) probably refers to some kind of Centaurea, as does \"whirlwind\" ( Isaiah 17:13 ).\nWillow. (1) Hebrew çafçafah (A. V., Ezekiel 17:5 ; D. V., \"vine\"), Arab . safsaf, probably willow though some prefer Elægnus khortensis, Marsh., from Arab . zaizafun. (2) Hebrew ’arabim ( Leviticus 23:40 ; Job 40:17 ; Psalm 136:2 ; Isaiah 44:4 ), like Arab . gharab, hence the willow. ’Arabim, used only in the plur., probably designates all willows in general (Salix safsaf, S. alba, S. Fragilis, S. babylonica, or weeping willow, are frequent in the Palestinian Wadys), whereas çafçafah may point out some particular species possibly the weeping willow.\nWormwood, Hebrew la’anah ( Revelation 8:11 ), plants of the genus Artemisia, several species of which (A. monosperma, Del., A. herba-alba, Asso., A. judaica, A. annua, A. arborescens) are common in Palestine, notably on tablelands and in deserts . The characteristic bitterness of the Artemisias, coupled with their usual dreariness of habitat, aptly typified for Eastern minds calamity, injustice , and the evil results of sin .","Sacred Places: Trees and the Sacred - Art History Resources\nTREES AND THE SACRED. ... Perhaps the most famous grove, of plane-trees, was that ... while the Dryads were forest nymphs who guarded the trees. Sometimes armed ...\nSacred Places: Trees and the Sacred\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n© 1998 (text only) Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe\nAn exploration of how and why places become invested with SACREDNESS and how the SACRED is embodied or made manifest through ART and ARCHITECTURE\nTREES AND THE SACRED\nFrom the earliest times, trees have been the focus of religious life for many peoples around the world. As the largest plant on earth, the tree has been a major source of stimulation to the mythic imagination. Trees have been invested in all cultures with a dignity unique to their own nature, and tree cults, in which a single tree or a grove of trees is worshipped, have flourished at different times almost everywhere. Even today there are sacred woods in India and Japan, just as there were in pre-Christian Europe. An elaborate mythology of trees exists across a broad range of ancient cultures.\nThere is little evidence in the archaeological record of tree worship in the prehistoric world, though the existence of totems carved from wood that may have held a sacred significance is suggested by the pole topped with a bird's body and head which appears next to the bird-headed, ithyphallic male figure in the so-called well scene at Lascaux.\nIn the early historical period, however, there is considerable evidence that trees held a special significance in the cultures of the ancient world. In Ancient Egypt, several types of trees appear in Egyptian mythology and art, although the hieroglyph written to signify tree appears to represent the sycamore (nehet) in particular. The sycamore carried special mythical significance. According to the Book of Dead, twin sycamores stood at the eastern gate of heaven from which the sun god Re emerged each morning. The sycamore was also regarded as a manifestation of the goddesses Nut, Isis, and especially of Hathor, who was given the epithet Lady of the Sycamore. Sycamores were often planted near tombs, and burial in coffins made of sycamore wood returned the dead person to the womb of the mother tree goddess.\nThe ished, which may be identified as the Persea, a fruit-bearing deciduous tree (and which, incidentally, Pausanias [ V, 14. 4 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes as a tree that loves no water but the water of the Nile) had a solar significance. Another tree, the willow (tcheret) was sacred to Osiris; it was the willow which sheltered his body after he was killed. Many towns in Egypt with tombs in which a part of the dismembered Osiris was believed to be buried had groves of willows associated with them.\nThe terraces of the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-bahari (c. 1480 BCE) were planted with myrrh trees [1. the Temple of Hatshepsut ]. While the inner sanctuary is located inside the cliff [cf. The Sacred Cave ], the temple's outer sanctuary of terraced gardens recreated the Paradise of Amon, an earthly palace for the Sun-god in imitation of the myrrh terraces of Punt, which was the legendary homeland of the gods. A special expedition to Punt -- probably at the southern end of the Red Sea -- was organized by Hatshepsut's architect and councillor, Senmut, to get the myrrh trees. Besides the terraced gardens of myrrh trees, two sacred Persea trees stood before the now vanished portal in the wall of the entrance forecourt, while palm trees were planted inside the first court [see Earl Baldwin Smith in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nIn perhaps a similar fashion, it is believed the ramped terraces of the Mesopotamian ziggurats [cf. The Sacred Mountain ] were also planted with trees, and sacred trees were the principal feature of the so-called Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world.\nIn the desert environments of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia trees, and especially fruit trees, assumed a special importance. The head dress worn by one of the women buried in the tomb of Queen Pu'abi at the Sumerian site of Ur (c. 2500 BCE) includes in the elaborate decoration clusters of gold pomegranates, three fruits hanging together shielded by their leaves, together with the branches of some other tree with golden stems and fruit or pods of gold and carnelian. [see P. R. S. Moorey in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]\nIn Egypt, the evergreen date palm was a sacred tree, and a palm branch was the symbol of the god Heh, the personification of eternity. For later cultures, the palm branch also served as an emblem of fecundity and victory. For Christians, the palm branch is a symbol of Christ's victory over death. It also signified immortality and divine blessings and is often seen as an attribute of Christian martyrs. It also denotes particular Christian saints such Paul the Hermit and Christopher, as well as the Archangel Michael. The palm tree is also a symbol of the garden of paradise.\nTrees also figure prominently in the culture and mythology of Ancient Greece. Pausanias [see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes the sacred groves of Aesculapius at Epidaurus (II, 27. 1), of Argus in Laconia (III, 4. 1), and a sacred grove of plane-trees at Lerna (II, 38, 1, 2, 8). In the land of Colophon in Ionia was a grove of ash-trees sacred to Apollo (VII, 5. 10), and a sacred grove at Lycosura included an olive-tree and an evergreen oak growing from the same root (VIII, 37. 10). Perhaps the most famous grove, of plane-trees, was that sacred to Zeus, known as the Altis, at Olympia (V, 27. 1, 11).\nThe oak tree was also sacred to Zeus, especially the tree at the sanctuary of Zeus in Dodona which also served as an oracle; it would seem the rustling of the leaves was regarded as the voice of Zeus and the sounds interpreted by priestesses. The oak was also sacred to Pan [see Pausanias BIBLIOGRAPHY ], while the myrtle-tree was sacred to Aphrodite. In the Pandrosium near the temple known as the Erechtheum (421-405 BCE) on the Athenian Acropolis , besides many other signs and remains of Athens' mythical past -- a salt-water well [cf. Water and the Sacred ] and a mark in the shape of Poseidon's trident in a rock -- could also be seen a living olive tree sacred to the goddess Athena.\nAn olive tree growing today outside the Erechtheum\nIn several Greek myths, women and men are frequently transformed into trees: Atys into a pine tree, Smilax into a yew, and Daphne into the laurel, which was sacred to Apollo.\nIn numerous cases the spirit of trees is personified, usually in female form. In Ancient Greece, the Alseids were nymphs associated with groves (alsos, grove), while the Dryads were forest nymphs who guarded the trees. Sometimes armed with an axe, Dryads would punish anyone harming the trees. Crowned with oak-leaves, they would dance around the sacred oaks. The Hamadryads were even more closely associated with trees, forming an integral part of them. In India, tree nymphs appear in the form of the voluptuous Vrikshaka.\nIn Ancient Rome, a fig-tree sacred to Romulus grew near the Forum, and a sacred cornel-tree grew of the slope of the Palatine Hill. Sacred groves were also found in the city of Rome. In Book 8 of The Aeneid, Virgil relates that:\nNext after this he shows the spacious grove\nWhich fiery Romulus the Refuge named,\nAnd 'neath its cool cliff called the Lupercal\nBy Arcad custom of Lycaean Pan,\nPoints too to sacred Argiletum's grove\n[and on the Capitoline Hill...]\nThe place with its dread sanctity was wont\nTo awe the frightened rustics; even then\nThey trembled at its wood and at its rock\nThis grove, said he, this hill with leafy crest\nA god inhabits -- who that god may be,\nIs all in doubt; Arcadians believe\nThat they themselves Jove oftentimes have seen...\nAccording to the Roman authors Lucan and Pomponius Mela, the Celts of Gaul worshipped in groves of trees, a practice which Tacitus and Dio Cassius say was also found among the Celts in Britain. The Romans used the Celtic word nemeton for these sacred groves. A sacred oak grove in Galatia (Asia Minor), for example, was called Drunemeton (Strabo, Geographica, XII, 5, 1). The word was also incorporated into many of the names of towns and forts, such as Vernemeton near Leicester in England.\nThe names of certain Celtic tribes in Gaul reflect the veneration of trees, such as Euburones (the Yew tribe), and the Lemovices (the people of the elm). A tree trunk or a whole tree was frequently included among the votive offerings placed in ritual pits or shafts dug into the ground. Others shafts had a wooden pole placed at the bottom. The Celts believed trees to be sources of sacred wisdom, and the hazel in particular was associated with wisdom by the Druids.\nPerhaps not surprisingly, trees appear at the foundations of many of the world's religions. Because of their relative rarity in the Near East, trees are regarded in the Bible as something almost sacred and are used to symbolize longevity, strength, and pride. Elements of pagan tree cults and worship have survived into Judeo-Christian theology. In Genesis, two trees -- the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -- grow at the centre of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). Scriptural and apocryphal traditions regarding the Tree of Life later merge in Christianity with the cult of the cross [cf. Sacred Shapes and Symbols ] to produce the Tree of the Cross. The fantastic Story of the True Cross identifies the wood used for the cross in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as being ultimately from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. Other stories claim that Adam was buried at Jerusalem and three trees grew out of his mouth to mark the centre of the earth [see F. Kampers in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nIn the Old Testament, trees are also associated with the ancient Canaanite religion devoted to the mother goddess Asherah which the Israelites, intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, saught to suppress and replace. The cult Asherah and her consort Baal was evidently celebrated in high places, on the tops of hills and mountains [cf. The Sacred Mountain ], where altars dedicated to Baal and carved wooden poles or statues of Asherah (or the Asherahs; in the past Asherah has also been translated as grove, or wood, or tree) were evidently located. In Deuteronomy 12:2, the Israelites are directed to \"to destroy all the places, wherein the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree; you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire.\"\nIn Ancient Assyria, contemporary with the ziggurats, trees, fruit trees especially, were associated with fertility. The significance of trees in Ancient Assyria is shown in the numerous reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees. Sacred trees, or trees of life, were associated in Ancient Assyria with the worship of the god Enlil.\nSome trees become sacred through what may have occurred in their proximity. It was under a pipal tree that Siddhartha Gautama (born 566 BCE) meditated until he attained enlightenment (Nirvana) and became the Buddha. The Bodhi or Bo (Enlightenment) tree is now the centre of a major Buddhist sacred shrine known as Bodh Gaya .\nFor the ancient Celts, the Yew tree was a symbol of immortality, and holy trees elsewhere functioned as symbols of renewal [see Brosse in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. A tree scarred by lightning was identified as a tree of life, and, according to Pliny [see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] the Celtic Druids believed that mistletoe grew in places which had been struck by lightning. The Druids performed rituals and ceremonies in groves of sacred oak trees, and believed that the interior of the oak was the abode of the dead. In India, it is believed that the Brahma Daitya, the ghosts of brahmans, live in the fig trees, the pipal (ficus religiosa), or the banyan (ficus indica), awaiting liberation or reincarnarnation. Among the eight or so species of tree considered sacred in India, these two varieties of fig are the most highly venerated.\nThe identification of sacred trees as symbols of renewal is widespread. In China, the Tree of Life, the Kien-Luen, grows on the slopes of Kuen-Luen, while the Moslem Lote tree marks the boundary between the human and the divine. From the four boughs of the Buddhist Tree of Wisdom flow the rivers of life. The great ash tree Yggdrasil of Nordic myth connects with its roots and boughs the underworld and heaven.\nIn Japan, trees such as the cryptomeria are venerated at Shinto shrines. Especially sacred is the sakaki, a branch from which stuck upright in the ground is represented by the shin-no-mihashira, or sacred central post, over and around which the wooden Shrines at Ise are built. The shin-no-mihashira is both the sakaki branch and the pillar confirmed in the nethermost ground, like the heaven-tree in many Japanese legends.\nSacred forests still exist in India and in Bali, Indonesia. The holy forests in Bali are annexed to temples that may or may not be enclosed in it, such as the Holy Forest at Sangeh [see Vannucci in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. The general feeling of respect and veneration for trees in India has produced a great variety of tree myths and traditions.\nOne of the Five Trees in Indra's paradise (svarga-loka), which is located at the centre of the earth, is the mythic abundance-granting kalpa-vriksha. An image of the kalpa-vriksha carved in sandstone in Besnagar in Central India may originally have stood as an emblem capital on top of a monolithic pillar or stambha, possibly one of the 36 or so pillars erected by the Buddhist emperor Asoka (268-232 BCE). The pillars has been interpreted as replicas of the axis mundi [see John Irwin in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. The stone kalpa-vriksha capping the pillar may therefore be identified as the Cosmic Tree or world-tree, an emblematic variation of the symbolism of the stambha as axis mundi [see Jan Pieper in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nSingle pillars made of tree trunks called Irmensul ('giant column') representing the 'tree of the universe' were set up on hilltops by some German tribes. A highly venerated Irmensul in what is now Westphalia was cut down by the Christianizing Charlemagne in 772.\nWith the encouragement of Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the 6th century CE, a common practice among proselytizing Christians was to graft Christian theology onto pre-existing pagan rites and sacred places [see Flint in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. In the case of pagan tree cults, this may initially involve the destruction of the sacred grove or the cutting down of a sacred tree. However, it would appear that frequently a church would be built on the same site, thereby co-opting it in the service of Christian conversion. The process effectively Christianized the sacred powers or energies of the original site. Examples of this include the medieval Gothic cathedral of Chartres , which was built on a site which was once sacred to the Celtic Druids (acorns, oak twigs, and tree idols in the scultural decorations on the South Portal of the cathedral may allude to the original Druidic oak grove: [see Anderson in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]). And before the Druids, during the Neolithic period, the same site may have been a sacred burial mound.\nTrees and Architecture\nThe Egyptian temple was conceived essentially as a stone model of the creation landscape. The orders of columns, however, were designed not as direct representations of plant life (the palm, lotus, and papyrus bundle), but as stone reproductions of idealized landscape features.\nEgyptian palm-leaf capital\nThe palmiform column, for example, which appears already fully developed by the 5th Dynasty (2465 - 2323 BCE) and used constantly for the next 2000 years, shows the palm tree as a circular column as if it were the trunk of a palm tree with the topmost section ornamented with palm leaves shown as if tied with a thong around the column.\nA famous passage in Vitruvius [see Vitruvius in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes the origin of columns in Greek and Roman architecture (cf. the temples on the Athenian Acropolis ) as derived from tree trunks, a not entirely fanciful explanation given both the tree-like tapering of the classical column (even the flutes may be stylized representations of ribbed tree bark), and the belief that stone temples in ancient Greece were based upon earlier types made of wood. It is known for a fact that the Temple of Hera at Olympia originally had columns of oak, two of which (the others having having been replaced by stone columns as they wore out) were still in place when Pausanias visited Olympia in the 2nd century CE [Pausanias, V, 16. 1 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nThe classical column as a tree trunk\nillustration in Philibert de l'Orme's Le Premier Tome de l'Architecture, 1567\nA similar architectural tradition identifies the origin of Gothic pointed arches and vaults in the interlacing of tree branches, and likens the view down the nave of a Gothic cathedral to a path through a wood of tall overarching trees. The suggestion can be made that the arches and vaulting of Chartres Cathedral may deliberately resemble the path to the sacred grove that stood on the original site, with the crossing of the church symbolizing, or perhaps actually located at, the central clearing in the grove where Druidic rituals formerly took place.","Taraxacum.txt\nTaraxacum\nTaraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae and consists of species commonly known as dandelion. They are native to Eurasia and North America, but the two commonplace species worldwide, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, were imports from Europe that now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion ( , from French dent-de-lion, meaning \"lion's tooth\") is given to members of the genus. Like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant. \n\nDescription\n\nThe species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted, perennial, herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus contains many species which usually (or in the case of triploids, obligately) reproduce by apomixis, resulting in many local populations and endemism. In the British Isles alone, 234 microspecies are recognised in 9 loosely defined sections, of which 40 are \"probably endemic\".\n\nIn general, the leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple, lobed, and form a basal rosette above the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange coloured, and are open in the daytime, but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) that is usually leafless and rises 1–10 cm or more above the leaves. Stems and leaves exude a white, milky latex when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in diameter and consist entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into spherical seed heads called blowballs or clocks (in both British and American English) containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to a pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances.\n\nThe flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse. The outer bracts are often reflexed downward, but remain appressed in plants of the sections Palustria and Spectabilia. Some species drop the parachute from the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals. Between the pappus and the achene is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from the parachute.\n\nSeed dispersal\n\n \nA number of species of Taraxacum are seed-dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize disturbed soil, especially the common dandelion (T. officinale), which has been introduced over much of the temperate world. After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head dries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex (curve backwards), and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere.\n\nFalse dandelions\n\nMany similar plants in the Asteraceae family with yellow flowers are sometimes known as false dandelions. Dandelions are very similar to catsears (Hypochaeris). Both plants carry similar flowers, which form into windborne seeds. However, dandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems, while catsear flowering stems are branched, solid, and carry bracts. Both plants have a basal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth or glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.\n\nEarly-flowering dandelions may be distinguished from coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) by their basal rosette of leaves, their lack of disc florets, and the absence of scales on the flowering stem.\n\nOther plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and hawksbeards (Crepis). These are readily distinguished by branched flowering stems, which are usually hairy and bear leaves.\n\nClassification\n\nThe genus is taxonomically complex, with some botanists dividing the group into about 34 macrospecies, and about 2000 microspecies; about 235 apomictic and polyploid microspecies have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland. Some botanists take a much narrower view and only accept a total of about 60 species.\n\nSelected species\n\n* Taraxacum albidum, a white-flowering Japanese dandelion\n* Taraxacum aphrogenes, Paphos dandelion\n* Taraxacum brevicorniculatum, frequently misidentified as Taraxacum kok-saghyz, and a poor rubber producer\n* Taraxacum californicum, the endangered California dandelion\n* Taraxacum centrasiaticum, the Xinjiang dandelion\n* Taraxacum ceratophorum, northern dandelion \n* Taraxacum erythrospermum, often considered a variety of T. laevigatum \n* Taraxacum farinosum, Turkish dandelion\n* Taraxacum holmboei, Troödos dandelion\n* Taraxacum japonicum, Japanese dandelion, no ring of smallish, downward-turned leaves under the flowerhead\n* Taraxacum kok-saghyz, Russian dandelion, which produces rubber \n* Taraxacum laevigatum, red-seeded dandelion, achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply cut throughout length, inner bracts' tips are hooded\n* Taraxacum mirabile\n* Taraxacum officinale (syn. T. officinale subsp. vulgare), common dandelion. Found in many forms.\n* Taraxacum pankhurstianum\n* Taraxacum platycarpum, the Korean dandelion\n\nCultivars\n\n*'Amélioré à Coeur Plein' yields an abundant crop without taking up much ground, and tends to blanch itself naturally, due to its clumping growth habit.\n*'Broad-leaved' - The leaves are thick and tender and easily blanched. In rich soils, they can be up to 60 cm wide. Plants do not go to seed as quickly as French types.\n*'Vert de Montmagny' is a large-leaved, vigorous grower, which matures early. \n\nHistory\n\nDandelions are thought to have evolved about 30 million years ago in Eurasia. They have been used by humans for food and as an herb for much of recorded history.\n\nNames\n\nThe Latin name Taraxacum originates in medieval Persian writings on pharmacy. The Persian scientist Al-Razi around 900 AD wrote \"the tarashaquq is like chicory\". The Persian scientist and philosopher Ibn Sīnā around 1000 AD wrote a book chapter on Taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Latin around 1170, spelled it tarasacon. \n\nThe English name, dandelion, is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning \"lion's tooth\", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The plant is also known as blowball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, witch's gowan, milk witch, lion's-tooth, yellow-gowan, Irish daisy, monks-head, priest's-crown, and puff-ball; other common names include faceclock, pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, \nswine's snout, white endive, and wild endive. \n\nThe English folk name \"piss-a-bed\" (and indeed the equivalent contemporary French ') refers to the strong diuretic effect of the plant's roots. In various northeastern Italian dialects, the plant is known as pisacan (\"dog pisses\"), because they are found at the side of pavements. \n\nIn Swedish, it is called maskros (worm rose) after the small insects (thrips) usually present in the flowers. In Finnish and Estonian, the names (voikukka, võilill) translate as butter flower, due to the color of the flower. In Lithuanian, it is known as \"Pienė\", meaning \"milky\", because of the white liquid that is produced when the stems are cut. The Welsh (dant-y-llew), German (Löwenzahn) and Norwegian (løvetann) names mean the same as the French and the English names.\n\nProperties\n\nEdibility\n\nDandelions are found on all continents and have been gathered for food since prehistory, but the varieties cultivated for consumption are mainly native to Eurasia. A perennial plant, its leaves will grow back if the taproot is left intact. To make leaves more palatable, they are often blanched to remove bitterness, or sauteed in the same way as spinach. Dandelion leaves and buds have been a part of traditional Kashmiri, Slovenian, Sephardic, Chinese, and Korean cuisines. In Crete, the leaves of a variety called 'Mari' (Μαρί), 'Mariaki' (Μαριάκι), or 'Koproradiko' (Κοπροράδικο) are eaten by locals, either raw or boiled, in salads. T. megalorhizon, a species endemic to Crete, is eaten in the same way; it is found only at high altitudes (1000 to 1600 m) and in fallow sites, and is called pentaramia (πενταράμια) or agrioradiko (αγριοράδικο). \n\nThe flower petals, along with other ingredients, usually including citrus, are used to make dandelion wine. The ground, roasted roots can be used as a caffeine-free dandelion coffee. Dandelion was also traditionally used to make the traditional British soft drink dandelion and burdock, and is one of the ingredients of root beer. Also, dandelions were once delicacies eaten by the Victorian gentry, mostly in salads and sandwiches.\n\nDandelion leaves contain abundant vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C, and K, and are good sources of calcium, potassium, iron, and manganese. \n\nMedicinal uses\n\nHistorically, dandelion was prized for a variety of medicinal properties, and it contains a number of pharmacologically active compounds. Dandelion is used as a herbal remedy in Europe, North America, and China. It has been used in herbal medicine to treat infections, bile and liver problems, and as a diuretic.\n\nFood for wildlife\n\nTaraxacum seeds are an important food source for certain birds. \n\nDandelions are also important plants for Northern Hemisphere bees, providing an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season. Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). They are also used as a source of nectar by the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), one of the earliest emerging butterflies in the spring.\n\nBenefits to gardeners\n\nThe dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good companion plant for gardening. Its taproot will bring up nutrients for shallower-rooting plants, and add minerals and nitrogen to soil. It is also known to attract pollinating insects and release ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen. \n\nCultural importance\n\nFour dandelion flowers are the emblem of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The citizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festival.\n\nThe dandelion is the official flower of the University of Rochester and \"Dandelion Yellow\" is one of the school's official colors. \"The Dandelion Yellow\" is an official University of Rochester song. \n\nDangers\n\nDandelion pollen may cause allergic reactions when eaten, or adverse skin reactions in sensitive individuals. Contact dermatitis after handling has also been reported, probably from the latex in the stems and leaves. Due to its high potassium level, dandelion can also increase the risk of hyperkalemia when taken with potassium-sparing diuretics. \n\nAs a noxious weed\n\nThe species T. officinale is listed as a noxious weed in some jurisdictions, and is considered to be a nuisance in residential and recreational lawns in North America. It is also an important weed in agriculture and causes significant economic damage because of its infestation in many crops worldwide.\n\nAs source of natural rubber\n\nDandelions secrete latex when the tissues are cut or broken, yet in the wild type, the latex content is low and varies greatly. Using modern cultivation methods and optimization techniques, scientists in the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) in Germany developed a cultivar that is suitable for commercial production of natural rubber. The latex produced exhibits the same quality as the natural rubber from rubber trees. In collaboration with Continental Tires, IME is building a pilot facility. As of May 2014, the first prototype test tires made with blends from dandelion-rubber are scheduled to be tested on public roads over the next few years.","Arecaceae.txt\nArecaceae\nThe Arecaceae are a botanical family of perennial climbers, shrubs, acaules and trees commonly known as palm trees. (Owing to historical usage, the family is alternatively called Palmae.) They are flowering plants, a family in the monocot order Arecales. Currently 181 genera with around 2600 species are known, most of them restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.\n\nPalms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms, and palms are also widely used in landscaping, making them one of the most economically important plants. In many historical cultures, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, and fertility. For inhabitants of cooler climates today, palms symbolize the tropics and vacations. \n\nMorphology\n\nWhether as shrubs, trees, or vines, palms have two methods of growth: solitary or clustered. The common representation is that of a solitary shoot ending in a crown of leaves. This monopodial character may be exhibited by prostrate, trunkless, and trunk-forming members. Some common palms restricted to solitary growth include Washingtonia and Roystonea. Palms may instead grow in sparse though dense clusters. The trunk develops an axillary bud at a leaf node, usually near the base, from which a new shoot emerges. The new shoot, in turn, produces an axillary bud and a clustering habit results. Exclusively sympodial genera include many of the rattans, Guihaia, and Rhapis. Several palm genera have both solitary and clustering members. Palms which are usually solitary may grow in clusters, and vice versa. These aberrations suggest the habit operates on a single gene.Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN 0-935868-30-5 / ISBN 978-0-935868-30-2\n\nPalms have large, evergreen leaves that are either palmately ('fan-leaved') or pinnately ('feather-leaved') compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. The leaves have a tubular sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity. The inflorescence is a spadix or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity. The flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and can be either uni- or bisexual. The sepals and petals usually number three each, and may be distinct or joined at the base. The stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base. The fruit is usually a single-seeded drupe (sometimes berry-like) but some genera (e.g. Salacca) may contain two or more seeds in each fruit.\n\nThe Arecaceae are notable among monocots for their height and for the size of their seeds, leaves, and inflorescences. Ceroxylon quindiuense, Colombia's national tree, is the tallest monocot in the world, reaching up to 60 m tall.[http://www.presidencia.gov.co/prensa_new/historia/patrios.htm :: Presidencia de la República de Colombia ::] The coco de mer (Lodoicea maldivica) has the largest seeds of any plant, 40–50 cm in diameter and weighing 15–30 kg each. Raffia palms (Raphia spp.) have the largest leaves of any plant, up to 25 m long and 3 m wide. The Corypha species have the largest inflorescence of any plant, up to 7.5 m tall and containing millions of small flowers. Calamus stems can reach 200 m in length.\n\nRange and habitat\n\nMost palms grow in the tropics and subtropics. They are abundant throughout the tropics\nand subtropics, and thrive in almost every habitat they are in. Their diversity is highest in wet, lowland forests, especially in ecological \"hotspots\" such as Madagascar, which has more endemic palms than all of Africa. Colombia may have the highest number of palm species in one country. Palms are most commonly seen throughout Africa, South America, the Arabian peninsula, South and Southeast Asia, northern Australia, the islands of tropical and subtropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S sunbelt including California, Florida, and Hawaii.\n\nOnly about 130 palm species naturally grow entirely beyond the tropics, mostly in the subtropical highlands and warm temperate lowlands. The northernmost native palm is Chamaerops humilis, which reaches 44°N latitude in southern France. The southernmost palm is the Rhopalostylis sapida, which reaches 44°S on the Chatham Islands where an oceanic climate prevails. Some palms, such as the Trachycarpus fortunei, grow well under cultivation in temperate climates, some at 50°N or even farther north in oceanic climates (Ireland, Scotland, England, Long Island and the Pacific Northwest, from Oregon to Vancouver).\n\nPalms inhabit a variety of ecosystems. More than two-thirds of palm species live in humid moist forests, where some species grow tall enough to form part of the canopy and shorter ones form part of the understory. Some species form pure stands in areas with poor drainage or regular flooding, including Raphia hookeri which is common in coastal freshwater swamps in West Africa. Other palms live in tropical mountain habitats above 1000 m, such as those in the genus Ceroxylon native to the Andes. Palms may also live in grasslands and scrublands, usually associated with a water source, and in desert oases such as the date palm. A few palms are adapted to extremely basic lime soils, while others are similarly adapted to extreme potassium deficiency and toxicity of heavy metals in serpentine soils.\n\nPalms are a monophyletic group of plants, meaning the group consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants. Extensive taxonomic research on palms began with botanist H.E. Moore, who organized palms into 15 major groups based mostly on general morphological characteristics. The following classification, proposed by N.W. Uhl and J. Dransfield in 1987, is a revision of Moore's classification that organizes palms into six subfamilies. \n\n* Coryphoideae\n* Calamoideae\n* Nypoideae\n* Ceroxyloideae\n* Arecoideae\n* Phytelephantoideae\n\nA few general traits of each subfamily are listed below.\n\nThe Coryphoideae are the most diverse subfamily, and are a paraphyletic group, meaning all members of the group share a common ancestor, but the group does not include all the ancestor's descendants. Most palms in this subfamily have palmately lobed leaves and solitary flowers with three, or sometimes four carpels. The fruit normally develops from only one carpel.\n\nSubfamily Calamoideae includes the climbing palms, such as rattans. The leaves are usually pinnate; derived characters (synapomorphies) include spines on various organs, organs specialized for climbing, an extension of the main stem of the leaf-bearing reflexed spines, and overlapping scales covering the fruit and ovary.\n\nSubfamily Nypoideae contains only one species, Nypa fruticans, which has large, pinnate leaves. The fruit is unusual in that it floats, and the stem is dichotomously branched, also unusual in palms.\n\nSubfamily Ceroxyloideae has small to medium-sized flowers, spirally arranged, with a gynoecium of three joined carpels.\n\nThe Arecoideae are the largest subfamily, with six diverse tribes (Areceae, Caryoteae, Cocoeae, Geonomeae, Iriarteeae, and Podococceae) containing over 100 genera. All tribes have pinnate or bipinnate leaves and flowers arranged in groups of three, with a central pistillate and two staminate flowers.\n\nThe Phytelephantoideae are a monoecious subfamily. Members of this group have distinct monopodial flower clusters. Other distinct features include a gynoecium with five to 10 joined carpels, and flowers with more than three parts per whorl. Fruits are multiple-seeded and have multiple parts.\n\nCurrently, few extensive phylogenetic studies of the Arecaceae exist. In 1997, Baker et al. explored subfamily and tribe relationships using chloroplast DNA from 60 genera from all subfamilies and tribes. The results strongly showed the Calamoideae are monophyletic, and Ceroxyloideae and Coryphoideae are paraphyletic. The relationships of Arecoideae are uncertain, but they are possibly related to the Ceroxyloideae and Phytelephantoideae. Studies have suggested the lack of a fully resolved hypothesis for the relationships within the family is due to a variety of factors, including difficulties in selecting appropriate outgroups, homoplasy in morphological character states, slow rates of molecular evolution important for the use of standard DNA markers, and character polarization. However, hybridization has been observed among Orbignya and Phoenix species, and using chloroplast DNA in cladistic studies may produce inaccurate results due to maternal inheritance of the chloroplast DNA. Chemical and molecular data from non-organelle DNA, for example, could be more effective for studying palm phylogeny. \n\nSelected genera\n\nSee list of Arecaceae genera arranged by taxonomic groups or by alphabetical order for a complete listing of genera.\n\n*Archontophoenix—Bangalow palm\n*Areca—Betel palm\n*Bactris—Pupunha\n*Beccariophoenix—Beccariophoenix alfredii\n*Bismarckia—Bismarck palm\n*Borassus—Palmyra palm, sugar palm, toddy palm\n*Calamus—Rattan palm\n*Cocos—Coconut\n*Copernicia—Carnauba wax palm\n*Corypha—Gebang palm, Buri palm or Talipot palm\n*Elaeis—Oil palm\n*Euterpe—Cabbage heart palm, açaí palm\n*Hyphaene—Doum palm\n*Jubaea—Chilean wine palm, Coquito palm\n*Latania—Latan palm\n*Livistona—Cabbage palm\n*Mauritia—Moriche palm\n*Metroxylon—Sago palm\n*Nypa—Nipa palm\n*Parajubaea—Bolivian coconut palms\n*Phoenix—Date palm\n*Phoenix sylvestris—Wild date palm\n*Raphia—Raffia palm\n*Roystonea—Royal palm\n*Sabal—Palmettos\n*Salacca—Salak\n*Syagrus—Queen palm\n*Trachycarpus—Windmill palm, Kumaon palm\n*Veitchia—Manila palm, Joannis palm\n*Washingtonia—Fan palm\n\nEvolution\n\nThe Arecaceae are the first modern family of monocots appearing in the fossil record around 80 million years ago (Mya), during the late Cretaceous period. The first modern species, such as Nypa fruticans and Acrocomia aculeata, appeared 94 Mya, confirmed by fossil Nypa pollen dated to 94 Mya. Palms appear to have undergone an early period of adaptive radiation. By 60 Mya, many of the modern, specialized genera of palms appeared and became widespread and common, much more widespread than their range today. Because palms separated from the monocots earlier than other families, they developed more intrafamilial specialization and diversity. By tracing back these diverse characteristics of palms to the basic structures of monocots, palms may be valuable in studying monocot evolution. Several species of palms have been identified from flowers preserved in amber, including Palaeoraphe dominicana and Roystonea palaea. Evidence can also be found in samples of petrified palmwood.\n\nUses\n\nHuman use of palms is as old or older than human civilization itself, starting with the cultivation of the date palm by Mesopotamians and other Middle Eastern peoples 5000 years or more ago. Date wood, pits for storing dates, and other remains of the date palm have been found in Mesopotamian sites. The date palm had a tremendous effect on the history of the Middle East. W.H. Barreveld wrote:\n\n\"One could go as far as to say that, had the date palm not existed, the expansion of the human race into the hot and barren parts of the \"old\" world would have been much more restricted. The date palm not only provided a concentrated energy food, which could be easily stored and carried along on long journeys across the deserts, it also created a more amenable habitat for the people to live in by providing shade and protection from the desert winds (Fig. 1). In addition, the date palm also yielded a variety of products for use in agricultural production and for domestic utensils, and practically all parts of the palm had a useful purpose.\"\n\nAn indication of the importance of palms in ancient times is that they are mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible, and at least 22 times in the Quran. \n\nArecaceae have great economic importance, including coconut products, oils, dates, palm syrup, ivory nuts, carnauba wax, rattan cane, raffia, and palm wood.\n\nAlong with dates mentioned above, members of the palm family with human uses are numerous.\n*The type member of Arecaceae is the areca palm, the fruit of which, the areca nut, is chewed with the betel leaf for intoxicating effects (Areca catechu).\n*Carnuba wax is harvested from the leaves of a Brazilian palm (Copernicia).\n*Rattans, whose stems are used extensively in furniture and baskets, are in the genus Calamus.\n*Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis.\n*Several species are harvested for heart of palm, a vegetable eaten in salads.\n*Sap of the nipa palm Nypa is used to make vinegar.\n*Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine or toddy, an alcoholic beverage common in parts of Africa, India, and the Philippines. It is also drunk, fresh, as neera, and is a refreshing drink that is consumed until sundown, after which it starts to ferment.\n*Palmyra and date palm sap is harvested in Bengal, India, to process into gur and jaggery.\n*Dragon's blood, a red resin used traditionally in medicine, varnish, and dyes, may be obtained from the fruit of Daemonorops species.\n*Coconut is the edible fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).\n*Coir is a coarse, water-resistant fiber extracted from the outer shell of coconuts, used in doormats, brushes, mattresses, and ropes. In India, beekeepers use coir in their bee smokers.\n*Some indigenous groups living in palm-rich areas use palms to make many of their necessary items and food. Sago, for example, a starch made from the pith of the trunk of the sago palm Metroxylon sagu, is a major staple food for lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas. This is not the same plant commonly used as a house plant and called \"sago palm\".\n*Palm wine is made from Jubaea also called Chilean wine palm, or coquito palm\n*Recently, the fruit of the açaí palm Euterpe has been used for its reputed health benefits.\n*Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is under investigation as a drug for treating enlarged prostates.\n*Palm leaves are also valuable to some peoples as a material for thatching, basketry, clothing, and in religious ceremonies (see \"Symbolism\" below).\n\n*Ornamental uses: Today, palms are valuable as ornamental plants and are often grown along streets in tropical and subtropical cities. Farther north, palms are a common feature in botanical gardens or as indoor plants. Few palms tolerate severe cold, however, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. The three most cold-tolerant species are Trachycarpus fortunei, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Sabal minor, both native to the southeastern United States.\n\nThe southeastern U.S. state of South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State after the sabal palmetto (cabbage palmetto), logs from which were used to build the fort at Fort Moultrie. During the American Revolutionary War, they were invaluable to those defending the fort, because their spongy wood absorbed or deflected the British cannonballs. The sabal palmetto is also the state tree of Florida.\nSome palms can be grown as far north as the United States' Mid-Atlantic, such as the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, southern Midwest, and even north along the Pacific coast to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, where ocean winds have a warming effect. Species of transplanted palms have even been known to have survived as far north as Devon. The Chinese Trachycarpus fortunei is being grown experimentally on the Faroe Islands at 62°N, with young plants doing well so far. \n\nEndangered species\n\nLike many other plants, palms have been threatened by human intervention and exploitation. The greatest risk to palms is destruction of habitat, especially in the tropical forests, due to urbanization, wood-chipping, mining, and conversion to farmland. Palms rarely reproduce after such great changes in the habitat, and those with small habitat ranges are most vulnerable to them. The harvesting of heart of palm, a delicacy in salads, also poses a threat because it is derived from the palm's apical meristem, a vital part of the palm that cannot be regrown. The use of rattan palms in furniture has caused a major population decrease in these species that has negatively affected local and international markets, as well as biodiversity in the area. The sale of seeds to nurseries and collectors is another threat, as the seeds of popular palms are sometimes harvested directly from the wild. At least 100 palm species are currently endangered, and nine species have reportedly recently become extinct.\n\nHowever, several factors make palm conservation more difficult. Palms live in almost every type of warm habitat and have tremendous morphological diversity. Most palm seeds lose viability quickly, and they cannot be preserved in low temperatures because the cold kills the embryo. Using botanical gardens for conservation also presents problems, since they can only house a few plants of any species or truly imitate the natural setting. Also, the risk of cross-pollination can lead to hybrid species.\n\nThe Palm Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) began in 1984, and has performed a series of three studies to find basic information on the status of palms in the wild, use of wild palms, and palms under cultivation. Two projects on palm conservation and use supported by the World Wildlife Fund took place from 1985 to 1990 and 1986–1991, in the American tropics and southeast Asia, respectively. Both studies produced copious new data and publications on palms. Preparation of a global action plan for palm conservation began in 1991, supported by the IUCN, and was published in 1996. \n\nThe rarest palm known is Hyophorbe amaricaulis. The only living individual remains at the Botanic Gardens of Curepipe in Mauritius.\n\nPest species\n\nPests that attack a variety of species of palm trees include:\n*Raoiella indica, the red palm mite\n*Caryobruchus gleditsiae, the palm seed beetle or palm seed weevil\n*Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, the red palm weevil, recently introduced to Europe\n\nSymbolism\n\nThe palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in pre-Christian times. The Romans rewarded champions of the games and celebrated military successes with palm branches. Early Christians used the palm branch to symbolize the victory of the faithful over enemies of the soul, as in the Palm Sunday festival celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In Judaism, the palm represents peace and plenty, and is one of the Four Species of Sukkot; the palm may also symbolize the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.\n\nPanaiveriyamman was an ancient Tamil tree deity related to fertility. Named after panai, the Tamil name for the Palmyra palm, she was also known as Taalavaasini, a name that further related her to all types of palms. \n\nToday, the palm, especially the coconut palm, remains a symbol of the tropical island paradise. \nPalms appear on the flags and seals of several places where they are native, including those of Haiti, Guam, Saudi Arabia, Florida, and South Carolina.\n\nOther plants\n\nSome species commonly called palms, though they are not true palms, include:\n*Cordyline australis (Torbay palm, Ti palm, Palm lily) (family Asparagaceae) and other representatives in the genus Cordyline and perhaps also in Dracaena with which Cordyline may be confused.\n*Cycas revoluta (Sago palm) and the rest of the order Cycadales\n*Ravenala (Traveller's palm) (family Strelitziaceae)\n*Pandanus spiralis, Screw palm., and perhaps other Pandanus spp.\n*Cyathea cunninghamii (Palm Fern) and other Tree ferns (families Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae) that may be confused with palms.\n*Setaria palmifolia (Palm grass), a Poaceae.\n*Carludovica palmata (Panama Hat Palm) and perhaps other members in the family Cyclanthaceae."],"string":"[\n \"Ilex aquifolium - San Francisco Botanical Garden\\nIlex aquifolium (English) ... Scientific Name: Ilex aquifolium: Family: Aquifoliaceae: Plant Type: Evergreen Tree to 25m: ... Bloom: Small, slightly fragrant ...\\nGarden Plant Collections | Ilex aquifolium | San Francisco Botanical Garden\\n \\nIlex aquifolium (English) | Ilex opaca (American)\\n“Deck the halls with boughs of holly, tra la la la la, la la la la.”\\nPre-Christian societies celebrated the winter solstice with boughs of holly brought indoors to ward away evil spirits, a household custom continuing today for more benevolent reasons. American holly, Ilex opaca, grows from Canada to Florida. Hollies are not native to the western US. However, English holly, Ilex aquifolium, widely planted in the Pacific Northwest for decades, is now considered invasive.\\nHolly trees are dioecious, either female or male, and each must be planted to produce berries. Their leaves have a thick cuticle, often highly polished, with sharp tipped leaves and red berries in their axils. Flowers are greenish white. There are many cultivars, some with yellow or black berries; some have variegated leaves with highly spiny tips, or no spines at all. The bark is usually smooth and pale. The wood is creamy white, hard and clear of knots, excellent for inlaid work and dyes. Black piano keys are often made of holly wood.\\nIlex cassine or “Yaupon” holly is a shrubby species from the southern states whose berries can be used as a purgative. Its dried, crumbled leaves are filled with caffeine and make an excellent tea. Ilex paraguariensis from Brazil and Argentina is the source of �Yerba Mate,� an ancient and still popular stimulant made from crushed holly leaves and boiling water.\\nProfile\",\n \"Ilex aquifolium - Plant Finder - Missouri Botanical Garden\\nIlex aquifolium, commonly called ... pyramidal, densely-branched, evergreen tree that typically grows to 30-50’ ... Missouri Botanical Garden. 4344 Shaw Blvd., St ...\\nIlex aquifolium - Plant Finder\\nPlant Finder\\nNative Range: Western and southern Europe, north Africa, western Asia\\nZone: 7 to 9\\nHeight: 30.00 to 50.00 feet\\nSpread: 15.00 to 25.00 feet\\nBloom Time: May\\nSun: Full sun to part shade\\nWater: Medium\\nGarden locations\\nCulture\\nGrow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in locations protected from cold winter winds. Part afternoon shade is best in hot summer climates. Avoid poorly drained soils. Prune in winter if needed. Plants of this species are dioecious (separate male and female plants). Female plants need a male pollinator in the area in order to bear fruit. This species can be difficult to grow in the St. Louis area because it dislikes cold winters (not considered winter hardy in USDA Zone 5 and the northern part of USDA Zone 6) and also dislikes hot and humid summers. It grows much better in the climate of the Pacific Northwest where it has naturalized.\\nNoteworthy Characteristics\\nIlex aquifolium, commonly called English holly, is native to Europe, western Asia and north Africa. It is an erect, pyramidal, densely-branched, evergreen tree that typically grows to 30-50’ (less frequently to 80’) tall. It also may be trained and grown as a large shrub (10-15’ tall). Elliptic, leathery, glossy, wavy-margined, evergreen, dark green leaves (1-3” long) have large spiny teeth. Greenish-white flowers appear in May. Flowers are fragrant but generally inconspicuous. Pollinated flowers give way to berry-like red (less frequently orange or yellow) drupes (1/4” diameter) which ripen in fall and persist into winter. Birds are attracted to the fruit.\\nGenus name comes from the Latin name Quercus ilex for holm oak in reference to the foliage similarities (holm oak and many of the shrubs in the genus Ilex have evergreen leaves).\\nSpecific epithet comes from the Latin word acus meaning needle and folium meaning leaf in reference to the spiny leaves.\\nGarden Uses\\nBy reputation, English holly is a better ornamental tree than American holly (see I. opaca), but it has less winter hardiness and is more difficult to grow in the lower Midwest and deep South. Effective as a specimen or in small groups. Foundation plantings. Foliage and fruit provide good color for the winter landscape. Tall hedge.\",\n \"Table 3.--Index of common names of tree species\\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species. Common name Scientific name abelia, ... European Fagus sylvatica birch, ...\\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species\\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species\\nCommon name Scientific name abelia, glossy Abelia chinensis var. grandiflora acacia Acacia spp. acacia, Bailey Acacia baileyana acacia, catclaw Acacia greggii acacia, koa Acacia koa acacia, sweet Acacia farnesiana acacia, twisted Acacia tortuosa acacia, Wright Acacia wrightii ailanthus Ailanthus altissima alder, Arizona Alnus oblongifolia alder, hazel Alnus serrulata alder, mountain Alnus tenuifolia alder, seaside Alnus maritima alder, Sitka Alnus sinuata alder, smooth Alnus serrulata alder, speckled Alnus rugosa alder, thinleaf Alnus tenuifolia alder, white Alnus rhombifolia allspice, Carolina Calycanthus floridus allspice, hairy Calycanthus floridus almond, dwarf flowering Prunus glandulosa apple, common Pyrus malus apple, crab Pyrus spp. apple, Oregon crab Pyrus fusca apple, prairie crab Pyrus ioensis apple, southern crab Pyrus angustifolia apple, sweet crab Pyrus coronaria apricot, desert Prunus fremontii apricot Prunus armeniaca aralia, Japanese Fatsia japonica arbor vitae, Chinese Thuja orientalis arbor vitae, oriental Thuja orientalis ardisia Ardisia japonica arrowwood, downy Viburnum pubescens arrowwood, maple leaved Viburnum acerifolium ash Fraxinus spp. ash, black Fraxinus nigra ash, blue Fraxinus quadrangulata ash, Carolina Fraxinus caroliniana ash, European Fraxinus excelsior ash, fragrant Fraxinus cuspidata ash, green Fraxinus pennsylvanica ash, Gregg Fraxinus greggii ash, Oregon Fraxinus latifolia ash, pumpkin Fraxinus profunda ash, singleleaf Fraxinus anomala ash, Texas Fraxinus texensis ash, velvet Fraxinus velutina ash, white Fraxinus americana aspen, bigtooth Populus grandidentata aspen, quaking Populus tremuloides avocado Persea americana Bahama strongback Bourreria ovata baldcypress Taxodium distichum basswood, American Tilia americana basswood, Carolina Tilia caroliniana basswood, Florida Tilia floridana basswood, white Tilia heterophylla bayberry Myrica cerifera bayberry, Pacific Myrica californica bayberry, southern Myrica cerifera beech, American Fagus grandifolia beech, European Fagus sylvatica birch, black Betula lenta birch, bog Betula pumila birch, cut leaf weeping Betula pendula birch, cut leaved Betula alba birch, European white Betula verrucosa birch, gray Betula populifolia birch, paper Betula papyrifera birch, red Betula nigra birch, river Betula nigra birch, sweet Betula lenta birch, water Betula occidentalis birch, yellow Betula alleghaniensis bitterbush Picramnia pentandra black calabash Amphitecna latifolia black haw Viburnum prunifolium black mangrove Avicennia germinans blue Chinese fir Cunninghamia lanceolata blueblossom Ceanothus thyrsiflorus boxelder Acer negundo buckeye, California Aesculus californica buckeye, Ohio Aesculus glabra buckeye, painted Aesculus sylvatica buckeye, red Aesculus pavia buckeye, yellow Aesculus octandra buckthorn, California Rhamnus californica buckthorn, Carolina Rhamnus caroliniana buckthorn, cascara Rhamnus purshiana buckthorn, European Rhamnus cathartica buckthorn, glossy Rhamnus frangula buckwheat tree Cliftonia monophylla burningbush, eastern Euonymus atropurpureus burningbush, western Euonymus occidentalis butternut Juglans cinerea buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis cajeput tree Melaleuca quinquenervia camphor tree Cinnamomum camphora canella Canella winterana canotia Canotia holacantha catalpa Catalpa spp. catalpa, hardy Catalpa speciosa catalpa, northern Catalpa speciosa catalpa, southern Catalpa bignonioides catclaw, Gregg Acacia greggii catclaw, Wright Acacia wrightii ceanothus Ceanothus maritimus ceanothus Ceanothus spp. ceanothus, feltleaf Ceanothus arboreus ceanothus, greenbark Ceanothus spinosus ceanothus, spiny Ceanothus spinosus Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani cedar, Alaska Chamaecyparis nootkatensis cedar, Atlantic white Chamaecyparis thyoides cedar, Atlas Cedrus atlantica cedar, deodar Cedrus deodara cedar, Port Orford Chamaecyparis lawsoniana cercocarpus, alderleaf Cercocarpus montanus cercocarpus, birchleaf Cercocarpus betuloides cercocarpus, curlleaf Cercocarpus ledifolius cercocarpus, hairy Cercocarpus breviflorus cercocarpus, little Cercocarpus intricatus leaf cherry Prunus spp. cherry laurel, common Prunus laurocerasus cherry, bitter Prunus emarginata cherry, black Prunus serotina cherry, Catalina Prunus lyonii cherry, European bird Prunus padus cherry, pin Prunus pensylvanica cherry, sand Prunus pumila cherry, sweet Prunus avium cherry, West Indies Prunus myrtifolia chestnut, American Castanea dentata China berry Melia azedarach chinkapin, Allegheny Castanea pumila chinkapin, giant Castanopsis chrysophylla chinkapin, Ozark Castanea ozarkensis chittamwood Bumelia lanuginosa chokecherry Prunus virginiana Christmasberry Heteromeles arbutifolia cliffrose Cowania mexicana coast beefwood Casuarina stricta coconut palm Cocos nucifera cocoplum Chrysobalanus icaco coffeetree, Kentucky Gymnocladus dioicus coralbean, eastern Erythrina herbacea coralbean, southeastern Erythrina herbacea corkwood Leitneria floridana cottonwood, black Populus trichocarpa cottonwood, eastern Populus deltoides cottonwood, Fremont Populus fremontii cottonwood, narrowleaf Populus angustifolia cottonwood, plains Populus sargentii cottonwood, swamp Populus heterophylla crabapple Pyrus spp. cranberry bush Viburnum opulus cucumbertree Magnolia acuminata cypress pine, white Callitris glaucophylla cypress, Arizona Cupressus arizonica cypress, Baker Cupressus bakeri cypress, Gowen Cupressus goveniana cypress, Guadalupe Cupressus guadalupensis cypress, Leyland Cupressocyparis leylandii cypress, MacNab Cupressus macnabiana cypress, Monterey Cupressus macrocarpa cypress, Sargent Cupressus sargentii cypress, Tecate Cupressus guadalupensis cyrilla, swamp Cyrilla racemiflora dahoon Ilex cassine deer brush Ceanothus integerrimus desertwillow Chilopsis linearis devils walkingstick Aralia spinosa devilwood Osmanthus americanus dogwood Cornus spp. dogwood, alternate leaf Cornus alternifolia dogwood, flowering Cornus florida dogwood, gray Cornus racemosa dogwood, Pacific Cornus nuttallii dogwood, red osier Cornus stolonifera dogwood, roughleaf Cornus drummondii dogwood, roundleaf Cornus rugosa doveplum Coccoloba diversifolia elder, American Sambucus canadensis elder, Pacific red Sambucus callicarpa elliottia Elliottia racemosa elm Ulmus spp. elm, American Ulmus americana elm, cedar Ulmus crassifolia elm, Chinese Ulmus parvifolia elm, European Ulmus procera elm, rock Ulmus thomasii elm, September Ulmus serotina elm, Siberian Ulmus pumila elm, slippery Ulmus rubra elm, water Planera aquatica elm, winged Ulmus alata elm, Wych Ulmus glabra eucalyptus Eucalyptus spp. eucalyptus, bluegum Eucalyptus globulus eucalyptus, horncap Eucalyptus tereticornis eucalyptus, silver Eucalyptus cinerea dollar euonymus, evergreen Euonymus japonicus falsebox Gyminda latifolia falsebox, West Indies Gyminda latifolia fig, benjamin Ficus benjamina fig, common Ficus carica fig, fiddle leaf Ficus lyrata fig, Florida strangler Ficus aurea filbert, European Corylus avellana fir, balsam Abies balsamea fir, bigcone Douglas Pseudotsuga macrocarpa fir, blue Chinese Cunninghamia lanceolata fir, bristlecone Abies bracteata fir, California red Abies magnifica fir, California white Abies lowiana fir, Douglas Pseudotsuga menziesii fir, Fraser Abies fraseri fir, grand Abies grandis fir, Manchurian Abies holophylla fir, noble Abies procera fir, Pacific silver Abies amabilis fir, Rocky Mountain Abies bifolia alpine fir, Sierra white Abies lowiana fir, subalpine Abies lasiocarpa fir, white Abies concolor fire thorn Pyracantha coccinea fishpoison tree, Piscidia piscipula Florida Florida fiddlewood Citharexylum fruticosum Florida silverpalm Coccothrinax argentata fringe tree Chionanthus virginicus gallberry, large Ilex coriacea geiger tree Cordia sebestena ginko Ginkgo biloba Grevillea Grevillea 'noellii' guava, common Psidium guajava Guiana plum Drypetes lateriflora guiana rapanea Rapanea guianensis gum bumelia Bumelia lanuginosa gum, black Nyssa sylvatica gum, cider Eucalyptus gunnii gum, desert Eucalyptus rudis gum, red Eucalyptus camaldulensis gum, silver dollar Eucalyptus polyanthemos gumbo limbo Bursera simaruba hackberry, dwarf Celtis tenuifolia hackberry, Georgia Celtis tenuifolia hackberry, northern Celtis occidentalis Hakea Hakea spp. hawthorn Crataegus spp. hawthorn, barberry Crataegus berberifolia hawthorn, barberryleaf Crataegus berberifolia hawthorn, Biltmore Crataegus intricata hawthorn, black Crataegus douglasii hawthorn, blueberry Crataegus brachyacantha hawthorn, cockspur Crataegus crus-galli hawthorn, downy Crataegus mollis hawthorn, English Crataegus oxyacantha hawthorn, frosted Crataegus pruinosa hawthorn, littlehip Crataegus spathulata hawthorn, oneseed Crataegus monogyna hawthorn, parsley Crataegus marshallii hawthorn, riverflat Crataegus opaca hawthorn, scarlet Crataegus coccinea hawthorn, willow Crataegus saligna hazelnut, American Corylus americana hazelnut, beaked Corylus cornuta hemlock, Carolina Tsuga caroliniana hemlock, eastern Tsuga canadensis hemlock, mountain Tsuga mertensiana hemlock, western Tsuga heterophylla Hercules club Zanthoxylum clava-herculis hibiscus, Chinese Hibiscus rosa-sinensis hibiscus, sea Hibiscus tiliaceus hickory Carya spp. hickory, bitternut Carya cordiformis hickory, black Carya texana hickory, mockernut Carya tomentosa hickory, nutmeg Carya myristiciformis hickory, pignut Carya glabra hickory, red Carya ovalis hickory, sand Carya pallida hickory, scrub Carya floridana hickory, shagbark Carya ovata hickory, shellbark Carya laciniosa hickory, water Carya aquatica holly, American Ilex opaca holly, English Ilex aquifolium holly, tawnyberry Ilex krugiana honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos hophornbeam, eastern Ostrya virginiana hophornbeam, Knowlton Ostrya knowltonii hoptree, common Ptelea trifoliata hornbeam, American Carpinus caroliniana horsechestnut Aesculus hippocastanum horsetail casuarina Casuarina equisetifolia horsetail tree Casuarina equisetifolia huisache Acacia farnesiana huisachillo Acacia tortuosa incense cedar Calocedrus decurrens inkberry Ilex glabra inkwood Exothea paniculata ironbark, red Eucalyptus sideroxylon ironbark, white Eucalyptus leucoxylon Jamaica caper Capparis cynophallophora jasmine, winter Jasminum nudiflorum Jerusalem thorn Parkinsonia aculeata juniper, alligator Juniperus deppeana juniper, Ashe Juniperus ashei juniper, California Juniperus californica juniper, common Juniperus communis juniper, drooping Juniperus flaccida juniper, one seed Juniperus monosperma juniper, Pinchot Juniperus pinchotii juniper, redberry Juniperus pinchotii juniper, redberry Juniperus erythrocarpa juniper, Rocky Mountain Juniperus scopulorum juniper, Utah Juniperus osteosperma juniper, western Juniperus occidentalis larch, European Larix decidua larch, subalpine Larix lyallii larch, western Larix occidentalis laurel, California Umbellularia californica laurelcherry, Carolina Prunus caroliniana leadwood Krugiodendron ferreum lemon Citrus limon lemonade berry Rhus integrifolia lime Citrus aurantifolia linden, European Tilia europaea linden, little leaf Tilia cordata loblolly bay Gordonia lasianthus locust Robinia spp. locust, black Robinia pseudoacacia locust, clammy Robinia viscosa locust, honey Gleditsia triacanthos locust, New Mexico Robinia neomexicana locust, water Gleditsia aquatica loquat tree Eriobotrya japonica Lyontree Lyonothamnus floribundus lysiloma, Bahama Lysiloma latisiliquum madrone, Arizona Arbutus arizonica madrone, Pacific Arbutus menziesii madrone, Texas Arbutus texana magnolia, Ashe Magnolia ashei magnolia, bigleaf Magnolia macrophylla magnolia, cucumber Magnolia acuminata magnolia, Fraser Magnolia fraseri magnolia, pyramid Magnolia pyramidata magnolia, southern Magnolia grandiflora magnolia, umbrella Magnolia tripetala mahogany, West Indies Swietenia mahogani manchineel Hippomane mancinella mangrove, button Conocarpus erectus mangrove, red Rhizophora mangle mangrove, white Laguncularia racemosa maple, Amur Acer ginnala maple, bigleaf Acer macrophyllum maple, bigtooth Acer grandidentatum maple, black Acer nigrum maple, boxelder Acer negundo maple, canyon Acer grandidentatum maple, chalk Acer leucoderme maple, Florida Acer barbatum maple, fullmoon Acer japonicum maple, hedge Acer campestre maple, Japanese Acer palmatum maple, mountain Acer spicatum maple, Norway Acer platanoides maple, red Acer rubrum maple, Rocky Mountain Acer glabrum maple, silver Acer saccharinum maple, striped Acer pensylvanicum maple, sugar Acer saccharum maple, sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus maple, Tatar Acer tataricum maple, vine Acer circinatum marlberry Ardisia escallonioides mastic, false Mastichodendron foetidissimum mazzard Prunus avium medlar, Chinese Photinia serrulata medlar, European Mespilus germanica melaleuca, lilac Melaleuca decussata mescalbean Sophora secundiflora mesquite, honey Prosopis glandulosa mesquite, screwbean Prosopis pubescens Mexican alvaradoa Alvaradoa amorphoides mountain ash, American Sorbus americana mountain ash, European Sorbus aucuparia mulberry, black Morus nigra mulberry, paper Broussonetia papyrifera mulberry, red Morus rubra mulberry, Russian Morus alba var. tatarica mulberry, Texas Morus microphylla mulberry, white Morus alba myrtle of the river Calyptranthes zuzygium nannyberry Viburnum lentago nectarine Prunus persica oak Quercus spp. oak, Arizona gray Quercus grisea oak, Arizona white Quercus arizonica oak, bear Quercus ilicifolia oak, black Quercus velutina oak, blackjack Quercus marilandica oak, blue Quercus douglasii oak, bluejack Quercus cinerea oak, bluejack Quercus incana oak, bluff Quercus austrina oak, bur Quercus macrocarpa oak, California black Quercus kelloggii oak, California red Quercus kelloggii oak, California white Quercus lobata oak, canyon live Quercus chrysolepis oak, Chapman Quercus chapmanii oak, cherrybark Quercus pagoda oak, chestnut Quercus prinus oak, chinkapin Quercus muehlenbergii oak, coast live Quercus agrifolia oak, cork Quercus suber oak, Darlington Quercus hemisphaerica oak, Durand Quercus durandii oak, Emory Quercus emoryi oak, Engelmann Quercus engelmannii oak, Gambel Quercus gambelii oak, gray Quercus grisea oak, interior live Quercus wislizenii oak, laurel Quercus laurifolia oak, live Quercus virginiana oak, Mexican blue Quercus oblongifolia oak, myrtle Quercus myrtifolia oak, northern pin Quercus ellipsoidalis oak, northern red Quercus rubra oak, Nuttall Quercus nuttallii oak, Oglethorpe Quercus oglethorpensis oak, Oregon white Quercus garryana oak, overcup Quercus lyrata oak, pin Quercus palustris oak, post Quercus stellata oak, sand post Quercus margaretta oak, scarlet Quercus coccinea oak, shingle Quercus imbricaria oak, Shumard Quercus shumardii oak, silverleaf Quercus hypoleucoides oak, southern red Quercus falcata oak, swamp chestnut Quercus michauxii oak, swamp white Quercus bicolor oak, turkey (scrub) Quercus laevis oak, valley Quercus lobata oak, water Quercus nigra oak, white Quercus alba oak, willow Quercus phellos olive Olea europaea olive, Russian Elaeagnus angustifolia orange Citrus sinensis orange, Osage Maclura pomifera oysterwood Gymnanthes lucida pagoda tree, Japanese Sophora japonica pale lidflower Calyptranthes pallens palm, buccaneer Pseudophoenix sargentii palm, California Washingtonia filifera palm, coconut Cocos nucifera palm, Manila Adonidia merrillii palm, paurotis Acoelorrhaphe wrightii palm, queen Arecastrum romanzoffianum palm, wine Caryota urens palmetto, cabbage Sabal palmetto paloverde, blue Cercidium floridum paloverde, yellow Cercidium microphyllum papaya Carica papaya paradise tree Simarouba glauca parasoltree, Chinese Firmiana simplex paulownia, royal Paulownia tomentosa pawpaw Asimina triloba peach Prunus persica pear Pyrus communis pecan Carya illinoensis pepperbush Clethra spp. pepperbush, sweet Clethra alnifolia peppermint, white Eucalyptus pulchella peppertree, California Schinus molle persimmon, common Diospyros virginiana persimmon, Texas Diospyros texana photinia Photinia spp. photinia, Japanese Photinia glabra pigeonplum Coccoloba diversifolia pinckneya Pinckneya pubens pine, Aleppo Pinus halepensis pine, Apache Pinus engelmannii pine, Austrian Pinus nigra pine, bishop Pinus muricata pine, bristlecone Pinus aristata pine, Coulter Pinus coulteri pine, Digger Pinus sabiniana pine, eastern white Pinus strobus pine, foxtail Pinus balfouriana pine, intermountain Pinus longaeva bristlecone pine, Italian stone Pinus pinea pine, jack Pinus banksiana pine, Japanese black Pinus thunbergiana pine, Jeffrey Pinus jeffreyi pine, knobcone Pinus attenuata pine, limber Pinus flexilis pine, loblolly Pinus taeda pine, lodgepole Pinus contorta pine, longleaf Pinus palustris pine, Monterey Pinus radiata pine, pitch Pinus rigida pine, pond Pinus serotina pine, ponderosa Pinus ponderosa pine, red Pinus resinosa pine, sand Pinus clausa pine, Scotch Pinus sylvestris pine, Scots Pinus sylvestris pine, shortleaf Pinus echinata pine, slash Pinus elliottii pine, southwestern Pinus strobiformis white pine, spruce Pinus glabra pine, sugar Pinus lambertiana pine, Swiss mountain Pinus mugo pine, table mountain Pinus pungens pine, Torrey Pinus torreyana pine, Virginia Pinus virginiana pine, Washoe Pinus washoensis pine, western white Pinus monticola pine, whitebark Pinus albicaulis pinyon Pinus edulis pinyon, border Pinus discolor pinyon, Mexican Pinus cembroides pinyon, Parry Pinus quadrifolia pinyon, singleleaf Pinus monophylla pistache, Texas Pistacia texana pistachio Pistacia vera planetree, Oriental Platanus orientalis plum, Allegheny Prunus alleghaniensis plum, American Prunus americana plum, beach Prunus maritima plum, Canada Prunus nigra plum, Chickasaw Prunus angustifolia plum, common Prunus domestica plum, darling Reynosia septentrionalis plum, flatwoods Prunus umbellata plum, Guiana Drypetes lateriflora plum, hortulan Prunus hortulana plum, Japanese Prunus japonica plum, Klamath Prunus subcordata plum, Mexican Prunus mexicana plum, purple leaved Prunus cerasifera var. pissardi plum, wildgoose Prunus munsoniana poisontree, Florida Metopium toxiferum pomegranate Punica granatum pond apple Annona glabra poplar Populus spp. poplar, balsam Populus balsamifera poplar, Lombardy Populus nigra var. italica poplar, tulip Liriodendron tulipifera poplar, white Populus alba poplar, yellow Liriodendron tulipifera possum haw Ilex decidua prickly ash, common Zanthoxylum americanum prickly ash, lime Zanthoxylum fagara princewood Exostema caribaeum princewood, Caribbean Exostema caribaeum privet, swamp Forestiera acuminata quince Cydonia oblonga quince, Japanese Chaenomeles lagenaria rapanea, guiana Rapanea guianensis redbay Persea borbonia redbud, California Cercis occidentalis redbud, eastern Cercis canadensis redbud, western Cercis occidentalis redcedar, eastern Juniperus virginiana redcedar, western Thuja plicata redwood, coast Sequoia sempervirens redwood, dawn Metasequoia glyptostroboides rose Rosa spp. rose, climbing prairie Rosa setigera rose, Macartney Rosa bracteata rose, sweetbriar Rosa eglanteria roseberry Juniperus coahuilensis roughbark lignumvitae Guaiacum sanctum royalpalm, Florida Roystonea elata rubber tree, India Ficus elastica Russian olive Elaeagnus angustifolia rustica rubra Magnolia soulangeana saguaro Cereus giganteus sassafras Sassafras albidum satinleaf Chrysophyllum oliviforme satinwood, West Indies Zanthoxylum flavum seagrape Coccoloba uvifera sequoia, giant Sequoiadendron giganteum serviceberry Amelanchier spp. serviceberry, downy Amelanchier arborea serviceberry, eastern Amelanchier canadensis serviceberry, smooth Amelanchier laevis serviceberry, western Amelanchier alnifolia Siberian pea tree Caragana arborescens silk oak Grevillea robusta silk tassel Garrya fremontii silk tree Albizia julibrissin silver bell Halesia carolina silverbell, Carolina Halesia carolina sloe Prunus spinosa smokethorn Dalea spinosa smoke tree Cotinus coggygria smoketree, American Cotinus obovatus snowberry Symphoricarpos albus soapberry, Florida Sapindus marginatus soapberry, western Sapindus drummondii soapberry, wingleaf Sapindus saponaria soldierwood Colubrina elliptica sophora, Texas Sophora affinis sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum spicebush Lindera benzoin spindle tree, European Euonymus europaeus spirea Spirea bumalda spruce Picea spp. spruce, black Picea mariana spruce, blue Picea pungens spruce, Brewer Picea brewerana spruce, dwarf Alberta Picea glauca var. albertiana spruce, Engelmann Picea engelmannii spruce, Norway Picea abies spruce, red Picea rubens spruce, Sitka Picea sitchensis spruce, tigertail Picea polita spruce, white Picea glauca Stewartia Stewartia koreana Stewartia, mountain Stewartia ovata strawberry tree Arbutus unedo sugarberry Celtis laevigata sumac, lemonade Rhus integrifolia sumac, poison Toxicodendron vernix sumac, shining Rhus copallina sumac, smooth Rhus glabra sumac, staghorn Rhus typhina sweetbay Magnolia virginiana sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua sweetleaf, common Symplocos tinctoria sycamore Platanus occidentalis sycamore, American Platanus occidentalis sycamore, Arizona Platanus wrightii sycamore, California Platanus racemosa Sydney golden wattle Acacia longifolia tallowtree, Chinese Sapium sebiferum tallowwood Ximenia americana tamarack Larix laricina tamerisk, smallflower Tamarix parviflora tanoak Lithocarpus densiflorus tesota Olneya tesota thatchpalm, brittle Thrinax microcarpa thatchpalm, Jamaica Thrinax parviflora torchwood Amyris elemifera torreya, California Torreya californica torreya, Florida Torreya taxifolia toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia tree lyonia Lyonia ferruginea tree of heaven Ailanthus altissima trema, Florida Trema micrantha tulip poplar Liriodendron tulipifera tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera tung oil tree Aleurites fordii tupelo, black Nyssa sylvatica tupelo, Ogeechee Nyssa ogeche tupelo, swamp Nyssa biflora tupelo, water Nyssa aquatica vauquelinia, Torrey Vauquelinia californica velvetseed, elliptic Guettarda elliptica leaf velvetseed, roughleaf Guettarda scabra viburnum Viburnum tomentosum viburnum, leatherleaf Viburnum rhytidophyllum viburnum, oval leafed Viburnum ellipticum wahoo, eastern Euonymus atropurpureus wahoo, western Euonymus occidentalis walnut, Arizona Juglans major walnut, black Juglans nigra walnut, Hinds Juglans hindsii walnut, little Juglans microcarpa walnut, northern Juglans hindsii California walnut, southern Juglans californica California waterlocust Gleditsia aquatica waxmyrtle, Pacific Myrica californica wayfaring tree Viburnum lantana white cedar, northern Thuja occidentalis wild dilly Manilkara bahamensis willow Salix spp. willow bustic Dipholis salicifolia willow, arroyo Salix lasiolepis willow, basket Salix viminalis willow, Bebb Salix bebbiana willow, black Salix nigra willow, Bonpland Salix bonplandiana willow, coastal plain Salix caroliniana willow, crack Salix fragilis willow, diamond Salix eriocephala willow, feltleaf Salix alaxensis willow, golden weeping Salix alba var. tristis willow, heart leaved Salix cordata willow, Hooker Salix hookerana willow, laurel leaved Salix pentandra willow, Mackenzie Salix mackenzieana willow, Pacific Salix lasiandra willow, peachleaf Salix amygdaloides willow, pussy Salix discolor willow, red Salix laevigata willow, sandbar Salix exigua willow, Scouler Salix scoulerana willow, shining Salix lucida willow, weeping Salix babylonica willow, white Salix alba willow, yewleaf Salix taxifolia winterberry, common Ilex verticillata winterberry, mountain Ilex montana witchhazel Hamamelis virginiana yaupon Ilex vomitoria yellow poplar Liriodendron tulipifera yellowwood Cladrastis lutea yew, Florida Taxus floridana yew, Pacific Taxus brevifolia\",\n \"Ilex_aquifolium.txt\\nIlex aquifolium\\nIlex aquifolium (holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly), is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia.Flora Europaea: [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF\\n&GENUS_XREFIlex&SPECIES_XREF\\naquifolium&TAXON_NAME_XREF&RANK\\n Ilex aquifolium]Med-Checklist: [http://ww2.bgbm.org/mcl/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId\\n1263&PTRefFK1273 Ilex aquifolium]Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.Flora of NW Europe: [http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected\\nbeschrijving&menuentrysoorten&id\\n3088 Ilex aquifolium] I. aquifolium is the species familiar in Christmas decoration, and is regarded as the type species of the genus Ilex, which by association is also called \\\"holly\\\". It is a evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts.\\n\\nAs a tree, it can exceed 10 m in height. It is usually found as a shrub or a small tree about 1 m tall with a straight trunk and pyramidal crown, which branches from the base. It is slow growing and it does not usually fully mature due to grazing, cutting, or fire. It can live 500 years, but usually does not reach 100.\\n\\nDescription\\n\\nHolly is an evergreen tree growing to 10–25 m tall with a woody stem as large as 40–80 cm, rarely 1 m or more, in diameter The leaves are 5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm broad; they are evergreen, lasting about five years, and are dark green on the upper surface and lighter on the underside, oval, leathery, shiny, and about 5 to 9 cm long. In the young and in the lower limbs of mature trees, the leaves have three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward, while leaves of the upper branches in mature trees lack spines.\\n\\nThe flowers are white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. Holly is dioecious, meaning that there are male plants and female plants. The sex cannot be determined until the plants begin flowering, usually between 4 and 12 years of age. In male specimens, the flowers are yellowish and appear in axillary groups. In the female, flowers are isolated or in groups of three and are small and white or slightly pink, and consist of four petals and four sepals partially fused at the base.\\n\\nThe fruit is a red drupe, about 6–10 mm in diameter, a bright red or bright yellow, which matures around October or November; at this time they are very bitter due to the ilicin content and so are rarely eaten until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable. They are eaten by rodents, birds and larger herbivores. Each fruit contains 3 to 4 seeds which do not germinate until the second or third spring. The fruit only appears on female plants, which require male plants nearby to fertilise them.\\n\\nDistribution\\n\\nToday, holly is found in western Asia and Europe in the undergrowth of oak forest and beech forest in particular, although at times it can form a dense thicket as the dominant species. It requires moist, shady environments, found within forests or in shady slopes, cliffs, and mountain gorges.\\n\\nAlong the west coast of the United States, from California to British Columbia, non-native English Holly has proved very invasive, quickly spreading into native forest habitat, where it thrives in shade and crowds out native species. It has been placed on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's monitor list, and is a Class C invasive plant in Portland. \\n\\nDuring the Cenozoic Era, the Mediterranean region, Europe, and northwest Africa had a wetter climate and were largely covered by laurel forests. Holly was a typical representative species of this biome, where many current species of the genus Ilex were present. With the drying of the Mediterranean Basin during the Pliocene, the laurel forests gradually retreated, replaced by more drought-tolerant sclerophyll plant communities. The modern Ilex aquifolium resulted from this change. Most of the last remaining laurel forests around the Mediterranean are believed to have died out approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene.\\n\\nEcology\\n\\nHolly is a rugged pioneer species that preserves and enriches the soil facilitating colonization by others. It is an ecological indicator of a well-preserved or recovering area with little human intrusion. It prefers relatively moist areas, up to 600m in elevation, and tolerates Mediterranean summer drought and frost. The plant is common in the garrigue and maquis and is also found in deciduous forest and oak forest.\\n\\nPure stands of hollies can grow into a labyrinth of vaults in which thrushes and deer take refuge, while smaller birds are protected among their spiny leaves. After the first frost of the season, hollies' fruit becomes soft and falls to the ground serving as important food for winter birds at a time of scarce resources.\\n\\nThe flowers are attractive as nectar sources for insects such as bees, wasps, flies, and small butterflies.\\n\\nIt is an invasive species on the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii. \\n\\nCultivation\\n\\nIlex aquifolium, the familiar holly of Christmas cards and wreaths, is widely grown in parks and gardens in temperate regions. Both male and female specimens must be grown together to ensure berries (drupes), which are produced only by female plants. Numerous cultivars have been selected, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM):-\\n\\nThe hybrid Ilex x altaclerensis was developed at Highclere Castle in 1835, a cross between I. aquifolium and the tender species I. perado. The following cultivars have gained the RHS AGM:-\\n\\nChemistry and toxicity, medicinal and food uses\\n\\nHolly berries contain alkaloids, caffeine, and theobromine and are generally regarded as toxic to humans, though their poisonous properties are overstated and fatalities almost unknown. Accidental consumption may occur by children or pets attracted to the bright red berries. The berries are emetic. This is described as being due to the drug ilicin, though caffeine and theobromine found throughout the plant are much more toxic, generally, to dogs and cats.\\n\\nThe leaves of related plants are used to make a caffeine-rich beverage, Yerba Mate, which has caffeine in amounts equal to that of coffee. It is likely that I. aquifolium has equal amounts of caffeine in the leaves. It is described \\\"The leaves of Holly have been employed in the Black Forest as a substitute for tea\\\"\\n\\nHolly is rarely used medicinally, but is diuretic, relieves fevers, and has a laxative action. \\n\\nIlex aquifolium also contains saponins, theobromine (a xanthine), ilicin, caffeine, caffeic acid, and a yellow pigment, ilexanthin. \\n\\nOther uses\\n\\nMany hundreds of hybrids and cultivars have been developed for garden use, among them the very popular \\\"Highclere holly\\\", Ilex × altaclerensis (I. aquifolium × I. perado) and the \\\"blue holly\\\", Ilex × meserveae (I. aquifolium × I. rugosa).Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5. Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping. \\n\\nBetween the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, before the introduction of turnips, Ilex aquifolium was cultivated for use as winter fodder for cattle and sheep. Less spiny varieties of holly were preferred, and in practice the leaves growing near the top of the tree have far fewer spines making them more suitable for fodder.\\n\\nIlex aquifolium was once among the traditional woods for Great Highland bagpipes before tastes turned to imported dense tropical woods such as cocuswood, ebony, and African blackwood.\",\n \"T.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research ...\\nTrees (Exotic) Botanical names A to F with photo; ... Ilex aquifolium (Holly) Kingdom: ... Species: I. aquifolium Binomial name: Ilex aquifolium Common name: ...\\nT.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network - Ilex aquifolium (Holly)\\nT.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network\\nCommon name: Holly, Christmas Holly or Mexican Holly\\n As few as twenty berries by adults can be fatal.\\nIlex is a genus of approximately 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family.\\nEuropean holly (Ilex aquifolium) is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. It is an evergreen tree growing to 10-25 m tall and 40-80 cm (rarely 1 m or more) trunk diameter, with smooth grey bark. The leaves are 5-12 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, variable in shape; on young plants and low branches, with three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward; on higher branches of older trees with few or no spines except for the leaf tip, often entire. The flowers are dioecious, white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. The fruit is a red drupe 6-10 mm diameter, containing four pits; although mature in late autumn, they are very bitter due to the ilicin content, and so are rarely touched by birds until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable.\\nThe ilicin content is poisonous to people since it irritates the stomach and intestines, and other constituents render them harmful to the nervous system and heart. Ingestion of as few as twenty berries by adults can be fatal.\\nA mature Ilex aquifolium growing at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth.\\nHolly Suckers: Suckering is part of the natural habit of plants and is one way they exploit a favourable habitat, instead of relying on seed spread. Suckers are growths that appear from the root systems of many trees and shrubs. They may appear in borders, lawns, between paving stones or through paths, and can become a nuisance.\\nHolly leaves\",\n \"Willow Tree Names and Types of Willow (Salix) Species\\nWillow Tree Names and Types of Willows (Salix) Species. ... Botanical Salix Tree Name; ... = Salix alba (White Willow) × Salix babylonica ...\\nWillow Tree Names and Types of Willow (Salix) Species\\nSalix ×laestadiana = Salix cinerea × Salix lapponum\\nSalix ×laurentiana (Laurent's Willow) = Salix discolor (Pussy Willow) × Salix myricoides (Bayberry Willow)\\nSalix ×laurina (Laurel-leaf Willow, Lagervide) = Salix caprea × Salix phylicifolia\\nSalix ×lyonensis = Salix repens (Creeping Willow) × Salix arbuscula\\nSalix ×meyeriana (Shiny-leaf Willow) = Salix pentandra × Salix euxina, (Possibly Salix pentandra × Salix ×fragilis)\\nSalix ×mollissima (Sharp-stipule Willow) = Salix triandra (Almond Willow) × Salix viminalis (Basket Willow, Osier)\\nSalix ×obtusata (Obtuse Willow) = Salix myricoides (Bayberry Willow) × Salix pyrifolia (Balsam Willow)\\nSalix ×pedunculata (Blackbract Willow) = Salix discolor (Pussy Willow, American Willow × Salix pellita (Satiny Willow)\\nSalix ×pendulina (Wisconsin Weeping Willow, Weeping Crack Willow, Niobe Willow) = Salix fragilis (Crack Willow) × Salix babylonica (Babylon Willow, Peking Willow, Weeping Willow)\\nSalix ×pendulina nothovar. elegantissima (Thurlow Weeping Willow)\\nSalix ×pilosiuscula\\nSalix ×pontederana = Salix cinerea × Salix purpurea\\nSalix ×rubens (Synonym of Salix ×fragilis)\\nSalix ×rubra (Green-leaf Willow, Flätvide) = Salix purpurea × Salix viminalis\\nSalix ×schneiderii = Salix lucida (Shining Willow) × Salix nigra (Black Willow)\\nSalix ×sepulcralis (Golden Weeping Willow, Kemp Willow, Weeping Willow) = Salix alba (White Willow) × Salix babylonica (Peking Willow)\\nSalix ×sepulcralis nothovar. chrysocoma (Golden hybrid weeping Willow) = Salix alba ssp. vitellina × Salix babylonica\\nSalix ×sepulcralis nothovar. sepulcralis (Weeping Willow) = Salix alba ssp. alba × Salix babylonica\\nSalix ×seringeana (Seringe Willow) = Salix caprea (Goat Willow) × Salix elaeagnos (Elaeagnus Willow)\\nSalix ×simulatrix (Dvärgrisvide) = Salix arbuscula (Mountain Willow) × Salix herbacea (Snowbed Willow)\\nSalix ×smithiana (Broadleaf osier, Silky-leaf Osier, Häckvide) = Salix cinerea (Grey Willow) × Salix viminalis (Basket Willow, Osier)\\nSalix ×stipularis (Eared Osier, Dammvide) = Salix atrocinerea × Salix viminalis\\nSalix ×subalpina = Salix glauca var. appendiculata × Salix caprea\\nSalix ×subsericea = Salix cinerea × Salix repens (Creeping Willow)\\nSalix ×tsugaluensis = Salix integra × Salix vulpina\\nSalix ×undulata = Salix alba × Salix triandra. Synonym; Salix ×mollissima var. undulata\\nSalix ×ungavensis\\nSalix ×wiegandii (Wiegand's Willow) = Salix calcicola (Limestone Willow, Woolly Willow) × Salix candida (Sage Willow, Sageleaf Willow)\\nSalix ×wimmeriana\\nSalix alba 'Caerulea' (Cricket-bat Willow), Synonym; Salix alba var. caerulea\\nSalix alba 'Vitellina' (Golden Willow); Synonym; Salix alba var. vitellina\\nSalix alba 'Vitellina-Tristis' (Golden weeping Willow), Synonym; 'Tristis'\\nSalix alba 'Sericea' (Silver Willow)\",\n \"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Plants in the Bible\\nPlants in the Bible. ... No doubt the same tree is signified, the double name being due to a mere accidental ... Mastic tree, an alliteration of the Greek ...\\nCATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Plants in the Bible\\nHome > Catholic Encyclopedia > P > Plants in the Bible\\nPlants in the Bible\\nHelp support New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download . Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99...\\nWhen Moses spoke to the people about the Land of Promise, he described it as a \\\"land of hills and plains\\\" ( Deuteronomy 11:11 ), \\\"a good land, of brooks and of waters, and of fountains: in the plains of which and the hills deep rivers break out: a land of wheat, and barley, and vineyards, wherein fig-trees and pomegranates, and oliveyards grow: a land of oil and honey\\\" ( Deuteronomy 8:7-8 ). This glowing description, sketched exclusively from an utilitarian point of view, was far from doing justice to the wonderful variety of the country's productions, to which several causes contributed. First the differences of elevation; for between Lebanon, 10,000 feet above sea level, and the shores of the Dead Sea, 1285 feet below the Mediterranean, every gradation of altitude is to be found, within less than 200 miles. Sinuous valleys furrow the highland, causing an incredible variation in topography; hence, cultivated land lies almost side by side with patches of desert . The soil is now of clay, now of clay mixed with lime, farther on of sand; the surface rock is soft limestone, and basalt. In addition to these factors, variations of climate consequent on change of altitude and geographical position cause forms of vegetation which elsewhere grow far apart to thrive side by side within the narrow limits of Palestine. The vegetation along the west coast, like that of Spain , southern Italy , Sicily , and Algeria, is composed of characteristic species of Mediterranean flora. Near the perennial snows of the northern peaks grow the familiar plants of Alpine and sub-Alpine regions; the highlands of Palestine and the eastern slopes of the northern ranges produce the Oriental vegetation of the steppes; whereas the peculiar climate conditions prevailing along the Ghôr and about the Dead Sea favour a sub-tropical flora, characterized by species resembling those which thrive in Nubia and Abyssinia .\\nOver 3000 species of Palestinian flora are known to exist, but the Holy Land of our day can give only an imperfect idea of what it was in Biblical times. The hill-country of Juda and the Negeb are, as formerly, the grazing lands of the Judean herds, yet groves, woods, and forest flourished everywhere, few traces of which remain. The cedar-forests of Lebanon had a world-wide reputation; the slopes of Hermon and the mountains of Galaad were covered with luxuriant pine woods; oak forests were the distinctive feature of Basan, throughout Ephraim clumps of terebinths dotted the land, while extensive palm groves were both the ornament and wealth of the Jordan Valley. The arable land, much of which now lies fallow, was all cultivated and amply rewarded the tiller. The husbandman derived from his orchards and vineyards abundant crops of olives, figs, pomegranates, and grapes. Nearly every Jewish peasant had his \\\"garden of herbs\\\", furnishing in season vegetables and fruits for the table, flowers, and medicinal plants. Only some 130 plants are mentioned in Scripture, which is not surprising since ordinary people are interested only in a few, whether ornamental or useful. The first attempt to classify this flora is in Genesis 1:11-12 , where it is divided into: (1) deshe, signifying all low plants, e.g., cryptogamia; (2) ‘esebh, including herbaceous plants; (3) ‘es peri, embracing all trees. In the course of time , the curiosity of men was attracted by the riches of Palestinian vegetation; Solomon, in particular, is said to have treated about the trees (i.e., plants) from the lofty cedar \\\"unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall\\\" ( 1 Kings 4:33 ). Of the plants mentioned in the Bible , the most common varieties may be identified either with certainty or probability; but a large proportion of the biblical plant-names are generic rather than specific, e.g., briers, grass, nettles, etc.; and just what plants are meant in some cases is impossible to determine, e.g., algum, cockle, gall, etc. A complete alphabetical list of the plant-names found in the English Versions is here given, with an attempt at identification.\\nAcanth. See Brier .\\nAlgum (A. V., 2 Chronicles, 2:8; D. V., 9:10, 11, \\\"thyme trees\\\", \\\"fir trees\\\"; written \\\"almug\\\" in A.V., 1 Samuel 10:11-12 ). No doubt the same tree is signified, the double name being due to a mere accidental transposition of the letters; if linguistic analogy may be trusted in, almug is correct (cf. Tamil, valguka). The algum tree is spoken of as a valuable exotic product imported to Palestine by Hiram's and Solomon's fleets ( 1 Kings 10:11 ; 2 Chronicles 2:8 ; 9:10 ), suitable for fine joinery and making musical instruments ( 1 Kings 10:12 ; 2 Chronicles 9:11 ). Josephus (Ant., VIII, vii, 1) says it was somewhat like the wood of the fig tree, but whiter and more glittering. According to most modern scholars and certain rabbis, the red sandal-wood, Pterocarpus santalina, is intended, though some of the uses made of it appear to require a stouter material. The identification proposed by Vulg. (see Thyine ) is much more satisfactory.\\nAlmond tree, Hebrew luz ( Genesis 30:37 ; \\\"hazel\\\" in A. V. is a mistranslation; cf. Arab . laux), apparently an old word later supplanted by shaqed ( Genesis 43:11 ; Numbers 17:8 ; Ecclesiastes 12:5 ); which alludes to the early blossoming of the tree. Almonds are ( Genesis 43:11 ) considered one of the best fruits in the Orient, and the tree, Amygdalus communis, has always been cultivated there. Several varieties, A. orientalis, Ait., or A. argentea, A. lycioides, Spach, A. spartioides, Spach, grow wild in districts such as Lebanon, Carmel, Moab .\\nAlmug. See Algum .\\nAloes ( Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 4:14 ; John 19:39 ; A. V., Psalm 45:8 ) is reckoned among \\\"the chief perfumes\\\". In A. V., Num. xxiv, 6 (\\\"lign aloes\\\"; D. V., \\\"tabernacles\\\" is an erroneous translation), a tree is clearly intended. The officinal aloes, Liliacea, is not alluded to; the aloes of the Bible is the product of a tree of the genus Aquilaria, perhaps A. agallocha, Roxb., a native of northern India ; at a certain stage of decay, the wood develops a fragrance well known to the ancients (Dioscorides, i, 21), and from it a rare perfume was obtained.\\nAmomum ( Revelation 18:13 , neither in the Greek New Testament , Vulg., A. V., nor D. V., but found in critical editions, such as Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Nestle), a perfume well known in antiquity (Dioscor., i, 14; Theophr., \\\"Hist. plant.\\\", ix, 7; \\\"De odor.\\\", 32; etc.). The Assyrian variety was particularly prized (Virg., Eclog., iv, 25; Josephus , \\\"Ant.\\\", XX, ii, 3; Martial., \\\"Epigr.\\\", vii, 77; Ovid, \\\"Heroid.\\\", xxi, 166; etc.), and probably obtained from Cissus vitignea, a climbing plant native of India but found also in Armenia , Media , and Pontus (Pliny, \\\"Nat. hist.\\\", xii, 13).\\nAnise ( Matthew 23:23 ), not the anise , Pimpinella anisum, but rather the dill, Anethum graveolens, shabath of the Talmud, shibith of the Arabs , is meant. Dill has always been much cultivated in Palestine; its seeds, leaves, and stems were subject to tithe , according to Rabbi Eliezer (Maasaroth, 1:I; cf. Matthew 23:23 ), which opinion, however, others thought excessive (Schwab, \\\"Talmud de Jerus.\\\", III, 182).\\nApple tree, Heb., thappuakh (cf. Arab , tiffah; Egypt . dapih, \\\"apple\\\") and the description of the tree and its fruit indicate the common apple tree, Malus communis, which is beautiful, affording shade for a tent or a house (Cant., ii, 3; viii, 5), and bears a sweet fruit, the aroma (Cant., vii, 8) of which is used in the East to revive a fainting person (cf. Cant., ii, 5). Apple groves flourished at an early date (Ramses II) in Egypt (Loret, \\\"Flore pharaonique\\\", p. 83); place-names like Tappuah ( Joshua 12:17 ) or Beth-tappuah (A. V., Joshua 15:53 ) indicate that they were a distinct feature of certain districts of Palestine.\\nArum. See Cockle .\\nAsh Tree. Isaiah 44:14 (A. V. for Heb., ’oren; D. V. \\\"pine\\\") depicts a planted tree, watered only by rain, whose wood is suitable to be carved into images and useful as fuel ( Isaiah 44:15 ). Probably the tree intended is Pinus pinea, the maritime or stone pine, rather than the ash, as the various species of Fraxinus grow only in the mountains of Syria , outside Palestine.\\nAspalathus (Ecclus., xxiv, 20; Greek, xxiv, 20; D. V. \\\"aromatical balm\\\") is quite frequently alluded to by ancient writers (Theognis Hippocrates, Theophrastes, Plutarch, Pliny etc.) as a thorny plant yielding a costly perfume. It is impossible to identify it with certainty , but most scholars believe it to be Convolvulus scoparius, also called Lignum rhodium (rose-scented wood).\\nAspen. See Mulberry .\\nAstragalus a genus of Papilionaceous plants of the tribe Lotea, several species of which yield the gum tragacanth ( Hebrew nek’oth, Arab . neka’at) probably meant in Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 (D.V. \\\"spices\\\"; \\\"storax\\\"). In 2 Kings 20:13 , and Isaiah 39:2 , Hebrew nekothoth has been mistaken for the plural of nek’oth and mistranslated accordingly \\\"aromatical spices\\\"; A.V. and R.V. give, in margin, \\\"spicery\\\"; A. V. \\\"precious things\\\" is correct. The gum spoken of in Gen. was probably gathered from the species found in Palestine, A. gummifer, A. rousseaunus, A. kurdicus, A. stromatodes.\\nBalm, Balsam, the regular translation of Hebrew çori ( Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 ; Jeremiah 8:22 ; 46:11 ; 51:8 ), except in Ezekiel 27:17 ( Hebrew pannag) and Sirach 24:20a (Greek ’aspalathos, see Aspalathus ); xxiv, 20b (Greek smúrna). The çori is described as coming from Galaad ( Jeremiah 8:22 ; 46:11 ) and having medicinal properties ( Jeremiah 51:8 ). It is obtained from Balsamodendron opobalsamum, Kunth., which is extant in tropical regions of east Africa and Arabia and yields the \\\"balm of Mecca \\\"; and Amyris gileadensis, a variety of the former, which gave the more extravagantly prized \\\"balm of Judea\\\", and is now extinct; it was extensively cultivated around the Lake of Tiberias , in the Jordan Valley, and on the shores of the Dead Sea (Talm. Babyl. Shabbath, 26a; Josephus , \\\"Ant.\\\", IX, i, 2; Jerome , \\\"Quæst in Gen.\\\", xiv, 7; Pliny, \\\"Nat. hist.\\\", xii, 25, etc.). The word çori is also applied to the gum from the mastic tree, or lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus, cf. Arab . daru), and that from Balanites ægyptica, Del., falsely styled \\\"balm of Galaad\\\". The meaning of pannag, mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17 , is not known with certainty ; modern commentators agree with R. V. (marginal gloss) that it is \\\"a kind of confection\\\".\\nBalsam, Aromatical. See Aspalathus.\\nBarley ( Hebrew se’orah, \\\"hairy\\\", an allusion to the length of the awns) was cultivated through the East as provender for horses and asses ( 1 Kings 4:28 ), also as a staple food among the poor , working men, and the people at large in times of distress. The grain was either roasted ( Leviticus 2:14 ; 2 Kings 4:43 ) or milled, kneaded and cooked in ovens as bread or cake. Barley, being the commonest grain, was considered a type of worthless things, hence the contemptuous force of Ezekiel 13:19 ; Judges, vii, 13; and Osee, iii, 2. Hordeum ithaburense, Boiss., grows wild in many districts of Palestine; cultivation has developed the two (H. distichum), four (H. tetrastichum), and six-rowed (H. hexastichum) barley. The harvest begins in April in the Ghôr, and continues later in higher altitudes; a sheaf of the new crop was offered in oblation on the \\\"sabbath of the Passover \\\".\\nBay tree, so A.V. in Psalm 36:35 ; D.V. \\\"Cedar of Libanus\\\", which renderings are erroneous. The correct meaning of the Heb. text is: \\\"as a green tree\\\", any kind of evergreen tree, \\\"in its native soil\\\".\\nBdellium ( Genesis 2:12 ; Numbers 11:7 ), either a precious stone or the aromatic gum of Amyris agallochum, a small resinous tree of northern India , found also, according to Pliny, in Arabia , Media , and Babylonia .\\nBeans ( 2 Samuel 17:28 ; Ezekiel 4:9 ), the horse-bean (Faba vulgaris; cf. Hebrew pol and Arab . ful), an ordinary article of food, extensively cultivated in the East. The string-bean, Vigna sinensis, kidney-bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Phaseolus molliflorus, also grow in Palestine.\\nBlasting. See Mildew .\\nBorith, a Heb. word transliterated in Jeremiah 2:22 , and translated in Mal., iii, 2 by \\\"fuller's herb\\\" (A. V. \\\"scap\\\"). St. Jerome in his Commentary on Jeremiah 2:22, identifies borith with the \\\"fuller's weed\\\", which was not used, like the Dipsacus fullonum, Mill., to dress cloth, but to wash it; St. Jerome adds that the plant grew on rich, damp soil, which description applies to a species of Saponaria; yet many modern scholars think he refers to some vegetable alkali procured by burning plants like Salsola kali and the Salicornias (S. fructicosa; S. herbacea) abundant on the coast.\\nBoxthorn. See Bramble .\\nBox tree ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 60:13 ; in D. V., Ezekiel 27:6 , instead of \\\"ivory and cabins\\\", we should read: \\\"ivory inlain in boxwood\\\"), probably the Hebrew the’ashshur. The box tree does not grow in Palestine, and indeed the Bible nowhere intimates this, but it mentions the box tree of Lebanon , Buxus longifolia, Boiss., and that imported from the islands of the Mediterranean.\\nBramble, translated from Hebrew ’atad in Judges, ix, 14-15, also rendered \\\"thorn\\\", in Psalm 57:10 . The Latin version has in both places rhamnus, \\\"buckthorn\\\"; of which several species grow in Palestine and Syria , but Arabic writers hold that the various kinds of Lycium or boxthorn are meant.\\nBriers. (1) Hebrew kharul rendered \\\"burning\\\" in D.V., Job 30:7 , \\\"thorns\\\" in Proverbs 24:31 and Sophon., ii, 9, according to which texts it must be large enough for people to sit under, and must develop rapidly in uncultivated lands. Its translation as \\\"thistles\\\" or \\\"nettles\\\" is unsuitable, for these plants do not reach the proportions required by Job 30:7 , hence it is generally believed to be either the acanth , Acanthus spinosus, or rest-harrow, two species of which, Onamis antiquarum, and particularly O. leiosperma, Boiss., are very common in the Holy Land. (2) Hebrew barquanim ( Judges 8:7, 16 ) probably corresponds to the numerous species of Rubus which abound in Palestine; according to Moore (Judges, ad loc.), Phaceopappus scoparius, Boiss., is intended. (3) Hebrew khedeq ( Micah 7:4 ). See Mad-apple . (4) Hebrew shamir ( Isaiah 5:6 ; 9:18 ; 10:17 ; 32:13 ), the flexible Paliurus aculeatus, Lam., Arab . samur, the supposed material of Christ's crown of thorns . (5) Hebrew shqyth ( Isaiah 7:23-5 ), a word not found outside of Isaias, and possibly designating prickly bushes in general.\\nBuckthorn. See Bramble .\\nBulrush represents three Heb. words: (1) gome Exodus 2:3 ; Isaiah 18:2 ; 35:7 ), Cyperus papyrus, is now extinct in Egypt (cf. Isaiah 19:6-7 ), where it was formerly regarded as the distinctive plant of the country (Strab., xvii, 15) and the Nile was styled \\\"the papyrus-bearer\\\" (Ovid, \\\"Metam.\\\", xv, 753), but still grows around the Lake of Tiberias , Lake Huleh. (2) ’Agmon (A. V., Isaiah 58:5 ; D. V. \\\"circle\\\") is variously rendered (D. V. Isaiah 19:15 ; Job 40:21 ). The plant whose flexibility is alluded to in Isaiah 58:5 , A. V. appears to be either the common reed, Arundo donax, or some kind of rush; Juncus communis, J. maritimus, Lam., J. acutus are abundant in Palestine. (3) Suph ( Isaiah 19:6 ; A. V. \\\"flag\\\"; etc.), Egypt . tûf, probably designates the various kinds of rush and sea-weeds ( Jonah 2:6 ). Yam Suph is the Hebrew name for the Red Sea .\\nBur, so, D. V., Os., ix, 6; x, 8, translating Vulgate lappa, \\\"burdock\\\", for Hebrew khoakh and qosh. Khoakh recurs in Proverbs 26:9 ; Cant., ii, 2 (D. V. \\\"thorns\\\"); 2 Kings 14:9 ; 2 Chronicles 25:18 ; Job 31:40 (D.V. \\\"thistle\\\"); \\\"thorn\\\" is the ordinary meaning of qosh. If burdock is the equivalent of khoakh, then Lappa major, D. C., growing in Lebanon is signified, as Lappa minor, D. C., is unknown in Palestine; however, the many kinds of thistles common in the East suit better the description. Yet, from the resemblance of Arab . khaukh with Hebrew khoakh, some species of blackthorn or sloe tree Prunus ursina, and others, Arab . khaukh al-dib might be intended.\\nBurnet. See Thistle (5).\\nBush, Burning, Hebrew seneh, \\\"thorny\\\" ( Exodus 3:2-4 ; Deuteronomy 33:16 ), probably a kind of whitethorn of goodly proportions (Cratægus sinaitica, Boiss.) common throughout the Sinaitic Peninsula. Arab . sanna is applied to all thorny shrubs.\\nCalamus, Hebrew qaneh ( Exodus 30:23 ; Ezekiel 27:19 ; Song of Songs 4:14 , and Isaiah 43:24 ; D. V. \\\"sweet cane\\\"; Jeremiah 6:20 : \\\"sweet-smelling cane\\\"), a scented reed yielding a perfume entering into the composition of the spices burned in sacrifices ( Isaiah 43:24 ; Jeremiah 6:20 ) and of the oil of unction ( Exodus 30:23-5 ). The qaneh is, according to some, Andropogon schænanthus, which was used in Egypt for making the Kyphi or sacred perfume; according to others, Acorus aromaticus.\\nCane, Sweet-smelling ( Jeremiah 6:20 ). See Calamus .\\nCamphire (A. V., Song of Songs 1:14 ; D.V. 4:13 ; \\\"cypress\\\"). From Hebrew kopher. The modern \\\"camphor\\\" was unknown to the ancients. Pliny identifies cyprus with the ligustrum of Italy , but the plant is no other than the henna tree (Lawsonia alba) the Orientals are so fond of. Its red sweet-scented spikes ( Douay Version , Cant., i, 13; \\\"clusters\\\") yield the henna oil; from its powdered leaves is obtained the reddish-orange paste with which Eastern women stain their finger and toe nails and dye their hair. Ascalon and Engaddi were particularly renowned for their henna.\\nCaper, Hebrew abiyyonah ( Douay Version , Ecclesiastes 12:5 ), the fruit of the caper tree, probably Capparis spinosa; C. herbacea, and C. ægyptiaca are also found in Palestine.\\nCarob, Greek kerátion ( Luke 15:16 ), translated \\\"husks\\\" (A.V.; D.V.), the coarse pods of the locust tree, Ceratonia siliqua, \\\"St. John's bread-tree\\\".\\nCassia, Hebrew qiddah ( Exodus 30:24 ; Ezekiel 27:19 ; D. V. \\\"stacte\\\"). Egypt . qad, the aromatic bark of Cinnamomum cassia, Bl., of India , an ingredient of the oil of unction ( Exodus 30:24 ), and the Egyptian Kyphi. In Psalm 44:9 , qeçi’ah, the Aramaic equivalent of qiddah,is possibly an explanation of ’ahaloth. There is no Biblical reference to the cassia, from which the senna of medicine is obtained.\\nCedar, indiscriminately applied to Cedrus libani, C. bermudensis, Juniperus virginiana, and Cupressus thymoides, as Heb., ’erez was used for three different trees: (1) The cedar wood employed in certain ceremonies of purification ( Leviticus 14:4, 6 ; 49052; Numbers 19:6 ) was either Juniperus phænicea, or J. oxycedrus, which pagans burned during sacrifices and at funeral piles (Hom., \\\"Odyss.\\\", v, 60; Ovid, \\\"Fast.\\\", ii, 538), and Pliny calls \\\"little cedar \\\" (Nat. Hist., XIII, i, 30). (2) The tree growing \\\"by the waterside\\\" ( Numbers 24:6 ) appears from Ez., xxxi, 7, to be the Cedrus libani, which usually thrives on dry mountain slopes. (3) In most of the other passages of Holy Writ , Cedrus libani, Barr, is intended, which \\\"prince of trees\\\", by its height ( Isaiah 2:13 ; Ezekiel 31:3, 8 ; Amos 2:9 ), appropriately figured the mighty Eastern empires ( Ezekiel 31:3-18 , etc.). From its trunk ship-masts ( Ezekiel 27:5 ), pillars, beams, and boards for temples and palaces ( 1 Kings 6:9 ; 7:2 ) were made; its hard, close-grained wood, capable of receiving a high polish, was a suitable material for carved ornamentations ( 1 Kings 6:18 ) and images ( Isaiah 44:14-5 ). Cedar forests were a paradise of aromatic scent, owing to the fragrant resin exuding from every pore of the bark ( Song of Songs 4:11 ; Hosea 14:7 ); they were \\\"the glory of Libanus\\\" ( Isaiah 35:2 ; 60:13 ), as well as a source of riches for their possessors ( 1 Kings 5:6 sqq. ; 1 Chronicles 22:4 ) and an object of envy to the powerful monarchs of Nineveh ( Isaiah 37:24 ; inscr. of several Assyrian kings).\\nCedrat, Citrus medica, or C. cedra is, according to the Syriac and Arabic Bibles, the \\\"Targum\\\" of Onkelos, Josephus (Ant. III, x, 4) and the Talmud (Sukka, iii, 5), the hadar (D. V. \\\"the fairest tree\\\") spoken of in Lev., xxiii, 40, in reference to the feast of Tabernacles.\\nCinnamon, Hebrew, qinnamon ( Exodus 30:23 ; Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 4:14 ; Sirach 24:20 ; Revelation 18:13 ), the inner aromatic bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Nees, an ingredient of the oil of unction and of the Kyphi.\\nCitron, Citrus limonum, supposed by some Rabbis to be intended in the text of Lev., xxiii, 40; \\\"boughs of hadar\\\", used regularly in the service of the synagogue and hardly distinguishable from cedrat.\\nCockle, A. V., Job 31:40 , for Hebrew be’osha: D. V. \\\"thorns\\\". The marginal renderings of A. V. and R. V. \\\"stinking weeds\\\", \\\"noisome weeds\\\", are much more correct. D. V., Matthew 13:24-30 , translates the Greek zizánia by cockle. The two names used in the original text point to plants of quite different characters: (1) According to etymology, be’osha must refer to some plant of offensive smell; besides the stink-weed (Datura stramonium) and the ill-smelling goose-weeds (Solanum nigrum) there are several fetid arums, henbanes, and mandrakes in Palestine, hence be’osha appears to be a general term applicable to all noisome and harmful plants. In the English Bibles, Isaiah 5:2-4 , the plural form is translated by \\\"wild grapes\\\", a weak rendering in view of the terrible judgment pronounced against the vineyard in the context; be’ushim may mean stinking fruits, as be’osha means stinking weeds. (2) zizánia, from Aram. zonin, stands for Lolium temulentum, or bearded darnel, the only grass with a poisonous seed, \\\"entirely like wheat till the ear appears\\\". The rendering of both versions is therefore inaccurate.\\nColocynth, Citrullus colocynthis, Schr., Cucumis c., probably the \\\"wild gourd\\\" of 2 Kings 4:38-40 , common throughout the Holy Land. In 1 Kings 6:18 ; 7:24 , we read about carvings around the inside of the Temple and the brazen sea, probably representing the ornamental leaves, stems, tendrils, and fruits of the colocynth.\\nCoriander seed ( Exodus 16:31 ; Numbers 11:7 ), the fruit of Coriandrum sativum, allied to aniseed and caraway.\\nCorn, a general word for cereals in English Bibles, like dagan in Heb. Wheat, barley, spelt (fitches), vetch, millet, pulse; rye and oats are neither mentioned in Scripture nor cultivated in the Holy Land.\\nCorn, Winter, Hebrew kussemeth ( Douay Version , Exodus 9:32 ; A.V. \\\"rye\\\"), rendered \\\"spelt\\\" in Isaiah 28:25 , yet the close resemblance of Arab . kirsanah with Hebrew suggests a leguminous plant, Vicia ervilia.\\nCotton, Hebrew or Persian karpas, Gossypium herbaceum, translated \\\"green\\\". Probably the shesh of Egypt and the buç of Syria ( Ezekiel 27:7, 16 , \\\"fine linen\\\") were also cotton.\\nCucumber, Hebrew qishshu’im ( Numbers 11:5 ; Isaiah 1:8 ), evidently the species Cucumis chate (cf. Arab . qiththa), indigenous in Egypt ; C. sativus is also extensively cultivated in Palestine.\\nCummin, Hebrew kammon, Arabic kammun, the seed of Cuminum cyminum ( Isaiah 28:25, 27 ; Matthew 23:23 ).\\nCypress, in D. V., Cant., i, 16 (A. V., 17) a poor translation of Hebrew ’eç shemen (see Oil tree ); elsewhere Hebrew berosh is rendered \\\"fir tree\\\"; in Sirach 24:17 , the original word is not known. Among the identifications proposed for beroth are Pinus halapensis, Miel., and Cupressus sempervirens, the latter more probable.\\nCyprus (Cant., i, 13; iv, 13). See Camphire .\\nDill (R.V., Matthew 23:23 ). See Anise .\\nEar of corn translates three Heb. words: (1) shibboleth, the ripe ear ready for harvest; (2) melilah, the ears that one may pluck to rub in the hands, and eat the grains ( Deuteronomy 23:25 ; Matthew 12:1 ; Mark 2:23 ; Luke 6:1 ); (3) abib, the green and tender ear of corn.\\nEbony. Hebrew hobnim, Arab . ebmus ( Ezekiel 27:15 ), the black heart wood of Diospyros ebenum, and allied species of the same genus, imported from coasts of Indian Ocean by merchantmen of Tyre .\\nElecampane. See Thistle (6).\\nElm translates: (1) Hebrew thidhar ( Douay Version , Isaiah 41:19 ; Isaiah 60:13: \\\"pine trees\\\"), possibly Ulmus campestris, Sm. (Arab. derdar); (2) Hebrew ’elah (A. V., Hos., iv, 13; D. V. \\\"turpentine tree\\\"). See Terebinth .\\nFigs ( Hebrew te’ênim), the fruit of the fig tree ( Hebrew te’ênah), Ficus carica, growing spontaneously and cultivated throughout the Holy Land. The fruit buds, which appear at the time of the \\\"latter rains\\\" (spring), are called \\\"green figs\\\" ( Song of Songs 2:13 ; Hebrew pag, cf. Beth-phage), which, \\\"late in spring\\\" ( Matthew 24:32 ), ripen under the overshadowing leaves, hence Mark 11:13 , and the parable of the barren fig tree ( Matthew 21:19, 21 ; Mark 11:20-6 ; Luke 13:6-9 ). Precociously ripening figs ( Hebrew bikkurah) are particularly relished; the ordinary ripe fruit is eaten fresh or dried in compressed cakes (Hebrew debelah: 1 Samuel 25:18 , etc.). Orientals still regard figs as the best poultice ( 2 Kings 20:7 ; Isaiah 38:21 ; St. Jerome , \\\"In Isaiam\\\", xxxviii, 21, in P.L., XXIV, 396).\\nFir, applied to all coniferous trees except the cedar , but should be restricted to the genera Abies and Picea, meant by Hebrew siakh ( Genesis 21:15 ; D. V. \\\"trees\\\"; cf. Arab ., shukh). Among these, Abies cilicia, Kotsch, and Picea orientalis are found in the Lebanon, Amanus and northward.\\nFitches. Hebrew, kussemeth ( Ezekiel 4:9 ), possibly Vicia ervilia, rendered \\\"gith\\\" by D.V., \\\"rye\\\" and \\\"spelt\\\" by A.V. and R.V. in Isaiah 28:25 .\\nFlag, Hebrew akhu (A.V., Genesis 41:2, 18 : \\\"meadow\\\"; D.V. \\\"marshy places\\\", \\\"green places in a marshy pasture\\\"; Job 8:11 ; D.V. \\\"sedge-bush\\\"), a plant growing in marshes and good for cattle to feed upon, probably Cyperus esculentus.\\nFlax, Hebrew pistah ( Exodus 9:31 ; Deuteronomy 22:11 ; \\\"linen\\\"; Proverbs 31:13 ), Linum usitatissimum, very early cultivated in Egypt and Palestine.\\nFlower of the field, Hebrew khabbaççeth ( Isaiah 25:1 ), kh. sharon (Cant., ii, 1), like Arab . bûseil, by which Narcissus tazetta is designated by the Palestinians. Possibly N. serotinus, or fall Narcissus, was also meant by Heb., which some suppose to mean the meadow-saffron (Colchicum variegatum, C. steveni), abundant in the Holy Land.\\nForest translates five Heb. words: (1) Ya’ar, forest proper; (2) horesh, \\\"wooded height\\\"; (3) çebak, a clump of trees; (4) ‘abhim, thicket; (5) pardeç, orchard. Among the numerous forests mentioned in the Bible are: Forest of Ephraim, which, in the Canaanite period, extended from Bethel to Bethsan; that between Bethel and the Jordan ( 2 Kings 2:24 ); Forest of Hareth, on the western slopes of the Judean hills; Forest of Aialon, west of Bethoron; Forests of Kiriath Yearim; the forest where Joatham built castles and towers ( 2 Chronicles 27:4 ) in the mountains of Juda; that at the edge of the Judean desert near Ziph ( 1 Samuel 23:15 ); Forest of the South ( Ezekiel 20:46, 47 ); and those of Basan ( Isaiah 2:13 ) and Ephraim ( 2 Samuel 18:6 ). Lebanon, Carmel, Hermon were also covered with luxuriant forests.\\nFrankincense ( Hebrew lebonah) should not be confounded with incense ( Hebrew qetorah), which confusion has been made in several passages of the English Bibles, e.g., Isaiah 43:23 ; 60:6 (A.V.); Jeremiah 6:20 . Incense was a mixture of frankincense and other spices ( Exodus 30:34-5 ). Arabian frankincense, the frankincense par excellence, is the aromatical resin of Boswellia sacra, a tree which grows in southern Arabia (Arab. luban); B. papyrifera of Abyssinia yields African frankincense, which is also good.\\nFuller's herb ( Malachi 3:2 ). See Borith .\\nGalbanum, Hebrew khelbenah ( Exodus 30:34 ; Sirach 24:21 ), a gum produced by Ferula galbaniflua, Boiss. and other umbelliferous plants of the same genus. Its odour is pungent, and it was probably used in the composition of incense to drive away insects from the sanctuary.\\nGall translates two Heb. words: (1) mererah, which stands for bile; (2) rosh, a bitter plant associated with wormwood, and growing \\\"in the furrows of the field\\\" ( Hosea 10:4 ; D. V. \\\"bitterness\\\"), identified with: poison hemlock (A. V., Hos., x, 4), Conium maculatum, not grown in the fields; colocynth, Citrullus colocynthis, not found in ploughed ground; and darnel, Lolium temulentum, not bitter. Probably the poppy, Papaver rheas, or P. somniferum, Arab. ras elhishhash, is meant.\\nGarlic, Allium sativum, Hebrew shum (cf. Arab. thum), a favourite article of food in the East. The species most commonly cultivated is the shallot, Allium ascalonicum.\\nGith, Hebrew queçath ( Isaiah 28:25, 27 ), Nigella sativa; A.V. \\\"fitches\\\" is wrong, nor does queçakh stand for the nutmeg flower, as G.E. Post suggests.\\nGoose-weed. See Cockle .\\nGopher wood ( Genesis 6:14 ; D.V. \\\"timber planks\\\"), a tree suitable for shipbuilding: cypress, cedar , and other resinous trees have been proposed, but interpreters remain at variance.\\nGourd, Hebrew qiqayou ( Jonah 4:6-10 ; D.V. \\\"ivy\\\"), the bottle-gourd, Cucurbita lagenaria, frequently used to overshadow booths or as a screen along trellises.\\nGrape, wild. See Colocynth .\\nGrape. See Vine .\\nGrape, Wild. See Cockle .\\nGrass translates four Heb. words: (1) deshe’, pasture or tender grass, consisting mainly of forage plants; (2) yerek, verdure in general; (3) khaçir, a good equivalent for grass; (4) ’esebh, herbage, including vegetables suitable for human food. It occurs frequently in the Bible , as in Genesis 47:4 ; Numbers 22:4 ; Job 6:5 ; 30:4 (see Mallows ); 40:15 ; Matthew 6:30 ; etc.\\nGrove, English rendering of two Hebrew words: (1) asherah, a sacred pole or raised stone in a temple enclosure, which \\\"groves\\\" do not concern us here; (2) ’eshel, probably the tamarisk tree (q.v.; cf. Arab . ’athl), but translated \\\"groves\\\" in Genesis 21:33 , and rendered elsewhere by \\\"wood\\\", as in 1 Samuel 31:6 and 31:13 .\\nHay, Hebrew hasas ( Proverbs 27:25 ), a dried herb for cattle. \\\"Stubble\\\" in Isaiah 5:24 ; 33:11 , also translates hasas.\\nHazel. See Almond tree .\\nHeath, Heb. ’ar’ ar’ aro’er (A.V., Jeremiah 17:6 ; 48:6 ; D. V. \\\"tamaric\\\", \\\"heath\\\"), a green bush bearing red or pink blossoms, and native of the Cape of Good Hope. The only species in Palestine is the Erica verticillata, Forskal. The E. multiflora is abundant in the Mediterranean region.\\nHemlock, Hebrew rosh (A. V., Hosea 10:4 ; Amos 6:12 ; D. V. \\\"bitterness\\\"; 13 , \\\"wormwood\\\"), an umbelliferous plant from which the poisonous alkaloid, conia, is derived. Conium maculatum and Æthusa cynapium are found in Syria . The water- hemlock is found only in colder zones. See Gall .\\nHerb. See Grass .\\nHerbs, Bitter, Hebrew meorim ( Exodus 12:8 ; Numbers 9:11 ; D. V. \\\"wild lettuce\\\"), comprise diverse plants of the family of Compositæ, which were eaten with the paschal lamb . Five species are known: wild lettuce, Hebrew hazeret; endive, ulsin; chicory, tamka; harhabina and maror, whose translation is variously rendered a kind of millet or beet, and the bitter coriander or horehound.\\nHolm ( Daniel 13:58 ; Isaiah 44:14 ; A.V. \\\"cypress\\\") probably Hebrew tirzah, a kind of evergreen-oak.\\nKnapweed. See Thistles .\\nLadanum, Hebrew lot (D. V. \\\"stacte\\\", A. V. \\\"myrrh,\\\" in Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 ), a gum from several plants of the genus Cistus (rock-rose); C. villosus and C. salvifolius are very abundant. In Sirach 24:21 , \\\"storax\\\". Hebrew libneh, is the equivalent of Greek stachté, used by Septuagint in the above passages of Gen.; whether ladanum was meant is not clear, as it is frequently the Greek rendering of Hebrew nataf.\\nLeeks, Hebrew khaçir ( Numbers 11:5 ), also rendered \\\"grass\\\", a vegetable, Allium porrum.\\nLentils, Hebrew ’adashim ( Genesis 25:34 ; 2 Samuel 17:28 ; Ezekiel 4:9 ), Arabic adas, Ervum lens, or Lens esculenta, Moench., an important article of diet.\\nLentisk. See Balm , Mastic tree .\\nLign aloes. See Aloes .\\nLily. (1) Hebrew shushan, Arab . susan, a generical term applicable to many widely different flowers, not only of the order Liliaceæ, but of Iridaceæ, Amaryllidaceæ, and others. Lilium candidum is cultivated everywhere; Gladiolus illyricus, Koch, G. septum, Gawl, G. atroviolaceus, Boiss., are indigenous in the Holy Land; Iris sari, Schott, I. palestina, Baker, I. lorteti, Barb., I. helenæ, are likewise abundant in pastures and swampy places. (2) The \\\"lilies of the field\\\" surpassing Solomon in glory were lilylike plants; needless to suppose that any others, e.g. the windflower of Palestine, were intended.\\nLily of the valleys, Heb. khabbaççeleth. See Flower of the field .\\nLocust tree. See Carob .\\nLotus. (1) A water plant of the order Nymphæaceæ, the white species of which, Nymphæa lotus, was called in Egyptian seshni, sushin, like the Hebrew shushan, which may have been applied to water-lilies, but the lotus was probably intended in 1 Kings 7:19, 22, 26, 49 . (2) A tree, Hebrew çe ’elim (A.V. Job 40:16-17 : \\\"shadow\\\", \\\"shades\\\"), Zizyphus lotus, very common in Africa on the river banks.\\nMad-apple, Hebrew khodeq ( Proverbs 26:9 ; D. V. \\\"thorn\\\"; Micah 7:4 : \\\"briers\\\"), Arab . khadaq, Solanum coagulans, Forskal, of the same genus as our mad apple, found near Jericho . Solanum cordatum, Forskal, may also be intended.\\nMallows, a mistranslation in A.V., Job 30:4 , for the orache or sea-purslain, Atriplex halimus, from Hebrew malluakh, derived from melakh, \\\"salt\\\", as halimus from ’áls. According to Galen, the extremities are edible; the Talmud tells us that the Jews working in the re-construction of the Temple (520-15 B.C.) ate it (Kiddushim, iii, fol. 66a).\\nMandrake, from Heb., dud‘, meaning \\\"love plant\\\", which Orientals believe ensures conception. All interpreters hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 , and Cant., vii, 13.\\nManna of commerce is a sugary secretion of various Oriental plants, Tamarix mannifera, Ehr., Alhaqi camelorum, Fish., Cotoneaster nummularia, Fraxinus ornus, and F. rotundifolia; it has none of the qualifications attributed to the manna of Exodus 16 .\\nMastic tree, an alliteration of the Greek schînos, schísei, Aram. pistheqa-pesag ( Daniel 13:54 ), the lentisk, Pistacia lentiscus, common in the East, which exudes a fragrant resin extensively used to flavour sweetmeats, wine, etc. See Balm .\\nMeadow saffron. See Flower of the field .\\nMelon, Hebrew ’abhattikhim ( Numbers 11:5 ), like Arab . bottikh, old Egypt . buttuga, seems to have a generic connotation, yet it designated primarily the watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris, Shrad.), and secondarily other melons. The passage of Numbers refers only to the melons of Egypt , and there is no mention in the Bible of melons of Palestine, yet they were in old times cultivated as extensively as now.\\nMildew, Hebrew yeraqon, occurs three times in D. V. and with it is mentioned shiddaphon, variously rendered ( 2 Chronicles 6:28 : \\\"blasting\\\"; Amos 4:9 : \\\"burning wind\\\"; Haggai 2:18 : \\\"blasting wind\\\"). In Deuteronomy 28:22 , and 1 Kings 8:37 , yeraqon is translated \\\"blasting\\\" (A. V. \\\"mildew\\\"), and shiddaphon, \\\"corrupted air\\\". Translators evidently had no definite idea of the nature and difference of these two plagues. Yeraqon, or mildew, is caused by parasitic fungi like Puccinia graminis and P. straminis which suck out of the grain, on which they develop on account of excessive moisture. Shiddaphon, or smut, manifests itself, in periods of excessive drought, and is caused by fungi of the genus Ustilago, which, when fully developed, with the aid of the khamsin wind, \\\"blast\\\" the grain.\\nMillet, Hebrew dokhan ( Ezekiel 4:9 ), Arab . dokhn, is applied to Panicum miliaceum, and Setaria italica, Kth. The rendering \\\"millet\\\", in D. V., Isaiah 28:25 , is not justified, as Hebrew nisman, found here, means \\\"put in its place\\\".\\nMint ( Matthew 23:23 ; Luke 11:42 ). Various species are found in Palestine: Mentha sylvestris, the horse-mint, with its variety M. viridis, the spear-mint, grow everywhere; M. sativa, the garden-mint, is cultivated in all gardens; M. piperita, the peppermint, M. aquatica, the water-mint, M. pulegium, the pennyroyal, are also found in abundance. Mint is not mentioned in the Law among tithable things, but the Pharisaic opinion subjecting to tithe all edibles acquired force of law.\\nMulberry, Hebrew beka’ im (A. V., 2 Samuel 5:23-4 ; 1 Chronicles 14:14-5 ; D. V. \\\"pear tree\\\"), a tree, two species of which are cultivated in Palestine: Morus alba, M. nigra. Neither this nor pear-tree is a likely translation; the context rather suggests a tree the leaves of which rustle like the aspen, Populus tremula. In D.V. Luke 17:6 , \\\"mulberry tree\\\" is probably a good translation.\\nMustard. Several kinds of mustard-plant grow in the Holy Land, either wild, as the charlock, Sinapis arvensis, and the white mustard, S. Alba, or cultivated, as S. nigra, which last seems the one intended in the Gospel. Our Lord compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed ( Matthew 13:31-2 ), a familiar term to mean the tiniest thing possible (cf. Talmud Jerus. Peah, 7; T. Babyl. Kethub., iiib), \\\"which a man … sowed in his field\\\" and which \\\"when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs\\\"; the mustard tree attains in Palestine a height of ten feet and is a favourite resort of linnets and finches.\\nMyrrh translates two Heb. words: (1) mor (cf. Arab . morr), the aromatic resin produced by Balsamodendron myrrha, Nees, which grows in Arabia and subtropical east Africa, was extensively used among the ancients, not only as a perfume ( Exodus 30:23 ; Psalm 44:9 ; Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 1:12 ; 5:5 ), but also for embalming ( John 19:39 ) and as an anodyne (Mark, xv, 23; (2) lot, see Ladanum .\\nMyrtle, Hebrew hadas ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 55:13 ; Zechariah 1:8, 10, 11 ), Myrtus communis, Arab . hadas, an evergreen shrub especially prized for its fragrant leaves, and found in great abundance in certain districts of Palestine. Its height is usually three to four feet, attaining to eight feet in moist soil, and a variety cultivated in Damascus reaches up ten to twelve feet; hence an erroneous translation in almost all the above Scriptural passages.\\nNard, pistic (R.V. margin, Mark 14:3 ). See Spikenard .\\nNettles translates two Heb. words: (1) kharul, plur. kharulim (A. V., Job 30:7 ; D. V. \\\"briers\\\"; Zephaniah 2:9 ; Proverbs 24:31 ; D. V. \\\"thorns\\\"), see Bramble ; (2) qimmosh, qimmeshonim ( Proverbs 24:31 ; A. V. \\\"thorns\\\"; Isaiah 34:13 ; Hosea 9:6 ): correctly rendered \\\"nettles\\\" (Urtica urens, U. dioica, U. pilulifera, U. membranacea, Poir.), which are found everywhere on neglected patches, whilst the deserts abound with Forskahlea tenacissima, a plant akin to the Urtica.\\nNut, equivalent of two Heb. words: (1) ’egoz (Cant., vi, 10), Arab . jauz, the walnut tree, universally cultivated in the East; (2) botnim (A. V., Genesis 43:11 ), probably the pistachio nut, Arab . butm. See Pistachio .\\nOak, Hebrew ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon, ’allah, ’alon are thus indiscriminately translated. From Osee iv, 13, and Isaiah 6:13 , it appears that the ’elah is different from the ’allon; in fact, ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon, are understood by some to be the terebinth ’allah and ’allon representing the oak. The genus Quercus is largely represented in Palestine and Syria , as to the number of individuals and species, seven of which have been found: (1) Quercus robur is represented by two varieties: Q. cedrorum and Q. pinnatifida; (2) Q. infectoria; (3) Q. ilex; (4) Q. coccifera, or holm oak, of which there are three varieties: Q. calliprinos, Q. palestina, and Q. pseudo- coccifera, this latter, a prickly evergreen oak with leaves like very small holly, most common in the land, especially as brushwood; (5) Q. cerris; (6) Q. ægylops, the Valonia oak, also very common and of which two varieties are known: Q. ithaburensis and Q . look, Ky.; (7) Q. libani, Oliv.\\nOil tree, Hebrew ’es shemen ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 1 Kings 6:23, 31-3 ; III Esdras 8:15), the olive-tree in D. V., the oleaster in R. V., and variously rendered in A. V.: \\\"oil tree\\\", \\\"olive tree\\\" and \\\"pine\\\". To meet the requirements of the different passages where the ’es shemen is mentioned, it must be a fat tree, producing oil or resin, an emblem of fertility, capable of furnishing a block of wood out of which an image ten feet high may be carved, it must grow in mountains near Jerusalem , and have a dense foliage. Wild olive, oleaster, Elæagnus angustifolius (Arab., haleph), Balanites ægyptiaca, Del. (Arab. zaqqum), are therefore excluded; some kind of pine is probably meant.\\nOlive tree, Olea europæa, one of the most characteristic trees of the Mediterranean region, and universally cultivated in the Holy Land. Scriptural allusions to it are very numerous, and the ruins of oil-presses manifest the extensive use of its enormous produce: olives, the husbandman's only relish; oil which serves as food, medicine, unguent, and fuel for lamps; finally candles and soap. The olive tree was considered the symbol of fruitfulness, blessing, and happiness , the emblem of peace and prosperity.\\nOlive, Wild ( Romans 11:17, 24 ), not the oleaster, Elæagnus angustifolia, common throughout Palestine, but the seedling of the olive, on which the Olea europæa is grafted.\\nOnion, Hebrew beçalim ( Numbers 11:5 ), Allium cepa, universally cultivated and forming an important and favourite article of diet in the East. Successes in America were immediately owing to the vigorous exertions and prowess of the Irish immigrants who bore arms in that cause\\\" (Historical Review of the State of Ireland , II, 178). The historians Marmion and Gordon write to the same effect.\\nPalm tree, Hebrew thamar ( Exodus 15:27 ), tomer ( Judges 4:5 ), Phænix dactylifera, the date palm. The palm tree flourishes now only in the maritime plain, but the Jordan Valley, Engaddi, Mount Olivet, and many other localities were renowned in antiquity for their palm groves. In fact, the abundance of palm trees in certain places suggested their names: Phœnicia (from Greek phoîniks), Engaddi, formerly named Hazazon Thamar, i.e. \\\"Palm grove\\\", Jericho , surnamed \\\"the City of Palm trees\\\", Bethany, \\\"the house of dates\\\", are among the best known. Dates are a staple article of food among the Bedouins; unlike figs, they are not dried into compressed cakes, but separately; date wine was known throughout the East and is still made in a few places; date honey ( Hebrew debash; cf. Arab . dibs) has always been one of the favourite sweetmeats of the Orientals. There are many allusions in Scripture to palm trees, which are also prominent in architectural ornamentation (Hebrew timmorah, 1 Kings 6:29 ).\\nPaper reed, Hebrew aroth (A. V., Isaiah 19:7 ) preferably rendered \\\"the channel of the river\\\" (D. V.), as the allusion seems to be to the meadows on the banks of the Nile.\\nPear tree. See Mulberry .\\nPen, in Psalm 44:2 and Jeremiah 8:8 , is probably the stalk of Arundo donax, which the ancients used for writing, as do also the modern Orientals.\\nPeppermint. See Mint .\\nPine tree translates the Hebrew words: (1) ’oren ( Isaiah 44:14 ; A.V. \\\"ash\\\", possibly Pinus pinea; (2) thidhar ( Isaiah 60:13 ; Isaiah 41:19 ; D.V. \\\"elm\\\"), the elm rather than pine.\\nPistachio, Hebrew botnim ( Genesis 43:11 ), probably refers to the nut-fruits of Pistacia vera, very common in Palestine; yet Arab. butm is applied to Pistacia terebinthus.\\nPlane tree, Hebrew armon ( Genesis 30:37 ; Ezekiel 31:8 ; A. V. \\\"chestnut tree\\\"; Sirach 24:19 ). Platanus orientalis, found throughout the East, fulfills well the condition implied in the Heb. name (\\\"peeled\\\"), as the outer layers of its bark peel off. A. V. translation is erroneous , for the chestnut tree does not flourish either in Mesopotamia or Palestine.\\nPomegranate, the fruit of Punica granatum, a great favourite in the Orient, and very plentiful in Palestine, hence the many allusions to it in the Bible . Pomegranates were frequently taken as a model of ornamentation; several places of the Holy Land were named after the tree (Heb., rimmon): Rimmon, Geth-Remmon, En-Rimmon, etc.\\nPoplar, Hebrew libneh ( Genesis 30:37 ; Hosea 4:13 ). Arab. lubna, Styrax officinalis, certainly identified with the tree from the inner layer of whose bark the officinal storax is obtained.\\nPoppy. See Gall .\\nPulse renders two Heb. words: (1) qali occurs twice in 2 Samuel 17:28 , and is translated by \\\"parched corn\\\" and \\\"pulse\\\"; the allusion is to cereals, the seeds of peas, beans, lentils, and the like, which, in the East, are roasted in the oven or toasted over the fire; (2) zero‘im, zero‘nim ( Daniel 1:12-16 ) refer to no special plants, but possibly to all edible summer vegetables.\\nReed, a general word translating several Hebrew names of plants: ’agmon, gome, sûph (see Bulrush ) and qaneh (see Calamus ).\\nRock-rose. See Ladanum .\\nRose. (1) Hebrew khabbaççeleth (A. V., Song of Songs 2:1 ; Isaiah 35:1 ) is probably the narcissus (see Flower of the Field ). (2) Wis., ii, 8, seems to indicate the ordinary rose, though roses were known in Egypt only at the epoch of the Ptolemies. (3) The rose plant mentioned in Sirach 24:18 ; 39:17 , is rather the oleander, Nerium oleander, very abundant around Jericho , where it is doubtful whether roses ever flourished except in gardens, although seven different species of the genus Rosa grow in Palestine.\\nRue ( Luke 11:42 ), probably Ruta chalepensis, slightly different from R. graveolens, the officinal one. St. Luke implies that Pharisees regarded the rue as subject to tithe , although it was not mentioned in the Law among tithable things ( Leviticus 27:30 ; Numbers 18:21 ; Deuteronomy 14:22 ). This opinion of some overstrict Rabbis did not prevail in the course of time , and the Talmud (Shebiith, ix, 1) distinctly excepts the rue from tithe .\\nSea-purslain. See Mallows .\\nSedge, Hebrew suph (D.V., Exodus 2:3 ), a generic name for rush. See Bulrush .\\nSedge-bush, Heb. ’akhu ( Douay Version , Job 8:11 ; Genesis 41:2, 18 ; \\\"marshy places\\\"; A. V., \\\"meadow\\\") probably designates all kinds of green plants living in marshes (cf. Egypt . akhah), in particular Cyperus esculentus. See Flag .\\nSetim wood, the gum arabic tree, Acacia Seyal, Del., which abounds in the oasis of the Sinaitic Peninsula and in the sultry Wadys about the Dead Sea. The wood is light, though hard and close-grained, of a fine orange-brown hue darkening with age, and was reputed incorruptible.\\nShrub, Hebrew na’açuç ( Douay Version , Isaiah 7:19 ; 55:13 ), a particular kind of shrub, probably some jujube tree, either Zizyphus vulgaris, Lamentations , or Z. spina-christi, Willd.\\nSpelt, A.V. and R.V. for kussemeth ( Ezekiel 4:9 ). See Fitches . R.V. for qeçakh ( Exodus 9:32 ; Isaiah 28:25 ). See Gith .\\nSpices translates three Heb. words: (1) sammum, a generic word including galbanum onycha, the operculum of a strombus, and stacte; (2) basam, another generic term under which come myrrh, cinnamon, sweet cane, and cassia; (3) noko ’oth, possibly the same substance as Arab . noka’ath. See Astragalus .\\nSpices, Aromatical ( 2 Kings 20:13 ; Isaiah 39:2 ), a mistranslation for \\\"precious things\\\". See Astragalus .\\nSpikenard (A. V. Song of Songs 1:11-12 ; 4:14 ; Mark 14:3 ; John 12:3 ), a fragrant essential oil obtained from the root of Nardostachys jatamansi, D. C., a small herbaceous plant of the Himalayas, which is exported all over the East, and was known even to the Romans; the perfume obtained from it was very expensive.\\nStorax. (1) Genesis 43:11 : see Astragalus ; (2) Ecclesiasticus 24:21 : see Poplar ; Stacte (1).\\nSweet cane. See Cane .\\nSycamine (A. V., Luke 17:6 ; D. V. \\\"mulberry tree\\\"). As St. Luke distinguishes sukáminos (here) from sukomoréa (xix, 4), they probably differ; sukaminos is admitted by scholars to be the black mulberry, Morus nigra.\\nSycamore or Sycomore, Hebrew shiqmim or shiqmoth ( 1 Kings 10:27 ; Psalm 77:47 , \\\"mulberry\\\"; Isaiah 9:10 ; A. V. Amos 7:14 ), not the tree commonly called by that name, Acer pseudo-platanus, but Ficus sycomorus, formerly more plentiful in Palestine.\\nTamarisk, Hebrew ’eshel ( Genesis 21:33 ; \\\"grove\\\"; 1 Samuel 22:6 ; 31:13 ; D.V. \\\"wood\\\", A.V. \\\"tree\\\"), Arab. ’athl, a tree of which eight or nine species grow in Palestine.\\nTeil tree (A.V., Isaiah 6:13 ), a mistranslation of Hebrew ’elah, which is probably the terebinth.\\nTerebinth ( Douay Version , Isaiah 6:13 ), Pistacia terebinthus, the turpentine tree, for Hebrew ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon (see Oak ); it grows in dry localities of south and eastern Palestine where the oak cannot thrive. The turpentine, different from that of the pine trees, is a kind of pleasant-smelling oil, obtained by making incisions in the bark, and is widely used in the East to flavour wine, sweet-meats, etc.\\nThistles, or numerous prickly plants, are one of the special features of the flora of the Holy Land; hence they are designated by various Hebrew words, inconsistently translated by the versions, where guess-work seems occasionally to have been employed although the general meaning is certain: (1) barqanim, see Briers ; (2) dardar, Arab . shaukat ed-dardar, possibly Centaureas, star-thistles and knapweeds; (3) khedeq, see Mad-apple ; (4) khoakh (see Bur ), a plant, which grows amidst ruins ( Isaiah 24:13 ), in fallow-lands ( Hosea 9:6 ), with lilies (Cant., ii, 2), and in fallow fields where it is harmful to corn ( Job 31:40 ), all which features suit well the various kinds of thistles (Carduus pycnocephalus, C. argentatus, Circium lanceolatum, C. arvense, Attractilis comosa, Carthamus oxyacantha, Scolymus maculatus), most abundant in Palestine; (5) sirim, the various star-thistles, or perhaps the thorny burnet, plentiful in ruins; (6) sirpal, from the Greek rendering, probably the elecampane, Inula viscosa, common on the hills of the Holy Land; (7) qimmeshonim, see Nettles ; (8) shayith and (9) shamir, see Briers .\\nThorns, used in the English Bibles to designate plants like thistles, also includes thorny plants, such as (1) ’atal, see Bramble ; (2) mesukah, the general name given to a hedge of any kind of thorny shrubs; (3) na’açuç, see Shrub ; (4) sillôn (cf. Arab . sula), some kind of strong thorns; (5) sarabhim, tangled thorns forming thickets impossible to clear; (6) çinnim, an unidentified thorny plant; (7) qoç, a generic word for thorny bushes; (8) sikkim (cf. Arab . shauk), also a generic name.\\nThyine wood, probably Thuya articulata, Desf., especially in Apocalypse 18:12 . See Algum .\\nTurpentine tree. See Terebinth .\\nVetches (D. V., Isaiah 28:25 ). See Fitches .\\nVine, the ordinary grape-vine, Vitis vinifera, of which many varieties are cultivated and thrive in the Holy Land. In Old Testament times vine and wine were so important and popular that in it they are constantly mentioned and alluded to, and a relatively large vocabulary was devoted to expressing varieties of plants and produce. In Ezekiel 15:6 , Hebrew çafçafah is rendered \\\"vine\\\", see Willow .\\nVine of Sodom ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ), possibly the well known shrub, \\\"Apple of Sodom\\\", Calotropis procera, Willd., which peculiar plant grows round the Dead Sea and produces a fruit of the size of an apple, and \\\"fair to behold\\\", which bursts when touched and contains only white silky tufts and small seeds, \\\"dust and ashes\\\" ( Josephus ).\\nWater-mint. See Mint .\\nWheat, from Hebrew bar and dagan, also translated \\\"corn\\\" and applicable to all cereals, is properly in Hebrew khittah (cf. Arab . khintah), of which two varieties are especially cultivated in Palestine: Triticum æstivum, summer wheat, and T. hybernum, winter wheat; the harvest takes place from May (Ghôr) to June (highlands). Corn is threshed by cattle or pressed out with a sledge, and winnowed with a shovel, by throwing the grain against the wind on threshing floors upon breezy hills.\\nWheel ( Psalm 82:14 ) probably refers to some kind of Centaurea, as does \\\"whirlwind\\\" ( Isaiah 17:13 ).\\nWillow. (1) Hebrew çafçafah (A. V., Ezekiel 17:5 ; D. V., \\\"vine\\\"), Arab . safsaf, probably willow though some prefer Elægnus khortensis, Marsh., from Arab . zaizafun. (2) Hebrew ’arabim ( Leviticus 23:40 ; Job 40:17 ; Psalm 136:2 ; Isaiah 44:4 ), like Arab . gharab, hence the willow. ’Arabim, used only in the plur., probably designates all willows in general (Salix safsaf, S. alba, S. Fragilis, S. babylonica, or weeping willow, are frequent in the Palestinian Wadys), whereas çafçafah may point out some particular species possibly the weeping willow.\\nWormwood, Hebrew la’anah ( Revelation 8:11 ), plants of the genus Artemisia, several species of which (A. monosperma, Del., A. herba-alba, Asso., A. judaica, A. annua, A. arborescens) are common in Palestine, notably on tablelands and in deserts . The characteristic bitterness of the Artemisias, coupled with their usual dreariness of habitat, aptly typified for Eastern minds calamity, injustice , and the evil results of sin .\",\n \"Sacred Places: Trees and the Sacred - Art History Resources\\nTREES AND THE SACRED. ... Perhaps the most famous grove, of plane-trees, was that ... while the Dryads were forest nymphs who guarded the trees. Sometimes armed ...\\nSacred Places: Trees and the Sacred\\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\\n© 1998 (text only) Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe\\nAn exploration of how and why places become invested with SACREDNESS and how the SACRED is embodied or made manifest through ART and ARCHITECTURE\\nTREES AND THE SACRED\\nFrom the earliest times, trees have been the focus of religious life for many peoples around the world. As the largest plant on earth, the tree has been a major source of stimulation to the mythic imagination. Trees have been invested in all cultures with a dignity unique to their own nature, and tree cults, in which a single tree or a grove of trees is worshipped, have flourished at different times almost everywhere. Even today there are sacred woods in India and Japan, just as there were in pre-Christian Europe. An elaborate mythology of trees exists across a broad range of ancient cultures.\\nThere is little evidence in the archaeological record of tree worship in the prehistoric world, though the existence of totems carved from wood that may have held a sacred significance is suggested by the pole topped with a bird's body and head which appears next to the bird-headed, ithyphallic male figure in the so-called well scene at Lascaux.\\nIn the early historical period, however, there is considerable evidence that trees held a special significance in the cultures of the ancient world. In Ancient Egypt, several types of trees appear in Egyptian mythology and art, although the hieroglyph written to signify tree appears to represent the sycamore (nehet) in particular. The sycamore carried special mythical significance. According to the Book of Dead, twin sycamores stood at the eastern gate of heaven from which the sun god Re emerged each morning. The sycamore was also regarded as a manifestation of the goddesses Nut, Isis, and especially of Hathor, who was given the epithet Lady of the Sycamore. Sycamores were often planted near tombs, and burial in coffins made of sycamore wood returned the dead person to the womb of the mother tree goddess.\\nThe ished, which may be identified as the Persea, a fruit-bearing deciduous tree (and which, incidentally, Pausanias [ V, 14. 4 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes as a tree that loves no water but the water of the Nile) had a solar significance. Another tree, the willow (tcheret) was sacred to Osiris; it was the willow which sheltered his body after he was killed. Many towns in Egypt with tombs in which a part of the dismembered Osiris was believed to be buried had groves of willows associated with them.\\nThe terraces of the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-bahari (c. 1480 BCE) were planted with myrrh trees [1. the Temple of Hatshepsut ]. While the inner sanctuary is located inside the cliff [cf. The Sacred Cave ], the temple's outer sanctuary of terraced gardens recreated the Paradise of Amon, an earthly palace for the Sun-god in imitation of the myrrh terraces of Punt, which was the legendary homeland of the gods. A special expedition to Punt -- probably at the southern end of the Red Sea -- was organized by Hatshepsut's architect and councillor, Senmut, to get the myrrh trees. Besides the terraced gardens of myrrh trees, two sacred Persea trees stood before the now vanished portal in the wall of the entrance forecourt, while palm trees were planted inside the first court [see Earl Baldwin Smith in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\\nIn perhaps a similar fashion, it is believed the ramped terraces of the Mesopotamian ziggurats [cf. The Sacred Mountain ] were also planted with trees, and sacred trees were the principal feature of the so-called Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world.\\nIn the desert environments of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia trees, and especially fruit trees, assumed a special importance. The head dress worn by one of the women buried in the tomb of Queen Pu'abi at the Sumerian site of Ur (c. 2500 BCE) includes in the elaborate decoration clusters of gold pomegranates, three fruits hanging together shielded by their leaves, together with the branches of some other tree with golden stems and fruit or pods of gold and carnelian. [see P. R. S. Moorey in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]\\nIn Egypt, the evergreen date palm was a sacred tree, and a palm branch was the symbol of the god Heh, the personification of eternity. For later cultures, the palm branch also served as an emblem of fecundity and victory. For Christians, the palm branch is a symbol of Christ's victory over death. It also signified immortality and divine blessings and is often seen as an attribute of Christian martyrs. It also denotes particular Christian saints such Paul the Hermit and Christopher, as well as the Archangel Michael. The palm tree is also a symbol of the garden of paradise.\\nTrees also figure prominently in the culture and mythology of Ancient Greece. Pausanias [see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes the sacred groves of Aesculapius at Epidaurus (II, 27. 1), of Argus in Laconia (III, 4. 1), and a sacred grove of plane-trees at Lerna (II, 38, 1, 2, 8). In the land of Colophon in Ionia was a grove of ash-trees sacred to Apollo (VII, 5. 10), and a sacred grove at Lycosura included an olive-tree and an evergreen oak growing from the same root (VIII, 37. 10). Perhaps the most famous grove, of plane-trees, was that sacred to Zeus, known as the Altis, at Olympia (V, 27. 1, 11).\\nThe oak tree was also sacred to Zeus, especially the tree at the sanctuary of Zeus in Dodona which also served as an oracle; it would seem the rustling of the leaves was regarded as the voice of Zeus and the sounds interpreted by priestesses. The oak was also sacred to Pan [see Pausanias BIBLIOGRAPHY ], while the myrtle-tree was sacred to Aphrodite. In the Pandrosium near the temple known as the Erechtheum (421-405 BCE) on the Athenian Acropolis , besides many other signs and remains of Athens' mythical past -- a salt-water well [cf. Water and the Sacred ] and a mark in the shape of Poseidon's trident in a rock -- could also be seen a living olive tree sacred to the goddess Athena.\\nAn olive tree growing today outside the Erechtheum\\nIn several Greek myths, women and men are frequently transformed into trees: Atys into a pine tree, Smilax into a yew, and Daphne into the laurel, which was sacred to Apollo.\\nIn numerous cases the spirit of trees is personified, usually in female form. In Ancient Greece, the Alseids were nymphs associated with groves (alsos, grove), while the Dryads were forest nymphs who guarded the trees. Sometimes armed with an axe, Dryads would punish anyone harming the trees. Crowned with oak-leaves, they would dance around the sacred oaks. The Hamadryads were even more closely associated with trees, forming an integral part of them. In India, tree nymphs appear in the form of the voluptuous Vrikshaka.\\nIn Ancient Rome, a fig-tree sacred to Romulus grew near the Forum, and a sacred cornel-tree grew of the slope of the Palatine Hill. Sacred groves were also found in the city of Rome. In Book 8 of The Aeneid, Virgil relates that:\\nNext after this he shows the spacious grove\\nWhich fiery Romulus the Refuge named,\\nAnd 'neath its cool cliff called the Lupercal\\nBy Arcad custom of Lycaean Pan,\\nPoints too to sacred Argiletum's grove\\n[and on the Capitoline Hill...]\\nThe place with its dread sanctity was wont\\nTo awe the frightened rustics; even then\\nThey trembled at its wood and at its rock\\nThis grove, said he, this hill with leafy crest\\nA god inhabits -- who that god may be,\\nIs all in doubt; Arcadians believe\\nThat they themselves Jove oftentimes have seen...\\nAccording to the Roman authors Lucan and Pomponius Mela, the Celts of Gaul worshipped in groves of trees, a practice which Tacitus and Dio Cassius say was also found among the Celts in Britain. The Romans used the Celtic word nemeton for these sacred groves. A sacred oak grove in Galatia (Asia Minor), for example, was called Drunemeton (Strabo, Geographica, XII, 5, 1). The word was also incorporated into many of the names of towns and forts, such as Vernemeton near Leicester in England.\\nThe names of certain Celtic tribes in Gaul reflect the veneration of trees, such as Euburones (the Yew tribe), and the Lemovices (the people of the elm). A tree trunk or a whole tree was frequently included among the votive offerings placed in ritual pits or shafts dug into the ground. Others shafts had a wooden pole placed at the bottom. The Celts believed trees to be sources of sacred wisdom, and the hazel in particular was associated with wisdom by the Druids.\\nPerhaps not surprisingly, trees appear at the foundations of many of the world's religions. Because of their relative rarity in the Near East, trees are regarded in the Bible as something almost sacred and are used to symbolize longevity, strength, and pride. Elements of pagan tree cults and worship have survived into Judeo-Christian theology. In Genesis, two trees -- the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -- grow at the centre of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). Scriptural and apocryphal traditions regarding the Tree of Life later merge in Christianity with the cult of the cross [cf. Sacred Shapes and Symbols ] to produce the Tree of the Cross. The fantastic Story of the True Cross identifies the wood used for the cross in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as being ultimately from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. Other stories claim that Adam was buried at Jerusalem and three trees grew out of his mouth to mark the centre of the earth [see F. Kampers in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\\nIn the Old Testament, trees are also associated with the ancient Canaanite religion devoted to the mother goddess Asherah which the Israelites, intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, saught to suppress and replace. The cult Asherah and her consort Baal was evidently celebrated in high places, on the tops of hills and mountains [cf. The Sacred Mountain ], where altars dedicated to Baal and carved wooden poles or statues of Asherah (or the Asherahs; in the past Asherah has also been translated as grove, or wood, or tree) were evidently located. In Deuteronomy 12:2, the Israelites are directed to \\\"to destroy all the places, wherein the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree; you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire.\\\"\\nIn Ancient Assyria, contemporary with the ziggurats, trees, fruit trees especially, were associated with fertility. The significance of trees in Ancient Assyria is shown in the numerous reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees. Sacred trees, or trees of life, were associated in Ancient Assyria with the worship of the god Enlil.\\nSome trees become sacred through what may have occurred in their proximity. It was under a pipal tree that Siddhartha Gautama (born 566 BCE) meditated until he attained enlightenment (Nirvana) and became the Buddha. The Bodhi or Bo (Enlightenment) tree is now the centre of a major Buddhist sacred shrine known as Bodh Gaya .\\nFor the ancient Celts, the Yew tree was a symbol of immortality, and holy trees elsewhere functioned as symbols of renewal [see Brosse in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. A tree scarred by lightning was identified as a tree of life, and, according to Pliny [see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] the Celtic Druids believed that mistletoe grew in places which had been struck by lightning. The Druids performed rituals and ceremonies in groves of sacred oak trees, and believed that the interior of the oak was the abode of the dead. In India, it is believed that the Brahma Daitya, the ghosts of brahmans, live in the fig trees, the pipal (ficus religiosa), or the banyan (ficus indica), awaiting liberation or reincarnarnation. Among the eight or so species of tree considered sacred in India, these two varieties of fig are the most highly venerated.\\nThe identification of sacred trees as symbols of renewal is widespread. In China, the Tree of Life, the Kien-Luen, grows on the slopes of Kuen-Luen, while the Moslem Lote tree marks the boundary between the human and the divine. From the four boughs of the Buddhist Tree of Wisdom flow the rivers of life. The great ash tree Yggdrasil of Nordic myth connects with its roots and boughs the underworld and heaven.\\nIn Japan, trees such as the cryptomeria are venerated at Shinto shrines. Especially sacred is the sakaki, a branch from which stuck upright in the ground is represented by the shin-no-mihashira, or sacred central post, over and around which the wooden Shrines at Ise are built. The shin-no-mihashira is both the sakaki branch and the pillar confirmed in the nethermost ground, like the heaven-tree in many Japanese legends.\\nSacred forests still exist in India and in Bali, Indonesia. The holy forests in Bali are annexed to temples that may or may not be enclosed in it, such as the Holy Forest at Sangeh [see Vannucci in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. The general feeling of respect and veneration for trees in India has produced a great variety of tree myths and traditions.\\nOne of the Five Trees in Indra's paradise (svarga-loka), which is located at the centre of the earth, is the mythic abundance-granting kalpa-vriksha. An image of the kalpa-vriksha carved in sandstone in Besnagar in Central India may originally have stood as an emblem capital on top of a monolithic pillar or stambha, possibly one of the 36 or so pillars erected by the Buddhist emperor Asoka (268-232 BCE). The pillars has been interpreted as replicas of the axis mundi [see John Irwin in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. The stone kalpa-vriksha capping the pillar may therefore be identified as the Cosmic Tree or world-tree, an emblematic variation of the symbolism of the stambha as axis mundi [see Jan Pieper in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\\nSingle pillars made of tree trunks called Irmensul ('giant column') representing the 'tree of the universe' were set up on hilltops by some German tribes. A highly venerated Irmensul in what is now Westphalia was cut down by the Christianizing Charlemagne in 772.\\nWith the encouragement of Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the 6th century CE, a common practice among proselytizing Christians was to graft Christian theology onto pre-existing pagan rites and sacred places [see Flint in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. In the case of pagan tree cults, this may initially involve the destruction of the sacred grove or the cutting down of a sacred tree. However, it would appear that frequently a church would be built on the same site, thereby co-opting it in the service of Christian conversion. The process effectively Christianized the sacred powers or energies of the original site. Examples of this include the medieval Gothic cathedral of Chartres , which was built on a site which was once sacred to the Celtic Druids (acorns, oak twigs, and tree idols in the scultural decorations on the South Portal of the cathedral may allude to the original Druidic oak grove: [see Anderson in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]). And before the Druids, during the Neolithic period, the same site may have been a sacred burial mound.\\nTrees and Architecture\\nThe Egyptian temple was conceived essentially as a stone model of the creation landscape. The orders of columns, however, were designed not as direct representations of plant life (the palm, lotus, and papyrus bundle), but as stone reproductions of idealized landscape features.\\nEgyptian palm-leaf capital\\nThe palmiform column, for example, which appears already fully developed by the 5th Dynasty (2465 - 2323 BCE) and used constantly for the next 2000 years, shows the palm tree as a circular column as if it were the trunk of a palm tree with the topmost section ornamented with palm leaves shown as if tied with a thong around the column.\\nA famous passage in Vitruvius [see Vitruvius in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes the origin of columns in Greek and Roman architecture (cf. the temples on the Athenian Acropolis ) as derived from tree trunks, a not entirely fanciful explanation given both the tree-like tapering of the classical column (even the flutes may be stylized representations of ribbed tree bark), and the belief that stone temples in ancient Greece were based upon earlier types made of wood. It is known for a fact that the Temple of Hera at Olympia originally had columns of oak, two of which (the others having having been replaced by stone columns as they wore out) were still in place when Pausanias visited Olympia in the 2nd century CE [Pausanias, V, 16. 1 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\\nThe classical column as a tree trunk\\nillustration in Philibert de l'Orme's Le Premier Tome de l'Architecture, 1567\\nA similar architectural tradition identifies the origin of Gothic pointed arches and vaults in the interlacing of tree branches, and likens the view down the nave of a Gothic cathedral to a path through a wood of tall overarching trees. The suggestion can be made that the arches and vaulting of Chartres Cathedral may deliberately resemble the path to the sacred grove that stood on the original site, with the crossing of the church symbolizing, or perhaps actually located at, the central clearing in the grove where Druidic rituals formerly took place.\",\n \"Taraxacum.txt\\nTaraxacum\\nTaraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae and consists of species commonly known as dandelion. They are native to Eurasia and North America, but the two commonplace species worldwide, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, were imports from Europe that now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion ( , from French dent-de-lion, meaning \\\"lion's tooth\\\") is given to members of the genus. Like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant. \\n\\nDescription\\n\\nThe species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted, perennial, herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus contains many species which usually (or in the case of triploids, obligately) reproduce by apomixis, resulting in many local populations and endemism. In the British Isles alone, 234 microspecies are recognised in 9 loosely defined sections, of which 40 are \\\"probably endemic\\\".\\n\\nIn general, the leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple, lobed, and form a basal rosette above the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange coloured, and are open in the daytime, but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) that is usually leafless and rises 1–10 cm or more above the leaves. Stems and leaves exude a white, milky latex when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in diameter and consist entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into spherical seed heads called blowballs or clocks (in both British and American English) containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to a pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances.\\n\\nThe flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse. The outer bracts are often reflexed downward, but remain appressed in plants of the sections Palustria and Spectabilia. Some species drop the parachute from the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals. Between the pappus and the achene is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from the parachute.\\n\\nSeed dispersal\\n\\n \\nA number of species of Taraxacum are seed-dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize disturbed soil, especially the common dandelion (T. officinale), which has been introduced over much of the temperate world. After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head dries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex (curve backwards), and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere.\\n\\nFalse dandelions\\n\\nMany similar plants in the Asteraceae family with yellow flowers are sometimes known as false dandelions. Dandelions are very similar to catsears (Hypochaeris). Both plants carry similar flowers, which form into windborne seeds. However, dandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems, while catsear flowering stems are branched, solid, and carry bracts. Both plants have a basal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth or glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.\\n\\nEarly-flowering dandelions may be distinguished from coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) by their basal rosette of leaves, their lack of disc florets, and the absence of scales on the flowering stem.\\n\\nOther plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and hawksbeards (Crepis). These are readily distinguished by branched flowering stems, which are usually hairy and bear leaves.\\n\\nClassification\\n\\nThe genus is taxonomically complex, with some botanists dividing the group into about 34 macrospecies, and about 2000 microspecies; about 235 apomictic and polyploid microspecies have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland. Some botanists take a much narrower view and only accept a total of about 60 species.\\n\\nSelected species\\n\\n* Taraxacum albidum, a white-flowering Japanese dandelion\\n* Taraxacum aphrogenes, Paphos dandelion\\n* Taraxacum brevicorniculatum, frequently misidentified as Taraxacum kok-saghyz, and a poor rubber producer\\n* Taraxacum californicum, the endangered California dandelion\\n* Taraxacum centrasiaticum, the Xinjiang dandelion\\n* Taraxacum ceratophorum, northern dandelion \\n* Taraxacum erythrospermum, often considered a variety of T. laevigatum \\n* Taraxacum farinosum, Turkish dandelion\\n* Taraxacum holmboei, Troödos dandelion\\n* Taraxacum japonicum, Japanese dandelion, no ring of smallish, downward-turned leaves under the flowerhead\\n* Taraxacum kok-saghyz, Russian dandelion, which produces rubber \\n* Taraxacum laevigatum, red-seeded dandelion, achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply cut throughout length, inner bracts' tips are hooded\\n* Taraxacum mirabile\\n* Taraxacum officinale (syn. T. officinale subsp. vulgare), common dandelion. Found in many forms.\\n* Taraxacum pankhurstianum\\n* Taraxacum platycarpum, the Korean dandelion\\n\\nCultivars\\n\\n*'Amélioré à Coeur Plein' yields an abundant crop without taking up much ground, and tends to blanch itself naturally, due to its clumping growth habit.\\n*'Broad-leaved' - The leaves are thick and tender and easily blanched. In rich soils, they can be up to 60 cm wide. Plants do not go to seed as quickly as French types.\\n*'Vert de Montmagny' is a large-leaved, vigorous grower, which matures early. \\n\\nHistory\\n\\nDandelions are thought to have evolved about 30 million years ago in Eurasia. They have been used by humans for food and as an herb for much of recorded history.\\n\\nNames\\n\\nThe Latin name Taraxacum originates in medieval Persian writings on pharmacy. The Persian scientist Al-Razi around 900 AD wrote \\\"the tarashaquq is like chicory\\\". The Persian scientist and philosopher Ibn Sīnā around 1000 AD wrote a book chapter on Taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Latin around 1170, spelled it tarasacon. \\n\\nThe English name, dandelion, is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning \\\"lion's tooth\\\", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The plant is also known as blowball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, witch's gowan, milk witch, lion's-tooth, yellow-gowan, Irish daisy, monks-head, priest's-crown, and puff-ball; other common names include faceclock, pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, \\nswine's snout, white endive, and wild endive. \\n\\nThe English folk name \\\"piss-a-bed\\\" (and indeed the equivalent contemporary French ') refers to the strong diuretic effect of the plant's roots. In various northeastern Italian dialects, the plant is known as pisacan (\\\"dog pisses\\\"), because they are found at the side of pavements. \\n\\nIn Swedish, it is called maskros (worm rose) after the small insects (thrips) usually present in the flowers. In Finnish and Estonian, the names (voikukka, võilill) translate as butter flower, due to the color of the flower. In Lithuanian, it is known as \\\"Pienė\\\", meaning \\\"milky\\\", because of the white liquid that is produced when the stems are cut. The Welsh (dant-y-llew), German (Löwenzahn) and Norwegian (løvetann) names mean the same as the French and the English names.\\n\\nProperties\\n\\nEdibility\\n\\nDandelions are found on all continents and have been gathered for food since prehistory, but the varieties cultivated for consumption are mainly native to Eurasia. A perennial plant, its leaves will grow back if the taproot is left intact. To make leaves more palatable, they are often blanched to remove bitterness, or sauteed in the same way as spinach. Dandelion leaves and buds have been a part of traditional Kashmiri, Slovenian, Sephardic, Chinese, and Korean cuisines. In Crete, the leaves of a variety called 'Mari' (Μαρί), 'Mariaki' (Μαριάκι), or 'Koproradiko' (Κοπροράδικο) are eaten by locals, either raw or boiled, in salads. T. megalorhizon, a species endemic to Crete, is eaten in the same way; it is found only at high altitudes (1000 to 1600 m) and in fallow sites, and is called pentaramia (πενταράμια) or agrioradiko (αγριοράδικο). \\n\\nThe flower petals, along with other ingredients, usually including citrus, are used to make dandelion wine. The ground, roasted roots can be used as a caffeine-free dandelion coffee. Dandelion was also traditionally used to make the traditional British soft drink dandelion and burdock, and is one of the ingredients of root beer. Also, dandelions were once delicacies eaten by the Victorian gentry, mostly in salads and sandwiches.\\n\\nDandelion leaves contain abundant vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C, and K, and are good sources of calcium, potassium, iron, and manganese. \\n\\nMedicinal uses\\n\\nHistorically, dandelion was prized for a variety of medicinal properties, and it contains a number of pharmacologically active compounds. Dandelion is used as a herbal remedy in Europe, North America, and China. It has been used in herbal medicine to treat infections, bile and liver problems, and as a diuretic.\\n\\nFood for wildlife\\n\\nTaraxacum seeds are an important food source for certain birds. \\n\\nDandelions are also important plants for Northern Hemisphere bees, providing an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season. Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). They are also used as a source of nectar by the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), one of the earliest emerging butterflies in the spring.\\n\\nBenefits to gardeners\\n\\nThe dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good companion plant for gardening. Its taproot will bring up nutrients for shallower-rooting plants, and add minerals and nitrogen to soil. It is also known to attract pollinating insects and release ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen. \\n\\nCultural importance\\n\\nFour dandelion flowers are the emblem of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The citizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festival.\\n\\nThe dandelion is the official flower of the University of Rochester and \\\"Dandelion Yellow\\\" is one of the school's official colors. \\\"The Dandelion Yellow\\\" is an official University of Rochester song. \\n\\nDangers\\n\\nDandelion pollen may cause allergic reactions when eaten, or adverse skin reactions in sensitive individuals. Contact dermatitis after handling has also been reported, probably from the latex in the stems and leaves. Due to its high potassium level, dandelion can also increase the risk of hyperkalemia when taken with potassium-sparing diuretics. \\n\\nAs a noxious weed\\n\\nThe species T. officinale is listed as a noxious weed in some jurisdictions, and is considered to be a nuisance in residential and recreational lawns in North America. It is also an important weed in agriculture and causes significant economic damage because of its infestation in many crops worldwide.\\n\\nAs source of natural rubber\\n\\nDandelions secrete latex when the tissues are cut or broken, yet in the wild type, the latex content is low and varies greatly. Using modern cultivation methods and optimization techniques, scientists in the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) in Germany developed a cultivar that is suitable for commercial production of natural rubber. The latex produced exhibits the same quality as the natural rubber from rubber trees. In collaboration with Continental Tires, IME is building a pilot facility. As of May 2014, the first prototype test tires made with blends from dandelion-rubber are scheduled to be tested on public roads over the next few years.\",\n \"Arecaceae.txt\\nArecaceae\\nThe Arecaceae are a botanical family of perennial climbers, shrubs, acaules and trees commonly known as palm trees. (Owing to historical usage, the family is alternatively called Palmae.) They are flowering plants, a family in the monocot order Arecales. Currently 181 genera with around 2600 species are known, most of them restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.\\n\\nPalms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms, and palms are also widely used in landscaping, making them one of the most economically important plants. In many historical cultures, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, and fertility. For inhabitants of cooler climates today, palms symbolize the tropics and vacations. \\n\\nMorphology\\n\\nWhether as shrubs, trees, or vines, palms have two methods of growth: solitary or clustered. The common representation is that of a solitary shoot ending in a crown of leaves. This monopodial character may be exhibited by prostrate, trunkless, and trunk-forming members. Some common palms restricted to solitary growth include Washingtonia and Roystonea. Palms may instead grow in sparse though dense clusters. The trunk develops an axillary bud at a leaf node, usually near the base, from which a new shoot emerges. The new shoot, in turn, produces an axillary bud and a clustering habit results. Exclusively sympodial genera include many of the rattans, Guihaia, and Rhapis. Several palm genera have both solitary and clustering members. Palms which are usually solitary may grow in clusters, and vice versa. These aberrations suggest the habit operates on a single gene.Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN 0-935868-30-5 / ISBN 978-0-935868-30-2\\n\\nPalms have large, evergreen leaves that are either palmately ('fan-leaved') or pinnately ('feather-leaved') compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. The leaves have a tubular sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity. The inflorescence is a spadix or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity. The flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and can be either uni- or bisexual. The sepals and petals usually number three each, and may be distinct or joined at the base. The stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base. The fruit is usually a single-seeded drupe (sometimes berry-like) but some genera (e.g. Salacca) may contain two or more seeds in each fruit.\\n\\nThe Arecaceae are notable among monocots for their height and for the size of their seeds, leaves, and inflorescences. Ceroxylon quindiuense, Colombia's national tree, is the tallest monocot in the world, reaching up to 60 m tall.[http://www.presidencia.gov.co/prensa_new/historia/patrios.htm :: Presidencia de la República de Colombia ::] The coco de mer (Lodoicea maldivica) has the largest seeds of any plant, 40–50 cm in diameter and weighing 15–30 kg each. Raffia palms (Raphia spp.) have the largest leaves of any plant, up to 25 m long and 3 m wide. The Corypha species have the largest inflorescence of any plant, up to 7.5 m tall and containing millions of small flowers. Calamus stems can reach 200 m in length.\\n\\nRange and habitat\\n\\nMost palms grow in the tropics and subtropics. They are abundant throughout the tropics\\nand subtropics, and thrive in almost every habitat they are in. Their diversity is highest in wet, lowland forests, especially in ecological \\\"hotspots\\\" such as Madagascar, which has more endemic palms than all of Africa. Colombia may have the highest number of palm species in one country. Palms are most commonly seen throughout Africa, South America, the Arabian peninsula, South and Southeast Asia, northern Australia, the islands of tropical and subtropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S sunbelt including California, Florida, and Hawaii.\\n\\nOnly about 130 palm species naturally grow entirely beyond the tropics, mostly in the subtropical highlands and warm temperate lowlands. The northernmost native palm is Chamaerops humilis, which reaches 44°N latitude in southern France. The southernmost palm is the Rhopalostylis sapida, which reaches 44°S on the Chatham Islands where an oceanic climate prevails. Some palms, such as the Trachycarpus fortunei, grow well under cultivation in temperate climates, some at 50°N or even farther north in oceanic climates (Ireland, Scotland, England, Long Island and the Pacific Northwest, from Oregon to Vancouver).\\n\\nPalms inhabit a variety of ecosystems. More than two-thirds of palm species live in humid moist forests, where some species grow tall enough to form part of the canopy and shorter ones form part of the understory. Some species form pure stands in areas with poor drainage or regular flooding, including Raphia hookeri which is common in coastal freshwater swamps in West Africa. Other palms live in tropical mountain habitats above 1000 m, such as those in the genus Ceroxylon native to the Andes. Palms may also live in grasslands and scrublands, usually associated with a water source, and in desert oases such as the date palm. A few palms are adapted to extremely basic lime soils, while others are similarly adapted to extreme potassium deficiency and toxicity of heavy metals in serpentine soils.\\n\\nPalms are a monophyletic group of plants, meaning the group consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants. Extensive taxonomic research on palms began with botanist H.E. Moore, who organized palms into 15 major groups based mostly on general morphological characteristics. The following classification, proposed by N.W. Uhl and J. Dransfield in 1987, is a revision of Moore's classification that organizes palms into six subfamilies. \\n\\n* Coryphoideae\\n* Calamoideae\\n* Nypoideae\\n* Ceroxyloideae\\n* Arecoideae\\n* Phytelephantoideae\\n\\nA few general traits of each subfamily are listed below.\\n\\nThe Coryphoideae are the most diverse subfamily, and are a paraphyletic group, meaning all members of the group share a common ancestor, but the group does not include all the ancestor's descendants. Most palms in this subfamily have palmately lobed leaves and solitary flowers with three, or sometimes four carpels. The fruit normally develops from only one carpel.\\n\\nSubfamily Calamoideae includes the climbing palms, such as rattans. The leaves are usually pinnate; derived characters (synapomorphies) include spines on various organs, organs specialized for climbing, an extension of the main stem of the leaf-bearing reflexed spines, and overlapping scales covering the fruit and ovary.\\n\\nSubfamily Nypoideae contains only one species, Nypa fruticans, which has large, pinnate leaves. The fruit is unusual in that it floats, and the stem is dichotomously branched, also unusual in palms.\\n\\nSubfamily Ceroxyloideae has small to medium-sized flowers, spirally arranged, with a gynoecium of three joined carpels.\\n\\nThe Arecoideae are the largest subfamily, with six diverse tribes (Areceae, Caryoteae, Cocoeae, Geonomeae, Iriarteeae, and Podococceae) containing over 100 genera. All tribes have pinnate or bipinnate leaves and flowers arranged in groups of three, with a central pistillate and two staminate flowers.\\n\\nThe Phytelephantoideae are a monoecious subfamily. Members of this group have distinct monopodial flower clusters. Other distinct features include a gynoecium with five to 10 joined carpels, and flowers with more than three parts per whorl. Fruits are multiple-seeded and have multiple parts.\\n\\nCurrently, few extensive phylogenetic studies of the Arecaceae exist. In 1997, Baker et al. explored subfamily and tribe relationships using chloroplast DNA from 60 genera from all subfamilies and tribes. The results strongly showed the Calamoideae are monophyletic, and Ceroxyloideae and Coryphoideae are paraphyletic. The relationships of Arecoideae are uncertain, but they are possibly related to the Ceroxyloideae and Phytelephantoideae. Studies have suggested the lack of a fully resolved hypothesis for the relationships within the family is due to a variety of factors, including difficulties in selecting appropriate outgroups, homoplasy in morphological character states, slow rates of molecular evolution important for the use of standard DNA markers, and character polarization. However, hybridization has been observed among Orbignya and Phoenix species, and using chloroplast DNA in cladistic studies may produce inaccurate results due to maternal inheritance of the chloroplast DNA. Chemical and molecular data from non-organelle DNA, for example, could be more effective for studying palm phylogeny. \\n\\nSelected genera\\n\\nSee list of Arecaceae genera arranged by taxonomic groups or by alphabetical order for a complete listing of genera.\\n\\n*Archontophoenix—Bangalow palm\\n*Areca—Betel palm\\n*Bactris—Pupunha\\n*Beccariophoenix—Beccariophoenix alfredii\\n*Bismarckia—Bismarck palm\\n*Borassus—Palmyra palm, sugar palm, toddy palm\\n*Calamus—Rattan palm\\n*Cocos—Coconut\\n*Copernicia—Carnauba wax palm\\n*Corypha—Gebang palm, Buri palm or Talipot palm\\n*Elaeis—Oil palm\\n*Euterpe—Cabbage heart palm, açaí palm\\n*Hyphaene—Doum palm\\n*Jubaea—Chilean wine palm, Coquito palm\\n*Latania—Latan palm\\n*Livistona—Cabbage palm\\n*Mauritia—Moriche palm\\n*Metroxylon—Sago palm\\n*Nypa—Nipa palm\\n*Parajubaea—Bolivian coconut palms\\n*Phoenix—Date palm\\n*Phoenix sylvestris—Wild date palm\\n*Raphia—Raffia palm\\n*Roystonea—Royal palm\\n*Sabal—Palmettos\\n*Salacca—Salak\\n*Syagrus—Queen palm\\n*Trachycarpus—Windmill palm, Kumaon palm\\n*Veitchia—Manila palm, Joannis palm\\n*Washingtonia—Fan palm\\n\\nEvolution\\n\\nThe Arecaceae are the first modern family of monocots appearing in the fossil record around 80 million years ago (Mya), during the late Cretaceous period. The first modern species, such as Nypa fruticans and Acrocomia aculeata, appeared 94 Mya, confirmed by fossil Nypa pollen dated to 94 Mya. Palms appear to have undergone an early period of adaptive radiation. By 60 Mya, many of the modern, specialized genera of palms appeared and became widespread and common, much more widespread than their range today. Because palms separated from the monocots earlier than other families, they developed more intrafamilial specialization and diversity. By tracing back these diverse characteristics of palms to the basic structures of monocots, palms may be valuable in studying monocot evolution. Several species of palms have been identified from flowers preserved in amber, including Palaeoraphe dominicana and Roystonea palaea. Evidence can also be found in samples of petrified palmwood.\\n\\nUses\\n\\nHuman use of palms is as old or older than human civilization itself, starting with the cultivation of the date palm by Mesopotamians and other Middle Eastern peoples 5000 years or more ago. Date wood, pits for storing dates, and other remains of the date palm have been found in Mesopotamian sites. The date palm had a tremendous effect on the history of the Middle East. W.H. Barreveld wrote:\\n\\n\\\"One could go as far as to say that, had the date palm not existed, the expansion of the human race into the hot and barren parts of the \\\"old\\\" world would have been much more restricted. The date palm not only provided a concentrated energy food, which could be easily stored and carried along on long journeys across the deserts, it also created a more amenable habitat for the people to live in by providing shade and protection from the desert winds (Fig. 1). In addition, the date palm also yielded a variety of products for use in agricultural production and for domestic utensils, and practically all parts of the palm had a useful purpose.\\\"\\n\\nAn indication of the importance of palms in ancient times is that they are mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible, and at least 22 times in the Quran. \\n\\nArecaceae have great economic importance, including coconut products, oils, dates, palm syrup, ivory nuts, carnauba wax, rattan cane, raffia, and palm wood.\\n\\nAlong with dates mentioned above, members of the palm family with human uses are numerous.\\n*The type member of Arecaceae is the areca palm, the fruit of which, the areca nut, is chewed with the betel leaf for intoxicating effects (Areca catechu).\\n*Carnuba wax is harvested from the leaves of a Brazilian palm (Copernicia).\\n*Rattans, whose stems are used extensively in furniture and baskets, are in the genus Calamus.\\n*Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis.\\n*Several species are harvested for heart of palm, a vegetable eaten in salads.\\n*Sap of the nipa palm Nypa is used to make vinegar.\\n*Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine or toddy, an alcoholic beverage common in parts of Africa, India, and the Philippines. It is also drunk, fresh, as neera, and is a refreshing drink that is consumed until sundown, after which it starts to ferment.\\n*Palmyra and date palm sap is harvested in Bengal, India, to process into gur and jaggery.\\n*Dragon's blood, a red resin used traditionally in medicine, varnish, and dyes, may be obtained from the fruit of Daemonorops species.\\n*Coconut is the edible fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).\\n*Coir is a coarse, water-resistant fiber extracted from the outer shell of coconuts, used in doormats, brushes, mattresses, and ropes. In India, beekeepers use coir in their bee smokers.\\n*Some indigenous groups living in palm-rich areas use palms to make many of their necessary items and food. Sago, for example, a starch made from the pith of the trunk of the sago palm Metroxylon sagu, is a major staple food for lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas. This is not the same plant commonly used as a house plant and called \\\"sago palm\\\".\\n*Palm wine is made from Jubaea also called Chilean wine palm, or coquito palm\\n*Recently, the fruit of the açaí palm Euterpe has been used for its reputed health benefits.\\n*Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is under investigation as a drug for treating enlarged prostates.\\n*Palm leaves are also valuable to some peoples as a material for thatching, basketry, clothing, and in religious ceremonies (see \\\"Symbolism\\\" below).\\n\\n*Ornamental uses: Today, palms are valuable as ornamental plants and are often grown along streets in tropical and subtropical cities. Farther north, palms are a common feature in botanical gardens or as indoor plants. Few palms tolerate severe cold, however, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. The three most cold-tolerant species are Trachycarpus fortunei, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Sabal minor, both native to the southeastern United States.\\n\\nThe southeastern U.S. state of South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State after the sabal palmetto (cabbage palmetto), logs from which were used to build the fort at Fort Moultrie. During the American Revolutionary War, they were invaluable to those defending the fort, because their spongy wood absorbed or deflected the British cannonballs. The sabal palmetto is also the state tree of Florida.\\nSome palms can be grown as far north as the United States' Mid-Atlantic, such as the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, southern Midwest, and even north along the Pacific coast to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, where ocean winds have a warming effect. Species of transplanted palms have even been known to have survived as far north as Devon. The Chinese Trachycarpus fortunei is being grown experimentally on the Faroe Islands at 62°N, with young plants doing well so far. \\n\\nEndangered species\\n\\nLike many other plants, palms have been threatened by human intervention and exploitation. The greatest risk to palms is destruction of habitat, especially in the tropical forests, due to urbanization, wood-chipping, mining, and conversion to farmland. Palms rarely reproduce after such great changes in the habitat, and those with small habitat ranges are most vulnerable to them. The harvesting of heart of palm, a delicacy in salads, also poses a threat because it is derived from the palm's apical meristem, a vital part of the palm that cannot be regrown. The use of rattan palms in furniture has caused a major population decrease in these species that has negatively affected local and international markets, as well as biodiversity in the area. The sale of seeds to nurseries and collectors is another threat, as the seeds of popular palms are sometimes harvested directly from the wild. At least 100 palm species are currently endangered, and nine species have reportedly recently become extinct.\\n\\nHowever, several factors make palm conservation more difficult. Palms live in almost every type of warm habitat and have tremendous morphological diversity. Most palm seeds lose viability quickly, and they cannot be preserved in low temperatures because the cold kills the embryo. Using botanical gardens for conservation also presents problems, since they can only house a few plants of any species or truly imitate the natural setting. Also, the risk of cross-pollination can lead to hybrid species.\\n\\nThe Palm Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) began in 1984, and has performed a series of three studies to find basic information on the status of palms in the wild, use of wild palms, and palms under cultivation. Two projects on palm conservation and use supported by the World Wildlife Fund took place from 1985 to 1990 and 1986–1991, in the American tropics and southeast Asia, respectively. Both studies produced copious new data and publications on palms. Preparation of a global action plan for palm conservation began in 1991, supported by the IUCN, and was published in 1996. \\n\\nThe rarest palm known is Hyophorbe amaricaulis. The only living individual remains at the Botanic Gardens of Curepipe in Mauritius.\\n\\nPest species\\n\\nPests that attack a variety of species of palm trees include:\\n*Raoiella indica, the red palm mite\\n*Caryobruchus gleditsiae, the palm seed beetle or palm seed weevil\\n*Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, the red palm weevil, recently introduced to Europe\\n\\nSymbolism\\n\\nThe palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in pre-Christian times. The Romans rewarded champions of the games and celebrated military successes with palm branches. Early Christians used the palm branch to symbolize the victory of the faithful over enemies of the soul, as in the Palm Sunday festival celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In Judaism, the palm represents peace and plenty, and is one of the Four Species of Sukkot; the palm may also symbolize the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.\\n\\nPanaiveriyamman was an ancient Tamil tree deity related to fertility. Named after panai, the Tamil name for the Palmyra palm, she was also known as Taalavaasini, a name that further related her to all types of palms. \\n\\nToday, the palm, especially the coconut palm, remains a symbol of the tropical island paradise. \\nPalms appear on the flags and seals of several places where they are native, including those of Haiti, Guam, Saudi Arabia, Florida, and South Carolina.\\n\\nOther plants\\n\\nSome species commonly called palms, though they are not true palms, include:\\n*Cordyline australis (Torbay palm, Ti palm, Palm lily) (family Asparagaceae) and other representatives in the genus Cordyline and perhaps also in Dracaena with which Cordyline may be confused.\\n*Cycas revoluta (Sago palm) and the rest of the order Cycadales\\n*Ravenala (Traveller's palm) (family Strelitziaceae)\\n*Pandanus spiralis, Screw palm., and perhaps other Pandanus spp.\\n*Cyathea cunninghamii (Palm Fern) and other Tree ferns (families Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae) that may be confused with palms.\\n*Setaria palmifolia (Palm grass), a Poaceae.\\n*Carludovica palmata (Panama Hat Palm) and perhaps other members in the family Cyclanthaceae.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124618,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"In which country would you find budgerigars in their natural habitat?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Australia"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Habitat.txt\nHabitat\nA habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population.\n\nA habitat is made up of physical factors such as soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity as well as biotic factors such as the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions in which it will thrive, but some are tolerant of wide variations while others are very specific in their requirements. A habitat is not necessarily a geographical area, it can be the interior of a stem, a rotten log, a rock or a clump of moss, and for a parasitic organism it is the body of its host, part of the host's body such as the digestive tract, or a single cell within the host's body.\n\nHabitat types include polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical. The terrestrial vegetation type may be forest, steppe, grassland, semi-arid or desert. Fresh water habitats include marshes, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and estuaries, and marine habitats include salt marshes, the coast, the intertidal zone, reefs, bays, the open sea, the sea bed, deep water and submarine vents.\n\nHabitats change over time. This may be due to a violent event such as the eruption of a volcano, an earthquake, a tsunami, a wildfire or a change in oceanic currents; or the change may be more gradual over millennia with alterations in the climate, as ice sheets and glaciers advance and retreat, and as different weather patterns bring changes of precipitation and solar radiation. Other changes come as a direct result of human activities; deforestation, the ploughing of ancient grasslands, the diversion and damming of rivers, the draining of marshland and the dredging of the seabed. The introduction of alien species can have a devastating effect on native wildlife, through increased predation, through competition for resources or through the introduction of pests and diseases to which the native species have no immunity.\n\nDefinition and etymology\n\nThe word \"habitat\" has been in use since about 1755 and derives from the Latin third-person singular present indicative of habitāre, to inhabit, from habēre, to have or to hold. Habitat can be defined as the natural environment of an organism, the place in which it is natural for it to live and grow. It is similar in meaning to a biotope, an area of uniform environmental conditions associated with a particular community of plants and animals. \n\nEnvironmental factors\n\nThe chief environmental factors affecting the distribution of living organisms are temperature, humidity, climate, soil type and light intensity, and the presence or absence of all the requirements that the organism needs to sustain it. Generally speaking, animal communities are reliant on specific types of plant communities.\n\nSome plants and animals are generalists, and their habitat requirements are met in a wide range of locations. The small white butterfly (Pieris rapae) for example is found on all the continents of the world apart from Antarctica. Its larvae feed on a wide range of Brassicas and various other plant species, and it thrives in any open location with diverse plant associations. The large blue butterfly is much more specific in its requirements; it is found only in chalk grassland areas, its larvae feed on Thymus species and because of complex lifecycle requirements it inhabits only areas in which Myrmica ants live.\n\nDisturbance is important in the creation of biodiverse habitats. In the absence of disturbance, a climax vegetation cover develops that prevents the establishment of other species. Wildflower meadows are sometimes created by conservationists but most of the flowering plants used are either annuals or biennials and disappear after a few years in the absence of patches of bare ground on which their seedlings can grow. Lightning strikes and toppled trees in tropical forests allow species richness to be maintained as pioneering species move in to fill the gaps created. Similarly coastal habitats can become dominated by kelp until the seabed is disturbed by a storm and the algae swept away, or shifting sediment exposes new areas for colonisation. Another cause of disturbance is when an area may be overwhelmed by an invasive introduced species which is not kept under control by natural enemies in its new habitat. \n\nTypes of habitat\n\nTerrestrial habitat types include forests, grasslands, wetlands and deserts. Within these broad biomes are more specific habitats with varying climate types, temperature regimes, soils, altitudes and vegetation types. Many of these habitats grade into each other and each one has its own typical communities of plants and animals. A habitat may suit a particular species well, but its presence or absence at any particular location depends to some extent on chance, on its dispersal abilities and its efficiency as a coloniser.\n\nFreshwater habitats include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes and bogs. Although some organisms are found across most of these habitats, the majority have more specific requirements. The water velocity, its temperature and oxygen saturation are important factors, but in river systems, there are fast and slow sections, pools, bayous and backwaters which provide a range of habitats. Similarly, aquatic plants can be floating, semi-submerged, submerged or grow in permanently or temporarily saturated soils besides bodies of water. Marginal plants provide important habitat for both invertebrates and vertebrates, and submerged plants provide oxygenation of the water, absorb nutrients and play a part in the reduction of pollution.\n\nMarine habitats include brackish water, estuaries, bays, the open sea, the intertidal zone, the sea bed, reefs and deep water zones. Further variations include rock pools, sand banks, mudflats, brackish lagoons, sandy and pebbly beaches, and seagrass beds, all supporting their own flora and fauna. The benthic zone or seabed provides a home for both static organisms, anchored to the substrate, and for a large range of organisms crawling on or burrowing into the surface. Some creatures float among the waves on the surface of the water, or raft on floating debris, others swim at a range of depths, including organisms in the demersal zone close to the seabed, and myriads of organisms drift with the currents and form the plankton.\n\nA desert is not the kind of habitat that favours the presence of amphibians, with their requirement for water to keep their skins moist and for the development of their young. Nevertheless, some frogs live in deserts, creating moist habitats underground and hibernating while conditions are adverse. Couch's spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus couchii) emerges from its burrow when a downpour occurs and lays its eggs in the transient pools that form; the tadpoles develop with great rapidity, sometimes in as little as nine days, undergo metamorphosis, and feed voraciously before digging a burrow of their own. \n\nOther organisms cope with the drying up of their aqueous habitat in other ways. Vernal pools are ephemeral ponds that form in the rainy season and dry up afterwards. They have their specially-adapted characteristic flora, mainly consisting of annuals, the seeds of which survive the drought, but also some uniquely adapted perennials. Animals adapted to these extreme habitats also exist; fairy shrimps can lay \"winter eggs\" which are resistant to desiccation, sometimes being blown about with the dust, ending up in new depressions in the ground. These can survive in a dormant state for as long as fifteen years. Some killifish behave in a similar way; their eggs hatch and the juvenile fish grow with great rapidity when the conditions are right, but the whole population of fish may end up as eggs in diapause in the dried up mud that was once a pond. \n\nMany animals and plants have taken up residence in urban environments. They tend to be adaptable generalists and use the town's features to make their homes. Rats and mice have followed man around the globe, pigeons, peregrines, sparrows, swallows and house martins use the buildings for nesting, bats use roof space for roosting, foxes visit the garbage bins and squirrels, coyotes, raccoons and skunks roam the streets. About 2,000 coyotes are thought to live in and around Chicago. A survey of dwelling houses in northern European cities in the twentieth century found about 175 species of invertebrate inside them, including 53 species of beetle, 21 flies, 13 butterflies and moths, 13 mites, 9 lice, 7 bees, 5 wasps, 5 cockroaches, 5 spiders, 4 ants and a number of other groups. In warmer climates, termites are serious pests in the urban habitat; 183 species are known to affect buildings and 83 species cause serious structural damage. \n\nMicrohabitats\n\nA microhabitat is the small-scale physical requirements of a particular organism or population. Every habitat includes large numbers of microhabitats with subtly different exposure to light, humidity, temperature, air movement, and other factors. The lichens that grow on the north face of a boulder are different to those that grow on the south face, from those on the level top and those that grow on the ground nearby; the lichens growing in the grooves and on the raised surfaces are different from those growing on the veins of quartz. Lurking among these miniature \"forests\" are the microfauna, each species of invertebrate with its own specific habitat requirements. \n\nThere are numerous different microhabitats in a wood; coniferous forest, broad-leafed forest, open woodland, scattered trees, woodland verges, clearings and glades; tree trunk, branch, twig, bud, leaf, flower and fruit; rough bark, smooth bark, damaged bark, rotten wood, hollow, groove and hole; canopy, shrub layer, plant layer, leaf litter and soil; buttress root, stump, fallen log, stem base, grass tussock, fungus, fern and moss. The greater the structural diversity in the wood, the greater the number of microhabitats that will be present. A range of tree species with individual specimens of varying sizes and ages, and a range of features such as streams, level areas, slopes, tracks, clearings and felled areas will provide suitable conditions for an enormous number of biodiverse plants and animals. For example, in Britain it has been estimated that various types of rotting wood are home to over 1700 species of invertebrate.\n\nFor a parasitic organism, its habitat is the particular part of the outside or inside of its host on or in which it is adapted to live. The life cycle of some parasites involves several different host species, as well as free-living life stages, sometimes providing vastly different microhabitats. One such organism is the trematode (flatworm) Microphallus turgidus, present in brackish water marshes in the southeastern United States. Its first intermediate host is a snail and the second, a glass shrimp. The final host is the waterfowl or mammal that consumes the shrimp. \n\nExtreme habitats\n\nAlthough the vast majority of life on Earth lives in mesophyllic (moderate) environments, a few organisms, most of them microbes, have managed to colonise extreme environments that are unsuitable for most higher life forms. There are bacteria, for example, living in Lake Whillans, half a mile below the ice of Antarctica; in the absence of sunlight, they must rely on organic material from elsewhere, perhaps decaying matter from glacier melt water or minerals from the underlying rock. Other bacteria can be found in abundance in the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the ocean and on Earth; marine snow drifts down from the surface layers of the sea and accumulates in this undersea valley, providing nourishment for an extensive community of bacteria. \n\nOther microbes live in habitats lacking in oxygen, and are dependent on chemical reactions other than photosynthesis. Boreholes drilled 300 m into the rocky seabed have found microbial communities apparently based on the products of reactions between water and the constituents of rocks. These communities have been little studied, but may be an important part of the global carbon cycle. Rock in mines two miles deep also harbour microbes; these live on minute traces of hydrogen produced in slow oxidizing reactions inside the rock. These metabolic reactions allow life to exist in places with no oxygen or light, an environment that had previously been thought to be devoid of life. \n\nThe intertidal zone and the photic zone in the oceans are relatively familiar habitats. However the vast bulk of the ocean is unhospitable to air-breathing humans, with scuba divers limited to the upper 50 m or so. The lower limit for photosynthesis is 100 to and below that depth the prevailing conditions include total darkness, high pressure, little oxygen (in some places), scarce food resources and extreme cold. This habitat is very challenging to research, and as well as being little studied, it is vast, with 79% of the Earth's biosphere being at depths greater than 1000 m. With no plant life, the animals in this zone are either detritivores, reliant on food drifting down from surface layers, or they are predators, feeding on each other. Some organisms are pelagic, swimming or drifting in mid-ocean, while others are benthic, living on or near the seabed. Their growth rates and metabolisms tend to be slow, their eyes may be very large to detect what little illumination there is, or they may be blind and rely on other sensory inputs. A number of deep sea creatures are bioluminescent; this serves a variety of functions including predation, protection and social recognition. In general, the bodies of animals living at great depths are adapted to high pressure environments by having pressure-resistant biomolecules and small organic molecules present in their cells know as piezolytes, which give the proteins the flexibility they need. There are also unsaturated fats in their membranes which prevent them from solidifying at low temperatures. \n\nHydrothermal vents were first discovered in the ocean depths in 1977. They result from seawater becoming heated after seeping through cracks to places where hot magma is close to the seabed. The under-water hot springs may gush forth at temperatures of over 340 °C and support unique communities of organisms in their immediate vicinity. The basis for this teeming life is chemosynthesis, a process by which microbes convert such substances as hydrogen sulfide or ammonia into organic molecules. These bacteria and Archaea are the primary producers in these ecosystems and support a diverse array of life. About 350 species of organism, dominated by molluscs, polychaete worms and crustaceans, had been discovered around hydrothermal vents by the end of the twentieth century, most of them being new to science and endemic to these habitats. \n\nBesides providing locomotion opportunities for winged animals and a conduit for the dispersal of pollen grains, spores and seeds, the atmosphere can be considered to be a habitat in its own right. There are metabolically active microbes present that actively reproduce and spend their whole existence airborne, with hundreds of thousands of individual organisms estimated to be present in a cubic metre of air. The airborne microbial community may be as diverse as that found in soil or other terrestrial environments, however these organisms are not evenly distributed, their densities varying spatially with altitude and environmental conditions. Aerobiology has been little studied, but there is evidence of nitrogen fixation in clouds, and less clear evidence of carbon cycling, both facilitated by microbial activity. \n\nThere are other examples of extreme habitats where specially adapted lifeforms exist; tar pits teeming with microbial life; naturally occurring crude oil pools inhabited by the larvae of the petroleum fly; hot springs where the temperature may be as high as 71 °C and cyanobacteria create microbial mats; cold seeps where the methane and hydrogen sulfide issue from the ocean floor and support microbes and higher animals such as mussels which form symbiotic associations with these anaerobic organisms; salt pans harbour salt-tolerant microorganisms and also Wallemia ichthyophaga, a basidomycotous fungus; ice sheets in Antarctica which support fungi Thelebolus spp., and snowfields on which algae grow. \n\nHabitat change\n\nWhether from natural processes or the activities of man, landscapes and their associated habitats change over time. There are the slow geomorphological changes associated with the geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence, and the more rapid changes associated with earthquakes, landslides, storms, flooding, wildfires, coastal erosion, deforestation and changes in land use. Then there are the changes in habitats brought on by alterations in farming practices, tourism, pollution, fragmentation and climate change.\n\nLoss of habitat is the single greatest threat to any species. If an island on which an endemic organism lives becomes uninhabitable for some reason, the species will become extinct. Any type of habitat surrounded by a different habitat is in a similar situation to an island. If a forest is divided into parts by logging, with strips of cleared land separating woodland blocks, and the distances between the remaining fragments exceeds the distance an individual animal is able to travel, that species becomes especially vulnerable. Small populations generally lack genetic diversity and may be threatened by increased predation, increased competition, disease and unexpected catastrophe. At the edge of each forest fragment, increased light encourages secondary growth of fast-growing species and old growth trees are more vulnerable to logging as access is improved. The birds that nest in their crevices, the epiphytes that hang from their branches and the invertebrates in the leaf litter are all adversely affected and biodiversity is reduced. Habitat fragmentation can be ameliorated to some extent by the provision of wildlife corridors connecting the fragments. These can be a river, ditch, strip of trees, hedgerow or even an underpass to a highway. Without the corridors, seeds cannot disperse and animals, especially small ones, cannot travel through the hostile territory, putting populations at greater risk of local extinction. \n\nHabitat disturbance can have long-lasting effects on the environment. Bromus tectorum is a vigorous grass from Europe which has been introduced to the United States where it has become invasive. It is highly adapted to fire, producing large amounts of flammable detritus and increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires. In areas where it has become established, it has altered the local fire regimen to such an extant that native plants cannot survive the frequent fires, allowing it to become even more dominant. A marine example is when sea urchin populations \"explode\" in coastal waters and destroy all the macroalgae present. What was previously a kelp forest becomes an urchin barren that may last for years and this can have a profound effect on the food chain. Removal of the sea urchins, by disease for example, can result in the seaweed returning, with an over-abundance of fast-growing kelp. \n\nHabitat protection\n\nThe protection of habitats is a necessary step in the maintenance of biodiversity because if habitat destruction occurs, the animals and plants reliant on that habitat suffer. Many countries have enacted legislation to protect their wildlife. This may take the form of the setting up of national parks, forest reserves and wildlife reserves, or it may restrict the activities of humans with the objective of benefiting wildlife. The laws may be designed to protect a particular species or group of species, or the legislation may prohibit such activities as the collecting of bird eggs, the hunting of animals or the removal of plants. A general law on the protection of habitats may be more difficult to implement than a site specific requirement. A concept introduced in the Unites States in 1973 involves protecting the critical habitat of endangered species, and a similar concept has been incorporated into some Australian legislation.\n\nInternational treaties may be necessary for such objectives as the setting up of marine reserves. Another international agreement, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, protects animals that migrate across the globe and need protection in more than one country. However, the protection of habitats needs to take into account the needs of the local residents for food, fuel and other resources. Even where legislation protects the environment, a lack of enforcement often prevents effective protection. Faced with food shortage, a farmer is likely to plough up a level patch of ground despite it being the last suitable habitat for an endangered species such as the San Quintin kangaroo rat, and even kill the animal as a pest. In this regard, it is desirable to educate the community on the uniqueness of their flora and fauna and the benefits of ecotourism. \n\nMonotypic habitat\n\nA monotypic habitat is one in which a single species of animal or plant is so dominant as to virtually exclude all other species. An example would be sugarcane; this is planted, burnt and harvested, with herbicides killing weeds and pesticides controlling invertebrates. The monotypic habitat occurs in botanical and zoological contexts, and is a component of conservation biology. In restoration ecology of native plant communities or habitats, some invasive species create monotypic stands that replace and/or prevent other species, especially indigenous ones, from growing there. A dominant colonization can occur from retardant chemicals exuded, nutrient monopolization, or from lack of natural controls such as herbivores or climate, that keep them in balance with their native habitats. The yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, is a botanical monotypic-habitat example of this, currently dominating over 15000000 acre in California alone. The non-native freshwater zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, that colonizes areas of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, is a zoological monotypic-habitat example; the predators that control it in its home-range in Russia are absent and it proliferates abundantly. Even though its name may seem to imply simplicity as compared with polytypic habitats, the monotypic habitat can be complex. Aquatic habitats, such as exotic Hydrilla beds, support a similarly rich fauna of macroinvertebrates to a more varied habitat, but the creatures present may differ between the two, affecting small fish and other animals higher up the food chain.","Budgerigar.txt\nBudgerigar\nThe budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), also known as common pet parakeet or shell parakeet and informally nicknamed the budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot. Budgerigars are the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus, and are found wild throughout the drier parts of Australia where the species has survived harsh inland conditions for the last five million years. Budgerigars are naturally green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings, but have been bred in captivity with colouring in blues, whites, yellows, greys, and even with small crests. Budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. The origin of the budgerigar's name is unclear. The species was first recorded in 1805, and today is the third most popular pet in the world, after the domesticated dog and cat. \n\nThe budgerigar is closely related to the lories and the fig parrots. They are one of the parakeet species, a non-taxonomical term that refers to any of a number of small parrots with long, flat and tapered tails. In both captivity and the wild, budgerigars breed opportunistically and in pairs.\n\nBiology \n\nEvolutionary history \n\nThe budgerigar has been thought to be the link between the genera Neophema and Pezoporus based on the barred plumage. However, recent phylogenetic studies using DNA sequences place the budgerigar very close to the lories (tribe Loriini) and the fig parrots (tribe Cyclopsittini).\n\nAnatomy and physiology \n\nWild budgerigars average 18 cm long, weigh 30 -, and display a light green body colour (abdomen and rumps), while their mantles (back and wing coverts) display pitch-black mantle markings (blackish in fledgelings and immatures) edged in clear yellow undulations. The forehead and face is yellow in adults but with blackish stripes down to the cere (nose) in young individuals until they change into their adult plumage around three to four months of age. They display small, iridescent blue-violet cheek patches and a series of three black spots across each side of their throats (called throat patches). The two outermost throat spots are situated at the base of each cheek patch. The tail is cobalt (dark-blue); and outside tail feathers display central yellow flashes. Their wings have greenish-black flight feathers and black coverts with yellow fringes along with central yellow flashes, which only become visible in flight or when the wings are outstretched. Bills are olive grey and legs blueish-grey, with zygodactyl toes.\n\nBudgerigars in their natural habitat in Australia are noticeably smaller than those in captivity. This particular parrot species has been bred in many other colours and shades in captivity (e.g. blue, grey, grey-green, pieds, violet, white, yellow-blue), although they are mostly found in pet stores in blue, green, and yellow. Like most parrot species, budgerigar plumage fluoresces under ultraviolet light. This phenomenon is possibly related to courtship and mate selection.\n\nThe upper half of their beaks is much taller than the bottom half and covers the bottom when closed. The beak does not protrude much, due to the thick, fluffy feathers surrounding it, giving the appearance of a downward-pointing beak that lies flat against the face. The upper half acts as a long, smooth cover, while the bottom half is just about a half-sized cup-piece. These beaks allow the birds to eat plants, fruits, and vegetables.\n\nThe colour of the cere (the area containing the nostrils) differs between the sexes, being royal blue in males, pale brown to white (nonbreeding) or brown (breeding) in females, and pink in immatures of both sexes (usually of a more even purplish-pink colour in young males). Some female budgerigars develop brown cere only during breeding time, which later returns to the normal colour. Young females can often be identified by a subtle, chalky whiteness that starts around the nostrils. Males that are either Albino, Lutino, Dark-eyed Clear or Recessive Pied (Danishpied or harlequin) always retain the immature purplish-pink cere colour their entire lives.\n\nIt is usually easy to tell the sex of a budgerigar over six months old, mainly by the cere colours, but behaviours and head shape also help indicate sex.\n\nA mature male's cere is usually light to dark blue, but can be purplish to pink in some particular colour mutations, such as Dark-eyed Clears, Danish Pieds (Recessive Pieds) and Inos, which usually display much rounder heads. Males are typically cheerful, extroverted, highly flirtatious, peacefully social, and very vocal.\n\nFemales' ceres are pinkish as immatures and switch from being beigish or whitish outside breeding condition into brown (often with a 'crusty' texture) in breeding condition and usually display flattened backs of heads (right above the nape region). Females are typically highly dominant and more socially intolerant. \nWhen females get older, their ceres tend to be brown usually, females are often more bossy and rude with members of their own sex, but with males they get along better; usually when budgies of both sexes are put together, they tend to be more kind to each other. Some will not even fight or peck at each other for their life time.\n\nVision \n\nLike many birds, budgerigars have tetrachromatic colour vision, but all four classes of cone cells operating simultaneously requires the full spectrum provided by sunlight.Color Vision of the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus): Hue Matches, Tetrachromacy, and Intensity Discrimination. Timothy H. Goldsmith and Byron K. Butler in Journal of Comparative Physiology A, Vol. 191, No. 10, pages 933–951; October 2005. The ultraviolet spectrum brightens their feathers to attract mates. The throat spots in budgerigars reflect UV and can be used to distinguish individual birds.\n\nEcology \n\nBudgerigars are nomadic birds found in open habitats, primarily in scrublands, open woodlands, and grasslands of Australia. The birds are normally found in small flocks, but can form very large flocks under favourable conditions. The nomadic movement of the flocks is tied to the availability of food and water. Drought can drive flocks into more wooded habitat or coastal areas. They feed on the seeds of spinifex, grass seeds, and sometimes ripening wheat. \n\nNaturalised feral budgerigars have been recorded since the 1940s in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area of the United States, but are much less common now than they were in the early 1980s. Increased competition from European starlings and house sparrows is thought to be the primary cause of the population decline. \n\nBudgerigars and humans \n\nEtymology \n\nSeveral possible origins for the name \"budgerigar\" have been proposed:\n* A mispronunciation or alteration of Gamilaraay gidjirrigaa, possibly influenced by the Australian slang word \"budgery\", meaning \"good\".\n* Similarly, from gijirragaa from the Yuwaalaraay. The nomadic nature of Australia's aboriginals would lend itself to forming common linguistic references, and since none had any written language, differences in pronunciation and the presentation thereof are subjective within the constructs of Western hearing.\n* A compound of \"budgery\", \"good\" and gar \"cockatoo\". The word \"budgery\", also spelt \"boojery\", was formerly in use in Australian English slang meaning \"good\".\n\nAlternate spellings include budgerygah and betcherrygah.\n\nJohn Gould (see below) noted the term betcherrygah was used by indigenous people of the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales. While many references mention \"good\" as part of the meaning, and a few specify \"good bird\", it is quite possible that reports by those local to the region are more accurate in specifying the direct translation as \"good food\". There are apocryphal reports that this could also translate as \"tasty treat\", implying they were eaten by the aboriginals. However, it is more likely the name derived from their migratory nature. With seasonal changes that left parts of the Liverpool Plains barren, they would move to areas with residual water, that still produced the seeds they sought. By following the birds, the aboriginals could locate water, and also other game and food plants. Thus, the birds could lead them to \"good food\".\n\nOther names\n\nThe budgerigar was first described by George Shaw in 1805, and given its current binomial name by John Gould in 1840. The genus name Melopsittacus comes from Greek and means \"melodious parrot\". The species name undulatus is Latin for \"undulated\" or \"wave-patterned\". \n\nAlternative common names for the budgerigar include the shell parrot, the warbling grass parakeet, the canary parrot, the zebra parrot, the flight bird, the scallop parrot. Although more applicable to members of the genus Agapornis, the name lovebird has been applied to them from their habit of mutual preening.\n\nAviculture \n\nThe budgerigar has been bred in captivity since the 1850s. Breeders have worked to produce a variety of colour, pattern, and feather mutations, including albino, blue, cinnamon-ino (lacewinged), clearwinged, crested, dark, greywinged, opaline, pieds, spangled, dilute (suffused), and violet.\n\nEnglish or \"show\" budgerigars are about twice as large as their wild counterparts, and with a larger size and puffier head feathers have a boldly exaggerated look. The eyes and beak can be almost totally obscured by these fluffy head feathers. English budgerigars are typically more expensive than wild-type birds, and have shorter life span of about seven to nine years. Breeders of English budgerigars often exhibit their birds at animal shows. Most captive budgerigars in the pet trade are more similar in size and body conformation to wild budgerigars.\n\nBudgerigars are social animals and require stimulation in the shape of toys and interaction with humans or with other budgerigars. Budgerigars, and especially females, will chew material such as wood. When a budgerigar feels threatened, it will try to perch as high as possible and to bring its feathers close against its body in order to appear thinner.\n\nTame budgerigars can be taught to speak, whistle, and play with humans. Both males and females sing and can learn to mimic sounds and words and do simple tricks, but singing and mimicry are more pronounced and better perfected in males. Females rarely learn to mimic more than a dozen words. Males can easily acquire vocabularies ranging from a few dozen to a hundred words. Pet males, especially those kept alone, are generally the best speakers.\n\nBudgerigars will chew on anything they can find to keep their beaks trimmed. Mineral blocks (ideally enriched with iodine), cuttlebone, and soft wooden pieces are suitable for this activity. Cuttlebones also supply calcium, essential for the proper forming of eggs and bone solidity. In captivity, budgerigars live an average of five to eight years, but life spans of 15–20 years have been reported. The life span depends on breed, lineage, and health, being highly influenced by exercise and diet. Budgerigars have been known to cause \"bird fancier's lung\" in sensitive people, a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. \n\nBreeding \n\nBreeding in the wild generally takes place between June and September in northern Australia and between August and January in the south, although budgerigars are opportunistic breeders and respond to rains when grass seeds become most abundant. They show signs of affection to their flockmates by preening or feeding one another. Budgerigars feed one another by eating the seeds themselves, and then regurgitating it into their flockmate's mouth. Populations in some areas have increased as a result of increased water availability at farms. Nests are made in holes in trees, fence posts, or logs lying on the ground; the four to six eggs are incubated for 18–21 days, with the young fledging about 30 days after hatching.\n\nIn the wild, virtually all parrot species require a hollow tree or a hollow log as a nest site. Because of this natural behavior, budgerigars most easily breed in captivity when provided with a reasonable-sized nest box.\nThe eggs are typically one to two centimetres long and are pearl white without any colouration if fertile. Female budgerigars can lay eggs without a male partner, but these unfertilised eggs will not hatch. Females normally have a whitish tan cere, however when the female is laying eggs, her cere turns a crusty brown colour. Certain female budgies may always keep a whitish tan cere or always keep a crusty brown cere regardless of breeding condition. A female budgerigar will lay her eggs on alternate days. After the first one, there is usually a two-day gap until the next. She will usually lay between four and eight eggs, which she will incubate (usually starting after laying her second or third) for about 21 days each. Females only leave their nests for very quick defecations, stretches and quick meals once they have begun incubating and are by then almost exclusively fed by their mate (usually at the nest's entrance). Females will not allow a male to enter the nest, unless he forces his way inside. Depending on the clutch size and the beginning of incubation, the age difference between the first and last hatchling can be anywhere from 9 to 16 days. At times, the parents may begin eating their own eggs due to feeling insecure in the nest box.\n\nChick health \n\nBreeding difficulties arise for various reasons. Some chicks may die from diseases and attacks from adults. Other budgerigars (virtually always females) may fight over the nest box, attacking each other or a brood. Sometimes, budgerigars (mainly males) are not interested in the opposite sex, and will not reproduce with them; a flock setting—several pairs housed where they can see and hear each other—is necessary to stimulate breeding. Another problem may be the birds' beaks being under lapped, where the lower mandible is above the upper mandible.\n\nMost health issues and physical abnormalities in budgerigars are genetic. Care should be taken that birds used for breeding are active, healthy, and unrelated. Budgerigars that are related or which have fatty tumours or other potential genetic health problems should not be allowed to breed. Parasites (lice, mites, worms) and pathogens (bacteria, fungi and viruses), are contagious and thus transmitted between individuals through either direct or indirect contact. Nest boxes should be cleaned between uses.\n\nSplay leg is a relatively common problem in baby budgerigars and other birds; one the budgerigar's legs is bent outward, which prevents it from being able to stand properly and compete with the other chicks for food, and can also lead to difficulties in reproducing in adulthood. The condition is caused by young budgerigars slipping repeatedly on the floor of a nest box. It is easily avoided by placing a small quantity of a safe bedding or wood shavings in the bottom of the nest box. Alternatively, several pieces of paper may be placed in the box for the female to chew into bedding.\n\nDevelopment \n\nEggs take about 18–20 days before they start hatching. The hatchlings are altricial – blind, naked, unable to lift their head, and totally helpless, and their mother feeds them and keeps them warm constantly. Around 10 days of age, the chicks' eyes will open, and they will start to develop feather down. The appearance of down occurs at the age for closed banding of the chicks. Budgerigar's closed band rings must be neither larger nor smaller than 4.0 to 4.2 mm.\n\nThey develop feathers around three weeks of age. (One can often easily note the colour mutation of the individual birds at this point.) At this stage of the chicks' development, the male usually has begun to enter the nest to help his female in caring and feeding the chicks. Some budgerigar females, however, totally forbid the male from entering the nest and thus take the full responsibility of rearing the chicks until they fledge.\n\nDepending on the size of the clutch and most particularly in the case of single mothers, it may then be wise to transfer a portion of the hatchlings (or best of the fertile eggs) to another pair. The foster pair must already be in breeding mode and thus either at the laying or incubating stages, or already rearing hatchlings.\n\nAs the chicks develop and grow feathers, they are able to be left on their own for longer periods of time. By the fifth week, the chicks are strong enough that both parents will be comfortable in staying out of the nest more. The youngsters will stretch their wings to gain strength before they attempt to fly. They will also help defend the box from enemies, mostly with their loud screeching. Young budgerigars typically fledge (leave the nest) around their fifth week of age and are usually completely weaned between six and eight weeks old. However, the age for fledging, as well as weaning, can vary slightly depending on whether its age and the number of surviving chicks. Generally speaking, the oldest chick is the first to be weaned. Though it is logically the last one to be weaned, the youngest chick is often weaned at a younger age than its older sibling(s). This can be a result of mimicking the actions of older siblings. Lone surviving chicks are often weaned at the youngest possible age as a result of having their parents' full attention and care.\n\nHand-reared budgies may take slightly longer to wean than parent-raised chicks. Hand feeding is not routinely done with budgerigars, due to their small size, and because young parent raised birds can be readily tamed.\n\nColour mutations \n\nAll captive budgerigars are divided into two basic series of colours; namely, white-based (blue, grey and white) and yellow-based (green, grey-green and yellow). Presently, at least 32 primary mutations (including violet) occur, enabling hundreds of possible secondary mutations (stable combined primary mutations) and colour varieties (unstable combined mutations).\n\nMimicry \n\nMale specimens of budgerigars are considered to be one of the top five talking champions amongst parrot species, alongside the African grey, the amazon, and the eclectus parrots, and the ring-necked parakeet.\n\nPuck, a male budgerigar owned by American Camille Jordan, holds the world record for the largest vocabulary of any bird, at 1,728 words. Puck died in 1994, with the record first appearing in the 1995 edition of Guinness World Records. \n\nIn 2001, recordings of a budgerigar called Victor got some attention from the media. Victor's owner, Ryan B. Reynolds of Canada, stated Victor was able to engage in contextual conversation and predict the future. Though some believe the animal was able to predict his own death as was claimed, further study on the subject is difficult without the bird. The recordings still remain to be verified by scientific analysis. Critics argue Victor's speech in the recordings is not coherent enough to be determined as spoken in context. \n\nPet budgies have continued to make headlines all over the world for their mimicry, talking ability, and charm. One budgie, named Disco, has become an internet superstar. As of 2013, Disco has been viewed over 6,067,744 times on his YouTube channel. Some of Disco's most popular key phrases include, \"I am not a crook\" and \"Nobody puts baby bird in a corner!\""],"string":"[\n \"Habitat.txt\\nHabitat\\nA habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population.\\n\\nA habitat is made up of physical factors such as soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity as well as biotic factors such as the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions in which it will thrive, but some are tolerant of wide variations while others are very specific in their requirements. A habitat is not necessarily a geographical area, it can be the interior of a stem, a rotten log, a rock or a clump of moss, and for a parasitic organism it is the body of its host, part of the host's body such as the digestive tract, or a single cell within the host's body.\\n\\nHabitat types include polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical. The terrestrial vegetation type may be forest, steppe, grassland, semi-arid or desert. Fresh water habitats include marshes, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and estuaries, and marine habitats include salt marshes, the coast, the intertidal zone, reefs, bays, the open sea, the sea bed, deep water and submarine vents.\\n\\nHabitats change over time. This may be due to a violent event such as the eruption of a volcano, an earthquake, a tsunami, a wildfire or a change in oceanic currents; or the change may be more gradual over millennia with alterations in the climate, as ice sheets and glaciers advance and retreat, and as different weather patterns bring changes of precipitation and solar radiation. Other changes come as a direct result of human activities; deforestation, the ploughing of ancient grasslands, the diversion and damming of rivers, the draining of marshland and the dredging of the seabed. The introduction of alien species can have a devastating effect on native wildlife, through increased predation, through competition for resources or through the introduction of pests and diseases to which the native species have no immunity.\\n\\nDefinition and etymology\\n\\nThe word \\\"habitat\\\" has been in use since about 1755 and derives from the Latin third-person singular present indicative of habitāre, to inhabit, from habēre, to have or to hold. Habitat can be defined as the natural environment of an organism, the place in which it is natural for it to live and grow. It is similar in meaning to a biotope, an area of uniform environmental conditions associated with a particular community of plants and animals. \\n\\nEnvironmental factors\\n\\nThe chief environmental factors affecting the distribution of living organisms are temperature, humidity, climate, soil type and light intensity, and the presence or absence of all the requirements that the organism needs to sustain it. Generally speaking, animal communities are reliant on specific types of plant communities.\\n\\nSome plants and animals are generalists, and their habitat requirements are met in a wide range of locations. The small white butterfly (Pieris rapae) for example is found on all the continents of the world apart from Antarctica. Its larvae feed on a wide range of Brassicas and various other plant species, and it thrives in any open location with diverse plant associations. The large blue butterfly is much more specific in its requirements; it is found only in chalk grassland areas, its larvae feed on Thymus species and because of complex lifecycle requirements it inhabits only areas in which Myrmica ants live.\\n\\nDisturbance is important in the creation of biodiverse habitats. In the absence of disturbance, a climax vegetation cover develops that prevents the establishment of other species. Wildflower meadows are sometimes created by conservationists but most of the flowering plants used are either annuals or biennials and disappear after a few years in the absence of patches of bare ground on which their seedlings can grow. Lightning strikes and toppled trees in tropical forests allow species richness to be maintained as pioneering species move in to fill the gaps created. Similarly coastal habitats can become dominated by kelp until the seabed is disturbed by a storm and the algae swept away, or shifting sediment exposes new areas for colonisation. Another cause of disturbance is when an area may be overwhelmed by an invasive introduced species which is not kept under control by natural enemies in its new habitat. \\n\\nTypes of habitat\\n\\nTerrestrial habitat types include forests, grasslands, wetlands and deserts. Within these broad biomes are more specific habitats with varying climate types, temperature regimes, soils, altitudes and vegetation types. Many of these habitats grade into each other and each one has its own typical communities of plants and animals. A habitat may suit a particular species well, but its presence or absence at any particular location depends to some extent on chance, on its dispersal abilities and its efficiency as a coloniser.\\n\\nFreshwater habitats include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes and bogs. Although some organisms are found across most of these habitats, the majority have more specific requirements. The water velocity, its temperature and oxygen saturation are important factors, but in river systems, there are fast and slow sections, pools, bayous and backwaters which provide a range of habitats. Similarly, aquatic plants can be floating, semi-submerged, submerged or grow in permanently or temporarily saturated soils besides bodies of water. Marginal plants provide important habitat for both invertebrates and vertebrates, and submerged plants provide oxygenation of the water, absorb nutrients and play a part in the reduction of pollution.\\n\\nMarine habitats include brackish water, estuaries, bays, the open sea, the intertidal zone, the sea bed, reefs and deep water zones. Further variations include rock pools, sand banks, mudflats, brackish lagoons, sandy and pebbly beaches, and seagrass beds, all supporting their own flora and fauna. The benthic zone or seabed provides a home for both static organisms, anchored to the substrate, and for a large range of organisms crawling on or burrowing into the surface. Some creatures float among the waves on the surface of the water, or raft on floating debris, others swim at a range of depths, including organisms in the demersal zone close to the seabed, and myriads of organisms drift with the currents and form the plankton.\\n\\nA desert is not the kind of habitat that favours the presence of amphibians, with their requirement for water to keep their skins moist and for the development of their young. Nevertheless, some frogs live in deserts, creating moist habitats underground and hibernating while conditions are adverse. Couch's spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus couchii) emerges from its burrow when a downpour occurs and lays its eggs in the transient pools that form; the tadpoles develop with great rapidity, sometimes in as little as nine days, undergo metamorphosis, and feed voraciously before digging a burrow of their own. \\n\\nOther organisms cope with the drying up of their aqueous habitat in other ways. Vernal pools are ephemeral ponds that form in the rainy season and dry up afterwards. They have their specially-adapted characteristic flora, mainly consisting of annuals, the seeds of which survive the drought, but also some uniquely adapted perennials. Animals adapted to these extreme habitats also exist; fairy shrimps can lay \\\"winter eggs\\\" which are resistant to desiccation, sometimes being blown about with the dust, ending up in new depressions in the ground. These can survive in a dormant state for as long as fifteen years. Some killifish behave in a similar way; their eggs hatch and the juvenile fish grow with great rapidity when the conditions are right, but the whole population of fish may end up as eggs in diapause in the dried up mud that was once a pond. \\n\\nMany animals and plants have taken up residence in urban environments. They tend to be adaptable generalists and use the town's features to make their homes. Rats and mice have followed man around the globe, pigeons, peregrines, sparrows, swallows and house martins use the buildings for nesting, bats use roof space for roosting, foxes visit the garbage bins and squirrels, coyotes, raccoons and skunks roam the streets. About 2,000 coyotes are thought to live in and around Chicago. A survey of dwelling houses in northern European cities in the twentieth century found about 175 species of invertebrate inside them, including 53 species of beetle, 21 flies, 13 butterflies and moths, 13 mites, 9 lice, 7 bees, 5 wasps, 5 cockroaches, 5 spiders, 4 ants and a number of other groups. In warmer climates, termites are serious pests in the urban habitat; 183 species are known to affect buildings and 83 species cause serious structural damage. \\n\\nMicrohabitats\\n\\nA microhabitat is the small-scale physical requirements of a particular organism or population. Every habitat includes large numbers of microhabitats with subtly different exposure to light, humidity, temperature, air movement, and other factors. The lichens that grow on the north face of a boulder are different to those that grow on the south face, from those on the level top and those that grow on the ground nearby; the lichens growing in the grooves and on the raised surfaces are different from those growing on the veins of quartz. Lurking among these miniature \\\"forests\\\" are the microfauna, each species of invertebrate with its own specific habitat requirements. \\n\\nThere are numerous different microhabitats in a wood; coniferous forest, broad-leafed forest, open woodland, scattered trees, woodland verges, clearings and glades; tree trunk, branch, twig, bud, leaf, flower and fruit; rough bark, smooth bark, damaged bark, rotten wood, hollow, groove and hole; canopy, shrub layer, plant layer, leaf litter and soil; buttress root, stump, fallen log, stem base, grass tussock, fungus, fern and moss. The greater the structural diversity in the wood, the greater the number of microhabitats that will be present. A range of tree species with individual specimens of varying sizes and ages, and a range of features such as streams, level areas, slopes, tracks, clearings and felled areas will provide suitable conditions for an enormous number of biodiverse plants and animals. For example, in Britain it has been estimated that various types of rotting wood are home to over 1700 species of invertebrate.\\n\\nFor a parasitic organism, its habitat is the particular part of the outside or inside of its host on or in which it is adapted to live. The life cycle of some parasites involves several different host species, as well as free-living life stages, sometimes providing vastly different microhabitats. One such organism is the trematode (flatworm) Microphallus turgidus, present in brackish water marshes in the southeastern United States. Its first intermediate host is a snail and the second, a glass shrimp. The final host is the waterfowl or mammal that consumes the shrimp. \\n\\nExtreme habitats\\n\\nAlthough the vast majority of life on Earth lives in mesophyllic (moderate) environments, a few organisms, most of them microbes, have managed to colonise extreme environments that are unsuitable for most higher life forms. There are bacteria, for example, living in Lake Whillans, half a mile below the ice of Antarctica; in the absence of sunlight, they must rely on organic material from elsewhere, perhaps decaying matter from glacier melt water or minerals from the underlying rock. Other bacteria can be found in abundance in the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the ocean and on Earth; marine snow drifts down from the surface layers of the sea and accumulates in this undersea valley, providing nourishment for an extensive community of bacteria. \\n\\nOther microbes live in habitats lacking in oxygen, and are dependent on chemical reactions other than photosynthesis. Boreholes drilled 300 m into the rocky seabed have found microbial communities apparently based on the products of reactions between water and the constituents of rocks. These communities have been little studied, but may be an important part of the global carbon cycle. Rock in mines two miles deep also harbour microbes; these live on minute traces of hydrogen produced in slow oxidizing reactions inside the rock. These metabolic reactions allow life to exist in places with no oxygen or light, an environment that had previously been thought to be devoid of life. \\n\\nThe intertidal zone and the photic zone in the oceans are relatively familiar habitats. However the vast bulk of the ocean is unhospitable to air-breathing humans, with scuba divers limited to the upper 50 m or so. The lower limit for photosynthesis is 100 to and below that depth the prevailing conditions include total darkness, high pressure, little oxygen (in some places), scarce food resources and extreme cold. This habitat is very challenging to research, and as well as being little studied, it is vast, with 79% of the Earth's biosphere being at depths greater than 1000 m. With no plant life, the animals in this zone are either detritivores, reliant on food drifting down from surface layers, or they are predators, feeding on each other. Some organisms are pelagic, swimming or drifting in mid-ocean, while others are benthic, living on or near the seabed. Their growth rates and metabolisms tend to be slow, their eyes may be very large to detect what little illumination there is, or they may be blind and rely on other sensory inputs. A number of deep sea creatures are bioluminescent; this serves a variety of functions including predation, protection and social recognition. In general, the bodies of animals living at great depths are adapted to high pressure environments by having pressure-resistant biomolecules and small organic molecules present in their cells know as piezolytes, which give the proteins the flexibility they need. There are also unsaturated fats in their membranes which prevent them from solidifying at low temperatures. \\n\\nHydrothermal vents were first discovered in the ocean depths in 1977. They result from seawater becoming heated after seeping through cracks to places where hot magma is close to the seabed. The under-water hot springs may gush forth at temperatures of over 340 °C and support unique communities of organisms in their immediate vicinity. The basis for this teeming life is chemosynthesis, a process by which microbes convert such substances as hydrogen sulfide or ammonia into organic molecules. These bacteria and Archaea are the primary producers in these ecosystems and support a diverse array of life. About 350 species of organism, dominated by molluscs, polychaete worms and crustaceans, had been discovered around hydrothermal vents by the end of the twentieth century, most of them being new to science and endemic to these habitats. \\n\\nBesides providing locomotion opportunities for winged animals and a conduit for the dispersal of pollen grains, spores and seeds, the atmosphere can be considered to be a habitat in its own right. There are metabolically active microbes present that actively reproduce and spend their whole existence airborne, with hundreds of thousands of individual organisms estimated to be present in a cubic metre of air. The airborne microbial community may be as diverse as that found in soil or other terrestrial environments, however these organisms are not evenly distributed, their densities varying spatially with altitude and environmental conditions. Aerobiology has been little studied, but there is evidence of nitrogen fixation in clouds, and less clear evidence of carbon cycling, both facilitated by microbial activity. \\n\\nThere are other examples of extreme habitats where specially adapted lifeforms exist; tar pits teeming with microbial life; naturally occurring crude oil pools inhabited by the larvae of the petroleum fly; hot springs where the temperature may be as high as 71 °C and cyanobacteria create microbial mats; cold seeps where the methane and hydrogen sulfide issue from the ocean floor and support microbes and higher animals such as mussels which form symbiotic associations with these anaerobic organisms; salt pans harbour salt-tolerant microorganisms and also Wallemia ichthyophaga, a basidomycotous fungus; ice sheets in Antarctica which support fungi Thelebolus spp., and snowfields on which algae grow. \\n\\nHabitat change\\n\\nWhether from natural processes or the activities of man, landscapes and their associated habitats change over time. There are the slow geomorphological changes associated with the geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence, and the more rapid changes associated with earthquakes, landslides, storms, flooding, wildfires, coastal erosion, deforestation and changes in land use. Then there are the changes in habitats brought on by alterations in farming practices, tourism, pollution, fragmentation and climate change.\\n\\nLoss of habitat is the single greatest threat to any species. If an island on which an endemic organism lives becomes uninhabitable for some reason, the species will become extinct. Any type of habitat surrounded by a different habitat is in a similar situation to an island. If a forest is divided into parts by logging, with strips of cleared land separating woodland blocks, and the distances between the remaining fragments exceeds the distance an individual animal is able to travel, that species becomes especially vulnerable. Small populations generally lack genetic diversity and may be threatened by increased predation, increased competition, disease and unexpected catastrophe. At the edge of each forest fragment, increased light encourages secondary growth of fast-growing species and old growth trees are more vulnerable to logging as access is improved. The birds that nest in their crevices, the epiphytes that hang from their branches and the invertebrates in the leaf litter are all adversely affected and biodiversity is reduced. Habitat fragmentation can be ameliorated to some extent by the provision of wildlife corridors connecting the fragments. These can be a river, ditch, strip of trees, hedgerow or even an underpass to a highway. Without the corridors, seeds cannot disperse and animals, especially small ones, cannot travel through the hostile territory, putting populations at greater risk of local extinction. \\n\\nHabitat disturbance can have long-lasting effects on the environment. Bromus tectorum is a vigorous grass from Europe which has been introduced to the United States where it has become invasive. It is highly adapted to fire, producing large amounts of flammable detritus and increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires. In areas where it has become established, it has altered the local fire regimen to such an extant that native plants cannot survive the frequent fires, allowing it to become even more dominant. A marine example is when sea urchin populations \\\"explode\\\" in coastal waters and destroy all the macroalgae present. What was previously a kelp forest becomes an urchin barren that may last for years and this can have a profound effect on the food chain. Removal of the sea urchins, by disease for example, can result in the seaweed returning, with an over-abundance of fast-growing kelp. \\n\\nHabitat protection\\n\\nThe protection of habitats is a necessary step in the maintenance of biodiversity because if habitat destruction occurs, the animals and plants reliant on that habitat suffer. Many countries have enacted legislation to protect their wildlife. This may take the form of the setting up of national parks, forest reserves and wildlife reserves, or it may restrict the activities of humans with the objective of benefiting wildlife. The laws may be designed to protect a particular species or group of species, or the legislation may prohibit such activities as the collecting of bird eggs, the hunting of animals or the removal of plants. A general law on the protection of habitats may be more difficult to implement than a site specific requirement. A concept introduced in the Unites States in 1973 involves protecting the critical habitat of endangered species, and a similar concept has been incorporated into some Australian legislation.\\n\\nInternational treaties may be necessary for such objectives as the setting up of marine reserves. Another international agreement, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, protects animals that migrate across the globe and need protection in more than one country. However, the protection of habitats needs to take into account the needs of the local residents for food, fuel and other resources. Even where legislation protects the environment, a lack of enforcement often prevents effective protection. Faced with food shortage, a farmer is likely to plough up a level patch of ground despite it being the last suitable habitat for an endangered species such as the San Quintin kangaroo rat, and even kill the animal as a pest. In this regard, it is desirable to educate the community on the uniqueness of their flora and fauna and the benefits of ecotourism. \\n\\nMonotypic habitat\\n\\nA monotypic habitat is one in which a single species of animal or plant is so dominant as to virtually exclude all other species. An example would be sugarcane; this is planted, burnt and harvested, with herbicides killing weeds and pesticides controlling invertebrates. The monotypic habitat occurs in botanical and zoological contexts, and is a component of conservation biology. In restoration ecology of native plant communities or habitats, some invasive species create monotypic stands that replace and/or prevent other species, especially indigenous ones, from growing there. A dominant colonization can occur from retardant chemicals exuded, nutrient monopolization, or from lack of natural controls such as herbivores or climate, that keep them in balance with their native habitats. The yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, is a botanical monotypic-habitat example of this, currently dominating over 15000000 acre in California alone. The non-native freshwater zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, that colonizes areas of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, is a zoological monotypic-habitat example; the predators that control it in its home-range in Russia are absent and it proliferates abundantly. Even though its name may seem to imply simplicity as compared with polytypic habitats, the monotypic habitat can be complex. Aquatic habitats, such as exotic Hydrilla beds, support a similarly rich fauna of macroinvertebrates to a more varied habitat, but the creatures present may differ between the two, affecting small fish and other animals higher up the food chain.\",\n \"Budgerigar.txt\\nBudgerigar\\nThe budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), also known as common pet parakeet or shell parakeet and informally nicknamed the budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot. Budgerigars are the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus, and are found wild throughout the drier parts of Australia where the species has survived harsh inland conditions for the last five million years. Budgerigars are naturally green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings, but have been bred in captivity with colouring in blues, whites, yellows, greys, and even with small crests. Budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. The origin of the budgerigar's name is unclear. The species was first recorded in 1805, and today is the third most popular pet in the world, after the domesticated dog and cat. \\n\\nThe budgerigar is closely related to the lories and the fig parrots. They are one of the parakeet species, a non-taxonomical term that refers to any of a number of small parrots with long, flat and tapered tails. In both captivity and the wild, budgerigars breed opportunistically and in pairs.\\n\\nBiology \\n\\nEvolutionary history \\n\\nThe budgerigar has been thought to be the link between the genera Neophema and Pezoporus based on the barred plumage. However, recent phylogenetic studies using DNA sequences place the budgerigar very close to the lories (tribe Loriini) and the fig parrots (tribe Cyclopsittini).\\n\\nAnatomy and physiology \\n\\nWild budgerigars average 18 cm long, weigh 30 -, and display a light green body colour (abdomen and rumps), while their mantles (back and wing coverts) display pitch-black mantle markings (blackish in fledgelings and immatures) edged in clear yellow undulations. The forehead and face is yellow in adults but with blackish stripes down to the cere (nose) in young individuals until they change into their adult plumage around three to four months of age. They display small, iridescent blue-violet cheek patches and a series of three black spots across each side of their throats (called throat patches). The two outermost throat spots are situated at the base of each cheek patch. The tail is cobalt (dark-blue); and outside tail feathers display central yellow flashes. Their wings have greenish-black flight feathers and black coverts with yellow fringes along with central yellow flashes, which only become visible in flight or when the wings are outstretched. Bills are olive grey and legs blueish-grey, with zygodactyl toes.\\n\\nBudgerigars in their natural habitat in Australia are noticeably smaller than those in captivity. This particular parrot species has been bred in many other colours and shades in captivity (e.g. blue, grey, grey-green, pieds, violet, white, yellow-blue), although they are mostly found in pet stores in blue, green, and yellow. Like most parrot species, budgerigar plumage fluoresces under ultraviolet light. This phenomenon is possibly related to courtship and mate selection.\\n\\nThe upper half of their beaks is much taller than the bottom half and covers the bottom when closed. The beak does not protrude much, due to the thick, fluffy feathers surrounding it, giving the appearance of a downward-pointing beak that lies flat against the face. The upper half acts as a long, smooth cover, while the bottom half is just about a half-sized cup-piece. These beaks allow the birds to eat plants, fruits, and vegetables.\\n\\nThe colour of the cere (the area containing the nostrils) differs between the sexes, being royal blue in males, pale brown to white (nonbreeding) or brown (breeding) in females, and pink in immatures of both sexes (usually of a more even purplish-pink colour in young males). Some female budgerigars develop brown cere only during breeding time, which later returns to the normal colour. Young females can often be identified by a subtle, chalky whiteness that starts around the nostrils. Males that are either Albino, Lutino, Dark-eyed Clear or Recessive Pied (Danishpied or harlequin) always retain the immature purplish-pink cere colour their entire lives.\\n\\nIt is usually easy to tell the sex of a budgerigar over six months old, mainly by the cere colours, but behaviours and head shape also help indicate sex.\\n\\nA mature male's cere is usually light to dark blue, but can be purplish to pink in some particular colour mutations, such as Dark-eyed Clears, Danish Pieds (Recessive Pieds) and Inos, which usually display much rounder heads. Males are typically cheerful, extroverted, highly flirtatious, peacefully social, and very vocal.\\n\\nFemales' ceres are pinkish as immatures and switch from being beigish or whitish outside breeding condition into brown (often with a 'crusty' texture) in breeding condition and usually display flattened backs of heads (right above the nape region). Females are typically highly dominant and more socially intolerant. \\nWhen females get older, their ceres tend to be brown usually, females are often more bossy and rude with members of their own sex, but with males they get along better; usually when budgies of both sexes are put together, they tend to be more kind to each other. Some will not even fight or peck at each other for their life time.\\n\\nVision \\n\\nLike many birds, budgerigars have tetrachromatic colour vision, but all four classes of cone cells operating simultaneously requires the full spectrum provided by sunlight.Color Vision of the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus): Hue Matches, Tetrachromacy, and Intensity Discrimination. Timothy H. Goldsmith and Byron K. Butler in Journal of Comparative Physiology A, Vol. 191, No. 10, pages 933–951; October 2005. The ultraviolet spectrum brightens their feathers to attract mates. The throat spots in budgerigars reflect UV and can be used to distinguish individual birds.\\n\\nEcology \\n\\nBudgerigars are nomadic birds found in open habitats, primarily in scrublands, open woodlands, and grasslands of Australia. The birds are normally found in small flocks, but can form very large flocks under favourable conditions. The nomadic movement of the flocks is tied to the availability of food and water. Drought can drive flocks into more wooded habitat or coastal areas. They feed on the seeds of spinifex, grass seeds, and sometimes ripening wheat. \\n\\nNaturalised feral budgerigars have been recorded since the 1940s in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area of the United States, but are much less common now than they were in the early 1980s. Increased competition from European starlings and house sparrows is thought to be the primary cause of the population decline. \\n\\nBudgerigars and humans \\n\\nEtymology \\n\\nSeveral possible origins for the name \\\"budgerigar\\\" have been proposed:\\n* A mispronunciation or alteration of Gamilaraay gidjirrigaa, possibly influenced by the Australian slang word \\\"budgery\\\", meaning \\\"good\\\".\\n* Similarly, from gijirragaa from the Yuwaalaraay. The nomadic nature of Australia's aboriginals would lend itself to forming common linguistic references, and since none had any written language, differences in pronunciation and the presentation thereof are subjective within the constructs of Western hearing.\\n* A compound of \\\"budgery\\\", \\\"good\\\" and gar \\\"cockatoo\\\". The word \\\"budgery\\\", also spelt \\\"boojery\\\", was formerly in use in Australian English slang meaning \\\"good\\\".\\n\\nAlternate spellings include budgerygah and betcherrygah.\\n\\nJohn Gould (see below) noted the term betcherrygah was used by indigenous people of the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales. While many references mention \\\"good\\\" as part of the meaning, and a few specify \\\"good bird\\\", it is quite possible that reports by those local to the region are more accurate in specifying the direct translation as \\\"good food\\\". There are apocryphal reports that this could also translate as \\\"tasty treat\\\", implying they were eaten by the aboriginals. However, it is more likely the name derived from their migratory nature. With seasonal changes that left parts of the Liverpool Plains barren, they would move to areas with residual water, that still produced the seeds they sought. By following the birds, the aboriginals could locate water, and also other game and food plants. Thus, the birds could lead them to \\\"good food\\\".\\n\\nOther names\\n\\nThe budgerigar was first described by George Shaw in 1805, and given its current binomial name by John Gould in 1840. The genus name Melopsittacus comes from Greek and means \\\"melodious parrot\\\". The species name undulatus is Latin for \\\"undulated\\\" or \\\"wave-patterned\\\". \\n\\nAlternative common names for the budgerigar include the shell parrot, the warbling grass parakeet, the canary parrot, the zebra parrot, the flight bird, the scallop parrot. Although more applicable to members of the genus Agapornis, the name lovebird has been applied to them from their habit of mutual preening.\\n\\nAviculture \\n\\nThe budgerigar has been bred in captivity since the 1850s. Breeders have worked to produce a variety of colour, pattern, and feather mutations, including albino, blue, cinnamon-ino (lacewinged), clearwinged, crested, dark, greywinged, opaline, pieds, spangled, dilute (suffused), and violet.\\n\\nEnglish or \\\"show\\\" budgerigars are about twice as large as their wild counterparts, and with a larger size and puffier head feathers have a boldly exaggerated look. The eyes and beak can be almost totally obscured by these fluffy head feathers. English budgerigars are typically more expensive than wild-type birds, and have shorter life span of about seven to nine years. Breeders of English budgerigars often exhibit their birds at animal shows. Most captive budgerigars in the pet trade are more similar in size and body conformation to wild budgerigars.\\n\\nBudgerigars are social animals and require stimulation in the shape of toys and interaction with humans or with other budgerigars. Budgerigars, and especially females, will chew material such as wood. When a budgerigar feels threatened, it will try to perch as high as possible and to bring its feathers close against its body in order to appear thinner.\\n\\nTame budgerigars can be taught to speak, whistle, and play with humans. Both males and females sing and can learn to mimic sounds and words and do simple tricks, but singing and mimicry are more pronounced and better perfected in males. Females rarely learn to mimic more than a dozen words. Males can easily acquire vocabularies ranging from a few dozen to a hundred words. Pet males, especially those kept alone, are generally the best speakers.\\n\\nBudgerigars will chew on anything they can find to keep their beaks trimmed. Mineral blocks (ideally enriched with iodine), cuttlebone, and soft wooden pieces are suitable for this activity. Cuttlebones also supply calcium, essential for the proper forming of eggs and bone solidity. In captivity, budgerigars live an average of five to eight years, but life spans of 15–20 years have been reported. The life span depends on breed, lineage, and health, being highly influenced by exercise and diet. Budgerigars have been known to cause \\\"bird fancier's lung\\\" in sensitive people, a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. \\n\\nBreeding \\n\\nBreeding in the wild generally takes place between June and September in northern Australia and between August and January in the south, although budgerigars are opportunistic breeders and respond to rains when grass seeds become most abundant. They show signs of affection to their flockmates by preening or feeding one another. Budgerigars feed one another by eating the seeds themselves, and then regurgitating it into their flockmate's mouth. Populations in some areas have increased as a result of increased water availability at farms. Nests are made in holes in trees, fence posts, or logs lying on the ground; the four to six eggs are incubated for 18–21 days, with the young fledging about 30 days after hatching.\\n\\nIn the wild, virtually all parrot species require a hollow tree or a hollow log as a nest site. Because of this natural behavior, budgerigars most easily breed in captivity when provided with a reasonable-sized nest box.\\nThe eggs are typically one to two centimetres long and are pearl white without any colouration if fertile. Female budgerigars can lay eggs without a male partner, but these unfertilised eggs will not hatch. Females normally have a whitish tan cere, however when the female is laying eggs, her cere turns a crusty brown colour. Certain female budgies may always keep a whitish tan cere or always keep a crusty brown cere regardless of breeding condition. A female budgerigar will lay her eggs on alternate days. After the first one, there is usually a two-day gap until the next. She will usually lay between four and eight eggs, which she will incubate (usually starting after laying her second or third) for about 21 days each. Females only leave their nests for very quick defecations, stretches and quick meals once they have begun incubating and are by then almost exclusively fed by their mate (usually at the nest's entrance). Females will not allow a male to enter the nest, unless he forces his way inside. Depending on the clutch size and the beginning of incubation, the age difference between the first and last hatchling can be anywhere from 9 to 16 days. At times, the parents may begin eating their own eggs due to feeling insecure in the nest box.\\n\\nChick health \\n\\nBreeding difficulties arise for various reasons. Some chicks may die from diseases and attacks from adults. Other budgerigars (virtually always females) may fight over the nest box, attacking each other or a brood. Sometimes, budgerigars (mainly males) are not interested in the opposite sex, and will not reproduce with them; a flock setting—several pairs housed where they can see and hear each other—is necessary to stimulate breeding. Another problem may be the birds' beaks being under lapped, where the lower mandible is above the upper mandible.\\n\\nMost health issues and physical abnormalities in budgerigars are genetic. Care should be taken that birds used for breeding are active, healthy, and unrelated. Budgerigars that are related or which have fatty tumours or other potential genetic health problems should not be allowed to breed. Parasites (lice, mites, worms) and pathogens (bacteria, fungi and viruses), are contagious and thus transmitted between individuals through either direct or indirect contact. Nest boxes should be cleaned between uses.\\n\\nSplay leg is a relatively common problem in baby budgerigars and other birds; one the budgerigar's legs is bent outward, which prevents it from being able to stand properly and compete with the other chicks for food, and can also lead to difficulties in reproducing in adulthood. The condition is caused by young budgerigars slipping repeatedly on the floor of a nest box. It is easily avoided by placing a small quantity of a safe bedding or wood shavings in the bottom of the nest box. Alternatively, several pieces of paper may be placed in the box for the female to chew into bedding.\\n\\nDevelopment \\n\\nEggs take about 18–20 days before they start hatching. The hatchlings are altricial – blind, naked, unable to lift their head, and totally helpless, and their mother feeds them and keeps them warm constantly. Around 10 days of age, the chicks' eyes will open, and they will start to develop feather down. The appearance of down occurs at the age for closed banding of the chicks. Budgerigar's closed band rings must be neither larger nor smaller than 4.0 to 4.2 mm.\\n\\nThey develop feathers around three weeks of age. (One can often easily note the colour mutation of the individual birds at this point.) At this stage of the chicks' development, the male usually has begun to enter the nest to help his female in caring and feeding the chicks. Some budgerigar females, however, totally forbid the male from entering the nest and thus take the full responsibility of rearing the chicks until they fledge.\\n\\nDepending on the size of the clutch and most particularly in the case of single mothers, it may then be wise to transfer a portion of the hatchlings (or best of the fertile eggs) to another pair. The foster pair must already be in breeding mode and thus either at the laying or incubating stages, or already rearing hatchlings.\\n\\nAs the chicks develop and grow feathers, they are able to be left on their own for longer periods of time. By the fifth week, the chicks are strong enough that both parents will be comfortable in staying out of the nest more. The youngsters will stretch their wings to gain strength before they attempt to fly. They will also help defend the box from enemies, mostly with their loud screeching. Young budgerigars typically fledge (leave the nest) around their fifth week of age and are usually completely weaned between six and eight weeks old. However, the age for fledging, as well as weaning, can vary slightly depending on whether its age and the number of surviving chicks. Generally speaking, the oldest chick is the first to be weaned. Though it is logically the last one to be weaned, the youngest chick is often weaned at a younger age than its older sibling(s). This can be a result of mimicking the actions of older siblings. Lone surviving chicks are often weaned at the youngest possible age as a result of having their parents' full attention and care.\\n\\nHand-reared budgies may take slightly longer to wean than parent-raised chicks. Hand feeding is not routinely done with budgerigars, due to their small size, and because young parent raised birds can be readily tamed.\\n\\nColour mutations \\n\\nAll captive budgerigars are divided into two basic series of colours; namely, white-based (blue, grey and white) and yellow-based (green, grey-green and yellow). Presently, at least 32 primary mutations (including violet) occur, enabling hundreds of possible secondary mutations (stable combined primary mutations) and colour varieties (unstable combined mutations).\\n\\nMimicry \\n\\nMale specimens of budgerigars are considered to be one of the top five talking champions amongst parrot species, alongside the African grey, the amazon, and the eclectus parrots, and the ring-necked parakeet.\\n\\nPuck, a male budgerigar owned by American Camille Jordan, holds the world record for the largest vocabulary of any bird, at 1,728 words. Puck died in 1994, with the record first appearing in the 1995 edition of Guinness World Records. \\n\\nIn 2001, recordings of a budgerigar called Victor got some attention from the media. Victor's owner, Ryan B. Reynolds of Canada, stated Victor was able to engage in contextual conversation and predict the future. Though some believe the animal was able to predict his own death as was claimed, further study on the subject is difficult without the bird. The recordings still remain to be verified by scientific analysis. Critics argue Victor's speech in the recordings is not coherent enough to be determined as spoken in context. \\n\\nPet budgies have continued to make headlines all over the world for their mimicry, talking ability, and charm. One budgie, named Disco, has become an internet superstar. As of 2013, Disco has been viewed over 6,067,744 times on his YouTube channel. Some of Disco's most popular key phrases include, \\\"I am not a crook\\\" and \\\"Nobody puts baby bird in a corner!\\\"\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2285"],"string":"[\n \"2285\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Badger.txt\nBadger\nBadgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae, which also includes the otters, polecats, weasels and wolverines. They belong to the caniform suborder of carnivoran mammals.\n\nThe 11 species of badger are grouped in three subfamilies: Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (the honey badger or ratel) and Taxideinae (the American badger). The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included within Melinae (and thus Mustelidae), but recent genetic evidence indicates these are actually members of the skunk family, placing them in the taxonomic family Mephitidae.\n\nBadgers include the species in the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Taxidea and Mellivora. Their lower jaws are articulated to the upper by means of transverse condyles firmly locked into long cavities of the skull, so dislocation of the jaw is all but impossible. This enables the badgers to maintain their hold with the utmost tenacity, but limits jaw movement to hinging open and shut, or sliding from side to side without the twisting movement possible for the jaws of most mammals.\n\nBadgers have rather short, fat bodies, with short legs for digging. They have elongated weasel-like heads with small ears. Their tails vary in length depending on species; the stink badger has a very short tail, while the ferret badger's tail can be 46 - long, depending on age. They have black faces with distinctive white markings, grey bodies with a light-coloured stripe from head to tail, and dark legs with light coloured underbellies. They grow to around 90 cm in length including tail. The European badger is one of the largest; the American badger, the hog badger and the honey badger are generally a little smaller and lighter. The stink badgers are smaller still, and the ferret badgers are the smallest of all. They weigh around 9 - on average, with some Eurasian badgers weighing in at around 18 kg. \n\nEtymology \n\nThe word \"badger\", originally applied to the European badger (Meles meles), comes from earlier bageard (16th century), presumably referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead. Similarly, a now archaic synonym was bauson ‘badger’ (1375), a variant of bausond ‘striped, piebald’, from Old French bausant, baucent ‘id.’. \n\nThe less common name brock (Old English: brocc), (Scots: brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokkos) meaning \"grey\". The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsuz (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svintoks; Early Modern English dasse), probably from the PIE root *tek'- \"to construct,\" so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsuz became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs (\"marten\" or \"badger\"), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French taisson — blaireau is now more common —, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo). \n\nA male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A collective name suggested for a group of badgers is a cete, but badger colonies are more often called clans. A badger's home is called a sett. \n\nClassification \n\nThe following list shows where the various species with the common name of badger are placed in the Mustelidae classification. The list is polyphyletic and the species commonly called badgers do not, if the stink badgers are included, form a valid clade.\n* Family Mustelidae\n** Subfamily Melinae\n\n*** Genus Arctonyx\n**** Hog badger, Arctonyx collaris\n*** Genus Meles\n**** Japanese badger, Meles anakuma\n**** Asian badger, Meles leucurus\n**** European badger, Meles meles\n*** Genus Melogale [Some scientists assign this genus to the subfamily Helictidinae] \n**** Burmese ferret-badger, Melogale personata\n**** Javan ferret-badger, Melogale orientalis\n**** Chinese ferret-badger, Melogale moschata\n**** Bornean ferret-badger, Melogale everetti\n**** Vietnam ferret-badger, Melogale cucphuongensis\n** Subfamily Mellivorinae\n*** Honey badger or ratel, Mellivora capensis\n** Subfamily Taxideinae:\n*** †Chamitataxus avitus\n*** †Pliotaxidea nevadensis\n*** †Pliotaxidea garberi\n*** American badger, Taxidea taxus\n** Subfamily Mustelinae\n\n* Family Mephitidae\n** Genus Mydaus\n*** Indonesian or Sunda stink badger (teledu), Mydaus javanensis\n*** Palawan stink badger, Mydaus marchei\n\nDistribution \n\nBadgers are found in much of North America, Ireland, Great Britain and most of Europe as far as southern Scandinavia. They live as far east as Japan and China. The Javan ferret-badger lives in Indonesia, Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient and the Bornean ferret-badger lives in Malaysia. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient. The honey badger is found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Desert, southern Levant, Turkmenistan, and India.\n\nBehavior \n\nThe behaviour of badgers differs by family, but all shelter underground, living in burrows called setts, which may be very extensive. Some are solitary, moving from home to home, while others are known to form clans called cetes. Cete size is variable from two to fifteen.\n\nBadgers can run or gallop at for short periods of time.\n\nBadgers are nocturnal. \n\nIn North America, coyotes sometimes eat badgers and vice versa, but the majority of their interactions seem to be mutual or neutral. American badgers and coyotes have been seen hunting together in a cooperative fashion. \n\nDiet \n\nThe diet of the Eurasian badger consists largely of earthworms (especially Lumbricus terrestris), insects, grubs, and the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds. They also eat small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, as well as roots and fruit. In Britain, they are the main predator of hedgehogs, which have demonstrably lower populations in areas where badgers are numerous, so that hedgehog rescue societies will not release hedgehogs into known badger territories. In some areas they are known to predate lambs, and may bite a ewe defending her lamb, almost always leading to infection of the bite. They are occasional predators of domestic chickens, and are able to break into enclosures that a fox cannot. In southern Spain, badgers feed to a significant degree on rabbits. The honey badger of Africa consumes honey, porcupines and even venomous snakes (such as the puff adder); they will climb trees to gain access to honey from bees' nests. American badgers are fossorial carnivores – i.e. they catch a significant proportion of their food underground, by digging. They can tunnel after ground-dwelling rodents at speed.\n\nBadgers have been known to become intoxicated with alcohol after eating rotting fruit. \n\nRelation with humans \n\nSport \n\nHunting badgers has been common in many countries. The Dachshund (German for \"badger hound\") dog breed was bred for the purpose.\n\nBadger-baiting was formerly a popular blood sport. Although badgers are normally quite docile, they fight fiercely when cornered. This led people to capture and box badgers and then wager on whether a dog could succeed in removing the badger from its refuge. In England, opposition from naturalists and moral crusaders led to its ban under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and the Protection of Badgers Act of 1992 made it a serious offence to kill, injure, or take a badger or to interfere with a sett unless under license from a statutory authority. The Hunting Act of 2004 further banned fox hunters from blocking badger setts during their chases.\n\nCulling \n\nControlling the badger population is prohibited in many European countries, as badgers are listed in the Berne Convention, but they are not otherwise the subject of any international treaty or legislation. Many badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. \n\nUntil the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomised trial cull which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, while others favoured a programme of vaccination. Wales and Northern Ireland are currently (2013) conducting field trials of a badger vaccination programme. In 2012, the government authorised a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, however, this was later deferred with a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where it is expected about 5,000 badgers will be killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers will be trapped in cages first). The cull has caused many protests with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, it has been claimed by shadow ministers that \"The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...\", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots \"will not yield any useful information\".\n\nPets \n\nBadgers can be tamed and then kept as pets. Keeping a badger as a pet or offering one for sale is an offence in the United Kingdom under the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act. \n\nCommercial use \n\nBadgers have been trapped commercially for their pelts, which have been used for centuries to make shaving brushes, a purpose to which it is particularly suited owing to its high water retention. Virtually all commercially badger hair now comes from mainland China, though, which has farms for the purpose. The Chinese supply three grades of hair to domestic and foreign brush makers. Village cooperatives are also licensed by the national government to hunt and process badgers to avoid their becoming a crop nuisance in rural northern China. The European badger is also used as trim for some traditional Scottish clothing. The American badger is also used for paintbrushes and as trim for some Native American garments. It has also been occasionally used for doll hair.\n\nFood \n\nAlthough rarely eaten today in the United States or the United Kingdom, badgers were once a primary meat source for the diets of Native Americans and white colonists. Badgers were also eaten in Britain during World War II and the 1950s.\n\nIn Russia, the consumption of badger meat is still widespread. Shish kebabs made from badger, along with dog meat and pork, are a major source of trichinosis outbreaks in the Altai region of Russia. In Croatia, badger meat is rarely eaten. When it is, it is usually smoked and dried or, less commonly, served in goulash.\n\nIn France, badger meat was used in the preparation of several dishes, such as Blaireau au sang, and it was a relatively common ingredient in countryside cuisine. Badger meat was eaten in some parts of Spain until recently. In Japan, badger is regarded in folktales as a food for the humble. \n\nPopular culture \n\nIn medieval times, badgers were thought to work together to dig holes under mountains. They were said to lie down at the entrance of the hole holding a stick in their mouths, while other badgers piled dirt on their bellies. Two badgers would then take hold of the stick in the badger’s mouth, and drag the animal loaded with dirt away, almost in the fashion of a wagon. \n\nThe 19th century poem \"The Badger\" by John Clare describes a badger hunt and badger-baiting. In Lafcadio Hearn's book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903), later to be the basis of a 1964 film, there is a short story titled Mujina, which is a shapeshifting badger. The character Frances in Russell Hoban's children's books, beginning with Bedtime for Frances (1948–1970), is depicted as a badger. Trufflehunter is a heroic badger in the Chronicles of Narnia book Prince Caspian (1951) by C. S. Lewis.\n\nBadger characters are featured in author Brian Jacques' Redwall series (1986–2011), most often falling under the title of Badger Lord or Badger Mother. A badger god is featured in The Immortals (1992–1996) by Tamora Pierce and \"The Badger\" is a comic book hero created by Mike Baron. The badger is the emblem of the Hufflepuff house of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series (1997–2007), it is chosen as such because the badger is an animal that is often underestimated, because it lives quietly until attacked, but which, when provoked, can fight off animals much larger than itself, which resembles the Hufflepuff house in several ways.\n\nMany other stories featuring badgers as characters include Kenneth Grahame's children's novel The Wind in the Willows (1908), Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod (1912; featuring badger Tommy Brock), the Rupert Bear adventures by Mary Tourtel (appearing since 1920), T. H. White's Arthurian fantasy novels The Once and Future King (1958, written 1938–41) and The Book of Merlyn (1977), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970) by Roald Dahl, Richard Adams's Watership Down (1972), Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood (1979), and Erin Hunter's Warriors (appearing since 2003). In the historic novel Incident at Hawk's Hill (1971) by Allan W. Eckert a badger is one of the main characters.\n\nBadgers are also featured in films and animations: a flash video of \"The Badger Song\" shows a group doing calisthenics; in Pokémon, Typhlosion and Linoone are based on badgers. Walt Disney's 1973 film Robin Hood, depicts the character of Friar Tuck as a badger. In the Doctor Snuggles series, Dennis the handyman, was a badger.\n\nIn Europe, badgers were traditionally used to predict the length of winter. The badger is the state animal of the US state of Wisconsin and Bucky Badger is the mascot of the athletic teams at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The badger is also the official mascot of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, as well as that of St Aidan's College at the University of Durham.\n\nIn 2007, the appearance of honey badgers around the British base at Basra, Iraq, fuelled rumours among the locals that British forces deliberately released \"man-eating\" and \"bear-like\" badgers to spread panic. These allegations were denied by the British army and the director of Basra's veterinary hospital. \n\nThe viral video Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger became popular in 2011, attaining over 68 million views on YouTube as of July 2014. The video features footage from the Nat Geo WILD network of honey badgers fighting jackals, invading beehives, and eating cobras, with a voiceover added by the uploader, \"Randall\".\n\nOn 28 August 2013 the PC video game Shelter was released by developers Might and Delight in which players control a mother badger protecting her cubs.","Badger Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia\nBadger facts, photos and information animals may out weigh a ... The European badger is also known as the Old World badger and ... Badger Facts. the honey badger or ...\nBadger Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia\nAnimal Facts Encyclopedia\nbadger Facts\nPortrait of an American Badger\nBadgers are stoutly built, powerful and cantankerous carnivores. There are eight species of badger ranging across several continents including North America, Africa, Europe and Asia.\nAll the badger species are fossorial, creating many-chambered underground dens, and spending much of their lives below ground.\nBadgers do allot of stalking at night, but are seen out and about in the daytime as well. They are excellent hunters of earth-dwelling prey including rabbits, groundhogs, ground squirrels, mice and snakes.\nSome of these animals can be fairly large in comparison to the badger, but are no match for this enormously aggressive predator.\nThe badgers sense of smell is very powerful and they can detect an animal in its burrow through soil as well as snow cover. When they locate their prey, they dig rapidly directly down into the animals den in a devastating surprise attack from above.\nBadgers also eat a variety of insects, grubs and vegetable matter including fruits and roots.\nThe word \"badger\" comes from the French word \"becheur\" meaning \"digger\" and is extremely appropriate. Everything about a badgers body says \"dig\".\nIt has massive, shovel-like front paws with five powerful toes, each tipped with curved claws as strong as steel. They can move yards of dirt in minutes, barreling in head first with long digging strokes of the front legs and quick, earth-moving shoves backwards with the rear legs.\nThe rear paws and claws are smaller and designed to doze away the soil that has already been loosened and dislodged by the front feet.\nBadgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes from all the flying soil, and thick guard hairs in their nostrils and ears to keep them clear of debris.\nA badger being pursued by a large predator such as a wolf or mountain lion can dig backwards, fangs facing out for protection and disappear beneath the soil in a matter of seconds.\nIn addition, the badger has very thick fur and loose skin which allows it to twist around, even when having been grabbed from behind by a predator, to defend itself with its impressive canines.\nMost badgers live solitary lives once weaned from their mother, but have overlapping territories and may occasionally run into each other and socialize.. - Badger Facts\nThe american or new world badger\nAmerican Badger\nThe American badger is a fixture across the plains and woodlands of the central United States. They range into Canada and Mexico as well, but the midwestern plains are their most common residence.\nThese badgers have a flattened appearance with a remarkably broad torso, short, powerful limbs, and massive front paws and claws. They have a grizzled grey body with whiter undersides and dark brown or black legs. The stripe down the center of the face is narrow compared to the European badger, and the skull and cheeks are wider with low-set ears and black cheek patches. And badgers have stout tails of a few inches in length.\nThe jaw of the American badger sets into the skull in a unique notch that locks it to the upper mandible and makes it impossible to be dislocated.\nMany of the animals the badger hunts are powerfully built diggers as well, such as the muscular groundhog and rugged prairie dog, who will wedge their sturdy legs against the walls of their dens trying to avoid extraction.\nThe specialized jaw, along with the badgers stout neck and shoulders helps the badger to dislodge its quarry.\nIt is occasionally reported that badgers and coyotes team up to hunt, but what actually occurs is that the always \"wily\" coyote waits at alternative exits for something to bolt loose from a burrow that the badger is invading. If the coyote snares an escaping gopher it does not share with the badger, and the badger certainly does not share with the coyote.\nThe American badger has numerous potential enemies on the Western plains, such as mountain lions, wolves and the ever annoying coyote.\nThese animals may out weigh a badger by three or four to one, but an adult badger is as fierce a combatant as one may encounter and more often than not, sends its agitator running for the hills. - Badger Facts\nthe european or old world badger\nEuropean or new world badger\nThe European badger is also known as the Old World badger and the Eurasian badger.As these names imply, it ranges throughout most of Europe and some parts of Western Asia.\nThe European badger has a more elongated head, a much wider white stripe down the center of the face, and appears slightly more upright than the American badger, which tends to have a somewhat \"flattened\" look.\nAlthough a solitary animal in much of its range, the European badgers of Britain and some other territories are the most social of the badger species and live in groups of 5 to 20 individuals in enormous dens that may have up to thirty different chambers and 1/2 a mile of tunnels.\nSome of these burrows called \"setts\" are decades old and are occasionally shared by other animals including red foxes and even raccoons.\nEuropean badgers also tend to travel on well-worn trails, some of which have been in use for hundreds of years.\nThis is the largest of the badger species reaching as much as 40 pounds in the late summer as it fattens up for a potentially hard winter.\nBadgers do not hibernate, but will enter a state known as torpor if the weather gets rough and snows are too deep to hunt.\nTorpor is a deep sleep that may lasts for up to three weeks but does not involve the extreme slowing of heartbeat that actual hibernation involves.\nThe European badger is slightly less aggressive then the other badger species and does not take prey quite as large as the other badgers, actually spending long hours digging for their favorite food- earthworms. - Badger Facts\nThis Form cannot be submitted until the missing\nfields (labelled below in red) have been filled in\nVote Here for Your Favorite Animal!\nPick Your Fav!\nbadger reproduction\nBadgers come together to mate in the late summer and early autumn and both males and females may mate with multiple partners. Once the female is impregnated, the development of the embryos is delayed over the winter. The eggs don't fully attach to the uterus until early spring. This is a process known as \"delayed implantation\".\nIn late winter or early spring, the eggs become implanted in the uteran wall and begin to develop. Although the entire pregnancy takes about 7 months from fertilization to delivery, the eggs do not develop at all for the first 5 months, and then, once implanted, take about 6 weeks to fully grow.\nFemales give birth deep inside their burrows to 2 to 5 cubs. The newborns are blind and only very finely furred, and completely dependent on their mother.\nShe may leave every few days to hunt, but returns quickly. The mother badger may change dens once or twice during these critical weeks to ensure the safety of her family.\nShe carries each cub one at a time to the new sette. Baby badgers mature quickly and begin chewing on kills their mother provides for them, sometimes even before their eyes are open.\nThey learn to hunt for themselves by the time they are 4 months old, and head out on their own at about 6 months old. - Badger Facts\nthe honey badger or ratel\nHoney Badger\nThe honey badger is in a separate genus from the American and European badgers, and is actually more closely related to wolverines and weasels.\nNevertheless, the honey badger is exceedingly \"badger-like\", and has a reputation for being one of the most fearless and relentless animals on Earth.\nHoney badgers are native to most of Africa and are known there as \"ratels\". This word has the same meaning as the word \"rattle\" and refers to the sound that these badgers make when they are excited.\nHoney badgers eat a large variety of prey, including young monkeys, but are especially fond of honey, of course.\nThey will seek out and attack honey bee hives with incredible determination, accepting hundreds of stings while they eat honey, honey comb and their favorite, the bee larvae which is located at the center of the hive.\nHoney badgers are not only able to accept stings from bees, but can also handle bites from the worlds deadliest snakes, like puff adders, mambas and cobras, which they happily hunt, kill and devour.\nThe honey badger is not necessarily immune to these venoms, but rather the badgers skin is so thick and tough that most bee stingers and snake fangs cannot penetrate it.\nIf the venom of a large snake does get into the system, the badger may be killed, but often just has a coma-like \"down time\" while it recovers, and before it finishes off its snake dinner.\nThe honey badger has a high metabolism and spends lots of energy crashing around its territory looking for things to consume.\nThey can, occasionally, be killed by lions, possibly leopards, but these predators don't usually take the risk involved in subduing an animals as formidable as the honey badger, which is commonly considered the fiercest animal on the planet. - Honey Badger Facts\na few more badger facts\nA group of badgers is called a \"cette\"\nBadgers live in huge underground burrows that can include up to 1/2 mile of tunnels\nThe honey badger is widely recognized as the most fearless- and fiercest - animal in the world.\nThe honey badger can survive a bite from a King cobra, and then eat the snake.\nBadgers can dig both forwards and backwards and often dig backwards disappearing straight into the ground when confronted by an enemy \nBadgers do not hibernate but may enter a state called \"torpor\" where they sleep deeply for up to three weeks\nThe word \"badger\" comes from the French word \"becheur\" which means \"digger\"\nBadgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes while they dig.- Badger Facts!\nScientific Classification:","European_badger.txt\nEuropean badger\nThe European badger (Meles meles) is a species of badger in the family Mustelidae and is native to almost all of Europe and some parts of the Middle East. Several subspecies are recognised; the nominate subspecies (Meles meles meles) predominates over most of Europe. The European badger is classified as being of least concern by the IUCN as it has a wide range and a large population size which is stable, and even increasing in some areas.\n\nThe European badger is a powerfully built black, white, brown and grey animal with a small head, a stocky body, small black eyes and short tail. Its weight varies, being 7–13 kg (15–29 lb) in spring but building up to 15–17 kg (33–37 lb) in autumn before the winter sleep period. It is nocturnal and is a social, burrowing animal that sleeps during the day in one of several setts in its territorial range. These burrows, which may house several badger families, have extensive systems of underground passages and chambers and have multiple entrances. Some setts have been in use for decades. Badgers are very fussy over the cleanliness of their burrow, carrying in fresh bedding and removing soiled material, and they defecate in latrines strategically situated around their territory.\n\nThough classified as a carnivore, the European badger feeds on a wide variety of plant and animal foods.The diet consists mainly of earthworms, large insects, small mammals, carrion, cereals and root tubers. Litters of up to five cubs are produced in spring. The young are weaned a few months later but usually remain within the family group. The European badger has been known to share its burrow with other species such as rabbits, red foxes and raccoon dogs, but it can be ferocious when provoked, a trait which has been exploited in the now illegal blood sport of badger-baiting. The spread of bovine tuberculosis has been attributed to badgers, however recent peer reviewed reports state that the issue is more to do with cattle management.\n\nNomenclature\n\nThe source of the word \"badger\" is uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary states it probably derives from \"badge\" + -ard, referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead, and may date to the early sixteenth century. The French word bêcheur (digger) has also been suggested as a source. A male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A badger's home is called a sett. Badger colonies are often called clans.\n\nThe far older name \"brock\" (Old English: brocc), (Scots: brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokko) meaning \"grey\". The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsu- (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svin-toks; Early Modern English: dasse), probably from the PIE root *tek'- \"to construct,\" so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsu- became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs (\"marten\" or \"badger\"), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French tesson/taisson/tasson—now blaireau is more common—, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo). \n\nUntil the mid-18th century, European badgers were variously known in English as 'brock', 'pate', 'grey' and 'bawson'. The name \"bawson\" is derived from \"bawsened\", which refers to something striped with white. \"Pate\" is a local name which was once popular in northern England. The name \"badget\" was once common, but restricted to Norfolk, while \"earth dog\" was used in southern Ireland. The badger is commonly referred to in Welsh as a \"mochyn daear\" (earth pig).\n \n\nOrigin\n\nThe species likely evolved from the Chinese Meles thorali of the early Pleistocene. The modern species originated during the early Middle Pleistocene, with fossil sites occurring in Episcopia, Grombasek, Süssenborn, Hundsheim, Erpfingen, Koneprusy, Mosbach 2, and Stránská Skála. A comparison between fossil and living specimens shows a marked progressive adaptation to omnivory, namely in the increase in the molars' surface areas and the modification of the carnassials. Occasionally, badger bones may be discovered in strata from much earlier dates, due to the burrowing habits of the animal. \n\nSubspecies\n\n, eight subspecies are recognised.\n\nDescription\n\nEuropean badgers are powerfully built animals with small heads, thick, short necks, stocky, wedge-shaped bodies and short tails. Their feet are digitigrade and short, with five toes on each foot. The limbs are short and massive, with naked lower surfaces on the feet. The claws are strong, elongated and have an obtuse end, which assists in digging. The claws are not retractable, and the hind claws wear with age. Old badgers sometimes have their hind claws almost completely worn away from constant use. Their snouts, which are used for digging and probing, are muscular and flexible. The eyes are small and the ears short and tipped with white. Whiskers are present on the snout and above the eyes. Boars typically have broader heads, thicker necks and narrower tails than sows, which are sleeker, have narrower, less domed heads and fluffier tails. The guts of badgers are longer than those of red foxes, reflecting their omnivorous diet. The small intestine has a mean length of and lacks a cecum. Both sexes have three pairs of nipples but these are more developed in females. European badgers cannot flex their backs as martens, polecats and wolverines can, nor can they stand fully erect like honey badgers, though they can move quickly at full gallop. Adults measure 25 – in shoulder height, 60 – in body length, 12 – in tail length, in hind foot length and in ear height. Males (or boars) slightly exceed females (or sows) in measurements, but can weigh considerably more. Their weights vary seasonally, growing from spring to autumn and reaching a peak just before the winter. During the summer, they weigh 7 – and 15 – in autumn. Sows can attain a top weight of around , while exceptionally large boars have been reported in autumn. The heaviest verified was , though unverified specimens have been reported to and even 34 kg (if so, the heaviest weight for any terrestrial mustelid). Although their sense of smell is acute, their eyesight is monochromatic as has been shown by their lack of reaction to red lanterns. Only moving objects attract their attention. Their hearing is no better than that of humans. \n\nEuropean badger skulls are quite massive, heavy and elongated. Their braincases are oval in outline, while the facial part of their skulls is elongated and narrow. Adults have prominent sagittal crests which can reach 15 mm tall in old males, and are more strongly developed than those of honey badgers. Aside from anchoring the jaw muscles, the thickness of the crests protect their skulls from hard blows. Similar to martens, the dentition of European badgers is well-suited for their omnivorous diets. Their incisors are small and chisel-shaped, their canine teeth are prominent and their carnassials are not overly specialised. Their molars are flattened and adapted for grinding. Their jaws are powerful enough to crush most bones; a provoked badger was once reported as biting down on a man's wrist so severely that his hand had to be amputated. The dental formula is: \n\nScent glands are present below the base of the tail and on the anus. The subcaudal gland secretes a musky-smelling, cream-coloured fatty substance, while the anal glands secrete a stronger-smelling, yellowish-brown fluid.\n\nFur\n\nIn winter, the fur on the back and flanks is long and coarse, consisting of bristly guard hairs with a sparse, soft undercoat. The belly fur consists of short, sparse hairs, with skin being visible in the inguinal region. Guard hair length on the middle of the back is 75 – in winter. Prior to the winter, the throat, lower neck, chest and legs are black. The belly is of a lighter, brownish tint, while the inguinal region is brownish-grey. The general colour of the back and sides is light silvery-grey, with straw-coloured highlights on the sides. The tail has long and coarse hairs, and is generally the same colour as the back. Two black bands pass along the head, starting from the upper lip and passing upwards to the whole base of the ears. The bands sometimes extend along the neck and merge with the colour of the upper body. The front parts of the bands are 15 mm, and widen to 45 – in the ear region. A wide, white band extends from the nose tip through the forehead and crown. White markings occur on the lower part of the head, and extend backwards to a great part of the neck's length. The summer fur is much coarser, shorter and sparser, and is deeper in colour, with the black tones becoming brownish, sometimes with yellowish tinges. Partial melanism in badgers is known, and albinos are not uncommon. Albino badgers can be pure white or yellowish with pink eyes. Erythristic badgers are more common than the former, being characterised by having a sandy-red colour on the usually black parts of the body. Yellow badgers are also known. \n\nBehaviour\n\nSocial and territorial behaviours\n\nEuropean badgers are the most social of badgers, forming groups of six adults on average, though larger associations of up to 23 individuals have been recorded. Group size may be related to habitat composition. Under optimal conditions, badger territories can be as small as 30 ha, but may be as large as 150 ha in marginal areas. Badger territories can be identified by the presence of communal latrines and well-worn paths. It is mainly males that are involved in territorial aggression. A hierarchical social system is thought to exist among badgers and large powerful boars seem to assert dominance over smaller males. Large boars sometimes intrude into neighbouring territories during the main mating season in early spring. Sparring and more vicious fights generally result from territorial defence in the breeding season. However, in general, animals within and outside a group show considerable tolerance of each other. Boars tend to mark their territories more actively than sows, with their territorial activity increasing during the mating season in early spring. Badgers groom each other very thoroughly with their claws and teeth. Grooming may have a social function. They are crepuscular and nocturnal in habits. Aggression among badgers is largely associated with territorial defence and mating. When fighting, they bite each other on the neck and rump, while running and chasing each other and injuries incurred in such fights can be severe and sometimes fatal. When attacked by dogs or sexually excited, badgers may raise their tails and fluff up their fur.\n\nEuropean badgers have an extensive vocal repertoire. When threatened they emit deep growls and when fighting make low kekkering noises. They bark when surprised, whicker when playing or in distress, and emit a piercing scream when alarmed or frightened. \n\nReproduction and development\n\nEstrus in European badgers lasts four to six days and may occur throughout the year, though there is a peak in spring. Sexual maturity in boars is usually attained at the age of twelve to fifteen months but this can range from nine months to two years. Males are normally fecund during January–May, with spermatogenesis declining in summer. Sows usually begin ovulating in their second year, though some exceptionally begin at nine months. They can mate at any time of the year, though the main peak occurs in February–May, when mature sows are in postpartal estrus and young animals experience their first estrus. Matings occurring outside this period typically occur in sows which either failed to mate earlier in the year or matured slowly. Badgers are usually monogamous; boars typically mate with one female for life, whereas sows have been known to mate with more than one male. Mating lasts for fifteen to sixty minutes, though the pair may briefly copulate for a minute or two when the sow is not in estrus. A delay of two to nine months precedes the fertilised eggs implanting into the wall of the uterus, though matings in December can result in immediate implantation. Ordinarily, implantation happens in December, with a gestation period lasting seven weeks. Cubs are usually born in mid-January to mid-March within underground chambers containing bedding. In areas where the countryside is waterlogged, cubs may be born above ground in buildings. Typically, only dominant sows can breed, as they suppress the reproduction of subordinate females.\n\nThe average litter consists of one to five cubs. Although many cubs are sired by resident males, up to 54% can be fathered by boars from different colonies. Dominant sows may kill the cubs of subordinates. Cubs are born pink, with greyish, silvery fur and fused eyelids. Neonatal badgers are 12 cm in body length on average and weigh 75 to, with cubs from large litters being smaller. By three to five days, their claws become pigmented, and individual dark hairs begin to appear. Their eyes open at four to five weeks and their milk teeth erupt about the same time. They emerge from their setts at eight weeks of age, and begin to be weaned at twelve weeks, though they may still suckle until they are four to five months old. Subordinate females assist the mother in guarding, feeding and grooming the cubs. Cubs fully develop their adult coats at six to nine weeks. In areas with medium to high badger populations, dispersal from the natal group is uncommon, though badgers may temporarily visit other colonies. Badgers can live for up to about fifteen years in the wild. \n\nDenning behaviours\n\nLike other badger species, European badgers are burrowing animals. However, the dens they construct (called setts) are the most complex, and are passed on from generation to generation. The number of exits in one sett can vary from a few to fifty. These setts can be vast, and can sometimes accommodate multiple families. When this happens, each family occupies its own passages and nesting chambers. Some setts may have exits which are only used in times of danger or play. A typical passage has a 22 – wide base and a 14 – height. Three sleeping chambers occur in a family unit, some of which are open at both ends. The nesting chamber is located 5 – from the opening, and is situated more than a 1 m underground, in some cases . Generally, the passages are 35 – long. The nesting chamber is on average 74 x, and are 38 cm high. Badgers dig and collect bedding throughout the year, particularly in autumn and spring. Sett maintenance is usually carried out by subordinate sows and dominant boars. The chambers are frequently lined with bedding, brought in on dry nights, which consists of grass, bracken, straw, leaves and moss. Up to 30 bundles can be carried to the sett on a single night. European badgers are fastidiously clean animals which regularly clear out and discard old bedding. During the winter, they may take their bedding outside on sunny mornings and retrieve it later in the day. Spring cleaning is connected with the birth of cubs, and may occur several times during the summer to prevent parasite levels building up. If a badger dies within the sett, its conspecifics will seal off the chamber and dig a new one. Some badgers will drag their dead out of the sett and bury them outside. A sett is almost invariably located near a tree, which is used by badgers for stretching or claw scraping. Badgers defecate in latrines, which are located near the sett and at strategic locations on territorial boundaries or near places with abundant food supplies. In extreme cases, when there is a lack of suitable burrowing grounds, badgers may move into haystacks in winter. They may share their setts with red foxes or European rabbits. The badgers may provide protection for the rabbits against other predators. The rabbits usually avoid predation by the badgers by inhabiting smaller, hard to reach chambers. \n\nWinter sleep\n\nBadgers begin to prepare for winter sleep during late summer by accumulating fat reserves, which reach a peak in October. During this period, the sett is cleaned and the nesting chamber is filled with bedding. Upon retiring to sleep, badgers block their sett entrances with dry leaves and earth. They typically stop leaving their setts once snow has fallen. In Russia, badgers retire for their winter sleep from late October to mid-November and emerge from their setts in March and early April. In areas such as England and Transcaucasia, where winters are less harsh, badgers either forgo winter sleep entirely or spend long periods underground, emerging in mild spells.\n\nDiet\n\nAlong with brown bears, European badgers are among the least carnivorous members of the Carnivora; they are highly adaptable and opportunistic omnivores, whose diet encompasses a wide range of animals and plants. Earthworms are their most important food source, followed by large insects, carrion, cereals, fruit and small mammals including rabbits, mice, shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Insect prey includes chafers, dung and ground beetles, caterpillars, leatherjackets, and the nests of wasps and bumblebees. Badgers (Meles meles) are able to destroy wasp nests, consuming the occupants, combs, and envelope, such as that of Vespula rufa nests, since thick skin and body hair protect the badgers from stings.Edwards, Robin. (1980). Social Wasps: Their Biology and Control. W. Sussex, Great Britain: Rentokil Limited. Cereal food includes wheat, oats, maize and occasionally barley. Fruits include windfall apples, pears, plums, blackberries, bilberries, raspberries, strawberries, acorns, beechmast, pignuts and wild arum corms.\n\nOccasionally, they feed on medium to large birds, amphibians, small reptiles, including tortoises, snails, slugs, fungi, and green food such as clover and grass, particularly in winter and during droughts. Badgers characteristically capture large numbers of one food type in each hunt. Generally, they do not eat more than of food per day, with young specimens yet to attain one year of age eating more than adults. An adult badger weighing 15 kg eats a quantity of food equal to 3.4% of its body weight. Badgers typically eat prey on the spot, and rarely transport it to their setts. Surplus killing has been observed in chicken coops.\n\nBadgers prey on rabbits throughout the year, especially during times when their young are available. They catch young rabbits by locating their position in their nest by scent, then dig vertically downwards to it. In mountainous or hilly districts, where vegetable food is scarce, badgers rely on rabbits as a principal food source. Adult rabbits are usually avoided, unless they are wounded or caught in traps. They consume them by turning them inside out and eating the meat, leaving the inverted skin uneaten. Hedgehogs are eaten in a similar manner. In areas where badgers are common, hedgehogs are scarce. Some rogue badgers may kill lambs, though this is very rare; they may be erroneously implicated in lamb killings through the presence of discarded wool and bones near their setts, though foxes, which occasionally live alongside badgers, are often the culprits, as badgers do not transport food to their earths. They typically kill lambs by biting them behind the shoulder. Poultry and game birds are also taken only rarely. Some badgers may build their setts in close proximity to poultry or game farms without ever causing damage. In the rare instances in which badgers do kill reared birds, the killings usually occur in February–March, when food is scarce due to harsh weather and increases in badger populations. Badgers can easily breach bee hives with their jaws, and are mostly indifferent to bee stings, even when set upon by swarms.\n\nRelationships with other non-human predators\n\nEuropean badgers have few natural enemies. Wolves, lynxes and dogs can pose a threat to badgers, though deaths caused by them are rare. They may live alongside red foxes in isolated sections of large burrows. The two species possibly tolerate each other out of commensalism; foxes provide badgers with food scraps, while badgers maintain the shared burrow's cleanliness. However, cases are known of badgers driving vixens from their dens and destroying their litters without eating them. Raccoon dogs may extensively use badger setts for shelter. There are many known cases of badgers and raccoon dogs wintering in the same hole, possibly because badgers enter hibernation two weeks earlier than the latter, and leave two weeks later. In exceptional cases, badger and raccoon dog cubs may coexist in the same burrow. Badgers may drive out or kill raccoon dogs if they overstay their welcome. \n\nDistribution and habitat\n\nThe European badger is native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia. In Europe its range includes Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Ukraine. In Asia it occurs in Afghanistan, China (Xinjiang), Iran, Iraq and Israel.\n\nThe distributional boundary between the ranges of European and Asian badgers is the Volga River, the European species being situated on the western bank. They are common in European Russia, with 30,000 individuals having been recorded there in 1990. They are abundant and increasing throughout their range, partly due to a reduction in rabies in Central Europe. In the UK, badgers experienced a 77% increase in numbers during the 1980s and 1990s. The badger population in Great Britain in 2012 is estimated to be 300,000. \n\nThe European badger is found in deciduous and mixed woodlands, clearings, spinneys, pastureland and scrub, including Mediterranean maquis shrubland. It has adapted to life in suburban areas and urban parks, although not to the extent of red foxes. In mountainous areas it occurs up to an altitude of 2000 m.\n\nBadger tracking to study their behavior and territories has been done in Ireland using Global Positioning Systems. \n\nStatus\n\nThe International Union for Conservation of Nature rates the European badger as being of least concern. This is because it is a relatively common species with a wide range and populations are generally stable. In Central Europe it has become more abundant in recent decades due to a reduction in the incidence of rabies. In other areas it has also fared well, with increases in numbers in Western Europe and the United Kingdom. However, in some areas of intensive agriculture it has reduced in numbers due to loss of habitat and in others it is hunted as a pest.\n\nDiseases and parasites\n\nBovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a major mortality factor in badgers, though infected badgers can live and successfully breed for years before succumbing. The disease was first observed in badgers in 1951 in Switzerland where they were believed to have contracted it from chamois (Rupicarpa rupicarpa) or roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). It was detected in the United Kingdom in 1971 where it was linked to an outbreak of bovine TB in cows. The evidence appears to indicate that the badger is the primary reservoir of infection for cattle in the south west of England, Wales and Ireland. Since then there has been considerable controversy as to whether culling badgers will effectively reduce or eliminate bovine TB in cattle. \n\nBadgers are vulnerable to the mustelid herpesvirus-1, as well as rabies and canine distemper, though the latter two are absent in Great Britain. Other diseases found in European badgers include arteriosclerosis, pneumonia, pleurisy, nephritis, enteritis, polyarthritis and lymphosarcoma. \n\nInternal parasites of badgers include trematodes, nematodes and several species of tapeworm. Ectoparasites carried by them include the fleas Paraceras melis (the badger flea), Chaetopsylla trichosa and Pulex irritans, the lice Trichodectes melis and the ticks Ixodes ricinus, I. canisuga, I. hexagonus, I. reduvius and I. melicula. They also suffer from mange. They spend much time grooming, individuals concentrating on their own ventral areas, alternating one side with the other, while social grooming occurs with one individual grooming another on its dorsal surface. Fleas tried to avoid the scratching, retreating rapidly downwards and backwards through the fur. This was in contrast to fleas away from their host which ran upwards and jumped when disturbed. The grooming seems to disadvantage fleas rather than merely having a social function. \n\nRelationships with humans\n\nIn folklore and literature\n\nBadgers play a part in European folklore and are featured in modern literature. In Irish mythology, badgers are portrayed as shape-shifters and kinsmen to Tadg, the king of Tara and foster father of Cormac mac Airt. In one story, Tadg berates his adopted son for having killed and prepared some badgers for dinner. In German folklore, the badger is portrayed as a cautious, peace-loving Philistine, who loves more than anything his home, family and comfort, though he can become aggressive if surprised. He is a cousin of Reynard the Fox, whom he uselessly tries to convince to return to the path of righteousness.\n\nIn Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Badger is depicted as a gruff, solitary figure who \"simply hates society\", yet is a good friend to Mole and Ratty. As a friend of Toad's now-deceased father, he is often firm and serious with Toad, but at the same time generally patient and well-meaning towards him. He can be seen as a wise hermit, a good leader and gentleman, embodying common sense. He is also brave and a skilled fighter, and helps rid Toad Hall of invaders from the wild wood. \n\nThe \"Frances\" series of children's books by Russell and Lillian Hoban depicts an anthropomorphic badger family.\n\nIn T.H. White's Arthurian series The Once and Future King, the young King Arthur is transformed into a badger by Merlin as part of his education. He meets with an older badger who tells him \"I can only teach you two things - to dig, and love your home.\" \n\nA villainous badger named Tommy Brock appears in Beatrix Potter's 1912 book The Tale of Mr. Tod. He is shown kidnapping the children of Benjamin Bunny and his wife Flopsy, and hiding them in an oven at the home of Mr. Tod the fox, whom he fights at the end of the book. The portrayal of the badger as a filthy animal which appropriates fox dens was criticised from a naturalistic viewpoint, though the inconsistencies are few and employed to create individual characters rather than evoke an archetypical fox and badger. A wise old badger named Trufflehunter appears in C. S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, where he aids Caspian X in his struggle against King Miraz. \n\nA badger takes a prominent role in Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood series as second in command to Fox. The badger is also the house symbol for Hufflepuff in the \"Harry Potter\" book series. The Redwall series also has the Badger Lords, who rule the extinct volcano fortress of Salamandastron and are renowned as fierce warriors. The children's television series Bodger & Badger was popular on CBBC during the 1990s and was set around the mishaps of a mashed potato-loving badger and his human companion. \n\nHunting\n\nEuropean badgers are of little significance to hunting economies, though they may be actively hunted locally. Methods used for hunting badgers include catching them in jaw traps, ambushing them at their setts with guns, smoking them out of their earths and through the use of specially bred dogs such as Fox Terriers and Dachshunds to dig them out. Badgers are, however, notoriously durable animals; their skins are thick, loose and covered in long hair which acts as protection, and their heavily ossified skulls allow them to shrug off most blunt traumas, as well as shotgun pellets. \n\nBadger-baiting\n\nBadger-baiting was once a popular blood sport, in which badgers were captured alive, placed in boxes, and attacked with dogs. In the UK, this was outlawed by the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and again by the Protection of Animals Act of 1911. Moreover, the cruelty towards and death of the badger constitute offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, and further offences under this act are inevitably committed to facilitate badger-baiting (such as interfering with a sett, or the taking or the very possession of a badger for purposes other than nursing an injured animal to health). If convicted, badger-baiters may face a sentence of up to six months in jail, a fine of up to £5,000, and other punitive measures, such as community service or a ban from owning dogs. \n\nCulling\n\nMany badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. Until the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomised trial cull which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, while others favoured a programme of vaccination, and vets support the cull on compassionate grounds as they say that the illness causes much suffering in badgers. Wales and Northern Ireland are currently (2013) conducting field trials of a badger vaccination programme. In 2012, the government authorised a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), however, this was later deferred with a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where it is expected about 5,000 badgers will be killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire by marksmen with high-velocity rifles using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers will be trapped in cages first). The cull has caused many protests with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, it has been claimed by shadow ministers that \"The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...\", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots \"will not yield any useful information\".\n\nDomestication\n\nThere are several accounts of European badgers being tamed. Tame badgers can be affectionate pets, and can be trained to come to their owners when their names are called. They are easily fed, as they are not fussy eaters, and will instinctively unearth rats, moles and young rabbits without training, though they do have a weakness for pork. Although there is one record of a tame badger befriending a fox, they generally do not tolerate the presence of cats and dogs, and will chase them. \n\nUses\n\nBadger meat is eaten in some districts of the former Soviet Union, though in most cases it is discarded. Smoked hams made from badgers were once highly esteemed in England, Wales and Ireland.\n\nSome badger products have been used for medical purposes; badger expert Ernest Neal, quoting from an 1810 edition of The Sporting Magazine, wrote;\n\nThe hair of the European badger has been used for centuries for making sporrans and high end shaving brushes. Sporrans are traditionally worn as part of male Scottish highland dress. They form a bag or pocket made from a pelt and a badger or other animal's mask may be used as a flap. Compared to the fur of other animals, badger's hair is ideal for shaving brushes because it retains the hot water that needs to be applied to the skin while wet shaving. Although some brushes are made from wild badger hair, most hair is sourced from China where badgers are farmed for this purpose. The pelt was also formerly used for pistol furniture.\n\nNotes","Birds beginning with B - Animal pictures\nBirds beginning with B. ... suggestions that it was a type of wren were accepted by the South American Classification ... frogs and other water creatures, ...\nBirds beginning with B\nBirds beginning with B\nBabbling Starling\nBachman's sparrow - Bachman's Sparrow, Aimophila aestivalis, is a small American sparrow that is endemic to the southeastern United States. This species was named in honor of Reverend John Bachman.\nBachman's wood warbler - Bachman's Warbler is possibly extinct, and was most likely never common. The last confirmed sightings were in 1988 and before that in 1961 in South Carolina. The Bachman's Warbler's last stronghold was in I'on Swamp, South Carolina. Habitat destruction was probably the main cause of its disappearance. Its extinction is not yet officially announced, because habitat remaining in Congaree National Park needs to be surveyed. Furthermore, on January 14, 2002, a bird reminiscent of a female Bachman's Warbler was filmed at Guardalavaca, Cuba. As Vermivora warblers are not known to live more than about 7 years, if the identification is correct it would imply that a breeding population managed to survive undiscovered for decades.\nBaer's Pochard - It is similar in size and stance to its close relative the Ferruginous Duck , although the coloration of the drakes is entirely different. Baer's Pochard males are similar to those of the Greater Scaup , but have a dark back and upper flanks; the white lower flanks and belly are conspicuous. The females of Baer's Pochard and the Ferruginous Duck are quite similar, but that holds true for the females of almost all Aythya species.\nBaglafecht Weaver\nBahama duck - This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current scientific name.\nBahama Swallow - This glossy Tachycineta swallow has a green head and back, blue upper wings, a black tail and wingtips, and a white belly and chin.\nBahama Yellowthroat - It is closely related to Common Yellowthroat, Altamira Yellowthroat and Belding's Yellowthroat, with which it forms a superspecies, and was formerly considered conspecific.\nBahaman mockingbird - The Bahama Mockingbird is a species of bird in the Mimidae family. It is found in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and is a vagrant to the United States. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBahaman parrot - The Cuban Amazon is a medium-sized parrot 28–33 centimetres long.\nBahaman woodstar - The Bahama Woodstar is a species of hummingbird.\nBahia Spinetail - The Bahia Spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.\nBahia Tapaculo - The Bahia Tapaculo is a species of bird in the Rhinocryptidae family. It is endemic to lowland Atlantic forests in Bahia, Brazil. Until recently, it was feared extinct, but has since been rediscovered and is now known from the municipalities of Ilhéus, Maraú, Taperoá, Valença. It remains highly threatened by habitat loss and is consequently considered critically endangered by BirdLife International and IUCN. Together with the closely related White-breasted Tapaculo, it was formerly placed in the genus Scytalopus, but these two species are now known to be closer to the bristlefronts .\nBahia Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBaikal teal - At between 39 and 43 cm, this duck is slightly larger and longer-tailed than the Common Teal. The breeding male is unmistakable, with a striking green nape, yellow and black auriculars, neck, throat. It has a dark crown, and its breast is light brown with dark spots. It has long dropping dark scapulars, and its grey sides are set off on the fron and rear with white bars.\nBailey's chickadee - The Mountain Chickadee is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. Often, it is still placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships . The American Ornithologists' Union has been treating Poecile as a distinct genus for some time.\nBaillon's Crake - Their breeding habitat is sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across Asia. They used to breed in Great Britain up to the mid-19th century, but the western European population declined through drainage. They nest in a dry location in wet sedge bogs, laying 4-8 eggs. This species is migratory, wintering in east Africa and south Asia.\nBaird's cormorant - The Pelagic Cormorant , also known as Baird's Cormorant, is a small member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Analogous to other smallish cormorants, it is also called Pelagic Shag occasionally. This seabird lives along the coasts of the northern Pacific; during winter it can also be found in the open ocean.\nBaird's Flycatcher - The Baird's Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBaird's Sandpiper - The Baird's Sandpiper is a small shorebird. It is among those calidrids sometimes separated in Erolia.\nBaird's sparrow - These birds have a large bill, a large flat head, and a short forked tail. They have brown upper parts and white underparts, with streaking on the back, breast, and flanks. The face, nape, and crown stripe are yellowish.\nBaker's Imperial-Pigeon - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBald Eagle - Breeding resident Breeding summer visitor, Winter visitor On migration only\nBald Ibis - This large, glossy, blue-black ibis has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, decurved red bill. It breeds colonially on and amongst rocks and on cliffs, laying 2-3 eggs which are incubated for 21 days before hatching. It feeds on insects, small reptiles, rodents and small birds.\nBald-faced Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and rivers.\nBalearic Shearwater - The Balearic Shearwater is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It was long regarded a subspecies of the Manx Shearwater; see there for more on the Puffinus puffinus superspecies; following an initial split it was held to be a subspecies of the \"Mediterranean Shearwater\" for nearly ten more years, until it was resolved to be a distinct species, separate from the Yelkouan Shearwater . It is the last taxon of the puffinus complex that was recognized as a separate entity.\nBali Myna - Placed in the monotypic genus Leucopsar, it appears to be most closely related to Sturnia and the Brahminy Starling which is currently placed in Sturnus but will probably soon be split therefrom as Sturnus as presently delimited is highly paraphyletic . The specific name commemorates the British ornithologist Lord Rothschild.\nBalicassiao - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBallmann's Malimbe\nBalsas Screech-Owl - The Balsas Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is endemic to Mexico.\nBaltimore Oriole - The Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team in Baltimore, Maryland, were named after this bird. It is also the state bird of Maryland.\nBamboo Antshrike - The Bamboo Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBamboo Partridge - The binomial commemorates Major-General Albert Fytche.\nBamboo Warbler - The Bamboo Scrub-warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBamenda Apalis - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and dry savanna. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBananal Antbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBananaquit - The Bananaquit was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Certhia flaveola.\nBand-backed Wren - The Band-backed Wren is a resident breeding species from south-central Gulf Coast Mexico to northwestern Ecuador. It occurs in five disjunct areas, the central region being in southern Central America, in Costa Rica and northern Panama. The next two regions are northern Colombia adjacent to Panama, and 800 km to the south in northwestern Ecuador.\nBand-bellied Crake\nBand-bellied Owl - The Band-bellied Owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBand-rumped storm-petrel - The Madeiran Storm-petrel is 19-21 cm in length with a 43-46 cm wingspan, and weighs 44-49g. It is mainly black with an extensive white rump. Similar to Leach's Storm-petrel with the forked tail, long wings, and flight behaviour, but Leach's has a more forked tail and differently shaped white rump.\nBand-rumped Swift - This species breeds in forested areas from Costa Rica south and east to Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad and northeast Brazil. The nest is a half saucer of twigs glued to the inside of a tree hole or similar shaded location with saliva.\nBand-tailed Antbird - The Band-tailed Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBand-tailed Antshrike - The Band-tailed Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in the eastern Guianas of Suriname and French Guiana mostly; also Brazil, Guyana, and Atlantic regions of the Amazon Basin, and some local regions upstream on the Amazon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps. It has recently been proposed that it more properly belongs to the genus Thamnophilus .\nBand-tailed Antwren - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBand-tailed Barbthroat - This hermit species inhabits the understory of wet forests, woodland edges and old second growth. It occurs in the lowlands, typically up to an elevation of 800 m, although young birds may wander higher.\nBand-tailed black hawk - Grown birds are 47–55 cm in length with a wingspan of about 1.2 m ; their average weight is 810 g . Adult plumage is mostly blackish except that the flight feathers are barred with lighter gray and the tail has three or four bands or \"zones\", white from below and light gray from above, of which the one second from the tip is particularly broad and conspicuous. The cere and legs are yellow. Immatures are similar except for small white spots on the breast and tails with narrow gray and black bands and a broad dark tip. The Zone-tailed Hawk adults resemble the Common Black Hawk but are smaller and have more white bars on the tail.\nBand-tailed Fruiteater - The Band-tailed Fruiteater is a species of bird in the Cotingidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBand-tailed Manakin\nBand-tailed Nighthawk - The Band-tailed Nighthawk is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, and swamps.\nBand-tailed Oropendola - The Band-tailed Oropendola is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is in the genus Ocyalus, usually considered monotypic, though the Casqued Oropendola might also be included herein. It is found at low densities in the western Amazon in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.\nBand-tailed Pigeon - The Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata, is a medium-sized bird of the Americas. Its closest relatives are the Chilean Pigeon and the Ring-tailed Pigeon, which form a clade of Patagioenas with a terminal tail band and iridescent plumage on their necks.\nBand-tailed Seedeater - The Band-tailed Seedeater is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and heavily degraded former forest.\nBand-tailed Sierra Finch - The Band-tailed Sierra-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBand-winged Nightjar - Over its large range, there are signifincant variations in its morphology, but, as suggested by its common name, it always has a distinctive band in the wing , which is white in the male, buff in the female. Traditionally, \"only\" seven subspecies have been recognized, but two new subspecies, one from Chile have been described within the last few years.\nBanda Myzomela - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBanded Antbird - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBanded Barbet - The Banded Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Eritrea and Ethiopia.\nBanded Bay Cuckoo - The Banded Bay Cuckoo or Bay-banded Cuckoo is a species of small cuckoo found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Like others in the genus they have a round nostril. They are usually founded in well wooded areas mainly in the lower hills. Males sing from exposed branches during the breeding season, which can vary with region. They are distinctive both in their calls as well as plumage with a white eye-browed appearance and the rufous upperparts with regular dark bands and the whitish underside with fine striations.\nBanded Broadbill\nBanded Cotinga - Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Green Sunbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, plantations , and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Ground Cuckoo - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBanded Imperial-Pigeon\nBanded Kestrel - It is 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 60–68 cm. The upperparts are grey and the tail is dark. The underparts are whitish with dark grey streaks on the throat and upper breast and dark grey barring on the lower breast and belly. The feet, eyes and cere are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. Juvenile birds are browner than the adults with darker eyes and less bare skin around the eye.\nBanded Kingfisher - The Banded Kingfisher is a 20 cm long kingfisher with a sturdy red bill and a short crest which is slowly raised and lowered. It shows striking sexual dimorphism compared to most of its relatives. The adult male has a chestnut forehead, cheeks and nape, and a bright blue cap. The rest of the upperparts, wings and tail are black with blue bands. The breast, flanks and undertail are rufous, and the central belly is white.\nBanded Lapwing - The Banded Lapwing is a small to medium sized wader which belongs to the plover family. It is found over most of Australia and Tasmania though is absent from the northern third of the continent.\nBanded Martin - The Banded Martin is found in open habitats such as farmland, grassland and savannah, usually near water. It breeds across Africa from Cameroon and Zaire to Ethiopia south to the Cape in South Africa, although it is absent from the driest regions of western South Africa and southern Namibia. The southern nominate subspecies of South Africa and Zimbabwe, is migratory, wintering further north, particularly in the west, where it can move sometimes as far as Gambia. R. c. xerica also leaves its drier breeding grounds in Botswana and northern Namibia in the southern winter. Other subspecies undertake local or altitudinal movements often dependent on the rainfall pattern.\nBanded Pitta - It includes four subspecies, which can be divided into three main groups: The nominate subspecies from Java and Bali has a yellow eyebrow, underparts that are densely barred in yellowish and blackish-blue and a narrow blue band on the upper chest, irena and ripleyi from the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Sumatra have a more orange eyebrow, a blue belly and a chest that is barred orange and dark bluish , and schwaneri from Borneo has a blue mid-belly and yellow flanks and chest densely barred with blackish. Females of all subspecies are significantly duller than the males. There are also vocal differences between some of the subspecies.\nBanded Prinia - It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBanded Quail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBanded Red Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBanded Snake-Eagle - Western Banded Snake-eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests. The west Banded eagle makes a nest then makes a new one the next year\nBanded Stilt - It is locally known as the Rottnest snipe on Rottnest Island, though not related to true snipes.\nBanded Warbler - The Banded Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBanded White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Whiteface - The Banded Whiteface is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\nBanded wren - The Banded Wren, Pheugopedius pleurostictus, is a small songbird of the wren family. It is a resident breeding species from central Mexico to Costa Rica. It was formerly placed in the genus Thryothorus .\nBanggai Crow - The Banggai Crow, Corvus unicolor, is a member of the crow family from Banggai in Indonesia. It is listed as critically endangered by IUCN and was even feared extinct, but was finally rediscovered during surveys on Peleng Island by Indonesian ornithologist Mochamad Indrawan in 2007 and 2008.\nBank Cormorant - The Bank Cormorant is a heavy-bodied bird, roughly 75 cm in length. It is generally black in appearance with a bronze sheen, though the wings are a dark brown rather than a true black. Adults have a small crest on their heads, and normally have a white rump.\nBank Myna - The Bank Myna is found in the greater part of peninsular South Asia, from Sindh, Pakistan on the West, to Bangladesh in the East, generally between the latitudes of about 19o ; to 28o . The Bank Myna is absent from the drier regions in Rajasthan. It has a patchy distribution but is commonly seen in major river valleys. Mostly resident, the bank myna shows regular seasonal local movements in some areas. Individual stragglers have been documented from as far as Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Chennai, India\nBannerman's Sunbird - The Bannerman's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\nBannerman's Turaco - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBannerman's Weaver - The Bannerman's Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cameroon and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBar-backed Partridge - The Bar-Backed Partridge is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBar-bellied Pitta\nBar-bellied Woodcreeper - The Bar-bellied Woodcreeper is a species of bird in the Dendrocolaptinae subfamily. It is found in humid forest of the western Amazon in northern Bolivia, far western Brazil, eastern Peru, and, as recently confirmed, eastern Ecuador.\nBar-bellied Woodpecker - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBar-breasted Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBar-breasted Honeyeater\nBar-breasted Piculet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBar-crested Antshrike - It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBar-headed Goose - The Bar-headed Goose is a goose which breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest.\nBar-shouldered Dove - The dove has a blue-grey breast with chequered brown-bronze wings. The nape is similar to that of the Peaceful Dove in that the nape feathers are striated but differs in that the Bar-shouldered Dove does not have striated throat feathers like the Peaceful Dove. Furthermore, the nape feathers are copper in colour. These doves are also often confused with the introduced and common Spotted Turtle-Dove. The eye ring tends to be grey but red-brown when breeding. The juveniles are duller in colour.\nBar-tailed Godwit - The Bar-tailed Godwit is a relatively short-legged species of godwit. The bill-to-tail length is 37–41 cm, with a wingspan of 70–80 cm. Males average smaller than females but with much overlap; males weigh 190–400 g, while females weigh 260–630 g; there is also some regional variation in size . The adult has blue-grey legs and a very long dark bill with a slight upward curve and pink at the tip. The neck, breast and belly are unbroken brick red in breeding plumage, off white in winter. The back is mottled grey.\nBar-tailed pheasant - This rare and little known pheasant is found throughout forested habitats in China, Pakistan, India, Burma and Thailand. The diet consists mainly of vegetation matters. The female lays three to twelve creamy white eggs in nest of leaves, twigs and feathers.\nBar-tailed Treecreeper - The Bar-tailed TreeCreeper has a flecked or striped feather pattern, usually in black, brown, white and red hues. This coloration allows the Tree-Creeper to blend in with its forest surroundings quite well.\nBar-tailed Trogon - The Bar-tailed Trogon averages about 28 cm long. The bill and feet are yellow, and the tail, long and broad as usual for trogons, has the underside narrowly barred with black and white. The male's head is blue-black with bronze iridescence. Below the eye are two yellow or orange patches of bare skin; above the eye is a yellow or grey patch. The upper breast is iridescent from violet to blue-green; the rest of the underparts are red. The back is green and the upper surface of the tail is blue-black or purple-black. The female's head is brown with less ornamental bare skin and its throat and breast are light cinnamon; otherwise it resembles the male. The immature is similar to the female, but has a white belly and pale spots on the wings formed by the tips of the wing coverts and inner secondaries.\nBar-throated Apalis - It inhabits forest and scrub in Southern and East Africa from southern and eastern parts of South Africa north as far as the Chyulu Hills in Kenya. In the northern part of is range it is found only in highland areas where there are a number of subspecies restricted to isolated mountain ranges. Some of these may be treated as separate species including the Namuli Apalis in Mozambique, Yellow-throated Apalis of Malawi and Taita Apalis in Kenya.\nBar-winged Cinclodes - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, temperate grassland, and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBar-winged Flycatcher-shrike - The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike is a small passerine bird currently placed in the cuckoo-shrike family but possibly closer to the bushshrikes of Africa. It is found in the forests of tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas and hills of the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia. Mainly insectivorous it is found hunting in the mid-canopy of forests, often joining mixed-species foraging flocks. They perch upright and have a distinctive pattern of black and white, males being more shiny black than the females. In some populations the colour of the back is brownish while others have a dark wash on the underside.\nBar-winged Oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBar-winged Prinia - The Bar-winged Prinia is a distinctive prinia, 13 cm long and weighing 8-10 gm. The plumage is white grading to yellow below with a grey cap and brown back and wings and a distinctive white double wingbar. The rump is yellow and the tail brown, with orange legs. Both sexes are alike and the juveniles resemble the adults. The song is a loud and repetitive high pitched chweet-chweet-chweet.\nBar-winged Rail - It was a flightless island ground-nesting forest/freshwater swamp dweller and is believed to have disappeared after the introduction of the mongoose and cats to the islands.\nBar-winged Weaver - The Bar-winged Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\nBar-winged Wood Wren\nBar-winged Wren-Babbler - The Bar-winged Wren-babbler is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family.\nBarau's Petrel - The name commemorates Armand Barau, an agricultural engineer and ornithologist from the French territory of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It is one of the most recently discovered species of seabird and was only described in 1964, although it was known to local people prior to that.\nBarbados Bullfinch - The Barbados Bullfinch was previously considered a subspecies of the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch , which is found on neighboring islands. Despite the misleading nature of its name, the Barbados Bullfinch is not a Bullfinch at all but a seedeater.\nBarbary Partridge - This partridge has its main native range in North Africa, and is also native to Gibraltar It has been introduced to Portugal and Madeira, though there are no recent records of this species on the latter islands. It is also present in Sardinia. It is closely related to its western European equivalent, the Red-legged Partridge .\nBarbuda warbler - The Barbuda Warbler is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is endemic to the island of Barbuda in Antigua and Barbuda. Its natural habitat is tropical dry shrubland near wetland areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBare-crowned Antbird - It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBare-eyed Antbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBare-eyed Ground-Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBare-eyed Mountain Pigeon\nBare-eyed Myna - The Bare-eyed Myna is a large, long-tailed species of starling in the Sturnidae family. Its common name is a reference to the large patch of dark bare skin around the eyes. Due to its superficial resemblance to a magpie, it has been referred to as the Sula Magpie in the past. It is endemic to tropical open lowland forests on the Indonesian islands of Taliabu and Mangole in the Sula Islands. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBare-eyed Partridge Bronzewing - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBare-eyed Pigeon - The Bare-eyed Pigeon is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Aruba, Colombia, Netherlands Antilles, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBare-eyed Rail - The Bare-eyed Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBare-eyed Robin - The similar but allopatric Ecuadorian Thrush was formerly considered a subspecies of the Bare-eyed Thrush and named T. n. maculirostris; it is now normally separated as a good species T. maculirostris. It has a narrower eyering and is only found in forest and woodland in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru.\nBare-faced Go-away-bird\nBare-faced Ground Dove - The Bare-faced Ground-dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBare-faced Ibis - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is swamps.\nBare-headed Laughingthrush - The Bare-headed Laughingthrush is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is endemic to highland forests in northern Borneo. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Black Laughingthrush.\nBare-legged Owl - The Bare-legged Owl or Cuban Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family that is endemic to Cuba. It belongs to the monotypic genus Gymnoglaux. Its natural habitats are dry forests, lowland moist forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It lives in the canopy of the forests where it does most of its foraging.\nBare-necked Fruitcrow\nBare-necked Umbrellabird - This is both the largest passerine in its range and among the largest members of the cotinga family, with males being about 40 cm 16 in and 550 g .\nBare-shanked Screech-Owl - The Bare-shanked Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBare-throated Bellbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss and by poaching for cage birds. It raises the attraction of collectors because of the adult males's showy coloration and call - a sharp sound like that of a hammer striking an anvil or a bell, emitted by the male in the wild while it perches on a high branch in order to attract a mate. A fruit-eating species, it acts in the ecology of the Atlantic rainforest as a dispersor of seeds\nBare-throated Tiger Heron - This large species is found in more open habitats than other Tigrisoma herons, such as river and lake banks. It waits often motionless for suitable prey such as fish, frogs or crabs to come within reach of its long bill.\nBare-throated Whistler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBarking Owl - The Barking Owl is coloured brown with white spots on its wings and a streaked chest. They have large eyes that have a yellow iris, a dark brown beak and almost no facial mask. Their underparts are brownish-grey and coarsely sotted white with their tail and flight feathers being moderately lighter in colour. They are a relatively medium sized owl and their wingspan is between 85–100 cm in length. They weigh between 425 and 510g and size varies only slightly between the male and female birds with the male Barking Owl being larger.\nBarlow's chickadee - The Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae.\nBarnacle Goose - The Barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. Its specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek leuko- \"white\", and opsis \"faced\".\nBaron's Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBarred Antshrike - The Barred Antshrike is typically 16.5 cm long, and weighs 25 g. The male is barred all over with black and white, and has a white-based black crest that is raised in display. The female is rufous above with a chestnut crest. The sides of her head and neck are streaked with black, and the underparts are rich buff.\nBarred Antthrush - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBarred Becard - The adult Barred Becard is 12 cm long and weighs 14 g; it has a conspicuous eye ring. The adult male has black upperparts with much white in the wings. The sides of the head and throat are yellowish-green shading to white on the rest of the underparts. The underparts are finely barred with black. The adult female has a grey crown and nape, olive-green upperparts and largely rufous wings. The greenish-yellow underparts are finely barred with dusky. Young males are much duller and greener than the adults, with weaker barring. The calls include a soft but persistent weet weet weet weet or a teseep tesep tseep tseep.\nBarred Buttonquail - All of India up to about 2500 m in the Himalayas; Sri Lanka; Bangladesh; Burma; Indonesia and most of Southeast Asia, Philippines. Four geographical races differ somewhat in colour.\nBarred Cuckoo-Dove - The Barred Cuckoo-dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarred Dove - It inhabits scrub, cultivated land and woodland edges in lowland areas. The Barred Dove is found on Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, the Tanimbar Islands, the Kei Islands and other smaller islands.\nBarred Eagle-Owl - The Barred Eagle-owl , also called the Malay Eagle Owl, is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Brunei, Cocos Islands, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarred Forest Falcon - Adults of most subspecies are typically dark slate grey above; the tail tipped with white and having three to six narrow white bars. The nominate subspecies, which is found from south-eastern Brazil south to north-eastern Argentina and west to Paraguay, appears to only occur in the rufous-brown morphotype, as also suggested by its scientific name, ruficollis.\nBarred Fruiteater - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBarred Hawk - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. 10,000 to 100,000 barred hawks are thought to exist throughout Central and South America. Barred Hawk’s are the largest of the Leucopternis genus and mainly live in the dense forests of the lowland and mountainous areas. The characteristic plumage of black barred and white belly is unique to the forests hawk of Leucopternis.\nBarred Honey Buzzard - It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBarred Laughingthrush - It is endemic to China. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBarred Owlet-Nightjar - The Barred Owlet-nightjar is a species of bird in the Aegothelidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarred Parakeet - The Barred Parakeet , also known as Lineolated Parakeet or Catherine Parakeet, is a small parrot found disjunctly in highland forests from southern Mexico to Panama, in the Andes from western Venezuela to southern Peru, the Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia and the Venezuelan Coastal Range. Its plumage is mostly green with multiple black and dark green stripes or bars, and it has a pale-horn coloured beak. The dark stripes vary in prominence between its two subspecies. Several colour mutants are available in aviculture.\nBarred Puffbird - The Barred Puffbird is a species of puffbird in the Bucconidae family. It occurs in forests in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena of Panama, Colombia and Ecuador.\nBarred Rail - The Barred Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines.\nBarred Tinamou - All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and Tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.\nBarred Warbler - This is a large and robust species of typical warbler, 15.5-17cm in length, mainly grey above and whitish below. The adult male is darker grey above, and heavily barred below. The female has only light barring. Young birds lack any barring, and have no obvious distinctive features other than the size. The Barred Warbler is a bird of open country with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3-7 eggs are laid. Like most warblers, it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit. The Barred Warbler's song is a pleasant chattering with many clearer notes like a Blackbird. The song can be confused with that of Garden Warbler, but is less melodious.\nBarred Woodcreeper - It is found in the entire Amazon Basin of Brazil and the Guianas in the northeast, . The countries surrounding the basin at the Andes are southern Colombia and Venezuela, also Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. A disjunct population exists 1800 km east of the Amazon Basin in eastern coastal Brazil in the states of Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Sergipe in a 600 km coastal strip. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarrow's Goldeneye - Adults are similar in appearance to the Common Goldeneye. Adult males have a dark head with a purplish gloss and a white crescent at the front of the face. Adult females have a yellow bill.\nBartlett's Tinamou - All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and Tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.\nBasra Reed-Warbler - It is found in aquatic vegetation in or around shallow, fresh or brackish water, still or flowing, mainly in dense reedbeds. It is found in thickets and bushland when migrating or wintering.\nBassian Thrush - It is estimated that the rangewide population is large, though no official count has ever been established.\nBat Falcon - The female Bat Falcon, at 30.5 cm length, is much larger than the 23 cm long male. Adults have a black back, head and tail. The throat, upper breast and neck sides are creamy white, the lower breast and belly are black, finely barred white, and the thighs and lower belly are orange. Young birds are similar but with a buffy throat. The call of this species is a high pitched ke-ke-ke like American Kestrel.\nBat Hawk - The Bat Hawk is a slender, medium-sized bird of prey, usually about 45 cm long. It has long wings and a falconine silhouette. Adults are dark brown or black, with a white patch on the throat and chest, and have a white streak above and below each eye. Juveniles are mottled brown and have more white plumage than adults.\nBat-like Spinetail - The Bat-like Spinetail is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBateleur - This is a common resident species of the open savanna country in Sub-Saharan Africa. It nests in trees, laying a single egg which is incubated by the female for 42 to 43 days, with a further 90 to 125 days until fledging. Bateleurs pair for life, and will use the same nest for a number of years. Unpaired birds, presumably from a previous clutch, will sometimes help at the nest.\nBates' Nightjar - The Bates's Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Uganda.\nBates's Sunbird - The Bates's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Zambia.\nBates's Swift - The Bates's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria.\nBates's Weaver - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBatis crypta - The Dark Batis is about 10 centimetres in length and weighs 10-15 grams. It has a dark bill and legs and red eyes. The male is white below with a broad black breastband. Above it has a dark grey crown, grey back with some black feather-tips, a black face-mask and black wings with a white stripe. The female has a greyish crown, brownish back, dark mask, slight white supercilium and a narrow rufous stripe on the wing. Below it has a rufous chin-spot and breast with whitish tips to some of the feathers.\nBaudo Guan - The Baudo Guan, Penelope ortoni, is a species of bird from the family Cracidae. It is restricted to humid forests in the west Andean foothills of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. It is highly sensitive to hunting and habitat destruction, with large sections of the Chocó already having disappeared entirely. Consequently, it is considered to be endangered by BirdLife International and IUCN.\nBaumann's Greenbul - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and moist savanna.\nBay Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBay Coucal - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBay Hornero - The Bay Hornero or Pale-billed Hornero is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in wooded habitats along rivers in eastern Ecuador, north-eastern Peru, western Brazil, and, as recently confirmed, far south-eastern Colombia.\nBay Woodpecker - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBay Wren\nBay-backed Shrike - It is smallish shrike at 17 cm, maroon-brown above with a pale rump and long black tail with white edges. The underparts are white, but with buff flanks.\nBay-breasted Warbler - These birds are migratory, wintering in northwest South America and southern Central America. They are very rare vagrants to western Europe.\nBay-capped Wren-Spinetail - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are swamps and intermittent saline marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBay-chested Warbling Finch - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBay-crowned Brush-Finch - The Bay-crowned Brush-finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBay-headed Bee Eater - This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green, with blue on the rump and lower belly. Its face and throat are yellow with a black eye stripe, and the crown and nape are rich chestnut. The thin curved bill is black. Sexes are alike, but young birds are duller.\nBay-headed Tanager - It occurs in forests, particularly in wetter areas. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree and the normal clutch is two brown-blotched white eggs. The female incubates the eggs for 13–14 days to hatching, with another 15–16 days before the chicks fledge .\nBay-ringed Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBay-vented Cotinga - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBay-winged Cowbird - The Bay-winged Cowbird , also known as the Baywing, is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is monotypic within the genus Agelaioides, but has traditionally been placed in the genus Molothrus. It is found in the northern half of Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern and central Brazil, with an isolated population in north-eastern Brazil. The latter population is sometimes considered a separate species, the Pale Cowbird or Pale Baywing . The Bay-winged Cowbird has been recorded as a vagrant in Chile.\nBaya Weaver - Three geographical races are recognized. The nominate race philippinus is found through much of mainland India. The race burmanicus is found eastwards into Southeast Asia. A third race, travancoreensis is darker above and found in southwest India.\nBean Goose - The Bean Goose is a medium to large goose breeding in northern Europe and Asia. It has been split into two species by the AOU , however it is still regarded as a single species by the BOU - see below. It is migratory and winters further south in Europe and Asia.\nBearded Barbet - The Bearded Barbet is a common resident breeder in tropical west Africa. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit, although the young are fed on insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2 white eggs.\nBearded Bellbird - There are two subspecies; the nominate taxon, P. a. averano, in northeastern Brazil and P. a. carnobarba in Venezuela, Trinidad, extreme northeastern Colombia, western Guyana and far northern Brazil.\nBearded Flycatcher - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBearded Guan\nBearded Helmetcrest - The Bearded Helmetcrest is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBearded Mountaineer - The Bearded Mountaineer is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBearded Screech-Owl - The Bearded Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Guatemala and Mexico.\nBearded Tachuri - The Bearded Tachuri is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBearded Tit - The Bearded Reedling is a species of temperate Europe and Asia. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate other than eruptive or cold weather movements. It is vulnerable to hard winters, which may kill many birds.\nBearded Tree Quail - The Bearded Wood-partridge is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found only in Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBearded Vulture - Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. It usually disdains the rotting meat, however, and lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow. It will drop large bones from a height to crack them into smaller pieces. Its old name of Ossifrage relates to this habit. Live tortoises are also dropped in similar fashion to crack them open.\nBeaudouin's Snake-Eagle - Beaudouin's Snake-eagle is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family.\nBeautiful Firetail - At 10 to 13 cm long and weighing 14 g the Beautiful Firetail is a small plump bird, slightly smaller than the Diamond Firetail. Its plumage is mostly olive-brown. The white chest has a fine pattern of dark lines. The head has a black mask with pale blue rings around the eyes and a thick red beak. Its rump is a deep red, its legs and feet are creamy pink. The wings and tail are short and rounded. Juvenile birds are less colourful with a smaller face mask and a blackish beak.\nBeautiful Fruit-Dove - The Beautiful Fruit-dove is distributed in rainforests of New Guinea and the islands of Batanta, Waigeo, Salawati and Misool in West Papua, Indonesia. The female usually lays a single white egg.\nBeautiful Hummingbird - The Beautiful Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBeautiful Jay - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBeautiful Nuthatch - This is a large nuthatch, black-backed with white streaking. The upper back, rump and shoulders are bright blue. The underparts are dull orange, although the face is somewhat paler. In flight, a white patch contrasts with the otherwise dark underwing. Sexes are similar, as are young birds.\nBeautiful parakeet - Paradise Parrots lived in pairs or small family groups, making their nests in hollowed-out termite mounds and similar places, often at or near ground level, and feeding, so far as is known, almost exclusively on grass seeds.\nBeautiful Rosefinch - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia, Nepal, and Pakistan. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBeautiful Sibia - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBeautiful Sunbird - The Beautiful Sunbird is a common breeder across sub-Saharan tropical Africa. One or two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. It is a seasonal migrant within its range.\nBeautiful Treerunner - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBeck's Petrel - Beck’s Petrel, Pseudobulweria becki, is a small, recently rediscovered gadfly petrel. It is dark brown above and on the head and throat. It is dark underneath the wings with a fairly distinct white wingbar. The belly and breast are white. It flies over open oceans with straight wings that are slightly bent back at the tips.\nBedford's Paradise Flycatcher - The Bedford's Paradise-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nBee Hummingbird - The male has the green pileum and fiery red throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upper-parts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The male is smaller than the female. The female is green above, whitish below with white tips to the outer tail feathers.\nBelford's Melidectes\nBell Miner - Bell miners live in large, complex social groups. Within each group there are subgroups consisting of several breeding pairs, but also including a number of birds who are not currently breeding. The nonbreeders help in providing food for the young in all the nests in the subgroup, even though they are not necessarily closely related to them. The birds defend their colony area communally aggressively, excluding most other passerine species. They do this in order to protect their territory from other insect-eating birds that would eat the bell lerps on which they feed. Whenever the local forests die back due to increased lerp psyllid infestations, bell miners undergo a population boom.\nBell's greenlet - This bird was named by Audubon for John Graham Bell, who accompanied him on his trip up the Missouri River in the 1840s.\nBelted Flycatcher - The Belted Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBelted kingfisher - The Belted Kingfisher is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. It is depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $5 note. All kingfishers were formerly placed in one family, Alcedinidae, but recent research suggests that this should be divided into three. All six American kingfishers, together with three Old World species, make up the new family Cerylidae.\nBendire's thrasher - Bendire's Thrasher is 23–28 cm in length, with a long tail and a short bill. It is colored grayish-brown on its upperparts and has paler underparts with faint dark streaks. The eyes are bright yellow, and the tips of the tail are tipped with white.\nBengal Florican - The Bengal Florican or Bengal Bustard, Houbaropsis bengalensis, is a very rare bustard species from tropical southern Asia. It is the only member of the genus Houbaropsis. This threatened species is now almost extinct; probably less than 1,000 and perhaps as few as 500 adult birds are still alive.\nBennett's Woodpecker - The Bennett's Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBerlepsch's Canastero - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBerlioz' Black Flycatcher\nBerlioz' Swift - The Forbes-Watson's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.\nBermuda petrel - Commonly known in Bermuda as the Cahow, a name derived from its eerie cries, this nocturnal ground-nesting seabird is the national bird of Bermuda, and a symbol of hope for nature conservation. It was thought extinct for 330 years. Its dramatic rediscovery as a \"Lazarus species\", that is, a species found to be alive after being considered extinct for centuries, has inspired documentary filmmakers.\nBernier's Vanga\nBernieria madagascariensis - The Long-billed Bernieria , formerly known as Long-billed Greenbul, is a songbird species endemic to Madagascar. It was initially considered a greenbul, and later with the Old World warbler. Recent research indicates it is part of an endemic Malagasy radiation currently known as the Malagasy warblers, which have not received a scientific name yet.\nBernieria zosterops\nBernstein's Coucal - The Black-billed Coucal or Lesser Black Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\nBertoni's Antbird - The Bertoni's Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBertrand's Weaver\nBeryl-spangled Tanager - Its range is from Venezuela to Bolivia. Its nest is a mossy cup in a tree fork; in Ecuador west slope, eggs in early March.\nBerylline hummingbird - The Berylline Hummingbird, Amazilia beryllina, sometimes placed in the genus Saucerottia, is a medium-sized hummingbird. It is 8-10 cm long, and weighs 4-5 g.\nBewick's Wren - Thryomanes leucophrys Thryothorus bewickii Thryothorus brevicauda Thryothorus brevicaudus\nBiak Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiak Flycatcher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiak Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiak Paradise Kingfisher - The Biak Paradise Kingfisher is a tree kingfisher endemic to the Indonesian island Biak.\nBiak Scrubfowl\nBiak White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBicknell's thrush - The Bicknell's Thrush, Catharus bicknelli, is a medium-sized thrush, at 17.5 cm and 28 g . It was named after Eugene Bicknell, an American amateur ornithologist, who discovered the species on Slide Mountain in the Catskills in the late 19th century.\nBicolored Antbird - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBicolored Hawk - It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.\nBicolored Mouse Warbler - The Bicoloured Mouse-warbler is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBicoloured Antpitta - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBicoloured Conebill - Its habitat is coastal mangrove swamps and neighbouring woodlands. The small feather-lined cup nest is built in a mangrove tree, and the normal clutch is two brown-blotched buff eggs. Nests are often parasitised by Shiny Cowbirds.\nBicoloured Flowerpecker - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBicoloured White-eye - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBicoloured Wren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBiddulph's Ground Jay - The Xinjiang Ground-jay or Biddulph's Ground Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is endemic to China. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiet's Laughingthrush - Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBig-crested Penguin - This is a medium-small, yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin, at 50-70 cm and weighing 2.7-5.2 kg . It has bluish-black to jet black upperparts and white underparts, and a broad, bright yellow eyebrow-stripe which extends over the eye to form a short, erect crest.\nBig-footed Sparrow - This is a common bird in the undergrowth of mountain forests, second growth, bamboo clumps, and scrubby pastures from 2150 m altitude to the scrubby páramo at 3350 m. It is readily seen in favoured sites such as Cerro de la Muerte.\nBimaculated Lark - It is mainly migratory, wintering in northeast Africa, widely throughout the Greater Middle East to Pakistan, Kashmir, Republic of India and Tibet . It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.\nBiscutate Swift - Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBishop's 'o'o - It was discovered in 1892 by Henry C. Palmer, a bird collector for Lord Rothschild. Its length was about 29 centimetres. The tail had reached a length of 10 centimetres. The plumage was general glossy black with yellow feather tufts on the maxillaries, beneath the wings and the undertail coverts. Their songs were simple two notes, took-took, Which could be heard for miles.\nBismarck Hawk-Owl - This species lives at elevations up to 1000 meters in lowland forests, tree-covered hills, low mountains,, and the edges of forests. It is found only in New Britain and New Ireland.\nBismarck Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, freshwater lakes, and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBismarck Masked-Owl - As with other tropical barn owls, it is difficult to spot in the wild and therefore poorly studied. It is likely to be a lowland forest species.\nBismarck Munia - It is found in subtropical/ tropical dry grassland habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBismarck Scrub Fowl - The Melanesian Megapode or Melanesian Scrubfowl is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBismarck Thicketbird - This little-known species was for long classified as a data deficient species by the IUCN, due to the general lack of reliable data on its distribution and numbers.\nBismarck Woodswallow - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack & Cinnamon Fantail - The Black-and-cinnamon Fantail is a species of bird in the Rhipiduridae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\nBlack & Yellow Broadbill\nBlack & Yellow Silky Flycatcher - The Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Bombycillidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Phainoptila. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack ani - This ani is found in open and semi-open country and areas under cultivation. The nest, built communally by several pairs, is a deep cup lined with leaves and placed usually 2–6 m high in a tree. A number of females lay their chalky blue eggs in the nest and then share incubation and feeding.\nBlack Antbird - The Black Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Antshrike - It is found in Colombia and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack Baza - The Black Baza is a small sized bird of prey found in the forests of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Many populations are migratory. The races in the Indian region are migratory, wintering in the south of the Peninsula and Sri Lanka. The Black Bazas have short, stout legs and feet with strong talons. A prominent crest is a feature of the Bazas. They are found in dense forest often in small groups. They are also known to spend a lot of time perching on open perches overlooking forest canopy.\nBlack Bee Eater - Black with scarlet chin and throat, streaked breast, pale blue eyebrow, belly, undertail-coverts and rump, rufous primaries.\nBlack Berrypecker - The Black Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Bittern - This is a fairly large species at 58 cm in length, with a longish neck and long yellow bill. The adult is uniformly black above, with yellow neck sides. It is whitish below, heavily streaked with brown. The juvenile is like the adult, but dark brown rather than black.\nBlack Bulbul - The Black Bulbul , also known as the Himalayan Black Bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in southern Asia from India east to southern China.\nBlack Bushbird - The Black Bushbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Neoctantes. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Butcherbird\nBlack Capped Titmouse - The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, common songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada.\nBlack Catbird - It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBlack Coucal - The species has the role of sexes reversed with the males tending the nest while females are polyandrous and maintain territories. Studies on the hormonal system show that Progesterone is responsible for controlling the aggressiveness of females.\nBlack Crake - The adult Black Crake is 19–23 cm long with a short tail and long toes. As its name implies, the adult has mainly black plumage, with a brown olive tone on the wings and upperparts which is rarely detectable in the field. The eye is red, the bill is yellow , and the legs and feet are red, duller when not breeding.\nBlack Crow - This species occurs in two large separate regions of the African continent. One form ranges from the Cape at the southern tip of Africa up to southern Angola and across to the east coast of Mozambique. The other population occurs in a large area from Sudan, Ethiopia,Tanzania and Kenya in central east Africa. The more northern population is on average slightly smaller than the southern. It inhabits open grassland, moorland, agricultural areas with some trees or woodland in the vicinity for nesting. It seems to thrive especially in agricultural areas.\nBlack Crowned-Crane - It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although in nests in somewhat wetter habitats. There are two subspecies: B. p. pavonina in the west and the more numerous B. p. ceciliae in east Africa.\nBlack Cuckoo - The Black Cuckoo is a medium sized cuckoo. The plumage varies by subspecies, Cuculus clamosus clamosus is either almost entirely black with a white buff on the chest or entirely black; Cuculus clamosus gabonensis is mostly black with a red throat and black and white barring on the belly.\nBlack Curassow - The Black Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is found in humid forests in northern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and far northern Brazil. It is the only Crax curassow where the male and female cannot be separated by plumage, as both are essentially black with a white crissum, and have a yellow or orange-red cere.\nBlack Currawong - The Black Currawong was first described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837.\nBlack drongo - Buchanga atra Bhuchanga albirictus\nBlack Dwarf Hornbill - The Black Dwarf Hornbill is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlack Eagle - The Black Eagle is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus Ictinaetus. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical Asia and hunt mammals and birds, particularly at their nests. They are easily identified by their widely splayed and long primary \"fingers\", the characteristic silhouette, slow flight and yellow ceres and legs that contrast with their dark feathers.\nBlack Falcon - The females are usually around 55 cm from beak to tail, the smaller males being only 45 cm . The sexes are very similar apart from their size. They are comparatively lighter in build than Peregrines with a slightly wider wingspan and longer legs. They are more agile on the ground than Peregrines though less so than Brown Falcons.\nBlack Fantail - The Black Fantail is a species of bird in the Rhipiduridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack flowerpiercer - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack francolin - It is one of the few francolins to have a range outside Africa. It is a resident breeder from Kashmir, Cyprus and south-eastern Turkey eastwards through Iran to southwest Turkmenistan and northeast India. Its range was formerly more extensive, but over-hunting has reduced its distribution and numbers. There have been a number of introductions, but most have failed to take root although some populations still persist in the USA and elsewhere.\nBlack Goshawk\nBlack Grasswren - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBlack Grouse - The Black Grouse or Blackgame is a large bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal. The Black Grouse is closely related to the Caucasian Black Grouse. These birds have a group display or lek in early spring.\nBlack Guan - The Black Guan is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Guillemot - Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large white patch on the inner wing.\nBlack Guineafowl - The Black Guineafowl, Agelastes niger, is a member of the guineafowl bird family. It is found in humid forests of Central Africa. It has large toes to grasp the ground, but tiny feet so it can still fly.\nBlack Harrier - When perched, this bird appears all black. However, in flight a white rump and flight feathers become visible. Its morphology is comparable to that of other harriers, with a slim body, narrow wings and a long tail. Male and female plumages are similar. Immatures have buff under-parts and a heavily spotted breast.\nBlack Hawk-Eagle - The Black Hawk-eagle has black plumage with varying patterns on its wings and body, and white speckling in places. It has barred wings, slightly elliptical in shape, and a long, narrow tail which is rarely fanned. The four grey bars on the tail are distinctive to the Black Hawk-eagle, as is the white line seen slightly above the bird's eye. While flying, the broadness and shortness of the wings become apparent.\nBlack Heron - The Black Heron has an interesting hunting method called canopy feeding — it uses its wings like an umbrella, and uses the shade it creates to attract fish. This technique was well documented on episode 5 of the BBC's The Life of Birds. Some Black Herons feed solitarily, while others feed in groups of up to 50 individuals, 200 being the highest number reported. The Black Heron feeds by day but especially prefers the time around sunset. It roosts communally at night, and coastal flocks roost at high tide. The primary food of the Black Heron is small fish, but it will also eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and amphibians.\nBlack Honey Buzzard - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack honeyeater - The Black Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia. It ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland, particularly in areas where the emu bush and related species occur.\nBlack Hornbill - It lives in Asia in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.\nBlack Imperial Pigeon\nBlack Inca - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and urban areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Jacobin - The Black Jacobin , previously placed in the monotypic Melanotrochilus, is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in or near Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, Uruguay, eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina. It is generally common, and therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and consequently the IUCN. Adults of both sexes are overall black with green-tinged back and wing-coverts, and white lower flanks and outer rectrices. The white in the tail is often flashed conspicuously in flight. The commonly seen immatures, sometimes incorrectly referred to as \"females\", have a distinctive rufous patch in the malar region.\nBlack Kite - The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.\nBlack Lark - This is a bird of open steppe, often near water. Its nest is on the ground, with 4-5 eggs being laid. Food is seeds and insects, the latter especially in the breeding season. It is gregarious in winter.\nBlack Laughingthrush\nBlack Lory - The Black Lory is evaluated as Least Concern on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.\nBlack Magpie - The Black Magpie is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Platysmurus. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack mamo - It measured 8 inches from bill to tail, and was black with faded white primaries and yellow at the base of the bill. The highly decurved bill was longer in the male. Often the forehead would be dusted with pollen of its favorite food, the Lobelia. The Mamo song was a group of nose whistles that sounded like a flute along with a long held out trill. This bird has had many names including Molokai Mamo, O’o nuku’umu, which meant \"O’o with sucking beak\", and Perking’s Mamo, after ornithologist RC.\nBlack Manakin - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBlack Metaltail - The Black Metaltail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlack Monarch - The Black Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack Munia - This species is threatened by the destruction of reedbeds due to introduce of rusa deer Cervus timorensis. And also probably threatened by encroachment of woodland on grasslands, due to increased of the livestocks such as pigs. It is also engaged in cage-bird trade.\nBlack Myzomela - The Black Myzomela is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack noddy - The nests of these birds consist on a level platform, often created in the branches of trees by a series of dried leaves covered with bird droppings. One egg is laid each season, and nests are re-used in subsequent years.\nBlack Nunbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Oriole - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Oropendola - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack parrot - The Lesser Vasa Parrot was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae; it was given the name of Psittacus niger, meaning \"black parrot\". It was later transferred to the new genus Coracopsis in 1826.\nBlack Partridge - The Black Partridge is sexually dimorphic. The male has entirely glossy black plumage and a black bill, while the female is generally a chestnut-brown bird with a whitish throat and belly and a dark horn-colored bill. The female is smaller than the male.\nBlack Phoebe - In South America, the Black Phoebe is a bird of the Andes mountain region, ranging from Colombia in the north, south to northern Argentina.\nBlack Pitohui - The Black Pitohui is a species of bird in the Colluricinclidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Rail - Black Rails appear to be omnivorous, feeding primarily on small invertebrates but also on seeds of some marsh plants. They are preyed upon by many avian and mammalian predators and rely on the cover of thick marsh vegetation for protection. They are territorial and call loudly and frequently during the mating season.\nBlack Redstart - The Black Redstart is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family , but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher .\nBlack Robin - The Black Thrush is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It was formerly known as the Black Robin. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.\nBlack Saw-wing - The Black Rough-winged Swallow breeds in open wooded habitats, and has a preference for wetter areas, although some races occur in mountain grassland habitat. It breeds across Africa from eastern Nigeria and Ethiopia south to Angola, northern Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique. The subspecies P. p. holomelaena breeds down south-eastern Africa from southern Mozambique to the Cape in South Africa.\nBlack Scoter - It winters further south in temperate zones, on the coasts of Europe as far south as Morocco. It forms large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly packed, and the birds tend to take off and dive together.\nBlack Scrub Robin\nBlack Shama - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations.It has been sighted in several locations all across the island, the most important sites being the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, the forests of Alcoy and Argao, and the shrublands of Casili, Consolacion. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Sicklebill - With up to 110 cm in length, the male Black Sicklebill is the longest member of Paradisaeidae, though the Curl-crested Manucode has a larger body. The diet consists mainly of fruits and arthropods. The male is polygamous and performs a horizontal courtship display with the pectoral plumes raised around its head.\nBlack Siskin\nBlack Skimmer - The Black Skimmer breeds in loose groups on sandbanks and sandy beaches in the Americas, the three to seven heavily dark-blotched buff or bluish eggs being incubated by both the male and female. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and lie inconspicuously in the nest depression or \"scrape\" where they are shaded from high temperatures by the parents. They may dig their own depressions in the sand at times. Parents feed the young almost exclusively during the day with almost no feeding occurring at night, due to the entire population of adults sometimes departing the colony to forage. Although the mandibles are of equal length at hatching, they rapidly become unequal during fledging.\nBlack Solitaire - The Black Solitaire is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack Solitary Eagle - The Solitary Eagle is native to Mexico and Central and South America. It is found in mountainous or hilly forests. The frequent reports from lowlands are usually misidentifications of another species, usually the Common Black Hawk; no reports from lowlands have been confirmed. It is rare in all areas of its range and poorly known.\nBlack Spinetail - The Black Spinetail is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.\nBlack Stork - It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions.\nBlack Storm Petrel - The species breeds colonially on islands off the southern California coast of the United States and off the Baja Peninsula and Gulf of California of Mexico. Nesting sites are usually in rock crevices, occasionally in small burrows in soft earth. It also uses unused burrows from auklets. Colonies are attended nocturnally in order to avoid predatory birds such as gulls, Peregrine Falcons and owls. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow. The female lays a single white egg per breeding season, if the egg is lost then it is replaced only rarely. Both parents share incubation duties, incubation lasting around 50 days. The chick is brooded for a few days after hatching until it is able to thermoregulate by itself, after which both parents forage to provide food. Chicks fledge 10 weeks after hatching.\nBlack Sunbird - The Black Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack Swan - Black swans were first seen by Europeans in 1697, when Willem de Vlamingh's expedition explored the Swan River, Western Australia.\nBlack Swift - In flight, this bird looks like a flying cigar with long slender curved wings. The plumage is mostly a sooty dark gray. There is some contrast between the upper and lower wing. The shoulders are much darker in color than the remaining portion of the wing. They also have short slightly forked tails.\nBlack Tern - Adult are 25 cm long, with a wing span 61 cm , and weigh 62 g . They have short dark legs and a short, weak-looking black bill, measuring 27-28 mm, nearly as long as the head. The bill is long, slender, and looks slightly decurved. They have a dark grey back, with a white forehead, black head, neck and belly, black or blackish-brown cap , and a light brownish-grey, 'square' tail. The face is white. There is a big dark triangular patch in front of the eye, and a broadish white collar in juveniles. There are grayish-brown smudges on the ides of the white breast, a downwards extension of the plumage of the upperparts. These marks vary in size and are not conspicuous. In non-breeding plumage, most of the black, apart from the cap, is replaced by grey. The plumage of the upperparts is drab, with pale feather-edgings. The rump is brownish-gray.\nBlack Thicket Fantail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack Tinamou - The Black Tinamou is a species of ground bird found in humid foothill and montane forest in the Andes of South America. This threatened species is among the largest tinamous.\nBlack turnstone - It is 22-25 centimeters long and weighs 100-170 grams. The black bill is 20-27 millimeters long and slightly upturned. The legs and feet are blackish-brown with a reddish tinge. The bird is largely black and white in appearance. Breeding-plumaged adults have a black head and breast apart from a white spot between the eye and bill, a white stripe over the eye and white flecks on the sides of the breast. The upperparts are blackish-brown with pale fringes to the wing-coverts and scapular feathers. The belly and vent are white. In flight it shows a white wingbar, white shoulder patch and white tail with a broad black band across it. There is white from the lower back to the uppertail-coverts apart from a dark bar across the rump.\nBlack Vulture - This bird is an Old World vulture, and is only distantly related to the New World vultures, which are in a separate family, Cathartidae, of the order Ciconiiformes. It is therefore not directly related to the American Black Vulture despite the similar name and coloration.\nBlack Wheatear - This large 16-18 cm long wheatear breeds on cliffs and rocky slopes in western north Africa and Iberia. It is largely resident and nests in crevices in rocks laying 3-6 eggs.\nBlack Wood Hoopoe - The Black Scimitarbill , also known as the Black Wood Hoopoe, is a species of bird in the Phoeniculidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlack Wood Pigeon - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBlack Woodpecker - It lives in mature forest across the northern palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding in Eurasia. It does not migrate.\nBlack-and-buff Woodpecker - The Black-and-buff Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-and-crimson Oriole - The Black-and-crimson Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-and-gold Tanager - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-and-orange Flycatcher - The Black-and-orange Flycatcher is a species of flycatcher endemic to the central and southern Western Ghats, the Nilgiris and Palni hill ranges in southern India. It is unique among the Ficedula flycatchers in having rufous coloration on its back and prior to molecular studies was suggested to be related to the chats and thrushes.\nBlack-and-red Broadbill - It is found in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBlack-and-rufous Warbling-Finch - The Black-and-rufous Warbling-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\nBlack-and-tawny Seedeater - It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-and-white Antbird - The Black-and-white Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Myrmochanes. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBlack-and-white Becard - The Black-and-white Becard is a species of bird in the Tityridae family. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-and-white Bulbul - The Black-and-white Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-and-white Monarch\nBlack-and-white Munia - It is found in moist savanna and subtropical/tropical lowland moist forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern. They are known to feed on algae.\nBlack-and-white Owl - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-and-white Seedeater - The Black-and-white Seedeater is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-and-white Shrike-flycatcher - It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-and-white Tanager - It has a total length of 16 cm. and weighs 23–28 g .\nBlack-and-white Tody-Tyrant\nBlack-and-white Triller - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-and-white Warbler - This species is migratory, wintering in Florida, Central America and the West Indies down to Peru. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, mainly to Ireland and Great Britain.\nBlack-and-white-casqued Hornbill - The Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill is distributed to evergreen forests and savanna across equatorial Africa, in central and western Africa. A monogamous species, pairs nest in suitable tree cavities. The female usually lays up to two eggs. The diet consists mainly of figs, fruits, insects and small animals found in the trees.\nBlack-and-yellow Grosbeak - Male at Bhandak Thaatch in Kullu-Manali Distt. of Himachal Pradesh, India.\nBlack-and-yellow Tanager - The Black-and-yellow Tanager is found in the foothills and slopes on the Caribbean side of the central mountain ranges, typically from 600 m to 1200 m altitude, and occasionally down to 400 m. The preferred habitat is the canopy of wet forest and tall second growth, but it will feed lower at woodland edges and clearing. The neat cup nest is built on a tree branch. The eggs are undescribed.\nBlack-backed Antshrike - The Black-backed Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It has recently been proposed that it more properly belongs to the genus Thamnophilus .\nBlack-backed Barbet - The Black-backed Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.\nBlack-backed Bush Tanager - The Black-backed Bush-tanager is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Urothraupis. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-backed Butcher Bird - The Black-backed Butcherbird is a species of bird in the Cracticidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea Indonesia, and northern Queensland in Australia.\nBlack-backed Forktail - The Black-backed Forktail is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-backed Fruit-Dove - Bali, Lesser Sunda Islands and Australia, where it is restricted to the western edge of the Arnhem Land escarpment.\nBlack-backed Grosbeak - The Black-backed Grosbeak, Pheucticus aureoventris is a large finch type bird found in South America. They are often kept as cagebirds.\nBlack-backed Honeyeater - The Black-backed Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-backed oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-backed Puffback - The Black-backed Puffback is a species of bird in the Malaconotidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\nBlack-backed Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-backed Thornbill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlack-backed Water Tyrant - It is found in South America in central and northeastern Brazil and south through Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Uruguay; also eastern Peru. Its natural habitat is swamps.\nBlack-backed Wood Quail\nBlack-backed Woodpecker - The plumage of adults is black on the head, back, wings and rump. They are white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. Their tail is black with white outer feathers. There is an element of sexual dimorphism in the plumage, with the adult male possessing a yellow cap. Unlike all other woodpeckers except the related American and Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers, this species has three-toed feet.\nBlack-banded Barbet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-banded Crake - The Black-banded Crake is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.\nBlack-banded Flycatcher - The Black-banded Flycatcher is an uncommon spepies that is difficult to see and very little is known about its biology. The natural habitat of the species is lowland monsoon forests and hill forests up to 1200 m. Nothing is known about its breeding behaviour, the only observations of this are adults feeding recently fledged chicks in December. It feeds singly or in pairs on invertebrates, taking its prey mostly by gleaning with a few sallying flights to snatch ariel prey. The species is currently listed as near threatened. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-banded Plover - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, sandy shores, intertidal marshes, and coastal saline lagoons. It is the world's smallest plover, at 25 g and 14 cm .\nBlack-banded Woodcreeper\nBlack-bellied Antwren - The Black-bellied Antwren is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBlack-bellied Bustard - The Black-bellied Bustard is 23 to 25 inches long. The bill and legs are dull yellow. The male's upperparts have black and brown marks on a tawny buff background; the underparts are black. The head is boldly patterned with black, white, and buff. The neck, long and thin for a bustard, is buffy brown with a thin black line down the front that joins the black breast. The tail is brown and buff with four or five narrow dark brown bands. The upper surface of the wings is white with a brown triangle at the base; the flight feathers have black tips except for the outer secondaries. The white of the wings is visible when the bird stands, contrasting with the black underparts .\nBlack-bellied Cuckoo - The Black-bellied Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-bellied Cuckooshrike - The Black-bellied Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-bellied Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-bellied Glossy-Starling - The Black-bellied Glossy-starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.\nBlack-bellied Gnateater - The range of the Black-bellied Gnateater is in the south-central Amazon Basin, extending eastwards towards downstream areas of the final fourth of the Xingu River system. Its range does not extend north of the Amazon River and its western range limit is the eastern bank of the north-east flowing Madeira River; it extends southwestwards into north-central Bolivia into downstream areas of the Madeira River's tributaries.\nBlack-bellied Honeyeater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-bellied Hummingbird - It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-bellied Malkoha - The Black-bellied Malkoha is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-bellied plover - They are 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 71–83 cm, and a weight of 190–280 g . In spring and summer , the adults are spotted black and white on the back and wings. The face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a white rump. The tail is white with black barring. The bill and legs are black. They moult to winter plumage in mid August to early September and retain this until April; this being a fairly plain grey above, with a grey-speckled breast and white belly. The juvenile and first-winter plumages, held by young birds from fledging until about one year old, are similar to the adult winter plumage but with the back feathers blacker with creamy white edging. In all plumages, the inner flanks and axillary feathers at the base of the underwing are black, a feature which readily distinguishes it from the other three Pluvialis species in flight. On the ground, it can also be told from the other Pluvialis species by its larger , heavier bill. In spring and summer, mating s\nBlack-bellied Sandgrouse - The nominate race breeds in Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel. The eastern form P. o. arenarius is found in Kazakhstan, western China and northern Pakistan. It is a partial migrant, with central Asian birds moving to the Pakistan and northern India in winter.\nBlack-bellied Seedcracker - It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-bellied Seedeater - Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-bellied Storm Petrel - It is found in Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Bouvet Island, Brazil, Chile, Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Saint Helena, São Tomé and Príncipe, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Uruguay, and Vanuatu.\nBlack-bellied Tern\nBlack-bellied Thorntail - The Black-bellied Thorntail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-bellied Whistling-Duck - The Black-bellied Whistling-duck , formerly also called Black-bellied Tree Duck, is a whistling-duck that breeds from the southernmost United States and tropical Central to south-central South America. In the USA, it can be found year-round in parts of southeast Texas, and seasonally in southeast Arizona, and Louisiana's Gulf Coast. It is a rare breeder in such disparate locations as Florida, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina.\nBlack-bellied Wren - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-bibbed Cicadabird - The Black-bibbed Cicadabird is thought to be restriced to subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-bibbed Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-billed Amazon - The Black-billed Amazon lives in mountainous rainforest, usually limestone rainforest, feeding on fruit, seeds, and nuts, and will take cultivated fruit like mangos, papayas and cucumbers as well as wild fruits.\nBlack-billed Barbet - The Black-billed Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\nBlack-billed Brush Turkey - The Black-billed Brush-turkey is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-billed Capercaillie - The Black-billed Capercaillie is a large grouse species closely related to the more widespread Western Capercaillie. It is a sedentary species which breeds in the larch taiga forests of eastern Russia as well as parts of northern Mongolia and China.\nBlack-billed Cuckoo - The Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus erythropthalmus, is a cuckoo.\nBlack-billed Flycatcher - The Black-billed Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-billed Gull - The Black-billed Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus, but is now considered to be the genus Chroicocephalus.\nBlack-billed Kingfisher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-billed Magpie - In Europe, \"Magpie\" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie; it is the only magpie in Europe outside the Iberian Peninsula.\nBlack-billed Mountain Toucan\nBlack-billed Pepper Shrike - The Black-billed Peppershrike is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in the Andes in Colombia and northern Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-billed Scythebill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-billed Seed Finch - The Black-billed Seed-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.\nBlack-billed Shrike-Tyrant - The Black-billed Shrike-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.\nBlack-billed Sicklebill - The Black-billed Sicklebill is distributed to mountain forests of New Guinea. Its diet consists mainly of fruit and arthropods. The female lays one to two pale cream eggs with brown and grey spots.\nBlack-billed Streamertail - The Black-billed Streamertail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is endemic to eastern Jamaica. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Trochilus polytmus.\nBlack-billed Thrush - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlack-billed Weaver\nBlack-billed Wood Dove - This species is abundant in near desert, scrub and savannah. It builds a stick nest in a tree, often an acacia, and lays two cream-coloured eggs. Its flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general, and it tends to stay quite low.\nBlack-billed Wood Hoopoe - The Black-billed Wood Hoopoe is a species of bird in the Phoeniculidae family. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania.\nBlack-bodied Woodpecker - The Black-bodied Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, moist savanna, and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-breasted Barbet - The Black-breasted Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, and Uganda.\nBlack-breasted Buttonquail - The Black-breasted Buttonquail was originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek terms melano- \"black\", and gaster \"belly\".\nBlack-breasted Buzzard - Adult birds are relatively easy to recognise by their mainly dark plumage combined with distinctive white patches on the wings at the bases of the primary feathers.\nBlack-breasted Flatbill Flycatcher - The Black-breasted Boatbill is a species of bird in the Machaerirhynchidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-breasted Hillstar - The Black-breasted Hillstar is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in scrub at altitudes of 3,500 to 4,400 metres in the Andes of central Peru. Unlike the other hillstars, the tail, chest and belly of the male Black-breasted Hillstar are almost entirely black.\nBlack-breasted Munia - The Black-breasted Munia Lonchura teerinki is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km². It is found in subtropical/ tropical lowland dry shrubland and high altitude grassland habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-breasted Myzomela\nBlack-breasted Plovercrest - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.\nBlack-breasted Puffbird - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-breasted Puffleg - The Black-breasted Puffleg is an average sized\nBlack-breasted Thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-breasted Weaver - Resident or local migrant, endemic to South Asia.\nBlack-browed Albatross - The Black-browed Albatross or Black-browed Mollymawk, Thalassarche melanophrys, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae, and it is the most widespread and common albatross.\nBlack-browed Babbler - The Black-browed Babbler is a mysterious songbird species in the family Timaliidae. It is endemic to Indonesia, probably living on Borneo. Only a single specimen, collected in the 19th century, is known.\nBlack-browed Barbet - It is 20-23.5 cm long. The plumage is mostly green apart from the head which is patterned with blue, yellow and red. There is a black stripe above the eye. The bill is black and the feet are grey-green. The Chinese name for the bird, \"five-colored bird\" refers to the five colors seen on its plumage. Because of its colorful plumage and that its call resembles that of a percussion instrument known as a wooden fish, the species is also referred to as the \"spotted monk of the forest\" in Taiwan.\nBlack-browed Cisticola - The Black-lored Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBlack-browed Parrotbill - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.\nBlack-browed Tit - It is 11 cm long. The adult has grey upperparts and reddish-brown underparts. The head is reddish-buff with a black mask and a silver bib with black streaks and a black edge. Juveniles are paler and duller than the adults. The Black-browed Tit is similar but has a white forehead and belly and a white edge to its bib. The White-throated Tit has a white forehead and bib and a dark breastband.\nBlack-browed Tree Pie - This bird is slightly smaller than a Blue Jay and has the typical compact body and long tail of this group. The forehead, face and bib are black with the chest, neck and shoulders a light silvery or bluish-grey in colour. The back is a warm chestnut brown with similar underparts. The wing coverts are white with the primaries and tail black.\nBlack-capped Antwren\nBlack-capped Apalis - The Black-capped Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-capped Babbler\nBlack-capped Becard - The Black-capped Becard is a species of bird in the Tityridae family. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-capped Donacobius - The Black-capped Donacobius is the only member of the genus Donacobius. Its familial placement is not established, and ornithologists disagree as to its closest relations. In the 19th century, it was placed in the Turdidae, and in the 20th century, moved to the Mimidae. It had various English names, including the \"Black-capped Mockingthrush\". In the 1980s and 1990s, suggestions that it was a type of wren were accepted by the South American Classification Committee , the American Ornithologists Union and most other authorities. More recently, listing organizations and authors follow Van Remsen and Keith Barker's conclusion that it is not a wren either, but instead most closely related to an Old World lineage.\nBlack-capped Flycatcher - This species is found in the high canopy of mountain oak forest, coming lower at the edges and in clearings, and also in second growth and bushy pastures. It breeds mainly in the highest forested areas, from 2450 m to 3300 m altitude, but will descend to as low as 1850 m in the height of the rainy season.\nBlack-capped Foliage-gleaner - The Black-capped Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-capped gnatcatcher - Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts, with a long slender bill and a long black tail with white outer tailbands on the uppertail. The undertail is extensively white, showing black only along a thin vertical center line and at the very tip. Males show a prominent black cap. This species is very similar to the California Gnatcatcher and the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.\nBlack-capped Hemispingus - The Peruvian form is sometimes treated as a separate species, White-browed Hemispingus .\nBlack-capped Kingfisher - This is a large kingfisher, 28 cm in length. The adult has a purple-blue back, black head and shoulders, white neck collar and throat, and rufous underparts. The large bill and legs are bright red. In flight, large white patches are visible on the blue and black wings. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are a duller version of the adult. The call of this kingfisher is a cackling ki-ki-ki-ki-ki.\nBlack-capped Lory - The subspecies vary considerably in color:\nBlack-capped Manakin - The Black-capped Piprites , also known as the Black-capped Manakin, is a species of suboscine passerine. It has traditionally been placed in the manakin family, although it remains unclear if this is correct. It is therefore considered incertae sedis by recent authorities such as SACC.\nBlack-capped Parakeet - It lives in humid forests, ranging from the Amazonian lowlands up to an altitude of 2000 m. on the East Andean slopes. While its habitat is being disturbed, parts of its range are within protected areas , and it remains widespread and locally fairly common. Flock size 20-30, smaller in breeding season.\nBlack-capped Petrel - This long-winged petrel has a grey-brown back and wings, with a white nape and rump. Underparts are mainly white apart from a black cap and some dark underwing makings. It picks food items such as squid from the ocean surface.\nBlack-capped Pygmy Tyrant - It is a species of the forest canopy, coming lower at edges and clearings, and in second growth and semi-open woodland. It occurs up to an altitude of 900 m. It is fairly common, except in arid areas. In Costa Rica and most of Panama it is restricted to the Caribbean lowlands, while essentially restricted to the humid parts of the Chocó further south. The female builds a 15 cm long pouch nest with a round side entrance, which is suspended from a thin branch 1-7 m high in a tree. The female incubates the two brown-blotched white eggs for 15–16 days to hatching.\nBlack-capped Rufous Warbler\nBlack-capped Screech-Owl - The Black-capped Screech-owl , or Variable Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-capped Sibia - It is found in Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and the Republic of India. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBlack-capped Siskin - The Black-Capped Siskin is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Guatemala and Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-capped Tanager\nBlack-capped Tinamou - The Black-capped Tinamou, Crypturellus atrocapillus, is a type of Tinamou commonly found in the moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions.\nBlack-capped Tyrannulet - The Black-capped Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-capped Vireo - The Black-capped Vireo, Vireo atricapilla, is a small bird native to the United States and Mexico. It has been listed as an endangered species in the United States since 1987. The IUCN lists the species as vulnerable.\nBlack-capped Woodland Warbler - It is found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-casqued Hornbill - Downloadable Audio file of the sounds of the Black Casqued Hornbill\nBlack-cheeked Ant-Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-cheeked Gnateater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-cheeked Lovebird - The Black-cheeked Lovebird is 14 cm in length, with mostly green plumage, reddish-brown forehead and forecrown, brownish-black cheeks and throat, orange bib below the throat which fades to yellowish-green, white eye-rings and grey feet. Adult have bright red beaks, while juveniles of the species are similar but with a more orange bill. Vocalizations are loud, piercing shrieks, which are very similar to those of other lovebirds.\nBlack-cheeked Warbler - It is normally found in oak forests with a dense bamboo understory from 2500 m altitude to the timberline, but occasionally occurs as low as 1600 m. The breeding pair builds a bulky domed nest with a side entrance on a sloping bank or in a gully, and the female lays two white eggs.\nBlack-cheeked Waxbill - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia & Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-cheeked Woodpecker - This woodpecker occurs in the higher levels of wet forests, semi-open woodland and old second growth. It nests in an unlined hole 6-30 m high in a dead tree. The clutch is two to four glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.\nBlack-chested Buzzard-Eagle - The Black-chested Buzzard-eagle is a bird of prey of the hawk and eagle family . It lives in open regions of South America. This species is also known as the Black Buzzard-eagle, Grey Buzzard-eagle or analogously with \"eagle\" or \"eagle-buzzard\" replacing \"buzzard-eagle\", or as the Chilean Blue Eagle. It is sometimes placed in the genus Buteo.\nBlack-chested Jay\nBlack-chested Mountain Tanager - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-chested Prinia - The Black-chested Prinia is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBlack-chested Snake-Eagle - The main identification character of this bird is its dark brown head and chest, to which it owes its name. In flight the dark head contrasts with the underparts and underwings, which are white apart from dark barring on the flight feathers and tail. The upperparts are dark brown, and the eye is yellow.\nBlack-chested Sparrow - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlack-chested Tyrant - The Black-chested Tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlack-chinned Antbird - The Black-chinned Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBlack-chinned Fruit Dove - The Black-chinned Fruit-dove is distributed in lowland forests of Taiwan and the Philippines, where it is fairly common. On Taiwan, it is very rare, known only from four specimens.\nBlack-chinned Honeyeater - The Black-chinned Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\nBlack-chinned hummingbird - Adults are metallic green above and white below with green flanks. Their bill is long, straight and very slender. The adult male has a black face and chin, a glossy purple throat band and a dark forked tail. The female has a dark rounded tail with white tips and no throat patch; they are similar to female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.\nBlack-chinned Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-chinned Siskin\nBlack-chinned sparrow - This passerine bird is generally found in chaparral, sagebrush, arid scrublands, and brushy hillsides, breeding in the Southwestern United States , and migrating in winter to north-central Mexico and Baja California Sur. There is also a non-migratory population in central Mexico.\nBlack-chinned Yuhina - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-collared Apalis - The Black-collared Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. Formerly in genus Apalis, Nguembock et al. moved species to a new genus, Oreolais. It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda.\nBlack-collared Barbet - Readily recognised by its loud duet, commonly rendered as \"too-puddly too-puddly too-puddly\".... and its snarling warning call. This is a gregarious species, often acting in concert when driving off intruders and roosting together in nest holes. Their flight is direct with a loud whirring of wings.\nBlack-collared Bulbul\nBlack-collared Hawk - It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and swamps.\nBlack-cowled Saltator\nBlack-crested Antshrike - This is a bird of undergrowth in mangrove or other swampy forest and thickets near water. It is usually found as territorial pairs. The female lays two purple-lined white eggs in a deep cup nest suspended below a branch or vine. They are incubated by both sexes for 14 days to hatching, the female always brooding at night. The chicks fledge in another 12 days.\nBlack-crested Bulbul - This is a bird of forest and dense scrub. It builds its nest in a bush; two to four eggs is a typical clutch. The Black-crested Bulbul feeds on fruit and insects.\nBlack-crested Coquette\nBlack-crested Finch - The Black-crested Finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlack-crested Titmouse - The bird is 5.5 to 6 inches long, with rusty flanks, gray upperparts, and a whitish belly. The male has a long, dark black crest that is usually erect, while the female's crest is not as dark. It is common wherever trees grow, whether they are deciduous, heavy timber, or urban shade trees. Its call peter, peter, peter is similar to that of the Tufted Titmouse, but shorter. Its diet consists of berries, nuts, spiders, insects, and insect eggs.\nBlack-crowned Antpitta - The Black-crowned Antpitta is a species of bird in the Formicariidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-crowned Babbler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-crowned Monjita - The Black-crowned Monjita is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBlack-crowned Night Heron - Adults are approximately 64 cm long and weigh 800 g . They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey. These are short-necked and stout herons.\nBlack-crowned Sparrow-Lark\nBlack-crowned Tityra - The Black-crowned Tityra is a medium-sized passerine bird. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-crowned Waxbill - It is found in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania & Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-eared Cuckoo - The Black-eared Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.\nBlack-eared Fairy - A medium-sized tropical hummingbird. It has bright green upperparts, white underparts and a black mask. The relatively short, straight bill is black. The graduated tail is blue-black in the center, with white outer tail feathers . Depending on subspecies, the male has a green malar or throat. The female is similar, but with a longer tail and no green malar/throat.\nBlack-eared Hemispingus - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest. It is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.\nBlack-eared Kite - The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.\nBlack-eared nuthatch - Pygmy Nuthatches nest in cavities in dead stubs of conifers, lining the bottom of the cavity with pine-cone scales, plant down, and other soft plant and animal materials. They may fill cracks or crevices around the entrance with fur; the function of this behavior is unknown. The female lays 4–9 eggs, which are white with fine reddish-brown spotting. She does most of the incubation, which lasts about 16 days. The young leave the nest about 22 days after hatching.\nBlack-eared Oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-eared Parrotlet - It is mostly known from lower montane evergreen forest at 500-1,200m, but also up to 1,400m in the Itatiaia National Park. In addition it is found in near sea-level in Bahia and São Paulo.\nBlack-eared Seedeater - The Black-eared Seedeater is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\nBlack-eared Shrike Babbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-eared Sparrow-Lark\nBlack-eared Wheatear - This 13.5-15.5 cm long insectivorous species is dimorphic with eastern and western races. In both forms, birds with or without a black throat are met with.\nBlack-eared Wood-Quail - The Black-eared Wood-quail is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.\nBlack-faced Antbird - There are seven subspecies currently recognised, although some of these may represent separate species and others only clinal variation, and more research is needed into the species' taxonomy.\nBlack-faced Antthrush - This antthrush is a common and widespread forest bird which builds a leaf-lined nest in a cavity in a hollow branch or stump; two white eggs are laid.\nBlack-faced Brush-finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-faced Bunting - It breeds in southern Siberia across to northern China and northern Japan. It is migratory, wintering in northeast India, southern China and northern southeast Asia. It is a very rare wanderer to western Europe.\nBlack-faced Canary - The Black-Faced Canary is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBlack-faced Cormorant - The Black-faced-Cormorant feeds largely on small coastal fish, diving in depths up to 12 m. Fish of lengths up to 50 cm have been observed to be taken. The birds sometimes forage in flocks, apparently in an organised way.\nBlack-faced Cotinga - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-faced Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-faced Cuckooshrike - They are widely distributed in almost any wooded habitat throughout the area, except in rainforests. But they can also occur in urban areas, and are a fairly common site on powerlines in Australian cities such as Sydney and Perth.\nBlack-faced Dacnis\nBlack-faced Friarbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-faced grassquit - This is a common bird in long grass or scrub in open or semi-open areas, including roadsides and ricefields. It makes a domed grass nest, lined with finer grasses, and placed low in a bush or on a bank. The typical clutch is two or three whitish eggs blotched with reddish brown. Both sexes build the nest and feed the young.\nBlack-faced Grosbeak - The adult Black-faced Grosbeak is 16.5 cm long, weighs 36 g, and has a heavy, mainly black, bill. It has a black face, yellow head, neck and breast, and olive back, wings and tail. The rump and belly are grey. Immatures are duller and have duskier face markings.\nBlack-faced Hawk\nBlack-faced hill-robin - The Poʻouli was not discovered until 1973 by students from the University of Hawaiʻi, who found the bird on the north-eastern slopes of Haleakala on the island of Maui. It was found during the Hana Rainforest Project at an altitude of 1,980 metres above sea level. The Poʻouli was the first species of Hawaiian Honeycreeper to be discovered since 1923. It is dissimilar to other Hawaiian birds. Evidence based on DNA suggests it belongs to an ancient lineage of honeycreepers\nBlack-faced Ibis - The Black-faced Ibis is a species of bird in the Threskiornithidae family. It is found in grassland and fields in southern and western South America. It has been included as a subspecies of the similar Buff-necked Ibis, but today all major authorities accept the split. On the contrary, the Black-faced Ibis includes the taxon branickii as a subspecies, although some authorities treat it as a separate species, the Andean Ibis .\nBlack-faced Laughing Thrush - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam.\nBlack-faced Monarch - The Black-faced Monarch was most likely discovered sometime in the 1810s, although its original discovery is somewhat controversial. According to many bird books, the original discoverer of the Black-faced Monarch was Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, in the year 1818. However, some articles indicate that Bryan Sun may have been the first person to classify the bird as early as 1794.\nBlack-faced Munia - The Black-faced Munia Lonchura molucca is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia. Its habitat is very broad and it could be found in artificial landscapes , forest, grassland & savanna. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-faced Pitta\nBlack-faced Rufous Warbler - The Black-Faced Rufous Warbler is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-faced Sandgrouse\nBlack-faced Sheathbill - Dumpy, short-necked, pigeon-like birds with white plumage, black bills, caruncles and facial skin. Measurements: length 38-41 cm; wingspan 74-79 cm; weight 530-610 g, 460-530 g.\nBlack-faced Solitaire - This is a bird of dense undergrowth and bamboo clumps in wet mountain forest, normally from 750 to 3000 m altitude. It disperse as low as 400 m in the wet season, when it may form loose flocks. It builds a cup nest of mosses and liverworts in a tree crevice, hole in a mossy bank, or concealed amongst mosses and epiphytes in a tree fork up to 3.5 m above the ground. The female lays 2-3 rufous-brown marked white or pinkish eggs between April and June. The fledging period is 15-16 days.\nBlack-faced Spinetail\nBlack-faced Spoonbill - The global population of this species, based on the winter population count carried out in 1988-1990 in all known sites, was estimated at 288 individuals. As of 2006, thanks to conservation efforts over the years, the estimated global population had increased to 1,679 . The niche population of North Korea does not exceed 30 birds, which implies that there must be another colony which has not been discovered yet, and which is perhaps located in northeast China; for example, on the islands of Liaoning .\nBlack-faced Tanager - The Black-faced Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\nBlack-faced Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-faced Waxbill - It is usually found in grassy plains with tall grasses and bushes, in small flocks. Most of the Black-lored Waxbill population is probably within the Upemba National Park but it is unclear to what extent is its habitat protected by the authority.\nBlack-faced Woodswallow\nBlack-footed Albatross - The Black-footed Albatross, Phoebastria nigripes, is a large seabird from the North Pacific. It is one of three albatrosses that range in the northern hemisphere, nesting on isolated tropical islands.\nBlack-footed Penguin - Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay. Mainland colonies probably only became possible in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. The only other mainland colony is in Namibia, but it is not known when this was established.\nBlack-fronted Bulbul\nBlack-fronted Dotterel - Unlike many other wading birds, Black-fronted Dotterels retain the same plumage all year round, which makes identification easier.\nBlack-fronted Flowerpecker - The Black-fronted Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-fronted Ground Tyrant - The Black-fronted Ground-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlack-fronted Nunbird - It is found in Amazonian Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; also regions of eastern and southeastern Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-fronted Parakeet - The extinct Black-fronted Parakeet or Tahiti Parakeet was endemic to the Pacific island of Tahiti. Its native name was simply ’ā’ā according to Latham though White gives \"aa-maha\".\nBlack-fronted Piping-Guan - This species is only found on Trinidad; it is close to extinction. They are large birds, 60 cm in length, and similar in general appearance to turkeys, with thin necks and small heads. They are forest birds, and the nest is built in a tree. Three large white eggs are laid, the female alone incubating. This arboreal species feeds on fruit and berries.\nBlack-fronted Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-fronted White-eye - It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Quite common, it is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.\nBlack-fronted Wood Quail\nBlack-girdled Barbet - The Black-girdled Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-goggled Brush-Finch - The Black-spectacled Brush-finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is endemic to Peru.\nBlack-goggled Tanager - The underparts are tawny, the back and head are dull brownish-olive, and the tail and wings are contrastingly black . The male has a yellow crown patch and a large black patch around the eyes .\nBlack-headed Ant-thrush - The Black-headed Antthrush is a species of bird in the Formicariidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-headed Antbird - Some authorities now regard the subspecies \"minor\" as a separate species with the English name Amazonas Antbird.\nBlack-headed Apalis - The Black-headed Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-headed Bulbul - Pycnonotus atriceps\nBlack-headed Bunting - It breeds in southeast Europe east to Iran. It is migratory, wintering in India. It is a rare but regular wanderer to western Europe.\nBlack-headed Canary - Its habitat is dry open scrub and grassland, edges of cultivation and suburban gardens.\nBlack-headed Cuckooshrike - Male at Sindhrot in Vadodara district of Gujarat, India.\nBlack-headed Duck - This is the most basal living member of its subfamily, and it lacks the stiff tail and swollen bill of its relatives. Overall much resembling a fairly typical diving duck. It is a small dark duck, the male with a black head and mantle and a paler flank and belly, and the female pale brown overall.\nBlack-headed Flyeater - Murphy S. Why do male fairy gerygones Gerygone palpebrosa burst into song on hearing predators or loud noises? Sunbird 32: 62-66.\nBlack-headed Gonolek - Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.\nBlack-headed Greenfinch\nBlack-headed Greenfinch - It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland.\nBlack-headed Grosbeak - The 19 cm long, 47 g weight Black-headed Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds from southwestern British Columbia, through the western half of the United States, into central Mexico. It occurs as an accidental further south in Central America.\nBlack-headed Hemispingus - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-headed Heron - This species usually breeds in the wet season in colonies in trees, reedbeds or cliffs. It builds a bulky stick nest and lays 2–-4 eggs.\nBlack-headed honeyeater - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBlack-headed Ibis - It occurs in marshy wetlands inland and on the coast, where it feeds on various fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as on insects.\nBlack-headed Lapwing - The Black-headed Plover or Black-headed Lapwing is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia, although it has seasonal movements. It lays two or three eggs on a ground scrape.\nBlack-headed Munia - Lonchura malacca has been split into L. malacca and the Black-headed Munia or Chestnut Munia L. atricapilla.\nBlack-headed myzomela\nBlack-headed Nightingale-Thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-headed oriole - The male of the species has a black hood, mandible, and throat, as well as a black tail. Wings are black, but the remiges and retrices are fringed with white. The secondary coverts form yellow epaulets. The back and vent are yellow washed with olive, and the underside is almost uniformly yellow. Females of this species have a slightly more olive nape and back than the males. The adult female’s plumage is similar to the juvenile plumage; however, unlike adults, the wings are dull brown instead of black. In general, immature specimens have the hood; wingbars; remiges; and epaulets of adult specimens. The first-basic plumage retains the darker, greener coloration of the juvenile plumage, however. Molting generally occurs in early autumn, though some specimens have been noted to molt as early as June.\nBlack-headed Paradise-Flycatcher - However, the Red-bellied Paradise-flycatcher is a common resident breeder in tropical western Africa south of the Sahara Desert. This species is usually found in thick forests and other well-wooded habitats. Two eggs are laid in a tiny cup nest in a tree.\nBlack-headed Parrot - The Black-headed Parrot , also known as the Black-headed Caique, Black-capped Parrot or Pallid Parrot , is one of the two species in the genus Pionites of the Psittacidae family; the other species being the allopatric White-bellied Parrot.\nBlack-headed Puff-back Flycatcher - It is sometimes split into two species: Eastern Black-headed Batis in southern Somalia and eastern parts of Kenya and Tanzania and Western Black-headed Batis in the rest of the range.\nBlack-headed Saltator - The genus Saltator is apparently polyphyletic.\nBlack-headed Sibia - It is found in China, Myanmar and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-headed siskin - This species is considered the extant \"father\" of the South American siskin radiation.\nBlack-headed Weaver\nBlack-headed Whistler - The Black-headed Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-headed White-eye - The species has a black face, dark olive neck, back and wings, and olive rump with a black tail , and bright yellow undersides. The white eye-ring is bright but incomplete, broken at the front. The plumage of the male and female are similar.\nBlack-headed Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-hooded Antshrike - The Black-hooded Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-hooded Antwren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-hooded Laughing Thrush\nBlack-hooded Oriole - It is a bird of open woodland and cultivation. The nest is built in a tree, and contains two eggs. The food is insects and fruit, especially figs, found in the tree canopies where the orioles spend much of their time.\nBlack-hooded Thrush\nBlack-legged Dacnis - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-legged kittiwake - This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus.\nBlack-lored Babbler - As defined here, it consists of two populations with widely separated ranges, one in northwestern Botswana, northern Namibia,\nBlack-lored Parrot - It is very poorly known, being at least partly nocturnal and occupying hilly forests.\nBlack-mandibled Toucan - It occurs at altitudes of 100-2400 m. in humid montane forests, with a preference for the canopy and edge.\nBlack-mantled Goshawk - The Black-mantled Goshawk is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-masked Finch - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-masked White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-naped Fruit Dove - The Black-naped Fruit-dove is distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In Indonesia, it is found in Java, Lesser Sunda Islands and Sulawesi, where it inhabits the lowland and hill forests. The diet consists mainly of various fruits, figs and berries. The female usually lays one single white egg.\nBlack-naped Monarch - The Black-naped Monarch or Black-naped Blue Flycatcher is a slim and agile passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers. They are sexually dimorphic with males having a distinctive black patch on the back of the head and a narrow black half collar while the female is duller and lacks the black markings. They have a call that is similar to that of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher and in tropical forest habitats pairs may join mixed-species foraging flocks.\nBlack-naped Oriole - They are migrants in most parts of South India and are most regularly seen in the Western Ghats.\nBlack-naped tern - The tern is about 30cm long with a wing length of 21-23cm. Their beaks and legs are black, but the tips of their bills are yellow. They have long forked tails.\nBlack-necked Aracari - It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlack-necked Cisticola - The Black-necked Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.\nBlack-necked crane - The Black-necked Crane is distributed in Pakistan, China, Himalayan regions of the Republic of India, Bhutan and Vietnam. It breeds on the Tibetan Plateau, with a small population in adjacent Ladakh, and Kashmir valleys. It has therefore been designated as the \"State bird of Jammu and Kashmir\". It has six wintering areas, mostly at lower altitudes in China, notably at Caohai Lake, but it also winters in Bhutan. In Jammu and Kashmir, the crane breeds near the high altitude lakes of Ladakh such as Tso Kar Lake. The Black-necked Crane is one of the spiritual creatures for the people of the area and is pictured alongside many of their deities in the monasteries of the region.\nBlack-necked Eremomela - The Black-Necked Eremomela is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\nBlack-necked Grebe - There are three subspecies:\nBlack-necked Red Cotinga - It is found in the western Amazon Basin of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; also the very southern border region of Venezuela with Amazonas state. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-necked Stork - The Black-necked Stork is a quite large bird, typically 130-150 cm tall with a 230 cm wingspan. The average weight is around 4100 grams. It is spectacularly plumaged. The head, neck, wing bar and tail are jet black, with the rest of the plumage white. The massive bill is black and the legs are bright red. Sexes are identical except that the female has a yellow iris, while the male's is brown. Juveniles are mainly light brown with a white belly and dark legs.\nBlack-necked Swan - The smallest member in its genus, it is found in freshwater marshes, lagoon and lake shores in southern South America. The Black-necked Swan breeds in Zona Sur, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and on the Falkland Islands. In the austral winter, this species migrates northwards to Paraguay and southern Brazil. The Laguna Blanca National Park in Argentina is a protected home of this swan. The wetlands created by the Great Chilean Earthquake like Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary in Cruces River have become important population centers for the Black-necked Swan.\nBlack-necked Tailor Bird - It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-necked Wattle-eye - The Black-necked Wattle-eye is a species of bird in the Platysteiridae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-necked Weaver - This weaver occurs in forests, especially in wet habitats. It builds a large coarsely woven nest made of grass and creepers with a 15 cm downward facing entrance tunnel hanging from the globular egg chamber. The nest is suspended from a branch in a tree and 2-3 eggs are laid. It nests in pairs but forms small flocks when not breeding.\nBlack-necked Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-polled Yellowthroat - Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-ringed White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-rumped Flameback - The Black-rumped Flameback or Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker is a woodpecker found widely distributed in South Asia. It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas, it has a characteristic rattling-whinnying call and an undulating flight. It is the only golden-backed woodpecker with a black throat.\nBlack-rumped waxbill - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France , Gambia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Portugal , Puerto Rico, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, USA & Virgin Islands . The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-shouldered Cicadabird - The Black-shouldered Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-shouldered Kite - The Black-shouldered Kite was first described by ornithologist John Latham in 1802. Its specific name is derived from the Latin axilla \"shoulder\". The name \"Black-shouldered Kite\" was formerly used for a Eurasian and African species, Elanus caeruleus, and the Australian bird and the North American species, the White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus, were treated as subspecies of this. The three Elanus species have comparable plumage patterns and sizes, however, they are now regarded as distinct, and the name Black-winged Kite is used for E. caeruleus. Modern references to the Black-shouldered Kite should therefore unambiguously mean the Australian species, E. axillaris.\nBlack-shouldered Nightjar - The Black-shouldered Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlack-sided Flowerpecker - The Black-sided Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia in northern Borneo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-sided Robin - The Black-sided Robin is a species of bird in the Petroicidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-spotted Barbet - It is found in E Colombia, E Peru, Brazil, the Guianas, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest. Previously, it included the Gilded Barbet of the southern and western Amazon basin as subspecies. As currently defined, the Black-spotted Barbet is monotypic.\nBlack-spotted Bare-eye - The Black-spotted Bare-eye is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBlack-spotted Yellow Tit - This species is a resident breeder in the Himalayas. The race in peninsular India has been split as Parus aplonotus by Rasmussen and Anderton . It is a common bird in open tropical forests, but does not occur in Sri Lanka. It is an active and agile feeder, taking insects and spiders from the canopy, and sometimes fruit.\nBlack-streaked Puffbird - The Black-streaked Puffbird is a species of puffbird in the Bucconidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-striped Sparrow - This American sparrow is a common bird in humid lowlands and foothills up to 1500 m altitude, in semi-open habitats such as thickets, young second growth, overgrown fields and shady plantations and gardens.\nBlack-striped Woodcreeper - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-tailed Antbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-tailed Cisticola - The Black-tailed Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBlack-tailed Flycatcher - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-tailed Godwit - Scolopax limosa Linnaeus,1758\nBlack-tailed Gull - It has yellow legs and a red and black spot at the end of the bill. This gull takes 4 years to reach full adult plumage. As the name suggests, it has a black tail. The bird has a cat-like call, giving it its Japanese name — Umineko, \"Sea cat\" and Korean name — Gwaeng-yi gull, which means \"cat\" gull.\nBlack-tailed Leaftosser - The Black-tailed Leaftosser is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tailed Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tailed Native Hen - The Black-tailed Native-hen is a large dark bird, reaching about 38cm in length and weighing around 400g. This species possesses an erect tail and is endowed almost entirely in brownish-grey and green feathers. Its long legs and lower jaw are a striking pink-orange colour, as well as its eyes which are more of a bright orange colour. This species is not excessively vocal, its main call is an alarm 'kak' sound.\nBlack-tailed Tityra - The Black-tailed Tityra, Tityra cayana, is a medium-sized passerine bird of tropical South America. The tityras have been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher families by various authors. But the weight of evidence strongly suggest they and their closest relatives are better separated as Tityridae; the AOU for example advocates this separation.\nBlack-tailed Trainbearer - The Black-Tailed Trainbearer is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-tailed Treecreeper - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tailed Trogon\nBlack-tailed Waxbill - It is found in subtropical/ tropical moist shrubland habitats in Angola, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia & Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-thighed Falconet - It breeds in tree holes.\nBlack-thighed Grosbeak - This species breeds from about 1000m altitude or 1500 m up to 2600 m and is found in canopy, woodland edge and semi-open habitats such as pasture with some trees. The nest is a thin cup constructed on a bulky twig base 1-3 m up in a small tree or amongst vines. The female lays two brown-spotted pale blue eggs between March and May.\nBlack-thighed Puffleg - The Black-thighed Puffleg is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found at humid forest edge and ravines in the Andean highlands of Colombia and northern Ecuador. It is threatened by habitat loss. As suggested by its name, the feathering around its legs is black, which is unique among the pufflegs. Otherwise its plumage is green with a contrastingly black tail.\nBlack-throated Accentor - The Black-throated Accentor builds a neat nest low in spruce thickets, laying 3-5 unspotted blue eggs. It winters in scrub or cultivation.\nBlack-throated Antbird - The Black-throated Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Antshrike - The Black-throated Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-throated Apalis - The Black-throated Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-throated Babbler\nBlack-throated Barbet - The Black-throated Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\nBlack-throated Blue Robin - The Black-throated Blue Robin is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in China and Thailand. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and temperate shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-throated Blue Warbler - Adult males have white underparts with black throat, face and flanks; the upperparts are deep blue; immature males are similar with upperparts more greenish. Females have olive-brown upperparts and light yellow underparts with darker wings and tail, a grey crown and a brown patch on the cheek. All birds have a small white wing patch which is not always visible, and a thin pointed bill. Like many warblers, this bird has colorful plumage during the spring and summer, but its fall plumage is drab and less distinctive. In the fall, it can still be identified from other similar warblers by its small white wing patch.\nBlack-throated Bobwhite - The Yucatan Bobwhite or Black-throated Bobwhite is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Brilliant - The Black-throated Brilliant is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Canary - Serinus atrogularis and S. reichenowi have been lumped into S. atrogularis following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson .\nBlack-throated Coucal - The Black-throated Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in west Africa in dense second growth along forest edge and grassy swamps. The subspecies found in northern and central Zaire is sometimes split as Neumann's Coucal, Centropus neumanni.\nBlack-throated Diver - It breeds on deep lakes in the tundra region of Alaska and northern Canada as far east as Baffin Island, and in Russia east of the Lena River.\nBlack-throated Finch - Originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837, its specific epithet is Latin cincta \"girdled\".\nBlack-throated Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-throated Flower-piercer - It is found in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Green Broadbill\nBlack-throated Green Warbler - It is 12 cm long and weighs 9 g, and has an olive-green crown, a yellow face with olive markings, a thin pointed bill, white wing bars, an olive-green back and pale underparts with black streaks on the flanks. Adult males have a black throat and upper breast; females have a pale throat and black markings on their breast.\nBlack-throated Grey Warbler - The Black-throated Gray Warbler is a songbird of the New World warbler family. It is 13 cm long and has black, grey, and white plumage. It breeds in western North America from British Columbia to New Mexico, and winters in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Common in in its forest habitats, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.\nBlack-throated Grosbeak - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-throated hermit - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Honeyeater - The Black-throated Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-throated Huet-huet\nBlack-throated Jay - The Black-throated Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-throated loon - Breeding adults are 63 cm to 75 cm in length with a 100 cm to 122 cm wingspan, shaped like a smaller, sleeker version of the Great Northern Diver. They have a grey head, black throat, white underparts and chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. Its bill is grey or whitish and dagger-shaped. In all plumages a white flank patch distinguishes this species from all other divers including the otherwise almost identical Pacific Diver.\nBlack-throated Magpie-Jay - This species is 58.5 to 76.5 cm long, more than half of which is the tail. The upperparts are blue with white tips to the tail feathers; the underparts are white. The bill, legs, head, and conspicuous crest are black except for a pale blue crescent over the eyes and a patch under the eye. In juveniles, the crest has a white tip and the patch below the eye is smaller and darker blue than in adults. In most birds, the throat and chest are also black, but some in the southern part of the range have various amounts of white there.\nBlack-throated Malimbe - The Black-throated Malimbe is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Ghana.\nBlack-throated Mango - It is 10.2 cm long and weighs 7.2g. The longish black bill is slightly decurved. The tail in both sexes has dark central feathers, the outer tail being wine-red tipped with black.\nBlack-throated Munia - The endemic Sri Lankan subspecies, L. k. kelaarti is sometimes considered to as a separate species distinct from L. k. jerdoni of the Western Ghats of India.\nBlack-throated Parrotbill - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Shrike-Tanager\nBlack-throated Shrikebill - It is found in Fiji and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. The Santa Cruz Shrikebill is little-known, rarely seen, and it was once speculated it might be extinct; it does still exist however.\nBlack-throated Sparrow - The Black-throated Sparrow reaches a length of about 4.5-5.5 inches, and is pale gray above, with a distinctive black and white head pattern.Immature are similar but lacks a black throat. Its call is high and bell-like, and its song is a fairly simple, mechanical tinkling. It feeds primarily on insects and seeds, and travels in small groups, though larger groups may accumulate around sources of water in the desert.\nBlack-throated Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Sunbird - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Thistletail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlack-throated Tit - The Black-throated Tit is a small passerine, around 10.5 cm long and weighing 4-9 g. There is considerable racial variation in the plumage, but all subspecies have a medium length tail , a black throat and a black 'bandit mask' around the eye. The nominate race has a chestnut cap, breast band and flanks and dark grey back, wings and tail, and a white belly. The other subspecies have generally the same pattern but with grey caps or all grey bellies and flanks. Both sexes are alike.\nBlack-throated Tody-Tyrant - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Trogon - Like most trogons, it has distinctive male and female plumages and with soft colourful feathers. This relatively small species is 23-24 cm long and weighs 54-57 g, with a white undertail with black barring, a yellow bill and wing coverts which are vermiculated with black and white, but appear grey at any distance. The male Black-throated Trogon has a green head, upper breast and back, black face and throat, and golden yellow belly. The female has a brown head, upper breast and back, rufous upper tail and yellow belly. Immatures resemble the adults but are duller, and young males have a brown throat, breast and wing coverts.\nBlack-throated Wren\nBlack-tipped Cotinga - The Black-tipped Cotinga is a species of bird in the Cotingidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tipped Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-vented oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-vented Shearwater - This species is pelagic, occurring in the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. It comes closer to land than most other shearwaters, so it sometimes can be seen from shore. It predominantly nests on offshore islands off north and western Baja California, namely Isla de Guadalupe, Islas San Benito and Isla Natividad. It is fairly common off the United States coast of central and southern California during the country's colder months.\nBlack-whiskered vireo - The breeding habitat is open deciduous wooded areas and cultivation, and in Florida also mangroves. The Black-whiskered Vireo builds a cup nest in a fork of a tree branch, and lays 2-3 white eggs.\nBlack-winged Bishop - This common weaver occurs in a range of open country, especially tall grassland and often near water. It builds a spherical woven nest in tall grass. 2-4 eggs are laid.\nBlack-winged Cuckooshrike - It is distributed from Northeast Pakistan through the lower Himalayan region .\nBlack-winged Ground Dove\nBlack-winged Kite - The Black-winged Kite is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae best known for its habit of hovering over open grasslands. This Eurasian species was sometimes combined with the Australian Black-shouldered Kite . This kite is distinctively long-winged predominantly and the white, grey and black plumage and the red iris make it easy to identify. Although mainly seen on the plains, they are sometimes seen on grassy slopes of hills in the higher elevation regions of Asia.\nBlack-winged Lapwing - The Black-winged Lapwing is an east African species that is found from the Ethiopian highlands in the north to central Kenya , and again at middle to coastal elevations in eastern South Africa . It is a habitat specialist of short grass in well-watered temperate grasslands. They may move about locally to find ideal situations, often at night. In their tightly grouped flying flocks they resemble Plovers.\nBlack-winged Lory - An Indonesian endemic, the Black-winged Lory is distributed to forests and coastal habitat of Biak, Numfor, Manim and Mios Num islands in Cenderawasih Bay, Papua. It frequents and roosts in coconut trees.\nBlack-winged Lovebird - The Black-winged Lovebird, with a length of about 16\nBlack-winged Monarch - The Black-winged Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-winged Oriole - The Black-winged Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-winged Parrot - The Black-winged Parrot, Hapalopsittaca melanotis, is a small stocky parrot found in the eastern Andes. It is largely green with large black patches on wings, dull yellow around eyes, blue-grey beak, and distinct patches over the ears. It has two subspecies in separate ranges:\nBlack-winged Petrel - It is found in Australia, French Polynesia, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and the United States.\nBlack-winged Pratincole - Their most unusual feature of the pratincoles is that although classed as waders they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground.\nBlack-winged Saltator - It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-winged Snowfinch\nBlack-winged Starling - The Black-winged Starling is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. The species is also known as the Black-winged Myna or the White-breasted Starling. It is endemic to Indonesia. There are three recognised subspecies, the nominate race, which occurs across much of the island of Java, tricolor, which is restricted to south east Java, and tertius, which is found on Bali and possibly Lombok. The validity of the records on Lombok has been called into question, there are only a few records and they may represent escapees from the cagebird trade or natural vagrants. The species has often been assigned to the starling genus Sturnus, but is now placed in Acridotheres because it is behaviourally and vocally closer to the birds in that genus.\nBlack-winged Stilt - The Black-winged Stilt or Common Stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family . Opinions differ as to whether the birds treated under the scientific name H. himantopus ought to be treated as a single species and if not, how many species to recognize. Most sources today accept 2—4 species.\nBlackburnian Warbler - The Blackburnian Warbler, Dendroica fusca , is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina.\nBlackcap - It is a robust typical warbler, mainly grey in plumage. Like most Sylvia species, it has distinct male and female plumages: The male has the small black cap from which the species gets its name, whereas in the female the cap is light brown. This is a bird of shady woodlands with ground cover for nesting. The nest is built in a low shrub, and 3–6 eggs are laid. The song is a pleasant chattering with some clearer notes like a Blackbird. This full song can be confused with that of the Garden Warbler, but in the Blackcap, it characteristically ends with an emphatic fluting warble. Especially in isolated Blackcap populations , a simplified song can occur. This song is said to have a Leiern-type ending after the term used by German ornithologists who first described it. The introduction is like that in other Blackcaps, but the final warbling part is a simple alteration between two notes, as in a Great Tit's call but more fluting .\nBlackcap Illadopsis - The Blackcap Illadopsis is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlackish Antbird - The Blackish Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, and Suriname. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlackish Cinclodes - It is 18 to 23 cm long. The sexes are similar and their plumage is almost entirely dark brown. The throat is slightly paler with some buff speckling, there is a hint of a pale stripe over the eye and there is a faint reddish-brown bar on the wing. The bill is quite long, stout and slightly downcurved with a pale yellow spot at the base .\nBlackish Cuckooshrike - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlackish Nightjar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlackish Oystercatcher - It is found in Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands and Peru, and is a vagrant to Uruguay.\nBlackish Pewee - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlackish Rail - The Blackish Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is swamps.\nBlackish-blue Seedeater - The Blackish-blue Seedeater is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae. It was formerly placed with the American sparrows in the Emberizidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlackish-grey Antshrike - The species is found in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and eastern French Guiana; also a small river region of northeast Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It got its name \"Blackish-grey Antshrike\" because of its blackish-grey color, distinguishing it from other Antshrikes.\nBlackpoll Warbler - These birds are migratory, wintering in northwestern South America. They are rare vagrants to western Europe, although their northerly range and long-distance migration make them one of the more frequent transatlantic passerine wanderers.\nBlacksmith Lapwing - The Blacksmith Lapwing or Blacksmith Plover occurs commonly from Kenya through central Tanzania to southern and southwestern Africa. The vernacular name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, tink, tink' alarm call, which suggests a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.\nBlackstart - It is a 14–16 cm long bird named for its black tail, which is frequently fanned; the rest of its plumage is bluish-grey or grey-brown . The sexes are similar, but the male on average has blacker lores. The song is a clear melancholy whistle: CHURlee...TRUloo...CHURlee...TRUlur..., with short phrases from the song used as a call.\nBlakiston's Fish-Owl - It feeds on a variety of aquatic prey, including fish and amphibians, but also takes small mammals and birds to the size of hazel grouse . It also takes carrion, as evidenced by fish owls in Russia being trapped in snares set for furbearing mammals, which use raw meat as bait.\nBlanford's Rosefinch - The Crimson Rosefinch is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is boreal forests.\nBlanford's Snowfinch - The Plain-backed Snowfinch or Blanford's Snowfinch is a species of bird in the sparrow family.\nBlaze-winged Parakeet - The Blaze-winged Parakeet , more commonly known as the Blaze-winged Conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot found in wooded habitats in the Pantanal-region of Brazil and Paraguay. It remains locally fairly common, but has suffered due to extensive habitat destruction within its relatively small range, and has therefore been uplisted to Near Threatened by BirdLife International in 2009. The type specimen is labelled Bolivia, but due to shifting borders it is now believed to be from Paraguay. It has often been considered a subspecies of the Maroon-bellied Parakeet based on apparent hybrids from Paraguay, but – as far as known – the two generally maintain their integrity, and are therefore considered separate species by all major authorities today. They resemble each other, but the Blaze-winged Parakeet has a dusky crown and red \"shoulder\" and underwing coverts.\nBleda notatus - The Lesser Bristlebill or Yellow-lored Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It was formerly lumped with the Green-tailed Bristlebill but is now often considered to be a separate species.\nBleda syndactylus - The Common Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland and montane forests and tropical moist shrubland.\nBlind snipe - The American Woodcock is a small chunky shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcock spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage.\nBlond-crested Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlood Pheasant - The Blood Pheasant, Ithaginis cruentus, is the only species in genus Ithaginis of the Pheasant family. It has 15 different subspecies.\nBlood-breasted Flowerpecker - The Blood-breasted Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlood-coloured Woodpecker - The Blood-coloured Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family, the woodpeckers, piculets, and wrynecks. It is found only in the Guianan countries of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, on the Atlantic shoreline region in a narrow coastal strip, 140-180 km wide. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlossom-headed Parakeet - Blossom-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland. It nests in holes in trees, laying 4-5 white eggs.\nBlossomcrown - It is found only in Colombia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue & Grey Sparrow Hawk\nBlue & White Mockingbird - It is about 25 cm long. It has blue-grey upperparts, white underparts, red eyes and a black mask. The song is high-pitched and rattling.\nBlue & White Swallow - The Blue-and-white Swallow, Notiochelidon cyanoleuca, is a passerine bird that breeds from Nicaragua south throughout South America, except in the deserts and the Amazon Basin. The southern race is migratory, wintering as far north as Trinidad, where it is a regular visitor. The nominate northern race may have bred on that island.\nBlue Bird-of-paradise - The Blue Bird-of-paradise is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is distributed to mountain forests of southeastern New Guinea. ITIS recognizes only one subspecies, but additional subspecies margaritae and ampla have been described.\nBlue Cotinga\nBlue Coua - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue Cuckooshrike - The Blue Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue Dacnis - It occurs in forests and other woodlands, including gardens and parks. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree and the normal clutch is of two to three grey-blotched whitish two eggs. The female incubates the eggs, but is fed by the male.\nBlue Duck - This 54 cm long species is an endemic resident breeder in New Zealand, nesting in hollow logs, small caves and other sheltered spots. It is a rare duck, holding territories on fast flowing mountain rivers.It is a powerful swimmer even in strong currents, but is reluctant to fly. It is difficult to find, but not particularly wary when located.\nBlue Eared-Pheasant - The Blue Eared Pheasant is found throughout mountain forests of central China. The diet consists mainly of berries and vegetable matters.\nBlue Fantail - It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue Finch - The Yellow-billed Blue Finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, a recent study has shown it to belong in the Thraupidae. It in the monotypic genus Porphyrospiza.\nBlue goose - The Snow Goose , also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed. The American Ornithologists' Union and BirdLife International place this species and the other \"white\" geese in the Chen genus,\nBlue Grosbeak - The Blue Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds across most of the southern half of the United States and much of northern Mexico. It eats mostly insects, but it will also eat snails, spiders, seeds, grains, and wild fruits. The Blue Grosbeak forages on the ground and in shrubs and trees.\nBlue Ground Dove - The Blue Ground Dove is relatively common in open woodland, forest edges, clearings and roadsides, especially in more humid areas. It is found from sea level to about 1200 m altitude. It builds a flimsy dish nest of twigs 1-11 m high in a tree and lays two white eggs.\nBlue grouse - Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a purplish throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow to red wattle over the eye during display. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.\nBlue Jay - The Blue Jay measures 22–30 cm from bill to tail and weighs 70–100 grams , with a wingspan of 34–43 cm .\nBlue Jewel-babbler - The Blue Jewel-babbler is a species of bird in the Cinclosomatidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue Lorikeet - The Violet Lorikeet is 18 cm long with a short rounded tail. Its plumage is mainly dark blue and it has a white area over its upper chest, throat and lower face. Erectile feathers on the top of its head show light blue streaks. Its beak is orange and its irises are yellow-brown. It has orange legs. Adult males and females have identical external appearance. The juvenile lacks the white plumage of the adult and has a dark grey-blue face and lower parts. The juvenile also has a black bill, dark brown irises, and its legs are orange brown.\nBlue Manakin - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It is generally common in the appropriate habitats within its range. Formerly, the name Swallow-tailed Manakin was used widely, but as it is misleading , this name has largely been abandoned for the superior Blue Manakin. As suggested by this common name, the male is - by far - the manakin with most blue to the plumage. The entire body is bright blue, while the wings, tail and head, except for the red cap, are black. The far duller female is greenish overall. Both sexes have elongated central rectrices.\nBlue Mockingbird - The Blue Mockingbird is uniformly blue on its back, tail, wings, head and underbelly. This color is a result of feather structure rather than pigment, and therefore can look gray in the shade. It has a black \"mask\" surrounding its reddish-brown eyes. It has a rather long, slightly graduated tail, and dark blue streaks over its breast. Its bill is long, thin and slightly curved, and its legs and feet are black.\nBlue Mountain Vireo\nBlue Noddy - It is found in American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga , Tuvalu and Hawaii. It has occurred as a vagrant in Australia and Japan. Its natural habitat is open, shallow seas in tropical and subtropical regions.\nBlue Paradise Flycatcher - The Blue Paradise-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\nBlue Petrel - The Blue Petrel, Halobaena caerulea, is a small seabird in the family Procellariidae. This small petrel is the only member of the genus Halobaena but is closely allied to the prions.\nBlue Shortwing - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue Swallow - The Blue Swallow breeds in southern Africa, wintering further north in Uganda and Kenya.\nBlue Vanga - It is found in Comoros, Madagascar, and Mayotte. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-and-black Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-and-gold Tanager - The Blue-and-gold Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-and-white Flycatcher - The Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Cyanoptila cyanomelana is a migratory songbird. It breeds in Japan, Korea, and in parts of China and Russia. It winters in South East Asia, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sumatra and Borneo.\nBlue-and-white Kingfisher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlue-and-yellow Macaw - It can reach 76–86 cm long and weigh 900 to 1300 g . It is vivid in appearance with blue wings and tail, dark blue chin, golden under parts and a green forehead. Its beak is black, and very strong for crushing nuts. The naked face is white, turning pink in excited birds, and lined with small black feathers.\nBlue-and-yellow Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-backed Conebill\nBlue-backed Manakin - This manakin is a fairly common bird of dry and moist deciduous forests, but not rainforest. The female builds a twig nest in a tree; two brown-mottled white eggs are laid, and incubated entirely by the female for about 20 days.\nBlue-backed Parrot - It is of medium size , basically green with yellowish edging to the wings, a blue rump, and blue wing bends. The head, mantle, wings and tail are darker green, the belly and collar are lighter green. It is sexually dimorphic, with the male having a red beak and the female a pale yellow or horn colored beak. There are six subspecies:\nBlue-backed Tanager - It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-banded Kingfisher - The Blue-banded Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-banded Toucanet\nBlue-bearded Bee-eater - The Blue-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni is a large species of bee-eater found in South Asia. This species is found in openings in patches of dense forest. It is found in the Malayan region and also extends into the Western Ghats in southwestern India. The blue feathers of its throat are elongated and often held fluffed up giving it the name. They are not as gregarious or active as the smaller bee-eaters, and their square ended tail lacks the typical \"wires\" made up of the shafts of the longer central tail feathers in many species.\nBlue-bellied Roller - The Blue-bellied Roller is a large bird, nearly the size of a Jackdaw at 28-30 cm. It has a dark green back, white head, neck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly blue. Adults have 6cm tail streamers. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult.\nBlue-billed Black Tyrant - The Blue-billed Black-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-billed Curassow - It is found only in Colombia; areas of its range in the south and east are bordered by the Magdalena River. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-black Grassquit - Adult Blue-black Grassquits are 10.2 cm long and weigh 9.3 g . They have a slender conical black bill. The male is glossy blue-black, with a black tail and wings; the white inner underwing is visible in flight or display. Female and immature birds have brown upperparts and dark-streaked buff underparts.\nBlue-black Grosbeak - It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-black Kingfisher - The Blue-black Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\nBlue-breasted Banded Rail - Breeding has been recorded from July in the foothills of the Himalayas from Dehradun in the west.\nBlue-breasted Bee Eater\nBlue-breasted Cordonbleu - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlue-breasted Fairy-wren - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBlue-breasted Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-breasted Kingfisher - This is a large kingfisher, 25 cm in length. The adult has a bright blue head, back, wing panel and tail. Its underparts are white, but it has a blue breast band. The shoulders are black. The flight of the Blue-breasted Kingfisher is rapid and direct. The large bill has a red upper mandible and black lower mandible. The legs are bright red.\nBlue-browed Tanager - The Blue-browed Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-capped Cordonbleu - The Blue-capped Cordon-bleu inhabits subtropical or tropical dry grassland, shrubland and desert. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 390,000 km².\nBlue-capped Fruit Dove - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-capped Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-capped Puffleg - The Blue-Capped Puffleg is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-capped Rock Thrush - The male is bright blue and black on the upperparts with a prominent white wing mirror. The underside is rufous brown. The female is dark olive and appears barred on the underside.\nBlue-capped Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-cheeked Amazon - It is about 34 cm. Its coloring is mostly green, with blue cheeks from around the eye to the neck , a yellow-orange wing speculum, a yellowish crown, and orange lores .\nBlue-cheeked Bee Eater - This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly-coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has blue sides with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the beak is black. It can reach a length of 24-26 cm, including the two elongated central tail feathers. Sexes are alike.\nBlue-cheeked Flowerpecker\nBlue-cheeked Jacamar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-chested Hummingbird - The Blue-Chested Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-chested Hummingbird - The Charming Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-collared Parrot - It inhabits humid hill forest and forest edges. Flocks are up to 200.\nBlue-crested Flycatcher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-crowned Chlorophonia\nBlue-crowned Hanging Parrot - Its diet includes flowers, buds, fruits, nuts and seeds.\nBlue-crowned Lorikeet - It is still common, but declining on some islands, apparently from predation by rats. They frequent areas with flowering trees, including coconut plantations and gardens, usually in small flocks of less than about 15 individuals or in pairs during breeding season. It eats nectar, pollen, and soft fruits, especially wild hibiscus and coconut. Nests in holes in trees but may also dig burrows in earth banks. Also known as\nBlue-crowned Manakin - The Blue-crowned Manakin is a species of bird in the Pipridae family.\nBlue-crowned Motmot - Like most of the Coraciiformes, motmots nest in tunnels in banks, laying about three or four white eggs.\nBlue-crowned Parakeet - Members of the genus Aratinga are officially called parakeets by the AOU and by birders, though usually called conures in aviculture.\nBlue-crowned Racquet-tail - There are three or four subspecies:\nBlue-crowned Trogon - The Blue-crowned Trogon's range in South America is the southwestern and southeastern quadrants of the Amazon Basin with the northern limit being the Amazon River. The range continues beyond the Amazon Basin south to northern Argentina and Paraguay, and eastwards to eastern coastal Brazil as far south as northern Espírito Santo state; a third of the species range is outside the Amazon Basin.\nBlue-eared Barbet - The Blue-eared Barbet is a resident breeder in the hills from northeast India east to through Southeast Asia to Singapore, Indonesia and Borneo. It is a species of broadleaf evergreen forest, mixed woodland and second growth up to 1525 m altitude. It nests in a tree hole.\nBlue-eared Kingfisher - The juvenile Blue-eared Kingfisher has similar rufous ear-coverts like the Common Kingfisher; but it usually shows some mottling on the throat and upper breast which disappears when the bird reaches adulthood.\nBlue-eared Lory - The Blue-eared Lory is the smallest Eos at 24 cm long. It has a red body with blue cheeks, chin, and ear-coverts, purple-blue abdomen and undertail coverts, and black streaked wings. The adult has an orange beak with juvenile's pink.\nBlue-eyed Cockatoo - Like all cockatoos and many parrots, the Blue-eyed Cockatoo can use one of its zygodactyl feet to hold objects and to bring food to its beak whilst standing on the other foot; nevertheless, amongst bird species as a whole this is relatively unusual.\nBlue-eyed Ground Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-faced Honeyeater - Originally described as Gracula cyanotis by ornithologist John Latham in 1802, though he also considered Merops and Turdus .\nBlue-faced Malkoha - It is restricted to Sri Lanka and southern India. The Blue-faced Malkoha is a bird of open forests and scrub jungle. It nests in a thorn bush, the typical clutch being two, sometimes three, eggs.\nBlue-faced Parrotfinch - It is found in subtropical/ tropical in both montane and lowland moist forest areas, where it is most often associated with forest edges and disturbed habitat. It feeds largely on seeds of grasses, including in Australia several exotic genera especially Brachiaria. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlue-footed booby - The name booby comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means \"stupid\" or \"fool\"/\"clown\". This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and , they can be very tame and therefore easily captured, killed, and eaten by humans.\nBlue-fronted Amazon - The Blue-fronted Amazon is a mainly green parrot about 38 cm long. They have blue feathers on the forehead above the beak and yellow on the face and crown. Distribution of blue and yellow varies greatly among individuals. Unlike most other Amazona parrots, its beak is mostly black. There is no overt sexual dimorphism. Juveniles of all parrots are duller and have dark irises.\nBlue-fronted Callene\nBlue-fronted Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-fronted Lancebill - The Blue-Fronted Lancebill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-fronted Lorikeet - It is only known from seven specimens, collected before 1930 in hill forest between 850–1000 m. More recent sightings are not well authenticated, so its remaining range is uncertain.\nBlue-fronted Parrotlet - The Blue-fronted Parrotlet, Touit dilectissimus, is also known as the Red-winged Parrotlet . It is a parrot in N. South America from E. Panama down the west coastal Andes to Peru, with a second population around and south of Lake Maracaibo. It is 15cm, green with a short tail, blue forehead with narrow band of red under eye, red shoulders and leading edge of underwing, and the remaining underwing coverts yellow. Edges of tail also yellowish.\nBlue-fronted Redstart - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBlue-gray Tanager - The Blue-grey Tanager is 18 cm long and weighs 35 g. Adults have a light bluish head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts and a shoulder patch colored a different hue of blue. The bill is short and quite thick. Sexes are similar, but the immature is much duller in plumage.\nBlue-grey Gnatcatcher - Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts and have a long slender bill, long black tail and an angry black unibrow. They have a white eye ring.\nBlue-headed Bee-eater\nBlue-headed Coucal - The Blue-headed Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-headed Crested Flycatcher - The Blue-headed Crested-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-headed Fantail\nBlue-headed Hummingbird - It is found only in Dominica and Martinique.\nBlue-headed Macaw - The Blue-headed Macaw is 41 cm long. It has mainly green plumage with the head, flight feathers and primary coverts blue. The uppertail has a maroon base, a narrow green center and a blue tip. The undertail and underwing are greenish-yellow similar to that of several other small macaws . The bill is pale greyish-horn with a black base . The iris is whitish with a narrow, often barely visible, maroon eye-ring. Unlike most other macaws, the facial skin and lores are dark greyish. The legs are dull pinkish. Juveniles resemble adults, but with the entire bill black, greyer legs, darker iris and the facial skin and lores white.\nBlue-headed Parrot - Its habitat is forest and semi-open country, including cultivated areas. It is largely restricted to humid or semi-humid regions, but locally extends into drier habitats, at least along rivers. The Blue-headed Parrot lays three to five white eggs in a tree cavity.\nBlue-headed Pitta\nBlue-headed Quail-Dove - Its natural habitats are swamps and moist forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-headed Racquet-tail - It is 27–28 cm, basically green with a bright, light blue head, blue underwings and, in the male, bluish breast. The beak is bluish gray and iris is yellowish.\nBlue-headed Sapphire - The Blue-Headed Sapphire is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-headed Sunbird - The Blue-headed Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.\nBlue-headed vireo - Adults are mainly olive on the upperparts with white underparts and yellowish flanks; they have a grey head, dark eyes with white \"spectacles\" and white wing bars. They have a stout bill and thick blue-grey legs. This bird, along with the Cassin's Vireo and Plumbeous Vireo, were formerly known as the \"Solitary Vireo\".\nBlue-headed Wagtail - Motacilla tschutschensis\nBlue-headed Wood Dove - The Blue-headed Wood-dove is distributed to primary rainforests of equatorial mid-western Africa, in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, Ghana and Togo.\nBlue-mantled Thornbill - The Blue-Mantled Thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlue-masked Leafbird - It is considered near threatened due to habitat loss.\nBlue-naped Chlorophonia - Its distribution is highly disjunct, with population associated with the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina, the Andes from Bolivia in south to Venezuela in north, the Perijá and Santa Marta Mountains, the Venezuelan Coastal Range, and the Tepuis. All populations are associated with humid forest, but locally it also occurs in nearby gardens and parks . Most populations are found in subtropical highlands, but it occurs down to near sea level in the Atlantic Forest region.\nBlue-naped Mousebird - A slender-tailed, ash grey mousebird common in dry country. A crested head, turquoise-blue nape patch and black-and-red bill characterize adults. Juveniles lack blue on nape, have pink facial skin and greenish bills.\nBlue-naped Parrot - It is found in secondary forest, forest edge and plantations up to 1000 m. Flock size is usually under a dozen. They feed on berries, seeds, nuts and grain. Habitat loss and trapping have made them scarce on most islands except Mindoro and Palawan. Though the Katala Foundation has raised concerns over the increasing illegal trade in this bird on Palawan.\nBlue-naped Pitta - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Republic of India and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue-rumped Manakin - The Blue-rumped Manakin is a species of bird in the Pipridae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is montane forests.\nBlue-rumped Parrot - It is the only member of the genus Psittinus.\nBlue-rumped Pitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-shouldered Robin-Chat - It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-spotted Wood Dove\nBlue-streaked Lory - It is found in the Tanimbar Islands and Babar, all in Indonesia. It was also introduced to the Kai Islands, but may be extinct there again. It inhabits mangrove, coconut groves, plantations and forests. Lories have unique \"brush\" tipped tongues, evolved for their diet of flower nectar and fruit. A highly active, gregarious bird known to travel in flocks and to sleep in their nests year round. Very social and affectionate, lorie have been kept as pets with growing popularity, their song is usually softer than other parrots except when alarmed or bored.\nBlue-tailed Bee-eater - This species is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, M. persicus.\nBlue-tailed Hummingbird - The Blue-tailed Hummingbird , sometimes placed in the genus Saucerottia, is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-throated Barbet - This barbet eats fruits and insects.\nBlue-throated Flycatcher - The Blue-throated Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It resembles Cyornis tickelliae but easily separated by the blue throat. The habitat of this species is a thicker forest than other species of flycatchers. The Blue-Throated Flycatcher is found all through the Himalayas, the plains and Western Ghats of India in the cold months, and also extends into Arkan and Tenasserim.\nBlue-throated Goldentail - The Blue-Throated Goldentail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-throated hummingbird - The Blue-throated Hummingbird is a fairly large hummingbird, reaching 11.5 to 12.5 cm in length and 6 to 10 grams in weight. The Blue-throated Hummingbird is dull green on the top of its body, fading to medium gray on its belly. It has a conspicuous white stripe behind its eye and a narrower stripe extending backward from the corner of its bill, bordering a blackish cheek patch. Its tail feathers are iridescent blue-black with broad white tips on the outer two to three pairs. The species gets its name from the adult male's iridescent blue throat patch , but the female lacks this, having a plain gray throat. Males sing two types of songs: a simple \"peep song,\" which sounds like a squeaky wheel, and a quiet but complex \"whisper song.\" The female is also reported to sing during the breeding season to attract the attention of males.\nBlue-throated Motmot - The Blue-throated Motmot is a species of bird in the Momotidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Aspatha. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue-throated Piping Guan - There are two subspecies. A. cumanensis cumanensis is found from the Guyanas, the Orinoco river in Venezuela, and southeastern Colombia south to northwestern Brazil and southeastern Peru. There and possibly in northern Bolivia it intergrades with the bigger A. cumanensis grayi , which continues through northern and central Bolivia, Mato Grosso State of Brazil, and northern and eastern Paraguay.\nBlue-throated Roller - The Blue-throated Roller is a species of bird in the Coraciidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-throated Starfrontlet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlue-throated Sunbird - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-whiskered Tanager\nBlue-winged Goose - The Blue-winged Goose is a waterfowl species which is endemic to Ethiopia. It is the only member of the genus Cyanochen.\nBlue-winged Kookaburra - Measuring around 40 cm , it is slightly smaller than the more familiar Laughing Kookaburra. It has cream-coloured upper- and underparts barred with brownish markings. It has blue wings and brown shoulders and blue rump. It is sexually dimorphic, with a blue tail in the male, and a rufous tail with blackish bars in the female.\nBlue-winged Laughingthrush - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue-winged Leafbird - The male is green-bodied with a yellow-tinged head, black face and throat. It has a blue moustachial line. The female differs in that it has a greener head and blue throat, and young birds are like the female but without the blue throat patch.\nBlue-winged Macaw - It has a total length of approximately 40 cm . It has a heavy black bill, a long tail and a mainly green plumage. The upperside of the remiges and primary coverts are blue, as indicated by its common name. The underside of the wings is yellowish, the tail-tip, crown and cheeks are bluish, and the tail-base and small belly-patch are red. The iris is amber. It and the Red-bellied Macaw are the only macaws where the bare facial-skin is yellowish, but this often fades to white in captivity. Unlike the Red-bellied Macaw, the Blue-winged has a red lower abdomen and a red lower back.\nBlue-winged Minla - The Blue-winged Siva , also known as the Blue-winged Minla, is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It has in the past been placed in the genus Minla instead of the monotypic Siva.\nBlue-winged Mountain Tanager - The Blue-winged Mountain-tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\nBlue-winged Parrot - It is sexually dimorphic - the females are duller and have more green on the wings.\nBlue-winged Parrotlet - The Blue-winged Parrotlet is a small parrot found in much of South America. It includes the Turquoise-rumped Parrotlet , which sometimes is treated as a separate species. The Blue-winged Parrotlet is mainly found in lowlands, but locally up to 1200m in south-eastern Brazil. It occurs in woodland, scrub, savanna, and pastures. Flocks are usually around 20 birds but can grow to over 50 around fruiting trees or seeding grasses. It is generally common and widespread, though more localized in the Amazon Basin.\nBlue-winged Pitta - Wings spread to get warmed by the sun\nBlue-winged Teal - The Blue-winged Teal is a small dabbling duck. Its placement in Anas is by no means certain; a member of the \"blue-winged\" group also including the shovelers, it may be better placed in Spatula. It is not a teal in the strict sense, and also does not seem closely related to the Garganey as was for some time believed. Indeed, its color pattern is strikingly reminiscent of the Australasian Shoveler.\nBlue-winged Warbler - The Blue-winged Warbler, Vermivora pinus, is a fairly common New World warbler, 11.5 cm long and weighing 8.5 g. It breeds in eastern North America in southern Ontario and the eastern USA. Its range is extending northwards, where it is replacing the very closely related Golden-winged Warbler, Vermivora chrysoptera.\nBluebonnet - This species grows up to 27-35cm in length and the sexes are similar in appearance. The are usually seen in pairs or small groups feeding along roads. They breed between July and December producing 4 to 7 white eggs.\nBluethroat - It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in wet birch wood or bushy swamp in Europe and Asia with a foothold in western Alaska. It nests in tussocks or low in dense bushes. It winters in north Africa and India.\nBluish-fronted Jacamar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBluish-slate Antshrike - The Bluish-slate Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlunt-winged Warbler - It is found in Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBluntschli's vanga\nBlyth's Hawk-Eagle - The Blyth's Hawk Eagle, Nisaetus alboniger is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae.\nBlyth's Hornbill - The Papuan Hornbill is also known as Blyth's Hornbill. Its local name in Tok Pisin is kokomo. It is a large hornbill species inhabiting the forest canopy in the Wallacea and Melanesia.\nBlyth's Kingfisher - The Blyth's Kingfisher, Alcedo hercules, is a kingfisher distributed in Bangladesh, Republic of India, China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam. It is found along streams in evergreen forest and adjacent open country from 200-1,200 m, mainly at 400-1,000 m.\nBlyth's Leaf Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlyth's Olive Bulbul - The Olive Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, India, Burma, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlyth's Parakeet - The Nicobar Parakeet is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Very little is actually known about its ecology and conservation status.\nBlyth's Pipit - This is a large pipit, but is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below. It is very similar to Richard's Pipit, but is slightly smaller, shorter legs and a shorter dark bill. Its flight is strong and direct, and it gives a characteristic \"pshee\" call, higher pitched than Richard's.\nBlyth's Reed Warbler - This small passerine bird is a species found in scrub or clearings, often near water, but it is not found in marshes. 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush.\nBlyth's tragopan pheasant - Blyth’s Tragopan pheasant is the largest of all the tragopans. Like most pheasants the male is brightly colored. It is recognized by its rusty red head, yellow facial skin, and that it is spotted with small white dots on its back called ocelli. A black band extends from the base of the bill to the crown couple with another black band extends behind the eyes. Like the rest of the tragopans, males have two pale blue horns that become erect during matting . Its lappet, a decorated flap, hangs from the throat and is brightly colored. This lappet can be expanded and exposed during mating season as well . Females are not as brightly colored as the male tragopan, for they don’t need the extravagant appearance to attract a male counterpart. Overall they are dark brown with a mixture of black, buff and white mottling . Their simple and dull look is a protection mechanism from other animals. It also allows the females to protect their young that are in the early stages of life.\nBoat-billed Flycatcher - The Boat-billed Flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua, is a passerine bird. It is a large tyrant flycatcher, the only member, monotypic, of the genus Megarynchus.\nBoat-billed Heron - It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi-colonially in mangrove trees, laying 2-4 bluish white eggs in a twig nest.\nBoat-billed Tody-Tyrant - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBoat-tailed grackle - The male Boat-tailed Grackle is 42 cm long. Adult males have entirely iridescent black plumage, a long dark bill, a pale yellowish or brown iris and a long keel-shaped tail. The 37 cm long adult female is shorter tailed and tawny-brown in colour apart from the darker wings and tail.\nBob-tailed Weaver - The Bob-tailed Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Brachycope. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nBobolink - Adults are 16–18 cm long with short finch-like bills. Adult males are mostly black, although they do display creamy napes, and white scapulars, lower backs and rumps. Adult females are mostly light brown, although their coloring includes black streaks on the back and flanks, and dark stripes on the head; their wings and tails are darker. The collective name for a group of bobolinks is a chain.\nBocage's Akalat - The subspecies S. b. poensis on the island of Bioko is sometimes considered to be a separate species, Alexander's Akalat.\nBocage's Longbill - The Bocage's Longbill or São Tomé Short-tail is a species of passerine bird in the superfamily Passeroidea. It is the only member of the genus Amaurocichla. It was formerly placed in the family Sylviidae, and it appears to be close to the Motacillidae, though its relationships currently are unclear.\nBocage's Weaver - The Bocage's Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\nBocages Sunbird - The Bocage's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nBoehm's Bee Eater\nBoehm's Flycatcher - The Boehm's Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBogota Sunangel - This hummingbird is known from a single skin purchased in Bogotá in 1909. Nothing more is known of the bird, and though the skin is most commonly thought to come from either the Eastern or Central Andes of Colombia, other specimens from Bogotá have come from as far away as Ecuador. Since the bird has not been seen alive, it is assumed to have a relict population if it still survives. Some have suggested that the bird is just a hybrid, though the skin is very distinct.\nBokikokiko - The Bokikokiko is a species of warbler in the Acrocephalidae family. It is found only on Kiritimati .\nBolivian Blackbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and pastureland.\nBolivian Recurvebill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBolivian Tyrannulet - The Bolivian Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBolivian Warbling Finch - The Bolivian Warbling-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBolle - It is a resident breeder in the mountain laurisilva forest zone. Bolle's Pigeon builds a stick nest in a tree, laying one white egg.\nBonaparte's Gull - The Bonaparte's Gull is a small gull.\nBonaparte's Nightjar - Bonaparte's Nightjar , also known as the Sunda Nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBonelli's Eagle - The Bonelli's Eagle is a species of wooded, often hilly, country with some open areas. The African race prefers savannah, forest edges, cultivation, and scrub, provided there are some large trees; this is not a species of very open or densely forested habitats.\nBonin Grosbeak - The Bonin Grosbeak or Bonin Islands Grosbeak is an extinct finch, the only species of the genus Chaunoproctus. It is one of the diverse bird taxa that are vernacularly called \"grosbeaks\", but it is not closely related to the grosbeaks sensu stricto. It was a retiring, although not shy bird, and was usually found singly or in pairs. It fed on fruits and buds which were primarily picked up from the ground or low shrubs; it rarely was observed to perch in trees, being apparently rather phlegmatic and somewhat reluctant to fly. Only one kind of vocalization has been described: a soft, pure and high note, sometimes short, sometimes drawn out; sometimes given singly, sometimes in a short series.\nBonin Petrel - The Bonin Petrel is a small gadfly petrel, 30 cm long with a wingspan of around 67 cm. It has a white head with a black cap and face markings; overall the head often has a scaled appearance. Its pale grey upperparts have darker primaries and wing coverts creating a M mark across the back. The underwing is white with dark edging and a patch at the carpal joint and across underwing coverts. The tail is dark grey, and the rest of the plumage is white, except for a dark half collar on the breast. Like the rest of the Pterodroma petrels the black bill is short and hooked. The legs and feet are pink with dark patches.\nBonin Thrush - The Bonin Thrush, Bonin Islands Thrush or Kittlitz's Thrush is sometimes separated as the only species of the genus Cichlopasser. It is an extinct species of Asian thrush. The only place where this bird ever was found is Chichi-jima in the Ogasawara Islands; it might theoretically have also occurred on Anijima and Otōtojima, but this is not borne out by observations or specimens. The species was only once observed by a naturalist, its discoverer Kittlitz. He encountered the thrush in the coastal woods where it usually kept to the ground; it may have been ground-nesting. The only specimens ever taken are in the Naturalis in Leiden , the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna , the Senckenbergmuseum in Frankfurt and in the Zoological Museum, St. Petersburg .\nBonin white-eye - A distinctive feature of the bird is the white rim around the eyes, which is then surrounded by black masking. Presently its habitat is restricted to Haha-jima Island. Until several years ago it could also be found on Chichi-jima Island. Because of the bird's small range of habitat, its status is listed as \"Vulnerable\".\nBonin Wood-Pigeon - The Bonin Wood Pigeon was a medium-sized pigeon, with an average length of 45 cm. The upper parts of the Pigeon's body were greyish-black with iridescence except on wing and tail. Crown has a green-purple iridescence, mantle to rump iridescent reflecting violet, amethyst and turquoise. Scapulars and remaining mantle glossed golden green with bronze reflections; wing coverts with dark turquoise green suffused with deep blue. The uppertail of the pigeon coverts broadly tipped with golden green. Breast to belly fringed with deep green and violet iridescence, being strongest on the breast. Iris blue or probably dark blue; bill greenish yellow having a pale tip; legs and the feet were dark red.\nBooted Eagle - It breeds in southern Europe, North Africa and across Asia. It is migratory, wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This eagle lays 1-2 eggs in a tree or crag nest.\nBooted Racket-tail\nBooted Warbler - The Booted Warbler is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler group. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with Sykes' Warbler, but the two are now usually both afforded species status. Booted Warbler itself breeds from central Russia to western China, and migrates to winter in the Indian subcontinent as far south as Sri Lanka. It is a small passerine bird, found in open country with bushes and other tall vegetation. 3-4 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush or vegetation. Like most warblers they are insectivorous.\nBoran Cisticola - The Boran Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBornean Barbet - The Bornean Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBornean Bristlehead - The Bornean Bristlehead also variously known as the Bristled Shrike, Bald-headed Crow or the Bald-headed Wood-Shrike, is the only member of the passerine family Pityriaseidae and genus Pityriasis. It is an enigmatic and uncommon species of the rainforest canopy of Borneo.\nBornean Falconet\nBornean Niltava - The Bornean Blue-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBornean Peacock-Pheasant - The Bornean Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron schleiermacheri is a medium-sized, up to 50cm long, rufous brown and black spotted pheasant with an elongated crest and nape feathers, black below and bare red skin around bluish iris eye. The breast sides are metallic blue-green, bordering the white throat and central upper breast. Its twenty-two tail feathers are decorated with large blue-green ocelli, which may be spread fan-like in display. The female is smaller and duller brown than the male. It has a brown iris and no spurs on its feet.\nBornean Spiderhunter - The Bornean Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBornean Stubtail - The Bornean Stubtail is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.\nBornean Whistler - The Bornean Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.\nBornean Wren-Babbler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBotha's Lark - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and pastureland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBotteri's Sparrow - The Botteri's Sparrow, Aimophila botterii, is a medium-sized sparrow.\nBoucard's Wren\nBougainville Crow - The Bougainville Crow heavy crow, 41 cm long, with all black plumage and a massive black bill. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest up to 1600 m. At present it is a common species on Bougainville, but it might be threatened in the future by habitat loss caused by logging.\nBougainville Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBougainville Monarch - The Bougainville Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBougainville Thicketbird\nBoulder Chat - The Boulder Chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Pinarornis. It is found in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBoulton's Hill Partridge - Recent work on the species in Laojunshan Nature Reserve found that the species occurred in secondary broadleaf forest but not in settlements, coniferous plantations or farmland. The same study found that birds typically occurred between 1400 and 1800m above sea level in the reserve, and mostly on gently sloping ground close to water sources.\nBoulton's Puff-back Flycatcher - Margaret's Batis or Boulton's Batis is a species of bird in the Platysteiridae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBounty Islands Shag\nBourke's Parrot - Wildtype Bourke's Parakeet display a basically brown overall colouration with pink abdomen, pinkish breast & a blue rump. The legs are dark-brown, with zygodactyl toes. The bill is yellowish-brown. The adult male has a blue forehead while the adult female has a little or no blue on the forehead.\nBower's Shrike-thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBoyer's Cuckooshrike - The Boyer's Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBr - The Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot is a bird in the auk family . This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies Uria lomvia arra is also called Pallas' Murre after its describer.\nBrace's Emerald - Its size was 9.5 cm, the wing length 11.4 cm and length of the tail 2.7 cm. The black bill was slightly curved and conical pointed. The feet were black. The back exhibited a bronze green hue with a golden gleam. The head was similar coloured like the back with the absence of the golden gloss. Directly behind the eyes was a white spot. The throat gleamed in magnificent blue green colour hues. The abdomen had green feathers with ash-grey tips. The wings exhibited a purplish hue. The rectrices were greenish. The crissum was grey with a faint cinnamon hue at the edges.\nBradfield's Hornbill - Females are smaller than males and can be recognized by turquoise facial skin. The eyes are yellow and the beak is red. The beak is long and presents no casque.\nBradfield's Swift - The Bradfield's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.\nBradypterus alishanensis\nBradypterus bangwaensis - The Bangwa Scrub-warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Cameroon and Nigeria. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBradypterus davidi\nBrahminy Kite - The Brahminy Kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of Black Kite in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards.\nBrahminy Starling - The Brahminy Myna or Brahminy Starling is a member of the starling family of birds. It is creamy orange bird with a black cap and a slight crest. They are usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of South Asia.\nBrambling - This bird is widespread throughout the forests of northern Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering in southern Europe, north Africa, northern Pakistan, Kashmir, northern Republic of India, China and Japan.\nBran-coloured Flycatcher - This species is found in open forests and secondary growth. The deep cup nest is made of stems and bark and lined with fine plant fibers; it is suspended by the rim from a side branch low in a tree. The typical clutch is two cream-colored eggs with a rufous wreath. The female incubates for 17 days with a further 15-17 to fledging. This species is parasitized by the Shiny Cowbird.\nBrandt's cormorant - Brandt's Cormorants feed either singly or in flocks, and are adaptable in prey choice and undersea habitat. It feeds on small fish from the surface to sea floor, obtaining them, like all cormorants, by pursuit diving using its feet for propulsion. Prey is often what is most common: in central California, rockfish from the genus Sebastes is the most commonly taken, but off British Columbia, it is Pacific Herring. Brandt's Cormorant have been observed foraging at depths of over 40 feet.\nBrandt's Rosy Finch - The Black-Headed Mountain-Finch is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland.\nBrass' Friarbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrassy-breasted Tanager - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrazilia Tapaculo - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrazilian Merganser - This merganser is a dark, slender duck with a shiny dark-green hood with a long crest, which is usually shorter and more worn-looking in females. Upperparts are dark grey while the breast is light grey, getting paler toward the whitish belly, and a white wing patch is particularly noticeable in flight. It has a long thin jagged black bill with red feet and legs. Although females are smaller with a shorter bill and crest, both sexes are alike in color. The slender ducks range in size from 49 centimeters to 56 centimeters as an adult. Young Brazilian Mergansers are mainly black with white throat and breast.\nBrazilian Ruby\nBrazilian Tanager - A frugivorous bird, it's easily found in its natural biome wherever there's food enough available, tending to behave aggressively towards other species of birds when disputing for food. Can be seem in cities, as in the vicinity of the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, at the jogging track named for Cláudio Coutinho , which skirts the park at the mountain's base.\nBrazilian Teal - The ducks are light brown in colour. Drakes distinguish themselves from females in having red beaks and legs, and in having a distinctive pale grey area on the side of its head and neck. The colour of these limbs is much duller in females.\nBrazilian Tinamou - Crypturellus is formed from three Latin or Greek words. kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning tail, and ellus meaning diminutive. Therefore Crypturellus means small hidden tail.\nBrazza's Martin - This little-known bird was formerly classified as data deficient by the IUCN.\nBrehm - There are four subspecies occurring in three distinct populations:\nBrent Goose - The Brant Goose is a small goose, about 60 cm long and with a short, stubby bill. The under-tail is pure white, and the tail black and very short .\nBrewer's Blackbird - The Brewer's Blackbird is a medium-sized blackbird.\nBrewer's chipping sparrow - Adults have grey-brown backs and brown crowns, both with dark streaks, and a pale eye-ring. Their wings are brown with light wing bars and the underparts are pale grey. Their bill is pale with a dark tip and they have a long notched tail. They are similar in appearance to the Clay-colored Sparrow but do not have a pale stripe on the crown or grey neck patch.\nBridled Honeyeater - The Bridled Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\nBridled quail-dove\nBridled Sparrow - The Bridled Sparrow is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBridled tern - The Bridled Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The Atlantic subspecies melanopters breeds in Mexico, the Caribbean and west Africa; other races occur around the Arabia and in Southeast Asia and Australasia, but the exact number of valid subspecies is disputed.\nBridled Titmouse - These birds have grey upperparts and white underparts with a white face with black striping, a grey crest, a black throat, and a short stout bill.\nBridled White-eye\nBright-rumped Attila - The Bright-rumped Attila is a large tyrant flycatcher with a big head, hooked and slightly upturned bill and upright stance. It is 7 in and weighs 1.4 oz . The head is olive-green streaked with black, the back is chestnut or olive, the rump bright yellow and the tail brown. The wings are dark brown with two pale wing bars and paler feather edging. The whitish or yellow throat and yellow breast are variably streaked darker. The belly is white becoming yellow near the tail. The iris is red. The sexes are similar, but young birds have a cinnamon-fringed crown and brown eyes.\nBright-rumped Yellow Finch - The Bright-rumped Yellow-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrimstone Canary - This species is found in in open, lightly wooded habitats, such as hillsides with trees or scrub and forest edges. In South Africa it occurs mainly in coastal areas, inhabiting coastal bush, shrubs along streams, gardens, and areas with rank vegetation. It is not truly migratory, but undertakes some seasonal movements.\nBristle-crowned Starling - The Bristle-crowned Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.\nBristle-nosed Barbet - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.\nBristle-thighed curlew - The Bristle-thighed Curlew, Numenius tahitiensis, is a large shorebird that breeds in Alaska and winters on tropical Pacific islands. It has a long, decurved bill and bristled feathers at the base of the legs. Its length is about 43 cm and wingspan about 84 cm . The size and shape are the same as the Whimbrel's, and the plumage is similar, spotted brown on their upper body with a light belly and rust-colored or buffy tail. The bigger buff spots on the upper body, unmarked light belly and barely marked flanks, tail color, and pale buffy-orange rump distinguish it from the Whimbrel.\nBritish storm-petrel - It breeds on inaccessible islands in the north Atlantic and western Mediterranean, with the core population in western Ireland, northwest Scotland and the Faroe Islands, where the worldwide biggest colony breeds on the island of Nólsoy. It nests in colonies close to the sea in burrows or rock crevices. It lays a single white egg.\nBroad-billed Fairywren - The Broad-billed Fairywren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\nBroad-billed Flycatcher\nBroad-billed Hummingbird - Adults are colored predominantly a metallic green on their upperparts and breast. The undertail coverts are predominately white. The tail is darkly colored and slightly forked. The bill of the male is straight and very slender. It is red in coloration, and shows a black tip. His throat is a deep blue. The female is less colorful than the male. She usually shows a white eye stripe.\nBroad-billed Motmot - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBroad-billed Prion - The Broad-billed Prion, Pachyptila vittata, is a small seabird, but the largest Prion, with grey upperparts plumage, and white underparts. It has many other names that have been used such as Blue-billed Dove-petrel, Broad-billed Dove-petrel, Long-billed Prion, Common Prion, Icebird, and Whalebird.\nBroad-billed Roller - The Broad-billed Roller is 29-30 cm in length. It has a warm back and head, lilac foreneck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly brown. The broad bill is bright yellow. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult, with a pale breast.\nBroad-billed sandpiper - This bird's breeding habitat is wet taiga bogs in Arctic northern Europe and Siberia. The male performs an aerial display during courtship. They nest in a ground scrape, laying 4 eggs.\nBroad-billed Tody - While its close relative, the Narrow-billed Tody is more prevalent in the higher altitude areas, the Broad-billed Tody prefers lower altitude habitats. To nest, it digs into a river bank, similar to a kingfisher.\nBroad-billed Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBroad-tailed hummingbird - Male and female both have iridescent green backs and crowns and a white breast. The male has a gorget that shines with a brilliant red iridescence. The female is much duller with rust-colored, mottled flanks and underside; her tail feathers are tipped with a band of white. In flight the male's wings produce a distinct trilling sound diagnostic for this species.\nBroad-tailed Paradise-Whydah\nBroad-tipped Hermit - The Broad-tipped Hermit is a species of hummingbird found in northeast Brazil that has been placed in a monotypic genus Anopetia. It has a large range and is not endangered.\nBroad-winged Hawk - Adult birds range in size from 34 to 45 cm , weigh from 265 to 560 g and have a wingspan from 81 to 100 cm . As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Adults have dark brown upper parts and evenly spaced black and white bands on the tail. Light morphs are pale on the underparts and underwing and have thick cinnamon bars across the belly. The light morph is most likely to be confused with the Red-shouldered Hawk, but that species has a longer, more heavily barred tail and the barred wings and solid rufous color of adult Red-shoulders are usually distinctive. Dark morphs are a darker brown on both upperparts and underparts. They are much less common than the light-coloured variant. Dark-morph Short-tailed Hawks are similar but are whitish under the tail with a single subterminal band. Broad-winged Hawks' wings are relatively short and broad with a tapered, somewhat pointed appearance unique to this species.\nBrolga - The Brolga is a common gregarious wetland bird species in tropical and eastern Australia, well known for its intricate mating dance. It is the official bird emblem of the state of Queensland.\nBronze-naped Pigeon\nBronze-olive Pygmy Tyrant - The Bronze-olive Pygmy-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBronze-tailed Comet - The Bronze-tailed Comet is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Polyonymus. It is endemic to scrub and forest-edge at altitudes of 2,100-3,400 m. in the Andes of Peru.\nBronze-tailed Glossy-Starling\nBronze-tailed Peacock-Pheasant - The Bronze-tailed Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron chalcurum is also known as the Sumatran Peacock-pheasant. It is an Indonesian bird.\nBronze-tailed Plumeleteer - The nest is a deep cup of plant fibres less than 1.5 metres high in a small shrub. The female alone incubates the two white eggs.\nBronze-tailed Thornbill - The Bronze-tailed Thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBronze-winged Courser - The Bronze-winged Courser is a species of bird in the Glareolidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBronze-winged Duck - The Bronze-winged Duck , also known as the Spectacled Duck, is a dabbling duck and the sole member of its genus Speculanas. It is often placed in Anas with most other dabbling ducks, but its closest relative is either the Crested Duck or the Brazilian Duck, which likewise form monotypic genera. Together they belong to a South American lineage which diverged early from the other dabbling ducks and may include the steamer ducks.\nBronze-winged Jacana - The Bronze-winged Jacana breeds in India and southeast Asia. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. The males, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation.\nBronze-winged Parrot - It is mainly dark with a whitish chin patch and its upper chest is speckled with pink feathers. It has short red undertail feathers. The rump, tail and wings are dark blue with lighter blue underwings. The head is dark blue-green; the mantle, back and underparts are dark bronze-green with some blue tipped feathers and sometimes scattered red feathers. Its beak is pale yellow. In adults the ring of bare skin around the eyes is pink. Juveniles have whitish eyerings and their underparts are brownish.\nBronzed Cowbird - It breeds from the southern US.\nBronzed Drongo - The Bronzed Drongo is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group. They are resident in the forests of South Asia and Southeast Asia. They are very similar to the other drongos of the region but are somewhat smaller and compact with differences in the fork depth and the patterns of gloss on their feathers.\nBronzed Shag - The species is dimorphic in appearance. Roughly half the individuals are mostly dark bronze, but with white patches, similar to the King Shag; the remainder are bronze all over. The two morphs breed together indifferently. These chunky birds are 65–75 cm and weigh 1.8-3.9 kg .\nBronzy Hermit - The Bronzy Hermit is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in forests and thickets from eastern Honduras south to western Panama, and in the Chocó of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. It closely resembles the larger Rufous-breasted Hermit.\nBronzy Inca - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBronzy Jacamar - It occurs in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrooks's Leaf-Warbler - The Brooks's Leaf-Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and temperate forests.\nBrown Accentor - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBrown Babbler\nBrown booby - Their heads and backs are black, and their bellies are white. Their beaks are quite sharp and contain many jagged edges. They have short wings and long, tapered tails.\nBrown Bullfinch - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The Brown Bullfinch is a relativley smallbird with a grayish head, nape, and breast. Its diet consists of nuts and native confers. If you go to Bhutan, or Vietnam you will see the Brown Bullfinch in a pair or a group. Little is known about this species.;\nBrown Bush Warbler - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is boreal forests during breeding and subtropical and tropical forest in the winter quarters.\nBrown Cacholote\nBrown Coucal - The Andaman Coucal or Brown Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found on the Andaman Islands in India and the adjacent Coco Islands in Myanmar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBrown Crake\nBrown Cuckoo-Dove - The pigeon is from 40 to 43 centimetres in length. Its feathers are of a rich rusty-brown colour. The male will tend to have a slight rose/green colouration on their necks. It has a very long tail and short wings.\nBrown Dipper - The Brown Dipper can either feed by diving into streams to eat larger benthic organisms, or wade in shallower parts of streams and pick smaller organisms of the bottom. The adults will dive for food from December through April, which is when there are more large benthic organisms. Since this period is also the breeding season of the Brown Dipper, more food is required, so diving for large food is necessary. However, the adults will forage by wading and picking at the stream bottom for the rest of the year. Brown Dipper chicks and fledglings will also forage by diving.\nBrown Emu-tail - The Brown Emu-Tail is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found only in Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown Falcon - The Brown Falcon, Falco berigora, is a member of the falcon genus found in the drier regions of Australia. Its specific name berigora is derived from an aboriginal name for the bird.\nBrown finch - The taxonomy of the group of towhees to which this species belongs is debated. At the higher level, some authors place the towhees in the family Fringillidae. Within the genus, there has been dispute about whether the Brown Towhee is a distinct species from the California Towhee, Pipilo crissalis, found in coastal regions from Oregon and California in the United States through Baja California in Mexico. At present, molecular genetics seems to have settled this issue in favour of separation of the species.\nBrown Firefinch - It is found in Angola, Botswana, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBrown Fish Owl - The Brown Fish-owl is an owl. This species is a part of the family known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most living owls. It inhabits the warm subtropical and humid tropical parts of continental Asia and some offshore islands.\nBrown Flycatcher - Muscicapa williamsoni\nBrown Flyeater - The Brown Gerygone has a relatively large range. Although total population trends have not been quantified, it is considered of \"least concern\" by the IUCN.\nBrown Fulvetta\nBrown Goshawk - Its upperparts are grey with a chestnut collar; its underparts are mainly rufous, finely barred with white. Thus it has similar colouring to the Collared Sparrowhawk but is larger. The flight is fast and flexible. The body length is 40–55 cm; the wingspan, 75–95 cm. Adult males weigh 220 g, and adult females, 355 g. Females are noticeably larger.\nBrown Hawk-Owl - This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae.\nBrown Honeyeater - In Australia it occurs in thickets throughout much of western, northern and eastern Australia, being absent only from the coldest or wettest areas.\nBrown Hornbill - The Tickell's Brown Hornbill , also known as the Rusty-cheeked Hornbill, is a species of hornbill found in forests in southern Burma and adjacent western Thailand. It often includes the Austen's Brown Hornbill as a subspecies.\nBrown Illadopsis - The Brown Illadopsis is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown Inca\nBrown Jacamar - The Brown Jacamar is a species of bird in the Galbulidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown Jay - It occurs from Mexico south into Central America on the Gulf slope. The northernmost extent of the bird is on the Rio Grande in southern Texas, the lower region of the river called the Rio Grande Valley, .\nBrown Kiwi - The Southern Brown Kiwi, Tokoeka, or Common kiwi, Apteryx australis, is a species of kiwi from New Zealand's South Island. Until 2000 it was considered conspecific with the North Island Brown Kiwi, and still is by some authorities.\nBrown Kiwi - Until 2000, the Brown Kiwi was thought to include the Rowi and the Tokoeka, in addition to the North Island Brown Kiwi. However using genetic codes from each of the above it was determined that the Tokoeka was a separate species, it took the Apteryx australis name , leaving the Brown Kiwi with its current Apteryx mantelli name. Soon after, in 1998, more genetic tests were done with the rowi and it was determined that it was a separate species . In 2004 an injured bird was found with streaked white around the head and identified by Massey University. The white feathering is likely due to a rarely seen genetic variation sometimes described as a partial albino. Few documented cases exist with only a painting of one found in Otorohanga in the 18th century and a specimen in the Canterbury Museum. The injured bird recovered and was introduced into a breeding programme.\nBrown Lory - The Brown Lory species contains two subspecies:\nBrown Mesite - The Brown Mesite is a medium sized terrestrial bird which is often described as rail-like . The species has a plain face, marked only by a slightly contrasting fleshy eyering around a rather large eye and a variable white streak behind the eye. It has a short straight bill. The upperparts of the bird are rufus brown, the underside tawny with no barring or spotting.\nBrown Nightjar - The Brown Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, and Liberia.\nBrown noddy - Etymology: Anous is Greek for \"unmindful\" , and stolidus means \"impassive\" in Latin . The birds are often unwary and find safety in enormous numbers. To sailors, they were well known for their apparent indifference to hunters or predators.\nBrown Nunlet - It is found in the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru in a contiguous range at the eastern slopes of the Andes and the headwaters of the Amazon Basin.\nBrown Oriole - The Brown Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBrown Parrotbill - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.\nBrown Pelican - It occurs on coasts in the Americas from Washington and Virginia south to northern Chile and the mouth of the Amazon River, as well as the island of Saut d'Eau in Trinidad and Tobago. Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. After nesting, North American birds move in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter. Their young are hatched in broods of about 3, and eat around 150 lbs. of fish in the 8-10 month period they are cared for.\nBrown Prinia - The Brown Prinia is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBrown Quail - The Brown Quail is distributed in agricultural areas, wet grasslands, shrublands and freshwater wetlands across much of New Guinea and the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as in northern, eastern, south-eastern and south-western Australia and Tasmania, though absent from arid regions. This species has been introduced to Fiji and New Zealand.\nBrown Shrike - This shrike is mainly brown on the upper parts and the tail is rounded. The black mask can be paler in winter and has a white brow over it. The underside is creamy with rufous flanks and belly. The wings are brown and lack any white mirror patches. Females have fine scalloping on the underside and the mask is dark brown and not as well marked as in the male. Subspecies lucionensis has a grey crown shading into the brown upperparts and the rump appears more rufous than the rest of the upperback.\nBrown Sicklebill - The Brown Sicklebill is distributed to mountain forests of New Guinea, Its appearance resembles the closely related and larger Black Sicklebill. In areas where these two large sicklebills met, the Brown Sicklebill replaced the latter species in higher altitudes. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, arthropods and small animals.\nBrown Skua - The Brown Skua , also known as the Antarctic Skua, Southern Great Skua, Southern Skua, or Hākoakoa , is a seabird that breeds in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic zones and moves further north when not breeding. Its taxonomy is highly complex and a matter of dispute, with some splitting it into two or three species: Falkland Skua , Tristan Skua , and Subantarctic Skua . To further confuse, it hybridizes with both the South Polar and Chilean Skuas, and the entire group have been considered subspecies of the Great Skua, a species otherwise restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. It feeds on fish , small mammals, scraps, chicks, eggs and carrion.\nBrown Snake Eagle\nBrown Songlark - The Brown Songlark was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield as Megalurus cruralis in 1827. However the specific name of the former authors took priority. It is a species of Sylviidae, the Old World Warblers, a successful passerine family. It shares the genus Cincloramphus with the Rufous Songlark, another species endemic to much of Australia.\nBrown Tanager - The Brown Tanager is c. 17 cm in length and weighs c. 31.5 g. As suggested by its name, the plumage is overall brown. The bill is relatively thick. It is endemic to humid Atlantic forest of south-eastern Brazil at altitudes of 900-1500 m . It forages in the canopy and is typically seen in pairs. It is generally uncommon, but known from several protected areas, such as the Itatiaia National Park.\nBrown Teal - The Brown Teal or New Zealand Teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. The Māori name for it is Pāteke. It was considered to be conspecific with the flightless Auckland Island and Campbell Island Teals in Anas aucklandica; the name \"Brown Teal\" was applied to that entire taxon. The Brown Teal has since been split, recognizing that the insular A. aucklandica and A. nesiotis are good species. In international use, the name Brown Teal is still more common than New Zealand Teal for this bird.\nBrown Thornbill - The Brown Thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla, is a passerine bird usually found in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It can grow up to 10 cm long, and feeds on insects.\nBrown Thrasher - The Brown Thrasher is bright reddish-brown above with thin, dark streaks on its buffy underparts. Its long rufous tail is rounded with paler corners. Adults average about 11.5 in in length with a wingspan of 13 in , and have an average mass of 2.4 oz .\nBrown Tinamou - The Brown Tinamou is a dumpy, brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America.\nBrown Tit-Babbler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown Treecreeper - Two subspecies, C. picumnus picumnus and C. picumnus victoriae, have been identified. The Brown Treecreeper is considered a \"least concern\" species by the IUCN, while the subspecies victoriae, found in New South Wales, is considered threatened by Australian authorities.\nBrown Trembler - It is found in the Lesser Antilles where it breeds on Saba, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica and St. Vincent. It formerly occurred on St. Eustatius. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown Twinspot - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,200,000 km². The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBrown Violetear - The breeding habitat is forest at altitudes between 400-1600 m, but the Brown Violet-ear will spread widely into the lowlands when not nesting. It is replaced at higher altitudes by its relative, the Green Violetear , but their ranges overlap widely.\nBrown Warbler - The Brown Warbler Sylvia lugens is a typical warbler found in Africa.\nBrown Wood Owl - The Brown Wood Owl is medium large , with upperparts uniformly dark brown, with faint white spotting on the shoulders. The underparts are buff with brown streaking. The facial disc is brown or rufous, edged with white and without concentric barring, and the eyes are dark brown. There is a white neckband. The sexes are similar.\nBrown Wood Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown Woodland Warbler - The Brown Woodland-Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrown-and-yellow Marshbird - The Brown-and-yellow Marshbird is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are swamps and pastureland.\nBrown-backed Chat-Tyrant - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-backed Honeyeater\nBrown-backed Mockingbird - The Brown-backed Mockingbird is a species of bird in the Mimidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, pastureland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-backed Munia - It is found in moist savanna and subtropical/ tropical lowland moist forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBrown-backed Needletail - These birds have very short legs which they use only mainly for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground and spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks.\nBrown-backed Paradise Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-backed Solitaire - It is relatively common in the mountains of Mexico and northern Central America. It tends to be found in semi-deciduous mountain forests, including mixed pine-oak forests. It is often found near streams.\nBrown-backed Whistler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-banded Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-banded Puffbird - It is found in Amazon Basin areas of Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru; also the Orinoco River region of Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-banded Rail - The Brown-banded Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\nBrown-bellied Antwren - The Brown-bellied Antwren is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It was formerly placed in the genus Myrmotherula. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-bellied Swallow - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.\nBrown-billed Scythebill - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-breasted Bamboo-Tyrant - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-breasted Barbet - The Brown-breasted Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, and Tanzania.\nBrown-breasted Flycatcher - The Brown-breasted Flycatcher or Layard's Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The species breeds in north eastern India, central and Southern China and northern Burma and Thailand, and migrates to southern India and Sri Lanka.\nBrown-capped Fantail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-capped Laughingthrush - It is found in India and Myanmar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-capped Redstart - The Brown-capped Redstart , or, more accurately, the Brown-capped Whitestart, is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is found in humid Andean forests and woodlands in Bolivia and north-western Argentina. It sometimes includes the Tepui Redstart as a subspecies.\nBrown-capped Tit-Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBrown-capped Tyrannulet - The Brown-capped Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-capped Vireo - The Brown-capped Vireo, Vireo leucophrys, is a small passerine bird. It breeds in highlands from southern Mexico south to northwestern Bolivia. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the similar Warbling Vireo.\nBrown-capped Weaver\nBrown-cheeked Fulvetta - This species is one of those retained in the genus Alcippe after the true fulvettas and some others were removed; the group had turned out to unite quite unrelated birds. Its closest relatives are probably the Brown Fulvetta, and the Black-browed Fulvetta which was only recently recognized as a distinct species again. The Javan Fulvetta and the Nepal Fulvetta might also belong into this group.\nBrown-cheeked Hornbill - The Brown-cheeked Hornbill is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, plantations , and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-cheeked Laughingthrush - The binomial name of this bird commemorates Prince Henri of Orléans.\nBrown-chested Alethe - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-chested Barbet - The bird is sexually dimorphic, slightly medium sized, brownish, with a wide-black face mask centered on the eyes; it has a goldish crown, stout bill, and the cinnamon-colored upper breast patch.\nBrown-chested Lapwing - The Brown-chested Lapwing is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is found in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.\nBrown-chested Martin - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, and is a vagrant to Chile and the Malvinas . Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-collared Brush-turkey - The Collared Brush-turkey or Brown-collared Brush-turkey is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-crested Flycatcher - Adult Brown-crested Flycatchers are 20.3cm long and weigh 30g, and have heavy bills. The upperparts are olive brown, with a darker head and short crest. The breast is grey and the belly is lemon yellow. The brown tail feathers has rufous inner webs, the remiges have rufous outer webs, and there are two dull wing bars. The sexes are similar.\nBrown-crowned Tchagra\nBrown-eared Bulbul - Species: Hypsipetes amaurotis Ixos amaurotis Turdus amaurotis Temminck, 1830\nBrown-eared Pheasant - The rarest member in the genus Crossoptilon, its diet consists mainly of roots, bulbs and plant matters. The female lays five to eight large eggs. The eggs are pale stone green in color and take 28 days to hatch.\nBrown-eared Woodpecker - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.\nBrown-flanked Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-fronted Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-headed Barbet - The Brown-headed Barbet is a resident breeder in India and Sri Lanka. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit and insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2-4 eggs.\nBrown-headed Cowbird - They resemble New World orioles in general shape but have a finch-like head and beak. Adults have a short finch-like bill and dark eyes. The adult male is mainly iridescent black with a brown head. The adult female is grey with a pale throat and fine streaking on the underparts.\nBrown-headed Crow - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-headed Greenlet - The Brown-headed Greenlet is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrown-headed Gull - The Brown-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus, is a small gull which breeds in the high plateaux of central Asia from Turkmenistan to Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering on the coasts and large inland lakes of tropical southern Asia. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\nBrown-headed Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBrown-headed Parrot - The yellow under its wings explains its name cryptoxanthus, which means \"hidden yellow\"; from Greek xanthos or ξανθος means \"yellow\", and \"crypto\", from the Greek kryptos, is an English prefix that means \"hidden\" or \"secret\".\nBrown-hooded Gull - The Brown-hooded Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\nBrown-hooded Kingfisher - Male in tree\nBrown-necked Raven - This species has a wide range across virtually the whole of North Africa, down as far as Kenya, the Arabian peninsula and up into the Greater Middle East and southern Iran. It lives in a predominantly desert environment visiting oases and palm groves.\nBrown-rumped Bunting - The Brown-rumped Bunting is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-rumped Foliage-gleaner - The Brown-rumped Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBrown-rumped Minivet\nBrown-rumped Seedeater - Length 13 cm. This is a drab uniform grey-brown canary with a small white supercillium. It has a plain breast with white under the chin. The the uniformity of its drabnes means it's eponymous 'brown rump' is often not apparent.\nBrown-rumped Tapaculo\nBrown-tailed Chat - The Brown-tailed Chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrown-throated Barbet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-throated Parakeet - The Brown-throated Parakeet is mostly green, with the lowerparts being a lighter green than the upperparts. Black/grey beak. Some blue in the wing feathers. Brown throat. Head and face colours depend on the subspecies.\nBrown-throated Treecreeper - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBrown-throated Wattle-eye - This species breeds in west, central and northeast tropical Africa. This common species is found in secondary forest and other woodland areas, including gardens. The eggs are laid in a small neat lichen and cobweb cup low in a tree or bush.\nBrown-winged Kingfisher - The Brown-winged Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar, Republic of India and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-winged Parrotbill - It is found in China and Myanmar.\nBrown-winged Starling - The Brown-winged Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrownish Elaenia - The Brownish Elaenia is found in the central Amazon Basin, along the Amazon River, in contiguous river corridors, about 125 km wide. Downstream in the east, the bird's range starts at the confluence of the Xingu River in the south of Pará state, North Region, Brazil; it ranges upstream on the Xingu for 700 km, then a tributary to the west of the Xingu, the Rio Iriri, for another 700 km.\nBrownish Flycatcher - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrownish-flanked Bush-Warbler - It is found in South Asia.\nBrubru - Its habitat is dry open woodland, but varies geographically. The six northern races and the subspecies N. a. brubru of southern Africa are found in acacia and broadleaved woodland, whereas the three subspecies in a belt from northeastern Angola and northern Namibia east to Tanzania and northern Mozambique occur in Brachystegia miombo woodland.\nBruijn's Brush-turkey - An Indonesian endemic, Bruijn's Brush-turkey occurs in mountain forests on Waigeo Island of West Papua.\nBrush Bronzewing - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBrush Cuckoo - The Brush Cuckoo is native to the east coast of Australia and northern New Guinea. It is grey-brown with a buff breast and its call is very familiar of the Australian bush.\nBrushland Tinamou - The Brushland Tinamou, Nothoprocta cinerascens, is a type of Tinamou commonly found in high altitude dry shrubland in subtropical and tropical regions of southern South America.\nBubbling Cisticola - The Bubbling Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.\nBucorvus cafer - The Southern Ground-hornbill or cafer , is one of two species of ground-hornbill and is the largest species of hornbill.\nBudgerigar - The budgerigar is closely related to the lories and the fig parrots. Although budgerigars are often, especially in American English, called parakeets, this term refers to any of a number of small parrots with long flat tails.\nBuff-banded Grassbird - The Buff-banded Bushbird is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.\nBuff-banded Rail - The Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the family Rallidae.\nBuff-banded Tyrannulet - The Buff-banded Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBuff-bellied Dove - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-bellied Hermit\nBuff-bellied hummingbird - Adults are a metallic olive green above and buffy in the lower breast. The tail and primary wings are rufous in color and slightly forked. The underwing is white. The bill of the male is straight and very slender. It is red in coloration with a darker tip. The throat is a metallic golden green. The female has a dark upper bill, and is less colorful than the male.\nBuff-bellied Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBuff-bellied Puffbird - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBuff-bellied Tanager - The Buff-bellied Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBuff-bellied Warbler\nBuff-breasted Buttonquail - The Buff-breasted Buttonquail measures from 18-23 inches and usually weighs over 110 grams . Both the tail and wings are short. The back is chestnut. The sides of the head are marked with chestnut on an otherwise plain gray head; while the breast is warm buff-colored. The Painted Buttonquail and the Brown Quail both coexist with this species. The Buff-breasted is larger than either and is quite different different from the all-dark quail. The Painted species is almost totally mottled, with bold white spotting on the breast and no warm buff coloration. The most similar species to the Buff-breasted is the Chestnut-backed Buttonquail, which does not overlap in the wild.\nBuff-breasted Earthcreeper - The Buff-breasted Earthcreeper is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBuff-breasted flycatcher - Adults have olive gray upperparts, and darker coloration on the wings and tail; they have a conspicuous white eye ring, white wing bars, a small bill and a short tail. The breast of this species is very distinctive, washed with a strong orange buff color.\nBuff-breasted Mountain Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBuff-breasted Sabrewing - The Buff-Breasted Sabrewing is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBuff-breasted Sandpiper - T. subruficollis breeds in the open arctic tundra of North America and is a very long-distance migrant, wintering mainly in South America, especially Argentina.\nBuff-breasted Tody-Tyrant - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-breasted Wren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBuff-bridled Inca Finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBuff-browed Chachalaca - The Buff-browed Chachalaca is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found only in Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-browed Foliage-gleaner\nBuff-browed Warbler - Phylloscopus inornatus humei Phylloscopus inornatus mandellii Phylloscopus mandellii\nBuff-cheeked Greenlet - The Buff-cheeked Greenlet is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBuff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher - The Buff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.\nBuff-chested Babbler - The Buff-chested Babbler is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBuff-collared nightjar - The adults are dark with brown, grey, black, and white patterning on the upperparts and breast. The tail is dark brown, with darker finely barred markings throughout. The male has large white outer tail tips on the 3 outermost tail feathers. The female has buffy tail tips. The most distinguishing characteristic to determine its identity from its closest relative the Whip-poor-will is from where the bird gets its name. It shows a prominent buff-colored collar around its neck and nape. Its song is also very different. It sounds like an accelerating cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cukacheea.\nBuff-crested Bustard - The Buff-crested Bustard is a species of bird in the Otididae family. It is found in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\nBuff-faced Pygmy Parrot - Little-studied, it is known mainly for being the world's smallest parrot,\nBuff-faced Sericornis - It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBuff-fronted Foliage-gleaner - The Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family, the ovenbirds. It is found in southeastern regions of South America in the cerrado and pantanal of Brazil and Paraguay as well as areas of southeast coastal Brazil; also extreme northeast Argentina. In western Andean and northwest South America, it is found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia; and in the northwest, it is also found in Panama and Costa Rica.\nBuff-fronted Owl - This nocturnal bird breeds in open mountain forests, laying its eggs in a tree hole. It takes rodents and other small mammals as its main prey, but will also feed on birds and insects.\nBuff-headed Coucal - This species is a large cuckoo with a heavy bill and short wings. The plumage of adults is striking with a buff head, upper back and undersides, and glossy black wings, lower back and tail. The iris is red and legs and bill are dark grey. Juveniles are very differently colored, with the wings and tail reddish brown with black barring somewhat like in the allopatric Pheasant Coucal, and the rest of the plumage brown mottled with black. The iris is brown-grey and the bill is bicolored, brown above and pale horn below.\nBuff-necked Ibis - It has a total length of approximately 75 centimetres . The neck is buffish, the upperparts are grey, the belly and flight feathers are black, and there is a large white patch in the wings. In flight, where the relatively short legs do no extend beyond the tail , the white patch forms a broad white band on the upperwing that separates the black remiges and the grey lesses wing-coverts. The bill and bare skin around the eyes are blackish and the legs are red.\nBuff-necked Woodpecker - The Buff-necked Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-rumped Warbler - The pair builds a bulky domed nest with a side entrance on a sloping bank next to a stream or path, and the female lays two white eggs which are incubated for 16–17 days with another 13–14 days to fledging.\nBuff-rumped Woodpecker - The Buff-rumped Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBuff-spotted Flufftail\nBuff-spotted Woodpecker - The Buff-spotted Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBuff-throated Apalis\nBuff-throated Foliage-gleaner - It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBuff-throated Purpletuft - It is endemic to Atlantic forest in Brazil. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBuff-throated Saltator - This is the type species of Saltator. Consequently, it and its closest allies would retain the genus name when this apparently polyphyletic group is eventually split up.\nBuff-throated Sunbird - The Buff-throated Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.\nBuff-throated Tody-Tyrant\nBuff-throated Treehunter - The Peruvian Treehunter or Buff-throated Treehunter is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBuff-throated Warbler - It is found in China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBuff-vented Bulbul\nBuff-winged Starfrontlet - The Buff-Winged Starfrontlet is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBufflehead - The Bufflehead is a small American sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Anas albeola.\nBuffy Fish-Owl\nBuffy Hummingbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBuffy Pipit - The Buffy Pipit is a species of bird in the Motacillidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.\nBuffy Tuftedcheek - It occurs as a resident breeder above 1600 m in wet mountain forests with many epiphytes. The female lays one white egg in a thickly lined old woodpecker nest. One parent, probably the female, incubates the single white egg for 29 days to hatching, covering the egg with leaves when she leaves the nest.\nBuffy-crowned Wood-Partridge\nBuffy-throated Seedeater - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBugler swan - Males typically measure from 145 to 163 centimetres and weigh 11.8 kilograms ; females typically range from 139 to 150 centimetres and weigh 10 kilograms . The average wingspan is 2.03 metres . It is rivaled in size among waterfowl only by the introduced Mute Swan, which is native to Eurasia, but the Trumpeter usually is longer-bodied. Exceptionally large male Trumpeters can reach a length of 183 centimetres , a wingspan of 3 metres and a weight of 17.2 kilograms . The Trumpeter Swan is closely related to the Whooper Swan of Eurasia, and even has been considered the same species by some authorities.\nBull-headed Shrike - It is 19-20 cm long. The male has a brown crown, white eyebrow and black mask. The back is grey-brown while the wings are dark with a white patch. The flanks are rufous and the rest of the underparts are whitish with fine barring. Females are similar but duller and browner with a brown mask and no white wing-patch. The species has harsh grating and chattering calls and will also mimic other birds.\nBuller's Albatross - Mollymawks are a type of Albatross that belong to Diomedeidae family and come from the Procellariiformes order, along with Shearwaters, Fulmars, Storm-petrels, and Diving-petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nostrils on the Albatross are on the sides of the bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.\nBullock's Oriole - Adults have a pointed bill. The adult male is orange on the underparts, face and rump with black everywhere else; they have a white wing patch. The adult female is grey-brown on the upper parts, dull yellow on the breast and belly and has wing bars.\nBulwer's petrel - This very long-winged petrel is 25-29 cm in length with a 78-90 cm wingspan. It has mainly brown plumage and a long pointed tail. It has a buoyant twisting flight as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface.\nBulwer's Pheasant - Bulwer's Pheasant is sexually dimorphic. Males have a total length of about 80 centimetres , and are black-plumaged with a maroon breast, crimson legs, a pure white tail of long, curved feathers, and bright blue facial skin with two wattles that conceal the sides of its head. Females have a total length of about 55 centimetres , and are an overall dull brown colour with red legs and blue facial skin.\nBulweria bifax\nBumblebee hummingbird - The Bumblebee Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Mexico and the United States. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBurchell - Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey by running on the ground.\nBurchell's Glossy-Starling\nBurchell's Sandgrouse - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBurmese Shrike - The Burmese Shrike is a species of bird in the Laniidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBurmese Yuhina\nBurnished-buff Tanager - It is found in the northern Guianas, most of Venezuela and east-central Colombia; also near the Amazon River outlet in Brazil, as well as most of the east of that country, Paraguay and northeast Argentina. It also occurs very locally in Bolivia and Peru. It can be seen in virtually any semi-open habitat with trees, including human-altered habitats such as gardens, plantations and parks.\nBurnt-neck Eremomela - The Burnt-Neck Eremomela is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBurrowing Owl - Strix cunicularia Molina, 1782 Speotyto cunicularia Spheotyto cunicularia\nBurrowing Parrot - It is mainly found in Argentina. A very much reduced population still survives in Chile, and migration of some Argentine populations to Uruguay has been reported for the winter months. Sometimes strong westerly winds bring some individuals as far as the Falkland Islands.\nBuru Cuckoo-shrike - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuru Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBuru Racquet-tailed Parrot - The Buru Racket-tail is a mainly green parrot about 32 cm long. The beak is blackish and lighter at the base, and the long undertail-coverts are yellow. The adult male has blue upper-parts from the back of its head to mid-back and which extends into the upper surfaces of the forewings. The female has a small area of blue on the nape. Juveniles do not have racket-shaped tail feathers. The male juvenile has a little blue on the nape and the female juvenile has all-green upper-parts.\nBuru Thrush - The Buru Thrush is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is endemic to montane rainforest on Buru in Indonesia. Traditionally, it included the Seram Thrush as a subspecies, in which case the common name of the 'combined species' was Moluccan Thrush.\nBuru White-eye - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBush Petronia\nBush Thick-knee - Like most stone-curlews, it is mainly nocturnal and specialises in hunting small grassland animals: frogs, spiders, insects, molluscs, crustaceans, snakes, lizards and small mammals are all taken, mostly gleaned or probed from soft soil or rotting wood; also a few seeds or tubers, particularly in drought years. Birds usually forage individually or in pairs over a large home range, particularly on moonlit nights.\nBush Wren - It was widespread throughout the main islands of the country until the late 19th century when mustelids were introduced and joined rats as invasive mammalian predators. The only authenticated reports of the North Island subspecies since 1900 were from the southern Rimutaka Range in 1918 and the Ureweras up to 1955, with probable sightings on June 13, 1949, near Lake Waikareiti, and several times in the first half of the 20th century in the Huiarau Range, and from Kapiti Island in 1911 . Apparently, the last population lived in the area where Te Urewera National Park was established, ironically just around the time of its extinction.\nBushtit - The Bushtit inhabits mixed open woodlands, often containing oaks and a scrubby understory. It is a year-round resident of the western United States and highland parts of Mexico, ranging from Vancouver through the Great Basin and the lowlands and foothills of California to southern Mexico and Guatemala.","Fun facts about the Badger - Badger Facts and Information ...\nThey have even been known to eat rattlesnakes ... which has given it its name. Omnivorous, like other badgers, ... The Honey Badger (Mellivora Capensis), or Ratel, ...\nFun facts about the Badger - Badger Facts and Information - The Jungle Store\nSee more Animal Facts\nBadger\nThere are 7 different species of Badger found across 4 continents. This nocturnal omnivore can be found in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa and share the distinction of being incredibly strong for their size, and the world’s fastest diggers. All badgers have a low slung body, shovel-shaped head and strong, sharp claws. Most are dark gray or black with distinctive white stripes down their face and sides. They all prefer sandy, porous soil and dig extensive tunnels and burrows which are called setts.\nThe American Badger (Taxadea Taxus) is the most carnivorous of the species, using their stellar digging skills to unearth chipmunks, ground hogs and rabbits. They have even been known to eat rattlesnakes and, during the winter, will feed on carrion. The American Badger is the least social of the badger species, preferring a solitary existence. Occasionally, American Badgers have been known to share their setts with coyotes and foxes, and in one case, a lost child. The badger seemed to adopt the boy, bringing him food and keeping him safe. Although a determined fighter, the American Badger does leave its territory undefended against other badgers if the hunting is good.\nThe Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) has a territory that extends throughout Europe and Asia, from England to Japan, from Scandinavia to Italy. They are far more social than their American cousins and generations will share the same sett and territory. Some of these “family” burrows are believed to be at least 100 years old and one comprised a network of tunnels measuring over 1017 feet. The Eurasian Badger enjoys a more omnivorous diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains as well as some meat.\nThe Hog Badger (Arctonyx Collaris) stakes his claim to most of Asia and is closest in appearance to the Eurasian Badger. The main difference between the two is the Hog Badger’s hairless, pig-like snout, which has given it its name. Omnivorous, like other badgers, this fellow not only uses its claws, but its snouts as well to dig up earthworms, roots and tubers. The Hog Badger, or Sand Badger as it is sometimes called, is more apt to dine on insects and vegetables than on small mammals.\nThe Honey Badger (Mellivora Capensis), or Ratel, is not considered a “True” badger at all. It is the most visually diverse of the badger family, with a solid light gray coat on its upper body and long tail, and a solid black coat on its lower body. It lives primarily in Africa and the Middle East. Considered to be quite fierce, the Honey Badger frequently dines on poisonous snakes. The badger shares its taste for honey with the Honey Guide, a bird who finds a colony of bees and leads the badger to it. Once there, the Honey Badger’s thick pelt allows it to ignore the angry swarm, rip open the hive, and share the honey with the bird.\nFun Badger Facts","Wild_boar.txt\nWild boar\nThe wild boar (Sus scrofa), also known as the wild swineHeptner, V. G. ; Nasimovich, A. A. ; Bannikov, A. G. ; Hoffman, R. S. (1988) [https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsovietu11988gept#page/18/mode/2up Mammals of the Soviet Union], Volume I, Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation, pp. 19-82 or Eurasian wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia, North Africa, and the Greater Sunda Islands. Human intervention has spread its range further, making the species one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widely spread suiform. Its wide range, high numbers, and adaptability mean that it is classed as least concern by the IUCN. The animal probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene, and outcompeted other suid species as it spread throughout the Old World.\n\nAs of 2005, up to 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height and lacrimal bone length. The species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young (both male and female). Fully grown males are usually solitary outside of the breeding season. The grey wolf is the wild boar's main predator throughout most of its range except in the Far East and the Lesser Sunda Islands, where it is replaced by the tiger and Komodo dragon respectively.Baskin, L. & Danell, K. (2003), Ecology of Ungulates: A Handbook of Species in Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia, Springer Science & Business Media, pp. 15-38, ISBN 3-540-43804-1 It has a long history of association with humans, having been the ancestor of most domestic pig breeds and a big-game animal for millennia.\n\nTerminology \n\nAs true wild boars became extinct in Britain before the development of modern English, the same terms are often used for both true wild boar and pigs, especially large or semiwild ones. The English 'boar' stems from the Old English bar, which is thought to be derived from the West Germanic *bairaz, of unknown origin. Boar is sometimes used specifically to refer to males, and may also be used to refer to male domesticated pigs, especially breeding males that have not been castrated.\n\n'Sow', the traditional name for a female, again comes from Old English and Germanic; it stems from Proto-Indo-European, and is related to the Latin sus and Greek hus and more closely to the modern German Sau. The young may be called 'piglets'.\n\nThe animals' specific name scrofa is Latin for 'sow'. \nIn hunting terminology, boars are given different designations according to their age: \n\nTaxonomy and evolution \n\nMtDNA studies indicate that the wild boar originated from islands in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and the Philippines, and subsequently spread onto mainland Eurasia and North Africa.Chen, K. et al. \"Genetic Resources, Genome Mapping and Evolutionary Genomics of the Pig (Sus scrofa)\". Int J Biol Sci 2007; 3(3):153-165. doi:10.7150/ijbs.3.153. Available from http://www.ijbs.com/v03p0153.htm The earliest fossil finds of the species come from both Europe and Asia, and date back to the Early Pleistocene.Ruvinsky, A. et al. (2011). \"Systematics and evolution of the pig\". In: Ruvinsky A, Rothschild MF (eds), The Genetics of the Pig. 2nd ed. CAB International, Oxon. pp. 1-13. ISBN 978-1-84593-756-0 By the late Villafranchian, S. scrofa largely displaced the related S. strozzii, a large, possibly swamp-adapted suid ancestral to the modern S. verrucosus throughout the Eurasian mainland, restricting it to insular Asia.Kurtén, Björn (1968). Pleistocene mammals of Europe. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 153-155 Its closest wild relative is the bearded pig of Malacca and surrounding islands.\n\nSubspecies \n\n, 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings:\n\n* Western: Includes S. s. scrofa, S. s. meridionalis, S. s. algira, S. s. attila, S. s. lybicus, and S. s. nigripes. These subspecies are typically high-skulled (though lybicus and some scrofa are low-skulled), with thick underwool and (excepting scrofa and attila) poorly developed manes. \n* Indian: Includes S. s. davidi and S. s. cristatus. These subspecies have sparse or absent underwool, with long manes and prominent bands on the snout and mouth. While S. s. cristatus is high-skulled, S. s. davidi is low-skulled.\n* Eastern: Includes S. s. sibiricus, S. s. ussuricus, S. s. leucomystax, S. s. riukiuanus, S. s. taivanus, and S. s. moupinensis. These subspecies are characterised by a whitish streak extending from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw. With the exception of S. s. ussuricus, most are high-skulled. The underwool is thick, except in S. s. moupinensis, and the mane is largely absent.\n* Indonesian: Represented solely by S. s. vittatus, it is characterised by its sparse body hair, lack of underwool, fairly long mane, a broad reddish band extending from the muzzle to the sides of the neck. It is the most basal of the four groups, having the smallest relative brain size, more primitive dentition and unspecialised cranial structure. \n\nDomestication \n\nWith the exception of domestic pigs in Timor and Papua New Guinea (which appear to be of Sulawesi warty pig stock), the wild boar is the ancestor of most pig breeds. Archaeological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated from wild boar as early as 13,000–12,700 BC in the Near East in the Tigris Basin being managed in the wild in a way similar to the way they are managed by some modern New Guineans. Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 BC in Cyprus. Those animals must have been introduced from the mainland, which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then. There was also a separate domestication in China which took place about 8000 years ago. DNA evidence from sub-fossil remains of teeth and jawbones of Neolithic pigs shows that the first domestic pigs in Europe had been brought from the Near East. This stimulated the domestication of local European wild boar resulting in a third domestication event with the Near Eastern genes dying out in European pig stock. Modern domesticated pigs have involved complex exchanges, with European domesticated lines being exported in turn to the ancient Near East. Historical records indicate that Asian pigs were introduced into Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Domestic pigs tend to have much more developed hindquarters than their wild boar ancestors, to the point where 70% of their body weight is concentrated in the posterior, which is the opposite of wild boar, where most of the muscles are concentrated on the head and shoulders. \n\nPhysical description \n\nThe wild boar is a bulky, massively built suid with short and relatively thin legs. The trunk is short and massive, while the hindquarters are comparatively underdeveloped. The region behind the shoulder blades rises into a hump, and the neck is short and thick, to the point of being nearly immobile. The animal's head is very large, taking up to one third of the body's entire length. The structure of the head is well suited for digging. The head acts as a plow, while the powerful neck muscles allow the animal to upturn considerable amounts of soil: it is capable of digging 8 - into frozen ground and can upturn rocks weighing 40 -. The eyes are small and deep-set, and the ears long and broad. The species has well developed canine teeth, which protrude from the mouths of adult males. The middle hooves are larger and more elongated than the lateral ones, and are capable of quick movements. The animal can run at a maximum speed of 40 km/h and jump at a height of 140 -. Sexual dimorphism is very pronounced in the species, with males being typically 5-10% larger and 20-30% heavier than females. Males also sport a mane running down the back, which is particularly apparent during autumn and winter. The canine teeth are also much more prominent in males, and grow throughout life. The upper canines are relatively short and grow sideways early in life, though gradually curve upwards. The lower canines are much sharper and longer, with the exposed parts measuring 10 - in length. In the breeding period, males develop a coating of subcutaneous tissue, which may be 2 - thick, extending from the shoulder blades to the rump, thus protecting vital organs during fights. Males sport a roughly egg-sized sack near the opening of the penis, which collects urine and emits a sharp odour. The purpose of this is not fully understood.\n\nAdult size and weight is largely determined by environmental factors; boars living in arid areas with little productivity tend to attain smaller sizes than their counterparts inhabiting areas with abundant food and water. In most of Europe, males average 75 - in weight, 75 - in shoulder height and 150 cm in body length, whereas females average 60 - in weight, 70 cm in shoulder height and 140 cm in body length. In Europe's Mediterranean regions, males may reach average weights as low as 50 kg and females 45 kg, with shoulder heights of 63 -. In the more productive areas of Eastern Europe, males average 110 - in weight, 95 cm in shoulder height and 160 cm in body length, while females weigh 95 kg, reach 85 - in shoulder height and 145 cm in body length. In Western and Central Europe, the largest males weigh 200 kg and females 120 kg. In Eastern Europe, large males can reach brown bear-like sizes, weighing 270 kg and measuring 110 - in shoulder height. Some adult males in Ussuriland and Manchuria have been recorded to weigh 300 - and measure 125 cm in shoulder height. Adults of this size are generally immune from wolf predation. Such giants are rare in modern times, due to past overhunting preventing animals from attaining their full growth.\n\nThe winter coat consists of long, coarse bristles underlaid with short brown downy fur. The length of these bristles varies along the body, with the shortest being around the face and limbs and the longest running along the back. These back bristles form the aforementioned mane prominent in males, and stand erect when the animal is agitated. Colour is highly variable; specimens around Lake Balkhash are very lightly coloured, and can even be white, while some boars from Belarus and Ussuriland can be black. Some subspecies sport a light coloured patch running backwards from the corners of the mouth. Coat colour also varies with age, with piglets having light brown or rusty-brown fur with pale bands extending from the flanks and back.\n\nThe wild boar produces a number of different sounds which are divided into three categories:\n\n* Contact calls: Grunting noises which differ in intensity according to the situation. Adult males are usually silent, while females frequently grunt and piglets whine. When feeding, boars express their contentment through purring. Studies have shown that piglets imitate the sounds of their mother, thus different litters may have unique vocalisations.\n* Alarm calls: Warning cries emitted in response to threats. When frightened, boars make loud huffing ukh! ukh! sounds or emit screeches transcribed as gu-gu-gu.\n* Combat calls: High-pitched, piercing cries.\n\nIts sense of smell is very well developed, to the point that the animal is used for drug detection in Germany. Its hearing is also acute, though its eyesight is comparatively weak, lacking colour vision and being unable to recognise a standing human 10–15 metres away.\n\nPigs are one of four known mammalian species which possess mutations in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor that protect against snake venom. Mongooses, honey badgers, hedgehogs, and pigs all have modifications to the receptor pocket which prevents the snake venom α-neurotoxin from binding. These represent four separate, independent mutations. \n\nSocial behaviour and life cycle \n\nBoars are typically social animals, living in female-dominated sounders consisting of barren sows and mothers with young led by an old matriarch. Male boars leave their sounder at the age of 8–15 months, while females either remain with their mothers or establish new territories nearby. Subadult males may live in loosely knit groups, while adult and elderly males tend to be solitary outside the breeding season. \n\nThe breeding period in most areas lasts from November to January, though most mating only lasts a month and a half. Prior to mating, the males develop their subcutaneous armour, in preparation for confronting rivals. The testicles double in size and the glands secrete a foamy yellowish liquid. Once ready to reproduce, males travel long distances in search of a sounder of sows, eating little on the way. Once a sounder has been located, the male drives off all young animals and persistently chases the sows. At this point, the male fiercely fights potential rivals, A single male can mate with 5-10 sows. By the end of the rut, males are often badly mauled and have lost 20% of their body weight. Injuries to the penis are common. The gestation period varies according to the age of the expecting mother. For first time breeders, it lasts 114–130 days, while it lasts 133–140 days in older sows. Farrowing occurs between March and May, with litter sizes depending on the age and nutrition of the mother. The average litter consists of 4-6 piglets, with the maximum being 10-12. The piglets are whelped in a nest constructed from twigs, grasses and leaves. Should the mother die prematurely, the piglets are adopted by the other sows in the sounder. \n\nNewborn piglets weigh around 600-1,000 grams, lacking underfur and bearing a single milk incisor and canine on each half of the jaw. There is intense competition between the piglets over the most milk-rich nipples, as the best fed young grow faster and have stronger constitutions. The piglets do not leave the lair for their first week of life. Should the mother be absent, the piglets lie closely pressed to each other. By two weeks of age, the piglets begin accompanying their mother on her journeys. Should danger be detected, the piglets take cover or stand immobile, relying on their camouflage to keep them hidden. The neonatal coat fades after three months, with adult colouration being attained at eight months. Although the lactation period lasts 2.5-3.5 months, the piglets begin displaying adult feeding behaviours at the age of 2–3 weeks. The permanent dentition is fully formed by 1–2 years. With the exception of the canines in males, the teeth stop growing during the middle of the fourth year. The canines in old males continue to grow throughout their lives, curving strongly as they age. Sows attain sexual maturity at the age of one year, with males attaining it a year later. However, estrus usually first occurs after two years in sows, while males begin participating in the rut after 4–5 years, as they are not permitted to mate by the older males. The maximum lifespan in the wild is 10–14 years, though few specimens survive past 4–5 years. Boars in captivity have lived for 20 years.\n\nEcology \n\nHabitat and sheltering behaviour \n\nThe wild boar inhabits a diverse array of habitats from boreal taigas to deserts. In mountainous regions, it can even occupy alpine zones, occurring up to 1,900 metres in the Carpathians, 2,600 metres in the Caucasus and up to 3,600-4,000 metres in the mountains in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. In order to survive in a given area, wild boars require a habitat fulfilling three conditions: heavily brushed areas providing shelter from predators, water for drinking and bathing purposes and an absence of regular snowfall. The main habitats favoured by boars in Europe are deciduous and mixed forests, with the most favourable areas consisting of forest composed of oak and beech enclosing marshes and meadows. In the Białowieża Forest, the animal's primary habitat consists of well developed, broad-leaved and mixed forests, along with marshy mixed forests, with coniferous forests and undergrowths being of secondary importance. Forests made up entirely of oak groves and beech are used only during the fruit-bearing season. This is in contrast to the Caucasian and Transcaucasian mountain areas, where boars will occupy such fruit-bearing forests year-round. In the mountainous areas of the Russian Far East, the species inhabits nutpine groves, hilly mixed forests where Mongolian oak and Korean pine are present, swampy mixed taiga and coastal oak forests. In Transbaikalia, boars are restricted to river valleys with nutpine and shrubs. Boars are regularly encountered in pistachio groves in winter in some areas of Tajikistan and Turkmenia, while in spring they migrate to open deserts; boar have also colonised deserts in several areas they have been introduced to. On the islands of Komodo and Rinca, the boar mostly inhabits savanna or open monsoon forests, avoiding heavily forested areas unless pursued by humans. Wild boar are known to be competent swimmers, capable of covering long distances. In 2013, one boar was reported to have completed the seven mile swim from France to Alderney in the Channel Islands. Due to concerns about disease it was shot and incinerated. \n\nWild boar rest in shelters, which contain insulating material like spruce branches and dry hay. These resting places are occupied by whole families (though males lie separately), and are often located in the vicinity of streams, in swamp forests, in tall grass or shrub thickets. Boars never defecate in their shelters, and will cover themselves with soil and pine needles when irritated by insects.\n\nDiet \n\nThe wild boar is a highly versatile omnivore, whose diversity in choice of food rivals that of humans. Their foods can be divided into four categories:\n\n* Rhizomes, roots, tubers and bulbs, all of which are dug up throughout the year in the animal's whole range.\n* Nuts, berries, and seeds, which are consumed when ripened and are dug up from the snow when abundant.\n* Leaves, bark, twigs, and shoots, along with garbage.\n* Earthworms, insects, mollusks, fish, rodents, insectivores, bird eggs, lizards, snakes, frogs, and carrion. Most of these prey items are taken in warm periods.\n\nA 50 kg boar needs around 4,000-4,500 calories of food per day, though this required amount increases during winter and pregnancy, with the majority of its diet consisting of food items dug from the ground like underground plant material and burrowing animals. Acorns and beechnuts are invariably its most important food items in temperate zones, as they are rich in the carbohydrates necessary for the buildup of fat reserves needed to survive lean periods. In Western Europe, underground plant material favoured by boars includes bracken, willow herb, bulbs, meadow herb roots and bulbs, and the bulbs of cultivated crops. Such food is favoured in early spring and summer, but may also be eaten in autumn and winter during beechnut and acorn crop failures. Should regular wild foods become scarce, boars will eat tree bark and fungi, as well as visit cultivated potato and artichoke fields. Boar soil disturbance and foraging have been shown to facilitate invasive plants. Boars of the vittatus subspecies in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java differ from most other populations by their primarily frugivorous diet, which consists of 50 different fruit species, especially figs, thus making them important seed dispersers. The wild boar can consume numerous genera of poisonous plants without ill effect, including Aconitum, Anemone, Calla, Caltha, Ferula, and Pteridium.\n\nBoars may occasionally prey on small vertebrates like newborn deer fawns, leporids and galliform chicks. Boars inhabiting the Volga Delta and near some lakes and rivers of Kazakhstan have been recorded to feed extensively on fish like carp and Caspian roach. Boars in the former area will also feed on cormorant and heron chicks, bivalved molluscs, trapped muskrats and mice. There is at least one record of a boar killing and eating a bonnet macaque in southern India's Bandipur National Park, though this may have been a case of intraguild predation, brought on by interspecific competition for human handouts. \n\nPredators \n\nPiglets are vulnerable to attack from medium-sized felids like lynx, jungle cats and snow leopards and other carnivorans like brown bears and yellow-throated martens.\n\nThe grey wolf is the main predator of wild boar throughout most of its range. A single wolf can kill around 50-80 boars of differing ages in one year. In Italy and Belarus' Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, boars are the wolf's primary prey, despite an abundance of alternative, less powerful ungulates. Wolves are particularly threatening during the winter, when deep snow impedes the boars' movements. In the Baltic regions, heavy snowfall can allow wolves to eliminate boars from an area almost completely. Wolves primarily target piglets and subadults, and only rarely attack adult sows. Adult males are usually avoided entirely. Dholes may also prey on boars, to the point of keeping their numbers down in northwestern Bhutan, despite there being many more cattle in the area. \n\nLeopards are predators of wild boar in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the Russian Far East, India, China, and Iran. In most areas, boars constitute only a small part of the leopard's diet. However, in Iran's Sarigol National Park, boars are the second most frequently targeted prey species after mouflon, though adult individuals are generally avoided, as they are above the leopard's preferred weight range of 10 -. \n\nBoars of all ages were once the primary prey of tigers in Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia and the Far East up until the late 19th century. In modern times, tiger numbers are too low to have a limiting effect on boar populations. A single tiger can systematically destroy an entire sounder by preying on its members one by one, before moving on to another herd. Tigers have been noted to chase boars for longer distances than with other prey. In two rare cases, boars were reported to gore a small tiger and a tigress to death in self-defense. In the Amur region, wild boars are one of the two most important prey species for tigers alongside the Manchurian wapiti, with the two species collectively comprising roughly 80% of the felid's prey. In Sikhote Alin, a tiger can kill 30-34 boars a year. Studies of tigers in India indicate that boars are usually secondary in preference to various cervids and bovids, though when boars are targeted, healthy adults are caught more frequently than young and sick specimens. \n\nOn the islands of Komodo, Rinca, and Flores, the boar's main predator is the Komodo dragon.\n\nRange \n\nReconstructed range \n\nThe species originally occurred in North Africa and much of Eurasia; from the British Isles to Korea and the Sunda Islands. The northern limit of its range extended from southern Scandinavia to southern Siberia and Japan. Within this range, it was only absent in extremely dry deserts and alpine zones. It was once found in North Africa along the Nile valley up to Khartum and north of the Sahara. The species occurs on a few Ionian and Aegean Islands, sometimes swimming between islands.Masseti, M. (2012), Atlas of terrestrial mammals of the Ionian and Aegean islands, Walter de Gruyter, pp. 139-141, ISBN 3-11-025458-1 The reconstructed northern boundary of the animal's Asian range ran from Lake Ladoga (at 60°N) through the area of Novgorod and Moscow into the southern Urals, where it reached 52°N. From there, the boundary passed Ishim and farther east the Irtysh at 56°N. In the eastern Baraba steppe (near Novosibirsk) the boundary turned steep south, encircled the Altai Mountains, and went again eastward including the Tannu-Ola Mountains and Lake Baikal. From here the boundary went slightly north of the Amur River eastward to its lower reaches at the Sea of Okhotsk. On Sakhalin, there are only fossil reports of wild boar. The southern boundaries in Europe and Asia were almost invariably identical to the sea shores of these continents. It is absent in the dry regions of Mongolia from 44–46°N southward, in China westward of Sichuan and in India north of the Himalayas. It is absent in the higher elevations of Pamir and Tien Shan, though they do occur in the Tarim basin and on the lower slopes of the Tien Shan.\n\nPresent range \n\nIn recent centuries, the range of wild boar has changed dramatically, largely due to hunting by humans and more recently because of captive wild boar escaping into the wild. Prior to the 20th century, boar populations had declined in numerous areas, with British populations probably becoming extinct during the 13th century. In Denmark, the last boar was shot at the beginning of the 19th century, and in 1900 they were absent in Tunisia and Sudan and large areas of Germany, Austria, and Italy. In Russia they were extirpated in wide areas in the 1930s. The last boar in Egypt reportedly died on 20 December 1912 in the Giza Zoo, with wild populations having disappeared around 1894–1902. Prince Kamal el Dine Hussein attempted to repopulate Wadi El Natrun with boars of Hungarian stock, but they were quickly exterminated by poachers.Osborn, Dale. J.; Helmy, Ibrahim (1980), [https://archive.org/stream/contemporaryland05osbo#page/474/mode/2up \"The contemporary land mammals of Egypt (including Sinai)\"], Field Museum of Natural History, pp. 475-477\n\nA revival of boar populations began in the middle of the 20th century. By 1950 wild boar had once again reached their original northern boundary in many parts of their Asiatic range. By 1960, they reached Leningrad and Moscow, and by 1975 they were to be found in Archangelsk and Astrakhan. In the 1970s they again occurred in Denmark and Sweden, where captive animals escaped and now survive in the wild. In England, wild boar populations re-established themselves in the 1990s, after escaping from specialist farms that had imported European stock.\n\nStatus in Britain \n\nWild boar were apparently already becoming rare by the 11th century, since a 1087 forestry law enacted by William the Conqueror punishes through blinding the unlawful killing of boar. Charles I attempted to reintroduce the species into the New Forest, though this population was exterminated during the Civil War. A similar attempt was made in Dorsetshire's Bere Wood, though these were again exterminated after one specimen injured a horse belonging to the sporting writer Charles James Apperley. \n\nBetween their medieval extinction and the 1980s, when wild boar farming began, only a handful of captive wild boar, imported from the continent, were present in Britain. Occasional escapes of wild boar from wildlife parks have occurred as early as the 1970s, but since the early 1990s significant populations have re-established themselves after escapes from farms; the number of which has increased as the demand for wild boar meat has grown. A 1998 MAFF (now DEFRA) study on wild boar living wild in Britain confirmed the presence of two populations of wild boar living in Britain; one in Kent/East Sussex and another in Dorset. Another DEFRA report, in February 2008, confirmed the existence of these two sites as 'established breeding areas' and identified a third in Gloucestershire/Herefordshire; in the Forest of Dean/Ross on Wye area. A 'new breeding population' was also identified in Devon. There is another significant population in Dumfries and Galloway. Populations estimates were as follows:\n* The largest population, in Kent/East Sussex, was estimated at approximately 200 animals in the core distribution area.\n* The second largest, in Gloucestershire/Herefordshire, was estimated to be in excess of 100 animals. This may now be the largest population as it is expanding rapidly.\n* The smallest, in west Dorset, was estimated to be fewer than 50 animals.\n* Since winter 2005/6 significant escapes/releases have also resulted in animals colonising areas around the fringes of Dartmoor, in Devon. These are considered as an additional single 'new breeding population' and currently estimated to be up to 100 animals.\n\nPopulation estimates for the Forest of Dean are disputed as at the time that the DEFRA population estimate was 100, a photo of a boar sounder in the forest near Staunton with over 33 animals visible was published, and at about the same time over 30 boar were seen in a field near the original escape location of Weston under Penyard many miles away. In early 2010 the Forestry Commission embarked on a cull, with the aim of reducing the boar population from an estimated 150 animals to 100. By August it was stated that efforts were being made to reduce the population from 200 to 90, but that only 25 had been killed. The failure to meet cull targets was confirmed in February 2011. \n\nWild boar have crossed the River Wye into Monmouthshire Wales. Iolo Williams, the BBC Wales wildlife expert, attempted to film Welsh boar in late 2012. Many other sightings, across the UK, have also been reported. The effects of wild boar on the UK's woodlands were discussed with Ralph Harmer of the Forestry Commission on the 's Farming Today radio programme in 2011. The programme prompted activist writer George Monbiot to propose a thorough population study, followed by the introduction of permit-controlled culling. \n\nIntroduction to North America \n\nWhile domestic pigs, both captive and feral (popularly termed \"razorbacks\"), have been in North America since the earliest days of European colonization, pure wild boar were not introduced into the New World until the 19th century. The suids were released into the wild by wealthy landowners as big game animals. The initial introductions took place in fenced enclosures, though several escapes occurred, with the escapees sometimes intermixing with already established feral pig populations.\n\nThe first of these introductions occurred in New Hampshire in 1890. Thirteen wild boar from Germany were purchased by Austin Corbin from Carl Hagenbeck, and released into a 9,500 hectare game preserve in Sullivan County. Several of these boars escaped, though they were quickly hunted down by locals. Two further introductions were done since the original stocking, with several escapes taking place due to breaches in the game preserve's fencing. These escapees have ranged widely, with some specimens having been observed crossing into Vermont. \n\nIn 1902, 15-20 wild boar from Germany were released into a 3,200 hectare estate in Hamilton County, New York. Several specimens escaped six years later, dispersing into the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, with their descendents surviving for at least 20 years.\n\nThe most successful boar introduction in the US took place in western North Carolina in 1912, when 13 boars of undetermined European origin were released into two fenced enclosures in a game preserve in Hooper Bald, Graham County. Most of the specimens remained in the preserve for the next decade, until a large-scale hunt caused the remaining animals to break through their confines and escape. Some of the boars migrated to Tennessee, where they intermixed with both free ranging and feral pigs in the area. In 1924, a dozen Hooper Bald wild pigs were shipped to California and released in a property between Carmel Valley and the Los Padres National Forest. These hybrid boar were later used as breeding stock on various private and public lands throughout the state, as well as in other states like Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia and Mississippi.\n\nSeveral wild boars from Leon Springs and the San Antonio, Saint Louis and San Diego Zoos were released in the Powder Horn Ranch in Calhoun County, Texas, in 1939. These specimens escaped and established themselves in surrounding ranchlands and coastal areas, with some crossing the Espiritu Santo Bay and colonising Matagorda Island. Descendents of the Powder Horn Ranch boars were later released onto San José Island and the coast of Chalmette, Louisiana.\n\nWild boar of unknown origin were stocked in a ranch in Edwards Plateau in the 1940s, only to escape during a storm and hybridise with local feral pig populations, later spreading into neighbouring counties.\n\nStarting in the mid-80s, several boars purchased from the San Diego Zoo and Tierpark Berlin were released into the United States. A decade later, more specimens from farms in Canada and Białowieża Forest were let loose. In recent years, wild pig populations have been reported in 44 states within the US, most of which are likely wild boar-feral hog hybrids. Pure wild boar populations may still be present, but are extremely localised.\n\nDiseases and parasites \n\nWild boars are known to host at least 20 different parasitic worm species, with maximum infections occurring in summer. Young animals are vulnerable to helminths like Metastrongylus, which are consumed by boars through earthworms, and cause death by parasitising the lungs. Wild boar also carry parasites known to infect humans, including Gastrodiscoides, Trichinella spiralis, Taenia solium, and Balantidium coli. Wild boar in southern regions are frequently infested with ticks (Dermacentor, Rhipicephalus, and Hyalomma) and hog lice. The species also suffers from blood-sucking flies, which it escapes by bathing frequently or hiding in dense shrubs.\n\nSwine plague spreads very quickly in wild boar, with epizootics being recorded in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Belarus, the Caucasus, the Far East, Kazakhstan, and other regions. Foot-and-mouth disease can also take on epidemic proportions in boar populations. The species occasionally, but rarely contracts Pasteurellosis, hemorrhagic septicemia, tularemia and anthrax. Wild boar may on occasion contract swine erysipelas through rodents or hog lice and ticks.\n\nRelationships with humans \n\nIn culture \n\nThe wild boar features prominently in the cultures of Indo-European people, many of which saw the animal as embodying warrior virtues. Cultures throughout Europe and Asia Minor saw the killing of a boar as proof of one's valor and strength. Neolithic hunter gatherers depicted reliefs of ferocious wild boars on their temple pillars at Göbekli Tepe some 11,600 years ago. Virtually all heroes in Greek mythology fight or kill a boar at one point. The demigod Herakles' third labour involves the capture of the Erymanthian Boar, Theseus slays the wild sow Phaea, and a disguised Odysseus is recognised by his handmaiden Eurycleia by the scars inflicted on him by a boar during a hunt in his youth.Mallory, J. P. & Adams, D. Q. (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Taylor & Francis, pp. 426-428, ISBN 1-884964-98-2 To the mythical Hyperboreans, the boar represented spiritual authority. Several Greek myths use the boar as a symbol of darkness, death and winter. One example is the story of the youthful Adonis, who is killed by a boar and is permitted by Zeus to depart from Hades only during the spring and summer period. This theme also occurs in Irish and Egyptian mythology, where the animal is explicitly linked to the month of October, therefore autumn. This association likely arose from aspects of the boar's actual nature. Its dark colour was linked to the night, while its solitary habits, proclivity to consume crops and nocturnal nature were associated with evil. The foundation myth of Ephesus has the city being built over the site where prince Androklos of Athens killed a boar. Boars were frequently depicted on Greek funerary monuments alongside lions, representing gallant losers who have finally met their match, as opposed to victorious hunters as lions are. The theme of the doomed, yet valorous boar warrior also occurred in Hittite culture, where it was traditional to sacrifice a boar alongside a dog and a prisoner of war after a military defeat.\n\nThe boar as a warrior also appears in Scandinavian, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon culture, with its image having been frequently engraved on helmets, shields and swords. According to Tacitus, the Baltic Aesti featured boars on their helmets, and may have also worn boar masks. The boar and pig were held in particularly high esteem by the Celts, who considered them to be their most important sacred animal. Some Celtic deities linked to boars include Moccus and Veteris. It has been suggested that some early myths surrounding the Welsh hero Culhwch involved the character being the son of a boar god. Nevertheless, the importance of the boar as a culinary item among Celtic tribes may have been exaggerated in popular culture by the Asterix series, as wild boar bones are rare among Celtic archaeological sites, and the few that occur show no signs of butchery, having probably been used in sacrificial rituals.Green, M. (2002), Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, Routledge, p. 46, ISBN 1-134-66531-8 The boar also appears in Vedic mythology. A story present in the Brāhmaṇas has Indra slaying an avaricious boar, who has stolen the treasure of the asuras, then giving its carcass to Vishnu, who offered it as a sacrifice to the gods. In the story's retelling in the Charaka Samhita, the boar is described as a form of Prajāpti, and is credited with having raised the earth from the primeval waters. In the Rāmāyaṇa and the Purāṇas, the same boar is portrayed as an avatar of Vishnu. \n\nIn Japanese culture, the boar is widely seen as a fearsome and reckless animal, to the point that several words and expressions in Japanese referring to recklessness include references to boars. The boar is the last animal of the oriental zodiac, with people born during the year of the Pig being said to embody the boar-like traits of determination and impetuosity. Among Japanese hunters, the boar's courage and defiance is a source of admiration, and it is not uncommon for hunters and mountain people to name their sons after the animal inoshishi (猪). Boars are also seen as symbols of fertility and prosperity; in some regions, it is thought that boars are drawn to fields owned by families including pregnant women, and hunters with pregnant wives are thought to have greater chances of success when boarhunting. The animal's link to prosperity was illustrated by its inclusion on the ¥10 note during the Meiji period, and it was once believed that a man could become wealthy by keeping a clump of boar hair in his wallet.Knight, J. (2003), Waiting for Wolves in Japan: An Anthropological Study of People-wildlife Relations, Oxford University Press, pp. 49-73, ISBN 0-19-925518-0\n\nIn the folklore of the Mongol Altai Uriankhai tribe, the wild boar was associated with the watery underworld, as it was thought that the spirits of the dead entered the animal's head, to be ultimately transported to the water.Pegg, C. (2001), Mongolian Music, Dance, & Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities, University of Washington Press, p. 140, ISBN 0-295-98112-1 Prior to the conversion to Islam, the Kyrgyz people believed that they were descended from boars, and thus did not eat pork. In Buryat mythology, the forefathers of the Buryats descended from heaven and were nourished by a boar.Holmberg, U. (1927), The Mythology of All Races volume 4: Finno-Ugric, Siberian, New York, Cooper Square Publishing Inc. pp. 502-503 In China, the boar is the emblem of the Miao people.\n\nThe boar (sanglier) is frequently displayed in English, Scottish and Welsh heraldry. As with the lion, the boar is often shown as armed and langued. As with the bear, Scottish and Welsh heraldry displays the boar's head with the neck cropped, unlike the English version, which retains the neck. The white boar served as the badge of King Richard III of England, who distributed it among his northern retainers during his tenure as Duke of Gloucester. \n\nAs a game animal and food source \n\nHumans have been hunting boar for millennia, with the earliest artistic depictions of such activities dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. The animal was seen as a source of food among the Ancient Greeks, as well as a sporting challenge and source of epic narratives. The Romans inherited this tradition, with one of its first practitioners being Scipio Aemilianus. Boar hunting became particularly popular among the young nobility during the 3rd century BC as preparation for manhood and battle. A typical Roman boarhunting tactic involved surrounding a given area with large nets, then flushing the boar with dogs and immobilising it with smaller nets. The animal would then be dispatched with a venabulum, a short spear with a crossguard at the base of the blade. More than their Greek predecessors, the Romans extensively took inspiration from boarhunting in their art and sculpture. With the ascension of Constantine the Great, boarhunting took on Christian allegorical themes, with the animal being portrayed as a \"black beast\" analogous to the dragon of Saint George. Boarhunting continued after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, though the Germanic tribes considered the red deer to be a more noble and worthy quarry. The post-Roman nobility hunted boar as their predecessors did, but primarily as training for battle rather than sport. It was not uncommon for medieval hunters to deliberately hunt boars during the breeding season, when the animals were more aggressive. During the Renaissance, when deforestation and the introduction of firearms reduced boar numbers, boarhunting became the sole prerogative of the nobility, one of many charges brought up against the rich during the German Peasants' War and the French Revolution. During the mid-20th century, 7,000-8,000 boars were caught in the Caucasus, 6,000-7,000 in Kazakhstan, and about 5,000 in Central Asia during the Soviet period, primarily through use of dogs and beats. In Nepal, farmers and poachers eliminate boars by baiting balls of wheat flour containing explosives with kerosene oil, with the animals' chewing motions triggering the devices. \n\nWild boar can thrive in captivity, though piglets grow slowly and poorly without their mothers. Products derived from wild boar include meat, hide and bristles. Apicius devotes a whole chapter to the cooking of boar meat, providing ten recipes involving roasting, boiling and what sauces to use. The Romans usually served boar meat with garum. Boar's head was the centrepiece of most medieval Christmas celebrations among the nobility. Although growing in popularity as a captive-bred source of food, the wild boar takes longer to mature than most domestic pigs, and is usually smaller and produces less meat. Nevertheless, wild boar meat is leaner and healthier than pork,Harris, C. (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?idJny0R4gEQxcC&pg\nPA27&dqwild+boar+products&hl\nit&saX&ei\n4BAxVLvoKtDZaonSgMgJ&redir_escy#v\nonepage&qwild%20boar%20products&f\nfalse A Guide to Traditional Pig Keeping], Good Life Press, pp. 26-27, ISBN 1-904871-60-7 being of higher nutritional value and having a much higher concentration of essential amino acids. Most meat-dressing organisations agree that a boar carcass should yield 50 kg of meat on average. Large specimens can yield 15 - of fat, with some giants yielding 30 kg or more. A boar hide can measure 300 dm2, and can yield 350-1000 grams of bristle and 400 grams of underwool.\n\nFile:EberreliefmitHund-3Jhrnchr-FOKoeln2.jpg|Roman relief of a dog confronting a boar, Cologne\nFile:Südindischer Meister um 1540 002.jpg|Southern Indian depiction of boar hunt, c. 1540\nFile:Modern Pig-Sticking (1914) A. E. Wardrop I.png|Pigsticking in British India\nFile:Регулирование численности кабана (1).jpg|Boar shot in Volgograd Oblast, Russia\n\nCrop and garbage raiding\n\nBoars can be damaging to agriculture. Populations living on the outskirts of towns or farms can dig up potatoes and damage melons, watermelons and maize. They generally only encroach upon farms when natural food is scarce. In the Belovezh forest for example, 34-47% of the local boar population will enter fields in years of moderate availability of natural foods. While the role of boars in damaging crops is often exaggerated, cases are known of boar depredations causing famines, as was the case in Hachinohe, Japan in 1749, where 3,000 people died of what became known as the 'wild boar famine'. Still within Japanese culture, the boar's status as vermin is expressed through its title as \"king of pests\" and the popular saying (addressed to young men in rural areas) \"When you get married, choose a place with no wild boar.\" In Central Europe, farmers typically repel boars through distraction or fright, while in Kazakhstan it is usual to employ guard dogs in plantations. Although large boar populations can play an important role in limiting forest growth, they are also useful in keeping pest populations such as June bugs under control. The growth of urban areas and corresponding decline in natural boar habitats has led to some sounders entering human habitations in search of food. As in natural conditions, sounders in peri-urban areas are matriarchal, though males tend to be much less represented, and adults of both sexes can be up to 35% heavier than their forest-dwelling counterparts. As of 2010, at least 44 cities in 15 countries have experienced problems of some kind relating to the presence of habituated wild boar.Cahill, S., Llimona, F., Cabañeros, L. & Calomardo, F., 2012. [http://abc.museucienciesjournals.cat/files/ABC_35-2_pp_221-233.pdf \"Characteristics of wild boar (Sus scrofa) habituation to urban areas in the Collserola Natural Park (Barcelona) and comparison with other locations\"]. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 35.2: 221–233.\n\nAttacks on humans\n\nActual attacks on humans are rare, but can be serious, resulting in multiple penetrating injuries to the lower part of the body. They generally occur during the boars' rutting season from November–January, in agricultural areas bordering forests or on paths leading through forests. The animal typically attacks by charging and pointing its tusks towards the intended victim, with most injuries occurring on the thigh region. Once the initial attack is over, the boar steps back, takes position and attacks again if the victim is still moving, only ending once the victim is completely incapacitated.Manipady, S. et al. (2006), [http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Death%20By%20Wild%20Boar.pdf \"Death by attack from a wild boar\"], Journal of clinical forensic medicine 13 (2), 89-91Gunduz, A. et al. (2007), [http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Wild%20Boar%20Attack%20III.pdf \"Wild Boar Attacks\"], Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 18, 117-119\n\nBoar attacks on humans have been documented since the Stone Age, with the oldest depiction being a cave painting in Bhimbetaka, India. The Romans and Ancient Greeks wrote of these attacks (Odysseus was wounded by a boar), and several attacks are shown on the headstones of England's 12th century Severn Temple graveyard. A 2012 study compiling recorded attacks from 1825-2012 found accounts of 665 human victims of both wild boars and feral pigs, with the majority (19%) of attacks in the animal's native range occurring in India. Most of the attacks occurred in rural areas during the winter months in non-hunting contexts, and were committed by solitary males.Mayer, John J., \"Wild Pig Attacks on Humans\" (2013). Wildlife Damage Management Conferences -- Proceedings. Paper 151.\nhttp://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_wdmconfproc/151","Reindeer.txt\nReindeer\nThe reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, Subarctic, tundra, boreal and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. This includes both sedentary and migratory populations.\n\nWhile overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and at least one has already become extinct. \n\nReindeer vary considerably in colour and size. In most populations, both sexes grow antlers annually, but females lack antlers in a few. Antlers are typically larger on males.\n\nHunting of wild reindeer and herding of semi-domesticated reindeer (for meat, hides, antlers, milk and transportation) are important to several Arctic and Subarctic peoples.\"In North America and Eurasia the species has long been an important resource—in many areas the most important resource—for peoples inhabiting the northern boreal forest and tundra regions. Known human dependence on caribou/wild reindeer has a long history, beginning in the Middle Pleistocene (Banfield 1961:170; Kurtén 1968:170) and continuing to the present.... The caribou/wild reindeer is thus an animal that has been a major resource for humans throughout a tremendous geographic area and across a time span of tens of thousands of years.\" In Lapland, reindeer pull pulks. Reindeer are well known due to Santa Claus' sleigh being pulled by flying reindeer in Christmas folklore.\n\nName etymology \n\nThe name Rangifer, which Carl Linnaeus chose for the reindeer genus, was used by Albertus Magnus in his De animalibus, fol. Liber 22, Cap. 268: \"Dicitur Rangyfer quasi ramifer\". This word may go back to a Saami word raingo. For the origin of the word tarandus, which Linnaeus chose as the specific epithet, he made reference to Ulisse Aldrovandi's Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia fol. 859–863, Cap. 30: De Tarando (1621). However, Aldrovandi – and before him Konrad Gesner – thought that rangifer and tarandus were two separate animals. In any case, the tarandos name goes back to Aristotle and Theophrastus – see 'In history' below.\n\nBecause of its importance to many cultures, Rangifer tarandus and some of its subspecies have names in many languages. The name rein (-deer) is of Norse origin (Old Norse hreinn, which again goes back to Proto-Germanic *hrainaz and Proto-Indo-European *kroinos meaning \"horned animal\"). In the Uralic languages, Sami *poatsoj (in Northern Sami boazu, in Lule Sami boatsoj, in Pite Sami båtsoj, in Southern Sami bovtse, in Inari Sami puásui), Meadow Mari pücö and Udmurt pudžej, all referring to domesticated reindeer, go back to *pocaw, an Iranian loan word deriving from Proto-Indo-European *peḱu-, meaning \"cattle\". The Finnish name poro may also stem from the same. \n\nThe word deer was originally broader in meaning, but became more specific over time. In Middle English, der (Old English dēor) meant a wild animal of any kind. This was in contrast to cattle, which then meant any sort of domestic livestock that was easy to collect and remove from the land, from the idea of personal-property ownership (rather than real estate property) and related to modern chattel (property) and capital. Cognates of Old English dēor in other dead Germanic languages have the general sense of animal, such as Old High German tior, Old Norse djúr or dýr, Gothic dius, Old Saxon dier, and Old Frisian diar. \n\nThe name caribou comes, through French, from Mi'kmaq qalipu, meaning \"snow shoveler\", referring to its habit of pawing through the snow for food. In Inuktitut, spoken in eastern Arctic North America, the caribou is known by the name tuktu. \n\nTaxonomy and evolution \n\nCurrent classifications of Rangifer tarandus, either with prevailing taxonomy on subspecies, designations based on ecotypes, and natural population groupings, fail to capture \"the variability of caribou across their range in Canada\" needed for effective species conservation and management. \"Across the range of a species, individuals may display considerable morphological, genetic, and behavioural variability reflective of both plasticity and adaptation to local environments.\" COSEWIC developed Designated Unit (DU) attribution to add to classifications already in use.\n\nThe species taxonomic name Rangifer tarandus was defined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The subspecies taxonomic name, Rangifer tarandus caribou was defined by Gmelin in 1788.\n\nBased on Banfield's often-cited A Revision of the Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer (1961), R. t. caboti (Labrador caribou), R. t. osborni (Osborn's caribou—from British Columbia) and R. t. terraenovae (Newfoundland caribou) were considered invalid and included in R. t. caribou.\n\nSome recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. In their book entitled Mammal Species of the World, American zoologist Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn Reeder agree with Valerius Geist, specialist on large North American mammals, that this range actually includes several subspecies.The Integrated Taxonomic Information System list Wilson and Geist on their experts panel.\n\nGeist (2007) argued that the \"true woodland caribou, the uniformly dark, small-maned type with the frontally emphasized, flat-beamed antlers\", which is \"scattered thinly along the southern rim of North American caribou distribution\" has been incorrectly classified. He affirms that \"true woodland caribou is very rare, in very great difficulties and requires the most urgent of attention.\"\n\nIn 2005, an analysis of mtDNA found differences between the caribou from Newfoundland, Labrador, south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in R. t caribou.\n\nMallory and Hillis argued that, \"Although the taxonomic designations reflect evolutionary events, they do not appear to reflect current ecological conditions. In numerous instances, populations of the same subspecies have evolved different demographic and behavioural adaptations, while populations from separate subspecies have evolved similar demographic and behavioural patterns... \"[U]nderstanding ecotype in relation to existing ecological constraints and releases may be more important than the taxonomic relationships between populations.\" \n\nSubspecies \n\nThe canonical Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.) recognizes fourteen subspecies, two of which are extinct.\n\nThe table above includes R. tarandus caboti (Labrador caribou), R. tarandus osborni (Osborn's caribou – from British Columbia) and R. tarandus terraenovae (Newfoundland caribou). Based on a review in 1961, these were considered invalid and included in R. tarandus caribou, but some recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. An analysis of mtDNA in 2005 found differences between the caribous from Newfoundland, Labrador, south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in R. tarandus caribou.\n\nThere are seven subspecies of reindeer of which only two are found in Fennoscandia: Eurasian tundra (or mountain) reindeer (R. t. tarandus) in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia and Eurasian forest reindeer R. t. fennicus in Finland and Russia.\n\nGrubb (2005) noted that subspecies and divisions below** are considered valid based on Banfield (1961) and considerably modified by Geist (1998):\n\nWoodland caribou division:\n* R. t. buskensis\n* R. t. dawsoni\n* R. t. fennicus\n* R. t. phylarchus\n* R. t. valentinae\n\nPopulations transitional between caribou and tarandus divisions includes osborni.\n\nTarandus division, barren-ground caribou or reindeer\n* R. t. caboti (G.M. Allen, 1914)\n* R. t. groenlandicus\n* R. t. pearsoni\n* R. t. sibiricus\n* R. t. terraenovae\n\nPlatyrhynchus division\n* R. t. pearyi or Peary caribou\n* R. t. platyrhynchus or Svalbard reindeer\n\nSome of the Rangifer tarandus subspecies may be further divided by ecotype depending on several behavioural factors – predominant habitat use (northern, tundra, mountain, forest, boreal forest, forest-dwelling, woodland, woodland (mountain), woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory), spacing (dispersed or aggregated), and migration (sedentary or migratory).\n\nThe \"glacial-interglacial cycles of the upper Pleistocene had a major influence on the evolution\" of Rangifer tarandus and other Arctic and sub-Arctic species. Isolation of Rangifer tarandus in refugia during the last glacial – the Wisconsin in North America and the Weichselian in Eurasia-shaped \"intraspecific genetic variability\" particularly between the North American and Eurasian parts of the Arctic.\n\nIn 1986 Kurtén reported that the oldest reindeer fossil was an \"antler of tundra reindeer type from the sands of Süssenborn\" in the Pleistocene (Günz) period (680,000 to 620,000 BP). By the 4-Würm period (110-70,000 to 12–10,000) its European range was very extensive. Reindeer occurred in \n\"In spite of the great variation, all the Pleistocene and living reindeer belong to the same species.\"\n\nHumans started hunting reindeer in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, and humans are today the main predator in many areas. Norway and Greenland have unbroken traditions of hunting wild reindeer from the ice age until the present day. In the non-forested mountains of central Norway, such as Jotunheimen, it is still possible to find remains of stone-built trapping pits, guiding fences, and bow rests, built especially for hunting reindeer. These can, with some certainty, be dated to the Migration Period, although it is not unlikely that they have been in use since the Stone Age.\n\nBiology and behaviour \n\nPhysical characteristics \n\nIn most populations both sexes grow antlers; the reindeer is the only cervid species in which females grow them as well as males.[http://web.archive.org/web/20110628183512/http://www.answers.com/topic/new-world-deer-capriolinae-biological-family New World Deer (Capriolinae).] Answers.com In the Scandinavian populations, old males' antlers fall off in December, young males' fall off in the early spring, and females' fall off in the summer. The antlers typically have two separate groups of points, lower and upper. There is considerable variation between subspecies in the size of the antlers (e.g. they are rather small and spindly in the northernmost subspecies), but on average the bull reindeer's antlers are the second largest of any extant deer, after the moose. In the largest subspecies, the antlers of large males can range up to 100 cm in width and 135 cm in beam length. They have the largest antlers relative to body size among living deer species.\n\nThe colour of the fur varies considerably, both between individuals and depending on season and subspecies. Northern populations, which usually are relatively small, are whiter, while southern populations, which typically are relatively large, are darker. This can be seen well in North America, where the northernmost subspecies, the Peary caribou, is the whitest and smallest subspecies of the continent, while the southernmost subspecies, the woodland caribou, is the darkest and largest.Reid, F. (2006). Mammals of North America. Peterson Field Guides. ISBN 978-0-395-93596-5 The coat has two layers of fur: a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs.\n\nLike moose, reindeer have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs, and water is condensed from the expired air and captured before the deer's breath is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes.\n\nReindeer hooves adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge-like and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof, which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep it from slipping. This also enables them to dig down (an activity known as \"cratering\")\"In the winter, the fleshy pads on these toes grow longer and form a tough, hornlike rim. Caribou use these large, sharp-edged hooves to dig through the snow and uncover the lichens that sustain them in winter months. Biologists call this activity \"cratering\" because of the crater-like cavity the caribou’s hooves leave in the snow.\"[http://www.taiga.net/projectcaribou/pdf/allaboutcaribou.PDF All About Caribou] – Project Caribou[http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/stories/avkas/ry0246-32.htm Image of reindeer cratering in snow]. Arcticphoto.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 September 2011. through the snow to their favorite food, a lichen known as reindeer moss.\n\nThe females usually measure 162 - in length and weigh 80 -.[http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg\ncaribou.main Caribou at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game]. Adfg.state.ak.us. Retrieved on 16 September 2011. The males (or \"bulls\") are typically larger (to an extent which varies between the different subspecies), measuring 180 - in length and usually weighing 159 -. Exceptionally large males have weighed as much as 318 kg. Shoulder height is typically 85 to, and the tail is 14 to long. The reindeer from Svalbard are the smallest. They are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm, thereby following Allen's rule.\n\nThe knees of many species of reindeer are adapted to produce a clicking sound as they walk.Banfield AWF (1966) \"The caribou\", pp. 25–28 in The Unbelievable Land. Smith I.N. (ed.) Ottawa: Queen's Press, cited in The sounds originate in the tendons of the knees and may be audible from ten meters away. The frequency of the knee-clicks is one of a range of signals that establish relative positions on a dominance scale among reindeer. \"Specifically, loud knee-clicking is discovered to be an honest signal of body size, providing an exceptional example of the potential for non-vocal acoustic communication in mammals.\" \n\nA study by researchers from University College London in 2011 revealed that reindeer can see light with wavelengths as short as 320 nm (i.e. in the ultraviolet range), considerably below the human threshold of 400 nm. It is thought that this ability helps them to survive in the Arctic, because many objects that blend into the landscape in light visible to humans, such as urine and fur, produce sharp contrasts in ultraviolet.[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1105/11052502 Reindeer use UV light to survive in the wild]. Ucl.ac.uk (26 May 2011). Retrieved on 16 September 2011. A study at the University of Tromsø has confirmed that \"Arctic reindeer eyes change in colour through the seasons from gold through to blue to help them better detect predators...\".Solon, Olivia. [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/30/reindeer-eyes The science behind the colour-shifting capabilities of Arctic reindeer eyeballs], Wired, 30 October 13\n\nDiet \n\nReindeer are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss – a unique adaptation among mammals – and they are the only animals except for some gastropods in which the enzyme lichenase, which breaks down lichenin to glucose, has been found. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses. There is some evidence to suggest that on occasion, especially in the spring when they are nutritionally stressed, they will also feed on small rodents such as lemmings, fish such as Arctic char, and bird eggs. Reindeer herded by the Chukchis have been known to devour mushrooms enthusiastically in late summer. \n\nReproduction and life-cycle \n\nMating occurs from late September to early November. Males battle for access to females. Two males will lock each other's antlers together and try to push each other away. The most dominant males can collect as many as 15–20 females to mate with. A male will stop eating during this time and lose much of his body reserves. \n\nCalves may be born the following May or June. After 45 days, the calves are able to graze and forage but continue suckling until the following autumn when they become independent from their mothers.\n\nSocial structure, migration and range \n\nSome populations of the North American caribou, for example many herds in the subspecies barren-ground caribou and some woodland caribou in Ungava and Labrador, migrate the farthest of any terrestrial mammal, travelling up to 5000 km a year, and covering 1000000 km2. Other North American populations, the woodland caribou (boreal) for example, are largely sedentary. In Europe populations have a shorter migration. Island herds such as the subspecies R. t. pearsoni and R. t. platyrhynchus make local movements. Migrating reindeer can be negatively affected by parasite loads. Severely infected individuals are weak and probably have shortened lifespans, but parasite levels vary between populations. Infections create an effect known as culling: infected migrating animals are less likely to complete the migration. \n\nNormally travelling about 19 - a day while migrating, the caribou can run at speeds of 60 -. Young caribou can already outrun an Olympic sprinter when only a day old. During the spring migration smaller herds will group together to form larger herds of 50,000 to 500,000 animals, but during autumn migrations the groups become smaller, and the reindeer begin to mate. During winter, reindeer travel to forested areas to forage under the snow. By spring, groups leave their winter grounds to go to the calving grounds. A reindeer can swim easily and quickly, normally at about but if necessary at 10 km/h, and migrating herds will not hesitate to swim across a large lake or broad river.\n\nAs an adaptation to their Arctic environment, they have lost their circadian rhythm. \n\nEcology \n\nDistribution and habitat \n\nOriginally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, eastern Europe, Greenland, Russia, Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America, it was found in Canada, Alaska, and the northern conterminous USA from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. Even in historical times, it probably occurred naturally in Ireland. During the late Pleistocene era, reindeer occurred as far south as Nevada and Tennessee in North America, and as far south as Spain in Europe. Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from these areas, especially from the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere. Large populations of wild reindeer are still found in Norway, Finland, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada.\n\nAccording to the Grubb (2005), Rangifer tarandus is \"circumboreal in the tundra and taiga\" from \"Svalbard, Norway, Finland, Russia, Alaska (USA) and Canada including most Arctic islands, and Greenland, south to northern Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia; now only domesticated or feral?), Sakhalin Islands, and USA (Northern Idaho and the Great Lakes region). Reindeer were introduced to, and feral in, Iceland, Kerguelen Islands, South Georgia Island, Pribilof Islands, St. Matthew Island.\"\n\nThere is strong regional variation in Rangifer herd size. There are large population differences among individual herds, and the size of individual herds has varied greatly since 1970. The largest of all herds (Taimyr, Russia) has varied between 400,000 and 1,000,000; the second largest herd (George River, Canada) has varied between 28,000 and 385,000.\n\nWhile Rangifer is a widespread and numerous genus in the northern Holarctic, being present in both tundra and taiga (boreal forest), by 2013, many herds had \"unusually low numbers\" and their winter ranges in particular were smaller than they used to be. Caribou and reindeer numbers have fluctuated historically, but many herds are in decline across their range. This global decline is linked to climate change for northern, migratory herds and industrial disturbance of habitat for non-migratory herds.\n\nPredators \n\nA variety of predators prey heavily on reindeer. Golden eagles prey on calves and are the most prolific hunter on calving grounds. Wolverines will take newborn calves or birthing cows, as well as (less commonly) infirm adults. Brown bears and polar bears prey on reindeer of all ages, but like the wolverines they are most likely to attack weaker animals, such as calves and sick deer, since healthy adult reindeer can usually outpace a bear. The gray wolf is the most effective natural predator of adult reindeer and sometimes takes large numbers, especially during the winter. Some wolf packs as well as individual grizzly bears in Canada may follow and live off of a particular reindeer herd year round.\n\nAs carrion, reindeer are fed on opportunistically by foxes, hawks, and ravens. Blood-sucking insects, such as black flies and mosquitoes, are a plague to reindeer during the summer and can cause enough stress to inhibit feeding and calving behaviors. An adult reindeer will lose perhaps about 1 liter (about 2 US pints) of blood to biting insects for every week it spends in the tundra. The population numbers of some of these predators is influenced by the migration of reindeer.\n\nIn one case, the entire body of a reindeer was found in the stomach of a Greenland shark, a species found in the far northern Atlantic, although this was possibly a case of scavenging, considering the dissimilarity of habitats between the ungulate and the large, slow-moving fish. \n\nRangifer tarandus by country \n\nRussia \n\nIn 2013, the Taimyr herd in Russia was the largest herd in the world. In 2000, the herd increased to 1,000,000 but by 2009, there were 700,000 animals. In the 1950s, there were 110,000.\n\nThere are three large herds of migratory tundra wild reindeer in central Siberia's Yakutia region: Lena-Olenek, Yana-Indigirka and Sundrun herds. While the population of the Lena-Olenek herd is stable, the others are declining.\n\nFurther east again, the Chukotka herd is also in decline. In 1971, there were 587,000 animals. They recovered after a severe decline in 1986, to only 32,200 individuals, but their numbers fell again. According to Kolpashikov, by 2009 there were less than 70,000.\n\nNorth America \n\nThere are four living subspecies of R. tarandus, locally known in North America as caribou: R. t. granti (Porcupine caribou), R. t. caribou subdivided into ecotypes: woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory), woodland (montane), R. t. groenlandicus and R. t. pearyi.\n\nIn North America, because of its vast range in a wide diversity of ecosystems, the subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou is further distinguished by a number of ecotypes, including boreal woodland caribou, mountain woodland caribou and migratory woodland caribou). Populations—caribou that do not migrate—or herds—those that do migrate—may not fit into narrow ecotypes. For example, Banfield's 1961 classification of the migratory George River Caribou Herd, in the Ungava region of Quebec, as subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou, woodland caribou, remains—although other woodland caribou are mainly sedentary.\n\nRangifer tarandus is \"endangered in Canada in regions such as south-east British Columbia at the Canadian-USA border, along the Columbia, Kootenay and Kootenai rivers and around Kootenay Lake. Rangifer tarandus is endangered in the United States in Idaho and Washington. R. t. pearyi is on the IUCN endangered list.\" According to Geist, the \"woodland caribou is highly endangered throughout its distribution right into Ontario.\"\n\nUnited States \n\nAlthough there are remnant populations of R. t. caribou boreal woodland caribou in the northern United States, most of U.S. caribou populations are in Alaska. There are four herds in Alaska, the Western Arctic herd, Teshekpuk Lake herd, the Central Arctic herd and the Porcupine herd.\n\nThe Western Arctic Caribou Herd is the largest of the three. The Western Arctic herd reached a low of 75,000 in the mid-1970s. In 1997 the 90,000 WACH changed their migration and wintered on Seward Peninsula. Alaska's reindeer herding industry has been concentrated on Seward Peninsula ever since the first shipment of reindeer was imported from eastern Siberia in 1892 as part of the Reindeer Project, an initiative to replace whale meat in the diet of the indigenous people of the region. For many years it was believed that the geography of the peninsula would prevent migrating caribou from mingling with domesticated reindeer who might otherwise join caribou herds when they left an area. However, in 1997 the domesticated reindeer joined the Western Arctic Caribou Herd on their summer migration and disappeared. The WACH reached a peak of 490,000 in 2003 and then declined to 325,000 in 2011.\n\nIn 2008, the Teshekpuk Lake herd had 64,107 animals and the Central Arctic herd had 67,000. \n\nThe Porcupine caribou or Grant's caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) is a subspecies with a vast range that includes northeastern Alaska and the Yukon, and is therefore cooperatively managed by government agencies and aboriginal peoples from both countries. It resembles another subspecies, barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus).\n\nMigratory caribou herds are named after their birthing grounds, in this case the Porcupine River, which runs through a large part of the range of the Porcupine herd. Though numbers fluctuate, the herd comprises approximately 169,000 animals (based on a July 2010 photocensus). 2500 km a year land migration between their winter range and calving grounds on the Beaufort Sea, is the longest of any land mammal on earth. They are the traditional food of the Gwich'in, a First Nations/Alaska Native people, the Inupiat, Inuvialuit, Hän, and Northern Tutchone. There is currently controversy over whether possible future oil drilling on the coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing much of the Porcupine caribou calving grounds, will have a severe negative impact on the caribou population or whether the caribou population will grow.\n\nUnlike many other Rangifer tarandus subspecies and their ecotypes, the Porcupine herd is stable at relatively high numbers, but the 2013 photo-census was not counted by January 2014. The peak population in 1989 of 178,000 animals was followed by a decline by 2001 to 123,000. However, by 2010, there was a recovery and an increase to 169,000 animals. \n\nCanada \n\nNunavut \n\nThe barren-ground caribou subspecies R. t. groenlandicus,, a long-distance migrant, includes large herds in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut, for example the Beverly, the Ahiak and Qamanirjuaq herds. In 1996, the population of the Ahiak herd was approximately 250,000 animals.\n\nAhiak, Beverly, Qamanirjuaq herds \n\nThe Ahiak, Beverly, Qamanirjuaq herds are barren-ground caribou.\n\n\"The Beverly herd’s crossing of the Thelon River to its traditional calving grounds near Beverly Lake was part of the lives of the Dene aboriginal people for 8000 years, as revealed by an unbroken archaeological record of deep layers of caribou bones and stone tools in the banks of the Thelon River (Gordon 2005).\" The Beverly Herd (located primarily in Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories; portions in Nunavut, Manitoba, Alberta) and the Qamanirjuaq Herd (located primarily in Manitoba, Nunavut; portions in southeastern NWT, northeastern Saskatchewan) fall under the auspices of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board. The Beverly herd, whose range spans the tundra from northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and well into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, had a peak population in 1994 of 276,000 or 294,000, but by 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the Beverly herd and 83,300 in the Ahiak herd. The calving grounds of the Beverly caribou herd are located around Queen Maud Gulf but the herd shifted its traditional birthing area. Caribou management agencies are concerned that deterioration and disturbance of habitat along with \"parasites, predation and poor weather\" are contributing to a cycling down of most caribou populations. It was suggested the Ahiak and Beverly herds switched calving grounds and the Beverly may have moved \"near the western Queen Maud Gulf coast to the north of the herd’s \"traditional\" calving ground in the Gary Lakes area north of Baker Lake.\" The \"Beverly herd may have declined (similar to other Northwest Territories herds), and cows switched to the neighbouring Ahiak herd to maintain the advantages of gregarious calving.\" By 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the combined Beverly/Ahiak herd which represents a \"50% or a 75% decline from the 1994 population estimate for the Beverly Herd.\"\n\nThe barren-ground caribou population on Southampton Island, Nunavut declined by almost 75%, from about 30,000 caribou in 1997 to 7,800 caribou in 2011. \n\nPeary caribou on Baffin Island \n\nThe R. t. pearyi (Peary caribou), the smallest subspecies in North America, known as Tuktu in Inuktitut, are found in the northern islands of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. They remain at low numbers after severe declines. On Baffin Island, the largest Arctic island, the population of Peary caribou peaked in the early 1990s to approximately 60,000 to 180,000. By 2012, in northern Baffin Island caribou numbers were considered to be at a \"low in the cycle after a high in the 1990s\" and in south Baffin Island, the population was estimated as between 1,065 and 2,067. \n\nNorthwest Territories \n\nThere are four barren-ground caribou herds in the Northwest Territories—Cape Bathurst, Bluenose West, Bluenose East and Bathurst. The Bluenose East caribou herd began a recovery with a population of approximately 122,000 in 2010. which is being credited to the establishment of Tuktut Nogait National Park. According to T. Davison 2010, CARMA 2011, the three other herds \"declined 84–93% from peak sizes in the mid-1980s and 1990s.\n\nR. t. caribou \n\nThe subspecies R. t. caribou commonly known as woodland caribou, is divided into ecotypes: boreal woodland caribou (also known as forest-dwelling), woodland caribou (boreal), mountain woodland caribou, and migratory woodland caribou. Caribou are classified by ecotype depending on several behavioural factors – predominant habitat use (northern, tundra, mountain, forest, boreal forest, forest-dwelling), spacing (dispersed or aggregated) and migration (sedentary or migratory).\n\nIn Canada, the national meta-population of the sedentary boreal ecotype spans the boreal forest from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. They prefer lichen-rich mature forests and mainly live in marshes, bogs, lakes, and river regions. The historic range of the boreal woodland caribou covered over half of present-day Canada, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as New England, Idaho, and Washington. Woodland caribou have disappeared from most of their original southern range. The boreal woodland was designated as threatened in 2002. In 2011 there were approximately 34,000 boreal caribou in 51 ranges remaining in Canada. \n\nGeorge River caribou herd (GRCH) \n\nThe migratory George River caribou herd (GRCH), in the Ungava region of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada was once the world's largest herd with 800,000–900,000 animals. Although it is categorized as a subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou, the woodland caribou, the GRCH is migratory woodland caribou and like the barren-ground caribou it's ecotype may be tundra caribou, Arctic, northern of migratory, not forest-dwelling and sedentary like most woodland caribou ecotypes. It is unlike most woodland caribou in that it is not sedentary. Since the mid-1990s, the herd declined sharply and by 2010, it was reduced to 74,131—a drop of up to 92%. A 2011 survey confirms a continuing decline of the George River migratory caribou herd population. By 2012 it was estimated to be about 27,600 animals, down from 385,000 in 2001 and 74,131 in 2010.\"\n\nLeaf River caribou herd (LRCH) \n\nThe Leaf River caribou herd (LRCH), another migratory forest-tundra ecotype of the boreal woodland caribou, near the coast of Hudson Bay, increased from 270 000 individuals in 1991 to 628 000 in 2001. By 2011 the herd had decreased to 430 000 caribou. According to an international study on caribou populations, the George River and Leaf River herds, and other herds that migrate from Nunavik, Quebec and insular Newfoundland, could be threatened with extinction by 2080.\n\nQueen Charlotte Islands caribou \n\nThe Queen Charlotte Islands caribou (R. tarandus dawsoni) from the Queen Charlotte Islands was believed to represent a distinct subspecies. It became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. However, recent DNA analysis from mitochondrial DNA of the remains from those reindeer suggest that the animals from the Queen Charlotte Islands were not genetically distinct from the Canadian mainland reindeer subspecies.\n\nGreenland \n\nAccording to Kolpashikov et al. (2013) there were four main populations of wild R. t. groenlandicus, barren-ground caribou, in west Greenland in 2013. The Kangerlussuaq-Sisimiut caribou herd, the largest had a population of around 98,000 animals in 2007. The \"second largest, Akia-Maniitsoq decreased from an estimated 46,000 in 2001 to about 17,400 in 2010. According to Cuyler, \"one possible cause might be the topography, which prevents hunter access in the former while permitting access in the latter.\"\n\nNorway \n\nThe last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway. In southern Norway in the mountain ranges, there are about 30,000–35,000 reindeer with 23 different populations. The largest herd with about 10,000 individuals, is at Hardangervidda. By 2013 the greatest challenges to management were \"loss of habitat and migration corridors to piecemeal infrastructure development and abandonment of reindeer habitat as a result of human activities and disturbance.\"\n\nNorway is now preparing to apply for nomination as a World Heritage Site for areas with traces and traditions of reindeer hunting in Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, Reinheimen National Park and Rondane National Park in Central Sør-Norge (Southern Norway). There is in these parts of Norway an unbroken tradition of reindeer hunting from post-glacial Stone Age until today.\n\nSvalbard reindeer \n\nThe Svalbard reindeer subspecies R. t. platyrhynchus from Svalbard island is very small compared to other subspecies (a phenomenon known as insular dwarfism), with females having a length of approximately 150 cm, and a weight around 53 kg in the spring and 70 kg in the autumn.Aanes, R. (2007).[http://npweb.npolar.no/english/arter/svalbardrein Svalbard reindeer.] Norwegian Polar Institute. Males are approximately 160 cm long, and weigh around 65 kg in the spring and 90 kg in the autumn. The reindeer from Svalbard are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm, thereby following Allen's rule.\n\nThe Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus subspecies, in Norway referred to as the Svalbard reindeer, seems to have evolved from large European reindeer. The Svalbard reindeer is special in several ways. Svalbard reindeer has peculiarities in its metabolism. The skeleton shows a remarkable relative shortening of the legs, thus parallelling many extinct insular deer species. \n\nFinland \n\nThe Finnish forest reindeer (R. tarandus fennicus), is found in the wild in only two areas of the Fennoscandia peninsula of Northern Europe, in Finnish/Russian Karelia, and a small population in central south Finland. The Karelia population reaches far into Russia, however, so far that it remains an open question whether reindeer further to the east are R. t. fennicus as well. By 2007 reindeer experts were concerned about the collapse of the wild Finnish forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) in the eastern province of Kainuu. During the peak year of 2001, the Finnish forest reindeer population in Kainuu was established at 1,700. In a March 2007 helicopter count, only 960 individuals were detected.\n\nIceland \n\nEast Iceland has a small herd of about 2500–3000 animals. Iceland (increasing or are stable at high numbers 2013) Iceland: Reindeer were introduced to Iceland (17) in the late 1700s cited in. The Icelandic reindeer population in July 2013 was estimated at approximately 6000. With a hunting quota of 1,229 animals, the winter 2013–2014 population is expected to be around 4800 reindeer\n\nBritish overseas territory experiment \n\nA few reindeer from Norway were introduced to the South Atlantic island of South Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century. The South Georgian reindeer total some 2,600 animals in two distinct herds separated by glaciers. Although the flag and the coat of arms of the territory contain an image of a reindeer, a decision was taken in 2011 to completely eradicate the animals from the island because of the environmental damage they cause. \n\nFrench overseas territory experiment \n\nAround 4000 reindeer have been introduced into the French sub-Antarctic archipelago of Kerguelen Islands.\n\nConservation status \n\nWhile overall widespread and numerous, some subspecies are rare and at least one has already gone extinct. As of 2015, the IUCN has classified the reindeer as Vulnerable due to an observed population decline of 40% over the last ~25 years.\n\nReindeer and humans \n\nThe reindeer has an important economic role for all circumpolar peoples, including the Saami, Nenets, Khants, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Chukchi, and Koryaks in Eurasia. It is believed that domestication started between the Bronze and Iron Ages. Siberian deer owners also use the reindeer to ride on (Siberian reindeer are larger than their Scandinavian relatives). For breeders, a single owner may own hundreds or even thousands of animals. The numbers of Russian herders have been drastically reduced since the fall of the Soviet Union. The sale of fur and meat is an important source of income. Reindeer were introduced into Alaska near the end of the 19th century; they interbreed with native caribou subspecies there. Reindeer herders on the Seward Peninsula have experienced significant losses to their herds from animals (such as wolves) following the wild caribou during their migrations.\n\nReindeer meat is popular in the Scandinavian countries. Reindeer meatballs are sold canned. Sautéed reindeer is the best-known dish in Lapland. In Alaska and Finland, reindeer sausage is sold in supermarkets and grocery stores. Reindeer meat is very tender and lean. It can be prepared fresh, but also dried, salted, hot- and cold-smoked. In addition to meat, almost all internal organs of reindeer can be eaten, some being traditional dishes. Furthermore, Lapin Poron liha, fresh reindeer meat completely produced and packed in Finnish Lapland, is protected in Europe with PDO classification. \n\nReindeer antler is powdered and sold as an aphrodisiac, nutritional or medicinal supplement to Asian markets.\n\nCaribou have been a major source of subsistence for Canadian Inuit.\n\nReindeer hunting by humans has a very long history, and caribou/wild reindeer \"may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting.\"\n\nWild caribou are still hunted in North America and Greenland. In the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit people, Northern First Nations people, Alaska Natives, and the Kalaallit of Greenland, the caribou is an important source of food, clothing, shelter, and tools. Many Gwich'in people, who depend on the Porcupine caribou, still follow traditional caribou management practices that include a prohibition against selling caribou meat and limits on the number of caribou to be taken per hunting trip. \n\nThe blood of the caribou was supposedly mixed with alcohol as drink by hunters and loggers in colonial Quebec to counter the cold. This drink is now enjoyed without the blood as a wine and whiskey drink known as Caribou. \n\nReindeer husbandry \n\nDNA analysis indicates that reindeer were independently domesticated in Fennoscandia and Western Russia (and possibly Eastern Russia). Reindeer have been herded for centuries by several Arctic and Subarctic people including the Sami and the Nenets. They are raised for their meat, hides, and antlers and, to a lesser extent, for milk and transportation. Reindeer are not considered fully domesticated, as they generally roam free on pasture grounds. In traditional nomadic herding, reindeer herders migrate with their herds between coast and inland areas according to an annual migration route and herds are keenly tended. However, reindeer were not bred in captivity, though they were tamed for milking as well as for use as draught animals or beasts of burden. Domesticated reindeer are shorter-legged and heavier than their wild counterparts.\n\nThe use of reindeer for transportation is common among the nomadic peoples of northern Russia (but not in Scandinavia). Although a sled drawn by 20 reindeer will cover no more than 20–25 km a day (compared to 7–10 km on foot, 70–80 km by a dog sled loaded with cargo, and 150–180 km by a dog sled without cargo), it has the advantage that the reindeer will discover their own food, while a pack of 5-7 sled dogs requires 10–14 kg of fresh fish a day. \n\nThe use of reindeer as semi-domesticated livestock in Alaska was introduced in the late 19th century by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, with assistance from Sheldon Jackson, as a means of providing a livelihood for Native peoples there. Reindeer were imported first from Siberia, and later also from Norway. A regular mail run in Wales, Alaska, used a sleigh drawn by reindeer. In Alaska, reindeer herders use satellite telemetry to track their herds, using online maps and databases to chart the herd's progress.\n\nDomesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Fennoscandia and Russia, with a herd of approximately 150–170 reindeer living around the Cairngorms region in Scotland. The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway. The International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR), a circumpolar organization, was established in 2005 by the Norwegian government. ICR represents over 20 indigenous reindeer peoples and about 100,000 reindeer herders in 9 different national states. In Finland, there are about 6,000 reindeer herders, most of whom keep small herds of less than 50 reindeer to raise additional income. With 185,000 reindeer (2001), the industry produces 2,000 tons of reindeer meat and generates 35 million euros annually. 70% of the meat is sold to slaughterhouses. Reindeer herders are eligible for national and EU agricultural subsidies, which constituted 15% of their income. Reindeer herding is of central importance for the local economies of small communities in sparsely populated rural Lapland. \n \t\nCurrently, many reindeer herders are heavily dependent on diesel fuel to provide for electric generators and snow mobile transportation, although solar photovoltaic systems can be used to reduce diesel dependency. \n\nIn history \n\nBoth Aristotle and Theophrastus have short accounts – probably based on the same source – of an ox-sized deer species, named tarandos, living in the land of the Bodines in Scythia, which was able to change the colour of its fur to obtain camouflage. The latter is probably a misunderstanding of the seasonal change in reindeer fur colour. The descriptions have been interpreted as being of reindeer living in the southern Ural Mountains in c. 350 BC\n\nA deer-like animal described by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico (chapter 6.26) from the Hercynian Forest in the year 53 BC is most certainly to be interpreted as reindeer: \n\nAccording to Olaus Magnus's Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus – printed in Rome in 1555 – Gustav I of Sweden sent 10 reindeer to Albert I, Duke of Prussia, in the year 1533. It may be these animals that Conrad Gessner had seen or heard of.\n\nDuring World War II, the Soviet Army used reindeer as pack animals to transport food, ammunition and post from Murmansk to the Karelian front and bring wounded soldiers, pilots and equipment back to the base. About 6,000 reindeer and more than 1,000 reindeer herders were part of the operation. Most herders were Nenets, who were mobilized from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, but reindeer herders from Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Komi also participated. \n\nSanta Claus' reindeer \n\nAround the world, public interest in reindeer peaks in the Christmas period. According to folklore, Santa Claus's sleigh is pulled by flying reindeer. These were first named in the 1823 poem \"A Visit from St. Nicholas\", where they are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. Dunder was later changed to Donder and—in other works—Donner (in German, \"thunder\"), and Blixem was later changed to Bliksem, then Blitzen (blitz being German for \"lightning\"). Some consider Rudolph as part of the group as well, though he was not part of the original named work referenced previously. Rudolph was added by Robert L. May in 1939 as \"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer\". \n\nHeraldry and symbols \n\nSeveral Norwegian municipalities have one or more reindeer depicted in their coats-of-arms: Eidfjord, Porsanger, Rendalen, Tromsø, Vadsø, and Vågå. The historic province of Västerbotten in Sweden has a reindeer in its coat of arms. The present Västerbotten County has very different borders and uses the reindeer combined with other symbols in its coat-of-arms. The city of Piteå also has a reindeer. The logo for Umeå University features three reindeer. \n\nThe Canadian 25-cent coin, or \"quarter\" features a depiction of a caribou on one face. The caribou is the official provincial animal of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and appears on the coat of arms of Nunavut. A caribou statue was erected at the center of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, marking the spot in France where hundreds of soldiers from Newfoundland were killed and wounded in the First World War and there is a replica in Bowring Park, in St. John's, Newfoundland's capital city.\n\nTwo municipalities in Finland have reindeer motifs in their coats-of-arms: Kuusamo has a running reindeer and Inari a fish with reindeer antlers.","Gardensafari Birds (with lots of pictures)\nBirds in the garden with lots of ... of Sparrows and even shares the same name but actually it belongs to an entire different family of birds. 1.3 Titmice (Paridae)\nGardensafari Birds (with lots of pictures)\nSUPPORT GARDENSAFARI\nBirds\n[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed. The animal's English name is usually specified, provided it has one. The scientific name is always mentioned in the caption of the photograph. Click on\nfor sound. For more information on a species click on a bird's name. You will be given a separate page containing more information about the bird's habits, the eggs, extra pictures and also its sound (if available).]\nThis page is divided into chapters, of which the first covers the subject of passerine birds and is by far the biggest. That chapter is divided into 7 smaller ones to keep navigation possible. In the chapter exotic birds we tell you about escaped species. It is doubtful, to say the least, whether these creatures stand a chance to survive in the wild in this part of the world.\nContents: 1 Passerine Birds , 2 Pigeons , 3 Woodpeckers , 4 Plovers 5 Exotic Birds , 6 Water Birds and 7 Other Birds\n1 Passerine Birds\nContents: 1.1 Thrushes , 1.2 Sparrows , 1.3 Titmice , 1.4 Finches , 1.5 Warblers , 1.6 Crows and Jays and 1.7 Other Passerine Birds .\n1.1 Thrushes (Turdidae)\nThis is a large family of passerine birds. In general most of its members eat worms and insects. In colder areas they eat nuts and sometimes in winter also berries. Most thrushes have long and pointed beaks. All just hatched thrushes are very speckled. A number of species, such as the Robin and the Blackbird, loose their speckles when they reach the adult age. Others, like the Song Thrush and the Mistle Thrush remain speckled all their life. In the Netherlands the Blackbird is the most common bird. It is estimated that there are around 3.5 milion of them, thus making it even more common than the House Sparrow! The male Blackbird is black indeed with a striking yellow beak. The female is brown with a less striking brown beak.\nFemale Blackbirds\n(Turdus merula) are brown and not black at all!. The male is in the picture to your left, the female in the picture to your right.\nAnother well-known thrush is the Song Thrush. The majority of thrushes sing beautifully, but the Song Thrush is a credit to its name. Gardeners are happy with Song Thrushes in their neighbourhood because these birs eat snails. The Redwing looks like the Song Thrush very much, but has a red spot around the wing. This species breeds in Scandinavia but spends the winters in Western- and Southern Europe. In the Benelux you can see a lot of them during the migration season in autumn (especially in October and November).\n(Turdus philomelos), to the left and the Redwing\n(Turdus iliacus), to the right look rather similar.\nOne of the best known birds in the garden is the Robin. You can often see it from close by as it is not shy at all. Adults have the well known red breast. Males and females look identical and both have their own territory during winter, which they will defend. That's why both sexes sing, which is rare in the world of birds. And what's more: they sing nearly all year round. The young are very speckled, thus showing they actually belong to the Thrushes family.\nThe Robin\n(Erithacus rubecula), to the left a chick, is a forward and even curious little bird.\nOther thrushes in our garden include the Mistle Thrush , the Nightingale , the Redstart and the Fieldfare . At the moment we have no good pictures available.\n1.2 Sparrows (Passeridae)\nOnce the House Sparrow was the most numerous bird in the Netherlands. But those days are over. Nowadays we contruct and isolate our houses in a different way than in the past and, consequently, there is no place or hole in the roof for the House Sparrow to build its nest. The number of House Sparrows in Holland dropped considerably over the past few years. And not only in Holland, but in Belgium and England as well. In England the species has even been put on the red list of endangered species! The male, below to your right, is richly marked and has a beautiful ash grey cap. The female, depicted below to your left, is less colourful and her cap is like the rest of the body covered with pale browns and beiges.\nThe House Sparrow\n(Passer domesticus) is becoming something of a rarity nowadays. Picture's: $\nWe don't see many House Sparrows around because we live in a small village in a rural arae with lots of forests. That's the territory of the Tree Sparrows. Both species belong to a mainly tropical family of birds. Most of its members build huge and complicated nests. The House Sparrow very rarely builds such a complicated nest in the trees but mainly it nests under the tiles of roofs etc. The Tree Sparrow never weaves a nest for it is a real hole-nesting bird. By the way: in Northern America this family of birds is better known as the Weaver Finches. Usually over there the name sparrows is used to refer to the family of American Sparrows (Emberizidae), non of which live in Europe, let alone in our garden.\nIn winter the Tree Sparrow\n(Passer montanus) often appears in large numbers.\nThe Hedge Sparrow looks like both species of Sparrows and even shares the same name but actually it belongs to an entire different family of birds.\n1.3 Titmice (Paridae)\nTitmice (or simply Tits), are referred to in Northern America as Chickadees as well. In summer they fly about rather unnoticed but as soon as winter comes you will see them virtually everywhere. A number of species can become really tame. Tits are intelligent birds that over the years adapted themselves to the changing environment. For instance they learned how to open milk bottles to get into the tasty cream on top of milk. Most Titmice are resident birds that don't migrate at all or, if they do, it travels short distances only. The best known Tit is perhaps the Great Tit. Like most Tits this is a hole nesting bird. It often competes with the Blue Tit over the ownership of a good nesting hole. And because the Great Tit is just a tiny bit bigger (and stronger) it usually triumphs. All titmice eat insects, spiders and larvae in spring and summer, but switch to berries and nuts once winter approaches.\nTo the left the Great Tit\n(Parus major) and to the right a Blue Tit\n(Nowadays: Cyanistes caeruleus, used to be Parus caeruleus).\nThere are two more Tits that frequent our garden. They are less colourful however. The Marsh Tit is just as cheeky as the two blue species. Going from east to west in the Benelux the bird becomes less common. The Crested Tit only lives in woody areas. It prefers older pines and is therefore less common. If the crested Tit visits your garden it won't be very shy but it's also less forward than the three species already mentioned.\nTwo more frequent visitors to out feeding stand: the Marsh Tit\n(Nowadays: Poecile palustris, used to be Parus palustris) and the Crested Tit\n(Nowadays: Lophophanes cristatus, used to be Parus cristatus).\nThe smallest Titmouse in Central Europe is the Coal Tit below. It is even slightly smaller than the Blue Tit is. It is not a very striking bird, but can easily be recognized as it really lokks like any other Tit and has a unique big black cap showing a white line in the middle. Its song is soft and not very special, but it sings all year round. And it is not only the male that sings, the females sing just as much. The species lives on pines, so probably it will not turn up in everyone's garden. The Coal Tit is not shy at all, but it is difficult to take a good picture of the animal as it is rather restless. When it visits our feeding table it gives the impression of being nervous and moves frantically. It is mare calm when sitting on a baggy of peanuts. The picture below is not of the best quality, alas.\nA very nervous species: the Coal Tit\n(Periparus ater, but used to be Parus ater).\nEven though it bears the word Tit in its name, the Long-tailed Tit actually is not a Titmouse at all but it belongs to its own family of Passerine Birds.\n1.4 Finches (Fringillidae)\nMany finches are beautiful, colourful and skillful singing birds. Seeds are their main source of food which you can tell by looking at their beak: short, thick and strong, able to crack all kind of seeds and nuts. Chaffinches are common birds all over Europe. In Western Europe they are especially seen in winter when they are less shy and because there are simply more of them in one place. Lots of Chaffinches from Scandinavia migrate to Western Europe in winter.\nEven the Chaffinch\n(Fringilla coelebs) loves to sing from a high position. To the right a young male, not fully coloured yet.\nThe Greenfinch is not as shy as the Chaffinch especially during the breeding season. The bird is very fond of rose-hips and will do everything to get them! The green and yellow colours of the Greenfinch are less prominent during winter.\nThe Greenfinch\n(Chloris chloris) often is a bit pale in winter.\nAnother regular guest in my garden during winter is the Siskin. It breeds in this part of Europe in small numbers as it actually a bird to be found in pine forests in Northern Europe and Scotland. In winter these birds travel from southwards to England and the Benelux. The bird is not very shy, but it moves a lot which makes it difficult to photograph. In all pictures of the species on our pages a male is depicted. The female is darker, with less yellow colouring.\nSiskins\n(Carduelis spinus) are regular visitors to our garden in winter.\nGoldfinch is a rare visitor in my garden even though this is a rather common bird in this part of the world. The bird prefers more open surroundings and mild climate. It can be found in all parts of Europe except for in colder parts of Scandinavia.\nThe contrasty colours of Goldfinch\nmake it easy to spot this bird in the garden.\nOther finches that appear in my garden are the Bullfinch , the Brambling ,and the Linnet . Alas, I do not have pictures of these species available yet.\n1.5 Warblers (Sylviidae)\nWarblers are very small birds. Most of them are very dull and some species are very hard to tell apart. All warblers are insect eaters. Most of them come to Europe in summer to breed and in autumn they leave again for Africa. The Chiffchaff below looks very much like the Willow Warbler , which is not depicted here. Even experts listen to them rather than look at them in order to tell them apart. The Willow Worbler is an excellent singer, but the Chiffchaff only says... chiff chaff (Hey, what else should a Chiffchaff say!). The Gold Crest is the smallest bird in the Benelux, weighing about 5 grams only. Gold Crests do not migrate and stay in Europe during winter. Then they regularly mix up with tits and finches.\n(Phylloscopus collybita) is a very dull bird, but the Gold Crest\n(Regulus regulus) has quite striking colours.\nThe Blackcap is a frequent visitor of the garden in summer. Its modest colours make it difficult for the photographer to notice that it is actually an interesting bird.\n1.6 Crows and Jays (Corvidae)\nMost Passerine Birds sing beautifully. So it is amazing that the Crow family also belongs to the Passerine Birds: the sounds they utter vary from awful to horrible. The Crow is a very large, black bird. To be precise, the beak is black in Western Europe but in Central and Eastern Europe it is grey and black and the bird is called the Hooded Crow. Strangely enough, Hooded Crows also live in Ireland and Northern Scotland. In other parts of the UK one finds black crows only. It is not very important though as both birds belong to one and the same species. The Magpie is black and white and quite beautiful. Many owners of gardens don't think very positive about this animal because it regularly distroys the nests of smaller Passerine birds and eating their young. On the other hand: the young of the Magpie have to eat as well, don't they?\nCarrion Crow (or Black Crows) in photo to the left and Hooded Crows in the middle\nbelong to the same species: Corvus corone. Magpies\n(photo to the right) are not shy really, but they keep their distance from humans.\nThe Jackdaw is very rare in our garden. There are lots of them not far from our house but they seem to avoid our garden. It is the smallest Crow in Western Europe. Because we live in an area with lots of woodlands we see the Jay almost daily. Its main interest seems to be the water in the pond.\n(Corvus monedula) to the left and the Jay\n(Garrulus glandarius) to the right visit our garden irregularly.\nOther members of the Crow family in our garden are the Rook and the Nutcracker . We have no acceptable pictures of these species yet.\n1.7 Other Passerine Birds\nThe Passerine birds below all belong to various families and we can not group them in any other way. The Nuthatch (family Sittidae - Nuthatchers) can be a very common bird in your garden, provided there are many trees in the vicinity. The Nuthatch can climb trees but not only that - he can also descend trees with its head pointed downward which is very unique. It feeds mainly on insect and their larvae that live in wood. In winter it eagerly takes the food you offer on a bird feeder. The Hedge Sparrow (family Prunellidae - Hedge Sparrows) resembles other sparrows but actually it is not even closely related to them. It has the same pattern of stripes and colours but, concluding from the shape of the beak, it eats mainly insects. The bird is not shy at all and it is often erroneously assumed to be an ordinary sparrow and as such gets unnoticed.\n(Sitta europaea) to the left and the Hedge Sparrow\n(Prunella modularis) to the right are insect eaters mainly.\nWhen a bird is called Hedge Sparrows, one automatically assumes, wrongfully, that it is a sparrow. The same goes for the Long-tailed Tit. It belongs to its own family (Aegithalidae - Bush Tits) and is not closely related to the real Tits at all. Anyway, the first part of the name is highly accurate, for the Long-tailed Tit has a very long tail indeed. The animal lives in a kind of family structure and is seldom seen on its own.\nLong-tailed Tits\n(Aegithalos caudatus) always live in small groups.\nThe Starling (family Sturnidae - Starlings) is another well known bird. You might not be so fond of Starlings because they often come in large flocks and in no time at all they eat the cherries off your cherry trees. The same flocks however display breathtaking shows of synchronous flying in autumn. The Starling on the picture has fresh feathers and therefore looks extremely speckled. The speckles wear off later showing a green metallic colour. The Pied Flycatcher (family Muscicapidae - Fly Catchers) breeds in our garden regularly. The male arrives from Africa about two weeks before the female does. It spends these two weeks looking for a good nesting place (often a nesting box, which the species adopts without hesitation). When it has found a suitable one, it stays around, singing a lot. First of all to scare away other males, secondly to lure the arriving females. Upon hearing his song the females carefully inspect the place he found. If the female approves the site both birds form a couple. Otherwise she will leave and he will have to wait for the next female he can lure to his residence...\n(Sturnus vulgaris) to the left rarely visits our garden, but the Pied Flycatcher\n(Ficedula hypoleuca) even breeds here.\nIn 2003 our first pipit (family Motacillidae) turned up. It was sitting on the ground, could be appraoched easily, performed his role as photo model very well and then took off. In close up this turns out to be a beautiful bird as well. Usually you do not get a chance for a close look like this. The Tree Pipit and the Meadow Pipit are two look-a-likes. Two experts however confirmed our impression that in this case we are talking about a Tree Pipit. This is a very common bird all over Europe, including most of Britain.\nVery beautiful in a close up: the Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)\nThe Wren, also known as Winter Wren or European Wren, is one of the smallest birds in Europe. It looks quite funny: a round body and a very small tail that is held upright most of the time. It is often seen running through high vegetation in a mouse-like way. In our garden it seldom comes to our feeding table and if it does the visits are very brief. The Wren is the only European representative of the Wren family (Troglodytidae). The picture below is of rather poor quality, alas.\nThis bird is called the Winter Wren\n(Troglodytes troglodytes), for it even sings in winter.\nAn occasional guest making acrobaric flights above the garden is Barn Swallow (family Hirundinidae - Swallows). It is very fast so rather difficult to capture with a camera. Luckily, I've managed to take pictures of swallows when visiting Batavia shipyard in Lelystad in the Netherlands where they seemed to be less shy.\nAlso from close by Barn Swallow is a surprisingly beautiful bird.\nThere are other passerine birds in our garden, like White Wagtail (family Motacillidae - Pipits and Wagtails), Small Flycatcher (family Muscicapidae - Fly-catchers) and the Short-toed Tree Creeper (family Certhidae - Creepers). Up till now I have not managed to take good pictures of these birds.\n2 Pigeons (Columbidae)\nLots of people keep pigeons either because of their beautiful looks or because of the Pigeons ability to return home from afar (Homing Pigeons). In the past there was another reason for keeping pigeons, especially in France, pigeaon meat was considered a delicatecy! Many of these pigeons escaped and mixed with pigeons that lost their way to create a new species: the Town Pigeon. Thus we have no idea whether the one below is such a Town Pigeon or if this is a resting Homing Pigeon.\nThis could be a Homing Pigeon that got lost on the way, or is resting for a bit.\nThere are two species of wild pigeons in our garden: the small, forward and dull Collared Dove and the big and very shy Woodpigeon. Both species are very fond of our pond. Pigeons are remarkable birds indeed because they can actually drink water. In order to get some water most other birds just put their beak into the water and then throw their heads backwards. Pigeons don't do this, they just drink, which you can tell by the movements in their throats. Both species have a terrible monotonous song. The Woodpigeon is popular among meat eaters: weasels, goshawks and even humans appreciate them culinarily.\n(Columba palumbus) and the Collared Dove\n(Streptopelia decaocto) are very common in our garden.\n3 Woodpeckers (Picidae)\nEven though Woodpeckers are well known birds, most often you can hear them before you can actually spot them. They live of the larvae of beetles that live in wood. In order to reach them they hew holes in trees and that's what you hear. Sometimes they simply strike the tree just for the fun of the sound of it. It's also their way of communication. They do make other sounds as well: they 'laugh' loudly. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a common species in gardens and in winter it will take food from your bird feeder. The Green Woodpecker is a rare species. Unlike the other woodpeckers it is entirely dependant on ants. It visits our garden rarely to eat some of the ants that live in the grassfield.\nTo the left a young Green Woodpecker\n(Picus viridis) and to the right the very common Great Spotted Woodpecker\n(Dendrocopos major).\nThe enormous Black Woodpecker visited my garden only once and I was just too late to grab my camera and take a picture of it.\n4 Plovers (Charadriidae)\nAn interesting bird is the Northern Lapwing (family Charadriidae - Plovers), that in spring time often flies over my garden screaming the shrieking 'peewit'.\n5 Exotic Birds\nThese are birds that appeared in our garden but actually should not have. Most are escapees from cages, breeders etc. and cannot really survive in the wild. Usually the winters are too cold for them (like for the Rosella) or there is not enough suitable food available for them, like for the Peafowl. Other species however are able to live through winters and some species may even become \"European\" birds, like the Mandarin Duck. The two female Peafowls in the pictures below suddenly and unexpectedly turned up in our garden. They wandered off from the neighbours' garden and into ours. They had quite lucky that day as our bird feeder just fell apart of misery and old age while a lot of bird food was still on it. Needless to add that the Peafowls had a dinner party there! The species below is known as the Indian Peafowl. It usually is blueish, especially the male, but the famous White Peafowl belongs to this species as well.\nTurning up in our garden by surprise: two hens of the Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).\nThe Mandarin Duck (family Anatidae) one day suddenly came to our pond and left some two weeks later. The duck does not originally belong in Europe but humans imported it from China. The male has a very beautifully coloured pattern on its feathers. Some animals escape or are set free and in certain areas of Europe and the animal now lives in there in the wild. We have no idea whether the female depicted below is such a wild descendant or if is a bird on the run. The Crimson Rosella (family Platyceridae - Rosellas) certainly is a bird that got astray, for this relative of the parakeet (it is not a parrot) from Australia will never survive the winters in Europe.\nTo the left a female Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) and to the right a Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) that probably escaped.\n6 Water Birds\nSea Gulls are among the best known birds in the countries adjacent to the North Sea. Most species are confined to the coastal areas but the Black-headed Gull (family Laridae - Gulls) lives all over Europe. From time to time it visists our garden. On the lawn it behaves like a Blackbird: it walks about quickly, hoping for some Earth Worms to surface. Young Blakheaded Gulls are without the black cap and so are adults in winter. The big Grey Heron (family Ardeidae - Herons and Bitterns) actually is a very unwelcome visitor to our garden, for it is after the life in our pond, including our beautiful fish and the frogs. The Grey Heron is a migrating bird, even though some colonies, especially in the western part of Holland, do not migrate any longer. They find food in abundance there that they do not need to move.\nThe majestic White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) was almost extinct in the Netherlands only 30 years ago. The Grey Heron\n(Ardea cinerea) is after our fish! Black-headed Gulls\n(Larus ridibundus) are elegant flyers indeed.\n7 Other Birds\nThere are still some birds that do sometimes pop up in the garden. First of all we had the Northern Goshawk (family Accipitridae - Hawks) in our garden once. It had just caught a woodpigeon. We quickly made an attempt to take a picture but with not a good result. Another irregular guest that flashes through the garden from time to time is the Common Kestrel (family Falconidae - Falcons) hunting for a blackbird or some other small bird.\nSounds � CLM \"&\" Vogelbescherming Nederland, used here by kind permission.","Dugong dugon - Society for Marine Mammalogy\nSociety for Marine Mammalogy. ... strictly marine herbivorous mammal. The dugong is the only sirenian in ... at an utaki that outsiders are strictly forbidden ...\nDugong dugon - Society for Marine Mammalogy\nSociety for Marine Mammalogy\nSpeciesdugon\nContent retrieved from Wikipedia, and managed by the Marine Mammal Science Education Committee.\nThis article is about the animal. For the Chinese architectural feature, see Dougong . For the Pokémon character, see Dewgong .\nThe dugong ( /ˈduːɡɒŋ/ , /ˈdjuːɡɒŋ/ ; Dugong dugon) is a medium-sized marine mammal . It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia , which also includes three species of manatees . It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae ; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong is the only strictly marine herbivorous mammal.\nThe dugong is the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of some 40 countries and territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific . The dugong is largely dependent on seagrass communities for subsistence and is thus restricted to the coastal habitats which support seagrass meadows, with the largest dugong concentrations typically occurring in wide, shallow, protected areas such as bays , mangrove channels , the waters of large inshore islands and inter-reefal waters. The northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay are believed to be the dugong's contemporary stronghold.\nLike all modern sirenians, the dugong has a fusiform body with no dorsal fin or hind limbs . The forelimbs or flippers are paddle-like. The dugong is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for feeding in benthic seagrass communities. The molar teeth are simple and peg-like unlike the more elaborate molar dentition of manatees.\nThe dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for its meat and oil . Traditional hunting still has great cultural significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The dugong's current distribution is fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction. The IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products. Despite being legally protected in many countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include fishing-related fatalities, habitat degradation and hunting. With its long lifespan of 70 years or more, and slow rate of reproduction, the dugong is especially vulnerable to extinction.\nEtymology and taxonomy\nSee also: Evolution of sirenians\nThe word \"dugong\" derives from the Tagalog term dugong which was in turn adopted from the Malay duyung, both meaning \"lady of the sea\". [3] Other common local names include \"sea cow\", \"sea pig\" and \"sea camel\". [4]\nDugong dugon is the only extant species of the family Dugongidae , and one of only four extant species of the Sirenia order, the others forming the manatee family. [5] It was first classified by Müller in 1776 as Trichechus dugon, [6] a member of the manatee genus previously defined by Linnaeus . [7] It was later assigned as the type species of Dugong by Lacépède [8] and further classified within its own family by Gray [9] and subfamily by Simpson . [10]\nDugongs and other sirenians are not closely related to other marine mammals , being more related to elephants . [11] Dugongs and elephants share a monophyletic group with hyraxes and the aardvark , one of the earliest offshoots of eutherians . The fossil record shows sirenians appearing in the Eocene , where they most likely lived in the Tethys Ocean . The two extant families of sirenians are thought to have diverged in the mid-Eocene, after which the dugongs and their closest relative, the Steller's sea cow , split off from a common ancestor in the Miocene . The Steller's sea cow became extinct in the 18th century. No fossils exist of other members of the Dugongidae. [12]\nMolecular studies have been made on dugong populations using mitochondrial DNA . The results have suggested that the population of Southeast Asia is distinct from the others. Australia has two distinct maternal lineages, one of which also contains the dugongs from Africa and Arabia. Limited genetic mixing has taken place between those in Southeast Asia and those in Australia, mostly around Timor . [5] One of the lineages stretches all the way from Moreton Bay to Western Australia , while the other only stretches from Moreton Bay to the Northern Territory . [11] There is not yet sufficient genetic data to make clear boundaries between distinct groups. [5]\nAnatomy and morphology\nThe dugong's body is large with a cylindrical shape that tapers at both ends. It has thick, smooth skin that is a pale cream colour at birth, but darkens dorsally and laterally to brownish-to-dark-grey with age. The colour of a dugong can change due to the growth of algae on the skin. [13] The body is sparsely covered in short hair, a common feature among sirenians which may allow for tactile interpretation of their environment. [14] These hairs are most developed around the mouth, which has a large horseshoe -shaped upper lip forming a highly mobile muzzle. [12] This muscular upper lip aids the dugong in foraging . [13]\nBones in the forelimb can fuse variously with age.\nThe dugong's tail flukes [15] and flippers [11] are similar to those of dolphins . These flukes are raised up and down in long strokes to move the animal forward, and can be twisted to turn. The forelimbs are paddle-like flippers which aid in turning and slowing. [12] The dugong lacks nails on its flippers, which are only 15% of a dugong's body length. [12] The tail has deep notches. [16]\nA dugong's brain weighs a maximum of 300 g (11 oz), about 0.1% of the animal's body weight. [12] With very small eyes, [17] dugongs have limited vision, but acute hearing within narrow sound thresholds. Their ears, which lack pinnae , are located on the sides of their head. The nostrils are located on top of the head and can be closed using valves. [11] Dugongs have two teats , one located behind each flipper. [12] There are few differences between sexes; the body structures are almost the same. [13] A male's testes are not externally located, and the main difference between males and females is the location of the genital aperture in relation to the umbilicus and the anus . The lungs in a dugong are very long, extending almost as far as the kidneys , which are also highly elongated in order to cope with the saltwater environment. [12] If wounded, a dugong's blood will clot rapidly. [13]\nDugong tail fluke\nThe skull of a dugong is unique. [16] The skull is enlarged with sharply down-turned premaxilla , which are stronger in males. The spine has between 57 and 60 vertebrae . [12] Unlike in manatees, the dugong's teeth do not continually grow back via horizontal tooth replacement. [18] The dugong has two incisors ( tusks ) which emerge in males during puberty. The female's tusks continue to grow without emerging during puberty, sometimes erupting later in life after reaching the base of the premaxilla . [12] The number of growth layer groups in a tusk indicates the age of a dugong, [5] and the cheekteeth move forward with age. The full dental formula of dugongs is 2.0.3.33.1.3.3, meaning they have two incisors, three premolars , and three molars on each side of their upper jaw, and three incisors, one canine, three premolars, and three molars on each side of their lower jaw. [16] Like other sirenians, the dugong experiences pachyostosis , a condition in which the ribs and other long bones are unusually solid and contain little or no marrow . These heavy bones, which are among the densest in the animal kingdom , [19] may act as a ballast to help keep sirenians suspended slightly below the water's surface. [20]\nAn adult's length rarely exceeds 3 metres (9.8 ft). An individual this long is expected to weigh around 420 kilograms (926 lb). Weight in adults is typically more than 250 kilograms (551 lb) and less than 900 kilograms (1,984 lb). [21] The largest individual recorded was 4.06 metres (13.32 ft) long and weighed 1,016 kilograms (2,240 lb), [12] and was found off the Saurashtra coast of west India . [22] Females tend to be larger than males. [12]\nDistribution and habitat\nDugong on the sea floor at Marsa Alam , Egypt\nDugongs are found in warm coastal waters from the western Pacific Ocean to the eastern coast of Africa, [15] along an estimated 140,000 kilometres (86,992 mi) of coastline [2] between 26° and 27° degrees to the north and south of the equator . [5] Their historic range is believed to correspond to that of seagrasses from the Potamogetonaceae and Hydrocharitaceae families. The full size of the former range is unknown, although it is believed that the current populations represent the historical limits of the range, [5] which is highly fractured. [13] Today populations of dugongs are found in the waters of 37 countries and territories. [11] Recorded numbers of dugongs are generally believed to be lower than actual numbers, due to a lack of accurate surveys. Despite this, the dugong population is thought to be shrinking, [5] with a worldwide decline of 20 per cent in the last 90 years. They have disappeared from the waters of Hong Kong , Mauritius , and Taiwan, as well as parts of Cambodia , Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Further disappearances are likely. [11]\nDugongs are generally found in warm waters around the coast [15] with large numbers concentrated in wide and shallow protected bays. [5] The dugong is the only strictly-marine herbivorous mammal, as all species of manatee utilise fresh water to some degree. [5] Nonetheless, they can tolerate the brackish waters found in coastal wetlands, [23] and large numbers are also found in wide and shallow mangrove channels and around leeward sides of large inshore islands, where seagrass beds are common. [5] They are usually located at a depth of around 10 m (33 ft), [13] although in areas where the continental shelf remains shallow dugongs have been known to travel more than 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the shore, descending to as far as 37 metres (121 ft), where deepwater seagrasses such as Halophila spinulosa are found. [5] Special habitats are used for different activities. It has been observed that shallow waters are used as sites for calving, minimising the risk of predation. Deep waters may provide a thermal refuge from cooler waters closer to the shore during winter. [5]\nEast Africa and South Asia\nIn the late 1960s, herds of up to 500 dugongs were observed off the coast of East Africa and nearby islands. Current populations in this area are extremely small, numbering 50 and below, and it is thought likely they will become extinct. The eastern side of the Red Sea is the home of large populations numbering in the hundreds, and similar populations are thought to exist on the western side. In the 1980s, it was estimated there could be as many as 4,000 dugongs in the Red Sea. The Persian Gulf has the second-largest dugong population in the world, inhabiting most of the southern coast, [5] and the current population is believed to be around 7,500. [17] Dugong populations in Madagascar are poorly studied, but due to widespread exploitation it is thought they may have severely declined, with few surviving individuals. [24] [25] In Mozambique , most of local populations remaining are rather very small where the largest (about 120 individuals) occur at Bazaruto Island , [26] but they have become rare in historical habitats such as in Maputo Bay and on Inhaca Island . [27] [28] Among Tanzania , observations have recently been increased around the Mafia Island Marine Park where a hunt was intended by fishermen but failed in 2009. [29] In the Seychelles , dugongs had been regarded as extinct until a small number of dugongs was discovered around the Aldabra Atoll . This population may belong to different group than that distributed among the inner isles. [30] [31] Dugongs once thrived among Chagos Archipelago and the Sea Cow Island was named after the species although the species being considered no longer to occur in the region. [32] [33]\nA highly isolated breeding population exists in the Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch , [34] the only population remaining in western India. It is 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) from the population in the Persian Gulf, and 1,700 kilometres (1,056 mi) from the nearest population in India. Former populations in this area, centred on the Maldives and the Laccadive Islands , are presumed to be extinct. A population exists in the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka , but it is seriously depleted. Dugongs are also found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is the state animal of this territory.[ citation needed ] Once distributed throughout the coastal belt in Sri Lanka, the dugong number declined in last two decades due to heavy hunting by the fishermen. Now only the north-eastern coastal belt is home for the rest of dugong population around Sri Lanka.[ citation needed ] It is listed as an endangered species on the southern coast of Pakistan .[ citation needed ] The population around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are known only from a few records, and although the population was large during British rule, it is now believed to be small and scattered. [5]\nSouthern Pacific outside of Australia\nDugong with attached remora off Lamen Island , Vanuatu\nA small population exists today along the southern coast of China , where efforts are being made to protect it, [35] including the establishment of a seagrass sanctuary for dugong and other endangered marine fauna ranging in Guanxi . [36] [37] Despite these efforts, numbers continue to decrease, and in 2007 it was reported that no more dugong could be found on the west coast of the island of Hainan . [38] Historically, dugongs were also present in the southern parts of the Yellow Sea . [39] In Vietnam, dugongs have been restricted mostly to the provinces of Kiên Giang and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu , including Phu Quoc Island and Con Dao Island , [40] which hosted large populations in the past. [41] Con Dao is now the only site in Vietnam where dugong are regularly seen, [42] protected within the Côn Đảo National Park . [43] Nonetheless, dangerously low levels of awarenesses for conservation of marine organisms in Vietnam and Cambodia may result in increased intentional or unintentional catches, and illegal trade is a potential danger for local dugongs. [41] On Phu Quoc, the first 'Dugong Festival' was held in 2014, aiming to raise awareness of these issues. [44]\nIn Thailand, the present distribution of dugongs is restricted to 6 provinces along the Andaman Sea , and very few dugongs are present in the Gulf of Thailand . [45] The Gulf of Thailand was historically home to large number of the animals, but none have been sighted in the west of the gulf in recent years, [5] and the remaining population in the east is thought to be very small and possibly declining. [46] Dugongs are believed to exist in the Straits of Johor in very small numbers. The waters around Borneo support a small population, with more scattered throughout the Malay archipelago . All the islands of the Philippines are believed to have once provided habitats for dugongs, which were common until the 1970s. Populations exist around the Solomon Islands archipelago and New Caledonia , stretching to an easternmost population in Vanuatu . A highly isolated population lives around the islands of Palau . [5]\nA singe dugong lives at Cocos (Keeling) Islands although the animal is thought to be a vagrant. [47] [48]\nNorthern Pacific\nToday, possibly the smallest and northernmost population of dugongs exists around the Ryukyu islands, and a population formerly existed off Taiwan. [5] An endangered population of 50 or fewer dugongs, possibly as few as only three individuals, survives [49] around Okinawa . [50] A single individual was recorded in Amami Oshima , at the northernmost edge of the dugong's historic range, more than 40 years after the last previous recorded sighting. [51] A vagrant strayed into port near Ushibuka, Kumamoto, and died due to poor health. [52] Historically, the Yaeyama Islands held a large concentration of dugongs, with more than 300 individuals. On Aragusuku Island, large quantities of skulls are preserved at an utaki that outsiders are strictly forbidden to enter. [53] [54] Dugong populations in these areas were reduced by historical hunts as payments to the Ryukyu Kingdom , before being wiped out because of large-scale illegal hunting and fishing using destructive methods such as dynamite fishing after the Second World War.\nPopulations around Taiwan appear to be almost extinct, although remnant individuals may visit areas with rich seagrass beds such as Dongsha Atoll . [55] Some of the last reported sightings were made in Kenting National Park in 1950s and 60s. [56] There had been occasional records of vagrants at the Northern Mariana Islands prior to 1985. [57] It is unknown how much mixing there was between these populations historically. Some theorise that populations existed independently, for example that the Okinawan population were isolated members derived from the migration of a Philippine subspecies. [58] Others postulate that the populations formed part of a super-population where migration between Ryukyu , Taiwan , and the Philippines was common. [59]\nAustralia\nAustralia is home to the largest population, stretching from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Moreton Bay in Queensland . [11] The population of Shark Bay is thought to be stable with over 10,000 dugongs. Smaller populations exist up the coast, including one in Ashmore reef . Large numbers of dugongs live to the north of the Northern Territory , with a population of over 20,000 in the gulf of Carpentaria alone. A population of over 25,000 exists in the Torres Strait such as off Thursday Island , although there is significant migration between the strait and the waters of New Guinea . [5] The Great Barrier Reef provides important feeding areas for the species; [60] this reef area houses a stable population of around 10,000, although the population concentration has shifted over time. Large bays facing north on the Queensland coast provide significant habitats for dugong, with the southernmost of these being Hervey Bay and Moreton Bay . [11]\nExtinct Mediterranean population\nIt has been confirmed that dugongs once inhabited the water of the Mediterranean [61] [62] possibly until after the rise of civilizations along the inland sea . This population possibly shared ancestry with the Red Sea population, and the Mediterranean population had never been large due to geographical factors and climate changes . [63] The Mediterranean is the region where the Dugongidae originated in the mid-late Eocene , along with Caribbean Sea . [64] [65]\nEcology and life history\nA mother and calf in shallow water\nDugongs are long lived, and the oldest recorded specimen reached age 73. [5] They have few natural predators, although animals such as crocodiles, killer whales, and sharks pose a threat to the young, [11] and a dugong has also been recorded to have died from trauma after being impaled by a stingray barb. A large number of infections and parasitic diseases affect dugongs. Detected pathogens include helminths , cryptosporidium , different types of bacterial infections, and other unidentified parasites. 30% of dugong deaths in Queensland since 1996 are thought to be because of disease. [5]\nAlthough they are social animals , they are usually solitary or found in pairs due to the inability of seagrass beds to support large populations. [13] Gatherings of hundreds of dugongs sometimes happen, [15] but they last only for a short time. [13] Because they are shy, and do not approach humans, little is known about dugong behaviour. [13] They can go six minutes without breathing (though about two and a half minutes is more typical), [66] and have been known to rest on their tail to breathe with their heads above water. [15] They can dive to a maximum depth of 39 metres (128 ft); they spend most of their lives no deeper than 10 metres (33 ft). Communication between individuals is through chirps, whistles, barks, and other sounds that echo underwater. Different sounds have been observed with different amplitudes and frequencies, implying different purposes. Visual communication is limited due to poor eyesight, and is mainly used for activities such as lekking for courtship purposes. Mothers and calves are in almost constant physical contact, and calves have been known to reach out and touch their mothers with their flippers for reassurance. [13]\nDugongs are semi-nomadic , often travelling long distances in search of food, but staying within a certain range their entire life. [13] Large numbers often move together from one area to another. It is thought that these movements are caused by changes in seagrass availability. Their memory allows them to return to specific points after long travels. [11] Dugong movements mostly occur within a localised area of seagrass beds, and animals in the same region show individualistic patterns of movement. Daily movement is affected by the tides. In areas where there is a large tidal range, dugongs travel with the tide in order to access shallower feeding areas. In Moreton Bay, dugongs often travel between foraging grounds inside the bay and warmer oceanic waters. At higher latitudes dugongs make seasonal travels to reach warmer water during the winter. Occasionally individual dugongs make long-distance travels over many days, and can travel over deep ocean waters. [5] One animal was seen as far south as Sydney . [12] Although they are marine creatures, dugongs have been known to travel up creeks, and in one case a dugong was caught 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) up a creek near Cooktown . [11]\nFeeding\nTypical dugong feeding area in Moreton Bay\nDugongs, along with other sirenians, are referred to as \" sea cows \" because their diet consists mainly of sea-grass . When eating they ingest the whole plant, including the roots, [11] although when this is impossible they will feed on just the leaves. [5] A wide variety of seagrass has been found in dugong stomach contents, and evidence exists they will eat algae when seagrass is scarce. [12] Although almost completely herbivorous , [13] they will occasionally eat invertebrates such as jellyfish , sea squirts , and shellfish . [11] Dugongs in Moreton Bay, Australia, are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates such as polychaetes [67] or marine algae when the supply of their choice grasses decreases. In other southern areas of both western and eastern Australia, there is evidence that dugongs actively seek out large invertebrates. This does not apply to dugongs in tropical areas, in which faecal evidence indicates that invertebrates are not eaten. [5]\nMost dugongs do not feed from lush areas, but where the seagrass is more sparse. Additional factors such as protein concentration and regenerative ability also affect the value of a seagrass bed. [11] The chemical structure and composition of the seagrass is important, and the grass species most often eaten are low in fibre, high in nitrogen, and easily digestible. [5] In the Great Barrier Reef, dugongs feed on low-fibre high-nitrogen seagrass such as Halophila and Halodule , [11] so as to maximize nutrient intake instead of bulk eating. Seagrasses of a lower seral are preferred, where the area has not fully vegetated. Only certain seagrass meadows are suitable for dugong consumption, due to the dugong's highly specialised diet. There is evidence that dugongs actively alter seagrass species compositions at local levels. Dugongs may search out deeper seagrass. Feeding trails have been observed as deep as 33 metres (108 ft), and dugongs have been seen feeding as deep as 37 metres (121 ft). [5] Dugongs are relatively slow moving, swimming at around 10 kilometres per hour (6.2 mph). [64] When moving along the seabed to feed they walk on their pectoral fins. [16]\nDue to their poor eyesight, dugongs often use smell to locate edible plants. They also have a strong tactile sense , and feel their surroundings with their long sensitive bristles. [13] They will dig up an entire plant and then shake it to remove the sand before eating it. They have been known to collect a pile of plants in one area before eating them. [16] The flexible and muscular upper lip is used to dig out the plants. This leaves furrows in the sand in their path. [13]\nReproduction and parental care\nDugong mother and offspring from East Timor\nA dugong reaches sexual maturity between the ages of eight and eighteen, older than in most other mammals. [68] The way that females know how a male has reached sexual maturity is by the eruption of tusks in the male since tusks erupt in males when testosterone levels reach a high enough level. [69] The age when a female first gives birth is disputed, with some studies placing the age between ten and seventeen years, while others place it as early as six years. [5] There is evidence that male dugongs lose fertility at older ages. [12] Despite the longevity of the dugong, which may live for 50 years or more, females give birth only a few times during their life, and invest considerable parental care in their young. [68] The time between births is unclear, with estimates ranging from 2.4 to 7 years. [5]\nMating behaviour varies between populations located in different areas. [13] In some populations, males will establish a territory which females in heat will visit. [5] In these areas a male will try to impress the females while defending the area from other males, a practice known as lekking . [13] In other areas many males will attempt to mate with the same female, [5] sometimes inflicting injuries to the female or each other. [11] During this the female will have copulated with multiple males, who will have fought to mount her from below. This greatly increases the chances of conception. [13]\nFemales give birth after a 13–15 month gestation , usually to just one calf. [68] Birth occurs in very shallow water, with occasions known where the mothers were almost on the shore. [12] As soon as the young is born the mother pushes it to the surface to take a breath. [15] Newborns are already 1.2 metres (4 ft) long and weigh around 30 kilograms (66 lb). [11] Once born, they stay close to their mothers, possibly to make swimming easier. [12] The calf nurses for 14–18 months, although it begins to eat seagrasses soon after birth. [5] A calf will only leave its mother once it has matured. [13]\nImportance to humans\nA cave painting of a dugong – Tambun Cave, Perak , Malaysia\nDugongs have historically provided easy targets for hunters, who killed them for their meat, oil, skin, and bones. As the anthropologist A. Asbjørn Jøn has noted, they are often considered as the inspiration for mermaids , [15] [70] and people around the world developed cultures around dugong hunting. In some areas it remains an animal of great significance, [12] and a growing ecotourism industry around dugongs has had economic benefit in some countries. [13]\nThere is a 5,000-year-old wall painting of a dugong, apparently drawn by neolithic peoples, in Tambun Cave, Ipoh , Malaysia. [71] This was discovered by Lieutenant R.L Rawlings in 1959 while on a routine patrol. During the Renaissance and the Baroque eras, dugongs were often exhibited in wunderkammers . They were also presented as Fiji mermaids in sideshows .\nDugong meat and oil have traditionally been some of the most valuable foods of Australian aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders . Some aborigines regard dugongs as part of their Aboriginality. [11] Dugongs have also played a role in legends in Kenya, and the animal is known there as the \"Queen of the Sea\". Body parts are used as food, medicine, and decorations. In the Gulf states, dugongs served not only as a source of food, but their tusks were used as sword handles. Dugong oil is important as a preservative and conditioner for wooden boats to people in around the Gulf of Kutch in India, who also believe its meat is an aphrodisiac . Dugong ribs were used to make carvings in Japan. In Southern China dugongs were traditionally regarded as a \"miraculous fish\", and it was bad luck to catch them. A wave of immigration beginning at the end of the 1950s resulted in dugongs being hunted for food. In the Philippines dugongs are thought to bring bad luck, and parts of them are used to ward against evil spirits. In areas of Thailand it is believed that the dugong's tears form a powerful love potion, while in parts of Indonesia they are considered reincarnations of women. In Papua New Guinea they are seen as a symbol of strength. [5]\nDugongs' or sea cows' hides have been thought [72] to have been used as coverings in the building of the Old Testament portable worship tent known as the Tabernacle .\nConservation\nSee also: Dugong hunting in Australia\nDugong numbers have decreased in recent times. For a population to remain stable, 95 per cent of adults must survive the span of one year. The estimated percentage of females humans can kill without depleting the population is 1–2%. [11] This number is reduced in areas where calving is minimal due to food shortages. Even in the best conditions a population is unlikely to increase more than 5% a year, leaving dugongs vulnerable to over-exploitation. The fact that they live in shallow waters puts them under great pressure from human activity. Research on dugongs and the effects of human activity on them has been limited, mostly taking place in Australia. In many countries, dugong numbers have never been surveyed. As such, trends are uncertain, with more data needed for comprehensive management. [5] The only data stretching back far enough to mention population trends comes from the urban coast of Queensland, Australia . The last major worldwide study, made in 2002, concluded that the dugong was declining and possibly extinct in a third of its range, with unknown status in another half. [2]\nThe IUCN Red List lists the dugong as vulnerable, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora regulates and in some areas has banned international trade. [12] Regional cooperation is important due to the widespread distribution of the animal, and in 1998 there was strong support for Southeast Asian cooperation to protect dugongs. Kenya has passed legislation banning the hunting of dugongs and restricting trawling, but the dugong is not yet listed under Kenya's Wildlife Act for endangered species. Mozambique has had legislation to protect dugongs since 1955, but this has not been effectively enforced. Many marine parks have been established on the African coast of the Red Sea, and the Egyptian Gulf of Aqaba is fully protected. The United Arab Emirates has banned all hunting of dugongs within its waters, as has Bahrain . The UAE has additionally banned drift net fishing. India and Sri Lanka ban the hunting and selling of dugongs and their products. Japan has listed dugongs as endangered and has banned intentional kills and harassment. Hunting, catching, and harassment is banned by the People's Republic of China . The first marine mammal to be protected in the Philippines was the dugong, although monitoring this is difficult. Palau has legislated to protect dugongs, although this is not well enforced and poaching persists. The dugong is a national animal of Papua New Guinea , which bans all except traditional hunting. Vanuatu and New Caledonia ban hunting of dugongs. Dugongs are protected throughout Australia, although the rules vary by state; in some areas indigenous hunting is allowed. [5] Dugongs are listed under the Nature Conservation Act in the Australian state of Queensland as vulnerable. Most currently live in established marine parks , where boats must travel at a restricted speed and mesh net fishing is restricted. [11]\nIn Vietnam , an illegal network targeting dugongs had been detected and was shut down in 2012. [44] Potential hunts along Tanzanian coasts by fishermen have raised concerns as well. [29]\nHuman activity\nDespite being legally protected in many countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include hunting, habitat degradation , and fishing-related fatalities. [4] Entanglement in fishing nets has caused many deaths, although there are no precise statistics. Most issues with industrial fishing occur in deeper waters where dugong populations are low, with local fishing being the main risk in shallower waters. [5] As dugongs cannot stay underwater for a very long period, they are highly prone to deaths due to entanglement. [17] The use of shark nets has historically caused large numbers of deaths, and they have been eliminated in most areas and replaced with baited hooks. [11] Hunting has historically been a problem too, although in most areas they are no longer hunted, with the exception of certain indigenous communities. In areas such as northern Australia, hunting remains the greatest impact on the dugong population. [5]\nVessel strikes have proved a problem for manatees, but the relevance of this to dugongs is unknown. [5] Increasing boat traffic has increased danger, [11] especially in shallow waters. Ecotourism has increased in some countries, although effects remain undocumented. It has been seen to cause issues in areas such as Hainan due to environmental degradation. [5] Modern farming practise and increased land clearing have also had an impact, and much of the coastline of dugong habitats is undergoing industrialisation , with increasing human populations. [11] Dugongs accumulate heavy metal ions in their tissues throughout their lives, more so than other marine mammals. The effects are unknown. Socio-political needs are an impediment to dugong conservation in many developing countries. The shallow waters are often used as a source of food and income, problems exacerbated by aid used to improve fishing. In many countries, legislation does not exist to protect dugongs, and if it does it is not enforced. [5]\nOil spills are a danger to dugongs in some areas, as is land reclamation . In Okinawa the small dugong population is threatened by United States military activity. Plans exist to build a military base close to the Henoko reef, and military activity also adds the threats of noise pollution, chemical pollution, soil erosion, and exposure to depleted uranium . [5] The military base plans have been fought in US courts by some Okinawans, whose concerns include the impact on the local environment and dugong habitats. [50] [73] It was later revealed that the government of Japan was hiding evidence of the negative effects of ship lanes and human activities on dugongs observed during surveys carried out off Henoko reef. [74]\nEnvironmental degradation\nIf dugongs do not get enough to eat they may calve later and produce fewer young. [11] Food shortages can be caused by many factors, such as a loss of habitat, death and decline in quality of seagrass, and a disturbance of feeding caused by human activity. Sewage , detergents , heavy metal , hypersaline water, herbicides , and other waste products all negatively affect seagrass meadows. Human activity such as mining, trawling , dredging , land reclamation , and boat propeller scarring also cause an increase in sedimentation which smothers seagrass and prevents light from reaching it. This is the most significant negative factor affecting seagrass. [5]\nHalophila ovalis —one of the dugong's preferred species of seagrass—declines rapidly due to lack of light, dying completely after 30 days. Extreme weather such as cyclones and floods can destroy hundreds of square kilometres of seagrass meadows, as well as washing dugongs ashore. The recovery of seagrass meadows and the spread of seagrass into new areas, or areas where it has been destroyed, can take over a decade. Most measures for protection involve restricting activities such as trawling in areas containing seagrass meadows, with little to no action on pollutants originating from land. In some areas water salinity is increased due to wastewater , and it is unknown how much salinity seagrass can withstand. [5]\nDugong habitat in the Oura Bay area of Henoko, Okinawa, Japan , is currently under threat from land reclamation conducted by Japanese Government in order to build a US Marine base in the area. [75] In August 2014, preliminary drilling surveys were conducted around the seagrass beds there. [76] The construction is expected to seriously damage the dugong population's habitat, possibly leading to local extinction. [77]\nCapture and captivity\nThe Australian state of Queensland has sixteen dugong protection parks, and some preservation zones have been established where even aborigines are not allowed to hunt. [11] Capturing animals for research has caused only one or two deaths; [5] dugongs are expensive to keep in captivity due to the long time mothers and calves spend together, and the inability to grow the seagrass that dugongs eat in an aquarium. [11] Only one orphaned calf has ever been successfully kept in captivity. [13]\nWorldwide, only four dugongs are held in captivity. A female from the Philippines lives at Toba Aquarium in Toba, Mie , Japan. [5] A male also lived there until he died on 10 February 2011. [78] The second resides in Sea World Indonesia , [79] after having been rescued from a fisherman's net and treated. [80] The last two—a male and a female—are kept at Sydney Aquarium , where they have resided since they were juveniles. [81]\nGracie, a captive dugong at Underwater World, Singapore , was reported to have died in 2014 at the age of 19, from complications arising from an acute digestive disorder . [82]\nReferences\n^","Goatsucker - The Full Wiki\nThey are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief ... GOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by ...\nGoatsucker - The Full Wiki\nThe Full Wiki\nGoatsucker: Wikis\nAdvertisements\nNote: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles .\nFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nThis article is about the bird. For the aircraft, see Gloster Nightjar .\n\"Goatsucker\" redirects here. For the cryptid translated from Spanish as goat sucker, see Chupacabra .\nNightjars\nGenera\n14, see text.\nNightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills. They are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is Caprimulgus). Some New World species are named as nighthawks. Nightjars usually nest on the ground.\nNightjars are found around the world. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.\nMost have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusual for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it. This helps to conceal them during the day. Bracken is their preferred habitat.\nThe Common Poorwill , Phalaenoptilus nuttallii is unique as a bird that undergoes a form of hibernation, becoming torpid and with a much reduced body temperature for weeks or months, although other nightjars can enter a state of torpor for shorter periods. [1]\nNightjars lay one or two patterned eggs directly onto bare ground. It has been suggested that nightjars will move their eggs and chicks from the nesting site in the event of danger by carrying them in their mouths. This suggestion has been repeated many times in ornithology books, but while this may accidentally happen, surveys of nightjar research have found very little evidence to support this idea. [2] [3]\nContents\n4 External links\nSystematics\nTraditionally, nightjars have been divided into two subfamilies: the Caprimulginae , or typical nightjars with about 70 species, and the Chordeilinae , or nighthawks of the New World with about 9 species. The two groups are similar in most respects, but the typical nightjars have rictal bristles, longer bills, and softer plumage. In their pioneering DNA-DNA hybridisation work, Sibley and Ahlquist found that the genetic difference between the eared-nightjars and the typical nightjars was, in fact, greater than that between the typical nightjars and the nighthawks of the New World. Accordingly, they placed the eared-nightjars in a separate family : Eurostopodidae .\nSubsequent work, both morphological and genetic, has provided support for the separation of the typical and the eared-nightjars, and some authorities have adopted this Sibley-Ahlquist recommendation, and also the more far-reaching one to group all the owls (traditionally Strigiformes) together in the Caprimulgiformes . The listing below retains a more orthodox arrangement, but recognises the eared-nightjars as a separate group. For more detail and an alternative classification scheme, see Caprimulgiformes and Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy .\nGenus Siphonorhis (2 living species)\nGenus Nyctiphrynus (4 species)\nGenus Caprimulgus (some 50-60 species, including the European Nightjar )\nGenus Macrodipteryx - Long-primaried nightjars (2 species)\nGenus Hydropsalis (2 species)\nAlso see a list of nightjars , sortable by common and binomial names.\nGallery\nPauraque\nReferences\n^ Lane JE, Brigham RM, Swanson DL. (2004) \"Daily torpor in free-ranging whip-poor-wills (Caprimulgus vociferus).\" Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 77 (2):297-304\n^ Jackson, H.D. (2007) \" A review of the evidence for the translocation of eggs and young by nightjars (Caprimulgidae)\" Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology, 78 (3) 561-572\n^ Jackson, H.D. (1985) \"Commentary and Observations on the Alleged Transportation of Eggs and Young by Caprimulgids\". Wilson Bulletin 97 (3) 381-385 [1]\nExternal links\nUp to date as of January 14, 2010\nFrom LoveToKnow 1911\nGOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by the common name it bears in many European tongues besides English - as testified by the Gr. aiyoOi Xas, the Lat. caprimulgus, Ital. succiacapre, Span. chotacabras, Fr. tettechevre, and Ger. Zeigenmelker. The common goatsucker (Caprimulgus europaeus, Linn.), is admittedly the type of a very peculiar and distinct family, Caprimulgidae, a group remarkable for the flat head, enormously wide mouth, large eyes, and soft, pencilled plumage of its members, which vary in size from a lark to a crow . Its position has been variously assigned by systematists. Though now judiciously removed from the Passeres, in which Linnaeus placed all the species known to him, Huxley considered it to form, with two other families - the swifts (Cypselidae) and humming-birds (Trochilidae) - the division Cypselomorphae of his larger group Aegithognathae, which is equivalent in the main to the Linnaean Passeres. There are two ways of regarding the Caprimulgidae- one including the genus Podargus and its allies, the other recognizing them as a distinct family, Podargidae. As a matter of convenience we shall here comprehend these last in the Caprimulgidae, which will then contain two subfamilies, Caprimulginae and Podarginae; for what, according to older authors, constitutes a third, though represented only by Steatornis, the singular oil-bird, or guacharo , certainly seems to require separation as an independent family (see Guacharo ).\nSome of the differences between the Caprimulgidae and Podarginae have been pointed out by Sclater (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1866, p. 123), and are very obvious. In the former, the outer toes have four phalanges only, thus presenting a very uncommon character among birds, and the middle claws are pectinated; while in the latter the normal number of five phalanges is found, Common Goatsucker.\nand the claws are smooth, and other distinctions more recondite have also been indicated by him (tom. cit. p. 582). The Caprimulginae may be further divided into those having the gape thickly beset by strong bristles, and those in which there are few such bristles or none - the former containing the genera Caprimulgus, Antrostomus, Nyctidromus and others, and the latter Podargus, Chordiles, Lyncornis and a few more.\nThe common goatsucker of Europe (C. europaeus) arrives late in spring from its winter-retreat in Africa , and its presence is soon made known by its habit of chasing its prey , consisting chiefly of moths and cockchafers, in the evening- twilight . As the season advances the song of the cock, from its singularity, attracts attention amid all rural sounds. This song seems to be always uttered when the bird is at rest, though the contrary has been asserted, and is the continuous repetition of a single burring note, as of a thin lath fixed at one end and in a state of vibration at the other, and loud enough to reach in still weather a distance of half-a-mile or more. On the wing, while toying with its mate , or performing its rapid evolutions round the trees where it finds its food, it has the habit of occasionally producing another and equally extraordinary sound , sudden and short, but somewhat resembling that made by swinging a thong in the air , though whether this noise proceeds from its mouth is not ascertained. In general its flight is silent, but at times when disturbed from its repose, its wings may be heard to smite together. The goatsucker, or, to use perhaps its commoner English name, nightjar,' passes the day in slumber, crouching on the ground or perching on a tree - in the latter case sitting not across the branch but lengthways, with its head lower than its body. In hot weather, however, its song may sometimes be heard by day and even at noontide, but it is then uttered, as it were, drowsily, and without the vigour that characterizes its crepuscular or nocturnal performance. Towards evening the bird becomes active, and it seems to pursue its prey throughout the night uninterruptedly, or only occasionally pausing for a few seconds to alight on a bare spot - a pathway or road - and then resuming its career. It is one of the few birds that absolutely make no nest , but lays its pair of beautifully-marbled eggs on the ground, generally where the herbage is short, and often actually on the soil. So light is it that the act of brooding, even where there is some vegetable growth, produces no visible depression of the grass , moss or lichens on which the eggs rest, and the finest sand equally fails to exhibit a trace of the parental act. Yet scarcely any bird shows greater local attachment , and the precise site chosen one year is almost certain to be occupied the next. The young, covered when hatched with dark-spotted down, are not easily found, nor are they more easily discovered on becoming fledged, for their plumage almost entirely resembles that of the adults, being a mixture of reddish-brown, grey and black, blended and mottled in a manner that passes description. They soon attain their full size and power of flight, and then take to the same manner of life as their parents. In autumn all leave their summer haunts for the south, but the exact time of their departure has hardly been ascertained. The habits of the nightjar, as thus described, seem to be more or less essentially those of the whole subfamily - the differences observable being apparently less than are found in other groups of birds of similar extent.\nA second species of goatsucker (C. ruficollis), which is somewhat larger, and has the neck distinctly marked with rufous, is a summer visitant to the south-western parts of Europe, and especially to Spain and Portugal . The occurrence of a single example of this bird at Killingworth, near Newcastle -on- Tyne , in October 1856, has been recorded by Mr Hancock ( Ibis , 1862, p. 39); but the season of its appearance argues the probability of its being but a casual straggler from its proper home. Many other species of Caprimulgus inhabit Africa, Asia and their islands, while one (C. macrurus) is found in Australia . Very nearly allied to this genus is Antrostomus, an American group containing many species, of which the chuck-will's-widow (A. carolinensis) and the whip -poor-will (A. vociferus) of the eastern United States (the latter also reaching Canada) are familiar examples. Both these birds take their common name from the cry they utter, and their habits seem to be almost identical with those of the old world goatsuckers. Passing over some other forms which need not here be mentioned, the genus Nyctidromus, though consisting of only one species (N. albicollis) which inhabits Central and part of South America , requires remark, since it has tarsi of sufficient length to enable it to run swiftly on the ground, while the legs of most birds of the family are so short that they can Other English names of the bird are evejar, fern - owl , churn -owl and wheel -bird - the last from the bird's song resembling the noise made by a spinning -wheel in motion.\nmake but a shuffling progress. Heleothreptes, with the unique form of wing possessed by the male, needs mention. Notice must also be taken of two African species, referred by some ornithologists to as many genera (Macrodipteryx and Cosmetornis), though probably one genus would suffice for both. The males of each of them are characterized by the wonderful development of the ninth primary in either wing, which reaches in fully adult specimens the extraordinary length of 17 in. or more. The former of these birds, the Caprimulgus macrodipterus of Adam Afzelius , is considered to belong to the west coast of Africa, and the shaft of the elongated remiges is bare for the greater part of its length, retaining the web , in a spatulate form, only near the tip. The latter, to which the specific name of vexillarius was given by John Gould, has been found on the east coast of that continent, and is reported to have occurred in Madagascar and Socotra. In this the remigial streamers do not lose their barbs, and as a few of the next quills are also to some extent elongated, the bird, when flying, is said to look as though it had four wings. Specimens of both are rare in collections, and no traveller seems to have had the opportunity of studying the habits of either so as to suggest a reason for this marvellous sexual development.\nThe second group of Caprimulginae, those which are but poorly or not at all furnished with rictal bristles, contains about five genera, of which we may particularize Lyncornis of the old world and Chordiles of the new. The species of the former are remarkable for the tuft of feathers which springs from each side of the head, above and behind the ears, so as to give the bird an appearance like some of the \"horned\" owls - those of the genus Scops, for example; and remarkable as it is to find certain forms of two families, so distinct as are the Strigidae and the Capriy nulgidae, resembling each other in this singular external feature, it is yet more remarkable to note that in some groups of the latter, as in some of the former, a very curious kind of dimorphism takes place. In either case this has been frequently asserted to be sexual, but on that point doubt may fairly be entertained. Certain it is that in some groups of goatsuckers, as in some groups of owls, individuals of the same species are found in plumage of two entirely different hues - rufous and grey. The only explanation as yet offered of this fact is that the difference is sexual, but evidence to that effect is conflicting. It must not, however, be supposed that this common feature, any more than that of the existence of tufted forms in each group, indicates any close relationship between them. The resemblances may be due to the same causes, concerning which future observers may possibly enlighten us, but at present we must regard them as analogies, not homologies. The species of Lyncornis inhabit the Malay Archipelago , one, however, occurring also in China . Of Chordiles the best-known species is the night- hawk of North America (C. virginianus or C. popetue), which has a wide range from Canada to Brazil . Others are found in the Antilles and in South America . The general habits of all these birds agree with those of the typical goatsuckers.\nWe have next to consider the birds forming the genus Podargus and those allied to it, whether they be regarded as a distinct family, or as a subfamily of Caprimulgidae. As above stated, they have feet constructed as those of birds normally are, and their sternum seems to present the constant though comparatively trivial difference of having its posterior margin elongated into two pairs of processes, while only one pair is found in the true goatsuckers. Podargus includes the bird (P. cuvieri) known from its cry as morepork to the Tasmanians, 2 and several other species, the number of which is doubtful, from Australia and New Guinea . They have comparatively powerful bills, and it would seem feed to some extent on fruits and berries, though they mainly subsist on insects, chiefly Cicadae and Phasmidae. They also differ from the true goatsuckers in having the outer toes partially reversible, and they build a flat nest on the horizontal branch of a tree for the reception of their eggs, which are of a spotless white. Apparently allied to Podargus, but differing 2 In New Zealand , however, this name is given to an owl (Sceloglaux novae-zelandiae). among other respects in its mode of nidification , is Aegotheles, which belongs also to the Australian sub-region; and farther to the northward, extending throughout the Malay Archipelago and into India , comes Batrachostomus, wherein we again meet with species having aural tufts somewhat like Lyncornis. The Podarginae are thought by some to be represented in the new world by the genus Nyctibius, of which several species occur from the Antilles and Central America to Brazil. Finally, it may be stated that none of the Caprimulgidae seem to occur in Polynesia or in New Zealand , though there is scarcely any other part of the world suited to their habits in which members of the family are not found. (A. N.)"],"string":"[\n \"Badger.txt\\nBadger\\nBadgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae, which also includes the otters, polecats, weasels and wolverines. They belong to the caniform suborder of carnivoran mammals.\\n\\nThe 11 species of badger are grouped in three subfamilies: Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (the honey badger or ratel) and Taxideinae (the American badger). The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included within Melinae (and thus Mustelidae), but recent genetic evidence indicates these are actually members of the skunk family, placing them in the taxonomic family Mephitidae.\\n\\nBadgers include the species in the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Taxidea and Mellivora. Their lower jaws are articulated to the upper by means of transverse condyles firmly locked into long cavities of the skull, so dislocation of the jaw is all but impossible. This enables the badgers to maintain their hold with the utmost tenacity, but limits jaw movement to hinging open and shut, or sliding from side to side without the twisting movement possible for the jaws of most mammals.\\n\\nBadgers have rather short, fat bodies, with short legs for digging. They have elongated weasel-like heads with small ears. Their tails vary in length depending on species; the stink badger has a very short tail, while the ferret badger's tail can be 46 - long, depending on age. They have black faces with distinctive white markings, grey bodies with a light-coloured stripe from head to tail, and dark legs with light coloured underbellies. They grow to around 90 cm in length including tail. The European badger is one of the largest; the American badger, the hog badger and the honey badger are generally a little smaller and lighter. The stink badgers are smaller still, and the ferret badgers are the smallest of all. They weigh around 9 - on average, with some Eurasian badgers weighing in at around 18 kg. \\n\\nEtymology \\n\\nThe word \\\"badger\\\", originally applied to the European badger (Meles meles), comes from earlier bageard (16th century), presumably referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead. Similarly, a now archaic synonym was bauson ‘badger’ (1375), a variant of bausond ‘striped, piebald’, from Old French bausant, baucent ‘id.’. \\n\\nThe less common name brock (Old English: brocc), (Scots: brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokkos) meaning \\\"grey\\\". The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsuz (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svintoks; Early Modern English dasse), probably from the PIE root *tek'- \\\"to construct,\\\" so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsuz became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs (\\\"marten\\\" or \\\"badger\\\"), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French taisson — blaireau is now more common —, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo). \\n\\nA male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A collective name suggested for a group of badgers is a cete, but badger colonies are more often called clans. A badger's home is called a sett. \\n\\nClassification \\n\\nThe following list shows where the various species with the common name of badger are placed in the Mustelidae classification. The list is polyphyletic and the species commonly called badgers do not, if the stink badgers are included, form a valid clade.\\n* Family Mustelidae\\n** Subfamily Melinae\\n\\n*** Genus Arctonyx\\n**** Hog badger, Arctonyx collaris\\n*** Genus Meles\\n**** Japanese badger, Meles anakuma\\n**** Asian badger, Meles leucurus\\n**** European badger, Meles meles\\n*** Genus Melogale [Some scientists assign this genus to the subfamily Helictidinae] \\n**** Burmese ferret-badger, Melogale personata\\n**** Javan ferret-badger, Melogale orientalis\\n**** Chinese ferret-badger, Melogale moschata\\n**** Bornean ferret-badger, Melogale everetti\\n**** Vietnam ferret-badger, Melogale cucphuongensis\\n** Subfamily Mellivorinae\\n*** Honey badger or ratel, Mellivora capensis\\n** Subfamily Taxideinae:\\n*** †Chamitataxus avitus\\n*** †Pliotaxidea nevadensis\\n*** †Pliotaxidea garberi\\n*** American badger, Taxidea taxus\\n** Subfamily Mustelinae\\n\\n* Family Mephitidae\\n** Genus Mydaus\\n*** Indonesian or Sunda stink badger (teledu), Mydaus javanensis\\n*** Palawan stink badger, Mydaus marchei\\n\\nDistribution \\n\\nBadgers are found in much of North America, Ireland, Great Britain and most of Europe as far as southern Scandinavia. They live as far east as Japan and China. The Javan ferret-badger lives in Indonesia, Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient and the Bornean ferret-badger lives in Malaysia. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient. The honey badger is found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Desert, southern Levant, Turkmenistan, and India.\\n\\nBehavior \\n\\nThe behaviour of badgers differs by family, but all shelter underground, living in burrows called setts, which may be very extensive. Some are solitary, moving from home to home, while others are known to form clans called cetes. Cete size is variable from two to fifteen.\\n\\nBadgers can run or gallop at for short periods of time.\\n\\nBadgers are nocturnal. \\n\\nIn North America, coyotes sometimes eat badgers and vice versa, but the majority of their interactions seem to be mutual or neutral. American badgers and coyotes have been seen hunting together in a cooperative fashion. \\n\\nDiet \\n\\nThe diet of the Eurasian badger consists largely of earthworms (especially Lumbricus terrestris), insects, grubs, and the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds. They also eat small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, as well as roots and fruit. In Britain, they are the main predator of hedgehogs, which have demonstrably lower populations in areas where badgers are numerous, so that hedgehog rescue societies will not release hedgehogs into known badger territories. In some areas they are known to predate lambs, and may bite a ewe defending her lamb, almost always leading to infection of the bite. They are occasional predators of domestic chickens, and are able to break into enclosures that a fox cannot. In southern Spain, badgers feed to a significant degree on rabbits. The honey badger of Africa consumes honey, porcupines and even venomous snakes (such as the puff adder); they will climb trees to gain access to honey from bees' nests. American badgers are fossorial carnivores – i.e. they catch a significant proportion of their food underground, by digging. They can tunnel after ground-dwelling rodents at speed.\\n\\nBadgers have been known to become intoxicated with alcohol after eating rotting fruit. \\n\\nRelation with humans \\n\\nSport \\n\\nHunting badgers has been common in many countries. The Dachshund (German for \\\"badger hound\\\") dog breed was bred for the purpose.\\n\\nBadger-baiting was formerly a popular blood sport. Although badgers are normally quite docile, they fight fiercely when cornered. This led people to capture and box badgers and then wager on whether a dog could succeed in removing the badger from its refuge. In England, opposition from naturalists and moral crusaders led to its ban under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and the Protection of Badgers Act of 1992 made it a serious offence to kill, injure, or take a badger or to interfere with a sett unless under license from a statutory authority. The Hunting Act of 2004 further banned fox hunters from blocking badger setts during their chases.\\n\\nCulling \\n\\nControlling the badger population is prohibited in many European countries, as badgers are listed in the Berne Convention, but they are not otherwise the subject of any international treaty or legislation. Many badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. \\n\\nUntil the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomised trial cull which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, while others favoured a programme of vaccination. Wales and Northern Ireland are currently (2013) conducting field trials of a badger vaccination programme. In 2012, the government authorised a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, however, this was later deferred with a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where it is expected about 5,000 badgers will be killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers will be trapped in cages first). The cull has caused many protests with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, it has been claimed by shadow ministers that \\\"The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...\\\", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots \\\"will not yield any useful information\\\".\\n\\nPets \\n\\nBadgers can be tamed and then kept as pets. Keeping a badger as a pet or offering one for sale is an offence in the United Kingdom under the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act. \\n\\nCommercial use \\n\\nBadgers have been trapped commercially for their pelts, which have been used for centuries to make shaving brushes, a purpose to which it is particularly suited owing to its high water retention. Virtually all commercially badger hair now comes from mainland China, though, which has farms for the purpose. The Chinese supply three grades of hair to domestic and foreign brush makers. Village cooperatives are also licensed by the national government to hunt and process badgers to avoid their becoming a crop nuisance in rural northern China. The European badger is also used as trim for some traditional Scottish clothing. The American badger is also used for paintbrushes and as trim for some Native American garments. It has also been occasionally used for doll hair.\\n\\nFood \\n\\nAlthough rarely eaten today in the United States or the United Kingdom, badgers were once a primary meat source for the diets of Native Americans and white colonists. Badgers were also eaten in Britain during World War II and the 1950s.\\n\\nIn Russia, the consumption of badger meat is still widespread. Shish kebabs made from badger, along with dog meat and pork, are a major source of trichinosis outbreaks in the Altai region of Russia. In Croatia, badger meat is rarely eaten. When it is, it is usually smoked and dried or, less commonly, served in goulash.\\n\\nIn France, badger meat was used in the preparation of several dishes, such as Blaireau au sang, and it was a relatively common ingredient in countryside cuisine. Badger meat was eaten in some parts of Spain until recently. In Japan, badger is regarded in folktales as a food for the humble. \\n\\nPopular culture \\n\\nIn medieval times, badgers were thought to work together to dig holes under mountains. They were said to lie down at the entrance of the hole holding a stick in their mouths, while other badgers piled dirt on their bellies. Two badgers would then take hold of the stick in the badger’s mouth, and drag the animal loaded with dirt away, almost in the fashion of a wagon. \\n\\nThe 19th century poem \\\"The Badger\\\" by John Clare describes a badger hunt and badger-baiting. In Lafcadio Hearn's book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903), later to be the basis of a 1964 film, there is a short story titled Mujina, which is a shapeshifting badger. The character Frances in Russell Hoban's children's books, beginning with Bedtime for Frances (1948–1970), is depicted as a badger. Trufflehunter is a heroic badger in the Chronicles of Narnia book Prince Caspian (1951) by C. S. Lewis.\\n\\nBadger characters are featured in author Brian Jacques' Redwall series (1986–2011), most often falling under the title of Badger Lord or Badger Mother. A badger god is featured in The Immortals (1992–1996) by Tamora Pierce and \\\"The Badger\\\" is a comic book hero created by Mike Baron. The badger is the emblem of the Hufflepuff house of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series (1997–2007), it is chosen as such because the badger is an animal that is often underestimated, because it lives quietly until attacked, but which, when provoked, can fight off animals much larger than itself, which resembles the Hufflepuff house in several ways.\\n\\nMany other stories featuring badgers as characters include Kenneth Grahame's children's novel The Wind in the Willows (1908), Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod (1912; featuring badger Tommy Brock), the Rupert Bear adventures by Mary Tourtel (appearing since 1920), T. H. White's Arthurian fantasy novels The Once and Future King (1958, written 1938–41) and The Book of Merlyn (1977), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970) by Roald Dahl, Richard Adams's Watership Down (1972), Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood (1979), and Erin Hunter's Warriors (appearing since 2003). In the historic novel Incident at Hawk's Hill (1971) by Allan W. Eckert a badger is one of the main characters.\\n\\nBadgers are also featured in films and animations: a flash video of \\\"The Badger Song\\\" shows a group doing calisthenics; in Pokémon, Typhlosion and Linoone are based on badgers. Walt Disney's 1973 film Robin Hood, depicts the character of Friar Tuck as a badger. In the Doctor Snuggles series, Dennis the handyman, was a badger.\\n\\nIn Europe, badgers were traditionally used to predict the length of winter. The badger is the state animal of the US state of Wisconsin and Bucky Badger is the mascot of the athletic teams at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The badger is also the official mascot of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, as well as that of St Aidan's College at the University of Durham.\\n\\nIn 2007, the appearance of honey badgers around the British base at Basra, Iraq, fuelled rumours among the locals that British forces deliberately released \\\"man-eating\\\" and \\\"bear-like\\\" badgers to spread panic. These allegations were denied by the British army and the director of Basra's veterinary hospital. \\n\\nThe viral video Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger became popular in 2011, attaining over 68 million views on YouTube as of July 2014. The video features footage from the Nat Geo WILD network of honey badgers fighting jackals, invading beehives, and eating cobras, with a voiceover added by the uploader, \\\"Randall\\\".\\n\\nOn 28 August 2013 the PC video game Shelter was released by developers Might and Delight in which players control a mother badger protecting her cubs.\",\n \"Badger Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia\\nBadger facts, photos and information animals may out weigh a ... The European badger is also known as the Old World badger and ... Badger Facts. the honey badger or ...\\nBadger Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia\\nAnimal Facts Encyclopedia\\nbadger Facts\\nPortrait of an American Badger\\nBadgers are stoutly built, powerful and cantankerous carnivores. There are eight species of badger ranging across several continents including North America, Africa, Europe and Asia.\\nAll the badger species are fossorial, creating many-chambered underground dens, and spending much of their lives below ground.\\nBadgers do allot of stalking at night, but are seen out and about in the daytime as well. They are excellent hunters of earth-dwelling prey including rabbits, groundhogs, ground squirrels, mice and snakes.\\nSome of these animals can be fairly large in comparison to the badger, but are no match for this enormously aggressive predator.\\nThe badgers sense of smell is very powerful and they can detect an animal in its burrow through soil as well as snow cover. When they locate their prey, they dig rapidly directly down into the animals den in a devastating surprise attack from above.\\nBadgers also eat a variety of insects, grubs and vegetable matter including fruits and roots.\\nThe word \\\"badger\\\" comes from the French word \\\"becheur\\\" meaning \\\"digger\\\" and is extremely appropriate. Everything about a badgers body says \\\"dig\\\".\\nIt has massive, shovel-like front paws with five powerful toes, each tipped with curved claws as strong as steel. They can move yards of dirt in minutes, barreling in head first with long digging strokes of the front legs and quick, earth-moving shoves backwards with the rear legs.\\nThe rear paws and claws are smaller and designed to doze away the soil that has already been loosened and dislodged by the front feet.\\nBadgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes from all the flying soil, and thick guard hairs in their nostrils and ears to keep them clear of debris.\\nA badger being pursued by a large predator such as a wolf or mountain lion can dig backwards, fangs facing out for protection and disappear beneath the soil in a matter of seconds.\\nIn addition, the badger has very thick fur and loose skin which allows it to twist around, even when having been grabbed from behind by a predator, to defend itself with its impressive canines.\\nMost badgers live solitary lives once weaned from their mother, but have overlapping territories and may occasionally run into each other and socialize.. - Badger Facts\\nThe american or new world badger\\nAmerican Badger\\nThe American badger is a fixture across the plains and woodlands of the central United States. They range into Canada and Mexico as well, but the midwestern plains are their most common residence.\\nThese badgers have a flattened appearance with a remarkably broad torso, short, powerful limbs, and massive front paws and claws. They have a grizzled grey body with whiter undersides and dark brown or black legs. The stripe down the center of the face is narrow compared to the European badger, and the skull and cheeks are wider with low-set ears and black cheek patches. And badgers have stout tails of a few inches in length.\\nThe jaw of the American badger sets into the skull in a unique notch that locks it to the upper mandible and makes it impossible to be dislocated.\\nMany of the animals the badger hunts are powerfully built diggers as well, such as the muscular groundhog and rugged prairie dog, who will wedge their sturdy legs against the walls of their dens trying to avoid extraction.\\nThe specialized jaw, along with the badgers stout neck and shoulders helps the badger to dislodge its quarry.\\nIt is occasionally reported that badgers and coyotes team up to hunt, but what actually occurs is that the always \\\"wily\\\" coyote waits at alternative exits for something to bolt loose from a burrow that the badger is invading. If the coyote snares an escaping gopher it does not share with the badger, and the badger certainly does not share with the coyote.\\nThe American badger has numerous potential enemies on the Western plains, such as mountain lions, wolves and the ever annoying coyote.\\nThese animals may out weigh a badger by three or four to one, but an adult badger is as fierce a combatant as one may encounter and more often than not, sends its agitator running for the hills. - Badger Facts\\nthe european or old world badger\\nEuropean or new world badger\\nThe European badger is also known as the Old World badger and the Eurasian badger.As these names imply, it ranges throughout most of Europe and some parts of Western Asia.\\nThe European badger has a more elongated head, a much wider white stripe down the center of the face, and appears slightly more upright than the American badger, which tends to have a somewhat \\\"flattened\\\" look.\\nAlthough a solitary animal in much of its range, the European badgers of Britain and some other territories are the most social of the badger species and live in groups of 5 to 20 individuals in enormous dens that may have up to thirty different chambers and 1/2 a mile of tunnels.\\nSome of these burrows called \\\"setts\\\" are decades old and are occasionally shared by other animals including red foxes and even raccoons.\\nEuropean badgers also tend to travel on well-worn trails, some of which have been in use for hundreds of years.\\nThis is the largest of the badger species reaching as much as 40 pounds in the late summer as it fattens up for a potentially hard winter.\\nBadgers do not hibernate, but will enter a state known as torpor if the weather gets rough and snows are too deep to hunt.\\nTorpor is a deep sleep that may lasts for up to three weeks but does not involve the extreme slowing of heartbeat that actual hibernation involves.\\nThe European badger is slightly less aggressive then the other badger species and does not take prey quite as large as the other badgers, actually spending long hours digging for their favorite food- earthworms. - Badger Facts\\nThis Form cannot be submitted until the missing\\nfields (labelled below in red) have been filled in\\nVote Here for Your Favorite Animal!\\nPick Your Fav!\\nbadger reproduction\\nBadgers come together to mate in the late summer and early autumn and both males and females may mate with multiple partners. Once the female is impregnated, the development of the embryos is delayed over the winter. The eggs don't fully attach to the uterus until early spring. This is a process known as \\\"delayed implantation\\\".\\nIn late winter or early spring, the eggs become implanted in the uteran wall and begin to develop. Although the entire pregnancy takes about 7 months from fertilization to delivery, the eggs do not develop at all for the first 5 months, and then, once implanted, take about 6 weeks to fully grow.\\nFemales give birth deep inside their burrows to 2 to 5 cubs. The newborns are blind and only very finely furred, and completely dependent on their mother.\\nShe may leave every few days to hunt, but returns quickly. The mother badger may change dens once or twice during these critical weeks to ensure the safety of her family.\\nShe carries each cub one at a time to the new sette. Baby badgers mature quickly and begin chewing on kills their mother provides for them, sometimes even before their eyes are open.\\nThey learn to hunt for themselves by the time they are 4 months old, and head out on their own at about 6 months old. - Badger Facts\\nthe honey badger or ratel\\nHoney Badger\\nThe honey badger is in a separate genus from the American and European badgers, and is actually more closely related to wolverines and weasels.\\nNevertheless, the honey badger is exceedingly \\\"badger-like\\\", and has a reputation for being one of the most fearless and relentless animals on Earth.\\nHoney badgers are native to most of Africa and are known there as \\\"ratels\\\". This word has the same meaning as the word \\\"rattle\\\" and refers to the sound that these badgers make when they are excited.\\nHoney badgers eat a large variety of prey, including young monkeys, but are especially fond of honey, of course.\\nThey will seek out and attack honey bee hives with incredible determination, accepting hundreds of stings while they eat honey, honey comb and their favorite, the bee larvae which is located at the center of the hive.\\nHoney badgers are not only able to accept stings from bees, but can also handle bites from the worlds deadliest snakes, like puff adders, mambas and cobras, which they happily hunt, kill and devour.\\nThe honey badger is not necessarily immune to these venoms, but rather the badgers skin is so thick and tough that most bee stingers and snake fangs cannot penetrate it.\\nIf the venom of a large snake does get into the system, the badger may be killed, but often just has a coma-like \\\"down time\\\" while it recovers, and before it finishes off its snake dinner.\\nThe honey badger has a high metabolism and spends lots of energy crashing around its territory looking for things to consume.\\nThey can, occasionally, be killed by lions, possibly leopards, but these predators don't usually take the risk involved in subduing an animals as formidable as the honey badger, which is commonly considered the fiercest animal on the planet. - Honey Badger Facts\\na few more badger facts\\nA group of badgers is called a \\\"cette\\\"\\nBadgers live in huge underground burrows that can include up to 1/2 mile of tunnels\\nThe honey badger is widely recognized as the most fearless- and fiercest - animal in the world.\\nThe honey badger can survive a bite from a King cobra, and then eat the snake.\\nBadgers can dig both forwards and backwards and often dig backwards disappearing straight into the ground when confronted by an enemy \\nBadgers do not hibernate but may enter a state called \\\"torpor\\\" where they sleep deeply for up to three weeks\\nThe word \\\"badger\\\" comes from the French word \\\"becheur\\\" which means \\\"digger\\\"\\nBadgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes while they dig.- Badger Facts!\\nScientific Classification:\",\n \"European_badger.txt\\nEuropean badger\\nThe European badger (Meles meles) is a species of badger in the family Mustelidae and is native to almost all of Europe and some parts of the Middle East. Several subspecies are recognised; the nominate subspecies (Meles meles meles) predominates over most of Europe. The European badger is classified as being of least concern by the IUCN as it has a wide range and a large population size which is stable, and even increasing in some areas.\\n\\nThe European badger is a powerfully built black, white, brown and grey animal with a small head, a stocky body, small black eyes and short tail. Its weight varies, being 7–13 kg (15–29 lb) in spring but building up to 15–17 kg (33–37 lb) in autumn before the winter sleep period. It is nocturnal and is a social, burrowing animal that sleeps during the day in one of several setts in its territorial range. These burrows, which may house several badger families, have extensive systems of underground passages and chambers and have multiple entrances. Some setts have been in use for decades. Badgers are very fussy over the cleanliness of their burrow, carrying in fresh bedding and removing soiled material, and they defecate in latrines strategically situated around their territory.\\n\\nThough classified as a carnivore, the European badger feeds on a wide variety of plant and animal foods.The diet consists mainly of earthworms, large insects, small mammals, carrion, cereals and root tubers. Litters of up to five cubs are produced in spring. The young are weaned a few months later but usually remain within the family group. The European badger has been known to share its burrow with other species such as rabbits, red foxes and raccoon dogs, but it can be ferocious when provoked, a trait which has been exploited in the now illegal blood sport of badger-baiting. The spread of bovine tuberculosis has been attributed to badgers, however recent peer reviewed reports state that the issue is more to do with cattle management.\\n\\nNomenclature\\n\\nThe source of the word \\\"badger\\\" is uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary states it probably derives from \\\"badge\\\" + -ard, referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead, and may date to the early sixteenth century. The French word bêcheur (digger) has also been suggested as a source. A male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A badger's home is called a sett. Badger colonies are often called clans.\\n\\nThe far older name \\\"brock\\\" (Old English: brocc), (Scots: brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokko) meaning \\\"grey\\\". The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsu- (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svin-toks; Early Modern English: dasse), probably from the PIE root *tek'- \\\"to construct,\\\" so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsu- became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs (\\\"marten\\\" or \\\"badger\\\"), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French tesson/taisson/tasson—now blaireau is more common—, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo). \\n\\nUntil the mid-18th century, European badgers were variously known in English as 'brock', 'pate', 'grey' and 'bawson'. The name \\\"bawson\\\" is derived from \\\"bawsened\\\", which refers to something striped with white. \\\"Pate\\\" is a local name which was once popular in northern England. The name \\\"badget\\\" was once common, but restricted to Norfolk, while \\\"earth dog\\\" was used in southern Ireland. The badger is commonly referred to in Welsh as a \\\"mochyn daear\\\" (earth pig).\\n \\n\\nOrigin\\n\\nThe species likely evolved from the Chinese Meles thorali of the early Pleistocene. The modern species originated during the early Middle Pleistocene, with fossil sites occurring in Episcopia, Grombasek, Süssenborn, Hundsheim, Erpfingen, Koneprusy, Mosbach 2, and Stránská Skála. A comparison between fossil and living specimens shows a marked progressive adaptation to omnivory, namely in the increase in the molars' surface areas and the modification of the carnassials. Occasionally, badger bones may be discovered in strata from much earlier dates, due to the burrowing habits of the animal. \\n\\nSubspecies\\n\\n, eight subspecies are recognised.\\n\\nDescription\\n\\nEuropean badgers are powerfully built animals with small heads, thick, short necks, stocky, wedge-shaped bodies and short tails. Their feet are digitigrade and short, with five toes on each foot. The limbs are short and massive, with naked lower surfaces on the feet. The claws are strong, elongated and have an obtuse end, which assists in digging. The claws are not retractable, and the hind claws wear with age. Old badgers sometimes have their hind claws almost completely worn away from constant use. Their snouts, which are used for digging and probing, are muscular and flexible. The eyes are small and the ears short and tipped with white. Whiskers are present on the snout and above the eyes. Boars typically have broader heads, thicker necks and narrower tails than sows, which are sleeker, have narrower, less domed heads and fluffier tails. The guts of badgers are longer than those of red foxes, reflecting their omnivorous diet. The small intestine has a mean length of and lacks a cecum. Both sexes have three pairs of nipples but these are more developed in females. European badgers cannot flex their backs as martens, polecats and wolverines can, nor can they stand fully erect like honey badgers, though they can move quickly at full gallop. Adults measure 25 – in shoulder height, 60 – in body length, 12 – in tail length, in hind foot length and in ear height. Males (or boars) slightly exceed females (or sows) in measurements, but can weigh considerably more. Their weights vary seasonally, growing from spring to autumn and reaching a peak just before the winter. During the summer, they weigh 7 – and 15 – in autumn. Sows can attain a top weight of around , while exceptionally large boars have been reported in autumn. The heaviest verified was , though unverified specimens have been reported to and even 34 kg (if so, the heaviest weight for any terrestrial mustelid). Although their sense of smell is acute, their eyesight is monochromatic as has been shown by their lack of reaction to red lanterns. Only moving objects attract their attention. Their hearing is no better than that of humans. \\n\\nEuropean badger skulls are quite massive, heavy and elongated. Their braincases are oval in outline, while the facial part of their skulls is elongated and narrow. Adults have prominent sagittal crests which can reach 15 mm tall in old males, and are more strongly developed than those of honey badgers. Aside from anchoring the jaw muscles, the thickness of the crests protect their skulls from hard blows. Similar to martens, the dentition of European badgers is well-suited for their omnivorous diets. Their incisors are small and chisel-shaped, their canine teeth are prominent and their carnassials are not overly specialised. Their molars are flattened and adapted for grinding. Their jaws are powerful enough to crush most bones; a provoked badger was once reported as biting down on a man's wrist so severely that his hand had to be amputated. The dental formula is: \\n\\nScent glands are present below the base of the tail and on the anus. The subcaudal gland secretes a musky-smelling, cream-coloured fatty substance, while the anal glands secrete a stronger-smelling, yellowish-brown fluid.\\n\\nFur\\n\\nIn winter, the fur on the back and flanks is long and coarse, consisting of bristly guard hairs with a sparse, soft undercoat. The belly fur consists of short, sparse hairs, with skin being visible in the inguinal region. Guard hair length on the middle of the back is 75 – in winter. Prior to the winter, the throat, lower neck, chest and legs are black. The belly is of a lighter, brownish tint, while the inguinal region is brownish-grey. The general colour of the back and sides is light silvery-grey, with straw-coloured highlights on the sides. The tail has long and coarse hairs, and is generally the same colour as the back. Two black bands pass along the head, starting from the upper lip and passing upwards to the whole base of the ears. The bands sometimes extend along the neck and merge with the colour of the upper body. The front parts of the bands are 15 mm, and widen to 45 – in the ear region. A wide, white band extends from the nose tip through the forehead and crown. White markings occur on the lower part of the head, and extend backwards to a great part of the neck's length. The summer fur is much coarser, shorter and sparser, and is deeper in colour, with the black tones becoming brownish, sometimes with yellowish tinges. Partial melanism in badgers is known, and albinos are not uncommon. Albino badgers can be pure white or yellowish with pink eyes. Erythristic badgers are more common than the former, being characterised by having a sandy-red colour on the usually black parts of the body. Yellow badgers are also known. \\n\\nBehaviour\\n\\nSocial and territorial behaviours\\n\\nEuropean badgers are the most social of badgers, forming groups of six adults on average, though larger associations of up to 23 individuals have been recorded. Group size may be related to habitat composition. Under optimal conditions, badger territories can be as small as 30 ha, but may be as large as 150 ha in marginal areas. Badger territories can be identified by the presence of communal latrines and well-worn paths. It is mainly males that are involved in territorial aggression. A hierarchical social system is thought to exist among badgers and large powerful boars seem to assert dominance over smaller males. Large boars sometimes intrude into neighbouring territories during the main mating season in early spring. Sparring and more vicious fights generally result from territorial defence in the breeding season. However, in general, animals within and outside a group show considerable tolerance of each other. Boars tend to mark their territories more actively than sows, with their territorial activity increasing during the mating season in early spring. Badgers groom each other very thoroughly with their claws and teeth. Grooming may have a social function. They are crepuscular and nocturnal in habits. Aggression among badgers is largely associated with territorial defence and mating. When fighting, they bite each other on the neck and rump, while running and chasing each other and injuries incurred in such fights can be severe and sometimes fatal. When attacked by dogs or sexually excited, badgers may raise their tails and fluff up their fur.\\n\\nEuropean badgers have an extensive vocal repertoire. When threatened they emit deep growls and when fighting make low kekkering noises. They bark when surprised, whicker when playing or in distress, and emit a piercing scream when alarmed or frightened. \\n\\nReproduction and development\\n\\nEstrus in European badgers lasts four to six days and may occur throughout the year, though there is a peak in spring. Sexual maturity in boars is usually attained at the age of twelve to fifteen months but this can range from nine months to two years. Males are normally fecund during January–May, with spermatogenesis declining in summer. Sows usually begin ovulating in their second year, though some exceptionally begin at nine months. They can mate at any time of the year, though the main peak occurs in February–May, when mature sows are in postpartal estrus and young animals experience their first estrus. Matings occurring outside this period typically occur in sows which either failed to mate earlier in the year or matured slowly. Badgers are usually monogamous; boars typically mate with one female for life, whereas sows have been known to mate with more than one male. Mating lasts for fifteen to sixty minutes, though the pair may briefly copulate for a minute or two when the sow is not in estrus. A delay of two to nine months precedes the fertilised eggs implanting into the wall of the uterus, though matings in December can result in immediate implantation. Ordinarily, implantation happens in December, with a gestation period lasting seven weeks. Cubs are usually born in mid-January to mid-March within underground chambers containing bedding. In areas where the countryside is waterlogged, cubs may be born above ground in buildings. Typically, only dominant sows can breed, as they suppress the reproduction of subordinate females.\\n\\nThe average litter consists of one to five cubs. Although many cubs are sired by resident males, up to 54% can be fathered by boars from different colonies. Dominant sows may kill the cubs of subordinates. Cubs are born pink, with greyish, silvery fur and fused eyelids. Neonatal badgers are 12 cm in body length on average and weigh 75 to, with cubs from large litters being smaller. By three to five days, their claws become pigmented, and individual dark hairs begin to appear. Their eyes open at four to five weeks and their milk teeth erupt about the same time. They emerge from their setts at eight weeks of age, and begin to be weaned at twelve weeks, though they may still suckle until they are four to five months old. Subordinate females assist the mother in guarding, feeding and grooming the cubs. Cubs fully develop their adult coats at six to nine weeks. In areas with medium to high badger populations, dispersal from the natal group is uncommon, though badgers may temporarily visit other colonies. Badgers can live for up to about fifteen years in the wild. \\n\\nDenning behaviours\\n\\nLike other badger species, European badgers are burrowing animals. However, the dens they construct (called setts) are the most complex, and are passed on from generation to generation. The number of exits in one sett can vary from a few to fifty. These setts can be vast, and can sometimes accommodate multiple families. When this happens, each family occupies its own passages and nesting chambers. Some setts may have exits which are only used in times of danger or play. A typical passage has a 22 – wide base and a 14 – height. Three sleeping chambers occur in a family unit, some of which are open at both ends. The nesting chamber is located 5 – from the opening, and is situated more than a 1 m underground, in some cases . Generally, the passages are 35 – long. The nesting chamber is on average 74 x, and are 38 cm high. Badgers dig and collect bedding throughout the year, particularly in autumn and spring. Sett maintenance is usually carried out by subordinate sows and dominant boars. The chambers are frequently lined with bedding, brought in on dry nights, which consists of grass, bracken, straw, leaves and moss. Up to 30 bundles can be carried to the sett on a single night. European badgers are fastidiously clean animals which regularly clear out and discard old bedding. During the winter, they may take their bedding outside on sunny mornings and retrieve it later in the day. Spring cleaning is connected with the birth of cubs, and may occur several times during the summer to prevent parasite levels building up. If a badger dies within the sett, its conspecifics will seal off the chamber and dig a new one. Some badgers will drag their dead out of the sett and bury them outside. A sett is almost invariably located near a tree, which is used by badgers for stretching or claw scraping. Badgers defecate in latrines, which are located near the sett and at strategic locations on territorial boundaries or near places with abundant food supplies. In extreme cases, when there is a lack of suitable burrowing grounds, badgers may move into haystacks in winter. They may share their setts with red foxes or European rabbits. The badgers may provide protection for the rabbits against other predators. The rabbits usually avoid predation by the badgers by inhabiting smaller, hard to reach chambers. \\n\\nWinter sleep\\n\\nBadgers begin to prepare for winter sleep during late summer by accumulating fat reserves, which reach a peak in October. During this period, the sett is cleaned and the nesting chamber is filled with bedding. Upon retiring to sleep, badgers block their sett entrances with dry leaves and earth. They typically stop leaving their setts once snow has fallen. In Russia, badgers retire for their winter sleep from late October to mid-November and emerge from their setts in March and early April. In areas such as England and Transcaucasia, where winters are less harsh, badgers either forgo winter sleep entirely or spend long periods underground, emerging in mild spells.\\n\\nDiet\\n\\nAlong with brown bears, European badgers are among the least carnivorous members of the Carnivora; they are highly adaptable and opportunistic omnivores, whose diet encompasses a wide range of animals and plants. Earthworms are their most important food source, followed by large insects, carrion, cereals, fruit and small mammals including rabbits, mice, shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Insect prey includes chafers, dung and ground beetles, caterpillars, leatherjackets, and the nests of wasps and bumblebees. Badgers (Meles meles) are able to destroy wasp nests, consuming the occupants, combs, and envelope, such as that of Vespula rufa nests, since thick skin and body hair protect the badgers from stings.Edwards, Robin. (1980). Social Wasps: Their Biology and Control. W. Sussex, Great Britain: Rentokil Limited. Cereal food includes wheat, oats, maize and occasionally barley. Fruits include windfall apples, pears, plums, blackberries, bilberries, raspberries, strawberries, acorns, beechmast, pignuts and wild arum corms.\\n\\nOccasionally, they feed on medium to large birds, amphibians, small reptiles, including tortoises, snails, slugs, fungi, and green food such as clover and grass, particularly in winter and during droughts. Badgers characteristically capture large numbers of one food type in each hunt. Generally, they do not eat more than of food per day, with young specimens yet to attain one year of age eating more than adults. An adult badger weighing 15 kg eats a quantity of food equal to 3.4% of its body weight. Badgers typically eat prey on the spot, and rarely transport it to their setts. Surplus killing has been observed in chicken coops.\\n\\nBadgers prey on rabbits throughout the year, especially during times when their young are available. They catch young rabbits by locating their position in their nest by scent, then dig vertically downwards to it. In mountainous or hilly districts, where vegetable food is scarce, badgers rely on rabbits as a principal food source. Adult rabbits are usually avoided, unless they are wounded or caught in traps. They consume them by turning them inside out and eating the meat, leaving the inverted skin uneaten. Hedgehogs are eaten in a similar manner. In areas where badgers are common, hedgehogs are scarce. Some rogue badgers may kill lambs, though this is very rare; they may be erroneously implicated in lamb killings through the presence of discarded wool and bones near their setts, though foxes, which occasionally live alongside badgers, are often the culprits, as badgers do not transport food to their earths. They typically kill lambs by biting them behind the shoulder. Poultry and game birds are also taken only rarely. Some badgers may build their setts in close proximity to poultry or game farms without ever causing damage. In the rare instances in which badgers do kill reared birds, the killings usually occur in February–March, when food is scarce due to harsh weather and increases in badger populations. Badgers can easily breach bee hives with their jaws, and are mostly indifferent to bee stings, even when set upon by swarms.\\n\\nRelationships with other non-human predators\\n\\nEuropean badgers have few natural enemies. Wolves, lynxes and dogs can pose a threat to badgers, though deaths caused by them are rare. They may live alongside red foxes in isolated sections of large burrows. The two species possibly tolerate each other out of commensalism; foxes provide badgers with food scraps, while badgers maintain the shared burrow's cleanliness. However, cases are known of badgers driving vixens from their dens and destroying their litters without eating them. Raccoon dogs may extensively use badger setts for shelter. There are many known cases of badgers and raccoon dogs wintering in the same hole, possibly because badgers enter hibernation two weeks earlier than the latter, and leave two weeks later. In exceptional cases, badger and raccoon dog cubs may coexist in the same burrow. Badgers may drive out or kill raccoon dogs if they overstay their welcome. \\n\\nDistribution and habitat\\n\\nThe European badger is native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia. In Europe its range includes Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Ukraine. In Asia it occurs in Afghanistan, China (Xinjiang), Iran, Iraq and Israel.\\n\\nThe distributional boundary between the ranges of European and Asian badgers is the Volga River, the European species being situated on the western bank. They are common in European Russia, with 30,000 individuals having been recorded there in 1990. They are abundant and increasing throughout their range, partly due to a reduction in rabies in Central Europe. In the UK, badgers experienced a 77% increase in numbers during the 1980s and 1990s. The badger population in Great Britain in 2012 is estimated to be 300,000. \\n\\nThe European badger is found in deciduous and mixed woodlands, clearings, spinneys, pastureland and scrub, including Mediterranean maquis shrubland. It has adapted to life in suburban areas and urban parks, although not to the extent of red foxes. In mountainous areas it occurs up to an altitude of 2000 m.\\n\\nBadger tracking to study their behavior and territories has been done in Ireland using Global Positioning Systems. \\n\\nStatus\\n\\nThe International Union for Conservation of Nature rates the European badger as being of least concern. This is because it is a relatively common species with a wide range and populations are generally stable. In Central Europe it has become more abundant in recent decades due to a reduction in the incidence of rabies. In other areas it has also fared well, with increases in numbers in Western Europe and the United Kingdom. However, in some areas of intensive agriculture it has reduced in numbers due to loss of habitat and in others it is hunted as a pest.\\n\\nDiseases and parasites\\n\\nBovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a major mortality factor in badgers, though infected badgers can live and successfully breed for years before succumbing. The disease was first observed in badgers in 1951 in Switzerland where they were believed to have contracted it from chamois (Rupicarpa rupicarpa) or roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). It was detected in the United Kingdom in 1971 where it was linked to an outbreak of bovine TB in cows. The evidence appears to indicate that the badger is the primary reservoir of infection for cattle in the south west of England, Wales and Ireland. Since then there has been considerable controversy as to whether culling badgers will effectively reduce or eliminate bovine TB in cattle. \\n\\nBadgers are vulnerable to the mustelid herpesvirus-1, as well as rabies and canine distemper, though the latter two are absent in Great Britain. Other diseases found in European badgers include arteriosclerosis, pneumonia, pleurisy, nephritis, enteritis, polyarthritis and lymphosarcoma. \\n\\nInternal parasites of badgers include trematodes, nematodes and several species of tapeworm. Ectoparasites carried by them include the fleas Paraceras melis (the badger flea), Chaetopsylla trichosa and Pulex irritans, the lice Trichodectes melis and the ticks Ixodes ricinus, I. canisuga, I. hexagonus, I. reduvius and I. melicula. They also suffer from mange. They spend much time grooming, individuals concentrating on their own ventral areas, alternating one side with the other, while social grooming occurs with one individual grooming another on its dorsal surface. Fleas tried to avoid the scratching, retreating rapidly downwards and backwards through the fur. This was in contrast to fleas away from their host which ran upwards and jumped when disturbed. The grooming seems to disadvantage fleas rather than merely having a social function. \\n\\nRelationships with humans\\n\\nIn folklore and literature\\n\\nBadgers play a part in European folklore and are featured in modern literature. In Irish mythology, badgers are portrayed as shape-shifters and kinsmen to Tadg, the king of Tara and foster father of Cormac mac Airt. In one story, Tadg berates his adopted son for having killed and prepared some badgers for dinner. In German folklore, the badger is portrayed as a cautious, peace-loving Philistine, who loves more than anything his home, family and comfort, though he can become aggressive if surprised. He is a cousin of Reynard the Fox, whom he uselessly tries to convince to return to the path of righteousness.\\n\\nIn Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Badger is depicted as a gruff, solitary figure who \\\"simply hates society\\\", yet is a good friend to Mole and Ratty. As a friend of Toad's now-deceased father, he is often firm and serious with Toad, but at the same time generally patient and well-meaning towards him. He can be seen as a wise hermit, a good leader and gentleman, embodying common sense. He is also brave and a skilled fighter, and helps rid Toad Hall of invaders from the wild wood. \\n\\nThe \\\"Frances\\\" series of children's books by Russell and Lillian Hoban depicts an anthropomorphic badger family.\\n\\nIn T.H. White's Arthurian series The Once and Future King, the young King Arthur is transformed into a badger by Merlin as part of his education. He meets with an older badger who tells him \\\"I can only teach you two things - to dig, and love your home.\\\" \\n\\nA villainous badger named Tommy Brock appears in Beatrix Potter's 1912 book The Tale of Mr. Tod. He is shown kidnapping the children of Benjamin Bunny and his wife Flopsy, and hiding them in an oven at the home of Mr. Tod the fox, whom he fights at the end of the book. The portrayal of the badger as a filthy animal which appropriates fox dens was criticised from a naturalistic viewpoint, though the inconsistencies are few and employed to create individual characters rather than evoke an archetypical fox and badger. A wise old badger named Trufflehunter appears in C. S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, where he aids Caspian X in his struggle against King Miraz. \\n\\nA badger takes a prominent role in Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood series as second in command to Fox. The badger is also the house symbol for Hufflepuff in the \\\"Harry Potter\\\" book series. The Redwall series also has the Badger Lords, who rule the extinct volcano fortress of Salamandastron and are renowned as fierce warriors. The children's television series Bodger & Badger was popular on CBBC during the 1990s and was set around the mishaps of a mashed potato-loving badger and his human companion. \\n\\nHunting\\n\\nEuropean badgers are of little significance to hunting economies, though they may be actively hunted locally. Methods used for hunting badgers include catching them in jaw traps, ambushing them at their setts with guns, smoking them out of their earths and through the use of specially bred dogs such as Fox Terriers and Dachshunds to dig them out. Badgers are, however, notoriously durable animals; their skins are thick, loose and covered in long hair which acts as protection, and their heavily ossified skulls allow them to shrug off most blunt traumas, as well as shotgun pellets. \\n\\nBadger-baiting\\n\\nBadger-baiting was once a popular blood sport, in which badgers were captured alive, placed in boxes, and attacked with dogs. In the UK, this was outlawed by the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and again by the Protection of Animals Act of 1911. Moreover, the cruelty towards and death of the badger constitute offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, and further offences under this act are inevitably committed to facilitate badger-baiting (such as interfering with a sett, or the taking or the very possession of a badger for purposes other than nursing an injured animal to health). If convicted, badger-baiters may face a sentence of up to six months in jail, a fine of up to £5,000, and other punitive measures, such as community service or a ban from owning dogs. \\n\\nCulling\\n\\nMany badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. Until the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomised trial cull which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, while others favoured a programme of vaccination, and vets support the cull on compassionate grounds as they say that the illness causes much suffering in badgers. Wales and Northern Ireland are currently (2013) conducting field trials of a badger vaccination programme. In 2012, the government authorised a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), however, this was later deferred with a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where it is expected about 5,000 badgers will be killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire by marksmen with high-velocity rifles using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers will be trapped in cages first). The cull has caused many protests with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, it has been claimed by shadow ministers that \\\"The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...\\\", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots \\\"will not yield any useful information\\\".\\n\\nDomestication\\n\\nThere are several accounts of European badgers being tamed. Tame badgers can be affectionate pets, and can be trained to come to their owners when their names are called. They are easily fed, as they are not fussy eaters, and will instinctively unearth rats, moles and young rabbits without training, though they do have a weakness for pork. Although there is one record of a tame badger befriending a fox, they generally do not tolerate the presence of cats and dogs, and will chase them. \\n\\nUses\\n\\nBadger meat is eaten in some districts of the former Soviet Union, though in most cases it is discarded. Smoked hams made from badgers were once highly esteemed in England, Wales and Ireland.\\n\\nSome badger products have been used for medical purposes; badger expert Ernest Neal, quoting from an 1810 edition of The Sporting Magazine, wrote;\\n\\nThe hair of the European badger has been used for centuries for making sporrans and high end shaving brushes. Sporrans are traditionally worn as part of male Scottish highland dress. They form a bag or pocket made from a pelt and a badger or other animal's mask may be used as a flap. Compared to the fur of other animals, badger's hair is ideal for shaving brushes because it retains the hot water that needs to be applied to the skin while wet shaving. Although some brushes are made from wild badger hair, most hair is sourced from China where badgers are farmed for this purpose. The pelt was also formerly used for pistol furniture.\\n\\nNotes\",\n \"Birds beginning with B - Animal pictures\\nBirds beginning with B. ... suggestions that it was a type of wren were accepted by the South American Classification ... frogs and other water creatures, ...\\nBirds beginning with B\\nBirds beginning with B\\nBabbling Starling\\nBachman's sparrow - Bachman's Sparrow, Aimophila aestivalis, is a small American sparrow that is endemic to the southeastern United States. This species was named in honor of Reverend John Bachman.\\nBachman's wood warbler - Bachman's Warbler is possibly extinct, and was most likely never common. The last confirmed sightings were in 1988 and before that in 1961 in South Carolina. The Bachman's Warbler's last stronghold was in I'on Swamp, South Carolina. Habitat destruction was probably the main cause of its disappearance. Its extinction is not yet officially announced, because habitat remaining in Congaree National Park needs to be surveyed. Furthermore, on January 14, 2002, a bird reminiscent of a female Bachman's Warbler was filmed at Guardalavaca, Cuba. As Vermivora warblers are not known to live more than about 7 years, if the identification is correct it would imply that a breeding population managed to survive undiscovered for decades.\\nBaer's Pochard - It is similar in size and stance to its close relative the Ferruginous Duck , although the coloration of the drakes is entirely different. Baer's Pochard males are similar to those of the Greater Scaup , but have a dark back and upper flanks; the white lower flanks and belly are conspicuous. The females of Baer's Pochard and the Ferruginous Duck are quite similar, but that holds true for the females of almost all Aythya species.\\nBaglafecht Weaver\\nBahama duck - This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current scientific name.\\nBahama Swallow - This glossy Tachycineta swallow has a green head and back, blue upper wings, a black tail and wingtips, and a white belly and chin.\\nBahama Yellowthroat - It is closely related to Common Yellowthroat, Altamira Yellowthroat and Belding's Yellowthroat, with which it forms a superspecies, and was formerly considered conspecific.\\nBahaman mockingbird - The Bahama Mockingbird is a species of bird in the Mimidae family. It is found in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and is a vagrant to the United States. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBahaman parrot - The Cuban Amazon is a medium-sized parrot 28–33 centimetres long.\\nBahaman woodstar - The Bahama Woodstar is a species of hummingbird.\\nBahia Spinetail - The Bahia Spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.\\nBahia Tapaculo - The Bahia Tapaculo is a species of bird in the Rhinocryptidae family. It is endemic to lowland Atlantic forests in Bahia, Brazil. Until recently, it was feared extinct, but has since been rediscovered and is now known from the municipalities of Ilhéus, Maraú, Taperoá, Valença. It remains highly threatened by habitat loss and is consequently considered critically endangered by BirdLife International and IUCN. Together with the closely related White-breasted Tapaculo, it was formerly placed in the genus Scytalopus, but these two species are now known to be closer to the bristlefronts .\\nBahia Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBaikal teal - At between 39 and 43 cm, this duck is slightly larger and longer-tailed than the Common Teal. The breeding male is unmistakable, with a striking green nape, yellow and black auriculars, neck, throat. It has a dark crown, and its breast is light brown with dark spots. It has long dropping dark scapulars, and its grey sides are set off on the fron and rear with white bars.\\nBailey's chickadee - The Mountain Chickadee is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. Often, it is still placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships . The American Ornithologists' Union has been treating Poecile as a distinct genus for some time.\\nBaillon's Crake - Their breeding habitat is sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across Asia. They used to breed in Great Britain up to the mid-19th century, but the western European population declined through drainage. They nest in a dry location in wet sedge bogs, laying 4-8 eggs. This species is migratory, wintering in east Africa and south Asia.\\nBaird's cormorant - The Pelagic Cormorant , also known as Baird's Cormorant, is a small member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Analogous to other smallish cormorants, it is also called Pelagic Shag occasionally. This seabird lives along the coasts of the northern Pacific; during winter it can also be found in the open ocean.\\nBaird's Flycatcher - The Baird's Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBaird's Sandpiper - The Baird's Sandpiper is a small shorebird. It is among those calidrids sometimes separated in Erolia.\\nBaird's sparrow - These birds have a large bill, a large flat head, and a short forked tail. They have brown upper parts and white underparts, with streaking on the back, breast, and flanks. The face, nape, and crown stripe are yellowish.\\nBaker's Imperial-Pigeon - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBald Eagle - Breeding resident Breeding summer visitor, Winter visitor On migration only\\nBald Ibis - This large, glossy, blue-black ibis has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, decurved red bill. It breeds colonially on and amongst rocks and on cliffs, laying 2-3 eggs which are incubated for 21 days before hatching. It feeds on insects, small reptiles, rodents and small birds.\\nBald-faced Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and rivers.\\nBalearic Shearwater - The Balearic Shearwater is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It was long regarded a subspecies of the Manx Shearwater; see there for more on the Puffinus puffinus superspecies; following an initial split it was held to be a subspecies of the \\\"Mediterranean Shearwater\\\" for nearly ten more years, until it was resolved to be a distinct species, separate from the Yelkouan Shearwater . It is the last taxon of the puffinus complex that was recognized as a separate entity.\\nBali Myna - Placed in the monotypic genus Leucopsar, it appears to be most closely related to Sturnia and the Brahminy Starling which is currently placed in Sturnus but will probably soon be split therefrom as Sturnus as presently delimited is highly paraphyletic . The specific name commemorates the British ornithologist Lord Rothschild.\\nBalicassiao - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBallmann's Malimbe\\nBalsas Screech-Owl - The Balsas Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is endemic to Mexico.\\nBaltimore Oriole - The Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team in Baltimore, Maryland, were named after this bird. It is also the state bird of Maryland.\\nBamboo Antshrike - The Bamboo Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBamboo Partridge - The binomial commemorates Major-General Albert Fytche.\\nBamboo Warbler - The Bamboo Scrub-warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\\nBamenda Apalis - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and dry savanna. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBananal Antbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\\nBananaquit - The Bananaquit was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Certhia flaveola.\\nBand-backed Wren - The Band-backed Wren is a resident breeding species from south-central Gulf Coast Mexico to northwestern Ecuador. It occurs in five disjunct areas, the central region being in southern Central America, in Costa Rica and northern Panama. The next two regions are northern Colombia adjacent to Panama, and 800 km to the south in northwestern Ecuador.\\nBand-bellied Crake\\nBand-bellied Owl - The Band-bellied Owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBand-rumped storm-petrel - The Madeiran Storm-petrel is 19-21 cm in length with a 43-46 cm wingspan, and weighs 44-49g. It is mainly black with an extensive white rump. Similar to Leach's Storm-petrel with the forked tail, long wings, and flight behaviour, but Leach's has a more forked tail and differently shaped white rump.\\nBand-rumped Swift - This species breeds in forested areas from Costa Rica south and east to Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad and northeast Brazil. The nest is a half saucer of twigs glued to the inside of a tree hole or similar shaded location with saliva.\\nBand-tailed Antbird - The Band-tailed Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.\\nBand-tailed Antshrike - The Band-tailed Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in the eastern Guianas of Suriname and French Guiana mostly; also Brazil, Guyana, and Atlantic regions of the Amazon Basin, and some local regions upstream on the Amazon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps. It has recently been proposed that it more properly belongs to the genus Thamnophilus .\\nBand-tailed Antwren - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBand-tailed Barbthroat - This hermit species inhabits the understory of wet forests, woodland edges and old second growth. It occurs in the lowlands, typically up to an elevation of 800 m, although young birds may wander higher.\\nBand-tailed black hawk - Grown birds are 47–55 cm in length with a wingspan of about 1.2 m ; their average weight is 810 g . Adult plumage is mostly blackish except that the flight feathers are barred with lighter gray and the tail has three or four bands or \\\"zones\\\", white from below and light gray from above, of which the one second from the tip is particularly broad and conspicuous. The cere and legs are yellow. Immatures are similar except for small white spots on the breast and tails with narrow gray and black bands and a broad dark tip. The Zone-tailed Hawk adults resemble the Common Black Hawk but are smaller and have more white bars on the tail.\\nBand-tailed Fruiteater - The Band-tailed Fruiteater is a species of bird in the Cotingidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBand-tailed Manakin\\nBand-tailed Nighthawk - The Band-tailed Nighthawk is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, and swamps.\\nBand-tailed Oropendola - The Band-tailed Oropendola is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is in the genus Ocyalus, usually considered monotypic, though the Casqued Oropendola might also be included herein. It is found at low densities in the western Amazon in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.\\nBand-tailed Pigeon - The Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata, is a medium-sized bird of the Americas. Its closest relatives are the Chilean Pigeon and the Ring-tailed Pigeon, which form a clade of Patagioenas with a terminal tail band and iridescent plumage on their necks.\\nBand-tailed Seedeater - The Band-tailed Seedeater is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBand-tailed Sierra Finch - The Band-tailed Sierra-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBand-winged Nightjar - Over its large range, there are signifincant variations in its morphology, but, as suggested by its common name, it always has a distinctive band in the wing , which is white in the male, buff in the female. Traditionally, \\\"only\\\" seven subspecies have been recognized, but two new subspecies, one from Chile have been described within the last few years.\\nBanda Myzomela - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBanded Antbird - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBanded Barbet - The Banded Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Eritrea and Ethiopia.\\nBanded Bay Cuckoo - The Banded Bay Cuckoo or Bay-banded Cuckoo is a species of small cuckoo found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Like others in the genus they have a round nostril. They are usually founded in well wooded areas mainly in the lower hills. Males sing from exposed branches during the breeding season, which can vary with region. They are distinctive both in their calls as well as plumage with a white eye-browed appearance and the rufous upperparts with regular dark bands and the whitish underside with fine striations.\\nBanded Broadbill\\nBanded Cotinga - Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBanded Green Sunbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, plantations , and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBanded Ground Cuckoo - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBanded Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\\nBanded Imperial-Pigeon\\nBanded Kestrel - It is 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 60–68 cm. The upperparts are grey and the tail is dark. The underparts are whitish with dark grey streaks on the throat and upper breast and dark grey barring on the lower breast and belly. The feet, eyes and cere are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. Juvenile birds are browner than the adults with darker eyes and less bare skin around the eye.\\nBanded Kingfisher - The Banded Kingfisher is a 20 cm long kingfisher with a sturdy red bill and a short crest which is slowly raised and lowered. It shows striking sexual dimorphism compared to most of its relatives. The adult male has a chestnut forehead, cheeks and nape, and a bright blue cap. The rest of the upperparts, wings and tail are black with blue bands. The breast, flanks and undertail are rufous, and the central belly is white.\\nBanded Lapwing - The Banded Lapwing is a small to medium sized wader which belongs to the plover family. It is found over most of Australia and Tasmania though is absent from the northern third of the continent.\\nBanded Martin - The Banded Martin is found in open habitats such as farmland, grassland and savannah, usually near water. It breeds across Africa from Cameroon and Zaire to Ethiopia south to the Cape in South Africa, although it is absent from the driest regions of western South Africa and southern Namibia. The southern nominate subspecies of South Africa and Zimbabwe, is migratory, wintering further north, particularly in the west, where it can move sometimes as far as Gambia. R. c. xerica also leaves its drier breeding grounds in Botswana and northern Namibia in the southern winter. Other subspecies undertake local or altitudinal movements often dependent on the rainfall pattern.\\nBanded Pitta - It includes four subspecies, which can be divided into three main groups: The nominate subspecies from Java and Bali has a yellow eyebrow, underparts that are densely barred in yellowish and blackish-blue and a narrow blue band on the upper chest, irena and ripleyi from the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Sumatra have a more orange eyebrow, a blue belly and a chest that is barred orange and dark bluish , and schwaneri from Borneo has a blue mid-belly and yellow flanks and chest densely barred with blackish. Females of all subspecies are significantly duller than the males. There are also vocal differences between some of the subspecies.\\nBanded Prinia - It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBanded Quail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBanded Red Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBanded Snake-Eagle - Western Banded Snake-eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests. The west Banded eagle makes a nest then makes a new one the next year\\nBanded Stilt - It is locally known as the Rottnest snipe on Rottnest Island, though not related to true snipes.\\nBanded Warbler - The Banded Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\\nBanded White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBanded Whiteface - The Banded Whiteface is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\\nBanded wren - The Banded Wren, Pheugopedius pleurostictus, is a small songbird of the wren family. It is a resident breeding species from central Mexico to Costa Rica. It was formerly placed in the genus Thryothorus .\\nBanggai Crow - The Banggai Crow, Corvus unicolor, is a member of the crow family from Banggai in Indonesia. It is listed as critically endangered by IUCN and was even feared extinct, but was finally rediscovered during surveys on Peleng Island by Indonesian ornithologist Mochamad Indrawan in 2007 and 2008.\\nBank Cormorant - The Bank Cormorant is a heavy-bodied bird, roughly 75 cm in length. It is generally black in appearance with a bronze sheen, though the wings are a dark brown rather than a true black. Adults have a small crest on their heads, and normally have a white rump.\\nBank Myna - The Bank Myna is found in the greater part of peninsular South Asia, from Sindh, Pakistan on the West, to Bangladesh in the East, generally between the latitudes of about 19o ; to 28o . The Bank Myna is absent from the drier regions in Rajasthan. It has a patchy distribution but is commonly seen in major river valleys. Mostly resident, the bank myna shows regular seasonal local movements in some areas. Individual stragglers have been documented from as far as Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Chennai, India\\nBannerman's Sunbird - The Bannerman's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\\nBannerman's Turaco - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBannerman's Weaver - The Bannerman's Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cameroon and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBar-backed Partridge - The Bar-Backed Partridge is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBar-bellied Pitta\\nBar-bellied Woodcreeper - The Bar-bellied Woodcreeper is a species of bird in the Dendrocolaptinae subfamily. It is found in humid forest of the western Amazon in northern Bolivia, far western Brazil, eastern Peru, and, as recently confirmed, eastern Ecuador.\\nBar-bellied Woodpecker - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBar-breasted Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBar-breasted Honeyeater\\nBar-breasted Piculet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBar-crested Antshrike - It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBar-headed Goose - The Bar-headed Goose is a goose which breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest.\\nBar-shouldered Dove - The dove has a blue-grey breast with chequered brown-bronze wings. The nape is similar to that of the Peaceful Dove in that the nape feathers are striated but differs in that the Bar-shouldered Dove does not have striated throat feathers like the Peaceful Dove. Furthermore, the nape feathers are copper in colour. These doves are also often confused with the introduced and common Spotted Turtle-Dove. The eye ring tends to be grey but red-brown when breeding. The juveniles are duller in colour.\\nBar-tailed Godwit - The Bar-tailed Godwit is a relatively short-legged species of godwit. The bill-to-tail length is 37–41 cm, with a wingspan of 70–80 cm. Males average smaller than females but with much overlap; males weigh 190–400 g, while females weigh 260–630 g; there is also some regional variation in size . The adult has blue-grey legs and a very long dark bill with a slight upward curve and pink at the tip. The neck, breast and belly are unbroken brick red in breeding plumage, off white in winter. The back is mottled grey.\\nBar-tailed pheasant - This rare and little known pheasant is found throughout forested habitats in China, Pakistan, India, Burma and Thailand. The diet consists mainly of vegetation matters. The female lays three to twelve creamy white eggs in nest of leaves, twigs and feathers.\\nBar-tailed Treecreeper - The Bar-tailed TreeCreeper has a flecked or striped feather pattern, usually in black, brown, white and red hues. This coloration allows the Tree-Creeper to blend in with its forest surroundings quite well.\\nBar-tailed Trogon - The Bar-tailed Trogon averages about 28 cm long. The bill and feet are yellow, and the tail, long and broad as usual for trogons, has the underside narrowly barred with black and white. The male's head is blue-black with bronze iridescence. Below the eye are two yellow or orange patches of bare skin; above the eye is a yellow or grey patch. The upper breast is iridescent from violet to blue-green; the rest of the underparts are red. The back is green and the upper surface of the tail is blue-black or purple-black. The female's head is brown with less ornamental bare skin and its throat and breast are light cinnamon; otherwise it resembles the male. The immature is similar to the female, but has a white belly and pale spots on the wings formed by the tips of the wing coverts and inner secondaries.\\nBar-throated Apalis - It inhabits forest and scrub in Southern and East Africa from southern and eastern parts of South Africa north as far as the Chyulu Hills in Kenya. In the northern part of is range it is found only in highland areas where there are a number of subspecies restricted to isolated mountain ranges. Some of these may be treated as separate species including the Namuli Apalis in Mozambique, Yellow-throated Apalis of Malawi and Taita Apalis in Kenya.\\nBar-winged Cinclodes - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, temperate grassland, and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBar-winged Flycatcher-shrike - The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike is a small passerine bird currently placed in the cuckoo-shrike family but possibly closer to the bushshrikes of Africa. It is found in the forests of tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas and hills of the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia. Mainly insectivorous it is found hunting in the mid-canopy of forests, often joining mixed-species foraging flocks. They perch upright and have a distinctive pattern of black and white, males being more shiny black than the females. In some populations the colour of the back is brownish while others have a dark wash on the underside.\\nBar-winged Oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBar-winged Prinia - The Bar-winged Prinia is a distinctive prinia, 13 cm long and weighing 8-10 gm. The plumage is white grading to yellow below with a grey cap and brown back and wings and a distinctive white double wingbar. The rump is yellow and the tail brown, with orange legs. Both sexes are alike and the juveniles resemble the adults. The song is a loud and repetitive high pitched chweet-chweet-chweet.\\nBar-winged Rail - It was a flightless island ground-nesting forest/freshwater swamp dweller and is believed to have disappeared after the introduction of the mongoose and cats to the islands.\\nBar-winged Weaver - The Bar-winged Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\\nBar-winged Wood Wren\\nBar-winged Wren-Babbler - The Bar-winged Wren-babbler is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family.\\nBarau's Petrel - The name commemorates Armand Barau, an agricultural engineer and ornithologist from the French territory of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It is one of the most recently discovered species of seabird and was only described in 1964, although it was known to local people prior to that.\\nBarbados Bullfinch - The Barbados Bullfinch was previously considered a subspecies of the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch , which is found on neighboring islands. Despite the misleading nature of its name, the Barbados Bullfinch is not a Bullfinch at all but a seedeater.\\nBarbary Partridge - This partridge has its main native range in North Africa, and is also native to Gibraltar It has been introduced to Portugal and Madeira, though there are no recent records of this species on the latter islands. It is also present in Sardinia. It is closely related to its western European equivalent, the Red-legged Partridge .\\nBarbuda warbler - The Barbuda Warbler is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is endemic to the island of Barbuda in Antigua and Barbuda. Its natural habitat is tropical dry shrubland near wetland areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBare-crowned Antbird - It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBare-eyed Antbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBare-eyed Ground-Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBare-eyed Mountain Pigeon\\nBare-eyed Myna - The Bare-eyed Myna is a large, long-tailed species of starling in the Sturnidae family. Its common name is a reference to the large patch of dark bare skin around the eyes. Due to its superficial resemblance to a magpie, it has been referred to as the Sula Magpie in the past. It is endemic to tropical open lowland forests on the Indonesian islands of Taliabu and Mangole in the Sula Islands. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBare-eyed Partridge Bronzewing - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBare-eyed Pigeon - The Bare-eyed Pigeon is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Aruba, Colombia, Netherlands Antilles, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBare-eyed Rail - The Bare-eyed Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBare-eyed Robin - The similar but allopatric Ecuadorian Thrush was formerly considered a subspecies of the Bare-eyed Thrush and named T. n. maculirostris; it is now normally separated as a good species T. maculirostris. It has a narrower eyering and is only found in forest and woodland in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru.\\nBare-faced Go-away-bird\\nBare-faced Ground Dove - The Bare-faced Ground-dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBare-faced Ibis - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is swamps.\\nBare-headed Laughingthrush - The Bare-headed Laughingthrush is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is endemic to highland forests in northern Borneo. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Black Laughingthrush.\\nBare-legged Owl - The Bare-legged Owl or Cuban Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family that is endemic to Cuba. It belongs to the monotypic genus Gymnoglaux. Its natural habitats are dry forests, lowland moist forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It lives in the canopy of the forests where it does most of its foraging.\\nBare-necked Fruitcrow\\nBare-necked Umbrellabird - This is both the largest passerine in its range and among the largest members of the cotinga family, with males being about 40 cm 16 in and 550 g .\\nBare-shanked Screech-Owl - The Bare-shanked Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBare-throated Bellbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss and by poaching for cage birds. It raises the attraction of collectors because of the adult males's showy coloration and call - a sharp sound like that of a hammer striking an anvil or a bell, emitted by the male in the wild while it perches on a high branch in order to attract a mate. A fruit-eating species, it acts in the ecology of the Atlantic rainforest as a dispersor of seeds\\nBare-throated Tiger Heron - This large species is found in more open habitats than other Tigrisoma herons, such as river and lake banks. It waits often motionless for suitable prey such as fish, frogs or crabs to come within reach of its long bill.\\nBare-throated Whistler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBarking Owl - The Barking Owl is coloured brown with white spots on its wings and a streaked chest. They have large eyes that have a yellow iris, a dark brown beak and almost no facial mask. Their underparts are brownish-grey and coarsely sotted white with their tail and flight feathers being moderately lighter in colour. They are a relatively medium sized owl and their wingspan is between 85–100 cm in length. They weigh between 425 and 510g and size varies only slightly between the male and female birds with the male Barking Owl being larger.\\nBarlow's chickadee - The Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae.\\nBarnacle Goose - The Barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. Its specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek leuko- \\\"white\\\", and opsis \\\"faced\\\".\\nBaron's Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBarred Antshrike - The Barred Antshrike is typically 16.5 cm long, and weighs 25 g. The male is barred all over with black and white, and has a white-based black crest that is raised in display. The female is rufous above with a chestnut crest. The sides of her head and neck are streaked with black, and the underparts are rich buff.\\nBarred Antthrush - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBarred Becard - The adult Barred Becard is 12 cm long and weighs 14 g; it has a conspicuous eye ring. The adult male has black upperparts with much white in the wings. The sides of the head and throat are yellowish-green shading to white on the rest of the underparts. The underparts are finely barred with black. The adult female has a grey crown and nape, olive-green upperparts and largely rufous wings. The greenish-yellow underparts are finely barred with dusky. Young males are much duller and greener than the adults, with weaker barring. The calls include a soft but persistent weet weet weet weet or a teseep tesep tseep tseep.\\nBarred Buttonquail - All of India up to about 2500 m in the Himalayas; Sri Lanka; Bangladesh; Burma; Indonesia and most of Southeast Asia, Philippines. Four geographical races differ somewhat in colour.\\nBarred Cuckoo-Dove - The Barred Cuckoo-dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBarred Dove - It inhabits scrub, cultivated land and woodland edges in lowland areas. The Barred Dove is found on Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, the Tanimbar Islands, the Kei Islands and other smaller islands.\\nBarred Eagle-Owl - The Barred Eagle-owl , also called the Malay Eagle Owl, is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Brunei, Cocos Islands, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBarred Forest Falcon - Adults of most subspecies are typically dark slate grey above; the tail tipped with white and having three to six narrow white bars. The nominate subspecies, which is found from south-eastern Brazil south to north-eastern Argentina and west to Paraguay, appears to only occur in the rufous-brown morphotype, as also suggested by its scientific name, ruficollis.\\nBarred Fruiteater - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBarred Hawk - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. 10,000 to 100,000 barred hawks are thought to exist throughout Central and South America. Barred Hawk’s are the largest of the Leucopternis genus and mainly live in the dense forests of the lowland and mountainous areas. The characteristic plumage of black barred and white belly is unique to the forests hawk of Leucopternis.\\nBarred Honey Buzzard - It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBarred Laughingthrush - It is endemic to China. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\\nBarred Owlet-Nightjar - The Barred Owlet-nightjar is a species of bird in the Aegothelidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBarred Parakeet - The Barred Parakeet , also known as Lineolated Parakeet or Catherine Parakeet, is a small parrot found disjunctly in highland forests from southern Mexico to Panama, in the Andes from western Venezuela to southern Peru, the Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia and the Venezuelan Coastal Range. Its plumage is mostly green with multiple black and dark green stripes or bars, and it has a pale-horn coloured beak. The dark stripes vary in prominence between its two subspecies. Several colour mutants are available in aviculture.\\nBarred Puffbird - The Barred Puffbird is a species of puffbird in the Bucconidae family. It occurs in forests in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena of Panama, Colombia and Ecuador.\\nBarred Rail - The Barred Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines.\\nBarred Tinamou - All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and Tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.\\nBarred Warbler - This is a large and robust species of typical warbler, 15.5-17cm in length, mainly grey above and whitish below. The adult male is darker grey above, and heavily barred below. The female has only light barring. Young birds lack any barring, and have no obvious distinctive features other than the size. The Barred Warbler is a bird of open country with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3-7 eggs are laid. Like most warblers, it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit. The Barred Warbler's song is a pleasant chattering with many clearer notes like a Blackbird. The song can be confused with that of Garden Warbler, but is less melodious.\\nBarred Woodcreeper - It is found in the entire Amazon Basin of Brazil and the Guianas in the northeast, . The countries surrounding the basin at the Andes are southern Colombia and Venezuela, also Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. A disjunct population exists 1800 km east of the Amazon Basin in eastern coastal Brazil in the states of Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Sergipe in a 600 km coastal strip. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBarrow's Goldeneye - Adults are similar in appearance to the Common Goldeneye. Adult males have a dark head with a purplish gloss and a white crescent at the front of the face. Adult females have a yellow bill.\\nBartlett's Tinamou - All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and Tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.\\nBasra Reed-Warbler - It is found in aquatic vegetation in or around shallow, fresh or brackish water, still or flowing, mainly in dense reedbeds. It is found in thickets and bushland when migrating or wintering.\\nBassian Thrush - It is estimated that the rangewide population is large, though no official count has ever been established.\\nBat Falcon - The female Bat Falcon, at 30.5 cm length, is much larger than the 23 cm long male. Adults have a black back, head and tail. The throat, upper breast and neck sides are creamy white, the lower breast and belly are black, finely barred white, and the thighs and lower belly are orange. Young birds are similar but with a buffy throat. The call of this species is a high pitched ke-ke-ke like American Kestrel.\\nBat Hawk - The Bat Hawk is a slender, medium-sized bird of prey, usually about 45 cm long. It has long wings and a falconine silhouette. Adults are dark brown or black, with a white patch on the throat and chest, and have a white streak above and below each eye. Juveniles are mottled brown and have more white plumage than adults.\\nBat-like Spinetail - The Bat-like Spinetail is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\\nBateleur - This is a common resident species of the open savanna country in Sub-Saharan Africa. It nests in trees, laying a single egg which is incubated by the female for 42 to 43 days, with a further 90 to 125 days until fledging. Bateleurs pair for life, and will use the same nest for a number of years. Unpaired birds, presumably from a previous clutch, will sometimes help at the nest.\\nBates' Nightjar - The Bates's Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Uganda.\\nBates's Sunbird - The Bates's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Zambia.\\nBates's Swift - The Bates's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria.\\nBates's Weaver - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBatis crypta - The Dark Batis is about 10 centimetres in length and weighs 10-15 grams. It has a dark bill and legs and red eyes. The male is white below with a broad black breastband. Above it has a dark grey crown, grey back with some black feather-tips, a black face-mask and black wings with a white stripe. The female has a greyish crown, brownish back, dark mask, slight white supercilium and a narrow rufous stripe on the wing. Below it has a rufous chin-spot and breast with whitish tips to some of the feathers.\\nBaudo Guan - The Baudo Guan, Penelope ortoni, is a species of bird from the family Cracidae. It is restricted to humid forests in the west Andean foothills of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. It is highly sensitive to hunting and habitat destruction, with large sections of the Chocó already having disappeared entirely. Consequently, it is considered to be endangered by BirdLife International and IUCN.\\nBaumann's Greenbul - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and moist savanna.\\nBay Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBay Coucal - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBay Hornero - The Bay Hornero or Pale-billed Hornero is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in wooded habitats along rivers in eastern Ecuador, north-eastern Peru, western Brazil, and, as recently confirmed, far south-eastern Colombia.\\nBay Woodpecker - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBay Wren\\nBay-backed Shrike - It is smallish shrike at 17 cm, maroon-brown above with a pale rump and long black tail with white edges. The underparts are white, but with buff flanks.\\nBay-breasted Warbler - These birds are migratory, wintering in northwest South America and southern Central America. They are very rare vagrants to western Europe.\\nBay-capped Wren-Spinetail - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are swamps and intermittent saline marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBay-chested Warbling Finch - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBay-crowned Brush-Finch - The Bay-crowned Brush-finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBay-headed Bee Eater - This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green, with blue on the rump and lower belly. Its face and throat are yellow with a black eye stripe, and the crown and nape are rich chestnut. The thin curved bill is black. Sexes are alike, but young birds are duller.\\nBay-headed Tanager - It occurs in forests, particularly in wetter areas. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree and the normal clutch is two brown-blotched white eggs. The female incubates the eggs for 13–14 days to hatching, with another 15–16 days before the chicks fledge .\\nBay-ringed Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\\nBay-vented Cotinga - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBay-winged Cowbird - The Bay-winged Cowbird , also known as the Baywing, is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is monotypic within the genus Agelaioides, but has traditionally been placed in the genus Molothrus. It is found in the northern half of Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern and central Brazil, with an isolated population in north-eastern Brazil. The latter population is sometimes considered a separate species, the Pale Cowbird or Pale Baywing . The Bay-winged Cowbird has been recorded as a vagrant in Chile.\\nBaya Weaver - Three geographical races are recognized. The nominate race philippinus is found through much of mainland India. The race burmanicus is found eastwards into Southeast Asia. A third race, travancoreensis is darker above and found in southwest India.\\nBean Goose - The Bean Goose is a medium to large goose breeding in northern Europe and Asia. It has been split into two species by the AOU , however it is still regarded as a single species by the BOU - see below. It is migratory and winters further south in Europe and Asia.\\nBearded Barbet - The Bearded Barbet is a common resident breeder in tropical west Africa. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit, although the young are fed on insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2 white eggs.\\nBearded Bellbird - There are two subspecies; the nominate taxon, P. a. averano, in northeastern Brazil and P. a. carnobarba in Venezuela, Trinidad, extreme northeastern Colombia, western Guyana and far northern Brazil.\\nBearded Flycatcher - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBearded Guan\\nBearded Helmetcrest - The Bearded Helmetcrest is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBearded Mountaineer - The Bearded Mountaineer is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBearded Screech-Owl - The Bearded Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Guatemala and Mexico.\\nBearded Tachuri - The Bearded Tachuri is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBearded Tit - The Bearded Reedling is a species of temperate Europe and Asia. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate other than eruptive or cold weather movements. It is vulnerable to hard winters, which may kill many birds.\\nBearded Tree Quail - The Bearded Wood-partridge is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found only in Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBearded Vulture - Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. It usually disdains the rotting meat, however, and lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow. It will drop large bones from a height to crack them into smaller pieces. Its old name of Ossifrage relates to this habit. Live tortoises are also dropped in similar fashion to crack them open.\\nBeaudouin's Snake-Eagle - Beaudouin's Snake-eagle is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family.\\nBeautiful Firetail - At 10 to 13 cm long and weighing 14 g the Beautiful Firetail is a small plump bird, slightly smaller than the Diamond Firetail. Its plumage is mostly olive-brown. The white chest has a fine pattern of dark lines. The head has a black mask with pale blue rings around the eyes and a thick red beak. Its rump is a deep red, its legs and feet are creamy pink. The wings and tail are short and rounded. Juvenile birds are less colourful with a smaller face mask and a blackish beak.\\nBeautiful Fruit-Dove - The Beautiful Fruit-dove is distributed in rainforests of New Guinea and the islands of Batanta, Waigeo, Salawati and Misool in West Papua, Indonesia. The female usually lays a single white egg.\\nBeautiful Hummingbird - The Beautiful Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBeautiful Jay - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\\nBeautiful Nuthatch - This is a large nuthatch, black-backed with white streaking. The upper back, rump and shoulders are bright blue. The underparts are dull orange, although the face is somewhat paler. In flight, a white patch contrasts with the otherwise dark underwing. Sexes are similar, as are young birds.\\nBeautiful parakeet - Paradise Parrots lived in pairs or small family groups, making their nests in hollowed-out termite mounds and similar places, often at or near ground level, and feeding, so far as is known, almost exclusively on grass seeds.\\nBeautiful Rosefinch - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia, Nepal, and Pakistan. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBeautiful Sibia - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBeautiful Sunbird - The Beautiful Sunbird is a common breeder across sub-Saharan tropical Africa. One or two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. It is a seasonal migrant within its range.\\nBeautiful Treerunner - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBeck's Petrel - Beck’s Petrel, Pseudobulweria becki, is a small, recently rediscovered gadfly petrel. It is dark brown above and on the head and throat. It is dark underneath the wings with a fairly distinct white wingbar. The belly and breast are white. It flies over open oceans with straight wings that are slightly bent back at the tips.\\nBedford's Paradise Flycatcher - The Bedford's Paradise-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to Democratic Republic of the Congo.\\nBee Hummingbird - The male has the green pileum and fiery red throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upper-parts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The male is smaller than the female. The female is green above, whitish below with white tips to the outer tail feathers.\\nBelford's Melidectes\\nBell Miner - Bell miners live in large, complex social groups. Within each group there are subgroups consisting of several breeding pairs, but also including a number of birds who are not currently breeding. The nonbreeders help in providing food for the young in all the nests in the subgroup, even though they are not necessarily closely related to them. The birds defend their colony area communally aggressively, excluding most other passerine species. They do this in order to protect their territory from other insect-eating birds that would eat the bell lerps on which they feed. Whenever the local forests die back due to increased lerp psyllid infestations, bell miners undergo a population boom.\\nBell's greenlet - This bird was named by Audubon for John Graham Bell, who accompanied him on his trip up the Missouri River in the 1840s.\\nBelted Flycatcher - The Belted Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBelted kingfisher - The Belted Kingfisher is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. It is depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $5 note. All kingfishers were formerly placed in one family, Alcedinidae, but recent research suggests that this should be divided into three. All six American kingfishers, together with three Old World species, make up the new family Cerylidae.\\nBendire's thrasher - Bendire's Thrasher is 23–28 cm in length, with a long tail and a short bill. It is colored grayish-brown on its upperparts and has paler underparts with faint dark streaks. The eyes are bright yellow, and the tips of the tail are tipped with white.\\nBengal Florican - The Bengal Florican or Bengal Bustard, Houbaropsis bengalensis, is a very rare bustard species from tropical southern Asia. It is the only member of the genus Houbaropsis. This threatened species is now almost extinct; probably less than 1,000 and perhaps as few as 500 adult birds are still alive.\\nBennett's Woodpecker - The Bennett's Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\\nBerlepsch's Canastero - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBerlioz' Black Flycatcher\\nBerlioz' Swift - The Forbes-Watson's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.\\nBermuda petrel - Commonly known in Bermuda as the Cahow, a name derived from its eerie cries, this nocturnal ground-nesting seabird is the national bird of Bermuda, and a symbol of hope for nature conservation. It was thought extinct for 330 years. Its dramatic rediscovery as a \\\"Lazarus species\\\", that is, a species found to be alive after being considered extinct for centuries, has inspired documentary filmmakers.\\nBernier's Vanga\\nBernieria madagascariensis - The Long-billed Bernieria , formerly known as Long-billed Greenbul, is a songbird species endemic to Madagascar. It was initially considered a greenbul, and later with the Old World warbler. Recent research indicates it is part of an endemic Malagasy radiation currently known as the Malagasy warblers, which have not received a scientific name yet.\\nBernieria zosterops\\nBernstein's Coucal - The Black-billed Coucal or Lesser Black Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\\nBertoni's Antbird - The Bertoni's Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBertrand's Weaver\\nBeryl-spangled Tanager - Its range is from Venezuela to Bolivia. Its nest is a mossy cup in a tree fork; in Ecuador west slope, eggs in early March.\\nBerylline hummingbird - The Berylline Hummingbird, Amazilia beryllina, sometimes placed in the genus Saucerottia, is a medium-sized hummingbird. It is 8-10 cm long, and weighs 4-5 g.\\nBewick's Wren - Thryomanes leucophrys Thryothorus bewickii Thryothorus brevicauda Thryothorus brevicaudus\\nBiak Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBiak Flycatcher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBiak Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBiak Paradise Kingfisher - The Biak Paradise Kingfisher is a tree kingfisher endemic to the Indonesian island Biak.\\nBiak Scrubfowl\\nBiak White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBicknell's thrush - The Bicknell's Thrush, Catharus bicknelli, is a medium-sized thrush, at 17.5 cm and 28 g . It was named after Eugene Bicknell, an American amateur ornithologist, who discovered the species on Slide Mountain in the Catskills in the late 19th century.\\nBicolored Antbird - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBicolored Hawk - It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.\\nBicolored Mouse Warbler - The Bicoloured Mouse-warbler is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBicoloured Antpitta - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBicoloured Conebill - Its habitat is coastal mangrove swamps and neighbouring woodlands. The small feather-lined cup nest is built in a mangrove tree, and the normal clutch is two brown-blotched buff eggs. Nests are often parasitised by Shiny Cowbirds.\\nBicoloured Flowerpecker - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBicoloured White-eye - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBicoloured Wren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBiddulph's Ground Jay - The Xinjiang Ground-jay or Biddulph's Ground Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is endemic to China. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBiet's Laughingthrush - Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBig-crested Penguin - This is a medium-small, yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin, at 50-70 cm and weighing 2.7-5.2 kg . It has bluish-black to jet black upperparts and white underparts, and a broad, bright yellow eyebrow-stripe which extends over the eye to form a short, erect crest.\\nBig-footed Sparrow - This is a common bird in the undergrowth of mountain forests, second growth, bamboo clumps, and scrubby pastures from 2150 m altitude to the scrubby páramo at 3350 m. It is readily seen in favoured sites such as Cerro de la Muerte.\\nBimaculated Lark - It is mainly migratory, wintering in northeast Africa, widely throughout the Greater Middle East to Pakistan, Kashmir, Republic of India and Tibet . It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.\\nBiscutate Swift - Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBishop's 'o'o - It was discovered in 1892 by Henry C. Palmer, a bird collector for Lord Rothschild. Its length was about 29 centimetres. The tail had reached a length of 10 centimetres. The plumage was general glossy black with yellow feather tufts on the maxillaries, beneath the wings and the undertail coverts. Their songs were simple two notes, took-took, Which could be heard for miles.\\nBismarck Hawk-Owl - This species lives at elevations up to 1000 meters in lowland forests, tree-covered hills, low mountains,, and the edges of forests. It is found only in New Britain and New Ireland.\\nBismarck Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, freshwater lakes, and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBismarck Masked-Owl - As with other tropical barn owls, it is difficult to spot in the wild and therefore poorly studied. It is likely to be a lowland forest species.\\nBismarck Munia - It is found in subtropical/ tropical dry grassland habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBismarck Scrub Fowl - The Melanesian Megapode or Melanesian Scrubfowl is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBismarck Thicketbird - This little-known species was for long classified as a data deficient species by the IUCN, due to the general lack of reliable data on its distribution and numbers.\\nBismarck Woodswallow - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack & Cinnamon Fantail - The Black-and-cinnamon Fantail is a species of bird in the Rhipiduridae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\\nBlack & Yellow Broadbill\\nBlack & Yellow Silky Flycatcher - The Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Bombycillidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Phainoptila. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack ani - This ani is found in open and semi-open country and areas under cultivation. The nest, built communally by several pairs, is a deep cup lined with leaves and placed usually 2–6 m high in a tree. A number of females lay their chalky blue eggs in the nest and then share incubation and feeding.\\nBlack Antbird - The Black Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack Antshrike - It is found in Colombia and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack Baza - The Black Baza is a small sized bird of prey found in the forests of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Many populations are migratory. The races in the Indian region are migratory, wintering in the south of the Peninsula and Sri Lanka. The Black Bazas have short, stout legs and feet with strong talons. A prominent crest is a feature of the Bazas. They are found in dense forest often in small groups. They are also known to spend a lot of time perching on open perches overlooking forest canopy.\\nBlack Bee Eater - Black with scarlet chin and throat, streaked breast, pale blue eyebrow, belly, undertail-coverts and rump, rufous primaries.\\nBlack Berrypecker - The Black Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack Bittern - This is a fairly large species at 58 cm in length, with a longish neck and long yellow bill. The adult is uniformly black above, with yellow neck sides. It is whitish below, heavily streaked with brown. The juvenile is like the adult, but dark brown rather than black.\\nBlack Bulbul - The Black Bulbul , also known as the Himalayan Black Bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in southern Asia from India east to southern China.\\nBlack Bushbird - The Black Bushbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Neoctantes. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack Butcherbird\\nBlack Capped Titmouse - The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, common songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada.\\nBlack Catbird - It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\\nBlack Coucal - The species has the role of sexes reversed with the males tending the nest while females are polyandrous and maintain territories. Studies on the hormonal system show that Progesterone is responsible for controlling the aggressiveness of females.\\nBlack Crake - The adult Black Crake is 19–23 cm long with a short tail and long toes. As its name implies, the adult has mainly black plumage, with a brown olive tone on the wings and upperparts which is rarely detectable in the field. The eye is red, the bill is yellow , and the legs and feet are red, duller when not breeding.\\nBlack Crow - This species occurs in two large separate regions of the African continent. One form ranges from the Cape at the southern tip of Africa up to southern Angola and across to the east coast of Mozambique. The other population occurs in a large area from Sudan, Ethiopia,Tanzania and Kenya in central east Africa. The more northern population is on average slightly smaller than the southern. It inhabits open grassland, moorland, agricultural areas with some trees or woodland in the vicinity for nesting. It seems to thrive especially in agricultural areas.\\nBlack Crowned-Crane - It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although in nests in somewhat wetter habitats. There are two subspecies: B. p. pavonina in the west and the more numerous B. p. ceciliae in east Africa.\\nBlack Cuckoo - The Black Cuckoo is a medium sized cuckoo. The plumage varies by subspecies, Cuculus clamosus clamosus is either almost entirely black with a white buff on the chest or entirely black; Cuculus clamosus gabonensis is mostly black with a red throat and black and white barring on the belly.\\nBlack Curassow - The Black Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is found in humid forests in northern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and far northern Brazil. It is the only Crax curassow where the male and female cannot be separated by plumage, as both are essentially black with a white crissum, and have a yellow or orange-red cere.\\nBlack Currawong - The Black Currawong was first described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837.\\nBlack drongo - Buchanga atra Bhuchanga albirictus\\nBlack Dwarf Hornbill - The Black Dwarf Hornbill is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBlack Eagle - The Black Eagle is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus Ictinaetus. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical Asia and hunt mammals and birds, particularly at their nests. They are easily identified by their widely splayed and long primary \\\"fingers\\\", the characteristic silhouette, slow flight and yellow ceres and legs that contrast with their dark feathers.\\nBlack Falcon - The females are usually around 55 cm from beak to tail, the smaller males being only 45 cm . The sexes are very similar apart from their size. They are comparatively lighter in build than Peregrines with a slightly wider wingspan and longer legs. They are more agile on the ground than Peregrines though less so than Brown Falcons.\\nBlack Fantail - The Black Fantail is a species of bird in the Rhipiduridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack flowerpiercer - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack francolin - It is one of the few francolins to have a range outside Africa. It is a resident breeder from Kashmir, Cyprus and south-eastern Turkey eastwards through Iran to southwest Turkmenistan and northeast India. Its range was formerly more extensive, but over-hunting has reduced its distribution and numbers. There have been a number of introductions, but most have failed to take root although some populations still persist in the USA and elsewhere.\\nBlack Goshawk\\nBlack Grasswren - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\\nBlack Grouse - The Black Grouse or Blackgame is a large bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal. The Black Grouse is closely related to the Caucasian Black Grouse. These birds have a group display or lek in early spring.\\nBlack Guan - The Black Guan is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack Guillemot - Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large white patch on the inner wing.\\nBlack Guineafowl - The Black Guineafowl, Agelastes niger, is a member of the guineafowl bird family. It is found in humid forests of Central Africa. It has large toes to grasp the ground, but tiny feet so it can still fly.\\nBlack Harrier - When perched, this bird appears all black. However, in flight a white rump and flight feathers become visible. Its morphology is comparable to that of other harriers, with a slim body, narrow wings and a long tail. Male and female plumages are similar. Immatures have buff under-parts and a heavily spotted breast.\\nBlack Hawk-Eagle - The Black Hawk-eagle has black plumage with varying patterns on its wings and body, and white speckling in places. It has barred wings, slightly elliptical in shape, and a long, narrow tail which is rarely fanned. The four grey bars on the tail are distinctive to the Black Hawk-eagle, as is the white line seen slightly above the bird's eye. While flying, the broadness and shortness of the wings become apparent.\\nBlack Heron - The Black Heron has an interesting hunting method called canopy feeding — it uses its wings like an umbrella, and uses the shade it creates to attract fish. This technique was well documented on episode 5 of the BBC's The Life of Birds. Some Black Herons feed solitarily, while others feed in groups of up to 50 individuals, 200 being the highest number reported. The Black Heron feeds by day but especially prefers the time around sunset. It roosts communally at night, and coastal flocks roost at high tide. The primary food of the Black Heron is small fish, but it will also eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and amphibians.\\nBlack Honey Buzzard - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack honeyeater - The Black Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia. It ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland, particularly in areas where the emu bush and related species occur.\\nBlack Hornbill - It lives in Asia in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.\\nBlack Imperial Pigeon\\nBlack Inca - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and urban areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack Jacobin - The Black Jacobin , previously placed in the monotypic Melanotrochilus, is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in or near Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, Uruguay, eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina. It is generally common, and therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and consequently the IUCN. Adults of both sexes are overall black with green-tinged back and wing-coverts, and white lower flanks and outer rectrices. The white in the tail is often flashed conspicuously in flight. The commonly seen immatures, sometimes incorrectly referred to as \\\"females\\\", have a distinctive rufous patch in the malar region.\\nBlack Kite - The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.\\nBlack Lark - This is a bird of open steppe, often near water. Its nest is on the ground, with 4-5 eggs being laid. Food is seeds and insects, the latter especially in the breeding season. It is gregarious in winter.\\nBlack Laughingthrush\\nBlack Lory - The Black Lory is evaluated as Least Concern on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.\\nBlack Magpie - The Black Magpie is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Platysmurus. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack mamo - It measured 8 inches from bill to tail, and was black with faded white primaries and yellow at the base of the bill. The highly decurved bill was longer in the male. Often the forehead would be dusted with pollen of its favorite food, the Lobelia. The Mamo song was a group of nose whistles that sounded like a flute along with a long held out trill. This bird has had many names including Molokai Mamo, O’o nuku’umu, which meant \\\"O’o with sucking beak\\\", and Perking’s Mamo, after ornithologist RC.\\nBlack Manakin - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBlack Metaltail - The Black Metaltail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBlack Monarch - The Black Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack Munia - This species is threatened by the destruction of reedbeds due to introduce of rusa deer Cervus timorensis. And also probably threatened by encroachment of woodland on grasslands, due to increased of the livestocks such as pigs. It is also engaged in cage-bird trade.\\nBlack Myzomela - The Black Myzomela is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack noddy - The nests of these birds consist on a level platform, often created in the branches of trees by a series of dried leaves covered with bird droppings. One egg is laid each season, and nests are re-used in subsequent years.\\nBlack Nunbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack Oriole - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack Oropendola - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack parrot - The Lesser Vasa Parrot was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae; it was given the name of Psittacus niger, meaning \\\"black parrot\\\". It was later transferred to the new genus Coracopsis in 1826.\\nBlack Partridge - The Black Partridge is sexually dimorphic. The male has entirely glossy black plumage and a black bill, while the female is generally a chestnut-brown bird with a whitish throat and belly and a dark horn-colored bill. The female is smaller than the male.\\nBlack Phoebe - In South America, the Black Phoebe is a bird of the Andes mountain region, ranging from Colombia in the north, south to northern Argentina.\\nBlack Pitohui - The Black Pitohui is a species of bird in the Colluricinclidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack Rail - Black Rails appear to be omnivorous, feeding primarily on small invertebrates but also on seeds of some marsh plants. They are preyed upon by many avian and mammalian predators and rely on the cover of thick marsh vegetation for protection. They are territorial and call loudly and frequently during the mating season.\\nBlack Redstart - The Black Redstart is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family , but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher .\\nBlack Robin - The Black Thrush is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It was formerly known as the Black Robin. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.\\nBlack Saw-wing - The Black Rough-winged Swallow breeds in open wooded habitats, and has a preference for wetter areas, although some races occur in mountain grassland habitat. It breeds across Africa from eastern Nigeria and Ethiopia south to Angola, northern Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique. The subspecies P. p. holomelaena breeds down south-eastern Africa from southern Mozambique to the Cape in South Africa.\\nBlack Scoter - It winters further south in temperate zones, on the coasts of Europe as far south as Morocco. It forms large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly packed, and the birds tend to take off and dive together.\\nBlack Scrub Robin\\nBlack Shama - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations.It has been sighted in several locations all across the island, the most important sites being the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, the forests of Alcoy and Argao, and the shrublands of Casili, Consolacion. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack Sicklebill - With up to 110 cm in length, the male Black Sicklebill is the longest member of Paradisaeidae, though the Curl-crested Manucode has a larger body. The diet consists mainly of fruits and arthropods. The male is polygamous and performs a horizontal courtship display with the pectoral plumes raised around its head.\\nBlack Siskin\\nBlack Skimmer - The Black Skimmer breeds in loose groups on sandbanks and sandy beaches in the Americas, the three to seven heavily dark-blotched buff or bluish eggs being incubated by both the male and female. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and lie inconspicuously in the nest depression or \\\"scrape\\\" where they are shaded from high temperatures by the parents. They may dig their own depressions in the sand at times. Parents feed the young almost exclusively during the day with almost no feeding occurring at night, due to the entire population of adults sometimes departing the colony to forage. Although the mandibles are of equal length at hatching, they rapidly become unequal during fledging.\\nBlack Solitaire - The Black Solitaire is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack Solitary Eagle - The Solitary Eagle is native to Mexico and Central and South America. It is found in mountainous or hilly forests. The frequent reports from lowlands are usually misidentifications of another species, usually the Common Black Hawk; no reports from lowlands have been confirmed. It is rare in all areas of its range and poorly known.\\nBlack Spinetail - The Black Spinetail is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.\\nBlack Stork - It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions.\\nBlack Storm Petrel - The species breeds colonially on islands off the southern California coast of the United States and off the Baja Peninsula and Gulf of California of Mexico. Nesting sites are usually in rock crevices, occasionally in small burrows in soft earth. It also uses unused burrows from auklets. Colonies are attended nocturnally in order to avoid predatory birds such as gulls, Peregrine Falcons and owls. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow. The female lays a single white egg per breeding season, if the egg is lost then it is replaced only rarely. Both parents share incubation duties, incubation lasting around 50 days. The chick is brooded for a few days after hatching until it is able to thermoregulate by itself, after which both parents forage to provide food. Chicks fledge 10 weeks after hatching.\\nBlack Sunbird - The Black Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlack Swan - Black swans were first seen by Europeans in 1697, when Willem de Vlamingh's expedition explored the Swan River, Western Australia.\\nBlack Swift - In flight, this bird looks like a flying cigar with long slender curved wings. The plumage is mostly a sooty dark gray. There is some contrast between the upper and lower wing. The shoulders are much darker in color than the remaining portion of the wing. They also have short slightly forked tails.\\nBlack Tern - Adult are 25 cm long, with a wing span 61 cm , and weigh 62 g . They have short dark legs and a short, weak-looking black bill, measuring 27-28 mm, nearly as long as the head. The bill is long, slender, and looks slightly decurved. They have a dark grey back, with a white forehead, black head, neck and belly, black or blackish-brown cap , and a light brownish-grey, 'square' tail. The face is white. There is a big dark triangular patch in front of the eye, and a broadish white collar in juveniles. There are grayish-brown smudges on the ides of the white breast, a downwards extension of the plumage of the upperparts. These marks vary in size and are not conspicuous. In non-breeding plumage, most of the black, apart from the cap, is replaced by grey. The plumage of the upperparts is drab, with pale feather-edgings. The rump is brownish-gray.\\nBlack Thicket Fantail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlack Tinamou - The Black Tinamou is a species of ground bird found in humid foothill and montane forest in the Andes of South America. This threatened species is among the largest tinamous.\\nBlack turnstone - It is 22-25 centimeters long and weighs 100-170 grams. The black bill is 20-27 millimeters long and slightly upturned. The legs and feet are blackish-brown with a reddish tinge. The bird is largely black and white in appearance. Breeding-plumaged adults have a black head and breast apart from a white spot between the eye and bill, a white stripe over the eye and white flecks on the sides of the breast. The upperparts are blackish-brown with pale fringes to the wing-coverts and scapular feathers. The belly and vent are white. In flight it shows a white wingbar, white shoulder patch and white tail with a broad black band across it. There is white from the lower back to the uppertail-coverts apart from a dark bar across the rump.\\nBlack Vulture - This bird is an Old World vulture, and is only distantly related to the New World vultures, which are in a separate family, Cathartidae, of the order Ciconiiformes. It is therefore not directly related to the American Black Vulture despite the similar name and coloration.\\nBlack Wheatear - This large 16-18 cm long wheatear breeds on cliffs and rocky slopes in western north Africa and Iberia. It is largely resident and nests in crevices in rocks laying 3-6 eggs.\\nBlack Wood Hoopoe - The Black Scimitarbill , also known as the Black Wood Hoopoe, is a species of bird in the Phoeniculidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBlack Wood Pigeon - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\\nBlack Woodpecker - It lives in mature forest across the northern palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding in Eurasia. It does not migrate.\\nBlack-and-buff Woodpecker - The Black-and-buff Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-and-crimson Oriole - The Black-and-crimson Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-and-gold Tanager - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-and-orange Flycatcher - The Black-and-orange Flycatcher is a species of flycatcher endemic to the central and southern Western Ghats, the Nilgiris and Palni hill ranges in southern India. It is unique among the Ficedula flycatchers in having rufous coloration on its back and prior to molecular studies was suggested to be related to the chats and thrushes.\\nBlack-and-red Broadbill - It is found in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.\\nBlack-and-rufous Warbling-Finch - The Black-and-rufous Warbling-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\\nBlack-and-tawny Seedeater - It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-and-white Antbird - The Black-and-white Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Myrmochanes. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\\nBlack-and-white Becard - The Black-and-white Becard is a species of bird in the Tityridae family. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-and-white Bulbul - The Black-and-white Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-and-white Monarch\\nBlack-and-white Munia - It is found in moist savanna and subtropical/tropical lowland moist forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern. They are known to feed on algae.\\nBlack-and-white Owl - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-and-white Seedeater - The Black-and-white Seedeater is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-and-white Shrike-flycatcher - It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-and-white Tanager - It has a total length of 16 cm. and weighs 23–28 g .\\nBlack-and-white Tody-Tyrant\\nBlack-and-white Triller - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-and-white Warbler - This species is migratory, wintering in Florida, Central America and the West Indies down to Peru. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, mainly to Ireland and Great Britain.\\nBlack-and-white-casqued Hornbill - The Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill is distributed to evergreen forests and savanna across equatorial Africa, in central and western Africa. A monogamous species, pairs nest in suitable tree cavities. The female usually lays up to two eggs. The diet consists mainly of figs, fruits, insects and small animals found in the trees.\\nBlack-and-yellow Grosbeak - Male at Bhandak Thaatch in Kullu-Manali Distt. of Himachal Pradesh, India.\\nBlack-and-yellow Tanager - The Black-and-yellow Tanager is found in the foothills and slopes on the Caribbean side of the central mountain ranges, typically from 600 m to 1200 m altitude, and occasionally down to 400 m. The preferred habitat is the canopy of wet forest and tall second growth, but it will feed lower at woodland edges and clearing. The neat cup nest is built on a tree branch. The eggs are undescribed.\\nBlack-backed Antshrike - The Black-backed Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It has recently been proposed that it more properly belongs to the genus Thamnophilus .\\nBlack-backed Barbet - The Black-backed Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.\\nBlack-backed Bush Tanager - The Black-backed Bush-tanager is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Urothraupis. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-backed Butcher Bird - The Black-backed Butcherbird is a species of bird in the Cracticidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea Indonesia, and northern Queensland in Australia.\\nBlack-backed Forktail - The Black-backed Forktail is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-backed Fruit-Dove - Bali, Lesser Sunda Islands and Australia, where it is restricted to the western edge of the Arnhem Land escarpment.\\nBlack-backed Grosbeak - The Black-backed Grosbeak, Pheucticus aureoventris is a large finch type bird found in South America. They are often kept as cagebirds.\\nBlack-backed Honeyeater - The Black-backed Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-backed oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-backed Puffback - The Black-backed Puffback is a species of bird in the Malaconotidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\\nBlack-backed Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-backed Thornbill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBlack-backed Water Tyrant - It is found in South America in central and northeastern Brazil and south through Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Uruguay; also eastern Peru. Its natural habitat is swamps.\\nBlack-backed Wood Quail\\nBlack-backed Woodpecker - The plumage of adults is black on the head, back, wings and rump. They are white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. Their tail is black with white outer feathers. There is an element of sexual dimorphism in the plumage, with the adult male possessing a yellow cap. Unlike all other woodpeckers except the related American and Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers, this species has three-toed feet.\\nBlack-banded Barbet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-banded Crake - The Black-banded Crake is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.\\nBlack-banded Flycatcher - The Black-banded Flycatcher is an uncommon spepies that is difficult to see and very little is known about its biology. The natural habitat of the species is lowland monsoon forests and hill forests up to 1200 m. Nothing is known about its breeding behaviour, the only observations of this are adults feeding recently fledged chicks in December. It feeds singly or in pairs on invertebrates, taking its prey mostly by gleaning with a few sallying flights to snatch ariel prey. The species is currently listed as near threatened. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-banded Plover - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, sandy shores, intertidal marshes, and coastal saline lagoons. It is the world's smallest plover, at 25 g and 14 cm .\\nBlack-banded Woodcreeper\\nBlack-bellied Antwren - The Black-bellied Antwren is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\\nBlack-bellied Bustard - The Black-bellied Bustard is 23 to 25 inches long. The bill and legs are dull yellow. The male's upperparts have black and brown marks on a tawny buff background; the underparts are black. The head is boldly patterned with black, white, and buff. The neck, long and thin for a bustard, is buffy brown with a thin black line down the front that joins the black breast. The tail is brown and buff with four or five narrow dark brown bands. The upper surface of the wings is white with a brown triangle at the base; the flight feathers have black tips except for the outer secondaries. The white of the wings is visible when the bird stands, contrasting with the black underparts .\\nBlack-bellied Cuckoo - The Black-bellied Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-bellied Cuckooshrike - The Black-bellied Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-bellied Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-bellied Glossy-Starling - The Black-bellied Glossy-starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.\\nBlack-bellied Gnateater - The range of the Black-bellied Gnateater is in the south-central Amazon Basin, extending eastwards towards downstream areas of the final fourth of the Xingu River system. Its range does not extend north of the Amazon River and its western range limit is the eastern bank of the north-east flowing Madeira River; it extends southwestwards into north-central Bolivia into downstream areas of the Madeira River's tributaries.\\nBlack-bellied Honeyeater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-bellied Hummingbird - It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-bellied Malkoha - The Black-bellied Malkoha is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-bellied plover - They are 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 71–83 cm, and a weight of 190–280 g . In spring and summer , the adults are spotted black and white on the back and wings. The face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a white rump. The tail is white with black barring. The bill and legs are black. They moult to winter plumage in mid August to early September and retain this until April; this being a fairly plain grey above, with a grey-speckled breast and white belly. The juvenile and first-winter plumages, held by young birds from fledging until about one year old, are similar to the adult winter plumage but with the back feathers blacker with creamy white edging. In all plumages, the inner flanks and axillary feathers at the base of the underwing are black, a feature which readily distinguishes it from the other three Pluvialis species in flight. On the ground, it can also be told from the other Pluvialis species by its larger , heavier bill. In spring and summer, mating s\\nBlack-bellied Sandgrouse - The nominate race breeds in Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel. The eastern form P. o. arenarius is found in Kazakhstan, western China and northern Pakistan. It is a partial migrant, with central Asian birds moving to the Pakistan and northern India in winter.\\nBlack-bellied Seedcracker - It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-bellied Seedeater - Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-bellied Storm Petrel - It is found in Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Bouvet Island, Brazil, Chile, Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Saint Helena, São Tomé and Príncipe, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Uruguay, and Vanuatu.\\nBlack-bellied Tern\\nBlack-bellied Thorntail - The Black-bellied Thorntail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-bellied Whistling-Duck - The Black-bellied Whistling-duck , formerly also called Black-bellied Tree Duck, is a whistling-duck that breeds from the southernmost United States and tropical Central to south-central South America. In the USA, it can be found year-round in parts of southeast Texas, and seasonally in southeast Arizona, and Louisiana's Gulf Coast. It is a rare breeder in such disparate locations as Florida, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina.\\nBlack-bellied Wren - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-bibbed Cicadabird - The Black-bibbed Cicadabird is thought to be restriced to subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-bibbed Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlack-billed Amazon - The Black-billed Amazon lives in mountainous rainforest, usually limestone rainforest, feeding on fruit, seeds, and nuts, and will take cultivated fruit like mangos, papayas and cucumbers as well as wild fruits.\\nBlack-billed Barbet - The Black-billed Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\\nBlack-billed Brush Turkey - The Black-billed Brush-turkey is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-billed Capercaillie - The Black-billed Capercaillie is a large grouse species closely related to the more widespread Western Capercaillie. It is a sedentary species which breeds in the larch taiga forests of eastern Russia as well as parts of northern Mongolia and China.\\nBlack-billed Cuckoo - The Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus erythropthalmus, is a cuckoo.\\nBlack-billed Flycatcher - The Black-billed Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-billed Gull - The Black-billed Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus, but is now considered to be the genus Chroicocephalus.\\nBlack-billed Kingfisher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlack-billed Magpie - In Europe, \\\"Magpie\\\" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie; it is the only magpie in Europe outside the Iberian Peninsula.\\nBlack-billed Mountain Toucan\\nBlack-billed Pepper Shrike - The Black-billed Peppershrike is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in the Andes in Colombia and northern Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-billed Scythebill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-billed Seed Finch - The Black-billed Seed-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.\\nBlack-billed Shrike-Tyrant - The Black-billed Shrike-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.\\nBlack-billed Sicklebill - The Black-billed Sicklebill is distributed to mountain forests of New Guinea. Its diet consists mainly of fruit and arthropods. The female lays one to two pale cream eggs with brown and grey spots.\\nBlack-billed Streamertail - The Black-billed Streamertail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is endemic to eastern Jamaica. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Trochilus polytmus.\\nBlack-billed Thrush - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.\\nBlack-billed Weaver\\nBlack-billed Wood Dove - This species is abundant in near desert, scrub and savannah. It builds a stick nest in a tree, often an acacia, and lays two cream-coloured eggs. Its flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general, and it tends to stay quite low.\\nBlack-billed Wood Hoopoe - The Black-billed Wood Hoopoe is a species of bird in the Phoeniculidae family. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania.\\nBlack-bodied Woodpecker - The Black-bodied Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, moist savanna, and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-breasted Barbet - The Black-breasted Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, and Uganda.\\nBlack-breasted Buttonquail - The Black-breasted Buttonquail was originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek terms melano- \\\"black\\\", and gaster \\\"belly\\\".\\nBlack-breasted Buzzard - Adult birds are relatively easy to recognise by their mainly dark plumage combined with distinctive white patches on the wings at the bases of the primary feathers.\\nBlack-breasted Flatbill Flycatcher - The Black-breasted Boatbill is a species of bird in the Machaerirhynchidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-breasted Hillstar - The Black-breasted Hillstar is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in scrub at altitudes of 3,500 to 4,400 metres in the Andes of central Peru. Unlike the other hillstars, the tail, chest and belly of the male Black-breasted Hillstar are almost entirely black.\\nBlack-breasted Munia - The Black-breasted Munia Lonchura teerinki is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km². It is found in subtropical/ tropical lowland dry shrubland and high altitude grassland habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-breasted Myzomela\\nBlack-breasted Plovercrest - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.\\nBlack-breasted Puffbird - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-breasted Puffleg - The Black-breasted Puffleg is an average sized\\nBlack-breasted Thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-breasted Weaver - Resident or local migrant, endemic to South Asia.\\nBlack-browed Albatross - The Black-browed Albatross or Black-browed Mollymawk, Thalassarche melanophrys, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae, and it is the most widespread and common albatross.\\nBlack-browed Babbler - The Black-browed Babbler is a mysterious songbird species in the family Timaliidae. It is endemic to Indonesia, probably living on Borneo. Only a single specimen, collected in the 19th century, is known.\\nBlack-browed Barbet - It is 20-23.5 cm long. The plumage is mostly green apart from the head which is patterned with blue, yellow and red. There is a black stripe above the eye. The bill is black and the feet are grey-green. The Chinese name for the bird, \\\"five-colored bird\\\" refers to the five colors seen on its plumage. Because of its colorful plumage and that its call resembles that of a percussion instrument known as a wooden fish, the species is also referred to as the \\\"spotted monk of the forest\\\" in Taiwan.\\nBlack-browed Cisticola - The Black-lored Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBlack-browed Parrotbill - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.\\nBlack-browed Tit - It is 11 cm long. The adult has grey upperparts and reddish-brown underparts. The head is reddish-buff with a black mask and a silver bib with black streaks and a black edge. Juveniles are paler and duller than the adults. The Black-browed Tit is similar but has a white forehead and belly and a white edge to its bib. The White-throated Tit has a white forehead and bib and a dark breastband.\\nBlack-browed Tree Pie - This bird is slightly smaller than a Blue Jay and has the typical compact body and long tail of this group. The forehead, face and bib are black with the chest, neck and shoulders a light silvery or bluish-grey in colour. The back is a warm chestnut brown with similar underparts. The wing coverts are white with the primaries and tail black.\\nBlack-capped Antwren\\nBlack-capped Apalis - The Black-capped Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-capped Babbler\\nBlack-capped Becard - The Black-capped Becard is a species of bird in the Tityridae family. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-capped Donacobius - The Black-capped Donacobius is the only member of the genus Donacobius. Its familial placement is not established, and ornithologists disagree as to its closest relations. In the 19th century, it was placed in the Turdidae, and in the 20th century, moved to the Mimidae. It had various English names, including the \\\"Black-capped Mockingthrush\\\". In the 1980s and 1990s, suggestions that it was a type of wren were accepted by the South American Classification Committee , the American Ornithologists Union and most other authorities. More recently, listing organizations and authors follow Van Remsen and Keith Barker's conclusion that it is not a wren either, but instead most closely related to an Old World lineage.\\nBlack-capped Flycatcher - This species is found in the high canopy of mountain oak forest, coming lower at the edges and in clearings, and also in second growth and bushy pastures. It breeds mainly in the highest forested areas, from 2450 m to 3300 m altitude, but will descend to as low as 1850 m in the height of the rainy season.\\nBlack-capped Foliage-gleaner - The Black-capped Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-capped gnatcatcher - Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts, with a long slender bill and a long black tail with white outer tailbands on the uppertail. The undertail is extensively white, showing black only along a thin vertical center line and at the very tip. Males show a prominent black cap. This species is very similar to the California Gnatcatcher and the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.\\nBlack-capped Hemispingus - The Peruvian form is sometimes treated as a separate species, White-browed Hemispingus .\\nBlack-capped Kingfisher - This is a large kingfisher, 28 cm in length. The adult has a purple-blue back, black head and shoulders, white neck collar and throat, and rufous underparts. The large bill and legs are bright red. In flight, large white patches are visible on the blue and black wings. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are a duller version of the adult. The call of this kingfisher is a cackling ki-ki-ki-ki-ki.\\nBlack-capped Lory - The subspecies vary considerably in color:\\nBlack-capped Manakin - The Black-capped Piprites , also known as the Black-capped Manakin, is a species of suboscine passerine. It has traditionally been placed in the manakin family, although it remains unclear if this is correct. It is therefore considered incertae sedis by recent authorities such as SACC.\\nBlack-capped Parakeet - It lives in humid forests, ranging from the Amazonian lowlands up to an altitude of 2000 m. on the East Andean slopes. While its habitat is being disturbed, parts of its range are within protected areas , and it remains widespread and locally fairly common. Flock size 20-30, smaller in breeding season.\\nBlack-capped Petrel - This long-winged petrel has a grey-brown back and wings, with a white nape and rump. Underparts are mainly white apart from a black cap and some dark underwing makings. It picks food items such as squid from the ocean surface.\\nBlack-capped Pygmy Tyrant - It is a species of the forest canopy, coming lower at edges and clearings, and in second growth and semi-open woodland. It occurs up to an altitude of 900 m. It is fairly common, except in arid areas. In Costa Rica and most of Panama it is restricted to the Caribbean lowlands, while essentially restricted to the humid parts of the Chocó further south. The female builds a 15 cm long pouch nest with a round side entrance, which is suspended from a thin branch 1-7 m high in a tree. The female incubates the two brown-blotched white eggs for 15–16 days to hatching.\\nBlack-capped Rufous Warbler\\nBlack-capped Screech-Owl - The Black-capped Screech-owl , or Variable Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-capped Sibia - It is found in Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and the Republic of India. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\\nBlack-capped Siskin - The Black-Capped Siskin is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Guatemala and Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-capped Tanager\\nBlack-capped Tinamou - The Black-capped Tinamou, Crypturellus atrocapillus, is a type of Tinamou commonly found in the moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions.\\nBlack-capped Tyrannulet - The Black-capped Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-capped Vireo - The Black-capped Vireo, Vireo atricapilla, is a small bird native to the United States and Mexico. It has been listed as an endangered species in the United States since 1987. The IUCN lists the species as vulnerable.\\nBlack-capped Woodland Warbler - It is found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-casqued Hornbill - Downloadable Audio file of the sounds of the Black Casqued Hornbill\\nBlack-cheeked Ant-Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-cheeked Gnateater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-cheeked Lovebird - The Black-cheeked Lovebird is 14 cm in length, with mostly green plumage, reddish-brown forehead and forecrown, brownish-black cheeks and throat, orange bib below the throat which fades to yellowish-green, white eye-rings and grey feet. Adult have bright red beaks, while juveniles of the species are similar but with a more orange bill. Vocalizations are loud, piercing shrieks, which are very similar to those of other lovebirds.\\nBlack-cheeked Warbler - It is normally found in oak forests with a dense bamboo understory from 2500 m altitude to the timberline, but occasionally occurs as low as 1600 m. The breeding pair builds a bulky domed nest with a side entrance on a sloping bank or in a gully, and the female lays two white eggs.\\nBlack-cheeked Waxbill - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia & Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-cheeked Woodpecker - This woodpecker occurs in the higher levels of wet forests, semi-open woodland and old second growth. It nests in an unlined hole 6-30 m high in a dead tree. The clutch is two to four glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.\\nBlack-chested Buzzard-Eagle - The Black-chested Buzzard-eagle is a bird of prey of the hawk and eagle family . It lives in open regions of South America. This species is also known as the Black Buzzard-eagle, Grey Buzzard-eagle or analogously with \\\"eagle\\\" or \\\"eagle-buzzard\\\" replacing \\\"buzzard-eagle\\\", or as the Chilean Blue Eagle. It is sometimes placed in the genus Buteo.\\nBlack-chested Jay\\nBlack-chested Mountain Tanager - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-chested Prinia - The Black-chested Prinia is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\\nBlack-chested Snake-Eagle - The main identification character of this bird is its dark brown head and chest, to which it owes its name. In flight the dark head contrasts with the underparts and underwings, which are white apart from dark barring on the flight feathers and tail. The upperparts are dark brown, and the eye is yellow.\\nBlack-chested Sparrow - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBlack-chested Tyrant - The Black-chested Tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela.\\nBlack-chinned Antbird - The Black-chinned Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.\\nBlack-chinned Fruit Dove - The Black-chinned Fruit-dove is distributed in lowland forests of Taiwan and the Philippines, where it is fairly common. On Taiwan, it is very rare, known only from four specimens.\\nBlack-chinned Honeyeater - The Black-chinned Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\\nBlack-chinned hummingbird - Adults are metallic green above and white below with green flanks. Their bill is long, straight and very slender. The adult male has a black face and chin, a glossy purple throat band and a dark forked tail. The female has a dark rounded tail with white tips and no throat patch; they are similar to female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.\\nBlack-chinned Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-chinned Siskin\\nBlack-chinned sparrow - This passerine bird is generally found in chaparral, sagebrush, arid scrublands, and brushy hillsides, breeding in the Southwestern United States , and migrating in winter to north-central Mexico and Baja California Sur. There is also a non-migratory population in central Mexico.\\nBlack-chinned Yuhina - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-collared Apalis - The Black-collared Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. Formerly in genus Apalis, Nguembock et al. moved species to a new genus, Oreolais. It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda.\\nBlack-collared Barbet - Readily recognised by its loud duet, commonly rendered as \\\"too-puddly too-puddly too-puddly\\\".... and its snarling warning call. This is a gregarious species, often acting in concert when driving off intruders and roosting together in nest holes. Their flight is direct with a loud whirring of wings.\\nBlack-collared Bulbul\\nBlack-collared Hawk - It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and swamps.\\nBlack-cowled Saltator\\nBlack-crested Antshrike - This is a bird of undergrowth in mangrove or other swampy forest and thickets near water. It is usually found as territorial pairs. The female lays two purple-lined white eggs in a deep cup nest suspended below a branch or vine. They are incubated by both sexes for 14 days to hatching, the female always brooding at night. The chicks fledge in another 12 days.\\nBlack-crested Bulbul - This is a bird of forest and dense scrub. It builds its nest in a bush; two to four eggs is a typical clutch. The Black-crested Bulbul feeds on fruit and insects.\\nBlack-crested Coquette\\nBlack-crested Finch - The Black-crested Finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBlack-crested Titmouse - The bird is 5.5 to 6 inches long, with rusty flanks, gray upperparts, and a whitish belly. The male has a long, dark black crest that is usually erect, while the female's crest is not as dark. It is common wherever trees grow, whether they are deciduous, heavy timber, or urban shade trees. Its call peter, peter, peter is similar to that of the Tufted Titmouse, but shorter. Its diet consists of berries, nuts, spiders, insects, and insect eggs.\\nBlack-crowned Antpitta - The Black-crowned Antpitta is a species of bird in the Formicariidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-crowned Babbler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-crowned Monjita - The Black-crowned Monjita is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBlack-crowned Night Heron - Adults are approximately 64 cm long and weigh 800 g . They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey. These are short-necked and stout herons.\\nBlack-crowned Sparrow-Lark\\nBlack-crowned Tityra - The Black-crowned Tityra is a medium-sized passerine bird. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-crowned Waxbill - It is found in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania & Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-eared Cuckoo - The Black-eared Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.\\nBlack-eared Fairy - A medium-sized tropical hummingbird. It has bright green upperparts, white underparts and a black mask. The relatively short, straight bill is black. The graduated tail is blue-black in the center, with white outer tail feathers . Depending on subspecies, the male has a green malar or throat. The female is similar, but with a longer tail and no green malar/throat.\\nBlack-eared Hemispingus - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest. It is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.\\nBlack-eared Kite - The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.\\nBlack-eared nuthatch - Pygmy Nuthatches nest in cavities in dead stubs of conifers, lining the bottom of the cavity with pine-cone scales, plant down, and other soft plant and animal materials. They may fill cracks or crevices around the entrance with fur; the function of this behavior is unknown. The female lays 4–9 eggs, which are white with fine reddish-brown spotting. She does most of the incubation, which lasts about 16 days. The young leave the nest about 22 days after hatching.\\nBlack-eared Oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-eared Parrotlet - It is mostly known from lower montane evergreen forest at 500-1,200m, but also up to 1,400m in the Itatiaia National Park. In addition it is found in near sea-level in Bahia and São Paulo.\\nBlack-eared Seedeater - The Black-eared Seedeater is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\\nBlack-eared Shrike Babbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-eared Sparrow-Lark\\nBlack-eared Wheatear - This 13.5-15.5 cm long insectivorous species is dimorphic with eastern and western races. In both forms, birds with or without a black throat are met with.\\nBlack-eared Wood-Quail - The Black-eared Wood-quail is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.\\nBlack-faced Antbird - There are seven subspecies currently recognised, although some of these may represent separate species and others only clinal variation, and more research is needed into the species' taxonomy.\\nBlack-faced Antthrush - This antthrush is a common and widespread forest bird which builds a leaf-lined nest in a cavity in a hollow branch or stump; two white eggs are laid.\\nBlack-faced Brush-finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-faced Bunting - It breeds in southern Siberia across to northern China and northern Japan. It is migratory, wintering in northeast India, southern China and northern southeast Asia. It is a very rare wanderer to western Europe.\\nBlack-faced Canary - The Black-Faced Canary is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\\nBlack-faced Cormorant - The Black-faced-Cormorant feeds largely on small coastal fish, diving in depths up to 12 m. Fish of lengths up to 50 cm have been observed to be taken. The birds sometimes forage in flocks, apparently in an organised way.\\nBlack-faced Cotinga - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-faced Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-faced Cuckooshrike - They are widely distributed in almost any wooded habitat throughout the area, except in rainforests. But they can also occur in urban areas, and are a fairly common site on powerlines in Australian cities such as Sydney and Perth.\\nBlack-faced Dacnis\\nBlack-faced Friarbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-faced grassquit - This is a common bird in long grass or scrub in open or semi-open areas, including roadsides and ricefields. It makes a domed grass nest, lined with finer grasses, and placed low in a bush or on a bank. The typical clutch is two or three whitish eggs blotched with reddish brown. Both sexes build the nest and feed the young.\\nBlack-faced Grosbeak - The adult Black-faced Grosbeak is 16.5 cm long, weighs 36 g, and has a heavy, mainly black, bill. It has a black face, yellow head, neck and breast, and olive back, wings and tail. The rump and belly are grey. Immatures are duller and have duskier face markings.\\nBlack-faced Hawk\\nBlack-faced hill-robin - The Poʻouli was not discovered until 1973 by students from the University of Hawaiʻi, who found the bird on the north-eastern slopes of Haleakala on the island of Maui. It was found during the Hana Rainforest Project at an altitude of 1,980 metres above sea level. The Poʻouli was the first species of Hawaiian Honeycreeper to be discovered since 1923. It is dissimilar to other Hawaiian birds. Evidence based on DNA suggests it belongs to an ancient lineage of honeycreepers\\nBlack-faced Ibis - The Black-faced Ibis is a species of bird in the Threskiornithidae family. It is found in grassland and fields in southern and western South America. It has been included as a subspecies of the similar Buff-necked Ibis, but today all major authorities accept the split. On the contrary, the Black-faced Ibis includes the taxon branickii as a subspecies, although some authorities treat it as a separate species, the Andean Ibis .\\nBlack-faced Laughing Thrush - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam.\\nBlack-faced Monarch - The Black-faced Monarch was most likely discovered sometime in the 1810s, although its original discovery is somewhat controversial. According to many bird books, the original discoverer of the Black-faced Monarch was Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, in the year 1818. However, some articles indicate that Bryan Sun may have been the first person to classify the bird as early as 1794.\\nBlack-faced Munia - The Black-faced Munia Lonchura molucca is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia. Its habitat is very broad and it could be found in artificial landscapes , forest, grassland & savanna. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-faced Pitta\\nBlack-faced Rufous Warbler - The Black-Faced Rufous Warbler is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-faced Sandgrouse\\nBlack-faced Sheathbill - Dumpy, short-necked, pigeon-like birds with white plumage, black bills, caruncles and facial skin. Measurements: length 38-41 cm; wingspan 74-79 cm; weight 530-610 g, 460-530 g.\\nBlack-faced Solitaire - This is a bird of dense undergrowth and bamboo clumps in wet mountain forest, normally from 750 to 3000 m altitude. It disperse as low as 400 m in the wet season, when it may form loose flocks. It builds a cup nest of mosses and liverworts in a tree crevice, hole in a mossy bank, or concealed amongst mosses and epiphytes in a tree fork up to 3.5 m above the ground. The female lays 2-3 rufous-brown marked white or pinkish eggs between April and June. The fledging period is 15-16 days.\\nBlack-faced Spinetail\\nBlack-faced Spoonbill - The global population of this species, based on the winter population count carried out in 1988-1990 in all known sites, was estimated at 288 individuals. As of 2006, thanks to conservation efforts over the years, the estimated global population had increased to 1,679 . The niche population of North Korea does not exceed 30 birds, which implies that there must be another colony which has not been discovered yet, and which is perhaps located in northeast China; for example, on the islands of Liaoning .\\nBlack-faced Tanager - The Black-faced Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\\nBlack-faced Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-faced Waxbill - It is usually found in grassy plains with tall grasses and bushes, in small flocks. Most of the Black-lored Waxbill population is probably within the Upemba National Park but it is unclear to what extent is its habitat protected by the authority.\\nBlack-faced Woodswallow\\nBlack-footed Albatross - The Black-footed Albatross, Phoebastria nigripes, is a large seabird from the North Pacific. It is one of three albatrosses that range in the northern hemisphere, nesting on isolated tropical islands.\\nBlack-footed Penguin - Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay. Mainland colonies probably only became possible in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. The only other mainland colony is in Namibia, but it is not known when this was established.\\nBlack-fronted Bulbul\\nBlack-fronted Dotterel - Unlike many other wading birds, Black-fronted Dotterels retain the same plumage all year round, which makes identification easier.\\nBlack-fronted Flowerpecker - The Black-fronted Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-fronted Ground Tyrant - The Black-fronted Ground-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBlack-fronted Nunbird - It is found in Amazonian Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; also regions of eastern and southeastern Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-fronted Parakeet - The extinct Black-fronted Parakeet or Tahiti Parakeet was endemic to the Pacific island of Tahiti. Its native name was simply ’ā’ā according to Latham though White gives \\\"aa-maha\\\".\\nBlack-fronted Piping-Guan - This species is only found on Trinidad; it is close to extinction. They are large birds, 60 cm in length, and similar in general appearance to turkeys, with thin necks and small heads. They are forest birds, and the nest is built in a tree. Three large white eggs are laid, the female alone incubating. This arboreal species feeds on fruit and berries.\\nBlack-fronted Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-fronted White-eye - It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Quite common, it is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.\\nBlack-fronted Wood Quail\\nBlack-girdled Barbet - The Black-girdled Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-goggled Brush-Finch - The Black-spectacled Brush-finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is endemic to Peru.\\nBlack-goggled Tanager - The underparts are tawny, the back and head are dull brownish-olive, and the tail and wings are contrastingly black . The male has a yellow crown patch and a large black patch around the eyes .\\nBlack-headed Ant-thrush - The Black-headed Antthrush is a species of bird in the Formicariidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-headed Antbird - Some authorities now regard the subspecies \\\"minor\\\" as a separate species with the English name Amazonas Antbird.\\nBlack-headed Apalis - The Black-headed Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-headed Bulbul - Pycnonotus atriceps\\nBlack-headed Bunting - It breeds in southeast Europe east to Iran. It is migratory, wintering in India. It is a rare but regular wanderer to western Europe.\\nBlack-headed Canary - Its habitat is dry open scrub and grassland, edges of cultivation and suburban gardens.\\nBlack-headed Cuckooshrike - Male at Sindhrot in Vadodara district of Gujarat, India.\\nBlack-headed Duck - This is the most basal living member of its subfamily, and it lacks the stiff tail and swollen bill of its relatives. Overall much resembling a fairly typical diving duck. It is a small dark duck, the male with a black head and mantle and a paler flank and belly, and the female pale brown overall.\\nBlack-headed Flyeater - Murphy S. Why do male fairy gerygones Gerygone palpebrosa burst into song on hearing predators or loud noises? Sunbird 32: 62-66.\\nBlack-headed Gonolek - Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.\\nBlack-headed Greenfinch\\nBlack-headed Greenfinch - It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland.\\nBlack-headed Grosbeak - The 19 cm long, 47 g weight Black-headed Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds from southwestern British Columbia, through the western half of the United States, into central Mexico. It occurs as an accidental further south in Central America.\\nBlack-headed Hemispingus - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-headed Heron - This species usually breeds in the wet season in colonies in trees, reedbeds or cliffs. It builds a bulky stick nest and lays 2–-4 eggs.\\nBlack-headed honeyeater - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\\nBlack-headed Ibis - It occurs in marshy wetlands inland and on the coast, where it feeds on various fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as on insects.\\nBlack-headed Lapwing - The Black-headed Plover or Black-headed Lapwing is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia, although it has seasonal movements. It lays two or three eggs on a ground scrape.\\nBlack-headed Munia - Lonchura malacca has been split into L. malacca and the Black-headed Munia or Chestnut Munia L. atricapilla.\\nBlack-headed myzomela\\nBlack-headed Nightingale-Thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-headed oriole - The male of the species has a black hood, mandible, and throat, as well as a black tail. Wings are black, but the remiges and retrices are fringed with white. The secondary coverts form yellow epaulets. The back and vent are yellow washed with olive, and the underside is almost uniformly yellow. Females of this species have a slightly more olive nape and back than the males. The adult female’s plumage is similar to the juvenile plumage; however, unlike adults, the wings are dull brown instead of black. In general, immature specimens have the hood; wingbars; remiges; and epaulets of adult specimens. The first-basic plumage retains the darker, greener coloration of the juvenile plumage, however. Molting generally occurs in early autumn, though some specimens have been noted to molt as early as June.\\nBlack-headed Paradise-Flycatcher - However, the Red-bellied Paradise-flycatcher is a common resident breeder in tropical western Africa south of the Sahara Desert. This species is usually found in thick forests and other well-wooded habitats. Two eggs are laid in a tiny cup nest in a tree.\\nBlack-headed Parrot - The Black-headed Parrot , also known as the Black-headed Caique, Black-capped Parrot or Pallid Parrot , is one of the two species in the genus Pionites of the Psittacidae family; the other species being the allopatric White-bellied Parrot.\\nBlack-headed Puff-back Flycatcher - It is sometimes split into two species: Eastern Black-headed Batis in southern Somalia and eastern parts of Kenya and Tanzania and Western Black-headed Batis in the rest of the range.\\nBlack-headed Saltator - The genus Saltator is apparently polyphyletic.\\nBlack-headed Sibia - It is found in China, Myanmar and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-headed siskin - This species is considered the extant \\\"father\\\" of the South American siskin radiation.\\nBlack-headed Weaver\\nBlack-headed Whistler - The Black-headed Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-headed White-eye - The species has a black face, dark olive neck, back and wings, and olive rump with a black tail , and bright yellow undersides. The white eye-ring is bright but incomplete, broken at the front. The plumage of the male and female are similar.\\nBlack-headed Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-hooded Antshrike - The Black-hooded Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-hooded Antwren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-hooded Laughing Thrush\\nBlack-hooded Oriole - It is a bird of open woodland and cultivation. The nest is built in a tree, and contains two eggs. The food is insects and fruit, especially figs, found in the tree canopies where the orioles spend much of their time.\\nBlack-hooded Thrush\\nBlack-legged Dacnis - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-legged kittiwake - This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus.\\nBlack-lored Babbler - As defined here, it consists of two populations with widely separated ranges, one in northwestern Botswana, northern Namibia,\\nBlack-lored Parrot - It is very poorly known, being at least partly nocturnal and occupying hilly forests.\\nBlack-mandibled Toucan - It occurs at altitudes of 100-2400 m. in humid montane forests, with a preference for the canopy and edge.\\nBlack-mantled Goshawk - The Black-mantled Goshawk is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-masked Finch - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-masked White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-naped Fruit Dove - The Black-naped Fruit-dove is distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In Indonesia, it is found in Java, Lesser Sunda Islands and Sulawesi, where it inhabits the lowland and hill forests. The diet consists mainly of various fruits, figs and berries. The female usually lays one single white egg.\\nBlack-naped Monarch - The Black-naped Monarch or Black-naped Blue Flycatcher is a slim and agile passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers. They are sexually dimorphic with males having a distinctive black patch on the back of the head and a narrow black half collar while the female is duller and lacks the black markings. They have a call that is similar to that of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher and in tropical forest habitats pairs may join mixed-species foraging flocks.\\nBlack-naped Oriole - They are migrants in most parts of South India and are most regularly seen in the Western Ghats.\\nBlack-naped tern - The tern is about 30cm long with a wing length of 21-23cm. Their beaks and legs are black, but the tips of their bills are yellow. They have long forked tails.\\nBlack-necked Aracari - It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.\\nBlack-necked Cisticola - The Black-necked Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.\\nBlack-necked crane - The Black-necked Crane is distributed in Pakistan, China, Himalayan regions of the Republic of India, Bhutan and Vietnam. It breeds on the Tibetan Plateau, with a small population in adjacent Ladakh, and Kashmir valleys. It has therefore been designated as the \\\"State bird of Jammu and Kashmir\\\". It has six wintering areas, mostly at lower altitudes in China, notably at Caohai Lake, but it also winters in Bhutan. In Jammu and Kashmir, the crane breeds near the high altitude lakes of Ladakh such as Tso Kar Lake. The Black-necked Crane is one of the spiritual creatures for the people of the area and is pictured alongside many of their deities in the monasteries of the region.\\nBlack-necked Eremomela - The Black-Necked Eremomela is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\\nBlack-necked Grebe - There are three subspecies:\\nBlack-necked Red Cotinga - It is found in the western Amazon Basin of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; also the very southern border region of Venezuela with Amazonas state. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-necked Stork - The Black-necked Stork is a quite large bird, typically 130-150 cm tall with a 230 cm wingspan. The average weight is around 4100 grams. It is spectacularly plumaged. The head, neck, wing bar and tail are jet black, with the rest of the plumage white. The massive bill is black and the legs are bright red. Sexes are identical except that the female has a yellow iris, while the male's is brown. Juveniles are mainly light brown with a white belly and dark legs.\\nBlack-necked Swan - The smallest member in its genus, it is found in freshwater marshes, lagoon and lake shores in southern South America. The Black-necked Swan breeds in Zona Sur, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and on the Falkland Islands. In the austral winter, this species migrates northwards to Paraguay and southern Brazil. The Laguna Blanca National Park in Argentina is a protected home of this swan. The wetlands created by the Great Chilean Earthquake like Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary in Cruces River have become important population centers for the Black-necked Swan.\\nBlack-necked Tailor Bird - It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlack-necked Wattle-eye - The Black-necked Wattle-eye is a species of bird in the Platysteiridae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-necked Weaver - This weaver occurs in forests, especially in wet habitats. It builds a large coarsely woven nest made of grass and creepers with a 15 cm downward facing entrance tunnel hanging from the globular egg chamber. The nest is suspended from a branch in a tree and 2-3 eggs are laid. It nests in pairs but forms small flocks when not breeding.\\nBlack-necked Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-polled Yellowthroat - Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-ringed White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-rumped Flameback - The Black-rumped Flameback or Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker is a woodpecker found widely distributed in South Asia. It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas, it has a characteristic rattling-whinnying call and an undulating flight. It is the only golden-backed woodpecker with a black throat.\\nBlack-rumped waxbill - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France , Gambia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Portugal , Puerto Rico, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, USA & Virgin Islands . The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-shouldered Cicadabird - The Black-shouldered Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-shouldered Kite - The Black-shouldered Kite was first described by ornithologist John Latham in 1802. Its specific name is derived from the Latin axilla \\\"shoulder\\\". The name \\\"Black-shouldered Kite\\\" was formerly used for a Eurasian and African species, Elanus caeruleus, and the Australian bird and the North American species, the White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus, were treated as subspecies of this. The three Elanus species have comparable plumage patterns and sizes, however, they are now regarded as distinct, and the name Black-winged Kite is used for E. caeruleus. Modern references to the Black-shouldered Kite should therefore unambiguously mean the Australian species, E. axillaris.\\nBlack-shouldered Nightjar - The Black-shouldered Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBlack-sided Flowerpecker - The Black-sided Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia in northern Borneo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-sided Robin - The Black-sided Robin is a species of bird in the Petroicidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-spotted Barbet - It is found in E Colombia, E Peru, Brazil, the Guianas, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest. Previously, it included the Gilded Barbet of the southern and western Amazon basin as subspecies. As currently defined, the Black-spotted Barbet is monotypic.\\nBlack-spotted Bare-eye - The Black-spotted Bare-eye is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\\nBlack-spotted Yellow Tit - This species is a resident breeder in the Himalayas. The race in peninsular India has been split as Parus aplonotus by Rasmussen and Anderton . It is a common bird in open tropical forests, but does not occur in Sri Lanka. It is an active and agile feeder, taking insects and spiders from the canopy, and sometimes fruit.\\nBlack-streaked Puffbird - The Black-streaked Puffbird is a species of puffbird in the Bucconidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-striped Sparrow - This American sparrow is a common bird in humid lowlands and foothills up to 1500 m altitude, in semi-open habitats such as thickets, young second growth, overgrown fields and shady plantations and gardens.\\nBlack-striped Woodcreeper - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlack-tailed Antbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-tailed Cisticola - The Black-tailed Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\\nBlack-tailed Flycatcher - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-tailed Godwit - Scolopax limosa Linnaeus,1758\\nBlack-tailed Gull - It has yellow legs and a red and black spot at the end of the bill. This gull takes 4 years to reach full adult plumage. As the name suggests, it has a black tail. The bird has a cat-like call, giving it its Japanese name — Umineko, \\\"Sea cat\\\" and Korean name — Gwaeng-yi gull, which means \\\"cat\\\" gull.\\nBlack-tailed Leaftosser - The Black-tailed Leaftosser is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-tailed Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-tailed Native Hen - The Black-tailed Native-hen is a large dark bird, reaching about 38cm in length and weighing around 400g. This species possesses an erect tail and is endowed almost entirely in brownish-grey and green feathers. Its long legs and lower jaw are a striking pink-orange colour, as well as its eyes which are more of a bright orange colour. This species is not excessively vocal, its main call is an alarm 'kak' sound.\\nBlack-tailed Tityra - The Black-tailed Tityra, Tityra cayana, is a medium-sized passerine bird of tropical South America. The tityras have been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher families by various authors. But the weight of evidence strongly suggest they and their closest relatives are better separated as Tityridae; the AOU for example advocates this separation.\\nBlack-tailed Trainbearer - The Black-Tailed Trainbearer is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-tailed Treecreeper - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-tailed Trogon\\nBlack-tailed Waxbill - It is found in subtropical/ tropical moist shrubland habitats in Angola, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia & Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-thighed Falconet - It breeds in tree holes.\\nBlack-thighed Grosbeak - This species breeds from about 1000m altitude or 1500 m up to 2600 m and is found in canopy, woodland edge and semi-open habitats such as pasture with some trees. The nest is a thin cup constructed on a bulky twig base 1-3 m up in a small tree or amongst vines. The female lays two brown-spotted pale blue eggs between March and May.\\nBlack-thighed Puffleg - The Black-thighed Puffleg is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found at humid forest edge and ravines in the Andean highlands of Colombia and northern Ecuador. It is threatened by habitat loss. As suggested by its name, the feathering around its legs is black, which is unique among the pufflegs. Otherwise its plumage is green with a contrastingly black tail.\\nBlack-throated Accentor - The Black-throated Accentor builds a neat nest low in spruce thickets, laying 3-5 unspotted blue eggs. It winters in scrub or cultivation.\\nBlack-throated Antbird - The Black-throated Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-throated Antshrike - The Black-throated Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-throated Apalis - The Black-throated Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-throated Babbler\\nBlack-throated Barbet - The Black-throated Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\\nBlack-throated Blue Robin - The Black-throated Blue Robin is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in China and Thailand. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and temperate shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlack-throated Blue Warbler - Adult males have white underparts with black throat, face and flanks; the upperparts are deep blue; immature males are similar with upperparts more greenish. Females have olive-brown upperparts and light yellow underparts with darker wings and tail, a grey crown and a brown patch on the cheek. All birds have a small white wing patch which is not always visible, and a thin pointed bill. Like many warblers, this bird has colorful plumage during the spring and summer, but its fall plumage is drab and less distinctive. In the fall, it can still be identified from other similar warblers by its small white wing patch.\\nBlack-throated Bobwhite - The Yucatan Bobwhite or Black-throated Bobwhite is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-throated Brilliant - The Black-throated Brilliant is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-throated Canary - Serinus atrogularis and S. reichenowi have been lumped into S. atrogularis following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson .\\nBlack-throated Coucal - The Black-throated Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in west Africa in dense second growth along forest edge and grassy swamps. The subspecies found in northern and central Zaire is sometimes split as Neumann's Coucal, Centropus neumanni.\\nBlack-throated Diver - It breeds on deep lakes in the tundra region of Alaska and northern Canada as far east as Baffin Island, and in Russia east of the Lena River.\\nBlack-throated Finch - Originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837, its specific epithet is Latin cincta \\\"girdled\\\".\\nBlack-throated Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlack-throated Flower-piercer - It is found in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-throated Green Broadbill\\nBlack-throated Green Warbler - It is 12 cm long and weighs 9 g, and has an olive-green crown, a yellow face with olive markings, a thin pointed bill, white wing bars, an olive-green back and pale underparts with black streaks on the flanks. Adult males have a black throat and upper breast; females have a pale throat and black markings on their breast.\\nBlack-throated Grey Warbler - The Black-throated Gray Warbler is a songbird of the New World warbler family. It is 13 cm long and has black, grey, and white plumage. It breeds in western North America from British Columbia to New Mexico, and winters in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Common in in its forest habitats, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.\\nBlack-throated Grosbeak - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-throated hermit - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-throated Honeyeater - The Black-throated Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-throated Huet-huet\\nBlack-throated Jay - The Black-throated Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-throated loon - Breeding adults are 63 cm to 75 cm in length with a 100 cm to 122 cm wingspan, shaped like a smaller, sleeker version of the Great Northern Diver. They have a grey head, black throat, white underparts and chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. Its bill is grey or whitish and dagger-shaped. In all plumages a white flank patch distinguishes this species from all other divers including the otherwise almost identical Pacific Diver.\\nBlack-throated Magpie-Jay - This species is 58.5 to 76.5 cm long, more than half of which is the tail. The upperparts are blue with white tips to the tail feathers; the underparts are white. The bill, legs, head, and conspicuous crest are black except for a pale blue crescent over the eyes and a patch under the eye. In juveniles, the crest has a white tip and the patch below the eye is smaller and darker blue than in adults. In most birds, the throat and chest are also black, but some in the southern part of the range have various amounts of white there.\\nBlack-throated Malimbe - The Black-throated Malimbe is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Ghana.\\nBlack-throated Mango - It is 10.2 cm long and weighs 7.2g. The longish black bill is slightly decurved. The tail in both sexes has dark central feathers, the outer tail being wine-red tipped with black.\\nBlack-throated Munia - The endemic Sri Lankan subspecies, L. k. kelaarti is sometimes considered to as a separate species distinct from L. k. jerdoni of the Western Ghats of India.\\nBlack-throated Parrotbill - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-throated Shrike-Tanager\\nBlack-throated Shrikebill - It is found in Fiji and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. The Santa Cruz Shrikebill is little-known, rarely seen, and it was once speculated it might be extinct; it does still exist however.\\nBlack-throated Sparrow - The Black-throated Sparrow reaches a length of about 4.5-5.5 inches, and is pale gray above, with a distinctive black and white head pattern.Immature are similar but lacks a black throat. Its call is high and bell-like, and its song is a fairly simple, mechanical tinkling. It feeds primarily on insects and seeds, and travels in small groups, though larger groups may accumulate around sources of water in the desert.\\nBlack-throated Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlack-throated Sunbird - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-throated Thistletail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBlack-throated Tit - The Black-throated Tit is a small passerine, around 10.5 cm long and weighing 4-9 g. There is considerable racial variation in the plumage, but all subspecies have a medium length tail , a black throat and a black 'bandit mask' around the eye. The nominate race has a chestnut cap, breast band and flanks and dark grey back, wings and tail, and a white belly. The other subspecies have generally the same pattern but with grey caps or all grey bellies and flanks. Both sexes are alike.\\nBlack-throated Tody-Tyrant - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-throated Trogon - Like most trogons, it has distinctive male and female plumages and with soft colourful feathers. This relatively small species is 23-24 cm long and weighs 54-57 g, with a white undertail with black barring, a yellow bill and wing coverts which are vermiculated with black and white, but appear grey at any distance. The male Black-throated Trogon has a green head, upper breast and back, black face and throat, and golden yellow belly. The female has a brown head, upper breast and back, rufous upper tail and yellow belly. Immatures resemble the adults but are duller, and young males have a brown throat, breast and wing coverts.\\nBlack-throated Wren\\nBlack-tipped Cotinga - The Black-tipped Cotinga is a species of bird in the Cotingidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlack-tipped Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-vented oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-vented Shearwater - This species is pelagic, occurring in the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. It comes closer to land than most other shearwaters, so it sometimes can be seen from shore. It predominantly nests on offshore islands off north and western Baja California, namely Isla de Guadalupe, Islas San Benito and Isla Natividad. It is fairly common off the United States coast of central and southern California during the country's colder months.\\nBlack-whiskered vireo - The breeding habitat is open deciduous wooded areas and cultivation, and in Florida also mangroves. The Black-whiskered Vireo builds a cup nest in a fork of a tree branch, and lays 2-3 white eggs.\\nBlack-winged Bishop - This common weaver occurs in a range of open country, especially tall grassland and often near water. It builds a spherical woven nest in tall grass. 2-4 eggs are laid.\\nBlack-winged Cuckooshrike - It is distributed from Northeast Pakistan through the lower Himalayan region .\\nBlack-winged Ground Dove\\nBlack-winged Kite - The Black-winged Kite is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae best known for its habit of hovering over open grasslands. This Eurasian species was sometimes combined with the Australian Black-shouldered Kite . This kite is distinctively long-winged predominantly and the white, grey and black plumage and the red iris make it easy to identify. Although mainly seen on the plains, they are sometimes seen on grassy slopes of hills in the higher elevation regions of Asia.\\nBlack-winged Lapwing - The Black-winged Lapwing is an east African species that is found from the Ethiopian highlands in the north to central Kenya , and again at middle to coastal elevations in eastern South Africa . It is a habitat specialist of short grass in well-watered temperate grasslands. They may move about locally to find ideal situations, often at night. In their tightly grouped flying flocks they resemble Plovers.\\nBlack-winged Lory - An Indonesian endemic, the Black-winged Lory is distributed to forests and coastal habitat of Biak, Numfor, Manim and Mios Num islands in Cenderawasih Bay, Papua. It frequents and roosts in coconut trees.\\nBlack-winged Lovebird - The Black-winged Lovebird, with a length of about 16\\nBlack-winged Monarch - The Black-winged Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlack-winged Oriole - The Black-winged Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlack-winged Parrot - The Black-winged Parrot, Hapalopsittaca melanotis, is a small stocky parrot found in the eastern Andes. It is largely green with large black patches on wings, dull yellow around eyes, blue-grey beak, and distinct patches over the ears. It has two subspecies in separate ranges:\\nBlack-winged Petrel - It is found in Australia, French Polynesia, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and the United States.\\nBlack-winged Pratincole - Their most unusual feature of the pratincoles is that although classed as waders they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground.\\nBlack-winged Saltator - It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlack-winged Snowfinch\\nBlack-winged Starling - The Black-winged Starling is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. The species is also known as the Black-winged Myna or the White-breasted Starling. It is endemic to Indonesia. There are three recognised subspecies, the nominate race, which occurs across much of the island of Java, tricolor, which is restricted to south east Java, and tertius, which is found on Bali and possibly Lombok. The validity of the records on Lombok has been called into question, there are only a few records and they may represent escapees from the cagebird trade or natural vagrants. The species has often been assigned to the starling genus Sturnus, but is now placed in Acridotheres because it is behaviourally and vocally closer to the birds in that genus.\\nBlack-winged Stilt - The Black-winged Stilt or Common Stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family . Opinions differ as to whether the birds treated under the scientific name H. himantopus ought to be treated as a single species and if not, how many species to recognize. Most sources today accept 2—4 species.\\nBlackburnian Warbler - The Blackburnian Warbler, Dendroica fusca , is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina.\\nBlackcap - It is a robust typical warbler, mainly grey in plumage. Like most Sylvia species, it has distinct male and female plumages: The male has the small black cap from which the species gets its name, whereas in the female the cap is light brown. This is a bird of shady woodlands with ground cover for nesting. The nest is built in a low shrub, and 3–6 eggs are laid. The song is a pleasant chattering with some clearer notes like a Blackbird. This full song can be confused with that of the Garden Warbler, but in the Blackcap, it characteristically ends with an emphatic fluting warble. Especially in isolated Blackcap populations , a simplified song can occur. This song is said to have a Leiern-type ending after the term used by German ornithologists who first described it. The introduction is like that in other Blackcaps, but the final warbling part is a simple alteration between two notes, as in a Great Tit's call but more fluting .\\nBlackcap Illadopsis - The Blackcap Illadopsis is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlackish Antbird - The Blackish Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, and Suriname. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlackish Cinclodes - It is 18 to 23 cm long. The sexes are similar and their plumage is almost entirely dark brown. The throat is slightly paler with some buff speckling, there is a hint of a pale stripe over the eye and there is a faint reddish-brown bar on the wing. The bill is quite long, stout and slightly downcurved with a pale yellow spot at the base .\\nBlackish Cuckooshrike - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlackish Nightjar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.\\nBlackish Oystercatcher - It is found in Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands and Peru, and is a vagrant to Uruguay.\\nBlackish Pewee - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlackish Rail - The Blackish Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is swamps.\\nBlackish-blue Seedeater - The Blackish-blue Seedeater is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae. It was formerly placed with the American sparrows in the Emberizidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlackish-grey Antshrike - The species is found in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and eastern French Guiana; also a small river region of northeast Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It got its name \\\"Blackish-grey Antshrike\\\" because of its blackish-grey color, distinguishing it from other Antshrikes.\\nBlackpoll Warbler - These birds are migratory, wintering in northwestern South America. They are rare vagrants to western Europe, although their northerly range and long-distance migration make them one of the more frequent transatlantic passerine wanderers.\\nBlacksmith Lapwing - The Blacksmith Lapwing or Blacksmith Plover occurs commonly from Kenya through central Tanzania to southern and southwestern Africa. The vernacular name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, tink, tink' alarm call, which suggests a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.\\nBlackstart - It is a 14–16 cm long bird named for its black tail, which is frequently fanned; the rest of its plumage is bluish-grey or grey-brown . The sexes are similar, but the male on average has blacker lores. The song is a clear melancholy whistle: CHURlee...TRUloo...CHURlee...TRUlur..., with short phrases from the song used as a call.\\nBlakiston's Fish-Owl - It feeds on a variety of aquatic prey, including fish and amphibians, but also takes small mammals and birds to the size of hazel grouse . It also takes carrion, as evidenced by fish owls in Russia being trapped in snares set for furbearing mammals, which use raw meat as bait.\\nBlanford's Rosefinch - The Crimson Rosefinch is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is boreal forests.\\nBlanford's Snowfinch - The Plain-backed Snowfinch or Blanford's Snowfinch is a species of bird in the sparrow family.\\nBlaze-winged Parakeet - The Blaze-winged Parakeet , more commonly known as the Blaze-winged Conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot found in wooded habitats in the Pantanal-region of Brazil and Paraguay. It remains locally fairly common, but has suffered due to extensive habitat destruction within its relatively small range, and has therefore been uplisted to Near Threatened by BirdLife International in 2009. The type specimen is labelled Bolivia, but due to shifting borders it is now believed to be from Paraguay. It has often been considered a subspecies of the Maroon-bellied Parakeet based on apparent hybrids from Paraguay, but – as far as known – the two generally maintain their integrity, and are therefore considered separate species by all major authorities today. They resemble each other, but the Blaze-winged Parakeet has a dusky crown and red \\\"shoulder\\\" and underwing coverts.\\nBleda notatus - The Lesser Bristlebill or Yellow-lored Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It was formerly lumped with the Green-tailed Bristlebill but is now often considered to be a separate species.\\nBleda syndactylus - The Common Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland and montane forests and tropical moist shrubland.\\nBlind snipe - The American Woodcock is a small chunky shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcock spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage.\\nBlond-crested Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlood Pheasant - The Blood Pheasant, Ithaginis cruentus, is the only species in genus Ithaginis of the Pheasant family. It has 15 different subspecies.\\nBlood-breasted Flowerpecker - The Blood-breasted Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlood-coloured Woodpecker - The Blood-coloured Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family, the woodpeckers, piculets, and wrynecks. It is found only in the Guianan countries of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, on the Atlantic shoreline region in a narrow coastal strip, 140-180 km wide. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlossom-headed Parakeet - Blossom-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland. It nests in holes in trees, laying 4-5 white eggs.\\nBlossomcrown - It is found only in Colombia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue & Grey Sparrow Hawk\\nBlue & White Mockingbird - It is about 25 cm long. It has blue-grey upperparts, white underparts, red eyes and a black mask. The song is high-pitched and rattling.\\nBlue & White Swallow - The Blue-and-white Swallow, Notiochelidon cyanoleuca, is a passerine bird that breeds from Nicaragua south throughout South America, except in the deserts and the Amazon Basin. The southern race is migratory, wintering as far north as Trinidad, where it is a regular visitor. The nominate northern race may have bred on that island.\\nBlue Bird-of-paradise - The Blue Bird-of-paradise is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is distributed to mountain forests of southeastern New Guinea. ITIS recognizes only one subspecies, but additional subspecies margaritae and ampla have been described.\\nBlue Cotinga\\nBlue Coua - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlue Cuckooshrike - The Blue Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue Dacnis - It occurs in forests and other woodlands, including gardens and parks. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree and the normal clutch is of two to three grey-blotched whitish two eggs. The female incubates the eggs, but is fed by the male.\\nBlue Duck - This 54 cm long species is an endemic resident breeder in New Zealand, nesting in hollow logs, small caves and other sheltered spots. It is a rare duck, holding territories on fast flowing mountain rivers.It is a powerful swimmer even in strong currents, but is reluctant to fly. It is difficult to find, but not particularly wary when located.\\nBlue Eared-Pheasant - The Blue Eared Pheasant is found throughout mountain forests of central China. The diet consists mainly of berries and vegetable matters.\\nBlue Fantail - It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue Finch - The Yellow-billed Blue Finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, a recent study has shown it to belong in the Thraupidae. It in the monotypic genus Porphyrospiza.\\nBlue goose - The Snow Goose , also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed. The American Ornithologists' Union and BirdLife International place this species and the other \\\"white\\\" geese in the Chen genus,\\nBlue Grosbeak - The Blue Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds across most of the southern half of the United States and much of northern Mexico. It eats mostly insects, but it will also eat snails, spiders, seeds, grains, and wild fruits. The Blue Grosbeak forages on the ground and in shrubs and trees.\\nBlue Ground Dove - The Blue Ground Dove is relatively common in open woodland, forest edges, clearings and roadsides, especially in more humid areas. It is found from sea level to about 1200 m altitude. It builds a flimsy dish nest of twigs 1-11 m high in a tree and lays two white eggs.\\nBlue grouse - Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a purplish throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow to red wattle over the eye during display. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.\\nBlue Jay - The Blue Jay measures 22–30 cm from bill to tail and weighs 70–100 grams , with a wingspan of 34–43 cm .\\nBlue Jewel-babbler - The Blue Jewel-babbler is a species of bird in the Cinclosomatidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue Lorikeet - The Violet Lorikeet is 18 cm long with a short rounded tail. Its plumage is mainly dark blue and it has a white area over its upper chest, throat and lower face. Erectile feathers on the top of its head show light blue streaks. Its beak is orange and its irises are yellow-brown. It has orange legs. Adult males and females have identical external appearance. The juvenile lacks the white plumage of the adult and has a dark grey-blue face and lower parts. The juvenile also has a black bill, dark brown irises, and its legs are orange brown.\\nBlue Manakin - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It is generally common in the appropriate habitats within its range. Formerly, the name Swallow-tailed Manakin was used widely, but as it is misleading , this name has largely been abandoned for the superior Blue Manakin. As suggested by this common name, the male is - by far - the manakin with most blue to the plumage. The entire body is bright blue, while the wings, tail and head, except for the red cap, are black. The far duller female is greenish overall. Both sexes have elongated central rectrices.\\nBlue Mockingbird - The Blue Mockingbird is uniformly blue on its back, tail, wings, head and underbelly. This color is a result of feather structure rather than pigment, and therefore can look gray in the shade. It has a black \\\"mask\\\" surrounding its reddish-brown eyes. It has a rather long, slightly graduated tail, and dark blue streaks over its breast. Its bill is long, thin and slightly curved, and its legs and feet are black.\\nBlue Mountain Vireo\\nBlue Noddy - It is found in American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga , Tuvalu and Hawaii. It has occurred as a vagrant in Australia and Japan. Its natural habitat is open, shallow seas in tropical and subtropical regions.\\nBlue Paradise Flycatcher - The Blue Paradise-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\\nBlue Petrel - The Blue Petrel, Halobaena caerulea, is a small seabird in the family Procellariidae. This small petrel is the only member of the genus Halobaena but is closely allied to the prions.\\nBlue Shortwing - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlue Swallow - The Blue Swallow breeds in southern Africa, wintering further north in Uganda and Kenya.\\nBlue Vanga - It is found in Comoros, Madagascar, and Mayotte. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue-and-black Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-and-gold Tanager - The Blue-and-gold Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue-and-white Flycatcher - The Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Cyanoptila cyanomelana is a migratory songbird. It breeds in Japan, Korea, and in parts of China and Russia. It winters in South East Asia, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sumatra and Borneo.\\nBlue-and-white Kingfisher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBlue-and-yellow Macaw - It can reach 76–86 cm long and weigh 900 to 1300 g . It is vivid in appearance with blue wings and tail, dark blue chin, golden under parts and a green forehead. Its beak is black, and very strong for crushing nuts. The naked face is white, turning pink in excited birds, and lined with small black feathers.\\nBlue-and-yellow Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-backed Conebill\\nBlue-backed Manakin - This manakin is a fairly common bird of dry and moist deciduous forests, but not rainforest. The female builds a twig nest in a tree; two brown-mottled white eggs are laid, and incubated entirely by the female for about 20 days.\\nBlue-backed Parrot - It is of medium size , basically green with yellowish edging to the wings, a blue rump, and blue wing bends. The head, mantle, wings and tail are darker green, the belly and collar are lighter green. It is sexually dimorphic, with the male having a red beak and the female a pale yellow or horn colored beak. There are six subspecies:\\nBlue-backed Tanager - It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue-banded Kingfisher - The Blue-banded Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue-banded Toucanet\\nBlue-bearded Bee-eater - The Blue-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni is a large species of bee-eater found in South Asia. This species is found in openings in patches of dense forest. It is found in the Malayan region and also extends into the Western Ghats in southwestern India. The blue feathers of its throat are elongated and often held fluffed up giving it the name. They are not as gregarious or active as the smaller bee-eaters, and their square ended tail lacks the typical \\\"wires\\\" made up of the shafts of the longer central tail feathers in many species.\\nBlue-bellied Roller - The Blue-bellied Roller is a large bird, nearly the size of a Jackdaw at 28-30 cm. It has a dark green back, white head, neck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly blue. Adults have 6cm tail streamers. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult.\\nBlue-billed Black Tyrant - The Blue-billed Black-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-billed Curassow - It is found only in Colombia; areas of its range in the south and east are bordered by the Magdalena River. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue-black Grassquit - Adult Blue-black Grassquits are 10.2 cm long and weigh 9.3 g . They have a slender conical black bill. The male is glossy blue-black, with a black tail and wings; the white inner underwing is visible in flight or display. Female and immature birds have brown upperparts and dark-streaked buff underparts.\\nBlue-black Grosbeak - It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-black Kingfisher - The Blue-black Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\\nBlue-breasted Banded Rail - Breeding has been recorded from July in the foothills of the Himalayas from Dehradun in the west.\\nBlue-breasted Bee Eater\\nBlue-breasted Cordonbleu - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlue-breasted Fairy-wren - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\\nBlue-breasted Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue-breasted Kingfisher - This is a large kingfisher, 25 cm in length. The adult has a bright blue head, back, wing panel and tail. Its underparts are white, but it has a blue breast band. The shoulders are black. The flight of the Blue-breasted Kingfisher is rapid and direct. The large bill has a red upper mandible and black lower mandible. The legs are bright red.\\nBlue-browed Tanager - The Blue-browed Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlue-capped Cordonbleu - The Blue-capped Cordon-bleu inhabits subtropical or tropical dry grassland, shrubland and desert. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 390,000 km².\\nBlue-capped Fruit Dove - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue-capped Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue-capped Puffleg - The Blue-Capped Puffleg is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-capped Rock Thrush - The male is bright blue and black on the upperparts with a prominent white wing mirror. The underside is rufous brown. The female is dark olive and appears barred on the underside.\\nBlue-capped Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-cheeked Amazon - It is about 34 cm. Its coloring is mostly green, with blue cheeks from around the eye to the neck , a yellow-orange wing speculum, a yellowish crown, and orange lores .\\nBlue-cheeked Bee Eater - This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly-coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has blue sides with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the beak is black. It can reach a length of 24-26 cm, including the two elongated central tail feathers. Sexes are alike.\\nBlue-cheeked Flowerpecker\\nBlue-cheeked Jacamar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue-chested Hummingbird - The Blue-Chested Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-chested Hummingbird - The Charming Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-collared Parrot - It inhabits humid hill forest and forest edges. Flocks are up to 200.\\nBlue-crested Flycatcher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlue-crowned Chlorophonia\\nBlue-crowned Hanging Parrot - Its diet includes flowers, buds, fruits, nuts and seeds.\\nBlue-crowned Lorikeet - It is still common, but declining on some islands, apparently from predation by rats. They frequent areas with flowering trees, including coconut plantations and gardens, usually in small flocks of less than about 15 individuals or in pairs during breeding season. It eats nectar, pollen, and soft fruits, especially wild hibiscus and coconut. Nests in holes in trees but may also dig burrows in earth banks. Also known as\\nBlue-crowned Manakin - The Blue-crowned Manakin is a species of bird in the Pipridae family.\\nBlue-crowned Motmot - Like most of the Coraciiformes, motmots nest in tunnels in banks, laying about three or four white eggs.\\nBlue-crowned Parakeet - Members of the genus Aratinga are officially called parakeets by the AOU and by birders, though usually called conures in aviculture.\\nBlue-crowned Racquet-tail - There are three or four subspecies:\\nBlue-crowned Trogon - The Blue-crowned Trogon's range in South America is the southwestern and southeastern quadrants of the Amazon Basin with the northern limit being the Amazon River. The range continues beyond the Amazon Basin south to northern Argentina and Paraguay, and eastwards to eastern coastal Brazil as far south as northern Espírito Santo state; a third of the species range is outside the Amazon Basin.\\nBlue-eared Barbet - The Blue-eared Barbet is a resident breeder in the hills from northeast India east to through Southeast Asia to Singapore, Indonesia and Borneo. It is a species of broadleaf evergreen forest, mixed woodland and second growth up to 1525 m altitude. It nests in a tree hole.\\nBlue-eared Kingfisher - The juvenile Blue-eared Kingfisher has similar rufous ear-coverts like the Common Kingfisher; but it usually shows some mottling on the throat and upper breast which disappears when the bird reaches adulthood.\\nBlue-eared Lory - The Blue-eared Lory is the smallest Eos at 24 cm long. It has a red body with blue cheeks, chin, and ear-coverts, purple-blue abdomen and undertail coverts, and black streaked wings. The adult has an orange beak with juvenile's pink.\\nBlue-eyed Cockatoo - Like all cockatoos and many parrots, the Blue-eyed Cockatoo can use one of its zygodactyl feet to hold objects and to bring food to its beak whilst standing on the other foot; nevertheless, amongst bird species as a whole this is relatively unusual.\\nBlue-eyed Ground Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue-faced Honeyeater - Originally described as Gracula cyanotis by ornithologist John Latham in 1802, though he also considered Merops and Turdus .\\nBlue-faced Malkoha - It is restricted to Sri Lanka and southern India. The Blue-faced Malkoha is a bird of open forests and scrub jungle. It nests in a thorn bush, the typical clutch being two, sometimes three, eggs.\\nBlue-faced Parrotfinch - It is found in subtropical/ tropical in both montane and lowland moist forest areas, where it is most often associated with forest edges and disturbed habitat. It feeds largely on seeds of grasses, including in Australia several exotic genera especially Brachiaria. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBlue-footed booby - The name booby comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means \\\"stupid\\\" or \\\"fool\\\"/\\\"clown\\\". This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and , they can be very tame and therefore easily captured, killed, and eaten by humans.\\nBlue-fronted Amazon - The Blue-fronted Amazon is a mainly green parrot about 38 cm long. They have blue feathers on the forehead above the beak and yellow on the face and crown. Distribution of blue and yellow varies greatly among individuals. Unlike most other Amazona parrots, its beak is mostly black. There is no overt sexual dimorphism. Juveniles of all parrots are duller and have dark irises.\\nBlue-fronted Callene\\nBlue-fronted Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlue-fronted Lancebill - The Blue-Fronted Lancebill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlue-fronted Lorikeet - It is only known from seven specimens, collected before 1930 in hill forest between 850–1000 m. More recent sightings are not well authenticated, so its remaining range is uncertain.\\nBlue-fronted Parrotlet - The Blue-fronted Parrotlet, Touit dilectissimus, is also known as the Red-winged Parrotlet . It is a parrot in N. South America from E. Panama down the west coastal Andes to Peru, with a second population around and south of Lake Maracaibo. It is 15cm, green with a short tail, blue forehead with narrow band of red under eye, red shoulders and leading edge of underwing, and the remaining underwing coverts yellow. Edges of tail also yellowish.\\nBlue-fronted Redstart - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\\nBlue-gray Tanager - The Blue-grey Tanager is 18 cm long and weighs 35 g. Adults have a light bluish head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts and a shoulder patch colored a different hue of blue. The bill is short and quite thick. Sexes are similar, but the immature is much duller in plumage.\\nBlue-grey Gnatcatcher - Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts and have a long slender bill, long black tail and an angry black unibrow. They have a white eye ring.\\nBlue-headed Bee-eater\\nBlue-headed Coucal - The Blue-headed Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBlue-headed Crested Flycatcher - The Blue-headed Crested-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlue-headed Fantail\\nBlue-headed Hummingbird - It is found only in Dominica and Martinique.\\nBlue-headed Macaw - The Blue-headed Macaw is 41 cm long. It has mainly green plumage with the head, flight feathers and primary coverts blue. The uppertail has a maroon base, a narrow green center and a blue tip. The undertail and underwing are greenish-yellow similar to that of several other small macaws . The bill is pale greyish-horn with a black base . The iris is whitish with a narrow, often barely visible, maroon eye-ring. Unlike most other macaws, the facial skin and lores are dark greyish. The legs are dull pinkish. Juveniles resemble adults, but with the entire bill black, greyer legs, darker iris and the facial skin and lores white.\\nBlue-headed Parrot - Its habitat is forest and semi-open country, including cultivated areas. It is largely restricted to humid or semi-humid regions, but locally extends into drier habitats, at least along rivers. The Blue-headed Parrot lays three to five white eggs in a tree cavity.\\nBlue-headed Pitta\\nBlue-headed Quail-Dove - Its natural habitats are swamps and moist forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBlue-headed Racquet-tail - It is 27–28 cm, basically green with a bright, light blue head, blue underwings and, in the male, bluish breast. The beak is bluish gray and iris is yellowish.\\nBlue-headed Sapphire - The Blue-Headed Sapphire is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-headed Sunbird - The Blue-headed Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.\\nBlue-headed vireo - Adults are mainly olive on the upperparts with white underparts and yellowish flanks; they have a grey head, dark eyes with white \\\"spectacles\\\" and white wing bars. They have a stout bill and thick blue-grey legs. This bird, along with the Cassin's Vireo and Plumbeous Vireo, were formerly known as the \\\"Solitary Vireo\\\".\\nBlue-headed Wagtail - Motacilla tschutschensis\\nBlue-headed Wood Dove - The Blue-headed Wood-dove is distributed to primary rainforests of equatorial mid-western Africa, in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, Ghana and Togo.\\nBlue-mantled Thornbill - The Blue-Mantled Thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBlue-masked Leafbird - It is considered near threatened due to habitat loss.\\nBlue-naped Chlorophonia - Its distribution is highly disjunct, with population associated with the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina, the Andes from Bolivia in south to Venezuela in north, the Perijá and Santa Marta Mountains, the Venezuelan Coastal Range, and the Tepuis. All populations are associated with humid forest, but locally it also occurs in nearby gardens and parks . Most populations are found in subtropical highlands, but it occurs down to near sea level in the Atlantic Forest region.\\nBlue-naped Mousebird - A slender-tailed, ash grey mousebird common in dry country. A crested head, turquoise-blue nape patch and black-and-red bill characterize adults. Juveniles lack blue on nape, have pink facial skin and greenish bills.\\nBlue-naped Parrot - It is found in secondary forest, forest edge and plantations up to 1000 m. Flock size is usually under a dozen. They feed on berries, seeds, nuts and grain. Habitat loss and trapping have made them scarce on most islands except Mindoro and Palawan. Though the Katala Foundation has raised concerns over the increasing illegal trade in this bird on Palawan.\\nBlue-naped Pitta - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Republic of India and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlue-rumped Manakin - The Blue-rumped Manakin is a species of bird in the Pipridae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is montane forests.\\nBlue-rumped Parrot - It is the only member of the genus Psittinus.\\nBlue-rumped Pitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlue-shouldered Robin-Chat - It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBlue-spotted Wood Dove\\nBlue-streaked Lory - It is found in the Tanimbar Islands and Babar, all in Indonesia. It was also introduced to the Kai Islands, but may be extinct there again. It inhabits mangrove, coconut groves, plantations and forests. Lories have unique \\\"brush\\\" tipped tongues, evolved for their diet of flower nectar and fruit. A highly active, gregarious bird known to travel in flocks and to sleep in their nests year round. Very social and affectionate, lorie have been kept as pets with growing popularity, their song is usually softer than other parrots except when alarmed or bored.\\nBlue-tailed Bee-eater - This species is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, M. persicus.\\nBlue-tailed Hummingbird - The Blue-tailed Hummingbird , sometimes placed in the genus Saucerottia, is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-throated Barbet - This barbet eats fruits and insects.\\nBlue-throated Flycatcher - The Blue-throated Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It resembles Cyornis tickelliae but easily separated by the blue throat. The habitat of this species is a thicker forest than other species of flycatchers. The Blue-Throated Flycatcher is found all through the Himalayas, the plains and Western Ghats of India in the cold months, and also extends into Arkan and Tenasserim.\\nBlue-throated Goldentail - The Blue-Throated Goldentail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBlue-throated hummingbird - The Blue-throated Hummingbird is a fairly large hummingbird, reaching 11.5 to 12.5 cm in length and 6 to 10 grams in weight. The Blue-throated Hummingbird is dull green on the top of its body, fading to medium gray on its belly. It has a conspicuous white stripe behind its eye and a narrower stripe extending backward from the corner of its bill, bordering a blackish cheek patch. Its tail feathers are iridescent blue-black with broad white tips on the outer two to three pairs. The species gets its name from the adult male's iridescent blue throat patch , but the female lacks this, having a plain gray throat. Males sing two types of songs: a simple \\\"peep song,\\\" which sounds like a squeaky wheel, and a quiet but complex \\\"whisper song.\\\" The female is also reported to sing during the breeding season to attract the attention of males.\\nBlue-throated Motmot - The Blue-throated Motmot is a species of bird in the Momotidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Aspatha. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlue-throated Piping Guan - There are two subspecies. A. cumanensis cumanensis is found from the Guyanas, the Orinoco river in Venezuela, and southeastern Colombia south to northwestern Brazil and southeastern Peru. There and possibly in northern Bolivia it intergrades with the bigger A. cumanensis grayi , which continues through northern and central Bolivia, Mato Grosso State of Brazil, and northern and eastern Paraguay.\\nBlue-throated Roller - The Blue-throated Roller is a species of bird in the Coraciidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBlue-throated Starfrontlet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBlue-throated Sunbird - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBlue-whiskered Tanager\\nBlue-winged Goose - The Blue-winged Goose is a waterfowl species which is endemic to Ethiopia. It is the only member of the genus Cyanochen.\\nBlue-winged Kookaburra - Measuring around 40 cm , it is slightly smaller than the more familiar Laughing Kookaburra. It has cream-coloured upper- and underparts barred with brownish markings. It has blue wings and brown shoulders and blue rump. It is sexually dimorphic, with a blue tail in the male, and a rufous tail with blackish bars in the female.\\nBlue-winged Laughingthrush - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlue-winged Leafbird - The male is green-bodied with a yellow-tinged head, black face and throat. It has a blue moustachial line. The female differs in that it has a greener head and blue throat, and young birds are like the female but without the blue throat patch.\\nBlue-winged Macaw - It has a total length of approximately 40 cm . It has a heavy black bill, a long tail and a mainly green plumage. The upperside of the remiges and primary coverts are blue, as indicated by its common name. The underside of the wings is yellowish, the tail-tip, crown and cheeks are bluish, and the tail-base and small belly-patch are red. The iris is amber. It and the Red-bellied Macaw are the only macaws where the bare facial-skin is yellowish, but this often fades to white in captivity. Unlike the Red-bellied Macaw, the Blue-winged has a red lower abdomen and a red lower back.\\nBlue-winged Minla - The Blue-winged Siva , also known as the Blue-winged Minla, is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It has in the past been placed in the genus Minla instead of the monotypic Siva.\\nBlue-winged Mountain Tanager - The Blue-winged Mountain-tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\\nBlue-winged Parrot - It is sexually dimorphic - the females are duller and have more green on the wings.\\nBlue-winged Parrotlet - The Blue-winged Parrotlet is a small parrot found in much of South America. It includes the Turquoise-rumped Parrotlet , which sometimes is treated as a separate species. The Blue-winged Parrotlet is mainly found in lowlands, but locally up to 1200m in south-eastern Brazil. It occurs in woodland, scrub, savanna, and pastures. Flocks are usually around 20 birds but can grow to over 50 around fruiting trees or seeding grasses. It is generally common and widespread, though more localized in the Amazon Basin.\\nBlue-winged Pitta - Wings spread to get warmed by the sun\\nBlue-winged Teal - The Blue-winged Teal is a small dabbling duck. Its placement in Anas is by no means certain; a member of the \\\"blue-winged\\\" group also including the shovelers, it may be better placed in Spatula. It is not a teal in the strict sense, and also does not seem closely related to the Garganey as was for some time believed. Indeed, its color pattern is strikingly reminiscent of the Australasian Shoveler.\\nBlue-winged Warbler - The Blue-winged Warbler, Vermivora pinus, is a fairly common New World warbler, 11.5 cm long and weighing 8.5 g. It breeds in eastern North America in southern Ontario and the eastern USA. Its range is extending northwards, where it is replacing the very closely related Golden-winged Warbler, Vermivora chrysoptera.\\nBluebonnet - This species grows up to 27-35cm in length and the sexes are similar in appearance. The are usually seen in pairs or small groups feeding along roads. They breed between July and December producing 4 to 7 white eggs.\\nBluethroat - It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in wet birch wood or bushy swamp in Europe and Asia with a foothold in western Alaska. It nests in tussocks or low in dense bushes. It winters in north Africa and India.\\nBluish-fronted Jacamar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBluish-slate Antshrike - The Bluish-slate Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBlunt-winged Warbler - It is found in Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam.\\nBluntschli's vanga\\nBlyth's Hawk-Eagle - The Blyth's Hawk Eagle, Nisaetus alboniger is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae.\\nBlyth's Hornbill - The Papuan Hornbill is also known as Blyth's Hornbill. Its local name in Tok Pisin is kokomo. It is a large hornbill species inhabiting the forest canopy in the Wallacea and Melanesia.\\nBlyth's Kingfisher - The Blyth's Kingfisher, Alcedo hercules, is a kingfisher distributed in Bangladesh, Republic of India, China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam. It is found along streams in evergreen forest and adjacent open country from 200-1,200 m, mainly at 400-1,000 m.\\nBlyth's Leaf Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBlyth's Olive Bulbul - The Olive Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, India, Burma, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBlyth's Parakeet - The Nicobar Parakeet is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Very little is actually known about its ecology and conservation status.\\nBlyth's Pipit - This is a large pipit, but is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below. It is very similar to Richard's Pipit, but is slightly smaller, shorter legs and a shorter dark bill. Its flight is strong and direct, and it gives a characteristic \\\"pshee\\\" call, higher pitched than Richard's.\\nBlyth's Reed Warbler - This small passerine bird is a species found in scrub or clearings, often near water, but it is not found in marshes. 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush.\\nBlyth's tragopan pheasant - Blyth’s Tragopan pheasant is the largest of all the tragopans. Like most pheasants the male is brightly colored. It is recognized by its rusty red head, yellow facial skin, and that it is spotted with small white dots on its back called ocelli. A black band extends from the base of the bill to the crown couple with another black band extends behind the eyes. Like the rest of the tragopans, males have two pale blue horns that become erect during matting . Its lappet, a decorated flap, hangs from the throat and is brightly colored. This lappet can be expanded and exposed during mating season as well . Females are not as brightly colored as the male tragopan, for they don’t need the extravagant appearance to attract a male counterpart. Overall they are dark brown with a mixture of black, buff and white mottling . Their simple and dull look is a protection mechanism from other animals. It also allows the females to protect their young that are in the early stages of life.\\nBoat-billed Flycatcher - The Boat-billed Flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua, is a passerine bird. It is a large tyrant flycatcher, the only member, monotypic, of the genus Megarynchus.\\nBoat-billed Heron - It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi-colonially in mangrove trees, laying 2-4 bluish white eggs in a twig nest.\\nBoat-billed Tody-Tyrant - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBoat-tailed grackle - The male Boat-tailed Grackle is 42 cm long. Adult males have entirely iridescent black plumage, a long dark bill, a pale yellowish or brown iris and a long keel-shaped tail. The 37 cm long adult female is shorter tailed and tawny-brown in colour apart from the darker wings and tail.\\nBob-tailed Weaver - The Bob-tailed Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Brachycope. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.\\nBobolink - Adults are 16–18 cm long with short finch-like bills. Adult males are mostly black, although they do display creamy napes, and white scapulars, lower backs and rumps. Adult females are mostly light brown, although their coloring includes black streaks on the back and flanks, and dark stripes on the head; their wings and tails are darker. The collective name for a group of bobolinks is a chain.\\nBocage's Akalat - The subspecies S. b. poensis on the island of Bioko is sometimes considered to be a separate species, Alexander's Akalat.\\nBocage's Longbill - The Bocage's Longbill or São Tomé Short-tail is a species of passerine bird in the superfamily Passeroidea. It is the only member of the genus Amaurocichla. It was formerly placed in the family Sylviidae, and it appears to be close to the Motacillidae, though its relationships currently are unclear.\\nBocage's Weaver - The Bocage's Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\\nBocages Sunbird - The Bocage's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.\\nBoehm's Bee Eater\\nBoehm's Flycatcher - The Boehm's Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\\nBogota Sunangel - This hummingbird is known from a single skin purchased in Bogotá in 1909. Nothing more is known of the bird, and though the skin is most commonly thought to come from either the Eastern or Central Andes of Colombia, other specimens from Bogotá have come from as far away as Ecuador. Since the bird has not been seen alive, it is assumed to have a relict population if it still survives. Some have suggested that the bird is just a hybrid, though the skin is very distinct.\\nBokikokiko - The Bokikokiko is a species of warbler in the Acrocephalidae family. It is found only on Kiritimati .\\nBolivian Blackbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and pastureland.\\nBolivian Recurvebill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\\nBolivian Tyrannulet - The Bolivian Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBolivian Warbling Finch - The Bolivian Warbling-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBolle - It is a resident breeder in the mountain laurisilva forest zone. Bolle's Pigeon builds a stick nest in a tree, laying one white egg.\\nBonaparte's Gull - The Bonaparte's Gull is a small gull.\\nBonaparte's Nightjar - Bonaparte's Nightjar , also known as the Sunda Nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBonelli's Eagle - The Bonelli's Eagle is a species of wooded, often hilly, country with some open areas. The African race prefers savannah, forest edges, cultivation, and scrub, provided there are some large trees; this is not a species of very open or densely forested habitats.\\nBonin Grosbeak - The Bonin Grosbeak or Bonin Islands Grosbeak is an extinct finch, the only species of the genus Chaunoproctus. It is one of the diverse bird taxa that are vernacularly called \\\"grosbeaks\\\", but it is not closely related to the grosbeaks sensu stricto. It was a retiring, although not shy bird, and was usually found singly or in pairs. It fed on fruits and buds which were primarily picked up from the ground or low shrubs; it rarely was observed to perch in trees, being apparently rather phlegmatic and somewhat reluctant to fly. Only one kind of vocalization has been described: a soft, pure and high note, sometimes short, sometimes drawn out; sometimes given singly, sometimes in a short series.\\nBonin Petrel - The Bonin Petrel is a small gadfly petrel, 30 cm long with a wingspan of around 67 cm. It has a white head with a black cap and face markings; overall the head often has a scaled appearance. Its pale grey upperparts have darker primaries and wing coverts creating a M mark across the back. The underwing is white with dark edging and a patch at the carpal joint and across underwing coverts. The tail is dark grey, and the rest of the plumage is white, except for a dark half collar on the breast. Like the rest of the Pterodroma petrels the black bill is short and hooked. The legs and feet are pink with dark patches.\\nBonin Thrush - The Bonin Thrush, Bonin Islands Thrush or Kittlitz's Thrush is sometimes separated as the only species of the genus Cichlopasser. It is an extinct species of Asian thrush. The only place where this bird ever was found is Chichi-jima in the Ogasawara Islands; it might theoretically have also occurred on Anijima and Otōtojima, but this is not borne out by observations or specimens. The species was only once observed by a naturalist, its discoverer Kittlitz. He encountered the thrush in the coastal woods where it usually kept to the ground; it may have been ground-nesting. The only specimens ever taken are in the Naturalis in Leiden , the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna , the Senckenbergmuseum in Frankfurt and in the Zoological Museum, St. Petersburg .\\nBonin white-eye - A distinctive feature of the bird is the white rim around the eyes, which is then surrounded by black masking. Presently its habitat is restricted to Haha-jima Island. Until several years ago it could also be found on Chichi-jima Island. Because of the bird's small range of habitat, its status is listed as \\\"Vulnerable\\\".\\nBonin Wood-Pigeon - The Bonin Wood Pigeon was a medium-sized pigeon, with an average length of 45 cm. The upper parts of the Pigeon's body were greyish-black with iridescence except on wing and tail. Crown has a green-purple iridescence, mantle to rump iridescent reflecting violet, amethyst and turquoise. Scapulars and remaining mantle glossed golden green with bronze reflections; wing coverts with dark turquoise green suffused with deep blue. The uppertail of the pigeon coverts broadly tipped with golden green. Breast to belly fringed with deep green and violet iridescence, being strongest on the breast. Iris blue or probably dark blue; bill greenish yellow having a pale tip; legs and the feet were dark red.\\nBooted Eagle - It breeds in southern Europe, North Africa and across Asia. It is migratory, wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This eagle lays 1-2 eggs in a tree or crag nest.\\nBooted Racket-tail\\nBooted Warbler - The Booted Warbler is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler group. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with Sykes' Warbler, but the two are now usually both afforded species status. Booted Warbler itself breeds from central Russia to western China, and migrates to winter in the Indian subcontinent as far south as Sri Lanka. It is a small passerine bird, found in open country with bushes and other tall vegetation. 3-4 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush or vegetation. Like most warblers they are insectivorous.\\nBoran Cisticola - The Boran Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBornean Barbet - The Bornean Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBornean Bristlehead - The Bornean Bristlehead also variously known as the Bristled Shrike, Bald-headed Crow or the Bald-headed Wood-Shrike, is the only member of the passerine family Pityriaseidae and genus Pityriasis. It is an enigmatic and uncommon species of the rainforest canopy of Borneo.\\nBornean Falconet\\nBornean Niltava - The Bornean Blue-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBornean Peacock-Pheasant - The Bornean Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron schleiermacheri is a medium-sized, up to 50cm long, rufous brown and black spotted pheasant with an elongated crest and nape feathers, black below and bare red skin around bluish iris eye. The breast sides are metallic blue-green, bordering the white throat and central upper breast. Its twenty-two tail feathers are decorated with large blue-green ocelli, which may be spread fan-like in display. The female is smaller and duller brown than the male. It has a brown iris and no spurs on its feet.\\nBornean Spiderhunter - The Bornean Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBornean Stubtail - The Bornean Stubtail is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.\\nBornean Whistler - The Bornean Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.\\nBornean Wren-Babbler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBotha's Lark - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and pastureland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBotteri's Sparrow - The Botteri's Sparrow, Aimophila botterii, is a medium-sized sparrow.\\nBoucard's Wren\\nBougainville Crow - The Bougainville Crow heavy crow, 41 cm long, with all black plumage and a massive black bill. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest up to 1600 m. At present it is a common species on Bougainville, but it might be threatened in the future by habitat loss caused by logging.\\nBougainville Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBougainville Monarch - The Bougainville Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBougainville Thicketbird\\nBoulder Chat - The Boulder Chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Pinarornis. It is found in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\\nBoulton's Hill Partridge - Recent work on the species in Laojunshan Nature Reserve found that the species occurred in secondary broadleaf forest but not in settlements, coniferous plantations or farmland. The same study found that birds typically occurred between 1400 and 1800m above sea level in the reserve, and mostly on gently sloping ground close to water sources.\\nBoulton's Puff-back Flycatcher - Margaret's Batis or Boulton's Batis is a species of bird in the Platysteiridae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\\nBounty Islands Shag\\nBourke's Parrot - Wildtype Bourke's Parakeet display a basically brown overall colouration with pink abdomen, pinkish breast & a blue rump. The legs are dark-brown, with zygodactyl toes. The bill is yellowish-brown. The adult male has a blue forehead while the adult female has a little or no blue on the forehead.\\nBower's Shrike-thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBoyer's Cuckooshrike - The Boyer's Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBr - The Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot is a bird in the auk family . This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies Uria lomvia arra is also called Pallas' Murre after its describer.\\nBrace's Emerald - Its size was 9.5 cm, the wing length 11.4 cm and length of the tail 2.7 cm. The black bill was slightly curved and conical pointed. The feet were black. The back exhibited a bronze green hue with a golden gleam. The head was similar coloured like the back with the absence of the golden gloss. Directly behind the eyes was a white spot. The throat gleamed in magnificent blue green colour hues. The abdomen had green feathers with ash-grey tips. The wings exhibited a purplish hue. The rectrices were greenish. The crissum was grey with a faint cinnamon hue at the edges.\\nBradfield's Hornbill - Females are smaller than males and can be recognized by turquoise facial skin. The eyes are yellow and the beak is red. The beak is long and presents no casque.\\nBradfield's Swift - The Bradfield's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.\\nBradypterus alishanensis\\nBradypterus bangwaensis - The Bangwa Scrub-warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Cameroon and Nigeria. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBradypterus davidi\\nBrahminy Kite - The Brahminy Kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of Black Kite in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards.\\nBrahminy Starling - The Brahminy Myna or Brahminy Starling is a member of the starling family of birds. It is creamy orange bird with a black cap and a slight crest. They are usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of South Asia.\\nBrambling - This bird is widespread throughout the forests of northern Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering in southern Europe, north Africa, northern Pakistan, Kashmir, northern Republic of India, China and Japan.\\nBran-coloured Flycatcher - This species is found in open forests and secondary growth. The deep cup nest is made of stems and bark and lined with fine plant fibers; it is suspended by the rim from a side branch low in a tree. The typical clutch is two cream-colored eggs with a rufous wreath. The female incubates for 17 days with a further 15-17 to fledging. This species is parasitized by the Shiny Cowbird.\\nBrandt's cormorant - Brandt's Cormorants feed either singly or in flocks, and are adaptable in prey choice and undersea habitat. It feeds on small fish from the surface to sea floor, obtaining them, like all cormorants, by pursuit diving using its feet for propulsion. Prey is often what is most common: in central California, rockfish from the genus Sebastes is the most commonly taken, but off British Columbia, it is Pacific Herring. Brandt's Cormorant have been observed foraging at depths of over 40 feet.\\nBrandt's Rosy Finch - The Black-Headed Mountain-Finch is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland.\\nBrass' Friarbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrassy-breasted Tanager - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBrazilia Tapaculo - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrazilian Merganser - This merganser is a dark, slender duck with a shiny dark-green hood with a long crest, which is usually shorter and more worn-looking in females. Upperparts are dark grey while the breast is light grey, getting paler toward the whitish belly, and a white wing patch is particularly noticeable in flight. It has a long thin jagged black bill with red feet and legs. Although females are smaller with a shorter bill and crest, both sexes are alike in color. The slender ducks range in size from 49 centimeters to 56 centimeters as an adult. Young Brazilian Mergansers are mainly black with white throat and breast.\\nBrazilian Ruby\\nBrazilian Tanager - A frugivorous bird, it's easily found in its natural biome wherever there's food enough available, tending to behave aggressively towards other species of birds when disputing for food. Can be seem in cities, as in the vicinity of the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, at the jogging track named for Cláudio Coutinho , which skirts the park at the mountain's base.\\nBrazilian Teal - The ducks are light brown in colour. Drakes distinguish themselves from females in having red beaks and legs, and in having a distinctive pale grey area on the side of its head and neck. The colour of these limbs is much duller in females.\\nBrazilian Tinamou - Crypturellus is formed from three Latin or Greek words. kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning tail, and ellus meaning diminutive. Therefore Crypturellus means small hidden tail.\\nBrazza's Martin - This little-known bird was formerly classified as data deficient by the IUCN.\\nBrehm - There are four subspecies occurring in three distinct populations:\\nBrent Goose - The Brant Goose is a small goose, about 60 cm long and with a short, stubby bill. The under-tail is pure white, and the tail black and very short .\\nBrewer's Blackbird - The Brewer's Blackbird is a medium-sized blackbird.\\nBrewer's chipping sparrow - Adults have grey-brown backs and brown crowns, both with dark streaks, and a pale eye-ring. Their wings are brown with light wing bars and the underparts are pale grey. Their bill is pale with a dark tip and they have a long notched tail. They are similar in appearance to the Clay-colored Sparrow but do not have a pale stripe on the crown or grey neck patch.\\nBridled Honeyeater - The Bridled Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\\nBridled quail-dove\\nBridled Sparrow - The Bridled Sparrow is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBridled tern - The Bridled Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The Atlantic subspecies melanopters breeds in Mexico, the Caribbean and west Africa; other races occur around the Arabia and in Southeast Asia and Australasia, but the exact number of valid subspecies is disputed.\\nBridled Titmouse - These birds have grey upperparts and white underparts with a white face with black striping, a grey crest, a black throat, and a short stout bill.\\nBridled White-eye\\nBright-rumped Attila - The Bright-rumped Attila is a large tyrant flycatcher with a big head, hooked and slightly upturned bill and upright stance. It is 7 in and weighs 1.4 oz . The head is olive-green streaked with black, the back is chestnut or olive, the rump bright yellow and the tail brown. The wings are dark brown with two pale wing bars and paler feather edging. The whitish or yellow throat and yellow breast are variably streaked darker. The belly is white becoming yellow near the tail. The iris is red. The sexes are similar, but young birds have a cinnamon-fringed crown and brown eyes.\\nBright-rumped Yellow Finch - The Bright-rumped Yellow-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrimstone Canary - This species is found in in open, lightly wooded habitats, such as hillsides with trees or scrub and forest edges. In South Africa it occurs mainly in coastal areas, inhabiting coastal bush, shrubs along streams, gardens, and areas with rank vegetation. It is not truly migratory, but undertakes some seasonal movements.\\nBristle-crowned Starling - The Bristle-crowned Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.\\nBristle-nosed Barbet - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.\\nBristle-thighed curlew - The Bristle-thighed Curlew, Numenius tahitiensis, is a large shorebird that breeds in Alaska and winters on tropical Pacific islands. It has a long, decurved bill and bristled feathers at the base of the legs. Its length is about 43 cm and wingspan about 84 cm . The size and shape are the same as the Whimbrel's, and the plumage is similar, spotted brown on their upper body with a light belly and rust-colored or buffy tail. The bigger buff spots on the upper body, unmarked light belly and barely marked flanks, tail color, and pale buffy-orange rump distinguish it from the Whimbrel.\\nBritish storm-petrel - It breeds on inaccessible islands in the north Atlantic and western Mediterranean, with the core population in western Ireland, northwest Scotland and the Faroe Islands, where the worldwide biggest colony breeds on the island of Nólsoy. It nests in colonies close to the sea in burrows or rock crevices. It lays a single white egg.\\nBroad-billed Fairywren - The Broad-billed Fairywren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\\nBroad-billed Flycatcher\\nBroad-billed Hummingbird - Adults are colored predominantly a metallic green on their upperparts and breast. The undertail coverts are predominately white. The tail is darkly colored and slightly forked. The bill of the male is straight and very slender. It is red in coloration, and shows a black tip. His throat is a deep blue. The female is less colorful than the male. She usually shows a white eye stripe.\\nBroad-billed Motmot - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBroad-billed Prion - The Broad-billed Prion, Pachyptila vittata, is a small seabird, but the largest Prion, with grey upperparts plumage, and white underparts. It has many other names that have been used such as Blue-billed Dove-petrel, Broad-billed Dove-petrel, Long-billed Prion, Common Prion, Icebird, and Whalebird.\\nBroad-billed Roller - The Broad-billed Roller is 29-30 cm in length. It has a warm back and head, lilac foreneck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly brown. The broad bill is bright yellow. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult, with a pale breast.\\nBroad-billed sandpiper - This bird's breeding habitat is wet taiga bogs in Arctic northern Europe and Siberia. The male performs an aerial display during courtship. They nest in a ground scrape, laying 4 eggs.\\nBroad-billed Tody - While its close relative, the Narrow-billed Tody is more prevalent in the higher altitude areas, the Broad-billed Tody prefers lower altitude habitats. To nest, it digs into a river bank, similar to a kingfisher.\\nBroad-billed Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBroad-tailed hummingbird - Male and female both have iridescent green backs and crowns and a white breast. The male has a gorget that shines with a brilliant red iridescence. The female is much duller with rust-colored, mottled flanks and underside; her tail feathers are tipped with a band of white. In flight the male's wings produce a distinct trilling sound diagnostic for this species.\\nBroad-tailed Paradise-Whydah\\nBroad-tipped Hermit - The Broad-tipped Hermit is a species of hummingbird found in northeast Brazil that has been placed in a monotypic genus Anopetia. It has a large range and is not endangered.\\nBroad-winged Hawk - Adult birds range in size from 34 to 45 cm , weigh from 265 to 560 g and have a wingspan from 81 to 100 cm . As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Adults have dark brown upper parts and evenly spaced black and white bands on the tail. Light morphs are pale on the underparts and underwing and have thick cinnamon bars across the belly. The light morph is most likely to be confused with the Red-shouldered Hawk, but that species has a longer, more heavily barred tail and the barred wings and solid rufous color of adult Red-shoulders are usually distinctive. Dark morphs are a darker brown on both upperparts and underparts. They are much less common than the light-coloured variant. Dark-morph Short-tailed Hawks are similar but are whitish under the tail with a single subterminal band. Broad-winged Hawks' wings are relatively short and broad with a tapered, somewhat pointed appearance unique to this species.\\nBrolga - The Brolga is a common gregarious wetland bird species in tropical and eastern Australia, well known for its intricate mating dance. It is the official bird emblem of the state of Queensland.\\nBronze-naped Pigeon\\nBronze-olive Pygmy Tyrant - The Bronze-olive Pygmy-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBronze-tailed Comet - The Bronze-tailed Comet is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Polyonymus. It is endemic to scrub and forest-edge at altitudes of 2,100-3,400 m. in the Andes of Peru.\\nBronze-tailed Glossy-Starling\\nBronze-tailed Peacock-Pheasant - The Bronze-tailed Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron chalcurum is also known as the Sumatran Peacock-pheasant. It is an Indonesian bird.\\nBronze-tailed Plumeleteer - The nest is a deep cup of plant fibres less than 1.5 metres high in a small shrub. The female alone incubates the two white eggs.\\nBronze-tailed Thornbill - The Bronze-tailed Thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBronze-winged Courser - The Bronze-winged Courser is a species of bird in the Glareolidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\\nBronze-winged Duck - The Bronze-winged Duck , also known as the Spectacled Duck, is a dabbling duck and the sole member of its genus Speculanas. It is often placed in Anas with most other dabbling ducks, but its closest relative is either the Crested Duck or the Brazilian Duck, which likewise form monotypic genera. Together they belong to a South American lineage which diverged early from the other dabbling ducks and may include the steamer ducks.\\nBronze-winged Jacana - The Bronze-winged Jacana breeds in India and southeast Asia. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. The males, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation.\\nBronze-winged Parrot - It is mainly dark with a whitish chin patch and its upper chest is speckled with pink feathers. It has short red undertail feathers. The rump, tail and wings are dark blue with lighter blue underwings. The head is dark blue-green; the mantle, back and underparts are dark bronze-green with some blue tipped feathers and sometimes scattered red feathers. Its beak is pale yellow. In adults the ring of bare skin around the eyes is pink. Juveniles have whitish eyerings and their underparts are brownish.\\nBronzed Cowbird - It breeds from the southern US.\\nBronzed Drongo - The Bronzed Drongo is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group. They are resident in the forests of South Asia and Southeast Asia. They are very similar to the other drongos of the region but are somewhat smaller and compact with differences in the fork depth and the patterns of gloss on their feathers.\\nBronzed Shag - The species is dimorphic in appearance. Roughly half the individuals are mostly dark bronze, but with white patches, similar to the King Shag; the remainder are bronze all over. The two morphs breed together indifferently. These chunky birds are 65–75 cm and weigh 1.8-3.9 kg .\\nBronzy Hermit - The Bronzy Hermit is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in forests and thickets from eastern Honduras south to western Panama, and in the Chocó of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. It closely resembles the larger Rufous-breasted Hermit.\\nBronzy Inca - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBronzy Jacamar - It occurs in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBrooks's Leaf-Warbler - The Brooks's Leaf-Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and temperate forests.\\nBrown Accentor - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\\nBrown Babbler\\nBrown booby - Their heads and backs are black, and their bellies are white. Their beaks are quite sharp and contain many jagged edges. They have short wings and long, tapered tails.\\nBrown Bullfinch - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The Brown Bullfinch is a relativley smallbird with a grayish head, nape, and breast. Its diet consists of nuts and native confers. If you go to Bhutan, or Vietnam you will see the Brown Bullfinch in a pair or a group. Little is known about this species.;\\nBrown Bush Warbler - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is boreal forests during breeding and subtropical and tropical forest in the winter quarters.\\nBrown Cacholote\\nBrown Coucal - The Andaman Coucal or Brown Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found on the Andaman Islands in India and the adjacent Coco Islands in Myanmar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBrown Crake\\nBrown Cuckoo-Dove - The pigeon is from 40 to 43 centimetres in length. Its feathers are of a rich rusty-brown colour. The male will tend to have a slight rose/green colouration on their necks. It has a very long tail and short wings.\\nBrown Dipper - The Brown Dipper can either feed by diving into streams to eat larger benthic organisms, or wade in shallower parts of streams and pick smaller organisms of the bottom. The adults will dive for food from December through April, which is when there are more large benthic organisms. Since this period is also the breeding season of the Brown Dipper, more food is required, so diving for large food is necessary. However, the adults will forage by wading and picking at the stream bottom for the rest of the year. Brown Dipper chicks and fledglings will also forage by diving.\\nBrown Emu-tail - The Brown Emu-Tail is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found only in Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrown Falcon - The Brown Falcon, Falco berigora, is a member of the falcon genus found in the drier regions of Australia. Its specific name berigora is derived from an aboriginal name for the bird.\\nBrown finch - The taxonomy of the group of towhees to which this species belongs is debated. At the higher level, some authors place the towhees in the family Fringillidae. Within the genus, there has been dispute about whether the Brown Towhee is a distinct species from the California Towhee, Pipilo crissalis, found in coastal regions from Oregon and California in the United States through Baja California in Mexico. At present, molecular genetics seems to have settled this issue in favour of separation of the species.\\nBrown Firefinch - It is found in Angola, Botswana, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBrown Fish Owl - The Brown Fish-owl is an owl. This species is a part of the family known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most living owls. It inhabits the warm subtropical and humid tropical parts of continental Asia and some offshore islands.\\nBrown Flycatcher - Muscicapa williamsoni\\nBrown Flyeater - The Brown Gerygone has a relatively large range. Although total population trends have not been quantified, it is considered of \\\"least concern\\\" by the IUCN.\\nBrown Fulvetta\\nBrown Goshawk - Its upperparts are grey with a chestnut collar; its underparts are mainly rufous, finely barred with white. Thus it has similar colouring to the Collared Sparrowhawk but is larger. The flight is fast and flexible. The body length is 40–55 cm; the wingspan, 75–95 cm. Adult males weigh 220 g, and adult females, 355 g. Females are noticeably larger.\\nBrown Hawk-Owl - This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae.\\nBrown Honeyeater - In Australia it occurs in thickets throughout much of western, northern and eastern Australia, being absent only from the coldest or wettest areas.\\nBrown Hornbill - The Tickell's Brown Hornbill , also known as the Rusty-cheeked Hornbill, is a species of hornbill found in forests in southern Burma and adjacent western Thailand. It often includes the Austen's Brown Hornbill as a subspecies.\\nBrown Illadopsis - The Brown Illadopsis is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBrown Inca\\nBrown Jacamar - The Brown Jacamar is a species of bird in the Galbulidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrown Jay - It occurs from Mexico south into Central America on the Gulf slope. The northernmost extent of the bird is on the Rio Grande in southern Texas, the lower region of the river called the Rio Grande Valley, .\\nBrown Kiwi - The Southern Brown Kiwi, Tokoeka, or Common kiwi, Apteryx australis, is a species of kiwi from New Zealand's South Island. Until 2000 it was considered conspecific with the North Island Brown Kiwi, and still is by some authorities.\\nBrown Kiwi - Until 2000, the Brown Kiwi was thought to include the Rowi and the Tokoeka, in addition to the North Island Brown Kiwi. However using genetic codes from each of the above it was determined that the Tokoeka was a separate species, it took the Apteryx australis name , leaving the Brown Kiwi with its current Apteryx mantelli name. Soon after, in 1998, more genetic tests were done with the rowi and it was determined that it was a separate species . In 2004 an injured bird was found with streaked white around the head and identified by Massey University. The white feathering is likely due to a rarely seen genetic variation sometimes described as a partial albino. Few documented cases exist with only a painting of one found in Otorohanga in the 18th century and a specimen in the Canterbury Museum. The injured bird recovered and was introduced into a breeding programme.\\nBrown Lory - The Brown Lory species contains two subspecies:\\nBrown Mesite - The Brown Mesite is a medium sized terrestrial bird which is often described as rail-like . The species has a plain face, marked only by a slightly contrasting fleshy eyering around a rather large eye and a variable white streak behind the eye. It has a short straight bill. The upperparts of the bird are rufus brown, the underside tawny with no barring or spotting.\\nBrown Nightjar - The Brown Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, and Liberia.\\nBrown noddy - Etymology: Anous is Greek for \\\"unmindful\\\" , and stolidus means \\\"impassive\\\" in Latin . The birds are often unwary and find safety in enormous numbers. To sailors, they were well known for their apparent indifference to hunters or predators.\\nBrown Nunlet - It is found in the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru in a contiguous range at the eastern slopes of the Andes and the headwaters of the Amazon Basin.\\nBrown Oriole - The Brown Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\\nBrown Parrotbill - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.\\nBrown Pelican - It occurs on coasts in the Americas from Washington and Virginia south to northern Chile and the mouth of the Amazon River, as well as the island of Saut d'Eau in Trinidad and Tobago. Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. After nesting, North American birds move in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter. Their young are hatched in broods of about 3, and eat around 150 lbs. of fish in the 8-10 month period they are cared for.\\nBrown Prinia - The Brown Prinia is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\\nBrown Quail - The Brown Quail is distributed in agricultural areas, wet grasslands, shrublands and freshwater wetlands across much of New Guinea and the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as in northern, eastern, south-eastern and south-western Australia and Tasmania, though absent from arid regions. This species has been introduced to Fiji and New Zealand.\\nBrown Shrike - This shrike is mainly brown on the upper parts and the tail is rounded. The black mask can be paler in winter and has a white brow over it. The underside is creamy with rufous flanks and belly. The wings are brown and lack any white mirror patches. Females have fine scalloping on the underside and the mask is dark brown and not as well marked as in the male. Subspecies lucionensis has a grey crown shading into the brown upperparts and the rump appears more rufous than the rest of the upperback.\\nBrown Sicklebill - The Brown Sicklebill is distributed to mountain forests of New Guinea, Its appearance resembles the closely related and larger Black Sicklebill. In areas where these two large sicklebills met, the Brown Sicklebill replaced the latter species in higher altitudes. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, arthropods and small animals.\\nBrown Skua - The Brown Skua , also known as the Antarctic Skua, Southern Great Skua, Southern Skua, or Hākoakoa , is a seabird that breeds in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic zones and moves further north when not breeding. Its taxonomy is highly complex and a matter of dispute, with some splitting it into two or three species: Falkland Skua , Tristan Skua , and Subantarctic Skua . To further confuse, it hybridizes with both the South Polar and Chilean Skuas, and the entire group have been considered subspecies of the Great Skua, a species otherwise restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. It feeds on fish , small mammals, scraps, chicks, eggs and carrion.\\nBrown Snake Eagle\\nBrown Songlark - The Brown Songlark was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield as Megalurus cruralis in 1827. However the specific name of the former authors took priority. It is a species of Sylviidae, the Old World Warblers, a successful passerine family. It shares the genus Cincloramphus with the Rufous Songlark, another species endemic to much of Australia.\\nBrown Tanager - The Brown Tanager is c. 17 cm in length and weighs c. 31.5 g. As suggested by its name, the plumage is overall brown. The bill is relatively thick. It is endemic to humid Atlantic forest of south-eastern Brazil at altitudes of 900-1500 m . It forages in the canopy and is typically seen in pairs. It is generally uncommon, but known from several protected areas, such as the Itatiaia National Park.\\nBrown Teal - The Brown Teal or New Zealand Teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. The Māori name for it is Pāteke. It was considered to be conspecific with the flightless Auckland Island and Campbell Island Teals in Anas aucklandica; the name \\\"Brown Teal\\\" was applied to that entire taxon. The Brown Teal has since been split, recognizing that the insular A. aucklandica and A. nesiotis are good species. In international use, the name Brown Teal is still more common than New Zealand Teal for this bird.\\nBrown Thornbill - The Brown Thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla, is a passerine bird usually found in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It can grow up to 10 cm long, and feeds on insects.\\nBrown Thrasher - The Brown Thrasher is bright reddish-brown above with thin, dark streaks on its buffy underparts. Its long rufous tail is rounded with paler corners. Adults average about 11.5 in in length with a wingspan of 13 in , and have an average mass of 2.4 oz .\\nBrown Tinamou - The Brown Tinamou is a dumpy, brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America.\\nBrown Tit-Babbler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBrown Treecreeper - Two subspecies, C. picumnus picumnus and C. picumnus victoriae, have been identified. The Brown Treecreeper is considered a \\\"least concern\\\" species by the IUCN, while the subspecies victoriae, found in New South Wales, is considered threatened by Australian authorities.\\nBrown Trembler - It is found in the Lesser Antilles where it breeds on Saba, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica and St. Vincent. It formerly occurred on St. Eustatius. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrown Twinspot - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,200,000 km². The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBrown Violetear - The breeding habitat is forest at altitudes between 400-1600 m, but the Brown Violet-ear will spread widely into the lowlands when not nesting. It is replaced at higher altitudes by its relative, the Green Violetear , but their ranges overlap widely.\\nBrown Warbler - The Brown Warbler Sylvia lugens is a typical warbler found in Africa.\\nBrown Wood Owl - The Brown Wood Owl is medium large , with upperparts uniformly dark brown, with faint white spotting on the shoulders. The underparts are buff with brown streaking. The facial disc is brown or rufous, edged with white and without concentric barring, and the eyes are dark brown. There is a white neckband. The sexes are similar.\\nBrown Wood Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrown Woodland Warbler - The Brown Woodland-Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBrown-and-yellow Marshbird - The Brown-and-yellow Marshbird is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are swamps and pastureland.\\nBrown-backed Chat-Tyrant - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrown-backed Honeyeater\\nBrown-backed Mockingbird - The Brown-backed Mockingbird is a species of bird in the Mimidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, pastureland, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrown-backed Munia - It is found in moist savanna and subtropical/ tropical lowland moist forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\\nBrown-backed Needletail - These birds have very short legs which they use only mainly for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground and spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks.\\nBrown-backed Paradise Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBrown-backed Solitaire - It is relatively common in the mountains of Mexico and northern Central America. It tends to be found in semi-deciduous mountain forests, including mixed pine-oak forests. It is often found near streams.\\nBrown-backed Whistler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBrown-banded Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrown-banded Puffbird - It is found in Amazon Basin areas of Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru; also the Orinoco River region of Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBrown-banded Rail - The Brown-banded Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\\nBrown-bellied Antwren - The Brown-bellied Antwren is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It was formerly placed in the genus Myrmotherula. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBrown-bellied Swallow - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.\\nBrown-billed Scythebill - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBrown-breasted Bamboo-Tyrant - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBrown-breasted Barbet - The Brown-breasted Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, and Tanzania.\\nBrown-breasted Flycatcher - The Brown-breasted Flycatcher or Layard's Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The species breeds in north eastern India, central and Southern China and northern Burma and Thailand, and migrates to southern India and Sri Lanka.\\nBrown-capped Fantail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBrown-capped Laughingthrush - It is found in India and Myanmar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBrown-capped Redstart - The Brown-capped Redstart , or, more accurately, the Brown-capped Whitestart, is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is found in humid Andean forests and woodlands in Bolivia and north-western Argentina. It sometimes includes the Tepui Redstart as a subspecies.\\nBrown-capped Tit-Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBrown-capped Tyrannulet - The Brown-capped Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrown-capped Vireo - The Brown-capped Vireo, Vireo leucophrys, is a small passerine bird. It breeds in highlands from southern Mexico south to northwestern Bolivia. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the similar Warbling Vireo.\\nBrown-capped Weaver\\nBrown-cheeked Fulvetta - This species is one of those retained in the genus Alcippe after the true fulvettas and some others were removed; the group had turned out to unite quite unrelated birds. Its closest relatives are probably the Brown Fulvetta, and the Black-browed Fulvetta which was only recently recognized as a distinct species again. The Javan Fulvetta and the Nepal Fulvetta might also belong into this group.\\nBrown-cheeked Hornbill - The Brown-cheeked Hornbill is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, plantations , and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrown-cheeked Laughingthrush - The binomial name of this bird commemorates Prince Henri of Orléans.\\nBrown-chested Alethe - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBrown-chested Barbet - The bird is sexually dimorphic, slightly medium sized, brownish, with a wide-black face mask centered on the eyes; it has a goldish crown, stout bill, and the cinnamon-colored upper breast patch.\\nBrown-chested Lapwing - The Brown-chested Lapwing is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is found in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.\\nBrown-chested Martin - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, and is a vagrant to Chile and the Malvinas . Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrown-collared Brush-turkey - The Collared Brush-turkey or Brown-collared Brush-turkey is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBrown-crested Flycatcher - Adult Brown-crested Flycatchers are 20.3cm long and weigh 30g, and have heavy bills. The upperparts are olive brown, with a darker head and short crest. The breast is grey and the belly is lemon yellow. The brown tail feathers has rufous inner webs, the remiges have rufous outer webs, and there are two dull wing bars. The sexes are similar.\\nBrown-crowned Tchagra\\nBrown-eared Bulbul - Species: Hypsipetes amaurotis Ixos amaurotis Turdus amaurotis Temminck, 1830\\nBrown-eared Pheasant - The rarest member in the genus Crossoptilon, its diet consists mainly of roots, bulbs and plant matters. The female lays five to eight large eggs. The eggs are pale stone green in color and take 28 days to hatch.\\nBrown-eared Woodpecker - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.\\nBrown-flanked Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBrown-fronted Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBrown-headed Barbet - The Brown-headed Barbet is a resident breeder in India and Sri Lanka. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit and insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2-4 eggs.\\nBrown-headed Cowbird - They resemble New World orioles in general shape but have a finch-like head and beak. Adults have a short finch-like bill and dark eyes. The adult male is mainly iridescent black with a brown head. The adult female is grey with a pale throat and fine streaking on the underparts.\\nBrown-headed Crow - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrown-headed Greenlet - The Brown-headed Greenlet is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBrown-headed Gull - The Brown-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus, is a small gull which breeds in the high plateaux of central Asia from Turkmenistan to Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering on the coasts and large inland lakes of tropical southern Asia. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\\nBrown-headed Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\\nBrown-headed Parrot - The yellow under its wings explains its name cryptoxanthus, which means \\\"hidden yellow\\\"; from Greek xanthos or ξανθος means \\\"yellow\\\", and \\\"crypto\\\", from the Greek kryptos, is an English prefix that means \\\"hidden\\\" or \\\"secret\\\".\\nBrown-hooded Gull - The Brown-hooded Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\\nBrown-hooded Kingfisher - Male in tree\\nBrown-necked Raven - This species has a wide range across virtually the whole of North Africa, down as far as Kenya, the Arabian peninsula and up into the Greater Middle East and southern Iran. It lives in a predominantly desert environment visiting oases and palm groves.\\nBrown-rumped Bunting - The Brown-rumped Bunting is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBrown-rumped Foliage-gleaner - The Brown-rumped Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\\nBrown-rumped Minivet\\nBrown-rumped Seedeater - Length 13 cm. This is a drab uniform grey-brown canary with a small white supercillium. It has a plain breast with white under the chin. The the uniformity of its drabnes means it's eponymous 'brown rump' is often not apparent.\\nBrown-rumped Tapaculo\\nBrown-tailed Chat - The Brown-tailed Chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBrown-throated Barbet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBrown-throated Parakeet - The Brown-throated Parakeet is mostly green, with the lowerparts being a lighter green than the upperparts. Black/grey beak. Some blue in the wing feathers. Brown throat. Head and face colours depend on the subspecies.\\nBrown-throated Treecreeper - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.\\nBrown-throated Wattle-eye - This species breeds in west, central and northeast tropical Africa. This common species is found in secondary forest and other woodland areas, including gardens. The eggs are laid in a small neat lichen and cobweb cup low in a tree or bush.\\nBrown-winged Kingfisher - The Brown-winged Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar, Republic of India and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBrown-winged Parrotbill - It is found in China and Myanmar.\\nBrown-winged Starling - The Brown-winged Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBrownish Elaenia - The Brownish Elaenia is found in the central Amazon Basin, along the Amazon River, in contiguous river corridors, about 125 km wide. Downstream in the east, the bird's range starts at the confluence of the Xingu River in the south of Pará state, North Region, Brazil; it ranges upstream on the Xingu for 700 km, then a tributary to the west of the Xingu, the Rio Iriri, for another 700 km.\\nBrownish Flycatcher - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBrownish-flanked Bush-Warbler - It is found in South Asia.\\nBrubru - Its habitat is dry open woodland, but varies geographically. The six northern races and the subspecies N. a. brubru of southern Africa are found in acacia and broadleaved woodland, whereas the three subspecies in a belt from northeastern Angola and northern Namibia east to Tanzania and northern Mozambique occur in Brachystegia miombo woodland.\\nBruijn's Brush-turkey - An Indonesian endemic, Bruijn's Brush-turkey occurs in mountain forests on Waigeo Island of West Papua.\\nBrush Bronzewing - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\\nBrush Cuckoo - The Brush Cuckoo is native to the east coast of Australia and northern New Guinea. It is grey-brown with a buff breast and its call is very familiar of the Australian bush.\\nBrushland Tinamou - The Brushland Tinamou, Nothoprocta cinerascens, is a type of Tinamou commonly found in high altitude dry shrubland in subtropical and tropical regions of southern South America.\\nBubbling Cisticola - The Bubbling Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.\\nBucorvus cafer - The Southern Ground-hornbill or cafer , is one of two species of ground-hornbill and is the largest species of hornbill.\\nBudgerigar - The budgerigar is closely related to the lories and the fig parrots. Although budgerigars are often, especially in American English, called parakeets, this term refers to any of a number of small parrots with long flat tails.\\nBuff-banded Grassbird - The Buff-banded Bushbird is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.\\nBuff-banded Rail - The Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the family Rallidae.\\nBuff-banded Tyrannulet - The Buff-banded Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBuff-bellied Dove - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBuff-bellied Hermit\\nBuff-bellied hummingbird - Adults are a metallic olive green above and buffy in the lower breast. The tail and primary wings are rufous in color and slightly forked. The underwing is white. The bill of the male is straight and very slender. It is red in coloration with a darker tip. The throat is a metallic golden green. The female has a dark upper bill, and is less colorful than the male.\\nBuff-bellied Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBuff-bellied Puffbird - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBuff-bellied Tanager - The Buff-bellied Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBuff-bellied Warbler\\nBuff-breasted Buttonquail - The Buff-breasted Buttonquail measures from 18-23 inches and usually weighs over 110 grams . Both the tail and wings are short. The back is chestnut. The sides of the head are marked with chestnut on an otherwise plain gray head; while the breast is warm buff-colored. The Painted Buttonquail and the Brown Quail both coexist with this species. The Buff-breasted is larger than either and is quite different different from the all-dark quail. The Painted species is almost totally mottled, with bold white spotting on the breast and no warm buff coloration. The most similar species to the Buff-breasted is the Chestnut-backed Buttonquail, which does not overlap in the wild.\\nBuff-breasted Earthcreeper - The Buff-breasted Earthcreeper is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\\nBuff-breasted flycatcher - Adults have olive gray upperparts, and darker coloration on the wings and tail; they have a conspicuous white eye ring, white wing bars, a small bill and a short tail. The breast of this species is very distinctive, washed with a strong orange buff color.\\nBuff-breasted Mountain Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBuff-breasted Sabrewing - The Buff-Breasted Sabrewing is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBuff-breasted Sandpiper - T. subruficollis breeds in the open arctic tundra of North America and is a very long-distance migrant, wintering mainly in South America, especially Argentina.\\nBuff-breasted Tody-Tyrant - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBuff-breasted Wren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\\nBuff-bridled Inca Finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\\nBuff-browed Chachalaca - The Buff-browed Chachalaca is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found only in Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBuff-browed Foliage-gleaner\\nBuff-browed Warbler - Phylloscopus inornatus humei Phylloscopus inornatus mandellii Phylloscopus mandellii\\nBuff-cheeked Greenlet - The Buff-cheeked Greenlet is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBuff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher - The Buff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.\\nBuff-chested Babbler - The Buff-chested Babbler is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.\\nBuff-collared nightjar - The adults are dark with brown, grey, black, and white patterning on the upperparts and breast. The tail is dark brown, with darker finely barred markings throughout. The male has large white outer tail tips on the 3 outermost tail feathers. The female has buffy tail tips. The most distinguishing characteristic to determine its identity from its closest relative the Whip-poor-will is from where the bird gets its name. It shows a prominent buff-colored collar around its neck and nape. Its song is also very different. It sounds like an accelerating cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cukacheea.\\nBuff-crested Bustard - The Buff-crested Bustard is a species of bird in the Otididae family. It is found in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\\nBuff-faced Pygmy Parrot - Little-studied, it is known mainly for being the world's smallest parrot,\\nBuff-faced Sericornis - It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\\nBuff-fronted Foliage-gleaner - The Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family, the ovenbirds. It is found in southeastern regions of South America in the cerrado and pantanal of Brazil and Paraguay as well as areas of southeast coastal Brazil; also extreme northeast Argentina. In western Andean and northwest South America, it is found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia; and in the northwest, it is also found in Panama and Costa Rica.\\nBuff-fronted Owl - This nocturnal bird breeds in open mountain forests, laying its eggs in a tree hole. It takes rodents and other small mammals as its main prey, but will also feed on birds and insects.\\nBuff-headed Coucal - This species is a large cuckoo with a heavy bill and short wings. The plumage of adults is striking with a buff head, upper back and undersides, and glossy black wings, lower back and tail. The iris is red and legs and bill are dark grey. Juveniles are very differently colored, with the wings and tail reddish brown with black barring somewhat like in the allopatric Pheasant Coucal, and the rest of the plumage brown mottled with black. The iris is brown-grey and the bill is bicolored, brown above and pale horn below.\\nBuff-necked Ibis - It has a total length of approximately 75 centimetres . The neck is buffish, the upperparts are grey, the belly and flight feathers are black, and there is a large white patch in the wings. In flight, where the relatively short legs do no extend beyond the tail , the white patch forms a broad white band on the upperwing that separates the black remiges and the grey lesses wing-coverts. The bill and bare skin around the eyes are blackish and the legs are red.\\nBuff-necked Woodpecker - The Buff-necked Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBuff-rumped Warbler - The pair builds a bulky domed nest with a side entrance on a sloping bank next to a stream or path, and the female lays two white eggs which are incubated for 16–17 days with another 13–14 days to fledging.\\nBuff-rumped Woodpecker - The Buff-rumped Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\\nBuff-spotted Flufftail\\nBuff-spotted Woodpecker - The Buff-spotted Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\\nBuff-throated Apalis\\nBuff-throated Foliage-gleaner - It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\\nBuff-throated Purpletuft - It is endemic to Atlantic forest in Brazil. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\\nBuff-throated Saltator - This is the type species of Saltator. Consequently, it and its closest allies would retain the genus name when this apparently polyphyletic group is eventually split up.\\nBuff-throated Sunbird - The Buff-throated Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.\\nBuff-throated Tody-Tyrant\\nBuff-throated Treehunter - The Peruvian Treehunter or Buff-throated Treehunter is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBuff-throated Warbler - It is found in China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\\nBuff-vented Bulbul\\nBuff-winged Starfrontlet - The Buff-Winged Starfrontlet is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBufflehead - The Bufflehead is a small American sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Anas albeola.\\nBuffy Fish-Owl\\nBuffy Hummingbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBuffy Pipit - The Buffy Pipit is a species of bird in the Motacillidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.\\nBuffy Tuftedcheek - It occurs as a resident breeder above 1600 m in wet mountain forests with many epiphytes. The female lays one white egg in a thickly lined old woodpecker nest. One parent, probably the female, incubates the single white egg for 29 days to hatching, covering the egg with leaves when she leaves the nest.\\nBuffy-crowned Wood-Partridge\\nBuffy-throated Seedeater - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBugler swan - Males typically measure from 145 to 163 centimetres and weigh 11.8 kilograms ; females typically range from 139 to 150 centimetres and weigh 10 kilograms . The average wingspan is 2.03 metres . It is rivaled in size among waterfowl only by the introduced Mute Swan, which is native to Eurasia, but the Trumpeter usually is longer-bodied. Exceptionally large male Trumpeters can reach a length of 183 centimetres , a wingspan of 3 metres and a weight of 17.2 kilograms . The Trumpeter Swan is closely related to the Whooper Swan of Eurasia, and even has been considered the same species by some authorities.\\nBull-headed Shrike - It is 19-20 cm long. The male has a brown crown, white eyebrow and black mask. The back is grey-brown while the wings are dark with a white patch. The flanks are rufous and the rest of the underparts are whitish with fine barring. Females are similar but duller and browner with a brown mask and no white wing-patch. The species has harsh grating and chattering calls and will also mimic other birds.\\nBuller's Albatross - Mollymawks are a type of Albatross that belong to Diomedeidae family and come from the Procellariiformes order, along with Shearwaters, Fulmars, Storm-petrels, and Diving-petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nostrils on the Albatross are on the sides of the bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.\\nBullock's Oriole - Adults have a pointed bill. The adult male is orange on the underparts, face and rump with black everywhere else; they have a white wing patch. The adult female is grey-brown on the upper parts, dull yellow on the breast and belly and has wing bars.\\nBulwer's petrel - This very long-winged petrel is 25-29 cm in length with a 78-90 cm wingspan. It has mainly brown plumage and a long pointed tail. It has a buoyant twisting flight as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface.\\nBulwer's Pheasant - Bulwer's Pheasant is sexually dimorphic. Males have a total length of about 80 centimetres , and are black-plumaged with a maroon breast, crimson legs, a pure white tail of long, curved feathers, and bright blue facial skin with two wattles that conceal the sides of its head. Females have a total length of about 55 centimetres , and are an overall dull brown colour with red legs and blue facial skin.\\nBulweria bifax\\nBumblebee hummingbird - The Bumblebee Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Mexico and the United States. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBurchell - Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey by running on the ground.\\nBurchell's Glossy-Starling\\nBurchell's Sandgrouse - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\\nBurmese Shrike - The Burmese Shrike is a species of bird in the Laniidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBurmese Yuhina\\nBurnished-buff Tanager - It is found in the northern Guianas, most of Venezuela and east-central Colombia; also near the Amazon River outlet in Brazil, as well as most of the east of that country, Paraguay and northeast Argentina. It also occurs very locally in Bolivia and Peru. It can be seen in virtually any semi-open habitat with trees, including human-altered habitats such as gardens, plantations and parks.\\nBurnt-neck Eremomela - The Burnt-Neck Eremomela is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\\nBurrowing Owl - Strix cunicularia Molina, 1782 Speotyto cunicularia Spheotyto cunicularia\\nBurrowing Parrot - It is mainly found in Argentina. A very much reduced population still survives in Chile, and migration of some Argentine populations to Uruguay has been reported for the winter months. Sometimes strong westerly winds bring some individuals as far as the Falkland Islands.\\nBuru Cuckoo-shrike - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\\nBuru Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBuru Racquet-tailed Parrot - The Buru Racket-tail is a mainly green parrot about 32 cm long. The beak is blackish and lighter at the base, and the long undertail-coverts are yellow. The adult male has blue upper-parts from the back of its head to mid-back and which extends into the upper surfaces of the forewings. The female has a small area of blue on the nape. Juveniles do not have racket-shaped tail feathers. The male juvenile has a little blue on the nape and the female juvenile has all-green upper-parts.\\nBuru Thrush - The Buru Thrush is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is endemic to montane rainforest on Buru in Indonesia. Traditionally, it included the Seram Thrush as a subspecies, in which case the common name of the 'combined species' was Moluccan Thrush.\\nBuru White-eye - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\\nBush Petronia\\nBush Thick-knee - Like most stone-curlews, it is mainly nocturnal and specialises in hunting small grassland animals: frogs, spiders, insects, molluscs, crustaceans, snakes, lizards and small mammals are all taken, mostly gleaned or probed from soft soil or rotting wood; also a few seeds or tubers, particularly in drought years. Birds usually forage individually or in pairs over a large home range, particularly on moonlit nights.\\nBush Wren - It was widespread throughout the main islands of the country until the late 19th century when mustelids were introduced and joined rats as invasive mammalian predators. The only authenticated reports of the North Island subspecies since 1900 were from the southern Rimutaka Range in 1918 and the Ureweras up to 1955, with probable sightings on June 13, 1949, near Lake Waikareiti, and several times in the first half of the 20th century in the Huiarau Range, and from Kapiti Island in 1911 . Apparently, the last population lived in the area where Te Urewera National Park was established, ironically just around the time of its extinction.\\nBushtit - The Bushtit inhabits mixed open woodlands, often containing oaks and a scrubby understory. It is a year-round resident of the western United States and highland parts of Mexico, ranging from Vancouver through the Great Basin and the lowlands and foothills of California to southern Mexico and Guatemala.\",\n \"Fun facts about the Badger - Badger Facts and Information ...\\nThey have even been known to eat rattlesnakes ... which has given it its name. Omnivorous, like other badgers, ... The Honey Badger (Mellivora Capensis), or Ratel, ...\\nFun facts about the Badger - Badger Facts and Information - The Jungle Store\\nSee more Animal Facts\\nBadger\\nThere are 7 different species of Badger found across 4 continents. This nocturnal omnivore can be found in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa and share the distinction of being incredibly strong for their size, and the world’s fastest diggers. All badgers have a low slung body, shovel-shaped head and strong, sharp claws. Most are dark gray or black with distinctive white stripes down their face and sides. They all prefer sandy, porous soil and dig extensive tunnels and burrows which are called setts.\\nThe American Badger (Taxadea Taxus) is the most carnivorous of the species, using their stellar digging skills to unearth chipmunks, ground hogs and rabbits. They have even been known to eat rattlesnakes and, during the winter, will feed on carrion. The American Badger is the least social of the badger species, preferring a solitary existence. Occasionally, American Badgers have been known to share their setts with coyotes and foxes, and in one case, a lost child. The badger seemed to adopt the boy, bringing him food and keeping him safe. Although a determined fighter, the American Badger does leave its territory undefended against other badgers if the hunting is good.\\nThe Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) has a territory that extends throughout Europe and Asia, from England to Japan, from Scandinavia to Italy. They are far more social than their American cousins and generations will share the same sett and territory. Some of these “family” burrows are believed to be at least 100 years old and one comprised a network of tunnels measuring over 1017 feet. The Eurasian Badger enjoys a more omnivorous diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains as well as some meat.\\nThe Hog Badger (Arctonyx Collaris) stakes his claim to most of Asia and is closest in appearance to the Eurasian Badger. The main difference between the two is the Hog Badger’s hairless, pig-like snout, which has given it its name. Omnivorous, like other badgers, this fellow not only uses its claws, but its snouts as well to dig up earthworms, roots and tubers. The Hog Badger, or Sand Badger as it is sometimes called, is more apt to dine on insects and vegetables than on small mammals.\\nThe Honey Badger (Mellivora Capensis), or Ratel, is not considered a “True” badger at all. It is the most visually diverse of the badger family, with a solid light gray coat on its upper body and long tail, and a solid black coat on its lower body. It lives primarily in Africa and the Middle East. Considered to be quite fierce, the Honey Badger frequently dines on poisonous snakes. The badger shares its taste for honey with the Honey Guide, a bird who finds a colony of bees and leads the badger to it. Once there, the Honey Badger’s thick pelt allows it to ignore the angry swarm, rip open the hive, and share the honey with the bird.\\nFun Badger Facts\",\n \"Wild_boar.txt\\nWild boar\\nThe wild boar (Sus scrofa), also known as the wild swineHeptner, V. G. ; Nasimovich, A. A. ; Bannikov, A. G. ; Hoffman, R. S. (1988) [https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsovietu11988gept#page/18/mode/2up Mammals of the Soviet Union], Volume I, Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation, pp. 19-82 or Eurasian wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia, North Africa, and the Greater Sunda Islands. Human intervention has spread its range further, making the species one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widely spread suiform. Its wide range, high numbers, and adaptability mean that it is classed as least concern by the IUCN. The animal probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene, and outcompeted other suid species as it spread throughout the Old World.\\n\\nAs of 2005, up to 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height and lacrimal bone length. The species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young (both male and female). Fully grown males are usually solitary outside of the breeding season. The grey wolf is the wild boar's main predator throughout most of its range except in the Far East and the Lesser Sunda Islands, where it is replaced by the tiger and Komodo dragon respectively.Baskin, L. & Danell, K. (2003), Ecology of Ungulates: A Handbook of Species in Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia, Springer Science & Business Media, pp. 15-38, ISBN 3-540-43804-1 It has a long history of association with humans, having been the ancestor of most domestic pig breeds and a big-game animal for millennia.\\n\\nTerminology \\n\\nAs true wild boars became extinct in Britain before the development of modern English, the same terms are often used for both true wild boar and pigs, especially large or semiwild ones. The English 'boar' stems from the Old English bar, which is thought to be derived from the West Germanic *bairaz, of unknown origin. Boar is sometimes used specifically to refer to males, and may also be used to refer to male domesticated pigs, especially breeding males that have not been castrated.\\n\\n'Sow', the traditional name for a female, again comes from Old English and Germanic; it stems from Proto-Indo-European, and is related to the Latin sus and Greek hus and more closely to the modern German Sau. The young may be called 'piglets'.\\n\\nThe animals' specific name scrofa is Latin for 'sow'. \\nIn hunting terminology, boars are given different designations according to their age: \\n\\nTaxonomy and evolution \\n\\nMtDNA studies indicate that the wild boar originated from islands in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and the Philippines, and subsequently spread onto mainland Eurasia and North Africa.Chen, K. et al. \\\"Genetic Resources, Genome Mapping and Evolutionary Genomics of the Pig (Sus scrofa)\\\". Int J Biol Sci 2007; 3(3):153-165. doi:10.7150/ijbs.3.153. Available from http://www.ijbs.com/v03p0153.htm The earliest fossil finds of the species come from both Europe and Asia, and date back to the Early Pleistocene.Ruvinsky, A. et al. (2011). \\\"Systematics and evolution of the pig\\\". In: Ruvinsky A, Rothschild MF (eds), The Genetics of the Pig. 2nd ed. CAB International, Oxon. pp. 1-13. ISBN 978-1-84593-756-0 By the late Villafranchian, S. scrofa largely displaced the related S. strozzii, a large, possibly swamp-adapted suid ancestral to the modern S. verrucosus throughout the Eurasian mainland, restricting it to insular Asia.Kurtén, Björn (1968). Pleistocene mammals of Europe. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 153-155 Its closest wild relative is the bearded pig of Malacca and surrounding islands.\\n\\nSubspecies \\n\\n, 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings:\\n\\n* Western: Includes S. s. scrofa, S. s. meridionalis, S. s. algira, S. s. attila, S. s. lybicus, and S. s. nigripes. These subspecies are typically high-skulled (though lybicus and some scrofa are low-skulled), with thick underwool and (excepting scrofa and attila) poorly developed manes. \\n* Indian: Includes S. s. davidi and S. s. cristatus. These subspecies have sparse or absent underwool, with long manes and prominent bands on the snout and mouth. While S. s. cristatus is high-skulled, S. s. davidi is low-skulled.\\n* Eastern: Includes S. s. sibiricus, S. s. ussuricus, S. s. leucomystax, S. s. riukiuanus, S. s. taivanus, and S. s. moupinensis. These subspecies are characterised by a whitish streak extending from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw. With the exception of S. s. ussuricus, most are high-skulled. The underwool is thick, except in S. s. moupinensis, and the mane is largely absent.\\n* Indonesian: Represented solely by S. s. vittatus, it is characterised by its sparse body hair, lack of underwool, fairly long mane, a broad reddish band extending from the muzzle to the sides of the neck. It is the most basal of the four groups, having the smallest relative brain size, more primitive dentition and unspecialised cranial structure. \\n\\nDomestication \\n\\nWith the exception of domestic pigs in Timor and Papua New Guinea (which appear to be of Sulawesi warty pig stock), the wild boar is the ancestor of most pig breeds. Archaeological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated from wild boar as early as 13,000–12,700 BC in the Near East in the Tigris Basin being managed in the wild in a way similar to the way they are managed by some modern New Guineans. Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 BC in Cyprus. Those animals must have been introduced from the mainland, which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then. There was also a separate domestication in China which took place about 8000 years ago. DNA evidence from sub-fossil remains of teeth and jawbones of Neolithic pigs shows that the first domestic pigs in Europe had been brought from the Near East. This stimulated the domestication of local European wild boar resulting in a third domestication event with the Near Eastern genes dying out in European pig stock. Modern domesticated pigs have involved complex exchanges, with European domesticated lines being exported in turn to the ancient Near East. Historical records indicate that Asian pigs were introduced into Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Domestic pigs tend to have much more developed hindquarters than their wild boar ancestors, to the point where 70% of their body weight is concentrated in the posterior, which is the opposite of wild boar, where most of the muscles are concentrated on the head and shoulders. \\n\\nPhysical description \\n\\nThe wild boar is a bulky, massively built suid with short and relatively thin legs. The trunk is short and massive, while the hindquarters are comparatively underdeveloped. The region behind the shoulder blades rises into a hump, and the neck is short and thick, to the point of being nearly immobile. The animal's head is very large, taking up to one third of the body's entire length. The structure of the head is well suited for digging. The head acts as a plow, while the powerful neck muscles allow the animal to upturn considerable amounts of soil: it is capable of digging 8 - into frozen ground and can upturn rocks weighing 40 -. The eyes are small and deep-set, and the ears long and broad. The species has well developed canine teeth, which protrude from the mouths of adult males. The middle hooves are larger and more elongated than the lateral ones, and are capable of quick movements. The animal can run at a maximum speed of 40 km/h and jump at a height of 140 -. Sexual dimorphism is very pronounced in the species, with males being typically 5-10% larger and 20-30% heavier than females. Males also sport a mane running down the back, which is particularly apparent during autumn and winter. The canine teeth are also much more prominent in males, and grow throughout life. The upper canines are relatively short and grow sideways early in life, though gradually curve upwards. The lower canines are much sharper and longer, with the exposed parts measuring 10 - in length. In the breeding period, males develop a coating of subcutaneous tissue, which may be 2 - thick, extending from the shoulder blades to the rump, thus protecting vital organs during fights. Males sport a roughly egg-sized sack near the opening of the penis, which collects urine and emits a sharp odour. The purpose of this is not fully understood.\\n\\nAdult size and weight is largely determined by environmental factors; boars living in arid areas with little productivity tend to attain smaller sizes than their counterparts inhabiting areas with abundant food and water. In most of Europe, males average 75 - in weight, 75 - in shoulder height and 150 cm in body length, whereas females average 60 - in weight, 70 cm in shoulder height and 140 cm in body length. In Europe's Mediterranean regions, males may reach average weights as low as 50 kg and females 45 kg, with shoulder heights of 63 -. In the more productive areas of Eastern Europe, males average 110 - in weight, 95 cm in shoulder height and 160 cm in body length, while females weigh 95 kg, reach 85 - in shoulder height and 145 cm in body length. In Western and Central Europe, the largest males weigh 200 kg and females 120 kg. In Eastern Europe, large males can reach brown bear-like sizes, weighing 270 kg and measuring 110 - in shoulder height. Some adult males in Ussuriland and Manchuria have been recorded to weigh 300 - and measure 125 cm in shoulder height. Adults of this size are generally immune from wolf predation. Such giants are rare in modern times, due to past overhunting preventing animals from attaining their full growth.\\n\\nThe winter coat consists of long, coarse bristles underlaid with short brown downy fur. The length of these bristles varies along the body, with the shortest being around the face and limbs and the longest running along the back. These back bristles form the aforementioned mane prominent in males, and stand erect when the animal is agitated. Colour is highly variable; specimens around Lake Balkhash are very lightly coloured, and can even be white, while some boars from Belarus and Ussuriland can be black. Some subspecies sport a light coloured patch running backwards from the corners of the mouth. Coat colour also varies with age, with piglets having light brown or rusty-brown fur with pale bands extending from the flanks and back.\\n\\nThe wild boar produces a number of different sounds which are divided into three categories:\\n\\n* Contact calls: Grunting noises which differ in intensity according to the situation. Adult males are usually silent, while females frequently grunt and piglets whine. When feeding, boars express their contentment through purring. Studies have shown that piglets imitate the sounds of their mother, thus different litters may have unique vocalisations.\\n* Alarm calls: Warning cries emitted in response to threats. When frightened, boars make loud huffing ukh! ukh! sounds or emit screeches transcribed as gu-gu-gu.\\n* Combat calls: High-pitched, piercing cries.\\n\\nIts sense of smell is very well developed, to the point that the animal is used for drug detection in Germany. Its hearing is also acute, though its eyesight is comparatively weak, lacking colour vision and being unable to recognise a standing human 10–15 metres away.\\n\\nPigs are one of four known mammalian species which possess mutations in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor that protect against snake venom. Mongooses, honey badgers, hedgehogs, and pigs all have modifications to the receptor pocket which prevents the snake venom α-neurotoxin from binding. These represent four separate, independent mutations. \\n\\nSocial behaviour and life cycle \\n\\nBoars are typically social animals, living in female-dominated sounders consisting of barren sows and mothers with young led by an old matriarch. Male boars leave their sounder at the age of 8–15 months, while females either remain with their mothers or establish new territories nearby. Subadult males may live in loosely knit groups, while adult and elderly males tend to be solitary outside the breeding season. \\n\\nThe breeding period in most areas lasts from November to January, though most mating only lasts a month and a half. Prior to mating, the males develop their subcutaneous armour, in preparation for confronting rivals. The testicles double in size and the glands secrete a foamy yellowish liquid. Once ready to reproduce, males travel long distances in search of a sounder of sows, eating little on the way. Once a sounder has been located, the male drives off all young animals and persistently chases the sows. At this point, the male fiercely fights potential rivals, A single male can mate with 5-10 sows. By the end of the rut, males are often badly mauled and have lost 20% of their body weight. Injuries to the penis are common. The gestation period varies according to the age of the expecting mother. For first time breeders, it lasts 114–130 days, while it lasts 133–140 days in older sows. Farrowing occurs between March and May, with litter sizes depending on the age and nutrition of the mother. The average litter consists of 4-6 piglets, with the maximum being 10-12. The piglets are whelped in a nest constructed from twigs, grasses and leaves. Should the mother die prematurely, the piglets are adopted by the other sows in the sounder. \\n\\nNewborn piglets weigh around 600-1,000 grams, lacking underfur and bearing a single milk incisor and canine on each half of the jaw. There is intense competition between the piglets over the most milk-rich nipples, as the best fed young grow faster and have stronger constitutions. The piglets do not leave the lair for their first week of life. Should the mother be absent, the piglets lie closely pressed to each other. By two weeks of age, the piglets begin accompanying their mother on her journeys. Should danger be detected, the piglets take cover or stand immobile, relying on their camouflage to keep them hidden. The neonatal coat fades after three months, with adult colouration being attained at eight months. Although the lactation period lasts 2.5-3.5 months, the piglets begin displaying adult feeding behaviours at the age of 2–3 weeks. The permanent dentition is fully formed by 1–2 years. With the exception of the canines in males, the teeth stop growing during the middle of the fourth year. The canines in old males continue to grow throughout their lives, curving strongly as they age. Sows attain sexual maturity at the age of one year, with males attaining it a year later. However, estrus usually first occurs after two years in sows, while males begin participating in the rut after 4–5 years, as they are not permitted to mate by the older males. The maximum lifespan in the wild is 10–14 years, though few specimens survive past 4–5 years. Boars in captivity have lived for 20 years.\\n\\nEcology \\n\\nHabitat and sheltering behaviour \\n\\nThe wild boar inhabits a diverse array of habitats from boreal taigas to deserts. In mountainous regions, it can even occupy alpine zones, occurring up to 1,900 metres in the Carpathians, 2,600 metres in the Caucasus and up to 3,600-4,000 metres in the mountains in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. In order to survive in a given area, wild boars require a habitat fulfilling three conditions: heavily brushed areas providing shelter from predators, water for drinking and bathing purposes and an absence of regular snowfall. The main habitats favoured by boars in Europe are deciduous and mixed forests, with the most favourable areas consisting of forest composed of oak and beech enclosing marshes and meadows. In the Białowieża Forest, the animal's primary habitat consists of well developed, broad-leaved and mixed forests, along with marshy mixed forests, with coniferous forests and undergrowths being of secondary importance. Forests made up entirely of oak groves and beech are used only during the fruit-bearing season. This is in contrast to the Caucasian and Transcaucasian mountain areas, where boars will occupy such fruit-bearing forests year-round. In the mountainous areas of the Russian Far East, the species inhabits nutpine groves, hilly mixed forests where Mongolian oak and Korean pine are present, swampy mixed taiga and coastal oak forests. In Transbaikalia, boars are restricted to river valleys with nutpine and shrubs. Boars are regularly encountered in pistachio groves in winter in some areas of Tajikistan and Turkmenia, while in spring they migrate to open deserts; boar have also colonised deserts in several areas they have been introduced to. On the islands of Komodo and Rinca, the boar mostly inhabits savanna or open monsoon forests, avoiding heavily forested areas unless pursued by humans. Wild boar are known to be competent swimmers, capable of covering long distances. In 2013, one boar was reported to have completed the seven mile swim from France to Alderney in the Channel Islands. Due to concerns about disease it was shot and incinerated. \\n\\nWild boar rest in shelters, which contain insulating material like spruce branches and dry hay. These resting places are occupied by whole families (though males lie separately), and are often located in the vicinity of streams, in swamp forests, in tall grass or shrub thickets. Boars never defecate in their shelters, and will cover themselves with soil and pine needles when irritated by insects.\\n\\nDiet \\n\\nThe wild boar is a highly versatile omnivore, whose diversity in choice of food rivals that of humans. Their foods can be divided into four categories:\\n\\n* Rhizomes, roots, tubers and bulbs, all of which are dug up throughout the year in the animal's whole range.\\n* Nuts, berries, and seeds, which are consumed when ripened and are dug up from the snow when abundant.\\n* Leaves, bark, twigs, and shoots, along with garbage.\\n* Earthworms, insects, mollusks, fish, rodents, insectivores, bird eggs, lizards, snakes, frogs, and carrion. Most of these prey items are taken in warm periods.\\n\\nA 50 kg boar needs around 4,000-4,500 calories of food per day, though this required amount increases during winter and pregnancy, with the majority of its diet consisting of food items dug from the ground like underground plant material and burrowing animals. Acorns and beechnuts are invariably its most important food items in temperate zones, as they are rich in the carbohydrates necessary for the buildup of fat reserves needed to survive lean periods. In Western Europe, underground plant material favoured by boars includes bracken, willow herb, bulbs, meadow herb roots and bulbs, and the bulbs of cultivated crops. Such food is favoured in early spring and summer, but may also be eaten in autumn and winter during beechnut and acorn crop failures. Should regular wild foods become scarce, boars will eat tree bark and fungi, as well as visit cultivated potato and artichoke fields. Boar soil disturbance and foraging have been shown to facilitate invasive plants. Boars of the vittatus subspecies in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java differ from most other populations by their primarily frugivorous diet, which consists of 50 different fruit species, especially figs, thus making them important seed dispersers. The wild boar can consume numerous genera of poisonous plants without ill effect, including Aconitum, Anemone, Calla, Caltha, Ferula, and Pteridium.\\n\\nBoars may occasionally prey on small vertebrates like newborn deer fawns, leporids and galliform chicks. Boars inhabiting the Volga Delta and near some lakes and rivers of Kazakhstan have been recorded to feed extensively on fish like carp and Caspian roach. Boars in the former area will also feed on cormorant and heron chicks, bivalved molluscs, trapped muskrats and mice. There is at least one record of a boar killing and eating a bonnet macaque in southern India's Bandipur National Park, though this may have been a case of intraguild predation, brought on by interspecific competition for human handouts. \\n\\nPredators \\n\\nPiglets are vulnerable to attack from medium-sized felids like lynx, jungle cats and snow leopards and other carnivorans like brown bears and yellow-throated martens.\\n\\nThe grey wolf is the main predator of wild boar throughout most of its range. A single wolf can kill around 50-80 boars of differing ages in one year. In Italy and Belarus' Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, boars are the wolf's primary prey, despite an abundance of alternative, less powerful ungulates. Wolves are particularly threatening during the winter, when deep snow impedes the boars' movements. In the Baltic regions, heavy snowfall can allow wolves to eliminate boars from an area almost completely. Wolves primarily target piglets and subadults, and only rarely attack adult sows. Adult males are usually avoided entirely. Dholes may also prey on boars, to the point of keeping their numbers down in northwestern Bhutan, despite there being many more cattle in the area. \\n\\nLeopards are predators of wild boar in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the Russian Far East, India, China, and Iran. In most areas, boars constitute only a small part of the leopard's diet. However, in Iran's Sarigol National Park, boars are the second most frequently targeted prey species after mouflon, though adult individuals are generally avoided, as they are above the leopard's preferred weight range of 10 -. \\n\\nBoars of all ages were once the primary prey of tigers in Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia and the Far East up until the late 19th century. In modern times, tiger numbers are too low to have a limiting effect on boar populations. A single tiger can systematically destroy an entire sounder by preying on its members one by one, before moving on to another herd. Tigers have been noted to chase boars for longer distances than with other prey. In two rare cases, boars were reported to gore a small tiger and a tigress to death in self-defense. In the Amur region, wild boars are one of the two most important prey species for tigers alongside the Manchurian wapiti, with the two species collectively comprising roughly 80% of the felid's prey. In Sikhote Alin, a tiger can kill 30-34 boars a year. Studies of tigers in India indicate that boars are usually secondary in preference to various cervids and bovids, though when boars are targeted, healthy adults are caught more frequently than young and sick specimens. \\n\\nOn the islands of Komodo, Rinca, and Flores, the boar's main predator is the Komodo dragon.\\n\\nRange \\n\\nReconstructed range \\n\\nThe species originally occurred in North Africa and much of Eurasia; from the British Isles to Korea and the Sunda Islands. The northern limit of its range extended from southern Scandinavia to southern Siberia and Japan. Within this range, it was only absent in extremely dry deserts and alpine zones. It was once found in North Africa along the Nile valley up to Khartum and north of the Sahara. The species occurs on a few Ionian and Aegean Islands, sometimes swimming between islands.Masseti, M. (2012), Atlas of terrestrial mammals of the Ionian and Aegean islands, Walter de Gruyter, pp. 139-141, ISBN 3-11-025458-1 The reconstructed northern boundary of the animal's Asian range ran from Lake Ladoga (at 60°N) through the area of Novgorod and Moscow into the southern Urals, where it reached 52°N. From there, the boundary passed Ishim and farther east the Irtysh at 56°N. In the eastern Baraba steppe (near Novosibirsk) the boundary turned steep south, encircled the Altai Mountains, and went again eastward including the Tannu-Ola Mountains and Lake Baikal. From here the boundary went slightly north of the Amur River eastward to its lower reaches at the Sea of Okhotsk. On Sakhalin, there are only fossil reports of wild boar. The southern boundaries in Europe and Asia were almost invariably identical to the sea shores of these continents. It is absent in the dry regions of Mongolia from 44–46°N southward, in China westward of Sichuan and in India north of the Himalayas. It is absent in the higher elevations of Pamir and Tien Shan, though they do occur in the Tarim basin and on the lower slopes of the Tien Shan.\\n\\nPresent range \\n\\nIn recent centuries, the range of wild boar has changed dramatically, largely due to hunting by humans and more recently because of captive wild boar escaping into the wild. Prior to the 20th century, boar populations had declined in numerous areas, with British populations probably becoming extinct during the 13th century. In Denmark, the last boar was shot at the beginning of the 19th century, and in 1900 they were absent in Tunisia and Sudan and large areas of Germany, Austria, and Italy. In Russia they were extirpated in wide areas in the 1930s. The last boar in Egypt reportedly died on 20 December 1912 in the Giza Zoo, with wild populations having disappeared around 1894–1902. Prince Kamal el Dine Hussein attempted to repopulate Wadi El Natrun with boars of Hungarian stock, but they were quickly exterminated by poachers.Osborn, Dale. J.; Helmy, Ibrahim (1980), [https://archive.org/stream/contemporaryland05osbo#page/474/mode/2up \\\"The contemporary land mammals of Egypt (including Sinai)\\\"], Field Museum of Natural History, pp. 475-477\\n\\nA revival of boar populations began in the middle of the 20th century. By 1950 wild boar had once again reached their original northern boundary in many parts of their Asiatic range. By 1960, they reached Leningrad and Moscow, and by 1975 they were to be found in Archangelsk and Astrakhan. In the 1970s they again occurred in Denmark and Sweden, where captive animals escaped and now survive in the wild. In England, wild boar populations re-established themselves in the 1990s, after escaping from specialist farms that had imported European stock.\\n\\nStatus in Britain \\n\\nWild boar were apparently already becoming rare by the 11th century, since a 1087 forestry law enacted by William the Conqueror punishes through blinding the unlawful killing of boar. Charles I attempted to reintroduce the species into the New Forest, though this population was exterminated during the Civil War. A similar attempt was made in Dorsetshire's Bere Wood, though these were again exterminated after one specimen injured a horse belonging to the sporting writer Charles James Apperley. \\n\\nBetween their medieval extinction and the 1980s, when wild boar farming began, only a handful of captive wild boar, imported from the continent, were present in Britain. Occasional escapes of wild boar from wildlife parks have occurred as early as the 1970s, but since the early 1990s significant populations have re-established themselves after escapes from farms; the number of which has increased as the demand for wild boar meat has grown. A 1998 MAFF (now DEFRA) study on wild boar living wild in Britain confirmed the presence of two populations of wild boar living in Britain; one in Kent/East Sussex and another in Dorset. Another DEFRA report, in February 2008, confirmed the existence of these two sites as 'established breeding areas' and identified a third in Gloucestershire/Herefordshire; in the Forest of Dean/Ross on Wye area. A 'new breeding population' was also identified in Devon. There is another significant population in Dumfries and Galloway. Populations estimates were as follows:\\n* The largest population, in Kent/East Sussex, was estimated at approximately 200 animals in the core distribution area.\\n* The second largest, in Gloucestershire/Herefordshire, was estimated to be in excess of 100 animals. This may now be the largest population as it is expanding rapidly.\\n* The smallest, in west Dorset, was estimated to be fewer than 50 animals.\\n* Since winter 2005/6 significant escapes/releases have also resulted in animals colonising areas around the fringes of Dartmoor, in Devon. These are considered as an additional single 'new breeding population' and currently estimated to be up to 100 animals.\\n\\nPopulation estimates for the Forest of Dean are disputed as at the time that the DEFRA population estimate was 100, a photo of a boar sounder in the forest near Staunton with over 33 animals visible was published, and at about the same time over 30 boar were seen in a field near the original escape location of Weston under Penyard many miles away. In early 2010 the Forestry Commission embarked on a cull, with the aim of reducing the boar population from an estimated 150 animals to 100. By August it was stated that efforts were being made to reduce the population from 200 to 90, but that only 25 had been killed. The failure to meet cull targets was confirmed in February 2011. \\n\\nWild boar have crossed the River Wye into Monmouthshire Wales. Iolo Williams, the BBC Wales wildlife expert, attempted to film Welsh boar in late 2012. Many other sightings, across the UK, have also been reported. The effects of wild boar on the UK's woodlands were discussed with Ralph Harmer of the Forestry Commission on the 's Farming Today radio programme in 2011. The programme prompted activist writer George Monbiot to propose a thorough population study, followed by the introduction of permit-controlled culling. \\n\\nIntroduction to North America \\n\\nWhile domestic pigs, both captive and feral (popularly termed \\\"razorbacks\\\"), have been in North America since the earliest days of European colonization, pure wild boar were not introduced into the New World until the 19th century. The suids were released into the wild by wealthy landowners as big game animals. The initial introductions took place in fenced enclosures, though several escapes occurred, with the escapees sometimes intermixing with already established feral pig populations.\\n\\nThe first of these introductions occurred in New Hampshire in 1890. Thirteen wild boar from Germany were purchased by Austin Corbin from Carl Hagenbeck, and released into a 9,500 hectare game preserve in Sullivan County. Several of these boars escaped, though they were quickly hunted down by locals. Two further introductions were done since the original stocking, with several escapes taking place due to breaches in the game preserve's fencing. These escapees have ranged widely, with some specimens having been observed crossing into Vermont. \\n\\nIn 1902, 15-20 wild boar from Germany were released into a 3,200 hectare estate in Hamilton County, New York. Several specimens escaped six years later, dispersing into the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, with their descendents surviving for at least 20 years.\\n\\nThe most successful boar introduction in the US took place in western North Carolina in 1912, when 13 boars of undetermined European origin were released into two fenced enclosures in a game preserve in Hooper Bald, Graham County. Most of the specimens remained in the preserve for the next decade, until a large-scale hunt caused the remaining animals to break through their confines and escape. Some of the boars migrated to Tennessee, where they intermixed with both free ranging and feral pigs in the area. In 1924, a dozen Hooper Bald wild pigs were shipped to California and released in a property between Carmel Valley and the Los Padres National Forest. These hybrid boar were later used as breeding stock on various private and public lands throughout the state, as well as in other states like Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia and Mississippi.\\n\\nSeveral wild boars from Leon Springs and the San Antonio, Saint Louis and San Diego Zoos were released in the Powder Horn Ranch in Calhoun County, Texas, in 1939. These specimens escaped and established themselves in surrounding ranchlands and coastal areas, with some crossing the Espiritu Santo Bay and colonising Matagorda Island. Descendents of the Powder Horn Ranch boars were later released onto San José Island and the coast of Chalmette, Louisiana.\\n\\nWild boar of unknown origin were stocked in a ranch in Edwards Plateau in the 1940s, only to escape during a storm and hybridise with local feral pig populations, later spreading into neighbouring counties.\\n\\nStarting in the mid-80s, several boars purchased from the San Diego Zoo and Tierpark Berlin were released into the United States. A decade later, more specimens from farms in Canada and Białowieża Forest were let loose. In recent years, wild pig populations have been reported in 44 states within the US, most of which are likely wild boar-feral hog hybrids. Pure wild boar populations may still be present, but are extremely localised.\\n\\nDiseases and parasites \\n\\nWild boars are known to host at least 20 different parasitic worm species, with maximum infections occurring in summer. Young animals are vulnerable to helminths like Metastrongylus, which are consumed by boars through earthworms, and cause death by parasitising the lungs. Wild boar also carry parasites known to infect humans, including Gastrodiscoides, Trichinella spiralis, Taenia solium, and Balantidium coli. Wild boar in southern regions are frequently infested with ticks (Dermacentor, Rhipicephalus, and Hyalomma) and hog lice. The species also suffers from blood-sucking flies, which it escapes by bathing frequently or hiding in dense shrubs.\\n\\nSwine plague spreads very quickly in wild boar, with epizootics being recorded in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Belarus, the Caucasus, the Far East, Kazakhstan, and other regions. Foot-and-mouth disease can also take on epidemic proportions in boar populations. The species occasionally, but rarely contracts Pasteurellosis, hemorrhagic septicemia, tularemia and anthrax. Wild boar may on occasion contract swine erysipelas through rodents or hog lice and ticks.\\n\\nRelationships with humans \\n\\nIn culture \\n\\nThe wild boar features prominently in the cultures of Indo-European people, many of which saw the animal as embodying warrior virtues. Cultures throughout Europe and Asia Minor saw the killing of a boar as proof of one's valor and strength. Neolithic hunter gatherers depicted reliefs of ferocious wild boars on their temple pillars at Göbekli Tepe some 11,600 years ago. Virtually all heroes in Greek mythology fight or kill a boar at one point. The demigod Herakles' third labour involves the capture of the Erymanthian Boar, Theseus slays the wild sow Phaea, and a disguised Odysseus is recognised by his handmaiden Eurycleia by the scars inflicted on him by a boar during a hunt in his youth.Mallory, J. P. & Adams, D. Q. (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Taylor & Francis, pp. 426-428, ISBN 1-884964-98-2 To the mythical Hyperboreans, the boar represented spiritual authority. Several Greek myths use the boar as a symbol of darkness, death and winter. One example is the story of the youthful Adonis, who is killed by a boar and is permitted by Zeus to depart from Hades only during the spring and summer period. This theme also occurs in Irish and Egyptian mythology, where the animal is explicitly linked to the month of October, therefore autumn. This association likely arose from aspects of the boar's actual nature. Its dark colour was linked to the night, while its solitary habits, proclivity to consume crops and nocturnal nature were associated with evil. The foundation myth of Ephesus has the city being built over the site where prince Androklos of Athens killed a boar. Boars were frequently depicted on Greek funerary monuments alongside lions, representing gallant losers who have finally met their match, as opposed to victorious hunters as lions are. The theme of the doomed, yet valorous boar warrior also occurred in Hittite culture, where it was traditional to sacrifice a boar alongside a dog and a prisoner of war after a military defeat.\\n\\nThe boar as a warrior also appears in Scandinavian, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon culture, with its image having been frequently engraved on helmets, shields and swords. According to Tacitus, the Baltic Aesti featured boars on their helmets, and may have also worn boar masks. The boar and pig were held in particularly high esteem by the Celts, who considered them to be their most important sacred animal. Some Celtic deities linked to boars include Moccus and Veteris. It has been suggested that some early myths surrounding the Welsh hero Culhwch involved the character being the son of a boar god. Nevertheless, the importance of the boar as a culinary item among Celtic tribes may have been exaggerated in popular culture by the Asterix series, as wild boar bones are rare among Celtic archaeological sites, and the few that occur show no signs of butchery, having probably been used in sacrificial rituals.Green, M. (2002), Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, Routledge, p. 46, ISBN 1-134-66531-8 The boar also appears in Vedic mythology. A story present in the Brāhmaṇas has Indra slaying an avaricious boar, who has stolen the treasure of the asuras, then giving its carcass to Vishnu, who offered it as a sacrifice to the gods. In the story's retelling in the Charaka Samhita, the boar is described as a form of Prajāpti, and is credited with having raised the earth from the primeval waters. In the Rāmāyaṇa and the Purāṇas, the same boar is portrayed as an avatar of Vishnu. \\n\\nIn Japanese culture, the boar is widely seen as a fearsome and reckless animal, to the point that several words and expressions in Japanese referring to recklessness include references to boars. The boar is the last animal of the oriental zodiac, with people born during the year of the Pig being said to embody the boar-like traits of determination and impetuosity. Among Japanese hunters, the boar's courage and defiance is a source of admiration, and it is not uncommon for hunters and mountain people to name their sons after the animal inoshishi (猪). Boars are also seen as symbols of fertility and prosperity; in some regions, it is thought that boars are drawn to fields owned by families including pregnant women, and hunters with pregnant wives are thought to have greater chances of success when boarhunting. The animal's link to prosperity was illustrated by its inclusion on the ¥10 note during the Meiji period, and it was once believed that a man could become wealthy by keeping a clump of boar hair in his wallet.Knight, J. (2003), Waiting for Wolves in Japan: An Anthropological Study of People-wildlife Relations, Oxford University Press, pp. 49-73, ISBN 0-19-925518-0\\n\\nIn the folklore of the Mongol Altai Uriankhai tribe, the wild boar was associated with the watery underworld, as it was thought that the spirits of the dead entered the animal's head, to be ultimately transported to the water.Pegg, C. (2001), Mongolian Music, Dance, & Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities, University of Washington Press, p. 140, ISBN 0-295-98112-1 Prior to the conversion to Islam, the Kyrgyz people believed that they were descended from boars, and thus did not eat pork. In Buryat mythology, the forefathers of the Buryats descended from heaven and were nourished by a boar.Holmberg, U. (1927), The Mythology of All Races volume 4: Finno-Ugric, Siberian, New York, Cooper Square Publishing Inc. pp. 502-503 In China, the boar is the emblem of the Miao people.\\n\\nThe boar (sanglier) is frequently displayed in English, Scottish and Welsh heraldry. As with the lion, the boar is often shown as armed and langued. As with the bear, Scottish and Welsh heraldry displays the boar's head with the neck cropped, unlike the English version, which retains the neck. The white boar served as the badge of King Richard III of England, who distributed it among his northern retainers during his tenure as Duke of Gloucester. \\n\\nAs a game animal and food source \\n\\nHumans have been hunting boar for millennia, with the earliest artistic depictions of such activities dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. The animal was seen as a source of food among the Ancient Greeks, as well as a sporting challenge and source of epic narratives. The Romans inherited this tradition, with one of its first practitioners being Scipio Aemilianus. Boar hunting became particularly popular among the young nobility during the 3rd century BC as preparation for manhood and battle. A typical Roman boarhunting tactic involved surrounding a given area with large nets, then flushing the boar with dogs and immobilising it with smaller nets. The animal would then be dispatched with a venabulum, a short spear with a crossguard at the base of the blade. More than their Greek predecessors, the Romans extensively took inspiration from boarhunting in their art and sculpture. With the ascension of Constantine the Great, boarhunting took on Christian allegorical themes, with the animal being portrayed as a \\\"black beast\\\" analogous to the dragon of Saint George. Boarhunting continued after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, though the Germanic tribes considered the red deer to be a more noble and worthy quarry. The post-Roman nobility hunted boar as their predecessors did, but primarily as training for battle rather than sport. It was not uncommon for medieval hunters to deliberately hunt boars during the breeding season, when the animals were more aggressive. During the Renaissance, when deforestation and the introduction of firearms reduced boar numbers, boarhunting became the sole prerogative of the nobility, one of many charges brought up against the rich during the German Peasants' War and the French Revolution. During the mid-20th century, 7,000-8,000 boars were caught in the Caucasus, 6,000-7,000 in Kazakhstan, and about 5,000 in Central Asia during the Soviet period, primarily through use of dogs and beats. In Nepal, farmers and poachers eliminate boars by baiting balls of wheat flour containing explosives with kerosene oil, with the animals' chewing motions triggering the devices. \\n\\nWild boar can thrive in captivity, though piglets grow slowly and poorly without their mothers. Products derived from wild boar include meat, hide and bristles. Apicius devotes a whole chapter to the cooking of boar meat, providing ten recipes involving roasting, boiling and what sauces to use. The Romans usually served boar meat with garum. Boar's head was the centrepiece of most medieval Christmas celebrations among the nobility. Although growing in popularity as a captive-bred source of food, the wild boar takes longer to mature than most domestic pigs, and is usually smaller and produces less meat. Nevertheless, wild boar meat is leaner and healthier than pork,Harris, C. (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?idJny0R4gEQxcC&pg\\nPA27&dqwild+boar+products&hl\\nit&saX&ei\\n4BAxVLvoKtDZaonSgMgJ&redir_escy#v\\nonepage&qwild%20boar%20products&f\\nfalse A Guide to Traditional Pig Keeping], Good Life Press, pp. 26-27, ISBN 1-904871-60-7 being of higher nutritional value and having a much higher concentration of essential amino acids. Most meat-dressing organisations agree that a boar carcass should yield 50 kg of meat on average. Large specimens can yield 15 - of fat, with some giants yielding 30 kg or more. A boar hide can measure 300 dm2, and can yield 350-1000 grams of bristle and 400 grams of underwool.\\n\\nFile:EberreliefmitHund-3Jhrnchr-FOKoeln2.jpg|Roman relief of a dog confronting a boar, Cologne\\nFile:Südindischer Meister um 1540 002.jpg|Southern Indian depiction of boar hunt, c. 1540\\nFile:Modern Pig-Sticking (1914) A. E. Wardrop I.png|Pigsticking in British India\\nFile:Регулирование численности кабана (1).jpg|Boar shot in Volgograd Oblast, Russia\\n\\nCrop and garbage raiding\\n\\nBoars can be damaging to agriculture. Populations living on the outskirts of towns or farms can dig up potatoes and damage melons, watermelons and maize. They generally only encroach upon farms when natural food is scarce. In the Belovezh forest for example, 34-47% of the local boar population will enter fields in years of moderate availability of natural foods. While the role of boars in damaging crops is often exaggerated, cases are known of boar depredations causing famines, as was the case in Hachinohe, Japan in 1749, where 3,000 people died of what became known as the 'wild boar famine'. Still within Japanese culture, the boar's status as vermin is expressed through its title as \\\"king of pests\\\" and the popular saying (addressed to young men in rural areas) \\\"When you get married, choose a place with no wild boar.\\\" In Central Europe, farmers typically repel boars through distraction or fright, while in Kazakhstan it is usual to employ guard dogs in plantations. Although large boar populations can play an important role in limiting forest growth, they are also useful in keeping pest populations such as June bugs under control. The growth of urban areas and corresponding decline in natural boar habitats has led to some sounders entering human habitations in search of food. As in natural conditions, sounders in peri-urban areas are matriarchal, though males tend to be much less represented, and adults of both sexes can be up to 35% heavier than their forest-dwelling counterparts. As of 2010, at least 44 cities in 15 countries have experienced problems of some kind relating to the presence of habituated wild boar.Cahill, S., Llimona, F., Cabañeros, L. & Calomardo, F., 2012. [http://abc.museucienciesjournals.cat/files/ABC_35-2_pp_221-233.pdf \\\"Characteristics of wild boar (Sus scrofa) habituation to urban areas in the Collserola Natural Park (Barcelona) and comparison with other locations\\\"]. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 35.2: 221–233.\\n\\nAttacks on humans\\n\\nActual attacks on humans are rare, but can be serious, resulting in multiple penetrating injuries to the lower part of the body. They generally occur during the boars' rutting season from November–January, in agricultural areas bordering forests or on paths leading through forests. The animal typically attacks by charging and pointing its tusks towards the intended victim, with most injuries occurring on the thigh region. Once the initial attack is over, the boar steps back, takes position and attacks again if the victim is still moving, only ending once the victim is completely incapacitated.Manipady, S. et al. (2006), [http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Death%20By%20Wild%20Boar.pdf \\\"Death by attack from a wild boar\\\"], Journal of clinical forensic medicine 13 (2), 89-91Gunduz, A. et al. (2007), [http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Wild%20Boar%20Attack%20III.pdf \\\"Wild Boar Attacks\\\"], Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 18, 117-119\\n\\nBoar attacks on humans have been documented since the Stone Age, with the oldest depiction being a cave painting in Bhimbetaka, India. The Romans and Ancient Greeks wrote of these attacks (Odysseus was wounded by a boar), and several attacks are shown on the headstones of England's 12th century Severn Temple graveyard. A 2012 study compiling recorded attacks from 1825-2012 found accounts of 665 human victims of both wild boars and feral pigs, with the majority (19%) of attacks in the animal's native range occurring in India. Most of the attacks occurred in rural areas during the winter months in non-hunting contexts, and were committed by solitary males.Mayer, John J., \\\"Wild Pig Attacks on Humans\\\" (2013). Wildlife Damage Management Conferences -- Proceedings. Paper 151.\\nhttp://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_wdmconfproc/151\",\n \"Reindeer.txt\\nReindeer\\nThe reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, Subarctic, tundra, boreal and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. This includes both sedentary and migratory populations.\\n\\nWhile overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and at least one has already become extinct. \\n\\nReindeer vary considerably in colour and size. In most populations, both sexes grow antlers annually, but females lack antlers in a few. Antlers are typically larger on males.\\n\\nHunting of wild reindeer and herding of semi-domesticated reindeer (for meat, hides, antlers, milk and transportation) are important to several Arctic and Subarctic peoples.\\\"In North America and Eurasia the species has long been an important resource—in many areas the most important resource—for peoples inhabiting the northern boreal forest and tundra regions. Known human dependence on caribou/wild reindeer has a long history, beginning in the Middle Pleistocene (Banfield 1961:170; Kurtén 1968:170) and continuing to the present.... The caribou/wild reindeer is thus an animal that has been a major resource for humans throughout a tremendous geographic area and across a time span of tens of thousands of years.\\\" In Lapland, reindeer pull pulks. Reindeer are well known due to Santa Claus' sleigh being pulled by flying reindeer in Christmas folklore.\\n\\nName etymology \\n\\nThe name Rangifer, which Carl Linnaeus chose for the reindeer genus, was used by Albertus Magnus in his De animalibus, fol. Liber 22, Cap. 268: \\\"Dicitur Rangyfer quasi ramifer\\\". This word may go back to a Saami word raingo. For the origin of the word tarandus, which Linnaeus chose as the specific epithet, he made reference to Ulisse Aldrovandi's Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia fol. 859–863, Cap. 30: De Tarando (1621). However, Aldrovandi – and before him Konrad Gesner – thought that rangifer and tarandus were two separate animals. In any case, the tarandos name goes back to Aristotle and Theophrastus – see 'In history' below.\\n\\nBecause of its importance to many cultures, Rangifer tarandus and some of its subspecies have names in many languages. The name rein (-deer) is of Norse origin (Old Norse hreinn, which again goes back to Proto-Germanic *hrainaz and Proto-Indo-European *kroinos meaning \\\"horned animal\\\"). In the Uralic languages, Sami *poatsoj (in Northern Sami boazu, in Lule Sami boatsoj, in Pite Sami båtsoj, in Southern Sami bovtse, in Inari Sami puásui), Meadow Mari pücö and Udmurt pudžej, all referring to domesticated reindeer, go back to *pocaw, an Iranian loan word deriving from Proto-Indo-European *peḱu-, meaning \\\"cattle\\\". The Finnish name poro may also stem from the same. \\n\\nThe word deer was originally broader in meaning, but became more specific over time. In Middle English, der (Old English dēor) meant a wild animal of any kind. This was in contrast to cattle, which then meant any sort of domestic livestock that was easy to collect and remove from the land, from the idea of personal-property ownership (rather than real estate property) and related to modern chattel (property) and capital. Cognates of Old English dēor in other dead Germanic languages have the general sense of animal, such as Old High German tior, Old Norse djúr or dýr, Gothic dius, Old Saxon dier, and Old Frisian diar. \\n\\nThe name caribou comes, through French, from Mi'kmaq qalipu, meaning \\\"snow shoveler\\\", referring to its habit of pawing through the snow for food. In Inuktitut, spoken in eastern Arctic North America, the caribou is known by the name tuktu. \\n\\nTaxonomy and evolution \\n\\nCurrent classifications of Rangifer tarandus, either with prevailing taxonomy on subspecies, designations based on ecotypes, and natural population groupings, fail to capture \\\"the variability of caribou across their range in Canada\\\" needed for effective species conservation and management. \\\"Across the range of a species, individuals may display considerable morphological, genetic, and behavioural variability reflective of both plasticity and adaptation to local environments.\\\" COSEWIC developed Designated Unit (DU) attribution to add to classifications already in use.\\n\\nThe species taxonomic name Rangifer tarandus was defined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The subspecies taxonomic name, Rangifer tarandus caribou was defined by Gmelin in 1788.\\n\\nBased on Banfield's often-cited A Revision of the Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer (1961), R. t. caboti (Labrador caribou), R. t. osborni (Osborn's caribou—from British Columbia) and R. t. terraenovae (Newfoundland caribou) were considered invalid and included in R. t. caribou.\\n\\nSome recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. In their book entitled Mammal Species of the World, American zoologist Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn Reeder agree with Valerius Geist, specialist on large North American mammals, that this range actually includes several subspecies.The Integrated Taxonomic Information System list Wilson and Geist on their experts panel.\\n\\nGeist (2007) argued that the \\\"true woodland caribou, the uniformly dark, small-maned type with the frontally emphasized, flat-beamed antlers\\\", which is \\\"scattered thinly along the southern rim of North American caribou distribution\\\" has been incorrectly classified. He affirms that \\\"true woodland caribou is very rare, in very great difficulties and requires the most urgent of attention.\\\"\\n\\nIn 2005, an analysis of mtDNA found differences between the caribou from Newfoundland, Labrador, south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in R. t caribou.\\n\\nMallory and Hillis argued that, \\\"Although the taxonomic designations reflect evolutionary events, they do not appear to reflect current ecological conditions. In numerous instances, populations of the same subspecies have evolved different demographic and behavioural adaptations, while populations from separate subspecies have evolved similar demographic and behavioural patterns... \\\"[U]nderstanding ecotype in relation to existing ecological constraints and releases may be more important than the taxonomic relationships between populations.\\\" \\n\\nSubspecies \\n\\nThe canonical Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.) recognizes fourteen subspecies, two of which are extinct.\\n\\nThe table above includes R. tarandus caboti (Labrador caribou), R. tarandus osborni (Osborn's caribou – from British Columbia) and R. tarandus terraenovae (Newfoundland caribou). Based on a review in 1961, these were considered invalid and included in R. tarandus caribou, but some recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. An analysis of mtDNA in 2005 found differences between the caribous from Newfoundland, Labrador, south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in R. tarandus caribou.\\n\\nThere are seven subspecies of reindeer of which only two are found in Fennoscandia: Eurasian tundra (or mountain) reindeer (R. t. tarandus) in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia and Eurasian forest reindeer R. t. fennicus in Finland and Russia.\\n\\nGrubb (2005) noted that subspecies and divisions below** are considered valid based on Banfield (1961) and considerably modified by Geist (1998):\\n\\nWoodland caribou division:\\n* R. t. buskensis\\n* R. t. dawsoni\\n* R. t. fennicus\\n* R. t. phylarchus\\n* R. t. valentinae\\n\\nPopulations transitional between caribou and tarandus divisions includes osborni.\\n\\nTarandus division, barren-ground caribou or reindeer\\n* R. t. caboti (G.M. Allen, 1914)\\n* R. t. groenlandicus\\n* R. t. pearsoni\\n* R. t. sibiricus\\n* R. t. terraenovae\\n\\nPlatyrhynchus division\\n* R. t. pearyi or Peary caribou\\n* R. t. platyrhynchus or Svalbard reindeer\\n\\nSome of the Rangifer tarandus subspecies may be further divided by ecotype depending on several behavioural factors – predominant habitat use (northern, tundra, mountain, forest, boreal forest, forest-dwelling, woodland, woodland (mountain), woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory), spacing (dispersed or aggregated), and migration (sedentary or migratory).\\n\\nThe \\\"glacial-interglacial cycles of the upper Pleistocene had a major influence on the evolution\\\" of Rangifer tarandus and other Arctic and sub-Arctic species. Isolation of Rangifer tarandus in refugia during the last glacial – the Wisconsin in North America and the Weichselian in Eurasia-shaped \\\"intraspecific genetic variability\\\" particularly between the North American and Eurasian parts of the Arctic.\\n\\nIn 1986 Kurtén reported that the oldest reindeer fossil was an \\\"antler of tundra reindeer type from the sands of Süssenborn\\\" in the Pleistocene (Günz) period (680,000 to 620,000 BP). By the 4-Würm period (110-70,000 to 12–10,000) its European range was very extensive. Reindeer occurred in \\n\\\"In spite of the great variation, all the Pleistocene and living reindeer belong to the same species.\\\"\\n\\nHumans started hunting reindeer in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, and humans are today the main predator in many areas. Norway and Greenland have unbroken traditions of hunting wild reindeer from the ice age until the present day. In the non-forested mountains of central Norway, such as Jotunheimen, it is still possible to find remains of stone-built trapping pits, guiding fences, and bow rests, built especially for hunting reindeer. These can, with some certainty, be dated to the Migration Period, although it is not unlikely that they have been in use since the Stone Age.\\n\\nBiology and behaviour \\n\\nPhysical characteristics \\n\\nIn most populations both sexes grow antlers; the reindeer is the only cervid species in which females grow them as well as males.[http://web.archive.org/web/20110628183512/http://www.answers.com/topic/new-world-deer-capriolinae-biological-family New World Deer (Capriolinae).] Answers.com In the Scandinavian populations, old males' antlers fall off in December, young males' fall off in the early spring, and females' fall off in the summer. The antlers typically have two separate groups of points, lower and upper. There is considerable variation between subspecies in the size of the antlers (e.g. they are rather small and spindly in the northernmost subspecies), but on average the bull reindeer's antlers are the second largest of any extant deer, after the moose. In the largest subspecies, the antlers of large males can range up to 100 cm in width and 135 cm in beam length. They have the largest antlers relative to body size among living deer species.\\n\\nThe colour of the fur varies considerably, both between individuals and depending on season and subspecies. Northern populations, which usually are relatively small, are whiter, while southern populations, which typically are relatively large, are darker. This can be seen well in North America, where the northernmost subspecies, the Peary caribou, is the whitest and smallest subspecies of the continent, while the southernmost subspecies, the woodland caribou, is the darkest and largest.Reid, F. (2006). Mammals of North America. Peterson Field Guides. ISBN 978-0-395-93596-5 The coat has two layers of fur: a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs.\\n\\nLike moose, reindeer have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs, and water is condensed from the expired air and captured before the deer's breath is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes.\\n\\nReindeer hooves adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge-like and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof, which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep it from slipping. This also enables them to dig down (an activity known as \\\"cratering\\\")\\\"In the winter, the fleshy pads on these toes grow longer and form a tough, hornlike rim. Caribou use these large, sharp-edged hooves to dig through the snow and uncover the lichens that sustain them in winter months. Biologists call this activity \\\"cratering\\\" because of the crater-like cavity the caribou’s hooves leave in the snow.\\\"[http://www.taiga.net/projectcaribou/pdf/allaboutcaribou.PDF All About Caribou] – Project Caribou[http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/stories/avkas/ry0246-32.htm Image of reindeer cratering in snow]. Arcticphoto.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 September 2011. through the snow to their favorite food, a lichen known as reindeer moss.\\n\\nThe females usually measure 162 - in length and weigh 80 -.[http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg\\ncaribou.main Caribou at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game]. Adfg.state.ak.us. Retrieved on 16 September 2011. The males (or \\\"bulls\\\") are typically larger (to an extent which varies between the different subspecies), measuring 180 - in length and usually weighing 159 -. Exceptionally large males have weighed as much as 318 kg. Shoulder height is typically 85 to, and the tail is 14 to long. The reindeer from Svalbard are the smallest. They are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm, thereby following Allen's rule.\\n\\nThe knees of many species of reindeer are adapted to produce a clicking sound as they walk.Banfield AWF (1966) \\\"The caribou\\\", pp. 25–28 in The Unbelievable Land. Smith I.N. (ed.) Ottawa: Queen's Press, cited in The sounds originate in the tendons of the knees and may be audible from ten meters away. The frequency of the knee-clicks is one of a range of signals that establish relative positions on a dominance scale among reindeer. \\\"Specifically, loud knee-clicking is discovered to be an honest signal of body size, providing an exceptional example of the potential for non-vocal acoustic communication in mammals.\\\" \\n\\nA study by researchers from University College London in 2011 revealed that reindeer can see light with wavelengths as short as 320 nm (i.e. in the ultraviolet range), considerably below the human threshold of 400 nm. It is thought that this ability helps them to survive in the Arctic, because many objects that blend into the landscape in light visible to humans, such as urine and fur, produce sharp contrasts in ultraviolet.[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1105/11052502 Reindeer use UV light to survive in the wild]. Ucl.ac.uk (26 May 2011). Retrieved on 16 September 2011. A study at the University of Tromsø has confirmed that \\\"Arctic reindeer eyes change in colour through the seasons from gold through to blue to help them better detect predators...\\\".Solon, Olivia. [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/30/reindeer-eyes The science behind the colour-shifting capabilities of Arctic reindeer eyeballs], Wired, 30 October 13\\n\\nDiet \\n\\nReindeer are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss – a unique adaptation among mammals – and they are the only animals except for some gastropods in which the enzyme lichenase, which breaks down lichenin to glucose, has been found. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses. There is some evidence to suggest that on occasion, especially in the spring when they are nutritionally stressed, they will also feed on small rodents such as lemmings, fish such as Arctic char, and bird eggs. Reindeer herded by the Chukchis have been known to devour mushrooms enthusiastically in late summer. \\n\\nReproduction and life-cycle \\n\\nMating occurs from late September to early November. Males battle for access to females. Two males will lock each other's antlers together and try to push each other away. The most dominant males can collect as many as 15–20 females to mate with. A male will stop eating during this time and lose much of his body reserves. \\n\\nCalves may be born the following May or June. After 45 days, the calves are able to graze and forage but continue suckling until the following autumn when they become independent from their mothers.\\n\\nSocial structure, migration and range \\n\\nSome populations of the North American caribou, for example many herds in the subspecies barren-ground caribou and some woodland caribou in Ungava and Labrador, migrate the farthest of any terrestrial mammal, travelling up to 5000 km a year, and covering 1000000 km2. Other North American populations, the woodland caribou (boreal) for example, are largely sedentary. In Europe populations have a shorter migration. Island herds such as the subspecies R. t. pearsoni and R. t. platyrhynchus make local movements. Migrating reindeer can be negatively affected by parasite loads. Severely infected individuals are weak and probably have shortened lifespans, but parasite levels vary between populations. Infections create an effect known as culling: infected migrating animals are less likely to complete the migration. \\n\\nNormally travelling about 19 - a day while migrating, the caribou can run at speeds of 60 -. Young caribou can already outrun an Olympic sprinter when only a day old. During the spring migration smaller herds will group together to form larger herds of 50,000 to 500,000 animals, but during autumn migrations the groups become smaller, and the reindeer begin to mate. During winter, reindeer travel to forested areas to forage under the snow. By spring, groups leave their winter grounds to go to the calving grounds. A reindeer can swim easily and quickly, normally at about but if necessary at 10 km/h, and migrating herds will not hesitate to swim across a large lake or broad river.\\n\\nAs an adaptation to their Arctic environment, they have lost their circadian rhythm. \\n\\nEcology \\n\\nDistribution and habitat \\n\\nOriginally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, eastern Europe, Greenland, Russia, Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America, it was found in Canada, Alaska, and the northern conterminous USA from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. Even in historical times, it probably occurred naturally in Ireland. During the late Pleistocene era, reindeer occurred as far south as Nevada and Tennessee in North America, and as far south as Spain in Europe. Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from these areas, especially from the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere. Large populations of wild reindeer are still found in Norway, Finland, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada.\\n\\nAccording to the Grubb (2005), Rangifer tarandus is \\\"circumboreal in the tundra and taiga\\\" from \\\"Svalbard, Norway, Finland, Russia, Alaska (USA) and Canada including most Arctic islands, and Greenland, south to northern Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia; now only domesticated or feral?), Sakhalin Islands, and USA (Northern Idaho and the Great Lakes region). Reindeer were introduced to, and feral in, Iceland, Kerguelen Islands, South Georgia Island, Pribilof Islands, St. Matthew Island.\\\"\\n\\nThere is strong regional variation in Rangifer herd size. There are large population differences among individual herds, and the size of individual herds has varied greatly since 1970. The largest of all herds (Taimyr, Russia) has varied between 400,000 and 1,000,000; the second largest herd (George River, Canada) has varied between 28,000 and 385,000.\\n\\nWhile Rangifer is a widespread and numerous genus in the northern Holarctic, being present in both tundra and taiga (boreal forest), by 2013, many herds had \\\"unusually low numbers\\\" and their winter ranges in particular were smaller than they used to be. Caribou and reindeer numbers have fluctuated historically, but many herds are in decline across their range. This global decline is linked to climate change for northern, migratory herds and industrial disturbance of habitat for non-migratory herds.\\n\\nPredators \\n\\nA variety of predators prey heavily on reindeer. Golden eagles prey on calves and are the most prolific hunter on calving grounds. Wolverines will take newborn calves or birthing cows, as well as (less commonly) infirm adults. Brown bears and polar bears prey on reindeer of all ages, but like the wolverines they are most likely to attack weaker animals, such as calves and sick deer, since healthy adult reindeer can usually outpace a bear. The gray wolf is the most effective natural predator of adult reindeer and sometimes takes large numbers, especially during the winter. Some wolf packs as well as individual grizzly bears in Canada may follow and live off of a particular reindeer herd year round.\\n\\nAs carrion, reindeer are fed on opportunistically by foxes, hawks, and ravens. Blood-sucking insects, such as black flies and mosquitoes, are a plague to reindeer during the summer and can cause enough stress to inhibit feeding and calving behaviors. An adult reindeer will lose perhaps about 1 liter (about 2 US pints) of blood to biting insects for every week it spends in the tundra. The population numbers of some of these predators is influenced by the migration of reindeer.\\n\\nIn one case, the entire body of a reindeer was found in the stomach of a Greenland shark, a species found in the far northern Atlantic, although this was possibly a case of scavenging, considering the dissimilarity of habitats between the ungulate and the large, slow-moving fish. \\n\\nRangifer tarandus by country \\n\\nRussia \\n\\nIn 2013, the Taimyr herd in Russia was the largest herd in the world. In 2000, the herd increased to 1,000,000 but by 2009, there were 700,000 animals. In the 1950s, there were 110,000.\\n\\nThere are three large herds of migratory tundra wild reindeer in central Siberia's Yakutia region: Lena-Olenek, Yana-Indigirka and Sundrun herds. While the population of the Lena-Olenek herd is stable, the others are declining.\\n\\nFurther east again, the Chukotka herd is also in decline. In 1971, there were 587,000 animals. They recovered after a severe decline in 1986, to only 32,200 individuals, but their numbers fell again. According to Kolpashikov, by 2009 there were less than 70,000.\\n\\nNorth America \\n\\nThere are four living subspecies of R. tarandus, locally known in North America as caribou: R. t. granti (Porcupine caribou), R. t. caribou subdivided into ecotypes: woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory), woodland (montane), R. t. groenlandicus and R. t. pearyi.\\n\\nIn North America, because of its vast range in a wide diversity of ecosystems, the subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou is further distinguished by a number of ecotypes, including boreal woodland caribou, mountain woodland caribou and migratory woodland caribou). Populations—caribou that do not migrate—or herds—those that do migrate—may not fit into narrow ecotypes. For example, Banfield's 1961 classification of the migratory George River Caribou Herd, in the Ungava region of Quebec, as subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou, woodland caribou, remains—although other woodland caribou are mainly sedentary.\\n\\nRangifer tarandus is \\\"endangered in Canada in regions such as south-east British Columbia at the Canadian-USA border, along the Columbia, Kootenay and Kootenai rivers and around Kootenay Lake. Rangifer tarandus is endangered in the United States in Idaho and Washington. R. t. pearyi is on the IUCN endangered list.\\\" According to Geist, the \\\"woodland caribou is highly endangered throughout its distribution right into Ontario.\\\"\\n\\nUnited States \\n\\nAlthough there are remnant populations of R. t. caribou boreal woodland caribou in the northern United States, most of U.S. caribou populations are in Alaska. There are four herds in Alaska, the Western Arctic herd, Teshekpuk Lake herd, the Central Arctic herd and the Porcupine herd.\\n\\nThe Western Arctic Caribou Herd is the largest of the three. The Western Arctic herd reached a low of 75,000 in the mid-1970s. In 1997 the 90,000 WACH changed their migration and wintered on Seward Peninsula. Alaska's reindeer herding industry has been concentrated on Seward Peninsula ever since the first shipment of reindeer was imported from eastern Siberia in 1892 as part of the Reindeer Project, an initiative to replace whale meat in the diet of the indigenous people of the region. For many years it was believed that the geography of the peninsula would prevent migrating caribou from mingling with domesticated reindeer who might otherwise join caribou herds when they left an area. However, in 1997 the domesticated reindeer joined the Western Arctic Caribou Herd on their summer migration and disappeared. The WACH reached a peak of 490,000 in 2003 and then declined to 325,000 in 2011.\\n\\nIn 2008, the Teshekpuk Lake herd had 64,107 animals and the Central Arctic herd had 67,000. \\n\\nThe Porcupine caribou or Grant's caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) is a subspecies with a vast range that includes northeastern Alaska and the Yukon, and is therefore cooperatively managed by government agencies and aboriginal peoples from both countries. It resembles another subspecies, barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus).\\n\\nMigratory caribou herds are named after their birthing grounds, in this case the Porcupine River, which runs through a large part of the range of the Porcupine herd. Though numbers fluctuate, the herd comprises approximately 169,000 animals (based on a July 2010 photocensus). 2500 km a year land migration between their winter range and calving grounds on the Beaufort Sea, is the longest of any land mammal on earth. They are the traditional food of the Gwich'in, a First Nations/Alaska Native people, the Inupiat, Inuvialuit, Hän, and Northern Tutchone. There is currently controversy over whether possible future oil drilling on the coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing much of the Porcupine caribou calving grounds, will have a severe negative impact on the caribou population or whether the caribou population will grow.\\n\\nUnlike many other Rangifer tarandus subspecies and their ecotypes, the Porcupine herd is stable at relatively high numbers, but the 2013 photo-census was not counted by January 2014. The peak population in 1989 of 178,000 animals was followed by a decline by 2001 to 123,000. However, by 2010, there was a recovery and an increase to 169,000 animals. \\n\\nCanada \\n\\nNunavut \\n\\nThe barren-ground caribou subspecies R. t. groenlandicus,, a long-distance migrant, includes large herds in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut, for example the Beverly, the Ahiak and Qamanirjuaq herds. In 1996, the population of the Ahiak herd was approximately 250,000 animals.\\n\\nAhiak, Beverly, Qamanirjuaq herds \\n\\nThe Ahiak, Beverly, Qamanirjuaq herds are barren-ground caribou.\\n\\n\\\"The Beverly herd’s crossing of the Thelon River to its traditional calving grounds near Beverly Lake was part of the lives of the Dene aboriginal people for 8000 years, as revealed by an unbroken archaeological record of deep layers of caribou bones and stone tools in the banks of the Thelon River (Gordon 2005).\\\" The Beverly Herd (located primarily in Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories; portions in Nunavut, Manitoba, Alberta) and the Qamanirjuaq Herd (located primarily in Manitoba, Nunavut; portions in southeastern NWT, northeastern Saskatchewan) fall under the auspices of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board. The Beverly herd, whose range spans the tundra from northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and well into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, had a peak population in 1994 of 276,000 or 294,000, but by 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the Beverly herd and 83,300 in the Ahiak herd. The calving grounds of the Beverly caribou herd are located around Queen Maud Gulf but the herd shifted its traditional birthing area. Caribou management agencies are concerned that deterioration and disturbance of habitat along with \\\"parasites, predation and poor weather\\\" are contributing to a cycling down of most caribou populations. It was suggested the Ahiak and Beverly herds switched calving grounds and the Beverly may have moved \\\"near the western Queen Maud Gulf coast to the north of the herd’s \\\"traditional\\\" calving ground in the Gary Lakes area north of Baker Lake.\\\" The \\\"Beverly herd may have declined (similar to other Northwest Territories herds), and cows switched to the neighbouring Ahiak herd to maintain the advantages of gregarious calving.\\\" By 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the combined Beverly/Ahiak herd which represents a \\\"50% or a 75% decline from the 1994 population estimate for the Beverly Herd.\\\"\\n\\nThe barren-ground caribou population on Southampton Island, Nunavut declined by almost 75%, from about 30,000 caribou in 1997 to 7,800 caribou in 2011. \\n\\nPeary caribou on Baffin Island \\n\\nThe R. t. pearyi (Peary caribou), the smallest subspecies in North America, known as Tuktu in Inuktitut, are found in the northern islands of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. They remain at low numbers after severe declines. On Baffin Island, the largest Arctic island, the population of Peary caribou peaked in the early 1990s to approximately 60,000 to 180,000. By 2012, in northern Baffin Island caribou numbers were considered to be at a \\\"low in the cycle after a high in the 1990s\\\" and in south Baffin Island, the population was estimated as between 1,065 and 2,067. \\n\\nNorthwest Territories \\n\\nThere are four barren-ground caribou herds in the Northwest Territories—Cape Bathurst, Bluenose West, Bluenose East and Bathurst. The Bluenose East caribou herd began a recovery with a population of approximately 122,000 in 2010. which is being credited to the establishment of Tuktut Nogait National Park. According to T. Davison 2010, CARMA 2011, the three other herds \\\"declined 84–93% from peak sizes in the mid-1980s and 1990s.\\n\\nR. t. caribou \\n\\nThe subspecies R. t. caribou commonly known as woodland caribou, is divided into ecotypes: boreal woodland caribou (also known as forest-dwelling), woodland caribou (boreal), mountain woodland caribou, and migratory woodland caribou. Caribou are classified by ecotype depending on several behavioural factors – predominant habitat use (northern, tundra, mountain, forest, boreal forest, forest-dwelling), spacing (dispersed or aggregated) and migration (sedentary or migratory).\\n\\nIn Canada, the national meta-population of the sedentary boreal ecotype spans the boreal forest from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. They prefer lichen-rich mature forests and mainly live in marshes, bogs, lakes, and river regions. The historic range of the boreal woodland caribou covered over half of present-day Canada, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as New England, Idaho, and Washington. Woodland caribou have disappeared from most of their original southern range. The boreal woodland was designated as threatened in 2002. In 2011 there were approximately 34,000 boreal caribou in 51 ranges remaining in Canada. \\n\\nGeorge River caribou herd (GRCH) \\n\\nThe migratory George River caribou herd (GRCH), in the Ungava region of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada was once the world's largest herd with 800,000–900,000 animals. Although it is categorized as a subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou, the woodland caribou, the GRCH is migratory woodland caribou and like the barren-ground caribou it's ecotype may be tundra caribou, Arctic, northern of migratory, not forest-dwelling and sedentary like most woodland caribou ecotypes. It is unlike most woodland caribou in that it is not sedentary. Since the mid-1990s, the herd declined sharply and by 2010, it was reduced to 74,131—a drop of up to 92%. A 2011 survey confirms a continuing decline of the George River migratory caribou herd population. By 2012 it was estimated to be about 27,600 animals, down from 385,000 in 2001 and 74,131 in 2010.\\\"\\n\\nLeaf River caribou herd (LRCH) \\n\\nThe Leaf River caribou herd (LRCH), another migratory forest-tundra ecotype of the boreal woodland caribou, near the coast of Hudson Bay, increased from 270 000 individuals in 1991 to 628 000 in 2001. By 2011 the herd had decreased to 430 000 caribou. According to an international study on caribou populations, the George River and Leaf River herds, and other herds that migrate from Nunavik, Quebec and insular Newfoundland, could be threatened with extinction by 2080.\\n\\nQueen Charlotte Islands caribou \\n\\nThe Queen Charlotte Islands caribou (R. tarandus dawsoni) from the Queen Charlotte Islands was believed to represent a distinct subspecies. It became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. However, recent DNA analysis from mitochondrial DNA of the remains from those reindeer suggest that the animals from the Queen Charlotte Islands were not genetically distinct from the Canadian mainland reindeer subspecies.\\n\\nGreenland \\n\\nAccording to Kolpashikov et al. (2013) there were four main populations of wild R. t. groenlandicus, barren-ground caribou, in west Greenland in 2013. The Kangerlussuaq-Sisimiut caribou herd, the largest had a population of around 98,000 animals in 2007. The \\\"second largest, Akia-Maniitsoq decreased from an estimated 46,000 in 2001 to about 17,400 in 2010. According to Cuyler, \\\"one possible cause might be the topography, which prevents hunter access in the former while permitting access in the latter.\\\"\\n\\nNorway \\n\\nThe last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway. In southern Norway in the mountain ranges, there are about 30,000–35,000 reindeer with 23 different populations. The largest herd with about 10,000 individuals, is at Hardangervidda. By 2013 the greatest challenges to management were \\\"loss of habitat and migration corridors to piecemeal infrastructure development and abandonment of reindeer habitat as a result of human activities and disturbance.\\\"\\n\\nNorway is now preparing to apply for nomination as a World Heritage Site for areas with traces and traditions of reindeer hunting in Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, Reinheimen National Park and Rondane National Park in Central Sør-Norge (Southern Norway). There is in these parts of Norway an unbroken tradition of reindeer hunting from post-glacial Stone Age until today.\\n\\nSvalbard reindeer \\n\\nThe Svalbard reindeer subspecies R. t. platyrhynchus from Svalbard island is very small compared to other subspecies (a phenomenon known as insular dwarfism), with females having a length of approximately 150 cm, and a weight around 53 kg in the spring and 70 kg in the autumn.Aanes, R. (2007).[http://npweb.npolar.no/english/arter/svalbardrein Svalbard reindeer.] Norwegian Polar Institute. Males are approximately 160 cm long, and weigh around 65 kg in the spring and 90 kg in the autumn. The reindeer from Svalbard are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm, thereby following Allen's rule.\\n\\nThe Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus subspecies, in Norway referred to as the Svalbard reindeer, seems to have evolved from large European reindeer. The Svalbard reindeer is special in several ways. Svalbard reindeer has peculiarities in its metabolism. The skeleton shows a remarkable relative shortening of the legs, thus parallelling many extinct insular deer species. \\n\\nFinland \\n\\nThe Finnish forest reindeer (R. tarandus fennicus), is found in the wild in only two areas of the Fennoscandia peninsula of Northern Europe, in Finnish/Russian Karelia, and a small population in central south Finland. The Karelia population reaches far into Russia, however, so far that it remains an open question whether reindeer further to the east are R. t. fennicus as well. By 2007 reindeer experts were concerned about the collapse of the wild Finnish forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) in the eastern province of Kainuu. During the peak year of 2001, the Finnish forest reindeer population in Kainuu was established at 1,700. In a March 2007 helicopter count, only 960 individuals were detected.\\n\\nIceland \\n\\nEast Iceland has a small herd of about 2500–3000 animals. Iceland (increasing or are stable at high numbers 2013) Iceland: Reindeer were introduced to Iceland (17) in the late 1700s cited in. The Icelandic reindeer population in July 2013 was estimated at approximately 6000. With a hunting quota of 1,229 animals, the winter 2013–2014 population is expected to be around 4800 reindeer\\n\\nBritish overseas territory experiment \\n\\nA few reindeer from Norway were introduced to the South Atlantic island of South Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century. The South Georgian reindeer total some 2,600 animals in two distinct herds separated by glaciers. Although the flag and the coat of arms of the territory contain an image of a reindeer, a decision was taken in 2011 to completely eradicate the animals from the island because of the environmental damage they cause. \\n\\nFrench overseas territory experiment \\n\\nAround 4000 reindeer have been introduced into the French sub-Antarctic archipelago of Kerguelen Islands.\\n\\nConservation status \\n\\nWhile overall widespread and numerous, some subspecies are rare and at least one has already gone extinct. As of 2015, the IUCN has classified the reindeer as Vulnerable due to an observed population decline of 40% over the last ~25 years.\\n\\nReindeer and humans \\n\\nThe reindeer has an important economic role for all circumpolar peoples, including the Saami, Nenets, Khants, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Chukchi, and Koryaks in Eurasia. It is believed that domestication started between the Bronze and Iron Ages. Siberian deer owners also use the reindeer to ride on (Siberian reindeer are larger than their Scandinavian relatives). For breeders, a single owner may own hundreds or even thousands of animals. The numbers of Russian herders have been drastically reduced since the fall of the Soviet Union. The sale of fur and meat is an important source of income. Reindeer were introduced into Alaska near the end of the 19th century; they interbreed with native caribou subspecies there. Reindeer herders on the Seward Peninsula have experienced significant losses to their herds from animals (such as wolves) following the wild caribou during their migrations.\\n\\nReindeer meat is popular in the Scandinavian countries. Reindeer meatballs are sold canned. Sautéed reindeer is the best-known dish in Lapland. In Alaska and Finland, reindeer sausage is sold in supermarkets and grocery stores. Reindeer meat is very tender and lean. It can be prepared fresh, but also dried, salted, hot- and cold-smoked. In addition to meat, almost all internal organs of reindeer can be eaten, some being traditional dishes. Furthermore, Lapin Poron liha, fresh reindeer meat completely produced and packed in Finnish Lapland, is protected in Europe with PDO classification. \\n\\nReindeer antler is powdered and sold as an aphrodisiac, nutritional or medicinal supplement to Asian markets.\\n\\nCaribou have been a major source of subsistence for Canadian Inuit.\\n\\nReindeer hunting by humans has a very long history, and caribou/wild reindeer \\\"may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting.\\\"\\n\\nWild caribou are still hunted in North America and Greenland. In the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit people, Northern First Nations people, Alaska Natives, and the Kalaallit of Greenland, the caribou is an important source of food, clothing, shelter, and tools. Many Gwich'in people, who depend on the Porcupine caribou, still follow traditional caribou management practices that include a prohibition against selling caribou meat and limits on the number of caribou to be taken per hunting trip. \\n\\nThe blood of the caribou was supposedly mixed with alcohol as drink by hunters and loggers in colonial Quebec to counter the cold. This drink is now enjoyed without the blood as a wine and whiskey drink known as Caribou. \\n\\nReindeer husbandry \\n\\nDNA analysis indicates that reindeer were independently domesticated in Fennoscandia and Western Russia (and possibly Eastern Russia). Reindeer have been herded for centuries by several Arctic and Subarctic people including the Sami and the Nenets. They are raised for their meat, hides, and antlers and, to a lesser extent, for milk and transportation. Reindeer are not considered fully domesticated, as they generally roam free on pasture grounds. In traditional nomadic herding, reindeer herders migrate with their herds between coast and inland areas according to an annual migration route and herds are keenly tended. However, reindeer were not bred in captivity, though they were tamed for milking as well as for use as draught animals or beasts of burden. Domesticated reindeer are shorter-legged and heavier than their wild counterparts.\\n\\nThe use of reindeer for transportation is common among the nomadic peoples of northern Russia (but not in Scandinavia). Although a sled drawn by 20 reindeer will cover no more than 20–25 km a day (compared to 7–10 km on foot, 70–80 km by a dog sled loaded with cargo, and 150–180 km by a dog sled without cargo), it has the advantage that the reindeer will discover their own food, while a pack of 5-7 sled dogs requires 10–14 kg of fresh fish a day. \\n\\nThe use of reindeer as semi-domesticated livestock in Alaska was introduced in the late 19th century by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, with assistance from Sheldon Jackson, as a means of providing a livelihood for Native peoples there. Reindeer were imported first from Siberia, and later also from Norway. A regular mail run in Wales, Alaska, used a sleigh drawn by reindeer. In Alaska, reindeer herders use satellite telemetry to track their herds, using online maps and databases to chart the herd's progress.\\n\\nDomesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Fennoscandia and Russia, with a herd of approximately 150–170 reindeer living around the Cairngorms region in Scotland. The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway. The International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR), a circumpolar organization, was established in 2005 by the Norwegian government. ICR represents over 20 indigenous reindeer peoples and about 100,000 reindeer herders in 9 different national states. In Finland, there are about 6,000 reindeer herders, most of whom keep small herds of less than 50 reindeer to raise additional income. With 185,000 reindeer (2001), the industry produces 2,000 tons of reindeer meat and generates 35 million euros annually. 70% of the meat is sold to slaughterhouses. Reindeer herders are eligible for national and EU agricultural subsidies, which constituted 15% of their income. Reindeer herding is of central importance for the local economies of small communities in sparsely populated rural Lapland. \\n \\t\\nCurrently, many reindeer herders are heavily dependent on diesel fuel to provide for electric generators and snow mobile transportation, although solar photovoltaic systems can be used to reduce diesel dependency. \\n\\nIn history \\n\\nBoth Aristotle and Theophrastus have short accounts – probably based on the same source – of an ox-sized deer species, named tarandos, living in the land of the Bodines in Scythia, which was able to change the colour of its fur to obtain camouflage. The latter is probably a misunderstanding of the seasonal change in reindeer fur colour. The descriptions have been interpreted as being of reindeer living in the southern Ural Mountains in c. 350 BC\\n\\nA deer-like animal described by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico (chapter 6.26) from the Hercynian Forest in the year 53 BC is most certainly to be interpreted as reindeer: \\n\\nAccording to Olaus Magnus's Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus – printed in Rome in 1555 – Gustav I of Sweden sent 10 reindeer to Albert I, Duke of Prussia, in the year 1533. It may be these animals that Conrad Gessner had seen or heard of.\\n\\nDuring World War II, the Soviet Army used reindeer as pack animals to transport food, ammunition and post from Murmansk to the Karelian front and bring wounded soldiers, pilots and equipment back to the base. About 6,000 reindeer and more than 1,000 reindeer herders were part of the operation. Most herders were Nenets, who were mobilized from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, but reindeer herders from Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Komi also participated. \\n\\nSanta Claus' reindeer \\n\\nAround the world, public interest in reindeer peaks in the Christmas period. According to folklore, Santa Claus's sleigh is pulled by flying reindeer. These were first named in the 1823 poem \\\"A Visit from St. Nicholas\\\", where they are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. Dunder was later changed to Donder and—in other works—Donner (in German, \\\"thunder\\\"), and Blixem was later changed to Bliksem, then Blitzen (blitz being German for \\\"lightning\\\"). Some consider Rudolph as part of the group as well, though he was not part of the original named work referenced previously. Rudolph was added by Robert L. May in 1939 as \\\"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer\\\". \\n\\nHeraldry and symbols \\n\\nSeveral Norwegian municipalities have one or more reindeer depicted in their coats-of-arms: Eidfjord, Porsanger, Rendalen, Tromsø, Vadsø, and Vågå. The historic province of Västerbotten in Sweden has a reindeer in its coat of arms. The present Västerbotten County has very different borders and uses the reindeer combined with other symbols in its coat-of-arms. The city of Piteå also has a reindeer. The logo for Umeå University features three reindeer. \\n\\nThe Canadian 25-cent coin, or \\\"quarter\\\" features a depiction of a caribou on one face. The caribou is the official provincial animal of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and appears on the coat of arms of Nunavut. A caribou statue was erected at the center of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, marking the spot in France where hundreds of soldiers from Newfoundland were killed and wounded in the First World War and there is a replica in Bowring Park, in St. John's, Newfoundland's capital city.\\n\\nTwo municipalities in Finland have reindeer motifs in their coats-of-arms: Kuusamo has a running reindeer and Inari a fish with reindeer antlers.\",\n \"Gardensafari Birds (with lots of pictures)\\nBirds in the garden with lots of ... of Sparrows and even shares the same name but actually it belongs to an entire different family of birds. 1.3 Titmice (Paridae)\\nGardensafari Birds (with lots of pictures)\\nSUPPORT GARDENSAFARI\\nBirds\\n[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed. The animal's English name is usually specified, provided it has one. The scientific name is always mentioned in the caption of the photograph. Click on\\nfor sound. For more information on a species click on a bird's name. You will be given a separate page containing more information about the bird's habits, the eggs, extra pictures and also its sound (if available).]\\nThis page is divided into chapters, of which the first covers the subject of passerine birds and is by far the biggest. That chapter is divided into 7 smaller ones to keep navigation possible. In the chapter exotic birds we tell you about escaped species. It is doubtful, to say the least, whether these creatures stand a chance to survive in the wild in this part of the world.\\nContents: 1 Passerine Birds , 2 Pigeons , 3 Woodpeckers , 4 Plovers 5 Exotic Birds , 6 Water Birds and 7 Other Birds\\n1 Passerine Birds\\nContents: 1.1 Thrushes , 1.2 Sparrows , 1.3 Titmice , 1.4 Finches , 1.5 Warblers , 1.6 Crows and Jays and 1.7 Other Passerine Birds .\\n1.1 Thrushes (Turdidae)\\nThis is a large family of passerine birds. In general most of its members eat worms and insects. In colder areas they eat nuts and sometimes in winter also berries. Most thrushes have long and pointed beaks. All just hatched thrushes are very speckled. A number of species, such as the Robin and the Blackbird, loose their speckles when they reach the adult age. Others, like the Song Thrush and the Mistle Thrush remain speckled all their life. In the Netherlands the Blackbird is the most common bird. It is estimated that there are around 3.5 milion of them, thus making it even more common than the House Sparrow! The male Blackbird is black indeed with a striking yellow beak. The female is brown with a less striking brown beak.\\nFemale Blackbirds\\n(Turdus merula) are brown and not black at all!. The male is in the picture to your left, the female in the picture to your right.\\nAnother well-known thrush is the Song Thrush. The majority of thrushes sing beautifully, but the Song Thrush is a credit to its name. Gardeners are happy with Song Thrushes in their neighbourhood because these birs eat snails. The Redwing looks like the Song Thrush very much, but has a red spot around the wing. This species breeds in Scandinavia but spends the winters in Western- and Southern Europe. In the Benelux you can see a lot of them during the migration season in autumn (especially in October and November).\\n(Turdus philomelos), to the left and the Redwing\\n(Turdus iliacus), to the right look rather similar.\\nOne of the best known birds in the garden is the Robin. You can often see it from close by as it is not shy at all. Adults have the well known red breast. Males and females look identical and both have their own territory during winter, which they will defend. That's why both sexes sing, which is rare in the world of birds. And what's more: they sing nearly all year round. The young are very speckled, thus showing they actually belong to the Thrushes family.\\nThe Robin\\n(Erithacus rubecula), to the left a chick, is a forward and even curious little bird.\\nOther thrushes in our garden include the Mistle Thrush , the Nightingale , the Redstart and the Fieldfare . At the moment we have no good pictures available.\\n1.2 Sparrows (Passeridae)\\nOnce the House Sparrow was the most numerous bird in the Netherlands. But those days are over. Nowadays we contruct and isolate our houses in a different way than in the past and, consequently, there is no place or hole in the roof for the House Sparrow to build its nest. The number of House Sparrows in Holland dropped considerably over the past few years. And not only in Holland, but in Belgium and England as well. In England the species has even been put on the red list of endangered species! The male, below to your right, is richly marked and has a beautiful ash grey cap. The female, depicted below to your left, is less colourful and her cap is like the rest of the body covered with pale browns and beiges.\\nThe House Sparrow\\n(Passer domesticus) is becoming something of a rarity nowadays. Picture's: $\\nWe don't see many House Sparrows around because we live in a small village in a rural arae with lots of forests. That's the territory of the Tree Sparrows. Both species belong to a mainly tropical family of birds. Most of its members build huge and complicated nests. The House Sparrow very rarely builds such a complicated nest in the trees but mainly it nests under the tiles of roofs etc. The Tree Sparrow never weaves a nest for it is a real hole-nesting bird. By the way: in Northern America this family of birds is better known as the Weaver Finches. Usually over there the name sparrows is used to refer to the family of American Sparrows (Emberizidae), non of which live in Europe, let alone in our garden.\\nIn winter the Tree Sparrow\\n(Passer montanus) often appears in large numbers.\\nThe Hedge Sparrow looks like both species of Sparrows and even shares the same name but actually it belongs to an entire different family of birds.\\n1.3 Titmice (Paridae)\\nTitmice (or simply Tits), are referred to in Northern America as Chickadees as well. In summer they fly about rather unnoticed but as soon as winter comes you will see them virtually everywhere. A number of species can become really tame. Tits are intelligent birds that over the years adapted themselves to the changing environment. For instance they learned how to open milk bottles to get into the tasty cream on top of milk. Most Titmice are resident birds that don't migrate at all or, if they do, it travels short distances only. The best known Tit is perhaps the Great Tit. Like most Tits this is a hole nesting bird. It often competes with the Blue Tit over the ownership of a good nesting hole. And because the Great Tit is just a tiny bit bigger (and stronger) it usually triumphs. All titmice eat insects, spiders and larvae in spring and summer, but switch to berries and nuts once winter approaches.\\nTo the left the Great Tit\\n(Parus major) and to the right a Blue Tit\\n(Nowadays: Cyanistes caeruleus, used to be Parus caeruleus).\\nThere are two more Tits that frequent our garden. They are less colourful however. The Marsh Tit is just as cheeky as the two blue species. Going from east to west in the Benelux the bird becomes less common. The Crested Tit only lives in woody areas. It prefers older pines and is therefore less common. If the crested Tit visits your garden it won't be very shy but it's also less forward than the three species already mentioned.\\nTwo more frequent visitors to out feeding stand: the Marsh Tit\\n(Nowadays: Poecile palustris, used to be Parus palustris) and the Crested Tit\\n(Nowadays: Lophophanes cristatus, used to be Parus cristatus).\\nThe smallest Titmouse in Central Europe is the Coal Tit below. It is even slightly smaller than the Blue Tit is. It is not a very striking bird, but can easily be recognized as it really lokks like any other Tit and has a unique big black cap showing a white line in the middle. Its song is soft and not very special, but it sings all year round. And it is not only the male that sings, the females sing just as much. The species lives on pines, so probably it will not turn up in everyone's garden. The Coal Tit is not shy at all, but it is difficult to take a good picture of the animal as it is rather restless. When it visits our feeding table it gives the impression of being nervous and moves frantically. It is mare calm when sitting on a baggy of peanuts. The picture below is not of the best quality, alas.\\nA very nervous species: the Coal Tit\\n(Periparus ater, but used to be Parus ater).\\nEven though it bears the word Tit in its name, the Long-tailed Tit actually is not a Titmouse at all but it belongs to its own family of Passerine Birds.\\n1.4 Finches (Fringillidae)\\nMany finches are beautiful, colourful and skillful singing birds. Seeds are their main source of food which you can tell by looking at their beak: short, thick and strong, able to crack all kind of seeds and nuts. Chaffinches are common birds all over Europe. In Western Europe they are especially seen in winter when they are less shy and because there are simply more of them in one place. Lots of Chaffinches from Scandinavia migrate to Western Europe in winter.\\nEven the Chaffinch\\n(Fringilla coelebs) loves to sing from a high position. To the right a young male, not fully coloured yet.\\nThe Greenfinch is not as shy as the Chaffinch especially during the breeding season. The bird is very fond of rose-hips and will do everything to get them! The green and yellow colours of the Greenfinch are less prominent during winter.\\nThe Greenfinch\\n(Chloris chloris) often is a bit pale in winter.\\nAnother regular guest in my garden during winter is the Siskin. It breeds in this part of Europe in small numbers as it actually a bird to be found in pine forests in Northern Europe and Scotland. In winter these birds travel from southwards to England and the Benelux. The bird is not very shy, but it moves a lot which makes it difficult to photograph. In all pictures of the species on our pages a male is depicted. The female is darker, with less yellow colouring.\\nSiskins\\n(Carduelis spinus) are regular visitors to our garden in winter.\\nGoldfinch is a rare visitor in my garden even though this is a rather common bird in this part of the world. The bird prefers more open surroundings and mild climate. It can be found in all parts of Europe except for in colder parts of Scandinavia.\\nThe contrasty colours of Goldfinch\\nmake it easy to spot this bird in the garden.\\nOther finches that appear in my garden are the Bullfinch , the Brambling ,and the Linnet . Alas, I do not have pictures of these species available yet.\\n1.5 Warblers (Sylviidae)\\nWarblers are very small birds. Most of them are very dull and some species are very hard to tell apart. All warblers are insect eaters. Most of them come to Europe in summer to breed and in autumn they leave again for Africa. The Chiffchaff below looks very much like the Willow Warbler , which is not depicted here. Even experts listen to them rather than look at them in order to tell them apart. The Willow Worbler is an excellent singer, but the Chiffchaff only says... chiff chaff (Hey, what else should a Chiffchaff say!). The Gold Crest is the smallest bird in the Benelux, weighing about 5 grams only. Gold Crests do not migrate and stay in Europe during winter. Then they regularly mix up with tits and finches.\\n(Phylloscopus collybita) is a very dull bird, but the Gold Crest\\n(Regulus regulus) has quite striking colours.\\nThe Blackcap is a frequent visitor of the garden in summer. Its modest colours make it difficult for the photographer to notice that it is actually an interesting bird.\\n1.6 Crows and Jays (Corvidae)\\nMost Passerine Birds sing beautifully. So it is amazing that the Crow family also belongs to the Passerine Birds: the sounds they utter vary from awful to horrible. The Crow is a very large, black bird. To be precise, the beak is black in Western Europe but in Central and Eastern Europe it is grey and black and the bird is called the Hooded Crow. Strangely enough, Hooded Crows also live in Ireland and Northern Scotland. In other parts of the UK one finds black crows only. It is not very important though as both birds belong to one and the same species. The Magpie is black and white and quite beautiful. Many owners of gardens don't think very positive about this animal because it regularly distroys the nests of smaller Passerine birds and eating their young. On the other hand: the young of the Magpie have to eat as well, don't they?\\nCarrion Crow (or Black Crows) in photo to the left and Hooded Crows in the middle\\nbelong to the same species: Corvus corone. Magpies\\n(photo to the right) are not shy really, but they keep their distance from humans.\\nThe Jackdaw is very rare in our garden. There are lots of them not far from our house but they seem to avoid our garden. It is the smallest Crow in Western Europe. Because we live in an area with lots of woodlands we see the Jay almost daily. Its main interest seems to be the water in the pond.\\n(Corvus monedula) to the left and the Jay\\n(Garrulus glandarius) to the right visit our garden irregularly.\\nOther members of the Crow family in our garden are the Rook and the Nutcracker . We have no acceptable pictures of these species yet.\\n1.7 Other Passerine Birds\\nThe Passerine birds below all belong to various families and we can not group them in any other way. The Nuthatch (family Sittidae - Nuthatchers) can be a very common bird in your garden, provided there are many trees in the vicinity. The Nuthatch can climb trees but not only that - he can also descend trees with its head pointed downward which is very unique. It feeds mainly on insect and their larvae that live in wood. In winter it eagerly takes the food you offer on a bird feeder. The Hedge Sparrow (family Prunellidae - Hedge Sparrows) resembles other sparrows but actually it is not even closely related to them. It has the same pattern of stripes and colours but, concluding from the shape of the beak, it eats mainly insects. The bird is not shy at all and it is often erroneously assumed to be an ordinary sparrow and as such gets unnoticed.\\n(Sitta europaea) to the left and the Hedge Sparrow\\n(Prunella modularis) to the right are insect eaters mainly.\\nWhen a bird is called Hedge Sparrows, one automatically assumes, wrongfully, that it is a sparrow. The same goes for the Long-tailed Tit. It belongs to its own family (Aegithalidae - Bush Tits) and is not closely related to the real Tits at all. Anyway, the first part of the name is highly accurate, for the Long-tailed Tit has a very long tail indeed. The animal lives in a kind of family structure and is seldom seen on its own.\\nLong-tailed Tits\\n(Aegithalos caudatus) always live in small groups.\\nThe Starling (family Sturnidae - Starlings) is another well known bird. You might not be so fond of Starlings because they often come in large flocks and in no time at all they eat the cherries off your cherry trees. The same flocks however display breathtaking shows of synchronous flying in autumn. The Starling on the picture has fresh feathers and therefore looks extremely speckled. The speckles wear off later showing a green metallic colour. The Pied Flycatcher (family Muscicapidae - Fly Catchers) breeds in our garden regularly. The male arrives from Africa about two weeks before the female does. It spends these two weeks looking for a good nesting place (often a nesting box, which the species adopts without hesitation). When it has found a suitable one, it stays around, singing a lot. First of all to scare away other males, secondly to lure the arriving females. Upon hearing his song the females carefully inspect the place he found. If the female approves the site both birds form a couple. Otherwise she will leave and he will have to wait for the next female he can lure to his residence...\\n(Sturnus vulgaris) to the left rarely visits our garden, but the Pied Flycatcher\\n(Ficedula hypoleuca) even breeds here.\\nIn 2003 our first pipit (family Motacillidae) turned up. It was sitting on the ground, could be appraoched easily, performed his role as photo model very well and then took off. In close up this turns out to be a beautiful bird as well. Usually you do not get a chance for a close look like this. The Tree Pipit and the Meadow Pipit are two look-a-likes. Two experts however confirmed our impression that in this case we are talking about a Tree Pipit. This is a very common bird all over Europe, including most of Britain.\\nVery beautiful in a close up: the Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)\\nThe Wren, also known as Winter Wren or European Wren, is one of the smallest birds in Europe. It looks quite funny: a round body and a very small tail that is held upright most of the time. It is often seen running through high vegetation in a mouse-like way. In our garden it seldom comes to our feeding table and if it does the visits are very brief. The Wren is the only European representative of the Wren family (Troglodytidae). The picture below is of rather poor quality, alas.\\nThis bird is called the Winter Wren\\n(Troglodytes troglodytes), for it even sings in winter.\\nAn occasional guest making acrobaric flights above the garden is Barn Swallow (family Hirundinidae - Swallows). It is very fast so rather difficult to capture with a camera. Luckily, I've managed to take pictures of swallows when visiting Batavia shipyard in Lelystad in the Netherlands where they seemed to be less shy.\\nAlso from close by Barn Swallow is a surprisingly beautiful bird.\\nThere are other passerine birds in our garden, like White Wagtail (family Motacillidae - Pipits and Wagtails), Small Flycatcher (family Muscicapidae - Fly-catchers) and the Short-toed Tree Creeper (family Certhidae - Creepers). Up till now I have not managed to take good pictures of these birds.\\n2 Pigeons (Columbidae)\\nLots of people keep pigeons either because of their beautiful looks or because of the Pigeons ability to return home from afar (Homing Pigeons). In the past there was another reason for keeping pigeons, especially in France, pigeaon meat was considered a delicatecy! Many of these pigeons escaped and mixed with pigeons that lost their way to create a new species: the Town Pigeon. Thus we have no idea whether the one below is such a Town Pigeon or if this is a resting Homing Pigeon.\\nThis could be a Homing Pigeon that got lost on the way, or is resting for a bit.\\nThere are two species of wild pigeons in our garden: the small, forward and dull Collared Dove and the big and very shy Woodpigeon. Both species are very fond of our pond. Pigeons are remarkable birds indeed because they can actually drink water. In order to get some water most other birds just put their beak into the water and then throw their heads backwards. Pigeons don't do this, they just drink, which you can tell by the movements in their throats. Both species have a terrible monotonous song. The Woodpigeon is popular among meat eaters: weasels, goshawks and even humans appreciate them culinarily.\\n(Columba palumbus) and the Collared Dove\\n(Streptopelia decaocto) are very common in our garden.\\n3 Woodpeckers (Picidae)\\nEven though Woodpeckers are well known birds, most often you can hear them before you can actually spot them. They live of the larvae of beetles that live in wood. In order to reach them they hew holes in trees and that's what you hear. Sometimes they simply strike the tree just for the fun of the sound of it. It's also their way of communication. They do make other sounds as well: they 'laugh' loudly. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a common species in gardens and in winter it will take food from your bird feeder. The Green Woodpecker is a rare species. Unlike the other woodpeckers it is entirely dependant on ants. It visits our garden rarely to eat some of the ants that live in the grassfield.\\nTo the left a young Green Woodpecker\\n(Picus viridis) and to the right the very common Great Spotted Woodpecker\\n(Dendrocopos major).\\nThe enormous Black Woodpecker visited my garden only once and I was just too late to grab my camera and take a picture of it.\\n4 Plovers (Charadriidae)\\nAn interesting bird is the Northern Lapwing (family Charadriidae - Plovers), that in spring time often flies over my garden screaming the shrieking 'peewit'.\\n5 Exotic Birds\\nThese are birds that appeared in our garden but actually should not have. Most are escapees from cages, breeders etc. and cannot really survive in the wild. Usually the winters are too cold for them (like for the Rosella) or there is not enough suitable food available for them, like for the Peafowl. Other species however are able to live through winters and some species may even become \\\"European\\\" birds, like the Mandarin Duck. The two female Peafowls in the pictures below suddenly and unexpectedly turned up in our garden. They wandered off from the neighbours' garden and into ours. They had quite lucky that day as our bird feeder just fell apart of misery and old age while a lot of bird food was still on it. Needless to add that the Peafowls had a dinner party there! The species below is known as the Indian Peafowl. It usually is blueish, especially the male, but the famous White Peafowl belongs to this species as well.\\nTurning up in our garden by surprise: two hens of the Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).\\nThe Mandarin Duck (family Anatidae) one day suddenly came to our pond and left some two weeks later. The duck does not originally belong in Europe but humans imported it from China. The male has a very beautifully coloured pattern on its feathers. Some animals escape or are set free and in certain areas of Europe and the animal now lives in there in the wild. We have no idea whether the female depicted below is such a wild descendant or if is a bird on the run. The Crimson Rosella (family Platyceridae - Rosellas) certainly is a bird that got astray, for this relative of the parakeet (it is not a parrot) from Australia will never survive the winters in Europe.\\nTo the left a female Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) and to the right a Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) that probably escaped.\\n6 Water Birds\\nSea Gulls are among the best known birds in the countries adjacent to the North Sea. Most species are confined to the coastal areas but the Black-headed Gull (family Laridae - Gulls) lives all over Europe. From time to time it visists our garden. On the lawn it behaves like a Blackbird: it walks about quickly, hoping for some Earth Worms to surface. Young Blakheaded Gulls are without the black cap and so are adults in winter. The big Grey Heron (family Ardeidae - Herons and Bitterns) actually is a very unwelcome visitor to our garden, for it is after the life in our pond, including our beautiful fish and the frogs. The Grey Heron is a migrating bird, even though some colonies, especially in the western part of Holland, do not migrate any longer. They find food in abundance there that they do not need to move.\\nThe majestic White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) was almost extinct in the Netherlands only 30 years ago. The Grey Heron\\n(Ardea cinerea) is after our fish! Black-headed Gulls\\n(Larus ridibundus) are elegant flyers indeed.\\n7 Other Birds\\nThere are still some birds that do sometimes pop up in the garden. First of all we had the Northern Goshawk (family Accipitridae - Hawks) in our garden once. It had just caught a woodpigeon. We quickly made an attempt to take a picture but with not a good result. Another irregular guest that flashes through the garden from time to time is the Common Kestrel (family Falconidae - Falcons) hunting for a blackbird or some other small bird.\\nSounds � CLM \\\"&\\\" Vogelbescherming Nederland, used here by kind permission.\",\n \"Dugong dugon - Society for Marine Mammalogy\\nSociety for Marine Mammalogy. ... strictly marine herbivorous mammal. The dugong is the only sirenian in ... at an utaki that outsiders are strictly forbidden ...\\nDugong dugon - Society for Marine Mammalogy\\nSociety for Marine Mammalogy\\nSpeciesdugon\\nContent retrieved from Wikipedia, and managed by the Marine Mammal Science Education Committee.\\nThis article is about the animal. For the Chinese architectural feature, see Dougong . For the Pokémon character, see Dewgong .\\nThe dugong ( /ˈduːɡɒŋ/ , /ˈdjuːɡɒŋ/ ; Dugong dugon) is a medium-sized marine mammal . It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia , which also includes three species of manatees . It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae ; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong is the only strictly marine herbivorous mammal.\\nThe dugong is the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of some 40 countries and territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific . The dugong is largely dependent on seagrass communities for subsistence and is thus restricted to the coastal habitats which support seagrass meadows, with the largest dugong concentrations typically occurring in wide, shallow, protected areas such as bays , mangrove channels , the waters of large inshore islands and inter-reefal waters. The northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay are believed to be the dugong's contemporary stronghold.\\nLike all modern sirenians, the dugong has a fusiform body with no dorsal fin or hind limbs . The forelimbs or flippers are paddle-like. The dugong is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for feeding in benthic seagrass communities. The molar teeth are simple and peg-like unlike the more elaborate molar dentition of manatees.\\nThe dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for its meat and oil . Traditional hunting still has great cultural significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The dugong's current distribution is fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction. The IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products. Despite being legally protected in many countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include fishing-related fatalities, habitat degradation and hunting. With its long lifespan of 70 years or more, and slow rate of reproduction, the dugong is especially vulnerable to extinction.\\nEtymology and taxonomy\\nSee also: Evolution of sirenians\\nThe word \\\"dugong\\\" derives from the Tagalog term dugong which was in turn adopted from the Malay duyung, both meaning \\\"lady of the sea\\\". [3] Other common local names include \\\"sea cow\\\", \\\"sea pig\\\" and \\\"sea camel\\\". [4]\\nDugong dugon is the only extant species of the family Dugongidae , and one of only four extant species of the Sirenia order, the others forming the manatee family. [5] It was first classified by Müller in 1776 as Trichechus dugon, [6] a member of the manatee genus previously defined by Linnaeus . [7] It was later assigned as the type species of Dugong by Lacépède [8] and further classified within its own family by Gray [9] and subfamily by Simpson . [10]\\nDugongs and other sirenians are not closely related to other marine mammals , being more related to elephants . [11] Dugongs and elephants share a monophyletic group with hyraxes and the aardvark , one of the earliest offshoots of eutherians . The fossil record shows sirenians appearing in the Eocene , where they most likely lived in the Tethys Ocean . The two extant families of sirenians are thought to have diverged in the mid-Eocene, after which the dugongs and their closest relative, the Steller's sea cow , split off from a common ancestor in the Miocene . The Steller's sea cow became extinct in the 18th century. No fossils exist of other members of the Dugongidae. [12]\\nMolecular studies have been made on dugong populations using mitochondrial DNA . The results have suggested that the population of Southeast Asia is distinct from the others. Australia has two distinct maternal lineages, one of which also contains the dugongs from Africa and Arabia. Limited genetic mixing has taken place between those in Southeast Asia and those in Australia, mostly around Timor . [5] One of the lineages stretches all the way from Moreton Bay to Western Australia , while the other only stretches from Moreton Bay to the Northern Territory . [11] There is not yet sufficient genetic data to make clear boundaries between distinct groups. [5]\\nAnatomy and morphology\\nThe dugong's body is large with a cylindrical shape that tapers at both ends. It has thick, smooth skin that is a pale cream colour at birth, but darkens dorsally and laterally to brownish-to-dark-grey with age. The colour of a dugong can change due to the growth of algae on the skin. [13] The body is sparsely covered in short hair, a common feature among sirenians which may allow for tactile interpretation of their environment. [14] These hairs are most developed around the mouth, which has a large horseshoe -shaped upper lip forming a highly mobile muzzle. [12] This muscular upper lip aids the dugong in foraging . [13]\\nBones in the forelimb can fuse variously with age.\\nThe dugong's tail flukes [15] and flippers [11] are similar to those of dolphins . These flukes are raised up and down in long strokes to move the animal forward, and can be twisted to turn. The forelimbs are paddle-like flippers which aid in turning and slowing. [12] The dugong lacks nails on its flippers, which are only 15% of a dugong's body length. [12] The tail has deep notches. [16]\\nA dugong's brain weighs a maximum of 300 g (11 oz), about 0.1% of the animal's body weight. [12] With very small eyes, [17] dugongs have limited vision, but acute hearing within narrow sound thresholds. Their ears, which lack pinnae , are located on the sides of their head. The nostrils are located on top of the head and can be closed using valves. [11] Dugongs have two teats , one located behind each flipper. [12] There are few differences between sexes; the body structures are almost the same. [13] A male's testes are not externally located, and the main difference between males and females is the location of the genital aperture in relation to the umbilicus and the anus . The lungs in a dugong are very long, extending almost as far as the kidneys , which are also highly elongated in order to cope with the saltwater environment. [12] If wounded, a dugong's blood will clot rapidly. [13]\\nDugong tail fluke\\nThe skull of a dugong is unique. [16] The skull is enlarged with sharply down-turned premaxilla , which are stronger in males. The spine has between 57 and 60 vertebrae . [12] Unlike in manatees, the dugong's teeth do not continually grow back via horizontal tooth replacement. [18] The dugong has two incisors ( tusks ) which emerge in males during puberty. The female's tusks continue to grow without emerging during puberty, sometimes erupting later in life after reaching the base of the premaxilla . [12] The number of growth layer groups in a tusk indicates the age of a dugong, [5] and the cheekteeth move forward with age. The full dental formula of dugongs is 2.0.3.33.1.3.3, meaning they have two incisors, three premolars , and three molars on each side of their upper jaw, and three incisors, one canine, three premolars, and three molars on each side of their lower jaw. [16] Like other sirenians, the dugong experiences pachyostosis , a condition in which the ribs and other long bones are unusually solid and contain little or no marrow . These heavy bones, which are among the densest in the animal kingdom , [19] may act as a ballast to help keep sirenians suspended slightly below the water's surface. [20]\\nAn adult's length rarely exceeds 3 metres (9.8 ft). An individual this long is expected to weigh around 420 kilograms (926 lb). Weight in adults is typically more than 250 kilograms (551 lb) and less than 900 kilograms (1,984 lb). [21] The largest individual recorded was 4.06 metres (13.32 ft) long and weighed 1,016 kilograms (2,240 lb), [12] and was found off the Saurashtra coast of west India . [22] Females tend to be larger than males. [12]\\nDistribution and habitat\\nDugong on the sea floor at Marsa Alam , Egypt\\nDugongs are found in warm coastal waters from the western Pacific Ocean to the eastern coast of Africa, [15] along an estimated 140,000 kilometres (86,992 mi) of coastline [2] between 26° and 27° degrees to the north and south of the equator . [5] Their historic range is believed to correspond to that of seagrasses from the Potamogetonaceae and Hydrocharitaceae families. The full size of the former range is unknown, although it is believed that the current populations represent the historical limits of the range, [5] which is highly fractured. [13] Today populations of dugongs are found in the waters of 37 countries and territories. [11] Recorded numbers of dugongs are generally believed to be lower than actual numbers, due to a lack of accurate surveys. Despite this, the dugong population is thought to be shrinking, [5] with a worldwide decline of 20 per cent in the last 90 years. They have disappeared from the waters of Hong Kong , Mauritius , and Taiwan, as well as parts of Cambodia , Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Further disappearances are likely. [11]\\nDugongs are generally found in warm waters around the coast [15] with large numbers concentrated in wide and shallow protected bays. [5] The dugong is the only strictly-marine herbivorous mammal, as all species of manatee utilise fresh water to some degree. [5] Nonetheless, they can tolerate the brackish waters found in coastal wetlands, [23] and large numbers are also found in wide and shallow mangrove channels and around leeward sides of large inshore islands, where seagrass beds are common. [5] They are usually located at a depth of around 10 m (33 ft), [13] although in areas where the continental shelf remains shallow dugongs have been known to travel more than 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the shore, descending to as far as 37 metres (121 ft), where deepwater seagrasses such as Halophila spinulosa are found. [5] Special habitats are used for different activities. It has been observed that shallow waters are used as sites for calving, minimising the risk of predation. Deep waters may provide a thermal refuge from cooler waters closer to the shore during winter. [5]\\nEast Africa and South Asia\\nIn the late 1960s, herds of up to 500 dugongs were observed off the coast of East Africa and nearby islands. Current populations in this area are extremely small, numbering 50 and below, and it is thought likely they will become extinct. The eastern side of the Red Sea is the home of large populations numbering in the hundreds, and similar populations are thought to exist on the western side. In the 1980s, it was estimated there could be as many as 4,000 dugongs in the Red Sea. The Persian Gulf has the second-largest dugong population in the world, inhabiting most of the southern coast, [5] and the current population is believed to be around 7,500. [17] Dugong populations in Madagascar are poorly studied, but due to widespread exploitation it is thought they may have severely declined, with few surviving individuals. [24] [25] In Mozambique , most of local populations remaining are rather very small where the largest (about 120 individuals) occur at Bazaruto Island , [26] but they have become rare in historical habitats such as in Maputo Bay and on Inhaca Island . [27] [28] Among Tanzania , observations have recently been increased around the Mafia Island Marine Park where a hunt was intended by fishermen but failed in 2009. [29] In the Seychelles , dugongs had been regarded as extinct until a small number of dugongs was discovered around the Aldabra Atoll . This population may belong to different group than that distributed among the inner isles. [30] [31] Dugongs once thrived among Chagos Archipelago and the Sea Cow Island was named after the species although the species being considered no longer to occur in the region. [32] [33]\\nA highly isolated breeding population exists in the Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch , [34] the only population remaining in western India. It is 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) from the population in the Persian Gulf, and 1,700 kilometres (1,056 mi) from the nearest population in India. Former populations in this area, centred on the Maldives and the Laccadive Islands , are presumed to be extinct. A population exists in the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka , but it is seriously depleted. Dugongs are also found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is the state animal of this territory.[ citation needed ] Once distributed throughout the coastal belt in Sri Lanka, the dugong number declined in last two decades due to heavy hunting by the fishermen. Now only the north-eastern coastal belt is home for the rest of dugong population around Sri Lanka.[ citation needed ] It is listed as an endangered species on the southern coast of Pakistan .[ citation needed ] The population around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are known only from a few records, and although the population was large during British rule, it is now believed to be small and scattered. [5]\\nSouthern Pacific outside of Australia\\nDugong with attached remora off Lamen Island , Vanuatu\\nA small population exists today along the southern coast of China , where efforts are being made to protect it, [35] including the establishment of a seagrass sanctuary for dugong and other endangered marine fauna ranging in Guanxi . [36] [37] Despite these efforts, numbers continue to decrease, and in 2007 it was reported that no more dugong could be found on the west coast of the island of Hainan . [38] Historically, dugongs were also present in the southern parts of the Yellow Sea . [39] In Vietnam, dugongs have been restricted mostly to the provinces of Kiên Giang and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu , including Phu Quoc Island and Con Dao Island , [40] which hosted large populations in the past. [41] Con Dao is now the only site in Vietnam where dugong are regularly seen, [42] protected within the Côn Đảo National Park . [43] Nonetheless, dangerously low levels of awarenesses for conservation of marine organisms in Vietnam and Cambodia may result in increased intentional or unintentional catches, and illegal trade is a potential danger for local dugongs. [41] On Phu Quoc, the first 'Dugong Festival' was held in 2014, aiming to raise awareness of these issues. [44]\\nIn Thailand, the present distribution of dugongs is restricted to 6 provinces along the Andaman Sea , and very few dugongs are present in the Gulf of Thailand . [45] The Gulf of Thailand was historically home to large number of the animals, but none have been sighted in the west of the gulf in recent years, [5] and the remaining population in the east is thought to be very small and possibly declining. [46] Dugongs are believed to exist in the Straits of Johor in very small numbers. The waters around Borneo support a small population, with more scattered throughout the Malay archipelago . All the islands of the Philippines are believed to have once provided habitats for dugongs, which were common until the 1970s. Populations exist around the Solomon Islands archipelago and New Caledonia , stretching to an easternmost population in Vanuatu . A highly isolated population lives around the islands of Palau . [5]\\nA singe dugong lives at Cocos (Keeling) Islands although the animal is thought to be a vagrant. [47] [48]\\nNorthern Pacific\\nToday, possibly the smallest and northernmost population of dugongs exists around the Ryukyu islands, and a population formerly existed off Taiwan. [5] An endangered population of 50 or fewer dugongs, possibly as few as only three individuals, survives [49] around Okinawa . [50] A single individual was recorded in Amami Oshima , at the northernmost edge of the dugong's historic range, more than 40 years after the last previous recorded sighting. [51] A vagrant strayed into port near Ushibuka, Kumamoto, and died due to poor health. [52] Historically, the Yaeyama Islands held a large concentration of dugongs, with more than 300 individuals. On Aragusuku Island, large quantities of skulls are preserved at an utaki that outsiders are strictly forbidden to enter. [53] [54] Dugong populations in these areas were reduced by historical hunts as payments to the Ryukyu Kingdom , before being wiped out because of large-scale illegal hunting and fishing using destructive methods such as dynamite fishing after the Second World War.\\nPopulations around Taiwan appear to be almost extinct, although remnant individuals may visit areas with rich seagrass beds such as Dongsha Atoll . [55] Some of the last reported sightings were made in Kenting National Park in 1950s and 60s. [56] There had been occasional records of vagrants at the Northern Mariana Islands prior to 1985. [57] It is unknown how much mixing there was between these populations historically. Some theorise that populations existed independently, for example that the Okinawan population were isolated members derived from the migration of a Philippine subspecies. [58] Others postulate that the populations formed part of a super-population where migration between Ryukyu , Taiwan , and the Philippines was common. [59]\\nAustralia\\nAustralia is home to the largest population, stretching from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Moreton Bay in Queensland . [11] The population of Shark Bay is thought to be stable with over 10,000 dugongs. Smaller populations exist up the coast, including one in Ashmore reef . Large numbers of dugongs live to the north of the Northern Territory , with a population of over 20,000 in the gulf of Carpentaria alone. A population of over 25,000 exists in the Torres Strait such as off Thursday Island , although there is significant migration between the strait and the waters of New Guinea . [5] The Great Barrier Reef provides important feeding areas for the species; [60] this reef area houses a stable population of around 10,000, although the population concentration has shifted over time. Large bays facing north on the Queensland coast provide significant habitats for dugong, with the southernmost of these being Hervey Bay and Moreton Bay . [11]\\nExtinct Mediterranean population\\nIt has been confirmed that dugongs once inhabited the water of the Mediterranean [61] [62] possibly until after the rise of civilizations along the inland sea . This population possibly shared ancestry with the Red Sea population, and the Mediterranean population had never been large due to geographical factors and climate changes . [63] The Mediterranean is the region where the Dugongidae originated in the mid-late Eocene , along with Caribbean Sea . [64] [65]\\nEcology and life history\\nA mother and calf in shallow water\\nDugongs are long lived, and the oldest recorded specimen reached age 73. [5] They have few natural predators, although animals such as crocodiles, killer whales, and sharks pose a threat to the young, [11] and a dugong has also been recorded to have died from trauma after being impaled by a stingray barb. A large number of infections and parasitic diseases affect dugongs. Detected pathogens include helminths , cryptosporidium , different types of bacterial infections, and other unidentified parasites. 30% of dugong deaths in Queensland since 1996 are thought to be because of disease. [5]\\nAlthough they are social animals , they are usually solitary or found in pairs due to the inability of seagrass beds to support large populations. [13] Gatherings of hundreds of dugongs sometimes happen, [15] but they last only for a short time. [13] Because they are shy, and do not approach humans, little is known about dugong behaviour. [13] They can go six minutes without breathing (though about two and a half minutes is more typical), [66] and have been known to rest on their tail to breathe with their heads above water. [15] They can dive to a maximum depth of 39 metres (128 ft); they spend most of their lives no deeper than 10 metres (33 ft). Communication between individuals is through chirps, whistles, barks, and other sounds that echo underwater. Different sounds have been observed with different amplitudes and frequencies, implying different purposes. Visual communication is limited due to poor eyesight, and is mainly used for activities such as lekking for courtship purposes. Mothers and calves are in almost constant physical contact, and calves have been known to reach out and touch their mothers with their flippers for reassurance. [13]\\nDugongs are semi-nomadic , often travelling long distances in search of food, but staying within a certain range their entire life. [13] Large numbers often move together from one area to another. It is thought that these movements are caused by changes in seagrass availability. Their memory allows them to return to specific points after long travels. [11] Dugong movements mostly occur within a localised area of seagrass beds, and animals in the same region show individualistic patterns of movement. Daily movement is affected by the tides. In areas where there is a large tidal range, dugongs travel with the tide in order to access shallower feeding areas. In Moreton Bay, dugongs often travel between foraging grounds inside the bay and warmer oceanic waters. At higher latitudes dugongs make seasonal travels to reach warmer water during the winter. Occasionally individual dugongs make long-distance travels over many days, and can travel over deep ocean waters. [5] One animal was seen as far south as Sydney . [12] Although they are marine creatures, dugongs have been known to travel up creeks, and in one case a dugong was caught 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) up a creek near Cooktown . [11]\\nFeeding\\nTypical dugong feeding area in Moreton Bay\\nDugongs, along with other sirenians, are referred to as \\\" sea cows \\\" because their diet consists mainly of sea-grass . When eating they ingest the whole plant, including the roots, [11] although when this is impossible they will feed on just the leaves. [5] A wide variety of seagrass has been found in dugong stomach contents, and evidence exists they will eat algae when seagrass is scarce. [12] Although almost completely herbivorous , [13] they will occasionally eat invertebrates such as jellyfish , sea squirts , and shellfish . [11] Dugongs in Moreton Bay, Australia, are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates such as polychaetes [67] or marine algae when the supply of their choice grasses decreases. In other southern areas of both western and eastern Australia, there is evidence that dugongs actively seek out large invertebrates. This does not apply to dugongs in tropical areas, in which faecal evidence indicates that invertebrates are not eaten. [5]\\nMost dugongs do not feed from lush areas, but where the seagrass is more sparse. Additional factors such as protein concentration and regenerative ability also affect the value of a seagrass bed. [11] The chemical structure and composition of the seagrass is important, and the grass species most often eaten are low in fibre, high in nitrogen, and easily digestible. [5] In the Great Barrier Reef, dugongs feed on low-fibre high-nitrogen seagrass such as Halophila and Halodule , [11] so as to maximize nutrient intake instead of bulk eating. Seagrasses of a lower seral are preferred, where the area has not fully vegetated. Only certain seagrass meadows are suitable for dugong consumption, due to the dugong's highly specialised diet. There is evidence that dugongs actively alter seagrass species compositions at local levels. Dugongs may search out deeper seagrass. Feeding trails have been observed as deep as 33 metres (108 ft), and dugongs have been seen feeding as deep as 37 metres (121 ft). [5] Dugongs are relatively slow moving, swimming at around 10 kilometres per hour (6.2 mph). [64] When moving along the seabed to feed they walk on their pectoral fins. [16]\\nDue to their poor eyesight, dugongs often use smell to locate edible plants. They also have a strong tactile sense , and feel their surroundings with their long sensitive bristles. [13] They will dig up an entire plant and then shake it to remove the sand before eating it. They have been known to collect a pile of plants in one area before eating them. [16] The flexible and muscular upper lip is used to dig out the plants. This leaves furrows in the sand in their path. [13]\\nReproduction and parental care\\nDugong mother and offspring from East Timor\\nA dugong reaches sexual maturity between the ages of eight and eighteen, older than in most other mammals. [68] The way that females know how a male has reached sexual maturity is by the eruption of tusks in the male since tusks erupt in males when testosterone levels reach a high enough level. [69] The age when a female first gives birth is disputed, with some studies placing the age between ten and seventeen years, while others place it as early as six years. [5] There is evidence that male dugongs lose fertility at older ages. [12] Despite the longevity of the dugong, which may live for 50 years or more, females give birth only a few times during their life, and invest considerable parental care in their young. [68] The time between births is unclear, with estimates ranging from 2.4 to 7 years. [5]\\nMating behaviour varies between populations located in different areas. [13] In some populations, males will establish a territory which females in heat will visit. [5] In these areas a male will try to impress the females while defending the area from other males, a practice known as lekking . [13] In other areas many males will attempt to mate with the same female, [5] sometimes inflicting injuries to the female or each other. [11] During this the female will have copulated with multiple males, who will have fought to mount her from below. This greatly increases the chances of conception. [13]\\nFemales give birth after a 13–15 month gestation , usually to just one calf. [68] Birth occurs in very shallow water, with occasions known where the mothers were almost on the shore. [12] As soon as the young is born the mother pushes it to the surface to take a breath. [15] Newborns are already 1.2 metres (4 ft) long and weigh around 30 kilograms (66 lb). [11] Once born, they stay close to their mothers, possibly to make swimming easier. [12] The calf nurses for 14–18 months, although it begins to eat seagrasses soon after birth. [5] A calf will only leave its mother once it has matured. [13]\\nImportance to humans\\nA cave painting of a dugong – Tambun Cave, Perak , Malaysia\\nDugongs have historically provided easy targets for hunters, who killed them for their meat, oil, skin, and bones. As the anthropologist A. Asbjørn Jøn has noted, they are often considered as the inspiration for mermaids , [15] [70] and people around the world developed cultures around dugong hunting. In some areas it remains an animal of great significance, [12] and a growing ecotourism industry around dugongs has had economic benefit in some countries. [13]\\nThere is a 5,000-year-old wall painting of a dugong, apparently drawn by neolithic peoples, in Tambun Cave, Ipoh , Malaysia. [71] This was discovered by Lieutenant R.L Rawlings in 1959 while on a routine patrol. During the Renaissance and the Baroque eras, dugongs were often exhibited in wunderkammers . They were also presented as Fiji mermaids in sideshows .\\nDugong meat and oil have traditionally been some of the most valuable foods of Australian aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders . Some aborigines regard dugongs as part of their Aboriginality. [11] Dugongs have also played a role in legends in Kenya, and the animal is known there as the \\\"Queen of the Sea\\\". Body parts are used as food, medicine, and decorations. In the Gulf states, dugongs served not only as a source of food, but their tusks were used as sword handles. Dugong oil is important as a preservative and conditioner for wooden boats to people in around the Gulf of Kutch in India, who also believe its meat is an aphrodisiac . Dugong ribs were used to make carvings in Japan. In Southern China dugongs were traditionally regarded as a \\\"miraculous fish\\\", and it was bad luck to catch them. A wave of immigration beginning at the end of the 1950s resulted in dugongs being hunted for food. In the Philippines dugongs are thought to bring bad luck, and parts of them are used to ward against evil spirits. In areas of Thailand it is believed that the dugong's tears form a powerful love potion, while in parts of Indonesia they are considered reincarnations of women. In Papua New Guinea they are seen as a symbol of strength. [5]\\nDugongs' or sea cows' hides have been thought [72] to have been used as coverings in the building of the Old Testament portable worship tent known as the Tabernacle .\\nConservation\\nSee also: Dugong hunting in Australia\\nDugong numbers have decreased in recent times. For a population to remain stable, 95 per cent of adults must survive the span of one year. The estimated percentage of females humans can kill without depleting the population is 1–2%. [11] This number is reduced in areas where calving is minimal due to food shortages. Even in the best conditions a population is unlikely to increase more than 5% a year, leaving dugongs vulnerable to over-exploitation. The fact that they live in shallow waters puts them under great pressure from human activity. Research on dugongs and the effects of human activity on them has been limited, mostly taking place in Australia. In many countries, dugong numbers have never been surveyed. As such, trends are uncertain, with more data needed for comprehensive management. [5] The only data stretching back far enough to mention population trends comes from the urban coast of Queensland, Australia . The last major worldwide study, made in 2002, concluded that the dugong was declining and possibly extinct in a third of its range, with unknown status in another half. [2]\\nThe IUCN Red List lists the dugong as vulnerable, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora regulates and in some areas has banned international trade. [12] Regional cooperation is important due to the widespread distribution of the animal, and in 1998 there was strong support for Southeast Asian cooperation to protect dugongs. Kenya has passed legislation banning the hunting of dugongs and restricting trawling, but the dugong is not yet listed under Kenya's Wildlife Act for endangered species. Mozambique has had legislation to protect dugongs since 1955, but this has not been effectively enforced. Many marine parks have been established on the African coast of the Red Sea, and the Egyptian Gulf of Aqaba is fully protected. The United Arab Emirates has banned all hunting of dugongs within its waters, as has Bahrain . The UAE has additionally banned drift net fishing. India and Sri Lanka ban the hunting and selling of dugongs and their products. Japan has listed dugongs as endangered and has banned intentional kills and harassment. Hunting, catching, and harassment is banned by the People's Republic of China . The first marine mammal to be protected in the Philippines was the dugong, although monitoring this is difficult. Palau has legislated to protect dugongs, although this is not well enforced and poaching persists. The dugong is a national animal of Papua New Guinea , which bans all except traditional hunting. Vanuatu and New Caledonia ban hunting of dugongs. Dugongs are protected throughout Australia, although the rules vary by state; in some areas indigenous hunting is allowed. [5] Dugongs are listed under the Nature Conservation Act in the Australian state of Queensland as vulnerable. Most currently live in established marine parks , where boats must travel at a restricted speed and mesh net fishing is restricted. [11]\\nIn Vietnam , an illegal network targeting dugongs had been detected and was shut down in 2012. [44] Potential hunts along Tanzanian coasts by fishermen have raised concerns as well. [29]\\nHuman activity\\nDespite being legally protected in many countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include hunting, habitat degradation , and fishing-related fatalities. [4] Entanglement in fishing nets has caused many deaths, although there are no precise statistics. Most issues with industrial fishing occur in deeper waters where dugong populations are low, with local fishing being the main risk in shallower waters. [5] As dugongs cannot stay underwater for a very long period, they are highly prone to deaths due to entanglement. [17] The use of shark nets has historically caused large numbers of deaths, and they have been eliminated in most areas and replaced with baited hooks. [11] Hunting has historically been a problem too, although in most areas they are no longer hunted, with the exception of certain indigenous communities. In areas such as northern Australia, hunting remains the greatest impact on the dugong population. [5]\\nVessel strikes have proved a problem for manatees, but the relevance of this to dugongs is unknown. [5] Increasing boat traffic has increased danger, [11] especially in shallow waters. Ecotourism has increased in some countries, although effects remain undocumented. It has been seen to cause issues in areas such as Hainan due to environmental degradation. [5] Modern farming practise and increased land clearing have also had an impact, and much of the coastline of dugong habitats is undergoing industrialisation , with increasing human populations. [11] Dugongs accumulate heavy metal ions in their tissues throughout their lives, more so than other marine mammals. The effects are unknown. Socio-political needs are an impediment to dugong conservation in many developing countries. The shallow waters are often used as a source of food and income, problems exacerbated by aid used to improve fishing. In many countries, legislation does not exist to protect dugongs, and if it does it is not enforced. [5]\\nOil spills are a danger to dugongs in some areas, as is land reclamation . In Okinawa the small dugong population is threatened by United States military activity. Plans exist to build a military base close to the Henoko reef, and military activity also adds the threats of noise pollution, chemical pollution, soil erosion, and exposure to depleted uranium . [5] The military base plans have been fought in US courts by some Okinawans, whose concerns include the impact on the local environment and dugong habitats. [50] [73] It was later revealed that the government of Japan was hiding evidence of the negative effects of ship lanes and human activities on dugongs observed during surveys carried out off Henoko reef. [74]\\nEnvironmental degradation\\nIf dugongs do not get enough to eat they may calve later and produce fewer young. [11] Food shortages can be caused by many factors, such as a loss of habitat, death and decline in quality of seagrass, and a disturbance of feeding caused by human activity. Sewage , detergents , heavy metal , hypersaline water, herbicides , and other waste products all negatively affect seagrass meadows. Human activity such as mining, trawling , dredging , land reclamation , and boat propeller scarring also cause an increase in sedimentation which smothers seagrass and prevents light from reaching it. This is the most significant negative factor affecting seagrass. [5]\\nHalophila ovalis —one of the dugong's preferred species of seagrass—declines rapidly due to lack of light, dying completely after 30 days. Extreme weather such as cyclones and floods can destroy hundreds of square kilometres of seagrass meadows, as well as washing dugongs ashore. The recovery of seagrass meadows and the spread of seagrass into new areas, or areas where it has been destroyed, can take over a decade. Most measures for protection involve restricting activities such as trawling in areas containing seagrass meadows, with little to no action on pollutants originating from land. In some areas water salinity is increased due to wastewater , and it is unknown how much salinity seagrass can withstand. [5]\\nDugong habitat in the Oura Bay area of Henoko, Okinawa, Japan , is currently under threat from land reclamation conducted by Japanese Government in order to build a US Marine base in the area. [75] In August 2014, preliminary drilling surveys were conducted around the seagrass beds there. [76] The construction is expected to seriously damage the dugong population's habitat, possibly leading to local extinction. [77]\\nCapture and captivity\\nThe Australian state of Queensland has sixteen dugong protection parks, and some preservation zones have been established where even aborigines are not allowed to hunt. [11] Capturing animals for research has caused only one or two deaths; [5] dugongs are expensive to keep in captivity due to the long time mothers and calves spend together, and the inability to grow the seagrass that dugongs eat in an aquarium. [11] Only one orphaned calf has ever been successfully kept in captivity. [13]\\nWorldwide, only four dugongs are held in captivity. A female from the Philippines lives at Toba Aquarium in Toba, Mie , Japan. [5] A male also lived there until he died on 10 February 2011. [78] The second resides in Sea World Indonesia , [79] after having been rescued from a fisherman's net and treated. [80] The last two—a male and a female—are kept at Sydney Aquarium , where they have resided since they were juveniles. [81]\\nGracie, a captive dugong at Underwater World, Singapore , was reported to have died in 2014 at the age of 19, from complications arising from an acute digestive disorder . [82]\\nReferences\\n^\",\n \"Goatsucker - The Full Wiki\\nThey are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief ... GOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by ...\\nGoatsucker - The Full Wiki\\nThe Full Wiki\\nGoatsucker: Wikis\\nAdvertisements\\nNote: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles .\\nFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\\nThis article is about the bird. For the aircraft, see Gloster Nightjar .\\n\\\"Goatsucker\\\" redirects here. For the cryptid translated from Spanish as goat sucker, see Chupacabra .\\nNightjars\\nGenera\\n14, see text.\\nNightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills. They are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is Caprimulgus). Some New World species are named as nighthawks. Nightjars usually nest on the ground.\\nNightjars are found around the world. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.\\nMost have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusual for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it. This helps to conceal them during the day. Bracken is their preferred habitat.\\nThe Common Poorwill , Phalaenoptilus nuttallii is unique as a bird that undergoes a form of hibernation, becoming torpid and with a much reduced body temperature for weeks or months, although other nightjars can enter a state of torpor for shorter periods. [1]\\nNightjars lay one or two patterned eggs directly onto bare ground. It has been suggested that nightjars will move their eggs and chicks from the nesting site in the event of danger by carrying them in their mouths. This suggestion has been repeated many times in ornithology books, but while this may accidentally happen, surveys of nightjar research have found very little evidence to support this idea. [2] [3]\\nContents\\n4 External links\\nSystematics\\nTraditionally, nightjars have been divided into two subfamilies: the Caprimulginae , or typical nightjars with about 70 species, and the Chordeilinae , or nighthawks of the New World with about 9 species. The two groups are similar in most respects, but the typical nightjars have rictal bristles, longer bills, and softer plumage. In their pioneering DNA-DNA hybridisation work, Sibley and Ahlquist found that the genetic difference between the eared-nightjars and the typical nightjars was, in fact, greater than that between the typical nightjars and the nighthawks of the New World. Accordingly, they placed the eared-nightjars in a separate family : Eurostopodidae .\\nSubsequent work, both morphological and genetic, has provided support for the separation of the typical and the eared-nightjars, and some authorities have adopted this Sibley-Ahlquist recommendation, and also the more far-reaching one to group all the owls (traditionally Strigiformes) together in the Caprimulgiformes . The listing below retains a more orthodox arrangement, but recognises the eared-nightjars as a separate group. For more detail and an alternative classification scheme, see Caprimulgiformes and Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy .\\nGenus Siphonorhis (2 living species)\\nGenus Nyctiphrynus (4 species)\\nGenus Caprimulgus (some 50-60 species, including the European Nightjar )\\nGenus Macrodipteryx - Long-primaried nightjars (2 species)\\nGenus Hydropsalis (2 species)\\nAlso see a list of nightjars , sortable by common and binomial names.\\nGallery\\nPauraque\\nReferences\\n^ Lane JE, Brigham RM, Swanson DL. (2004) \\\"Daily torpor in free-ranging whip-poor-wills (Caprimulgus vociferus).\\\" Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 77 (2):297-304\\n^ Jackson, H.D. (2007) \\\" A review of the evidence for the translocation of eggs and young by nightjars (Caprimulgidae)\\\" Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology, 78 (3) 561-572\\n^ Jackson, H.D. (1985) \\\"Commentary and Observations on the Alleged Transportation of Eggs and Young by Caprimulgids\\\". Wilson Bulletin 97 (3) 381-385 [1]\\nExternal links\\nUp to date as of January 14, 2010\\nFrom LoveToKnow 1911\\nGOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by the common name it bears in many European tongues besides English - as testified by the Gr. aiyoOi Xas, the Lat. caprimulgus, Ital. succiacapre, Span. chotacabras, Fr. tettechevre, and Ger. Zeigenmelker. The common goatsucker (Caprimulgus europaeus, Linn.), is admittedly the type of a very peculiar and distinct family, Caprimulgidae, a group remarkable for the flat head, enormously wide mouth, large eyes, and soft, pencilled plumage of its members, which vary in size from a lark to a crow . Its position has been variously assigned by systematists. Though now judiciously removed from the Passeres, in which Linnaeus placed all the species known to him, Huxley considered it to form, with two other families - the swifts (Cypselidae) and humming-birds (Trochilidae) - the division Cypselomorphae of his larger group Aegithognathae, which is equivalent in the main to the Linnaean Passeres. There are two ways of regarding the Caprimulgidae- one including the genus Podargus and its allies, the other recognizing them as a distinct family, Podargidae. As a matter of convenience we shall here comprehend these last in the Caprimulgidae, which will then contain two subfamilies, Caprimulginae and Podarginae; for what, according to older authors, constitutes a third, though represented only by Steatornis, the singular oil-bird, or guacharo , certainly seems to require separation as an independent family (see Guacharo ).\\nSome of the differences between the Caprimulgidae and Podarginae have been pointed out by Sclater (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1866, p. 123), and are very obvious. In the former, the outer toes have four phalanges only, thus presenting a very uncommon character among birds, and the middle claws are pectinated; while in the latter the normal number of five phalanges is found, Common Goatsucker.\\nand the claws are smooth, and other distinctions more recondite have also been indicated by him (tom. cit. p. 582). The Caprimulginae may be further divided into those having the gape thickly beset by strong bristles, and those in which there are few such bristles or none - the former containing the genera Caprimulgus, Antrostomus, Nyctidromus and others, and the latter Podargus, Chordiles, Lyncornis and a few more.\\nThe common goatsucker of Europe (C. europaeus) arrives late in spring from its winter-retreat in Africa , and its presence is soon made known by its habit of chasing its prey , consisting chiefly of moths and cockchafers, in the evening- twilight . As the season advances the song of the cock, from its singularity, attracts attention amid all rural sounds. This song seems to be always uttered when the bird is at rest, though the contrary has been asserted, and is the continuous repetition of a single burring note, as of a thin lath fixed at one end and in a state of vibration at the other, and loud enough to reach in still weather a distance of half-a-mile or more. On the wing, while toying with its mate , or performing its rapid evolutions round the trees where it finds its food, it has the habit of occasionally producing another and equally extraordinary sound , sudden and short, but somewhat resembling that made by swinging a thong in the air , though whether this noise proceeds from its mouth is not ascertained. In general its flight is silent, but at times when disturbed from its repose, its wings may be heard to smite together. The goatsucker, or, to use perhaps its commoner English name, nightjar,' passes the day in slumber, crouching on the ground or perching on a tree - in the latter case sitting not across the branch but lengthways, with its head lower than its body. In hot weather, however, its song may sometimes be heard by day and even at noontide, but it is then uttered, as it were, drowsily, and without the vigour that characterizes its crepuscular or nocturnal performance. Towards evening the bird becomes active, and it seems to pursue its prey throughout the night uninterruptedly, or only occasionally pausing for a few seconds to alight on a bare spot - a pathway or road - and then resuming its career. It is one of the few birds that absolutely make no nest , but lays its pair of beautifully-marbled eggs on the ground, generally where the herbage is short, and often actually on the soil. So light is it that the act of brooding, even where there is some vegetable growth, produces no visible depression of the grass , moss or lichens on which the eggs rest, and the finest sand equally fails to exhibit a trace of the parental act. Yet scarcely any bird shows greater local attachment , and the precise site chosen one year is almost certain to be occupied the next. The young, covered when hatched with dark-spotted down, are not easily found, nor are they more easily discovered on becoming fledged, for their plumage almost entirely resembles that of the adults, being a mixture of reddish-brown, grey and black, blended and mottled in a manner that passes description. They soon attain their full size and power of flight, and then take to the same manner of life as their parents. In autumn all leave their summer haunts for the south, but the exact time of their departure has hardly been ascertained. The habits of the nightjar, as thus described, seem to be more or less essentially those of the whole subfamily - the differences observable being apparently less than are found in other groups of birds of similar extent.\\nA second species of goatsucker (C. ruficollis), which is somewhat larger, and has the neck distinctly marked with rufous, is a summer visitant to the south-western parts of Europe, and especially to Spain and Portugal . The occurrence of a single example of this bird at Killingworth, near Newcastle -on- Tyne , in October 1856, has been recorded by Mr Hancock ( Ibis , 1862, p. 39); but the season of its appearance argues the probability of its being but a casual straggler from its proper home. Many other species of Caprimulgus inhabit Africa, Asia and their islands, while one (C. macrurus) is found in Australia . Very nearly allied to this genus is Antrostomus, an American group containing many species, of which the chuck-will's-widow (A. carolinensis) and the whip -poor-will (A. vociferus) of the eastern United States (the latter also reaching Canada) are familiar examples. Both these birds take their common name from the cry they utter, and their habits seem to be almost identical with those of the old world goatsuckers. Passing over some other forms which need not here be mentioned, the genus Nyctidromus, though consisting of only one species (N. albicollis) which inhabits Central and part of South America , requires remark, since it has tarsi of sufficient length to enable it to run swiftly on the ground, while the legs of most birds of the family are so short that they can Other English names of the bird are evejar, fern - owl , churn -owl and wheel -bird - the last from the bird's song resembling the noise made by a spinning -wheel in motion.\\nmake but a shuffling progress. Heleothreptes, with the unique form of wing possessed by the male, needs mention. Notice must also be taken of two African species, referred by some ornithologists to as many genera (Macrodipteryx and Cosmetornis), though probably one genus would suffice for both. The males of each of them are characterized by the wonderful development of the ninth primary in either wing, which reaches in fully adult specimens the extraordinary length of 17 in. or more. The former of these birds, the Caprimulgus macrodipterus of Adam Afzelius , is considered to belong to the west coast of Africa, and the shaft of the elongated remiges is bare for the greater part of its length, retaining the web , in a spatulate form, only near the tip. The latter, to which the specific name of vexillarius was given by John Gould, has been found on the east coast of that continent, and is reported to have occurred in Madagascar and Socotra. In this the remigial streamers do not lose their barbs, and as a few of the next quills are also to some extent elongated, the bird, when flying, is said to look as though it had four wings. Specimens of both are rare in collections, and no traveller seems to have had the opportunity of studying the habits of either so as to suggest a reason for this marvellous sexual development.\\nThe second group of Caprimulginae, those which are but poorly or not at all furnished with rictal bristles, contains about five genera, of which we may particularize Lyncornis of the old world and Chordiles of the new. The species of the former are remarkable for the tuft of feathers which springs from each side of the head, above and behind the ears, so as to give the bird an appearance like some of the \\\"horned\\\" owls - those of the genus Scops, for example; and remarkable as it is to find certain forms of two families, so distinct as are the Strigidae and the Capriy nulgidae, resembling each other in this singular external feature, it is yet more remarkable to note that in some groups of the latter, as in some of the former, a very curious kind of dimorphism takes place. In either case this has been frequently asserted to be sexual, but on that point doubt may fairly be entertained. Certain it is that in some groups of goatsuckers, as in some groups of owls, individuals of the same species are found in plumage of two entirely different hues - rufous and grey. The only explanation as yet offered of this fact is that the difference is sexual, but evidence to that effect is conflicting. It must not, however, be supposed that this common feature, any more than that of the existence of tufted forms in each group, indicates any close relationship between them. The resemblances may be due to the same causes, concerning which future observers may possibly enlighten us, but at present we must regard them as analogies, not homologies. The species of Lyncornis inhabit the Malay Archipelago , one, however, occurring also in China . Of Chordiles the best-known species is the night- hawk of North America (C. virginianus or C. popetue), which has a wide range from Canada to Brazil . Others are found in the Antilles and in South America . The general habits of all these birds agree with those of the typical goatsuckers.\\nWe have next to consider the birds forming the genus Podargus and those allied to it, whether they be regarded as a distinct family, or as a subfamily of Caprimulgidae. As above stated, they have feet constructed as those of birds normally are, and their sternum seems to present the constant though comparatively trivial difference of having its posterior margin elongated into two pairs of processes, while only one pair is found in the true goatsuckers. Podargus includes the bird (P. cuvieri) known from its cry as morepork to the Tasmanians, 2 and several other species, the number of which is doubtful, from Australia and New Guinea . They have comparatively powerful bills, and it would seem feed to some extent on fruits and berries, though they mainly subsist on insects, chiefly Cicadae and Phasmidae. They also differ from the true goatsuckers in having the outer toes partially reversible, and they build a flat nest on the horizontal branch of a tree for the reception of their eggs, which are of a spotless white. Apparently allied to Podargus, but differing 2 In New Zealand , however, this name is given to an owl (Sceloglaux novae-zelandiae). among other respects in its mode of nidification , is Aegotheles, which belongs also to the Australian sub-region; and farther to the northward, extending throughout the Malay Archipelago and into India , comes Batrachostomus, wherein we again meet with species having aural tufts somewhat like Lyncornis. The Podarginae are thought by some to be represented in the new world by the genus Nyctibius, of which several species occur from the Antilles and Central America to Brazil. Finally, it may be stated that none of the Caprimulgidae seem to occur in Polynesia or in New Zealand , though there is scarcely any other part of the world suited to their habits in which members of the family are not found. (A. N.)\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124619,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"Peter Stuyvesant, born in Holland, became Governor of which American city in 1647?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"NEW YORK"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Peter_Stuyvesant.txt\nPeter Stuyvesant\nPeter Stuyvesant (English pronunciation /ˈstaɪv.əs.ənt/; in Dutch also Pieter and Petrus Stuyvesant; 16121672) served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City.\n\nStuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan. Among the projects built by Stuyvesant's administration were the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway.\n\nBiography\n\nStuyvesant was born around 1612 in Peperga, Friesland, in the Netherlands, to minister Balthasar Stuyvesant and Margaretha Hardenstein. He grew up in Peperga, Scherpenzeel, and Berlicum. He studied languages and philosophy in Franeker, and joined the West India Company about 1635, and was director of the Dutch West India Company's colony of Curaçao from 1642 to 1644.\n\nIn April 1644, he attacked the Spanish-held island of Saint Martin and lost the lower part of his right leg to a cannonball. He returned to the Netherlands for convalescence, where his right leg was replaced with a wooden peg. Supposedly, Stuyvesant was given the nickname \"Old Silver Leg\" because he used a stick of wood driven full of silver bands as a prosthesis. \n\nA year later, in May 1645, Stuyvesant was selected by the Dutch West India Company to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of the New Netherland colony, in present-day New York. He arrived in New Amsterdam on May 11, 1647. In September 1647, he appointed an advisory council of nine men as representatives of the colonists on New Netherland.\n\nHe married Judith Bayard (–1687) of the Bayard family in 1645. Her brother Samuel was the husband of Stuyvesant's sister Anna. Petrus and Judith's first son, Balthasar Lazarus, settled in the West Indies and married Maria Lucas Raapzaat. Their second son, Nicolaes Willem Stuyvesant (1648–1698), first married Maria Beeckman, daughter of Willem Beeckman, and subsequently Elisabeth Slechtenhorst.\n\nIn 1648, a conflict started between him and Brant Aertzsz van Slechtenhorst, the commissary of the patroonship Rensselaerwijck, which surrounded Fort Orange (present-day Albany). Stuyvesant claimed he had power over Rensselaerwijck despite special privileges granted to Kiliaen van Rensselaer in the patroonship regulations of 1629. In 1649, Stuyvesant marched to Fort Orange with a military escort and ordered bordering settlement houses to be razed to permit a better defense of the fort in case of an attack from the Native Americans. When Van Slechtenhorst refused, Stuyvesant sent a group of soldiers to enforce his orders. The controversy that followed resulted in the founding of the new settlement, Beverwijck.\n\nStuyvesant became involved in a dispute with Theophilus Eaton, the governor of English New Haven Colony, over the border of the two colonies. In September 1650, a meeting of the commissioners on boundaries took place in Hartford, Connecticut, called the Treaty of Hartford, to settle the border between New Amsterdam and the English colonies to the north and east. The border was arranged to the dissatisfaction of the Nine Men, who declared that \"the governor had ceded away enough territory to found fifty colonies each fifty miles square.\" Stuyvesant then threatened to dissolve the council. A new plan of municipal government was arranged in the Netherlands, and the name \"New Amsterdam\" was officially declared on 2 February 1653. Stuyvesant made a speech for the occasion, saying that his authority would remain undiminished.\n\nPetrus was now ordered to the Netherlands, but the order was soon revoked under pressure from the States of Holland and the city of Amsterdam. Stuyvesant prepared against an attack by ordering the citizens to dig a ditch from the North River to the East River and to erect a fortification.\n\nIn 1653, a convention of two deputies from each village in New Netherland demanded reforms, and Stuyvesant commanded that assembly to disperse, saying: \"We derive our authority from God and the company, not from a few ignorant subjects.\"\n\nIn the summer of 1655, he sailed down the Delaware River with a fleet of seven vessels and about 700 men and took possession of the colony of New Sweden, which was renamed \"New Amstel.\" In his absence, Pavonia was attacked by Native Americans, during the \"Peach War\" on September 15, 1655.\n\nReligious freedom\n\nIn 1657 Stuyvesant, who did not tolerate full religious freedom in the colony, and was strongly committed to the supremacy of the Dutch Reformed Church, refused to allow Lutherans the right to organize a church. When he also issued an ordinance forbidding them from worshiping in their own homes, the directors of the Dutch West Indies Company, of whom three were Lutherans, told him to rescind the order and allow private gatherings of Lutherans., p.59\n\nFreedom of religion was also tested when Peter Stuyvesant refused to allow Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil to settle permanently in New Amsterdam (without passports) and join the existing community of Jews (with passports from Amsterdam). Stuyvesant attempted to have Jews \"in a friendly way to depart\" the colony. As he wrote to the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company in 1654 he hoped that \"the deceitful race, — such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, — be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony.\" He referred to Jews as a \"repugnant race\" and \"usurers\", and was concerned that \"Jewish settlers should not be granted the same liberties enjoyed by Jews in Holland, lest members of other persecuted minority groups, such as Roman Catholics, be attracted to the colony.\"[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode7/documents/documents_1.html \"Jews Permitted to Stay in New Amsterdam\"], Heritage: Civilization and the Jews on the PBS website\n\nStuyvesant's decision was rescinded after pressure from the directors of the Company; as a result, Stuyvesant allowed Jewish immigrants to stay in the colony as long as their community was self-supporting, but — with the support of the company — would not allow them to build a synagogue, forcing them to worship instead in a private house. \n\nThen, in 1657, Stuyvesant turned to the newly arrived Quakers in the colony. He ordered the public torture of Robert Hodgson, a 23-year-old Quaker convert who had become an influential preacher. Stuyvesant then made an ordinance, punishable by fine and imprisonment, against anyone found guilty of harboring Quakers. That action led to a protest from the citizens of Flushing, Queens, which came to be known as the Flushing Remonstrance, considered by some a precursor to the United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.\n\nCapitulation\n\nIn 1664, King Charles II of England ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, later King James II, a large tract of land that included New Netherland. Four English ships bearing 450 men, commanded by Richard Nicolls, seized the Dutch colony. On 30 August 1664, George Cartwright sent the governor a letter demanding surrender. He promised \"life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority.\" Stuyvesant signed a treaty at his Bouwerij house on 9 September 1664. Nicolls was declared governor, and the city was renamed New York. Stuyvesant obtained civil rights and freedom of religion in the Articles of Capitulation. The Dutch settlers mainly belonged to the Dutch Reformed church, a Calvinist denomination, holding to the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dordt). The English were Anglicans, holding to the 39 Articles, a Protestant confession, with Bishops.\n\nIn 1665, Stuyvesant went to the Netherlands to report on his term as governor. On his return, he spent the remainder of his life on his farm of sixty-two acres outside the city, called the Great Bouwerie, beyond which stretched the woods and swamps of the village of Haarlem. A pear tree that he reputedly brought from the Netherlands in 1647 remained at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue until 1867, bearing fruit almost to the last. The house was destroyed by fire in 1777. He also built an executive mansion of stone called Whitehall. He died in August 1672 and his body was entombed in the east wall of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, which sits on the site of Stuyvesant’s family chapel. \n\nLegacy\n\nStuyvesant and his family were large landowners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam, and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with three places in Manhattan's East Side, near present-day Gramercy Park: the Stuyvesant Town housing complex; Stuyvesant Square, a park in the area; and the Stuyvesant Apartments on East 18th Street. His farm, called the \"Bouwerij\" — the seventeenth-century Dutch word for farm — was the source for the name of the Manhattan street and surrounding neighborhood named the \"Bowery\". The chapel facing Bouwerie's long approach road (now Stuyvesant Street) became St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. The contemporary neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn includes Stuyvesant Heights and retains its name. Also named after him are the hamlets of Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls in Columbia County, New York, where descendants of the early Dutch settlers still live and where the Dutch Reformed Church remains an important part of the community, as well as shopping centers, yacht clubs and other buildings and facilities throughout the area where the Dutch colony once was. A statue of Stuyvesant by J. Massey Rhind situated at Bergen Square in Jersey City was dedicated in 1915 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Dutch settlement there More modestly, Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands was also named after Stuyvesant during the Dutch West India Company's administration of that Territory.\n\nStuyvesant was a great believer in education. In 1660 he was quoted as saying that \"Nothing is of greater importance than the early instruction of youth.\" In 1661, New Amsterdam had one grammar school, two free elementary schools, and had licensed 28 masters of school. To honor Stuyvesant's dedication to education and New Amsterdam's legal-cultural tradition of toleration under Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan was named after him. This stands in stark contrast to Stuyvesant's criticism of religious minorities, such as the Jews of New Amsterdam, whom he described, in a letter dated 22 September 1654, to the Dutch East India Company, as \"deceitful\", \"very repugnant\", and \"hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ,\" in hopes that they would be made to leave the territory. \n\nIn 1657 the directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Stuyvesant to tell him that they are not going to be able to send him all the tradesmen that he requested and that he will have to purchase slaves in addition to the tradesmen he will receive.\n\nThe last acknowledged direct descendant of Pieter Stuyvesant to bear his surname was Augustus van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., who died a bachelor in 1953 at the age of 83 in his mansion at 2 East 79th Street. Rutherford Stuyvesant, the 19th century New York developer, and his descendants are also descended from Pieter Stuyvesant; however, Rutherford Stuyvesant's name was changed from Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of the 1847 will of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant. \n\nIn popular culture\n\n*Stuyvesant is mentioned in Washington Irving's short story \"Rip Van Winkle\" in the following passage: \"...just about the beginning of the government of the good Peter Stuyvesant (may he rest in peace!)...\" and a bit later: \"...who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant...\" \n*Stuyvesant is the major antagonist in the 1938 Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson musical Knickerbocker Holiday, in which he sings the song \"September Song\". In the stage production he was portrayed by Walter Huston; in the much-altered 1944 film version he was portrayed by Charles Coburn in his only singing role.\n*In Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, Peter Stuyvesant is one of the leaders of the Dutch colonies. Adriaen van der Donck is the other possible Dutch leader. In Sid Meier's Colonization computer game, Stuyvesant can be elected to the Continental Congress, allowing the player to build Custom Houses which automate trade with the mother country.\n*Stuyvesant was a key figure in the Belgian comic strip Suske en Wiske in episode 269, \"De Stugge Stuyvesant\".\n*The old time radio show Duffy's Tavern had an episode which used a newly discovered diary of Stuyvesant as a plot device.\n*A cigarette brand by Philip Morris International and Imperial Tobacco with British American Tobacco is named Peter Stuyvesant. These cigarettes are popular in Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Zambia, Malaysia and South Africa.\n*In Charles Bukowski's 1978 novel Women, the main character, Henry Chinaski, vomits on Peter Stuyvesant's burial vault cover before a poetry reading at St. Mark's Church.\n*The American actor John Smith, who starred in two NBC western television series Cimarron City was descended from Stuyvesant. \n*The American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III is a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant (his great great grandfather John Howard Wainwright having married Margaret Stuyvesant). \n*The German singer-songwriter and political activist Rio Reiser used Peter Stuyvesant founding New York as an example of a real event in his song Alles Lüge (All Lies), a song that contrasts real events and popular culture.\n*In the 1955 television production of the Rodgers and Hart musical \"Dearest Enemy\" General Howe (Cyril Ritchard) and Captain Copeland (Robert Sterling) sing a less-than-complimentary song about Stuyvesant, \"Sweet Peter\".\n*Stuyvesant appears in Jean Zimmerman's 2013 novel The Orphanmaster, in which he is portrayed as somewhat tyrannical and not well-liked by the settlers of New Amsterdam.\n*In the American TV show The Venture Bros., Dean Venture attends Stuyvesant University starting in the show's sixth season. The fictional college is located in New York City, and its logo features Peter Stuyvesant with the words \"Passus sum cum ligneo cruris\" or \"I have suffered with a wooden leg.\""],"string":"[\n \"Peter_Stuyvesant.txt\\nPeter Stuyvesant\\nPeter Stuyvesant (English pronunciation /ˈstaɪv.əs.ənt/; in Dutch also Pieter and Petrus Stuyvesant; 16121672) served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City.\\n\\nStuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan. Among the projects built by Stuyvesant's administration were the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway.\\n\\nBiography\\n\\nStuyvesant was born around 1612 in Peperga, Friesland, in the Netherlands, to minister Balthasar Stuyvesant and Margaretha Hardenstein. He grew up in Peperga, Scherpenzeel, and Berlicum. He studied languages and philosophy in Franeker, and joined the West India Company about 1635, and was director of the Dutch West India Company's colony of Curaçao from 1642 to 1644.\\n\\nIn April 1644, he attacked the Spanish-held island of Saint Martin and lost the lower part of his right leg to a cannonball. He returned to the Netherlands for convalescence, where his right leg was replaced with a wooden peg. Supposedly, Stuyvesant was given the nickname \\\"Old Silver Leg\\\" because he used a stick of wood driven full of silver bands as a prosthesis. \\n\\nA year later, in May 1645, Stuyvesant was selected by the Dutch West India Company to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of the New Netherland colony, in present-day New York. He arrived in New Amsterdam on May 11, 1647. In September 1647, he appointed an advisory council of nine men as representatives of the colonists on New Netherland.\\n\\nHe married Judith Bayard (–1687) of the Bayard family in 1645. Her brother Samuel was the husband of Stuyvesant's sister Anna. Petrus and Judith's first son, Balthasar Lazarus, settled in the West Indies and married Maria Lucas Raapzaat. Their second son, Nicolaes Willem Stuyvesant (1648–1698), first married Maria Beeckman, daughter of Willem Beeckman, and subsequently Elisabeth Slechtenhorst.\\n\\nIn 1648, a conflict started between him and Brant Aertzsz van Slechtenhorst, the commissary of the patroonship Rensselaerwijck, which surrounded Fort Orange (present-day Albany). Stuyvesant claimed he had power over Rensselaerwijck despite special privileges granted to Kiliaen van Rensselaer in the patroonship regulations of 1629. In 1649, Stuyvesant marched to Fort Orange with a military escort and ordered bordering settlement houses to be razed to permit a better defense of the fort in case of an attack from the Native Americans. When Van Slechtenhorst refused, Stuyvesant sent a group of soldiers to enforce his orders. The controversy that followed resulted in the founding of the new settlement, Beverwijck.\\n\\nStuyvesant became involved in a dispute with Theophilus Eaton, the governor of English New Haven Colony, over the border of the two colonies. In September 1650, a meeting of the commissioners on boundaries took place in Hartford, Connecticut, called the Treaty of Hartford, to settle the border between New Amsterdam and the English colonies to the north and east. The border was arranged to the dissatisfaction of the Nine Men, who declared that \\\"the governor had ceded away enough territory to found fifty colonies each fifty miles square.\\\" Stuyvesant then threatened to dissolve the council. A new plan of municipal government was arranged in the Netherlands, and the name \\\"New Amsterdam\\\" was officially declared on 2 February 1653. Stuyvesant made a speech for the occasion, saying that his authority would remain undiminished.\\n\\nPetrus was now ordered to the Netherlands, but the order was soon revoked under pressure from the States of Holland and the city of Amsterdam. Stuyvesant prepared against an attack by ordering the citizens to dig a ditch from the North River to the East River and to erect a fortification.\\n\\nIn 1653, a convention of two deputies from each village in New Netherland demanded reforms, and Stuyvesant commanded that assembly to disperse, saying: \\\"We derive our authority from God and the company, not from a few ignorant subjects.\\\"\\n\\nIn the summer of 1655, he sailed down the Delaware River with a fleet of seven vessels and about 700 men and took possession of the colony of New Sweden, which was renamed \\\"New Amstel.\\\" In his absence, Pavonia was attacked by Native Americans, during the \\\"Peach War\\\" on September 15, 1655.\\n\\nReligious freedom\\n\\nIn 1657 Stuyvesant, who did not tolerate full religious freedom in the colony, and was strongly committed to the supremacy of the Dutch Reformed Church, refused to allow Lutherans the right to organize a church. When he also issued an ordinance forbidding them from worshiping in their own homes, the directors of the Dutch West Indies Company, of whom three were Lutherans, told him to rescind the order and allow private gatherings of Lutherans., p.59\\n\\nFreedom of religion was also tested when Peter Stuyvesant refused to allow Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil to settle permanently in New Amsterdam (without passports) and join the existing community of Jews (with passports from Amsterdam). Stuyvesant attempted to have Jews \\\"in a friendly way to depart\\\" the colony. As he wrote to the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company in 1654 he hoped that \\\"the deceitful race, — such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, — be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony.\\\" He referred to Jews as a \\\"repugnant race\\\" and \\\"usurers\\\", and was concerned that \\\"Jewish settlers should not be granted the same liberties enjoyed by Jews in Holland, lest members of other persecuted minority groups, such as Roman Catholics, be attracted to the colony.\\\"[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode7/documents/documents_1.html \\\"Jews Permitted to Stay in New Amsterdam\\\"], Heritage: Civilization and the Jews on the PBS website\\n\\nStuyvesant's decision was rescinded after pressure from the directors of the Company; as a result, Stuyvesant allowed Jewish immigrants to stay in the colony as long as their community was self-supporting, but — with the support of the company — would not allow them to build a synagogue, forcing them to worship instead in a private house. \\n\\nThen, in 1657, Stuyvesant turned to the newly arrived Quakers in the colony. He ordered the public torture of Robert Hodgson, a 23-year-old Quaker convert who had become an influential preacher. Stuyvesant then made an ordinance, punishable by fine and imprisonment, against anyone found guilty of harboring Quakers. That action led to a protest from the citizens of Flushing, Queens, which came to be known as the Flushing Remonstrance, considered by some a precursor to the United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.\\n\\nCapitulation\\n\\nIn 1664, King Charles II of England ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, later King James II, a large tract of land that included New Netherland. Four English ships bearing 450 men, commanded by Richard Nicolls, seized the Dutch colony. On 30 August 1664, George Cartwright sent the governor a letter demanding surrender. He promised \\\"life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority.\\\" Stuyvesant signed a treaty at his Bouwerij house on 9 September 1664. Nicolls was declared governor, and the city was renamed New York. Stuyvesant obtained civil rights and freedom of religion in the Articles of Capitulation. The Dutch settlers mainly belonged to the Dutch Reformed church, a Calvinist denomination, holding to the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dordt). The English were Anglicans, holding to the 39 Articles, a Protestant confession, with Bishops.\\n\\nIn 1665, Stuyvesant went to the Netherlands to report on his term as governor. On his return, he spent the remainder of his life on his farm of sixty-two acres outside the city, called the Great Bouwerie, beyond which stretched the woods and swamps of the village of Haarlem. A pear tree that he reputedly brought from the Netherlands in 1647 remained at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue until 1867, bearing fruit almost to the last. The house was destroyed by fire in 1777. He also built an executive mansion of stone called Whitehall. He died in August 1672 and his body was entombed in the east wall of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, which sits on the site of Stuyvesant’s family chapel. \\n\\nLegacy\\n\\nStuyvesant and his family were large landowners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam, and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with three places in Manhattan's East Side, near present-day Gramercy Park: the Stuyvesant Town housing complex; Stuyvesant Square, a park in the area; and the Stuyvesant Apartments on East 18th Street. His farm, called the \\\"Bouwerij\\\" — the seventeenth-century Dutch word for farm — was the source for the name of the Manhattan street and surrounding neighborhood named the \\\"Bowery\\\". The chapel facing Bouwerie's long approach road (now Stuyvesant Street) became St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. The contemporary neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn includes Stuyvesant Heights and retains its name. Also named after him are the hamlets of Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls in Columbia County, New York, where descendants of the early Dutch settlers still live and where the Dutch Reformed Church remains an important part of the community, as well as shopping centers, yacht clubs and other buildings and facilities throughout the area where the Dutch colony once was. A statue of Stuyvesant by J. Massey Rhind situated at Bergen Square in Jersey City was dedicated in 1915 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Dutch settlement there More modestly, Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands was also named after Stuyvesant during the Dutch West India Company's administration of that Territory.\\n\\nStuyvesant was a great believer in education. In 1660 he was quoted as saying that \\\"Nothing is of greater importance than the early instruction of youth.\\\" In 1661, New Amsterdam had one grammar school, two free elementary schools, and had licensed 28 masters of school. To honor Stuyvesant's dedication to education and New Amsterdam's legal-cultural tradition of toleration under Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan was named after him. This stands in stark contrast to Stuyvesant's criticism of religious minorities, such as the Jews of New Amsterdam, whom he described, in a letter dated 22 September 1654, to the Dutch East India Company, as \\\"deceitful\\\", \\\"very repugnant\\\", and \\\"hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ,\\\" in hopes that they would be made to leave the territory. \\n\\nIn 1657 the directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Stuyvesant to tell him that they are not going to be able to send him all the tradesmen that he requested and that he will have to purchase slaves in addition to the tradesmen he will receive.\\n\\nThe last acknowledged direct descendant of Pieter Stuyvesant to bear his surname was Augustus van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., who died a bachelor in 1953 at the age of 83 in his mansion at 2 East 79th Street. Rutherford Stuyvesant, the 19th century New York developer, and his descendants are also descended from Pieter Stuyvesant; however, Rutherford Stuyvesant's name was changed from Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of the 1847 will of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant. \\n\\nIn popular culture\\n\\n*Stuyvesant is mentioned in Washington Irving's short story \\\"Rip Van Winkle\\\" in the following passage: \\\"...just about the beginning of the government of the good Peter Stuyvesant (may he rest in peace!)...\\\" and a bit later: \\\"...who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant...\\\" \\n*Stuyvesant is the major antagonist in the 1938 Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson musical Knickerbocker Holiday, in which he sings the song \\\"September Song\\\". In the stage production he was portrayed by Walter Huston; in the much-altered 1944 film version he was portrayed by Charles Coburn in his only singing role.\\n*In Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, Peter Stuyvesant is one of the leaders of the Dutch colonies. Adriaen van der Donck is the other possible Dutch leader. In Sid Meier's Colonization computer game, Stuyvesant can be elected to the Continental Congress, allowing the player to build Custom Houses which automate trade with the mother country.\\n*Stuyvesant was a key figure in the Belgian comic strip Suske en Wiske in episode 269, \\\"De Stugge Stuyvesant\\\".\\n*The old time radio show Duffy's Tavern had an episode which used a newly discovered diary of Stuyvesant as a plot device.\\n*A cigarette brand by Philip Morris International and Imperial Tobacco with British American Tobacco is named Peter Stuyvesant. These cigarettes are popular in Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Zambia, Malaysia and South Africa.\\n*In Charles Bukowski's 1978 novel Women, the main character, Henry Chinaski, vomits on Peter Stuyvesant's burial vault cover before a poetry reading at St. Mark's Church.\\n*The American actor John Smith, who starred in two NBC western television series Cimarron City was descended from Stuyvesant. \\n*The American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III is a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant (his great great grandfather John Howard Wainwright having married Margaret Stuyvesant). \\n*The German singer-songwriter and political activist Rio Reiser used Peter Stuyvesant founding New York as an example of a real event in his song Alles Lüge (All Lies), a song that contrasts real events and popular culture.\\n*In the 1955 television production of the Rodgers and Hart musical \\\"Dearest Enemy\\\" General Howe (Cyril Ritchard) and Captain Copeland (Robert Sterling) sing a less-than-complimentary song about Stuyvesant, \\\"Sweet Peter\\\".\\n*Stuyvesant appears in Jean Zimmerman's 2013 novel The Orphanmaster, in which he is portrayed as somewhat tyrannical and not well-liked by the settlers of New Amsterdam.\\n*In the American TV show The Venture Bros., Dean Venture attends Stuyvesant University starting in the show's sixth season. The fictional college is located in New York City, and its logo features Peter Stuyvesant with the words \\\"Passus sum cum ligneo cruris\\\" or \\\"I have suffered with a wooden leg.\\\"\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2286"],"string":"[\n \"2286\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["New york 1664 - MIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\n... and New York City before Albany was ... appeared in New York harbor in 1664, although the city was ... of New York City [earlier New ...\nNew york 1664 - MIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\nMIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\n When were they a colony:1664\n Industry: shipbuilding, iron works, cattle, grain, rice, indigo, wheat\n State motto: Excelsior\nFounded by: Peter Stuyvesant\n Religious Aspirations & Reasons for finding: It was founded by the Dutch for trade and furs and became an English Colony in 1664.\nPurpose: Trade and profit\nNote: Set up as Dutch colony, taken over by English in 1664\nEconomy:\n Colonists made their living in a variety of ways: fur, lumber trading, shipping, the slave\ntrade, and as merchants and tradesmen in the colony's towns. Most colonists were\nfarmers, who cleared large acres of land by hand to grow crops. Corn was the\nmost popular, since it could be eaten by people and animals. Also grown was flax,\nwheat, vegetables, and tobacco. Some colonists mined for iron to send to England\nfor manufacturing into finished goods. When you come to New York there are many jobs. Some jobs are printers,\nclockmakers, barbers, tanners, milliners, dyers, menders, or you could be in the\nshipping business. If you are interested in farming, there is squash, beans,\ncorn, melons, grapes, apples, peaches, flax, rye, wheat, and tobacco. We also\nhave ships, timber, iron, livestock, and fur. If you’re still not interested\nthere is also venison, goose, wild turkey, mutton, raccoon, fish, and\noysters.\n New York had hot, humid summers, and bitterly cold windy winters with much snow.\nThe terrain was swampy near the coast and the Hudson River. Further north where\nmountains covered with forests. The ground was rocky and the soil was good for\nfarming.\nNew York is located along the Atlantic Ocean in the Middle Colonies. New York has\nmountains, plains, and rolling hills. There is a river that runs through New\nYork called the Hudson River. There are some Native American groups called the\nLenape, Wappinger, Munsee, Mohican, and Montauk that live here. New York also\nborders Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.\nBefore the English and other countries were there, the native Indians lived\nthere first before Christopher Columbus had come over to America because he\nbelieved he was going to Asia the ground of new York was rocky but the soil\naround there was good once there was no rocks or trees around the soil. of\ncourse there was war with the Indians over land because the Indians wanted land\nto grow crops and mostly, the English were growing crops there like potatoes,\ntobacco, and corn. the English got this land because the owner of the land\ndidn't want to fight because he didn't want his people to get hurt unlike the\nowner before him.\n New York has a governor and an elected assembly. The Charter of Liberties gives free\nrights to all Dutch and English settlers. New York also has religious freedom.\nThe colony was run by a governor appointed by the king of England. He made all\nthe laws, and there was little self-government. Sometimes the colonist were able\nto gain more freedom, (the right to elect the mayor of New York City, the chance\nto set up an assembly), but these freedoms did not last long. New York adopted\nits first state constitution in 1777. It has been rewritten several times. The\ncapital was variously located at Kingston, White Plains, Poughkeepsie, and New\nYork City before Albany was selected as the permanent site in 1797. \nReligion:\n New York was situated between the Puritan colonies of New England and the catholic\ncolony of Maryland, so the settlers were of many faiths. They had considerable\nreligious freedom. Although minorities were numerous, it can be said that\nProtestantism was the main religion in colonial New York. This was because both\nthe Dutch and the English were Protestant, and wanted their colonies to be\nProtestant too. Religion in New York during colonial times was often segregated\nand individualistic, however the fact that economic gain was the motivating\nfactor of the colony's existence, many different religious groups inherited its\npromise. \nSummary:\n *New Netherland becomes New York\n *Peter Stuyvesant was the leader, he surrenders the colony to England and the king gives it to his brother who renamed it New York\n(Brother: Duke of York)\n*Property colony Key: England wants to profit from the colony\nPeter Stuyvesant:\nPeter Stuyvesant\n(Political figure)\nPeter Stuyvesant, served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664,\nafter which it was renamed New York. \nBorn: 1612, Peperga, Netherlands\nDied: August 1672, New York City, NY\nEducation: University of Franeker\nFacts:\nFact 1- Stuyvesant had served in the West Indies as governor of one of the islands, and for his good services there was appointed, in 1647, by the Dutch West India Company as the governor of their colony of New Amsterdam.\n Fact 2- He had lost a leg in the service of the company in the West Indies, but his wooden leg has done more to preserve his fame in history than any other one thing. According to tradition, when the assembly of New Amsterdam went contrary to his wishes, he would stamp his wooden leg and roar at\nthem\n Fact 3- (Cause)\nStuyvesant brought to his work a determination to be \"as a father over his children,\" and he immediately set about trying to reform abuses with a commendable enthusiasm. His despotic character and his blunt manners, coupled with his efforts at reform, soon won him many enemies. He tried to regulate the sale of liquor, and forbade its being sold to the Indians at any time, but his orders were disregarded. He attempted to regulate the fur trade so as to give the inhabitants of New Amsterdam a monopoly of it, but smuggling became prevalent. His severity in punishing those who would not conform to the Dutch Reformed church, and his refusal to allow the people a share in the government, increased the hatred which most of the settlers felt toward\nhim.\n(Effect)\nwar arose between England and Holland and English warships appeared in New York harbor in 1664, although the city was defended by a stone fort and 20 cannon, the people refused to resist the invaders. So Stuyvesant was forced to surrender the town to the English, and New Amsterdam became New York.\n (Conclusion/Result)\nStuyvesant returned to Holland, but when the Dutch West India Company blamed him for all of their misfortunes in the New World, he returned to America and spent the rest of his life on his farm, or \"Bouwerie,\" as it was called in Dutch.\n Fact 4- Peters Stuyvesant, is an important figure in the history of New York City [earlier New Amsterdam], New York State and New Netherland. His name is still commonly used, especially in New York State, for street names, school names, building names, etc.\n Fact 5- Surprisingly, his ancestors no longer bear his name. His last direct descendant, Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant Jr. died in 1953 at age 83 in New York\nCity. A nineteenth century Stuyvesant descendant, Rutherford Stuyvesant, changed his name to Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of a will. The paucity of descendants bearing his name may have something to do with the fact that Peter Stuyvesant has been blamed for turning over New Amsterdam to the British in 1664.\nFact 6- the citizens of New Amsterdam refused to help defend the city against a fleet of British warships. As a result Stuyvesant was forced to hand the city of\nNew Amsterdam over to the British who promptly renamed it New York.\nBiography of him:","New Amsterdam becomes New York - Sep 08, 1664 - HISTORY.com\n... New Amsterdam becomes New York on Sep 08, 1664. ... New Amsterdam becomes New York on Sep 08, ... Called a demagogue by critics, ...\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York - Sep 08, 1664 - HISTORY.com\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\nShare this:\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\nAuthor\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\nURL\nPublisher\nA+E Networks\nDutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland, to an English naval squadron under Colonel Richard Nicolls. Stuyvesant had hoped to resist the English, but he was an unpopular ruler, and his Dutch subjects refused to rally around him. Following its capture, New Amsterdam’s name was changed to New York, in honor of the Duke of York, who organized the mission.\nThe colony of New Netherland was established by the Dutch West India Company in 1624 and grew to encompass all of present-day New York City and parts of Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey. A successful Dutch settlement in the colony grew up on the southern tip of Manhattan Island and was christened New Amsterdam.\nTo legitimatize Dutch claims to New Amsterdam, Dutch governor Peter Minuit formally purchased Manhattan from the local tribe from which it derives it name in 1626. According to legend, the Manhattans–Indians of Algonquian linguistic stock–agreed to give up the island in exchange for trinkets valued at only $24. However, as they were ignorant of European customs of property and contracts, it was not long before the Manhattans came into armed conflict with the expanding Dutch settlement at New Amsterdam. Beginning in 1641, a protracted war was fought between the colonists and the Manhattans, which resulted in the death of more than 1,000 Indians and settlers.\nIn 1664, New Amsterdam passed to English control, and English and Dutch settlers lived together peacefully. In 1673, there was a short interruption of English rule when the Netherlands temporary regained the settlement. In 1674, New York was returned to the English, and in 1686 it became the first city in the colonies to receive a royal charter. After the American Revolution, it became the first capital of the United States.\nRelated Videos","Dutch and English Colonization in New England - NPS.gov\nAlthough the Netherlands only controlled the Hudson River Valley from 1609 until 1664, in that short time, Dutch ... Unlike New York City and ... today called the ...\nDutch Colonization\nDutch and English Colonization in New England\nAlthough the Netherlands only controlled the Hudson River Valley from 1609 until 1664, in that short time, Dutch entrepreneurs established New Netherland, a series of trading posts, towns, and forts up and down the Hudson River that laid the groundwork for towns that still exist today. Fort Orange, the northernmost of the Dutch outposts, is known today as Albany; New York City's original name was New Amsterdam, and the New Netherland's third major settlement, Wiltwyck, is known today as Kingston. Unlike New York City and Albany, however, where the traces of colonization can be difficult to find, in Kingston, the history of New York's Dutch colonization is quite evident.\nIn 1609, two years after English settlers established the colony of Jamestown in Virginia, the Dutch East India Company hired English sailor Henry Hudson to find a northeast passage to India. After unsuccessfully searching for a route above Norway, Hudson turned his ship west and sailed across the Atlantic. Hudson hoped to discover a \"northwest passage,\" that would allow a ship to cross the entirety of the North American continent and gain access to the Pacific Ocean, and from there, India. After arriving off the coast of Cape Cod, Hudson eventually sailed into the mouth of a large river, today called the Hudson River. Making his way as far as present-day Albany before the river became too shallow for his ship to continue north, Hudson returned to Europe and claimed the entire Hudson River Valley for his Dutch employers.\nAfter unsuccessful efforts at colonization, the Dutch Parliament chartered the \"West India Company,\" a national-joint stock company that would organize and oversee all Dutch ventures in the Western Hemisphere. Sponsored by the West India Company, 30 families arrived in North America in 1624, establishing a settlement on present-day Manhattan. Much like English colonists in Virginia, however, the Dutch settlers did not take much of an interest in agriculture, and focused on the more lucrative fur trade. In 1626, Director General Peter Minuit arrived in Manhattan, charged by the West India Company with the task of administering the struggling colony. Minuit \"purchased\" Manhattan Island from Native American Indians for the now legendary price of 60 guilders, formally established New Amsterdam, and consolidated and strengthened a fort located far up the Hudson River, named Fort Orange. The colony grew slowly, as settlers, responding to generous land-grant and trade policies, slowly spread north up the Hudson River.\nThe slow expansion of New Netherland, however, caused conflicts with both English colonists and Native Americans in the region. In the 1630s, the new Director General Wouter van Twiller sent an expedition out from New Amsterdam up to the Connecticut River into lands claimed by English settlers. Faced with the prospect of armed conflict, Twiller was forced to back down and recall the expedition, losing any claims to the Connecticut Valley. In the upper reaches of the Hudson Valley around Fort Orange, (present-day Albany) where the needs of the profitable fur trade required a careful policy of appeasement with the Iroquois Confederacy, the Dutch authorities maintained peace, but corruption and lax trading policies plagued the area. In the lower Hudson Valley, where more colonists were setting up small farms, Native Americans came to be viewed as obstacles to European settlement. In the 1630s and early 1640s, the Dutch Director Generals carried on a brutal series of campaigns against the area's Native Americans, largely succeeding in crushing the strength of the \"River Indians,\" but also managing to create a bitter atmosphere of tension and suspicion between European settlers and Native Americans.\nDirector General Peter Stuyvesant\nThe year 1640 marked a turning point for the colony. The West India Company gave up its trade monopoly, enabling other businessmen to invest in New Netherland. Profits flowed to Amsterdam, encouraging new economic activity in the production of food, timber, tobacco, and eventually, slaves. In 1647, the most successful of the Dutch Director Generals arrived in New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant found New Netherland in disarray. The previous Director General's preoccupation with the Native Americans and border conflicts with the English in Connecticut had greatly weakened other portions of colonial society. Stuyvesant became a whirlwind of activity, issuing edicts, regulating taverns, clamping down on smuggling, and attempted to wield the authority of his office upon a population accustomed to a long line of largely ineffective Director Generals.\nEventually, Stuyvesant cast his eyes upon the small settlements that had developed along the Hudson River Valley between Fort Orange and New Amsterdam. In 1652, 60-70 settlers had moved down from Fort Orange to an area where the Rondout Creek met the Hudson River, the site of present-day Kingston. The settlers farmed the fertile flood plains of the Esopus Creek side-by-side with the Esopus Indians, the original settlers of the area. Inevitably, land disputes brought the two sides to the brink of war, with both the Europeans and the Esopus Indians engaging in petty vandalism and kidnaping. In 1657, seeing the strategic practicality of a fort located halfway between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange, Director General Stuyvesant sent soldiers up from New Amsterdam to crush the Esopus Indians and help build a stockade with 40 houses for the settlers. Board by board, the settlers took their barns and houses down, and carted them uphill to a promontory bluff overlooking the Esopus Creek flood plain. They reconstructed their homes behind a 14-foot high wall made of tree trunks pounded into the ground that created a perimeter of about 1200 x 1300 feet. By day, the men left their walled village, which Director General Stuyvesant had named \"Wiltwyck,\" to go out and farm their fields, leaving the women and children largely confined within the stockade. The villagers lived this way until 1664, when a peace treaty ended the conflict with the Esopus Indians.\nOriginal layout of the Kingston Stockade\nThough no longer needed, the stockade was left standing well into the late 17th century, and wooden remnants of the wall were actually rediscovered on Clinton Ave during an archaeological dig in 1971. The streets of the original village, however, remain laid out just as they were in 1658. Although the wooden houses of original settlers are long gone, the second generation of homes, built by men like Sergeant Matthew Person , still survive. These stone houses are fine examples of 17th-century Dutch stone buildings, and 21 still stand within the original layout of the stockade, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as contributing members of the Stockade Historic District . Many of these homes began as a single room with a loft above, and gradually expanded, but the simple limestone and mortar materials hauled directly from the fields outside the stockade are still quite visible. Direct links to the age of Dutch colonization, the sturdy construction of these houses have served generations of Kingston residents, and are still in use today.\nAlthough Wiltwyck, the second large settlement established north of New Amsterdam, grew quickly, the very successes of the Stuyvesant administration put New Netherland in danger. The colony was proving quite profitable, New Amsterdam had developed into a port town of 1500 citizens, and the incredibly diverse population (only 50 percent were actually Dutch colonists) of the colony had grown from 2,000 in 1655 to almost 9,000 in 1664. \"Problems\" with Native Americans were mostly over, and stable families were slowly replacing single adventurers interested only in quick profits. New Netherland produced immense wealth for the Dutch, and other foreign nations began to envy the riches flowing out of the Hudson River Valley.\nThe Dutch lost New Netherland to the English during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1664 only a few years after the establishment of Wiltwyck. Along the West Coast of Africa, British charter companies clashed with the forces of the Dutch West India Company over rights to slaves, ivory, and gold in 1663. Less about slaves or ivory, the Anglo-Dutch Wars were actually more about who would be the dominant European naval power. By 1664, both the Dutch and English were preparing for war, and King Charles of England granted his brother, James, Duke of York, vast American territories that included all of New Netherland. James immediately raised a small fleet and sent it to New Amsterdam. Director General Stuyvesant, without a fleet or any real army to defend the colony, was forced to surrender the colony to the English war fleet without a struggle. In September of 1664, New York was born, effectively ending the Netherlands' direct involvement in North America, although in places like Kingston, the influences of Dutch architecture, planning, and folklife can still be quite clearly seen.","New York, United States | Article about New York, United ...\nNew York, state, United States. See also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments National Parks Name Type 1 Location Year authorized Size\nNew York, United States | Article about New York, United States by The Free Dictionary\nNew York, United States | Article about New York, United States by The Free Dictionary\nhttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/New+York%2c+United+States\nSee also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\n..... Click the link for more information.\nNew York,\nMiddle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Ontario (NW), and the province of Quebec (N).\nFacts and Figures\nArea, 49,576 sq mi (128,402 sq km). Pop. (2010) 19,378,102, a 2.1% increase since the 2000 census. Capital, Albany. Largest city, New York City. Statehood, July 26, 1788 (11th of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution). Highest pt., Mt. Marcy, 5,344 ft (1,630 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Empire State. Motto, Excelsior [Ever Upward]. State bird, bluebird. State flower, rose. State tree, sugar maple. Abbr., N.Y.; NY\nGeography\nEastern New York is dominated by the Great Appalachian Valley. Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the valley, which also includes the Hudson River. The Hudson is noted for its beauty, as are Champlain and neighboring Lake George. West of the lakes are the rugged Adirondack Mts., another major vacationland, with extensive wildernesses and sports centers like Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. Mt. Marcy (5,344 ft/1,629 m), the highest point in the state, is near Lake Placid. The rest of NE New York is hilly, sloping gradually to the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, both of which separate it from Ontario. The Mohawk River, which flows from Rome into the Hudson north of Albany Albany\n. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 16,327), Alameda co., W Calif., on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1908. The city has varied manufacturing; Tilden Regional Park is nearby.\n2 City (1990 pop. 78,122), seat of Dougherty co., SW Ga.\n..... Click the link for more information. , is part of the New York State Canal System New York State Canal System,\nwaterway system, 524 mi (843 km) long, traversing New York state and connecting the Great Lakes with the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River, and Lake Champlain.\n..... Click the link for more information. 's Erie Canal, once a major route to the Great Lakes and the midwestern United States as well as the only complete natural route through the Appalachian Mts.\nMost of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny plateau, which rises in the SE to the Catskill Mts., an area that attracts many vacationers from New York New York,\ncity (1990 pop. 7,322,564), land area 304.8 sq mi (789.4 sq km), SE N.Y., largest city in the United States and one of the largest in the world, on New York Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River.\n..... Click the link for more information. City and its environs. New York City, in turn, attracts tourists from all over the world. On the extreme SE, the state extends into the Atlantic Ocean to form Long Island Long Island\n(1990 pop. 6,861,454), 1,723 sq mi (4,463 sq km), 118 mi (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 mi (19–32 km) wide, SE N.Y.; fourth largest island of the United States and the largest outside Alaska and Hawaii.\n..... Click the link for more information. , which is separated from Connecticut on the N by Long Island Sound.\nThe western extension of the state to Lakes Ontario and Erie contains many bodies of water, notably Oneida Lake and the celebrated Finger Lakes. In the northwest the Niagara River, with scenic Niagara Falls Niagara Falls,\nin the Niagara River, W N.Y. and S Ont., Canada; one of the most famous spectacles in North America. The falls are on the international line between the cities of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ont.\n..... Click the link for more information. , forms the border with Ontario between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The western region has resorts as well as large, traditionally industrial cities such as Buffalo Buffalo,\ncity (1990 pop. 328,123), seat of Erie co., W N.Y., on Lake Erie and the Niagara and Buffalo rivers; inc. 1832. With more than 37 mi (60 km) of waterfront, it is a major commercial and industrial port and railroad hub.\n..... Click the link for more information. on Lake Erie, Rochester Rochester\n. 1 City (1990 pop. 70,745), seat of Olmsted co., SE Minn.; inc. 1858. It is a farm trade center, and its industries include printing and publishing, food processing, machinery, fabricated metal products, computers and electronic equipment, and construction\n..... Click the link for more information. on Lake Ontario, Syracuse Syracuse\n, city (1990 pop. 163,860), seat of Onondaga co., central N.Y., on Onondaga Lake and the Erie Canal; settled c.1788, inc. as a city 1848. It is a port of entry, and its many manufactures include electrical and electronic equipment, automobile and aircraft parts,\n..... Click the link for more information. , and Utica Utica,\ncity (1990 pop. 68,637), seat of Oneida co., central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal, in a large dairy region; inc. 1862. It is a port of entry, and its manufactures include electrical, electronic, and consumer goods; transportation and medical equipment;\n..... Click the link for more information. . The western section is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact Delaware River Basin Compact\n, providing for the utilization and development of the water resources of the Delaware River basin. In 1961 the federal government and the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York agreed to form a partnership in a 100-year building\n..... Click the link for more information. , signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system.\nIn addition to the great forest preserves of the Adirondacks and Catskills, New York has many state parks, among them Jones Beach State Park and Allegany State Park. Part of Fire Island, which lies off Long Island, is a national seashore. The racetrack at Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs,\nresort and residential city (1990 pop. 25,001), Saratoga co., E N.Y.; inc. as a village 1826, as a city 1915. Skidmore College is the largest source of employment, but the city also has light manufacturing.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a pleasure and health resort, and the Thousand Islands Thousand Islands,\na group of more than 1,800 islands and 3,000 shoals in the St. Lawrence River, E of Lake Ontario, N N.Y. and S Ont., stretching c.50 mi (80 km) along the U.S.-Canada line. Most of the islands are in Canada; Wolfe Island, Ont.\n..... Click the link for more information. in the St. Lawrence River are popular with summer vacationers. Among the places of historic interest in the state under federal administration (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\n..... Click the link for more information. , table) are those at Hyde Park Hyde Park,\ntown (1990 pop. 21,230), Dutchess co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River; settled c.1740. It is famous as the site of the Roosevelt estate, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt was born and is buried.\n..... Click the link for more information. , with the burial place of Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Vanderbilt Mansion. Albany is the capital; New York City is the largest city, followed by Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse.\nEconomy\nSchenectady Schenectady\n, city (1990 pop. 65,566), seat of Schenectady co., E central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and Erie Canal; founded 1661 by Arent Van Curler, inc. 1798. The General Electric Company was established there in 1892, but its presence waned in the late 20th cent.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Albany, and New York City, once the major industrial cities of the lower Mohawk and the Hudson, continue their long-time manufacturing decline. Except in the mountain regions, the areas between cities are rich agriculturally. The Finger Lakes Finger Lakes,\ngroup of 11 narrow glacial lakes in north to south valleys, W central N.Y. Cayuga and Seneca lakes, both more than 35 mi (56 km) long, are the largest and deepest. Keuka Lake is the center of the area's wine industry, the largest in New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. region has orchards producing apples, one of New York's leading crops; vineyards here and on Long Island make the state famous for its wines. The state produces other, diverse crops, especially grapes, strawberries, cherries, pears, onions, and potatoes (grown especially on E Long Island); maple syrup is extracted, and New York is the third leading U.S. producer of dairy goods. New York's mineral resources include crushed stone, cement, salt, and zinc.\nThe state has a complex system of railroads, air routes, and modern highways, notably the New York State Thruway. The New York State Canal System, an improvement of the old Erie Canal Erie Canal,\nartificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the level of the river and that of Lake Erie.\n..... Click the link for more information. , is now mainly used for recreational travel; the Hudson and some other rivers still carry freight. Ocean shipping is handled by the port of New York City and, to a much lesser extent, by Buffalo. Hydroelectricity for N New York is produced by the St. Lawrence power project and by the Niagara power project, which began producing in 1961.\nIn spite of significant decline, New York has retained some important manufacturing industries, and, by virtue of New York City, it has strengthened is position as a commercial and financial leader. Although the largest percentage of the state's jobs lie in the service sector, its manufactures are extremely diverse and include printed materials, apparel, food products, machinery, chemicals, paper, electrical equipment (notably at Schenectady), computer equipment (Poughkeepsie), optical instruments and cameras (Rochester), sporting goods, and transportation equipment.\nPrinting and publishing, mass communications, advertising, and entertainment are among New York City's notable industries. Long Island has aircraft plants (although these have declined sharply since the 1970s) and Brookhaven National Laboratory, a research center. Many corporate headquarters and research facilities have relocated in Westchester co., N of New York City. Some commercial fishing is pursued in Lakes Erie and Ontario and in the waters around Long Island. The state has c.18,775,000 acres (7,294,000 hectares) of forest, but forestry is no longer a major industry.\nGovernment, Politics, and Higher Education\nUnder its present constitution (adopted 1894), New York is run by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term and may be reelected, and by a bicameral legislature made up of a 61-member senate and a 150-member assembly. Republican George Pataki Pataki, George Elmer\n, 1945–, U.S. politician, b. Peekskill, N.Y. He graduated from Yale Univ. (1967) and Columbia Law School (1970). A Republican, Pataki served as mayor of Peekskill (1981–84) and in the New York assembly (1985–92) and senate (1992–94).\n..... Click the link for more information. was elected governor in 1994, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Mario Cuomo Cuomo, Mario Matthew\n, 1932–2014, American politician, b. New York City. The son of an immigrant grocer, Cuomo attended St. John's Univ., was admitted to the New York bar in 1956, and attracted attention after successfully mediating (1972) a local housing dispute.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and was reelected in 1998 and 2002. He did not run in 2006, when Democrat Eliot Spitzer Spitzer, Eliot Laurence,\n1959–, U.S. lawyer and politician, b. Riverdale, N.Y., grad. Princeton (B.A. 1981), Harvard Law School (J.D. 1984). A Democrat, he practiced corporate law before serving (1986–92) as assistant New York State district attorney for Manhattan\n..... Click the link for more information. won the office. Spitzer resigned in 2008 after being linked to a prostitute; Lieutenant Governor David Paterson Paterson, David Alexander,\n1954–, American politician, the first African-American governor of New York (2008–11), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1977), Hofstra Law School (J.D., 1982).\n..... Click the link for more information. succeeded him, becoming the state's first African-American governor. Andrew Cuomo Cuomo, Andrew Mark\n, 1957–, American politician, b. Queens, N.Y., grad. Fordham Univ. (1979), Albany Law School (1982). The son of Mario Cuomo, he was (1982) a key operative on his father's campaign staff and later a policy adviser to Governor Cuomo.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Democrat and Mario Cuomo's son, was elected to succeed Paterson in 2010; he was reeelected in 2014. Members of both branches of the legislature are elected to two-year terms. The state has 2 U.S. senators and 27 representatives and has 29 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a significant drop from its 41 votes in 1970).\nApart from New York City (see separate articles for educational and cultural institutions in New York City and its boroughs), institutions of higher education in the state include Alfred Univ., Bard College, Colgate Univ., Cornell, Hobart College, Iona Univ., Long Island Univ., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, Skidmore College, Syracuse Univ., the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, Univ. of Rochester, Vassar College, and Wells College. The State Univ. of New York has major campuses at Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo.\nHistory\nThe Algonquians and the Iroquois\nBefore Europeans began to arrive in the 16th cent., New York was inhabited mainly by Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans. The Algonquians, including the Mohegan, Lenni Lenape, and Wappinger tribes, lived chiefly in the Hudson valley and on Long Island. The Iroquois, living in the central and western parts of the state, included the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca tribes, who joined c.1570 to form the Iroquois Confederacy Iroquois Confederacy\nor Iroquois League\n, North American confederation of indigenous peoples, initially comprising the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.\n..... Click the link for more information. .\nFrench and Dutch Claims\nEuropeans first approached New York from both the sea and from Canada. Giovanni da Verrazzano Verrazzano, Giovanni da\n, c.1480–1527?, Italian navigator and explorer, in the service of France, possibly the first European to enter New York Bay. Sailing west to reach Asia, Verrazzano explored (1524) the North American coast probably from North Carolina to Maine.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Florentine in the service of France, visited (1524) the excellent harbor of New York Bay but did little exploring. In 1609, Samuel de Champlain Champlain, Samuel de\n, 1567–1635, French explorer, the chief founder of New France.\nAfter serving in France under Henry of Navarre (King Henry IV) in the religious wars, Champlain was given command of a Spanish fleet sailing to the West Indies, Mexico, and the\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Frenchman, traveled S on Lake Champlain from Canada, and Henry Hudson Hudson, Henry,\nfl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless.\n..... Click the link for more information. , an Englishman in the service of the Dutch, sailed the Hudson nearly to Albany. The French, who had allied themselves with the Hurons of Ontario, continued to push into N and W New York from Canada, but met with resistance from the Iroquois Confederacy, which dominated W New York.\nThe Dutch early claimed the Hudson region, and the Dutch West India Company Dutch West India Company,\ntrading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded.\n..... Click the link for more information. (chartered in 1621, organized in 1623) planted (1624) their colony of New Netherland, with its chief settlements at New Amsterdam on the lower tip of present-day Manhattan island (purchased in 1626 from the Canarsie tribe for goods worth about 60 Dutch guilders) and at Fort Nassau, later called Fort Orange (present-day Albany). To increase the slow pace of colonization the Dutch set up the patroon system in 1629, thus establishing the landholding aristocracy that became the hallmark of colonial New York. The last and most able of the Dutch administrators, Peter Stuyvesant Stuyvesant, Peter\n, c.1610–1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding Willem Kieft in New Netherland.\n..... Click the link for more information. (in office 1647–64), captured New Sweden for the Dutch in 1655.\nAn English Colony\nThe English, claiming the whole region on the basis of the explorations of John Cabot Cabot, John,\nfl. 1461–98, English explorer, probably b. Genoa, Italy. He became a citizen of Venice in 1476 and engaged in the Eastern trade of that city. This experience, it is assumed, was the stimulus of his later explorations.\n..... Click the link for more information. , made good their claim in the Second Dutch War (1664–67). In 1664 an English fleet sailed into the harbor of New Amsterdam, and Stuyvesant surrendered without a struggle. New Netherland then became the colonies of New York and New Jersey, granted by King Charles II Charles II,\n1630–85, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1660–85), eldest surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. Early Life\nPrince of Wales at the time of the English civil war, Charles was sent (1645) to the W of England with his council,\n..... Click the link for more information. to his brother, the duke of York (later James II James II,\n1633–1701, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1685–88); second son of Charles I, brother and successor of Charles II. Early Life\n..... Click the link for more information. ). Except for brief recapture (1673–74) by the Dutch, New York remained English until the American Revolution American Revolution,\n1775–83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called the American War of Independence.\n..... Click the link for more information. .\nAfter the early days of the colony, the popular governor Thomas Dongan Dongan, Thomas\n, 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), he called (1683) a legislative assembly; measures, known as the Charter of Liberties and\n..... Click the link for more information. (1683–88) put New York on a firm basis and began to establish the alliance of the English with the Iroquois, which later played an important part in New York history. The attempt in 1688 to combine New York and New Jersey with New England under the rule of Sir Edmund Andros Andros, Sir Edmund\n, 1637–1714, British colonial governor in America, b. Guernsey. As governor of New York (1674–81) he was bitterly criticized for his high-handed methods, and he was embroiled in disputes over boundaries and duties (see New Jersey), going so far as\n..... Click the link for more information. was a failure, turning almost all the colonists against him. The threat of the French was continuous, and New York was involved in a number of the French and Indian Wars French and Indian Wars,\n1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1689–1763). The friendship of Sir William Johnson Johnson, Sir William,\n1715–74, British colonial leader in America, b. Co. Meath, Ireland. He settled (1738) in the Mohawk valley, became a merchant, and gained great power among the Mohawk and other Iroquois. He acquired large landed properties, founded (1762) Johnstown, N.\n..... Click the link for more information. with some of the Iroquois aided the British in the warfare and also opened part of central New York to settlers, mainly from the British Isles. Frequent warfare hindered growth, however, and much of W New York remained unsettled by colonists throughout the 18th cent.\nSlowly, however, the colony, with its busy shipping and fishing fleets, its expanding farms, and its first college (King's College, founded in 1754, now Columbia Univ.), was beginning to establish its own identity, separate from that of England. Colonial self-assertiveness grew after the warfare with the French ended; there was considerable objection to the restrictive commercial laws, and the Navigation Acts Navigation Acts,\nin English history, name given to certain parliamentary legislation, more properly called the British Acts of Trade. The acts were an outgrowth of mercantilism, and followed principles laid down by Tudor and early Stuart trade regulations.\n..... Click the link for more information. were flouted by smuggling. When the Stamp Act Stamp Act,\n1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers\n..... Click the link for more information. was passed, New York was a leader of the opposition, and the Stamp Act Congress met (1765) in New York City. The policies of Lt. Gov. Cadwallader Colden Colden, Cadwallader\n, 1688–1776, colonial scholar and political leader of New York, b. Ireland, of Scottish parents. After studying medicine in London, Colden arrived (1710) in Philadelphia to practice.\n..... Click the link for more information. , who did not oppose the Stamp Act, occasioned considerable complaint, and unrest grew.\nRevolution and a New Constitution\nAs troubles flared and escalated into the American Revolution, New Yorkers were divided in their loyalties. About one third of all the military engagements of the American Revolution took place in New York state. The first major military action in the state was the capture (May, 1775) of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen Allen, Ethan,\n1738–89, hero of the American Revolution, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, and promoter of the independence and statehood of Vermont, b. Litchfield (?), Conn.\n..... Click the link for more information. and his Green Mountain Boys Green Mountain Boys,\npopular name of armed bands formed (c.1770) under the auspices of Ethan Allen in the Green Mountains of what is today Vermont. Their purpose was to prevent the New Hampshire Grants, as Vermont was then known, from becoming part of New York, to which it had\n..... Click the link for more information. and Benedict Arnold Arnold, Benedict,\n1741–1801, American Revolutionary general and traitor, b. Norwich, Conn. As a youth he served for a time in the colonial militia in the French and Indian Wars. He later became a prosperous merchant.\n..... Click the link for more information. . Crown Point was also taken. In Aug., 1776, however, George Washington Washington, George,\n1732–99, 1st President of the United States (1789–97), commander in chief of the Continental army in the American Revolution, called the Father of His Country. Early Life\nHe was born on Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11, 1731, O.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. was unable to hold lower New York against the British under Gen. William Howe Howe, William Howe, 5th Viscount,\n1729–1814, English general in the American Revolution; younger brother of Admiral Richard Howe.\n..... Click the link for more information. and lost the battle of Long Island, as he did the succeeding actions at Harlem Heights (Sept. 16) and White Plains (Oct. 28).\nThe British invested New York City and held it to the war's end. The state had, however, declared independence and functioned with Kingston Kingston.\n1 City (1990 pop. 23,095), seat of Ulster co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River at the mouth of Rondout Creek; inc. as a village 1805, and as a city through the union (1872) of Kingston and Rondout.\n..... Click the link for more information. as its capital, George Clinton Clinton, George,\nc.1686–1761, colonial governor of New York (1743–53), b. England; father of Sir Henry Clinton. He entered (1708) the British navy and rose to the rank of admiral in 1747.\n..... Click the link for more information. as its first governor, and John Jay Jay, John,\n1745–1829, American statesman, 1st chief justice of the United States, b. New York City, grad. King's College (now Columbia Univ.), 1764. He was admitted (1768) to the bar and for a time was a partner of Robert R. Livingston.\n..... Click the link for more information. as its first chief justice. In 1777 New York was the key to the overall British campaign plan, which was directed toward taking the entire state and thus separating New England from the South. This failed finally (Oct., 1777) in the battles near the present-day resort of Saratoga Springs (see Saratoga campaign Saratoga campaign,\nJune–Oct., 1777, of the American Revolution. Lord George Germain and John Burgoyne were the chief authors of a plan to end the American Revolution by splitting the colonies along the Hudson River.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), generally considered as the decisive action of the war, partly because France was now persuaded to join the war on the side of the Colonies.\nThe British alliance with the Iroquois resulted in widespread violence in the frontier portion of the state. After the devastation of two Iroquois villages, the Iroquois and British responded with the massacre at Cherry Hill (1778). For the rest of the war there was more or less a stalemate, with the British occupying New York City, the patriots holding most of the rest of the state, and Westchester co. disputed ground. In 1780 Benedict Arnold failed in his attempt to betray West Point.\nThe influence of Alexander Hamilton Hamilton, Alexander,\n1755–1804, American statesman, b. Nevis, in the West Indies. Early Career\nHe was the illegitimate son of James Hamilton (of a prominent Scottish family) and Rachel Faucett Lavien (daughter of a doctor-planter on Nevis and the estranged\n..... Click the link for more information. was paramount in bringing New York to accept (1788) the Constitution of the United States at a convention in Poughkeepsie. Other leaders, however, mostly from the landed aristocracy (such as John Jay and Gouverneur Morris), were also powerful. Hamilton, Jay, and James Madison Madison, James,\n1751–1836, 4th President of the United States (1809–17), b. Port Conway, Va. Early Career\nA member of the Virginia planter class, he attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), graduating in 1771.\n..... Click the link for more information. wrote The Federalist Federalist, The,\nseries of 85 political essays, sometimes called The Federalist Papers, written 1787–88 under the pseudonym \"Publius.\" Alexander Hamilton initiated the series with the immediate intention of persuading New York to approve the Federalist Constitution.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a series of essays, to promote ratification. New York City was briefly (1789–90) the capital of the new nation and was also the state capital until 1797, when Albany succeeded it. Political dissension between the Federalists and the Jeffersonians was particularly keen in New York state, and Aaron Burr Burr, Aaron,\n1756–1836, American political leader, b. Newark, N.J., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton). Political Career\nA brilliant law student, Burr interrupted his study to serve in the American Revolution and proved himself a valiant soldier in\n..... Click the link for more information. had much to do with swinging the state to Jefferson.\nLand Speculation and Commercial Development\nBy the end of the war many Loyalists had left New York; the emigrants included former large landowners whose holdings had been seized by the legislature. After the war speculation in W New York land (some newly acquired by quieting Massachusetts claims) rose to dizzying heights. The eastern boundary of the state was established after long wrangles and violence when Vermont was admitted as a state in 1791.\nFrom the 1780s increased commerce (somewhat slowed by the Embargo Act of 1807 Embargo Act of 1807,\npassed Dec. 22, 1807, by the U.S. Congress in answer to the British orders in council restricting neutral shipping and to Napoleon's restrictive Continental System. The U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and industry, especially textile milling, marked the turn away from the old, primarily agricultural, order. It was on the Hudson that Robert Fulton Fulton, Robert,\n1765–1815, American inventor, engineer, and painter, b. near Lancaster, Pa. He was a man remarkable for his many talents and his mechanical genius.\n..... Click the link for more information. demonstrated (1807) his steamboat. In the War of 1812 New York saw action in 1813–14, with the British capture of Fort Niagara and particularly with the brilliant naval victory of Thomas Macdonough Macdonough, Thomas\n, 1783–1825, American naval officer, b. New Castle co., Del. In the Tripolitan War he took part in the burning of the captured Philadelphia and the attack on the Tripolitan gunboats.\n..... Click the link for more information. over the British on Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh.\nThe state continued its development, which was quickened and broadened by the building of the Erie Canal. The canal, completed in 1825, and railroad lines constructed (from 1831) parallel to it made New York the major East-West commercial route in the 19th cent. and helped to account for the growth and prosperity of the port of New York. Cities along the canal (Buffalo, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, and Schenectady) prospered. Albany grew, and New York City, whose first bank had been established by Hamilton in 1784, became the financial capital of the nation.\nPolitical, Reform, and Cultural Movements\nNew constitutions broadened the suffrage in 1821 and again in 1846; slavery was abolished in 1827. Politics was largely controlled from the 1820s to the 40s by the Albany Regency Albany Regency,\nname given, after 1820, to the leaders of the first political machine, which was developed in New York state by Martin Van Buren. The name derived from the charge that Van Buren's principal supporters, residing in Albany, managed the machine for him while he\n..... Click the link for more information. , which favored farmers, artisans, and small businessmen. Martin Van Buren Van Buren, Martin,\n1782–1862, 8th President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kinderhook, Columbia co., N.Y. Early Career\nHe was reared on his father's farm, was educated at local schools, and after reading law was admitted (1803) to the bar.\n..... Click the link for more information. was the regency's chief figure. The regency's control was challenged by the business-oriented Whigs, led by Thurlow Weed Weed, Thurlow\n, 1797–1882, American journalist and political leader, b. Cairo, N.Y. After working on various newspapers in W New York, Weed joined the Rochester Telegraph and was influential as a supporter of John Quincy Adams.\n..... Click the link for more information. and William H. Seward Seward, William Henry,\n1801–72, American statesman, b. Florida, Orange co., N.Y. Early Career\nA graduate (1820) of Union College, he was admitted to the bar in 1822 and established himself as a lawyer in Auburn, N.Y., which he made his lifelong home.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and by the Anti-Masonic party Anti-Masonic party,\nAmerican political organization that rose after the disappearance in W New York state in 1826 of William Morgan. A former Mason, Morgan had written a book purporting to reveal Masonic secrets.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The rise of tension between the reform-minded Locofocos Locofocos\n, name given in derision to the members of a faction that split off from the Democratic party in New York in 1835. Tension had been growing between radical Democrats, who believed that Andrew Jackson's war against the national bank should be extended to state banks and\n..... Click the link for more information. and the Tammany Tammany\nor Tammany Hall,\npopular name for the Democratic political machine in Manhattan. Origins\nAfter the American Revolution several patriotic societies sprang up to promote various political causes and economic interests.\n..... Click the link for more information. organization in New York City weakened the Democratic party in the 1830s. After the panic of 1837, Seward was governor (1839–52), and his Whig program included internal improvements, educational reform, and opposition to slavery.\nNew York was a leader in numerous 19th-century reform groups. Antislavery groups made their headquarters in New York. In 1848 the first women's rights convention in the United States met in Seneca Falls.\nEarly in its history New York state emerged as one of the cultural leaders of the nation. In the early 19th cent. Washington Irving Irving, Washington,\n1783–1859, American author and diplomat, b. New York City. Irving was one of the first Americans to be recognized abroad as a man of letters, and he was a literary idol at home.\n..... Click the link for more information. and William Cullen Bryant Bryant, William Cullen\n, 1794–1878, American poet and newspaper editor, b. Cummington, Mass. The son of a learned and highly respected physician, Bryant was exposed to English poetry in his father's vast library.\n..... Click the link for more information. , leaders of the famed Knickerbocker School of writers, and James Fenimore Cooper Cooper, James Fenimore,\n1789–1851, American novelist, b. Burlington, N.J., as James Cooper. He was the first important American writer to draw on the subjects and landscape of his native land in order to create a vivid myth of frontier life.\n..... Click the link for more information. were among the country's foremost literary figures. The natural beauty of New York inspired the noted Hudson River school Hudson River school,\ngroup of American landscape painters, working from 1825 to 1875. The 19th-century romantic movements of England, Germany, and France were introduced to the United States by such writers as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper.\n..... Click the link for more information. of American landscape painters. With New England's decline as a literary center, many writers came to New York City from other parts of the nation, helping to make it a literary and publishing center and the cultural heart of the country.\nImmigration and Civil War\nMigrants from New England had been settling on the western frontier, and in the 1840s famine and revolution in Europe resulted in a great wave of Irish and German immigrants, whose first stop in America was usually New York City. In 1850, Millard Fillmore Fillmore, Millard,\n1800–1874, 13th President of the United States (July, 1850–Mar., 1853), b. Locke (now Summer Hill), N.Y. Because he was compelled to work at odd jobs at an early age to earn a living his education was irregular and incomplete.\n..... Click the link for more information. became the second New Yorker to be President of the United States; the first was Martin Van Buren (1837–41). The split of the Democrats over the slavery issue into antislavery Barnburners Barnburners,\nradical element of the Democratic party in New York state from 1842 to 1848, opposed to the conservative Hunkers. The name derives from the fabled Dutchman who burned his barn to rid it of rats; by implication, the Barnburners would destroy corporations and public\n..... Click the link for more information. and the Hunkers Hunkers,\nconservative faction of the Democratic party in New York state in the 1840s, so named because they were supposed to \"hanker\" or \"hunker\" after office. In opposition to them stood the radical Democrats, or Barnburners.\n..... Click the link for more information. , who were not opposed to the extension of slavery, helped pave the way for New York's swing to the Republicans and Abraham Lincoln Lincoln, Abraham\n, 1809–65, 16th President of the United States (1861–65). Early Life\nBorn on Feb. 12, 1809, in a log cabin in backwoods Hardin co., Ky. (now Larue co.), he grew up on newly broken pioneer farms of the frontier.\n..... Click the link for more information. in the fateful election of 1860.\nDespite the draft riots draft riots,\nin the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 were liable to military service, but a drafted man who furnished an acceptable\n..... Click the link for more information. (1863) in New York City and the activities of the Peace Democrats, New York state strongly favored the Union and contributed much to its cause in the Civil War. Industrial development was stimulated by the needs of the military, and railroads increased their capacity. New York City's newspapers, notably the Tribune under the guidance of Horace Greeley Greeley, Horace,\n1811–72, American newspaper editor, founder of the New York Tribune, b. Amherst, N.H. Early Life\nHis irregular schooling, ending at 15, was followed by a four-year apprenticeship (1826–30) on a country weekly at East Poultney, Vt.\n..... Click the link for more information. , had considerable national influence, and after the war the publication of periodicals and books centered more and more in the city, whose libraries expanded. From 1867 to 1869, Cornelius Vanderbilt Vanderbilt, Cornelius,\n1794–1877, American railroad magnate, b. Staten Island, N.Y. As a boy he ferried freight and passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan, and he soon gained control of most of the ferry lines and other short lines in the vicinity of New York City.\n..... Click the link for more information. consolidated the New York Central RR system.\nPolitical Corruption and the Labor Movement\nAs economic growth accelerated, political corruption became rampant. Samuel J. Tilden Tilden, Samuel Jones,\n1814–86, American political figure, Democratic presidential candidate in 1876, b. New Lebanon, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1841, Tilden was an eminently successful lawyer, with many railroad companies as clients.\n..... Click the link for more information. won a national reputation in 1871 for prosecuting the Tweed Ring of New York City, headed by William Marcy \"Boss\" Tweed Tweed, William Marcy,\n1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an alderman (1852–53) and sat (1853–55) in Congress.\n..... Click the link for more information. , but Tammany soon recovered much of its prestige and influence as the Democratic city organization. The Republican party also had bosses, notably Roscoe Conkling Conkling, Roscoe,\n1829–88, American politician, b. Albany, N.Y. On his admission to the bar in 1850, he was immediately appointed district attorney of Albany. The son of Alfred Conkling, Congressman and federal judge, he became a U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. and Thomas Collier Platt Platt, Thomas Collier,\n1833–1910, American legislator and political boss, b. Owego, N.Y. He was president of the Tioga County National Bank and had acquired considerable commercial interests by the time he served in the U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and the split between Democratic New York City and Republican upstate widened. New Yorkers Chester A. Arthur Arthur, Chester Alan,\n1829–86, 21st President of the United States (1881–85), b. Fairfield, Vt. He studied law and before the Civil War practiced in New York City. In the war he was (1861–63) quartermaster general of New York State.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1881–85) and Grover Cleveland Cleveland, Grover\n(Stephen Grover Cleveland), 1837–1908, 22d (1885–89) and 24th (1893–97) President of the United States, b. Caldwell, N.J.; son of a Presbyterian clergyman.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1885–89, 1893–97) served as Presidents of the United States in the late 19th cent.\nAfter 1880 the inpouring of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe brought workers for the old industries, which were expanding, and for the new ones, including the electrical and chemical industries, which were being established. Labor conditions worsened but were challenged by the growing labor movement, whose targets included sweatshops (particularly notorious in New York City). Muckrakers muckrakers,\nname applied to American journalists, novelists, and critics who in the first decade of the 20th cent. attempted to expose the abuses of business and the corruption in politics.\n..... Click the link for more information. were particularly vociferous in New York in the late 19th and early 20th cent. Service as New York City's police commissioner and then as a reform-oriented governor of the state helped Theodore Roosevelt Roosevelt, Theodore,\n1858–1919, 26th President of the United States (1901–9), b. New York City. Early Life and Political Posts\nOf a prosperous and distinguished family, Theodore Roosevelt was educated by private tutors and traveled widely.\n..... Click the link for more information. establish the national reputation that sent him to the vice presidency and then to the White House (1901–9). A fire in 1911 at the Triangle Waist Company Triangle Waist Company,\noften called the Triangle Shirtwaist Co., manufacturers of women's cotton and linen blouses. Located in lower Manhattan in the early 20th cent., on Mar. 25, 1911 it was the site of New York City's worst factory fire.\n..... Click the link for more information. in Manhattan that killed 146 workers resulted in the passage of early health, fire safety, and labor laws including the Widowed Mothers Pension Act.\nNew York since 1912\nThe Democrats returned to power in the state in 1912, and subsequently New York seesawed from one party to the other. The reform programs continued to gain ground, however, and Democratic state administrations between World War I and II—those of Alfred E. Smith Smith, Alfred Emanuel,\n1873–1944, American political leader, b. New York City. Reared in poor surroundings, he had no formal education beyond grade school and took various jobs—including work in the Fulton fish market—to help support his family.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1918–20, 1922–28), Franklin D. Roosevelt Roosevelt, Franklin Delano\n, 1882–1945, 32d President of the United States (1933–45), b. Hyde Park, N.Y. Early Life\nThrough both his father, James Roosevelt, and his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, he came of old, wealthy families.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1928–32), and Herbert H. Lehman Lehman, Herbert Henry\n, 1878–1963, American political leader, b. New York City. At first an executive of a textile firm, he became (1908) a partner in the family banking house of Lehman Brothers.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1932–42)—presided over a wide variety of reform measures. The reform programs emphasized public works, conservation, reorganization of state finances, social welfare, and extensive labor laws. Four years after Smith's defeat in the 1928 presidential election, Roosevelt went to the White House. Lehman followed Roosevelt's national New Deal New Deal,\nin U.S. history, term for the domestic reform program of the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt; it was first used by Roosevelt in his speech accepting the Democratic party nomination for President in 1932.\n..... Click the link for more information. program by instituting the Little New Deal in New York state. At the same time Fiorello LaGuardia LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry\n, 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Arizona with his father, an army bandmaster who had come from Italy to the United States.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Republican mayor of New York City (1934–45), enthusiastically supported Roosevelt's social and economic reforms.\nThe Republican party returned to power in the state in 1942 with the election of Thomas E. Dewey Dewey, Thomas Edmund,\n1902–71, American political figure, governor (1943–55) of New York, b. Owosso, Mich. Admitted (1925) to the bar, Dewey practiced law and in 1931 became chief assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. as governor (reelected 1946, 1950). Dewey had the immense task of coordinating state activities with national efforts in World War II, straining New York's resources to the utmost. He also built upon the reforms of his predecessors, extending social and antidiscrimination legislation, and won a reputation for effectiveness that made him twice (1944 and 1948) the Republican presidential nominee.\nDuring the governorship (1959–73) of Nelson Rockefeller Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich,\n1908–79, U.S. public official, governor of New York (1959–73), Vice President of the United States (1974–77), b. Bar Harbor, Maine; grandson of John D. Rockefeller.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Republican, state social-welfare programs and the State Univ. of New York were expanded, and a large state office and cultural complex was built in Albany. New York's growth slowed from the 1970s, though, as the state lost its dominant position in U.S. manufacturing, and the older cities lost businesses and residents to suburbs or to other states.\nBibliography\nSee A. C. Flick, A History of The State of New York (10 vol., 1933–37; repr. 10 vol. in 5, 1962); D. M. Ellis, A History of New York State (1967); E. Wilson, Upstate: Records and Recollections of Northern New York (1971); W. Smith, The History of The Province of New York, ed. by M. Karnmen (1972); J. H. Thompson, ed., The Geography of New York State (rev. ed. 1977); T. Gergel, The Encyclopedia of New York (1983); N. White, New York: A Physical History (1987); D. Stradling, The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State (2010).\nSee also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\n..... Click the link for more information. . Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,\nin central Manhattan, New York City, between 62d and 66th streets W of Broadway. Lincoln Center is both a complex of buildings and the arts organizations that reside there.\n..... Click the link for more information. is a complex of buildings housing the Metropolitan Opera Company Metropolitan Opera Company,\nterm used in referring collectively to the organizations that have produced opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City. The original house, at West 39th Street and Broadway, was built by members of New York society who could not be\n..... Click the link for more information. , the New York Philharmonic New York Philharmonic,\ndating from 1842, the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. The orchestra as it now exists is the result of the merger of the Philharmonic Society of New York with the National Symphony Orchestra (1921), the City Symphony (1923), and finally the\n..... Click the link for more information. , the New York City Ballet New York City Ballet\n(NYCB), one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th and 21st cents. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and the Juilliard School Juilliard School, The\n, in New York City; school of music, drama, and dance; coeducational; est. 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art, chartered 1926 as the Juilliard School of Music with two separate units—the Juilliard Graduate School (1924) and Institute of Musical Art.\n..... Click the link for more information. . Also in the city are Carnegie Hall and New York City Center, featuring performances by musical and theatrical companies.\nAmong the best known of the city's many museums and scientific collections are the Metropolitan Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art,\nNew York City, founded in 1870. The Metropolitan Museum is the foremost repository of art in the United States and one of the world's great museums. It opened in 1880 on its present site on Central Park facing Fifth Ave.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Museum of Modern Art Museum of Modern Art\n(MoMA), New York City, established and incorporated in 1929. It is privately supported. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., was its first director. Operating at first in rented galleries, the museum specialized in loan shows of contemporary European and American art.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Guggenheim Museum,\nofficially Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, major museum of modern art in New York City. Founded in 1939 as the Museum of Non-objective Art, the Guggenheim is known for its remarkable circular building (1959) with curving interior ramp designed by Frank Lloyd\n..... Click the link for more information. (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright), the Frick Collection (housed in the Frick mansion), the Whitney Museum of American Art Whitney Museum of American Art,\nin New York City, founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with a core group of 700 artworks, many from her own collection. The museum was an outgrowth of the Whitney Studio (1914–18), the Whitney Studio Club (1918–28), and the\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Neue Galerie, the Museum of the City of New York, the Museum of Jewish Heritage–a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History,\nincorporated in New York City in 1869 to promote the study of natural science and related subjects. Buildings on its present site facing Central Park were opened in 1877.\n..... Click the link for more information. (with the Hayden Planetarium), the museum and library of the New-York Historical Society New-York Historical Society,\nNew York City. Founded in 1804, the society is a repository of art, artifacts, and literature relating to American, especially New York, history.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Brooklyn Museum (see Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences,\ncultural and educational institution founded in 1823 in Brooklyn, N.Y., as the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association. The scope was broadened in 1843 and the name changed to The Brooklyn Institute.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), and the Paley Center for Media Paley Center for Media,\nAmerican archive of radio and television programs, and forum for the discussion of the role and evolution of electronic media as well as the intersections of media and society; opened New York City as the Museum of Broadcasting 1976, renamed the Museum of\n..... Click the link for more information. . The New York Public Library New York Public Library,\nfree library supported by private endowments and gifts and by the city and state of New York. It is the one of largest libraries in the world. The library was created by a 1895 law consolidating older reference libraries established by bequests of John\n..... Click the link for more information. is the largest in the United States. Major educational institutions include the City Univ. of New York (see New York, City Univ. of New York, City University of\n(CUNY), at New York City; created in 1961 by combining the city's 17 municipal colleges. It includes Bernard M. Baruch College (1919; specializes in business studies), Brooklyn College (1930), City College (1847; the oldest member college), the\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Columbia Univ. Columbia University,\nmainly in New York City; founded 1754 as King's College by grant of King George II; first college in New York City, fifth oldest in the United States; one of the eight Ivy League institutions.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Cooper Union Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art,\naccredited institution of higher education; in New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened in 1859. Founded by Peter Cooper, it pioneered in evening engineering and art schools; day schools were added in 1900.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Fordham Univ. Fordham University\n, in New York City; Jesuit; coeducational; founded as St. John's College 1841, chartered as a university 1846; renamed 1907. Fordham College for men and Thomas More College for women merged in 1974. The university has an antiquities museum.\n..... Click the link for more information. , General Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, New School Univ. New School University,\nin New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened 1919 as the New School for Social Research, a center for adult education, renamed 1997. Founded by Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen, John Dewey, and others, it originally emphasized classes for adults\n..... Click the link for more information. , New York Univ. New York University,\nmainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining four main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the Institute\n..... Click the link for more information. , and Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York,\nnondenominational, coeducational Christian seminary; opened 1836, chartered 1839. Originally Presbyterian, Union Theological Seminary has been free of denominational control since the early 1890s.\n..... Click the link for more information. . A center for medical treatment and research, New York has more than 130 hospitals and several medical schools. Noted hospitals include Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital,\nmunicipal hospital, in New York City. America's oldest public hospital, Bellevue developed from a \"Publick Workhouse and House of Correction\" commissioned in 1734.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Mt. Sinai Hospital (part of Mt. Sinai NYU Health), and New York–Presbyterian Hospital (encompassing Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and New York Weill Cornell Medical Center). Among New York's noted houses of worship are Trinity Church, St. Paul's Chapel (dedicated 1776), Saint Patrick's Cathedral Saint Patrick's Cathedral,\nNew York City, largest Roman Catholic church in the United States. The Gothic building at Fifth Ave. between 50th and 51st St. replaces an earlier cathedral at Mott St.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (see Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of,\nNew York City, the world's largest Gothic cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral was begun in 1892 in the Byzantine-Romanesque style after designs by G. L. Heins and C. Grant La Farge.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Riverside Church, and Temple Emanu-El.\nNew York's parks and recreation centers include parts of Gateway National Recreation Area (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\n..... Click the link for more information. , table); Central Park Central Park,\n840 acres (340 hectares), the largest park in Manhattan, New York City; bordered by 59th St. on the south, Fifth Ave. on the east, 110th St. on the north, and Central Park West on the west.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Battery, Washington Square Park, Riverside Park, and Fort Tryon Park (with the Cloisters Cloisters, the,\nmuseum of medieval European art, in Fort Tryon Park, New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was opened to the public in May, 1938.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) in Manhattan; the New York Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo) and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx; Coney Island Coney Island\n, beach resort, amusement center, and neighborhood of S Brooklyn borough of New York City, SE N.Y., on the Atlantic Ocean. The tidal creek that once separated the island from the mainland has been filled in, making the area a peninsula.\n..... Click the link for more information. (with a boardwalk, beaches, and an aquarium) and Prospect Park in Brooklyn; and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park (the site of two World's Fairs, two museums, a botanic garden, and a zoo) in Queens. Sports events are held at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, home to the Knickerbockers (basketball) and Rangers (hockey); at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, home to the Yankees (baseball); at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, home to the Nets (basketball); and at Citi Field, home to the Mets (baseball), and the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, home to the U.S. Open (tennis), in Queens. In the suburbs are the homes of the Islanders (hockey; in Uniondale, Long Island) and the Giants and the Jets (football; at the Meadowlands, in East Rutherford, N.J.).\nOther places of interest are Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center,\ncomplex of buildings in central Manhattan, New York City, between 48th and 51st streets and Fifth Ave. and the Ave. of the Americas (Sixth Ave.). The project was sponsored by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., with fourteen of the buildings built between 1931 and 1939.\n..... Click the link for more information. ; Battery Park City; Greenwich Village Greenwich Village\n, residential district of lower Manhattan, New York City, extending S from 14th St. to Houston St. and W from Washington Square to the Hudson River. North of the main settlement of New York City in colonial times, in the 1830s it became an exclusive residential\n..... Click the link for more information. , with its cafés and restaurants; and Times Square Times Square,\nin New York City. Formed by the intersection of Broadway, Seventh Ave., and 42d St., this famous square was named (1904) for the building there that formerly belonged to the New York Times.\n..... Click the link for more information. , with its lights and theaters. Of historic interest are Fraunces Tavern (built 1719), where Washington said farewell to his officers after the American Revolution; Gracie Mansion (built late 18th cent.), now the official mayoral residence; the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage; and Grant's Tomb.\nHistory\nThe Colonial Period\nAlthough Giovanni da Verrazzano Verrazzano, Giovanni da\n, c.1480–1527?, Italian navigator and explorer, in the service of France, possibly the first European to enter New York Bay. Sailing west to reach Asia, Verrazzano explored (1524) the North American coast probably from North Carolina to Maine.\n..... Click the link for more information. was probably the first European to explore the region and Henry Hudson Hudson, Henry,\nfl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless.\n..... Click the link for more information. certainly visited the area, it was with Dutch settlements on Manhattan and Long Island that the city truly began to emerge. In 1624 the colony of New Netherland New Netherland,\nterritory included in a commercial grant by the government of Holland to the Dutch West India Company in 1621. Colonists were settled along the Hudson River region; in 1624 the first permanent settlement was established at Fort Orange (now Albany, N.Y.).\n..... Click the link for more information. was established, initially on Governors Island, but the town of New Amsterdam New Amsterdam,\nDutch settlement at the mouth of the Hudson River and on the southern end of Manhattan island; est. 1624. It was the capital of the colony of New Netherland from 1626 to 1664, when it was captured by the British and renamed New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. on the lower tip of Manhattan was soon its capital. Peter Minuit Minuit, Peter\n, c.1580–1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing\n..... Click the link for more information. of the Dutch West India Company Dutch West India Company,\ntrading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded.\n..... Click the link for more information. supposedly bought the island from its Native inhabitants for 60 Dutch guilders worth of merchandise (the sale was completed in 1626). Under the Dutch, schools were opened and the Dutch Reformed Church was established. The indigenous population was forced out the area of European settlement in a series of bloody battles.\nIn 1664 the English, at war with the Netherlands (see Dutch Wars Dutch Wars,\nseries of conflicts between the English and Dutch during the mid to late 17th cent. The wars had their roots in the Anglo-Dutch commercial rivalry, although the last of the three wars was a wider conflict in which French interests played a primary role.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), seized the colony for the duke of York, for whom it was renamed. Peter Stuyvesant Stuyvesant, Peter\n, c.1610–1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding Willem Kieft in New Netherland.\n..... Click the link for more information. was replaced by Richard Nicolls Nicolls, Richard,\n1624–72, first English governor of New York, b. Bedfordshire, England. He served in the English civil war as a royalist and followed the Stuarts into exile, where he entered the service of the duke of York (later King James II).\n..... Click the link for more information. as governor, and New York City became the capital of the new British province of New York. The Dutch returned to power briefly (1673–74) before the reestablishment of English rule. A liberal charter, which established the Common Council as the main governing body of the city, was granted under Thomas Dongan Dongan, Thomas\n, 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), he called (1683) a legislative assembly; measures, known as the Charter of Liberties and\n..... Click the link for more information. in 1686 and remained in effect for many years. English rule was not, however, without dissension, and the autocratic rule of British governors was one of the causes of an insurrection that broke out in 1689 under the leadership of Jacob Leisler Leisler, Jacob\n, 1640–91, leader of an insurrection (1689–91) in colonial New York, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He immigrated to America in 1660 as a penniless soldier, married a wealthy widow, and became a trader in New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The insurrection ended in the execution of Leisler by his enemies in 1691. In 1741 there was further violence when an alleged plot by African-American slaves to burn New York was ruthlessly suppressed.\nThroughout the 18th cent. New York was an expanding commercial and cultural center. The city's first newspaper, the New York Gazette, appeared in 1725. The trial in 1735 of John Peter Zenger Zenger, John Peter\n, 1697–1746, American journalist, b. Germany. He emigrated to America in 1710 and was trained as a printer by William Bradford (1663–1752).\n..... Click the link for more information. , editor of a rival paper, was an important precedent for the principle of a free press. The city's first institution of higher learning, Kings College (now Columbia Univ.), was founded in 1754.\nThe Revolution through the Nineteenth Century\nNew York was active in the colonial opposition to British measures after trouble in 1765 over the Stamp Act Stamp Act,\n1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers\n..... Click the link for more information. . As revolutionary sentiments increased, the New York Sons of Liberty Sons of Liberty,\nsecret organizations formed in the American colonies in protest against the Stamp Act (1765). They took their name from a phrase used by Isaac Barré in a speech against the Stamp Act in Parliament, and were organized by merchants, businessmen, lawyers,\n..... Click the link for more information. forced (1775) Gov. William Tryon and the British colonial government from the city. Although many New Yorkers were Loyalists, Continental forces commanded by George Washington tried to defend the city. After the patriot defeat in the battle of Long Island (see Long Island, battle of Long Island, battle of,\nAug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island, George Washington sent part of his small army to defend Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and the succeeding actions at Harlem Heights and White Plains, Washington gave up New York, and the British occupied the city until the end of the war for independence. Under the British occupation two mysterious fires (1776 and 1778) destroyed a large part of the city. After the Revolution New York was briefly (1785–90) the first capital of the United States and was the state capital until 1797. President Washington was inaugurated (Apr. 30, 1789) at Federal Hall.\nNew development was marked by such events as the founding (1784) of the Bank of New York under Alexander Hamilton and the beginning of the stock exchange around 1790. By 1790 New York was the largest city in the United States, with over 33,000 inhabitants; by 1800 the number had risen to 60,515. In 1811 plans were adopted for the laying out of most of Manhattan on a grid pattern. The opening of the Erie Canal Erie Canal,\nartificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the level of the river and that of Lake Erie.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1825), ardently supported by former Mayor De Witt Clinton Clinton, De Witt\n, 1769–1828, American statesman, b. New Windsor, N.Y.; son of James Clinton. He was admitted (1790) to the New York bar but soon became secretary to his uncle, George Clinton, first governor of the state, and in that position (1790–95) gained\n..... Click the link for more information. , made New York City the seaboard gateway for the Great Lakes region, ushering in another era of commercial expansion. The New York and Harlem RR was built in 1832. In 1834 the mayor of New York became an elective office. In the next year a massive fire destroyed much of Lower Manhattan, but it brought about new building laws and the construction of the Croton water system.\nBy 1840 New York had become the leading port of the nation. A substantial Irish and German immigration after 1840 dramatically changed the character of urban life and politics in the city. The coming of the Civil War found New Yorkers unusually divided; many shared Mayor Fernando Wood Wood, Fernando,\n1812–81, American politician, b. Philadelphia. He became a successful shipping merchant in New York City and a leader of Tammany Hall. Wood was elected mayor in 1854 and was reelected in 1856, but he displeased the other Tammany leaders in dispensing\n..... Click the link for more information. 's Southern sympathies, but under the leadership of Gov. Horatio Seymour most supported the Union. However, in 1863 the draft riots draft riots,\nin the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 were liable to military service, but a drafted man who furnished an acceptable\n..... Click the link for more information. broke out in protest against the federal Conscription Act. The rioters—many of whom were Irish and other recent immigrants—directed most of their anger against African Americans. Extensive immigration had begun before the Civil War, and after 1865, with the acceleration of industrial development, another wave of immigration began and reached its height in the late 19th and early 20th cent. As a result of this immigration, which was predominantly from E and S Europe, the city's population reached 3,437,000 by 1900 and 7 million by 1930. New York's many distinct neighborhoods, divided along ethnic and class lines, included such notorious slums as Five Points, Hell's Kitchen, and the Lower East Side. They were often side by side with such exclusive neighborhoods as Gramercy Park or Brooklyn Heights.\nMunicipal politics were dominated by the Democratic party, which was dominated by Tammany Hall (see Tammany Tammany\nor Tammany Hall,\npopular name for the Democratic political machine in Manhattan. Origins\nAfter the American Revolution several patriotic societies sprang up to promote various political causes and economic interests.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and the Tweed Ring, led by William M. Tweed Tweed, William Marcy,\n1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an alderman (1852–53) and sat (1853–55) in Congress.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The first of many scandalous disclosures about the city's political life came in 1871, leading to Tweed's downfall. Although not always victorious, Tammany was the center of New York City politics until 1945.\nUntil 1874, when portions of Westchester were annexed, the city's boundaries were those of present-day Manhattan. With the adoption of a new charter in 1898, New York became a city of five boroughs—New York City was split into the present Manhattan and Bronx boroughs, and the independent city of Brooklyn was annexed, as were the western portions of Queens co. and Staten Island. The opening of the first subway line (1903) and other means of mass transportation spurred the growth of the outer boroughs, and this trend has continued into the 1990s. The Flatiron Building (1902) foreshadowed the skyscrapers that today give Manhattan its famed skyline.\nLater History\nIn the 20th cent., New York City was served by such mayors as Seth Low Low, Seth,\n1850–1916, American political reformer and college president, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia, 1870. He entered his father's tea and silk importing firm, but became interested in politics and was reform mayor of the city of Brooklyn for two terms\n..... Click the link for more information. , William J. Gaynor Gaynor, William Jay,\n1849–1913, U.S. political leader, mayor of New York City, b. Oneida co., N.Y. He rose to prominence as a civic reformer in Brooklyn and, as justice of the New York supreme court (1893–1909), continued to oppose municipal graft.\n..... Click the link for more information. , James J. Walker Walker, James John,\n1881–1946, American politician, b. New York City. Dapper and debonair, Jimmy Walker, having tried his hand at song writing, engaged in Democratic politics and in 1909 became a member of the state assembly. After studying law at St.\n..... Click the link for more information. (whose resignation was brought about by the Seabury investigation), Fiorello H. LaGuardia LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry\n, 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Arizona with his father, an army bandmaster who had come from Italy to the United States.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (see under Robert Ferdinand Wagner Wagner, Robert Ferdinand\n, 1877–1953, American legislator, b. Germany. He arrived with his family in the United States in 1885 and grew up in poor surroundings in New York City.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Abraham Beame Beame, Abraham David,\n1906–2001, American politician, mayor of New York City (1974–77), b. London. Beame, who grew up on New York's Lower East Side, was city budget director (1952–61). A Democrat, he was elected to two terms as city comptroller (1961, 1969).\n..... Click the link for more information. , John V. Lindsay Lindsay, John Vliet\n, 1921–2000, American politician, mayor of New York City (1966–73), b. New York City. He practiced law and then served (1955–57) as executive assistant to Attorney General Herbert Brownell. A liberal Republican, he was elected to the U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Edward I. Koch Koch, Edward Irving\n, 1924–2013, U.S. politician, mayor of New York City (1977–89), b. New York City. After receiving his law degree (New York Univ., 1948), he practiced as a lawyer, became active in reform Democratic politics, and later served on the New York city\n..... Click the link for more information. , David Dinkins Dinkins, David Norman,\n1927–, African-American political leader, b. Trenton, N.J. After graduating (1956) from Brooklyn Law School, he went into private law practice.\n..... Click the link for more information. (New York City's first African-American mayor), and Rudolph Giuliani Giuliani, Rudolph William\n, 1944–, American government official, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He attended Manhattan College and studied law at New York Univ. In the Justice Dept. as associate deputy attorney general (1975–77), associate attorney general (1981–83), and U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The need for regional planning resulted in the nation's first zoning legislation (1916) and the formation of such bodies as the Port of New York Authority (1921; now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,\nself-sustaining public corporation established in 1921 by the states of New York and New Jersey to administer the activities of the New York–New Jersey port area, which has a waterfront of c.900 mi (1,450 km) lying in both states.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), the Regional Plan Association (1929), the Municipal Housing Authority (1934), and the City Planning Commission (1938).\nAfter World War II, New York began to experience the problems that became common to most large U.S. cities, including increased crime, racial and ethnic tensions, homelessness, a movement of residents and companies to the suburbs and the resulting diminished tax base, and a deteriorating infrastructure that hurt city services. These problems were highlighted in the city's near-bankruptcy in 1975. A brief but spectacular boom in the stock and real estate markets in the 1980s brought considerable wealth to some sectors. By the early 1990s, however, corporate downsizing, the outward movement of corporate and back office centers, a still shrinking industrial sector, and the transition to a service-oriented economy meant the city was hard hit by the national recession.\nIn the late 1990s the city capitalized on its strengths to face a changing economic environment. While the manufacturing base continued to dwindle, the survivors were flexible and, increasingly, specialized companies that custom-tailored products or focused on local customers. Foreign markets were targeted by the city's financial, legal, communications, and other service industries. The city also saw the birth of a strong high-technology sector. Budget cuts in the mid-1990s reduced basic services, but a strong national economy and, especially, a rising stock market had restored vigor and prosperity by the end of the 20th cent.\nThe destruction of the World Trade Center World Trade Center,\nformer building complex in lower Manhattan, New York City, consisting of seven buildings and a shopping concourse on a 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site; it was destroyed by a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.\n..... Click the link for more information. , formerly the city's tallest building, as a result of a terrorist attack (Sept., 2001) was the worst disaster in the city's history, killing more than 2,700 people. In addition to the wrenching horror of the attack and the blow to the city's pride, New York lost some 10% of its commercial office space and faced months of cleanup and years of reconstruction. The crisis brought national prominence and international renown to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who provided the city with a forceful and calming focus in the weeks after the attack. Michael R. Bloomberg Bloomberg, Michael Rubens,\n1942–, American businessman and politician, mayor of New York City (2002–), b. Boston, Mass. Bloomberg studied at Johns Hopkins (B.S., 1964) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1966).\n..... Click the link for more information. , a moderate Republican, succeeded Giuliani as mayor in 2002. In 2012 low-lying areas of the city's boroughs suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy's storm surge. In 2014, Bill de Blasio de Blasio, Bill,\n1961–, American politician, b. New York City as Warren Wilhelm, Jr., B.A New York Univ., 1984, M.A. Columbia, 1987. A liberal Democrat, de Blasio worked in the New York City government and in election campaigns, including serving as Hillary Clinton's\n..... Click the link for more information. , a populist and liberal Democrat, became mayor.\nBibliography\nSee I. N. P. Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island (6 vol., 1915–28, repr. 1967); R. G. Albion, The Rise of New York Port, 1815–1860 (1939); J. A. Kouwenhoven, Columbia Historical Portrait of New York (1953, repr. 1972); N. Glazer and D. P. Moynihan, Beyond the Melting Pot (1963); E. R. Ellis, The Epic of New York City (1966); R. A. Caro, The Power Broker (1975); D. Hammack, Power and Society (1982); Federal Writers' Project, WPA Guide to New York City (repr. 1982); J. Kieran, A Natural History of New York (1982); J. Charyn, Metropolis (1987); R. A. M. Stern et al., New York 1960 (1995); E. G. Burrows and M. Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (1998); H. Adam, New York: Architecture & Design (2003); A. S. Dolkart and M. A. Postal, Guide to New York City Landmarks (3d ed. 2003); R. Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World (2004); J. Brash, Bloomberg's New York (2011); S. H. Jaffe, New York at War (2012); M. B. Williams, City of Ambition (2013); G. Koeppel, City on a Grid: How New York Became New York (2015); K. T. Jackson, ed., The Encyclopedia of New York City (2d ed. 2010).\nNew York (State) State Information\nPhone: (518) 474-2121\nFeb 21, 2011 ; Feb 20, 2012 ; Feb 18, 2013 ; Feb 17, 2014 ; Feb 16, 2015 ; Feb 15, 2016 ; Feb 20, 2017 ; Feb 19, 2018 ; Feb 18, 2019 ; Feb 17, 2020 ; Feb 15, 2021 ; Feb 21, 2022 ; Feb 20, 2023\nNew York\n1. a city in SE New York State, at the mouth of the Hudson River: the largest city and chief port of the US; settled by the Dutch as New Amsterdam in 1624 and captured by the British in 1664, when it was named New York; consists of five boroughs (Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Richmond) and many islands, with its commercial and financial centre in Manhattan; the country's leading commercial and industrial city. Pop.: 8 085 742 (2003 est.)\n2. a state of the northeastern US: consists chiefly of a plateau with the Finger Lakes in the centre, the Adirondack Mountains in the northeast, the Catskill Mountains in the southeast, and Niagara Falls in the west. Capital: Albany. Pop.: 19 190 115 (2003 est.). Area: 123 882 sq. km (47 831 sq. miles)","Peter Minuit | Dutch colonial governor | Britannica.com\nDutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam who is mainly remembered for his fabulous purchase of Manhattan Island ... Peter Minuit , Minuit also ... for in January 1626 ...\nPeter Minuit | Dutch colonial governor | Britannica.com\nDutch colonial governor\nMichael Bloomberg\nPeter Minuit, Minuit also spelled Minnewit (born c. 1580, Wesel, Kleve [Germany]—died June 1638, Caribbean Sea ), Dutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam who is mainly remembered for his fabulous purchase of Manhattan Island (the nucleus of New York City ) from the Indians for trade goods worth a mere 60 guilders.\nMinuit, detail of a painting by an unknown artist\nCourtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.\nThough probably of French or Walloon ancestry, Minuit wrote in Dutch (Netherlandic) and was a deacon in the local Dutch Church in his hometown of Wesel (now in Germany ). In 1625 he left Wesel, perhaps in flight from the Spanish who had occupied the town, and from Holland he sailed to the Dutch colony of New Netherland. He apparently returned to Holland the same year, for in January 1626 he sailed westward again, arriving at the mouth of the Hudson River on May 4, 1626. On September 23 the Dutch West India Company named him director general of the colony on Manhattan. To legitimize European occupation of the territory, he met with Indian sachems (variously characterized by historians as having belonged to the Lenape , Delaware, Munsee, or Algonquin people) and persuaded them to transfer “ownership” (a concept that was foreign to Native Americans when relating to land) of the entire island to the settlers. According to legend , the “purchase” was made for glass beads. Glass beads were an important trading item, but while the deal almost certainly involved trade goods, there is no historical evidence that beads were used. Historical records, on the other hand, indicate that the island was purchased for “the value of 60 guilders” (with the often-cited equivalance of $24 first introduced in an account from 1846). On the southern tip he founded New Amsterdam , building a fort around which the early Dutch settlers could make their homes.\nThe Purchase of Manhattan Island, by Alfred Fredericks, c. 1910.\nThree Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images\nIn 1631 Governor Minuit was recalled to Holland, presumably for granting privileges to the patroons at the expense of the Dutch West India Company. A few years later he entered Swedish service and was given command of two vessels of mainly Swedish colonists, who established (March 1638) New Sweden —the first settlement on the Delaware River . There Minuit again purchased land—extending indefinitely westward from the Delaware River between Bombay Hook and the mouth of the Schuylkill River —from the Indians and built Fort Christina (later Wilmington), named for the child queen-elect of Sweden , Christina . On a trading expedition soon after to the island of Saint Christopher (now Saint Kitts and Nevis ) in the West Indies , Minuit was lost at sea in a hurricane.\nLearn More in these related articles:","History_of_New_York_City_(prehistory–1664).txt\nHistory of New York City (prehistory–1664)\nThe history of New York City was influenced by the prehistoric geological formation during the last ice age of the territory that is today New York City. The area was long inhabited by the Lenape; after initial European exploration in the 16th century, the Dutch established New Amsterdam in 1626. In 1664, the English conquered the area and renamed it New York.\n\nHuman prehistory \n\nArchaeological excavations indicate that the first humans settled the area as early as 9,000 years ago. The area was abandoned, however, possibly because the warming climate of the region lead to the local extinction of many larger game species upon which the early inhabitants depended for food.\n\nA second wave of inhabitants entered the region approximately 3,000 years ago and left behind more advanced hunting implements such as bows and arrows. The remains of approximately 80 such early encampments have been found throughout the city. The region has probably remained continually inhabited from that time.\n\nBy the time of the arrival of Europeans, the Lenape were cultivating fields of vegetation through the slash and burn technique. This extended the productive life of planted fields. They also harvested vast quantities of fish and shellfish from the bays of the area, and, in southern New Jersey, harvested clams year-round. The success of these methods allowed the tribe to maintain a larger population than nomadic hunter-gatherers could support. Scholars have estimated that at the time of European settlement, there may have been about 15,000 Lenape total in approximately 80 settlement sites around much of the New York City area, alone. In 1524 Lenape in canoes met Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor.\n\nDutch settlement\n\nIn 1613, the Dutch established a trading post on the western shore of Manhattan Island in the area of present Church Street where the WTC was located; this is the beginning of a global financial center, obtaining thus a commercial spirit from its very humble beginnings.\n\nAmong its first settlers were Christiaan Hendriksen (who could be considered as a founder of New York City) and Jan Rodrigues the first black man to live in the city.\n\nIn 1614 the New Netherland company was established and consequently they settled a second fur trading post in what is today Albany, called Fort Nassau. This is considered one of the oldest capital cities in the US.\n\nIt was not until 1623, however, that the Dutch interests in the area were other than commercial and under the auspices of the newly formed Dutch West India Company they built Fort Amsterdam in 1624, a crude fortification that stood on the location of the present Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House on Bowling Green. The fort was designed mainly to protect the company's trading operations further upriver from attack by other European powers. Within a year, a small settlement, called New Amsterdam had grown around the fort, with a population that included mostly the garrison of company troops, as well as a contingent of Walloon, French and Flemish huguenot families who were brought in primarily to farm the nearby land of lower Manhattan and supply the company operations with food. Sarah Rapalje (b.1625) was the first European born in the future New York City. Later in 1626, Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island and Staten Island from native people in exchange for trade goods. \n\nThe Dutch took heavy advantage of the Native American reliance on wampum as a trading medium by exchanging cheap European-made metal tools for beaver pelts. By using such tools, the Natives greatly increased the rate of production of wampum, debasing its value for trade. Lenape men abandoned hunting and fishing for food in favor of beaver trapping. Moreover, the Dutch themselves began manufacturing their own wampum with superior tools in order to further dominate the trading network among themselves and the Natives (a practice undertaken by the settlers in New England as well). As a result of this increase, beavers were largely trapped out in the Five Boroughs within two decades, leaving the Lenape largely dependent on the Dutch. As a result, the Native population declined drastically throughout the 17th century through a combination of disease, starvation, and outward migration.\n\nAs the beaver trade increasingly shifted to Upstate New York, New Amsterdam became an increasingly important trading hub for the coast of North America. Since New Netherland was a trading operation, and not viewed as colonization enterprise for transplanting Dutch culture, the directors of New Netherland were largely unconcerned with the ethnic and racial balance of the community. The economic activity brought in a wide variety of ethnic groups to the fledgling city during the 17th century, including Spanish, Jews, and Africans, some of them as slaves.\n\nThe Dutch origins can still be seen in many names in New York City, such as Coney Island (from \"Konijnen Eiland\" – Dutch for \"Rabbit Island\"), Bowery from bouwerij (modern Dutch boerderij = \"farm\"), Brooklyn (from Breukelen), Harlem from Haarlem (formalized in 1658 as Nieuw Haarlem), Greenwich Village (from Greenwijck, meaning \"pine wood quarter\"), Flushing (from Vlissingen) and Staten Island (from \"Staaten Eylandt\").\n\nWillem Kieft became director general in 1638, but five years later was embroiled in Kieft's War against the Native Americans. The Pavonia Massacre, across the Hudson River in present-day Jersey City resulted in the death of eighty natives in February 1643. Following the massacre, eleven Algonquian tribes joined forces and nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent additional forces to the aid of Kieft, which took part in the overwhelming defeat of the Native Americans, leading to a peace treaty on August 29, 1645 to end the war. \n\nThe island of Manhattan was in some measure self-selected as a future metropolis by its extraordinary natural harbor formed by New York Bay (actually the drowned lower river valley of the Hudson River, enclosed by glacial moraines), the East River (actually a tidal strait) and the Hudson River, all of which are confluent at the southern tip, from which all later development spread. Also of prime importance was the presence of deep fresh water aquifers near the southern tip, especially the Collect Pond, and an unusually varied geography ranging from marshland to large outcrops of Manhattan schist, an extremely hard metamorphic rock that is ideal as an anchor for the foundations of large buildings.\n\nArrival of the English\n\nIn 1664, English ships entered Gravesend Bay, in modern Brooklyn and troops marched to capture the ferry across the East River to the city, with minimal resistance: the governor at the time, Peter Stuyvesant, was unpopular with the residents of the city. Articles of Capitulation 1664 were drawn up, the Dutch West India Company's colors were struck on September 8, 1664, and the soldiers of the garrison marched to the East River for the trip home to the Netherlands. The date of 1664 appeared on New York City's corporate seal until 1975, when the date was changed to 1625 to reflect the year of Dutch incorporation as a city and to incidentally allow New York to celebrate its 350th anniversary just 11 years after its 300th.\n\nThe English renamed the colony New York, after the king's brother James, Duke of York and on June 12, 1665 appointed Thomas Willett the first of the mayors of New York. The city grew northward, remaining the largest and most important city in the colony of New York.","Peter Minuit Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia ...\nPeter Minuit. Peter Minuit (1580 ... I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498 ... Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans ...\nPeter Minuit facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Peter Minuit\nCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc.\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit (1580-1638) was director general of the New Netherland colony in America and founder of New Amsterdam. He later became first governor of New Sweden.\nOf Huguenot Walloon descent, Peter Minuit was born in Wesel on the German Rhine. Growing up in his native city and apparently becoming a merchant there, he was deacon in the local Dutch Reformed congregation. In 1624 Spanish troops occupied Wesel; Minuit fled to Holland and then to the Dutch West India Company's American colony of New Netherland. In 1625 he was appointed to the governor's council of William Verhulst, but he soon returned to Amsterdam. Early 1626 found him once more in the colony, perhaps only as supercargo for the company; yet on September 23 the New Netherland council deposed Verhulst and proclaimed Minuit his successor.\nPresumably Minuit had not planned to stay in America, for he sent for his wife only after his appointment as first director general. One of his earliest official acts was to convene Indian leaders of the region and to purchase Manhattan Island from them for trinkets valued at $24. This gave the company a semblance of legality for its occupation of the island, and its New Netherland headquarters was moved to Manhattan.\nUpon completing a fort, warehouse, and mill, Minuit made his town of New Amsterdam the concentration point for scattered Dutch settlements in the colony. When regular church services commenced at New Amsterdam in 1628, Minuit and his brother-in-law (the company's storekeeper) served pastor Jonas Michaëlius as elders.\nMissing records limit historical information on Minuit's administrative activities. It is known he opened both diplomatic and commercial relations with Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1627. He also became involved in a bitter quarrel with Johan Van Remunde, secretary of the company in New Netherland; Michaëlius sided with the secretary and soon attacked Minuit as hypocritical, cruel, and dishonest. Both Minuit and Remunde were recalled to Holland for an investigation. After prolonged inquiry Minuit was discharged while Remunde returned to the colony.\nMinuit retired to Emmerich, Duchy of Cleves. But in 1635 a company director recommended him to Sweden's chancellor as ideally qualified to establish a colony in America on the Delaware River. A meeting at The Hague (1637) resulted in the formation of a Swedish trading and colonizing company. Minuit, present at the organizational session, provided one-eighth of the 24,000 guilders capital.\nDeparting in late autumn with two shiploads of Swedish and Finnish colonists, Minuit reached Delaware Bay in March 1638. Late that month, having purchased a tract along the right bank of the river from neighboring Indian chiefs, he proclaimed \"New Sweden\" and erected Ft. Christina (present-day Wilmington). After completing the fort and leaving a subordinate in charge, Minuit sailed in June 1638 to the Caribbean to trade for tobacco. Visiting a Dutch merchantman in St. Christopher, he was drowned when a hurricane struck the island.\nFurther Reading\nData concerning Minuit are scattered and incomplete. For his life in New Netherland the best authorities are J. Franklin Jameson, ed., Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (1909); I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909, vol. 1 (1915); and Albert Eckhof, Jonas Michaëlius: Founder of the Church in New Netherland (1926). There is some account of his role in New Sweden in Amandus Johnson, The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware, vol. 1 (1911), and Christopher Ward, New Sweden on the Delaware (1938). □\nCite this article\nPick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.\nMLA\nThe Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.\nCopyright The Columbia University Press\nPeter Minuit (mĬn´yōōĬt), c.1580–1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing 60 Dutch guilders and made New Amsterdam (later New York City) its center. Dismissed by the company in 1631, he later entered into negotiations with the Swedes and headed (1638) the group sent out to found New Sweden . He was lost in a hurricane in the West Indies.\nCite this article","Pilgrim_Fathers.txt\nPilgrim Fathers\nThe Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers were early European settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. The Pilgrims' leadership came from the religious congregations of Brownist English Dissenters who had fled the volatile political environment in England for the relative calm and tolerance of 16th–17th century Holland in the Netherlands. The Pilgrims held Calvinist religious beliefs similar to the Puritans but, unlike many Puritans, maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. As a separatist group, they were also concerned that they might lose their English cultural identity if they emigrated to the Netherlands, so they arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America. The colony was established in 1620 and became the second successful English settlement in North America (after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607). The Pilgrims' story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and culture of the United States.\n\nBy this time, non-English European colonization of the Americas was also under way in New Netherland, New France, Essequibo, Colonial Brazil, Barbados, the Viceroyalty of Peru, and New Spain.\n\nHistory\n\nSeparatists in Scrooby\n\nThe core of the group that came to be known as the Pilgrims were brought together between 1586 and 1605 by a common belief in the ideas promoted by Richard Clyfton, a Brownist parson at All Saints' Parish Church in Babworth, near East Retford, Nottinghamshire. This congregation held Separatist beliefs comparable to nonconforming movements (i.e., groups not in communion with the Church of England) led by Robert Browne, John Greenwood, and Henry Barrowe. Separatists held that their differences with the Church of England were irreconcilable and that their worship should be organized independently of the trappings, traditions, and organization of a central church—unlike the Puritan group, who maintained their membership in and allegiance to the Church of England. \nWilliam Brewster, a former diplomatic assistant to the Netherlands, was living in the Scrooby manor house, serving as postmaster for the village and bailiff to the Archbishop of York. He had been favorably impressed by Clyfton's services, and had begun participating in Separatist services led by John Smyth in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. \n\nThe Separatists had long been controversial. Under the 1559 Act of Uniformity, it was illegal not to attend official Church of England services (unless the church was a signatory to the allegiance to the Church of England, as the Puritan church was, for example), with a fine of one shilling (£0.05; about £ today)\nfor each missed Sunday and holy day. The penalties for conducting unofficial services included imprisonment and larger fines. Under the policy of this time, Barrowe and Greenwood were executed for sedition in 1593.\n\nDuring much of Brewster's tenure (1595–1606), the Archbishop was Matthew Hutton. He displayed some sympathy to the Puritan cause, writing to Robert Cecil, Secretary of State to James I in 1604:\n\nThe Puritans though they differ in Ceremonies and accidentes, yet they agree with us in substance of religion, and I thinke all or the moste parte of them love his Majestie, and the presente state, and I hope will yield to conformitie. But the Papistes are opposite and contrarie in very many substantiall pointes of religion, and cannot but wishe the Popes authoritie and popish religion to be established. \n\nIt had been hoped, when James came to power, that a reconciliation would be possible which allowed independence, but the Hampton Court Conference of 1604 denied substantially all the concessions requested by Puritans, save for an English translation of the Bible. Following the Conference in 1605, Clyfton was declared a nonconformist and stripped of his position at Babworth. Brewster invited Clyfton to live at his home.\n\nUpon Hutton's death in 1606, Tobias Matthew was appointed as his replacement. Matthew was one of James' chief supporters at the 1604 conference, \nand he promptly began a campaign to purge the archdiocese of nonconforming influences, both Separatists and those wishing to return to the Catholic faith. Disobedient clergy were replaced, and prominent Separatists were confronted, fined, and imprisoned. He is credited with driving recusants out of the country, those who refused to attend Anglican services. \n\nAt about the same time, Brewster arranged for a congregation to meet privately at the Scrooby manor house. Services were held beginning in 1606, with Clyfton as pastor, John Robinson as teacher, and Brewster as the presiding elder. Shortly thereafter, Smyth and members of the Gainsborough group moved on to Amsterdam. \nBrewster is known to have been fined £20 (about £ today) in absentia for his non-compliance with the church. \nThis followed his September 1607 resignation from the postmaster position, \nabout the time that the congregation had decided to follow the Smyth party to Amsterdam. \n\nScrooby member William Bradford of Austerfield kept a journal of the congregation's events that later was published as Of Plymouth Plantation. Of this time, he wrote:\n\nBut after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them. For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett & watcht night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and ye most were faine to flie & leave their howses & habitations, and the means of their livelehood.\n\nLeiden\n\nIn Leiden, Holland, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, they lived in small houses behind the \"Kloksteeg\", opposite the Pieterskerk.\nThe success of the congregation in Leiden was mixed. Leiden was a thriving industrial center, \nand many members were well able to support themselves working at Leiden University or in the textile, printing, and brewing trades. Others were less able to bring in sufficient income, hampered by their rural backgrounds and the language barrier; for those, accommodations were made on an estate bought by Robinson and three partners. \n\nOf their years in Leiden, Bradford wrote:\n\nFor these & other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair & bewtifull citie, and of a sweete situation, but made more famous by ye universitie wherwith it is adorned, in which of late had been so many learned man. But wanting that traffike by sea which Amerstdam injoyes, it was not so beneficiall for their outward means of living & estats. But being now hear pitchet they fell to such trads & imployments as they best could; valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above any other riches whatsoever. And at length they came to raise a competente & comforteable living, but with hard and continuall labor. \n\nBrewster had been teaching English at the university, and Robinson enrolled in 1615 to pursue his doctorate. There, he participated in a series of debates, particularly regarding the contentious issue of Calvinism versus Arminianism (siding with the Calvinists against the Remonstrants). See the Synod of Dort.\nBrewster acquired typesetting equipment about 1616 in a venture financed by Thomas Brewer, and began publishing the debates through a local press. \n\nThe Netherlands was, however, a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine. Their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed by. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there.\n\nDecision to leave Holland\n\nBy 1617, the congregation was stable and relatively secure, but there were ongoing issues that needed to be resolved.\n\nBradford noted that the congregation was aging, compounding the difficulties which some had in supporting themselves. Some, having spent through their savings, gave up and returned to England. It was feared that more would follow and that the congregation would become unsustainable. The employment issues made it unattractive for others to come to Leiden, and younger members had begun leaving to find employment and adventure elsewhere. Also compelling was the possibility of missionary work, an opportunity that rarely arose in a Protestant stronghold. \n\nReasons for departure are suggested by Bradford, when he notes the \"discouragements\" of the hard life which they had in the Netherlands, and the hope of attracting others by finding \"a better, and easier place of living\"; the \"children\" of the group being \"drawn away by evil examples into extravagance and dangerous courses\"; the \"great hope, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world.\"\n\nEdward Winslow's list was similar. In addition to the economic worries and missionary possibilities, he stressed that it was important for the people to retain their English identity, culture, and language. They also believed that the English Church in Leiden could do little to benefit the larger community there. \n\nAt the same time, there were many uncertainties about moving to such a place as America. Stories had come back from there about failed colonies. There were fears that the native people would be violent, that there would be no source of food or water, that exposure to unknown diseases was possible, and that travel by sea was always hazardous. Balancing all this was a local political situation that was in danger of becoming unstable. The truce was faltering in what came to be known as the Eighty Years' War, and there was fear over what the attitudes of Spain might be toward them.\n\nCandidate destinations included Guiana, where the Dutch had already established Essequibo, or somewhere near the existing Virginia settlements. Virginia was an attractive destination because the presence of the older colony might offer better security and trade opportunities. It was thought, however, that they should not settle too near, since that might too closely duplicate the political environment back in England. The London Company administered a territory of considerable size in the region. The intended settlement location was at the mouth of the Hudson River. This made it possible to settle at a distance which allayed concerns of social, political, and religious conflicts, but still provided the military and economic benefits of relative closeness to an established colony. \n\nNegotiations\n\nRobert Cushman and John Carver were sent to England to solicit a land patent. Their negotiations were delayed because of conflicts internal to the London Company, but ultimately a patent was secured in the name of John Wincob on June 9 (Old Style)/June 19 (New Style), 1619. \nThe charter was granted with the king's condition that the Leiden group's religion would not receive official recognition. \n\nPreparations stalled because of the continued problems within the London Company. Competing Dutch companies approached the congregation and discussed with them the possibility of settling in the Hudson River area. \n\nDavid Baeckelandt suggests that the Leiden group was approached by Englishman Matthew Slade, son-in-law of Petrus Placius, a cartographer for the Dutch East India Company. Slade was also a spy for the English Ambassador. The Separatists' plans were therefore known both at court and among influential investors in the Virginia Company's Jamestown.[http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4627 Baeckelandt, David. \"The Flemish Influence On Henry Hudson\", The Brussels Journal, January 1, 2011] Negotiations were broken off with the Dutch at the encouragement of English merchant Thomas Weston, who assured them that he could resolve the London Company delays. The London Company intended to claim the area explored by Hudson before the Dutch could become fully established. The first Dutch settlers did not arrive in the area until 1624.\n\nWeston did come with a substantial change, telling the Leiden group that parties in England had obtained a land grant north of the existing Virginia territory, to be called New England. This was only partially true; the new grant did come to pass, but not until late in 1620 when the Plymouth Council for New England received its charter. It was expected that this area could be fished profitably, and it was not under the control of the existing Virginia government. \n\nA second change was known only to parties in England who chose not to inform the larger group. New investors had been brought into the venture who wanted the terms altered so that, at the end of the seven-year contract, half of the settled land and property would revert to the investors. Also, another provision was dropped which allowed each settler to have two days per week to work on personal business.\n\nBrewster's diversion\n\nAmid these negotiations, William Brewster found himself involved with religious unrest emerging in Scotland. In 1618, King James had promulgated the Five Articles of Perth which were seen in Scotland as an attempt to encroach on their Presbyterian tradition. Pamphlets critical of this law were published by Brewster and smuggled into Scotland by April 1619. These pamphlets were traced back to Leiden, and a failed attempt to apprehend Brewster was made in July when his presence in England became known.\n\nAlso in July in Leiden, English ambassador Dudley Carleton became aware of the situation and began leaning on the Dutch government to extradite Brewster. An arrest was made in September, but only Thomas Brewer the financier was in custody. Brewster's whereabouts remain unknown between then and the colonists' departure. Brewster's type was seized. After several months of delay, Brewer was sent to England for questioning, where he stonewalled government officials until well into 1620. One resulting concession that England did obtain from the Netherlands was a restriction on the press, making such publications illegal to produce.\n\nThomas Brewer was ultimately convicted in England for his continued religious publication activities and sentenced in 1626 to a fourteen-year prison term. \n\nPreparations\n\nNot all of the congregation were able to depart on the first trip. Many members were not able to settle their affairs within the time constraints, and the budget was limited for travel and supplies. It was decided that the initial settlement should be undertaken primarily by younger and stronger members. The remainder agreed to follow if and when they could.\n\nRobinson would remain in Leiden with the larger portion of the congregation, and Brewster was to lead the American congregation. The church in America would be run independently, but it was agreed that membership would automatically be granted in either congregation to members who moved between the continents.\n\nWith personal and business matters agreed upon, supplies and a small ship were procured. Speedwell was to bring some passengers from the Netherlands to England, then on to America where it would be kept for the fishing business, with a crew hired for support services during the first year. The larger ship Mayflower was leased for transport and exploration services. \n\nVoyage\n\nThe Speedwell was originally named Swiftsure. It was built in 1577 at sixty tons, and was part of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. It departed Delfshaven in July 1620 with the Leiden colonists, after a canal ride from Leyden of about seven hours. It reached Southampton, Hampshire and met with the Mayflower and the additional colonists hired by the investors. With final arrangements made, the two vessels set out on August 5 (Old Style)/August 15 (New Style).\n\nSoon thereafter, the Speedwell crew reported that their ship was taking in water, so both were diverted to Dartmouth, Devon. There it was inspected for leaks and sealed, but a second attempt to depart also failed, bringing them only as far as Plymouth, Devon. It was decided that Speedwell was untrustworthy, and it was sold; the ship's master and some of the crew transferred to the Mayflower for the trip. William Bradford observed that the Speedwell seemed \"overmasted\", thus putting a strain on the hull; but he attributed her leaking to crew members who had deliberately caused it, allowing them to abandon their year-long commitments. Passenger Robert Cushman wrote that the leaking was caused by a loose board. \n\nAtlantic crossing\n\nOf the 120 combined passengers, 102 were chosen to travel on the Mayflower with the supplies consolidated. Of these, about half had come by way of Leiden, and about 28 of the adults were members of the congregation. \nThe reduced party finally sailed successfully on September 6 (Old Style)/September 16 (New Style), 1620.\n\nInitially the trip went smoothly, but under way they were met with strong winds and storms. One of these caused a main beam to crack, and the possibility was considered of turning back, even though they were more than halfway to their destination. However, they repaired the ship sufficiently to continue using a \"great iron screw\" brought along by the colonists (probably either a jack to be used for house construction or a cider press). Passenger John Howland was washed overboard in the storm but caught a top-sail halyard trailing in the water and was pulled back on board.\n\nOne crew member and one passenger died before they reached land. A child was born at sea and named Oceanus. \n\nArrival in America\n\nLand was sighted on November 9, 1620. The passengers had endured miserable conditions for about sixty-five days, and they were led by William Brewster in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving. It was confirmed that the area was Cape Cod, within the New England territory recommended by Weston. An attempt was made to sail the ship around the cape towards the Hudson River, also within the New England grant area, but they encountered shoals and difficult currents around Cape Malabar (the old French name for present-day Monomoy). It was decided to turn around, and by November 11/November 12 the ship was anchored in what is today known as Provincetown Harbor. \n\nMayflower Compact\n\nThe charter was incomplete for the Plymouth Council for New England when the colonists departed England (it was granted while they were in transit on November 3/November 13). They arrived without a patent; the older Wincob patent was from their abandoned dealings with the London Company. Some of the passengers, aware of the situation, suggested that they were free to do as they chose upon landing, without a patent in place, and to ignore the contract with the investors. \n\nA brief contract was drafted to address this issue, later known as the Mayflower Compact, promising cooperation among the settlers \"for the general good of the Colony unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.\" It organized them into what was called a \"civill body politick,\" in which issues would be decided by voting, the key ingredient of democracy. It was ratified by majority rule, with 41 adult male Pilgrims signing for the 102 passengers (seventy-three males and twenty-nine females). Included in the company were nineteen male servants and three female servants, along with some sailors and craftsmen hired for short-term service to the colony. \nAt this time, John Carver was chosen as the colony's first governor. It was Carver who had chartered the Mayflower and his is the first signature on the Mayflower Compact, being the most respected and affluent member of the group. The Mayflower Compact was the seed of American democracy and has been called the world's first written constitution. \n\nFirst landings\n\nThorough exploration of the area was delayed for over two weeks because the shallop or pinnace (a smaller sailing vessel) which they brought had been partially dismantled to fit aboard the Mayflower and was further damaged in transit. Small parties, however, waded to the beach to fetch firewood and attend to long-deferred personal hygiene.\n\nExploratory parties were undertaken while awaiting the shallop, led by Myles Standish (an English soldier whom the colonists had met while in Leiden) and Christopher Jones. They encountered an old European-built house and iron kettle, left behind by some ship's crew, and a few recently cultivated fields, showing corn stubble. \n\nAn artificial mound was found near the dunes which they partially uncovered and found to be a Native grave. Further along, a similar mound was found, more recently made, and they ventured to remove some of the provisions which had been placed in the grave, as the colonists feared that they might otherwise starve. Baskets of maize were found inside, some of which the colonists took and placed into an iron kettle that they also found nearby, while they reburied the rest, intending to use the corn as seed for planting.\n\nWilliam Bradford later recorded in his book Of Plymouth Plantation that, after the shallop had been repaired,\n\nThey also found two of the Indian's houses covered with mats, and some of their implements in them; but the people had run away and could not be seen. They also found more corn, and beans of various colours. These they brought away, intending to give them full satisfaction (payment) when they should meet with any of them, – as about six months afterwards they did.\n\nAnd it is to be noted as a special providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that they thus got seed to plant corn the next year, or they might have starved; for they had none, nor any likelihood of getting any, till too late for the planting season.\n\nBy December, most of the passengers and crew had become ill, coughing violently. Many were also suffering from the effects of scurvy. There had already been ice and snowfall, hampering exploration efforts. During the first winter, 50-percent of them died.\n\nFirst contact\n\nExplorations resumed on December 6/December 16. The shallop party headed south along the cape, seven colonists from Leiden, three from London, and seven crew, and chose to land at the area inhabited by the Nauset people (roughly present-day Brewster, Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, and Orleans), where they saw some native people on the shore who fled when the colonists approached. Inland they found more mounds, one containing acorns, which they exhumed and left, and more graves, which they decided not to dig.\n\nRemaining ashore overnight, they heard cries near the encampment. The following morning, they were met by native people who proceeded to shoot at them with arrows. The colonists retrieved their firearms and shot back, then chased the native people into the woods but did not find them. There was no more contact with native people for several months. \n\nThe local people were already familiar with the English, who had intermittently visited the area for fishing and trade before Mayflower arrived. In the Cape Cod area, relations were poor following a visit several years earlier by Thomas Hunt. Hunt kidnapped twenty people from Patuxet (the place that became New Plymouth) and another seven from Nausett, and he attempted to sell them as slaves in Europe. One of the Patuxet abductees was Squanto, who became an ally of the Plymouth colony. \n\nThe Pokanoket also lived nearby and had developed a particular dislike for the English after one group came in, captured numerous people, and shot them aboard their ship. By this time, there had already been reciprocal killings at Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. But during one of the captures by the English, Squanto escaped to England and there became a Christian. When he came back, he found that most of his tribe had died from plague. \n\nSettlement\n\nContinuing westward, the shallop's mast and rudder were broken by storms, and their sail was lost. They rowed for safety, encountering the harbor formed by the current Duxbury and Plymouth barrier beaches and stumbling on land in the darkness. They remained at this spot for two days to recuperate and repair equipment. It was named Clark's Island for a Mayflower mate who first set foot on that island. \n\nResuming exploration on Monday, December 11/December 21, 1620, the party crossed over to the mainland and surveyed the area that ultimately became the settlement. The anniversary of this survey is observed in Massachusetts as Forefathers' Day and is traditionally associated with the Plymouth Rock landing tradition. This land was especially suited to winter building because it had already been cleared, and the tall hills provided a good defensive position.\n\nThe cleared village was known as Patuxet to the Wampanoag people, and was abandoned about three years earlier following a plague that killed all of its residents. The \"Indian fever\" involved hemorrhaging and is assumed to have been fulminating smallpox introduced by European traders. The outbreak had been severe enough that the colonists discovered unburied skeletons in abandoned dwellings. With the local population in such a weakened state, the colonists faced no resistance to settling there.\n\nThe exploratory party returned to Mayflower, anchored twenty-five miles away, having been brought to the harbor on December 16/December 26. Only nearby sites were evaluated, with a hill in Plymouth (so named on earlier charts) \nchosen on December 19/December 29.\n\nConstruction commenced immediately, with the first common house nearly completed by January 9/January 19, twenty feet square built for general use. At this point, single men were ordered to join with one of the nineteen families, in order to eliminate the need to build any more houses than absolutely necessary. Each extended family was assigned a plot one-half rod wide and three rods long for each household member, then each family built their own dwelling. Supplies were brought ashore, and the settlement was mostly complete by early February. \n\nWhen the first house was finished, it immediately became a hospital for the ill Pilgrims. Thirty-one of the company were dead by the end of February, with deaths still rising. Coles Hill, a prominence above the beach, became the first cemetery, with the graves allowed to overgrow with grass for fear that the Indians would discover how weakened the settlement had actually become. \n\nBetween the landing and March, only 47 colonists had survived the diseases that they contracted on the ship. During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able to feed and care for the rest. In this time, half the Mayflower crew also died.\n\nWilliam Bradford became governor in 1621 upon the death of John Carver. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags. The patent of Plymouth Colony was surrendered by Bradford to the freemen in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land. Bradford served for eleven consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms until his death in 1657.\n\nThe colony contained roughly what is now Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts.\n\nThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was reorganized and issued a new charter as the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691, and Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony.\n\nEtymology\n\nBradford's history\n\nThe first use of the word pilgrims for the Mayflower passengers appeared in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. As he finished recounting his group's July 1620 departure from Leiden, Bradford used the imagery of [http://classic.studylight.org/desk/?len&query\nHebrews+11%3A13-16&translation=gen Hebrews 11:13–16] about Old Testament \"strangers and pilgrims\" who had the opportunity to return to their old country but instead longed for a better, heavenly country. Bradford wrote:\n\nSo they lefte [that] goodly & pleasante citie, which had been ther resting place, nere 12 years; but they knew they were pilgrimes, & looked not much on these things; but lift up their eyes to ye heavens, their dearest cuntrie, and quieted their spirits.\n\nThere is no record of the term Pilgrims being used to describe Plymouth's founders for 150 years after Bradford wrote this passage, except when quoting Bradford. When the Mayflower's story was retold by historians Nathaniel Morton (in 1669) and Cotton Mather (in 1702), both paraphrased Bradford's passage and used Bradford's word pilgrims. At Plymouth's Forefathers' Day observance in 1793, Rev. Chandler Robbins recited this passage from Bradford. \n\nPopular use\n\nThe name Pilgrims was probably not in popular use before about 1798, even though Plymouth celebrated Forefathers' Day several times between 1769 and 1798 and used a variety of terms to honor Plymouth's founders. Pilgrims was not mentioned, other than in Robbins' 1793 recitation. \nThe first documented use of Pilgrims that was not simply quoting Bradford was at a December 22, 1798 celebration of Forefathers' Day in Boston. A song composed for the occasion used the word Pilgrims, and the participants drank a toast to \"The Pilgrims of Leyden\". \nThe term was used prominently during Plymouth's next Forefather's Day celebration in 1800, and was used in Forefathers' Day observances thereafter. \n\nBy the 1820s, the term Pilgrims was becoming more common. Daniel Webster repeatedly referred to \"the Pilgrims\" in his December 22, 1820 address for Plymouth's bicentennial, which was widely read. Harriet Vaughan Cheney used it in her 1824 novel A Peep at the Pilgrims in Sixteen Thirty-Six, and the term also gained popularity with the 1825 publication of Felicia Hemans's classic poem \"The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers\".","Peter Minuit [1580-1638]: Director of New Netherland\n... drawn up in the Dutch City of Utrecht in 1615 he is ... 1626. Although Peter Minuit was governor general of ... On Manhattan there is a Peter Minuit ...\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit [1580-1638]\nDirector of New Netherland\nPeter Minuit was a Walloon whose protestant parents had moved from Doornik, Henegouwen in the southern Netherlands, which then included present-day Belgium, to Wesel in Germany, in order to escape from the Catholic Spanish colonials, who were not favorably deposed to those people who had left the Catholic Church to become Protestants. Minuit's birth year is not exactly known but it is somewhere between 1580 and 1589.\nPeter Minuit married Gertrude Raedts on August 20, 1613. Gertrude came from a wealthy family which probably helped Peter in establishing himself as a broker. What products he dealt in is also not known, but it probably involved diamonds, because in a legal document, a will, drawn up in the Dutch City of Utrecht in 1615 he is described as a diamond cutter.\nPeter Minuit joined the Dutch West India Company [DWI], probably in the mid 1620's, and was sent to New Netherland in 1625 to search for tradable goods other than the animal pelts which were then the major tradable product coming from New Netherland. He returned in the same year, and in 1626 was appointed by the DWI to become the new governor general of New Netherland, taking over from Willem Verhulst, the previous governor general. Minuit arrived in New Amsterdam on May 4, 1626.\nAlthough Peter Minuit was governor general of the colony for five years [he was relieved of his position in 1631], he is best known for his purchase of Manhattan from the Indians for 60 guilders which is estimated to be equivalent to about $25 in 1626 dollars, probably equivalent to about $500 in today's dollars, but still an obvious bargain. The exchange was made either in May 1626 or in July 1626, which is either in the same month, or two months after he arrived in New Amsterdam to take up his new governor general position.\nPeter Minuit's tenure as governor general was rather uneventful in comparison with earlier or later governor generals of the Dutch colony. He did, however, introduce a measure of democracy in the colony during his time in New Netherland. Upon his arrival in 1626, he proposed a plan to establish an advisory body to the governor general. The advisory body would be a council of five members, which would advise the governor general, and would jointly with the governor general develop, administer and adjudicate a body of laws to help govern the colony. In addition he proposed the institution of, what we would call today, an attorney general to enforce the laws on the books.\nIn 1631 or 1632 Minuit was relieved of his duties as governor general. What the reasons were for his termination is not clear, but the directors of the DWI were business people and Minuit may have made decisions that were, in their view, not in the interest of the DWI organization. He was replaced by Walter van Twiller.\nAlthough there have been six governor generals during the existence of the New Amsterdam colony from 1620 to 1664, a forty year period, only two of the governor generals are well known. Peter Stuyvesant leads the group, but not because he was so popular with the people; he was not. Stuyvesant is the one who had to surrender the colony to the British because his defenses were virtually non-existent, and he wisely decided to surrender in order to avoid bloodshed. Peter Minuit is the other governor general who is well known probably largely because he made the historic purchase of Manhattan from the Indians. But the reason he is well known may also be caused by the relative peace that existed in the colony during his tenure. There was peace among the population of New Amsterdam, but there was also relative peace with the Indians who then still lived in close proximity to and among the new settlers.\nPeter Minuit is remembered to this day with a number of public mementoes. On Manhattan there is a Peter Minuit Plaza, which is a small park in lower Manhattan. There is also the Peter Minuit marker in Inwood Hill Park commemorating the purchase of Manhattan from the Indians. Then there is the Peter Minuit Flagstaff Base in Battery Park. School children in Public School 108 in Manhattan every day attend the Peter Minuit School. And the Manhattan Chapter of the DAR has called one of their chapters the Peter Minuit chapter of the DAR. Finally, in Wesel Germany, there is a Peter Minuit Memorial on Moltkestrasse, Wesel , Germany.\nAfter his governor generalship of New Netherland, he worked with the Swedish Government to establish a Finnish-Swedish settlement, called New Sweden, near what is now Wilmington, Delaware. It was in the territory then claimed by the Dutch. Was it done out of spite for his former employers? Perhaps.\nOn his return from New Sweden in 1638, his ship and he made a side trip to the Caribbean to pick up a load of tobacco. Unfortunately, at that time there existed no hurricane tracking methods. While having dinner aboard a Dutch ship a hurricane forced all ships out to sea. Minuit and 't Vliegende Hart were never seen again; however, his ship the Kalmar Nyckel did make it back to Sweden without him.\n \nE-BOOKS FOR $ 2.99; GOOGLE: AMAZON KINDLE PEGELS","Peter_Minuit.txt\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. His surname means \"midnight.\" He was Director of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden in 1638.\n\nMinuit is generally credited with orchestrating the purchase of Manhattan Island for the Dutch from the Native Americans called the Lenape, which later became the city of New Amsterdam, modern-day New York City, which was the core of the Dutch colony of New Netherland and the later British colony of New York.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly life\n\nPeter Minuit was born sometime between 1580 and 1585,[https://www.wesel.de/en/city-portrait/peter-minuit/ \"Peter Minuit\", Wesel.de] into a Protestant family that had moved from the City of Tournai, Hainaut, part of the Southern Netherlands, presently part of Wallonia, Belgium, to Wesel in Germany, in order to avoid Spanish Catholic colonials, who were not favorably disposed towards Protestants.\n\nHis father, Johan, died in 1609 and Peter took over management of the household and his father's business. Peter Minuit had a good reputation in Wesel, attested by the fact that he was several times appointed a guardian. He also assisted the poor during the Spanish occupation of 1614-1619.\n\nPeter Minuit married Gertrude Raedts on August 20, 1613. From a wealthy family, Gertrude probably helped Peter Minuit in establishing himself as a broker. What products he dealt in is not known. That it involved diamonds is derived from a legal document, a will, drawn up in 1615, in the Dutch City of Utrecht mentioning Peter Minnewit as a diamond cutter.\n\nBy 1624, the city was in an economic decline and in 1625 he had left Wesel and like others went to Holland, while Gertrud went first to stay with her relatives in Cleve.\n\nCareer as Director of New Netherland\n\nMinuit and his family joined the Dutch West India Company, probably in the mid 1620s, and was sent to New Netherland in 1625 to search for tradable goods other than the animal pelts which were then the major product coming from New Netherland. He returned in the same year, and in 1626 was appointed the new director of New Netherland, taking over from Willem Verhulst. He sailed to North America and arrived in the colony on May 4, 1626.[http://www.wesel.de/C125759F00493DB1/html/D724335345623923C12574D60036E797?Open \"Peter Minuit\" (biography), Wesel, Germany, webpage: Wesel-Minuit]. Minuit is credited with purchasing the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans in exchange for traded goods valued at 60 guilders. According to the writer Nathaniel Benchley, Minuit conducted the transaction with Seyseys, chief of the Canarsees, who were only too happy to accept valuable merchandise in exchange for an island that was actually mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks. \n\nThe figure of 60 guilders comes from a letter by a representative of the Dutch States-General and member of the board of the Dutch West India Company, Pieter Janszoon Schagen, to the States-General in November 1626. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 (or 60 guilders) to US$23. \"[A] variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars,\" as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006, according to the Institute for Social History of Amsterdam. Based on the price of silver, Straight Dope author Cecil Adams calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992. Historians James and Michelle Nevius revisited the issue in 2014, suggesting that using the prices of beer and brandy as equivalencies, the price Minuit paid would have the purchasing power of somewhere between $2,600 and $15,600 in current dollars.\n\nAccording to researchers at the National Library of the Netherlands, \"The original inhabitants of the area were unfamiliar with the European notions and definitions of ownership rights. For the Indians, water, air and land could not be traded. Such exchanges would also be difficult in practical terms because many groups migrated between their summer and winter quarters. It can be concluded that both parties probably went home with totally different interpretations of the sales agreement.\"\n\nA contemporary purchase of rights in nearby Staten Island, to which Minuit was also party, involved duffel cloth, iron kettles, axe heads, hoes, wampum, drilling awls, \"Jew's harps\" and \"diverse other wares\". \"If similar trade goods were involved in the Manhattan arrangement\", Burrows and Wallace surmise, \"then the Dutch were engaged in high-end technology transfer, handing over equipment of enormous usefulness in tasks ranging from clearing land to drilling wampum.\"\n\nThe calculation of $24 also fails to recognize that the concepts of property trading and ownership held by the 17th-century Dutch and East Coast natives were both different from modern conceptions. Comparisons to modern land dealing distort the reality of what Minuit was trying to do. Both the Dutch and the Indians undoubtedly included intangibles along with any hard goods in their concept of the total transactional value. For Indians and Minuit alike, both sides felt they were getting far more than a mere 60 guilders. For instance, the natives most certainly would have thought the trade included the value of the Dutch as potential military allies against rival Indian nations—a 'good' that could not be valued in currency alone. In addition, the value of the sale to Dutch and Indians alike would have included the prospect of future trade.\n\nMinuit conducted politics in a measure of democracy in the colony during his time in New Netherland. He was highest judge in the colony but in both civil and criminal affairs he was assisted by a council of five colonists. This advisory body would advise the director, and would jointly with him develop, administer and adjudicate a body of laws to help govern the colony. In addition there was a schout-fiscal, half sheriff, half attorney-general, and all customs officer.[http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/peter-minuit/ \"Peter Minuit\", New Netherlands Institute] During Minuit's administration, several mills were built, trade grew exponentially and the population grew to almost 300 souls.\n\nIn 1631, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) suspended Minuit from his post for reasons that are unclear, but probably for (perhaps unintentionally) abetting the landowning patroons who were engaging in illegal fur trade and otherwise enriching themselves against the interests and orders of the West India Company. He arrived back in Europe in August 1632 to explain his actions, but was dismissed and was succeeded as director by Wouter van Twiller. It is possible that Minuit had become the victim of the internal disputes over the rights that the board of directors had given to the patroons.\n\nEstablishing the New Sweden colony\n\nIn 1636 or 1637, after having lived in Cleves, Germany for several years, Minuit made arrangements with Samuel Blommaert and the Swedish government to create the first Swedish colony in the New World. Located on the lower Delaware River within territory earlier claimed by the Dutch, it was called New Sweden. Minuit and his company arrived on the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel at Swedes' Landing (now Wilmington, Delaware), in the spring of 1638. They constructed Fort Christina later that year, then returned to Stockholm for a second load of colonists, and made a side trip to the Caribbean on the return to pick up a shipment of tobacco for resale in Europe to make the voyage profitable. Minuit died during this voyage during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean. Swedish Lt. Måns Nilsson Kling, whose rank was raised to captain about two years later, replaced him as governor. It took the government that long for the next governor from mainland Sweden to be appointed and travel to North America. Nine expeditions to the colony were carried out before the Dutch captured the colony in 1655, well after Minuit's death. \n\nLegacy\n\nPlaces named after Minuit\n\n*The Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal's Peter Minuit Plaza, north of the South Ferry – Whitehall Street station (). Following the 400th anniversary celebrations of Henry Hudson's voyage to Manhattan, a pavilion was opened here to honor the Dutch. Each night at midnight, LED lights glow around the pavilion's perimeter in honor of Minuit.\n*A marker in Inwood Hill Park at the supposed site of the purchase of Manhattan\n*A granite flagstaff base in Battery Park, which depicts the historic purchase\n*A school and playground in East Harlem, which are named for him. \n*An apartment building at 25 Claremont Avenue in Manhattan, which bears his name above the front entrance\n*The Peter Minuit Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution\n*A memorial on Moltkestraße in Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany\n\nIn popular culture\n\n*The beginning lines of Rodgers and Hart's 1939 song \"Give It Back to the Indians\" recount the sale of Manhattan: \"Old Peter Minuit had nothing to lose when he bought the isle of Manhattan / For twenty-six dollars and a bottle of booze, and they threw in the Bronx and Staten / Pete thought he had the best of the bargain, but the poor red man just grinned / And he grunted \"ugh!\" (meaning \"okay\" in his jargon) for he knew poor Pete was skinned.\"\n*One version of Minuit was played by Groucho Marx in the 1957 comedy film The Story of Mankind.\n*Minuit is mentioned on the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, where the character Edward Bader tells a joke featuring the line, \"'50 bucks?' the fella says. 'Peter Stuyvesant only paid 24 for the entire island of Manhattan!'\", while Steve Buscemi's' character Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson has to correct Bader and inform him that it was in fact Peter Minuit who bought Manhattan, not Stuyvesant.\n*Bob Dylan mentions Minuit in his song \"Hard Times in New York Town\" (released on The Bootleg Series Volume 1) in the following line: Mister Hudson come a-sailing down the stream, / and old Mister Minuit paid for his dream. But in the released recording of the song, Dylan spoonerizes \"Mister Minuit\" by mispronouncing his name \"Minnie Mistuit.\" The official lyrics have the correct version of the name, except that Minuit is spelled \"Minuet.\" \n*Minuit is mentioned in the first episode Uno of the AMC drama Better Call Saul. Jimmy McGill (the later titular Saul), while confronting lawyers at his brother's law firm, accuses them of being like \"Peter Minuit\" and suggest that they \"throw in some beads and shells\" to the $26,000.00 being given to his brother."],"string":"[\n \"New york 1664 - MIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\\n... and New York City before Albany was ... appeared in New York harbor in 1664, although the city was ... of New York City [earlier New ...\\nNew york 1664 - MIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\\nMIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\\n When were they a colony:1664\\n Industry: shipbuilding, iron works, cattle, grain, rice, indigo, wheat\\n State motto: Excelsior\\nFounded by: Peter Stuyvesant\\n Religious Aspirations & Reasons for finding: It was founded by the Dutch for trade and furs and became an English Colony in 1664.\\nPurpose: Trade and profit\\nNote: Set up as Dutch colony, taken over by English in 1664\\nEconomy:\\n Colonists made their living in a variety of ways: fur, lumber trading, shipping, the slave\\ntrade, and as merchants and tradesmen in the colony's towns. Most colonists were\\nfarmers, who cleared large acres of land by hand to grow crops. Corn was the\\nmost popular, since it could be eaten by people and animals. Also grown was flax,\\nwheat, vegetables, and tobacco. Some colonists mined for iron to send to England\\nfor manufacturing into finished goods. When you come to New York there are many jobs. Some jobs are printers,\\nclockmakers, barbers, tanners, milliners, dyers, menders, or you could be in the\\nshipping business. If you are interested in farming, there is squash, beans,\\ncorn, melons, grapes, apples, peaches, flax, rye, wheat, and tobacco. We also\\nhave ships, timber, iron, livestock, and fur. If you’re still not interested\\nthere is also venison, goose, wild turkey, mutton, raccoon, fish, and\\noysters.\\n New York had hot, humid summers, and bitterly cold windy winters with much snow.\\nThe terrain was swampy near the coast and the Hudson River. Further north where\\nmountains covered with forests. The ground was rocky and the soil was good for\\nfarming.\\nNew York is located along the Atlantic Ocean in the Middle Colonies. New York has\\nmountains, plains, and rolling hills. There is a river that runs through New\\nYork called the Hudson River. There are some Native American groups called the\\nLenape, Wappinger, Munsee, Mohican, and Montauk that live here. New York also\\nborders Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.\\nBefore the English and other countries were there, the native Indians lived\\nthere first before Christopher Columbus had come over to America because he\\nbelieved he was going to Asia the ground of new York was rocky but the soil\\naround there was good once there was no rocks or trees around the soil. of\\ncourse there was war with the Indians over land because the Indians wanted land\\nto grow crops and mostly, the English were growing crops there like potatoes,\\ntobacco, and corn. the English got this land because the owner of the land\\ndidn't want to fight because he didn't want his people to get hurt unlike the\\nowner before him.\\n New York has a governor and an elected assembly. The Charter of Liberties gives free\\nrights to all Dutch and English settlers. New York also has religious freedom.\\nThe colony was run by a governor appointed by the king of England. He made all\\nthe laws, and there was little self-government. Sometimes the colonist were able\\nto gain more freedom, (the right to elect the mayor of New York City, the chance\\nto set up an assembly), but these freedoms did not last long. New York adopted\\nits first state constitution in 1777. It has been rewritten several times. The\\ncapital was variously located at Kingston, White Plains, Poughkeepsie, and New\\nYork City before Albany was selected as the permanent site in 1797. \\nReligion:\\n New York was situated between the Puritan colonies of New England and the catholic\\ncolony of Maryland, so the settlers were of many faiths. They had considerable\\nreligious freedom. Although minorities were numerous, it can be said that\\nProtestantism was the main religion in colonial New York. This was because both\\nthe Dutch and the English were Protestant, and wanted their colonies to be\\nProtestant too. Religion in New York during colonial times was often segregated\\nand individualistic, however the fact that economic gain was the motivating\\nfactor of the colony's existence, many different religious groups inherited its\\npromise. \\nSummary:\\n *New Netherland becomes New York\\n *Peter Stuyvesant was the leader, he surrenders the colony to England and the king gives it to his brother who renamed it New York\\n(Brother: Duke of York)\\n*Property colony Key: England wants to profit from the colony\\nPeter Stuyvesant:\\nPeter Stuyvesant\\n(Political figure)\\nPeter Stuyvesant, served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664,\\nafter which it was renamed New York. \\nBorn: 1612, Peperga, Netherlands\\nDied: August 1672, New York City, NY\\nEducation: University of Franeker\\nFacts:\\nFact 1- Stuyvesant had served in the West Indies as governor of one of the islands, and for his good services there was appointed, in 1647, by the Dutch West India Company as the governor of their colony of New Amsterdam.\\n Fact 2- He had lost a leg in the service of the company in the West Indies, but his wooden leg has done more to preserve his fame in history than any other one thing. According to tradition, when the assembly of New Amsterdam went contrary to his wishes, he would stamp his wooden leg and roar at\\nthem\\n Fact 3- (Cause)\\nStuyvesant brought to his work a determination to be \\\"as a father over his children,\\\" and he immediately set about trying to reform abuses with a commendable enthusiasm. His despotic character and his blunt manners, coupled with his efforts at reform, soon won him many enemies. He tried to regulate the sale of liquor, and forbade its being sold to the Indians at any time, but his orders were disregarded. He attempted to regulate the fur trade so as to give the inhabitants of New Amsterdam a monopoly of it, but smuggling became prevalent. His severity in punishing those who would not conform to the Dutch Reformed church, and his refusal to allow the people a share in the government, increased the hatred which most of the settlers felt toward\\nhim.\\n(Effect)\\nwar arose between England and Holland and English warships appeared in New York harbor in 1664, although the city was defended by a stone fort and 20 cannon, the people refused to resist the invaders. So Stuyvesant was forced to surrender the town to the English, and New Amsterdam became New York.\\n (Conclusion/Result)\\nStuyvesant returned to Holland, but when the Dutch West India Company blamed him for all of their misfortunes in the New World, he returned to America and spent the rest of his life on his farm, or \\\"Bouwerie,\\\" as it was called in Dutch.\\n Fact 4- Peters Stuyvesant, is an important figure in the history of New York City [earlier New Amsterdam], New York State and New Netherland. His name is still commonly used, especially in New York State, for street names, school names, building names, etc.\\n Fact 5- Surprisingly, his ancestors no longer bear his name. His last direct descendant, Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant Jr. died in 1953 at age 83 in New York\\nCity. A nineteenth century Stuyvesant descendant, Rutherford Stuyvesant, changed his name to Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of a will. The paucity of descendants bearing his name may have something to do with the fact that Peter Stuyvesant has been blamed for turning over New Amsterdam to the British in 1664.\\nFact 6- the citizens of New Amsterdam refused to help defend the city against a fleet of British warships. As a result Stuyvesant was forced to hand the city of\\nNew Amsterdam over to the British who promptly renamed it New York.\\nBiography of him:\",\n \"New Amsterdam becomes New York - Sep 08, 1664 - HISTORY.com\\n... New Amsterdam becomes New York on Sep 08, 1664. ... New Amsterdam becomes New York on Sep 08, ... Called a demagogue by critics, ...\\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York - Sep 08, 1664 - HISTORY.com\\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\\nShare this:\\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\\nAuthor\\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\\nURL\\nPublisher\\nA+E Networks\\nDutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland, to an English naval squadron under Colonel Richard Nicolls. Stuyvesant had hoped to resist the English, but he was an unpopular ruler, and his Dutch subjects refused to rally around him. Following its capture, New Amsterdam’s name was changed to New York, in honor of the Duke of York, who organized the mission.\\nThe colony of New Netherland was established by the Dutch West India Company in 1624 and grew to encompass all of present-day New York City and parts of Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey. A successful Dutch settlement in the colony grew up on the southern tip of Manhattan Island and was christened New Amsterdam.\\nTo legitimatize Dutch claims to New Amsterdam, Dutch governor Peter Minuit formally purchased Manhattan from the local tribe from which it derives it name in 1626. According to legend, the Manhattans–Indians of Algonquian linguistic stock–agreed to give up the island in exchange for trinkets valued at only $24. However, as they were ignorant of European customs of property and contracts, it was not long before the Manhattans came into armed conflict with the expanding Dutch settlement at New Amsterdam. Beginning in 1641, a protracted war was fought between the colonists and the Manhattans, which resulted in the death of more than 1,000 Indians and settlers.\\nIn 1664, New Amsterdam passed to English control, and English and Dutch settlers lived together peacefully. In 1673, there was a short interruption of English rule when the Netherlands temporary regained the settlement. In 1674, New York was returned to the English, and in 1686 it became the first city in the colonies to receive a royal charter. After the American Revolution, it became the first capital of the United States.\\nRelated Videos\",\n \"Dutch and English Colonization in New England - NPS.gov\\nAlthough the Netherlands only controlled the Hudson River Valley from 1609 until 1664, in that short time, Dutch ... Unlike New York City and ... today called the ...\\nDutch Colonization\\nDutch and English Colonization in New England\\nAlthough the Netherlands only controlled the Hudson River Valley from 1609 until 1664, in that short time, Dutch entrepreneurs established New Netherland, a series of trading posts, towns, and forts up and down the Hudson River that laid the groundwork for towns that still exist today. Fort Orange, the northernmost of the Dutch outposts, is known today as Albany; New York City's original name was New Amsterdam, and the New Netherland's third major settlement, Wiltwyck, is known today as Kingston. Unlike New York City and Albany, however, where the traces of colonization can be difficult to find, in Kingston, the history of New York's Dutch colonization is quite evident.\\nIn 1609, two years after English settlers established the colony of Jamestown in Virginia, the Dutch East India Company hired English sailor Henry Hudson to find a northeast passage to India. After unsuccessfully searching for a route above Norway, Hudson turned his ship west and sailed across the Atlantic. Hudson hoped to discover a \\\"northwest passage,\\\" that would allow a ship to cross the entirety of the North American continent and gain access to the Pacific Ocean, and from there, India. After arriving off the coast of Cape Cod, Hudson eventually sailed into the mouth of a large river, today called the Hudson River. Making his way as far as present-day Albany before the river became too shallow for his ship to continue north, Hudson returned to Europe and claimed the entire Hudson River Valley for his Dutch employers.\\nAfter unsuccessful efforts at colonization, the Dutch Parliament chartered the \\\"West India Company,\\\" a national-joint stock company that would organize and oversee all Dutch ventures in the Western Hemisphere. Sponsored by the West India Company, 30 families arrived in North America in 1624, establishing a settlement on present-day Manhattan. Much like English colonists in Virginia, however, the Dutch settlers did not take much of an interest in agriculture, and focused on the more lucrative fur trade. In 1626, Director General Peter Minuit arrived in Manhattan, charged by the West India Company with the task of administering the struggling colony. Minuit \\\"purchased\\\" Manhattan Island from Native American Indians for the now legendary price of 60 guilders, formally established New Amsterdam, and consolidated and strengthened a fort located far up the Hudson River, named Fort Orange. The colony grew slowly, as settlers, responding to generous land-grant and trade policies, slowly spread north up the Hudson River.\\nThe slow expansion of New Netherland, however, caused conflicts with both English colonists and Native Americans in the region. In the 1630s, the new Director General Wouter van Twiller sent an expedition out from New Amsterdam up to the Connecticut River into lands claimed by English settlers. Faced with the prospect of armed conflict, Twiller was forced to back down and recall the expedition, losing any claims to the Connecticut Valley. In the upper reaches of the Hudson Valley around Fort Orange, (present-day Albany) where the needs of the profitable fur trade required a careful policy of appeasement with the Iroquois Confederacy, the Dutch authorities maintained peace, but corruption and lax trading policies plagued the area. In the lower Hudson Valley, where more colonists were setting up small farms, Native Americans came to be viewed as obstacles to European settlement. In the 1630s and early 1640s, the Dutch Director Generals carried on a brutal series of campaigns against the area's Native Americans, largely succeeding in crushing the strength of the \\\"River Indians,\\\" but also managing to create a bitter atmosphere of tension and suspicion between European settlers and Native Americans.\\nDirector General Peter Stuyvesant\\nThe year 1640 marked a turning point for the colony. The West India Company gave up its trade monopoly, enabling other businessmen to invest in New Netherland. Profits flowed to Amsterdam, encouraging new economic activity in the production of food, timber, tobacco, and eventually, slaves. In 1647, the most successful of the Dutch Director Generals arrived in New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant found New Netherland in disarray. The previous Director General's preoccupation with the Native Americans and border conflicts with the English in Connecticut had greatly weakened other portions of colonial society. Stuyvesant became a whirlwind of activity, issuing edicts, regulating taverns, clamping down on smuggling, and attempted to wield the authority of his office upon a population accustomed to a long line of largely ineffective Director Generals.\\nEventually, Stuyvesant cast his eyes upon the small settlements that had developed along the Hudson River Valley between Fort Orange and New Amsterdam. In 1652, 60-70 settlers had moved down from Fort Orange to an area where the Rondout Creek met the Hudson River, the site of present-day Kingston. The settlers farmed the fertile flood plains of the Esopus Creek side-by-side with the Esopus Indians, the original settlers of the area. Inevitably, land disputes brought the two sides to the brink of war, with both the Europeans and the Esopus Indians engaging in petty vandalism and kidnaping. In 1657, seeing the strategic practicality of a fort located halfway between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange, Director General Stuyvesant sent soldiers up from New Amsterdam to crush the Esopus Indians and help build a stockade with 40 houses for the settlers. Board by board, the settlers took their barns and houses down, and carted them uphill to a promontory bluff overlooking the Esopus Creek flood plain. They reconstructed their homes behind a 14-foot high wall made of tree trunks pounded into the ground that created a perimeter of about 1200 x 1300 feet. By day, the men left their walled village, which Director General Stuyvesant had named \\\"Wiltwyck,\\\" to go out and farm their fields, leaving the women and children largely confined within the stockade. The villagers lived this way until 1664, when a peace treaty ended the conflict with the Esopus Indians.\\nOriginal layout of the Kingston Stockade\\nThough no longer needed, the stockade was left standing well into the late 17th century, and wooden remnants of the wall were actually rediscovered on Clinton Ave during an archaeological dig in 1971. The streets of the original village, however, remain laid out just as they were in 1658. Although the wooden houses of original settlers are long gone, the second generation of homes, built by men like Sergeant Matthew Person , still survive. These stone houses are fine examples of 17th-century Dutch stone buildings, and 21 still stand within the original layout of the stockade, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as contributing members of the Stockade Historic District . Many of these homes began as a single room with a loft above, and gradually expanded, but the simple limestone and mortar materials hauled directly from the fields outside the stockade are still quite visible. Direct links to the age of Dutch colonization, the sturdy construction of these houses have served generations of Kingston residents, and are still in use today.\\nAlthough Wiltwyck, the second large settlement established north of New Amsterdam, grew quickly, the very successes of the Stuyvesant administration put New Netherland in danger. The colony was proving quite profitable, New Amsterdam had developed into a port town of 1500 citizens, and the incredibly diverse population (only 50 percent were actually Dutch colonists) of the colony had grown from 2,000 in 1655 to almost 9,000 in 1664. \\\"Problems\\\" with Native Americans were mostly over, and stable families were slowly replacing single adventurers interested only in quick profits. New Netherland produced immense wealth for the Dutch, and other foreign nations began to envy the riches flowing out of the Hudson River Valley.\\nThe Dutch lost New Netherland to the English during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1664 only a few years after the establishment of Wiltwyck. Along the West Coast of Africa, British charter companies clashed with the forces of the Dutch West India Company over rights to slaves, ivory, and gold in 1663. Less about slaves or ivory, the Anglo-Dutch Wars were actually more about who would be the dominant European naval power. By 1664, both the Dutch and English were preparing for war, and King Charles of England granted his brother, James, Duke of York, vast American territories that included all of New Netherland. James immediately raised a small fleet and sent it to New Amsterdam. Director General Stuyvesant, without a fleet or any real army to defend the colony, was forced to surrender the colony to the English war fleet without a struggle. In September of 1664, New York was born, effectively ending the Netherlands' direct involvement in North America, although in places like Kingston, the influences of Dutch architecture, planning, and folklife can still be quite clearly seen.\",\n \"New York, United States | Article about New York, United ...\\nNew York, state, United States. See also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments National Parks Name Type 1 Location Year authorized Size\\nNew York, United States | Article about New York, United States by The Free Dictionary\\nNew York, United States | Article about New York, United States by The Free Dictionary\\nhttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/New+York%2c+United+States\\nSee also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments\\nNational Parks\\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\\nacres (hectares)\\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\\n..... Click the link for more information.\\nNew York,\\nMiddle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Ontario (NW), and the province of Quebec (N).\\nFacts and Figures\\nArea, 49,576 sq mi (128,402 sq km). Pop. (2010) 19,378,102, a 2.1% increase since the 2000 census. Capital, Albany. Largest city, New York City. Statehood, July 26, 1788 (11th of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution). Highest pt., Mt. Marcy, 5,344 ft (1,630 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Empire State. Motto, Excelsior [Ever Upward]. State bird, bluebird. State flower, rose. State tree, sugar maple. Abbr., N.Y.; NY\\nGeography\\nEastern New York is dominated by the Great Appalachian Valley. Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the valley, which also includes the Hudson River. The Hudson is noted for its beauty, as are Champlain and neighboring Lake George. West of the lakes are the rugged Adirondack Mts., another major vacationland, with extensive wildernesses and sports centers like Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. Mt. Marcy (5,344 ft/1,629 m), the highest point in the state, is near Lake Placid. The rest of NE New York is hilly, sloping gradually to the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, both of which separate it from Ontario. The Mohawk River, which flows from Rome into the Hudson north of Albany Albany\\n. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 16,327), Alameda co., W Calif., on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1908. The city has varied manufacturing; Tilden Regional Park is nearby.\\n2 City (1990 pop. 78,122), seat of Dougherty co., SW Ga.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , is part of the New York State Canal System New York State Canal System,\\nwaterway system, 524 mi (843 km) long, traversing New York state and connecting the Great Lakes with the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River, and Lake Champlain.\\n..... Click the link for more information. 's Erie Canal, once a major route to the Great Lakes and the midwestern United States as well as the only complete natural route through the Appalachian Mts.\\nMost of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny plateau, which rises in the SE to the Catskill Mts., an area that attracts many vacationers from New York New York,\\ncity (1990 pop. 7,322,564), land area 304.8 sq mi (789.4 sq km), SE N.Y., largest city in the United States and one of the largest in the world, on New York Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River.\\n..... Click the link for more information. City and its environs. New York City, in turn, attracts tourists from all over the world. On the extreme SE, the state extends into the Atlantic Ocean to form Long Island Long Island\\n(1990 pop. 6,861,454), 1,723 sq mi (4,463 sq km), 118 mi (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 mi (19–32 km) wide, SE N.Y.; fourth largest island of the United States and the largest outside Alaska and Hawaii.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , which is separated from Connecticut on the N by Long Island Sound.\\nThe western extension of the state to Lakes Ontario and Erie contains many bodies of water, notably Oneida Lake and the celebrated Finger Lakes. In the northwest the Niagara River, with scenic Niagara Falls Niagara Falls,\\nin the Niagara River, W N.Y. and S Ont., Canada; one of the most famous spectacles in North America. The falls are on the international line between the cities of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ont.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , forms the border with Ontario between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The western region has resorts as well as large, traditionally industrial cities such as Buffalo Buffalo,\\ncity (1990 pop. 328,123), seat of Erie co., W N.Y., on Lake Erie and the Niagara and Buffalo rivers; inc. 1832. With more than 37 mi (60 km) of waterfront, it is a major commercial and industrial port and railroad hub.\\n..... Click the link for more information. on Lake Erie, Rochester Rochester\\n. 1 City (1990 pop. 70,745), seat of Olmsted co., SE Minn.; inc. 1858. It is a farm trade center, and its industries include printing and publishing, food processing, machinery, fabricated metal products, computers and electronic equipment, and construction\\n..... Click the link for more information. on Lake Ontario, Syracuse Syracuse\\n, city (1990 pop. 163,860), seat of Onondaga co., central N.Y., on Onondaga Lake and the Erie Canal; settled c.1788, inc. as a city 1848. It is a port of entry, and its many manufactures include electrical and electronic equipment, automobile and aircraft parts,\\n..... Click the link for more information. , and Utica Utica,\\ncity (1990 pop. 68,637), seat of Oneida co., central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal, in a large dairy region; inc. 1862. It is a port of entry, and its manufactures include electrical, electronic, and consumer goods; transportation and medical equipment;\\n..... Click the link for more information. . The western section is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact Delaware River Basin Compact\\n, providing for the utilization and development of the water resources of the Delaware River basin. In 1961 the federal government and the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York agreed to form a partnership in a 100-year building\\n..... Click the link for more information. , signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system.\\nIn addition to the great forest preserves of the Adirondacks and Catskills, New York has many state parks, among them Jones Beach State Park and Allegany State Park. Part of Fire Island, which lies off Long Island, is a national seashore. The racetrack at Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs,\\nresort and residential city (1990 pop. 25,001), Saratoga co., E N.Y.; inc. as a village 1826, as a city 1915. Skidmore College is the largest source of employment, but the city also has light manufacturing.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a pleasure and health resort, and the Thousand Islands Thousand Islands,\\na group of more than 1,800 islands and 3,000 shoals in the St. Lawrence River, E of Lake Ontario, N N.Y. and S Ont., stretching c.50 mi (80 km) along the U.S.-Canada line. Most of the islands are in Canada; Wolfe Island, Ont.\\n..... Click the link for more information. in the St. Lawrence River are popular with summer vacationers. Among the places of historic interest in the state under federal administration (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments\\nNational Parks\\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\\nacres (hectares)\\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , table) are those at Hyde Park Hyde Park,\\ntown (1990 pop. 21,230), Dutchess co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River; settled c.1740. It is famous as the site of the Roosevelt estate, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt was born and is buried.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , with the burial place of Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Vanderbilt Mansion. Albany is the capital; New York City is the largest city, followed by Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse.\\nEconomy\\nSchenectady Schenectady\\n, city (1990 pop. 65,566), seat of Schenectady co., E central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and Erie Canal; founded 1661 by Arent Van Curler, inc. 1798. The General Electric Company was established there in 1892, but its presence waned in the late 20th cent.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , Albany, and New York City, once the major industrial cities of the lower Mohawk and the Hudson, continue their long-time manufacturing decline. Except in the mountain regions, the areas between cities are rich agriculturally. The Finger Lakes Finger Lakes,\\ngroup of 11 narrow glacial lakes in north to south valleys, W central N.Y. Cayuga and Seneca lakes, both more than 35 mi (56 km) long, are the largest and deepest. Keuka Lake is the center of the area's wine industry, the largest in New York.\\n..... Click the link for more information. region has orchards producing apples, one of New York's leading crops; vineyards here and on Long Island make the state famous for its wines. The state produces other, diverse crops, especially grapes, strawberries, cherries, pears, onions, and potatoes (grown especially on E Long Island); maple syrup is extracted, and New York is the third leading U.S. producer of dairy goods. New York's mineral resources include crushed stone, cement, salt, and zinc.\\nThe state has a complex system of railroads, air routes, and modern highways, notably the New York State Thruway. The New York State Canal System, an improvement of the old Erie Canal Erie Canal,\\nartificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the level of the river and that of Lake Erie.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , is now mainly used for recreational travel; the Hudson and some other rivers still carry freight. Ocean shipping is handled by the port of New York City and, to a much lesser extent, by Buffalo. Hydroelectricity for N New York is produced by the St. Lawrence power project and by the Niagara power project, which began producing in 1961.\\nIn spite of significant decline, New York has retained some important manufacturing industries, and, by virtue of New York City, it has strengthened is position as a commercial and financial leader. Although the largest percentage of the state's jobs lie in the service sector, its manufactures are extremely diverse and include printed materials, apparel, food products, machinery, chemicals, paper, electrical equipment (notably at Schenectady), computer equipment (Poughkeepsie), optical instruments and cameras (Rochester), sporting goods, and transportation equipment.\\nPrinting and publishing, mass communications, advertising, and entertainment are among New York City's notable industries. Long Island has aircraft plants (although these have declined sharply since the 1970s) and Brookhaven National Laboratory, a research center. Many corporate headquarters and research facilities have relocated in Westchester co., N of New York City. Some commercial fishing is pursued in Lakes Erie and Ontario and in the waters around Long Island. The state has c.18,775,000 acres (7,294,000 hectares) of forest, but forestry is no longer a major industry.\\nGovernment, Politics, and Higher Education\\nUnder its present constitution (adopted 1894), New York is run by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term and may be reelected, and by a bicameral legislature made up of a 61-member senate and a 150-member assembly. Republican George Pataki Pataki, George Elmer\\n, 1945–, U.S. politician, b. Peekskill, N.Y. He graduated from Yale Univ. (1967) and Columbia Law School (1970). A Republican, Pataki served as mayor of Peekskill (1981–84) and in the New York assembly (1985–92) and senate (1992–94).\\n..... Click the link for more information. was elected governor in 1994, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Mario Cuomo Cuomo, Mario Matthew\\n, 1932–2014, American politician, b. New York City. The son of an immigrant grocer, Cuomo attended St. John's Univ., was admitted to the New York bar in 1956, and attracted attention after successfully mediating (1972) a local housing dispute.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , and was reelected in 1998 and 2002. He did not run in 2006, when Democrat Eliot Spitzer Spitzer, Eliot Laurence,\\n1959–, U.S. lawyer and politician, b. Riverdale, N.Y., grad. Princeton (B.A. 1981), Harvard Law School (J.D. 1984). A Democrat, he practiced corporate law before serving (1986–92) as assistant New York State district attorney for Manhattan\\n..... Click the link for more information. won the office. Spitzer resigned in 2008 after being linked to a prostitute; Lieutenant Governor David Paterson Paterson, David Alexander,\\n1954–, American politician, the first African-American governor of New York (2008–11), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1977), Hofstra Law School (J.D., 1982).\\n..... Click the link for more information. succeeded him, becoming the state's first African-American governor. Andrew Cuomo Cuomo, Andrew Mark\\n, 1957–, American politician, b. Queens, N.Y., grad. Fordham Univ. (1979), Albany Law School (1982). The son of Mario Cuomo, he was (1982) a key operative on his father's campaign staff and later a policy adviser to Governor Cuomo.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Democrat and Mario Cuomo's son, was elected to succeed Paterson in 2010; he was reeelected in 2014. Members of both branches of the legislature are elected to two-year terms. The state has 2 U.S. senators and 27 representatives and has 29 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a significant drop from its 41 votes in 1970).\\nApart from New York City (see separate articles for educational and cultural institutions in New York City and its boroughs), institutions of higher education in the state include Alfred Univ., Bard College, Colgate Univ., Cornell, Hobart College, Iona Univ., Long Island Univ., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, Skidmore College, Syracuse Univ., the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, Univ. of Rochester, Vassar College, and Wells College. The State Univ. of New York has major campuses at Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo.\\nHistory\\nThe Algonquians and the Iroquois\\nBefore Europeans began to arrive in the 16th cent., New York was inhabited mainly by Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans. The Algonquians, including the Mohegan, Lenni Lenape, and Wappinger tribes, lived chiefly in the Hudson valley and on Long Island. The Iroquois, living in the central and western parts of the state, included the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca tribes, who joined c.1570 to form the Iroquois Confederacy Iroquois Confederacy\\nor Iroquois League\\n, North American confederation of indigenous peoples, initially comprising the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.\\n..... Click the link for more information. .\\nFrench and Dutch Claims\\nEuropeans first approached New York from both the sea and from Canada. Giovanni da Verrazzano Verrazzano, Giovanni da\\n, c.1480–1527?, Italian navigator and explorer, in the service of France, possibly the first European to enter New York Bay. Sailing west to reach Asia, Verrazzano explored (1524) the North American coast probably from North Carolina to Maine.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Florentine in the service of France, visited (1524) the excellent harbor of New York Bay but did little exploring. In 1609, Samuel de Champlain Champlain, Samuel de\\n, 1567–1635, French explorer, the chief founder of New France.\\nAfter serving in France under Henry of Navarre (King Henry IV) in the religious wars, Champlain was given command of a Spanish fleet sailing to the West Indies, Mexico, and the\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Frenchman, traveled S on Lake Champlain from Canada, and Henry Hudson Hudson, Henry,\\nfl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , an Englishman in the service of the Dutch, sailed the Hudson nearly to Albany. The French, who had allied themselves with the Hurons of Ontario, continued to push into N and W New York from Canada, but met with resistance from the Iroquois Confederacy, which dominated W New York.\\nThe Dutch early claimed the Hudson region, and the Dutch West India Company Dutch West India Company,\\ntrading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (chartered in 1621, organized in 1623) planted (1624) their colony of New Netherland, with its chief settlements at New Amsterdam on the lower tip of present-day Manhattan island (purchased in 1626 from the Canarsie tribe for goods worth about 60 Dutch guilders) and at Fort Nassau, later called Fort Orange (present-day Albany). To increase the slow pace of colonization the Dutch set up the patroon system in 1629, thus establishing the landholding aristocracy that became the hallmark of colonial New York. The last and most able of the Dutch administrators, Peter Stuyvesant Stuyvesant, Peter\\n, c.1610–1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding Willem Kieft in New Netherland.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (in office 1647–64), captured New Sweden for the Dutch in 1655.\\nAn English Colony\\nThe English, claiming the whole region on the basis of the explorations of John Cabot Cabot, John,\\nfl. 1461–98, English explorer, probably b. Genoa, Italy. He became a citizen of Venice in 1476 and engaged in the Eastern trade of that city. This experience, it is assumed, was the stimulus of his later explorations.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , made good their claim in the Second Dutch War (1664–67). In 1664 an English fleet sailed into the harbor of New Amsterdam, and Stuyvesant surrendered without a struggle. New Netherland then became the colonies of New York and New Jersey, granted by King Charles II Charles II,\\n1630–85, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1660–85), eldest surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. Early Life\\nPrince of Wales at the time of the English civil war, Charles was sent (1645) to the W of England with his council,\\n..... Click the link for more information. to his brother, the duke of York (later James II James II,\\n1633–1701, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1685–88); second son of Charles I, brother and successor of Charles II. Early Life\\n..... Click the link for more information. ). Except for brief recapture (1673–74) by the Dutch, New York remained English until the American Revolution American Revolution,\\n1775–83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called the American War of Independence.\\n..... Click the link for more information. .\\nAfter the early days of the colony, the popular governor Thomas Dongan Dongan, Thomas\\n, 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), he called (1683) a legislative assembly; measures, known as the Charter of Liberties and\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1683–88) put New York on a firm basis and began to establish the alliance of the English with the Iroquois, which later played an important part in New York history. The attempt in 1688 to combine New York and New Jersey with New England under the rule of Sir Edmund Andros Andros, Sir Edmund\\n, 1637–1714, British colonial governor in America, b. Guernsey. As governor of New York (1674–81) he was bitterly criticized for his high-handed methods, and he was embroiled in disputes over boundaries and duties (see New Jersey), going so far as\\n..... Click the link for more information. was a failure, turning almost all the colonists against him. The threat of the French was continuous, and New York was involved in a number of the French and Indian Wars French and Indian Wars,\\n1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1689–1763). The friendship of Sir William Johnson Johnson, Sir William,\\n1715–74, British colonial leader in America, b. Co. Meath, Ireland. He settled (1738) in the Mohawk valley, became a merchant, and gained great power among the Mohawk and other Iroquois. He acquired large landed properties, founded (1762) Johnstown, N.\\n..... Click the link for more information. with some of the Iroquois aided the British in the warfare and also opened part of central New York to settlers, mainly from the British Isles. Frequent warfare hindered growth, however, and much of W New York remained unsettled by colonists throughout the 18th cent.\\nSlowly, however, the colony, with its busy shipping and fishing fleets, its expanding farms, and its first college (King's College, founded in 1754, now Columbia Univ.), was beginning to establish its own identity, separate from that of England. Colonial self-assertiveness grew after the warfare with the French ended; there was considerable objection to the restrictive commercial laws, and the Navigation Acts Navigation Acts,\\nin English history, name given to certain parliamentary legislation, more properly called the British Acts of Trade. The acts were an outgrowth of mercantilism, and followed principles laid down by Tudor and early Stuart trade regulations.\\n..... Click the link for more information. were flouted by smuggling. When the Stamp Act Stamp Act,\\n1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers\\n..... Click the link for more information. was passed, New York was a leader of the opposition, and the Stamp Act Congress met (1765) in New York City. The policies of Lt. Gov. Cadwallader Colden Colden, Cadwallader\\n, 1688–1776, colonial scholar and political leader of New York, b. Ireland, of Scottish parents. After studying medicine in London, Colden arrived (1710) in Philadelphia to practice.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , who did not oppose the Stamp Act, occasioned considerable complaint, and unrest grew.\\nRevolution and a New Constitution\\nAs troubles flared and escalated into the American Revolution, New Yorkers were divided in their loyalties. About one third of all the military engagements of the American Revolution took place in New York state. The first major military action in the state was the capture (May, 1775) of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen Allen, Ethan,\\n1738–89, hero of the American Revolution, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, and promoter of the independence and statehood of Vermont, b. Litchfield (?), Conn.\\n..... Click the link for more information. and his Green Mountain Boys Green Mountain Boys,\\npopular name of armed bands formed (c.1770) under the auspices of Ethan Allen in the Green Mountains of what is today Vermont. Their purpose was to prevent the New Hampshire Grants, as Vermont was then known, from becoming part of New York, to which it had\\n..... Click the link for more information. and Benedict Arnold Arnold, Benedict,\\n1741–1801, American Revolutionary general and traitor, b. Norwich, Conn. As a youth he served for a time in the colonial militia in the French and Indian Wars. He later became a prosperous merchant.\\n..... Click the link for more information. . Crown Point was also taken. In Aug., 1776, however, George Washington Washington, George,\\n1732–99, 1st President of the United States (1789–97), commander in chief of the Continental army in the American Revolution, called the Father of His Country. Early Life\\nHe was born on Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11, 1731, O.S.\\n..... Click the link for more information. was unable to hold lower New York against the British under Gen. William Howe Howe, William Howe, 5th Viscount,\\n1729–1814, English general in the American Revolution; younger brother of Admiral Richard Howe.\\n..... Click the link for more information. and lost the battle of Long Island, as he did the succeeding actions at Harlem Heights (Sept. 16) and White Plains (Oct. 28).\\nThe British invested New York City and held it to the war's end. The state had, however, declared independence and functioned with Kingston Kingston.\\n1 City (1990 pop. 23,095), seat of Ulster co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River at the mouth of Rondout Creek; inc. as a village 1805, and as a city through the union (1872) of Kingston and Rondout.\\n..... Click the link for more information. as its capital, George Clinton Clinton, George,\\nc.1686–1761, colonial governor of New York (1743–53), b. England; father of Sir Henry Clinton. He entered (1708) the British navy and rose to the rank of admiral in 1747.\\n..... Click the link for more information. as its first governor, and John Jay Jay, John,\\n1745–1829, American statesman, 1st chief justice of the United States, b. New York City, grad. King's College (now Columbia Univ.), 1764. He was admitted (1768) to the bar and for a time was a partner of Robert R. Livingston.\\n..... Click the link for more information. as its first chief justice. In 1777 New York was the key to the overall British campaign plan, which was directed toward taking the entire state and thus separating New England from the South. This failed finally (Oct., 1777) in the battles near the present-day resort of Saratoga Springs (see Saratoga campaign Saratoga campaign,\\nJune–Oct., 1777, of the American Revolution. Lord George Germain and John Burgoyne were the chief authors of a plan to end the American Revolution by splitting the colonies along the Hudson River.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ), generally considered as the decisive action of the war, partly because France was now persuaded to join the war on the side of the Colonies.\\nThe British alliance with the Iroquois resulted in widespread violence in the frontier portion of the state. After the devastation of two Iroquois villages, the Iroquois and British responded with the massacre at Cherry Hill (1778). For the rest of the war there was more or less a stalemate, with the British occupying New York City, the patriots holding most of the rest of the state, and Westchester co. disputed ground. In 1780 Benedict Arnold failed in his attempt to betray West Point.\\nThe influence of Alexander Hamilton Hamilton, Alexander,\\n1755–1804, American statesman, b. Nevis, in the West Indies. Early Career\\nHe was the illegitimate son of James Hamilton (of a prominent Scottish family) and Rachel Faucett Lavien (daughter of a doctor-planter on Nevis and the estranged\\n..... Click the link for more information. was paramount in bringing New York to accept (1788) the Constitution of the United States at a convention in Poughkeepsie. Other leaders, however, mostly from the landed aristocracy (such as John Jay and Gouverneur Morris), were also powerful. Hamilton, Jay, and James Madison Madison, James,\\n1751–1836, 4th President of the United States (1809–17), b. Port Conway, Va. Early Career\\nA member of the Virginia planter class, he attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), graduating in 1771.\\n..... Click the link for more information. wrote The Federalist Federalist, The,\\nseries of 85 political essays, sometimes called The Federalist Papers, written 1787–88 under the pseudonym \\\"Publius.\\\" Alexander Hamilton initiated the series with the immediate intention of persuading New York to approve the Federalist Constitution.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a series of essays, to promote ratification. New York City was briefly (1789–90) the capital of the new nation and was also the state capital until 1797, when Albany succeeded it. Political dissension between the Federalists and the Jeffersonians was particularly keen in New York state, and Aaron Burr Burr, Aaron,\\n1756–1836, American political leader, b. Newark, N.J., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton). Political Career\\nA brilliant law student, Burr interrupted his study to serve in the American Revolution and proved himself a valiant soldier in\\n..... Click the link for more information. had much to do with swinging the state to Jefferson.\\nLand Speculation and Commercial Development\\nBy the end of the war many Loyalists had left New York; the emigrants included former large landowners whose holdings had been seized by the legislature. After the war speculation in W New York land (some newly acquired by quieting Massachusetts claims) rose to dizzying heights. The eastern boundary of the state was established after long wrangles and violence when Vermont was admitted as a state in 1791.\\nFrom the 1780s increased commerce (somewhat slowed by the Embargo Act of 1807 Embargo Act of 1807,\\npassed Dec. 22, 1807, by the U.S. Congress in answer to the British orders in council restricting neutral shipping and to Napoleon's restrictive Continental System. The U.S.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and industry, especially textile milling, marked the turn away from the old, primarily agricultural, order. It was on the Hudson that Robert Fulton Fulton, Robert,\\n1765–1815, American inventor, engineer, and painter, b. near Lancaster, Pa. He was a man remarkable for his many talents and his mechanical genius.\\n..... Click the link for more information. demonstrated (1807) his steamboat. In the War of 1812 New York saw action in 1813–14, with the British capture of Fort Niagara and particularly with the brilliant naval victory of Thomas Macdonough Macdonough, Thomas\\n, 1783–1825, American naval officer, b. New Castle co., Del. In the Tripolitan War he took part in the burning of the captured Philadelphia and the attack on the Tripolitan gunboats.\\n..... Click the link for more information. over the British on Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh.\\nThe state continued its development, which was quickened and broadened by the building of the Erie Canal. The canal, completed in 1825, and railroad lines constructed (from 1831) parallel to it made New York the major East-West commercial route in the 19th cent. and helped to account for the growth and prosperity of the port of New York. Cities along the canal (Buffalo, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, and Schenectady) prospered. Albany grew, and New York City, whose first bank had been established by Hamilton in 1784, became the financial capital of the nation.\\nPolitical, Reform, and Cultural Movements\\nNew constitutions broadened the suffrage in 1821 and again in 1846; slavery was abolished in 1827. Politics was largely controlled from the 1820s to the 40s by the Albany Regency Albany Regency,\\nname given, after 1820, to the leaders of the first political machine, which was developed in New York state by Martin Van Buren. The name derived from the charge that Van Buren's principal supporters, residing in Albany, managed the machine for him while he\\n..... Click the link for more information. , which favored farmers, artisans, and small businessmen. Martin Van Buren Van Buren, Martin,\\n1782–1862, 8th President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kinderhook, Columbia co., N.Y. Early Career\\nHe was reared on his father's farm, was educated at local schools, and after reading law was admitted (1803) to the bar.\\n..... Click the link for more information. was the regency's chief figure. The regency's control was challenged by the business-oriented Whigs, led by Thurlow Weed Weed, Thurlow\\n, 1797–1882, American journalist and political leader, b. Cairo, N.Y. After working on various newspapers in W New York, Weed joined the Rochester Telegraph and was influential as a supporter of John Quincy Adams.\\n..... Click the link for more information. and William H. Seward Seward, William Henry,\\n1801–72, American statesman, b. Florida, Orange co., N.Y. Early Career\\nA graduate (1820) of Union College, he was admitted to the bar in 1822 and established himself as a lawyer in Auburn, N.Y., which he made his lifelong home.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , and by the Anti-Masonic party Anti-Masonic party,\\nAmerican political organization that rose after the disappearance in W New York state in 1826 of William Morgan. A former Mason, Morgan had written a book purporting to reveal Masonic secrets.\\n..... Click the link for more information. . The rise of tension between the reform-minded Locofocos Locofocos\\n, name given in derision to the members of a faction that split off from the Democratic party in New York in 1835. Tension had been growing between radical Democrats, who believed that Andrew Jackson's war against the national bank should be extended to state banks and\\n..... Click the link for more information. and the Tammany Tammany\\nor Tammany Hall,\\npopular name for the Democratic political machine in Manhattan. Origins\\nAfter the American Revolution several patriotic societies sprang up to promote various political causes and economic interests.\\n..... Click the link for more information. organization in New York City weakened the Democratic party in the 1830s. After the panic of 1837, Seward was governor (1839–52), and his Whig program included internal improvements, educational reform, and opposition to slavery.\\nNew York was a leader in numerous 19th-century reform groups. Antislavery groups made their headquarters in New York. In 1848 the first women's rights convention in the United States met in Seneca Falls.\\nEarly in its history New York state emerged as one of the cultural leaders of the nation. In the early 19th cent. Washington Irving Irving, Washington,\\n1783–1859, American author and diplomat, b. New York City. Irving was one of the first Americans to be recognized abroad as a man of letters, and he was a literary idol at home.\\n..... Click the link for more information. and William Cullen Bryant Bryant, William Cullen\\n, 1794–1878, American poet and newspaper editor, b. Cummington, Mass. The son of a learned and highly respected physician, Bryant was exposed to English poetry in his father's vast library.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , leaders of the famed Knickerbocker School of writers, and James Fenimore Cooper Cooper, James Fenimore,\\n1789–1851, American novelist, b. Burlington, N.J., as James Cooper. He was the first important American writer to draw on the subjects and landscape of his native land in order to create a vivid myth of frontier life.\\n..... Click the link for more information. were among the country's foremost literary figures. The natural beauty of New York inspired the noted Hudson River school Hudson River school,\\ngroup of American landscape painters, working from 1825 to 1875. The 19th-century romantic movements of England, Germany, and France were introduced to the United States by such writers as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper.\\n..... Click the link for more information. of American landscape painters. With New England's decline as a literary center, many writers came to New York City from other parts of the nation, helping to make it a literary and publishing center and the cultural heart of the country.\\nImmigration and Civil War\\nMigrants from New England had been settling on the western frontier, and in the 1840s famine and revolution in Europe resulted in a great wave of Irish and German immigrants, whose first stop in America was usually New York City. In 1850, Millard Fillmore Fillmore, Millard,\\n1800–1874, 13th President of the United States (July, 1850–Mar., 1853), b. Locke (now Summer Hill), N.Y. Because he was compelled to work at odd jobs at an early age to earn a living his education was irregular and incomplete.\\n..... Click the link for more information. became the second New Yorker to be President of the United States; the first was Martin Van Buren (1837–41). The split of the Democrats over the slavery issue into antislavery Barnburners Barnburners,\\nradical element of the Democratic party in New York state from 1842 to 1848, opposed to the conservative Hunkers. The name derives from the fabled Dutchman who burned his barn to rid it of rats; by implication, the Barnburners would destroy corporations and public\\n..... Click the link for more information. and the Hunkers Hunkers,\\nconservative faction of the Democratic party in New York state in the 1840s, so named because they were supposed to \\\"hanker\\\" or \\\"hunker\\\" after office. In opposition to them stood the radical Democrats, or Barnburners.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , who were not opposed to the extension of slavery, helped pave the way for New York's swing to the Republicans and Abraham Lincoln Lincoln, Abraham\\n, 1809–65, 16th President of the United States (1861–65). Early Life\\nBorn on Feb. 12, 1809, in a log cabin in backwoods Hardin co., Ky. (now Larue co.), he grew up on newly broken pioneer farms of the frontier.\\n..... Click the link for more information. in the fateful election of 1860.\\nDespite the draft riots draft riots,\\nin the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 were liable to military service, but a drafted man who furnished an acceptable\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1863) in New York City and the activities of the Peace Democrats, New York state strongly favored the Union and contributed much to its cause in the Civil War. Industrial development was stimulated by the needs of the military, and railroads increased their capacity. New York City's newspapers, notably the Tribune under the guidance of Horace Greeley Greeley, Horace,\\n1811–72, American newspaper editor, founder of the New York Tribune, b. Amherst, N.H. Early Life\\nHis irregular schooling, ending at 15, was followed by a four-year apprenticeship (1826–30) on a country weekly at East Poultney, Vt.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , had considerable national influence, and after the war the publication of periodicals and books centered more and more in the city, whose libraries expanded. From 1867 to 1869, Cornelius Vanderbilt Vanderbilt, Cornelius,\\n1794–1877, American railroad magnate, b. Staten Island, N.Y. As a boy he ferried freight and passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan, and he soon gained control of most of the ferry lines and other short lines in the vicinity of New York City.\\n..... Click the link for more information. consolidated the New York Central RR system.\\nPolitical Corruption and the Labor Movement\\nAs economic growth accelerated, political corruption became rampant. Samuel J. Tilden Tilden, Samuel Jones,\\n1814–86, American political figure, Democratic presidential candidate in 1876, b. New Lebanon, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1841, Tilden was an eminently successful lawyer, with many railroad companies as clients.\\n..... Click the link for more information. won a national reputation in 1871 for prosecuting the Tweed Ring of New York City, headed by William Marcy \\\"Boss\\\" Tweed Tweed, William Marcy,\\n1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an alderman (1852–53) and sat (1853–55) in Congress.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , but Tammany soon recovered much of its prestige and influence as the Democratic city organization. The Republican party also had bosses, notably Roscoe Conkling Conkling, Roscoe,\\n1829–88, American politician, b. Albany, N.Y. On his admission to the bar in 1850, he was immediately appointed district attorney of Albany. The son of Alfred Conkling, Congressman and federal judge, he became a U.S.\\n..... Click the link for more information. and Thomas Collier Platt Platt, Thomas Collier,\\n1833–1910, American legislator and political boss, b. Owego, N.Y. He was president of the Tioga County National Bank and had acquired considerable commercial interests by the time he served in the U.S.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , and the split between Democratic New York City and Republican upstate widened. New Yorkers Chester A. Arthur Arthur, Chester Alan,\\n1829–86, 21st President of the United States (1881–85), b. Fairfield, Vt. He studied law and before the Civil War practiced in New York City. In the war he was (1861–63) quartermaster general of New York State.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1881–85) and Grover Cleveland Cleveland, Grover\\n(Stephen Grover Cleveland), 1837–1908, 22d (1885–89) and 24th (1893–97) President of the United States, b. Caldwell, N.J.; son of a Presbyterian clergyman.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1885–89, 1893–97) served as Presidents of the United States in the late 19th cent.\\nAfter 1880 the inpouring of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe brought workers for the old industries, which were expanding, and for the new ones, including the electrical and chemical industries, which were being established. Labor conditions worsened but were challenged by the growing labor movement, whose targets included sweatshops (particularly notorious in New York City). Muckrakers muckrakers,\\nname applied to American journalists, novelists, and critics who in the first decade of the 20th cent. attempted to expose the abuses of business and the corruption in politics.\\n..... Click the link for more information. were particularly vociferous in New York in the late 19th and early 20th cent. Service as New York City's police commissioner and then as a reform-oriented governor of the state helped Theodore Roosevelt Roosevelt, Theodore,\\n1858–1919, 26th President of the United States (1901–9), b. New York City. Early Life and Political Posts\\nOf a prosperous and distinguished family, Theodore Roosevelt was educated by private tutors and traveled widely.\\n..... Click the link for more information. establish the national reputation that sent him to the vice presidency and then to the White House (1901–9). A fire in 1911 at the Triangle Waist Company Triangle Waist Company,\\noften called the Triangle Shirtwaist Co., manufacturers of women's cotton and linen blouses. Located in lower Manhattan in the early 20th cent., on Mar. 25, 1911 it was the site of New York City's worst factory fire.\\n..... Click the link for more information. in Manhattan that killed 146 workers resulted in the passage of early health, fire safety, and labor laws including the Widowed Mothers Pension Act.\\nNew York since 1912\\nThe Democrats returned to power in the state in 1912, and subsequently New York seesawed from one party to the other. The reform programs continued to gain ground, however, and Democratic state administrations between World War I and II—those of Alfred E. Smith Smith, Alfred Emanuel,\\n1873–1944, American political leader, b. New York City. Reared in poor surroundings, he had no formal education beyond grade school and took various jobs—including work in the Fulton fish market—to help support his family.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1918–20, 1922–28), Franklin D. Roosevelt Roosevelt, Franklin Delano\\n, 1882–1945, 32d President of the United States (1933–45), b. Hyde Park, N.Y. Early Life\\nThrough both his father, James Roosevelt, and his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, he came of old, wealthy families.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1928–32), and Herbert H. Lehman Lehman, Herbert Henry\\n, 1878–1963, American political leader, b. New York City. At first an executive of a textile firm, he became (1908) a partner in the family banking house of Lehman Brothers.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1932–42)—presided over a wide variety of reform measures. The reform programs emphasized public works, conservation, reorganization of state finances, social welfare, and extensive labor laws. Four years after Smith's defeat in the 1928 presidential election, Roosevelt went to the White House. Lehman followed Roosevelt's national New Deal New Deal,\\nin U.S. history, term for the domestic reform program of the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt; it was first used by Roosevelt in his speech accepting the Democratic party nomination for President in 1932.\\n..... Click the link for more information. program by instituting the Little New Deal in New York state. At the same time Fiorello LaGuardia LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry\\n, 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Arizona with his father, an army bandmaster who had come from Italy to the United States.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , Republican mayor of New York City (1934–45), enthusiastically supported Roosevelt's social and economic reforms.\\nThe Republican party returned to power in the state in 1942 with the election of Thomas E. Dewey Dewey, Thomas Edmund,\\n1902–71, American political figure, governor (1943–55) of New York, b. Owosso, Mich. Admitted (1925) to the bar, Dewey practiced law and in 1931 became chief assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.\\n..... Click the link for more information. as governor (reelected 1946, 1950). Dewey had the immense task of coordinating state activities with national efforts in World War II, straining New York's resources to the utmost. He also built upon the reforms of his predecessors, extending social and antidiscrimination legislation, and won a reputation for effectiveness that made him twice (1944 and 1948) the Republican presidential nominee.\\nDuring the governorship (1959–73) of Nelson Rockefeller Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich,\\n1908–79, U.S. public official, governor of New York (1959–73), Vice President of the United States (1974–77), b. Bar Harbor, Maine; grandson of John D. Rockefeller.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Republican, state social-welfare programs and the State Univ. of New York were expanded, and a large state office and cultural complex was built in Albany. New York's growth slowed from the 1970s, though, as the state lost its dominant position in U.S. manufacturing, and the older cities lost businesses and residents to suburbs or to other states.\\nBibliography\\nSee A. C. Flick, A History of The State of New York (10 vol., 1933–37; repr. 10 vol. in 5, 1962); D. M. Ellis, A History of New York State (1967); E. Wilson, Upstate: Records and Recollections of Northern New York (1971); W. Smith, The History of The Province of New York, ed. by M. Karnmen (1972); J. H. Thompson, ed., The Geography of New York State (rev. ed. 1977); T. Gergel, The Encyclopedia of New York (1983); N. White, New York: A Physical History (1987); D. Stradling, The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State (2010).\\nSee also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments\\nNational Parks\\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\\nacres (hectares)\\n..... Click the link for more information. . Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,\\nin central Manhattan, New York City, between 62d and 66th streets W of Broadway. Lincoln Center is both a complex of buildings and the arts organizations that reside there.\\n..... Click the link for more information. is a complex of buildings housing the Metropolitan Opera Company Metropolitan Opera Company,\\nterm used in referring collectively to the organizations that have produced opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City. The original house, at West 39th Street and Broadway, was built by members of New York society who could not be\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the New York Philharmonic New York Philharmonic,\\ndating from 1842, the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. The orchestra as it now exists is the result of the merger of the Philharmonic Society of New York with the National Symphony Orchestra (1921), the City Symphony (1923), and finally the\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the New York City Ballet New York City Ballet\\n(NYCB), one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th and 21st cents. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , and the Juilliard School Juilliard School, The\\n, in New York City; school of music, drama, and dance; coeducational; est. 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art, chartered 1926 as the Juilliard School of Music with two separate units—the Juilliard Graduate School (1924) and Institute of Musical Art.\\n..... Click the link for more information. . Also in the city are Carnegie Hall and New York City Center, featuring performances by musical and theatrical companies.\\nAmong the best known of the city's many museums and scientific collections are the Metropolitan Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art,\\nNew York City, founded in 1870. The Metropolitan Museum is the foremost repository of art in the United States and one of the world's great museums. It opened in 1880 on its present site on Central Park facing Fifth Ave.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Museum of Modern Art Museum of Modern Art\\n(MoMA), New York City, established and incorporated in 1929. It is privately supported. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., was its first director. Operating at first in rented galleries, the museum specialized in loan shows of contemporary European and American art.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Guggenheim Museum,\\nofficially Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, major museum of modern art in New York City. Founded in 1939 as the Museum of Non-objective Art, the Guggenheim is known for its remarkable circular building (1959) with curving interior ramp designed by Frank Lloyd\\n..... Click the link for more information. (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright), the Frick Collection (housed in the Frick mansion), the Whitney Museum of American Art Whitney Museum of American Art,\\nin New York City, founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with a core group of 700 artworks, many from her own collection. The museum was an outgrowth of the Whitney Studio (1914–18), the Whitney Studio Club (1918–28), and the\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Neue Galerie, the Museum of the City of New York, the Museum of Jewish Heritage–a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History,\\nincorporated in New York City in 1869 to promote the study of natural science and related subjects. Buildings on its present site facing Central Park were opened in 1877.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (with the Hayden Planetarium), the museum and library of the New-York Historical Society New-York Historical Society,\\nNew York City. Founded in 1804, the society is a repository of art, artifacts, and literature relating to American, especially New York, history.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Brooklyn Museum (see Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences,\\ncultural and educational institution founded in 1823 in Brooklyn, N.Y., as the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association. The scope was broadened in 1843 and the name changed to The Brooklyn Institute.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ), and the Paley Center for Media Paley Center for Media,\\nAmerican archive of radio and television programs, and forum for the discussion of the role and evolution of electronic media as well as the intersections of media and society; opened New York City as the Museum of Broadcasting 1976, renamed the Museum of\\n..... Click the link for more information. . The New York Public Library New York Public Library,\\nfree library supported by private endowments and gifts and by the city and state of New York. It is the one of largest libraries in the world. The library was created by a 1895 law consolidating older reference libraries established by bequests of John\\n..... Click the link for more information. is the largest in the United States. Major educational institutions include the City Univ. of New York (see New York, City Univ. of New York, City University of\\n(CUNY), at New York City; created in 1961 by combining the city's 17 municipal colleges. It includes Bernard M. Baruch College (1919; specializes in business studies), Brooklyn College (1930), City College (1847; the oldest member college), the\\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Columbia Univ. Columbia University,\\nmainly in New York City; founded 1754 as King's College by grant of King George II; first college in New York City, fifth oldest in the United States; one of the eight Ivy League institutions.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , Cooper Union Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art,\\naccredited institution of higher education; in New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened in 1859. Founded by Peter Cooper, it pioneered in evening engineering and art schools; day schools were added in 1900.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , Fordham Univ. Fordham University\\n, in New York City; Jesuit; coeducational; founded as St. John's College 1841, chartered as a university 1846; renamed 1907. Fordham College for men and Thomas More College for women merged in 1974. The university has an antiquities museum.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , General Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, New School Univ. New School University,\\nin New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened 1919 as the New School for Social Research, a center for adult education, renamed 1997. Founded by Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen, John Dewey, and others, it originally emphasized classes for adults\\n..... Click the link for more information. , New York Univ. New York University,\\nmainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining four main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the Institute\\n..... Click the link for more information. , and Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York,\\nnondenominational, coeducational Christian seminary; opened 1836, chartered 1839. Originally Presbyterian, Union Theological Seminary has been free of denominational control since the early 1890s.\\n..... Click the link for more information. . A center for medical treatment and research, New York has more than 130 hospitals and several medical schools. Noted hospitals include Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital,\\nmunicipal hospital, in New York City. America's oldest public hospital, Bellevue developed from a \\\"Publick Workhouse and House of Correction\\\" commissioned in 1734.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , Mt. Sinai Hospital (part of Mt. Sinai NYU Health), and New York–Presbyterian Hospital (encompassing Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and New York Weill Cornell Medical Center). Among New York's noted houses of worship are Trinity Church, St. Paul's Chapel (dedicated 1776), Saint Patrick's Cathedral Saint Patrick's Cathedral,\\nNew York City, largest Roman Catholic church in the United States. The Gothic building at Fifth Ave. between 50th and 51st St. replaces an earlier cathedral at Mott St.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (see Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of,\\nNew York City, the world's largest Gothic cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral was begun in 1892 in the Byzantine-Romanesque style after designs by G. L. Heins and C. Grant La Farge.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Riverside Church, and Temple Emanu-El.\\nNew York's parks and recreation centers include parts of Gateway National Recreation Area (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments\\nNational Parks\\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\\nacres (hectares)\\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , table); Central Park Central Park,\\n840 acres (340 hectares), the largest park in Manhattan, New York City; bordered by 59th St. on the south, Fifth Ave. on the east, 110th St. on the north, and Central Park West on the west.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Battery, Washington Square Park, Riverside Park, and Fort Tryon Park (with the Cloisters Cloisters, the,\\nmuseum of medieval European art, in Fort Tryon Park, New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was opened to the public in May, 1938.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ) in Manhattan; the New York Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo) and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx; Coney Island Coney Island\\n, beach resort, amusement center, and neighborhood of S Brooklyn borough of New York City, SE N.Y., on the Atlantic Ocean. The tidal creek that once separated the island from the mainland has been filled in, making the area a peninsula.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (with a boardwalk, beaches, and an aquarium) and Prospect Park in Brooklyn; and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park (the site of two World's Fairs, two museums, a botanic garden, and a zoo) in Queens. Sports events are held at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, home to the Knickerbockers (basketball) and Rangers (hockey); at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, home to the Yankees (baseball); at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, home to the Nets (basketball); and at Citi Field, home to the Mets (baseball), and the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, home to the U.S. Open (tennis), in Queens. In the suburbs are the homes of the Islanders (hockey; in Uniondale, Long Island) and the Giants and the Jets (football; at the Meadowlands, in East Rutherford, N.J.).\\nOther places of interest are Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center,\\ncomplex of buildings in central Manhattan, New York City, between 48th and 51st streets and Fifth Ave. and the Ave. of the Americas (Sixth Ave.). The project was sponsored by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., with fourteen of the buildings built between 1931 and 1939.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ; Battery Park City; Greenwich Village Greenwich Village\\n, residential district of lower Manhattan, New York City, extending S from 14th St. to Houston St. and W from Washington Square to the Hudson River. North of the main settlement of New York City in colonial times, in the 1830s it became an exclusive residential\\n..... Click the link for more information. , with its cafés and restaurants; and Times Square Times Square,\\nin New York City. Formed by the intersection of Broadway, Seventh Ave., and 42d St., this famous square was named (1904) for the building there that formerly belonged to the New York Times.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , with its lights and theaters. Of historic interest are Fraunces Tavern (built 1719), where Washington said farewell to his officers after the American Revolution; Gracie Mansion (built late 18th cent.), now the official mayoral residence; the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage; and Grant's Tomb.\\nHistory\\nThe Colonial Period\\nAlthough Giovanni da Verrazzano Verrazzano, Giovanni da\\n, c.1480–1527?, Italian navigator and explorer, in the service of France, possibly the first European to enter New York Bay. Sailing west to reach Asia, Verrazzano explored (1524) the North American coast probably from North Carolina to Maine.\\n..... Click the link for more information. was probably the first European to explore the region and Henry Hudson Hudson, Henry,\\nfl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless.\\n..... Click the link for more information. certainly visited the area, it was with Dutch settlements on Manhattan and Long Island that the city truly began to emerge. In 1624 the colony of New Netherland New Netherland,\\nterritory included in a commercial grant by the government of Holland to the Dutch West India Company in 1621. Colonists were settled along the Hudson River region; in 1624 the first permanent settlement was established at Fort Orange (now Albany, N.Y.).\\n..... Click the link for more information. was established, initially on Governors Island, but the town of New Amsterdam New Amsterdam,\\nDutch settlement at the mouth of the Hudson River and on the southern end of Manhattan island; est. 1624. It was the capital of the colony of New Netherland from 1626 to 1664, when it was captured by the British and renamed New York.\\n..... Click the link for more information. on the lower tip of Manhattan was soon its capital. Peter Minuit Minuit, Peter\\n, c.1580–1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing\\n..... Click the link for more information. of the Dutch West India Company Dutch West India Company,\\ntrading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded.\\n..... Click the link for more information. supposedly bought the island from its Native inhabitants for 60 Dutch guilders worth of merchandise (the sale was completed in 1626). Under the Dutch, schools were opened and the Dutch Reformed Church was established. The indigenous population was forced out the area of European settlement in a series of bloody battles.\\nIn 1664 the English, at war with the Netherlands (see Dutch Wars Dutch Wars,\\nseries of conflicts between the English and Dutch during the mid to late 17th cent. The wars had their roots in the Anglo-Dutch commercial rivalry, although the last of the three wars was a wider conflict in which French interests played a primary role.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ), seized the colony for the duke of York, for whom it was renamed. Peter Stuyvesant Stuyvesant, Peter\\n, c.1610–1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding Willem Kieft in New Netherland.\\n..... Click the link for more information. was replaced by Richard Nicolls Nicolls, Richard,\\n1624–72, first English governor of New York, b. Bedfordshire, England. He served in the English civil war as a royalist and followed the Stuarts into exile, where he entered the service of the duke of York (later King James II).\\n..... Click the link for more information. as governor, and New York City became the capital of the new British province of New York. The Dutch returned to power briefly (1673–74) before the reestablishment of English rule. A liberal charter, which established the Common Council as the main governing body of the city, was granted under Thomas Dongan Dongan, Thomas\\n, 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), he called (1683) a legislative assembly; measures, known as the Charter of Liberties and\\n..... Click the link for more information. in 1686 and remained in effect for many years. English rule was not, however, without dissension, and the autocratic rule of British governors was one of the causes of an insurrection that broke out in 1689 under the leadership of Jacob Leisler Leisler, Jacob\\n, 1640–91, leader of an insurrection (1689–91) in colonial New York, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He immigrated to America in 1660 as a penniless soldier, married a wealthy widow, and became a trader in New York.\\n..... Click the link for more information. . The insurrection ended in the execution of Leisler by his enemies in 1691. In 1741 there was further violence when an alleged plot by African-American slaves to burn New York was ruthlessly suppressed.\\nThroughout the 18th cent. New York was an expanding commercial and cultural center. The city's first newspaper, the New York Gazette, appeared in 1725. The trial in 1735 of John Peter Zenger Zenger, John Peter\\n, 1697–1746, American journalist, b. Germany. He emigrated to America in 1710 and was trained as a printer by William Bradford (1663–1752).\\n..... Click the link for more information. , editor of a rival paper, was an important precedent for the principle of a free press. The city's first institution of higher learning, Kings College (now Columbia Univ.), was founded in 1754.\\nThe Revolution through the Nineteenth Century\\nNew York was active in the colonial opposition to British measures after trouble in 1765 over the Stamp Act Stamp Act,\\n1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers\\n..... Click the link for more information. . As revolutionary sentiments increased, the New York Sons of Liberty Sons of Liberty,\\nsecret organizations formed in the American colonies in protest against the Stamp Act (1765). They took their name from a phrase used by Isaac Barré in a speech against the Stamp Act in Parliament, and were organized by merchants, businessmen, lawyers,\\n..... Click the link for more information. forced (1775) Gov. William Tryon and the British colonial government from the city. Although many New Yorkers were Loyalists, Continental forces commanded by George Washington tried to defend the city. After the patriot defeat in the battle of Long Island (see Long Island, battle of Long Island, battle of,\\nAug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island, George Washington sent part of his small army to defend Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and the succeeding actions at Harlem Heights and White Plains, Washington gave up New York, and the British occupied the city until the end of the war for independence. Under the British occupation two mysterious fires (1776 and 1778) destroyed a large part of the city. After the Revolution New York was briefly (1785–90) the first capital of the United States and was the state capital until 1797. President Washington was inaugurated (Apr. 30, 1789) at Federal Hall.\\nNew development was marked by such events as the founding (1784) of the Bank of New York under Alexander Hamilton and the beginning of the stock exchange around 1790. By 1790 New York was the largest city in the United States, with over 33,000 inhabitants; by 1800 the number had risen to 60,515. In 1811 plans were adopted for the laying out of most of Manhattan on a grid pattern. The opening of the Erie Canal Erie Canal,\\nartificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the level of the river and that of Lake Erie.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (1825), ardently supported by former Mayor De Witt Clinton Clinton, De Witt\\n, 1769–1828, American statesman, b. New Windsor, N.Y.; son of James Clinton. He was admitted (1790) to the New York bar but soon became secretary to his uncle, George Clinton, first governor of the state, and in that position (1790–95) gained\\n..... Click the link for more information. , made New York City the seaboard gateway for the Great Lakes region, ushering in another era of commercial expansion. The New York and Harlem RR was built in 1832. In 1834 the mayor of New York became an elective office. In the next year a massive fire destroyed much of Lower Manhattan, but it brought about new building laws and the construction of the Croton water system.\\nBy 1840 New York had become the leading port of the nation. A substantial Irish and German immigration after 1840 dramatically changed the character of urban life and politics in the city. The coming of the Civil War found New Yorkers unusually divided; many shared Mayor Fernando Wood Wood, Fernando,\\n1812–81, American politician, b. Philadelphia. He became a successful shipping merchant in New York City and a leader of Tammany Hall. Wood was elected mayor in 1854 and was reelected in 1856, but he displeased the other Tammany leaders in dispensing\\n..... Click the link for more information. 's Southern sympathies, but under the leadership of Gov. Horatio Seymour most supported the Union. However, in 1863 the draft riots draft riots,\\nin the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 were liable to military service, but a drafted man who furnished an acceptable\\n..... Click the link for more information. broke out in protest against the federal Conscription Act. The rioters—many of whom were Irish and other recent immigrants—directed most of their anger against African Americans. Extensive immigration had begun before the Civil War, and after 1865, with the acceleration of industrial development, another wave of immigration began and reached its height in the late 19th and early 20th cent. As a result of this immigration, which was predominantly from E and S Europe, the city's population reached 3,437,000 by 1900 and 7 million by 1930. New York's many distinct neighborhoods, divided along ethnic and class lines, included such notorious slums as Five Points, Hell's Kitchen, and the Lower East Side. They were often side by side with such exclusive neighborhoods as Gramercy Park or Brooklyn Heights.\\nMunicipal politics were dominated by the Democratic party, which was dominated by Tammany Hall (see Tammany Tammany\\nor Tammany Hall,\\npopular name for the Democratic political machine in Manhattan. Origins\\nAfter the American Revolution several patriotic societies sprang up to promote various political causes and economic interests.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and the Tweed Ring, led by William M. Tweed Tweed, William Marcy,\\n1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an alderman (1852–53) and sat (1853–55) in Congress.\\n..... Click the link for more information. . The first of many scandalous disclosures about the city's political life came in 1871, leading to Tweed's downfall. Although not always victorious, Tammany was the center of New York City politics until 1945.\\nUntil 1874, when portions of Westchester were annexed, the city's boundaries were those of present-day Manhattan. With the adoption of a new charter in 1898, New York became a city of five boroughs—New York City was split into the present Manhattan and Bronx boroughs, and the independent city of Brooklyn was annexed, as were the western portions of Queens co. and Staten Island. The opening of the first subway line (1903) and other means of mass transportation spurred the growth of the outer boroughs, and this trend has continued into the 1990s. The Flatiron Building (1902) foreshadowed the skyscrapers that today give Manhattan its famed skyline.\\nLater History\\nIn the 20th cent., New York City was served by such mayors as Seth Low Low, Seth,\\n1850–1916, American political reformer and college president, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia, 1870. He entered his father's tea and silk importing firm, but became interested in politics and was reform mayor of the city of Brooklyn for two terms\\n..... Click the link for more information. , William J. Gaynor Gaynor, William Jay,\\n1849–1913, U.S. political leader, mayor of New York City, b. Oneida co., N.Y. He rose to prominence as a civic reformer in Brooklyn and, as justice of the New York supreme court (1893–1909), continued to oppose municipal graft.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , James J. Walker Walker, James John,\\n1881–1946, American politician, b. New York City. Dapper and debonair, Jimmy Walker, having tried his hand at song writing, engaged in Democratic politics and in 1909 became a member of the state assembly. After studying law at St.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (whose resignation was brought about by the Seabury investigation), Fiorello H. LaGuardia LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry\\n, 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Arizona with his father, an army bandmaster who had come from Italy to the United States.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (see under Robert Ferdinand Wagner Wagner, Robert Ferdinand\\n, 1877–1953, American legislator, b. Germany. He arrived with his family in the United States in 1885 and grew up in poor surroundings in New York City.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Abraham Beame Beame, Abraham David,\\n1906–2001, American politician, mayor of New York City (1974–77), b. London. Beame, who grew up on New York's Lower East Side, was city budget director (1952–61). A Democrat, he was elected to two terms as city comptroller (1961, 1969).\\n..... Click the link for more information. , John V. Lindsay Lindsay, John Vliet\\n, 1921–2000, American politician, mayor of New York City (1966–73), b. New York City. He practiced law and then served (1955–57) as executive assistant to Attorney General Herbert Brownell. A liberal Republican, he was elected to the U.S.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , Edward I. Koch Koch, Edward Irving\\n, 1924–2013, U.S. politician, mayor of New York City (1977–89), b. New York City. After receiving his law degree (New York Univ., 1948), he practiced as a lawyer, became active in reform Democratic politics, and later served on the New York city\\n..... Click the link for more information. , David Dinkins Dinkins, David Norman,\\n1927–, African-American political leader, b. Trenton, N.J. After graduating (1956) from Brooklyn Law School, he went into private law practice.\\n..... Click the link for more information. (New York City's first African-American mayor), and Rudolph Giuliani Giuliani, Rudolph William\\n, 1944–, American government official, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He attended Manhattan College and studied law at New York Univ. In the Justice Dept. as associate deputy attorney general (1975–77), associate attorney general (1981–83), and U.S.\\n..... Click the link for more information. . The need for regional planning resulted in the nation's first zoning legislation (1916) and the formation of such bodies as the Port of New York Authority (1921; now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,\\nself-sustaining public corporation established in 1921 by the states of New York and New Jersey to administer the activities of the New York–New Jersey port area, which has a waterfront of c.900 mi (1,450 km) lying in both states.\\n..... Click the link for more information. ), the Regional Plan Association (1929), the Municipal Housing Authority (1934), and the City Planning Commission (1938).\\nAfter World War II, New York began to experience the problems that became common to most large U.S. cities, including increased crime, racial and ethnic tensions, homelessness, a movement of residents and companies to the suburbs and the resulting diminished tax base, and a deteriorating infrastructure that hurt city services. These problems were highlighted in the city's near-bankruptcy in 1975. A brief but spectacular boom in the stock and real estate markets in the 1980s brought considerable wealth to some sectors. By the early 1990s, however, corporate downsizing, the outward movement of corporate and back office centers, a still shrinking industrial sector, and the transition to a service-oriented economy meant the city was hard hit by the national recession.\\nIn the late 1990s the city capitalized on its strengths to face a changing economic environment. While the manufacturing base continued to dwindle, the survivors were flexible and, increasingly, specialized companies that custom-tailored products or focused on local customers. Foreign markets were targeted by the city's financial, legal, communications, and other service industries. The city also saw the birth of a strong high-technology sector. Budget cuts in the mid-1990s reduced basic services, but a strong national economy and, especially, a rising stock market had restored vigor and prosperity by the end of the 20th cent.\\nThe destruction of the World Trade Center World Trade Center,\\nformer building complex in lower Manhattan, New York City, consisting of seven buildings and a shopping concourse on a 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site; it was destroyed by a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.\\n..... Click the link for more information. , formerly the city's tallest building, as a result of a terrorist attack (Sept., 2001) was the worst disaster in the city's history, killing more than 2,700 people. In addition to the wrenching horror of the attack and the blow to the city's pride, New York lost some 10% of its commercial office space and faced months of cleanup and years of reconstruction. The crisis brought national prominence and international renown to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who provided the city with a forceful and calming focus in the weeks after the attack. Michael R. Bloomberg Bloomberg, Michael Rubens,\\n1942–, American businessman and politician, mayor of New York City (2002–), b. Boston, Mass. Bloomberg studied at Johns Hopkins (B.S., 1964) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1966).\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a moderate Republican, succeeded Giuliani as mayor in 2002. In 2012 low-lying areas of the city's boroughs suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy's storm surge. In 2014, Bill de Blasio de Blasio, Bill,\\n1961–, American politician, b. New York City as Warren Wilhelm, Jr., B.A New York Univ., 1984, M.A. Columbia, 1987. A liberal Democrat, de Blasio worked in the New York City government and in election campaigns, including serving as Hillary Clinton's\\n..... Click the link for more information. , a populist and liberal Democrat, became mayor.\\nBibliography\\nSee I. N. P. Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island (6 vol., 1915–28, repr. 1967); R. G. Albion, The Rise of New York Port, 1815–1860 (1939); J. A. Kouwenhoven, Columbia Historical Portrait of New York (1953, repr. 1972); N. Glazer and D. P. Moynihan, Beyond the Melting Pot (1963); E. R. Ellis, The Epic of New York City (1966); R. A. Caro, The Power Broker (1975); D. Hammack, Power and Society (1982); Federal Writers' Project, WPA Guide to New York City (repr. 1982); J. Kieran, A Natural History of New York (1982); J. Charyn, Metropolis (1987); R. A. M. Stern et al., New York 1960 (1995); E. G. Burrows and M. Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (1998); H. Adam, New York: Architecture & Design (2003); A. S. Dolkart and M. A. Postal, Guide to New York City Landmarks (3d ed. 2003); R. Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World (2004); J. Brash, Bloomberg's New York (2011); S. H. Jaffe, New York at War (2012); M. B. Williams, City of Ambition (2013); G. Koeppel, City on a Grid: How New York Became New York (2015); K. T. Jackson, ed., The Encyclopedia of New York City (2d ed. 2010).\\nNew York (State) State Information\\nPhone: (518) 474-2121\\nFeb 21, 2011 ; Feb 20, 2012 ; Feb 18, 2013 ; Feb 17, 2014 ; Feb 16, 2015 ; Feb 15, 2016 ; Feb 20, 2017 ; Feb 19, 2018 ; Feb 18, 2019 ; Feb 17, 2020 ; Feb 15, 2021 ; Feb 21, 2022 ; Feb 20, 2023\\nNew York\\n1. a city in SE New York State, at the mouth of the Hudson River: the largest city and chief port of the US; settled by the Dutch as New Amsterdam in 1624 and captured by the British in 1664, when it was named New York; consists of five boroughs (Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Richmond) and many islands, with its commercial and financial centre in Manhattan; the country's leading commercial and industrial city. Pop.: 8 085 742 (2003 est.)\\n2. a state of the northeastern US: consists chiefly of a plateau with the Finger Lakes in the centre, the Adirondack Mountains in the northeast, the Catskill Mountains in the southeast, and Niagara Falls in the west. Capital: Albany. Pop.: 19 190 115 (2003 est.). Area: 123 882 sq. km (47 831 sq. miles)\",\n \"Peter Minuit | Dutch colonial governor | Britannica.com\\nDutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam who is mainly remembered for his fabulous purchase of Manhattan Island ... Peter Minuit , Minuit also ... for in January 1626 ...\\nPeter Minuit | Dutch colonial governor | Britannica.com\\nDutch colonial governor\\nMichael Bloomberg\\nPeter Minuit, Minuit also spelled Minnewit (born c. 1580, Wesel, Kleve [Germany]—died June 1638, Caribbean Sea ), Dutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam who is mainly remembered for his fabulous purchase of Manhattan Island (the nucleus of New York City ) from the Indians for trade goods worth a mere 60 guilders.\\nMinuit, detail of a painting by an unknown artist\\nCourtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.\\nThough probably of French or Walloon ancestry, Minuit wrote in Dutch (Netherlandic) and was a deacon in the local Dutch Church in his hometown of Wesel (now in Germany ). In 1625 he left Wesel, perhaps in flight from the Spanish who had occupied the town, and from Holland he sailed to the Dutch colony of New Netherland. He apparently returned to Holland the same year, for in January 1626 he sailed westward again, arriving at the mouth of the Hudson River on May 4, 1626. On September 23 the Dutch West India Company named him director general of the colony on Manhattan. To legitimize European occupation of the territory, he met with Indian sachems (variously characterized by historians as having belonged to the Lenape , Delaware, Munsee, or Algonquin people) and persuaded them to transfer “ownership” (a concept that was foreign to Native Americans when relating to land) of the entire island to the settlers. According to legend , the “purchase” was made for glass beads. Glass beads were an important trading item, but while the deal almost certainly involved trade goods, there is no historical evidence that beads were used. Historical records, on the other hand, indicate that the island was purchased for “the value of 60 guilders” (with the often-cited equivalance of $24 first introduced in an account from 1846). On the southern tip he founded New Amsterdam , building a fort around which the early Dutch settlers could make their homes.\\nThe Purchase of Manhattan Island, by Alfred Fredericks, c. 1910.\\nThree Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images\\nIn 1631 Governor Minuit was recalled to Holland, presumably for granting privileges to the patroons at the expense of the Dutch West India Company. A few years later he entered Swedish service and was given command of two vessels of mainly Swedish colonists, who established (March 1638) New Sweden —the first settlement on the Delaware River . There Minuit again purchased land—extending indefinitely westward from the Delaware River between Bombay Hook and the mouth of the Schuylkill River —from the Indians and built Fort Christina (later Wilmington), named for the child queen-elect of Sweden , Christina . On a trading expedition soon after to the island of Saint Christopher (now Saint Kitts and Nevis ) in the West Indies , Minuit was lost at sea in a hurricane.\\nLearn More in these related articles:\",\n \"History_of_New_York_City_(prehistory–1664).txt\\nHistory of New York City (prehistory–1664)\\nThe history of New York City was influenced by the prehistoric geological formation during the last ice age of the territory that is today New York City. The area was long inhabited by the Lenape; after initial European exploration in the 16th century, the Dutch established New Amsterdam in 1626. In 1664, the English conquered the area and renamed it New York.\\n\\nHuman prehistory \\n\\nArchaeological excavations indicate that the first humans settled the area as early as 9,000 years ago. The area was abandoned, however, possibly because the warming climate of the region lead to the local extinction of many larger game species upon which the early inhabitants depended for food.\\n\\nA second wave of inhabitants entered the region approximately 3,000 years ago and left behind more advanced hunting implements such as bows and arrows. The remains of approximately 80 such early encampments have been found throughout the city. The region has probably remained continually inhabited from that time.\\n\\nBy the time of the arrival of Europeans, the Lenape were cultivating fields of vegetation through the slash and burn technique. This extended the productive life of planted fields. They also harvested vast quantities of fish and shellfish from the bays of the area, and, in southern New Jersey, harvested clams year-round. The success of these methods allowed the tribe to maintain a larger population than nomadic hunter-gatherers could support. Scholars have estimated that at the time of European settlement, there may have been about 15,000 Lenape total in approximately 80 settlement sites around much of the New York City area, alone. In 1524 Lenape in canoes met Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor.\\n\\nDutch settlement\\n\\nIn 1613, the Dutch established a trading post on the western shore of Manhattan Island in the area of present Church Street where the WTC was located; this is the beginning of a global financial center, obtaining thus a commercial spirit from its very humble beginnings.\\n\\nAmong its first settlers were Christiaan Hendriksen (who could be considered as a founder of New York City) and Jan Rodrigues the first black man to live in the city.\\n\\nIn 1614 the New Netherland company was established and consequently they settled a second fur trading post in what is today Albany, called Fort Nassau. This is considered one of the oldest capital cities in the US.\\n\\nIt was not until 1623, however, that the Dutch interests in the area were other than commercial and under the auspices of the newly formed Dutch West India Company they built Fort Amsterdam in 1624, a crude fortification that stood on the location of the present Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House on Bowling Green. The fort was designed mainly to protect the company's trading operations further upriver from attack by other European powers. Within a year, a small settlement, called New Amsterdam had grown around the fort, with a population that included mostly the garrison of company troops, as well as a contingent of Walloon, French and Flemish huguenot families who were brought in primarily to farm the nearby land of lower Manhattan and supply the company operations with food. Sarah Rapalje (b.1625) was the first European born in the future New York City. Later in 1626, Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island and Staten Island from native people in exchange for trade goods. \\n\\nThe Dutch took heavy advantage of the Native American reliance on wampum as a trading medium by exchanging cheap European-made metal tools for beaver pelts. By using such tools, the Natives greatly increased the rate of production of wampum, debasing its value for trade. Lenape men abandoned hunting and fishing for food in favor of beaver trapping. Moreover, the Dutch themselves began manufacturing their own wampum with superior tools in order to further dominate the trading network among themselves and the Natives (a practice undertaken by the settlers in New England as well). As a result of this increase, beavers were largely trapped out in the Five Boroughs within two decades, leaving the Lenape largely dependent on the Dutch. As a result, the Native population declined drastically throughout the 17th century through a combination of disease, starvation, and outward migration.\\n\\nAs the beaver trade increasingly shifted to Upstate New York, New Amsterdam became an increasingly important trading hub for the coast of North America. Since New Netherland was a trading operation, and not viewed as colonization enterprise for transplanting Dutch culture, the directors of New Netherland were largely unconcerned with the ethnic and racial balance of the community. The economic activity brought in a wide variety of ethnic groups to the fledgling city during the 17th century, including Spanish, Jews, and Africans, some of them as slaves.\\n\\nThe Dutch origins can still be seen in many names in New York City, such as Coney Island (from \\\"Konijnen Eiland\\\" – Dutch for \\\"Rabbit Island\\\"), Bowery from bouwerij (modern Dutch boerderij = \\\"farm\\\"), Brooklyn (from Breukelen), Harlem from Haarlem (formalized in 1658 as Nieuw Haarlem), Greenwich Village (from Greenwijck, meaning \\\"pine wood quarter\\\"), Flushing (from Vlissingen) and Staten Island (from \\\"Staaten Eylandt\\\").\\n\\nWillem Kieft became director general in 1638, but five years later was embroiled in Kieft's War against the Native Americans. The Pavonia Massacre, across the Hudson River in present-day Jersey City resulted in the death of eighty natives in February 1643. Following the massacre, eleven Algonquian tribes joined forces and nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent additional forces to the aid of Kieft, which took part in the overwhelming defeat of the Native Americans, leading to a peace treaty on August 29, 1645 to end the war. \\n\\nThe island of Manhattan was in some measure self-selected as a future metropolis by its extraordinary natural harbor formed by New York Bay (actually the drowned lower river valley of the Hudson River, enclosed by glacial moraines), the East River (actually a tidal strait) and the Hudson River, all of which are confluent at the southern tip, from which all later development spread. Also of prime importance was the presence of deep fresh water aquifers near the southern tip, especially the Collect Pond, and an unusually varied geography ranging from marshland to large outcrops of Manhattan schist, an extremely hard metamorphic rock that is ideal as an anchor for the foundations of large buildings.\\n\\nArrival of the English\\n\\nIn 1664, English ships entered Gravesend Bay, in modern Brooklyn and troops marched to capture the ferry across the East River to the city, with minimal resistance: the governor at the time, Peter Stuyvesant, was unpopular with the residents of the city. Articles of Capitulation 1664 were drawn up, the Dutch West India Company's colors were struck on September 8, 1664, and the soldiers of the garrison marched to the East River for the trip home to the Netherlands. The date of 1664 appeared on New York City's corporate seal until 1975, when the date was changed to 1625 to reflect the year of Dutch incorporation as a city and to incidentally allow New York to celebrate its 350th anniversary just 11 years after its 300th.\\n\\nThe English renamed the colony New York, after the king's brother James, Duke of York and on June 12, 1665 appointed Thomas Willett the first of the mayors of New York. The city grew northward, remaining the largest and most important city in the colony of New York.\",\n \"Peter Minuit Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia ...\\nPeter Minuit. Peter Minuit (1580 ... I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498 ... Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans ...\\nPeter Minuit facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Peter Minuit\\nCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc.\\nPeter Minuit\\nPeter Minuit (1580-1638) was director general of the New Netherland colony in America and founder of New Amsterdam. He later became first governor of New Sweden.\\nOf Huguenot Walloon descent, Peter Minuit was born in Wesel on the German Rhine. Growing up in his native city and apparently becoming a merchant there, he was deacon in the local Dutch Reformed congregation. In 1624 Spanish troops occupied Wesel; Minuit fled to Holland and then to the Dutch West India Company's American colony of New Netherland. In 1625 he was appointed to the governor's council of William Verhulst, but he soon returned to Amsterdam. Early 1626 found him once more in the colony, perhaps only as supercargo for the company; yet on September 23 the New Netherland council deposed Verhulst and proclaimed Minuit his successor.\\nPresumably Minuit had not planned to stay in America, for he sent for his wife only after his appointment as first director general. One of his earliest official acts was to convene Indian leaders of the region and to purchase Manhattan Island from them for trinkets valued at $24. This gave the company a semblance of legality for its occupation of the island, and its New Netherland headquarters was moved to Manhattan.\\nUpon completing a fort, warehouse, and mill, Minuit made his town of New Amsterdam the concentration point for scattered Dutch settlements in the colony. When regular church services commenced at New Amsterdam in 1628, Minuit and his brother-in-law (the company's storekeeper) served pastor Jonas Michaëlius as elders.\\nMissing records limit historical information on Minuit's administrative activities. It is known he opened both diplomatic and commercial relations with Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1627. He also became involved in a bitter quarrel with Johan Van Remunde, secretary of the company in New Netherland; Michaëlius sided with the secretary and soon attacked Minuit as hypocritical, cruel, and dishonest. Both Minuit and Remunde were recalled to Holland for an investigation. After prolonged inquiry Minuit was discharged while Remunde returned to the colony.\\nMinuit retired to Emmerich, Duchy of Cleves. But in 1635 a company director recommended him to Sweden's chancellor as ideally qualified to establish a colony in America on the Delaware River. A meeting at The Hague (1637) resulted in the formation of a Swedish trading and colonizing company. Minuit, present at the organizational session, provided one-eighth of the 24,000 guilders capital.\\nDeparting in late autumn with two shiploads of Swedish and Finnish colonists, Minuit reached Delaware Bay in March 1638. Late that month, having purchased a tract along the right bank of the river from neighboring Indian chiefs, he proclaimed \\\"New Sweden\\\" and erected Ft. Christina (present-day Wilmington). After completing the fort and leaving a subordinate in charge, Minuit sailed in June 1638 to the Caribbean to trade for tobacco. Visiting a Dutch merchantman in St. Christopher, he was drowned when a hurricane struck the island.\\nFurther Reading\\nData concerning Minuit are scattered and incomplete. For his life in New Netherland the best authorities are J. Franklin Jameson, ed., Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (1909); I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909, vol. 1 (1915); and Albert Eckhof, Jonas Michaëlius: Founder of the Church in New Netherland (1926). There is some account of his role in New Sweden in Amandus Johnson, The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware, vol. 1 (1911), and Christopher Ward, New Sweden on the Delaware (1938). □\\nCite this article\\nPick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.\\nMLA\\nThe Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.\\nCopyright The Columbia University Press\\nPeter Minuit (mĬn´yōōĬt), c.1580–1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing 60 Dutch guilders and made New Amsterdam (later New York City) its center. Dismissed by the company in 1631, he later entered into negotiations with the Swedes and headed (1638) the group sent out to found New Sweden . He was lost in a hurricane in the West Indies.\\nCite this article\",\n \"Pilgrim_Fathers.txt\\nPilgrim Fathers\\nThe Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers were early European settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. The Pilgrims' leadership came from the religious congregations of Brownist English Dissenters who had fled the volatile political environment in England for the relative calm and tolerance of 16th–17th century Holland in the Netherlands. The Pilgrims held Calvinist religious beliefs similar to the Puritans but, unlike many Puritans, maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. As a separatist group, they were also concerned that they might lose their English cultural identity if they emigrated to the Netherlands, so they arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America. The colony was established in 1620 and became the second successful English settlement in North America (after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607). The Pilgrims' story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and culture of the United States.\\n\\nBy this time, non-English European colonization of the Americas was also under way in New Netherland, New France, Essequibo, Colonial Brazil, Barbados, the Viceroyalty of Peru, and New Spain.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nSeparatists in Scrooby\\n\\nThe core of the group that came to be known as the Pilgrims were brought together between 1586 and 1605 by a common belief in the ideas promoted by Richard Clyfton, a Brownist parson at All Saints' Parish Church in Babworth, near East Retford, Nottinghamshire. This congregation held Separatist beliefs comparable to nonconforming movements (i.e., groups not in communion with the Church of England) led by Robert Browne, John Greenwood, and Henry Barrowe. Separatists held that their differences with the Church of England were irreconcilable and that their worship should be organized independently of the trappings, traditions, and organization of a central church—unlike the Puritan group, who maintained their membership in and allegiance to the Church of England. \\nWilliam Brewster, a former diplomatic assistant to the Netherlands, was living in the Scrooby manor house, serving as postmaster for the village and bailiff to the Archbishop of York. He had been favorably impressed by Clyfton's services, and had begun participating in Separatist services led by John Smyth in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. \\n\\nThe Separatists had long been controversial. Under the 1559 Act of Uniformity, it was illegal not to attend official Church of England services (unless the church was a signatory to the allegiance to the Church of England, as the Puritan church was, for example), with a fine of one shilling (£0.05; about £ today)\\nfor each missed Sunday and holy day. The penalties for conducting unofficial services included imprisonment and larger fines. Under the policy of this time, Barrowe and Greenwood were executed for sedition in 1593.\\n\\nDuring much of Brewster's tenure (1595–1606), the Archbishop was Matthew Hutton. He displayed some sympathy to the Puritan cause, writing to Robert Cecil, Secretary of State to James I in 1604:\\n\\nThe Puritans though they differ in Ceremonies and accidentes, yet they agree with us in substance of religion, and I thinke all or the moste parte of them love his Majestie, and the presente state, and I hope will yield to conformitie. But the Papistes are opposite and contrarie in very many substantiall pointes of religion, and cannot but wishe the Popes authoritie and popish religion to be established. \\n\\nIt had been hoped, when James came to power, that a reconciliation would be possible which allowed independence, but the Hampton Court Conference of 1604 denied substantially all the concessions requested by Puritans, save for an English translation of the Bible. Following the Conference in 1605, Clyfton was declared a nonconformist and stripped of his position at Babworth. Brewster invited Clyfton to live at his home.\\n\\nUpon Hutton's death in 1606, Tobias Matthew was appointed as his replacement. Matthew was one of James' chief supporters at the 1604 conference, \\nand he promptly began a campaign to purge the archdiocese of nonconforming influences, both Separatists and those wishing to return to the Catholic faith. Disobedient clergy were replaced, and prominent Separatists were confronted, fined, and imprisoned. He is credited with driving recusants out of the country, those who refused to attend Anglican services. \\n\\nAt about the same time, Brewster arranged for a congregation to meet privately at the Scrooby manor house. Services were held beginning in 1606, with Clyfton as pastor, John Robinson as teacher, and Brewster as the presiding elder. Shortly thereafter, Smyth and members of the Gainsborough group moved on to Amsterdam. \\nBrewster is known to have been fined £20 (about £ today) in absentia for his non-compliance with the church. \\nThis followed his September 1607 resignation from the postmaster position, \\nabout the time that the congregation had decided to follow the Smyth party to Amsterdam. \\n\\nScrooby member William Bradford of Austerfield kept a journal of the congregation's events that later was published as Of Plymouth Plantation. Of this time, he wrote:\\n\\nBut after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them. For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett & watcht night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and ye most were faine to flie & leave their howses & habitations, and the means of their livelehood.\\n\\nLeiden\\n\\nIn Leiden, Holland, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, they lived in small houses behind the \\\"Kloksteeg\\\", opposite the Pieterskerk.\\nThe success of the congregation in Leiden was mixed. Leiden was a thriving industrial center, \\nand many members were well able to support themselves working at Leiden University or in the textile, printing, and brewing trades. Others were less able to bring in sufficient income, hampered by their rural backgrounds and the language barrier; for those, accommodations were made on an estate bought by Robinson and three partners. \\n\\nOf their years in Leiden, Bradford wrote:\\n\\nFor these & other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair & bewtifull citie, and of a sweete situation, but made more famous by ye universitie wherwith it is adorned, in which of late had been so many learned man. But wanting that traffike by sea which Amerstdam injoyes, it was not so beneficiall for their outward means of living & estats. But being now hear pitchet they fell to such trads & imployments as they best could; valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above any other riches whatsoever. And at length they came to raise a competente & comforteable living, but with hard and continuall labor. \\n\\nBrewster had been teaching English at the university, and Robinson enrolled in 1615 to pursue his doctorate. There, he participated in a series of debates, particularly regarding the contentious issue of Calvinism versus Arminianism (siding with the Calvinists against the Remonstrants). See the Synod of Dort.\\nBrewster acquired typesetting equipment about 1616 in a venture financed by Thomas Brewer, and began publishing the debates through a local press. \\n\\nThe Netherlands was, however, a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine. Their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed by. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there.\\n\\nDecision to leave Holland\\n\\nBy 1617, the congregation was stable and relatively secure, but there were ongoing issues that needed to be resolved.\\n\\nBradford noted that the congregation was aging, compounding the difficulties which some had in supporting themselves. Some, having spent through their savings, gave up and returned to England. It was feared that more would follow and that the congregation would become unsustainable. The employment issues made it unattractive for others to come to Leiden, and younger members had begun leaving to find employment and adventure elsewhere. Also compelling was the possibility of missionary work, an opportunity that rarely arose in a Protestant stronghold. \\n\\nReasons for departure are suggested by Bradford, when he notes the \\\"discouragements\\\" of the hard life which they had in the Netherlands, and the hope of attracting others by finding \\\"a better, and easier place of living\\\"; the \\\"children\\\" of the group being \\\"drawn away by evil examples into extravagance and dangerous courses\\\"; the \\\"great hope, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world.\\\"\\n\\nEdward Winslow's list was similar. In addition to the economic worries and missionary possibilities, he stressed that it was important for the people to retain their English identity, culture, and language. They also believed that the English Church in Leiden could do little to benefit the larger community there. \\n\\nAt the same time, there were many uncertainties about moving to such a place as America. Stories had come back from there about failed colonies. There were fears that the native people would be violent, that there would be no source of food or water, that exposure to unknown diseases was possible, and that travel by sea was always hazardous. Balancing all this was a local political situation that was in danger of becoming unstable. The truce was faltering in what came to be known as the Eighty Years' War, and there was fear over what the attitudes of Spain might be toward them.\\n\\nCandidate destinations included Guiana, where the Dutch had already established Essequibo, or somewhere near the existing Virginia settlements. Virginia was an attractive destination because the presence of the older colony might offer better security and trade opportunities. It was thought, however, that they should not settle too near, since that might too closely duplicate the political environment back in England. The London Company administered a territory of considerable size in the region. The intended settlement location was at the mouth of the Hudson River. This made it possible to settle at a distance which allayed concerns of social, political, and religious conflicts, but still provided the military and economic benefits of relative closeness to an established colony. \\n\\nNegotiations\\n\\nRobert Cushman and John Carver were sent to England to solicit a land patent. Their negotiations were delayed because of conflicts internal to the London Company, but ultimately a patent was secured in the name of John Wincob on June 9 (Old Style)/June 19 (New Style), 1619. \\nThe charter was granted with the king's condition that the Leiden group's religion would not receive official recognition. \\n\\nPreparations stalled because of the continued problems within the London Company. Competing Dutch companies approached the congregation and discussed with them the possibility of settling in the Hudson River area. \\n\\nDavid Baeckelandt suggests that the Leiden group was approached by Englishman Matthew Slade, son-in-law of Petrus Placius, a cartographer for the Dutch East India Company. Slade was also a spy for the English Ambassador. The Separatists' plans were therefore known both at court and among influential investors in the Virginia Company's Jamestown.[http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4627 Baeckelandt, David. \\\"The Flemish Influence On Henry Hudson\\\", The Brussels Journal, January 1, 2011] Negotiations were broken off with the Dutch at the encouragement of English merchant Thomas Weston, who assured them that he could resolve the London Company delays. The London Company intended to claim the area explored by Hudson before the Dutch could become fully established. The first Dutch settlers did not arrive in the area until 1624.\\n\\nWeston did come with a substantial change, telling the Leiden group that parties in England had obtained a land grant north of the existing Virginia territory, to be called New England. This was only partially true; the new grant did come to pass, but not until late in 1620 when the Plymouth Council for New England received its charter. It was expected that this area could be fished profitably, and it was not under the control of the existing Virginia government. \\n\\nA second change was known only to parties in England who chose not to inform the larger group. New investors had been brought into the venture who wanted the terms altered so that, at the end of the seven-year contract, half of the settled land and property would revert to the investors. Also, another provision was dropped which allowed each settler to have two days per week to work on personal business.\\n\\nBrewster's diversion\\n\\nAmid these negotiations, William Brewster found himself involved with religious unrest emerging in Scotland. In 1618, King James had promulgated the Five Articles of Perth which were seen in Scotland as an attempt to encroach on their Presbyterian tradition. Pamphlets critical of this law were published by Brewster and smuggled into Scotland by April 1619. These pamphlets were traced back to Leiden, and a failed attempt to apprehend Brewster was made in July when his presence in England became known.\\n\\nAlso in July in Leiden, English ambassador Dudley Carleton became aware of the situation and began leaning on the Dutch government to extradite Brewster. An arrest was made in September, but only Thomas Brewer the financier was in custody. Brewster's whereabouts remain unknown between then and the colonists' departure. Brewster's type was seized. After several months of delay, Brewer was sent to England for questioning, where he stonewalled government officials until well into 1620. One resulting concession that England did obtain from the Netherlands was a restriction on the press, making such publications illegal to produce.\\n\\nThomas Brewer was ultimately convicted in England for his continued religious publication activities and sentenced in 1626 to a fourteen-year prison term. \\n\\nPreparations\\n\\nNot all of the congregation were able to depart on the first trip. Many members were not able to settle their affairs within the time constraints, and the budget was limited for travel and supplies. It was decided that the initial settlement should be undertaken primarily by younger and stronger members. The remainder agreed to follow if and when they could.\\n\\nRobinson would remain in Leiden with the larger portion of the congregation, and Brewster was to lead the American congregation. The church in America would be run independently, but it was agreed that membership would automatically be granted in either congregation to members who moved between the continents.\\n\\nWith personal and business matters agreed upon, supplies and a small ship were procured. Speedwell was to bring some passengers from the Netherlands to England, then on to America where it would be kept for the fishing business, with a crew hired for support services during the first year. The larger ship Mayflower was leased for transport and exploration services. \\n\\nVoyage\\n\\nThe Speedwell was originally named Swiftsure. It was built in 1577 at sixty tons, and was part of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. It departed Delfshaven in July 1620 with the Leiden colonists, after a canal ride from Leyden of about seven hours. It reached Southampton, Hampshire and met with the Mayflower and the additional colonists hired by the investors. With final arrangements made, the two vessels set out on August 5 (Old Style)/August 15 (New Style).\\n\\nSoon thereafter, the Speedwell crew reported that their ship was taking in water, so both were diverted to Dartmouth, Devon. There it was inspected for leaks and sealed, but a second attempt to depart also failed, bringing them only as far as Plymouth, Devon. It was decided that Speedwell was untrustworthy, and it was sold; the ship's master and some of the crew transferred to the Mayflower for the trip. William Bradford observed that the Speedwell seemed \\\"overmasted\\\", thus putting a strain on the hull; but he attributed her leaking to crew members who had deliberately caused it, allowing them to abandon their year-long commitments. Passenger Robert Cushman wrote that the leaking was caused by a loose board. \\n\\nAtlantic crossing\\n\\nOf the 120 combined passengers, 102 were chosen to travel on the Mayflower with the supplies consolidated. Of these, about half had come by way of Leiden, and about 28 of the adults were members of the congregation. \\nThe reduced party finally sailed successfully on September 6 (Old Style)/September 16 (New Style), 1620.\\n\\nInitially the trip went smoothly, but under way they were met with strong winds and storms. One of these caused a main beam to crack, and the possibility was considered of turning back, even though they were more than halfway to their destination. However, they repaired the ship sufficiently to continue using a \\\"great iron screw\\\" brought along by the colonists (probably either a jack to be used for house construction or a cider press). Passenger John Howland was washed overboard in the storm but caught a top-sail halyard trailing in the water and was pulled back on board.\\n\\nOne crew member and one passenger died before they reached land. A child was born at sea and named Oceanus. \\n\\nArrival in America\\n\\nLand was sighted on November 9, 1620. The passengers had endured miserable conditions for about sixty-five days, and they were led by William Brewster in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving. It was confirmed that the area was Cape Cod, within the New England territory recommended by Weston. An attempt was made to sail the ship around the cape towards the Hudson River, also within the New England grant area, but they encountered shoals and difficult currents around Cape Malabar (the old French name for present-day Monomoy). It was decided to turn around, and by November 11/November 12 the ship was anchored in what is today known as Provincetown Harbor. \\n\\nMayflower Compact\\n\\nThe charter was incomplete for the Plymouth Council for New England when the colonists departed England (it was granted while they were in transit on November 3/November 13). They arrived without a patent; the older Wincob patent was from their abandoned dealings with the London Company. Some of the passengers, aware of the situation, suggested that they were free to do as they chose upon landing, without a patent in place, and to ignore the contract with the investors. \\n\\nA brief contract was drafted to address this issue, later known as the Mayflower Compact, promising cooperation among the settlers \\\"for the general good of the Colony unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.\\\" It organized them into what was called a \\\"civill body politick,\\\" in which issues would be decided by voting, the key ingredient of democracy. It was ratified by majority rule, with 41 adult male Pilgrims signing for the 102 passengers (seventy-three males and twenty-nine females). Included in the company were nineteen male servants and three female servants, along with some sailors and craftsmen hired for short-term service to the colony. \\nAt this time, John Carver was chosen as the colony's first governor. It was Carver who had chartered the Mayflower and his is the first signature on the Mayflower Compact, being the most respected and affluent member of the group. The Mayflower Compact was the seed of American democracy and has been called the world's first written constitution. \\n\\nFirst landings\\n\\nThorough exploration of the area was delayed for over two weeks because the shallop or pinnace (a smaller sailing vessel) which they brought had been partially dismantled to fit aboard the Mayflower and was further damaged in transit. Small parties, however, waded to the beach to fetch firewood and attend to long-deferred personal hygiene.\\n\\nExploratory parties were undertaken while awaiting the shallop, led by Myles Standish (an English soldier whom the colonists had met while in Leiden) and Christopher Jones. They encountered an old European-built house and iron kettle, left behind by some ship's crew, and a few recently cultivated fields, showing corn stubble. \\n\\nAn artificial mound was found near the dunes which they partially uncovered and found to be a Native grave. Further along, a similar mound was found, more recently made, and they ventured to remove some of the provisions which had been placed in the grave, as the colonists feared that they might otherwise starve. Baskets of maize were found inside, some of which the colonists took and placed into an iron kettle that they also found nearby, while they reburied the rest, intending to use the corn as seed for planting.\\n\\nWilliam Bradford later recorded in his book Of Plymouth Plantation that, after the shallop had been repaired,\\n\\nThey also found two of the Indian's houses covered with mats, and some of their implements in them; but the people had run away and could not be seen. They also found more corn, and beans of various colours. These they brought away, intending to give them full satisfaction (payment) when they should meet with any of them, – as about six months afterwards they did.\\n\\nAnd it is to be noted as a special providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that they thus got seed to plant corn the next year, or they might have starved; for they had none, nor any likelihood of getting any, till too late for the planting season.\\n\\nBy December, most of the passengers and crew had become ill, coughing violently. Many were also suffering from the effects of scurvy. There had already been ice and snowfall, hampering exploration efforts. During the first winter, 50-percent of them died.\\n\\nFirst contact\\n\\nExplorations resumed on December 6/December 16. The shallop party headed south along the cape, seven colonists from Leiden, three from London, and seven crew, and chose to land at the area inhabited by the Nauset people (roughly present-day Brewster, Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, and Orleans), where they saw some native people on the shore who fled when the colonists approached. Inland they found more mounds, one containing acorns, which they exhumed and left, and more graves, which they decided not to dig.\\n\\nRemaining ashore overnight, they heard cries near the encampment. The following morning, they were met by native people who proceeded to shoot at them with arrows. The colonists retrieved their firearms and shot back, then chased the native people into the woods but did not find them. There was no more contact with native people for several months. \\n\\nThe local people were already familiar with the English, who had intermittently visited the area for fishing and trade before Mayflower arrived. In the Cape Cod area, relations were poor following a visit several years earlier by Thomas Hunt. Hunt kidnapped twenty people from Patuxet (the place that became New Plymouth) and another seven from Nausett, and he attempted to sell them as slaves in Europe. One of the Patuxet abductees was Squanto, who became an ally of the Plymouth colony. \\n\\nThe Pokanoket also lived nearby and had developed a particular dislike for the English after one group came in, captured numerous people, and shot them aboard their ship. By this time, there had already been reciprocal killings at Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. But during one of the captures by the English, Squanto escaped to England and there became a Christian. When he came back, he found that most of his tribe had died from plague. \\n\\nSettlement\\n\\nContinuing westward, the shallop's mast and rudder were broken by storms, and their sail was lost. They rowed for safety, encountering the harbor formed by the current Duxbury and Plymouth barrier beaches and stumbling on land in the darkness. They remained at this spot for two days to recuperate and repair equipment. It was named Clark's Island for a Mayflower mate who first set foot on that island. \\n\\nResuming exploration on Monday, December 11/December 21, 1620, the party crossed over to the mainland and surveyed the area that ultimately became the settlement. The anniversary of this survey is observed in Massachusetts as Forefathers' Day and is traditionally associated with the Plymouth Rock landing tradition. This land was especially suited to winter building because it had already been cleared, and the tall hills provided a good defensive position.\\n\\nThe cleared village was known as Patuxet to the Wampanoag people, and was abandoned about three years earlier following a plague that killed all of its residents. The \\\"Indian fever\\\" involved hemorrhaging and is assumed to have been fulminating smallpox introduced by European traders. The outbreak had been severe enough that the colonists discovered unburied skeletons in abandoned dwellings. With the local population in such a weakened state, the colonists faced no resistance to settling there.\\n\\nThe exploratory party returned to Mayflower, anchored twenty-five miles away, having been brought to the harbor on December 16/December 26. Only nearby sites were evaluated, with a hill in Plymouth (so named on earlier charts) \\nchosen on December 19/December 29.\\n\\nConstruction commenced immediately, with the first common house nearly completed by January 9/January 19, twenty feet square built for general use. At this point, single men were ordered to join with one of the nineteen families, in order to eliminate the need to build any more houses than absolutely necessary. Each extended family was assigned a plot one-half rod wide and three rods long for each household member, then each family built their own dwelling. Supplies were brought ashore, and the settlement was mostly complete by early February. \\n\\nWhen the first house was finished, it immediately became a hospital for the ill Pilgrims. Thirty-one of the company were dead by the end of February, with deaths still rising. Coles Hill, a prominence above the beach, became the first cemetery, with the graves allowed to overgrow with grass for fear that the Indians would discover how weakened the settlement had actually become. \\n\\nBetween the landing and March, only 47 colonists had survived the diseases that they contracted on the ship. During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able to feed and care for the rest. In this time, half the Mayflower crew also died.\\n\\nWilliam Bradford became governor in 1621 upon the death of John Carver. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags. The patent of Plymouth Colony was surrendered by Bradford to the freemen in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land. Bradford served for eleven consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms until his death in 1657.\\n\\nThe colony contained roughly what is now Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts.\\n\\nThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was reorganized and issued a new charter as the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691, and Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony.\\n\\nEtymology\\n\\nBradford's history\\n\\nThe first use of the word pilgrims for the Mayflower passengers appeared in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. As he finished recounting his group's July 1620 departure from Leiden, Bradford used the imagery of [http://classic.studylight.org/desk/?len&query\\nHebrews+11%3A13-16&translation=gen Hebrews 11:13–16] about Old Testament \\\"strangers and pilgrims\\\" who had the opportunity to return to their old country but instead longed for a better, heavenly country. Bradford wrote:\\n\\nSo they lefte [that] goodly & pleasante citie, which had been ther resting place, nere 12 years; but they knew they were pilgrimes, & looked not much on these things; but lift up their eyes to ye heavens, their dearest cuntrie, and quieted their spirits.\\n\\nThere is no record of the term Pilgrims being used to describe Plymouth's founders for 150 years after Bradford wrote this passage, except when quoting Bradford. When the Mayflower's story was retold by historians Nathaniel Morton (in 1669) and Cotton Mather (in 1702), both paraphrased Bradford's passage and used Bradford's word pilgrims. At Plymouth's Forefathers' Day observance in 1793, Rev. Chandler Robbins recited this passage from Bradford. \\n\\nPopular use\\n\\nThe name Pilgrims was probably not in popular use before about 1798, even though Plymouth celebrated Forefathers' Day several times between 1769 and 1798 and used a variety of terms to honor Plymouth's founders. Pilgrims was not mentioned, other than in Robbins' 1793 recitation. \\nThe first documented use of Pilgrims that was not simply quoting Bradford was at a December 22, 1798 celebration of Forefathers' Day in Boston. A song composed for the occasion used the word Pilgrims, and the participants drank a toast to \\\"The Pilgrims of Leyden\\\". \\nThe term was used prominently during Plymouth's next Forefather's Day celebration in 1800, and was used in Forefathers' Day observances thereafter. \\n\\nBy the 1820s, the term Pilgrims was becoming more common. Daniel Webster repeatedly referred to \\\"the Pilgrims\\\" in his December 22, 1820 address for Plymouth's bicentennial, which was widely read. Harriet Vaughan Cheney used it in her 1824 novel A Peep at the Pilgrims in Sixteen Thirty-Six, and the term also gained popularity with the 1825 publication of Felicia Hemans's classic poem \\\"The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers\\\".\",\n \"Peter Minuit [1580-1638]: Director of New Netherland\\n... drawn up in the Dutch City of Utrecht in 1615 he is ... 1626. Although Peter Minuit was governor general of ... On Manhattan there is a Peter Minuit ...\\nPeter Minuit\\nPeter Minuit\\nPeter Minuit [1580-1638]\\nDirector of New Netherland\\nPeter Minuit was a Walloon whose protestant parents had moved from Doornik, Henegouwen in the southern Netherlands, which then included present-day Belgium, to Wesel in Germany, in order to escape from the Catholic Spanish colonials, who were not favorably deposed to those people who had left the Catholic Church to become Protestants. Minuit's birth year is not exactly known but it is somewhere between 1580 and 1589.\\nPeter Minuit married Gertrude Raedts on August 20, 1613. Gertrude came from a wealthy family which probably helped Peter in establishing himself as a broker. What products he dealt in is also not known, but it probably involved diamonds, because in a legal document, a will, drawn up in the Dutch City of Utrecht in 1615 he is described as a diamond cutter.\\nPeter Minuit joined the Dutch West India Company [DWI], probably in the mid 1620's, and was sent to New Netherland in 1625 to search for tradable goods other than the animal pelts which were then the major tradable product coming from New Netherland. He returned in the same year, and in 1626 was appointed by the DWI to become the new governor general of New Netherland, taking over from Willem Verhulst, the previous governor general. Minuit arrived in New Amsterdam on May 4, 1626.\\nAlthough Peter Minuit was governor general of the colony for five years [he was relieved of his position in 1631], he is best known for his purchase of Manhattan from the Indians for 60 guilders which is estimated to be equivalent to about $25 in 1626 dollars, probably equivalent to about $500 in today's dollars, but still an obvious bargain. The exchange was made either in May 1626 or in July 1626, which is either in the same month, or two months after he arrived in New Amsterdam to take up his new governor general position.\\nPeter Minuit's tenure as governor general was rather uneventful in comparison with earlier or later governor generals of the Dutch colony. He did, however, introduce a measure of democracy in the colony during his time in New Netherland. Upon his arrival in 1626, he proposed a plan to establish an advisory body to the governor general. The advisory body would be a council of five members, which would advise the governor general, and would jointly with the governor general develop, administer and adjudicate a body of laws to help govern the colony. In addition he proposed the institution of, what we would call today, an attorney general to enforce the laws on the books.\\nIn 1631 or 1632 Minuit was relieved of his duties as governor general. What the reasons were for his termination is not clear, but the directors of the DWI were business people and Minuit may have made decisions that were, in their view, not in the interest of the DWI organization. He was replaced by Walter van Twiller.\\nAlthough there have been six governor generals during the existence of the New Amsterdam colony from 1620 to 1664, a forty year period, only two of the governor generals are well known. Peter Stuyvesant leads the group, but not because he was so popular with the people; he was not. Stuyvesant is the one who had to surrender the colony to the British because his defenses were virtually non-existent, and he wisely decided to surrender in order to avoid bloodshed. Peter Minuit is the other governor general who is well known probably largely because he made the historic purchase of Manhattan from the Indians. But the reason he is well known may also be caused by the relative peace that existed in the colony during his tenure. There was peace among the population of New Amsterdam, but there was also relative peace with the Indians who then still lived in close proximity to and among the new settlers.\\nPeter Minuit is remembered to this day with a number of public mementoes. On Manhattan there is a Peter Minuit Plaza, which is a small park in lower Manhattan. There is also the Peter Minuit marker in Inwood Hill Park commemorating the purchase of Manhattan from the Indians. Then there is the Peter Minuit Flagstaff Base in Battery Park. School children in Public School 108 in Manhattan every day attend the Peter Minuit School. And the Manhattan Chapter of the DAR has called one of their chapters the Peter Minuit chapter of the DAR. Finally, in Wesel Germany, there is a Peter Minuit Memorial on Moltkestrasse, Wesel , Germany.\\nAfter his governor generalship of New Netherland, he worked with the Swedish Government to establish a Finnish-Swedish settlement, called New Sweden, near what is now Wilmington, Delaware. It was in the territory then claimed by the Dutch. Was it done out of spite for his former employers? Perhaps.\\nOn his return from New Sweden in 1638, his ship and he made a side trip to the Caribbean to pick up a load of tobacco. Unfortunately, at that time there existed no hurricane tracking methods. While having dinner aboard a Dutch ship a hurricane forced all ships out to sea. Minuit and 't Vliegende Hart were never seen again; however, his ship the Kalmar Nyckel did make it back to Sweden without him.\\n \\nE-BOOKS FOR $ 2.99; GOOGLE: AMAZON KINDLE PEGELS\",\n \"Peter_Minuit.txt\\nPeter Minuit\\nPeter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. His surname means \\\"midnight.\\\" He was Director of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden in 1638.\\n\\nMinuit is generally credited with orchestrating the purchase of Manhattan Island for the Dutch from the Native Americans called the Lenape, which later became the city of New Amsterdam, modern-day New York City, which was the core of the Dutch colony of New Netherland and the later British colony of New York.\\n\\nBiography\\n\\nEarly life\\n\\nPeter Minuit was born sometime between 1580 and 1585,[https://www.wesel.de/en/city-portrait/peter-minuit/ \\\"Peter Minuit\\\", Wesel.de] into a Protestant family that had moved from the City of Tournai, Hainaut, part of the Southern Netherlands, presently part of Wallonia, Belgium, to Wesel in Germany, in order to avoid Spanish Catholic colonials, who were not favorably disposed towards Protestants.\\n\\nHis father, Johan, died in 1609 and Peter took over management of the household and his father's business. Peter Minuit had a good reputation in Wesel, attested by the fact that he was several times appointed a guardian. He also assisted the poor during the Spanish occupation of 1614-1619.\\n\\nPeter Minuit married Gertrude Raedts on August 20, 1613. From a wealthy family, Gertrude probably helped Peter Minuit in establishing himself as a broker. What products he dealt in is not known. That it involved diamonds is derived from a legal document, a will, drawn up in 1615, in the Dutch City of Utrecht mentioning Peter Minnewit as a diamond cutter.\\n\\nBy 1624, the city was in an economic decline and in 1625 he had left Wesel and like others went to Holland, while Gertrud went first to stay with her relatives in Cleve.\\n\\nCareer as Director of New Netherland\\n\\nMinuit and his family joined the Dutch West India Company, probably in the mid 1620s, and was sent to New Netherland in 1625 to search for tradable goods other than the animal pelts which were then the major product coming from New Netherland. He returned in the same year, and in 1626 was appointed the new director of New Netherland, taking over from Willem Verhulst. He sailed to North America and arrived in the colony on May 4, 1626.[http://www.wesel.de/C125759F00493DB1/html/D724335345623923C12574D60036E797?Open \\\"Peter Minuit\\\" (biography), Wesel, Germany, webpage: Wesel-Minuit]. Minuit is credited with purchasing the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans in exchange for traded goods valued at 60 guilders. According to the writer Nathaniel Benchley, Minuit conducted the transaction with Seyseys, chief of the Canarsees, who were only too happy to accept valuable merchandise in exchange for an island that was actually mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks. \\n\\nThe figure of 60 guilders comes from a letter by a representative of the Dutch States-General and member of the board of the Dutch West India Company, Pieter Janszoon Schagen, to the States-General in November 1626. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 (or 60 guilders) to US$23. \\\"[A] variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars,\\\" as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006, according to the Institute for Social History of Amsterdam. Based on the price of silver, Straight Dope author Cecil Adams calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992. Historians James and Michelle Nevius revisited the issue in 2014, suggesting that using the prices of beer and brandy as equivalencies, the price Minuit paid would have the purchasing power of somewhere between $2,600 and $15,600 in current dollars.\\n\\nAccording to researchers at the National Library of the Netherlands, \\\"The original inhabitants of the area were unfamiliar with the European notions and definitions of ownership rights. For the Indians, water, air and land could not be traded. Such exchanges would also be difficult in practical terms because many groups migrated between their summer and winter quarters. It can be concluded that both parties probably went home with totally different interpretations of the sales agreement.\\\"\\n\\nA contemporary purchase of rights in nearby Staten Island, to which Minuit was also party, involved duffel cloth, iron kettles, axe heads, hoes, wampum, drilling awls, \\\"Jew's harps\\\" and \\\"diverse other wares\\\". \\\"If similar trade goods were involved in the Manhattan arrangement\\\", Burrows and Wallace surmise, \\\"then the Dutch were engaged in high-end technology transfer, handing over equipment of enormous usefulness in tasks ranging from clearing land to drilling wampum.\\\"\\n\\nThe calculation of $24 also fails to recognize that the concepts of property trading and ownership held by the 17th-century Dutch and East Coast natives were both different from modern conceptions. Comparisons to modern land dealing distort the reality of what Minuit was trying to do. Both the Dutch and the Indians undoubtedly included intangibles along with any hard goods in their concept of the total transactional value. For Indians and Minuit alike, both sides felt they were getting far more than a mere 60 guilders. For instance, the natives most certainly would have thought the trade included the value of the Dutch as potential military allies against rival Indian nations—a 'good' that could not be valued in currency alone. In addition, the value of the sale to Dutch and Indians alike would have included the prospect of future trade.\\n\\nMinuit conducted politics in a measure of democracy in the colony during his time in New Netherland. He was highest judge in the colony but in both civil and criminal affairs he was assisted by a council of five colonists. This advisory body would advise the director, and would jointly with him develop, administer and adjudicate a body of laws to help govern the colony. In addition there was a schout-fiscal, half sheriff, half attorney-general, and all customs officer.[http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/peter-minuit/ \\\"Peter Minuit\\\", New Netherlands Institute] During Minuit's administration, several mills were built, trade grew exponentially and the population grew to almost 300 souls.\\n\\nIn 1631, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) suspended Minuit from his post for reasons that are unclear, but probably for (perhaps unintentionally) abetting the landowning patroons who were engaging in illegal fur trade and otherwise enriching themselves against the interests and orders of the West India Company. He arrived back in Europe in August 1632 to explain his actions, but was dismissed and was succeeded as director by Wouter van Twiller. It is possible that Minuit had become the victim of the internal disputes over the rights that the board of directors had given to the patroons.\\n\\nEstablishing the New Sweden colony\\n\\nIn 1636 or 1637, after having lived in Cleves, Germany for several years, Minuit made arrangements with Samuel Blommaert and the Swedish government to create the first Swedish colony in the New World. Located on the lower Delaware River within territory earlier claimed by the Dutch, it was called New Sweden. Minuit and his company arrived on the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel at Swedes' Landing (now Wilmington, Delaware), in the spring of 1638. They constructed Fort Christina later that year, then returned to Stockholm for a second load of colonists, and made a side trip to the Caribbean on the return to pick up a shipment of tobacco for resale in Europe to make the voyage profitable. Minuit died during this voyage during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean. Swedish Lt. Måns Nilsson Kling, whose rank was raised to captain about two years later, replaced him as governor. It took the government that long for the next governor from mainland Sweden to be appointed and travel to North America. Nine expeditions to the colony were carried out before the Dutch captured the colony in 1655, well after Minuit's death. \\n\\nLegacy\\n\\nPlaces named after Minuit\\n\\n*The Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal's Peter Minuit Plaza, north of the South Ferry – Whitehall Street station (). Following the 400th anniversary celebrations of Henry Hudson's voyage to Manhattan, a pavilion was opened here to honor the Dutch. Each night at midnight, LED lights glow around the pavilion's perimeter in honor of Minuit.\\n*A marker in Inwood Hill Park at the supposed site of the purchase of Manhattan\\n*A granite flagstaff base in Battery Park, which depicts the historic purchase\\n*A school and playground in East Harlem, which are named for him. \\n*An apartment building at 25 Claremont Avenue in Manhattan, which bears his name above the front entrance\\n*The Peter Minuit Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution\\n*A memorial on Moltkestraße in Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany\\n\\nIn popular culture\\n\\n*The beginning lines of Rodgers and Hart's 1939 song \\\"Give It Back to the Indians\\\" recount the sale of Manhattan: \\\"Old Peter Minuit had nothing to lose when he bought the isle of Manhattan / For twenty-six dollars and a bottle of booze, and they threw in the Bronx and Staten / Pete thought he had the best of the bargain, but the poor red man just grinned / And he grunted \\\"ugh!\\\" (meaning \\\"okay\\\" in his jargon) for he knew poor Pete was skinned.\\\"\\n*One version of Minuit was played by Groucho Marx in the 1957 comedy film The Story of Mankind.\\n*Minuit is mentioned on the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, where the character Edward Bader tells a joke featuring the line, \\\"'50 bucks?' the fella says. 'Peter Stuyvesant only paid 24 for the entire island of Manhattan!'\\\", while Steve Buscemi's' character Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson has to correct Bader and inform him that it was in fact Peter Minuit who bought Manhattan, not Stuyvesant.\\n*Bob Dylan mentions Minuit in his song \\\"Hard Times in New York Town\\\" (released on The Bootleg Series Volume 1) in the following line: Mister Hudson come a-sailing down the stream, / and old Mister Minuit paid for his dream. But in the released recording of the song, Dylan spoonerizes \\\"Mister Minuit\\\" by mispronouncing his name \\\"Minnie Mistuit.\\\" The official lyrics have the correct version of the name, except that Minuit is spelled \\\"Minuet.\\\" \\n*Minuit is mentioned in the first episode Uno of the AMC drama Better Call Saul. Jimmy McGill (the later titular Saul), while confronting lawyers at his brother's law firm, accuses them of being like \\\"Peter Minuit\\\" and suggest that they \\\"throw in some beads and shells\\\" to the $26,000.00 being given to his brother.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124620,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"What is an affliction of nose, throat, upper air passages and eyes caused by over-sensitivity to proteins of pollen in certain plants?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Hay fever"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Pollen.txt\nPollen\nPollen is a fine to coarse powdery substance comprising pollen grains which are male microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophytes during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the female cone of coniferous plants. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it germinates, producing a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and forensics.\n\nPollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower.\n\nThe structure and formation of pollen\n \n\nPollen itself is not the male gamete. Each pollen grain contains vegetative (non-reproductive) cells (only a single cell in most flowering plants but several in other seed plants) and a generative (reproductive) cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, and the generative cell divides to form the two sperm cells.\n\nFormation \n\nPollen is produced in the 'microsporangium' (contained in the anther of an angiosperm flower, male cone of a coniferous plant, or male cone of other seed plants). Pollen grains come in a wide variety of shapes (most often spherical), sizes, and surface markings characteristic of the species (see electron micrograph, right). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged. The smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.), is around 6 µm (0.006 mm) in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90–100 µm.\n\nIn angiosperms, during flower development the anther is composed of a mass of cells that appear undifferentiated, except for a partially differentiated dermis. As the flower develops, four groups of sporogenous cells form within the anther. The fertile sporogenous cells are surrounded by layers of sterile cells that grow into the wall of the pollen sac. Some of the cells grow into nutritive cells that supply nutrition for the microspores that form by meiotic division from the sporogenous cells.\n\nIn a process called microsporogenesis, four haploid microspores are produced from each diploid sporogenous cell (microsporocyte, pollen mother cell or meiocyte), after meiotic division. After the formation of the four microspores, which are contained by callose walls, the development of the pollen grain walls begins. The callose wall is broken down by an enzyme called callase and the freed pollen grains grow in size and develop their characteristic shape and form a resistant outer wall called the exine and an inner wall called the intine. The exine is what is preserved in the fossil record. Two basic types of microsporogenesis are recognised, simultaneous and successive. In simultaneous microsporogenesis meiotic steps I and II are completed prior to cytokinesis, whereas in successive microsporogenesis cytokinesis follows. While there may be a continuum with intermediate forms, the type of microsporogenesis has systematic significance. The predominant form amongst the monocots is successive, but there are important exceptions.\n\nIn the microgametogenesis, the unicellular microspores undergoes mitosis and develops into mature microgametophytes containing the gametes.[http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/biology/people/twell/lab/pollenis/development Pollen Development — University of Leicester] In some flowering plants, germination of the pollen grain often begins before it leaves the microsporangium, with the generative cell forming the two sperm cells.\n\nStructure \n\nExcept in the case of some submerged aquatic plants, the mature pollen-grain has a double wall. The vegetative and generative cells are surrounded by a thin delicate wall of unaltered cellulose called the endospore or intine, and a tough resistant outer cuticularized wall composed largely of sporopollenin called the exospore or exine. The exine often bears spines or warts, or is variously sculptured, and the character of the markings is often of value for identifying genus, species, or even cultivar or individual. The spines may be less than a micron in length (spinulum, plural spinuli) referred to as spinulose (scabrate), or longer than a micron (echina, echinae) referred to as echinate. Various terms also describe the sculpturing such as reticulate, a net like appearance consisting of elements (murus, muri) separated from each other by a lumen (plural lumina).\n\nThe pollen wall protects the sperm while the pollen grain is moving from the anther to the stigma; it protects the vital genetic material from drying out and solar radiation. The pollen grain surface is covered with waxes and proteins, which are held in place by structures called sculpture elements on the surface of the grain. The outer pollen wall, which prevents the pollen grain from shrinking and crushing the genetic material during desiccation, is composed of two layers. These two layers are the tectum and the foot layer, which is just above the intine. The tectum and foot layer are separated by a region called the columella, which is composed of strengthening rods. The outer wall is constructed with a resistant biopolymer called sporopollenin.\n\nPollen apertures are regions of the pollen wall that may involve exine thinning or a significant reduction in exine thickness. They allow shrinking and swelling of the grain caused by changes in moisture content. Elongated apertures or furrows in the pollen grain are called colpi (singular: colpus) or sulci (singular: sulcus). Apertures that are more circular are called pores. Colpi, sulci and pores are major features in the identification of classes of pollen. Pollen may be referred to as inaperturate (apertures absent) or aperturate (apertures present). The aperture may have a lid (operculum), hence is described as operculate. However the term inaperturate covers a wide range of morphological types, such as functionally inaperturate (cryptoaperturate) and omniaperturate. Inaperaturate pollen grains often have thin walls, which facilitates pollen tube germination at any position.\n\nThe orientation of furrows (relative to the original tetrad of microspores) classifies the pollen as sulcate or colpate. Sulcate pollen has a furrow across the middle of what was the outer face when the pollen grain was in its tetrad. If the pollen has only a single sulcus, it is described as monosulcate. In . Colpate pollen has furrows other than across the middle of the outer faces. Eudicots have pollen with three colpi (tricolpate) or with shapes that are evolutionarily derived from tricolpate pollen. The evolutionary trend in plants has been from monosulcate to polycolpate or polyporate pollen.\n\nPollination\n\nThe transfer of pollen grains to the female reproductive structure (pistil in angiosperms) is called pollination. This transfer can be mediated by the wind, in which case the plant is described as anemophilous (literally wind-loving). Anemophilous plants typically produce great quantities of very lightweight pollen grains, sometimes with air-sacs. Non-flowering seed plants (e.g. pine trees) are characteristically anemophilous. Anemophilous flowering plants generally have inconspicuous flowers. Entomophilous (literally insect-loving) plants produce pollen that is relatively heavy, sticky and protein-rich, for dispersal by insect pollinators attracted to their flowers. Many insects and some mites are specialized to feed on pollen, and are called palynivores.\n\nIn non-flowering seed plants, pollen germinates in the pollen chamber, located beneath the micropyle, underneath the integuments of the ovule. A pollen tube is produced, which grows into the nucellus to provide nutrients for the developing sperm cells. Sperm cells of Pinophyta and Gnetophyta are without flagella, and are carried by the pollen tube, while those of Cycadophyta and Ginkgophyta have many flagella.\n\nWhen placed on the stigma of a flowering plant, under favorable circumstances, a pollen grain puts forth a pollen tube, which grows down the tissue of the style to the ovary, and makes its way along the placenta, guided by projections or hairs, to the micropyle of an ovule. The nucleus of the tube cell has meanwhile passed into the tube, as does also the generative nucleus, which divides (if it hasn't already) to form two sperm cells. The sperm cells are carried to their destination in the tip of the pollen-tube.\n\nPollen in the fossil record\n\nPollen's sporopollenin outer sheath affords it some resistance to the rigours of the fossilisation process that destroy weaker objects; it is also produced in huge quantities. There is an extensive fossil record of pollen grains, often disassociated from their parent plant. The discipline of palynology is devoted to the study of pollen, which can be used both for biostratigraphy and to gain information about the abundance and variety of plants alive — which can itself yield important information about paleoclimates. Pollen is first found in the fossil record in the late Devonian period and increases in abundance until the present day.\n\nAllergy to pollen\n\nNasal allergy to pollen is called pollinosis, and allergy specifically to grass pollen is called hay fever. Generally, pollens that cause allergies are those of anemophilous plants (pollen is dispersed by air currents.) Such plants produce large quantities of lightweight pollen (because wind dispersal is random and the likelihood of one pollen grain landing on another flower is small), which can be carried for great distances and are easily inhaled, bringing it into contact with the sensitive nasal passages.\n\nIn the US, people often mistakenly blame the conspicuous goldenrod flower for allergies. Since this plant is entomophilous (its pollen is dispersed by animals), its heavy, sticky pollen does not become independently airborne. Most late summer and fall pollen allergies are probably caused by ragweed, a widespread anemophilous plant. \n\nArizona was once regarded as a haven for people with pollen allergies, although several ragweed species grow in the desert. However, as suburbs grew and people began establishing irrigated lawns and gardens, more irritating species of ragweed gained a foothold and Arizona lost its claim of freedom from hay fever.\n\nAnemophilous spring blooming plants such as oak, birch, hickory, pecan, and early summer grasses may also induce pollen allergies. Most cultivated plants with showy flowers are entomophilous and do not cause pollen allergies.\n\nThe number of people in the United States affected by hay fever is between 20 to 40 million, and such allergy has proven to be the most frequent allergic response in the nation. There are certain evidential suggestions pointing out hay fever and similar allergies to be of hereditary origin. Individuals who suffer from eczema or are asthmatic tend to be more susceptible to developing long-term hay fever. \n\nIn Denmark, decades of rising temperatures cause pollen to appear earlier and in greater numbers, as well as introduction of new species such as ragweed. \n\nThe most efficient way to handle a pollen allergy is by preventing contact with the material. Individuals carrying the ailment may at first believe that they have a simple summer cold, but hay fever becomes more evident when the apparent cold does not disappear. The confirmation of hay fever can be obtained after examination by a general physician. \n\nTreatment\n\nAntihistamines are effective at treating mild cases of pollinosis, this type of non-prescribed drugs includes loratadine, cetirizine and chlorphenamine. They do not prevent the discharge of histamine, but it has been proven that they do prevent a part of the chain reaction activated by this biogenic amine, which considerably lowers hay fever symptoms.\n\nDecongestants can be administered in different ways such as tablets and nasal sprays.\n\nAllergy immunotherapy (AIT) treatment involves administering doses of allergens to accustom the body to pollen, thereby inducing specific long-term tolerance. Allergy immunotherapy can be administered orally (as sublingual tablets or sublingual drops), or by injections under the skin (subcutaneous). Discovered by Leonard Noon and John Freeman in 1911, allergy immunotherapy represents the only causative treatment for respiratory allergies.\n\nNutrition\n\nMost major classes of predatory and parasitic arthropods contain species that eat pollen, despite the common perception that bees are the primary pollen-consuming arthropod group. Many other Hymenoptera other than bees consume pollen as adults, though only a small number feed on pollen as larvae (including some ant larvae). Spiders are normally considered carnivores but pollen is an important source of food for several species, particularly for spiderlings, which catch pollen on their webs. It is not clear how spiderlings manage to eat pollen however, since their mouths are not large enough to consume pollen grains. Some predatory mites also feed on pollen, with some species being able to subsist solely on pollen, such as Euseius tularensis, which feeds on the pollen of dozens of plant species. Members of some beetle families such as Mordellidae and Melyridae feed almost exclusively on pollen as adults, while various lineages within larger families such as Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae, Cerambycidae, and Scarabaeidae are pollen specialists even though most members of their families are not (e.g., only 36 of 40000 species of ground beetles, which are typically predatory, have been shown to eat pollen—but this is thought to be a severe underestimate as the feeding habits are only known for 1000 species). Similarly, Ladybird beetles mainly eat insects, but many species also eat pollen, as either part or all of their diet. Hemiptera are mostly herbivores or omnivores but pollen feeding is known (and has only been well studied in the Anthocoridae). Many adult flies, especially Syrphidae, feed on pollen, and three UK syrphid species feed strictly on pollen (syrphids, like all flies, cannot eat pollen directly due to the structure of their mouthparts, but can consume pollen contents that are dissolved in a fluid). Some species of fungus, including Fomes fomentarius, are able to break down grains of pollen as a secondary nutrition source that is particularly high in nitrogen. \n\nSome species of Heliconius butterflies consume pollen as adults, which appears to be a valuable nutrient source, and these species are more distasteful to predators than the non-pollen consuming species. \n\nAlthough bats, butterflies and hummingbirds are not pollen eaters per se, their consumption of nectar in flowers is an important aspect of the pollination process.\n\nIn humans\n\nA variety of producers have started selling bee pollen for human consumption, often marketed as a food (rather than a dietary supplement). The largest constituent is carbohydrates, with protein content ranging from 7 to 35 percent depending on the plant species collected by bees. \n\nHoney produced by bees from natural sources contains pollen derived p-coumaric acid, an antioxidant.\n\nThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not found any harmful effects of bee pollen consumption, except from the usual allergies. However, FDA does not allow bee pollen marketers in the United States to make health claims about their produce, as no scientific basis for these has ever been proven. Furthermore, there are possible dangers not only from allergic reactions but also from contaminants such as pesticides and from fungi and bacteria growth related to poor storage procedures. A manufacturers's claim that pollen collecting helps the bee colonies is also controversial. \n\nPine pollen (송화가루, Songhwa Garu) is traditionally consumed in Korea as an ingredient in sweets and beverages.\n\nParasites\n\nThe growing industries in pollen harvesting for human and bee consumption rely on harvesting pollen baskets from honey bees as they return to their hives using a pollen trap. When this pollen has been tested for parasites, it has been found that a multitude of pollinator viruses and eukaryotic parasites are present in the pollen. It is currently unclear if the parasites are introduced by the bee that collected the pollen or if it is from contamination to the flower. Though this is not likely to pose a risk to humans, it is a major issue for the bumblebee rearing industry that relies on thousands of tonnes of honey bee collected pollen per year. Several sterilization methods have been employed, though no method has been 100% effective at steralizing, without reducing the nutritional value, of the pollen \n\nForensic palynology\n\nIn forensic biology, pollen can tell a lot about where a person or object has been, because regions of the world, or even more particular locations such a certain set of bushes, will have a distinctive collection of pollen species. Pollen evidence can also reveal the season in which a particular object picked up the pollen. Pollen has been used to trace activity at mass graves in Bosnia, catch a burglar who brushed against a Hypericum bush during a crime, and has even been proposed as an additive for bullets to enable tracking them.","Full text of \"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\"\nFull text of \"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\" See other formats ...\nFull text of \"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\"\nSee other formats\n^\" HI 1 1 III 31761 043861251 1 w 1 III HOiRp HIil ii i iB ! ■fFn :fl. M.D. illliiiiiiii mc: Presented to the LIBRARY o/r/ze UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO BY PROFESSOR ELIZABETH HARRISON ^ HAY- FEVER ITS PREVENTION AND CURE p Frontal sinus Orifice of middle ethmoidal cells Superior turbinal bone Orifice of the posterior ethmoidal cells Orifice of the sphenoidal sinus Sphenoidal sinus Orifice of \\ frontal sinus j Upper orifice i of nasal duct \\ Orifice of Eustachian tube Middle turbinal bone Inferior turbinal bone Orifice of the antrum Lower orifice of nasal duct Orifice of infundibulum Section of the Nose, showing the Turbinal Bones and Meatuses WITH THE Openings in Dotted Outline. (.After Morris' \"Text-Book of Anatomy.\") n HAY FEVER ITS PREVENTION AND CURE W. C. HOLLOPETER, A.M., M.D., LL.D. ATTBNDINO PHYSICIAN ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL; PEDIATRICIAN TO THE PHILADELPHIA GENERAL HOSPITAL; PROFESSOR PEDIATRICS, EMERITUS, MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL COLLEGE; EX-PRESIDENT OP THE ASSOCIATION OP AMERICAN TEACHERS OF THE DISEASES OP children; EX-CHAIRMAN OP THE SEC- TION ON DISEASES OP CHILDREN, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; MEMBER OF AMERI- CAN ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, ETC. FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY NEW YORK AND LONDON 1917. \\ Copyright, 1916, by FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY Copyright under the Articles of the Copyrigrht Convention of the Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910 [Printed in the United States of Americal Published, Jvly, 1916 CONTENTS rAGB Preface .^ vii Intboduction .., ix PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS. HISTORY, PERIOD- ICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS 1. Definition, Histoey and Bibliography 19 2. Causes 38 5. Periodicity 46 4. Symptoms 53 6. Its Pathology, Diagnosis and Prognosis 65 PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES 1. When Due to Some Exciting Agent Such as Pollen 8T 2. The Predisposing Causes 110 PART III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1. Preventive Measures 147 2. Local Treatment by Nasal Applications 167 5. As TO Diet, Exercise and Rest 178 4, When Asthma Occurs as a Sequel ..;.. 185 CONTENTS rXGB 6. The Use of Serums — Dunbar's Serum....... 191 6. Experiments with Autoserum. By Harold Hays, M.D 238 7. Dr. E. T. Manning's Views 254 8. The Use of Phylacogen. By 1. H. Alexander, M.D 258 9. The Calcium Salt Treatment. By Harold Wilson, M.D 261 10. The Pollen Therapy Treatment. By J. L. Goodale 274 11. Surgical Treatment ,. 285 12. A Summary of Treatment 286 Bibliography ., 293 Index .•.....• v . .... . 337 I ^11 PREFACE Having had remarkable and uniform success with a simple treatment of hay- fever for the last twenty years, during which time I have given complete relief to many patients in my private practise, and having made a thoro clinical study of this affection, as well as an exhaustive review of the literature relative to it, I feel justified in presenting the results of my labors in this short treatise. There is little to be said definitely about the etiology of the disease. It is undoubt- edly caused by an external irritant, pos- sibly containing a micro-organism or a toxin, which becomes especially active in the nasal passages of an individual pre- disposed by systemic debility or local [vii] PREFACE abnormality. We acknowledge the ele- ment of neurotic disturbance, but to dog- matically define its exact cause and modus operandi is beyond us. In order that the best thought of the subject may be presented to the reader, I have compiled, arranged, and annotated the most worthy literature, and I acknowl- edge my indebtedness to the many writers quoted. The most of my original com- munication is devoted to the all-important point in the discussion — the successful treatment. A complete bibliography is appended. W. C. HOLLOPETER. [ viii ] INTEODUCTION Hay-fever has become so well-known and is so universal a disease that many State organizations have been formed for its careful study; we are thus hopeful of some positive developments in the better management of hay-fever by concerted effort of the sanitarian and physician. The choice of a name has not been very fortunate, as it has been discovered that hay in itself has very little, or nothing, to do with the cause. I give, however, a few synonyms in the early part of the book. Next to tuberculosis, hay-fever is one of the most interesting and common dis- eases, and has received an enormous amount of study. While it is not directly fatal, it is exceedingly distressing and is [ix] INTRODUCTION certain by its annual visitation to lower the vital resistance and induce other ill- ness in the body. In this way it becomes a prolonged and serious menace to the comfort and happiness of the sufferer. Hay-fever was not regarded frequent in the young until a more careful study of autumnal and spring catarrhs among neu- rotic children revealed the fact that the same troublesome complaint had occurred the previous season. The frequency of **cold taking\" among children is due to their lowered vitality, the result being adenoids and enlarged tonsils which often precede the typical hay-fever. It has been found that children, espe- cially the neurotic offspring of nervous parents, are as subject to hay-fever as adults, if not more so, for we certainly have an ever-enlarging army of catarrhal children. There is no doubt that in every [X] INTRODUCTION class hay-fever is decidedly on the in- crease in America. True hay-fever is also found in great masses of thoughtful adults, who are prone to forget the previ- ous attacks, altho they may have had many annual visitations of the disorder. Some slight exposure or irregularity of diet, or an unusual change in the atmosphere, suf- fice to explain the indisposition, and satis- fies the mind for the time. It is certain that a large number of hay-fever sufferers forget from year to year the annual visita- tion; this is more likely if the attack has not been severe. Furthermore, it has been most conclusively proved by many authori- ties that hay-fever does not occur unless we have a conjunction of three necessary factors : 1. An external air-borne irritant. 2. A sensitive or diseased nasal mucous membrane. [xi] INTRODUCTION ^ 3. An unstable nerve-center. Upon the simultaneous manifestation of these three factors in any individual we are reasonably sure in making a diagnosis of hay-fever. An absence of any one of the three admits at once of distinct doubt. The claim for originality in this thesis lies in the fact that the author recognizes the three essential factors, as stated above, as the cause of hay-fever and claiming that the remedy lies in controlling or de- stroying the habit, by inhibiting or be- numbing the sensitive nasal surface by local cleansing and massage. The litera- ture of hay-fever has grown so very pro- lifically in the last five years that to follow it out in detail would be a difficult and use- less task. Most writers agree as to the three essential causative factors, and vol- umes have been written in discussion of their different phases. % [ xli ] I INTRODUCTION Dr. Geo. M. Beard, one of the earlier and most exhaustive writers, regards it as a neurosis, due to an unstable brain-center, and a functional disease of the nervous system, thus ignoring all environment, climate and nasal conditions. Sajous, on the other hand, regards the trouble as one of local origin, ignoring heredity and neu- rosis, and finds an abnormal nasal chamber in all active cases. They both concede ex- ternal irritants as essentially necessary to the initial paroxysm, but regard this of secondary importance. It was not until Prof. Dunbar and his followers made their exhaustive studies of pollen that we ar- rived at any satisfactory scientific knowl- edge as to the exact nature of this ** ex- ternal irritant,'' and applied the antidote for its control. Literature on hay-fever during the past ten years has centered largely on discussion of these studies. It [xiii] INTRODUCTION is for this reason that I have given Dun- bar so large a space in my book. I have allowed him to speak for himself. In my first published paper in 1898, I stated that I had succeeded in controlling a large number of cases by *' scrubbing most carefully every portion of the mu- cous membrane of the nasal chamber, be- ing sure to reach between the turbinated bones and all around any slight promi- nence.'' Musser and Kelly ('* Practical Treatment,\" 1913, Saunders, Philadel- phia) quote E. W. Wright as placing great stress upon the hypersensitive condi- tion of the nasal mucosa as the important causative factor in many cases, suggest- ing a frictional massage of the mucous membrane of the nose in order to in- crease its resisting powers, so that it can withstand the irritation and excitation from the impact of the pollen of plants, [xiv] INTRODUCTION His method is to apply gentle massage to the nasal mucons membrane through the medium of a cotton-covered probe. These applications are to be made daily for from three to five minutes in each nasal chamber. I am unable to find any additional au- thority for this method of management of the disease. The observation of Wright was made long after the publication of my paper ; and certainly priority for such local treatment belongs to me. rx7i PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS HISTORY, PERIODICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS [17] PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS HISTORY, PERIODICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS 1. Definition, History and Bibliography Among the synonyms that have been employed for the term hay-fever may be named the following: Autumnal catarrh, Bostock's catarrh, coryza vasomotoria, coryza vasomotoria periodica, hay-asthma, idiosyncratic coryza, June cold, July cold, nervous coryza, nervous catarrh, paroxys- mal sneezing, peach cold, periodic hyper- esthetic rhinitis, pollen catarrh, pollen poisoning, pruritic catarrh, pruritic rhi- nitis, ragweed fever, rhinitis sympathetica, rhinitis vasomotoria, rose catarrh, rose [19] HAY-FEVEE cold, summer bronchitis, summer catarrh, summer catarrh from idiosyncrasy, sum- mer fever, typical early summer catarrh, vasomotor coryza, vasomotor rhinitis. In other language are the following equiva- lents: Latin — Catarrhus sestivus, coryza vasomotoria* periodica ; French — Catarrhe d'ete, catarrhe de foin; German — Friih- sommerkatarrh, Heuasthma, Heufieber ; Italian — Asma dei mietitori, febbre del fieno, asma del fieno. The term ** hay-fever'' was first used to designate the form of disease occurring in the autumn in distinction from like affec- tions which occur in other seasons. So universal, however, has become its use that it is now employed to designate all the forms of what may be called the periodic influenzas, irrespective of seasons. Hay-fever may be defined as an affec- tion of the upper air-passages occurring [20] WHAT HAY-FEVEE IS periodically, usually at or near a fixt date in the early autumn, sometimes in the spring or summer, characterized by its sudden onset and as sudden termination in certain atmospheric conditions, by swell- ing and turgescence of mucous membranes of the nasal fossae and adjacent cavities, irritating discharges therefrom, and vari- ous symptoms of coryza, and occasionally by asthmatic paroxysms. It always re- sults from the combination of a special predisposition, from depraved resistance or lowered vitality of the general system or a local lesion, and an exciting cause, believed to be a micro-organism or pecu- liar toxin, generally arising from pollen or dust deposited upon or in the mucous membrane of the upper air-passages. The important predisposing causes are : hered- ity, idiosyncrasy, neurotic temperament, peculiar susceptibility of the vasomotor [21] HAY-FEVER system, generally debilitated condition, deranged assimilation, and a local lesion. Hay-fever has been defined as a neurosis, as an idiosyncrasy, as a catarrhal affec- tion, and as a type of influenza, and as various combinations of these. The de- position of some special irritant is uni- versally regarded as the exciting cause. Exactly when hay-fever was recognized as a distinct affection is not known. Bes- chorner shows that it was known in the sixteenth century. In 1565 Botallus re- ported a case. Van Helmont and Binnin- ger, in the seventeenth century, speak of it. A similar distressing catarrhal affec- tion, but due to the rose, is instanced in **Acta nat. curios. Ephemerides,'' Dec. II, Ann. V, obs. 22, and again in the same journal, Dec. Ill, Ann. V and VI, obs. 193, a case of annually recurring profuse nasal catarrh is mentioned. John Floyer, * [22] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS London, 1698, noticed that there were peculiar cases of asthma in which the at- tacks were longer and more acute in sum- mer than in winter. In Good's ** Study of Medicine\" there is a reference to a case related by Timaeus in 1667, of an at- tack of an asthmatic nature caused by the odor of roses and ipecac. Biedlin, in his **Lin. Med.,\" p. 177, in 1695, wrote of the odor of roses causing a catarrh of the head, resembling hay-fever. C. L. Parry, of London, records a case in 1809 and an- other in 1811. Elliotson, in 1821, tells of a patient who had had hay-fever since 1789, and of another who was sixty-six years of age and who had had the disease from his seventh year, i.e., since 1755, and of a third who had been afflicted for many years. Just when and where the term *' hay- fever\" or ** hay-asthma\" arose it is im- [23] HAY-FEVER possible to say, but probably it was popu- larly so named. The emanations from dry hay were first thought to have caused it. Dr. Bostock, who was himself a sufferer, in 1819, found that the laity knew of the affection, altho it was not recognized as a distinct disease by the profession. He objected to the term ** hay-fever,'' which was already employed to designate it in his day, contending that moist heat, sunshine, dust, and fatigue were more potent in its causation than emanations from dry hay. It seems remarkable that the profession in England were unfamiliar with hay- fever as a distinct affliction, es- pecially as their king, George IV, was a sufferer from it. In 1828, Bostock, who had first described the disease to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of London as a **case of a periodic affection of the eyes and chest,'' published some further ob- [24] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS servations on the complaint under the title ** Summer Catarrh/' or **Catarrhus ^stivus/' In 1828, MacCuUoch included it in his *'An Essay on the Remittent and Intermittent Diseases/' but advanced no special views. In 1830, Augustus Prater published notes of a case seen in Paris. In 1831, Dr. EUiotson, in London, briefly described the affection; and in 1833 he discust the complaint more fully and opposed Bostock's theory of heat and re- jected the hay- theory of its origin, but declared grasses to be more important factors; and he first pointed to pollen as the probable cause of the disease. In 1847, Dr. Ramadge detailed reports of cases and believed ** effluvia from flowers\" caused it. In 1850, Gream first alluded to dust as an exciting cause and proposed nux vomica as a remedy. In 1852 Dr. Laforgue, of Toulouse, wrote his essay '' Observation [25 ] HAY-FEVER de catarrhe d'ete/' in which he upheld heat as the cause, after the view of Bos- tock. But in the next year, 1853, in **L'Abeille Medicale,'' an anonymous con- tributor, reciting his own case, advocated hay-emanations and not heat as the excit- ing agent. In 1854 Phoebus, of Giessen, concluded from his study of 154 cases that sunlight was the active cause of the at- tacks. In 1857 Watson ascribed the mal- ady to the presence of vegetable matter in the atmosphere. In 1859 Phoebus again published the results of his circular of in- quiry. He went into the subject more thoroughly than any of his predecessors, and from sunlight he shifted to ozone as the theoretic cause of the malady. In this same year Hyde Salter named as the ex- citing agents *^ bright, hot, dusty sun- shine,'' a full meal, and hay, and recited two interesting cases. Another writer, [26] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Walshe, in the same year, referred to hay- fever as a singular variety of nasopnl- monary catarrh, and he first called atten- tion to the fact that the disease, in his own person, ** always disappeared in crossing the Atlantic/' In July, 1860, Dr. Cornaz, of Neufchatel, Switzerland, in a paper on hay-fever, de- scribed six cases, and concluded that the flowers of grasses were the cause of the disease, and he was followed on the 20th of August of the same year by Dr. La- bosse, of Nitry, France, in a paper en- titled **Nouvelle observation de catarrhe de foin,'' in which he spoke of three per- sons whose symptoms occurred at the time certain flowers were in bloom. In 1866 strong light and great heat were advanced as aggravating causes by JDr. Wm. Ab- botts Smith. In his published. work, '*0n Hay-fever, Hay-asthma, or Summer Ca- [27]' HAY-FEVER tarrh,'^ he rejected the ozone theory of Phoebus. In 1867 the nervous origin of the dis- ease was first advanced by Dr. William Pirrie, who spoke of two forms, — one a spasmodic form caused by external irri- tants, the other arising from the action of light and heat upon the central nervous, the cerebrospinal, and sympathetic sys- tems. In the same year, Helmholtz, who, the not a general practitioner, while suffering from hay-fever, began to treat it with a quinin solution and found that he was relieved thereby. Two years later he detailed to C. Binz, of Bonn, Germany, by letter, the history of his sufferings, and recommending his solution as a ready means of relief and even of prevention, which was in accord with the findings of Binz that the quinin solution was poison- ous to infusoria. In this letter Helmholtz [28] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS^ proponnded the theory that the symp- toms were caused by vibrios which, the latent at other times in the nasal fossae and sinuses, were excited to activity by the heat of summer. It has since been thought that the organisms found by Helmlioltz, by means of the microscope, in the nasal discharges during an attack were probably fragments of mycelium-like threads which develop from pollen-cells under the influence of the heat and mois- ture of the nasal chambers and which con- tain the minute fovilla of the pollen-cells. The use of the quinin solution which Helm- holtz so successfully employed on himself became very popular and found many strong advocates in the profession until the extensive researches of Blackley in re- gard to pollen in 1873. In the meantime, in 1870, Dr. George Moore advocated a complex theory of the disease, really com- [29] HAY-FEVER binations of preceding theories. In the same year Eoberts issued a short, practi- cal paper, claiming to be the first to ob- serve excessive coldness of the tip of the nose as the ** pathognomonic'' symptom of hay-fever and desiring credit to be accorded him for this discovery. In 1872, Morrill Wyman, of Cambridge, Mass., distinguished two different forms of the disease; naming that occurring in August ** autumnal catarrh,'' peculiar to America, and that of the spring or early summer ** June cold\" or ** rose-cold,\" more prevalent in England. Dr. Wyman first attempted to define the geographical limits of the disease, and called attention to the important fact that residence in certain elevated regions brought certain and complete relief in most cases of autumnal catarrh. He stated that a lady from Lynn, Mass., a [30] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS great sufferer, accidentally observed in 1853 that her catarrh passed by while she was traveling in the White Mountains, and that for the following ten years she visited the region and escaped the disease. In 1860, Jacob Horton, of Newbnryport, Mass., wrote Dr. Wyman that the White Mountains gave the only relief. In 1873, Charles H. Blackley, of Manchester, en- deavored to show that pollen mainly, if not exclusively, caused the malady, and by extensive experiments showed that the amount of pollen in the atmosphere at great elevations was to that in the air at ordinary breathing levels as nineteen to one. He proved, by very ingenious and carefully conducted series of experiments, that the pollen of grasses and flowers was the sole cause of hay-fever in himself, and that in two other patients the severity of the attacks was directly related to the [31] HAY-FEVEK amotint of pollen in the air. His sub- sequent observations made it extremely- probable that pollen is an important factor in the causation of hay-fever, altho all kinds of dust may be sufficiently irritating to excite the paroxysms. This was in op- position to the views of Phoebus and of Pirrie, both of whom suggested heat, strong light, and ozone as the exciting causes. Pirrie had also suggested disturb- ance of the central nervous system as an important etiologic factor. He was sup- ported in this view in 1876 by Morrill Wy- man, then of New York. In the same year Beard, of New York, published his mono- graph, the information for which had been painstakingly gathered from replies to two hundred circulars which he had issued to medical men all over America, some- what after the manner of Phoebus; al- tho, unlike Phoebus, Beard had himself [32] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS seen and treated many cases. From his data he drew the conclusion that the im- mediate exciting causes were more than thirty in number, and that secondary causes might increase this list to more than one hundred. He showed also from his statistics that the nervous tempera- ment existed in a great proportion of the sufferers, and that nerve tonics were of some value. In 1877, Marsh, of Tuckerton, New Jersey, published an essay in which he accepted completely the pollen theory. He first called attention, in this paper, to the activity of the pollen of Ambrosia art emisice folia, or common ragweed, as by far the most active of the pollens in America in producing the attacks. In 1882, Daly, of Pittsburgh, first called attention to the fact that a diseased con- dition of the nasal cavities was an impor- tant factor in the production of the exacer- [33] HAt-FEVER bations of the disease. Eoe, of Rochester, in 1883, advocated the same theory, but added that *^ removal of the diseased tissue removes susceptibility to future attacks.\" In the same year, Sajous' essay appeared in which he advanced idiosyncrasy as a heretofore unconsidered element in the cause of hay-fever, and laid stress upon the three essential factors in the produc- tion of an attack; viz., first, an external irritant, second, a predisposition of the system, and, third, a vulnerable or sen- sitive area. In 1883, Hack accepted the local theory of the causation of the dis- ease. In 1884, Harrison Allen, of Phila- delphia, attributed the affection to a per- manent or temporary obstruction of one or both nasal chambers. In the same year, J. N. Mackenzie, of Baltimore, termed the disease '^coryza vasomotoria periodica,'' because it is essentially a coryza. He [34] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS says: **The well-recognized, but imper- fectly understood personal susceptibility to certain forms of local irritation, which is the sad prerogative of sufferers from this disease, has always been the stumbling- block in its investigation and the rock upon which the various speculations as to its nature have been wrecked/' He dem- onstrated that 'Hhere exists in the nose a well-defined sensitive area whose stimu- lation, through a pathologic process or through ah extra irritation, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its ex- pression in a reflex act or in a series of reflected phenomena. '^ He thus claimed functional derangement of nerve-centers as essential to the disease. It was also in 1884 that Sir Morell Mackenzie asserted that the universal cause of the disease was pollen, altho he did not deny that other irritating particles, e,g., ipecac, if per- [35] HAY-FEVER sistently brought in contact with the mu- cous membrane of the nasal chambers, may produce it. In 1885 Seth S. Bishop advocated the uric acid theory of the origin of the dis- ease. In 1887 Sir Andrew Clark, in the Caven- dish Lecture in London, emphasized the doctrine of the three great causative fac- tors, — ^viz., first an exciting agent, gener- ally pollen; second, the neurotic habit; and, third, a local morbid condition of the nasal mucous membrane. Since then many articles have appeared upon the subject, but no striking innova- tions in the possible etiology of hay-fever have been offered. In 1893, Macdonald said, we ought not to describe hay-fever as a disease but merely as a train of symptoms — a train of Dhysiologic reflexes instigated by an [36] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS unwarrantably small provocation in cer- tain individuals more susceptible to the influence thereof than the rest of their kind. Early in 1897, Grayson, of Philadelphia, stated that '^the neurotic habit may exist but is not essential to the disease, and the nervous system is implicated as a victim, not as a culprit.\" He claimed that hay- fever is a defect, not of the nervous, but of the nutritive system, believing that the digestive tract is the cradle of the sys- temic error. In October, 1897, Edmund W. Holmes, of Philadelphia, stated his belief to be that hay-fever was largely a neurosis, originating in local disease of the naso- pharynx, the characteristic manifestations being in part direct, the result of central nervous modifications, and in part reflex, from the action of various mechanical ir- [37 1 HAY-FEVER ritants, aided by local and constitntional factors when tliey exist, and by seasonable and climatic influences, the periodic and peripheric susceptibility being in partic- ular expressions of certain impressions. 2. Causes The idea of an external irritant in hay- fever pervades most views of it. There can be no doubt, however, that there is usually an underlying systemic condition which renders individuals susceptible to the disease. It may, in addition, be ac- cepted as conclusive that the nasal ab- normalities found in hay-fever subjects are as often incidental as causative. They are seldom exclusively provocative of the susceptibility, and they are not the results of repeated attacks. Exactly what this underlying condition of susceptibility is has been variously regarded. The nature [38] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS of the irritant has been widely and scien- tifically investigated. While all theories advanced are in part more or less tenable, none of them alone is satisfactory. The condition is always, however, one of low- ered resistance, general or local. If gen- eral, it may be of neurotic, lithemic, idio- syncratic, gastric, intestinal, or diathetic origin. It is, therefore, my belief, that in hay-fever there is always, first, an excit- ing agent, and, second, a system predis- posed by debility of some character to the influence of this irritant. The overwhelm- ing testimony as to the character of this irritant points to its derivation from some- thing external to the body of the sufferer. Moreover, it is absolutely certain that without the action of an external irritant genuine hay-fever does not occur. The elaborate and ingenious experiments of Blackley, not only upon himself but upon [89] HAY-FEVER other individuals, clearly indicated the pollen of flowering plants as an active, exciting cause. It has never been shown that, altho pollen, healthy or unhealthy, may be a mechanical irritant and thus account for many cases, it is not also a chemic irritant when it has fallen upon a susceptible soil. It has been claimed that hay-fever is caused by a toxin gener- ated by a fermentative process in the pollen which has fallen into the alkaline solution of the nose; and it has been shown that acid solutions stop the move- ments of many micro-organisms and sper- matozoa, and that alkaline solutions in the nares have given little or no benefit in attacks of hay-fever. It has also been shown that the affection is more com- mon among men than among women, and that the blood of the latter is the less alkaline. [40 J WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Arnold, in 1896, stated that just what constitutes the irritant is not determined, and said it is likely that not healthy pollen bnt some fungoid growth is responsible, since threshers of grain, at other times without ill-effects, have complained of at- tacks of hay-fever after threshing smutty or moldy grain, especially oats. Helmholtz, himself a sufferer from hay- fever, discovered peculiar micro-organ- isms in his nasal discharges. These vib- rios were never found by others, and this fact is supposed to controvert his theory. It has not been shown conclusively that they have been sought for by other inves- tigators, and it is likely that they have not, since attention has been called away by the pollen and other theories. The antiseptic quinin solution employed by Helmholtz, while extensively used with good results for the subsequent decade, [41] HAY-FEVER was not invariably accompanied by re- lief. Later, the relief that was given by quinin solutions was said to be psychic. This allegation may well be understood when it is considered that many other theories as to the causation of hay-fever, particularly the pollen, abounded soon after Helmholtz's expositions. Some very interesting investigations by Strangways, of St. Louis, in 1897, urged him to conclude the amount of pollen in the air is altogether too small to have an injurious mechanical, medicinal, or poi- sonous influence. He calculates that for every square foot of surface there is one ragweed, and inquiry showed that mere elevation of several hundred feet above the earth's surface does not give relief from this distressing affection. Strang- ways found that ragweed pollen proba- bly floats to 1,000 feet elevation ; but, if the [42] \"WHAT HAY-FEVER IS limit is placed at 500 feet, it would give for every plant 500,000 cubic feet of air, not for one day but for six weeks; i.e., if the whole plant was pollen there would be still only one part of pollen to fifteen or twenty billion parts of air. The rose and the goldenrod are in even smaller quantities. Strangways' estimates showed that there was not more than one grain of pollen for every thirty respirations. He advanced the theory that, while pollen plays a part, it does not irritate mucous membrane nor produce vasomotor paresis by its direct influence, but that a proto- plasmic substance found in pollen and in the vegetable kingdom, acting as a fer- ment, causes the formation of a toxin which is the real exciting cause. There can be little doubt that the neu- rotic element has been present in many, if not most, cases of hay-fever, and evi- [43] HAY-FEVER denced by depression, general lowering of tone, or exhaustion of the nervous sys- tem. The neurosis need not be acquired; in fact, it is often hereditary, which will be discust later. Holmes believes the disease to be in great part a neurosis with other debili- tating conditions. The fact that the bet- ter educated classes are most prone to this affection indicates the influence of neurotic tendency as well as exhaustion of the nervous system or debility or depres- sion thereof. The premonitory symptoms of this affection, as ably shown by Sajous, show the neurotic elements. He well asks, **If the local irritant is the only cause, why does the respiratory tract, the por- tion of the body first and most exposed to its effects, not become immediately influenced?\" This author also shows a case following enteric fever, the debilita- [44] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS ting and exhaustive character of which is well known, one preceded by malarial fever and another by bronchitis, pertus- sis, and varicella. Of the various other theories advanced are the lithemic, the intestinal or gastric, due to lack of proper assimilation, and the uric acid diathesis. The views herein ad- vanced are not at all inconsistent with the idea that the diatheses exercise a predis- posing influence in producing the affec- tion, which influence is debilitating and devitalizing. The local theory alone is not conclusive nor satisfactory; viz., that the disease is due to chronic nasal catarrh, or a local lesion, upon which the exciting cause acts. There is no doubt that diseased areas are more sensitive to the irritant, and espe- cially so in cases of lowered vital energy and lessened normal resistance, general or [45] HAY-FEVER local; but a large number of cases show no local disease. In all of the theories respecting this af- fection there is more or less regard for the agency of pollen in provoking the paroxysms of the disease; but as every one is exposed to the irritant, in those af- fected the soil must be prepared for the seed, that is, before the deposition of the pollen or dust or exciting agent there must be a morbid condition preexisting, which can so far be characterized as to call it lowered vitality or general or local resistance, which springs from a variety of causes. 3. Periodicity On the continent of Europe, where it is less frequent, and in England, hay- fever prevails in June and July. The in- itial attacks occur during May and June and seldom last longer than September. [46] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS In India the malady chiefly occurs in Feb- ruary. In Australia, in and around Ade- laide, where the disease prevails, it oc- curs chiefly in September during the time of the blossoming of the Cape weed. In his work on hay-fever, Beard essays to show how the autumnal form is peculiar to the United States. One cause seems to be the flowering of the Roman wormweed and the pollen of corn about the middle of August, and another in the prevalence of the ** dog-days.\" A third reason lies in the fact that there is less atmospheric ozone and electricity at this period than at any other time of the year, and, again, the hottest days are frequently in the lat- ter part of June. Beard also attached importance to a variety of hay-fever in which the attacks came on in September. This distinction is probably due to the fact that while one person is liable to the [47] HAY-FEVEE action of one pollen, another may be af- fected by a totally different pollen, and the annual attacks come on when the at- mosphere is permeated by a special pol- len to which the victim is individually sus- ceptible. Many persons are susceptible to the action of more than one pollen. Pa- tients often suffer from rose-colds in early summer, and, again, in August, from the autumnal form of hay-fever. Of the 198 cases collected by Beard the onset of the disease occurred — From May 1 to May 10, in 2 cases. (( \" 10 \" 31, \" 6 \" tc June 1 June 10, U J^ u It \" 10 \" 30, U g u tt July 1 July 10, tc g u u \" 10 \" 20, tc g u u \" 20 \" 31, tc 7 cc it Aug. 1 Aug. 10, cc 7 cc tt \" 10 \" 20, tc gj cc tt \" 20 \" 31, tt 54 cc tt Sept. 1 Sept 10, cc 7 cc tt \" 10 \" 20, ^' 1 case. tt \" 20 \" 30, [48] *' 2 cases. WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Of Bosworth's eighty cases the greatest number, fifty-one, occurred between Au- gust 10th and August 27th. The usual date assigned for the commencement of paroxysms of hay-fever is the 29th of August. This form of the disease, com- mencing in the latter part of August, is designated as autumnal catarrh. Many patients have asserted that they are attacked annually on exactly the same date, and even the same time of day, each year. There can be little doubt that the psychic influence or peculiar mental an- ticipation may have a great deal to do with this circumstance. An attack may be brought on by the influence of the im- agination. Phoebus gives the history of a case in which attacks of sneezing were brought on \"while looking at a beautiful picture of a hay-field.\" The well-known instance of J. N. Mackenzie, in which an [49] HAY-FEVER attack of hay-fever was brought on in a susceptible individual subject to rose-cold by means of an artificial rose may be explained on this ground. Boswortli con- siders that the time of occurrence is influenced by psychic causes, and is an- alogous to the recurrence of chills in intermittent fever, and considers that deception as to the actual time of occur- rence might be proved in hay-fever as in intermittent fever, in which changing the hands of the clock may lead to a change in the regular recurrence of the chills. Prince gives the history of a case in which, a hay-fever subject under the influence of auto-suggestion, by means of writing fre- quently on paper and thinking, day and night, in leisure moments, and of slight hypnotism, prevented the premonitory symptoms of hay-fever, and she was free from the annual attacks for several years, [50] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS when they recurred and continued yearly thereafter. Prince asks, may it not be that the reason why certain places, such as Dublin, for instance, are reputed to have a specific influence against attacks, is the counter-suggestion thereby given that the patient will be free from attacks at such places? Pirrie states that it is next to impos- sible to definitely decide the duration of hay-fever attacks, as seasons, age, tem- perament, locality, treatment, and other circumstances tend to cause variations in different years and in different individ- uals. Treatment will do much to curtail the duration of the more prominent and distressing symptoms, but if left to them- selves it is seldom they depart under three or four weeks. A writer in the ** Twentieth Century Practice of Medi- cine\" estimates the duration as from four [51] HAY-FEVER to six weeks, according to tlie patient's surroundings and the atmospheric condi- tions. Asthmatic attacks may last from a few hours to three days and disappear suddenly. Morell Mackenzie states that attacks last from a few hours to several days, or even longer, finally ceasing al- most as suddenly as they came, and leav- ing no trace either in local lesions or in systemic disturbance. Bosworth gives eighty cases, showing the durations of the annual attacks as follows: From May 1 to frost 1 case. \" \" 15 \" May 25, to July 1.... 3 cases. \" 10 \" Aug. 1 lease. \" June 1 \" July 1 2 cases. \" 1 '' \" 14 lease. \" 1 '' frost 5 cases. '' 10 '' July 4 4 \" \" 10 ^' \" 26 5 *' *' July 1 '' Sept. 1 1 case. \" 10 '* Aug. 1 1 \" '' 10 \" Sept. 1 1 \" '' '' 25 '' frost 4 cases. '* Aug. 10 \" Aug. 27, to frost 51 \" [52] WHAT HAY-FEVEE IS All forms of hay-fever terminate with the first frost, and the long interval in which one may suffer is shown by the first case above from May 1st to cold weather. In the United States some who are at- tacked in May recover by the 1st of July; some attacked in Jnly are well by the 15th of Angnst; some attacked in Au- gust recover by November 1st, while some unfortunates suffer throughout the period from May to November. The June type may be followed by a September visita- tion or become a permanent August at- tack, or the August type may disappear in certain individuals and reappear as a June cold. 4. Symptoms Altho the affection is called hay- fever, there is seldom any degree of py- rexia, and, as a fever, it is not a decided one. There are two well-known types of 53] HAY-FEVER the disease, — the catarrhal and the asth- matic. The onset of an attack is occa- sionally marked by feelings of general malaise, a loss of appetite, and depression of spirits. Indeed, these symptoms more or less characterize the entire course of the attack. A * Sickling in the roof of the month\" one week before the onset was felt by a patient of Sajous. Another speaks of dull pains in the head and back two weeks before; chills and shuddering ten days before the attack is experienced by another, while a large proportion com- plain of palpebral pruritis from two to ten days before the onset of the nasal symptoms. It is only in those subjects whose hay-fever is of some years' stand- ing, Sajous points out, that the premoni- tory symptoms are present, and gives in evidence the testimony of a fellow-physi- cian, viz.: *'My attacks for some years [54] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS past came with much regularity, about August 12th to August 14th. On these dates this year I arranged to be on the water, on Lake Ontario and the St. Law- rence Eiver, and entirely escaped every- thing like sneezing and irritation of the nose and eyes. Still I had the usual hot and slightly irritable skin, then an erup- tion of urticaria, accompanied by dis- ordered stomach. This experience is pre- cisely the same as in 1880, except that then I was on the Atlantic.'' Macdonald, in 1893, had a patient whose earliest symptoms were a curious coldness and pallor of the nose even in warm weather. In this connection it may be observed that in 1870 Roberts conceived the ^^pathog- nomonic symptom\" to be coldness of the tip of the nose. Beard divided the symptoms into local and constitutional. Among the latter he [55] HAY-FEVEE regarded fever, loss of strength, the al- tered appetite and the nervous system, considering under this last, depression, indisposition to labor, sense of fulness and heaviness of the head, pain in the fore- head and behind the ears, partial deaf- ness, restlessness at night, inability to sleep, a sense of suffocation, and general irritability. For the local phenomena, he looked upon the skin, in the heart, chest, mouth and nose, eyes and ears. The periodicity of the attacks is a prom- inent symptom and is difficult to explain. Some peculiar psychic influence occasion- ally acts to precipitate an exacerbation. In no other way can we explain the cases of John N. Mackenzie and Morell Mac- kenzie already cited. Analogous to this remarkable periodicity are those cases of intermittent fever wherein each alternate day, at a given hour, the chill occurs. This 156] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS is generally true, moreover, not only of ourselves, but of the world around us. As Holmes has beautifully shown in this con- nection, health and disease afford abun- dant illustration: The fixation of the number of heart-beats, of the respiratory movements, of the cycle of menstruation, or of the period of gestation are all recog- nizable in their unfailing occurrence, but their determination thereof, then, rather than at some other period, can not be ex- plained. So, in disease, are the muta- tions of the enteric temperature, the re- currence of the hectic, of the regularity of the return of the type of ague upon the second, third, or fourth days, or of hay- fever upon its annual date. We must recognize these phenomena as fixt, fur- ther we can not go. **As the rhythm of physiologic effects is under the control of the central nerve ganglia, and as inter- HAY-FEVER mittency is a peculiarly marked feature of so-called nervous disorders, so far the annual return and the variations are evidences of the neurotic origin of hay- fever.'' The onset of an attack of hay-fever be- gins with a sense of irritation referred to the upper nasal chambers, a sense of fulness or tightness across the bridge of the nose. There is an itching or burning sensation of the inner canthus of one or both eyes, which may be accompanied by convulsive movements of the eyelid, an itching or tingling in the roof of the mouth. Spasmodic sneezing soon occurs, and pain in the eyeballs and in the fron- tal regions develops. The paroxysms are more or less violent and prolonged. Ar- nold tells of sneezing in a patient for twenty-five times in close succession, forc- ing the pulse at the height of the attack [58] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS to one hundred and twenty beats to the minute. These paroxysms are followed by an abundant, thin, serous discharge from the nose. The mucous membrane of the nasal fossae swells so as to block up the nasal passages, and respiration through the nares becomes impossible. The escape of serum from the nostrils seems to increase the intense irritation and makes the sneezing worse. The dis- charge from both eyes and nose gradually grows thicker and may become semipuru- lent. There is often a certain amount of painful vision, and sometimes swelling, besides the usual pricking and stinging of the conjunctival surfaces. There are fre- quent transient paroxysms of lacrimation, and there is often much swelling of the eyelids as well as of the conjunctiva. The face becomes puffy and edematous, and the senses of taste and smell become im-, [59] HAY-FEVER paired. The pharynx, mouth, and tonsils share in the engorgement and become red, and simultaneously the inflammation of the eyes, nose, and throat becomes intense and painful. Swallowing may become so difficult that there is little rest night or day. Insomnia is common and is often attended by nervousness and a sense of suffocation out of all proportion to the gravity of the condition. Cough is not a constant feature, but in a considerable proportion of cases it comes on in the sec- ond week, and lasts through the attack. Generally it is spasmodic and so incessant at night that sleep is impossible, and there are soreness and pain resulting from the straining of the diaphragm and intercos- tal muscles. Bronchitis does not usually result, and expectoration is absent or scanty until late. Cough may continue after all other symptoms have ceased. £60] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS The pulse and temperature are not gen- erally altered, but later in the attack the temperature may be raised two or three degrees, doubtless from disturbed rest. A ^* sufferer '^ records that, in some, the genito-urinary and rectal passages give the first warning by intense itching and burning. In one instance, a more than generally severe paroxysm induced rup- ture of the capillaries in the lacrimal ca- runcle of the right eye, causing engorge- ment of the organ and displacement of the visual axis, with consequent double vision for some days. The direct and re- flex changes in the vocal apparatus vary from loss of timber and harshness to complete inability to utter nasal vowels and consonants. The disorder varies much in intensity even in the same person within short in- tervals of time, so as to almost give [61] HAY-FEVER an intermittent character to the com- plaint. The attack finally ceases almost as sud- denly as it came on, leaving no trace of local lesion or systemic disturbance. It i^ accompanied in some patients with nettle- rash. Asthma is a late symptom, coming on after the acute symptoms have abated, and cough has existed for some time. It may appear at the height of the attack. It is more common in autumnal catarrh than in the early forms. Its period, as a rule, begins at the fourth week, and it does not vary from ordinary asthma. It is sometimes periodic, occurring at the same hour night after night. Paroxysms appear associated with antecedent bron- chial rather than nasal symptoms. Nasal reflex phenomena, without cough, may oc- casion paroxysms. Persistent cough more usually exists in the intervals between [62] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS paroxysms. Beard says that four-fifths of the sufferers have cough or asthma. The symptoms are not usually of equal severity each year. Asthma generally comes on in the daytime, a little ropy mu- cus being expectorated, and later an abun- dant frothy secretion. There may be only a slight remission, the dyspnea continu- ing so long as exposure continues. The attacks rarely produce emphysema of the lung, and sooner or later recovery ensues. Bosworth estimates that the asthmatic at- tacks come on earlier each year in those who have suffered from hay-fever in con- nection with asthma, and he believes that an attack of hay-fever is especially liable to develop an attack of bronchial asthma as a natural consequence of the disturb- ance in the nasal chambers. He also observed a number of cases in which hay- fever symptoms gradually abated while [63] HAY-FEVER the asthma became a prominent factor, and, again, that victims of hay-asthma finally acquired the perennial form of the disease, — the attacks occurring at all seasons without reference to the presence of pollen in the air. As already evidenced in Sajous' case, in a number of cases the attacks are pre- ceded by cutaneous eruptions. Laflaive cites cases with urticaria and eczema pre- ceding the onset of hay-fever. Facial prn- ritis and herpetiform eruptions are oc- casionally seen. J. N. Mackenzie speaks of an inflammation of the external audi- tory meatus in all respects analogous to that of the nose in hay-fever, occurring repeatedly in a lady during the summer months. Besides asthma, already mentioned, there is little tendency to permanent ill- effects except thickening of the nasal mu- [64] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS cous membrane from the prolonged irri- tation. Taste and smell may be impaired during and for a long time after the at- tack. General irritability and nervous- ness may be more or less persistent. El- derly sufferers for a long time may have weakened hearts which intermit during attacks, which may recover with return- ing health or result in cardiac dilatation. \"Wyman mentions pneumonia in three cases during attacks. In one case the ca- tarrh ceased for two weeks to return after the pneumonia disappeared, when asthma also came on for the first time. 5. Its Pathology, Diagnosis akdi Prognosis Morell Mackenzie states that hay-fever, leaving no permanent structural lesion be- hind it, can not, therefore, be strictly said to have any pathology. Surely it is that [65] HAY-FEVER no distinct specific organisms have been fonnd. Sajous calls attention to the dis- tinct physiologic functions of the two re^ gions of the nasal cavities, the olfactory and the respiratory. The filaments of the olfactory nerve cover the superior tur- binated bones, and the upper third of the middle turbinated bones, and the corre- sponding portion of the septum. Thus the upper portions of the nasal cavities are devoted to the sense of smell and do not enter into the pathology of hay-fever. The respiratory portion of the nose in- cludes all the surfaces below the olfac- tory. It is under the control of the vaso- motor nerves of the sympathetic system, and is quite sensitive to local or periph- eral irritation. This sensitiveness resides in the terminal filaments of the sen- sory nerves, distributed over the surfaces of the mucous membranes. The mem- [66] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS branes of the posterior areas of the nasal fossae are supplied with several branches of the sphenopalatine ganglion, which en- ter by the sphenopalatine foramen. This ganglion possesses a sympathetic root de- rived from the carotid plexus through the vidian nerve, thus establishing a connect- ing link between the nasal mucous mem- brane and the sympathetic system. In health the nasal mucous membrane pours out from twelve to sixteen ounces of watery serum daily, which — that it may warm, moisten, and cleanse the inspired air on its passage to the lungs — is dif- fused over the convex surfaces of the tur- binated bones. The centers in the medulla, through the vasomotor, control and regu- late this process of serous exudation; the nicety of which regulation is seen in the adjustment thereof to the varying hygro- scopic and thermic conditions of the air. £67] HAY-FEVEE The experiments of John N. Mackenzie, in 1884, showed: 1. That in the nose there exists a well- defined sensitive area whose stimulation, through a local pathologic process or through an extra irritation, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its expression in a reflex act, or in a series of reflected phenomena. 2. That this sensitive area corresponds, in all probability, with that portion of the nasal mucous membrane covering the tur- binated corpora cavernosa and the most sensitive spots covering the posterior end of the inferior turbinated body and the septum immediately opposite. 3. That nasal cough is caused only by stimulation of this area. 4. That the tendency to evolution of reflex phenomena varies in different indi- viduals, and is probably dependent upon [68] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS the varying degree of excitability of the erectile tissue. These sensitive areas correspond to the distribution of the sphenopalatine branches of the superior maxillary nerve, as distinguished from the nasal branch of the ophthalmic, which latter supplies the more anterior portions of the nasal fos- sae. The former nerves, derived through the ganglion of Meckel, therefore, prob- ably contain the vasomotor nerves which govern the erection of the turbinated tissue, and, hence, the localization of the sensitive areas becomes the key to the mechanism of the paroxysms. Neverthe- less, Beard was inclined to transfer the point of greatest excitability from the peripheral ends of the nerve-filaments to the nerve-centers themselves, because it seems a more comprehensive explanation of the varied phases of the disease. [69] HAY-FEVER Eoe explained that the more frequent occurrence of asthmatic paroxysms at night might he brought about by the gravitation of blood to, or the contact of polypi upon, these sensitive areas. Sajous thought it was evident that there were three areas capable of producing reflex symptoms in the course of a paroxysm of hay-fever, and that the three combined formed the key to the local nervous ele- ment, not that the three areas must take part, but in some, one of them, in others, two of them, etc. In the asthmatic cases, he noticed that both anterior and pos- terior areas were sensitive, the latter especially so. Capp pointed out two distinct spots or areas of the mucous membrane of the nasal cavities, one at the posterior and one at the anterior extremity of the in- ferior turbinates, one or both of which [70] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS may be supersensitive in individual cases ; also a spot in the anterior nasal chambers at the upper angle formed by the septum. All these are exquisitely sensitive, and, when irritated, produce extensive reflex symptoms. Trouble appears to begin at one or all of the points, while the rest of the Schneiderian membrane is in normal condition; but with sneezing, hyperemia and hyperesthesia ensue, and, through continuity, may extend to throat, ears, and eyes. In speaking of the three reflex areas. Holmes said that it is regarded that all points of the cavernous tissue are not equally susceptible to irritation; the sen- sitive areas are the inferior turbinates (the posterior and middle reflex areas) and the portion of the septum immedi- ately opposite, being particularly related to cough and asthma ; the anterior, in the [71] HAY-FEVER vestibule, to sneezing, lacrimation, and other catarrhal symptoms. We might compare these reflexes with certain other cases of reflex asthma (not hay-fever) benefited by removal of the tonsils. Bosworth regarded the continuous sneezing as pathognomonic and holds that the hyperemia is ** confined entirely to the large venous sinuses, the capillaries proper not being congested,\" and speaks of the watery, serous discharge with the bluish-gray 'Uinge of the mucosa verging on opalescence, the surface of the mem- brane being covered with slightly viscid, watery serum, which gives it a glassy, semitranslucent aspect.'* During an attack of hay-fever the erec- tile tissues of the nasal passages and the posterior throat become distended, the blood-vessels are engorged, groups of lymph-cells fill the lymphatic spaces, the [72 ] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS mucous surface is crowded with migrat- ing leucocytes (white blood-corpuscles), younger epithelial cells are vacuolating and proliferating, secretion is increased in quantity and altered in character and composition, sensation is heightened, in- tensified, altered, or benumbed, and the whole metabolism of the affected region is profoundly disordered. Examination of the lower borders of the turbinated bones will disclose the mucous membranes of the nasal cavities arranged in thick, loose folds, owing to the peculiar distribution of the network of arteries and veins which go to make up ** cavernous tissue/' It is peculiar to this tissue that it may suddenly be engorged with blood, extremely dis- tending it, and as suddenly emptied and the engorgement relieved. It is especially thick over the inferior turbinated bones and over the lower and posterior part of I 73 ] HAY-FEVER the nasal septum, and also npon the lower edge of the middle turbinated bone. In acute conditions the engorgement and dis- tention soon subside. In chronic states the mucous membrane becomes markedly thick- ened and the blood-vessels enlarged and tortuous. The subsidence of the engorge- ment can not occur, and as a result there is a greater or less degree of closure of the nasal passages. The mucous membrane of the nasal cav- ities in hay-fever does not present the characteristic features of an acute inflam- mation. The impact of pollen or exciting irritant causes complete relaxation of the large veins of the turbinated bodies and an exudation of serum, which relaxation continues so long as pollen or the irritant is in situ, but as soon as it is removed the normal caliber is again restored and the attack subsides. Deviations of the sep- [74] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS tnm or chronic rhinitis are occasionally, found concurrent with the disease, but can not be regarded as characteristic. Hay-fever may be distinguished from asthma, common catarrh, bronchitis, acute rhinitis, remittent fever, and catarrhal conjunctivitis. The salient feature of hay-fever is its periodicity or annual re- currence. This is part of its very nature, is the central point of diagnosis, is its chief characteristic, and to its elucida- tion. Holmes says, all existing theories tend. Beard states that hay-fever is like asthma in the following points : 1. It is hereditary; 2. It is more or less periodic; 3. It is paroxysmal; 4. It is correlated to other functional nervous affections; 5. The paroxysms are excited by a great [75 J HAY-FEVER variety of irritants ; persons being differ- ently affected; 6. It is singularly obstinate and is re- lieved by the same remedies. Bosworth considers hay-fever depen- dent upon: 1. A neurotic habit; 2. Pollen in the atmosphere; 3. A disordered condition of the nasal passages. While asthma is dependent npon : 1. A general neurotic condition; 2. Obscure conditions of the atmos- phere; 3. Diseased bronchial (not nasal) mu- cous membranes. It is the comparative suddenness of the onset, as well as its sudden departure, the violent paroxysms of sneezing, and the character of the nasal discharges which are the peculiar features of hay-fever. 1 76 J WHAT HAY-FEVER IS The first attacks are likely to be mistaken for ordinary coryza, but here the abrupt onset, the characteristic edematous puf- finess of the eyelids, the absence of con- stitutional symptoms will indicate the difference. In children, moreover, at- tacks of hay-fever are most liable to be mistaken for acute colds or rhinitis, — ^but here, again, the above points may serve to distinguish, together with the sequence of the symptoms, the time of year, and the physical signs of an acute bronchitis, if it extends so far. The approach of cold weather and the coincident departure of the symptoms will make clear a diagno- sis, while the history of previous attacks at the season of the year most favorable to hay-fever, the presence of certain irri- tants, and the general condition of the bodily symptoms may be of aid in dis- tinguishing the affection. In acute rhi- [77] HAY-FEVER nitis there are several stages, viz.: First, a dry stage, lasting for a few, say twelve, hours; second, a serous discharge lasting two or three days; and, third, a muco- purulent discharge for from three to five days, — ^while the entire attack runs its course in from five to ten days if no com- plications ensue. In hay-fever there is no dry stage ; the discharge from the out- set is purely serous and never muco- purulent during the entire course. The nasal discharge in hay-fever is sometimes slightly opaque, and it may contain some few epithelial cells and viscid mucus. In acute rhinitis examination of the nares will show an inflammatory area while hay- fever shows none. Hay-fever is a vaso- motor paresis, and is easily diagnosed from inflammatory coryza by the swollen bluish-gray appearance of the inferior turbinated bones, and by the fact that the [78] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS first train of symptoms continues through to the end. Examination of the nares will disclose occlusion due to the swollen tur- binated bones lying in contact with the septum. The appearance of the mucous membrane itself is characteristic and only slightly resembles an inflammatory pro- cess. It is markedly swollen, not bright red as in rhinitis, but bluish-gray, cov- ered with a thin, slightly viscid, watery serum, giving it a glassy, semitranslu- cent, at times opalescent appearance. Again, the marked puffiness of the eye- lids, the great suffusion of the eyes, the photophobia, and even epiphora are dis- tinguishing features of hay-fever. The sensitive areas spoken of, particu- larly those on the lower and posterior parts of the septum and the inferior tur- binated bones, are of value in differen- tiating hay-fever, and the markedly pro- [79] HAY-FEVER nonnced paroxysms of sneezing are very prominent in hay-fever. People are subject in the changeable climate of spring and early summer to catch colds, and especially is this true of those prone to catarrh. These cases are sometimes mistaken for hay-fever. The readiness, however, with which they yield to anti-catarrhal treatment shows their nature. The prognosis is invariably good as to life. Sufferers often live to advanced ages. Hay-fever is no bar to life-insur- ance, but unless rationally treated the chances of permanent cure are very small. There are few exceptions to the rule that the tendency is, when once established, to an annual recurrence, unless the predis- posing causes are removed, or there is removal of or away from the exciting cause. Beard states that hay-fever has [80] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS no effect on longevity, and that, judging from observation and analogy, this afflic- tion may act as a kind of safety-valve for the nervous diathesis, preventing other and more serious disorders, and thus be- coming the friend rather than the enemy of life. When once attacked, unless properly treated, escape is rare in any subsequent year. Even changes in consti- tution in extreme age are no bar or pro- tection. It rarely skips a year, provided locality and influence are the same. Ab- solute immunity is only obtainable at the price of temporary exile. There is no proof that hay-fever is generally milder or severer in certain years all over the world or over a country, yet evidence is satisfactory that in certain localities it varies greatly in different years. Now and then, but not often, the ten- dency to the disease seems to be out- [81] HAY-FEVER grown. In one of Beard's cases the dis- ease skipped two years. Dr. Gibbons, of California, mentions a terrible case in which the attacks in successive years be- came lighter and lighter and finally dis- appeared entirely. With respect to increase or decrease of severity of symptoms with advancing years there is no constant law. In some cases the disease grows milder, in others severer, in others still, years of compara- tive mildness alternate with years of com- parative severity. The early form may change into the later form. There is no doubt, however, that attacks may change from the early to the late form, and vice versa, and in advancing years may be milder. Bosworth states that the younger the patient the better is the promise of relief; and that rose-cold, belonging more especially to early life, is to be regarded [82] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS more favorably than other forms. Mac- donald has observed spontaneous disap- pearance in children, perhaps due to an increase, ^ari passu with growth and de- velopment of nervous stability. As regards the termination of each in- dividual attack the prognosis is invari- ably favorable; cessante causa, cessat effectus. There is almost equal certainty that with the same causative influences the attacks will reappear upon exposure to the exciting cause. It is peculiar, too, that the disease of one year's standing has proved as obstinate as one of from twenty to thirty years' duration. In these instances it may be a question as to how firmly fixt has become the neurotic habit. M. W. Bulette, of Colorado, in 1896, as a result of his own experience, made the assertion that more than eighty per cent. [83] HAY-FEVER of hay-fever sufferers can be permanently and effectually cured. Thoro examina- tion of the patient and elimination of every possible source of irritation and pathologic condition are necessary. I desire to be more emphatic, and from my results in the treatment of over 200 cases during the last twenty years, I be- lieve that the curability of the disease can not be questioned. That all cases can be cured is questionable; but we can un- hesitatingly say that a majority of cases are curable, and that positive relief, with- out change of residence or inconvenience, can he afforded during the period of oc- currence, if treatment is directed along the lines laid down in the following chapter. [84] PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES T851 PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES 1. When Due to Some Exciting Agent Such as Pollen It being generally recognized that there are two elements entering into the causa- tion of hay-fever, viz., an exciting agent and a predisposing or preexisting con- dition, regard will be given the subject of causation from this standpoint. A great number of agencies have been regarded as the direct causes of this disease, but opinion in the main has as- signed pollen as the essential factor, act- ing upon the preexisting condition or predisposition. It may be better, however, to give a resume of other agencies before [87] HAY-FEVER regarding this subject of pollen. The most important of these are heat, light, dust, ozone, overexertion, ipecac, lyco- podium, coumarin, benzoic acid, choco- late, or several of these in combination. No attempt to signify or designate a definite cause was made by the early writers until 1819, when Bostock first described the malady and ventured the view that it was due to the influence of solar heat. He attributed his own pro- longed sufferings to the exposure to the sun's rays and fatigue. Some time after, Phoebus attributed the affection to *Hhe first heat of summer,'' which, he stated, **is a stronger cause than all the grass emanations put to- gether.\" Phoebus subsequently modified his views so as to regard the first heat of summer as acting only in an indirect man- ner as an exciting cause, and admitted [88] ACCEPTED CAUSES that hay and the blossoms of rye caused exacerbations. It can not be contended, at this day, that heat alone will provoke the disease. In the plains of India when the heat is greatest it is not found, al- tho later in the year, in the cooler months and before vegetation is burned up, it does appear; but among the hills of India, where the climate is milder and the grasses and cereals are in blossom, hay-fever exists. At sea, when vessels are becalmed and heat is most intense, and in the great heat of the desert hay-fever is not found. Pirrie shows that great heat is common to all cases, even when the vegetable world is looked to for the cause, and strangely points out that the premonitory feelings of an attack coin- cide with those caused by high tempera- ture. One of the most interesting cases from this standpoint is that of an En- [89] HAY-FEVER glishman, who, altho not a medical man, was well known to science — Richard Proctor. The asthma — for it took this form — occurred only during the cold months, and was always aggravated by a rime or hoar-frost, especially if the lat- ter was followed by a bright, sunny day. It is a striking fact that in regions com- paratively free from the disease persons subject to it become worse on warm days, or when the wind blows from the south. It has been found by experience that while this aggravation by winds is in most part due to the presence of more pollen, the higher temperature is also in a measure responsible. Hot, dry days are more favorable to the dissemination of pollen than rainy ones, and it becomes especially active when hot, dry periods follow stormy weather. In the light of Blackley's experiments upon the amount [ »o ] ACCEPTED CAUSES of pollen in the atmosphere, these facts wonld seem to explain the action of heat and sunlight as an active cause in the pro- duction of the exacerbations of hay-fever. Phoebus was dissatisfied with the view of the influence of solar heat, and thought that the longer days, which produce a more continuous action of light, were per- haps to blame; but where light is strong- est and lasts the longest — indeed, in the land of the ** midnight sun\" — ^hay-fever is practically unknown. Pirrie called at- tention to the fact that exposure to strong light aggravated the symptoms of the attack. The cited case of the late Eichard Proctor is an example of the truth of this. There is an instance of the widow of a clergyman whose attacks, most severe in summer, were aroused by sunlight in the early morning. Ingals knew a clergy- man who was unable to cross the street [91] HAY-FEVER on a hot day without sneezing violently unless he carried an umbrella. Persons with sensitive mucous membranes, espe- cially subjects of hay-fever, are, no doubt, sometimes liable to attacks of sneezing from sunlight; but these symptoms must not be mistaken for true hay-fever. In- gals states that he knew an individual in whom attacks of sneezing were brought on by exposure to bright gaslight. Gas- light was also regarded by Beard as a cause of this affection. However, Morell Mackenzie shows that gaslight is em- ployed more in winter when the affection does not prevail than in the English spring and American autumn, when the affection most prevails. Nothing can ex- ceed the reflected glare of sunlight at sea on a bright day, yet it is upon the sea that exemption from attacks of hay- fever is universally found, in] ACCEPTED CAUSES From his scientific investigations upon the subject, Beard, whose published work is a model, concluded that it was ex- tremely probable that dust occasionally caused hay-fever. Out of 198 cases of hay-fever reported by him no less than 104 attributed the affection to dust. One hundred and forty-two of these cases, how- ever, occurred between May and Septem- ber, the usual hay-fever season; and the lay, not the trained professional, mind advanced the causes. Some attributed the affection to ** indoor dust\"; some to '* cin- ders.'' These data of Beard, therefore, must be taken cum grano salis. More especially is this so since a paroxysm of sneezing and subsequent coryza, fre- quently brought on in normal health by the mechanical irritation of dust or even strong odors, should hardly be dignified as an attack of hay-fever. In England, [98] HAY-FEVER in February, March, and April, when strong east winds often blow clouds of dust against the face, the symptoms of hay-fever do not appear, whereas in June and July, when dust is comparatively lit- tle, the affliction is most extant. Holmes stated that even in winter-time stirring among old books or in an old garret the exposure to the fine dust there- from would, by simple mechanical irri- tation, produce an attack in him. It has been the consideration that dust, or pol- len, acting as any other form of dust, could be kept from entering the nasal chambers that has given rise to the va- rious inventions to purify the air before it enters the nose, such as plugs of cotton or wool, and veils (which, in addition, soften the glare of the sun and lessen the irritating action of winds. Every hay-fever sufferer knows the little value of such a device. [94] ACCEPTED CAUSES From the vast quantity of facts and ob- servations gathered together by him, Phoebus, who previously had ascribed sun- light as the cause of hay-fever, endeav- ored to extract a complete theory of the disease. He suggested an excess of ozone in the atmosphere as a possible cause. It remained, however, for Blackley, in 1873, by his great endeavors and scientific methods of investigation, to disclose the fallacy of this theory. He purposely breathed air highly charged with ozone for five or six hours without effect; and without inconvenience he inhaled ozone artificially prepared and in quantities far exceeding that found in the same vol- ume of atmospheric air. This same phy- sician also studied upon himself the ef- fects of benzoic acid, a substance shown by Vogel to be contained in Anthoxan- ihum odoratum and Holcus odoratus, the [95] HAY-FEVER two species of flowering grasses to which the causation of hay-fever has been at- tributed. Likewise he investigated the odorous principle of many flowering grasses, coumarin, and the volatile oils which impart to many plants, such as peppermint, juniper, rosemary, and lav- ender, their characteristic perfume. In all these cases the results were negative. Various other exciting causes are in numberless variety and many of purely idiosyncratic nature. Emanations from dry hay, sunlight, gaslight, heat, minute organisms as supposed by Helmholtz, the *' mange\" insect, dusts of all kinds, bad air, railway smoke, brimstone matches, flowers and fruits, odors from dogs, cats, horses, cattle, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and wild animals, have all been held respon- sible for the paroxysms. \"Ward Smith records linseed meal and mustard as [96] ACCEPTED CAUSES exciting causes. Wm. Murrell mentions powdered May-apple (podophyllum), the effluvia of clean pocket handkerchiefs fresh from an ironing table, locust-tree blossoms, mulberry blossoms, and fruit. The exhalations from feathers have been regarded as causes. It is well-known that various drugs like ipecacuanha and lyco- podium give rise to attacks, and sulfur has been mentioned as a cause. Sir Thomas Watson names a servant in St. Bartholomew's Hospital affected by ipe- cac. CuUen tells of an apothecary's wife who, whenever ipecac was triturated in the shop, had an attack of hay-fever. He also mentions the vicinity of a rice- threshing floor as a provocative cause. Itzigson tells of a merchant who had hay- fever paroxysms whenever fresh coffee was handled in his presence ; and it is re- corded of a dyer that he could not work [97] HAY-FEVER when the wood of the oak {Quercus tine- toria) was lying about. The author knows of a case in a physician in whom violent paroxysms of sneezing are in- duced by the tasting of chocolate. It is related in the *^ Twentieth Century Prac- tise of Medicine\" that a hay-fever pa- tient fond of tomatoes and watermelons was unable to eat of them during the usual hay-fever season without most vio- lent disturbance of the gastro-intestinal tract. Bastian was subject to attacks of an affection like hay-fever while dissect- ing the Ascaris megalocephala, a parasite infecting the horse. Hyde Salter tells of a clergyman affected by the vicinity to a dead hare, and who was thus able to de- tect the presence of a poacher. H. Charl- ton Bastian had like effects from the ** mange'' insect of the horse. Einger and Murrell tell of a young gentleman [98] ACCEPTED CAUSES made worse by the vicinity of horses or stable people. Once, while in the theater, an attack suddenly supervened without any appreciable reason until a horse gal- loped upon the stage. Macdonald, in 1893, mentioned a patient who, two or three hours after having patted his horse with his gloved hand, inadvertently put it to his face, and was inamediately seized with a violent paroxysm. The odor from the inner aspects of the legs of the horse was very irritating to one writer, a ** suf- ferer.'' Einger and Murrell cite the case of a gentleman who, subsequent to an acute pleurisy, was ever after a subject of ** hair-caterpillar asthma,'' and was immediately attacked if by any chance he touched a caterpillar. The difficulty of sometimes finding some exciting agent is shown by the case of Drenger. After searching several [99] HAY-FEVER years in vain for the cause of attacks of hay-fever caused by entry into a certain room in a house, and after ransacking nearly everything in the house, a mattress was suspected, and, upon removal, was satisfactorily shown to be the offending agent. The odor of peaches, of violets, of the mignonette, of chocolate, of musk, and of peppermint, has come in for a share of the blame. Trosseau relates of himself that attacks came on when he entered a room in which there were violets. The botanist Broussais was often impeded in his work by attacks caused apparently by the odor of a rose. Hiinerswolff and Morell Mac- kenzie each cite a case in which the per- fume of the rose produced attacks of coryza. The former's account is in the **Ephemerides,'' and has been often re- ferred to. The latter 's case proved rebel- tlOO] ACCEPTED CAUSES lions to treatment, and the sufferer had, at last, to banish these flowers from her garden. That this peculiar antipathy to flowers is often imaginative is also shown by John K Mackenzie, who cites the case of a subject of hay-fever to whom he handed an artificial rose. Immediately an attack of rose-cold ensued. A patient men- tioned by Phoebus and Morell Mackenzie, while gazing upon a picture of a hay field, was seized with an attack of hay-fever. These last two instances indicate the psychic influence rather than any extrane- ous cause, but they serve to show the varieties of exciting agents. The external cause which has been by far the most generally recognized and ac- cepted as the most frequent is pollen. The older writers upon this theory did not dis- tinguish the underlying condition neces- sary before pollen could act as a cause of [lOir HAY-FEVER tlie disease. The remarkable and elabo- rate experiments of Blackley, from 1866 to 1878, conclusively prove that a most important exciting cause of hay-fever is found in the action of pollen upon the mucous membrane of the nasal cavities. In his own person he showed that the in- halation of pollen always brought on the symptoms of hay-fever; that there was a direct relation between the intensity of the symptoms and the amount of pollen in the air, and that none of the other agents referred to, such as heat, light, ozone, dust, or odors, would, of themselves, cause the distress. His range of ob- servation included the pollens of various grasses and of cereals and of plants of thirty-five other natural orders. His ex- periments were made in the hay-fever sea- son in England, between the end of May and the latter part of July, and showed [102] ACCEPTED CAUSES that ninety-five per cent, of the pollen con- tained in the atmosphere belonged to the Graminacece. The apparatus from which he obtained the most satisfactory results in his investigations consisted of a verti- cal plate of glass, % of an inch in diam- eter. It was covered with a hood, and was pivoted to an upright staff. A weather- vane surmounted the hood to control the face of the glass-plate before the wind. Upon this glass-plate was aflfixt a micro- scopic cover-glass, one centimeter in di- ameter, covered with glycerin. Any pollen floating in the atmosphere would thus be carried upon the plate by the wind-current and adhere to the glycerin upon the glass- slide. Blackley thus found that the amount of pollen caught upon the plate increased progressively from the seventh to the thir- tieth of May, when twenty-five grains were counted, to seventy-six grains on the [103] HAY-FEVER eighth of June, and to 280 grains on the tenth of June. On the twenty-eighth of June 880 grains were counted, after which date they decreased until the first of Au- gust, when they had completely disap- peared. Bright, sunny days brought large quantities of pollen, while rainy days decreased the amount. Passing showers ameliorated the individual symptoms, tho not a:ffecting the amount of pollen depos- ited upon the slide. Blackley also clearly showed that the mucous membranes of the nasal fossse were not affected by pollen in the atmosphere when twenty-five grains per diem only were deposited on his glass, while seventy-five grains in twenty-four hours would irritate in certain individuals. When 280 grains of pollen per day were deposited the direct action upon the mu- cous membrane of this quantity would result in complete vascular dilation. [104] ACCEPTED CAUSES Clinical observation has shown a paral- lel, but by no means a complete, analogy to the above phenomena in the action of cocain in different strengths of solution. Emanations from the rose and from rye have been shown to have caused coryza, occlusion of the nostrils, and sneezing for from six to eight hours. The sweet-scented vernal grass {AnthoxantJium odoratum), sweet-scented soft grass {Holcus odora- tus), meadow grass, meadow fox-tail, Indian corn, barley, wheat, oats, bean- flowers, lilies, elder trees in bloom, the goldenrod, hay, timothy, and clover, and others may be mentioned. In America the pollen of the Roman wormwood, ragweed, or hogweed {Ambrosia artemisice folia), is the most commonly referred to. It is very common in nearly all the States. It blossoms in August and September, the prevalent time of hay-fever. Wyman and [105] HAY-FEVER his son, who had fled to the White Moun- tains to avoid hay-fever, were immediately attacked when a package of the ragweed was opened there. The seashore, usually exempt, sometimes is not so, probably due to the presence there of the pollen of the Artemisia gallica, another kind of worm- wood. In England the AnthoxantJium odo- ratum, or ** sweet-scented vernal grass,\" seems especially causative. There must also be mentioned the common daisy {Bellis perennis) of England; also the rye-grass {Lolium perenne) and ** sweet- scented soft grass\" {Holcus odoratus). In Germany the rye-blossom is chiefly in- dicated as a cause. In Australia the Cape •weed pollen is regarded as most com- monly provocative. It covers the hills round about Adelaide to the height of some thousand feet or so. Most of the population of Adelaide is affected with [106] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever during the time of its blossom- ing, viz., in September. In India, where the malady occurs chiefly in February, it is the blossoms of the mango-tree {Mangi- fera indica) that are held responsible. J. C. Wilson holds that most subjects are not sensitive to emanations from hay, and points out that there are no distinctive bacteria to give rise to the aifection. Marsh, himself a sufferer, stated his be- lief in the pollen theory, conceiving hay- fever analogous to Rhus toxicodendron, or ivy-poisoning of the skin. There are two authentic cases which would impair the pollen theory, the well- known exemption of hay-fever subjects at sea being granted. One is mentioned by Walshe, in which a passenger retained his symptoms of hay-fever during a passage across the Atlantic. Abbotts Smith has re- ported the other, in which the disease came [107] HAY-FEVER on at sea nine miles from land. In this lat- ter case, unfurling the sails in which a large quantity of pollen had been folded may explain the occurrence. In the former instance the diagnosis was by no means certain and the presence of some other ir- ritant may have accounted for the dis- tress. Moreover, it is by no means impos- sible for pollen to be deposited on a ship even when miles away from land. In speaking of the distribution of pollen Dar- win tells of how the ground near St. Louis, in Missouri, has been so widely covered with pollen that it looked as if it had been sprinkled with sulfur. Pine forests, 400 miles south, were probably the place and distance from which it came. On March 16, 1883, in Philadelphia, ignorant people took for brimstone a shower of yellow pollen which had been blown from some distant pine forest. [108] ACCEPTED CAUSES After citing many of the various causa- tive pollens Holmes says that he is **not aware that any specialized action has been proved; all act (if at all) by mechanical irritation.'' He also shows the punctu- ality of flowering on the selfsame date yearly is an absurdity, depending, as the flowers do, upon the variations of the seasons. The date of the flowering of plants varies within certain limits, and he points out the mutability of the blossoming date, or, more rationally, its limited variation, and further adds that *'even as a mere ir- ritant, as pollen affects comparatively few, it must act upon a condition which is pre- existent, which is, therefore, independent of and predominates it, else would the cause, pollen, produce it universally.\" As already mentioned, it has been claimed, that a toxin generated from pol- [109] HAY-FEVER len by a fermentative process in an alka- line solution is the cause of hay-fever. 2. The PREDisposrcTG Causes \"While millions of people are exposed to the exciting causes of hay-fever, compara- tively few suffer from it, and that there is an underlying condition, predisposition, or idiosyncrasy, can hardly be doubted. Exactly what this is, or on what it depends, is unknown. Abbotts Smith, as early as 1865, spoke of a predisposition to attacks of hay-fever as one of the principal causes thereof. As Holmes has shown, there must be individual predisposition, since the ex- citing causes, if pollens, are everywhere. This predisposition or idiosyncrasy has generally suddenly developed without ap- parent reason. It has been argued that it is systematic or central, and that it is due to some local abnormality of the mucous [110 1 ACCEPTED CAUSES membrane, the capillaries, or the periph- ery of nerves. Once acquired, however, it is seldom lost, and it apparently increases with each successive year. The influence of race is seen in \\he fact that the English-speaking people are the principal sufferers. In India, Africa, and Australia it is mostly the English and Americans who are attacked. In America it occurs in nearly every State, altho much more infrequently in the South. In Can- ada hay-fever is rare, especially in the maritime provinces. Wyman relates a case — ^the only one reported — of hay-fever in an Indian child. Beard mentions that Dr. Jacobi, of New York, who practised much among the Germans, had never met with a case in that nationality ; and in the same city a similar observation was re- corded by Dr. Chaveau, a practitioner among the French. Sajous has called at- tiiia HAY-FEVER tention to a curious fact in this connec- tion — ^viz., that the principal sufferers, American and English, are excessive tea- drinking nations, and that this beverage may exert a depressing influence on nerve- centers. It would be interesting to have some information as to the existence of hay-fever in China and Japan, the tea- producing countries. John N. Mackenzie, in 1884, gives the first recorded instance of hay-fever in a negro, a male of thirty- five, tall, well-proportioned, and respect- able, the attack lasting from the second week in August to late in September. A sensitive spot was found on the left in- ferior turbinated bone, 1% inches within the nostril, which gave origin to a most in- tense paroxysm of asthma on simple con- tact with the probe. Reports of hay-fever have come from nearly every quarter of the civilized globe. [112] ACCEPTED CAUSES It is seldom seen in the far North, and is more frequent in the temperate than in the torrid zone. It is seen more often in urban than in rural districts. The disease is by far the most frequent in Great Britain and the United States. In Norway, Sweden, and Denmark it is seldom found, and it is scarcely ever seen among the natives of Eussia, Germany, France, Italy, or Spain. The English and Americans in India and Africa are the only ones who are affected by it. Macdonald, in 1893, said the Irish are certainly not exempt. In the north of Scotland it is very infrequent, while in the south of England the disease is more fre- quently found than in the north. In Aus- tralia and New Zealand it is occasionally found. Literature is strangely silent about South America, but this land is strange to us in many other ways. Pirrie gives an instance of an English officer in India suf- [113] HAY-FEVER fering there when vegetation was alto- gether different from the forms met with in England where his attacks had begun. As already noted, the complaint has made its appearance in two instances when its victims were at sea ; one, reported by Ab- botts Smith, after shaking out the sails when nine miles out at sea; and another, reported by Walshe, in which the patient suffered throughout a voyage across the Atlantic. A ** sufferer'' records that nu- merous portions of England, especially the highlands and the seacoast, and nearly all of Wales and Scotland are exempt from the disease. He also regards the upper side of the St. Lawrence River, most of the province of Ontario north of the Wel- land Canal to the Detroit River similarly exempt, and he states that the disease is wholly unknown to regions above the out- let to Lake Huron. [114] ACCEPTED CAUSES \"Wyman has considered the regions of America where hay-fever is especially prevalent. That portion of country east of the Mississippi Eiver and lying between the 35th and 45th parallels of latitude he regarded as the territory of prevalence. Canada and the Adirondack Mountains, the Appalachian range, and the elevated plateau throughout New York State he considered almost exempt from hay- fever. That portion of the United States west of the Mississippi Eiver he seemed to think, as did Beard also in his later inves- tigations, was free from the disease. Beard based his reasons upon the lack of vegeta- tion and the sparseness of the population. Bosworth regards as better reasons the rugged mode of life of the inhabitants and the consequent vigorous health of the fron- tier life. It is a curious observation, toOj that certain portions of the White Moun- [115] HAY-FEVER tains country, formerly regarded as in- variably free from hay-fever, of late years, probably owing to the extension of civili- zation and its vegetation to these regions, are no longer exempt from it. Southern climates, to a certain extent, are exempt from the disease. Wyman thought it did not prevail south of the 35th parallel of latitude, with the exception of certain districts in the neighborhood of Milledge- ville, Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, and Beaufort, North Carolina. There can be little doubt that the affection is less com- mon in Maryland, Virginia, in the border States, and in the far West; that it is rare in the extreme South and on the Pacific slope. The zone between the 35th and 45th parallels of latitude practically in- cludes the hay-fever district. Even in this section, localities, from their proximities to large bodies of water or to oceans, to [116] ACCEPTED CAUSES elevation or to absence of certain vege- tation, afford immunity. A '* sufferer\" states that on Lake Michigan hay-fever is absent above Lndington, while on the Mis- sissippi, in Wisconsin, it is present as far north as the Chippewa River, and in some seasons, in a mild form, it is seen in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is known to extend to the latitude of Memphis in the West, Knoxville centrally, and Cape Henry on the Atlantic. In 1896 W. W. Bulette stated that in certain sections of Colorado there is a variety of the affection known among laymen as blossom or cotton-wood fever, and very prevalent in regions where the cotton- wood tree abounds. The symptoms are practically identical with those of the autumnal variety of hay-fever, except that the throat and bronchial irritations are in- tensified, and the course of the attack is somewhat shorter. Symptoms occur about [117] HAY-FEVER the 12th of April and terminate in the latter part of May, and rarely last longer than July 1st. Beard's pamphlet was the first to show a radical departure from the pollen theory and to establish that the neurotic habit was an essential factor. He showed that sub- jects of hay-fever often acquired the af- fection or the tendency to it through in- heritance. The facts sustaining this view are of **a most overwhelming character.\" Wyman, himself a sufferer, records nu- merous cases in his own family through four generations. He proved the powerful influence of heredity in many of his cases. It even appears in childhood, he states, and quite generally in those of nervous diathesis. In Dr. MorelPs family there were six sufferers from hay-fever besides himself. In the family of Henry \"Ward Beecher there were two besides himself; [118] ACCEPTED CAUSES and Chief Justice Shaw's family contained seven. Bosworth says that eighteen of eighty cases disclosed direct heredity, while in thirty-nine there was either hay- fever or asthma in the family. Of the forty cases of Sajons % thirty-five per cent, had near relatives who presented clear his- tories of hay-fever, and forty-two per cent, had asthmatic relatives, while fifty-three per cent, of these cases presented a fam- ily history of either hay-fever or asth- ma. Morell Mackenzie has several times treated father and children for hay-fever at the same time. Prince relates that five members of the same family were hay- fever subjects. One daughter of thirty years suffered with June cold ever since she was five years of age, every year save 1887, 1888, and 1889. Her grandmother, mother, and two brothers suffered alike. The daughter, convinced that mental or 1 119 1 HAY-FEVP]R nervous influence affected her, in 1887 was treated by the **mind cure,\" and for three years subsequently was free from her symptoms. When the original mind curist was dead, in the fourth year, the symp- toms returned as badly as ever. Chris- tian Science influence was tried in vain. There can be little doubt that males are more afflicted than females. Of the early forms of the disease, however, females seem more susceptible than males. Of 433 cases cited by Phoebus, \"Wyman, and Beard, only 142, about one-third, were females. Of 506 cases gathered from several au- thors, 342 were males, 164 females. Morell Mackenzie met with 38 cases in males and 23 in females. Men are the more exposed to the exciting causes such as dust, heat, pollen, etc., altho females are the more neurotic. The proportion is about one fe- male to three males. [120] ACCEPTED CAUSES Only to some extent can age be said to affect the disorder. The liability to hay- fever In the great majority of cases ap- pears before the age of forty. The malady has been reported, however, as occurring for the first time in persons as old as sixty, and persons of seventy and upward have suffered. Of the cases of children who have been attacked the disease had manifested itself in the parents. It would have probably been regarded as a common cold, had not the parents been the subjects of the affection. Most all writers on this subject have ob- served that the disease attacks the better educated classes and those of fair social position. It is rarely met with among the laboring classes. This would seem to em- phasize the view that the disease is essen- tially a neurosis. From the notes of sixty- one cases of hay-fever in private practise, [121] HAY-FEVER and the sight of many others of which no record was kept, Morell Mackenzie found all the patients persons of some education, and recalled having seen none among his hospital patients. Of forty-eight cases of Blackley, all were educated, and Wyman made the same observation. Holmes has shown that the ignorant classes are not so likely to recognize the disease as a distinct affection, and apply for medical aid The fact that the rustic is much less sub- ject to this disease than the dweller in the city and town, shows the influence of the mode of life. Farmers and agriculturists, exposed, it would seem, far more to the ex- citing causes than others, are peculiarly less liable to suffer from it. Beard reports only seven such cases among 200. Morell Mackenzie states that it is impossible to tell whether the villager owes his exemp- tion to the maintenance of vigorous health £122] ACCEPTED CAUSES by an outdoor life, or to habitual exposure to the cause of the complaint. Holmes admirably points out that **a part of the mysterious origin must be set down to the indifference of the sufferers who, from year to year, have forgotten their periodical affection and failed to con- sult physicians.\" He says: ^*0f similar cause is the groundwork of the assertion that it affects only the wealthy. This is simply because with this class there is a higher intelligence and closer attention to ailments, and the fact that having once dis- cerned the actual condition, they, in many instances, take professional advice or go to a place of refuge, thus drawing notice to themselves, all of which things are denied to the lower (poorer) classes. It is said that there are some 200,000 sufferers in the United States, at least within the range of observation of the Hay-Fever Association, [123 J HAY-FEVER which, meeting annually at Bethlehem, N. H., may be held to represent the more stable and well-to-do. From my own ex- perience and observation I am convinced that there are many of our working peo- ple who suffer from this affection who do not even recognize the disease.\" Mer- chants, professional men, persons of sed- entary habits and brain-workers supply most of the victims. The disease is not so uncommon among hospital outpatients here and in England as formerly. Concerning the influence of the neurotic tendency, Beard pointed out, in 1876, two popular misconceptions of the nervous theory, first, that nervous susceptibility implies debility and emaciation, whereas the nervous temperament is consistent with great strength and power of endur- ance, especially when combined with the bilious and sanguine temperaments; and, [124] ACCEPTED CAUSES second, that the nervous theory dispenses entirely with the influence of exciting causes, as heat, pollen, etc. Beard con- cluded that the disease is a complex re- sultant of a nervous system especially sen- sitive in this direction and acted upon by the enervating influence of heat and by any one or several of a large number of vegetable and other irritants, and this view has the advantage over other theories in that it accounts for all the phenomena exhibited by the disease in this or in any other country. He believed that the trans- missibility of the disease from parents to children; the temperaments of the sub- jects; the capricious interchange of the early, the middle, and the later forms ; the periodicity and persistence of the attacks and their paroxysmal character ; the points of resemblance between the symptoms and those of ordinary asthma; the strange [125] HAY-FEVER idiosyncrasies of different individuals in relation to the different irritants ; the fact that it is a modern disease peculiar to civilization; the fact that it most abounds where functional nervous disorders are most frequent and is apparently on the in- crease pari passu with other nervous dis- eases; and, finally, the fact that it is best relieved by those remedies which act on the nervous system, — all these otherwise opposing and inconsistent phenomena are by this hypothesis fully harmonized. Prince remarks that altho a nervous orig- gin has been recognized by some, still no theory has been proposed to show the con- nection between the physical symptoms and the nervous processes nor the pathol- ogy of the nervous processes themselves. Vasomotor susceptibility has been viewed as indicating the neurotic tendency, and this may or may not be due to a central X 126 ] ACCEPTED CAUSES lesion. John N. Mackenzie regarded dis- ordered functional activity of the nerve- centers as the expression of the nervous origin. Again, a general neurosis dispos- ing to vasomotor disturbance of the sym- pathetic and the trigeminus nerves has been held responsible. Kinnear speaks of two forms, — one a hyperemia, and the other an anemia of the sympathetic gan- glion. Bosworth is inclined to think a peculiar lack of vasomotor control charac- terizes the neurotic manifestations. In asthma there is undoubted vasomotor pa- resis of the blood-vessels of the bronchial mucous membranes, while in hay-fever it is of the nasal mucous membranes. Solis-Cohen regards hay-fever as gen- erally a neurosis, primarily a vasomotor ataxia or idiosyncrasy. Another view is that it may be due to an organic alteration of the nerve-fibers terminating in the nasal 1 127 ] HAY-FEVER region and chiefly in three reflex areas. Again, that it may be due to functional activity or paresis of the governing (vaso- motor) centers, accompanied by hyperex- citability of the erectile (cavernous) tis- sues aroused by peripheral irritation. The phenomena of the cavernous nasal tissue, tho secondary to the centric condition, indicates a vasomotor disease. Hack and Robinson believe the morbid lesion is one of neurotic disposition with hyperesthetic condition of the olfactory and fifth pair of cranial nerves. Analogous to the neurotic habit is idio- syncrasy. Apparently the same under- standing as to what an idiosyncrasy is has underlain the use of this word by various writers who have advanced idiosyncrasy as a cause of hay-fever. Morell Mackenzie, in 1880, put it down as a predisposing cause, but does not say upon what the idiosyn- [128] ACCEPTED CAUSES crasy depends, whether upon some local abnormality, the capillaries, the nerve- centers, or the periphery of the nerves. In 1897 S. Solis-Cohen said idiosyncrasy is a real condition in hay-fever, and cited the idiosyncrasies to salicylic acid, quinin, ipecac, opium, etc., as similar to idiosyn- crasies that patients exhibit toward the different irritants capable of producing hay-fever. Using the word to express the fact that certain persons react differently from most of mankind to certain forms of irritation, it means something. It means that such persons are abnormal, altho the cause of the abnormality remains to be dis- cerned. Holmes, speaking of idiosyncrasy, would not say there is no such thing as idiosyncrasy, but as far as hay-fever went, he held that the disease was an actual one, the nature of which was not yet com- prehended. He remarks that it is quite [129] HAY-FEVER probable that uric acid would aggravate hay-fever as it would any other condition in the body; and that some think to have proved this by the use of salicylic acid, to which drug many persons have an idiosyn- crasy, thereby aggravating the condition in hay-fever by the elimination of uric acid. Dr. Samuel Ashhurst, in 1897, recorded his habit of regarding hay-fever of late j'-ears as a personal idiosyncrasy acted upon by some irritant, and observed that without this personal element it is diffi- cult to account altogether for the symp- toms and their peculiar periodicity. In 1882, Daly advanced the theory of the local disease as causative of hay-fever, and reported a case in which the patient recov- ered after the removal of a nasal polyp, which by continuous mechanical irritation had doubtless given rise to the condition imderlying. Examinations of the nares of 1130] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever patients have repeatedly failed to show any local disturbance other than general congestions. Daly's theory was subsequently accepted and supported by Hack and Eoe, who both affirmed that the influence of a morbid condition of the nasal mucous membranes favored the develop- ment of hay-fever. In 1883 Sajous and Herzog wrote important papers to prove the same facts. In 1884 J. N. Macken- zie demonstrated that ** there exists in the nose a well-defined sensitive area whose stimulation through a local patho- logic process, or through an extra irrita- tion, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its expression in a reflex act or in a series of reflected phenomena.\" He located this area at the posterior end of the inferior turbinated bones and corre- sponding portion of the septum. It has since been held by advocates of the local [131] HAY-FEVER theory, that diseases and abnormalities of the nose, such as a markedly deviated sep- tum, outgrowths from the septum, hyper- trophic rhinitis, enlargement of the in- ferior or middle turbinated bodies, mncons polypi, and marked turgescence of caver- nous tissue on the inferior turbinated body, were all provocative of hay-fever paroxysms. In 1884, Harrison Allen declared that the primary lesion was one of obstruction, temporary or permanent, in one or both nostrils, from one of various causes, at- tended by vascular dilatation. Bosworth likewise held that the existing morbid con- dition of the intranasal tissues must be one of an obstructive character, tending to pro- duce in itself vascular dilatation. Regard- ing nasal polypi, occasionally considered as active causes of hay-fever, Bosworth concludes that they are rather a result E 132 1 ACCEPTED CAUSES than a cause, since the great quantity of outponred serum makes the nasal mucous membrane sodden or water-soaked, and in this way myxomatous degeneration de- velops, eventually assuming the form of polypi. J. N. Mackenzie, however, examined the nares of many sufferers from hay-fever without finding any nasal lesion. Holmes noted an instance most carefully reported, in which, with cold snare and galvanocau- tery, all obstructions were removed, and areas rendered anesthetic so that a probe no longer excited reflex symptoms, yet the patient suffered from hay-fever with scarcely diminished intensity. He further observes that at least a degree of the con- dition might be the result and not the cause, the peripheral susceptibility being an outward expression of an inward state. In 1885, Thornwaldt, in Wiesbaden, in [133] HAY-FEVER his observations on nasal catarrh, assumed that nasopharyngeal disease might not only give rise to symptoms simulating nasal disease, but was likely the actively predisposing cause of asthma and hay- fever. Bosworth agreed with him as far as hay-fever is concerned. In 1893 Seth S. Bishop announced to the American Medical Association that *'an excess of uric acid in the blood causes hay- fever, or nervous catarrh.\" Uric acid in the blood in marked excess of the normal relation to urea, of about one to thirty- three, causes certain disturbances of a vas- cular and neurotic character. In health, five to eight grains of uric acid are se- creted every twenty-four hours. Haig claimed that an effect of an excess of uric acid is contraction of the arterioles and capillaries all over the body. He found that by diminishing the alkalinity of the [134] ACCEPTED CAUSES blood it was freed from uric acid, the arte- rioles were relaxed, and the headaches and mental depression were relieved. Cerebral anemia has appeared to obtain in hay- fever, and the attacks were relieved, Haig found, by such remedies as relieved anemia of the brain, e,g., amyl nitrite, coffee, and other cerebral stimulants. These views of Haig were concurred in by Thomas J. Mays, Murchison, Conklin, Ebstein, Quin- quaud, and others. Bishop, in 1894, re- marked that the blood in the morning is more alkaline than at any other time of the day, being, at about nine o'clock, at its greatest point of alkalinity, which would seem to account for those attacks of hay- fever which came on early in the morning, and which in some instances were as- cribed to the influence of light. He was of the opinion that not only an excess of uric acid in the system, but also an increased M35] HAY-FEVER formation thereof should be regarded in the treatment of hay-fever. Bishop also claimed that the uric-acid theory was not antagonistic to the essentially neurotic character of the disease. He also ad- vanced that the primary determining cause of the particular manifestations in this disease is an inherent, perhaps hereditary, susceptibility of the nervous system. In this way only can we account for the fact that the same subjective or objective ex- citing cause (uric acid or pollen) will pro- duce one train of distressing symptoms (nervous coryza) in one individual, and an entirely different one in another (asthma). This uric-acid h3rpothesis explains why some persons suffer from attacks under certain conditions in winter as well as dur- ing the warm months. It also unifies all the forms. Bishop says: \"The uric-acid theory of [136] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever is not antagonistic to the present status of medical opinion or surgical treat- ment, but, on the contrary, it explains questions that were inexplicable before. As a tumor or hypertrophied bone may give rise to convulsive seizures in epilepsy, and as its removal may be followed by re- lief when no other structural cause ex- ists, so in hay-fever, when new growths and other lesions of the nasal mucous membrane are present, the attack may be started by the accumulation and the sud- den setting free of uric acid. This pre- cipitates the paroxysm by its irritant ac- tion, which finds expression in the group of symptoms characteristic of hay-fever or asthma, instead of some one of the other allied diseases. The particular form of manifestation may be determined by the growth or the seat of irritation located in the nasal cavities. When this is the only de- [137] HAY-FEVER termining factor of the nature of the mor- bid symptoms, no other disease having re- sulted from the long-standing trouble, the removal of such a peripheral source of irritation may give relief from these symptoms, but it may not prevent the uricacidemia from switching off into other kindred lines of disturbances, if it be not corrected/ ' Capp, in advancing a new theory, in- clines to the uric-acid theory, and alludes to a certain spastic condition not men- tioned by other writers, which, altho slight in character, is general, rather than con- fined to limited areas, and in a large meas- ure accounts for many manifestations of the disease. A central nervous irritation is probably caused by the presence of a disturbing element in the blood, presum- ably products of imperfect metabolism not eliminated. This may originate nerve-cur- [138] ACCEPTED CAUSES renis with innumerable reflexes, which\", in the disturbed equilibrium of the system, are, in a measure, uncontrolled by the or- dinary inhibition. Holmes has very cleverly pointed out a fallacy in regard to the evidence advanced to substantiate the uric-acid theory. He states that some investigators by the use of salicylic acid and various acids to diminish the alkalinity of the blood, thus eliminating uric acid, have, thereby, ac- tually aggravated the condition in hay- fever, which aggravation has been thought due to excess of uric acid in the tissues, or increase in its production, instead of be- ing due to the idiosyncrasy to salicylic acid, etc. In 1897, Grayson stated that even if we grant that a certain number of hay-fever patients are unquestionably people of a neurotic temperament, while others are [139] HAY-FEVER gouty, can not we profitably look beneatH these titles and recognize the fact that they are dyscrasies, which are merely different offshoots from a parent weed that is rooted in defective nutrition! By defec- tive nutrition is meant all the phenomena of metabolism, — constructive, destructive, and eliminative. Disturbance of one means disturbance of all. With continued ab- sorption of toxic materials from the intes- tinal tube, or with persistent incomplete elimination of the products of suboxida- tion, it is only a question of time when au- totoxemia will provide us with any of the functional neuroses from hay-fever and asthma to chorea and epilepsy. Grayson says the neurotic habit may ex- ist, but it is not essential to the disease, but the nervous system is implicated as a vic- tim, not as a culprit. He claims that hay- fever is a defect, not of the nervous, but of [140] ACCEPTED CAUSES the nutritive system, because impairment of the digestive and nutritive processes is almost invariably the first downward step toward a general state of lowered vitality. At first gastric, it later involves the whole gastro-intestinal tract. He thinks uric acid is almost invariably present in excess in hay-fever subjects. A child having reflex convulsions due to acute indigestion is not a neurotic subject, yet the vasomotor per- turbation of the hay-fever patient differs from that of the child mainly in point of chronicity. Grayson concludes that the three factors which make up the etiologic combination of hay-fever are : An external irritant, some intranasal abnormality, and a constitu- tional element — ' ' defective nutrition. ' ' The physician unaided can not restore the nose to a state of health. In order to over- come the self-indulgence of the patient, [1411 HAY-FEVER regularity is recommended in eating, work, and play, while indiscretions of diet, lack of exercise, objectionable fancies in mat- ters of clothing and bathing, and, finally, vicious excesses — alcoholic, narcotic, or sexual — will require the constant and most determined effort of the patient himself. The whole environment of the patient must be separately studied and provided for in the dietary scheme. A comment on this treatment is: *' While it is true that if a man takes care of his muscles his nerves will take care of themselves, there is no closing of the eyes to the fact that to the average man exercise is distasteful ; there- fore, it is the more necessary to be explicit in instructions concerning it. Altho there is nothing brilliant about this method of removing the constitutional factor of the disease, what it lacks in brilliancy is more than made up in certainty, and if the [142] ACCEPTED CAUSES patient is possest of grit and determina- tion it brings a snre reward.\" J. Miiller thinks there is a causal rela- tion between hay-fever and gastro-intes- tinal symptoms, but he also holds that it can be proved that pollen entering the respiratory tract is the cause of the dis- ease. A '* sufferer,\" writing on the dis- ease, says: '* Indigestion is a most potent cause in many instances, and proper food, properly digested and assimilated, has permanently relieved more than one. ' ' But he does not say he himself was relieved, nor does he give cases. It is questionable whether or not the di- gestive disturbances are not effects rather than causes of the disease. It is not at all doubtful, however, that lowered resistance and a depreciated vitality may result from difficulty in the gastro-intestinal tract. Such difficulty may suffice to start the chain of hay-fever s^onptoms. [143] PABT III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1 145 T PART III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1. Preventive Measures In the young we find preventive treat- ment giving the greatest rewards. This calls for careful attention to the general health of the growing child. The medical profession has done much to awaken an interest in preventive measures among parents, and in no way has the family phy- sician reduced infection more thoroughly than by insisting on a careful toilet of the nose and throat. In this way he has very frequently prevented many of the more serious diseases of the growing child. Per- sonal hygiene is as valuable as domiciliary hygiene, yet, if either is neglected disease is certain to continue. [147] HAY-FEVER The careful parent will insist upon fre- quent professional examinations of their children and at the first sign of discomfort have any abnormal condition corrected. It is not wise to wait until distress compels relief, and if hay-fever is an inheritance in a. family it is especially important. Chil- dren with enlarged tonsils and adenoids should have them removed not only to in- crease their mental poise but to secure their physical comfort, and also as a step in escaping hay-fever. Adenoids are fre- quently the cause of broken rest at night, with earache, a tendency to repeated bron- chitis ; this is seen more frequently during spring and fall. This condition may bring on change in voice and ofttimes a running nose. With enlarged tonsils we frequently encounter the unproductive cough. We may mention, while passing, that enlarged tonsils remaining after the tenth year [148] FOEMS OF -TREATMENT should be removed, as they are undoubt- edly hopelessly diseased. I am a firm be- liever that tonsils and adenoids should be removed early, for, in addition to this lo- cal discomfort they influence the mental health by rendering possible a more sys- temic depreciation of the child. The fron- tal sinus may become involved as well as the ethmoid. Young children are fre- quently found to suffer with deviated sep- tum and this contributes to the general dis- comfort. With the pressure of retained secretion polypi are not unusual. Ballinger has been imprest with the possible relationship of catarrhal sinusitis, particularly ethmoidal and frontal, to hay- fever. He has found surgical treatment of the sinusitis to be followed by relief of the hay-fever. The difficulty in the way of diagnosticating catarrhal sinusitis has been so great that it has been frequently un- [149] HAY-FEVER recognized. Hay-fever due to catarrhal sinusitis has been cured by Dr. P. M. Far- rington, of Memphis, by the use of auto- genous vaccine. Dr. Ballinger quotes the late Dr. Scha- dle, who called attention to the possibility of relationship between maxillary sinusitis and hay-fever. Whether or not such a re- lation exists, we must recognize the fact that the local hyperesthesia probably has an anatomical or inflammatory origin. The hypersensitiveness does not ''happen\" but has a definite cause. The hypothesis is still further supported by clinical facts — ^that some cases of hay-fever are cured by suc- cessful treatment of the sinusitis. Hered- ity may impress a neurotic temperament on the growing child with tendency to gout or rheumatism. This unstable condition of the nervous system is difficult to define, there may be an excess or decrease in the [150] FOEMS OP TREATMENT nervous energy. There may be a faulty metabolism whereby certain toxic sub- stances are liberated in the blood current. That hay-fever subjects are usually neu- rotic has been generally accepted. Why they are neurotic is a much mooted ques- tion, concerning which ingenious theories have been advanced, but none of which are convincing. Preventive treatment for hay-fever, therefore, must take in family history and family tendency in an endeavor to correct local, as well as constitutional faults. This intimate knowledge of family history gives the physician the insight to the constitu- tion of the child. Heredity may do much to balance or unbalance nervous energy, it may do more to handicap a child physi- cally, but I am of the opinion that environ- ment plays a most important role in the growing child. In childhood preventive [151 ] HAY-FEVER measures yield the best returns, and this is well illustrated in the development of hay- fever tendency, and it is wise that the masses have grown active to the needs of the young. As an important feature in preventive measures I can do no better than quote here the article of Dr. Scheppegrell, the president of the American Hay-Fever Pre- vention Association, on ** Hay-fever; Its Cause and Prevention.''^ *'From the standpoint of the number of patients affected, hay-fever ranks among the first of the non-fatal diseases. While accurate statistics regarding the number of patients are not available, a conserva- tive estimate has placed the number of persons in New Orleans affected with hay- fever at not less than 3,500, or one per * Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association for March 4, 1916. [152 1 FOEMS OF TREATMENT cent, of the total population. Hay-fever is prevalent in the greater portion of the United States, and the proportion in New Orleans is a fair average of its prevalence in other sections. The total number of those suffering from this disease, there- fore, is so large that the subject demands the most careful consideration. \"In spite of the greater increase in med- ical knowledge, many cases of hay-fever are still mistaken for ordinary colds. The symptoms described and their recurrence at certain periods of the year should sim- plify the diagnosis. In doubtful cases, this may be confirmed by testing the patient with a small amount of pollen. \"Some of the staminate flowers of the suspected plant are placed in a small sterile gauze-bag, and this gently sniffed by the patient. In susceptible subjects this is quickly followed by a slight reaction. The £ 153 3 HAY-FEVER patient may also be tested by approaching the suspected weeds so that some of the pollen is inhaled in this way. **In the majority of cases, however, these tests are unnecessary and should or- dinarily be avoided on account of the dan- ger of developing a latent pollinosis. The beginning and end of the attacks are usually found to be coincident with the pol- linating period of certain plants with wind-borne pollen, which, with the symp- toms described above, is sufficient to con- firm the diagnosis. **Some physicians still believe that hay- fever is a local manifestation of some con- stitutional condition, in spite of the fact that the majority of patients, with similar conditions, have no such manifestations, and that when the pollen is not present, as on a sea trip, they do not occur. Improved education in the etiology of this disease, [154] FORMS OF TREATMENT and more careful observation, will grad- ually correct this error. \"Even had therapeutic measures been more successful, prophylaxis, based on the removal of the exciting cause, should have been advocated as in malarial and typhoid fevers, tuberculosis and other diseases of known cause. Hay-fever, however, has been the step-child of preventive medicine, and until recently no organized efforts in this direction have been undertaken. **In view of the great and increasing number of hay-fever patients, their pro- longed distress, the unsuccessful results of all curative measures and the distinctive preventable character of the disease, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Associa- tion has undertaken a campaign of edu- cation, to be followed in due time by suitable legislation, for the prevention of hay-fever. [155] HAY-FEVER **In the educational part of this work, the first consideration is the correct diag- nosis of hay-fever and the acceptance of the fact that all cases of true hay-fever are the results of pollen inhalation. \"The identification of the various weeds and plants that may develop hay-fever is of the utmost importance, but will grad- ually follow the establishing of the etiol- ogy of pollinosis. As these principles become better understood, the physician, when consulted by a patient with hay- fever, instead of limiting his attention to writing a prescription or injecting a vac- cine, will investigate the presence of hay- fever-producing weeds in the neighbor- hood of the patient's residence or vocation. In many cases the eradication or even the cutting of such weeds produces immediate results. \"In one of my patients, the offending tl56] FORMS OF TREATMENT weed, Ambrosia artemisice folia [rag- weed] was growing in his garden. In an- other, a school-teacher, a:ffected with hay- fever for many years, on being questioned stated that there was an abundance of flowering weeds in the vacant lots adjoin- ing her house. When specimens of these weeds were produced they were found to be the PartJienium hysteropJiorus, one of the causes of hay-fever in South Louisiana. In both of these cases marked relief soon followed the cutting of these weeds. In order to obtain complete relief in such cases, however, the cutting of the weeds should be over a considerable adjoining area, as the pollen is wind-borne to a distance depending on the velocity of the wind. \"While the removal of the offending weed is the correct measure, relief may also be obtained, when this is impractica- [157] HAY-FEVER ble, by avoiding the proximity of weeds known to be toxic to the patients. In many cases this is entirely practicable, as shown in the following case in which the attack was postponed for thirty-three days: *^E. G., manager of a sugar plantation near New Orleans, has been a sufferer from hay-fever for the past ten years, the attacks always commencing about August 25th. After the influence of the ragweed to this form of hay-fever had been ex- plained to him, he concluded that his at- tacks were due to the pollen of the trifida ragweed which grows on a road some dis- tance from his residence. He, therefore, avoided the road, and until September 28th, for the first time in ten years, he had had no attack. On this date he found it necessary to pass this road. In twenty minutes he commenced to sneeze, that night he had a violent attack, and the fol- r 158] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT lowing day he had his usual annual hay- fever. **The treatment of cases by the eradica- tion of the hay-fever-producing weeds will not only produce direct results, but will also prove a powerful impetus in educa- ting the public in the relationship of such weeds to hay-fever. It will result, more- over, in having these weeds considered from a new point of view. Instead of sim- ply indicating neglect or careless cultiva- tion, they will be looked on as a source of disease and discomfort to a large class of sufferers. This will not only bring the leverage of public opinion to the eradica- tion of these weeds, but will eventually simplify the question of legislation. \"In connection with the question of pub- lic education, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association has received a communication from Dr. Eupert Blue, sur- [159] HAY-FEVER geon-general of the United States Public Health Service, and one of the honorary vice-presidents of our association, in which he summarizes this in a very concise manner : ** 'It appears that the most practical method of securing the cooperation of the public would be by education as to the ef- fect of the presence of these weeds in com- munities from both health and economic standpoints. This seems to be the pri- mary object of your association, which is to be commended for its efforts.' ''Some of the early forms of hay-fever are due to the pollen of the Oraminacem or grasses, which include the cultivated varieties, such as rye, wheat, corn, etc. These form a common cause of hay-fever in England and the Continent, where the autunmal form due to the ragweed is not found, owing to the absence of the weed. [160] FOEMS OF TREATMENT *^ While this is of much less frequency than the fall hay-fever in the United States, it represents in the aggregate a considerable number. When these cases are due to the cultivated varieties, the knowledge of this fact should induce the patient, whenever possible, to live away from such cultivated fields or at least to avoid them during the active season of pol- lination. Only in those cases in which the removal of the offending plant is impossi- ble will the question of treatment be given preference over prevention. \"As the autumnal hay-fever is the most prevalent form in the United States, and, in the majority of cases, is due to rag- weed, the American Hay-Fever Preven- tion Association has given its first atten- tion to the eradication of this weed. The description and illustration of both varie- ties {Ambrosia artemisicefolia and trifida) X 161 J HAY-FEVER have been sent to the State boards of health of each State and of the District of Columbia. Many of these have published the cuts and descriptions, and a number have sent them to the newspapers of their State for publication. **The United States Department of Ag- riculture has assisted and is furnishing valuable information for this work. Ar- rangements have been made with the Hy- gienic Laboratory of the Public Health Service at Washington to make investiga- tions on the hay-fever pollens submitted by our research department. Encourage- ment or promise of active cooperation has been offered by the majority of the State boards of health, these being as follows: Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, In- diana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ne- [162] FORMS OF TREATMENT vada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Vir- ginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. **The common ragweed {Ambrosia arte- misicefolia) , while found in great abun- dance, presents no special difficulty in eradication, as it is an annual and repro- duced only by seed. In carefully cultivated lands it is not found in appreciable quan- tities. Where the land is not cultivated this weed may be entirely kept down by grazing cattle. When, however, it has been neglected, the weed should be mowed be- fore the latter part of August, in order to prevent pollination. *^The giant ragweed {Ambrosia tripida), which grows in similar abundance in the moist lands of the coast, presents a more difficult problem, as the roots are peren- nial. Until this weed is two feet in height [163] HAY-FEVER cattle will feed on it with avidity, which will probably prove useful in destroying it. In carefully cultivated lands it is rarely found. The question of the best scientific method of eradication of both the rag- weeds has been referred to the United States Department of Agriculture, and the results of this investigation will be re- ported later. ^*With a view of showing what can be accomplished by organized efforts in the prevention of hay-fever, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association has concentrated its first efforts in New Orleans in the following manner: ''The public was first educated regard- ing the ragweeds, so that they could be easily recognized. Illustrations of the weeds were published in the Bulletin of the State Medical Board of Health and the public press, and the live weeds, in full de- £164 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT % velopment, were exhibited in a show-win- dow of the principal street. **The city of New Orleans, through' the commissioner of public works, placed at the disposal of the association twenty con- victs, who cleared the streets and side- walks of the outer sections of the city of the weeds, in accordance with a map pre- pared by the topographic committee of the association, showing the areas infect- ed with ragweed. The city board of health assisted by enforcing the cutting of weeds in vacant lots and the commission- ers of the various parks had the ragweed destroyed in the public parks under the direction of the association. ''Valuable assistance was given by the Women's Civic League, which appointed a special committee on vacant lots. This committee made arrangements with labor bureaus so that it not only reported lots [165] HAY-FEVEE infected with weeds but offered to send workmen to cut them at low rates. **The storm of September 29 destroyed practically all the leaves and flowers of the remaining giant ragweed in exposed places. As a result of this, and the efforts of the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association, fall hay-fever practically dis- appeared in New Orleans several weeks earlier than the usual time. This cam- paign will be resumed next spring, when its management will be placed in the hands of the State Hay-Fever Association. **The American Hay-Fever Prevention Association believes that what has been effected in New Orleans can be done in all towns and cities. In some of the smaller towns, especially those catering to summer visitors, this could be accomplished before next summer. The statement that a town is free of hay-fever will prove an advertise- [ 166 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT ment that will easily repay the cost of de- stroying the hay-fever-producing weeds/' 2. Local Treatment by Nasal Applications Local treatment of hay-fever has been viewed with diverse opinions by every writer on the subject. Many good authori- ties condemn all internasal treatment as useless and irritating, while others strongly advocate its value. It needs no argument to show the value of nasal and throat ap- plications of antiseptic nature in the early stages of influenza or any other neutral catarrhal irritation of the eye, nose or throat. Indeed many household epidemics have been shortened or aborted by the careful attention to these parts. I am not alone in the statement that severe house- hold epidemics have been deprived of their danger by careful cleansing of the nasal [167] HAY-FEVER mucous membrane before the infection be- came systemic. Indeed this is the routine treatment in every well-regulated family where children are found, especially dur- ing winter and spring, and in the early fall. It is much more important that this should be carefully observed if the neigh- borhood is infested with an epidemic of catarrhal colds. The repeated infection of some families and the escape of others is not so much in the vital resistance of the several members, but the neglect in the individual of personal hygiene. This is true of all diseases, as well as of hay- fever. It is true that children, and young people in general, are more likely to con- tract catarrhal colds if they are burdened with adenoids or hypertrophied tonsils — diseased by repeated former attacks. I believe that the acute infectious diseases, particularly in children, may be lessened [168] FORMS OF TREATMENT by most thorough and repeated steriliza- tion of the nasopharynx, and just as house epidemics are never excusable evils so I claim the same to be eventually true of hay-fever. The important result to be obtained through local treatment is the prevention of the paroxysms, and, ultimately, the re- moval of the recurring habit periods. The destruction, if possible, of the recurring habit. Years ago I was led to treat my hay-fever patients by cleansing the naso- pharynx with an atomizer containing a warm solution of boric acid (ten grains to an ounce of water) or Dobell's solution, after which I carefully wiped the mucous membrane and applied menthol and cam- phor and liquid cosmoline freely to the parts. This procedure afforded consider- able temporary relief in a large number of eases when there was present simply [169 3 HAY-FEVER turgescence of the whole naso-pharynx. IJ. Sodium bicarbonate, Sodium borate aa 5 iss Carbolic acid 5 j- Glycerin 5ij. Rose water (25 per cent.) q. s. O j. SiQ. — ^Teaspoonful to one ounce of warm water. This I thoroughly use in both nostrils, first by means of an atomizer, after which, with a curved applicator or cotton-carrier, I very carefully swab the whole naso- pharynx. I scrub most carefully and 'gently every portion of the mucous mem- brane, being sure to reach between the tur- binated bones and all around and over every slight prominence. I then as care- fully dry the membrane with clean cotton, and use freely a mild solution of menthol and camphor in albolin, in proportion as follows : I^. Menthol gr. v. Pulverized camphor gr. v. Albolin Jij. [170] FORMS OF TREATMENT I loosely plug the nose for a few minutes to retain the oily application. It is impor- tant to sterilize most thoroughly the sen- sitive areas of the nose, as we are unable to determine whether one or more may be affected, and by this mild yet thorough treatment we cleanse effectually the whole nasal chamber. This treatment was so extremely simple that for a long time I doubted its real value, but as so many sufferers have ex-' prest their relief, and were willing and anxious for me to continue the applica- tions, I have concluded to offer my methods in full confidence of their usefulness, with a warning that for successful treatment the instructions for cleansing and scrub- bing must be followed in careful detail. Good results need not be expected by simple irrigation and swabbing — the whole nasal mucous membrane must be tJior- [171] HAY-FEVER ougMy washed and gently scruhhed be- fore the oily applications are used. This internasal treatment should com- mence four weeks before the expected on- set of the paroxysm, and should be done daily, if possible. I have found many persons who will not tolerate the use of carbolic acid, even in so mild a solution as that given above, the weakest solution frequently causing a se- vere urticaria. When various idiosyncrasies to carbolic acid forbid its use, I select as the second best detergent hydrogen dioxid, and com- mence with the following mixture : I^. Hydrogen dioxid, Glycerin aa 5 ss. Distilled water q. s. 5iv. With this I spray the nose most thor- oughly, following it up with plain warm normal salt to remove the accumulation of [172] FORMS OF TREATMENT foam thiat will necessarily collect in the nasal spaces. A few days, or better, one week, prior to the date of the onset, I in- crease the strength of the hydrogen-dioxid solution, using something like the follow- ing: IJ. Hydrogen dioxid gij. Glycerin, Distilled water aa Sij* This must be removed also by means of the normal salt, as already mentioned. In a number of cases I have found glycerin objectionable as a vehicle, producing an irritation of much annoyance. In such cases I omit the glycerin and substitute normal salt. In a few cases the hydrogen dioxid produced an inflammation of the mucous membrane that would require its dilution. We find many personal idiosyn- crasies in a large number of hay-fever suf- ferers that one might go on indefinitely [173] HAY-FEVER with modifications of treatment, but, as in general practise, it is our aim to treat the individual primarily, and we can not dog- matically hold fast to any special drugs or formula. In the few obstinate cases in which ster- ilization seems to provoke trouble, and the slightest manipulations of the nose and throat precipitate violent paroxysms, I use on the nasal mucous membrane the follow- ing powder : !^. Morphin. sulf gr. ij. Boracic acid 5ss. Powdered camphor gr. x. Powdered starch 5iv. SiG. — ^To be used as a snuff frequently. If patients object to the use of the snuff, and occasionally we will find some who will do so for cosmetic reasons, I prescribe the following, to be taken internally: IJ. Tablet Suprarenal Ex gr. v. SiQ. — One every three or four hours. [174] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT Many physicians claim that relief can not be afforded to hay-fever patients with- out using cocain or eucain at some time during the management of troublesome cases. It is very exceptionally that I re- sort to either; possibly an unusual case will require one or more applications to control a local storm, yet the majority of patients never receive cocain from my hand. In severe cases that came under my care after the disease had been well established, when I had no chance to conduct a prelim- inary course of benumbing, I have been forced to prescribe something like the fol- lowing: Menthol gr. viij. Boric acid gr. xxx. Albolin 5ij. Solution of Eucain \"B\" (4 per cent.) . 5ij. This is applied carefully and thoroughly on cotton applicators to the mucous mem- [ 175 ] HAT-FEVER brane of the naso-pharynx. It may con- trol the attacks, and it frequently aborts them and keeps the patient decidedly com- fortable. I have found the direct appli- cation of the remedy more satisfactory than the atomizer. In some cases, for a few days, this application must be made two or three times daily. H. L. Swain recommends the local use of the aqueous extract of the suprarenal glands in certain chronic conditions of the hay-fever type, as a powerful local vaso- constrictor and contractor of erectile tis- sue. The local effect can apparently be obtained any number of times without en- tailing a vicious habit, such as might re- sult from cocain. Ingals and Ohls report that they have obtained much relief in these cases by the use of an extract of suprarenal capsule prepared as follows: Adrenals (Armour's), gj; boric acid, gr. [ 176 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT xvj; cinnamon water, 5iv; hot camphor water, §j; hot distilled water, enough to make gij. Mix, macerate for four hours, and filter. This solution remains stable for several weeks. It is used as a spray four or five times a day. I have not had occasion to resort to the local application of this substance, but I have had one pa- tient who was distinctly benefited by in- ternal administration in doses of gr. 14 to gr. j, as often as four times a day. He was a catarrhal young man of neurotic tem- perament, who came to me during the first week of his attack, and who objected to the usual routine sterilization of the naso- pharynx.^ The formula: Adrenal chlorid 5 ij* Normal salt sol q. s. 5 j. is more elegant and convenient. * Personally the use of the suprarenal extract ha» been of little value owing to the violent sneezing provoked. [177] HAY-FEVER 3. As TO Diet, Exercise and Rest In old cases, when the nerve-habit has long been formed, treatment should com- mence at least two or, better, three weeks before the anticipated recurrence of the paroxysms. All bodily irregularities must be corrected and tendencies to constipation or dyspepsia removed. Amylaceous indi- gestion should be corrected by the exclu- sion from the dietary of too starchy foods. For the elimination of excessive uric acid, or other waste products, and to relieve constipation, the systematic administra- tion, morning and night, of sodium phos- phate is invaluable. If the appetite is not good, the regular use of the tincture of nux vomica, ten to twenty drops three times a day, is strongly indicated. In anemic cases pills of carbonate of iron or, probably still better, the pills of valerian- ate of quinin, iron, and zinc are necessary. [178] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT In nervous cases with anemia, valerianate of zinc, one grain with two grains of the compound asafetida pill, two or three times a day (after Morell Mackenzie), will be found valuable. Careful diet, a tran- quil mmd, and moderate exercise are es- sential. Outdoor exercise, with a daily tepid bath followed by vigorous friction of the whole body, will help to eliminate waste material. The patient should not unneces- sarily expose himself to direct rays of the sun, as they are calculated to excite intense reflex irritation of the sensitive nerve cen- ters. Much trouble may be averted by the use of a sunshade or umbrella and by the avoidance of exercise in the sun. It must be understood that with the gen- eral hygienic and constitutional treatment the course of local prophylaxis by daily sterilization is most necessary. The treatment of neurasthenic cases, or [179] HAY-FEVER those in which a decided derangement of the general system as well as of the ner- vous energy exists prior to the attack, re- quires the greatest tact and skill. If there is little local catarrhal disturbance there will be great difficulty in combating the disease in the face of the deprest vitality and lessened nervous resistance. In such cases I place the patients upon a diet, somewhat like that in the appended list, and urge strict adherence to it. After ob- taining careful urinary analysis and other clinical data, I often further specialize in the diet, or I may increase the variety ac- cording to the needs of the individual. In these cases I always urge the drinking of large quantities of water, unless there is some strong contraindication. Neuras- thenics mil often avoid water between meals. I at once order systematic mas- sage. If the patient does not care for a [180] FORMS OF TREATMENT masseur, I order a daily tepid bath of a temperature between 80\"^ and 85° F., with a coarse towel rubbing, followed by a douche of cold water along the spine. This should be continued for at least two weeks prior to the onset of the paroxysms. Rest for the overtaxed function is im- peratively demanded. Unfortunately, this is easier prescribed than carried out. In wealthy patients the Weir-Mitchell rest- cure often gives brilliant results. In other cases a change of scene and a temporary rest from business or society may be ac- cepted when the sanitarium would be out of the question. Quiet resorts on the sea- coast or in the mountains are desirable. Nothing is better than two or three weeks on the ocean. A compromise may be ob- tained by having the patient give up a por- tion of the daily duties and go to bed earlier at night. The patients should not [181] HAY-FEVER be allowed to discuss their ailments too freely. Horseback riding, bicycling, row- ing, and walking — in fact, any outdoor di- version not too violent — are to be recom- mended. If the patient suffers from insomnia, careful administration of a hypnotic may help to reestablish the sleep-habit. At first give a warm bath, and a glass of warm milk or malted milk before retiring. If this and other similar measures do not avail, five grains of Veronal capsule may be given one hour before going to bed. If the patient is accustomed to wake after a short sleep, the Veronal should be given at bedtime. Full amounts of sleep are necessary to neurasthenics. Depressants, such as the bromids, chloral, and the opi- ates should be avoided. Any coexistent gastric or cardiac trouble must be care- fully treated, and the bowels kept open regularly. [182] FOEMS OF TREATMENT The diet that I find most desirable to follow, generally speaking, is that which is applicable to the gouty or uric acid diathesis. General Rules, — The diet should be lib- eral, but not stimulating, with moderation in animal foods, and very little of foods having a tendency to produce acids in the system, such as starches, sugars, fats, and fermented liquors. Patients may take soups — clear or vegetable — and weak beef- tea or broths. FisJi, — Fresh fish and raw oysters. Meats, — To be taken once a day only — mutton, chicken, underdone roast, sweet- bread. Eggs, — Moderation. White of eggs, raw, or shirred in drinks, such as lemon- ade, occasionally. Farinaceous, — In small quantities. Toast, stale bread, bread from whole [ 183 ] HAY-FEVER wheat, rye bread, milk-toast, rice, crackers. Vegetables. — Fresh, green varieties preferable; celery, lettuce, watercress, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, salads, spar- ingly of baked potatoes, young peas, string beans, and spinach. Desserts. — Oranges, lemons, apples, apricots, pears, peaches, cherries, blanc- mange (not after meals, however), stewed fruit. Beverages, — Water, plentifully, espe- cially before meals ; plain soda, milk, but- termilk, weak tea or coffee (without su- gar), toast-Avater, lemonade. Mineral waters, such as Saratoga Vichy, Berkely (Hot Springs), Lithia Water, Carlsbad, and Crab Orchard. Stimulants. — Light Hock; Bordeaux in small quantities and well diluted. Articles Forbidden. — Patients must avoid rich soups, hard-boiled eggs, fried [184] FORMS OF TREATMENT and made dishes of all kinds, entrees, pickles, spices, veal, pork, duck, goose, sal- mon, lobster, crab; preserved, dried, and salted meats; salt fish, pickled pork, as- paragus, old peas, beans, tomatoes, mush- rooms, truffles, dried fruit, preserves, pies, pastry, rich puddings, patties, new bread, cheese, sweets, malts, sweet wines, straw- berries, rhubarb, cider, fermented drinks, beer. 4. Whek Asthma Occurs as a Sequel About five to ten per cent, of my whole number of hay-fever patients have suf- fered more or less from asthma. Asthma, as a sequel in these cases, manifests itself about the end of one week or ten days after the expected paroxysms of hay-fever, and is induced usually by some undue exposure or a damp or rainy day. My asthmatic patients, I find, were among those irregu- [185] HAY-FEVER lar in treatment, or those who had first called late in the disease. In these cases much mucus had accumulated in the lar- ger tubes. If I can not clear the bronchial tubes by an emetic dose of ipecac, I pre- scribe somewhat as follows: Potassium iodid gss Ammonium muriate 5ss Sirup of Yerba Santa 5 j. A teaspoonful administered every two hours generally brings relief. A number of asthmatic patients require a solution of nitroglycerin, one per cent. Of this, one drop every two hours for two or three days is given. Occasionally it seems im- perative to give morphin. Some of my asthmatics have informed me that they can bring about immediate relief by plunging both hands in hot water and taking a drink of whiskey, followed by a large draft of hot water. It is possible for some persons 1186] FOEMS OF TREATMENT to voluntarily combat their asthmatic at- tacks, and for this reason they should be encouraged to practise certain breathing exercises until they can in a measure con- trol their respiratory apparatus. Asth- matics usually have, however, a preexist- ent catarrhal state of the bronchial tubes, which exhibit marked vasomotor changes on slight irritation. If I see these patients early, I prescribe five-minim capsules of the oil of sandalwood four times a day, or the compound salol capsule, and by the time their period arrives, the bronchitis is fairly well cleared up. The inhalation of the fumes of burning niter-paper or specially prepared powders, or of cigarets, gives relief in many cases. The powders used at the Brompton Hos- pital by Sidney Martin contain one part each of anise and niter, two parts of stra- monium leaves, and five grains of tobacco [187] HAY-FEVER to the ounce ; one teaspoonful is to be burnt on a plate and the fumes inhaled. A pill containing i/4 of a grain of morphin, with 1/200 of a grain of atropin sulfate, given at bedtime, is sometimes useful in connec- tion with the inhalations. Extract of stra- monium (1-16 of a grain) may be substi- tuted for the atropin. S. Solis-Cohen has used successfully the following formula : IJ. Morphin sulf gr. I—J. Strychnin sulf gr- i-rir* Hyoscin hydrobrom . . . . gr. yIh- M. SiG. — Give hypodennically at bedtime. The following may be administered at night : !^. Camphor gr. ss Dover's powder gr. vj. Make four capsules. SiG. — ^Take one on retiring. Van Sweringen calls attention to a line of treatment in a very obstinate case of [188] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT bronchial asthma that was attended by re- markable results. The attack had lasted for two weeks, during which time all the antispasmodics had in turn been ex- hausted, and the patient had secured but a period of two hours' freedom at any one time. Finally, based on the theory that if asthma was a reflex it must be under the control of Setschenow's inhibitory center, and that anything that would stimulate the inhibitory center would lessen the reflex- spasm, quinin and strychnin were given, with excellent results. The dose of the quinin was seven grains. The extract of nux vomica was given in %-grain doses, and to this was added % of a grain of co- dein sulfate. In the interval the iodids were continued. However, the use of sedatives and in- halations must be limited, especially in the milder and uncomplicated forms of asth- [1S9 1 HAY-FEVER ma, while efforts to benefit the patient ^s general condition are strongly indicated. Diet is an important part of the treatment of many cases. Not all cases of asthma are due to uricacidemia, but nearly all cases are benefited by attention to the diet and elimination of excess uric acid. Of remedies that may be continuously administered to patients who have fre- quently recurring attacks, two are most constantly used — namely, iodid of potas- sium and arsenic. The iodid may be most conveniently given with stramonium, as in the mixture devised by Martin, which con- sists of ^ of a grain of extract of stramo- nium, two grains of extract of licorice, three grains of iodid of potassium, and five minims of chloric ether. This mixture may be given two or three times daily in cases of asthma. It possesses two disadvan- tages, however. The stramonium leads, in [190] FORMS OF TREATMENT some cases, to paralysis of accommoda- tion, but by diminishing the dose, the pa- tient soon ceases to experience discom- fort from the remedy. If given alone, the iodid must be administered in five-grain doses two or three times daily, the medicine being discontinued from time to time. Ar- senic by itself, in doses of three minims of the liquor arsenicalis, is a useful remedy for continuous administration in asthma, and it may be combined with potassium iodid (three to five grains) in a mixture. Hydrotherapeutic treatment is of use in some cases of asthma. The patient should be accustomed to gradually colder baths of short duration with douches. 5. The Use of Serums — Dunbar's Serum The wide recognition of the serum treat- ment of hay-fever by Dunbar, of Ham- [1911 HAY-FEVER burg, Germany, requires me to quote sufl&- cient of his writings that my readers may appreciate the value as well as the limita- tions of his work. To very briefly sum- marize: Dunbar has prepared hay-fever antitoxin by inoculation of horses with the toxins derived from the albuminoid body found in the starch particles of the pollen. The serum obtained from the horse is dispensed either in a liquid or dry form, and is designed to be applied to the mucous membrane of the nose and the eye when required. His serum has been named PoUantin, and two forms are on the market, one pre- pared from rye pollen, especially used for spring and summer hay-fever, or ** rose- cold,'' and the other, prepared from rag- weed pollen, designed as a remedy for hay- fever occurring in the late summer and fall. Dunbar thinks that hay-fever is the [192] FORMS OF TREATMENT result of a specific poison found in pollens and is an albuminoid body — and his anti- toxin is intended to inhibit, or immunize patients against the pollen toxins if used previous to the hay-fever season. Its use is also to palliate the symptoms in cases where the disorder has already made its appearance. Pollantin produces a sensa- tion of relief and cool comfort when ap- plied to the inflamed mucous membrane of the nose or eye. This comfort remains for some time, but the relief is variable. In 1902, Prof, W. P. Dunbar published,^ as an appendix to a presentation of the history of our knowledge of hay-fever, the opinion, based on experiment, that hay- fever is a disease caused by a poison de- rived from plants. These toxic substances are found in the dust of the blossoms of *Zur Ursache u. spezif. Heilung d. Heufiebers. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munchen, 1903. [193 HAY-FEVER certain plants. They are present in tlie albumin of the pollen and are septic in nature. According to this theory, it would be possible, by means of the isolated toxic albumin of the pollen, to determine whether or not a given disease was hay- fever. It was also hinted, and in a publication that shortly followed,^ positively asserted, that it was possible to produce a specific anti- toxin by inoculating animals, e,g., rabbits or horses, with the albumin of the pollen. It was possible with this antitoxin to neu- tralize the poison of the pollen in vitro so that the latter would no longer cause symptoms in hay-fever patients. It was also claimed that symptoms that had al- ready set in could be overcome by the use of the specific antitoxin. By means of this timely use of the anti- * Zur Frage betreffend d. Aetiologie u. spezif. Therapie d. Heufiebers. Berl. klin. Woch., 1903, No. 24—26. [194] FOEMS OF TREATMENT toxin the outbreak of the hay-fever symp- toms should be prevented. As a result of further investigation he was later able to prove definitely^ that by the proper use of the antitoxin it would be possible to rid patients of their disposition to hay-fever, and to immunize them so they could dis- pense with the use of the antitoxin or any other therapeutic agent without having to fear further attacks. Th. Albrecht, the secretary of the Ger- man Hay-Fever Association, designated the appearance of my first article as a turning-point in the history of hay-fever. Other colleagues viewed the results of Professor Dunbar's comprehensive work with less favor. There were indeed those who claimed that he had added nothing new to the subject. The opinions ex- * Zur Ursache u. spezif. Heilung d. Heufiebers II, Deutseh. med Woch., 1911, No. 13. [195] HAY-FEVER prest by the laity were also widely dif- ferent in character. Some were unable to express their thanks in terms sufficiently strong, others claimed that the specific treatment suggested by him was absolutely worthless. An American correspondent wrote to him: \"Your stuff is not worth a tinker's dam.\" In the face of such diver- gent opinions it seems worth while to cast a glance backward over the decade that has passed, to determine what assertions were right and what opinions were incor- rect. \"Whether we are right in looking upon hay-fever as a product of our modern cul- ture, appeared to Professor Dunbar to- day, even more than it did ten years ago, an open question. In the last ten years there has been much published concerning hay-fever, not only in the leading journals, but also in the lay journals. [196] FOEMS OF TREATMENT In so far as the latter deals with his work, they had not had his cooperation, nor had they consulted his wishes. There are to^ay many hay-fever patients who are absolutely in the dark as to the nature of their disease. Even in Hamburg, after a scientific exhibition at which his hay- fever material was shown, many adults came to him with the request that he should determine whether or not they had hay-fever. He was even more surprized to learn that there are to-day physicians who either deny the existence of hay-fever or know nothing about it. In view of this obtuseness it seemed to him very bold to say that two hundred and fifty years ago there was no hay-fever, simply because we have no authentic and convincing records from that time. The disease may have been very widespread then. There was missing perhaps only the man to notice the [197] HAY-FEVEK periodicity of the disease, its dependence upon the seasons of the year, and to cor- rectly correlate the facts and draw proper conclusions. Until ten years before Dr. Dunbar says no one had been able to offer a clear and convincing explanation of the cause or nature of hay-fever. This is clear from a perusal of the literature up to that time. Dr. Dunbar, himself a sufferer from hay- fever, had the opportunity during many years to test the merits of the various hypotheses concerning the cause of the disease. He finally came to the conclusion that only the pollen theory could be right. In his monograph concerning hay-fever, which thus far I have given in his own lan- guage as above, he described the observa- tions which forced him to accept this ex- planation. For many years the attempt to definitely prove the theory met with an ob- [198] FORMS OF TREATMENT stacle which seemed insuperable, viz., the impossibility of getting pollen in a pure state. In view of the extremely simple method of doing this, this fact appeared to him to-day a remarkable one. He felt constrained to offer the following ex- planation : **Year after year I consulted with bot- anists as to the best method of getting pol- len in large quantities. Various methods were suggested to me, among others that of spreading large cloths over the mead- ows. I also sucked up into bottles large quantities of air in the attempt to get pol- len, and attempted many other things. None of these methods met with more than moderate success, until finally I hit upon the simple procedure of shaking blooming plants, for instance stocks of wheat, and catching the dust that was shaken out. I succeeded better later by taking the ears [ 199 ] HAY-FEVER shortly before they began to bloom and putting the stocks in water in a warm place. In this way I was soon able to gather pollen in large quantities, and, more important still, to isolate the pollen grains of different plants, free from all contaminations, including micro-organ- isms. ** After having obtained in this way the pollen of rye, wheat and ray-grass pollen {Lolium perenne), I could at once begin to attempt the settlement of important questions. A minimal amount of the plant dust when introduced into my conjunc- tival sac, or my nasal passage, caused in a very short time most pronounced hay-fever symptoms. The same experiment on my laboratory assistant, who did not have hay- fever, had no effect at all. Within a few days I extended the scope of my experi- ments so as to include two hay-fever pa- [ 200 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT tients, who happened to be working in our institution, as well as three other assist- ants who did not have hay-fever. The result was always the same. The hay-fever patients reacted just as I did. Those who had no hay-fever and served as controls were not at all affected by the introduction of the pollen. These experiments were repeated later on very many patients and people without hay-fever, invariably with the same results. **The next important point that sug- gested itself to me was to determine whether or not this toxin was active at other times of the year than during the hay-fever period. Formerly it had been urged against the pollen theory that with the same pollen which had been active dur- ing the hay-fever period, no results could be achieved at other times of the year. Thus, for instance. Sticker was of the [201] HAY-FEVER opinion that Woodward had proved that pollen was inactive except during the hay- fever period. He therefore was forced to come to the conclusion that for the pro- duction of an attack there was necessary the disposition on the part of the indi- vidual and the season of the year. The nature of the action of the season of the year was explained by some authors as a sort of an *'Unstimmung,\" a sort of spring revolution. This explanation appeared to me very doubtful, because of the fact that this process occurs in European patients in springtime ; in most American patients, however, in the fall. **My experiments on this subject re- sulted as follows: Pollen which had been carefully dried soon after gathering was active later at any time of the year. Pollen, however, which I enclosed in bot- tles in its fresh condition underwent cer- [202] FOKMS OF TREATMENT tain changes, characterized especially by the formation of a liqnid. '* Pollen which had been spoiled in this way proved later to be inactive. I might add here that these observations explained the occurrence of sporadic cases of hay- fever in the winter time. Pollen which has found its way into a dry room can remain active until the winter season — indeed, for many years, as I have shown. One blossom which has remained for eleven years in the herbarium retained an undiminished ac- tivity. Pollen which, on the other hand, falls to the ground in the open air, is de- stroyed by the first following rain. The fact that the pollen is carried down out of the air by the rain clearly explains further the remissions on certain days which had hitherto been so difficult to understand. By means of the isolated pollen I had then met those requirements in my attempts at [203] HAY-FEVER an etiologic explanation which I myself have considered necessary. The suspected agent, free from all impurities, when ap- plied to a hay-fever patient, must produce hay-fever invariably, regardless of the season of the year. The same agent ap- plied to a normal person must have no effect. These requirements had, I say, been met by experiment. **The grass pollen is so small that a single one can not be seen with the naked eye, yet its structure and chemical compo- sition are very complicated. Many pollen grains are covered with hair-like prickles. Adherents of the pollen theory formerly believed that hay-fever was due to these prickles. They asserted that hay-fever patients were extremely sensitive to the mechanical stimulus of the prickles, and that normal individuals were resistant to their action. It is true that some of the [204] FORMS OP TREATMENT pollen, which we formerly looked upon as the cause of hay-fever, had an uneven, prickly surface. Some of the first adher- ents of the pollen theory believe that those pollen especially were active whose blos- soms had an intense odor. The disease was accordingly at that time widely called rose-fever, linden-fever, and so forth, in- stead of hay-fever. I was able to show that those pollen which most often cause hay-fever have a smooth surface. This is true of all grass pollen, of which I have examined thirty-two varieties. These have also no odor. The blossoming of the rose and of linden occurs at the same time as that of the grasses. In 1902 I was able to completely overthrow the belief in the activity of the linden. It happened that in that year the blossoming of the linden was delayed from three to seven weeks in our vicinity, that of the grasses occurring [ 205] HAY-FEVER at the regular time. The season for hay- fever was probably over at the time that the blossoming of the linden was at its height, and hay-fever patients were able to enjoy the odor of the linden without any ill effects. I can well understand the te- nacity with which hay-fever patients cling to the belief that the dust of the rose and linden causes their symptoms. I myself banned from my home every rose and other odorous blossom during the hay- fever period, and felt certain that my suf- fering was thereby diminished. The relief was not an imaginary one, but was due to the fact that at the same time I kept my windows carefully closed. **At about the time of the blossoming of the grasses, the pine {Pinus sylvestris) also begins to blossom and produces such a plentiful dust that thick clouds of it can at times be seen. This is called sulfur [ 206 ] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT rain. I proved, in spite of the opposition of many hay-fever patients, that the dust of this blossom was also of no consequence. '*By such experiments as these and many others I was able to prove that only certain specific pollen could cause hay- fever. This was in direct opposition to Blackley's theory. Other pollen, includ- ing those possessing sharp prickles, were absolutely without effect. **The theory as to emanations, odors, ethereal oils, and so forth, had still to be considered. On opening a vessel that con- tains much grass pollen one gets an odor much like that of honey, which proved to be without effect on hay-fever patients. The odor of the linden, as well as that of the harmless rose, was proved to be with- out effect. There was still to be considered the questions as to the action of the ethereal oils. An extract of the oily and [ 207 ] HAY-FEVER waxy portions of the pollen, when applied to the conjunctiva and nasal mucous mem- branes in small amounts, caused a burning sensation. This was quite different, how- ever, from the peculiar sensation experi- enced by hay-fever patients, which is so distinctive that nothing can stimulate it. These extracts had more effect on normal persons than they had on hay-fever pa- tients. The amount of these substances with which we come in contact in our ordinary walks is so small that they can surely not be responsible for any of our unpleasant sensations. *' Grass pollen is distinguished from that of other plants in a marked way by the small rods which it contains, which look just like bacteria. Patton, in 1877, had already called attention to these rods. He believed that after they left the pollen grains they possest a movement of their [ 208 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT own, and he drew the conclusion that they constituted the active principle of the pollen. He asserted that by reason of their inherent motility they found their way into the mucous membrane and the circula- tion and thus caused the symptoms of hay- fever. For a time, I also believed that these small rods played some part in the production of hay-fever. I did not know then that they were composed solely of starch, but thought they contained al- bumin. After I was able to get hold of great quantities of grass pollen I was able to isolate these rods by means of repeated centrifugation and washing. I was then able to prove that they were absolutely in- nocuous to hay-fever patients. **As a result of certain observations, to which I shall refer later, I was soon forced to the conclusion that the active principle of the toxin of hay- fever is an albuminous [209 ] HAY-FEVER substance. The alcoholic precipitate from a saline extract of a comparatively small number of pollen grains had an intense action on hay-fever patients, but none on normal individuals. After I obtained large quantities of pollen I began my experiments with the isolated albumin. Against this method of procedure it was claimed that I had not been working with a true hay-fever toxin, but with a dena- tured poison. For this claim there is no evidence; the critics failed completely to show any proof for the correctness of their assertions. From a purely scientific view- point, it is certainly better to work with the isolated toxin than the whole pollen grain or an extract from them such as I used at first, before I realized that the toxicity was an attribute of the albumin alone. '*Dr. 0. Kammann, who investigated [210] FORMS OF TREATMENT this matter at my request,^ was able to prove that the albumin fraction contains the toxin and that the globulin fraction is entirely inactive. ** Having determined that the albumin of the pollen is the specific cause of hay-fever, it was possible now to carry out my experi- ments along quantitative lines. It is pos- sible to extract the albumin from the pollen by means of saline solutions of proper strength and then to precipitate it with alcohol or to obtain it by dialysis, and then dry it. In this condition it retains its ac- tivity for many years, **The experiments which I had done up to this time on hay-fever patients had not conformed to the natural process. In order to conform to these more closely I performed the following experiment: A *Kammann: Zur Kenntnis d. Eoggen-PoUens u. des darin enthaltenen Heufiebergiftes. Beitrage z. Chem. Physiol, u. Pathol., 1904, Bd. V, Heft. 7-8, S. 346. [211] HAY-FEVER hay-fever patient and a normal individual took their places in a large glass cabinet in which rye pollen had been distributed. The hay-fever patient took sick, the other remained well. It was not determined by this experiment how much of the pollen had been taken np by the hay-fever patient. The question as to whether or not enough, pollen was present in the air during the hay-fever season to cause the symptoms had not been satisfactorily settled. Black- ley (vide supra) had already made at- tempts to settle this question by means of a method worked out by Phoebus. He had carefully counted at different periods of the years the pollen which gathered on glass plates, whose surface had been cov- ered with glycerin. My co-workers, es- pecially Liefmann,^ found that in the heart ^Liefmann: Ein Beitrag zur Frage nach d. aetiologi- schen Bedeutung gewisser Pflanzen ' pollenkoerner fuer d. Heufieber. Zeitsehr. f. Hyg. u. Infectionskrank- heiten, 1904, Bd. 47, p. 153. [212] FOEMS OF TREATMENT of Hamburg, while hay-fever was at its height, 250 pollen grains accumnlated on a surface of one square centimeter during twenty-four hours, i,e,, 25,000 to the square meter. It was established that with the first appearance of the pollen in the air the patient began to complain of an itch- ing at the inner canthus of the eye; his suffering became more intense in direct proportion to the quantity of pollen in the air. On rainy days no pollen accumulated on the glass plates, altho they were pro- tected from the rain. Early in June the pollen of the grasses far exceeded those of other plants in numbers, and from about the third week in July grew gradually less, so that at the end of July, or the beginning of August, only a few stray grains were found. Thus can be explained the period- icity of the course of hay-fever and also the occurrence of sporadic cases after the [ 213 ] HAY-FEVER hay-fever season is over. There was still no certain method of predicting quanti- tatively the action of the pollen. Dr. 0. Kammann had shown that the organic portion of the pollen of the grasses is about 40 per cent, albumin. He had shown further that about 20,000,000 rye pollen weighed one gram. By means of these figures we could compute the amount of toxin in a single pollen. By means of a solution of known strength of the poison- ous albumin of the pollen, it could be deter- mined how many pollen grains were neces- sary in any given case to produce mild, moderately severe, or severe symptoms. It was evident that different patients were susceptible in varying degrees. A concen- trated solution introduced into the conjunc- tiva or nose of a normal individual causes no symptoms. The majority of hay-fever patients were stimulated by one drop (1-20 [214] FOEMS OF TREATMENT to 1-30 cm.) of a solution of 1 to 20,000 or 1 to 30,000. There were patients, however, who responded to one drop of a solution diluted a million times, the equivalent of the amount of albumin contained in one to three pollen grains. **Liefmann constructed an aeroscope by means of which he was able to de- termine how much pollen was taken in with each breath. In the neighborhood of a field of rye one inhales with each breath two or three pollen grains; in the middle of a large city he found that in every cubic meter of air there were about three hun- dred and eight. **Thus in this way questions as to the quantitative relationship of the pollen to the attack were satisfactorily answered. By means of these experiments it had been plainly shown that the albumin of the pollen of certain plants, especially that of [215] HAY-FEVER all grasses, is to be looked upon as the active cause of hay-fever. \"With my co- workers I examined the pollen of 106 plants, and found them all without any action, altho I had examined such pollen which had been considered capable of producing hay-fever. In addition to the pollen, I had been informed that in China at the time of the blossoming of Ligustrum vulgare a disease very much like hay-fever was prevalent. I examined the pollen of this plant and found it active. In South- west Africa, when the grasses blossom, conditions like hay-fever prevail, es- pecially among the half-breeds. One European had to forsake Africa at this time on account of his intense suffering. In Europe he remained perfectly weU. On examination it was found that he did not react to the grass pollen. In Africa, how- ever,. at this time, the acacia blossom and [216] FORMS OF TREATMENT it has been looked upon as the cause of the condition. This patient was unaffected by the pollen of two different species of acacia. I am in hopes that experiments which we have since then set on foot will explain this disease to us. In addition to the thirty varieties of graminacesB and cyperaceae, I have found the pollen of the following plants active: swamp-pink {Lonicera caprifolium), lily-of-the-valley {Convallaria ma j alls), hairy Solomon's seal {Polygonatum multiforum), CEno- thera biennis, rape {Brassica napus), and spinach {Spinacia oleracea), **0f special importance is the autumnal catarrh, which occurs in the United States of America, beginning early in September and lasting about six weeks. This autum- nal catarrh is much more common in the United States than the vernal catarrh. I have had the opportunity of examining a I 217 1 HAY-FEVEB large number of American hay-fever pa- tients, and was able to establish the fact that those patients who only suffer in the fall do not react at all to the albumin of the grass pollen. They do react, however, regularly to the albumin of the pollen of goldenrod (Solidago) and of ragweed (Ambrosia). I have examined a large number of species of both these plants and they were all active. These patients also react to the pollen of the chrysanthemum and the other asters. Those American pa- tients who suffer only from spring catarrh, not from the autumnal type, react only to the grass pollen, not to that of the golden- rod or the ragweed. A third group of patients suffer from about the middle of May until early in November with a hay- fever-like affection. These unfortunates react both to the grass pollen and to the active agent of the autumnal catarrh. [218] FORMS OF TREATMENT Goldenrod and ragweed are very wide- spread in the United States. They are found not only on meadows, fields, roads and along edges of woods, but grow in the midst of cities in neglected places. In Europe they do not occur naturally, indeed the goldenrod can with difficulty be made to blossom there. The pollen of goldenrod, however, is not scattered as easily as that of the ragweed. All attempts to grow ragweed in this country failed until 1911. In this year, which was extremely hot and dry, I succeeded for the first time. These facts serve as further important supports for the pollen theory. There were, how- ever, still many questions to be settled before all this mysterious phenomena which characterize hay-fever could be ex- plained. **One very important question, that of individual predisposition, I have only [219] HAY-FEVER lightly touched upon. It is clear that all people, including the inhabitants of large cities, are at certain times of the year ex- posed to the pollen of many plants, which settle on their skin, conjunctiva, are in- haled into the nose, and taken up into the mouth. By far the largest part of these individuals are unaffected by the pollen, only a very small percentage take sick. The poisonous albumin of the pollen is a substance, therefore, which is innocuous to most people, and is only active in those cases in which there is a special suscepti- bility. In other words, hay-fever requires an individual predisposition. This per- sonal predisposition is present for the well- known poisons of the pharmacopoeia, either not at all or at most in very slight degree. In the case of the infectious diseases it is much more evident. If, for instance, the cholera or typhoid bacillus is spread [220 } FORMS OF TREATMENT through a city by means of the water sup- ply, only a small percentage of the inhabi- tants are unaffected. This can be ex- plained on the theory that the cholera organism does not find in most individuals those conditions which are necessary to its existence and growth. The fact that only about half of the cholera patients die can be explained by similar quantitative differences. I do not know of another instance of a substance absolutely in- active as far as a part of the popu- lation is concerned, but a very virulent poison for others. The individual pre- disposition in a case of hay-fever must be of a peculiar sort. It might be ex- plained that the hay-fever poison enters the circulation of some people (hay-fever patients) and not of others. That this is the case I could prove by the demonstra- tion of antibodies in the blood of the hay- [221] HAY-FEVER fever patients. I shall return to this sub- ject later. Here it is sufficient to say that these specific substances could be found only at the close of the hay-fever period; six months later they had disappeared. In normal individuals they could at no time be demonstrated. The gradual disappear- ance of the immune bodies is easily ex- plained. We know from animal experi- ment that these substances appear a certain time after infection, gradually to disappear again. At first blush the dem- onstration of immune bodies in the blood of hay-fever patients would seem to be a sufficient explanation of the hay-fever pre- disposition. Close study makes this seem uncertain. On continuing the experiments I found that these inunune bodies were not pres- ent in all patients, indeed, in the same pa- tient I could not find them in some cases [ 222 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT two years in succession. The following objection to this explanation was even stronger : A colleague of mine, disposed to hay-fever, who had helped me for many years, allowed himself to be injected with a solution of pollen albumin. One half- hour after the injection marked symptoms appeared in the eyes, nose, and mouth. The patient experienced pains in the chest, expectorated a tenacious, mucoid sputum, and perspired freely. The respiration be- came rapid and difficult, the pulse-rate was accelerated, and the voice grew weak. After fifty minutes there was a flat, urti- carial eruption over the whole body. After twenty-four hours all the results of the injection had not yet disappeared. At the site of the injection there was a marked swelling, which persisted for five days. ** Injection of hay-fever toxin caused the same symptoms in me. A colleague who [ 223 ] HAY-FEVER did not suffer with hay-fever reacted to the same dose with a small, almost im- perceptible swelling at the site of the in- jection. Pollen albmnin was, in other words, not toxic for him when introduced under the skin. Hundreds of experiments have proved to us that pollen albumin is not a poison in the ordinary sense of the word, and that even when introduced into the circulation it is inactive. Not only is the skin of hay-fever patients permeable, for the hay-fever poison in varying de- grees, but it also reacts to the toxin in dif- ferent ways in different patients. In some cases when a solution of pollen albumin is placed on the skin, there occurs within a few minutes an erythema. If, on the other hand, a patient is very susceptible to hay- fever, the skin may show absolutely no re- action when brought in contact with the toxin. These results may be of value in [224 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT the study of individual predisposition, since they enable us to throw some light upon the question as to whether or not hay-fever is to be looked upon ttS a result of a hypersensitiveness. **In the first place, statistics have definitely proved that hay-fever has no relation to any constitutional disease, — for instance, gout; that, indeed, only a very small percentage of hay-fever patients are gouty. It is very commonly believed that hay-fever is due to some anomaly or stop- ping up of the upper air-passages. A local disease of the trigeminus is assumed by some, with a resulting sensitiveness on the part of certain mucous membranes. The falsity of these conceptions is clear from the experiments cited above. Not only does the whole skin-surface of many pa- tients react to the poison, but subcutane- ous infection is followed by characteristic [225] HAY-FEVER effects. By showing that the anal mncons membrane of hay-fever patients reacts to the pollen toxin, I believe that all those hypotheses, which assume only a local sen- sitiveness on the part of the cranial nerves, or the capital mucous membrane, is robbed of all support. Suggestion, as we have seen, plays a large part in the attempts to explain hay-fever predisposition. I can treat this question together Avith that of the role of specific odors of flowers, cats, dogs, etc. Two colorless, odorless solu- tions were prepared, and a drop from one of them was placed on the mucous mem- brane of the eye and nose of a large num- ber of hay-fever patients. Some reacted, others did not. None of them knew what sort of a solution was being used. The ap- plications were then made in a different way, each patient receiving a drop of the solution which had not been used in his [ 226 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT case before. Those who had, reacted the first time did not do so the second. The one solution was physiologic salt, the other pollen albumin. None of the patients re- acted to the saline, all reacted to the other solution. In the course of many years I repeated these experiments with many variations. In the place of the salt solu- tion I used solution of albumin from in- active pollen. The results were always the same. In the face of such results, he who would explain hay-fever on the ground of suggestion, simply ignores all the facts to the contrary, and his opinion does not deserve serious consideration. ** Hay-fever is looked upon as a result of an advanced culture and civilization. It happens that there are very few hay-fever patients in the laboring class, and that the Anglo-Saxon races, especially the Ger- mans, English, and Americans, furnish the [ 227 ] HAY-FEVER largest number of such patients. That hay-fever does at times occur among the Romans and other nations, I am able to gather from correspondence that I have had with inhabitants of such countries. In St. Louis I met an elevator boy who had hay-fever. Among the Anglo-Saxons the disease is found most often among pro- fessional men. Men appear to be twice as susceptible as women. It is often claimed that hay-fever follows a period of strenu- ous mental work, or of excitement, as, for instance, after examination, or in officers after maneuvers. Hay-fever has often been shown to be hereditary. Most fre- quently, however, a severe attack of in- fluenza has left hay-fever in its wake. Other causes, as, for instance, a difficult labor, are asserted by patients to have been the exciting cause of their hay-fever attacks. May we conclude from all these [228] FORMS OF TREATMENT facts that hay-fever is the result of a dis- turbance of the central nervous system f **It was formerly believed that all hay- fever patients were very nervous and ex- citable. This is certainly not universally true, if we are indeed dealing with a severe abnormality of the central nervous system this, in most instances, makes itself felt only in a hay-fever predisposition. Hundreds of hay-fever patients have writ- ten me that except during the season they are altogether well, and I have found among hay-fever patients many with phlegmatic dispositions. Those idiosyn- crasies which resemble hay-fever in a way, as, for instance, susceptibility to straw- berries, crawfish, iodin, antipyrin, bro- mids and the salts of quinin, are to-day explained on the ground of anaphylaxis. **Th. Albrecht declares that ten years ago every physician had his own theory [ 229 ] HAY-FEVER concerning the treatment of hay-fever. And I may add from my own experience that every patient also had his own method of treatment, which was, as a rule, very complicated. From my records it is very evident that many patients had ten or more hay-fever remedies, which they used either separately or together. A hay-fever pa- tient takes up at once every new remedy that appears and enthusiastically recom- mends it to others. As a rule, he learns o£ the new remedy near the end of the hay- fever season, and while he is using it his troubles disappear and he attributes his relief to the remedy he has been using. In the following spring he is undeceived. In this way one hay-fever remedy after an- other is consigned to oblivion only to re- appear later under a different name. The only remedies that have survived for any length of time are those with narcotic [ 230] FOEMS OF TREATMENT effects, as cocain, adrenalin, anesthesin, morphin, etc. Concerning the danger con- nected with the use of these narcotics, it is surely not necessary to say a word. In addition, adrenalin and anesthesin and the remedies prepared from them cause in many cases a sensation that is much more annoying and unpleasant than hay-fever itself. I, myself, have tested all the hay- fever remedies on which I could lay my hands within the last ten years. With no one of them did I accomplish a beneficial result. There was indeed no reason to suppose that the remedy could accomplish the things that were claimed for it. It is easy to gather the same opinion if one reads the thousands or more hay-fever histories that I have in my possession. I have called attention above to the fact that on purely theoretical grounds nothing was to be expected from these preparations, [231] HAY-FEVER and that chance had not put into our hands a chemical preparation that was effective. Every physician must warn his patients against the use of narcotics. I shall, there- fore, not consider those remedies and methods of treatment that belong to this category. *'In the thousands or more histories which I have been able to read, cauteriza- tion, burning, chiseling, and sawing in the nose play a large part. **It has been shown that the active al- bumin pollen is a substance of such marked specificity that the albumin which causes hay-fever symptoms in one patient (pollen of the grasses in Europeans) is entirely inactive in other patients (those with autumnal catarrh). On the other hand, the toxin of the ragweed has abso- lutely no effect on the European patients. By means of the complement deviation [232] FORMS OF TREATMENT method I could prove that this specificity could be shown in the hemolytic properties of the different albumins, the albumin of the grass pollen reacting altogether dif- ferently from that of goldenrod and rag- weed. In view of this state of affairs, it is not to be hoped that chance would fur- nish us a chemical substance that would either neutralize or render inactive the pollen albumin, or overcome the indi- vidual predisposition, which, as we have seen, is also strictly specific. I have come to the conclusion that we can accomplish our end in three ways only. ** First, by finding localities where the specific cause does not occur; second, by protecting the eyes, nose and mouth of the patient from the pollen; third, by active immunization against the toxin, or the use of a specific antitoxin. **The first method is yearly employed by [233] HAY-FEVEE many patients with success. The second method is also successful. Hay-fever pa- tients are free from symptoms in regions in which a specific pollen does not occur. This was to be expected from what we liave learned about the cause of the disease. Thus many patients find relief on the sea- shore, in islands, and in barren mountain- ous districts. In Germany they go to Heli- goland. In the United States they retire to Fire Island, Long Beach, the White Moun- tains, Green Mountains, or Adirondack Mountains during the hay-fever season. *'A11 my attempts of many years to get rid of the irritating contents of the horse serum have been in vain. As early as 1905, I realized that this would be so, for I proved then that the irritating substance (as I then called the anaphylactic agent) was bound to the euglobulin of the horse serum as was also the antitoxin itself. If [234] FOEMS OF TREATMENT the cuglobulin is destroyed the antitoxin is at the same time rendered useless. I have been able to help patients who have become anaphylactic in two ways: First, by the use of pollantin E., and the suggestion to use this diluted serum only before the occurrence of the hay-fever attack, in the very smallest doses, and if possible only once daily. Patients who follow these di- rections have informed me that pollantin E. did not irritate them at first, altho it did so later. The irritation was, however, not severe and disappeared within ten to thirty minutes. After this the patient was free from hay-fever attacks for one or more days. Secondly, I have taken ad- vantage of the fact that horse serum ana- phylaxis is in most cases specific, but does not appear to me to be always so. I have seen instances in which during the develop- ment of a hypersensitiveness to one animal [235 ] HAY-FEVER serum, patients were rendered anaphylac- tic to the sera of other animals also. This does not, however, happen often. I have, therefore, administered to patients who could no longer stand pollantin E. a very active rabbit serum with good results. It was not only possible to ward off attacks with this serum, but also to protect pa- tients from further attacks during the hay- fever season. These results appear to me to support the opinion, which I exprest years ago, viz., that the reaction to the antitoxin, and with it the tendency toward definite immunization, is directly propor- tional to the degree to which anaphylaxis toward animal serum develops. Patients who have become anaphylactic get along with much smaller doses of antitoxin than other patients, and have, I believe, a better chance to effectually overcome their hay- fever predisposition. [236] I FORMS OF TREATMENT * * This is the goal toward which we must strive. I know of many hay-fever patients, some of whom had attacks of the worst kind, who were entirely free after the use of poUantin for a very short time. I con- sider these people permanently cured, and so^exprest myself in an article last year. A rhinologist interested in hay-fever wrote to me that he could not understand these successes, and that he and his colleague had never been able to obtain such results. He wrote further that my successful ex- periences were in marked contrast to the experienced German Hay-Fever Associa- tion. In answer to such communications I have placed my material in the hands of the secretary of this Association, Dr. Th. Albrecht. I was very much pleased to learn as a result that Dr. Albrecht had been able to cure and successfully immu- nize patients by means of pollantin. In a [237 1 HAY-FEVEK recent publication, Dr. Albrecht reported twelve cases in which, after the use of pol- lantin for a short time, there resulted either a complete cure or at least a marked improvement. These observations are, of course, of intense interest to me. I would ask all colleagues who have made similar observations to be kind enough to com- municate them to me. I have only been strengthened in my former opinion that by means of a mixed passive and active immunization a permanent cure of hay- fever can be accomplished. 6. Experiments with Autoserum. By Harold Hays, M.D> Within the past year a new advance has apparently been made in the treatment of various persistent and chronic dermatoses by the use of autoserum. Among those * Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, June, 1915. [238] FORMS OF TREATMENT who have been doing a large amount of work in this direction are Dr. Wm. S. Got- theil and his associates. Gottheil in April of this year published his first report, which was followed later by a more lengthy survey of the subject. In this report the writer speaks enthu- siastically about the beneficial changes that take place, particularly in the cases of psoriasis. All of the cases treated were of long standing, with extensive . lesions, in which the usual treatments were of no avail. Gottheil summarizes his experience with autoserum by stating 'Hhat it has a peculiar influence for good which enables us to clear off the skin in one-tenth the usual time, with very weak and innocuous local medication, and without any internal treatment at all.\" His results have been corroborated by Dr. John A. Fordyce and Dr. Howard Fox. [ 239 ] HAY-FEVER As a result of the encouraging reports in the treatment of the dermatoses by autoserum, it occurred to the writer that it would be worth while trying this same form of treatment in cases of hay-fever. He arrived at this conclusion after noting the similarity of hay-fever to various skin conditions. His premises may be sum- marized as follows : 1. Hay-fever is a local manifestation of some internal derangement of the system. 2. Hay-fever has associated with it a nervous element which results in a local paresis of the blood-vessels of the nose. 3. Hay-fever occurs at well-regulated intervals, and mainly affects definite parts, namely, the mucous membrane of the nose, eyes, throat, and lungs. a. Psoriasis (with some other of the [240] FORMS OF TREATMENT dermatoses) is a local manifestation of an internal derangement of the system. b. Psoriasis has associated with it a certain nervous element. c. Psoriasis occurs in definite localities of the skin (mainly extensor surfaces). This line of reasoning was further sub- stantiated by reasoning along biologic grounds, for (1) there are certain anaphy- lactic reactions present in psoriasis and other dermatoses which are at the same time present in hay-fever and asthma. (2) A marked eosinophilia is present in the dermatoses and is also present in hay- fever and asthma. It was not, therefore, inconsistent or un- reasonable to suppose that if a definite improvement or even cure could be ob- tained from the use of autoserum in the dermatoses, it could be obtained in hay- fever and asthma. [241] HAY-FEVER The writer, therefore, began a series of experiments in August of this year, wait- ing until the patient was in the prime of his hay-fever attack before beginning the injections. Autoserum, as the name indicates, is a seruGm obtained from the patient into whom afterward it is to be injected. The method of obtaining this serum is very simple, and is as follows : A constricting bandage, preferably of rubber, is wound around the patient's arm above the elbow until it is tight enough to almost obliter- ate the pulse. In a few moments the arm becomes a dull purple from the venous en- gorgement, and a vein from which to draw the blood is readily selected. Very often the very superficial veins are too small, and a deeper one must be palpated for. The desired amount of blood may be withdrawn in a number of ways. At first the writer [242] FOKMS OF TREATMENT used the MacEae needles, as suggested by Dr. Howard Fox. These needles are very small and are fitted into a rubber cork which can readily be inserted into a fifty cubic centimeter bottle. On one side is a thin narrow cannula, to which a piece of rubber tubing may be attached for suction. It is claimed that after the blood once starts to flow, a continuous stream may be kept up by proper suction through the rubber tube ; but it was the writer's experi- ence that on account of the small caliber of the needle it became clogged with co- agulated blood very readily, so that it was difficult to withdraw all the blood that one desired. He therefore had recourse to the simpler (and what seemed to the patient more barbarous) procedure of using a twenty-five cubic centimeter all-glass syr- inge to which could be attached needles of suitable length and caliber. He was [243] HAY-FEVER able in this latter way to withdraw as much as twenty-five to thirty cubic centimeters of blood. The blood was immediately projected into a sterilized fifty cubic centimeter bottle, made of suitable size so that it could be used in an electric centrifuge. This blood was then centrifuged at great speed for from twenty to twenty-five minutes, at the end of which time it was seen that the serum had been nicely separ- ated from the red blood cells. It should be straw-colored in appearance, but very often a small amount of the coloring mat- ter of the blood tinges it, which apparently does no harm. This serum was then drawn up into a sterilized all-glass syringe and reinjected into the patient, either subcutaneously or intravenously. The writer foimd the former method satisfactory, and in no in-' [ 244 ] form:s of teeatment stance was there any untoward results. A large swelling often appeared at the time of the injection, but this disappeared within a few hours. In a few instances when the centrifuge was out of order. It was necessary to al- low the blood to stand overnight in the ice- box. The separation under these circum- stances was just as good, but whether any chemical change took place, it is impossible to say. In this series of experiments twelve cases were treated. The treatments were given in the writer's office, under the best conditions possible. Each patient was in- telligent enough to let him know in a sat- isfactory way just what results there were from the injections. At first there seemed to be a period of vast improvement, and he was in hopes that we were at last on the road to a discovery of some specific cure. I 245 ] HAY-FEVER However, the improvement lasted but a very short time, and then the patients were just as bad as ever. It is, therefore, necessary to report these experiments from a negative point of view, in the hope that it will lead others to do further re- search work along the lines of experi- mental biology. It will be noticed in the cases which are reviewed that the amount of serum injected was very much smaller than that used by skin specialists. Gottheil in his later paper speaks of one case where he with- drew as much as one hundred and fifty cubic centimeters of blood, from which he obtained seventy cubic centimeters of serum. In these cases the largest amount of serum injected was fifteen cubic centi- meters, but it seems that it should have been possible to obtain a reaction of some sort from this small amount, if the treat- [246] FORMS OF TREATMENT ment was going to do any good at all. Again, it is possible that in the treatment of the dermatoses the injection of such large amounts of serum was not necessary. As the susceptible hay-fever patient is very sensitive to an infinitestimal amount of pollen, it is not unreasonable to suppose that moderate amounts of serum ought to show some reaction, if the treatment were to be worth anything at all. It is worthy of note in the series of cases under observation that most of the pa- tients had tried many of the newer treat- ments for hay-fever, and in no instance was even a semblance of a cure effected. A few of the cases are detailed below : Case 1.— Mrs. K. First attack of hay- fever nine years ago, returning each year and lasting from about the 15th of August to the end of September. She tried no cures except **cold'' remedies until this [ 247 ] HAY-FEVER year, when she was given hypodermic injections of some serum two or three times a week during the hay-fever period, but with no benefit. After the season was over she was in a general run-down con- dition. On August 17th this patient had ten cubic centimeters of blood withdrawn; on August 19th, nineteen cubic centimeters; August 21st, twenty-five cubic centimeters ; and August 25th, thirty cubic centimeters. At the first sitting five cubic centimeters were injected subcutaneously in the arm; on the 19th, twelve cubic centimeters; on the 21st, ten cubic centimeters were in- jected into the buttocks, and on the 25th, eight cubic centimeters were again injected into the arm, the blood had stood in the ice-box for twenty-four hours. During the first week the patient seemed considerably improved, but after that time there was a [ 248 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT retrogression, and the patient was as badly off as ever. This patient has a general hypertrophy of all the mucous membrane of the nose. Case 2. — Major D., whose hay-fever dates from 1889. He found that when he was away from the United States he had no hay-fever, but if he returned to this country in the summer it would be just as bad as ever. He had been stationed in Washington, West Virginia, Portland, Oregon, and other places, and in every place had hay-fever. He had tried atropin, adrenalin chlorid and sprays of various kinds, with no relief. Twenty cubic centimeters of blood were withdrawn on August 17th, half the amount in serum being reinjected, and the procedure repeated on August 19th. The patient then left for Porto Rico. His statement of his symptoms was as follows : [249] HAY-FEVER August IStli he was worse ; there was some discomfort most of the day. After the second treatment, until night he seemed considerably better, but he woke up with a sensation of swelling in the right nostriL On the 20th he had very little discomfort all day. On the 21st he had an attack last- ing for two hours. On the 22d he sailed for Porto Eico, arriving there on the 27th of August with apparently no symptoms. In the conclusion of the report the pa- tient says: ** Comparing this attack with my best recollections of previous attacks, I should say that the attack I had on the night of August 19th was similar to a pre- vious one six years before. To the best of my judgment the attack this year pro- gressed at its usual rate, and was in no manner retarded by the two treatments administered.'' Case 3. — Mrs. F. had her first attack of [250] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT hay-fever in 1908. Adrenalin was pre- scribed with no result. A new attack came on while the patient was in England the following year. Walking in the open seemed to help. * * This year I have worked in my garden and played tennis, always either to ward off an attack or more often to cure one.\" The patient received two injections of ten cubic centimeters, from twenty-two cubic centimeters of blood withdrawn. The injections had apparently no benefi- cial effects. Besides these seven cases, five others were treated, the reports of which would be but a repetition of the above. Each was given two or more injections, ranging in amount from five cubic centimeters to fif- teen cubic centimeters of serum. In every instance the treatment was a failure. Moschowitz draws attention to the fact [251] HAY-FEVER that the various common diseases in which anaphylactic reactions are present are usually associated with an eosinophilia. ^*In asthma, hay-fever, and urticaria the blood contains an excess of eosinophiles ; the secretions of the bronchus and of the nose in asthma and hay- fever, respectively, are filled with eosinophile leucocytes. In urticaria, also eosinophilia, both local and general, are found in nearly all skin-lesions {e.g.y eczema, prurigo, Duhring's disease, pemphigus, psoriasis, etc.) . . . In con- nection with the association of many of the manifestations of the exudative diathesis in * neurotic' individuals, it is significant that Neusser and others have shown that eosinophilia is a common finding in such individuals. '^ The writer feels that he can best con- clude by repeating Koessler's last words: **I wish to express emphatically a word [252] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT of caution. It will not be long before the commercial manufacturers of vaccines see *the great advantage and benefit' of this treatment. Hay-fever vaccines will be praised and advertised and put up so at- tractively that their use will become uni- versal, and soon universally discredited. For the pollen extract is not stable, es- pecially not the higher dilutions. By pro- gressing proteolysis, after three to four weeks, it acquires marked toxic properties which lead to severe reactions. The solu- tions must, therefore, be freshly prepared every eight or ten days, if these reactions are to be avoided. Whatever the method of active immunization, whatever the dos- age and technic, the one sound basis that must underlie all these endeavors is that the material to be injected must be not only sterile, but constantly of uniform potency if used in the same dilution. No extract [253] HAY-FEVER of pollen can comply with this demand if it is older than three weeks/' 7. Dr. E. T. Manning's Views ^ Dunbar elected to immunize passively, and his well-known poUantin is the out- come of his efforts. He injected horses with gradually increased doses of ragweed pollen, with the expectation that a specific antibody would eventually be formed in the serum in sufficient amount for prac- tical use. He hoped that by injecting this antiserum into a sensitized human being, he would be able to neutralize the effect of the protein poison. Thus he assumed that the pollen protein acted as a true toxin. He was rewarded with a moderate degree of success. Koessler, of Chicago, first began his * Journal of the American Medical Association, Feb- ruary 20, 1915, p. 655. I 254 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT work in active immunization in 1910. He used ragweed pollen and treated only cases of the autumnal catarrh variety. He was the first to report definite methods of preparing pollen solutions, and to him must be given the credit of placing this form of the treatment on a scientific basis. He gave injections both in a prophylactic way, before the appearance of the hay- fever symptoms, and after the disease had been established. His results correspond closely with those of the English investi- gators. He reports ten per cent, absolute cures, seventy per cent, markedly im- proved subjectively and objectively, twelve per cent, subjectively improved, and eight per cent, not affected. I treated twenty-one cases; fourteen were objectively and subjectively relieved ; in the other seven the treatment was in- complete for one reason or another. Two [255] HAT-FEVEE of these seven showed no reaction, either good or bad. Fonr more were certain that their attacks were lighter. One patient was undoubtedly made worse, a result which I think was due entirely to a mis- take of judgment on my part in giving her a large dose without gradually working up to it. Three of the cases had a bad asthma complicating. Two of these were com- pletely under control and the other was much relieved. It is difficult to determine exactly what should be designated as a cure. Many years ago a great medical philosopher, who was no pessimist in regard to treat- ment, gave as an aphorism, ** Nothing ever gets completely well.\" It is true that there are few disease processes which do not leave their impress on the organism in some chemical, anatomic or functional alteration. Our desire to apply the word [256 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT **cure\" to a treatment probably arises from the effort to keep pace with the medi- cal charlatans who are only too anxious to guarantee so-called cures. So in hay-fever — a disease which is extremely susceptible to all the changes in nervous control of the individual, with some symptoms exceed- ingly vague and influenced to a large ex- tent by the imagination — it is very difficult to determine just what part this or that remedy plays in modifying the disease process, and in thus assisting in a cure. Statistics concerning the effect of a therapeutic measure are decidedly unre- liable as a guide. But few persons, and these only in rare instances, act on statis- tics alone. They act rather on experience, either their own or of others. When they do this they are on surer ground than when they rely on bare figures alone. [257] HAY-FEVER 8. The Use of PHYLACOGEisr By I. H. Alexandee, M.D.* The value of Phylacogen in the treat- ment of diseases seems to depend upon whether we are to take the reports of the experiences of many physicians scattered throughout the civilized world, who have intelligently used this form of treatment and have obtained results which they be- lieved are better than those obtained by other methods, or whether we are to de- pend upon the advice given by the many and voluminous articles appearing in the medical journals, principally in the Jour- nal of the American Medical Association^ which condemns the use of Phylacogen from every point of view. There is no rea- son to believe that the articles appearing in the Journal of the American Medical * Pittsburgh Medical Journal, July, 1914. [258] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT Association are not sincere and represent correctly the views of the writers of these articles, as well as those of the editor. It is not the intention of the writer to defend or recommend the use of Phylaco- gen in the treatment of hay-fever, asthma or any other infection, bnt as it was my privilege to Be the first physician, as far as I have been able to learn, to use this method of treatment for the relief and cure of these most annoying and painful conditions, I desire to report my results and give, as near as possible, my methods of administration. I do not wish to give the impression that the administration of the Mixed Infection Phylacogen consti- tutes the entire treatment of hay-fever and asthma, altho many cases will recover without additional treatment. I consider it only as a very great aid in the medica- tion and should be used in conjunction [ 259 I HAY-FEVER with other remedies, given for the relief of symptoms, etc. Pottenger says of the use of Tuberculin in tuberculosis, there is more to the Tuberculin treatment than having a patient suffering from tubercu- losis and a syringe loaded with Tuberculin to inject into him. My experience with Mixed Infection Phylacogen in the treatment of bronchial asthma has been somewhat more extensive than my hay-fever experience. Thirty-six cases have been treated to date. Only one case insisted that he had not been bene- fited. This case had found relief from his suffering by the hypodermic use of Adren- alin, which he administered himself, often using as high as twenty injections a day. This case improved on Mixed Infection Phylacogen at first, and for two weeks was symptomatically well. Physical examina- tion of the chest at that time failed to de- [260] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT tect the physical signs of bronchial asth- ma, but within a week of the time of the last examination he was suffering just as severely as before, and was using his hypodermic syringe as frequently as ever. Physical examination did not present suf- ficient evidence to account for his apparent severe dyspnoea. This case, I believe, had formed the habit of using Adrenalin. Of the other thirty-five cases, thirty recov- ered and have remained well from one to three years. Two cases have recurred twice and were finally cured by administer- ing Salvarsan. 9. The Calcium Salt Treatment By Harold Wilsok, M.D.* The reports of Emmerich and Loew^ on the very favorable results secured by them * Gouty and rheumatic cases are undoubtedly much benefited by the use of calcium salts as Dr. Wilson points out in this article. 'Emmerich and Loew: Erfolgreiche Behandlung [261] HAY-FEVER from the prolonged administration of cal- cium chlorid in the treatment of hay-fever induced me to make some trial of this drug during the season of 1915. A brief report of the results will be given in this com- munication. Whether the ingestion of calcium salts has a direct inhibitory action on the pro- teolytic reactions which appear to be a necessary part of the hay-fever complex, or so modify this reaction as to render the split proteins less toxic, or whether they act by lessening the patient's nerve irri- tability, seems at this time to be quite un- determined. The employment of calcium salts in hay-fever would be on a much bet- ter basis if we were able to rationalize it. At present, it seems to me that this method des Heufiebers durch lange Zeit fortgesetzte Chlorkal- ziumzufiihr, Miinchen. med. Wchnschr., 1913, Ix, 2676; Weitere Metteilungen iiber Erfolgreiche Behandlung des Heufiebers, ibid., 1914, Ixii, 41. [262] FORMS OF TREATMENT of treatment can hardly claim to be more than ** reasonable empiricism.\" In view of the fact, however, that much other use- ful therapy rests on a no more secure foun- dation than this, there is no reason why we should not make a sufficient trial of this method, which has, certainly, many prac- tical advantages. Twenty-six patients were treated by me during the past season. Of these, twenty- two were treated exclusively with calcium chlorid, and four patients, who had been under treatment by means of injections of pollen solution, were given the drug when their hay-fever symptoms began to de- velop more or less severely. One patient had hay-fever of the vernal type only; three patients had both vernal and autumnal attacks, and twenty-two pa- tients had only autumnal attacks. Twenty- two patients gave a positive ophthalmic [263 ] HAY-FEVER or cutaneous reaction to ragweed pollen; four gave a negative reaction to ragweed. Many cutaneous tests were made with sub- stances other than pollens, the result of which will be made the subject of another report. Treatment was begun in June, with seven patients; in July with four; in Au- gust with fifteen, and in September with two. In no case did any patient take the drug for more than eight or ten weeks be- fore the time of the expected attack, and in most cases the period was much more brief. Emmerich and Loew advise the use of the drug over a very long period, as much as a year, if possible. Altho it has been shown that the maximum calcium retention in the system occurs only after its prolonged ingestion, it remains to be proved that its optimum therapeutic effect in hay-fever requires its daily use for a year before the expected attack. In some [264 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT of the most favorable cases here reported, the relief secured came almost at once, or after taking, at most, only a few doses. For most patients the calcium chlorid was prescribed thus: Calcium chlorid crystals 100 gm. Distilled water to make 600 c.c. M. SiG. — ^Take one teaspoonful in sufl&cient water during or after each meal. This gives the patient about 3 gm. of cal- cium chlorid daily. The crystalline salt is used in preference to the anhydrous, as making a cleaner and clearer solution. Wlien the anhydrous salt is prescribed, al- lowance should be made for the water of crystallization, of which in the crystalline salt there are six molecules (CaCl2+6 H,0): Calcium chlorid, anhydrous 60 gm. Distilled water to make 500 c.c. M. SiG. — Take one teaspoonful in sufficient water with or after each meal. £265 ] HAY-FEVER There was no serious difficulty in taking the drug as thus prescribed. One patient experienced gastric distress until the dose was reduced ; another complained of weak- ness and loss of appetite, and had to use it intermittently in a lessened dose; an- other thought it caused a diminution in the urinary output, while another thought the flow of urine was increased. It has not been observed that the daily ingestion of 3 gm. of calcium chlorid has been followed by any marked bodily disturbance. In fact, much larger doses than this can apparently be taken with entire safety. Cow's milk contains 0.198 per cent, cal- cium monoxid. A pint of milk contains about 0.71 gm. calcium. Three gm. of cal- cium chlorid crystals contain about 0.55 gm. calcium, so that more lime is taken by the daily use of a pint of milk than in the dosage prescribed above. [266 ] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT The table on page 268 gives the results of the treatment with calcium chlorid in the twenty-six cases under observation. A few of the most favorable reports are given in greater detail: Case 23.— Miss M. T., aged 21, had had hay-fever since childhood, beginning in May and lasting until frost. She was sen- sitive to flowers of all kinds, to dust and to wind. She could not sweep floors without marked discomfort. She had no asthma. Eye and nasal symptoms were most marked. She had been using epinephrin solutions until they now aggravated the trouble. July 2d there were lacrimation, coryza and sneezing of moderate severity more or less continuously. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm., three times a day, was prescribed. July 9th, eyes were ''wonderfully better\"; there [267] HAY-FEVER RESULTS OF TREATMENT WITH CALCIUM CHLORID IN TWENTY-SIX CASES.* Hay- Reac- Duration Case No. tion «^ Rag- of Treat- Result Remark. fever ment weed 12 A + 2-3 weeks + Under treatment with injections of pollen BolutionB for ten weekg previously. 13 A + 2-3 weeks + Previous treatment as in Case 12. 14 A + 2-3 weeks Previous treatment as in Case 12. 19 A + 2-3 weeks -- Previous treatment with injections of pollen solutions seven weeks. 22 A + 10 weeks 23 A-V 13 weeks + + + Immediate improvement and abso- lute freedom from all symptoms after July 28. 24 A + 11 weeks + + + Multiple sensitization. 26 A 13 weeks + No symptoms until September 1. 26 A + 16 weeks + + + No symptoms until September 25. Then only trifling itching in throat and slight sneezing. No other symptoms. September 25, patient writes, *'I 27 A + 12 weeks — was worse than usual.\" 29 A -1- 8 weeks + + + Only slight symptoms. 80 A 4- 8 weeks + 81 A + 9 weeks + Multiple sensitization (faint). 82 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 83 V 9 weeks + + Immediate relief and practical free- dom from all symptoms about half the time. 34 A-V + 5 weeks + Reports moderate relief from symp- toms during season. 35 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 86 A + No report. 37 A + 5 weeks + + Very little hay-fever, even In country. 38 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 39 A 4- 4 weeks + 40 A + 4 weeks + + Multiple sensitization. 41 A + 4 weeks + + Did not take drug re^arly. 42 A — 5 weeks + + + Peach reaction positive; stopped eating peaches. 43 A + 2 weeks + Left city early in September. 44 A-V 13 weeks + + + Relief immediate and complete; slight recurrences; took drug very irregularly. ♦Explanation of signs: A indicates autimmal; V, vernal; — , symptoms worse than usual; 0, symptoms about the same as usual; -f, symptoms less marked than lisual; ++» symptoms much less marked than usual; very definite improvement; -I-4-+. absolute freedom from symptoms, or only trifling and insignificant ones during season. [ 268 I FORMS OF TREATMENT were somewhat less sneezing and coryza; the patient was less sensitive to dnst and wind. July 20th, she was much less uncomfortable than usual. On the whole, there was a marked amelioration of symptoms. July 28th, there was very great relief. The patient was practically free from all symptoms. *^I never was so helped by anything before.'' August 13th, the patient reported that she had had no hay-fever symptoms whatever since last visit. Relief was absolute. Septem- ber 6th, absolute freedom from symptoms continued. This relief continued through- out the season. Case 26. — ^Miss M. R., aged 25, had had autumnal hay-fever seven or eight years; no asthma. Maternal aunt had had hay- fever since childhood. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were posi- tive. June 11th, calcium chlorid was pre- [269] HAY-FEVER scribed, 1 gm. three times a day, but owing to some gastric distress which it seemed to cause, the dose was much reduced for sev- eral weeks. The full dose, however, was taken later and continued. No hay-fever symptoms were experienced until Septem- ber 5th, when there was slight sneezing, and itching in the throat. During the rest of the season symptoms were practically absent. Case 29.— Dr. W. A. K., aged 40, had ha J autumnal hay-fever for fifteen years, and slight asthma recently. July 7th, cal- cium chlorid was prescribed, 1 gm. three times a day. Patient reported in October that he had experienced only trifling symp- toms at any time during the season. Case 33.— Miss F. P., aged 43, had had vernal hay-fever, usually beginning about June 1st and lasting until the end of July. June 12th, she was having about the usual [270] FOEMS OF TREATMENT amount of trouble. The ophthalmic reac- tion to ragweed was negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm. three times a day, was pre- scribed, with much relief, almost at once. She reported, August 25th: ^*I have been practically free from symptoms about half the time. The rest of the time partly free and partly in trouble. About July 28tli took a long railway journey, weather dry and dusty, with no hay-fever symptoms at all.'^ Case 42.— F. W., aged 28, had had hay- fever, beginning in August, for several years. Father had hay-fever; no asthma. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were negative. Cutaneous and nasal reaction to peaches was positive. Calcium chlorid, 2 gm. three times a day, was prescribed. August 25th, the patient was very comfortable, with scarcely any symptoms. Cutaneous reaction to peaches [271] HAY-FEVER was negative. The patient had stopped eating peaches. During the rest of the season there were very few hay-fever symptoms. Case 44. — Miss C. S., aged 25, had had hay-fever for nine years, beginning in early spring and lasting until the second week in October. She had asthma. Symp- toms were marked. June 30th, the hay- fever symptoms were distressing. Oph- thalmic and cutaneous reaction to ragweed was negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm. three times a day, was prescribed. Patient re- ported September 25th. The hay-fever symptoms, which were severe, disap- peared after the second dose of the medicine, whereupon she promptly stopt taking it regularly. Afterward she took a long auto journey without symptoms. During the summer she had occasional slight symptoms, which disappeared ira- [272] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT mediately when she took the medicine. She had been practically free from all hay- fever symptoms ever since beginning to take the drug. She thinks the results are ** wonderful.'' She would probably have taken the drug more regularly if it had not seemed to increase the secretion of urine. 1. Some hay-fever patients taking not less than 3 gm. of calcium chlorid daily, even for a short time, are practically re- lieved from all hay-fever symptoms. 2. Calcium chlorid may be taken in doses of 3 gm. daily for an indefinite time without any apparent injury. 3. It is not indispensable in all cases for a hay-fever patient to take calcium chlorid over a long period of time in order to se- cure relief. 4. Calcium salts may be given, even when the nature of the patient 's sensitiza- tion is not known. [ 273 1 HAY-FEVEE 5. The clinical results from the admin- istration of calcium chlorid in cases of hay-fever are such as to warrant its further trial. 10. The Pollen Therapy Treatment By J. L. GooDAu;.* The object of the following paper is to report the results of observations based upon one hundred and twenty-two cases of hay-fever examined during the past twelve months, with reference to determining, if possible, the value of pollen therapy treat- ment, and also to ascertain what biologic relations, if any, exist between the pollen of different plants. In the first place, a word should be said in regard to the method of obtaining and preserving the pollen extracts. For many plants, which furnish an abundance of * Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, June, 1915. [274] FOEMS OF TREATMENT easily detached pollen, it is sufficient to gather the partially opened flowers, bring them into a room without currents of air, and in the course of a few days the pollen may be shaken upon smooth paper. This applies particularly to those plants the cross fertilization of which is effected through the agency of air currents, such as many forest trees and grasses, and certain Compositse, particularly ragweed. In the entomophylous plants, where the cross fer- tilization is largely effected by the agency of insects, the freshly opened anthers may be dipt and gathered. The pollen is then either placed in the solution for ex- traction, or it may be preserved dry for an indefinite period. I have taken the pollen from specimens in my herbarium, gathered twentj-five to thirty years ago, of grasses and of ragweed, which on the addition of water excites as marked a skin f275] HAY-FEVER reaction as would be the case with freshly prepared extract. The extract is obtained from the pollen by soaking in water for a few hours. I have not found it necessary to subject the material to trituration, as advised by some writers; and this is also theoretically unnecessary, since the pollen grains in water promptly undergo a swelling, with solution of their albuminous contents. Several observers have complained of the difficulty of preserving the extract, and say that it is liable to deterioration on standing. After a number of tests, an alcohol dilution of thirteen to fifteen per cent, seems to meet the requirements; and material prepared in this way a year ago has apparently lost but little of its efficiency. It is interesting to observe, in this connection, that we have an ex- ample of natural plant juice, namely, £ 27e a FOEMS OF TEEATMENT wine, in which preservation of its qual- ities is thus secured. The heavier nat- ural wines contain a considerable amount of albuminous matter, together with ap- proximately fourteen per cent, alcohol. More than this percentage checks the fur- ther development of the yeast plant, and this amount, while preventing decompo- sition, does not seem sufficient to cause a precipitation of the proteids of the wine. It is desirable to keep the solution in am- ber bottles. A word of caution should be said in re- gard to the gathering of flower heads for the preparation of pollen extract in the case of those plants which may contain a poisonous substance, as occurs in cer- tain Compositse, especially the wormwood group. I have observed a few cases where disturbing symptoms of nausea and malaise followed the injection of such [ 277] HAY-FEVER materials to a greater extent than would be accounted for by the actual amount of pollen present. In the case, however, of such plants as the Rosacese and grasses, these precautions are unnecessary, and we may, in the case of the latter, find it more convenient to strip off the flower heads or anthers by hand. When the pollen has been gathered and a suitable extract prepared, the latter con- stitutes then the stock solution from which varying dilutions are prepared. It is theo- retically desirable to prepare a stock solu- tion with a definite percentage of pollen extract; but practically this is unneces- sary, since individuals differ very widely in their degrees of sensitization, and each case must be examined by different dilu- tions to determine the correct strength which it is safe to use for him. The intensity of the skin reaction does [278] FORMS OF TREATMENT not always seem to be proportionate to the clinical symptoms of hay-fever. I have seen numerous severe cases where the skin reaction was much less than in other individuals, who apparently suffered from a milder form of the disease. In the case of children, the skin disturbances are rela- tively less prondunced than in the case of adults, and I have observed several under ten years of age, with apparently well de- fined hay-fever, who showed no reaction to the prevailing pollens borne in the air at the special season. In describing the results which have fol- lowed the injection of pollen extracts, it has seemed to me desirable to separate those cases which have received treatment during the hay-fever season from those which have been treated during the winter or out of season. I have done this for the reason that it is difficult to draw accurate [ 279 ] HAY-FEVER deductions from the statements of the pa- tients themselves. \"We have, in the first place,, to remember that seasons vary in the severity of hay-fever symptoms, de- pendent upon the amount of rain, heat and cold. Furthermore, the individual's pre- disposition seems to vary, perhaps as the result of his physical state and habits at the season. Finally, the element of sug- gestion may conceivably play a part. While I shall, therefore, report the sum- mer cases with reference to the degree of relief obtained, I do not regard these fig- ures as at all conclusive. On the other hand, observations carried out during the winter with reference to changes in the intensity of the skin reaction, may be considered a fairly reliable guide, if it be admitted that the strength of the solutions themselves has not undergone deteriora- tion. This latter point is difficult to deter- [280] FOEMS OF TREATMENT mine with absolute certainty. Neverthe- less, my alcoholic solutions seem now, after the lapse of months, to effect in new cases nearly, if not quite, the same degree of skin reaction which they occasioned when in a fresh state. At the date of writing, one hundred and twenty-two cases have been observed, of which seventy-four have had more or less treatment, and forty-eight have been seen but once, or are now beginning treatment. Of the cases which may have been consid- ered to have had a sufficient amount of treatment to enable us to draw more or less definite conclusions, thirty-two were treated after the onset of the hay-fever symptoms, and forty-seven were treated during the winter or early spring. Of these cases which were treated at the beginning or innnediately before the hay- fever season, twenty-six exprest them- [281] HAY-FEVER selves as having been more or less re- lieved, eight conld not see material im- provement. In estimating the results actually achieved by treatment during the season, I believe that an accurate judg- ment would place the extent of the relief in a number of instances distinctly below that which the patients exprest. In other words, I believe the element of sug- gestion plays here a considerable part. Furthermore, a certain number of these who believed themselves improved showed but slight diminution in the extent of the skin reaction. It has seemed to me that such cases probably represent too high a degree of sensitization to obtain material relief during the hay-fever season, and that a longer period of treatment is re- quired. On the other hand, several of these individuals who reported some months later showed a marked diminution [282 ] FOEMS OF TREATMENT of tlieir skin reaction, and it was possible tlien to undertake their treatment with the result of bringing about still further a diminution in the intensity of the skin dis- turbances. About one-fourth, however, of those treated during the season expe- rienced after a certain number of injec- tions, ranging from four to twelve in number, such striking diminution in their subjective sensations and in the skin reac- tions, that it seemed difficult to ascribe the gain to anything else than the treatment, the improvement noted having occurred from one to three weeks before the disap- pearance of their type of hay-fever in this vicinity. Serobiologic methods have shown the phylogenetic relationship of the different plant orders and families. The applica- tion of these discoveries to the treatment of hay-fever by injection of plant proteids [283 1 HAY-FEVER promises to assist in the selection of the specific material required for a given case. Definite reactions are elicited in hay- fever by the pollen of the exciting plants when brought into contact with an abra^ sion of the skin. The intensity of these sKn manifestations may be sensibly di- minished by the repeated parenteral ad- ministration of the proteids in question. Coincident with the diminution of the skin reactions there seems to occur an in- creased tolerance of the exposed mucous membranes to the pollens of the plants em- ployed. Pollen therapy in hay-fever may be regarded at the present time as a prom- ising method of treatment, but its value and the permanence of its results remain still to be definitely established. £284] FORMS OF TREATMENT 11. Surgical Treatment Surgical treatment of hay-fever is fre- quently necessary when the patient comes to the physician in the midst of the dis- ease and palliative measures are not pos- sible. In this case I cauterize the small sensitive areas with a flat electrode at a white heat, and without the use of cocain, as the use of a local anesthetic would make it impossible to find the sensitive spot. It is well to find the sensitive areas with the cold electrode, then turn on the current and bring to a white heat. In this way you can cauterize four or five sensitive areas at one time. Cauterization should not be repeated more frequently than every six or seven days. Nasal catarrh, nasal polypi, deviation of the septum, as well as sinusitis, should be treated long before the paroxysms. Many [285] HAY-FEVER authorities, including Ballinger, believe sinusitis is hay-fever, and, if this is true, selected cases respond to autogenous vac- cine. Ballinger quotes Dr. P. M. Farring- ton's successful treatment by this method. He injects 50,000,000 bacteria at first treat- ment, gradually increasing the dose to 100,000,000 at third treatment. The injec- tions should be made every third or fourth day. 12. A Summary of Treatment To one who has read the outlines of treatment given in this book it will ap- pear that success in the treatment of hay- fever can be reached through several avenues, — through sera, surgical work, local application and internal medicines. Preparedness is the watchword of our country, and prevention is the keynote in the management of hay-fever. I there- [ 286 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT fore believe that hay-fever can be pre- vented by removing the stigma of neu- rotic inheritance and anatomical defects in youth and by observing the rules of the Hay-Fever Prevention Association, as outlined by Dr. Scheppegrell and quoted in this book. The careful study of pollen by Dunbar has advanced the possibility of cure by this means and will eventually bring about a more scientific adjustment of the remedy. At the present time, how- ever, treatment has not been satisfactory. A more extended study may give better results. Dunbar has caused many en- thusiastic workers to offer the results of their labors, and I have quoted Dr. H. Hays' experience with auto-serum, which should be more fully tested, and with him, the honest efforts of Dr. Manning, Dr. Alexander, and the earnest disciple of Dunbar, Dr. J. E. Goodale, whose con- t 287 ] HAY-FEVER elusions as follows are the last words on pollen therapy. '^Serobiological methods have shown the phylogenetic relationship of the dif- ferent plant-orders and -families. The ap- plication of these discoveries to the treat- ment of hay-fever by injection of plant proteids promises to assist in the selec- tion of the specific material required for a given case. Definite reactions are elicited in hay-fever by the pollen of the exciting plant when brought into contact with an abrasion of the skin. The in- tensity of these manifestations may be sensibly diminished by the repeated pa- renteral administration of the proteids in question. Coincident with the diminution in the skin reactions, there seems to occur an increased tolerance of the exposed mucous membrane to the pollens of the plants employed. Pollen therapy in hayr [288 1 FOEMS OF TREATMENT fever may be regarded at the present time as a promising method of treatment, but its value and the permanence of its results remain still to be definitely es- tablished.'^ To secure reasonable success it is im- portant that hay-fever patients should be- gin their treatment at least three or four weeks before the onset of the attack by the use of sedative solutions; a strict cleansing treatment being applied daily, if possible, to the nasal membrane to in- hibit the reflex. This local treatment should continue for several weeks. Many patients are relieved with the use of a weak solution of suprarenal, 1 : 10,000 in normal salt. ' Again, the antiseptic al- kaline solution, with an equal quantity of water, usually is sufficient; many are made better by the use of a weak Dobell's solution, and this is my choice of a solu- [289] HAY-FEVER tion. The frequency of a reaction causing congestion has rendered an otherwise valuable remedy undesirable. I therefore have better results with mild alkaline solutions of DobelPs, or the liquor anti- septicus alkalinicus. Again, many cases do well on an ointment of suprarenal in white vaseline. A small quantity placed in the nose will last longer and be more agreeable than the solution. In asthmatic patients the adrenalin chlorid in oil, used as a spray, is quite effective in selected cases. The danger in the use of cocain is too apparent to place it in the hands of the patient. Its use in ofSce work is even questionable. Many internal remedies have been used, and, altho failure is frequent, I have found quinin, atropia, strychnin, anti- pyrin, iodids and thyroid among those most frequently prescribed. Quinin is [290 3 FOEMS OF TEEATMENT valuable in massive doses, both locally (snuffed up the nostril in powder form) and internally. The unpleasantness of the toxic effect is as great as the hay- fever itself, rendering it an undesirable remedy. The same can be said of anti- pyrin used internally. It must be given in large doses — seven to eight grains 3 or 4 times daily for an adult. Its action is antispasmodic, and similar in effect to that in whooping cough. It is possible, and I believe this is true in many cases, it may act as an antitoxin to the irritant from the pollen, and in this way be of bene- fit when there are paroxysmal asthmatic symptoms. The iodids act well in small doses when the secretion is slight, but most patients are made worse by their use. Thyroid, in one grain doses, t. i. d., wiU increase the secretion, dilate the internal vessels [291] HAY-FEVER and thus relieve the nasal congestion. The use of thyroid is usually effective in patients over 50 and when there is gout or rheumatism. The drugs mentioned above are at best only palliative and in no sense curative. From the report of Emmerich and Leow we can hope to cure the chronic tendency of hay-fever {Jour, A. M. A,, Jan. 17, 1915). They report five cases that were broken up and the patients permanently freed from its grip by continued treat- ment with calcium chlorid. This paper furnished us with the only positive in- ternal remedy and is worthy of more extended trial. I 292 J BIBLIOGEAPHY I 293 1 BIBLIOGEAPHY 1565. Botallufl (L,), Comment, duo alter de Medici, alter de ^gi'oti-Unnere, Lugduni, 1565^ p. 23. 1673. Binningerus (J. N.), Obs. et Curat. Med. Cent, quin- quse, Cent, secundo, Obs. Ixxxvi, 1673. 1698. Floyer (John), London, 1698, On Asthma. 1707. 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Gaz., Lond., 1833; xii, pp. 164-171. Also, Boston M. and S. J., 1833, vii, pp. 341-347. 1838. Schwandner (W. F.), Casus asthmatis thymiei cum pneumonia conjuncti, 8. TubingsB, 1838. 1842. Oheyne (R. R.), Lond. M. Gaz., 1842-43, xxxi, p. 329. Scott (R. W.), On Bronchorrhcea Estiva, or Hay- fever. Prov. M. and S. J., Lond., 1842, iv, p. 123. 1843. King (T. W.), On Summer Asthma. Lond. M. Gaz.. 1843, xxxii, pp. 671-675. 1846. Swett, Hay-asthma, N. York M. J., 1846, vi, p. 10. 1850. Gream (Q. T.), On the Use of Nux Vomica as a Rem- edy in Hay-fever. Lancet, Lond., 1850, i, p. 629. [ 296 1 BIBLIOGEAPHY 1851. Mackenzie (F. W.), Kemarks on the Nature and Treat- ment of Hay-fever. Lond. J. M., 1851, iii, pp. 637- 643. 1852. Kirkman (W. P.), Prov. M. and S. J., Lond., 1852, p. 360. 1853. Wey (W. O.), Hay-asthma. Tr. M. Ass. South. Central N. Y., Auburn, 1853, pp. 78-82. 1856. Kunkler, (Q. A.), Med. Counsellor, Columbus, 1856, ii, p. 605. 1857. Ellis (W. K.), On the Treatment of Hay-fever. 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A., 1914, Ixiii, p. 141. Sicard, Auto-hemoth6rapie sous-cutanee du rhume des foins. Bull, et ni6m See. m6d. d. hop. de Par., 1914, 3 S., xxxviii, p. 157. Smith (D. G.), Hay-fever. Washington Med. Ann., 1914, xiii, pp. 289-299. Sormani (B. P.), De specifieke behandlung van hooi- koorts Nederl. Tijdschr. v. Geneesk., Amst., 1914, ii, pp. 1735-1753. Ulricli (H. L.), Some Notes on Hay-fever. Jl. A. M. A., 1914, Ixii, pp. 1220-1222. 1915. Oooke (B. A.), The Treatment of Hay-fever by Activ© Immunization. Laryngoscope, St. Louis, 1915, xxv, pp. 108-112. Bmmerloh (R.), & Loew (O.), Weitere Mitteil ungen iiber erf olgreiche Behandlung des Huefiebers. Miin- chen. med. Wchnschr., 1915, Ixii, pp. 43-45. Goodale (J. Ii.)» Pollen Therapy in Hay-fever. Ann. Otol., Rhin. & Laryng., St. Louis, 1915, xxiv, pp. 269-285. Also Boston Med. & Surg. JL, 1915, clxxiii, pp. 42-48. Gottlieb (M. J.) & Oppenheimer (S.), Active Immuni- zation to Hay-fever. Bioehem Bull., N. Y., 1915, pp. 127-135. Ha3rs (H.), Experiments with Autoserum in the Treat- ment of Hay-fever. The Relation of Anaphalyxia and Eosinophilia to Hay-fever. A General Survey of New Methods of Treatment. Ann. Otol., Rhin. and Laryng., St. Louis, 1915, xxiv, pp. 287-302. Iskowitz (H.), Multi-pollen Vaccines in the Treatment of Hay-fever. Med. Rec, N. Y., 1915, Ixxxviii, pp. 270-272. Kellogg (K. E.), Sodium Bicarbonate in Hay-fever. New York Med. Jl. (etc.), 1915, cii, p. 393. [ 333 ] BIBLIOGEAPHY Kooijman (A.), Twee gevallen van hooikoorts, zeer be- langrijk verbeterd door vaccino-therapie. Nederl. Tijdschr. v. Geneesk., Amstr., 1915, ii, pp. 1266-1272. Manning (E. T.), Hay-fever; Its Treatment by Injec- tion of a Solution of Eagweed Pollen. Jl. American Med. Assoc, Chicago, 1915, Ixiv, pp. 655-657. Oppenheimer (S.) & Gottlieb (M. J.), Immunization of Pollinosis. Jl. Med. Soc, N. J., Orange, 1915, xii, pp. 421-423. Pollinosis (Hay-fever); A Consideration of Its Treatment by Active Immunization. Bull. Med. & Chir. Faculty, Marvland, Balto., 1915-16, viii, pp. 3-17. Pollinosis (Hay-fever) ; A Consideration of Its Treatment by Active Immunization. Maryland Med. Jl., Balto., 1915, Iviii, pp. 220-228. Pollinosis (Hay-fever) ; A Consideration of Its Treatment bv Active Immunization. New York State Jl. Med., N. Y., 1915, xv, pp. 214-221. The Active Immunization of Hay-fever; A Pre- liminary Eeport. New York Med. J. (etc.), 1915, ci, pp. 229-232. Schmidt (K.), Ein Versuch., den Heuschnupfen durch Eontgenstrahlen zu beeinflussen. Miinchen. med. Wchnschr., 1915, Ixii, p. 773. Scheppegrell (W.), Hay-fever-producing Weeds in the United States. Ohio Pub. Health Jl., Columbus, 1915, vi, pp. 325-329. Also Pub. Health Mich., Lansing, 1915, iii, pp. 462- 466. Somme (J.), Et nyt hoifebermiddel ' * Pollaccine ' ' Tid- sskr f. d. norske Laegefor., Kristiania, 1915, xxxv, pp. 107-110. Wood (F. M.), H«,y-fever and Asthma. Chicago Med. Eecorder, 1915, xxxvii, pp. 453-459. 1916. Fergus (J. F.), Vaccine Inoculations for Hay-fever. Glasgow Medical Jl., Ixxxiv, pp. 344-352. [334] BIBLIOGRAPHY Hollopeter (W. C), Hay-fever; Its Prevention and ) Cure. 1916. Third Edition. 344 pp. 5 lUus. Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York and London. Noyes (Margaret L.), Report of Two Hay-fever Cases Treated with the Pollen Extract. Jl. A. M. A., Chi- .\\ cago, 1916, V. Ixvi, No. 10. j Oppenheimer (S.) & Gottlieb (M. J.), Pollen Therapy | in Pollinosis. Medical Record, N. Y., March 11, 1916. | Scheppegrell (Wm.), Hay-fever: Its Cause and Pre- vention. Jl. A. M. A., Chicago, 1916, V. Ixvi, No. 10, pp. 707-712. i Strouse (Solomon) & Frank (Ira), Pollen Extracts and Vaccines in Hay-fever. Jl. A. M. A., 1916, V. Ixvi, No. 10, pp. 712-715. i Wilson (Harold), The Treatment of Hay-fever with : Calcium salt. Jl. A. M. A., Chicago, 1916, V. xlvi, ] No. 10, pp. 715-716. [335 1 INDEX f 837] INDEX Adenoids, 147, 168 Adirondacks, immunity in, 234 Adrenalin, use of, 231, 260, 290 Aeroscope, 215 Africa, southwest, cases in, 216 Age, influence of, 51, 121 Albrecht, Th., 229, 238 Albumin of pollen specific cause of hay fever, 211 Alexander, I. H., 258 Allen, Harrison, 34, 132 American Hay - Fever - Pre- V e n t i n Association, 152, 161. Campaign of Education, 155 Anaphylactic agent, 234 Anaphylaxis, 229, 235 Anemia, treatment of, 178 Anesthesin, use of, 231 Anglo - Saxon races, fre- quency of cases in the, 111,227 Antitoxin, 192 Areas, sensitive nasal, 34, 35, 68, 71 Arnold, 41 Ascaris megalocephala as a cause, 98 Ashhurst, Samuel, 130 Asthma as a late symptom, 62 diagnosis from, 94 treatment of, 121 as sequel, 185 complicating, 185 Atlantic, cases on the, 114 Australia, cases in, 113 Autogenous vaccine, 150 Autoserum, experiments with, 238 Autoserum, method em- ployed in application, 248 Auto-suggestion, 50 B Bacteriologic study of nasal secretions, 103 Ballinger, 149, 286 Bastian, 98 Beard, G. M., 13, 32, 47, 48, 55, 63, 69, 75, 80, 82, 93, 111, 115, 118, 119, 120, 124, 125 Beecher, Henry Ward, cases in the family of, 118 Benzoic acid, as a cause, 88, 95 Beschorner, 22 Bibliography, 293 Binz, C, 28 Bishop, S. S., 36, 134, 138 [ 339 ] INDEX Blackley, Chas. H., 29, 31, 39, 90, 95, 102, 103, 122, 207 Blackley, experiments of, 90, 102 Blood, alkalinity of, 135 Blossoming dates, muta- bility of, 109 Blue, Eupert, 160 Bostock, J., 19, 24, 88 Bosworth, 49, 50, 52, 63, 72, 76, 82, 119, 127, 129, 132, 134 Botallus, 22 Bronchial complications, treatment, 189 Bronchitis complicating, 189 Broussais, 22 BuUette, W. W., 83, 117 Calcium chlorid, 265 Calcium salt treatment, 261 conclusions as to, 273 Camphor, use of, 170 Canada, cases in, 115 Capp, W. M., 70, 138 Cardiac involvement, 65 Caterpillars as a cause, 99 Causes, xi, 38 accepted, 87 dust, 88, 93 dust from books, 94 enteric fever, 44 exciting, 38, 87 neurosis, 44 pollen, 87, 102 predisposing, 110 rye, 89, 105 Causes, ragweed, 105 three, xi toxin, 40 Causative factors, 31, 141 Cavernous tissue, nasal, 73, 128 Chaveau, 111 Children, frequent occur- rence in, X Children, hay-fever in, 77 Chills, analogy to recur- rence of, 50 Chocolate as a cause, 98 Clark, Sir 'Andrew, 36 Cleansing of the nares, xii, 23, 169 Cocain, 105, 176 Coffee as a cause, 97 Complications, 84 Conclusions on use of cal- cium salt, 273 Conklin, 135 Cornaz, 27 Coryza, diagnosis from, 77 Cottonwood fever, 117 Cough as a symptom, 60 Cough, persistent, between paroxysms, 63 Cullen, 97 Cutaneous eruptions as complications, 64 D Daly, W. H., 33, 130 Darwin, 108 Definition, 19 Denmark, cases in, 113 Derangement, internal, as cause, 240 Diagnosis, 65, 84 I 340 I INDEX Diatheses, theory, 45, 81 Diet, 178, 183 Discharges, nasal, 59 Dobell's solution, use of, 169, 289 Drenger, 99 Dunbar, W. P., 13, 191, 193 Duration, 51, 52 Dust as a cause, 46, 88, 93 Dysphagia as a symptom, 80 E Ebstein, 135 Elliotson, 23, 25 Emanations from dry hay as a cause, 24, 96 Emmerich, 261, 264, 292 England, distribution of cases in, 94 Environment, 142 Erectile tissues, nasal, 69, 72 Eucain, 113 Exciting causes, 39, 40 Exercise, 178 Experiments of Blackley on the pollen theory, 102 Eye-symptoms, 59, 213 Factors, causative, xi Factors, essential, xii Farrington, P. M., 150, 286 Fatigue as a cause, 24 Feathers as a cause, 97 Fever during an attack, 56 Fire Island, immunity in, 234 First recognition, 22 Floyer, 23 Fordyce, John A., 239 Fox, Howard, 239, 243 France, cases in, 113 French, rarity of cases among the. 111, 113 Fruit as a cause, 96 Fungoid growth as a cause, 41 G Gaslight, influence of, 92. 96 Gastro-intestinal causes, 141, 143 Genito-urinary organs, in- volvement of, 61 Germans, rarity of cases among the, 111 Germany, cases in, 113 Gibbons, 82 Goldenrod, in TJ. S., 219 Goodale, J. L., 274 Gottheil, Wm. S., 239, 246 Grasses, varieties of, causa- tive, 96, 105, 106 Grayson, C. P., 37, 139, 141 Gream, G. Y., 25 Green Mountains, immu- nity in, 234 H Hack, W., 34, 62, 128, 131 Haig, 135 * ' Hair-caterpillar asthma, ' ' 99 Handkerchiefs, effluvia from, as a cause, 97 Hare, odor of, as a cause, 98 [341] INDEX Hay-fever-producing weeds, eradication of, 159 Hays, Harold, 238 Heart, involvement of, 65 Heat as a cause, 88, 89, 90, 96, 125 Heligoland, immunity in, 234 Helmholtz, 28, 41, 96 Heredity, influence of, 21, 118, 228 Herzog, 131 History, 19 Holmes, E. W., 37, 44, 57, 75, 94, 109, 110, 122, 123, 129, 133, 139 Horses, odor of, as a cause, 98, 99 Hiinerswolff, 100 Hydrogen dioxid in treat- ment, 172 Hydrotherapeutic treat- ment, 191 Hygiene, 147 Hygiene, personal, 168 Hygienic treatment, 147 Hypersensitiveness, 235 Idiosyncrasy, influence of, 21, 128 Imagination, influence of, 49, 101 India, cases in, 113 Indian, case in an. 111 Indigestion as a cause, 143 Ingals, 91, 176 Insomnia as a symptom, 61, 182 Insurance, effect on, 80 Intermittent fever, analogy to, 50 Introduction, ix Ipecac as a cause, 23, 35, 88, 97 Italy, cases in, 113 Itzigson, 97 Ivy-poisoning, analogy to, 107 Jacobi, 111 Kammann, O., 211, 214 Kinnear, 127 Koessler's last words, 252, 254 Labosse, 27 Laforgue, 25 Legislation for prevention, 155 Leucocytes, eosinophile, 252 Liefmann, 212, 215 Life insurance, effect on, 80 mode of, influence of, 122 Light as a cause, 32 Ligustrum vulgare in China, 216 Linseed meal as a cause, 96 Local disease theory, 37, 130 treatment, 167 Locust-tree blossoms as a cause, 97 Loew, 261, 264, 292 [342] INDEX Longevity, effect on, 81 Lycopodium as a cause, 88, 97 M MacCulloch, 25 Macdonald, 36, 55, 83, 99, 113 Mackenzie, J. N., 34, 50, 56, 64, 68, 101, 112, 127, 131, 133 Mackenzie, Morell, 35, 52, 56, 65, 92, 100, 101, 119, 120, 122, 128 Males, prevalence in, 40, 120 Mango-tree as a cause, 107 Manning, E. T., 254 Marsh, E. J., 33, 105, 107 Martin, Sidney, 187, 190 Mattress as a cause, 100 May apple as a cause, 97 Mays, Thomas J., 135 Menthol, use of, 170 Micro - organisms in the nasal discharges, 40, 41 Moore, George, 29 Morphin, use of, 231 Morrell, cases in family, 118 Moschowitz, 252 Mucous membrane, cleans- ing of, xiv, 168 Mucous membrane, nasal, 74, 168 Mulberry blossoms as a cause, 97 Muller, J., 143 Murchison, 135 Murrell, William, 99 Mustard as a cause, 96 Mutability of blossoming dates, 109 N Name, origin of, 20, 23, 39 Nasal abnormalities as causes, 38, 132 symptoms, 58 Nasopharynx, cleansing of, 170 Nasopharynx, sterilization of, 169 Needles, MacRae, 243 Negro, case in a, 112 Nervous supply to the nares, 68 Nervous syslem, etiologie factor, 32 Nettle-rash as a complica' tion, 62 Neurasthenic cases, 179 treatment of, 179 Neurotic element, xiii, 36, 43, 118, 139 Neurotic temperament, x, 118 theory, 36, 44 Neusser, 252 New Orleans, work done there, 165 New Zealand, cases in, 113 Norway, cases in, 113 Nose, coldness of, 30, 55 Nutrition, defective, a cause, 140 [348] INDEX Oak as a cause, 98 Obstruction of the nares as a cause, 132 Occupation, influence of, 124, 228 Occurrence, time of, 27, 47, 48, 52 Ocean, cases on the, 107, 108 Odors of fruits and flowers as causes, 96 Ohls, 176 Onset, period of, 48 Onset, symptoms of, 54, 56, 58 Origin, 39 Origin, nervous, first ad- vanced, 28 Origin of the name, 20, 23 Ozone as a cause, 32, 88, 95 Parry, C. L., 23 Pathology, 65, 84 Patton, 208 Peaches, odor of, as a cause, 19, 100 Periodicity, 19, 46, 53, 56 Personal susceptibility, 35 Phoebus, P., 26, 32, 49, 88, 91, 95, 101, 120, 122 Phvlacogen, mixed infec- ' tion, 260 Phylacogen, use of, 258 Pirrie, W., 28, 32, 51, 89, 91, 113 Pneumonia as a complica- tion, 64 Podophyllum as a cause, 97 Pollantin, 192 Pollantin, E., 235 Pollen albumin, injection of, producing disease, 223 albumin, reaction to, 227 albumin, specific cause of hay-fever, 211 as causative factor, 31 dried, active on libera- tion, 202 extracts, method of pre- serving, 274 first reference to, 31 kinds of, 105 method of obtaining, 103 theory, 31, 87 therapy, 274 therapy, conclusions, 288 toxin, true, 254 toxins, 193 Polypi, Bosworth 's views relative to, 138 Potassium iodid, 190 Prater, Augustus, 25 Predisposing causes, 20, 21, 110 Predisposition, individual, 280 Predisposition, individual, as factor, 220 Preface, v Premonitory symptoms, 44, 54, 89 Preventive measures, 147 Preventive treatment, 151 Prince, M., 50, 51, 119, 126 Proctor, Eichard, case of, 90 Prognosis, 65, 80 [344] INDEX Prophylactic treatment, 155, 176 Protoplasmic substance as a cause, 43 Pruritis ani during an at- tack, 58 Psoriasis, differentiation from, 241 Psychic influence in the causation, 49, 101 Pulse during an attack, 58 Quinin solution as a rem- edy, 28, 41 Quinquaud, 135 Bace, influence of, 111 Eagweed as an exciting cause, 42, 105 Eagweed, cultivation as exterminator, 163, 164 Eagweed, in U. S., 219 Eamadge, 25 Eectum, involvement of, 61 Eecurrence, period of, 49 Eegions of the nasal cavi- ties, 66 Eeport of cases, 248, 249, 250, 251, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272 Eesistance, lowered, x Eesistance, lowered, factor in, 39 Eest, 178 Eiedlin, 23 Kinger, 99 Eoberts, W. C, 30, 55 Eobinson, B., 128 Eoe, J. O., 34, 70, 131 Eoman wormwood as an exciting cause, 47 Eussia, cases in, 113 6 Sajous, C. E. de M., 34, 44, 54, 64, 66, 70, 111, 119, 131 Salol capsule in, 187 Salter, Hyde, 26,. 98 Sandalwood in, 187 Schadle, 150 Scheppegrell, 152 Scotland, cases in, 113 Sea, cases at, 108 Sensitive areas of the nares, 45, 68, 171 Sequelae, 185 Serum, method of prepar- ing, 243 nasal, 59 use of, 191 Sex, influence of, 120 Shaw, cases in family, 119 Sinusitis, relation to, 149 Skin eruptions, 64 Skin reactions, 278, 283 Smell, involvement of, 59, 65 Smith, Abbotts, 27, 108, 110, 114 Smith, Ward, 96 Sneezing in, 58, 267 Snuff in treatment, 174 Solis-Cohen, S., 127, 129, 188 [8451 INDEX South America, cases in, 113 Spain, cases in, 113 Spontaneous disappearance of the recurrences, 83 Sterilization of the nares, 169 Sticker, 202 Strangways, W. F., 42 Sunlight, influence of, 25, 92, 96 Sunshine as a cause, 24, 26 Suprarenal extract, 176 Suprarenal gland in treat- ment, 176 Suprarenal tablet in treat- ment, 174 Surgical treatment, 285 Swain, H. L., 176 Swallowing, difficult, 80 Sweden, cases in, 113 Symptoms, 19, 53, 54, 56, 65 Synonyms, 9, 19 Systemic treatment, 178 T Taste, involvement of, 59, 65 Tea- drinking, influence of, 112 ^' Temperature during an at- tack, 57, 61 Term first used, 20, 23 Theory, idiosyncrasy, 34 local, 37, 132 neurotic, 36, 44, 139 pollen, 32 uric-acid, 134 Thomwaldt, 133 Three predisposing causes, x TimsBus, 23 Time of occurrence, 27, 47, 48, 52 Tomatoes as a cause, 98 Tonsils, 148, 168 Toxin as a cause, 40 dried pollen, active on liberation, 202 true, pollen as, 254 Treatment, 147 calcium chlorid, result of, 268 calcium salt, 261 cleansing nostrils, 170 Dobeirs solution, 169 hydrogen dioxid, 172 local, 167 nasal applications, 167 normal salt, use of, 173 pollen therapy, 274 preliminary local, 172, 176 prophylactic, hygienic, and systemic, 178 scrubbing, of nostrils, 172 surgical, 285 Trosseau, 100 Types, 54 according to duration, 52 U United States, autumnal variety prevalent, 217 United States, distribution of cases in the, 53 [346] INDEX Uric-acid theory, 130, 134, 137, 139 Van Helmont, 22 Van Sweringen, 188 Vasomotor control, nasal, 127 susceptibility, theory of, 126 Vibrios in the discharges, 29 Vogel, 96 Voice, changes in, 61, 148 W Walshe, 27, 107, 114 \"Watermelons as a cause, 98 Watson, 26 Sir Thomas, 97 Weeds, removal of, 157, 159, 160 What hay-fever is, 19 White Mountains, immu- nity in, 31, 234 Wilson, Harold, 261 Wilson, J. C, 107 Woodward, 202 Wright, E. W., xiv Wyman, Morrill, 30, 31, 65, 106, 111, 115, 118, 120, 122 T 347 1 A new, practical, and valuable book for all who would keep well and fit How to Live RULES FOR HEALTHFUL LIVING BASED ON MODERN SCIENCE Authorized by and Prepared in Collaboration with the Hygiene Reference Board of the Life Elxtension Institute, Inc. By IRVING FISHER, Chairman, ProfcBSor of Political Economy, Yale University AND EUGENE LYMAN FISK, M.D. Director of Hygiene of the Institute This book can safely be said to contain the latest and most authoritative scientific and popular information on the matter of health- ful living and personal hygiene that has been published in recent years. It represents the result of extensive study, investigation, and research of the organization mentioned above, which is composed of many of America's foremost citizens organized for the purpose of promoting the public health. It is an all-round work of practical usefulness, absorbing in interest as it un- folds the why and wherefor of successful healthfiil living. I2mo, CUth. $1.00; by Mail, $1.12 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers NEW YORK and LONDON Child Training AS AN EXACT SCIENCE By George W. Jacobs, M.D. Based upon Modern Psychology, Medicine and Hygiene The Parent, the Physician, the Teacher, the Nurse, will find this Book of Immense Usefulness. Its Authority and Reliability are Un- questioned. Heretofore there has been no one book which stood out high above others as a standard, scientific, and reliable popular work on the sub- ject of Child Training in its mental, moral and physical aspects. The New York Times, says :—\" Study of this material will undoubtedly increase a teacher's effi- ciency.\" $1.50 net; hy mail $1.62 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Pubasherg NEW YORK and LONDON hiXercises for Vv omen Most women are very definitely in need of some sort of simple and suitable exercise that can be done in the home, without apparatus, if necessary. This new book by Florence Bolton, A.B., formerly Director of Women's Gymnasium, Stanford Univer- sity, outlines and pictures an excellent series of plain, practical exercises, adapted to meet the peculiar re- quirements of women. The combination of diflferent exercises includes many for reducing flesh; and others bound to result in the securing and preservation of a full, rounded, graceful figure. For Every Woman Everywhere Who Desires PHYSICAL GRACE, and POWER and the mental satisfaction consequent upon both. The book should be useful to physicians in pre- scribing exercises for their patients, to teachers of gymnastics for class and private work, to the college woman who has left gymnasium days behind, and to EVERY WOMAN, EVERYWHERE who desires PHYSICAL HRACE, and POWER. HAS DONE HER SEX GOOD SERVICE \" Florence Bolton . . . has done her eex good service in this terse, well-arranged little volume. The directions for specific exercises, mainly of the ' mat ' order, are well detailed, and fit- ting illustrations simplify their use.\"— TAe Record-Herald, Chicago, 111. 12mo, Cloth. Numerous half-tones and diagrams, outlining the movements. $1.00. net. A verage carriage charges 8 eents. FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers NEW YORK and LONDON"],"string":"[\n \"Pollen.txt\\nPollen\\nPollen is a fine to coarse powdery substance comprising pollen grains which are male microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophytes during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the female cone of coniferous plants. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it germinates, producing a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and forensics.\\n\\nPollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower.\\n\\nThe structure and formation of pollen\\n \\n\\nPollen itself is not the male gamete. Each pollen grain contains vegetative (non-reproductive) cells (only a single cell in most flowering plants but several in other seed plants) and a generative (reproductive) cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, and the generative cell divides to form the two sperm cells.\\n\\nFormation \\n\\nPollen is produced in the 'microsporangium' (contained in the anther of an angiosperm flower, male cone of a coniferous plant, or male cone of other seed plants). Pollen grains come in a wide variety of shapes (most often spherical), sizes, and surface markings characteristic of the species (see electron micrograph, right). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged. The smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.), is around 6 µm (0.006 mm) in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90–100 µm.\\n\\nIn angiosperms, during flower development the anther is composed of a mass of cells that appear undifferentiated, except for a partially differentiated dermis. As the flower develops, four groups of sporogenous cells form within the anther. The fertile sporogenous cells are surrounded by layers of sterile cells that grow into the wall of the pollen sac. Some of the cells grow into nutritive cells that supply nutrition for the microspores that form by meiotic division from the sporogenous cells.\\n\\nIn a process called microsporogenesis, four haploid microspores are produced from each diploid sporogenous cell (microsporocyte, pollen mother cell or meiocyte), after meiotic division. After the formation of the four microspores, which are contained by callose walls, the development of the pollen grain walls begins. The callose wall is broken down by an enzyme called callase and the freed pollen grains grow in size and develop their characteristic shape and form a resistant outer wall called the exine and an inner wall called the intine. The exine is what is preserved in the fossil record. Two basic types of microsporogenesis are recognised, simultaneous and successive. In simultaneous microsporogenesis meiotic steps I and II are completed prior to cytokinesis, whereas in successive microsporogenesis cytokinesis follows. While there may be a continuum with intermediate forms, the type of microsporogenesis has systematic significance. The predominant form amongst the monocots is successive, but there are important exceptions.\\n\\nIn the microgametogenesis, the unicellular microspores undergoes mitosis and develops into mature microgametophytes containing the gametes.[http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/biology/people/twell/lab/pollenis/development Pollen Development — University of Leicester] In some flowering plants, germination of the pollen grain often begins before it leaves the microsporangium, with the generative cell forming the two sperm cells.\\n\\nStructure \\n\\nExcept in the case of some submerged aquatic plants, the mature pollen-grain has a double wall. The vegetative and generative cells are surrounded by a thin delicate wall of unaltered cellulose called the endospore or intine, and a tough resistant outer cuticularized wall composed largely of sporopollenin called the exospore or exine. The exine often bears spines or warts, or is variously sculptured, and the character of the markings is often of value for identifying genus, species, or even cultivar or individual. The spines may be less than a micron in length (spinulum, plural spinuli) referred to as spinulose (scabrate), or longer than a micron (echina, echinae) referred to as echinate. Various terms also describe the sculpturing such as reticulate, a net like appearance consisting of elements (murus, muri) separated from each other by a lumen (plural lumina).\\n\\nThe pollen wall protects the sperm while the pollen grain is moving from the anther to the stigma; it protects the vital genetic material from drying out and solar radiation. The pollen grain surface is covered with waxes and proteins, which are held in place by structures called sculpture elements on the surface of the grain. The outer pollen wall, which prevents the pollen grain from shrinking and crushing the genetic material during desiccation, is composed of two layers. These two layers are the tectum and the foot layer, which is just above the intine. The tectum and foot layer are separated by a region called the columella, which is composed of strengthening rods. The outer wall is constructed with a resistant biopolymer called sporopollenin.\\n\\nPollen apertures are regions of the pollen wall that may involve exine thinning or a significant reduction in exine thickness. They allow shrinking and swelling of the grain caused by changes in moisture content. Elongated apertures or furrows in the pollen grain are called colpi (singular: colpus) or sulci (singular: sulcus). Apertures that are more circular are called pores. Colpi, sulci and pores are major features in the identification of classes of pollen. Pollen may be referred to as inaperturate (apertures absent) or aperturate (apertures present). The aperture may have a lid (operculum), hence is described as operculate. However the term inaperturate covers a wide range of morphological types, such as functionally inaperturate (cryptoaperturate) and omniaperturate. Inaperaturate pollen grains often have thin walls, which facilitates pollen tube germination at any position.\\n\\nThe orientation of furrows (relative to the original tetrad of microspores) classifies the pollen as sulcate or colpate. Sulcate pollen has a furrow across the middle of what was the outer face when the pollen grain was in its tetrad. If the pollen has only a single sulcus, it is described as monosulcate. In . Colpate pollen has furrows other than across the middle of the outer faces. Eudicots have pollen with three colpi (tricolpate) or with shapes that are evolutionarily derived from tricolpate pollen. The evolutionary trend in plants has been from monosulcate to polycolpate or polyporate pollen.\\n\\nPollination\\n\\nThe transfer of pollen grains to the female reproductive structure (pistil in angiosperms) is called pollination. This transfer can be mediated by the wind, in which case the plant is described as anemophilous (literally wind-loving). Anemophilous plants typically produce great quantities of very lightweight pollen grains, sometimes with air-sacs. Non-flowering seed plants (e.g. pine trees) are characteristically anemophilous. Anemophilous flowering plants generally have inconspicuous flowers. Entomophilous (literally insect-loving) plants produce pollen that is relatively heavy, sticky and protein-rich, for dispersal by insect pollinators attracted to their flowers. Many insects and some mites are specialized to feed on pollen, and are called palynivores.\\n\\nIn non-flowering seed plants, pollen germinates in the pollen chamber, located beneath the micropyle, underneath the integuments of the ovule. A pollen tube is produced, which grows into the nucellus to provide nutrients for the developing sperm cells. Sperm cells of Pinophyta and Gnetophyta are without flagella, and are carried by the pollen tube, while those of Cycadophyta and Ginkgophyta have many flagella.\\n\\nWhen placed on the stigma of a flowering plant, under favorable circumstances, a pollen grain puts forth a pollen tube, which grows down the tissue of the style to the ovary, and makes its way along the placenta, guided by projections or hairs, to the micropyle of an ovule. The nucleus of the tube cell has meanwhile passed into the tube, as does also the generative nucleus, which divides (if it hasn't already) to form two sperm cells. The sperm cells are carried to their destination in the tip of the pollen-tube.\\n\\nPollen in the fossil record\\n\\nPollen's sporopollenin outer sheath affords it some resistance to the rigours of the fossilisation process that destroy weaker objects; it is also produced in huge quantities. There is an extensive fossil record of pollen grains, often disassociated from their parent plant. The discipline of palynology is devoted to the study of pollen, which can be used both for biostratigraphy and to gain information about the abundance and variety of plants alive — which can itself yield important information about paleoclimates. Pollen is first found in the fossil record in the late Devonian period and increases in abundance until the present day.\\n\\nAllergy to pollen\\n\\nNasal allergy to pollen is called pollinosis, and allergy specifically to grass pollen is called hay fever. Generally, pollens that cause allergies are those of anemophilous plants (pollen is dispersed by air currents.) Such plants produce large quantities of lightweight pollen (because wind dispersal is random and the likelihood of one pollen grain landing on another flower is small), which can be carried for great distances and are easily inhaled, bringing it into contact with the sensitive nasal passages.\\n\\nIn the US, people often mistakenly blame the conspicuous goldenrod flower for allergies. Since this plant is entomophilous (its pollen is dispersed by animals), its heavy, sticky pollen does not become independently airborne. Most late summer and fall pollen allergies are probably caused by ragweed, a widespread anemophilous plant. \\n\\nArizona was once regarded as a haven for people with pollen allergies, although several ragweed species grow in the desert. However, as suburbs grew and people began establishing irrigated lawns and gardens, more irritating species of ragweed gained a foothold and Arizona lost its claim of freedom from hay fever.\\n\\nAnemophilous spring blooming plants such as oak, birch, hickory, pecan, and early summer grasses may also induce pollen allergies. Most cultivated plants with showy flowers are entomophilous and do not cause pollen allergies.\\n\\nThe number of people in the United States affected by hay fever is between 20 to 40 million, and such allergy has proven to be the most frequent allergic response in the nation. There are certain evidential suggestions pointing out hay fever and similar allergies to be of hereditary origin. Individuals who suffer from eczema or are asthmatic tend to be more susceptible to developing long-term hay fever. \\n\\nIn Denmark, decades of rising temperatures cause pollen to appear earlier and in greater numbers, as well as introduction of new species such as ragweed. \\n\\nThe most efficient way to handle a pollen allergy is by preventing contact with the material. Individuals carrying the ailment may at first believe that they have a simple summer cold, but hay fever becomes more evident when the apparent cold does not disappear. The confirmation of hay fever can be obtained after examination by a general physician. \\n\\nTreatment\\n\\nAntihistamines are effective at treating mild cases of pollinosis, this type of non-prescribed drugs includes loratadine, cetirizine and chlorphenamine. They do not prevent the discharge of histamine, but it has been proven that they do prevent a part of the chain reaction activated by this biogenic amine, which considerably lowers hay fever symptoms.\\n\\nDecongestants can be administered in different ways such as tablets and nasal sprays.\\n\\nAllergy immunotherapy (AIT) treatment involves administering doses of allergens to accustom the body to pollen, thereby inducing specific long-term tolerance. Allergy immunotherapy can be administered orally (as sublingual tablets or sublingual drops), or by injections under the skin (subcutaneous). Discovered by Leonard Noon and John Freeman in 1911, allergy immunotherapy represents the only causative treatment for respiratory allergies.\\n\\nNutrition\\n\\nMost major classes of predatory and parasitic arthropods contain species that eat pollen, despite the common perception that bees are the primary pollen-consuming arthropod group. Many other Hymenoptera other than bees consume pollen as adults, though only a small number feed on pollen as larvae (including some ant larvae). Spiders are normally considered carnivores but pollen is an important source of food for several species, particularly for spiderlings, which catch pollen on their webs. It is not clear how spiderlings manage to eat pollen however, since their mouths are not large enough to consume pollen grains. Some predatory mites also feed on pollen, with some species being able to subsist solely on pollen, such as Euseius tularensis, which feeds on the pollen of dozens of plant species. Members of some beetle families such as Mordellidae and Melyridae feed almost exclusively on pollen as adults, while various lineages within larger families such as Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae, Cerambycidae, and Scarabaeidae are pollen specialists even though most members of their families are not (e.g., only 36 of 40000 species of ground beetles, which are typically predatory, have been shown to eat pollen—but this is thought to be a severe underestimate as the feeding habits are only known for 1000 species). Similarly, Ladybird beetles mainly eat insects, but many species also eat pollen, as either part or all of their diet. Hemiptera are mostly herbivores or omnivores but pollen feeding is known (and has only been well studied in the Anthocoridae). Many adult flies, especially Syrphidae, feed on pollen, and three UK syrphid species feed strictly on pollen (syrphids, like all flies, cannot eat pollen directly due to the structure of their mouthparts, but can consume pollen contents that are dissolved in a fluid). Some species of fungus, including Fomes fomentarius, are able to break down grains of pollen as a secondary nutrition source that is particularly high in nitrogen. \\n\\nSome species of Heliconius butterflies consume pollen as adults, which appears to be a valuable nutrient source, and these species are more distasteful to predators than the non-pollen consuming species. \\n\\nAlthough bats, butterflies and hummingbirds are not pollen eaters per se, their consumption of nectar in flowers is an important aspect of the pollination process.\\n\\nIn humans\\n\\nA variety of producers have started selling bee pollen for human consumption, often marketed as a food (rather than a dietary supplement). The largest constituent is carbohydrates, with protein content ranging from 7 to 35 percent depending on the plant species collected by bees. \\n\\nHoney produced by bees from natural sources contains pollen derived p-coumaric acid, an antioxidant.\\n\\nThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not found any harmful effects of bee pollen consumption, except from the usual allergies. However, FDA does not allow bee pollen marketers in the United States to make health claims about their produce, as no scientific basis for these has ever been proven. Furthermore, there are possible dangers not only from allergic reactions but also from contaminants such as pesticides and from fungi and bacteria growth related to poor storage procedures. A manufacturers's claim that pollen collecting helps the bee colonies is also controversial. \\n\\nPine pollen (송화가루, Songhwa Garu) is traditionally consumed in Korea as an ingredient in sweets and beverages.\\n\\nParasites\\n\\nThe growing industries in pollen harvesting for human and bee consumption rely on harvesting pollen baskets from honey bees as they return to their hives using a pollen trap. When this pollen has been tested for parasites, it has been found that a multitude of pollinator viruses and eukaryotic parasites are present in the pollen. It is currently unclear if the parasites are introduced by the bee that collected the pollen or if it is from contamination to the flower. Though this is not likely to pose a risk to humans, it is a major issue for the bumblebee rearing industry that relies on thousands of tonnes of honey bee collected pollen per year. Several sterilization methods have been employed, though no method has been 100% effective at steralizing, without reducing the nutritional value, of the pollen \\n\\nForensic palynology\\n\\nIn forensic biology, pollen can tell a lot about where a person or object has been, because regions of the world, or even more particular locations such a certain set of bushes, will have a distinctive collection of pollen species. Pollen evidence can also reveal the season in which a particular object picked up the pollen. Pollen has been used to trace activity at mass graves in Bosnia, catch a burglar who brushed against a Hypericum bush during a crime, and has even been proposed as an additive for bullets to enable tracking them.\",\n \"Full text of \\\"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\\\"\\nFull text of \\\"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\\\" See other formats ...\\nFull text of \\\"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\\\"\\nSee other formats\\n^\\\" HI 1 1 III 31761 043861251 1 w 1 III HOiRp HIil ii i iB ! ■fFn :fl. M.D. illliiiiiiii mc: Presented to the LIBRARY o/r/ze UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO BY PROFESSOR ELIZABETH HARRISON ^ HAY- FEVER ITS PREVENTION AND CURE p Frontal sinus Orifice of middle ethmoidal cells Superior turbinal bone Orifice of the posterior ethmoidal cells Orifice of the sphenoidal sinus Sphenoidal sinus Orifice of \\\\ frontal sinus j Upper orifice i of nasal duct \\\\ Orifice of Eustachian tube Middle turbinal bone Inferior turbinal bone Orifice of the antrum Lower orifice of nasal duct Orifice of infundibulum Section of the Nose, showing the Turbinal Bones and Meatuses WITH THE Openings in Dotted Outline. (.After Morris' \\\"Text-Book of Anatomy.\\\") n HAY FEVER ITS PREVENTION AND CURE W. C. HOLLOPETER, A.M., M.D., LL.D. ATTBNDINO PHYSICIAN ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL; PEDIATRICIAN TO THE PHILADELPHIA GENERAL HOSPITAL; PROFESSOR PEDIATRICS, EMERITUS, MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL COLLEGE; EX-PRESIDENT OP THE ASSOCIATION OP AMERICAN TEACHERS OF THE DISEASES OP children; EX-CHAIRMAN OP THE SEC- TION ON DISEASES OP CHILDREN, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; MEMBER OF AMERI- CAN ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, ETC. FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY NEW YORK AND LONDON 1917. \\\\ Copyright, 1916, by FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY Copyright under the Articles of the Copyrigrht Convention of the Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910 [Printed in the United States of Americal Published, Jvly, 1916 CONTENTS rAGB Preface .^ vii Intboduction .., ix PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS. HISTORY, PERIOD- ICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS 1. Definition, Histoey and Bibliography 19 2. Causes 38 5. Periodicity 46 4. Symptoms 53 6. Its Pathology, Diagnosis and Prognosis 65 PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES 1. When Due to Some Exciting Agent Such as Pollen 8T 2. The Predisposing Causes 110 PART III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1. Preventive Measures 147 2. Local Treatment by Nasal Applications 167 5. As TO Diet, Exercise and Rest 178 4, When Asthma Occurs as a Sequel ..;.. 185 CONTENTS rXGB 6. The Use of Serums — Dunbar's Serum....... 191 6. Experiments with Autoserum. By Harold Hays, M.D 238 7. Dr. E. T. Manning's Views 254 8. The Use of Phylacogen. By 1. H. Alexander, M.D 258 9. The Calcium Salt Treatment. By Harold Wilson, M.D 261 10. The Pollen Therapy Treatment. By J. L. Goodale 274 11. Surgical Treatment ,. 285 12. A Summary of Treatment 286 Bibliography ., 293 Index .•.....• v . .... . 337 I ^11 PREFACE Having had remarkable and uniform success with a simple treatment of hay- fever for the last twenty years, during which time I have given complete relief to many patients in my private practise, and having made a thoro clinical study of this affection, as well as an exhaustive review of the literature relative to it, I feel justified in presenting the results of my labors in this short treatise. There is little to be said definitely about the etiology of the disease. It is undoubt- edly caused by an external irritant, pos- sibly containing a micro-organism or a toxin, which becomes especially active in the nasal passages of an individual pre- disposed by systemic debility or local [vii] PREFACE abnormality. We acknowledge the ele- ment of neurotic disturbance, but to dog- matically define its exact cause and modus operandi is beyond us. In order that the best thought of the subject may be presented to the reader, I have compiled, arranged, and annotated the most worthy literature, and I acknowl- edge my indebtedness to the many writers quoted. The most of my original com- munication is devoted to the all-important point in the discussion — the successful treatment. A complete bibliography is appended. W. C. HOLLOPETER. [ viii ] INTEODUCTION Hay-fever has become so well-known and is so universal a disease that many State organizations have been formed for its careful study; we are thus hopeful of some positive developments in the better management of hay-fever by concerted effort of the sanitarian and physician. The choice of a name has not been very fortunate, as it has been discovered that hay in itself has very little, or nothing, to do with the cause. I give, however, a few synonyms in the early part of the book. Next to tuberculosis, hay-fever is one of the most interesting and common dis- eases, and has received an enormous amount of study. While it is not directly fatal, it is exceedingly distressing and is [ix] INTRODUCTION certain by its annual visitation to lower the vital resistance and induce other ill- ness in the body. In this way it becomes a prolonged and serious menace to the comfort and happiness of the sufferer. Hay-fever was not regarded frequent in the young until a more careful study of autumnal and spring catarrhs among neu- rotic children revealed the fact that the same troublesome complaint had occurred the previous season. The frequency of **cold taking\\\" among children is due to their lowered vitality, the result being adenoids and enlarged tonsils which often precede the typical hay-fever. It has been found that children, espe- cially the neurotic offspring of nervous parents, are as subject to hay-fever as adults, if not more so, for we certainly have an ever-enlarging army of catarrhal children. There is no doubt that in every [X] INTRODUCTION class hay-fever is decidedly on the in- crease in America. True hay-fever is also found in great masses of thoughtful adults, who are prone to forget the previ- ous attacks, altho they may have had many annual visitations of the disorder. Some slight exposure or irregularity of diet, or an unusual change in the atmosphere, suf- fice to explain the indisposition, and satis- fies the mind for the time. It is certain that a large number of hay-fever sufferers forget from year to year the annual visita- tion; this is more likely if the attack has not been severe. Furthermore, it has been most conclusively proved by many authori- ties that hay-fever does not occur unless we have a conjunction of three necessary factors : 1. An external air-borne irritant. 2. A sensitive or diseased nasal mucous membrane. [xi] INTRODUCTION ^ 3. An unstable nerve-center. Upon the simultaneous manifestation of these three factors in any individual we are reasonably sure in making a diagnosis of hay-fever. An absence of any one of the three admits at once of distinct doubt. The claim for originality in this thesis lies in the fact that the author recognizes the three essential factors, as stated above, as the cause of hay-fever and claiming that the remedy lies in controlling or de- stroying the habit, by inhibiting or be- numbing the sensitive nasal surface by local cleansing and massage. The litera- ture of hay-fever has grown so very pro- lifically in the last five years that to follow it out in detail would be a difficult and use- less task. Most writers agree as to the three essential causative factors, and vol- umes have been written in discussion of their different phases. % [ xli ] I INTRODUCTION Dr. Geo. M. Beard, one of the earlier and most exhaustive writers, regards it as a neurosis, due to an unstable brain-center, and a functional disease of the nervous system, thus ignoring all environment, climate and nasal conditions. Sajous, on the other hand, regards the trouble as one of local origin, ignoring heredity and neu- rosis, and finds an abnormal nasal chamber in all active cases. They both concede ex- ternal irritants as essentially necessary to the initial paroxysm, but regard this of secondary importance. It was not until Prof. Dunbar and his followers made their exhaustive studies of pollen that we ar- rived at any satisfactory scientific knowl- edge as to the exact nature of this ** ex- ternal irritant,'' and applied the antidote for its control. Literature on hay-fever during the past ten years has centered largely on discussion of these studies. It [xiii] INTRODUCTION is for this reason that I have given Dun- bar so large a space in my book. I have allowed him to speak for himself. In my first published paper in 1898, I stated that I had succeeded in controlling a large number of cases by *' scrubbing most carefully every portion of the mu- cous membrane of the nasal chamber, be- ing sure to reach between the turbinated bones and all around any slight promi- nence.'' Musser and Kelly ('* Practical Treatment,\\\" 1913, Saunders, Philadel- phia) quote E. W. Wright as placing great stress upon the hypersensitive condi- tion of the nasal mucosa as the important causative factor in many cases, suggest- ing a frictional massage of the mucous membrane of the nose in order to in- crease its resisting powers, so that it can withstand the irritation and excitation from the impact of the pollen of plants, [xiv] INTRODUCTION His method is to apply gentle massage to the nasal mucons membrane through the medium of a cotton-covered probe. These applications are to be made daily for from three to five minutes in each nasal chamber. I am unable to find any additional au- thority for this method of management of the disease. The observation of Wright was made long after the publication of my paper ; and certainly priority for such local treatment belongs to me. rx7i PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS HISTORY, PERIODICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS [17] PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS HISTORY, PERIODICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS 1. Definition, History and Bibliography Among the synonyms that have been employed for the term hay-fever may be named the following: Autumnal catarrh, Bostock's catarrh, coryza vasomotoria, coryza vasomotoria periodica, hay-asthma, idiosyncratic coryza, June cold, July cold, nervous coryza, nervous catarrh, paroxys- mal sneezing, peach cold, periodic hyper- esthetic rhinitis, pollen catarrh, pollen poisoning, pruritic catarrh, pruritic rhi- nitis, ragweed fever, rhinitis sympathetica, rhinitis vasomotoria, rose catarrh, rose [19] HAY-FEVEE cold, summer bronchitis, summer catarrh, summer catarrh from idiosyncrasy, sum- mer fever, typical early summer catarrh, vasomotor coryza, vasomotor rhinitis. In other language are the following equiva- lents: Latin — Catarrhus sestivus, coryza vasomotoria* periodica ; French — Catarrhe d'ete, catarrhe de foin; German — Friih- sommerkatarrh, Heuasthma, Heufieber ; Italian — Asma dei mietitori, febbre del fieno, asma del fieno. The term ** hay-fever'' was first used to designate the form of disease occurring in the autumn in distinction from like affec- tions which occur in other seasons. So universal, however, has become its use that it is now employed to designate all the forms of what may be called the periodic influenzas, irrespective of seasons. Hay-fever may be defined as an affec- tion of the upper air-passages occurring [20] WHAT HAY-FEVEE IS periodically, usually at or near a fixt date in the early autumn, sometimes in the spring or summer, characterized by its sudden onset and as sudden termination in certain atmospheric conditions, by swell- ing and turgescence of mucous membranes of the nasal fossae and adjacent cavities, irritating discharges therefrom, and vari- ous symptoms of coryza, and occasionally by asthmatic paroxysms. It always re- sults from the combination of a special predisposition, from depraved resistance or lowered vitality of the general system or a local lesion, and an exciting cause, believed to be a micro-organism or pecu- liar toxin, generally arising from pollen or dust deposited upon or in the mucous membrane of the upper air-passages. The important predisposing causes are : hered- ity, idiosyncrasy, neurotic temperament, peculiar susceptibility of the vasomotor [21] HAY-FEVER system, generally debilitated condition, deranged assimilation, and a local lesion. Hay-fever has been defined as a neurosis, as an idiosyncrasy, as a catarrhal affec- tion, and as a type of influenza, and as various combinations of these. The de- position of some special irritant is uni- versally regarded as the exciting cause. Exactly when hay-fever was recognized as a distinct affection is not known. Bes- chorner shows that it was known in the sixteenth century. In 1565 Botallus re- ported a case. Van Helmont and Binnin- ger, in the seventeenth century, speak of it. A similar distressing catarrhal affec- tion, but due to the rose, is instanced in **Acta nat. curios. Ephemerides,'' Dec. II, Ann. V, obs. 22, and again in the same journal, Dec. Ill, Ann. V and VI, obs. 193, a case of annually recurring profuse nasal catarrh is mentioned. John Floyer, * [22] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS London, 1698, noticed that there were peculiar cases of asthma in which the at- tacks were longer and more acute in sum- mer than in winter. In Good's ** Study of Medicine\\\" there is a reference to a case related by Timaeus in 1667, of an at- tack of an asthmatic nature caused by the odor of roses and ipecac. Biedlin, in his **Lin. Med.,\\\" p. 177, in 1695, wrote of the odor of roses causing a catarrh of the head, resembling hay-fever. C. L. Parry, of London, records a case in 1809 and an- other in 1811. Elliotson, in 1821, tells of a patient who had had hay-fever since 1789, and of another who was sixty-six years of age and who had had the disease from his seventh year, i.e., since 1755, and of a third who had been afflicted for many years. Just when and where the term *' hay- fever\\\" or ** hay-asthma\\\" arose it is im- [23] HAY-FEVER possible to say, but probably it was popu- larly so named. The emanations from dry hay were first thought to have caused it. Dr. Bostock, who was himself a sufferer, in 1819, found that the laity knew of the affection, altho it was not recognized as a distinct disease by the profession. He objected to the term ** hay-fever,'' which was already employed to designate it in his day, contending that moist heat, sunshine, dust, and fatigue were more potent in its causation than emanations from dry hay. It seems remarkable that the profession in England were unfamiliar with hay- fever as a distinct affliction, es- pecially as their king, George IV, was a sufferer from it. In 1828, Bostock, who had first described the disease to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of London as a **case of a periodic affection of the eyes and chest,'' published some further ob- [24] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS servations on the complaint under the title ** Summer Catarrh/' or **Catarrhus ^stivus/' In 1828, MacCuUoch included it in his *'An Essay on the Remittent and Intermittent Diseases/' but advanced no special views. In 1830, Augustus Prater published notes of a case seen in Paris. In 1831, Dr. EUiotson, in London, briefly described the affection; and in 1833 he discust the complaint more fully and opposed Bostock's theory of heat and re- jected the hay- theory of its origin, but declared grasses to be more important factors; and he first pointed to pollen as the probable cause of the disease. In 1847, Dr. Ramadge detailed reports of cases and believed ** effluvia from flowers\\\" caused it. In 1850, Gream first alluded to dust as an exciting cause and proposed nux vomica as a remedy. In 1852 Dr. Laforgue, of Toulouse, wrote his essay '' Observation [25 ] HAY-FEVER de catarrhe d'ete/' in which he upheld heat as the cause, after the view of Bos- tock. But in the next year, 1853, in **L'Abeille Medicale,'' an anonymous con- tributor, reciting his own case, advocated hay-emanations and not heat as the excit- ing agent. In 1854 Phoebus, of Giessen, concluded from his study of 154 cases that sunlight was the active cause of the at- tacks. In 1857 Watson ascribed the mal- ady to the presence of vegetable matter in the atmosphere. In 1859 Phoebus again published the results of his circular of in- quiry. He went into the subject more thoroughly than any of his predecessors, and from sunlight he shifted to ozone as the theoretic cause of the malady. In this same year Hyde Salter named as the ex- citing agents *^ bright, hot, dusty sun- shine,'' a full meal, and hay, and recited two interesting cases. Another writer, [26] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Walshe, in the same year, referred to hay- fever as a singular variety of nasopnl- monary catarrh, and he first called atten- tion to the fact that the disease, in his own person, ** always disappeared in crossing the Atlantic/' In July, 1860, Dr. Cornaz, of Neufchatel, Switzerland, in a paper on hay-fever, de- scribed six cases, and concluded that the flowers of grasses were the cause of the disease, and he was followed on the 20th of August of the same year by Dr. La- bosse, of Nitry, France, in a paper en- titled **Nouvelle observation de catarrhe de foin,'' in which he spoke of three per- sons whose symptoms occurred at the time certain flowers were in bloom. In 1866 strong light and great heat were advanced as aggravating causes by JDr. Wm. Ab- botts Smith. In his published. work, '*0n Hay-fever, Hay-asthma, or Summer Ca- [27]' HAY-FEVER tarrh,'^ he rejected the ozone theory of Phoebus. In 1867 the nervous origin of the dis- ease was first advanced by Dr. William Pirrie, who spoke of two forms, — one a spasmodic form caused by external irri- tants, the other arising from the action of light and heat upon the central nervous, the cerebrospinal, and sympathetic sys- tems. In the same year, Helmholtz, who, the not a general practitioner, while suffering from hay-fever, began to treat it with a quinin solution and found that he was relieved thereby. Two years later he detailed to C. Binz, of Bonn, Germany, by letter, the history of his sufferings, and recommending his solution as a ready means of relief and even of prevention, which was in accord with the findings of Binz that the quinin solution was poison- ous to infusoria. In this letter Helmholtz [28] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS^ proponnded the theory that the symp- toms were caused by vibrios which, the latent at other times in the nasal fossae and sinuses, were excited to activity by the heat of summer. It has since been thought that the organisms found by Helmlioltz, by means of the microscope, in the nasal discharges during an attack were probably fragments of mycelium-like threads which develop from pollen-cells under the influence of the heat and mois- ture of the nasal chambers and which con- tain the minute fovilla of the pollen-cells. The use of the quinin solution which Helm- holtz so successfully employed on himself became very popular and found many strong advocates in the profession until the extensive researches of Blackley in re- gard to pollen in 1873. In the meantime, in 1870, Dr. George Moore advocated a complex theory of the disease, really com- [29] HAY-FEVER binations of preceding theories. In the same year Eoberts issued a short, practi- cal paper, claiming to be the first to ob- serve excessive coldness of the tip of the nose as the ** pathognomonic'' symptom of hay-fever and desiring credit to be accorded him for this discovery. In 1872, Morrill Wyman, of Cambridge, Mass., distinguished two different forms of the disease; naming that occurring in August ** autumnal catarrh,'' peculiar to America, and that of the spring or early summer ** June cold\\\" or ** rose-cold,\\\" more prevalent in England. Dr. Wyman first attempted to define the geographical limits of the disease, and called attention to the important fact that residence in certain elevated regions brought certain and complete relief in most cases of autumnal catarrh. He stated that a lady from Lynn, Mass., a [30] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS great sufferer, accidentally observed in 1853 that her catarrh passed by while she was traveling in the White Mountains, and that for the following ten years she visited the region and escaped the disease. In 1860, Jacob Horton, of Newbnryport, Mass., wrote Dr. Wyman that the White Mountains gave the only relief. In 1873, Charles H. Blackley, of Manchester, en- deavored to show that pollen mainly, if not exclusively, caused the malady, and by extensive experiments showed that the amount of pollen in the atmosphere at great elevations was to that in the air at ordinary breathing levels as nineteen to one. He proved, by very ingenious and carefully conducted series of experiments, that the pollen of grasses and flowers was the sole cause of hay-fever in himself, and that in two other patients the severity of the attacks was directly related to the [31] HAY-FEVEK amotint of pollen in the air. His sub- sequent observations made it extremely- probable that pollen is an important factor in the causation of hay-fever, altho all kinds of dust may be sufficiently irritating to excite the paroxysms. This was in op- position to the views of Phoebus and of Pirrie, both of whom suggested heat, strong light, and ozone as the exciting causes. Pirrie had also suggested disturb- ance of the central nervous system as an important etiologic factor. He was sup- ported in this view in 1876 by Morrill Wy- man, then of New York. In the same year Beard, of New York, published his mono- graph, the information for which had been painstakingly gathered from replies to two hundred circulars which he had issued to medical men all over America, some- what after the manner of Phoebus; al- tho, unlike Phoebus, Beard had himself [32] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS seen and treated many cases. From his data he drew the conclusion that the im- mediate exciting causes were more than thirty in number, and that secondary causes might increase this list to more than one hundred. He showed also from his statistics that the nervous tempera- ment existed in a great proportion of the sufferers, and that nerve tonics were of some value. In 1877, Marsh, of Tuckerton, New Jersey, published an essay in which he accepted completely the pollen theory. He first called attention, in this paper, to the activity of the pollen of Ambrosia art emisice folia, or common ragweed, as by far the most active of the pollens in America in producing the attacks. In 1882, Daly, of Pittsburgh, first called attention to the fact that a diseased con- dition of the nasal cavities was an impor- tant factor in the production of the exacer- [33] HAt-FEVER bations of the disease. Eoe, of Rochester, in 1883, advocated the same theory, but added that *^ removal of the diseased tissue removes susceptibility to future attacks.\\\" In the same year, Sajous' essay appeared in which he advanced idiosyncrasy as a heretofore unconsidered element in the cause of hay-fever, and laid stress upon the three essential factors in the produc- tion of an attack; viz., first, an external irritant, second, a predisposition of the system, and, third, a vulnerable or sen- sitive area. In 1883, Hack accepted the local theory of the causation of the dis- ease. In 1884, Harrison Allen, of Phila- delphia, attributed the affection to a per- manent or temporary obstruction of one or both nasal chambers. In the same year, J. N. Mackenzie, of Baltimore, termed the disease '^coryza vasomotoria periodica,'' because it is essentially a coryza. He [34] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS says: **The well-recognized, but imper- fectly understood personal susceptibility to certain forms of local irritation, which is the sad prerogative of sufferers from this disease, has always been the stumbling- block in its investigation and the rock upon which the various speculations as to its nature have been wrecked/' He dem- onstrated that 'Hhere exists in the nose a well-defined sensitive area whose stimu- lation, through a pathologic process or through ah extra irritation, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its ex- pression in a reflex act or in a series of reflected phenomena. '^ He thus claimed functional derangement of nerve-centers as essential to the disease. It was also in 1884 that Sir Morell Mackenzie asserted that the universal cause of the disease was pollen, altho he did not deny that other irritating particles, e,g., ipecac, if per- [35] HAY-FEVER sistently brought in contact with the mu- cous membrane of the nasal chambers, may produce it. In 1885 Seth S. Bishop advocated the uric acid theory of the origin of the dis- ease. In 1887 Sir Andrew Clark, in the Caven- dish Lecture in London, emphasized the doctrine of the three great causative fac- tors, — ^viz., first an exciting agent, gener- ally pollen; second, the neurotic habit; and, third, a local morbid condition of the nasal mucous membrane. Since then many articles have appeared upon the subject, but no striking innova- tions in the possible etiology of hay-fever have been offered. In 1893, Macdonald said, we ought not to describe hay-fever as a disease but merely as a train of symptoms — a train of Dhysiologic reflexes instigated by an [36] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS unwarrantably small provocation in cer- tain individuals more susceptible to the influence thereof than the rest of their kind. Early in 1897, Grayson, of Philadelphia, stated that '^the neurotic habit may exist but is not essential to the disease, and the nervous system is implicated as a victim, not as a culprit.\\\" He claimed that hay- fever is a defect, not of the nervous, but of the nutritive system, believing that the digestive tract is the cradle of the sys- temic error. In October, 1897, Edmund W. Holmes, of Philadelphia, stated his belief to be that hay-fever was largely a neurosis, originating in local disease of the naso- pharynx, the characteristic manifestations being in part direct, the result of central nervous modifications, and in part reflex, from the action of various mechanical ir- [37 1 HAY-FEVER ritants, aided by local and constitntional factors when tliey exist, and by seasonable and climatic influences, the periodic and peripheric susceptibility being in partic- ular expressions of certain impressions. 2. Causes The idea of an external irritant in hay- fever pervades most views of it. There can be no doubt, however, that there is usually an underlying systemic condition which renders individuals susceptible to the disease. It may, in addition, be ac- cepted as conclusive that the nasal ab- normalities found in hay-fever subjects are as often incidental as causative. They are seldom exclusively provocative of the susceptibility, and they are not the results of repeated attacks. Exactly what this underlying condition of susceptibility is has been variously regarded. The nature [38] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS of the irritant has been widely and scien- tifically investigated. While all theories advanced are in part more or less tenable, none of them alone is satisfactory. The condition is always, however, one of low- ered resistance, general or local. If gen- eral, it may be of neurotic, lithemic, idio- syncratic, gastric, intestinal, or diathetic origin. It is, therefore, my belief, that in hay-fever there is always, first, an excit- ing agent, and, second, a system predis- posed by debility of some character to the influence of this irritant. The overwhelm- ing testimony as to the character of this irritant points to its derivation from some- thing external to the body of the sufferer. Moreover, it is absolutely certain that without the action of an external irritant genuine hay-fever does not occur. The elaborate and ingenious experiments of Blackley, not only upon himself but upon [89] HAY-FEVER other individuals, clearly indicated the pollen of flowering plants as an active, exciting cause. It has never been shown that, altho pollen, healthy or unhealthy, may be a mechanical irritant and thus account for many cases, it is not also a chemic irritant when it has fallen upon a susceptible soil. It has been claimed that hay-fever is caused by a toxin gener- ated by a fermentative process in the pollen which has fallen into the alkaline solution of the nose; and it has been shown that acid solutions stop the move- ments of many micro-organisms and sper- matozoa, and that alkaline solutions in the nares have given little or no benefit in attacks of hay-fever. It has also been shown that the affection is more com- mon among men than among women, and that the blood of the latter is the less alkaline. [40 J WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Arnold, in 1896, stated that just what constitutes the irritant is not determined, and said it is likely that not healthy pollen bnt some fungoid growth is responsible, since threshers of grain, at other times without ill-effects, have complained of at- tacks of hay-fever after threshing smutty or moldy grain, especially oats. Helmholtz, himself a sufferer from hay- fever, discovered peculiar micro-organ- isms in his nasal discharges. These vib- rios were never found by others, and this fact is supposed to controvert his theory. It has not been shown conclusively that they have been sought for by other inves- tigators, and it is likely that they have not, since attention has been called away by the pollen and other theories. The antiseptic quinin solution employed by Helmholtz, while extensively used with good results for the subsequent decade, [41] HAY-FEVER was not invariably accompanied by re- lief. Later, the relief that was given by quinin solutions was said to be psychic. This allegation may well be understood when it is considered that many other theories as to the causation of hay-fever, particularly the pollen, abounded soon after Helmholtz's expositions. Some very interesting investigations by Strangways, of St. Louis, in 1897, urged him to conclude the amount of pollen in the air is altogether too small to have an injurious mechanical, medicinal, or poi- sonous influence. He calculates that for every square foot of surface there is one ragweed, and inquiry showed that mere elevation of several hundred feet above the earth's surface does not give relief from this distressing affection. Strang- ways found that ragweed pollen proba- bly floats to 1,000 feet elevation ; but, if the [42] \\\"WHAT HAY-FEVER IS limit is placed at 500 feet, it would give for every plant 500,000 cubic feet of air, not for one day but for six weeks; i.e., if the whole plant was pollen there would be still only one part of pollen to fifteen or twenty billion parts of air. The rose and the goldenrod are in even smaller quantities. Strangways' estimates showed that there was not more than one grain of pollen for every thirty respirations. He advanced the theory that, while pollen plays a part, it does not irritate mucous membrane nor produce vasomotor paresis by its direct influence, but that a proto- plasmic substance found in pollen and in the vegetable kingdom, acting as a fer- ment, causes the formation of a toxin which is the real exciting cause. There can be little doubt that the neu- rotic element has been present in many, if not most, cases of hay-fever, and evi- [43] HAY-FEVER denced by depression, general lowering of tone, or exhaustion of the nervous sys- tem. The neurosis need not be acquired; in fact, it is often hereditary, which will be discust later. Holmes believes the disease to be in great part a neurosis with other debili- tating conditions. The fact that the bet- ter educated classes are most prone to this affection indicates the influence of neurotic tendency as well as exhaustion of the nervous system or debility or depres- sion thereof. The premonitory symptoms of this affection, as ably shown by Sajous, show the neurotic elements. He well asks, **If the local irritant is the only cause, why does the respiratory tract, the por- tion of the body first and most exposed to its effects, not become immediately influenced?\\\" This author also shows a case following enteric fever, the debilita- [44] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS ting and exhaustive character of which is well known, one preceded by malarial fever and another by bronchitis, pertus- sis, and varicella. Of the various other theories advanced are the lithemic, the intestinal or gastric, due to lack of proper assimilation, and the uric acid diathesis. The views herein ad- vanced are not at all inconsistent with the idea that the diatheses exercise a predis- posing influence in producing the affec- tion, which influence is debilitating and devitalizing. The local theory alone is not conclusive nor satisfactory; viz., that the disease is due to chronic nasal catarrh, or a local lesion, upon which the exciting cause acts. There is no doubt that diseased areas are more sensitive to the irritant, and espe- cially so in cases of lowered vital energy and lessened normal resistance, general or [45] HAY-FEVER local; but a large number of cases show no local disease. In all of the theories respecting this af- fection there is more or less regard for the agency of pollen in provoking the paroxysms of the disease; but as every one is exposed to the irritant, in those af- fected the soil must be prepared for the seed, that is, before the deposition of the pollen or dust or exciting agent there must be a morbid condition preexisting, which can so far be characterized as to call it lowered vitality or general or local resistance, which springs from a variety of causes. 3. Periodicity On the continent of Europe, where it is less frequent, and in England, hay- fever prevails in June and July. The in- itial attacks occur during May and June and seldom last longer than September. [46] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS In India the malady chiefly occurs in Feb- ruary. In Australia, in and around Ade- laide, where the disease prevails, it oc- curs chiefly in September during the time of the blossoming of the Cape weed. In his work on hay-fever, Beard essays to show how the autumnal form is peculiar to the United States. One cause seems to be the flowering of the Roman wormweed and the pollen of corn about the middle of August, and another in the prevalence of the ** dog-days.\\\" A third reason lies in the fact that there is less atmospheric ozone and electricity at this period than at any other time of the year, and, again, the hottest days are frequently in the lat- ter part of June. Beard also attached importance to a variety of hay-fever in which the attacks came on in September. This distinction is probably due to the fact that while one person is liable to the [47] HAY-FEVEE action of one pollen, another may be af- fected by a totally different pollen, and the annual attacks come on when the at- mosphere is permeated by a special pol- len to which the victim is individually sus- ceptible. Many persons are susceptible to the action of more than one pollen. Pa- tients often suffer from rose-colds in early summer, and, again, in August, from the autumnal form of hay-fever. Of the 198 cases collected by Beard the onset of the disease occurred — From May 1 to May 10, in 2 cases. (( \\\" 10 \\\" 31, \\\" 6 \\\" tc June 1 June 10, U J^ u It \\\" 10 \\\" 30, U g u tt July 1 July 10, tc g u u \\\" 10 \\\" 20, tc g u u \\\" 20 \\\" 31, tc 7 cc it Aug. 1 Aug. 10, cc 7 cc tt \\\" 10 \\\" 20, tc gj cc tt \\\" 20 \\\" 31, tt 54 cc tt Sept. 1 Sept 10, cc 7 cc tt \\\" 10 \\\" 20, ^' 1 case. tt \\\" 20 \\\" 30, [48] *' 2 cases. WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Of Bosworth's eighty cases the greatest number, fifty-one, occurred between Au- gust 10th and August 27th. The usual date assigned for the commencement of paroxysms of hay-fever is the 29th of August. This form of the disease, com- mencing in the latter part of August, is designated as autumnal catarrh. Many patients have asserted that they are attacked annually on exactly the same date, and even the same time of day, each year. There can be little doubt that the psychic influence or peculiar mental an- ticipation may have a great deal to do with this circumstance. An attack may be brought on by the influence of the im- agination. Phoebus gives the history of a case in which attacks of sneezing were brought on \\\"while looking at a beautiful picture of a hay-field.\\\" The well-known instance of J. N. Mackenzie, in which an [49] HAY-FEVER attack of hay-fever was brought on in a susceptible individual subject to rose-cold by means of an artificial rose may be explained on this ground. Boswortli con- siders that the time of occurrence is influenced by psychic causes, and is an- alogous to the recurrence of chills in intermittent fever, and considers that deception as to the actual time of occur- rence might be proved in hay-fever as in intermittent fever, in which changing the hands of the clock may lead to a change in the regular recurrence of the chills. Prince gives the history of a case in which, a hay-fever subject under the influence of auto-suggestion, by means of writing fre- quently on paper and thinking, day and night, in leisure moments, and of slight hypnotism, prevented the premonitory symptoms of hay-fever, and she was free from the annual attacks for several years, [50] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS when they recurred and continued yearly thereafter. Prince asks, may it not be that the reason why certain places, such as Dublin, for instance, are reputed to have a specific influence against attacks, is the counter-suggestion thereby given that the patient will be free from attacks at such places? Pirrie states that it is next to impos- sible to definitely decide the duration of hay-fever attacks, as seasons, age, tem- perament, locality, treatment, and other circumstances tend to cause variations in different years and in different individ- uals. Treatment will do much to curtail the duration of the more prominent and distressing symptoms, but if left to them- selves it is seldom they depart under three or four weeks. A writer in the ** Twentieth Century Practice of Medi- cine\\\" estimates the duration as from four [51] HAY-FEVER to six weeks, according to tlie patient's surroundings and the atmospheric condi- tions. Asthmatic attacks may last from a few hours to three days and disappear suddenly. Morell Mackenzie states that attacks last from a few hours to several days, or even longer, finally ceasing al- most as suddenly as they came, and leav- ing no trace either in local lesions or in systemic disturbance. Bosworth gives eighty cases, showing the durations of the annual attacks as follows: From May 1 to frost 1 case. \\\" \\\" 15 \\\" May 25, to July 1.... 3 cases. \\\" 10 \\\" Aug. 1 lease. \\\" June 1 \\\" July 1 2 cases. \\\" 1 '' \\\" 14 lease. \\\" 1 '' frost 5 cases. '' 10 '' July 4 4 \\\" \\\" 10 ^' \\\" 26 5 *' *' July 1 '' Sept. 1 1 case. \\\" 10 '* Aug. 1 1 \\\" '' 10 \\\" Sept. 1 1 \\\" '' '' 25 '' frost 4 cases. '* Aug. 10 \\\" Aug. 27, to frost 51 \\\" [52] WHAT HAY-FEVEE IS All forms of hay-fever terminate with the first frost, and the long interval in which one may suffer is shown by the first case above from May 1st to cold weather. In the United States some who are at- tacked in May recover by the 1st of July; some attacked in Jnly are well by the 15th of Angnst; some attacked in Au- gust recover by November 1st, while some unfortunates suffer throughout the period from May to November. The June type may be followed by a September visita- tion or become a permanent August at- tack, or the August type may disappear in certain individuals and reappear as a June cold. 4. Symptoms Altho the affection is called hay- fever, there is seldom any degree of py- rexia, and, as a fever, it is not a decided one. There are two well-known types of 53] HAY-FEVER the disease, — the catarrhal and the asth- matic. The onset of an attack is occa- sionally marked by feelings of general malaise, a loss of appetite, and depression of spirits. Indeed, these symptoms more or less characterize the entire course of the attack. A * Sickling in the roof of the month\\\" one week before the onset was felt by a patient of Sajous. Another speaks of dull pains in the head and back two weeks before; chills and shuddering ten days before the attack is experienced by another, while a large proportion com- plain of palpebral pruritis from two to ten days before the onset of the nasal symptoms. It is only in those subjects whose hay-fever is of some years' stand- ing, Sajous points out, that the premoni- tory symptoms are present, and gives in evidence the testimony of a fellow-physi- cian, viz.: *'My attacks for some years [54] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS past came with much regularity, about August 12th to August 14th. On these dates this year I arranged to be on the water, on Lake Ontario and the St. Law- rence Eiver, and entirely escaped every- thing like sneezing and irritation of the nose and eyes. Still I had the usual hot and slightly irritable skin, then an erup- tion of urticaria, accompanied by dis- ordered stomach. This experience is pre- cisely the same as in 1880, except that then I was on the Atlantic.'' Macdonald, in 1893, had a patient whose earliest symptoms were a curious coldness and pallor of the nose even in warm weather. In this connection it may be observed that in 1870 Roberts conceived the ^^pathog- nomonic symptom\\\" to be coldness of the tip of the nose. Beard divided the symptoms into local and constitutional. Among the latter he [55] HAY-FEVEE regarded fever, loss of strength, the al- tered appetite and the nervous system, considering under this last, depression, indisposition to labor, sense of fulness and heaviness of the head, pain in the fore- head and behind the ears, partial deaf- ness, restlessness at night, inability to sleep, a sense of suffocation, and general irritability. For the local phenomena, he looked upon the skin, in the heart, chest, mouth and nose, eyes and ears. The periodicity of the attacks is a prom- inent symptom and is difficult to explain. Some peculiar psychic influence occasion- ally acts to precipitate an exacerbation. In no other way can we explain the cases of John N. Mackenzie and Morell Mac- kenzie already cited. Analogous to this remarkable periodicity are those cases of intermittent fever wherein each alternate day, at a given hour, the chill occurs. This 156] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS is generally true, moreover, not only of ourselves, but of the world around us. As Holmes has beautifully shown in this con- nection, health and disease afford abun- dant illustration: The fixation of the number of heart-beats, of the respiratory movements, of the cycle of menstruation, or of the period of gestation are all recog- nizable in their unfailing occurrence, but their determination thereof, then, rather than at some other period, can not be ex- plained. So, in disease, are the muta- tions of the enteric temperature, the re- currence of the hectic, of the regularity of the return of the type of ague upon the second, third, or fourth days, or of hay- fever upon its annual date. We must recognize these phenomena as fixt, fur- ther we can not go. **As the rhythm of physiologic effects is under the control of the central nerve ganglia, and as inter- HAY-FEVER mittency is a peculiarly marked feature of so-called nervous disorders, so far the annual return and the variations are evidences of the neurotic origin of hay- fever.'' The onset of an attack of hay-fever be- gins with a sense of irritation referred to the upper nasal chambers, a sense of fulness or tightness across the bridge of the nose. There is an itching or burning sensation of the inner canthus of one or both eyes, which may be accompanied by convulsive movements of the eyelid, an itching or tingling in the roof of the mouth. Spasmodic sneezing soon occurs, and pain in the eyeballs and in the fron- tal regions develops. The paroxysms are more or less violent and prolonged. Ar- nold tells of sneezing in a patient for twenty-five times in close succession, forc- ing the pulse at the height of the attack [58] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS to one hundred and twenty beats to the minute. These paroxysms are followed by an abundant, thin, serous discharge from the nose. The mucous membrane of the nasal fossae swells so as to block up the nasal passages, and respiration through the nares becomes impossible. The escape of serum from the nostrils seems to increase the intense irritation and makes the sneezing worse. The dis- charge from both eyes and nose gradually grows thicker and may become semipuru- lent. There is often a certain amount of painful vision, and sometimes swelling, besides the usual pricking and stinging of the conjunctival surfaces. There are fre- quent transient paroxysms of lacrimation, and there is often much swelling of the eyelids as well as of the conjunctiva. The face becomes puffy and edematous, and the senses of taste and smell become im-, [59] HAY-FEVER paired. The pharynx, mouth, and tonsils share in the engorgement and become red, and simultaneously the inflammation of the eyes, nose, and throat becomes intense and painful. Swallowing may become so difficult that there is little rest night or day. Insomnia is common and is often attended by nervousness and a sense of suffocation out of all proportion to the gravity of the condition. Cough is not a constant feature, but in a considerable proportion of cases it comes on in the sec- ond week, and lasts through the attack. Generally it is spasmodic and so incessant at night that sleep is impossible, and there are soreness and pain resulting from the straining of the diaphragm and intercos- tal muscles. Bronchitis does not usually result, and expectoration is absent or scanty until late. Cough may continue after all other symptoms have ceased. £60] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS The pulse and temperature are not gen- erally altered, but later in the attack the temperature may be raised two or three degrees, doubtless from disturbed rest. A ^* sufferer '^ records that, in some, the genito-urinary and rectal passages give the first warning by intense itching and burning. In one instance, a more than generally severe paroxysm induced rup- ture of the capillaries in the lacrimal ca- runcle of the right eye, causing engorge- ment of the organ and displacement of the visual axis, with consequent double vision for some days. The direct and re- flex changes in the vocal apparatus vary from loss of timber and harshness to complete inability to utter nasal vowels and consonants. The disorder varies much in intensity even in the same person within short in- tervals of time, so as to almost give [61] HAY-FEVER an intermittent character to the com- plaint. The attack finally ceases almost as sud- denly as it came on, leaving no trace of local lesion or systemic disturbance. It i^ accompanied in some patients with nettle- rash. Asthma is a late symptom, coming on after the acute symptoms have abated, and cough has existed for some time. It may appear at the height of the attack. It is more common in autumnal catarrh than in the early forms. Its period, as a rule, begins at the fourth week, and it does not vary from ordinary asthma. It is sometimes periodic, occurring at the same hour night after night. Paroxysms appear associated with antecedent bron- chial rather than nasal symptoms. Nasal reflex phenomena, without cough, may oc- casion paroxysms. Persistent cough more usually exists in the intervals between [62] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS paroxysms. Beard says that four-fifths of the sufferers have cough or asthma. The symptoms are not usually of equal severity each year. Asthma generally comes on in the daytime, a little ropy mu- cus being expectorated, and later an abun- dant frothy secretion. There may be only a slight remission, the dyspnea continu- ing so long as exposure continues. The attacks rarely produce emphysema of the lung, and sooner or later recovery ensues. Bosworth estimates that the asthmatic at- tacks come on earlier each year in those who have suffered from hay-fever in con- nection with asthma, and he believes that an attack of hay-fever is especially liable to develop an attack of bronchial asthma as a natural consequence of the disturb- ance in the nasal chambers. He also observed a number of cases in which hay- fever symptoms gradually abated while [63] HAY-FEVER the asthma became a prominent factor, and, again, that victims of hay-asthma finally acquired the perennial form of the disease, — the attacks occurring at all seasons without reference to the presence of pollen in the air. As already evidenced in Sajous' case, in a number of cases the attacks are pre- ceded by cutaneous eruptions. Laflaive cites cases with urticaria and eczema pre- ceding the onset of hay-fever. Facial prn- ritis and herpetiform eruptions are oc- casionally seen. J. N. Mackenzie speaks of an inflammation of the external audi- tory meatus in all respects analogous to that of the nose in hay-fever, occurring repeatedly in a lady during the summer months. Besides asthma, already mentioned, there is little tendency to permanent ill- effects except thickening of the nasal mu- [64] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS cous membrane from the prolonged irri- tation. Taste and smell may be impaired during and for a long time after the at- tack. General irritability and nervous- ness may be more or less persistent. El- derly sufferers for a long time may have weakened hearts which intermit during attacks, which may recover with return- ing health or result in cardiac dilatation. \\\"Wyman mentions pneumonia in three cases during attacks. In one case the ca- tarrh ceased for two weeks to return after the pneumonia disappeared, when asthma also came on for the first time. 5. Its Pathology, Diagnosis akdi Prognosis Morell Mackenzie states that hay-fever, leaving no permanent structural lesion be- hind it, can not, therefore, be strictly said to have any pathology. Surely it is that [65] HAY-FEVER no distinct specific organisms have been fonnd. Sajous calls attention to the dis- tinct physiologic functions of the two re^ gions of the nasal cavities, the olfactory and the respiratory. The filaments of the olfactory nerve cover the superior tur- binated bones, and the upper third of the middle turbinated bones, and the corre- sponding portion of the septum. Thus the upper portions of the nasal cavities are devoted to the sense of smell and do not enter into the pathology of hay-fever. The respiratory portion of the nose in- cludes all the surfaces below the olfac- tory. It is under the control of the vaso- motor nerves of the sympathetic system, and is quite sensitive to local or periph- eral irritation. This sensitiveness resides in the terminal filaments of the sen- sory nerves, distributed over the surfaces of the mucous membranes. The mem- [66] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS branes of the posterior areas of the nasal fossae are supplied with several branches of the sphenopalatine ganglion, which en- ter by the sphenopalatine foramen. This ganglion possesses a sympathetic root de- rived from the carotid plexus through the vidian nerve, thus establishing a connect- ing link between the nasal mucous mem- brane and the sympathetic system. In health the nasal mucous membrane pours out from twelve to sixteen ounces of watery serum daily, which — that it may warm, moisten, and cleanse the inspired air on its passage to the lungs — is dif- fused over the convex surfaces of the tur- binated bones. The centers in the medulla, through the vasomotor, control and regu- late this process of serous exudation; the nicety of which regulation is seen in the adjustment thereof to the varying hygro- scopic and thermic conditions of the air. £67] HAY-FEVEE The experiments of John N. Mackenzie, in 1884, showed: 1. That in the nose there exists a well- defined sensitive area whose stimulation, through a local pathologic process or through an extra irritation, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its expression in a reflex act, or in a series of reflected phenomena. 2. That this sensitive area corresponds, in all probability, with that portion of the nasal mucous membrane covering the tur- binated corpora cavernosa and the most sensitive spots covering the posterior end of the inferior turbinated body and the septum immediately opposite. 3. That nasal cough is caused only by stimulation of this area. 4. That the tendency to evolution of reflex phenomena varies in different indi- viduals, and is probably dependent upon [68] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS the varying degree of excitability of the erectile tissue. These sensitive areas correspond to the distribution of the sphenopalatine branches of the superior maxillary nerve, as distinguished from the nasal branch of the ophthalmic, which latter supplies the more anterior portions of the nasal fos- sae. The former nerves, derived through the ganglion of Meckel, therefore, prob- ably contain the vasomotor nerves which govern the erection of the turbinated tissue, and, hence, the localization of the sensitive areas becomes the key to the mechanism of the paroxysms. Neverthe- less, Beard was inclined to transfer the point of greatest excitability from the peripheral ends of the nerve-filaments to the nerve-centers themselves, because it seems a more comprehensive explanation of the varied phases of the disease. [69] HAY-FEVER Eoe explained that the more frequent occurrence of asthmatic paroxysms at night might he brought about by the gravitation of blood to, or the contact of polypi upon, these sensitive areas. Sajous thought it was evident that there were three areas capable of producing reflex symptoms in the course of a paroxysm of hay-fever, and that the three combined formed the key to the local nervous ele- ment, not that the three areas must take part, but in some, one of them, in others, two of them, etc. In the asthmatic cases, he noticed that both anterior and pos- terior areas were sensitive, the latter especially so. Capp pointed out two distinct spots or areas of the mucous membrane of the nasal cavities, one at the posterior and one at the anterior extremity of the in- ferior turbinates, one or both of which [70] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS may be supersensitive in individual cases ; also a spot in the anterior nasal chambers at the upper angle formed by the septum. All these are exquisitely sensitive, and, when irritated, produce extensive reflex symptoms. Trouble appears to begin at one or all of the points, while the rest of the Schneiderian membrane is in normal condition; but with sneezing, hyperemia and hyperesthesia ensue, and, through continuity, may extend to throat, ears, and eyes. In speaking of the three reflex areas. Holmes said that it is regarded that all points of the cavernous tissue are not equally susceptible to irritation; the sen- sitive areas are the inferior turbinates (the posterior and middle reflex areas) and the portion of the septum immedi- ately opposite, being particularly related to cough and asthma ; the anterior, in the [71] HAY-FEVER vestibule, to sneezing, lacrimation, and other catarrhal symptoms. We might compare these reflexes with certain other cases of reflex asthma (not hay-fever) benefited by removal of the tonsils. Bosworth regarded the continuous sneezing as pathognomonic and holds that the hyperemia is ** confined entirely to the large venous sinuses, the capillaries proper not being congested,\\\" and speaks of the watery, serous discharge with the bluish-gray 'Uinge of the mucosa verging on opalescence, the surface of the mem- brane being covered with slightly viscid, watery serum, which gives it a glassy, semitranslucent aspect.'* During an attack of hay-fever the erec- tile tissues of the nasal passages and the posterior throat become distended, the blood-vessels are engorged, groups of lymph-cells fill the lymphatic spaces, the [72 ] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS mucous surface is crowded with migrat- ing leucocytes (white blood-corpuscles), younger epithelial cells are vacuolating and proliferating, secretion is increased in quantity and altered in character and composition, sensation is heightened, in- tensified, altered, or benumbed, and the whole metabolism of the affected region is profoundly disordered. Examination of the lower borders of the turbinated bones will disclose the mucous membranes of the nasal cavities arranged in thick, loose folds, owing to the peculiar distribution of the network of arteries and veins which go to make up ** cavernous tissue/' It is peculiar to this tissue that it may suddenly be engorged with blood, extremely dis- tending it, and as suddenly emptied and the engorgement relieved. It is especially thick over the inferior turbinated bones and over the lower and posterior part of I 73 ] HAY-FEVER the nasal septum, and also npon the lower edge of the middle turbinated bone. In acute conditions the engorgement and dis- tention soon subside. In chronic states the mucous membrane becomes markedly thick- ened and the blood-vessels enlarged and tortuous. The subsidence of the engorge- ment can not occur, and as a result there is a greater or less degree of closure of the nasal passages. The mucous membrane of the nasal cav- ities in hay-fever does not present the characteristic features of an acute inflam- mation. The impact of pollen or exciting irritant causes complete relaxation of the large veins of the turbinated bodies and an exudation of serum, which relaxation continues so long as pollen or the irritant is in situ, but as soon as it is removed the normal caliber is again restored and the attack subsides. Deviations of the sep- [74] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS tnm or chronic rhinitis are occasionally, found concurrent with the disease, but can not be regarded as characteristic. Hay-fever may be distinguished from asthma, common catarrh, bronchitis, acute rhinitis, remittent fever, and catarrhal conjunctivitis. The salient feature of hay-fever is its periodicity or annual re- currence. This is part of its very nature, is the central point of diagnosis, is its chief characteristic, and to its elucida- tion. Holmes says, all existing theories tend. Beard states that hay-fever is like asthma in the following points : 1. It is hereditary; 2. It is more or less periodic; 3. It is paroxysmal; 4. It is correlated to other functional nervous affections; 5. The paroxysms are excited by a great [75 J HAY-FEVER variety of irritants ; persons being differ- ently affected; 6. It is singularly obstinate and is re- lieved by the same remedies. Bosworth considers hay-fever depen- dent upon: 1. A neurotic habit; 2. Pollen in the atmosphere; 3. A disordered condition of the nasal passages. While asthma is dependent npon : 1. A general neurotic condition; 2. Obscure conditions of the atmos- phere; 3. Diseased bronchial (not nasal) mu- cous membranes. It is the comparative suddenness of the onset, as well as its sudden departure, the violent paroxysms of sneezing, and the character of the nasal discharges which are the peculiar features of hay-fever. 1 76 J WHAT HAY-FEVER IS The first attacks are likely to be mistaken for ordinary coryza, but here the abrupt onset, the characteristic edematous puf- finess of the eyelids, the absence of con- stitutional symptoms will indicate the difference. In children, moreover, at- tacks of hay-fever are most liable to be mistaken for acute colds or rhinitis, — ^but here, again, the above points may serve to distinguish, together with the sequence of the symptoms, the time of year, and the physical signs of an acute bronchitis, if it extends so far. The approach of cold weather and the coincident departure of the symptoms will make clear a diagno- sis, while the history of previous attacks at the season of the year most favorable to hay-fever, the presence of certain irri- tants, and the general condition of the bodily symptoms may be of aid in dis- tinguishing the affection. In acute rhi- [77] HAY-FEVER nitis there are several stages, viz.: First, a dry stage, lasting for a few, say twelve, hours; second, a serous discharge lasting two or three days; and, third, a muco- purulent discharge for from three to five days, — ^while the entire attack runs its course in from five to ten days if no com- plications ensue. In hay-fever there is no dry stage ; the discharge from the out- set is purely serous and never muco- purulent during the entire course. The nasal discharge in hay-fever is sometimes slightly opaque, and it may contain some few epithelial cells and viscid mucus. In acute rhinitis examination of the nares will show an inflammatory area while hay- fever shows none. Hay-fever is a vaso- motor paresis, and is easily diagnosed from inflammatory coryza by the swollen bluish-gray appearance of the inferior turbinated bones, and by the fact that the [78] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS first train of symptoms continues through to the end. Examination of the nares will disclose occlusion due to the swollen tur- binated bones lying in contact with the septum. The appearance of the mucous membrane itself is characteristic and only slightly resembles an inflammatory pro- cess. It is markedly swollen, not bright red as in rhinitis, but bluish-gray, cov- ered with a thin, slightly viscid, watery serum, giving it a glassy, semitranslu- cent, at times opalescent appearance. Again, the marked puffiness of the eye- lids, the great suffusion of the eyes, the photophobia, and even epiphora are dis- tinguishing features of hay-fever. The sensitive areas spoken of, particu- larly those on the lower and posterior parts of the septum and the inferior tur- binated bones, are of value in differen- tiating hay-fever, and the markedly pro- [79] HAY-FEVER nonnced paroxysms of sneezing are very prominent in hay-fever. People are subject in the changeable climate of spring and early summer to catch colds, and especially is this true of those prone to catarrh. These cases are sometimes mistaken for hay-fever. The readiness, however, with which they yield to anti-catarrhal treatment shows their nature. The prognosis is invariably good as to life. Sufferers often live to advanced ages. Hay-fever is no bar to life-insur- ance, but unless rationally treated the chances of permanent cure are very small. There are few exceptions to the rule that the tendency is, when once established, to an annual recurrence, unless the predis- posing causes are removed, or there is removal of or away from the exciting cause. Beard states that hay-fever has [80] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS no effect on longevity, and that, judging from observation and analogy, this afflic- tion may act as a kind of safety-valve for the nervous diathesis, preventing other and more serious disorders, and thus be- coming the friend rather than the enemy of life. When once attacked, unless properly treated, escape is rare in any subsequent year. Even changes in consti- tution in extreme age are no bar or pro- tection. It rarely skips a year, provided locality and influence are the same. Ab- solute immunity is only obtainable at the price of temporary exile. There is no proof that hay-fever is generally milder or severer in certain years all over the world or over a country, yet evidence is satisfactory that in certain localities it varies greatly in different years. Now and then, but not often, the ten- dency to the disease seems to be out- [81] HAY-FEVER grown. In one of Beard's cases the dis- ease skipped two years. Dr. Gibbons, of California, mentions a terrible case in which the attacks in successive years be- came lighter and lighter and finally dis- appeared entirely. With respect to increase or decrease of severity of symptoms with advancing years there is no constant law. In some cases the disease grows milder, in others severer, in others still, years of compara- tive mildness alternate with years of com- parative severity. The early form may change into the later form. There is no doubt, however, that attacks may change from the early to the late form, and vice versa, and in advancing years may be milder. Bosworth states that the younger the patient the better is the promise of relief; and that rose-cold, belonging more especially to early life, is to be regarded [82] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS more favorably than other forms. Mac- donald has observed spontaneous disap- pearance in children, perhaps due to an increase, ^ari passu with growth and de- velopment of nervous stability. As regards the termination of each in- dividual attack the prognosis is invari- ably favorable; cessante causa, cessat effectus. There is almost equal certainty that with the same causative influences the attacks will reappear upon exposure to the exciting cause. It is peculiar, too, that the disease of one year's standing has proved as obstinate as one of from twenty to thirty years' duration. In these instances it may be a question as to how firmly fixt has become the neurotic habit. M. W. Bulette, of Colorado, in 1896, as a result of his own experience, made the assertion that more than eighty per cent. [83] HAY-FEVER of hay-fever sufferers can be permanently and effectually cured. Thoro examina- tion of the patient and elimination of every possible source of irritation and pathologic condition are necessary. I desire to be more emphatic, and from my results in the treatment of over 200 cases during the last twenty years, I be- lieve that the curability of the disease can not be questioned. That all cases can be cured is questionable; but we can un- hesitatingly say that a majority of cases are curable, and that positive relief, with- out change of residence or inconvenience, can he afforded during the period of oc- currence, if treatment is directed along the lines laid down in the following chapter. [84] PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES T851 PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES 1. When Due to Some Exciting Agent Such as Pollen It being generally recognized that there are two elements entering into the causa- tion of hay-fever, viz., an exciting agent and a predisposing or preexisting con- dition, regard will be given the subject of causation from this standpoint. A great number of agencies have been regarded as the direct causes of this disease, but opinion in the main has as- signed pollen as the essential factor, act- ing upon the preexisting condition or predisposition. It may be better, however, to give a resume of other agencies before [87] HAY-FEVER regarding this subject of pollen. The most important of these are heat, light, dust, ozone, overexertion, ipecac, lyco- podium, coumarin, benzoic acid, choco- late, or several of these in combination. No attempt to signify or designate a definite cause was made by the early writers until 1819, when Bostock first described the malady and ventured the view that it was due to the influence of solar heat. He attributed his own pro- longed sufferings to the exposure to the sun's rays and fatigue. Some time after, Phoebus attributed the affection to *Hhe first heat of summer,'' which, he stated, **is a stronger cause than all the grass emanations put to- gether.\\\" Phoebus subsequently modified his views so as to regard the first heat of summer as acting only in an indirect man- ner as an exciting cause, and admitted [88] ACCEPTED CAUSES that hay and the blossoms of rye caused exacerbations. It can not be contended, at this day, that heat alone will provoke the disease. In the plains of India when the heat is greatest it is not found, al- tho later in the year, in the cooler months and before vegetation is burned up, it does appear; but among the hills of India, where the climate is milder and the grasses and cereals are in blossom, hay-fever exists. At sea, when vessels are becalmed and heat is most intense, and in the great heat of the desert hay-fever is not found. Pirrie shows that great heat is common to all cases, even when the vegetable world is looked to for the cause, and strangely points out that the premonitory feelings of an attack coin- cide with those caused by high tempera- ture. One of the most interesting cases from this standpoint is that of an En- [89] HAY-FEVER glishman, who, altho not a medical man, was well known to science — Richard Proctor. The asthma — for it took this form — occurred only during the cold months, and was always aggravated by a rime or hoar-frost, especially if the lat- ter was followed by a bright, sunny day. It is a striking fact that in regions com- paratively free from the disease persons subject to it become worse on warm days, or when the wind blows from the south. It has been found by experience that while this aggravation by winds is in most part due to the presence of more pollen, the higher temperature is also in a measure responsible. Hot, dry days are more favorable to the dissemination of pollen than rainy ones, and it becomes especially active when hot, dry periods follow stormy weather. In the light of Blackley's experiments upon the amount [ »o ] ACCEPTED CAUSES of pollen in the atmosphere, these facts wonld seem to explain the action of heat and sunlight as an active cause in the pro- duction of the exacerbations of hay-fever. Phoebus was dissatisfied with the view of the influence of solar heat, and thought that the longer days, which produce a more continuous action of light, were per- haps to blame; but where light is strong- est and lasts the longest — indeed, in the land of the ** midnight sun\\\" — ^hay-fever is practically unknown. Pirrie called at- tention to the fact that exposure to strong light aggravated the symptoms of the attack. The cited case of the late Eichard Proctor is an example of the truth of this. There is an instance of the widow of a clergyman whose attacks, most severe in summer, were aroused by sunlight in the early morning. Ingals knew a clergy- man who was unable to cross the street [91] HAY-FEVER on a hot day without sneezing violently unless he carried an umbrella. Persons with sensitive mucous membranes, espe- cially subjects of hay-fever, are, no doubt, sometimes liable to attacks of sneezing from sunlight; but these symptoms must not be mistaken for true hay-fever. In- gals states that he knew an individual in whom attacks of sneezing were brought on by exposure to bright gaslight. Gas- light was also regarded by Beard as a cause of this affection. However, Morell Mackenzie shows that gaslight is em- ployed more in winter when the affection does not prevail than in the English spring and American autumn, when the affection most prevails. Nothing can ex- ceed the reflected glare of sunlight at sea on a bright day, yet it is upon the sea that exemption from attacks of hay- fever is universally found, in] ACCEPTED CAUSES From his scientific investigations upon the subject, Beard, whose published work is a model, concluded that it was ex- tremely probable that dust occasionally caused hay-fever. Out of 198 cases of hay-fever reported by him no less than 104 attributed the affection to dust. One hundred and forty-two of these cases, how- ever, occurred between May and Septem- ber, the usual hay-fever season; and the lay, not the trained professional, mind advanced the causes. Some attributed the affection to ** indoor dust\\\"; some to '* cin- ders.'' These data of Beard, therefore, must be taken cum grano salis. More especially is this so since a paroxysm of sneezing and subsequent coryza, fre- quently brought on in normal health by the mechanical irritation of dust or even strong odors, should hardly be dignified as an attack of hay-fever. In England, [98] HAY-FEVER in February, March, and April, when strong east winds often blow clouds of dust against the face, the symptoms of hay-fever do not appear, whereas in June and July, when dust is comparatively lit- tle, the affliction is most extant. Holmes stated that even in winter-time stirring among old books or in an old garret the exposure to the fine dust there- from would, by simple mechanical irri- tation, produce an attack in him. It has been the consideration that dust, or pol- len, acting as any other form of dust, could be kept from entering the nasal chambers that has given rise to the va- rious inventions to purify the air before it enters the nose, such as plugs of cotton or wool, and veils (which, in addition, soften the glare of the sun and lessen the irritating action of winds. Every hay-fever sufferer knows the little value of such a device. [94] ACCEPTED CAUSES From the vast quantity of facts and ob- servations gathered together by him, Phoebus, who previously had ascribed sun- light as the cause of hay-fever, endeav- ored to extract a complete theory of the disease. He suggested an excess of ozone in the atmosphere as a possible cause. It remained, however, for Blackley, in 1873, by his great endeavors and scientific methods of investigation, to disclose the fallacy of this theory. He purposely breathed air highly charged with ozone for five or six hours without effect; and without inconvenience he inhaled ozone artificially prepared and in quantities far exceeding that found in the same vol- ume of atmospheric air. This same phy- sician also studied upon himself the ef- fects of benzoic acid, a substance shown by Vogel to be contained in Anthoxan- ihum odoratum and Holcus odoratus, the [95] HAY-FEVER two species of flowering grasses to which the causation of hay-fever has been at- tributed. Likewise he investigated the odorous principle of many flowering grasses, coumarin, and the volatile oils which impart to many plants, such as peppermint, juniper, rosemary, and lav- ender, their characteristic perfume. In all these cases the results were negative. Various other exciting causes are in numberless variety and many of purely idiosyncratic nature. Emanations from dry hay, sunlight, gaslight, heat, minute organisms as supposed by Helmholtz, the *' mange\\\" insect, dusts of all kinds, bad air, railway smoke, brimstone matches, flowers and fruits, odors from dogs, cats, horses, cattle, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and wild animals, have all been held respon- sible for the paroxysms. \\\"Ward Smith records linseed meal and mustard as [96] ACCEPTED CAUSES exciting causes. Wm. Murrell mentions powdered May-apple (podophyllum), the effluvia of clean pocket handkerchiefs fresh from an ironing table, locust-tree blossoms, mulberry blossoms, and fruit. The exhalations from feathers have been regarded as causes. It is well-known that various drugs like ipecacuanha and lyco- podium give rise to attacks, and sulfur has been mentioned as a cause. Sir Thomas Watson names a servant in St. Bartholomew's Hospital affected by ipe- cac. CuUen tells of an apothecary's wife who, whenever ipecac was triturated in the shop, had an attack of hay-fever. He also mentions the vicinity of a rice- threshing floor as a provocative cause. Itzigson tells of a merchant who had hay- fever paroxysms whenever fresh coffee was handled in his presence ; and it is re- corded of a dyer that he could not work [97] HAY-FEVER when the wood of the oak {Quercus tine- toria) was lying about. The author knows of a case in a physician in whom violent paroxysms of sneezing are in- duced by the tasting of chocolate. It is related in the *^ Twentieth Century Prac- tise of Medicine\\\" that a hay-fever pa- tient fond of tomatoes and watermelons was unable to eat of them during the usual hay-fever season without most vio- lent disturbance of the gastro-intestinal tract. Bastian was subject to attacks of an affection like hay-fever while dissect- ing the Ascaris megalocephala, a parasite infecting the horse. Hyde Salter tells of a clergyman affected by the vicinity to a dead hare, and who was thus able to de- tect the presence of a poacher. H. Charl- ton Bastian had like effects from the ** mange'' insect of the horse. Einger and Murrell tell of a young gentleman [98] ACCEPTED CAUSES made worse by the vicinity of horses or stable people. Once, while in the theater, an attack suddenly supervened without any appreciable reason until a horse gal- loped upon the stage. Macdonald, in 1893, mentioned a patient who, two or three hours after having patted his horse with his gloved hand, inadvertently put it to his face, and was inamediately seized with a violent paroxysm. The odor from the inner aspects of the legs of the horse was very irritating to one writer, a ** suf- ferer.'' Einger and Murrell cite the case of a gentleman who, subsequent to an acute pleurisy, was ever after a subject of ** hair-caterpillar asthma,'' and was immediately attacked if by any chance he touched a caterpillar. The difficulty of sometimes finding some exciting agent is shown by the case of Drenger. After searching several [99] HAY-FEVER years in vain for the cause of attacks of hay-fever caused by entry into a certain room in a house, and after ransacking nearly everything in the house, a mattress was suspected, and, upon removal, was satisfactorily shown to be the offending agent. The odor of peaches, of violets, of the mignonette, of chocolate, of musk, and of peppermint, has come in for a share of the blame. Trosseau relates of himself that attacks came on when he entered a room in which there were violets. The botanist Broussais was often impeded in his work by attacks caused apparently by the odor of a rose. Hiinerswolff and Morell Mac- kenzie each cite a case in which the per- fume of the rose produced attacks of coryza. The former's account is in the **Ephemerides,'' and has been often re- ferred to. The latter 's case proved rebel- tlOO] ACCEPTED CAUSES lions to treatment, and the sufferer had, at last, to banish these flowers from her garden. That this peculiar antipathy to flowers is often imaginative is also shown by John K Mackenzie, who cites the case of a subject of hay-fever to whom he handed an artificial rose. Immediately an attack of rose-cold ensued. A patient men- tioned by Phoebus and Morell Mackenzie, while gazing upon a picture of a hay field, was seized with an attack of hay-fever. These last two instances indicate the psychic influence rather than any extrane- ous cause, but they serve to show the varieties of exciting agents. The external cause which has been by far the most generally recognized and ac- cepted as the most frequent is pollen. The older writers upon this theory did not dis- tinguish the underlying condition neces- sary before pollen could act as a cause of [lOir HAY-FEVER tlie disease. The remarkable and elabo- rate experiments of Blackley, from 1866 to 1878, conclusively prove that a most important exciting cause of hay-fever is found in the action of pollen upon the mucous membrane of the nasal cavities. In his own person he showed that the in- halation of pollen always brought on the symptoms of hay-fever; that there was a direct relation between the intensity of the symptoms and the amount of pollen in the air, and that none of the other agents referred to, such as heat, light, ozone, dust, or odors, would, of themselves, cause the distress. His range of ob- servation included the pollens of various grasses and of cereals and of plants of thirty-five other natural orders. His ex- periments were made in the hay-fever sea- son in England, between the end of May and the latter part of July, and showed [102] ACCEPTED CAUSES that ninety-five per cent, of the pollen con- tained in the atmosphere belonged to the Graminacece. The apparatus from which he obtained the most satisfactory results in his investigations consisted of a verti- cal plate of glass, % of an inch in diam- eter. It was covered with a hood, and was pivoted to an upright staff. A weather- vane surmounted the hood to control the face of the glass-plate before the wind. Upon this glass-plate was aflfixt a micro- scopic cover-glass, one centimeter in di- ameter, covered with glycerin. Any pollen floating in the atmosphere would thus be carried upon the plate by the wind-current and adhere to the glycerin upon the glass- slide. Blackley thus found that the amount of pollen caught upon the plate increased progressively from the seventh to the thir- tieth of May, when twenty-five grains were counted, to seventy-six grains on the [103] HAY-FEVER eighth of June, and to 280 grains on the tenth of June. On the twenty-eighth of June 880 grains were counted, after which date they decreased until the first of Au- gust, when they had completely disap- peared. Bright, sunny days brought large quantities of pollen, while rainy days decreased the amount. Passing showers ameliorated the individual symptoms, tho not a:ffecting the amount of pollen depos- ited upon the slide. Blackley also clearly showed that the mucous membranes of the nasal fossse were not affected by pollen in the atmosphere when twenty-five grains per diem only were deposited on his glass, while seventy-five grains in twenty-four hours would irritate in certain individuals. When 280 grains of pollen per day were deposited the direct action upon the mu- cous membrane of this quantity would result in complete vascular dilation. [104] ACCEPTED CAUSES Clinical observation has shown a paral- lel, but by no means a complete, analogy to the above phenomena in the action of cocain in different strengths of solution. Emanations from the rose and from rye have been shown to have caused coryza, occlusion of the nostrils, and sneezing for from six to eight hours. The sweet-scented vernal grass {AnthoxantJium odoratum), sweet-scented soft grass {Holcus odora- tus), meadow grass, meadow fox-tail, Indian corn, barley, wheat, oats, bean- flowers, lilies, elder trees in bloom, the goldenrod, hay, timothy, and clover, and others may be mentioned. In America the pollen of the Roman wormwood, ragweed, or hogweed {Ambrosia artemisice folia), is the most commonly referred to. It is very common in nearly all the States. It blossoms in August and September, the prevalent time of hay-fever. Wyman and [105] HAY-FEVER his son, who had fled to the White Moun- tains to avoid hay-fever, were immediately attacked when a package of the ragweed was opened there. The seashore, usually exempt, sometimes is not so, probably due to the presence there of the pollen of the Artemisia gallica, another kind of worm- wood. In England the AnthoxantJium odo- ratum, or ** sweet-scented vernal grass,\\\" seems especially causative. There must also be mentioned the common daisy {Bellis perennis) of England; also the rye-grass {Lolium perenne) and ** sweet- scented soft grass\\\" {Holcus odoratus). In Germany the rye-blossom is chiefly in- dicated as a cause. In Australia the Cape •weed pollen is regarded as most com- monly provocative. It covers the hills round about Adelaide to the height of some thousand feet or so. Most of the population of Adelaide is affected with [106] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever during the time of its blossom- ing, viz., in September. In India, where the malady occurs chiefly in February, it is the blossoms of the mango-tree {Mangi- fera indica) that are held responsible. J. C. Wilson holds that most subjects are not sensitive to emanations from hay, and points out that there are no distinctive bacteria to give rise to the aifection. Marsh, himself a sufferer, stated his be- lief in the pollen theory, conceiving hay- fever analogous to Rhus toxicodendron, or ivy-poisoning of the skin. There are two authentic cases which would impair the pollen theory, the well- known exemption of hay-fever subjects at sea being granted. One is mentioned by Walshe, in which a passenger retained his symptoms of hay-fever during a passage across the Atlantic. Abbotts Smith has re- ported the other, in which the disease came [107] HAY-FEVER on at sea nine miles from land. In this lat- ter case, unfurling the sails in which a large quantity of pollen had been folded may explain the occurrence. In the former instance the diagnosis was by no means certain and the presence of some other ir- ritant may have accounted for the dis- tress. Moreover, it is by no means impos- sible for pollen to be deposited on a ship even when miles away from land. In speaking of the distribution of pollen Dar- win tells of how the ground near St. Louis, in Missouri, has been so widely covered with pollen that it looked as if it had been sprinkled with sulfur. Pine forests, 400 miles south, were probably the place and distance from which it came. On March 16, 1883, in Philadelphia, ignorant people took for brimstone a shower of yellow pollen which had been blown from some distant pine forest. [108] ACCEPTED CAUSES After citing many of the various causa- tive pollens Holmes says that he is **not aware that any specialized action has been proved; all act (if at all) by mechanical irritation.'' He also shows the punctu- ality of flowering on the selfsame date yearly is an absurdity, depending, as the flowers do, upon the variations of the seasons. The date of the flowering of plants varies within certain limits, and he points out the mutability of the blossoming date, or, more rationally, its limited variation, and further adds that *'even as a mere ir- ritant, as pollen affects comparatively few, it must act upon a condition which is pre- existent, which is, therefore, independent of and predominates it, else would the cause, pollen, produce it universally.\\\" As already mentioned, it has been claimed, that a toxin generated from pol- [109] HAY-FEVER len by a fermentative process in an alka- line solution is the cause of hay-fever. 2. The PREDisposrcTG Causes \\\"While millions of people are exposed to the exciting causes of hay-fever, compara- tively few suffer from it, and that there is an underlying condition, predisposition, or idiosyncrasy, can hardly be doubted. Exactly what this is, or on what it depends, is unknown. Abbotts Smith, as early as 1865, spoke of a predisposition to attacks of hay-fever as one of the principal causes thereof. As Holmes has shown, there must be individual predisposition, since the ex- citing causes, if pollens, are everywhere. This predisposition or idiosyncrasy has generally suddenly developed without ap- parent reason. It has been argued that it is systematic or central, and that it is due to some local abnormality of the mucous [110 1 ACCEPTED CAUSES membrane, the capillaries, or the periph- ery of nerves. Once acquired, however, it is seldom lost, and it apparently increases with each successive year. The influence of race is seen in \\\\he fact that the English-speaking people are the principal sufferers. In India, Africa, and Australia it is mostly the English and Americans who are attacked. In America it occurs in nearly every State, altho much more infrequently in the South. In Can- ada hay-fever is rare, especially in the maritime provinces. Wyman relates a case — ^the only one reported — of hay-fever in an Indian child. Beard mentions that Dr. Jacobi, of New York, who practised much among the Germans, had never met with a case in that nationality ; and in the same city a similar observation was re- corded by Dr. Chaveau, a practitioner among the French. Sajous has called at- tiiia HAY-FEVER tention to a curious fact in this connec- tion — ^viz., that the principal sufferers, American and English, are excessive tea- drinking nations, and that this beverage may exert a depressing influence on nerve- centers. It would be interesting to have some information as to the existence of hay-fever in China and Japan, the tea- producing countries. John N. Mackenzie, in 1884, gives the first recorded instance of hay-fever in a negro, a male of thirty- five, tall, well-proportioned, and respect- able, the attack lasting from the second week in August to late in September. A sensitive spot was found on the left in- ferior turbinated bone, 1% inches within the nostril, which gave origin to a most in- tense paroxysm of asthma on simple con- tact with the probe. Reports of hay-fever have come from nearly every quarter of the civilized globe. [112] ACCEPTED CAUSES It is seldom seen in the far North, and is more frequent in the temperate than in the torrid zone. It is seen more often in urban than in rural districts. The disease is by far the most frequent in Great Britain and the United States. In Norway, Sweden, and Denmark it is seldom found, and it is scarcely ever seen among the natives of Eussia, Germany, France, Italy, or Spain. The English and Americans in India and Africa are the only ones who are affected by it. Macdonald, in 1893, said the Irish are certainly not exempt. In the north of Scotland it is very infrequent, while in the south of England the disease is more fre- quently found than in the north. In Aus- tralia and New Zealand it is occasionally found. Literature is strangely silent about South America, but this land is strange to us in many other ways. Pirrie gives an instance of an English officer in India suf- [113] HAY-FEVER fering there when vegetation was alto- gether different from the forms met with in England where his attacks had begun. As already noted, the complaint has made its appearance in two instances when its victims were at sea ; one, reported by Ab- botts Smith, after shaking out the sails when nine miles out at sea; and another, reported by Walshe, in which the patient suffered throughout a voyage across the Atlantic. A ** sufferer'' records that nu- merous portions of England, especially the highlands and the seacoast, and nearly all of Wales and Scotland are exempt from the disease. He also regards the upper side of the St. Lawrence River, most of the province of Ontario north of the Wel- land Canal to the Detroit River similarly exempt, and he states that the disease is wholly unknown to regions above the out- let to Lake Huron. [114] ACCEPTED CAUSES \\\"Wyman has considered the regions of America where hay-fever is especially prevalent. That portion of country east of the Mississippi Eiver and lying between the 35th and 45th parallels of latitude he regarded as the territory of prevalence. Canada and the Adirondack Mountains, the Appalachian range, and the elevated plateau throughout New York State he considered almost exempt from hay- fever. That portion of the United States west of the Mississippi Eiver he seemed to think, as did Beard also in his later inves- tigations, was free from the disease. Beard based his reasons upon the lack of vegeta- tion and the sparseness of the population. Bosworth regards as better reasons the rugged mode of life of the inhabitants and the consequent vigorous health of the fron- tier life. It is a curious observation, toOj that certain portions of the White Moun- [115] HAY-FEVER tains country, formerly regarded as in- variably free from hay-fever, of late years, probably owing to the extension of civili- zation and its vegetation to these regions, are no longer exempt from it. Southern climates, to a certain extent, are exempt from the disease. Wyman thought it did not prevail south of the 35th parallel of latitude, with the exception of certain districts in the neighborhood of Milledge- ville, Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, and Beaufort, North Carolina. There can be little doubt that the affection is less com- mon in Maryland, Virginia, in the border States, and in the far West; that it is rare in the extreme South and on the Pacific slope. The zone between the 35th and 45th parallels of latitude practically in- cludes the hay-fever district. Even in this section, localities, from their proximities to large bodies of water or to oceans, to [116] ACCEPTED CAUSES elevation or to absence of certain vege- tation, afford immunity. A '* sufferer\\\" states that on Lake Michigan hay-fever is absent above Lndington, while on the Mis- sissippi, in Wisconsin, it is present as far north as the Chippewa River, and in some seasons, in a mild form, it is seen in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is known to extend to the latitude of Memphis in the West, Knoxville centrally, and Cape Henry on the Atlantic. In 1896 W. W. Bulette stated that in certain sections of Colorado there is a variety of the affection known among laymen as blossom or cotton-wood fever, and very prevalent in regions where the cotton- wood tree abounds. The symptoms are practically identical with those of the autumnal variety of hay-fever, except that the throat and bronchial irritations are in- tensified, and the course of the attack is somewhat shorter. Symptoms occur about [117] HAY-FEVER the 12th of April and terminate in the latter part of May, and rarely last longer than July 1st. Beard's pamphlet was the first to show a radical departure from the pollen theory and to establish that the neurotic habit was an essential factor. He showed that sub- jects of hay-fever often acquired the af- fection or the tendency to it through in- heritance. The facts sustaining this view are of **a most overwhelming character.\\\" Wyman, himself a sufferer, records nu- merous cases in his own family through four generations. He proved the powerful influence of heredity in many of his cases. It even appears in childhood, he states, and quite generally in those of nervous diathesis. In Dr. MorelPs family there were six sufferers from hay-fever besides himself. In the family of Henry \\\"Ward Beecher there were two besides himself; [118] ACCEPTED CAUSES and Chief Justice Shaw's family contained seven. Bosworth says that eighteen of eighty cases disclosed direct heredity, while in thirty-nine there was either hay- fever or asthma in the family. Of the forty cases of Sajons % thirty-five per cent, had near relatives who presented clear his- tories of hay-fever, and forty-two per cent, had asthmatic relatives, while fifty-three per cent, of these cases presented a fam- ily history of either hay-fever or asth- ma. Morell Mackenzie has several times treated father and children for hay-fever at the same time. Prince relates that five members of the same family were hay- fever subjects. One daughter of thirty years suffered with June cold ever since she was five years of age, every year save 1887, 1888, and 1889. Her grandmother, mother, and two brothers suffered alike. The daughter, convinced that mental or 1 119 1 HAY-FEVP]R nervous influence affected her, in 1887 was treated by the **mind cure,\\\" and for three years subsequently was free from her symptoms. When the original mind curist was dead, in the fourth year, the symp- toms returned as badly as ever. Chris- tian Science influence was tried in vain. There can be little doubt that males are more afflicted than females. Of the early forms of the disease, however, females seem more susceptible than males. Of 433 cases cited by Phoebus, \\\"Wyman, and Beard, only 142, about one-third, were females. Of 506 cases gathered from several au- thors, 342 were males, 164 females. Morell Mackenzie met with 38 cases in males and 23 in females. Men are the more exposed to the exciting causes such as dust, heat, pollen, etc., altho females are the more neurotic. The proportion is about one fe- male to three males. [120] ACCEPTED CAUSES Only to some extent can age be said to affect the disorder. The liability to hay- fever In the great majority of cases ap- pears before the age of forty. The malady has been reported, however, as occurring for the first time in persons as old as sixty, and persons of seventy and upward have suffered. Of the cases of children who have been attacked the disease had manifested itself in the parents. It would have probably been regarded as a common cold, had not the parents been the subjects of the affection. Most all writers on this subject have ob- served that the disease attacks the better educated classes and those of fair social position. It is rarely met with among the laboring classes. This would seem to em- phasize the view that the disease is essen- tially a neurosis. From the notes of sixty- one cases of hay-fever in private practise, [121] HAY-FEVER and the sight of many others of which no record was kept, Morell Mackenzie found all the patients persons of some education, and recalled having seen none among his hospital patients. Of forty-eight cases of Blackley, all were educated, and Wyman made the same observation. Holmes has shown that the ignorant classes are not so likely to recognize the disease as a distinct affection, and apply for medical aid The fact that the rustic is much less sub- ject to this disease than the dweller in the city and town, shows the influence of the mode of life. Farmers and agriculturists, exposed, it would seem, far more to the ex- citing causes than others, are peculiarly less liable to suffer from it. Beard reports only seven such cases among 200. Morell Mackenzie states that it is impossible to tell whether the villager owes his exemp- tion to the maintenance of vigorous health £122] ACCEPTED CAUSES by an outdoor life, or to habitual exposure to the cause of the complaint. Holmes admirably points out that **a part of the mysterious origin must be set down to the indifference of the sufferers who, from year to year, have forgotten their periodical affection and failed to con- sult physicians.\\\" He says: ^*0f similar cause is the groundwork of the assertion that it affects only the wealthy. This is simply because with this class there is a higher intelligence and closer attention to ailments, and the fact that having once dis- cerned the actual condition, they, in many instances, take professional advice or go to a place of refuge, thus drawing notice to themselves, all of which things are denied to the lower (poorer) classes. It is said that there are some 200,000 sufferers in the United States, at least within the range of observation of the Hay-Fever Association, [123 J HAY-FEVER which, meeting annually at Bethlehem, N. H., may be held to represent the more stable and well-to-do. From my own ex- perience and observation I am convinced that there are many of our working peo- ple who suffer from this affection who do not even recognize the disease.\\\" Mer- chants, professional men, persons of sed- entary habits and brain-workers supply most of the victims. The disease is not so uncommon among hospital outpatients here and in England as formerly. Concerning the influence of the neurotic tendency, Beard pointed out, in 1876, two popular misconceptions of the nervous theory, first, that nervous susceptibility implies debility and emaciation, whereas the nervous temperament is consistent with great strength and power of endur- ance, especially when combined with the bilious and sanguine temperaments; and, [124] ACCEPTED CAUSES second, that the nervous theory dispenses entirely with the influence of exciting causes, as heat, pollen, etc. Beard con- cluded that the disease is a complex re- sultant of a nervous system especially sen- sitive in this direction and acted upon by the enervating influence of heat and by any one or several of a large number of vegetable and other irritants, and this view has the advantage over other theories in that it accounts for all the phenomena exhibited by the disease in this or in any other country. He believed that the trans- missibility of the disease from parents to children; the temperaments of the sub- jects; the capricious interchange of the early, the middle, and the later forms ; the periodicity and persistence of the attacks and their paroxysmal character ; the points of resemblance between the symptoms and those of ordinary asthma; the strange [125] HAY-FEVER idiosyncrasies of different individuals in relation to the different irritants ; the fact that it is a modern disease peculiar to civilization; the fact that it most abounds where functional nervous disorders are most frequent and is apparently on the in- crease pari passu with other nervous dis- eases; and, finally, the fact that it is best relieved by those remedies which act on the nervous system, — all these otherwise opposing and inconsistent phenomena are by this hypothesis fully harmonized. Prince remarks that altho a nervous orig- gin has been recognized by some, still no theory has been proposed to show the con- nection between the physical symptoms and the nervous processes nor the pathol- ogy of the nervous processes themselves. Vasomotor susceptibility has been viewed as indicating the neurotic tendency, and this may or may not be due to a central X 126 ] ACCEPTED CAUSES lesion. John N. Mackenzie regarded dis- ordered functional activity of the nerve- centers as the expression of the nervous origin. Again, a general neurosis dispos- ing to vasomotor disturbance of the sym- pathetic and the trigeminus nerves has been held responsible. Kinnear speaks of two forms, — one a hyperemia, and the other an anemia of the sympathetic gan- glion. Bosworth is inclined to think a peculiar lack of vasomotor control charac- terizes the neurotic manifestations. In asthma there is undoubted vasomotor pa- resis of the blood-vessels of the bronchial mucous membranes, while in hay-fever it is of the nasal mucous membranes. Solis-Cohen regards hay-fever as gen- erally a neurosis, primarily a vasomotor ataxia or idiosyncrasy. Another view is that it may be due to an organic alteration of the nerve-fibers terminating in the nasal 1 127 ] HAY-FEVER region and chiefly in three reflex areas. Again, that it may be due to functional activity or paresis of the governing (vaso- motor) centers, accompanied by hyperex- citability of the erectile (cavernous) tis- sues aroused by peripheral irritation. The phenomena of the cavernous nasal tissue, tho secondary to the centric condition, indicates a vasomotor disease. Hack and Robinson believe the morbid lesion is one of neurotic disposition with hyperesthetic condition of the olfactory and fifth pair of cranial nerves. Analogous to the neurotic habit is idio- syncrasy. Apparently the same under- standing as to what an idiosyncrasy is has underlain the use of this word by various writers who have advanced idiosyncrasy as a cause of hay-fever. Morell Mackenzie, in 1880, put it down as a predisposing cause, but does not say upon what the idiosyn- [128] ACCEPTED CAUSES crasy depends, whether upon some local abnormality, the capillaries, the nerve- centers, or the periphery of the nerves. In 1897 S. Solis-Cohen said idiosyncrasy is a real condition in hay-fever, and cited the idiosyncrasies to salicylic acid, quinin, ipecac, opium, etc., as similar to idiosyn- crasies that patients exhibit toward the different irritants capable of producing hay-fever. Using the word to express the fact that certain persons react differently from most of mankind to certain forms of irritation, it means something. It means that such persons are abnormal, altho the cause of the abnormality remains to be dis- cerned. Holmes, speaking of idiosyncrasy, would not say there is no such thing as idiosyncrasy, but as far as hay-fever went, he held that the disease was an actual one, the nature of which was not yet com- prehended. He remarks that it is quite [129] HAY-FEVER probable that uric acid would aggravate hay-fever as it would any other condition in the body; and that some think to have proved this by the use of salicylic acid, to which drug many persons have an idiosyn- crasy, thereby aggravating the condition in hay-fever by the elimination of uric acid. Dr. Samuel Ashhurst, in 1897, recorded his habit of regarding hay-fever of late j'-ears as a personal idiosyncrasy acted upon by some irritant, and observed that without this personal element it is diffi- cult to account altogether for the symp- toms and their peculiar periodicity. In 1882, Daly advanced the theory of the local disease as causative of hay-fever, and reported a case in which the patient recov- ered after the removal of a nasal polyp, which by continuous mechanical irritation had doubtless given rise to the condition imderlying. Examinations of the nares of 1130] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever patients have repeatedly failed to show any local disturbance other than general congestions. Daly's theory was subsequently accepted and supported by Hack and Eoe, who both affirmed that the influence of a morbid condition of the nasal mucous membranes favored the develop- ment of hay-fever. In 1883 Sajous and Herzog wrote important papers to prove the same facts. In 1884 J. N. Macken- zie demonstrated that ** there exists in the nose a well-defined sensitive area whose stimulation through a local patho- logic process, or through an extra irrita- tion, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its expression in a reflex act or in a series of reflected phenomena.\\\" He located this area at the posterior end of the inferior turbinated bones and corre- sponding portion of the septum. It has since been held by advocates of the local [131] HAY-FEVER theory, that diseases and abnormalities of the nose, such as a markedly deviated sep- tum, outgrowths from the septum, hyper- trophic rhinitis, enlargement of the in- ferior or middle turbinated bodies, mncons polypi, and marked turgescence of caver- nous tissue on the inferior turbinated body, were all provocative of hay-fever paroxysms. In 1884, Harrison Allen declared that the primary lesion was one of obstruction, temporary or permanent, in one or both nostrils, from one of various causes, at- tended by vascular dilatation. Bosworth likewise held that the existing morbid con- dition of the intranasal tissues must be one of an obstructive character, tending to pro- duce in itself vascular dilatation. Regard- ing nasal polypi, occasionally considered as active causes of hay-fever, Bosworth concludes that they are rather a result E 132 1 ACCEPTED CAUSES than a cause, since the great quantity of outponred serum makes the nasal mucous membrane sodden or water-soaked, and in this way myxomatous degeneration de- velops, eventually assuming the form of polypi. J. N. Mackenzie, however, examined the nares of many sufferers from hay-fever without finding any nasal lesion. Holmes noted an instance most carefully reported, in which, with cold snare and galvanocau- tery, all obstructions were removed, and areas rendered anesthetic so that a probe no longer excited reflex symptoms, yet the patient suffered from hay-fever with scarcely diminished intensity. He further observes that at least a degree of the con- dition might be the result and not the cause, the peripheral susceptibility being an outward expression of an inward state. In 1885, Thornwaldt, in Wiesbaden, in [133] HAY-FEVER his observations on nasal catarrh, assumed that nasopharyngeal disease might not only give rise to symptoms simulating nasal disease, but was likely the actively predisposing cause of asthma and hay- fever. Bosworth agreed with him as far as hay-fever is concerned. In 1893 Seth S. Bishop announced to the American Medical Association that *'an excess of uric acid in the blood causes hay- fever, or nervous catarrh.\\\" Uric acid in the blood in marked excess of the normal relation to urea, of about one to thirty- three, causes certain disturbances of a vas- cular and neurotic character. In health, five to eight grains of uric acid are se- creted every twenty-four hours. Haig claimed that an effect of an excess of uric acid is contraction of the arterioles and capillaries all over the body. He found that by diminishing the alkalinity of the [134] ACCEPTED CAUSES blood it was freed from uric acid, the arte- rioles were relaxed, and the headaches and mental depression were relieved. Cerebral anemia has appeared to obtain in hay- fever, and the attacks were relieved, Haig found, by such remedies as relieved anemia of the brain, e,g., amyl nitrite, coffee, and other cerebral stimulants. These views of Haig were concurred in by Thomas J. Mays, Murchison, Conklin, Ebstein, Quin- quaud, and others. Bishop, in 1894, re- marked that the blood in the morning is more alkaline than at any other time of the day, being, at about nine o'clock, at its greatest point of alkalinity, which would seem to account for those attacks of hay- fever which came on early in the morning, and which in some instances were as- cribed to the influence of light. He was of the opinion that not only an excess of uric acid in the system, but also an increased M35] HAY-FEVER formation thereof should be regarded in the treatment of hay-fever. Bishop also claimed that the uric-acid theory was not antagonistic to the essentially neurotic character of the disease. He also ad- vanced that the primary determining cause of the particular manifestations in this disease is an inherent, perhaps hereditary, susceptibility of the nervous system. In this way only can we account for the fact that the same subjective or objective ex- citing cause (uric acid or pollen) will pro- duce one train of distressing symptoms (nervous coryza) in one individual, and an entirely different one in another (asthma). This uric-acid h3rpothesis explains why some persons suffer from attacks under certain conditions in winter as well as dur- ing the warm months. It also unifies all the forms. Bishop says: \\\"The uric-acid theory of [136] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever is not antagonistic to the present status of medical opinion or surgical treat- ment, but, on the contrary, it explains questions that were inexplicable before. As a tumor or hypertrophied bone may give rise to convulsive seizures in epilepsy, and as its removal may be followed by re- lief when no other structural cause ex- ists, so in hay-fever, when new growths and other lesions of the nasal mucous membrane are present, the attack may be started by the accumulation and the sud- den setting free of uric acid. This pre- cipitates the paroxysm by its irritant ac- tion, which finds expression in the group of symptoms characteristic of hay-fever or asthma, instead of some one of the other allied diseases. The particular form of manifestation may be determined by the growth or the seat of irritation located in the nasal cavities. When this is the only de- [137] HAY-FEVER termining factor of the nature of the mor- bid symptoms, no other disease having re- sulted from the long-standing trouble, the removal of such a peripheral source of irritation may give relief from these symptoms, but it may not prevent the uricacidemia from switching off into other kindred lines of disturbances, if it be not corrected/ ' Capp, in advancing a new theory, in- clines to the uric-acid theory, and alludes to a certain spastic condition not men- tioned by other writers, which, altho slight in character, is general, rather than con- fined to limited areas, and in a large meas- ure accounts for many manifestations of the disease. A central nervous irritation is probably caused by the presence of a disturbing element in the blood, presum- ably products of imperfect metabolism not eliminated. This may originate nerve-cur- [138] ACCEPTED CAUSES renis with innumerable reflexes, which\\\", in the disturbed equilibrium of the system, are, in a measure, uncontrolled by the or- dinary inhibition. Holmes has very cleverly pointed out a fallacy in regard to the evidence advanced to substantiate the uric-acid theory. He states that some investigators by the use of salicylic acid and various acids to diminish the alkalinity of the blood, thus eliminating uric acid, have, thereby, ac- tually aggravated the condition in hay- fever, which aggravation has been thought due to excess of uric acid in the tissues, or increase in its production, instead of be- ing due to the idiosyncrasy to salicylic acid, etc. In 1897, Grayson stated that even if we grant that a certain number of hay-fever patients are unquestionably people of a neurotic temperament, while others are [139] HAY-FEVER gouty, can not we profitably look beneatH these titles and recognize the fact that they are dyscrasies, which are merely different offshoots from a parent weed that is rooted in defective nutrition! By defec- tive nutrition is meant all the phenomena of metabolism, — constructive, destructive, and eliminative. Disturbance of one means disturbance of all. With continued ab- sorption of toxic materials from the intes- tinal tube, or with persistent incomplete elimination of the products of suboxida- tion, it is only a question of time when au- totoxemia will provide us with any of the functional neuroses from hay-fever and asthma to chorea and epilepsy. Grayson says the neurotic habit may ex- ist, but it is not essential to the disease, but the nervous system is implicated as a vic- tim, not as a culprit. He claims that hay- fever is a defect, not of the nervous, but of [140] ACCEPTED CAUSES the nutritive system, because impairment of the digestive and nutritive processes is almost invariably the first downward step toward a general state of lowered vitality. At first gastric, it later involves the whole gastro-intestinal tract. He thinks uric acid is almost invariably present in excess in hay-fever subjects. A child having reflex convulsions due to acute indigestion is not a neurotic subject, yet the vasomotor per- turbation of the hay-fever patient differs from that of the child mainly in point of chronicity. Grayson concludes that the three factors which make up the etiologic combination of hay-fever are : An external irritant, some intranasal abnormality, and a constitu- tional element — ' ' defective nutrition. ' ' The physician unaided can not restore the nose to a state of health. In order to over- come the self-indulgence of the patient, [1411 HAY-FEVER regularity is recommended in eating, work, and play, while indiscretions of diet, lack of exercise, objectionable fancies in mat- ters of clothing and bathing, and, finally, vicious excesses — alcoholic, narcotic, or sexual — will require the constant and most determined effort of the patient himself. The whole environment of the patient must be separately studied and provided for in the dietary scheme. A comment on this treatment is: *' While it is true that if a man takes care of his muscles his nerves will take care of themselves, there is no closing of the eyes to the fact that to the average man exercise is distasteful ; there- fore, it is the more necessary to be explicit in instructions concerning it. Altho there is nothing brilliant about this method of removing the constitutional factor of the disease, what it lacks in brilliancy is more than made up in certainty, and if the [142] ACCEPTED CAUSES patient is possest of grit and determina- tion it brings a snre reward.\\\" J. Miiller thinks there is a causal rela- tion between hay-fever and gastro-intes- tinal symptoms, but he also holds that it can be proved that pollen entering the respiratory tract is the cause of the dis- ease. A '* sufferer,\\\" writing on the dis- ease, says: '* Indigestion is a most potent cause in many instances, and proper food, properly digested and assimilated, has permanently relieved more than one. ' ' But he does not say he himself was relieved, nor does he give cases. It is questionable whether or not the di- gestive disturbances are not effects rather than causes of the disease. It is not at all doubtful, however, that lowered resistance and a depreciated vitality may result from difficulty in the gastro-intestinal tract. Such difficulty may suffice to start the chain of hay-fever s^onptoms. [143] PABT III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1 145 T PART III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1. Preventive Measures In the young we find preventive treat- ment giving the greatest rewards. This calls for careful attention to the general health of the growing child. The medical profession has done much to awaken an interest in preventive measures among parents, and in no way has the family phy- sician reduced infection more thoroughly than by insisting on a careful toilet of the nose and throat. In this way he has very frequently prevented many of the more serious diseases of the growing child. Per- sonal hygiene is as valuable as domiciliary hygiene, yet, if either is neglected disease is certain to continue. [147] HAY-FEVER The careful parent will insist upon fre- quent professional examinations of their children and at the first sign of discomfort have any abnormal condition corrected. It is not wise to wait until distress compels relief, and if hay-fever is an inheritance in a. family it is especially important. Chil- dren with enlarged tonsils and adenoids should have them removed not only to in- crease their mental poise but to secure their physical comfort, and also as a step in escaping hay-fever. Adenoids are fre- quently the cause of broken rest at night, with earache, a tendency to repeated bron- chitis ; this is seen more frequently during spring and fall. This condition may bring on change in voice and ofttimes a running nose. With enlarged tonsils we frequently encounter the unproductive cough. We may mention, while passing, that enlarged tonsils remaining after the tenth year [148] FOEMS OF -TREATMENT should be removed, as they are undoubt- edly hopelessly diseased. I am a firm be- liever that tonsils and adenoids should be removed early, for, in addition to this lo- cal discomfort they influence the mental health by rendering possible a more sys- temic depreciation of the child. The fron- tal sinus may become involved as well as the ethmoid. Young children are fre- quently found to suffer with deviated sep- tum and this contributes to the general dis- comfort. With the pressure of retained secretion polypi are not unusual. Ballinger has been imprest with the possible relationship of catarrhal sinusitis, particularly ethmoidal and frontal, to hay- fever. He has found surgical treatment of the sinusitis to be followed by relief of the hay-fever. The difficulty in the way of diagnosticating catarrhal sinusitis has been so great that it has been frequently un- [149] HAY-FEVER recognized. Hay-fever due to catarrhal sinusitis has been cured by Dr. P. M. Far- rington, of Memphis, by the use of auto- genous vaccine. Dr. Ballinger quotes the late Dr. Scha- dle, who called attention to the possibility of relationship between maxillary sinusitis and hay-fever. Whether or not such a re- lation exists, we must recognize the fact that the local hyperesthesia probably has an anatomical or inflammatory origin. The hypersensitiveness does not ''happen\\\" but has a definite cause. The hypothesis is still further supported by clinical facts — ^that some cases of hay-fever are cured by suc- cessful treatment of the sinusitis. Hered- ity may impress a neurotic temperament on the growing child with tendency to gout or rheumatism. This unstable condition of the nervous system is difficult to define, there may be an excess or decrease in the [150] FOEMS OP TREATMENT nervous energy. There may be a faulty metabolism whereby certain toxic sub- stances are liberated in the blood current. That hay-fever subjects are usually neu- rotic has been generally accepted. Why they are neurotic is a much mooted ques- tion, concerning which ingenious theories have been advanced, but none of which are convincing. Preventive treatment for hay-fever, therefore, must take in family history and family tendency in an endeavor to correct local, as well as constitutional faults. This intimate knowledge of family history gives the physician the insight to the constitu- tion of the child. Heredity may do much to balance or unbalance nervous energy, it may do more to handicap a child physi- cally, but I am of the opinion that environ- ment plays a most important role in the growing child. In childhood preventive [151 ] HAY-FEVER measures yield the best returns, and this is well illustrated in the development of hay- fever tendency, and it is wise that the masses have grown active to the needs of the young. As an important feature in preventive measures I can do no better than quote here the article of Dr. Scheppegrell, the president of the American Hay-Fever Pre- vention Association, on ** Hay-fever; Its Cause and Prevention.''^ *'From the standpoint of the number of patients affected, hay-fever ranks among the first of the non-fatal diseases. While accurate statistics regarding the number of patients are not available, a conserva- tive estimate has placed the number of persons in New Orleans affected with hay- fever at not less than 3,500, or one per * Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association for March 4, 1916. [152 1 FOEMS OF TREATMENT cent, of the total population. Hay-fever is prevalent in the greater portion of the United States, and the proportion in New Orleans is a fair average of its prevalence in other sections. The total number of those suffering from this disease, there- fore, is so large that the subject demands the most careful consideration. \\\"In spite of the greater increase in med- ical knowledge, many cases of hay-fever are still mistaken for ordinary colds. The symptoms described and their recurrence at certain periods of the year should sim- plify the diagnosis. In doubtful cases, this may be confirmed by testing the patient with a small amount of pollen. \\\"Some of the staminate flowers of the suspected plant are placed in a small sterile gauze-bag, and this gently sniffed by the patient. In susceptible subjects this is quickly followed by a slight reaction. The £ 153 3 HAY-FEVER patient may also be tested by approaching the suspected weeds so that some of the pollen is inhaled in this way. **In the majority of cases, however, these tests are unnecessary and should or- dinarily be avoided on account of the dan- ger of developing a latent pollinosis. The beginning and end of the attacks are usually found to be coincident with the pol- linating period of certain plants with wind-borne pollen, which, with the symp- toms described above, is sufficient to con- firm the diagnosis. **Some physicians still believe that hay- fever is a local manifestation of some con- stitutional condition, in spite of the fact that the majority of patients, with similar conditions, have no such manifestations, and that when the pollen is not present, as on a sea trip, they do not occur. Improved education in the etiology of this disease, [154] FORMS OF TREATMENT and more careful observation, will grad- ually correct this error. \\\"Even had therapeutic measures been more successful, prophylaxis, based on the removal of the exciting cause, should have been advocated as in malarial and typhoid fevers, tuberculosis and other diseases of known cause. Hay-fever, however, has been the step-child of preventive medicine, and until recently no organized efforts in this direction have been undertaken. **In view of the great and increasing number of hay-fever patients, their pro- longed distress, the unsuccessful results of all curative measures and the distinctive preventable character of the disease, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Associa- tion has undertaken a campaign of edu- cation, to be followed in due time by suitable legislation, for the prevention of hay-fever. [155] HAY-FEVER **In the educational part of this work, the first consideration is the correct diag- nosis of hay-fever and the acceptance of the fact that all cases of true hay-fever are the results of pollen inhalation. \\\"The identification of the various weeds and plants that may develop hay-fever is of the utmost importance, but will grad- ually follow the establishing of the etiol- ogy of pollinosis. As these principles become better understood, the physician, when consulted by a patient with hay- fever, instead of limiting his attention to writing a prescription or injecting a vac- cine, will investigate the presence of hay- fever-producing weeds in the neighbor- hood of the patient's residence or vocation. In many cases the eradication or even the cutting of such weeds produces immediate results. \\\"In one of my patients, the offending tl56] FORMS OF TREATMENT weed, Ambrosia artemisice folia [rag- weed] was growing in his garden. In an- other, a school-teacher, a:ffected with hay- fever for many years, on being questioned stated that there was an abundance of flowering weeds in the vacant lots adjoin- ing her house. When specimens of these weeds were produced they were found to be the PartJienium hysteropJiorus, one of the causes of hay-fever in South Louisiana. In both of these cases marked relief soon followed the cutting of these weeds. In order to obtain complete relief in such cases, however, the cutting of the weeds should be over a considerable adjoining area, as the pollen is wind-borne to a distance depending on the velocity of the wind. \\\"While the removal of the offending weed is the correct measure, relief may also be obtained, when this is impractica- [157] HAY-FEVER ble, by avoiding the proximity of weeds known to be toxic to the patients. In many cases this is entirely practicable, as shown in the following case in which the attack was postponed for thirty-three days: *^E. G., manager of a sugar plantation near New Orleans, has been a sufferer from hay-fever for the past ten years, the attacks always commencing about August 25th. After the influence of the ragweed to this form of hay-fever had been ex- plained to him, he concluded that his at- tacks were due to the pollen of the trifida ragweed which grows on a road some dis- tance from his residence. He, therefore, avoided the road, and until September 28th, for the first time in ten years, he had had no attack. On this date he found it necessary to pass this road. In twenty minutes he commenced to sneeze, that night he had a violent attack, and the fol- r 158] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT lowing day he had his usual annual hay- fever. **The treatment of cases by the eradica- tion of the hay-fever-producing weeds will not only produce direct results, but will also prove a powerful impetus in educa- ting the public in the relationship of such weeds to hay-fever. It will result, more- over, in having these weeds considered from a new point of view. Instead of sim- ply indicating neglect or careless cultiva- tion, they will be looked on as a source of disease and discomfort to a large class of sufferers. This will not only bring the leverage of public opinion to the eradica- tion of these weeds, but will eventually simplify the question of legislation. \\\"In connection with the question of pub- lic education, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association has received a communication from Dr. Eupert Blue, sur- [159] HAY-FEVER geon-general of the United States Public Health Service, and one of the honorary vice-presidents of our association, in which he summarizes this in a very concise manner : ** 'It appears that the most practical method of securing the cooperation of the public would be by education as to the ef- fect of the presence of these weeds in com- munities from both health and economic standpoints. This seems to be the pri- mary object of your association, which is to be commended for its efforts.' ''Some of the early forms of hay-fever are due to the pollen of the Oraminacem or grasses, which include the cultivated varieties, such as rye, wheat, corn, etc. These form a common cause of hay-fever in England and the Continent, where the autunmal form due to the ragweed is not found, owing to the absence of the weed. [160] FOEMS OF TREATMENT *^ While this is of much less frequency than the fall hay-fever in the United States, it represents in the aggregate a considerable number. When these cases are due to the cultivated varieties, the knowledge of this fact should induce the patient, whenever possible, to live away from such cultivated fields or at least to avoid them during the active season of pol- lination. Only in those cases in which the removal of the offending plant is impossi- ble will the question of treatment be given preference over prevention. \\\"As the autumnal hay-fever is the most prevalent form in the United States, and, in the majority of cases, is due to rag- weed, the American Hay-Fever Preven- tion Association has given its first atten- tion to the eradication of this weed. The description and illustration of both varie- ties {Ambrosia artemisicefolia and trifida) X 161 J HAY-FEVER have been sent to the State boards of health of each State and of the District of Columbia. Many of these have published the cuts and descriptions, and a number have sent them to the newspapers of their State for publication. **The United States Department of Ag- riculture has assisted and is furnishing valuable information for this work. Ar- rangements have been made with the Hy- gienic Laboratory of the Public Health Service at Washington to make investiga- tions on the hay-fever pollens submitted by our research department. Encourage- ment or promise of active cooperation has been offered by the majority of the State boards of health, these being as follows: Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, In- diana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ne- [162] FORMS OF TREATMENT vada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Vir- ginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. **The common ragweed {Ambrosia arte- misicefolia) , while found in great abun- dance, presents no special difficulty in eradication, as it is an annual and repro- duced only by seed. In carefully cultivated lands it is not found in appreciable quan- tities. Where the land is not cultivated this weed may be entirely kept down by grazing cattle. When, however, it has been neglected, the weed should be mowed be- fore the latter part of August, in order to prevent pollination. *^The giant ragweed {Ambrosia tripida), which grows in similar abundance in the moist lands of the coast, presents a more difficult problem, as the roots are peren- nial. Until this weed is two feet in height [163] HAY-FEVER cattle will feed on it with avidity, which will probably prove useful in destroying it. In carefully cultivated lands it is rarely found. The question of the best scientific method of eradication of both the rag- weeds has been referred to the United States Department of Agriculture, and the results of this investigation will be re- ported later. ^*With a view of showing what can be accomplished by organized efforts in the prevention of hay-fever, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association has concentrated its first efforts in New Orleans in the following manner: ''The public was first educated regard- ing the ragweeds, so that they could be easily recognized. Illustrations of the weeds were published in the Bulletin of the State Medical Board of Health and the public press, and the live weeds, in full de- £164 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT % velopment, were exhibited in a show-win- dow of the principal street. **The city of New Orleans, through' the commissioner of public works, placed at the disposal of the association twenty con- victs, who cleared the streets and side- walks of the outer sections of the city of the weeds, in accordance with a map pre- pared by the topographic committee of the association, showing the areas infect- ed with ragweed. The city board of health assisted by enforcing the cutting of weeds in vacant lots and the commission- ers of the various parks had the ragweed destroyed in the public parks under the direction of the association. ''Valuable assistance was given by the Women's Civic League, which appointed a special committee on vacant lots. This committee made arrangements with labor bureaus so that it not only reported lots [165] HAY-FEVEE infected with weeds but offered to send workmen to cut them at low rates. **The storm of September 29 destroyed practically all the leaves and flowers of the remaining giant ragweed in exposed places. As a result of this, and the efforts of the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association, fall hay-fever practically dis- appeared in New Orleans several weeks earlier than the usual time. This cam- paign will be resumed next spring, when its management will be placed in the hands of the State Hay-Fever Association. **The American Hay-Fever Prevention Association believes that what has been effected in New Orleans can be done in all towns and cities. In some of the smaller towns, especially those catering to summer visitors, this could be accomplished before next summer. The statement that a town is free of hay-fever will prove an advertise- [ 166 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT ment that will easily repay the cost of de- stroying the hay-fever-producing weeds/' 2. Local Treatment by Nasal Applications Local treatment of hay-fever has been viewed with diverse opinions by every writer on the subject. Many good authori- ties condemn all internasal treatment as useless and irritating, while others strongly advocate its value. It needs no argument to show the value of nasal and throat ap- plications of antiseptic nature in the early stages of influenza or any other neutral catarrhal irritation of the eye, nose or throat. Indeed many household epidemics have been shortened or aborted by the careful attention to these parts. I am not alone in the statement that severe house- hold epidemics have been deprived of their danger by careful cleansing of the nasal [167] HAY-FEVER mucous membrane before the infection be- came systemic. Indeed this is the routine treatment in every well-regulated family where children are found, especially dur- ing winter and spring, and in the early fall. It is much more important that this should be carefully observed if the neigh- borhood is infested with an epidemic of catarrhal colds. The repeated infection of some families and the escape of others is not so much in the vital resistance of the several members, but the neglect in the individual of personal hygiene. This is true of all diseases, as well as of hay- fever. It is true that children, and young people in general, are more likely to con- tract catarrhal colds if they are burdened with adenoids or hypertrophied tonsils — diseased by repeated former attacks. I believe that the acute infectious diseases, particularly in children, may be lessened [168] FORMS OF TREATMENT by most thorough and repeated steriliza- tion of the nasopharynx, and just as house epidemics are never excusable evils so I claim the same to be eventually true of hay-fever. The important result to be obtained through local treatment is the prevention of the paroxysms, and, ultimately, the re- moval of the recurring habit periods. The destruction, if possible, of the recurring habit. Years ago I was led to treat my hay-fever patients by cleansing the naso- pharynx with an atomizer containing a warm solution of boric acid (ten grains to an ounce of water) or Dobell's solution, after which I carefully wiped the mucous membrane and applied menthol and cam- phor and liquid cosmoline freely to the parts. This procedure afforded consider- able temporary relief in a large number of eases when there was present simply [169 3 HAY-FEVER turgescence of the whole naso-pharynx. IJ. Sodium bicarbonate, Sodium borate aa 5 iss Carbolic acid 5 j- Glycerin 5ij. Rose water (25 per cent.) q. s. O j. SiQ. — ^Teaspoonful to one ounce of warm water. This I thoroughly use in both nostrils, first by means of an atomizer, after which, with a curved applicator or cotton-carrier, I very carefully swab the whole naso- pharynx. I scrub most carefully and 'gently every portion of the mucous mem- brane, being sure to reach between the tur- binated bones and all around and over every slight prominence. I then as care- fully dry the membrane with clean cotton, and use freely a mild solution of menthol and camphor in albolin, in proportion as follows : I^. Menthol gr. v. Pulverized camphor gr. v. Albolin Jij. [170] FORMS OF TREATMENT I loosely plug the nose for a few minutes to retain the oily application. It is impor- tant to sterilize most thoroughly the sen- sitive areas of the nose, as we are unable to determine whether one or more may be affected, and by this mild yet thorough treatment we cleanse effectually the whole nasal chamber. This treatment was so extremely simple that for a long time I doubted its real value, but as so many sufferers have ex-' prest their relief, and were willing and anxious for me to continue the applica- tions, I have concluded to offer my methods in full confidence of their usefulness, with a warning that for successful treatment the instructions for cleansing and scrub- bing must be followed in careful detail. Good results need not be expected by simple irrigation and swabbing — the whole nasal mucous membrane must be tJior- [171] HAY-FEVER ougMy washed and gently scruhhed be- fore the oily applications are used. This internasal treatment should com- mence four weeks before the expected on- set of the paroxysm, and should be done daily, if possible. I have found many persons who will not tolerate the use of carbolic acid, even in so mild a solution as that given above, the weakest solution frequently causing a se- vere urticaria. When various idiosyncrasies to carbolic acid forbid its use, I select as the second best detergent hydrogen dioxid, and com- mence with the following mixture : I^. Hydrogen dioxid, Glycerin aa 5 ss. Distilled water q. s. 5iv. With this I spray the nose most thor- oughly, following it up with plain warm normal salt to remove the accumulation of [172] FORMS OF TREATMENT foam thiat will necessarily collect in the nasal spaces. A few days, or better, one week, prior to the date of the onset, I in- crease the strength of the hydrogen-dioxid solution, using something like the follow- ing: IJ. Hydrogen dioxid gij. Glycerin, Distilled water aa Sij* This must be removed also by means of the normal salt, as already mentioned. In a number of cases I have found glycerin objectionable as a vehicle, producing an irritation of much annoyance. In such cases I omit the glycerin and substitute normal salt. In a few cases the hydrogen dioxid produced an inflammation of the mucous membrane that would require its dilution. We find many personal idiosyn- crasies in a large number of hay-fever suf- ferers that one might go on indefinitely [173] HAY-FEVER with modifications of treatment, but, as in general practise, it is our aim to treat the individual primarily, and we can not dog- matically hold fast to any special drugs or formula. In the few obstinate cases in which ster- ilization seems to provoke trouble, and the slightest manipulations of the nose and throat precipitate violent paroxysms, I use on the nasal mucous membrane the follow- ing powder : !^. Morphin. sulf gr. ij. Boracic acid 5ss. Powdered camphor gr. x. Powdered starch 5iv. SiG. — ^To be used as a snuff frequently. If patients object to the use of the snuff, and occasionally we will find some who will do so for cosmetic reasons, I prescribe the following, to be taken internally: IJ. Tablet Suprarenal Ex gr. v. SiQ. — One every three or four hours. [174] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT Many physicians claim that relief can not be afforded to hay-fever patients with- out using cocain or eucain at some time during the management of troublesome cases. It is very exceptionally that I re- sort to either; possibly an unusual case will require one or more applications to control a local storm, yet the majority of patients never receive cocain from my hand. In severe cases that came under my care after the disease had been well established, when I had no chance to conduct a prelim- inary course of benumbing, I have been forced to prescribe something like the fol- lowing: Menthol gr. viij. Boric acid gr. xxx. Albolin 5ij. Solution of Eucain \\\"B\\\" (4 per cent.) . 5ij. This is applied carefully and thoroughly on cotton applicators to the mucous mem- [ 175 ] HAT-FEVER brane of the naso-pharynx. It may con- trol the attacks, and it frequently aborts them and keeps the patient decidedly com- fortable. I have found the direct appli- cation of the remedy more satisfactory than the atomizer. In some cases, for a few days, this application must be made two or three times daily. H. L. Swain recommends the local use of the aqueous extract of the suprarenal glands in certain chronic conditions of the hay-fever type, as a powerful local vaso- constrictor and contractor of erectile tis- sue. The local effect can apparently be obtained any number of times without en- tailing a vicious habit, such as might re- sult from cocain. Ingals and Ohls report that they have obtained much relief in these cases by the use of an extract of suprarenal capsule prepared as follows: Adrenals (Armour's), gj; boric acid, gr. [ 176 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT xvj; cinnamon water, 5iv; hot camphor water, §j; hot distilled water, enough to make gij. Mix, macerate for four hours, and filter. This solution remains stable for several weeks. It is used as a spray four or five times a day. I have not had occasion to resort to the local application of this substance, but I have had one pa- tient who was distinctly benefited by in- ternal administration in doses of gr. 14 to gr. j, as often as four times a day. He was a catarrhal young man of neurotic tem- perament, who came to me during the first week of his attack, and who objected to the usual routine sterilization of the naso- pharynx.^ The formula: Adrenal chlorid 5 ij* Normal salt sol q. s. 5 j. is more elegant and convenient. * Personally the use of the suprarenal extract ha» been of little value owing to the violent sneezing provoked. [177] HAY-FEVER 3. As TO Diet, Exercise and Rest In old cases, when the nerve-habit has long been formed, treatment should com- mence at least two or, better, three weeks before the anticipated recurrence of the paroxysms. All bodily irregularities must be corrected and tendencies to constipation or dyspepsia removed. Amylaceous indi- gestion should be corrected by the exclu- sion from the dietary of too starchy foods. For the elimination of excessive uric acid, or other waste products, and to relieve constipation, the systematic administra- tion, morning and night, of sodium phos- phate is invaluable. If the appetite is not good, the regular use of the tincture of nux vomica, ten to twenty drops three times a day, is strongly indicated. In anemic cases pills of carbonate of iron or, probably still better, the pills of valerian- ate of quinin, iron, and zinc are necessary. [178] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT In nervous cases with anemia, valerianate of zinc, one grain with two grains of the compound asafetida pill, two or three times a day (after Morell Mackenzie), will be found valuable. Careful diet, a tran- quil mmd, and moderate exercise are es- sential. Outdoor exercise, with a daily tepid bath followed by vigorous friction of the whole body, will help to eliminate waste material. The patient should not unneces- sarily expose himself to direct rays of the sun, as they are calculated to excite intense reflex irritation of the sensitive nerve cen- ters. Much trouble may be averted by the use of a sunshade or umbrella and by the avoidance of exercise in the sun. It must be understood that with the gen- eral hygienic and constitutional treatment the course of local prophylaxis by daily sterilization is most necessary. The treatment of neurasthenic cases, or [179] HAY-FEVER those in which a decided derangement of the general system as well as of the ner- vous energy exists prior to the attack, re- quires the greatest tact and skill. If there is little local catarrhal disturbance there will be great difficulty in combating the disease in the face of the deprest vitality and lessened nervous resistance. In such cases I place the patients upon a diet, somewhat like that in the appended list, and urge strict adherence to it. After ob- taining careful urinary analysis and other clinical data, I often further specialize in the diet, or I may increase the variety ac- cording to the needs of the individual. In these cases I always urge the drinking of large quantities of water, unless there is some strong contraindication. Neuras- thenics mil often avoid water between meals. I at once order systematic mas- sage. If the patient does not care for a [180] FORMS OF TREATMENT masseur, I order a daily tepid bath of a temperature between 80\\\"^ and 85° F., with a coarse towel rubbing, followed by a douche of cold water along the spine. This should be continued for at least two weeks prior to the onset of the paroxysms. Rest for the overtaxed function is im- peratively demanded. Unfortunately, this is easier prescribed than carried out. In wealthy patients the Weir-Mitchell rest- cure often gives brilliant results. In other cases a change of scene and a temporary rest from business or society may be ac- cepted when the sanitarium would be out of the question. Quiet resorts on the sea- coast or in the mountains are desirable. Nothing is better than two or three weeks on the ocean. A compromise may be ob- tained by having the patient give up a por- tion of the daily duties and go to bed earlier at night. The patients should not [181] HAY-FEVER be allowed to discuss their ailments too freely. Horseback riding, bicycling, row- ing, and walking — in fact, any outdoor di- version not too violent — are to be recom- mended. If the patient suffers from insomnia, careful administration of a hypnotic may help to reestablish the sleep-habit. At first give a warm bath, and a glass of warm milk or malted milk before retiring. If this and other similar measures do not avail, five grains of Veronal capsule may be given one hour before going to bed. If the patient is accustomed to wake after a short sleep, the Veronal should be given at bedtime. Full amounts of sleep are necessary to neurasthenics. Depressants, such as the bromids, chloral, and the opi- ates should be avoided. Any coexistent gastric or cardiac trouble must be care- fully treated, and the bowels kept open regularly. [182] FOEMS OF TREATMENT The diet that I find most desirable to follow, generally speaking, is that which is applicable to the gouty or uric acid diathesis. General Rules, — The diet should be lib- eral, but not stimulating, with moderation in animal foods, and very little of foods having a tendency to produce acids in the system, such as starches, sugars, fats, and fermented liquors. Patients may take soups — clear or vegetable — and weak beef- tea or broths. FisJi, — Fresh fish and raw oysters. Meats, — To be taken once a day only — mutton, chicken, underdone roast, sweet- bread. Eggs, — Moderation. White of eggs, raw, or shirred in drinks, such as lemon- ade, occasionally. Farinaceous, — In small quantities. Toast, stale bread, bread from whole [ 183 ] HAY-FEVER wheat, rye bread, milk-toast, rice, crackers. Vegetables. — Fresh, green varieties preferable; celery, lettuce, watercress, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, salads, spar- ingly of baked potatoes, young peas, string beans, and spinach. Desserts. — Oranges, lemons, apples, apricots, pears, peaches, cherries, blanc- mange (not after meals, however), stewed fruit. Beverages, — Water, plentifully, espe- cially before meals ; plain soda, milk, but- termilk, weak tea or coffee (without su- gar), toast-Avater, lemonade. Mineral waters, such as Saratoga Vichy, Berkely (Hot Springs), Lithia Water, Carlsbad, and Crab Orchard. Stimulants. — Light Hock; Bordeaux in small quantities and well diluted. Articles Forbidden. — Patients must avoid rich soups, hard-boiled eggs, fried [184] FORMS OF TREATMENT and made dishes of all kinds, entrees, pickles, spices, veal, pork, duck, goose, sal- mon, lobster, crab; preserved, dried, and salted meats; salt fish, pickled pork, as- paragus, old peas, beans, tomatoes, mush- rooms, truffles, dried fruit, preserves, pies, pastry, rich puddings, patties, new bread, cheese, sweets, malts, sweet wines, straw- berries, rhubarb, cider, fermented drinks, beer. 4. Whek Asthma Occurs as a Sequel About five to ten per cent, of my whole number of hay-fever patients have suf- fered more or less from asthma. Asthma, as a sequel in these cases, manifests itself about the end of one week or ten days after the expected paroxysms of hay-fever, and is induced usually by some undue exposure or a damp or rainy day. My asthmatic patients, I find, were among those irregu- [185] HAY-FEVER lar in treatment, or those who had first called late in the disease. In these cases much mucus had accumulated in the lar- ger tubes. If I can not clear the bronchial tubes by an emetic dose of ipecac, I pre- scribe somewhat as follows: Potassium iodid gss Ammonium muriate 5ss Sirup of Yerba Santa 5 j. A teaspoonful administered every two hours generally brings relief. A number of asthmatic patients require a solution of nitroglycerin, one per cent. Of this, one drop every two hours for two or three days is given. Occasionally it seems im- perative to give morphin. Some of my asthmatics have informed me that they can bring about immediate relief by plunging both hands in hot water and taking a drink of whiskey, followed by a large draft of hot water. It is possible for some persons 1186] FOEMS OF TREATMENT to voluntarily combat their asthmatic at- tacks, and for this reason they should be encouraged to practise certain breathing exercises until they can in a measure con- trol their respiratory apparatus. Asth- matics usually have, however, a preexist- ent catarrhal state of the bronchial tubes, which exhibit marked vasomotor changes on slight irritation. If I see these patients early, I prescribe five-minim capsules of the oil of sandalwood four times a day, or the compound salol capsule, and by the time their period arrives, the bronchitis is fairly well cleared up. The inhalation of the fumes of burning niter-paper or specially prepared powders, or of cigarets, gives relief in many cases. The powders used at the Brompton Hos- pital by Sidney Martin contain one part each of anise and niter, two parts of stra- monium leaves, and five grains of tobacco [187] HAY-FEVER to the ounce ; one teaspoonful is to be burnt on a plate and the fumes inhaled. A pill containing i/4 of a grain of morphin, with 1/200 of a grain of atropin sulfate, given at bedtime, is sometimes useful in connec- tion with the inhalations. Extract of stra- monium (1-16 of a grain) may be substi- tuted for the atropin. S. Solis-Cohen has used successfully the following formula : IJ. Morphin sulf gr. I—J. Strychnin sulf gr- i-rir* Hyoscin hydrobrom . . . . gr. yIh- M. SiG. — Give hypodennically at bedtime. The following may be administered at night : !^. Camphor gr. ss Dover's powder gr. vj. Make four capsules. SiG. — ^Take one on retiring. Van Sweringen calls attention to a line of treatment in a very obstinate case of [188] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT bronchial asthma that was attended by re- markable results. The attack had lasted for two weeks, during which time all the antispasmodics had in turn been ex- hausted, and the patient had secured but a period of two hours' freedom at any one time. Finally, based on the theory that if asthma was a reflex it must be under the control of Setschenow's inhibitory center, and that anything that would stimulate the inhibitory center would lessen the reflex- spasm, quinin and strychnin were given, with excellent results. The dose of the quinin was seven grains. The extract of nux vomica was given in %-grain doses, and to this was added % of a grain of co- dein sulfate. In the interval the iodids were continued. However, the use of sedatives and in- halations must be limited, especially in the milder and uncomplicated forms of asth- [1S9 1 HAY-FEVER ma, while efforts to benefit the patient ^s general condition are strongly indicated. Diet is an important part of the treatment of many cases. Not all cases of asthma are due to uricacidemia, but nearly all cases are benefited by attention to the diet and elimination of excess uric acid. Of remedies that may be continuously administered to patients who have fre- quently recurring attacks, two are most constantly used — namely, iodid of potas- sium and arsenic. The iodid may be most conveniently given with stramonium, as in the mixture devised by Martin, which con- sists of ^ of a grain of extract of stramo- nium, two grains of extract of licorice, three grains of iodid of potassium, and five minims of chloric ether. This mixture may be given two or three times daily in cases of asthma. It possesses two disadvan- tages, however. The stramonium leads, in [190] FORMS OF TREATMENT some cases, to paralysis of accommoda- tion, but by diminishing the dose, the pa- tient soon ceases to experience discom- fort from the remedy. If given alone, the iodid must be administered in five-grain doses two or three times daily, the medicine being discontinued from time to time. Ar- senic by itself, in doses of three minims of the liquor arsenicalis, is a useful remedy for continuous administration in asthma, and it may be combined with potassium iodid (three to five grains) in a mixture. Hydrotherapeutic treatment is of use in some cases of asthma. The patient should be accustomed to gradually colder baths of short duration with douches. 5. The Use of Serums — Dunbar's Serum The wide recognition of the serum treat- ment of hay-fever by Dunbar, of Ham- [1911 HAY-FEVER burg, Germany, requires me to quote sufl&- cient of his writings that my readers may appreciate the value as well as the limita- tions of his work. To very briefly sum- marize: Dunbar has prepared hay-fever antitoxin by inoculation of horses with the toxins derived from the albuminoid body found in the starch particles of the pollen. The serum obtained from the horse is dispensed either in a liquid or dry form, and is designed to be applied to the mucous membrane of the nose and the eye when required. His serum has been named PoUantin, and two forms are on the market, one pre- pared from rye pollen, especially used for spring and summer hay-fever, or ** rose- cold,'' and the other, prepared from rag- weed pollen, designed as a remedy for hay- fever occurring in the late summer and fall. Dunbar thinks that hay-fever is the [192] FORMS OF TREATMENT result of a specific poison found in pollens and is an albuminoid body — and his anti- toxin is intended to inhibit, or immunize patients against the pollen toxins if used previous to the hay-fever season. Its use is also to palliate the symptoms in cases where the disorder has already made its appearance. Pollantin produces a sensa- tion of relief and cool comfort when ap- plied to the inflamed mucous membrane of the nose or eye. This comfort remains for some time, but the relief is variable. In 1902, Prof, W. P. Dunbar published,^ as an appendix to a presentation of the history of our knowledge of hay-fever, the opinion, based on experiment, that hay- fever is a disease caused by a poison de- rived from plants. These toxic substances are found in the dust of the blossoms of *Zur Ursache u. spezif. Heilung d. Heufiebers. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munchen, 1903. [193 HAY-FEVER certain plants. They are present in tlie albumin of the pollen and are septic in nature. According to this theory, it would be possible, by means of the isolated toxic albumin of the pollen, to determine whether or not a given disease was hay- fever. It was also hinted, and in a publication that shortly followed,^ positively asserted, that it was possible to produce a specific anti- toxin by inoculating animals, e,g., rabbits or horses, with the albumin of the pollen. It was possible with this antitoxin to neu- tralize the poison of the pollen in vitro so that the latter would no longer cause symptoms in hay-fever patients. It was also claimed that symptoms that had al- ready set in could be overcome by the use of the specific antitoxin. By means of this timely use of the anti- * Zur Frage betreffend d. Aetiologie u. spezif. Therapie d. Heufiebers. Berl. klin. Woch., 1903, No. 24—26. [194] FOEMS OF TREATMENT toxin the outbreak of the hay-fever symp- toms should be prevented. As a result of further investigation he was later able to prove definitely^ that by the proper use of the antitoxin it would be possible to rid patients of their disposition to hay-fever, and to immunize them so they could dis- pense with the use of the antitoxin or any other therapeutic agent without having to fear further attacks. Th. Albrecht, the secretary of the Ger- man Hay-Fever Association, designated the appearance of my first article as a turning-point in the history of hay-fever. Other colleagues viewed the results of Professor Dunbar's comprehensive work with less favor. There were indeed those who claimed that he had added nothing new to the subject. The opinions ex- * Zur Ursache u. spezif. Heilung d. Heufiebers II, Deutseh. med Woch., 1911, No. 13. [195] HAY-FEVER prest by the laity were also widely dif- ferent in character. Some were unable to express their thanks in terms sufficiently strong, others claimed that the specific treatment suggested by him was absolutely worthless. An American correspondent wrote to him: \\\"Your stuff is not worth a tinker's dam.\\\" In the face of such diver- gent opinions it seems worth while to cast a glance backward over the decade that has passed, to determine what assertions were right and what opinions were incor- rect. \\\"Whether we are right in looking upon hay-fever as a product of our modern cul- ture, appeared to Professor Dunbar to- day, even more than it did ten years ago, an open question. In the last ten years there has been much published concerning hay-fever, not only in the leading journals, but also in the lay journals. [196] FOEMS OF TREATMENT In so far as the latter deals with his work, they had not had his cooperation, nor had they consulted his wishes. There are to^ay many hay-fever patients who are absolutely in the dark as to the nature of their disease. Even in Hamburg, after a scientific exhibition at which his hay- fever material was shown, many adults came to him with the request that he should determine whether or not they had hay-fever. He was even more surprized to learn that there are to-day physicians who either deny the existence of hay-fever or know nothing about it. In view of this obtuseness it seemed to him very bold to say that two hundred and fifty years ago there was no hay-fever, simply because we have no authentic and convincing records from that time. The disease may have been very widespread then. There was missing perhaps only the man to notice the [197] HAY-FEVEK periodicity of the disease, its dependence upon the seasons of the year, and to cor- rectly correlate the facts and draw proper conclusions. Until ten years before Dr. Dunbar says no one had been able to offer a clear and convincing explanation of the cause or nature of hay-fever. This is clear from a perusal of the literature up to that time. Dr. Dunbar, himself a sufferer from hay- fever, had the opportunity during many years to test the merits of the various hypotheses concerning the cause of the disease. He finally came to the conclusion that only the pollen theory could be right. In his monograph concerning hay-fever, which thus far I have given in his own lan- guage as above, he described the observa- tions which forced him to accept this ex- planation. For many years the attempt to definitely prove the theory met with an ob- [198] FORMS OF TREATMENT stacle which seemed insuperable, viz., the impossibility of getting pollen in a pure state. In view of the extremely simple method of doing this, this fact appeared to him to-day a remarkable one. He felt constrained to offer the following ex- planation : **Year after year I consulted with bot- anists as to the best method of getting pol- len in large quantities. Various methods were suggested to me, among others that of spreading large cloths over the mead- ows. I also sucked up into bottles large quantities of air in the attempt to get pol- len, and attempted many other things. None of these methods met with more than moderate success, until finally I hit upon the simple procedure of shaking blooming plants, for instance stocks of wheat, and catching the dust that was shaken out. I succeeded better later by taking the ears [ 199 ] HAY-FEVER shortly before they began to bloom and putting the stocks in water in a warm place. In this way I was soon able to gather pollen in large quantities, and, more important still, to isolate the pollen grains of different plants, free from all contaminations, including micro-organ- isms. ** After having obtained in this way the pollen of rye, wheat and ray-grass pollen {Lolium perenne), I could at once begin to attempt the settlement of important questions. A minimal amount of the plant dust when introduced into my conjunc- tival sac, or my nasal passage, caused in a very short time most pronounced hay-fever symptoms. The same experiment on my laboratory assistant, who did not have hay- fever, had no effect at all. Within a few days I extended the scope of my experi- ments so as to include two hay-fever pa- [ 200 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT tients, who happened to be working in our institution, as well as three other assist- ants who did not have hay-fever. The result was always the same. The hay-fever patients reacted just as I did. Those who had no hay-fever and served as controls were not at all affected by the introduction of the pollen. These experiments were repeated later on very many patients and people without hay-fever, invariably with the same results. **The next important point that sug- gested itself to me was to determine whether or not this toxin was active at other times of the year than during the hay-fever period. Formerly it had been urged against the pollen theory that with the same pollen which had been active dur- ing the hay-fever period, no results could be achieved at other times of the year. Thus, for instance. Sticker was of the [201] HAY-FEVER opinion that Woodward had proved that pollen was inactive except during the hay- fever period. He therefore was forced to come to the conclusion that for the pro- duction of an attack there was necessary the disposition on the part of the indi- vidual and the season of the year. The nature of the action of the season of the year was explained by some authors as a sort of an *'Unstimmung,\\\" a sort of spring revolution. This explanation appeared to me very doubtful, because of the fact that this process occurs in European patients in springtime ; in most American patients, however, in the fall. **My experiments on this subject re- sulted as follows: Pollen which had been carefully dried soon after gathering was active later at any time of the year. Pollen, however, which I enclosed in bot- tles in its fresh condition underwent cer- [202] FOKMS OF TREATMENT tain changes, characterized especially by the formation of a liqnid. '* Pollen which had been spoiled in this way proved later to be inactive. I might add here that these observations explained the occurrence of sporadic cases of hay- fever in the winter time. Pollen which has found its way into a dry room can remain active until the winter season — indeed, for many years, as I have shown. One blossom which has remained for eleven years in the herbarium retained an undiminished ac- tivity. Pollen which, on the other hand, falls to the ground in the open air, is de- stroyed by the first following rain. The fact that the pollen is carried down out of the air by the rain clearly explains further the remissions on certain days which had hitherto been so difficult to understand. By means of the isolated pollen I had then met those requirements in my attempts at [203] HAY-FEVER an etiologic explanation which I myself have considered necessary. The suspected agent, free from all impurities, when ap- plied to a hay-fever patient, must produce hay-fever invariably, regardless of the season of the year. The same agent ap- plied to a normal person must have no effect. These requirements had, I say, been met by experiment. **The grass pollen is so small that a single one can not be seen with the naked eye, yet its structure and chemical compo- sition are very complicated. Many pollen grains are covered with hair-like prickles. Adherents of the pollen theory formerly believed that hay-fever was due to these prickles. They asserted that hay-fever patients were extremely sensitive to the mechanical stimulus of the prickles, and that normal individuals were resistant to their action. It is true that some of the [204] FORMS OP TREATMENT pollen, which we formerly looked upon as the cause of hay-fever, had an uneven, prickly surface. Some of the first adher- ents of the pollen theory believe that those pollen especially were active whose blos- soms had an intense odor. The disease was accordingly at that time widely called rose-fever, linden-fever, and so forth, in- stead of hay-fever. I was able to show that those pollen which most often cause hay-fever have a smooth surface. This is true of all grass pollen, of which I have examined thirty-two varieties. These have also no odor. The blossoming of the rose and of linden occurs at the same time as that of the grasses. In 1902 I was able to completely overthrow the belief in the activity of the linden. It happened that in that year the blossoming of the linden was delayed from three to seven weeks in our vicinity, that of the grasses occurring [ 205] HAY-FEVER at the regular time. The season for hay- fever was probably over at the time that the blossoming of the linden was at its height, and hay-fever patients were able to enjoy the odor of the linden without any ill effects. I can well understand the te- nacity with which hay-fever patients cling to the belief that the dust of the rose and linden causes their symptoms. I myself banned from my home every rose and other odorous blossom during the hay- fever period, and felt certain that my suf- fering was thereby diminished. The relief was not an imaginary one, but was due to the fact that at the same time I kept my windows carefully closed. **At about the time of the blossoming of the grasses, the pine {Pinus sylvestris) also begins to blossom and produces such a plentiful dust that thick clouds of it can at times be seen. This is called sulfur [ 206 ] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT rain. I proved, in spite of the opposition of many hay-fever patients, that the dust of this blossom was also of no consequence. '*By such experiments as these and many others I was able to prove that only certain specific pollen could cause hay- fever. This was in direct opposition to Blackley's theory. Other pollen, includ- ing those possessing sharp prickles, were absolutely without effect. **The theory as to emanations, odors, ethereal oils, and so forth, had still to be considered. On opening a vessel that con- tains much grass pollen one gets an odor much like that of honey, which proved to be without effect on hay-fever patients. The odor of the linden, as well as that of the harmless rose, was proved to be with- out effect. There was still to be considered the questions as to the action of the ethereal oils. An extract of the oily and [ 207 ] HAY-FEVER waxy portions of the pollen, when applied to the conjunctiva and nasal mucous mem- branes in small amounts, caused a burning sensation. This was quite different, how- ever, from the peculiar sensation experi- enced by hay-fever patients, which is so distinctive that nothing can stimulate it. These extracts had more effect on normal persons than they had on hay-fever pa- tients. The amount of these substances with which we come in contact in our ordinary walks is so small that they can surely not be responsible for any of our unpleasant sensations. *' Grass pollen is distinguished from that of other plants in a marked way by the small rods which it contains, which look just like bacteria. Patton, in 1877, had already called attention to these rods. He believed that after they left the pollen grains they possest a movement of their [ 208 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT own, and he drew the conclusion that they constituted the active principle of the pollen. He asserted that by reason of their inherent motility they found their way into the mucous membrane and the circula- tion and thus caused the symptoms of hay- fever. For a time, I also believed that these small rods played some part in the production of hay-fever. I did not know then that they were composed solely of starch, but thought they contained al- bumin. After I was able to get hold of great quantities of grass pollen I was able to isolate these rods by means of repeated centrifugation and washing. I was then able to prove that they were absolutely in- nocuous to hay-fever patients. **As a result of certain observations, to which I shall refer later, I was soon forced to the conclusion that the active principle of the toxin of hay- fever is an albuminous [209 ] HAY-FEVER substance. The alcoholic precipitate from a saline extract of a comparatively small number of pollen grains had an intense action on hay-fever patients, but none on normal individuals. After I obtained large quantities of pollen I began my experiments with the isolated albumin. Against this method of procedure it was claimed that I had not been working with a true hay-fever toxin, but with a dena- tured poison. For this claim there is no evidence; the critics failed completely to show any proof for the correctness of their assertions. From a purely scientific view- point, it is certainly better to work with the isolated toxin than the whole pollen grain or an extract from them such as I used at first, before I realized that the toxicity was an attribute of the albumin alone. '*Dr. 0. Kammann, who investigated [210] FORMS OF TREATMENT this matter at my request,^ was able to prove that the albumin fraction contains the toxin and that the globulin fraction is entirely inactive. ** Having determined that the albumin of the pollen is the specific cause of hay-fever, it was possible now to carry out my experi- ments along quantitative lines. It is pos- sible to extract the albumin from the pollen by means of saline solutions of proper strength and then to precipitate it with alcohol or to obtain it by dialysis, and then dry it. In this condition it retains its ac- tivity for many years, **The experiments which I had done up to this time on hay-fever patients had not conformed to the natural process. In order to conform to these more closely I performed the following experiment: A *Kammann: Zur Kenntnis d. Eoggen-PoUens u. des darin enthaltenen Heufiebergiftes. Beitrage z. Chem. Physiol, u. Pathol., 1904, Bd. V, Heft. 7-8, S. 346. [211] HAY-FEVER hay-fever patient and a normal individual took their places in a large glass cabinet in which rye pollen had been distributed. The hay-fever patient took sick, the other remained well. It was not determined by this experiment how much of the pollen had been taken np by the hay-fever patient. The question as to whether or not enough, pollen was present in the air during the hay-fever season to cause the symptoms had not been satisfactorily settled. Black- ley (vide supra) had already made at- tempts to settle this question by means of a method worked out by Phoebus. He had carefully counted at different periods of the years the pollen which gathered on glass plates, whose surface had been cov- ered with glycerin. My co-workers, es- pecially Liefmann,^ found that in the heart ^Liefmann: Ein Beitrag zur Frage nach d. aetiologi- schen Bedeutung gewisser Pflanzen ' pollenkoerner fuer d. Heufieber. Zeitsehr. f. Hyg. u. Infectionskrank- heiten, 1904, Bd. 47, p. 153. [212] FOEMS OF TREATMENT of Hamburg, while hay-fever was at its height, 250 pollen grains accumnlated on a surface of one square centimeter during twenty-four hours, i,e,, 25,000 to the square meter. It was established that with the first appearance of the pollen in the air the patient began to complain of an itch- ing at the inner canthus of the eye; his suffering became more intense in direct proportion to the quantity of pollen in the air. On rainy days no pollen accumulated on the glass plates, altho they were pro- tected from the rain. Early in June the pollen of the grasses far exceeded those of other plants in numbers, and from about the third week in July grew gradually less, so that at the end of July, or the beginning of August, only a few stray grains were found. Thus can be explained the period- icity of the course of hay-fever and also the occurrence of sporadic cases after the [ 213 ] HAY-FEVER hay-fever season is over. There was still no certain method of predicting quanti- tatively the action of the pollen. Dr. 0. Kammann had shown that the organic portion of the pollen of the grasses is about 40 per cent, albumin. He had shown further that about 20,000,000 rye pollen weighed one gram. By means of these figures we could compute the amount of toxin in a single pollen. By means of a solution of known strength of the poison- ous albumin of the pollen, it could be deter- mined how many pollen grains were neces- sary in any given case to produce mild, moderately severe, or severe symptoms. It was evident that different patients were susceptible in varying degrees. A concen- trated solution introduced into the conjunc- tiva or nose of a normal individual causes no symptoms. The majority of hay-fever patients were stimulated by one drop (1-20 [214] FOEMS OF TREATMENT to 1-30 cm.) of a solution of 1 to 20,000 or 1 to 30,000. There were patients, however, who responded to one drop of a solution diluted a million times, the equivalent of the amount of albumin contained in one to three pollen grains. **Liefmann constructed an aeroscope by means of which he was able to de- termine how much pollen was taken in with each breath. In the neighborhood of a field of rye one inhales with each breath two or three pollen grains; in the middle of a large city he found that in every cubic meter of air there were about three hun- dred and eight. **Thus in this way questions as to the quantitative relationship of the pollen to the attack were satisfactorily answered. By means of these experiments it had been plainly shown that the albumin of the pollen of certain plants, especially that of [215] HAY-FEVER all grasses, is to be looked upon as the active cause of hay-fever. \\\"With my co- workers I examined the pollen of 106 plants, and found them all without any action, altho I had examined such pollen which had been considered capable of producing hay-fever. In addition to the pollen, I had been informed that in China at the time of the blossoming of Ligustrum vulgare a disease very much like hay-fever was prevalent. I examined the pollen of this plant and found it active. In South- west Africa, when the grasses blossom, conditions like hay-fever prevail, es- pecially among the half-breeds. One European had to forsake Africa at this time on account of his intense suffering. In Europe he remained perfectly weU. On examination it was found that he did not react to the grass pollen. In Africa, how- ever,. at this time, the acacia blossom and [216] FORMS OF TREATMENT it has been looked upon as the cause of the condition. This patient was unaffected by the pollen of two different species of acacia. I am in hopes that experiments which we have since then set on foot will explain this disease to us. In addition to the thirty varieties of graminacesB and cyperaceae, I have found the pollen of the following plants active: swamp-pink {Lonicera caprifolium), lily-of-the-valley {Convallaria ma j alls), hairy Solomon's seal {Polygonatum multiforum), CEno- thera biennis, rape {Brassica napus), and spinach {Spinacia oleracea), **0f special importance is the autumnal catarrh, which occurs in the United States of America, beginning early in September and lasting about six weeks. This autum- nal catarrh is much more common in the United States than the vernal catarrh. I have had the opportunity of examining a I 217 1 HAY-FEVEB large number of American hay-fever pa- tients, and was able to establish the fact that those patients who only suffer in the fall do not react at all to the albumin of the grass pollen. They do react, however, regularly to the albumin of the pollen of goldenrod (Solidago) and of ragweed (Ambrosia). I have examined a large number of species of both these plants and they were all active. These patients also react to the pollen of the chrysanthemum and the other asters. Those American pa- tients who suffer only from spring catarrh, not from the autumnal type, react only to the grass pollen, not to that of the golden- rod or the ragweed. A third group of patients suffer from about the middle of May until early in November with a hay- fever-like affection. These unfortunates react both to the grass pollen and to the active agent of the autumnal catarrh. [218] FORMS OF TREATMENT Goldenrod and ragweed are very wide- spread in the United States. They are found not only on meadows, fields, roads and along edges of woods, but grow in the midst of cities in neglected places. In Europe they do not occur naturally, indeed the goldenrod can with difficulty be made to blossom there. The pollen of goldenrod, however, is not scattered as easily as that of the ragweed. All attempts to grow ragweed in this country failed until 1911. In this year, which was extremely hot and dry, I succeeded for the first time. These facts serve as further important supports for the pollen theory. There were, how- ever, still many questions to be settled before all this mysterious phenomena which characterize hay-fever could be ex- plained. **One very important question, that of individual predisposition, I have only [219] HAY-FEVER lightly touched upon. It is clear that all people, including the inhabitants of large cities, are at certain times of the year ex- posed to the pollen of many plants, which settle on their skin, conjunctiva, are in- haled into the nose, and taken up into the mouth. By far the largest part of these individuals are unaffected by the pollen, only a very small percentage take sick. The poisonous albumin of the pollen is a substance, therefore, which is innocuous to most people, and is only active in those cases in which there is a special suscepti- bility. In other words, hay-fever requires an individual predisposition. This per- sonal predisposition is present for the well- known poisons of the pharmacopoeia, either not at all or at most in very slight degree. In the case of the infectious diseases it is much more evident. If, for instance, the cholera or typhoid bacillus is spread [220 } FORMS OF TREATMENT through a city by means of the water sup- ply, only a small percentage of the inhabi- tants are unaffected. This can be ex- plained on the theory that the cholera organism does not find in most individuals those conditions which are necessary to its existence and growth. The fact that only about half of the cholera patients die can be explained by similar quantitative differences. I do not know of another instance of a substance absolutely in- active as far as a part of the popu- lation is concerned, but a very virulent poison for others. The individual pre- disposition in a case of hay-fever must be of a peculiar sort. It might be ex- plained that the hay-fever poison enters the circulation of some people (hay-fever patients) and not of others. That this is the case I could prove by the demonstra- tion of antibodies in the blood of the hay- [221] HAY-FEVER fever patients. I shall return to this sub- ject later. Here it is sufficient to say that these specific substances could be found only at the close of the hay-fever period; six months later they had disappeared. In normal individuals they could at no time be demonstrated. The gradual disappear- ance of the immune bodies is easily ex- plained. We know from animal experi- ment that these substances appear a certain time after infection, gradually to disappear again. At first blush the dem- onstration of immune bodies in the blood of hay-fever patients would seem to be a sufficient explanation of the hay-fever pre- disposition. Close study makes this seem uncertain. On continuing the experiments I found that these inunune bodies were not pres- ent in all patients, indeed, in the same pa- tient I could not find them in some cases [ 222 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT two years in succession. The following objection to this explanation was even stronger : A colleague of mine, disposed to hay-fever, who had helped me for many years, allowed himself to be injected with a solution of pollen albumin. One half- hour after the injection marked symptoms appeared in the eyes, nose, and mouth. The patient experienced pains in the chest, expectorated a tenacious, mucoid sputum, and perspired freely. The respiration be- came rapid and difficult, the pulse-rate was accelerated, and the voice grew weak. After fifty minutes there was a flat, urti- carial eruption over the whole body. After twenty-four hours all the results of the injection had not yet disappeared. At the site of the injection there was a marked swelling, which persisted for five days. ** Injection of hay-fever toxin caused the same symptoms in me. A colleague who [ 223 ] HAY-FEVER did not suffer with hay-fever reacted to the same dose with a small, almost im- perceptible swelling at the site of the in- jection. Pollen albmnin was, in other words, not toxic for him when introduced under the skin. Hundreds of experiments have proved to us that pollen albumin is not a poison in the ordinary sense of the word, and that even when introduced into the circulation it is inactive. Not only is the skin of hay-fever patients permeable, for the hay-fever poison in varying de- grees, but it also reacts to the toxin in dif- ferent ways in different patients. In some cases when a solution of pollen albumin is placed on the skin, there occurs within a few minutes an erythema. If, on the other hand, a patient is very susceptible to hay- fever, the skin may show absolutely no re- action when brought in contact with the toxin. These results may be of value in [224 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT the study of individual predisposition, since they enable us to throw some light upon the question as to whether or not hay-fever is to be looked upon ttS a result of a hypersensitiveness. **In the first place, statistics have definitely proved that hay-fever has no relation to any constitutional disease, — for instance, gout; that, indeed, only a very small percentage of hay-fever patients are gouty. It is very commonly believed that hay-fever is due to some anomaly or stop- ping up of the upper air-passages. A local disease of the trigeminus is assumed by some, with a resulting sensitiveness on the part of certain mucous membranes. The falsity of these conceptions is clear from the experiments cited above. Not only does the whole skin-surface of many pa- tients react to the poison, but subcutane- ous infection is followed by characteristic [225] HAY-FEVER effects. By showing that the anal mncons membrane of hay-fever patients reacts to the pollen toxin, I believe that all those hypotheses, which assume only a local sen- sitiveness on the part of the cranial nerves, or the capital mucous membrane, is robbed of all support. Suggestion, as we have seen, plays a large part in the attempts to explain hay-fever predisposition. I can treat this question together Avith that of the role of specific odors of flowers, cats, dogs, etc. Two colorless, odorless solu- tions were prepared, and a drop from one of them was placed on the mucous mem- brane of the eye and nose of a large num- ber of hay-fever patients. Some reacted, others did not. None of them knew what sort of a solution was being used. The ap- plications were then made in a different way, each patient receiving a drop of the solution which had not been used in his [ 226 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT case before. Those who had, reacted the first time did not do so the second. The one solution was physiologic salt, the other pollen albumin. None of the patients re- acted to the saline, all reacted to the other solution. In the course of many years I repeated these experiments with many variations. In the place of the salt solu- tion I used solution of albumin from in- active pollen. The results were always the same. In the face of such results, he who would explain hay-fever on the ground of suggestion, simply ignores all the facts to the contrary, and his opinion does not deserve serious consideration. ** Hay-fever is looked upon as a result of an advanced culture and civilization. It happens that there are very few hay-fever patients in the laboring class, and that the Anglo-Saxon races, especially the Ger- mans, English, and Americans, furnish the [ 227 ] HAY-FEVER largest number of such patients. That hay-fever does at times occur among the Romans and other nations, I am able to gather from correspondence that I have had with inhabitants of such countries. In St. Louis I met an elevator boy who had hay-fever. Among the Anglo-Saxons the disease is found most often among pro- fessional men. Men appear to be twice as susceptible as women. It is often claimed that hay-fever follows a period of strenu- ous mental work, or of excitement, as, for instance, after examination, or in officers after maneuvers. Hay-fever has often been shown to be hereditary. Most fre- quently, however, a severe attack of in- fluenza has left hay-fever in its wake. Other causes, as, for instance, a difficult labor, are asserted by patients to have been the exciting cause of their hay-fever attacks. May we conclude from all these [228] FORMS OF TREATMENT facts that hay-fever is the result of a dis- turbance of the central nervous system f **It was formerly believed that all hay- fever patients were very nervous and ex- citable. This is certainly not universally true, if we are indeed dealing with a severe abnormality of the central nervous system this, in most instances, makes itself felt only in a hay-fever predisposition. Hundreds of hay-fever patients have writ- ten me that except during the season they are altogether well, and I have found among hay-fever patients many with phlegmatic dispositions. Those idiosyn- crasies which resemble hay-fever in a way, as, for instance, susceptibility to straw- berries, crawfish, iodin, antipyrin, bro- mids and the salts of quinin, are to-day explained on the ground of anaphylaxis. **Th. Albrecht declares that ten years ago every physician had his own theory [ 229 ] HAY-FEVER concerning the treatment of hay-fever. And I may add from my own experience that every patient also had his own method of treatment, which was, as a rule, very complicated. From my records it is very evident that many patients had ten or more hay-fever remedies, which they used either separately or together. A hay-fever pa- tient takes up at once every new remedy that appears and enthusiastically recom- mends it to others. As a rule, he learns o£ the new remedy near the end of the hay- fever season, and while he is using it his troubles disappear and he attributes his relief to the remedy he has been using. In the following spring he is undeceived. In this way one hay-fever remedy after an- other is consigned to oblivion only to re- appear later under a different name. The only remedies that have survived for any length of time are those with narcotic [ 230] FOEMS OF TREATMENT effects, as cocain, adrenalin, anesthesin, morphin, etc. Concerning the danger con- nected with the use of these narcotics, it is surely not necessary to say a word. In addition, adrenalin and anesthesin and the remedies prepared from them cause in many cases a sensation that is much more annoying and unpleasant than hay-fever itself. I, myself, have tested all the hay- fever remedies on which I could lay my hands within the last ten years. With no one of them did I accomplish a beneficial result. There was indeed no reason to suppose that the remedy could accomplish the things that were claimed for it. It is easy to gather the same opinion if one reads the thousands or more hay-fever histories that I have in my possession. I have called attention above to the fact that on purely theoretical grounds nothing was to be expected from these preparations, [231] HAY-FEVER and that chance had not put into our hands a chemical preparation that was effective. Every physician must warn his patients against the use of narcotics. I shall, there- fore, not consider those remedies and methods of treatment that belong to this category. *'In the thousands or more histories which I have been able to read, cauteriza- tion, burning, chiseling, and sawing in the nose play a large part. **It has been shown that the active al- bumin pollen is a substance of such marked specificity that the albumin which causes hay-fever symptoms in one patient (pollen of the grasses in Europeans) is entirely inactive in other patients (those with autumnal catarrh). On the other hand, the toxin of the ragweed has abso- lutely no effect on the European patients. By means of the complement deviation [232] FORMS OF TREATMENT method I could prove that this specificity could be shown in the hemolytic properties of the different albumins, the albumin of the grass pollen reacting altogether dif- ferently from that of goldenrod and rag- weed. In view of this state of affairs, it is not to be hoped that chance would fur- nish us a chemical substance that would either neutralize or render inactive the pollen albumin, or overcome the indi- vidual predisposition, which, as we have seen, is also strictly specific. I have come to the conclusion that we can accomplish our end in three ways only. ** First, by finding localities where the specific cause does not occur; second, by protecting the eyes, nose and mouth of the patient from the pollen; third, by active immunization against the toxin, or the use of a specific antitoxin. **The first method is yearly employed by [233] HAY-FEVEE many patients with success. The second method is also successful. Hay-fever pa- tients are free from symptoms in regions in which a specific pollen does not occur. This was to be expected from what we liave learned about the cause of the disease. Thus many patients find relief on the sea- shore, in islands, and in barren mountain- ous districts. In Germany they go to Heli- goland. In the United States they retire to Fire Island, Long Beach, the White Moun- tains, Green Mountains, or Adirondack Mountains during the hay-fever season. *'A11 my attempts of many years to get rid of the irritating contents of the horse serum have been in vain. As early as 1905, I realized that this would be so, for I proved then that the irritating substance (as I then called the anaphylactic agent) was bound to the euglobulin of the horse serum as was also the antitoxin itself. If [234] FOEMS OF TREATMENT the cuglobulin is destroyed the antitoxin is at the same time rendered useless. I have been able to help patients who have become anaphylactic in two ways: First, by the use of pollantin E., and the suggestion to use this diluted serum only before the occurrence of the hay-fever attack, in the very smallest doses, and if possible only once daily. Patients who follow these di- rections have informed me that pollantin E. did not irritate them at first, altho it did so later. The irritation was, however, not severe and disappeared within ten to thirty minutes. After this the patient was free from hay-fever attacks for one or more days. Secondly, I have taken ad- vantage of the fact that horse serum ana- phylaxis is in most cases specific, but does not appear to me to be always so. I have seen instances in which during the develop- ment of a hypersensitiveness to one animal [235 ] HAY-FEVER serum, patients were rendered anaphylac- tic to the sera of other animals also. This does not, however, happen often. I have, therefore, administered to patients who could no longer stand pollantin E. a very active rabbit serum with good results. It was not only possible to ward off attacks with this serum, but also to protect pa- tients from further attacks during the hay- fever season. These results appear to me to support the opinion, which I exprest years ago, viz., that the reaction to the antitoxin, and with it the tendency toward definite immunization, is directly propor- tional to the degree to which anaphylaxis toward animal serum develops. Patients who have become anaphylactic get along with much smaller doses of antitoxin than other patients, and have, I believe, a better chance to effectually overcome their hay- fever predisposition. [236] I FORMS OF TREATMENT * * This is the goal toward which we must strive. I know of many hay-fever patients, some of whom had attacks of the worst kind, who were entirely free after the use of poUantin for a very short time. I con- sider these people permanently cured, and so^exprest myself in an article last year. A rhinologist interested in hay-fever wrote to me that he could not understand these successes, and that he and his colleague had never been able to obtain such results. He wrote further that my successful ex- periences were in marked contrast to the experienced German Hay-Fever Associa- tion. In answer to such communications I have placed my material in the hands of the secretary of this Association, Dr. Th. Albrecht. I was very much pleased to learn as a result that Dr. Albrecht had been able to cure and successfully immu- nize patients by means of pollantin. In a [237 1 HAY-FEVEK recent publication, Dr. Albrecht reported twelve cases in which, after the use of pol- lantin for a short time, there resulted either a complete cure or at least a marked improvement. These observations are, of course, of intense interest to me. I would ask all colleagues who have made similar observations to be kind enough to com- municate them to me. I have only been strengthened in my former opinion that by means of a mixed passive and active immunization a permanent cure of hay- fever can be accomplished. 6. Experiments with Autoserum. By Harold Hays, M.D> Within the past year a new advance has apparently been made in the treatment of various persistent and chronic dermatoses by the use of autoserum. Among those * Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, June, 1915. [238] FORMS OF TREATMENT who have been doing a large amount of work in this direction are Dr. Wm. S. Got- theil and his associates. Gottheil in April of this year published his first report, which was followed later by a more lengthy survey of the subject. In this report the writer speaks enthu- siastically about the beneficial changes that take place, particularly in the cases of psoriasis. All of the cases treated were of long standing, with extensive . lesions, in which the usual treatments were of no avail. Gottheil summarizes his experience with autoserum by stating 'Hhat it has a peculiar influence for good which enables us to clear off the skin in one-tenth the usual time, with very weak and innocuous local medication, and without any internal treatment at all.\\\" His results have been corroborated by Dr. John A. Fordyce and Dr. Howard Fox. [ 239 ] HAY-FEVER As a result of the encouraging reports in the treatment of the dermatoses by autoserum, it occurred to the writer that it would be worth while trying this same form of treatment in cases of hay-fever. He arrived at this conclusion after noting the similarity of hay-fever to various skin conditions. His premises may be sum- marized as follows : 1. Hay-fever is a local manifestation of some internal derangement of the system. 2. Hay-fever has associated with it a nervous element which results in a local paresis of the blood-vessels of the nose. 3. Hay-fever occurs at well-regulated intervals, and mainly affects definite parts, namely, the mucous membrane of the nose, eyes, throat, and lungs. a. Psoriasis (with some other of the [240] FORMS OF TREATMENT dermatoses) is a local manifestation of an internal derangement of the system. b. Psoriasis has associated with it a certain nervous element. c. Psoriasis occurs in definite localities of the skin (mainly extensor surfaces). This line of reasoning was further sub- stantiated by reasoning along biologic grounds, for (1) there are certain anaphy- lactic reactions present in psoriasis and other dermatoses which are at the same time present in hay-fever and asthma. (2) A marked eosinophilia is present in the dermatoses and is also present in hay- fever and asthma. It was not, therefore, inconsistent or un- reasonable to suppose that if a definite improvement or even cure could be ob- tained from the use of autoserum in the dermatoses, it could be obtained in hay- fever and asthma. [241] HAY-FEVER The writer, therefore, began a series of experiments in August of this year, wait- ing until the patient was in the prime of his hay-fever attack before beginning the injections. Autoserum, as the name indicates, is a seruGm obtained from the patient into whom afterward it is to be injected. The method of obtaining this serum is very simple, and is as follows : A constricting bandage, preferably of rubber, is wound around the patient's arm above the elbow until it is tight enough to almost obliter- ate the pulse. In a few moments the arm becomes a dull purple from the venous en- gorgement, and a vein from which to draw the blood is readily selected. Very often the very superficial veins are too small, and a deeper one must be palpated for. The desired amount of blood may be withdrawn in a number of ways. At first the writer [242] FOKMS OF TREATMENT used the MacEae needles, as suggested by Dr. Howard Fox. These needles are very small and are fitted into a rubber cork which can readily be inserted into a fifty cubic centimeter bottle. On one side is a thin narrow cannula, to which a piece of rubber tubing may be attached for suction. It is claimed that after the blood once starts to flow, a continuous stream may be kept up by proper suction through the rubber tube ; but it was the writer's experi- ence that on account of the small caliber of the needle it became clogged with co- agulated blood very readily, so that it was difficult to withdraw all the blood that one desired. He therefore had recourse to the simpler (and what seemed to the patient more barbarous) procedure of using a twenty-five cubic centimeter all-glass syr- inge to which could be attached needles of suitable length and caliber. He was [243] HAY-FEVER able in this latter way to withdraw as much as twenty-five to thirty cubic centimeters of blood. The blood was immediately projected into a sterilized fifty cubic centimeter bottle, made of suitable size so that it could be used in an electric centrifuge. This blood was then centrifuged at great speed for from twenty to twenty-five minutes, at the end of which time it was seen that the serum had been nicely separ- ated from the red blood cells. It should be straw-colored in appearance, but very often a small amount of the coloring mat- ter of the blood tinges it, which apparently does no harm. This serum was then drawn up into a sterilized all-glass syringe and reinjected into the patient, either subcutaneously or intravenously. The writer foimd the former method satisfactory, and in no in-' [ 244 ] form:s of teeatment stance was there any untoward results. A large swelling often appeared at the time of the injection, but this disappeared within a few hours. In a few instances when the centrifuge was out of order. It was necessary to al- low the blood to stand overnight in the ice- box. The separation under these circum- stances was just as good, but whether any chemical change took place, it is impossible to say. In this series of experiments twelve cases were treated. The treatments were given in the writer's office, under the best conditions possible. Each patient was in- telligent enough to let him know in a sat- isfactory way just what results there were from the injections. At first there seemed to be a period of vast improvement, and he was in hopes that we were at last on the road to a discovery of some specific cure. I 245 ] HAY-FEVER However, the improvement lasted but a very short time, and then the patients were just as bad as ever. It is, therefore, necessary to report these experiments from a negative point of view, in the hope that it will lead others to do further re- search work along the lines of experi- mental biology. It will be noticed in the cases which are reviewed that the amount of serum injected was very much smaller than that used by skin specialists. Gottheil in his later paper speaks of one case where he with- drew as much as one hundred and fifty cubic centimeters of blood, from which he obtained seventy cubic centimeters of serum. In these cases the largest amount of serum injected was fifteen cubic centi- meters, but it seems that it should have been possible to obtain a reaction of some sort from this small amount, if the treat- [246] FORMS OF TREATMENT ment was going to do any good at all. Again, it is possible that in the treatment of the dermatoses the injection of such large amounts of serum was not necessary. As the susceptible hay-fever patient is very sensitive to an infinitestimal amount of pollen, it is not unreasonable to suppose that moderate amounts of serum ought to show some reaction, if the treatment were to be worth anything at all. It is worthy of note in the series of cases under observation that most of the pa- tients had tried many of the newer treat- ments for hay-fever, and in no instance was even a semblance of a cure effected. A few of the cases are detailed below : Case 1.— Mrs. K. First attack of hay- fever nine years ago, returning each year and lasting from about the 15th of August to the end of September. She tried no cures except **cold'' remedies until this [ 247 ] HAY-FEVER year, when she was given hypodermic injections of some serum two or three times a week during the hay-fever period, but with no benefit. After the season was over she was in a general run-down con- dition. On August 17th this patient had ten cubic centimeters of blood withdrawn; on August 19th, nineteen cubic centimeters; August 21st, twenty-five cubic centimeters ; and August 25th, thirty cubic centimeters. At the first sitting five cubic centimeters were injected subcutaneously in the arm; on the 19th, twelve cubic centimeters; on the 21st, ten cubic centimeters were in- jected into the buttocks, and on the 25th, eight cubic centimeters were again injected into the arm, the blood had stood in the ice-box for twenty-four hours. During the first week the patient seemed considerably improved, but after that time there was a [ 248 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT retrogression, and the patient was as badly off as ever. This patient has a general hypertrophy of all the mucous membrane of the nose. Case 2. — Major D., whose hay-fever dates from 1889. He found that when he was away from the United States he had no hay-fever, but if he returned to this country in the summer it would be just as bad as ever. He had been stationed in Washington, West Virginia, Portland, Oregon, and other places, and in every place had hay-fever. He had tried atropin, adrenalin chlorid and sprays of various kinds, with no relief. Twenty cubic centimeters of blood were withdrawn on August 17th, half the amount in serum being reinjected, and the procedure repeated on August 19th. The patient then left for Porto Rico. His statement of his symptoms was as follows : [249] HAY-FEVER August IStli he was worse ; there was some discomfort most of the day. After the second treatment, until night he seemed considerably better, but he woke up with a sensation of swelling in the right nostriL On the 20th he had very little discomfort all day. On the 21st he had an attack last- ing for two hours. On the 22d he sailed for Porto Eico, arriving there on the 27th of August with apparently no symptoms. In the conclusion of the report the pa- tient says: ** Comparing this attack with my best recollections of previous attacks, I should say that the attack I had on the night of August 19th was similar to a pre- vious one six years before. To the best of my judgment the attack this year pro- gressed at its usual rate, and was in no manner retarded by the two treatments administered.'' Case 3. — Mrs. F. had her first attack of [250] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT hay-fever in 1908. Adrenalin was pre- scribed with no result. A new attack came on while the patient was in England the following year. Walking in the open seemed to help. * * This year I have worked in my garden and played tennis, always either to ward off an attack or more often to cure one.\\\" The patient received two injections of ten cubic centimeters, from twenty-two cubic centimeters of blood withdrawn. The injections had apparently no benefi- cial effects. Besides these seven cases, five others were treated, the reports of which would be but a repetition of the above. Each was given two or more injections, ranging in amount from five cubic centimeters to fif- teen cubic centimeters of serum. In every instance the treatment was a failure. Moschowitz draws attention to the fact [251] HAY-FEVER that the various common diseases in which anaphylactic reactions are present are usually associated with an eosinophilia. ^*In asthma, hay-fever, and urticaria the blood contains an excess of eosinophiles ; the secretions of the bronchus and of the nose in asthma and hay- fever, respectively, are filled with eosinophile leucocytes. In urticaria, also eosinophilia, both local and general, are found in nearly all skin-lesions {e.g.y eczema, prurigo, Duhring's disease, pemphigus, psoriasis, etc.) . . . In con- nection with the association of many of the manifestations of the exudative diathesis in * neurotic' individuals, it is significant that Neusser and others have shown that eosinophilia is a common finding in such individuals. '^ The writer feels that he can best con- clude by repeating Koessler's last words: **I wish to express emphatically a word [252] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT of caution. It will not be long before the commercial manufacturers of vaccines see *the great advantage and benefit' of this treatment. Hay-fever vaccines will be praised and advertised and put up so at- tractively that their use will become uni- versal, and soon universally discredited. For the pollen extract is not stable, es- pecially not the higher dilutions. By pro- gressing proteolysis, after three to four weeks, it acquires marked toxic properties which lead to severe reactions. The solu- tions must, therefore, be freshly prepared every eight or ten days, if these reactions are to be avoided. Whatever the method of active immunization, whatever the dos- age and technic, the one sound basis that must underlie all these endeavors is that the material to be injected must be not only sterile, but constantly of uniform potency if used in the same dilution. No extract [253] HAY-FEVER of pollen can comply with this demand if it is older than three weeks/' 7. Dr. E. T. Manning's Views ^ Dunbar elected to immunize passively, and his well-known poUantin is the out- come of his efforts. He injected horses with gradually increased doses of ragweed pollen, with the expectation that a specific antibody would eventually be formed in the serum in sufficient amount for prac- tical use. He hoped that by injecting this antiserum into a sensitized human being, he would be able to neutralize the effect of the protein poison. Thus he assumed that the pollen protein acted as a true toxin. He was rewarded with a moderate degree of success. Koessler, of Chicago, first began his * Journal of the American Medical Association, Feb- ruary 20, 1915, p. 655. I 254 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT work in active immunization in 1910. He used ragweed pollen and treated only cases of the autumnal catarrh variety. He was the first to report definite methods of preparing pollen solutions, and to him must be given the credit of placing this form of the treatment on a scientific basis. He gave injections both in a prophylactic way, before the appearance of the hay- fever symptoms, and after the disease had been established. His results correspond closely with those of the English investi- gators. He reports ten per cent, absolute cures, seventy per cent, markedly im- proved subjectively and objectively, twelve per cent, subjectively improved, and eight per cent, not affected. I treated twenty-one cases; fourteen were objectively and subjectively relieved ; in the other seven the treatment was in- complete for one reason or another. Two [255] HAT-FEVEE of these seven showed no reaction, either good or bad. Fonr more were certain that their attacks were lighter. One patient was undoubtedly made worse, a result which I think was due entirely to a mis- take of judgment on my part in giving her a large dose without gradually working up to it. Three of the cases had a bad asthma complicating. Two of these were com- pletely under control and the other was much relieved. It is difficult to determine exactly what should be designated as a cure. Many years ago a great medical philosopher, who was no pessimist in regard to treat- ment, gave as an aphorism, ** Nothing ever gets completely well.\\\" It is true that there are few disease processes which do not leave their impress on the organism in some chemical, anatomic or functional alteration. Our desire to apply the word [256 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT **cure\\\" to a treatment probably arises from the effort to keep pace with the medi- cal charlatans who are only too anxious to guarantee so-called cures. So in hay-fever — a disease which is extremely susceptible to all the changes in nervous control of the individual, with some symptoms exceed- ingly vague and influenced to a large ex- tent by the imagination — it is very difficult to determine just what part this or that remedy plays in modifying the disease process, and in thus assisting in a cure. Statistics concerning the effect of a therapeutic measure are decidedly unre- liable as a guide. But few persons, and these only in rare instances, act on statis- tics alone. They act rather on experience, either their own or of others. When they do this they are on surer ground than when they rely on bare figures alone. [257] HAY-FEVER 8. The Use of PHYLACOGEisr By I. H. Alexandee, M.D.* The value of Phylacogen in the treat- ment of diseases seems to depend upon whether we are to take the reports of the experiences of many physicians scattered throughout the civilized world, who have intelligently used this form of treatment and have obtained results which they be- lieved are better than those obtained by other methods, or whether we are to de- pend upon the advice given by the many and voluminous articles appearing in the medical journals, principally in the Jour- nal of the American Medical Association^ which condemns the use of Phylacogen from every point of view. There is no rea- son to believe that the articles appearing in the Journal of the American Medical * Pittsburgh Medical Journal, July, 1914. [258] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT Association are not sincere and represent correctly the views of the writers of these articles, as well as those of the editor. It is not the intention of the writer to defend or recommend the use of Phylaco- gen in the treatment of hay-fever, asthma or any other infection, bnt as it was my privilege to Be the first physician, as far as I have been able to learn, to use this method of treatment for the relief and cure of these most annoying and painful conditions, I desire to report my results and give, as near as possible, my methods of administration. I do not wish to give the impression that the administration of the Mixed Infection Phylacogen consti- tutes the entire treatment of hay-fever and asthma, altho many cases will recover without additional treatment. I consider it only as a very great aid in the medica- tion and should be used in conjunction [ 259 I HAY-FEVER with other remedies, given for the relief of symptoms, etc. Pottenger says of the use of Tuberculin in tuberculosis, there is more to the Tuberculin treatment than having a patient suffering from tubercu- losis and a syringe loaded with Tuberculin to inject into him. My experience with Mixed Infection Phylacogen in the treatment of bronchial asthma has been somewhat more extensive than my hay-fever experience. Thirty-six cases have been treated to date. Only one case insisted that he had not been bene- fited. This case had found relief from his suffering by the hypodermic use of Adren- alin, which he administered himself, often using as high as twenty injections a day. This case improved on Mixed Infection Phylacogen at first, and for two weeks was symptomatically well. Physical examina- tion of the chest at that time failed to de- [260] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT tect the physical signs of bronchial asth- ma, but within a week of the time of the last examination he was suffering just as severely as before, and was using his hypodermic syringe as frequently as ever. Physical examination did not present suf- ficient evidence to account for his apparent severe dyspnoea. This case, I believe, had formed the habit of using Adrenalin. Of the other thirty-five cases, thirty recov- ered and have remained well from one to three years. Two cases have recurred twice and were finally cured by administer- ing Salvarsan. 9. The Calcium Salt Treatment By Harold Wilsok, M.D.* The reports of Emmerich and Loew^ on the very favorable results secured by them * Gouty and rheumatic cases are undoubtedly much benefited by the use of calcium salts as Dr. Wilson points out in this article. 'Emmerich and Loew: Erfolgreiche Behandlung [261] HAY-FEVER from the prolonged administration of cal- cium chlorid in the treatment of hay-fever induced me to make some trial of this drug during the season of 1915. A brief report of the results will be given in this com- munication. Whether the ingestion of calcium salts has a direct inhibitory action on the pro- teolytic reactions which appear to be a necessary part of the hay-fever complex, or so modify this reaction as to render the split proteins less toxic, or whether they act by lessening the patient's nerve irri- tability, seems at this time to be quite un- determined. The employment of calcium salts in hay-fever would be on a much bet- ter basis if we were able to rationalize it. At present, it seems to me that this method des Heufiebers durch lange Zeit fortgesetzte Chlorkal- ziumzufiihr, Miinchen. med. Wchnschr., 1913, Ix, 2676; Weitere Metteilungen iiber Erfolgreiche Behandlung des Heufiebers, ibid., 1914, Ixii, 41. [262] FORMS OF TREATMENT of treatment can hardly claim to be more than ** reasonable empiricism.\\\" In view of the fact, however, that much other use- ful therapy rests on a no more secure foun- dation than this, there is no reason why we should not make a sufficient trial of this method, which has, certainly, many prac- tical advantages. Twenty-six patients were treated by me during the past season. Of these, twenty- two were treated exclusively with calcium chlorid, and four patients, who had been under treatment by means of injections of pollen solution, were given the drug when their hay-fever symptoms began to de- velop more or less severely. One patient had hay-fever of the vernal type only; three patients had both vernal and autumnal attacks, and twenty-two pa- tients had only autumnal attacks. Twenty- two patients gave a positive ophthalmic [263 ] HAY-FEVER or cutaneous reaction to ragweed pollen; four gave a negative reaction to ragweed. Many cutaneous tests were made with sub- stances other than pollens, the result of which will be made the subject of another report. Treatment was begun in June, with seven patients; in July with four; in Au- gust with fifteen, and in September with two. In no case did any patient take the drug for more than eight or ten weeks be- fore the time of the expected attack, and in most cases the period was much more brief. Emmerich and Loew advise the use of the drug over a very long period, as much as a year, if possible. Altho it has been shown that the maximum calcium retention in the system occurs only after its prolonged ingestion, it remains to be proved that its optimum therapeutic effect in hay-fever requires its daily use for a year before the expected attack. In some [264 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT of the most favorable cases here reported, the relief secured came almost at once, or after taking, at most, only a few doses. For most patients the calcium chlorid was prescribed thus: Calcium chlorid crystals 100 gm. Distilled water to make 600 c.c. M. SiG. — ^Take one teaspoonful in sufl&cient water during or after each meal. This gives the patient about 3 gm. of cal- cium chlorid daily. The crystalline salt is used in preference to the anhydrous, as making a cleaner and clearer solution. Wlien the anhydrous salt is prescribed, al- lowance should be made for the water of crystallization, of which in the crystalline salt there are six molecules (CaCl2+6 H,0): Calcium chlorid, anhydrous 60 gm. Distilled water to make 500 c.c. M. SiG. — Take one teaspoonful in sufficient water with or after each meal. £265 ] HAY-FEVER There was no serious difficulty in taking the drug as thus prescribed. One patient experienced gastric distress until the dose was reduced ; another complained of weak- ness and loss of appetite, and had to use it intermittently in a lessened dose; an- other thought it caused a diminution in the urinary output, while another thought the flow of urine was increased. It has not been observed that the daily ingestion of 3 gm. of calcium chlorid has been followed by any marked bodily disturbance. In fact, much larger doses than this can apparently be taken with entire safety. Cow's milk contains 0.198 per cent, cal- cium monoxid. A pint of milk contains about 0.71 gm. calcium. Three gm. of cal- cium chlorid crystals contain about 0.55 gm. calcium, so that more lime is taken by the daily use of a pint of milk than in the dosage prescribed above. [266 ] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT The table on page 268 gives the results of the treatment with calcium chlorid in the twenty-six cases under observation. A few of the most favorable reports are given in greater detail: Case 23.— Miss M. T., aged 21, had had hay-fever since childhood, beginning in May and lasting until frost. She was sen- sitive to flowers of all kinds, to dust and to wind. She could not sweep floors without marked discomfort. She had no asthma. Eye and nasal symptoms were most marked. She had been using epinephrin solutions until they now aggravated the trouble. July 2d there were lacrimation, coryza and sneezing of moderate severity more or less continuously. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm., three times a day, was prescribed. July 9th, eyes were ''wonderfully better\\\"; there [267] HAY-FEVER RESULTS OF TREATMENT WITH CALCIUM CHLORID IN TWENTY-SIX CASES.* Hay- Reac- Duration Case No. tion «^ Rag- of Treat- Result Remark. fever ment weed 12 A + 2-3 weeks + Under treatment with injections of pollen BolutionB for ten weekg previously. 13 A + 2-3 weeks + Previous treatment as in Case 12. 14 A + 2-3 weeks Previous treatment as in Case 12. 19 A + 2-3 weeks -- Previous treatment with injections of pollen solutions seven weeks. 22 A + 10 weeks 23 A-V 13 weeks + + + Immediate improvement and abso- lute freedom from all symptoms after July 28. 24 A + 11 weeks + + + Multiple sensitization. 26 A 13 weeks + No symptoms until September 1. 26 A + 16 weeks + + + No symptoms until September 25. Then only trifling itching in throat and slight sneezing. No other symptoms. September 25, patient writes, *'I 27 A + 12 weeks — was worse than usual.\\\" 29 A -1- 8 weeks + + + Only slight symptoms. 80 A 4- 8 weeks + 81 A + 9 weeks + Multiple sensitization (faint). 82 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 83 V 9 weeks + + Immediate relief and practical free- dom from all symptoms about half the time. 34 A-V + 5 weeks + Reports moderate relief from symp- toms during season. 35 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 86 A + No report. 37 A + 5 weeks + + Very little hay-fever, even In country. 38 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 39 A 4- 4 weeks + 40 A + 4 weeks + + Multiple sensitization. 41 A + 4 weeks + + Did not take drug re^arly. 42 A — 5 weeks + + + Peach reaction positive; stopped eating peaches. 43 A + 2 weeks + Left city early in September. 44 A-V 13 weeks + + + Relief immediate and complete; slight recurrences; took drug very irregularly. ♦Explanation of signs: A indicates autimmal; V, vernal; — , symptoms worse than usual; 0, symptoms about the same as usual; -f, symptoms less marked than lisual; ++» symptoms much less marked than usual; very definite improvement; -I-4-+. absolute freedom from symptoms, or only trifling and insignificant ones during season. [ 268 I FORMS OF TREATMENT were somewhat less sneezing and coryza; the patient was less sensitive to dnst and wind. July 20th, she was much less uncomfortable than usual. On the whole, there was a marked amelioration of symptoms. July 28th, there was very great relief. The patient was practically free from all symptoms. *^I never was so helped by anything before.'' August 13th, the patient reported that she had had no hay-fever symptoms whatever since last visit. Relief was absolute. Septem- ber 6th, absolute freedom from symptoms continued. This relief continued through- out the season. Case 26. — ^Miss M. R., aged 25, had had autumnal hay-fever seven or eight years; no asthma. Maternal aunt had had hay- fever since childhood. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were posi- tive. June 11th, calcium chlorid was pre- [269] HAY-FEVER scribed, 1 gm. three times a day, but owing to some gastric distress which it seemed to cause, the dose was much reduced for sev- eral weeks. The full dose, however, was taken later and continued. No hay-fever symptoms were experienced until Septem- ber 5th, when there was slight sneezing, and itching in the throat. During the rest of the season symptoms were practically absent. Case 29.— Dr. W. A. K., aged 40, had ha J autumnal hay-fever for fifteen years, and slight asthma recently. July 7th, cal- cium chlorid was prescribed, 1 gm. three times a day. Patient reported in October that he had experienced only trifling symp- toms at any time during the season. Case 33.— Miss F. P., aged 43, had had vernal hay-fever, usually beginning about June 1st and lasting until the end of July. June 12th, she was having about the usual [270] FOEMS OF TREATMENT amount of trouble. The ophthalmic reac- tion to ragweed was negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm. three times a day, was pre- scribed, with much relief, almost at once. She reported, August 25th: ^*I have been practically free from symptoms about half the time. The rest of the time partly free and partly in trouble. About July 28tli took a long railway journey, weather dry and dusty, with no hay-fever symptoms at all.'^ Case 42.— F. W., aged 28, had had hay- fever, beginning in August, for several years. Father had hay-fever; no asthma. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were negative. Cutaneous and nasal reaction to peaches was positive. Calcium chlorid, 2 gm. three times a day, was prescribed. August 25th, the patient was very comfortable, with scarcely any symptoms. Cutaneous reaction to peaches [271] HAY-FEVER was negative. The patient had stopped eating peaches. During the rest of the season there were very few hay-fever symptoms. Case 44. — Miss C. S., aged 25, had had hay-fever for nine years, beginning in early spring and lasting until the second week in October. She had asthma. Symp- toms were marked. June 30th, the hay- fever symptoms were distressing. Oph- thalmic and cutaneous reaction to ragweed was negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm. three times a day, was prescribed. Patient re- ported September 25th. The hay-fever symptoms, which were severe, disap- peared after the second dose of the medicine, whereupon she promptly stopt taking it regularly. Afterward she took a long auto journey without symptoms. During the summer she had occasional slight symptoms, which disappeared ira- [272] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT mediately when she took the medicine. She had been practically free from all hay- fever symptoms ever since beginning to take the drug. She thinks the results are ** wonderful.'' She would probably have taken the drug more regularly if it had not seemed to increase the secretion of urine. 1. Some hay-fever patients taking not less than 3 gm. of calcium chlorid daily, even for a short time, are practically re- lieved from all hay-fever symptoms. 2. Calcium chlorid may be taken in doses of 3 gm. daily for an indefinite time without any apparent injury. 3. It is not indispensable in all cases for a hay-fever patient to take calcium chlorid over a long period of time in order to se- cure relief. 4. Calcium salts may be given, even when the nature of the patient 's sensitiza- tion is not known. [ 273 1 HAY-FEVEE 5. The clinical results from the admin- istration of calcium chlorid in cases of hay-fever are such as to warrant its further trial. 10. The Pollen Therapy Treatment By J. L. GooDAu;.* The object of the following paper is to report the results of observations based upon one hundred and twenty-two cases of hay-fever examined during the past twelve months, with reference to determining, if possible, the value of pollen therapy treat- ment, and also to ascertain what biologic relations, if any, exist between the pollen of different plants. In the first place, a word should be said in regard to the method of obtaining and preserving the pollen extracts. For many plants, which furnish an abundance of * Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, June, 1915. [274] FOEMS OF TREATMENT easily detached pollen, it is sufficient to gather the partially opened flowers, bring them into a room without currents of air, and in the course of a few days the pollen may be shaken upon smooth paper. This applies particularly to those plants the cross fertilization of which is effected through the agency of air currents, such as many forest trees and grasses, and certain Compositse, particularly ragweed. In the entomophylous plants, where the cross fer- tilization is largely effected by the agency of insects, the freshly opened anthers may be dipt and gathered. The pollen is then either placed in the solution for ex- traction, or it may be preserved dry for an indefinite period. I have taken the pollen from specimens in my herbarium, gathered twentj-five to thirty years ago, of grasses and of ragweed, which on the addition of water excites as marked a skin f275] HAY-FEVER reaction as would be the case with freshly prepared extract. The extract is obtained from the pollen by soaking in water for a few hours. I have not found it necessary to subject the material to trituration, as advised by some writers; and this is also theoretically unnecessary, since the pollen grains in water promptly undergo a swelling, with solution of their albuminous contents. Several observers have complained of the difficulty of preserving the extract, and say that it is liable to deterioration on standing. After a number of tests, an alcohol dilution of thirteen to fifteen per cent, seems to meet the requirements; and material prepared in this way a year ago has apparently lost but little of its efficiency. It is interesting to observe, in this connection, that we have an ex- ample of natural plant juice, namely, £ 27e a FOEMS OF TEEATMENT wine, in which preservation of its qual- ities is thus secured. The heavier nat- ural wines contain a considerable amount of albuminous matter, together with ap- proximately fourteen per cent, alcohol. More than this percentage checks the fur- ther development of the yeast plant, and this amount, while preventing decompo- sition, does not seem sufficient to cause a precipitation of the proteids of the wine. It is desirable to keep the solution in am- ber bottles. A word of caution should be said in re- gard to the gathering of flower heads for the preparation of pollen extract in the case of those plants which may contain a poisonous substance, as occurs in cer- tain Compositse, especially the wormwood group. I have observed a few cases where disturbing symptoms of nausea and malaise followed the injection of such [ 277] HAY-FEVER materials to a greater extent than would be accounted for by the actual amount of pollen present. In the case, however, of such plants as the Rosacese and grasses, these precautions are unnecessary, and we may, in the case of the latter, find it more convenient to strip off the flower heads or anthers by hand. When the pollen has been gathered and a suitable extract prepared, the latter con- stitutes then the stock solution from which varying dilutions are prepared. It is theo- retically desirable to prepare a stock solu- tion with a definite percentage of pollen extract; but practically this is unneces- sary, since individuals differ very widely in their degrees of sensitization, and each case must be examined by different dilu- tions to determine the correct strength which it is safe to use for him. The intensity of the skin reaction does [278] FORMS OF TREATMENT not always seem to be proportionate to the clinical symptoms of hay-fever. I have seen numerous severe cases where the skin reaction was much less than in other individuals, who apparently suffered from a milder form of the disease. In the case of children, the skin disturbances are rela- tively less prondunced than in the case of adults, and I have observed several under ten years of age, with apparently well de- fined hay-fever, who showed no reaction to the prevailing pollens borne in the air at the special season. In describing the results which have fol- lowed the injection of pollen extracts, it has seemed to me desirable to separate those cases which have received treatment during the hay-fever season from those which have been treated during the winter or out of season. I have done this for the reason that it is difficult to draw accurate [ 279 ] HAY-FEVER deductions from the statements of the pa- tients themselves. \\\"We have, in the first place,, to remember that seasons vary in the severity of hay-fever symptoms, de- pendent upon the amount of rain, heat and cold. Furthermore, the individual's pre- disposition seems to vary, perhaps as the result of his physical state and habits at the season. Finally, the element of sug- gestion may conceivably play a part. While I shall, therefore, report the sum- mer cases with reference to the degree of relief obtained, I do not regard these fig- ures as at all conclusive. On the other hand, observations carried out during the winter with reference to changes in the intensity of the skin reaction, may be considered a fairly reliable guide, if it be admitted that the strength of the solutions themselves has not undergone deteriora- tion. This latter point is difficult to deter- [280] FOEMS OF TREATMENT mine with absolute certainty. Neverthe- less, my alcoholic solutions seem now, after the lapse of months, to effect in new cases nearly, if not quite, the same degree of skin reaction which they occasioned when in a fresh state. At the date of writing, one hundred and twenty-two cases have been observed, of which seventy-four have had more or less treatment, and forty-eight have been seen but once, or are now beginning treatment. Of the cases which may have been consid- ered to have had a sufficient amount of treatment to enable us to draw more or less definite conclusions, thirty-two were treated after the onset of the hay-fever symptoms, and forty-seven were treated during the winter or early spring. Of these cases which were treated at the beginning or innnediately before the hay- fever season, twenty-six exprest them- [281] HAY-FEVER selves as having been more or less re- lieved, eight conld not see material im- provement. In estimating the results actually achieved by treatment during the season, I believe that an accurate judg- ment would place the extent of the relief in a number of instances distinctly below that which the patients exprest. In other words, I believe the element of sug- gestion plays here a considerable part. Furthermore, a certain number of these who believed themselves improved showed but slight diminution in the extent of the skin reaction. It has seemed to me that such cases probably represent too high a degree of sensitization to obtain material relief during the hay-fever season, and that a longer period of treatment is re- quired. On the other hand, several of these individuals who reported some months later showed a marked diminution [282 ] FOEMS OF TREATMENT of tlieir skin reaction, and it was possible tlien to undertake their treatment with the result of bringing about still further a diminution in the intensity of the skin dis- turbances. About one-fourth, however, of those treated during the season expe- rienced after a certain number of injec- tions, ranging from four to twelve in number, such striking diminution in their subjective sensations and in the skin reac- tions, that it seemed difficult to ascribe the gain to anything else than the treatment, the improvement noted having occurred from one to three weeks before the disap- pearance of their type of hay-fever in this vicinity. Serobiologic methods have shown the phylogenetic relationship of the different plant orders and families. The applica- tion of these discoveries to the treatment of hay-fever by injection of plant proteids [283 1 HAY-FEVER promises to assist in the selection of the specific material required for a given case. Definite reactions are elicited in hay- fever by the pollen of the exciting plants when brought into contact with an abra^ sion of the skin. The intensity of these sKn manifestations may be sensibly di- minished by the repeated parenteral ad- ministration of the proteids in question. Coincident with the diminution of the skin reactions there seems to occur an in- creased tolerance of the exposed mucous membranes to the pollens of the plants em- ployed. Pollen therapy in hay-fever may be regarded at the present time as a prom- ising method of treatment, but its value and the permanence of its results remain still to be definitely established. £284] FORMS OF TREATMENT 11. Surgical Treatment Surgical treatment of hay-fever is fre- quently necessary when the patient comes to the physician in the midst of the dis- ease and palliative measures are not pos- sible. In this case I cauterize the small sensitive areas with a flat electrode at a white heat, and without the use of cocain, as the use of a local anesthetic would make it impossible to find the sensitive spot. It is well to find the sensitive areas with the cold electrode, then turn on the current and bring to a white heat. In this way you can cauterize four or five sensitive areas at one time. Cauterization should not be repeated more frequently than every six or seven days. Nasal catarrh, nasal polypi, deviation of the septum, as well as sinusitis, should be treated long before the paroxysms. Many [285] HAY-FEVER authorities, including Ballinger, believe sinusitis is hay-fever, and, if this is true, selected cases respond to autogenous vac- cine. Ballinger quotes Dr. P. M. Farring- ton's successful treatment by this method. He injects 50,000,000 bacteria at first treat- ment, gradually increasing the dose to 100,000,000 at third treatment. The injec- tions should be made every third or fourth day. 12. A Summary of Treatment To one who has read the outlines of treatment given in this book it will ap- pear that success in the treatment of hay- fever can be reached through several avenues, — through sera, surgical work, local application and internal medicines. Preparedness is the watchword of our country, and prevention is the keynote in the management of hay-fever. I there- [ 286 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT fore believe that hay-fever can be pre- vented by removing the stigma of neu- rotic inheritance and anatomical defects in youth and by observing the rules of the Hay-Fever Prevention Association, as outlined by Dr. Scheppegrell and quoted in this book. The careful study of pollen by Dunbar has advanced the possibility of cure by this means and will eventually bring about a more scientific adjustment of the remedy. At the present time, how- ever, treatment has not been satisfactory. A more extended study may give better results. Dunbar has caused many en- thusiastic workers to offer the results of their labors, and I have quoted Dr. H. Hays' experience with auto-serum, which should be more fully tested, and with him, the honest efforts of Dr. Manning, Dr. Alexander, and the earnest disciple of Dunbar, Dr. J. E. Goodale, whose con- t 287 ] HAY-FEVER elusions as follows are the last words on pollen therapy. '^Serobiological methods have shown the phylogenetic relationship of the dif- ferent plant-orders and -families. The ap- plication of these discoveries to the treat- ment of hay-fever by injection of plant proteids promises to assist in the selec- tion of the specific material required for a given case. Definite reactions are elicited in hay-fever by the pollen of the exciting plant when brought into contact with an abrasion of the skin. The in- tensity of these manifestations may be sensibly diminished by the repeated pa- renteral administration of the proteids in question. Coincident with the diminution in the skin reactions, there seems to occur an increased tolerance of the exposed mucous membrane to the pollens of the plants employed. Pollen therapy in hayr [288 1 FOEMS OF TREATMENT fever may be regarded at the present time as a promising method of treatment, but its value and the permanence of its results remain still to be definitely es- tablished.'^ To secure reasonable success it is im- portant that hay-fever patients should be- gin their treatment at least three or four weeks before the onset of the attack by the use of sedative solutions; a strict cleansing treatment being applied daily, if possible, to the nasal membrane to in- hibit the reflex. This local treatment should continue for several weeks. Many patients are relieved with the use of a weak solution of suprarenal, 1 : 10,000 in normal salt. ' Again, the antiseptic al- kaline solution, with an equal quantity of water, usually is sufficient; many are made better by the use of a weak Dobell's solution, and this is my choice of a solu- [289] HAY-FEVER tion. The frequency of a reaction causing congestion has rendered an otherwise valuable remedy undesirable. I therefore have better results with mild alkaline solutions of DobelPs, or the liquor anti- septicus alkalinicus. Again, many cases do well on an ointment of suprarenal in white vaseline. A small quantity placed in the nose will last longer and be more agreeable than the solution. In asthmatic patients the adrenalin chlorid in oil, used as a spray, is quite effective in selected cases. The danger in the use of cocain is too apparent to place it in the hands of the patient. Its use in ofSce work is even questionable. Many internal remedies have been used, and, altho failure is frequent, I have found quinin, atropia, strychnin, anti- pyrin, iodids and thyroid among those most frequently prescribed. Quinin is [290 3 FOEMS OF TEEATMENT valuable in massive doses, both locally (snuffed up the nostril in powder form) and internally. The unpleasantness of the toxic effect is as great as the hay- fever itself, rendering it an undesirable remedy. The same can be said of anti- pyrin used internally. It must be given in large doses — seven to eight grains 3 or 4 times daily for an adult. Its action is antispasmodic, and similar in effect to that in whooping cough. It is possible, and I believe this is true in many cases, it may act as an antitoxin to the irritant from the pollen, and in this way be of bene- fit when there are paroxysmal asthmatic symptoms. The iodids act well in small doses when the secretion is slight, but most patients are made worse by their use. Thyroid, in one grain doses, t. i. d., wiU increase the secretion, dilate the internal vessels [291] HAY-FEVER and thus relieve the nasal congestion. The use of thyroid is usually effective in patients over 50 and when there is gout or rheumatism. The drugs mentioned above are at best only palliative and in no sense curative. From the report of Emmerich and Leow we can hope to cure the chronic tendency of hay-fever {Jour, A. M. A,, Jan. 17, 1915). They report five cases that were broken up and the patients permanently freed from its grip by continued treat- ment with calcium chlorid. This paper furnished us with the only positive in- ternal remedy and is worthy of more extended trial. I 292 J BIBLIOGEAPHY I 293 1 BIBLIOGEAPHY 1565. Botallufl (L,), Comment, duo alter de Medici, alter de ^gi'oti-Unnere, Lugduni, 1565^ p. 23. 1673. Binningerus (J. N.), Obs. et Curat. Med. Cent, quin- quse, Cent, secundo, Obs. Ixxxvi, 1673. 1698. Floyer (John), London, 1698, On Asthma. 1707. 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(Jirculare relativ a la maladie connue sous les noms de catarrhe, bronchite, ou asthme d'ete, et sous ceux de fievre ou asthme des foins. Echo ined., Neuchat., 1860, iv, pp. 304-307. 1861. Darrach (J.), Strychnia in Hay-fever and Influenza. Maryland and Virg. M. J., Eichmond, 1861, xvi, pp. 106-109. 1862. Hervier, Trois observations de catarrhe d'6t6 sans fievre de foin. Gaz. hebd. de med.. Par., 1862, ix, p. 169. PliCBbus (P.), Der typische Priihsommer-Katarrh, oder das sogenannte Heufieber, Heu- Asthma, 8°. Gies- sen, 1862. 1863. Smith (W, A.), Observations on Hay-fever. Med. Times and Gaz., London, 1863, N. S., ii, p. 535. Windsor (J.), The Cause of Hay-fever. Med. Times and Gaz., Lond., 1863, ii, p. 681. 1865. Bird (J.), Hay-fever. Brit. M. J., Lond., 1865, ii, p. 73. Herrier, Ann. Soc. de med. de St. Etienne et de la Loire, 1865, ii, pp. 36-39. Smith (W. A.), Observations on Hay-fever, Hay- asthma, or Summer Catarrh. 3d ed. 8vo. Lond., 1865. 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[335 1 INDEX f 837] INDEX Adenoids, 147, 168 Adirondacks, immunity in, 234 Adrenalin, use of, 231, 260, 290 Aeroscope, 215 Africa, southwest, cases in, 216 Age, influence of, 51, 121 Albrecht, Th., 229, 238 Albumin of pollen specific cause of hay fever, 211 Alexander, I. H., 258 Allen, Harrison, 34, 132 American Hay - Fever - Pre- V e n t i n Association, 152, 161. Campaign of Education, 155 Anaphylactic agent, 234 Anaphylaxis, 229, 235 Anemia, treatment of, 178 Anesthesin, use of, 231 Anglo - Saxon races, fre- quency of cases in the, 111,227 Antitoxin, 192 Areas, sensitive nasal, 34, 35, 68, 71 Arnold, 41 Ascaris megalocephala as a cause, 98 Ashhurst, Samuel, 130 Asthma as a late symptom, 62 diagnosis from, 94 treatment of, 121 as sequel, 185 complicating, 185 Atlantic, cases on the, 114 Australia, cases in, 113 Autogenous vaccine, 150 Autoserum, experiments with, 238 Autoserum, method em- ployed in application, 248 Auto-suggestion, 50 B Bacteriologic study of nasal secretions, 103 Ballinger, 149, 286 Bastian, 98 Beard, G. M., 13, 32, 47, 48, 55, 63, 69, 75, 80, 82, 93, 111, 115, 118, 119, 120, 124, 125 Beecher, Henry Ward, cases in the family of, 118 Benzoic acid, as a cause, 88, 95 Beschorner, 22 Bibliography, 293 Binz, C, 28 Bishop, S. S., 36, 134, 138 [ 339 ] INDEX Blackley, Chas. H., 29, 31, 39, 90, 95, 102, 103, 122, 207 Blackley, experiments of, 90, 102 Blood, alkalinity of, 135 Blossoming dates, muta- bility of, 109 Blue, Eupert, 160 Bostock, J., 19, 24, 88 Bosworth, 49, 50, 52, 63, 72, 76, 82, 119, 127, 129, 132, 134 Botallus, 22 Bronchial complications, treatment, 189 Bronchitis complicating, 189 Broussais, 22 BuUette, W. W., 83, 117 Calcium chlorid, 265 Calcium salt treatment, 261 conclusions as to, 273 Camphor, use of, 170 Canada, cases in, 115 Capp, W. M., 70, 138 Cardiac involvement, 65 Caterpillars as a cause, 99 Causes, xi, 38 accepted, 87 dust, 88, 93 dust from books, 94 enteric fever, 44 exciting, 38, 87 neurosis, 44 pollen, 87, 102 predisposing, 110 rye, 89, 105 Causes, ragweed, 105 three, xi toxin, 40 Causative factors, 31, 141 Cavernous tissue, nasal, 73, 128 Chaveau, 111 Children, frequent occur- rence in, X Children, hay-fever in, 77 Chills, analogy to recur- rence of, 50 Chocolate as a cause, 98 Clark, Sir 'Andrew, 36 Cleansing of the nares, xii, 23, 169 Cocain, 105, 176 Coffee as a cause, 97 Complications, 84 Conclusions on use of cal- cium salt, 273 Conklin, 135 Cornaz, 27 Coryza, diagnosis from, 77 Cottonwood fever, 117 Cough as a symptom, 60 Cough, persistent, between paroxysms, 63 Cullen, 97 Cutaneous eruptions as complications, 64 D Daly, W. H., 33, 130 Darwin, 108 Definition, 19 Denmark, cases in, 113 Derangement, internal, as cause, 240 Diagnosis, 65, 84 I 340 I INDEX Diatheses, theory, 45, 81 Diet, 178, 183 Discharges, nasal, 59 Dobell's solution, use of, 169, 289 Drenger, 99 Dunbar, W. P., 13, 191, 193 Duration, 51, 52 Dust as a cause, 46, 88, 93 Dysphagia as a symptom, 80 E Ebstein, 135 Elliotson, 23, 25 Emanations from dry hay as a cause, 24, 96 Emmerich, 261, 264, 292 England, distribution of cases in, 94 Environment, 142 Erectile tissues, nasal, 69, 72 Eucain, 113 Exciting causes, 39, 40 Exercise, 178 Experiments of Blackley on the pollen theory, 102 Eye-symptoms, 59, 213 Factors, causative, xi Factors, essential, xii Farrington, P. M., 150, 286 Fatigue as a cause, 24 Feathers as a cause, 97 Fever during an attack, 56 Fire Island, immunity in, 234 First recognition, 22 Floyer, 23 Fordyce, John A., 239 Fox, Howard, 239, 243 France, cases in, 113 French, rarity of cases among the. 111, 113 Fruit as a cause, 96 Fungoid growth as a cause, 41 G Gaslight, influence of, 92. 96 Gastro-intestinal causes, 141, 143 Genito-urinary organs, in- volvement of, 61 Germans, rarity of cases among the, 111 Germany, cases in, 113 Gibbons, 82 Goldenrod, in TJ. S., 219 Goodale, J. L., 274 Gottheil, Wm. S., 239, 246 Grasses, varieties of, causa- tive, 96, 105, 106 Grayson, C. P., 37, 139, 141 Gream, G. Y., 25 Green Mountains, immu- nity in, 234 H Hack, W., 34, 62, 128, 131 Haig, 135 * ' Hair-caterpillar asthma, ' ' 99 Handkerchiefs, effluvia from, as a cause, 97 Hare, odor of, as a cause, 98 [341] INDEX Hay-fever-producing weeds, eradication of, 159 Hays, Harold, 238 Heart, involvement of, 65 Heat as a cause, 88, 89, 90, 96, 125 Heligoland, immunity in, 234 Helmholtz, 28, 41, 96 Heredity, influence of, 21, 118, 228 Herzog, 131 History, 19 Holmes, E. W., 37, 44, 57, 75, 94, 109, 110, 122, 123, 129, 133, 139 Horses, odor of, as a cause, 98, 99 Hiinerswolff, 100 Hydrogen dioxid in treat- ment, 172 Hydrotherapeutic treat- ment, 191 Hygiene, 147 Hygiene, personal, 168 Hygienic treatment, 147 Hypersensitiveness, 235 Idiosyncrasy, influence of, 21, 128 Imagination, influence of, 49, 101 India, cases in, 113 Indian, case in an. 111 Indigestion as a cause, 143 Ingals, 91, 176 Insomnia as a symptom, 61, 182 Insurance, effect on, 80 Intermittent fever, analogy to, 50 Introduction, ix Ipecac as a cause, 23, 35, 88, 97 Italy, cases in, 113 Itzigson, 97 Ivy-poisoning, analogy to, 107 Jacobi, 111 Kammann, O., 211, 214 Kinnear, 127 Koessler's last words, 252, 254 Labosse, 27 Laforgue, 25 Legislation for prevention, 155 Leucocytes, eosinophile, 252 Liefmann, 212, 215 Life insurance, effect on, 80 mode of, influence of, 122 Light as a cause, 32 Ligustrum vulgare in China, 216 Linseed meal as a cause, 96 Local disease theory, 37, 130 treatment, 167 Locust-tree blossoms as a cause, 97 Loew, 261, 264, 292 [342] INDEX Longevity, effect on, 81 Lycopodium as a cause, 88, 97 M MacCulloch, 25 Macdonald, 36, 55, 83, 99, 113 Mackenzie, J. N., 34, 50, 56, 64, 68, 101, 112, 127, 131, 133 Mackenzie, Morell, 35, 52, 56, 65, 92, 100, 101, 119, 120, 122, 128 Males, prevalence in, 40, 120 Mango-tree as a cause, 107 Manning, E. T., 254 Marsh, E. J., 33, 105, 107 Martin, Sidney, 187, 190 Mattress as a cause, 100 May apple as a cause, 97 Mays, Thomas J., 135 Menthol, use of, 170 Micro - organisms in the nasal discharges, 40, 41 Moore, George, 29 Morphin, use of, 231 Morrell, cases in family, 118 Moschowitz, 252 Mucous membrane, cleans- ing of, xiv, 168 Mucous membrane, nasal, 74, 168 Mulberry blossoms as a cause, 97 Muller, J., 143 Murchison, 135 Murrell, William, 99 Mustard as a cause, 96 Mutability of blossoming dates, 109 N Name, origin of, 20, 23, 39 Nasal abnormalities as causes, 38, 132 symptoms, 58 Nasopharynx, cleansing of, 170 Nasopharynx, sterilization of, 169 Needles, MacRae, 243 Negro, case in a, 112 Nervous supply to the nares, 68 Nervous syslem, etiologie factor, 32 Nettle-rash as a complica' tion, 62 Neurasthenic cases, 179 treatment of, 179 Neurotic element, xiii, 36, 43, 118, 139 Neurotic temperament, x, 118 theory, 36, 44 Neusser, 252 New Orleans, work done there, 165 New Zealand, cases in, 113 Norway, cases in, 113 Nose, coldness of, 30, 55 Nutrition, defective, a cause, 140 [348] INDEX Oak as a cause, 98 Obstruction of the nares as a cause, 132 Occupation, influence of, 124, 228 Occurrence, time of, 27, 47, 48, 52 Ocean, cases on the, 107, 108 Odors of fruits and flowers as causes, 96 Ohls, 176 Onset, period of, 48 Onset, symptoms of, 54, 56, 58 Origin, 39 Origin, nervous, first ad- vanced, 28 Origin of the name, 20, 23 Ozone as a cause, 32, 88, 95 Parry, C. L., 23 Pathology, 65, 84 Patton, 208 Peaches, odor of, as a cause, 19, 100 Periodicity, 19, 46, 53, 56 Personal susceptibility, 35 Phoebus, P., 26, 32, 49, 88, 91, 95, 101, 120, 122 Phvlacogen, mixed infec- ' tion, 260 Phylacogen, use of, 258 Pirrie, W., 28, 32, 51, 89, 91, 113 Pneumonia as a complica- tion, 64 Podophyllum as a cause, 97 Pollantin, 192 Pollantin, E., 235 Pollen albumin, injection of, producing disease, 223 albumin, reaction to, 227 albumin, specific cause of hay-fever, 211 as causative factor, 31 dried, active on libera- tion, 202 extracts, method of pre- serving, 274 first reference to, 31 kinds of, 105 method of obtaining, 103 theory, 31, 87 therapy, 274 therapy, conclusions, 288 toxin, true, 254 toxins, 193 Polypi, Bosworth 's views relative to, 138 Potassium iodid, 190 Prater, Augustus, 25 Predisposing causes, 20, 21, 110 Predisposition, individual, 280 Predisposition, individual, as factor, 220 Preface, v Premonitory symptoms, 44, 54, 89 Preventive measures, 147 Preventive treatment, 151 Prince, M., 50, 51, 119, 126 Proctor, Eichard, case of, 90 Prognosis, 65, 80 [344] INDEX Prophylactic treatment, 155, 176 Protoplasmic substance as a cause, 43 Pruritis ani during an at- tack, 58 Psoriasis, differentiation from, 241 Psychic influence in the causation, 49, 101 Pulse during an attack, 58 Quinin solution as a rem- edy, 28, 41 Quinquaud, 135 Bace, influence of, 111 Eagweed as an exciting cause, 42, 105 Eagweed, cultivation as exterminator, 163, 164 Eagweed, in U. S., 219 Eamadge, 25 Eectum, involvement of, 61 Eecurrence, period of, 49 Eegions of the nasal cavi- ties, 66 Eeport of cases, 248, 249, 250, 251, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272 Eesistance, lowered, x Eesistance, lowered, factor in, 39 Eest, 178 Eiedlin, 23 Kinger, 99 Eoberts, W. C, 30, 55 Eobinson, B., 128 Eoe, J. O., 34, 70, 131 Eoman wormwood as an exciting cause, 47 Eussia, cases in, 113 6 Sajous, C. E. de M., 34, 44, 54, 64, 66, 70, 111, 119, 131 Salol capsule in, 187 Salter, Hyde, 26,. 98 Sandalwood in, 187 Schadle, 150 Scheppegrell, 152 Scotland, cases in, 113 Sea, cases at, 108 Sensitive areas of the nares, 45, 68, 171 Sequelae, 185 Serum, method of prepar- ing, 243 nasal, 59 use of, 191 Sex, influence of, 120 Shaw, cases in family, 119 Sinusitis, relation to, 149 Skin eruptions, 64 Skin reactions, 278, 283 Smell, involvement of, 59, 65 Smith, Abbotts, 27, 108, 110, 114 Smith, Ward, 96 Sneezing in, 58, 267 Snuff in treatment, 174 Solis-Cohen, S., 127, 129, 188 [8451 INDEX South America, cases in, 113 Spain, cases in, 113 Spontaneous disappearance of the recurrences, 83 Sterilization of the nares, 169 Sticker, 202 Strangways, W. F., 42 Sunlight, influence of, 25, 92, 96 Sunshine as a cause, 24, 26 Suprarenal extract, 176 Suprarenal gland in treat- ment, 176 Suprarenal tablet in treat- ment, 174 Surgical treatment, 285 Swain, H. L., 176 Swallowing, difficult, 80 Sweden, cases in, 113 Symptoms, 19, 53, 54, 56, 65 Synonyms, 9, 19 Systemic treatment, 178 T Taste, involvement of, 59, 65 Tea- drinking, influence of, 112 ^' Temperature during an at- tack, 57, 61 Term first used, 20, 23 Theory, idiosyncrasy, 34 local, 37, 132 neurotic, 36, 44, 139 pollen, 32 uric-acid, 134 Thomwaldt, 133 Three predisposing causes, x TimsBus, 23 Time of occurrence, 27, 47, 48, 52 Tomatoes as a cause, 98 Tonsils, 148, 168 Toxin as a cause, 40 dried pollen, active on liberation, 202 true, pollen as, 254 Treatment, 147 calcium chlorid, result of, 268 calcium salt, 261 cleansing nostrils, 170 Dobeirs solution, 169 hydrogen dioxid, 172 local, 167 nasal applications, 167 normal salt, use of, 173 pollen therapy, 274 preliminary local, 172, 176 prophylactic, hygienic, and systemic, 178 scrubbing, of nostrils, 172 surgical, 285 Trosseau, 100 Types, 54 according to duration, 52 U United States, autumnal variety prevalent, 217 United States, distribution of cases in the, 53 [346] INDEX Uric-acid theory, 130, 134, 137, 139 Van Helmont, 22 Van Sweringen, 188 Vasomotor control, nasal, 127 susceptibility, theory of, 126 Vibrios in the discharges, 29 Vogel, 96 Voice, changes in, 61, 148 W Walshe, 27, 107, 114 \\\"Watermelons as a cause, 98 Watson, 26 Sir Thomas, 97 Weeds, removal of, 157, 159, 160 What hay-fever is, 19 White Mountains, immu- nity in, 31, 234 Wilson, Harold, 261 Wilson, J. C, 107 Woodward, 202 Wright, E. W., xiv Wyman, Morrill, 30, 31, 65, 106, 111, 115, 118, 120, 122 T 347 1 A new, practical, and valuable book for all who would keep well and fit How to Live RULES FOR HEALTHFUL LIVING BASED ON MODERN SCIENCE Authorized by and Prepared in Collaboration with the Hygiene Reference Board of the Life Elxtension Institute, Inc. By IRVING FISHER, Chairman, ProfcBSor of Political Economy, Yale University AND EUGENE LYMAN FISK, M.D. Director of Hygiene of the Institute This book can safely be said to contain the latest and most authoritative scientific and popular information on the matter of health- ful living and personal hygiene that has been published in recent years. It represents the result of extensive study, investigation, and research of the organization mentioned above, which is composed of many of America's foremost citizens organized for the purpose of promoting the public health. It is an all-round work of practical usefulness, absorbing in interest as it un- folds the why and wherefor of successful healthfiil living. I2mo, CUth. $1.00; by Mail, $1.12 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers NEW YORK and LONDON Child Training AS AN EXACT SCIENCE By George W. Jacobs, M.D. Based upon Modern Psychology, Medicine and Hygiene The Parent, the Physician, the Teacher, the Nurse, will find this Book of Immense Usefulness. Its Authority and Reliability are Un- questioned. Heretofore there has been no one book which stood out high above others as a standard, scientific, and reliable popular work on the sub- ject of Child Training in its mental, moral and physical aspects. The New York Times, says :—\\\" Study of this material will undoubtedly increase a teacher's effi- ciency.\\\" $1.50 net; hy mail $1.62 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Pubasherg NEW YORK and LONDON hiXercises for Vv omen Most women are very definitely in need of some sort of simple and suitable exercise that can be done in the home, without apparatus, if necessary. This new book by Florence Bolton, A.B., formerly Director of Women's Gymnasium, Stanford Univer- sity, outlines and pictures an excellent series of plain, practical exercises, adapted to meet the peculiar re- quirements of women. The combination of diflferent exercises includes many for reducing flesh; and others bound to result in the securing and preservation of a full, rounded, graceful figure. For Every Woman Everywhere Who Desires PHYSICAL GRACE, and POWER and the mental satisfaction consequent upon both. The book should be useful to physicians in pre- scribing exercises for their patients, to teachers of gymnastics for class and private work, to the college woman who has left gymnasium days behind, and to EVERY WOMAN, EVERYWHERE who desires PHYSICAL HRACE, and POWER. HAS DONE HER SEX GOOD SERVICE \\\" Florence Bolton . . . has done her eex good service in this terse, well-arranged little volume. The directions for specific exercises, mainly of the ' mat ' order, are well detailed, and fit- ting illustrations simplify their use.\\\"— TAe Record-Herald, Chicago, 111. 12mo, Cloth. Numerous half-tones and diagrams, outlining the movements. $1.00. net. A verage carriage charges 8 eents. FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers NEW YORK and LONDON\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2287"],"string":"[\n \"2287\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Allergic_rhinitis.txt\nAllergic rhinitis\nAllergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose which occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, itchy, and watery eyes, and swelling around the eyes. The fluid from the nose is usually clear. Symptoms onset is often within minutes following exposure and they can affect sleep, the ability to work, and the ability to concentrate at school. Those whose symptoms are due to pollen typically develop symptoms during specific times of the year. Many people with allergic rhinitis also have asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, or atopic dermatitis.\n\nAllergic rhinitis is typically triggered by environmental allergens such as pollen, pet hair, dust, or mold. Inherited genetics and environmental exposures contribute to the development of allergies. Growing up on a farm and having multiple siblings decreases the risk. The underlying mechanism involves IgE antibodies attaching to the allergen and causing the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine from mast cells. Diagnosis is usually based on a medical history in combination with a skin prick test or blood tests for allergen-specific IgE antibodies. These tests, however, are sometimes falsely positive. The symptoms of allergies resemble those of the common cold; however, they often last for more than two weeks and typically do not include a fever.\n\nExposure to animals in early life might reduce the risk of developing allergies to them later. A number of medications may improve symptoms including nasal steroids, antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, cromolyn sodium, and leukotriene receptor antagonists such as montelukast. Medications are, however, not sufficient or associated with side effects in many people. Exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen, known as allergen immunotherapy is often effective. The allergen may be given as injections just under the skin or as a tablet under the tongue. Treatment typically lasts three to five years after which benefits may be prolonged.\n\nAllergic rhinitis is the type of allergy that affects the greatest number of people. In Western countries, between 10–30% of people are affected in a given year. It is most common between the ages of twenty and forty. The first accurate description is from the 10th century physician Rhazes. Pollen was identified as the cause in 1859 by Charles Blackley. In 1906 the mechanism was determined by Clemens von Pirquet. The link with hay came about due to an early (and incorrect) theory that the symptoms were brought about by the smell of new hay. \n\nSigns and symptoms\n\nThe characteristic symptoms of allergic rhinitis are: rhinorrhea (excess nasal secretion), itching, sneezing fits, and nasal congestion and obstruction. Characteristic physical findings include conjunctival swelling and erythema, eyelid swelling, lower eyelid venous stasis (rings under the eyes known as \"allergic shiners\"), swollen nasal turbinates, and middle ear effusion. \n\nThere can also be behavioural signs; in order to relieve the irritation or flow of mucus, people may wipe or rub their nose with the palm of their hand in an upward motion: an action known as the \"nasal salute\" or the \"allergic salute\". This may result in a crease running across the nose (or above each nostril if only one side of the nose is wiped at a time), commonly referred to as the \"transverse nasal crease\", and can lead to permanent physical deformity if repeated enough.\n\nPeople might also find that cross-reactivity occurs. For example, someone allergic to birch pollen may also find that he/she has an allergic reaction to the skin of apples or potatoes. A clear sign of this is the occurrence of an itchy throat after eating an apple or sneezing when peeling potatoes or apples. This occurs because of similarities in the proteins of the pollen and the food. There are many cross-reacting substances. Hay fever is not a true fever, meaning it does not cause a core body temperature in the fever over 37.5–38.3 °C (99.5-100.9 °F).\n\nCause\n\nAllergic rhinitis triggered by the pollens of specific seasonal plants is commonly known as \"hay fever\", because it is most prevalent during haying season. However, it is possible to have allergic rhinitis throughout the year. The pollen that causes hay fever varies between individuals and from region to region; in general, the tiny, hardly visible pollens of wind-pollinated plants are the predominant cause. Pollens of insect-pollinated plants are too large to remain airborne and pose no risk. Examples of plants commonly responsible for hay fever include:\n* Trees: such as pine (Pinus), birch (Betula), alder (Alnus), cedar, hazel (Corylus), hornbeam (Carpinus), horse chestnut (Aesculus), willow (Salix), poplar (Populus), plane (Platanus), linden/lime (Tilia), and olive (Olea). In northern latitudes, birch is considered to be the most common allergenic tree pollen, with an estimated 15–20% of people with hay fever sensitive to birch pollen grains. A major antigen in these is a protein called Bet V I. Olive pollen is most predominant in Mediterranean regions. Hay fever in Japan is caused primarily by sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa) tree pollen.\n** \"Allergy friendly\" trees include: ash (female only), red maple, yellow poplar, dogwood, magnolia, double-flowered cherry, fir, spruce, and flowering plum. \n* Grasses (Family Poaceae): especially ryegrass (Lolium sp.) and timothy (Phleum pratense). An estimated 90% of people with hay fever are allergic to grass pollen.\n* Weeds: ragweed (Ambrosia), plantain (Plantago), nettle/parietaria (Urticaceae), mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris), Fat hen (Chenopodium), and sorrel/dock (Rumex)\n\nAllergic rhinitis may also be caused by allergy to Balsam of Peru, which is in various fragrances and other products. \n\nDiagnosis\n\nAllergy testing may reveal the specific allergens to which an individual is sensitive. Skin testing is the most common method of allergy testing. This may include a patch test to determine if a particular substance is causing the rhinitis, or an intradermal, scratch, or other test. Less commonly, the suspected allergen is dissolved and dropped onto the lower eyelid as a means of testing for allergies. This test should be done only by a physician, since it can be harmful if done improperly. In some individuals not able to undergo skin testing (as determined by the doctor), the RAST blood test may be helpful in determining specific allergen sensitivity. Peripheral eosinophilia can be seen in differential leukocyte count.\n\nAllergy testing can either show allergies that are not actually causing symptoms or miss allergies that do cause symptoms. The intradermal allergy test is more sensitive than the skin prick test but is more often positive in people that do not have symptoms to that allergen. \n\nEven if a person has negative skin-prick, intradermal and blood tests for allergies, he/she may still have allergic rhinitis, from a local allergy in the nose. This is called local allergic rhinitis. Specialized testing is necessary to diagnose local allergic rhinitis. \n\nClassification\n\nAllergic rhinitis may be seasonal or perennial. Seasonal allergic rhinitis occurs in particular during pollen seasons. It does not usually develop until after 6 years of age. Perennial allergic rhinitis occurs throughout the year. This type of allergic rhinitis is commonly seen in younger children. \n\nAllergic rhinitis may also be classified as Mild-Intermittent, Moderate-Severe intermittent, Mild-Persistent, and Moderate-Severe Persistent. Intermittent is when the symptoms occur 4 days/week and >4 consecutive weeks. The symptoms are considered mild with normal sleep, no impairment of daily activities, no impairment of work or school, and if symptoms are not troublesome. Severe symptoms result in sleep disturbance, impairment of daily activities, and impairment of school or work. \n\nLocal allergic rhinitis\n\nLocal allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction in the nose to an allergen, without systemic allergies. So skin-prick and blood tests for allergy are negative, but there are IgE antibodies produced in the nose that react to a specific allergen. Intradermal skin testing may also be negative.\n\nThe symptoms of local allergic rhinitis are the same as the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including symptoms in the eyes. Just as with allergic rhinitis, people can have either seasonal or perennial local allergic rhinitis. The symptoms of local allergic rhinitis can be mild, moderate, or severe. Local allergic rhinitis is associated with conjunctivitis and asthma.\n\nIn one study, about 25% of people with rhinitis had local allergic rhinitis. \nIn several studies, over 40% of people having been diagnosed with nonallergic rhinitis were found to actually have local allergic rhinitis. Steroid nasal sprays and oral antihistamines have been found to be effective for local allergic rhinitis.\n\nPrevention\n\nOne way to prevent allergic rhinitis is to wear a respirator or mask when near potential allergens. \n\nGrowing up on a farm and having multiple brothers and or sisters decreases the risk.\n\nTreatment\n\nThe goal of rhinitis treatment is to prevent or reduce the symptoms caused by the inflammation of affected tissues. Measures that are effective include avoiding the allergen. Intranasal corticosteroids are the preferred treatment if medications are required, with other options used only if these are not effective. Mite-proof covers, air filters, and withholding certain foods in childhood do not have evidence supporting their effectiveness.\n\nAntihistamines\n\nAntihistamine drugs can be taken orally and nasally to control symptoms such as sneezing, rhinorrhea, itching, and conjunctivitis.\n\nIt is best to take oral antihistamine medication before exposure, especially for seasonal allergic rhinitis. In the case of nasal antihistamines like azelastine antihistamine nasal spray, relief from symptoms is experienced within 15 minutes allowing for a more immediate 'as-needed' approach to dosage.\n\nOphthalmic antihistamines (such as azelastine in eye drop form and ketotifen) are used for conjunctivitis, while intranasal forms are used mainly for sneezing, rhinorrhea, and nasal pruritus.\n\nAntihistamine drugs can have undesirable side-effects, the most notable one being drowsiness in the case of oral antihistamine tablets. First-generation antihistamine drugs such as diphenhydramine cause drowsiness, but second- and third-generation antihistamines such as cetirizine and loratadine are less likely to cause this problem.\n\nPseudoephedrine is also indicated for vasomotor rhinitis. It is used only when nasal congestion is present and can be used with antihistamines. In the United States, oral decongestants containing pseudoephedrine must be purchased behind the pharmacy counter by law in effort to prevent the making of methamphetamine.\n\nSteroids\n\nIntranasal corticosteroids are used to control symptoms associated with sneezing, rhinorrhea, itching, and nasal congestion. Steroid nasal sprays are effective and safe, and may be effective without oral antihistamines. They take several days to act and so must be taken continually for several weeks, as their therapeutic effect builds up with time.\n\nIn 2013, a study compared the efficacy of mometasone furoate nasal spray to betamethasone oral tablets for the treatment of people with seasonal allergic rhinitis and found that the two have virtually equivalent effects on nasal symptoms in people. \n\nSystemic steroids such as prednisone tablets and intramuscular triamcinolone acetonide or glucocorticoid (such as betamethasone) injection are effective at reducing nasal inflammation, but their use is limited by their short duration of effect and the side-effects of prolonged steroid therapy. \n\nOther\n\nOther measures that may be used second line include: decongestants, cromolyn, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and nonpharmacologic therapies such as nasal irrigation.\n\nTopical decongestants may also be helpful in reducing symptoms such as nasal congestion, but should not be used for long periods, as stopping them after protracted use can lead to a rebound nasal congestion called rhinitis medicamentosa.\n\nFor nocturnal symptoms, intranasal corticosteroids can be combined with nightly oxymetazoline, an adrenergic alpha-agonist, or an antihistamine nasal spray without risk of rhinitis medicamentosa. \n\nAllergen immunotherapy\n\nAllergen immunotherapy (AIT, also termed desensitization) treatment involves administering doses of allergens to accustom the body to substances that are generally harmless (pollen, house dust mites), thereby inducing specific long-term tolerance. Allergy immunotherapy can be administered orally (as sublingual tablets or sublingual drops), or by injections under the skin (subcutaneous).\n\nAlternative medicine\n\nTherapeutic efficacy of alternative treatments such as acupuncture and homeopathy is not supported by available evidence. Some evidence shows that acupuncture is effective for rhinitis, whereas other evidence does not. The overall quality of evidence, however, is poor. \n\nEpidemiology\n\nAllergic rhinitis is the type of allergy that affects the greatest number of people. In Western countries, between 10 and 30 percent of people are affected in a given year. It is most common between the ages of twenty and forty.\n\nHistory\n\nThe first accurate description is from the 10th century physician Rhazes. Pollen was identified as the cause in 1859 by Charles Blackley. While in 1906 the mechanism was determined by Clemens von Pirquet. The link with hay came about due to an early (and incorrect) theory that the symptoms were brought about by the smell of new hay.","Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) - Provides support, advocacy ...\nAllergic rhinitis (hay fever) What is ... Hay fever is the common name to describe allergic rhinitis and ... The overall burden of allergic rhinitis is better ...\nHay fever, allergic rhinitis\nAllergic rhinitis (hay fever)\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?\nHay fever is the common name to describe allergic rhinitis and involves a recurrent runny, stuffy, itchy nose, and frequent sneezing. It can also affect your eyes, sinuses, throat and ears. \nLike any other allergy, allergic rhinitis is an inappropriate immune system response to an allergen – most commonly house dust mite, pet, pollen and mould. The allergen comes into contact with the sensitive, moist lining in your nose and sinuses and sets off the allergic response.\nHay fever is often considered a nuisance rather than a major disease and most people will self-treat. However, recent studies have revealed that hay fever has a huge impact on quality of life.\nWhat is the impact?\nAbout 20 per cent of the general population suffers from rhinitis. Of these people, about one third develops problems before the age of 10.\nThe overall burden of allergic rhinitis is better understood when you consider that 50 per cent of patients experience symptoms for more than four months per year and that 20 per cent have symptoms for at least nine months per year.\nThose affected by hay fever suffer more frequent and prolonged sinus infection, and for those who also have red, itchy eyes, there is the risk of developing infective conjunctivitis due to frequent rubbing. \nPersistent symptoms and poor quality sleep can result in lethargy, poor concentration and behavioural changes and impact on learning in young children.\nAllergic rhinitis may predispose people to obstructive sleep apnoea, due to the upper airways collapsing during sleep. This results in reduced airflow, a drop in oxygen levels and disturbed sleep. \nPatients with allergic rhinitis also suffer from more frequent and prolonged respiratory infections, and asthma has been shown to be more difficult to control unless allergic rhinitis is also managed.\n \nWhat is the link between allergic rhinitis and asthma?\nAllergic rhinitis has been found to be an extremely common trigger for asthma in both children and adults. Allergic rhinitis can also exacerbate asthma, and it can make the diagnosis of asthma more difficult.\nAround 80 per cent of people with asthma suffer from allergic rhinitis, and around one in four with allergic rhinitis has asthma. \nThere is now very good evidence to support the idea that asthmatics who look after their upper airways well need less asthma medication and fewer hospital or GP visits. \nWhen treating both asthma and allergic rhinitis, the first step is to find out the cause of your problem. Once the causes have been identified, management regimes can be put into place to minimise the impact of the allergy, and this then reduces the need for medication. \n \nWhat causes allergic rhinitis?\nThe most common triggers for people with allergic rhinitis are pollen, dust mite, pet and mould allergens. \nSeasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is usually triggered by wind-borne pollen from trees, grass and weeds. Early spring symptoms point to tree pollen, while nasal allergy in late spring and summer indicates that grass and weed pollens are the culprits. And overlapping the grass season is the weed pollen season, which usually starts in late spring and extends through to the end of summer. \nIn New Zealand the seasons are not very distinct and they vary throughout the country because of the different climates. The season starts about one month earlier at the top of the North Island than the bottom of the South Island. Thus the hay fever season is not very well defined. \nAllergic rhinitis that persists year-round (perennial allergic rhinitis) is usually caused by house dust mites, pets, or mould. People with allergic rhinitis are often allergic to more than one allergen, such as dust mite and pollen, so may suffer from symptoms for months on end or all year round. \nIrritants such as strong perfumes and tobacco smoke can aggravate this condition.\nFoods do not play as big a role as had been thought in the past.\n \nWhat are the symptoms?\nSymptoms of allergic rhinitis can be any combination of itching in the back of the throat, eyes or nose, sneezing, runny eyes or nose, and blocked nose.\nA person may have any or all of the following:\nwatery discharge from the nose all the time, occasionally or during certain seasons of the year\nstuffy nose all the time or during specific seasons\nreddened, pebbly lining in the lower eyelids\nfrequent throat-clearing\nrabbit-like movements of the nose\na horizontal crease across the nose as a result of constant rubbing\nbouts of sneezing, especially in the morning\nrepeated nosebleeds\nheadaches because of pressure from inside the nose\nfrequent earaches, fullness in the ear, ear infections or hearing loss\ndizziness or nausea related to ear problems\nchronic cold without much fever\nnasal voice because of blocked nasal passages\ndark circles under the eyes as a result of pressure from blocked nasal passages on the small blood vessels. Also known as \"allergic shiners\".\nWhen does allergic rhinitis develop?\nAllergic rhinitis typically develops in childhood. It is part of what we call the Allergic March, where children first develop eczema in infancy, sometimes followed by food allergy, and then go on to develop allergic rhinitis and then asthma.\nThe onset of dust mite allergy occurs often by the age of two, with grass pollen allergy beginning around three to four years of age. Tree pollen allergy develops from about seven years of age. \nIt is not unusual to develop hay fever during adulthood. It can take as few as two to three seasons to become sensitised to pollen, but it depends on the individual.\n \nHow do you diagnose allergic rhinitis?\nYour doctor will confirm the specific allergens causing your rhinitis by taking a complete symptom history, doing a physical examination, and performing skin prick tests.\n \nHow is allergic rhinitis treated?\nIt is useful to identify your triggers and try and avoid them. This can be difficult.\nPets: Make sure you keep it outside and never let it in the bedroom. It is never easy trying to decide on a new home for a pet, but in some cases this might be the best option. Even after you have removed your pet from your home, the allergens remain in furnishings for long periods afterwards and can cause symptoms. You will need to thoroughly clean your walls, floors and carpets to remove the allergen.\nDust mites: House dust mite reduction measures include mite-proof covers for the mattress, duvet and pillows. Removing items that collect dust from the bedroom will help. A good quality vacuum cleaner with HEPA filter for the exhaust air is essential to ensure that allergen is not disseminated in the atmosphere. Bedding should be washed frequently in water hotter than 55ºC. If you have soft toys, freeze them overnight and air in the sun.\nPollen: It is difficult to avoid pollen, however you can avoid going outside when pollen counts are high. The amount of pollen in the air is highest:\n• In the morning","Occupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a ...\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a ... Esparto is a gramineous plant that has multiple applications ... Publication Types: Case ...\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a building worker. - PubMed - NCBI\nAllergy Asthma Proc. 2007 Sep-Oct;28(5):571-3.\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a building worker.\n1Department of Allergy of Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon, Madrid, Spain. jrhornillos@gmail.com\nAbstract\nEsparto is a gramineous plant that has multiple applications in today's industry. Several cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) caused by esparto inhalation have been reported, but only one case of asthma caused by Aspergillus fumigatus contaminating esparto has been communicated. We report a case of asthma induced by esparto inhalation in a 58-year-old man, who is a building industry worker, with subclinical sensitization to grass pollen. The relation between clinical symptoms and work activities was supported by peak expiratory flow (PEF) monitorization; PEF values decreased by 20% the days he handled esparto. Prick test with esparto was positive. Immunoblot analysis revealed several allergens in the esparto extract, some of them present in Lolium and A. fumigatus extracts. IgE immunoblot inhibition revealed a complete inhibition of lolium and A. fumigatus IgE reactive bands by esparto proteins. The patient then avoided the exposure to esparto at work and has remained asymptomatic for the last 2 years. In conclusion, this is a case of occupational asthma caused by esparto dust mediated by IgE antibodies. Proteins of A. fumigatus as well as proteins from this gramineous plant, which cross-reacted with esparto allergens, were responsible for the disease.\nPMID:","Allergic Rhinitis : Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies - WebMD\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?Allergic ... vitamins, and supplements. Search by name or medical condition. ... Seasonal allergies are believed to affect as many as ...\nAllergic Rhinitis: Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies\nCredits\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?\nAllergic rhinitis , often called allergies or hay fever , occurs when your immune system overreacts to particles in the air that you breathe-you are allergic to them. Your immune system attacks the particles in your body, causing symptoms such as sneezing and a runny nose . The particles are called allergens , which simply means they can cause an allergic reaction .\nPeople with allergies usually have symptoms for many years. You may have symptoms often during the year, or just at certain times. You also may get other problems such as sinusitis and ear infections as a result of your allergies .\nOver time, allergens may begin to affect you less, and your symptoms may not be as severe as they had been.\nWhat are the symptoms of allergic rhinitis?\nIn most cases, when you have allergic rhinitis:\nYou sneeze again and again, especially after you wake up in the morning.\nYou have a runny nose and postnasal drip . The drainage from a runny nose caused by allergies is usually clear and thin. But it may become thicker and cloudy or yellowish if you get a nasal or sinus infection .\nYour eyes are watery and itchy.\nYour ears, nose, and throat are itchy.\nWhich allergens commonly cause allergic rhinitis?\nYou probably know that pollens from trees, grasses, and weeds cause allergic rhinitis. Many people have allergies to dust mites , animal dander , cockroaches, and mold as well. Things in the workplace, such as cereal grain, wood dust, chemicals, or lab animals, can also cause allergic rhinitis.\nIf you are allergic to pollens, you may have symptoms only at certain times of the year. If you are allergic to dust mites and indoor allergens, you may have symptoms all the time.\nHow is allergic rhinitis diagnosed?\nTo find out if you have allergies, your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you. Knowing what symptoms you have, when you get them, and what makes them worse or better can help your doctor know whether you have allergies or another problem.\nIf you have severe symptoms, you may need to have allergy tests to find out what you are allergic to.\nYour doctor may do a skin test. In this test your doctor puts a small amount of an allergen into your skin to see if it causes an allergic reaction .\nYour doctor may order lab tests. These tests look for substances that put you at risk for allergies.\nContinued\nHow is it treated?\nThere is no cure for allergic rhinitis. One of the best things you can do is to avoid the things that cause your allergies. You may need to clean your house often to get rid of dust, animal dander, or molds. Or you may need to stay indoors when pollen counts are high.\nUnless you have another health problem, such as asthma , you may take over-the-counter medicines to treat your symptoms at home. If you do have another problem, talk to your doctor first. Others who also should talk to their doctor before starting self-treatment include older adults, children, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding .\nIf your allergies bother you a lot and you cannot avoid the things you are allergic to, immunotherapy (such as allergy shots ) may help prevent or reduce your symptoms. To have this treatment, you first need to know what you are allergic to.\nFinding the treatment that works best for you may take a little time.\nWebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise\nThis information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.© 1995-2015 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.\nPagination","HAL Allergy Group: Clinical Conditions\nClinical Conditions; ... Seasonal allergic rhinitis is better known as ... Allergic alveolitis is a collective name for a number of allergic pulmonary disorders ...\nHAL Allergy Group: Clinical Conditions\nClinical Conditions\nAllergic rhinitis is the most common symptom\nDo you know how many types of allergy there really are?\nHay fever, pet and house dust mite allergies are very common. Other manifestations, such as allergic alveolitis, are far less common. This page briefly addresses the various forms.\nAllergic rhinitis, the most common symptom, occurs in two forms, the seasonal type and the non-seasonal type. Seasonal allergic rhinitis is better known as hay fever. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis include sneezing, watery or irritated eyes, a blocked or runny nose and flu-like feeling. The symptoms occur during the flowering season of trees, grasses or shrubs, when they release pollen into the air, hence the term 'seasonal'. When the season is over, the symptoms disappear as well. Non-seasonal allergic rhinitis may occur all year round, its symptoms are comparable to the seasonal type but the allergens are different. Examples of this type of allergy are house dust mite and pet allergy.\nAllergic conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva of both eyes. It is characterised by red, tearing and itching eyes. This type often goes hand in hand with allergic rhinitis.\nAsthma occurs in many different forms. Allergic asthma is a fairly common type. It is a process of respiratory inflammation caused by inhaling substances to which one is allergic. Initial complaints include frequent coughing, respiratory infection and fatigue. Typical symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath occur at a later stage.\nAllergic alveolitis is a collective name for a number of allergic pulmonary disorders caused by minuscule substances, often fungi and animal proteins. These substances are so small that they can enter the airways, where they cause an inflammatory reaction. Alveolitis is fairly rare. An example is pigeon fanciers lung, a disorder caused by extremely small dust particles in the droppings in a dovecote.\nUrticaria is also known as hives or nettle rash. It is an allergic skin disorder characterised by severely itching lumps or rashes. Those rashes may occur anywhere on the body, occasionally causing a burning and chafing feeling. It has many causes, ranging from foodstuffs to detergents, from skin care products to even sunshine. Sun allergy is a form of urticaria, for example.\nAngio-oedema is a special type of urticaria or nettle rash. The itching is considerably less severe, but the lumps accompanying angio-oedema are much bigger than those associated with urticaria. Angio-oedema often manifests itself on the eyelids, lips and mucous membranes.\nEczema is a skin disorder characterised by fluid-filled vesicles on the skin. The vesicles burst, which is followed by crustation. Eczema is a prevalent disorder, but may also have non-allergic causes.\nAllergic eczema is divided into 'atopic eczema' and 'contact eczema'. A symptom of atopic eczema is an allergen-induced eczema-like rash. This is referred to as 'atopic', which means 'prone to allergic reaction'. Atopic people tend to have hay fever and asthma and (atopic) eczema.\nIf you suffer from contact eczema, you will by definition have other allergic symptoms. Contact eczema does not discriminate. It arises in places where the skin has been in contact with an allergen. An example is allergy to nickel or chrome, which is found in certain jewellery and watches.\nAn insect allergy can be triggered by insect stings. Wasp stings in particular may evoke severe allergic reactions. Skin reactions are frequent, but respiratory problems may occur as well.\nAn occupational allergy is an allergic reaction to a substance present in the workplace. Occupational allergies are often contact or inhalation allergies. Complaints generally develop over time. Examples are allergies to animals or allergic reactions to chemical substances. The symptoms of an occupational allergy are extremely diverse and depend on the type of allergen. A well-known occupational allergy is hairdresser's eczema: an allergic reaction to contact with perm liquids or hair dyes.\nIf you are allergic to birch pollen, you may also react allergic to eating hazelnuts and apples. This may seem curious but it is one of a great many examples of what is known as cross allergy.\nAn allergy is called a cross allergy if the antibodies that the body produces against one allergen, start reacting to another allergen as well, for the simple reason that they are alike. They are related to each other, family, so to speak. Appearance does not enter into it: hazelnuts, apples and birch trees do not look like each other, but they contain related allergens, as do kiwi, pineapple and potato, for instance.\nAn anaphylactic shock is an extremely severe allergic reaction of the entire body. The reaction may occur very quickly, within minutes. An anaphylactic shock is a dangerous reaction of the body, which may be life-threatening. The body reacts very strongly to an allergen. Not just in one place, for instance the site of a wasp sting, but spread across the entire body. Such a strong reaction may cause a substantial drop in blood pressure and lead to loss of consciousness. Severe swelling of the pharynx, may cause tightness of the chest. A shock reaction to a particular kind of food may involve severe nausea, followed by vomiting and abdominal cramps. Without rapid treatment, the pulse will begin to race, which may lead to loss of consciousness.\nIt is therefore essential that the attack be treated as quickly as possible. The most common causes of anaphylactic shock are insect stings, particularly by wasps, and food ingredients (especially peanuts). Such a reaction virtually never occurs with pollen, pet or house dust mite allergies.\nThe symptoms of an anaphylactic shock reaction may be the same as those associated with other allergic reactions, but are generally much more severe. Symptoms that often accompany a shock reaction are laboured breathing, dizziness, arrhythmia, bright redness of the skin and vomiting.\nNot all cases of hypersensitivity to food are allergies. The difference between food allergy and food intolerance is that the former is related to our immune system, whereas intolerance is not. Food allergy is an allergic reaction to certain foodstuffs, such as peanuts. Food allergy often comes paired with gastrointestinal problems, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, but also skin complaints or respiratory problems.\nHAL Allergy Group","Stipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by ...\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto ... disease caused by a variety of antigens reaching the ... plant which is commonly found in ...\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto (Stipa tenacissima) fibers. - PubMed - NCBI\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto (Stipa tenacissima) fibers.\n1Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Servicio de Alergologia, Madrid, Spain. mhm01m@nacom.es\nAbstract\nHypersensitivity pneumonitis or extrinsic allergic alveolitis may be defined as an immunological pulmonary disease caused by a variety of antigens reaching the lungs through inhaled organic and inorganic dusts derived from different sources, although they are usually occupational. Farmer's lung and pigeon breeder's lung are probably the most well-known types of hypersensitivity pneumonitis worldwide. Esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima), which is a grammineous plant which is commonly found in the Mediterranean countries, has a wide variety of uses. Esparto fiber is used for the manufacturing of ropes, hemp sandals, rush mats and parkets; for decorative stucco plates, used on walls and ceilings. Esparto supports a large industry in Spain. The first reports referring to esparto dust as a cause of respiratory disease did not appear until the 1960s, and it was first described as a byssinosis-like disorder. The first cases reported, in which immunologic and challenge tests were used to confirm this association, were described 14 years ago and referred as hypersensitivity pneumonitis nominated as stipatosis. Later, a large number of cases of esparto dust-induced hypersensitivity pneumonitis were reported by different authors, so that esparto may be nowadays considered as the main substance causing extrinsic allergic alveolitis in Spain. Afumigatus has been revealed to be the main inducing cause of stipatosis but probably is not the only one since other microorganisms could be implicated. On the other hand esparto fibers may also cause occupational asthma. In this article the prominent clinical findings of this disease as well as the results of serologic, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and specific inhalation tests are shown. A complete historical review of esparto-induced allergic respiratory disease is also described.\nPMID:","studydroid.com\n... (also known as Pernio and Perniosis[1]) is a medical condition that is ... to cold and humidity. The cold exposure ... a medical condition caused by ...\ntoo little sugar\nproteins\nbuilding blocks of the body. needed for growth, maintenance, and replacement of body cells, form hormones/enzymes used to regulate body.\nprotein deficiency\nmay stunt growth, promote a secondary anemia, or induce nutritional edema.\nchilblain\nChilblains (also known as Pernio and Perniosis[1]) is a medical condition that is often confused with frostbite and trench foot. Chilblains are acral ulcers (that is, ulcers affecting the extremities) that occur when a predisposed individual is exposed to cold and humidity. The cold exposure damages capillary beds in the skin, which in turn can cause redness, itching, blisters, and inflammation.[2] Chilblains are often idiopathic in origin but can be manifestations of serious medical conditions that need to be investigated. Chilblains can be prevented by keeping the feet and hands warm in cold weather. A history of chilblains is suggestive of a connective tissue disease. 32-60 degrees, redness, swelling, tingling, px.\nsuperficial frostbite\nsurface of skin feels hard but underlying tissue will be soft and move over bony ridges.\nvitamin D\nblack tarry stool\nneuritis\nNeuritis is one of the serious nervous disorders. Neuritis refers to an inflammation of the nerves, involving a single nerve or a series of nerves. At times, several different groups of nerves in various parts of the body may be involved. Neuritis is known as polyneuritis. Neuritis is also known as polyneuropathy, for strictly speaking, Neuritis condition is not an inflammation, but a change in the state of the nerves resulting in weakness, loss of the reflexes and changes of sensation.\nheat stroke\n20% mortality, temp 105 or higher, d.c. cooling when rectal temp reachs 102\nfrostbite\n32 degrees or lower ice crystals form in skin or deeper tissues. face and extremities most common.\nanaphylactic shock\nexposed to substance that thier sensitive to.\nchf\nprolonged hypertension, valve disease, causing pulmonary edema.\nangina\ninsufficient O2 to heart.\nabcess\na collection of pus (dead neutrophils) that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g., splinters, bullet wounds, or injecting needles). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body. One example of an abscess is a BCG-oma, which is caused because of incorrect administration of the BCG vaccine.\nvitamins\nact as catalysts in chemical reaction needed for metabolic functions.\nberiberi\na nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency (deficiency of vitamin B1) in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons. Symptoms of beriberi include severe lethargy and fatigue, together with complications affecting the cardiovascular, nervous, muscular, and gastrointestinal systems\nvitamin B (thiamine HCI)\nberiberi\ntrench foot\na medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions. It is one of many immersion foot syndromes. The use of the word \\\"trench\\\" in the name of this condition is a reference to trench warfare, mainly associated with World War I. 32-50 degrees. tingling, swelling, blisters.\nrecommended carbohydrates\n50% of daily calorie intake.\nerythema\nredness of the skin, caused by hyperemia of the capillaries in the lower layers of the skin. It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation.[1] Examples of erythema not associated with pathology include nervous blushes.\nseptic shock\n2-3 days after injury, poor prognosis.\ncarbohydrates\nmost effcient source of energy\nami\n3,500 calories\nfuruncle\nA boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, infection of the hair follicle. It is almost always caused by infection by the bacteriumStaphylococcus aureus, resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an accumulation of pus and dead tissue.[1] Individual boils clustered together are called carbuncles.[2] Staphylococcus is a genus of bacteria that is characterized by being round (coccus or spheroid shaped), Gram-positive, and found as either single cells, in pairs, or more frequently, in clusters that resemble a bunch of grapes. The genus name Staphylococcus is derived from Greek terms \\\"staphyle and kokkos\\\" that mean \\\"a bunch of grapes\\\", which is how the bacteria often appears microscopically (after Gram staining). In 1884, German physician Ottomar Rosenbach first described and named the bacteria. Two major divisions of the genus Staphylococcus are separated by the bacteria\\'s ability to produce coagulase, an enzyme that can clot blood. Most human infections are caused by coagulase-positive S. aureus strains. Almost any organ system can be infected by S. aureus.\namount of morphine","Allergy.txt\nAllergy\nAllergies, also known as allergic diseases, are a number of conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to something in the environment that usually causes little or no problem in most people. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, and anaphylaxis. Symptoms may include red eyes, an itchy rash, runny nose, shortness of breath, or swelling. Food intolerances and food poisoning are separate conditions. \n\nCommon allergens include pollen and certain food. Metals and other substances may also cause problems. Food, insect stings, and medications are common causes of severe reactions. Their development is due to both genetic and environmental factors. The underlying mechanism involves immunoglobulin E antibodies (IgE), part of the body's immune system, binding to an allergen and then to a receptor on mast cells or basophils where it triggers the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine. Diagnosis is typically based on a person's medical history. Further testing of the skin or blood may be useful in certain cases. Positive tests, however, may not mean there is a significant allergy to the substance in question.\n\nEarly exposure to potential allergens may be protective. Treatments for allergies include avoiding known allergens and the use of medications such as steroids and antihistamines. In severe reactions injectable adrenaline (epinephrine) is recommended. Allergen immunotherapy, which gradually exposes people to larger and larger amounts of allergen, is useful for some types of allergies such as hay fever and reactions to insect bites. Its use in food allergies is unclear.\n\nAllergies are common. In the developed world, about 20% of people are affected by allergic rhinitis, about 6% of people have at least one food allergy, and about 20% have atopic dermatitis at some point in time. Depending on the country about 1%-18% of people have asthma. Anaphylaxis occurs in between 0.05–2% of people. Rates of many allergic diseases appear to be increasing. The word \"allergy\" was first used by Clemens von Pirquet in 1906.\n\nSigns and symptoms\n\nMany allergens such as dust or pollen are airborne particles. In these cases, symptoms arise in areas in contact with air, such as eyes, nose, and lungs. For instance, allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, causes irritation of the nose, sneezing, itching, and redness of the eyes. Inhaled allergens can also lead to increased production of mucus in the lungs, shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing.\n\nAside from these ambient allergens, allergic reactions can result from foods, insect stings, and reactions to medications like aspirin and antibiotics such as penicillin. Symptoms of food allergy include abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, itchy skin, and swelling of the skin during hives. Food allergies rarely cause respiratory (asthmatic) reactions, or rhinitis. Insect stings, antibiotics, and certain medicines produce a systemic allergic response that is also called anaphylaxis; multiple organ systems can be affected, including the digestive system, the respiratory system, and the circulatory system. Depending on the rate of severity, it can cause a skin reactions, bronchoconstriction, swelling, low blood pressure, coma, and death. This type of reaction can be triggered suddenly, or the onset can be delayed. The nature of anaphylaxis is such that the reaction can seem to be subsiding, but may recur throughout a period of time.\n\nSkin\n\nSubstances that come into contact with the skin, such as latex, are also common causes of allergic reactions, known as contact dermatitis or eczema. Skin allergies frequently cause rashes, or swelling and inflammation within the skin, in what is known as a \"wheal and flare\" reaction characteristic of hives and angioedema.\n\nWith insect stings a large local reaction may occur (an area of skin redness greater than 10 cm in size). It can last one to two days. This reaction may also occur after immunotherapy. \n\nCause\n\nRisk factors for allergy can be placed in two general categories, namely host and environmental factors. Host factors include heredity, sex, race, and age, with heredity being by far the most significant. However, there have been recent increases in the incidence of allergic disorders that cannot be explained by genetic factors alone. Four major environmental candidates are alterations in exposure to infectious diseases during early childhood, environmental pollution, allergen levels, and dietary changes.\n\nFoods\n\nA wide variety of foods can cause allergic reactions, but 90% of allergic responses to foods are caused by cow's milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. Other food allergies, affecting less than 1 person per 10,000 population, may be considered \"rare\". The use of hydrolysed milk baby formula versus standard milk baby formula does not appear to change the risk. \n\nThe most common food allergy in the US population is a sensitivity to crustacea. Although peanut allergies are notorious for their severity, peanut allergies are not the most common food allergy in adults or children. Severe or life-threatening reactions may be triggered by other allergens, and are more common when combined with asthma.\n\nRates of allergies differ between adults and children. Peanut allergies can sometimes be outgrown by children. Egg allergies affect one to two percent of children but are outgrown by about two-thirds of children by the age of 5. The sensitivity is usually to proteins in the white, rather than the yolk.\n\nMilk-protein allergies are most common in children. Approximately 60% of milk-protein reactions are immunoglobulin E-mediated, with the remaining usually attributable to inflammation of the colon. Some people are unable to tolerate milk from goats or sheep as well as from cows, and many are also unable to tolerate dairy products such as cheese. Roughly 10% of children with a milk allergy will have a reaction to beef. Beef contains a small amount of protein that is present in cow's milk. Lactose intolerance, a common reaction to milk, is not a form of allergy at all, but rather due to the absence of an enzyme in the digestive tract.\n\nThose with tree nut allergies may be allergic to one or to many tree nuts, including pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts. Also seeds, including sesame seeds and poppy seeds, contain oils in which protein is present, which may elicit an allergic reaction.\n\nAllergens can be transferred from one food to another through genetic engineering; however genetic modification can also remove allergens. Little research has been done on the natural variation of allergen concentrations in the unmodified crops. \n\nLatex\n\nLatex can trigger an IgE-mediated cutaneous, respiratory, and systemic reaction. The prevalence of latex allergy in the general population is believed to be less than one percent. In a hospital study, 1 in 800 surgical patients (0.125 percent) reported latex sensitivity, although the sensitivity among healthcare workers is higher, between seven and ten percent. Researchers attribute this higher level to the exposure of healthcare workers to areas with significant airborne latex allergens, such as operating rooms, intensive-care units, and dental suites. These latex-rich environments may sensitize healthcare workers who regularly inhale allergenic proteins.\n\nThe most prevalent response to latex is an allergic contact dermatitis, a delayed hypersensitive reaction appearing as dry, crusted lesions. This reaction usually lasts 48–96 hours. Sweating or rubbing the area under the glove aggravates the lesions, possibly leading to ulcerations. Anaphylactic reactions occur most often in sensitive patients who have been exposed to a surgeon's latex gloves during abdominal surgery, but other mucosal exposures, such as dental procedures, can also produce systemic reactions.\n\nLatex and banana sensitivity may cross-react. Furthermore, those with latex allergy may also have sensitivities to avocado, kiwifruit, and chestnut. These people often have perioral itching and local urticaria. Only occasionally have these food-induced allergies induced systemic responses. Researchers suspect that the cross-reactivity of latex with banana, avocado, kiwifruit, and chestnut occurs because latex proteins are structurally homologous with some other plant proteins.\n\nMedications\n\nAbout 10% of people report that they are allergic to penicillin; however, 90% turn out not to be. Serious allergies only occur in about 0.03%.\n\nToxins interacting with proteins\n\nAnother non-food protein reaction, urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, originates after contact with poison ivy, eastern poison oak, western poison oak, or poison sumac. Urushiol, which is not itself a protein, acts as a hapten and chemically reacts with, binds to, and changes the shape of integral membrane proteins on exposed skin cells. The immune system does not recognize the affected cells as normal parts of the body, causing a T-cell-mediated immune response. Of these poisonous plants, sumac is the most virulent. The resulting dermatological response to the reaction between urushiol and membrane proteins includes redness, swelling, papules, vesicles, blisters, and streaking.\n\nEstimates vary on the percentage of the population that will have an immune system response. Approximately 25 percent of the population will have a strong allergic response to urushiol. In general, approximately 80 percent to 90 percent of adults will develop a rash if they are exposed to of purified urushiol, but some people are so sensitive that it takes only a molecular trace on the skin to initiate an allergic reaction. \n\nGenetics\n\nAllergic diseases are strongly familial: identical twins are likely to have the same allergic diseases about 70% of the time; the same allergy occurs about 40% of the time in non-identical twins. Allergic parents are more likely to have allergic children, and those children's allergies are likely to be more severe than those in children of non-allergic parents. Some allergies, however, are not consistent along genealogies; parents who are allergic to peanuts may have children who are allergic to ragweed. It seems that the likelihood of developing allergies is inherited and related to an irregularity in the immune system, but the specific allergen is not.\n\nThe risk of allergic sensitization and the development of allergies varies with age, with young children most at risk. Several studies have shown that IgE levels are highest in childhood and fall rapidly between the ages of 10 and 30 years. The peak prevalence of hay fever is highest in children and young adults and the incidence of asthma is highest in children under 10. \n\nOverall, boys have a higher risk of developing allergies than girls, although for some diseases, namely asthma in young adults, females are more likely to be affected. These differences between the sexes tend to decrease in adulthood.\n\nEthnicity may play a role in some allergies; however, racial factors have been difficult to separate from environmental influences and changes due to migration. It has been suggested that different genetic loci are responsible for asthma, to be specific, in people of European, Hispanic, Asian, and African origins.\n\nHygiene hypothesis\n\nAllergic diseases are caused by inappropriate immunological responses to harmless antigens driven by a TH2-mediated immune response. Many bacteria and viruses elicit a TH1-mediated immune response, which down-regulates TH2 responses. The first proposed mechanism of action of the hygiene hypothesis was that insufficient stimulation of the TH1 arm of the immune system leads to an overactive TH2 arm, which in turn leads to allergic disease. In other words, individuals living in too sterile an environment are not exposed to enough pathogens to keep the immune system busy. Since our bodies evolved to deal with a certain level of such pathogens, when they are not exposed to this level, the immune system will attack harmless antigens and thus normally benign microbial objects — like pollen — will trigger an immune response. \n\nThe hygiene hypothesis was developed to explain the observation that hay fever and eczema, both allergic diseases, were less common in children from larger families, which were, it is presumed, exposed to more infectious agents through their siblings, than in children from families with only one child. The hygiene hypothesis has been extensively investigated by immunologists and epidemiologists and has become an important theoretical framework for the study of allergic disorders. It is used to explain the increase in allergic diseases that have been seen since industrialization, and the higher incidence of allergic diseases in more developed countries. The hygiene hypothesis has now expanded to include exposure to symbiotic bacteria and parasites as important modulators of immune system development, along with infectious agents.\n\nEpidemiological data support the hygiene hypothesis. Studies have shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less common in the developing world than the industrialized world and that immigrants to the industrialized world from the developing world increasingly develop immunological disorders in relation to the length of time since arrival in the industrialized world. Longitudinal studies in the third world demonstrate an increase in immunological disorders as a country grows more affluent and, it is presumed, cleaner. The use of antibiotics in the first year of life has been linked to asthma and other allergic diseases. The use of antibacterial cleaning products has also been associated with higher incidence of asthma, as has birth by Caesarean section rather than vaginal birth.\n\nStress\n\nChronic stress can aggravate allergic conditions. This has been attributed to a T helper 2 (TH2)-predominant response driven by suppression of interleukin 12 by both the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Stress management in highly susceptible individuals may improve symptoms. \n\nOther environmental factors\n\nInternational differences have been associated with the number of individuals within a population have allergy. Allergic diseases are more common in industrialized countries than in countries that are more traditional or agricultural, and there is a higher rate of allergic disease in urban populations versus rural populations, although these differences are becoming less defined.\n\nAlterations in exposure to microorganisms is another plausible explanation, at present, for the increase in atopic allergy. Endotoxin exposure reduces release of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IFNγ, interleukin-10, and interleukin-12 from white blood cells (leukocytes) that circulate in the blood. Certain microbe-sensing proteins, known as Toll-like receptors, found on the surface of cells in the body are also thought to be involved in these processes.\n\nGutworms and similar parasites are present in untreated drinking water in developing countries, and were present in the water of developed countries until the routine chlorination and purification of drinking water supplies. Recent research has shown that some common parasites, such as intestinal worms (e.g., hookworms), secrete chemicals into the gut wall (and, hence, the bloodstream) that suppress the immune system and prevent the body from attacking the parasite. This gives rise to a new slant on the hygiene hypothesis theory — that co-evolution of humans and parasites has led to an immune system that functions correctly only in the presence of the parasites. Without them, the immune system becomes unbalanced and oversensitive. In particular, research suggests that allergies may coincide with the delayed establishment of gut flora in infants. However, the research to support this theory is conflicting, with some studies performed in China and Ethiopia showing an increase in allergy in people infected with intestinal worms. Clinical trials have been initiated to test the effectiveness of certain worms in treating some allergies. It may be that the term 'parasite' could turn out to be inappropriate, and in fact a hitherto unsuspected symbiosis is at work. For more information on this topic, see Helminthic therapy.\n\nPathophysiology\n\nAcute response\n\nIn the early stages of allergy, a type I hypersensitivity reaction against an allergen encountered for the first time and presented by a professional antigen-presenting cell causes a response in a type of immune cell called a TH2 lymphocyte, which belongs to a subset of T cells that produce a cytokine called interleukin-4 (IL-4). These TH2 cells interact with other lymphocytes called B cells, whose role is production of antibodies. Coupled with signals provided by IL-4, this interaction stimulates the B cell to begin production of a large amount of a particular type of antibody known as IgE. Secreted IgE circulates in the blood and binds to an IgE-specific receptor (a kind of Fc receptor called FcεRI) on the surface of other kinds of immune cells called mast cells and basophils, which are both involved in the acute inflammatory response. The IgE-coated cells, at this stage, are sensitized to the allergen.\n\nIf later exposure to the same allergen occurs, the allergen can bind to the IgE molecules held on the surface of the mast cells or basophils. Cross-linking of the IgE and Fc receptors occurs when more than one IgE-receptor complex interacts with the same allergenic molecule, and activates the sensitized cell. Activated mast cells and basophils undergo a process called degranulation, during which they release histamine and other inflammatory chemical mediators (cytokines, interleukins, leukotrienes, and prostaglandins) from their granules into the surrounding tissue causing several systemic effects, such as vasodilation, mucous secretion, nerve stimulation, and smooth muscle contraction. This results in rhinorrhea, itchiness, dyspnea, and anaphylaxis. Depending on the individual, allergen, and mode of introduction, the symptoms can be system-wide (classical anaphylaxis), or localized to particular body systems; asthma is localized to the respiratory system and eczema is localized to the dermis.\n\nLate-phase response\n\nAfter the chemical mediators of the acute response subside, late-phase responses can often occur. This is due to the migration of other leukocytes such as neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils and macrophages to the initial site. The reaction is usually seen 2–24 hours after the original reaction. Cytokines from mast cells may play a role in the persistence of long-term effects. Late-phase responses seen in asthma are slightly different from those seen in other allergic responses, although they are still caused by release of mediators from eosinophils and are still dependent on activity of TH2 cells.\n\nAllergic contact dermatitis\n\nAlthough allergic contact dermatitis is termed an \"allergic\" reaction (which usually refers to type I hypersensitivity), its pathophysiology actually involves a reaction that more correctly corresponds to a type IV hypersensitivity reaction. In type IV hypersensitivity, there is activation of certain types of T cells (CD8+) that destroy target cells on contact, as well as activated macrophages that produce hydrolytic enzymes.\n\nDiagnosis\n\nEffective management of allergic diseases relies on the ability to make an accurate diagnosis. Allergy testing can help confirm or rule out allergies. Correct diagnosis, counseling, and avoidance advice based on valid allergy test results reduces the incidence of symptoms and need for medications, and improves quality of life. To assess the presence of allergen-specific IgE antibodies, two different methods can be used: a skin prick test, or an allergy blood test. Both methods are recommended, and they have similar diagnostic value. \n\nSkin prick tests and blood tests are equally cost-effective, and health economic evidence shows that both tests were cost-effective compared with no test. Also, early and more accurate diagnoses save cost due to reduced consultations, referrals to secondary care, misdiagnosis, and emergency admissions. \n\nAllergy undergoes dynamic changes over time. Regular allergy testing of relevant allergens provides information on if and how patient management can be changed, in order to improve health and quality of life. Annual testing is often the practice for determining whether allergy to milk, egg, soy, and wheat have been outgrown, and the testing interval is extended to 2–3 years for allergy to peanut, tree nuts, fish, and crustacean shellfish. Results of follow-up testing can guide decision-making regarding whether and when it is safe to introduce or re-introduce allergenic food into the diet. \n\nSkin prick testing\n\n \n \nSkin testing is also known as \"puncture testing\" and \"prick testing\" due to the series of tiny punctures or pricks made into the patient's skin. Small amounts of suspected allergens and/or their extracts (e.g., pollen, grass, mite proteins, peanut extract) are introduced to sites on the skin marked with pen or dye (the ink/dye should be carefully selected, lest it cause an allergic response itself). A small plastic or metal device is used to puncture or prick the skin. Sometimes, the allergens are injected \"intradermally\" into the patient's skin, with a needle and syringe. Common areas for testing include the inside forearm and the back.\n\nIf the patient is allergic to the substance, then a visible inflammatory reaction will usually occur within 30 minutes. This response will range from slight reddening of the skin to a full-blown hive (called \"wheal and flare\") in more sensitive patients similar to a mosquito bite. Interpretation of the results of the skin prick test is normally done by allergists on a scale of severity, with +/- meaning borderline reactivity, and 4+ being a large reaction. Increasingly, allergists are measuring and recording the diameter of the wheal and flare reaction. Interpretation by well-trained allergists is often guided by relevant literature. Some patients may believe they have determined their own allergic sensitivity from observation, but a skin test has been shown to be much better than patient observation to detect allergy.\n\nIf a serious life-threatening anaphylactic reaction has brought a patient in for evaluation, some allergists will prefer an initial blood test prior to performing the skin prick test. Skin tests may not be an option if the patient has widespread skin disease, or has taken antihistamines in the last several days.\n\nPatch testing\n\nPatch testing is a method used to determine if a specific substance causes allergic inflammation of the skin. It tests for delayed reactions. It is used to help ascertain the cause of skin contact allergy, or contact dermatitis. Adhesive patches, usually treated with a number of common allergic chemicals or skin sensitizers, are applied to the back. The skin is then examined for possible local reactions at least twice, usually at 48 hours after application of the patch, and again two or three days later.\n\nBlood testing\n\nAn allergy blood test is quick and simple, and can be ordered by a licensed health care provider (e.g., an allergy specialist), GP, or PED. Unlike skin-prick testing, a blood test can be performed irrespective of age, skin condition, medication, symptom, disease activity, and pregnancy. Adults and children of any age can take an allergy blood test. For babies and very young children, a single needle stick for allergy blood testing is often more gentle than several skin tests.\n\nAn allergy blood test is available through most laboratories. A sample of the patient's blood is sent to a laboratory for analysis, and the results are sent back a few days later. Multiple allergens can be detected with a single blood sample. Allergy blood tests are very safe, since the person is not exposed to any allergens during the testing procedure.\n\nThe test measures the concentration of specific IgE antibodies in the blood. Quantitative IgE test results increase the possibility of ranking how different substances may affect symptoms. A rule of thumb is that the higher the IgE antibody value, the greater the likelihood of symptoms. Allergens found at low levels that today do not result in symptoms can nevertheless help predict future symptom development. The quantitative allergy blood result can help determine what a patient is allergic to, help predict and follow the disease development, estimate the risk of a severe reaction, and explain cross-reactivity. \n\nA low total IgE level is not adequate to rule out sensitization to commonly inhaled allergens. Statistical methods, such as ROC curves, predictive value calculations, and likelihood ratios have been used to examine the relationship of various testing methods to each other. These methods have shown that patients with a high total IgE have a high probability of allergic sensitization, but further investigation with allergy tests for specific IgE antibodies for a carefully chosen of allergens is often warranted.\n\nLaboratory methods to measure specific IgE antibodies for allergy testing include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, or EIA), radioallergosorbent test (RAST) and fluorescent enzyme immunoassay (FEIA). \n\nOther\n\nChallenge testing: Challenge testing is when small amounts of a suspected allergen are introduced to the body orally, through inhalation, or via other routes. Except for testing food and medication allergies, challenges are rarely performed. When this type of testing is chosen, it must be closely supervised by an allergist.\n\nElimination/Challenge tests: This testing method is used most often with foods or medicines. A patient with a suspected allergen is instructed to modify his diet to totally avoid that allergen for a set time. If the patient experiences significant improvement, he may then be \"challenged\" by reintroducing the allergen, to see if symptoms are reproduced.\n\nUnreliable tests: There are other types of allergy testing methods that are unreliable, including applied kinesiology (allergy testing through muscle relaxation), cytotoxicity testing, urine autoinjection, skin titration (Rinkel method), and provocative and neutralization (subcutaneous) testing or sublingual provocation.\n\nDifferential diagnosis\n\nBefore a diagnosis of allergic disease can be confirmed, other possible causes of the presenting symptoms should be considered. Vasomotor rhinitis, for example, is one of many maladies that shares symptoms with allergic rhinitis, underscoring the need for professional differential diagnosis. Once a diagnosis of asthma, rhinitis, anaphylaxis, or other allergic disease has been made, there are several methods for discovering the causative agent of that allergy.\n\nPrevention\n\nThe consumption of various foods during pregnancy has been linked to eczema; these include celery, citrus fruit, raw pepper, margarine, and vegetable oil. A high intake of antioxidants, zinc, and selenium during pregnancy may help prevent allergies. This is linked to a reduced risk for childhood-onset asthma, wheezing, and eczema. Further research needs to be conducted. Probiotic supplements taken during pregnancy or infancy may help to prevent atopic dermatitis. \nAfter birth, an early introduction of solid food and high diversity before week 17 could increase a child's risk for allergies. Studies suggest that introduction of solid food and avoidance of highly allergenic food such as peanuts during the first year does not help in allergy prevention.\n\nManagement\n\nManagement of allergies typically involves avoiding what triggers the allergy and medications to improve the symptoms. Allergen immunotherapy may be useful for some types of allergies.\n\nMedication\n\nSeveral medications maybe used to block the action of allergic mediators, or to prevent activation of cells and degranulation processes. These include antihistamines, glucocorticoids, epinephrine (adrenaline), mast cell stabilizers, and antileukotriene agents are common treatments of allergic diseases. Anti-cholinergics, decongestants, and other compounds thought to impair eosinophil chemotaxis, are also commonly used. Though rare, the severity of anaphylaxis often requires epinephrine injection, and where medical care is unavailable, a device known as an epinephrine autoinjector may be used.\n\nImmunotherapy\n\nAllergen immunotherapy is useful for environmental allergies, allergies to insect bites, and asthma. Its benefit for food allergies is unclear and thus not recommended. Immunotherapy involves exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen in an affect to change the immune system's response.\n\nMeta-analyses have found that injections of allergens under the skin is effective in the treatment in allergic rhinitis in children and in asthma. The benefits may last for years after treatment is stopped. It is generally safe and effective for allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, allergic forms of asthma, and stinging insects.\n\nThe evidence also supports the use of sublingual immunotherapy for rhinitis and asthma but it is less strong. For seasonal allergies the benefit is small. In this form the allergen is given under the tongue and people often prefer it to injections. Immunotherapy is not recommended as a stand-alone treatment for asthma.\n\nAlternative medicine\n\nAn experimental treatment, enzyme potentiated desensitization (EPD), has been tried for decades but is not generally accepted as effective. EPD uses dilutions of allergen and an enzyme, beta-glucuronidase, to which T-regulatory lymphocytes are supposed to respond by favoring desensitization, or down-regulation, rather than sensitization. EPD has also been tried for the treatment of autoimmune diseases but evidence does not show effectiveness.\n\nA review found no effectiveness of homeopathic treatments and no difference compared with placebo. The authors concluded that, based on rigorous clinical trials of all types of homeopathy for childhood and adolescence ailments, there is no convincing evidence that supports the use of homeopathic treatments.\n\nAccording to the NCCIH, the evidence is relatively strong that saline nasal irrigation and butterbur are effective, when compared to other alternative medicine treatments, for which the scientific evidence is weak, negative, or nonexistent, such as honey, acupuncture, omega 3's, probiotics, astragalus, capsaicin, grape seed extract, Pycnogenol, quercetin, spirulina, stinging nettle, tinospora or guduchi.\n \n\nEpidemiology\n\nThe allergic diseases — hay fever and asthma — have increased in the Western world over the past 2–3 decades. Increases in allergic asthma and other atopic disorders in industrialized nations, it is estimated, began in the 1960s and 1970s, with further increases occurring during the 1980s and 1990s, although some suggest that a steady rise in sensitization has been occurring since the 1920s. The number of new cases per year of atopy in developing countries has, in general, remained much lower.\n\nChanging frequency\n\nAlthough genetic factors govern susceptibility to atopic disease, increases in atopy have occurred within too short a time frame to be explained by a genetic change in the population, thus pointing to environmental or lifestyle changes. Several hypotheses have been identified to explain this increased rate; increased exposure to perennial allergens due to housing changes and increasing time spent indoors, and changes in cleanliness or hygiene that have resulted in the decreased activation of a common immune control mechanism, coupled with dietary changes, obesity and decline in physical exercise. The hygiene hypothesis maintains that high living standards and hygienic conditions exposes children to fewer infections. It is thought that reduced bacterial and viral infections early in life direct the maturing immune system away from TH1 type responses, leading to unrestrained TH2 responses that allow for an increase in allergy.\n\nChanges in rates and types of infection alone however, have been unable to explain the observed increase in allergic disease, and recent evidence has focused attention on the importance of the gastrointestinal microbial environment. Evidence has shown that exposure to food and fecal-oral pathogens, such as hepatitis A, Toxoplasma gondii, and Helicobacter pylori (which also tend to be more prevalent in developing countries), can reduce the overall risk of atopy by more than 60%, and an increased rate of parasitic infections has been associated with a decreased prevalence of asthma. It is speculated that these infections exert their effect by critically altering TH1/TH2 regulation. Important elements of newer hygiene hypotheses also include exposure to endotoxins, exposure to pets and growing up on a farm.\n\nHistory\n\nThe concept of \"allergy\" was originally introduced in 1906 by the Viennese pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet, after he noted that some of his patients were hypersensitive to normally innocuous entities such as dust, pollen, or certain foods. Pirquet called this phenomenon \"allergy\" from the Ancient Greek words ἄλλος allos meaning \"other\" and ἔργον ergon meaning \"work\".\n\nAll forms of hypersensitivity used to be classified as allergies, and all were thought to be caused by an improper activation of the immune system. Later, it became clear that several different disease mechanisms were implicated, with the common link to a disordered activation of the immune system. In 1963, a new classification scheme was designed by Philip Gell and Robin Coombs that described four types of hypersensitivity reactions, known as Type I to Type IV hypersensitivity. With this new classification, the word \"allergy\" was restricted to type I hypersensitivities (also called immediate hypersensitivity), which are characterized as rapidly developing reactions.\n\nA major breakthrough in understanding the mechanisms of allergy was the discovery of the antibody class labeled immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE was simultaneously discovered in 1966-7 by two independent groups: Ishizaka's team at the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and by Gunnar Johansson and Hans Bennich in Uppsala, Sweden. Their joint paper was published in April 1969. \n\nDiagnosis\n\nRadiometric assays include the radioallergosorbent test (RAST test) method, which uses IgE-binding (anti-IgE) antibodies labeled with radioactive isotopes for quantifying the levels of IgE antibody in the blood. Other newer methods use colorimetric or fluorescence-labeled technology in the place of radioactive isotopes.\n\nThe RAST methodology was invented and marketed in 1974 by Pharmacia Diagnostics AB, Uppsala, Sweden, and the acronym RAST is actually a brand name. In 1989, Pharmacia Diagnostics AB replaced it with a superior test named the ImmunoCAP Specific IgE blood test, which uses the newer fluorescence-labeled technology.\n\nAmerican College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) issued the Joint Task Force Report \"Pearls and pitfalls of allergy diagnostic testing\" in 2008, and is firm in its statement that the term RAST is now obsolete:\n\nThe term RAST became a colloquialism for all varieties of (in vitro allergy) tests. This is unfortunate because it is well recognized that there are well-performing tests and some that do not perform so well, yet they are all called RASTs, making it difficult to distinguish which is which. For these reasons, it is now recommended that use of RAST as a generic descriptor of these tests be abandoned. \n\nThe new version, the ImmunoCAP Specific IgE blood test, is the only specific IgE assay to receive FDA approval to quantitatively report to its detection limit of 0.1kU/l.\n\nMedical specialty\n\nAn allergist is a physician specially trained to manage and treat allergies, asthma and the other allergic diseases.\nIn the United States physicians holding certification by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI) have successfully completed an accredited educational program and evaluation process, including a proctored examination to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and experience in patient care in allergy and immunology. Becoming an allergist/immunologist requires completion of at least nine years of training. After completing medical school and graduating with a medical degree, a physician will undergo three years of training in internal medicine (to become an internist) or pediatrics (to become a pediatrician). Once physicians have finished training in one of these specialties, they must pass the exam of either the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), the American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics (AOBP), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), or the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine (AOBIM). Internists or pediatricians wishing to focus on the sub-specialty of allergy-immunology then complete at least an additional two years of study, called a fellowship, in an allergy/immunology training program. Allergist/immunologists listed as ABAI-certified have successfully passed the certifying examination of the ABAI following their fellowship.\n\nIn the United Kingdom, allergy is a subspecialty of general medicine or pediatrics. After obtaining postgraduate exams (MRCP or MRCPCH), a doctor works for several years as a specialist registrar before qualifying for the General Medical Council specialist register. Allergy services may also be delivered by immunologists. A 2003 Royal College of Physicians report presented a case for improvement of what were felt to be inadequate allergy services in the UK. In 2006, the House of Lords convened a subcommittee. It concluded likewise in 2007 that allergy services were insufficient to deal with what the Lords referred to as an \"allergy epidemic\" and its social cost; it made several recommendations.\n\nResearch\n\nLow-allergen foods are being developed, as are improvements in skin prick test predictions; evaluation of the atopy patch test; in wasp sting outcomes predictions and a rapidly disintegrating epinephrine tablet, and anti-IL-5 for eosinophilic diseases.\n\nAerobiology is the study of biological particles passively dispersed through the air. One aim is the prevention of allergies due to pollen.","Hay Fever (Allergic Rhinitis) - MedicineNet\nManage your allergy symptoms better during hay fever ... rhinitis) is a common allergic condition. ... a specific season is called \"seasonal allergic rhinitis.\"\nHay Fever Treatment, Home Remedies & Symptoms\nMedical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD\nMelissa Conrad Stöppler, MD\nMelissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.\nMedical Editor: John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP\nJohn P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP\nJohn P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.\nThe best way to treat an allergy condition is to identify the allergic trigger and avoid it.\nAllergists are medical specialists trained in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies , including hay fever.\nHistamine is a key chemical cause of allergic rhinitis and other allergic reactions.\nEffective treatment is available in many forms, including medications and desensitization therapy ( immunotherapy ).\nAntihistamines are the drugs most commonly used to treat allergic rhinitis.\nWhat is hay fever? What are hay fever symptoms and signs?\nShare Your Story\nHay fever affects up to 30% of all people worldwide, including up to 10% of U.S. children under 17 years of age and 7.8% of U.S. adults. The medical cost of allergic rhinitis is approximately $3.4 billion, mostly due to the cost of prescription medications. These figures are probably an underestimate because many of those affected may attribute their discomfort to a chronic cold . Although childhood hay fever tends to be more common, this condition can occur at any age and usually occurs after years of repeated inhalation of allergic substances. The incidence of allergic disease has dramatically increased in the U.S. and other developed countries over recent decades.\n\"Hay fever\" is a misnomer. Hay is not a usual cause of this problem, and it does not cause fever. Early descriptions of sneezing, nasal congestion , and eye irritation while harvesting field hay promoted this popular term. Allergic rhinitis is the correct term used to describe this allergic reaction , and many different substances cause the allergic symptoms noted in hay fever. Rhinitis means \"inflammation of the nose\" and is a derivative of rhino, meaning nose. Allergic rhinitis that occurs during a specific season is called \"seasonal allergic rhinitis.\" When it occurs throughout the year, it is called \"perennial allergic rhinitis.\" Rhinosinusitis is the medical term that refers to inflammation of the nasal lining as well as the lining tissues of the sinuses. This term is sometimes used because the two conditions frequently occur together.\nSymptoms of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, frequently include\nnasal congestion,\na runny nose with clear mucus,\nsneezing,\nnose, eye itching , and\nexcess tear production in the eyes.\nPostnasal dripping of clear mucus frequently causes a cough . Loss of the sense of smell is common, and loss of taste sense occurs occasionally. Nose bleeding may occur if the condition is severe. Eye itching , redness, and excess tears in the eyes frequently accompany the nasal symptoms. The eye symptoms are referred to as \" allergic conjunctivitis \" (inflammation of the whites of the eyes). These allergic symptoms often interfere with one's quality of life and overall health.\nMany people with allergies have difficulty with social and physical activities. For example, concentration is often difficult while experiencing allergic rhinitis symptoms.\nMedically Reviewed by a Doctor on 10/7/2016","Hay Fever | Rhinitis AAAAI\n... you may have a condition called rhinitis. ... Seasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, ... Feel Better. Live Better. An ...\nHay Fever | Rhinitis AAAAI\nShare |\nRhinitis (Hay Fever)\nDo you suffer from frequent sneezing, congestion or stuffiness and an itchy or runny nose? If so, you may have a condition called rhinitis .\nThere are two types of rhinitis: allergic rhinitis and non-allergic rhinitis.\nAllergic Rhinitis\nAllergic rhinitis is caused by allergens like molds, pollen and animals. These are substances which are usually harmless, but can cause allergic reactions in certain people.\nAllergy symptoms are the result of a chain reaction that starts in the immune system. Your immune system controls how your body defends itself. For instance, if you have an allergy to pollen, your immune system identifies pollen as an invader or allergen. Your immune system overreacts by producing antibodies called Immunoglobulin E (IgE). These antibodies travel to cells that release histamine and other chemicals, causing an allergic reaction with symptoms such as sneezing, stuffiness, a runny nose, itching and post-nasal drip.\nPeople with allergic rhinitis are also prone to itchy, watery eyes (from allergic conjunctivitis or eye allergies), and they may be more sensitive to irritants such as smoke, perfume or cold, dry air. Rhinitis can contribute to other problems such as asthma, sinus or ear conditions, or trouble sleeping.\nAllergic Rhinitis Triggers\nSeasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, is triggered by outdoor allergens such as pollen and mold spores. Some people have symptoms year-round due to indoor allergens from pets, mold, dust mites and cockroach residue. This is called perennial allergic rhinitis. You can suffer from either seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis, or a combination of both.\nDiagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis\nAn allergist/immunologist, often referred to as an allergist, has specialized training and experience to determine which allergens, if any, are causing your symptoms. Your allergist will take a detailed health history, perform a physical exam and then most likely test you for allergies. Skin tests show the results within 20 minutes. These results, as well as how frequent and bad your symptoms are, will be considered when developing a treatment plan. Steps to manage your symptoms may include avoiding the allergens you are allergic to, medications or allergy immunotherapy (allergy shots or tablets).\nTreatment and Management of Allergic Rhinitis\nThe first step to manage this condition is to avoid allergens that cause symptoms. For instance, if you are allergic to dust mites, it is important to take steps to prevent exposure to dust mites, such as frequently washing bed linens in hot water. The same is true for outdoor allergens. Limiting your exposure during times of high pollen and mold counts may help reduce symptoms.\nSometimes taking steps to avoid allergens isn’t possible or it isn’t enough to control allergic rhinitis symptoms. That is when your allergist may suggest allergy immunotherapy or recommend medications to control inflammation and prevent symptoms.\nNasal corticosteroid sprays control inflammation and reduce all symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including itching, sneezing, runny nose and stuffiness. Antihistamines in the form of liquid, pills or nasal sprays block histamine and may relieve itching, sneezing and runny nose. But they may not be as effective in reducing nasal stuffiness.\nAnti-leukotrienes in pill form can decrease the symptoms of allergic rhinitis in some people.\nDecongestant pills or nasal sprays can be used as needed if nasal stuffiness is not relieved with other medications. Decongestant nasal sprays should not be used for more than three days because they can cause your congestion to return and worsen. Ipratropium nasal spray can be used specifically for a runny nose.\nEven though some of these medications are available over-the-counter, you should still work with your allergist to discover what medications work best for you. More importantly, an allergist can screen you for allergic asthma, which is common for rhinitis patients.\nYour allergist may also recommend allergy immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots or tablets. This treatment involves receiving injections or taking tablets periodically over a period of three to five years. They have been proven effective in decreasing sensitivity to allergens, sometimes permanently.\nNon-Allergic Rhinitis\nMany people with rhinitis symptoms do not have allergies. If you have non-allergic rhinitis, avoiding allergens is unnecessary and won’t help your symptoms. This highlights the need to visit an allergist to determine what you are or are not allergic to.\nNon-allergic rhinitis usually begins in adults and causes year-round symptoms, especially a runny nose and nasal stuffiness. Strong odors, pollution, weather changes, smoke and other irritants may cause symptoms of non-allergic rhinitis. Non-allergic rhinitis symptoms can also develop as side effects of medications, including some blood pressure medicines, oral contraceptives or medications used for erectile dysfunction. Another type of non-allergic rhinitis is caused by nasal decongestant sprays such as oxymetazoline, when used for long periods of time. This type of medication-induced rhinitis is called rhinitis medicamentosa.\nTreatment of Non-Allergic Rhinitis\nOral antihistamines and anti-leukotriene drugs generally do not benefit non-allergic rhinitis. However, treatment options include nasal corticosteroid sprays and nasal antihistamine sprays. Ipratropium nasal spray can relieve a runny nose and decongestant pills can be used as needed to relieve nasal stuffiness.\nOther forms of treatment may be considered if you have problems with the structure of your nose, such as narrow drainage passages, tumors or a shifted nasal septum (the bone and cartilage that separate the right from the left nostril). In these cases, an operation may be needed.\n \nHealthy Tips\n• There are two forms of rhinitis: allergic and non-allergic. This distinction is important in order to provide the best plan for controlling your symptoms.\n• The allergic form of rhinitis can be caused by outdoor allergens such as pollen and mold spores. This is referred to as seasonal allergic rhinitis or hay fever. Allergic rhinitis can also be caused by indoor allergens such as dust mites or pets. This is called perennial allergic rhinitis, as symptoms are usually year-round.\n• Steps to treat allergic rhinitis include trigger avoidance, medications for inflammation and symptom relief, and immunotherapy (allergy shots and tablets). Treating non-allergic rhinitis may include symptom relieving medication. Operations to correct your nasal structure may also be necessary.\nFeel Better. Live Better.\nAn allergist / immunologist, often referred to as an allergist, is a pediatrician or internist with at least two additional years of specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies, asthma, immune deficiencies and other immunologic diseases.\nBy visiting the office of an allergist, you can expect an accurate diagnosis, a treatment plan that works and educational information to help you manage your disease and feel better.\nThe AAAAI's Find an Allergist / Immunologist service is a trusted resource to help you find a specialist close to home."],"string":"[\n \"Allergic_rhinitis.txt\\nAllergic rhinitis\\nAllergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose which occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, itchy, and watery eyes, and swelling around the eyes. The fluid from the nose is usually clear. Symptoms onset is often within minutes following exposure and they can affect sleep, the ability to work, and the ability to concentrate at school. Those whose symptoms are due to pollen typically develop symptoms during specific times of the year. Many people with allergic rhinitis also have asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, or atopic dermatitis.\\n\\nAllergic rhinitis is typically triggered by environmental allergens such as pollen, pet hair, dust, or mold. Inherited genetics and environmental exposures contribute to the development of allergies. Growing up on a farm and having multiple siblings decreases the risk. The underlying mechanism involves IgE antibodies attaching to the allergen and causing the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine from mast cells. Diagnosis is usually based on a medical history in combination with a skin prick test or blood tests for allergen-specific IgE antibodies. These tests, however, are sometimes falsely positive. The symptoms of allergies resemble those of the common cold; however, they often last for more than two weeks and typically do not include a fever.\\n\\nExposure to animals in early life might reduce the risk of developing allergies to them later. A number of medications may improve symptoms including nasal steroids, antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, cromolyn sodium, and leukotriene receptor antagonists such as montelukast. Medications are, however, not sufficient or associated with side effects in many people. Exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen, known as allergen immunotherapy is often effective. The allergen may be given as injections just under the skin or as a tablet under the tongue. Treatment typically lasts three to five years after which benefits may be prolonged.\\n\\nAllergic rhinitis is the type of allergy that affects the greatest number of people. In Western countries, between 10–30% of people are affected in a given year. It is most common between the ages of twenty and forty. The first accurate description is from the 10th century physician Rhazes. Pollen was identified as the cause in 1859 by Charles Blackley. In 1906 the mechanism was determined by Clemens von Pirquet. The link with hay came about due to an early (and incorrect) theory that the symptoms were brought about by the smell of new hay. \\n\\nSigns and symptoms\\n\\nThe characteristic symptoms of allergic rhinitis are: rhinorrhea (excess nasal secretion), itching, sneezing fits, and nasal congestion and obstruction. Characteristic physical findings include conjunctival swelling and erythema, eyelid swelling, lower eyelid venous stasis (rings under the eyes known as \\\"allergic shiners\\\"), swollen nasal turbinates, and middle ear effusion. \\n\\nThere can also be behavioural signs; in order to relieve the irritation or flow of mucus, people may wipe or rub their nose with the palm of their hand in an upward motion: an action known as the \\\"nasal salute\\\" or the \\\"allergic salute\\\". This may result in a crease running across the nose (or above each nostril if only one side of the nose is wiped at a time), commonly referred to as the \\\"transverse nasal crease\\\", and can lead to permanent physical deformity if repeated enough.\\n\\nPeople might also find that cross-reactivity occurs. For example, someone allergic to birch pollen may also find that he/she has an allergic reaction to the skin of apples or potatoes. A clear sign of this is the occurrence of an itchy throat after eating an apple or sneezing when peeling potatoes or apples. This occurs because of similarities in the proteins of the pollen and the food. There are many cross-reacting substances. Hay fever is not a true fever, meaning it does not cause a core body temperature in the fever over 37.5–38.3 °C (99.5-100.9 °F).\\n\\nCause\\n\\nAllergic rhinitis triggered by the pollens of specific seasonal plants is commonly known as \\\"hay fever\\\", because it is most prevalent during haying season. However, it is possible to have allergic rhinitis throughout the year. The pollen that causes hay fever varies between individuals and from region to region; in general, the tiny, hardly visible pollens of wind-pollinated plants are the predominant cause. Pollens of insect-pollinated plants are too large to remain airborne and pose no risk. Examples of plants commonly responsible for hay fever include:\\n* Trees: such as pine (Pinus), birch (Betula), alder (Alnus), cedar, hazel (Corylus), hornbeam (Carpinus), horse chestnut (Aesculus), willow (Salix), poplar (Populus), plane (Platanus), linden/lime (Tilia), and olive (Olea). In northern latitudes, birch is considered to be the most common allergenic tree pollen, with an estimated 15–20% of people with hay fever sensitive to birch pollen grains. A major antigen in these is a protein called Bet V I. Olive pollen is most predominant in Mediterranean regions. Hay fever in Japan is caused primarily by sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa) tree pollen.\\n** \\\"Allergy friendly\\\" trees include: ash (female only), red maple, yellow poplar, dogwood, magnolia, double-flowered cherry, fir, spruce, and flowering plum. \\n* Grasses (Family Poaceae): especially ryegrass (Lolium sp.) and timothy (Phleum pratense). An estimated 90% of people with hay fever are allergic to grass pollen.\\n* Weeds: ragweed (Ambrosia), plantain (Plantago), nettle/parietaria (Urticaceae), mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris), Fat hen (Chenopodium), and sorrel/dock (Rumex)\\n\\nAllergic rhinitis may also be caused by allergy to Balsam of Peru, which is in various fragrances and other products. \\n\\nDiagnosis\\n\\nAllergy testing may reveal the specific allergens to which an individual is sensitive. Skin testing is the most common method of allergy testing. This may include a patch test to determine if a particular substance is causing the rhinitis, or an intradermal, scratch, or other test. Less commonly, the suspected allergen is dissolved and dropped onto the lower eyelid as a means of testing for allergies. This test should be done only by a physician, since it can be harmful if done improperly. In some individuals not able to undergo skin testing (as determined by the doctor), the RAST blood test may be helpful in determining specific allergen sensitivity. Peripheral eosinophilia can be seen in differential leukocyte count.\\n\\nAllergy testing can either show allergies that are not actually causing symptoms or miss allergies that do cause symptoms. The intradermal allergy test is more sensitive than the skin prick test but is more often positive in people that do not have symptoms to that allergen. \\n\\nEven if a person has negative skin-prick, intradermal and blood tests for allergies, he/she may still have allergic rhinitis, from a local allergy in the nose. This is called local allergic rhinitis. Specialized testing is necessary to diagnose local allergic rhinitis. \\n\\nClassification\\n\\nAllergic rhinitis may be seasonal or perennial. Seasonal allergic rhinitis occurs in particular during pollen seasons. It does not usually develop until after 6 years of age. Perennial allergic rhinitis occurs throughout the year. This type of allergic rhinitis is commonly seen in younger children. \\n\\nAllergic rhinitis may also be classified as Mild-Intermittent, Moderate-Severe intermittent, Mild-Persistent, and Moderate-Severe Persistent. Intermittent is when the symptoms occur 4 days/week and >4 consecutive weeks. The symptoms are considered mild with normal sleep, no impairment of daily activities, no impairment of work or school, and if symptoms are not troublesome. Severe symptoms result in sleep disturbance, impairment of daily activities, and impairment of school or work. \\n\\nLocal allergic rhinitis\\n\\nLocal allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction in the nose to an allergen, without systemic allergies. So skin-prick and blood tests for allergy are negative, but there are IgE antibodies produced in the nose that react to a specific allergen. Intradermal skin testing may also be negative.\\n\\nThe symptoms of local allergic rhinitis are the same as the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including symptoms in the eyes. Just as with allergic rhinitis, people can have either seasonal or perennial local allergic rhinitis. The symptoms of local allergic rhinitis can be mild, moderate, or severe. Local allergic rhinitis is associated with conjunctivitis and asthma.\\n\\nIn one study, about 25% of people with rhinitis had local allergic rhinitis. \\nIn several studies, over 40% of people having been diagnosed with nonallergic rhinitis were found to actually have local allergic rhinitis. Steroid nasal sprays and oral antihistamines have been found to be effective for local allergic rhinitis.\\n\\nPrevention\\n\\nOne way to prevent allergic rhinitis is to wear a respirator or mask when near potential allergens. \\n\\nGrowing up on a farm and having multiple brothers and or sisters decreases the risk.\\n\\nTreatment\\n\\nThe goal of rhinitis treatment is to prevent or reduce the symptoms caused by the inflammation of affected tissues. Measures that are effective include avoiding the allergen. Intranasal corticosteroids are the preferred treatment if medications are required, with other options used only if these are not effective. Mite-proof covers, air filters, and withholding certain foods in childhood do not have evidence supporting their effectiveness.\\n\\nAntihistamines\\n\\nAntihistamine drugs can be taken orally and nasally to control symptoms such as sneezing, rhinorrhea, itching, and conjunctivitis.\\n\\nIt is best to take oral antihistamine medication before exposure, especially for seasonal allergic rhinitis. In the case of nasal antihistamines like azelastine antihistamine nasal spray, relief from symptoms is experienced within 15 minutes allowing for a more immediate 'as-needed' approach to dosage.\\n\\nOphthalmic antihistamines (such as azelastine in eye drop form and ketotifen) are used for conjunctivitis, while intranasal forms are used mainly for sneezing, rhinorrhea, and nasal pruritus.\\n\\nAntihistamine drugs can have undesirable side-effects, the most notable one being drowsiness in the case of oral antihistamine tablets. First-generation antihistamine drugs such as diphenhydramine cause drowsiness, but second- and third-generation antihistamines such as cetirizine and loratadine are less likely to cause this problem.\\n\\nPseudoephedrine is also indicated for vasomotor rhinitis. It is used only when nasal congestion is present and can be used with antihistamines. In the United States, oral decongestants containing pseudoephedrine must be purchased behind the pharmacy counter by law in effort to prevent the making of methamphetamine.\\n\\nSteroids\\n\\nIntranasal corticosteroids are used to control symptoms associated with sneezing, rhinorrhea, itching, and nasal congestion. Steroid nasal sprays are effective and safe, and may be effective without oral antihistamines. They take several days to act and so must be taken continually for several weeks, as their therapeutic effect builds up with time.\\n\\nIn 2013, a study compared the efficacy of mometasone furoate nasal spray to betamethasone oral tablets for the treatment of people with seasonal allergic rhinitis and found that the two have virtually equivalent effects on nasal symptoms in people. \\n\\nSystemic steroids such as prednisone tablets and intramuscular triamcinolone acetonide or glucocorticoid (such as betamethasone) injection are effective at reducing nasal inflammation, but their use is limited by their short duration of effect and the side-effects of prolonged steroid therapy. \\n\\nOther\\n\\nOther measures that may be used second line include: decongestants, cromolyn, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and nonpharmacologic therapies such as nasal irrigation.\\n\\nTopical decongestants may also be helpful in reducing symptoms such as nasal congestion, but should not be used for long periods, as stopping them after protracted use can lead to a rebound nasal congestion called rhinitis medicamentosa.\\n\\nFor nocturnal symptoms, intranasal corticosteroids can be combined with nightly oxymetazoline, an adrenergic alpha-agonist, or an antihistamine nasal spray without risk of rhinitis medicamentosa. \\n\\nAllergen immunotherapy\\n\\nAllergen immunotherapy (AIT, also termed desensitization) treatment involves administering doses of allergens to accustom the body to substances that are generally harmless (pollen, house dust mites), thereby inducing specific long-term tolerance. Allergy immunotherapy can be administered orally (as sublingual tablets or sublingual drops), or by injections under the skin (subcutaneous).\\n\\nAlternative medicine\\n\\nTherapeutic efficacy of alternative treatments such as acupuncture and homeopathy is not supported by available evidence. Some evidence shows that acupuncture is effective for rhinitis, whereas other evidence does not. The overall quality of evidence, however, is poor. \\n\\nEpidemiology\\n\\nAllergic rhinitis is the type of allergy that affects the greatest number of people. In Western countries, between 10 and 30 percent of people are affected in a given year. It is most common between the ages of twenty and forty.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nThe first accurate description is from the 10th century physician Rhazes. Pollen was identified as the cause in 1859 by Charles Blackley. While in 1906 the mechanism was determined by Clemens von Pirquet. The link with hay came about due to an early (and incorrect) theory that the symptoms were brought about by the smell of new hay.\",\n \"Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) - Provides support, advocacy ...\\nAllergic rhinitis (hay fever) What is ... Hay fever is the common name to describe allergic rhinitis and ... The overall burden of allergic rhinitis is better ...\\nHay fever, allergic rhinitis\\nAllergic rhinitis (hay fever)\\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?\\nHay fever is the common name to describe allergic rhinitis and involves a recurrent runny, stuffy, itchy nose, and frequent sneezing. It can also affect your eyes, sinuses, throat and ears. \\nLike any other allergy, allergic rhinitis is an inappropriate immune system response to an allergen – most commonly house dust mite, pet, pollen and mould. The allergen comes into contact with the sensitive, moist lining in your nose and sinuses and sets off the allergic response.\\nHay fever is often considered a nuisance rather than a major disease and most people will self-treat. However, recent studies have revealed that hay fever has a huge impact on quality of life.\\nWhat is the impact?\\nAbout 20 per cent of the general population suffers from rhinitis. Of these people, about one third develops problems before the age of 10.\\nThe overall burden of allergic rhinitis is better understood when you consider that 50 per cent of patients experience symptoms for more than four months per year and that 20 per cent have symptoms for at least nine months per year.\\nThose affected by hay fever suffer more frequent and prolonged sinus infection, and for those who also have red, itchy eyes, there is the risk of developing infective conjunctivitis due to frequent rubbing. \\nPersistent symptoms and poor quality sleep can result in lethargy, poor concentration and behavioural changes and impact on learning in young children.\\nAllergic rhinitis may predispose people to obstructive sleep apnoea, due to the upper airways collapsing during sleep. This results in reduced airflow, a drop in oxygen levels and disturbed sleep. \\nPatients with allergic rhinitis also suffer from more frequent and prolonged respiratory infections, and asthma has been shown to be more difficult to control unless allergic rhinitis is also managed.\\n \\nWhat is the link between allergic rhinitis and asthma?\\nAllergic rhinitis has been found to be an extremely common trigger for asthma in both children and adults. Allergic rhinitis can also exacerbate asthma, and it can make the diagnosis of asthma more difficult.\\nAround 80 per cent of people with asthma suffer from allergic rhinitis, and around one in four with allergic rhinitis has asthma. \\nThere is now very good evidence to support the idea that asthmatics who look after their upper airways well need less asthma medication and fewer hospital or GP visits. \\nWhen treating both asthma and allergic rhinitis, the first step is to find out the cause of your problem. Once the causes have been identified, management regimes can be put into place to minimise the impact of the allergy, and this then reduces the need for medication. \\n \\nWhat causes allergic rhinitis?\\nThe most common triggers for people with allergic rhinitis are pollen, dust mite, pet and mould allergens. \\nSeasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is usually triggered by wind-borne pollen from trees, grass and weeds. Early spring symptoms point to tree pollen, while nasal allergy in late spring and summer indicates that grass and weed pollens are the culprits. And overlapping the grass season is the weed pollen season, which usually starts in late spring and extends through to the end of summer. \\nIn New Zealand the seasons are not very distinct and they vary throughout the country because of the different climates. The season starts about one month earlier at the top of the North Island than the bottom of the South Island. Thus the hay fever season is not very well defined. \\nAllergic rhinitis that persists year-round (perennial allergic rhinitis) is usually caused by house dust mites, pets, or mould. People with allergic rhinitis are often allergic to more than one allergen, such as dust mite and pollen, so may suffer from symptoms for months on end or all year round. \\nIrritants such as strong perfumes and tobacco smoke can aggravate this condition.\\nFoods do not play as big a role as had been thought in the past.\\n \\nWhat are the symptoms?\\nSymptoms of allergic rhinitis can be any combination of itching in the back of the throat, eyes or nose, sneezing, runny eyes or nose, and blocked nose.\\nA person may have any or all of the following:\\nwatery discharge from the nose all the time, occasionally or during certain seasons of the year\\nstuffy nose all the time or during specific seasons\\nreddened, pebbly lining in the lower eyelids\\nfrequent throat-clearing\\nrabbit-like movements of the nose\\na horizontal crease across the nose as a result of constant rubbing\\nbouts of sneezing, especially in the morning\\nrepeated nosebleeds\\nheadaches because of pressure from inside the nose\\nfrequent earaches, fullness in the ear, ear infections or hearing loss\\ndizziness or nausea related to ear problems\\nchronic cold without much fever\\nnasal voice because of blocked nasal passages\\ndark circles under the eyes as a result of pressure from blocked nasal passages on the small blood vessels. Also known as \\\"allergic shiners\\\".\\nWhen does allergic rhinitis develop?\\nAllergic rhinitis typically develops in childhood. It is part of what we call the Allergic March, where children first develop eczema in infancy, sometimes followed by food allergy, and then go on to develop allergic rhinitis and then asthma.\\nThe onset of dust mite allergy occurs often by the age of two, with grass pollen allergy beginning around three to four years of age. Tree pollen allergy develops from about seven years of age. \\nIt is not unusual to develop hay fever during adulthood. It can take as few as two to three seasons to become sensitised to pollen, but it depends on the individual.\\n \\nHow do you diagnose allergic rhinitis?\\nYour doctor will confirm the specific allergens causing your rhinitis by taking a complete symptom history, doing a physical examination, and performing skin prick tests.\\n \\nHow is allergic rhinitis treated?\\nIt is useful to identify your triggers and try and avoid them. This can be difficult.\\nPets: Make sure you keep it outside and never let it in the bedroom. It is never easy trying to decide on a new home for a pet, but in some cases this might be the best option. Even after you have removed your pet from your home, the allergens remain in furnishings for long periods afterwards and can cause symptoms. You will need to thoroughly clean your walls, floors and carpets to remove the allergen.\\nDust mites: House dust mite reduction measures include mite-proof covers for the mattress, duvet and pillows. Removing items that collect dust from the bedroom will help. A good quality vacuum cleaner with HEPA filter for the exhaust air is essential to ensure that allergen is not disseminated in the atmosphere. Bedding should be washed frequently in water hotter than 55ºC. If you have soft toys, freeze them overnight and air in the sun.\\nPollen: It is difficult to avoid pollen, however you can avoid going outside when pollen counts are high. The amount of pollen in the air is highest:\\n• In the morning\",\n \"Occupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a ...\\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a ... Esparto is a gramineous plant that has multiple applications ... Publication Types: Case ...\\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a building worker. - PubMed - NCBI\\nAllergy Asthma Proc. 2007 Sep-Oct;28(5):571-3.\\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a building worker.\\n1Department of Allergy of Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon, Madrid, Spain. jrhornillos@gmail.com\\nAbstract\\nEsparto is a gramineous plant that has multiple applications in today's industry. Several cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) caused by esparto inhalation have been reported, but only one case of asthma caused by Aspergillus fumigatus contaminating esparto has been communicated. We report a case of asthma induced by esparto inhalation in a 58-year-old man, who is a building industry worker, with subclinical sensitization to grass pollen. The relation between clinical symptoms and work activities was supported by peak expiratory flow (PEF) monitorization; PEF values decreased by 20% the days he handled esparto. Prick test with esparto was positive. Immunoblot analysis revealed several allergens in the esparto extract, some of them present in Lolium and A. fumigatus extracts. IgE immunoblot inhibition revealed a complete inhibition of lolium and A. fumigatus IgE reactive bands by esparto proteins. The patient then avoided the exposure to esparto at work and has remained asymptomatic for the last 2 years. In conclusion, this is a case of occupational asthma caused by esparto dust mediated by IgE antibodies. Proteins of A. fumigatus as well as proteins from this gramineous plant, which cross-reacted with esparto allergens, were responsible for the disease.\\nPMID:\",\n \"Allergic Rhinitis : Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies - WebMD\\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?Allergic ... vitamins, and supplements. Search by name or medical condition. ... Seasonal allergies are believed to affect as many as ...\\nAllergic Rhinitis: Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies\\nCredits\\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?\\nAllergic rhinitis , often called allergies or hay fever , occurs when your immune system overreacts to particles in the air that you breathe-you are allergic to them. Your immune system attacks the particles in your body, causing symptoms such as sneezing and a runny nose . The particles are called allergens , which simply means they can cause an allergic reaction .\\nPeople with allergies usually have symptoms for many years. You may have symptoms often during the year, or just at certain times. You also may get other problems such as sinusitis and ear infections as a result of your allergies .\\nOver time, allergens may begin to affect you less, and your symptoms may not be as severe as they had been.\\nWhat are the symptoms of allergic rhinitis?\\nIn most cases, when you have allergic rhinitis:\\nYou sneeze again and again, especially after you wake up in the morning.\\nYou have a runny nose and postnasal drip . The drainage from a runny nose caused by allergies is usually clear and thin. But it may become thicker and cloudy or yellowish if you get a nasal or sinus infection .\\nYour eyes are watery and itchy.\\nYour ears, nose, and throat are itchy.\\nWhich allergens commonly cause allergic rhinitis?\\nYou probably know that pollens from trees, grasses, and weeds cause allergic rhinitis. Many people have allergies to dust mites , animal dander , cockroaches, and mold as well. Things in the workplace, such as cereal grain, wood dust, chemicals, or lab animals, can also cause allergic rhinitis.\\nIf you are allergic to pollens, you may have symptoms only at certain times of the year. If you are allergic to dust mites and indoor allergens, you may have symptoms all the time.\\nHow is allergic rhinitis diagnosed?\\nTo find out if you have allergies, your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you. Knowing what symptoms you have, when you get them, and what makes them worse or better can help your doctor know whether you have allergies or another problem.\\nIf you have severe symptoms, you may need to have allergy tests to find out what you are allergic to.\\nYour doctor may do a skin test. In this test your doctor puts a small amount of an allergen into your skin to see if it causes an allergic reaction .\\nYour doctor may order lab tests. These tests look for substances that put you at risk for allergies.\\nContinued\\nHow is it treated?\\nThere is no cure for allergic rhinitis. One of the best things you can do is to avoid the things that cause your allergies. You may need to clean your house often to get rid of dust, animal dander, or molds. Or you may need to stay indoors when pollen counts are high.\\nUnless you have another health problem, such as asthma , you may take over-the-counter medicines to treat your symptoms at home. If you do have another problem, talk to your doctor first. Others who also should talk to their doctor before starting self-treatment include older adults, children, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding .\\nIf your allergies bother you a lot and you cannot avoid the things you are allergic to, immunotherapy (such as allergy shots ) may help prevent or reduce your symptoms. To have this treatment, you first need to know what you are allergic to.\\nFinding the treatment that works best for you may take a little time.\\nWebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise\\nThis information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.© 1995-2015 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.\\nPagination\",\n \"HAL Allergy Group: Clinical Conditions\\nClinical Conditions; ... Seasonal allergic rhinitis is better known as ... Allergic alveolitis is a collective name for a number of allergic pulmonary disorders ...\\nHAL Allergy Group: Clinical Conditions\\nClinical Conditions\\nAllergic rhinitis is the most common symptom\\nDo you know how many types of allergy there really are?\\nHay fever, pet and house dust mite allergies are very common. Other manifestations, such as allergic alveolitis, are far less common. This page briefly addresses the various forms.\\nAllergic rhinitis, the most common symptom, occurs in two forms, the seasonal type and the non-seasonal type. Seasonal allergic rhinitis is better known as hay fever. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis include sneezing, watery or irritated eyes, a blocked or runny nose and flu-like feeling. The symptoms occur during the flowering season of trees, grasses or shrubs, when they release pollen into the air, hence the term 'seasonal'. When the season is over, the symptoms disappear as well. Non-seasonal allergic rhinitis may occur all year round, its symptoms are comparable to the seasonal type but the allergens are different. Examples of this type of allergy are house dust mite and pet allergy.\\nAllergic conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva of both eyes. It is characterised by red, tearing and itching eyes. This type often goes hand in hand with allergic rhinitis.\\nAsthma occurs in many different forms. Allergic asthma is a fairly common type. It is a process of respiratory inflammation caused by inhaling substances to which one is allergic. Initial complaints include frequent coughing, respiratory infection and fatigue. Typical symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath occur at a later stage.\\nAllergic alveolitis is a collective name for a number of allergic pulmonary disorders caused by minuscule substances, often fungi and animal proteins. These substances are so small that they can enter the airways, where they cause an inflammatory reaction. Alveolitis is fairly rare. An example is pigeon fanciers lung, a disorder caused by extremely small dust particles in the droppings in a dovecote.\\nUrticaria is also known as hives or nettle rash. It is an allergic skin disorder characterised by severely itching lumps or rashes. Those rashes may occur anywhere on the body, occasionally causing a burning and chafing feeling. It has many causes, ranging from foodstuffs to detergents, from skin care products to even sunshine. Sun allergy is a form of urticaria, for example.\\nAngio-oedema is a special type of urticaria or nettle rash. The itching is considerably less severe, but the lumps accompanying angio-oedema are much bigger than those associated with urticaria. Angio-oedema often manifests itself on the eyelids, lips and mucous membranes.\\nEczema is a skin disorder characterised by fluid-filled vesicles on the skin. The vesicles burst, which is followed by crustation. Eczema is a prevalent disorder, but may also have non-allergic causes.\\nAllergic eczema is divided into 'atopic eczema' and 'contact eczema'. A symptom of atopic eczema is an allergen-induced eczema-like rash. This is referred to as 'atopic', which means 'prone to allergic reaction'. Atopic people tend to have hay fever and asthma and (atopic) eczema.\\nIf you suffer from contact eczema, you will by definition have other allergic symptoms. Contact eczema does not discriminate. It arises in places where the skin has been in contact with an allergen. An example is allergy to nickel or chrome, which is found in certain jewellery and watches.\\nAn insect allergy can be triggered by insect stings. Wasp stings in particular may evoke severe allergic reactions. Skin reactions are frequent, but respiratory problems may occur as well.\\nAn occupational allergy is an allergic reaction to a substance present in the workplace. Occupational allergies are often contact or inhalation allergies. Complaints generally develop over time. Examples are allergies to animals or allergic reactions to chemical substances. The symptoms of an occupational allergy are extremely diverse and depend on the type of allergen. A well-known occupational allergy is hairdresser's eczema: an allergic reaction to contact with perm liquids or hair dyes.\\nIf you are allergic to birch pollen, you may also react allergic to eating hazelnuts and apples. This may seem curious but it is one of a great many examples of what is known as cross allergy.\\nAn allergy is called a cross allergy if the antibodies that the body produces against one allergen, start reacting to another allergen as well, for the simple reason that they are alike. They are related to each other, family, so to speak. Appearance does not enter into it: hazelnuts, apples and birch trees do not look like each other, but they contain related allergens, as do kiwi, pineapple and potato, for instance.\\nAn anaphylactic shock is an extremely severe allergic reaction of the entire body. The reaction may occur very quickly, within minutes. An anaphylactic shock is a dangerous reaction of the body, which may be life-threatening. The body reacts very strongly to an allergen. Not just in one place, for instance the site of a wasp sting, but spread across the entire body. Such a strong reaction may cause a substantial drop in blood pressure and lead to loss of consciousness. Severe swelling of the pharynx, may cause tightness of the chest. A shock reaction to a particular kind of food may involve severe nausea, followed by vomiting and abdominal cramps. Without rapid treatment, the pulse will begin to race, which may lead to loss of consciousness.\\nIt is therefore essential that the attack be treated as quickly as possible. The most common causes of anaphylactic shock are insect stings, particularly by wasps, and food ingredients (especially peanuts). Such a reaction virtually never occurs with pollen, pet or house dust mite allergies.\\nThe symptoms of an anaphylactic shock reaction may be the same as those associated with other allergic reactions, but are generally much more severe. Symptoms that often accompany a shock reaction are laboured breathing, dizziness, arrhythmia, bright redness of the skin and vomiting.\\nNot all cases of hypersensitivity to food are allergies. The difference between food allergy and food intolerance is that the former is related to our immune system, whereas intolerance is not. Food allergy is an allergic reaction to certain foodstuffs, such as peanuts. Food allergy often comes paired with gastrointestinal problems, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, but also skin complaints or respiratory problems.\\nHAL Allergy Group\",\n \"Stipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by ...\\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto ... disease caused by a variety of antigens reaching the ... plant which is commonly found in ...\\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto (Stipa tenacissima) fibers. - PubMed - NCBI\\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto (Stipa tenacissima) fibers.\\n1Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Servicio de Alergologia, Madrid, Spain. mhm01m@nacom.es\\nAbstract\\nHypersensitivity pneumonitis or extrinsic allergic alveolitis may be defined as an immunological pulmonary disease caused by a variety of antigens reaching the lungs through inhaled organic and inorganic dusts derived from different sources, although they are usually occupational. Farmer's lung and pigeon breeder's lung are probably the most well-known types of hypersensitivity pneumonitis worldwide. Esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima), which is a grammineous plant which is commonly found in the Mediterranean countries, has a wide variety of uses. Esparto fiber is used for the manufacturing of ropes, hemp sandals, rush mats and parkets; for decorative stucco plates, used on walls and ceilings. Esparto supports a large industry in Spain. The first reports referring to esparto dust as a cause of respiratory disease did not appear until the 1960s, and it was first described as a byssinosis-like disorder. The first cases reported, in which immunologic and challenge tests were used to confirm this association, were described 14 years ago and referred as hypersensitivity pneumonitis nominated as stipatosis. Later, a large number of cases of esparto dust-induced hypersensitivity pneumonitis were reported by different authors, so that esparto may be nowadays considered as the main substance causing extrinsic allergic alveolitis in Spain. Afumigatus has been revealed to be the main inducing cause of stipatosis but probably is not the only one since other microorganisms could be implicated. On the other hand esparto fibers may also cause occupational asthma. In this article the prominent clinical findings of this disease as well as the results of serologic, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and specific inhalation tests are shown. A complete historical review of esparto-induced allergic respiratory disease is also described.\\nPMID:\",\n \"studydroid.com\\n... (also known as Pernio and Perniosis[1]) is a medical condition that is ... to cold and humidity. The cold exposure ... a medical condition caused by ...\\ntoo little sugar\\nproteins\\nbuilding blocks of the body. needed for growth, maintenance, and replacement of body cells, form hormones/enzymes used to regulate body.\\nprotein deficiency\\nmay stunt growth, promote a secondary anemia, or induce nutritional edema.\\nchilblain\\nChilblains (also known as Pernio and Perniosis[1]) is a medical condition that is often confused with frostbite and trench foot. Chilblains are acral ulcers (that is, ulcers affecting the extremities) that occur when a predisposed individual is exposed to cold and humidity. The cold exposure damages capillary beds in the skin, which in turn can cause redness, itching, blisters, and inflammation.[2] Chilblains are often idiopathic in origin but can be manifestations of serious medical conditions that need to be investigated. Chilblains can be prevented by keeping the feet and hands warm in cold weather. A history of chilblains is suggestive of a connective tissue disease. 32-60 degrees, redness, swelling, tingling, px.\\nsuperficial frostbite\\nsurface of skin feels hard but underlying tissue will be soft and move over bony ridges.\\nvitamin D\\nblack tarry stool\\nneuritis\\nNeuritis is one of the serious nervous disorders. Neuritis refers to an inflammation of the nerves, involving a single nerve or a series of nerves. At times, several different groups of nerves in various parts of the body may be involved. Neuritis is known as polyneuritis. Neuritis is also known as polyneuropathy, for strictly speaking, Neuritis condition is not an inflammation, but a change in the state of the nerves resulting in weakness, loss of the reflexes and changes of sensation.\\nheat stroke\\n20% mortality, temp 105 or higher, d.c. cooling when rectal temp reachs 102\\nfrostbite\\n32 degrees or lower ice crystals form in skin or deeper tissues. face and extremities most common.\\nanaphylactic shock\\nexposed to substance that thier sensitive to.\\nchf\\nprolonged hypertension, valve disease, causing pulmonary edema.\\nangina\\ninsufficient O2 to heart.\\nabcess\\na collection of pus (dead neutrophils) that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g., splinters, bullet wounds, or injecting needles). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body. One example of an abscess is a BCG-oma, which is caused because of incorrect administration of the BCG vaccine.\\nvitamins\\nact as catalysts in chemical reaction needed for metabolic functions.\\nberiberi\\na nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency (deficiency of vitamin B1) in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons. Symptoms of beriberi include severe lethargy and fatigue, together with complications affecting the cardiovascular, nervous, muscular, and gastrointestinal systems\\nvitamin B (thiamine HCI)\\nberiberi\\ntrench foot\\na medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions. It is one of many immersion foot syndromes. The use of the word \\\\\\\"trench\\\\\\\" in the name of this condition is a reference to trench warfare, mainly associated with World War I. 32-50 degrees. tingling, swelling, blisters.\\nrecommended carbohydrates\\n50% of daily calorie intake.\\nerythema\\nredness of the skin, caused by hyperemia of the capillaries in the lower layers of the skin. It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation.[1] Examples of erythema not associated with pathology include nervous blushes.\\nseptic shock\\n2-3 days after injury, poor prognosis.\\ncarbohydrates\\nmost effcient source of energy\\nami\\n3,500 calories\\nfuruncle\\nA boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, infection of the hair follicle. It is almost always caused by infection by the bacteriumStaphylococcus aureus, resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an accumulation of pus and dead tissue.[1] Individual boils clustered together are called carbuncles.[2] Staphylococcus is a genus of bacteria that is characterized by being round (coccus or spheroid shaped), Gram-positive, and found as either single cells, in pairs, or more frequently, in clusters that resemble a bunch of grapes. The genus name Staphylococcus is derived from Greek terms \\\\\\\"staphyle and kokkos\\\\\\\" that mean \\\\\\\"a bunch of grapes\\\\\\\", which is how the bacteria often appears microscopically (after Gram staining). In 1884, German physician Ottomar Rosenbach first described and named the bacteria. Two major divisions of the genus Staphylococcus are separated by the bacteria\\\\'s ability to produce coagulase, an enzyme that can clot blood. Most human infections are caused by coagulase-positive S. aureus strains. Almost any organ system can be infected by S. aureus.\\namount of morphine\",\n \"Allergy.txt\\nAllergy\\nAllergies, also known as allergic diseases, are a number of conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to something in the environment that usually causes little or no problem in most people. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, and anaphylaxis. Symptoms may include red eyes, an itchy rash, runny nose, shortness of breath, or swelling. Food intolerances and food poisoning are separate conditions. \\n\\nCommon allergens include pollen and certain food. Metals and other substances may also cause problems. Food, insect stings, and medications are common causes of severe reactions. Their development is due to both genetic and environmental factors. The underlying mechanism involves immunoglobulin E antibodies (IgE), part of the body's immune system, binding to an allergen and then to a receptor on mast cells or basophils where it triggers the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine. Diagnosis is typically based on a person's medical history. Further testing of the skin or blood may be useful in certain cases. Positive tests, however, may not mean there is a significant allergy to the substance in question.\\n\\nEarly exposure to potential allergens may be protective. Treatments for allergies include avoiding known allergens and the use of medications such as steroids and antihistamines. In severe reactions injectable adrenaline (epinephrine) is recommended. Allergen immunotherapy, which gradually exposes people to larger and larger amounts of allergen, is useful for some types of allergies such as hay fever and reactions to insect bites. Its use in food allergies is unclear.\\n\\nAllergies are common. In the developed world, about 20% of people are affected by allergic rhinitis, about 6% of people have at least one food allergy, and about 20% have atopic dermatitis at some point in time. Depending on the country about 1%-18% of people have asthma. Anaphylaxis occurs in between 0.05–2% of people. Rates of many allergic diseases appear to be increasing. The word \\\"allergy\\\" was first used by Clemens von Pirquet in 1906.\\n\\nSigns and symptoms\\n\\nMany allergens such as dust or pollen are airborne particles. In these cases, symptoms arise in areas in contact with air, such as eyes, nose, and lungs. For instance, allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, causes irritation of the nose, sneezing, itching, and redness of the eyes. Inhaled allergens can also lead to increased production of mucus in the lungs, shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing.\\n\\nAside from these ambient allergens, allergic reactions can result from foods, insect stings, and reactions to medications like aspirin and antibiotics such as penicillin. Symptoms of food allergy include abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, itchy skin, and swelling of the skin during hives. Food allergies rarely cause respiratory (asthmatic) reactions, or rhinitis. Insect stings, antibiotics, and certain medicines produce a systemic allergic response that is also called anaphylaxis; multiple organ systems can be affected, including the digestive system, the respiratory system, and the circulatory system. Depending on the rate of severity, it can cause a skin reactions, bronchoconstriction, swelling, low blood pressure, coma, and death. This type of reaction can be triggered suddenly, or the onset can be delayed. The nature of anaphylaxis is such that the reaction can seem to be subsiding, but may recur throughout a period of time.\\n\\nSkin\\n\\nSubstances that come into contact with the skin, such as latex, are also common causes of allergic reactions, known as contact dermatitis or eczema. Skin allergies frequently cause rashes, or swelling and inflammation within the skin, in what is known as a \\\"wheal and flare\\\" reaction characteristic of hives and angioedema.\\n\\nWith insect stings a large local reaction may occur (an area of skin redness greater than 10 cm in size). It can last one to two days. This reaction may also occur after immunotherapy. \\n\\nCause\\n\\nRisk factors for allergy can be placed in two general categories, namely host and environmental factors. Host factors include heredity, sex, race, and age, with heredity being by far the most significant. However, there have been recent increases in the incidence of allergic disorders that cannot be explained by genetic factors alone. Four major environmental candidates are alterations in exposure to infectious diseases during early childhood, environmental pollution, allergen levels, and dietary changes.\\n\\nFoods\\n\\nA wide variety of foods can cause allergic reactions, but 90% of allergic responses to foods are caused by cow's milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. Other food allergies, affecting less than 1 person per 10,000 population, may be considered \\\"rare\\\". The use of hydrolysed milk baby formula versus standard milk baby formula does not appear to change the risk. \\n\\nThe most common food allergy in the US population is a sensitivity to crustacea. Although peanut allergies are notorious for their severity, peanut allergies are not the most common food allergy in adults or children. Severe or life-threatening reactions may be triggered by other allergens, and are more common when combined with asthma.\\n\\nRates of allergies differ between adults and children. Peanut allergies can sometimes be outgrown by children. Egg allergies affect one to two percent of children but are outgrown by about two-thirds of children by the age of 5. The sensitivity is usually to proteins in the white, rather than the yolk.\\n\\nMilk-protein allergies are most common in children. Approximately 60% of milk-protein reactions are immunoglobulin E-mediated, with the remaining usually attributable to inflammation of the colon. Some people are unable to tolerate milk from goats or sheep as well as from cows, and many are also unable to tolerate dairy products such as cheese. Roughly 10% of children with a milk allergy will have a reaction to beef. Beef contains a small amount of protein that is present in cow's milk. Lactose intolerance, a common reaction to milk, is not a form of allergy at all, but rather due to the absence of an enzyme in the digestive tract.\\n\\nThose with tree nut allergies may be allergic to one or to many tree nuts, including pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts. Also seeds, including sesame seeds and poppy seeds, contain oils in which protein is present, which may elicit an allergic reaction.\\n\\nAllergens can be transferred from one food to another through genetic engineering; however genetic modification can also remove allergens. Little research has been done on the natural variation of allergen concentrations in the unmodified crops. \\n\\nLatex\\n\\nLatex can trigger an IgE-mediated cutaneous, respiratory, and systemic reaction. The prevalence of latex allergy in the general population is believed to be less than one percent. In a hospital study, 1 in 800 surgical patients (0.125 percent) reported latex sensitivity, although the sensitivity among healthcare workers is higher, between seven and ten percent. Researchers attribute this higher level to the exposure of healthcare workers to areas with significant airborne latex allergens, such as operating rooms, intensive-care units, and dental suites. These latex-rich environments may sensitize healthcare workers who regularly inhale allergenic proteins.\\n\\nThe most prevalent response to latex is an allergic contact dermatitis, a delayed hypersensitive reaction appearing as dry, crusted lesions. This reaction usually lasts 48–96 hours. Sweating or rubbing the area under the glove aggravates the lesions, possibly leading to ulcerations. Anaphylactic reactions occur most often in sensitive patients who have been exposed to a surgeon's latex gloves during abdominal surgery, but other mucosal exposures, such as dental procedures, can also produce systemic reactions.\\n\\nLatex and banana sensitivity may cross-react. Furthermore, those with latex allergy may also have sensitivities to avocado, kiwifruit, and chestnut. These people often have perioral itching and local urticaria. Only occasionally have these food-induced allergies induced systemic responses. Researchers suspect that the cross-reactivity of latex with banana, avocado, kiwifruit, and chestnut occurs because latex proteins are structurally homologous with some other plant proteins.\\n\\nMedications\\n\\nAbout 10% of people report that they are allergic to penicillin; however, 90% turn out not to be. Serious allergies only occur in about 0.03%.\\n\\nToxins interacting with proteins\\n\\nAnother non-food protein reaction, urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, originates after contact with poison ivy, eastern poison oak, western poison oak, or poison sumac. Urushiol, which is not itself a protein, acts as a hapten and chemically reacts with, binds to, and changes the shape of integral membrane proteins on exposed skin cells. The immune system does not recognize the affected cells as normal parts of the body, causing a T-cell-mediated immune response. Of these poisonous plants, sumac is the most virulent. The resulting dermatological response to the reaction between urushiol and membrane proteins includes redness, swelling, papules, vesicles, blisters, and streaking.\\n\\nEstimates vary on the percentage of the population that will have an immune system response. Approximately 25 percent of the population will have a strong allergic response to urushiol. In general, approximately 80 percent to 90 percent of adults will develop a rash if they are exposed to of purified urushiol, but some people are so sensitive that it takes only a molecular trace on the skin to initiate an allergic reaction. \\n\\nGenetics\\n\\nAllergic diseases are strongly familial: identical twins are likely to have the same allergic diseases about 70% of the time; the same allergy occurs about 40% of the time in non-identical twins. Allergic parents are more likely to have allergic children, and those children's allergies are likely to be more severe than those in children of non-allergic parents. Some allergies, however, are not consistent along genealogies; parents who are allergic to peanuts may have children who are allergic to ragweed. It seems that the likelihood of developing allergies is inherited and related to an irregularity in the immune system, but the specific allergen is not.\\n\\nThe risk of allergic sensitization and the development of allergies varies with age, with young children most at risk. Several studies have shown that IgE levels are highest in childhood and fall rapidly between the ages of 10 and 30 years. The peak prevalence of hay fever is highest in children and young adults and the incidence of asthma is highest in children under 10. \\n\\nOverall, boys have a higher risk of developing allergies than girls, although for some diseases, namely asthma in young adults, females are more likely to be affected. These differences between the sexes tend to decrease in adulthood.\\n\\nEthnicity may play a role in some allergies; however, racial factors have been difficult to separate from environmental influences and changes due to migration. It has been suggested that different genetic loci are responsible for asthma, to be specific, in people of European, Hispanic, Asian, and African origins.\\n\\nHygiene hypothesis\\n\\nAllergic diseases are caused by inappropriate immunological responses to harmless antigens driven by a TH2-mediated immune response. Many bacteria and viruses elicit a TH1-mediated immune response, which down-regulates TH2 responses. The first proposed mechanism of action of the hygiene hypothesis was that insufficient stimulation of the TH1 arm of the immune system leads to an overactive TH2 arm, which in turn leads to allergic disease. In other words, individuals living in too sterile an environment are not exposed to enough pathogens to keep the immune system busy. Since our bodies evolved to deal with a certain level of such pathogens, when they are not exposed to this level, the immune system will attack harmless antigens and thus normally benign microbial objects — like pollen — will trigger an immune response. \\n\\nThe hygiene hypothesis was developed to explain the observation that hay fever and eczema, both allergic diseases, were less common in children from larger families, which were, it is presumed, exposed to more infectious agents through their siblings, than in children from families with only one child. The hygiene hypothesis has been extensively investigated by immunologists and epidemiologists and has become an important theoretical framework for the study of allergic disorders. It is used to explain the increase in allergic diseases that have been seen since industrialization, and the higher incidence of allergic diseases in more developed countries. The hygiene hypothesis has now expanded to include exposure to symbiotic bacteria and parasites as important modulators of immune system development, along with infectious agents.\\n\\nEpidemiological data support the hygiene hypothesis. Studies have shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less common in the developing world than the industrialized world and that immigrants to the industrialized world from the developing world increasingly develop immunological disorders in relation to the length of time since arrival in the industrialized world. Longitudinal studies in the third world demonstrate an increase in immunological disorders as a country grows more affluent and, it is presumed, cleaner. The use of antibiotics in the first year of life has been linked to asthma and other allergic diseases. The use of antibacterial cleaning products has also been associated with higher incidence of asthma, as has birth by Caesarean section rather than vaginal birth.\\n\\nStress\\n\\nChronic stress can aggravate allergic conditions. This has been attributed to a T helper 2 (TH2)-predominant response driven by suppression of interleukin 12 by both the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Stress management in highly susceptible individuals may improve symptoms. \\n\\nOther environmental factors\\n\\nInternational differences have been associated with the number of individuals within a population have allergy. Allergic diseases are more common in industrialized countries than in countries that are more traditional or agricultural, and there is a higher rate of allergic disease in urban populations versus rural populations, although these differences are becoming less defined.\\n\\nAlterations in exposure to microorganisms is another plausible explanation, at present, for the increase in atopic allergy. Endotoxin exposure reduces release of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IFNγ, interleukin-10, and interleukin-12 from white blood cells (leukocytes) that circulate in the blood. Certain microbe-sensing proteins, known as Toll-like receptors, found on the surface of cells in the body are also thought to be involved in these processes.\\n\\nGutworms and similar parasites are present in untreated drinking water in developing countries, and were present in the water of developed countries until the routine chlorination and purification of drinking water supplies. Recent research has shown that some common parasites, such as intestinal worms (e.g., hookworms), secrete chemicals into the gut wall (and, hence, the bloodstream) that suppress the immune system and prevent the body from attacking the parasite. This gives rise to a new slant on the hygiene hypothesis theory — that co-evolution of humans and parasites has led to an immune system that functions correctly only in the presence of the parasites. Without them, the immune system becomes unbalanced and oversensitive. In particular, research suggests that allergies may coincide with the delayed establishment of gut flora in infants. However, the research to support this theory is conflicting, with some studies performed in China and Ethiopia showing an increase in allergy in people infected with intestinal worms. Clinical trials have been initiated to test the effectiveness of certain worms in treating some allergies. It may be that the term 'parasite' could turn out to be inappropriate, and in fact a hitherto unsuspected symbiosis is at work. For more information on this topic, see Helminthic therapy.\\n\\nPathophysiology\\n\\nAcute response\\n\\nIn the early stages of allergy, a type I hypersensitivity reaction against an allergen encountered for the first time and presented by a professional antigen-presenting cell causes a response in a type of immune cell called a TH2 lymphocyte, which belongs to a subset of T cells that produce a cytokine called interleukin-4 (IL-4). These TH2 cells interact with other lymphocytes called B cells, whose role is production of antibodies. Coupled with signals provided by IL-4, this interaction stimulates the B cell to begin production of a large amount of a particular type of antibody known as IgE. Secreted IgE circulates in the blood and binds to an IgE-specific receptor (a kind of Fc receptor called FcεRI) on the surface of other kinds of immune cells called mast cells and basophils, which are both involved in the acute inflammatory response. The IgE-coated cells, at this stage, are sensitized to the allergen.\\n\\nIf later exposure to the same allergen occurs, the allergen can bind to the IgE molecules held on the surface of the mast cells or basophils. Cross-linking of the IgE and Fc receptors occurs when more than one IgE-receptor complex interacts with the same allergenic molecule, and activates the sensitized cell. Activated mast cells and basophils undergo a process called degranulation, during which they release histamine and other inflammatory chemical mediators (cytokines, interleukins, leukotrienes, and prostaglandins) from their granules into the surrounding tissue causing several systemic effects, such as vasodilation, mucous secretion, nerve stimulation, and smooth muscle contraction. This results in rhinorrhea, itchiness, dyspnea, and anaphylaxis. Depending on the individual, allergen, and mode of introduction, the symptoms can be system-wide (classical anaphylaxis), or localized to particular body systems; asthma is localized to the respiratory system and eczema is localized to the dermis.\\n\\nLate-phase response\\n\\nAfter the chemical mediators of the acute response subside, late-phase responses can often occur. This is due to the migration of other leukocytes such as neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils and macrophages to the initial site. The reaction is usually seen 2–24 hours after the original reaction. Cytokines from mast cells may play a role in the persistence of long-term effects. Late-phase responses seen in asthma are slightly different from those seen in other allergic responses, although they are still caused by release of mediators from eosinophils and are still dependent on activity of TH2 cells.\\n\\nAllergic contact dermatitis\\n\\nAlthough allergic contact dermatitis is termed an \\\"allergic\\\" reaction (which usually refers to type I hypersensitivity), its pathophysiology actually involves a reaction that more correctly corresponds to a type IV hypersensitivity reaction. In type IV hypersensitivity, there is activation of certain types of T cells (CD8+) that destroy target cells on contact, as well as activated macrophages that produce hydrolytic enzymes.\\n\\nDiagnosis\\n\\nEffective management of allergic diseases relies on the ability to make an accurate diagnosis. Allergy testing can help confirm or rule out allergies. Correct diagnosis, counseling, and avoidance advice based on valid allergy test results reduces the incidence of symptoms and need for medications, and improves quality of life. To assess the presence of allergen-specific IgE antibodies, two different methods can be used: a skin prick test, or an allergy blood test. Both methods are recommended, and they have similar diagnostic value. \\n\\nSkin prick tests and blood tests are equally cost-effective, and health economic evidence shows that both tests were cost-effective compared with no test. Also, early and more accurate diagnoses save cost due to reduced consultations, referrals to secondary care, misdiagnosis, and emergency admissions. \\n\\nAllergy undergoes dynamic changes over time. Regular allergy testing of relevant allergens provides information on if and how patient management can be changed, in order to improve health and quality of life. Annual testing is often the practice for determining whether allergy to milk, egg, soy, and wheat have been outgrown, and the testing interval is extended to 2–3 years for allergy to peanut, tree nuts, fish, and crustacean shellfish. Results of follow-up testing can guide decision-making regarding whether and when it is safe to introduce or re-introduce allergenic food into the diet. \\n\\nSkin prick testing\\n\\n \\n \\nSkin testing is also known as \\\"puncture testing\\\" and \\\"prick testing\\\" due to the series of tiny punctures or pricks made into the patient's skin. Small amounts of suspected allergens and/or their extracts (e.g., pollen, grass, mite proteins, peanut extract) are introduced to sites on the skin marked with pen or dye (the ink/dye should be carefully selected, lest it cause an allergic response itself). A small plastic or metal device is used to puncture or prick the skin. Sometimes, the allergens are injected \\\"intradermally\\\" into the patient's skin, with a needle and syringe. Common areas for testing include the inside forearm and the back.\\n\\nIf the patient is allergic to the substance, then a visible inflammatory reaction will usually occur within 30 minutes. This response will range from slight reddening of the skin to a full-blown hive (called \\\"wheal and flare\\\") in more sensitive patients similar to a mosquito bite. Interpretation of the results of the skin prick test is normally done by allergists on a scale of severity, with +/- meaning borderline reactivity, and 4+ being a large reaction. Increasingly, allergists are measuring and recording the diameter of the wheal and flare reaction. Interpretation by well-trained allergists is often guided by relevant literature. Some patients may believe they have determined their own allergic sensitivity from observation, but a skin test has been shown to be much better than patient observation to detect allergy.\\n\\nIf a serious life-threatening anaphylactic reaction has brought a patient in for evaluation, some allergists will prefer an initial blood test prior to performing the skin prick test. Skin tests may not be an option if the patient has widespread skin disease, or has taken antihistamines in the last several days.\\n\\nPatch testing\\n\\nPatch testing is a method used to determine if a specific substance causes allergic inflammation of the skin. It tests for delayed reactions. It is used to help ascertain the cause of skin contact allergy, or contact dermatitis. Adhesive patches, usually treated with a number of common allergic chemicals or skin sensitizers, are applied to the back. The skin is then examined for possible local reactions at least twice, usually at 48 hours after application of the patch, and again two or three days later.\\n\\nBlood testing\\n\\nAn allergy blood test is quick and simple, and can be ordered by a licensed health care provider (e.g., an allergy specialist), GP, or PED. Unlike skin-prick testing, a blood test can be performed irrespective of age, skin condition, medication, symptom, disease activity, and pregnancy. Adults and children of any age can take an allergy blood test. For babies and very young children, a single needle stick for allergy blood testing is often more gentle than several skin tests.\\n\\nAn allergy blood test is available through most laboratories. A sample of the patient's blood is sent to a laboratory for analysis, and the results are sent back a few days later. Multiple allergens can be detected with a single blood sample. Allergy blood tests are very safe, since the person is not exposed to any allergens during the testing procedure.\\n\\nThe test measures the concentration of specific IgE antibodies in the blood. Quantitative IgE test results increase the possibility of ranking how different substances may affect symptoms. A rule of thumb is that the higher the IgE antibody value, the greater the likelihood of symptoms. Allergens found at low levels that today do not result in symptoms can nevertheless help predict future symptom development. The quantitative allergy blood result can help determine what a patient is allergic to, help predict and follow the disease development, estimate the risk of a severe reaction, and explain cross-reactivity. \\n\\nA low total IgE level is not adequate to rule out sensitization to commonly inhaled allergens. Statistical methods, such as ROC curves, predictive value calculations, and likelihood ratios have been used to examine the relationship of various testing methods to each other. These methods have shown that patients with a high total IgE have a high probability of allergic sensitization, but further investigation with allergy tests for specific IgE antibodies for a carefully chosen of allergens is often warranted.\\n\\nLaboratory methods to measure specific IgE antibodies for allergy testing include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, or EIA), radioallergosorbent test (RAST) and fluorescent enzyme immunoassay (FEIA). \\n\\nOther\\n\\nChallenge testing: Challenge testing is when small amounts of a suspected allergen are introduced to the body orally, through inhalation, or via other routes. Except for testing food and medication allergies, challenges are rarely performed. When this type of testing is chosen, it must be closely supervised by an allergist.\\n\\nElimination/Challenge tests: This testing method is used most often with foods or medicines. A patient with a suspected allergen is instructed to modify his diet to totally avoid that allergen for a set time. If the patient experiences significant improvement, he may then be \\\"challenged\\\" by reintroducing the allergen, to see if symptoms are reproduced.\\n\\nUnreliable tests: There are other types of allergy testing methods that are unreliable, including applied kinesiology (allergy testing through muscle relaxation), cytotoxicity testing, urine autoinjection, skin titration (Rinkel method), and provocative and neutralization (subcutaneous) testing or sublingual provocation.\\n\\nDifferential diagnosis\\n\\nBefore a diagnosis of allergic disease can be confirmed, other possible causes of the presenting symptoms should be considered. Vasomotor rhinitis, for example, is one of many maladies that shares symptoms with allergic rhinitis, underscoring the need for professional differential diagnosis. Once a diagnosis of asthma, rhinitis, anaphylaxis, or other allergic disease has been made, there are several methods for discovering the causative agent of that allergy.\\n\\nPrevention\\n\\nThe consumption of various foods during pregnancy has been linked to eczema; these include celery, citrus fruit, raw pepper, margarine, and vegetable oil. A high intake of antioxidants, zinc, and selenium during pregnancy may help prevent allergies. This is linked to a reduced risk for childhood-onset asthma, wheezing, and eczema. Further research needs to be conducted. Probiotic supplements taken during pregnancy or infancy may help to prevent atopic dermatitis. \\nAfter birth, an early introduction of solid food and high diversity before week 17 could increase a child's risk for allergies. Studies suggest that introduction of solid food and avoidance of highly allergenic food such as peanuts during the first year does not help in allergy prevention.\\n\\nManagement\\n\\nManagement of allergies typically involves avoiding what triggers the allergy and medications to improve the symptoms. Allergen immunotherapy may be useful for some types of allergies.\\n\\nMedication\\n\\nSeveral medications maybe used to block the action of allergic mediators, or to prevent activation of cells and degranulation processes. These include antihistamines, glucocorticoids, epinephrine (adrenaline), mast cell stabilizers, and antileukotriene agents are common treatments of allergic diseases. Anti-cholinergics, decongestants, and other compounds thought to impair eosinophil chemotaxis, are also commonly used. Though rare, the severity of anaphylaxis often requires epinephrine injection, and where medical care is unavailable, a device known as an epinephrine autoinjector may be used.\\n\\nImmunotherapy\\n\\nAllergen immunotherapy is useful for environmental allergies, allergies to insect bites, and asthma. Its benefit for food allergies is unclear and thus not recommended. Immunotherapy involves exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen in an affect to change the immune system's response.\\n\\nMeta-analyses have found that injections of allergens under the skin is effective in the treatment in allergic rhinitis in children and in asthma. The benefits may last for years after treatment is stopped. It is generally safe and effective for allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, allergic forms of asthma, and stinging insects.\\n\\nThe evidence also supports the use of sublingual immunotherapy for rhinitis and asthma but it is less strong. For seasonal allergies the benefit is small. In this form the allergen is given under the tongue and people often prefer it to injections. Immunotherapy is not recommended as a stand-alone treatment for asthma.\\n\\nAlternative medicine\\n\\nAn experimental treatment, enzyme potentiated desensitization (EPD), has been tried for decades but is not generally accepted as effective. EPD uses dilutions of allergen and an enzyme, beta-glucuronidase, to which T-regulatory lymphocytes are supposed to respond by favoring desensitization, or down-regulation, rather than sensitization. EPD has also been tried for the treatment of autoimmune diseases but evidence does not show effectiveness.\\n\\nA review found no effectiveness of homeopathic treatments and no difference compared with placebo. The authors concluded that, based on rigorous clinical trials of all types of homeopathy for childhood and adolescence ailments, there is no convincing evidence that supports the use of homeopathic treatments.\\n\\nAccording to the NCCIH, the evidence is relatively strong that saline nasal irrigation and butterbur are effective, when compared to other alternative medicine treatments, for which the scientific evidence is weak, negative, or nonexistent, such as honey, acupuncture, omega 3's, probiotics, astragalus, capsaicin, grape seed extract, Pycnogenol, quercetin, spirulina, stinging nettle, tinospora or guduchi.\\n \\n\\nEpidemiology\\n\\nThe allergic diseases — hay fever and asthma — have increased in the Western world over the past 2–3 decades. Increases in allergic asthma and other atopic disorders in industrialized nations, it is estimated, began in the 1960s and 1970s, with further increases occurring during the 1980s and 1990s, although some suggest that a steady rise in sensitization has been occurring since the 1920s. The number of new cases per year of atopy in developing countries has, in general, remained much lower.\\n\\nChanging frequency\\n\\nAlthough genetic factors govern susceptibility to atopic disease, increases in atopy have occurred within too short a time frame to be explained by a genetic change in the population, thus pointing to environmental or lifestyle changes. Several hypotheses have been identified to explain this increased rate; increased exposure to perennial allergens due to housing changes and increasing time spent indoors, and changes in cleanliness or hygiene that have resulted in the decreased activation of a common immune control mechanism, coupled with dietary changes, obesity and decline in physical exercise. The hygiene hypothesis maintains that high living standards and hygienic conditions exposes children to fewer infections. It is thought that reduced bacterial and viral infections early in life direct the maturing immune system away from TH1 type responses, leading to unrestrained TH2 responses that allow for an increase in allergy.\\n\\nChanges in rates and types of infection alone however, have been unable to explain the observed increase in allergic disease, and recent evidence has focused attention on the importance of the gastrointestinal microbial environment. Evidence has shown that exposure to food and fecal-oral pathogens, such as hepatitis A, Toxoplasma gondii, and Helicobacter pylori (which also tend to be more prevalent in developing countries), can reduce the overall risk of atopy by more than 60%, and an increased rate of parasitic infections has been associated with a decreased prevalence of asthma. It is speculated that these infections exert their effect by critically altering TH1/TH2 regulation. Important elements of newer hygiene hypotheses also include exposure to endotoxins, exposure to pets and growing up on a farm.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nThe concept of \\\"allergy\\\" was originally introduced in 1906 by the Viennese pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet, after he noted that some of his patients were hypersensitive to normally innocuous entities such as dust, pollen, or certain foods. Pirquet called this phenomenon \\\"allergy\\\" from the Ancient Greek words ἄλλος allos meaning \\\"other\\\" and ἔργον ergon meaning \\\"work\\\".\\n\\nAll forms of hypersensitivity used to be classified as allergies, and all were thought to be caused by an improper activation of the immune system. Later, it became clear that several different disease mechanisms were implicated, with the common link to a disordered activation of the immune system. In 1963, a new classification scheme was designed by Philip Gell and Robin Coombs that described four types of hypersensitivity reactions, known as Type I to Type IV hypersensitivity. With this new classification, the word \\\"allergy\\\" was restricted to type I hypersensitivities (also called immediate hypersensitivity), which are characterized as rapidly developing reactions.\\n\\nA major breakthrough in understanding the mechanisms of allergy was the discovery of the antibody class labeled immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE was simultaneously discovered in 1966-7 by two independent groups: Ishizaka's team at the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and by Gunnar Johansson and Hans Bennich in Uppsala, Sweden. Their joint paper was published in April 1969. \\n\\nDiagnosis\\n\\nRadiometric assays include the radioallergosorbent test (RAST test) method, which uses IgE-binding (anti-IgE) antibodies labeled with radioactive isotopes for quantifying the levels of IgE antibody in the blood. Other newer methods use colorimetric or fluorescence-labeled technology in the place of radioactive isotopes.\\n\\nThe RAST methodology was invented and marketed in 1974 by Pharmacia Diagnostics AB, Uppsala, Sweden, and the acronym RAST is actually a brand name. In 1989, Pharmacia Diagnostics AB replaced it with a superior test named the ImmunoCAP Specific IgE blood test, which uses the newer fluorescence-labeled technology.\\n\\nAmerican College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) issued the Joint Task Force Report \\\"Pearls and pitfalls of allergy diagnostic testing\\\" in 2008, and is firm in its statement that the term RAST is now obsolete:\\n\\nThe term RAST became a colloquialism for all varieties of (in vitro allergy) tests. This is unfortunate because it is well recognized that there are well-performing tests and some that do not perform so well, yet they are all called RASTs, making it difficult to distinguish which is which. For these reasons, it is now recommended that use of RAST as a generic descriptor of these tests be abandoned. \\n\\nThe new version, the ImmunoCAP Specific IgE blood test, is the only specific IgE assay to receive FDA approval to quantitatively report to its detection limit of 0.1kU/l.\\n\\nMedical specialty\\n\\nAn allergist is a physician specially trained to manage and treat allergies, asthma and the other allergic diseases.\\nIn the United States physicians holding certification by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI) have successfully completed an accredited educational program and evaluation process, including a proctored examination to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and experience in patient care in allergy and immunology. Becoming an allergist/immunologist requires completion of at least nine years of training. After completing medical school and graduating with a medical degree, a physician will undergo three years of training in internal medicine (to become an internist) or pediatrics (to become a pediatrician). Once physicians have finished training in one of these specialties, they must pass the exam of either the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), the American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics (AOBP), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), or the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine (AOBIM). Internists or pediatricians wishing to focus on the sub-specialty of allergy-immunology then complete at least an additional two years of study, called a fellowship, in an allergy/immunology training program. Allergist/immunologists listed as ABAI-certified have successfully passed the certifying examination of the ABAI following their fellowship.\\n\\nIn the United Kingdom, allergy is a subspecialty of general medicine or pediatrics. After obtaining postgraduate exams (MRCP or MRCPCH), a doctor works for several years as a specialist registrar before qualifying for the General Medical Council specialist register. Allergy services may also be delivered by immunologists. A 2003 Royal College of Physicians report presented a case for improvement of what were felt to be inadequate allergy services in the UK. In 2006, the House of Lords convened a subcommittee. It concluded likewise in 2007 that allergy services were insufficient to deal with what the Lords referred to as an \\\"allergy epidemic\\\" and its social cost; it made several recommendations.\\n\\nResearch\\n\\nLow-allergen foods are being developed, as are improvements in skin prick test predictions; evaluation of the atopy patch test; in wasp sting outcomes predictions and a rapidly disintegrating epinephrine tablet, and anti-IL-5 for eosinophilic diseases.\\n\\nAerobiology is the study of biological particles passively dispersed through the air. One aim is the prevention of allergies due to pollen.\",\n \"Hay Fever (Allergic Rhinitis) - MedicineNet\\nManage your allergy symptoms better during hay fever ... rhinitis) is a common allergic condition. ... a specific season is called \\\"seasonal allergic rhinitis.\\\"\\nHay Fever Treatment, Home Remedies & Symptoms\\nMedical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD\\nMelissa Conrad Stöppler, MD\\nMelissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.\\nMedical Editor: John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP\\nJohn P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP\\nJohn P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.\\nThe best way to treat an allergy condition is to identify the allergic trigger and avoid it.\\nAllergists are medical specialists trained in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies , including hay fever.\\nHistamine is a key chemical cause of allergic rhinitis and other allergic reactions.\\nEffective treatment is available in many forms, including medications and desensitization therapy ( immunotherapy ).\\nAntihistamines are the drugs most commonly used to treat allergic rhinitis.\\nWhat is hay fever? What are hay fever symptoms and signs?\\nShare Your Story\\nHay fever affects up to 30% of all people worldwide, including up to 10% of U.S. children under 17 years of age and 7.8% of U.S. adults. The medical cost of allergic rhinitis is approximately $3.4 billion, mostly due to the cost of prescription medications. These figures are probably an underestimate because many of those affected may attribute their discomfort to a chronic cold . Although childhood hay fever tends to be more common, this condition can occur at any age and usually occurs after years of repeated inhalation of allergic substances. The incidence of allergic disease has dramatically increased in the U.S. and other developed countries over recent decades.\\n\\\"Hay fever\\\" is a misnomer. Hay is not a usual cause of this problem, and it does not cause fever. Early descriptions of sneezing, nasal congestion , and eye irritation while harvesting field hay promoted this popular term. Allergic rhinitis is the correct term used to describe this allergic reaction , and many different substances cause the allergic symptoms noted in hay fever. Rhinitis means \\\"inflammation of the nose\\\" and is a derivative of rhino, meaning nose. Allergic rhinitis that occurs during a specific season is called \\\"seasonal allergic rhinitis.\\\" When it occurs throughout the year, it is called \\\"perennial allergic rhinitis.\\\" Rhinosinusitis is the medical term that refers to inflammation of the nasal lining as well as the lining tissues of the sinuses. This term is sometimes used because the two conditions frequently occur together.\\nSymptoms of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, frequently include\\nnasal congestion,\\na runny nose with clear mucus,\\nsneezing,\\nnose, eye itching , and\\nexcess tear production in the eyes.\\nPostnasal dripping of clear mucus frequently causes a cough . Loss of the sense of smell is common, and loss of taste sense occurs occasionally. Nose bleeding may occur if the condition is severe. Eye itching , redness, and excess tears in the eyes frequently accompany the nasal symptoms. The eye symptoms are referred to as \\\" allergic conjunctivitis \\\" (inflammation of the whites of the eyes). These allergic symptoms often interfere with one's quality of life and overall health.\\nMany people with allergies have difficulty with social and physical activities. For example, concentration is often difficult while experiencing allergic rhinitis symptoms.\\nMedically Reviewed by a Doctor on 10/7/2016\",\n \"Hay Fever | Rhinitis AAAAI\\n... you may have a condition called rhinitis. ... Seasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, ... Feel Better. Live Better. An ...\\nHay Fever | Rhinitis AAAAI\\nShare |\\nRhinitis (Hay Fever)\\nDo you suffer from frequent sneezing, congestion or stuffiness and an itchy or runny nose? If so, you may have a condition called rhinitis .\\nThere are two types of rhinitis: allergic rhinitis and non-allergic rhinitis.\\nAllergic Rhinitis\\nAllergic rhinitis is caused by allergens like molds, pollen and animals. These are substances which are usually harmless, but can cause allergic reactions in certain people.\\nAllergy symptoms are the result of a chain reaction that starts in the immune system. Your immune system controls how your body defends itself. For instance, if you have an allergy to pollen, your immune system identifies pollen as an invader or allergen. Your immune system overreacts by producing antibodies called Immunoglobulin E (IgE). These antibodies travel to cells that release histamine and other chemicals, causing an allergic reaction with symptoms such as sneezing, stuffiness, a runny nose, itching and post-nasal drip.\\nPeople with allergic rhinitis are also prone to itchy, watery eyes (from allergic conjunctivitis or eye allergies), and they may be more sensitive to irritants such as smoke, perfume or cold, dry air. Rhinitis can contribute to other problems such as asthma, sinus or ear conditions, or trouble sleeping.\\nAllergic Rhinitis Triggers\\nSeasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, is triggered by outdoor allergens such as pollen and mold spores. Some people have symptoms year-round due to indoor allergens from pets, mold, dust mites and cockroach residue. This is called perennial allergic rhinitis. You can suffer from either seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis, or a combination of both.\\nDiagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis\\nAn allergist/immunologist, often referred to as an allergist, has specialized training and experience to determine which allergens, if any, are causing your symptoms. Your allergist will take a detailed health history, perform a physical exam and then most likely test you for allergies. Skin tests show the results within 20 minutes. These results, as well as how frequent and bad your symptoms are, will be considered when developing a treatment plan. Steps to manage your symptoms may include avoiding the allergens you are allergic to, medications or allergy immunotherapy (allergy shots or tablets).\\nTreatment and Management of Allergic Rhinitis\\nThe first step to manage this condition is to avoid allergens that cause symptoms. For instance, if you are allergic to dust mites, it is important to take steps to prevent exposure to dust mites, such as frequently washing bed linens in hot water. The same is true for outdoor allergens. Limiting your exposure during times of high pollen and mold counts may help reduce symptoms.\\nSometimes taking steps to avoid allergens isn’t possible or it isn’t enough to control allergic rhinitis symptoms. That is when your allergist may suggest allergy immunotherapy or recommend medications to control inflammation and prevent symptoms.\\nNasal corticosteroid sprays control inflammation and reduce all symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including itching, sneezing, runny nose and stuffiness. Antihistamines in the form of liquid, pills or nasal sprays block histamine and may relieve itching, sneezing and runny nose. But they may not be as effective in reducing nasal stuffiness.\\nAnti-leukotrienes in pill form can decrease the symptoms of allergic rhinitis in some people.\\nDecongestant pills or nasal sprays can be used as needed if nasal stuffiness is not relieved with other medications. Decongestant nasal sprays should not be used for more than three days because they can cause your congestion to return and worsen. Ipratropium nasal spray can be used specifically for a runny nose.\\nEven though some of these medications are available over-the-counter, you should still work with your allergist to discover what medications work best for you. More importantly, an allergist can screen you for allergic asthma, which is common for rhinitis patients.\\nYour allergist may also recommend allergy immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots or tablets. This treatment involves receiving injections or taking tablets periodically over a period of three to five years. They have been proven effective in decreasing sensitivity to allergens, sometimes permanently.\\nNon-Allergic Rhinitis\\nMany people with rhinitis symptoms do not have allergies. If you have non-allergic rhinitis, avoiding allergens is unnecessary and won’t help your symptoms. This highlights the need to visit an allergist to determine what you are or are not allergic to.\\nNon-allergic rhinitis usually begins in adults and causes year-round symptoms, especially a runny nose and nasal stuffiness. Strong odors, pollution, weather changes, smoke and other irritants may cause symptoms of non-allergic rhinitis. Non-allergic rhinitis symptoms can also develop as side effects of medications, including some blood pressure medicines, oral contraceptives or medications used for erectile dysfunction. Another type of non-allergic rhinitis is caused by nasal decongestant sprays such as oxymetazoline, when used for long periods of time. This type of medication-induced rhinitis is called rhinitis medicamentosa.\\nTreatment of Non-Allergic Rhinitis\\nOral antihistamines and anti-leukotriene drugs generally do not benefit non-allergic rhinitis. However, treatment options include nasal corticosteroid sprays and nasal antihistamine sprays. Ipratropium nasal spray can relieve a runny nose and decongestant pills can be used as needed to relieve nasal stuffiness.\\nOther forms of treatment may be considered if you have problems with the structure of your nose, such as narrow drainage passages, tumors or a shifted nasal septum (the bone and cartilage that separate the right from the left nostril). In these cases, an operation may be needed.\\n \\nHealthy Tips\\n• There are two forms of rhinitis: allergic and non-allergic. This distinction is important in order to provide the best plan for controlling your symptoms.\\n• The allergic form of rhinitis can be caused by outdoor allergens such as pollen and mold spores. This is referred to as seasonal allergic rhinitis or hay fever. Allergic rhinitis can also be caused by indoor allergens such as dust mites or pets. This is called perennial allergic rhinitis, as symptoms are usually year-round.\\n• Steps to treat allergic rhinitis include trigger avoidance, medications for inflammation and symptom relief, and immunotherapy (allergy shots and tablets). Treating non-allergic rhinitis may include symptom relieving medication. Operations to correct your nasal structure may also be necessary.\\nFeel Better. Live Better.\\nAn allergist / immunologist, often referred to as an allergist, is a pediatrician or internist with at least two additional years of specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies, asthma, immune deficiencies and other immunologic diseases.\\nBy visiting the office of an allergist, you can expect an accurate diagnosis, a treatment plan that works and educational information to help you manage your disease and feel better.\\nThe AAAAI's Find an Allergist / Immunologist service is a trusted resource to help you find a specialist close to home.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124621,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"Which US city has the same name as the state that it is in?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"New York"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["U.S._state.txt\nU.S. state\nA state of the United States of America is one of the 50 constituent political entities that shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the federal government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody).\n\nStates range in population from just under 600,000 (Wyoming) to over 38 million (California), and in area from (Rhode Island) to (Alaska). Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.\n\nStates are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local governmental authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state. State governments are allocated power by the people (of each respective state) through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in republican principles, and each provides for a government, consisting of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. \n\nStates possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution; among them ratifying constitutional amendments. Historically, the tasks of local law enforcement, public education, public health, regulating intrastate commerce, and local transportation and infrastructure have generally been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all of these now have significant federal funding and regulation as well. Over time, the U.S. Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a continuing debate over states' rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states' powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government and the rights of individuals.\n\nStates and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is represented by two Senators, and at least one Representative, while additional representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. Each state is also entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects the President of the United States, equal to the total of Representatives and Senators from that state. \n\nThe Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959.\n\nThe Constitution is silent on the question of whether states have the power to secede (withdraw from) from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that a state cannot unilaterally do so. \n\nStates of the United States\n\nThe 50 U.S. states (in alphabetical order), along with state flag and date each joined the union:\n\nGovernments\n\nAs each state is itself a sovereign entity, it reserves the right to organize its individual government in any way (within the broad parameters set by the U.S. Constitution) deemed appropriate by its people. As a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance. No two state governments are identical.\n\nConstitutions\n\nThe government of each state is structured in accordance with its individual constitution. Many of these documents are more detailed and more elaborate than their federal counterpart. The Constitution of Alabama, for example, contains 310,296 words — more than 40 times as many as the U.S. Constitution. In practice, each state has adopted a three-branch system of government, modeled after the federal government, and consisting of three branches (although the three-branch structure is not required): executive, legislative, and judicial. \n\nExecutive\n\nIn each state, the chief executive is called the governor, who serves as both head of state and head of government. The governor may approve or veto bills passed by the state legislature, as well as push for the passage of bills supported by the party of the Governor. In 43 states, governors have line item veto power. \n\nMost states have a \"plural executive\" in which two or more members of the executive branch are elected directly by the people. Such additional elected officials serve as members of the executive branch, but are not beholden to the governor and the governor cannot dismiss them. For example, the attorney general is elected, rather than appointed, in 43 of the 50 U.S. states.\n\nLegislative\n\nThe legislatures of 49 of the 50 states are made up of two chambers: a lower house (termed the House of Representatives, State Assembly, General Assembly or House of Delegates) and a smaller upper house, always termed the Senate. The exception is the unicameral Nebraska Legislature, which is composed of only a single chamber.\n\nMost states have part-time legislatures, while six of the most populated states have full-time legislatures. However, several states with high population have short legislative sessions, including Texas and Florida. \n\nIn Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court held that all states are required to elect their legislatures in such a way as to afford each citizen the same degree of representation (the one person, one vote standard). In practice, most states choose to elect legislators from single-member districts, each of which has approximately the same population. Some states, such as Maryland and Vermont, divide the state into single- and multi-member districts, in which case multi-member districts must have proportionately larger populations, e.g., a district electing two representatives must have approximately twice the population of a district electing just one. If the governor vetoes legislation, all legislatures may override it, usually, but not always, requiring a two-thirds majority.\n\nIn 2013, there were a total of 7,383 legislators in the 50 state legislative bodies. They earned from $0 annually (New Mexico) to $90,526 (California). There were various per diem and mileage compensation. \n\nJudicial\n\nStates can also organize their judicial systems differently from the federal judiciary, as long as they protect the federal constitutional right of their citizens to procedural due process. Most have a trial level court, generally called a District Court or Superior Court, a first-level appellate court, generally called a Court of Appeal (or Appeals), and a Supreme Court. However, Oklahoma and Texas have separate highest courts for criminal appeals. In New York State the trial court is called the Supreme Court; appeals are then taken to the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, and from there to the Court of Appeals.\n\nMost states base their legal system on English common law (with substantial indigenous changes and incorporation of certain civil law innovations), with the notable exception of Louisiana, a former French colony, which draws large parts of its legal system from French civil law.\n\nOnly a few states choose to have the judges on the state's courts serve for life terms. In most of the states the judges, including the justices of the highest court in the state, are either elected or appointed for terms of a limited number of years, and are usually eligible for re-election or reappointment.\n\nRelationships\n\nAmong states\n\nEach state admitted to the Union by Congress since 1789 has entered it on an equal footing with the original States in all respects. With the growth of states' rights advocacy during the antebellum period, the Supreme Court asserted, in Lessee of Pollard v. Hagan (1845), that the Constitution mandated admission of new states on the basis of equality.\n\nUnder Article Four of the United States Constitution, which outlines the relationship between the states, each state is required to give full faith and credit to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts and criminal judgments, and before 1865, slavery status. Regardless of the Full Faith and Credit Clause, some legal arrangements, such as professional licensure and marriages, may be state-specific, and until recently states have not been found by the courts to be required to honor such arrangements from other states. \n\nSuch legal acts are nevertheless often recognized state-to-state according to the common practice of comity. States are prohibited from discriminating against citizens of other states with respect to their basic rights, under the Privileges and Immunities Clause. Under the Extradition Clause, a state must extradite people located there who have fled charges of \"treason, felony, or other crimes\" in another state if the other state so demands. The principle of hot pursuit of a presumed felon and arrest by the law officers of one state in another state are often permitted by a state. \n\nWith the consent of Congress, states may enter into interstate compacts, agreements between two or more states. Compacts are frequently used to manage a shared resource, such as transportation infrastructure or water rights. \n\nWith the federal government\n\nEvery state is guaranteed a form of government that is grounded in republican principles, such as the consent of the governed. This guarantee has long been at the fore-front of the debate about the rights of citizens vis-à-vis the government. States are also guaranteed protection from invasion, and, upon the application of the state legislature (or executive, if the legislature cannot be convened), from domestic violence. This provision was discussed during the 1967 Detroit riot, but was not invoked.\n\nSince the early 20th century, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United States to allow greatly expanded scope of federal power over time, at the expense of powers formerly considered purely states' matters. The Cambridge Economic History of the United States says, \"On the whole, especially after the mid-1880s, the Court construed the Commerce Clause in favor of increased federal power.\" In Wickard v. Filburn , the court expanded federal power to regulate the economy by holding that federal authority under the commerce clause extends to activities which may appear to be local in nature but in reality effect the entire national economy and are therefore of national concern. \n\nFor example, Congress can regulate railway traffic across state lines, but it may also regulate rail traffic solely within a state, based on the reality that intrastate traffic still affects interstate commerce. In recent years, the Court has tried to place limits on the Commerce Clause in such cases as United States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison.\n\nAnother example of congressional power is its spending power—the ability of Congress to impose taxes and distribute the resulting revenue back to the states (subject to conditions set by Congress). An example of this is the system of federal aid for highways, which include the Interstate Highway System. The system is mandated and largely funded by the federal government, and also serves the interests of the states. By threatening to withhold federal highway funds, Congress has been able to pressure state legislatures to pass a variety of laws. An example is the nationwide legal drinking age of 21, enacted by each state, brought about by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Although some objected that this infringes on states' rights, the Supreme Court upheld the practice as a permissible use of the Constitution's Spending Clause in South Dakota v. Dole .\n\nAdmission into the Union\n\nArticle IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with the existing states. It also forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of both the affected states and Congress. This caveat was designed to give Eastern states that still had Western land claims (there were 4 in 1787), to have a veto over whether their western counties could become states, and has served this same function since, whenever a proposal to partition an existing state or states in order that a region within might either join another state or to create a new state has come before Congress.\n\nMost of the states admitted to the Union after the original 13 have been created from organized territories established and governed by Congress in accord with its plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. The outline for this process was established by the Northwest Ordinance (1787), which predates the ratification of the Constitution. In some cases, an entire territory has become a state; in others some part of a territory has.\n\nWhen the people of a territory make their desire for statehood known to the federal government, Congress may pass an enabling act authorizing the people of that territory to organize a constitutional convention to write a state constitution as a step towards admission to the Union. Each act details the mechanism by which the territory will be admitted as a state following ratification of their constitution and election of state officers. Although the use of an enabling act is a traditional historic practice, a number of territories have drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act and were subsequently admitted. Upon acceptance of that constitution, and upon meeting any additional Congressional stipulations, Congress has always admitted that territory as a state.\n\nIn addition to the original 13, six subsequent states were never an organized territory of the federal government, or part of one, before being admitted to the Union. Three were set off from an already existing state, two entered the Union after having been sovereign states, and one was established from unorganized territory:\n*California, 1850, from land ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848 under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. \n*Kentucky, 1792, from Virginia (District of Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties)Michael P. Riccards, \"Lincoln and the Political Question: The Creation of the State of West Virginia\" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a\no&d=5000522904 online edition]\n*Maine, 1820, from Massachusetts (District of Maine)\n*Texas, 1845, previously the Republic of Texas \n*Vermont, 1791, previously the Vermont Republic (also known as the New Hampshire Grants and claimed by New York) \n*West Virginia, 1863, from Virginia (Trans-Allegheny region counties) during the Civil War \n\nCongress is under no obligation to admit states, even in those areas whose population expresses a desire for statehood. Such has been the case numerous times during the nation's history. In one instance, Mormon pioneers in Salt Lake City sought to establish the state of Deseret in 1849. It existed for slightly over two years and was never approved by the United States Congress. In another, leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) in Indian Territory proposed to establish the state of Sequoyah in 1905, as a means to retain control of their lands. The proposed constitution ultimately failed in the U.S. Congress. Instead, the Indian Territory, along with Oklahoma Territory were both incorporated into the new state of Oklahoma in 1907. The first instance occurred while the nation still operated under the Articles of Confederation. The State of Franklin existed for several years, not long after the end of the American Revolution, but was never recognized by the Confederation Congress, which ultimately recognized North Carolina's claim of sovereignty over the area. The territory comprising Franklin later became part of the Southwest Territory, and ultimately the state of Tennessee.\n\nAdditionally, the entry of several states into the Union was delayed due to distinctive complicating factors. Among them, Michigan Territory, which petitioned Congress for statehood in 1835, was not admitted to the Union until 1837, due to a boundary dispute the adjoining state of Ohio. The Republic of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1837, but fears about potential conflict with Mexico delayed the admission of Texas for nine years. Also, statehood for Kansas Territory was held up for several years (1854–61) due to a series of internal violent conflicts involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions.\n\nPossible new states\n\nPuerto Rico\n\nPuerto Rico referred to itself as the \"Commonwealth of Puerto Rico\" in the English version of its constitution, and as \"Estado Libre Asociado\" (literally, Associated Free State) in the Spanish version.\n\nAs with any non-state territory of the United States, its residents do not have voting representation in the federal government. Puerto Rico has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a Resident Commissioner, a delegate with limited voting rights in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and no voting rights otherwise. \n\nA non-binding referendum on statehood, independence, or a new option for an associated territory (different from the current status) was held on November 6, 2012. Sixty one percent (61%) of voters chose the statehood option, while one third of the ballots were submitted blank. \n\nOn December 11, 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a concurrent resolution requesting the President and the Congress of the United States to respond to the referendum of the people of Puerto Rico, held on November 6, 2012, to end its current form of territorial status and to begin the process to admit Puerto Rico as a State. \n\nWashington, D.C.\n\nThe intention of the Founding Fathers was that the United States capital should be at a neutral site, not giving favor to any existing state; as a result, the District of Columbia was created in 1800 to serve as the seat of government. The inhabitants of the District do not have full representation in Congress or a sovereign elected government (they were allotted presidential electors by the 23rd amendment, and have a non-voting delegate in Congress).\n\nSome residents of the District support statehood of some form for that jurisdiction—either statehood for the whole district or for the inhabited part, with the remainder remaining under federal jurisdiction.\n\nOthers\n\nVarious proposals to divide California, usually involving splitting the south half from the north or the urban coastline from the rest of the state, have been advanced since the 1850s. Similarly, numerous proposals to divide New York, all of which involve to some degree the separation of New York City from the rest of the state, have been promoted over the past several decades. The partitioning of either state is, at the present, highly unlikely.\n\nOther even less likely possible new states are Guam and the Virgin Islands, both of which are unincorporated organized territories of the United States. Also, either the Northern Mariana Islands or American Samoa, an unorganized, unincorporated territory, could seek statehood.\n\nSecession from the Union\n\nThe Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the union. However, its predecessor document, the Articles of Confederation, stated that the United States \"shall be perpetual.\" The question of whether or not individual states held the right to unilateral secession remained a difficult and divisive one until the American Civil War. In 1860 and 1861, eleven southern states seceded, but following their defeat in the American Civil War were brought back into the Union during the Reconstruction Era. The federal government never recognized the secession of any of the rebellious states. \n\nFollowing the Civil War, the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that states did not have the right to secede and that any act of secession was legally void. Drawing on the Preamble to the Constitution, which states that the Constitution was intended to \"form a more perfect union\" and speaks of the people of the United States in effect as a single body politic, as well as the language of the Articles of Confederation, the Supreme Court maintained that states did not have a right to secede. However, the court's reference in the same decision to the possibility of such changes occurring \"through revolution, or through consent of the States,\" essentially means that this decision holds that no state has a right to unilaterally decide to leave the Union.\n\nCommonwealths\n\nFour states—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia —adopted Constitutions early in their post-colonial existence identifying themselves as commonwealths, rather than states. These commonwealths are states, but legally, each is a commonwealth because the term is contained in its constitution. As a result, \"commonwealth\" is used in all public and other state writings, actions or activities within their bounds.\n\nThe term, which refers to a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people, was first used in Virginia during the Interregnum, the 1649–60 period between the reigns of Charles I and Charles II during which parliament's Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector established a republican government known as the Commonwealth of England. Virginia became a royal colony again in 1660, and the word was dropped from the full title. When Virginia adopted its first constitution on June 29, 1776, it was reintroduced. Pennsylvania followed suit when it drew up a constitution later that year, as did Massachusetts, in 1780, and Kentucky, in 1792.\n\nThe U.S. territories of the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico are also referred to as commonwealths. This designation does have a legal status different from that of the 50 states. Both of these commonwealths are unincorporated territories of the United States.\n\nOrigins of states' names\n\nThe 50 states have taken their names from a wide variety of languages. Twenty-four state names originate from Native American languages. Of these, eight are from Algonquian languages, seven are from Siouan languages, three are from Iroquoian languages, one is from Uto-Aztecan languages and five others are from other indigenous languages. Hawaii's name is derived from the Polynesian Hawaiian language.\n\nOf the remaining names, 22 are from European languages: Seven from Latin (mainly Latinized forms of English names), the rest are from English, Spanish and French. Eleven states are named after individual people, including seven named for royalty and one named after an American president. The origins of six state names are unknown or disputed. Several of the states that derive their names from (corrupted) names used for Native peoples, have retained the plural ending of \"s\".\n\nGeography\n\nBorders\n\nThe borders of the 13 original states were largely determined by colonial charters. Their western boundaries were subsequently modified as the states ceded their western land claims to the Federal government during the 1780s and 1790s. Many state borders beyond those of the original 13 were set by Congress as it created territories, divided them, and over time, created states within them. Territorial and new state lines often followed various geographic features (such as rivers or mountain range peaks), and were influenced by settlement or transportation patterns. At various times, national borders with territories formerly controlled by other countries (British North America, New France, New Spain including Spanish Florida, and Russian America) became institutionalized as the borders of U.S. states. In the West, relatively arbitrary straight lines following latitude and longitude often prevail, due to the sparseness of settlement west of the Mississippi River.\n\nOnce established, most state borders have, with few exceptions, been generally stable. Only two states, Missouri (Platte Purchase) and Nevada, grew appreciably after statehood. Several of the original states ceded land, over a several year period, to the Federal government, which in turn became the Northwest Territory, Southwest Territory, and Mississippi Territory. In 1791 Maryland and Virginia ceded land to create the District of Columbia (Virginia's portion was returned in 1847). In 1850, Texas ceded a large swath of land to the federal government. Additionally, Massachusetts and Virginia (on two occasions), have lost land, in each instance to form a new state.\n\nThere have been numerous other minor adjustments to state boundaries over the years due to improved surveys, resolution of ambiguous or disputed boundary definitions, or minor mutually agreed boundary adjustments for administrative convenience or other purposes. Occasionally the United States Congress or the United States Supreme Court have settled state border disputes. One notable example is the case New Jersey v. New York, in which New Jersey won roughly 90% of Ellis Island from New York in 1998. \n\nRegional grouping\n\nStates may be grouped in regions; there are endless variations and possible groupings. Many are defined in law or regulations by the federal government. For example, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau region definition is \"widely used … for data collection and analysis,\"\"The National Energy Modeling System: An Overview 2003\" (Report #:DOE/EIA-0581, October 2009). United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. and is the most commonly used classification system. Other multi-state regions are unofficial, and defined by geography or cultural affinity rather than by state lines.","Same city name in different states. (America, Atlanta ...\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons ... there are many towns in NJ that have the same name ... Within the Same State?, City ...\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons) - City vs. City - City-Data Forum\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons)\nUser Name\nAdvanced Search\nGo to Page...\nPlease register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account , you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.\nView detailed profile ( Advanced ) or search\nsite with\n891 posts, read 3,557,636 times\nReputation: 451\nAdvertisements\nDon't know if this has been asked, but does anyone know how it comes to be that a city name ends up in different states?\nExamples:\nRichmond & Arlington in TX and VA\nGainesville in FL and in VA\nCharleston in WVa and in SC\nMemphis in TN and in KY\nNashville in TN and in KY\nThere are many more that are just not coming to me, but I was wondering if anyone knows the how come behind this?\nThanks!\n2,984 posts, read 6,976,225 times\nReputation: 2222\nI know in the northeast many of the names were \"stolen\" from England and used in various states, i.e. Stratford, Glastonbury, Oxford, Norwich, etc.. I am thinking it was due to lack of creativity.\n \n12,277 posts, read 27,732,675 times\nReputation: 5118\ndid you know that the creators of The Simpsons purposely chose Springfield as the town name because there are so many of them? Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa can live in almost any state...and that was the idea. I know off-hand of one in NJ, MA, MO, IL.\neta - there are many towns in NJ that have the same name - e.g. - there are about 7 washington townships. silly.\n \n10,183 posts, read 22,451,530 times\nReputation: 3767\nI was thinking of Springfield, too. Also one in VT.\nQuote:\nOriginally Posted by tahiti\ndid you know that the creators of The Simpsons purposely chose Springfield as the town name because there are so many of them? Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa can live in almost any state...and that was the idea. I know off-hand of one in NJ, MA, MO, IL.\neta - there are many towns in NJ that have the same name - e.g. - there are about 7 washington townships. silly.\n \n5,565 posts, read 13,849,891 times\nReputation: 3734\n17 Decaturs\nI'm in Decatur, Alabama. There are 17 Decaturs, all thanks to the early American hero Stephen Decatur. I believe there was once a meeting of all the Decatur mayors in one of the Northern Decaturs. Our town is frequently confused with Decatur, Georgia.\n \n40 posts, read 178,463 times\nReputation: 34\nThere's both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon\nI was born in Orange, California, and I've heard that there is an Orange, Florida too.\n \n5,718 posts, read 12,845,135 times\nReputation: 2772\n2,795 posts, read 1,994,435 times\nReputation: 584\nAlexandria - Louisiana, Virginia, Minnesota, & Egypt.\nLafayette - Louisiana & Indiana. (but two different pronunciations!)\n \nLocation: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)\n4,085 posts, read 10,320,976 times\nReputation: 1897\nOriginally Posted by UmbrellasYearRound\nThere's both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon\nI was born in Orange, California, and I've heard that there is an Orange, Florida too.\nDon't forget Portland, Texas! And Orange, Texas, right on the border of Texas and Louisiana!\nThere are many, many Texas towns with the same name as other towns. I'd be here all day listing them all...\nAthens, TX and Athens, GA\nAtlanta, TX and Atlanta, GA\nMt. Pleasant, TX and Mt. Pleasant, MI; Mt. Pleasant, SC; and Mt. Pleasant, IA\nHuntsville, TX and Huntsville, AL\nDeKalb, TX and DeKalb, IL\nNot to mention Paris and Palestine. NOTHING like their namesakes, I assure you!\n \n22,836 posts, read 51,482,823 times\nReputation: 14588\nDENVER CO and DENVER NC\nThe Denver North carolina area was settled ca. 1770 and, because of it's location adjacent to a swampy area, was originally known as \"Dry Pond\". In 1873 \"Dry Pond\" was renamed \"Denver\" by D. Matt Thompson, the local school principal. Legend has it that in the early 1870's the people of \"Dry Pond\" were lobbying to persuade the railroads to route rail service through the area.\nRail service held the promise of opportunity, prosperity and wealth. They worried that the name \"Dry Pond\" made the area sound unattractive and that it might hamper their chances with the railroads. The school principle, being respected for his education and learning, was asked to help choose a new name that would make the area sound more appealing and help improve their chances of obtaining rail service. It was 1873 and Colorado was then being considered for admission to the Union, so Mr. Thompson suggested renaming the area after the capital of Colorado, thus the name of Denver. In 1877 the town of Denver was officially incorporated in the state of North Carolina. Sadly, all their efforts were for naught as the railroads decided not to bring a rail line through the newly named town. Without the railroads the growth of the small town was stymied, the town became too poor to maintain even it's own streets. In 1971 the little town of Denver lost it's incorporated status when the State of North Carolina rescinded the charters of several inactive N.C. cities.\nPlease register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.\nDetailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com .\nPage 1 of 15","US cities that have state names - CosmoQuest\n... of cities in the United States that share names with states in the US. This list is a chain, with each city name, ... US cities that have state ... same general ...\nUS cities that have state names\nOff-Topic Babbling\nUS cities that have state names\nIf this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.\n15,251\nUS cities that have state names\nI found this old list I made, of cities in the United States that share names with states in the US. This list is a chain, with each city name, except the first, coming from the state preceding. Can anyone find a longer chain?\nWyoming, Minnesota\nA circular chain (one longer than: New York, New York)?\nHow about cities in the world that share names with countries?\n0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...\nA man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. --Charles Darwin; That turned out good! --01101001\nPosts\n1,604\nWell I know that kind of interesting thing doesn't happen in Australia - most of our state names are very boring and descriptive! I must admit that I can't think of any cities that share their names with actual countries though.\nPosts\n1,604\nWell we've got a Miami and Toronto in Australia, but I can't think of any towns named after countries.\nOriginally Posted by archman\nI wonder how much stuff like this screws up the U.S. postal system.\nI came up with the list in order to screw up a certain corporate headquarters. When we moved into a new building, they directed us to name our conference rooms after cities. Another building's occupants had had to name their rooms after states. Evil person that I am, I submitted city names that were all also state names, so they'd appear to violate The Official Rules.\n0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...\nA man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. --Charles Darwin; That turned out good! --01101001","U S City Names List All 50 State City Names, Advertise ...\nHome City Click on State Name in right side ... Us City Names List Us City Names Us City Name. ... We will link you with other sites at the same ...\nU S City Names List All 50 State City Names, Advertise your site with us.\nFire Safety Certification - NEPA Fire Safety NEPA Fire Safety Training Fire Safety Training\n \nList of city names Alabama, List of city names Alaska,List of city names Arizona,List of city names Arkansas, List of city names,California,List of city names Colorado,List of city names Connecticut,List of city names Delaware,List of city names Florida,List of city names Georgia,List of city names Hawaii,List of city names Idaho, List of city names Illinois,List of city names Indiana,List of city names Iowa, List of city names Kansas,List of city names Kentucky,List of city names Louisiana,List of city names,List of city names Maine, List of city names Mayland,List of city names Massachusetts,List of city names Michigan, List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names, List of city names Minnesota,List of city names Mississippi,List of city names Missouri, List of city names Montana,List of city names Nebraska,List of city names Nevada,List of city names New Hampshire,,List of city names New Jersey,List of city names New Mexico,List of city names New York,List of city namesNorth Carolina, List of city names North Dakota,List of city names Ohio,List of city names Oklahoma, List of city names Oregon,List of city names Pennsylvania,,List of city names Rode Island,List of city names South Carolina,List of city names South Dakota,List of city names Tennessee,List of city names Texas,List of city names Utah, List of city names Vermount,List of city names Virginia,List of city names Washington, List of city names West Virginia,List of city names Wisconsin,List of city names Wyhoming,List of all city names USA"],"string":"[\n \"U.S._state.txt\\nU.S. state\\nA state of the United States of America is one of the 50 constituent political entities that shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the federal government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody).\\n\\nStates range in population from just under 600,000 (Wyoming) to over 38 million (California), and in area from (Rhode Island) to (Alaska). Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.\\n\\nStates are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local governmental authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state. State governments are allocated power by the people (of each respective state) through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in republican principles, and each provides for a government, consisting of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. \\n\\nStates possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution; among them ratifying constitutional amendments. Historically, the tasks of local law enforcement, public education, public health, regulating intrastate commerce, and local transportation and infrastructure have generally been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all of these now have significant federal funding and regulation as well. Over time, the U.S. Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a continuing debate over states' rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states' powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government and the rights of individuals.\\n\\nStates and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is represented by two Senators, and at least one Representative, while additional representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. Each state is also entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects the President of the United States, equal to the total of Representatives and Senators from that state. \\n\\nThe Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959.\\n\\nThe Constitution is silent on the question of whether states have the power to secede (withdraw from) from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that a state cannot unilaterally do so. \\n\\nStates of the United States\\n\\nThe 50 U.S. states (in alphabetical order), along with state flag and date each joined the union:\\n\\nGovernments\\n\\nAs each state is itself a sovereign entity, it reserves the right to organize its individual government in any way (within the broad parameters set by the U.S. Constitution) deemed appropriate by its people. As a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance. No two state governments are identical.\\n\\nConstitutions\\n\\nThe government of each state is structured in accordance with its individual constitution. Many of these documents are more detailed and more elaborate than their federal counterpart. The Constitution of Alabama, for example, contains 310,296 words — more than 40 times as many as the U.S. Constitution. In practice, each state has adopted a three-branch system of government, modeled after the federal government, and consisting of three branches (although the three-branch structure is not required): executive, legislative, and judicial. \\n\\nExecutive\\n\\nIn each state, the chief executive is called the governor, who serves as both head of state and head of government. The governor may approve or veto bills passed by the state legislature, as well as push for the passage of bills supported by the party of the Governor. In 43 states, governors have line item veto power. \\n\\nMost states have a \\\"plural executive\\\" in which two or more members of the executive branch are elected directly by the people. Such additional elected officials serve as members of the executive branch, but are not beholden to the governor and the governor cannot dismiss them. For example, the attorney general is elected, rather than appointed, in 43 of the 50 U.S. states.\\n\\nLegislative\\n\\nThe legislatures of 49 of the 50 states are made up of two chambers: a lower house (termed the House of Representatives, State Assembly, General Assembly or House of Delegates) and a smaller upper house, always termed the Senate. The exception is the unicameral Nebraska Legislature, which is composed of only a single chamber.\\n\\nMost states have part-time legislatures, while six of the most populated states have full-time legislatures. However, several states with high population have short legislative sessions, including Texas and Florida. \\n\\nIn Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court held that all states are required to elect their legislatures in such a way as to afford each citizen the same degree of representation (the one person, one vote standard). In practice, most states choose to elect legislators from single-member districts, each of which has approximately the same population. Some states, such as Maryland and Vermont, divide the state into single- and multi-member districts, in which case multi-member districts must have proportionately larger populations, e.g., a district electing two representatives must have approximately twice the population of a district electing just one. If the governor vetoes legislation, all legislatures may override it, usually, but not always, requiring a two-thirds majority.\\n\\nIn 2013, there were a total of 7,383 legislators in the 50 state legislative bodies. They earned from $0 annually (New Mexico) to $90,526 (California). There were various per diem and mileage compensation. \\n\\nJudicial\\n\\nStates can also organize their judicial systems differently from the federal judiciary, as long as they protect the federal constitutional right of their citizens to procedural due process. Most have a trial level court, generally called a District Court or Superior Court, a first-level appellate court, generally called a Court of Appeal (or Appeals), and a Supreme Court. However, Oklahoma and Texas have separate highest courts for criminal appeals. In New York State the trial court is called the Supreme Court; appeals are then taken to the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, and from there to the Court of Appeals.\\n\\nMost states base their legal system on English common law (with substantial indigenous changes and incorporation of certain civil law innovations), with the notable exception of Louisiana, a former French colony, which draws large parts of its legal system from French civil law.\\n\\nOnly a few states choose to have the judges on the state's courts serve for life terms. In most of the states the judges, including the justices of the highest court in the state, are either elected or appointed for terms of a limited number of years, and are usually eligible for re-election or reappointment.\\n\\nRelationships\\n\\nAmong states\\n\\nEach state admitted to the Union by Congress since 1789 has entered it on an equal footing with the original States in all respects. With the growth of states' rights advocacy during the antebellum period, the Supreme Court asserted, in Lessee of Pollard v. Hagan (1845), that the Constitution mandated admission of new states on the basis of equality.\\n\\nUnder Article Four of the United States Constitution, which outlines the relationship between the states, each state is required to give full faith and credit to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts and criminal judgments, and before 1865, slavery status. Regardless of the Full Faith and Credit Clause, some legal arrangements, such as professional licensure and marriages, may be state-specific, and until recently states have not been found by the courts to be required to honor such arrangements from other states. \\n\\nSuch legal acts are nevertheless often recognized state-to-state according to the common practice of comity. States are prohibited from discriminating against citizens of other states with respect to their basic rights, under the Privileges and Immunities Clause. Under the Extradition Clause, a state must extradite people located there who have fled charges of \\\"treason, felony, or other crimes\\\" in another state if the other state so demands. The principle of hot pursuit of a presumed felon and arrest by the law officers of one state in another state are often permitted by a state. \\n\\nWith the consent of Congress, states may enter into interstate compacts, agreements between two or more states. Compacts are frequently used to manage a shared resource, such as transportation infrastructure or water rights. \\n\\nWith the federal government\\n\\nEvery state is guaranteed a form of government that is grounded in republican principles, such as the consent of the governed. This guarantee has long been at the fore-front of the debate about the rights of citizens vis-à-vis the government. States are also guaranteed protection from invasion, and, upon the application of the state legislature (or executive, if the legislature cannot be convened), from domestic violence. This provision was discussed during the 1967 Detroit riot, but was not invoked.\\n\\nSince the early 20th century, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United States to allow greatly expanded scope of federal power over time, at the expense of powers formerly considered purely states' matters. The Cambridge Economic History of the United States says, \\\"On the whole, especially after the mid-1880s, the Court construed the Commerce Clause in favor of increased federal power.\\\" In Wickard v. Filburn , the court expanded federal power to regulate the economy by holding that federal authority under the commerce clause extends to activities which may appear to be local in nature but in reality effect the entire national economy and are therefore of national concern. \\n\\nFor example, Congress can regulate railway traffic across state lines, but it may also regulate rail traffic solely within a state, based on the reality that intrastate traffic still affects interstate commerce. In recent years, the Court has tried to place limits on the Commerce Clause in such cases as United States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison.\\n\\nAnother example of congressional power is its spending power—the ability of Congress to impose taxes and distribute the resulting revenue back to the states (subject to conditions set by Congress). An example of this is the system of federal aid for highways, which include the Interstate Highway System. The system is mandated and largely funded by the federal government, and also serves the interests of the states. By threatening to withhold federal highway funds, Congress has been able to pressure state legislatures to pass a variety of laws. An example is the nationwide legal drinking age of 21, enacted by each state, brought about by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Although some objected that this infringes on states' rights, the Supreme Court upheld the practice as a permissible use of the Constitution's Spending Clause in South Dakota v. Dole .\\n\\nAdmission into the Union\\n\\nArticle IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with the existing states. It also forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of both the affected states and Congress. This caveat was designed to give Eastern states that still had Western land claims (there were 4 in 1787), to have a veto over whether their western counties could become states, and has served this same function since, whenever a proposal to partition an existing state or states in order that a region within might either join another state or to create a new state has come before Congress.\\n\\nMost of the states admitted to the Union after the original 13 have been created from organized territories established and governed by Congress in accord with its plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. The outline for this process was established by the Northwest Ordinance (1787), which predates the ratification of the Constitution. In some cases, an entire territory has become a state; in others some part of a territory has.\\n\\nWhen the people of a territory make their desire for statehood known to the federal government, Congress may pass an enabling act authorizing the people of that territory to organize a constitutional convention to write a state constitution as a step towards admission to the Union. Each act details the mechanism by which the territory will be admitted as a state following ratification of their constitution and election of state officers. Although the use of an enabling act is a traditional historic practice, a number of territories have drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act and were subsequently admitted. Upon acceptance of that constitution, and upon meeting any additional Congressional stipulations, Congress has always admitted that territory as a state.\\n\\nIn addition to the original 13, six subsequent states were never an organized territory of the federal government, or part of one, before being admitted to the Union. Three were set off from an already existing state, two entered the Union after having been sovereign states, and one was established from unorganized territory:\\n*California, 1850, from land ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848 under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. \\n*Kentucky, 1792, from Virginia (District of Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties)Michael P. Riccards, \\\"Lincoln and the Political Question: The Creation of the State of West Virginia\\\" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a\\no&d=5000522904 online edition]\\n*Maine, 1820, from Massachusetts (District of Maine)\\n*Texas, 1845, previously the Republic of Texas \\n*Vermont, 1791, previously the Vermont Republic (also known as the New Hampshire Grants and claimed by New York) \\n*West Virginia, 1863, from Virginia (Trans-Allegheny region counties) during the Civil War \\n\\nCongress is under no obligation to admit states, even in those areas whose population expresses a desire for statehood. Such has been the case numerous times during the nation's history. In one instance, Mormon pioneers in Salt Lake City sought to establish the state of Deseret in 1849. It existed for slightly over two years and was never approved by the United States Congress. In another, leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) in Indian Territory proposed to establish the state of Sequoyah in 1905, as a means to retain control of their lands. The proposed constitution ultimately failed in the U.S. Congress. Instead, the Indian Territory, along with Oklahoma Territory were both incorporated into the new state of Oklahoma in 1907. The first instance occurred while the nation still operated under the Articles of Confederation. The State of Franklin existed for several years, not long after the end of the American Revolution, but was never recognized by the Confederation Congress, which ultimately recognized North Carolina's claim of sovereignty over the area. The territory comprising Franklin later became part of the Southwest Territory, and ultimately the state of Tennessee.\\n\\nAdditionally, the entry of several states into the Union was delayed due to distinctive complicating factors. Among them, Michigan Territory, which petitioned Congress for statehood in 1835, was not admitted to the Union until 1837, due to a boundary dispute the adjoining state of Ohio. The Republic of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1837, but fears about potential conflict with Mexico delayed the admission of Texas for nine years. Also, statehood for Kansas Territory was held up for several years (1854–61) due to a series of internal violent conflicts involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions.\\n\\nPossible new states\\n\\nPuerto Rico\\n\\nPuerto Rico referred to itself as the \\\"Commonwealth of Puerto Rico\\\" in the English version of its constitution, and as \\\"Estado Libre Asociado\\\" (literally, Associated Free State) in the Spanish version.\\n\\nAs with any non-state territory of the United States, its residents do not have voting representation in the federal government. Puerto Rico has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a Resident Commissioner, a delegate with limited voting rights in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and no voting rights otherwise. \\n\\nA non-binding referendum on statehood, independence, or a new option for an associated territory (different from the current status) was held on November 6, 2012. Sixty one percent (61%) of voters chose the statehood option, while one third of the ballots were submitted blank. \\n\\nOn December 11, 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a concurrent resolution requesting the President and the Congress of the United States to respond to the referendum of the people of Puerto Rico, held on November 6, 2012, to end its current form of territorial status and to begin the process to admit Puerto Rico as a State. \\n\\nWashington, D.C.\\n\\nThe intention of the Founding Fathers was that the United States capital should be at a neutral site, not giving favor to any existing state; as a result, the District of Columbia was created in 1800 to serve as the seat of government. The inhabitants of the District do not have full representation in Congress or a sovereign elected government (they were allotted presidential electors by the 23rd amendment, and have a non-voting delegate in Congress).\\n\\nSome residents of the District support statehood of some form for that jurisdiction—either statehood for the whole district or for the inhabited part, with the remainder remaining under federal jurisdiction.\\n\\nOthers\\n\\nVarious proposals to divide California, usually involving splitting the south half from the north or the urban coastline from the rest of the state, have been advanced since the 1850s. Similarly, numerous proposals to divide New York, all of which involve to some degree the separation of New York City from the rest of the state, have been promoted over the past several decades. The partitioning of either state is, at the present, highly unlikely.\\n\\nOther even less likely possible new states are Guam and the Virgin Islands, both of which are unincorporated organized territories of the United States. Also, either the Northern Mariana Islands or American Samoa, an unorganized, unincorporated territory, could seek statehood.\\n\\nSecession from the Union\\n\\nThe Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the union. However, its predecessor document, the Articles of Confederation, stated that the United States \\\"shall be perpetual.\\\" The question of whether or not individual states held the right to unilateral secession remained a difficult and divisive one until the American Civil War. In 1860 and 1861, eleven southern states seceded, but following their defeat in the American Civil War were brought back into the Union during the Reconstruction Era. The federal government never recognized the secession of any of the rebellious states. \\n\\nFollowing the Civil War, the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that states did not have the right to secede and that any act of secession was legally void. Drawing on the Preamble to the Constitution, which states that the Constitution was intended to \\\"form a more perfect union\\\" and speaks of the people of the United States in effect as a single body politic, as well as the language of the Articles of Confederation, the Supreme Court maintained that states did not have a right to secede. However, the court's reference in the same decision to the possibility of such changes occurring \\\"through revolution, or through consent of the States,\\\" essentially means that this decision holds that no state has a right to unilaterally decide to leave the Union.\\n\\nCommonwealths\\n\\nFour states—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia —adopted Constitutions early in their post-colonial existence identifying themselves as commonwealths, rather than states. These commonwealths are states, but legally, each is a commonwealth because the term is contained in its constitution. As a result, \\\"commonwealth\\\" is used in all public and other state writings, actions or activities within their bounds.\\n\\nThe term, which refers to a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people, was first used in Virginia during the Interregnum, the 1649–60 period between the reigns of Charles I and Charles II during which parliament's Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector established a republican government known as the Commonwealth of England. Virginia became a royal colony again in 1660, and the word was dropped from the full title. When Virginia adopted its first constitution on June 29, 1776, it was reintroduced. Pennsylvania followed suit when it drew up a constitution later that year, as did Massachusetts, in 1780, and Kentucky, in 1792.\\n\\nThe U.S. territories of the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico are also referred to as commonwealths. This designation does have a legal status different from that of the 50 states. Both of these commonwealths are unincorporated territories of the United States.\\n\\nOrigins of states' names\\n\\nThe 50 states have taken their names from a wide variety of languages. Twenty-four state names originate from Native American languages. Of these, eight are from Algonquian languages, seven are from Siouan languages, three are from Iroquoian languages, one is from Uto-Aztecan languages and five others are from other indigenous languages. Hawaii's name is derived from the Polynesian Hawaiian language.\\n\\nOf the remaining names, 22 are from European languages: Seven from Latin (mainly Latinized forms of English names), the rest are from English, Spanish and French. Eleven states are named after individual people, including seven named for royalty and one named after an American president. The origins of six state names are unknown or disputed. Several of the states that derive their names from (corrupted) names used for Native peoples, have retained the plural ending of \\\"s\\\".\\n\\nGeography\\n\\nBorders\\n\\nThe borders of the 13 original states were largely determined by colonial charters. Their western boundaries were subsequently modified as the states ceded their western land claims to the Federal government during the 1780s and 1790s. Many state borders beyond those of the original 13 were set by Congress as it created territories, divided them, and over time, created states within them. Territorial and new state lines often followed various geographic features (such as rivers or mountain range peaks), and were influenced by settlement or transportation patterns. At various times, national borders with territories formerly controlled by other countries (British North America, New France, New Spain including Spanish Florida, and Russian America) became institutionalized as the borders of U.S. states. In the West, relatively arbitrary straight lines following latitude and longitude often prevail, due to the sparseness of settlement west of the Mississippi River.\\n\\nOnce established, most state borders have, with few exceptions, been generally stable. Only two states, Missouri (Platte Purchase) and Nevada, grew appreciably after statehood. Several of the original states ceded land, over a several year period, to the Federal government, which in turn became the Northwest Territory, Southwest Territory, and Mississippi Territory. In 1791 Maryland and Virginia ceded land to create the District of Columbia (Virginia's portion was returned in 1847). In 1850, Texas ceded a large swath of land to the federal government. Additionally, Massachusetts and Virginia (on two occasions), have lost land, in each instance to form a new state.\\n\\nThere have been numerous other minor adjustments to state boundaries over the years due to improved surveys, resolution of ambiguous or disputed boundary definitions, or minor mutually agreed boundary adjustments for administrative convenience or other purposes. Occasionally the United States Congress or the United States Supreme Court have settled state border disputes. One notable example is the case New Jersey v. New York, in which New Jersey won roughly 90% of Ellis Island from New York in 1998. \\n\\nRegional grouping\\n\\nStates may be grouped in regions; there are endless variations and possible groupings. Many are defined in law or regulations by the federal government. For example, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau region definition is \\\"widely used … for data collection and analysis,\\\"\\\"The National Energy Modeling System: An Overview 2003\\\" (Report #:DOE/EIA-0581, October 2009). United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. and is the most commonly used classification system. Other multi-state regions are unofficial, and defined by geography or cultural affinity rather than by state lines.\",\n \"Same city name in different states. (America, Atlanta ...\\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons ... there are many towns in NJ that have the same name ... Within the Same State?, City ...\\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons) - City vs. City - City-Data Forum\\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons)\\nUser Name\\nAdvanced Search\\nGo to Page...\\nPlease register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account , you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.\\nView detailed profile ( Advanced ) or search\\nsite with\\n891 posts, read 3,557,636 times\\nReputation: 451\\nAdvertisements\\nDon't know if this has been asked, but does anyone know how it comes to be that a city name ends up in different states?\\nExamples:\\nRichmond & Arlington in TX and VA\\nGainesville in FL and in VA\\nCharleston in WVa and in SC\\nMemphis in TN and in KY\\nNashville in TN and in KY\\nThere are many more that are just not coming to me, but I was wondering if anyone knows the how come behind this?\\nThanks!\\n2,984 posts, read 6,976,225 times\\nReputation: 2222\\nI know in the northeast many of the names were \\\"stolen\\\" from England and used in various states, i.e. Stratford, Glastonbury, Oxford, Norwich, etc.. I am thinking it was due to lack of creativity.\\n \\n12,277 posts, read 27,732,675 times\\nReputation: 5118\\ndid you know that the creators of The Simpsons purposely chose Springfield as the town name because there are so many of them? Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa can live in almost any state...and that was the idea. I know off-hand of one in NJ, MA, MO, IL.\\neta - there are many towns in NJ that have the same name - e.g. - there are about 7 washington townships. silly.\\n \\n10,183 posts, read 22,451,530 times\\nReputation: 3767\\nI was thinking of Springfield, too. Also one in VT.\\nQuote:\\nOriginally Posted by tahiti\\ndid you know that the creators of The Simpsons purposely chose Springfield as the town name because there are so many of them? Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa can live in almost any state...and that was the idea. I know off-hand of one in NJ, MA, MO, IL.\\neta - there are many towns in NJ that have the same name - e.g. - there are about 7 washington townships. silly.\\n \\n5,565 posts, read 13,849,891 times\\nReputation: 3734\\n17 Decaturs\\nI'm in Decatur, Alabama. There are 17 Decaturs, all thanks to the early American hero Stephen Decatur. I believe there was once a meeting of all the Decatur mayors in one of the Northern Decaturs. Our town is frequently confused with Decatur, Georgia.\\n \\n40 posts, read 178,463 times\\nReputation: 34\\nThere's both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon\\nI was born in Orange, California, and I've heard that there is an Orange, Florida too.\\n \\n5,718 posts, read 12,845,135 times\\nReputation: 2772\\n2,795 posts, read 1,994,435 times\\nReputation: 584\\nAlexandria - Louisiana, Virginia, Minnesota, & Egypt.\\nLafayette - Louisiana & Indiana. (but two different pronunciations!)\\n \\nLocation: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)\\n4,085 posts, read 10,320,976 times\\nReputation: 1897\\nOriginally Posted by UmbrellasYearRound\\nThere's both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon\\nI was born in Orange, California, and I've heard that there is an Orange, Florida too.\\nDon't forget Portland, Texas! And Orange, Texas, right on the border of Texas and Louisiana!\\nThere are many, many Texas towns with the same name as other towns. I'd be here all day listing them all...\\nAthens, TX and Athens, GA\\nAtlanta, TX and Atlanta, GA\\nMt. Pleasant, TX and Mt. Pleasant, MI; Mt. Pleasant, SC; and Mt. Pleasant, IA\\nHuntsville, TX and Huntsville, AL\\nDeKalb, TX and DeKalb, IL\\nNot to mention Paris and Palestine. NOTHING like their namesakes, I assure you!\\n \\n22,836 posts, read 51,482,823 times\\nReputation: 14588\\nDENVER CO and DENVER NC\\nThe Denver North carolina area was settled ca. 1770 and, because of it's location adjacent to a swampy area, was originally known as \\\"Dry Pond\\\". In 1873 \\\"Dry Pond\\\" was renamed \\\"Denver\\\" by D. Matt Thompson, the local school principal. Legend has it that in the early 1870's the people of \\\"Dry Pond\\\" were lobbying to persuade the railroads to route rail service through the area.\\nRail service held the promise of opportunity, prosperity and wealth. They worried that the name \\\"Dry Pond\\\" made the area sound unattractive and that it might hamper their chances with the railroads. The school principle, being respected for his education and learning, was asked to help choose a new name that would make the area sound more appealing and help improve their chances of obtaining rail service. It was 1873 and Colorado was then being considered for admission to the Union, so Mr. Thompson suggested renaming the area after the capital of Colorado, thus the name of Denver. In 1877 the town of Denver was officially incorporated in the state of North Carolina. Sadly, all their efforts were for naught as the railroads decided not to bring a rail line through the newly named town. Without the railroads the growth of the small town was stymied, the town became too poor to maintain even it's own streets. In 1971 the little town of Denver lost it's incorporated status when the State of North Carolina rescinded the charters of several inactive N.C. cities.\\nPlease register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.\\nDetailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com .\\nPage 1 of 15\",\n \"US cities that have state names - CosmoQuest\\n... of cities in the United States that share names with states in the US. This list is a chain, with each city name, ... US cities that have state ... same general ...\\nUS cities that have state names\\nOff-Topic Babbling\\nUS cities that have state names\\nIf this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.\\n15,251\\nUS cities that have state names\\nI found this old list I made, of cities in the United States that share names with states in the US. This list is a chain, with each city name, except the first, coming from the state preceding. Can anyone find a longer chain?\\nWyoming, Minnesota\\nA circular chain (one longer than: New York, New York)?\\nHow about cities in the world that share names with countries?\\n0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...\\nA man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. --Charles Darwin; That turned out good! --01101001\\nPosts\\n1,604\\nWell I know that kind of interesting thing doesn't happen in Australia - most of our state names are very boring and descriptive! I must admit that I can't think of any cities that share their names with actual countries though.\\nPosts\\n1,604\\nWell we've got a Miami and Toronto in Australia, but I can't think of any towns named after countries.\\nOriginally Posted by archman\\nI wonder how much stuff like this screws up the U.S. postal system.\\nI came up with the list in order to screw up a certain corporate headquarters. When we moved into a new building, they directed us to name our conference rooms after cities. Another building's occupants had had to name their rooms after states. Evil person that I am, I submitted city names that were all also state names, so they'd appear to violate The Official Rules.\\n0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...\\nA man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. --Charles Darwin; That turned out good! --01101001\",\n \"U S City Names List All 50 State City Names, Advertise ...\\nHome City Click on State Name in right side ... Us City Names List Us City Names Us City Name. ... We will link you with other sites at the same ...\\nU S City Names List All 50 State City Names, Advertise your site with us.\\nFire Safety Certification - NEPA Fire Safety NEPA Fire Safety Training Fire Safety Training\\n \\nList of city names Alabama, List of city names Alaska,List of city names Arizona,List of city names Arkansas, List of city names,California,List of city names Colorado,List of city names Connecticut,List of city names Delaware,List of city names Florida,List of city names Georgia,List of city names Hawaii,List of city names Idaho, List of city names Illinois,List of city names Indiana,List of city names Iowa, List of city names Kansas,List of city names Kentucky,List of city names Louisiana,List of city names,List of city names Maine, List of city names Mayland,List of city names Massachusetts,List of city names Michigan, List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names, List of city names Minnesota,List of city names Mississippi,List of city names Missouri, List of city names Montana,List of city names Nebraska,List of city names Nevada,List of city names New Hampshire,,List of city names New Jersey,List of city names New Mexico,List of city names New York,List of city namesNorth Carolina, List of city names North Dakota,List of city names Ohio,List of city names Oklahoma, List of city names Oregon,List of city names Pennsylvania,,List of city names Rode Island,List of city names South Carolina,List of city names South Dakota,List of city names Tennessee,List of city names Texas,List of city names Utah, List of city names Vermount,List of city names Virginia,List of city names Washington, List of city names West Virginia,List of city names Wisconsin,List of city names Wyhoming,List of all city names USA\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2288"],"string":"[\n \"2288\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["List of States in America That Start With - HubPages\nList of states in America that start with A. ... as the oldest state capital in the US. 32. State: New York ... five times if you cannot name all fifty states, ...\nList of States in America That Start With\nList of States in America That Start With\nUpdated on June 26, 2015\nThe United States\nIn recent news, the United States' president Barack Obama said that he has visited most of the 57 states in the United States. The video of Obama's speech has been making its rounds on the Internet. It was obviously a mistake on the president's part, but in reality, not many people probably even know how many states there are.\nEvery single person knows what the United States are. Obama might have made a mistake, but surprisingly, not many people can name all of the states off the top of their head and quite a bit of people think that there are 52 states, 48 states or give or take a few more. There are 50 states in America and here is the list of them in alphabetical order.\nSome of the capitals have been listed next to the states and other fun facts are also listed besides others.\nList of States in America that Start with A\nList of states in America that start with A.\nAlabama- The capital is Montgomery and the largest city is Birmingham.\nAlaska- The capital is Juneau and the largest city is Anchorage.\nArizona- The capital is Phoenix and the largest city is Phoenix.\nArkansas- The capital is Little Rock and the largest city is Little rock.\nStates that Start with the letter B\nThere are no states that begin with the letter B.\nList of States in America that Start with C\nList of states in America that start with C.\nCalifornia- The capital is Sacramento and the largest city is Los Angeles\nColorado- The capital is Denver and the largest city is Denver\nConnecticut- The capital is Hartford and the largest city is Bridgeport\nList of States in America that Start with D\nList of states in America that start with D.\nDelaware- The capital is Dover and the largest city is Wilmington\nStates that Start with the Letter E\nThere are no states that start with the letter E.\nStates that Start with F\nHere are the states that start with the letter F.\nFlorida- The capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville\nStates that Start with G\nHere are the states that start with the letter G.\nGeorgia- The capital is Atlanta and the largest city is Atlanta\nStates that Start with H\nHere are the states that start with the letter H.\nHawaii- The capital is Honolulu and the largest city is Honolulu\nStates that Start with I\nHere are the states that start with the letter I.\nIdaho- The capital is Boise and the largest city is Boise\nIllinois- The capital is Springfield and the largest city is Chicago\nIndiana- The capital is Indianapolis and the largest city is Indianapolis\nIowa- The capital is Des Moines and the largest city is Des Moines\nStates that Start with J\nThere are no states that start with the letter J.\nStates that Start with the Letter K\nHere are the states that start with the letter K.\nKansas- The capital is Topeka and the largest city is Wichita\nKentucky- The capital is Frankfort and the largest city is Lexington\nStates that Start with L\nHere are the states that start with the letter L.\nLouisiana- The nickname for this state is the pelican state\nStates that Start with M\nHere are the states that start with the letter M.\nMaine- The nickname for this state is the pine tree state\nMaryland- The nickname for this state is the free state\nMassachusetts- The nickname for this state is the bay state\nMichigan- The nickname for this state is the wolverine state\nMinnesota- The nickname for this state is the north star state\nMississippi- The nickname for this state is the magnolia state\nMissouri- The nickname for this state is the show-me state\nMontana- The nickname for this state is the treasure state\nStates that Start with N\nHere are the states that start with the letter N.\nNebraska\nStates that Start with O\nHere are the states that start with the letter O.\nOhio\nStates that Start with P\nHere is the state that starts with the letter P.\nPennsylvania\nStates that Start with Q\nThere are no states that start with the letter Q.\nStates that Start with R\nHere are the states that start with the letter R.\nRhode Island\nStates that Start with S\nHere are the states that start with the letter S.\nSouth Carolina\nStates that Start with T\nHere are the states that start with the letter T.\nTennessee\nStates that Start with U\nHere are the states that start with the letter U.\nUtah\nStates that Start with V\nHere are the states that start with the letter V.\nVermont\nStates that Start with W\nHere are the states that start with the letter W.\nWashington\nStates that Start with X\nThere are no states that start with the letter X.\nStates that Start with Y\nThere are no states that start with the letter Y.\nStates that Start with the letter Z\nThere are no states that start with the letter Z.\nList of Capitals in America\nHere is a complete list of state capitals in America. There are also some facts about each capital.\nList of State Capitals in America:\n1. State: Alabama\n- Capital: Montgomery\n- Population: 205,764\n- About Montgomery: Incorporated in 1819, Montgomery City was formed with the merger of two towns located along the Alabama River. It is known for its historic and cultural landmarks like the Alabama State Capitol, First White House of Confederacy, Alabama war memorial, Hanks William Memorial and many more. It is also home of important air force establishments.\n2. State: Alaska\n- Capital: Juneau\n- Population: 31,275\n- About Juneau: Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906. The city of Juneau is named after Joe Juneau, a gold prospector. Downtown Juneau is located at the sea level and surrounded by steep mountains.\n3. Arizona\n- Capital: Phoenix\n- Population: 1,445,632\nAbout Phoenix: Phoenix is the third state capital in the list of state capitals of US. Incorporated in 1881, Phoenix is the 6th most populous city in The US. The city is famous for its political culture, and many influential American politicians have come from this city. Phoenix is famous for its natural beauty, sunny skies and sports and cultural attractions. It also provides access to The Sonoran Desert.\n4. State: Arkansas\n- Capital: Little Rock\n- Population: 193,524\nAbout Little Rock: Little Rock gets its name from the small Rock formation near the south bank of Arkansas River. The city is known for its diverse economic climate. The city gave the US its first president in the form of Bill Clinton.\n5. State: California\n- Capital: Sacramento\n- Population: 466,488\nAbout Sacramento: Sacramento city is located at the confluence of two rivers – Sacramento River and American River. It is one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities of US.\n6. State: Colorado\n- Capital: Denver\n- Population: 600,158\nAbout Denver: Placed near the confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Denver is known as Mile-High City as it is exactly 1-mile above sea level. The city was founded in 1858 as a mining town during Pikes Peak gold rush. It is famous for its scenic surroundings and Coors Beer. The city has the world's 11th busiest airport.\n7. Connecticut\n- Capital: Hartford\n- Population: 124,775\nAbout Hartford: Hartford is famous known as 'the Insurance capital of the world' as it is home to many large insurance companies. The city is known for its economic activity, and it is 2nd in the US in terms of per capita economic activity.\n8. Delaware\n- Capital: Dover\n- Population: 36,047\nAbout Dover: Incorporated in 1717, Dover is a small capital city with a tiny population. The city is famous for NASCAR races that are held at Dover International Speedway for two weekends a year. It attracts more than 100,000 spectators.\n9. State: Florida\n- Capital: Tallahassee\n- Population: 181,376\nAbout Tallahassee: Tallahassee is Florida's prominent college cities and is home to several universities. It is a regional centre for scientific research, and trade and agriculture.\n10. State: Georgia\n- Capital: Atlanta\n- Population: 420,003\nAbout Atlanta: Atlanta is famous for being a place of origin for Coca-Cola Company. It is also home to one of the world's busiest airports, thanks to Atlanta being one of the major business cities in the US. Big companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, The Home Depot, UPS, Delta Airlines and CNN have their headquarters in Atlanta.\n11. Hawaii\n- Capital: Honolulu\n- Population: 953,207\nAbout Honolulu: Honolulu is known for the horrific Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. It is also famous for Arizona Memorial. The city skyline is marked by high-rises, and it ranks 4th in terms of high-rises in the US.\n12. State: Idaho\n- Capital: Boise\n- Population: 205,671\nAbout Boise: Idaho is famous for its farming of potatoes. Boise has attracted many hi-tech companies over the years that are also contributing to the economy. Call centre industry is one of the major sources of employment here.\n13. Illinois\n- Capital: Springfield\n- Population: 116,250\nAbout Illinois: Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders and is also known as a leader in music education.\n14. State: Indiana\n- Capital: Indianapolis\n- Population: 820,445\nAbout Indianapolis: The city is well-known for its annual Indianapolis 500 and the NHRA US Nationals.\n15. Iowa\n- Capital: Des Moines\n- Population: 203,433\nAbout Des Moines: Des Moines is the major centre for the insurance industry and financial services.\n16. State: Kansas\nAbout Frankfort: Frankfort is known for Frankfort Cemetery, Old State Capitol and Old State Arsenal.\n18. State: Louisiana\n- Capital: Baton Rouge\n- Population: 229,493\nAbout Baton Rouge: It is a major industrial, medical and research center. Baton Rouge area, also known as the Capital Area is the first bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta.\n19. State: Maine\n- Capital: Augusta\n- Population: 200,000 City, 500,000 Trade Region\nAbout Augusta: Augusta National is one of the most admired golf clubs in history for its beauty and legends. Every year in April, golf players from all over the world concentrate on the legendary golf course at Augusta National for the Master's Tournament.\n20. State: Maryland\n- Capital: Annapolis\n- Population: 35,838 according to the 2000 Census\nAbout Annapolis: The city is known for its largest collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture. It has abundant examples of Victorian and other famous architectural styles such as Georgian mansions, Tudor Revival, Beaux Arts and many more. It became the country's first National Historic Landmark District.\n21. State: Massachusetts- Capital: Boston - Population: 589,141\nAbout Boston: Boston is known for the nation's first public park (The Boston Commons), the first public library and the first subway. This largest city of Massachusetts harbors some of the most popular historical sites in the country: the Boston Tea Party ship, Paul Revere House and Faneuil Hall.\n22. State: Michigan\n-Capital: Lansing\n- Population: 114,297 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Lansing: Lansing is known as the car capital of North America. East Lansing is famous for its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that is not also a county seat.\n23. State: Minnesota\n- Capital: St. Paul\n- Population: 275,000\nAbout St. Paul: St. Paul is one of the twin cities (other one Minneapolis). Located on the Missisippi River, St. Paul is the home to seven Fortune 1000 Company Headquaters. The city is famous for its St. Paul Winter Carnival.\n24. State: Mississippi\n- Capital: Jackson\n- Population: 173,514 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Jackson: Jackson is home to several major industries including processed food, electrical equipment and primary metal products. This modern city is known for its fun and festive events such as Farish Street festival, Missisippi Trade fair and Dixie National Rodeo.\n25. State: Missouri\n- Capital: Jefferson City\n- Population: 43,079\nAbout Jefferson City: Jefferson City is a historic place that is famous for its Missouri State Penitentiary, Civil War history and the state capitol.\n26. State: Montana\n- Capital: Helena\n- Population: 28,180\nAbout Helena: The city is home to Helena Brewers (minor league baseball team) and Helena Bighorns (tier III Junior ice hockey team).\n27. State: Nebraska\nAbout Trenton: The city is known for \"Battle of Trenton,\" George Washington's first military victory.\n31. State: New Mexico\n- Capital: Santa Fe\n- Population: 67,947\nAbout Santa Fe: It is known as the second largest art center in United States. It is the highest as well as the oldest state capital in the US.\n32. State: New York\n- Capital: Albany\n- Population: 97,856\nAbout Albany: Albany is known for its rich culture, architecture, history and institutions for higher education. It won the All-America City Award in 1991 and 2009.\n33. State: North Carolina\n- Capital: Raleigh\n- Population: 403,892\nAbout Raleigh: Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its many oak trees. Due to its high quality life and business climate, Raleigh was featured in the Top 10 Lists of Forbes and Money Magazine.\n34. State: North Dakota\n- Capital: Bismarck\n- Population: 61,272\nAbout Bismarck: Bismarck holds a major place in retail and health care and is the economic center of North and South Dakota.\n35. State: Ohio\n- Capital: Columbus\n- Population: 2,031,229.\nAbout Columbus: This technologically advanced city is hub of research and development, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, Chemical Abstracts Service and Netjets and the Ohio State University.\n36. State: Oklahoma\nAbout Salem: The city is known for Corban University and Willamette University.\n38. State: Pennsylvania\n- Capital: Harrisburg\n- About Harrisburg: The city is known for its important role in the history of America. It is popular for its Pennsylvania Farm Show and annual outdoor Sports show.\n39. State: Rhode Island\n- Capital: Providence\n- Population: 178,042\nAbout Providence: Providence is one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware designs and manufacturing.\n40. State: South Carolina\n- Capital: Columbia\n- Population: 129,272\nAbout Columbia: In the past the city has been rated as one of the America's 25 best places to retire.\n41. State: South Dakota\nAbout Nashville: Also known as Music city, Nashville is the center to music industry.\n43. State: Texas\n- Capital: Austin\n- Population: 790,390\nAbout Austin: Many people all around the world travel to Austin just to attend incredible music events going throughout the year.\n44. State: Utah\n- Capital: Salt lake city\n- Population: 180,000\nAbout Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City is the base for outdoor recreational activities such as ski resorts.\n45. State: Vermont\n- Capital: Montpelier\n- Population: 7,855\nAbout Montpelier: It is the smallest state capital in the United States. Two important buildings in Montpelier are Vermont History Museum and Vermont State House.\n46. State: Virginia\n- Capital: Richmond\n- Population: 204,214\nAbout Richmond: Due to its great architectural style, Richmond is one of the major tourist attractions.\n47. State: Washington","List of States in America That Start With - HubPages\nList of states in America that start with A. ... no states that begin with the letter B. ... its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that ...\nList of States in America That Start With\nList of States in America That Start With\nUpdated on June 26, 2015\nThe United States\nIn recent news, the United States' president Barack Obama said that he has visited most of the 57 states in the United States. The video of Obama's speech has been making its rounds on the Internet. It was obviously a mistake on the president's part, but in reality, not many people probably even know how many states there are.\nEvery single person knows what the United States are. Obama might have made a mistake, but surprisingly, not many people can name all of the states off the top of their head and quite a bit of people think that there are 52 states, 48 states or give or take a few more. There are 50 states in America and here is the list of them in alphabetical order.\nSome of the capitals have been listed next to the states and other fun facts are also listed besides others.\nList of States in America that Start with A\nList of states in America that start with A.\nAlabama- The capital is Montgomery and the largest city is Birmingham.\nAlaska- The capital is Juneau and the largest city is Anchorage.\nArizona- The capital is Phoenix and the largest city is Phoenix.\nArkansas- The capital is Little Rock and the largest city is Little rock.\nStates that Start with the letter B\nThere are no states that begin with the letter B.\nList of States in America that Start with C\nList of states in America that start with C.\nCalifornia- The capital is Sacramento and the largest city is Los Angeles\nColorado- The capital is Denver and the largest city is Denver\nConnecticut- The capital is Hartford and the largest city is Bridgeport\nList of States in America that Start with D\nList of states in America that start with D.\nDelaware- The capital is Dover and the largest city is Wilmington\nStates that Start with the Letter E\nThere are no states that start with the letter E.\nStates that Start with F\nHere are the states that start with the letter F.\nFlorida- The capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville\nStates that Start with G\nHere are the states that start with the letter G.\nGeorgia- The capital is Atlanta and the largest city is Atlanta\nStates that Start with H\nHere are the states that start with the letter H.\nHawaii- The capital is Honolulu and the largest city is Honolulu\nStates that Start with I\nHere are the states that start with the letter I.\nIdaho- The capital is Boise and the largest city is Boise\nIllinois- The capital is Springfield and the largest city is Chicago\nIndiana- The capital is Indianapolis and the largest city is Indianapolis\nIowa- The capital is Des Moines and the largest city is Des Moines\nStates that Start with J\nThere are no states that start with the letter J.\nStates that Start with the Letter K\nHere are the states that start with the letter K.\nKansas- The capital is Topeka and the largest city is Wichita\nKentucky- The capital is Frankfort and the largest city is Lexington\nStates that Start with L\nHere are the states that start with the letter L.\nLouisiana- The nickname for this state is the pelican state\nStates that Start with M\nHere are the states that start with the letter M.\nMaine- The nickname for this state is the pine tree state\nMaryland- The nickname for this state is the free state\nMassachusetts- The nickname for this state is the bay state\nMichigan- The nickname for this state is the wolverine state\nMinnesota- The nickname for this state is the north star state\nMississippi- The nickname for this state is the magnolia state\nMissouri- The nickname for this state is the show-me state\nMontana- The nickname for this state is the treasure state\nStates that Start with N\nHere are the states that start with the letter N.\nNebraska\nStates that Start with O\nHere are the states that start with the letter O.\nOhio\nStates that Start with P\nHere is the state that starts with the letter P.\nPennsylvania\nStates that Start with Q\nThere are no states that start with the letter Q.\nStates that Start with R\nHere are the states that start with the letter R.\nRhode Island\nStates that Start with S\nHere are the states that start with the letter S.\nSouth Carolina\nStates that Start with T\nHere are the states that start with the letter T.\nTennessee\nStates that Start with U\nHere are the states that start with the letter U.\nUtah\nStates that Start with V\nHere are the states that start with the letter V.\nVermont\nStates that Start with W\nHere are the states that start with the letter W.\nWashington\nStates that Start with X\nThere are no states that start with the letter X.\nStates that Start with Y\nThere are no states that start with the letter Y.\nStates that Start with the letter Z\nThere are no states that start with the letter Z.\nList of Capitals in America\nHere is a complete list of state capitals in America. There are also some facts about each capital.\nList of State Capitals in America:\n1. State: Alabama\n- Capital: Montgomery\n- Population: 205,764\n- About Montgomery: Incorporated in 1819, Montgomery City was formed with the merger of two towns located along the Alabama River. It is known for its historic and cultural landmarks like the Alabama State Capitol, First White House of Confederacy, Alabama war memorial, Hanks William Memorial and many more. It is also home of important air force establishments.\n2. State: Alaska\n- Capital: Juneau\n- Population: 31,275\n- About Juneau: Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906. The city of Juneau is named after Joe Juneau, a gold prospector. Downtown Juneau is located at the sea level and surrounded by steep mountains.\n3. Arizona\n- Capital: Phoenix\n- Population: 1,445,632\nAbout Phoenix: Phoenix is the third state capital in the list of state capitals of US. Incorporated in 1881, Phoenix is the 6th most populous city in The US. The city is famous for its political culture, and many influential American politicians have come from this city. Phoenix is famous for its natural beauty, sunny skies and sports and cultural attractions. It also provides access to The Sonoran Desert.\n4. State: Arkansas\n- Capital: Little Rock\n- Population: 193,524\nAbout Little Rock: Little Rock gets its name from the small Rock formation near the south bank of Arkansas River. The city is known for its diverse economic climate. The city gave the US its first president in the form of Bill Clinton.\n5. State: California\n- Capital: Sacramento\n- Population: 466,488\nAbout Sacramento: Sacramento city is located at the confluence of two rivers – Sacramento River and American River. It is one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities of US.\n6. State: Colorado\n- Capital: Denver\n- Population: 600,158\nAbout Denver: Placed near the confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Denver is known as Mile-High City as it is exactly 1-mile above sea level. The city was founded in 1858 as a mining town during Pikes Peak gold rush. It is famous for its scenic surroundings and Coors Beer. The city has the world's 11th busiest airport.\n7. Connecticut\n- Capital: Hartford\n- Population: 124,775\nAbout Hartford: Hartford is famous known as 'the Insurance capital of the world' as it is home to many large insurance companies. The city is known for its economic activity, and it is 2nd in the US in terms of per capita economic activity.\n8. Delaware\n- Capital: Dover\n- Population: 36,047\nAbout Dover: Incorporated in 1717, Dover is a small capital city with a tiny population. The city is famous for NASCAR races that are held at Dover International Speedway for two weekends a year. It attracts more than 100,000 spectators.\n9. State: Florida\n- Capital: Tallahassee\n- Population: 181,376\nAbout Tallahassee: Tallahassee is Florida's prominent college cities and is home to several universities. It is a regional centre for scientific research, and trade and agriculture.\n10. State: Georgia\n- Capital: Atlanta\n- Population: 420,003\nAbout Atlanta: Atlanta is famous for being a place of origin for Coca-Cola Company. It is also home to one of the world's busiest airports, thanks to Atlanta being one of the major business cities in the US. Big companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, The Home Depot, UPS, Delta Airlines and CNN have their headquarters in Atlanta.\n11. Hawaii\n- Capital: Honolulu\n- Population: 953,207\nAbout Honolulu: Honolulu is known for the horrific Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. It is also famous for Arizona Memorial. The city skyline is marked by high-rises, and it ranks 4th in terms of high-rises in the US.\n12. State: Idaho\n- Capital: Boise\n- Population: 205,671\nAbout Boise: Idaho is famous for its farming of potatoes. Boise has attracted many hi-tech companies over the years that are also contributing to the economy. Call centre industry is one of the major sources of employment here.\n13. Illinois\n- Capital: Springfield\n- Population: 116,250\nAbout Illinois: Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders and is also known as a leader in music education.\n14. State: Indiana\n- Capital: Indianapolis\n- Population: 820,445\nAbout Indianapolis: The city is well-known for its annual Indianapolis 500 and the NHRA US Nationals.\n15. Iowa\n- Capital: Des Moines\n- Population: 203,433\nAbout Des Moines: Des Moines is the major centre for the insurance industry and financial services.\n16. State: Kansas\nAbout Frankfort: Frankfort is known for Frankfort Cemetery, Old State Capitol and Old State Arsenal.\n18. State: Louisiana\n- Capital: Baton Rouge\n- Population: 229,493\nAbout Baton Rouge: It is a major industrial, medical and research center. Baton Rouge area, also known as the Capital Area is the first bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta.\n19. State: Maine\n- Capital: Augusta\n- Population: 200,000 City, 500,000 Trade Region\nAbout Augusta: Augusta National is one of the most admired golf clubs in history for its beauty and legends. Every year in April, golf players from all over the world concentrate on the legendary golf course at Augusta National for the Master's Tournament.\n20. State: Maryland\n- Capital: Annapolis\n- Population: 35,838 according to the 2000 Census\nAbout Annapolis: The city is known for its largest collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture. It has abundant examples of Victorian and other famous architectural styles such as Georgian mansions, Tudor Revival, Beaux Arts and many more. It became the country's first National Historic Landmark District.\n21. State: Massachusetts- Capital: Boston - Population: 589,141\nAbout Boston: Boston is known for the nation's first public park (The Boston Commons), the first public library and the first subway. This largest city of Massachusetts harbors some of the most popular historical sites in the country: the Boston Tea Party ship, Paul Revere House and Faneuil Hall.\n22. State: Michigan\n-Capital: Lansing\n- Population: 114,297 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Lansing: Lansing is known as the car capital of North America. East Lansing is famous for its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that is not also a county seat.\n23. State: Minnesota\n- Capital: St. Paul\n- Population: 275,000\nAbout St. Paul: St. Paul is one of the twin cities (other one Minneapolis). Located on the Missisippi River, St. Paul is the home to seven Fortune 1000 Company Headquaters. The city is famous for its St. Paul Winter Carnival.\n24. State: Mississippi\n- Capital: Jackson\n- Population: 173,514 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Jackson: Jackson is home to several major industries including processed food, electrical equipment and primary metal products. This modern city is known for its fun and festive events such as Farish Street festival, Missisippi Trade fair and Dixie National Rodeo.\n25. State: Missouri\n- Capital: Jefferson City\n- Population: 43,079\nAbout Jefferson City: Jefferson City is a historic place that is famous for its Missouri State Penitentiary, Civil War history and the state capitol.\n26. State: Montana\n- Capital: Helena\n- Population: 28,180\nAbout Helena: The city is home to Helena Brewers (minor league baseball team) and Helena Bighorns (tier III Junior ice hockey team).\n27. State: Nebraska\nAbout Trenton: The city is known for \"Battle of Trenton,\" George Washington's first military victory.\n31. State: New Mexico\n- Capital: Santa Fe\n- Population: 67,947\nAbout Santa Fe: It is known as the second largest art center in United States. It is the highest as well as the oldest state capital in the US.\n32. State: New York\n- Capital: Albany\n- Population: 97,856\nAbout Albany: Albany is known for its rich culture, architecture, history and institutions for higher education. It won the All-America City Award in 1991 and 2009.\n33. State: North Carolina\n- Capital: Raleigh\n- Population: 403,892\nAbout Raleigh: Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its many oak trees. Due to its high quality life and business climate, Raleigh was featured in the Top 10 Lists of Forbes and Money Magazine.\n34. State: North Dakota\n- Capital: Bismarck\n- Population: 61,272\nAbout Bismarck: Bismarck holds a major place in retail and health care and is the economic center of North and South Dakota.\n35. State: Ohio\n- Capital: Columbus\n- Population: 2,031,229.\nAbout Columbus: This technologically advanced city is hub of research and development, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, Chemical Abstracts Service and Netjets and the Ohio State University.\n36. State: Oklahoma\nAbout Salem: The city is known for Corban University and Willamette University.\n38. State: Pennsylvania\n- Capital: Harrisburg\n- About Harrisburg: The city is known for its important role in the history of America. It is popular for its Pennsylvania Farm Show and annual outdoor Sports show.\n39. State: Rhode Island\n- Capital: Providence\n- Population: 178,042\nAbout Providence: Providence is one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware designs and manufacturing.\n40. State: South Carolina\n- Capital: Columbia\n- Population: 129,272\nAbout Columbia: In the past the city has been rated as one of the America's 25 best places to retire.\n41. State: South Dakota\nAbout Nashville: Also known as Music city, Nashville is the center to music industry.\n43. State: Texas\n- Capital: Austin\n- Population: 790,390\nAbout Austin: Many people all around the world travel to Austin just to attend incredible music events going throughout the year.\n44. State: Utah\n- Capital: Salt lake city\n- Population: 180,000\nAbout Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City is the base for outdoor recreational activities such as ski resorts.\n45. State: Vermont\n- Capital: Montpelier\n- Population: 7,855\nAbout Montpelier: It is the smallest state capital in the United States. Two important buildings in Montpelier are Vermont History Museum and Vermont State House.\n46. State: Virginia\n- Capital: Richmond\n- Population: 204,214\nAbout Richmond: Due to its great architectural style, Richmond is one of the major tourist attractions.\n47. State: Washington","The Only State... Quiz - Sporcle\nGeography / The Only State... ... whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital? ... Find the US States Ultimate Minefield 2,421;\nThe Only State... Quiz\nExtra Trivia\n...whose name appears in another state's most populous city?\nKansas City is the name of the biggest city in Missouri but only the third biggest city in Kansas.\n...to host three modern Olympic Games?\nBesides the two Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.\n...that allows residents to vote from outer space?\nThe reasoning behind this 1997 law makes sense when you consider that most Astronauts live and work in Houston.\n...without a McDonalds within the borders of its state capital?\nMontpelier is also the smallest state capital, with less than 8,000 people.\n...to have a state-owned bank?\nThe Bank of North Dakota was founded in 1919, and receives funds from state agencies.\n...whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital?\nThis may not be the most interesting 'Only' stat about South Dakota, but it's the only one I could find...\n...to insist upon statewide female suffrage as a requirement for its entry into the Union?\nThe Wyoming Territory's 1869 passage of female suffrage inspired the state's Official Nickname 'The Equality State.'\n...whose legal right to statehood was brought before the Supreme Court?\nVirginia v. West Virginia, in which Virgina strove to regain counties that had seceded during the Civil War, was decided in favor of the Defendant.\n...that has no law requiring seatbelts for adults in automobiles?\nNew Hampshire residents take their 'Live Free Or Die' motto rather seriously\n...to have a lighthouse that stands over 60 meters high?\nThe Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 63 meters tall (200 feet), is located on the state's easternmost island.\n...in which diamonds are mined?\nCrater of Diamonds State Park is also the world's only diamond-bearing site open to the public.\n...in which the Northern half is in a different time zone than the Southern half?\nNorthern Idaho is on Pacific Time, while Southern Idaho is on Mountain Time.\n...to be represented by an African-American Senator prior to the 20th Century?\nBefore 1967, Mississippi's Hiram Revels (1870) and Blanche Bruce (1875) were the only two black US Senators in history.\n...whose median age is under 30 years old?\nThe Mormon Church's encouragement of large families may explain why Utah's median age is only 28.8 years.\n...to produce two US Presidents whose sons also became Presidents?\nCoincidentally, both sons shared their Father's names--John Quincy Adams and George Walker Bush.\n...to be named after an American?\nPerhaps only George Washington had the gravitas to merit such an honor; a state of Franklin was attempted but failed to be approved.\n...to have a higher population density than Puerto Rico?\nThe most densely populated state, New Jersey's 1,189 residents/square mile beats out Puerto Rico's 1,163.\n...whose postal abbreviation consists of two vowels?\nIowa is also the only state whose name begins with two vowels.\n...to lie entirely above 1,000 meters elevation?\nColorado's lowest point, at the border with Kansas, is higher than Pennsylvania's tallest summit.\n...where a nuclear weapon was exploded prior to the bombing of Japan?\nThe Trinity Site, NM, was America's first and only test of the atomic bomb before it was dropped on Hiroshima.\n...to host a Confederate President's inauguration?\nJefferson Davis took his oath of office at the Alabama State Capitol building in 1861.\n...that has 'parishes' instead of counties?\nLouisiana's unique use of the word 'parish' is a holdover from its days as a French Colony.\n...to have two Federal Reserve Banks?\nThe Federal bank in Kansas City covers the Great Plains region, while the bank in St. Louis covers part of the Central US.\n...with a modern city founded by European colonists prior to 1600?\nSt. Augustine, founded in 1565, was originally the capital of Spanish Florida.\n...to contain more than one Ivy League school?\nColumbia University is located in New York City, while Cornell is in Ithaca\nExceptional Quality\n...whose official name is more than four words long?\n'State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,' is typically used only on official documents.\n...with different designs on either side of its State Flag?\nOregon's flag has the state seal on its front, and an illustration of a beaver on the back.\n...to border the Canadian province of New Brunswick?\nMaine has one border with New Hampshire, but is otherwise surrounded by Canadian provinces.\n...whose three largest cities begin with the same letter?\nThe largest city in Ohio is Columbus, followed by Cleveland and then Cincinnati.\n...to have a Unicameral Legislature?\nNebraska's legislature, nicknamed 'The Unicameral' by residents, is also uniquely unaffiliated with any political party.\n...without commercial air service?","The Only State ... Quiz - Sporcle\nThe Only State... Random Geography ... whose three largest cities begin with the same letter? ... state, America, american history, Great Lakes Trivia, ...\nThe Only State... Quiz\nExtra Trivia\n...whose current State Capitol building predates the revolution?\nThe Maryland State House, built in 1772, has a unique wooden dome which was constructed without nails.\n...to produce two US Presidents whose sons also became Presidents?\nCoincidentally, both sons shared their Father's names--John Quincy Adams and George Walker Bush.\n...to host a Confederate President's inauguration?\nJefferson Davis took his oath of office at the Alabama State Capitol building in 1861.\n...whose official state seal is not circular?\nConnecticut's seal, depicting three grapevines and the state motto, is oval-shaped.\n...to have two Federal Reserve Banks?\nThe Federal bank in Kansas City covers the Great Plains region, while the bank in St. Louis covers part of the Central US.\n...in which the Northern half is in a different time zone than the Southern half?\nNorthern Idaho is on Pacific Time, while Southern Idaho is on Mountain Time.\n...to have multiple native sons immortalized atop Mount Rushmore?\nGeorge Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both born in Virginia, as were six other Presidents.\n...that has 'parishes' instead of counties?\nLouisiana's unique use of the word 'parish' is a holdover from its days as a French Colony.\n...with a community-owned major league professional sports team?\nThe NFL's Green Bay Packers are owned by a large group of stockholders mostly residing in Wisconsin.\n...whose median age is under 30 years old?\nThe Mormon Church's encouragement of large families may explain why Utah's median age is only 28.8 years.\n...to lie entirely above 1,000 meters elevation?\nColorado's lowest point, at the border with Kansas, is higher than Pennsylvania's tallest summit.\n...where prostitution is legal?\nHowever, not all counties have legalized it--including the counties Las Vegas and Reno are in.\n...with a state capital of over a million people?\nThe next biggest state capital, Indianapolis, has half a million fewer citizens.\n...to be named after an American?\nPerhaps only George Washington had the gravitas to merit such an honor; a state of Franklin was attempted but failed to be approved.\n...whose three largest cities begin with the same letter?\nThe largest city in Ohio is Columbus, followed by Cleveland and then Cincinnati.\n...to host three modern Olympic Games?\nBesides the two Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.\n...never to cast an electoral vote for Ronald Reagan?\nMinnesota was the only state to spurn the GOP in 1984, remaining loyal to Minnesotan Walter Mondale.\n...whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital?\nThis may not be the most interesting 'Only' stat about South Dakota, but it's the only one I could find...\n...to border the Canadian province of New Brunswick?\nMaine has one border with New Hampshire, but is otherwise surrounded by Canadian provinces.\n...with a modern city founded by European colonists prior to 1600?\nSt. Augustine, founded in 1565, was originally the capital of Spanish Florida.\n...to have a Unicameral Legislature?\nNebraska's legislature, nicknamed 'The Unicameral' by residents, is also uniquely unaffiliated with any political party.\n...whose legal right to statehood was brought before the Supreme Court?\nVirginia v. West Virginia, in which Virgina strove to regain counties that had seceded during the Civil War, was decided in favor of the Defendant.\n...to have territory in the Eastern Hemisphere?\nThis means that Alaska is technically the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost State.\n...to have a state-owned bank?\nThe Bank of North Dakota was founded in 1919, and receives funds from state agencies.\n...whose official State Motto is in Spanish?\nMontana's state motto is 'Oro y Plata,' or 'Gold and Silver,' in tribute to the state's mining industry.\nExceptional Quality\n...to border more than two Great Lakes?\nIn fact, Michigan borders four Great Lakes--all except for Lake Ontario.\n...with an automobile on its commemorative State Quarter?\nThe auto, an 'Indycar,' is a reference to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.\n...with a state-wide ban on the carrying of concealed firearms?\nThe only other holdout, Wisconsin, lifted its ban in 2011.\n...to include a noncontiguous parcel of land completely surrounded by two other states?\nDue to a surveying error, the 'Kentucky Bend' of the Mississippi is bound by Missouri on three sides and Tennessee on a fourth.\n...whose two biggest cities have lent their names to a Tony-winning musical and an Oscar-winning film, respectively?\n'Nashville' won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1976; 'Memphis' won a Tony for Best Musical in 2010.\n...to have a higher population density than Puerto Rico?\nThe most densely populated state, New Jersey's 1,189 residents/square mile beats out Puerto Rico's 1,163.\n...in which diamonds are mined?\nCrater of Diamonds State Park is also the world's only diamond-bearing site open to the public.\n...whose postal abbreviation consists of two vowels?\nIowa is also the only state whose name begins with two vowels.\n...to be represented by an African-American Senator prior to the 20th Century?\nBefore 1967, Mississippi's Hiram Revels (1870) and Blanche Bruce (1875) were the only two black US Senators in history.\n...to have divorce laws written into its Constitution?\nThe original South Carolina consitution prohibited divorce altogether, but has since been amended.\n...named after a German-born monarch?\nGeorgia was named after Britain's King George II, who was born in Hanover, Germany.\n...that allows residents to vote from outer space?\nThe reasoning behind this 1997 law makes sense when you consider that most Astronauts live and work in Houston.\n...to have a lighthouse that stands over 60 meters high?\nThe Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 63 meters tall (200 feet), is located on the state's easternmost island.\n...to be admitted to the Union under a President Roosevelt?\nOklahoma joined the Union in 1907, during Theodore Roosevelt's second term; none were admitted under FDR.\n...to have a county where a plurality of citizens report their primary ancestry as Polish?\nNearly one fourth of Luzerne County, in the state's Northeast region, identifies as Polish-American.\n...to contain more than one Ivy League school?\nColumbia University is located in New York City, while Cornell is in Ithaca\n...without commercial air service?","United States States - Statoids\nThe \"United States of America\" at that ... Mississippi territory formed. Its first ... Oklahoma territory merged with Indian Territory to form Oklahoma state.\nUnited States States\nWashington\n \nThe United States has been an independent country throughout the 20th century. There are established procedures whereby its possessions become first territories, then states, or are granted independence. The territories and dependencies at present are all treated as separate countries by the standards, so they are listed individually in this book.\nOther names of country: \nAlmost everywhere, USA is recognized as meaning the United States.\nDanish: Forenede Stater, Amerikas Forenede Stater\nDutch: Verenigde Staten, Verenigde Staten van Amerika (formal)\nEnglish: United States of America (formal), USA (informal)\nFinnish: Yhdysvallat, Amerikan Yhdysvallat\nFrench: �tats-Unis, �tats-Unis mp d'Am�rique f (formal)\nGerman: Vereinigte Staaten, USA f, Vereinigte Staaten mp von Amerika n (formal)\nIcelandic: Bandar�ki Nor�ur-Amer�ku, Bandar�kin (informal)\nItalian: Stati Uniti, Stati mp Uniti d'America (formal)\nNorwegian: Amerikas forente stater (formal), Sambandsstatene (Bokm�l), Sambandsstatane (Nynorsk), De forente stater\nPortuguese: Estados Unidos, Estados mp Unidos da Am�rica f (formal)\nRussian: САСШ (abbr-obsolete), США (abbr), Северо-Американские Соединённые Штаты (obsolete), Соединённые Штаты Америки\nSpanish: Estados Unidos, Estados mp Unidos de Am�rica f (formal), EE.UU. (abbreviation)\nSwedish: F�renta staterna\nTurkish: Amerika Birleşik Devletleri\nOrigin of name: \ndescriptive: formed by union of separate states in North America. America (originally referring only to South America) was named by Martin Waldseem�ller (pseud. Hylacomylus), a cartographer, after Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci.\nPrimary subdivisions: \nThe United States is divided into fifty states and one federal district.\nState\n9,372,615\n3,618,781\nHASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes . If periods are replaced by hyphens, these are the same as the\nstate codes from ISO standard 3166-2. See note below.\nFIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. The two-digit codes after the \"US\" are also designated as two-digit FIPS State\nNumeric Codes in FIPS PUB 5-2.\nConv: Conventional abbreviations, standard before 1963 and still frequently used. States with short names were spelled\nin full.\nTz: Offset from GMT in hours for standard time. The tilde (~) identifies states where daylight saving time is observed.\nMany states have more than one time zone; in those cases, the majority time zone is shown.\nPopulation: 2010-04-01 census.\nD: Division, as defined by the census bureau. Numbers are an arbitrary code keyed to the table below.\nAdjective: Adjectival form of the state name.\nZIP: Range of three-digit ZIP codes used in each state (although border areas may be served from a different state).\n \nThe last two letters of the HASC code are a widely used set of standardized state codes. These codes were developed by the Post Office Department along with the ZIP code system in 1963, although it was some time before they came into common use. They are also designated as two-letter FIPS State Alpha Codes in FIPS PUB 5-2.\nThe census classes the states of the United States into nine divisions, and at a still higher level, into four regions, which are groups of divisions. There are many other ways of dividing the United States into regions. This one merely has the sanction of the census bureau in its favor.\nd\nSouth\nPostal codes: \nThe Post Office Department introduced a system of postal codes for the U.S., effective as of 1963-07-01. They were designated ZIP codes, for Zoning Improvement Program. The codes are hierarchical. The first digit represents a group of states, usually contiguous. The first three digits represent part of a state. The full five digits represent a post office or urban delivery area. (Subsequently, an optional four-digit extension called ZIP+4 was added to identify a small block of addresses.)\nFurther subdivisions:\nSee the Counties of the United States page.\nUnderneath the states there are counties, parishes (in Louisiana), boroughs (in Alaska), and independent cities (mixed in with counties in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia). The District of Columbia is its own only division. Territory in Alaska which lies outside the limits of any of the boroughs is referred to as the unorganized borough. For statistical purposes, the unorganized borough is divided into census areas. Counties, parishes, boroughs, independent cities, census areas, and the District of Columbia are generically known as \"county equivalents\". Counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island no longer serve any administrative purpose. Underneath the county equivalents, 29 states have further subdivisions, which may be called towns, townships, cities, boroughs, villages, districts, plantations, etc.; the generic term is minor civil divisions.\nFIPS PUB 55-2 defines a three-digit code for every county equivalent in the United States. They are only unique within their state, but if either the two-letter or two-digit FIPS State Code is prefixed to them, a five-digit number is obtained which uniquely identifies the county equivalent. There is also a file of seven-digit codes for populated places, in which the first two digits of each codes identify the state. This file includes codes for minor civil divisions.\nTerritorial extent: \nThere is one point where four states meet: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.\nColorado, Wyoming, and Utah appear on a small- or medium-scale map to be bounded only by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. In fact, most of their borders deviate by a mile or so, because of early surveying errors that were perpetuated by law.\nAlabama: includes Dauphin Island and the eastern tip of Petit Bois Island.\nAlaska: includes Forrester, Dall, Long, and Prince of Wales islands at the southeastern end; in the southwest, the Aleutian Islands, extending to the Near Islands (Attu, Agattu, and some smaller ones); in the Bering Sea, Saint Lawrence, Nunivak, Saint Matthew, King, Little Diomede, and the Pribilof Islands (Saint Paul and Saint George); in the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak, Chirikof, and Middleton islands; and many other coastal islands.\nCalifornia: includes the Channel Islands (Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Anacapa), Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and San Nicolas islands off Los Angeles, and the Farallon Islands off San Francisco.\nConnecticut: despite appearances, its territory is not adjacent to the open sea. New York and Rhode Island have a water boundary which encloses Connecticut.\nDelaware: part of its boundary with Pennsylvania is an arc of a circle. Its radius is twelve miles. Includes Pea Patch and Reedy islands in the Delaware River estuary.\nFlorida: includes the Florida Keys, stretching past Key West to the Marquesas Keys and Dry Tortugas.\nGeorgia: includes coastal islands from Cumberland in the south to Tybee in the north.\nHawaii: consists of the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, Kahoolawe, and a chain of islets extending as far west as Kure Island, but excluding Midway and Sand islands.\nKentucky: has an exclave surrounded by Tennessee and Missouri. It is formed by the southern border of Kentucky, approximately a straight east-west line in that vicinity, which is crossed three times by the Mississippi River which forms Kentucky's western border. There are no towns in the exclave, which lies across the Mississippi from New Madrid, Missouri.\nLouisiana: includes islands in the Mississippi delta as far north as Grand Island, Isle au Pitre, and the Chandeleur Islands.\nMaine: includes many coastal and offshore islands, as far south as the Isles of Shoals, of which Duck, Appledore, Smuttynose, and Cedar belong to Maine.\nMaryland: includes the northern part of Assateague Island, and many islands in Chesapeake Bay, ranging south to Smith Island, which it shares with Virginia.\nMassachusetts: includes Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Nomans Land, the Elizabeth Islands, and other islands off Cape Cod, as well as many small islands in Massachusetts Bay.\nMichigan: consists of two peninsulas and many islands in the Great Lakes. The islands closest to Canada are Isle Royale in Lake Superior, Drummond, Sugar, and Neebish islands on the Saint Marys River, Harsens Island in Lake Saint Clair, and Grosse Isle and Belle Isle in the Detroit River. Closest to Wisconsin is Saint Martin Island in the mouth of Green Bay.\nMinnesota: includes islands in Lake of the Woods, which belongs partly to Canada. The northernmost point in the 48 contiguous states is near Angle Inlet. It's part of the mainland, but the only way to reach it from the rest of Minnesota by land is to go through Canada.\nMississippi: includes islands in the Gulf of Mexico from Cat Island to most of Petit Bois Island.\nNew Hampshire: includes White, Lunging, and Star islands in the Isles of Shoals group, and New Castle Island in Portsmouth Harbor.\nNew Jersey: includes many barrier islands on the Atlantic coast, but none in the New York City area.\nNew York: has two exclaves in New Jersey. The border between the two states followed the middle of the Hudson River. Liberty and Ellis Islands, lying west of that line, constituted small patches of New York land surrounded by New Jersey water. Recently a court awarded partial control of Ellis Island to New Jersey, so the situation may be changing. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on islands: Staten Island, Manhattan, and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island. New York also includes Fishers Island at the end of the Long Island Sound; Grand Island in the Niagara River; some of the Thousand Islands (Wellesley, Grindstone, Carleton, Croil, etc.) in the Saint Lawrence River; and Valcour and Schuyler islands in Lake Champlain.\nNorth Carolina: includes the barrier islands of the Outer Banks.\nOhio: includes Kelleys Island and the Bass Islands (North, Middle, and South) in Lake Erie.\nRhode Island: includes Block Island and numerous islands in Narragansett Bay.\nTexas: includes some barrier islands, such as Padre, Matagorda, and Galveston.\nVermont: includes Grand Isle, Isle La Motte, and other islands in Lake Champlain.\nVirginia: includes barrier islands and Chesapeake Bay islands south of Maryland's territory.\nWashington: includes islands in Puget Sound and Haro Strait. The islands lying closest to Canada are San Juan, Stuart, and Waldron. Point Roberts, Washington, is the tip of a peninsula from Canada, cut off from the rest of Washington by water.\nWisconsin: includes the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, and up to Chambers, Washington, and Rock islands in the mouth of Green Bay.\nAmerican Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, and Virgin Islands of the U.S. are United States possessions covered under their individual entries.\nfor United States of America lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.\nOrigins of names: \nIowa: from Iowa River, from native word ay-ah-wah: the sleeper\nKansas: from Kansas River, from an ethnic name, Sioux for south wind people\nKentucky: probably from Iroquois kentake: meadow land\nLouisiana: named for King Louis XIV of France on 1681-08-22\nMaine: the mainland, to distinguish it from the islands along the coast\nMaryland: named for Queen Henrietta Maria of England, consort of Charles I\nMassachusetts: from Massachusetts Bay, from an ethnic name, from Algonquian for big hills\nMichigan: from Lake Michigan; Algonquian for big lake\nMinnesota: from Minnesota River, from a Dakotan word for cloudy water\nMississippi: from Mississippi River, from Algonquian for big river\nMissouri: from Missouri River, from an ethnic name\nMontana: from Spanish monta�a: mountain\nNebraska: from an old name for the Platte River, from Dakotan for flat water\nNevada: from the Sierra Nevada, from Spanish nevada: snowy\nNew Hampshire: named in 1629 after Hampshire county in England\nNew Jersey: named in 1664 after Jersey, a Channel Island\nNew Mexico: from Spanish Nuevo Mexico, applied to new lands north of the Mexican provinces\nNew York: after the city and county of York in England, but explicitly in honor of the Duke of York\nNorth Carolina: Northern part of Carolina, named for King Charles I (Latin: Carolus) of England\nNorth Dakota: Northern part of Dakota, from an ethnic name\nOhio: from Ohio River, from Iroquoian for beautiful river\nOklahoma: Choctaw for red people (originally applied to a smaller region)\nOregon: possibly from a mistaken identification of the Columbia River with a conjectural Ouaricon River on old maps\nPennsylvania: Penn (William Penn, grantee of land) + Latin silva: forest + -nia (suffix for country)\nRhode Island: from the island now known as Aquidneck, likened by Giovanni da Verrazano to Rhodes in the Mediterranean\nSouth Carolina: Southern part of Carolina (see North Carolina)\nSouth Dakota: Southern part of Dakota, from an ethnic name\nTennessee: from Tennessee River, which was named for a Cherokee town near its headwaters\nTexas: from a group of natives known as teyas or tejas, meaning friends\nUtah: from Utah River, from an ethnic name (Utes)\nVermont: a coined name, intended to represent French monts verts: green mountains\nVirginia: named by Queen Elizabeth I of England using an epithet which alluded to her unmarried state\nWashington: named in honor of George Washington\nWest Virginia: descriptive; separated from Virginia in 1862 to adhere to the Union\nWisconsin: from Wisconsin River, possibly from Alonquian for big long river\nWyoming: after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, which was named from Algonquian for big flats\nChange history: \n1776-07-04: Declaration of Independence approved by the Continental Congress. The \"United States of America\" at that time referred to a loose confederation of thirteen states, plus unorganized territory to the west of the Applachian Mountains claimed by those states, often in competition. The states and their capitals were Connecticut (Hartford and New Haven, joint capitals), Delaware (New Castle), Georgia (Savannah), Maryland (Annapolis), Massachusetts (Boston), New Hampshire (Exeter), New Jersey (Burlington and Perth Amboy, joint capitals), New York (Kingston), North Carolina (New Bern), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Rhode Island (Bristol, East Greenwich, Newport, Providence, and South Kingstown, joint capitals), South Carolina (Charles Town), and Virginia (Williamsburg).\n1777: Capital of Delaware moved to Dover.\n1780: Capital of Virginia moved to Richmond.\n1783: Name of capital of South Carolina changed from Charles Town to Charleston.\n1783-09-03: Treaty of Paris recognized independence of the United States.\n1784: Capital of New York moved to New York City.\n1785-02-22: Augusta and Savannah had been co-capitals of Georgia since 1778. On this date, Augusta became the sole capital.\n1787-07-13: Northwest territory formed under authority of the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, comprising the present-day states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. In 1788, Marietta (now in Ohio) became its first capital. The Northwest Ordinances set the pattern for extending the United States. Acquisitions would first be simply possessions of the United States; then territorial governments would be formed; finally, the lands would be admitted as states. Generally speaking, these lands had no capital before they were organized as territories, but were administered directly from the national capital. Only with statehood did they obtain all the privileges of participation in the Federal government.\n1788-06-21: The Constitution took effect, having been ratified by nine states. New York City was the first national capital.\n1790: Capital of New Jersey moved to Trenton. Capital of South Carolina moved to Columbia. Southwest territory (officially called \"The Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio\") created.\n1790-06-16: National capital moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Congress first met there on this date.\n1791-03-04: Vermont state split from New York (also claimed by New Hampshire). Rutland and Windsor were joint capitals.\n1792: Capital of Southwest territory established at Knoxville.\n1792-06-01: Kentucky state split from Virginia. Its capital was Lexington.\n1792-12-05: Frankfort selected as permanent capital of Kentucky.\n1794-12-30: Capital of North Carolina moved to Raleigh.\n1796-03: Capital of Georgia moved to Louisville.\n1796-06-01: Southwest territory became Tennessee state, with some minor boundary changes.\n1797: Capital of New York moved to Albany.\n1798-05-07: Mississippi territory formed. Its first capital was Natchez.\n1799: Capital of Pennsylvania moved to Lancaster.\n1800-07-04: Indiana territory formed from part of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Vincennes.\n1800-12-01: National capital moved to Washington. District of Columbia formed from parts of Maryland and Virginia.\n1801-12-12: Capital of Mississippi moved to Washington, Mississippi.\n1803-03-01: Ohio state formed from part of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Chillicothe.\n1803-04-30: Louisiana transferred from France to the United States, by purchase.\n1804: Georgia's western lands annexed to Mississippi territory.\n1804-10-01: Louisiana purchase split into Orleans territory (approximately the present-day state of Louisiana) and Louisiana district. New Orleans was the capital of Orleans territory.\n1804-12-12: Capital of Georgia moved to Milledgeville, although the legislature didn't meet there until 1807.\n1805: Capital of Vermont moved to Montpelier.\n1805-01-11: Michigan territory formed from part of Indiana territory. Its first capital was Detroit.\n1805-07-04: Status of Louisiana changed from district to territory.\n1808: Capital of New Hampshire moved to Concord. Several different towns had been capital between 1781 and 1808.\n1809-03-01: Illinois territory formed from what was left of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Kaskaskia.\n1810: Capital of Ohio moved to Zanesville.\n1810-10-27: West Florida (parts of modern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) claimed by the United States. The territory was occupied between then and 1813-04.\n1812: Capital of Ohio moved to Chillicothe; capital of Pennsylvania moved to Harrisburg; capital of Tennessee moved to Nashville.\n1812-04-30: Orleans territory, along with some adjacent lands, became Louisiana state.\n1812-12-07: Louisiana territory split into Missouri territory and unorganized land. The first capital of Missouri was Saint Louis.\n1813-05-01: Capital of Indiana moved to Corydon.\n1815: Capital of Tennessee moved to Knoxville.\n1816: Capital of Ohio moved to Columbus.\n1816-12-11: Indiana state formed from part of Indiana territory.\n1817: Capital of Tennessee moved to Murfreesboro.\n1817-08-15: Alabama territory split from Mississippi territory. Its first capital was Saint Stephens.\n1817-12-10: Status of Mississippi changed from territory to state.\n1818: Treaty of 1818 fixed the boundary between the United States and Canada at 49� North latitude, westward from Lake of the Woods.\n1818-12-03: Illinois state formed from part of Illinois territory; the remainder merged with Michigan territory.\n1819-02-22: Adams-On�s Treaty set the boundary between Spanish possessions and United States. East and West Florida transferred from Spain to the United States. (East Florida corresponds to present-day Florida.)\n1819-03-02: Unorganized territory between Louisiana and Missouri became Arkansaw territory. Its first capital was Arkansas Post. The spelling of its name varied, but by 1822, Arkansas had become the preferred form.\n1819-12-14: Status of Alabama changed from territory to state, with capital at Huntsville.\n1820: Capital of Alabama moved to Cahawba.\n1820-03-16: Maine state split from Massachusetts state, in which it had been a district. Its first capital was Portland.\n1820-11-25: Capital of Missouri moved to Saint Charles.\n1820-12-04: Capital of Illinois moved to Vandalia.\n1821: Capital of Arkansas moved to Little Rock.\n1821-08-10: Missouri state formed from part of Missouri territory. The remainder became unorganized territory.\n1822: Capital of Mississippi moved to Jackson, formerly LeFleur's Bluff.\n1822-03-30: Florida organized as territory.\n1824: Tallahassee became capital of Florida territory.\n1825-01-10: Capital of Indiana moved to Indianapolis.\n1825-11-21: Capital of Missouri moved to Jefferson City.\n1826: Capital of Alabama moved to Tuscaloosa.\n1830: Capital of Louisiana moved to Donaldsonville.\n1831: Capital of Louisiana moved back to New Orleans.\n1832-01-04: Capital of Maine moved to Augusta.\n1834: Unorganized territory north of Missouri merged with Michigan territory.\n1834-06-30: Indian territory (present-day Oklahoma) formed from unorganized territory.\n1836-06-15: Arkansas state formed from part of Arkansas territory. The remainder was left unorganized.\n1836-07-04: Wisconsin territory formed from part of Michigan territory. Its first capital was Madison.\n1837-01-26: Status of Michigan changed from territory to state.\n1838-07-04: Iowa territory split from Wisconsin territory. Its first capital was Burlington.\n1839: Capital of Iowa moved to Iowa City.\n1839-07-04: Capital of Illinois moved to Springfield. (Location selected 1837-02-28.)\n1842-11-10: Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the boundary between U.S. and Canada (Maine/New Brunswick, Minnesota/Hudson's Bay Company).\n1843: Capital of Tennessee moved to Nashville.\n1845-03-03: Status of Florida changed from territory to state.\n1845-12-29: Republic of Texas annexed to the United States as Texas state. Its first capital as a state was Austin, although the republic had had capitals at Houston and Washington on the Brazos.\n1846-07-09: Part of District of Columbia, on the south shore of the Potomac, returned to Virginia.\n1846-12-28: Iowa territory split into Iowa state and unorganized territory.\n1847-03-16: Capital of Michigan moved to Michigan, Michigan.\n1847-12-06: Capital of Alabama moved to Montgomery.\n1848: Name of capital of Michigan changed to Lansing.\n1848-02-02: By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded land approximately equivalent to its territories of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo M�xico (New Mexico) to the United States.\n1848-05-29: Status of Wisconsin changed from territory to state.\n1848-08-14: Oregon territory formed from unorganized lands west of the Louisiana purchase. Its first capital was Oregon City.\n1849: Capital of Louisiana moved to Baton Rouge.\n1849-03-03: Minnesota territory formed from the unorganized territory left over when Iowa became a state. Its first capital was Saint Paul.\n1850-09-09: Compromise of 1850 took effect. California became a state. Its first capital was San Jose. The remainder of the Mexican Cession was divided into New Mexico and Utah territories. Their capitals were Santa Fe and Salt Lake City, respectively. Texas was paid $10,000,000 to relinquish its claim to land to the north and west of its present-day boundaries (accepted 1850-11-25). The relinquished claim was divided up, part going to the New Mexico and Utah territories, and the rest to the unorganized territory.\n1851-10-04: Capital of Utah moved to Fillmore.\n1852-05-04: Capital of Oregon moved to Salem.\n1852-01: Capital of California moved to Vallejo. (The legislature also met in Sacramento from January to April.)\n1853-02-04: Capital of California moved to Benicia.\n1853-03-02: Washington territory split from Oregon territory. Its first capital was Olympia.\n1853-12-30: Gadsden Purchase (known as La Mesilla to Mexicans) transferred from Mexico to the United States, becoming part of New Mexico territory.\n1854-01: Newport and Providence became the only joint capitals of Rhode Island.\n1854-02-25: Capital of California moved to Sacramento.\n1854-05-30: Kansas and Nebraska territories formed from unorganized territory, leaving present-day Oklahoma as unorganized territory. The first capital of Kansas was Fort Leavenworth; of Nebraska, Omaha.\n1855-01-13: Capital of Oregon moved to Corvallis, then back to Salem on 1855-12-18.\n1855-08: Capital of Kansas moved to Lecompton. The sequence of Kansas territorial capitals is intricate, especially because of rival factions (pro- and anti-slavery) with competing capitals. Pawnee, Shawnee Mission, Minneola, and Lawrence were all capitals at some point.\n1856: Capital of Utah moved to Salt Lake City.\n1857-10-19: Capital of Iowa moved to Des Moines, formerly Fort Des Moines.\n1858: Capital of Utah moved to Parowan.\n1858-05-11: Minnesota state formed from part of Minnesota territory. The remainder became unorganized territory.\n1859: Capital of Utah moved to Salt Lake City; capital of Kansas moved to Topeka.\n1859-02-14: Status of Oregon changed from territory to state.\n1860-12-24: South Carolina seceded from United States, followed on later dates by Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. They formed a federation called the Confederated States of America.\n1861-01-29: Status of Kansas changed from territory to state.\n1861-02-28: Colorado territory formed from parts of the former Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah territories. Its first capital was Colorado City.\n1861-03-02: Dakota territory (capital Yankton, in present-day South Dakota) formed from part of Nebraska territory and unorganized territory left over from Minnesota; Nevada territory (capital Carson City) formed from parts of New Mexico and Utah territories.\n1862: Capital of Colorado moved to Golden.\n1862-07-14: Border between Nevada and Utah territories moved from 116�03' W. to 115�03' W. (approximately - longitudes were measured using a baseline in Washington, D.C. at the time).\n1863-02-24: Arizona territory split from New Mexico territory. Its first capital was Fort Whipple.\n1863-03-03: Idaho territory formed from parts of Washington and Dakota territories. Its first capital was Lewiston.\n1863-06-19: West Virginia split from Virginia by retro-secession, and joined the United States as a state. Its first capital was Wheeling.\n1864: Capital of Arizona moved to Prescott. Capital of Idaho moved to Boise.\n1864-05-26: Montana territory formed from part of Nebraska and Idaho territories. Its first capital was Bannack.\n1864-10-31: Status of Nevada changed from territory to state.\n1865-02-07: Capital of Montana moved to Virginia City.\n1865-04-09: Lee surrendered at Appomatox. The states which had seceded were re-admitted to the United States one by one, starting with Tennessee (1866-07-24) and ending with Georgia (1870-07-15).\n1866-05-05: Border between Nevada and Utah territories moved from 115�03' W. to 114�03' W.\n1867: Capital of Colorado moved to Denver.\n1867-01-18: Part of Arizona territory (modern Nevada south of 37� N.) annexed to Nevada.\n1867-03-01: Status of Nebraska changed from territory to state.\n1867-08-14: Capital of Nebraska moved to Lancaster, and its name changed to Lincoln.\n1867-09-04: Capital of Arizona moved to Tucson.\n1867-10-11: Alaska transferred from Russia to the United States by purchase. Capital was Sitka.\n1868-07-04: Capital of Georgia moved to Atlanta.\n1868-07-29: Wyoming territory formed from parts of former Nebraska, Utah, and Idaho territories. Its first capital was Cheyenne.\n1870: Capital of West Virginia moved to Charleston.\n1875: Hartford became the sole capital of Connecticut. Capital of West Virginia moved to Wheeling.\n1875-01: Capital of Montana moved to Helena.\n1876-08-01: Status of Colorado changed from territory to state.\n1877: Capital of Arizona moved to Prescott.\n1882: Capital of Louisiana moved to Baton Rouge, apparently from New Orleans, which was used as capital by Union forces during the Civil War.\n1883: Capital of Dakota moved to Bismarck.\n1884-05-17: Status of Alaska changed to district.\n1885: Capital of West Virginia moved to Charleston.\n1889: Capital of Arizona moved to Phoenix.\n1889-11-02: Dakota territory split into North Dakota and South Dakota states (capitals Bismarck and Pierre, respectively).\n1889-11-08: Status of Montana changed from territory to state.\n1889-11-11: Status of Washington changed from territory to state.\n1890-05-02: Oklahoma territory split from Indian territory.\n1890-07-03: Status of Idaho changed from territory to state.\n1890-07-10: Status of Wyoming changed from territory to state.\n1896-01-04: Status of Utah changed from territory to state.\n1898-08-12: Republic of Hawaii annexed to the United States.\n1900: Capital of Alaska moved to Juneau.\n1900-01: Providence became the sole capital of Rhode Island.\n1900-06-14: Hawaii organized as territory. Its capital was Honolulu.\n1907-11-16: Oklahoma territory merged with Indian Territory to form Oklahoma state. Its first capital was Guthrie.\n1910-06-11: Capital of Oklahoma moved to Oklahoma City.\n1912-01-06: Status of New Mexico changed from territory to state.\n1912-02-14: Status of Arizona changed from territory to state.\n1912-08-24: Status of Alaska changed to territory.\n1959-01-03: Status of Alaska changed from territory to state.\n1959-08-21: Status of Hawaii changed from territory to state.\nOther names of subdivisions: \nFormal name is \"State of [state name]\" unless otherwise noted. In texts in other languages using the Roman alphabet, state names can almost always be left untranslated.\nAlaska: Alasca (Portuguese); Аляска (Russian)\nArkansas: Арканзас (Russian)\nCalifornia: Calif�rnia (Portuguese); Californie (French); Kalifornien (German); Kaliforniya (Turkish); Калифорния (Russian)\nDelaware: Делавэр (Russian)\nDistrict of Columbia: Distrito de Columbia (Portuguese, Spanish)\nFlorida: Floride (French)\nGeorgia: G�orgie (French); Джорджия (Russian)\nHawaii: Hava� (Portuguese); Hawa� (Dutch); Hawaiʻi (variant; see note below); Гавайи (Russian)\nIllinois: Иллинойс (Russian)\nKentucky: Commonwealth of Kentucky (formal); Кентукки (Russian)\nLouisiana: Luisiana (Spanish); Louisiane (French); Луизиана (Russian)\nMassachusetts: Commonwealth of Massachusetts (formal); Массачусетс (Russian)\nMississippi: Misisipi (Spanish-variant)\nNew Hampshire: Nova Hampshire (Portuguese); Nueva Hampshire (Spanish)\nNew Jersey: Nova Jersey (Portuguese); Nueva Jersey (Spanish)\nNew Mexico: Neu-Mexiko (German); Nouveau-Mexique (French); Novo M�xico (Portuguese); Nuevo Mexico (Spanish)\nNew York: Nevyork (Turkish); Nova York, Nova Iorque (Portuguese); Nueva York (Spanish); Нью Йорк (Russian)\nNorth Carolina: Carolina del Norte (Spanish); Carolina do Norte (Portuguese); Caroline du Nord (French); Kuzey Carolina (Turkish); Nord-Karolina (German)\nNorth Dakota: Dakota del Norte (Spanish); Dakota do Norte (Portuguese); Dakota du Nord (French); Kuzey Dakota (Turkish); Nord-Dakota (German)\nOklahoma: Оклахома (Russian)\nOregon: Oreg�n (Spanish)\nPennsylvania: Pennsylvanie (French); Pennsylvanien (German); Pensilvania (Spanish); Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (formal); Пенсильвания (Russian)\nRhode Island: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (formal); Род-Айленд (Russian)\nSouth Carolina: Carolina del Sur (Spanish); Caroline du Sud (French); Carolina do Sul (Portuguese); G�ney Carolina (Turkish); S�d-Karolina (German)\nSouth Dakota: Dakota del Sur (Spanish); Dakota do Sul (Portuguese); Dakota du Sud (French); G�ney Dakota (Turkish); S�d-Dakota (German)\nTexas: Техас (Russian)\nVirginia: Virginie (French); Virg�nia (Portuguese); Commonwealth of Virginia (formal)\nWashington: Вашингтон (Russian)\nWest Virginia: Batı Virginia (Turkish); Virginia del Oeste, Virginia Occidental (Spanish); Virg�nia Ocidental (Portuguese); Virginie occidentale (French); West-Virginia (German)\nNote: Some Hawaiians advocate the spelling Hawaiʻi, which is the Hawaiian-language form of the name. The extra character is called an ʻokina, and represents a glottal stop. The recommended Unicode character is U+02BB, \"modifier letter turned comma\". This form has been appearing with increasing frequency in Hawaii itself. In the mainland, it seems to be used for its impressive effect. In tourist brochures, it makes Hawaii seem more exotic. In articles, it makes the author appear more of an insider. (People used to try to impress their friends by pronouncing the name \"Havaii\", which is not correct.) I hope that the ʻokina never becomes official, because it is hard to type on a computer with language preferences set to English - just as I thought it was stupid for Azerbaijan to include the schwa when the Azerbaijani language returned to the Roman alphabet in 1991.\nPopulation history:","City nicknames - Got.Net\n... I have only been ... My List of City Nicknames ... Massachusetts; Duncanville, Texas; Lilburn, Georgia; Edmonton, Alberta; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, ...\nCity nicknames\nThe human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of \"Ten Best\". — H. Allen Smith\n \n \nCity nicknames\nThe following is my list of City Nicknames, started around 1993. I had collected suggestions from the rec.games.trivia newsgroup, and had heard someone on KGO (San Francisco's AM news-talk radio station) use the phrase \"... 10,000 residents of The City, of complications from ...\".\nSo I appropriated that phrase \"The City of Complications\", as an exceptionally apt nickname for San Francisco, and went on to collect a few other names. When I had enough of them, I posted the list to that newsgroup.\nSo far, I have only been able to re-locate the quiz version of my list, so I haven't actually merged all of the answers back into the list yet. This past year or two (2001-2002), I added a few from the \"Isaac Asimov\" quiz column in the newspaper, a Sunset Magazine article (which lists California as the \"World Capital of Agricultural World Capitals\"), and other sources. I also found two other lists on the web (URLs below).\nI now keep this merged version in both http://got.net/~landauer/lists/CityOf.html and the stories link in my Radio Weblog, http://radio.weblogs.com/0100945/stories/2002/07/24/cityNicknames.html . The one at http://got.net/~landauer/CityOf_was.html is older.\nOther web locations that have some similar lists include:\nhttp://www.pe.net/~rksnow/mottos.htm is (today) the top Google result for City nicknames , with good reason. \"COMMUNITY MOTTOS & NICKNAMES\" looks like they've been actively collecting these for a lot longer than I have.\nThe Trivia asylum http://www.triviaasylum.com/lists/cities.html\nhttp://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=Siliconia\nMost recent additions (8 February 2003): Albany, OR; Alpine, TX; Beaver, OK; Bemidji, MN; Brainerd, MN; Bristol, TN; Burlington, Iowa; Cody, WY; Douglas, WY; Frannie, WY; Gallup, NM; Granby, CO; Isleton, CA; Laramie, WY; Lowell, WY; Meeteetse, WY; New York (as \"Never Sleeps\"); Noxubee County, Alabama; Philadelphia, PA; Rockport, MA; Santa Rosa, NM; Sonora, CA; Sturgis, Michigan; Taxco, Mexico; Tijuana, Mexico; Westwood, CA.\nMy List of City Nicknames:\nCity\nNickname\nAberdeen, Scotland The Granite City Akron, OH Rubber City Albany, Georgia Good Life City Albany, ORHome of the Timber Carnival Alexandria, Egypt Pearl of the Mediterranean Allentown, Pennsylvania Cement City Alpine, TXGateway to the Big Bend Annapolis, Maryland Crabtown Atlanta, GA The Athens of the South Atlanta, GA The City Too Busy to Hate Atlanta, GA Dogwood City Atlanta, GA Gate City of the South Auckland, NZ City of Sails\nBaltimore, Maryland Charm City Baltimore, Maryland Monument City Banaras, India Luminous City Bandon, OR Storm Capital of the World Bangkok, Thailand Venice of the East Beaver, OKCow Chip Throwing Capital of the World Bemidji, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox (see Brainerd and Westwood) Beograd The White City Bickleton, WA Bluebird Capital of the World Birmingham, AL Pittsburgh of the South Boston, MA The Athens of America Boston, MA Beantown Boston, MA The City of Kind Hearts Boston, MA The Cradle of Liberty Boston, MA The Hub of the Universe Boston, MA Puritan City Brainerd, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox — The legend on the Brainerd city limits sign shows up in the film \"Fargo\". (See Bemidji and Westwood) Bristol, TNFood City Brandon, Manitoba The Wheat City\nBucharest, Romania The Little Paris Budapest, Hungary The Pearl of the Danube Buffalo, New York Bison City Buffalo, New York Flour City Buffalo, NY The City of Good Neighbors Buffalo, NY The Nickel City Buffalo, NY The Queen City (of the Great Lakes) Burlington, IowaLoader/Backhoe Capital of the World Butte, Montana Copper City Byran, Ohio The Fountain City\nCalgary, Alberta, Canada The Stampede City Calgary, Alberta, Canada The Heart of The New West (that's the New Convention and Visitors Bureau slogan) Calgary, Alberta, Canada Canada's oil capital (Because of high concentration of oil company head offices, as in Houston) Cape Girardeau, Missouri Rose City Cape Hatteras, North Carolina The Graveyard of the Atlantic Castroville, CA Artichoke Center of the World Champaign-Urbana, IL Chambana Champaign-Urbana, IL Shampoo-Bananna Champaign-Urbana, IL Urpaign Charleston, South Carolina America's Most Historic City Charleston, South CarolinaPalmetto City Charlotte, North Carolina Hornets Nest Charlotte, North Carolina Queen City Chicago, Illinois Big Town Chicago City of Big Shoulders Chicago, Illinois Hog Butcher for the World Chicago Slaughterhouse to the World Chicago, Illinois Phoenix City Chicago, Illinois Second City Chicago The Windy City Christchurch, NZ The Garden City Cincinnati, Ohio Queen City Cleveland, Ohio Mistake on the Lake Cleveland, OH America's North Coast Cody, WYRodeo Capital of the World Columbus, OH The Crossroads of Ohio Cooperstown, New York Birthplace of Baseball Council Bluffs, Iowa Iowa's Leading Edge Crestwood (Louisville), KYWhiskers Cuernavaca, Morelos, MexicoThe City of Eternal Spring\nDallas, Texas Big D Dayton, Ohio Birthplace of Aviation Denver, Colorado City of the Plains Denver, Colorado Convention City Denver, CO Mile High City Denver, Colorado Queen City Detroit, MI Motown Detroit, MI Motor City Dipolog City, Philippines Orchid City Douglas, WYJackalope Capitol [sic] of the World — I vaguely recall that one of the main promoters and/or inventor of the Jackelope died within the last few months. Durham, NC City of Medicine Durham, NC Bull City\nEdinburgh, Scotland Athens of the North Erie, Pennsylvania The Gem Eskilstuna, Sweden Smedstan (The smith City)\nFallbrook, CA Avocado Capital of the World Florence, Italy The City of Lillies Fort Myers, Florida The City of Palms Frannie, WYBiggest Little Town in Wyoming Gainesville, Florida Hogtown Gallup, NMDrunk-Driving Capital of America Gilroy, CA Garlic Capital of the World Gotland, Sweden Pearl of the Baltic Göteborg, Sweden Götet Granby, COSnowmobile Capital of Colorado Grants Pass, Oregon\"It's the Climate\" ... see http://www.webreview.com/swaine/2000/05_12_00.shtml Grants Pass, OregonWhere the Rogue River Runs Greenfield, CA Broccoli Capital of the World Hammondsport, New York Cradle of Aviation Hawthorne, CA The City of Good Neighbors (2) Hershey, PAChocolate Town, USA Hollywood Hollyweird Hollywood Tinseltown Holtville, CA Carrot Capital of the World Hong Kong Pearl of the Orient Hood River, Oregon (Columbia Gorge) Windsurfing Capital of the World Hoople, North DakotaTater Town Houston, Texas Magnolia City\nIndianapolis, Indiana Naptown Indianapolis, Indiana Circle City Indianapolis, Indiana Railroad City Indio, CA Date Capital of the World International Falls, Minnesota The Icebox of the United States Isleton, CACrawdad Town, USA\nJackson, Mississippi Chimneyville Jaipur The Pink City Jerusalem City of David Jerusalem City of Peace Jönköping, SwedenSmålands Jerusalem\nKalamazoo, Michigan Celery City Kansas City, Kansas Heart of America Kokomo, Indiana City of Firsts Kristianstad, Sweden Lilla Paris (rare these days) Keizer, OR Iris Capital of the World Kelseyville, CA Pear Capital of the World (but see here ). Laramie, WYGem City of the Plains Las VegasSin City Las VegasEntertainment Capital of the World Las VegasCity of Lights Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)Glitter Gulch Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)The Strip Letchworth (UK, near Cambridge) The first Garden City in the World Lodi, CAThe [Tokay] Grape Capital of the World (probably more popularly known as the place where Creedence Clearwater Revival got stuck in once, in the 1960's.) London, England The Square Mile London's financial district The City of London London, Ontario The Forest City Los Angeles The Big Orange Los Angeles City of Angels Los Angeles, California City of Flowers and Sunshine Los Angeles La La Land Los Banos City of the Spring Baths Louisville, Kentucky City of Beautiful Churches Louisville, Kentucky Falls City Lowell, WYThe Rose City of Wyoming\nMadison, Wisconsin Four Lake City Manila, Philippines Pearl of the Orient Mar del Plata, Argentina Queen of the Coast Marysville, California Gateway to the Gold Fields Medellin, Columbia Orchid City Meeteetse, WYWhere Chiefs Meet Melbourne, AustraliaCity of Chromatic Dissolution (not a real nickname, but I really liked the phrase. I'll have to dig up the film , someday.) Memphis, TN Bluff City Memphis, TN The City that Elvis Ruined (I get a Googlewhack for that one! Today, anyway.) Miami, Florida Little Cuba Miami, Florida Magic City Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cream City Minneapolis, Minnesota Flour City Minneapolis The Mini Apple Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN The Twin Cities Mobile, Alabama City of Five Flags Montreal, Canada The City of Saints Mountain Iron, Minnesota Taconite Capital of the World Moyobamba, Peru Orchid City\nNashville, TN Music City, USA New Haven, Connecticut Elm City New Orleans The Big Easy New Orleans The Crescent City\nNew York The Big Apple New York The Capital of the World New YorkThe City that Never Sleeps New York Gotham New York Empire City New York The Melting Pot New York/Manhattan The City Norrköping, Sweden Peking Noxubee County, Alabama Home of the Dancing Rabbit Festival and Magnolia Pilgrimage\n(I know, it's not really a city, but how could I pass up a phrase like that?) Oakdale, CA Cowboy Capital of the World Oakland, CA Oaktown Oroville, CA City of Gold Oxford City of Dreaming Spires Oxnard, CA Strawberry Capital of the World (but see here ). Paris City of Light Pasadena, CA City of Roses Patterson, CA Apricot Capital of the World Pearsonville, CA Hubcap Capital of the World Petaluma, CA Egg Basket of the World Petra The Rose Red City Philadelphia City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Rebel Capital Philadelphia, PAMortal City (per Dar Williams) Pittsburgh, PA Steel City Pittsburgh, PA The 'Burgh Pittsburgh, PA Iron City Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Birmingham of America Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Golden Triangle Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Three Rivers Pittsburgh, PA (region) City of Bridges Placerville, CA Hangtown Portland, Maine Forest City Portland, Maine Hill City Portland, Oregon City of Roses Prague, Czech Republic The Golden City Providence, Rhode Island Beehive of Industry\nQuebec The Gibraltar of North America Queenstown, NZ Extreme Sports Capital of the World Redmond, WA Mordor Redmond, WA Nerdburg Reno, NV The Biggest Little City in the World Reseda, CA The Hub of the West Valley (That's the San Fernando Valley) Rigby, IdahoBirthplace of TV\nThere's a museum here, the \"TV and Pioneer Museum\" . When I drove through, it made me wonder jest which of those Conestoga wagons had TVs, and how good the reception was.\nRincon (Santa Barbara County), California Queen of the Coast\nSurfers' term. Not really a city. Rochester, New York Kodak City Rochester, New York Snapshot City Rockport, MAThe Mendocino of the East Rogue River Valley, OR Pear Capital of the World (but see here ). Rome The City of the Seven Hills Rome, Italy The Eternal City Rome, Italy City of Love Rye, New York Border Town\nSacramento, California River City Saint Louis, MOGateway to the West (or \"The Gateway City\") Saint Paul, MinnesotaMoscow on the Mississippi Saint Petersburg, Russia Venice of the North Salem, Massachusetts City of Witches Samal, Philipines Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) San Antonio, Texas Alamo City San Antonio, Texas Mission City San Diego, California The Plymouth of the West San Diego, CA America's Finest City San Francisco, California The Golden Gate City San Francisco, California Shaky Town San Francisco, CA Baghdad by the Bay San Francisco, CA The City North San Jose, CA The Golden Triangle Santa Fe, New Mexico The City Different Santa Rosa, NMThe SCUBA-diving capital of New Mexico Saratoga Springs, New York Spa City Savannah, Georgia Garden City Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario The SOO Sault Ste. Marie, MI (I think) The SOO Seattle, WA The Emerald City Selma, CA Raisin Capital of the World Shah Alam, Malaysia Orchid City Sonora, CAThe Queen of the Southern Mines Sri Lanka Pearl of the Indian Ocean\n(I know, not really a city.) Stockholm Eken (The Oak) Stockholm Venice of the North Stockton, CA California's Sunrise Seaport Sturgis, MichiganCurtain Rod Capital of the World Sundbyberg, Sweden Sumpan Syracuse, New York Salt City\nTaxco, MexicoSilver Capital of the World Thousand Oaks, CA T.O. Tijuana, MexicoTelevision Capital of the World Toledo, Ohio Corn City Toronto, Ontario Hogtown Toronto, Ontario Muddy York (archaic, I think) Toronto, Ontario T.O. Toronto, Ontario Toronto the Good (sometimes pejorative) Toronto, Ontario Trawna or Trahna Toronto, Ontario, Canada Queen City Tulelake, CA Horseradish Capital of the World\nUmeå, SwedenBjörkarnas stad (The city of the birches)\n(Historic) Vancouver, B.C., CanadaGastown Venice, Italy Bride of the Sea Venice, Italy Queen of the Adriatic Värnersborg, SwedenLilla Paris (Little Paris) Västerås Gurkstan (The Cucumber City) Vicksburg, Mississippi The Gibraltar of America Victoria, Australia The Cabbage Patch Victoria, B.C., Canada Little England\nWalla Walla, WA The Town So Nice They Named It Twice Walla Walla, WA Walla2 Walla Walla, WA Wallyworld Washington D.C. Capital City Washington D.C. News Capital of the World\nWaterbury, Connecticut Brass City Wenatchee, WA Apple Capital of the World West Hollywood, CA Boystown West Hollywood, CA The Creative City\nWest Palm Beach, Florida Orchid City Westwood, CAHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox\nIt seems that a celebrity like Paul Bunyan has several homes. I've actually seen him here in Westwood — and note that this is the Lassen County Westwood. (See http://www.westwoodchamber.com/ and also see Brainerd and Bemidji.) Wheeling, West Virginia Nail City Wichita, Kansas Emerald City Windsor, Ontario Tijuana North\nNOTES:\nI used to have some of the following ones in the main list. I have moved these here mostly for not being unique enough (i.e., Google found too many candidates for the given honor).\nI should probably move all of the \"Queen City\"s down here, too.\nA recent contributor mentioned Coos Bay, Oregon as having (had) the official motto \"City With a Future\".\nAlas, Google says that this is one of the too-common ones:\nLansing, KS; Mankato, MN (had this motto in 1912); Yokosuka, Japan; Ruda [approx equal]öl[florin]Öska, Poland; Massillon, Ohio; Fulton, NY?; Monett, MO; ¬¶widnica, Poland; Lisbon, Portugal; Sumner, Iowa; St Louis, MO; Tremonton, Utah\nAnd it has a few variations:\nAltus, Oklahoma: \"City with a Future to Share\"\nKenai, Alaska: \"THE VILLAGE WITH A PAST - THE CITY WITH A FUTURE\"\nLowell, Arkansas: \"Town with a Past, City with a Future\"\nBeersheba: \"A place with a past, a city with a future\"\n\"City of Champions\" (Joliet, Illinois; Brockton, Massachusetts; Duncanville, Texas; Lilburn, Georgia; Edmonton, Alberta; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).\n(Pittsburgh has really really bad Google-juice. I have a vague recollection that it (and Edmonton) were the two \"City of Champions\"s on my original list. But Pittsburgh is way down low on the Google-meter search for \"City of Champions\".)\n\"City of Gold\" (Gold Beach, OR; Oroville, California; Cite de l'or, Quebec; Gold Coast City in Australia; Victor, Colorado; etc)\n\"City of Love\" (Glasgow, San Francisco, Calcutta, Paris)\n\"City of Roses\" — Pasadena, California (my first home town) has held the Rose Parade for more than a century now; this gives it first dibs on this monicker. I had also seen Portland, Oregon referred to this way. But Google gives the nod to ?Cape Girardeau, Missouri??? Weird.\nThe \"City That Time Forgot\" (Baldwin Park, CA; Galena, IL; New Orleans; Tikal, Guatemala; Bruges/Brugge, Belgium; and a host of others)\nCowtown (Both Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta; Chicago; Columbus, OH; Dallas; Kansas City; Wichita, KS; et al)\n\"The All-American City\" (I gather there's an award by this name, whose value is enormously diluted by the fact that it is bestowed annually on 10 cities. It is the National Civic League that does this.) Here are a few of the winners, plus other places that claim this title either on the web, or in email I've seen lately: Tri-Cities of TN/VA; Ocean City, MD; Tuscaloosa-Northport Tupelo MI; Roswell, NM; Santa Clara, CA; Delray Beach, FL; South Miami, FL; Fort Dodge, IA; Howard County, MD; Ocean City, MD; Independence, MO; Bozeman, MT; Fayetteville, NC; Brownsville, TX; Allentown, PA\nThe End of the World. (Not to be confused with The End of the Internet , of which there are also a whole bunch). Trosa, Sweden; Ushuaia, Argentina; Anchorage, AK; Gibraltar\nGateway to the Rockies (Denver and Aurora Colorado; and Calgary, Hinton, and Banff, Alberta. Probably dozens of others.)\nDevin T McLaughlin suggested a bunch of nicknames for Calgary; some (\"Entrepreneurial City\" and \"Volunteer City\") failed the google test (didn't really show up at all), and Cowtown fails in the other direction (see above).\nCotton Capital of { World, USA, Western Australia, etc... }\n\"The Garden City\" is an unusual one: there appear to be a number of cities with \"Garden\" as a part of their real names, which makes it a bit hard to sift out and locate the one(s) where it's just a nickname. I left three of these in the main list; Christchurch is Phil Pearson's fault, and the others came from a Google search to see if the nickname was too common for my tastes.\npre-Thanksgiving update: Hogtown goes to Toronto mainly, though Gainesville put in a strong enough #2 showing. So at this point, only one of the nicknames from my original list remains unidentified -- i.e., I haven't quite figured out with enough certainty to put it back in place yet: \"The Paris of the 1980's\". Maybe Seattle. Gaining no confidence from Google, I'll probably just drop that one.\nAnd the other two cities that I didn't find matches for are in Ontario, Canada — Copetown and Welland. My google efforts did not come up with any nickname for either.\nThese will have to wait until I re-locate my original list or check some of the other sites I've listed above.\nThanks to Erland, Margaret, Phil, Devin, Drew, Isaac, Kunaal, Dave Letterman, the film \"Fargo\", and anyone else who contributed suggestions!\n© Copyright 2006 Doug Landauer .","US State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nEvery US state has a nickname ... In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, ... One of the oldest state nicknames ...\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.","US State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, ... One of the oldest state nicknames ... and the nickname of the Beehive State.\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.","American State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nThe history of American state nicknames : ... but not all American states have official nicknames. ... comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant ...\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.","American State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nThe history of American state nicknames ... It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine ... known as the Lake State, or the Great ...\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth."],"string":"[\n \"List of States in America That Start With - HubPages\\nList of states in America that start with A. ... as the oldest state capital in the US. 32. State: New York ... five times if you cannot name all fifty states, ...\\nList of States in America That Start With\\nList of States in America That Start With\\nUpdated on June 26, 2015\\nThe United States\\nIn recent news, the United States' president Barack Obama said that he has visited most of the 57 states in the United States. The video of Obama's speech has been making its rounds on the Internet. It was obviously a mistake on the president's part, but in reality, not many people probably even know how many states there are.\\nEvery single person knows what the United States are. Obama might have made a mistake, but surprisingly, not many people can name all of the states off the top of their head and quite a bit of people think that there are 52 states, 48 states or give or take a few more. There are 50 states in America and here is the list of them in alphabetical order.\\nSome of the capitals have been listed next to the states and other fun facts are also listed besides others.\\nList of States in America that Start with A\\nList of states in America that start with A.\\nAlabama- The capital is Montgomery and the largest city is Birmingham.\\nAlaska- The capital is Juneau and the largest city is Anchorage.\\nArizona- The capital is Phoenix and the largest city is Phoenix.\\nArkansas- The capital is Little Rock and the largest city is Little rock.\\nStates that Start with the letter B\\nThere are no states that begin with the letter B.\\nList of States in America that Start with C\\nList of states in America that start with C.\\nCalifornia- The capital is Sacramento and the largest city is Los Angeles\\nColorado- The capital is Denver and the largest city is Denver\\nConnecticut- The capital is Hartford and the largest city is Bridgeport\\nList of States in America that Start with D\\nList of states in America that start with D.\\nDelaware- The capital is Dover and the largest city is Wilmington\\nStates that Start with the Letter E\\nThere are no states that start with the letter E.\\nStates that Start with F\\nHere are the states that start with the letter F.\\nFlorida- The capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville\\nStates that Start with G\\nHere are the states that start with the letter G.\\nGeorgia- The capital is Atlanta and the largest city is Atlanta\\nStates that Start with H\\nHere are the states that start with the letter H.\\nHawaii- The capital is Honolulu and the largest city is Honolulu\\nStates that Start with I\\nHere are the states that start with the letter I.\\nIdaho- The capital is Boise and the largest city is Boise\\nIllinois- The capital is Springfield and the largest city is Chicago\\nIndiana- The capital is Indianapolis and the largest city is Indianapolis\\nIowa- The capital is Des Moines and the largest city is Des Moines\\nStates that Start with J\\nThere are no states that start with the letter J.\\nStates that Start with the Letter K\\nHere are the states that start with the letter K.\\nKansas- The capital is Topeka and the largest city is Wichita\\nKentucky- The capital is Frankfort and the largest city is Lexington\\nStates that Start with L\\nHere are the states that start with the letter L.\\nLouisiana- The nickname for this state is the pelican state\\nStates that Start with M\\nHere are the states that start with the letter M.\\nMaine- The nickname for this state is the pine tree state\\nMaryland- The nickname for this state is the free state\\nMassachusetts- The nickname for this state is the bay state\\nMichigan- The nickname for this state is the wolverine state\\nMinnesota- The nickname for this state is the north star state\\nMississippi- The nickname for this state is the magnolia state\\nMissouri- The nickname for this state is the show-me state\\nMontana- The nickname for this state is the treasure state\\nStates that Start with N\\nHere are the states that start with the letter N.\\nNebraska\\nStates that Start with O\\nHere are the states that start with the letter O.\\nOhio\\nStates that Start with P\\nHere is the state that starts with the letter P.\\nPennsylvania\\nStates that Start with Q\\nThere are no states that start with the letter Q.\\nStates that Start with R\\nHere are the states that start with the letter R.\\nRhode Island\\nStates that Start with S\\nHere are the states that start with the letter S.\\nSouth Carolina\\nStates that Start with T\\nHere are the states that start with the letter T.\\nTennessee\\nStates that Start with U\\nHere are the states that start with the letter U.\\nUtah\\nStates that Start with V\\nHere are the states that start with the letter V.\\nVermont\\nStates that Start with W\\nHere are the states that start with the letter W.\\nWashington\\nStates that Start with X\\nThere are no states that start with the letter X.\\nStates that Start with Y\\nThere are no states that start with the letter Y.\\nStates that Start with the letter Z\\nThere are no states that start with the letter Z.\\nList of Capitals in America\\nHere is a complete list of state capitals in America. There are also some facts about each capital.\\nList of State Capitals in America:\\n1. State: Alabama\\n- Capital: Montgomery\\n- Population: 205,764\\n- About Montgomery: Incorporated in 1819, Montgomery City was formed with the merger of two towns located along the Alabama River. It is known for its historic and cultural landmarks like the Alabama State Capitol, First White House of Confederacy, Alabama war memorial, Hanks William Memorial and many more. It is also home of important air force establishments.\\n2. State: Alaska\\n- Capital: Juneau\\n- Population: 31,275\\n- About Juneau: Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906. The city of Juneau is named after Joe Juneau, a gold prospector. Downtown Juneau is located at the sea level and surrounded by steep mountains.\\n3. Arizona\\n- Capital: Phoenix\\n- Population: 1,445,632\\nAbout Phoenix: Phoenix is the third state capital in the list of state capitals of US. Incorporated in 1881, Phoenix is the 6th most populous city in The US. The city is famous for its political culture, and many influential American politicians have come from this city. Phoenix is famous for its natural beauty, sunny skies and sports and cultural attractions. It also provides access to The Sonoran Desert.\\n4. State: Arkansas\\n- Capital: Little Rock\\n- Population: 193,524\\nAbout Little Rock: Little Rock gets its name from the small Rock formation near the south bank of Arkansas River. The city is known for its diverse economic climate. The city gave the US its first president in the form of Bill Clinton.\\n5. State: California\\n- Capital: Sacramento\\n- Population: 466,488\\nAbout Sacramento: Sacramento city is located at the confluence of two rivers – Sacramento River and American River. It is one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities of US.\\n6. State: Colorado\\n- Capital: Denver\\n- Population: 600,158\\nAbout Denver: Placed near the confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Denver is known as Mile-High City as it is exactly 1-mile above sea level. The city was founded in 1858 as a mining town during Pikes Peak gold rush. It is famous for its scenic surroundings and Coors Beer. The city has the world's 11th busiest airport.\\n7. Connecticut\\n- Capital: Hartford\\n- Population: 124,775\\nAbout Hartford: Hartford is famous known as 'the Insurance capital of the world' as it is home to many large insurance companies. The city is known for its economic activity, and it is 2nd in the US in terms of per capita economic activity.\\n8. Delaware\\n- Capital: Dover\\n- Population: 36,047\\nAbout Dover: Incorporated in 1717, Dover is a small capital city with a tiny population. The city is famous for NASCAR races that are held at Dover International Speedway for two weekends a year. It attracts more than 100,000 spectators.\\n9. State: Florida\\n- Capital: Tallahassee\\n- Population: 181,376\\nAbout Tallahassee: Tallahassee is Florida's prominent college cities and is home to several universities. It is a regional centre for scientific research, and trade and agriculture.\\n10. State: Georgia\\n- Capital: Atlanta\\n- Population: 420,003\\nAbout Atlanta: Atlanta is famous for being a place of origin for Coca-Cola Company. It is also home to one of the world's busiest airports, thanks to Atlanta being one of the major business cities in the US. Big companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, The Home Depot, UPS, Delta Airlines and CNN have their headquarters in Atlanta.\\n11. Hawaii\\n- Capital: Honolulu\\n- Population: 953,207\\nAbout Honolulu: Honolulu is known for the horrific Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. It is also famous for Arizona Memorial. The city skyline is marked by high-rises, and it ranks 4th in terms of high-rises in the US.\\n12. State: Idaho\\n- Capital: Boise\\n- Population: 205,671\\nAbout Boise: Idaho is famous for its farming of potatoes. Boise has attracted many hi-tech companies over the years that are also contributing to the economy. Call centre industry is one of the major sources of employment here.\\n13. Illinois\\n- Capital: Springfield\\n- Population: 116,250\\nAbout Illinois: Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders and is also known as a leader in music education.\\n14. State: Indiana\\n- Capital: Indianapolis\\n- Population: 820,445\\nAbout Indianapolis: The city is well-known for its annual Indianapolis 500 and the NHRA US Nationals.\\n15. Iowa\\n- Capital: Des Moines\\n- Population: 203,433\\nAbout Des Moines: Des Moines is the major centre for the insurance industry and financial services.\\n16. State: Kansas\\nAbout Frankfort: Frankfort is known for Frankfort Cemetery, Old State Capitol and Old State Arsenal.\\n18. State: Louisiana\\n- Capital: Baton Rouge\\n- Population: 229,493\\nAbout Baton Rouge: It is a major industrial, medical and research center. Baton Rouge area, also known as the Capital Area is the first bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta.\\n19. State: Maine\\n- Capital: Augusta\\n- Population: 200,000 City, 500,000 Trade Region\\nAbout Augusta: Augusta National is one of the most admired golf clubs in history for its beauty and legends. Every year in April, golf players from all over the world concentrate on the legendary golf course at Augusta National for the Master's Tournament.\\n20. State: Maryland\\n- Capital: Annapolis\\n- Population: 35,838 according to the 2000 Census\\nAbout Annapolis: The city is known for its largest collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture. It has abundant examples of Victorian and other famous architectural styles such as Georgian mansions, Tudor Revival, Beaux Arts and many more. It became the country's first National Historic Landmark District.\\n21. State: Massachusetts- Capital: Boston - Population: 589,141\\nAbout Boston: Boston is known for the nation's first public park (The Boston Commons), the first public library and the first subway. This largest city of Massachusetts harbors some of the most popular historical sites in the country: the Boston Tea Party ship, Paul Revere House and Faneuil Hall.\\n22. State: Michigan\\n-Capital: Lansing\\n- Population: 114,297 (as of the census of 2010)\\nAbout Lansing: Lansing is known as the car capital of North America. East Lansing is famous for its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that is not also a county seat.\\n23. State: Minnesota\\n- Capital: St. Paul\\n- Population: 275,000\\nAbout St. Paul: St. Paul is one of the twin cities (other one Minneapolis). Located on the Missisippi River, St. Paul is the home to seven Fortune 1000 Company Headquaters. The city is famous for its St. Paul Winter Carnival.\\n24. State: Mississippi\\n- Capital: Jackson\\n- Population: 173,514 (as of the census of 2010)\\nAbout Jackson: Jackson is home to several major industries including processed food, electrical equipment and primary metal products. This modern city is known for its fun and festive events such as Farish Street festival, Missisippi Trade fair and Dixie National Rodeo.\\n25. State: Missouri\\n- Capital: Jefferson City\\n- Population: 43,079\\nAbout Jefferson City: Jefferson City is a historic place that is famous for its Missouri State Penitentiary, Civil War history and the state capitol.\\n26. State: Montana\\n- Capital: Helena\\n- Population: 28,180\\nAbout Helena: The city is home to Helena Brewers (minor league baseball team) and Helena Bighorns (tier III Junior ice hockey team).\\n27. State: Nebraska\\nAbout Trenton: The city is known for \\\"Battle of Trenton,\\\" George Washington's first military victory.\\n31. State: New Mexico\\n- Capital: Santa Fe\\n- Population: 67,947\\nAbout Santa Fe: It is known as the second largest art center in United States. It is the highest as well as the oldest state capital in the US.\\n32. State: New York\\n- Capital: Albany\\n- Population: 97,856\\nAbout Albany: Albany is known for its rich culture, architecture, history and institutions for higher education. It won the All-America City Award in 1991 and 2009.\\n33. State: North Carolina\\n- Capital: Raleigh\\n- Population: 403,892\\nAbout Raleigh: Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its many oak trees. Due to its high quality life and business climate, Raleigh was featured in the Top 10 Lists of Forbes and Money Magazine.\\n34. State: North Dakota\\n- Capital: Bismarck\\n- Population: 61,272\\nAbout Bismarck: Bismarck holds a major place in retail and health care and is the economic center of North and South Dakota.\\n35. State: Ohio\\n- Capital: Columbus\\n- Population: 2,031,229.\\nAbout Columbus: This technologically advanced city is hub of research and development, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, Chemical Abstracts Service and Netjets and the Ohio State University.\\n36. State: Oklahoma\\nAbout Salem: The city is known for Corban University and Willamette University.\\n38. State: Pennsylvania\\n- Capital: Harrisburg\\n- About Harrisburg: The city is known for its important role in the history of America. It is popular for its Pennsylvania Farm Show and annual outdoor Sports show.\\n39. State: Rhode Island\\n- Capital: Providence\\n- Population: 178,042\\nAbout Providence: Providence is one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware designs and manufacturing.\\n40. State: South Carolina\\n- Capital: Columbia\\n- Population: 129,272\\nAbout Columbia: In the past the city has been rated as one of the America's 25 best places to retire.\\n41. State: South Dakota\\nAbout Nashville: Also known as Music city, Nashville is the center to music industry.\\n43. State: Texas\\n- Capital: Austin\\n- Population: 790,390\\nAbout Austin: Many people all around the world travel to Austin just to attend incredible music events going throughout the year.\\n44. State: Utah\\n- Capital: Salt lake city\\n- Population: 180,000\\nAbout Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City is the base for outdoor recreational activities such as ski resorts.\\n45. State: Vermont\\n- Capital: Montpelier\\n- Population: 7,855\\nAbout Montpelier: It is the smallest state capital in the United States. Two important buildings in Montpelier are Vermont History Museum and Vermont State House.\\n46. State: Virginia\\n- Capital: Richmond\\n- Population: 204,214\\nAbout Richmond: Due to its great architectural style, Richmond is one of the major tourist attractions.\\n47. State: Washington\",\n \"List of States in America That Start With - HubPages\\nList of states in America that start with A. ... no states that begin with the letter B. ... its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that ...\\nList of States in America That Start With\\nList of States in America That Start With\\nUpdated on June 26, 2015\\nThe United States\\nIn recent news, the United States' president Barack Obama said that he has visited most of the 57 states in the United States. The video of Obama's speech has been making its rounds on the Internet. It was obviously a mistake on the president's part, but in reality, not many people probably even know how many states there are.\\nEvery single person knows what the United States are. Obama might have made a mistake, but surprisingly, not many people can name all of the states off the top of their head and quite a bit of people think that there are 52 states, 48 states or give or take a few more. There are 50 states in America and here is the list of them in alphabetical order.\\nSome of the capitals have been listed next to the states and other fun facts are also listed besides others.\\nList of States in America that Start with A\\nList of states in America that start with A.\\nAlabama- The capital is Montgomery and the largest city is Birmingham.\\nAlaska- The capital is Juneau and the largest city is Anchorage.\\nArizona- The capital is Phoenix and the largest city is Phoenix.\\nArkansas- The capital is Little Rock and the largest city is Little rock.\\nStates that Start with the letter B\\nThere are no states that begin with the letter B.\\nList of States in America that Start with C\\nList of states in America that start with C.\\nCalifornia- The capital is Sacramento and the largest city is Los Angeles\\nColorado- The capital is Denver and the largest city is Denver\\nConnecticut- The capital is Hartford and the largest city is Bridgeport\\nList of States in America that Start with D\\nList of states in America that start with D.\\nDelaware- The capital is Dover and the largest city is Wilmington\\nStates that Start with the Letter E\\nThere are no states that start with the letter E.\\nStates that Start with F\\nHere are the states that start with the letter F.\\nFlorida- The capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville\\nStates that Start with G\\nHere are the states that start with the letter G.\\nGeorgia- The capital is Atlanta and the largest city is Atlanta\\nStates that Start with H\\nHere are the states that start with the letter H.\\nHawaii- The capital is Honolulu and the largest city is Honolulu\\nStates that Start with I\\nHere are the states that start with the letter I.\\nIdaho- The capital is Boise and the largest city is Boise\\nIllinois- The capital is Springfield and the largest city is Chicago\\nIndiana- The capital is Indianapolis and the largest city is Indianapolis\\nIowa- The capital is Des Moines and the largest city is Des Moines\\nStates that Start with J\\nThere are no states that start with the letter J.\\nStates that Start with the Letter K\\nHere are the states that start with the letter K.\\nKansas- The capital is Topeka and the largest city is Wichita\\nKentucky- The capital is Frankfort and the largest city is Lexington\\nStates that Start with L\\nHere are the states that start with the letter L.\\nLouisiana- The nickname for this state is the pelican state\\nStates that Start with M\\nHere are the states that start with the letter M.\\nMaine- The nickname for this state is the pine tree state\\nMaryland- The nickname for this state is the free state\\nMassachusetts- The nickname for this state is the bay state\\nMichigan- The nickname for this state is the wolverine state\\nMinnesota- The nickname for this state is the north star state\\nMississippi- The nickname for this state is the magnolia state\\nMissouri- The nickname for this state is the show-me state\\nMontana- The nickname for this state is the treasure state\\nStates that Start with N\\nHere are the states that start with the letter N.\\nNebraska\\nStates that Start with O\\nHere are the states that start with the letter O.\\nOhio\\nStates that Start with P\\nHere is the state that starts with the letter P.\\nPennsylvania\\nStates that Start with Q\\nThere are no states that start with the letter Q.\\nStates that Start with R\\nHere are the states that start with the letter R.\\nRhode Island\\nStates that Start with S\\nHere are the states that start with the letter S.\\nSouth Carolina\\nStates that Start with T\\nHere are the states that start with the letter T.\\nTennessee\\nStates that Start with U\\nHere are the states that start with the letter U.\\nUtah\\nStates that Start with V\\nHere are the states that start with the letter V.\\nVermont\\nStates that Start with W\\nHere are the states that start with the letter W.\\nWashington\\nStates that Start with X\\nThere are no states that start with the letter X.\\nStates that Start with Y\\nThere are no states that start with the letter Y.\\nStates that Start with the letter Z\\nThere are no states that start with the letter Z.\\nList of Capitals in America\\nHere is a complete list of state capitals in America. There are also some facts about each capital.\\nList of State Capitals in America:\\n1. State: Alabama\\n- Capital: Montgomery\\n- Population: 205,764\\n- About Montgomery: Incorporated in 1819, Montgomery City was formed with the merger of two towns located along the Alabama River. It is known for its historic and cultural landmarks like the Alabama State Capitol, First White House of Confederacy, Alabama war memorial, Hanks William Memorial and many more. It is also home of important air force establishments.\\n2. State: Alaska\\n- Capital: Juneau\\n- Population: 31,275\\n- About Juneau: Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906. The city of Juneau is named after Joe Juneau, a gold prospector. Downtown Juneau is located at the sea level and surrounded by steep mountains.\\n3. Arizona\\n- Capital: Phoenix\\n- Population: 1,445,632\\nAbout Phoenix: Phoenix is the third state capital in the list of state capitals of US. Incorporated in 1881, Phoenix is the 6th most populous city in The US. The city is famous for its political culture, and many influential American politicians have come from this city. Phoenix is famous for its natural beauty, sunny skies and sports and cultural attractions. It also provides access to The Sonoran Desert.\\n4. State: Arkansas\\n- Capital: Little Rock\\n- Population: 193,524\\nAbout Little Rock: Little Rock gets its name from the small Rock formation near the south bank of Arkansas River. The city is known for its diverse economic climate. The city gave the US its first president in the form of Bill Clinton.\\n5. State: California\\n- Capital: Sacramento\\n- Population: 466,488\\nAbout Sacramento: Sacramento city is located at the confluence of two rivers – Sacramento River and American River. It is one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities of US.\\n6. State: Colorado\\n- Capital: Denver\\n- Population: 600,158\\nAbout Denver: Placed near the confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Denver is known as Mile-High City as it is exactly 1-mile above sea level. The city was founded in 1858 as a mining town during Pikes Peak gold rush. It is famous for its scenic surroundings and Coors Beer. The city has the world's 11th busiest airport.\\n7. Connecticut\\n- Capital: Hartford\\n- Population: 124,775\\nAbout Hartford: Hartford is famous known as 'the Insurance capital of the world' as it is home to many large insurance companies. The city is known for its economic activity, and it is 2nd in the US in terms of per capita economic activity.\\n8. Delaware\\n- Capital: Dover\\n- Population: 36,047\\nAbout Dover: Incorporated in 1717, Dover is a small capital city with a tiny population. The city is famous for NASCAR races that are held at Dover International Speedway for two weekends a year. It attracts more than 100,000 spectators.\\n9. State: Florida\\n- Capital: Tallahassee\\n- Population: 181,376\\nAbout Tallahassee: Tallahassee is Florida's prominent college cities and is home to several universities. It is a regional centre for scientific research, and trade and agriculture.\\n10. State: Georgia\\n- Capital: Atlanta\\n- Population: 420,003\\nAbout Atlanta: Atlanta is famous for being a place of origin for Coca-Cola Company. It is also home to one of the world's busiest airports, thanks to Atlanta being one of the major business cities in the US. Big companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, The Home Depot, UPS, Delta Airlines and CNN have their headquarters in Atlanta.\\n11. Hawaii\\n- Capital: Honolulu\\n- Population: 953,207\\nAbout Honolulu: Honolulu is known for the horrific Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. It is also famous for Arizona Memorial. The city skyline is marked by high-rises, and it ranks 4th in terms of high-rises in the US.\\n12. State: Idaho\\n- Capital: Boise\\n- Population: 205,671\\nAbout Boise: Idaho is famous for its farming of potatoes. Boise has attracted many hi-tech companies over the years that are also contributing to the economy. Call centre industry is one of the major sources of employment here.\\n13. Illinois\\n- Capital: Springfield\\n- Population: 116,250\\nAbout Illinois: Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders and is also known as a leader in music education.\\n14. State: Indiana\\n- Capital: Indianapolis\\n- Population: 820,445\\nAbout Indianapolis: The city is well-known for its annual Indianapolis 500 and the NHRA US Nationals.\\n15. Iowa\\n- Capital: Des Moines\\n- Population: 203,433\\nAbout Des Moines: Des Moines is the major centre for the insurance industry and financial services.\\n16. State: Kansas\\nAbout Frankfort: Frankfort is known for Frankfort Cemetery, Old State Capitol and Old State Arsenal.\\n18. State: Louisiana\\n- Capital: Baton Rouge\\n- Population: 229,493\\nAbout Baton Rouge: It is a major industrial, medical and research center. Baton Rouge area, also known as the Capital Area is the first bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta.\\n19. State: Maine\\n- Capital: Augusta\\n- Population: 200,000 City, 500,000 Trade Region\\nAbout Augusta: Augusta National is one of the most admired golf clubs in history for its beauty and legends. Every year in April, golf players from all over the world concentrate on the legendary golf course at Augusta National for the Master's Tournament.\\n20. State: Maryland\\n- Capital: Annapolis\\n- Population: 35,838 according to the 2000 Census\\nAbout Annapolis: The city is known for its largest collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture. It has abundant examples of Victorian and other famous architectural styles such as Georgian mansions, Tudor Revival, Beaux Arts and many more. It became the country's first National Historic Landmark District.\\n21. State: Massachusetts- Capital: Boston - Population: 589,141\\nAbout Boston: Boston is known for the nation's first public park (The Boston Commons), the first public library and the first subway. This largest city of Massachusetts harbors some of the most popular historical sites in the country: the Boston Tea Party ship, Paul Revere House and Faneuil Hall.\\n22. State: Michigan\\n-Capital: Lansing\\n- Population: 114,297 (as of the census of 2010)\\nAbout Lansing: Lansing is known as the car capital of North America. East Lansing is famous for its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that is not also a county seat.\\n23. State: Minnesota\\n- Capital: St. Paul\\n- Population: 275,000\\nAbout St. Paul: St. Paul is one of the twin cities (other one Minneapolis). Located on the Missisippi River, St. Paul is the home to seven Fortune 1000 Company Headquaters. The city is famous for its St. Paul Winter Carnival.\\n24. State: Mississippi\\n- Capital: Jackson\\n- Population: 173,514 (as of the census of 2010)\\nAbout Jackson: Jackson is home to several major industries including processed food, electrical equipment and primary metal products. This modern city is known for its fun and festive events such as Farish Street festival, Missisippi Trade fair and Dixie National Rodeo.\\n25. State: Missouri\\n- Capital: Jefferson City\\n- Population: 43,079\\nAbout Jefferson City: Jefferson City is a historic place that is famous for its Missouri State Penitentiary, Civil War history and the state capitol.\\n26. State: Montana\\n- Capital: Helena\\n- Population: 28,180\\nAbout Helena: The city is home to Helena Brewers (minor league baseball team) and Helena Bighorns (tier III Junior ice hockey team).\\n27. State: Nebraska\\nAbout Trenton: The city is known for \\\"Battle of Trenton,\\\" George Washington's first military victory.\\n31. State: New Mexico\\n- Capital: Santa Fe\\n- Population: 67,947\\nAbout Santa Fe: It is known as the second largest art center in United States. It is the highest as well as the oldest state capital in the US.\\n32. State: New York\\n- Capital: Albany\\n- Population: 97,856\\nAbout Albany: Albany is known for its rich culture, architecture, history and institutions for higher education. It won the All-America City Award in 1991 and 2009.\\n33. State: North Carolina\\n- Capital: Raleigh\\n- Population: 403,892\\nAbout Raleigh: Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its many oak trees. Due to its high quality life and business climate, Raleigh was featured in the Top 10 Lists of Forbes and Money Magazine.\\n34. State: North Dakota\\n- Capital: Bismarck\\n- Population: 61,272\\nAbout Bismarck: Bismarck holds a major place in retail and health care and is the economic center of North and South Dakota.\\n35. State: Ohio\\n- Capital: Columbus\\n- Population: 2,031,229.\\nAbout Columbus: This technologically advanced city is hub of research and development, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, Chemical Abstracts Service and Netjets and the Ohio State University.\\n36. State: Oklahoma\\nAbout Salem: The city is known for Corban University and Willamette University.\\n38. State: Pennsylvania\\n- Capital: Harrisburg\\n- About Harrisburg: The city is known for its important role in the history of America. It is popular for its Pennsylvania Farm Show and annual outdoor Sports show.\\n39. State: Rhode Island\\n- Capital: Providence\\n- Population: 178,042\\nAbout Providence: Providence is one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware designs and manufacturing.\\n40. State: South Carolina\\n- Capital: Columbia\\n- Population: 129,272\\nAbout Columbia: In the past the city has been rated as one of the America's 25 best places to retire.\\n41. State: South Dakota\\nAbout Nashville: Also known as Music city, Nashville is the center to music industry.\\n43. State: Texas\\n- Capital: Austin\\n- Population: 790,390\\nAbout Austin: Many people all around the world travel to Austin just to attend incredible music events going throughout the year.\\n44. State: Utah\\n- Capital: Salt lake city\\n- Population: 180,000\\nAbout Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City is the base for outdoor recreational activities such as ski resorts.\\n45. State: Vermont\\n- Capital: Montpelier\\n- Population: 7,855\\nAbout Montpelier: It is the smallest state capital in the United States. Two important buildings in Montpelier are Vermont History Museum and Vermont State House.\\n46. State: Virginia\\n- Capital: Richmond\\n- Population: 204,214\\nAbout Richmond: Due to its great architectural style, Richmond is one of the major tourist attractions.\\n47. State: Washington\",\n \"The Only State... Quiz - Sporcle\\nGeography / The Only State... ... whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital? ... Find the US States Ultimate Minefield 2,421;\\nThe Only State... Quiz\\nExtra Trivia\\n...whose name appears in another state's most populous city?\\nKansas City is the name of the biggest city in Missouri but only the third biggest city in Kansas.\\n...to host three modern Olympic Games?\\nBesides the two Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.\\n...that allows residents to vote from outer space?\\nThe reasoning behind this 1997 law makes sense when you consider that most Astronauts live and work in Houston.\\n...without a McDonalds within the borders of its state capital?\\nMontpelier is also the smallest state capital, with less than 8,000 people.\\n...to have a state-owned bank?\\nThe Bank of North Dakota was founded in 1919, and receives funds from state agencies.\\n...whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital?\\nThis may not be the most interesting 'Only' stat about South Dakota, but it's the only one I could find...\\n...to insist upon statewide female suffrage as a requirement for its entry into the Union?\\nThe Wyoming Territory's 1869 passage of female suffrage inspired the state's Official Nickname 'The Equality State.'\\n...whose legal right to statehood was brought before the Supreme Court?\\nVirginia v. West Virginia, in which Virgina strove to regain counties that had seceded during the Civil War, was decided in favor of the Defendant.\\n...that has no law requiring seatbelts for adults in automobiles?\\nNew Hampshire residents take their 'Live Free Or Die' motto rather seriously\\n...to have a lighthouse that stands over 60 meters high?\\nThe Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 63 meters tall (200 feet), is located on the state's easternmost island.\\n...in which diamonds are mined?\\nCrater of Diamonds State Park is also the world's only diamond-bearing site open to the public.\\n...in which the Northern half is in a different time zone than the Southern half?\\nNorthern Idaho is on Pacific Time, while Southern Idaho is on Mountain Time.\\n...to be represented by an African-American Senator prior to the 20th Century?\\nBefore 1967, Mississippi's Hiram Revels (1870) and Blanche Bruce (1875) were the only two black US Senators in history.\\n...whose median age is under 30 years old?\\nThe Mormon Church's encouragement of large families may explain why Utah's median age is only 28.8 years.\\n...to produce two US Presidents whose sons also became Presidents?\\nCoincidentally, both sons shared their Father's names--John Quincy Adams and George Walker Bush.\\n...to be named after an American?\\nPerhaps only George Washington had the gravitas to merit such an honor; a state of Franklin was attempted but failed to be approved.\\n...to have a higher population density than Puerto Rico?\\nThe most densely populated state, New Jersey's 1,189 residents/square mile beats out Puerto Rico's 1,163.\\n...whose postal abbreviation consists of two vowels?\\nIowa is also the only state whose name begins with two vowels.\\n...to lie entirely above 1,000 meters elevation?\\nColorado's lowest point, at the border with Kansas, is higher than Pennsylvania's tallest summit.\\n...where a nuclear weapon was exploded prior to the bombing of Japan?\\nThe Trinity Site, NM, was America's first and only test of the atomic bomb before it was dropped on Hiroshima.\\n...to host a Confederate President's inauguration?\\nJefferson Davis took his oath of office at the Alabama State Capitol building in 1861.\\n...that has 'parishes' instead of counties?\\nLouisiana's unique use of the word 'parish' is a holdover from its days as a French Colony.\\n...to have two Federal Reserve Banks?\\nThe Federal bank in Kansas City covers the Great Plains region, while the bank in St. Louis covers part of the Central US.\\n...with a modern city founded by European colonists prior to 1600?\\nSt. Augustine, founded in 1565, was originally the capital of Spanish Florida.\\n...to contain more than one Ivy League school?\\nColumbia University is located in New York City, while Cornell is in Ithaca\\nExceptional Quality\\n...whose official name is more than four words long?\\n'State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,' is typically used only on official documents.\\n...with different designs on either side of its State Flag?\\nOregon's flag has the state seal on its front, and an illustration of a beaver on the back.\\n...to border the Canadian province of New Brunswick?\\nMaine has one border with New Hampshire, but is otherwise surrounded by Canadian provinces.\\n...whose three largest cities begin with the same letter?\\nThe largest city in Ohio is Columbus, followed by Cleveland and then Cincinnati.\\n...to have a Unicameral Legislature?\\nNebraska's legislature, nicknamed 'The Unicameral' by residents, is also uniquely unaffiliated with any political party.\\n...without commercial air service?\",\n \"The Only State ... Quiz - Sporcle\\nThe Only State... Random Geography ... whose three largest cities begin with the same letter? ... state, America, american history, Great Lakes Trivia, ...\\nThe Only State... Quiz\\nExtra Trivia\\n...whose current State Capitol building predates the revolution?\\nThe Maryland State House, built in 1772, has a unique wooden dome which was constructed without nails.\\n...to produce two US Presidents whose sons also became Presidents?\\nCoincidentally, both sons shared their Father's names--John Quincy Adams and George Walker Bush.\\n...to host a Confederate President's inauguration?\\nJefferson Davis took his oath of office at the Alabama State Capitol building in 1861.\\n...whose official state seal is not circular?\\nConnecticut's seal, depicting three grapevines and the state motto, is oval-shaped.\\n...to have two Federal Reserve Banks?\\nThe Federal bank in Kansas City covers the Great Plains region, while the bank in St. Louis covers part of the Central US.\\n...in which the Northern half is in a different time zone than the Southern half?\\nNorthern Idaho is on Pacific Time, while Southern Idaho is on Mountain Time.\\n...to have multiple native sons immortalized atop Mount Rushmore?\\nGeorge Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both born in Virginia, as were six other Presidents.\\n...that has 'parishes' instead of counties?\\nLouisiana's unique use of the word 'parish' is a holdover from its days as a French Colony.\\n...with a community-owned major league professional sports team?\\nThe NFL's Green Bay Packers are owned by a large group of stockholders mostly residing in Wisconsin.\\n...whose median age is under 30 years old?\\nThe Mormon Church's encouragement of large families may explain why Utah's median age is only 28.8 years.\\n...to lie entirely above 1,000 meters elevation?\\nColorado's lowest point, at the border with Kansas, is higher than Pennsylvania's tallest summit.\\n...where prostitution is legal?\\nHowever, not all counties have legalized it--including the counties Las Vegas and Reno are in.\\n...with a state capital of over a million people?\\nThe next biggest state capital, Indianapolis, has half a million fewer citizens.\\n...to be named after an American?\\nPerhaps only George Washington had the gravitas to merit such an honor; a state of Franklin was attempted but failed to be approved.\\n...whose three largest cities begin with the same letter?\\nThe largest city in Ohio is Columbus, followed by Cleveland and then Cincinnati.\\n...to host three modern Olympic Games?\\nBesides the two Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.\\n...never to cast an electoral vote for Ronald Reagan?\\nMinnesota was the only state to spurn the GOP in 1984, remaining loyal to Minnesotan Walter Mondale.\\n...whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital?\\nThis may not be the most interesting 'Only' stat about South Dakota, but it's the only one I could find...\\n...to border the Canadian province of New Brunswick?\\nMaine has one border with New Hampshire, but is otherwise surrounded by Canadian provinces.\\n...with a modern city founded by European colonists prior to 1600?\\nSt. Augustine, founded in 1565, was originally the capital of Spanish Florida.\\n...to have a Unicameral Legislature?\\nNebraska's legislature, nicknamed 'The Unicameral' by residents, is also uniquely unaffiliated with any political party.\\n...whose legal right to statehood was brought before the Supreme Court?\\nVirginia v. West Virginia, in which Virgina strove to regain counties that had seceded during the Civil War, was decided in favor of the Defendant.\\n...to have territory in the Eastern Hemisphere?\\nThis means that Alaska is technically the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost State.\\n...to have a state-owned bank?\\nThe Bank of North Dakota was founded in 1919, and receives funds from state agencies.\\n...whose official State Motto is in Spanish?\\nMontana's state motto is 'Oro y Plata,' or 'Gold and Silver,' in tribute to the state's mining industry.\\nExceptional Quality\\n...to border more than two Great Lakes?\\nIn fact, Michigan borders four Great Lakes--all except for Lake Ontario.\\n...with an automobile on its commemorative State Quarter?\\nThe auto, an 'Indycar,' is a reference to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.\\n...with a state-wide ban on the carrying of concealed firearms?\\nThe only other holdout, Wisconsin, lifted its ban in 2011.\\n...to include a noncontiguous parcel of land completely surrounded by two other states?\\nDue to a surveying error, the 'Kentucky Bend' of the Mississippi is bound by Missouri on three sides and Tennessee on a fourth.\\n...whose two biggest cities have lent their names to a Tony-winning musical and an Oscar-winning film, respectively?\\n'Nashville' won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1976; 'Memphis' won a Tony for Best Musical in 2010.\\n...to have a higher population density than Puerto Rico?\\nThe most densely populated state, New Jersey's 1,189 residents/square mile beats out Puerto Rico's 1,163.\\n...in which diamonds are mined?\\nCrater of Diamonds State Park is also the world's only diamond-bearing site open to the public.\\n...whose postal abbreviation consists of two vowels?\\nIowa is also the only state whose name begins with two vowels.\\n...to be represented by an African-American Senator prior to the 20th Century?\\nBefore 1967, Mississippi's Hiram Revels (1870) and Blanche Bruce (1875) were the only two black US Senators in history.\\n...to have divorce laws written into its Constitution?\\nThe original South Carolina consitution prohibited divorce altogether, but has since been amended.\\n...named after a German-born monarch?\\nGeorgia was named after Britain's King George II, who was born in Hanover, Germany.\\n...that allows residents to vote from outer space?\\nThe reasoning behind this 1997 law makes sense when you consider that most Astronauts live and work in Houston.\\n...to have a lighthouse that stands over 60 meters high?\\nThe Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 63 meters tall (200 feet), is located on the state's easternmost island.\\n...to be admitted to the Union under a President Roosevelt?\\nOklahoma joined the Union in 1907, during Theodore Roosevelt's second term; none were admitted under FDR.\\n...to have a county where a plurality of citizens report their primary ancestry as Polish?\\nNearly one fourth of Luzerne County, in the state's Northeast region, identifies as Polish-American.\\n...to contain more than one Ivy League school?\\nColumbia University is located in New York City, while Cornell is in Ithaca\\n...without commercial air service?\",\n \"United States States - Statoids\\nThe \\\"United States of America\\\" at that ... Mississippi territory formed. Its first ... Oklahoma territory merged with Indian Territory to form Oklahoma state.\\nUnited States States\\nWashington\\n \\nThe United States has been an independent country throughout the 20th century. There are established procedures whereby its possessions become first territories, then states, or are granted independence. The territories and dependencies at present are all treated as separate countries by the standards, so they are listed individually in this book.\\nOther names of country: \\nAlmost everywhere, USA is recognized as meaning the United States.\\nDanish: Forenede Stater, Amerikas Forenede Stater\\nDutch: Verenigde Staten, Verenigde Staten van Amerika (formal)\\nEnglish: United States of America (formal), USA (informal)\\nFinnish: Yhdysvallat, Amerikan Yhdysvallat\\nFrench: �tats-Unis, �tats-Unis mp d'Am�rique f (formal)\\nGerman: Vereinigte Staaten, USA f, Vereinigte Staaten mp von Amerika n (formal)\\nIcelandic: Bandar�ki Nor�ur-Amer�ku, Bandar�kin (informal)\\nItalian: Stati Uniti, Stati mp Uniti d'America (formal)\\nNorwegian: Amerikas forente stater (formal), Sambandsstatene (Bokm�l), Sambandsstatane (Nynorsk), De forente stater\\nPortuguese: Estados Unidos, Estados mp Unidos da Am�rica f (formal)\\nRussian: САСШ (abbr-obsolete), США (abbr), Северо-Американские Соединённые Штаты (obsolete), Соединённые Штаты Америки\\nSpanish: Estados Unidos, Estados mp Unidos de Am�rica f (formal), EE.UU. (abbreviation)\\nSwedish: F�renta staterna\\nTurkish: Amerika Birleşik Devletleri\\nOrigin of name: \\ndescriptive: formed by union of separate states in North America. America (originally referring only to South America) was named by Martin Waldseem�ller (pseud. Hylacomylus), a cartographer, after Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci.\\nPrimary subdivisions: \\nThe United States is divided into fifty states and one federal district.\\nState\\n9,372,615\\n3,618,781\\nHASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes . If periods are replaced by hyphens, these are the same as the\\nstate codes from ISO standard 3166-2. See note below.\\nFIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. The two-digit codes after the \\\"US\\\" are also designated as two-digit FIPS State\\nNumeric Codes in FIPS PUB 5-2.\\nConv: Conventional abbreviations, standard before 1963 and still frequently used. States with short names were spelled\\nin full.\\nTz: Offset from GMT in hours for standard time. The tilde (~) identifies states where daylight saving time is observed.\\nMany states have more than one time zone; in those cases, the majority time zone is shown.\\nPopulation: 2010-04-01 census.\\nD: Division, as defined by the census bureau. Numbers are an arbitrary code keyed to the table below.\\nAdjective: Adjectival form of the state name.\\nZIP: Range of three-digit ZIP codes used in each state (although border areas may be served from a different state).\\n \\nThe last two letters of the HASC code are a widely used set of standardized state codes. These codes were developed by the Post Office Department along with the ZIP code system in 1963, although it was some time before they came into common use. They are also designated as two-letter FIPS State Alpha Codes in FIPS PUB 5-2.\\nThe census classes the states of the United States into nine divisions, and at a still higher level, into four regions, which are groups of divisions. There are many other ways of dividing the United States into regions. This one merely has the sanction of the census bureau in its favor.\\nd\\nSouth\\nPostal codes: \\nThe Post Office Department introduced a system of postal codes for the U.S., effective as of 1963-07-01. They were designated ZIP codes, for Zoning Improvement Program. The codes are hierarchical. The first digit represents a group of states, usually contiguous. The first three digits represent part of a state. The full five digits represent a post office or urban delivery area. (Subsequently, an optional four-digit extension called ZIP+4 was added to identify a small block of addresses.)\\nFurther subdivisions:\\nSee the Counties of the United States page.\\nUnderneath the states there are counties, parishes (in Louisiana), boroughs (in Alaska), and independent cities (mixed in with counties in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia). The District of Columbia is its own only division. Territory in Alaska which lies outside the limits of any of the boroughs is referred to as the unorganized borough. For statistical purposes, the unorganized borough is divided into census areas. Counties, parishes, boroughs, independent cities, census areas, and the District of Columbia are generically known as \\\"county equivalents\\\". Counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island no longer serve any administrative purpose. Underneath the county equivalents, 29 states have further subdivisions, which may be called towns, townships, cities, boroughs, villages, districts, plantations, etc.; the generic term is minor civil divisions.\\nFIPS PUB 55-2 defines a three-digit code for every county equivalent in the United States. They are only unique within their state, but if either the two-letter or two-digit FIPS State Code is prefixed to them, a five-digit number is obtained which uniquely identifies the county equivalent. There is also a file of seven-digit codes for populated places, in which the first two digits of each codes identify the state. This file includes codes for minor civil divisions.\\nTerritorial extent: \\nThere is one point where four states meet: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.\\nColorado, Wyoming, and Utah appear on a small- or medium-scale map to be bounded only by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. In fact, most of their borders deviate by a mile or so, because of early surveying errors that were perpetuated by law.\\nAlabama: includes Dauphin Island and the eastern tip of Petit Bois Island.\\nAlaska: includes Forrester, Dall, Long, and Prince of Wales islands at the southeastern end; in the southwest, the Aleutian Islands, extending to the Near Islands (Attu, Agattu, and some smaller ones); in the Bering Sea, Saint Lawrence, Nunivak, Saint Matthew, King, Little Diomede, and the Pribilof Islands (Saint Paul and Saint George); in the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak, Chirikof, and Middleton islands; and many other coastal islands.\\nCalifornia: includes the Channel Islands (Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Anacapa), Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and San Nicolas islands off Los Angeles, and the Farallon Islands off San Francisco.\\nConnecticut: despite appearances, its territory is not adjacent to the open sea. New York and Rhode Island have a water boundary which encloses Connecticut.\\nDelaware: part of its boundary with Pennsylvania is an arc of a circle. Its radius is twelve miles. Includes Pea Patch and Reedy islands in the Delaware River estuary.\\nFlorida: includes the Florida Keys, stretching past Key West to the Marquesas Keys and Dry Tortugas.\\nGeorgia: includes coastal islands from Cumberland in the south to Tybee in the north.\\nHawaii: consists of the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, Kahoolawe, and a chain of islets extending as far west as Kure Island, but excluding Midway and Sand islands.\\nKentucky: has an exclave surrounded by Tennessee and Missouri. It is formed by the southern border of Kentucky, approximately a straight east-west line in that vicinity, which is crossed three times by the Mississippi River which forms Kentucky's western border. There are no towns in the exclave, which lies across the Mississippi from New Madrid, Missouri.\\nLouisiana: includes islands in the Mississippi delta as far north as Grand Island, Isle au Pitre, and the Chandeleur Islands.\\nMaine: includes many coastal and offshore islands, as far south as the Isles of Shoals, of which Duck, Appledore, Smuttynose, and Cedar belong to Maine.\\nMaryland: includes the northern part of Assateague Island, and many islands in Chesapeake Bay, ranging south to Smith Island, which it shares with Virginia.\\nMassachusetts: includes Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Nomans Land, the Elizabeth Islands, and other islands off Cape Cod, as well as many small islands in Massachusetts Bay.\\nMichigan: consists of two peninsulas and many islands in the Great Lakes. The islands closest to Canada are Isle Royale in Lake Superior, Drummond, Sugar, and Neebish islands on the Saint Marys River, Harsens Island in Lake Saint Clair, and Grosse Isle and Belle Isle in the Detroit River. Closest to Wisconsin is Saint Martin Island in the mouth of Green Bay.\\nMinnesota: includes islands in Lake of the Woods, which belongs partly to Canada. The northernmost point in the 48 contiguous states is near Angle Inlet. It's part of the mainland, but the only way to reach it from the rest of Minnesota by land is to go through Canada.\\nMississippi: includes islands in the Gulf of Mexico from Cat Island to most of Petit Bois Island.\\nNew Hampshire: includes White, Lunging, and Star islands in the Isles of Shoals group, and New Castle Island in Portsmouth Harbor.\\nNew Jersey: includes many barrier islands on the Atlantic coast, but none in the New York City area.\\nNew York: has two exclaves in New Jersey. The border between the two states followed the middle of the Hudson River. Liberty and Ellis Islands, lying west of that line, constituted small patches of New York land surrounded by New Jersey water. Recently a court awarded partial control of Ellis Island to New Jersey, so the situation may be changing. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on islands: Staten Island, Manhattan, and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island. New York also includes Fishers Island at the end of the Long Island Sound; Grand Island in the Niagara River; some of the Thousand Islands (Wellesley, Grindstone, Carleton, Croil, etc.) in the Saint Lawrence River; and Valcour and Schuyler islands in Lake Champlain.\\nNorth Carolina: includes the barrier islands of the Outer Banks.\\nOhio: includes Kelleys Island and the Bass Islands (North, Middle, and South) in Lake Erie.\\nRhode Island: includes Block Island and numerous islands in Narragansett Bay.\\nTexas: includes some barrier islands, such as Padre, Matagorda, and Galveston.\\nVermont: includes Grand Isle, Isle La Motte, and other islands in Lake Champlain.\\nVirginia: includes barrier islands and Chesapeake Bay islands south of Maryland's territory.\\nWashington: includes islands in Puget Sound and Haro Strait. The islands lying closest to Canada are San Juan, Stuart, and Waldron. Point Roberts, Washington, is the tip of a peninsula from Canada, cut off from the rest of Washington by water.\\nWisconsin: includes the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, and up to Chambers, Washington, and Rock islands in the mouth of Green Bay.\\nAmerican Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, and Virgin Islands of the U.S. are United States possessions covered under their individual entries.\\nfor United States of America lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.\\nOrigins of names: \\nIowa: from Iowa River, from native word ay-ah-wah: the sleeper\\nKansas: from Kansas River, from an ethnic name, Sioux for south wind people\\nKentucky: probably from Iroquois kentake: meadow land\\nLouisiana: named for King Louis XIV of France on 1681-08-22\\nMaine: the mainland, to distinguish it from the islands along the coast\\nMaryland: named for Queen Henrietta Maria of England, consort of Charles I\\nMassachusetts: from Massachusetts Bay, from an ethnic name, from Algonquian for big hills\\nMichigan: from Lake Michigan; Algonquian for big lake\\nMinnesota: from Minnesota River, from a Dakotan word for cloudy water\\nMississippi: from Mississippi River, from Algonquian for big river\\nMissouri: from Missouri River, from an ethnic name\\nMontana: from Spanish monta�a: mountain\\nNebraska: from an old name for the Platte River, from Dakotan for flat water\\nNevada: from the Sierra Nevada, from Spanish nevada: snowy\\nNew Hampshire: named in 1629 after Hampshire county in England\\nNew Jersey: named in 1664 after Jersey, a Channel Island\\nNew Mexico: from Spanish Nuevo Mexico, applied to new lands north of the Mexican provinces\\nNew York: after the city and county of York in England, but explicitly in honor of the Duke of York\\nNorth Carolina: Northern part of Carolina, named for King Charles I (Latin: Carolus) of England\\nNorth Dakota: Northern part of Dakota, from an ethnic name\\nOhio: from Ohio River, from Iroquoian for beautiful river\\nOklahoma: Choctaw for red people (originally applied to a smaller region)\\nOregon: possibly from a mistaken identification of the Columbia River with a conjectural Ouaricon River on old maps\\nPennsylvania: Penn (William Penn, grantee of land) + Latin silva: forest + -nia (suffix for country)\\nRhode Island: from the island now known as Aquidneck, likened by Giovanni da Verrazano to Rhodes in the Mediterranean\\nSouth Carolina: Southern part of Carolina (see North Carolina)\\nSouth Dakota: Southern part of Dakota, from an ethnic name\\nTennessee: from Tennessee River, which was named for a Cherokee town near its headwaters\\nTexas: from a group of natives known as teyas or tejas, meaning friends\\nUtah: from Utah River, from an ethnic name (Utes)\\nVermont: a coined name, intended to represent French monts verts: green mountains\\nVirginia: named by Queen Elizabeth I of England using an epithet which alluded to her unmarried state\\nWashington: named in honor of George Washington\\nWest Virginia: descriptive; separated from Virginia in 1862 to adhere to the Union\\nWisconsin: from Wisconsin River, possibly from Alonquian for big long river\\nWyoming: after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, which was named from Algonquian for big flats\\nChange history: \\n1776-07-04: Declaration of Independence approved by the Continental Congress. The \\\"United States of America\\\" at that time referred to a loose confederation of thirteen states, plus unorganized territory to the west of the Applachian Mountains claimed by those states, often in competition. The states and their capitals were Connecticut (Hartford and New Haven, joint capitals), Delaware (New Castle), Georgia (Savannah), Maryland (Annapolis), Massachusetts (Boston), New Hampshire (Exeter), New Jersey (Burlington and Perth Amboy, joint capitals), New York (Kingston), North Carolina (New Bern), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Rhode Island (Bristol, East Greenwich, Newport, Providence, and South Kingstown, joint capitals), South Carolina (Charles Town), and Virginia (Williamsburg).\\n1777: Capital of Delaware moved to Dover.\\n1780: Capital of Virginia moved to Richmond.\\n1783: Name of capital of South Carolina changed from Charles Town to Charleston.\\n1783-09-03: Treaty of Paris recognized independence of the United States.\\n1784: Capital of New York moved to New York City.\\n1785-02-22: Augusta and Savannah had been co-capitals of Georgia since 1778. On this date, Augusta became the sole capital.\\n1787-07-13: Northwest territory formed under authority of the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, comprising the present-day states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. In 1788, Marietta (now in Ohio) became its first capital. The Northwest Ordinances set the pattern for extending the United States. Acquisitions would first be simply possessions of the United States; then territorial governments would be formed; finally, the lands would be admitted as states. Generally speaking, these lands had no capital before they were organized as territories, but were administered directly from the national capital. Only with statehood did they obtain all the privileges of participation in the Federal government.\\n1788-06-21: The Constitution took effect, having been ratified by nine states. New York City was the first national capital.\\n1790: Capital of New Jersey moved to Trenton. Capital of South Carolina moved to Columbia. Southwest territory (officially called \\\"The Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio\\\") created.\\n1790-06-16: National capital moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Congress first met there on this date.\\n1791-03-04: Vermont state split from New York (also claimed by New Hampshire). Rutland and Windsor were joint capitals.\\n1792: Capital of Southwest territory established at Knoxville.\\n1792-06-01: Kentucky state split from Virginia. Its capital was Lexington.\\n1792-12-05: Frankfort selected as permanent capital of Kentucky.\\n1794-12-30: Capital of North Carolina moved to Raleigh.\\n1796-03: Capital of Georgia moved to Louisville.\\n1796-06-01: Southwest territory became Tennessee state, with some minor boundary changes.\\n1797: Capital of New York moved to Albany.\\n1798-05-07: Mississippi territory formed. Its first capital was Natchez.\\n1799: Capital of Pennsylvania moved to Lancaster.\\n1800-07-04: Indiana territory formed from part of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Vincennes.\\n1800-12-01: National capital moved to Washington. District of Columbia formed from parts of Maryland and Virginia.\\n1801-12-12: Capital of Mississippi moved to Washington, Mississippi.\\n1803-03-01: Ohio state formed from part of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Chillicothe.\\n1803-04-30: Louisiana transferred from France to the United States, by purchase.\\n1804: Georgia's western lands annexed to Mississippi territory.\\n1804-10-01: Louisiana purchase split into Orleans territory (approximately the present-day state of Louisiana) and Louisiana district. New Orleans was the capital of Orleans territory.\\n1804-12-12: Capital of Georgia moved to Milledgeville, although the legislature didn't meet there until 1807.\\n1805: Capital of Vermont moved to Montpelier.\\n1805-01-11: Michigan territory formed from part of Indiana territory. Its first capital was Detroit.\\n1805-07-04: Status of Louisiana changed from district to territory.\\n1808: Capital of New Hampshire moved to Concord. Several different towns had been capital between 1781 and 1808.\\n1809-03-01: Illinois territory formed from what was left of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Kaskaskia.\\n1810: Capital of Ohio moved to Zanesville.\\n1810-10-27: West Florida (parts of modern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) claimed by the United States. The territory was occupied between then and 1813-04.\\n1812: Capital of Ohio moved to Chillicothe; capital of Pennsylvania moved to Harrisburg; capital of Tennessee moved to Nashville.\\n1812-04-30: Orleans territory, along with some adjacent lands, became Louisiana state.\\n1812-12-07: Louisiana territory split into Missouri territory and unorganized land. The first capital of Missouri was Saint Louis.\\n1813-05-01: Capital of Indiana moved to Corydon.\\n1815: Capital of Tennessee moved to Knoxville.\\n1816: Capital of Ohio moved to Columbus.\\n1816-12-11: Indiana state formed from part of Indiana territory.\\n1817: Capital of Tennessee moved to Murfreesboro.\\n1817-08-15: Alabama territory split from Mississippi territory. Its first capital was Saint Stephens.\\n1817-12-10: Status of Mississippi changed from territory to state.\\n1818: Treaty of 1818 fixed the boundary between the United States and Canada at 49� North latitude, westward from Lake of the Woods.\\n1818-12-03: Illinois state formed from part of Illinois territory; the remainder merged with Michigan territory.\\n1819-02-22: Adams-On�s Treaty set the boundary between Spanish possessions and United States. East and West Florida transferred from Spain to the United States. (East Florida corresponds to present-day Florida.)\\n1819-03-02: Unorganized territory between Louisiana and Missouri became Arkansaw territory. Its first capital was Arkansas Post. The spelling of its name varied, but by 1822, Arkansas had become the preferred form.\\n1819-12-14: Status of Alabama changed from territory to state, with capital at Huntsville.\\n1820: Capital of Alabama moved to Cahawba.\\n1820-03-16: Maine state split from Massachusetts state, in which it had been a district. Its first capital was Portland.\\n1820-11-25: Capital of Missouri moved to Saint Charles.\\n1820-12-04: Capital of Illinois moved to Vandalia.\\n1821: Capital of Arkansas moved to Little Rock.\\n1821-08-10: Missouri state formed from part of Missouri territory. The remainder became unorganized territory.\\n1822: Capital of Mississippi moved to Jackson, formerly LeFleur's Bluff.\\n1822-03-30: Florida organized as territory.\\n1824: Tallahassee became capital of Florida territory.\\n1825-01-10: Capital of Indiana moved to Indianapolis.\\n1825-11-21: Capital of Missouri moved to Jefferson City.\\n1826: Capital of Alabama moved to Tuscaloosa.\\n1830: Capital of Louisiana moved to Donaldsonville.\\n1831: Capital of Louisiana moved back to New Orleans.\\n1832-01-04: Capital of Maine moved to Augusta.\\n1834: Unorganized territory north of Missouri merged with Michigan territory.\\n1834-06-30: Indian territory (present-day Oklahoma) formed from unorganized territory.\\n1836-06-15: Arkansas state formed from part of Arkansas territory. The remainder was left unorganized.\\n1836-07-04: Wisconsin territory formed from part of Michigan territory. Its first capital was Madison.\\n1837-01-26: Status of Michigan changed from territory to state.\\n1838-07-04: Iowa territory split from Wisconsin territory. Its first capital was Burlington.\\n1839: Capital of Iowa moved to Iowa City.\\n1839-07-04: Capital of Illinois moved to Springfield. (Location selected 1837-02-28.)\\n1842-11-10: Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the boundary between U.S. and Canada (Maine/New Brunswick, Minnesota/Hudson's Bay Company).\\n1843: Capital of Tennessee moved to Nashville.\\n1845-03-03: Status of Florida changed from territory to state.\\n1845-12-29: Republic of Texas annexed to the United States as Texas state. Its first capital as a state was Austin, although the republic had had capitals at Houston and Washington on the Brazos.\\n1846-07-09: Part of District of Columbia, on the south shore of the Potomac, returned to Virginia.\\n1846-12-28: Iowa territory split into Iowa state and unorganized territory.\\n1847-03-16: Capital of Michigan moved to Michigan, Michigan.\\n1847-12-06: Capital of Alabama moved to Montgomery.\\n1848: Name of capital of Michigan changed to Lansing.\\n1848-02-02: By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded land approximately equivalent to its territories of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo M�xico (New Mexico) to the United States.\\n1848-05-29: Status of Wisconsin changed from territory to state.\\n1848-08-14: Oregon territory formed from unorganized lands west of the Louisiana purchase. Its first capital was Oregon City.\\n1849: Capital of Louisiana moved to Baton Rouge.\\n1849-03-03: Minnesota territory formed from the unorganized territory left over when Iowa became a state. Its first capital was Saint Paul.\\n1850-09-09: Compromise of 1850 took effect. California became a state. Its first capital was San Jose. The remainder of the Mexican Cession was divided into New Mexico and Utah territories. Their capitals were Santa Fe and Salt Lake City, respectively. Texas was paid $10,000,000 to relinquish its claim to land to the north and west of its present-day boundaries (accepted 1850-11-25). The relinquished claim was divided up, part going to the New Mexico and Utah territories, and the rest to the unorganized territory.\\n1851-10-04: Capital of Utah moved to Fillmore.\\n1852-05-04: Capital of Oregon moved to Salem.\\n1852-01: Capital of California moved to Vallejo. (The legislature also met in Sacramento from January to April.)\\n1853-02-04: Capital of California moved to Benicia.\\n1853-03-02: Washington territory split from Oregon territory. Its first capital was Olympia.\\n1853-12-30: Gadsden Purchase (known as La Mesilla to Mexicans) transferred from Mexico to the United States, becoming part of New Mexico territory.\\n1854-01: Newport and Providence became the only joint capitals of Rhode Island.\\n1854-02-25: Capital of California moved to Sacramento.\\n1854-05-30: Kansas and Nebraska territories formed from unorganized territory, leaving present-day Oklahoma as unorganized territory. The first capital of Kansas was Fort Leavenworth; of Nebraska, Omaha.\\n1855-01-13: Capital of Oregon moved to Corvallis, then back to Salem on 1855-12-18.\\n1855-08: Capital of Kansas moved to Lecompton. The sequence of Kansas territorial capitals is intricate, especially because of rival factions (pro- and anti-slavery) with competing capitals. Pawnee, Shawnee Mission, Minneola, and Lawrence were all capitals at some point.\\n1856: Capital of Utah moved to Salt Lake City.\\n1857-10-19: Capital of Iowa moved to Des Moines, formerly Fort Des Moines.\\n1858: Capital of Utah moved to Parowan.\\n1858-05-11: Minnesota state formed from part of Minnesota territory. The remainder became unorganized territory.\\n1859: Capital of Utah moved to Salt Lake City; capital of Kansas moved to Topeka.\\n1859-02-14: Status of Oregon changed from territory to state.\\n1860-12-24: South Carolina seceded from United States, followed on later dates by Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. They formed a federation called the Confederated States of America.\\n1861-01-29: Status of Kansas changed from territory to state.\\n1861-02-28: Colorado territory formed from parts of the former Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah territories. Its first capital was Colorado City.\\n1861-03-02: Dakota territory (capital Yankton, in present-day South Dakota) formed from part of Nebraska territory and unorganized territory left over from Minnesota; Nevada territory (capital Carson City) formed from parts of New Mexico and Utah territories.\\n1862: Capital of Colorado moved to Golden.\\n1862-07-14: Border between Nevada and Utah territories moved from 116�03' W. to 115�03' W. (approximately - longitudes were measured using a baseline in Washington, D.C. at the time).\\n1863-02-24: Arizona territory split from New Mexico territory. Its first capital was Fort Whipple.\\n1863-03-03: Idaho territory formed from parts of Washington and Dakota territories. Its first capital was Lewiston.\\n1863-06-19: West Virginia split from Virginia by retro-secession, and joined the United States as a state. Its first capital was Wheeling.\\n1864: Capital of Arizona moved to Prescott. Capital of Idaho moved to Boise.\\n1864-05-26: Montana territory formed from part of Nebraska and Idaho territories. Its first capital was Bannack.\\n1864-10-31: Status of Nevada changed from territory to state.\\n1865-02-07: Capital of Montana moved to Virginia City.\\n1865-04-09: Lee surrendered at Appomatox. The states which had seceded were re-admitted to the United States one by one, starting with Tennessee (1866-07-24) and ending with Georgia (1870-07-15).\\n1866-05-05: Border between Nevada and Utah territories moved from 115�03' W. to 114�03' W.\\n1867: Capital of Colorado moved to Denver.\\n1867-01-18: Part of Arizona territory (modern Nevada south of 37� N.) annexed to Nevada.\\n1867-03-01: Status of Nebraska changed from territory to state.\\n1867-08-14: Capital of Nebraska moved to Lancaster, and its name changed to Lincoln.\\n1867-09-04: Capital of Arizona moved to Tucson.\\n1867-10-11: Alaska transferred from Russia to the United States by purchase. Capital was Sitka.\\n1868-07-04: Capital of Georgia moved to Atlanta.\\n1868-07-29: Wyoming territory formed from parts of former Nebraska, Utah, and Idaho territories. Its first capital was Cheyenne.\\n1870: Capital of West Virginia moved to Charleston.\\n1875: Hartford became the sole capital of Connecticut. Capital of West Virginia moved to Wheeling.\\n1875-01: Capital of Montana moved to Helena.\\n1876-08-01: Status of Colorado changed from territory to state.\\n1877: Capital of Arizona moved to Prescott.\\n1882: Capital of Louisiana moved to Baton Rouge, apparently from New Orleans, which was used as capital by Union forces during the Civil War.\\n1883: Capital of Dakota moved to Bismarck.\\n1884-05-17: Status of Alaska changed to district.\\n1885: Capital of West Virginia moved to Charleston.\\n1889: Capital of Arizona moved to Phoenix.\\n1889-11-02: Dakota territory split into North Dakota and South Dakota states (capitals Bismarck and Pierre, respectively).\\n1889-11-08: Status of Montana changed from territory to state.\\n1889-11-11: Status of Washington changed from territory to state.\\n1890-05-02: Oklahoma territory split from Indian territory.\\n1890-07-03: Status of Idaho changed from territory to state.\\n1890-07-10: Status of Wyoming changed from territory to state.\\n1896-01-04: Status of Utah changed from territory to state.\\n1898-08-12: Republic of Hawaii annexed to the United States.\\n1900: Capital of Alaska moved to Juneau.\\n1900-01: Providence became the sole capital of Rhode Island.\\n1900-06-14: Hawaii organized as territory. Its capital was Honolulu.\\n1907-11-16: Oklahoma territory merged with Indian Territory to form Oklahoma state. Its first capital was Guthrie.\\n1910-06-11: Capital of Oklahoma moved to Oklahoma City.\\n1912-01-06: Status of New Mexico changed from territory to state.\\n1912-02-14: Status of Arizona changed from territory to state.\\n1912-08-24: Status of Alaska changed to territory.\\n1959-01-03: Status of Alaska changed from territory to state.\\n1959-08-21: Status of Hawaii changed from territory to state.\\nOther names of subdivisions: \\nFormal name is \\\"State of [state name]\\\" unless otherwise noted. In texts in other languages using the Roman alphabet, state names can almost always be left untranslated.\\nAlaska: Alasca (Portuguese); Аляска (Russian)\\nArkansas: Арканзас (Russian)\\nCalifornia: Calif�rnia (Portuguese); Californie (French); Kalifornien (German); Kaliforniya (Turkish); Калифорния (Russian)\\nDelaware: Делавэр (Russian)\\nDistrict of Columbia: Distrito de Columbia (Portuguese, Spanish)\\nFlorida: Floride (French)\\nGeorgia: G�orgie (French); Джорджия (Russian)\\nHawaii: Hava� (Portuguese); Hawa� (Dutch); Hawaiʻi (variant; see note below); Гавайи (Russian)\\nIllinois: Иллинойс (Russian)\\nKentucky: Commonwealth of Kentucky (formal); Кентукки (Russian)\\nLouisiana: Luisiana (Spanish); Louisiane (French); Луизиана (Russian)\\nMassachusetts: Commonwealth of Massachusetts (formal); Массачусетс (Russian)\\nMississippi: Misisipi (Spanish-variant)\\nNew Hampshire: Nova Hampshire (Portuguese); Nueva Hampshire (Spanish)\\nNew Jersey: Nova Jersey (Portuguese); Nueva Jersey (Spanish)\\nNew Mexico: Neu-Mexiko (German); Nouveau-Mexique (French); Novo M�xico (Portuguese); Nuevo Mexico (Spanish)\\nNew York: Nevyork (Turkish); Nova York, Nova Iorque (Portuguese); Nueva York (Spanish); Нью Йорк (Russian)\\nNorth Carolina: Carolina del Norte (Spanish); Carolina do Norte (Portuguese); Caroline du Nord (French); Kuzey Carolina (Turkish); Nord-Karolina (German)\\nNorth Dakota: Dakota del Norte (Spanish); Dakota do Norte (Portuguese); Dakota du Nord (French); Kuzey Dakota (Turkish); Nord-Dakota (German)\\nOklahoma: Оклахома (Russian)\\nOregon: Oreg�n (Spanish)\\nPennsylvania: Pennsylvanie (French); Pennsylvanien (German); Pensilvania (Spanish); Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (formal); Пенсильвания (Russian)\\nRhode Island: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (formal); Род-Айленд (Russian)\\nSouth Carolina: Carolina del Sur (Spanish); Caroline du Sud (French); Carolina do Sul (Portuguese); G�ney Carolina (Turkish); S�d-Karolina (German)\\nSouth Dakota: Dakota del Sur (Spanish); Dakota do Sul (Portuguese); Dakota du Sud (French); G�ney Dakota (Turkish); S�d-Dakota (German)\\nTexas: Техас (Russian)\\nVirginia: Virginie (French); Virg�nia (Portuguese); Commonwealth of Virginia (formal)\\nWashington: Вашингтон (Russian)\\nWest Virginia: Batı Virginia (Turkish); Virginia del Oeste, Virginia Occidental (Spanish); Virg�nia Ocidental (Portuguese); Virginie occidentale (French); West-Virginia (German)\\nNote: Some Hawaiians advocate the spelling Hawaiʻi, which is the Hawaiian-language form of the name. The extra character is called an ʻokina, and represents a glottal stop. The recommended Unicode character is U+02BB, \\\"modifier letter turned comma\\\". This form has been appearing with increasing frequency in Hawaii itself. In the mainland, it seems to be used for its impressive effect. In tourist brochures, it makes Hawaii seem more exotic. In articles, it makes the author appear more of an insider. (People used to try to impress their friends by pronouncing the name \\\"Havaii\\\", which is not correct.) I hope that the ʻokina never becomes official, because it is hard to type on a computer with language preferences set to English - just as I thought it was stupid for Azerbaijan to include the schwa when the Azerbaijani language returned to the Roman alphabet in 1991.\\nPopulation history:\",\n \"City nicknames - Got.Net\\n... I have only been ... My List of City Nicknames ... Massachusetts; Duncanville, Texas; Lilburn, Georgia; Edmonton, Alberta; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, ...\\nCity nicknames\\nThe human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of \\\"Ten Best\\\". — H. Allen Smith\\n \\n \\nCity nicknames\\nThe following is my list of City Nicknames, started around 1993. I had collected suggestions from the rec.games.trivia newsgroup, and had heard someone on KGO (San Francisco's AM news-talk radio station) use the phrase \\\"... 10,000 residents of The City, of complications from ...\\\".\\nSo I appropriated that phrase \\\"The City of Complications\\\", as an exceptionally apt nickname for San Francisco, and went on to collect a few other names. When I had enough of them, I posted the list to that newsgroup.\\nSo far, I have only been able to re-locate the quiz version of my list, so I haven't actually merged all of the answers back into the list yet. This past year or two (2001-2002), I added a few from the \\\"Isaac Asimov\\\" quiz column in the newspaper, a Sunset Magazine article (which lists California as the \\\"World Capital of Agricultural World Capitals\\\"), and other sources. I also found two other lists on the web (URLs below).\\nI now keep this merged version in both http://got.net/~landauer/lists/CityOf.html and the stories link in my Radio Weblog, http://radio.weblogs.com/0100945/stories/2002/07/24/cityNicknames.html . The one at http://got.net/~landauer/CityOf_was.html is older.\\nOther web locations that have some similar lists include:\\nhttp://www.pe.net/~rksnow/mottos.htm is (today) the top Google result for City nicknames , with good reason. \\\"COMMUNITY MOTTOS & NICKNAMES\\\" looks like they've been actively collecting these for a lot longer than I have.\\nThe Trivia asylum http://www.triviaasylum.com/lists/cities.html\\nhttp://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=Siliconia\\nMost recent additions (8 February 2003): Albany, OR; Alpine, TX; Beaver, OK; Bemidji, MN; Brainerd, MN; Bristol, TN; Burlington, Iowa; Cody, WY; Douglas, WY; Frannie, WY; Gallup, NM; Granby, CO; Isleton, CA; Laramie, WY; Lowell, WY; Meeteetse, WY; New York (as \\\"Never Sleeps\\\"); Noxubee County, Alabama; Philadelphia, PA; Rockport, MA; Santa Rosa, NM; Sonora, CA; Sturgis, Michigan; Taxco, Mexico; Tijuana, Mexico; Westwood, CA.\\nMy List of City Nicknames:\\nCity\\nNickname\\nAberdeen, Scotland The Granite City Akron, OH Rubber City Albany, Georgia Good Life City Albany, ORHome of the Timber Carnival Alexandria, Egypt Pearl of the Mediterranean Allentown, Pennsylvania Cement City Alpine, TXGateway to the Big Bend Annapolis, Maryland Crabtown Atlanta, GA The Athens of the South Atlanta, GA The City Too Busy to Hate Atlanta, GA Dogwood City Atlanta, GA Gate City of the South Auckland, NZ City of Sails\\nBaltimore, Maryland Charm City Baltimore, Maryland Monument City Banaras, India Luminous City Bandon, OR Storm Capital of the World Bangkok, Thailand Venice of the East Beaver, OKCow Chip Throwing Capital of the World Bemidji, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox (see Brainerd and Westwood) Beograd The White City Bickleton, WA Bluebird Capital of the World Birmingham, AL Pittsburgh of the South Boston, MA The Athens of America Boston, MA Beantown Boston, MA The City of Kind Hearts Boston, MA The Cradle of Liberty Boston, MA The Hub of the Universe Boston, MA Puritan City Brainerd, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox — The legend on the Brainerd city limits sign shows up in the film \\\"Fargo\\\". (See Bemidji and Westwood) Bristol, TNFood City Brandon, Manitoba The Wheat City\\nBucharest, Romania The Little Paris Budapest, Hungary The Pearl of the Danube Buffalo, New York Bison City Buffalo, New York Flour City Buffalo, NY The City of Good Neighbors Buffalo, NY The Nickel City Buffalo, NY The Queen City (of the Great Lakes) Burlington, IowaLoader/Backhoe Capital of the World Butte, Montana Copper City Byran, Ohio The Fountain City\\nCalgary, Alberta, Canada The Stampede City Calgary, Alberta, Canada The Heart of The New West (that's the New Convention and Visitors Bureau slogan) Calgary, Alberta, Canada Canada's oil capital (Because of high concentration of oil company head offices, as in Houston) Cape Girardeau, Missouri Rose City Cape Hatteras, North Carolina The Graveyard of the Atlantic Castroville, CA Artichoke Center of the World Champaign-Urbana, IL Chambana Champaign-Urbana, IL Shampoo-Bananna Champaign-Urbana, IL Urpaign Charleston, South Carolina America's Most Historic City Charleston, South CarolinaPalmetto City Charlotte, North Carolina Hornets Nest Charlotte, North Carolina Queen City Chicago, Illinois Big Town Chicago City of Big Shoulders Chicago, Illinois Hog Butcher for the World Chicago Slaughterhouse to the World Chicago, Illinois Phoenix City Chicago, Illinois Second City Chicago The Windy City Christchurch, NZ The Garden City Cincinnati, Ohio Queen City Cleveland, Ohio Mistake on the Lake Cleveland, OH America's North Coast Cody, WYRodeo Capital of the World Columbus, OH The Crossroads of Ohio Cooperstown, New York Birthplace of Baseball Council Bluffs, Iowa Iowa's Leading Edge Crestwood (Louisville), KYWhiskers Cuernavaca, Morelos, MexicoThe City of Eternal Spring\\nDallas, Texas Big D Dayton, Ohio Birthplace of Aviation Denver, Colorado City of the Plains Denver, Colorado Convention City Denver, CO Mile High City Denver, Colorado Queen City Detroit, MI Motown Detroit, MI Motor City Dipolog City, Philippines Orchid City Douglas, WYJackalope Capitol [sic] of the World — I vaguely recall that one of the main promoters and/or inventor of the Jackelope died within the last few months. Durham, NC City of Medicine Durham, NC Bull City\\nEdinburgh, Scotland Athens of the North Erie, Pennsylvania The Gem Eskilstuna, Sweden Smedstan (The smith City)\\nFallbrook, CA Avocado Capital of the World Florence, Italy The City of Lillies Fort Myers, Florida The City of Palms Frannie, WYBiggest Little Town in Wyoming Gainesville, Florida Hogtown Gallup, NMDrunk-Driving Capital of America Gilroy, CA Garlic Capital of the World Gotland, Sweden Pearl of the Baltic Göteborg, Sweden Götet Granby, COSnowmobile Capital of Colorado Grants Pass, Oregon\\\"It's the Climate\\\" ... see http://www.webreview.com/swaine/2000/05_12_00.shtml Grants Pass, OregonWhere the Rogue River Runs Greenfield, CA Broccoli Capital of the World Hammondsport, New York Cradle of Aviation Hawthorne, CA The City of Good Neighbors (2) Hershey, PAChocolate Town, USA Hollywood Hollyweird Hollywood Tinseltown Holtville, CA Carrot Capital of the World Hong Kong Pearl of the Orient Hood River, Oregon (Columbia Gorge) Windsurfing Capital of the World Hoople, North DakotaTater Town Houston, Texas Magnolia City\\nIndianapolis, Indiana Naptown Indianapolis, Indiana Circle City Indianapolis, Indiana Railroad City Indio, CA Date Capital of the World International Falls, Minnesota The Icebox of the United States Isleton, CACrawdad Town, USA\\nJackson, Mississippi Chimneyville Jaipur The Pink City Jerusalem City of David Jerusalem City of Peace Jönköping, SwedenSmålands Jerusalem\\nKalamazoo, Michigan Celery City Kansas City, Kansas Heart of America Kokomo, Indiana City of Firsts Kristianstad, Sweden Lilla Paris (rare these days) Keizer, OR Iris Capital of the World Kelseyville, CA Pear Capital of the World (but see here ). Laramie, WYGem City of the Plains Las VegasSin City Las VegasEntertainment Capital of the World Las VegasCity of Lights Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)Glitter Gulch Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)The Strip Letchworth (UK, near Cambridge) The first Garden City in the World Lodi, CAThe [Tokay] Grape Capital of the World (probably more popularly known as the place where Creedence Clearwater Revival got stuck in once, in the 1960's.) London, England The Square Mile London's financial district The City of London London, Ontario The Forest City Los Angeles The Big Orange Los Angeles City of Angels Los Angeles, California City of Flowers and Sunshine Los Angeles La La Land Los Banos City of the Spring Baths Louisville, Kentucky City of Beautiful Churches Louisville, Kentucky Falls City Lowell, WYThe Rose City of Wyoming\\nMadison, Wisconsin Four Lake City Manila, Philippines Pearl of the Orient Mar del Plata, Argentina Queen of the Coast Marysville, California Gateway to the Gold Fields Medellin, Columbia Orchid City Meeteetse, WYWhere Chiefs Meet Melbourne, AustraliaCity of Chromatic Dissolution (not a real nickname, but I really liked the phrase. I'll have to dig up the film , someday.) Memphis, TN Bluff City Memphis, TN The City that Elvis Ruined (I get a Googlewhack for that one! Today, anyway.) Miami, Florida Little Cuba Miami, Florida Magic City Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cream City Minneapolis, Minnesota Flour City Minneapolis The Mini Apple Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN The Twin Cities Mobile, Alabama City of Five Flags Montreal, Canada The City of Saints Mountain Iron, Minnesota Taconite Capital of the World Moyobamba, Peru Orchid City\\nNashville, TN Music City, USA New Haven, Connecticut Elm City New Orleans The Big Easy New Orleans The Crescent City\\nNew York The Big Apple New York The Capital of the World New YorkThe City that Never Sleeps New York Gotham New York Empire City New York The Melting Pot New York/Manhattan The City Norrköping, Sweden Peking Noxubee County, Alabama Home of the Dancing Rabbit Festival and Magnolia Pilgrimage\\n(I know, it's not really a city, but how could I pass up a phrase like that?) Oakdale, CA Cowboy Capital of the World Oakland, CA Oaktown Oroville, CA City of Gold Oxford City of Dreaming Spires Oxnard, CA Strawberry Capital of the World (but see here ). Paris City of Light Pasadena, CA City of Roses Patterson, CA Apricot Capital of the World Pearsonville, CA Hubcap Capital of the World Petaluma, CA Egg Basket of the World Petra The Rose Red City Philadelphia City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Rebel Capital Philadelphia, PAMortal City (per Dar Williams) Pittsburgh, PA Steel City Pittsburgh, PA The 'Burgh Pittsburgh, PA Iron City Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Birmingham of America Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Golden Triangle Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Three Rivers Pittsburgh, PA (region) City of Bridges Placerville, CA Hangtown Portland, Maine Forest City Portland, Maine Hill City Portland, Oregon City of Roses Prague, Czech Republic The Golden City Providence, Rhode Island Beehive of Industry\\nQuebec The Gibraltar of North America Queenstown, NZ Extreme Sports Capital of the World Redmond, WA Mordor Redmond, WA Nerdburg Reno, NV The Biggest Little City in the World Reseda, CA The Hub of the West Valley (That's the San Fernando Valley) Rigby, IdahoBirthplace of TV\\nThere's a museum here, the \\\"TV and Pioneer Museum\\\" . When I drove through, it made me wonder jest which of those Conestoga wagons had TVs, and how good the reception was.\\nRincon (Santa Barbara County), California Queen of the Coast\\nSurfers' term. Not really a city. Rochester, New York Kodak City Rochester, New York Snapshot City Rockport, MAThe Mendocino of the East Rogue River Valley, OR Pear Capital of the World (but see here ). Rome The City of the Seven Hills Rome, Italy The Eternal City Rome, Italy City of Love Rye, New York Border Town\\nSacramento, California River City Saint Louis, MOGateway to the West (or \\\"The Gateway City\\\") Saint Paul, MinnesotaMoscow on the Mississippi Saint Petersburg, Russia Venice of the North Salem, Massachusetts City of Witches Samal, Philipines Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) San Antonio, Texas Alamo City San Antonio, Texas Mission City San Diego, California The Plymouth of the West San Diego, CA America's Finest City San Francisco, California The Golden Gate City San Francisco, California Shaky Town San Francisco, CA Baghdad by the Bay San Francisco, CA The City North San Jose, CA The Golden Triangle Santa Fe, New Mexico The City Different Santa Rosa, NMThe SCUBA-diving capital of New Mexico Saratoga Springs, New York Spa City Savannah, Georgia Garden City Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario The SOO Sault Ste. Marie, MI (I think) The SOO Seattle, WA The Emerald City Selma, CA Raisin Capital of the World Shah Alam, Malaysia Orchid City Sonora, CAThe Queen of the Southern Mines Sri Lanka Pearl of the Indian Ocean\\n(I know, not really a city.) Stockholm Eken (The Oak) Stockholm Venice of the North Stockton, CA California's Sunrise Seaport Sturgis, MichiganCurtain Rod Capital of the World Sundbyberg, Sweden Sumpan Syracuse, New York Salt City\\nTaxco, MexicoSilver Capital of the World Thousand Oaks, CA T.O. Tijuana, MexicoTelevision Capital of the World Toledo, Ohio Corn City Toronto, Ontario Hogtown Toronto, Ontario Muddy York (archaic, I think) Toronto, Ontario T.O. Toronto, Ontario Toronto the Good (sometimes pejorative) Toronto, Ontario Trawna or Trahna Toronto, Ontario, Canada Queen City Tulelake, CA Horseradish Capital of the World\\nUmeå, SwedenBjörkarnas stad (The city of the birches)\\n(Historic) Vancouver, B.C., CanadaGastown Venice, Italy Bride of the Sea Venice, Italy Queen of the Adriatic Värnersborg, SwedenLilla Paris (Little Paris) Västerås Gurkstan (The Cucumber City) Vicksburg, Mississippi The Gibraltar of America Victoria, Australia The Cabbage Patch Victoria, B.C., Canada Little England\\nWalla Walla, WA The Town So Nice They Named It Twice Walla Walla, WA Walla2 Walla Walla, WA Wallyworld Washington D.C. Capital City Washington D.C. News Capital of the World\\nWaterbury, Connecticut Brass City Wenatchee, WA Apple Capital of the World West Hollywood, CA Boystown West Hollywood, CA The Creative City\\nWest Palm Beach, Florida Orchid City Westwood, CAHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox\\nIt seems that a celebrity like Paul Bunyan has several homes. I've actually seen him here in Westwood — and note that this is the Lassen County Westwood. (See http://www.westwoodchamber.com/ and also see Brainerd and Bemidji.) Wheeling, West Virginia Nail City Wichita, Kansas Emerald City Windsor, Ontario Tijuana North\\nNOTES:\\nI used to have some of the following ones in the main list. I have moved these here mostly for not being unique enough (i.e., Google found too many candidates for the given honor).\\nI should probably move all of the \\\"Queen City\\\"s down here, too.\\nA recent contributor mentioned Coos Bay, Oregon as having (had) the official motto \\\"City With a Future\\\".\\nAlas, Google says that this is one of the too-common ones:\\nLansing, KS; Mankato, MN (had this motto in 1912); Yokosuka, Japan; Ruda [approx equal]öl[florin]Öska, Poland; Massillon, Ohio; Fulton, NY?; Monett, MO; ¬¶widnica, Poland; Lisbon, Portugal; Sumner, Iowa; St Louis, MO; Tremonton, Utah\\nAnd it has a few variations:\\nAltus, Oklahoma: \\\"City with a Future to Share\\\"\\nKenai, Alaska: \\\"THE VILLAGE WITH A PAST - THE CITY WITH A FUTURE\\\"\\nLowell, Arkansas: \\\"Town with a Past, City with a Future\\\"\\nBeersheba: \\\"A place with a past, a city with a future\\\"\\n\\\"City of Champions\\\" (Joliet, Illinois; Brockton, Massachusetts; Duncanville, Texas; Lilburn, Georgia; Edmonton, Alberta; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).\\n(Pittsburgh has really really bad Google-juice. I have a vague recollection that it (and Edmonton) were the two \\\"City of Champions\\\"s on my original list. But Pittsburgh is way down low on the Google-meter search for \\\"City of Champions\\\".)\\n\\\"City of Gold\\\" (Gold Beach, OR; Oroville, California; Cite de l'or, Quebec; Gold Coast City in Australia; Victor, Colorado; etc)\\n\\\"City of Love\\\" (Glasgow, San Francisco, Calcutta, Paris)\\n\\\"City of Roses\\\" — Pasadena, California (my first home town) has held the Rose Parade for more than a century now; this gives it first dibs on this monicker. I had also seen Portland, Oregon referred to this way. But Google gives the nod to ?Cape Girardeau, Missouri??? Weird.\\nThe \\\"City That Time Forgot\\\" (Baldwin Park, CA; Galena, IL; New Orleans; Tikal, Guatemala; Bruges/Brugge, Belgium; and a host of others)\\nCowtown (Both Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta; Chicago; Columbus, OH; Dallas; Kansas City; Wichita, KS; et al)\\n\\\"The All-American City\\\" (I gather there's an award by this name, whose value is enormously diluted by the fact that it is bestowed annually on 10 cities. It is the National Civic League that does this.) Here are a few of the winners, plus other places that claim this title either on the web, or in email I've seen lately: Tri-Cities of TN/VA; Ocean City, MD; Tuscaloosa-Northport Tupelo MI; Roswell, NM; Santa Clara, CA; Delray Beach, FL; South Miami, FL; Fort Dodge, IA; Howard County, MD; Ocean City, MD; Independence, MO; Bozeman, MT; Fayetteville, NC; Brownsville, TX; Allentown, PA\\nThe End of the World. (Not to be confused with The End of the Internet , of which there are also a whole bunch). Trosa, Sweden; Ushuaia, Argentina; Anchorage, AK; Gibraltar\\nGateway to the Rockies (Denver and Aurora Colorado; and Calgary, Hinton, and Banff, Alberta. Probably dozens of others.)\\nDevin T McLaughlin suggested a bunch of nicknames for Calgary; some (\\\"Entrepreneurial City\\\" and \\\"Volunteer City\\\") failed the google test (didn't really show up at all), and Cowtown fails in the other direction (see above).\\nCotton Capital of { World, USA, Western Australia, etc... }\\n\\\"The Garden City\\\" is an unusual one: there appear to be a number of cities with \\\"Garden\\\" as a part of their real names, which makes it a bit hard to sift out and locate the one(s) where it's just a nickname. I left three of these in the main list; Christchurch is Phil Pearson's fault, and the others came from a Google search to see if the nickname was too common for my tastes.\\npre-Thanksgiving update: Hogtown goes to Toronto mainly, though Gainesville put in a strong enough #2 showing. So at this point, only one of the nicknames from my original list remains unidentified -- i.e., I haven't quite figured out with enough certainty to put it back in place yet: \\\"The Paris of the 1980's\\\". Maybe Seattle. Gaining no confidence from Google, I'll probably just drop that one.\\nAnd the other two cities that I didn't find matches for are in Ontario, Canada — Copetown and Welland. My google efforts did not come up with any nickname for either.\\nThese will have to wait until I re-locate my original list or check some of the other sites I've listed above.\\nThanks to Erland, Margaret, Phil, Devin, Drew, Isaac, Kunaal, Dave Letterman, the film \\\"Fargo\\\", and anyone else who contributed suggestions!\\n© Copyright 2006 Doug Landauer .\",\n \"US State Nicknames - Mike Todd\\nEvery US state has a nickname ... In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, ... One of the oldest state nicknames ...\\nAmerican State Nicknames\\n \\n \\nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \\\"official\\\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \\\"state symbol\\\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \\\"state symbol\\\".\\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\\nAlabama (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \\\"lizards\\\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\\nAlaska (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \\\"Down Under\\\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\\nArizona\\n \\nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\\n \\nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \\\"a toothpick knife\\\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\\n \\nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \\\"Gold\\\" was changed to \\\"Golden\\\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \\\"golden\\\" reference.\\nColorado\\n \\nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \\\"Mile High City\\\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\\n \\nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \\\"Blue Laws\\\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\\n \\nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \\\"blue hen chicken\\\", a term meaning a \\\"quick-tempered and fiery person\\\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \\\"Blue Hen Cocks\\\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \\\"Nye Sverige\\\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\\nDistrict of Columbia\\n \\nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\\n \\nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\\\"flowery\\\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\\n \\nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \\\"cracker\\\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\\n \\nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\\nIdaho\\n \\nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \\\"gem of the mountains\\\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\\nIllinois\\n \\nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \\\"sucker\\\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\\nIndiana (no official nickname)\\n \\nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \\\"hoosier\\\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \\\"Yankee\\\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \\\"Hoosier\\\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\\nIowa\\n \\nNobody is quite sure where the name \\\"Hawkeye\\\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \\\"The Last of the Mohicans\\\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\\n \\nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \\\"squatter laws\\\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\\n \\nThe \\\"Blue Grass\\\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \\\"Kentucky\\\" is that it means \\\"dark and bloody ground\\\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\\nLouisiana\\n \\nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \\\"caucasian\\\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\\nMaine\\n \\nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \\\"I direct\\\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\\nMaryland\\n \\nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \\\"Monumental City\\\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\\nMassachusetts\\n \\nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\\nMichigan\\n \\nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \\\"Knickerbocker Magazine\\\", although \\\"Wolverine\\\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \\\"Lake States\\\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\\nMinnesota\\n \\nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \\\"The Golden Gophers\\\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\\nMississippi\\n \\nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\\nMissouri\\n \\nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \\\"Old Bullion\\\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \\\"Pike\\\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\\nMontana\\n \\nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\\n \\nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \\\"Bug-eaters\\\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \\\"Cornhusker\\\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\\nNevada\\n \\nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\\nNew Hampshire\\n \\nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\\n \\nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \\\"Camden and Aboy Railroad\\\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\\nNew Mexico\\n \\nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\\nNew York\\n \\nThe state motto is \\\"Excelsior\\\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \\\"the seat of Empire\\\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\\nNorth Carolina\\n \\nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \\\"tarboilers\\\" as early as 1845, also as \\\"Tar Heels\\\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\\nNorth Dakota\\n \\nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \\\"Peach Garden State\\\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \\\"Rough Rider\\\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \\\"Peace Garden State\\\" on licence plates failed.\\nOhio\\n \\nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\\nOklahoma\\n \\nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \\\"sooners\\\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \\\"boom\\\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\\nOregon\\n \\nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \\\"the Beavers\\\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\\nPennsylvania\\n \\nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \\\"the keystone in the union\\\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \\\"The Quaker City\\\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\\n \\nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \\\"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\\\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\\nSouth Carolina\\n \\nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\\n \\nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \\\"coyotl\\\", from which we get \\\"Coyote\\\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\\nTennessee\\n \\nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \\\"lions of the West\\\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \\\"The River with the Big Bend\\\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \\\"butternuts\\\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\\nTexas (no official nickname)\\n \\nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \\\"Long Expedition\\\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \\\"industry\\\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\\nUtah\\n \\nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \\\"Deseret\\\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \\\"Deseret\\\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \\\"swarms of bees\\\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \\\"non-Mormon\\\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\\nVermont\\n \\nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \\\"Green Mountain Boy\\\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \\\"Verd Mont\\\", meaning \\\"green mountain\\\", which itself probably came from the \\\"Green Mountains\\\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\\nVirginia\\n \\nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\\nWashington\\n \\nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \\\"has never been officially adopted by law\\\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\\nWest Virginia\\n \\nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\\nWisconsin\\n \\nWisconsin inhabitants are \\\"badgers\\\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \\\"Sucker\\\" and \\\"Puke\\\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \\\"badger\\\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\\nWyoming\\n \\nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.\",\n \"US State Nicknames - Mike Todd\\nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, ... One of the oldest state nicknames ... and the nickname of the Beehive State.\\nAmerican State Nicknames\\n \\n \\nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \\\"official\\\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \\\"state symbol\\\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \\\"state symbol\\\".\\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\\nAlabama (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \\\"lizards\\\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\\nAlaska (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \\\"Down Under\\\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\\nArizona\\n \\nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\\n \\nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \\\"a toothpick knife\\\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\\n \\nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \\\"Gold\\\" was changed to \\\"Golden\\\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \\\"golden\\\" reference.\\nColorado\\n \\nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \\\"Mile High City\\\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\\n \\nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \\\"Blue Laws\\\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\\n \\nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \\\"blue hen chicken\\\", a term meaning a \\\"quick-tempered and fiery person\\\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \\\"Blue Hen Cocks\\\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \\\"Nye Sverige\\\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\\nDistrict of Columbia\\n \\nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\\n \\nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\\\"flowery\\\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\\n \\nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \\\"cracker\\\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\\n \\nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\\nIdaho\\n \\nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \\\"gem of the mountains\\\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\\nIllinois\\n \\nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \\\"sucker\\\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\\nIndiana (no official nickname)\\n \\nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \\\"hoosier\\\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \\\"Yankee\\\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \\\"Hoosier\\\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\\nIowa\\n \\nNobody is quite sure where the name \\\"Hawkeye\\\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \\\"The Last of the Mohicans\\\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\\n \\nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \\\"squatter laws\\\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\\n \\nThe \\\"Blue Grass\\\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \\\"Kentucky\\\" is that it means \\\"dark and bloody ground\\\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\\nLouisiana\\n \\nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \\\"caucasian\\\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\\nMaine\\n \\nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \\\"I direct\\\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\\nMaryland\\n \\nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \\\"Monumental City\\\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\\nMassachusetts\\n \\nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\\nMichigan\\n \\nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \\\"Knickerbocker Magazine\\\", although \\\"Wolverine\\\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \\\"Lake States\\\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\\nMinnesota\\n \\nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \\\"The Golden Gophers\\\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\\nMississippi\\n \\nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\\nMissouri\\n \\nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \\\"Old Bullion\\\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \\\"Pike\\\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\\nMontana\\n \\nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\\n \\nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \\\"Bug-eaters\\\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \\\"Cornhusker\\\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\\nNevada\\n \\nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\\nNew Hampshire\\n \\nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\\n \\nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \\\"Camden and Aboy Railroad\\\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\\nNew Mexico\\n \\nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\\nNew York\\n \\nThe state motto is \\\"Excelsior\\\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \\\"the seat of Empire\\\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\\nNorth Carolina\\n \\nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \\\"tarboilers\\\" as early as 1845, also as \\\"Tar Heels\\\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\\nNorth Dakota\\n \\nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \\\"Peach Garden State\\\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \\\"Rough Rider\\\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \\\"Peace Garden State\\\" on licence plates failed.\\nOhio\\n \\nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\\nOklahoma\\n \\nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \\\"sooners\\\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \\\"boom\\\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\\nOregon\\n \\nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \\\"the Beavers\\\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\\nPennsylvania\\n \\nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \\\"the keystone in the union\\\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \\\"The Quaker City\\\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\\n \\nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \\\"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\\\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\\nSouth Carolina\\n \\nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\\n \\nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \\\"coyotl\\\", from which we get \\\"Coyote\\\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\\nTennessee\\n \\nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \\\"lions of the West\\\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \\\"The River with the Big Bend\\\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \\\"butternuts\\\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\\nTexas (no official nickname)\\n \\nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \\\"Long Expedition\\\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \\\"industry\\\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\\nUtah\\n \\nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \\\"Deseret\\\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \\\"Deseret\\\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \\\"swarms of bees\\\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \\\"non-Mormon\\\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\\nVermont\\n \\nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \\\"Green Mountain Boy\\\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \\\"Verd Mont\\\", meaning \\\"green mountain\\\", which itself probably came from the \\\"Green Mountains\\\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\\nVirginia\\n \\nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\\nWashington\\n \\nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \\\"has never been officially adopted by law\\\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\\nWest Virginia\\n \\nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\\nWisconsin\\n \\nWisconsin inhabitants are \\\"badgers\\\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \\\"Sucker\\\" and \\\"Puke\\\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \\\"badger\\\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\\nWyoming\\n \\nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.\",\n \"American State Nicknames - Mike Todd\\nThe history of American state nicknames : ... but not all American states have official nicknames. ... comes from \\\"Green Mountain Boy\\\", a name for an inhabitant ...\\nAmerican State Nicknames\\n \\n \\nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \\\"official\\\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \\\"state symbol\\\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \\\"state symbol\\\".\\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\\nAlabama (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \\\"lizards\\\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\\nAlaska (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \\\"Down Under\\\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\\nArizona\\n \\nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\\n \\nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \\\"a toothpick knife\\\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\\n \\nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \\\"Gold\\\" was changed to \\\"Golden\\\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \\\"golden\\\" reference.\\nColorado\\n \\nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \\\"Mile High City\\\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\\n \\nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \\\"Blue Laws\\\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\\n \\nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \\\"blue hen chicken\\\", a term meaning a \\\"quick-tempered and fiery person\\\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \\\"Blue Hen Cocks\\\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \\\"Nye Sverige\\\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\\nDistrict of Columbia\\n \\nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\\n \\nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\\\"flowery\\\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\\n \\nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \\\"cracker\\\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\\n \\nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\\nIdaho\\n \\nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \\\"gem of the mountains\\\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\\nIllinois\\n \\nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \\\"sucker\\\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\\nIndiana (no official nickname)\\n \\nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \\\"hoosier\\\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \\\"Yankee\\\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \\\"Hoosier\\\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\\nIowa\\n \\nNobody is quite sure where the name \\\"Hawkeye\\\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \\\"The Last of the Mohicans\\\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\\n \\nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \\\"squatter laws\\\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\\n \\nThe \\\"Blue Grass\\\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \\\"Kentucky\\\" is that it means \\\"dark and bloody ground\\\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\\nLouisiana\\n \\nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \\\"caucasian\\\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\\nMaine\\n \\nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \\\"I direct\\\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\\nMaryland\\n \\nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \\\"Monumental City\\\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\\nMassachusetts\\n \\nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\\nMichigan\\n \\nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \\\"Knickerbocker Magazine\\\", although \\\"Wolverine\\\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \\\"Lake States\\\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\\nMinnesota\\n \\nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \\\"The Golden Gophers\\\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\\nMississippi\\n \\nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\\nMissouri\\n \\nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \\\"Old Bullion\\\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \\\"Pike\\\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\\nMontana\\n \\nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\\n \\nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \\\"Bug-eaters\\\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \\\"Cornhusker\\\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\\nNevada\\n \\nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\\nNew Hampshire\\n \\nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\\n \\nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \\\"Camden and Aboy Railroad\\\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\\nNew Mexico\\n \\nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\\nNew York\\n \\nThe state motto is \\\"Excelsior\\\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \\\"the seat of Empire\\\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\\nNorth Carolina\\n \\nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \\\"tarboilers\\\" as early as 1845, also as \\\"Tar Heels\\\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\\nNorth Dakota\\n \\nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \\\"Peach Garden State\\\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \\\"Rough Rider\\\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \\\"Peace Garden State\\\" on licence plates failed.\\nOhio\\n \\nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\\nOklahoma\\n \\nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \\\"sooners\\\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \\\"boom\\\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\\nOregon\\n \\nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \\\"the Beavers\\\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\\nPennsylvania\\n \\nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \\\"the keystone in the union\\\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \\\"The Quaker City\\\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\\n \\nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \\\"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\\\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\\nSouth Carolina\\n \\nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\\n \\nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \\\"coyotl\\\", from which we get \\\"Coyote\\\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\\nTennessee\\n \\nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \\\"lions of the West\\\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \\\"The River with the Big Bend\\\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \\\"butternuts\\\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\\nTexas (no official nickname)\\n \\nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \\\"Long Expedition\\\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \\\"industry\\\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\\nUtah\\n \\nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \\\"Deseret\\\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \\\"Deseret\\\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \\\"swarms of bees\\\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \\\"non-Mormon\\\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\\nVermont\\n \\nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \\\"Green Mountain Boy\\\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \\\"Verd Mont\\\", meaning \\\"green mountain\\\", which itself probably came from the \\\"Green Mountains\\\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\\nVirginia\\n \\nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\\nWashington\\n \\nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \\\"has never been officially adopted by law\\\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\\nWest Virginia\\n \\nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\\nWisconsin\\n \\nWisconsin inhabitants are \\\"badgers\\\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \\\"Sucker\\\" and \\\"Puke\\\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \\\"badger\\\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\\nWyoming\\n \\nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.\",\n \"American State Nicknames - Mike Todd\\nThe history of American state nicknames ... It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine ... known as the Lake State, or the Great ...\\nAmerican State Nicknames\\n \\n \\nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \\\"official\\\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \\\"state symbol\\\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \\\"state symbol\\\".\\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\\nAlabama (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \\\"lizards\\\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\\nAlaska (no official nickname)\\n \\nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \\\"Down Under\\\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\\nArizona\\n \\nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\\n \\nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \\\"a toothpick knife\\\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\\n \\nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \\\"Gold\\\" was changed to \\\"Golden\\\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \\\"golden\\\" reference.\\nColorado\\n \\nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \\\"Mile High City\\\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\\n \\nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \\\"Blue Laws\\\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\\n \\nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \\\"blue hen chicken\\\", a term meaning a \\\"quick-tempered and fiery person\\\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \\\"Blue Hen Cocks\\\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \\\"Nye Sverige\\\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\\nDistrict of Columbia\\n \\nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\\n \\nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\\\"flowery\\\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\\n \\nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \\\"cracker\\\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\\n \\nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\\nIdaho\\n \\nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \\\"gem of the mountains\\\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\\nIllinois\\n \\nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \\\"sucker\\\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\\nIndiana (no official nickname)\\n \\nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \\\"hoosier\\\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \\\"Yankee\\\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \\\"Hoosier\\\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\\nIowa\\n \\nNobody is quite sure where the name \\\"Hawkeye\\\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \\\"The Last of the Mohicans\\\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\\n \\nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \\\"squatter laws\\\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\\n \\nThe \\\"Blue Grass\\\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \\\"Kentucky\\\" is that it means \\\"dark and bloody ground\\\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\\nLouisiana\\n \\nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \\\"caucasian\\\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\\nMaine\\n \\nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \\\"I direct\\\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\\nMaryland\\n \\nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \\\"Monumental City\\\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\\nMassachusetts\\n \\nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\\nMichigan\\n \\nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \\\"Knickerbocker Magazine\\\", although \\\"Wolverine\\\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \\\"Lake States\\\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\\nMinnesota\\n \\nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \\\"The Golden Gophers\\\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\\nMississippi\\n \\nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\\nMissouri\\n \\nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \\\"Old Bullion\\\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \\\"Pike\\\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\\nMontana\\n \\nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\\n \\nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \\\"Bug-eaters\\\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \\\"Cornhusker\\\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\\nNevada\\n \\nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\\nNew Hampshire\\n \\nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\\n \\nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \\\"Camden and Aboy Railroad\\\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\\nNew Mexico\\n \\nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\\nNew York\\n \\nThe state motto is \\\"Excelsior\\\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \\\"the seat of Empire\\\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\\nNorth Carolina\\n \\nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \\\"tarboilers\\\" as early as 1845, also as \\\"Tar Heels\\\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\\nNorth Dakota\\n \\nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \\\"Peach Garden State\\\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \\\"Rough Rider\\\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \\\"Peace Garden State\\\" on licence plates failed.\\nOhio\\n \\nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\\nOklahoma\\n \\nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \\\"sooners\\\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \\\"boom\\\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\\nOregon\\n \\nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \\\"the Beavers\\\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\\nPennsylvania\\n \\nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \\\"the keystone in the union\\\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \\\"The Quaker City\\\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\\n \\nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \\\"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\\\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\\nSouth Carolina\\n \\nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\\n \\nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \\\"coyotl\\\", from which we get \\\"Coyote\\\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\\nTennessee\\n \\nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \\\"lions of the West\\\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \\\"The River with the Big Bend\\\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \\\"butternuts\\\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\\nTexas (no official nickname)\\n \\nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \\\"Long Expedition\\\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \\\"industry\\\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\\nUtah\\n \\nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \\\"Deseret\\\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \\\"Deseret\\\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \\\"swarms of bees\\\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \\\"non-Mormon\\\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\\nVermont\\n \\nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \\\"Green Mountain Boy\\\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \\\"Verd Mont\\\", meaning \\\"green mountain\\\", which itself probably came from the \\\"Green Mountains\\\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\\nVirginia\\n \\nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\\nWashington\\n \\nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \\\"has never been officially adopted by law\\\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\\nWest Virginia\\n \\nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\\nWisconsin\\n \\nWisconsin inhabitants are \\\"badgers\\\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \\\"Sucker\\\" and \\\"Puke\\\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \\\"badger\\\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\\nWyoming\\n \\nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124622,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"Who, in the 6th century BCE, was the last king of Lydia, Solon, who made war on Cyrus, King of Persia, and was defeated?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Croesus"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Lydia.txt\nLydia\nLydia (Assyrian: Luddu; , ) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian.\n\nAt its greatest extent, the Kingdom of Lydia covered all of western Anatolia. Lydia (known as Sparda by the Achaemenids) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, with SardisRhodes, P.J. A History of the Classical Greek World 478-323 BC. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6. as its capital. Tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great, was the first satrap (governor). (See: Lydia (satrapy).)\n\nLydia was later the name of a Roman province. Coins are said to have been invented in Lydia around the 7th century BC.\n\nDefining Lydia \n\nThe endonym Śfard (the name the Lydians called themselves) survives in bilingual and trilingual stone-carved notices of the Achaemenid Empire: the satrapy of Sparda (Old Persian), Aramaic Saparda, Babylonian Sapardu, Elamitic Išbarda, Hebrew סְפָרַד. These in the Greek tradition are associated with Sardis, the capital city of King Gyges, constructed during the 7th century BC.\n\nThe cultural ancestors appear to have been associated with or part of the Luwian political entity of Arzawa; yet the Lydian language is not part of the Luwian subgroup (as are Carian and Lycian).\n\nAn Etruscan/Lydian association has long been a subject of conjecture. The Greek historian Herodotus stated that the Etruscans came from Lydia, repeated in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid, and Etruscan-like language was found on the Lemnos stele from the Aegean Sea island of Lemnos. However, recent decipherment of Lydian and its classification as an Anatolian language mean that Etruscan and Lydian were not even part of the same language family. Nevertheless, a recent genetic study of likely Etruscan descendants in Tuscany found strong similarities with individuals in western Anatolia. \n\nGeography \n\nThe boundaries of historical Lydia varied across the centuries. It was bounded first by Mysia, Caria, Phrygia and coastal Ionia. Later, the military power of Alyattes II and Croesus expanded Lydia, which, with its capital at Sardis, controlled all Asia Minor west of the River Halys, except Lycia. After the Persian conquest the River Maeander was regarded as its southern boundary, and during imperial Roman times Lydia comprised the country between Mysia and Caria on the one side and Phrygia and the Aegean Sea on the other.\n\nLanguage \n\nThe Lydian language was an Indo-European language in the Anatolian language family, related to Luwian and Hittite. It used many prefixes and grammatical particles. Lydian finally became extinct during the 1st century BC.\n\nHistory \n\nEarly history: Maeonia and Lydia\n\nLydia developed as a Neo-Hittite kingdom after the decline of the Hittite Empire in the 12th century BC. In Hittite times, the name for the region had been Arzawa; it was a Luwian-speaking area. According to Greek source, the original name of the Lydian kingdom was Maionia (Μαιονία), or Maeonia: Homer (Iliad ii. 865; v. 43, xi. 431) refers to the inhabitants of Lydia as Maiones (Μαίονες). Homer describes their capital not as Sardis but as Hyde (Iliad xx. 385); Hyde may have been the name of the district in which Sardis was located. Later, Herodotus (Histories i. 7) adds that the \"Meiones\" were renamed Lydians after their king Lydus (Λυδός), son of Atys, during the mythical epoch that preceded the Heracleid dynasty. This etiological eponym served to account for the Greek ethnic name Lydoi (Λυδοί). The Hebrew term for Lydians, Lûḏîm (לודים), as found in the Book of Jeremiah(46.9), has been similarly considered, beginning with Flavius Josephus, to be derived from Lud son of Shem; however Hippolytus of Rome (AD 234) offered an alternative opinion that the Lydians were descended from Ludim, son of Mizraim. During Biblical times, the Lydian warriors were famous archers. Some Maeones still existed during historical times in the upland interior along the River Hermus, where a town named Maeonia existed, according to Pliny the Elder (Natural History book v:30) and Hierocles (author of Synecdemus).\n\nLydia in Greek mythology\n\nLydian mythology is virtually unknown, and their literature and rituals lost, in the absence of any monuments or archaeological finds with extensive inscriptions; therefore myths involving Lydia are mainly from Greek mythology.\n\nFor the Greeks, Tantalus was a primordial ruler of mythic Lydia, and Niobe his proud daughter; her husband Amphion associated Lydia with Thebes in Greece, and through Pelops the line of Tantalus was part of the founding myths of Mycenae's second dynasty. (In reference to the myth of Bellerophon, Karl Kerenyi remarked, in The Heroes of The Greeks 1959, p. 83. \"As Lykia was thus connected with Crete, and as the person of Pelops, the hero of Olympia, connected Lydia with the Peloponnesos, so Bellerophontes connected another Asian country, or rather two, Lykia and Karia, with the kingdom of Argos\".)\n\nIn Greek myth, Lydia had also adopted the double-axe symbol, that also appears in the Mycenaean civilization, the labrys. Omphale, daughter of the river Iardanos, was a ruler of Lydia, whom Heracles was required to serve for a time. His adventures in Lydia are the adventures of a Greek hero in a peripheral and foreign land: during his stay, Heracles enslaved the Itones, killed Syleus who forced passers-by to hoe his vineyard; slew the serpent of the river Sangarios (which appears in the heavens as the constellation Ophiucus) and captured the simian tricksters, the Cercopes. Accounts tell of at least one son born to Omphale and Heracles: Diodorus Siculus (4.31.8) and Ovid (Heroides 9.54) mention a son Lamos, while pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheke 2.7.8) gives the name Agelaus, and Pausanias (2.21.3) names Tyrsenus son of Heracles by \"the Lydian woman.\"\n\nAll three heroic ancestors indicate a Lydian dynasty claiming Heracles as their ancestor. Herodotus (1.7) refers to a Heraclid dynasty of kings who ruled Lydia, yet were perhaps not descended from Omphale. He also mentions (1.94) the recurring legend that the Etruscan civilization was founded by colonists from Lydia led by Tyrrhenus, brother of Lydus. However, Dionysius of Halicarnassus was skeptical of this story, indicating that the Etruscan language and customs were known to be totally dissimilar to those of the Lydians. Later chronographers also ignored Herodotus's statement that Agron was the first to be a king, and included Alcaeus, Belus, and Ninus in their list of kings of Lydia. Strabo (5.2.2) makes Atys, father of Lydus and Tyrrhenus, to be a descendant of Heracles and Omphale. All other accounts name Atys, Lydus, and Tyrrhenus as being among the pre-Heraclid kings of Lydia. The gold deposits in the river Pactolus that were the source of the proverbial wealth of Croesus (Lydia's last king) were said to have been left there when the legendary king Midas of Phrygia washed away the \"Midas touch\" in its waters.\nIn Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae, Dionysus, while he is maintaining his human disguise, declares his country to be Lydia. \n\nFirst coinage\n\nAccording to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to use gold and silver coins and the first to establish retail shops in permanent locations. It is not known, however, whether Herodotus meant that the Lydians were the first to use coins of pure gold and pure silver or the first precious metal coins in general. Despite this ambiguity, this statement of Herodotus is one of the pieces of evidence often cited in behalf of the argument that Lydians invented coinage, at least in the West, even though the first coins were neither gold nor silver but an alloy of the two called electrum. \n\nThe dating of these first stamped coins is one of the most frequently debated topics of ancient numismatics, with dates ranging from 700 BC to 550 BC, but the most common opinion is that they were minted at or near the beginning of the reign of King Alyattes (sometimes referred to incorrectly as Alyattes II), who ruled Lydia c. 610-550 BC. The first coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that occurs naturally but that was further debased by the Lydians with added silver and copper. \n\nThe largest of these coins are commonly referred to as a 1/3 stater (trite) denomination, weighing around 4.7 grams, though no full staters of this type have ever been found, and the 1/3 stater probably should be referred to more correctly as a stater, after a type of a transversely held scale, the weights used in such a scale (from ancient Greek ίστημι=to stand), which also means \"standard.\" These coins were stamped with a lion's head adorned with what is likely a sunburst, which was the king's symbol. To complement the largest denomination, fractions were made, including a hekte (sixth), hemihekte (twelfth), and so forth down to a 96th, with the 1/96 stater weighing only about 0.15 grams. There is disagreement, however, over whether the fractions below the twelfth are actually Lydian. \n\nAlyattes' son was Croesus, who became associated with great wealth. Sardis was renowned as a beautiful city. Around 550 BC, near the beginning of his reign, Croesus paid for the construction of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Croesus was defeated in battle by Cyrus II of Persia in 546 BC, with the Lydian kingdom losing its autonomy and becoming a Persian satrapy.\n\nAutochthonous dynasties\n\nLydia was ruled by three dynasties:\n\n;Atyads (1300 BC or earlier) – Heraclids (Tylonids) (to 687 BC)\nAccording to Herodotus the Heraclids ruled for 22 generations during the period from 1185 BC, lasting for 505 years). Alyattes was the king of Lydia in 776 BC. The last king of this dynasty was Myrsilos or Candaules.\n*Candaules - After ruling for seventeen years he was assassinated by his former friend Gyges, who succeeded him on the throne of Lydia.\n\n;Mermnads\n*Gyges, called Gugu of Luddu in Assyrian inscriptions (687-652 BC or 690-657 BC) - Once established on the throne, Gyges devoted himself to consolidating his kingdom and making it a military power. The capital was relocated from Hyde to Sardis. Barbarian Cimmerians sacked many Lydian cities, except for Sardis. Gyges was the son of Dascylus, who, when recalled from banishment in Cappadocia by the Lydian king Myrsilos—called Candaules \"the Dog-strangler\" (a title of the Lydian Hermes) by the Greeks—sent his son back to Lydia instead of himself. Gyges turned to Egypt, sending his faithful Carian troops along with Ionian mercenaries to assist Psammetichus in ending Assyrian domination. Some Bible scholars believe that Gyges of Lydia was the Biblical character Gog, ruler of Magog, who is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation.\n*Ardys II (652-621 BC).\n*Sadyattes (621-609 BC) or (624-610 BC) - Herodotus wrote (in his Inquiries) that he fought with Cyaxares, the descendant of Deioces, and with the Medes, drove out the Cimmerians from Asia, captured Smyrna, which had been founded by colonists from Colophon, and invaded the city-states Clazomenae and Miletus.\n*Alyattes II (609 or 619-560 BC) - one of the greatest kings of Lydia. When Cyaxares attacked Lydia, the kings of Cilicia and Babylon intervened and negotiated a peace in 585 BC, whereby the River Halys was established as the Medes' frontier with Lydia. Herodotus writes:\n\n\"On the refusal of Alyattes to give up his supplicants when Cyaxares sent to demand them of him, war broke out between the Lydians and the Medes, and continued for five years, with various success. In the course of it the Medes gained many victories over the Lydians, and the Lydians also gained many victories over the Medes.\"\n\nThe Battle of the Eclipse was the final battle in a five year war between Alyattes II of Lydia and Cyaxares of the Medes. It took place on May 28, 585 BC, and ended abruptly due to a total solar eclipse.\n\n*Croesus (560-546 BC) - the expression \"rich as Croesus\" refers to this king. The Lydian Empire ended when Croesus attacked the Persian Empire of Cyrus II and was defeated in 546 BC.\n\nPersian Empire\n\nIn 547 BC, the Lydian king Croesus besieged and captured the Persian city of Pteria in Cappadocia and enslaved its inhabitants. The Persian king Cyrus The Great marched with his army against the Lydians. The Battle of Pteria resulted in a stalemate, forcing the Lydians to retreat to their capital city of Sardis. Some months later the Persian and Lydian kings met at the Battle of Thymbra. Cyrus won and captured the capital city of Sardis by 546 BC. \n\nHellenistic Empire \n\nLydia remained a satrapy after Persia's conquest by the Macedonian king Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon.\n \nWhen Alexander's empire ended after his death, Lydia was possessed by the major Asian diadoch dynasty, the Seleucids, and when it was unable to maintain its territory in Asia Minor, Lydia was acquired by the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum. Its last king avoided the spoils and ravage of a Roman war of conquest by leaving the realm by testament to the Roman Empire.\n\nRoman province of Asia \n\nWhen the Romans entered the capital Sardis in 133 BC, Lydia, as the other western parts of the Attalid legacy, became part of the province of Asia, a very rich Roman province, worthy of a governor with the high rank of proconsul. The whole west of Asia Minor had Jewish colonies very early, and Christianity was also soon present there. Acts of the Apostles 16:14-15 mentions the baptism of a merchant woman called \"Lydia\" from Thyatira, known as Lydia of Thyatira, in what had once been the satrapy of Lydia. Christianity spread rapidly during the 3rd century AD, based on the nearby Exarchate of Ephesus.\n\nRoman province of Lydia \n\nUnder the tetrarchy reform of Emperor Diocletian in 296 AD, Lydia was revived as the name of a separate Roman province, much smaller than the former satrapy, with its capital at Sardis.\n \nTogether with the provinces of Caria, Hellespontus, Lycia, Pamphylia, Phrygia prima and Phrygia secunda, Pisidia (all in modern Turkey) and the Insulae (Ionian islands, mostly in modern Greece), it formed the diocese (under a vicarius) of Asiana, which was part of the praetorian prefecture of Oriens, together with the dioceses Pontiana (most of the rest of Asia Minor), Oriens proper (mainly Syria), Aegyptus (Egypt) and Thraciae (on the Balkans, roughly Bulgaria).\n \nByzantine (and Crusader) age \n\nUnder the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641), Lydia became part of Anatolikon, one of the original themata, and later of Thrakesion. Although the Seljuk Turks conquered most of the rest of Anatolia, forming the Sultanate of Ikonion (Konya), Lydia remained part of the Byzantine Empire. During the occupation of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade, Lydia continued to be a part of the Byzantine Orthodox 'Greek Empire' based at Nicaea.\n\nUnder Turkish rule \n\nLydia was captured finally by Turkish beyliks, which were all absorbed by the Ottoman state in 1390. The area became part of the Ottoman Aydın Province (vilayet), and is now of the modern republic of Turkey.\n\nChristianity \n\nLydia had numerous Christian communities, and after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century became one of the provinces of the diocese of Asia in the Patriarchate of Constantinople. \n \nThe ecclesiastical province of Lydia had a metropolitan diocese at Sardis and suffragan dioceses for Philadelphia, Thyatira, Tripolis, Settae, Gordus, Tralles, Silandus, Maeonia, Apollonos Hierum, Mostene, Apollonias, Attalia, Hyrcania, Bage, Balandus, Hermocapella, Hierocaesarea, Acrassus, Dalda, Stratonicia, Cerasa, Gabala, Satala, Aureliopolis and Hellenopolis. Bishops from the various dioceses of Lydia were well represented at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and at the later ecumenical councils. \n\nEpiscopal sees \n\nAncient episcopal sees of the late Roman province of Lydia are listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees: \n\nLydian gods \n\n* Annat\n* Anax\n* Artimus (Artemis, Diana)\n* Asterios\n* Atergätus\n* Atys\n* Baki. See also Bacchus\n* Bassareus\n* Damasēn\n* Gugaie/Guge/Gugaia\n* Hermos\n* Hipta\n* Hullos\n* Kandaulēs\n* Kaustros\n* Kubebe\n* Lamētrus\n* Lukos\n* Lydian Lion\n* Mēles\n* Moxus (Mopsus)\n* Omfalē\n* Pldans (Apollo)","Solon.txt\nSolon\nSolon (; BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in archaic Athens.Aristotle Politics 1273b 35–1274a 21 His reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. He wrote poetry for pleasure, as patriotic propaganda, and in defense of his constitutional reforms.\n\nModern knowledge of Solon is limited by the fact that his works only survive in fragments and appear to feature interpolations by later authors, and by the general paucity of documentary and archaeological evidence covering Athens in the early 6th century BC. Ancient authors such as Herodotus and Plutarch are the main source of information, yet they wrote about Solon long after his death, at a time when history was by no means an academic discipline. Fourth century orators, such as Aeschines, tended to attribute to Solon all the laws of their own, much later times. \n\nBiography\n\nSolon was born in Athens around 638 B.C.[http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/S/Solon.html Solon: Biography of Solon] His family was distinguished in Attica as they belonged to a noble or Eupatrid clan although only possessing moderate wealth. Solon's father probably was Execestides. Solon's lineage, therefore, could be traced back to Codrus, the last King of Athens. According to Diogenes Laërtius, he had a brother named Dropides who was an ancestor (six generations removed) of Plato. According to Plutarch, Solon was related to the tyrant Peisistratos for their mothers were cousins. Solon was eventually drawn into the unaristocratic pursuit of commerce. \n\nWhen Athens and Megara were contesting for the possession of the Salamis Island, Solon was given leadership of the Athenian forces. After repeated disasters, Solon was able to increase the morale and spirits of his body of troops on the strength of a poem he wrote about the islands. Supported by Peisistratos, he defeated the Megarians either by means of a cunning trick or more directly through heroic battle around 595 B.C. The Megarians however refused to give up their claim to the island. The dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them.\n\nAccording to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 B.C. Solon was chosen archon or chief magistrate.[http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/solon.html SOLON of Athens] As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends. Knowing that he was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors, amounting to 5 talents (or 15 according to some sources). His friends never repaid their debts. \n\nAfter he had finished his reforms, he travelled abroad for ten years, so that the Athenians could not induce him to repeal any of his laws. His first stop was Egypt. There, according to Herodotus he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt Amasis II. According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais. \nAccording to Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he visited Neith's temple at Sais and received from the priests there an account of the history of Atlantis. Next Solon sailed to Cyprus, where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, in gratitude for which the king named it Soloi.\n\nSolon's travels finally brought him to Sardis, capital of Lydia. According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, which however Croesus failed to appreciate until it was too late. Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, \"Count no man happy until he be dead.\" The reasoning was that at any minute, fortune might turn on even the happiest man and make his life miserable. It was only after he had lost his kingdom to the Persian king Cyrus, while awaiting execution, that Croesus acknowledged the wisdom of Solon's advice. \n\nAfter his return to Athens, Solon became a staunch opponent of Peisistratos. In protest and as an example to others, Solon stood outside his own home in full armour, urging all who passed to resist the machinations of the would-be tyrant. His efforts were in vain. Solon died shortly after Peisistratos usurped by force the autocratic power that Athens had once freely bestowed upon him. He died in Cyprus at the age of 80 and, in accordance with his will, his ashes were scattered around Salamis, the island where he was born. \n\nThe travel writer Pausanias listed Solon among the seven sages whose aphorisms adorned Apollo's temple in Delphi. Stobaeus in the Florilegium relates a story about a symposium, where Solon's young nephew was singing a poem of Sappho's; Solon, upon hearing the song, asked the boy to teach him to sing it. When someone asked, \"Why should you waste your time on it?\" Solon replied , \"So that I may learn it then die.\" Ammianus Marcellinus however told a similar story about Socrates and the poet Stesichorus, quoting the philosopher's rapture in almost identical terms: \"ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam\", meaning \"in order to go away knowing more out of life\".\n\nBackground to Solon's reforms\n\nDuring Solon's time, many Greek city-states had seen the emergence of tyrants, opportunistic noblemen who had taken power on behalf of sectional interests. In Sicyon, Cleisthenes had usurped power on behalf of an Ionian minority. In Megara, Theagenes had come to power as an enemy of the local oligarchs. The son-in-law of Theagenes, an Athenian nobleman named Cylon, made an unsuccessful attempt to seize power in Athens in 632 BC. Solon was described by Plutarch as having been temporarily awarded autocratic powers by Athenian citizens on the grounds that he had the \"wisdom\" to sort out their differences for them in a peaceful and equitable manner. According to ancient sources, he obtained these powers when he was elected eponymous archon (594/3 BC). Some modern scholars believe these powers were in fact granted some years after Solon had been archon, when he would have been a member of the Areopagus and probably a more respected statesman by his (aristocratic) peers. \n\nThe social and political upheavals that characterised Athens in Solon's time have been variously interpreted by historians from ancient times to the present day. Two contemporary historians have identified three distinct historical accounts of Solon's Athens, emphasizing quite different rivalries: economic and ideological rivalry, regional rivalry and rivalry between aristocratic clans. These different accounts provide a convenient basis for an overview of the issues involved.\n\n*Economic and ideological rivalry is a common theme in ancient sources. This sort of account emerges from Solon's poems (e.g. see below Solon the reformer and poet), in which he casts himself in the role of a noble mediator between two intemperate and unruly factions. This same account is substantially taken up about three centuries later by the author of the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia but with an interesting variation:\"...there was conflict between the nobles and the common people for an extended period. For the constitution they were under was oligarchic in every respect and especially in that the poor, along with their wives and children, were in slavery to the rich...All the land was in the hands of a few. And if men did not pay their rents, they themselves and their children were liable to be seized as slaves. The security for all loans was the debtor's person up to the time of Solon. He was the first people's champion.\" Here Solon is presented as a partisan in a democratic cause whereas, judged from the viewpoint of his own poems, he was instead a mediator between rival factions. A still more significant variation in the ancient historical account appears in the writing of Plutarch in the late 1st – early 2nd century AD:\"Athens was torn by recurrent conflict about the constitution. The city was divided into as many parties as there were geographical divisions in its territory. For the party of the people of the hills was most in favour of democracy, that of the people of the plain was most in favour of oligarchy, while the third group, the people of the coast, which preferred a mixed form of constitution somewhat between the other two, formed an obstruction and prevented the other groups from gaining control.\" \n*Regional rivalry is a theme commonly found among modern scholars. \"The new picture which emerged was one of strife between regional groups, united by local loyalties and led by wealthy landowners. Their goal was control of the central government at Athens and with it dominance over their rivals from other districts of Attika.\" Regional factionalism was inevitable in a relatively large territory such as Athens possessed. In most Greek city states, a farmer could conveniently reside in town and travel to and from his fields every day. According to Thucydides, on the other hand, most Athenians continued to live in rural settlements right up until the Peloponnesian War. The effects of regionalism in a large territory could be seen in Laconia, where Sparta had gained control through intimidation and resettlement of some of its neighbours and enslavement of the rest. Attika in Solon's time seemed to be moving towards a similarly ugly solution with many citizens in danger of being reduced to the status of helots. \n*Rivalry between clans is a theme recently developed by some scholars, based on an appreciation of the political significance of kinship groupings. According to this account, bonds of kinship rather than local loyalties were the decisive influence on events in archaic Athens. An Athenian belonged not only to a phyle or tribe and one of its subdivisions, the phratry or brotherhood, but also to an extended family, clan or genos. It has been argued that these interconnecting units of kinship reinforced a hierarchic structure with aristocratic clans at the top. Thus rivalries between aristocratic clans could engage all levels of society irrespective of any regional ties. In that case, the struggle between rich and poor was the struggle between powerful aristocrats and the weaker affiliates of their rivals or perhaps even with their own rebellious affiliates.\n\nThe historical account of Solon's Athens has evolved over many centuries into a set of contradictory stories or a complex story that might be interpreted in a variety of ways. As further evidence accumulates, and as historians continue to debate the issues, Solon's motivations and the intentions behind his reforms will continue to attract speculation. \n\nSolon's reforms\n\nSolon's laws were inscribed on large wooden slabs or cylinders attached to a series of axles that stood upright in the Prytaneion. These axones appear to have operated on the same principle as a Lazy Susan, allowing both convenient storage and ease of access. Originally the axones recorded laws enacted by Draco in the late 7th Century (traditionally 621 BC). Nothing of Draco's codification has survived except for a law relating to homicide, yet there is consensus among scholars that it did not amount to anything like a constitution. Solon repealed all Draco's laws except those relating to homicide. During his visit to Athens, Pausanias, the 2nd century AD geographer reported that the inscribed laws of Solon were still displayed by the Prytaneion. Fragments of the axones were still visible in Plutarch's time but today the only records we have of Solon's laws are fragmentary quotes and comments in literary sources such as those written by Plutarch himself. Moreover, the language of his laws was archaic even by the standards of the fifth century and this caused interpretational problems for ancient commentators. Modern scholars doubt the reliability of these sources and our knowledge of Solon's legislation is therefore actually very limited in its details.\n\nGenerally, Solon's reforms appear to have been constitutional, economic and moral in their scope. This distinction, though somewhat artificial, does at least provide a convenient framework within which to consider the laws that have been attributed to Solon. Some short-term consequences of his reforms are considered at the end of the section.\n\nConstitutional reform\n\nBefore Solon's reforms, the Athenian state was administered by nine archons appointed or elected annually by the Areopagus on the basis of noble birth and wealth. The Areopagus comprised former archons and it therefore had, in addition to the power of appointment, extraordinary influence as a consultative body. The nine archons took the oath of office while ceremonially standing on a stone in the agora, declaring their readiness to dedicate a golden statue if they should ever be found to have violated the laws. There was an assembly of Athenian citizens (the Ekklesia) but the lowest class (the Thetes) was not admitted and its deliberative procedures were controlled by the nobles. There therefore seemed to be no means by which an archon could be called to account for breach of oath unless the Areopagus favoured his prosecution.\n\nAccording to the Athenian Constitution, Solon legislated for all citizens to be admitted into the Ekklesia and for a court (the Heliaia) to be formed from all the citizens. The Heliaia appears to have been the Ekklesia, or some representative portion of it, sitting as a jury. By giving common people the power not only to elect officials but also to call them to account, Solon appears to have established the foundations of a true republic. However some scholars have doubted whether Solon actually included the Thetes in the Ekklesia, this being considered too bold a move for any aristocrat in the archaic period. Ancient sources credit Solon with the creation of a Council of Four Hundred, drawn from the four Athenian tribes to serve as a steering committee for the enlarged Ekklesia. However, many modern scholars have doubted this also. \n\nThere is consensus among scholars that Solon lowered the requirements—those that existed in terms of financial and social qualifications—which applied to election to public office. The Solonian constitution divided citizens into four political classes defined according to assessable property a classification that might previously have served the state for military or taxation purposes only. The standard unit for this assessment was one medimnos (approximately 12 gallons) of cereals and yet the kind of classification set out below might be considered too simplistic to be historically accurate. \n\n*Pentakosiomedimnoi\n**valued at 500 medimnoi or more of cereals annually.\n**eligible to serve as strategoi (generals or military governors)\n*Hippeis\n**valued at 300 medimnoi or more annually.\n**approximating to the medieval class of knights, they had enough wealth to equip themselves for the cavalry\n*Zeugitai\n**valued at a 200 medimnoi or more annually.\n**approximating to the mediaeval class of Yeoman, they had enough wealth to equip themselves for the infantry (Hoplite)\n*Thetes\n**valued up to 199 medimnoi annually or less\n**manual workers or sharecroppers, they served voluntarily in the role of personal servant, or as auxiliaries armed for instance with the sling or as rowers in the navy.\n\nAccording to the Athenian Constitution, only the pentakosiomedimnoi were eligible for election to high office as archons and therefore only they gained admission into the Areopagus. A modern view affords the same privilege to the hippeis. The top three classes were eligible for a variety of lesser posts and only the thetes were excluded from all public office.\n\nDepending on how we interpret the historical facts known to us, Solon's constitutional reforms were either a radical anticipation of democratic government, or they merely provided a plutocratic flavour to a stubbornly aristocratic regime, or else the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes.\n\nEconomic reform\n\nSolon's economic reforms need to be understood in the context of the primitive, subsistence economy that prevailed both before and after his time. Most Athenians were still living in rural settlements right up to the Peloponnesian War. Opportunities for trade even within the Athenian borders were limited. The typical farming family, even in classical times, barely produced enough to satisfy its own needs. Opportunities for international trade were minimal. It has been estimated that, even in Roman times, goods rose 40% in value for every 100 miles they were carried over land, but only 1.3% for the same distance were they carried by ship and yet there is no evidence that Athens possessed any merchant ships until around 525 BC. Until then, the narrow warship doubled as a cargo vessel. Athens, like other Greek city states in the 7th Century BC, was faced with increasing population pressures and by about 525 BC it was able to feed itself only in 'good years'. \n\nSolon's reforms can thus be seen to have taken place at a crucial period of economic transition, when a subsistence rural economy increasingly required the support of a nascent commercial sector. The specific economic reforms credited to Solon are these:\n\n*Fathers were encouraged to find trades for their sons; if they did not, there would be no legal requirement for sons to maintain their fathers in old age. \n*Foreign tradesmen were encouraged to settle in Athens; those who did would be granted citizenship, provided they brought their families with them. \n*Cultivation of olives was encouraged; the export of all other produce was prohibited. \n*Competitiveness of Athenian commerce was promoted through revision of weights and measures, possibly based on successful standards already in use elsewhere, such as Aegina or Euboia or, according to the ancient account but unsupported by modern scholarship, Argos. \n\nIt is generally assumed, on the authority of ancient commentators that Solon also reformed the Athenian coinage. However, recent numismatic studies now lead to the conclusion that Athens probably had no coinage until around 560 BC, well after Solon's reforms. Nevertheless, there are now reasons to suggest that monetization had already begun before Solon's reforms. By early sixth century the Athenians were using silver in the form of a variety of bullion silver pieces for monetary payments. Drachma and obol as a term of bullion value had already been adopted, although the corresponding standard weights were probably unstable. \n\nSolon's economic reforms succeeded in stimulating foreign trade. Athenian black-figure pottery was exported in increasing quantities and good quality throughout the Aegean between 600 BC and 560 BC, a success story that coincided with a decline in trade in Corinthian pottery. The ban on the export of grain might be understood as a relief measure for the benefit of the poor. However, the encouragement of olive production for export could actually have led to increased hardship for many Athenians to the extent that it led to a reduction in the amount of land dedicated to grain. Moreover, an olive produces no fruit for the first six years (but farmers' difficulty of lasting until payback may also give rise to a mercantilist argument in favour of supporting them through that, since the British case illustrates that 'One domestic policy that had a lasting impact was the conversion of \"waste lands\" to agricultural use. Mercantilists felt that to maximize a nation's power all land and resources had to be used to their utmost...'). The real motives behind Solon's economic reforms are therefore as questionable as his real motives for constitutional reform. Were the poor being forced to serve the needs of a changing economy, was the economy being reformed to serve the needs of the poor, or were Solon's policies the manifestation of a struggle taking place between poorer citizens and the aristocrats?\n\nMoral reform\n\nIn his poems, Solon portrays Athens as being under threat from the unrestrained greed and arrogance of its citizens. Even the earth (Gaia), the mighty mother of the gods, had been enslaved. The visible symbol of this perversion of the natural and social order was a boundary marker called a horos, a wooden or stone pillar indicating that a farmer was in debt or under contractual obligation to someone else, either a noble patron or a creditor. Up until Solon's time, land was the inalienable property of a family or clan and it could not be sold or mortgaged. This was no disadvantage to a clan with large landholdings since it could always rent out farms in a sharecropping system. A family struggling on a small farm however could not use the farm as security for a loan even if it owned the farm. Instead the farmer would have to offer himself and his family as security, providing some form of slave labour in lieu of repayment. Equally, a family might voluntarily pledge part of its farm income or labour to a powerful clan in return for its protection. Farmers subject to these sorts of arrangements were loosely known as hektemoroi indicating that they either paid or kept a sixth of a farm's annual yield. In the event of 'bankruptcy', or failure to honour the contract stipulated by the horoi, farmers and their families could in fact be sold into slavery.\n\nSolon's reform of these injustices was later known and celebrated among Athenians as the Seisachtheia (shaking off of burdens). As with all his reforms, there is considerable scholarly debate about its real significance. Many scholars are content to accept the account given by the ancient sources, interpreting it as a cancellation of debts, while others interpret it as the abolition of a type of feudal relationship, and some prefer to explore new possibilities for interpretation. The reforms included:\n*annulment of all contracts symbolised by the horoi. \n*prohibition on a debtor's person being used as security for a loan.\n*release of all Athenians who had been enslaved.\n\nThe removal of the horoi clearly provided immediate economic relief for the most oppressed group in Attica, and it also brought an immediate end to the enslavement of Athenians by their countrymen. Some Athenians had already been sold into slavery abroad and some had fled abroad to escape enslavement – Solon proudly records in verse the return of this diaspora. It has been cynically observed, however, that few of these unfortunates were likely to have been recovered. It has been observed also that the seisachtheia not only removed slavery and accumulated debt, it also removed the ordinary farmer's only means of obtaining further credit. \n\nThe seisachtheia however was merely one set of reforms within a broader agenda of moral reformation. Other reforms included:\n*the abolition of extravagant dowries. \n*legislation against abuses within the system of inheritance, specifically with relation to the epikleros (i.e. a female who had no brothers to inherit her father's property and who was traditionally required to marry her nearest paternal relative in order to produce an heir to her father's estate).Grant, Michael. The Rise of the Greeks. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988 p. 49\n*entitlement of any citizen to take legal action on behalf of another. \n*the disenfranchisement of any citizen who might refuse to take up arms in times of civil strife, a measure that was intended to counteract dangerous levels of political apathy. \n\nDemosthenes claimed that the city's subsequent golden age included \"personal modesty and frugality\" among the Athenian aristocracy. Perhaps Solon, by both personal example and legislated reform, established a precedent for this decorum. A heroic sense of civic duty later united Athenians against the might of the Persians. Perhaps this public spirit was instilled in them by Solon and his reforms. (See also Solon and Athenian sexuality below).\n\nAftermath of Solon's reforms\n\nAfter completing his work of reform, Solon surrendered his extraordinary authority and left the country. According to Herodotus the country was bound by Solon to maintain his reforms for 10 years, whereas according to Plutarch and the author of the Athenian Constitution (reputedly Aristotle) the contracted period was instead 100 years. A modern scholar considers the time-span given by Herodotus to be historically accurate because it fits the 10 years that Solon was said to have been absent from the country. Within 4 years of Solon's departure, the old social rifts re-appeared, but with some new complications. There were irregularities in the new governmental procedures, elected officials sometimes refused to stand down from their posts and occasionally important posts were left vacant. It has even been said that some people blamed Solon for their troubles. Eventually one of Solon's relatives, Peisistratos, ended the factionalism by force, thus instituting an unconstitutionally gained tyranny. In Plutarch's account, Solon accused Athenians of stupidity and cowardice for allowing this to happen. \n\nPoetry\n\nSolon's verses have come down to us in fragmentary quotations by ancient authors such as Plutarch and Demosthenes who used them to illustrate their own arguments. It is possible that some fragments have been wrongly attributed to him and some scholars have detected interpolations by later authors. He was also the first citizen of Athens to reference the goddess Athena (fr. 4.1-4). \n\nThe literary merit of Solon's verse is generally considered unexceptional. Solon's poetry can be said to appear 'self-righteous' and 'pompous' at times and he once composed an elegy with moral advice for a more gifted elegiac poet, Mimnermus. Most of the extant verses show him writing in the role of a political activist determined to assert personal authority and leadership and they have been described by the German classicist Wilamowitz as a \"versified harangue\" (Eine Volksrede in Versen). According to Plutarch however, Solon originally wrote poetry for amusement, discussing pleasure in a popular rather than philosophical way. Solon's elegiac style is said to have been influenced by the example of Tyrtaeus. He also wrote iambic and trochaic verses which, according to one modern scholar, are more lively and direct than his elegies and possibly paved the way for the iambics of Athenian drama.\n\nSolon's verses are mainly significant for historical rather than aesthetic reasons, as a personal record of his reforms and attitudes. However, poetry is not an ideal genre for communicating facts and very little detailed information can be derived from the surviving fragments. According to Solon the poet, Solon the reformer was a voice for political moderation in Athens at a time when his fellow citizens were increasingly polarized by social and economic differences:\n\nπολλοὶ γὰρ πλουτεῦσι κακοί, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ πένονται:\nἀλλ' ἡμεῖς αὐτοῖς οὐ διαμειψόμεθα\nτῆς ἀρετῆς τὸν πλοῦτον: ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν ἔμπεδον αἰεί,\nχρήματα δ' ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοτε ἄλλος ἔχει.\nSome wicked men are rich, some good are poor;\nWe will not change our virtue for their store:\nVirtue's a thing that none can take away,\nBut money changes owners all the day. \n\nHere translated by the English poet John Dryden, Solon's words define a 'moral high ground' where differences between rich and poor can be reconciled or maybe just ignored. His poetry indicates that he attempted to use his extraordinary legislative powers to establish a peaceful settlement between the country's rival factions:\n \n Before them both I held my shield of might\n And let not either touch the other's right.\n\nHis attempts evidently were misunderstood:\n\n χαῦνα μὲν τότ' ἐφράσαντο, νῦν δέ μοι χολούμενοι\n λοξὸν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶσι πάντες ὥστε δήϊον.\n Formerly they boasted of me vainly; with averted eyes\n Now they look askance upon me; friends no more but enemies. \n\nSolon gave voice to Athenian 'nationalism', particularly in the city state's struggle with Megara, its neighbour and rival in the Saronic Gulf. Plutarch professes admiration of Solon's elegy urging Athenians to recapture the island of Salamis from Megarian control. The same poem was said by Diogenes Laërtius to have stirred Athenians more than any other verses that Solon wrote:\n\n Let us go to Salamis to fight for the island\n We desire, and drive away our bitter shame! \n \nIt is possible that Solon backed up this poetic bravado with true valour on the battlefield. \n\nSolon and Athenian sexuality\n\nAs a regulator of Athenian society, Solon, according to some authors, also formalized its sexual mores. According to a surviving fragment from a work (\"Brothers\") by the comic playwright Philemon, Solon established publicly funded brothels at Athens in order to \"democratize\" the availability of sexual pleasure. While the veracity of this comic account is open to doubt, at least one modern author considers it significant that in Classical Athens, three hundred or so years after the death of Solon, there existed a discourse that associated his reforms with an increased availability of heterosexual pleasure. \n\nAncient authors also say that Solon regulated pederastic relationships in Athens; this has been presented as an adaptation of custom to the new structure of the polis. According to various authors, ancient lawgivers (and therefore Solon by implication) drew up a set of laws that were intended to promote and safeguard the institution of pederasty and to control abuses against freeborn boys. In particular, the orator Aeschines cites laws excluding slaves from wrestling halls and forbidding them to enter pederastic relationships with the sons of citizens. Accounts of Solon's laws by 4th century orators like Aeschines, however, are considered unreliable for a number of reasons; \nAttic pleaders did not hesitate to attribute to him (Solon) any law which suited their case, and later writers had no criterion by which to distinguish earlier from later works. Nor can any complete and authentic collection of his statutes have survived for ancient scholars to consult. \n\nBesides the alleged legislative aspect of Solon's involvement with pederasty, there were also suggestions of personal involvement. According to some ancient authors Solon had taken the future tyrant Peisistratos as his eromenos. Aristotle, writing around 330 BC, attempted to refute that belief, claiming that \"those are manifestly talking nonsense who pretend that Solon was the lover of Peisistratos, for their ages do not admit of it,\" as Solon was about thirty years older than Peisistratos. Nevertheless, the tradition persisted. Four centuries later Plutarch ignored Aristotle's skepticism and recorded the following anecdote, supplemented with his own conjectures:\n\nAnd they say Solon loved [Peisistratos]; and that is the reason, I suppose, that when afterwards they differed about the government, their enmity never produced any hot and violent passion, they remembered their old kindnesses, and retained \"Still in its embers living the strong fire\" of their love and dear affection. \n\nA century after Plutarch, Aelian also said that Peisistratos had been Solon's eromenos. Despite its persistence, however, it is not known whether the account is historical or fabricated. It has been suggested that the tradition presenting a peaceful and happy coexistence between Solon and Peisistratos was cultivated during the latter's dominion, in order to legitimize his own rule, as well as that of his sons. Whatever its source, later generations lent credence to the narrative. Solon's presumed pederastic desire was thought in antiquity to have found expression also in his poetry, which is today represented only in a few surviving fragments. The authenticity of all the poetic fragments attributed to Solon is however uncertain – in particular, pederastic aphorisms ascribed by some ancient sources to Solon have been ascribed by other sources to Theognis instead.","6th_century_BC.txt\n6th century BC\nThe 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC.\n\nThis century represents the peak of a period in human history popularly known as Axial Age. This period saw the emergence of five major thought streams springing from five great thinkers in different parts of the world: Buddha and Mahavira in India, Zoroaster in Persia, Pythagoras in Greece and Confucius in China.\nPāṇini, in India, composed a grammar for Sanskrit, in this century or slightly later. This is the oldest still known grammar of any language.\n\nIn the Near East, the first half of this century was dominated by the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean empire, which had risen to power late in the previous century after successfully rebelling against Assyrian rule. The Kingdom of Judah came to an end in 586 BC when Babylonian forces under Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem, and removed most of its population to their own lands. Babylonian rule was toppled however in the 540s, by Cyrus, who founded the Persian Empire in its place. The Persian Empire continued to expand and grew into the greatest empire the world had known at the time.\n\nIn Iron Age Europe, the Celtic expansion was in progress. China was in the Spring and Autumn Period.\n\n*Mediterranean: Beginning of Greek philosophy, flourishes during the 5th century BC\n*The late Hallstatt culture period in Eastern and Central Europe, the late Bronze Age in Northern Europe\n*East Asia: The Spring and Autumn Period. Chinese philosophy become the orthodoxy of China. Confucianism, Legalism and Moism flourish. Laozi founds Taoism\n*Middle East: During the Persian empire, Zoroaster, aka Zarathustra, founded Zoroastrianism, a dualistic philosophy. This was also the time of the Babylonian captivity of the ancient Jews.\n*Ancient India: The Buddha and Mahavira found Buddhism and Jainism\n*The decline of the Olmec civilization in America\n\nEvents\n\n590s BC \n\n* Mid-6th century BC: Foundation of Temple of Olympian Zeus (Athens) is made.\n* 598 BC: Jehoiachin succeeds Jehoiakim as King of Judah.\n* 16 March 597 BC: Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as King.\n* 595 BC: Psammetichus II succeeds Necho II as King of Egypt.\n* 594 BC: Solon appointed archon of Athens; institutes democratic reforms.\n* 590 BC: Egyptian army sacks Napata, compelling the Cushite court to move to a more secure location at Meroe near the sixth Cataract \n\n580s BC \n\n* 589 BC: Apries succeeds Psammetichus II as King of Egypt.\n* 588 BC: Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon begins siege of Jerusalem; some sources set the date at 587 BC.\n* 587 BC/586 BC: Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians, ending the Kingdom of Judah. The conquerors destroy the Temple of Jerusalem and exile the land's remaining inhabitants. Babylonian Captivity for the Jews began.\n* 586 BC: death of King Ding of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China\n* 28 May 585 BC: A solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Thales, while Alyattes II is battling Cyaxares. This leads to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.\n* 585 BC/584 BC: Astyages succeeds Cyaxares as King of the Medes.\n* 585 BC: King Jian of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 583 BC: Babylonians begins siege against Tyre.\n* 582 BC: Pythian Games founded at Delphi (traditional date).\n* 580 BC: Cambyses I succeeds Cyrus I as King of Anshan and head of the Achaemenid dynasty (approximate date).\n* 580 BC: Isthmian Games founded at Corinth (traditional date)\n\n570s BC \n\n* 579 BC: Servius Tullius succeeds the assassinated Lucius Tarquinius Priscus as King of Rome (traditional date).\n* 573 BC: Nemean Games founded at Nemea (traditional date).\n* 572 BC: Death of King Jian of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 571 BC: King Ling of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 570 BC: Amasis II succeeds Apries as King of Egypt.\n* 570 BC: Pythagoras of Samos is born (approximate date).\n* 570 BC: End of the Babylonian siege against the city of Tyre with a partial victory by the Babylonians. It was the longest siege of the city in history, lasting 13 years.\n\n560s BC \n\n* 568 BC: Amtalqa succeeds his brother Aspelta as King of Kush.\n* 562 BC: Amel-Marduk succeeds Nebuchadnezzar as King of Babylon.\n* 560 BC: Neriglissar succeeds Amel-Marduk as King of Babylon.\n* 560 BC/561 BC: Croesus becomes King of Lydia.\n* 560 BC: Pisistratus seizes the Acropolis of Athens and declares himself tyrant. He is deposed in the same year.\n\n550s BC \n\n* 550s BC: Carthage conquers Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.\n* 559 BC: King Cambyses I of Anshan dies and is succeeded by his son Cyrus II the Great.\n* 558 BC: Hegesias removed as Archon of Athens.\n* 558 BC: The Chinese state of Jin defeats its rival Qin in battle.\n* 556 BC: Pisistratus is exiled from Athens to Euboea.\n* 556 BC: Labashi-Marduk succeeds Neriglissar as King of Babylon.\n* 556 BC/555 BC: Nabonidus succeeds Labashi-Marduk as King of Babylon.\n* 550 BC: Abdera is destroyed by the Thracians.\n* 550 BC: Cyrus II the Great overthrows Astyages of the Medes, establishing the Persian Empire.\n* 550 BC: The Late Mumun Period begins in the Korean peninsula.\n\n540s BC \n\n* 547 BC: Croesus, Lydian King, is defeated by Cyrus of Persia near the River Halys.\n* 546 BC: Cyrus of Persia completes his conquest of Lydia, and makes Pasargadae his capital.\n* 544 BC: People of Teos migrate to Abdera, Thrace to escape the yoke of Persia.\n* 544 BC: King Jing of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 543 BC: North Indian Prince Vijaya invades Ceylon and establishes a Sinhalese dynasty. \n* 543 BC: Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, purifies the island of Delos (approximate date).\n* 540 BC: Greek city of Elea of southern Italy founded (approximate date).\n* 540 BC: Persians conquer Lycian city of Xanthos, now in southern Turkey (approximate date).\n\n530s BC \n\n* 539 BC: Babylon is conquered by Cyrus the Great, defeating Nabonidus.\n* 538 BC: Return of some Jews from Babylonian exile who build the Second Temple about seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple, from 520 BC–516 BC.\n* 537 BC: Jews transported to Babylon are allowed to return to Jerusalem, bringing to a close the Babylonian captivity.\n* 536 BC: According to tradition, the Biblical prophet Daniel receives an angelic visitor. \n* 534 BC: Lucius Tarquinius Superbus becomes King of Rome.\n* 534 BC: Competitions for tragedy are instituted at the City Dionysia festival in Athens.\n* 530 BC: Cambyses II succeeds Cyrus as King of Persia.\n\n520s BC \n\n* 528 BC: Gautama Buddha attains Enlightenment, and begins his ministry. He founds Buddhism in India. It becomes a major world religion.\n* 526 BC: Psammetichus III succeeds Amasis II as King of Egypt.\n* 525 BC: Cambyses II, ruler of Persia, conquers Egypt, defeating Psammetichus III. This is considered the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and the start of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty.\n* 522 BC: Smerdis succeeds Cambyses II as ruler of Persia.\n* 522 BC: Babylon rebels against Persian rule.\n* 521 BC: Darius I succeeds Smerdis as ruler of Persia.\n* 521 BC: The Babylonian rebellion against Persian rule is suppressed\n* 520 BC: King Dao of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China but dies before the end of the year\n* 520 BC: Cleomenes I succeeds Anaxandridas II as King of Sparta (approximate date)\n\n510s BC \n\n* 519 BC: King Jing of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 516 BC: Indian subcontinent—Occupation of Punjab is completed by the Persian King Vistaspa.\n* 12 March 515 BC: Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem.\n* 514 BC: King Helü of Wu establishes the \"Great City of Helü\", the ancient name for Wuxi, as his capital in China.\n* 513 BC: Darius the Great subdues the Getae and east Thrace in his war against the Scythians.\n* 510 BC: Hippias, son of Pisistratus and tyrant of Athens, is expelled by a popular revolt supported by Cleomenes I, King of Sparta and his forces.\n* 510 BC: End of reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, last King of the traditional seven Kings of Rome.\n* 510 BC: Establishment of the Roman Republic.\n* 510 BC: Demaratus succeeds Ariston as King of Sparta (approximate date).\n\n500s BC \n\n* 13 September 509 BC: The Temple of Jupiter on Rome's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the Ides of September.\n* 508 BC: Office of pontifex maximus created in Rome.\n* 507 BC: Cleisthenes, Greek reformer, takes power and increases democracy.\n* 506 BC: Battle of Boju: Forces of the Kingdom of Wu under Sun Tzu defeat the forces of Chu.\n* 505 BC: First pair of Roman consuls elected.\n* 4 December 502 BC: Solar eclipse darkens Egypt (computed, no clear historical record of observation).\n* 502 BC: The Latin League defeats the Etruscans under Lars Porsena at Aricia.\n* 502 BC: Naxos rebels against Persian domination sparking the Ionian Revolt.\n* 501 BC: Cleisthenes reforms democracy in Athens.\n* 501 BC: Naxos is attacked by the Persian Empire.\n* 501 BC: In response to threats by the Sabines, Rome creates the office of dictator.\n* 501 BC: Confucius is appointed governor of Chung tu.\n* 501 BC: Gadir (present-day Cádiz) is captured by Carthage (approximate date).\n* 500 BC: Bantu-speaking people migrate into south-west Uganda from the west (approximate date).\n* 500 BC: Refugees from Teos resettle Abdera.\n* 500 BC: Darius I of Persia proclaims that Aramaic be the official language of the western half of his empire.\n* 500 BC: Signifies the end of the Nordic Bronze Age civilization in Oscar Montelius periodization system and begins the Pre-Roman Iron Age.\n* 500 BC: Foundation of first republic in Vaishali Bihar India.\n\nUnknown Events \n\n* Persians begin to seize power.\n* Persians dominate eastern Mediterranean.\n* The Persians under Darius I and later Cyrus invade Transoxiana.\n* Carthage's merchant empire slowly dominates the western Mediterranean.\n* Tao Te Ching written (traditional date).\n* Confucius formulates his ethical system of Confucianism, which proves highly influential in China.\n* The Sinhalese emigrate to Sri Lanka.\n* Apparent writing of the Book of Psalms.\n* Abkhazia is colonized by the Greeks.\n* Emergence of the Proto-Germanic Jastorf culture.\n* Temple B, Selinus, Sicily, is built.\n* The Autariatae communities united and expanded towards the Triballi in the east and the Ardiaei in the south.\n\nSignificant people\n\nPolitical leaders\n\n* Amyntas I, King of Macedonia\n* Astyages, King of Medes\n* Bias of Priene, Greek sage\n* Callimachus, Athenian general\n* Cambyses II, King of Persia\n* Chilon of Sparta, Greek sage\n* Cleisthenes, Tyrant of Athens\n* Cleomenes I, King of Sparta \n* Croesus, King of Lydia\n* Cyaxares, King of Medes\n* Cyrus the Great, King of Persia \n* Darius I, King of Persia\n* Epimenides, Greek seer\n* Gorgo, Queen of Sparta\n* King Helü of Wu, King of Wu\n* Lucius Junius Brutus, co-founder of the Roman Republic\n* Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, King of Rome\n* Miltiades, Athenian general and politician\n* Nabonidus, the last King of Babylon\n* Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon\n* Necho II, Pharaoh of Egypt\n* Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens \n* Periander, Tyrant of Corinth\n* Pittacus of Mytilene, Greek politician\n* Psammetichus III, Pharaoh of Egypt\n* Servius Tullius, King of Rome\n* Solon, Athenian statesman\n\nArts and entertainment\n\n* Ageladas, Greek sculptor\n* Kleitias, Greek vase painter\n* Kritios, Greek sculptor\n* Lydos, Greek vase painter\n* Milo of Croton, Greek wrestler\n* Nearchos, Greek vase painter\n* Nikosthenes, Greek vase painter\n\nLiterature\n\n* Aeschylus, Greek playwright\n* Aesop, Greek fabulist\n* Alcaeus of Mytilene, Greek poet\n* Anacreon, Greek poet\n* Cleobulus, Greek poet\n* Corinna, Greek poet\n* Epimenides, Greek poet\n* Ibycus, Greek poet\n* Theognis of Megara, Greek poet\n* Thespis, founder of Greek theatre\n* Pāṇini, Indian linguist\n* Pindar, Greek poet\n* Sappho, Greek poet\n* Stesichorus, Greek poet\n* Simonides of Ceos, Greek poet\n* Sun Tzu, Chinese writer and general\n\nPhilosophy and religion\n\n* Anaximander, Greek philosopher\n* Anaximenes of Miletus, Greek philosopher\n* Confucius, founder of Confucianism\n* Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism\n* Heraclitus, Greek philosopher\n* Hippasus, Greek philosopher\n* Laozi, founder of Taoism\n* Mahavira, founder of Jain philosophy\n* Pherecydes of Syros, Greek philosopher\n* Pythagoras, Greek philosopher, mathematician\n* Scylax of Caryanda, Greek explorer\n* Thales, Greek mathematician\n* Xenophanes, Greek philosopher\n* Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism\n\nInventions, discoveries, introductions\n\n* First archaeological surveys of the Arabian peninsula by Babylonian King Nabonidus\n* Sunshu Ao (孫叔敖), China's first hydraulic engineer, creates an enormous artificial reservoir by damming a river for a massive irrigation project while employed in the service of King Zhuang of Chu (died 591 BC)\n* Lost-wax casting is spread to Ancient Greece\n\nSovereign States\n\nSee: List of sovereign states in the 6th century BC.","An Overview of the The Persian Empire - World history\nAn Overview of the The Persian Empire . Cyrus ... Cyrus defeated him and annexed Lydia, ... or \"White Huns,\" attacked Persia; they defeated the Persian king ...\nThe Persians\nXerxes the Great\nCylinder seal and inscription of Cyrus the Great from Babylon\n I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anshan, progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule Bel and Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' pleasures.\nWhen I, well-disposed, entered Babylon, I established the seat of government in the royal palace amidst jubilation and rejoicing. Marduk, the great God, caused the big-hearted inhabitants of Babylon to...me. I sought daily to worship him. My numerous troops moved about undisturbed in the midst of Babylon.\nI did not allow any to terrorize the land of Sumer and Akkad. I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their well being. The citizens of Babylon... I lifted their unbecoming yoke. Their dilapidated dwellings I restored. I put an end to their misfortunes.\nAt my deeds Marduk, the great Lord, rejoiced, and to me, Cyrus, the king who worshipped, and to Cambyses, my son, the offspring of my loins, and to all my troops, he graciously gave his blessing, and in good spirit is before him we/glorified/exceedingly his high divinity....\n \nThe International History Project, 2004\nEdited By: Robert Guisepi\n \nThe History Of the Ancient Persian Empire From Rise To Fall\nA history of the Persians including their empire, rulers like Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes as well as their cities, rise and fall\nPersia, conventional European designation of the country now known as Iran. This name was in general use in the West until 1935, although the Iranians themselves had long called their country Iran. For convention's sake the name of Persia is here kept for that part of the country's history concerned with the ancient Persian Empire until the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD.\n \nAn Overview of the The Persian Empire\n \n Cyrus the Persian was the greatest conqueror in the history of the\nancient Near East. In 550 B.C. he ended Persian vassalage to the Medes by\ncapturing Ecbatana and ousting the Median dynasty. The Medes readily accepted their vigorous new ruler, who soon demonstrated that he deserved to be called \"the Great.\" When King Croesus of Lydia moved across the Hals River in 547 B.C. to pick up some of the pieces of the Median empire, Cyrus defeated him and annexed Lydia, including those Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor\nthat were under the nominal control of Lydia. Then he turned east,\nestablishing his power as far as the frontier of India. Babylon and its empire\nwas next on his list. Following the death of Cyrus, his son Cambyses conquered\nEgypt. The next ruler, Darius I (522-486 B.C.), added the Punjab region in\nIndia and Thrace in Europe. He also began a conflict with the Greeks that\ncontinued intermittently for more than 150 years until the Persians were\nconquered by Alexander the Great. Long before this event the Persian nobility\nhad forgotten Cyrus the Great's answer to their suggestion that they \"leave\nthis small and barren country of ours\" and move to fertile Babylonia:\n \n Do so if you wish, but if you do, be ready to find\n yourselves no longer governors but governed; for soft\n lands breed soft men; it does not happen that the same\n land brings forth wonderful crops and good fighting men. ^29\n \n[Footnote 29: Herodotus History 9.122, trans. A. R. Burn, Persia and the West\n(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1962), p. 61.]\n \n Although built upon the Assyrian model, the Persian administrative system\nwas far more efficient and humane. The empire was divided into twenty\nprovinces, or satrapies, each ruled by a governor called a satrap. To check\nthe satraps, a secretary and a military official representing the \"Great King,\nKing of Kings\" were installed in every province. Also, special inspectors,\n\"the Eyes and Ears of the King,\" traveled throughout the realm.\n \n Imperial post roads connected the important cities. Along the Royal Road\nbetween Sardis and Susa there was a post station every fourteen miles, where\nthe king's couriers could obtain fresh horses, enabling them to cover the\n1600-mile route in a week. \"Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian\nmessengers,\" wrote Herodotus. \"These men will not be hindered..., either by\nsnow, or rain, or heat, or by the darkness of night.\" ^30 These words were at\none time used as the motto of the United States Postal Service.\n \n[Footnote 30: Herodotus History 8.88, trans. G. Rawlinson.]\n \n The Persian empire was the first to attempt to govern many different\nracial groups on the principle of equal responsibilities and rights for all\npeoples. So long as subjects paid their taxes and kept the peace, the king did\nnot interfere with local religion, customs, or trade. Indeed, Darius was\ncalled the \"shopkeeper\" because he stimulated trade by introducing a uniform\nsystem gold and silver coinage on the Lydian model.\n \n The humaneness of the Persian rulers may have stemmed from the ethical\nreligion founded by the prophet Zoroaster, who lived in the early sixth\ncentury B.C. Zoroaster sought to replace what he called \"the lie\" -\nritualistic, idol-worshiping cults and their Magi priests - with a religion\ncentered on the sole god Ahura-Mazda (\"Wise Lord\"). This \"father of Justice\"\ndemanded \"good thoughts of the mind, good deeds of the hand, and good words of the tongue\" from those who would attain paradise (a Persian word). The new religion made little progress until first Darius and then the Magi adopted it. The Magi revived many old gods as lesser deities, added much ritual, and replaced monotheism with dualism by transforming what Zoroaster had called the principle or spirit of evil into the powerful god Ahriman (the model for the Jewish Satan), rival of Ahura-Mazda, \"between which each man must choose for himself.\" The complicated evolution of Zoroastrianism is revealed in its holy writ, the Avesta (\"The Law\"), assembled in its present form between the fourth and sixth centuries A.D. Zoroastrian eschatology - \"the doctrine of final things\" such as the resurrection of the dead and a last judgment - influenced later Judaism. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century A.D., Zoroastrianism died out in its homeland. It exists today among the Parsees in India.\n \n In art the Persians borrowed largely from their predecessors in the\nFertile Crescent, particularly the Assyrians. Their most important work was in\npalace architecture, the best remains of which are at Persepolis. Built on a\nhigh terrace, the royal residence was reached by a grand stairway faced with\nbeautiful reliefs. Instead of the warfare and violence that characterized\nAssyrian sculpture, these reliefs depict hundreds of soldiers, courtiers, and\nrepresentatives of twenty-three nations of the empire bringing gifts to the\nking for the festival of the new year.\n \nTHE FIRST EMPIRE \nThe Iranian plateau was settled about 1500BC by Aryan tribes, the most important of which were the Medes, who occupied the northwestern portion, and the Persians, who emigrated from Parsua, a land west of Lake Urmia, into the southern region of the plateau, which they named Parsamash or Parsumash. The first prominent leader of the Persians was the warrior chief Hakhamanish, or Achaemenes, who lived about 681BC. The Persians were dominated by the Medes until the accession to the Persian throne in 550 BC of Cyrus the Great. He overthrew the Median rulers, conquered the kingdom of Lydia in 546BC and that of Babylonia in 539BC and established the Persian Empire as the preeminent power of the world. His son and successor, Cambyses II, extended the Persian realm even further by conquering the Egyptians in 525BC. Darius I, who ascended the throne in 521BC, pushed the Persian borders as far eastward as the Indus River, had a canal constructed from the Nile to the Red Sea, and reorganized the entire empire, earning the title Darius the Great. From 499 to 493BC he engaged in crushing a revolt of the Ionian Greeks living under Persian rule in Asia, and then launched a punitive campaign against the European Greeks for supporting the rebels. His forces were disastrously defeated by the Greeks at the historic Battle of Marathon in 490BC. Darius died while preparing a new expedition against the Greeks; his son and successor, Xerxes I, attempted to fulfill his plan but met defeat in the great sea engagement the Battle of Salam�s in 480BC and in two successive land battles in the following year.\nThe forays of Xerxes were the last notable attempt at expansion of the Persian Empire. During the reign of Artaxerxes I, the second son of Xerxes, the Egyptians revolted, aided by the Greeks; although the revolt was finally suppressed in 446BC, it signaled the first major assault against, and the beginning of the decline of, the Persian Empire.\n \nBACKGROUND\nBetween 560 and 500 BC the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East underwent great political changes. Under Cyrus the Great Persia grew into the largest empire the Near East had ever seen. Centered on the Persian homeland on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf, it stretched from present-day Pakistan in the east to the Balkan Peninsula in the west and from the Persian Gulf in the south to Central Asia in the north.\nIn the same period, a number of small city-states consisting of an urban center and its surrounding territory had developed over a large part of the Greek mainland and the islands of the Aegean Sea. For the most part they were governed by local aristocracies, but the city-state of Athens had already begun a series of changes that would lead to the emergence of democratic government. Politically, the most important was Sparta, on the Peloponnesian peninsula. It had become the strongest land power in Greece and controlled an alliance of other city-states that extended over much of southern Greece. However, in terms of population, resources, and organization, the Greek states were no match for the immense empire they were to fight.\nThe wars between them had important consequences. Politically, they ended Persia�s expansion to the west and led to its loss of control of the western coast of Asia Minor (present-day Asian Turkey). The struggles deeply affected the Greeks. Sparta and Athens emerged as the leading powers, eventually dominating the Greek world. Athens became the dominant Greek sea power and created an empire that extended over the eastern and northern coasts of the Aegean. Culturally, the wars made the Greeks much more conscious of their identity as a separate, and in their minds, superior people.\n \nTHE FIRST PHASE OF THE PERSIAN WARS \nIn 521 BC the Persian king Darius I crushed all resistance to his accession to the throne after a brief but bloody civil war. While playing a central role in reorganizing the empire, he also worked to secure and expand its outer borders. In 513 BC the Persians captured the major Greek islands of Kh�os, S�mos, and L�svos. Also in 513 BC Darius himself crossed over to Europe and conquered the area between the Danube and the Aegean coast to the borders of Macedonia. Many historians believe that these gains were part of the normal process of imperial expansion and that Darius eventually intended the conquest of Greece and the Aegean.\nIn 499 BC his forces attempted to capture the island of N�xos as a first step towards dominating the central Aegean. This attempt failed and it helped to precipitate a revolt of the Ionian Greeks living along the coast of Asia Minor. This revolt, caused by dissatisfaction with economic and political conditions under the Persians, lasted from 499 to 493 BC. The revolt was at first successful but the Ionians were eventually thwarted by a crucial defeat at sea and the immense superiority of Persian numbers and organization.\nAthens and the lesser mainland state of Eretria had provided naval help to the Ionian rebels during the revolt. This intervention convinced Darius that Greece itself must be subdued to guarantee Persian security in the west. In 492 BC the Persians launched an expedition to gain control of the central Aegean and to punish Athens and Eretria for assisting the Ionian rebels. After initial successes in northern Greece the Persians moved against Athens but were turned back when most of the ships were lost in a storm. In the summer of 490 BC a second Persian expedition sacked Eretria and then landed at Marathon less than 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Athens. The Athenians had appealed for help to other Greek states and especially to Sparta, but in the deciding battle faced the Persian force almost alone. Due to the strategy of Athenian general Miltiades, the force of about 10,000 Greek infantrymen defeated a much more numerous enemy. The battle showed the decisive superiority of the heavier armored Greek infantry over their Persian opponents in close combat.\n \nXERXES� INVASION \nThis failure led Darius to begin preparing a much larger force for a second and final invasion. But rebellion in Egypt and other events delayed matters. In 486 BC Darius died and was succeeded by his son Xerxes I. After reconquering Egypt Xerxes was ready to take up his father�s plans for Greece. The army he assembled was far larger than any the Greeks had seen before. Estimated in the millions by Greek historian Herodotus, it probably actually consisted of between 200,000 and 300,000 infantry and cavalry and more than 700 warships. The size of this force, the need for steady supplies, and the rugged nature of the Greek landscape led the Persians to develop a strategy that depended on cooperation between the army and the fleet. The army would provide bases for the fleet while the fleet would allow the army to bypass obstacles on land. In the spring of 480 BC the immense expedition set out from Sardis in western Asia Minor.\nThe Greeks were not united in their attitude toward the Persian invasion. Many of the states saw their position as helpless and were ready to surrender. Those determined to resist met in the fall of 481 BC and made an alliance to fight the invasion. In May 480 BC Sparta was given command on land and sea despite the fact that the Athenians provided the majority of ships. After an initial failure to hold the Persians the Greeks decided to meet the invader on land at Thermopylae and at sea at Artemisium in central Greece. This was the strategic point to meet a combined sea and land attack by much larger forces, as the approaches to it by both land and sea were narrow and difficult and would favor Greek infantry and the heavier and slower Greek ships. The Persian army far outnumbered the Greek force of between 6000 and 7000 infantrymen. After several days of battle by both land and sea the Persians surrounded the Greek position at Thermopylae. Though most of the Greeks escaped, the commander, Spartan king Leonidas I, and most of his fellow Spartans died. The Greek navy was now in a helpless position and withdrew south.\nThe road to central Greece now lay open and Xerxes advanced south, sacking Athens and occupying its territory. The Greek fleet had withdrawn and lay at anchor at Salam�s, an island close to Athens. The Greek leaders were divided on what to do as the Persian fleet took up a position just outside the narrows that separate Salam�s from the Athenian coast. The Spartans and other southern Greeks advocated withdrawing but the Athenians under the command of their general Themistocles successfully opposed a retreat and prepared to face the Persians. The Greek fleet numbered about 378 warships and faced a Persian force of about the same size. In late September 480 BC, as the Persian fleet attacked through the narrow straits, the Greek ships pretended to scatter at its approach. The Persians, with their ranks thrown into confusion by the narrowness of the straits and the feigned Greek retreat, were decisively defeated by the ramming of the heavier Greek ships.\nThis battle proved decisive for the outcome of the war, destroying any hope that the Persians could continue their combined strategy of attack by land and sea. Their navy had suffered heavily and its morale was broken. Xerxes, afraid that his defeat might be followed by another rebellion of the Ionian Greeks, returned home but left his army behind under his general Mardonius. Mardonius spent the following winter trying to split the Greek coalition by offering the Athenians amnesty if they allied with Persia against Sparta. After this attempt failed Mardonius decided to bring the Greeks to battle in the early spring of 479 BC.\nHe first recaptured Athens to draw out the Athenians, who pressured the Spartans into helping them fight back. Mardonius then moved his forces north to southern Boeotia (in present-day central Greece) near the town of Plataea. The sides were evenly matched with about 110,000 men. After maneuvers on both sides lasting more than a week the battle was fought and the Persian force was destroyed. This defeat marked the complete failure of the invasion, and the surviving Persians withdrew suffering further heavy losses. By the next year the Greeks were successfully attacking the Persians on their own territory in Asia Minor.\n \nVICTORIOUS GREECE \nThe Persians were never again able to threaten another invasion. The Greeks moved to the offensive and over the next decades liberated the islands of the Aegean and large areas along the western and northern coasts from Persian control. The most important direct result of the wars was to establish Athens as the dominant Greek naval power. This gave Athens the opportunity to create an extensive empire over the newly won territories that had no parallel in earlier Greek history. A new political order emerged among the Greek states centered on the two great powers of Athens and Sparta that was to have a profound effect on later Greek history. Another effect of the wars was to produce the first large scale Greek historical work, the History of Herodotus, written in the second half of the 5th century BC. It serves as the most important source for the events of the wars and for evidence of the wars� effect on the Greek intellect and culture.\n \nALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE SELEUCIDS \nMany revolts took place in the next century; the final blow was struck by Alexander the Great, who added the Persian Empire to his own Mediterranean realm by defeating the troops of Darius III in a series of battles between 334 and 331BC. Alexander effected a temporary integration of the Persians into his empire by enlisting large numbers of Persian soldiers in his armies and by causing all his high officers, who were Macedonians, to wed Persian wives. His death in 323BC was followed by a long struggle among his generals for the Persian throne. The victor in this contest was Seleucus I, who, after conquering the rich kingdom of Babylon in 312BC, annexed thereto all the former Persian realm as far east as the Indus River, as well as Syria and Asia Minor, and founded the Seleucid dynasty. For more than five centuries thereafter, Persia remained a subordinate unit within this great realm, which, after the overthrow of the Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, became the Parthian Empire.\nTHE SASSANIDS \nIn AD 224 Ardashir I, a Persian vassal-king, rebelled against the Parthians, defeated them in the Battle of Hormuz, and founded a new Persian dynasty, that of the Sassanids. He then conquered several minor neighboring kingdoms, invaded India, levying heavy tribute from the rulers of the Punjab, and conquered Armenia. A particularly significant accomplishment of his reign was the establishment of Zoroastrianism as the official religion of Persia. Ardashir was succeeded in 241 by his son Shapur I, who waged two successive wars against the Roman Empire, conquering territories in Mesopotamia and Syria and a large area in Asia Minor. Between 260 and 263 he lost his conquests to Odenathus, ruler of Palmyra, and ally of Rome. War with Rome was renewed by Narses; his army was almost annihilated by Roman forces in 297, and he was compelled to conclude peace terms whereby the western boundary of Persia was moved from the Euphrates River to the Tigris River and much additional territory was lost. Shapur II (ruled 309-379) regained the lost territories, however, in three successive wars with the Romans.\nThe next ruler of note was Yazdegerd I, who reigned in peace from 399 to 420; he at first allowed the Persian Christians freedom of worship and may even have contemplated becoming a Christian himself, but he later returned to the Zoroastrianism of his forebears and launched a 4-year campaign of ruthless persecution against the Christians. The persecution was continued by his son and successor, Bahram V, who declared war on Rome in 420. The Romans defeated Bahram in 422; by the terms of the peace treaty the Romans promised toleration for the Zoroastrians within their realm in return for similar treatment of Christians in Persia. Two years later, at the Council of Dad-Ishu, the Eastern church declared its independence of the Western church.\nNear the end of the 5th century a new enemy, the barbaric Ephthalites, or \"White Huns,\" attacked Persia; they defeated the Persian king Firuz II in 483 and for some years thereafter exacted heavy tribute. In the same year Nestorianism was made the official faith of the Persian Christians. Kavadh I favored the communistic teachings of Mazdak (flourished 5th century), a Zoroastrian high priest, and in 498 was deposed by his orthodox brother Zamasp. With the aid of the Ephthalites, Kavadh was restored to the throne in 501. He fought two inconclusive wars against Rome, and in 523 he withdrew his support of Mazdak and caused a great massacre of Mazdak's followers. His son and successor, Khosrau I, in two wars with the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, extended his sway to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, becoming the most powerful of all Sassanid kings. He reformed the administration of the empire and restored Zoroastrianism as the state religion. His grandson Khosrau II reigned from 590 to 628; in 602 he began a long war against the Byzantine Empire and by 619 had conquered almost all southwestern Asia Minor and Egypt. Further expansion was prevented by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who between 622 and 627 drove the Persians back within their original borders. The last of the Sassanid kings was Yazdegerd III, during whose reign (632-651) the Arabs invaded Persia, destroyed all resistance, gradually replaced Zoroastrianism with Islam, and incorporated Persia into the caliphate.","Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great ...\n... founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who ... the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus's rule extended ... This made Xerxes the chosen King of Persia.\nAchaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, Xerxes the Great - Crystalinks\nAchaemenid Empire\nAchaemenid Family Tree\nThe Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE), sometimes known as First Persian Empire, was an empire in Southwest Asia, founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation. It expanded to eventually rule over significant portions of the ancient world which at around 500 BCE stretched from the Indus Valley in the east, to Thrace and Macedon on the northeastern border of Greece making it the biggest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenid Empire would eventually control Egypt as well. It was ruled by a series of monarchs who unified its disparate tribes and nationalities by constructing a complex network of roads.\nCalling themselves the Parsa after their original Aryan tribal name Parsua, Persians settled in a land which they named Parsua, bounded on the west by the Tigris River and on the south by the Persian Gulf. This became their heartland for the duration of the Achaemenid Empire. It was from this region that eventually Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) would advance to defeat the Median, the Lydian, and the Babylonian Empires, opening the way for subsequent conquests into Egypt and Asia minor.\nAt the height of its power after the conquest of Egypt, the empire encompassed approximately 8 million km2 spanning three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. At its greatest extent, the empire included the modern territories of Iran, Turkey, parts of Central Asia, Pakistan, Thrace and Macedonia, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Afghanistan, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. It is noted in Western history as the antagonist foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, for emancipation of slaves including the Jewish people from their Babylonian captivity, and for instituting infrastructures such as a postal system, road systems, and the usage of an official language throughout its territories. The empire had a centralized, bureaucratic administration under the Emperor and a large professional army and civil services, inspiring similar developments in later empires.\nTraditional view is that the Persian Empire's vast size and its extraordinary ethnocultural diversity would prove to be its undoing as delegation of power to local governments would eventually weaken the king's central authority, causing much energy and resources to be wasted in attempts to subdue local rebellions explaining why when Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) invaded Persia in 334 BCE he was faced by a disunified realm under a weak monarch, ripe for destruction.\nThis viewpoint however is challenged by some modern scholars who argue that the Achaemenid Empire was not facing any such crisis around the time of Alexander, and that only internal succession struggles within the Achaemenid family ever came close to weakening the Empire. Alexander, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, would eventually cause the collapse of the empire and its disintegration around 330 BCE into what later became the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire, in addition to other minor territories which gained independence at that time. The Iranian Culture of the central plateau, however, continued to thrive and eventually reclaimed power by the 2nd century BCE.\nThe historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their daily lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange, some being employed by, or allied to the Persian kings. The impact of Cyrus the Great's Edict of Restoration is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts and the empire was instrumental in the spread of Zoroastrianism as far east as China. Even Alexander the Great, the man who would set out to conquer this vast empire, would respect its customs, by enforcing respect for the royal Persian kings including Cyrus the Great, and even by appearing in proskynesis, a Persian royal custom, despite stern Macedonian disapproval.\nThe Persian empire would also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Persia (now called Iran). The influence also encompasses Persia's previous territories collectively referred to as the Greater Persia. A notable engineering achievement is the Qanat water management system, the oldest and longest of which is older than 3000 years and longer than 44 miles (71 km.)\nIn 480 BCE, it is estimated that 50 million people lived in the Achaemenid Empire or about 44% of the world's population at the time, making it the largest ever empire by population in percentage terms.\nThe Kings List\nCyrus the Great\nCyrus II of Persia (c. 600 BC or 576 BC-530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, parts of Europe and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen.\nThe reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought \"into subjection every nation without exception\". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.\nCyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. It is said that in universal history, the role of the Achaemenid empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus. Cyrus the Great also left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion through his Edict of Restoration, where because of his policies in Babylonia, he is referred to by the people of the Jewish faith, as \"the anointed of the Lord\" or a \"Messiah\".\nCyrus the Great is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran. Cyrus and, indeed, the Achaemenid influence in the ancient world also extended as far as Athens, where many Athenians adopted aspects of the Achaemenid Persian culture as their own, in a reciprocal cultural exchange.\nThe best-known date for the birth of Cyrus the Great is either 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC. Little is known of his early years, as there are only a few sources known to detail that part of his life, and they have been damaged or lost.\nHerodotus's story of Cyrus's early life belongs to a genre of legends in which abandoned children of noble birth, such as Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, return to claim their royal positions. Similar to other culture's heroes and founders of great empires, folk traditions abound regarding his family background. According to Herodotus, he was the grandson of the Median king Astyages and was brought up by humble herding folk. In another version, he was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court. These folk stories are, however, contradicted by Cyrus's own testimony, according to which he was preceded as king of Persia by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.\nAfter the birth of Cyrus the Great, Astyages had a dream that his Magi interpreted as a sign that his grandson would eventually overthrow him. He then ordered his steward Harpagus to kill the infant. Harpagus, morally unable to kill a newborn, summoned the Mardian Mitradates (which the historian Nicolaus of Damascus calls Atradates), a royal bandit herdsman from the mountainous region bordering the Saspires, and ordered him to leave the baby to die in the mountains. Luckily, the herdsman and his wife (whom Herodotus calls Cyno in Greek, and Spaca-o in Median) took pity and raised the child as their own, passing off their recently stillborn infant as the murdered Cyrus.\nFor the origin of Cyrus the Great's mother, Herodotus identifies Mandane of Media, and Ctesias insists that she is fully Persian but gives no name, while Nicolaus gives the name \"Argoste\" as Atradates's wife; whether this figure represents Cyno or Cambyses's unnamed Persian queen has yet to be determined. It is also noted that Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his stepparents; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, names him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.\nHerodotus claims that when Cyrus the Great was ten years old, it was obvious that Cyrus was not a herdsman's son, stating that his behavior was too noble. Astyages interviewed the boy and noticed that they resembled each other. Astyages ordered Harpagus to explain what he had done with the baby, and, after Harpagus confessed that he had not killed the boy, Astyages tricked him into eating his own broiled and chopped up son. Astyages was more lenient with Cyrus and allowed him to return to his biological parents, Cambyses and Mandane. While Herodotus's description may be a legend, it does give insight into the figures surrounding Cyrus the Great's early life.\nCyrus the Great had a wife named Cassandane. She was an Achaemenian and daughter of Pharnaspes. From this marriage, Cyrus had four children: Cambyses II, Bardiya (Smerdis), Atossa, and another daughter whose name is not attested in the ancient sources. Also, Cyrus had a fifth child named Artystone, the sister or half-sister of Atossa, who may not have been the daughter of Cassandane. Cyrus the Great had a specially dear love for Cassandane. Cassandane also loved Cyrus to the point that on her death bed she is noted as having found it more bitter to leave Cyrus, than to depart her life.\nAccording to the Chronicle of Nabonidus, when Cassandane died, all the nations of Cyrus's empire observed \"a great mourning\", and, particularly in Babylonia, there was probably even a public mourning lasting for six days (identified from 21-26 March 538 BC). Her tomb is suggested to be at Cyrus's capital, Pasargadae. There are other accounts suggesting that Cyrus the Great also married a daughter of the Median king Astyages, named Amytis. This name may not be the correct one, however. Cyrus probably had married once, after the death of Cassandane, to a Median woman in his royal family. Cyrus the Great's son Cambyses II would become the king of Persia, and his daughter Atossa would marry Darius the Great and bear him Xerxes I.\nThough his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus the Great had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC; however, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. During Astyages's reign, the Median Empire may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.\nIn Herodotus's version, Harpagus, seeking vengeance, convinced Cyrus to rally the Persian people to revolt against their feudal lords, the Medes. However, it is likely that both Harpagus and Cyrus rebelled due to their dissatisfaction with Astyages's policies.[35] From the start of the revolt in summer 553 BC, with his first battles taking place from early 552 BC, Harpagus, with Cyrus, led his armies against the Medes until the capture of Ecbatana in 549 BC, effectively conquering the Median Empire.\nWhile Cyrus the Great seems to have accepted the crown of Media, by 546 BC, he officially assumed the title \"King of Persia\" instead. With Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames was still the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus's authority - more of a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King. His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus's second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus's sons. Cyrus' conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars.\nThe exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Median kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held. The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning.\nWhile in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of the winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus the Great pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus the Great to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great spared Croesus's life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle (the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia), which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain.\nBefore returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus' treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyas hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares's arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene. The end of Pactyas is unknown, but after capture, he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures.\nMazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC and returned to Persia.\nBy the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa.\nElam was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq. The modern name Elam is a transcription from Biblical Hebrew, corresponding to the Sumerian elam(a), the Akkadian elamtu, and the Elamite haltamti. Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the ancient near east. In classical literature, Elam was more often referred to as Susiana, a name derived from its capital, Susa.\nSituated just to the east of Mesopotamia, Elam was part of the early urbanization during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Mesopotamian history where writing was used slightly earlier. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire, especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally treated as an isolate language.\nThe Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed, and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace. It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years.\nTwo days later, on October 7 (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus. Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians, using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks, diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped \"to the height of the middle of a man's thigh\", which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night. On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus.\nPrior to Cyrus's invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact.\nAfter taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself \"king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world\" in the famous Cyrus cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus pleasing the god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.\nSuperimposed on modern borders, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus's rule extended approximately from Turkey, Israel, Georgia and Arabia in the west to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Indus River (Pakistan) and Oman in the east. Cyrus the Great's dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen. At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east.\nDarius The Great\nSeal of Darius the Great\nDarius I, also known as Darius the Great, was the third king of the Achaemenid Empire. Darius I was the greatest of all the Persian kings. He extended the empires borders into India and Europe. He also fought two wars with the Greeks which were disastrous.\nDarius established a government which became a model for many future governments:\nEstablished a tax-collection system;\nAllowed locals to keep customs and religions;\nDivided his empire into districts known as Satrapies;\nBuilt a system of roads still used today;\nEstablished a complex postal system;\nEstablished a network of spies he called the \"Eyes and Ears of the King.\"\nBuilt two new capital cities, one at Susa and one at Persepolis.\nDarius held the empire at its peak, then including the entire Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Romania-Panonia), portions of north and northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudraya), eastern Libya, coastal Sudan, Eritrea), as well as northeast portions of and greater India (Pakistan and northwest India), the Aegean Islands and northern Greece/Thrace-Macedonia.\nDarius ascended the throne by overthrowing the alleged magus usurper of Bardiya with the assistance of six other Persian noble families; Darius was crowned the following morning. The new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time. A major event in Darius's life was his expedition to punish Athens and Eretria for their aid in the Ionian Revolt and subjugate Greece. Darius expanded his empire by conquering Thrace and Macedon and invading Scythia, home of the Scythians, nomadic tribes who invaded Media and had previously killed Cyrus the Great.\nDarius organized the empire by dividing it into provinces and placing satraps to govern it. He organized a new uniform monetary system, along with making Aramaic the official language of the empire. Darius also worked on construction projects throughout the empire, focusing on Susa, Pasargadae, Persepolis, Babylon and Egypt. Darius devised a codification of laws for Egypt. He also had the cliff-face Behistun Inscription carved, an autobiography of great modern linguistic significance. Darius also started many massive architectural projects, including magnificent palaces in Persepolis and Susa.\nDarius was born as the eldest of five sons to Hystaspes and Rhodugune in 550 BCE. Hystaspes was a leading figure of authority in Persia, which was the homeland of the Persians. Darius' inscription states that his father was satrap of Bactria in 522 BCE. According to Herodotus, Hystaspes was the satrap of Persis, although most historians state that this is an error. Also according to Herodotus (III.139), Darius, prior to seizing power and \"of no consequence at the time\", had served as a spearman (doryphoros) in the Egyptian campaign (528-525 BCE) of Cambyses II, then the Persian Great King. Hystaspes was an officer in Cyrus' army and a noble of his court.\nBefore Cyrus and his army crossed the Aras River to battle with northern tribes, he installed his son Cambyses II as king in case he should not return from battle. However, once Cyrus had crossed the Aras River he had a dream with a vision of Darius in which he had wings atop his shoulders and stood upon the confines of Europe and Asia (the whole known world). When Cyrus awoke from the dream, he inferred it as a great danger to the future security of the empire, as it meant that Darius would one day rule the whole world. However, his son Cambyses was the heir to the throne, not Darius, causing Cyrus to wonder if Darius was forming treasonable and ambitious designs. This led Cyrus to order Hystaspes to go back to Persis and watch over his son strictly, until Cyrus himself returned. Darius did not seem to have any treasonous thoughts as Cambyses II ascended the throne peacefully, and through promotion Darius was eventually elevated to Cambyses' personal lancer.\nThe rise of Darius to the throne contains two variations, an account from Darius and another other from Greek historians. Some modern historians have inferred that Darius' rise to power might have been illegitimate. To them, it seems likely that Gaumata was in fact Bardiya, and that under cover of revolts, Darius killed the heir to the throne and took it himself.\nDarius' account, written at the Behistun Inscription states that Cambyses II killed his own brother Bardiya, but that this murder was not known among the Iranian people. A would-be usurper named Gaumata came and lied to the people, stating he was Bardiya. The Iranians had grown rebellious against Cambyses' rule and on 11 March 522 BCE a revolt against Cambyses broke out in his absence. On 1 July, the Iranian people chose to be under the leadership of Gaumata, as \"Bardiya\". No member of the Achamenid family would rise against Gaumata for the safety of their own life. Darius, who had served Cambyses as his lance-bearer until the deposed ruler's death, prayed for aid and in September 522 BCE, along with Otanes, Intraphrenes, Gobryas, Hydarnes, Megabyxus and Aspathines, killed Gaumata in the fortress of Sikayauvati.\nSeveral days after Gaumata had been assassinated, Darius and the other seven nobles discussed the fate of the empire. At first, the seven discussed the form of government; a democratic republic was strongly pushed by Otanes, a oligarchy was pushed by Megazybus, while Darius pushed for a monarchy. After stating that a republic would lead to corruption and internal fighting, while a monarchy would be led with a single-mindedness, not possible in other governments, Darius was able to convince the other nobles that a monarchy was the correct form of government.\nTo decide who would become the monarch, the six nobles (Otanes stated that he had no interest in becoming king) decided on a test. All six nobles would gather outside mounted on their horses at sunrise, and the nobles' horse which neighed first would become Great King. According to Herodotus, Darius had a slave, Oebares who helped Darius win this contest. Before the contest, Oebares rubbed his hand over the genitals of a mare that Darius' horse had a fondness for. When the six nobles gathered outside, Oebares placed his hands beside the nostrils of Darius' horse, who became excited at the smell and neighed.\nImmediately after, lightning and thunder occurred leading the other six noblemen to believe to be an act of God, causing them to dismount and kneel before Darius. Darius did not believe that he had achieved the throne through fraud but through brilliant sagacity, even erecting a statue of himself mounted on his neighing horse stating \"Darius, son of Hystaspes, obtained the sovereignty of Persia by the sagacity of his horse and the ingenious contrivance of Oebases, his groom.\"\nAccording to the accounts of Greek historians, Cambyses II had left Patizeithes in charge of the kingdom when he headed for Egypt. He later sent Prexaspes to murder Bardiya. After the killing, Patizeithes put his brother Gaumata, a Magian who resembled Bardiya, on the throne and declared him the Great King. Otanes discovered that Gaumata was an impostor, and along with six other Iranian nobles including Darius, created a plan to oust the pseudo-Bardiya. After killing the impostor along with his brother Patizeithes and other Magians, Darius was crowned king the following morning.\nFollowing his coronation at Pasargadae, Darius moved to Ecbatana. He soon learned that support for Bardiya was strong, and revolts in Elam and Babylonia had broken out. Darius ended the Elamite revolt when the revolutionary leader Aschina was captured and executed in Susa, after three months the revolt in Babylonia had ended. While in Babylonia, Darius learned a revolution had broken out in Bactria, a satrapy which had always been in favour of Darius, and had initially volunteered an army of soldiers to quell revolts. Following this, revolts broke out in Persis, the homeland of the Persians and Darius. These new revolts led to a renewed revolt in Elam and Babylonia. With all these ongoing revolts, revolts broke out in Media, Parthia, Assyria, and Egypt. By 522 BCE, the majority, if not the entire Achaemenid Empire was revolting against Darius and in turmoil. Even though Darius did not have the support of the populace, Darius had a loyal army, led by close confidants and nobles (including the six nobles with whom he removed Gaumata) with whom he was able to suppress and quell all revolts within a year. In Darius' words, he had killed a total of eight \"lying kings\" through the quelling of revolutions. Darius left a detailed account of these revolutions at the Behistun Inscription.\nEarly in his reign, Darius wanted to organize the loosely organized empire with a system of taxation he inherited from Cyrus and Cambyses. To do this, Darius created twenty provinces called satrapies (or archi) which were each assigned to a satrap(archon) and specified fixed tributes that the satrapies were required to pay. A complete list is preserved in the catalog of Herodotus, beginning from Ionia and listing the other satrapies from west to east excluding Persis which was the land of the Persians and the only province which was not a conquered land. Tributes were paid in both silver and gold talents.\nTributes in silver from each satrap were measured with the Babylonian talent. Those paid in gold were measured with the Euboic talent. The total tribute from the satraps came to an amount less than 15,000 silver talents.\nThe majority of the satraps were of Persian origin and were members of the royal house or the six great noble families. These satraps were personally picked by Darius to monitor these provinces, which were divided into sub-provinces with their own governors which were chosen either by the royal court or by the satrap. To assess tributes, a commission evaluated the expenses and revenues of each satrap. To ensure that one person did not gain too much power, each satrap had a secretary who observed the affairs of the state and communicated with Darius, a treasurer who safeguarded provincial revenues and a garrison commander who was responsible for the troops. Additionally, royal inspectors who were the \"eyes and ears\" of Darius completed further checks over each satrap.\nThere were headquarters of imperial administration at Persepolis, Susa, and Babylon while Bactria, Ecbatana, Sardis, Dascyclium and Memphis also had branches of imperial administration. Darius chose Aramaic as a common language, which soon spread throughout the empire. However, Darius gathered a group of scholars to create a separate language system only used for Persis and the Persians, which was called Aryan script which was only used for official inscriptions.\nDarius conducted the introduction of a universal currency, the daric sometime before 500 BCE. Darius applied the coinage system as a transnational currency to regulate trade and commerce throughout his empire. The daric was also recognized beyond the borders of the empire - in places such as Celtic Central Europe and Eastern Europe. There were two types of darics, a gold and a silver. Only the king could mint gold darics, important generals and satraps minted silver darics, the latter usually to recruit Greek mercenaries in Anatolia. The daric was a major boost to international trade, trade goods such as textiles, carpets, tools and metal objects began to travel throughout Asia, Europe and Africa. To further improve trade, Darius built a royal highway, a postal system and Phoenician-based commercial shipping.\nThe daric also improved government revenues as the introduction of the daric led to new taxes on land, livestock and marketplaces. This also led to the registration of land. It was measured and taxed accordingly. The increased government revenues helped maintain and improve existing infrastructure. The increased government revenues also helped fund irrigation projects in dry lands. This new tax system also led to the formation of state banking and the creation of banking firms. One of the most famous banking firms was Murashu and Sons, based in Nippur. These banking firms provided loans and credit to clients.\nThe daric was called darayaka within the empire and was most likely named after Darius. In an effort to further improve trade, Darius built canals, underground waterways and a powerful navy. He further improved and expanded the network of roads and waystations throughout the empire, so that there was a system of travel authorization for the King, satraps and other high officials, which entitled the traveller to draw provisions at daily stopping places.\nAccording to A. T. Olmstead's book History of the Persian Empire, Darius the Great's father Vishtaspa (Hystaspes) and mother Hutaosa (Atossa) knew the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) personally and were converted by him to the new religion he preached, Zoroastrianism.\nWhile there is no absolute consensus on the kings before Darius, such as Cyrus and Cambyses, it is well established that Darius was an adherent of Zoroastrianism or at least a firm believer in Ahura Mazda. As can be seen at the Behistun Inscription (see below), Darius believed that Ahura Mazda had appointed him to rule the Achaemenid Empire. Darius had dualistic convictions and believed that each rebellion in his kingdom was the work of druj, the enemy of Asha. Darius believed that because he lived righteously by Asha, Ahura Mazda supported him. In many cuneiform inscriptions denoting his achievements, he presents himself as a devout believer, perhaps even convinced that he had a divine right to rule over the world.\nIn the lands that were conquered by his empire, Darius followed the same Achaemenid tolerance that Cyrus had shown and later Achaemenid emperors would show. He supported faiths and religions that were \"alien\" as long as the adherents were submissive and peaceable, sometimes giving them grants from his treasury for their purposes. He had funded the restoration of the Jewish temple which had originally been decreed by Cyrus the Great, presented favor towards Greek cults which can be seen in his letter to Gadatas, and supported Elamite priests. He had also observed Egyptian religious rites related to kingship and had built the temple for the Egyptian God, Amun.\nDuring Darius's Greek expedition, he had begun construction projects in Susa, Egypt and Persepolis. He had linked the Red Sea to the river Nile by building a canal which ran from modern Zaqaziq to modern Suez. To open this canal, he traveled to Egypt in 497 BCE, where the inauguration was done among great fanfare and celebration. Darius also built a canal to connect the Red Sea and Mediterranean. On this visit to Egypt he erected monuments and executed Aryandes on accounts of treason. When Darius returned to Persis, he found that the codification of Egyptian law had been finished.\nAdditionally, Darius sponsored large construction projects in Susa, Babylon, Egypt and Persepolis. In Susa, Darius built a new palace complex in the north of the city. An inscription states that the palace was destroyed during the reign of Artaxerxes I, but was rebuilt. Today only glazed bricks of the palace remain, the majority of them in the Louvre. In Pasargadae Darius finished all incomplete construction projects from the reign of Cyrus the Great. A palace was also built during the reign of Darius, with an inscription in the name of Cyrus the Great. It was previously believed that Cyrus had constructed this building, however due to the cuneiform script being used, the palace is believed to have been constructed by Darius.\nIn Egypt Darius built many temples and restored those that had previously been destroyed. Even though Darius was a Zoroastrian, he built temples dedicated to the Gods of the Ancient Egyptian religion. Several temples found were dedicated to Ptah and Nekhbet. Darius also created several roads and routes in Egypt. The monuments that Darius built were often inscribed in the official languages of the Persian Empire, Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian and Egyptian hieroglyphs. To construct these monuments Darius hired a large number of workers and artisans of diverse nationalities. Several of these workers were deportees who had been employed specifically for these projects. These deportees enhanced the economy and improved international relations with neighboring countries that these deportees arrived from. At the time of Darius's death construction projects were still underway. Xerxes completed these works and in some cases expanded his father's projects by erecting new buildings of his own.\nOne of the significant events of Darius' early reign was the slaying of Intaphernes. Intaphernes was one of the seven noblemen who had deposed the previous ruler and installed Darius as the new monarch. The seven had made an agreement that they could all visit the new king whenever they pleased, except when he was with his wife. One evening, Intaphernes went to the palace to meet Darius, but was stopped by two officers who stated that Darius had retired for the night. Becoming enraged and insulted, Intaphernes drew his sword and cut off the ears and noses of the two officers. While leaving the palace, he took the bridle from his horse, and tied the two officers together. The officers went to the king and showed him what Intaphernes had done to them. Darius began to fear for his own safety; he thought that all seven noblemen had banded together to rebel against him and that the attack against his officers was the first sign of revolt. He sent a messenger to each of the noblemen, asking them if they approved of Intaphernes' actions; they denied it and disavowed any connection to Intaphernes' actions, stating that they stood by their decision to appoint Darius as King of Kings.\nTaking precautions against further resistance, Darius sent soldiers to seize Intaphernes, along with his son, family members, relatives and any friends who were capable of arming themselves. Darius believed that Intaphernes was planning a rebellion, but when he was brought to the court, there was no proof of any such plan. Nonetheless, Darius killed Intaphernes' entire family, excluding his wife's brother and son. She was asked to choose between her brother and son. She chose her brother to live. Her reasoning for doing so was that she could have another husband and another son, but she would always have but one brother. Darius was impressed by her response and spared both her brother's and her son's life.\nAfter securing his authority over the entire empire, Darius embarked on a campaign to Egypt where he defeated the armies of the Pharaoh and secured the lands that Cambyses had conquered while incorporating a large portion of Egypt into the Achaemenid Empire. Darius also led his armies to the Indus River, building fortresses and establishing Persian rule.\nAfter Bardiya was murdered, widespread revolts occurred throughout the empire, especially on the eastern side. Darius asserted his position as king by force, taking his armies throughout the empire, suppressing each revolt individually. The most notable of all the revolts is the Babylonian revolt which was led by Nebuchadnezzar III. This revolt occurred when Otanes withdrew much of the army out of Babylon to aid Darius in suppressing other revolts. Darius felt that the Babylonian people had taken advantage of him and deceived him, which resulted in Darius gathering up a large army and marching to Babylon.\nAt Babylon, Darius was met with closed gates and a series of defenses to keep him and his armies out of Babylon. Darius encountered mockery and taunting from the rebels, including the famous saying \"Oh yes, you will capture our city, when mules shall have foals.\" For a year and a half, Darius and his armies were unable to capture Babylon, though he attempted many tricks and strategies - even copying that which Cyrus the Great had employed when he captured Babylon. However, the situation changed in Darius's favor when, according to the story, a mule owned by Zopyrus, a high-ranking soldier, foaled. Following this, a plan was hatched for Zopyrus to pretend to be a deserter, enter the Babylonian camp, and gain the trust of the Babylonians. The plan was successful, and Darius' army eventually surrounded the city and overcame the rebels.\nDuring this revolt, Scythian nomads took advantage of the disorder and chaos and invaded Persia. Darius first finished defeating the rebels in Elam, Assyria, and Babylon and then attacked the Scythian invaders. He pursued the invaders, who led him to a marsh; there he found no known enemies but an enigmatic Scythian tribe distinguished by their large pointy hats.\nThe Scythians were a group of north Iranian nomadic tribes, speaking a Indo-Iranian language who had invaded Media, killed Cyrus in battle, revolted against Darius and threatened to disrupt trade between Central Asia and the shores of the Black Sea as they lived between the Danube river, river Don and the Black Sea.\nDarius crossed the Black Sea at the Bosphorus Straits using a bridge of boats. Darius conquered large portions of Eastern Europe - even crossing the Danube to wage war on the Scythians. Darius invaded Scythia, where the Scythians evaded Darius' army, using feints and retreating technique eastward while wasting the countryside, by blocking wells, intercepting convoys, destroying pastures and continuous skirmishes against Darius' army. Seeking to fight with the Scythians, Darius' army chased the Scythian army deep into Scythian lands, where there were no cities to conquer and no supplies to forage. In frustration Darius sent a letter to the Scythian ruler Idanthyrsus to fight or surrender.\nThe ruler replied that he would not stand and fight with Darius until they found the graves of their fathers and tried to destroy them - until then, they could continue their current technique as they had no cities or cultivated lands to lose. Darius ordered a halt at the banks of Oarus, where he built eight frontier fortresses spaced at intervals of eight miles. After chasing the Scythians for a month, Darius' army was suffering losses due to fatigue, privation and sickness. In fear of losing more troops, he halted the march at the banks of the Volga River and headed towards Thrace. He had conquered enough territory of Scythia to force the Scythians to respect the Persian forces.\nDarius's European expedition was a major event in his reign, which began with the invasion of Thrace, after which he left Megabyzus to conquer Thrace, returning to Sardis to spend the winter. Before returning, Darius also conquered many cities of the northern Aegean, while Macedonia submitted voluntarily. The Asiatic Greeks and Greek islands had submitted to Persian rule by 510 BCE. Nonetheless, there were certain Greeks who were pro-Persian, such as the medizing Greeks, which were largely grouped at Athens. This improved Greek-Persian relations as Darius opened his court and treasuries to the Greeks who wanted to serve him. These Greeks served as soldiers, artisans, statesmen and mariners for Darius; however, Greek fear of the strength of Darius' kingdom became strong and the constant interference by the Greeks in Ionia and Lydia were all stepping stones in the conflict that was yet to come between Persia and Greece.\nWhen Aristagoras organized the Ionian revolt, Eretria and Athens supported him by sending ships and troops to Ionia and burning Sardis. Persian military and naval operations to quell the revolt ended in the Persian reoccupation of Ionian and Greek islands; however, anti-Persian parties gained more power in Athens, and pro-Persian aristocrats were exiled from Athens and Sparta. Darius responded by sending troops led by his son-in-law across the Hellespont; however, a violent storm and harassment by Thracians forced the troops to return to Persia. Seeking revenge on Athens and Eretria, Darius assembled another army of 20,000 men under his Admiral, Datis who met success when he captured Eretria and advanced to Marathon. In 490 BCE, at the Battle of Marathon, the Persian army was defeated by a heavily armed Athenian army, with 9,000 men who were supported by 600 Plataeans, 1,000 soldiers from each of eleven Greek city-states (11,000 men in total) and 10,000 lightly armed soldiers led by Miltiades.\nThe defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece. Darius began preparations for a second force which he would command, instead of his generals; however, before the preparations were complete, Darius died, thus leaving the task to his son Xerxes.\nDarius was son of Hystaspes and grandson of Arschama I, both men belonging to the Achaemenid tribe, and being alive when Darius ascended the throne. Darius justifies his ascension to the throne with his lineage tracing back to Achaemenes, even though he was distantly related. For these reasons, Darius married Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had four sons, Xerxes, Achaimenes, Masistes and Hystaspes. He also married Artystone, another daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had two sons, Arsames and Gobryas.\nDarius also married Parmys, the daughter of Bardiya, with whom he had a son, Ariomardos. Furthermore, Darius married Phratagone, with whom he had two sons, Abrokomas and Hyperantes. He also married another woman of the nobility, Phaidime, the daughter of Otanes. It is unknown if he had children with her. Before these royal marriages, Darius married a commoner with whom he had three sons, Artobarzanes (the first born), Arabignes and Arsamenes, while daughters are not known. Although Artobarzanes was the first born of Darius, Xerxes became heir and next king through the influence of Atossa, who had great authority in the kingdom, as Darius loved her, of all of his wives, most.\nAfter becoming aware of the Persian defeat at the Battle of Marathon, Darius began planning another expedition against the Greek-city states; this time, he, not Datis, would command the imperial armies. Darius had spent three years preparing men and ships for war, when a revolt broke out in Egypt. This revolt in Egypt worsened his failing health and prevented the possibility of leading another army himself. Soon Darius died. In October 486 BCE the body of Darius was embalmed and entombed in the rock-cut sepulcher which had been prepared for him several years earlier.\nXerxes, eldest son of Darius and Atossa, succeeded to the throne as Xerxes I; however, prior to Xerxes's accession, he contested the succession with his elder half-brother Artobazan, Darius' eldest son who was born to his commoner first wife before Darius rose to power.\nIn 1923 CE German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld made casts of the cuneiform inscriptions on Darius's tomb. They are currently housed in the archives of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.\nOutline tracing of the figure representing Darius I\nThe Stone Tablets of Darius the Great\nThe Persian Rosetta Stone\nDarius left a tri-lingual monumental relief on Mount Behistun which was written in Elamite, Old Persian and Babylonian between his coronation and his death. The inscription begins with a brief autobiography with his ancestry and lineage. To aid the presentation of his ancestry, Darius wrote down the sequence of events which occurred after the death of Cyrus the Great. Darius mentions several times that he is the rightful king by the grace of Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian God. In addition, further texts and monuments from Persepolis have been found, including a fragmentary Old Iranian inscription from Gherla, Romania (Harmatta) and a letter from Darius to Gadates, preserved in a Greek text of the Roman period.\nHerodotus, a Greek historian and author of The Histories, provided an account of many Persian kings and the Greco-Persian Wars. He wrote an extensive amount of information on Darius which spans half of book 3, along with books 4, 5 and 6. It begins with the removal of the alleged usurper Gaumata and continues to the end of Darius's reign.\nThe Book of Ezra (chapter 6, verse 1) describes the adoption and precise instructions to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. It was completed and inaugurated of the sixth year of Darius (March 515 BCE), as also related in the Book of Ezra (chapter 6, verse 15), so the 70-year prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled. Between Cyrus and Darius, an exchange of letters with King Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes is described (chapter 4, verse 7), the grandson of Darius I, in whose reign Ezra and Nehemiah came to Jerusalem.\nThe generous funding of the temple gave Darius and his successors the support of the Jewish priesthood. There is mention of a Darius in the Book of Daniel, identified as Darius the Mede. He began ruling when he was 62 years old (chapter 5, verse 31), appointed 120 satraps to govern over their provinces or districts (chapter 6, verse 1), was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans (chapter 9, verse 1), and predated Cyrus (chapter 11, verse 1). Therefore, many scholars identify him with Cyaxares II rather than Darius I of Persia.\nXerxes The Great\nXerxes I of Persia, also known as Xerxes the Great, (519 BC-465 BC), was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire.\nImmediately after seizing the kingship, Darius I of Persia (son of Hystaspes) married Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great). They were both descendants of Achaemenes from different Achaemenid lines. Marrying a daughter of Cyrus strengthened Darius' position as king.\nDarius was an active emperor, busy with building programs in Persepolis, Susa, Egypt, and elsewhere. Toward the end of his reign he moved to punish Athens, but a new revolt in Egypt (probably led by the Persian satrap) had to be suppressed. Under Persian law, the Achaemenian kings were required to choose a successor before setting out on such serious expeditions. Upon his great decision to leave (487-486 BC), Darius prepared his tomb at Naqsh-e Rostam and appointed Xerxes, his eldest son by Atossa, as his successor. Darius' failing health then prevented him from leading the campaigns, and he died in October 486 BC.\nXerxes was not the oldest son of Darius, and according to old Iranian traditions should not have succeeded the King. Xerxes was however the oldest son of Darius and Atossa hence descendent of Cyrus. This made Xerxes the chosen King of Persia. Some modern scholars also view the unusual decision of Darius to give the throne to Xerxes to be a result of his consideration of the unique positions that Cyrus the Great and his daughter Atossa have had.Artobazan was born to \"Darius the subject\", while Xerxes was the eldest son born in the purple after Darius' rise to the throne, and Artobazan's mother was a commoner while Xerxes' mother was the daughter of the founder of the empire.\nXerxes was crowned and succeeded his father in October-December 486 BC when he was about 36 years old. The transition of power to Xerxes was smooth due again in part to great authority of Atossa and his accession of royal power was not challenged by any person at court or in the Achaemenian family, or any subject nation.\nAlmost immediately, he suppressed the revolts in Egypt and Babylon that had broken out the year before, and appointed his brother Achaemenes as governor or satrap (Old Persian: khshathrapavan) over Egypt. In 484 BC, he outraged the Babylonians by violently confiscating and melting down the golden statue of Bel (Marduk, Merodach), the hands of which the rightful king of Babylon had to clasp each New Year's Day. This sacrilege led the Babylonians to rebel in 484 BC and 482 BC, so that in contemporary Babylonian documents, Xerxes refused his father's title of King of Babylon, being named rather as King of Persia and Media, Great King, King of Kings (Shahanshah) and King of Nations (i.e. of the world). Even though Herodotus' report in the Histories has created certain problems concerning Xerxes' religious beliefs, modern scholars consider him a Zoroastrian.\nDarius died while in the process of preparing a second army to invade the Greek mainland, leaving to his son the task of punishing the Athenians, Naxians, and Eretrians for their interference in the Ionian Revolt, the burning of Sardis and their victory over the Persians at Marathon. From 483 BC Xerxes prepared his expedition: A channel was dug through the isthmus of the peninsula of Mount Athos, provisions were stored in the stations on the road through Thrace, two pontoon bridges later known as Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges were built across the Hellespont. Soldiers of many nationalities served in the armies of Xerxes, including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians and Jews.\nAccording to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes' first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax and papyrus cables of the bridges; Xerxes ordered the Hellespont (the strait itself) whipped three hundred times and had fetters thrown into the water. Xerxes' second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful. Xerxes concluded an alliance with Carthage, and thus deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus exaggerated to be more than two million strong with at least 10,000 elite warriors named Persian Immortals. The actual Persian strength was around two to three hundred thousands. Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles.\nThe Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of Greek warriors led by King Leonidas of Sparta resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated. According to Herodotus, the Persians broke the Spartan phalanx after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. After Thermopylae, Athens was captured and the Athenians and Spartans were driven back to their last line of defense at the Isthmus of Corinth and in the Saronic Gulf.\nWhat happened next is a matter of some controversy. According to Herodotus, upon encountering the deserted city, in an uncharacteristic fit of rage particularly for Persian kings, Xerxes had Athens burned. He almost immediately regretted this action and ordered it rebuilt the very next day. However, Persian scholars dispute this view as pan-Hellenic propaganda, arguing that Sparta, not Athens, was Xerxes' main foe in his Greek campaigns, and that Xerxes would have had nothing to gain by destroying a major center of trade and commerce like Athens once he had already captured it.\nAt that time, anti-Persian sentiment was high among many mainland Greeks, and the rumor that Xerxes had destroyed the city was a popular one, though it is equally likely the fire was started by accident as the Athenians were frantically fleeing the scene in pandemonium, or that it was an act of \"scorched earth\" warfare to deprive Xerxes' army of the spoils of the city.\nAt Artemisium, large storms had destroyed ships from the Greek side and so the battle stopped prematurely as the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. Xerxes was induced by the message of Themistocles (against the advice of Artemisia of Halicarnassus) to attack the Greek fleet under unfavorable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. The Battle of Salamis (September, 480 BC) was won by the Greek fleet, after which Xerxes set up a winter camp in Thessaly.\nDue to unrest in Babylon, Xerxes was forced to send his army home to prevent a revolt, leaving behind an army in Greece under Mardonius, who was defeated the following year at Plataea. The Greeks also attacked and burned the remaining Persian fleet anchored at Mycale. This cut off the Persians from the supplies they needed to sustain their massive army, and they had no choice but to retreat. Their withdrawal roused the Greek city-states of Asia.\nInscription of Xerxes the Great near the Van Citadel\nAfter the military blunders in Greece, Xerxes returned to Persia and completed the many construction projects left unfinished by his father at Susa and Persepolis. He built the Gate of all Nations and the Hall of a Hundred Columns at Persepolis, which are the largest and most imposing structures of the palace. He completed the Apadana, the Palace of Darius and the Treasury all started by Darius as well as building his own palace which was twice the size of his father's. His taste in architecture was similar to that of Darius, though on an even more gigantic scale. He also maintained the Royal Road built by his father and completed the Susa Gate and built a palace at Susa.\nXerxes' Tomb\nIn 465 BC, Xerxes was murdered by Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court (Hazarapat/commander of thousand). He was promoted to this prestigious position in the Achamenid court through his successful withdrawal of the second Persian army from Greece, even though this involved refusing to help Mardonius in Plataea. Although Artabanus bore the same name as the famed uncle of Xerxes, a Hyrcanian, his rise to prominence was due to his popularity in religious quarters of the court and harem intrigues. He put his seven sons in key positions and had a plan to dethrone the Achamenids.\nIn August 465 BC, Artabanus assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch, Aspamitres. Greek historians give contradicting accounts of events. According to Ctesias (in Persica 20), Artabanus then accused the Crown Prince Darius, Xerxes' eldest son, of the murder and persuaded another of Xerxes' sons, Artaxerxes, to avenge the patricide by killing Darius.\nBut according to Aristotle (in Politics 5.1311b), Artabanus killed Darius first and then killed Xerxes. After Artaxerxes discovered the murder he killed Artabanus and his sons. Participating in these intrigues was the general Megabyzus, whose decision to switch sides probably saved the Achamenids from losing their control of the Persian throne.\nOrigins of the Persian Empire\nThe Persian Empire is named after an Indo-European tribe called Parsua. The name Persia is a Latin pronunciation of the Indo-Iranian people Parsua who named their territorial borders Persis, after their tribal name, an area located north of the Persian Gulf and East of Tigris river referred to as Persis (or in Persian, Pars).\nDespite its success and rapid expansion, Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as by sixth century BCE another group of ancient Iranians had already established the Median Empire. The term Achaemenid is in fact the Latinized version of the Old Persian name Haxamanis (a bahuvrihi compound translating to \"having a friend's mind\"), meaning in Greek \"of the family of the Achaemenis.\" Despite the derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh century ruler of the Anshan located in southwestern Iran. It was not until the time of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) a descendant of Achaemenes, that the Achaemenid empire developed the prestige of an empire, and set out to incorporate the existing empires of the ancient east, to become the vast Persian empire of which the ancient texts speak.\nAt some point in 550 BCE, Cyrus the Great rose in rebellion against the Median empire (most likely due to the Medes' mismanagement of Persis), eventually conquering the Medes and creating the first Persian empire. Cyrus the Great would utilize his tactical genius, as well as his understanding of the socio-political equations governing his territories, to eventually incorporate into the Persian empire the neighboring Lydian and Neo-Babylonian empires, and also leading the way for his successor, Cambyses II to venture into Egypt and defeat the Hittite Empire and the Egyptian Kingdom.\nCyrus the Great would reflect his political acumen in the management of his newly formed empire, as the Persian empire became the first to attempt to govern many different ethnic groups, on the principle of equal responsibilities, and rights for all people, so long as subjects paid their taxes and kept the peace. Additionally, the king would agree not to interfere with the local customs, religions, and trades of its subject states, a unique quality that eventually won Cyrus the support of the Babylonians. This system of management would ultimately become an issue for the Persians, as with a larger empire came the need for order and control, leading to expenditure of resources and mobilization of troops, to quell local rebellions, weakening the central power of the king. By the time of Darius III, this disorganization had almost led to a disunified realm.\nThe Persians from whom Cyrus hailed were originally nomadic pastoral people in the western Iranian plateau and by 850 BCE were calling themselves the Parsa and their constantly shifting territory Parsua for the most part localized around Persis (Pars). As Persians gained power, they developed the infrastructure to support their growing influence including creation of a capital named Pasargadae, and an opulent city named Persepolis.\nBegun during the rule of Darius the Great (Darius I), and completed some 100 years later, Persepolis was a symbol of the empire serving both as a ceremonial centre and a center for government. It had a special set of gradually progressive stairways named \"All Countries\" around which carved relief decoration depicted scenes of heroism, hunting, natural themes, and presentation of the gifts to the Achaemenid kings by their subjects during the spring festival, Nowruz.\nThe core structure was composed of a multitude of square rooms or halls, the biggest of which was called Apadana. Tall, erect, decorated columns would often welcome visitors as well as impress them as to the size of the structure. Later on, Darius the Great (Darius I), would also utilize Susa and Ecbatana as his governmental centres, developing them into a similar metropolis status.\nAccount of the ancestral lineage of the Persian kings of the Achaemenid dynasty can be derived from either documented Greek or Roman accounts, or from existing documented Persian accounts, such as those found in the behistun Inscription. However, since most existing accounts of this vast empire are in works of Greek philosophers and historians, and since much of the original Persian documents are lost, not to mention varying scholarly views on their origin and possible motivations behind them, it is difficult to create a definitive and completely objective list.\nCyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia), and Darius the Great (Darius I of Persia), were critical in expansion of the empire. Cyrus the Great is often believed to be the son of Cambyses I, grandson of Cyrus I, father of Cambyses II, and a relative of Darius the Great, through a shared ancestor, Teispes. Cyrus the Great is also believed to have been a family member (possibly grandson) of the Median king Astyages through his mother, Mandana of Media. A minority of scholars argue that perhaps Achaemenes was a retrograde creation of Darius the Great, in order to reconcile his connection with Cyrus the Great, after gaining power.\nAncient Greek writers provide some legendary information about Achaemenes by calling his tribe the Pasargadae, and stating that he was \"raised by an eagle\". Plato, when writing about the Persians, identified Achaemenes with Perses, ancestor of the Persians in Greek mythology.\nAccording to Plato, Achaemenes was the same person as Perses, a son of the Ethiopian queen Andromeda and the Greek hero Perseus, and a grandson of Zeus. Later writers believed that Achaemenes and Perses were different people, and that Perses was an ancestor of the king. This account further confirms that Achaemenes could well have been a significant Anshan leader and an ancestor of Cyrus the Great. Regardless, both Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great were related, prominent kings of Persia, under whose rule the empire expanded to include much of the ancient world.\nExpansion\nThe empire took its unified form with a central administration around Pasargadae erected by Cyrus the Great. The empire ended up conquering and enlarging the Median empire to include in addition Egypt and Asia Minor. During the reigns of Darius I and his son Xerxes I it engaged in military conflict with some of the major city-states of Ancient Greece , and although it came close to defeating the Greek army this war ultimately led to the empire's overthrow.\nIn 559 BCE, Cambyses I the Elder was succeeded as the king of Ansan by his son Cyrus II the Great, who also succeeded the still-living Arsames as the King of Persia, thus reuniting the two realms. Cyrus is considered to be the first true king of the Persian empire, as his predecessors were subservient to the Medes. Cyrus the Great conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylon. Cyrus was politically shrewd, modeling himself as the \"savior\" of conquered nations, often allowing displaced people to return, and giving his subjects freedom to practice local customs. To reinforce this image, he instituted policies of religious freedom, and restored temples and other infrastructure in the newly acquired cities. (Most notably the Jewish inhabitants of Babylon, as recorded in the Cyrus Cylinder and the Tanakh). As a result of his tolerant policies he came to be known by those of the Jewish faith, as \"the anointed of the Lord.\"\nHis immediate successors were less successful. Cyrus' son Cambyses II conquered Egypt in 525 BCE, but died in July 522 BCE as the result of an injurious self-accident, during a revolt led by a sacerdotal clan that had lost its power following Cyrus' conquest of Media. According to Herodotus, Cambyses II had originally ventured into Egypt to take revenge for the pharaoh Amasis' trickery when he sent a fake Egyptian bride whose family Amasis had murdered, instead of his own daughter, to wed Cambyses II. Additionally negative reports of mistreatment caused by Amasis, given by Phanes of Halicarnassus, a wise council man serving Amasis, further enforced Cambyses's resolve to venture into Egypt. Amasis died before Cambyses II could face him, but his successor Psamtik III was defeated by Cambyses II in the Battle of Pelusium.\nWhile Cambyses II was in Egypt, the Zoroastrian priests, whom Herodotus called Magi, usurped the throne for one of their own, Gaumata, who then pretended to be Cambyses II's younger brother Bardiya (Greek: Smerdis or Tanaoxares/Tanyoxarkes), who had been assassinated some three years earlier. Owing to the strict rule of Cambyses II, especially his stance on taxation, and his long absence in Egypt, \"the whole people, Perses, Medes and all the other nations,\" acknowledged the usurper, especially as he granted a remission of taxes for three years (Herodotus iii. 68). Cambyses II himself would not be able to quell the imposters, as he died due to accidental injury on the way back from Egypt.\nThe claim that Gaumata had impersonated Bardiya (Smerdis), is derived from Darius the Great and the records at the Behistun Inscription. Historians are divided over the possibility that the story of the impostor was invented by Darius as justification for his coup. Darius made a similar claim when he later captured Babylon, announcing that the Babylonian king was not, in fact, Nebuchadnezzar III, but an impostor named Nidintu-bel.\nAccording to the Behistun Inscription, Gaumata ruled for seven months before being overthrown in 522 BCE by Darius the Great (Darius I) (Old Persian Daryavus \"Who Holds Firm the Good\", also known as Darayarahush or Darius the Great). The Magi, though persecuted, continued to exist, and a year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis (Gaumata), saw a second pseudo-Smerdis (named Vahyazdata) attempt a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed.\nHerodotus writes that the native leadership debated the best form of government for the Empire. It was agreed that an oligarchy would divide them against one another, and democracy would bring about mob rule resulting in a charismatic leader resuming the monarchy. Therefore, they decided a new monarch was in order, particularly since they were in a position to choose him. Darius I was chosen monarch from among the leaders. He was cousin to Cambyses II and Bardiya (Smerdis), claiming Ariaramnes as his ancestor.\nThe Achaemenids thereafter consolidated areas firmly under their control. It was Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great who, by sound and farsighted administrative planning, brilliant military maneuvering, and a humanistic world view, established the greatness of the Achaemenids and, in less than thirty years, raised them from an obscure tribe to a world power. It was during the reign of Darius the Great (Darius I) that Persepolis was built (518-516 BCE) and which would serve as capital for several generations of Achaemenid kings. Ecbatana (Hagmatana \"City of Gatherings\", modern: Hamadan) in Media was greatly expanded during this period and served as the summer capital.\nDarius the Great (Darius I) eventually attacked the Greek mainland, which had supported rebellious Greek colonies under his aegis; but as a result of his defeat at the Battle of Marathon, he was forced to pull the limits of his empire back to Asia Minor. Some scholars argue that in the context of history of the Near and Middle east in the first millennium, Alexander can be considered as the \"last of the Achaemenids.\" This is partly because Alexander maintained more or less the same political structure, and borders as the previous Achaemenid kings.\nGovernment\nCyrus the Great founded the empire as a multi-state empire, governed by four capital states; Pasargadae, Babylon, Susa and Ekbatana. The Achaemenids allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (governor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a 'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government. At differing times, there were between 20 and 30 satrapies.\nCyrus the Great created an organized army including the Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained soldiers Cyrus also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh.\nDarius the Great moved the capital from Pasargadae to Persepolis; he revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage and introducing a regulated and sustainable tax system that was precisely tailored to each satrapy, based on their supposed productivity and their economic potential.\nFor instance, Babylon was assessed for the highest amount and for a startling mixture of commodities - 1000 silver talents, four months supply of food for the army. India was clearly already fabled for its gold; the province (consisting of the sindh and western punjab regions of ancient northwestern India) was to supply gold dust equal in value to the very large amount of 4680 silver talents.\nEgypt was known for the wealth of its crops; it was to be the granary of the Persian Empire (as later of Rome's) and was required to provide 120,000 measures of grain in addition to 700 talents of silver. This was exclusively a tax levied on subject peoples. Other accomplishments of Darius' reign included codification of the data, a universal legal system, and construction of a new capital at Persepolis.\nUnder the Achaemenids, the trade was extensive and there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities in the far reaches of the empire. Tariffs on trade were one of the empire's main sources of revenue, along with agriculture and tribute.\nThe satrapies were linked by a 2,500-kilometer highway, the most impressive stretch being the Royal Road from Susa to Sardis, built by command of Darius I. The relays of mounted couriers could reach the remotest of areas in fifteen days. Despite the relative local independence afforded by the satrapy system, royal inspectors, the \"eyes and ears of the king\", toured the empire and reported on local conditions. The king also maintained a personal bodyguard of the elite 10,000 Immortals when not at war.\nThe practice of slavery in Achaemenid Persia was generally banned, although there is evidence that conquered and/or rebellious armies were sold into captivity. Zoroastrianism, the de facto religion of the empire, explicitly forbids slavery, and the kings of Achaemenid Persia, especially the founder Cyrus the Great, followed this ban to varying degrees, as evidenced by the freeing of the Jews at Babylon, and the construction of Persepolis by paid workers. The vexilloid of the Achaemenid Empire was a gold falcon on a field of crimson.\nMilitary\nDespite its humble origins in Persis, the empire reached an enormous size under the leadership of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus created a multi-state empire where he allowed regional rulers, called the 'satrap' to rule as his proxy over a certain designated area of his empire called the satrapy. The basic rule of governance was based upon loyalty and obedience of each satrapy to the central power, or the king, and compliance with tax laws.\nDue to the ethnocultural diversity of the subject nations under the rule of Persia, its enormous geographic size, and the constant struggle for power by regional competitors, the creation of a professional army was necessary for both maintenance of the peace, and also to enforce the authority of the king in cases of rebellion and foreign threat.\nCyrus managed to create a strong land army, using it to advance in his campaigns in Babylonia, Lydia, and Asia Minor, which after his death was used by his son Cambyses II, in Egypt against Psamtik III. Cyrus would die battling a local Iranian insurgency in the empire, before he could have a chance to develop a naval force. That task however would fall to Darius the Great, who would officially give Persians their own royal navy to allow them to engage their enemies on multiple seas of this vast empire, from the Black sea, and the Aegean Sea, to the Persian Gulf, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean sea.\nNavy\nSince its foundation by Cyrus, the Persian empire had been primarily a land empire with a strong army, but void of any actual naval forces. By the fifth century BCE, this was to change, as the empire came across Greek, and Egyptian forces, each with their own maritime traditions and capabilities. Darius the Great (Darius I) is to be credited as the first Achaemenid king to invest in a Persian fleet.\nEven by then no true \"imperial navy\" had existed either in Greece or Egypt. Persia would become the first empire, under Darius, to inaugurate and deploy the first regular imperial navy. Despite this achievement, the personnel for the imperial navy would not come from Iran, but were often Phoenicians (mostly from Sidon), Egyptians, Cypriots, and Greeks chosen by Darius the Great to operate the empire's combat vessels.\nAt first the ships were built in Sidon by the Phoenicians; the first Achaemenid ships measured about 40 meters in length and 6 meters in width, able to transport up to 300 Persian troops at any one trip. Despite origin of the technique of the arsenal and ship construction in Sidon, soon other states of the empire were constructing their own ships each incorporating slight local preferences.\nThe ships eventually found their way to the Persian Gulf. Persian naval forces laid the foundation for a strong Persian maritime presence in the Persian Gulf, that existed until the arrival of the British East India Company, and the Royal Navy in the mid-nineteenth century CE. Persians were not only stationed on islands of the Persian Gulf, but also had ships often of 100 to 200 capacity patrolling the empire's various rivers including the Shatt-al-Arab, Tigris and Nile in the west, as well as the Sind waterway in India.\nThe Achaemenid high naval command had established major naval bases located along the Shatt-al-Arab, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen. The Persian fleet would soon not only be used for peace-keeping purposes along the Shatt al-Arab but would also open the door to trade with India via the Persian Gulf. Darius's navy was in many ways a world power at the time, but it would be Artaxerxes II who in the summer of 397 B.C.E would build a formidable navy, as part of a rearmament which would lead to his decisive victory at Knidos in 394 BCE, reestablishing Achaemenid power in Ionia. Artaxerxes II would also utilize his massive navy to later on quell a rebellion in Egypt.\nThe construction material of choice was wood, but some armored Achaemenid ships had metallic blades on the front, often meant to slice enemy ships using the ship's momentum. Naval ships were also equipted with hooks on the side to grab enemy ships, or to negotiate their position. The ships were propelled by sails or manpower. As far as maritime engagement, the ships were equipped with two mangonels that would launch projectiles such as stones, or flammable substances.\nXenophon describes his eye-witness account of a massive military bridge created by joining 37 Persian ships across the Tigris river. The Persians utilized each boat's buoyancy, in order to support a connected bridge above which supply could be transferred. Herodotus also gives many accounts of Persians utilizing ships to build bridges. Darius the Great, in an attempt to subdue the Scythian horsemen north of the Black sea, crossed over at the Bosphorus, using an enormous bridge made by connecting Achaemenid boats, then marched up to the Danube, crossing it by means of a second boat bridge. The bridge over the Bosphorus essentially connected the nearest tip of Asia to Europe, encompasing at least some 1000 meters of open water if not more. Herodotus describes the spectacle, and calls it the \"bridge of Darius\"\nYears later, a similar boat bridge would be constructed by Xerxes the Great (Xerxes I), in his invasion of Greece. Although the Persians failed to capture the Greek city states completely, the tradition of maritime involvement was carried down by the Persian kings, most notably Artaxerxes II. Years later, when Alexander invaded Persia and during his advancement into India, he took a page from the Persian art of war, by having Hephaestion and Perdiccas construct a similar boat-bridge at the Indus river, in India in spring of 327 BCE.\nGreco-Persian Wars\nMedian (left) and Persian (right) soldiers\nBy the 5th century BCE the kings of Persia ruled over territories roughly encompassing today's Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Uzbekistan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, many parts of Greece, Libya and northern parts of Arabia.\nThe Ionian Revolt in 499 BCE, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BCE At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras.\nIn 499 BCE, the then tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos, in an attempt to bolster his position in Miletus (both financially and in terms of prestige). The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king Darius the Great.\nThe Persians continued to reduce the cities along the west coast that still held out against them, before finally imposing a peace settlement in 493 BCE on Ionia that was generally considered to be both just and fair. The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire, and as such represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars.\nAsia Minor had been brought back into the Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support for the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all of Greece. However, the Persian forces were defeated at the Battle of Marathon and Darius would die before having the chance to launch an invasion of Greece.\nXerxes I (485-465 BCE), son of Darius I, vowed to complete the job. He organized a massive invasion aiming to conquer Greece. His army entered Greece from the north, meeting little or no resistance through Macedonia and Thessaly, but was delayed by a small Greek force for three days at Thermopylae. A simultaneous naval battle at Artemisium was tactically indecisive as large storms destroyed ships from both sides. The battle was stopped prematurely when the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. The battle was a strategic victory for the Persians, giving them uncontested control of Artemisium and the Aegean Sea.\nFollowing his victory at the Battle of Thermopylae, Xerxes sacked the evacuated city of Athens and prepared to meet the Greeks at the strategic Isthmus of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. In 480 BCE the Greeks won a decisive victory over the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis and forced Xerxes to retire to Sardis. The land army which he left in Greece under Mardonius retook Athens but was eventually destroyed in 479 BCE at the Battle of Plataea. The final defeat of the Persians at Mycale encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and marked the end of Persian expansion into Europe.\nArtaxerxes\nXerxes I was followed by Artaxerxes I (465 - 424 BCE), who moved the capital from Persepolis to Babylon. It was during this reign that Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic gained in importance. It was probably during this reign that the solar calendar was introduced as the national calendar. Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de-facto religion of state, and for this Artaxerxes I is today also known as the Constantine of that faith.\nArtaxerxes I died in Susa, and his body was brought to Persepolis for internment in the tomb of his forebears. Artaxerxes I was immediately succeeded by his eldest son Xerxes II, who was however assassinated by one of his half-brothers a few weeks later. Darius II rallied support for himself and marched eastwards, executing the assassin and was crowned in his stead.\nFrom 412 Darius II (423-404 BCE), at the insistence of the able Tissaphernes, gave support first to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407 BCE, Darius' son Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404 BCE In the same year, Darius fell ill and died in Babylon. At his deathbed, his Babylonian wife Parysatis pleaded with Darius to have her second eldest son Cyrus (the Younger) crowned, but Darius refused.\nArtaxerxes II\nDarius was then succeeded by his eldest son Artaxerxes II Memnon. Plutarch relates (probably on the authority of Ctesias) that the displaced Tissaphernes came to the new king on his coronation day to warn him that his younger brother Cyrus (the Younger) was preparing to assassinate him during the ceremony. Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and would have had him executed if their mother Parysatis had not intervened. Cyrus was then sent back as Satrap of Lydia, where he prepared an armed rebellion. Cyrus and Artaxerxes met in the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, where Cyrus was killed.\nArtaxerxes II (404-358 BCE), was the longest reigning of the Achaemenid kings and it was during this 45-year period of relative peace and stability that many of the monuments of the era were constructed. Artaxerxes moved the capital back to Persepolis, which he greatly extended. Also the summer capital at Ecbatana was lavishly extended with gilded columns and roof tiles of silver and copper (Polybius, 27 October 2012).\nThe extraordinary innovation of the Zoroastrian shrine cults can also be dated to his reign, and it was probably during this period that Zoroastrianism was disseminated throughout Asia Minor and the Levant, from Armenia. The temples, though serving a religious purpose, were however not a purely selfless act: they also served as an important source of income.\nFrom the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids had taken over the concept of a mandatory temple tax, a one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or other source of income (Dandamaev & Lukonin, 1989:361-362). A share of this income called the quppu sa sari, \"kings chest\" - an ingenious institution originally introduced by Nabonidus - was then turned over to the ruler. In retrospect, Artaxerxes is generally regarded as an amiable man who lacked the moral fibre to be a really successful ruler. However, six centuries later Ardeshir I, founder of the second Persian Empire, would consider himself Artaxerxes' successor, a grand testimony to the importance of Artaxerxes to the Persian psyche.\nLanguages\nDuring the reign of Cyrus and Darius, and as long as the seat of government was still at Susa in Elam, the language of the chancellory was Elamite. This is primarily attested in the Persepolis fortification and treasury tablets that reveal details of the day-to-day functioning of the empire.\nIn the grand rock-face inscriptions of the kings, the Elamite texts are always accompanied by Akkadian and Old Persian inscriptions, and it appears that in these cases, the Elamite texts are translations of the Old Persian ones. It is then likely that although Elamite was used by the capital government in Susa, it was not a standardized language of government everywhere in the empire. The use of Elamite is not attested after 458 BCE\nFollowing the conquest of Mesopotamia, the Aramaic language (as used in that territory) was adopted as a \"vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. The use of a single official language, which modern scholarship has dubbed Official Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic, can be assumed to have greatly contributed to the astonishing success of the Achaemenids in holding their far-flung empire together for as long as they did.\"\nIn 1955, Richard Frye questioned the classification of Imperial Aramaic as an \"official language\", noting that no surviving edict expressly and unambiguously accorded that status to any particular language. Frye reclassifies Imperial Aramaic as the \"lingua franca\" of the Achaemenid territories, suggesting then that the Achaemenid-era use of Aramaic was more pervasive than generally thought. Many centuries after the fall of the empire, Aramaic script and - as ideograms - Aramaic vocabulary would survive as the essential characteristics of the Pahlavi writing system.\nAlthough Old Persian also appears on some seals and art objects, that language is attested primarily in the Achaemenid inscriptions of Western Iran, suggesting then that Old Persian was the common language of that region. However, by the reign of Artaxerxes II, the grammar and orthography of the inscriptions was so \"far from perfect\" that it has been suggested that the scribes who composed those texts had already largely forgotten the language, and had to rely on older inscriptions, which they to a great extent reproduced verbatim.\nCustoms\nHerodotus mentions that the Persians were invited to great birthday feasts (Herodotus, Histories 8), which would be followed by many desserts, a treat which they reproached the Greeks for omitting from their meals. He also observed that the Persians drank wine in large quantities and used it even for counsel, deliberating on important affairs when drunk, and deciding the next day, when sober, whether to act on the decision or set it aside.\nReligion\nZoroastrianism\nIt was during the Achaemenid period that Zoroastrianism reached South-Western Iran, where it came to be accepted by the rulers and through them became a defining element of Persian culture. The religion was not only accompanied by a formalization of the concepts and divinities of the traditional Indo-Iranian pantheon but also introduced several novel ideas, including that of free will.\nUnder the patronage of the Achaemenid kings, and by the 5th century BCE as the de-facto religion of the state, Zoroastrianism would reach all corners of the empire. The Bible claims that Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to their homeland after centuries of captivity by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.\nDuring the reign of Artaxerxes I and Darius II, Herodotus wrote: \"the Perses have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars, and consider the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their not believing the gods to have the same nature with men, as the Greeks imagine.\" He claims the Persians offer sacrifice to: \"the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down to them from ancient times. At a later period they began the worship of Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians and Assyrians. Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this goddess, to whom the Persians referred as Anahita.\" (The original name here is Mithra, which has since been explained to be a confusion of Anahita with Mithra, understandable since they were commonly worshipped together in one temple).\nFrom the Babylonian scholar-priest Berosus, who - although writing over seventy years after the reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon - records that the emperor had been the first to make cult statues of divinities and have them placed in temples in many of the major cities of the empire (Berosus, III.65). Berosus also substantiates Herodotus when he says the Persians knew of no images of gods until Artaxerxes II erected those images. On the means of sacrifice, Herodotus adds \"they raise no altar, light no fire, pour no libations.\"\nThis sentence has been interpreted to identify a critical (but later) accretion to Zoroastrianism. An altar with a wood-burning fire and the Yasna service at which libations are poured are all clearly identifiable with modern Zoroastrianism, but apparently, were practices that had not yet developed in the mid-5th century. Boyce also assigns that development to the reign of Artaxerxes II (4th century BCE), as an orthodox response to the innovation of the shrine cults.\nHerodotus also observed that \"no prayer or offering can be made without a magus present\" but this should not be confused with what is today understood by the term magus, that is a magupat (modern Persian: mobed), a Zoroastrian priest. Nor does Herodotus' description of the term as one of the tribes or castes of the Medes necessarily imply that these magi were Medians. They simply were a hereditary priesthood to be found all over Western Iran and although (originally) not associated with any one specific religion, they were traditionally responsible for all ritual and religious services.\nAlthough the unequivocal identification of the magus with Zoroastrianism came later (Sassanid era, 3rd-7th century CE), it is from Herodotus' magus of the mid-5th century that Zoroastrianism was subject to doctrinal modifications that are today considered to be revocations of the original teachings of the prophet. Also, many of the ritual practices described in the Avesta's Vendidad (such as exposure of the dead) were already practiced by the magu of Herodotus ' time.\nArt and Architecture\nAchaemenid architecture refers to the architectural achievements of the Achaemenid Persians manifesting in construction of spectacular cities utilized for governance and inhabitation, temples made for worship and social gatherings (such as Zoroastrian temples), and mausoleums erected in honor of fallen kings (such as the burial tomb of Cyrus the Great). The quintessential feature of Persian architecture was its eclectic nature with elements of Median, Assyrian, and Asiatic Greek all incorporated, yet maintaining a unique Persian identity seen in the finished products.\nAchaemenid art refers to the artistic achievements of the Aachaemenid Persians manifesting in construction of complicated frieze reliefs, crafting of precious metals ( such as the Oxus Treasure), decoration of palaces, glazed brick masonry, fine craftsmanship (masonry, carpentry, etc.), and gardening, and out door decoration. It is critical to understand that although Persians borrowed techniques from all corners of their empire, it was not simply a combination of styles, but synthesis of a new unique Persian style.\nCyrus the Great in fact had an extensive ancient Iranian heritage behind him; the rich Achaemenid gold work, which inscriptions suggest may have been a specialty of the Medes, was for instance in the tradition of the delicate metalwork found in Iron Age II times at Hasanlu and still earlier at Marlik.\nOne of the most amazing examples of both Achaemenid architecture and art is the grand palace of Persepolis, and its detailed workmanship, coupled with its grand scale.\nFall of the Persian Empire\nAccording to Plutarch, Artaxerxes' successor Artaxerxes III (358 - 338 BCE) came to the throne by bloody means, ensuring his place upon the throne by the assassination of eight of his half-brothers. In 343 BCE Artaxerxes III defeated Nectanebo II, driving him from Egypt, and made Egypt once again a Persian satrapy. In 338 BCE Artaxerxes III died under unclear circumstances (natural causes according to cuneiform sources but Diodorus, a Greek historian, reports that Artaxerxes was murdered by Bagoas, his minister). while Philip of Macedon united the Greek states by force and began to plan an invasion into the empire.\nArtaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV Arses, who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas. Bagoas is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then placed Darius III (336-330 BCE), a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, on the throne. Darius III, previously Satrap of Armenia, personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison. In 334 BCE, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened troops invaded Asia Minor.\nAt two different times, the Achaemenids ruled Egypt although the Egyptians twice regained temporary independence from Persia. After the practice of Manetho, Egyptian historians refer to the periods in Egypt when the Achaemenid dynasty ruled as the twenty-seventh dynasty of Egypt, 525-404 BCE, until the death of Darius II, and the thirty-first dynasty of Egypt, 343-332 BCE, which began after Nectanebo II was defeated by the Persian king Artaxerxes III.\nAlexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) defeated the Persian armies at Granicus (334 BCE), followed by Issus (333 BCE), and lastly at Gaugamela (331 BCE). Afterwards, he marched on Susa and Persepolis which surrendered in early 330 BCE From Persepolis, Alexander headed north to Pasargadae where he visited the tomb of Cyrus, the burial of the man whom he had heard of from Cyropedia.\nIn the ensuing chaos created by Alexander the Great's invasion of Persia, Cyrus the Great's tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander the Great reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated, and questioned the Magi, putting them to court. On some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire, than a concern for Cyrus's tomb. Regardless, Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior, showing respect for Cyrus. From there he headed to Ecbatana, where Darius III had sought refuge.\nDarius III was taken prisoner by Bessus, his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius III and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in the road to delay Alexander, who brought it to Persepolis for an honorable funeral. Bessus would then create a coalition of his forces, in order to create an army to defend against Alexander. Before Bessus could fully unite with his confederates at the eastern part of the empire, Alexander, fearing the danger of Bessus gaining control, found him, put him on trial in a Persian court under his control, and ordered his execution in a cruel and barbarous manner.\nDespite having succeeded to conquer the whole of the Persian empire, Alexander the Great, was nonetheless unable to offer a stable alternative. After his death, Alexander's once massive Persian empire was broken into and succeeded by few smaller empires the most significant of which was the Seleucid Empire, ruled by the generals of Alexander and their descendants. They in turn would be succeeded by the Parthian Empire.\nIstakhr, one of the vassal kingdoms of the Parthian Empire, would be overthrown by Papak, a priest of the temple there. Papak's son, Ardasir I, who named himself in remembrance of Artaxerxes II, would revolt against the Parthians, eventually defeating them and establishing the Sassanid Empire or as it is known the second Persian Empire.\nLegacy\nThe Achaemenid Empire left a lasting impression on the heritage and the cultural identity of Asia and Middle East, as well as influencing the development and structure of future empires. In fact the Greeks and later on the Romans copied the best features of the Persian method of governing the empire, and vicariously adopted them. Georg W. F. Hegel in his work The Philosophy of History introduces the Persian Empire as the \"first empire that passed away\" and its people as the \"first historical people\" in history.\nAncient Alien Theory","Cyrus The Great\nCroesus of Lydia, ... had assumed control of her nation's forces after Cyrus had defeated and killed her son Spargapises. ... Cyrus The Great King of Persia.\nCyrus The Great\nCyrus The Great\ncheck the latest news and sport in this site\n cyrus\nCYRUS THE GREAT EMPIRE\nCyrus The Great\nCyrus the Great (ca.600 - 529 BCE) was a towering figure in the history of mankind. As the \"father of the Iranian nation\", he was the first world leader to be referred to as \"The Great\". Cyrus founded the first world empire - and the second Iranian dynastic empire (the Achaemenids) - after defeating the Median dynasty and uniting the Medes with the other major Iranian tribe, the Persians.\nEtymology and lineage\nThe name \"Cyrus\" (a transliteration of the Greek Kυρoς) is the Greek version of the Old-Persian kûruš or Khûrvaš meaning \"sun-like\": the noun khûr denotes \"sun\" and -vaš is a suffix of likeness. In the Cyrus cylinder (see below), the great king declares his ancestry as a Persian king. The first leader of the Achaemenid dynasty was king Achaemenes of Anshan (ca.700BCE). He was succeeded by his son Teispes of Anshan and inscriptions indicate that when the latter died, two of his sons shared the throne: Cyrus I of Anshan and Ariaramnes of Persia. They were succeeded by their respective sons: Cambyses I and Arsames. Arsames was the ancestor of Darius the Great, while Cambyses was the father of Cyrus the Great. Mandane, Cyrus' mother, was the daughter of king Astyages, who was the last emperor of the Median dynastic empire (728-550BCE). Cyrus became king of Anshan after his father's death in 559BCE, and initially reigned as Median vassal king of the Persian tribes. He established his residence at Pasargadae in Pars province, the centre of the Pasargadae tribe, to which the Achaemenid clan belonged. Little is known of Cyrus' early life as the few known sources have been damaged or lost. According to the ancient historians, Astyages was told in a dream that his grandson, the baby Cyrus, would overthrow him. To avoid this he ordered that the baby be killed. However the official delegated with the task gave the baby to a shepherd instead. When Cyrus was ten years old, the deception was discovered by Astyages, but because of the boy's outstanding qualities he was allowed to live in exile with his mother. Cyrus then revolted against Astyages in 554BCE and in 550BCE the prophecy came true when Cyrus entered Ecbatana (modern-day Hamadan), effectively conquering the Median Empire. Upon his victory over his grandfather he founded a government for his new kingdom, incorporating both Median and Persian nobles as civilian officials. He thus began to build the first world empire.\n \n'Cyrus' Empire Building\nAs the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, one of Cyrus' objectives was to gain power over the Mediterranean coast and secure Asia Minor. Croesus of Lydia, Nabonidus of Babylonia and Amasis II of Egypt joined in alliance with Sparta to try and thwart Cyrus - but this was to no avail. Hyrcania, Parthia and Armenia were already part of the Median Kingdom. Cyrus moved further east to annex Drangiana, Arachosia, Margiana and Bactria to his territories. After crossing the Oxus, he reached the Jaxartes. There, he built fortified towns with the object of defending the farthest frontier of his kingdom against the Iranian nomadic tribes of Central Asia such as the Scythians. The exact limits of Cyrus' eastern conquests are not known, but it is possible that they extended as far as the Peshawar region in modern Pakistan. After his eastern victories, he repaired to the west and invaded Babylon. On 12 October 539BCE Cyrus, \"without spilling a drop of blood\", annexed the Chaldaean empire of Babylonia - and on October 29 he entered Babylon, arrested Nabonidus and assumed the title of \"King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the four corners of the world\". Almost immediately he then extended his control over the Arabian peninsula and the Levant also quickly submitted to Persian rule. Although Cyrus did not conquer Egypt, by 535BCE all the lands up to the Egyptian borders had acceded to Persian dominance. Newly conquered territories had a measure of political independence, being ruled by satraps. These (usually local) governors took full responsibility for the administration, legislation and cultural activities of each province. According to Xenophon, Cyrus created the first postal system in the world, and this must have helped with intra-Empire communications. Babylon, Ecbatana, Pasargadae and Susa were used as Cyrus' command centres. Cyrus' spectacular conquests triggered the age of Empire Building, as carried out by his successors as well as by the later Greeks and Romans.\nCyrus' religion\nAlmost nothing is known about Cyrus' personal beliefs, but Xenophon reports to us that in religious matters he followed the guidance of the Magians at his court. Although this is not universally agreed, Mary Boyce has argued that Cyrus was indeed a Zoroastrian and that he thus followed in the footsteps of his ancestors, from when they were Median vassals in Anshan. She has pointed out that the fire altars and the mausoleum at Pasargadae demonstrate Zoroastrian practices, and has cited Greek texts as evidence that Zoroastrian priests held positions of authority at Cyrus' court.\nDeath\nCuneiform records from Babylon suggest that Cyrus died on 4 December 530BCE. However, according to Herodotus , Cyrus was killed near the Aral Sea in July or August 529BCE during a campaign to protect the northeastern borders of his empire from incursions by the Massagetae . Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae, had assumed control of her nation's forces after Cyrus had defeated and killed her son Spargapises. She led the attack on the Iranian forces, who suffered heavy casualties as well as losing their leader, Cyrus. After the battle, Tomyris apparently ordered the body of Cyrus to be found so that she could avenge the death of her son. She then dipped Cyrus' head in blood or by some accounts ordered his head to be put into a wine-skin filled with human blood. At Cyrus' death, his son Cambyses II succeeded him. He attacked the Massagetae to recover Cyrus's ravaged body, before burying it at Pasargadae. \n The cylinder of Cyrus the Great\nThe Cyrus cylinder was discovered in 1878CE at the site of Babylon. It is inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. Now housed in the British Museum, it includes a detailed account by Cyrus of his conquest of Babylon in 539BCE and his subsequent humane treatment of his conquered subjects. It has been hailed as the world's first declaration of human rights. The (incomplete) inscription on the cylinder starts by describing the criminal deeds of the Babylonian king Nabonidus; as well as how Marduk, the Babylonian god, had looked for a new king and chosen Cyrus. It continues with the famous: \"I am Cyrus, king of the world, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world\" After a description of Cyrus' ancestry and of royal protocol, it goes on to explain how Cyrus established peace and abolished forced labour: \"The people of Babylon . . . the shameful yoke was removed from them\" The inscription continues by detailing reparative building activities in Babylon as well as asking for prayers for Cyrus. It makes specific reference to the Jews, who have been brought to Babylon - and who Cyrus supported in leaving for their homeland. Further demonstrating his religious tolerance, Cyrus restored the local cults by allowing the gods to return to their shrines. The cylinder describes the Great King not as a conqueror, but as a liberator and the legitimate successor to the crown of Mesopotamia. The same text has also been found, in a more complete version, in an inscription discovered in the ancient city of Ur, in Mesopotamia. Both documents corroborate many of the details in Ezra 1:1-5 describing Cyrus supporting the Jews in returning to Judea from captivity to rebuild the Temple in 537BCE. Isaiah 45:1-13 also backs up the idea of Cyrus as a benign and chosen ruler. Before the discovery of the cylinder, many sceptical historians believed that the idea of a Zoroastrian emperor like Cyrus the Great allowing a conquered people like the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their Temple was simply not credible and could only be Persian propaganda. Nevertheless, the Cyrus Cylinder, alongside the Biblical and other historical statements, seems to substantiate the idea that Cyrus not only allowed many of the nations he conquered to practice their various religious beliefs - an unprecedented tolerance - but that he even actively assisted captive peoples, including the Jews, to return to their lands of origin. This support was not only political but even financial - as he gave grants both from the Imperial treasury and also from his own personal fortune. The Cylinder has especial resonance for the Iranian peoples and is an integral part of Iran's cultural heritage and national identity. Antedating the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen by more than two millennia, it can also be considered as a world treasure - and the first international declaration of human rights. The text was translated into all the United Nations' official languages in 1971.\nCyrus' Legacy \nCyrus the Great is famed as a triumphant conqueror, a superb warrior, and the founder of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. However, with the Cyrus Cylinder and a range of Jewish texts, plus extensive writings by Xenophon, Cyrus is generally more admired as a liberator than a conqueror. Cyrus the Great was mentioned twenty-two times in the Old Testament, where he is unconditionally praised. This followed his active liberation of the Jews from Babylon in 539BCE and his support as more than 40,000 Jews then chose to return to their homeland . Cyrus then funded the subsequent rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus was also eulogized by many other writers and his actual or legendary exploits were used as moral instruction or as a source of inspiration for political philosophies. For example, the Greek author and soldier Xenophon believed him to be the ideal ruler, and in the Cyropedia - often considered Xenophon's masterpiece - he offers a fictionalised biography of the great man. This is more \"a treatise on political virtue and social organisation\" than a history. It was influential in ancient times and then again in the Renaissance. It may have been composed in response to Plato's The Republic, and Plato's Laws seems to refer back to it. Scipio Africanus is said to have always carried a copy of the Cyropedia with him. [1] Later on, in the Renaissance, Spenser, in his The Faerie Queene (1596), says: \"For this cause is Xenophon preferred before Plato, for that the one, in the exquisite depth of his judgment, formed a Commune wealth, such as it should be; but the other in the person of Cyrus, and the Persians, fashioned a government, such as might best be: So much more profitable and gracious is doctrine by ensample, then by rule.\" [2] The English philosopher Sir Thomas Browne named his 1658 discourse The Garden of Cyrus after the benevolent ruler. This dense treatise of hermetic philosophy may be a Royalist criticism upon the autocratic rule of Cromwell. Cyrus' name and his doctrine is still cited and celebrated into modern times. On 12th October 1971 Iran marked the 2500th anniversary of Cyrus' founding of the Persian Empire . The then Shah of Iran, in his speech opening the celebrations, said: \"O Cyrus, great King, King of Kings, Achaemenian King, King of the land of Iran. I, the Shahanshah of Iran, offer thee salutations from myself and from my nation. Rest in peace, for we are awake, and we will always stay awake.\" In 1994, a replica of a bas relief depicting Cyrus the Great was erected in a park in Sydney, Australia . This monument is intended as a symbol for multiculturalism, and to express the coexistence and peaceful cohabitation of people from different cultures and backgrounds.\n By pursuing a policy of generosity, instead of repression, Cyrus demonstrated his Greatness. So successful were his policies of conquest, mercifulness and assimilation that the empire continued to thrive for some 200 years after his death. Cyrus' compassionate principles continue to resonate today: his religious and cultural tolerance and commitment to the liberation of enslaved peoples remain an aspiration in our troubled modern world.","History 200 midterm WD - History 200 with Moyer at ...\nStudy online flashcards and notes for History 200 midterm WD including 1200 BCE: ... King ruled during the late 6th century ... to war with Persia (Cyrus the ...\nHistory 200 midterm WD - History 200 with Moyer at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor - StudyBlue\nGood to have you back! If you've signed in to StudyBlue with Facebook in the past, please do that again.\nHistory 200 midterm WD\nthe beginning of the Dark Age, collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, late bronze age\n8th century BCE\nOrientalizing Period, emergence of Greece from the Dark Ages\nbasic religious structure\nEnd of Persian Wars - Xerxes returns to Persia\nAl Mina\n8th Century Trading with Greeks\nAmphictyony\nA greek group of neihbors\nAristagorus\nTyrant of Miletus in early 6th and late 5th century BC\nOrganized Ionian Revolt against Persians - Asks Spartans and Athenians for help\nArtaphrenes\nBrother of Darius of Persia\nSatrap of Lydia\nattacks island of Naxos in 499 BCE that starts Ionian Revolt\nDefeats the Ionians\nNavy battle during the Persian wars\nGreeks defeat Persians\nfought during the time of Thermopylae and one of the most important battles in Xerxes' second invasion\nAthens\nGreek city that dominated Attica\nHome of democracy\nCreated by Darius the Great in 490 BCE about his takeover of the throne\nDarius put down many rebellions during his rule to maintain his crown\nBoeotioa\na regional area on the Greek Peninsula, just north of the region of Attica\nCambyses\nPersian King ruled during the late 6th century\nson of Cyrus the Great\nConquered a few cities which added to the Persian Empire\nCleomenes\none of two kings in Sparta during the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE.\nHelps Hippias (tyrant of Athens who was expelled) try to retake Athens (fails) in 510 BCE\nIsagoras asks for help during Ionian Revolt but Cleomenes denies\nAdvertisement\nMarried into Athens nobility and overthrows Hippias with Isagorus.\nCompetes with Isagorus for political power and uses common people to gain this power\nWanted to rid instability that allowed tyrants to rise to pwer\nCleisthenes' reforms (Athens)\n10 class system (10 demes)\nincluded servants and merchants into political system\nCleisthenes (Sicyon)\nGreek Tyrant during the 6th Century\nCroesus\nKing of Lydia\noracle said if he goes to war with Persiia he will destroy a great empire, but goes to war with Persia (Cyrus the Great) and loses, destroyed his OWN empire and Persia takes over his place\nCylon\nAn Athenian Olympic Victor whose unsuccessful bid for tyranny in 632 BCE led to the execution of his followers. Cylon's failure despite his aristocratic connections and popularity indicates that Athens lacked the economic structure for the establishment of a Tyranny\nCypselids\ntyrant of Corinth. Tyrant at birth\nCorinthians rose up and killed him\nCyrene\nA greek colony founded in 7th century by Battus\nCyrus\ncambyses took over after Cyrus\nDarius\nPersian King after Cambyses (horse contest)\nsettles many revolts, creates Behistun Inscription\nPlanned many different attacks and invasions to make Persian Empire bigger\nThe Dark Age\nGreek History from 1200 BCE to 800 BCE\nafter the fall of Mycenaean civilization - population declined and there is very little archaeological evidence during this time\nDelphi\nLower central Greece\nsite of an ancient temple of oracles - drugged women told prophecies and priests would interpret - big role in political and religous issues in Greece\nDemeratus\nKing Of Sparta with Cleomenes but exiled from Sparta\nAdvises Xerxes about how strong Spartans are and warns Xerxes that conquering all of Greece will be difficult\nDorians\nOne of the four major greek ethnos\nDorian Invasion was a possible reason for greek migration into Mediterranean\nDraco\nAthenian who created the Athenian Constitution in 620 BCE\nreplaced old type of crimes with a court system and stricter punishments\nEphor\ngovernmental position in the Spartan government, 5 elected per year and had supreme control to punish anyone including the kings of Sparta\nhelot\nhereditary subjects of the Spartan state, who were tied to the land, assigned to particular Spartiates and required to provide much of the produce of their agricultural labor to their particular Spartiate master\n\"serf class in spartan control\"\nHerodotus\nA greek Author who wrote The Histories.\ntraveled around the meditterreanean world and learned about different people and places. An early ethnographer. Herodotus, along with many other historians, had to rely on legends and geneaologies that could not be verified or accurately dated\nHistoria\ngreek word that means not only to investigate or to obtain, but also to share the fruits of those investigations with the world\nHippias\nSon of Peisistratus of Athens\nbecomes tyrant in the 6th century but was expelled from athens later\nfled to Persia and helped the Persians in the Battle of Marathon (who wanted to reinstate him as tyrant)\nHomer\nancient greek poet who wrote The iliad and the Odyssey.\nstories came from oral tradition\nHoplite\ntype of Greek soldier, fought with spears and large shields, protected one another in a phalynx\nIndo-European\nThe Proto-Indo-European language is an ancient language based from many early languages across the medittereanean\nIonian Revolt\nRebellion of the Ionians against the Persian Empire in early 5th Century BCE, organized by Aristagoras who recruited Athenian support\nIonians sacked Lydian capital then were defeated\nresistance died out and the Persians stopped the rebellion - Revolt not by the people by by the tyrants of Ionia. why did they revolt?\nLate Bronze Age\nMycenaen civilization did not emerge on the greek mainland til this point.\nTrade and diplomatic contacts developed\nFall of this age caused by interconnected factors\n- earthquake, food scarcity or climatic conditions rather than just military conflicts\nLaurium\nIn an attempt to unify Greece during the war against Aegina in the early 5th Century, Themistocles made the idea of creating 200 hundred ships for the war effort with the wealth that Laurium had from mines\nThese resources and ships proved salvation and also was a step in unifying Greece\nLefkandi\nDuring the Dark Age there was a loss of writing and other declinations during this time except the Lefkandi (i.e. cemetaries gave some evidence)\nLeonidas\nKing Of Sparta was highly respected and a warrior during the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. He believed in freedom over all things and died nobly during battle. Leonidas (along with his other warriors) at the battle of Thermop arguably saved all of Greece from Xerxes' Persian Campaign\nLinear A\nan undeciphered script and with this we are still unsure of some history that occured in the MInoan Civilization as Early as 2000 BCE. This system of writing also led to Linear B\nLinear B\nMichael Ventris deciphered this script that was used to write an early form of Greek\nLycurgus\nLife of Lykourgos was a right of passage for young Spartiates. They would be sent on their own with only a dagger and other basic provisions and by day they would rest and at night they would try and kill any helot they caught\nMarathon\nBattle of Marathon required Athenians to request Spartan assistance, yet the Spartans did not feel that help was needed immediately thus the Athenians marched to Marathon with little help from Sparta. Militades convinced the war archon to vote for immediate war and defeated the Persian Forces\nMardonius\nAfter the battle of Salamis, Xerxes’ Greek advisor Mardonius was left during a hiatus in the war and Mardonius, an ex-Spartan, tried to detach the Athenians from the Greeks and offer an alliance with the Athenians. The Athenians refused because of religious obligations and a shared Greek heritage.\nMedes\nneighbors of persians. used in persian empire.\nMessenia\ngreek area in peloppeneese\nMilitades\nIn late 6th century BCE, Militades was tyrant of Athenian state but became an ally with Darius which led to bad relations to Athens. When fleeing his country due to Persian Invasion, Athenians responded with hostiliyy and sentenced him to death, but during the Battle of Marathon, he escaped death by helping with his military tactics and fighting against the Persians\nMinoans\nancient bronze age. trade contacts with greece\nMycale\nthe battle of Mycale in the 5th Century BCE resulted in the Ionians preparing to revolt from Persian Rule and because of this, Greeks went to Samos to attack Persians to distract them from this certain revolt. Athenians then succeeded in unifying Greece further when they formed an alliance with the Aegean Islands\nMycenaean Civilization\nMycenaean civilization did not emerge on the greek mainland until the Late Bronze Age. Agamemnon was king during the late 16th Century BCE\nOlympia\nSacred Site for major competitive festivals (zeus)\nPausanias\nSpartan leader that was sent to Isthmus to protect this city and met Mardonius' Persians in Platea during 479 BCE. He was successful in winning this battle against the Persians\nPerioeci\nPeople nearest to Sparta became these (those who dwell around Sparta). They were of free status (not slaves) and they had some local political self governing. They had to serve in spartan armies but they were not permitted to participate in spartan government\nPersepolis\nimportant and incredibly large city for the persian empire. Under Darius' regime, all parts of the empire were brought to this city. also this city displayed the flow of tribute from all parts of the empire\nPersian Wars\nPersian Empire\nMany powerful tyrants dictated the fate of the Persian Empire from Cyrus in 560 BCE to Xerxes end in 480 BCE. These tyrants tried to expand the Persian Empire into further countries, some failing and some succeeding, but under Xerxes and his attempt to capture Greece, the failure was enough to end a reign of Empirical Power.\nPhoenicians\nThey were not a single political unit, rather a series of self-governing city states. During the Late Bronze Age and the absence of Empires, the Phoenicians were able to extend their territories and access to material resources\nPisistratus\nHe repeated many attempts for tyranny through the help of Theseus. He was a tyrant in Athens in the mid 6th Century BCE and tried his best to help the lower classes by giving away land from the rich or upper class\nPithecusae","Ancient Districts of Anatolia and Asia Minor\nDistricts of Anatolia and Asia Minor in ... the Lycians were defeated by the Persians under King Cyrus the ... In the 6th century BCE Croesus, king of Lydia, ...\nAncient Districts of Anatolia and Asia Minor\nThrace ;\nLater the name was used for the greater part of the eastern Balkan Peninsula, bounded on the north by the Danube River, on the east by the Euxine (Black Sea), on the south by the Propontis (Sea of Marmara), the Bosporus, the Hellespont (Dardanelles), the Aegean Sea, and Macedonia, and on the west by Macedonia, Paionia, and Dardania. Ancient Thrace was largely uncultivated and covered with forest; mineral deposits, particularly of gold, made the region a coveted possession. The Thracians were a barbaric, warlike people who established their own kingdom in the 5th century BCE. Thrace became successively a Macedonian, Roman, and Byzantine province. \nThe region of Thrace, in the broad sense, covers the area roughly from Pontus Euxinus ( Black Sea), Bosporos Thracios ( Bosphorus Strait ), on the east, to the river Aksios ( modern Vardar ) on the west, and from the river Istros ( modern Danube ) on the north, to Aigaois Pontus ( Aegean Sea ), Hellespont ( Dardanelles ), Propontis ( Sea of Marmara ) on the south. Although the borders of Thrace are generally accepted as outlined above, these may have changed from time to time. Ancient geographer, Strabo explains in his book Geography, \nBithynia ;\nA mountainous region, with heavy forests and fertile valleys, Bithynia acquired its name from the Bithyni, a tribe that had emigrated from Thrace. The country was conquered by Croesus, king of Lydia, in 560 BCE and, after the subjugation of Lydia by the Persians four years later, it became a dominion of Persia. In 334 BCE Alexander the Great occupied Bithynia. After his death in 323 BCE, the country was nominally ruled for a period by Antigonus I, one of the Macedonian generals who partitioned Alexander's empire. About 316 BCE Antigonus founded Nicaea (now Iznik), later a chief city of Bithynia.\nLed by a native prince, Ziboetes, the Bithynians regained their independence early in the 3rd century BCE.\nThe first dynasty of Bithynian kings was established by Ziboetes's son Nicomedes I (reigned 278-250 BCE), who founded Nicomedia (now Izmit) in 264 BCE and made it his capital. Bithynia flourished under the succeeding kings of the dynasty, notably Prusias I (reigned 237-192 BCE); Prusias II (r. 192-148 BCE), who founded Prusa (now Bursa); Nicomedes II (r. 142-91 BCE); and Nicomedes III (r. 91-74 BCE). In 74 BCE Nicomedes III, a close ally of the Romans, bequeathed the kingdom to Rome. It was then united with the Roman province of Pontus for administrative purposes. Later, under Byzantine rule, the territory of Bithynia was restricted to an area west of the Sangarius River (now Sakarya River). It formed a province in the Diocese of Pontus. In CE 1298 Bithynia was overrun by the Seljuk Turks under Osman, and thereafter the region formed an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. Bithynia is now part of Turkey. \nMysia ;\nThe Mysians seem to have been Thracians who crossed over to Asia at an early period. Mysia was subject to Lydia and later, under Persian rule, formed with Lydia one of the satrapies created by Darius I. After the death of Alexander the Great, the country shared in the vicissitudes of Asia Minor during the wars among his successors. Mysia became important in the 3rd century BCE as the center of the kingdom of Pergamum, a Hellenistic state that controlled much of western Asia Minor. In 130 BCE, Pergamum came under Roman rule, and Mysia became part of the Roman province of Asia.\nIonia ;\nThe region received its name from the Ionians, Greeks who emigrated from the mainland of Greece probably before 1000 BCE. The area is mountainous and includes three fertile valleys, watered by the rivers Gediz, Ergene, and Menderes. Ionia was extremely prosperous in ancient times because of a flourishing agriculture and commerce. In the 7th and 6th centuries BCE Ionia made important contributions to Greek art and literature, and particularly to philosophy. Great cities grew up, of which Ephesus, Clazomenae, Erythrae, Colophon, and Miletus were the most celebrated. Several cities, such as Miletus and Phocaea, became important commercial centers and sent out colonies westward as far as present-day Spain and northward to the Black Sea. Common interests led the 12 Ionian cities to form a confederacy, within which each city remained autonomous. Smyrna (now Izmir) was originally settled by the Aeolian Greeks, but was later occupied by colonists from Colophon and became an Ionian city. In the 7th and 6th centuries BCE the cities of Ionia were involved in a series of wars with the kings of Lydia, to whom Ionia yielded a nominal submission. Ionia exercised a powerful influence on Lydian culture, its own culture being influenced in turn by Lydia. In 546 BCE the Ionians came under the sway of Persia, but revolted from Persian rule in 500 BCE, assisted by the Greek cities of Athens and Eretria. The revolt was put down, but the participation of Athens and Eretria gave the Persians a pretext for declaring war on Greece. With the defeat of Persia by the Greeks in 479 BCE, the Ionian cities became nominally free, but in reality they were dependent on Athens. Around 334 BCE Alexander the Great annexed the cities to his Greco-Macedonian empire. Subsequently, Ionia was incorporated into the Roman and Byzantine empires.\nLydia ;\nThe country was known to Homer under the name Maeonia. It was celebrated for fertile soil, rich deposits of gold and silver, and a magnificent capital, Sardis. Lydia became most powerful under the dynasty of the Mermnadae, beginning about 685 BCE. In the 6th century BCE Lydian conquests transformed the kingdom into an empire. Under the rule of King Croesus, Lydia attained its greatest splendor. The empire came to an end, however, when the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great captured Sardis about 546 BCE and incorporated Lydia into the Persian Empire. After the defeat of Persia by Alexander III, king of Macedonia, Lydia was brought under Greco-Macedonian control. In 133 BCE it became part of the Roman province of Asia. The Lydians are said to have been the first people to coin money.\nCaria ;\nThe Taurus Mountains extend into the interior region, and the irregular coastline has numerous deep inlets. The islands of Rhodes and Kos lie off the coast. Ancient Greek and Roman historians recorded that the original inhabitants of this region were pushed inland by an influx of people called Carians. The Carians, who were notable as mercenary soldiers, had been driven from their native islands in the Aegean Sea by invading Greeks. The Greeks also established colonies along the coast of Caria, notably Cnidus and Halicarnassus. In the 6th century BCE, Caria was incorporated into the kingdom of Lydia; subsequently, it became a Persian dominion, ruled by Carian kings who were subject to Cyrus the Great. Mausolus was the best known of these monarchs; his widow built the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In the 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great seized Caria. After his rule, the country became a part first of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria and later of the kingdom of Pergamum; in the 2nd century BCE, Pergamum was turned into the Roman province of Asia.\nLycia ;\nThe terrain of Lycia was mountainous, and the hills and valleys were fertile. The country was originally called Milyas and inhabited by the Solymi and the Termilae, who were subjugated by the invading Lycians. The Lycians and the Greeks first came into contact before the Trojan War, and the remains of Lycian tombs, temples, and theaters show a marked Greek influence. Lycia and Cilicia were the only two countries of Asia Minor that were not conquered in the 6th century BCE by Croesus, king of Lydia. In the same century, however, the Lycians were defeated by the Persians under King Cyrus the Great despite heroic resistance. Under the Persians, Lycia remained prosperous and virtually autonomous. Along with the rest of Asia Minor, Lycia was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia in the 4th century BCE and incorporated into the Greco-Macedonian Empire. In 189 BCE the Lycians were vanquished by the Romans, under whom they continued to enjoy prosperity and relative freedom. In the 4th century CE Lycia became a Roman province.\nPamphylia ;\nThe inhabitants, a mixed race of aborigines, Cilicians, and Greek colonists, spoke a language that was probably Greek in origin but that was changed through the addition of barbaric elements. Persian domination was followed by the area's conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. After his death the country was ruled by the Seleucid dynasty. Later a part of the kingdom of Pergamum, it was bequeathed to the Romans with the rest of the kingdom by Attalus III in 133 BCE.\nCilicia ;\nThe western part of Cilicia (Cilicia Trachia) is mountainous and forested; much of the eastern part (Cilicia Pedias) consists of fertile plains. The principal rivers were the Cydnus (now Tarsus), the Adana (now Seyhan), and the Jihun (now Ceyhan); the principal cities were Tarsus, Seleucia (now Silifke), and Issus, which was prosperous during the Roman Empire. From the 6th to the 4th century BCE, when most of Asia Minor was under the control of the Persian Achaemenids, Cilicia was an independent kingdom paying tribute to Persia or part of a Persian satrapy. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, during the Hellenistic period, from the 4th to the 2nd century BCE, most of Cilicia was part of the Seleucid Empire. Eastern Cilicia was conquered by the Romans in 103 BCE, and all of Cilicia became a Roman province about 67 BCE. Under the Romans, the region was noted for the export of so-called cilicium, cloth made of goat hair, valued for the manufacture of tents. In the 1st century CE the apostle Paul lived in the city of Tarsus. The province was later included in the Byzantine Empire until it was captured in the 8th century by Arabs.\nCappadocia ;\nAs early as 1900 BCE, merchants from Assyria established a colony in Cappadocia. From about 1750 BCE to the formation of the Persian Empire of the Achaemenid dynasty in the 7th century BCE, this region was the center of power of the Hittites. Later, the Persians controlled the area and divided it into two satrapies, or provinces. The northern province became known as Cappadocia near the Pontus, or merely Pontus; the southern area retained the name Cappadocia, by which it was known in classical times. After the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great early in the 4th century BCE, Cappadocia became independent. The first king of the Cappadocian dynasty, Ariarathes I (reigned 330-322 BCE), paid tribute to Alexander, but Alexander's successors were unable to conquer the country. Later, the kings of Cappadocia sided with Rome, then a rising power, against the Seleucids and against Pontus. Cappadocia changed sides often in its support of the various factions during the Roman civil wars of the 1st century BCE. The independence of the country ended when the Romans supplanted the Cappadocian dynasty with a puppet king about 40 BCE. In CE 17 the Roman emperor Tiberius made Cappadocia a province of the Roman Empire. Thereafter, the importance of Cappadocia as a separate political unit declined. Among the important towns of Cappadocia were the capital of the kingdom, Mazaca (now Kayseri), known in Roman times as Caesarea Mazaca; Tyana; and Melitene (now Malatya). The modern town of Bogazkoy is on the site of the Cappadocian town of Pteria, which was built on the site of the city of Hattushash, capital of the Hittite Empire.\nPhrygia ;\nEarly in the 1st millennium BCE it is believed to have comprised the greater part of the Anatolian Peninsula, but at the time of the Persian invasion in the 6th century BCE it was limited to the districts known as Lesser Phrygia and Greater Phrygia. Lesser Phrygia stretched west along the shores of the Sea of Marmara and the Hellespont to Troas, a region afterward part of Mysia. Greater Phrygia lay farther east and inland, where the Phrygian capital, Gordion (near present-day Ankara), was located. In the 3rd century BCE the Gauls occupied the northern part of Greater Phrygia. For purposes of provincial administration the Romans divided Phrygia into two parts, attaching the northeastern part to Galatia Province and the western portion to Asia Province. \nGreater Phrygia was in general a high and barren plateau; the most fertile region was the valley of the Sangarius. Grapes were cultivated extensively, and Phrygian marble, celebrated in antiquity, was quarried. The religion of the Phrygians was an ecstatic nature worship, in which the Great Mother of the Gods, Rhea, or Cybele, and a male deity, Sabazius, played a prominent part. The orgiastic rites of this religion influenced both the Greeks and the Romans.\nThe Phrygians are believed to have been an Indo-European people who entered Asia Minor from Thrace about 1200 BCE and seized control of the whole central tableland. Records exist of numerous kings, bearing alternately the names of Gordius and Midas, but their power was apparently broken by the invasions of the Cimmerians in the 7th century BCE. In the 6th century BCE Croesus, king of Lydia, conquered all that was left of Phrygia, which passed successively under the rule of Persia, Macedonia, Pergamum, and Rome.\nThe Phrygian cap, a cloth head-covering worn by the Phrygians, was adopted by freed slaves in Roman times, and thus this cap became a symbol of liberty.\nGalatia ;\nAncient region of Anatolia, named for the Galatians, a Gallic people from Europe who settled here in the early 3rd century BCE. The region lies in the basins of the present-day Kizil Irmak and Delice Irmak (rivers), on the great central plateau of Turkey. Galatia possesses some expanses of fertile soil, but most of the land is suitable only for pasturing the large flocks of sheep and goats raised here. In addition to the Gauls, many Greeks settled in the region, and it eventually became Hellenized; the inhabitants, therefore, were often referred to as Gallo-Graeci. Dominated by Rome through regional rulers from 189 BCE, Galatia and adjacent regions became a Roman province in 25 BCE. It was conquered by the Seljuks in the 11th century CE. Paul the Apostle visited Galatia and addressed his Epistle to the Galatians to several churches here.\nPaphlagonia ;\nThe mountainous area between Bithynia and Pontus on the Black Sea coast, bordered by the ancient Halys river to the east. The name Paphlagonia probably derives from ancient Luwian or Pala language and its original spelling might have been Pauwa-Lacawana. The peoples of this area were called Paphlagonians by the Greeks and mentioned by Homer in his \" Iliad \" as being on the side of Trojans. Paphlagonians were one of the earliest peoples who lived in Anatolia in 1st millennium BCE. Paphlagonia was heavily colonized by the Greeks and they built number of cities along its coast. Although any local kingdom has never been established here, it was the area, during the Hittite period that the Hittite kings had to deal with its peoples. It was not a political unit and was annexed and occupied by the kings of Bithynia and Pontus respectively. It was won (63 BCE) by the Romans. \nPontus ;\nThe name Pontus does not occur in records before the 4th century BCE and did not come into common use until after the time of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Before Alexander's conquest of Persia in 330 BCE, Pontus was governed by a satrap for the Persian Empire. The foundation of the powerful kingdom of Pontus was laid by Mithradates I Ctistes (died about 301 BCE). His son, Mithradates II (died about 265 BCE), gained control of Paphlagonia and northern Cappadocia. The most important king of Pontus was Mithradates VI. On his overthrow in 66 BCE by the Roman general Pompey the Great, the kingdom was divided, the western portion being joined to the province of Bithynia in a Roman province known as Pontus and Bithynia and the eastern region being assigned to native princes. The eastern territory was constituted a Roman province in 62 CE and at first was joined to Galatia, but in the 4th century CE, under the Roman emperor Constantine I, it became a separate province with the name Pontus Polemoniacus.\n \nAeolis\nancient region of the west coast of Asia Minor (in present-day Turkey). Aeolis was not a geographic term but a collective term for the cities founded there by the Aeolians, a branch of the Hellenic peoples. The 12 southern cities were grouped in the Aeolian League; these were Temnos, Smyrna, Pitane, Neonteichos, Aegirusa, Notium, Cilla or Killa, Cyme, Gryneum, Larissa, Myrina, and Aegae.\nPisidia\nancient country of S Asia Minor, S of Phrygia and N of Pamphylia. It was a mountainous country, traversed by the Taurus range. Its warlike tribes maintained their independence until the country was incorporated into a Roman province in the early 1st cent. BCE.\nLycaonia\nancient country of S Asia Minor (now in Turkey), between Galatia and Cilicia on the north and south and Phrygia and Cappadocia on the west and east. Passing successively to the Persians, Syrians, and Romans, it was divided by the Romans between Galatia and Cappadocia. It was visited by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14.6). Its chief city was Iconium.","Example Essays: Cyrus The Great\n... it is certainly before 6th century BCE, when Cyrus the Great was ... of the war between the Greek states and Persia. ... Cyrus, the king of Persia, ...\nExample Essays: Cyrus The Great\n1. Appeal to the great spirit\n\"Appeal to the great spiritaE was sculpted by Cyrus Edwin Dallin. ... Appeal to the great spirit was first displayed at the national sculptors society exhibit in Baltimore in 1908. ... This sculpture could also show a Muslim, Christian, or Jewish man praying to their own \"great spiritaE.At first glance you might think this sculpture was just of a Native American man on his horse as a symbol of power, as I did. ... Dallin might of used the Native American man because he felt they represented desperation in a more pure form as they were driven out of their homeland by Europeans.In co...\nWord Count: 407\n2. Influences of the Persian Empire\n(Curtis, 18) The beginning of the Persian Empire is accredited to the wise guidance of a man known as Cyrus the Great. ... In the year 550 Cyrus the Great took power over the land of Media. ... He added greatness to things that Cyrus had achieved. ... Researchers often disagree on the exact dates when Zoroaster existed, it is certainly before 6th century BCE, when Cyrus the Great was in power. ... The Jewish community of the Persian Empire best notably aided from this; Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to homeland and reconstruct their temple. ...\nWord Count: 2056\n4. Jacksonians - Common Man\nAs shown in the elements of politics, the economic development, and many others, the period lived up to its characterization a great deal.Through the element of politics, it was shown that the common man was on the rise. ... In the 1830's, Cyrus McCormick contributed the a very important contraption, a mechanical mower-reaper. ...\nWord Count: 625\n5. What makes the Bible so special?\nAn example of this would be the prophecy of king Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28;45:1) The Prophet Isaiah, writing at around 700 B.C., predicts Cyrus (by name) as the king who will say to Jerusalem that their city will be built and the foundation of the temple will be laid. ... Not long after that, a Persian named Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. ... (Walvord and Zuck 1098) This means Isaiah predicted that a man named Cyrus, who wouldn\"t even be born for about one hundred year, would give a decree to rebuild a temple that was still standing in his own time, which wouldn\"t be des...\nWord Count: 911\n6. Medo Persian Empire\nA prophet named Isaiah had already prophesied about Cyrus. The bible tells us that Isaiah prophesied about Cyrus and called him by name some two hundred years before Cyrus was born (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). ... The first of the world\"s great imperial organizations, the Persian Empire was Beneficent and humane compared with the Assyrian Empire due to its sincerity towards the Jews. ... The six prophecies were as follows: First, Cyrus the Great whom, \"Isaiah called by name some two hundred years before his birthaE (e.g. ... The legacy before Cyrus was far more than anyone could dream. ...\nWord Count: 1634\n7. Discovery: Cross-Country Running\nKnowing that our team was in a state of great doubt and low spirits, my friend, Jailene, tried her best to snap us out of it. ... We listened to a song she put on, called \"The Climb\" by Miley Cyrus, and cheesy as it may be, it really worked. ... When I complete the end of cross-country, it feels me with great sadness. ... Thanks for allowing me to discover and live a great experience. ...\nWord Count: 723\n8. The Zhou and Persian Empires\nThe civilization was established by Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the great conquered all of south west Asia and overthrew the Median confederation. ... Cyrus the great was responsible for making Persia a prestige dynasty. Also Cyrus the Great was responsible for the ancient scripts people would speak. ... This would help Cyrus the great win great support of the Babylonians. ...\nWord Count: 2308\nWhen Cyrus of Persia usurped the throne of Ionia around 547 BC, he favored a rule of tyrants for the Ionians. ... However, Thermistocles, an Athenian statesman, knew that the \"wooden wallaE referred to the great Athenian navy. ...\nWord Count: 655\n10. Modernization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America\nCyrus Veesers idea in Great Leaps Forward: Modernization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America is to simply explain how less-developed nations across the planet tried to catch up to \"the Wests rise to power. ... Europe's latest technology really sparked an interest with Menelik such as their telephones, phonographs, projectors, and cars, he wanted to learn everything about the latest technology and that curiosity is what made him a great leader. ...\nWord Count: 2216\n11. The Persians\nThe Persians were one of the last great ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. ... This was due to Cyrus, who developed a strong army in 540 BC, and his son Cambyses who brought all of the middle east under Persia\"s control. Cyrus and Cambyses were great conquerors, but the best organizer among the kings was Darius I, who ruled from 522 BC to 486 BC. ... Zoroaster\"s religion beliefs may have lead the way and helped shape Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.The Persian empire greatly influenced other cultures, such as the Greek, but was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 300\"s BC. ...\nWord Count: 294\n12. Iran and Gulf conflict\nBackground of IranHistory highlights of Iran *Iran was called Persia before 1935. The Aryans, who began an earlier agricultural civilization, came from the upper part of Iran during the second millennium BC. They were an Indo-European group related to the Aryans of India.*In 549 BC Cyrus the Great...\nWord Count: 2645\n13. Sociology Paper - Inequality\nAnother picture was one of the music sensation Miley Cyrus, and was meme of her dancing in one of her music videos, with a part of the song being captioned under it. ... The majority of people were black men and woman, but there were two pictures of white men and woman.Analysis of PicturesIt can be shown through the pictures found on google there is a great inequality that black people are associated with in society. ... Another example is a picture that of Miley Cyrus, she is a well-known white female celebrity in the music industry. ...\nWord Count: 1377\n14. Herodotus\nThese customs to Herodotus are the ones he considers to be most admirable (1.57).Herodotus also gives the accounts of the great Persian kings Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes. ... Croesus, remembering Solon\"s words started to mumble his name, which intrigued Cyrus and so Cyrus asked who Solon was. ... Because of this story and the fact that Croesus suggested that the Persians should give one tenth of their looting to the king to be offered to the gods, Cyrus came to a decision that Croesus was a great king and that instead of killing him, he would make him his advisor. Later on, Cyrus took Croesus\" su...\nWord Count: 1569\n15. Definition Of An Empire\nCyrus The Great forcefully spread the reaches of his empire using military force. Up until Cyrus, no culture or individual had ever really thought this one up. ... Cyrus had conquered all of Persia and defeated the Medes for control of the region. ... Alexander the Great set out to conquer the Persians in his own punitive expedition. ... The last great monarch of Assyria was Ashurbanipal. ...\nWord Count: 731\n16. Herodotus: Historian or Storyteller?\nHerodotus wrote the Histories so \"...that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvelous deeds- some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians-may not be without glory\" (¶ 1.1). ... The dramatic scene immediately following the Persian capture of Sardis demonstrates a positive view, from Herodotus, on the Persian king Cyrus, wherein Cyrus shows compassion to Croesus, and decides not to have him executed (¶1.86-90). However, while this is demonstrative of Herodotus fulfilling his pledge to record the great deeds of non-Greeks, and exemplifying his role as an histor...\nWord Count: 2143\n17. women in herodotus\nKing Cyrus of the Medes asked to marry her, but wanted only the lands she controlled. ... Cyrus began to build a bridge to cross the river separating the empires in order to make for an easier attack. ... Rule your own people, and try to bear the sight of me ruling mine.aE (1.206) Cyrus decided to continue building the bridge and attack. The first battle was won by Cyrus\" army, and captured was the queen\"s son. After her son was killed, the queen swore, \"...to give you (Cyrus) more blood than you can drink, for all your gluttony.aE (1.212) Tomyris\" army won a very bloody battle, an...\nWord Count: 1817\n18. Fictional Ancient Greek Newspaper Article\nThe Great Battle of Thermopylae had just ended, with Xerxes' Persian army taking out the last 300 Spartans. ... A Persian attack on Athens is expected, as Xerxes will most likely try to fulfill the wish of Cyrus, his father: to end the reign of Athens.Last week our colleague, Isidoros Kosmas, was able to chat with one of the Athenian soldiers who fought at Thermopylae, Nicolaus Philon. ...\nWord Count: 613\n19. The Haymarket Riot of 1886\nCyrus McCormick owned the company and was a kind gentleman that knew all 43 of his employees by name. The factory grew over time but Cyrus still managed to know all his employees. ... After Cyrus McCormick's death in 1884 corporations took over the plant. ... \"The A.F of L. served as the preeminent national labor organization until the Great Depression when unskilled workers finally came together.\" ... In 1871 Chicago had, \"The Great Fire\". ...\nWord Count: 1715\n20. West asia\nBut more importantly, studying the prehistory and history of this region sheds light to the origins of both man and his great achievements.CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE REPORT In general, the report has two major contributions as far as my being a student and my being a follower of Christianity are concerned. On the one hand, it has increased my academic understanding of West Asia aE\"its history and its civilization\"s great achievements. ... Back to the topic, the report has definitely widen my vocabulary in so far as notions of West Asian nature are concerned; it has revived my memory on some topics l...\nWord Count: 586\n21. Daniel Study- Bible\nIt also is a great of example of the wisdom that God gives us access to and how Daniel used it in a way pleasing to the Lord.Chapter 312 Kings 24-25Jehoiakim, reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. ... Cyrus, the king of Persia, was moved by the Lord and declared that a new temple would be built in Jerusalem and the captive peoples are free to return.NebuchadnezzarHe was a Chaldean. ... Exiles that were once capture and taken to Babylon were returned to their native land by Cyrus king of Persia. ...\nWord Count: 1293\n22. Tacitus And Nero\nThus he is comparable to Cyrus or Agesilaus and similar figures. ... Several of the Socratic conversations he records are on subjects we know Xenophon was specially interested in, and the views he offers in them are just those he elsewhere expresses in his own name or through the mouth of Cyrus in the Cyropadia. ... \"His Apology and Symposium are similarly disregarded as sources of information on Socrates.aE An exception is made however, in Xenophons memorabilia, which serves to show Socrates as far from an irreligious man, and and that, so far from corrupting the young, he did them a g...\nWord Count: 1375\n24. Afghanistan-The Crossroads of History\nCyrus the Great of Persia conquered a wide sweep of territory from Asia Minor to India including what is today Afghanistan and other countries. ... By 330 B.C., the mighty conqueror, Alexander the Great, conquered much of the Persian Empire and present-day Afghanistan. ... There, Romans confronted the Hellenistic rulers who had divided up the empire of Alexander the Great. ...\nWord Count: 859\n25. The American Industrial Revolution\nAnother machine of the industrial revolution was the Mechanical Reaper which was invented by Cyrus McCormick in 1834 (Bland, 20). ... The fisherman became terrified and rowed homewards, and they saw nothing but destruction devastating their fishing grounds, while the wreathes of black vapor produced great excitement among the boatmen. ...\nWord Count: 725","FC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE) - Flow of History\nIt is here that we encounter the founder of the Persian Empire. Cyrus the Great ... king of Lydia in ... and waged war on each other, which only added to Persia's ...\nFC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE) - The Flow of History\nThe Flow of History\nA Dynamic and Graphic Approach to Teaching History\nPrimary Links\nFC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE)\nFlowchart\nFC15 in the Hyperflow of History .\nIntroduction\nFew people today can boast a longer and prouder history than the Iranians, descendants of the ancient Persians. Not only did they build the greatest empire of the ancient Near East, but they also absorbed the ancient civilizations they ruled, in particular that of Mesopotamia. They then added their own distinctive touches and passed them on to Islamic civilization, still one of the main cultural traditions of modern times. Therefore, this remarkable people who have survived and flourished from antiquity to the present have been a major connecting link with our past.\nWe first encounter the Persians around 2000 B.C.E. emerging from the grassy steppes of Central Asia in the north. At that point, they were closely associated with two other peoples: the Medes and Aryans. The latter of these turned eastward, crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains, and overthrew the Indus River civilization. Eventually these nomads would settle down and build Indian civilization upon the foundations laid by the Indus culture. Meanwhile the Persians and Medes were turning westward where they encountered the Elamites, a people whose extended contact with Mesopotamia had influenced them to absorb the culture of the \"Cradle of Civilization\".\nThe Medes and Persians in turn started absorbing Elamite culture. One need only look at the relief sculptures of the Persians, with their curly beards and stiff formal poses, to see the connection with Mesopotamia. However, the process of becoming civilized was a long one for these people, since they were still on the northeastern fringes of the older Near Eastern cultures. When they emerge fully into the light of history in the pages of the Greek historian Herodotus, they are still very nomadic in their customs and values. According to Herodotus, the nomadic Persians had only three simple goals in educating their sons: \"to ride a horse, to draw a bow, and to speak the truth.\" What more did nomads need? The Medes were actually the first of these nomadic peoples to establish an empire when they joined forces with Babylon to overthrow the Assyrian Empire in 6l2 B.C.E. In the aftermath, Babylon took the richer civilized lands of the Fertile Crescent, while the Medes took the more extensive but wilder lands to the north. Among their subjects were their compatriots, the Persians. It is here that we encounter the founder of the Persian Empire.\nCyrus the Great and the Rise of Persia (c.550-522 B.C.E.)\nHerodotus gives us a detailed and somewhat fanciful account of Cyrus the Great's rise to power. As in the stories of so many great men and legendary figures in history, from Sargon of Kish and Moses to Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, Cyrus barely survived infancy due to a royal death sentence from a king nervous about the child's destiny. In each story, someone saves the baby, who grows up and comes back to overthrow the king who tried to do him in. What does seem clear is that Cyrus led the Persians in revolt against the Medes and overthrew them around 550 B.C.E.\nAlthough the Medes' old neighbors were certainly glad to see the powerful Median state overthrown, they soon found their new neighbor, Persia, was an even more dangerous foe. Cyrus first turned westward against Croesus, king of Lydia in Asia Minor, a land renown for its wealth, as seen in the old saying \"rich as Croesus\" to denote how wealthy someone is. In order to deal with the tough Lydian cavalry, Cyrus placed camels in front of his lines. The Lydian horses, unused to the camels' strange smell, panicked and bolted, giving Cyrus the victory and Lydia. Cyrus next turned south against Babylon, whose empire was seething with revolt. Herodotus claims that Cyrus had his troops divert the course of the Euphrates so they could march into the city's unguarded river gates. However true that may be, Babylon's empire collapsed like a house of cards, leaving Cyrus the master of a huge empire. Still, he pressed onward, this time into the vast and wild expanses of Central Asia. His intentions here were probably defensive, to protect the frontiers of civilization from the swarms of nomadic horsemen to the northeast. It was here in 530 B.C.E. that Cyrus died in battle against a tribe known as the Massagetae. In his twenty-nine year reign, he had built the largest empire in history up to that time.\nCyrus' son and successor, Cambyses (530-522 B.C.E.), is mainly remembered for his conquest of Egypt in 525 B.C.E. His attempts to conquer the Nile further south and the desert oases of the Sahara met with less success. Supposedly, one of Cambyses' armies was swallowed up by a desert sandstorm. Cambyses was especially unpopular with the Egyptians, who claimed he committed various atrocities, including the slaying of the sacred bull of Apis. Since our main source for his life is Herodotus, who relied heavily on Egyptian sources for his book, we have a picture of Cambyses as a drunken lunatic,. Cambyses died in 522 B.C.E on his way to Babylon to crush a revolt led by his cousin, Darius, who then succeeded him as the next Great King of Persia.\nDarius I \"the Great\" and the consolidation of the Persian Empire\nAlthough Cyrus had founded the Persian Empire, Darius I (522-486 B.C.E.) gave it the internal organization and structure that allowed it to last for 200 years. His accomplishment is all the more impressive when we consider the empire's enormous size, the scale of which no one had ever dealt with before. Darius dealt especially with three areas: organization of the empire's provinces, keeping the provincial governors under control, and maintaining communications with his far flung empire.\nOrganizing the provincial government presented two options. Darius could either create small provinces with governors too weak to rebel, but also too weak to defend their provinces against invasion. Or he could create large provinces able to defend themselves, but also more capable of defying his authority. He created about twenty large provinces, called satrapies. These ensured that he would not have to race from one end of his empire to the other defending it against every little tribe that decided to attack. Each such campaign might involve years of preparation, marching and fighting. Meanwhile, other frontiers would be vulnerable to attack, involving more years of campaigning and leaving the king with little time for other duties.\nSince larger provinces gave the governors, known as satraps, a lot of power, Darius took several precautions to keep his satraps from rebelling. For one thing, he had the provincial treasury officials, secretaries, and garrisons answer directly to him, not to the satraps, except in emergencies. This generally deprived the satraps of the money and troops they needed to revolt while ensuring the defense of the satrapies. There were also officials known as the \"King's Ears\". These personal agents of the king would travel to the various satraps' courts to check up on their behavior and official records. The King's Ears commanded a great deal of fear and respect, sometimes showing up with no armed escort, but still being able to put down rebellious satraps before the revolts went beyond the planning stages.\nCommunications in such a far-flung realm was another major problem. Here the Persians adopted the Assyrian practice of setting up a system of relay riders, much like the old Pony Express in American history. Each horse and rider would carry a message for a day and then pass it on to the next horse and rider. In order to speed things along, the Persians established a road system to tie the empire together. The most famous of these was the King's Highway, which stretched 1677 miles from the Persian capital of Susa to Sardis in Asia Minor. It had patrols against bandits, relay stations with fresh horses for the royal messengers, and 111 inns for travelers, placed about one day's journey apart from each other. Another road going through the desert to Egypt had underground cisterns with water for travelers. Although these roads helped trade and travel, their main priority was for the relay riders who could carry a message from Sardis to the king in Susa within seven days, an amazing speed for back then. As Herodotus described these riders: \"Nothing stops these couriers from covering their allotted stops in the quickest possible time--neither snow, rain, heat, nor darkness.\"\nIn general, Darius took existing practices and institutions and adopted them on a larger scale. However, in one respect, he differed quite markedly from previous Mesopotamian rulers. That was in his treatment of Persia's subjects. Darius realized that there was no way his far-flung empire could survive constant revolts such as had plagued the Assyrians. Therefore, he followed a policy of tolerance toward his subjects' customs and religions. For example, the Jews were allowed to return to Israel from their Babylonian captivity, causing them to sing the Persians’ praises in the Bible.\nDarius and other Persian kings also adopted local titles, such as pharaoh in Egypt, to win popular support. Sometimes they also kept local rulers in power as Persian vassals, such as in the Greek cities in Asia Minor. This hopefully would ensure them more loyalty, although it could backfire if those rulers were unpopular to begin with. While Persian rule may not have been wildly popular, most people tolerated it as an improvement over the harsher rule of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Keeping their subjects happy went a long way toward keeping the Persian Empire intact. It also ensured the cooperation of the Syrians and Babylonians, whose scribes and administrative skills were badly needed to keep the government running smoothly.\nThe Persians also worked hard to promote economic prosperity. Their roads, strong government, and stable coinage encouraged trade. They also promoted agriculture with irrigation projects and the introduction of new crops to different areas, such as sesame to Egypt and rice to Mesopotamia. Of course, increased prosperity also generated more taxes. The Persians also kept their subjects happy by charging moderate tax rates, about twenty per cent of a person's income. Despite this modest tax rate, the Persian kings were fabulously wealthy. By the time Alexander the Great took over the Persian Empire in 330 B.C.E., the Persian kings had reportedly amassed a treasury of 5500 tons of silver.\nDarius and other Persian kings further enhanced their authority by assuming divine or semi-divine status to overawe their subjects. In certain provinces, such as Egypt, they took the titles of local rulers who were often seen as gods. They also built a fabulous capital, Persepolis, in the middle of the desert, and adorned it with magnificent government buildings. The Persians also adopted the elaborate court ritual of their subjects. One had to go through a virtual army of officials before getting an audience with the king. When one approached the king, he performed a rite known as proskynesis, which involved throwing oneself at the king's feet. It was a great honor just to be allowed to kiss the hem of his garment and a serious offence for anyone outside the king's closest friends and advisors to look him in the eye. Such elaborate ritual could enhance the king's authority, but it could also cut him off from the day-to-day realities of empire.\nReligion\nThe Persians, like most ancient peoples, started out with a polytheistic religion to account for the forces of nature. However, around 600 B.C.E., a new religion emerged, called Zoroastrianism after its founder, Zoroaster. This was a dualistic religion, which meant it saw life as a constant struggle between the forces of good and evil. In the end people would all be held accountable for their deeds in a judgment day when they would go to heaven as a reward for good deeds or suffer eternal punishment for their sins. Zoroastrianism seems to have had some influence on Judaism. In the book of Daniel, which takes place at the Persian court, the ideas of Heaven and Hell and of Satan as a force always opposed to God first appear in the Bible. Both of these ideas have become central to Christianity and Islam as well as Judaism.\nDecline and fall (c.464-330 B.C.E.)\nAny state needs a strong ruler to keep things running smoothly. After the death of Xerxes (486-464 B.C.E.), the Persian Empire lacked that strong hand. As a result, various problems developed that fed back upon one another and led to Persia's decline and fall. For one thing, weak rulers led to numerous provincial revolts, especially in Egypt, which always had detested Persian rule. Secondly, the provincial satraps also became more independent, ruling their satrapies more as kings than as the king's loyal subjects. They even carried on their own foreign policies and waged war on each other, which only added to Persia's problems.\nRevolts and unruly satraps caused serious economic problems for the empire. Persian taxes became heavier and more oppressive, which led to economic depression and revolts, which in turn led to more repression, heavier taxes and so on. The Persian kings also started hoarding gold and silver rather than re-circulating it. This created economic turmoil without enough gold and silver for doing business. As a result of this economic turmoil, the Persian kings got weaker still, which fed back into the problem of revolts and powerful satraps and so on.\nAround 400 B.C.E., Cyrus the Younger, a royal prince, rebelled against his brother and king, Artaxerxes. Although Cyrus was killed in battle, his force of 10, 000 Greek mercenaries survived only to find themselves stranded in the heart of Persia. In order to get home, they marched and fought their way through a good part of the Persian Empire. This exploit, known as the March of the Ten Thousand, exposed the weakness of the Persian Empire. This encouraged Alexander the Great to invade Persia, which he conquered in a remarkably short time and with a remarkably small army.\nNevertheless, the Persians survived and reestablished their empire under the Sassanid dynasty around 200 C.E. Around 650 C.E., they fell once again, this time to the Arabs inspired by their new religion, Islam. Still, Persia survived, passing its culture on to the Arabs. Thus the Islamic culture which emerged was very much Persian, and ultimately Mesopotamian, in origin. The Persian Empire revived once again around 1500 under the Safavid dynasty, and its culture and traditions live on today in modern Iran.\n»"],"string":"[\n \"Lydia.txt\\nLydia\\nLydia (Assyrian: Luddu; , ) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian.\\n\\nAt its greatest extent, the Kingdom of Lydia covered all of western Anatolia. Lydia (known as Sparda by the Achaemenids) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, with SardisRhodes, P.J. A History of the Classical Greek World 478-323 BC. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6. as its capital. Tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great, was the first satrap (governor). (See: Lydia (satrapy).)\\n\\nLydia was later the name of a Roman province. Coins are said to have been invented in Lydia around the 7th century BC.\\n\\nDefining Lydia \\n\\nThe endonym Śfard (the name the Lydians called themselves) survives in bilingual and trilingual stone-carved notices of the Achaemenid Empire: the satrapy of Sparda (Old Persian), Aramaic Saparda, Babylonian Sapardu, Elamitic Išbarda, Hebrew סְפָרַד. These in the Greek tradition are associated with Sardis, the capital city of King Gyges, constructed during the 7th century BC.\\n\\nThe cultural ancestors appear to have been associated with or part of the Luwian political entity of Arzawa; yet the Lydian language is not part of the Luwian subgroup (as are Carian and Lycian).\\n\\nAn Etruscan/Lydian association has long been a subject of conjecture. The Greek historian Herodotus stated that the Etruscans came from Lydia, repeated in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid, and Etruscan-like language was found on the Lemnos stele from the Aegean Sea island of Lemnos. However, recent decipherment of Lydian and its classification as an Anatolian language mean that Etruscan and Lydian were not even part of the same language family. Nevertheless, a recent genetic study of likely Etruscan descendants in Tuscany found strong similarities with individuals in western Anatolia. \\n\\nGeography \\n\\nThe boundaries of historical Lydia varied across the centuries. It was bounded first by Mysia, Caria, Phrygia and coastal Ionia. Later, the military power of Alyattes II and Croesus expanded Lydia, which, with its capital at Sardis, controlled all Asia Minor west of the River Halys, except Lycia. After the Persian conquest the River Maeander was regarded as its southern boundary, and during imperial Roman times Lydia comprised the country between Mysia and Caria on the one side and Phrygia and the Aegean Sea on the other.\\n\\nLanguage \\n\\nThe Lydian language was an Indo-European language in the Anatolian language family, related to Luwian and Hittite. It used many prefixes and grammatical particles. Lydian finally became extinct during the 1st century BC.\\n\\nHistory \\n\\nEarly history: Maeonia and Lydia\\n\\nLydia developed as a Neo-Hittite kingdom after the decline of the Hittite Empire in the 12th century BC. In Hittite times, the name for the region had been Arzawa; it was a Luwian-speaking area. According to Greek source, the original name of the Lydian kingdom was Maionia (Μαιονία), or Maeonia: Homer (Iliad ii. 865; v. 43, xi. 431) refers to the inhabitants of Lydia as Maiones (Μαίονες). Homer describes their capital not as Sardis but as Hyde (Iliad xx. 385); Hyde may have been the name of the district in which Sardis was located. Later, Herodotus (Histories i. 7) adds that the \\\"Meiones\\\" were renamed Lydians after their king Lydus (Λυδός), son of Atys, during the mythical epoch that preceded the Heracleid dynasty. This etiological eponym served to account for the Greek ethnic name Lydoi (Λυδοί). The Hebrew term for Lydians, Lûḏîm (לודים), as found in the Book of Jeremiah(46.9), has been similarly considered, beginning with Flavius Josephus, to be derived from Lud son of Shem; however Hippolytus of Rome (AD 234) offered an alternative opinion that the Lydians were descended from Ludim, son of Mizraim. During Biblical times, the Lydian warriors were famous archers. Some Maeones still existed during historical times in the upland interior along the River Hermus, where a town named Maeonia existed, according to Pliny the Elder (Natural History book v:30) and Hierocles (author of Synecdemus).\\n\\nLydia in Greek mythology\\n\\nLydian mythology is virtually unknown, and their literature and rituals lost, in the absence of any monuments or archaeological finds with extensive inscriptions; therefore myths involving Lydia are mainly from Greek mythology.\\n\\nFor the Greeks, Tantalus was a primordial ruler of mythic Lydia, and Niobe his proud daughter; her husband Amphion associated Lydia with Thebes in Greece, and through Pelops the line of Tantalus was part of the founding myths of Mycenae's second dynasty. (In reference to the myth of Bellerophon, Karl Kerenyi remarked, in The Heroes of The Greeks 1959, p. 83. \\\"As Lykia was thus connected with Crete, and as the person of Pelops, the hero of Olympia, connected Lydia with the Peloponnesos, so Bellerophontes connected another Asian country, or rather two, Lykia and Karia, with the kingdom of Argos\\\".)\\n\\nIn Greek myth, Lydia had also adopted the double-axe symbol, that also appears in the Mycenaean civilization, the labrys. Omphale, daughter of the river Iardanos, was a ruler of Lydia, whom Heracles was required to serve for a time. His adventures in Lydia are the adventures of a Greek hero in a peripheral and foreign land: during his stay, Heracles enslaved the Itones, killed Syleus who forced passers-by to hoe his vineyard; slew the serpent of the river Sangarios (which appears in the heavens as the constellation Ophiucus) and captured the simian tricksters, the Cercopes. Accounts tell of at least one son born to Omphale and Heracles: Diodorus Siculus (4.31.8) and Ovid (Heroides 9.54) mention a son Lamos, while pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheke 2.7.8) gives the name Agelaus, and Pausanias (2.21.3) names Tyrsenus son of Heracles by \\\"the Lydian woman.\\\"\\n\\nAll three heroic ancestors indicate a Lydian dynasty claiming Heracles as their ancestor. Herodotus (1.7) refers to a Heraclid dynasty of kings who ruled Lydia, yet were perhaps not descended from Omphale. He also mentions (1.94) the recurring legend that the Etruscan civilization was founded by colonists from Lydia led by Tyrrhenus, brother of Lydus. However, Dionysius of Halicarnassus was skeptical of this story, indicating that the Etruscan language and customs were known to be totally dissimilar to those of the Lydians. Later chronographers also ignored Herodotus's statement that Agron was the first to be a king, and included Alcaeus, Belus, and Ninus in their list of kings of Lydia. Strabo (5.2.2) makes Atys, father of Lydus and Tyrrhenus, to be a descendant of Heracles and Omphale. All other accounts name Atys, Lydus, and Tyrrhenus as being among the pre-Heraclid kings of Lydia. The gold deposits in the river Pactolus that were the source of the proverbial wealth of Croesus (Lydia's last king) were said to have been left there when the legendary king Midas of Phrygia washed away the \\\"Midas touch\\\" in its waters.\\nIn Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae, Dionysus, while he is maintaining his human disguise, declares his country to be Lydia. \\n\\nFirst coinage\\n\\nAccording to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to use gold and silver coins and the first to establish retail shops in permanent locations. It is not known, however, whether Herodotus meant that the Lydians were the first to use coins of pure gold and pure silver or the first precious metal coins in general. Despite this ambiguity, this statement of Herodotus is one of the pieces of evidence often cited in behalf of the argument that Lydians invented coinage, at least in the West, even though the first coins were neither gold nor silver but an alloy of the two called electrum. \\n\\nThe dating of these first stamped coins is one of the most frequently debated topics of ancient numismatics, with dates ranging from 700 BC to 550 BC, but the most common opinion is that they were minted at or near the beginning of the reign of King Alyattes (sometimes referred to incorrectly as Alyattes II), who ruled Lydia c. 610-550 BC. The first coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that occurs naturally but that was further debased by the Lydians with added silver and copper. \\n\\nThe largest of these coins are commonly referred to as a 1/3 stater (trite) denomination, weighing around 4.7 grams, though no full staters of this type have ever been found, and the 1/3 stater probably should be referred to more correctly as a stater, after a type of a transversely held scale, the weights used in such a scale (from ancient Greek ίστημι=to stand), which also means \\\"standard.\\\" These coins were stamped with a lion's head adorned with what is likely a sunburst, which was the king's symbol. To complement the largest denomination, fractions were made, including a hekte (sixth), hemihekte (twelfth), and so forth down to a 96th, with the 1/96 stater weighing only about 0.15 grams. There is disagreement, however, over whether the fractions below the twelfth are actually Lydian. \\n\\nAlyattes' son was Croesus, who became associated with great wealth. Sardis was renowned as a beautiful city. Around 550 BC, near the beginning of his reign, Croesus paid for the construction of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Croesus was defeated in battle by Cyrus II of Persia in 546 BC, with the Lydian kingdom losing its autonomy and becoming a Persian satrapy.\\n\\nAutochthonous dynasties\\n\\nLydia was ruled by three dynasties:\\n\\n;Atyads (1300 BC or earlier) – Heraclids (Tylonids) (to 687 BC)\\nAccording to Herodotus the Heraclids ruled for 22 generations during the period from 1185 BC, lasting for 505 years). Alyattes was the king of Lydia in 776 BC. The last king of this dynasty was Myrsilos or Candaules.\\n*Candaules - After ruling for seventeen years he was assassinated by his former friend Gyges, who succeeded him on the throne of Lydia.\\n\\n;Mermnads\\n*Gyges, called Gugu of Luddu in Assyrian inscriptions (687-652 BC or 690-657 BC) - Once established on the throne, Gyges devoted himself to consolidating his kingdom and making it a military power. The capital was relocated from Hyde to Sardis. Barbarian Cimmerians sacked many Lydian cities, except for Sardis. Gyges was the son of Dascylus, who, when recalled from banishment in Cappadocia by the Lydian king Myrsilos—called Candaules \\\"the Dog-strangler\\\" (a title of the Lydian Hermes) by the Greeks—sent his son back to Lydia instead of himself. Gyges turned to Egypt, sending his faithful Carian troops along with Ionian mercenaries to assist Psammetichus in ending Assyrian domination. Some Bible scholars believe that Gyges of Lydia was the Biblical character Gog, ruler of Magog, who is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation.\\n*Ardys II (652-621 BC).\\n*Sadyattes (621-609 BC) or (624-610 BC) - Herodotus wrote (in his Inquiries) that he fought with Cyaxares, the descendant of Deioces, and with the Medes, drove out the Cimmerians from Asia, captured Smyrna, which had been founded by colonists from Colophon, and invaded the city-states Clazomenae and Miletus.\\n*Alyattes II (609 or 619-560 BC) - one of the greatest kings of Lydia. When Cyaxares attacked Lydia, the kings of Cilicia and Babylon intervened and negotiated a peace in 585 BC, whereby the River Halys was established as the Medes' frontier with Lydia. Herodotus writes:\\n\\n\\\"On the refusal of Alyattes to give up his supplicants when Cyaxares sent to demand them of him, war broke out between the Lydians and the Medes, and continued for five years, with various success. In the course of it the Medes gained many victories over the Lydians, and the Lydians also gained many victories over the Medes.\\\"\\n\\nThe Battle of the Eclipse was the final battle in a five year war between Alyattes II of Lydia and Cyaxares of the Medes. It took place on May 28, 585 BC, and ended abruptly due to a total solar eclipse.\\n\\n*Croesus (560-546 BC) - the expression \\\"rich as Croesus\\\" refers to this king. The Lydian Empire ended when Croesus attacked the Persian Empire of Cyrus II and was defeated in 546 BC.\\n\\nPersian Empire\\n\\nIn 547 BC, the Lydian king Croesus besieged and captured the Persian city of Pteria in Cappadocia and enslaved its inhabitants. The Persian king Cyrus The Great marched with his army against the Lydians. The Battle of Pteria resulted in a stalemate, forcing the Lydians to retreat to their capital city of Sardis. Some months later the Persian and Lydian kings met at the Battle of Thymbra. Cyrus won and captured the capital city of Sardis by 546 BC. \\n\\nHellenistic Empire \\n\\nLydia remained a satrapy after Persia's conquest by the Macedonian king Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon.\\n \\nWhen Alexander's empire ended after his death, Lydia was possessed by the major Asian diadoch dynasty, the Seleucids, and when it was unable to maintain its territory in Asia Minor, Lydia was acquired by the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum. Its last king avoided the spoils and ravage of a Roman war of conquest by leaving the realm by testament to the Roman Empire.\\n\\nRoman province of Asia \\n\\nWhen the Romans entered the capital Sardis in 133 BC, Lydia, as the other western parts of the Attalid legacy, became part of the province of Asia, a very rich Roman province, worthy of a governor with the high rank of proconsul. The whole west of Asia Minor had Jewish colonies very early, and Christianity was also soon present there. Acts of the Apostles 16:14-15 mentions the baptism of a merchant woman called \\\"Lydia\\\" from Thyatira, known as Lydia of Thyatira, in what had once been the satrapy of Lydia. Christianity spread rapidly during the 3rd century AD, based on the nearby Exarchate of Ephesus.\\n\\nRoman province of Lydia \\n\\nUnder the tetrarchy reform of Emperor Diocletian in 296 AD, Lydia was revived as the name of a separate Roman province, much smaller than the former satrapy, with its capital at Sardis.\\n \\nTogether with the provinces of Caria, Hellespontus, Lycia, Pamphylia, Phrygia prima and Phrygia secunda, Pisidia (all in modern Turkey) and the Insulae (Ionian islands, mostly in modern Greece), it formed the diocese (under a vicarius) of Asiana, which was part of the praetorian prefecture of Oriens, together with the dioceses Pontiana (most of the rest of Asia Minor), Oriens proper (mainly Syria), Aegyptus (Egypt) and Thraciae (on the Balkans, roughly Bulgaria).\\n \\nByzantine (and Crusader) age \\n\\nUnder the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641), Lydia became part of Anatolikon, one of the original themata, and later of Thrakesion. Although the Seljuk Turks conquered most of the rest of Anatolia, forming the Sultanate of Ikonion (Konya), Lydia remained part of the Byzantine Empire. During the occupation of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade, Lydia continued to be a part of the Byzantine Orthodox 'Greek Empire' based at Nicaea.\\n\\nUnder Turkish rule \\n\\nLydia was captured finally by Turkish beyliks, which were all absorbed by the Ottoman state in 1390. The area became part of the Ottoman Aydın Province (vilayet), and is now of the modern republic of Turkey.\\n\\nChristianity \\n\\nLydia had numerous Christian communities, and after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century became one of the provinces of the diocese of Asia in the Patriarchate of Constantinople. \\n \\nThe ecclesiastical province of Lydia had a metropolitan diocese at Sardis and suffragan dioceses for Philadelphia, Thyatira, Tripolis, Settae, Gordus, Tralles, Silandus, Maeonia, Apollonos Hierum, Mostene, Apollonias, Attalia, Hyrcania, Bage, Balandus, Hermocapella, Hierocaesarea, Acrassus, Dalda, Stratonicia, Cerasa, Gabala, Satala, Aureliopolis and Hellenopolis. Bishops from the various dioceses of Lydia were well represented at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and at the later ecumenical councils. \\n\\nEpiscopal sees \\n\\nAncient episcopal sees of the late Roman province of Lydia are listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees: \\n\\nLydian gods \\n\\n* Annat\\n* Anax\\n* Artimus (Artemis, Diana)\\n* Asterios\\n* Atergätus\\n* Atys\\n* Baki. See also Bacchus\\n* Bassareus\\n* Damasēn\\n* Gugaie/Guge/Gugaia\\n* Hermos\\n* Hipta\\n* Hullos\\n* Kandaulēs\\n* Kaustros\\n* Kubebe\\n* Lamētrus\\n* Lukos\\n* Lydian Lion\\n* Mēles\\n* Moxus (Mopsus)\\n* Omfalē\\n* Pldans (Apollo)\",\n \"Solon.txt\\nSolon\\nSolon (; BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in archaic Athens.Aristotle Politics 1273b 35–1274a 21 His reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. He wrote poetry for pleasure, as patriotic propaganda, and in defense of his constitutional reforms.\\n\\nModern knowledge of Solon is limited by the fact that his works only survive in fragments and appear to feature interpolations by later authors, and by the general paucity of documentary and archaeological evidence covering Athens in the early 6th century BC. Ancient authors such as Herodotus and Plutarch are the main source of information, yet they wrote about Solon long after his death, at a time when history was by no means an academic discipline. Fourth century orators, such as Aeschines, tended to attribute to Solon all the laws of their own, much later times. \\n\\nBiography\\n\\nSolon was born in Athens around 638 B.C.[http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/S/Solon.html Solon: Biography of Solon] His family was distinguished in Attica as they belonged to a noble or Eupatrid clan although only possessing moderate wealth. Solon's father probably was Execestides. Solon's lineage, therefore, could be traced back to Codrus, the last King of Athens. According to Diogenes Laërtius, he had a brother named Dropides who was an ancestor (six generations removed) of Plato. According to Plutarch, Solon was related to the tyrant Peisistratos for their mothers were cousins. Solon was eventually drawn into the unaristocratic pursuit of commerce. \\n\\nWhen Athens and Megara were contesting for the possession of the Salamis Island, Solon was given leadership of the Athenian forces. After repeated disasters, Solon was able to increase the morale and spirits of his body of troops on the strength of a poem he wrote about the islands. Supported by Peisistratos, he defeated the Megarians either by means of a cunning trick or more directly through heroic battle around 595 B.C. The Megarians however refused to give up their claim to the island. The dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them.\\n\\nAccording to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 B.C. Solon was chosen archon or chief magistrate.[http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/solon.html SOLON of Athens] As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends. Knowing that he was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors, amounting to 5 talents (or 15 according to some sources). His friends never repaid their debts. \\n\\nAfter he had finished his reforms, he travelled abroad for ten years, so that the Athenians could not induce him to repeal any of his laws. His first stop was Egypt. There, according to Herodotus he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt Amasis II. According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais. \\nAccording to Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he visited Neith's temple at Sais and received from the priests there an account of the history of Atlantis. Next Solon sailed to Cyprus, where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, in gratitude for which the king named it Soloi.\\n\\nSolon's travels finally brought him to Sardis, capital of Lydia. According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, which however Croesus failed to appreciate until it was too late. Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, \\\"Count no man happy until he be dead.\\\" The reasoning was that at any minute, fortune might turn on even the happiest man and make his life miserable. It was only after he had lost his kingdom to the Persian king Cyrus, while awaiting execution, that Croesus acknowledged the wisdom of Solon's advice. \\n\\nAfter his return to Athens, Solon became a staunch opponent of Peisistratos. In protest and as an example to others, Solon stood outside his own home in full armour, urging all who passed to resist the machinations of the would-be tyrant. His efforts were in vain. Solon died shortly after Peisistratos usurped by force the autocratic power that Athens had once freely bestowed upon him. He died in Cyprus at the age of 80 and, in accordance with his will, his ashes were scattered around Salamis, the island where he was born. \\n\\nThe travel writer Pausanias listed Solon among the seven sages whose aphorisms adorned Apollo's temple in Delphi. Stobaeus in the Florilegium relates a story about a symposium, where Solon's young nephew was singing a poem of Sappho's; Solon, upon hearing the song, asked the boy to teach him to sing it. When someone asked, \\\"Why should you waste your time on it?\\\" Solon replied , \\\"So that I may learn it then die.\\\" Ammianus Marcellinus however told a similar story about Socrates and the poet Stesichorus, quoting the philosopher's rapture in almost identical terms: \\\"ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam\\\", meaning \\\"in order to go away knowing more out of life\\\".\\n\\nBackground to Solon's reforms\\n\\nDuring Solon's time, many Greek city-states had seen the emergence of tyrants, opportunistic noblemen who had taken power on behalf of sectional interests. In Sicyon, Cleisthenes had usurped power on behalf of an Ionian minority. In Megara, Theagenes had come to power as an enemy of the local oligarchs. The son-in-law of Theagenes, an Athenian nobleman named Cylon, made an unsuccessful attempt to seize power in Athens in 632 BC. Solon was described by Plutarch as having been temporarily awarded autocratic powers by Athenian citizens on the grounds that he had the \\\"wisdom\\\" to sort out their differences for them in a peaceful and equitable manner. According to ancient sources, he obtained these powers when he was elected eponymous archon (594/3 BC). Some modern scholars believe these powers were in fact granted some years after Solon had been archon, when he would have been a member of the Areopagus and probably a more respected statesman by his (aristocratic) peers. \\n\\nThe social and political upheavals that characterised Athens in Solon's time have been variously interpreted by historians from ancient times to the present day. Two contemporary historians have identified three distinct historical accounts of Solon's Athens, emphasizing quite different rivalries: economic and ideological rivalry, regional rivalry and rivalry between aristocratic clans. These different accounts provide a convenient basis for an overview of the issues involved.\\n\\n*Economic and ideological rivalry is a common theme in ancient sources. This sort of account emerges from Solon's poems (e.g. see below Solon the reformer and poet), in which he casts himself in the role of a noble mediator between two intemperate and unruly factions. This same account is substantially taken up about three centuries later by the author of the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia but with an interesting variation:\\\"...there was conflict between the nobles and the common people for an extended period. For the constitution they were under was oligarchic in every respect and especially in that the poor, along with their wives and children, were in slavery to the rich...All the land was in the hands of a few. And if men did not pay their rents, they themselves and their children were liable to be seized as slaves. The security for all loans was the debtor's person up to the time of Solon. He was the first people's champion.\\\" Here Solon is presented as a partisan in a democratic cause whereas, judged from the viewpoint of his own poems, he was instead a mediator between rival factions. A still more significant variation in the ancient historical account appears in the writing of Plutarch in the late 1st – early 2nd century AD:\\\"Athens was torn by recurrent conflict about the constitution. The city was divided into as many parties as there were geographical divisions in its territory. For the party of the people of the hills was most in favour of democracy, that of the people of the plain was most in favour of oligarchy, while the third group, the people of the coast, which preferred a mixed form of constitution somewhat between the other two, formed an obstruction and prevented the other groups from gaining control.\\\" \\n*Regional rivalry is a theme commonly found among modern scholars. \\\"The new picture which emerged was one of strife between regional groups, united by local loyalties and led by wealthy landowners. Their goal was control of the central government at Athens and with it dominance over their rivals from other districts of Attika.\\\" Regional factionalism was inevitable in a relatively large territory such as Athens possessed. In most Greek city states, a farmer could conveniently reside in town and travel to and from his fields every day. According to Thucydides, on the other hand, most Athenians continued to live in rural settlements right up until the Peloponnesian War. The effects of regionalism in a large territory could be seen in Laconia, where Sparta had gained control through intimidation and resettlement of some of its neighbours and enslavement of the rest. Attika in Solon's time seemed to be moving towards a similarly ugly solution with many citizens in danger of being reduced to the status of helots. \\n*Rivalry between clans is a theme recently developed by some scholars, based on an appreciation of the political significance of kinship groupings. According to this account, bonds of kinship rather than local loyalties were the decisive influence on events in archaic Athens. An Athenian belonged not only to a phyle or tribe and one of its subdivisions, the phratry or brotherhood, but also to an extended family, clan or genos. It has been argued that these interconnecting units of kinship reinforced a hierarchic structure with aristocratic clans at the top. Thus rivalries between aristocratic clans could engage all levels of society irrespective of any regional ties. In that case, the struggle between rich and poor was the struggle between powerful aristocrats and the weaker affiliates of their rivals or perhaps even with their own rebellious affiliates.\\n\\nThe historical account of Solon's Athens has evolved over many centuries into a set of contradictory stories or a complex story that might be interpreted in a variety of ways. As further evidence accumulates, and as historians continue to debate the issues, Solon's motivations and the intentions behind his reforms will continue to attract speculation. \\n\\nSolon's reforms\\n\\nSolon's laws were inscribed on large wooden slabs or cylinders attached to a series of axles that stood upright in the Prytaneion. These axones appear to have operated on the same principle as a Lazy Susan, allowing both convenient storage and ease of access. Originally the axones recorded laws enacted by Draco in the late 7th Century (traditionally 621 BC). Nothing of Draco's codification has survived except for a law relating to homicide, yet there is consensus among scholars that it did not amount to anything like a constitution. Solon repealed all Draco's laws except those relating to homicide. During his visit to Athens, Pausanias, the 2nd century AD geographer reported that the inscribed laws of Solon were still displayed by the Prytaneion. Fragments of the axones were still visible in Plutarch's time but today the only records we have of Solon's laws are fragmentary quotes and comments in literary sources such as those written by Plutarch himself. Moreover, the language of his laws was archaic even by the standards of the fifth century and this caused interpretational problems for ancient commentators. Modern scholars doubt the reliability of these sources and our knowledge of Solon's legislation is therefore actually very limited in its details.\\n\\nGenerally, Solon's reforms appear to have been constitutional, economic and moral in their scope. This distinction, though somewhat artificial, does at least provide a convenient framework within which to consider the laws that have been attributed to Solon. Some short-term consequences of his reforms are considered at the end of the section.\\n\\nConstitutional reform\\n\\nBefore Solon's reforms, the Athenian state was administered by nine archons appointed or elected annually by the Areopagus on the basis of noble birth and wealth. The Areopagus comprised former archons and it therefore had, in addition to the power of appointment, extraordinary influence as a consultative body. The nine archons took the oath of office while ceremonially standing on a stone in the agora, declaring their readiness to dedicate a golden statue if they should ever be found to have violated the laws. There was an assembly of Athenian citizens (the Ekklesia) but the lowest class (the Thetes) was not admitted and its deliberative procedures were controlled by the nobles. There therefore seemed to be no means by which an archon could be called to account for breach of oath unless the Areopagus favoured his prosecution.\\n\\nAccording to the Athenian Constitution, Solon legislated for all citizens to be admitted into the Ekklesia and for a court (the Heliaia) to be formed from all the citizens. The Heliaia appears to have been the Ekklesia, or some representative portion of it, sitting as a jury. By giving common people the power not only to elect officials but also to call them to account, Solon appears to have established the foundations of a true republic. However some scholars have doubted whether Solon actually included the Thetes in the Ekklesia, this being considered too bold a move for any aristocrat in the archaic period. Ancient sources credit Solon with the creation of a Council of Four Hundred, drawn from the four Athenian tribes to serve as a steering committee for the enlarged Ekklesia. However, many modern scholars have doubted this also. \\n\\nThere is consensus among scholars that Solon lowered the requirements—those that existed in terms of financial and social qualifications—which applied to election to public office. The Solonian constitution divided citizens into four political classes defined according to assessable property a classification that might previously have served the state for military or taxation purposes only. The standard unit for this assessment was one medimnos (approximately 12 gallons) of cereals and yet the kind of classification set out below might be considered too simplistic to be historically accurate. \\n\\n*Pentakosiomedimnoi\\n**valued at 500 medimnoi or more of cereals annually.\\n**eligible to serve as strategoi (generals or military governors)\\n*Hippeis\\n**valued at 300 medimnoi or more annually.\\n**approximating to the medieval class of knights, they had enough wealth to equip themselves for the cavalry\\n*Zeugitai\\n**valued at a 200 medimnoi or more annually.\\n**approximating to the mediaeval class of Yeoman, they had enough wealth to equip themselves for the infantry (Hoplite)\\n*Thetes\\n**valued up to 199 medimnoi annually or less\\n**manual workers or sharecroppers, they served voluntarily in the role of personal servant, or as auxiliaries armed for instance with the sling or as rowers in the navy.\\n\\nAccording to the Athenian Constitution, only the pentakosiomedimnoi were eligible for election to high office as archons and therefore only they gained admission into the Areopagus. A modern view affords the same privilege to the hippeis. The top three classes were eligible for a variety of lesser posts and only the thetes were excluded from all public office.\\n\\nDepending on how we interpret the historical facts known to us, Solon's constitutional reforms were either a radical anticipation of democratic government, or they merely provided a plutocratic flavour to a stubbornly aristocratic regime, or else the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes.\\n\\nEconomic reform\\n\\nSolon's economic reforms need to be understood in the context of the primitive, subsistence economy that prevailed both before and after his time. Most Athenians were still living in rural settlements right up to the Peloponnesian War. Opportunities for trade even within the Athenian borders were limited. The typical farming family, even in classical times, barely produced enough to satisfy its own needs. Opportunities for international trade were minimal. It has been estimated that, even in Roman times, goods rose 40% in value for every 100 miles they were carried over land, but only 1.3% for the same distance were they carried by ship and yet there is no evidence that Athens possessed any merchant ships until around 525 BC. Until then, the narrow warship doubled as a cargo vessel. Athens, like other Greek city states in the 7th Century BC, was faced with increasing population pressures and by about 525 BC it was able to feed itself only in 'good years'. \\n\\nSolon's reforms can thus be seen to have taken place at a crucial period of economic transition, when a subsistence rural economy increasingly required the support of a nascent commercial sector. The specific economic reforms credited to Solon are these:\\n\\n*Fathers were encouraged to find trades for their sons; if they did not, there would be no legal requirement for sons to maintain their fathers in old age. \\n*Foreign tradesmen were encouraged to settle in Athens; those who did would be granted citizenship, provided they brought their families with them. \\n*Cultivation of olives was encouraged; the export of all other produce was prohibited. \\n*Competitiveness of Athenian commerce was promoted through revision of weights and measures, possibly based on successful standards already in use elsewhere, such as Aegina or Euboia or, according to the ancient account but unsupported by modern scholarship, Argos. \\n\\nIt is generally assumed, on the authority of ancient commentators that Solon also reformed the Athenian coinage. However, recent numismatic studies now lead to the conclusion that Athens probably had no coinage until around 560 BC, well after Solon's reforms. Nevertheless, there are now reasons to suggest that monetization had already begun before Solon's reforms. By early sixth century the Athenians were using silver in the form of a variety of bullion silver pieces for monetary payments. Drachma and obol as a term of bullion value had already been adopted, although the corresponding standard weights were probably unstable. \\n\\nSolon's economic reforms succeeded in stimulating foreign trade. Athenian black-figure pottery was exported in increasing quantities and good quality throughout the Aegean between 600 BC and 560 BC, a success story that coincided with a decline in trade in Corinthian pottery. The ban on the export of grain might be understood as a relief measure for the benefit of the poor. However, the encouragement of olive production for export could actually have led to increased hardship for many Athenians to the extent that it led to a reduction in the amount of land dedicated to grain. Moreover, an olive produces no fruit for the first six years (but farmers' difficulty of lasting until payback may also give rise to a mercantilist argument in favour of supporting them through that, since the British case illustrates that 'One domestic policy that had a lasting impact was the conversion of \\\"waste lands\\\" to agricultural use. Mercantilists felt that to maximize a nation's power all land and resources had to be used to their utmost...'). The real motives behind Solon's economic reforms are therefore as questionable as his real motives for constitutional reform. Were the poor being forced to serve the needs of a changing economy, was the economy being reformed to serve the needs of the poor, or were Solon's policies the manifestation of a struggle taking place between poorer citizens and the aristocrats?\\n\\nMoral reform\\n\\nIn his poems, Solon portrays Athens as being under threat from the unrestrained greed and arrogance of its citizens. Even the earth (Gaia), the mighty mother of the gods, had been enslaved. The visible symbol of this perversion of the natural and social order was a boundary marker called a horos, a wooden or stone pillar indicating that a farmer was in debt or under contractual obligation to someone else, either a noble patron or a creditor. Up until Solon's time, land was the inalienable property of a family or clan and it could not be sold or mortgaged. This was no disadvantage to a clan with large landholdings since it could always rent out farms in a sharecropping system. A family struggling on a small farm however could not use the farm as security for a loan even if it owned the farm. Instead the farmer would have to offer himself and his family as security, providing some form of slave labour in lieu of repayment. Equally, a family might voluntarily pledge part of its farm income or labour to a powerful clan in return for its protection. Farmers subject to these sorts of arrangements were loosely known as hektemoroi indicating that they either paid or kept a sixth of a farm's annual yield. In the event of 'bankruptcy', or failure to honour the contract stipulated by the horoi, farmers and their families could in fact be sold into slavery.\\n\\nSolon's reform of these injustices was later known and celebrated among Athenians as the Seisachtheia (shaking off of burdens). As with all his reforms, there is considerable scholarly debate about its real significance. Many scholars are content to accept the account given by the ancient sources, interpreting it as a cancellation of debts, while others interpret it as the abolition of a type of feudal relationship, and some prefer to explore new possibilities for interpretation. The reforms included:\\n*annulment of all contracts symbolised by the horoi. \\n*prohibition on a debtor's person being used as security for a loan.\\n*release of all Athenians who had been enslaved.\\n\\nThe removal of the horoi clearly provided immediate economic relief for the most oppressed group in Attica, and it also brought an immediate end to the enslavement of Athenians by their countrymen. Some Athenians had already been sold into slavery abroad and some had fled abroad to escape enslavement – Solon proudly records in verse the return of this diaspora. It has been cynically observed, however, that few of these unfortunates were likely to have been recovered. It has been observed also that the seisachtheia not only removed slavery and accumulated debt, it also removed the ordinary farmer's only means of obtaining further credit. \\n\\nThe seisachtheia however was merely one set of reforms within a broader agenda of moral reformation. Other reforms included:\\n*the abolition of extravagant dowries. \\n*legislation against abuses within the system of inheritance, specifically with relation to the epikleros (i.e. a female who had no brothers to inherit her father's property and who was traditionally required to marry her nearest paternal relative in order to produce an heir to her father's estate).Grant, Michael. The Rise of the Greeks. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988 p. 49\\n*entitlement of any citizen to take legal action on behalf of another. \\n*the disenfranchisement of any citizen who might refuse to take up arms in times of civil strife, a measure that was intended to counteract dangerous levels of political apathy. \\n\\nDemosthenes claimed that the city's subsequent golden age included \\\"personal modesty and frugality\\\" among the Athenian aristocracy. Perhaps Solon, by both personal example and legislated reform, established a precedent for this decorum. A heroic sense of civic duty later united Athenians against the might of the Persians. Perhaps this public spirit was instilled in them by Solon and his reforms. (See also Solon and Athenian sexuality below).\\n\\nAftermath of Solon's reforms\\n\\nAfter completing his work of reform, Solon surrendered his extraordinary authority and left the country. According to Herodotus the country was bound by Solon to maintain his reforms for 10 years, whereas according to Plutarch and the author of the Athenian Constitution (reputedly Aristotle) the contracted period was instead 100 years. A modern scholar considers the time-span given by Herodotus to be historically accurate because it fits the 10 years that Solon was said to have been absent from the country. Within 4 years of Solon's departure, the old social rifts re-appeared, but with some new complications. There were irregularities in the new governmental procedures, elected officials sometimes refused to stand down from their posts and occasionally important posts were left vacant. It has even been said that some people blamed Solon for their troubles. Eventually one of Solon's relatives, Peisistratos, ended the factionalism by force, thus instituting an unconstitutionally gained tyranny. In Plutarch's account, Solon accused Athenians of stupidity and cowardice for allowing this to happen. \\n\\nPoetry\\n\\nSolon's verses have come down to us in fragmentary quotations by ancient authors such as Plutarch and Demosthenes who used them to illustrate their own arguments. It is possible that some fragments have been wrongly attributed to him and some scholars have detected interpolations by later authors. He was also the first citizen of Athens to reference the goddess Athena (fr. 4.1-4). \\n\\nThe literary merit of Solon's verse is generally considered unexceptional. Solon's poetry can be said to appear 'self-righteous' and 'pompous' at times and he once composed an elegy with moral advice for a more gifted elegiac poet, Mimnermus. Most of the extant verses show him writing in the role of a political activist determined to assert personal authority and leadership and they have been described by the German classicist Wilamowitz as a \\\"versified harangue\\\" (Eine Volksrede in Versen). According to Plutarch however, Solon originally wrote poetry for amusement, discussing pleasure in a popular rather than philosophical way. Solon's elegiac style is said to have been influenced by the example of Tyrtaeus. He also wrote iambic and trochaic verses which, according to one modern scholar, are more lively and direct than his elegies and possibly paved the way for the iambics of Athenian drama.\\n\\nSolon's verses are mainly significant for historical rather than aesthetic reasons, as a personal record of his reforms and attitudes. However, poetry is not an ideal genre for communicating facts and very little detailed information can be derived from the surviving fragments. According to Solon the poet, Solon the reformer was a voice for political moderation in Athens at a time when his fellow citizens were increasingly polarized by social and economic differences:\\n\\nπολλοὶ γὰρ πλουτεῦσι κακοί, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ πένονται:\\nἀλλ' ἡμεῖς αὐτοῖς οὐ διαμειψόμεθα\\nτῆς ἀρετῆς τὸν πλοῦτον: ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν ἔμπεδον αἰεί,\\nχρήματα δ' ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοτε ἄλλος ἔχει.\\nSome wicked men are rich, some good are poor;\\nWe will not change our virtue for their store:\\nVirtue's a thing that none can take away,\\nBut money changes owners all the day. \\n\\nHere translated by the English poet John Dryden, Solon's words define a 'moral high ground' where differences between rich and poor can be reconciled or maybe just ignored. His poetry indicates that he attempted to use his extraordinary legislative powers to establish a peaceful settlement between the country's rival factions:\\n \\n Before them both I held my shield of might\\n And let not either touch the other's right.\\n\\nHis attempts evidently were misunderstood:\\n\\n χαῦνα μὲν τότ' ἐφράσαντο, νῦν δέ μοι χολούμενοι\\n λοξὸν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶσι πάντες ὥστε δήϊον.\\n Formerly they boasted of me vainly; with averted eyes\\n Now they look askance upon me; friends no more but enemies. \\n\\nSolon gave voice to Athenian 'nationalism', particularly in the city state's struggle with Megara, its neighbour and rival in the Saronic Gulf. Plutarch professes admiration of Solon's elegy urging Athenians to recapture the island of Salamis from Megarian control. The same poem was said by Diogenes Laërtius to have stirred Athenians more than any other verses that Solon wrote:\\n\\n Let us go to Salamis to fight for the island\\n We desire, and drive away our bitter shame! \\n \\nIt is possible that Solon backed up this poetic bravado with true valour on the battlefield. \\n\\nSolon and Athenian sexuality\\n\\nAs a regulator of Athenian society, Solon, according to some authors, also formalized its sexual mores. According to a surviving fragment from a work (\\\"Brothers\\\") by the comic playwright Philemon, Solon established publicly funded brothels at Athens in order to \\\"democratize\\\" the availability of sexual pleasure. While the veracity of this comic account is open to doubt, at least one modern author considers it significant that in Classical Athens, three hundred or so years after the death of Solon, there existed a discourse that associated his reforms with an increased availability of heterosexual pleasure. \\n\\nAncient authors also say that Solon regulated pederastic relationships in Athens; this has been presented as an adaptation of custom to the new structure of the polis. According to various authors, ancient lawgivers (and therefore Solon by implication) drew up a set of laws that were intended to promote and safeguard the institution of pederasty and to control abuses against freeborn boys. In particular, the orator Aeschines cites laws excluding slaves from wrestling halls and forbidding them to enter pederastic relationships with the sons of citizens. Accounts of Solon's laws by 4th century orators like Aeschines, however, are considered unreliable for a number of reasons; \\nAttic pleaders did not hesitate to attribute to him (Solon) any law which suited their case, and later writers had no criterion by which to distinguish earlier from later works. Nor can any complete and authentic collection of his statutes have survived for ancient scholars to consult. \\n\\nBesides the alleged legislative aspect of Solon's involvement with pederasty, there were also suggestions of personal involvement. According to some ancient authors Solon had taken the future tyrant Peisistratos as his eromenos. Aristotle, writing around 330 BC, attempted to refute that belief, claiming that \\\"those are manifestly talking nonsense who pretend that Solon was the lover of Peisistratos, for their ages do not admit of it,\\\" as Solon was about thirty years older than Peisistratos. Nevertheless, the tradition persisted. Four centuries later Plutarch ignored Aristotle's skepticism and recorded the following anecdote, supplemented with his own conjectures:\\n\\nAnd they say Solon loved [Peisistratos]; and that is the reason, I suppose, that when afterwards they differed about the government, their enmity never produced any hot and violent passion, they remembered their old kindnesses, and retained \\\"Still in its embers living the strong fire\\\" of their love and dear affection. \\n\\nA century after Plutarch, Aelian also said that Peisistratos had been Solon's eromenos. Despite its persistence, however, it is not known whether the account is historical or fabricated. It has been suggested that the tradition presenting a peaceful and happy coexistence between Solon and Peisistratos was cultivated during the latter's dominion, in order to legitimize his own rule, as well as that of his sons. Whatever its source, later generations lent credence to the narrative. Solon's presumed pederastic desire was thought in antiquity to have found expression also in his poetry, which is today represented only in a few surviving fragments. The authenticity of all the poetic fragments attributed to Solon is however uncertain – in particular, pederastic aphorisms ascribed by some ancient sources to Solon have been ascribed by other sources to Theognis instead.\",\n \"6th_century_BC.txt\\n6th century BC\\nThe 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC.\\n\\nThis century represents the peak of a period in human history popularly known as Axial Age. This period saw the emergence of five major thought streams springing from five great thinkers in different parts of the world: Buddha and Mahavira in India, Zoroaster in Persia, Pythagoras in Greece and Confucius in China.\\nPāṇini, in India, composed a grammar for Sanskrit, in this century or slightly later. This is the oldest still known grammar of any language.\\n\\nIn the Near East, the first half of this century was dominated by the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean empire, which had risen to power late in the previous century after successfully rebelling against Assyrian rule. The Kingdom of Judah came to an end in 586 BC when Babylonian forces under Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem, and removed most of its population to their own lands. Babylonian rule was toppled however in the 540s, by Cyrus, who founded the Persian Empire in its place. The Persian Empire continued to expand and grew into the greatest empire the world had known at the time.\\n\\nIn Iron Age Europe, the Celtic expansion was in progress. China was in the Spring and Autumn Period.\\n\\n*Mediterranean: Beginning of Greek philosophy, flourishes during the 5th century BC\\n*The late Hallstatt culture period in Eastern and Central Europe, the late Bronze Age in Northern Europe\\n*East Asia: The Spring and Autumn Period. Chinese philosophy become the orthodoxy of China. Confucianism, Legalism and Moism flourish. Laozi founds Taoism\\n*Middle East: During the Persian empire, Zoroaster, aka Zarathustra, founded Zoroastrianism, a dualistic philosophy. This was also the time of the Babylonian captivity of the ancient Jews.\\n*Ancient India: The Buddha and Mahavira found Buddhism and Jainism\\n*The decline of the Olmec civilization in America\\n\\nEvents\\n\\n590s BC \\n\\n* Mid-6th century BC: Foundation of Temple of Olympian Zeus (Athens) is made.\\n* 598 BC: Jehoiachin succeeds Jehoiakim as King of Judah.\\n* 16 March 597 BC: Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as King.\\n* 595 BC: Psammetichus II succeeds Necho II as King of Egypt.\\n* 594 BC: Solon appointed archon of Athens; institutes democratic reforms.\\n* 590 BC: Egyptian army sacks Napata, compelling the Cushite court to move to a more secure location at Meroe near the sixth Cataract \\n\\n580s BC \\n\\n* 589 BC: Apries succeeds Psammetichus II as King of Egypt.\\n* 588 BC: Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon begins siege of Jerusalem; some sources set the date at 587 BC.\\n* 587 BC/586 BC: Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians, ending the Kingdom of Judah. The conquerors destroy the Temple of Jerusalem and exile the land's remaining inhabitants. Babylonian Captivity for the Jews began.\\n* 586 BC: death of King Ding of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China\\n* 28 May 585 BC: A solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Thales, while Alyattes II is battling Cyaxares. This leads to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.\\n* 585 BC/584 BC: Astyages succeeds Cyaxares as King of the Medes.\\n* 585 BC: King Jian of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\\n* 583 BC: Babylonians begins siege against Tyre.\\n* 582 BC: Pythian Games founded at Delphi (traditional date).\\n* 580 BC: Cambyses I succeeds Cyrus I as King of Anshan and head of the Achaemenid dynasty (approximate date).\\n* 580 BC: Isthmian Games founded at Corinth (traditional date)\\n\\n570s BC \\n\\n* 579 BC: Servius Tullius succeeds the assassinated Lucius Tarquinius Priscus as King of Rome (traditional date).\\n* 573 BC: Nemean Games founded at Nemea (traditional date).\\n* 572 BC: Death of King Jian of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\\n* 571 BC: King Ling of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\\n* 570 BC: Amasis II succeeds Apries as King of Egypt.\\n* 570 BC: Pythagoras of Samos is born (approximate date).\\n* 570 BC: End of the Babylonian siege against the city of Tyre with a partial victory by the Babylonians. It was the longest siege of the city in history, lasting 13 years.\\n\\n560s BC \\n\\n* 568 BC: Amtalqa succeeds his brother Aspelta as King of Kush.\\n* 562 BC: Amel-Marduk succeeds Nebuchadnezzar as King of Babylon.\\n* 560 BC: Neriglissar succeeds Amel-Marduk as King of Babylon.\\n* 560 BC/561 BC: Croesus becomes King of Lydia.\\n* 560 BC: Pisistratus seizes the Acropolis of Athens and declares himself tyrant. He is deposed in the same year.\\n\\n550s BC \\n\\n* 550s BC: Carthage conquers Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.\\n* 559 BC: King Cambyses I of Anshan dies and is succeeded by his son Cyrus II the Great.\\n* 558 BC: Hegesias removed as Archon of Athens.\\n* 558 BC: The Chinese state of Jin defeats its rival Qin in battle.\\n* 556 BC: Pisistratus is exiled from Athens to Euboea.\\n* 556 BC: Labashi-Marduk succeeds Neriglissar as King of Babylon.\\n* 556 BC/555 BC: Nabonidus succeeds Labashi-Marduk as King of Babylon.\\n* 550 BC: Abdera is destroyed by the Thracians.\\n* 550 BC: Cyrus II the Great overthrows Astyages of the Medes, establishing the Persian Empire.\\n* 550 BC: The Late Mumun Period begins in the Korean peninsula.\\n\\n540s BC \\n\\n* 547 BC: Croesus, Lydian King, is defeated by Cyrus of Persia near the River Halys.\\n* 546 BC: Cyrus of Persia completes his conquest of Lydia, and makes Pasargadae his capital.\\n* 544 BC: People of Teos migrate to Abdera, Thrace to escape the yoke of Persia.\\n* 544 BC: King Jing of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\\n* 543 BC: North Indian Prince Vijaya invades Ceylon and establishes a Sinhalese dynasty. \\n* 543 BC: Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, purifies the island of Delos (approximate date).\\n* 540 BC: Greek city of Elea of southern Italy founded (approximate date).\\n* 540 BC: Persians conquer Lycian city of Xanthos, now in southern Turkey (approximate date).\\n\\n530s BC \\n\\n* 539 BC: Babylon is conquered by Cyrus the Great, defeating Nabonidus.\\n* 538 BC: Return of some Jews from Babylonian exile who build the Second Temple about seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple, from 520 BC–516 BC.\\n* 537 BC: Jews transported to Babylon are allowed to return to Jerusalem, bringing to a close the Babylonian captivity.\\n* 536 BC: According to tradition, the Biblical prophet Daniel receives an angelic visitor. \\n* 534 BC: Lucius Tarquinius Superbus becomes King of Rome.\\n* 534 BC: Competitions for tragedy are instituted at the City Dionysia festival in Athens.\\n* 530 BC: Cambyses II succeeds Cyrus as King of Persia.\\n\\n520s BC \\n\\n* 528 BC: Gautama Buddha attains Enlightenment, and begins his ministry. He founds Buddhism in India. It becomes a major world religion.\\n* 526 BC: Psammetichus III succeeds Amasis II as King of Egypt.\\n* 525 BC: Cambyses II, ruler of Persia, conquers Egypt, defeating Psammetichus III. This is considered the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and the start of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty.\\n* 522 BC: Smerdis succeeds Cambyses II as ruler of Persia.\\n* 522 BC: Babylon rebels against Persian rule.\\n* 521 BC: Darius I succeeds Smerdis as ruler of Persia.\\n* 521 BC: The Babylonian rebellion against Persian rule is suppressed\\n* 520 BC: King Dao of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China but dies before the end of the year\\n* 520 BC: Cleomenes I succeeds Anaxandridas II as King of Sparta (approximate date)\\n\\n510s BC \\n\\n* 519 BC: King Jing of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\\n* 516 BC: Indian subcontinent—Occupation of Punjab is completed by the Persian King Vistaspa.\\n* 12 March 515 BC: Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem.\\n* 514 BC: King Helü of Wu establishes the \\\"Great City of Helü\\\", the ancient name for Wuxi, as his capital in China.\\n* 513 BC: Darius the Great subdues the Getae and east Thrace in his war against the Scythians.\\n* 510 BC: Hippias, son of Pisistratus and tyrant of Athens, is expelled by a popular revolt supported by Cleomenes I, King of Sparta and his forces.\\n* 510 BC: End of reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, last King of the traditional seven Kings of Rome.\\n* 510 BC: Establishment of the Roman Republic.\\n* 510 BC: Demaratus succeeds Ariston as King of Sparta (approximate date).\\n\\n500s BC \\n\\n* 13 September 509 BC: The Temple of Jupiter on Rome's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the Ides of September.\\n* 508 BC: Office of pontifex maximus created in Rome.\\n* 507 BC: Cleisthenes, Greek reformer, takes power and increases democracy.\\n* 506 BC: Battle of Boju: Forces of the Kingdom of Wu under Sun Tzu defeat the forces of Chu.\\n* 505 BC: First pair of Roman consuls elected.\\n* 4 December 502 BC: Solar eclipse darkens Egypt (computed, no clear historical record of observation).\\n* 502 BC: The Latin League defeats the Etruscans under Lars Porsena at Aricia.\\n* 502 BC: Naxos rebels against Persian domination sparking the Ionian Revolt.\\n* 501 BC: Cleisthenes reforms democracy in Athens.\\n* 501 BC: Naxos is attacked by the Persian Empire.\\n* 501 BC: In response to threats by the Sabines, Rome creates the office of dictator.\\n* 501 BC: Confucius is appointed governor of Chung tu.\\n* 501 BC: Gadir (present-day Cádiz) is captured by Carthage (approximate date).\\n* 500 BC: Bantu-speaking people migrate into south-west Uganda from the west (approximate date).\\n* 500 BC: Refugees from Teos resettle Abdera.\\n* 500 BC: Darius I of Persia proclaims that Aramaic be the official language of the western half of his empire.\\n* 500 BC: Signifies the end of the Nordic Bronze Age civilization in Oscar Montelius periodization system and begins the Pre-Roman Iron Age.\\n* 500 BC: Foundation of first republic in Vaishali Bihar India.\\n\\nUnknown Events \\n\\n* Persians begin to seize power.\\n* Persians dominate eastern Mediterranean.\\n* The Persians under Darius I and later Cyrus invade Transoxiana.\\n* Carthage's merchant empire slowly dominates the western Mediterranean.\\n* Tao Te Ching written (traditional date).\\n* Confucius formulates his ethical system of Confucianism, which proves highly influential in China.\\n* The Sinhalese emigrate to Sri Lanka.\\n* Apparent writing of the Book of Psalms.\\n* Abkhazia is colonized by the Greeks.\\n* Emergence of the Proto-Germanic Jastorf culture.\\n* Temple B, Selinus, Sicily, is built.\\n* The Autariatae communities united and expanded towards the Triballi in the east and the Ardiaei in the south.\\n\\nSignificant people\\n\\nPolitical leaders\\n\\n* Amyntas I, King of Macedonia\\n* Astyages, King of Medes\\n* Bias of Priene, Greek sage\\n* Callimachus, Athenian general\\n* Cambyses II, King of Persia\\n* Chilon of Sparta, Greek sage\\n* Cleisthenes, Tyrant of Athens\\n* Cleomenes I, King of Sparta \\n* Croesus, King of Lydia\\n* Cyaxares, King of Medes\\n* Cyrus the Great, King of Persia \\n* Darius I, King of Persia\\n* Epimenides, Greek seer\\n* Gorgo, Queen of Sparta\\n* King Helü of Wu, King of Wu\\n* Lucius Junius Brutus, co-founder of the Roman Republic\\n* Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, King of Rome\\n* Miltiades, Athenian general and politician\\n* Nabonidus, the last King of Babylon\\n* Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon\\n* Necho II, Pharaoh of Egypt\\n* Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens \\n* Periander, Tyrant of Corinth\\n* Pittacus of Mytilene, Greek politician\\n* Psammetichus III, Pharaoh of Egypt\\n* Servius Tullius, King of Rome\\n* Solon, Athenian statesman\\n\\nArts and entertainment\\n\\n* Ageladas, Greek sculptor\\n* Kleitias, Greek vase painter\\n* Kritios, Greek sculptor\\n* Lydos, Greek vase painter\\n* Milo of Croton, Greek wrestler\\n* Nearchos, Greek vase painter\\n* Nikosthenes, Greek vase painter\\n\\nLiterature\\n\\n* Aeschylus, Greek playwright\\n* Aesop, Greek fabulist\\n* Alcaeus of Mytilene, Greek poet\\n* Anacreon, Greek poet\\n* Cleobulus, Greek poet\\n* Corinna, Greek poet\\n* Epimenides, Greek poet\\n* Ibycus, Greek poet\\n* Theognis of Megara, Greek poet\\n* Thespis, founder of Greek theatre\\n* Pāṇini, Indian linguist\\n* Pindar, Greek poet\\n* Sappho, Greek poet\\n* Stesichorus, Greek poet\\n* Simonides of Ceos, Greek poet\\n* Sun Tzu, Chinese writer and general\\n\\nPhilosophy and religion\\n\\n* Anaximander, Greek philosopher\\n* Anaximenes of Miletus, Greek philosopher\\n* Confucius, founder of Confucianism\\n* Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism\\n* Heraclitus, Greek philosopher\\n* Hippasus, Greek philosopher\\n* Laozi, founder of Taoism\\n* Mahavira, founder of Jain philosophy\\n* Pherecydes of Syros, Greek philosopher\\n* Pythagoras, Greek philosopher, mathematician\\n* Scylax of Caryanda, Greek explorer\\n* Thales, Greek mathematician\\n* Xenophanes, Greek philosopher\\n* Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism\\n\\nInventions, discoveries, introductions\\n\\n* First archaeological surveys of the Arabian peninsula by Babylonian King Nabonidus\\n* Sunshu Ao (孫叔敖), China's first hydraulic engineer, creates an enormous artificial reservoir by damming a river for a massive irrigation project while employed in the service of King Zhuang of Chu (died 591 BC)\\n* Lost-wax casting is spread to Ancient Greece\\n\\nSovereign States\\n\\nSee: List of sovereign states in the 6th century BC.\",\n \"An Overview of the The Persian Empire - World history\\nAn Overview of the The Persian Empire . Cyrus ... Cyrus defeated him and annexed Lydia, ... or \\\"White Huns,\\\" attacked Persia; they defeated the Persian king ...\\nThe Persians\\nXerxes the Great\\nCylinder seal and inscription of Cyrus the Great from Babylon\\n I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anshan, progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule Bel and Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' pleasures.\\nWhen I, well-disposed, entered Babylon, I established the seat of government in the royal palace amidst jubilation and rejoicing. Marduk, the great God, caused the big-hearted inhabitants of Babylon to...me. I sought daily to worship him. My numerous troops moved about undisturbed in the midst of Babylon.\\nI did not allow any to terrorize the land of Sumer and Akkad. I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their well being. The citizens of Babylon... I lifted their unbecoming yoke. Their dilapidated dwellings I restored. I put an end to their misfortunes.\\nAt my deeds Marduk, the great Lord, rejoiced, and to me, Cyrus, the king who worshipped, and to Cambyses, my son, the offspring of my loins, and to all my troops, he graciously gave his blessing, and in good spirit is before him we/glorified/exceedingly his high divinity....\\n \\nThe International History Project, 2004\\nEdited By: Robert Guisepi\\n \\nThe History Of the Ancient Persian Empire From Rise To Fall\\nA history of the Persians including their empire, rulers like Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes as well as their cities, rise and fall\\nPersia, conventional European designation of the country now known as Iran. This name was in general use in the West until 1935, although the Iranians themselves had long called their country Iran. For convention's sake the name of Persia is here kept for that part of the country's history concerned with the ancient Persian Empire until the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD.\\n \\nAn Overview of the The Persian Empire\\n \\n Cyrus the Persian was the greatest conqueror in the history of the\\nancient Near East. In 550 B.C. he ended Persian vassalage to the Medes by\\ncapturing Ecbatana and ousting the Median dynasty. The Medes readily accepted their vigorous new ruler, who soon demonstrated that he deserved to be called \\\"the Great.\\\" When King Croesus of Lydia moved across the Hals River in 547 B.C. to pick up some of the pieces of the Median empire, Cyrus defeated him and annexed Lydia, including those Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor\\nthat were under the nominal control of Lydia. Then he turned east,\\nestablishing his power as far as the frontier of India. Babylon and its empire\\nwas next on his list. Following the death of Cyrus, his son Cambyses conquered\\nEgypt. The next ruler, Darius I (522-486 B.C.), added the Punjab region in\\nIndia and Thrace in Europe. He also began a conflict with the Greeks that\\ncontinued intermittently for more than 150 years until the Persians were\\nconquered by Alexander the Great. Long before this event the Persian nobility\\nhad forgotten Cyrus the Great's answer to their suggestion that they \\\"leave\\nthis small and barren country of ours\\\" and move to fertile Babylonia:\\n \\n Do so if you wish, but if you do, be ready to find\\n yourselves no longer governors but governed; for soft\\n lands breed soft men; it does not happen that the same\\n land brings forth wonderful crops and good fighting men. ^29\\n \\n[Footnote 29: Herodotus History 9.122, trans. A. R. Burn, Persia and the West\\n(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1962), p. 61.]\\n \\n Although built upon the Assyrian model, the Persian administrative system\\nwas far more efficient and humane. The empire was divided into twenty\\nprovinces, or satrapies, each ruled by a governor called a satrap. To check\\nthe satraps, a secretary and a military official representing the \\\"Great King,\\nKing of Kings\\\" were installed in every province. Also, special inspectors,\\n\\\"the Eyes and Ears of the King,\\\" traveled throughout the realm.\\n \\n Imperial post roads connected the important cities. Along the Royal Road\\nbetween Sardis and Susa there was a post station every fourteen miles, where\\nthe king's couriers could obtain fresh horses, enabling them to cover the\\n1600-mile route in a week. \\\"Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian\\nmessengers,\\\" wrote Herodotus. \\\"These men will not be hindered..., either by\\nsnow, or rain, or heat, or by the darkness of night.\\\" ^30 These words were at\\none time used as the motto of the United States Postal Service.\\n \\n[Footnote 30: Herodotus History 8.88, trans. G. Rawlinson.]\\n \\n The Persian empire was the first to attempt to govern many different\\nracial groups on the principle of equal responsibilities and rights for all\\npeoples. So long as subjects paid their taxes and kept the peace, the king did\\nnot interfere with local religion, customs, or trade. Indeed, Darius was\\ncalled the \\\"shopkeeper\\\" because he stimulated trade by introducing a uniform\\nsystem gold and silver coinage on the Lydian model.\\n \\n The humaneness of the Persian rulers may have stemmed from the ethical\\nreligion founded by the prophet Zoroaster, who lived in the early sixth\\ncentury B.C. Zoroaster sought to replace what he called \\\"the lie\\\" -\\nritualistic, idol-worshiping cults and their Magi priests - with a religion\\ncentered on the sole god Ahura-Mazda (\\\"Wise Lord\\\"). This \\\"father of Justice\\\"\\ndemanded \\\"good thoughts of the mind, good deeds of the hand, and good words of the tongue\\\" from those who would attain paradise (a Persian word). The new religion made little progress until first Darius and then the Magi adopted it. The Magi revived many old gods as lesser deities, added much ritual, and replaced monotheism with dualism by transforming what Zoroaster had called the principle or spirit of evil into the powerful god Ahriman (the model for the Jewish Satan), rival of Ahura-Mazda, \\\"between which each man must choose for himself.\\\" The complicated evolution of Zoroastrianism is revealed in its holy writ, the Avesta (\\\"The Law\\\"), assembled in its present form between the fourth and sixth centuries A.D. Zoroastrian eschatology - \\\"the doctrine of final things\\\" such as the resurrection of the dead and a last judgment - influenced later Judaism. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century A.D., Zoroastrianism died out in its homeland. It exists today among the Parsees in India.\\n \\n In art the Persians borrowed largely from their predecessors in the\\nFertile Crescent, particularly the Assyrians. Their most important work was in\\npalace architecture, the best remains of which are at Persepolis. Built on a\\nhigh terrace, the royal residence was reached by a grand stairway faced with\\nbeautiful reliefs. Instead of the warfare and violence that characterized\\nAssyrian sculpture, these reliefs depict hundreds of soldiers, courtiers, and\\nrepresentatives of twenty-three nations of the empire bringing gifts to the\\nking for the festival of the new year.\\n \\nTHE FIRST EMPIRE \\nThe Iranian plateau was settled about 1500BC by Aryan tribes, the most important of which were the Medes, who occupied the northwestern portion, and the Persians, who emigrated from Parsua, a land west of Lake Urmia, into the southern region of the plateau, which they named Parsamash or Parsumash. The first prominent leader of the Persians was the warrior chief Hakhamanish, or Achaemenes, who lived about 681BC. The Persians were dominated by the Medes until the accession to the Persian throne in 550 BC of Cyrus the Great. He overthrew the Median rulers, conquered the kingdom of Lydia in 546BC and that of Babylonia in 539BC and established the Persian Empire as the preeminent power of the world. His son and successor, Cambyses II, extended the Persian realm even further by conquering the Egyptians in 525BC. Darius I, who ascended the throne in 521BC, pushed the Persian borders as far eastward as the Indus River, had a canal constructed from the Nile to the Red Sea, and reorganized the entire empire, earning the title Darius the Great. From 499 to 493BC he engaged in crushing a revolt of the Ionian Greeks living under Persian rule in Asia, and then launched a punitive campaign against the European Greeks for supporting the rebels. His forces were disastrously defeated by the Greeks at the historic Battle of Marathon in 490BC. Darius died while preparing a new expedition against the Greeks; his son and successor, Xerxes I, attempted to fulfill his plan but met defeat in the great sea engagement the Battle of Salam�s in 480BC and in two successive land battles in the following year.\\nThe forays of Xerxes were the last notable attempt at expansion of the Persian Empire. During the reign of Artaxerxes I, the second son of Xerxes, the Egyptians revolted, aided by the Greeks; although the revolt was finally suppressed in 446BC, it signaled the first major assault against, and the beginning of the decline of, the Persian Empire.\\n \\nBACKGROUND\\nBetween 560 and 500 BC the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East underwent great political changes. Under Cyrus the Great Persia grew into the largest empire the Near East had ever seen. Centered on the Persian homeland on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf, it stretched from present-day Pakistan in the east to the Balkan Peninsula in the west and from the Persian Gulf in the south to Central Asia in the north.\\nIn the same period, a number of small city-states consisting of an urban center and its surrounding territory had developed over a large part of the Greek mainland and the islands of the Aegean Sea. For the most part they were governed by local aristocracies, but the city-state of Athens had already begun a series of changes that would lead to the emergence of democratic government. Politically, the most important was Sparta, on the Peloponnesian peninsula. It had become the strongest land power in Greece and controlled an alliance of other city-states that extended over much of southern Greece. However, in terms of population, resources, and organization, the Greek states were no match for the immense empire they were to fight.\\nThe wars between them had important consequences. Politically, they ended Persia�s expansion to the west and led to its loss of control of the western coast of Asia Minor (present-day Asian Turkey). The struggles deeply affected the Greeks. Sparta and Athens emerged as the leading powers, eventually dominating the Greek world. Athens became the dominant Greek sea power and created an empire that extended over the eastern and northern coasts of the Aegean. Culturally, the wars made the Greeks much more conscious of their identity as a separate, and in their minds, superior people.\\n \\nTHE FIRST PHASE OF THE PERSIAN WARS \\nIn 521 BC the Persian king Darius I crushed all resistance to his accession to the throne after a brief but bloody civil war. While playing a central role in reorganizing the empire, he also worked to secure and expand its outer borders. In 513 BC the Persians captured the major Greek islands of Kh�os, S�mos, and L�svos. Also in 513 BC Darius himself crossed over to Europe and conquered the area between the Danube and the Aegean coast to the borders of Macedonia. Many historians believe that these gains were part of the normal process of imperial expansion and that Darius eventually intended the conquest of Greece and the Aegean.\\nIn 499 BC his forces attempted to capture the island of N�xos as a first step towards dominating the central Aegean. This attempt failed and it helped to precipitate a revolt of the Ionian Greeks living along the coast of Asia Minor. This revolt, caused by dissatisfaction with economic and political conditions under the Persians, lasted from 499 to 493 BC. The revolt was at first successful but the Ionians were eventually thwarted by a crucial defeat at sea and the immense superiority of Persian numbers and organization.\\nAthens and the lesser mainland state of Eretria had provided naval help to the Ionian rebels during the revolt. This intervention convinced Darius that Greece itself must be subdued to guarantee Persian security in the west. In 492 BC the Persians launched an expedition to gain control of the central Aegean and to punish Athens and Eretria for assisting the Ionian rebels. After initial successes in northern Greece the Persians moved against Athens but were turned back when most of the ships were lost in a storm. In the summer of 490 BC a second Persian expedition sacked Eretria and then landed at Marathon less than 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Athens. The Athenians had appealed for help to other Greek states and especially to Sparta, but in the deciding battle faced the Persian force almost alone. Due to the strategy of Athenian general Miltiades, the force of about 10,000 Greek infantrymen defeated a much more numerous enemy. The battle showed the decisive superiority of the heavier armored Greek infantry over their Persian opponents in close combat.\\n \\nXERXES� INVASION \\nThis failure led Darius to begin preparing a much larger force for a second and final invasion. But rebellion in Egypt and other events delayed matters. In 486 BC Darius died and was succeeded by his son Xerxes I. After reconquering Egypt Xerxes was ready to take up his father�s plans for Greece. The army he assembled was far larger than any the Greeks had seen before. Estimated in the millions by Greek historian Herodotus, it probably actually consisted of between 200,000 and 300,000 infantry and cavalry and more than 700 warships. The size of this force, the need for steady supplies, and the rugged nature of the Greek landscape led the Persians to develop a strategy that depended on cooperation between the army and the fleet. The army would provide bases for the fleet while the fleet would allow the army to bypass obstacles on land. In the spring of 480 BC the immense expedition set out from Sardis in western Asia Minor.\\nThe Greeks were not united in their attitude toward the Persian invasion. Many of the states saw their position as helpless and were ready to surrender. Those determined to resist met in the fall of 481 BC and made an alliance to fight the invasion. In May 480 BC Sparta was given command on land and sea despite the fact that the Athenians provided the majority of ships. After an initial failure to hold the Persians the Greeks decided to meet the invader on land at Thermopylae and at sea at Artemisium in central Greece. This was the strategic point to meet a combined sea and land attack by much larger forces, as the approaches to it by both land and sea were narrow and difficult and would favor Greek infantry and the heavier and slower Greek ships. The Persian army far outnumbered the Greek force of between 6000 and 7000 infantrymen. After several days of battle by both land and sea the Persians surrounded the Greek position at Thermopylae. Though most of the Greeks escaped, the commander, Spartan king Leonidas I, and most of his fellow Spartans died. The Greek navy was now in a helpless position and withdrew south.\\nThe road to central Greece now lay open and Xerxes advanced south, sacking Athens and occupying its territory. The Greek fleet had withdrawn and lay at anchor at Salam�s, an island close to Athens. The Greek leaders were divided on what to do as the Persian fleet took up a position just outside the narrows that separate Salam�s from the Athenian coast. The Spartans and other southern Greeks advocated withdrawing but the Athenians under the command of their general Themistocles successfully opposed a retreat and prepared to face the Persians. The Greek fleet numbered about 378 warships and faced a Persian force of about the same size. In late September 480 BC, as the Persian fleet attacked through the narrow straits, the Greek ships pretended to scatter at its approach. The Persians, with their ranks thrown into confusion by the narrowness of the straits and the feigned Greek retreat, were decisively defeated by the ramming of the heavier Greek ships.\\nThis battle proved decisive for the outcome of the war, destroying any hope that the Persians could continue their combined strategy of attack by land and sea. Their navy had suffered heavily and its morale was broken. Xerxes, afraid that his defeat might be followed by another rebellion of the Ionian Greeks, returned home but left his army behind under his general Mardonius. Mardonius spent the following winter trying to split the Greek coalition by offering the Athenians amnesty if they allied with Persia against Sparta. After this attempt failed Mardonius decided to bring the Greeks to battle in the early spring of 479 BC.\\nHe first recaptured Athens to draw out the Athenians, who pressured the Spartans into helping them fight back. Mardonius then moved his forces north to southern Boeotia (in present-day central Greece) near the town of Plataea. The sides were evenly matched with about 110,000 men. After maneuvers on both sides lasting more than a week the battle was fought and the Persian force was destroyed. This defeat marked the complete failure of the invasion, and the surviving Persians withdrew suffering further heavy losses. By the next year the Greeks were successfully attacking the Persians on their own territory in Asia Minor.\\n \\nVICTORIOUS GREECE \\nThe Persians were never again able to threaten another invasion. The Greeks moved to the offensive and over the next decades liberated the islands of the Aegean and large areas along the western and northern coasts from Persian control. The most important direct result of the wars was to establish Athens as the dominant Greek naval power. This gave Athens the opportunity to create an extensive empire over the newly won territories that had no parallel in earlier Greek history. A new political order emerged among the Greek states centered on the two great powers of Athens and Sparta that was to have a profound effect on later Greek history. Another effect of the wars was to produce the first large scale Greek historical work, the History of Herodotus, written in the second half of the 5th century BC. It serves as the most important source for the events of the wars and for evidence of the wars� effect on the Greek intellect and culture.\\n \\nALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE SELEUCIDS \\nMany revolts took place in the next century; the final blow was struck by Alexander the Great, who added the Persian Empire to his own Mediterranean realm by defeating the troops of Darius III in a series of battles between 334 and 331BC. Alexander effected a temporary integration of the Persians into his empire by enlisting large numbers of Persian soldiers in his armies and by causing all his high officers, who were Macedonians, to wed Persian wives. His death in 323BC was followed by a long struggle among his generals for the Persian throne. The victor in this contest was Seleucus I, who, after conquering the rich kingdom of Babylon in 312BC, annexed thereto all the former Persian realm as far east as the Indus River, as well as Syria and Asia Minor, and founded the Seleucid dynasty. For more than five centuries thereafter, Persia remained a subordinate unit within this great realm, which, after the overthrow of the Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, became the Parthian Empire.\\nTHE SASSANIDS \\nIn AD 224 Ardashir I, a Persian vassal-king, rebelled against the Parthians, defeated them in the Battle of Hormuz, and founded a new Persian dynasty, that of the Sassanids. He then conquered several minor neighboring kingdoms, invaded India, levying heavy tribute from the rulers of the Punjab, and conquered Armenia. A particularly significant accomplishment of his reign was the establishment of Zoroastrianism as the official religion of Persia. Ardashir was succeeded in 241 by his son Shapur I, who waged two successive wars against the Roman Empire, conquering territories in Mesopotamia and Syria and a large area in Asia Minor. Between 260 and 263 he lost his conquests to Odenathus, ruler of Palmyra, and ally of Rome. War with Rome was renewed by Narses; his army was almost annihilated by Roman forces in 297, and he was compelled to conclude peace terms whereby the western boundary of Persia was moved from the Euphrates River to the Tigris River and much additional territory was lost. Shapur II (ruled 309-379) regained the lost territories, however, in three successive wars with the Romans.\\nThe next ruler of note was Yazdegerd I, who reigned in peace from 399 to 420; he at first allowed the Persian Christians freedom of worship and may even have contemplated becoming a Christian himself, but he later returned to the Zoroastrianism of his forebears and launched a 4-year campaign of ruthless persecution against the Christians. The persecution was continued by his son and successor, Bahram V, who declared war on Rome in 420. The Romans defeated Bahram in 422; by the terms of the peace treaty the Romans promised toleration for the Zoroastrians within their realm in return for similar treatment of Christians in Persia. Two years later, at the Council of Dad-Ishu, the Eastern church declared its independence of the Western church.\\nNear the end of the 5th century a new enemy, the barbaric Ephthalites, or \\\"White Huns,\\\" attacked Persia; they defeated the Persian king Firuz II in 483 and for some years thereafter exacted heavy tribute. In the same year Nestorianism was made the official faith of the Persian Christians. Kavadh I favored the communistic teachings of Mazdak (flourished 5th century), a Zoroastrian high priest, and in 498 was deposed by his orthodox brother Zamasp. With the aid of the Ephthalites, Kavadh was restored to the throne in 501. He fought two inconclusive wars against Rome, and in 523 he withdrew his support of Mazdak and caused a great massacre of Mazdak's followers. His son and successor, Khosrau I, in two wars with the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, extended his sway to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, becoming the most powerful of all Sassanid kings. He reformed the administration of the empire and restored Zoroastrianism as the state religion. His grandson Khosrau II reigned from 590 to 628; in 602 he began a long war against the Byzantine Empire and by 619 had conquered almost all southwestern Asia Minor and Egypt. Further expansion was prevented by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who between 622 and 627 drove the Persians back within their original borders. The last of the Sassanid kings was Yazdegerd III, during whose reign (632-651) the Arabs invaded Persia, destroyed all resistance, gradually replaced Zoroastrianism with Islam, and incorporated Persia into the caliphate.\",\n \"Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great ...\\n... founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who ... the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus's rule extended ... This made Xerxes the chosen King of Persia.\\nAchaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, Xerxes the Great - Crystalinks\\nAchaemenid Empire\\nAchaemenid Family Tree\\nThe Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE), sometimes known as First Persian Empire, was an empire in Southwest Asia, founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation. It expanded to eventually rule over significant portions of the ancient world which at around 500 BCE stretched from the Indus Valley in the east, to Thrace and Macedon on the northeastern border of Greece making it the biggest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenid Empire would eventually control Egypt as well. It was ruled by a series of monarchs who unified its disparate tribes and nationalities by constructing a complex network of roads.\\nCalling themselves the Parsa after their original Aryan tribal name Parsua, Persians settled in a land which they named Parsua, bounded on the west by the Tigris River and on the south by the Persian Gulf. This became their heartland for the duration of the Achaemenid Empire. It was from this region that eventually Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) would advance to defeat the Median, the Lydian, and the Babylonian Empires, opening the way for subsequent conquests into Egypt and Asia minor.\\nAt the height of its power after the conquest of Egypt, the empire encompassed approximately 8 million km2 spanning three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. At its greatest extent, the empire included the modern territories of Iran, Turkey, parts of Central Asia, Pakistan, Thrace and Macedonia, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Afghanistan, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. It is noted in Western history as the antagonist foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, for emancipation of slaves including the Jewish people from their Babylonian captivity, and for instituting infrastructures such as a postal system, road systems, and the usage of an official language throughout its territories. The empire had a centralized, bureaucratic administration under the Emperor and a large professional army and civil services, inspiring similar developments in later empires.\\nTraditional view is that the Persian Empire's vast size and its extraordinary ethnocultural diversity would prove to be its undoing as delegation of power to local governments would eventually weaken the king's central authority, causing much energy and resources to be wasted in attempts to subdue local rebellions explaining why when Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) invaded Persia in 334 BCE he was faced by a disunified realm under a weak monarch, ripe for destruction.\\nThis viewpoint however is challenged by some modern scholars who argue that the Achaemenid Empire was not facing any such crisis around the time of Alexander, and that only internal succession struggles within the Achaemenid family ever came close to weakening the Empire. Alexander, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, would eventually cause the collapse of the empire and its disintegration around 330 BCE into what later became the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire, in addition to other minor territories which gained independence at that time. The Iranian Culture of the central plateau, however, continued to thrive and eventually reclaimed power by the 2nd century BCE.\\nThe historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their daily lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange, some being employed by, or allied to the Persian kings. The impact of Cyrus the Great's Edict of Restoration is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts and the empire was instrumental in the spread of Zoroastrianism as far east as China. Even Alexander the Great, the man who would set out to conquer this vast empire, would respect its customs, by enforcing respect for the royal Persian kings including Cyrus the Great, and even by appearing in proskynesis, a Persian royal custom, despite stern Macedonian disapproval.\\nThe Persian empire would also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Persia (now called Iran). The influence also encompasses Persia's previous territories collectively referred to as the Greater Persia. A notable engineering achievement is the Qanat water management system, the oldest and longest of which is older than 3000 years and longer than 44 miles (71 km.)\\nIn 480 BCE, it is estimated that 50 million people lived in the Achaemenid Empire or about 44% of the world's population at the time, making it the largest ever empire by population in percentage terms.\\nThe Kings List\\nCyrus the Great\\nCyrus II of Persia (c. 600 BC or 576 BC-530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, parts of Europe and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen.\\nThe reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought \\\"into subjection every nation without exception\\\". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.\\nCyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. It is said that in universal history, the role of the Achaemenid empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus. Cyrus the Great also left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion through his Edict of Restoration, where because of his policies in Babylonia, he is referred to by the people of the Jewish faith, as \\\"the anointed of the Lord\\\" or a \\\"Messiah\\\".\\nCyrus the Great is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran. Cyrus and, indeed, the Achaemenid influence in the ancient world also extended as far as Athens, where many Athenians adopted aspects of the Achaemenid Persian culture as their own, in a reciprocal cultural exchange.\\nThe best-known date for the birth of Cyrus the Great is either 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC. Little is known of his early years, as there are only a few sources known to detail that part of his life, and they have been damaged or lost.\\nHerodotus's story of Cyrus's early life belongs to a genre of legends in which abandoned children of noble birth, such as Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, return to claim their royal positions. Similar to other culture's heroes and founders of great empires, folk traditions abound regarding his family background. According to Herodotus, he was the grandson of the Median king Astyages and was brought up by humble herding folk. In another version, he was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court. These folk stories are, however, contradicted by Cyrus's own testimony, according to which he was preceded as king of Persia by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.\\nAfter the birth of Cyrus the Great, Astyages had a dream that his Magi interpreted as a sign that his grandson would eventually overthrow him. He then ordered his steward Harpagus to kill the infant. Harpagus, morally unable to kill a newborn, summoned the Mardian Mitradates (which the historian Nicolaus of Damascus calls Atradates), a royal bandit herdsman from the mountainous region bordering the Saspires, and ordered him to leave the baby to die in the mountains. Luckily, the herdsman and his wife (whom Herodotus calls Cyno in Greek, and Spaca-o in Median) took pity and raised the child as their own, passing off their recently stillborn infant as the murdered Cyrus.\\nFor the origin of Cyrus the Great's mother, Herodotus identifies Mandane of Media, and Ctesias insists that she is fully Persian but gives no name, while Nicolaus gives the name \\\"Argoste\\\" as Atradates's wife; whether this figure represents Cyno or Cambyses's unnamed Persian queen has yet to be determined. It is also noted that Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his stepparents; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, names him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.\\nHerodotus claims that when Cyrus the Great was ten years old, it was obvious that Cyrus was not a herdsman's son, stating that his behavior was too noble. Astyages interviewed the boy and noticed that they resembled each other. Astyages ordered Harpagus to explain what he had done with the baby, and, after Harpagus confessed that he had not killed the boy, Astyages tricked him into eating his own broiled and chopped up son. Astyages was more lenient with Cyrus and allowed him to return to his biological parents, Cambyses and Mandane. While Herodotus's description may be a legend, it does give insight into the figures surrounding Cyrus the Great's early life.\\nCyrus the Great had a wife named Cassandane. She was an Achaemenian and daughter of Pharnaspes. From this marriage, Cyrus had four children: Cambyses II, Bardiya (Smerdis), Atossa, and another daughter whose name is not attested in the ancient sources. Also, Cyrus had a fifth child named Artystone, the sister or half-sister of Atossa, who may not have been the daughter of Cassandane. Cyrus the Great had a specially dear love for Cassandane. Cassandane also loved Cyrus to the point that on her death bed she is noted as having found it more bitter to leave Cyrus, than to depart her life.\\nAccording to the Chronicle of Nabonidus, when Cassandane died, all the nations of Cyrus's empire observed \\\"a great mourning\\\", and, particularly in Babylonia, there was probably even a public mourning lasting for six days (identified from 21-26 March 538 BC). Her tomb is suggested to be at Cyrus's capital, Pasargadae. There are other accounts suggesting that Cyrus the Great also married a daughter of the Median king Astyages, named Amytis. This name may not be the correct one, however. Cyrus probably had married once, after the death of Cassandane, to a Median woman in his royal family. Cyrus the Great's son Cambyses II would become the king of Persia, and his daughter Atossa would marry Darius the Great and bear him Xerxes I.\\nThough his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus the Great had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC; however, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. During Astyages's reign, the Median Empire may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.\\nIn Herodotus's version, Harpagus, seeking vengeance, convinced Cyrus to rally the Persian people to revolt against their feudal lords, the Medes. However, it is likely that both Harpagus and Cyrus rebelled due to their dissatisfaction with Astyages's policies.[35] From the start of the revolt in summer 553 BC, with his first battles taking place from early 552 BC, Harpagus, with Cyrus, led his armies against the Medes until the capture of Ecbatana in 549 BC, effectively conquering the Median Empire.\\nWhile Cyrus the Great seems to have accepted the crown of Media, by 546 BC, he officially assumed the title \\\"King of Persia\\\" instead. With Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames was still the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus's authority - more of a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King. His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus's second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus's sons. Cyrus' conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars.\\nThe exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Median kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held. The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning.\\nWhile in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of the winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus the Great pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus the Great to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great spared Croesus's life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle (the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia), which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain.\\nBefore returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus' treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyas hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares's arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene. The end of Pactyas is unknown, but after capture, he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures.\\nMazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC and returned to Persia.\\nBy the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa.\\nElam was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq. The modern name Elam is a transcription from Biblical Hebrew, corresponding to the Sumerian elam(a), the Akkadian elamtu, and the Elamite haltamti. Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the ancient near east. In classical literature, Elam was more often referred to as Susiana, a name derived from its capital, Susa.\\nSituated just to the east of Mesopotamia, Elam was part of the early urbanization during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Mesopotamian history where writing was used slightly earlier. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire, especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally treated as an isolate language.\\nThe Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed, and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace. It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years.\\nTwo days later, on October 7 (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus. Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians, using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks, diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped \\\"to the height of the middle of a man's thigh\\\", which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night. On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus.\\nPrior to Cyrus's invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact.\\nAfter taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself \\\"king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world\\\" in the famous Cyrus cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus pleasing the god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.\\nSuperimposed on modern borders, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus's rule extended approximately from Turkey, Israel, Georgia and Arabia in the west to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Indus River (Pakistan) and Oman in the east. Cyrus the Great's dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen. At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east.\\nDarius The Great\\nSeal of Darius the Great\\nDarius I, also known as Darius the Great, was the third king of the Achaemenid Empire. Darius I was the greatest of all the Persian kings. He extended the empires borders into India and Europe. He also fought two wars with the Greeks which were disastrous.\\nDarius established a government which became a model for many future governments:\\nEstablished a tax-collection system;\\nAllowed locals to keep customs and religions;\\nDivided his empire into districts known as Satrapies;\\nBuilt a system of roads still used today;\\nEstablished a complex postal system;\\nEstablished a network of spies he called the \\\"Eyes and Ears of the King.\\\"\\nBuilt two new capital cities, one at Susa and one at Persepolis.\\nDarius held the empire at its peak, then including the entire Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Romania-Panonia), portions of north and northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudraya), eastern Libya, coastal Sudan, Eritrea), as well as northeast portions of and greater India (Pakistan and northwest India), the Aegean Islands and northern Greece/Thrace-Macedonia.\\nDarius ascended the throne by overthrowing the alleged magus usurper of Bardiya with the assistance of six other Persian noble families; Darius was crowned the following morning. The new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time. A major event in Darius's life was his expedition to punish Athens and Eretria for their aid in the Ionian Revolt and subjugate Greece. Darius expanded his empire by conquering Thrace and Macedon and invading Scythia, home of the Scythians, nomadic tribes who invaded Media and had previously killed Cyrus the Great.\\nDarius organized the empire by dividing it into provinces and placing satraps to govern it. He organized a new uniform monetary system, along with making Aramaic the official language of the empire. Darius also worked on construction projects throughout the empire, focusing on Susa, Pasargadae, Persepolis, Babylon and Egypt. Darius devised a codification of laws for Egypt. He also had the cliff-face Behistun Inscription carved, an autobiography of great modern linguistic significance. Darius also started many massive architectural projects, including magnificent palaces in Persepolis and Susa.\\nDarius was born as the eldest of five sons to Hystaspes and Rhodugune in 550 BCE. Hystaspes was a leading figure of authority in Persia, which was the homeland of the Persians. Darius' inscription states that his father was satrap of Bactria in 522 BCE. According to Herodotus, Hystaspes was the satrap of Persis, although most historians state that this is an error. Also according to Herodotus (III.139), Darius, prior to seizing power and \\\"of no consequence at the time\\\", had served as a spearman (doryphoros) in the Egyptian campaign (528-525 BCE) of Cambyses II, then the Persian Great King. Hystaspes was an officer in Cyrus' army and a noble of his court.\\nBefore Cyrus and his army crossed the Aras River to battle with northern tribes, he installed his son Cambyses II as king in case he should not return from battle. However, once Cyrus had crossed the Aras River he had a dream with a vision of Darius in which he had wings atop his shoulders and stood upon the confines of Europe and Asia (the whole known world). When Cyrus awoke from the dream, he inferred it as a great danger to the future security of the empire, as it meant that Darius would one day rule the whole world. However, his son Cambyses was the heir to the throne, not Darius, causing Cyrus to wonder if Darius was forming treasonable and ambitious designs. This led Cyrus to order Hystaspes to go back to Persis and watch over his son strictly, until Cyrus himself returned. Darius did not seem to have any treasonous thoughts as Cambyses II ascended the throne peacefully, and through promotion Darius was eventually elevated to Cambyses' personal lancer.\\nThe rise of Darius to the throne contains two variations, an account from Darius and another other from Greek historians. Some modern historians have inferred that Darius' rise to power might have been illegitimate. To them, it seems likely that Gaumata was in fact Bardiya, and that under cover of revolts, Darius killed the heir to the throne and took it himself.\\nDarius' account, written at the Behistun Inscription states that Cambyses II killed his own brother Bardiya, but that this murder was not known among the Iranian people. A would-be usurper named Gaumata came and lied to the people, stating he was Bardiya. The Iranians had grown rebellious against Cambyses' rule and on 11 March 522 BCE a revolt against Cambyses broke out in his absence. On 1 July, the Iranian people chose to be under the leadership of Gaumata, as \\\"Bardiya\\\". No member of the Achamenid family would rise against Gaumata for the safety of their own life. Darius, who had served Cambyses as his lance-bearer until the deposed ruler's death, prayed for aid and in September 522 BCE, along with Otanes, Intraphrenes, Gobryas, Hydarnes, Megabyxus and Aspathines, killed Gaumata in the fortress of Sikayauvati.\\nSeveral days after Gaumata had been assassinated, Darius and the other seven nobles discussed the fate of the empire. At first, the seven discussed the form of government; a democratic republic was strongly pushed by Otanes, a oligarchy was pushed by Megazybus, while Darius pushed for a monarchy. After stating that a republic would lead to corruption and internal fighting, while a monarchy would be led with a single-mindedness, not possible in other governments, Darius was able to convince the other nobles that a monarchy was the correct form of government.\\nTo decide who would become the monarch, the six nobles (Otanes stated that he had no interest in becoming king) decided on a test. All six nobles would gather outside mounted on their horses at sunrise, and the nobles' horse which neighed first would become Great King. According to Herodotus, Darius had a slave, Oebares who helped Darius win this contest. Before the contest, Oebares rubbed his hand over the genitals of a mare that Darius' horse had a fondness for. When the six nobles gathered outside, Oebares placed his hands beside the nostrils of Darius' horse, who became excited at the smell and neighed.\\nImmediately after, lightning and thunder occurred leading the other six noblemen to believe to be an act of God, causing them to dismount and kneel before Darius. Darius did not believe that he had achieved the throne through fraud but through brilliant sagacity, even erecting a statue of himself mounted on his neighing horse stating \\\"Darius, son of Hystaspes, obtained the sovereignty of Persia by the sagacity of his horse and the ingenious contrivance of Oebases, his groom.\\\"\\nAccording to the accounts of Greek historians, Cambyses II had left Patizeithes in charge of the kingdom when he headed for Egypt. He later sent Prexaspes to murder Bardiya. After the killing, Patizeithes put his brother Gaumata, a Magian who resembled Bardiya, on the throne and declared him the Great King. Otanes discovered that Gaumata was an impostor, and along with six other Iranian nobles including Darius, created a plan to oust the pseudo-Bardiya. After killing the impostor along with his brother Patizeithes and other Magians, Darius was crowned king the following morning.\\nFollowing his coronation at Pasargadae, Darius moved to Ecbatana. He soon learned that support for Bardiya was strong, and revolts in Elam and Babylonia had broken out. Darius ended the Elamite revolt when the revolutionary leader Aschina was captured and executed in Susa, after three months the revolt in Babylonia had ended. While in Babylonia, Darius learned a revolution had broken out in Bactria, a satrapy which had always been in favour of Darius, and had initially volunteered an army of soldiers to quell revolts. Following this, revolts broke out in Persis, the homeland of the Persians and Darius. These new revolts led to a renewed revolt in Elam and Babylonia. With all these ongoing revolts, revolts broke out in Media, Parthia, Assyria, and Egypt. By 522 BCE, the majority, if not the entire Achaemenid Empire was revolting against Darius and in turmoil. Even though Darius did not have the support of the populace, Darius had a loyal army, led by close confidants and nobles (including the six nobles with whom he removed Gaumata) with whom he was able to suppress and quell all revolts within a year. In Darius' words, he had killed a total of eight \\\"lying kings\\\" through the quelling of revolutions. Darius left a detailed account of these revolutions at the Behistun Inscription.\\nEarly in his reign, Darius wanted to organize the loosely organized empire with a system of taxation he inherited from Cyrus and Cambyses. To do this, Darius created twenty provinces called satrapies (or archi) which were each assigned to a satrap(archon) and specified fixed tributes that the satrapies were required to pay. A complete list is preserved in the catalog of Herodotus, beginning from Ionia and listing the other satrapies from west to east excluding Persis which was the land of the Persians and the only province which was not a conquered land. Tributes were paid in both silver and gold talents.\\nTributes in silver from each satrap were measured with the Babylonian talent. Those paid in gold were measured with the Euboic talent. The total tribute from the satraps came to an amount less than 15,000 silver talents.\\nThe majority of the satraps were of Persian origin and were members of the royal house or the six great noble families. These satraps were personally picked by Darius to monitor these provinces, which were divided into sub-provinces with their own governors which were chosen either by the royal court or by the satrap. To assess tributes, a commission evaluated the expenses and revenues of each satrap. To ensure that one person did not gain too much power, each satrap had a secretary who observed the affairs of the state and communicated with Darius, a treasurer who safeguarded provincial revenues and a garrison commander who was responsible for the troops. Additionally, royal inspectors who were the \\\"eyes and ears\\\" of Darius completed further checks over each satrap.\\nThere were headquarters of imperial administration at Persepolis, Susa, and Babylon while Bactria, Ecbatana, Sardis, Dascyclium and Memphis also had branches of imperial administration. Darius chose Aramaic as a common language, which soon spread throughout the empire. However, Darius gathered a group of scholars to create a separate language system only used for Persis and the Persians, which was called Aryan script which was only used for official inscriptions.\\nDarius conducted the introduction of a universal currency, the daric sometime before 500 BCE. Darius applied the coinage system as a transnational currency to regulate trade and commerce throughout his empire. The daric was also recognized beyond the borders of the empire - in places such as Celtic Central Europe and Eastern Europe. There were two types of darics, a gold and a silver. Only the king could mint gold darics, important generals and satraps minted silver darics, the latter usually to recruit Greek mercenaries in Anatolia. The daric was a major boost to international trade, trade goods such as textiles, carpets, tools and metal objects began to travel throughout Asia, Europe and Africa. To further improve trade, Darius built a royal highway, a postal system and Phoenician-based commercial shipping.\\nThe daric also improved government revenues as the introduction of the daric led to new taxes on land, livestock and marketplaces. This also led to the registration of land. It was measured and taxed accordingly. The increased government revenues helped maintain and improve existing infrastructure. The increased government revenues also helped fund irrigation projects in dry lands. This new tax system also led to the formation of state banking and the creation of banking firms. One of the most famous banking firms was Murashu and Sons, based in Nippur. These banking firms provided loans and credit to clients.\\nThe daric was called darayaka within the empire and was most likely named after Darius. In an effort to further improve trade, Darius built canals, underground waterways and a powerful navy. He further improved and expanded the network of roads and waystations throughout the empire, so that there was a system of travel authorization for the King, satraps and other high officials, which entitled the traveller to draw provisions at daily stopping places.\\nAccording to A. T. Olmstead's book History of the Persian Empire, Darius the Great's father Vishtaspa (Hystaspes) and mother Hutaosa (Atossa) knew the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) personally and were converted by him to the new religion he preached, Zoroastrianism.\\nWhile there is no absolute consensus on the kings before Darius, such as Cyrus and Cambyses, it is well established that Darius was an adherent of Zoroastrianism or at least a firm believer in Ahura Mazda. As can be seen at the Behistun Inscription (see below), Darius believed that Ahura Mazda had appointed him to rule the Achaemenid Empire. Darius had dualistic convictions and believed that each rebellion in his kingdom was the work of druj, the enemy of Asha. Darius believed that because he lived righteously by Asha, Ahura Mazda supported him. In many cuneiform inscriptions denoting his achievements, he presents himself as a devout believer, perhaps even convinced that he had a divine right to rule over the world.\\nIn the lands that were conquered by his empire, Darius followed the same Achaemenid tolerance that Cyrus had shown and later Achaemenid emperors would show. He supported faiths and religions that were \\\"alien\\\" as long as the adherents were submissive and peaceable, sometimes giving them grants from his treasury for their purposes. He had funded the restoration of the Jewish temple which had originally been decreed by Cyrus the Great, presented favor towards Greek cults which can be seen in his letter to Gadatas, and supported Elamite priests. He had also observed Egyptian religious rites related to kingship and had built the temple for the Egyptian God, Amun.\\nDuring Darius's Greek expedition, he had begun construction projects in Susa, Egypt and Persepolis. He had linked the Red Sea to the river Nile by building a canal which ran from modern Zaqaziq to modern Suez. To open this canal, he traveled to Egypt in 497 BCE, where the inauguration was done among great fanfare and celebration. Darius also built a canal to connect the Red Sea and Mediterranean. On this visit to Egypt he erected monuments and executed Aryandes on accounts of treason. When Darius returned to Persis, he found that the codification of Egyptian law had been finished.\\nAdditionally, Darius sponsored large construction projects in Susa, Babylon, Egypt and Persepolis. In Susa, Darius built a new palace complex in the north of the city. An inscription states that the palace was destroyed during the reign of Artaxerxes I, but was rebuilt. Today only glazed bricks of the palace remain, the majority of them in the Louvre. In Pasargadae Darius finished all incomplete construction projects from the reign of Cyrus the Great. A palace was also built during the reign of Darius, with an inscription in the name of Cyrus the Great. It was previously believed that Cyrus had constructed this building, however due to the cuneiform script being used, the palace is believed to have been constructed by Darius.\\nIn Egypt Darius built many temples and restored those that had previously been destroyed. Even though Darius was a Zoroastrian, he built temples dedicated to the Gods of the Ancient Egyptian religion. Several temples found were dedicated to Ptah and Nekhbet. Darius also created several roads and routes in Egypt. The monuments that Darius built were often inscribed in the official languages of the Persian Empire, Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian and Egyptian hieroglyphs. To construct these monuments Darius hired a large number of workers and artisans of diverse nationalities. Several of these workers were deportees who had been employed specifically for these projects. These deportees enhanced the economy and improved international relations with neighboring countries that these deportees arrived from. At the time of Darius's death construction projects were still underway. Xerxes completed these works and in some cases expanded his father's projects by erecting new buildings of his own.\\nOne of the significant events of Darius' early reign was the slaying of Intaphernes. Intaphernes was one of the seven noblemen who had deposed the previous ruler and installed Darius as the new monarch. The seven had made an agreement that they could all visit the new king whenever they pleased, except when he was with his wife. One evening, Intaphernes went to the palace to meet Darius, but was stopped by two officers who stated that Darius had retired for the night. Becoming enraged and insulted, Intaphernes drew his sword and cut off the ears and noses of the two officers. While leaving the palace, he took the bridle from his horse, and tied the two officers together. The officers went to the king and showed him what Intaphernes had done to them. Darius began to fear for his own safety; he thought that all seven noblemen had banded together to rebel against him and that the attack against his officers was the first sign of revolt. He sent a messenger to each of the noblemen, asking them if they approved of Intaphernes' actions; they denied it and disavowed any connection to Intaphernes' actions, stating that they stood by their decision to appoint Darius as King of Kings.\\nTaking precautions against further resistance, Darius sent soldiers to seize Intaphernes, along with his son, family members, relatives and any friends who were capable of arming themselves. Darius believed that Intaphernes was planning a rebellion, but when he was brought to the court, there was no proof of any such plan. Nonetheless, Darius killed Intaphernes' entire family, excluding his wife's brother and son. She was asked to choose between her brother and son. She chose her brother to live. Her reasoning for doing so was that she could have another husband and another son, but she would always have but one brother. Darius was impressed by her response and spared both her brother's and her son's life.\\nAfter securing his authority over the entire empire, Darius embarked on a campaign to Egypt where he defeated the armies of the Pharaoh and secured the lands that Cambyses had conquered while incorporating a large portion of Egypt into the Achaemenid Empire. Darius also led his armies to the Indus River, building fortresses and establishing Persian rule.\\nAfter Bardiya was murdered, widespread revolts occurred throughout the empire, especially on the eastern side. Darius asserted his position as king by force, taking his armies throughout the empire, suppressing each revolt individually. The most notable of all the revolts is the Babylonian revolt which was led by Nebuchadnezzar III. This revolt occurred when Otanes withdrew much of the army out of Babylon to aid Darius in suppressing other revolts. Darius felt that the Babylonian people had taken advantage of him and deceived him, which resulted in Darius gathering up a large army and marching to Babylon.\\nAt Babylon, Darius was met with closed gates and a series of defenses to keep him and his armies out of Babylon. Darius encountered mockery and taunting from the rebels, including the famous saying \\\"Oh yes, you will capture our city, when mules shall have foals.\\\" For a year and a half, Darius and his armies were unable to capture Babylon, though he attempted many tricks and strategies - even copying that which Cyrus the Great had employed when he captured Babylon. However, the situation changed in Darius's favor when, according to the story, a mule owned by Zopyrus, a high-ranking soldier, foaled. Following this, a plan was hatched for Zopyrus to pretend to be a deserter, enter the Babylonian camp, and gain the trust of the Babylonians. The plan was successful, and Darius' army eventually surrounded the city and overcame the rebels.\\nDuring this revolt, Scythian nomads took advantage of the disorder and chaos and invaded Persia. Darius first finished defeating the rebels in Elam, Assyria, and Babylon and then attacked the Scythian invaders. He pursued the invaders, who led him to a marsh; there he found no known enemies but an enigmatic Scythian tribe distinguished by their large pointy hats.\\nThe Scythians were a group of north Iranian nomadic tribes, speaking a Indo-Iranian language who had invaded Media, killed Cyrus in battle, revolted against Darius and threatened to disrupt trade between Central Asia and the shores of the Black Sea as they lived between the Danube river, river Don and the Black Sea.\\nDarius crossed the Black Sea at the Bosphorus Straits using a bridge of boats. Darius conquered large portions of Eastern Europe - even crossing the Danube to wage war on the Scythians. Darius invaded Scythia, where the Scythians evaded Darius' army, using feints and retreating technique eastward while wasting the countryside, by blocking wells, intercepting convoys, destroying pastures and continuous skirmishes against Darius' army. Seeking to fight with the Scythians, Darius' army chased the Scythian army deep into Scythian lands, where there were no cities to conquer and no supplies to forage. In frustration Darius sent a letter to the Scythian ruler Idanthyrsus to fight or surrender.\\nThe ruler replied that he would not stand and fight with Darius until they found the graves of their fathers and tried to destroy them - until then, they could continue their current technique as they had no cities or cultivated lands to lose. Darius ordered a halt at the banks of Oarus, where he built eight frontier fortresses spaced at intervals of eight miles. After chasing the Scythians for a month, Darius' army was suffering losses due to fatigue, privation and sickness. In fear of losing more troops, he halted the march at the banks of the Volga River and headed towards Thrace. He had conquered enough territory of Scythia to force the Scythians to respect the Persian forces.\\nDarius's European expedition was a major event in his reign, which began with the invasion of Thrace, after which he left Megabyzus to conquer Thrace, returning to Sardis to spend the winter. Before returning, Darius also conquered many cities of the northern Aegean, while Macedonia submitted voluntarily. The Asiatic Greeks and Greek islands had submitted to Persian rule by 510 BCE. Nonetheless, there were certain Greeks who were pro-Persian, such as the medizing Greeks, which were largely grouped at Athens. This improved Greek-Persian relations as Darius opened his court and treasuries to the Greeks who wanted to serve him. These Greeks served as soldiers, artisans, statesmen and mariners for Darius; however, Greek fear of the strength of Darius' kingdom became strong and the constant interference by the Greeks in Ionia and Lydia were all stepping stones in the conflict that was yet to come between Persia and Greece.\\nWhen Aristagoras organized the Ionian revolt, Eretria and Athens supported him by sending ships and troops to Ionia and burning Sardis. Persian military and naval operations to quell the revolt ended in the Persian reoccupation of Ionian and Greek islands; however, anti-Persian parties gained more power in Athens, and pro-Persian aristocrats were exiled from Athens and Sparta. Darius responded by sending troops led by his son-in-law across the Hellespont; however, a violent storm and harassment by Thracians forced the troops to return to Persia. Seeking revenge on Athens and Eretria, Darius assembled another army of 20,000 men under his Admiral, Datis who met success when he captured Eretria and advanced to Marathon. In 490 BCE, at the Battle of Marathon, the Persian army was defeated by a heavily armed Athenian army, with 9,000 men who were supported by 600 Plataeans, 1,000 soldiers from each of eleven Greek city-states (11,000 men in total) and 10,000 lightly armed soldiers led by Miltiades.\\nThe defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece. Darius began preparations for a second force which he would command, instead of his generals; however, before the preparations were complete, Darius died, thus leaving the task to his son Xerxes.\\nDarius was son of Hystaspes and grandson of Arschama I, both men belonging to the Achaemenid tribe, and being alive when Darius ascended the throne. Darius justifies his ascension to the throne with his lineage tracing back to Achaemenes, even though he was distantly related. For these reasons, Darius married Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had four sons, Xerxes, Achaimenes, Masistes and Hystaspes. He also married Artystone, another daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had two sons, Arsames and Gobryas.\\nDarius also married Parmys, the daughter of Bardiya, with whom he had a son, Ariomardos. Furthermore, Darius married Phratagone, with whom he had two sons, Abrokomas and Hyperantes. He also married another woman of the nobility, Phaidime, the daughter of Otanes. It is unknown if he had children with her. Before these royal marriages, Darius married a commoner with whom he had three sons, Artobarzanes (the first born), Arabignes and Arsamenes, while daughters are not known. Although Artobarzanes was the first born of Darius, Xerxes became heir and next king through the influence of Atossa, who had great authority in the kingdom, as Darius loved her, of all of his wives, most.\\nAfter becoming aware of the Persian defeat at the Battle of Marathon, Darius began planning another expedition against the Greek-city states; this time, he, not Datis, would command the imperial armies. Darius had spent three years preparing men and ships for war, when a revolt broke out in Egypt. This revolt in Egypt worsened his failing health and prevented the possibility of leading another army himself. Soon Darius died. In October 486 BCE the body of Darius was embalmed and entombed in the rock-cut sepulcher which had been prepared for him several years earlier.\\nXerxes, eldest son of Darius and Atossa, succeeded to the throne as Xerxes I; however, prior to Xerxes's accession, he contested the succession with his elder half-brother Artobazan, Darius' eldest son who was born to his commoner first wife before Darius rose to power.\\nIn 1923 CE German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld made casts of the cuneiform inscriptions on Darius's tomb. They are currently housed in the archives of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.\\nOutline tracing of the figure representing Darius I\\nThe Stone Tablets of Darius the Great\\nThe Persian Rosetta Stone\\nDarius left a tri-lingual monumental relief on Mount Behistun which was written in Elamite, Old Persian and Babylonian between his coronation and his death. The inscription begins with a brief autobiography with his ancestry and lineage. To aid the presentation of his ancestry, Darius wrote down the sequence of events which occurred after the death of Cyrus the Great. Darius mentions several times that he is the rightful king by the grace of Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian God. In addition, further texts and monuments from Persepolis have been found, including a fragmentary Old Iranian inscription from Gherla, Romania (Harmatta) and a letter from Darius to Gadates, preserved in a Greek text of the Roman period.\\nHerodotus, a Greek historian and author of The Histories, provided an account of many Persian kings and the Greco-Persian Wars. He wrote an extensive amount of information on Darius which spans half of book 3, along with books 4, 5 and 6. It begins with the removal of the alleged usurper Gaumata and continues to the end of Darius's reign.\\nThe Book of Ezra (chapter 6, verse 1) describes the adoption and precise instructions to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. It was completed and inaugurated of the sixth year of Darius (March 515 BCE), as also related in the Book of Ezra (chapter 6, verse 15), so the 70-year prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled. Between Cyrus and Darius, an exchange of letters with King Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes is described (chapter 4, verse 7), the grandson of Darius I, in whose reign Ezra and Nehemiah came to Jerusalem.\\nThe generous funding of the temple gave Darius and his successors the support of the Jewish priesthood. There is mention of a Darius in the Book of Daniel, identified as Darius the Mede. He began ruling when he was 62 years old (chapter 5, verse 31), appointed 120 satraps to govern over their provinces or districts (chapter 6, verse 1), was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans (chapter 9, verse 1), and predated Cyrus (chapter 11, verse 1). Therefore, many scholars identify him with Cyaxares II rather than Darius I of Persia.\\nXerxes The Great\\nXerxes I of Persia, also known as Xerxes the Great, (519 BC-465 BC), was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire.\\nImmediately after seizing the kingship, Darius I of Persia (son of Hystaspes) married Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great). They were both descendants of Achaemenes from different Achaemenid lines. Marrying a daughter of Cyrus strengthened Darius' position as king.\\nDarius was an active emperor, busy with building programs in Persepolis, Susa, Egypt, and elsewhere. Toward the end of his reign he moved to punish Athens, but a new revolt in Egypt (probably led by the Persian satrap) had to be suppressed. Under Persian law, the Achaemenian kings were required to choose a successor before setting out on such serious expeditions. Upon his great decision to leave (487-486 BC), Darius prepared his tomb at Naqsh-e Rostam and appointed Xerxes, his eldest son by Atossa, as his successor. Darius' failing health then prevented him from leading the campaigns, and he died in October 486 BC.\\nXerxes was not the oldest son of Darius, and according to old Iranian traditions should not have succeeded the King. Xerxes was however the oldest son of Darius and Atossa hence descendent of Cyrus. This made Xerxes the chosen King of Persia. Some modern scholars also view the unusual decision of Darius to give the throne to Xerxes to be a result of his consideration of the unique positions that Cyrus the Great and his daughter Atossa have had.Artobazan was born to \\\"Darius the subject\\\", while Xerxes was the eldest son born in the purple after Darius' rise to the throne, and Artobazan's mother was a commoner while Xerxes' mother was the daughter of the founder of the empire.\\nXerxes was crowned and succeeded his father in October-December 486 BC when he was about 36 years old. The transition of power to Xerxes was smooth due again in part to great authority of Atossa and his accession of royal power was not challenged by any person at court or in the Achaemenian family, or any subject nation.\\nAlmost immediately, he suppressed the revolts in Egypt and Babylon that had broken out the year before, and appointed his brother Achaemenes as governor or satrap (Old Persian: khshathrapavan) over Egypt. In 484 BC, he outraged the Babylonians by violently confiscating and melting down the golden statue of Bel (Marduk, Merodach), the hands of which the rightful king of Babylon had to clasp each New Year's Day. This sacrilege led the Babylonians to rebel in 484 BC and 482 BC, so that in contemporary Babylonian documents, Xerxes refused his father's title of King of Babylon, being named rather as King of Persia and Media, Great King, King of Kings (Shahanshah) and King of Nations (i.e. of the world). Even though Herodotus' report in the Histories has created certain problems concerning Xerxes' religious beliefs, modern scholars consider him a Zoroastrian.\\nDarius died while in the process of preparing a second army to invade the Greek mainland, leaving to his son the task of punishing the Athenians, Naxians, and Eretrians for their interference in the Ionian Revolt, the burning of Sardis and their victory over the Persians at Marathon. From 483 BC Xerxes prepared his expedition: A channel was dug through the isthmus of the peninsula of Mount Athos, provisions were stored in the stations on the road through Thrace, two pontoon bridges later known as Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges were built across the Hellespont. Soldiers of many nationalities served in the armies of Xerxes, including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians and Jews.\\nAccording to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes' first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax and papyrus cables of the bridges; Xerxes ordered the Hellespont (the strait itself) whipped three hundred times and had fetters thrown into the water. Xerxes' second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful. Xerxes concluded an alliance with Carthage, and thus deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus exaggerated to be more than two million strong with at least 10,000 elite warriors named Persian Immortals. The actual Persian strength was around two to three hundred thousands. Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles.\\nThe Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of Greek warriors led by King Leonidas of Sparta resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated. According to Herodotus, the Persians broke the Spartan phalanx after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. After Thermopylae, Athens was captured and the Athenians and Spartans were driven back to their last line of defense at the Isthmus of Corinth and in the Saronic Gulf.\\nWhat happened next is a matter of some controversy. According to Herodotus, upon encountering the deserted city, in an uncharacteristic fit of rage particularly for Persian kings, Xerxes had Athens burned. He almost immediately regretted this action and ordered it rebuilt the very next day. However, Persian scholars dispute this view as pan-Hellenic propaganda, arguing that Sparta, not Athens, was Xerxes' main foe in his Greek campaigns, and that Xerxes would have had nothing to gain by destroying a major center of trade and commerce like Athens once he had already captured it.\\nAt that time, anti-Persian sentiment was high among many mainland Greeks, and the rumor that Xerxes had destroyed the city was a popular one, though it is equally likely the fire was started by accident as the Athenians were frantically fleeing the scene in pandemonium, or that it was an act of \\\"scorched earth\\\" warfare to deprive Xerxes' army of the spoils of the city.\\nAt Artemisium, large storms had destroyed ships from the Greek side and so the battle stopped prematurely as the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. Xerxes was induced by the message of Themistocles (against the advice of Artemisia of Halicarnassus) to attack the Greek fleet under unfavorable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. The Battle of Salamis (September, 480 BC) was won by the Greek fleet, after which Xerxes set up a winter camp in Thessaly.\\nDue to unrest in Babylon, Xerxes was forced to send his army home to prevent a revolt, leaving behind an army in Greece under Mardonius, who was defeated the following year at Plataea. The Greeks also attacked and burned the remaining Persian fleet anchored at Mycale. This cut off the Persians from the supplies they needed to sustain their massive army, and they had no choice but to retreat. Their withdrawal roused the Greek city-states of Asia.\\nInscription of Xerxes the Great near the Van Citadel\\nAfter the military blunders in Greece, Xerxes returned to Persia and completed the many construction projects left unfinished by his father at Susa and Persepolis. He built the Gate of all Nations and the Hall of a Hundred Columns at Persepolis, which are the largest and most imposing structures of the palace. He completed the Apadana, the Palace of Darius and the Treasury all started by Darius as well as building his own palace which was twice the size of his father's. His taste in architecture was similar to that of Darius, though on an even more gigantic scale. He also maintained the Royal Road built by his father and completed the Susa Gate and built a palace at Susa.\\nXerxes' Tomb\\nIn 465 BC, Xerxes was murdered by Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court (Hazarapat/commander of thousand). He was promoted to this prestigious position in the Achamenid court through his successful withdrawal of the second Persian army from Greece, even though this involved refusing to help Mardonius in Plataea. Although Artabanus bore the same name as the famed uncle of Xerxes, a Hyrcanian, his rise to prominence was due to his popularity in religious quarters of the court and harem intrigues. He put his seven sons in key positions and had a plan to dethrone the Achamenids.\\nIn August 465 BC, Artabanus assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch, Aspamitres. Greek historians give contradicting accounts of events. According to Ctesias (in Persica 20), Artabanus then accused the Crown Prince Darius, Xerxes' eldest son, of the murder and persuaded another of Xerxes' sons, Artaxerxes, to avenge the patricide by killing Darius.\\nBut according to Aristotle (in Politics 5.1311b), Artabanus killed Darius first and then killed Xerxes. After Artaxerxes discovered the murder he killed Artabanus and his sons. Participating in these intrigues was the general Megabyzus, whose decision to switch sides probably saved the Achamenids from losing their control of the Persian throne.\\nOrigins of the Persian Empire\\nThe Persian Empire is named after an Indo-European tribe called Parsua. The name Persia is a Latin pronunciation of the Indo-Iranian people Parsua who named their territorial borders Persis, after their tribal name, an area located north of the Persian Gulf and East of Tigris river referred to as Persis (or in Persian, Pars).\\nDespite its success and rapid expansion, Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as by sixth century BCE another group of ancient Iranians had already established the Median Empire. The term Achaemenid is in fact the Latinized version of the Old Persian name Haxamanis (a bahuvrihi compound translating to \\\"having a friend's mind\\\"), meaning in Greek \\\"of the family of the Achaemenis.\\\" Despite the derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh century ruler of the Anshan located in southwestern Iran. It was not until the time of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) a descendant of Achaemenes, that the Achaemenid empire developed the prestige of an empire, and set out to incorporate the existing empires of the ancient east, to become the vast Persian empire of which the ancient texts speak.\\nAt some point in 550 BCE, Cyrus the Great rose in rebellion against the Median empire (most likely due to the Medes' mismanagement of Persis), eventually conquering the Medes and creating the first Persian empire. Cyrus the Great would utilize his tactical genius, as well as his understanding of the socio-political equations governing his territories, to eventually incorporate into the Persian empire the neighboring Lydian and Neo-Babylonian empires, and also leading the way for his successor, Cambyses II to venture into Egypt and defeat the Hittite Empire and the Egyptian Kingdom.\\nCyrus the Great would reflect his political acumen in the management of his newly formed empire, as the Persian empire became the first to attempt to govern many different ethnic groups, on the principle of equal responsibilities, and rights for all people, so long as subjects paid their taxes and kept the peace. Additionally, the king would agree not to interfere with the local customs, religions, and trades of its subject states, a unique quality that eventually won Cyrus the support of the Babylonians. This system of management would ultimately become an issue for the Persians, as with a larger empire came the need for order and control, leading to expenditure of resources and mobilization of troops, to quell local rebellions, weakening the central power of the king. By the time of Darius III, this disorganization had almost led to a disunified realm.\\nThe Persians from whom Cyrus hailed were originally nomadic pastoral people in the western Iranian plateau and by 850 BCE were calling themselves the Parsa and their constantly shifting territory Parsua for the most part localized around Persis (Pars). As Persians gained power, they developed the infrastructure to support their growing influence including creation of a capital named Pasargadae, and an opulent city named Persepolis.\\nBegun during the rule of Darius the Great (Darius I), and completed some 100 years later, Persepolis was a symbol of the empire serving both as a ceremonial centre and a center for government. It had a special set of gradually progressive stairways named \\\"All Countries\\\" around which carved relief decoration depicted scenes of heroism, hunting, natural themes, and presentation of the gifts to the Achaemenid kings by their subjects during the spring festival, Nowruz.\\nThe core structure was composed of a multitude of square rooms or halls, the biggest of which was called Apadana. Tall, erect, decorated columns would often welcome visitors as well as impress them as to the size of the structure. Later on, Darius the Great (Darius I), would also utilize Susa and Ecbatana as his governmental centres, developing them into a similar metropolis status.\\nAccount of the ancestral lineage of the Persian kings of the Achaemenid dynasty can be derived from either documented Greek or Roman accounts, or from existing documented Persian accounts, such as those found in the behistun Inscription. However, since most existing accounts of this vast empire are in works of Greek philosophers and historians, and since much of the original Persian documents are lost, not to mention varying scholarly views on their origin and possible motivations behind them, it is difficult to create a definitive and completely objective list.\\nCyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia), and Darius the Great (Darius I of Persia), were critical in expansion of the empire. Cyrus the Great is often believed to be the son of Cambyses I, grandson of Cyrus I, father of Cambyses II, and a relative of Darius the Great, through a shared ancestor, Teispes. Cyrus the Great is also believed to have been a family member (possibly grandson) of the Median king Astyages through his mother, Mandana of Media. A minority of scholars argue that perhaps Achaemenes was a retrograde creation of Darius the Great, in order to reconcile his connection with Cyrus the Great, after gaining power.\\nAncient Greek writers provide some legendary information about Achaemenes by calling his tribe the Pasargadae, and stating that he was \\\"raised by an eagle\\\". Plato, when writing about the Persians, identified Achaemenes with Perses, ancestor of the Persians in Greek mythology.\\nAccording to Plato, Achaemenes was the same person as Perses, a son of the Ethiopian queen Andromeda and the Greek hero Perseus, and a grandson of Zeus. Later writers believed that Achaemenes and Perses were different people, and that Perses was an ancestor of the king. This account further confirms that Achaemenes could well have been a significant Anshan leader and an ancestor of Cyrus the Great. Regardless, both Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great were related, prominent kings of Persia, under whose rule the empire expanded to include much of the ancient world.\\nExpansion\\nThe empire took its unified form with a central administration around Pasargadae erected by Cyrus the Great. The empire ended up conquering and enlarging the Median empire to include in addition Egypt and Asia Minor. During the reigns of Darius I and his son Xerxes I it engaged in military conflict with some of the major city-states of Ancient Greece , and although it came close to defeating the Greek army this war ultimately led to the empire's overthrow.\\nIn 559 BCE, Cambyses I the Elder was succeeded as the king of Ansan by his son Cyrus II the Great, who also succeeded the still-living Arsames as the King of Persia, thus reuniting the two realms. Cyrus is considered to be the first true king of the Persian empire, as his predecessors were subservient to the Medes. Cyrus the Great conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylon. Cyrus was politically shrewd, modeling himself as the \\\"savior\\\" of conquered nations, often allowing displaced people to return, and giving his subjects freedom to practice local customs. To reinforce this image, he instituted policies of religious freedom, and restored temples and other infrastructure in the newly acquired cities. (Most notably the Jewish inhabitants of Babylon, as recorded in the Cyrus Cylinder and the Tanakh). As a result of his tolerant policies he came to be known by those of the Jewish faith, as \\\"the anointed of the Lord.\\\"\\nHis immediate successors were less successful. Cyrus' son Cambyses II conquered Egypt in 525 BCE, but died in July 522 BCE as the result of an injurious self-accident, during a revolt led by a sacerdotal clan that had lost its power following Cyrus' conquest of Media. According to Herodotus, Cambyses II had originally ventured into Egypt to take revenge for the pharaoh Amasis' trickery when he sent a fake Egyptian bride whose family Amasis had murdered, instead of his own daughter, to wed Cambyses II. Additionally negative reports of mistreatment caused by Amasis, given by Phanes of Halicarnassus, a wise council man serving Amasis, further enforced Cambyses's resolve to venture into Egypt. Amasis died before Cambyses II could face him, but his successor Psamtik III was defeated by Cambyses II in the Battle of Pelusium.\\nWhile Cambyses II was in Egypt, the Zoroastrian priests, whom Herodotus called Magi, usurped the throne for one of their own, Gaumata, who then pretended to be Cambyses II's younger brother Bardiya (Greek: Smerdis or Tanaoxares/Tanyoxarkes), who had been assassinated some three years earlier. Owing to the strict rule of Cambyses II, especially his stance on taxation, and his long absence in Egypt, \\\"the whole people, Perses, Medes and all the other nations,\\\" acknowledged the usurper, especially as he granted a remission of taxes for three years (Herodotus iii. 68). Cambyses II himself would not be able to quell the imposters, as he died due to accidental injury on the way back from Egypt.\\nThe claim that Gaumata had impersonated Bardiya (Smerdis), is derived from Darius the Great and the records at the Behistun Inscription. Historians are divided over the possibility that the story of the impostor was invented by Darius as justification for his coup. Darius made a similar claim when he later captured Babylon, announcing that the Babylonian king was not, in fact, Nebuchadnezzar III, but an impostor named Nidintu-bel.\\nAccording to the Behistun Inscription, Gaumata ruled for seven months before being overthrown in 522 BCE by Darius the Great (Darius I) (Old Persian Daryavus \\\"Who Holds Firm the Good\\\", also known as Darayarahush or Darius the Great). The Magi, though persecuted, continued to exist, and a year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis (Gaumata), saw a second pseudo-Smerdis (named Vahyazdata) attempt a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed.\\nHerodotus writes that the native leadership debated the best form of government for the Empire. It was agreed that an oligarchy would divide them against one another, and democracy would bring about mob rule resulting in a charismatic leader resuming the monarchy. Therefore, they decided a new monarch was in order, particularly since they were in a position to choose him. Darius I was chosen monarch from among the leaders. He was cousin to Cambyses II and Bardiya (Smerdis), claiming Ariaramnes as his ancestor.\\nThe Achaemenids thereafter consolidated areas firmly under their control. It was Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great who, by sound and farsighted administrative planning, brilliant military maneuvering, and a humanistic world view, established the greatness of the Achaemenids and, in less than thirty years, raised them from an obscure tribe to a world power. It was during the reign of Darius the Great (Darius I) that Persepolis was built (518-516 BCE) and which would serve as capital for several generations of Achaemenid kings. Ecbatana (Hagmatana \\\"City of Gatherings\\\", modern: Hamadan) in Media was greatly expanded during this period and served as the summer capital.\\nDarius the Great (Darius I) eventually attacked the Greek mainland, which had supported rebellious Greek colonies under his aegis; but as a result of his defeat at the Battle of Marathon, he was forced to pull the limits of his empire back to Asia Minor. Some scholars argue that in the context of history of the Near and Middle east in the first millennium, Alexander can be considered as the \\\"last of the Achaemenids.\\\" This is partly because Alexander maintained more or less the same political structure, and borders as the previous Achaemenid kings.\\nGovernment\\nCyrus the Great founded the empire as a multi-state empire, governed by four capital states; Pasargadae, Babylon, Susa and Ekbatana. The Achaemenids allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (governor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a 'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government. At differing times, there were between 20 and 30 satrapies.\\nCyrus the Great created an organized army including the Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained soldiers Cyrus also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh.\\nDarius the Great moved the capital from Pasargadae to Persepolis; he revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage and introducing a regulated and sustainable tax system that was precisely tailored to each satrapy, based on their supposed productivity and their economic potential.\\nFor instance, Babylon was assessed for the highest amount and for a startling mixture of commodities - 1000 silver talents, four months supply of food for the army. India was clearly already fabled for its gold; the province (consisting of the sindh and western punjab regions of ancient northwestern India) was to supply gold dust equal in value to the very large amount of 4680 silver talents.\\nEgypt was known for the wealth of its crops; it was to be the granary of the Persian Empire (as later of Rome's) and was required to provide 120,000 measures of grain in addition to 700 talents of silver. This was exclusively a tax levied on subject peoples. Other accomplishments of Darius' reign included codification of the data, a universal legal system, and construction of a new capital at Persepolis.\\nUnder the Achaemenids, the trade was extensive and there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities in the far reaches of the empire. Tariffs on trade were one of the empire's main sources of revenue, along with agriculture and tribute.\\nThe satrapies were linked by a 2,500-kilometer highway, the most impressive stretch being the Royal Road from Susa to Sardis, built by command of Darius I. The relays of mounted couriers could reach the remotest of areas in fifteen days. Despite the relative local independence afforded by the satrapy system, royal inspectors, the \\\"eyes and ears of the king\\\", toured the empire and reported on local conditions. The king also maintained a personal bodyguard of the elite 10,000 Immortals when not at war.\\nThe practice of slavery in Achaemenid Persia was generally banned, although there is evidence that conquered and/or rebellious armies were sold into captivity. Zoroastrianism, the de facto religion of the empire, explicitly forbids slavery, and the kings of Achaemenid Persia, especially the founder Cyrus the Great, followed this ban to varying degrees, as evidenced by the freeing of the Jews at Babylon, and the construction of Persepolis by paid workers. The vexilloid of the Achaemenid Empire was a gold falcon on a field of crimson.\\nMilitary\\nDespite its humble origins in Persis, the empire reached an enormous size under the leadership of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus created a multi-state empire where he allowed regional rulers, called the 'satrap' to rule as his proxy over a certain designated area of his empire called the satrapy. The basic rule of governance was based upon loyalty and obedience of each satrapy to the central power, or the king, and compliance with tax laws.\\nDue to the ethnocultural diversity of the subject nations under the rule of Persia, its enormous geographic size, and the constant struggle for power by regional competitors, the creation of a professional army was necessary for both maintenance of the peace, and also to enforce the authority of the king in cases of rebellion and foreign threat.\\nCyrus managed to create a strong land army, using it to advance in his campaigns in Babylonia, Lydia, and Asia Minor, which after his death was used by his son Cambyses II, in Egypt against Psamtik III. Cyrus would die battling a local Iranian insurgency in the empire, before he could have a chance to develop a naval force. That task however would fall to Darius the Great, who would officially give Persians their own royal navy to allow them to engage their enemies on multiple seas of this vast empire, from the Black sea, and the Aegean Sea, to the Persian Gulf, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean sea.\\nNavy\\nSince its foundation by Cyrus, the Persian empire had been primarily a land empire with a strong army, but void of any actual naval forces. By the fifth century BCE, this was to change, as the empire came across Greek, and Egyptian forces, each with their own maritime traditions and capabilities. Darius the Great (Darius I) is to be credited as the first Achaemenid king to invest in a Persian fleet.\\nEven by then no true \\\"imperial navy\\\" had existed either in Greece or Egypt. Persia would become the first empire, under Darius, to inaugurate and deploy the first regular imperial navy. Despite this achievement, the personnel for the imperial navy would not come from Iran, but were often Phoenicians (mostly from Sidon), Egyptians, Cypriots, and Greeks chosen by Darius the Great to operate the empire's combat vessels.\\nAt first the ships were built in Sidon by the Phoenicians; the first Achaemenid ships measured about 40 meters in length and 6 meters in width, able to transport up to 300 Persian troops at any one trip. Despite origin of the technique of the arsenal and ship construction in Sidon, soon other states of the empire were constructing their own ships each incorporating slight local preferences.\\nThe ships eventually found their way to the Persian Gulf. Persian naval forces laid the foundation for a strong Persian maritime presence in the Persian Gulf, that existed until the arrival of the British East India Company, and the Royal Navy in the mid-nineteenth century CE. Persians were not only stationed on islands of the Persian Gulf, but also had ships often of 100 to 200 capacity patrolling the empire's various rivers including the Shatt-al-Arab, Tigris and Nile in the west, as well as the Sind waterway in India.\\nThe Achaemenid high naval command had established major naval bases located along the Shatt-al-Arab, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen. The Persian fleet would soon not only be used for peace-keeping purposes along the Shatt al-Arab but would also open the door to trade with India via the Persian Gulf. Darius's navy was in many ways a world power at the time, but it would be Artaxerxes II who in the summer of 397 B.C.E would build a formidable navy, as part of a rearmament which would lead to his decisive victory at Knidos in 394 BCE, reestablishing Achaemenid power in Ionia. Artaxerxes II would also utilize his massive navy to later on quell a rebellion in Egypt.\\nThe construction material of choice was wood, but some armored Achaemenid ships had metallic blades on the front, often meant to slice enemy ships using the ship's momentum. Naval ships were also equipted with hooks on the side to grab enemy ships, or to negotiate their position. The ships were propelled by sails or manpower. As far as maritime engagement, the ships were equipped with two mangonels that would launch projectiles such as stones, or flammable substances.\\nXenophon describes his eye-witness account of a massive military bridge created by joining 37 Persian ships across the Tigris river. The Persians utilized each boat's buoyancy, in order to support a connected bridge above which supply could be transferred. Herodotus also gives many accounts of Persians utilizing ships to build bridges. Darius the Great, in an attempt to subdue the Scythian horsemen north of the Black sea, crossed over at the Bosphorus, using an enormous bridge made by connecting Achaemenid boats, then marched up to the Danube, crossing it by means of a second boat bridge. The bridge over the Bosphorus essentially connected the nearest tip of Asia to Europe, encompasing at least some 1000 meters of open water if not more. Herodotus describes the spectacle, and calls it the \\\"bridge of Darius\\\"\\nYears later, a similar boat bridge would be constructed by Xerxes the Great (Xerxes I), in his invasion of Greece. Although the Persians failed to capture the Greek city states completely, the tradition of maritime involvement was carried down by the Persian kings, most notably Artaxerxes II. Years later, when Alexander invaded Persia and during his advancement into India, he took a page from the Persian art of war, by having Hephaestion and Perdiccas construct a similar boat-bridge at the Indus river, in India in spring of 327 BCE.\\nGreco-Persian Wars\\nMedian (left) and Persian (right) soldiers\\nBy the 5th century BCE the kings of Persia ruled over territories roughly encompassing today's Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Uzbekistan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, many parts of Greece, Libya and northern parts of Arabia.\\nThe Ionian Revolt in 499 BCE, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BCE At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras.\\nIn 499 BCE, the then tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos, in an attempt to bolster his position in Miletus (both financially and in terms of prestige). The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king Darius the Great.\\nThe Persians continued to reduce the cities along the west coast that still held out against them, before finally imposing a peace settlement in 493 BCE on Ionia that was generally considered to be both just and fair. The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire, and as such represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars.\\nAsia Minor had been brought back into the Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support for the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all of Greece. However, the Persian forces were defeated at the Battle of Marathon and Darius would die before having the chance to launch an invasion of Greece.\\nXerxes I (485-465 BCE), son of Darius I, vowed to complete the job. He organized a massive invasion aiming to conquer Greece. His army entered Greece from the north, meeting little or no resistance through Macedonia and Thessaly, but was delayed by a small Greek force for three days at Thermopylae. A simultaneous naval battle at Artemisium was tactically indecisive as large storms destroyed ships from both sides. The battle was stopped prematurely when the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. The battle was a strategic victory for the Persians, giving them uncontested control of Artemisium and the Aegean Sea.\\nFollowing his victory at the Battle of Thermopylae, Xerxes sacked the evacuated city of Athens and prepared to meet the Greeks at the strategic Isthmus of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. In 480 BCE the Greeks won a decisive victory over the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis and forced Xerxes to retire to Sardis. The land army which he left in Greece under Mardonius retook Athens but was eventually destroyed in 479 BCE at the Battle of Plataea. The final defeat of the Persians at Mycale encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and marked the end of Persian expansion into Europe.\\nArtaxerxes\\nXerxes I was followed by Artaxerxes I (465 - 424 BCE), who moved the capital from Persepolis to Babylon. It was during this reign that Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic gained in importance. It was probably during this reign that the solar calendar was introduced as the national calendar. Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de-facto religion of state, and for this Artaxerxes I is today also known as the Constantine of that faith.\\nArtaxerxes I died in Susa, and his body was brought to Persepolis for internment in the tomb of his forebears. Artaxerxes I was immediately succeeded by his eldest son Xerxes II, who was however assassinated by one of his half-brothers a few weeks later. Darius II rallied support for himself and marched eastwards, executing the assassin and was crowned in his stead.\\nFrom 412 Darius II (423-404 BCE), at the insistence of the able Tissaphernes, gave support first to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407 BCE, Darius' son Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404 BCE In the same year, Darius fell ill and died in Babylon. At his deathbed, his Babylonian wife Parysatis pleaded with Darius to have her second eldest son Cyrus (the Younger) crowned, but Darius refused.\\nArtaxerxes II\\nDarius was then succeeded by his eldest son Artaxerxes II Memnon. Plutarch relates (probably on the authority of Ctesias) that the displaced Tissaphernes came to the new king on his coronation day to warn him that his younger brother Cyrus (the Younger) was preparing to assassinate him during the ceremony. Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and would have had him executed if their mother Parysatis had not intervened. Cyrus was then sent back as Satrap of Lydia, where he prepared an armed rebellion. Cyrus and Artaxerxes met in the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, where Cyrus was killed.\\nArtaxerxes II (404-358 BCE), was the longest reigning of the Achaemenid kings and it was during this 45-year period of relative peace and stability that many of the monuments of the era were constructed. Artaxerxes moved the capital back to Persepolis, which he greatly extended. Also the summer capital at Ecbatana was lavishly extended with gilded columns and roof tiles of silver and copper (Polybius, 27 October 2012).\\nThe extraordinary innovation of the Zoroastrian shrine cults can also be dated to his reign, and it was probably during this period that Zoroastrianism was disseminated throughout Asia Minor and the Levant, from Armenia. The temples, though serving a religious purpose, were however not a purely selfless act: they also served as an important source of income.\\nFrom the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids had taken over the concept of a mandatory temple tax, a one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or other source of income (Dandamaev & Lukonin, 1989:361-362). A share of this income called the quppu sa sari, \\\"kings chest\\\" - an ingenious institution originally introduced by Nabonidus - was then turned over to the ruler. In retrospect, Artaxerxes is generally regarded as an amiable man who lacked the moral fibre to be a really successful ruler. However, six centuries later Ardeshir I, founder of the second Persian Empire, would consider himself Artaxerxes' successor, a grand testimony to the importance of Artaxerxes to the Persian psyche.\\nLanguages\\nDuring the reign of Cyrus and Darius, and as long as the seat of government was still at Susa in Elam, the language of the chancellory was Elamite. This is primarily attested in the Persepolis fortification and treasury tablets that reveal details of the day-to-day functioning of the empire.\\nIn the grand rock-face inscriptions of the kings, the Elamite texts are always accompanied by Akkadian and Old Persian inscriptions, and it appears that in these cases, the Elamite texts are translations of the Old Persian ones. It is then likely that although Elamite was used by the capital government in Susa, it was not a standardized language of government everywhere in the empire. The use of Elamite is not attested after 458 BCE\\nFollowing the conquest of Mesopotamia, the Aramaic language (as used in that territory) was adopted as a \\\"vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. The use of a single official language, which modern scholarship has dubbed Official Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic, can be assumed to have greatly contributed to the astonishing success of the Achaemenids in holding their far-flung empire together for as long as they did.\\\"\\nIn 1955, Richard Frye questioned the classification of Imperial Aramaic as an \\\"official language\\\", noting that no surviving edict expressly and unambiguously accorded that status to any particular language. Frye reclassifies Imperial Aramaic as the \\\"lingua franca\\\" of the Achaemenid territories, suggesting then that the Achaemenid-era use of Aramaic was more pervasive than generally thought. Many centuries after the fall of the empire, Aramaic script and - as ideograms - Aramaic vocabulary would survive as the essential characteristics of the Pahlavi writing system.\\nAlthough Old Persian also appears on some seals and art objects, that language is attested primarily in the Achaemenid inscriptions of Western Iran, suggesting then that Old Persian was the common language of that region. However, by the reign of Artaxerxes II, the grammar and orthography of the inscriptions was so \\\"far from perfect\\\" that it has been suggested that the scribes who composed those texts had already largely forgotten the language, and had to rely on older inscriptions, which they to a great extent reproduced verbatim.\\nCustoms\\nHerodotus mentions that the Persians were invited to great birthday feasts (Herodotus, Histories 8), which would be followed by many desserts, a treat which they reproached the Greeks for omitting from their meals. He also observed that the Persians drank wine in large quantities and used it even for counsel, deliberating on important affairs when drunk, and deciding the next day, when sober, whether to act on the decision or set it aside.\\nReligion\\nZoroastrianism\\nIt was during the Achaemenid period that Zoroastrianism reached South-Western Iran, where it came to be accepted by the rulers and through them became a defining element of Persian culture. The religion was not only accompanied by a formalization of the concepts and divinities of the traditional Indo-Iranian pantheon but also introduced several novel ideas, including that of free will.\\nUnder the patronage of the Achaemenid kings, and by the 5th century BCE as the de-facto religion of the state, Zoroastrianism would reach all corners of the empire. The Bible claims that Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to their homeland after centuries of captivity by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.\\nDuring the reign of Artaxerxes I and Darius II, Herodotus wrote: \\\"the Perses have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars, and consider the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their not believing the gods to have the same nature with men, as the Greeks imagine.\\\" He claims the Persians offer sacrifice to: \\\"the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down to them from ancient times. At a later period they began the worship of Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians and Assyrians. Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this goddess, to whom the Persians referred as Anahita.\\\" (The original name here is Mithra, which has since been explained to be a confusion of Anahita with Mithra, understandable since they were commonly worshipped together in one temple).\\nFrom the Babylonian scholar-priest Berosus, who - although writing over seventy years after the reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon - records that the emperor had been the first to make cult statues of divinities and have them placed in temples in many of the major cities of the empire (Berosus, III.65). Berosus also substantiates Herodotus when he says the Persians knew of no images of gods until Artaxerxes II erected those images. On the means of sacrifice, Herodotus adds \\\"they raise no altar, light no fire, pour no libations.\\\"\\nThis sentence has been interpreted to identify a critical (but later) accretion to Zoroastrianism. An altar with a wood-burning fire and the Yasna service at which libations are poured are all clearly identifiable with modern Zoroastrianism, but apparently, were practices that had not yet developed in the mid-5th century. Boyce also assigns that development to the reign of Artaxerxes II (4th century BCE), as an orthodox response to the innovation of the shrine cults.\\nHerodotus also observed that \\\"no prayer or offering can be made without a magus present\\\" but this should not be confused with what is today understood by the term magus, that is a magupat (modern Persian: mobed), a Zoroastrian priest. Nor does Herodotus' description of the term as one of the tribes or castes of the Medes necessarily imply that these magi were Medians. They simply were a hereditary priesthood to be found all over Western Iran and although (originally) not associated with any one specific religion, they were traditionally responsible for all ritual and religious services.\\nAlthough the unequivocal identification of the magus with Zoroastrianism came later (Sassanid era, 3rd-7th century CE), it is from Herodotus' magus of the mid-5th century that Zoroastrianism was subject to doctrinal modifications that are today considered to be revocations of the original teachings of the prophet. Also, many of the ritual practices described in the Avesta's Vendidad (such as exposure of the dead) were already practiced by the magu of Herodotus ' time.\\nArt and Architecture\\nAchaemenid architecture refers to the architectural achievements of the Achaemenid Persians manifesting in construction of spectacular cities utilized for governance and inhabitation, temples made for worship and social gatherings (such as Zoroastrian temples), and mausoleums erected in honor of fallen kings (such as the burial tomb of Cyrus the Great). The quintessential feature of Persian architecture was its eclectic nature with elements of Median, Assyrian, and Asiatic Greek all incorporated, yet maintaining a unique Persian identity seen in the finished products.\\nAchaemenid art refers to the artistic achievements of the Aachaemenid Persians manifesting in construction of complicated frieze reliefs, crafting of precious metals ( such as the Oxus Treasure), decoration of palaces, glazed brick masonry, fine craftsmanship (masonry, carpentry, etc.), and gardening, and out door decoration. It is critical to understand that although Persians borrowed techniques from all corners of their empire, it was not simply a combination of styles, but synthesis of a new unique Persian style.\\nCyrus the Great in fact had an extensive ancient Iranian heritage behind him; the rich Achaemenid gold work, which inscriptions suggest may have been a specialty of the Medes, was for instance in the tradition of the delicate metalwork found in Iron Age II times at Hasanlu and still earlier at Marlik.\\nOne of the most amazing examples of both Achaemenid architecture and art is the grand palace of Persepolis, and its detailed workmanship, coupled with its grand scale.\\nFall of the Persian Empire\\nAccording to Plutarch, Artaxerxes' successor Artaxerxes III (358 - 338 BCE) came to the throne by bloody means, ensuring his place upon the throne by the assassination of eight of his half-brothers. In 343 BCE Artaxerxes III defeated Nectanebo II, driving him from Egypt, and made Egypt once again a Persian satrapy. In 338 BCE Artaxerxes III died under unclear circumstances (natural causes according to cuneiform sources but Diodorus, a Greek historian, reports that Artaxerxes was murdered by Bagoas, his minister). while Philip of Macedon united the Greek states by force and began to plan an invasion into the empire.\\nArtaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV Arses, who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas. Bagoas is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then placed Darius III (336-330 BCE), a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, on the throne. Darius III, previously Satrap of Armenia, personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison. In 334 BCE, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened troops invaded Asia Minor.\\nAt two different times, the Achaemenids ruled Egypt although the Egyptians twice regained temporary independence from Persia. After the practice of Manetho, Egyptian historians refer to the periods in Egypt when the Achaemenid dynasty ruled as the twenty-seventh dynasty of Egypt, 525-404 BCE, until the death of Darius II, and the thirty-first dynasty of Egypt, 343-332 BCE, which began after Nectanebo II was defeated by the Persian king Artaxerxes III.\\nAlexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) defeated the Persian armies at Granicus (334 BCE), followed by Issus (333 BCE), and lastly at Gaugamela (331 BCE). Afterwards, he marched on Susa and Persepolis which surrendered in early 330 BCE From Persepolis, Alexander headed north to Pasargadae where he visited the tomb of Cyrus, the burial of the man whom he had heard of from Cyropedia.\\nIn the ensuing chaos created by Alexander the Great's invasion of Persia, Cyrus the Great's tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander the Great reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated, and questioned the Magi, putting them to court. On some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire, than a concern for Cyrus's tomb. Regardless, Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior, showing respect for Cyrus. From there he headed to Ecbatana, where Darius III had sought refuge.\\nDarius III was taken prisoner by Bessus, his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius III and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in the road to delay Alexander, who brought it to Persepolis for an honorable funeral. Bessus would then create a coalition of his forces, in order to create an army to defend against Alexander. Before Bessus could fully unite with his confederates at the eastern part of the empire, Alexander, fearing the danger of Bessus gaining control, found him, put him on trial in a Persian court under his control, and ordered his execution in a cruel and barbarous manner.\\nDespite having succeeded to conquer the whole of the Persian empire, Alexander the Great, was nonetheless unable to offer a stable alternative. After his death, Alexander's once massive Persian empire was broken into and succeeded by few smaller empires the most significant of which was the Seleucid Empire, ruled by the generals of Alexander and their descendants. They in turn would be succeeded by the Parthian Empire.\\nIstakhr, one of the vassal kingdoms of the Parthian Empire, would be overthrown by Papak, a priest of the temple there. Papak's son, Ardasir I, who named himself in remembrance of Artaxerxes II, would revolt against the Parthians, eventually defeating them and establishing the Sassanid Empire or as it is known the second Persian Empire.\\nLegacy\\nThe Achaemenid Empire left a lasting impression on the heritage and the cultural identity of Asia and Middle East, as well as influencing the development and structure of future empires. In fact the Greeks and later on the Romans copied the best features of the Persian method of governing the empire, and vicariously adopted them. Georg W. F. Hegel in his work The Philosophy of History introduces the Persian Empire as the \\\"first empire that passed away\\\" and its people as the \\\"first historical people\\\" in history.\\nAncient Alien Theory\",\n \"Cyrus The Great\\nCroesus of Lydia, ... had assumed control of her nation's forces after Cyrus had defeated and killed her son Spargapises. ... Cyrus The Great King of Persia.\\nCyrus The Great\\nCyrus The Great\\ncheck the latest news and sport in this site\\n cyrus\\nCYRUS THE GREAT EMPIRE\\nCyrus The Great\\nCyrus the Great (ca.600 - 529 BCE) was a towering figure in the history of mankind. As the \\\"father of the Iranian nation\\\", he was the first world leader to be referred to as \\\"The Great\\\". Cyrus founded the first world empire - and the second Iranian dynastic empire (the Achaemenids) - after defeating the Median dynasty and uniting the Medes with the other major Iranian tribe, the Persians.\\nEtymology and lineage\\nThe name \\\"Cyrus\\\" (a transliteration of the Greek Kυρoς) is the Greek version of the Old-Persian kûruš or Khûrvaš meaning \\\"sun-like\\\": the noun khûr denotes \\\"sun\\\" and -vaš is a suffix of likeness. In the Cyrus cylinder (see below), the great king declares his ancestry as a Persian king. The first leader of the Achaemenid dynasty was king Achaemenes of Anshan (ca.700BCE). He was succeeded by his son Teispes of Anshan and inscriptions indicate that when the latter died, two of his sons shared the throne: Cyrus I of Anshan and Ariaramnes of Persia. They were succeeded by their respective sons: Cambyses I and Arsames. Arsames was the ancestor of Darius the Great, while Cambyses was the father of Cyrus the Great. Mandane, Cyrus' mother, was the daughter of king Astyages, who was the last emperor of the Median dynastic empire (728-550BCE). Cyrus became king of Anshan after his father's death in 559BCE, and initially reigned as Median vassal king of the Persian tribes. He established his residence at Pasargadae in Pars province, the centre of the Pasargadae tribe, to which the Achaemenid clan belonged. Little is known of Cyrus' early life as the few known sources have been damaged or lost. According to the ancient historians, Astyages was told in a dream that his grandson, the baby Cyrus, would overthrow him. To avoid this he ordered that the baby be killed. However the official delegated with the task gave the baby to a shepherd instead. When Cyrus was ten years old, the deception was discovered by Astyages, but because of the boy's outstanding qualities he was allowed to live in exile with his mother. Cyrus then revolted against Astyages in 554BCE and in 550BCE the prophecy came true when Cyrus entered Ecbatana (modern-day Hamadan), effectively conquering the Median Empire. Upon his victory over his grandfather he founded a government for his new kingdom, incorporating both Median and Persian nobles as civilian officials. He thus began to build the first world empire.\\n \\n'Cyrus' Empire Building\\nAs the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, one of Cyrus' objectives was to gain power over the Mediterranean coast and secure Asia Minor. Croesus of Lydia, Nabonidus of Babylonia and Amasis II of Egypt joined in alliance with Sparta to try and thwart Cyrus - but this was to no avail. Hyrcania, Parthia and Armenia were already part of the Median Kingdom. Cyrus moved further east to annex Drangiana, Arachosia, Margiana and Bactria to his territories. After crossing the Oxus, he reached the Jaxartes. There, he built fortified towns with the object of defending the farthest frontier of his kingdom against the Iranian nomadic tribes of Central Asia such as the Scythians. The exact limits of Cyrus' eastern conquests are not known, but it is possible that they extended as far as the Peshawar region in modern Pakistan. After his eastern victories, he repaired to the west and invaded Babylon. On 12 October 539BCE Cyrus, \\\"without spilling a drop of blood\\\", annexed the Chaldaean empire of Babylonia - and on October 29 he entered Babylon, arrested Nabonidus and assumed the title of \\\"King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the four corners of the world\\\". Almost immediately he then extended his control over the Arabian peninsula and the Levant also quickly submitted to Persian rule. Although Cyrus did not conquer Egypt, by 535BCE all the lands up to the Egyptian borders had acceded to Persian dominance. Newly conquered territories had a measure of political independence, being ruled by satraps. These (usually local) governors took full responsibility for the administration, legislation and cultural activities of each province. According to Xenophon, Cyrus created the first postal system in the world, and this must have helped with intra-Empire communications. Babylon, Ecbatana, Pasargadae and Susa were used as Cyrus' command centres. Cyrus' spectacular conquests triggered the age of Empire Building, as carried out by his successors as well as by the later Greeks and Romans.\\nCyrus' religion\\nAlmost nothing is known about Cyrus' personal beliefs, but Xenophon reports to us that in religious matters he followed the guidance of the Magians at his court. Although this is not universally agreed, Mary Boyce has argued that Cyrus was indeed a Zoroastrian and that he thus followed in the footsteps of his ancestors, from when they were Median vassals in Anshan. She has pointed out that the fire altars and the mausoleum at Pasargadae demonstrate Zoroastrian practices, and has cited Greek texts as evidence that Zoroastrian priests held positions of authority at Cyrus' court.\\nDeath\\nCuneiform records from Babylon suggest that Cyrus died on 4 December 530BCE. However, according to Herodotus , Cyrus was killed near the Aral Sea in July or August 529BCE during a campaign to protect the northeastern borders of his empire from incursions by the Massagetae . Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae, had assumed control of her nation's forces after Cyrus had defeated and killed her son Spargapises. She led the attack on the Iranian forces, who suffered heavy casualties as well as losing their leader, Cyrus. After the battle, Tomyris apparently ordered the body of Cyrus to be found so that she could avenge the death of her son. She then dipped Cyrus' head in blood or by some accounts ordered his head to be put into a wine-skin filled with human blood. At Cyrus' death, his son Cambyses II succeeded him. He attacked the Massagetae to recover Cyrus's ravaged body, before burying it at Pasargadae. \\n The cylinder of Cyrus the Great\\nThe Cyrus cylinder was discovered in 1878CE at the site of Babylon. It is inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. Now housed in the British Museum, it includes a detailed account by Cyrus of his conquest of Babylon in 539BCE and his subsequent humane treatment of his conquered subjects. It has been hailed as the world's first declaration of human rights. The (incomplete) inscription on the cylinder starts by describing the criminal deeds of the Babylonian king Nabonidus; as well as how Marduk, the Babylonian god, had looked for a new king and chosen Cyrus. It continues with the famous: \\\"I am Cyrus, king of the world, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world\\\" After a description of Cyrus' ancestry and of royal protocol, it goes on to explain how Cyrus established peace and abolished forced labour: \\\"The people of Babylon . . . the shameful yoke was removed from them\\\" The inscription continues by detailing reparative building activities in Babylon as well as asking for prayers for Cyrus. It makes specific reference to the Jews, who have been brought to Babylon - and who Cyrus supported in leaving for their homeland. Further demonstrating his religious tolerance, Cyrus restored the local cults by allowing the gods to return to their shrines. The cylinder describes the Great King not as a conqueror, but as a liberator and the legitimate successor to the crown of Mesopotamia. The same text has also been found, in a more complete version, in an inscription discovered in the ancient city of Ur, in Mesopotamia. Both documents corroborate many of the details in Ezra 1:1-5 describing Cyrus supporting the Jews in returning to Judea from captivity to rebuild the Temple in 537BCE. Isaiah 45:1-13 also backs up the idea of Cyrus as a benign and chosen ruler. Before the discovery of the cylinder, many sceptical historians believed that the idea of a Zoroastrian emperor like Cyrus the Great allowing a conquered people like the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their Temple was simply not credible and could only be Persian propaganda. Nevertheless, the Cyrus Cylinder, alongside the Biblical and other historical statements, seems to substantiate the idea that Cyrus not only allowed many of the nations he conquered to practice their various religious beliefs - an unprecedented tolerance - but that he even actively assisted captive peoples, including the Jews, to return to their lands of origin. This support was not only political but even financial - as he gave grants both from the Imperial treasury and also from his own personal fortune. The Cylinder has especial resonance for the Iranian peoples and is an integral part of Iran's cultural heritage and national identity. Antedating the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen by more than two millennia, it can also be considered as a world treasure - and the first international declaration of human rights. The text was translated into all the United Nations' official languages in 1971.\\nCyrus' Legacy \\nCyrus the Great is famed as a triumphant conqueror, a superb warrior, and the founder of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. However, with the Cyrus Cylinder and a range of Jewish texts, plus extensive writings by Xenophon, Cyrus is generally more admired as a liberator than a conqueror. Cyrus the Great was mentioned twenty-two times in the Old Testament, where he is unconditionally praised. This followed his active liberation of the Jews from Babylon in 539BCE and his support as more than 40,000 Jews then chose to return to their homeland . Cyrus then funded the subsequent rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus was also eulogized by many other writers and his actual or legendary exploits were used as moral instruction or as a source of inspiration for political philosophies. For example, the Greek author and soldier Xenophon believed him to be the ideal ruler, and in the Cyropedia - often considered Xenophon's masterpiece - he offers a fictionalised biography of the great man. This is more \\\"a treatise on political virtue and social organisation\\\" than a history. It was influential in ancient times and then again in the Renaissance. It may have been composed in response to Plato's The Republic, and Plato's Laws seems to refer back to it. Scipio Africanus is said to have always carried a copy of the Cyropedia with him. [1] Later on, in the Renaissance, Spenser, in his The Faerie Queene (1596), says: \\\"For this cause is Xenophon preferred before Plato, for that the one, in the exquisite depth of his judgment, formed a Commune wealth, such as it should be; but the other in the person of Cyrus, and the Persians, fashioned a government, such as might best be: So much more profitable and gracious is doctrine by ensample, then by rule.\\\" [2] The English philosopher Sir Thomas Browne named his 1658 discourse The Garden of Cyrus after the benevolent ruler. This dense treatise of hermetic philosophy may be a Royalist criticism upon the autocratic rule of Cromwell. Cyrus' name and his doctrine is still cited and celebrated into modern times. On 12th October 1971 Iran marked the 2500th anniversary of Cyrus' founding of the Persian Empire . The then Shah of Iran, in his speech opening the celebrations, said: \\\"O Cyrus, great King, King of Kings, Achaemenian King, King of the land of Iran. I, the Shahanshah of Iran, offer thee salutations from myself and from my nation. Rest in peace, for we are awake, and we will always stay awake.\\\" In 1994, a replica of a bas relief depicting Cyrus the Great was erected in a park in Sydney, Australia . This monument is intended as a symbol for multiculturalism, and to express the coexistence and peaceful cohabitation of people from different cultures and backgrounds.\\n By pursuing a policy of generosity, instead of repression, Cyrus demonstrated his Greatness. So successful were his policies of conquest, mercifulness and assimilation that the empire continued to thrive for some 200 years after his death. Cyrus' compassionate principles continue to resonate today: his religious and cultural tolerance and commitment to the liberation of enslaved peoples remain an aspiration in our troubled modern world.\",\n \"History 200 midterm WD - History 200 with Moyer at ...\\nStudy online flashcards and notes for History 200 midterm WD including 1200 BCE: ... King ruled during the late 6th century ... to war with Persia (Cyrus the ...\\nHistory 200 midterm WD - History 200 with Moyer at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor - StudyBlue\\nGood to have you back! If you've signed in to StudyBlue with Facebook in the past, please do that again.\\nHistory 200 midterm WD\\nthe beginning of the Dark Age, collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, late bronze age\\n8th century BCE\\nOrientalizing Period, emergence of Greece from the Dark Ages\\nbasic religious structure\\nEnd of Persian Wars - Xerxes returns to Persia\\nAl Mina\\n8th Century Trading with Greeks\\nAmphictyony\\nA greek group of neihbors\\nAristagorus\\nTyrant of Miletus in early 6th and late 5th century BC\\nOrganized Ionian Revolt against Persians - Asks Spartans and Athenians for help\\nArtaphrenes\\nBrother of Darius of Persia\\nSatrap of Lydia\\nattacks island of Naxos in 499 BCE that starts Ionian Revolt\\nDefeats the Ionians\\nNavy battle during the Persian wars\\nGreeks defeat Persians\\nfought during the time of Thermopylae and one of the most important battles in Xerxes' second invasion\\nAthens\\nGreek city that dominated Attica\\nHome of democracy\\nCreated by Darius the Great in 490 BCE about his takeover of the throne\\nDarius put down many rebellions during his rule to maintain his crown\\nBoeotioa\\na regional area on the Greek Peninsula, just north of the region of Attica\\nCambyses\\nPersian King ruled during the late 6th century\\nson of Cyrus the Great\\nConquered a few cities which added to the Persian Empire\\nCleomenes\\none of two kings in Sparta during the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE.\\nHelps Hippias (tyrant of Athens who was expelled) try to retake Athens (fails) in 510 BCE\\nIsagoras asks for help during Ionian Revolt but Cleomenes denies\\nAdvertisement\\nMarried into Athens nobility and overthrows Hippias with Isagorus.\\nCompetes with Isagorus for political power and uses common people to gain this power\\nWanted to rid instability that allowed tyrants to rise to pwer\\nCleisthenes' reforms (Athens)\\n10 class system (10 demes)\\nincluded servants and merchants into political system\\nCleisthenes (Sicyon)\\nGreek Tyrant during the 6th Century\\nCroesus\\nKing of Lydia\\noracle said if he goes to war with Persiia he will destroy a great empire, but goes to war with Persia (Cyrus the Great) and loses, destroyed his OWN empire and Persia takes over his place\\nCylon\\nAn Athenian Olympic Victor whose unsuccessful bid for tyranny in 632 BCE led to the execution of his followers. Cylon's failure despite his aristocratic connections and popularity indicates that Athens lacked the economic structure for the establishment of a Tyranny\\nCypselids\\ntyrant of Corinth. Tyrant at birth\\nCorinthians rose up and killed him\\nCyrene\\nA greek colony founded in 7th century by Battus\\nCyrus\\ncambyses took over after Cyrus\\nDarius\\nPersian King after Cambyses (horse contest)\\nsettles many revolts, creates Behistun Inscription\\nPlanned many different attacks and invasions to make Persian Empire bigger\\nThe Dark Age\\nGreek History from 1200 BCE to 800 BCE\\nafter the fall of Mycenaean civilization - population declined and there is very little archaeological evidence during this time\\nDelphi\\nLower central Greece\\nsite of an ancient temple of oracles - drugged women told prophecies and priests would interpret - big role in political and religous issues in Greece\\nDemeratus\\nKing Of Sparta with Cleomenes but exiled from Sparta\\nAdvises Xerxes about how strong Spartans are and warns Xerxes that conquering all of Greece will be difficult\\nDorians\\nOne of the four major greek ethnos\\nDorian Invasion was a possible reason for greek migration into Mediterranean\\nDraco\\nAthenian who created the Athenian Constitution in 620 BCE\\nreplaced old type of crimes with a court system and stricter punishments\\nEphor\\ngovernmental position in the Spartan government, 5 elected per year and had supreme control to punish anyone including the kings of Sparta\\nhelot\\nhereditary subjects of the Spartan state, who were tied to the land, assigned to particular Spartiates and required to provide much of the produce of their agricultural labor to their particular Spartiate master\\n\\\"serf class in spartan control\\\"\\nHerodotus\\nA greek Author who wrote The Histories.\\ntraveled around the meditterreanean world and learned about different people and places. An early ethnographer. Herodotus, along with many other historians, had to rely on legends and geneaologies that could not be verified or accurately dated\\nHistoria\\ngreek word that means not only to investigate or to obtain, but also to share the fruits of those investigations with the world\\nHippias\\nSon of Peisistratus of Athens\\nbecomes tyrant in the 6th century but was expelled from athens later\\nfled to Persia and helped the Persians in the Battle of Marathon (who wanted to reinstate him as tyrant)\\nHomer\\nancient greek poet who wrote The iliad and the Odyssey.\\nstories came from oral tradition\\nHoplite\\ntype of Greek soldier, fought with spears and large shields, protected one another in a phalynx\\nIndo-European\\nThe Proto-Indo-European language is an ancient language based from many early languages across the medittereanean\\nIonian Revolt\\nRebellion of the Ionians against the Persian Empire in early 5th Century BCE, organized by Aristagoras who recruited Athenian support\\nIonians sacked Lydian capital then were defeated\\nresistance died out and the Persians stopped the rebellion - Revolt not by the people by by the tyrants of Ionia. why did they revolt?\\nLate Bronze Age\\nMycenaen civilization did not emerge on the greek mainland til this point.\\nTrade and diplomatic contacts developed\\nFall of this age caused by interconnected factors\\n- earthquake, food scarcity or climatic conditions rather than just military conflicts\\nLaurium\\nIn an attempt to unify Greece during the war against Aegina in the early 5th Century, Themistocles made the idea of creating 200 hundred ships for the war effort with the wealth that Laurium had from mines\\nThese resources and ships proved salvation and also was a step in unifying Greece\\nLefkandi\\nDuring the Dark Age there was a loss of writing and other declinations during this time except the Lefkandi (i.e. cemetaries gave some evidence)\\nLeonidas\\nKing Of Sparta was highly respected and a warrior during the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. He believed in freedom over all things and died nobly during battle. Leonidas (along with his other warriors) at the battle of Thermop arguably saved all of Greece from Xerxes' Persian Campaign\\nLinear A\\nan undeciphered script and with this we are still unsure of some history that occured in the MInoan Civilization as Early as 2000 BCE. This system of writing also led to Linear B\\nLinear B\\nMichael Ventris deciphered this script that was used to write an early form of Greek\\nLycurgus\\nLife of Lykourgos was a right of passage for young Spartiates. They would be sent on their own with only a dagger and other basic provisions and by day they would rest and at night they would try and kill any helot they caught\\nMarathon\\nBattle of Marathon required Athenians to request Spartan assistance, yet the Spartans did not feel that help was needed immediately thus the Athenians marched to Marathon with little help from Sparta. Militades convinced the war archon to vote for immediate war and defeated the Persian Forces\\nMardonius\\nAfter the battle of Salamis, Xerxes’ Greek advisor Mardonius was left during a hiatus in the war and Mardonius, an ex-Spartan, tried to detach the Athenians from the Greeks and offer an alliance with the Athenians. The Athenians refused because of religious obligations and a shared Greek heritage.\\nMedes\\nneighbors of persians. used in persian empire.\\nMessenia\\ngreek area in peloppeneese\\nMilitades\\nIn late 6th century BCE, Militades was tyrant of Athenian state but became an ally with Darius which led to bad relations to Athens. When fleeing his country due to Persian Invasion, Athenians responded with hostiliyy and sentenced him to death, but during the Battle of Marathon, he escaped death by helping with his military tactics and fighting against the Persians\\nMinoans\\nancient bronze age. trade contacts with greece\\nMycale\\nthe battle of Mycale in the 5th Century BCE resulted in the Ionians preparing to revolt from Persian Rule and because of this, Greeks went to Samos to attack Persians to distract them from this certain revolt. Athenians then succeeded in unifying Greece further when they formed an alliance with the Aegean Islands\\nMycenaean Civilization\\nMycenaean civilization did not emerge on the greek mainland until the Late Bronze Age. Agamemnon was king during the late 16th Century BCE\\nOlympia\\nSacred Site for major competitive festivals (zeus)\\nPausanias\\nSpartan leader that was sent to Isthmus to protect this city and met Mardonius' Persians in Platea during 479 BCE. He was successful in winning this battle against the Persians\\nPerioeci\\nPeople nearest to Sparta became these (those who dwell around Sparta). They were of free status (not slaves) and they had some local political self governing. They had to serve in spartan armies but they were not permitted to participate in spartan government\\nPersepolis\\nimportant and incredibly large city for the persian empire. Under Darius' regime, all parts of the empire were brought to this city. also this city displayed the flow of tribute from all parts of the empire\\nPersian Wars\\nPersian Empire\\nMany powerful tyrants dictated the fate of the Persian Empire from Cyrus in 560 BCE to Xerxes end in 480 BCE. These tyrants tried to expand the Persian Empire into further countries, some failing and some succeeding, but under Xerxes and his attempt to capture Greece, the failure was enough to end a reign of Empirical Power.\\nPhoenicians\\nThey were not a single political unit, rather a series of self-governing city states. During the Late Bronze Age and the absence of Empires, the Phoenicians were able to extend their territories and access to material resources\\nPisistratus\\nHe repeated many attempts for tyranny through the help of Theseus. He was a tyrant in Athens in the mid 6th Century BCE and tried his best to help the lower classes by giving away land from the rich or upper class\\nPithecusae\",\n \"Ancient Districts of Anatolia and Asia Minor\\nDistricts of Anatolia and Asia Minor in ... the Lycians were defeated by the Persians under King Cyrus the ... In the 6th century BCE Croesus, king of Lydia, ...\\nAncient Districts of Anatolia and Asia Minor\\nThrace ;\\nLater the name was used for the greater part of the eastern Balkan Peninsula, bounded on the north by the Danube River, on the east by the Euxine (Black Sea), on the south by the Propontis (Sea of Marmara), the Bosporus, the Hellespont (Dardanelles), the Aegean Sea, and Macedonia, and on the west by Macedonia, Paionia, and Dardania. Ancient Thrace was largely uncultivated and covered with forest; mineral deposits, particularly of gold, made the region a coveted possession. The Thracians were a barbaric, warlike people who established their own kingdom in the 5th century BCE. Thrace became successively a Macedonian, Roman, and Byzantine province. \\nThe region of Thrace, in the broad sense, covers the area roughly from Pontus Euxinus ( Black Sea), Bosporos Thracios ( Bosphorus Strait ), on the east, to the river Aksios ( modern Vardar ) on the west, and from the river Istros ( modern Danube ) on the north, to Aigaois Pontus ( Aegean Sea ), Hellespont ( Dardanelles ), Propontis ( Sea of Marmara ) on the south. Although the borders of Thrace are generally accepted as outlined above, these may have changed from time to time. Ancient geographer, Strabo explains in his book Geography, \\nBithynia ;\\nA mountainous region, with heavy forests and fertile valleys, Bithynia acquired its name from the Bithyni, a tribe that had emigrated from Thrace. The country was conquered by Croesus, king of Lydia, in 560 BCE and, after the subjugation of Lydia by the Persians four years later, it became a dominion of Persia. In 334 BCE Alexander the Great occupied Bithynia. After his death in 323 BCE, the country was nominally ruled for a period by Antigonus I, one of the Macedonian generals who partitioned Alexander's empire. About 316 BCE Antigonus founded Nicaea (now Iznik), later a chief city of Bithynia.\\nLed by a native prince, Ziboetes, the Bithynians regained their independence early in the 3rd century BCE.\\nThe first dynasty of Bithynian kings was established by Ziboetes's son Nicomedes I (reigned 278-250 BCE), who founded Nicomedia (now Izmit) in 264 BCE and made it his capital. Bithynia flourished under the succeeding kings of the dynasty, notably Prusias I (reigned 237-192 BCE); Prusias II (r. 192-148 BCE), who founded Prusa (now Bursa); Nicomedes II (r. 142-91 BCE); and Nicomedes III (r. 91-74 BCE). In 74 BCE Nicomedes III, a close ally of the Romans, bequeathed the kingdom to Rome. It was then united with the Roman province of Pontus for administrative purposes. Later, under Byzantine rule, the territory of Bithynia was restricted to an area west of the Sangarius River (now Sakarya River). It formed a province in the Diocese of Pontus. In CE 1298 Bithynia was overrun by the Seljuk Turks under Osman, and thereafter the region formed an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. Bithynia is now part of Turkey. \\nMysia ;\\nThe Mysians seem to have been Thracians who crossed over to Asia at an early period. Mysia was subject to Lydia and later, under Persian rule, formed with Lydia one of the satrapies created by Darius I. After the death of Alexander the Great, the country shared in the vicissitudes of Asia Minor during the wars among his successors. Mysia became important in the 3rd century BCE as the center of the kingdom of Pergamum, a Hellenistic state that controlled much of western Asia Minor. In 130 BCE, Pergamum came under Roman rule, and Mysia became part of the Roman province of Asia.\\nIonia ;\\nThe region received its name from the Ionians, Greeks who emigrated from the mainland of Greece probably before 1000 BCE. The area is mountainous and includes three fertile valleys, watered by the rivers Gediz, Ergene, and Menderes. Ionia was extremely prosperous in ancient times because of a flourishing agriculture and commerce. In the 7th and 6th centuries BCE Ionia made important contributions to Greek art and literature, and particularly to philosophy. Great cities grew up, of which Ephesus, Clazomenae, Erythrae, Colophon, and Miletus were the most celebrated. Several cities, such as Miletus and Phocaea, became important commercial centers and sent out colonies westward as far as present-day Spain and northward to the Black Sea. Common interests led the 12 Ionian cities to form a confederacy, within which each city remained autonomous. Smyrna (now Izmir) was originally settled by the Aeolian Greeks, but was later occupied by colonists from Colophon and became an Ionian city. In the 7th and 6th centuries BCE the cities of Ionia were involved in a series of wars with the kings of Lydia, to whom Ionia yielded a nominal submission. Ionia exercised a powerful influence on Lydian culture, its own culture being influenced in turn by Lydia. In 546 BCE the Ionians came under the sway of Persia, but revolted from Persian rule in 500 BCE, assisted by the Greek cities of Athens and Eretria. The revolt was put down, but the participation of Athens and Eretria gave the Persians a pretext for declaring war on Greece. With the defeat of Persia by the Greeks in 479 BCE, the Ionian cities became nominally free, but in reality they were dependent on Athens. Around 334 BCE Alexander the Great annexed the cities to his Greco-Macedonian empire. Subsequently, Ionia was incorporated into the Roman and Byzantine empires.\\nLydia ;\\nThe country was known to Homer under the name Maeonia. It was celebrated for fertile soil, rich deposits of gold and silver, and a magnificent capital, Sardis. Lydia became most powerful under the dynasty of the Mermnadae, beginning about 685 BCE. In the 6th century BCE Lydian conquests transformed the kingdom into an empire. Under the rule of King Croesus, Lydia attained its greatest splendor. The empire came to an end, however, when the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great captured Sardis about 546 BCE and incorporated Lydia into the Persian Empire. After the defeat of Persia by Alexander III, king of Macedonia, Lydia was brought under Greco-Macedonian control. In 133 BCE it became part of the Roman province of Asia. The Lydians are said to have been the first people to coin money.\\nCaria ;\\nThe Taurus Mountains extend into the interior region, and the irregular coastline has numerous deep inlets. The islands of Rhodes and Kos lie off the coast. Ancient Greek and Roman historians recorded that the original inhabitants of this region were pushed inland by an influx of people called Carians. The Carians, who were notable as mercenary soldiers, had been driven from their native islands in the Aegean Sea by invading Greeks. The Greeks also established colonies along the coast of Caria, notably Cnidus and Halicarnassus. In the 6th century BCE, Caria was incorporated into the kingdom of Lydia; subsequently, it became a Persian dominion, ruled by Carian kings who were subject to Cyrus the Great. Mausolus was the best known of these monarchs; his widow built the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In the 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great seized Caria. After his rule, the country became a part first of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria and later of the kingdom of Pergamum; in the 2nd century BCE, Pergamum was turned into the Roman province of Asia.\\nLycia ;\\nThe terrain of Lycia was mountainous, and the hills and valleys were fertile. The country was originally called Milyas and inhabited by the Solymi and the Termilae, who were subjugated by the invading Lycians. The Lycians and the Greeks first came into contact before the Trojan War, and the remains of Lycian tombs, temples, and theaters show a marked Greek influence. Lycia and Cilicia were the only two countries of Asia Minor that were not conquered in the 6th century BCE by Croesus, king of Lydia. In the same century, however, the Lycians were defeated by the Persians under King Cyrus the Great despite heroic resistance. Under the Persians, Lycia remained prosperous and virtually autonomous. Along with the rest of Asia Minor, Lycia was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia in the 4th century BCE and incorporated into the Greco-Macedonian Empire. In 189 BCE the Lycians were vanquished by the Romans, under whom they continued to enjoy prosperity and relative freedom. In the 4th century CE Lycia became a Roman province.\\nPamphylia ;\\nThe inhabitants, a mixed race of aborigines, Cilicians, and Greek colonists, spoke a language that was probably Greek in origin but that was changed through the addition of barbaric elements. Persian domination was followed by the area's conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. After his death the country was ruled by the Seleucid dynasty. Later a part of the kingdom of Pergamum, it was bequeathed to the Romans with the rest of the kingdom by Attalus III in 133 BCE.\\nCilicia ;\\nThe western part of Cilicia (Cilicia Trachia) is mountainous and forested; much of the eastern part (Cilicia Pedias) consists of fertile plains. The principal rivers were the Cydnus (now Tarsus), the Adana (now Seyhan), and the Jihun (now Ceyhan); the principal cities were Tarsus, Seleucia (now Silifke), and Issus, which was prosperous during the Roman Empire. From the 6th to the 4th century BCE, when most of Asia Minor was under the control of the Persian Achaemenids, Cilicia was an independent kingdom paying tribute to Persia or part of a Persian satrapy. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, during the Hellenistic period, from the 4th to the 2nd century BCE, most of Cilicia was part of the Seleucid Empire. Eastern Cilicia was conquered by the Romans in 103 BCE, and all of Cilicia became a Roman province about 67 BCE. Under the Romans, the region was noted for the export of so-called cilicium, cloth made of goat hair, valued for the manufacture of tents. In the 1st century CE the apostle Paul lived in the city of Tarsus. The province was later included in the Byzantine Empire until it was captured in the 8th century by Arabs.\\nCappadocia ;\\nAs early as 1900 BCE, merchants from Assyria established a colony in Cappadocia. From about 1750 BCE to the formation of the Persian Empire of the Achaemenid dynasty in the 7th century BCE, this region was the center of power of the Hittites. Later, the Persians controlled the area and divided it into two satrapies, or provinces. The northern province became known as Cappadocia near the Pontus, or merely Pontus; the southern area retained the name Cappadocia, by which it was known in classical times. After the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great early in the 4th century BCE, Cappadocia became independent. The first king of the Cappadocian dynasty, Ariarathes I (reigned 330-322 BCE), paid tribute to Alexander, but Alexander's successors were unable to conquer the country. Later, the kings of Cappadocia sided with Rome, then a rising power, against the Seleucids and against Pontus. Cappadocia changed sides often in its support of the various factions during the Roman civil wars of the 1st century BCE. The independence of the country ended when the Romans supplanted the Cappadocian dynasty with a puppet king about 40 BCE. In CE 17 the Roman emperor Tiberius made Cappadocia a province of the Roman Empire. Thereafter, the importance of Cappadocia as a separate political unit declined. Among the important towns of Cappadocia were the capital of the kingdom, Mazaca (now Kayseri), known in Roman times as Caesarea Mazaca; Tyana; and Melitene (now Malatya). The modern town of Bogazkoy is on the site of the Cappadocian town of Pteria, which was built on the site of the city of Hattushash, capital of the Hittite Empire.\\nPhrygia ;\\nEarly in the 1st millennium BCE it is believed to have comprised the greater part of the Anatolian Peninsula, but at the time of the Persian invasion in the 6th century BCE it was limited to the districts known as Lesser Phrygia and Greater Phrygia. Lesser Phrygia stretched west along the shores of the Sea of Marmara and the Hellespont to Troas, a region afterward part of Mysia. Greater Phrygia lay farther east and inland, where the Phrygian capital, Gordion (near present-day Ankara), was located. In the 3rd century BCE the Gauls occupied the northern part of Greater Phrygia. For purposes of provincial administration the Romans divided Phrygia into two parts, attaching the northeastern part to Galatia Province and the western portion to Asia Province. \\nGreater Phrygia was in general a high and barren plateau; the most fertile region was the valley of the Sangarius. Grapes were cultivated extensively, and Phrygian marble, celebrated in antiquity, was quarried. The religion of the Phrygians was an ecstatic nature worship, in which the Great Mother of the Gods, Rhea, or Cybele, and a male deity, Sabazius, played a prominent part. The orgiastic rites of this religion influenced both the Greeks and the Romans.\\nThe Phrygians are believed to have been an Indo-European people who entered Asia Minor from Thrace about 1200 BCE and seized control of the whole central tableland. Records exist of numerous kings, bearing alternately the names of Gordius and Midas, but their power was apparently broken by the invasions of the Cimmerians in the 7th century BCE. In the 6th century BCE Croesus, king of Lydia, conquered all that was left of Phrygia, which passed successively under the rule of Persia, Macedonia, Pergamum, and Rome.\\nThe Phrygian cap, a cloth head-covering worn by the Phrygians, was adopted by freed slaves in Roman times, and thus this cap became a symbol of liberty.\\nGalatia ;\\nAncient region of Anatolia, named for the Galatians, a Gallic people from Europe who settled here in the early 3rd century BCE. The region lies in the basins of the present-day Kizil Irmak and Delice Irmak (rivers), on the great central plateau of Turkey. Galatia possesses some expanses of fertile soil, but most of the land is suitable only for pasturing the large flocks of sheep and goats raised here. In addition to the Gauls, many Greeks settled in the region, and it eventually became Hellenized; the inhabitants, therefore, were often referred to as Gallo-Graeci. Dominated by Rome through regional rulers from 189 BCE, Galatia and adjacent regions became a Roman province in 25 BCE. It was conquered by the Seljuks in the 11th century CE. Paul the Apostle visited Galatia and addressed his Epistle to the Galatians to several churches here.\\nPaphlagonia ;\\nThe mountainous area between Bithynia and Pontus on the Black Sea coast, bordered by the ancient Halys river to the east. The name Paphlagonia probably derives from ancient Luwian or Pala language and its original spelling might have been Pauwa-Lacawana. The peoples of this area were called Paphlagonians by the Greeks and mentioned by Homer in his \\\" Iliad \\\" as being on the side of Trojans. Paphlagonians were one of the earliest peoples who lived in Anatolia in 1st millennium BCE. Paphlagonia was heavily colonized by the Greeks and they built number of cities along its coast. Although any local kingdom has never been established here, it was the area, during the Hittite period that the Hittite kings had to deal with its peoples. It was not a political unit and was annexed and occupied by the kings of Bithynia and Pontus respectively. It was won (63 BCE) by the Romans. \\nPontus ;\\nThe name Pontus does not occur in records before the 4th century BCE and did not come into common use until after the time of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Before Alexander's conquest of Persia in 330 BCE, Pontus was governed by a satrap for the Persian Empire. The foundation of the powerful kingdom of Pontus was laid by Mithradates I Ctistes (died about 301 BCE). His son, Mithradates II (died about 265 BCE), gained control of Paphlagonia and northern Cappadocia. The most important king of Pontus was Mithradates VI. On his overthrow in 66 BCE by the Roman general Pompey the Great, the kingdom was divided, the western portion being joined to the province of Bithynia in a Roman province known as Pontus and Bithynia and the eastern region being assigned to native princes. The eastern territory was constituted a Roman province in 62 CE and at first was joined to Galatia, but in the 4th century CE, under the Roman emperor Constantine I, it became a separate province with the name Pontus Polemoniacus.\\n \\nAeolis\\nancient region of the west coast of Asia Minor (in present-day Turkey). Aeolis was not a geographic term but a collective term for the cities founded there by the Aeolians, a branch of the Hellenic peoples. The 12 southern cities were grouped in the Aeolian League; these were Temnos, Smyrna, Pitane, Neonteichos, Aegirusa, Notium, Cilla or Killa, Cyme, Gryneum, Larissa, Myrina, and Aegae.\\nPisidia\\nancient country of S Asia Minor, S of Phrygia and N of Pamphylia. It was a mountainous country, traversed by the Taurus range. Its warlike tribes maintained their independence until the country was incorporated into a Roman province in the early 1st cent. BCE.\\nLycaonia\\nancient country of S Asia Minor (now in Turkey), between Galatia and Cilicia on the north and south and Phrygia and Cappadocia on the west and east. Passing successively to the Persians, Syrians, and Romans, it was divided by the Romans between Galatia and Cappadocia. It was visited by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14.6). Its chief city was Iconium.\",\n \"Example Essays: Cyrus The Great\\n... it is certainly before 6th century BCE, when Cyrus the Great was ... of the war between the Greek states and Persia. ... Cyrus, the king of Persia, ...\\nExample Essays: Cyrus The Great\\n1. Appeal to the great spirit\\n\\\"Appeal to the great spiritaE was sculpted by Cyrus Edwin Dallin. ... Appeal to the great spirit was first displayed at the national sculptors society exhibit in Baltimore in 1908. ... This sculpture could also show a Muslim, Christian, or Jewish man praying to their own \\\"great spiritaE.At first glance you might think this sculpture was just of a Native American man on his horse as a symbol of power, as I did. ... Dallin might of used the Native American man because he felt they represented desperation in a more pure form as they were driven out of their homeland by Europeans.In co...\\nWord Count: 407\\n2. Influences of the Persian Empire\\n(Curtis, 18) The beginning of the Persian Empire is accredited to the wise guidance of a man known as Cyrus the Great. ... In the year 550 Cyrus the Great took power over the land of Media. ... He added greatness to things that Cyrus had achieved. ... Researchers often disagree on the exact dates when Zoroaster existed, it is certainly before 6th century BCE, when Cyrus the Great was in power. ... The Jewish community of the Persian Empire best notably aided from this; Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to homeland and reconstruct their temple. ...\\nWord Count: 2056\\n4. Jacksonians - Common Man\\nAs shown in the elements of politics, the economic development, and many others, the period lived up to its characterization a great deal.Through the element of politics, it was shown that the common man was on the rise. ... In the 1830's, Cyrus McCormick contributed the a very important contraption, a mechanical mower-reaper. ...\\nWord Count: 625\\n5. What makes the Bible so special?\\nAn example of this would be the prophecy of king Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28;45:1) The Prophet Isaiah, writing at around 700 B.C., predicts Cyrus (by name) as the king who will say to Jerusalem that their city will be built and the foundation of the temple will be laid. ... Not long after that, a Persian named Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. ... (Walvord and Zuck 1098) This means Isaiah predicted that a man named Cyrus, who wouldn\\\"t even be born for about one hundred year, would give a decree to rebuild a temple that was still standing in his own time, which wouldn\\\"t be des...\\nWord Count: 911\\n6. Medo Persian Empire\\nA prophet named Isaiah had already prophesied about Cyrus. The bible tells us that Isaiah prophesied about Cyrus and called him by name some two hundred years before Cyrus was born (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). ... The first of the world\\\"s great imperial organizations, the Persian Empire was Beneficent and humane compared with the Assyrian Empire due to its sincerity towards the Jews. ... The six prophecies were as follows: First, Cyrus the Great whom, \\\"Isaiah called by name some two hundred years before his birthaE (e.g. ... The legacy before Cyrus was far more than anyone could dream. ...\\nWord Count: 1634\\n7. Discovery: Cross-Country Running\\nKnowing that our team was in a state of great doubt and low spirits, my friend, Jailene, tried her best to snap us out of it. ... We listened to a song she put on, called \\\"The Climb\\\" by Miley Cyrus, and cheesy as it may be, it really worked. ... When I complete the end of cross-country, it feels me with great sadness. ... Thanks for allowing me to discover and live a great experience. ...\\nWord Count: 723\\n8. The Zhou and Persian Empires\\nThe civilization was established by Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the great conquered all of south west Asia and overthrew the Median confederation. ... Cyrus the great was responsible for making Persia a prestige dynasty. Also Cyrus the Great was responsible for the ancient scripts people would speak. ... This would help Cyrus the great win great support of the Babylonians. ...\\nWord Count: 2308\\nWhen Cyrus of Persia usurped the throne of Ionia around 547 BC, he favored a rule of tyrants for the Ionians. ... However, Thermistocles, an Athenian statesman, knew that the \\\"wooden wallaE referred to the great Athenian navy. ...\\nWord Count: 655\\n10. Modernization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America\\nCyrus Veesers idea in Great Leaps Forward: Modernization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America is to simply explain how less-developed nations across the planet tried to catch up to \\\"the Wests rise to power. ... Europe's latest technology really sparked an interest with Menelik such as their telephones, phonographs, projectors, and cars, he wanted to learn everything about the latest technology and that curiosity is what made him a great leader. ...\\nWord Count: 2216\\n11. The Persians\\nThe Persians were one of the last great ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. ... This was due to Cyrus, who developed a strong army in 540 BC, and his son Cambyses who brought all of the middle east under Persia\\\"s control. Cyrus and Cambyses were great conquerors, but the best organizer among the kings was Darius I, who ruled from 522 BC to 486 BC. ... Zoroaster\\\"s religion beliefs may have lead the way and helped shape Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.The Persian empire greatly influenced other cultures, such as the Greek, but was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 300\\\"s BC. ...\\nWord Count: 294\\n12. Iran and Gulf conflict\\nBackground of IranHistory highlights of Iran *Iran was called Persia before 1935. The Aryans, who began an earlier agricultural civilization, came from the upper part of Iran during the second millennium BC. They were an Indo-European group related to the Aryans of India.*In 549 BC Cyrus the Great...\\nWord Count: 2645\\n13. Sociology Paper - Inequality\\nAnother picture was one of the music sensation Miley Cyrus, and was meme of her dancing in one of her music videos, with a part of the song being captioned under it. ... The majority of people were black men and woman, but there were two pictures of white men and woman.Analysis of PicturesIt can be shown through the pictures found on google there is a great inequality that black people are associated with in society. ... Another example is a picture that of Miley Cyrus, she is a well-known white female celebrity in the music industry. ...\\nWord Count: 1377\\n14. Herodotus\\nThese customs to Herodotus are the ones he considers to be most admirable (1.57).Herodotus also gives the accounts of the great Persian kings Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes. ... Croesus, remembering Solon\\\"s words started to mumble his name, which intrigued Cyrus and so Cyrus asked who Solon was. ... Because of this story and the fact that Croesus suggested that the Persians should give one tenth of their looting to the king to be offered to the gods, Cyrus came to a decision that Croesus was a great king and that instead of killing him, he would make him his advisor. Later on, Cyrus took Croesus\\\" su...\\nWord Count: 1569\\n15. Definition Of An Empire\\nCyrus The Great forcefully spread the reaches of his empire using military force. Up until Cyrus, no culture or individual had ever really thought this one up. ... Cyrus had conquered all of Persia and defeated the Medes for control of the region. ... Alexander the Great set out to conquer the Persians in his own punitive expedition. ... The last great monarch of Assyria was Ashurbanipal. ...\\nWord Count: 731\\n16. Herodotus: Historian or Storyteller?\\nHerodotus wrote the Histories so \\\"...that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvelous deeds- some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians-may not be without glory\\\" (¶ 1.1). ... The dramatic scene immediately following the Persian capture of Sardis demonstrates a positive view, from Herodotus, on the Persian king Cyrus, wherein Cyrus shows compassion to Croesus, and decides not to have him executed (¶1.86-90). However, while this is demonstrative of Herodotus fulfilling his pledge to record the great deeds of non-Greeks, and exemplifying his role as an histor...\\nWord Count: 2143\\n17. women in herodotus\\nKing Cyrus of the Medes asked to marry her, but wanted only the lands she controlled. ... Cyrus began to build a bridge to cross the river separating the empires in order to make for an easier attack. ... Rule your own people, and try to bear the sight of me ruling mine.aE (1.206) Cyrus decided to continue building the bridge and attack. The first battle was won by Cyrus\\\" army, and captured was the queen\\\"s son. After her son was killed, the queen swore, \\\"...to give you (Cyrus) more blood than you can drink, for all your gluttony.aE (1.212) Tomyris\\\" army won a very bloody battle, an...\\nWord Count: 1817\\n18. Fictional Ancient Greek Newspaper Article\\nThe Great Battle of Thermopylae had just ended, with Xerxes' Persian army taking out the last 300 Spartans. ... A Persian attack on Athens is expected, as Xerxes will most likely try to fulfill the wish of Cyrus, his father: to end the reign of Athens.Last week our colleague, Isidoros Kosmas, was able to chat with one of the Athenian soldiers who fought at Thermopylae, Nicolaus Philon. ...\\nWord Count: 613\\n19. The Haymarket Riot of 1886\\nCyrus McCormick owned the company and was a kind gentleman that knew all 43 of his employees by name. The factory grew over time but Cyrus still managed to know all his employees. ... After Cyrus McCormick's death in 1884 corporations took over the plant. ... \\\"The A.F of L. served as the preeminent national labor organization until the Great Depression when unskilled workers finally came together.\\\" ... In 1871 Chicago had, \\\"The Great Fire\\\". ...\\nWord Count: 1715\\n20. West asia\\nBut more importantly, studying the prehistory and history of this region sheds light to the origins of both man and his great achievements.CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE REPORT In general, the report has two major contributions as far as my being a student and my being a follower of Christianity are concerned. On the one hand, it has increased my academic understanding of West Asia aE\\\"its history and its civilization\\\"s great achievements. ... Back to the topic, the report has definitely widen my vocabulary in so far as notions of West Asian nature are concerned; it has revived my memory on some topics l...\\nWord Count: 586\\n21. Daniel Study- Bible\\nIt also is a great of example of the wisdom that God gives us access to and how Daniel used it in a way pleasing to the Lord.Chapter 312 Kings 24-25Jehoiakim, reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. ... Cyrus, the king of Persia, was moved by the Lord and declared that a new temple would be built in Jerusalem and the captive peoples are free to return.NebuchadnezzarHe was a Chaldean. ... Exiles that were once capture and taken to Babylon were returned to their native land by Cyrus king of Persia. ...\\nWord Count: 1293\\n22. Tacitus And Nero\\nThus he is comparable to Cyrus or Agesilaus and similar figures. ... Several of the Socratic conversations he records are on subjects we know Xenophon was specially interested in, and the views he offers in them are just those he elsewhere expresses in his own name or through the mouth of Cyrus in the Cyropadia. ... \\\"His Apology and Symposium are similarly disregarded as sources of information on Socrates.aE An exception is made however, in Xenophons memorabilia, which serves to show Socrates as far from an irreligious man, and and that, so far from corrupting the young, he did them a g...\\nWord Count: 1375\\n24. Afghanistan-The Crossroads of History\\nCyrus the Great of Persia conquered a wide sweep of territory from Asia Minor to India including what is today Afghanistan and other countries. ... By 330 B.C., the mighty conqueror, Alexander the Great, conquered much of the Persian Empire and present-day Afghanistan. ... There, Romans confronted the Hellenistic rulers who had divided up the empire of Alexander the Great. ...\\nWord Count: 859\\n25. The American Industrial Revolution\\nAnother machine of the industrial revolution was the Mechanical Reaper which was invented by Cyrus McCormick in 1834 (Bland, 20). ... The fisherman became terrified and rowed homewards, and they saw nothing but destruction devastating their fishing grounds, while the wreathes of black vapor produced great excitement among the boatmen. ...\\nWord Count: 725\",\n \"FC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE) - Flow of History\\nIt is here that we encounter the founder of the Persian Empire. Cyrus the Great ... king of Lydia in ... and waged war on each other, which only added to Persia's ...\\nFC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE) - The Flow of History\\nThe Flow of History\\nA Dynamic and Graphic Approach to Teaching History\\nPrimary Links\\nFC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE)\\nFlowchart\\nFC15 in the Hyperflow of History .\\nIntroduction\\nFew people today can boast a longer and prouder history than the Iranians, descendants of the ancient Persians. Not only did they build the greatest empire of the ancient Near East, but they also absorbed the ancient civilizations they ruled, in particular that of Mesopotamia. They then added their own distinctive touches and passed them on to Islamic civilization, still one of the main cultural traditions of modern times. Therefore, this remarkable people who have survived and flourished from antiquity to the present have been a major connecting link with our past.\\nWe first encounter the Persians around 2000 B.C.E. emerging from the grassy steppes of Central Asia in the north. At that point, they were closely associated with two other peoples: the Medes and Aryans. The latter of these turned eastward, crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains, and overthrew the Indus River civilization. Eventually these nomads would settle down and build Indian civilization upon the foundations laid by the Indus culture. Meanwhile the Persians and Medes were turning westward where they encountered the Elamites, a people whose extended contact with Mesopotamia had influenced them to absorb the culture of the \\\"Cradle of Civilization\\\".\\nThe Medes and Persians in turn started absorbing Elamite culture. One need only look at the relief sculptures of the Persians, with their curly beards and stiff formal poses, to see the connection with Mesopotamia. However, the process of becoming civilized was a long one for these people, since they were still on the northeastern fringes of the older Near Eastern cultures. When they emerge fully into the light of history in the pages of the Greek historian Herodotus, they are still very nomadic in their customs and values. According to Herodotus, the nomadic Persians had only three simple goals in educating their sons: \\\"to ride a horse, to draw a bow, and to speak the truth.\\\" What more did nomads need? The Medes were actually the first of these nomadic peoples to establish an empire when they joined forces with Babylon to overthrow the Assyrian Empire in 6l2 B.C.E. In the aftermath, Babylon took the richer civilized lands of the Fertile Crescent, while the Medes took the more extensive but wilder lands to the north. Among their subjects were their compatriots, the Persians. It is here that we encounter the founder of the Persian Empire.\\nCyrus the Great and the Rise of Persia (c.550-522 B.C.E.)\\nHerodotus gives us a detailed and somewhat fanciful account of Cyrus the Great's rise to power. As in the stories of so many great men and legendary figures in history, from Sargon of Kish and Moses to Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, Cyrus barely survived infancy due to a royal death sentence from a king nervous about the child's destiny. In each story, someone saves the baby, who grows up and comes back to overthrow the king who tried to do him in. What does seem clear is that Cyrus led the Persians in revolt against the Medes and overthrew them around 550 B.C.E.\\nAlthough the Medes' old neighbors were certainly glad to see the powerful Median state overthrown, they soon found their new neighbor, Persia, was an even more dangerous foe. Cyrus first turned westward against Croesus, king of Lydia in Asia Minor, a land renown for its wealth, as seen in the old saying \\\"rich as Croesus\\\" to denote how wealthy someone is. In order to deal with the tough Lydian cavalry, Cyrus placed camels in front of his lines. The Lydian horses, unused to the camels' strange smell, panicked and bolted, giving Cyrus the victory and Lydia. Cyrus next turned south against Babylon, whose empire was seething with revolt. Herodotus claims that Cyrus had his troops divert the course of the Euphrates so they could march into the city's unguarded river gates. However true that may be, Babylon's empire collapsed like a house of cards, leaving Cyrus the master of a huge empire. Still, he pressed onward, this time into the vast and wild expanses of Central Asia. His intentions here were probably defensive, to protect the frontiers of civilization from the swarms of nomadic horsemen to the northeast. It was here in 530 B.C.E. that Cyrus died in battle against a tribe known as the Massagetae. In his twenty-nine year reign, he had built the largest empire in history up to that time.\\nCyrus' son and successor, Cambyses (530-522 B.C.E.), is mainly remembered for his conquest of Egypt in 525 B.C.E. His attempts to conquer the Nile further south and the desert oases of the Sahara met with less success. Supposedly, one of Cambyses' armies was swallowed up by a desert sandstorm. Cambyses was especially unpopular with the Egyptians, who claimed he committed various atrocities, including the slaying of the sacred bull of Apis. Since our main source for his life is Herodotus, who relied heavily on Egyptian sources for his book, we have a picture of Cambyses as a drunken lunatic,. Cambyses died in 522 B.C.E on his way to Babylon to crush a revolt led by his cousin, Darius, who then succeeded him as the next Great King of Persia.\\nDarius I \\\"the Great\\\" and the consolidation of the Persian Empire\\nAlthough Cyrus had founded the Persian Empire, Darius I (522-486 B.C.E.) gave it the internal organization and structure that allowed it to last for 200 years. His accomplishment is all the more impressive when we consider the empire's enormous size, the scale of which no one had ever dealt with before. Darius dealt especially with three areas: organization of the empire's provinces, keeping the provincial governors under control, and maintaining communications with his far flung empire.\\nOrganizing the provincial government presented two options. Darius could either create small provinces with governors too weak to rebel, but also too weak to defend their provinces against invasion. Or he could create large provinces able to defend themselves, but also more capable of defying his authority. He created about twenty large provinces, called satrapies. These ensured that he would not have to race from one end of his empire to the other defending it against every little tribe that decided to attack. Each such campaign might involve years of preparation, marching and fighting. Meanwhile, other frontiers would be vulnerable to attack, involving more years of campaigning and leaving the king with little time for other duties.\\nSince larger provinces gave the governors, known as satraps, a lot of power, Darius took several precautions to keep his satraps from rebelling. For one thing, he had the provincial treasury officials, secretaries, and garrisons answer directly to him, not to the satraps, except in emergencies. This generally deprived the satraps of the money and troops they needed to revolt while ensuring the defense of the satrapies. There were also officials known as the \\\"King's Ears\\\". These personal agents of the king would travel to the various satraps' courts to check up on their behavior and official records. The King's Ears commanded a great deal of fear and respect, sometimes showing up with no armed escort, but still being able to put down rebellious satraps before the revolts went beyond the planning stages.\\nCommunications in such a far-flung realm was another major problem. Here the Persians adopted the Assyrian practice of setting up a system of relay riders, much like the old Pony Express in American history. Each horse and rider would carry a message for a day and then pass it on to the next horse and rider. In order to speed things along, the Persians established a road system to tie the empire together. The most famous of these was the King's Highway, which stretched 1677 miles from the Persian capital of Susa to Sardis in Asia Minor. It had patrols against bandits, relay stations with fresh horses for the royal messengers, and 111 inns for travelers, placed about one day's journey apart from each other. Another road going through the desert to Egypt had underground cisterns with water for travelers. Although these roads helped trade and travel, their main priority was for the relay riders who could carry a message from Sardis to the king in Susa within seven days, an amazing speed for back then. As Herodotus described these riders: \\\"Nothing stops these couriers from covering their allotted stops in the quickest possible time--neither snow, rain, heat, nor darkness.\\\"\\nIn general, Darius took existing practices and institutions and adopted them on a larger scale. However, in one respect, he differed quite markedly from previous Mesopotamian rulers. That was in his treatment of Persia's subjects. Darius realized that there was no way his far-flung empire could survive constant revolts such as had plagued the Assyrians. Therefore, he followed a policy of tolerance toward his subjects' customs and religions. For example, the Jews were allowed to return to Israel from their Babylonian captivity, causing them to sing the Persians’ praises in the Bible.\\nDarius and other Persian kings also adopted local titles, such as pharaoh in Egypt, to win popular support. Sometimes they also kept local rulers in power as Persian vassals, such as in the Greek cities in Asia Minor. This hopefully would ensure them more loyalty, although it could backfire if those rulers were unpopular to begin with. While Persian rule may not have been wildly popular, most people tolerated it as an improvement over the harsher rule of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Keeping their subjects happy went a long way toward keeping the Persian Empire intact. It also ensured the cooperation of the Syrians and Babylonians, whose scribes and administrative skills were badly needed to keep the government running smoothly.\\nThe Persians also worked hard to promote economic prosperity. Their roads, strong government, and stable coinage encouraged trade. They also promoted agriculture with irrigation projects and the introduction of new crops to different areas, such as sesame to Egypt and rice to Mesopotamia. Of course, increased prosperity also generated more taxes. The Persians also kept their subjects happy by charging moderate tax rates, about twenty per cent of a person's income. Despite this modest tax rate, the Persian kings were fabulously wealthy. By the time Alexander the Great took over the Persian Empire in 330 B.C.E., the Persian kings had reportedly amassed a treasury of 5500 tons of silver.\\nDarius and other Persian kings further enhanced their authority by assuming divine or semi-divine status to overawe their subjects. In certain provinces, such as Egypt, they took the titles of local rulers who were often seen as gods. They also built a fabulous capital, Persepolis, in the middle of the desert, and adorned it with magnificent government buildings. The Persians also adopted the elaborate court ritual of their subjects. One had to go through a virtual army of officials before getting an audience with the king. When one approached the king, he performed a rite known as proskynesis, which involved throwing oneself at the king's feet. It was a great honor just to be allowed to kiss the hem of his garment and a serious offence for anyone outside the king's closest friends and advisors to look him in the eye. Such elaborate ritual could enhance the king's authority, but it could also cut him off from the day-to-day realities of empire.\\nReligion\\nThe Persians, like most ancient peoples, started out with a polytheistic religion to account for the forces of nature. However, around 600 B.C.E., a new religion emerged, called Zoroastrianism after its founder, Zoroaster. This was a dualistic religion, which meant it saw life as a constant struggle between the forces of good and evil. In the end people would all be held accountable for their deeds in a judgment day when they would go to heaven as a reward for good deeds or suffer eternal punishment for their sins. Zoroastrianism seems to have had some influence on Judaism. In the book of Daniel, which takes place at the Persian court, the ideas of Heaven and Hell and of Satan as a force always opposed to God first appear in the Bible. Both of these ideas have become central to Christianity and Islam as well as Judaism.\\nDecline and fall (c.464-330 B.C.E.)\\nAny state needs a strong ruler to keep things running smoothly. After the death of Xerxes (486-464 B.C.E.), the Persian Empire lacked that strong hand. As a result, various problems developed that fed back upon one another and led to Persia's decline and fall. For one thing, weak rulers led to numerous provincial revolts, especially in Egypt, which always had detested Persian rule. Secondly, the provincial satraps also became more independent, ruling their satrapies more as kings than as the king's loyal subjects. They even carried on their own foreign policies and waged war on each other, which only added to Persia's problems.\\nRevolts and unruly satraps caused serious economic problems for the empire. Persian taxes became heavier and more oppressive, which led to economic depression and revolts, which in turn led to more repression, heavier taxes and so on. The Persian kings also started hoarding gold and silver rather than re-circulating it. This created economic turmoil without enough gold and silver for doing business. As a result of this economic turmoil, the Persian kings got weaker still, which fed back into the problem of revolts and powerful satraps and so on.\\nAround 400 B.C.E., Cyrus the Younger, a royal prince, rebelled against his brother and king, Artaxerxes. Although Cyrus was killed in battle, his force of 10, 000 Greek mercenaries survived only to find themselves stranded in the heart of Persia. In order to get home, they marched and fought their way through a good part of the Persian Empire. This exploit, known as the March of the Ten Thousand, exposed the weakness of the Persian Empire. This encouraged Alexander the Great to invade Persia, which he conquered in a remarkably short time and with a remarkably small army.\\nNevertheless, the Persians survived and reestablished their empire under the Sassanid dynasty around 200 C.E. Around 650 C.E., they fell once again, this time to the Arabs inspired by their new religion, Islam. Still, Persia survived, passing its culture on to the Arabs. Thus the Islamic culture which emerged was very much Persian, and ultimately Mesopotamian, in origin. The Persian Empire revived once again around 1500 under the Safavid dynasty, and its culture and traditions live on today in modern Iran.\\n»\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2289"],"string":"[\n \"2289\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sardis - Ancient History Encyclopedia\n... a famous Athenian lawmaker and statesman and one of the seven proverbial wise ... King of Persia, invaded Sardis in ... expression \"as rich as Croesus ...\nSardis - Ancient History Encyclopedia\nSardis\nby Cristian Violatti\npublished on 20 March 2014\nSardis was an important ancient city and capital of the kingdom of Lydia , located in western Anatolia , present-day Sartmustafa, Manisa province in western Turkey . Its strategic location made it a central point connecting the interior of Anatolia to the Aegean coast. During its history, control of Sardis changed many times, but it always kept a high status among cities .\nThe Origin of Sardis\nAround 612 BCE, the greatest city in the world at that time, Nineveh , was besieged and sacked by an allied army of Persians, Medes, rebelling Chaldeans, and Babylonians, putting an end to the Assyrian Empire . This event shaped a new political map: Babylon became the imperial centre of Mesopotamia and the kingdom of Lydia became the dominant power in western Anatolia with Sardis as its capital.\nRemove Ads\nAdvertisement\nThe life of Sardis began as a hilltop citadel where the king of Lydia lived. The city developed into a two part town: the lower town, located along the banks of the Pactolus river, where the ordinary citizens lived, and the upper town for the wealthy citizens, royal members, and the palace. Herodotus wrote that the lower town was a modest place with many of its houses made of reeds from the river and with no surrounding wall .\nRelations with the Greek World\nTo the west, Lydia had the Greek colonies of Ionia . After the fall of Assyria , Lydia was free to turn its attention to the Ionian cities, which became dominated by Lydia. Lydian rulers, however, admired the Greeks and treated the Ionian cities leniently. Moreover, Croesus , the last Lydian king, even paid for the construction of the temple of Artemis , which became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Thus, the Ionian coast city-states and the Lydians remained on peaceful terms with very tight cultural and commercial relations. Sardis was a centre for the traffic of goods and ideas between Mesopotamia and the Greek Ionian settlements, a crossroad of trade, and an ideal meeting point for the exchange of ideas, beliefs, customs, knowledge, and new insights. This rich exchange was one of the factors that, around 600 BCE, allowed the Ionian cities to turn into the intellectual leaders of the Greek world.\nSardis was a centre for the traffic of goods and ideas between Mesopotamia and the Greek Ionian settlements.\nHerodotus (1.31) claims that on one occasion Sardis was visited by Solon , a famous Athenian lawmaker and statesman and one of the seven proverbial wise men of ancient Hellas, who met Croesus, the Lydian king. This meeting between Solon and Croesus is certainly a fiction: Solon, if we trust the current accepted chronology, must have been dead several years before 560 BCE, the year when Croesus became king of Lydia. Nevertheless, according to the story Croesus was overjoyed to have such an important visitor and was anxious to display his wealth to the well-travelled Solon. Croesus finally asked Solon who, of all the men he had met in his travels, he would call the most happy. Solon replied, “Tellus of Athens .” This made Croesus upset since he expected to be named first. Solon added that Tellus had lived well and happily, had a beautiful family, and had died gloriously for Athens in battle . Croesus agreed this was a good life and asked Solon who else he would consider to be among the happiest of men he had met, hoping he would at least be named second. Solon answered “ Cleobis and Biton ”, two Greek brothers who had enough resources to live, great fitness levels, and who had died honourably. Croesus, angered now, shouted, \"My Athenian guest, are you disparaging my own happiness as though it were nothing?, Do you think me less than a common man?\" Solon replied that no person can be judged fortunate until their death: \"I cannot yet tell you the answer you asked for until I learn how you have ended your life.\"\nAdvertisement\nPersian Control\nWhen Cyrus II, King of Persia , invaded Sardis in 547 BCE, it became obvious that the lack of a defensive wall protecting the lower city was not a wise choice. The Lydian king Croesus simply retreated to the upper town, and the Persian army controlled the lower city with very little resistance. The Persian army finally found an unguarded spot in the citadel’s defences, and Sardis came under Persian control for the next two centuries.\nDuring the Persian occupation, Sardis did not change much: A Persian garrison was built on the acropolis while the lower town settlements remained unchanged. An altar of Artemis is mentioned by Xenophon , possibly in the southern portion of the acropolis, in the settlements along the river, where some time later a temple to the goddess was built.\nOnce Sardis was taken, the Persians also occupied the Ionian cities. About 500 BCE, the Ionian cities dismissed the Persian authorities and declared their independence, triggering the Ionian revolt with the city of Miletus as the leading state, the first of many military conflicts between Greeks and Persians. A Greek army marched upon Sardis and burned it to the ground. This is how Herodotus reports the incident:\nMacedonian & Seleucid Control\nA number of changes took place in Sardis after the city surrendered to Alexander the Great in 334 BCE. A new lower town was built to the north of the Acropolis and the old town was gradually abandoned, with the sole exception of the Temple of Artemis and its surrounding area, where a few citizens continued to live. The new lower town had the east-west road as its axis which connected the interior to the coast.\nA number of Hellenistic public buildings were built in the new town including a stadium and a theatre. The city was walled at some point before the year 215 BCE as attested to by ancient reports that, when the troops led by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III assaulted Sardis that year, they penetrated across a section of the city wall near the theatre. Sardis was then made Seleucid’s administrative centre for the Anatolia region.","Croesus | king of Lydia | Britannica.com\nLast king of Lydia ... Croesusking of Lydia. died. ... His wealth was proverbial, and he made a number of rich gifts to the oracle at Delphi.\nCroesus | king of Lydia | Britannica.com\nking of Lydia\nLast Updated:\n12-16-2009\nCroesus, (died c. 546 bc), last king of Lydia (reigned c. 560–546), who was renowned for his great wealth. He conquered the Greeks of mainland Ionia (on the west coast of Anatolia) and was in turn subjugated by the Persians.\nCroesus with an attendant.\nPhotos.com/Jupiterimages\nA member of the Mermnad dynasty , Croesus succeeded to the throne of his father, Alyattes, after a struggle with his half brother. Croesus is said to have acted as viceroy and commander in chief before his father’s death. He completed the conquest of mainland Ionia by capturing Ephesus and other cities in western Anatolia . Lack of sea power forced him ... (100 of 348 words)\nMEDIA FOR:","Croesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\nFind out information about Croesus. d. c.547 B.C., king of Lydia , noted for his great wealth. He was the son of Alyattes. ... His wealth became proverbial, ...\nCroesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\nCroesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\nhttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Croesus\nAlso found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Acronyms , Idioms , Wikipedia .\nCroesus\n(krē`səs), d. c.547 B.C., king of Lydia (560–c.547 B.C.), noted for his great wealth. He was the son of Alyattes. He continued his father's policy of conquering the Ionian cities of Asia Minor, but on the whole he was friendly to the Greeks, and he is supposed to have given refuge to the Athenian statesman Solon. Threatened by Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great\n, d. 529 B.C., king of Persia, founder of the greatness of the Achaemenids and of the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, he was the son of an Iranian noble, the elder Cambyses, and a Median princess, daughter of Astyages.\n..... Click the link for more information. of Persia, Croesus allied himself with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia against the Persian might, but the alliance was of no avail. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus, and, according to Herodotus, Croesus cast himself upon a funeral pyre.\nCroesus","Croesus.txt\nCroesus\nCroesus ( ; , Kroisos; 595 BC – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia who, according to Herodotus, reigned for fourteen years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC (sometimes given as 547 BC).\n\nCroesus was renowned for his wealth—Herodotus and Pausanias noted his gifts were preserved at Delphi. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Greeks, providing a fixed point in their calendar. \"By the fifth century at least,\" J.A.S. Evans has remarked, \"Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology.\" \n\nLegendary biography\n\nAside from a poetical account of Croesus on the pyre in Bacchylides (composed for Hiero of Syracuse, who won the chariot race at Olympia in 468), there are three classical accounts of Croesus: Herodotus presents the Lydian accounts of the conversation with Solon (Histories 1.29-.33), the tragedy of Croesus' son Atys (Histories 1.34-.45) and the fall of Croesus (Histories 1.85-.89); Xenophon instances Croesus in his panegyric fictionalized biography of Cyrus: Cyropaedia, 7.1; and Ctesias, whose account is also an encomium of Cyrus.\n\nEarly rule and wealth \n\nBorn about 595 BC, Croesus received tribute from the Ionian Greeks but was friendlier to the Hellenes than his father had been.\n\nCroesus is credited with issuing the first true gold coins with a standardised purity for general circulation. However, they were quite crude, and were made of electrum, a naturally occurring pale yellow alloy of gold and silver. The composition of these first coins was similar to alluvial deposits found in the silt of the Pactolus river, which ran through the Lydian capital, Sardis. Later coins, including some in the British Museum, were made from gold purified by heating with common salt to remove the silver. King Croesus' gold coins follow the first silver coins that had been minted by King Pheidon of Argos around 700 BC.\n\nIn Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. Croesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as \"rich as Croesus\" or \"richer than Croesus\" are used to indicate great wealth to this day. The earliest known such usage in English was John Gower's in Confessio amantis (1390):\n\nThat if the tresor of Cresus\n\nAnd al the gold Octovien,\nForth with the richesse Yndien \nOf Perles and of riche stones,\nWere al togedre myn at ones... \n\nInterview with Solon \n\nAccording to Herodotus, Croesus encountered the Greek sage Solon and showed him his enormous wealth. Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, asked Solon who the happiest man in the world is, and was disappointed by Solon's response that three had been happier than Croesus: Tellus, who died fighting for his country, and the brothers Kleobis and Biton who died peacefully in their sleep after their mother prayed for their perfect happiness because they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves. Solon goes on to explain that Croesus cannot be the happiest man because the fickleness of fortune means that the happiness of a man's life cannot be judged until after his death. Sure enough, Croesus' hubristic happiness was reversed by the tragic deaths of his accidentally-killed son and, according to Critias, his wife's suicide at the fall of Sardis, not to mention his defeat at the hands of the Persians.\n\nThe interview is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject \"Which man is happy?\" It is legendary rather than historical. Thus the \"happiness\" of Croesus is presented as a moralistic exemplum of the fickleness of Tyche, a theme that gathered strength from the fourth century, revealing its late date. The story was later retold and elaborated by Ausonius in [https://archive.org/stream/deciausonius01ausouoft#page/310/mode/2up The Masque of the Seven Sages], in the Suda (entry \"Μᾶλλον ὁ Φρύξ,\" which adds Aesop and the Seven Sages of Greece), and by Tolstoy in his short story Croesus and Fate.\n\nCroesus' votive offerings to Delphi\n\nAccording to Herodotus, Croesus desired to discover which of the well known oracles of his time gave trustworthy omens. He sent ambassadors to the most important oracles ordering that on the 100th day from their departure from Sardeis they should ask what the king of the Lydians, Croesus, son of Alyattes was doing on this exact date. \nThen the envoys entered on the 100th day to the oracle of Delphi in order to ask for the omen, Pythia answered in verse:\n\nI know the number of the sand pieces and the depth of the sea. I can understand the mute and listen to him, although he is not talking. I sensed the smell of a turtle burning together with lamb's meat in a bronze cauldron. Under the cauldron there is copper and above it copper as well.\nThe envoys wrote down the answer and returned to Sardeis. Croesus read all the answers brought by his envoys from all the oracles. As soon as he read the answer of Pythia he bowed, because he was persuaded that it was the only real oracle, along with that of Amphiaraus. Indeed, on the specific date Croesus had put pieces of a turtle and lamb to boil together in a bronze cauldron, covered with a bronze lid. Then, Croesus wanted to thank and take on his side the oracle of Delphi. He sacrificed three thousand of all kinds of sacrificial animals. Then he lit up a bonfire and burned precious objects. After the sacrifice he melted down gold and made golden blocks, each one 2,5 talents. He ordered his artists to make the copy of a lion out of pure gold, weighing ten talents. At the time of Herodotus this was situated at the Treasury of the Corinthians, but 3.5 talents lighter, as the priests had melted down part of it. Croesus also sent along two enormous craters, one made of gold and one made of silver, situated on one side and the other of the entrance to the temple or Apollo. After the fire which destroyed the temple, these craters were transferred elsewhere: the golden one was transferred to the treasury of the Klazomenians, whereas the silver one was placed again in the vestibule of the new temple. Within this crater took place the mixing of water and wine during the Theophania. In Delphi they used to say that this one had been made by Theodorus of Samos. The votive offerings of Croesus comprised also four silver pithoi, situated at the Treasury of the Corinthians, and two perirrhanteria made of precious metals and the statue of a woman made of gold; they said that it depicted the woman who kneaded Croesus' bread. Finally, he dedicated the pendants and belts of his wife as well as other simpler and smaller liturgical objects and a golden shield which he offered to the Archaic temple of Athena Pronaia, later on melted by the Phocians in the course of the Third Sacred War.\n\nDeath of son \n\nAccording to legend, Croesus gave refuge at one point to the Phrygian prince Adrastus. Herodotus tells that Adrastus exiled himself to Lydia after accidentally killing his brother. Croesus later experienced a dream for which he took as prophecy in which Atys, his son and heir, would be killed by an iron spearhead. Taking precautions against this, Croesus kept his son from leading in military expeditions and fighting in any way. However, according to Herodotus, a wild boar began to ravage the neighboring province of Mysia, which soon begged Croesus to send a military expedition led by Atys to kill the boar. Croesus thought this would be safe for his son, as Atys wouldn't be fighting an enemy that could throw a spear. However, he sent Adrastus with Atys as a bodyguard in case they would be waylaid by bandits on the expedition. While fighting the boar, Adrastus accidentally hit Atys with his spear, killing him. Croesus absolved Adrastus for his son's death; however, Adrastus later committed suicide. \n\nCampaign against Persia and testing of oracle \n\nCroesus' uneasy relations with the Greeks obscures the larger fact that he was the last bastion of the Ionian cities against the increasing Persian power in Anatolia. He began preparing a campaign against Cyrus the Great of Persia.\n\nBefore setting out, he turned to the Delphic oracle and the oracle of Amphiaraus to inquire whether he should pursue this campaign and whether he should also seek an alliance. The oracles answered, with typical ambiguity, that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire – this would become one of the most famous oracular statements from Delphi.\n\nThe oracles also advised Croesus to find out which Greek state was most powerful and to ally himself with it. Croesus, now feeling secure, formed an alliance with Sparta in addition to those he had with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia, and launched his campaign against the Persian Empire in 547 BC. He was intercepted near the Halys River in central Anatolia and an inconclusive battle was fought. It was the usual practice in those days for the armies to disband for winter and Croesus did so accordingly. Cyrus did not, however, and he attacked Croesus in Sardis, capturing him. It became clear that the powerful empire destroyed by the war was Croesus's own.\n\nRescue from death and advisor to Cyrus \n\nBy 546 BC, Croesus was defeated and captured by the Persians. According to various accounts of Croesus's life, Cyrus ordered him to be burned to death on a pyre, but Croesus escaped death. The nature of his escape varies considerably.\n\nIn Bacchylides' ode, Croesus with his wife and family mounted the funeral pyre, but before the flames could envelop the king, he was snatched up by Apollo and spirited away to the Hyperboreans.\n\nHerodotus tells us that in the Lydian account, Croesus was placed upon a great pyre by Cyrus' orders, for Cyrus wanted to see if any of the heavenly powers would appear to save him from being burned alive. The pile was set ablaze, and as Cyrus the Great watched he saw Croesus call out \"Solon\" three times. He asked the interpreters to find out why he said this word with such resignation and agony. The interpreters returned the answer that Solon had warned Croesus of the fickleness of good fortune (see Interview with Solon above). This touched Cyrus, who realized that he and Croesus were much the same man, and he bade the servants to quench the blazing fire as quickly as they could. They tried to do this, but the flames were not to be mastered. According to the story, Croesus called out to Apollo and prayed to him. The sky had been clear and the day without a breath of wind, but soon dark clouds gathered and a storm with rain of such violence that the flames were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, thus convinced that Croesus was a good man, made him an advisor who served Cyrus \"well\" and later Cyrus's son by Cassandane, Cambyses. \n\nRecently, Stephanie West has argued that the historical Croesus did in fact die on the pyre, and that the stories of him as a wise advisor to the courts of Cyrus and Cambyses are purely legendary, showing similarities to the sayings of Ahiqar. \n\nAfter defeating Croesus, the Persians adopted gold as the main metal for their coins. \n\nDeath \n\nIt is not known when exactly Croesus died, although it is traditionally dated 547 BC, after Cyrus' conquest. In the Nabonidus Chronicle it is said that Cyrus \"marched against the country -- , killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own\". Unfortunately, all that remains of the name of the country are traces of the first cuneiform sign. It has long been assumed that this sign should have been LU, so that the country referred to would be Lydia, with Croesus as the king that was killed. However, J. Cargill has shown that this restoration was based upon wishful thinking rather than actual traces of the sign LU. Instead, J. Oelsner and R. Rollinger have both read the sign as Ú, which might imply a reference to Urartu. With Herodotus' account also being unreliable chronologically in this case, as J. A. S. Evans has demonstrated, this means that we have no way of dating the fall of Sardis; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of Babylon. Evans also asks what happened after the episode at the pyre and suggests that \"neither the Greeks nor the Babylonians knew what really happened to Croesus\".","Croesus - Ancient History Encyclopedia\nCroesus (pronounced 'KREE-sus') was the King of ... the ancients of the 4th century BCE did not care for that ending to the life of so wealthy and powerful a king.\nCroesus - Ancient History Encyclopedia\nCroesus\nby Joshua J. Mark\npublished on 02 September 2009\nCroesus (pronounced 'KREE-sus') was the King of Lydia , a country in western Asia Minor (corresponding to modern-day Turkey ) from 560-547 BCE and was so wealthy that the old expression \"as rich as Croesus\" originates in reference to him. His wealth, it is said, came from the sands of the River Pactolus in which the legendary King Midas washed his hands to rid himself of the 'Midas Touch' (which turned everything he laid hands on into gold ) and in so doing, the legend says, made the sands of the river rich with gold. The Lydians, either during the reign of Croesus or just before, were cited as the first people to mint coins of gold and silver in Asia Minor and it was Croesus who funded construction of the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Although some have claimed that Croesus was largely a legendary figure, his signature at the base of one of the columns of the Temple of Artemis (now on display at the British Museum) is evidence that he was an actual historical king who ruled from the city of Sardis .\nIt was Croesus who funded construction of the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders .\nAlthough Croesus is mentioned by Xenophon and Ctesias, among others, two of the most famous stories regarding him come from the Histories of Herodotus (1.29-45 and 1.85-89). The first has to do with the great Athenian lawgiver Solon the Wise. Solon travelled throughout Anatolia and down to Egypt and came, at last, to the palace of Croesus at Sardis. Croesus was overjoyed to have so illustrious a visitor and was anxious to show off his treasuries and, after Solon had inspected them, asked him who, of all the men he had met in his travels, he would call the most happy. Solon answered, “Tellus of Athens .” Croesus, upset that he himself had not been named, asked why Tellus. Solon answered that Tellus had lived well and happily, had a beautiful family, and had died gloriously for Athens in battle . Croesus, conceding this was a good life, and hoping he would at least be named second, then asked Solon who else he would consider the happiest of men he had met; Solon answered:\nRemove Ads\nAdvertisement\nThe brothers Cleobis and Bito of the Argive race” and explained why, noting again a life well lived and a good death. Croesus, angered now, shouted: \"Man of Athens, am I not the happiest man in the world? Dost thou count my happiness as nothing?\" Solon replied calmly: “In truth, I count no man happy until his death, for no man can know what the gods may have in store for him. He who unites the greatest number of advantages, and retaining them to the day of his death, then dies peaceably, that man alone, sire, is in my judgment entitled to bear the name of 'happy.' But in every matter it behooves us to mark well the end: for oftentimes God gives men a gleam of happiness, and then plunges them into ruin.\nCroesus sent Solon away, thinking his reputation for wisdom overrated, but would soon learn the truth of what Solon had said through the events narrated by Herodotus' second story. The first misfortune to come upon Croesus was the death of his son Atys, killed while hunting a boar in Olympus (and, ironically, killed by the man whom Croesus had sent on the hunt for the express purpose of keeping Atys safe). Croesus grieved for his son for two years until he was alerted that the Persians under Cyrus were gaining power and decided he should check them sooner rather than later.\nHe sent to the great Oracle at Delphi to know whether he should go to war against the Persian Empire and the oracle replied: \"If Croesus goes to war he will destroy a great empire.\" Pleased by this answer, Croesus made his necessary alliances and preparations and went out to meet the Persian army at the Halys River (which Thales of Miletus , an engineer in his corps, helped him to cross by diverting the waters). The battle at the Halys was a draw and Croesus marched his force back to Sardis where the army was disbanded for the winter. Croesus expected Cyrus to do the same, as this was customary, but Cyrus instead pressed the attack, massacred Croesus’ cavalry in the field by mounting his own cavalry on dromedaries (whose scent frightened the Lydian horses) and captured Croesus. After the fall of Sardis, Croesus’ wife committed suicide and Croesus was dragged before Cyrus in chains.\nFor daring to raise an army against the Persian Empire, Cyrus ordered Croesus to be burned alive along with fourteen noble Lydian youths. When Croesus saw the flames of the pyre lapping toward him, he called out for aid from Apollo to rescue him and a sudden rain shower broke overhead and put out the fire. Croesus was saved from burning to death but was still the captive of the Persian King and, remembering the words of Solon the Wise, cried out, \"O Solon! Solon! Solon!\" Cyrus asked a translator what this word meant and Croesus told the story of Solon’s visit, how no man can be counted happy until after his death, and further, of how he was misled by the Oracle at Delphi who had told him that if he went to war against Cyrus he would 'destroy a great empire’ and here the 'great empire’ destroyed had been his own, not that of Cyrus.\nCyrus was so moved by this story that he ordered Croesus to be released and had him send to Delphi for an answer from the god as to why he was betrayed. The answer came back that the Oracle had spoken only truth - a great empire had, in fact, been destroyed by Croesus – and it was not the fault of the god if man misinterpreted his words. Cyrus felt sorry for Croesus and, according to some sources, kept him on as a wise counsellor. This positive account of Croesus' end has been disputed by many scholars both ancient and modern. According to other accounts, the god Apollo carried Croesus and his family away after the fall of Sardis and they all lived happily ever after. Most modern-day scholars and historians believe that Croesus died on the pyre but that the ancients of the 4th century BCE did not care for that ending to the life of so wealthy and powerful a king. The story of Croesus served as a cautionary tale among the Greeks on hubris and a warning on not tempting the gods’ wrath by thinking of oneself as the happiest person in the world.","Croesus - tititudorancea.net\nCroesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond ... expressions such as \"rich as Croesus\" or \"richer than Croesus\" are used ... with Croesus as the king that was ...\nCroesus\nC\nCroesus\nThis article refers to the historical King of Lydia. For the opera by Reinhard Keiser, see Croesus (opera).\nCroesus (pronounced /ˈkriːsəs/, CREE-sus;\nGreek :\nΚροῖσος) (595 BC – c. 547? BC) was the king of Lydia from 560 to 546 BC until his defeat by the Persians in about 547 BC. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. \"By the fifth century at least,\" J.A.S. Evans remarked, \"Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology.\" Croesus was renowned for his wealth — Herodotus and Pausanias noted his gifts preserved at Delphi\nIn Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. Croesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as \"rich as Croesus\" or \"richer than Croesus\" are used to indicate great wealth. The earliest known such usage in English was John Gower's in Confessio amantis (1390):\nThat if the tresor of Cresus\nAnd al the gold Octovien,\nForth with the richesse Yndien\nOf Perles and of riche stones,\nWere al togedre myn at ones...\nBiography\nAside from a poetical account of Croesus on the pyre in Bacchylides, there are three classical accounts of Croesus. Herodotus presents the Lydian accounts of the conversation with Solon (Histories 1.29-.33), the tragedy of Croesus' son Atys (Histories 1.34-.45) and the fall of Croesus (Histories 1.85-.89); Xenophon instances Croesus in his panegyric fictionalized biography of Cyrus: Cyropaedia, 7.1; and Ctesias, whose account is also an encomium of Cyrus.\nBorn about 595 BC, Croesus received tribute from the Ionian Greeks but was friendlier to the Hellenes than his father had been. Croesus traditionally gave refuge at one point to the Phrygian prince Adrastus. Herodotus tells that Adrastus exiled himself to Lydia after accidentally killing his brother. King Croesus welcomed him but then Adrastus accidentally killed Croesus' son, Atys. (Adrastus then committed suicide.)\nCroesus' uneasy relations with the Greeks obscures the larger fact that he was the last bastion of the Ionian cities against the increasing Persian power in Anatolia. He began preparing a campaign against Cyrus the Great of Persia. Before setting out he turned to the Delphic oracle and the oracle of Amphiaraus to inquire whether he should pursue this campaign and whether he should also seek an alliance. The oracles answered, with typical ambiguity, that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire – this would become one of the most famous oracular statements from Delphi.\nCroesus was also advised to find out which Greek state was most powerful and to ally himself with it. Croesus, now feeling secure, formed an alliance with Sparta in addition to those he had with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia , and launched his campaign against the Persian Empire in 547 BC. He was intercepted near the Halys River in central Anatolia and an inconclusive battle was fought. As was usual in those days, the armies would disband for winter and Croesus did accordingly. Cyrus did not, however, and he attacked Croesus in Sardis , capturing him. It became clear that the powerful empire Croesus was about to destroy was his own.\nIn Bacchylides' ode, composed for Hiero of Syracuse, who won the chariot race at Olympia in 468, Croesus with his wife and family mounted the funeral pyre, but before the flames could envelop the king, he was snatched up by Apollo and spirited away to the Hyperboreans. Herodotus' version includes Apollo in more \"realistic\" mode: Cyrus, repenting of the immolation of Croesus, could not put out the flames until Apollo intervened.\nApollo's intervention\nHerodotus tells us that in the Lydian account, Croesus was placed upon a great pyre by Cyrus' orders, for Cyrus wanted to see if any of the heavenly powers would appear to save him from being burned alive. The pile was set ablaze, and as Cyrus watched he saw Croesus call out \"Solon\" three times. He asked the interpreters to find out why he said this word with such resignation and agony. The interpreters returned the answer that Solon had warned Croesus of the fickleness of good fortune: see Interview with Solon below. This touched Cyrus, who realized that he and Croesus were much the same man, and he bade the servants to quench the blazing fire as quickly as they could. They tried to do this, but the flames were not to be mastered. According to the story, Croesus called out to Apollo and prayed to him. The sky had been clear and the day without a breath of wind, but soon dark clouds gathered and a storm with rain of such violence that the flames were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, convinced by this that Croesus was a good man, made Croesus an advisor who served Cyrus well and later Cyrus's son by Cassandane, Cambyses. Recently, Stephanie West has argued that the historical Croesus did in fact die on the pyre, and that the stories of him as a 'wise adviser' to the courts of Cyrus and Cambyses are purely legendary, showing similarities to the sayings of Ahiqar.\nIt is not known when exactly Croesus died, although it is traditionally dated 547 BC, after Cyrus' conquest. In the Nabonidus Chronicle it is said that Cyrus \"marched against the country -- , killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own.\" Unfortunately, all that remains of the name of the country are traces of the first cuneiform sign. It has long been assumed that this sign should have been LU, so that the country referred to would be Lydia, with Croesus as the king that was killed. However, J. Cargill has shown that this restoration was based upon wishful thinking rather than actual traces of the sign LU. Instead, J. Oelsner and R. Rollinger have both read the sign as Ú, which might imply a reference to Urartu. With Herodotus' account also being unreliable chronologically in this case, as J.A.S. Evans has demonstrated, this means that we have no way of dating the fall of Sardis; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of Babylon. Evans also asks what happened after the episode at the pyre and suggests that \"neither the Greeks nor the Babylonians knew what really happened to Croesus.\"\nInterview with Solon\nThe episode of Croesus' interview with Solon reported by Herodotus is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject \"Which man is happy?\" It is legendary rather than historical. Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, poses the question and is disappointed by Solon's response: that three have been happier than Croesus, Tellus , who died fighting for his country, and Kleobis and Biton, brothers who died peacefully in their sleep when their mother prayed for their perfect happiness, after they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves. Croesus' hubristic happiness was reversed by the tragic deaths of his accidentally-murdered son and, in Critias, his wife's suicide at the fall of Sardis. Thus the \"happiness\" of Croesus is presented as a moralistic exemplum of the fickleness of Tyche , a theme that gathered strength from the fourth century, revealing its late date. (Wikipedia)","10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles - Listverse\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles ... The Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC was a decisive victory for ... of Octavian and those of the combined forces of Mark Antony and ...\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles - Listverse\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles\nJamie Frater\nJuly 31, 2008\nEveryone loves a good tale of battles and blood – which is clearly evidenced by the plethora of movies and movie scenes based on them. In this list, instead of just looking at great battles based on numbers or deaths, we are looking at battles that were strategically important or changed the methods of warfare. This list only includes battles from before the time of Christ. Later battles will be the subject of a future list. I have generally avoided describing the actual events of the battles in order to present the overall historical impact. You can use the “source” links to read more on each battle. This list contains a competition – read more at the bottom of the list.\n10\nCarrhae\n53 BC\nThe Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC was a decisive victory for the Parthian Spahbod Surena (try saying that 10 times fast!) over the Roman general Crassus near the town of Carrhae (now the present-day ruins of Harran, Turkey). A Parthian force of 1,000 cataphracts and 9,000 horse archers under general Surena met the Romans at Carrhae. Crassus’ cavalry was screening ahead of the main force when they were engaged by the cataphracts, and the weapons his cavalry employed were not capable of piercing the cataphracts armor. His cavalry was soon surrounded and routed, and his son Publius killed. Rome was humiliated by this defeat, and this was made even worse by the fact that the Parthians had captured several Legionary Eagles. It is also mentioned by Plutarch that the Parthians found the Roman prisoner of war that resembled Crassus the most, dressed him as a woman and paraded him through Parthia for all to see. The capture of the golden Aquilae (legionary battle standards) by the Parthians was considered a grave moral defeat and evil omen for the Romans. It required a generation of diplomacy before the Parthians returned them. An important and unexpected implication of this battle was that it opened up the European continent to a new and beautiful material: silk. However, the most immediate effect of the battle was that Carrhae was an indirect cause for the fall of the Republic, and the rise of the Empire. [ Source ]\n9\nPydna\n168 BC\nThe Battle of Pydna in 168 BC between Rome and the Macedonian Antigonid dynasty represents the ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenic/Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to Alexander III of Macedon. It is often considered to be the classic example of the Macedonian phalanx against the Roman legion, and generally accepted as proving the superiority of the latter over the former. This was not the final conflict between the two rivals, but it broke the back of Macedonian power. The political consequences of the lost battle were severe. The Senate’s settlement included the deportation of all the royal officials and the permanent house arrest of Perseus. The kingdom was divided into four republics that were heavily restricted from intercourse or trade with one another and with Greece. There was a ruthless purge, with allegedly anti-Roman citizens being denounced by their compatriots and deported in large numbers (300 000). [ Source ]\n8\nIpsus\n301 BC\nThe Battle of Ipsus was fought between some of the Diadochi (the successors of Alexander the Great) in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia. Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius I of Macedon were pitted against the coalition of three other companions of Alexander: Cassander, ruler of Macedon; Lysimachus, ruler of Thrace; and Seleucus I Nicator, ruler of Babylonia and Persia. The battle opened with the usual slowly intensifying skirmishing between the two armies’ light troops, with elephants eventually thrown into the fray by both sides. Efforts were made by both sides to hamstring the enemy’s elephants, but also had to hang back to protect their own. Demetrius’ superior right-flank cavalry drove Antiochus’ wing back, but was halted in his attempted rear blow by Seleucus, who moved the elephant reserve to block him. More missile troops moved to the unprotected Antigonid right flank, as Demetrius was unable to disengage from the elephants and enemy horse to his front. At the beginning of the day, Antigonus had not been able to wear plate armor; this disadvantage was unexpectedly used by an anonymous allied peltast, who killed him with a well-thrown javelin. Without leadership and already beginning to flee, the Antigonid army completely disintegrated. The last chance to reunite the Alexandrine Empire had now passed. Antigonus had been the only general able to consistently defeat the other Successors; without him, the last bonds the Empire had had began to dissolve. Ipsus finalized the breakup of an empire, which may account for its obscurity; despite that, it was still a critical battle in classical history and decided the character of the Hellenistic age. [ Source ]\n7\nGaugamela\n331 BC\nThe Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great of Macedonia and Darius III of Achaemenid Persia. The battle, which is also inaccurately called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the Macedonians. While Darius had a significant advantage in numbers, most of his troops were of a lower quality than Alexander’s. Alexander’s pezhetairoi were armed with a six-meter spear, the sarissa. The main Persian infantry was poorly trained and equipped in comparison to Alexander’s pezhetairoi and hoplites. After the battle, Parmenion rounded up the Persian baggage train while Alexander and his own bodyguard chased after Darius in hopes of catching up. As at Issus, substantial amounts of loot were gained following the battle, with 4,000 talents captured, as well as the King’s personal chariot and bow. The war elephants were also captured. In all, it was a disastrous defeat for the Persians, and possibly one of Alexander’s finest victories. At this point, the Persian Empire was divided into two halves – East and West. Bessus murdered Darius, before fleeing eastwards. Alexander would pursue Bessus, eventually capturing and executing him the following year. The majority of the existing satraps were to give their loyalty to Alexander, and be allowed to keep their positions, however, the Persian Empire is traditionally considered to have fallen with the death of Darius. [ Source ]\n6\nMarathon\n490 BC\nThe Battle of Marathon during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 BC and was the culmination of King Darius I of Persia’s first full scale attempt to conquer the remainder of Greece and incorporate it into the Persian Empire, which would secure the weakest portion of his western border. The longest-lasting legacy of Marathon was the double envelopment. Some historians have claimed it was random rather than a conscious decision by Miltiades – the Tyrant of the Greek Colonies. In hoplitic battles, the two sides were usually stronger than the center because either they were the weakest point (right side) or the strongest point (left side). However, before Miltiades (and after him until Epaminondas), this was only a matter of quality, not quantity. Miltiades had personal experience from the Persian army and knew its weaknesses. As his course of action after the battle shows (invasions of the Cyclades islands), he had an integrated strategy upon defeating the Persians, hence there is no reason he could have not thought of a good tactic. The double envelopment has been used ever since, such as when the German Army used a tactic at the battle of Tannenberg during World War I similar to that used by the Greeks at Marathon. [ Source ]\n5\nCynoscephalae\n197 BC\nThe Battle of Cynoscephalae was fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Philip V. This Macedonian defeat marks the passing of imperial power from the successors of Alexander the Great to Rome. Along with the later Battle of Pydna, this defeat is often held to have demonstrated that the Macedonian phalanx, formerly the most effective fighting unit in the ancient world, was now obsolete, although in fact the phalanx was able to force the legions back and held their own with swords until twenty maniples fell upon their rear (due to the weak Macedonian flanks and the Roman elephants routing the disordered Macedonian left flank). As a consequence of his loss, Philip had to pay 1,000 talents to Rome, as well as disband his navy and most of his army. He also had to send his son to Rome as a hostage. The battle in many ways determined the subsequent history of the Mediterranean. It also was a major turning point in how wars were fought. The image above is the site of the Battle of Cynoscephalae today. [ Source ]\n4\nActium\n31 BC\nThe Battle of Actium was the decisive engagement in the Final War of the Roman Republic between the forces of Octavian and those of the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It was fought on September 2, 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the Roman colony of Actium in Greece. Octavian’s fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony’s fleet was supported by the fleet of his lover, Cleopatra VII, queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. The victory of Octavian’s fleet enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its domains, leading to his adoption of the title of Princeps (“first citizen”) and his accepting the title of Augustus from the Senate. As Augustus Caesar, he would preserve the trappings of a restored Republic, but many historians view his consolidation of power and the adoption of his honorifics flowing from his victory at Actium as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. The political consequences of this sea battle were far-reaching. As a result of the loss of his fleet, Mark Antony’s army, which had begun as equal to that of Octavian’s, deserted in large numbers. In a communication breakdown, Antony came to believe that Cleopatra had been captured, and so he committed suicide. Cleopatra heard the news about Mark Antony and, rather than risk being captured by Octavian, committed suicide herself, on August 12, 30 BC. She allowed herself to be bitten by a poisonous asp that was reportedly hidden for her in a basket of figs. [ Source ]\n3\nSiler River\n73 BC\nThe Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War, The Battle of Siler River, and The War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Servile Wars. The Third Servile War was the only one to directly threaten the Roman heartland of Italia and was doubly alarming to the Roman people due to the repeated successes of the rapidly growing band of rebel slaves against the Roman army between 73 and 71 BC. The rebellion was finally crushed through the concentrated military effort of a single commander, Marcus Licinius Crassus, although the rebellion continued to have indirect effects on Roman politics for years to come. The Third Servile War was significant to the broader history of ancient Rome mostly in its effect on the careers of Pompey and Crassus. The two generals used their success in putting down the rebellion to further their political careers, using their public acclaim and the implied threat of their legions to sway the consular elections of 70 BC in their favor. Their actions as Consuls greatly furthered the subversion of Roman political institutions and contributed to the eventual transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. [ Source ]\n2\nPharsalus\n48 BC\nThe Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar’s Civil War. On August 9, 48 BC, the battle was fought at Pharsalus in central Greece between forces of the Populares faction and forces of the Optimates faction. Both factions field armies from the Roman Republic. The Populares were led by Gaius Julius Caesar (Caesar) and the Optimates were led by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey). In addition to Pompey, the Optimates faction included most of the Roman Senate. The victory of Caesar weakened the Senatorial forces and solidified his control over the Republic. Pompey fled from Pharsalus to Egypt, where he was assassinated on the order of Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII. The Battle of Pharsalus ended the wars of the First Triumvirate. The Roman Civil War, however, was not ended. Pompey’s two sons, the most important of whom was Sextus Pompeius, and the Pompeian faction led now by Labienus, survived and fought their cause in the name of Pompey the Great. Caesar spent the next few years ‘mopping up’ remnants of the senatorial faction. After finally completing this task, he was assassinated in a conspiracy arranged by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. [ Source ]\n1\nSalamis\n480 BC\nThe Battle of Salamis, was a decisive naval battle between the Greek city-states and Persia in September, 480 BC in the strait between Piraeus and Salamis Island, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens. The Greeks were not in accord as to how to defend against the Persian army, but Athens under Themistocles used their navy to defeat the much larger Persian navy and force King Xerxes I of Persia to retreat. The Greek victory marked the turning point of the campaign, leading to the eventual Persian defeat. The Battle of Salamis has been described by many historians as the single most significant battle in human history. The defeat of the Persian navy was instrumental in the eventual Persian defeat, as it dramatically shifted the war in Greece’s favor. Many historians argue that Greece’s ensuing independence laid the foundations for Western civilization, most notably from the preservation of Athenian democracy, the concept of individual rights, relative freedom of the person, true philosophy, art and architecture. Had the Persians won at Salamis, it is very likely that Xerxes would have succeeded in conquering all the Greek nations and passing to the European continent, thus preventing Western civilization’s growth (and even existence). Given the influence of Western civilization on world history, as well as the achievements of Western culture itself, a failure of the Greeks to win at Salamis would almost certainly have had seriously important effects on the course of human history. [ Source ]\nBonus\nCompetition\nTo celebrate the launch of our new stable service and our new look, we have a competition on this list. The prize is a copy of both of the movies shown above – Spartacus, and 300. The prize winner will be one randomly selected commenter – as usual you can enter more than one comment to improve your chances, but your comments must add value to this list – that means no comments designed just to have a better chance at winning. The winner must be a registered user of the List Universe. You can click here to register . Good luck!\nOmissions: Kadesh, Megiddo, Thermopylae (less decisive than Salamis above), Cannae, and Gaixia\nThis article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from the Wikipedia articles cited above.","Cyrus_the_Great.txt\nCyrus the Great\nCyrus II of Persia ( Kūruš; New Persian: Kūrosh ; c. 600 or 576 – 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen. Under his successors, the empire eventually stretched at its maximum extent from parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Paeonia and Thrace-Macedonia) and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. His regal titles in full were The Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World.\n\nThe reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought \"into subjection every nation without exception\". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.\n\nCyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered.Dandamayev Cyrus (iii. Cyrus the Great) Cyrus's religious policies. It is said that in universal history, the role of the Achaemenid Empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus.The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. IV p. 42. See also: G. Buchaman Gray and D. Litt, The foundation and extension of the Persian empire, Chapter I in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. IV, 2nd edition, published by The University Press, 1927. P. 15. Excerpt: The administration of the empire through satrap, and much more belonging to the form or spirit of the government, was the work of Cyrus ... What is sometimes referred to as the Edict of Restoration (actually two edicts) described in the Bible as being made by Cyrus the Great left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion, where, because of his policies in Babylonia, he is referred to by the Jewish Bible as Messiah (lit. \"His anointed one\") (), and is the only non-Jew to be called so: \"So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus\".\n\nCyrus the Great is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran. Cyrus and, indeed, the Achaemenid influence in the ancient world also extended as far as Athens, where many Athenians adopted aspects of the Achaemenid Persian culture as their own, in a reciprocal cultural exchange. \n\nIn the 1970s, the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi identified his famous proclamation inscribed onto Cyrus Cylinder as the oldest known declaration of human rights, and the Cylinder has since been popularized as such. This view has been criticized by some historians as a misunderstanding of the Cylinder's generic nature as a traditional statement that new monarchs make at the beginning of their reign. \n\nBackground\n\nEtymology\n\nThe name Cyrus is a Latinized form derived from the Greek Kūros itself from the Old Persian Kūruš. The name and its meaning has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch noted that Cyrus was named from Kuros, the Sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning \"like the Sun\" (Khurvash) by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, khor, while using -vash as a suffix of likeness. This may also point to a fascinating relationship to the mythological \"first king\" of Persia, Jamshid, whose name also incorporates the element \"sun\" (\"shid\").\n\nKarl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo-European-root \"to humiliate\" and accordingly \"Cyrus\" means \"humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest\". In the Persian language and especially in Iran, Cyrus's name is spelled as . In the Bible, he is known as Koresh ().\n\nDynastic history\n\nThe Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). Achaemenids are \"descendants of Achaemenes\" as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares \"for this reason we are called Achaemenids\". Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title \"King of Anshan\" after seizing Anshan city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper. under i. The clan and dynasty. Ancient documents mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, who also succeeded his father as \"king of Anshan\". Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes.\n\nIn 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son, Cambyses I, who reigned until 559 BC. Cyrus the Great was a son of Cambyses I, who named his son after his father, Cyrus I. There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as the \"great king\" and \"king of Anshan\". Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself \"son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan\". Another inscription (from CM's) mentions Cambyses I as \"mighty king\" and \"an Achaemenian\", which according to the bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius. However Cambyses II's maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by Herodotus as \"an Achaemenian\" too. Xenophon's account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses's wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Iran (ancient Persia). These agree with Cyrus's own inscriptions, as Ashan and Parsa were different names of the same land. These also agree with other non-Iranian accounts, except at one point from Herodotus stating that Cambyses was not a king but a \"Persian of good family\". However, in some other passages, Herodotus's account is wrong also on the name of the son of Chishpish, which he mentions as Cambyses but, according to modern scholars, should be Cyrus I. \n\nThe traditional view based on archaeological research and the genealogy given in the Behistun Inscription and by Herodotus holds that Cyrus the Great was an Achaemenid. However it has been suggested by M. Waters that Cyrus is unrelated to the Achaemenids or Darius the Great and that his family was of Teispid and Anshanite origin instead of Achaemenid.M. Waters, \"Cyrus and the Achaemenids\", Iran 42, 2004 ([http://www.achemenet.com/ Achemenet.com] > ressources > sous presse), with previous bibliography.\n\nEarly life\n\nCyrus was born to Cambyses I, King of Anshan and Mandane, daughter of Astyages, King of Media during the period of 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC. According to Herodotus, Astyages had two dreams in which a flood, and then a series of fruit bearing vines, emerged from her pelvis, and covered the entire kingdom. These were interpreted by his advisers as a foretelling that his grandson would one day rebel and supplant him as king. Astyages summoned his daughter Mandane, at the time pregnant with Cyrus, back to Ectabana to have the child killed. Harpagus delegated the task to Mithradates, one of the shepherds of Astyages, who raised the child and passed off his stillborn son to Harpagus as the dead infant Cyrus. Cyrus lived in secrecy, but when he reached the age of 10, during a childhood game, he had the son of a nobleman beaten when he refused to obey Cyrus's commands. As it was unheard of for the son of a shepherd to commit such an act, Astyages had the boy brought to his court, and interviewed him and his adopted father. Upon the shepherd's confession, Astyages sent Cyrus back to Persia to live with his biological parents. However, Astyages summoned the son of Harpagus, and in retribution, chopped him to pieces, roasted some portions while boiling others, and tricked his adviser into eating his child during a large banquet. Following the meal, Astyages' servants brought Harpagus the head, hands and feet of his son on platters, so he could realize his inadvertent cannibalism. \n\nIn another version, Cyrus was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court. These folk stories are, however, contradicted by Cyrus's own testimony, according to which he was preceded as king of Persia by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Upon his return, Cyrus married Cassandane who was an Achaemenian and the daughter of Pharnaspes who bore him two sons, Cambyses II and Bardiya along with three daughters, Atossa, Artystone, and Roxane. Cyrus and Cassandane were known to love each other very much - Cassandane said that she found it more bitter to leave Cyrus than to depart her life. After her death, Cyrus insisted on public mourning throughout the kingdom. The Nabonidus Chronicle states that Babylonia mourned Cassandane for six days (identified from 21–26 March 538 BC). After his father's death, Cyrus inherited the Persian throne at Pasargadae which was a vassal of Astyages. It is also noted that Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his step-parents; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, named him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.\n\nRise and military campaigns\n\nMedian Empire\n\nThough his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus the Great had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC; however, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. Astyages, last king of the Median Empire and Cyrus' grandfather, may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.\n\nAccording to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Astyages launched an attack against Cyrus, \"king of Ansan.\" According to the historian Herodotus, it is known that Astyages placed Harpagus in command of the Median army to conquer Cyrus. However, Harpagus contacted Cyrus and encouraged his revolt against Media, before eventually defecting along with several of the nobility and a portion of the army. This mutiny is confirmed by the Nabonidus Chronicle. Babylonian texts suggest that the hostilities lasted for at least three years (553-550), and the final battle resulted in the capture of Ecbatana. According to the historians Herodotus and Ctesias, Cyrus spared the life of Astyages and married his daughter, Amytis. This marriage pacified several vassal including the Bactrians, Parthians, and Saka. \n\nWith Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames was still the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus's authority—more of a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King. His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus's second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus's sons. Cyrus's conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars. \n\nLydian Empire and Asia Minor\n\nThe exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Median kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held. The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning. \n\nWhile in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of the winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus the Great pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus the Great to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great spared Croesus's life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle (the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia), which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain. \n\nBefore returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus's treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyas hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares's arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene. The end of Pactyas is unknown, but after capture, he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures. \n\nMazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC and returned to Persia.\n\nNeo-Babylonian Empire\n\nBy the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa. The Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed, and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace. It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years. \n\nTwo days later, on October 7 (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus. Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians, using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks, diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped \"to the height of the middle of a man's thigh\", which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night. On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus. \n\nPrior to Cyrus's invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact. \n\nAfter taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself \"king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world\" in the famous Cyrus Cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus pleasing the god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.\n\nCyrus the Great's dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen. At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east. \n\nDeath\n\nThe details of Cyrus's death vary by account. The account of Herodotus from his Histories provides the second-longest detail, in which Cyrus met his fate in a fierce battle with the Massagetae, a tribe from the southern deserts of Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum in the southernmost portion of the steppe regions of modern-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following the advice of Croesus to attack them in their own territory. The Massagetae were related to the Scythians in their dress and mode of living; they fought on horseback and on foot. In order to acquire her realm, Cyrus first sent an offer of marriage to their ruler, the empress Tomyris, a proposal she rejected.\n\nHe then commenced his attempt to take Massagetae territory by force (ca. 529), beginning by building bridges and towered war boats along his side of the river Jaxartes, or Syr Darya, which separated them. Sending him a warning to cease his encroachment in which she stated she expected he would disregard anyway, Tomyris challenged him to meet her forces in honorable warfare, inviting him to a location in her country a day's march from the river, where their two armies would formally engage each other. He accepted her offer, but, learning that the Massagetae were unfamiliar with wine and its intoxicating effects, he set up and then left camp with plenty of it behind, taking his best soldiers with him and leaving the least capable ones. The general of Tomyris's army, Spargapises, who was also her son, and a third of the Massagetian troops, killed the group Cyrus had left there and, finding the camp well stocked with food and the wine, unwittingly drank themselves into inebriation, diminishing their capability to defend themselves when they were then overtaken by a surprise attack. They were successfully defeated, and, although he was taken prisoner, Spargapises committed suicide once he regained sobriety. Upon learning of what had transpired, Tomyris denounced Cyrus's tactics as underhanded and swore vengeance, leading a second wave of troops into battle herself. Cyrus the Great was ultimately killed, and his forces suffered massive casualties in what Herodotus referred to as the fiercest battle of his career and the ancient world. When it was over, Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus brought to her, then decapitated him and dipped his head in a vessel of blood in a symbolic gesture of revenge for his bloodlust and the death of her son. However, some scholars question this version, mostly because Herodotus admits this event was one of many versions of Cyrus's death that he heard from a supposedly reliable source who told him no one was there to see the aftermath. \n\nHerodotus also recounts that Cyrus saw in his sleep the oldest son of Hystaspes (Darius I) with wings upon his shoulders, shadowing with the one wing Asia, and with the other wing Europe. Iranologist, Ilya Gershevitch explains this statement by Herodotus and its connection with the four winged bas-relief figure of Cyrus the Great in the following way:\n\nDandamayev says maybe Persians took back Cyrus' body from the Massagetae, unlike what Herodotus claimed. \n\nCtesias, in his Persica, has the longest account, which says Cyrus met his death while putting down resistance from the Derbices infantry, aided by other Scythian archers and cavalry, plus Indians and their elephants. According to him, this event took place northeast of the headwaters of the Syr Darya. An alternative account from Xenophon's Cyropaedia contradicts the others, claiming that Cyrus died peaceably at his capital. The final version of Cyrus's death comes from Berossus, who only reports that Cyrus met his death while warring against the Dahae archers northwest of the headwaters of the Syr Darya. \n\nBurial\n\nCyrus the Great's remains were interred in his capital city of Pasargadae, where today a limestone tomb (built around 540–530 BC) still exists which many believe to be his. Strabo and Arrian give nearly identical descriptions of the tomb, based on the eyewitness report of Aristobulus of Cassandreia, who at the request of Alexander the Great visited the tomb two times. Though the city itself is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact; and the tomb has been partially restored to counter its natural deterioration over the centuries. According to Plutarch, his epitaph said,\n\nCuneiform evidence from Babylon proves that Cyrus died around December 530 BC,Cyrus's date of death can be deduced from the last reference to his own reign (a tablet from Borsippa dated to 12 Augustus 530) and the first reference to the reign of his son Cambyses (a tablet from Babylon dated to 31 August); see R.A. Parker and W.H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. – A.D. 75, 1971. and that his son Cambyses II had become king. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and captured Egypt for the Empire, but soon died after only seven years of rule. He was succeeded either by Cyrus's other son Bardiya or an impostor posing as Bardiya, who became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great.\n\nThe translated ancient Roman and Greek accounts give a vivid description of the tomb both geometrically and aesthetically; The tomb's geometric shape has changed little over the years, still maintaining a large stone of quadrangular form at the base, followed by a pyramidal succession of smaller rectangular stones, until after a few slabs, the structure is curtailed by an edifice, with an arched roof composed of a pyramidal shaped stone, and a small opening or window on the side, where the slenderest man could barely squeeze through.\n\nWithin this edifice was a golden coffin, resting on a table with golden supports, inside of which the body of Cyrus the Great was interred. Upon his resting place, was a covering of tapestry and drapes made from the best available Babylonian materials, utilizing fine Median worksmanship; below his bed was a fine red carpet, covering the narrow rectangular area of his tomb. Translated Greek accounts describe the tomb as having been placed in the fertile Pasargadae gardens, surrounded by trees and ornamental shrubs, with a group of Achaemenian protectors called the \"Magi\", stationed nearby to protect the edifice from theft or damage. \n\nYears later, in the chaos created by Alexander the Great's invasion of Persia and after the defeat of Darius III, Cyrus the Great's tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated, and questioned the Magi and put them to court. On some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire, than a concern for Cyrus's tomb., however Alexander admired Cyrus, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator. Regardless, Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior. Despite his admiration for Cyrus the Great, and his attempts at renovation of his tomb, Alexander had, six years previously (330 BC), sacked Persepolis, the opulent city that Cyrus may have chosen the site for, and either ordered its burning as an act of pro-Greek propaganda or set it on fire during drunken revels. \n\nThe edifice has survived the test of time, through invasions, internal divisions, successive empires, regime changes and revolutions. The last prominent Persian figure to bring attention to the tomb was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah of Iran) the last official monarch of Persia, during his celebrations of 2,500 years of monarchy. Just as Alexander the Great before him, the Shah of Iran wanted to appeal to Cyrus's legacy to legitimize his own rule by extension. United Nations recognizes the tomb of Cyrus the Great and Pasargadae as a UNESCO World Heritage site.\n\nLegacy\n\nBritish historian Charles Freeman suggests that \"In scope and extent his achievements [Cyrus] ranked far above that of\" Alexander the Great, \"who was to demolish the [Achaemenid] empire in the 320s but fail to provide any stable alternative.\" Cyrus has been a personal hero to many people, including Thomas Jefferson, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and David Ben-Gurion. \n\nThe achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity are reflected in the way he is remembered today. His own nation, the Iranians, have regarded him as \"The Father\", the very title that had been used during the time of Cyrus himself, by the many nations that he conquered, as according to Xenophon: \n\nThe Babylonians regarded him as \"The Liberator\". \n\nThe Book of Ezra narrates a story of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus, in which Cyrus boastfully proclaims: \"All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.\"()\n\nCyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. Due in part to the political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid Empire endured long after his death.\n\nThe rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world history. Iranian philosophy, literature and religion all played dominant roles in world events for the next millennium. Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE by the Islamic Caliphate, Persia continued to exercise enormous influence in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, and was particularly instrumental in the growth and expansion of Islam.\n\nMany of the Iranian dynasties following the Achaemenid Empire and their kings saw themselves as the heirs to Cyrus the Great and have claimed to continue the line begun by Cyrus. However, there are different opinions among scholars whether this is also the case for the Sassanid Dynasty. \n\nAlexander the Great was himself infatuated with and admired Cyrus the Great, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance and his abilities as a king and a legislator. During his visit to Pasargadae he ordered Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of his tomb.\n\nAccording to Professor Richard Nelson Frye, Cyrus – whose abilities as conqueror and administrator Frye says are attested by the longevity and vigor of the Achaemenid Empire – held an almost mythic role among the Persian people \"similar to that of Romulus and Remus in Rome or Moses for the Israelites\", with a story that \"follows in many details the stories of hero and conquerors from elsewhere in the ancient world\". Frye writes, \"He became the epitome of the great qualities expected of a ruler in antiquity, and he assumed heroic features as a conqueror who was tolerant and magnanimous as well as brave and daring. His personality as seen by the Greeks influenced them and Alexander the Great, and, as the tradition was transmitted by the Romans, may be considered to influence our thinking even now.\"\n\nOn another account, Professor Patrick Hunt states, \"If you are looking at the greatest personages in History who have affected the World, 'Cyrus the Great' is one of the few who deserves that epithet, the one who deserves to be called 'the Great'. The empire over which Cyrus ruled was the largest the Ancient World had ever seen and may be to this day the largest empire ever.\"Cited quote as per media (documentary piece) titled \"Engineering an Empire – The Persians\". History Channel. Release date: December 4, 2006. Media available for viewing online via [http://www.history.com/ history.com] or via Google Video. Host: Peter Weller. Production: United States.\n\nReligion and philosophy\n\nThough it is generally believed that Zarathushtra's teachings maintained influence on Cyrus's acts and policies, so far no clear evidence has been found to indicate that Cyrus practiced a specific religion. Pierre Briant wrote that given the poor information we have, \"it seems quite reckless to try to reconstruct what the religion of Cyrus might have been.\" His views are believed expressed in the content of the Cylinder:\n\n\"û-mi-Ša-am ma- h ar iluBel ù iluNabu Š a a-ra-ku ume-ia li-ta-mu-ú lit-taŠ-ka-ru a-ma-a-ta du-un-ki-ia ù a-na iluMarduk beli-ia li-iq-bu-ú ' Ša mKu-ra-aŠ Šarri pa-li- hi-ka u mKa-am-bu-zi-ia mari- Šu' \" (Cylinder, Akkadian language line:35) \n\npray daily before Bêl and Nabû for long life for me, and may they speak a gracious word for me and say to Marduk, my lord, \"May Cyrus, the king who worships you, and Cambyses, his son,\" (Cylinder, English Translation line:35)\n\nThe policies of Cyrus with respect to treatment of minority religions are well documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources and the historians accounts. Cyrus had a general policy of religious tolerance throughout his vast empire. Whether this was a new policy or the continuation of policies followed by the Babylonians and Assyrians (as Lester Grabbe maintains) is disputed. He brought peace to the Babylonians and is said to have kept his army away from the temples and restored the statues of the Babylonian gods to their sanctuaries.\n\nHis treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem is reported in the Bible. The Jewish Bible's Ketuvim ends in Second Chronicles with the decree of Cyrus, which returned the exiles to the Promised Land from Babylon along with a commission to rebuild the temple.\n\nThus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the , the God of heaven given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people – the , his God, be with him – let him go there. — ()\n\nThis edict is also fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra.\n\nIn the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: \"Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.\" — ()\n\nThe Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. In one Biblical passage, Isaiah refers to him as Messiah (lit. \"His anointed one\") (), making him the only gentile to be so referred. Elsewhere in Isaiah, God is described as saying, \"I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says God Almighty.\" () As the text suggests, Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute. These particular passages (Isaiah 40–55, often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah) are believed by most modern critical scholars to have been added by another author toward the end of the Babylonian exile \n\nJosephus, the first-century Jewish historian, relates the traditional view of the Jews regarding the prediction of Cyrus in Isaiah in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 11, chapter 1: \n\nCyrus was praised in the Tanakh ( and ) for the freeing of slaves, humanitarian equality and costly reparations he made. However, there was Jewish criticism of him after he was lied to by the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the building of the Second Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so Cyrus in turn stopped the construction, which would not be completed until 515 BC, during the reign of Darius I. \nAccording to the Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:7–24)\n\nThe historical nature of this decree has been challenged. Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples. He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a \"trickle\", taking place over perhaps decades, resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30,000. Philip R. Davies called the authenticity of the decree \"dubious\", citing Grabbe and adding that J. Briend argued against \"the authenticity of Ezra 1.1–4 is J. Briend, in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993, who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather biblical prophetic idiom.\" \nMary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the Cylinder that Cyrus, like earlier rules, was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important, particularly those close to Egypt which he wished to conquer. He also wrote that \"appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co-opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control.\" \n\nSome contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that the Qur'anic figure of Dhul-Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great. This theory was proposed by Sunni scholar Abul Kalam Azad and endorsed by Shi'a scholars Allameh Tabatabaei, in his Tafsir al-Mizan and Makarem Shirazi.\n\nPolitics and management\n\nCyrus founded the empire as a multi-state empire governed by four capital states; Pasargadae, Babylon, Susa and Ecbatana. He allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in each state, in the form of a satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (governor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a 'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government.\n\nDuring his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms, achieved through retaining and expanding the satrapies. Further organization of newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by satraps, was continued by Cyrus's successor Darius the Great. Cyrus's empire was based on tribute and conscripts from the many parts of his realm. \n\nThrough his military savvy, Cyrus created an organized army including the Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained soldiers. He also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh. \n\nCyrus's conquests began a new era in the age of empire building, where a vast superstate, comprising many dozens of countries, races, religions, and languages, were ruled under a single administration headed by a central government. This system lasted for centuries, and was retained both by the invading Seleucid dynasty during their control of Persia, and later Iranian dynasties including the Parthians and Sasanians. \n\nOn December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked Cyrus, saying:\n\nCyrus has been known for his innovations in building projects; he further developed the technologies that he found in the conquered cultures and applied them in building the palaces of Pasargadae. He was also famous for his love of gardens; the recent excavations in his capital city has revealed the existence of the Pasargad Persian Garden and a network of irrigation canals. Pasargadae was a place for two magnificent palaces surrounded by a majestic royal park and vast formal gardens; among them was the four-quartered wall gardens of \"Paradisia\" with over 1000 meters of channels made out of carved limestone, designed to fill small basins at every 16 meters and water various types of wild and domestic flora. The design and concept of Paradisia were exceptional and have been used as a model for many ancient and modern parks, ever since. \n\nCyrus's legacy has been felt even as far away as Iceland and colonial America. Many of the thinkers and rulers of Classical Antiquity as well as the Renaissance and Enlightenment era, and the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, owned two copies of Cyropaedia, one with parallel Greek and Latin translations on facing pages showing substantial Jefferson markings that signify the amount of influence the book has had on drafting the United States Declaration of Independence. \n\nThe English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne penned a discourse entitled The Garden of Cyrus in 1658 in which Cyrus is depicted as an archetypal \"wise ruler\" – while the Protectorate of Cromwell ruled Britain.\n\n\"Cyrus the elder brought up in Woods and Mountains, when time and power enabled, pursued the dictate of his education, and brought the treasures of the field into rule and circumscription. So nobly beautifying the hanging Gardens of Babylon, that he was also thought to be the author thereof.\"\n\nCyrus Cylinder\n\nOne of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus's time is the Cyrus cylinder, a document in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. It had been placed in the foundations of the Esagila (the temple of Marduk in Babylon) as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest in 539 BC. It was discovered in 1879 and is kept today in the British Museum in London. \n\nThe text of the cylinder denounces the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus as impious and portrays Cyrus as pleasing to the chief god Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although not mentioned in the text, the repatriation of the Jews from their \"Babylonian captivity\" has been interpreted as part of this policy. \n\nIn the 1970s the Shah of Iran adopted the Cyrus cylinder as a political symbol, using it \"as a central image in his celebration of 2500 years of Iranian monarchy.\" and asserting that it was \"the first human rights charter in history\". This view has been disputed by some as \"rather anachronistic\" and tendentious, as the modern concept of human rights would have been quite alien to Cyrus's contemporaries and is not mentioned by the cylinder. The cylinder has, nonetheless, become seen as part of Iran's cultural identity.\n\nThe United Nations has declared the relic to be an \"ancient declaration of human rights\" since 1971, approved by then Secretary General Sithu U Thant, after he \"was given a replica by the sister of the Shah of Iran\". The British Museum describes the cylinder as \"an instrument of ancient Mesopotamian propaganda\" that \"reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, from as early as the third millennium BC, kings began their reigns with declarations of reforms.\" The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's continuity with previous Babylonian rulers, asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor. \n\nNeil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, has stated that the cylinder was \"the first attempt we know about running a society, a state with different nationalities and faiths — a new kind of statecraft.\" He explained that \"It has even been described as the first declaration of human rights, and while this was never the intention of the document -- the modern concept of human rights scarcely existed in the ancient world -- it has come to embody the hopes and aspirations of many.\" \n\nFamily tree","Battle_of_Thermopylae.txt\nBattle of Thermopylae\nThe Battle of Thermopylae ( ; Greek: , Machē tōn Thermopylōn) was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae (\"The Hot Gates\"). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium.\n\nA Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the middle of 480 BC. The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered over one million, but today considered to have been much smaller (various figures are given by scholars, ranging between about 100,000 and 150,000), arrived at the pass in late August or early September. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's most famous last stands. During two full days of battle, the small force led by Leonidas blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. After the second day, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing that a small path led behind the Greek lines. Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, and perhaps a few hundred others, most of whom were killed.\n\nAt Artemisium, the Greek navy, under the command of the Athenian politician Themistocles, received news of the defeat. Since the Greek strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, and given their losses, it was decided to withdraw to Salamis. The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated Athens. The Greek fleet—seeking a decisive victory over the Persian armada—attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Fearful of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia (losing most to starvation and disease), leaving Mardonius to attempt to complete the conquest of Greece. However, the following year saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion.\n\nBoth ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending its native soil. The performance of the defenders is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.\n\nSources\n\nThe primary source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus. The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the 1st century BC in his Bibliotheca historica, also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars, partially derived from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus. This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus'. The Greco-Persian wars are also described in less detail by a number of other ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias of Cnidus, and are referred to by other authors, as in Aeschylus' The Persians. Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column (now in the Hippodrome of Istanbul), also supports some of Herodotus' specific claims. George B. Grundy was the first modern historian to do a thorough topographical survey of the narrow pass at Thermopylae, and to the extent that modern accounts of the battle differ from Herodotus they usually follow Grundy. For example, the military strategist Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart defers to Grundy. \nGrundy also explored Plataea and wrote a treatise on that battle. \n\nOn the Battle of Thermopylae itself, two principal sources, Herodotus and Simonides, survive. Herodotus' account of the battle, in Book VII of his Histories, is such an important source that Paul Cartledge writes that \"we either write a history of Thermopylae with [Herodotus], or not at all\". Additionally, we have an epitome of the account of Ctesias, by the eighth-century Byzantine Photias, though this is \"almost worse than useless\", missing key events in the battle such as the betrayal of Ephialtes, and the account of Diodorus Siculus in his Universal History. Diodorus' account seems to have been based on that of Ephorus, and contains one significant deviation from Herodotus' account: a supposed night attack against the Persian camp, of which modern scholars have tended to be skeptical. \n\nBackground\n\nThe Greek city-states of Athens and Eretria had encouraged the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499–494 BC. The Persian Empire was still relatively young, and prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples.Holland, p. 47–55 Darius, moreover, was a\nusurper, and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule.\n\nThe Ionian revolt threatened the integrity of his empire, and Darius thus vowed to punish those involved; especially the Athenians, \"since he was sure that [the Ionians] would not go unpunished for their rebellion\". Darius also saw the opportunity to expand his empire into the fractious world of Ancient Greece.Holland, 171–178 A preliminary expedition under Mardonius in 492 BC to secure the land approaches to Greece re-conquered Thrace, and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia. \n\nDarius sent emissaries to all the Greek city-states in 491 BC asking for a gift of \"earth and water\" in token of their submission to him.Holland, pp. 178–179 Having had a demonstration of his power the previous year, the majority of Greek cities duly obliged. In Athens, however, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed by throwing them in a pit; in Sparta, they were simply thrown down a well. This meant that Sparta was also effectively at war with Persia.\n\nDarius thus put together an amphibious task force under Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC, which attacked Naxos, before receiving the submission of the other Cycladic Islands. The task force then moved on Eretria, which it besieged and destroyed. Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of Marathon, where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. At the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia. \n\nDarius therefore began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition.Holland, p. 203 Darius then died whilst preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt, and very quickly restarted the preparations for the invasion of Greece.Holland, pp. 208–211 Since this was to be a full-scale invasion, it required long-term planning, stockpiling and conscription. Xerxes decided that the Hellespont would be bridged to allow his army to cross to Europe, and that a canal should be dug across the isthmus of Mount Athos (rounding which headland, a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BC). These were both feats of exceptional ambition, which would have been beyond any other contemporary state.Holland, pp. 213–214 By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at Sardis marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges.\n\nThe Athenians had also been preparing for war with the Persians since the mid-480s BC, and in 482 BC the decision was taken, under the guidance of the Athenian politician Themistocles, to build a massive fleet of triremes that would be essential for the Greeks to fight the Persians.Holland, p. 217–223 However, the Athenians did not have the manpower to fight on both land and sea; and therefore combating the Persians would require an alliance of Greek city states. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece asking for 'earth and water' but making the very deliberate omission of Athens and Sparta. Support thus began to coalesce around these two leading states. A congress of city states met at Corinth in late autumn of 481 BC,Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.145.1 VII, 145] and a confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed. It had the power to send envoys asking for assistance and to dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points after joint consultation. This was remarkable for the disjointed Greek world, especially since many of the city-states in attendance were still technically at war with each other.Holland, p. 226\n\nThe 'congress' met again in the spring of 480 BC. A Thessalian delegation suggested that the Greeks could muster in the narrow Vale of Tempe, on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance.Holland, pp. 248–249 A force of 10,000 hoplites was dispatched to the Vale of Tempe, through which they believed the Persian army would have to pass. However, once there, being warned by Alexander I of Macedon that the vale could be bypassed through Sarantoporo Pass, and that the army of Xerxes was overwhelming, the Greeks retreated.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.173.1 VII, 173] Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont.\n\nA second strategy was therefore suggested by Themistocles to the Greeks. The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae. This could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians.Holland, pp. 255–257 Furthermore, to prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium. This dual strategy was adopted by the congress.Holland, pp. 255–257 However, the Peloponnesian cities made fall-back plans to defend the Isthmus of Corinth should it come to that, whilst the women and children of Athens had been evacuated en masse to the Peloponnesian city of Troezen. \n\nPrelude\n\nThe Persian army seems to have made slow progress through Thrace and Macedon. News of the imminent Persian approach eventually reached Greece in August thanks to a Greek spy. At this time of year the Spartans, de facto military leaders of the alliance, were celebrating the festival of Carneia. During the Carneia, military activity was forbidden by Spartan law; the Spartans had arrived too late at the Battle of Marathon because of this requirement.Herodotus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.205 VII, 206] It was also the time of the Olympic Games, and therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war.Holland, pp. 258–259. On this occasion, the ephors decided the urgency was sufficiently great to justify an advance expedition to block the pass, under one of its kings, Leonidas I. Leonidas took with him the 300 men of the royal bodyguard, the Hippeis. This expedition was to try to gather as many other Greek soldiers along the way as possible, and to await the arrival of the main Spartan army.\n\nThe legend of Thermopylae, as told by Herodotus, has it that the Spartans consulted the Oracle at Delphi earlier in the year. The Oracle is said to have made the following prophecy:\nO ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon! \nHonor the festival of the Carneia!! Otherwise, \nEither your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, \nOr, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country \nMourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.Rawlinson translation of Herodotus [http://www.greektexts.com/library/Herodotus/Polymnia/eng/242.html VII, 242]Herodotus tells us that Leonidas, in line with the prophecy, was convinced he was going to certain death since his forces were not adequate for a victory, and so he selected only Spartans with living sons.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.205.1 VII, 205]\n\nThe Spartan force was reinforced en route to Thermopylae by contingents from various cities and numbered more than 7,000 by the time it arrived at the pass. Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the 'middle gate', the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the Phocians had built a defensive wall some time before. News also reached Leonidas, from the nearby city of Trachis, that there was a mountain track which could be used to outflank the pass of Thermopylae. Leonidas stationed 1,000 Phocians on the heights to prevent such a manoeuvre.Herodotus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.217 VII, 217]\n\nFinally, in mid-August, the Persian army was sighted across the Malian Gulf approaching Thermopylae. With the Persian army's arrival at Thermopylae the Greeks held a council of war. Some Peloponnesians suggested withdrawal to the Isthmus of Corinth and blocking the passage to Peloponnesus. The Phocians and Locrians, whose states were located nearby, became indignant and advised defending Thermopylae and sending for more help. Leonidas calmed the panic and agreed to defend Thermopylae.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.207.1 VII, 207] According to Plutarch, when one of the soldiers complained that \"Because of the arrows of the barbarians it is impossible to see the sun\", Leonidas replied: \"Won't it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?\" Herodotus reports a similar comment, but attributes it to Dienekes. \n\nA Persian emissary was sent by Xerxes to negotiate with Leonidas. The Greeks were offered their freedom and the title \"Friends of the Persian People\". Moreover, they would be re-settled on land better than that they possessed.Holland, pp. 270–271 When these terms were refused by Leonidas, the ambassador carried a written message by Xerxes, asking him to \"Hand over your arms\". Leonidas' famous response was for the Persians to \"Come and take them\" (). With the Persian embassy returning empty-handed, battle became inevitable. Xerxes delayed for four days, waiting for the Greeks to disperse, before sending troops to attack them.\n\nOpposing forces\n\nPersian army\n\nThe number of troops which Xerxes mustered for the second invasion of Greece has been the subject of endless dispute, because the numbers given in ancient sources are very large indeed. Herodotus claimed that there were, in total, 2.6 million military personnel, accompanied by an equivalent number of support personnel.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.186 VII, 186] The poet Simonides, who was a near-contemporary, talks of four million; Ctesias gave 800,000 as the total number of the army that was assembled by Xerxes.\n\nModern scholars tend to reject the figures given by Herodotus and other ancient sources as unrealistic, and as a result of miscalculations or exaggerations on the part of the victors.Holland, p. 237 Modern scholarly estimates are generally in the range 70,000–300,000. These estimates usually come from studying the logistical capabilities of the Persians in that era, the sustainability of their respective base of operations, and the overall manpower constraints affecting them. Whatever the real numbers were, however, it is clear that Xerxes was anxious to ensure a successful expedition by mustering an overwhelming numerical superiority by land and by sea.de Souza, p. 41.\nThe number of Persian troops present at Thermopylae is therefore as uncertain as the number for the total invasion force. For instance, it is unclear whether the whole Persian army marched as far as Thermopylae, or whether Xerxes left garrisons in Macedon and Thessaly.\n\nGreek army\n\nAccording to Herodotus,Herodotus, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.202.1 VII, 202]Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.203.1 VII, 203] and Diodorus Siculus,Diodorus Siculus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nDiod.+11.4 XI, 4] the Greek army included the following forces:\n\nNotes:\n*The number of Peloponnesians\nDiodorus suggests that there were 1,000 Lacedemonians and 3,000 other Peloponnesians, for a total of 4,000. Herodotus agrees with this figure in one passage, quoting an inscription by Simonides saying there were 4,000 Peloponnesians.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.228.1 VII, 228] However, elsewhere, in the passage summarized by the above table, Herodotus tallies 3,100 Peloponnesians at Thermopylae before the battle. Herodotus also reports that at Xerxes' public showing of the dead, \"helots were also there for them to see\",Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+8.25.1 VIII, 25] but he does not say how many or in what capacity they served. Thus, the difference between his two figures can be squared by supposing (without proof) that there were 900 helots (three per Spartan) present at the battle.Macan, note to Herodotus VIII, 25 If helots were present at the battle, there is no reason to doubt that they served in their traditional role as armed retainers to individual Spartans. Alternatively, Herodotus' \"missing\" 900 troops might have been Perioeci, and could therefore correspond to Diodorus' 1,000 Lacedemonians.\n*The number of Lacedemonians\nFurther confusing the issue is Diodorus' ambiguity about whether his 1,000 Lacedemonians include the 300 Spartans. At one point he says: \"Leonidas, when he received the appointment, announced that only one thousand men should follow him on the campaign\". However, he then says that: \"There were, then, of the Lacedaemonians one thousand, and with them three hundred Spartiates\". It is therefore impossible to be clearer on this point.\n\nPausanias' account agrees with that of Herodotus (whom he probably read) except that he gives the number of Locrians, which Herodotus declined to estimate. Residing in the direct path of the Persian advance, they gave all the fighting men they had; according to Pausanias 6,000 men, which added to Herodotus' 5,200 would have given a force of 11,200. \n\nMany modern historians, who usually consider Herodotus more reliable,Green, p. 140 add the 1,000 Lacedaemonians and the 900 helots to Herodotus' 5,200 to obtain 7,100 or about 7,000 men as a standard number, neglecting Diodorus' Melians and Pausanias' Locrians. Bury, pp. 271–282 However, this is only one approach, and many other combinations are plausible. Furthermore, the numbers changed later on in the battle when most of the army retreated and only approximately 3,000 men remained (300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, possibly up to 900 helots and 1,000 Phocians stationed above the pass; less the casualties sustained in the previous days).\n\nStrategic and tactical considerations\n\nFrom a strategic point of view, by defending Thermopylae, the Greeks were making the best possible use of their forces. As long as they could prevent further Persian advance into Greece, they had no need to seek a decisive battle, and could thus remain on the defensive. Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor. Conversely, for the Persians the problem of supplying such a large army meant that the Persians could not remain in the same place for too long.Holland, pp. 285–287 The Persians therefore had to retreat or advance; and advancing required the pass of Thermopylae to be forced.\n\nTactically, the pass at Thermopylae was ideally suited to the Greek style of warfare. A hoplite phalanx would be able to block the narrow pass with ease, with no risk of being outflanked by cavalry. In the pass, the phalanx would have been very difficult to assault for the more lightly armed Persian infantry. The major weak point for the Greeks was the mountain track which led across the highland parallel to Thermopylae, and which would allow their position to be outflanked. Although probably unsuitable for cavalry, this path could easily be traversed by the Persian infantry (many of whom were versed in mountain warfare).Holland, p 288 Leonidas was made aware of this path by local people from Trachis, and he positioned a detachment of Phocian troops there in order to block this route.Holland, pp. 262–264\n\nTopography of the battlefield\n\nAt the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. On the southern side of the track stood the cliffs that overlooked the pass, and on the north side was the Malian Gulf. Along the path itself was a series of three constrictions, or \"gates\" (pylai), and at the center gate a short wall that had been erected by the Phocians in the previous century to aid in their defense against Thessalian invasions. The name \"Hot Gates\" comes from the hot springs that were located there. \n\nThe terrain of the battlefield was nothing that Xerxes and his forces were accustomed to. Although coming from a mountainous country, the Persians were not prepared for the real nature of the country they had invaded. The pure ruggedness of this area is caused by torrential downpours for four months of the year, combined with an intense summer season of scorching heat that cracks the ground. Vegetation is scarce and consists of low shrubs that are of the thorny type. The hillsides along the pass are covered in thick brush, some plants reaching 10 ft high. With a dangerous cliff to the ocean on one side and steep, impassable hills on the other, King Leonidas and his men chose the perfect topographical position to battle the Persian invaders. \n\nToday, the pass is not near the sea, but is several kilometres inland because of sedimentation in the Malian Gulf. The old track appears at the foot of hills around the plain, flanked by a modern road. Recent core samples indicate that the pass was only 100 m wide and the waters came up to the gates; \"Little do the visitors realize that the battle took place across the road from the monument.\" The pass still is a natural defensive position to modern armies, and British Commonwealth forces in World War II made a defense in 1941 against the Nazi invasion metres from the original battlefield.\n\n*Maps of the region: \n*Image of the battlefield, from the east \n\nBattle\n\nFirst day\n\nOn the fifth day after the Persian arrival at Thermopylae and the first day of the battle, Xerxes finally resolved to attack the Greeks. First, he ordered five thousand archers to fire a barrage of arrows, but they were ineffective; they fired from at least 100 yards away, according to modern day scholars, and the Greeks' bronze shields and helmets deflected the missiles. After that, Xerxes sent a force of ten thousand Medes and Cissians to take the defenders prisoner and bring them before him.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.210.1 VII, 210] The Persians soon launched a frontal assault, in waves of around 10,000 men, on the Greek position. The Greeks fought in front of the Phocian wall, at the narrowest part of the pass, which enabled them to use as few soldiers as possible.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.208.1 VII, 208] Details of the tactics are scant; Diodorus says \"the men stood shoulder to shoulder\" and the Greeks were \"superior in valor and in the great size of their shields.\"Diodorus Siculus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nDiod.+11.7.1 XI, 7] This probably describes the standard Greek phalanx, in which the men formed a wall of overlapping shields and layered spear points protruding out from the sides of the shields, which would have been highly effective as long as it spanned the width of the pass. The weaker shields and shorter spears and swords of the Persians prevented them from effectively engaging the Greek hoplites.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.211.1 VII, 211] Herodotus says that the units for each city were kept together; units were rotated in and out of the battle to prevent fatigue, which implies the Greeks had more men than necessary to block the pass.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.208.1 VII, 204] The Greeks killed so many Medes that Xerxes is said to have stood up three times from the seat from which he was watching the battle.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.212.1 VII, 212] According to Ctesias, the first wave was \"cut to ribbons\", with only two or three Spartans killed in return.\n\nAccording to Herodotus and Diodorus, the king, having taken the measure of the enemy, threw his best troops into a second assault the same day, the Immortals, an elite corps of 10,000 men. However, the Immortals fared no better than the Medes, failing to make any headway against the Greeks. The Spartans apparently used a tactic of feigning retreat, and then turning and killing the enemy troops when they ran after them.\n\nSecond day\n\nOn the second day, Xerxes again sent in the infantry to attack the pass, \"supposing that their enemies, being so few, were now disabled by wounds and could no longer resist.\" However, the Persians had no more success on the second day than on the first. Xerxes at last stopped the assault and withdrew to his camp, \"totally perplexed\".\n\nLater that day, however, as the Persian king was pondering what to do next, he received a windfall; a Trachinian named Ephialtes informed him of the mountain path around Thermopylae and offered to guide the Persian army. Ephialtes was motivated by the desire for a reward.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.213.1 VII, 213] For this act, the name of Ephialtes received a lasting stigma, his name coming to mean \"nightmare\" in the Greek language and becoming the archetypal traitor in Greek culture. \n\nHerodotus reports that Xerxes sent his commander Hydarnes that evening, with the men under his command, the Immortals, to encircle the Greeks via the path. However, he does not say who those men were. The Immortals had been bloodied on the first day, so it is possible that Hydarnes may have been given overall command of an enhanced force including what was left of the Immortals, and indeed, according to Diodorus, Hydarnes had a force of 20,000 for the mission. The path led from east of the Persian camp along the ridge of Mt. Anopaea behind the cliffs that flanked the pass. It branched, with one path leading to Phocis and the other down to the Malian Gulf at Alpenus, first town of Locris.\n\nThird day\n\nAt daybreak on the third day, the Phocians guarding the path above Thermopylae became aware of the outflanking Persian column by the rustling of oak leaves. Herodotus says that they jumped up and were greatly amazed.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.218.1 VII, 218] Hydarnes was perhaps just as amazed to see them hastily arming themselves as they were to see him and his forces.Holland, p. 291–293 He feared that they were Spartans, but was informed by Ephialtes that they were not. The Phocians retreated to a nearby hill to make their stand (assuming that the Persians had come to attack them). However, not wishing to be delayed, the Persians merely shot a volley of arrows at them, before bypassing them to continue with their encirclement of the main Greek force.\n\nLearning from a runner that the Phocians had not held the path, Leonidas called a council of war at dawn. According to Diodorus, a Persian called Tyrrhastiadas, a Cymaean by birth, warned the Greeks. Some of the Greeks argued for withdrawal, but Leonidas resolved to stay at the pass with the Spartans. Many of the Greek contingents then either chose to withdraw (without orders), or were ordered to leave by Leonidas (Herodotus admits that there is some doubt about which actually happened).Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.219.1 VII, 219] The contingent of 700 Thespians, led by their general Demophilus, refused to leave and committed themselves to the fight.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.222.1 VII, 222] Also present were the 400 Thebans, and probably the helots who had accompanied the Spartans.\n\nLeonidas' actions have been the subject of much discussion. It is commonly stated that the Spartans were obeying the laws of Sparta by not retreating, but it seems it was actually the failure to retreat from Thermopylae that gave rise to the notion that Spartans never retreated.Lazenby, pp. 144–145 It is also possible that, recalling the words of the Oracle, Leonidas was committed to sacrifice his life in order to save Sparta. However, since the prophecy was specific to him, this seems a poor reason to commit 1,500 other men to a fight to the death. The most likely theory is that Leonidas chose to form a rearguard so that the other Greek contingents could get away. If all the troops had retreated, the open ground beyond the pass would have allowed the Persian cavalry to run the Greeks down. If they had all remained at the pass, they would have been encircled and would eventually have all been killed. By covering the retreat and continuing to block the pass, Leonidas could save more than 3,000 men, who would be able to fight again. The Thebans have also been the subject of some discussion. Herodotus suggests that they were brought to the battle as hostages to ensure the good behavior of Thebes. However, as Plutarch long ago pointed out, if they were hostages, why not send them away with the rest of the Greeks? The likelihood is that these were the Theban 'loyalists', who unlike the majority of their fellow citizens, objected to Persian domination. They thus probably came to Thermopylae of their own free will and stayed to the end because they could not return to Thebes if the Persians conquered Boeotia. The Thespians, resolved as they were not to submit to Xerxes, faced the destruction of their city if the Persians took Boeotia. However, this alone does not explain the fact that they remained; the remainder of Thespiae was successfully evacuated before the Persians arrived there. It seems that the Thespians volunteered to remain as a simple act of self-sacrifice, all the more amazing since their contingent represented every single hoplite the city could muster. This seems to have been a particularly Thespian trait – on at least two other occasions in later history, a Thespian force would commit itself to a fight to the death.\n\nAt dawn, Xerxes made libations, pausing to allow the Immortals sufficient time to descend the mountain, and then began his advance.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.223.1 VII, 223] A Persian force of ten thousand men, consisting of light infantry and cavalry, charged at the front of the Greek formation. The Greeks this time sallied forth from the wall to meet the Persians in the wider part of the pass in an attempt to slaughter as many Persians as they could. They fought with spears until every spear was shattered and then switched to xiphē (short swords). In this struggle, Herodotus states that two brothers of Xerxes fell: Abrocomes and Hyperanthes. Leonidas also died in the assault, shot down by Persian archers, and the two sides fought over his body, the Greeks taking possession.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.224.1 VII, 224] As the Immortals approached, the Greeks withdrew and took a stand on a hill behind the wall. The Thebans \"moved away from their companions, and with hands upraised, advanced toward the barbarians...\" (Rawlinson translation), but a few were slain before their surrender was accepted. The king later had the Theban prisoners branded with the royal mark.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.233.1 VII 233] Of the remaining defenders, Herodotus says: \"Here they defended themselves to the last, those who still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth.\"Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.225.1 VII, 225] Tearing down part of the wall, Xerxes ordered the hill surrounded, and the Persians rained down arrows until every last Greek was dead. In 1939, archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, excavating at Thermopylae, found large numbers of Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill, changing the identification of the hill on which the Greeks died from a smaller one nearer the wall. \n\nThe pass at Thermopylae was thus opened to the Persian army, according to Herodotus, at the cost to the Persians of up to 20,000 fatalities.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+8.23.1 VIII, 24] The Greek rearguard, meanwhile, was annihilated, with a probable loss of 2,000 men, including those killed on the first two days of battle. Herodotus says at one point that 4,000 Greeks died, but assuming that the Phocians guarding the track were not killed during the battle (as Herodotus implies), this would be almost every Greek soldier present (by Herodotus' own estimates), and this number is probably too high. \n\nAftermath\n\nWhen the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, Xerxes, in a rage against Leonidas, ordered that the head be cut off and the body crucified. Herodotus observes that it was very uncommon for the Persians, as they had the habit of treating \"valiant warriors\" with great honour (the example of Pytheas, captured off Skiathos before the Battle of Artemisium, strengthens this suggestion).Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.181.1 VII, 181] However, Xerxes was known for his rage. Legend has it that he had the Hellespont whipped, the water itself, because it would not obey him. \n\nAfter the Persians' departure, the Greeks collected their dead and buried them on the hill. After the Persian invasion was repulsed, a stone lion was erected at Thermopylae to commemorate Leonidas.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.238.1 VII, 238] A full 40 years after the battle, Leonidas' bones were returned to Sparta, where he was buried again with full honors; funeral games were held every year in his memory. \n\nWith Thermopylae now opened to the Persian army, the continuation of the blockade at Artemisium by the Greek fleet became irrelevant. The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium had been a tactical stalemate, and the Greek navy was able to retreat in good order to the Saronic Gulf, where they helped to ferry the remaining Athenian citizens to the island of Salamis.Holland, p. 294\n\nFollowing Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to burn and sack Plataea and Thespiae, the Boeotian cities that had not submitted, before it marched on the now evacuated city of Athens. Meanwhile, the Greeks (for the most part Peloponnesians) prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth, demolishing the single road that led through it and building a wall across it. As at Thermopylae, to make this an effective strategy required the Greek navy to stage a simultaneous blockade, barring the passage of the Persian navy across the Saronic Gulf, so that troops could not be landed directly on the Peloponnese.Holland, pp. 299–303 However, instead of a mere blockade, Themistocles persuaded the Greeks to seek a decisive victory against the Persian fleet. Luring the Persian navy into the Straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet was able to destroy much of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Salamis, which essentially ended the threat to the Peloponnese.Holland, pp. 327–334\n\nFearing that the Greeks might attack the bridges across the Hellespont and trap his army in Europe, Xerxes now retreated with much of the army back to Asia,Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+8.97.1 VIII, 97] though nearly all of them died of starvation and disease on the return.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+8.115.1 VIII, 115] He left a handpicked force under Mardonius to complete the conquest the following year. However, under pressure from the Athenians, the Peloponnesians eventually agreed to try to force Mardonius to battle, and marched on Attica. Mardonius retreated to Boeotia to lure the Greeks into open terrain, and the two sides eventually met near the city of Plataea.Holland, pp. 338–341 At the Battle of Plataea, the Greek army won a decisive victory, destroying much of the Persian army, and ending the invasion of Greece. Meanwhile, at the near-simultaneous naval Battle of Mycale, they also destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet, thereby reducing the threat of further invasions. \n\nThermopylae is arguably the most famous battle in European ancient history, repeatedly referenced in ancient, recent, and contemporary culture. In Western culture at least, it is the Greeks who are lauded for their performance in battle.Holland, p. xviii. However, within the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae was undoubtedly a defeat for the Greeks. It seems clear that the Greek strategy was to hold off the Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium; whatever they may have intended, it was presumably not their desire to surrender all of Boeotia and Attica to the Persians. The Greek position at Thermopylae, despite being massively outnumbered, was nearly impregnable. If the position had been held for even a little longer, the Persians might have had to retreat for lack of food and water. Thus, despite the heavy losses, forcing the pass was strategically a Persian victory, but the successful retreat of the bulk of the Greek troops was in its own sense a victory as well. The battle itself had showed that a few free men were willing to do anything for victory against the invaders. The defeat at Thermopylae had turned Leonidas and the men under his command into martyrs. That boosted the morale of all Greek soldiers in the second Persian invasion.\n\nIt is sometimes stated that Thermopylae was a Pyrrhic victory for the Persians, one in which the victor is as damaged by the battle as the defeated party. However, there is no suggestion by Herodotus that the effect on the Persian forces was that. The idea ignores the fact that the Persians would, in the aftermath of Thermopylae, conquer the majority of Greece,Cawkwell, pp. 105–106 and the fact that they were still fighting in Greece a year later.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+9.1.1 IX, 1] Alternatively, the argument is sometimes advanced that the last stand at Thermopylae was a successful delaying action that gave the Greek navy time to prepare for the Battle of Salamis. However, compared to the probable time (about one month) between Thermopylae and Salamis, the time bought was negligible. Furthermore, this idea also neglects the fact that a Greek navy was fighting at Artemisium during the Battle of Thermopylae, incurring losses in the process. George Cawkwell suggests that the gap between Thermopylae and Salamis was caused by Xerxes systematically reducing Greek opposition in Phocis and Boeotia, and not as a result of the Battle of Thermopylae; thus, as a delaying action, Thermopylae was insignificant compared to Xerxes's own procrastination. Far from labeling Thermopylae as a Pyrrhic victory, modern academic treatises on the Greco-Persian Wars tend to emphasise the success of Xerxes in breaching the formidable Greek position and the subsequent conquest of the majority of Greece. For instance, Cawkwell states that \"he was successful on both land and sea, and the Great Invasion began with a brilliant success.\n.. Xerxes had every reason to congratulate himself\", while Lazenby describes the Greek defeat as \"disastrous\".\n\nThe fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived not from its effect on the outcome of the war but for the inspirational example it set. Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass. Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources: \"...the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men.\" A second reason is the example it set of free men, fighting for their country and their freedom:\n\nSo almost immediately, contemporary Greeks saw Thermopylae as a critical moral and culture lesson. In universal terms, a small, free people had willingly outfought huge numbers of imperial subjects who advanced under the lash. More specifically, the Western idea that soldiers themselves decide where, how, and against whom they will fight was contrasted against the Eastern notion of despotism and monarchy—freedom proving the stronger idea as the more courageous fighting of the Greeks at Thermopylae, and their later victories at Salamis and Plataea attested. While this paradigm of \"free men\" outfighting \"slaves\" can be seen as a rather sweeping over-generalization (there are plenty of counter-examples), it is nevertheless true that many commentators have used Thermopylae to illustrate this point.Lazenby, pp. 248–253\n\nMilitarily, although the battle was actually not decisive in the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae is also of some significance, on the basis of the first two days of fighting. The performance of the defenders is used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers.Eikenberry, 1996\n\nLegacy\n\nMonuments\n\nThere are several monuments around the battlefield of Thermopylae.\n\nEpitaph of Simonides\n\nA well-known epigram, usually attributed to Simonides, was engraved as an epitaph on a commemorative stone placed on top of the burial mound of the Spartans at Thermopylae. It is also the hill on which the last of them died. The original stone has not survived, but in 1955, the epitaph was engraved on a new stone. The text from Herodotus is:\n\n:.\n\nŌ ksein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tēide\nkeimetha, tois keinōn rhēmasi peithomenoi.\n\nOh stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that\nwe lie here, trusting their words. \n\nThe alternative ancient reading for substitutes \"laws\" or \"orders\" for \"words.\" In other words, the \"orders\" are not personal but refer to official and binding phrases (the Ancient Greek term can also refer to a formal speech). \n\nThe form of this ancient Greek poetry is an elegiac couplet, commonly used for epitaphs. Some English renderings are given in the table below. It is also an example of Laconian brevity, a spartan style of verse that allows for varying interpretations of the meaning of the poem. Ioannis Ziogas points out that the usual English translations are far from the only interpretation possible, and indicate much about the romantic tendencies of the translators.\n\nIt was well known in ancient Greece that all the Spartans who had been sent to Thermopylae had been killed there (with the exception of Aristodemus and Pantites), and the epitaph exploits the conceit that there was nobody left to bring the news of their deeds back to Sparta. Greek epitaphs often appealed to the passing reader (always called 'stranger') for sympathy, but the epitaph for the dead Spartans at Thermopylae took this convention much further than usual, asking the reader to make a personal journey to Sparta to break the news that the Spartan expeditionary force had been wiped out. The stranger is also asked to stress that the Spartans died 'fulfilling their orders'.\n\nThe first line of the epigram was used as the title of the short story \"Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We…\" by German Nobel Prize laureate Heinrich Böll. A variant of the epigram is inscribed on the Polish Cemetery at Monte Cassino.\n\nJohn Ruskin expressed the importance of this ideal to Western civilization as follows:Also obedience in its highest form is not obedience to a constant and compulsory law, but a persuaded or voluntary yielded obedience to an issued command .... His name who leads the armies of Heaven is \"Faithful and True\"... and all deeds which are done in alliance with these armies ... are essentially deeds of faith, which therefore ... is at once the source and the substance of all known deed, rightly so called ... as set forth in the last word of the noblest group of words ever, so far as I know, uttered by simple man concerning his practice, being the final testimony of the leaders of a great practical nation ... [the epitaph in Greek]Ruskin, p. 212\n\nLeonidas monument\n\nAdditionally, there is a modern monument at the site, called the \"Leonidas Monument\", in honor of the Spartan king. It features a bronze statue of Leonidas. A sign, under the statue, reads simply: \"Μολὼν λαβέ\" (\"Come and take them!\"—as in answer to Xerxes' demand that the Greeks give up their weapons). The metope below depicts battle scenes. The two marble statues on the left and the right of the monument represent, respectively, the river Eurotas and Mount Taygetos, famous landmarks of Sparta.\n\n|Leonidas\n|Leonidas Monument\n|Leonidas monument\n\nThespian monument\n\nIn 1997, a second monument was officially unveiled by the Greek government, dedicated to the 700 Thespians who fought with the Spartans. The monument is made of marble and features a bronze statue depicting the god Eros, to whom the ancient Thespians accorded particular religious veneration. Under the statue, a sign reads \"In memory of the seven hundred Thespians.\"\n\nA plate, below the statue, explains its symbolism:\n* The headless male figure symbolizes the anonymous sacrifice of the 700 Thespians to their country.\n* The outstretched chest symbolizes the struggle, the gallantry, the strength, the bravery and the courage.\n* The open wing symbolizes the victory, the glory, the soul, the spirit and the freedom.\n* The broken wing symbolizes the voluntary sacrifice and death.\n* The naked body symbolizes Eros, the most important god of the ancient Thespians, a god of creation, beauty and life.\n\nThe monument to the Thespians is placed beside the one to the Spartans.\n\nImage:Thespies2 evlahos.jpg|A plate, below the statue\n\nAssociated legends\n\nHerodotus' colorful account of the battle has provided history with many apocryphal incidents and conversations away from the main historical events. These accounts are obviously not verifiable, but they form an integral part of the legend of the battle. They often demonstrate the Laconic speech (and wit) of the Spartans to good effect.\n\nFor instance, Plutarch recounts in his Sayings of Spartan Women that upon his departure, Leonidas' wife Gorgo asked what she should do if he did not return; to which Leonidas replied, \"Marry a good man and have good children.\" \n\nIt is reported that, upon arriving at Thermopylae, the Persians sent a mounted scout to reconnoiter. The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. When the scout reported to Xerxes the size of the Greek force and that the Spartans were indulging in calisthenics and combing their long hair, Xerxes found the reports laughable. Seeking the counsel of Demaratus, an exiled Spartan king in his retinue, Xerxes was told that the Spartans were preparing for battle and that it was their custom to adorn their hair when they were about to risk their lives. Demaratus called them \"the bravest men in Greece\" and warned the Great King that they intended to dispute the pass. He emphasized that he had tried to warn Xerxes earlier in the campaign, but the king had refused to believe him. He added that if Xerxes ever managed to subdue the Spartans, \"there is no other nation in all the world which will venture to lift a hand in their defense.\"Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.209.1 VII, 209]\n\nHerodotus also describes the reception of a Persian embassy by Leonidas. The ambassador told Leonidas that Xerxes would offer him the kingship of all Greece if he joined with Xerxes. Leonidas answered: \"If you had any knowledge of the noble things of life, you would refrain from coveting others' possessions; but for me to die for Greece is better than to be the sole ruler over the people of my race.\" Then the ambassador asked him more forcefully to surrender their arms. To this Leonidas gave his famous answer: (pronounced) \"Come and get them.\" \n\nSuch Laconic bravery doubtlessly helped to maintain morale. Herodotus writes that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as \"to block out the sun\", he retorted, unconcerned; \"So much the better...then we shall fight our battle in the shade.\" \n\nAfter the battle, Xerxes was curious as to what the Greeks had been trying to do (presumably because they had had so few men) and had some Arcadian deserters interrogated in his presence. The answer was that all the other men were participating in the Olympic Games. When Xerxes asked what was the prize for the winner, the answer was \"an olive-wreath\". Upon hearing this, Tigranes, a Persian general, said: \"Good heavens, Mardonius, what kind of men are these that you have pitted against us? It is not for riches that they contend but for honor!\" (Godley translation) or otherwise \"Ye Gods, Mardonius, what men have you brought us to fight against? Men that fight not for gold, but for glory.\"\n\nIn popular culture\n\nThe Battle of Thermopylae has remained an icon of western civilization ever since it was fought. The battle is revisited in countless adages, in literature in song, and in films, television programs and video games. The battle is discussed in many books and articles on the theory and practice of warfare. The movies The 300 Spartans (1962) and 300 (2007) were based on the events during and close to the time of the battle.\n\nPrior to the battle, the Hellenes remembered the Dorians, an ethnic distinction to which the Spartans belonged, as the conquerors and displacers of the Ionians in the Peloponnesus. After the battle, Spartan culture became an inspiration and object of emulation, a phenomenon known as Laconophilia.","M6 Battle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans ...\nBattle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans. ... In this pass few fight against many and three hundred ... The Persian army was the largest and most ...\nM6 Battle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans Transcript\nHere, young Leonidas will live, train, and learn to kill.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nWhen a young boy was taken from his mother at age seven and entered the goal of the upbringing, he never did anything, except train for the next twelve years until he entered the Army.\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\nFight!\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nTheir education focused on military skills, and discipline, and toughness. They were often not fed sufficiently so they would be hungry all the time. This would encourage them to steal in order to eat.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nYou were taught not to cry. You were taught to conceal pain. Their whole society was set up to try and strip you of individual identity.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nAnother bizarre ritual that they engaged in to make sure that their guys were tough is that they would be flogged until they bled in groups and whoever was the toughest and uh stood the longest was you know, very highly honored, and the families would stand around and yell, and scream at the boys; don’t you pass out, don’t you pass out. There does seem to be some indications that there was increasing levels of violence as you got older. Of course, one expects that this is aimed for ultimately experience in battle where you’re going to have blood, and brains, and everything all over you.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nIn some ways you really want to see the Spartans as a dysfunctional fraternity where the hazing and the other aspects of fraternity life go awry.\nMale Narrator:\nAs they boys grow older the training becomes more and more intense.\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\nDo honor to your family! Do honor to your Spartan heritage! You will get strong or you will die!\n(Spartan boy yelling)\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\nPush Spartan! Push!\n(Spartan boy yelling)\nMale Narrator:\nBy the time Leonidas and the Spartan boys reach their early teens weapons like wooden swords and tip-less spears are added to the military training. Still during these war games consequences can be deadly.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nViews were killed in the course of this fight. It’s a preparation. You’re going to see your comrades and your use mates being killed.\nMale Narrator:\nOne of the final tests of all young Spartans is also one of the most brutal. Leonidas must sneak out of his barracks at night and murder a local slave called a helot.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThink about this for a second, every culture throughout history has its own version of a male’s rite of passage; when a boy crosses that thresh hold and becomes a man. In the Spartan society you didn’t become a man until you strangled someone to death.\nMale Narrator:\nThe practice of killing a helot is centuries old by the time Leonidas is ready to become a man. The key to this ritual however; is not the murder itself.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nWhat you were not supposed to do was get caught doing it and you would be punished severely for being caught doing it because what the institution was meant to train you in was the art of evasion; the art of being a good soldier, the art of being stealthy.\nMale Narrator:\nBy the time Leonidas is eighteen his education is complete. He has survived a Spartan training designed to weed out the weak. He has learned to kill or be killed. He and the other soldiers are inducted into the army.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nFor Spartan parents this was one of the proudest moments in their lives. It signified the transformation of their son from being a child into being a man. This is especially true of mothers because it validated the sacrifice that they made for the state. She would send her child off at the age of seven or so to become a warrior and now at eighteen she was sending them off to battle. One of the most telling stories is a Spartan mother sending her son off to war and as she was handing him the shield she would tell him in Greek, “h tav heni tav;” “with this shield or on it” and what this means is come back victorious with your shield or come back a corpse carried on it. Basically, you either win the battle or you die. Spartan mothers believed in tough love.\nMale Narrator:\nIn this Spartan warrior cult the women are also renowned for their physical strengths. Sometimes a Spartan man will try to forcefully take a wife but if he is not to her liking and she is strong enough to fend them off the man will fail. If a Spartan male is a worthy and attractive warrior, like Leonidas, he will succeed in winning a wife but home life for a Spartan warrior was anything but typical as they were often on the battlefield.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nThe Spartans were really the first professionals in war craft among the Greek city states. Every summer they would have wars. The Greek city states, they would go over whatever pass they were in to the next town; they would just beat the hell out of each other. They guys, you know, had their, their swords; their spears were up over the fireplace, their shield was there, they’d take them down. This summer they’re going to beat each other’s brains out.\nMale Narrator:\nIt seems that the regional conflicts Leonidas fights are preparation for an ultimate battle looming on the horizon against the Persians at Thermopylae. Four eighty one BC, one year before the Battle of Thermopylae, a Greek spy discovers that the Persian King, Xerxes is mobilizing his army. It is a force that many believe to be nearly three hundred thousand strong.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nTo a Greek eye looking at this it would look like the whole world was coming down to devour you. The numbers would have been immense. They would have been in, in the hundred, if not hundreds of thousands and it really would have looked like the end of the world.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes intention is to burn the city state of Athens to the ground.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhen the Athenians discovered Xerxes plan and the enormous force it put together they quickly realized they’re going to need help. So they sent out a general call to their allies to come and defend Greece but the call falls of deaf ears and the reason for that is, is that nobody has a concept of what Greece as a nation is yet. So what we think of as Greece, at the time was just a bunch of city states who fought each other more often than they fought together.\nMale Narrator:\nDespite their poor relations, the Athenians reach out to one of their major regional rivals for help; the Spartans and their King, Leonidas.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nBy now Leonidas is a well-seasoned military man. Remember, he has spent his childhood enduring the harsh training that all Spartan boys go through to learn how to become a ruthless warrior.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nAnd now he’s one of the Kings of Sparta. So when the Athenians come and ask for help; they’re not stupid. Leonidas is a skilled warrior but for Leonidas personally, this request from the Athenians, it going to seal his fate.\nMale Narrator:\n Before deciding whether to help the Athenians the Spartans consult an oracle.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe Spartans were a very religious people. One of those common ways of interpreting the will of the Gods is through oracle so they were devoted to the oracle at Delphi.\nMale Narrator:\nDating back to about fourteen hundred BCE the oracle at Delphi is one of the most sacred Greek shrines. In a temple erected over a small chasm, the oracle greets information seekers by slipping into a trance like state. Some believe that ethylene vapors emanating from the intersection of three major fault lines deep within the earth might account for the oracle’s behavior. Modern scientists however; have examined the earth beneath the temple and all the studies have been inconclusive.\nLinda Rulman, Ph. D. / Lecturer in Classics:\nWhen a question was posed to her by one of the priests she would pretty babble something pretty much incoherent and the priest then would take her answer and deliver it to the person who asked:\nOracle Voice:\nOh men of Sparta, either your glorious city will be taken by the sons of Persia or all Sparta must mourn the loss of a King for an exchange; a King, a decedent of Great Heracles.\n Male Narrator:\nLeonidas believes he is a decedent of Heracles and that the Gods have chosen him to save Sparta. He tells the Spartan elders that he will help the Athenians battle the Persians.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nLeonidas comes to believe the oracle is referring to him; his death, his sacrifice, saves Sparta.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas’s decision becomes mythical in scope. Yet there may be another reason why Leonidas decides to go to battle.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhether Xerxes himself intended to occupy Greece or not in the minds of the Spartans that’s what they saw as the threat. So the enemy of my enemy is my friend and so what happens is they throw in their lot with, with uh the Athenians. Moreover, if you’re going to have a combined arms defense against the Persians you might as well have the best soldiers in Greece lead it.\nMale Narrator:\nStill the Spartan council isn’t convinced and allows Leonidas to take only a minimal force, a force of three hundred.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nI’m convinced that the, when the three hundred were selected that the other Spartans, there were about nine thousand others in the army; I’m convinced that they felt like they were being cut of a great party. That’s what they were born to do and they knew that, that would create a mortality for them, for their families, for their children, and not to mention of course saving Greece.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas chooses his finest warriors but only those who have already fathered sons to ensure their bloodline would survive.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nDid Leonidas think it was a suicide mission to begin with? Uhm, maybe so, maybe not; what he did understand was that it was a great opportunity for one hell of a military fight and a chance for Spartan and personal glory which is what motivated the Spartans to begin with. \nMale Narrator:\nThe challenge for Leonidas is formidable. He will battle the world’s most powerful fighting force; a war machine that had dominated the world for nearly a century, the mighty Persian Empire. In five forty nine BC about seventy years before the last stand at Thermopylae, Cyrus the Great unifies all the tribes in what is now central Iran. He storms out of the mountains with an army that consists of light and heavy infantry as well as cavalry.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nIt was Cyrus, who uh, realized the importance of cavalry and by hiring essentially horse born tribes; began the tradition of cavalry uh, in the Persian army.\nMale Narrator:\nWhen the Persian army took the field it was made up about eighty percent infantry and about twenty percent cavalry. This combination makes the Persians unstoppable on the open plains in Asia. As the infantry hits the front of the enemy line the cavalry engages the flanks causing them to crumble. Over the course of twenty years, Cyrus conquers four major kingdoms throughout Asia; Media, Lycia, Lydia, and finally in five thirty nine BC he topples mighty Babylonia. Cyrus now rules and empire that stretches from India to Egypt.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph.D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\nThe Persian Empire was the largest and most successful empire in the long history of near eastern empires. They were the big guys on the block.\nMale Narrator:\nCyrus divides his empire into providences called satraps. Instead of forcing conquered peoples to adopt Persian beliefs, Cyrus allows them to govern themselves and practice their own religion.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAnd why you had to pay taxes to the central government? Generally speaking, you could maintain your own way of life and so there was no attempt to impose a single religion uh, or to impose even a single, single civic code.\nMale Narrator:\nCyrus is considered by many to be a liberator. This type of compassionate behavior is almost unheard of in the ancient world and it might have inadvertently led to the Spartans last stand at Thermopylae. In five forty six BC, Cyrus conquers Greek colonies in the providence of Ionia or modern day Turkey. True to form he allows the local governors to remain in power but about fifty years later in four forty nine BC, the Greek colonists revolt.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nSo here’s the Persians trying to do the right thing by supporting the established government, they end up alienating the population and that’s the result called the Ionian Revolt.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian King is now Cyrus’s grandson, Darius. At first Darius allows the local governors to deal with the uprising but the rebels were about to receive outside help. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhen Ionia broke into full revolt against the Persians it called on its mother country, Athens, for help and then the Athenians made perhaps the greatest strategic mistake in the century. They sent troops to help the Ionian rebels.\n Male Narrator:\nWith Athenian help, rebels burned Sardis, the capital of Ionia, to the ground. Herodotus writes about the rebellion.\nHerodotus Voice:\nAlmost instantly, fire began racing from house to house until the entire town was on fire and so Sardis was burned to the ground. In amongst its ruins was a temple of a native goddess, Cybele. After the Persians saw it in ruins they would later make it a pretext for burning temples in Greece.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Ionian Revolt is a very, very important event in the history of Greek and Persian relations because it lays at the root of what was to happen over the next, almost, eighty years and finally bring Athens and, and Persia, Persia into open conflict; something they had not done before.\nMale Narrator:\nAthens has awakened a sleeping giant. King Darius wants revenge.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nIt’s really got his goat. He used to have one of his servants, at every meal, right before he would take his first bite of food; the servant would come into his ear and said “Sire, remember the Athenians.” So Darius vowed that he would pay these guys back.\nMale Narrator:\nBlood is about to drench Greek soil. In four ninety BD, ten years before the Spartans last stand at Thermopylae; the Persian King, Darius sends a force of thirty thousand across the Aegean Sea to annihilate Athens.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe reason for the invasion is that King Darius is upset. Years earlier the Athenians helped a group of Greek revels burn a Persian city to the ground. This was known as the Ionian Revolt. Now it’s payback time and it will result in one of the most famous battles in history, the Battle of Marathon.\nMale Narrator:\nAbout twenty six miles east of Athens on the plain of Marathon a Greek army of about eight thousand marches toward the coast to meet the invaders.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Greeks see the fleet off shore transporting the troops to attack Athens and what they do is they deploy on the beach, threatening the Persians with, with, with the uh, battle and the Persians take the bait.\nMale Narrator:\nThirty thousand Persians pour off their ships and charge the Greeks. The Greeks create a defensive line in a narrow valley between two mountains. The massive Persian force smashes into the Athenians. The Greeks stand strong but soon the center of their defensive line begins to collapse. The Persians push forward but this is a trap. While the center of the Greek line retreats the flanks remain strong. As the Persians press further into the valley the Greek army envelops them.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Greeks suckered the Persians in and now they have them surrounded on three sides. The Persians can’t maneuver and it’s a narrow combat box; the battle becomes an absolute slaughter.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persians retreat to the beach. The Greek commanders decide to risk it all.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nGreek infantry, they charged into the run, smashed into what was left of the, of the Persian infantry; forced them back into the beach and they scrambled to get aboard their, their boats, and as they did they were slaughtered by, they were slaughtered by the Greek infantry. In the instances of a people who were hanging onto the boats top get out; his hands were chopped off uh, by the Greeks.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Greeks send a runner to Athens to report the great victory. The runner runs a distance of about twenty six miles.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAnd that’s why today, the Marathon Race is twenty six miles. Uh, what they don’t tell you is the runner who ran into the square of Athens yelled “Nike,” meaning victory, dropped dead from exhaustion.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Athenians build the original Parthenon to commemorate the famous victory at Marathon over the Persians. The building and the battle send shockwaves through the Persian Empire.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nTo be sure, a great empire like Persia and a great King cannot allow an insult to his national prestige and that’s what the pin-prick at Marathon did. I mean basically it uh, was, is, it said to everyone well look this little uh, this little power stood up to this great giant.\nMale Narrator:\nPersians first attempt at revenge against Athens has failed miserably. Darius plans another attack but dies before the invasion can be realized. Persian vengeance becomes the responsibility of Darius’s son Xerxes. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nOne of the interesting things about the monarchs of the ancient world, whether you look at Egypt, or Syria, or Persia, is they groomed their sons to be warrior Kings by sending them to school.\nMale Narrator:\nWhile Xerxes, no doubt, spent time in the classroom learning philosophy, mathematics, and military tactics he’s also taught how to fight his way out of the most extreme life or death situations.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nHe took a fixed courtyard, the kids stand in the courtyard; they turn a lion loose on them. Kill the lion or be killed.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes pedigree and training help prepare him to rule the world’s largest and most dominate empire. But Xerxes has only one thing on his mind when he becomes King, revenge against Athens. For ten years he plans his massive attack.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nXerxes was no hick, no hay-seed uhm, he was, he was a man who was born to the purple and had been educated as both a warrior and a, and a, and a ruler and he was a good ruler. I mean no one, no one uh; well the only reason we uh, we hold it against him apparently in the west is we, is because he attempted burning of Athens. Ah, what a terrible thing to do.\nMale Narrator:\nIn four eighty one BC, when a Greek spy discovers Xerxes plan he sees not just a massive army but a people who are far more superior technologically than the Greeks. Fore, King Xerxes is about to do the impossible. He is about to walk across water. Xerxes wants to march his army of three thousand across the Hellespont, a mile wide waterway that connects Asia to Europe just south of the Black Sea.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nIf they were going to do this entirely by land they would have to walk around the Black Sea which would add about two years to their march and would require them to conquer a whole other set of people.\nMale Narrator:\nTo get his massive force across the Hellespont, Xerxes orders his engineers to build a mile long pontoon bridge made of old transport ships.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAt the time this was going on there was a transition in the design of ships. New ships were coming online lots of old ones, old cargo ships, were available uh, at cheap money; they were simply bought and strung together.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes engineers lined nearly seven hundred ships next to one another. Likely using boulders, they anchor each ship to the sea floor from both the bow and the stern then they tether the ships together with two different types of special cables; one made of flax or heavy linen, the other made of papyrus.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nNow when we think of papyrus we usually think of paper but the Egyptians had come up with a way to turn the sticky center of the papyrus plant, called the pith, into a strong durable rope and this is what Xerxes engineers tethered the ships with; the papyrus rope and the linen ropes. This is the high tech part of this whole operation, these long cables that would reach over a mile.\n Male Narrator:\nDozens of these sections of cable, weighing nearly two tons each, secure the boats together and are anchored to either shore. The Persians then nail wooden planks across the rails of each ship to create a flat surface over which men and animals can march.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nIt was a remarkable engineering feat and it would have again, with the Greeks on the other side, it would have given pause because these are not a people who simply have a large army. These are a people who understand the principles of engineering.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian army crosses the bridge and begins the march around the Aegean Sea. Nearly three months later, Xerxes and his Persian force of three hundred thousand arrive in northern Greece. Thanks to the Athenian spy however; the Greek coalition has already established two lines of defense. The first is in the southern part of the peninsula at the Isthmus of Corinth to defend the city states on the Peloponnese, including Sparta. The other is the advanced team in the north at the Thermopylae Pass. Here, the Spartan King Leonidas leads a coalition army consisting of three hundred Spartan warriors and seven thousand soldiers from other Greek city states. Off the coast, Athenian General Themistocles leads the Greek Navy and prepares to face off against the Persian fleet in the narrow Atremesium Strait. The battle of Thermopylae is at hand.\nOn a cliff overlooking the Thermopylae Pass in northern Greece, King Xerxes of Persia is poised to send his army into battle. Xerxes has marched nearly three hundred thousand men accompanied by one thousand more ships around the Aegean Sean with the intention of sacking the Greek city state of Athens. Waiting in the Thermopylae Pass is the Spartan King Leonidas with nearly seven thousand Greek soldiers. They block the east side of the pass defending the route to Athens. In a brilliant strategic move they have chosen to fight at Thermopylae because the terrain negates the Persian numerical advantage.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nPasses are a marvelous thing. One might ask for example; why has Switzerland never been invaded because of passes. One man with a rifle can hold the division down if the pass is narrow enough. In the ancient world, you can’t fight with any more men that you can hit front on front. So, if you can narrow that front on front to a few hundred men or a few dozen men then a number of hundred men can hold up a hundred thousand men.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAs often happens in the ancient world before the battle, Xerxes first tried to negotiate with Leonidas. He sends a message saying “you’re closely outnumbered, you’re facing the best army in the world; don’t be stupid. Lay down your weapons and you will live otherwise you’re all going to die.” And of course; Leonidas doesn’t take too kindly to that. Then comes the most famous line out of Herodotus, the messenger says “be prepared to die our arrows will block out the sun;” to which Dienekes, Leonidas’s lieutenant replies.\nDienekes/Actor:\nThen we shall have our battle in the shade. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAnd that right there pretty much sums up what this battle was going to be about. The Spartans were the finest, toughest soldiers in Greece.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Author, The Ambiguity of Greatness:\nThe three hundred Spartans who were sent to Thermopylae were the delta force of the ancient world. Their job was to hold that pass or to die trying.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas and his warriors assume their standard fighting formation; the Phalanx.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Spartans fought in, in platoons of eight men across, four men deep shoulder to shoulder with one person kind of peeking underneath the other fellows to his rights shield. So you have a shield wall in front.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nIt’s going to be essentially a wall of bronze, and wood, and muscle just sort of standing there gleaming in the sunlight.\nMale Narrator:\nAll Greek soldiers are heavy infantry called hoplites. Named for the large round shield they carry referred to as the hoplon. Made from a concave piece of wood and covered with a thin sheet of bronze, the shield is about three feet in diameter and weighs up to twenty pounds.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe hand grip of, of this shield came in about the sixth century BC and it was called the Argive grip, and it revolutionized warfare.\nMale Narrator:\nOlder shields were gripped by a single handle in the middle. On the Argive shield the solder passed his arm through a leather loop in the middle and held onto a handle near the rim, giving him more leverage.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nSo you grab the end of the shield and the arm, center of the arm held it. Now if you think about what you can do with that shield, much more force can be applied.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Spartans were known for painting personal images on their shields face.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nThere’s a story of a Spartan who had a fly, a life sized fly on the, on his shield and when his friends asked him why; he said that he would get so close to the enemy that fly would look like a lion. \nMale Narrator:\nKing Xerxes fulfills his promise to block out the sun. He orders nearly five thousand archer’s to launch their missiles. Xerxes archers are tribesmen from all corners of his empire. They likely supply their own bow which tend to be made from date palm wood, a cheaper material that diminishes its firing power and from over a football field away the arrows raining down on the Greeks have trouble penetrating the hot lights heavy armor.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe arrows are bouncing off shields, bouncing off helmets; doing almost no damage. Uh, logically unless you took one in the eye there’s almost no place where an arrow could penetrate.\n(Warriors Yelling)\nMale Narrator:\nIn addition to his shield, the hot lights’ Corinthian helmet helps keep them protected from the Persian arrows. The helmet originated in Greece around the seventh century BC., made from a single piece of bronze, the helmet offered maximum head protection for the hoplite. But these helmets were heavy, weighing about ten pounds and restricted the soldiers hearing and vision. While most helmets were adorned with a horse hair crest running down the center, Spartan officers like Leonidas would have worn a helmet with the crest running side to side. Some historians believe that the Spartans most likely wore a bronze cuirass for torso protection. Most hoplites at the time however; wore sophisticated lamellar armor. Its strength comes from its layered design, made by gluing strips of heavy linen, leather, and thin bronze together. The lamellar armor forms a type of ancient Kevlar.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nUh, believe it or not, multiple strips of leather and linen uh, could stand, could with stand a spear thrust. It wouldn’t penetrate a spear or arrow thrust.\nMale Narrator:\nAbandoning the missile attack, ten thousand Persian light infantry men charge at the Greeks; over a million pounds of muscle, bronze, and wood are about to collide in the Thermopylae Pass.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nInevitably, this mass crashes into the Greek phalanx and it just doesn’t move. I mean it’s too heavy, it’s too thick; the pressure from the back is holding it forward.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Greeks stop the crushing charge. Now they go on the offensive. Fighting from their discipline phalanx, the front two lines launch a coordinated spear attack from above and below the shield wall. The hoplites primary weapon is the dory, a six to nine foot long spear. About two inches in diameter, the two to four pound dory features a deadly iron spearhead. On the back of the spear is an iron butt plate which provides balance and gives the hoplite a second weapon with which to kill.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nFirst clash, the spears come down and the spears come up from underneath, and as the cries, and the blood is everywhere. They probably killed about a thousand men and most of the wounds would have been, been fatal. They would have been delivered to the chest or the face.\nMale Narrator:\nThe hoplites secondary weapon was the xiphos, a two to three foot long iron straight sword made specifically to thrust and hack at the enemy. But the Greeks would only use this if they lost their spear or if the phalanx broke rank which did not happen often. The fighting rages on and off for most of the day.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat mostly happens is what we call battle pulses. The two sides would hack at one another and bang at one another for a few, maybe some times only a few seconds; ten, ten or twenty seconds then they’d break it off again. Okay? Maybe the other side would drop back a little bit and then these guys would move forward again. So it was not a continuous battle field experience. It was not a continuous combat. It can’t work that way.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persians are easy targets. They wear little or no armor and carry flimsy wooden shields.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Persian light infantry are not designed for this kind of battle. They’re built for speed, to attack disorganized tribal armies on the open plains of Asia.\nMale Narrator:\nStuck in the narrow pass, the Persians are unable to maneuver. They also cannot utilize their cavalry. The steepness of Mount Callidromus on one side and the Aegean Sea on the other prevent a Persian cavalry flanking maneuver.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nIf you look at the two Greek battles that we study most often which is Marathon and Thermopylae, what you’ll see is the brilliance of Greek commanders in selecting to rein where the Persians could not bring their cavalry to bear. At Marathon they never got it off the ships and, and even if they did it wouldn’t make a difference because the Greek wedged themselves into a narrow front and same at Thermopylae. The cavalry would’ve been totally useless.\nMale Narrator:\nWith each battle pulse more and more Persians are slaughtered. There is no mercy only death.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nAnd it was just carnage the first day. The Spartans formed up shoulder to shoulder like a great rock and let the waves of the Persians just break on them.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Author, The Ambiguity of Greatness:\nThe Persians began to get the message that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to launch themselves in wave after wave against these guys, each one of whom had uh, the equivalent of our very best special forces training.\nMale Narrator:\nAt the end of the day, the three hundred Spartans and their Greek allies kill any remaining Persians. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nLeonidas understands the tactical situation and after the first day of fighting. He uh, he gets that’s exactly what I set out to do. I’m holding up one of the largest land armies ever to attack Greece. I got it funneled up here and so far they can’t do anything to uh, stop it.\nMale Narrator:\nBut at the same time the land battle is being fought the Persians are trying to gain access to the rear of the Greek defenses by sea. A great naval battle between the Greeks and Persians is bloody in the Artemesium Strait. In the Thermopylae Pass the mighty King, Leonidas and his Spartan warriors are successfully fending off an attack by the Persian light infantry. At the same time, off the coast of Thermopylae in the Artemesium Strait a battle between the Persian and Greek navy’s is about to erupt.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nIf you think of the Battle of Thermopylae in strategic terms, if you have a military mind the first question you’re going to ask is; yeah the Spartans could hold the salon here but what about the sea, what about the ocean? Why couldn’t Xerxes just relay in troops behind them? He had an armada of a thousand or more ships.\nMale Narrator:\nThe reason is the Athenian Navy. They are based here at Artemesium while the Persians are based across the Strait at Aphetae. The Persian goal is to break through the Greek line, sail down the narrow six mile wide Artemesium Strait, and land troops behind Leonidas and his Greek warriors surrounding them. The man in charge of stopping the Persian fleet is aboard the Athenian flagship. He is considered by many to be the mastermind behind the land and sea defense against the Persians and is widely regarded as one of the ancient world’s most brilliant military tactician. He is the Athenian, Themistocles.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhen most people think of the Battle of Thermopylae they immediately think of the three hundred Spartans or they think of Leonidas. But really the unsung hero of the battle, the man who made it all happen was Themistocles.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThemistocles in a way was the Winston Churchill of his day. He was a great Athenian politician with great foresight for the coming struggle and a profound military thinker. If it weren’t for him there would’ve been no Battle of Thermopylae.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian Navy attempts to surround the Greek fleet. They send two hundred of their thousand ships south east around the island of Euboea.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nBy sailing around Euboea the Persian naval commander is going to try to avoid wasting his energies with a direct assault. He figures the Greeks are not stupid enough to attack him so he waited his base until the smaller force sails around the island and surrounds the Greek fleet. \nMale Narrator:\nBut Themistocles makes a bold and daring move that surprises the Persian commander. Late in the afternoon the Greek fleet sails from their base and provokes the Persian fleet which is nearly six times its size.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThis surprises the Persian commander greatly. That Themistocles would have the gall to attack the mighty Persian Navy is one thing but he’s also surprised by the timing of the attack. It’s late in the afternoon.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nBy starting in the afternoon he knows the battle will be over soon because they’re going to run out of daylight. You can’t fight a naval battle in the dark. So Themistocles is trying to minimize his potential damages if the battle gets away from him by counting on nightfall to end it.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian commander orders his eight hundred remaining ships into the strait. Despite being out numbered Themistocles and the fleet attempt to sink the Persian ships in a ferocious attack.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe name of the game was to sink the other guy’s ship. To ram her in the side or to knock all of the oars off and render her out of commission. The Greeks definitely have an uphill battle here but they do have one major advantage. They have the brilliance of Themistocles.\nMale Narrator:\nThemistocles is born the son of a merchant. If this would have been earlier in Greek history Themistocles would have been relegated to a lower status. But democracy is about to be born in Athens allowing Themistocles to shed his merchant class shackles. Because of its natural harbor, Athens develops a strong sea bearing tradition and becomes both an economic and naval force in the Aegean. Many Athenian males including Themistocles become expert seaman able to navigate the treacherous Greek coasts. While Themistocles naval training would no doubt shape his future, it is on land in the Athenian government where he might have learned some of his most valuable lessons.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat Themistocles learned growing up in a developing democracy was the art of manipulation and political strategies. These were not cut throat politics like say in Rome, where people we literally killed. What he did was use his intelligence and guile to position himself in the government where one day he could be extremely influential.\nMale Narrator:\nit is these skills that will ultimately help him create the Athenian Navy which he will need to battle the mighty Persians. Around four ninety BC, ten years before the last stand at Thermopylae Athens owns only about one hundred war ships; Themistocles knows this is only a fraction of what the Persians can muster. He knows this because he witnessed the Persian force up close and personally at Marathon.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThemistocles was one of the generals that had been at the Battle of Marathon and there he had seen Persian tactics first hand. So he’s an experienced military man. He took away a different lesson from Marathon than the other Greek generals did. The other generals saw it as a triumph of ground forces over navy. What Themistocles learned at Marathon was that cannot use ground forces on the ground unless you have naval support.\nMale Narrator:\nThemistocles knows that after their humiliating loss at Marathon the Persians would seek revenge and be back to finish what they had started and he knows that they won’t make the same mistake twice. He believes the Persians will come by land and sea and bring many more soldiers and ships.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat Themistocles saw was a synergy between naval forces and ground forces. That is the navy could only support ground forces as long as the coast was friendly. The ground forces had to make the coast friendly.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThemistocles knew the Persians could not sustain an army in mainland Greece if they didn’t, weren’t able to supply it by sea. So if you had naval power, significant naval power, made yourself dominant naval power in the Aegean you could render the Persians impudent.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThus he concluded, the future for Athens rested no in increasing the size of your ground force which is fairly significant anyway, but point of fact; to increase your navy.\nMale Narrator:\nThe problem Themistocles faces is that no one believes him. Both the Athenian generals and the general public are plagued by an overconfidence in the Athenian army and in denial about Persia’s return.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThemistocles lived every day of his political life as, if we’ve got to deal with this now; we’ve got to deal with this now and there were a couple strategies that Themistocles uhm, followed that, that probably saved the Greek world.\nMale Narrator:\nFirst he must convince Athens that they need to invest in the Navy. Perhaps more importantly he must find the money in which to do it. He gets lucky in four eighty three BC, three years before the last stand at Thermopylae. In the Athenian district of Laurium miners discover a new vein of silver. After a year they extract nearly two tons of the precious metal from the earth. Themistocles wants the money made from silver to be spent on his navy. The challenge for him is to convince Athenians that they don’t need extra money in their pockets but rather extra war ships in their harbor.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nEach Athenian was due to get ten drachma. That would be about fifteen hundred, sixteen hundred dollars in today’s money. It’s a lot of money.\nMale Narrator:\nBecause most Athenians are in denial about a second Persian invasion, Themistocles draws upon his political savvy to win them over; he lies to them. Themistocles misleads the Athenians into thinking that a small rival island off the coast of Athens called Aegina poses a threat to the safety of Athenian merchant ships. Finally convinced, Athenians allow Themistocles to invest in the Navy. Greek civilization might be saved by a lie.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nWhat historians may call a lie or an untruth; a politician would call a clever misdirection of the populace to achieve a greater end, that’s what Themistocles said. He knew if he told the truth that the populace would never go for it. So he had a nice little ploy, little story, little cover story; it worked.\nMale Narrator:\nThemistocles gets his ships. Athenian war ships at the time are called Triremes. The trireme is about ninety feet long by about eighteen feet wide. Most of it is likely built from pine, a common Mediterranean tree.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe best analogy of a trireme was, she was a light boat that was more like a racing scull. Uh, it was not a heavy boat and why? Because the object was to ram and so the lighter it was the faster you could make it go.\nMale Narrator:\nBuilt for speed, the hall of the trireme is open. The deck consists of one or two planks of wood running lengthwise upon which the ships commander and about four marines would stand. Despite possessing a small sail, the trireme is mainly powered by between one hundred seventy and two hundred twenty oarsmen arranged in three banks of oars; one above the other. The front of the trireme is shaped like a rounded brow. The brow is probably made of heavier cedar then covered with brass or copper enabling the ship to ram enemy vessels.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe fastest a trireme has ever been marked, and we’ve created, reconstructed them, in a two thousand meter run is fifteen knots but on balance that’s a fast pulse in order to ram.\nMale Narrator:\nBy the time the Persians reach Thermopylae and Artemesium a year later the Greeks have added over one hundred additional ships to the fleet. Still the Persian fleet out numbers the Greek fleet nearly six to one. Themistocles is about to discover whether his efforts to build the Athenian Navy had been in vain. In the Artemesium Strait the Athenian commander Themistocles leads nearly two hundred Greek war ships into battle. They attack more than eight hundred Persian war ships.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThemistocles is doing the unexpected. Late in the afternoon on the first day of the battle he’s actually attacking the much larger Persian fleet. It’s a risky move. If he allows the Persians to sail through the Artemesium Strait, Leonidas and the three hundred Spartans will be surrounded and cut to pieces.\nMale Narrator:\nUsing a flag to signal the fleet. Themistocles has all of the Greek war ships slowly back into a barrower part of the strait forming a circle. At a second signal the Greek fleet rushes from their formation and attacks the Persians.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nGreat naval battles were actually not about people getting off and fighting each other or even hooking up and trying to fight. They were about maneuvering the ships in such a way that you can ram and sink.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe most common way was to come along side at an angle and smash his oars because remember they’re not powered by sail, they’re powered by oars. So if you could smash his oars; and what would happen as one ship came alongside the other the attacking ship would pull in its oars and allow the side of its ship to smash in and run along this way. Now she’s dead in the water.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nSo in these battles what is really consequential isn’t so much the weight of your ship or the size of your ship but rather the speed of your ship.\nMale Narrator:\nIn the small confined space of Artemesium the smaller Greek fleet inflicts damage upon several Persian ships. They also capture thirty enemy vessels and take many prisoners.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nWe’re not exactly sure why the Greeks faired so well that first day at Artemesium. The Greeks and the Persians all had the same types of boats. Everybody had triremes so nobody would’ve necessarily had any speed advantage.\nMale Narrator:\nWhatever the reason, it is a great psychological victory for the Greek Navy and because Themistocles began his attack late in the day he knew the battle would not last long insuring his potential losses would be minimal.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThis has got to be a complete surprise to everybody. The Persians certainly weren’t expecting to lose to the smaller Greek fleet and I don’t think the Greeks were expecting to come out so strong, and I think that’s one of the reasons Themistocles started this thing so late in the day. So you’ve got Themistocles winning the battle at sea and of course Leonidas and the Spartans are winning the battle on land.\nMale Narrator:\nOn this first day of battle Xerxes has been shocked and embarrassed by Themistocles and the Athenian Navy and has lost nearly ten thousand infantry men to Leonidas and the Spartans.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nAfter first days battle at Thermopylae and Artemesium, uh the Persians have been very roughly handled by the Greeks. They are back in their camp that evening licking their wounds and Xerxes is wondering what he is going to do about this.\nMale Narrator:\nAs night falls a tremendous storm erupts and the Persian soldiers are further harassed by thunder, wind, and rain.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nSo you have to imagine the flashes of lightening illuminating the wrecks on the sea and the dead bodies. So, a very disconsoling night for the Persians, they probably weren’t getting any sleep as they had wanted. They’re going to need is for the next day’s battle.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian fleet that has been sent around the island of Euboea is caught in the storm. The Aegean swallows all two hundred ships. It is an omen that the Persians cannot ignore and one the Greeks happily embrace for the next day will bring more bloodshed. On the second day of battle the Athenians and Spartans take their respective defensive positions, Themistocles in the Artemesium Strait; Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans at the Thermopylae Pass. They both prepare for the second Persian attack.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nThe sun comes up on the second day and Xerxes says, well uh, enough with the, the junior level uh, infantry we’re sending in the big boys.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes sends in the hammer and fist of the Persian army, the silent and masked heavy infantry called the Immortals.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\nXerxes decided to send in the A team, the Immortals. He believed that once the Immortals were put into action that, that would end their resistance immediately.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nHere come ten thousand men assembled in a rectangle, in essence. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Right to you in silence, no matter what happens they’re coming right at you. They wore no helmets but they had what’s called a tiara on their head. The tiara was a wrapped cloth but a very thin cloth that they could see through.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nTen thousand strong; they were called Immortals because when one man retired or, or died he was immediately replaced by another.\nMale Narrator:\nThe army’s stand some fifty yards apart in the Thermopylae Pass. The Persians faceless and mute but silence is not part of the Spartan psychological strategy.\n(Spartan Warriors yelling)\nMale Narrator:\nFinally the Persians advance. Silently the Immortals slam into the Greek line. As on the previous day, the three hundred Spartans and the Greek soldiers hold fast. The Immortal’s spears cannot penetrate the Greek armor. The Greek spears have no problem finding their mark. The Immortals wear thin scale armor beneath their tunics but these overlapping metal scales are no thicker than playing cards, powerless against the strength and precision of the Spartan dory. Persian shields are made only of wicker.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThat worked very well if you were warding off javelins, dagger thrusts, or arrows. But a wicker shields compared to the Greeks which was a brass or bonze shield; the spear of the Greek infantry could easily pierce a wicker shield.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nSo man for man, company for company, platoon for platoon; they were no match for the Spartans in close combat.\n(Persian Immortal screaming)\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\nIt’s fairly clear that they had never fought against an uh, hoplite army that was as well trained, as well equipped, and as tactically flexible as the Spartans were.\nMale Narrator:\nAfter two days thousands of Persians have been killed.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nIf you imagine an infantry line that’s killing in front of it with the spears, okay, the, the dead themselves pile up. After every assault there are dead men, there are men screaming in pain, men who were bleeding all over the landscape but mostly men who were in the way. You, you have to get rid of them somewhere so what would happen is during one of the falls in the battle is the squelch would go forward and pull the dead out of the way.\nMale Narrator:\nBy the end of the second day the Persian body count is enormous and the ground forces have once again been stymied.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nSo tactically speaking, after the first two days fighting at Thermopylae, Leonidas would’ve considered himself to be in a pretty good position. He had taken everything the Persians could throw at him and he had lost only a few men himself.\nMale Narrator:\nMeanwhile off the coast, Themistocles again leads the Athenian Navy against the Persian fleet in the Artemiseum Strait. The massive storm from the night before has destroyed the Persian ships that sailed around Euboea. With no Persian ships bearing down behind him, Themistocles can concentrate his force to the front but he is still out numbered five to one. While exact details of the battle are unknown, the Greek triremes again are able to destroy many of the Persian war ships.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nSo by the end of the second day at sea a similar scenario would, uh was working out. The Persians had again, have tried to throw themselves at Themistocles at sea and they hadn’t done any better the second day. So the front was holding, the Greek front was holding at sea and on land.\nMale Narrator:\nIt is another psychological victory for the Greeks. Xerxes grows frustrated but the solution will soon become clear to the Persian King and it will be one of the most famous and heroic last stand in history. Seven thousand Greek soldiers lead by the Spartan Kind, Leonidas and his elite group of three hundred Spartan warriors, block the narrow Thermopylae Pass in north eastern Greece. They are here to prevent the Persian army, the largest land force ever assembled, from destroying the Greek city state of Athens.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nYou’re stuck with the cork in the bottle and you’ve got to get the cork out of the bottle. What had happened until now, they had tried a light infantry attack and suffered badly and so, so they cross with their best troops which is a heavy infantry and suffer just as badly. So uh; now what to do? Things are getting a little dicey, the army’s being held up, it has to eat every day, it’s consuming supplies, it’s getting nowhere; uh the answer is to find a way around the, the uh Spartan position.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes discovers the answer. A small trail leads from the Persian camp around Mount Callidromus and continues behind the Greek line. Historians are unsure as to when Xerxes had become aware of the pass. Some believe that a Greek spy had informed him after the second day of battle. Seeing that he cannot penetrate the stiff Greek defense and knowing his food supply is running short, Xerxes decides to use the pass.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat he did is at the uh, nightfall of the second day after the heavy infantry attack had failed at the center, began under the cover of darkness to move ten thousand men up that road at the flank; uh the Spartan position.\nMale Narrator:\nBut this pass was not unknown to Leonidas. Before the first day of the attack, Leonidas had stationed one thousand men at the top of the pass. This force was made up of a people called the Phocians. But as the Persians approach the Phoenician line the force is missing.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThere is an intersection at the top of that ridge, one that leads to the Phocia and for some reason the Phocian troops seem to think the attack is going to be on their homeland and they withdraw.\nMale Narrator:\nFearing their homeland will be attacked the Phocians retreat to defend their families. The Persians now have an unhindered path to destruction.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAt this point Leonidas is doomed. Above and beyond them are ten thousand infantry men who can come scrambling down the hill at any given time.\nMale Narrator:\nIn the middle of the night Greek scouts deliver the new to Leonidas that the Phocians have deserted. Knowing that he has been out flanked, Leonidas orders the retreat of the Greek infantry.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nYou can’t just order four thousand people to just turn around and leave. There are a lot of reasons for that; one, the enemy knows immediately what you’re doing and is going to attack you from the front. Uh, you can’t wait until you’re; you’re completely enclosed in the back. What do you have to do? You’ve got to get relatively small units out in a phased withdrawal, hopefully quietly so the enemy doesn’t know essentially that the front has been thinned otherwise they’ll attack you.\nMale Narrator:\nBy dawn all of the Greek troops have retreated. All except Leonidas, the three hundred Spartans, and about one thousand soldiers from the Greek city state of Thespia.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nVery few people know this bit of information about the battle but around a thousand Thespians, soldiers from the city state of Thespia, stayed behind with Leonidas; they could have left but they decided to stay and fight with the Spartans to the end. Now the reason this gets lost is that the Battle of Thermopylae has been mythologized throughout history and in movies today in such a way that only three hundred Spartans took on millions of Persians but it’s not so.\nMale Narrator:\nStill this force of just over a thousand is surrounded by tens of thousands of Persians. Leonidas and his men are about to make their last stand.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nThere was a great moment uh, when the Spartans were going forward to the front lines to die and their allies were going back to live, and that to me is in many ways is, is the most emotional moment of the fight.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nSo the question is why did he do this? Why did he do this? Why didn’t Leonidas pull his groups out and go with them? Oaky and I, I think there are a couple of answers to that. Uh you know, some people will say he was fulfilling the prophecy of the oracle.\nOracle Voice:\nEither your glorious city will be taken by the sons of Persia or all Sparta must morn for the loss of a King.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe sacrifice in his mind is about saving Sparta and that’s why he stays and that’s why he engages in a quixotic battle that he knows he’s destined to lose. It’s not because he wants to be a marauder. It’s not because as a Spartan soldier, he’s been trained, he must die. Quite the opposite, as a Spartan soldier he’s been trained to sneak, to steal, to evade. But as a Spartan he believes in the oracles, as a Spartan he believes in the religion, and as a Spartan it’s his duty to stay and die for the state.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas’s state might have kept him in the Thermopylae Pass but if looked upon from a military perspective, he might have been there as a covering force during a tactical retreat.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nEvery day he can delay these guys. Every minute he can delay these guys gives the Greeks behind him opportunity to assemble the army and new, new defense in position. The guys who pulled out of the, the, the pass still have additions to go before they can link up with the other armies and so, uh he decides to stand to the last man to buy the extra day or two. Uh, ensured he becomes, he turns himself and his bodyguard into a covering force for strategic or tactical withdrawal.\nMale Narrator:\nHistorians will never know why Leonidas decides to stay behind but the last stand of these three hundred men will be remembered forever. After two days of failing to penetrate the Greek defenses at Thermopylae the Persians have discovered a way to surround the pass. The Spartan King, Leonidas has order a tactical retreat to most of his fighting force. While only about one thousand Greek troops remain, including three hundred Spartans, Leonidas is trapped by tens of thousands of Persian soldiers.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nLeonidas is making his last stand at the Thermopylae Pass and for two days he successfully repelled the Persian advances. But now the Persians have him trapped. They’ve finally figured out how to out flank him and they’ve got him exactly where they want him.\nMale Narrator:\nDespite this knowledge, the Spartans calmly prepare for battle; a Persian scout watches.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nA Persian scout saw the Spartans exercising in the nude and pouring oil on themselves afterward, and cleaning themselves, and arranging their hair; their long hair and combing it out.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nThe Persians look at that and they don’t understand. They look at that and they see vanity or they look at that and they see, see bathroom behavior. They, they don’t know that the Spartans are preparing their bodies for death.\nMale Narrator:\nCleaned and prepared for battle the Spartans take the field one last time.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThese are professional warriors. This is how they define themselves. This is how they, their status in society was defined. Uh, my guess is they would have welcomed the battle in the same way that Custer probably welcomed the battle. You know, that is to say we’re outnumbered but we’re better guys. Uhm, they would have probably welcomed the battle from a psychological and social perspective.\nMale Narrator:"],"string":"[\n \"Sardis - Ancient History Encyclopedia\\n... a famous Athenian lawmaker and statesman and one of the seven proverbial wise ... King of Persia, invaded Sardis in ... expression \\\"as rich as Croesus ...\\nSardis - Ancient History Encyclopedia\\nSardis\\nby Cristian Violatti\\npublished on 20 March 2014\\nSardis was an important ancient city and capital of the kingdom of Lydia , located in western Anatolia , present-day Sartmustafa, Manisa province in western Turkey . Its strategic location made it a central point connecting the interior of Anatolia to the Aegean coast. During its history, control of Sardis changed many times, but it always kept a high status among cities .\\nThe Origin of Sardis\\nAround 612 BCE, the greatest city in the world at that time, Nineveh , was besieged and sacked by an allied army of Persians, Medes, rebelling Chaldeans, and Babylonians, putting an end to the Assyrian Empire . This event shaped a new political map: Babylon became the imperial centre of Mesopotamia and the kingdom of Lydia became the dominant power in western Anatolia with Sardis as its capital.\\nRemove Ads\\nAdvertisement\\nThe life of Sardis began as a hilltop citadel where the king of Lydia lived. The city developed into a two part town: the lower town, located along the banks of the Pactolus river, where the ordinary citizens lived, and the upper town for the wealthy citizens, royal members, and the palace. Herodotus wrote that the lower town was a modest place with many of its houses made of reeds from the river and with no surrounding wall .\\nRelations with the Greek World\\nTo the west, Lydia had the Greek colonies of Ionia . After the fall of Assyria , Lydia was free to turn its attention to the Ionian cities, which became dominated by Lydia. Lydian rulers, however, admired the Greeks and treated the Ionian cities leniently. Moreover, Croesus , the last Lydian king, even paid for the construction of the temple of Artemis , which became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Thus, the Ionian coast city-states and the Lydians remained on peaceful terms with very tight cultural and commercial relations. Sardis was a centre for the traffic of goods and ideas between Mesopotamia and the Greek Ionian settlements, a crossroad of trade, and an ideal meeting point for the exchange of ideas, beliefs, customs, knowledge, and new insights. This rich exchange was one of the factors that, around 600 BCE, allowed the Ionian cities to turn into the intellectual leaders of the Greek world.\\nSardis was a centre for the traffic of goods and ideas between Mesopotamia and the Greek Ionian settlements.\\nHerodotus (1.31) claims that on one occasion Sardis was visited by Solon , a famous Athenian lawmaker and statesman and one of the seven proverbial wise men of ancient Hellas, who met Croesus, the Lydian king. This meeting between Solon and Croesus is certainly a fiction: Solon, if we trust the current accepted chronology, must have been dead several years before 560 BCE, the year when Croesus became king of Lydia. Nevertheless, according to the story Croesus was overjoyed to have such an important visitor and was anxious to display his wealth to the well-travelled Solon. Croesus finally asked Solon who, of all the men he had met in his travels, he would call the most happy. Solon replied, “Tellus of Athens .” This made Croesus upset since he expected to be named first. Solon added that Tellus had lived well and happily, had a beautiful family, and had died gloriously for Athens in battle . Croesus agreed this was a good life and asked Solon who else he would consider to be among the happiest of men he had met, hoping he would at least be named second. Solon answered “ Cleobis and Biton ”, two Greek brothers who had enough resources to live, great fitness levels, and who had died honourably. Croesus, angered now, shouted, \\\"My Athenian guest, are you disparaging my own happiness as though it were nothing?, Do you think me less than a common man?\\\" Solon replied that no person can be judged fortunate until their death: \\\"I cannot yet tell you the answer you asked for until I learn how you have ended your life.\\\"\\nAdvertisement\\nPersian Control\\nWhen Cyrus II, King of Persia , invaded Sardis in 547 BCE, it became obvious that the lack of a defensive wall protecting the lower city was not a wise choice. The Lydian king Croesus simply retreated to the upper town, and the Persian army controlled the lower city with very little resistance. The Persian army finally found an unguarded spot in the citadel’s defences, and Sardis came under Persian control for the next two centuries.\\nDuring the Persian occupation, Sardis did not change much: A Persian garrison was built on the acropolis while the lower town settlements remained unchanged. An altar of Artemis is mentioned by Xenophon , possibly in the southern portion of the acropolis, in the settlements along the river, where some time later a temple to the goddess was built.\\nOnce Sardis was taken, the Persians also occupied the Ionian cities. About 500 BCE, the Ionian cities dismissed the Persian authorities and declared their independence, triggering the Ionian revolt with the city of Miletus as the leading state, the first of many military conflicts between Greeks and Persians. A Greek army marched upon Sardis and burned it to the ground. This is how Herodotus reports the incident:\\nMacedonian & Seleucid Control\\nA number of changes took place in Sardis after the city surrendered to Alexander the Great in 334 BCE. A new lower town was built to the north of the Acropolis and the old town was gradually abandoned, with the sole exception of the Temple of Artemis and its surrounding area, where a few citizens continued to live. The new lower town had the east-west road as its axis which connected the interior to the coast.\\nA number of Hellenistic public buildings were built in the new town including a stadium and a theatre. The city was walled at some point before the year 215 BCE as attested to by ancient reports that, when the troops led by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III assaulted Sardis that year, they penetrated across a section of the city wall near the theatre. Sardis was then made Seleucid’s administrative centre for the Anatolia region.\",\n \"Croesus | king of Lydia | Britannica.com\\nLast king of Lydia ... Croesusking of Lydia. died. ... His wealth was proverbial, and he made a number of rich gifts to the oracle at Delphi.\\nCroesus | king of Lydia | Britannica.com\\nking of Lydia\\nLast Updated:\\n12-16-2009\\nCroesus, (died c. 546 bc), last king of Lydia (reigned c. 560–546), who was renowned for his great wealth. He conquered the Greeks of mainland Ionia (on the west coast of Anatolia) and was in turn subjugated by the Persians.\\nCroesus with an attendant.\\nPhotos.com/Jupiterimages\\nA member of the Mermnad dynasty , Croesus succeeded to the throne of his father, Alyattes, after a struggle with his half brother. Croesus is said to have acted as viceroy and commander in chief before his father’s death. He completed the conquest of mainland Ionia by capturing Ephesus and other cities in western Anatolia . Lack of sea power forced him ... (100 of 348 words)\\nMEDIA FOR:\",\n \"Croesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\\nFind out information about Croesus. d. c.547 B.C., king of Lydia , noted for his great wealth. He was the son of Alyattes. ... His wealth became proverbial, ...\\nCroesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\\nCroesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\\nhttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Croesus\\nAlso found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Acronyms , Idioms , Wikipedia .\\nCroesus\\n(krē`səs), d. c.547 B.C., king of Lydia (560–c.547 B.C.), noted for his great wealth. He was the son of Alyattes. He continued his father's policy of conquering the Ionian cities of Asia Minor, but on the whole he was friendly to the Greeks, and he is supposed to have given refuge to the Athenian statesman Solon. Threatened by Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great\\n, d. 529 B.C., king of Persia, founder of the greatness of the Achaemenids and of the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, he was the son of an Iranian noble, the elder Cambyses, and a Median princess, daughter of Astyages.\\n..... Click the link for more information. of Persia, Croesus allied himself with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia against the Persian might, but the alliance was of no avail. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus, and, according to Herodotus, Croesus cast himself upon a funeral pyre.\\nCroesus\",\n \"Croesus.txt\\nCroesus\\nCroesus ( ; , Kroisos; 595 BC – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia who, according to Herodotus, reigned for fourteen years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC (sometimes given as 547 BC).\\n\\nCroesus was renowned for his wealth—Herodotus and Pausanias noted his gifts were preserved at Delphi. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Greeks, providing a fixed point in their calendar. \\\"By the fifth century at least,\\\" J.A.S. Evans has remarked, \\\"Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology.\\\" \\n\\nLegendary biography\\n\\nAside from a poetical account of Croesus on the pyre in Bacchylides (composed for Hiero of Syracuse, who won the chariot race at Olympia in 468), there are three classical accounts of Croesus: Herodotus presents the Lydian accounts of the conversation with Solon (Histories 1.29-.33), the tragedy of Croesus' son Atys (Histories 1.34-.45) and the fall of Croesus (Histories 1.85-.89); Xenophon instances Croesus in his panegyric fictionalized biography of Cyrus: Cyropaedia, 7.1; and Ctesias, whose account is also an encomium of Cyrus.\\n\\nEarly rule and wealth \\n\\nBorn about 595 BC, Croesus received tribute from the Ionian Greeks but was friendlier to the Hellenes than his father had been.\\n\\nCroesus is credited with issuing the first true gold coins with a standardised purity for general circulation. However, they were quite crude, and were made of electrum, a naturally occurring pale yellow alloy of gold and silver. The composition of these first coins was similar to alluvial deposits found in the silt of the Pactolus river, which ran through the Lydian capital, Sardis. Later coins, including some in the British Museum, were made from gold purified by heating with common salt to remove the silver. King Croesus' gold coins follow the first silver coins that had been minted by King Pheidon of Argos around 700 BC.\\n\\nIn Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. Croesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as \\\"rich as Croesus\\\" or \\\"richer than Croesus\\\" are used to indicate great wealth to this day. The earliest known such usage in English was John Gower's in Confessio amantis (1390):\\n\\nThat if the tresor of Cresus\\n\\nAnd al the gold Octovien,\\nForth with the richesse Yndien \\nOf Perles and of riche stones,\\nWere al togedre myn at ones... \\n\\nInterview with Solon \\n\\nAccording to Herodotus, Croesus encountered the Greek sage Solon and showed him his enormous wealth. Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, asked Solon who the happiest man in the world is, and was disappointed by Solon's response that three had been happier than Croesus: Tellus, who died fighting for his country, and the brothers Kleobis and Biton who died peacefully in their sleep after their mother prayed for their perfect happiness because they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves. Solon goes on to explain that Croesus cannot be the happiest man because the fickleness of fortune means that the happiness of a man's life cannot be judged until after his death. Sure enough, Croesus' hubristic happiness was reversed by the tragic deaths of his accidentally-killed son and, according to Critias, his wife's suicide at the fall of Sardis, not to mention his defeat at the hands of the Persians.\\n\\nThe interview is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject \\\"Which man is happy?\\\" It is legendary rather than historical. Thus the \\\"happiness\\\" of Croesus is presented as a moralistic exemplum of the fickleness of Tyche, a theme that gathered strength from the fourth century, revealing its late date. The story was later retold and elaborated by Ausonius in [https://archive.org/stream/deciausonius01ausouoft#page/310/mode/2up The Masque of the Seven Sages], in the Suda (entry \\\"Μᾶλλον ὁ Φρύξ,\\\" which adds Aesop and the Seven Sages of Greece), and by Tolstoy in his short story Croesus and Fate.\\n\\nCroesus' votive offerings to Delphi\\n\\nAccording to Herodotus, Croesus desired to discover which of the well known oracles of his time gave trustworthy omens. He sent ambassadors to the most important oracles ordering that on the 100th day from their departure from Sardeis they should ask what the king of the Lydians, Croesus, son of Alyattes was doing on this exact date. \\nThen the envoys entered on the 100th day to the oracle of Delphi in order to ask for the omen, Pythia answered in verse:\\n\\nI know the number of the sand pieces and the depth of the sea. I can understand the mute and listen to him, although he is not talking. I sensed the smell of a turtle burning together with lamb's meat in a bronze cauldron. Under the cauldron there is copper and above it copper as well.\\nThe envoys wrote down the answer and returned to Sardeis. Croesus read all the answers brought by his envoys from all the oracles. As soon as he read the answer of Pythia he bowed, because he was persuaded that it was the only real oracle, along with that of Amphiaraus. Indeed, on the specific date Croesus had put pieces of a turtle and lamb to boil together in a bronze cauldron, covered with a bronze lid. Then, Croesus wanted to thank and take on his side the oracle of Delphi. He sacrificed three thousand of all kinds of sacrificial animals. Then he lit up a bonfire and burned precious objects. After the sacrifice he melted down gold and made golden blocks, each one 2,5 talents. He ordered his artists to make the copy of a lion out of pure gold, weighing ten talents. At the time of Herodotus this was situated at the Treasury of the Corinthians, but 3.5 talents lighter, as the priests had melted down part of it. Croesus also sent along two enormous craters, one made of gold and one made of silver, situated on one side and the other of the entrance to the temple or Apollo. After the fire which destroyed the temple, these craters were transferred elsewhere: the golden one was transferred to the treasury of the Klazomenians, whereas the silver one was placed again in the vestibule of the new temple. Within this crater took place the mixing of water and wine during the Theophania. In Delphi they used to say that this one had been made by Theodorus of Samos. The votive offerings of Croesus comprised also four silver pithoi, situated at the Treasury of the Corinthians, and two perirrhanteria made of precious metals and the statue of a woman made of gold; they said that it depicted the woman who kneaded Croesus' bread. Finally, he dedicated the pendants and belts of his wife as well as other simpler and smaller liturgical objects and a golden shield which he offered to the Archaic temple of Athena Pronaia, later on melted by the Phocians in the course of the Third Sacred War.\\n\\nDeath of son \\n\\nAccording to legend, Croesus gave refuge at one point to the Phrygian prince Adrastus. Herodotus tells that Adrastus exiled himself to Lydia after accidentally killing his brother. Croesus later experienced a dream for which he took as prophecy in which Atys, his son and heir, would be killed by an iron spearhead. Taking precautions against this, Croesus kept his son from leading in military expeditions and fighting in any way. However, according to Herodotus, a wild boar began to ravage the neighboring province of Mysia, which soon begged Croesus to send a military expedition led by Atys to kill the boar. Croesus thought this would be safe for his son, as Atys wouldn't be fighting an enemy that could throw a spear. However, he sent Adrastus with Atys as a bodyguard in case they would be waylaid by bandits on the expedition. While fighting the boar, Adrastus accidentally hit Atys with his spear, killing him. Croesus absolved Adrastus for his son's death; however, Adrastus later committed suicide. \\n\\nCampaign against Persia and testing of oracle \\n\\nCroesus' uneasy relations with the Greeks obscures the larger fact that he was the last bastion of the Ionian cities against the increasing Persian power in Anatolia. He began preparing a campaign against Cyrus the Great of Persia.\\n\\nBefore setting out, he turned to the Delphic oracle and the oracle of Amphiaraus to inquire whether he should pursue this campaign and whether he should also seek an alliance. The oracles answered, with typical ambiguity, that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire – this would become one of the most famous oracular statements from Delphi.\\n\\nThe oracles also advised Croesus to find out which Greek state was most powerful and to ally himself with it. Croesus, now feeling secure, formed an alliance with Sparta in addition to those he had with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia, and launched his campaign against the Persian Empire in 547 BC. He was intercepted near the Halys River in central Anatolia and an inconclusive battle was fought. It was the usual practice in those days for the armies to disband for winter and Croesus did so accordingly. Cyrus did not, however, and he attacked Croesus in Sardis, capturing him. It became clear that the powerful empire destroyed by the war was Croesus's own.\\n\\nRescue from death and advisor to Cyrus \\n\\nBy 546 BC, Croesus was defeated and captured by the Persians. According to various accounts of Croesus's life, Cyrus ordered him to be burned to death on a pyre, but Croesus escaped death. The nature of his escape varies considerably.\\n\\nIn Bacchylides' ode, Croesus with his wife and family mounted the funeral pyre, but before the flames could envelop the king, he was snatched up by Apollo and spirited away to the Hyperboreans.\\n\\nHerodotus tells us that in the Lydian account, Croesus was placed upon a great pyre by Cyrus' orders, for Cyrus wanted to see if any of the heavenly powers would appear to save him from being burned alive. The pile was set ablaze, and as Cyrus the Great watched he saw Croesus call out \\\"Solon\\\" three times. He asked the interpreters to find out why he said this word with such resignation and agony. The interpreters returned the answer that Solon had warned Croesus of the fickleness of good fortune (see Interview with Solon above). This touched Cyrus, who realized that he and Croesus were much the same man, and he bade the servants to quench the blazing fire as quickly as they could. They tried to do this, but the flames were not to be mastered. According to the story, Croesus called out to Apollo and prayed to him. The sky had been clear and the day without a breath of wind, but soon dark clouds gathered and a storm with rain of such violence that the flames were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, thus convinced that Croesus was a good man, made him an advisor who served Cyrus \\\"well\\\" and later Cyrus's son by Cassandane, Cambyses. \\n\\nRecently, Stephanie West has argued that the historical Croesus did in fact die on the pyre, and that the stories of him as a wise advisor to the courts of Cyrus and Cambyses are purely legendary, showing similarities to the sayings of Ahiqar. \\n\\nAfter defeating Croesus, the Persians adopted gold as the main metal for their coins. \\n\\nDeath \\n\\nIt is not known when exactly Croesus died, although it is traditionally dated 547 BC, after Cyrus' conquest. In the Nabonidus Chronicle it is said that Cyrus \\\"marched against the country -- , killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own\\\". Unfortunately, all that remains of the name of the country are traces of the first cuneiform sign. It has long been assumed that this sign should have been LU, so that the country referred to would be Lydia, with Croesus as the king that was killed. However, J. Cargill has shown that this restoration was based upon wishful thinking rather than actual traces of the sign LU. Instead, J. Oelsner and R. Rollinger have both read the sign as Ú, which might imply a reference to Urartu. With Herodotus' account also being unreliable chronologically in this case, as J. A. S. Evans has demonstrated, this means that we have no way of dating the fall of Sardis; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of Babylon. Evans also asks what happened after the episode at the pyre and suggests that \\\"neither the Greeks nor the Babylonians knew what really happened to Croesus\\\".\",\n \"Croesus - Ancient History Encyclopedia\\nCroesus (pronounced 'KREE-sus') was the King of ... the ancients of the 4th century BCE did not care for that ending to the life of so wealthy and powerful a king.\\nCroesus - Ancient History Encyclopedia\\nCroesus\\nby Joshua J. Mark\\npublished on 02 September 2009\\nCroesus (pronounced 'KREE-sus') was the King of Lydia , a country in western Asia Minor (corresponding to modern-day Turkey ) from 560-547 BCE and was so wealthy that the old expression \\\"as rich as Croesus\\\" originates in reference to him. His wealth, it is said, came from the sands of the River Pactolus in which the legendary King Midas washed his hands to rid himself of the 'Midas Touch' (which turned everything he laid hands on into gold ) and in so doing, the legend says, made the sands of the river rich with gold. The Lydians, either during the reign of Croesus or just before, were cited as the first people to mint coins of gold and silver in Asia Minor and it was Croesus who funded construction of the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Although some have claimed that Croesus was largely a legendary figure, his signature at the base of one of the columns of the Temple of Artemis (now on display at the British Museum) is evidence that he was an actual historical king who ruled from the city of Sardis .\\nIt was Croesus who funded construction of the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders .\\nAlthough Croesus is mentioned by Xenophon and Ctesias, among others, two of the most famous stories regarding him come from the Histories of Herodotus (1.29-45 and 1.85-89). The first has to do with the great Athenian lawgiver Solon the Wise. Solon travelled throughout Anatolia and down to Egypt and came, at last, to the palace of Croesus at Sardis. Croesus was overjoyed to have so illustrious a visitor and was anxious to show off his treasuries and, after Solon had inspected them, asked him who, of all the men he had met in his travels, he would call the most happy. Solon answered, “Tellus of Athens .” Croesus, upset that he himself had not been named, asked why Tellus. Solon answered that Tellus had lived well and happily, had a beautiful family, and had died gloriously for Athens in battle . Croesus, conceding this was a good life, and hoping he would at least be named second, then asked Solon who else he would consider the happiest of men he had met; Solon answered:\\nRemove Ads\\nAdvertisement\\nThe brothers Cleobis and Bito of the Argive race” and explained why, noting again a life well lived and a good death. Croesus, angered now, shouted: \\\"Man of Athens, am I not the happiest man in the world? Dost thou count my happiness as nothing?\\\" Solon replied calmly: “In truth, I count no man happy until his death, for no man can know what the gods may have in store for him. He who unites the greatest number of advantages, and retaining them to the day of his death, then dies peaceably, that man alone, sire, is in my judgment entitled to bear the name of 'happy.' But in every matter it behooves us to mark well the end: for oftentimes God gives men a gleam of happiness, and then plunges them into ruin.\\nCroesus sent Solon away, thinking his reputation for wisdom overrated, but would soon learn the truth of what Solon had said through the events narrated by Herodotus' second story. The first misfortune to come upon Croesus was the death of his son Atys, killed while hunting a boar in Olympus (and, ironically, killed by the man whom Croesus had sent on the hunt for the express purpose of keeping Atys safe). Croesus grieved for his son for two years until he was alerted that the Persians under Cyrus were gaining power and decided he should check them sooner rather than later.\\nHe sent to the great Oracle at Delphi to know whether he should go to war against the Persian Empire and the oracle replied: \\\"If Croesus goes to war he will destroy a great empire.\\\" Pleased by this answer, Croesus made his necessary alliances and preparations and went out to meet the Persian army at the Halys River (which Thales of Miletus , an engineer in his corps, helped him to cross by diverting the waters). The battle at the Halys was a draw and Croesus marched his force back to Sardis where the army was disbanded for the winter. Croesus expected Cyrus to do the same, as this was customary, but Cyrus instead pressed the attack, massacred Croesus’ cavalry in the field by mounting his own cavalry on dromedaries (whose scent frightened the Lydian horses) and captured Croesus. After the fall of Sardis, Croesus’ wife committed suicide and Croesus was dragged before Cyrus in chains.\\nFor daring to raise an army against the Persian Empire, Cyrus ordered Croesus to be burned alive along with fourteen noble Lydian youths. When Croesus saw the flames of the pyre lapping toward him, he called out for aid from Apollo to rescue him and a sudden rain shower broke overhead and put out the fire. Croesus was saved from burning to death but was still the captive of the Persian King and, remembering the words of Solon the Wise, cried out, \\\"O Solon! Solon! Solon!\\\" Cyrus asked a translator what this word meant and Croesus told the story of Solon’s visit, how no man can be counted happy until after his death, and further, of how he was misled by the Oracle at Delphi who had told him that if he went to war against Cyrus he would 'destroy a great empire’ and here the 'great empire’ destroyed had been his own, not that of Cyrus.\\nCyrus was so moved by this story that he ordered Croesus to be released and had him send to Delphi for an answer from the god as to why he was betrayed. The answer came back that the Oracle had spoken only truth - a great empire had, in fact, been destroyed by Croesus – and it was not the fault of the god if man misinterpreted his words. Cyrus felt sorry for Croesus and, according to some sources, kept him on as a wise counsellor. This positive account of Croesus' end has been disputed by many scholars both ancient and modern. According to other accounts, the god Apollo carried Croesus and his family away after the fall of Sardis and they all lived happily ever after. Most modern-day scholars and historians believe that Croesus died on the pyre but that the ancients of the 4th century BCE did not care for that ending to the life of so wealthy and powerful a king. The story of Croesus served as a cautionary tale among the Greeks on hubris and a warning on not tempting the gods’ wrath by thinking of oneself as the happiest person in the world.\",\n \"Croesus - tititudorancea.net\\nCroesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond ... expressions such as \\\"rich as Croesus\\\" or \\\"richer than Croesus\\\" are used ... with Croesus as the king that was ...\\nCroesus\\nC\\nCroesus\\nThis article refers to the historical King of Lydia. For the opera by Reinhard Keiser, see Croesus (opera).\\nCroesus (pronounced /ˈkriːsəs/, CREE-sus;\\nGreek :\\nΚροῖσος) (595 BC – c. 547? BC) was the king of Lydia from 560 to 546 BC until his defeat by the Persians in about 547 BC. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. \\\"By the fifth century at least,\\\" J.A.S. Evans remarked, \\\"Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology.\\\" Croesus was renowned for his wealth — Herodotus and Pausanias noted his gifts preserved at Delphi\\nIn Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. Croesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as \\\"rich as Croesus\\\" or \\\"richer than Croesus\\\" are used to indicate great wealth. The earliest known such usage in English was John Gower's in Confessio amantis (1390):\\nThat if the tresor of Cresus\\nAnd al the gold Octovien,\\nForth with the richesse Yndien\\nOf Perles and of riche stones,\\nWere al togedre myn at ones...\\nBiography\\nAside from a poetical account of Croesus on the pyre in Bacchylides, there are three classical accounts of Croesus. Herodotus presents the Lydian accounts of the conversation with Solon (Histories 1.29-.33), the tragedy of Croesus' son Atys (Histories 1.34-.45) and the fall of Croesus (Histories 1.85-.89); Xenophon instances Croesus in his panegyric fictionalized biography of Cyrus: Cyropaedia, 7.1; and Ctesias, whose account is also an encomium of Cyrus.\\nBorn about 595 BC, Croesus received tribute from the Ionian Greeks but was friendlier to the Hellenes than his father had been. Croesus traditionally gave refuge at one point to the Phrygian prince Adrastus. Herodotus tells that Adrastus exiled himself to Lydia after accidentally killing his brother. King Croesus welcomed him but then Adrastus accidentally killed Croesus' son, Atys. (Adrastus then committed suicide.)\\nCroesus' uneasy relations with the Greeks obscures the larger fact that he was the last bastion of the Ionian cities against the increasing Persian power in Anatolia. He began preparing a campaign against Cyrus the Great of Persia. Before setting out he turned to the Delphic oracle and the oracle of Amphiaraus to inquire whether he should pursue this campaign and whether he should also seek an alliance. The oracles answered, with typical ambiguity, that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire – this would become one of the most famous oracular statements from Delphi.\\nCroesus was also advised to find out which Greek state was most powerful and to ally himself with it. Croesus, now feeling secure, formed an alliance with Sparta in addition to those he had with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia , and launched his campaign against the Persian Empire in 547 BC. He was intercepted near the Halys River in central Anatolia and an inconclusive battle was fought. As was usual in those days, the armies would disband for winter and Croesus did accordingly. Cyrus did not, however, and he attacked Croesus in Sardis , capturing him. It became clear that the powerful empire Croesus was about to destroy was his own.\\nIn Bacchylides' ode, composed for Hiero of Syracuse, who won the chariot race at Olympia in 468, Croesus with his wife and family mounted the funeral pyre, but before the flames could envelop the king, he was snatched up by Apollo and spirited away to the Hyperboreans. Herodotus' version includes Apollo in more \\\"realistic\\\" mode: Cyrus, repenting of the immolation of Croesus, could not put out the flames until Apollo intervened.\\nApollo's intervention\\nHerodotus tells us that in the Lydian account, Croesus was placed upon a great pyre by Cyrus' orders, for Cyrus wanted to see if any of the heavenly powers would appear to save him from being burned alive. The pile was set ablaze, and as Cyrus watched he saw Croesus call out \\\"Solon\\\" three times. He asked the interpreters to find out why he said this word with such resignation and agony. The interpreters returned the answer that Solon had warned Croesus of the fickleness of good fortune: see Interview with Solon below. This touched Cyrus, who realized that he and Croesus were much the same man, and he bade the servants to quench the blazing fire as quickly as they could. They tried to do this, but the flames were not to be mastered. According to the story, Croesus called out to Apollo and prayed to him. The sky had been clear and the day without a breath of wind, but soon dark clouds gathered and a storm with rain of such violence that the flames were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, convinced by this that Croesus was a good man, made Croesus an advisor who served Cyrus well and later Cyrus's son by Cassandane, Cambyses. Recently, Stephanie West has argued that the historical Croesus did in fact die on the pyre, and that the stories of him as a 'wise adviser' to the courts of Cyrus and Cambyses are purely legendary, showing similarities to the sayings of Ahiqar.\\nIt is not known when exactly Croesus died, although it is traditionally dated 547 BC, after Cyrus' conquest. In the Nabonidus Chronicle it is said that Cyrus \\\"marched against the country -- , killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own.\\\" Unfortunately, all that remains of the name of the country are traces of the first cuneiform sign. It has long been assumed that this sign should have been LU, so that the country referred to would be Lydia, with Croesus as the king that was killed. However, J. Cargill has shown that this restoration was based upon wishful thinking rather than actual traces of the sign LU. Instead, J. Oelsner and R. Rollinger have both read the sign as Ú, which might imply a reference to Urartu. With Herodotus' account also being unreliable chronologically in this case, as J.A.S. Evans has demonstrated, this means that we have no way of dating the fall of Sardis; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of Babylon. Evans also asks what happened after the episode at the pyre and suggests that \\\"neither the Greeks nor the Babylonians knew what really happened to Croesus.\\\"\\nInterview with Solon\\nThe episode of Croesus' interview with Solon reported by Herodotus is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject \\\"Which man is happy?\\\" It is legendary rather than historical. Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, poses the question and is disappointed by Solon's response: that three have been happier than Croesus, Tellus , who died fighting for his country, and Kleobis and Biton, brothers who died peacefully in their sleep when their mother prayed for their perfect happiness, after they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves. Croesus' hubristic happiness was reversed by the tragic deaths of his accidentally-murdered son and, in Critias, his wife's suicide at the fall of Sardis. Thus the \\\"happiness\\\" of Croesus is presented as a moralistic exemplum of the fickleness of Tyche , a theme that gathered strength from the fourth century, revealing its late date. (Wikipedia)\",\n \"10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles - Listverse\\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles ... The Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC was a decisive victory for ... of Octavian and those of the combined forces of Mark Antony and ...\\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles - Listverse\\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles\\nJamie Frater\\nJuly 31, 2008\\nEveryone loves a good tale of battles and blood – which is clearly evidenced by the plethora of movies and movie scenes based on them. In this list, instead of just looking at great battles based on numbers or deaths, we are looking at battles that were strategically important or changed the methods of warfare. This list only includes battles from before the time of Christ. Later battles will be the subject of a future list. I have generally avoided describing the actual events of the battles in order to present the overall historical impact. You can use the “source” links to read more on each battle. This list contains a competition – read more at the bottom of the list.\\n10\\nCarrhae\\n53 BC\\nThe Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC was a decisive victory for the Parthian Spahbod Surena (try saying that 10 times fast!) over the Roman general Crassus near the town of Carrhae (now the present-day ruins of Harran, Turkey). A Parthian force of 1,000 cataphracts and 9,000 horse archers under general Surena met the Romans at Carrhae. Crassus’ cavalry was screening ahead of the main force when they were engaged by the cataphracts, and the weapons his cavalry employed were not capable of piercing the cataphracts armor. His cavalry was soon surrounded and routed, and his son Publius killed. Rome was humiliated by this defeat, and this was made even worse by the fact that the Parthians had captured several Legionary Eagles. It is also mentioned by Plutarch that the Parthians found the Roman prisoner of war that resembled Crassus the most, dressed him as a woman and paraded him through Parthia for all to see. The capture of the golden Aquilae (legionary battle standards) by the Parthians was considered a grave moral defeat and evil omen for the Romans. It required a generation of diplomacy before the Parthians returned them. An important and unexpected implication of this battle was that it opened up the European continent to a new and beautiful material: silk. However, the most immediate effect of the battle was that Carrhae was an indirect cause for the fall of the Republic, and the rise of the Empire. [ Source ]\\n9\\nPydna\\n168 BC\\nThe Battle of Pydna in 168 BC between Rome and the Macedonian Antigonid dynasty represents the ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenic/Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to Alexander III of Macedon. It is often considered to be the classic example of the Macedonian phalanx against the Roman legion, and generally accepted as proving the superiority of the latter over the former. This was not the final conflict between the two rivals, but it broke the back of Macedonian power. The political consequences of the lost battle were severe. The Senate’s settlement included the deportation of all the royal officials and the permanent house arrest of Perseus. The kingdom was divided into four republics that were heavily restricted from intercourse or trade with one another and with Greece. There was a ruthless purge, with allegedly anti-Roman citizens being denounced by their compatriots and deported in large numbers (300 000). [ Source ]\\n8\\nIpsus\\n301 BC\\nThe Battle of Ipsus was fought between some of the Diadochi (the successors of Alexander the Great) in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia. Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius I of Macedon were pitted against the coalition of three other companions of Alexander: Cassander, ruler of Macedon; Lysimachus, ruler of Thrace; and Seleucus I Nicator, ruler of Babylonia and Persia. The battle opened with the usual slowly intensifying skirmishing between the two armies’ light troops, with elephants eventually thrown into the fray by both sides. Efforts were made by both sides to hamstring the enemy’s elephants, but also had to hang back to protect their own. Demetrius’ superior right-flank cavalry drove Antiochus’ wing back, but was halted in his attempted rear blow by Seleucus, who moved the elephant reserve to block him. More missile troops moved to the unprotected Antigonid right flank, as Demetrius was unable to disengage from the elephants and enemy horse to his front. At the beginning of the day, Antigonus had not been able to wear plate armor; this disadvantage was unexpectedly used by an anonymous allied peltast, who killed him with a well-thrown javelin. Without leadership and already beginning to flee, the Antigonid army completely disintegrated. The last chance to reunite the Alexandrine Empire had now passed. Antigonus had been the only general able to consistently defeat the other Successors; without him, the last bonds the Empire had had began to dissolve. Ipsus finalized the breakup of an empire, which may account for its obscurity; despite that, it was still a critical battle in classical history and decided the character of the Hellenistic age. [ Source ]\\n7\\nGaugamela\\n331 BC\\nThe Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great of Macedonia and Darius III of Achaemenid Persia. The battle, which is also inaccurately called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the Macedonians. While Darius had a significant advantage in numbers, most of his troops were of a lower quality than Alexander’s. Alexander’s pezhetairoi were armed with a six-meter spear, the sarissa. The main Persian infantry was poorly trained and equipped in comparison to Alexander’s pezhetairoi and hoplites. After the battle, Parmenion rounded up the Persian baggage train while Alexander and his own bodyguard chased after Darius in hopes of catching up. As at Issus, substantial amounts of loot were gained following the battle, with 4,000 talents captured, as well as the King’s personal chariot and bow. The war elephants were also captured. In all, it was a disastrous defeat for the Persians, and possibly one of Alexander’s finest victories. At this point, the Persian Empire was divided into two halves – East and West. Bessus murdered Darius, before fleeing eastwards. Alexander would pursue Bessus, eventually capturing and executing him the following year. The majority of the existing satraps were to give their loyalty to Alexander, and be allowed to keep their positions, however, the Persian Empire is traditionally considered to have fallen with the death of Darius. [ Source ]\\n6\\nMarathon\\n490 BC\\nThe Battle of Marathon during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 BC and was the culmination of King Darius I of Persia’s first full scale attempt to conquer the remainder of Greece and incorporate it into the Persian Empire, which would secure the weakest portion of his western border. The longest-lasting legacy of Marathon was the double envelopment. Some historians have claimed it was random rather than a conscious decision by Miltiades – the Tyrant of the Greek Colonies. In hoplitic battles, the two sides were usually stronger than the center because either they were the weakest point (right side) or the strongest point (left side). However, before Miltiades (and after him until Epaminondas), this was only a matter of quality, not quantity. Miltiades had personal experience from the Persian army and knew its weaknesses. As his course of action after the battle shows (invasions of the Cyclades islands), he had an integrated strategy upon defeating the Persians, hence there is no reason he could have not thought of a good tactic. The double envelopment has been used ever since, such as when the German Army used a tactic at the battle of Tannenberg during World War I similar to that used by the Greeks at Marathon. [ Source ]\\n5\\nCynoscephalae\\n197 BC\\nThe Battle of Cynoscephalae was fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Philip V. This Macedonian defeat marks the passing of imperial power from the successors of Alexander the Great to Rome. Along with the later Battle of Pydna, this defeat is often held to have demonstrated that the Macedonian phalanx, formerly the most effective fighting unit in the ancient world, was now obsolete, although in fact the phalanx was able to force the legions back and held their own with swords until twenty maniples fell upon their rear (due to the weak Macedonian flanks and the Roman elephants routing the disordered Macedonian left flank). As a consequence of his loss, Philip had to pay 1,000 talents to Rome, as well as disband his navy and most of his army. He also had to send his son to Rome as a hostage. The battle in many ways determined the subsequent history of the Mediterranean. It also was a major turning point in how wars were fought. The image above is the site of the Battle of Cynoscephalae today. [ Source ]\\n4\\nActium\\n31 BC\\nThe Battle of Actium was the decisive engagement in the Final War of the Roman Republic between the forces of Octavian and those of the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It was fought on September 2, 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the Roman colony of Actium in Greece. Octavian’s fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony’s fleet was supported by the fleet of his lover, Cleopatra VII, queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. The victory of Octavian’s fleet enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its domains, leading to his adoption of the title of Princeps (“first citizen”) and his accepting the title of Augustus from the Senate. As Augustus Caesar, he would preserve the trappings of a restored Republic, but many historians view his consolidation of power and the adoption of his honorifics flowing from his victory at Actium as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. The political consequences of this sea battle were far-reaching. As a result of the loss of his fleet, Mark Antony’s army, which had begun as equal to that of Octavian’s, deserted in large numbers. In a communication breakdown, Antony came to believe that Cleopatra had been captured, and so he committed suicide. Cleopatra heard the news about Mark Antony and, rather than risk being captured by Octavian, committed suicide herself, on August 12, 30 BC. She allowed herself to be bitten by a poisonous asp that was reportedly hidden for her in a basket of figs. [ Source ]\\n3\\nSiler River\\n73 BC\\nThe Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War, The Battle of Siler River, and The War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Servile Wars. The Third Servile War was the only one to directly threaten the Roman heartland of Italia and was doubly alarming to the Roman people due to the repeated successes of the rapidly growing band of rebel slaves against the Roman army between 73 and 71 BC. The rebellion was finally crushed through the concentrated military effort of a single commander, Marcus Licinius Crassus, although the rebellion continued to have indirect effects on Roman politics for years to come. The Third Servile War was significant to the broader history of ancient Rome mostly in its effect on the careers of Pompey and Crassus. The two generals used their success in putting down the rebellion to further their political careers, using their public acclaim and the implied threat of their legions to sway the consular elections of 70 BC in their favor. Their actions as Consuls greatly furthered the subversion of Roman political institutions and contributed to the eventual transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. [ Source ]\\n2\\nPharsalus\\n48 BC\\nThe Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar’s Civil War. On August 9, 48 BC, the battle was fought at Pharsalus in central Greece between forces of the Populares faction and forces of the Optimates faction. Both factions field armies from the Roman Republic. The Populares were led by Gaius Julius Caesar (Caesar) and the Optimates were led by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey). In addition to Pompey, the Optimates faction included most of the Roman Senate. The victory of Caesar weakened the Senatorial forces and solidified his control over the Republic. Pompey fled from Pharsalus to Egypt, where he was assassinated on the order of Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII. The Battle of Pharsalus ended the wars of the First Triumvirate. The Roman Civil War, however, was not ended. Pompey’s two sons, the most important of whom was Sextus Pompeius, and the Pompeian faction led now by Labienus, survived and fought their cause in the name of Pompey the Great. Caesar spent the next few years ‘mopping up’ remnants of the senatorial faction. After finally completing this task, he was assassinated in a conspiracy arranged by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. [ Source ]\\n1\\nSalamis\\n480 BC\\nThe Battle of Salamis, was a decisive naval battle between the Greek city-states and Persia in September, 480 BC in the strait between Piraeus and Salamis Island, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens. The Greeks were not in accord as to how to defend against the Persian army, but Athens under Themistocles used their navy to defeat the much larger Persian navy and force King Xerxes I of Persia to retreat. The Greek victory marked the turning point of the campaign, leading to the eventual Persian defeat. The Battle of Salamis has been described by many historians as the single most significant battle in human history. The defeat of the Persian navy was instrumental in the eventual Persian defeat, as it dramatically shifted the war in Greece’s favor. Many historians argue that Greece’s ensuing independence laid the foundations for Western civilization, most notably from the preservation of Athenian democracy, the concept of individual rights, relative freedom of the person, true philosophy, art and architecture. Had the Persians won at Salamis, it is very likely that Xerxes would have succeeded in conquering all the Greek nations and passing to the European continent, thus preventing Western civilization’s growth (and even existence). Given the influence of Western civilization on world history, as well as the achievements of Western culture itself, a failure of the Greeks to win at Salamis would almost certainly have had seriously important effects on the course of human history. [ Source ]\\nBonus\\nCompetition\\nTo celebrate the launch of our new stable service and our new look, we have a competition on this list. The prize is a copy of both of the movies shown above – Spartacus, and 300. The prize winner will be one randomly selected commenter – as usual you can enter more than one comment to improve your chances, but your comments must add value to this list – that means no comments designed just to have a better chance at winning. The winner must be a registered user of the List Universe. You can click here to register . Good luck!\\nOmissions: Kadesh, Megiddo, Thermopylae (less decisive than Salamis above), Cannae, and Gaixia\\nThis article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from the Wikipedia articles cited above.\",\n \"Cyrus_the_Great.txt\\nCyrus the Great\\nCyrus II of Persia ( Kūruš; New Persian: Kūrosh ; c. 600 or 576 – 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen. Under his successors, the empire eventually stretched at its maximum extent from parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Paeonia and Thrace-Macedonia) and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. His regal titles in full were The Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World.\\n\\nThe reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought \\\"into subjection every nation without exception\\\". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.\\n\\nCyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered.Dandamayev Cyrus (iii. Cyrus the Great) Cyrus's religious policies. It is said that in universal history, the role of the Achaemenid Empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus.The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. IV p. 42. See also: G. Buchaman Gray and D. Litt, The foundation and extension of the Persian empire, Chapter I in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. IV, 2nd edition, published by The University Press, 1927. P. 15. Excerpt: The administration of the empire through satrap, and much more belonging to the form or spirit of the government, was the work of Cyrus ... What is sometimes referred to as the Edict of Restoration (actually two edicts) described in the Bible as being made by Cyrus the Great left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion, where, because of his policies in Babylonia, he is referred to by the Jewish Bible as Messiah (lit. \\\"His anointed one\\\") (), and is the only non-Jew to be called so: \\\"So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus\\\".\\n\\nCyrus the Great is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran. Cyrus and, indeed, the Achaemenid influence in the ancient world also extended as far as Athens, where many Athenians adopted aspects of the Achaemenid Persian culture as their own, in a reciprocal cultural exchange. \\n\\nIn the 1970s, the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi identified his famous proclamation inscribed onto Cyrus Cylinder as the oldest known declaration of human rights, and the Cylinder has since been popularized as such. This view has been criticized by some historians as a misunderstanding of the Cylinder's generic nature as a traditional statement that new monarchs make at the beginning of their reign. \\n\\nBackground\\n\\nEtymology\\n\\nThe name Cyrus is a Latinized form derived from the Greek Kūros itself from the Old Persian Kūruš. The name and its meaning has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch noted that Cyrus was named from Kuros, the Sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning \\\"like the Sun\\\" (Khurvash) by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, khor, while using -vash as a suffix of likeness. This may also point to a fascinating relationship to the mythological \\\"first king\\\" of Persia, Jamshid, whose name also incorporates the element \\\"sun\\\" (\\\"shid\\\").\\n\\nKarl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo-European-root \\\"to humiliate\\\" and accordingly \\\"Cyrus\\\" means \\\"humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest\\\". In the Persian language and especially in Iran, Cyrus's name is spelled as . In the Bible, he is known as Koresh ().\\n\\nDynastic history\\n\\nThe Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). Achaemenids are \\\"descendants of Achaemenes\\\" as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares \\\"for this reason we are called Achaemenids\\\". Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title \\\"King of Anshan\\\" after seizing Anshan city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper. under i. The clan and dynasty. Ancient documents mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, who also succeeded his father as \\\"king of Anshan\\\". Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes.\\n\\nIn 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son, Cambyses I, who reigned until 559 BC. Cyrus the Great was a son of Cambyses I, who named his son after his father, Cyrus I. There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as the \\\"great king\\\" and \\\"king of Anshan\\\". Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself \\\"son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan\\\". Another inscription (from CM's) mentions Cambyses I as \\\"mighty king\\\" and \\\"an Achaemenian\\\", which according to the bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius. However Cambyses II's maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by Herodotus as \\\"an Achaemenian\\\" too. Xenophon's account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses's wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Iran (ancient Persia). These agree with Cyrus's own inscriptions, as Ashan and Parsa were different names of the same land. These also agree with other non-Iranian accounts, except at one point from Herodotus stating that Cambyses was not a king but a \\\"Persian of good family\\\". However, in some other passages, Herodotus's account is wrong also on the name of the son of Chishpish, which he mentions as Cambyses but, according to modern scholars, should be Cyrus I. \\n\\nThe traditional view based on archaeological research and the genealogy given in the Behistun Inscription and by Herodotus holds that Cyrus the Great was an Achaemenid. However it has been suggested by M. Waters that Cyrus is unrelated to the Achaemenids or Darius the Great and that his family was of Teispid and Anshanite origin instead of Achaemenid.M. Waters, \\\"Cyrus and the Achaemenids\\\", Iran 42, 2004 ([http://www.achemenet.com/ Achemenet.com] > ressources > sous presse), with previous bibliography.\\n\\nEarly life\\n\\nCyrus was born to Cambyses I, King of Anshan and Mandane, daughter of Astyages, King of Media during the period of 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC. According to Herodotus, Astyages had two dreams in which a flood, and then a series of fruit bearing vines, emerged from her pelvis, and covered the entire kingdom. These were interpreted by his advisers as a foretelling that his grandson would one day rebel and supplant him as king. Astyages summoned his daughter Mandane, at the time pregnant with Cyrus, back to Ectabana to have the child killed. Harpagus delegated the task to Mithradates, one of the shepherds of Astyages, who raised the child and passed off his stillborn son to Harpagus as the dead infant Cyrus. Cyrus lived in secrecy, but when he reached the age of 10, during a childhood game, he had the son of a nobleman beaten when he refused to obey Cyrus's commands. As it was unheard of for the son of a shepherd to commit such an act, Astyages had the boy brought to his court, and interviewed him and his adopted father. Upon the shepherd's confession, Astyages sent Cyrus back to Persia to live with his biological parents. However, Astyages summoned the son of Harpagus, and in retribution, chopped him to pieces, roasted some portions while boiling others, and tricked his adviser into eating his child during a large banquet. Following the meal, Astyages' servants brought Harpagus the head, hands and feet of his son on platters, so he could realize his inadvertent cannibalism. \\n\\nIn another version, Cyrus was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court. These folk stories are, however, contradicted by Cyrus's own testimony, according to which he was preceded as king of Persia by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Upon his return, Cyrus married Cassandane who was an Achaemenian and the daughter of Pharnaspes who bore him two sons, Cambyses II and Bardiya along with three daughters, Atossa, Artystone, and Roxane. Cyrus and Cassandane were known to love each other very much - Cassandane said that she found it more bitter to leave Cyrus than to depart her life. After her death, Cyrus insisted on public mourning throughout the kingdom. The Nabonidus Chronicle states that Babylonia mourned Cassandane for six days (identified from 21–26 March 538 BC). After his father's death, Cyrus inherited the Persian throne at Pasargadae which was a vassal of Astyages. It is also noted that Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his step-parents; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, named him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.\\n\\nRise and military campaigns\\n\\nMedian Empire\\n\\nThough his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus the Great had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC; however, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. Astyages, last king of the Median Empire and Cyrus' grandfather, may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.\\n\\nAccording to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Astyages launched an attack against Cyrus, \\\"king of Ansan.\\\" According to the historian Herodotus, it is known that Astyages placed Harpagus in command of the Median army to conquer Cyrus. However, Harpagus contacted Cyrus and encouraged his revolt against Media, before eventually defecting along with several of the nobility and a portion of the army. This mutiny is confirmed by the Nabonidus Chronicle. Babylonian texts suggest that the hostilities lasted for at least three years (553-550), and the final battle resulted in the capture of Ecbatana. According to the historians Herodotus and Ctesias, Cyrus spared the life of Astyages and married his daughter, Amytis. This marriage pacified several vassal including the Bactrians, Parthians, and Saka. \\n\\nWith Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames was still the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus's authority—more of a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King. His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus's second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus's sons. Cyrus's conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars. \\n\\nLydian Empire and Asia Minor\\n\\nThe exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Median kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held. The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning. \\n\\nWhile in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of the winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus the Great pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus the Great to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great spared Croesus's life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle (the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia), which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain. \\n\\nBefore returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus's treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyas hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares's arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene. The end of Pactyas is unknown, but after capture, he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures. \\n\\nMazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC and returned to Persia.\\n\\nNeo-Babylonian Empire\\n\\nBy the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa. The Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed, and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace. It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years. \\n\\nTwo days later, on October 7 (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus. Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians, using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks, diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped \\\"to the height of the middle of a man's thigh\\\", which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night. On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus. \\n\\nPrior to Cyrus's invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact. \\n\\nAfter taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself \\\"king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world\\\" in the famous Cyrus Cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus pleasing the god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.\\n\\nCyrus the Great's dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen. At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east. \\n\\nDeath\\n\\nThe details of Cyrus's death vary by account. The account of Herodotus from his Histories provides the second-longest detail, in which Cyrus met his fate in a fierce battle with the Massagetae, a tribe from the southern deserts of Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum in the southernmost portion of the steppe regions of modern-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following the advice of Croesus to attack them in their own territory. The Massagetae were related to the Scythians in their dress and mode of living; they fought on horseback and on foot. In order to acquire her realm, Cyrus first sent an offer of marriage to their ruler, the empress Tomyris, a proposal she rejected.\\n\\nHe then commenced his attempt to take Massagetae territory by force (ca. 529), beginning by building bridges and towered war boats along his side of the river Jaxartes, or Syr Darya, which separated them. Sending him a warning to cease his encroachment in which she stated she expected he would disregard anyway, Tomyris challenged him to meet her forces in honorable warfare, inviting him to a location in her country a day's march from the river, where their two armies would formally engage each other. He accepted her offer, but, learning that the Massagetae were unfamiliar with wine and its intoxicating effects, he set up and then left camp with plenty of it behind, taking his best soldiers with him and leaving the least capable ones. The general of Tomyris's army, Spargapises, who was also her son, and a third of the Massagetian troops, killed the group Cyrus had left there and, finding the camp well stocked with food and the wine, unwittingly drank themselves into inebriation, diminishing their capability to defend themselves when they were then overtaken by a surprise attack. They were successfully defeated, and, although he was taken prisoner, Spargapises committed suicide once he regained sobriety. Upon learning of what had transpired, Tomyris denounced Cyrus's tactics as underhanded and swore vengeance, leading a second wave of troops into battle herself. Cyrus the Great was ultimately killed, and his forces suffered massive casualties in what Herodotus referred to as the fiercest battle of his career and the ancient world. When it was over, Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus brought to her, then decapitated him and dipped his head in a vessel of blood in a symbolic gesture of revenge for his bloodlust and the death of her son. However, some scholars question this version, mostly because Herodotus admits this event was one of many versions of Cyrus's death that he heard from a supposedly reliable source who told him no one was there to see the aftermath. \\n\\nHerodotus also recounts that Cyrus saw in his sleep the oldest son of Hystaspes (Darius I) with wings upon his shoulders, shadowing with the one wing Asia, and with the other wing Europe. Iranologist, Ilya Gershevitch explains this statement by Herodotus and its connection with the four winged bas-relief figure of Cyrus the Great in the following way:\\n\\nDandamayev says maybe Persians took back Cyrus' body from the Massagetae, unlike what Herodotus claimed. \\n\\nCtesias, in his Persica, has the longest account, which says Cyrus met his death while putting down resistance from the Derbices infantry, aided by other Scythian archers and cavalry, plus Indians and their elephants. According to him, this event took place northeast of the headwaters of the Syr Darya. An alternative account from Xenophon's Cyropaedia contradicts the others, claiming that Cyrus died peaceably at his capital. The final version of Cyrus's death comes from Berossus, who only reports that Cyrus met his death while warring against the Dahae archers northwest of the headwaters of the Syr Darya. \\n\\nBurial\\n\\nCyrus the Great's remains were interred in his capital city of Pasargadae, where today a limestone tomb (built around 540–530 BC) still exists which many believe to be his. Strabo and Arrian give nearly identical descriptions of the tomb, based on the eyewitness report of Aristobulus of Cassandreia, who at the request of Alexander the Great visited the tomb two times. Though the city itself is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact; and the tomb has been partially restored to counter its natural deterioration over the centuries. According to Plutarch, his epitaph said,\\n\\nCuneiform evidence from Babylon proves that Cyrus died around December 530 BC,Cyrus's date of death can be deduced from the last reference to his own reign (a tablet from Borsippa dated to 12 Augustus 530) and the first reference to the reign of his son Cambyses (a tablet from Babylon dated to 31 August); see R.A. Parker and W.H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. – A.D. 75, 1971. and that his son Cambyses II had become king. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and captured Egypt for the Empire, but soon died after only seven years of rule. He was succeeded either by Cyrus's other son Bardiya or an impostor posing as Bardiya, who became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great.\\n\\nThe translated ancient Roman and Greek accounts give a vivid description of the tomb both geometrically and aesthetically; The tomb's geometric shape has changed little over the years, still maintaining a large stone of quadrangular form at the base, followed by a pyramidal succession of smaller rectangular stones, until after a few slabs, the structure is curtailed by an edifice, with an arched roof composed of a pyramidal shaped stone, and a small opening or window on the side, where the slenderest man could barely squeeze through.\\n\\nWithin this edifice was a golden coffin, resting on a table with golden supports, inside of which the body of Cyrus the Great was interred. Upon his resting place, was a covering of tapestry and drapes made from the best available Babylonian materials, utilizing fine Median worksmanship; below his bed was a fine red carpet, covering the narrow rectangular area of his tomb. Translated Greek accounts describe the tomb as having been placed in the fertile Pasargadae gardens, surrounded by trees and ornamental shrubs, with a group of Achaemenian protectors called the \\\"Magi\\\", stationed nearby to protect the edifice from theft or damage. \\n\\nYears later, in the chaos created by Alexander the Great's invasion of Persia and after the defeat of Darius III, Cyrus the Great's tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated, and questioned the Magi and put them to court. On some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire, than a concern for Cyrus's tomb., however Alexander admired Cyrus, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator. Regardless, Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior. Despite his admiration for Cyrus the Great, and his attempts at renovation of his tomb, Alexander had, six years previously (330 BC), sacked Persepolis, the opulent city that Cyrus may have chosen the site for, and either ordered its burning as an act of pro-Greek propaganda or set it on fire during drunken revels. \\n\\nThe edifice has survived the test of time, through invasions, internal divisions, successive empires, regime changes and revolutions. The last prominent Persian figure to bring attention to the tomb was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah of Iran) the last official monarch of Persia, during his celebrations of 2,500 years of monarchy. Just as Alexander the Great before him, the Shah of Iran wanted to appeal to Cyrus's legacy to legitimize his own rule by extension. United Nations recognizes the tomb of Cyrus the Great and Pasargadae as a UNESCO World Heritage site.\\n\\nLegacy\\n\\nBritish historian Charles Freeman suggests that \\\"In scope and extent his achievements [Cyrus] ranked far above that of\\\" Alexander the Great, \\\"who was to demolish the [Achaemenid] empire in the 320s but fail to provide any stable alternative.\\\" Cyrus has been a personal hero to many people, including Thomas Jefferson, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and David Ben-Gurion. \\n\\nThe achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity are reflected in the way he is remembered today. His own nation, the Iranians, have regarded him as \\\"The Father\\\", the very title that had been used during the time of Cyrus himself, by the many nations that he conquered, as according to Xenophon: \\n\\nThe Babylonians regarded him as \\\"The Liberator\\\". \\n\\nThe Book of Ezra narrates a story of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus, in which Cyrus boastfully proclaims: \\\"All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.\\\"()\\n\\nCyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. Due in part to the political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid Empire endured long after his death.\\n\\nThe rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world history. Iranian philosophy, literature and religion all played dominant roles in world events for the next millennium. Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE by the Islamic Caliphate, Persia continued to exercise enormous influence in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, and was particularly instrumental in the growth and expansion of Islam.\\n\\nMany of the Iranian dynasties following the Achaemenid Empire and their kings saw themselves as the heirs to Cyrus the Great and have claimed to continue the line begun by Cyrus. However, there are different opinions among scholars whether this is also the case for the Sassanid Dynasty. \\n\\nAlexander the Great was himself infatuated with and admired Cyrus the Great, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance and his abilities as a king and a legislator. During his visit to Pasargadae he ordered Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of his tomb.\\n\\nAccording to Professor Richard Nelson Frye, Cyrus – whose abilities as conqueror and administrator Frye says are attested by the longevity and vigor of the Achaemenid Empire – held an almost mythic role among the Persian people \\\"similar to that of Romulus and Remus in Rome or Moses for the Israelites\\\", with a story that \\\"follows in many details the stories of hero and conquerors from elsewhere in the ancient world\\\". Frye writes, \\\"He became the epitome of the great qualities expected of a ruler in antiquity, and he assumed heroic features as a conqueror who was tolerant and magnanimous as well as brave and daring. His personality as seen by the Greeks influenced them and Alexander the Great, and, as the tradition was transmitted by the Romans, may be considered to influence our thinking even now.\\\"\\n\\nOn another account, Professor Patrick Hunt states, \\\"If you are looking at the greatest personages in History who have affected the World, 'Cyrus the Great' is one of the few who deserves that epithet, the one who deserves to be called 'the Great'. The empire over which Cyrus ruled was the largest the Ancient World had ever seen and may be to this day the largest empire ever.\\\"Cited quote as per media (documentary piece) titled \\\"Engineering an Empire – The Persians\\\". History Channel. Release date: December 4, 2006. Media available for viewing online via [http://www.history.com/ history.com] or via Google Video. Host: Peter Weller. Production: United States.\\n\\nReligion and philosophy\\n\\nThough it is generally believed that Zarathushtra's teachings maintained influence on Cyrus's acts and policies, so far no clear evidence has been found to indicate that Cyrus practiced a specific religion. Pierre Briant wrote that given the poor information we have, \\\"it seems quite reckless to try to reconstruct what the religion of Cyrus might have been.\\\" His views are believed expressed in the content of the Cylinder:\\n\\n\\\"û-mi-Ša-am ma- h ar iluBel ù iluNabu Š a a-ra-ku ume-ia li-ta-mu-ú lit-taŠ-ka-ru a-ma-a-ta du-un-ki-ia ù a-na iluMarduk beli-ia li-iq-bu-ú ' Ša mKu-ra-aŠ Šarri pa-li- hi-ka u mKa-am-bu-zi-ia mari- Šu' \\\" (Cylinder, Akkadian language line:35) \\n\\npray daily before Bêl and Nabû for long life for me, and may they speak a gracious word for me and say to Marduk, my lord, \\\"May Cyrus, the king who worships you, and Cambyses, his son,\\\" (Cylinder, English Translation line:35)\\n\\nThe policies of Cyrus with respect to treatment of minority religions are well documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources and the historians accounts. Cyrus had a general policy of religious tolerance throughout his vast empire. Whether this was a new policy or the continuation of policies followed by the Babylonians and Assyrians (as Lester Grabbe maintains) is disputed. He brought peace to the Babylonians and is said to have kept his army away from the temples and restored the statues of the Babylonian gods to their sanctuaries.\\n\\nHis treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem is reported in the Bible. The Jewish Bible's Ketuvim ends in Second Chronicles with the decree of Cyrus, which returned the exiles to the Promised Land from Babylon along with a commission to rebuild the temple.\\n\\nThus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the , the God of heaven given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people – the , his God, be with him – let him go there. — ()\\n\\nThis edict is also fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra.\\n\\nIn the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: \\\"Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.\\\" — ()\\n\\nThe Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. In one Biblical passage, Isaiah refers to him as Messiah (lit. \\\"His anointed one\\\") (), making him the only gentile to be so referred. Elsewhere in Isaiah, God is described as saying, \\\"I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says God Almighty.\\\" () As the text suggests, Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute. These particular passages (Isaiah 40–55, often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah) are believed by most modern critical scholars to have been added by another author toward the end of the Babylonian exile \\n\\nJosephus, the first-century Jewish historian, relates the traditional view of the Jews regarding the prediction of Cyrus in Isaiah in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 11, chapter 1: \\n\\nCyrus was praised in the Tanakh ( and ) for the freeing of slaves, humanitarian equality and costly reparations he made. However, there was Jewish criticism of him after he was lied to by the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the building of the Second Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so Cyrus in turn stopped the construction, which would not be completed until 515 BC, during the reign of Darius I. \\nAccording to the Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:7–24)\\n\\nThe historical nature of this decree has been challenged. Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples. He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a \\\"trickle\\\", taking place over perhaps decades, resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30,000. Philip R. Davies called the authenticity of the decree \\\"dubious\\\", citing Grabbe and adding that J. Briend argued against \\\"the authenticity of Ezra 1.1–4 is J. Briend, in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993, who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather biblical prophetic idiom.\\\" \\nMary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the Cylinder that Cyrus, like earlier rules, was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important, particularly those close to Egypt which he wished to conquer. He also wrote that \\\"appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co-opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control.\\\" \\n\\nSome contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that the Qur'anic figure of Dhul-Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great. This theory was proposed by Sunni scholar Abul Kalam Azad and endorsed by Shi'a scholars Allameh Tabatabaei, in his Tafsir al-Mizan and Makarem Shirazi.\\n\\nPolitics and management\\n\\nCyrus founded the empire as a multi-state empire governed by four capital states; Pasargadae, Babylon, Susa and Ecbatana. He allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in each state, in the form of a satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (governor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a 'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government.\\n\\nDuring his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms, achieved through retaining and expanding the satrapies. Further organization of newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by satraps, was continued by Cyrus's successor Darius the Great. Cyrus's empire was based on tribute and conscripts from the many parts of his realm. \\n\\nThrough his military savvy, Cyrus created an organized army including the Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained soldiers. He also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh. \\n\\nCyrus's conquests began a new era in the age of empire building, where a vast superstate, comprising many dozens of countries, races, religions, and languages, were ruled under a single administration headed by a central government. This system lasted for centuries, and was retained both by the invading Seleucid dynasty during their control of Persia, and later Iranian dynasties including the Parthians and Sasanians. \\n\\nOn December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked Cyrus, saying:\\n\\nCyrus has been known for his innovations in building projects; he further developed the technologies that he found in the conquered cultures and applied them in building the palaces of Pasargadae. He was also famous for his love of gardens; the recent excavations in his capital city has revealed the existence of the Pasargad Persian Garden and a network of irrigation canals. Pasargadae was a place for two magnificent palaces surrounded by a majestic royal park and vast formal gardens; among them was the four-quartered wall gardens of \\\"Paradisia\\\" with over 1000 meters of channels made out of carved limestone, designed to fill small basins at every 16 meters and water various types of wild and domestic flora. The design and concept of Paradisia were exceptional and have been used as a model for many ancient and modern parks, ever since. \\n\\nCyrus's legacy has been felt even as far away as Iceland and colonial America. Many of the thinkers and rulers of Classical Antiquity as well as the Renaissance and Enlightenment era, and the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, owned two copies of Cyropaedia, one with parallel Greek and Latin translations on facing pages showing substantial Jefferson markings that signify the amount of influence the book has had on drafting the United States Declaration of Independence. \\n\\nThe English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne penned a discourse entitled The Garden of Cyrus in 1658 in which Cyrus is depicted as an archetypal \\\"wise ruler\\\" – while the Protectorate of Cromwell ruled Britain.\\n\\n\\\"Cyrus the elder brought up in Woods and Mountains, when time and power enabled, pursued the dictate of his education, and brought the treasures of the field into rule and circumscription. So nobly beautifying the hanging Gardens of Babylon, that he was also thought to be the author thereof.\\\"\\n\\nCyrus Cylinder\\n\\nOne of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus's time is the Cyrus cylinder, a document in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. It had been placed in the foundations of the Esagila (the temple of Marduk in Babylon) as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest in 539 BC. It was discovered in 1879 and is kept today in the British Museum in London. \\n\\nThe text of the cylinder denounces the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus as impious and portrays Cyrus as pleasing to the chief god Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although not mentioned in the text, the repatriation of the Jews from their \\\"Babylonian captivity\\\" has been interpreted as part of this policy. \\n\\nIn the 1970s the Shah of Iran adopted the Cyrus cylinder as a political symbol, using it \\\"as a central image in his celebration of 2500 years of Iranian monarchy.\\\" and asserting that it was \\\"the first human rights charter in history\\\". This view has been disputed by some as \\\"rather anachronistic\\\" and tendentious, as the modern concept of human rights would have been quite alien to Cyrus's contemporaries and is not mentioned by the cylinder. The cylinder has, nonetheless, become seen as part of Iran's cultural identity.\\n\\nThe United Nations has declared the relic to be an \\\"ancient declaration of human rights\\\" since 1971, approved by then Secretary General Sithu U Thant, after he \\\"was given a replica by the sister of the Shah of Iran\\\". The British Museum describes the cylinder as \\\"an instrument of ancient Mesopotamian propaganda\\\" that \\\"reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, from as early as the third millennium BC, kings began their reigns with declarations of reforms.\\\" The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's continuity with previous Babylonian rulers, asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor. \\n\\nNeil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, has stated that the cylinder was \\\"the first attempt we know about running a society, a state with different nationalities and faiths — a new kind of statecraft.\\\" He explained that \\\"It has even been described as the first declaration of human rights, and while this was never the intention of the document -- the modern concept of human rights scarcely existed in the ancient world -- it has come to embody the hopes and aspirations of many.\\\" \\n\\nFamily tree\",\n \"Battle_of_Thermopylae.txt\\nBattle of Thermopylae\\nThe Battle of Thermopylae ( ; Greek: , Machē tōn Thermopylōn) was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae (\\\"The Hot Gates\\\"). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium.\\n\\nA Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the middle of 480 BC. The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered over one million, but today considered to have been much smaller (various figures are given by scholars, ranging between about 100,000 and 150,000), arrived at the pass in late August or early September. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's most famous last stands. During two full days of battle, the small force led by Leonidas blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. After the second day, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing that a small path led behind the Greek lines. Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, and perhaps a few hundred others, most of whom were killed.\\n\\nAt Artemisium, the Greek navy, under the command of the Athenian politician Themistocles, received news of the defeat. Since the Greek strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, and given their losses, it was decided to withdraw to Salamis. The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated Athens. The Greek fleet—seeking a decisive victory over the Persian armada—attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Fearful of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia (losing most to starvation and disease), leaving Mardonius to attempt to complete the conquest of Greece. However, the following year saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion.\\n\\nBoth ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending its native soil. The performance of the defenders is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.\\n\\nSources\\n\\nThe primary source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus. The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the 1st century BC in his Bibliotheca historica, also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars, partially derived from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus. This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus'. The Greco-Persian wars are also described in less detail by a number of other ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias of Cnidus, and are referred to by other authors, as in Aeschylus' The Persians. Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column (now in the Hippodrome of Istanbul), also supports some of Herodotus' specific claims. George B. Grundy was the first modern historian to do a thorough topographical survey of the narrow pass at Thermopylae, and to the extent that modern accounts of the battle differ from Herodotus they usually follow Grundy. For example, the military strategist Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart defers to Grundy. \\nGrundy also explored Plataea and wrote a treatise on that battle. \\n\\nOn the Battle of Thermopylae itself, two principal sources, Herodotus and Simonides, survive. Herodotus' account of the battle, in Book VII of his Histories, is such an important source that Paul Cartledge writes that \\\"we either write a history of Thermopylae with [Herodotus], or not at all\\\". Additionally, we have an epitome of the account of Ctesias, by the eighth-century Byzantine Photias, though this is \\\"almost worse than useless\\\", missing key events in the battle such as the betrayal of Ephialtes, and the account of Diodorus Siculus in his Universal History. Diodorus' account seems to have been based on that of Ephorus, and contains one significant deviation from Herodotus' account: a supposed night attack against the Persian camp, of which modern scholars have tended to be skeptical. \\n\\nBackground\\n\\nThe Greek city-states of Athens and Eretria had encouraged the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499–494 BC. The Persian Empire was still relatively young, and prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples.Holland, p. 47–55 Darius, moreover, was a\\nusurper, and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule.\\n\\nThe Ionian revolt threatened the integrity of his empire, and Darius thus vowed to punish those involved; especially the Athenians, \\\"since he was sure that [the Ionians] would not go unpunished for their rebellion\\\". Darius also saw the opportunity to expand his empire into the fractious world of Ancient Greece.Holland, 171–178 A preliminary expedition under Mardonius in 492 BC to secure the land approaches to Greece re-conquered Thrace, and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia. \\n\\nDarius sent emissaries to all the Greek city-states in 491 BC asking for a gift of \\\"earth and water\\\" in token of their submission to him.Holland, pp. 178–179 Having had a demonstration of his power the previous year, the majority of Greek cities duly obliged. In Athens, however, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed by throwing them in a pit; in Sparta, they were simply thrown down a well. This meant that Sparta was also effectively at war with Persia.\\n\\nDarius thus put together an amphibious task force under Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC, which attacked Naxos, before receiving the submission of the other Cycladic Islands. The task force then moved on Eretria, which it besieged and destroyed. Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of Marathon, where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. At the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia. \\n\\nDarius therefore began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition.Holland, p. 203 Darius then died whilst preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt, and very quickly restarted the preparations for the invasion of Greece.Holland, pp. 208–211 Since this was to be a full-scale invasion, it required long-term planning, stockpiling and conscription. Xerxes decided that the Hellespont would be bridged to allow his army to cross to Europe, and that a canal should be dug across the isthmus of Mount Athos (rounding which headland, a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BC). These were both feats of exceptional ambition, which would have been beyond any other contemporary state.Holland, pp. 213–214 By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at Sardis marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges.\\n\\nThe Athenians had also been preparing for war with the Persians since the mid-480s BC, and in 482 BC the decision was taken, under the guidance of the Athenian politician Themistocles, to build a massive fleet of triremes that would be essential for the Greeks to fight the Persians.Holland, p. 217–223 However, the Athenians did not have the manpower to fight on both land and sea; and therefore combating the Persians would require an alliance of Greek city states. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece asking for 'earth and water' but making the very deliberate omission of Athens and Sparta. Support thus began to coalesce around these two leading states. A congress of city states met at Corinth in late autumn of 481 BC,Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.145.1 VII, 145] and a confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed. It had the power to send envoys asking for assistance and to dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points after joint consultation. This was remarkable for the disjointed Greek world, especially since many of the city-states in attendance were still technically at war with each other.Holland, p. 226\\n\\nThe 'congress' met again in the spring of 480 BC. A Thessalian delegation suggested that the Greeks could muster in the narrow Vale of Tempe, on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance.Holland, pp. 248–249 A force of 10,000 hoplites was dispatched to the Vale of Tempe, through which they believed the Persian army would have to pass. However, once there, being warned by Alexander I of Macedon that the vale could be bypassed through Sarantoporo Pass, and that the army of Xerxes was overwhelming, the Greeks retreated.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.173.1 VII, 173] Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont.\\n\\nA second strategy was therefore suggested by Themistocles to the Greeks. The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae. This could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians.Holland, pp. 255–257 Furthermore, to prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium. This dual strategy was adopted by the congress.Holland, pp. 255–257 However, the Peloponnesian cities made fall-back plans to defend the Isthmus of Corinth should it come to that, whilst the women and children of Athens had been evacuated en masse to the Peloponnesian city of Troezen. \\n\\nPrelude\\n\\nThe Persian army seems to have made slow progress through Thrace and Macedon. News of the imminent Persian approach eventually reached Greece in August thanks to a Greek spy. At this time of year the Spartans, de facto military leaders of the alliance, were celebrating the festival of Carneia. During the Carneia, military activity was forbidden by Spartan law; the Spartans had arrived too late at the Battle of Marathon because of this requirement.Herodotus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.205 VII, 206] It was also the time of the Olympic Games, and therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war.Holland, pp. 258–259. On this occasion, the ephors decided the urgency was sufficiently great to justify an advance expedition to block the pass, under one of its kings, Leonidas I. Leonidas took with him the 300 men of the royal bodyguard, the Hippeis. This expedition was to try to gather as many other Greek soldiers along the way as possible, and to await the arrival of the main Spartan army.\\n\\nThe legend of Thermopylae, as told by Herodotus, has it that the Spartans consulted the Oracle at Delphi earlier in the year. The Oracle is said to have made the following prophecy:\\nO ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon! \\nHonor the festival of the Carneia!! Otherwise, \\nEither your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, \\nOr, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country \\nMourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.Rawlinson translation of Herodotus [http://www.greektexts.com/library/Herodotus/Polymnia/eng/242.html VII, 242]Herodotus tells us that Leonidas, in line with the prophecy, was convinced he was going to certain death since his forces were not adequate for a victory, and so he selected only Spartans with living sons.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.205.1 VII, 205]\\n\\nThe Spartan force was reinforced en route to Thermopylae by contingents from various cities and numbered more than 7,000 by the time it arrived at the pass. Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the 'middle gate', the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the Phocians had built a defensive wall some time before. News also reached Leonidas, from the nearby city of Trachis, that there was a mountain track which could be used to outflank the pass of Thermopylae. Leonidas stationed 1,000 Phocians on the heights to prevent such a manoeuvre.Herodotus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.217 VII, 217]\\n\\nFinally, in mid-August, the Persian army was sighted across the Malian Gulf approaching Thermopylae. With the Persian army's arrival at Thermopylae the Greeks held a council of war. Some Peloponnesians suggested withdrawal to the Isthmus of Corinth and blocking the passage to Peloponnesus. The Phocians and Locrians, whose states were located nearby, became indignant and advised defending Thermopylae and sending for more help. Leonidas calmed the panic and agreed to defend Thermopylae.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.207.1 VII, 207] According to Plutarch, when one of the soldiers complained that \\\"Because of the arrows of the barbarians it is impossible to see the sun\\\", Leonidas replied: \\\"Won't it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?\\\" Herodotus reports a similar comment, but attributes it to Dienekes. \\n\\nA Persian emissary was sent by Xerxes to negotiate with Leonidas. The Greeks were offered their freedom and the title \\\"Friends of the Persian People\\\". Moreover, they would be re-settled on land better than that they possessed.Holland, pp. 270–271 When these terms were refused by Leonidas, the ambassador carried a written message by Xerxes, asking him to \\\"Hand over your arms\\\". Leonidas' famous response was for the Persians to \\\"Come and take them\\\" (). With the Persian embassy returning empty-handed, battle became inevitable. Xerxes delayed for four days, waiting for the Greeks to disperse, before sending troops to attack them.\\n\\nOpposing forces\\n\\nPersian army\\n\\nThe number of troops which Xerxes mustered for the second invasion of Greece has been the subject of endless dispute, because the numbers given in ancient sources are very large indeed. Herodotus claimed that there were, in total, 2.6 million military personnel, accompanied by an equivalent number of support personnel.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.186 VII, 186] The poet Simonides, who was a near-contemporary, talks of four million; Ctesias gave 800,000 as the total number of the army that was assembled by Xerxes.\\n\\nModern scholars tend to reject the figures given by Herodotus and other ancient sources as unrealistic, and as a result of miscalculations or exaggerations on the part of the victors.Holland, p. 237 Modern scholarly estimates are generally in the range 70,000–300,000. These estimates usually come from studying the logistical capabilities of the Persians in that era, the sustainability of their respective base of operations, and the overall manpower constraints affecting them. Whatever the real numbers were, however, it is clear that Xerxes was anxious to ensure a successful expedition by mustering an overwhelming numerical superiority by land and by sea.de Souza, p. 41.\\nThe number of Persian troops present at Thermopylae is therefore as uncertain as the number for the total invasion force. For instance, it is unclear whether the whole Persian army marched as far as Thermopylae, or whether Xerxes left garrisons in Macedon and Thessaly.\\n\\nGreek army\\n\\nAccording to Herodotus,Herodotus, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.202.1 VII, 202]Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.203.1 VII, 203] and Diodorus Siculus,Diodorus Siculus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nDiod.+11.4 XI, 4] the Greek army included the following forces:\\n\\nNotes:\\n*The number of Peloponnesians\\nDiodorus suggests that there were 1,000 Lacedemonians and 3,000 other Peloponnesians, for a total of 4,000. Herodotus agrees with this figure in one passage, quoting an inscription by Simonides saying there were 4,000 Peloponnesians.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.228.1 VII, 228] However, elsewhere, in the passage summarized by the above table, Herodotus tallies 3,100 Peloponnesians at Thermopylae before the battle. Herodotus also reports that at Xerxes' public showing of the dead, \\\"helots were also there for them to see\\\",Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+8.25.1 VIII, 25] but he does not say how many or in what capacity they served. Thus, the difference between his two figures can be squared by supposing (without proof) that there were 900 helots (three per Spartan) present at the battle.Macan, note to Herodotus VIII, 25 If helots were present at the battle, there is no reason to doubt that they served in their traditional role as armed retainers to individual Spartans. Alternatively, Herodotus' \\\"missing\\\" 900 troops might have been Perioeci, and could therefore correspond to Diodorus' 1,000 Lacedemonians.\\n*The number of Lacedemonians\\nFurther confusing the issue is Diodorus' ambiguity about whether his 1,000 Lacedemonians include the 300 Spartans. At one point he says: \\\"Leonidas, when he received the appointment, announced that only one thousand men should follow him on the campaign\\\". However, he then says that: \\\"There were, then, of the Lacedaemonians one thousand, and with them three hundred Spartiates\\\". It is therefore impossible to be clearer on this point.\\n\\nPausanias' account agrees with that of Herodotus (whom he probably read) except that he gives the number of Locrians, which Herodotus declined to estimate. Residing in the direct path of the Persian advance, they gave all the fighting men they had; according to Pausanias 6,000 men, which added to Herodotus' 5,200 would have given a force of 11,200. \\n\\nMany modern historians, who usually consider Herodotus more reliable,Green, p. 140 add the 1,000 Lacedaemonians and the 900 helots to Herodotus' 5,200 to obtain 7,100 or about 7,000 men as a standard number, neglecting Diodorus' Melians and Pausanias' Locrians. Bury, pp. 271–282 However, this is only one approach, and many other combinations are plausible. Furthermore, the numbers changed later on in the battle when most of the army retreated and only approximately 3,000 men remained (300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, possibly up to 900 helots and 1,000 Phocians stationed above the pass; less the casualties sustained in the previous days).\\n\\nStrategic and tactical considerations\\n\\nFrom a strategic point of view, by defending Thermopylae, the Greeks were making the best possible use of their forces. As long as they could prevent further Persian advance into Greece, they had no need to seek a decisive battle, and could thus remain on the defensive. Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor. Conversely, for the Persians the problem of supplying such a large army meant that the Persians could not remain in the same place for too long.Holland, pp. 285–287 The Persians therefore had to retreat or advance; and advancing required the pass of Thermopylae to be forced.\\n\\nTactically, the pass at Thermopylae was ideally suited to the Greek style of warfare. A hoplite phalanx would be able to block the narrow pass with ease, with no risk of being outflanked by cavalry. In the pass, the phalanx would have been very difficult to assault for the more lightly armed Persian infantry. The major weak point for the Greeks was the mountain track which led across the highland parallel to Thermopylae, and which would allow their position to be outflanked. Although probably unsuitable for cavalry, this path could easily be traversed by the Persian infantry (many of whom were versed in mountain warfare).Holland, p 288 Leonidas was made aware of this path by local people from Trachis, and he positioned a detachment of Phocian troops there in order to block this route.Holland, pp. 262–264\\n\\nTopography of the battlefield\\n\\nAt the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. On the southern side of the track stood the cliffs that overlooked the pass, and on the north side was the Malian Gulf. Along the path itself was a series of three constrictions, or \\\"gates\\\" (pylai), and at the center gate a short wall that had been erected by the Phocians in the previous century to aid in their defense against Thessalian invasions. The name \\\"Hot Gates\\\" comes from the hot springs that were located there. \\n\\nThe terrain of the battlefield was nothing that Xerxes and his forces were accustomed to. Although coming from a mountainous country, the Persians were not prepared for the real nature of the country they had invaded. The pure ruggedness of this area is caused by torrential downpours for four months of the year, combined with an intense summer season of scorching heat that cracks the ground. Vegetation is scarce and consists of low shrubs that are of the thorny type. The hillsides along the pass are covered in thick brush, some plants reaching 10 ft high. With a dangerous cliff to the ocean on one side and steep, impassable hills on the other, King Leonidas and his men chose the perfect topographical position to battle the Persian invaders. \\n\\nToday, the pass is not near the sea, but is several kilometres inland because of sedimentation in the Malian Gulf. The old track appears at the foot of hills around the plain, flanked by a modern road. Recent core samples indicate that the pass was only 100 m wide and the waters came up to the gates; \\\"Little do the visitors realize that the battle took place across the road from the monument.\\\" The pass still is a natural defensive position to modern armies, and British Commonwealth forces in World War II made a defense in 1941 against the Nazi invasion metres from the original battlefield.\\n\\n*Maps of the region: \\n*Image of the battlefield, from the east \\n\\nBattle\\n\\nFirst day\\n\\nOn the fifth day after the Persian arrival at Thermopylae and the first day of the battle, Xerxes finally resolved to attack the Greeks. First, he ordered five thousand archers to fire a barrage of arrows, but they were ineffective; they fired from at least 100 yards away, according to modern day scholars, and the Greeks' bronze shields and helmets deflected the missiles. After that, Xerxes sent a force of ten thousand Medes and Cissians to take the defenders prisoner and bring them before him.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.210.1 VII, 210] The Persians soon launched a frontal assault, in waves of around 10,000 men, on the Greek position. The Greeks fought in front of the Phocian wall, at the narrowest part of the pass, which enabled them to use as few soldiers as possible.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.208.1 VII, 208] Details of the tactics are scant; Diodorus says \\\"the men stood shoulder to shoulder\\\" and the Greeks were \\\"superior in valor and in the great size of their shields.\\\"Diodorus Siculus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nDiod.+11.7.1 XI, 7] This probably describes the standard Greek phalanx, in which the men formed a wall of overlapping shields and layered spear points protruding out from the sides of the shields, which would have been highly effective as long as it spanned the width of the pass. The weaker shields and shorter spears and swords of the Persians prevented them from effectively engaging the Greek hoplites.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.211.1 VII, 211] Herodotus says that the units for each city were kept together; units were rotated in and out of the battle to prevent fatigue, which implies the Greeks had more men than necessary to block the pass.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.208.1 VII, 204] The Greeks killed so many Medes that Xerxes is said to have stood up three times from the seat from which he was watching the battle.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.212.1 VII, 212] According to Ctesias, the first wave was \\\"cut to ribbons\\\", with only two or three Spartans killed in return.\\n\\nAccording to Herodotus and Diodorus, the king, having taken the measure of the enemy, threw his best troops into a second assault the same day, the Immortals, an elite corps of 10,000 men. However, the Immortals fared no better than the Medes, failing to make any headway against the Greeks. The Spartans apparently used a tactic of feigning retreat, and then turning and killing the enemy troops when they ran after them.\\n\\nSecond day\\n\\nOn the second day, Xerxes again sent in the infantry to attack the pass, \\\"supposing that their enemies, being so few, were now disabled by wounds and could no longer resist.\\\" However, the Persians had no more success on the second day than on the first. Xerxes at last stopped the assault and withdrew to his camp, \\\"totally perplexed\\\".\\n\\nLater that day, however, as the Persian king was pondering what to do next, he received a windfall; a Trachinian named Ephialtes informed him of the mountain path around Thermopylae and offered to guide the Persian army. Ephialtes was motivated by the desire for a reward.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.213.1 VII, 213] For this act, the name of Ephialtes received a lasting stigma, his name coming to mean \\\"nightmare\\\" in the Greek language and becoming the archetypal traitor in Greek culture. \\n\\nHerodotus reports that Xerxes sent his commander Hydarnes that evening, with the men under his command, the Immortals, to encircle the Greeks via the path. However, he does not say who those men were. The Immortals had been bloodied on the first day, so it is possible that Hydarnes may have been given overall command of an enhanced force including what was left of the Immortals, and indeed, according to Diodorus, Hydarnes had a force of 20,000 for the mission. The path led from east of the Persian camp along the ridge of Mt. Anopaea behind the cliffs that flanked the pass. It branched, with one path leading to Phocis and the other down to the Malian Gulf at Alpenus, first town of Locris.\\n\\nThird day\\n\\nAt daybreak on the third day, the Phocians guarding the path above Thermopylae became aware of the outflanking Persian column by the rustling of oak leaves. Herodotus says that they jumped up and were greatly amazed.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.218.1 VII, 218] Hydarnes was perhaps just as amazed to see them hastily arming themselves as they were to see him and his forces.Holland, p. 291–293 He feared that they were Spartans, but was informed by Ephialtes that they were not. The Phocians retreated to a nearby hill to make their stand (assuming that the Persians had come to attack them). However, not wishing to be delayed, the Persians merely shot a volley of arrows at them, before bypassing them to continue with their encirclement of the main Greek force.\\n\\nLearning from a runner that the Phocians had not held the path, Leonidas called a council of war at dawn. According to Diodorus, a Persian called Tyrrhastiadas, a Cymaean by birth, warned the Greeks. Some of the Greeks argued for withdrawal, but Leonidas resolved to stay at the pass with the Spartans. Many of the Greek contingents then either chose to withdraw (without orders), or were ordered to leave by Leonidas (Herodotus admits that there is some doubt about which actually happened).Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.219.1 VII, 219] The contingent of 700 Thespians, led by their general Demophilus, refused to leave and committed themselves to the fight.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.222.1 VII, 222] Also present were the 400 Thebans, and probably the helots who had accompanied the Spartans.\\n\\nLeonidas' actions have been the subject of much discussion. It is commonly stated that the Spartans were obeying the laws of Sparta by not retreating, but it seems it was actually the failure to retreat from Thermopylae that gave rise to the notion that Spartans never retreated.Lazenby, pp. 144–145 It is also possible that, recalling the words of the Oracle, Leonidas was committed to sacrifice his life in order to save Sparta. However, since the prophecy was specific to him, this seems a poor reason to commit 1,500 other men to a fight to the death. The most likely theory is that Leonidas chose to form a rearguard so that the other Greek contingents could get away. If all the troops had retreated, the open ground beyond the pass would have allowed the Persian cavalry to run the Greeks down. If they had all remained at the pass, they would have been encircled and would eventually have all been killed. By covering the retreat and continuing to block the pass, Leonidas could save more than 3,000 men, who would be able to fight again. The Thebans have also been the subject of some discussion. Herodotus suggests that they were brought to the battle as hostages to ensure the good behavior of Thebes. However, as Plutarch long ago pointed out, if they were hostages, why not send them away with the rest of the Greeks? The likelihood is that these were the Theban 'loyalists', who unlike the majority of their fellow citizens, objected to Persian domination. They thus probably came to Thermopylae of their own free will and stayed to the end because they could not return to Thebes if the Persians conquered Boeotia. The Thespians, resolved as they were not to submit to Xerxes, faced the destruction of their city if the Persians took Boeotia. However, this alone does not explain the fact that they remained; the remainder of Thespiae was successfully evacuated before the Persians arrived there. It seems that the Thespians volunteered to remain as a simple act of self-sacrifice, all the more amazing since their contingent represented every single hoplite the city could muster. This seems to have been a particularly Thespian trait – on at least two other occasions in later history, a Thespian force would commit itself to a fight to the death.\\n\\nAt dawn, Xerxes made libations, pausing to allow the Immortals sufficient time to descend the mountain, and then began his advance.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.223.1 VII, 223] A Persian force of ten thousand men, consisting of light infantry and cavalry, charged at the front of the Greek formation. The Greeks this time sallied forth from the wall to meet the Persians in the wider part of the pass in an attempt to slaughter as many Persians as they could. They fought with spears until every spear was shattered and then switched to xiphē (short swords). In this struggle, Herodotus states that two brothers of Xerxes fell: Abrocomes and Hyperanthes. Leonidas also died in the assault, shot down by Persian archers, and the two sides fought over his body, the Greeks taking possession.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.224.1 VII, 224] As the Immortals approached, the Greeks withdrew and took a stand on a hill behind the wall. The Thebans \\\"moved away from their companions, and with hands upraised, advanced toward the barbarians...\\\" (Rawlinson translation), but a few were slain before their surrender was accepted. The king later had the Theban prisoners branded with the royal mark.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.233.1 VII 233] Of the remaining defenders, Herodotus says: \\\"Here they defended themselves to the last, those who still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth.\\\"Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.225.1 VII, 225] Tearing down part of the wall, Xerxes ordered the hill surrounded, and the Persians rained down arrows until every last Greek was dead. In 1939, archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, excavating at Thermopylae, found large numbers of Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill, changing the identification of the hill on which the Greeks died from a smaller one nearer the wall. \\n\\nThe pass at Thermopylae was thus opened to the Persian army, according to Herodotus, at the cost to the Persians of up to 20,000 fatalities.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+8.23.1 VIII, 24] The Greek rearguard, meanwhile, was annihilated, with a probable loss of 2,000 men, including those killed on the first two days of battle. Herodotus says at one point that 4,000 Greeks died, but assuming that the Phocians guarding the track were not killed during the battle (as Herodotus implies), this would be almost every Greek soldier present (by Herodotus' own estimates), and this number is probably too high. \\n\\nAftermath\\n\\nWhen the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, Xerxes, in a rage against Leonidas, ordered that the head be cut off and the body crucified. Herodotus observes that it was very uncommon for the Persians, as they had the habit of treating \\\"valiant warriors\\\" with great honour (the example of Pytheas, captured off Skiathos before the Battle of Artemisium, strengthens this suggestion).Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.181.1 VII, 181] However, Xerxes was known for his rage. Legend has it that he had the Hellespont whipped, the water itself, because it would not obey him. \\n\\nAfter the Persians' departure, the Greeks collected their dead and buried them on the hill. After the Persian invasion was repulsed, a stone lion was erected at Thermopylae to commemorate Leonidas.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.238.1 VII, 238] A full 40 years after the battle, Leonidas' bones were returned to Sparta, where he was buried again with full honors; funeral games were held every year in his memory. \\n\\nWith Thermopylae now opened to the Persian army, the continuation of the blockade at Artemisium by the Greek fleet became irrelevant. The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium had been a tactical stalemate, and the Greek navy was able to retreat in good order to the Saronic Gulf, where they helped to ferry the remaining Athenian citizens to the island of Salamis.Holland, p. 294\\n\\nFollowing Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to burn and sack Plataea and Thespiae, the Boeotian cities that had not submitted, before it marched on the now evacuated city of Athens. Meanwhile, the Greeks (for the most part Peloponnesians) prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth, demolishing the single road that led through it and building a wall across it. As at Thermopylae, to make this an effective strategy required the Greek navy to stage a simultaneous blockade, barring the passage of the Persian navy across the Saronic Gulf, so that troops could not be landed directly on the Peloponnese.Holland, pp. 299–303 However, instead of a mere blockade, Themistocles persuaded the Greeks to seek a decisive victory against the Persian fleet. Luring the Persian navy into the Straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet was able to destroy much of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Salamis, which essentially ended the threat to the Peloponnese.Holland, pp. 327–334\\n\\nFearing that the Greeks might attack the bridges across the Hellespont and trap his army in Europe, Xerxes now retreated with much of the army back to Asia,Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+8.97.1 VIII, 97] though nearly all of them died of starvation and disease on the return.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+8.115.1 VIII, 115] He left a handpicked force under Mardonius to complete the conquest the following year. However, under pressure from the Athenians, the Peloponnesians eventually agreed to try to force Mardonius to battle, and marched on Attica. Mardonius retreated to Boeotia to lure the Greeks into open terrain, and the two sides eventually met near the city of Plataea.Holland, pp. 338–341 At the Battle of Plataea, the Greek army won a decisive victory, destroying much of the Persian army, and ending the invasion of Greece. Meanwhile, at the near-simultaneous naval Battle of Mycale, they also destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet, thereby reducing the threat of further invasions. \\n\\nThermopylae is arguably the most famous battle in European ancient history, repeatedly referenced in ancient, recent, and contemporary culture. In Western culture at least, it is the Greeks who are lauded for their performance in battle.Holland, p. xviii. However, within the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae was undoubtedly a defeat for the Greeks. It seems clear that the Greek strategy was to hold off the Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium; whatever they may have intended, it was presumably not their desire to surrender all of Boeotia and Attica to the Persians. The Greek position at Thermopylae, despite being massively outnumbered, was nearly impregnable. If the position had been held for even a little longer, the Persians might have had to retreat for lack of food and water. Thus, despite the heavy losses, forcing the pass was strategically a Persian victory, but the successful retreat of the bulk of the Greek troops was in its own sense a victory as well. The battle itself had showed that a few free men were willing to do anything for victory against the invaders. The defeat at Thermopylae had turned Leonidas and the men under his command into martyrs. That boosted the morale of all Greek soldiers in the second Persian invasion.\\n\\nIt is sometimes stated that Thermopylae was a Pyrrhic victory for the Persians, one in which the victor is as damaged by the battle as the defeated party. However, there is no suggestion by Herodotus that the effect on the Persian forces was that. The idea ignores the fact that the Persians would, in the aftermath of Thermopylae, conquer the majority of Greece,Cawkwell, pp. 105–106 and the fact that they were still fighting in Greece a year later.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+9.1.1 IX, 1] Alternatively, the argument is sometimes advanced that the last stand at Thermopylae was a successful delaying action that gave the Greek navy time to prepare for the Battle of Salamis. However, compared to the probable time (about one month) between Thermopylae and Salamis, the time bought was negligible. Furthermore, this idea also neglects the fact that a Greek navy was fighting at Artemisium during the Battle of Thermopylae, incurring losses in the process. George Cawkwell suggests that the gap between Thermopylae and Salamis was caused by Xerxes systematically reducing Greek opposition in Phocis and Boeotia, and not as a result of the Battle of Thermopylae; thus, as a delaying action, Thermopylae was insignificant compared to Xerxes's own procrastination. Far from labeling Thermopylae as a Pyrrhic victory, modern academic treatises on the Greco-Persian Wars tend to emphasise the success of Xerxes in breaching the formidable Greek position and the subsequent conquest of the majority of Greece. For instance, Cawkwell states that \\\"he was successful on both land and sea, and the Great Invasion began with a brilliant success.\\n.. Xerxes had every reason to congratulate himself\\\", while Lazenby describes the Greek defeat as \\\"disastrous\\\".\\n\\nThe fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived not from its effect on the outcome of the war but for the inspirational example it set. Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass. Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources: \\\"...the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men.\\\" A second reason is the example it set of free men, fighting for their country and their freedom:\\n\\nSo almost immediately, contemporary Greeks saw Thermopylae as a critical moral and culture lesson. In universal terms, a small, free people had willingly outfought huge numbers of imperial subjects who advanced under the lash. More specifically, the Western idea that soldiers themselves decide where, how, and against whom they will fight was contrasted against the Eastern notion of despotism and monarchy—freedom proving the stronger idea as the more courageous fighting of the Greeks at Thermopylae, and their later victories at Salamis and Plataea attested. While this paradigm of \\\"free men\\\" outfighting \\\"slaves\\\" can be seen as a rather sweeping over-generalization (there are plenty of counter-examples), it is nevertheless true that many commentators have used Thermopylae to illustrate this point.Lazenby, pp. 248–253\\n\\nMilitarily, although the battle was actually not decisive in the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae is also of some significance, on the basis of the first two days of fighting. The performance of the defenders is used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers.Eikenberry, 1996\\n\\nLegacy\\n\\nMonuments\\n\\nThere are several monuments around the battlefield of Thermopylae.\\n\\nEpitaph of Simonides\\n\\nA well-known epigram, usually attributed to Simonides, was engraved as an epitaph on a commemorative stone placed on top of the burial mound of the Spartans at Thermopylae. It is also the hill on which the last of them died. The original stone has not survived, but in 1955, the epitaph was engraved on a new stone. The text from Herodotus is:\\n\\n:.\\n\\nŌ ksein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tēide\\nkeimetha, tois keinōn rhēmasi peithomenoi.\\n\\nOh stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that\\nwe lie here, trusting their words. \\n\\nThe alternative ancient reading for substitutes \\\"laws\\\" or \\\"orders\\\" for \\\"words.\\\" In other words, the \\\"orders\\\" are not personal but refer to official and binding phrases (the Ancient Greek term can also refer to a formal speech). \\n\\nThe form of this ancient Greek poetry is an elegiac couplet, commonly used for epitaphs. Some English renderings are given in the table below. It is also an example of Laconian brevity, a spartan style of verse that allows for varying interpretations of the meaning of the poem. Ioannis Ziogas points out that the usual English translations are far from the only interpretation possible, and indicate much about the romantic tendencies of the translators.\\n\\nIt was well known in ancient Greece that all the Spartans who had been sent to Thermopylae had been killed there (with the exception of Aristodemus and Pantites), and the epitaph exploits the conceit that there was nobody left to bring the news of their deeds back to Sparta. Greek epitaphs often appealed to the passing reader (always called 'stranger') for sympathy, but the epitaph for the dead Spartans at Thermopylae took this convention much further than usual, asking the reader to make a personal journey to Sparta to break the news that the Spartan expeditionary force had been wiped out. The stranger is also asked to stress that the Spartans died 'fulfilling their orders'.\\n\\nThe first line of the epigram was used as the title of the short story \\\"Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We…\\\" by German Nobel Prize laureate Heinrich Böll. A variant of the epigram is inscribed on the Polish Cemetery at Monte Cassino.\\n\\nJohn Ruskin expressed the importance of this ideal to Western civilization as follows:Also obedience in its highest form is not obedience to a constant and compulsory law, but a persuaded or voluntary yielded obedience to an issued command .... His name who leads the armies of Heaven is \\\"Faithful and True\\\"... and all deeds which are done in alliance with these armies ... are essentially deeds of faith, which therefore ... is at once the source and the substance of all known deed, rightly so called ... as set forth in the last word of the noblest group of words ever, so far as I know, uttered by simple man concerning his practice, being the final testimony of the leaders of a great practical nation ... [the epitaph in Greek]Ruskin, p. 212\\n\\nLeonidas monument\\n\\nAdditionally, there is a modern monument at the site, called the \\\"Leonidas Monument\\\", in honor of the Spartan king. It features a bronze statue of Leonidas. A sign, under the statue, reads simply: \\\"Μολὼν λαβέ\\\" (\\\"Come and take them!\\\"—as in answer to Xerxes' demand that the Greeks give up their weapons). The metope below depicts battle scenes. The two marble statues on the left and the right of the monument represent, respectively, the river Eurotas and Mount Taygetos, famous landmarks of Sparta.\\n\\n|Leonidas\\n|Leonidas Monument\\n|Leonidas monument\\n\\nThespian monument\\n\\nIn 1997, a second monument was officially unveiled by the Greek government, dedicated to the 700 Thespians who fought with the Spartans. The monument is made of marble and features a bronze statue depicting the god Eros, to whom the ancient Thespians accorded particular religious veneration. Under the statue, a sign reads \\\"In memory of the seven hundred Thespians.\\\"\\n\\nA plate, below the statue, explains its symbolism:\\n* The headless male figure symbolizes the anonymous sacrifice of the 700 Thespians to their country.\\n* The outstretched chest symbolizes the struggle, the gallantry, the strength, the bravery and the courage.\\n* The open wing symbolizes the victory, the glory, the soul, the spirit and the freedom.\\n* The broken wing symbolizes the voluntary sacrifice and death.\\n* The naked body symbolizes Eros, the most important god of the ancient Thespians, a god of creation, beauty and life.\\n\\nThe monument to the Thespians is placed beside the one to the Spartans.\\n\\nImage:Thespies2 evlahos.jpg|A plate, below the statue\\n\\nAssociated legends\\n\\nHerodotus' colorful account of the battle has provided history with many apocryphal incidents and conversations away from the main historical events. These accounts are obviously not verifiable, but they form an integral part of the legend of the battle. They often demonstrate the Laconic speech (and wit) of the Spartans to good effect.\\n\\nFor instance, Plutarch recounts in his Sayings of Spartan Women that upon his departure, Leonidas' wife Gorgo asked what she should do if he did not return; to which Leonidas replied, \\\"Marry a good man and have good children.\\\" \\n\\nIt is reported that, upon arriving at Thermopylae, the Persians sent a mounted scout to reconnoiter. The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. When the scout reported to Xerxes the size of the Greek force and that the Spartans were indulging in calisthenics and combing their long hair, Xerxes found the reports laughable. Seeking the counsel of Demaratus, an exiled Spartan king in his retinue, Xerxes was told that the Spartans were preparing for battle and that it was their custom to adorn their hair when they were about to risk their lives. Demaratus called them \\\"the bravest men in Greece\\\" and warned the Great King that they intended to dispute the pass. He emphasized that he had tried to warn Xerxes earlier in the campaign, but the king had refused to believe him. He added that if Xerxes ever managed to subdue the Spartans, \\\"there is no other nation in all the world which will venture to lift a hand in their defense.\\\"Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\\nHdt.+7.209.1 VII, 209]\\n\\nHerodotus also describes the reception of a Persian embassy by Leonidas. The ambassador told Leonidas that Xerxes would offer him the kingship of all Greece if he joined with Xerxes. Leonidas answered: \\\"If you had any knowledge of the noble things of life, you would refrain from coveting others' possessions; but for me to die for Greece is better than to be the sole ruler over the people of my race.\\\" Then the ambassador asked him more forcefully to surrender their arms. To this Leonidas gave his famous answer: (pronounced) \\\"Come and get them.\\\" \\n\\nSuch Laconic bravery doubtlessly helped to maintain morale. Herodotus writes that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as \\\"to block out the sun\\\", he retorted, unconcerned; \\\"So much the better...then we shall fight our battle in the shade.\\\" \\n\\nAfter the battle, Xerxes was curious as to what the Greeks had been trying to do (presumably because they had had so few men) and had some Arcadian deserters interrogated in his presence. The answer was that all the other men were participating in the Olympic Games. When Xerxes asked what was the prize for the winner, the answer was \\\"an olive-wreath\\\". Upon hearing this, Tigranes, a Persian general, said: \\\"Good heavens, Mardonius, what kind of men are these that you have pitted against us? It is not for riches that they contend but for honor!\\\" (Godley translation) or otherwise \\\"Ye Gods, Mardonius, what men have you brought us to fight against? Men that fight not for gold, but for glory.\\\"\\n\\nIn popular culture\\n\\nThe Battle of Thermopylae has remained an icon of western civilization ever since it was fought. The battle is revisited in countless adages, in literature in song, and in films, television programs and video games. The battle is discussed in many books and articles on the theory and practice of warfare. The movies The 300 Spartans (1962) and 300 (2007) were based on the events during and close to the time of the battle.\\n\\nPrior to the battle, the Hellenes remembered the Dorians, an ethnic distinction to which the Spartans belonged, as the conquerors and displacers of the Ionians in the Peloponnesus. After the battle, Spartan culture became an inspiration and object of emulation, a phenomenon known as Laconophilia.\",\n \"M6 Battle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans ...\\nBattle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans. ... In this pass few fight against many and three hundred ... The Persian army was the largest and most ...\\nM6 Battle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans Transcript\\nHere, young Leonidas will live, train, and learn to kill.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nWhen a young boy was taken from his mother at age seven and entered the goal of the upbringing, he never did anything, except train for the next twelve years until he entered the Army.\\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\\nFight!\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nTheir education focused on military skills, and discipline, and toughness. They were often not fed sufficiently so they would be hungry all the time. This would encourage them to steal in order to eat.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nYou were taught not to cry. You were taught to conceal pain. Their whole society was set up to try and strip you of individual identity.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nAnother bizarre ritual that they engaged in to make sure that their guys were tough is that they would be flogged until they bled in groups and whoever was the toughest and uh stood the longest was you know, very highly honored, and the families would stand around and yell, and scream at the boys; don’t you pass out, don’t you pass out. There does seem to be some indications that there was increasing levels of violence as you got older. Of course, one expects that this is aimed for ultimately experience in battle where you’re going to have blood, and brains, and everything all over you.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nIn some ways you really want to see the Spartans as a dysfunctional fraternity where the hazing and the other aspects of fraternity life go awry.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAs they boys grow older the training becomes more and more intense.\\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\\nDo honor to your family! Do honor to your Spartan heritage! You will get strong or you will die!\\n(Spartan boy yelling)\\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\\nPush Spartan! Push!\\n(Spartan boy yelling)\\nMale Narrator:\\nBy the time Leonidas and the Spartan boys reach their early teens weapons like wooden swords and tip-less spears are added to the military training. Still during these war games consequences can be deadly.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nViews were killed in the course of this fight. It’s a preparation. You’re going to see your comrades and your use mates being killed.\\nMale Narrator:\\nOne of the final tests of all young Spartans is also one of the most brutal. Leonidas must sneak out of his barracks at night and murder a local slave called a helot.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThink about this for a second, every culture throughout history has its own version of a male’s rite of passage; when a boy crosses that thresh hold and becomes a man. In the Spartan society you didn’t become a man until you strangled someone to death.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe practice of killing a helot is centuries old by the time Leonidas is ready to become a man. The key to this ritual however; is not the murder itself.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nWhat you were not supposed to do was get caught doing it and you would be punished severely for being caught doing it because what the institution was meant to train you in was the art of evasion; the art of being a good soldier, the art of being stealthy.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBy the time Leonidas is eighteen his education is complete. He has survived a Spartan training designed to weed out the weak. He has learned to kill or be killed. He and the other soldiers are inducted into the army.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nFor Spartan parents this was one of the proudest moments in their lives. It signified the transformation of their son from being a child into being a man. This is especially true of mothers because it validated the sacrifice that they made for the state. She would send her child off at the age of seven or so to become a warrior and now at eighteen she was sending them off to battle. One of the most telling stories is a Spartan mother sending her son off to war and as she was handing him the shield she would tell him in Greek, “h tav heni tav;” “with this shield or on it” and what this means is come back victorious with your shield or come back a corpse carried on it. Basically, you either win the battle or you die. Spartan mothers believed in tough love.\\nMale Narrator:\\nIn this Spartan warrior cult the women are also renowned for their physical strengths. Sometimes a Spartan man will try to forcefully take a wife but if he is not to her liking and she is strong enough to fend them off the man will fail. If a Spartan male is a worthy and attractive warrior, like Leonidas, he will succeed in winning a wife but home life for a Spartan warrior was anything but typical as they were often on the battlefield.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nThe Spartans were really the first professionals in war craft among the Greek city states. Every summer they would have wars. The Greek city states, they would go over whatever pass they were in to the next town; they would just beat the hell out of each other. They guys, you know, had their, their swords; their spears were up over the fireplace, their shield was there, they’d take them down. This summer they’re going to beat each other’s brains out.\\nMale Narrator:\\nIt seems that the regional conflicts Leonidas fights are preparation for an ultimate battle looming on the horizon against the Persians at Thermopylae. Four eighty one BC, one year before the Battle of Thermopylae, a Greek spy discovers that the Persian King, Xerxes is mobilizing his army. It is a force that many believe to be nearly three hundred thousand strong.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nTo a Greek eye looking at this it would look like the whole world was coming down to devour you. The numbers would have been immense. They would have been in, in the hundred, if not hundreds of thousands and it really would have looked like the end of the world.\\nMale Narrator:\\nXerxes intention is to burn the city state of Athens to the ground.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhen the Athenians discovered Xerxes plan and the enormous force it put together they quickly realized they’re going to need help. So they sent out a general call to their allies to come and defend Greece but the call falls of deaf ears and the reason for that is, is that nobody has a concept of what Greece as a nation is yet. So what we think of as Greece, at the time was just a bunch of city states who fought each other more often than they fought together.\\nMale Narrator:\\nDespite their poor relations, the Athenians reach out to one of their major regional rivals for help; the Spartans and their King, Leonidas.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nBy now Leonidas is a well-seasoned military man. Remember, he has spent his childhood enduring the harsh training that all Spartan boys go through to learn how to become a ruthless warrior.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nAnd now he’s one of the Kings of Sparta. So when the Athenians come and ask for help; they’re not stupid. Leonidas is a skilled warrior but for Leonidas personally, this request from the Athenians, it going to seal his fate.\\nMale Narrator:\\n Before deciding whether to help the Athenians the Spartans consult an oracle.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThe Spartans were a very religious people. One of those common ways of interpreting the will of the Gods is through oracle so they were devoted to the oracle at Delphi.\\nMale Narrator:\\nDating back to about fourteen hundred BCE the oracle at Delphi is one of the most sacred Greek shrines. In a temple erected over a small chasm, the oracle greets information seekers by slipping into a trance like state. Some believe that ethylene vapors emanating from the intersection of three major fault lines deep within the earth might account for the oracle’s behavior. Modern scientists however; have examined the earth beneath the temple and all the studies have been inconclusive.\\nLinda Rulman, Ph. D. / Lecturer in Classics:\\nWhen a question was posed to her by one of the priests she would pretty babble something pretty much incoherent and the priest then would take her answer and deliver it to the person who asked:\\nOracle Voice:\\nOh men of Sparta, either your glorious city will be taken by the sons of Persia or all Sparta must mourn the loss of a King for an exchange; a King, a decedent of Great Heracles.\\n Male Narrator:\\nLeonidas believes he is a decedent of Heracles and that the Gods have chosen him to save Sparta. He tells the Spartan elders that he will help the Athenians battle the Persians.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nLeonidas comes to believe the oracle is referring to him; his death, his sacrifice, saves Sparta.\\nMale Narrator:\\nLeonidas’s decision becomes mythical in scope. Yet there may be another reason why Leonidas decides to go to battle.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhether Xerxes himself intended to occupy Greece or not in the minds of the Spartans that’s what they saw as the threat. So the enemy of my enemy is my friend and so what happens is they throw in their lot with, with uh the Athenians. Moreover, if you’re going to have a combined arms defense against the Persians you might as well have the best soldiers in Greece lead it.\\nMale Narrator:\\nStill the Spartan council isn’t convinced and allows Leonidas to take only a minimal force, a force of three hundred.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nI’m convinced that the, when the three hundred were selected that the other Spartans, there were about nine thousand others in the army; I’m convinced that they felt like they were being cut of a great party. That’s what they were born to do and they knew that, that would create a mortality for them, for their families, for their children, and not to mention of course saving Greece.\\nMale Narrator:\\nLeonidas chooses his finest warriors but only those who have already fathered sons to ensure their bloodline would survive.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nDid Leonidas think it was a suicide mission to begin with? Uhm, maybe so, maybe not; what he did understand was that it was a great opportunity for one hell of a military fight and a chance for Spartan and personal glory which is what motivated the Spartans to begin with. \\nMale Narrator:\\nThe challenge for Leonidas is formidable. He will battle the world’s most powerful fighting force; a war machine that had dominated the world for nearly a century, the mighty Persian Empire. In five forty nine BC about seventy years before the last stand at Thermopylae, Cyrus the Great unifies all the tribes in what is now central Iran. He storms out of the mountains with an army that consists of light and heavy infantry as well as cavalry.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nIt was Cyrus, who uh, realized the importance of cavalry and by hiring essentially horse born tribes; began the tradition of cavalry uh, in the Persian army.\\nMale Narrator:\\nWhen the Persian army took the field it was made up about eighty percent infantry and about twenty percent cavalry. This combination makes the Persians unstoppable on the open plains in Asia. As the infantry hits the front of the enemy line the cavalry engages the flanks causing them to crumble. Over the course of twenty years, Cyrus conquers four major kingdoms throughout Asia; Media, Lycia, Lydia, and finally in five thirty nine BC he topples mighty Babylonia. Cyrus now rules and empire that stretches from India to Egypt.\\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph.D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\\nThe Persian Empire was the largest and most successful empire in the long history of near eastern empires. They were the big guys on the block.\\nMale Narrator:\\nCyrus divides his empire into providences called satraps. Instead of forcing conquered peoples to adopt Persian beliefs, Cyrus allows them to govern themselves and practice their own religion.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nAnd why you had to pay taxes to the central government? Generally speaking, you could maintain your own way of life and so there was no attempt to impose a single religion uh, or to impose even a single, single civic code.\\nMale Narrator:\\nCyrus is considered by many to be a liberator. This type of compassionate behavior is almost unheard of in the ancient world and it might have inadvertently led to the Spartans last stand at Thermopylae. In five forty six BC, Cyrus conquers Greek colonies in the providence of Ionia or modern day Turkey. True to form he allows the local governors to remain in power but about fifty years later in four forty nine BC, the Greek colonists revolt.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nSo here’s the Persians trying to do the right thing by supporting the established government, they end up alienating the population and that’s the result called the Ionian Revolt.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Persian King is now Cyrus’s grandson, Darius. At first Darius allows the local governors to deal with the uprising but the rebels were about to receive outside help. \\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhen Ionia broke into full revolt against the Persians it called on its mother country, Athens, for help and then the Athenians made perhaps the greatest strategic mistake in the century. They sent troops to help the Ionian rebels.\\n Male Narrator:\\nWith Athenian help, rebels burned Sardis, the capital of Ionia, to the ground. Herodotus writes about the rebellion.\\nHerodotus Voice:\\nAlmost instantly, fire began racing from house to house until the entire town was on fire and so Sardis was burned to the ground. In amongst its ruins was a temple of a native goddess, Cybele. After the Persians saw it in ruins they would later make it a pretext for burning temples in Greece.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe Ionian Revolt is a very, very important event in the history of Greek and Persian relations because it lays at the root of what was to happen over the next, almost, eighty years and finally bring Athens and, and Persia, Persia into open conflict; something they had not done before.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAthens has awakened a sleeping giant. King Darius wants revenge.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nIt’s really got his goat. He used to have one of his servants, at every meal, right before he would take his first bite of food; the servant would come into his ear and said “Sire, remember the Athenians.” So Darius vowed that he would pay these guys back.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBlood is about to drench Greek soil. In four ninety BD, ten years before the Spartans last stand at Thermopylae; the Persian King, Darius sends a force of thirty thousand across the Aegean Sea to annihilate Athens.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThe reason for the invasion is that King Darius is upset. Years earlier the Athenians helped a group of Greek revels burn a Persian city to the ground. This was known as the Ionian Revolt. Now it’s payback time and it will result in one of the most famous battles in history, the Battle of Marathon.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAbout twenty six miles east of Athens on the plain of Marathon a Greek army of about eight thousand marches toward the coast to meet the invaders.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe Greeks see the fleet off shore transporting the troops to attack Athens and what they do is they deploy on the beach, threatening the Persians with, with, with the uh, battle and the Persians take the bait.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThirty thousand Persians pour off their ships and charge the Greeks. The Greeks create a defensive line in a narrow valley between two mountains. The massive Persian force smashes into the Athenians. The Greeks stand strong but soon the center of their defensive line begins to collapse. The Persians push forward but this is a trap. While the center of the Greek line retreats the flanks remain strong. As the Persians press further into the valley the Greek army envelops them.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe Greeks suckered the Persians in and now they have them surrounded on three sides. The Persians can’t maneuver and it’s a narrow combat box; the battle becomes an absolute slaughter.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Persians retreat to the beach. The Greek commanders decide to risk it all.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nGreek infantry, they charged into the run, smashed into what was left of the, of the Persian infantry; forced them back into the beach and they scrambled to get aboard their, their boats, and as they did they were slaughtered by, they were slaughtered by the Greek infantry. In the instances of a people who were hanging onto the boats top get out; his hands were chopped off uh, by the Greeks.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Greeks send a runner to Athens to report the great victory. The runner runs a distance of about twenty six miles.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nAnd that’s why today, the Marathon Race is twenty six miles. Uh, what they don’t tell you is the runner who ran into the square of Athens yelled “Nike,” meaning victory, dropped dead from exhaustion.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Athenians build the original Parthenon to commemorate the famous victory at Marathon over the Persians. The building and the battle send shockwaves through the Persian Empire.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nTo be sure, a great empire like Persia and a great King cannot allow an insult to his national prestige and that’s what the pin-prick at Marathon did. I mean basically it uh, was, is, it said to everyone well look this little uh, this little power stood up to this great giant.\\nMale Narrator:\\nPersians first attempt at revenge against Athens has failed miserably. Darius plans another attack but dies before the invasion can be realized. Persian vengeance becomes the responsibility of Darius’s son Xerxes. \\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nOne of the interesting things about the monarchs of the ancient world, whether you look at Egypt, or Syria, or Persia, is they groomed their sons to be warrior Kings by sending them to school.\\nMale Narrator:\\nWhile Xerxes, no doubt, spent time in the classroom learning philosophy, mathematics, and military tactics he’s also taught how to fight his way out of the most extreme life or death situations.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nHe took a fixed courtyard, the kids stand in the courtyard; they turn a lion loose on them. Kill the lion or be killed.\\nMale Narrator:\\nXerxes pedigree and training help prepare him to rule the world’s largest and most dominate empire. But Xerxes has only one thing on his mind when he becomes King, revenge against Athens. For ten years he plans his massive attack.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nXerxes was no hick, no hay-seed uhm, he was, he was a man who was born to the purple and had been educated as both a warrior and a, and a, and a ruler and he was a good ruler. I mean no one, no one uh; well the only reason we uh, we hold it against him apparently in the west is we, is because he attempted burning of Athens. Ah, what a terrible thing to do.\\nMale Narrator:\\nIn four eighty one BC, when a Greek spy discovers Xerxes plan he sees not just a massive army but a people who are far more superior technologically than the Greeks. Fore, King Xerxes is about to do the impossible. He is about to walk across water. Xerxes wants to march his army of three thousand across the Hellespont, a mile wide waterway that connects Asia to Europe just south of the Black Sea.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nIf they were going to do this entirely by land they would have to walk around the Black Sea which would add about two years to their march and would require them to conquer a whole other set of people.\\nMale Narrator:\\nTo get his massive force across the Hellespont, Xerxes orders his engineers to build a mile long pontoon bridge made of old transport ships.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nAt the time this was going on there was a transition in the design of ships. New ships were coming online lots of old ones, old cargo ships, were available uh, at cheap money; they were simply bought and strung together.\\nMale Narrator:\\nXerxes engineers lined nearly seven hundred ships next to one another. Likely using boulders, they anchor each ship to the sea floor from both the bow and the stern then they tether the ships together with two different types of special cables; one made of flax or heavy linen, the other made of papyrus.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nNow when we think of papyrus we usually think of paper but the Egyptians had come up with a way to turn the sticky center of the papyrus plant, called the pith, into a strong durable rope and this is what Xerxes engineers tethered the ships with; the papyrus rope and the linen ropes. This is the high tech part of this whole operation, these long cables that would reach over a mile.\\n Male Narrator:\\nDozens of these sections of cable, weighing nearly two tons each, secure the boats together and are anchored to either shore. The Persians then nail wooden planks across the rails of each ship to create a flat surface over which men and animals can march.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nIt was a remarkable engineering feat and it would have again, with the Greeks on the other side, it would have given pause because these are not a people who simply have a large army. These are a people who understand the principles of engineering.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Persian army crosses the bridge and begins the march around the Aegean Sea. Nearly three months later, Xerxes and his Persian force of three hundred thousand arrive in northern Greece. Thanks to the Athenian spy however; the Greek coalition has already established two lines of defense. The first is in the southern part of the peninsula at the Isthmus of Corinth to defend the city states on the Peloponnese, including Sparta. The other is the advanced team in the north at the Thermopylae Pass. Here, the Spartan King Leonidas leads a coalition army consisting of three hundred Spartan warriors and seven thousand soldiers from other Greek city states. Off the coast, Athenian General Themistocles leads the Greek Navy and prepares to face off against the Persian fleet in the narrow Atremesium Strait. The battle of Thermopylae is at hand.\\nOn a cliff overlooking the Thermopylae Pass in northern Greece, King Xerxes of Persia is poised to send his army into battle. Xerxes has marched nearly three hundred thousand men accompanied by one thousand more ships around the Aegean Sean with the intention of sacking the Greek city state of Athens. Waiting in the Thermopylae Pass is the Spartan King Leonidas with nearly seven thousand Greek soldiers. They block the east side of the pass defending the route to Athens. In a brilliant strategic move they have chosen to fight at Thermopylae because the terrain negates the Persian numerical advantage.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nPasses are a marvelous thing. One might ask for example; why has Switzerland never been invaded because of passes. One man with a rifle can hold the division down if the pass is narrow enough. In the ancient world, you can’t fight with any more men that you can hit front on front. So, if you can narrow that front on front to a few hundred men or a few dozen men then a number of hundred men can hold up a hundred thousand men.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nAs often happens in the ancient world before the battle, Xerxes first tried to negotiate with Leonidas. He sends a message saying “you’re closely outnumbered, you’re facing the best army in the world; don’t be stupid. Lay down your weapons and you will live otherwise you’re all going to die.” And of course; Leonidas doesn’t take too kindly to that. Then comes the most famous line out of Herodotus, the messenger says “be prepared to die our arrows will block out the sun;” to which Dienekes, Leonidas’s lieutenant replies.\\nDienekes/Actor:\\nThen we shall have our battle in the shade. \\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nAnd that right there pretty much sums up what this battle was going to be about. The Spartans were the finest, toughest soldiers in Greece.\\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Author, The Ambiguity of Greatness:\\nThe three hundred Spartans who were sent to Thermopylae were the delta force of the ancient world. Their job was to hold that pass or to die trying.\\nMale Narrator:\\nLeonidas and his warriors assume their standard fighting formation; the Phalanx.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe Spartans fought in, in platoons of eight men across, four men deep shoulder to shoulder with one person kind of peeking underneath the other fellows to his rights shield. So you have a shield wall in front.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nIt’s going to be essentially a wall of bronze, and wood, and muscle just sort of standing there gleaming in the sunlight.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAll Greek soldiers are heavy infantry called hoplites. Named for the large round shield they carry referred to as the hoplon. Made from a concave piece of wood and covered with a thin sheet of bronze, the shield is about three feet in diameter and weighs up to twenty pounds.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe hand grip of, of this shield came in about the sixth century BC and it was called the Argive grip, and it revolutionized warfare.\\nMale Narrator:\\nOlder shields were gripped by a single handle in the middle. On the Argive shield the solder passed his arm through a leather loop in the middle and held onto a handle near the rim, giving him more leverage.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nSo you grab the end of the shield and the arm, center of the arm held it. Now if you think about what you can do with that shield, much more force can be applied.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Spartans were known for painting personal images on their shields face.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nThere’s a story of a Spartan who had a fly, a life sized fly on the, on his shield and when his friends asked him why; he said that he would get so close to the enemy that fly would look like a lion. \\nMale Narrator:\\nKing Xerxes fulfills his promise to block out the sun. He orders nearly five thousand archer’s to launch their missiles. Xerxes archers are tribesmen from all corners of his empire. They likely supply their own bow which tend to be made from date palm wood, a cheaper material that diminishes its firing power and from over a football field away the arrows raining down on the Greeks have trouble penetrating the hot lights heavy armor.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe arrows are bouncing off shields, bouncing off helmets; doing almost no damage. Uh, logically unless you took one in the eye there’s almost no place where an arrow could penetrate.\\n(Warriors Yelling)\\nMale Narrator:\\nIn addition to his shield, the hot lights’ Corinthian helmet helps keep them protected from the Persian arrows. The helmet originated in Greece around the seventh century BC., made from a single piece of bronze, the helmet offered maximum head protection for the hoplite. But these helmets were heavy, weighing about ten pounds and restricted the soldiers hearing and vision. While most helmets were adorned with a horse hair crest running down the center, Spartan officers like Leonidas would have worn a helmet with the crest running side to side. Some historians believe that the Spartans most likely wore a bronze cuirass for torso protection. Most hoplites at the time however; wore sophisticated lamellar armor. Its strength comes from its layered design, made by gluing strips of heavy linen, leather, and thin bronze together. The lamellar armor forms a type of ancient Kevlar.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nUh, believe it or not, multiple strips of leather and linen uh, could stand, could with stand a spear thrust. It wouldn’t penetrate a spear or arrow thrust.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAbandoning the missile attack, ten thousand Persian light infantry men charge at the Greeks; over a million pounds of muscle, bronze, and wood are about to collide in the Thermopylae Pass.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nInevitably, this mass crashes into the Greek phalanx and it just doesn’t move. I mean it’s too heavy, it’s too thick; the pressure from the back is holding it forward.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Greeks stop the crushing charge. Now they go on the offensive. Fighting from their discipline phalanx, the front two lines launch a coordinated spear attack from above and below the shield wall. The hoplites primary weapon is the dory, a six to nine foot long spear. About two inches in diameter, the two to four pound dory features a deadly iron spearhead. On the back of the spear is an iron butt plate which provides balance and gives the hoplite a second weapon with which to kill.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nFirst clash, the spears come down and the spears come up from underneath, and as the cries, and the blood is everywhere. They probably killed about a thousand men and most of the wounds would have been, been fatal. They would have been delivered to the chest or the face.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe hoplites secondary weapon was the xiphos, a two to three foot long iron straight sword made specifically to thrust and hack at the enemy. But the Greeks would only use this if they lost their spear or if the phalanx broke rank which did not happen often. The fighting rages on and off for most of the day.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhat mostly happens is what we call battle pulses. The two sides would hack at one another and bang at one another for a few, maybe some times only a few seconds; ten, ten or twenty seconds then they’d break it off again. Okay? Maybe the other side would drop back a little bit and then these guys would move forward again. So it was not a continuous battle field experience. It was not a continuous combat. It can’t work that way.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Persians are easy targets. They wear little or no armor and carry flimsy wooden shields.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe Persian light infantry are not designed for this kind of battle. They’re built for speed, to attack disorganized tribal armies on the open plains of Asia.\\nMale Narrator:\\nStuck in the narrow pass, the Persians are unable to maneuver. They also cannot utilize their cavalry. The steepness of Mount Callidromus on one side and the Aegean Sea on the other prevent a Persian cavalry flanking maneuver.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nIf you look at the two Greek battles that we study most often which is Marathon and Thermopylae, what you’ll see is the brilliance of Greek commanders in selecting to rein where the Persians could not bring their cavalry to bear. At Marathon they never got it off the ships and, and even if they did it wouldn’t make a difference because the Greek wedged themselves into a narrow front and same at Thermopylae. The cavalry would’ve been totally useless.\\nMale Narrator:\\nWith each battle pulse more and more Persians are slaughtered. There is no mercy only death.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nAnd it was just carnage the first day. The Spartans formed up shoulder to shoulder like a great rock and let the waves of the Persians just break on them.\\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Author, The Ambiguity of Greatness:\\nThe Persians began to get the message that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to launch themselves in wave after wave against these guys, each one of whom had uh, the equivalent of our very best special forces training.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAt the end of the day, the three hundred Spartans and their Greek allies kill any remaining Persians. \\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nLeonidas understands the tactical situation and after the first day of fighting. He uh, he gets that’s exactly what I set out to do. I’m holding up one of the largest land armies ever to attack Greece. I got it funneled up here and so far they can’t do anything to uh, stop it.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBut at the same time the land battle is being fought the Persians are trying to gain access to the rear of the Greek defenses by sea. A great naval battle between the Greeks and Persians is bloody in the Artemesium Strait. In the Thermopylae Pass the mighty King, Leonidas and his Spartan warriors are successfully fending off an attack by the Persian light infantry. At the same time, off the coast of Thermopylae in the Artemesium Strait a battle between the Persian and Greek navy’s is about to erupt.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nIf you think of the Battle of Thermopylae in strategic terms, if you have a military mind the first question you’re going to ask is; yeah the Spartans could hold the salon here but what about the sea, what about the ocean? Why couldn’t Xerxes just relay in troops behind them? He had an armada of a thousand or more ships.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe reason is the Athenian Navy. They are based here at Artemesium while the Persians are based across the Strait at Aphetae. The Persian goal is to break through the Greek line, sail down the narrow six mile wide Artemesium Strait, and land troops behind Leonidas and his Greek warriors surrounding them. The man in charge of stopping the Persian fleet is aboard the Athenian flagship. He is considered by many to be the mastermind behind the land and sea defense against the Persians and is widely regarded as one of the ancient world’s most brilliant military tactician. He is the Athenian, Themistocles.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhen most people think of the Battle of Thermopylae they immediately think of the three hundred Spartans or they think of Leonidas. But really the unsung hero of the battle, the man who made it all happen was Themistocles.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThemistocles in a way was the Winston Churchill of his day. He was a great Athenian politician with great foresight for the coming struggle and a profound military thinker. If it weren’t for him there would’ve been no Battle of Thermopylae.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Persian Navy attempts to surround the Greek fleet. They send two hundred of their thousand ships south east around the island of Euboea.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nBy sailing around Euboea the Persian naval commander is going to try to avoid wasting his energies with a direct assault. He figures the Greeks are not stupid enough to attack him so he waited his base until the smaller force sails around the island and surrounds the Greek fleet. \\nMale Narrator:\\nBut Themistocles makes a bold and daring move that surprises the Persian commander. Late in the afternoon the Greek fleet sails from their base and provokes the Persian fleet which is nearly six times its size.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThis surprises the Persian commander greatly. That Themistocles would have the gall to attack the mighty Persian Navy is one thing but he’s also surprised by the timing of the attack. It’s late in the afternoon.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nBy starting in the afternoon he knows the battle will be over soon because they’re going to run out of daylight. You can’t fight a naval battle in the dark. So Themistocles is trying to minimize his potential damages if the battle gets away from him by counting on nightfall to end it.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Persian commander orders his eight hundred remaining ships into the strait. Despite being out numbered Themistocles and the fleet attempt to sink the Persian ships in a ferocious attack.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThe name of the game was to sink the other guy’s ship. To ram her in the side or to knock all of the oars off and render her out of commission. The Greeks definitely have an uphill battle here but they do have one major advantage. They have the brilliance of Themistocles.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThemistocles is born the son of a merchant. If this would have been earlier in Greek history Themistocles would have been relegated to a lower status. But democracy is about to be born in Athens allowing Themistocles to shed his merchant class shackles. Because of its natural harbor, Athens develops a strong sea bearing tradition and becomes both an economic and naval force in the Aegean. Many Athenian males including Themistocles become expert seaman able to navigate the treacherous Greek coasts. While Themistocles naval training would no doubt shape his future, it is on land in the Athenian government where he might have learned some of his most valuable lessons.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhat Themistocles learned growing up in a developing democracy was the art of manipulation and political strategies. These were not cut throat politics like say in Rome, where people we literally killed. What he did was use his intelligence and guile to position himself in the government where one day he could be extremely influential.\\nMale Narrator:\\nit is these skills that will ultimately help him create the Athenian Navy which he will need to battle the mighty Persians. Around four ninety BC, ten years before the last stand at Thermopylae Athens owns only about one hundred war ships; Themistocles knows this is only a fraction of what the Persians can muster. He knows this because he witnessed the Persian force up close and personally at Marathon.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThemistocles was one of the generals that had been at the Battle of Marathon and there he had seen Persian tactics first hand. So he’s an experienced military man. He took away a different lesson from Marathon than the other Greek generals did. The other generals saw it as a triumph of ground forces over navy. What Themistocles learned at Marathon was that cannot use ground forces on the ground unless you have naval support.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThemistocles knows that after their humiliating loss at Marathon the Persians would seek revenge and be back to finish what they had started and he knows that they won’t make the same mistake twice. He believes the Persians will come by land and sea and bring many more soldiers and ships.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhat Themistocles saw was a synergy between naval forces and ground forces. That is the navy could only support ground forces as long as the coast was friendly. The ground forces had to make the coast friendly.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThemistocles knew the Persians could not sustain an army in mainland Greece if they didn’t, weren’t able to supply it by sea. So if you had naval power, significant naval power, made yourself dominant naval power in the Aegean you could render the Persians impudent.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThus he concluded, the future for Athens rested no in increasing the size of your ground force which is fairly significant anyway, but point of fact; to increase your navy.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe problem Themistocles faces is that no one believes him. Both the Athenian generals and the general public are plagued by an overconfidence in the Athenian army and in denial about Persia’s return.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThemistocles lived every day of his political life as, if we’ve got to deal with this now; we’ve got to deal with this now and there were a couple strategies that Themistocles uhm, followed that, that probably saved the Greek world.\\nMale Narrator:\\nFirst he must convince Athens that they need to invest in the Navy. Perhaps more importantly he must find the money in which to do it. He gets lucky in four eighty three BC, three years before the last stand at Thermopylae. In the Athenian district of Laurium miners discover a new vein of silver. After a year they extract nearly two tons of the precious metal from the earth. Themistocles wants the money made from silver to be spent on his navy. The challenge for him is to convince Athenians that they don’t need extra money in their pockets but rather extra war ships in their harbor.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nEach Athenian was due to get ten drachma. That would be about fifteen hundred, sixteen hundred dollars in today’s money. It’s a lot of money.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBecause most Athenians are in denial about a second Persian invasion, Themistocles draws upon his political savvy to win them over; he lies to them. Themistocles misleads the Athenians into thinking that a small rival island off the coast of Athens called Aegina poses a threat to the safety of Athenian merchant ships. Finally convinced, Athenians allow Themistocles to invest in the Navy. Greek civilization might be saved by a lie.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nWhat historians may call a lie or an untruth; a politician would call a clever misdirection of the populace to achieve a greater end, that’s what Themistocles said. He knew if he told the truth that the populace would never go for it. So he had a nice little ploy, little story, little cover story; it worked.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThemistocles gets his ships. Athenian war ships at the time are called Triremes. The trireme is about ninety feet long by about eighteen feet wide. Most of it is likely built from pine, a common Mediterranean tree.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe best analogy of a trireme was, she was a light boat that was more like a racing scull. Uh, it was not a heavy boat and why? Because the object was to ram and so the lighter it was the faster you could make it go.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBuilt for speed, the hall of the trireme is open. The deck consists of one or two planks of wood running lengthwise upon which the ships commander and about four marines would stand. Despite possessing a small sail, the trireme is mainly powered by between one hundred seventy and two hundred twenty oarsmen arranged in three banks of oars; one above the other. The front of the trireme is shaped like a rounded brow. The brow is probably made of heavier cedar then covered with brass or copper enabling the ship to ram enemy vessels.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe fastest a trireme has ever been marked, and we’ve created, reconstructed them, in a two thousand meter run is fifteen knots but on balance that’s a fast pulse in order to ram.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBy the time the Persians reach Thermopylae and Artemesium a year later the Greeks have added over one hundred additional ships to the fleet. Still the Persian fleet out numbers the Greek fleet nearly six to one. Themistocles is about to discover whether his efforts to build the Athenian Navy had been in vain. In the Artemesium Strait the Athenian commander Themistocles leads nearly two hundred Greek war ships into battle. They attack more than eight hundred Persian war ships.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThemistocles is doing the unexpected. Late in the afternoon on the first day of the battle he’s actually attacking the much larger Persian fleet. It’s a risky move. If he allows the Persians to sail through the Artemesium Strait, Leonidas and the three hundred Spartans will be surrounded and cut to pieces.\\nMale Narrator:\\nUsing a flag to signal the fleet. Themistocles has all of the Greek war ships slowly back into a barrower part of the strait forming a circle. At a second signal the Greek fleet rushes from their formation and attacks the Persians.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nGreat naval battles were actually not about people getting off and fighting each other or even hooking up and trying to fight. They were about maneuvering the ships in such a way that you can ram and sink.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThe most common way was to come along side at an angle and smash his oars because remember they’re not powered by sail, they’re powered by oars. So if you could smash his oars; and what would happen as one ship came alongside the other the attacking ship would pull in its oars and allow the side of its ship to smash in and run along this way. Now she’s dead in the water.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nSo in these battles what is really consequential isn’t so much the weight of your ship or the size of your ship but rather the speed of your ship.\\nMale Narrator:\\nIn the small confined space of Artemesium the smaller Greek fleet inflicts damage upon several Persian ships. They also capture thirty enemy vessels and take many prisoners.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nWe’re not exactly sure why the Greeks faired so well that first day at Artemesium. The Greeks and the Persians all had the same types of boats. Everybody had triremes so nobody would’ve necessarily had any speed advantage.\\nMale Narrator:\\nWhatever the reason, it is a great psychological victory for the Greek Navy and because Themistocles began his attack late in the day he knew the battle would not last long insuring his potential losses would be minimal.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThis has got to be a complete surprise to everybody. The Persians certainly weren’t expecting to lose to the smaller Greek fleet and I don’t think the Greeks were expecting to come out so strong, and I think that’s one of the reasons Themistocles started this thing so late in the day. So you’ve got Themistocles winning the battle at sea and of course Leonidas and the Spartans are winning the battle on land.\\nMale Narrator:\\nOn this first day of battle Xerxes has been shocked and embarrassed by Themistocles and the Athenian Navy and has lost nearly ten thousand infantry men to Leonidas and the Spartans.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nAfter first days battle at Thermopylae and Artemesium, uh the Persians have been very roughly handled by the Greeks. They are back in their camp that evening licking their wounds and Xerxes is wondering what he is going to do about this.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAs night falls a tremendous storm erupts and the Persian soldiers are further harassed by thunder, wind, and rain.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nSo you have to imagine the flashes of lightening illuminating the wrecks on the sea and the dead bodies. So, a very disconsoling night for the Persians, they probably weren’t getting any sleep as they had wanted. They’re going to need is for the next day’s battle.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe Persian fleet that has been sent around the island of Euboea is caught in the storm. The Aegean swallows all two hundred ships. It is an omen that the Persians cannot ignore and one the Greeks happily embrace for the next day will bring more bloodshed. On the second day of battle the Athenians and Spartans take their respective defensive positions, Themistocles in the Artemesium Strait; Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans at the Thermopylae Pass. They both prepare for the second Persian attack.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nThe sun comes up on the second day and Xerxes says, well uh, enough with the, the junior level uh, infantry we’re sending in the big boys.\\nMale Narrator:\\nXerxes sends in the hammer and fist of the Persian army, the silent and masked heavy infantry called the Immortals.\\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\\nXerxes decided to send in the A team, the Immortals. He believed that once the Immortals were put into action that, that would end their resistance immediately.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nHere come ten thousand men assembled in a rectangle, in essence. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Right to you in silence, no matter what happens they’re coming right at you. They wore no helmets but they had what’s called a tiara on their head. The tiara was a wrapped cloth but a very thin cloth that they could see through.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nTen thousand strong; they were called Immortals because when one man retired or, or died he was immediately replaced by another.\\nMale Narrator:\\nThe army’s stand some fifty yards apart in the Thermopylae Pass. The Persians faceless and mute but silence is not part of the Spartan psychological strategy.\\n(Spartan Warriors yelling)\\nMale Narrator:\\nFinally the Persians advance. Silently the Immortals slam into the Greek line. As on the previous day, the three hundred Spartans and the Greek soldiers hold fast. The Immortal’s spears cannot penetrate the Greek armor. The Greek spears have no problem finding their mark. The Immortals wear thin scale armor beneath their tunics but these overlapping metal scales are no thicker than playing cards, powerless against the strength and precision of the Spartan dory. Persian shields are made only of wicker.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThat worked very well if you were warding off javelins, dagger thrusts, or arrows. But a wicker shields compared to the Greeks which was a brass or bonze shield; the spear of the Greek infantry could easily pierce a wicker shield.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nSo man for man, company for company, platoon for platoon; they were no match for the Spartans in close combat.\\n(Persian Immortal screaming)\\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\\nIt’s fairly clear that they had never fought against an uh, hoplite army that was as well trained, as well equipped, and as tactically flexible as the Spartans were.\\nMale Narrator:\\nAfter two days thousands of Persians have been killed.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nIf you imagine an infantry line that’s killing in front of it with the spears, okay, the, the dead themselves pile up. After every assault there are dead men, there are men screaming in pain, men who were bleeding all over the landscape but mostly men who were in the way. You, you have to get rid of them somewhere so what would happen is during one of the falls in the battle is the squelch would go forward and pull the dead out of the way.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBy the end of the second day the Persian body count is enormous and the ground forces have once again been stymied.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nSo tactically speaking, after the first two days fighting at Thermopylae, Leonidas would’ve considered himself to be in a pretty good position. He had taken everything the Persians could throw at him and he had lost only a few men himself.\\nMale Narrator:\\nMeanwhile off the coast, Themistocles again leads the Athenian Navy against the Persian fleet in the Artemiseum Strait. The massive storm from the night before has destroyed the Persian ships that sailed around Euboea. With no Persian ships bearing down behind him, Themistocles can concentrate his force to the front but he is still out numbered five to one. While exact details of the battle are unknown, the Greek triremes again are able to destroy many of the Persian war ships.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nSo by the end of the second day at sea a similar scenario would, uh was working out. The Persians had again, have tried to throw themselves at Themistocles at sea and they hadn’t done any better the second day. So the front was holding, the Greek front was holding at sea and on land.\\nMale Narrator:\\nIt is another psychological victory for the Greeks. Xerxes grows frustrated but the solution will soon become clear to the Persian King and it will be one of the most famous and heroic last stand in history. Seven thousand Greek soldiers lead by the Spartan Kind, Leonidas and his elite group of three hundred Spartan warriors, block the narrow Thermopylae Pass in north eastern Greece. They are here to prevent the Persian army, the largest land force ever assembled, from destroying the Greek city state of Athens.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nYou’re stuck with the cork in the bottle and you’ve got to get the cork out of the bottle. What had happened until now, they had tried a light infantry attack and suffered badly and so, so they cross with their best troops which is a heavy infantry and suffer just as badly. So uh; now what to do? Things are getting a little dicey, the army’s being held up, it has to eat every day, it’s consuming supplies, it’s getting nowhere; uh the answer is to find a way around the, the uh Spartan position.\\nMale Narrator:\\nXerxes discovers the answer. A small trail leads from the Persian camp around Mount Callidromus and continues behind the Greek line. Historians are unsure as to when Xerxes had become aware of the pass. Some believe that a Greek spy had informed him after the second day of battle. Seeing that he cannot penetrate the stiff Greek defense and knowing his food supply is running short, Xerxes decides to use the pass.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nWhat he did is at the uh, nightfall of the second day after the heavy infantry attack had failed at the center, began under the cover of darkness to move ten thousand men up that road at the flank; uh the Spartan position.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBut this pass was not unknown to Leonidas. Before the first day of the attack, Leonidas had stationed one thousand men at the top of the pass. This force was made up of a people called the Phocians. But as the Persians approach the Phoenician line the force is missing.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThere is an intersection at the top of that ridge, one that leads to the Phocia and for some reason the Phocian troops seem to think the attack is going to be on their homeland and they withdraw.\\nMale Narrator:\\nFearing their homeland will be attacked the Phocians retreat to defend their families. The Persians now have an unhindered path to destruction.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nAt this point Leonidas is doomed. Above and beyond them are ten thousand infantry men who can come scrambling down the hill at any given time.\\nMale Narrator:\\nIn the middle of the night Greek scouts deliver the new to Leonidas that the Phocians have deserted. Knowing that he has been out flanked, Leonidas orders the retreat of the Greek infantry.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nYou can’t just order four thousand people to just turn around and leave. There are a lot of reasons for that; one, the enemy knows immediately what you’re doing and is going to attack you from the front. Uh, you can’t wait until you’re; you’re completely enclosed in the back. What do you have to do? You’ve got to get relatively small units out in a phased withdrawal, hopefully quietly so the enemy doesn’t know essentially that the front has been thinned otherwise they’ll attack you.\\nMale Narrator:\\nBy dawn all of the Greek troops have retreated. All except Leonidas, the three hundred Spartans, and about one thousand soldiers from the Greek city state of Thespia.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nVery few people know this bit of information about the battle but around a thousand Thespians, soldiers from the city state of Thespia, stayed behind with Leonidas; they could have left but they decided to stay and fight with the Spartans to the end. Now the reason this gets lost is that the Battle of Thermopylae has been mythologized throughout history and in movies today in such a way that only three hundred Spartans took on millions of Persians but it’s not so.\\nMale Narrator:\\nStill this force of just over a thousand is surrounded by tens of thousands of Persians. Leonidas and his men are about to make their last stand.\\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\\nThere was a great moment uh, when the Spartans were going forward to the front lines to die and their allies were going back to live, and that to me is in many ways is, is the most emotional moment of the fight.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nSo the question is why did he do this? Why did he do this? Why didn’t Leonidas pull his groups out and go with them? Oaky and I, I think there are a couple of answers to that. Uh you know, some people will say he was fulfilling the prophecy of the oracle.\\nOracle Voice:\\nEither your glorious city will be taken by the sons of Persia or all Sparta must morn for the loss of a King.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\\nThe sacrifice in his mind is about saving Sparta and that’s why he stays and that’s why he engages in a quixotic battle that he knows he’s destined to lose. It’s not because he wants to be a marauder. It’s not because as a Spartan soldier, he’s been trained, he must die. Quite the opposite, as a Spartan soldier he’s been trained to sneak, to steal, to evade. But as a Spartan he believes in the oracles, as a Spartan he believes in the religion, and as a Spartan it’s his duty to stay and die for the state.\\nMale Narrator:\\nLeonidas’s state might have kept him in the Thermopylae Pass but if looked upon from a military perspective, he might have been there as a covering force during a tactical retreat.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nEvery day he can delay these guys. Every minute he can delay these guys gives the Greeks behind him opportunity to assemble the army and new, new defense in position. The guys who pulled out of the, the, the pass still have additions to go before they can link up with the other armies and so, uh he decides to stand to the last man to buy the extra day or two. Uh, ensured he becomes, he turns himself and his bodyguard into a covering force for strategic or tactical withdrawal.\\nMale Narrator:\\nHistorians will never know why Leonidas decides to stay behind but the last stand of these three hundred men will be remembered forever. After two days of failing to penetrate the Greek defenses at Thermopylae the Persians have discovered a way to surround the pass. The Spartan King, Leonidas has order a tactical retreat to most of his fighting force. While only about one thousand Greek troops remain, including three hundred Spartans, Leonidas is trapped by tens of thousands of Persian soldiers.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nLeonidas is making his last stand at the Thermopylae Pass and for two days he successfully repelled the Persian advances. But now the Persians have him trapped. They’ve finally figured out how to out flank him and they’ve got him exactly where they want him.\\nMale Narrator:\\nDespite this knowledge, the Spartans calmly prepare for battle; a Persian scout watches.\\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\\nA Persian scout saw the Spartans exercising in the nude and pouring oil on themselves afterward, and cleaning themselves, and arranging their hair; their long hair and combing it out.\\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\\nThe Persians look at that and they don’t understand. They look at that and they see vanity or they look at that and they see, see bathroom behavior. They, they don’t know that the Spartans are preparing their bodies for death.\\nMale Narrator:\\nCleaned and prepared for battle the Spartans take the field one last time.\\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\\nThese are professional warriors. This is how they define themselves. This is how they, their status in society was defined. Uh, my guess is they would have welcomed the battle in the same way that Custer probably welcomed the battle. You know, that is to say we’re outnumbered but we’re better guys. Uhm, they would have probably welcomed the battle from a psychological and social perspective.\\nMale Narrator:\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124623,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"\"In which American city did Martin Luther King make his famous \"\"I have a dream\"\" speech?\""},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Washington DC"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Martin_Luther_King_Jr..txt\nMartin Luther King Jr.\nMartin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.\n\nKing became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia (the Albany Movement), and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous \"I Have a Dream\" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.\n\nOn October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled \"Beyond Vietnam\".\n\nIn 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities.\n\nKing was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.\n\nEarly life and education\n\nKing was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Reverend Martin Luther King Sr., and Alberta Williams King. \nKing's legal name at birth was Michael King, and his father was also born Michael King, but the elder King changed his and his son's names following a 1934 trip to Germany to attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress in Berlin. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther. King had Irish ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather. \n\nKing was a middle child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. King sang with his church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. King liked singing and music. King's mother, an accomplished organist and choir leader, took him to various churches to sing. He received attention for singing \"I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus.\" King later became a member of the junior choir in his church. \n\nKing said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen and a neighbor reported hearing the elder King telling his son \"he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death.\" King saw his father's proud and unafraid protests in relation to segregation, such as King Sr. refusing to listen to a traffic policeman after being referred to as \"boy\" or stalking out of a store with his son when being told by a shoe clerk that they would have to move to the rear to be served. \n\nWhen King was a child, he befriended a white boy whose father owned a business near his family's home. When the boys were 6, they attended different schools, with King attending a segregated school for African-Americans. King then lost his friend because the child's father no longer wanted them to play together. \n\nKing suffered from depression throughout much of his life. In his adolescent years, he initially felt some resentment against whites due to the \"racial humiliation\" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. At age 12, shortly after his maternal grandmother died, King blamed himself and jumped out of a second story window, but survived. \n\nKing was originally skeptical of many of Christianity's claims. At the age of thirteen, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. From this point, he stated, \"doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly\". However, he later concluded that the Bible has \"many profound truths which one cannot escape\" and decided to enter the seminary.\n\nGrowing up in Atlanta, King attended Booker T. Washington High School. He became known for his public speaking ability and was part of the school's debate team. King became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal in 1942 at age 13. During his junior year, he won first prize in an oratorical contest sponsored by the Negro Elks Club in Dublin, Georgia. Returning home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so white passengers could sit down. King refused initially, but complied after his teacher informed him that he would be breaking the law if he did not go along with the order. He later characterized this incident as \"the angriest I have ever been in my life\". A precocious student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grades of high school. It was during King's junior year that Morehouse College announced it would accept any high school juniors who could pass its entrance exam. At that time, most of the students had abandoned their studies to participate in World War II. Due to this, the school became desperate to fill in classrooms. At age 15, King passed the exam and entered Morehouse. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, an eighteen-year-old King made the choice to enter the ministry after he concluded the church offered the most assuring way to answer \"an inner urge to serve humanity\". King's \"inner urge\" had begun developing and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a \"rational\" minister with sermons that were \"a respectful force for ideas, even social protest.\" \n\nIn 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a B.A. degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a B.Div. degree in 1951. King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education. King was joined in attending Crozer by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse. At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. The African-American students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King was endeared to the street due to a classmate having an aunt that prepared the two collard greens, which they both relished. King once called out a student for keeping beer in his room because of their shared responsibility as African-Americans to bear \"the burdens of the Negro race.\" For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's \"social gospel\". In his third year there, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an immigrant German woman working as a cook in the cafeteria. The daughter had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King had plans of marrying her, but was advised not to by friends due to the reaction an interracial relationship would spark from both blacks and whites, as well as the chances of it destroying his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off around six months later. He would continue to have lingering feelings, with one friend being quoted as saying, \"He never recovered.\"Frady, pp. 20–22.\n\nKing married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963). During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the Civil Rights Movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother. \n\nKing became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1954. \n\nDoctoral studies\n\nKing began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation on \"A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman\". An academic inquiry concluded in October 1991 that portions of his dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose.\"\n The committee also found that the dissertation still \"makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship.\" However, a letter is now attached to King's dissertation in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. \n\nMontgomery bus boycott, 1955\n\nIn March 1955, a fifteen-year-old school girl in Montgomery, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in compliance with Jim Crow laws, laws in the US South that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; because Colvin was pregnant and unmarried, E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue. \n\nOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. The Montgomery bus boycott, urged and planned by Nixon and led by King, soon followed. The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested during this campaign, which concluded with a United States District Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.\n\nSouthern Christian Leadership Conference\n\nIn 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. One of the group's inspirations was the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King after he attended a Graham crusade in New York City in 1957. King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Charles Evers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.\n\nOn September 20, 1958, while signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem, King narrowly escaped death when Izola Curry, a mentally ill black woman who believed he was conspiring against her with communists, stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. After emergency surgery, King was hospitalized for several weeks, while Curry was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. In 1959, he published a short book called The Measure of A Man, which contained his sermons \"What is Man?\" and \"The Dimensions of a Complete Life\". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization. \n\nHarry Wachtel—who joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in a libel suit over a newspaper advertisement (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan)—founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the expenses of the suit and to assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the \"Gandhi Society for Human Rights\". King served as honorary president for the group. Displeased with the pace of President Kennedy's addressing the issue of segregation, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document in 1962 calling on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and use an Executive Order to deliver a blow for Civil Rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation - Kennedy did not execute the order. \n\nThe FBI, under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, began tapping King's telephone in the fall of 1963. \nConcerned that allegations of communists in the SCLC, if made public, would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives, Kennedy warned King to discontinue the suspect associations, and later felt compelled to issue the written directive authorizing the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. J. Edgar Hoover feared Communists were trying to infiltrate the Civil Rights movement, but when no such evidence emerged, the bureau used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of the preeminent leadership position. \n\nKing believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the Civil Rights Movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s. \n\nKing organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. \n\nKing and the SCLC put into practice many of the principles of the Christian Left and applied the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the method of protest and the places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities. Sometimes these confrontations turned violent.\n\nThroughout his participation in the civil rights movement, King was criticized by many groups. This included opposition by more militant blacks such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X. \nStokely Carmichael was a separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture. \nOmali Yeshitela urged Africans to remember the history of violent European colonization and how power was not secured by Europeans through integration, but by violence and force. \n\nAlbany Movement\n\nThe Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he \"had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel.\"King, Martin Luther. [https://books.google.com/books?id\npynSnGuC964C&pg=PT147 The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.] Hatchette Digital. 2001. Accessed January 4, 2013.\n\nThe following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, \"that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city\" after he left town.\n\nKing returned in July 1962, and was sentenced to forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine. He chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. \"We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail.\" It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time. \n\nAfter nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a \"Day of Penance\" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.\n\nBirmingham campaign\n\nIn April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust.\n\nKing's intent was to provoke mass arrests and \"create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation\". However, the campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations. \nNewsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade. \n\nDuring the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene \"Bull\" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the \"Jim Crow\" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.\n\nKing was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed the now-famous Letter from Birmingham Jail which responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: \"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.\" He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, \"everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'\". King also expresses his frustration with white moderates and clergymen too timid to oppose an unjust system:\nI have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to \"order\" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: \"I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action\"; who paternalistic-ally believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a \"more convenient season\". King began writing the letter on newspaper margins and continued on bits of paper brought by friends.\n\nSt. Augustine, Florida\n\nIn March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. Ironically, the pacifist SCLC accepted them. King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested. \nDuring June, the movement marched nightly through the city, \"often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention.\" Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. \n\nSelma, Alabama\n\nIn December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months. \nA local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of 3 or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965. \n\nNew York City\n\nOn February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called \"The American Race Crisis\". No audio record of his speech has been found, but in August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables. \n\nMarch on Washington, 1963\n\nKing, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the so-called \"Big Six\" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality. \n\nThe primary logistical and strategic organizer was King's colleague Bayard Rustin. \nFor King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march. \nKennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and the UAW union to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause. \n\nThe march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. However, the group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone.\n\nAs a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the \"Farce on Washington\", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march. \n\nThe march did, however, make specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers; and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee. \nDespite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.\n\nKing delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as \"I Have a Dream\". In the speech's most famous passage—in which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, \"Tell them about the dream!\" —King said: \n\n\"I Have a Dream\" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. \nThe March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. \n\nThe original, typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech. He got it.\n\nSelma voting rights movement and \"Bloody Sunday\", 1965\n\nActing on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, King, Bevel, and the SCLC, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize the march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday, and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the Civil Rights Movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King's nonviolence strategy. King, however, was not present.\n\nKing met with officials in the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration on March 5 in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, \"If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line.\" Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.\n\nKing next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. \nAt the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as \"How Long, Not Long\". In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, \"because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice\". \n\nChicago open housing movement, 1966\n\nIn 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations tried to spread the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave., in the slums of North Lawndale \non Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.\n\nThe SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.\nDuring that spring, several white couple / black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes. Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others. \n\nAbernathy later wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible. \nKing's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result. \nKing was hit by a brick during one march but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger. \n\nWhen King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization. \nJackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks. \n\nOpposition to the Vietnam War\n\nKing long opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. However, at the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public. In an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled \"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence\".\nHe spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam \"to occupy it as an American colony\" and calling the U.S. government \"the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today\". He also connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change:\n\nKing also opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, \"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death\". He stated that North Vietnam \"did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands\", and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, \"mostly children\". \nKing also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms. \n\nKing's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham, union leaders and powerful publishers.\n\n\"The press is being stacked against me\", King said, \ncomplaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied \"toward little brown Vietnamese children\".\n\nLife magazine called the speech \"demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi\", and The Washington Post declared that King had \"diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people\".\n\nThe \"Beyond Vietnam\" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. \nKing began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. \nHe guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said \"I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ...\" In one speech, he stated that \"something is wrong with capitalism\" and claimed, \"There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.\" \nKing had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected \"traditional capitalism\", he also rejected communism because of its \"materialistic interpretation of history\" that denied religion, its \"ethical relativism\", and its \"political totalitarianism\". \n\nKing also stated in \"Beyond Vietnam\" that \"true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring\". King quoted a United States official who said that, from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was \"on the wrong side of a world revolution\". King condemned America's \"alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America\", and said that the U.S. should support \"the shirtless and barefoot people\" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.\n\nOn April 15, 1967, King participated in and spoke at an anti-war march from New York's Central Park to the United Nations organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King also brought up issues of civil rights and the draft.\n\nSeeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists, Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort. Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was also not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement.[http://bltnotjustasandwich.com/2013/01/17/martin-l-king-on-hippies/ Martin L. King on hippies], A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., Accessed September 15, 2014 In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated:\n\nOn January 13, 1968, the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address, King called for a large march on Washington against \"one of history's most cruel and senseless wars\". \n\nPoor People's Campaign, 1968\n\nIn 1968, King and the SCLC organized the \"Poor People's Campaign\" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble \"a multiracial army of the poor\" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an \"economic bill of rights\" for poor Americans. \n\nThe campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States.\n\nKing and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown \"hostility to the poor\" by spending \"military funds with alacrity and generosity\". He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided \"poverty funds with miserliness\". His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of \"racism, poverty, militarism and materialism\", and argued that \"reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced\".\n\nThe Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black. \n\nAfter King's death\n\nThe plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered.\n\nThousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and established a camp they called \"Resurrection City\". They stayed for six weeks.\n\nAssassination and aftermath\n\nOn March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, represented by AFSCME Local 1733, who had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.\n \n\nOn April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his \"I've Been to the Mountaintop\" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. \nIn the close of the last speech of his career, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:\n\nKing was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis. Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often it was known as the \"King-Abernathy suite\". \nAccording to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: \"Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.\" \n\nKing was shot at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. \nAbernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.\nJackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had \"reached out\" for King. \n\nAfter emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. \nAccording to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he \"had the heart of a 60 year old\", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the Civil Rights Movement. \n\nAftermath\n\nThe assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Baltimore; Louisville; Kansas City; and dozens of other cities.\n \nPresidential candidate Robert F. \"Bobby\" Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence. \nJames Farmer Jr., and other civil rights leaders also called for nonviolent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response. The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers. \n\nPresident Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader. \nVice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence. \nAt his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral, \na recording of his \"Drum Major\" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to \"feed the hungry\", \"clothe the naked\", \"be right on the [Vietnam] war question\", and \"love and serve humanity\". \nHis good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, \"Take My Hand, Precious Lord\", at the funeral. \n\nTwo months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. \nRay was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later.\n\nOn the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.\n\nRay later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias \"Raoul\" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. \n\nHe spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.\n\nAllegations of conspiracy\n\nRay's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists.\n\nSupporters of this assertion say that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty. \nThey admit Ray was a thief and burglar, but claim he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon. However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery. In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. \"I never been with nobody as bold as he is,\" Jerry said. \"He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing.\"\n\nThose suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle.\n\nWitnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window. However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from. An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints also determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.\n\nIn 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.\n\nTwo years later, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and \"other unknown co-conspirators\". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.\n \nWilliam F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial. \n\nIn 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented. A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax. \n\nIn 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, \"It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way.\" Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.\n\nKing researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. \nIn 2003, Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts. \nKing's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, \"There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man.\" \nIn 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:\n\nLegacy\n\nKing's main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968.\n\nTitle VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S.\n\nInternationally, King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and Civil Rights Movement in South Africa. \nKing's work was cited by and served as an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country and was later awarded the Nobel Prize. The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first \"Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes\" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community. King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism. King also influenced Irish politician and activist John Hume. Hume, the former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, cited King's legacy as quintessential to the Northern Irish civil rights movement and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, calling him \"one of my great heroes of the century.\" \n\nKing's wife, Coretta Scott King, followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide.\n\nTheir son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman. \nDaughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training. \n\nEven within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta said publicly that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.\n\nOn February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated:\n\nMartin Luther King Jr. Day\n\nBeginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King. At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday. \nOn January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states. \nArizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognize the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day. \n\nLiturgical commemorations\n\nKing is remembered as a martyr by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with an annual feast day on the anniversary of his death, April 4. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15. \n\nUK legacy and The Martin Luther King Peace Committee\n\nIn the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee exists to honour King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967. The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US Civil Rights Movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to \"build cultures of peace.\"\n\nIdeas, influences, and political stances\n\nReligion\n\nAs a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' \"extremist\" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:\n\nIn his speech \"I've Been to the Mountaintop\", he stated that he just wanted to do God's will.\n\nNonviolence\n\nVeteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence. King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley. Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s, and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s. King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term \"nonviolence\" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms. \n\nIn the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter [http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol4/1-Sept-1958_MyPilgrimageToNonviolence.pdf Pilgrimage to Nonviolence]. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting. \n\nInspired by Mahatma Gandhi's success with nonviolent activism, King had \"for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India\". With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, \"Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity\".\n\nBayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, King agreed that Rustin should be one of the main organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. \n\nKing's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the \"successful precedent\" of using nonviolence \"in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage.\" \n\nGandhi seemed to have influenced him with certain moral principles, though Gandhi himself had been influenced by The Kingdom of God Is Within You, a nonviolent classic written by Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy. In turn, both Gandhi and Martin Luther King had read Tolstoy, and King, Gandhi and Tolstoy had been strongly influenced by Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. King quoted Tolstoy's War and Peace in 1959. \n\nAnother influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience, which King read in his student days. He was influenced by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system. He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, as well as Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis. King also sometimes used the concept of \"agape\" (brotherly Christian love). However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings. \n\nEven after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice. \n\nPolitics\n\nAs the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: \"I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either.\" \nIn a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, \"I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party.\" \nKing did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the \"greatest of all senators\" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years. \n\nKing critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality: \n\nAlthough King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson or Dwight Eisenhower, but that \"In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket.\" \nIn his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: \"I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one.\" King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying \"Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964.\" \nIn 1964, King urged his supporters \"and all people of goodwill\" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election \"would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world.\" \nKing supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout America at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the basic necessities of many American people, particularly the African American community. \n\nCompensation\n\nKing stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.\n\nHe posited that \"the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils\". He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, \"It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races\".\n\nThe lack of attention given to family planning\n\nOn being awarded the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Margaret Sanger Award on 5th May, 1966, King said:\n\nFBI and King's personal life\n\nFBI surveillance and wiretapping\n\nFBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader.\n\nAccording to the Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, \"From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader.\"\n\nThe Bureau received authorization to proceed with wiretapping from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the fall of 1963 and informed President John F. Kennedy, both of whom unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Stanley Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA. Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones \"on a trial basis, for a month or so\", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were \"unshackled\" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy. The Bureau placed wiretaps on Levison's and King's home and office phones, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country.\n\nIn 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: \"No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited.\" \n\nNSA monitoring of King's communications\n\nIn a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\"\n\nAllegations of communism\n\nFor years, Hoover had been suspicious about potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights. \nHoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC as it was established (it did not have a full-time executive director until 1960). The investigations were largely superficial until 1962, when the FBI learned that one of King's most trusted advisers was New York City lawyer Stanley Levison.\n\nThe FBI feared Levison was working as an \"agent of influence\" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them. Another King lieutenant, Hunter Pitts O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). \nHowever, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.\n\nFor his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism, stating in a 1965 Playboy interview that \"there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida\". He argued that Hoover was \"following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South\" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the Civil Rights Movement was meant to \"aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements\".\nHoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was \"the most notorious liar in the country\". \nAfter King gave his \"I Have A Dream\" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as \"the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country\". It alleged that he was \"knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists\".\n\nThe attempt to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were happy with their lot but had been stirred up by \"communists\" and \"outside agitators\". \nHowever, the 1950s and '60s Civil Rights Movement arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that \"the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations.\"\n\nAdultery\n\nHaving concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, the FBI shifted to attempting to discredit King through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also engaged in numerous extramarital affairs. Lyndon Johnson once said that King was a \"hypocritical preacher\". \n\nRalph Abernathy stated in his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down that King had a \"weakness for women\", although they \"all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation\". In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term \"womanizing\", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual. Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs, such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated. In his original wording, Abernathy had claimed he saw King coming out of his room with a lady when he awoke the next morning and later claimed that \"he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know.\"\n\nIn his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, \"that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels.\" He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as \"a form of anxiety reduction\". Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him \"painful and at times overwhelming guilt\". King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that \"all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high level relationship we enjoyed.\" Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were \"sensational\" and stated that Garrow was \"amassing facts rather than analyzing them\". \n\nThe FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family. The Bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work. One such letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:\n\nThe American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant ). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.\n\nA tape recording of several of King's extramarital liaisons, excerpted from FBI wiretaps, accompanied the letter. King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide, although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to \"convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC\". King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.\n\nJudge John Lewis Smith Jr., in 1977 ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027. \n\nPolice observation during the assassination\n\nAcross from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which James Earl Ray was staying, was a fire station. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance. \nAgents were watching King at the time he was shot. \nImmediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King. \nThe antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination. \n\nAwards and recognition\n\nKing was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities.\n\nOn October 14, 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. \nIn 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his \"exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty\". \nIn his acceptance remarks, King said, \"Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free.\" \n\nIn 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. \nIn 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for \"his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity\".\n\nAlso in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In November 1967 he made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honoured by Newcastle. In a moving impromptu acceptance speech, he said\n\nThere are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.\n\nIn 1971 he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam. \n\nIn 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read:\nMartin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet. \nKing and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. \n\nKing was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. \nIn 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online \"Person of the Century\" poll by the same magazine. King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL. \n\nMemorials and eponymous places and buildings\n\nThere are numerous memorials to King in the United States, including:\n* More than 730 cities in the United States have streets named after King. \n* King County, Washington, rededicated its name in his honor in 1986, and changed its logo to an image of his face in 2007. \n* The city government center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of King. \n* In 1980, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated King's boyhood home in Atlanta and several nearby buildings the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.\n* A bust of Dr. King was added to the \"gallery of notables\" in the United States Capitol in 1986, portraying him in a \"restful, nonspeaking pose.\"\n* The beginning words of King's \"I Have a Dream\" speech are etched on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, at the place where King stood during that speech. These words from the speech—\"five short lines of text carved into the granite on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial\"—were etched in 2003, on the 40th anniversary of the march to Washington, by stone carver Andy Del Gallo, after a law was passed by Congress providing authorization for the inscription.\n* In 1996, Congress authorized the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, of which King is still a member, to establish a foundation to manage fund raising and design of a national Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. King was the first African American and the fourth non-president honored with his own memorial in the National Mall area. The memorial opened in August 2011 and is administered by the National Park Service. The address of the monument, 1964 Independence Avenue, S.W., commemorates the year that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law. \n* The Landmark for Peace Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana \n* The Homage to King sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia\n* The Dream sculpture in Portland, Oregon\n* The National Civil Rights Museum, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where King died\n* Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama\n* On October 11, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a proposed \"Freedom Bell\" may be installed atop Stone Mountain honoring King and his I Have A Dream speech, specifically the line \"Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.\" \n\nNumerous other memorials honor him around the world, including:\n* The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Church in Debrecen, Hungary\n* The King-Luthuli Transformation Center in Johannesburg, South Africa\n* The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Forest in Israel's Southern Galilee region (along with the Coretta Scott King Forest in Biriya Forest, Israel)\n* The Martin Luther King Jr. School in Accra, Ghana\n* The Gandhi-King Plaza (garden), at the India International Center in New Delhi, India\n* In Norfolk, Virginia stands a memorial in honor of King. The 83-foot-high granite obelisk was conceived by former Norfolk Councilman and General District Court Judge Joseph A. Jordan Jr. \n\nFive Dollar Bill\n\nOn April 20, 2016 Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the $5, $10, and $20 would all undergo redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that while Lincoln would remain on the obverse of the $5 bill, the reverse would be redesigned to depict various historical events that had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the planned designs are images from King's \"I Have a Dream\" speech and the 1939 concert by opera singer Marian Anderson. \n\nWorks\n\n* Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958) ISBN 978-0-06-250490-6\n* The Measure of a Man (1959) ISBN 978-0-8006-0877-4\n* Strength to Love (1963) ISBN 978-0-8006-9740-2\n* Why We Can't Wait (1964) ISBN 978-0-8070-0112-7\n* Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) ISBN 978-0-8070-0571-2\n* The Trumpet of Conscience (1968) ISBN 978-0-8070-0170-7\n* A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986) ISBN 978-0-06-250931-4\n* The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson ISBN 978-0-446-67650-2\n* \"All Labor Has Dignity\" (2011) ed. Michael Honey ISBN 978-0-8070-8600-1\n* \"Thou, Dear God\": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits Collection of King's prayers. (2011), ed. Lewis Baldwin ISBN 978-0-8070-8603-2\n* MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson ISBN 978-0-8070-0316-9","I_Have_a_Dream.txt\nI Have a Dream\n\"I Have a Dream\" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. \n\nBeginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863, King observes that: \"one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free\".Alexandra Alvarez, \"Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor\", Journal of Black Studies 18(3); . Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme \"I have a dream\", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: \"Tell them about the dream, Martin!\" In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. Jon Meacham writes that, \"With a single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America\". The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. \n\nBackground\n\nThe March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was partly intended to demonstrate mass support for the civil rights legislation proposed by President Kennedy in June. Martin Luther King and other leaders therefore agreed to keep their speeches calm, also, to avoid provoking the civil disobedience which had become the hallmark of the Civil Rights Movement. King originally designed his speech as a homage to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, timed to correspond with the 100-year centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.Nicolaus Mills, \"What Really Happened at the March on Washington?\", Dissent, Summer 1988; reprinted in Civil Rights Since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle, ed. Jonathan Birnbaum and Clarence Taylor, New York: New York University Press, 2000.\n\nSpeech title and the writing process\n\nKing had been preaching about dreams since 1960, when he gave a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called \"The Negro and the American Dream\". This speech discusses the gap between the American dream and reality, saying that overt white supremacists have violated the dream, and that \"our federal government has also scarred the dream through its apathy and hypocrisy, its betrayal of the cause of justice\". King suggests that \"It may well be that the Negro is God's instrument to save the soul of America.\" In 1961, he spoke of the Civil Rights Movement and student activists' \"dream\" of equality—\"the American Dream ... a dream as yet unfulfilled\"—in several national speeches and statements, and took \"the dream\" as the centerpiece for these speeches. \n\nOn November 27, 1962, Dr. King gave a speech at Booker T. Washington High School in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. That speech was longer than the version which he would eventually deliver from the Lincoln Memorial. And while parts of the text had been moved around, large portions were identical, including the \"I have a dream\" refrain. After being rediscovered, the restored and digitized recording of the 1962 speech was presented to the public by the English department of North Carolina State University.\n\nDr. King had also delivered a \"dream\" speech in Detroit, in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and had rehearsed other parts. \n\nThe March on Washington Speech, known as \"I Have a Dream Speech\", has been shown to have had several versions, written at several different times. It has no single version draft, but is an amalgamation of several drafts, and was originally called \"Normalcy, Never Again\". Little of this, and another \"Normalcy Speech\", ended up in the final draft. A draft of \"Normalcy, Never Again\" is housed in the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection of the Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center and Morehouse College. The focus on \"I have a dream\" comes through the speech's delivery. Toward the end of its delivery, noted African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to King from the crowd, \"Tell them about the dream, Martin.\" King departed from his prepared remarks and started \"preaching\" improvisationally, punctuating his points with \"I have a dream.\"\n\nThe speech was drafted with the assistance of Stanley Levison and Clarence Benjamin Jones in Riverdale, New York City. Jones has said that \"the logistical preparations for the march were so burdensome that the speech was not a priority for us\" and that, \"on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 27, [12 hours before the March] Martin still didn't know what he was going to say\". \n\nLeading up to the speech's rendition at the Great March on Washington, King had delivered its \"I have a dream\" refrains in his speech before 25,000 people in Detroit's Cobo Hall immediately after the 125,000-strong Great Walk to Freedom in Detroit, June 23, 1963. After the Washington, D.C. March, a recording of King's Cobo Hall speech was released by Detroit's Gordy Records as an LP entitled \"The Great March To Freedom\". \n\nThe speech\n\nWidely hailed as a masterpiece of rhetoric, King's speech invokes pivotal documents in American history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. Early in his speech, King alludes to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by saying \"Five score years ago...\" In reference to the abolition of slavery articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation, King says: \"It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.\" Anaphora (i.e., the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences) is employed throughout the speech. Early in his speech, King urges his audience to seize the moment; \"Now is the time\" is repeated three times in the sixth paragraph. The most widely cited example of anaphora is found in the often quoted phrase \"I have a dream\", which is repeated eight times as King paints a picture of an integrated and unified America for his audience. Other occasions include \"One hundred years later\", \"We can never be satisfied\", \"With this faith\", \"Let freedom ring\", and \"free at last\". King was the sixteenth out of eighteen people to speak that day, according to the official program. \n\nAmong the most quoted lines of the speech include \"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!\" \n\nAccording to U.S. Representative John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, \"Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.\" \n\nThe ideas in the speech reflect King's social experiences of ethnocentric abuse, the mistreatment and exploitation of blacks. The speech draws upon appeals to America's myths as a nation founded to provide freedom and justice to all people, and then reinforces and transcends those secular mythologies by placing them within a spiritual context by arguing that racial justice is also in accord with God's will. Thus, the rhetoric of the speech provides redemption to America for its racial sins. King describes the promises made by America as a \"promissory note\" on which America has defaulted. He says that \"America has given the Negro people a bad check\", but that \"we've come to cash this check\" by marching in Washington, D.C.\n\nSimilarities and allusions\n\nKing's speech uses words and ideas from his own speeches and other texts. For years, he had spoken about dreams, quoted from \"My Country, 'Tis of Thee\", and of course referred extensively to the Bible. The idea of constitutional rights as an \"unfulfilled promise\" was suggested by Clarence Jones.\n\nThe final passage from King's speech closely resembles Archibald Carey Jr.'s address to the 1952 Republican National Convention: both speeches end with a recitation of the first verse of Samuel Francis Smith's popular patriotic hymn \"America\" (\"My Country, 'Tis of Thee\"), and the speeches share the name of one of several mountains from which both exhort \"let freedom ring\". \n\nKing also is said to have built on Prathia Hall's speech at the site of a burned-down African American church in Terrell County, Georgia, in September 1962, in which she used the repeated phrase \"I have a dream\". The church burned down after it was used for voter registration meetings. \n\nThe speech also alludes to in the second stanza of the speech. Additionally, King quotes from (\"I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted...\" ) and (\"But let justice roll down like water...\" ). He also alludes to the opening lines of Shakespeare's Richard III (\"Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer...\") when he remarks that \"this sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn...\"\n\nThe speech and rhetoric\n\nThe \"I Have A Dream\" speech can be dissected by using three rhetorical lenses: voice merging, prophetic voice, and dynamic spectacle. Voice merging is the combining of one's own voice with religious predecessors. Prophetic voice is using rhetoric to speak for a population. A dynamic spectacle has origins from the Aristotelian definition as \"a weak hybrid form of drama, a theatrical concoction that relied upon external factors (shock, sensation, and passionate release) such as televised rituals of conflict and social control.\"\n\nVoice merging is a common technique used amongst African American preachers. It combines the voices of previous preachers and excerpts from scriptures along with their own unique thoughts to create a unique voice. King uses voice merging in his peroration when he references the secular hymn \"America\".\n\nThe rhetoric of King's speech can be compared to the rhetoric of Old Testament prophets. During King's speech, he speaks with urgency and crisis giving him a prophetic voice. The prophetic voice must \"restore a sense of duty and virtue amidst the decay of venality.\" An evident example is when King declares that \"now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.\"\n\nWhy King's speech was powerful is debated, but essentially, it came at a point of many factors combining at a key cultural turning point. Executive speechwriter Anthony Trendl writes, \"The right man delivered the right words to the right people in the right place at the right time.\" \n\n\"Given the context of drama and tension in which it was situated\", King's speech can be classified as a dynamic spectacle. A dynamic spectacle is dependent on the situation in which it is used. It can be considered a dynamic spectacle because it happened at the correct time and place: during the Civil Rights Movement and the March on Washington.\n\nResponses\n\nThe speech was lauded in the days after the event, and was widely considered the high point of the March by contemporary observers. James Reston, writing for the New York Times, said that \"Dr. King touched all the themes of the day, only better than anybody else. He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the Bible. He was both militant and sad, and he sent the crowd away feeling that the long journey had been worthwhile.\" Reston also noted that the event \"was better covered by television and the press than any event here since President Kennedy's inauguration\", and opined that \"it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. crying out his dreams to the multitude.\" An article in the Boston Globe by Mary McGrory reported that King's speech \"caught the mood\" and \"moved the crowd\" of the day \"as no other\" speaker in the event. Marquis Childs of The Washington Post wrote that King's speech \"rose above mere oratory\". An article in the Los Angeles Times commented that the \"matchless eloquence\" displayed by King—\"a supreme orator\" of \"a type so rare as almost to be forgotten in our age\"—put to shame the advocates of segregation by inspiring the \"conscience of America\" with the justice of the civil-rights cause. \n\nThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which viewed King and his allies for racial justice as subversive, also noticed the speech. This provoked the organization to expand their COINTELPRO operation against the SCLC, and to target King specifically as a major enemy of the United States. Two days after King delivered \"I Have a Dream\", Agent William C. Sullivan, the head of COINTELPRO, wrote a memo about King's growing influence:\nIn the light of King's powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands head and shoulders above all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security. \n\nThe speech was a success for the Kennedy administration and for the liberal civil rights coalition that had planned it. It was considered a \"triumph of managed protest\", and not one arrest relating to the demonstration occurred. Kennedy had watched King's speech on TV and been very impressed. Afterwards, March leaders accepted an invitation to the White House to meet with President Kennedy. Kennedy felt the March bolstered the chances for his civil rights bill. \n\nMeanwhile, some of the more radical Black leaders who were present condemned the speech (along with the rest of the march) as too compromising. Malcolm X later wrote in his autobiography: \"Who ever heard of angry revolutionaries swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily pad pools, with gospels and guitars and 'I have a dream' speeches?\"\n\nLegacy\n\nThe March on Washington put pressure on the Kennedy administration to advance its civil rights legislation in Congress. The diaries of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., published posthumously in 2007, suggest that President Kennedy was concerned that if the march failed to attract large numbers of demonstrators, it might undermine his civil rights efforts.\n\nIn the wake of the speech and march, King was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine for 1963, and in 1964, he was the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The full speech did not appear in writing until August 1983, some 15 years after King's death, when a transcript was published in The Washington Post.\n\nIn 1990, the Australian alternative comedy rock band Doug Anthony All Stars released an album called Icon. One song from Icon, \"Shang-a-lang\", sampled the end of the speech.\n\nIn 2002, the Library of Congress honored the speech by adding it to the United States National Recording Registry. In 2003, the National Park Service dedicated an inscribed marble pedestal to commemorate the location of King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial. \n\nThe Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was dedicated in 2011. The centerpiece for the memorial is based on a line from King's \"I Have A Dream\" speech: \"Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.\" A 30 ft-high relief of King named the \"Stone of Hope\" stands past two other pieces of granite that symbolize the \"mountain of despair.\"\n\nOn August 26, 2013, UK's BBC Radio 4 broadcast \"God's Trombone\", in which Gary Younge looked behind the scenes of the speech and explored \"what made it both timely and timeless\". \n\nOn August 28, 2013, thousands gathered on the mall in Washington D.C. where King made his historic speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occasion. In attendance were former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and incumbent President Barack Obama, who addressed the crowd and spoke on the significance of the event. Many of King's family were in attendance. \n\nOn October 11, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an exclusive report about Stone Mountain officials considering installation of a new \"Freedom Bell\" honoring King and citing the speech's reference to the mountain \"Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.\" Design details and a timeline for its installation remain to be determined. The article mentioned inspiration for the proposed monument came from a bell-ringing ceremony held in 2013 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of King's speech.\n\nOn April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the U.S. $5 bill, which has featured the Lincoln Memorial on its back, would undergo a redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that a portrait of Lincoln would remain on the front of the bill, but the back would be redesigned to depict various historical events that have occurred at the memorial, including an image from King's speech. \n\nCopyright dispute\n\nBecause King's speech was broadcast to a large radio and television audience, there was controversy about its copyright status. If the performance of the speech constituted \"general publication\", it would have entered the public domain due to King's failure to register the speech with the Register of Copyrights. However, if the performance only constituted \"limited publication\", King retained common law copyright. This led to a lawsuit, Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., which established that the King estate does hold copyright over the speech and had standing to sue; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances, especially in jurisdictions under doctrines such as fair use or fair dealing. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, therefore until 2038. \n\nOriginal copy of the speech\n\nAs King waved goodbye to the audience, he handed George Raveling the original typewritten \"I Have a Dream\" speech. Raveling, an All-American Villanova Wildcats college basketball player, had volunteered as a security guard for the event and was on the podium with King at that moment. Raveling still has custody of the original copy and has been offered as high as $3,000,000 for it, but claims to have no intention of selling it.","Did MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African ...\nWhen Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. read his speech at ... Did MLK Improvise in the ‘Dream’ Speech? ... It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a ...\nDid MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African American Blog | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross\nby Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Originally posted on The Root\nFive Score and 50 Years Ago …\nThis year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation , issued at the midpoint of the American Civil War, and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , a moment that marked the spiritual summit of the civil rights movement. In place and time, they are joined at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, the nation’s shrine to the president who signed the proclamation declaring the slaves of the Confederate states free and the King who, 100 later, spoke to the disappointments and dreams of their descendants. Today, the words of both men — authors of arguably the two greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address and the “I Have a Dream” speech (pdf) — are etched in stone and in memory at the Lincoln and King Memorials in Washington.\nLincoln Memorial, Aug. 28, 1963 (Public Domain)\nNo one understood the poetry of their parallel moments better than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, who, speaking in front of Daniel Chester French’s iconic seated Lincoln statue, began his speech, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation … But 100 hundred years later the Negro still is not free.” In this way, Dr. King framed Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and made freedom — “at last” — the ideal by which we measure progress in our country.\nSo effective was King in tying the memory of Lincoln to the cause of civil rights that most of us now see the Lincoln Memorial as the obvious site, the holiest of holy places, where history and racial progress meet. So, it was — it had to be — the perfect backdrop for the ultimate barrier breaker, Barack Obama, to stand on the eve of his inauguration in 2009. Yet, as we shall see, there was nothing inevitable about the choice of the Lincoln Memorial as the logical place for racial protests throughout the early 20th century, or as the staging ground for Dr. King’s most memorable speech.\nLast week, we honored Bayard Rustin , the architect of the march; today, we examine the moment that remains most closely associated with it. But first, it’s important that we all understand a bit of the complicated background about the setting …\n1922: A Dedication or an Opening?\nThe NAACP was founded in Springfield, Ill., Feb. 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Yet, at the opening of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington May 30, 1922, security guards tried to “Jim Crow” black guests into a separate section from whites, despite the presence of a black orator onstage, the president of Tuskegee Institute, Robert Russa Moton , who, in addition to serving on numerous national boards, published an annual list of blacks lynched in the United States. (Sources for this last fact include the Afro-American newspaper from June 2, 1922, and Moton’s New York Times obituary from June 1, 1940.)\nThe title of Moton’s speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” might have been the other way around (given the role of black soldiers in the Civil War), but Moton agreed to tone down his remarks to placate the Memorial Commission, as Adam Fairclough writes in his article “Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial.” Even then, Moton managed to slip in his view of Lincoln’s ambivalence about emancipation: “The claim of greatness for Abraham Lincoln lies in this, that amid doubt and distrust, against the counsel of chosen advisers, in the hour of the nation’s utter peril, he put his trust in God and spoke the word that gave freedom to a race.”\nNo mainstream newspaper covered the attempt to segregate black guests at the dedication or that 21 guests apparently stormed out. (I checked ProQuest for these facts after reading other valuable historical accounts by Scott Sandage and Christopher Thomas.) They did cover President Warren G. Harding’s keynote address, in which he sanitized the memorial as a symbol of a restored Union by telling the estimated 75,000 gathered, “Halting human slavery as [Lincoln] did, he doubtless believed in its ultimate abolition through the developing conscience of the American people, but he would have been the last man in the Republic to resort to arms to effect its abolition.”\nFor this reason, at least one black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, on June 10, 1922, refused to accept that the Lincoln Memorial had been dedicated in 1922. “With song, prayer, bold and truthful speech,” its editor prophetically declared, “later on let us dedicate that temple thus far only opened.”\nThe Rededication\nAfrican Americans, beginning with members of the AME Zion Church, started gathering at the Lincoln Memorial as early as 1926, as a Washington Post account on August 5, 1926, indicates. And on April 9, 1939 (Easter Sunday and the 74th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox), the black contralto Marian Anderson fulfilled the Chicago Defender’s prophecy by giving a performance (mp3) of patriotic hymns, opera selections and Negro spirituals before a crowd of 100,000.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was only 10 when Marian Anderson gave her concert. At 15, he cited her in his prize-winning speech at Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School: “When the words of ‘America’ and ‘Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen’ rang out over that great gathering, there was a hush on the sea of uplifted faces, black and white, and a new baptism of liberty, equality and fraternity. That was a touching tribute, but Miss Anderson may not as yet spend the night in any good hotel in America.” Young Martin was right — the night of her concert, Marian Anderson stayed at the home of former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot (for a terrific account of her life and impact, see Raymond Arsenault’s book, The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert that Awakened America).\nSixteen years later, by then-Dr. King would lead a bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., that would set him on a path toward immortality and a destiny not dissimilar to the one occupied by the slain president who would be seated behind him (in stone) before a crowd of 200,000-plus marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.\nWriting the Speech (Minus ‘The Dream’)\nAs Taylor Branch notes in his definitive narrative, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, Dr. King began working in earnest on his speech with a small group of advisers in the lobby of the Willard Hotel the night before the march, and the resulting draft was “a mixture of truncated oratory and fresh composition” that was “politically sound but far from historic.” (To learn more, see King adviser Clarence B. Jones’ account in the Washington Post).\nMartin Luther King Jr. addressing the audience at the March on Washington (Wikimedia Commons)\nWhen King took the stage the following day, the audience had no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes wrangling we read about last week in the column about Rustin or that the march’s D.C. coordinator, Walter Fauntroy (future D.C. congressman), had to ring up the Justice Department to send in the Army Signal Corps to repair the expensive sound system sabotaged the day before. Imagine if they hadn’t come! (For more, see Charles Euchner’s recent book, Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.)\nWhat the audience did know was that the August heat was rapidly approaching unbearable and the cavalcade of speeches, whatever their individual merits, was beginning to weary them. Still, the crowd anxiously anticipated the march’s climax, the appearance of Dr. King, whom A. Philip Randolph introduced as “the moral leader of our nation … Dr. Martin Luther King, J-R.” King approached the podium keenly aware that he was addressing not only the massive crowd gathered before him at the Lincoln Memorial, but also the millions more watching live on TV, including President Kennedy and his brother, Robert.\nWorking Off the Script\nAdam Fairclough has pointed out that part of the power of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech came from the fact that he “framed this vision entirely within the hallowed symbols of Americanism: the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation and the ‘American Dream.’ ” But when he started talking that day, he had not planned to discuss any dreams.\nAfter opening with his allusion to Lincoln and “the Negro … still not free,” King turned to the novel metaphor of “the promissory note” — that the Declaration of Independence was a check of sorts written to all Americans of all races as a guarantee of their rights, but that so far, for “the Negro people,” it had been “a bad check … marked ‘insufficient funds.’ ”\nIn the following sections of the speech, King responded to critics across the political spectrum, including those who cautioned moderation (“gradualism,” he named it) and those who had begun calling for armed militancy and racial separation. King stressed the need for action “in the fierce urgency of now” and argued for a nonviolent, biracial approach, reminding those demanding more radical action that “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny … We cannot walk alone.” King then encouraged Americans to continue fighting for right over might, as “we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”\nA Speech Becomes a Sermon\nNot long after delivering that now-famous line, however, King changed course. Looking at his prepared speech, he balked when he reached this mouthful of a sentence: “And so today, let us go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” Instead, he transformed his speech into a sermon. He instructed the audience to “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama … South Carolina … Georgia … Louisiana … to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”\nKing speechwriter Clarence Jones realized what was happening when he saw King “push the text of his prepared remarks to one side,” he wrote in the Washington Post in 2011. “I leaned over and said to the person next to me, ‘These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about ready to go to church.’ ” Onstage that day, as Branch’s Parting the Waters quotes, the singer Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier, reportedly kept saying to King, as he spoke, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.” King never said if he heard her or not, but Julian Bond recently told me it would have been impossible not to, given their proximity on the stage and the resonance of Jackson’s powerful voice.\nIn any case, her dream was fulfilled when King continued, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed.” In classic black preacher oratorical fashion, King then turned to repetition, outlining the specifics of his dream, which emphasized interracial cooperation across the South. Poignantly, he exclaimed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”\nSoon the speech reached its dramatic climax. King quoted the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (the song Marian Anderson had opened with at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; she was also there to sing the national anthem in 1963) and commanded, “Let freedom ring” in “New Hampshire … New York … Pennsylvania … Colorado,” and “California,” but also “from Stone Mountain of Georgia … from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee … from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring … ”\nHe saved his most dramatic exhortations for last: “When we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentile, Catholics and Protestants, will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God, Almighty, we are free at last,’ ” a reference to this song . There is no better way to do justice to the delivery and effect of Dr. King’s speech upon his audience both at the memorial and in living rooms across America than to read (pdf), watch and listen.\nThree months later, King explained his decision to go off-script: “I started out reading the speech … just all of a sudden — the audience response was wonderful that day — and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here” (quoted in David Garrow’s Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). As inspiring as those speeches were, especially the version of the “Dream” speech he delivered in Detroit just two months before, settings matter, as Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, was quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press June 22 of this year. Musical as Motown was, it couldn’t compete with “the symbolic space” of the Lincoln Memorial (though Berry Gordy officially released 45s of the Detroit speech on the same day as the March on Washington!).\nImmediate Reactions\nDespite its well-earned current status as one of the greatest speeches in American history, it was not universally lauded the following day. While the New York Times published a story called “‘I Have a Dream …’ Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,” the Washington Post did not even mention King’s speech in its coverage of the march, according to Branch in Parting the Waters.\nAt the same time, radical activists on King’s left criticized the speech as a farce. “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and ‘I Have a Dream’ speeches?” Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography. All this, he added, while “the black masses in America were — and still are — having a nightmare.”\nNevertheless, King’s speech had its share of admirers, including the best-selling black writer at the time, James Baldwin, who later wrote , “That day, for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain that dream one dreamed in agony.”\nPoliticizing the Dream\nThe long-term importance of the march and the speech cannot be overstated. Look no further than the explosion of marches on Washington that have occurred in the years since. That such a wide variety of people and organizations have riffed upon the March on Washington by attempting to restage it is a testament to what King, Randolph and Rustin, John Lewis and the other leaders of the march achieved 50 years ago. It’s such a testament that the singular focus on King’s climactic speech (really, a few sound bites) has fostered an overly simple portrait of King himself. As Vincent Harding argues in “The Road to Redemption,” “Brother Martin spent a fair amount of time in jail, but his worst imprisonment may be how his own nation has frozen him in that moment in 1963.”\nThe freeze began taking hold after King’s assassination in 1968, Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation. Anxious that inner-city neighborhoods might burn, “politicians and the media [wanted] to influence the perceived direction of black protest” away from militancy and back toward the “good” civil rights movement of peaceful protest and visions of “all of God’s children … able” (and wanting) “to join hands and sing.”\nThe emphasis on the “dream” part of the speech especially obscures King’s later agenda. As Julian Bond once cautioned, most commemorations “focus almost entirely on Martin Luther King the dreamer, and not on Martin King the antiwar activist, not on Martin King the challenger of the economic order, not on Martin King the opponent of apartheid, not on the complete Martin Luther King.”\nThe speech also is too easily leveraged by political actors who surely would not have agreed with King’s message during the 1960s. For example, many opponents of affirmative action believe that the speech supports their argument; as Ronald Reagan said in 1986, “We are committed to a society in which all men and women have equal opportunities to succeed, and so we oppose the use of quotas. We want a colorblind society that, in the words of Dr. King, judges people not on ‘the color of their skin but by the content of their character’.” The estate of Martin Luther King even threatened to sue a group of supporters of Proposition 209, a 1996 California anti-affirmative action bill, when it used King’s speech in its advertisements.\nThe Dream at 50\nWe might take the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s dream not only to focus on the progress that has been made since 1963 but also to think more about his larger goals and aspirations to fix problems even more vexing than de jure segregation, problems such as wealth discrepancies between blacks and whites. You can begin by reading the text of the speech itself (pdf), and then turn to his collected writings. You might also make time to visit the Lincoln and King memorials in Washington and marvel at how Dr. King turned Robert Russa Moton’s 1922 “dedication” speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” into “ The Nation’s Debt to the Negro ,” a promissory note that remains unpaid for so many, while inspiring other minority groups to demand payment on theirs. It is a never-ending story of prophecy and protest, the noblest of our American traditions. It is also a stirring example of how African Americans reclaimed the Lincoln Memorial from Jim Crow and made it the ultimate American symbolic space for calls to redress grievances and effect progressive change in a truly democratic society.\nFifty of the 100 Amazing Facts will be published on The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross website. Read all 100 Facts on The Root.\nAbout\nFunders\nMajor corporate support for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is provided by Bank of America . Additional corporate funding is provided by The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's . Leadership support is generously provided by the Abby and Howard Milstein Foundation , in partnership with HooverMilstein and Emigrant Bank . Major funding is also provided by the Ford Foundation , Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky in Memory of Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, Richard Gilder, the Hutchins Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities . Support is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS .","Where did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \"I Have a ...\nMartin Luther King Jr. delivered his \"I Have a Dream\" speech ... Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his \"I Have a ... Martin Luther King Jr. became famous due to his ...\nWhere did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \"I Have a Dream\" speech? | Reference.com\nWhere did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \"I Have a Dream\" speech?\nA:\nQuick Answer\nMartin Luther King Jr. delivered his \"I Have a Dream\" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963. The memorial is located in Washington, D.C.\nFull Answer\nDr. Martin Luther King's speech was an essential part of “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” He was the last of many speakers to address the crowd of approximately 250,000 citizens, who protested racial inequality in the United States. The march originated at the Washington Monument and ended at the Lincoln Memorial. Preceding the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this event brought national attention to civil rights issues.","The I Have a Dream Speech - The U.S. Constitution Online ...\nThe text of the I Have a Dream Speech given by Martin Luther ... King and his staff focused on ... It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream ...\nThe I Have a Dream Speech - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net\nThe I Have a Dream Speech\nAdvertisement\nIn 1950's America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. People of color — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — were discriminated against in many ways, both overt and covert. The 1950's were a turbulent time in America, when racial barriers began to come down due to Supreme Court decisions, like Brown v. Board of Education; and due to an increase in the activism of blacks, fighting for equal rights.\nMartin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, was a driving force in the push for racial equality in the 1950's and the 1960's. In 1963, King and his staff focused on Birmingham, Alabama. They marched and protested non-violently, raising the ire of local officials who sicced water cannon and police dogs on the marchers, whose ranks included teenagers and children. The bad publicity and break-down of business forced the white leaders of Birmingham to concede to some anti-segregation demands.\nThrust into the national spotlight in Birmingham, where he was arrested and jailed, King helped organize a massive march on Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963. His partners in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom included other religious leaders, labor leaders, and black organizers. The assembled masses marched down the Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, heard songs from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and heard speeches by actor Charlton Heston, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, and future U.S. Representative from Georgia John Lewis.\nKing's appearance was the last of the event; the closing speech was carried live on major television networks. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King evoked the name of Lincoln in his \"I Have a Dream\" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.\nThe following is the exact text of the spoken speech, transcribed from recordings.\nI am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.\nFive score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.\nBut one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.\nIn a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\nIt is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked \"insufficient funds.\" But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.\nIt would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.\nBut there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.\nWe must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.\nAs we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, \"When will you be satisfied?\" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating \"For Whites Only\". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.\nI am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.\nGo back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.\nI say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.\nI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: \"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.\"\nI have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.\nI have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.\nI have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.\nThis is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.\nThis will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, \"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.\"\nAnd if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!\nLet freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!\nLet freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!\nBut not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!\nLet freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!\nLet freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.\nAnd when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, \"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!\""],"string":"[\n \"Martin_Luther_King_Jr..txt\\nMartin Luther King Jr.\\nMartin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.\\n\\nKing became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia (the Albany Movement), and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.\\n\\nOn October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled \\\"Beyond Vietnam\\\".\\n\\nIn 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities.\\n\\nKing was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.\\n\\nEarly life and education\\n\\nKing was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Reverend Martin Luther King Sr., and Alberta Williams King. \\nKing's legal name at birth was Michael King, and his father was also born Michael King, but the elder King changed his and his son's names following a 1934 trip to Germany to attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress in Berlin. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther. King had Irish ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather. \\n\\nKing was a middle child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. King sang with his church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. King liked singing and music. King's mother, an accomplished organist and choir leader, took him to various churches to sing. He received attention for singing \\\"I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus.\\\" King later became a member of the junior choir in his church. \\n\\nKing said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen and a neighbor reported hearing the elder King telling his son \\\"he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death.\\\" King saw his father's proud and unafraid protests in relation to segregation, such as King Sr. refusing to listen to a traffic policeman after being referred to as \\\"boy\\\" or stalking out of a store with his son when being told by a shoe clerk that they would have to move to the rear to be served. \\n\\nWhen King was a child, he befriended a white boy whose father owned a business near his family's home. When the boys were 6, they attended different schools, with King attending a segregated school for African-Americans. King then lost his friend because the child's father no longer wanted them to play together. \\n\\nKing suffered from depression throughout much of his life. In his adolescent years, he initially felt some resentment against whites due to the \\\"racial humiliation\\\" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. At age 12, shortly after his maternal grandmother died, King blamed himself and jumped out of a second story window, but survived. \\n\\nKing was originally skeptical of many of Christianity's claims. At the age of thirteen, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. From this point, he stated, \\\"doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly\\\". However, he later concluded that the Bible has \\\"many profound truths which one cannot escape\\\" and decided to enter the seminary.\\n\\nGrowing up in Atlanta, King attended Booker T. Washington High School. He became known for his public speaking ability and was part of the school's debate team. King became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal in 1942 at age 13. During his junior year, he won first prize in an oratorical contest sponsored by the Negro Elks Club in Dublin, Georgia. Returning home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so white passengers could sit down. King refused initially, but complied after his teacher informed him that he would be breaking the law if he did not go along with the order. He later characterized this incident as \\\"the angriest I have ever been in my life\\\". A precocious student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grades of high school. It was during King's junior year that Morehouse College announced it would accept any high school juniors who could pass its entrance exam. At that time, most of the students had abandoned their studies to participate in World War II. Due to this, the school became desperate to fill in classrooms. At age 15, King passed the exam and entered Morehouse. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, an eighteen-year-old King made the choice to enter the ministry after he concluded the church offered the most assuring way to answer \\\"an inner urge to serve humanity\\\". King's \\\"inner urge\\\" had begun developing and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a \\\"rational\\\" minister with sermons that were \\\"a respectful force for ideas, even social protest.\\\" \\n\\nIn 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a B.A. degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a B.Div. degree in 1951. King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education. King was joined in attending Crozer by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse. At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. The African-American students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King was endeared to the street due to a classmate having an aunt that prepared the two collard greens, which they both relished. King once called out a student for keeping beer in his room because of their shared responsibility as African-Americans to bear \\\"the burdens of the Negro race.\\\" For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's \\\"social gospel\\\". In his third year there, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an immigrant German woman working as a cook in the cafeteria. The daughter had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King had plans of marrying her, but was advised not to by friends due to the reaction an interracial relationship would spark from both blacks and whites, as well as the chances of it destroying his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off around six months later. He would continue to have lingering feelings, with one friend being quoted as saying, \\\"He never recovered.\\\"Frady, pp. 20–22.\\n\\nKing married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963). During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the Civil Rights Movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother. \\n\\nKing became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1954. \\n\\nDoctoral studies\\n\\nKing began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation on \\\"A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman\\\". An academic inquiry concluded in October 1991 that portions of his dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose.\\\"\\n The committee also found that the dissertation still \\\"makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship.\\\" However, a letter is now attached to King's dissertation in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. \\n\\nMontgomery bus boycott, 1955\\n\\nIn March 1955, a fifteen-year-old school girl in Montgomery, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in compliance with Jim Crow laws, laws in the US South that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; because Colvin was pregnant and unmarried, E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue. \\n\\nOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. The Montgomery bus boycott, urged and planned by Nixon and led by King, soon followed. The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested during this campaign, which concluded with a United States District Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.\\n\\nSouthern Christian Leadership Conference\\n\\nIn 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. One of the group's inspirations was the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King after he attended a Graham crusade in New York City in 1957. King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Charles Evers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.\\n\\nOn September 20, 1958, while signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem, King narrowly escaped death when Izola Curry, a mentally ill black woman who believed he was conspiring against her with communists, stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. After emergency surgery, King was hospitalized for several weeks, while Curry was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. In 1959, he published a short book called The Measure of A Man, which contained his sermons \\\"What is Man?\\\" and \\\"The Dimensions of a Complete Life\\\". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization. \\n\\nHarry Wachtel—who joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in a libel suit over a newspaper advertisement (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan)—founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the expenses of the suit and to assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the \\\"Gandhi Society for Human Rights\\\". King served as honorary president for the group. Displeased with the pace of President Kennedy's addressing the issue of segregation, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document in 1962 calling on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and use an Executive Order to deliver a blow for Civil Rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation - Kennedy did not execute the order. \\n\\nThe FBI, under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, began tapping King's telephone in the fall of 1963. \\nConcerned that allegations of communists in the SCLC, if made public, would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives, Kennedy warned King to discontinue the suspect associations, and later felt compelled to issue the written directive authorizing the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. J. Edgar Hoover feared Communists were trying to infiltrate the Civil Rights movement, but when no such evidence emerged, the bureau used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of the preeminent leadership position. \\n\\nKing believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the Civil Rights Movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s. \\n\\nKing organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. \\n\\nKing and the SCLC put into practice many of the principles of the Christian Left and applied the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the method of protest and the places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities. Sometimes these confrontations turned violent.\\n\\nThroughout his participation in the civil rights movement, King was criticized by many groups. This included opposition by more militant blacks such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X. \\nStokely Carmichael was a separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture. \\nOmali Yeshitela urged Africans to remember the history of violent European colonization and how power was not secured by Europeans through integration, but by violence and force. \\n\\nAlbany Movement\\n\\nThe Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he \\\"had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel.\\\"King, Martin Luther. [https://books.google.com/books?id\\npynSnGuC964C&pg=PT147 The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.] Hatchette Digital. 2001. Accessed January 4, 2013.\\n\\nThe following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, \\\"that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city\\\" after he left town.\\n\\nKing returned in July 1962, and was sentenced to forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine. He chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. \\\"We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail.\\\" It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time. \\n\\nAfter nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a \\\"Day of Penance\\\" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.\\n\\nBirmingham campaign\\n\\nIn April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust.\\n\\nKing's intent was to provoke mass arrests and \\\"create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation\\\". However, the campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations. \\nNewsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade. \\n\\nDuring the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene \\\"Bull\\\" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the \\\"Jim Crow\\\" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.\\n\\nKing was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed the now-famous Letter from Birmingham Jail which responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: \\\"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.\\\" He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, \\\"everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'\\\". King also expresses his frustration with white moderates and clergymen too timid to oppose an unjust system:\\nI have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to \\\"order\\\" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: \\\"I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action\\\"; who paternalistic-ally believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a \\\"more convenient season\\\". King began writing the letter on newspaper margins and continued on bits of paper brought by friends.\\n\\nSt. Augustine, Florida\\n\\nIn March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. Ironically, the pacifist SCLC accepted them. King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested. \\nDuring June, the movement marched nightly through the city, \\\"often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention.\\\" Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. \\n\\nSelma, Alabama\\n\\nIn December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months. \\nA local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of 3 or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965. \\n\\nNew York City\\n\\nOn February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called \\\"The American Race Crisis\\\". No audio record of his speech has been found, but in August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables. \\n\\nMarch on Washington, 1963\\n\\nKing, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the so-called \\\"Big Six\\\" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality. \\n\\nThe primary logistical and strategic organizer was King's colleague Bayard Rustin. \\nFor King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march. \\nKennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and the UAW union to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause. \\n\\nThe march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. However, the group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone.\\n\\nAs a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the \\\"Farce on Washington\\\", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march. \\n\\nThe march did, however, make specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers; and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee. \\nDespite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.\\n\\nKing delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as \\\"I Have a Dream\\\". In the speech's most famous passage—in which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, \\\"Tell them about the dream!\\\" —King said: \\n\\n\\\"I Have a Dream\\\" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. \\nThe March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. \\n\\nThe original, typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech. He got it.\\n\\nSelma voting rights movement and \\\"Bloody Sunday\\\", 1965\\n\\nActing on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, King, Bevel, and the SCLC, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize the march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday, and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the Civil Rights Movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King's nonviolence strategy. King, however, was not present.\\n\\nKing met with officials in the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration on March 5 in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, \\\"If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line.\\\" Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.\\n\\nKing next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. \\nAt the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as \\\"How Long, Not Long\\\". In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, \\\"because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice\\\". \\n\\nChicago open housing movement, 1966\\n\\nIn 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations tried to spread the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave., in the slums of North Lawndale \\non Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.\\n\\nThe SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.\\nDuring that spring, several white couple / black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes. Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others. \\n\\nAbernathy later wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible. \\nKing's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result. \\nKing was hit by a brick during one march but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger. \\n\\nWhen King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization. \\nJackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks. \\n\\nOpposition to the Vietnam War\\n\\nKing long opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. However, at the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public. In an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled \\\"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence\\\".\\nHe spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam \\\"to occupy it as an American colony\\\" and calling the U.S. government \\\"the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today\\\". He also connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change:\\n\\nKing also opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, \\\"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death\\\". He stated that North Vietnam \\\"did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands\\\", and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, \\\"mostly children\\\". \\nKing also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms. \\n\\nKing's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham, union leaders and powerful publishers.\\n\\n\\\"The press is being stacked against me\\\", King said, \\ncomplaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied \\\"toward little brown Vietnamese children\\\".\\n\\nLife magazine called the speech \\\"demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi\\\", and The Washington Post declared that King had \\\"diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people\\\".\\n\\nThe \\\"Beyond Vietnam\\\" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. \\nKing began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. \\nHe guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said \\\"I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ...\\\" In one speech, he stated that \\\"something is wrong with capitalism\\\" and claimed, \\\"There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.\\\" \\nKing had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected \\\"traditional capitalism\\\", he also rejected communism because of its \\\"materialistic interpretation of history\\\" that denied religion, its \\\"ethical relativism\\\", and its \\\"political totalitarianism\\\". \\n\\nKing also stated in \\\"Beyond Vietnam\\\" that \\\"true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring\\\". King quoted a United States official who said that, from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was \\\"on the wrong side of a world revolution\\\". King condemned America's \\\"alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America\\\", and said that the U.S. should support \\\"the shirtless and barefoot people\\\" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.\\n\\nOn April 15, 1967, King participated in and spoke at an anti-war march from New York's Central Park to the United Nations organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King also brought up issues of civil rights and the draft.\\n\\nSeeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists, Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort. Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was also not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement.[http://bltnotjustasandwich.com/2013/01/17/martin-l-king-on-hippies/ Martin L. King on hippies], A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., Accessed September 15, 2014 In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated:\\n\\nOn January 13, 1968, the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address, King called for a large march on Washington against \\\"one of history's most cruel and senseless wars\\\". \\n\\nPoor People's Campaign, 1968\\n\\nIn 1968, King and the SCLC organized the \\\"Poor People's Campaign\\\" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble \\\"a multiracial army of the poor\\\" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an \\\"economic bill of rights\\\" for poor Americans. \\n\\nThe campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States.\\n\\nKing and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown \\\"hostility to the poor\\\" by spending \\\"military funds with alacrity and generosity\\\". He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided \\\"poverty funds with miserliness\\\". His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of \\\"racism, poverty, militarism and materialism\\\", and argued that \\\"reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced\\\".\\n\\nThe Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black. \\n\\nAfter King's death\\n\\nThe plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered.\\n\\nThousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and established a camp they called \\\"Resurrection City\\\". They stayed for six weeks.\\n\\nAssassination and aftermath\\n\\nOn March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, represented by AFSCME Local 1733, who had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.\\n \\n\\nOn April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his \\\"I've Been to the Mountaintop\\\" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. \\nIn the close of the last speech of his career, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:\\n\\nKing was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis. Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often it was known as the \\\"King-Abernathy suite\\\". \\nAccording to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: \\\"Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.\\\" \\n\\nKing was shot at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. \\nAbernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.\\nJackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had \\\"reached out\\\" for King. \\n\\nAfter emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. \\nAccording to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he \\\"had the heart of a 60 year old\\\", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the Civil Rights Movement. \\n\\nAftermath\\n\\nThe assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Baltimore; Louisville; Kansas City; and dozens of other cities.\\n \\nPresidential candidate Robert F. \\\"Bobby\\\" Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence. \\nJames Farmer Jr., and other civil rights leaders also called for nonviolent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response. The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers. \\n\\nPresident Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader. \\nVice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence. \\nAt his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral, \\na recording of his \\\"Drum Major\\\" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to \\\"feed the hungry\\\", \\\"clothe the naked\\\", \\\"be right on the [Vietnam] war question\\\", and \\\"love and serve humanity\\\". \\nHis good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, \\\"Take My Hand, Precious Lord\\\", at the funeral. \\n\\nTwo months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. \\nRay was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later.\\n\\nOn the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.\\n\\nRay later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias \\\"Raoul\\\" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. \\n\\nHe spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.\\n\\nAllegations of conspiracy\\n\\nRay's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists.\\n\\nSupporters of this assertion say that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty. \\nThey admit Ray was a thief and burglar, but claim he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon. However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery. In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. \\\"I never been with nobody as bold as he is,\\\" Jerry said. \\\"He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing.\\\"\\n\\nThose suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle.\\n\\nWitnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window. However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from. An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints also determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.\\n\\nIn 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.\\n\\nTwo years later, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and \\\"other unknown co-conspirators\\\". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.\\n \\nWilliam F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial. \\n\\nIn 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented. A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax. \\n\\nIn 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, \\\"It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way.\\\" Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.\\n\\nKing researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. \\nIn 2003, Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts. \\nKing's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, \\\"There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man.\\\" \\nIn 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:\\n\\nLegacy\\n\\nKing's main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968.\\n\\nTitle VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S.\\n\\nInternationally, King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and Civil Rights Movement in South Africa. \\nKing's work was cited by and served as an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country and was later awarded the Nobel Prize. The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first \\\"Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes\\\" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community. King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism. King also influenced Irish politician and activist John Hume. Hume, the former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, cited King's legacy as quintessential to the Northern Irish civil rights movement and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, calling him \\\"one of my great heroes of the century.\\\" \\n\\nKing's wife, Coretta Scott King, followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide.\\n\\nTheir son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman. \\nDaughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training. \\n\\nEven within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta said publicly that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.\\n\\nOn February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated:\\n\\nMartin Luther King Jr. Day\\n\\nBeginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King. At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday. \\nOn January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states. \\nArizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognize the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day. \\n\\nLiturgical commemorations\\n\\nKing is remembered as a martyr by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with an annual feast day on the anniversary of his death, April 4. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15. \\n\\nUK legacy and The Martin Luther King Peace Committee\\n\\nIn the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee exists to honour King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967. The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US Civil Rights Movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to \\\"build cultures of peace.\\\"\\n\\nIdeas, influences, and political stances\\n\\nReligion\\n\\nAs a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' \\\"extremist\\\" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:\\n\\nIn his speech \\\"I've Been to the Mountaintop\\\", he stated that he just wanted to do God's will.\\n\\nNonviolence\\n\\nVeteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence. King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley. Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s, and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s. King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term \\\"nonviolence\\\" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms. \\n\\nIn the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter [http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol4/1-Sept-1958_MyPilgrimageToNonviolence.pdf Pilgrimage to Nonviolence]. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting. \\n\\nInspired by Mahatma Gandhi's success with nonviolent activism, King had \\\"for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India\\\". With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, \\\"Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity\\\".\\n\\nBayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, King agreed that Rustin should be one of the main organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. \\n\\nKing's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the \\\"successful precedent\\\" of using nonviolence \\\"in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage.\\\" \\n\\nGandhi seemed to have influenced him with certain moral principles, though Gandhi himself had been influenced by The Kingdom of God Is Within You, a nonviolent classic written by Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy. In turn, both Gandhi and Martin Luther King had read Tolstoy, and King, Gandhi and Tolstoy had been strongly influenced by Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. King quoted Tolstoy's War and Peace in 1959. \\n\\nAnother influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience, which King read in his student days. He was influenced by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system. He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, as well as Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis. King also sometimes used the concept of \\\"agape\\\" (brotherly Christian love). However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings. \\n\\nEven after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice. \\n\\nPolitics\\n\\nAs the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: \\\"I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either.\\\" \\nIn a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, \\\"I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party.\\\" \\nKing did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the \\\"greatest of all senators\\\" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years. \\n\\nKing critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality: \\n\\nAlthough King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson or Dwight Eisenhower, but that \\\"In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket.\\\" \\nIn his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: \\\"I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one.\\\" King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying \\\"Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964.\\\" \\nIn 1964, King urged his supporters \\\"and all people of goodwill\\\" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election \\\"would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world.\\\" \\nKing supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout America at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the basic necessities of many American people, particularly the African American community. \\n\\nCompensation\\n\\nKing stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.\\n\\nHe posited that \\\"the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils\\\". He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, \\\"It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races\\\".\\n\\nThe lack of attention given to family planning\\n\\nOn being awarded the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Margaret Sanger Award on 5th May, 1966, King said:\\n\\nFBI and King's personal life\\n\\nFBI surveillance and wiretapping\\n\\nFBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader.\\n\\nAccording to the Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, \\\"From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader.\\\"\\n\\nThe Bureau received authorization to proceed with wiretapping from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the fall of 1963 and informed President John F. Kennedy, both of whom unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Stanley Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA. Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones \\\"on a trial basis, for a month or so\\\", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were \\\"unshackled\\\" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy. The Bureau placed wiretaps on Levison's and King's home and office phones, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country.\\n\\nIn 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: \\\"No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited.\\\" \\n\\nNSA monitoring of King's communications\\n\\nIn a secret operation code-named \\\"Minaret\\\", the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was \\\"disreputable if not outright illegal.\\\"\\n\\nAllegations of communism\\n\\nFor years, Hoover had been suspicious about potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights. \\nHoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC as it was established (it did not have a full-time executive director until 1960). The investigations were largely superficial until 1962, when the FBI learned that one of King's most trusted advisers was New York City lawyer Stanley Levison.\\n\\nThe FBI feared Levison was working as an \\\"agent of influence\\\" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them. Another King lieutenant, Hunter Pitts O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). \\nHowever, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.\\n\\nFor his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism, stating in a 1965 Playboy interview that \\\"there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida\\\". He argued that Hoover was \\\"following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South\\\" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the Civil Rights Movement was meant to \\\"aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements\\\".\\nHoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was \\\"the most notorious liar in the country\\\". \\nAfter King gave his \\\"I Have A Dream\\\" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as \\\"the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country\\\". It alleged that he was \\\"knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists\\\".\\n\\nThe attempt to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were happy with their lot but had been stirred up by \\\"communists\\\" and \\\"outside agitators\\\". \\nHowever, the 1950s and '60s Civil Rights Movement arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that \\\"the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations.\\\"\\n\\nAdultery\\n\\nHaving concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, the FBI shifted to attempting to discredit King through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also engaged in numerous extramarital affairs. Lyndon Johnson once said that King was a \\\"hypocritical preacher\\\". \\n\\nRalph Abernathy stated in his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down that King had a \\\"weakness for women\\\", although they \\\"all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation\\\". In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term \\\"womanizing\\\", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual. Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs, such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated. In his original wording, Abernathy had claimed he saw King coming out of his room with a lady when he awoke the next morning and later claimed that \\\"he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know.\\\"\\n\\nIn his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, \\\"that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels.\\\" He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as \\\"a form of anxiety reduction\\\". Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him \\\"painful and at times overwhelming guilt\\\". King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that \\\"all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high level relationship we enjoyed.\\\" Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were \\\"sensational\\\" and stated that Garrow was \\\"amassing facts rather than analyzing them\\\". \\n\\nThe FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family. The Bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work. One such letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:\\n\\nThe American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant ). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.\\n\\nA tape recording of several of King's extramarital liaisons, excerpted from FBI wiretaps, accompanied the letter. King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide, although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to \\\"convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC\\\". King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.\\n\\nJudge John Lewis Smith Jr., in 1977 ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027. \\n\\nPolice observation during the assassination\\n\\nAcross from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which James Earl Ray was staying, was a fire station. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance. \\nAgents were watching King at the time he was shot. \\nImmediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King. \\nThe antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination. \\n\\nAwards and recognition\\n\\nKing was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities.\\n\\nOn October 14, 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. \\nIn 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his \\\"exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty\\\". \\nIn his acceptance remarks, King said, \\\"Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free.\\\" \\n\\nIn 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. \\nIn 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for \\\"his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity\\\".\\n\\nAlso in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In November 1967 he made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honoured by Newcastle. In a moving impromptu acceptance speech, he said\\n\\nThere are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.\\n\\nIn 1971 he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam. \\n\\nIn 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read:\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet. \\nKing and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. \\n\\nKing was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. \\nIn 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online \\\"Person of the Century\\\" poll by the same magazine. King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL. \\n\\nMemorials and eponymous places and buildings\\n\\nThere are numerous memorials to King in the United States, including:\\n* More than 730 cities in the United States have streets named after King. \\n* King County, Washington, rededicated its name in his honor in 1986, and changed its logo to an image of his face in 2007. \\n* The city government center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of King. \\n* In 1980, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated King's boyhood home in Atlanta and several nearby buildings the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.\\n* A bust of Dr. King was added to the \\\"gallery of notables\\\" in the United States Capitol in 1986, portraying him in a \\\"restful, nonspeaking pose.\\\"\\n* The beginning words of King's \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech are etched on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, at the place where King stood during that speech. These words from the speech—\\\"five short lines of text carved into the granite on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial\\\"—were etched in 2003, on the 40th anniversary of the march to Washington, by stone carver Andy Del Gallo, after a law was passed by Congress providing authorization for the inscription.\\n* In 1996, Congress authorized the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, of which King is still a member, to establish a foundation to manage fund raising and design of a national Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. King was the first African American and the fourth non-president honored with his own memorial in the National Mall area. The memorial opened in August 2011 and is administered by the National Park Service. The address of the monument, 1964 Independence Avenue, S.W., commemorates the year that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law. \\n* The Landmark for Peace Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana \\n* The Homage to King sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia\\n* The Dream sculpture in Portland, Oregon\\n* The National Civil Rights Museum, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where King died\\n* Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama\\n* On October 11, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a proposed \\\"Freedom Bell\\\" may be installed atop Stone Mountain honoring King and his I Have A Dream speech, specifically the line \\\"Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.\\\" \\n\\nNumerous other memorials honor him around the world, including:\\n* The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Church in Debrecen, Hungary\\n* The King-Luthuli Transformation Center in Johannesburg, South Africa\\n* The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Forest in Israel's Southern Galilee region (along with the Coretta Scott King Forest in Biriya Forest, Israel)\\n* The Martin Luther King Jr. School in Accra, Ghana\\n* The Gandhi-King Plaza (garden), at the India International Center in New Delhi, India\\n* In Norfolk, Virginia stands a memorial in honor of King. The 83-foot-high granite obelisk was conceived by former Norfolk Councilman and General District Court Judge Joseph A. Jordan Jr. \\n\\nFive Dollar Bill\\n\\nOn April 20, 2016 Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the $5, $10, and $20 would all undergo redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that while Lincoln would remain on the obverse of the $5 bill, the reverse would be redesigned to depict various historical events that had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the planned designs are images from King's \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech and the 1939 concert by opera singer Marian Anderson. \\n\\nWorks\\n\\n* Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958) ISBN 978-0-06-250490-6\\n* The Measure of a Man (1959) ISBN 978-0-8006-0877-4\\n* Strength to Love (1963) ISBN 978-0-8006-9740-2\\n* Why We Can't Wait (1964) ISBN 978-0-8070-0112-7\\n* Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) ISBN 978-0-8070-0571-2\\n* The Trumpet of Conscience (1968) ISBN 978-0-8070-0170-7\\n* A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986) ISBN 978-0-06-250931-4\\n* The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson ISBN 978-0-446-67650-2\\n* \\\"All Labor Has Dignity\\\" (2011) ed. Michael Honey ISBN 978-0-8070-8600-1\\n* \\\"Thou, Dear God\\\": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits Collection of King's prayers. (2011), ed. Lewis Baldwin ISBN 978-0-8070-8603-2\\n* MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson ISBN 978-0-8070-0316-9\",\n \"I_Have_a_Dream.txt\\nI Have a Dream\\n\\\"I Have a Dream\\\" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. \\n\\nBeginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863, King observes that: \\\"one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free\\\".Alexandra Alvarez, \\\"Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor\\\", Journal of Black Studies 18(3); . Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme \\\"I have a dream\\\", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: \\\"Tell them about the dream, Martin!\\\" In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. Jon Meacham writes that, \\\"With a single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America\\\". The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. \\n\\nBackground\\n\\nThe March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was partly intended to demonstrate mass support for the civil rights legislation proposed by President Kennedy in June. Martin Luther King and other leaders therefore agreed to keep their speeches calm, also, to avoid provoking the civil disobedience which had become the hallmark of the Civil Rights Movement. King originally designed his speech as a homage to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, timed to correspond with the 100-year centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.Nicolaus Mills, \\\"What Really Happened at the March on Washington?\\\", Dissent, Summer 1988; reprinted in Civil Rights Since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle, ed. Jonathan Birnbaum and Clarence Taylor, New York: New York University Press, 2000.\\n\\nSpeech title and the writing process\\n\\nKing had been preaching about dreams since 1960, when he gave a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called \\\"The Negro and the American Dream\\\". This speech discusses the gap between the American dream and reality, saying that overt white supremacists have violated the dream, and that \\\"our federal government has also scarred the dream through its apathy and hypocrisy, its betrayal of the cause of justice\\\". King suggests that \\\"It may well be that the Negro is God's instrument to save the soul of America.\\\" In 1961, he spoke of the Civil Rights Movement and student activists' \\\"dream\\\" of equality—\\\"the American Dream ... a dream as yet unfulfilled\\\"—in several national speeches and statements, and took \\\"the dream\\\" as the centerpiece for these speeches. \\n\\nOn November 27, 1962, Dr. King gave a speech at Booker T. Washington High School in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. That speech was longer than the version which he would eventually deliver from the Lincoln Memorial. And while parts of the text had been moved around, large portions were identical, including the \\\"I have a dream\\\" refrain. After being rediscovered, the restored and digitized recording of the 1962 speech was presented to the public by the English department of North Carolina State University.\\n\\nDr. King had also delivered a \\\"dream\\\" speech in Detroit, in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and had rehearsed other parts. \\n\\nThe March on Washington Speech, known as \\\"I Have a Dream Speech\\\", has been shown to have had several versions, written at several different times. It has no single version draft, but is an amalgamation of several drafts, and was originally called \\\"Normalcy, Never Again\\\". Little of this, and another \\\"Normalcy Speech\\\", ended up in the final draft. A draft of \\\"Normalcy, Never Again\\\" is housed in the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection of the Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center and Morehouse College. The focus on \\\"I have a dream\\\" comes through the speech's delivery. Toward the end of its delivery, noted African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to King from the crowd, \\\"Tell them about the dream, Martin.\\\" King departed from his prepared remarks and started \\\"preaching\\\" improvisationally, punctuating his points with \\\"I have a dream.\\\"\\n\\nThe speech was drafted with the assistance of Stanley Levison and Clarence Benjamin Jones in Riverdale, New York City. Jones has said that \\\"the logistical preparations for the march were so burdensome that the speech was not a priority for us\\\" and that, \\\"on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 27, [12 hours before the March] Martin still didn't know what he was going to say\\\". \\n\\nLeading up to the speech's rendition at the Great March on Washington, King had delivered its \\\"I have a dream\\\" refrains in his speech before 25,000 people in Detroit's Cobo Hall immediately after the 125,000-strong Great Walk to Freedom in Detroit, June 23, 1963. After the Washington, D.C. March, a recording of King's Cobo Hall speech was released by Detroit's Gordy Records as an LP entitled \\\"The Great March To Freedom\\\". \\n\\nThe speech\\n\\nWidely hailed as a masterpiece of rhetoric, King's speech invokes pivotal documents in American history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. Early in his speech, King alludes to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by saying \\\"Five score years ago...\\\" In reference to the abolition of slavery articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation, King says: \\\"It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.\\\" Anaphora (i.e., the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences) is employed throughout the speech. Early in his speech, King urges his audience to seize the moment; \\\"Now is the time\\\" is repeated three times in the sixth paragraph. The most widely cited example of anaphora is found in the often quoted phrase \\\"I have a dream\\\", which is repeated eight times as King paints a picture of an integrated and unified America for his audience. Other occasions include \\\"One hundred years later\\\", \\\"We can never be satisfied\\\", \\\"With this faith\\\", \\\"Let freedom ring\\\", and \\\"free at last\\\". King was the sixteenth out of eighteen people to speak that day, according to the official program. \\n\\nAmong the most quoted lines of the speech include \\\"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!\\\" \\n\\nAccording to U.S. Representative John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, \\\"Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.\\\" \\n\\nThe ideas in the speech reflect King's social experiences of ethnocentric abuse, the mistreatment and exploitation of blacks. The speech draws upon appeals to America's myths as a nation founded to provide freedom and justice to all people, and then reinforces and transcends those secular mythologies by placing them within a spiritual context by arguing that racial justice is also in accord with God's will. Thus, the rhetoric of the speech provides redemption to America for its racial sins. King describes the promises made by America as a \\\"promissory note\\\" on which America has defaulted. He says that \\\"America has given the Negro people a bad check\\\", but that \\\"we've come to cash this check\\\" by marching in Washington, D.C.\\n\\nSimilarities and allusions\\n\\nKing's speech uses words and ideas from his own speeches and other texts. For years, he had spoken about dreams, quoted from \\\"My Country, 'Tis of Thee\\\", and of course referred extensively to the Bible. The idea of constitutional rights as an \\\"unfulfilled promise\\\" was suggested by Clarence Jones.\\n\\nThe final passage from King's speech closely resembles Archibald Carey Jr.'s address to the 1952 Republican National Convention: both speeches end with a recitation of the first verse of Samuel Francis Smith's popular patriotic hymn \\\"America\\\" (\\\"My Country, 'Tis of Thee\\\"), and the speeches share the name of one of several mountains from which both exhort \\\"let freedom ring\\\". \\n\\nKing also is said to have built on Prathia Hall's speech at the site of a burned-down African American church in Terrell County, Georgia, in September 1962, in which she used the repeated phrase \\\"I have a dream\\\". The church burned down after it was used for voter registration meetings. \\n\\nThe speech also alludes to in the second stanza of the speech. Additionally, King quotes from (\\\"I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted...\\\" ) and (\\\"But let justice roll down like water...\\\" ). He also alludes to the opening lines of Shakespeare's Richard III (\\\"Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer...\\\") when he remarks that \\\"this sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn...\\\"\\n\\nThe speech and rhetoric\\n\\nThe \\\"I Have A Dream\\\" speech can be dissected by using three rhetorical lenses: voice merging, prophetic voice, and dynamic spectacle. Voice merging is the combining of one's own voice with religious predecessors. Prophetic voice is using rhetoric to speak for a population. A dynamic spectacle has origins from the Aristotelian definition as \\\"a weak hybrid form of drama, a theatrical concoction that relied upon external factors (shock, sensation, and passionate release) such as televised rituals of conflict and social control.\\\"\\n\\nVoice merging is a common technique used amongst African American preachers. It combines the voices of previous preachers and excerpts from scriptures along with their own unique thoughts to create a unique voice. King uses voice merging in his peroration when he references the secular hymn \\\"America\\\".\\n\\nThe rhetoric of King's speech can be compared to the rhetoric of Old Testament prophets. During King's speech, he speaks with urgency and crisis giving him a prophetic voice. The prophetic voice must \\\"restore a sense of duty and virtue amidst the decay of venality.\\\" An evident example is when King declares that \\\"now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.\\\"\\n\\nWhy King's speech was powerful is debated, but essentially, it came at a point of many factors combining at a key cultural turning point. Executive speechwriter Anthony Trendl writes, \\\"The right man delivered the right words to the right people in the right place at the right time.\\\" \\n\\n\\\"Given the context of drama and tension in which it was situated\\\", King's speech can be classified as a dynamic spectacle. A dynamic spectacle is dependent on the situation in which it is used. It can be considered a dynamic spectacle because it happened at the correct time and place: during the Civil Rights Movement and the March on Washington.\\n\\nResponses\\n\\nThe speech was lauded in the days after the event, and was widely considered the high point of the March by contemporary observers. James Reston, writing for the New York Times, said that \\\"Dr. King touched all the themes of the day, only better than anybody else. He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the Bible. He was both militant and sad, and he sent the crowd away feeling that the long journey had been worthwhile.\\\" Reston also noted that the event \\\"was better covered by television and the press than any event here since President Kennedy's inauguration\\\", and opined that \\\"it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. crying out his dreams to the multitude.\\\" An article in the Boston Globe by Mary McGrory reported that King's speech \\\"caught the mood\\\" and \\\"moved the crowd\\\" of the day \\\"as no other\\\" speaker in the event. Marquis Childs of The Washington Post wrote that King's speech \\\"rose above mere oratory\\\". An article in the Los Angeles Times commented that the \\\"matchless eloquence\\\" displayed by King—\\\"a supreme orator\\\" of \\\"a type so rare as almost to be forgotten in our age\\\"—put to shame the advocates of segregation by inspiring the \\\"conscience of America\\\" with the justice of the civil-rights cause. \\n\\nThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which viewed King and his allies for racial justice as subversive, also noticed the speech. This provoked the organization to expand their COINTELPRO operation against the SCLC, and to target King specifically as a major enemy of the United States. Two days after King delivered \\\"I Have a Dream\\\", Agent William C. Sullivan, the head of COINTELPRO, wrote a memo about King's growing influence:\\nIn the light of King's powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands head and shoulders above all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security. \\n\\nThe speech was a success for the Kennedy administration and for the liberal civil rights coalition that had planned it. It was considered a \\\"triumph of managed protest\\\", and not one arrest relating to the demonstration occurred. Kennedy had watched King's speech on TV and been very impressed. Afterwards, March leaders accepted an invitation to the White House to meet with President Kennedy. Kennedy felt the March bolstered the chances for his civil rights bill. \\n\\nMeanwhile, some of the more radical Black leaders who were present condemned the speech (along with the rest of the march) as too compromising. Malcolm X later wrote in his autobiography: \\\"Who ever heard of angry revolutionaries swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily pad pools, with gospels and guitars and 'I have a dream' speeches?\\\"\\n\\nLegacy\\n\\nThe March on Washington put pressure on the Kennedy administration to advance its civil rights legislation in Congress. The diaries of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., published posthumously in 2007, suggest that President Kennedy was concerned that if the march failed to attract large numbers of demonstrators, it might undermine his civil rights efforts.\\n\\nIn the wake of the speech and march, King was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine for 1963, and in 1964, he was the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The full speech did not appear in writing until August 1983, some 15 years after King's death, when a transcript was published in The Washington Post.\\n\\nIn 1990, the Australian alternative comedy rock band Doug Anthony All Stars released an album called Icon. One song from Icon, \\\"Shang-a-lang\\\", sampled the end of the speech.\\n\\nIn 2002, the Library of Congress honored the speech by adding it to the United States National Recording Registry. In 2003, the National Park Service dedicated an inscribed marble pedestal to commemorate the location of King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial. \\n\\nThe Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was dedicated in 2011. The centerpiece for the memorial is based on a line from King's \\\"I Have A Dream\\\" speech: \\\"Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.\\\" A 30 ft-high relief of King named the \\\"Stone of Hope\\\" stands past two other pieces of granite that symbolize the \\\"mountain of despair.\\\"\\n\\nOn August 26, 2013, UK's BBC Radio 4 broadcast \\\"God's Trombone\\\", in which Gary Younge looked behind the scenes of the speech and explored \\\"what made it both timely and timeless\\\". \\n\\nOn August 28, 2013, thousands gathered on the mall in Washington D.C. where King made his historic speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occasion. In attendance were former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and incumbent President Barack Obama, who addressed the crowd and spoke on the significance of the event. Many of King's family were in attendance. \\n\\nOn October 11, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an exclusive report about Stone Mountain officials considering installation of a new \\\"Freedom Bell\\\" honoring King and citing the speech's reference to the mountain \\\"Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.\\\" Design details and a timeline for its installation remain to be determined. The article mentioned inspiration for the proposed monument came from a bell-ringing ceremony held in 2013 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of King's speech.\\n\\nOn April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the U.S. $5 bill, which has featured the Lincoln Memorial on its back, would undergo a redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that a portrait of Lincoln would remain on the front of the bill, but the back would be redesigned to depict various historical events that have occurred at the memorial, including an image from King's speech. \\n\\nCopyright dispute\\n\\nBecause King's speech was broadcast to a large radio and television audience, there was controversy about its copyright status. If the performance of the speech constituted \\\"general publication\\\", it would have entered the public domain due to King's failure to register the speech with the Register of Copyrights. However, if the performance only constituted \\\"limited publication\\\", King retained common law copyright. This led to a lawsuit, Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., which established that the King estate does hold copyright over the speech and had standing to sue; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances, especially in jurisdictions under doctrines such as fair use or fair dealing. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, therefore until 2038. \\n\\nOriginal copy of the speech\\n\\nAs King waved goodbye to the audience, he handed George Raveling the original typewritten \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech. Raveling, an All-American Villanova Wildcats college basketball player, had volunteered as a security guard for the event and was on the podium with King at that moment. Raveling still has custody of the original copy and has been offered as high as $3,000,000 for it, but claims to have no intention of selling it.\",\n \"Did MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African ...\\nWhen Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. read his speech at ... Did MLK Improvise in the ‘Dream’ Speech? ... It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a ...\\nDid MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African American Blog | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross\\nby Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Originally posted on The Root\\nFive Score and 50 Years Ago …\\nThis year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation , issued at the midpoint of the American Civil War, and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , a moment that marked the spiritual summit of the civil rights movement. In place and time, they are joined at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, the nation’s shrine to the president who signed the proclamation declaring the slaves of the Confederate states free and the King who, 100 later, spoke to the disappointments and dreams of their descendants. Today, the words of both men — authors of arguably the two greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address and the “I Have a Dream” speech (pdf) — are etched in stone and in memory at the Lincoln and King Memorials in Washington.\\nLincoln Memorial, Aug. 28, 1963 (Public Domain)\\nNo one understood the poetry of their parallel moments better than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, who, speaking in front of Daniel Chester French’s iconic seated Lincoln statue, began his speech, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation … But 100 hundred years later the Negro still is not free.” In this way, Dr. King framed Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and made freedom — “at last” — the ideal by which we measure progress in our country.\\nSo effective was King in tying the memory of Lincoln to the cause of civil rights that most of us now see the Lincoln Memorial as the obvious site, the holiest of holy places, where history and racial progress meet. So, it was — it had to be — the perfect backdrop for the ultimate barrier breaker, Barack Obama, to stand on the eve of his inauguration in 2009. Yet, as we shall see, there was nothing inevitable about the choice of the Lincoln Memorial as the logical place for racial protests throughout the early 20th century, or as the staging ground for Dr. King’s most memorable speech.\\nLast week, we honored Bayard Rustin , the architect of the march; today, we examine the moment that remains most closely associated with it. But first, it’s important that we all understand a bit of the complicated background about the setting …\\n1922: A Dedication or an Opening?\\nThe NAACP was founded in Springfield, Ill., Feb. 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Yet, at the opening of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington May 30, 1922, security guards tried to “Jim Crow” black guests into a separate section from whites, despite the presence of a black orator onstage, the president of Tuskegee Institute, Robert Russa Moton , who, in addition to serving on numerous national boards, published an annual list of blacks lynched in the United States. (Sources for this last fact include the Afro-American newspaper from June 2, 1922, and Moton’s New York Times obituary from June 1, 1940.)\\nThe title of Moton’s speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” might have been the other way around (given the role of black soldiers in the Civil War), but Moton agreed to tone down his remarks to placate the Memorial Commission, as Adam Fairclough writes in his article “Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial.” Even then, Moton managed to slip in his view of Lincoln’s ambivalence about emancipation: “The claim of greatness for Abraham Lincoln lies in this, that amid doubt and distrust, against the counsel of chosen advisers, in the hour of the nation’s utter peril, he put his trust in God and spoke the word that gave freedom to a race.”\\nNo mainstream newspaper covered the attempt to segregate black guests at the dedication or that 21 guests apparently stormed out. (I checked ProQuest for these facts after reading other valuable historical accounts by Scott Sandage and Christopher Thomas.) They did cover President Warren G. Harding’s keynote address, in which he sanitized the memorial as a symbol of a restored Union by telling the estimated 75,000 gathered, “Halting human slavery as [Lincoln] did, he doubtless believed in its ultimate abolition through the developing conscience of the American people, but he would have been the last man in the Republic to resort to arms to effect its abolition.”\\nFor this reason, at least one black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, on June 10, 1922, refused to accept that the Lincoln Memorial had been dedicated in 1922. “With song, prayer, bold and truthful speech,” its editor prophetically declared, “later on let us dedicate that temple thus far only opened.”\\nThe Rededication\\nAfrican Americans, beginning with members of the AME Zion Church, started gathering at the Lincoln Memorial as early as 1926, as a Washington Post account on August 5, 1926, indicates. And on April 9, 1939 (Easter Sunday and the 74th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox), the black contralto Marian Anderson fulfilled the Chicago Defender’s prophecy by giving a performance (mp3) of patriotic hymns, opera selections and Negro spirituals before a crowd of 100,000.\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was only 10 when Marian Anderson gave her concert. At 15, he cited her in his prize-winning speech at Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School: “When the words of ‘America’ and ‘Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen’ rang out over that great gathering, there was a hush on the sea of uplifted faces, black and white, and a new baptism of liberty, equality and fraternity. That was a touching tribute, but Miss Anderson may not as yet spend the night in any good hotel in America.” Young Martin was right — the night of her concert, Marian Anderson stayed at the home of former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot (for a terrific account of her life and impact, see Raymond Arsenault’s book, The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert that Awakened America).\\nSixteen years later, by then-Dr. King would lead a bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., that would set him on a path toward immortality and a destiny not dissimilar to the one occupied by the slain president who would be seated behind him (in stone) before a crowd of 200,000-plus marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.\\nWriting the Speech (Minus ‘The Dream’)\\nAs Taylor Branch notes in his definitive narrative, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, Dr. King began working in earnest on his speech with a small group of advisers in the lobby of the Willard Hotel the night before the march, and the resulting draft was “a mixture of truncated oratory and fresh composition” that was “politically sound but far from historic.” (To learn more, see King adviser Clarence B. Jones’ account in the Washington Post).\\nMartin Luther King Jr. addressing the audience at the March on Washington (Wikimedia Commons)\\nWhen King took the stage the following day, the audience had no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes wrangling we read about last week in the column about Rustin or that the march’s D.C. coordinator, Walter Fauntroy (future D.C. congressman), had to ring up the Justice Department to send in the Army Signal Corps to repair the expensive sound system sabotaged the day before. Imagine if they hadn’t come! (For more, see Charles Euchner’s recent book, Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.)\\nWhat the audience did know was that the August heat was rapidly approaching unbearable and the cavalcade of speeches, whatever their individual merits, was beginning to weary them. Still, the crowd anxiously anticipated the march’s climax, the appearance of Dr. King, whom A. Philip Randolph introduced as “the moral leader of our nation … Dr. Martin Luther King, J-R.” King approached the podium keenly aware that he was addressing not only the massive crowd gathered before him at the Lincoln Memorial, but also the millions more watching live on TV, including President Kennedy and his brother, Robert.\\nWorking Off the Script\\nAdam Fairclough has pointed out that part of the power of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech came from the fact that he “framed this vision entirely within the hallowed symbols of Americanism: the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation and the ‘American Dream.’ ” But when he started talking that day, he had not planned to discuss any dreams.\\nAfter opening with his allusion to Lincoln and “the Negro … still not free,” King turned to the novel metaphor of “the promissory note” — that the Declaration of Independence was a check of sorts written to all Americans of all races as a guarantee of their rights, but that so far, for “the Negro people,” it had been “a bad check … marked ‘insufficient funds.’ ”\\nIn the following sections of the speech, King responded to critics across the political spectrum, including those who cautioned moderation (“gradualism,” he named it) and those who had begun calling for armed militancy and racial separation. King stressed the need for action “in the fierce urgency of now” and argued for a nonviolent, biracial approach, reminding those demanding more radical action that “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny … We cannot walk alone.” King then encouraged Americans to continue fighting for right over might, as “we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”\\nA Speech Becomes a Sermon\\nNot long after delivering that now-famous line, however, King changed course. Looking at his prepared speech, he balked when he reached this mouthful of a sentence: “And so today, let us go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” Instead, he transformed his speech into a sermon. He instructed the audience to “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama … South Carolina … Georgia … Louisiana … to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”\\nKing speechwriter Clarence Jones realized what was happening when he saw King “push the text of his prepared remarks to one side,” he wrote in the Washington Post in 2011. “I leaned over and said to the person next to me, ‘These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about ready to go to church.’ ” Onstage that day, as Branch’s Parting the Waters quotes, the singer Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier, reportedly kept saying to King, as he spoke, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.” King never said if he heard her or not, but Julian Bond recently told me it would have been impossible not to, given their proximity on the stage and the resonance of Jackson’s powerful voice.\\nIn any case, her dream was fulfilled when King continued, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed.” In classic black preacher oratorical fashion, King then turned to repetition, outlining the specifics of his dream, which emphasized interracial cooperation across the South. Poignantly, he exclaimed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”\\nSoon the speech reached its dramatic climax. King quoted the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (the song Marian Anderson had opened with at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; she was also there to sing the national anthem in 1963) and commanded, “Let freedom ring” in “New Hampshire … New York … Pennsylvania … Colorado,” and “California,” but also “from Stone Mountain of Georgia … from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee … from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring … ”\\nHe saved his most dramatic exhortations for last: “When we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentile, Catholics and Protestants, will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God, Almighty, we are free at last,’ ” a reference to this song . There is no better way to do justice to the delivery and effect of Dr. King’s speech upon his audience both at the memorial and in living rooms across America than to read (pdf), watch and listen.\\nThree months later, King explained his decision to go off-script: “I started out reading the speech … just all of a sudden — the audience response was wonderful that day — and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here” (quoted in David Garrow’s Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). As inspiring as those speeches were, especially the version of the “Dream” speech he delivered in Detroit just two months before, settings matter, as Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, was quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press June 22 of this year. Musical as Motown was, it couldn’t compete with “the symbolic space” of the Lincoln Memorial (though Berry Gordy officially released 45s of the Detroit speech on the same day as the March on Washington!).\\nImmediate Reactions\\nDespite its well-earned current status as one of the greatest speeches in American history, it was not universally lauded the following day. While the New York Times published a story called “‘I Have a Dream …’ Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,” the Washington Post did not even mention King’s speech in its coverage of the march, according to Branch in Parting the Waters.\\nAt the same time, radical activists on King’s left criticized the speech as a farce. “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and ‘I Have a Dream’ speeches?” Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography. All this, he added, while “the black masses in America were — and still are — having a nightmare.”\\nNevertheless, King’s speech had its share of admirers, including the best-selling black writer at the time, James Baldwin, who later wrote , “That day, for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain that dream one dreamed in agony.”\\nPoliticizing the Dream\\nThe long-term importance of the march and the speech cannot be overstated. Look no further than the explosion of marches on Washington that have occurred in the years since. That such a wide variety of people and organizations have riffed upon the March on Washington by attempting to restage it is a testament to what King, Randolph and Rustin, John Lewis and the other leaders of the march achieved 50 years ago. It’s such a testament that the singular focus on King’s climactic speech (really, a few sound bites) has fostered an overly simple portrait of King himself. As Vincent Harding argues in “The Road to Redemption,” “Brother Martin spent a fair amount of time in jail, but his worst imprisonment may be how his own nation has frozen him in that moment in 1963.”\\nThe freeze began taking hold after King’s assassination in 1968, Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation. Anxious that inner-city neighborhoods might burn, “politicians and the media [wanted] to influence the perceived direction of black protest” away from militancy and back toward the “good” civil rights movement of peaceful protest and visions of “all of God’s children … able” (and wanting) “to join hands and sing.”\\nThe emphasis on the “dream” part of the speech especially obscures King’s later agenda. As Julian Bond once cautioned, most commemorations “focus almost entirely on Martin Luther King the dreamer, and not on Martin King the antiwar activist, not on Martin King the challenger of the economic order, not on Martin King the opponent of apartheid, not on the complete Martin Luther King.”\\nThe speech also is too easily leveraged by political actors who surely would not have agreed with King’s message during the 1960s. For example, many opponents of affirmative action believe that the speech supports their argument; as Ronald Reagan said in 1986, “We are committed to a society in which all men and women have equal opportunities to succeed, and so we oppose the use of quotas. We want a colorblind society that, in the words of Dr. King, judges people not on ‘the color of their skin but by the content of their character’.” The estate of Martin Luther King even threatened to sue a group of supporters of Proposition 209, a 1996 California anti-affirmative action bill, when it used King’s speech in its advertisements.\\nThe Dream at 50\\nWe might take the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s dream not only to focus on the progress that has been made since 1963 but also to think more about his larger goals and aspirations to fix problems even more vexing than de jure segregation, problems such as wealth discrepancies between blacks and whites. You can begin by reading the text of the speech itself (pdf), and then turn to his collected writings. You might also make time to visit the Lincoln and King memorials in Washington and marvel at how Dr. King turned Robert Russa Moton’s 1922 “dedication” speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” into “ The Nation’s Debt to the Negro ,” a promissory note that remains unpaid for so many, while inspiring other minority groups to demand payment on theirs. It is a never-ending story of prophecy and protest, the noblest of our American traditions. It is also a stirring example of how African Americans reclaimed the Lincoln Memorial from Jim Crow and made it the ultimate American symbolic space for calls to redress grievances and effect progressive change in a truly democratic society.\\nFifty of the 100 Amazing Facts will be published on The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross website. Read all 100 Facts on The Root.\\nAbout\\nFunders\\nMajor corporate support for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is provided by Bank of America . Additional corporate funding is provided by The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's . Leadership support is generously provided by the Abby and Howard Milstein Foundation , in partnership with HooverMilstein and Emigrant Bank . Major funding is also provided by the Ford Foundation , Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky in Memory of Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, Richard Gilder, the Hutchins Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities . Support is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS .\",\n \"Where did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \\\"I Have a ...\\nMartin Luther King Jr. delivered his \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech ... Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his \\\"I Have a ... Martin Luther King Jr. became famous due to his ...\\nWhere did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech? | Reference.com\\nWhere did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech?\\nA:\\nQuick Answer\\nMartin Luther King Jr. delivered his \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963. The memorial is located in Washington, D.C.\\nFull Answer\\nDr. Martin Luther King's speech was an essential part of “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” He was the last of many speakers to address the crowd of approximately 250,000 citizens, who protested racial inequality in the United States. The march originated at the Washington Monument and ended at the Lincoln Memorial. Preceding the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this event brought national attention to civil rights issues.\",\n \"The I Have a Dream Speech - The U.S. Constitution Online ...\\nThe text of the I Have a Dream Speech given by Martin Luther ... King and his staff focused on ... It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream ...\\nThe I Have a Dream Speech - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net\\nThe I Have a Dream Speech\\nAdvertisement\\nIn 1950's America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. People of color — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — were discriminated against in many ways, both overt and covert. The 1950's were a turbulent time in America, when racial barriers began to come down due to Supreme Court decisions, like Brown v. Board of Education; and due to an increase in the activism of blacks, fighting for equal rights.\\nMartin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, was a driving force in the push for racial equality in the 1950's and the 1960's. In 1963, King and his staff focused on Birmingham, Alabama. They marched and protested non-violently, raising the ire of local officials who sicced water cannon and police dogs on the marchers, whose ranks included teenagers and children. The bad publicity and break-down of business forced the white leaders of Birmingham to concede to some anti-segregation demands.\\nThrust into the national spotlight in Birmingham, where he was arrested and jailed, King helped organize a massive march on Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963. His partners in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom included other religious leaders, labor leaders, and black organizers. The assembled masses marched down the Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, heard songs from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and heard speeches by actor Charlton Heston, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, and future U.S. Representative from Georgia John Lewis.\\nKing's appearance was the last of the event; the closing speech was carried live on major television networks. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King evoked the name of Lincoln in his \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.\\nThe following is the exact text of the spoken speech, transcribed from recordings.\\nI am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.\\nFive score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.\\nBut one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.\\nIn a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\\nIt is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked \\\"insufficient funds.\\\" But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.\\nIt would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.\\nBut there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.\\nWe must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.\\nAs we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, \\\"When will you be satisfied?\\\" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating \\\"For Whites Only\\\". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.\\nI am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.\\nGo back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.\\nI say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.\\nI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: \\\"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.\\\"\\nI have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.\\nI have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.\\nI have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\\nI have a dream today.\\nI have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.\\nI have a dream today.\\nI have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.\\nThis is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.\\nThis will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, \\\"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.\\\"\\nAnd if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!\\nLet freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!\\nLet freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!\\nBut not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!\\nLet freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!\\nLet freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.\\nAnd when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, \\\"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!\\\"\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2290"],"string":"[\n \"2290\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["I Have A Dream Speech - Martin Luther King Speeches\nMartin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech from the Mach on ... Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, ... the dream, Martin.\" Dr. King stopped ...\nI Have A Dream Speech - Martin Luther King Speeches\nYou Are Here: MLK Online > Speeches > I Have a Dream Speech\nShare This Page:\nI Have a Dream Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.\nI Have a Dream MP3\nMartin Luther King's Address at March on Washington\nAugust 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.\n\"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation\nwhere they will not be judged by the color of their skin,\nbut by the content of their character.\"\n– Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Quote\nI Have a Dream Speech Background\nSummary: \"I Have a Dream\" is a 17-minute�public speech�by�Martin Luther King, Jr.�delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for�racial equalityand an end to�discrimination. The speech, from the steps of the�Lincoln Memorial�during the�March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the�American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters,�the speech was ranked the topAmerican�speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.�According to�U.S. Representative�John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the President of the�Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, \"Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.\"\nSpeech Title and Performance: Believe it or not, the \"I Have a Dream\" speech was originally titled \"Normalcy, Never Again.\" and the first drafts never included the phrase \"I have a dream\". He had first delivered a speech incorporating some of the same sections in Detroit in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and had rehearsed other parts.\nThe popular title \"I have a dream,\" came from the speech's greatly improvised content and delivery. Near the end of the speech, famous African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King from the crowd, \"Tell them about the dream, Martin.\" Dr. King stopped delivering his prepared speech and started \"preaching\", punctuating his points with \"I have a dream.\"\nPublic Domain : Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. at 1963 March on Washington by USIA (NARA)\nEducational Activities\nPhoto in the Public Domain .\nContemporary Reaction: The speech was lauded in the days after the event, and was widely considered the high point of the March by contemporary observers. James Reston, writing for the�New York Times, noted that the event \"was better covered by television and the press than any event here since President Kennedy's inauguration,\" and opined that \"it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. crying out his dreams to the multitude.\"[�An article in the�Boston Globe�by�Mary McGrory�reported that King's speech \"caught the mood\" and \"moved the crowd\" of the day \"as no other\" speaker in the event.�Marquis Childs�of�The Washington Post�wrote that King's speech \"rose above mere oratory\".�An article in the�Los Angeles Times�commented that the \"matchless eloquence\" displayed by King, \"a supreme orator\" of \"a type so rare as almost to be forgotten in our age,\" put to shame the advocates of segregation by inspiring the \"conscience of America\" with the justice of the civil-rights cause.\nI Have a Dream Copyright Information\n \nCopyright Dispute: Because King's speech was broadcast to a large radio and television audience, there was controversy about the copyright status of the speech. If the performance of the speech constituted \"general publication\", it would have entered the public domain due to King's failure to register the speech with the Registrar of Copyrights. If the performance only constituted \"limited publication\", however, King retained common law copyright. This led to a lawsuit, Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., which established that the King estate does hold copyright over the speech and had standing to sue; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances, especially in jurisdictions under doctrines such as fair use or fair dealing. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, thus until 2038.\nDeposition of Martin Luther King regarding copyright infringement.\nCase File Number 63 Civ 2889, Civil Case Files; United States District Court for the Southern District of New York \nDownload the full deposition (PDF)\nI Have a Dream Speech Video Copyright\nThe I Have a Dream Speech Video is no longer available online, as EMI on behalf of The King Center has ordered it's removal. They will sell you or your school a copy for $10 at at www.thekingcenter.org , or you can buy the I Have a Dream DVD on Amazon ($8.97)\n“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,\nthe sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners\nwill be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”\n– Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Quote\nRead in Full: Text and audio of this speech available at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm\nCopyright Info: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article \"I Have a Dream\" , which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 .\nBuy a Copy of the I Have a Dream Speech\nI Have a Dream Speech DVD","Martin Luther King Jr. and the \"I Have a Dream Speech\"\nMartin Luther King, Jr. and the I Have a ... and the \"I Have a Dream Speech\" On August 28, 1963, ... the National Archives at New York City is a deposition ...\nMartin Luther King, Jr. | National Archives\nHire a Researcher\nMartin Luther King, Jr.\nOn August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., delivered a speech to a massive group of civil rights marchers gathered around the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom brought together the nations most prominent civil rights leaders, along with tens of thousands of marchers, to press the United States government for equality. The culmination of this event was the influential and most memorable speech of Dr. King's career. Popularly known as the \"I have a Dream\" speech, the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. influenced the Federal government to take more direct actions to more fully realize racial equality.\nMister Maestro, Inc., and Twentieth Century Fox Records Company recorded the speech and offered the recording for sale. Dr. King and his attorneys claimed that the speech was copyrighted and the recording violated that copyright. The court found in favor of Dr. King. Among the papers filed in the case and available at the National Archives at New York City is a deposition given by Martin Luther King, Jr. and signed in his own hand.\nEducational Activities\nDiscussion Questions:\nWhat was the official name for the event on August 28th, 1963? What does this title tell us about its focus?\nWhat organizations were involved in the the March on Washington? What does this tell us about the event?\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. describe his writing process?\nWhat are the major issues of this case? In other words, what is Martin Luther King, Jr. disputing?\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. describe his earlier speech on June 23rd in Detroit?\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. compare and contrast the two \"I have a dream...\" speeches? What are the major similarities and differences?","Did MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African ...\nDid MLK Improvise in the ‘Dream’ Speech? ... August 28, 1963. Writing the Speech ... Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, ...\nDid MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African American Blog | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross\nby Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Originally posted on The Root\nFive Score and 50 Years Ago …\nThis year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation , issued at the midpoint of the American Civil War, and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , a moment that marked the spiritual summit of the civil rights movement. In place and time, they are joined at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, the nation’s shrine to the president who signed the proclamation declaring the slaves of the Confederate states free and the King who, 100 later, spoke to the disappointments and dreams of their descendants. Today, the words of both men — authors of arguably the two greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address and the “I Have a Dream” speech (pdf) — are etched in stone and in memory at the Lincoln and King Memorials in Washington.\nLincoln Memorial, Aug. 28, 1963 (Public Domain)\nNo one understood the poetry of their parallel moments better than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, who, speaking in front of Daniel Chester French’s iconic seated Lincoln statue, began his speech, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation … But 100 hundred years later the Negro still is not free.” In this way, Dr. King framed Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and made freedom — “at last” — the ideal by which we measure progress in our country.\nSo effective was King in tying the memory of Lincoln to the cause of civil rights that most of us now see the Lincoln Memorial as the obvious site, the holiest of holy places, where history and racial progress meet. So, it was — it had to be — the perfect backdrop for the ultimate barrier breaker, Barack Obama, to stand on the eve of his inauguration in 2009. Yet, as we shall see, there was nothing inevitable about the choice of the Lincoln Memorial as the logical place for racial protests throughout the early 20th century, or as the staging ground for Dr. King’s most memorable speech.\nLast week, we honored Bayard Rustin , the architect of the march; today, we examine the moment that remains most closely associated with it. But first, it’s important that we all understand a bit of the complicated background about the setting …\n1922: A Dedication or an Opening?\nThe NAACP was founded in Springfield, Ill., Feb. 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Yet, at the opening of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington May 30, 1922, security guards tried to “Jim Crow” black guests into a separate section from whites, despite the presence of a black orator onstage, the president of Tuskegee Institute, Robert Russa Moton , who, in addition to serving on numerous national boards, published an annual list of blacks lynched in the United States. (Sources for this last fact include the Afro-American newspaper from June 2, 1922, and Moton’s New York Times obituary from June 1, 1940.)\nThe title of Moton’s speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” might have been the other way around (given the role of black soldiers in the Civil War), but Moton agreed to tone down his remarks to placate the Memorial Commission, as Adam Fairclough writes in his article “Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial.” Even then, Moton managed to slip in his view of Lincoln’s ambivalence about emancipation: “The claim of greatness for Abraham Lincoln lies in this, that amid doubt and distrust, against the counsel of chosen advisers, in the hour of the nation’s utter peril, he put his trust in God and spoke the word that gave freedom to a race.”\nNo mainstream newspaper covered the attempt to segregate black guests at the dedication or that 21 guests apparently stormed out. (I checked ProQuest for these facts after reading other valuable historical accounts by Scott Sandage and Christopher Thomas.) They did cover President Warren G. Harding’s keynote address, in which he sanitized the memorial as a symbol of a restored Union by telling the estimated 75,000 gathered, “Halting human slavery as [Lincoln] did, he doubtless believed in its ultimate abolition through the developing conscience of the American people, but he would have been the last man in the Republic to resort to arms to effect its abolition.”\nFor this reason, at least one black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, on June 10, 1922, refused to accept that the Lincoln Memorial had been dedicated in 1922. “With song, prayer, bold and truthful speech,” its editor prophetically declared, “later on let us dedicate that temple thus far only opened.”\nThe Rededication\nAfrican Americans, beginning with members of the AME Zion Church, started gathering at the Lincoln Memorial as early as 1926, as a Washington Post account on August 5, 1926, indicates. And on April 9, 1939 (Easter Sunday and the 74th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox), the black contralto Marian Anderson fulfilled the Chicago Defender’s prophecy by giving a performance (mp3) of patriotic hymns, opera selections and Negro spirituals before a crowd of 100,000.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was only 10 when Marian Anderson gave her concert. At 15, he cited her in his prize-winning speech at Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School: “When the words of ‘America’ and ‘Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen’ rang out over that great gathering, there was a hush on the sea of uplifted faces, black and white, and a new baptism of liberty, equality and fraternity. That was a touching tribute, but Miss Anderson may not as yet spend the night in any good hotel in America.” Young Martin was right — the night of her concert, Marian Anderson stayed at the home of former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot (for a terrific account of her life and impact, see Raymond Arsenault’s book, The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert that Awakened America).\nSixteen years later, by then-Dr. King would lead a bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., that would set him on a path toward immortality and a destiny not dissimilar to the one occupied by the slain president who would be seated behind him (in stone) before a crowd of 200,000-plus marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.\nWriting the Speech (Minus ‘The Dream’)\nAs Taylor Branch notes in his definitive narrative, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, Dr. King began working in earnest on his speech with a small group of advisers in the lobby of the Willard Hotel the night before the march, and the resulting draft was “a mixture of truncated oratory and fresh composition” that was “politically sound but far from historic.” (To learn more, see King adviser Clarence B. Jones’ account in the Washington Post).\nMartin Luther King Jr. addressing the audience at the March on Washington (Wikimedia Commons)\nWhen King took the stage the following day, the audience had no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes wrangling we read about last week in the column about Rustin or that the march’s D.C. coordinator, Walter Fauntroy (future D.C. congressman), had to ring up the Justice Department to send in the Army Signal Corps to repair the expensive sound system sabotaged the day before. Imagine if they hadn’t come! (For more, see Charles Euchner’s recent book, Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.)\nWhat the audience did know was that the August heat was rapidly approaching unbearable and the cavalcade of speeches, whatever their individual merits, was beginning to weary them. Still, the crowd anxiously anticipated the march’s climax, the appearance of Dr. King, whom A. Philip Randolph introduced as “the moral leader of our nation … Dr. Martin Luther King, J-R.” King approached the podium keenly aware that he was addressing not only the massive crowd gathered before him at the Lincoln Memorial, but also the millions more watching live on TV, including President Kennedy and his brother, Robert.\nWorking Off the Script\nAdam Fairclough has pointed out that part of the power of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech came from the fact that he “framed this vision entirely within the hallowed symbols of Americanism: the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation and the ‘American Dream.’ ” But when he started talking that day, he had not planned to discuss any dreams.\nAfter opening with his allusion to Lincoln and “the Negro … still not free,” King turned to the novel metaphor of “the promissory note” — that the Declaration of Independence was a check of sorts written to all Americans of all races as a guarantee of their rights, but that so far, for “the Negro people,” it had been “a bad check … marked ‘insufficient funds.’ ”\nIn the following sections of the speech, King responded to critics across the political spectrum, including those who cautioned moderation (“gradualism,” he named it) and those who had begun calling for armed militancy and racial separation. King stressed the need for action “in the fierce urgency of now” and argued for a nonviolent, biracial approach, reminding those demanding more radical action that “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny … We cannot walk alone.” King then encouraged Americans to continue fighting for right over might, as “we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”\nA Speech Becomes a Sermon\nNot long after delivering that now-famous line, however, King changed course. Looking at his prepared speech, he balked when he reached this mouthful of a sentence: “And so today, let us go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” Instead, he transformed his speech into a sermon. He instructed the audience to “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama … South Carolina … Georgia … Louisiana … to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”\nKing speechwriter Clarence Jones realized what was happening when he saw King “push the text of his prepared remarks to one side,” he wrote in the Washington Post in 2011. “I leaned over and said to the person next to me, ‘These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about ready to go to church.’ ” Onstage that day, as Branch’s Parting the Waters quotes, the singer Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier, reportedly kept saying to King, as he spoke, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.” King never said if he heard her or not, but Julian Bond recently told me it would have been impossible not to, given their proximity on the stage and the resonance of Jackson’s powerful voice.\nIn any case, her dream was fulfilled when King continued, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed.” In classic black preacher oratorical fashion, King then turned to repetition, outlining the specifics of his dream, which emphasized interracial cooperation across the South. Poignantly, he exclaimed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”\nSoon the speech reached its dramatic climax. King quoted the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (the song Marian Anderson had opened with at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; she was also there to sing the national anthem in 1963) and commanded, “Let freedom ring” in “New Hampshire … New York … Pennsylvania … Colorado,” and “California,” but also “from Stone Mountain of Georgia … from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee … from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring … ”\nHe saved his most dramatic exhortations for last: “When we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentile, Catholics and Protestants, will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God, Almighty, we are free at last,’ ” a reference to this song . There is no better way to do justice to the delivery and effect of Dr. King’s speech upon his audience both at the memorial and in living rooms across America than to read (pdf), watch and listen.\nThree months later, King explained his decision to go off-script: “I started out reading the speech … just all of a sudden — the audience response was wonderful that day — and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here” (quoted in David Garrow’s Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). As inspiring as those speeches were, especially the version of the “Dream” speech he delivered in Detroit just two months before, settings matter, as Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, was quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press June 22 of this year. Musical as Motown was, it couldn’t compete with “the symbolic space” of the Lincoln Memorial (though Berry Gordy officially released 45s of the Detroit speech on the same day as the March on Washington!).\nImmediate Reactions\nDespite its well-earned current status as one of the greatest speeches in American history, it was not universally lauded the following day. While the New York Times published a story called “‘I Have a Dream …’ Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,” the Washington Post did not even mention King’s speech in its coverage of the march, according to Branch in Parting the Waters.\nAt the same time, radical activists on King’s left criticized the speech as a farce. “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and ‘I Have a Dream’ speeches?” Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography. All this, he added, while “the black masses in America were — and still are — having a nightmare.”\nNevertheless, King’s speech had its share of admirers, including the best-selling black writer at the time, James Baldwin, who later wrote , “That day, for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain that dream one dreamed in agony.”\nPoliticizing the Dream\nThe long-term importance of the march and the speech cannot be overstated. Look no further than the explosion of marches on Washington that have occurred in the years since. That such a wide variety of people and organizations have riffed upon the March on Washington by attempting to restage it is a testament to what King, Randolph and Rustin, John Lewis and the other leaders of the march achieved 50 years ago. It’s such a testament that the singular focus on King’s climactic speech (really, a few sound bites) has fostered an overly simple portrait of King himself. As Vincent Harding argues in “The Road to Redemption,” “Brother Martin spent a fair amount of time in jail, but his worst imprisonment may be how his own nation has frozen him in that moment in 1963.”\nThe freeze began taking hold after King’s assassination in 1968, Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation. Anxious that inner-city neighborhoods might burn, “politicians and the media [wanted] to influence the perceived direction of black protest” away from militancy and back toward the “good” civil rights movement of peaceful protest and visions of “all of God’s children … able” (and wanting) “to join hands and sing.”\nThe emphasis on the “dream” part of the speech especially obscures King’s later agenda. As Julian Bond once cautioned, most commemorations “focus almost entirely on Martin Luther King the dreamer, and not on Martin King the antiwar activist, not on Martin King the challenger of the economic order, not on Martin King the opponent of apartheid, not on the complete Martin Luther King.”\nThe speech also is too easily leveraged by political actors who surely would not have agreed with King’s message during the 1960s. For example, many opponents of affirmative action believe that the speech supports their argument; as Ronald Reagan said in 1986, “We are committed to a society in which all men and women have equal opportunities to succeed, and so we oppose the use of quotas. We want a colorblind society that, in the words of Dr. King, judges people not on ‘the color of their skin but by the content of their character’.” The estate of Martin Luther King even threatened to sue a group of supporters of Proposition 209, a 1996 California anti-affirmative action bill, when it used King’s speech in its advertisements.\nThe Dream at 50\nWe might take the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s dream not only to focus on the progress that has been made since 1963 but also to think more about his larger goals and aspirations to fix problems even more vexing than de jure segregation, problems such as wealth discrepancies between blacks and whites. You can begin by reading the text of the speech itself (pdf), and then turn to his collected writings. You might also make time to visit the Lincoln and King memorials in Washington and marvel at how Dr. King turned Robert Russa Moton’s 1922 “dedication” speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” into “ The Nation’s Debt to the Negro ,” a promissory note that remains unpaid for so many, while inspiring other minority groups to demand payment on theirs. It is a never-ending story of prophecy and protest, the noblest of our American traditions. It is also a stirring example of how African Americans reclaimed the Lincoln Memorial from Jim Crow and made it the ultimate American symbolic space for calls to redress grievances and effect progressive change in a truly democratic society.\nFifty of the 100 Amazing Facts will be published on The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross website. Read all 100 Facts on The Root.\nAbout\nFunders\nMajor corporate support for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is provided by Bank of America . Additional corporate funding is provided by The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's . Leadership support is generously provided by the Abby and Howard Milstein Foundation , in partnership with HooverMilstein and Emigrant Bank . Major funding is also provided by the Ford Foundation , Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky in Memory of Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, Richard Gilder, the Hutchins Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities . Support is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS .","Martin Luther King - Pennsylvania State University\n... Martin Luther, Jr. Born: January 15, ... \" Morehouse College; Nobel Peace Prize; ... at age 35, he became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize.\nMartin Luther King\nBorn: January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia\nDied: April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee\nVocations: Social Activist, Essayist, Minister, Speech Writer\nGeographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Chester, Delaware County\nKeywords: Boston University; Civil Rights Movement; Crozer Theological Seminary; \"I Have a Dream\" speech; \"Letter from Birmingham Jail;\" Morehouse College; Nobel Peace Prize; Presidential Medal of Freedom; Southern Christian Leadership Conference\nAbstract: Born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and civil rights leader who strongly believed in nonviolence. He attended Crozer Theological Seminary School in Chester, Pennsylvania to further his studies as a minister. In 1963 he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year; the next year he became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. King is most remembered for his powerfully moving speeches, including \"I Have a Dream,\" given before a crowd of 200,000 at the March on Washington in 1963. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray.\nBiography:\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the second child and the first son for his father, Rev. Martin Luther King, and his mother, Alberta Williams. He was accepted to Morehouse College in Atlanta at the age of 15. In 1948, at the age of 19, he had earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology. That same year he was ordained as a Baptist minister, following in the footsteps of the men in his family.\nIn September of 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he became the first African American to be elected student body president. While there, he attended a lecture about Mahatma Gandhi that had a profound impact on his thoughts. King began reading about Gandhi and his nonviolent approach to solving problems of social injustice. He graduated from Crozer with the highest grade point average in his class.\nKing then enrolled in Boston University where he met his wife, Coretta Scott. They were married by King's father in Alabama on June 18, 1953. The couple would later have four children, two girls and two boys.\nOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. King was chosen to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which planned to boycott the transit company. Under King's encouragement, over fifty thousand African Americans boycotted the buses for over a year. The MIA tried to negotiate rules for desegregation with the bus company. In 1956, after many other court cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for Alabama state laws to segregate people on buses and other public accommodations.\nEarly in 1957, King helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in New Orleans, which was dedicated to winning equal rights for African Americans. He served as their president until his death. King began lecturing all over the country, gaining support for civil rights. He was becoming very well-known to the public.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was a powerful speaker, motivating African Americans as well as liberal whites to challenge segregation laws and push for equality. His most famous speech is unquestionably \"I Have a Dream,\" given on August 28, 1963. In this speech King declared his dream \"that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\"\nKing wrote many books, the first of which was Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, published in 1958. This book outlined six principles of nonviolence, including the refusal to hate one's opponent and the willingness to accept suffering without retaliation. Next came Strength to Love in 1963, a collection of his sermons. In 1964 he wrote Why We Can't Wait, a collection of essays and letters centered on his now famous 1963 essay \"Letter from Birmingham Jail.\" In 1967 King wrote Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, which encouraged African Americans to let their voices be heard. That same year he wrote Trumpet of Conscience, a call for a nonviolent revolution.\nKing believed in using peaceful tactics such as sit-ins and boycotts. His incredible patience and pacifism was sparked by his studies of Gandhi, who he first became interested in while attending school in Chester. Gandhi was so important to King that in 1959 he visited India with Coretta to study Gandhian techniques of nonviolence. He was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1963. The following year, at age 35, he became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize.\nKing was arrested many times; including once for speeding. He was also accused of falsifying his 1956 and 1958 Alabama state income tax returns; he was later acquitted of these charges. But the majority of his arrests were during protests or sit-ins. King felt that going to jail was a small price to pay for speaking and acting against the discrimination and segregation that plagued the African American community.\nKing was subjected to much violence as he became more involved and more well-known for his civil rights activism. His home was bombed in 1956, he was stabbed in Harlem in 1958, and he was frequently attacked by people who were against his beliefs. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had given his final speech the day before entitled \"I've Been to the Mountaintop,\" in which he declared that although he may not be around to see it, one day there would be equal rights and opportunities for African Americans. President Jimmy Carter awarded Dr. King the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 for his work in the civil rights movement. The citation for the award read: Martin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation....His life informed us, his dreams sustain us yet.\" The third Monday of January was declared a national holiday in Dr. King's honor in 1986.\nWorks:\nStride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: Harper & Row, 1958.\nStrength to Love. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.\nWhy We Can't Wait. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.\nWhere Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.\nTrumpet of Conscience. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.\nEssays and Speeches\n\"A Realistic Look at the Questions of Progress in the Area of Race Relations\"\n\"Beyond Vietnam\"\n\"The Birth of a New Nation\"\n\"Eulogy for the Martyred Children\"\n\"Give Us the Ballot\"\n\"I've Been to the Mountain Top\"\n\"Letter from Birmingham Jail\"\n\"MIA Mass Meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church\"\n\"Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech\"\n\"Our God is Marching on\"\n\"Paul's Letter to American Christians\"\n\"Rediscovering Lost Values\"\n\"Speech at the Great March on Detroit\"\nSources:\n\"Drs. King and Salk Chosen to Receive Medal of Freedom.\" New York Times (5 Jul. 1977): 14.\nDyson, Michael Eric. I May Not Get There With You. New York: The Free Press, 2000.\nFrady, Marshall. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Lipper/Viking, 2002.\nKing, Coretta Scott. My Life With Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969.\nKing, Martin Luther Jr. Gale Group. 2000. Biography.com. 9 September 2004. \nMikell, Robert S. \"King, Martin Luther Jr.\" The African American Encyclopedia. Ed. Michael W. Williams. Vol. 4. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1993.\nFor More Information:\nBranch, Taylor. Parting the Waters. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1989.\n---. Pillar of Fire. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1999.\nGarrow, David. Bearing the Cross. New York: Perennial, 1999.\nThe Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ed. Cyalborne Carson. New York: Warner Books, 1998.\nWilliams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965. New York: Penguin Books, 1988.\nThis biographical sketch was prepared by Dana Giusti.","Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech - YouTube\n... and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co ... Year by Time magazine in 1963; ... Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28 ...\nMartin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech - YouTube\nMartin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech\nWant to watch this again later?\nSign in to add this video to a playlist.\nNeed to report the video?\nSign in to report inappropriate content.\nThe interactive transcript could not be loaded.\nLoading...\nRating is available when the video has been rented.\nThis feature is not available right now. Please try again later.\nPublished on Aug 28, 2013\nMartin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro* institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family\nIn 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.\nIn 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his \"Letter from a Birmingham Jail\", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, \"l Have a Dream\", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.\nAt the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.\nOn the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.\nCategory","Martin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\nNobel Peace Prize. Following the March ... in 1964 at the age of 35, King became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel ... Latest on Martin Luther King, Jr ...\nMartin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\nMartin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\nBy Jessie Szalay, LiveScience Contributor |\nJanuary 17, 2014 01:47am ET\nMORE\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)\nCredit: Library of Congress.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was a pastor, humanitarian and leader in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. In numerous speeches, marches and letters, he fought for racial and economic justice. He was lauded for his nonviolent approach to civil disobedience. Assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, King made an incredible impact on the country’s racial, cultural and intellectual landscape.\nEarly life\nKing was born on Jan. 15, 1929, to the Rev. Michael King and Alberta Williams King in Atlanta, Ga. His birth name was Michael King Jr. The King family had deep roots in the Atlanta black community and the African-American Baptist Church. Both his grandfather and father served in succession at Ebenezer Baptist Church (down the street from King’s childhood home), and established it as a major congregation in Baptist circles. They were also both leaders in the Atlanta branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Michael King Sr. changed his name and his son's name to Martin Luther in 1934 to honor the 16th-century German religious reformer.\nKing attended segregated schools and graduated from high school at 15. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology at Morehouse College in 1948, and went on to gain a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and a doctorate in Philosophy of Systematic Theology from Boston University. While in Boston, he met music student Coretta Scott. The two later married and had two daughters and two sons.\nKing contemplated an academic career but ultimately followed his father and grandfather to the pulpit. In 1954, he accepted the position of pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.\nMinistry and civil rights leadership\nIn Montgomery, King began to be known as a prominent leader in the civil rights movement. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man and was arrested. Local leaders formed an organization to protest Parks’ arrest and chose King to head the group. In this role, he became the primary spokesperson for what would become the 382-day Montgomery Bus Boycott. During the boycott, King was abused and arrested, and his house was bombed, but he remained a stalwart and committed leader.\nKing’s activism, leadership and ministry drew heavily on his Christian principles as well as the nonviolent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King skillfully drew upon a wide range of theological and philosophical influences to mobilize black churches and communities and to appeal for white support. He turned from an abstract view of God to a more supportive, reassuring concept, describing God as “a living reality that has been validated in the experiences of everyday life.\"\nAfter the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation, King helped expand the civil rights movement throughout the South. He was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and moved back to Atlanta to be closer to the organization’s headquarters and to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church. He also traveled and spoke widely, spreading the message of nonviolent protest; wrote five books; organized voting drives; led peaceful protests and marches; and was arrested more than 20 times.\n'Letter from Birmingham City Jail'\nIn 1963, King led a nonviolent protest in highly segregated Birmingham, Ala. The campaign was met with brutality from the police, who attacked demonstrators with dogs and hoses. King was arrested and, in a cell, drafted his famous “ Letter from Birmingham City Jail ,” which became a manifesto for civil rights and civil disobedience. The letter combined ideas from the Bible, the Constitution and other respected texts.\nMarch on Washington and 'I Have a Dream' speech\nOn Aug. 28, 1963, about 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., in the largest demonstration of its kind in the city. At the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered the inspirational and oft-quoted “ I Have a Dream ” speech. The speech's most famous phrases include:\n\"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …\n\"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\"\nThe speech inspired the nation and solidified King’s status as a national civil rights leader. After the march, King and other leaders met with President John F. Kennedy to discuss equal rights and an end to segregation.\nNobel Peace Prize\nFollowing the March on Washington, Time magazine named King its “Man of the Year.” The next year, in 1964 at the age of 35, King became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize . He donated the winnings to the civil rights movement. King received hundreds of other awards and several honorary degrees.\nLater work and assassination\nIn addition to his work on racial issues, King became an activist for economic justice and a critic of the Vietnam War. He formed an organization called the Poor Peoples Campaign, which was unpopular among some black activists who wanted to take more radical approaches to social change, such as those advocated by the Black Power campaigns.\nOn April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., King delivered a poignant speech, intoning,\n“I've been to the mountaintop [and] I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.\"\nThe next day, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, King was assassinated. White segregationist James Earl Ray was convicted of the crime, though the identity of King’s murderer was the subject of some controversy.\nThe Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.\nCredit: Lissandra Melo / Shutterstock.com\nLegacy and memorial\nKing had a profound impact on the United States. The March on Washington was influential in the passing of the landmark Civil Rights Act, which essentially made segregation illegal. The Voting Rights Act was passed as the result of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March.\nIn 1968, Coretta Scott King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She also led the effort to make King’s birthday a national holiday, first celebrated in 1986.\nOn Aug. 28, 2011 — the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington — a memorial to King was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists of a 30-foot statue of King carved into the “Stone of Hope” breaking through two boulders representing the “Mountain of Despair.”\nMemorable quotes\n\"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.\"\n\"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.\"\n\"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.\"\n\"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.\"\n\"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.\"\n\"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.\"\n\"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.\"\n\"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.\"","Martin Luther King - Biography - IMDb\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, ... His father was named Michael Luther King, but changed his first name to Martin when he became a minister.\nMartin Luther King - Biography - IMDb\nMartin Luther King\nBiography\nShowing all 65 items\nJump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (33) | Personal Quotes (22)\nOverview (5)\n5' 6½\" (1.69 m)\nMini Bio (1)\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. His mother was a schoolteacher. For Martin the civil rights movement began one summer in 1935 when he was six years old. Two of his friends did not show up to play ball with him and Martin decided to go looking for them. When he went to one of the boys' house, their mother met him at the front door and told him in a rude tone that her son would not be coming out to play with him that day or any other day because they were white and he was black. Years later, Martin admitted that those cruel words altered the direction of his life. As a teenager, Martin went through school with great distinction. He skipped ninth and 12th grades, and excelled on the violin and as as a public speaker. One evening after taking top prize in a debate tournament, he and his teacher were riding home on the bus discussing the event when the driver ordered them to give up their seats for two white passengers who had just boarded. Martin was infuriated as he recalled, \"I intended to stay right in my seat and protest,\" but his teacher convinced him to obey the law and they stood for the remainder of the 90-mile trip. \"That night will never leave my memory as long as I live. It was the angriest I had ever been in my life. Never before, or afterward, can I remember myself being so angry,\" he later recalled. Martin entered Morehouse College, his father's alma mater, when he was 15 with the intention of becoming a doctor or lawyer. After graduating from Morehouse at the age of 19, he decided to enter Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. This private nondenominational college had only 100 students at the time, and Martin was one of six black students. This was the first time that he had lived in a community that was mostly white. He won the highest class ranking and a $1,200 fellowship for graduate school. In 1951 he entered Boston University School of Theology to to pursue his Ph.D. While at Crozer Martin had attended a lecture by Howard University President Mordecai Johnson , who spoke about Mohandas K. Gandhi , India's spiritual leader whose nonviolent protests helped to free his country from British rule, and that gave Martin the basis for positive change. It was here that he met and married his wife Coretta Scott King , who was a soprano studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1954 Martin accepted a call to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, to be its pastor. Despite Coretta's warning that it would not be safe for them in Alabama, the poorest and most racist state in the US, Martin insisted that they move there. Many local black ministers attended Martin's first sermon at the church, among them the Rev. Ralph Abernathy , who congratulated him on his speech. The two became fast friends and often discussed life in general and the challenges of desegregation in particular. Then an incident changed Martin's life forever.\nOn the cold winter night of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks , a 42-year-old black seamstress who worked in a downtown Montgomery department store, boarded a bus for home and sat in the back with the other black passengers. A few stops later, she was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger who just boarded. She repeatedly refused, prompting the driver to call the police, who arrested her. In response to Mrs. Parks' courage, the town's black leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and elected Martin as its leader. The first goal of the MIA was to boycott the city's bus system until public transportation laws were changed. The strike was long, bitter and violent, but eventually the city's white merchants began to complain that their businesses were suffering because of the strike, and the city responded by filing charges against Martin. While in court to appeal the charges, he learned that the U.S. Supreme Court had affirmed the decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that the local laws requiring segregation on buses were unconstitutional. The first civil rights battle was won, but for Martin it was the first of many more difficult ones. On November 29, 1959, he offered his resignation to the members of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, as several months earlier he had been elected leader of a new organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He moved his family to Atlanta and began to establish a regional network of nonviolent organizations. In April 1961 he coordinated the SCLC and other civil-rights organizations to take two busloads of white and black passengers through the South on a \"freedom ride\" for publicity reasons. In Virgina and North and South Carolina there were no incidents, but in Anniston, Alabama, the ride became a rolling horror when one bus was burned and its passengers beaten by an angry racist white mob. In Birmingham, angry mobs--with some policemen joining them--greeted the bus with more violence, which was broken up when state police intervened and stopped the chaos. The violence shook Martin and he decided to abandon the freedom rides before someone was killed, but the riders insisted they complete the ride to Montgomery, where they where greeted with more violence. In January 1963 Martin arrived in Birmingham with Ralph Abernathy to organize a freedom march aimed to end segregation. Despite an injunction issued by city authorities against the gathering, the protesters marched and were attacked by the police. Three months later another march was planned with the intent to \"turn the other cheek\" in response to the violence by the city's police force. As the marchers reached downtown Birmgingham, the police attacked the crowd with high-pressure fire hoses and attack dogs. This time, however, the incident was witnessed across the entire country, as many network TV crews were there and broadcasting live footage of unarmed marchers being blasted to the ground by high-pressure hoses and others being bitten and mauled by snarling attack dogs, and it sparked a national outrage. The next day, more marchers repeated the walk and more policemen attacked with fire hoses and police dogs, leading to a total of 1,200 arrests. On the third day, Martin organized another march to the city jail. This time, when the marchers approached the police, none of them moved and some even let the marchers through to continue their march. The nonviolent strategy had worked--the strikes and boycotts were cutting deeply into the city merchants' revenues, and they called for negotiations and agreed with local black leaders to integrate lunch counters, fitting rooms, restrooms and drinking fountains within 90 days. Martin was then called for a rally in Washington, DC, near the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Nearly 200,000 people stood in the intense heat listening to the speeches by the members and supporters of the NACCP. By the time Martin was called as the day's final speaker, the crowd was hot and tired. As he approached the podium, with his papers containing his prepared speech, he suddenly put them aside and decided to speak from the heart. He spoke of freedoms for blacks achieved and not yet achieved. He then spoke the words that echo throughout the world to this day: \"I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.' I have that dream.\" By mid-October 1964 Martin had given 350 civil rights speeches and traveled 275,000 miles across the country and worked for 20 hours a day. While in an Atlanta hospital after collapsing from exhaustion, his wife brought in his room a telegram notifying him that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 1, 1968, Martin traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to meet with two of his advisers, James Bevel and Jesse Jackson , to discuss organizing a march to Washington in support of a strike by Memphis' city's sanitation workers. In the late afternoon of April 4, he stepped out onto the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where he was staying to speak with Andrew Young . As he saw Jackson and waved to him for a moment, a gunshot rang through the air and Martin Luther King Jr. was hit in the neck and fell dead from a sniper's bullet. He was dead, but the struggle that he started to continue to bring peace and end the racial conflict in the USA continues to this day.\n- IMDb Mini Biography By: pataygs@voicenet.com\nSpouse (1)\n( 18 June 1953 - 4 April 1968) (his death) (4 children)\nTrade Mark (3)\nHopes for equality between every ethnicity\nHis mustache\nJanuary 20, 1986 was the first national celebration of King's birthday as a holiday.\nWon Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1964.\nWas stabbed in 1958 while promoting his book, \"Stride Toward Freedom\".\nGraduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA, with a B.D. in 1951.\nBecame pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1960.\nEarned Ph.D. in systematic theology in 1955.\nChildren: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter King (b. 1961), Bernice King (b. 1963).\nGraduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, in 1948.\nJanuary 20, 1986 was the third Monday in January, and consequently, the third Monday in January is an official holiday in the U.S. honoring Dr. King. To date, all 50 states observe the King holiday.\nHis father was named Michael Luther King, but changed his first name to Martin when he became a minister. The younger Michael changed his name to Martin as well, initially against his father's wishes.\nIs the only U.S. citizen to have a national holiday dedicated to him.\nPictured on a 15¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Black Heritage USA series, issued 13 January 1979.\nWas a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.\nTime Magazine's \"Man of the Year\" (1963)\nPictured on a commerative 25 cent postage label issued by the (now defunct) Independent Postal System of America in 1973.\nWas a Trekkie (a fan of the original Star Trek (1966) TV series).\nEncouraged Nichelle Nichols to remain on the original Star Trek (1966) series (according to William Shatner 's \"Star Trek Memories\").\nSubject of the U2 song \"Pride (In the Name of Love)\" from their 1984 album \"The Unforgettable Fire\".\nSanta Monica auditorium named in his honor with daughter Yolanda King officiating and performer/activist Anthony Begonia organizing the music. [January 2006]\nHe stated that he would not live to be 40. He died aged 39.\nIs portrayed by LeVar Burton in Ali (2001).\nAmong his personal, non-violent reform heroes was Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948).\nDuring the funeral, his casket was pulled by a mule-driven cart down Atlanta's main street.\nWas a vegetarian.\nPublicly spoke out against the Vietnam War in 1967.\nOn King's 60th birthday in 1988, the U.S. government unveiled a statue memorial of his likeness, to commemorate the progress of civil rights.\nGrandfather of Yolanda Renee King.\nYounger brother of Christine King . and Alfred Daniel King.\nSon of Martin Luther King Sr. .and Alberta Williams King.\nWhen he was shot, King was on his way to a soul-food dinner at the home of Reverend Samuel (Billy) Kyles. After supper, King had promised to attend the evening rally of the striking black garbage collectors of Local 1733.\nAt age thirty-five,He was the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace prize.This record was surpassed by Betty Williams in 1977 who was thirty-three.","I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\nI have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, ... the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963 . ... every state and every city, ...\nAvalon Project - I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\nI have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\nDelivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963\nFive score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.\nBut one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.\nIn a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\nIt is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked \"insufficient funds.\" But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.\nIt would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.\nBut there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.\nWe must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.\nAnd as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, \"When will you be satisfied?\" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.\nI am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.\nGo back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.\nI say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.\nI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: \"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.\"\nI have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.\nI have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.\nI have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.\nThis is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.\nThis will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, \"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.\"\nAnd if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!\nLet freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!\nLet freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!\nBut not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!\nLet freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!\nLet freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.\nWhen we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, \"Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!\"","Martin Luther King Jr. - Black History - HISTORY.com\nArticle Details: Martin Luther King Jr. Author. History.com Staff. Website Name. History.com. Year Published. 2009. Title. Martin Luther King Jr. URL. http://www ...\nMartin Luther King Jr. - Black History - HISTORY.com\nMartin Luther King Jr.\nA+E Networks\nIntroduction\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Inspired by advocates of nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi, King sought equality for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986.\nGoogle\nMartin Luther King Jr.: Early Years and Family\nThe second child of Martin Luther King Sr. (1899-1984), a pastor, and Alberta Williams King (1904-1974), a former schoolteacher, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia , on January 15, 1929. Along with his older sister, the future Christine King Farris (born 1927), and younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King (1930-1969), he grew up in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, then home to some of the most prominent and prosperous African Americans in the country.\nDid You Know?\nThe final section of Martin Luther King Jr.’s eloquent and iconic “I Have a Dream” speech is believed to have been largely improvised.\nA gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law. Although he had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry, he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania , where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class.\nKing then enrolled in a graduate program at Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate in systematic theology two years later. While in Boston he met Coretta Scott (1927-2006), a young singer from Alabama who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. They had four children: Yolanda Denise King (1955-2007), Martin Luther King III (born 1957), Dexter Scott King (born 1961) and Bernice Albertine King (born 1963).\nMartin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott\nThe King family had been living in Montgomery for less than a year when the highly segregated city became the epicenter of the burgeoning struggle for civil rights in America, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks (1913-2005), secretary of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a bus boycott that would continue for 381 days, placing a severe economic strain on the public transit system and downtown business owners. They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader and official spokesman.\nBy the time the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional in November 1956, King, heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and the activist Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), had entered the national spotlight as an inspirational proponent of organized, nonviolent resistance. (He had also become a target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January.) Emboldened by the boycott’s success, in 1957 he and other civil rights activists–most of them fellow ministers–founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolence. (Its motto was “Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed.”) He would remain at the helm of this influential organization until his death.\nKing and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference\nIn his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled across the country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activists and political leaders. (During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity to meet family members and followers of Gandhi, the man he described in his autobiography as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.”) King also authored several books and articles during this time.\nIn 1960 King and his family moved to Atlanta, his native city, where he joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This new position did not stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in many of the most significant civil rights battles of the 1960s. Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly severe test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities. Arrested for his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil rights manifesto known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of civil disobedience addressed to a group of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.\nKing Marches for Freedom\nLater that year, Martin Luther King Jr. worked with a number of civil rights and religious groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light on the injustices African Americans continued to face across the country. Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights movement and a factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\nThe march culminated in King’s most famous address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a masterpiece of rhetoric. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial–a monument to the president who a century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of a future in which “this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'” The speech and march cemented King’s reputation at home and abroad; later that year he was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine and in 1964 became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.\nIn the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international attention to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) had organized a voter registration campaign. Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Selma and take part in a march to Montgomery led by King and supported by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973), who sent in federal troops to keep the peace. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act , which guaranteed the right to vote–first awarded by the 15th Amendment–to all African Americans.\nMartin Luther King Jr.’s Final Years and Assassination\nThe events in Selma deepened a growing rift between Martin Luther King Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods and commitment to working within the established political framework. As more militant black leaders such as Stokely Carmichael (1941-1998) rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam War and poverty among Americans of all races. In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious program known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a massive march on the capital.\nOn the evening of April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where he had traveled to support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of mourning. James Earl Ray (1928-1998), an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. (He later recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including members of the King family, before his death in 1998.)\nAfter years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King , among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) signed a bill creating a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King. Observed on the third Monday of January, it was first celebrated in 1986.\nTags","10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr ...\nFind out how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech became an impromptu ... King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin. ... King’s widow, ...\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr. - History in the Headlines\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\nApril 4, 2013 By Christopher Klein\nShare\nFind out how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech became an impromptu addition to the March on Washington.\nShare this:\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\nAuthor\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\nURL\nGoogle\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Explore 10 surprising facts about the civil rights leader and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner.\n1. King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin.\nThe civil rights leader was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929. In 1934, however, his father, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. As a result, King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his 5-year-old son.\n2. King entered college at the age of 15.\nKing was such a gifted student that he skipped grades nine and 12 before enrolling in 1944 at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather. Although he was the son, grandson and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, King did not intend to follow the family vocation until Morehouse president Benjamin E. Mays, a noted theologian, convinced him otherwise. King was ordained before graduating college with a degree in sociology.\n3. King received his doctorate in systematic theology.\nAfter earning a divinity degree from Pennsylvania’s Crozer Theological Seminary, King attended graduate school at Boston University, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1955. The title of his dissertation was “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.”\n4. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was not his first at the Lincoln Memorial.\nSix years before his iconic oration at the March on Washington, King was among the civil rights leaders who spoke in the shadow of the Great Emancipator during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom on May 17, 1957. Before a crowd estimated at between 15,000 and 30,000, King delivered his first national address on the topic of voting rights. His speech, in which he urged America to “give us the ballot,” drew strong reviews and positioned him at the forefront of the civil rights leadership.\n5. King was jailed 29 times.\nAccording to the King Center, the civil rights leader went to jail nearly 30 times. He was arrested for acts of civil disobedience and on trumped-up charges, such as when he was jailed in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956 for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.\n6. King narrowly escaped an assassination attempt a decade before his death.\nOn September 20, 1958, King was in Harlem signing copies of his new book, “Stride Toward Freedom,” in Blumstein’s department store when he was approached by Izola Ware Curry. The woman asked if he was Martin Luther King Jr. After he said yes, Curry said, “I’ve been looking for you for five years,” and she plunged a seven-inch letter opener into his chest. The tip of the blade came to rest alongside his aorta, and King underwent hours of delicate emergency surgery. Surgeons later told King that just one sneeze could have punctured the aorta and killed him. From his hospital bed where he convalesced for weeks, King issued a statement affirming his nonviolent principles and saying he felt no ill will toward his mentally ill attacker.\n7. King’s last public speech foretold his death.\nKing had come to Memphis in April 1968 to support the strike of the city’s black garbage workers, and in a speech on the night before his assassination, he told an audience at Mason Temple Church: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”\n8. Members of King’s family did not believe James Earl Ray acted alone.\nRay, a career criminal, pled guilty to King’s assassination but later recanted. King’s son Dexter met publicly with Ray in 1997 and argued for the case to be reopened. King’s widow, Coretta, believed the Mafia and local, state and federal government agencies were deeply involved in the murder. She praised the result of a 1999 civil trial in which a Memphis jury decided the assassination was the result of a conspiracy and that Ray was set up to take the blame. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation released in 2000 reported no evidence of a conspiracy.\n9. King’s mother was also slain by a bullet.\nOn June 30, 1974, as 69-year-old Alberta Williams King played the organ at a Sunday service inside Ebenezer Baptist Church, Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr. rose from the front pew, drew two pistols and began to fire shots. One of the bullets struck and killed King, who died steps from where her son had preached nonviolence. The deranged gunman said that Christians were his enemy and that although he had received divine instructions to kill King’s father, who was in the congregation, he killed King’s mother instead because she was closer. The shooting also left a church deacon dead. Chenault received a death penalty sentence that was later changed to life imprisonment, in part due to the King family’s opposition to capital punishment.\n10. George Washington is the only other American to have had his birthday observed as a national holiday.\nIn 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday to honor King. The holiday, first commemorated in 1986, is celebrated on the third Monday in January, close to the civil rights leader’s January 15 birthday.\nTags"],"string":"[\n \"I Have A Dream Speech - Martin Luther King Speeches\\nMartin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech from the Mach on ... Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, ... the dream, Martin.\\\" Dr. King stopped ...\\nI Have A Dream Speech - Martin Luther King Speeches\\nYou Are Here: MLK Online > Speeches > I Have a Dream Speech\\nShare This Page:\\nI Have a Dream Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.\\nI Have a Dream MP3\\nMartin Luther King's Address at March on Washington\\nAugust 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.\\n\\\"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation\\nwhere they will not be judged by the color of their skin,\\nbut by the content of their character.\\\"\\n– Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Quote\\nI Have a Dream Speech Background\\nSummary: \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" is a 17-minute�public speech�by�Martin Luther King, Jr.�delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for�racial equalityand an end to�discrimination. The speech, from the steps of the�Lincoln Memorial�during the�March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the�American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters,�the speech was ranked the topAmerican�speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.�According to�U.S. Representative�John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the President of the�Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, \\\"Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.\\\"\\nSpeech Title and Performance: Believe it or not, the \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech was originally titled \\\"Normalcy, Never Again.\\\" and the first drafts never included the phrase \\\"I have a dream\\\". He had first delivered a speech incorporating some of the same sections in Detroit in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and had rehearsed other parts.\\nThe popular title \\\"I have a dream,\\\" came from the speech's greatly improvised content and delivery. Near the end of the speech, famous African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King from the crowd, \\\"Tell them about the dream, Martin.\\\" Dr. King stopped delivering his prepared speech and started \\\"preaching\\\", punctuating his points with \\\"I have a dream.\\\"\\nPublic Domain : Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. at 1963 March on Washington by USIA (NARA)\\nEducational Activities\\nPhoto in the Public Domain .\\nContemporary Reaction: The speech was lauded in the days after the event, and was widely considered the high point of the March by contemporary observers. James Reston, writing for the�New York Times, noted that the event \\\"was better covered by television and the press than any event here since President Kennedy's inauguration,\\\" and opined that \\\"it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. crying out his dreams to the multitude.\\\"[�An article in the�Boston Globe�by�Mary McGrory�reported that King's speech \\\"caught the mood\\\" and \\\"moved the crowd\\\" of the day \\\"as no other\\\" speaker in the event.�Marquis Childs�of�The Washington Post�wrote that King's speech \\\"rose above mere oratory\\\".�An article in the�Los Angeles Times�commented that the \\\"matchless eloquence\\\" displayed by King, \\\"a supreme orator\\\" of \\\"a type so rare as almost to be forgotten in our age,\\\" put to shame the advocates of segregation by inspiring the \\\"conscience of America\\\" with the justice of the civil-rights cause.\\nI Have a Dream Copyright Information\\n \\nCopyright Dispute: Because King's speech was broadcast to a large radio and television audience, there was controversy about the copyright status of the speech. If the performance of the speech constituted \\\"general publication\\\", it would have entered the public domain due to King's failure to register the speech with the Registrar of Copyrights. If the performance only constituted \\\"limited publication\\\", however, King retained common law copyright. This led to a lawsuit, Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., which established that the King estate does hold copyright over the speech and had standing to sue; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances, especially in jurisdictions under doctrines such as fair use or fair dealing. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, thus until 2038.\\nDeposition of Martin Luther King regarding copyright infringement.\\nCase File Number 63 Civ 2889, Civil Case Files; United States District Court for the Southern District of New York \\nDownload the full deposition (PDF)\\nI Have a Dream Speech Video Copyright\\nThe I Have a Dream Speech Video is no longer available online, as EMI on behalf of The King Center has ordered it's removal. They will sell you or your school a copy for $10 at at www.thekingcenter.org , or you can buy the I Have a Dream DVD on Amazon ($8.97)\\n“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,\\nthe sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners\\nwill be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”\\n– Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Quote\\nRead in Full: Text and audio of this speech available at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm\\nCopyright Info: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" , which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 .\\nBuy a Copy of the I Have a Dream Speech\\nI Have a Dream Speech DVD\",\n \"Martin Luther King Jr. and the \\\"I Have a Dream Speech\\\"\\nMartin Luther King, Jr. and the I Have a ... and the \\\"I Have a Dream Speech\\\" On August 28, 1963, ... the National Archives at New York City is a deposition ...\\nMartin Luther King, Jr. | National Archives\\nHire a Researcher\\nMartin Luther King, Jr.\\nOn August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., delivered a speech to a massive group of civil rights marchers gathered around the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom brought together the nations most prominent civil rights leaders, along with tens of thousands of marchers, to press the United States government for equality. The culmination of this event was the influential and most memorable speech of Dr. King's career. Popularly known as the \\\"I have a Dream\\\" speech, the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. influenced the Federal government to take more direct actions to more fully realize racial equality.\\nMister Maestro, Inc., and Twentieth Century Fox Records Company recorded the speech and offered the recording for sale. Dr. King and his attorneys claimed that the speech was copyrighted and the recording violated that copyright. The court found in favor of Dr. King. Among the papers filed in the case and available at the National Archives at New York City is a deposition given by Martin Luther King, Jr. and signed in his own hand.\\nEducational Activities\\nDiscussion Questions:\\nWhat was the official name for the event on August 28th, 1963? What does this title tell us about its focus?\\nWhat organizations were involved in the the March on Washington? What does this tell us about the event?\\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. describe his writing process?\\nWhat are the major issues of this case? In other words, what is Martin Luther King, Jr. disputing?\\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. describe his earlier speech on June 23rd in Detroit?\\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. compare and contrast the two \\\"I have a dream...\\\" speeches? What are the major similarities and differences?\",\n \"Did MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African ...\\nDid MLK Improvise in the ‘Dream’ Speech? ... August 28, 1963. Writing the Speech ... Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, ...\\nDid MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African American Blog | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross\\nby Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Originally posted on The Root\\nFive Score and 50 Years Ago …\\nThis year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation , issued at the midpoint of the American Civil War, and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , a moment that marked the spiritual summit of the civil rights movement. In place and time, they are joined at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, the nation’s shrine to the president who signed the proclamation declaring the slaves of the Confederate states free and the King who, 100 later, spoke to the disappointments and dreams of their descendants. Today, the words of both men — authors of arguably the two greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address and the “I Have a Dream” speech (pdf) — are etched in stone and in memory at the Lincoln and King Memorials in Washington.\\nLincoln Memorial, Aug. 28, 1963 (Public Domain)\\nNo one understood the poetry of their parallel moments better than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, who, speaking in front of Daniel Chester French’s iconic seated Lincoln statue, began his speech, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation … But 100 hundred years later the Negro still is not free.” In this way, Dr. King framed Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and made freedom — “at last” — the ideal by which we measure progress in our country.\\nSo effective was King in tying the memory of Lincoln to the cause of civil rights that most of us now see the Lincoln Memorial as the obvious site, the holiest of holy places, where history and racial progress meet. So, it was — it had to be — the perfect backdrop for the ultimate barrier breaker, Barack Obama, to stand on the eve of his inauguration in 2009. Yet, as we shall see, there was nothing inevitable about the choice of the Lincoln Memorial as the logical place for racial protests throughout the early 20th century, or as the staging ground for Dr. King’s most memorable speech.\\nLast week, we honored Bayard Rustin , the architect of the march; today, we examine the moment that remains most closely associated with it. But first, it’s important that we all understand a bit of the complicated background about the setting …\\n1922: A Dedication or an Opening?\\nThe NAACP was founded in Springfield, Ill., Feb. 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Yet, at the opening of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington May 30, 1922, security guards tried to “Jim Crow” black guests into a separate section from whites, despite the presence of a black orator onstage, the president of Tuskegee Institute, Robert Russa Moton , who, in addition to serving on numerous national boards, published an annual list of blacks lynched in the United States. (Sources for this last fact include the Afro-American newspaper from June 2, 1922, and Moton’s New York Times obituary from June 1, 1940.)\\nThe title of Moton’s speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” might have been the other way around (given the role of black soldiers in the Civil War), but Moton agreed to tone down his remarks to placate the Memorial Commission, as Adam Fairclough writes in his article “Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial.” Even then, Moton managed to slip in his view of Lincoln’s ambivalence about emancipation: “The claim of greatness for Abraham Lincoln lies in this, that amid doubt and distrust, against the counsel of chosen advisers, in the hour of the nation’s utter peril, he put his trust in God and spoke the word that gave freedom to a race.”\\nNo mainstream newspaper covered the attempt to segregate black guests at the dedication or that 21 guests apparently stormed out. (I checked ProQuest for these facts after reading other valuable historical accounts by Scott Sandage and Christopher Thomas.) They did cover President Warren G. Harding’s keynote address, in which he sanitized the memorial as a symbol of a restored Union by telling the estimated 75,000 gathered, “Halting human slavery as [Lincoln] did, he doubtless believed in its ultimate abolition through the developing conscience of the American people, but he would have been the last man in the Republic to resort to arms to effect its abolition.”\\nFor this reason, at least one black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, on June 10, 1922, refused to accept that the Lincoln Memorial had been dedicated in 1922. “With song, prayer, bold and truthful speech,” its editor prophetically declared, “later on let us dedicate that temple thus far only opened.”\\nThe Rededication\\nAfrican Americans, beginning with members of the AME Zion Church, started gathering at the Lincoln Memorial as early as 1926, as a Washington Post account on August 5, 1926, indicates. And on April 9, 1939 (Easter Sunday and the 74th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox), the black contralto Marian Anderson fulfilled the Chicago Defender’s prophecy by giving a performance (mp3) of patriotic hymns, opera selections and Negro spirituals before a crowd of 100,000.\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was only 10 when Marian Anderson gave her concert. At 15, he cited her in his prize-winning speech at Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School: “When the words of ‘America’ and ‘Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen’ rang out over that great gathering, there was a hush on the sea of uplifted faces, black and white, and a new baptism of liberty, equality and fraternity. That was a touching tribute, but Miss Anderson may not as yet spend the night in any good hotel in America.” Young Martin was right — the night of her concert, Marian Anderson stayed at the home of former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot (for a terrific account of her life and impact, see Raymond Arsenault’s book, The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert that Awakened America).\\nSixteen years later, by then-Dr. King would lead a bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., that would set him on a path toward immortality and a destiny not dissimilar to the one occupied by the slain president who would be seated behind him (in stone) before a crowd of 200,000-plus marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.\\nWriting the Speech (Minus ‘The Dream’)\\nAs Taylor Branch notes in his definitive narrative, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, Dr. King began working in earnest on his speech with a small group of advisers in the lobby of the Willard Hotel the night before the march, and the resulting draft was “a mixture of truncated oratory and fresh composition” that was “politically sound but far from historic.” (To learn more, see King adviser Clarence B. Jones’ account in the Washington Post).\\nMartin Luther King Jr. addressing the audience at the March on Washington (Wikimedia Commons)\\nWhen King took the stage the following day, the audience had no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes wrangling we read about last week in the column about Rustin or that the march’s D.C. coordinator, Walter Fauntroy (future D.C. congressman), had to ring up the Justice Department to send in the Army Signal Corps to repair the expensive sound system sabotaged the day before. Imagine if they hadn’t come! (For more, see Charles Euchner’s recent book, Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.)\\nWhat the audience did know was that the August heat was rapidly approaching unbearable and the cavalcade of speeches, whatever their individual merits, was beginning to weary them. Still, the crowd anxiously anticipated the march’s climax, the appearance of Dr. King, whom A. Philip Randolph introduced as “the moral leader of our nation … Dr. Martin Luther King, J-R.” King approached the podium keenly aware that he was addressing not only the massive crowd gathered before him at the Lincoln Memorial, but also the millions more watching live on TV, including President Kennedy and his brother, Robert.\\nWorking Off the Script\\nAdam Fairclough has pointed out that part of the power of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech came from the fact that he “framed this vision entirely within the hallowed symbols of Americanism: the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation and the ‘American Dream.’ ” But when he started talking that day, he had not planned to discuss any dreams.\\nAfter opening with his allusion to Lincoln and “the Negro … still not free,” King turned to the novel metaphor of “the promissory note” — that the Declaration of Independence was a check of sorts written to all Americans of all races as a guarantee of their rights, but that so far, for “the Negro people,” it had been “a bad check … marked ‘insufficient funds.’ ”\\nIn the following sections of the speech, King responded to critics across the political spectrum, including those who cautioned moderation (“gradualism,” he named it) and those who had begun calling for armed militancy and racial separation. King stressed the need for action “in the fierce urgency of now” and argued for a nonviolent, biracial approach, reminding those demanding more radical action that “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny … We cannot walk alone.” King then encouraged Americans to continue fighting for right over might, as “we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”\\nA Speech Becomes a Sermon\\nNot long after delivering that now-famous line, however, King changed course. Looking at his prepared speech, he balked when he reached this mouthful of a sentence: “And so today, let us go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” Instead, he transformed his speech into a sermon. He instructed the audience to “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama … South Carolina … Georgia … Louisiana … to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”\\nKing speechwriter Clarence Jones realized what was happening when he saw King “push the text of his prepared remarks to one side,” he wrote in the Washington Post in 2011. “I leaned over and said to the person next to me, ‘These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about ready to go to church.’ ” Onstage that day, as Branch’s Parting the Waters quotes, the singer Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier, reportedly kept saying to King, as he spoke, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.” King never said if he heard her or not, but Julian Bond recently told me it would have been impossible not to, given their proximity on the stage and the resonance of Jackson’s powerful voice.\\nIn any case, her dream was fulfilled when King continued, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed.” In classic black preacher oratorical fashion, King then turned to repetition, outlining the specifics of his dream, which emphasized interracial cooperation across the South. Poignantly, he exclaimed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”\\nSoon the speech reached its dramatic climax. King quoted the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (the song Marian Anderson had opened with at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; she was also there to sing the national anthem in 1963) and commanded, “Let freedom ring” in “New Hampshire … New York … Pennsylvania … Colorado,” and “California,” but also “from Stone Mountain of Georgia … from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee … from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring … ”\\nHe saved his most dramatic exhortations for last: “When we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentile, Catholics and Protestants, will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God, Almighty, we are free at last,’ ” a reference to this song . There is no better way to do justice to the delivery and effect of Dr. King’s speech upon his audience both at the memorial and in living rooms across America than to read (pdf), watch and listen.\\nThree months later, King explained his decision to go off-script: “I started out reading the speech … just all of a sudden — the audience response was wonderful that day — and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here” (quoted in David Garrow’s Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). As inspiring as those speeches were, especially the version of the “Dream” speech he delivered in Detroit just two months before, settings matter, as Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, was quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press June 22 of this year. Musical as Motown was, it couldn’t compete with “the symbolic space” of the Lincoln Memorial (though Berry Gordy officially released 45s of the Detroit speech on the same day as the March on Washington!).\\nImmediate Reactions\\nDespite its well-earned current status as one of the greatest speeches in American history, it was not universally lauded the following day. While the New York Times published a story called “‘I Have a Dream …’ Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,” the Washington Post did not even mention King’s speech in its coverage of the march, according to Branch in Parting the Waters.\\nAt the same time, radical activists on King’s left criticized the speech as a farce. “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and ‘I Have a Dream’ speeches?” Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography. All this, he added, while “the black masses in America were — and still are — having a nightmare.”\\nNevertheless, King’s speech had its share of admirers, including the best-selling black writer at the time, James Baldwin, who later wrote , “That day, for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain that dream one dreamed in agony.”\\nPoliticizing the Dream\\nThe long-term importance of the march and the speech cannot be overstated. Look no further than the explosion of marches on Washington that have occurred in the years since. That such a wide variety of people and organizations have riffed upon the March on Washington by attempting to restage it is a testament to what King, Randolph and Rustin, John Lewis and the other leaders of the march achieved 50 years ago. It’s such a testament that the singular focus on King’s climactic speech (really, a few sound bites) has fostered an overly simple portrait of King himself. As Vincent Harding argues in “The Road to Redemption,” “Brother Martin spent a fair amount of time in jail, but his worst imprisonment may be how his own nation has frozen him in that moment in 1963.”\\nThe freeze began taking hold after King’s assassination in 1968, Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation. Anxious that inner-city neighborhoods might burn, “politicians and the media [wanted] to influence the perceived direction of black protest” away from militancy and back toward the “good” civil rights movement of peaceful protest and visions of “all of God’s children … able” (and wanting) “to join hands and sing.”\\nThe emphasis on the “dream” part of the speech especially obscures King’s later agenda. As Julian Bond once cautioned, most commemorations “focus almost entirely on Martin Luther King the dreamer, and not on Martin King the antiwar activist, not on Martin King the challenger of the economic order, not on Martin King the opponent of apartheid, not on the complete Martin Luther King.”\\nThe speech also is too easily leveraged by political actors who surely would not have agreed with King’s message during the 1960s. For example, many opponents of affirmative action believe that the speech supports their argument; as Ronald Reagan said in 1986, “We are committed to a society in which all men and women have equal opportunities to succeed, and so we oppose the use of quotas. We want a colorblind society that, in the words of Dr. King, judges people not on ‘the color of their skin but by the content of their character’.” The estate of Martin Luther King even threatened to sue a group of supporters of Proposition 209, a 1996 California anti-affirmative action bill, when it used King’s speech in its advertisements.\\nThe Dream at 50\\nWe might take the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s dream not only to focus on the progress that has been made since 1963 but also to think more about his larger goals and aspirations to fix problems even more vexing than de jure segregation, problems such as wealth discrepancies between blacks and whites. You can begin by reading the text of the speech itself (pdf), and then turn to his collected writings. You might also make time to visit the Lincoln and King memorials in Washington and marvel at how Dr. King turned Robert Russa Moton’s 1922 “dedication” speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” into “ The Nation’s Debt to the Negro ,” a promissory note that remains unpaid for so many, while inspiring other minority groups to demand payment on theirs. It is a never-ending story of prophecy and protest, the noblest of our American traditions. It is also a stirring example of how African Americans reclaimed the Lincoln Memorial from Jim Crow and made it the ultimate American symbolic space for calls to redress grievances and effect progressive change in a truly democratic society.\\nFifty of the 100 Amazing Facts will be published on The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross website. Read all 100 Facts on The Root.\\nAbout\\nFunders\\nMajor corporate support for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is provided by Bank of America . Additional corporate funding is provided by The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's . Leadership support is generously provided by the Abby and Howard Milstein Foundation , in partnership with HooverMilstein and Emigrant Bank . Major funding is also provided by the Ford Foundation , Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky in Memory of Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, Richard Gilder, the Hutchins Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities . Support is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS .\",\n \"Martin Luther King - Pennsylvania State University\\n... Martin Luther, Jr. Born: January 15, ... \\\" Morehouse College; Nobel Peace Prize; ... at age 35, he became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize.\\nMartin Luther King\\nBorn: January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia\\nDied: April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee\\nVocations: Social Activist, Essayist, Minister, Speech Writer\\nGeographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Chester, Delaware County\\nKeywords: Boston University; Civil Rights Movement; Crozer Theological Seminary; \\\"I Have a Dream\\\" speech; \\\"Letter from Birmingham Jail;\\\" Morehouse College; Nobel Peace Prize; Presidential Medal of Freedom; Southern Christian Leadership Conference\\nAbstract: Born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and civil rights leader who strongly believed in nonviolence. He attended Crozer Theological Seminary School in Chester, Pennsylvania to further his studies as a minister. In 1963 he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year; the next year he became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. King is most remembered for his powerfully moving speeches, including \\\"I Have a Dream,\\\" given before a crowd of 200,000 at the March on Washington in 1963. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray.\\nBiography:\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the second child and the first son for his father, Rev. Martin Luther King, and his mother, Alberta Williams. He was accepted to Morehouse College in Atlanta at the age of 15. In 1948, at the age of 19, he had earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology. That same year he was ordained as a Baptist minister, following in the footsteps of the men in his family.\\nIn September of 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he became the first African American to be elected student body president. While there, he attended a lecture about Mahatma Gandhi that had a profound impact on his thoughts. King began reading about Gandhi and his nonviolent approach to solving problems of social injustice. He graduated from Crozer with the highest grade point average in his class.\\nKing then enrolled in Boston University where he met his wife, Coretta Scott. They were married by King's father in Alabama on June 18, 1953. The couple would later have four children, two girls and two boys.\\nOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. King was chosen to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which planned to boycott the transit company. Under King's encouragement, over fifty thousand African Americans boycotted the buses for over a year. The MIA tried to negotiate rules for desegregation with the bus company. In 1956, after many other court cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for Alabama state laws to segregate people on buses and other public accommodations.\\nEarly in 1957, King helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in New Orleans, which was dedicated to winning equal rights for African Americans. He served as their president until his death. King began lecturing all over the country, gaining support for civil rights. He was becoming very well-known to the public.\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was a powerful speaker, motivating African Americans as well as liberal whites to challenge segregation laws and push for equality. His most famous speech is unquestionably \\\"I Have a Dream,\\\" given on August 28, 1963. In this speech King declared his dream \\\"that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\\\"\\nKing wrote many books, the first of which was Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, published in 1958. This book outlined six principles of nonviolence, including the refusal to hate one's opponent and the willingness to accept suffering without retaliation. Next came Strength to Love in 1963, a collection of his sermons. In 1964 he wrote Why We Can't Wait, a collection of essays and letters centered on his now famous 1963 essay \\\"Letter from Birmingham Jail.\\\" In 1967 King wrote Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, which encouraged African Americans to let their voices be heard. That same year he wrote Trumpet of Conscience, a call for a nonviolent revolution.\\nKing believed in using peaceful tactics such as sit-ins and boycotts. His incredible patience and pacifism was sparked by his studies of Gandhi, who he first became interested in while attending school in Chester. Gandhi was so important to King that in 1959 he visited India with Coretta to study Gandhian techniques of nonviolence. He was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1963. The following year, at age 35, he became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize.\\nKing was arrested many times; including once for speeding. He was also accused of falsifying his 1956 and 1958 Alabama state income tax returns; he was later acquitted of these charges. But the majority of his arrests were during protests or sit-ins. King felt that going to jail was a small price to pay for speaking and acting against the discrimination and segregation that plagued the African American community.\\nKing was subjected to much violence as he became more involved and more well-known for his civil rights activism. His home was bombed in 1956, he was stabbed in Harlem in 1958, and he was frequently attacked by people who were against his beliefs. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had given his final speech the day before entitled \\\"I've Been to the Mountaintop,\\\" in which he declared that although he may not be around to see it, one day there would be equal rights and opportunities for African Americans. President Jimmy Carter awarded Dr. King the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 for his work in the civil rights movement. The citation for the award read: Martin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation....His life informed us, his dreams sustain us yet.\\\" The third Monday of January was declared a national holiday in Dr. King's honor in 1986.\\nWorks:\\nStride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: Harper & Row, 1958.\\nStrength to Love. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.\\nWhy We Can't Wait. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.\\nWhere Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.\\nTrumpet of Conscience. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.\\nEssays and Speeches\\n\\\"A Realistic Look at the Questions of Progress in the Area of Race Relations\\\"\\n\\\"Beyond Vietnam\\\"\\n\\\"The Birth of a New Nation\\\"\\n\\\"Eulogy for the Martyred Children\\\"\\n\\\"Give Us the Ballot\\\"\\n\\\"I've Been to the Mountain Top\\\"\\n\\\"Letter from Birmingham Jail\\\"\\n\\\"MIA Mass Meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church\\\"\\n\\\"Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech\\\"\\n\\\"Our God is Marching on\\\"\\n\\\"Paul's Letter to American Christians\\\"\\n\\\"Rediscovering Lost Values\\\"\\n\\\"Speech at the Great March on Detroit\\\"\\nSources:\\n\\\"Drs. King and Salk Chosen to Receive Medal of Freedom.\\\" New York Times (5 Jul. 1977): 14.\\nDyson, Michael Eric. I May Not Get There With You. New York: The Free Press, 2000.\\nFrady, Marshall. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Lipper/Viking, 2002.\\nKing, Coretta Scott. My Life With Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969.\\nKing, Martin Luther Jr. Gale Group. 2000. Biography.com. 9 September 2004. \\nMikell, Robert S. \\\"King, Martin Luther Jr.\\\" The African American Encyclopedia. Ed. Michael W. Williams. Vol. 4. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1993.\\nFor More Information:\\nBranch, Taylor. Parting the Waters. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1989.\\n---. Pillar of Fire. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1999.\\nGarrow, David. Bearing the Cross. New York: Perennial, 1999.\\nThe Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ed. Cyalborne Carson. New York: Warner Books, 1998.\\nWilliams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965. New York: Penguin Books, 1988.\\nThis biographical sketch was prepared by Dana Giusti.\",\n \"Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech - YouTube\\n... and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co ... Year by Time magazine in 1963; ... Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28 ...\\nMartin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech - YouTube\\nMartin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech\\nWant to watch this again later?\\nSign in to add this video to a playlist.\\nNeed to report the video?\\nSign in to report inappropriate content.\\nThe interactive transcript could not be loaded.\\nLoading...\\nRating is available when the video has been rented.\\nThis feature is not available right now. Please try again later.\\nPublished on Aug 28, 2013\\nMartin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro* institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family\\nIn 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.\\nIn 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his \\\"Letter from a Birmingham Jail\\\", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, \\\"l Have a Dream\\\", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.\\nAt the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.\\nOn the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.\\nCategory\",\n \"Martin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\\nNobel Peace Prize. Following the March ... in 1964 at the age of 35, King became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel ... Latest on Martin Luther King, Jr ...\\nMartin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\\nMartin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\\nBy Jessie Szalay, LiveScience Contributor |\\nJanuary 17, 2014 01:47am ET\\nMORE\\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)\\nCredit: Library of Congress.\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was a pastor, humanitarian and leader in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. In numerous speeches, marches and letters, he fought for racial and economic justice. He was lauded for his nonviolent approach to civil disobedience. Assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, King made an incredible impact on the country’s racial, cultural and intellectual landscape.\\nEarly life\\nKing was born on Jan. 15, 1929, to the Rev. Michael King and Alberta Williams King in Atlanta, Ga. His birth name was Michael King Jr. The King family had deep roots in the Atlanta black community and the African-American Baptist Church. Both his grandfather and father served in succession at Ebenezer Baptist Church (down the street from King’s childhood home), and established it as a major congregation in Baptist circles. They were also both leaders in the Atlanta branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Michael King Sr. changed his name and his son's name to Martin Luther in 1934 to honor the 16th-century German religious reformer.\\nKing attended segregated schools and graduated from high school at 15. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology at Morehouse College in 1948, and went on to gain a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and a doctorate in Philosophy of Systematic Theology from Boston University. While in Boston, he met music student Coretta Scott. The two later married and had two daughters and two sons.\\nKing contemplated an academic career but ultimately followed his father and grandfather to the pulpit. In 1954, he accepted the position of pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.\\nMinistry and civil rights leadership\\nIn Montgomery, King began to be known as a prominent leader in the civil rights movement. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man and was arrested. Local leaders formed an organization to protest Parks’ arrest and chose King to head the group. In this role, he became the primary spokesperson for what would become the 382-day Montgomery Bus Boycott. During the boycott, King was abused and arrested, and his house was bombed, but he remained a stalwart and committed leader.\\nKing’s activism, leadership and ministry drew heavily on his Christian principles as well as the nonviolent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King skillfully drew upon a wide range of theological and philosophical influences to mobilize black churches and communities and to appeal for white support. He turned from an abstract view of God to a more supportive, reassuring concept, describing God as “a living reality that has been validated in the experiences of everyday life.\\\"\\nAfter the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation, King helped expand the civil rights movement throughout the South. He was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and moved back to Atlanta to be closer to the organization’s headquarters and to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church. He also traveled and spoke widely, spreading the message of nonviolent protest; wrote five books; organized voting drives; led peaceful protests and marches; and was arrested more than 20 times.\\n'Letter from Birmingham City Jail'\\nIn 1963, King led a nonviolent protest in highly segregated Birmingham, Ala. The campaign was met with brutality from the police, who attacked demonstrators with dogs and hoses. King was arrested and, in a cell, drafted his famous “ Letter from Birmingham City Jail ,” which became a manifesto for civil rights and civil disobedience. The letter combined ideas from the Bible, the Constitution and other respected texts.\\nMarch on Washington and 'I Have a Dream' speech\\nOn Aug. 28, 1963, about 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., in the largest demonstration of its kind in the city. At the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered the inspirational and oft-quoted “ I Have a Dream ” speech. The speech's most famous phrases include:\\n\\\"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …\\n\\\"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\\\"\\nThe speech inspired the nation and solidified King’s status as a national civil rights leader. After the march, King and other leaders met with President John F. Kennedy to discuss equal rights and an end to segregation.\\nNobel Peace Prize\\nFollowing the March on Washington, Time magazine named King its “Man of the Year.” The next year, in 1964 at the age of 35, King became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize . He donated the winnings to the civil rights movement. King received hundreds of other awards and several honorary degrees.\\nLater work and assassination\\nIn addition to his work on racial issues, King became an activist for economic justice and a critic of the Vietnam War. He formed an organization called the Poor Peoples Campaign, which was unpopular among some black activists who wanted to take more radical approaches to social change, such as those advocated by the Black Power campaigns.\\nOn April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., King delivered a poignant speech, intoning,\\n“I've been to the mountaintop [and] I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.\\\"\\nThe next day, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, King was assassinated. White segregationist James Earl Ray was convicted of the crime, though the identity of King’s murderer was the subject of some controversy.\\nThe Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.\\nCredit: Lissandra Melo / Shutterstock.com\\nLegacy and memorial\\nKing had a profound impact on the United States. The March on Washington was influential in the passing of the landmark Civil Rights Act, which essentially made segregation illegal. The Voting Rights Act was passed as the result of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March.\\nIn 1968, Coretta Scott King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She also led the effort to make King’s birthday a national holiday, first celebrated in 1986.\\nOn Aug. 28, 2011 — the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington — a memorial to King was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists of a 30-foot statue of King carved into the “Stone of Hope” breaking through two boulders representing the “Mountain of Despair.”\\nMemorable quotes\\n\\\"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.\\\"\\n\\\"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.\\\"\\n\\\"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.\\\"\\n\\\"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.\\\"\\n\\\"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.\\\"\\n\\\"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.\\\"\\n\\\"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.\\\"\\n\\\"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.\\\"\",\n \"Martin Luther King - Biography - IMDb\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, ... His father was named Michael Luther King, but changed his first name to Martin when he became a minister.\\nMartin Luther King - Biography - IMDb\\nMartin Luther King\\nBiography\\nShowing all 65 items\\nJump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (33) | Personal Quotes (22)\\nOverview (5)\\n5' 6½\\\" (1.69 m)\\nMini Bio (1)\\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. His mother was a schoolteacher. For Martin the civil rights movement began one summer in 1935 when he was six years old. Two of his friends did not show up to play ball with him and Martin decided to go looking for them. When he went to one of the boys' house, their mother met him at the front door and told him in a rude tone that her son would not be coming out to play with him that day or any other day because they were white and he was black. Years later, Martin admitted that those cruel words altered the direction of his life. As a teenager, Martin went through school with great distinction. He skipped ninth and 12th grades, and excelled on the violin and as as a public speaker. One evening after taking top prize in a debate tournament, he and his teacher were riding home on the bus discussing the event when the driver ordered them to give up their seats for two white passengers who had just boarded. Martin was infuriated as he recalled, \\\"I intended to stay right in my seat and protest,\\\" but his teacher convinced him to obey the law and they stood for the remainder of the 90-mile trip. \\\"That night will never leave my memory as long as I live. It was the angriest I had ever been in my life. Never before, or afterward, can I remember myself being so angry,\\\" he later recalled. Martin entered Morehouse College, his father's alma mater, when he was 15 with the intention of becoming a doctor or lawyer. After graduating from Morehouse at the age of 19, he decided to enter Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. This private nondenominational college had only 100 students at the time, and Martin was one of six black students. This was the first time that he had lived in a community that was mostly white. He won the highest class ranking and a $1,200 fellowship for graduate school. In 1951 he entered Boston University School of Theology to to pursue his Ph.D. While at Crozer Martin had attended a lecture by Howard University President Mordecai Johnson , who spoke about Mohandas K. Gandhi , India's spiritual leader whose nonviolent protests helped to free his country from British rule, and that gave Martin the basis for positive change. It was here that he met and married his wife Coretta Scott King , who was a soprano studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1954 Martin accepted a call to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, to be its pastor. Despite Coretta's warning that it would not be safe for them in Alabama, the poorest and most racist state in the US, Martin insisted that they move there. Many local black ministers attended Martin's first sermon at the church, among them the Rev. Ralph Abernathy , who congratulated him on his speech. The two became fast friends and often discussed life in general and the challenges of desegregation in particular. Then an incident changed Martin's life forever.\\nOn the cold winter night of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks , a 42-year-old black seamstress who worked in a downtown Montgomery department store, boarded a bus for home and sat in the back with the other black passengers. A few stops later, she was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger who just boarded. She repeatedly refused, prompting the driver to call the police, who arrested her. In response to Mrs. Parks' courage, the town's black leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and elected Martin as its leader. The first goal of the MIA was to boycott the city's bus system until public transportation laws were changed. The strike was long, bitter and violent, but eventually the city's white merchants began to complain that their businesses were suffering because of the strike, and the city responded by filing charges against Martin. While in court to appeal the charges, he learned that the U.S. Supreme Court had affirmed the decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that the local laws requiring segregation on buses were unconstitutional. The first civil rights battle was won, but for Martin it was the first of many more difficult ones. On November 29, 1959, he offered his resignation to the members of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, as several months earlier he had been elected leader of a new organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He moved his family to Atlanta and began to establish a regional network of nonviolent organizations. In April 1961 he coordinated the SCLC and other civil-rights organizations to take two busloads of white and black passengers through the South on a \\\"freedom ride\\\" for publicity reasons. In Virgina and North and South Carolina there were no incidents, but in Anniston, Alabama, the ride became a rolling horror when one bus was burned and its passengers beaten by an angry racist white mob. In Birmingham, angry mobs--with some policemen joining them--greeted the bus with more violence, which was broken up when state police intervened and stopped the chaos. The violence shook Martin and he decided to abandon the freedom rides before someone was killed, but the riders insisted they complete the ride to Montgomery, where they where greeted with more violence. In January 1963 Martin arrived in Birmingham with Ralph Abernathy to organize a freedom march aimed to end segregation. Despite an injunction issued by city authorities against the gathering, the protesters marched and were attacked by the police. Three months later another march was planned with the intent to \\\"turn the other cheek\\\" in response to the violence by the city's police force. As the marchers reached downtown Birmgingham, the police attacked the crowd with high-pressure fire hoses and attack dogs. This time, however, the incident was witnessed across the entire country, as many network TV crews were there and broadcasting live footage of unarmed marchers being blasted to the ground by high-pressure hoses and others being bitten and mauled by snarling attack dogs, and it sparked a national outrage. The next day, more marchers repeated the walk and more policemen attacked with fire hoses and police dogs, leading to a total of 1,200 arrests. On the third day, Martin organized another march to the city jail. This time, when the marchers approached the police, none of them moved and some even let the marchers through to continue their march. The nonviolent strategy had worked--the strikes and boycotts were cutting deeply into the city merchants' revenues, and they called for negotiations and agreed with local black leaders to integrate lunch counters, fitting rooms, restrooms and drinking fountains within 90 days. Martin was then called for a rally in Washington, DC, near the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Nearly 200,000 people stood in the intense heat listening to the speeches by the members and supporters of the NACCP. By the time Martin was called as the day's final speaker, the crowd was hot and tired. As he approached the podium, with his papers containing his prepared speech, he suddenly put them aside and decided to speak from the heart. He spoke of freedoms for blacks achieved and not yet achieved. He then spoke the words that echo throughout the world to this day: \\\"I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.' I have that dream.\\\" By mid-October 1964 Martin had given 350 civil rights speeches and traveled 275,000 miles across the country and worked for 20 hours a day. While in an Atlanta hospital after collapsing from exhaustion, his wife brought in his room a telegram notifying him that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 1, 1968, Martin traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to meet with two of his advisers, James Bevel and Jesse Jackson , to discuss organizing a march to Washington in support of a strike by Memphis' city's sanitation workers. In the late afternoon of April 4, he stepped out onto the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where he was staying to speak with Andrew Young . As he saw Jackson and waved to him for a moment, a gunshot rang through the air and Martin Luther King Jr. was hit in the neck and fell dead from a sniper's bullet. He was dead, but the struggle that he started to continue to bring peace and end the racial conflict in the USA continues to this day.\\n- IMDb Mini Biography By: pataygs@voicenet.com\\nSpouse (1)\\n( 18 June 1953 - 4 April 1968) (his death) (4 children)\\nTrade Mark (3)\\nHopes for equality between every ethnicity\\nHis mustache\\nJanuary 20, 1986 was the first national celebration of King's birthday as a holiday.\\nWon Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1964.\\nWas stabbed in 1958 while promoting his book, \\\"Stride Toward Freedom\\\".\\nGraduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA, with a B.D. in 1951.\\nBecame pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1960.\\nEarned Ph.D. in systematic theology in 1955.\\nChildren: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter King (b. 1961), Bernice King (b. 1963).\\nGraduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, in 1948.\\nJanuary 20, 1986 was the third Monday in January, and consequently, the third Monday in January is an official holiday in the U.S. honoring Dr. King. To date, all 50 states observe the King holiday.\\nHis father was named Michael Luther King, but changed his first name to Martin when he became a minister. The younger Michael changed his name to Martin as well, initially against his father's wishes.\\nIs the only U.S. citizen to have a national holiday dedicated to him.\\nPictured on a 15¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Black Heritage USA series, issued 13 January 1979.\\nWas a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.\\nTime Magazine's \\\"Man of the Year\\\" (1963)\\nPictured on a commerative 25 cent postage label issued by the (now defunct) Independent Postal System of America in 1973.\\nWas a Trekkie (a fan of the original Star Trek (1966) TV series).\\nEncouraged Nichelle Nichols to remain on the original Star Trek (1966) series (according to William Shatner 's \\\"Star Trek Memories\\\").\\nSubject of the U2 song \\\"Pride (In the Name of Love)\\\" from their 1984 album \\\"The Unforgettable Fire\\\".\\nSanta Monica auditorium named in his honor with daughter Yolanda King officiating and performer/activist Anthony Begonia organizing the music. [January 2006]\\nHe stated that he would not live to be 40. He died aged 39.\\nIs portrayed by LeVar Burton in Ali (2001).\\nAmong his personal, non-violent reform heroes was Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948).\\nDuring the funeral, his casket was pulled by a mule-driven cart down Atlanta's main street.\\nWas a vegetarian.\\nPublicly spoke out against the Vietnam War in 1967.\\nOn King's 60th birthday in 1988, the U.S. government unveiled a statue memorial of his likeness, to commemorate the progress of civil rights.\\nGrandfather of Yolanda Renee King.\\nYounger brother of Christine King . and Alfred Daniel King.\\nSon of Martin Luther King Sr. .and Alberta Williams King.\\nWhen he was shot, King was on his way to a soul-food dinner at the home of Reverend Samuel (Billy) Kyles. After supper, King had promised to attend the evening rally of the striking black garbage collectors of Local 1733.\\nAt age thirty-five,He was the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace prize.This record was surpassed by Betty Williams in 1977 who was thirty-three.\",\n \"I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\\nI have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, ... the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963 . ... every state and every city, ...\\nAvalon Project - I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\\nI have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\\nDelivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963\\nFive score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.\\nBut one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.\\nIn a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\\nIt is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked \\\"insufficient funds.\\\" But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.\\nIt would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.\\nBut there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.\\nWe must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.\\nAnd as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, \\\"When will you be satisfied?\\\" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.\\nI am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.\\nGo back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.\\nI say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.\\nI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: \\\"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.\\\"\\nI have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.\\nI have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.\\nI have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\\nI have a dream today.\\nI have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.\\nI have a dream today.\\nI have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.\\nThis is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.\\nThis will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, \\\"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.\\\"\\nAnd if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!\\nLet freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!\\nLet freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!\\nBut not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!\\nLet freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!\\nLet freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.\\nWhen we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, \\\"Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!\\\"\",\n \"Martin Luther King Jr. - Black History - HISTORY.com\\nArticle Details: Martin Luther King Jr. Author. History.com Staff. Website Name. History.com. Year Published. 2009. Title. Martin Luther King Jr. URL. http://www ...\\nMartin Luther King Jr. - Black History - HISTORY.com\\nMartin Luther King Jr.\\nA+E Networks\\nIntroduction\\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Inspired by advocates of nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi, King sought equality for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986.\\nGoogle\\nMartin Luther King Jr.: Early Years and Family\\nThe second child of Martin Luther King Sr. (1899-1984), a pastor, and Alberta Williams King (1904-1974), a former schoolteacher, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia , on January 15, 1929. Along with his older sister, the future Christine King Farris (born 1927), and younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King (1930-1969), he grew up in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, then home to some of the most prominent and prosperous African Americans in the country.\\nDid You Know?\\nThe final section of Martin Luther King Jr.’s eloquent and iconic “I Have a Dream” speech is believed to have been largely improvised.\\nA gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law. Although he had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry, he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania , where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class.\\nKing then enrolled in a graduate program at Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate in systematic theology two years later. While in Boston he met Coretta Scott (1927-2006), a young singer from Alabama who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. They had four children: Yolanda Denise King (1955-2007), Martin Luther King III (born 1957), Dexter Scott King (born 1961) and Bernice Albertine King (born 1963).\\nMartin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott\\nThe King family had been living in Montgomery for less than a year when the highly segregated city became the epicenter of the burgeoning struggle for civil rights in America, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks (1913-2005), secretary of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a bus boycott that would continue for 381 days, placing a severe economic strain on the public transit system and downtown business owners. They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader and official spokesman.\\nBy the time the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional in November 1956, King, heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and the activist Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), had entered the national spotlight as an inspirational proponent of organized, nonviolent resistance. (He had also become a target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January.) Emboldened by the boycott’s success, in 1957 he and other civil rights activists–most of them fellow ministers–founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolence. (Its motto was “Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed.”) He would remain at the helm of this influential organization until his death.\\nKing and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference\\nIn his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled across the country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activists and political leaders. (During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity to meet family members and followers of Gandhi, the man he described in his autobiography as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.”) King also authored several books and articles during this time.\\nIn 1960 King and his family moved to Atlanta, his native city, where he joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This new position did not stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in many of the most significant civil rights battles of the 1960s. Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly severe test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities. Arrested for his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil rights manifesto known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of civil disobedience addressed to a group of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.\\nKing Marches for Freedom\\nLater that year, Martin Luther King Jr. worked with a number of civil rights and religious groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light on the injustices African Americans continued to face across the country. Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights movement and a factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\\nThe march culminated in King’s most famous address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a masterpiece of rhetoric. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial–a monument to the president who a century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of a future in which “this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'” The speech and march cemented King’s reputation at home and abroad; later that year he was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine and in 1964 became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.\\nIn the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international attention to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) had organized a voter registration campaign. Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Selma and take part in a march to Montgomery led by King and supported by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973), who sent in federal troops to keep the peace. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act , which guaranteed the right to vote–first awarded by the 15th Amendment–to all African Americans.\\nMartin Luther King Jr.’s Final Years and Assassination\\nThe events in Selma deepened a growing rift between Martin Luther King Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods and commitment to working within the established political framework. As more militant black leaders such as Stokely Carmichael (1941-1998) rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam War and poverty among Americans of all races. In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious program known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a massive march on the capital.\\nOn the evening of April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where he had traveled to support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of mourning. James Earl Ray (1928-1998), an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. (He later recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including members of the King family, before his death in 1998.)\\nAfter years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King , among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) signed a bill creating a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King. Observed on the third Monday of January, it was first celebrated in 1986.\\nTags\",\n \"10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr ...\\nFind out how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech became an impromptu ... King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin. ... King’s widow, ...\\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr. - History in the Headlines\\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\\nApril 4, 2013 By Christopher Klein\\nShare\\nFind out how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech became an impromptu addition to the March on Washington.\\nShare this:\\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\\nAuthor\\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\\nURL\\nGoogle\\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Explore 10 surprising facts about the civil rights leader and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner.\\n1. King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin.\\nThe civil rights leader was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929. In 1934, however, his father, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. As a result, King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his 5-year-old son.\\n2. King entered college at the age of 15.\\nKing was such a gifted student that he skipped grades nine and 12 before enrolling in 1944 at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather. Although he was the son, grandson and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, King did not intend to follow the family vocation until Morehouse president Benjamin E. Mays, a noted theologian, convinced him otherwise. King was ordained before graduating college with a degree in sociology.\\n3. King received his doctorate in systematic theology.\\nAfter earning a divinity degree from Pennsylvania’s Crozer Theological Seminary, King attended graduate school at Boston University, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1955. The title of his dissertation was “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.”\\n4. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was not his first at the Lincoln Memorial.\\nSix years before his iconic oration at the March on Washington, King was among the civil rights leaders who spoke in the shadow of the Great Emancipator during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom on May 17, 1957. Before a crowd estimated at between 15,000 and 30,000, King delivered his first national address on the topic of voting rights. His speech, in which he urged America to “give us the ballot,” drew strong reviews and positioned him at the forefront of the civil rights leadership.\\n5. King was jailed 29 times.\\nAccording to the King Center, the civil rights leader went to jail nearly 30 times. He was arrested for acts of civil disobedience and on trumped-up charges, such as when he was jailed in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956 for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.\\n6. King narrowly escaped an assassination attempt a decade before his death.\\nOn September 20, 1958, King was in Harlem signing copies of his new book, “Stride Toward Freedom,” in Blumstein’s department store when he was approached by Izola Ware Curry. The woman asked if he was Martin Luther King Jr. After he said yes, Curry said, “I’ve been looking for you for five years,” and she plunged a seven-inch letter opener into his chest. The tip of the blade came to rest alongside his aorta, and King underwent hours of delicate emergency surgery. Surgeons later told King that just one sneeze could have punctured the aorta and killed him. From his hospital bed where he convalesced for weeks, King issued a statement affirming his nonviolent principles and saying he felt no ill will toward his mentally ill attacker.\\n7. King’s last public speech foretold his death.\\nKing had come to Memphis in April 1968 to support the strike of the city’s black garbage workers, and in a speech on the night before his assassination, he told an audience at Mason Temple Church: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”\\n8. Members of King’s family did not believe James Earl Ray acted alone.\\nRay, a career criminal, pled guilty to King’s assassination but later recanted. King’s son Dexter met publicly with Ray in 1997 and argued for the case to be reopened. King’s widow, Coretta, believed the Mafia and local, state and federal government agencies were deeply involved in the murder. She praised the result of a 1999 civil trial in which a Memphis jury decided the assassination was the result of a conspiracy and that Ray was set up to take the blame. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation released in 2000 reported no evidence of a conspiracy.\\n9. King’s mother was also slain by a bullet.\\nOn June 30, 1974, as 69-year-old Alberta Williams King played the organ at a Sunday service inside Ebenezer Baptist Church, Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr. rose from the front pew, drew two pistols and began to fire shots. One of the bullets struck and killed King, who died steps from where her son had preached nonviolence. The deranged gunman said that Christians were his enemy and that although he had received divine instructions to kill King’s father, who was in the congregation, he killed King’s mother instead because she was closer. The shooting also left a church deacon dead. Chenault received a death penalty sentence that was later changed to life imprisonment, in part due to the King family’s opposition to capital punishment.\\n10. George Washington is the only other American to have had his birthday observed as a national holiday.\\nIn 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday to honor King. The holiday, first commemorated in 1986, is celebrated on the third Monday in January, close to the civil rights leader’s January 15 birthday.\\nTags\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124624,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"In the novel ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, what is the name of Mr Rochester’s home?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Thornfield Hall"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Jane_Eyre.txt\nJane Eyre\nJane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847, by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name \"Currer Bell.\" The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.\n\nPrimarily of the Bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the Byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalisation of the action—the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility, and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry—Jane Eyre revolutionised the art of fiction. Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism. \n\nPlot\n\nIntroduction\n\nThe novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character. The novel's setting is somewhere in the north of England, during the reign of George III (1760–1820), and goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her; and her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. During these sections the novel provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo (see the Themes section below). Literary critic Jerome Beaty opines that the close first person perspective leaves the reader \"too uncritically accepting of her worldview\", and often leads reading and conversation about the novel towards supporting Jane, regardless of how irregular her ideas or perspectives are.Beaty, Jerome. \"St. John's Way and the Wayward Reader\" in \n\nJane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters, and most editions are at least 400 pages long. The original publication was in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38; this was a common publishing format during the 19th century (see three-volume novel).\n\nBrontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray.\n\nJane's childhood\n\nThe novel begins with the titular character, Jane Eyre, aged 10, living with her maternal uncle's family, the Reeds, as a result of her uncle's dying wish. It is several years after her parents died of typhus. Mr. Reed, Jane's uncle, was the only one in the Reed family who was kind to Jane. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her, treats her as a burden, and discourages her children from associating with Jane. Mrs. Reed and her three children are abusive to Jane, physically, emotionally, and, as the reader is quick to realize, spiritually. The nursemaid Bessie proves to be Jane's only ally in the household, even though Bessie sometimes harshly scolds Jane. Excluded from the family activities, Jane is incredibly unhappy, with only a doll and books in which to find solace.\n\nOne day, after her cousin John knocks her down and she attempts to defend herself, Jane is locked in the red room where her uncle died; there, she faints from panic after she thinks she has seen his ghost. She is subsequently attended to by the kindly apothecary, Mr. Lloyd, to whom Jane reveals how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs. Reed that Jane should be sent to school, an idea Mrs. Reed happily supports. Mrs. Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr. Brocklehurst, director of Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls. Mrs. Reed cautions Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane has a \"tendency for deceit\", which he interprets as her being a \"liar\". Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs. Reed and declares that she'll never call her \"aunt\" again, that Mrs. Reed and her daughter, Georgiana, are the ones who are deceitful, and that she'll tell everyone at Lowood how cruelly Mrs. Reed treated her. \n\nLowood\n\nAt Lowood Institution, a school for poor and orphaned girls, Jane soon finds that life is harsh, but she attempts to fit in and befriends an older girl, Helen Burns, who is able to accept her punishment philosophically. During a school inspection by Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, thereby drawing attention to herself. He then stands her on a stool, brands her a liar, and shames her before the entire assembly. Jane is later comforted by her friend, Helen. Miss Temple, the caring superintendent, facilitates Jane's self-defence and writes to Mr. Lloyd, whose reply agrees with Jane's. Jane is then publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations.\n\nThe 80 pupils at Lowood are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes, and Jane's friend Helen dies of consumption in her arms. When Mr. Brocklehurst's maltreatment of the students is discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and install a sympathetic management committee to moderate Mr. Brocklehurst's harsh rule. Conditions at the school then improve dramatically.\n\nThe name Lowood symbolizes the \"low\" point in Jane's life where she was maltreated. Helen Burns is a representation of Charlotte's elder sister Maria, who died of tuberculosis after spending time at a school where the children were mistreated.\n\nThornfield Hall\n\nAfter six years as a student and two as a teacher at Lowood, Jane decides to leave, like her friend and confidante Miss Temple, who recently married. She advertises her services as a governess and receives one reply, from Alice Fairfax, housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. Jane takes the position, teaching Adèle Varens, a young French girl.\n\nOne night, while Jane is walking to a nearby town, a horseman passes her. The horse slips on ice and throws the rider. Despite the rider's surliness, Jane helps him to get back onto his horse. Later, back at Thornfield, she learns that this man is Edward Rochester, master of the house. Adèle is his ward, left in his care when her mother abandoned her.\n\nAt Jane's first meeting with him within Thornfield, Mr. Rochester teases her, accusing her of bewitching his horse to make him fall. He also talks strangely in other ways, but Jane is able to give as good as she gets. Mr. Rochester and Jane soon come to enjoy each other's company, and spend many evenings together.\n\nOdd things start to happen at the house, such as a strange laugh, a mysterious fire in Mr. Rochester's room (from which Jane saves Rochester by rousing him and throwing water on him and the fire), and an attack on a house guest of Rochester's, a Mr. Mason. Then Jane receives word that her aunt Mrs. Reed is calling for her, after suffering a stroke because her unruly son John has died in sad circumstances. Jane returns to Gateshead and remains there for a month, attending to her dying aunt. As she lies dying, Mrs. Reed confesses to Jane that she has wronged her, and gives Jane a letter from Jane's paternal uncle, Mr. John Eyre, in which he asks for her to live with him and be his heir. Mrs. Reed admits to telling Mr. Eyre that Jane had died of fever at Lowood. Soon afterward, Jane's aunt dies, and Jane helps her cousins after the funeral before returning to Thornfield. \n\nBack at Thornfield, Jane broods over Mr. Rochester's rumoured impending marriage to the beautiful and talented, but snobbish and heartless, Blanche Ingram. However, one midsummer evening, Rochester baits Jane by saying how much he will miss her after getting married, but how she will soon forget him. There then follows one of the most stirring speeches in the whole book, when the normally self-controlled Jane opens her heart to him. Rochester is then sure that Jane is sincerely in love with him, and he proposes marriage. Jane is at first sceptical of his sincerity, but eventually believes him and gladly agrees to marry him. She then writes to her Uncle John, telling him of her happy news. \n\nAs she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr. Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole, one of his servants. During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is still married to Mr. Mason's sister, Bertha. Mr. Rochester admits this is true but explains that his father tricked him into the marriage for her money. Once they were united, he discovered that she was rapidly descending into madness, and so he eventually locked her away in Thornfield, hiring Grace Poole as a nurse to look after her. When Grace gets drunk, his wife escapes and causes the strange happenings at Thornfield.\n\nIt turns out that Jane's uncle, Mr. John Eyre, is a friend of Mr. Mason's and was visited by him soon after Mr. Eyre received Jane's letter about her impending marriage. After the marriage ceremony is broken off, Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live with him as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night. \n\nOther employment\n\nJane travels as far from Thornfield as she can using the little money she had previously saved. She accidentally leaves her bundle of possessions on the coach and has to sleep on the moor, and unsuccessfully attempts to trade her handkerchief and gloves for food. Exhausted and hungry, she eventually makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers, but is turned away by the housekeeper. She collapses on the doorstep, preparing for her death. St. John Rivers, Diana and Mary's brother and a clergyman, saves her. After she regains her health, St. John finds Jane a teaching position at a nearby village school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St. John remains aloof.\n\nThe sisters leave for governess jobs, and St. John becomes somewhat closer to Jane. St. John learns Jane's true identity and astounds her by telling her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left her his entire fortune of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to over £1.3 million in 2011calculated using the UK Retail Price Index: ). When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John Eyre is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance but were left virtually nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding that she has living and friendly family members, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come back to Moor House to live.\n\nProposals\n\nThinking Jane will make a suitable missionary's wife, St. John asks her to marry him and to go with him to India, not out of love, but out of duty. Jane initially accepts going to India but rejects the marriage proposal, suggesting they travel as brother and sister. As soon as Jane's resolve against marriage to St. John begins to weaken, she mysteriously hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane then returns to Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Mr. Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. \"Am I hideous, Jane?\", he asks. “Very, sir: you always were, you know”, she replies. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes, and they are married. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.\n\nCharacters\n\n* Jane Eyre: The novel's protagonist, second wife of Edward Rochester and title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane is passionate and strongly principled, and values freedom and independence. She also has a strong conscience and is a determined Christian.\n* Mr. Reed: Jane's maternal uncle, who adopts Jane when her parents die. According to Mrs. Reed, he pitied Jane and often cared for her more than for his own children. Before his own death, he makes his wife promise to care for Jane.\n* Mrs. Reed: Jane's aunt by marriage, who adopts Jane on her husband's wishes, but abuses and neglects her. She eventually casts her off and sends her to Lowood School.\n* John Reed: Jane's cousin, who as a child bullies Jane constantly, sometimes in his mother's presence. He ruins himself as an adult by drinking and gambling, and is thought to have committed suicide.\n* Eliza Reed: Jane's cousin. Jealous of her more attractive sister and a slave to rigid routine, she self-righteously devotes herself to religion. She leaves for a nunnery near Lisle after her mother's death, determined to estrange herself from her sister.\n* Georgiana Reed: Jane's cousin. Although beautiful and indulged, she is insolent and spiteful. Her sister Eliza foils Georgiana's marriage to the wealthy Lord Edwin Vere, when the couple is about to elope. Georgiana eventually marries a \"wealthy worn-out man of fashion\".\n* Bessie Lee: The nursemaid at Gateshead. She often treats Jane kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs, but she has a quick temper. Later, she marries Robert Leaven.\n* Robert Leaven: The coachman at Gateshead, who brings Jane the news of John Reed's death, which was brought on Mrs. Reed's stroke, and Mrs. Reed's wish to see Jane before Mrs. Reed died.\n* Mr. Lloyd: A compassionate apothecary who recommends that Jane be sent to school. Later, he writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane's account of her childhood and thereby clears Jane of Mrs. Reed's charge of lying.\n* Mr. Brocklehurst: The clergyman, director, and treasurer of Lowood School, whose maltreatment of the students is eventually exposed. A religious traditionalist, he advocates for his charges the most harsh, plain, and disciplined possible lifestyle, but not, hypocritically, for himself and his own family. His second daughter Augusta exclaimed, \"Oh, dear papa, how quiet and plain all the girls at Lowood look... they looked at my dress and mama's, as if they had never seen a silk gown before.\"\n* Miss Maria Temple: The kind superintendent of Lowood School, who treats the students with respect and compassion. She helps clear Jane of Mr. Brocklehurst's false accusation of deceit and cares for Helen in her last days. Eventually, she marries Reverend Naysmith.\n* Miss Scatcherd: A sour and strict teacher at Lowood. She constantly punishes Helen Burns for her untidiness but fails to see Helen's substantial good points.\n* Helen Burns: Jane's best friend at Lowood School. She refuses to hate those who abuse her, trusts in God, and prays for peace one day in heaven. She teaches Jane to trust Christianity and dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Elizabeth Gaskell, in her biography of the Brontë sisters, wrote that Helen Burns was 'an exact transcript' of Maria Brontë, who died of consumption at age 11. \n* Edward Fairfax Rochester: The master of Thornfield Hall. A Byronic hero, he is tricked into making an unfortunate first marriage to Bertha Mason many years before he meets Jane, with whom he falls madly in love.\n* Bertha Mason-Rochester Antoinetta Mason: The violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester. She moved to Thornfield, was locked in the attic, and eventually committed suicide after setting fire to Thornfield Hall.\n* Adèle Varens: An excitable French child to whom Jane is governess at Thornfield. Adèle's mother, a dancer named Céline and Mr Rochester's mistress, claimed that Adèle was Mr Rochester's daughter, but he refuses to believe it because of Céline's unfaithfulness and Adèle's lack of resemblance to him. Adèle seems to believe that her mother is dead (she tells Jane in chapter 11, \"I lived long ago with mamma, but she is gone to the Holy Virgin\"), but Mr Rochester later tells Jane that Céline in fact abandoned Adèle and \"ran away to Italy with a musician or singer\" (ch. 15). Adèle and Jane develop a strong liking for one another, and although Mr Rochester places Adèle in a strict school after Jane flees Thornfield, Jane visits Adèle after her return and finds a better, less severe school for her. When Adèle is old enough to leave school, Jane describes her as \"a pleasing and obliging companion - docile, good-tempered and well-principled\", and considers her kindness to Adèle well repaid.\n* Mrs. Alice Fairfax: An elderly, kind widow and the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall.\n* Leah: The housemaid at Thornfield Hall.\n* John: An old, and normally the only, manservant at Thornfield.\n* Mary: Normally referred to as 'John's wife' and sometimes 'the cook'.\n* Blanche Ingram: A socialite whom Mr. Rochester temporarily courts to make Jane jealous. She is described as having great beauty and talent, but displays callous behaviour and avaricious intent.\n* Richard Mason: An Englishman from the West Indies, whose sister is Mr. Rochester's first wife. He took part in tricking Mr. Rochester into marrying Bertha. He still, however, cares for his sister's well-being.\n* Grace Poole: Bertha Mason's caretaker. Mr. Rochester pays her a very high salary to keep Bertha hidden and quiet, and she is often used as an explanation for odd happenings. She has a weakness for drink that occasionally allows Bertha to escape.\n* St. John Eyre Rivers: A clergyman who befriends Jane and turns out to be her cousin. He is thoroughly practical and suppresses all his human passions and emotions in favour of good works. He is determined to go to India as a missionary, despite being in love with Rosamond Oliver.\n* Diana and Mary Rivers: St. John's sisters and (as it turns out) Jane's cousins. They are poor, intelligent, and kind-hearted, and want St. John to stay in England.\n* Rosamond Oliver: A beautiful, kindly, wealthy, but not deep thinking, young woman, and the patron of the village school where Jane teaches. Rosamond falls in love with St. John, only to be rejected because she would not make a good missionary's wife.\n* Mr. Oliver: Rosamond Oliver's wealthy father, who owns a foundry and needle factory in the district. He is a kind and charitable man, and is fond of St. John.\n* Alice Wood: Jane's maid when Jane is mistress of the girls' village school in Morton.\n* John Eyre: Jane's paternal uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune and wished to adopt her when she was 15. Mrs. Reed prevents the adoption out of spite towards Jane.\n\nThemes\n\nMorality\n\nJane refuses to become Mr. Rochester's paramour because of her \"impassioned self-respect and moral conviction.\" She rejects St. John Rivers' religious fervour as much as the libertine aspects of Mr. Rochester's character. Instead, she works out a morality expressed in love, independence, and forgiveness.\n\nGod and religion\n\nThroughout the novel, Jane endeavours to attain an equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness. She despises the hypocrisy of Mr. Brocklehurst, and sees deficiencies in St. John Rivers' indulgent yet detached devotion to his Christian duty. As a child, Jane admires Helen Burns' life's philosophy of 'turning the other cheek', which in turn helps her in adult life to forgive Aunt Reed and the Reed cousins for their cruelty. Although she does not seem to subscribe to any of the standard forms of popular Christianity, she honours traditional morality – particularly seen when she refuses to marry Mr. Rochester until he is widowed.\n\nIn her preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre, Brontë makes her beliefs clear; \"conventionality is not morality\" and \"self-righteousness is not religion,\" declaring that narrow human doctrines, which serve only to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. Throughout the novel, Brontë presents contrasts between characters who believe in and practice what she considers a true Christianity, and those who pervert religion to further their own ends. Here are further examples:\n\nMr. Brocklehurst, who oversees Lowood Institution, is a hypocritical Christian. He professes aid and charity but does the opposite by using religion as a justification for punishment. For instance, he cites the Biblical passage \"man shall not live by bread alone\", to rebuke Miss Temple for having fed the girls an extra meal to compensate for their inedible breakfast of burnt porridge. He tells Miss Temple that she \"may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!\".\n\nHelen Burns is a complete contrast to Brocklehurst; she follows the Christian creed of 'turning the other cheek' and by loving\nthose who hate her. On her deathbed, Helen tells Jane \"I'm going home to God, who loves me.\"\nJane herself cannot quite profess Helen's absolute, selfless faith. Jane does not seem to follow a particular doctrine, but she is sincerely religious in a non-doctrinaire, general way; it is Jane, presumably, who places the stone with the word \"Resurgam\" (Latin for 'I will rise again') on Helen's grave, some fifteen years after her friend's death.\nJane is seen frequently praying and calling on God to assist her, especially with her struggles concerning Mr. Rochester; praying for his wellness and safety.\n\nAfter Hannah, the Rivers' housekeeper, tried to turn the begging Jane away at the door, Jane later tells her that \"if you are a Christian, you ought not consider poverty a crime.\"\n\nThe young evangelical clergyman St. John Rivers is a more conventionally religious figure. However, Brontë portrays his religious aspect ambiguously. Jane calls him \"a very good man,\" yet she finds him cold and forbidding. In his determination to do good deeds (in the form of missionary work in India), St. John courts martyrdom. Moreover, he is unable to see Jane as a whole person, but views her only as a helpmate in his impending missionary work.\n\nMr. Rochester is a less than perfect Christian. He is, indeed, a sinner: he attempts to enter into a bigamous marriage with Jane and, when that fails, tries to persuade her to become his mistress. He also confesses that he has had three previous mistresses. However, at the end of the book Mr.Rochester repents his sinfulness, thanks God for returning Jane, and asks Him for the strength to lead a purer life. It is implied that Rochester's maiming and blindness were God's judgment for his sins, and that the partial recovery of his sight was due to his repentance. \"God had tempered judgment with mercy.\"\n\nSocial class\n\nJane's ambiguous social position—a penniless yet decently educated orphan from a good family—leads her to criticise some discrimination based on class, though she makes class discriminations herself. Although she is educated, well-mannered, and relatively sophisticated, she is still a governess, a paid employee (middle class), and therefore relatively powerless. She respectfully defers to Rochester and his guests from the upper class, but she asks Leah, the housemaid (lower class), to get her a candle rather than get it herself, and has a servant girl when she is school mistress at the small village school in Morton. While Jane is always conscious of her social position (Rochester is master and she is employee) in everyday matters, at heart she sees herself as his equal, as evidenced in her passionate speech prior to Rochester's first proposal. \"... it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal,—as we are!\"\n\nGender relations\n\nA particularly important theme in the novel is the depiction of a patriarchal society. Jane attempts to assert her own identity within male-dominated society. Three of the main male characters, Mr. Brocklehurst, Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers, try to keep Jane in a subordinate position and prevent her from expressing her own thoughts and feelings. Jane escapes Mr. Brocklehurst and rejects St. John, and she only marries Mr. Rochester once she is sure that their marriage is one between equals. Through Jane, Brontë opposes Victorian stereotypes about women, articulating her own feminist philosophy:\n\nWomen are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. (Chapter XII)\n\nIt is also interesting to note that while most readings of Jane Eyre dwell on the fact that Bertha is insane, it is not because she is insane that Rochester hates her (chap. 27). The two specific claims that he makes against her, before she became insane, are that she was 'intemperate and unchaste' and that he therefore felt degraded. Some feminist readings of the novel have taken this to mean that the strictures imposed on women contemporary to the book were such that stepping outside of them could have been construed as insane.\n\nOther interpretations have seen this as evidence that Bertha was syphilitic, and that the romanticism of the book neglects the truth that Edward Rochester would have been as well. The book may use the syphilitic condition as a metaphor for the sexual predation and narcissistic projection of Edward Rochester; Edward says Bertha is \"unchaste\" in an attempt to relieve himself of the psychic pain of his having the disease himself and his own likely role in Bertha acquiring that condition as well as the fact he likely has the disease and risks infecting Jane. His psychological projection combined with his position of power distorts reality such that it gives Bertha no choice but to be \"insane\" (which may be combined with actual physical brain deterioration from the syphilis) if any challenge to his veracity would cause her greater problems, such as abandonment, starvation, etc.\n\nLove and passion\n\nA central theme in Jane Eyre is that of the clash between conscience and passion—which one is to be adhered to, and how to find a middle ground between the two. Jane, extremely passionate yet also dedicated to a close personal relationship with God, struggles between the two extremes for much of the novel. An instance of her leaning towards conscience over passion can be seen after it has been revealed that Mr. Rochester already has a wife, when Jane is begged to run away with Mr. Rochester and become his mistress. Up until that moment, Jane had been riding on a wave of emotion, forgetting all thoughts of reason and logic, replacing God with Mr. Rochester in her eyes, and allowing herself to be swept away in the moment. However, once the harsh reality of the situation sets in, Jane does everything in her power to refuse Mr. Rochester, despite almost every part of her rejecting the idea and urging her to just give in to Mr. Rochester's appeal. In the moment, Jane experiences an epiphany in regards to conscience, realising that “laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this.” Jane finally comes to understand that all passion, as she had been living her life up until then, and all conscience, as she had leaned towards during her time at Lowood, is neither good nor preferable. In this case, Jane had allowed herself to lean too far in the direction of passion, and she is in danger of giving up all logic and reason in favour of temptation. However, Jane finally asserts that in times of true moral trial, such as the one she is in with Mr. Rochester at the moment, to forgo one's principles, to violate the “law given by God,” would be too easy—and not something she is willing to do. Jane's struggles to find a middle ground between her passionate and conscience-driven sides frequently go back and forth throughout the novel, but in this case she has drawn the line as to where passion is taking too great a role in her life, and where she will not allow herself to forgo her moral and religious principles.\n\nFeminism\n\nThe role and standing of women in the Victorian era is considered by Brontë in Jane Eyre, specifically in regard to Jane's independence and ability to make decisions for herself. As a young woman, small and of relatively low social standing, Jane encounters men during her journey, of good, bad, and morally debatable character. However, many of them, no matter their ultimate intentions, attempt to establish some form of power and control over Jane. One example can be seen in Mr. Rochester, a man who ardently loves Jane, but who frequently commands and orders Jane about. As a self-assured and established man, and her employer, Mr. Rochester naturally assumes the position of the master in their relationship. He sometimes demands rather than questioning Jane, tries to manipulate and assess her feelings towards him, and enjoys propping up Jane through excessive gifts and luxuries that only he would have been able to provide. Jane, however, believes in the importance of women's independence, and strives to maintain a position in life devoid of any debts to others. Her initial lack of money and social status unnerves her, as she realises that without the means to be an independent woman, she is bound to either struggle through life trying to make a living or marry and become dependent on a man. Even after Jane agrees to marry Mr. Rochester, and is swept up in the passion of the moment, the feminist elements of her personality still show through. She is uncomfortable with the showering of lavish gifts, as she resents that they will make her further reliant on and in debt to Mr. Rochester, and thus tries to resist them. Furthermore, Jane asserts that until she is married to Mr. Rochester, she will continue to be Adèle's governess and earn her keep. This plan, which was entirely radical and unheard of for the time, further illustrates Jane's drive to remain a somewhat independent woman. It was for this reason she suddenly remembered and wrote to her uncle who until now thought her dead. \"... if I had but a prospect of one day bringing Mr. Rochester an accession of fortune, I could better endure to be kept by him now.\"\nThis feminist undercurrent also presents itself in Jane's interaction with her long-lost cousin, St. John Rivers. St. John repressed Jane's feeling and controlled her excessively. She often felt that he \"took away [her] liberty of mind\". During her stay with her cousin, St. John proposes to Jane, by claiming her \"as a soldier would a new weapon\". Jane realises that she cannot marry a man who constantly forces her into submission and treats her like an object, and she refuses to marry him. Once again, her need for independence shines through.\n\nThe only time Jane truly feels ready to marry a man is when she is equal to him. In the end of Jane Eyre, Jane inherits a fortune from her uncle. This allows her to be economically independent from Mr. Rochester. Also, Mr. Rochester becomes lame and blind after the fire that ripped through his home. He now depends on Jane, rather than Jane depending on him. This change in the power dynamic of their relationship unites the two of them once again.\n\nWhile the significant men present in Jane's life throughout the novel all try to, in some form or another, establish themselves as dominant over Jane, she in most cases remains resistant at least to a certain degree, refusing to submit fully or lose all of her independence. The only time Jane feels comfortable attaching herself to a man is when she knows that she is his financial, intellectual, and emotional equal. This final adherence to her strong convictions on the independence of women points out Brontë's similar views on the patriarchal Victorian society of the time.\n\nAtonement and forgiveness\n\nMuch of the religious concern in Jane Eyre has to do with atonement and forgiveness. Mr. Rochester is tormented by his awareness of his past sins and misdeeds. He frequently confesses that he has led a life of vice, and many of his actions in the course of the novel are less than commendable. Readers may accuse him of behaving sadistically in deceiving Jane about the nature of his relationship (or rather, non-relationship) with Blanche Ingram to provoke Jane's jealousy. His confinement of Bertha may bespeak mixed motives. He is certainly aware that in the eyes of both religious and civil authorities, his marriage to Jane before Bertha's death would be bigamous. Yet, at the same time, Mr. Rochester makes genuine efforts to atone for his behaviour. For example, although he does not believe that he is Adèle's natural father, he adopts her as his ward and sees that she is well cared for. This adoption may well be an act of atonement for the sins he has committed. He expresses his self-disgust at having tried to console himself by having three different mistresses during his travels in Europe and begs Jane to forgive him for these past transgressions. However, Mr. Rochester can only atone completely – and be forgiven completely – after Jane has refused to be his mistress and left him. The destruction of Thornfield by fire finally removes the stain of his past sins; the loss of his left hand and of his eyesight is the price he must pay to atone completely for his sins. Only after this purgation can he be redeemed by Jane's love.\n\nSearch for home and family\n\nWithout any living family that she is aware of (until well into the story), throughout the course of the novel Jane searches for a place that she can call home. Significantly, houses play a prominent part in the story. (In keeping with a long English tradition, all the houses in the book have names). The novel's opening finds Jane living at Gateshead Hall, but this is hardly a home. Mrs. Reed and her children refuse to acknowledge her as a relation, treating her instead as an unwanted intruder and an inferior.\n\nShunted off to Lowood Institution, a boarding school for orphans and destitute children, Jane finds a home of sorts, although her place here is ambiguous and temporary. The school's manager, Mr. Brocklehurst, treats it more as a business and a place of correction than as school in loco parentis (in place of the parent). His emphasis on discipline and on spartan conditions at the expense of the girls' health make it the antithesis of the ideal home.\n\nJane subsequently believes she has found a home at Thornfield Hall. Anticipating the worst when she arrives, she is relieved when she is made to feel welcome by Mrs. Fairfax. She feels genuine affection for Adèle (who in a way is also an orphan) and is happy to serve as her governess. As her love for Mr. Rochester grows, she believes that she has found her ideal husband in spite of his eccentric manner and that they will make a home together at Thornfield. The revelation – as they are on the verge of marriage – that he is already legally married – brings her dream of home crashing down. Fleeing Thornfield, she literally becomes homeless and is reduced to begging for food and shelter. The opportunity of having a home presents itself when she enters Moor House, where the Rivers sisters and their brother, the Reverend St. John Rivers, are mourning the death of their father. She soon speaks of Diana and Mary Rivers as her own sisters, and is overjoyed when she learns that they are indeed her cousins. She tells St. John Rivers that learning that she has living relations is far more important than inheriting twenty thousand pounds. (She mourns the uncle she never knew. Earlier she was disheartened on learning that Mrs. Reed told her uncle that Jane had died and sent him away.) However, St. John Rivers' offer of marriage cannot sever her emotional attachment to Rochester. In an almost visionary episode, she hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her to return to him. The last chapter begins with the famous simple declarative sentence, \"Reader, I married him,\" (which inspired a 2016 story collection Reader, I Married Him) and after a long series of travails Jane's search for home and family ends in a union with her ideal mate.\n\nContext\n\nThe early sequences, in which Jane is sent to Lowood, a harsh boarding school, are derived from the author's own experiences. Helen Burns's death from tuberculosis (referred to as consumption) recalls the deaths of Charlotte Brontë's sisters Elizabeth and Maria, who died of the disease in childhood as a result of the conditions at their school, the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge, near Tunstall, Lancashire. Mr. Brocklehurst is based on Rev. William Carus Wilson (1791–1859), the Evangelical minister who ran the school. Additionally, John Reed's decline into alcoholism and dissolution recalls the life of Charlotte's brother Branwell, who became an opium and alcohol addict in the years preceding his death. Finally, like Jane, Charlotte became a governess. These facts were revealed to the public in The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) by Charlotte's friend and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. \n\nThe Gothic manor of Thornfield Hall was probably inspired by North Lees Hall, near Hathersage in the Peak District. This was visited by Charlotte Brontë and her friend Ellen Nussey in the summer of 1845 and is described by the latter in a letter dated 22 July 1845. It was the residence of the Eyre family, and its first owner, Agnes Ashurst, was reputedly confined as a lunatic in a padded second floor room.\n\nIt has been suggested that the Wycoller Hall in Lancashire, close to Haworth, provided the setting for Ferndean Manor to which Mr. Rochester retreats after the fire at Thornfield: there are similarities between the owner of Ferndean, Mr. Rochester's father, and Henry Cunliffe who inherited Wycoller in the 1770s and lived there until his death in 1818; one of Cunliffe's relatives was named Elizabeth Eyre (née Cunliffe).\n\nThe sequence in which Mr. Rochester's wife sets fire to the bed curtains was prepared in an August 1830 homemade publication of Brontë's The Young Men's Magazine, Number 2.\n\nLiterary motifs and allusions\n\nJane Eyre uses many motifs from Gothic fiction, such as the Gothic manor (Thornfield Hall), the Byronic hero (Mr. Rochester) and The Madwoman in the Attic (Bertha), whom Jane perceives as resembling \"the foul German spectre—the Vampyre\" (Chapter XXV) and who attacks her own brother in a distinctly vampiric way: \"She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart\" (Chapter XX). The mystery of Thornfield Hall with its dark secrets creates a typically Gothic atmosphere of suspense. When resolved, we then get the theme of madness, also common in Gothic fiction, as is the motif of two characters, John Reed and Bertha Mason, who commit suicide. Apparently supernatural happenings are frequently mentioned, such as Jane's prophetic dreams, her sense of the ghost of her uncle, the lightning striking the chestnut tree on the night she agrees to marry Mr. Rochester, and Jane and Mr. Rochester being able to hear each other's call over miles of separation when St. John forces Jane into a decision to marry him.\n\nJane Eyre also combines Gothicism with romanticism to create a distinctive Victorian novel. Jane and Rochester are attracted to each other, but there are impediments to their love. The conflicting personalities of the two lead characters and the norms of society are an obstacle to their love, as often occurs in romance novels, but so also is Rochester's secret marriage to Bertha, the main Gothic element of the story.\n\nLiterary allusions from the Bible, fairy tales, The Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost, and the novels and poetry of Sir Walter Scott are also much in evidence. John Reed is compared to Caligula. Jane is compared to Guy Fawkes. Both Biblical figures like Samson and figures from Greek myths such as Apollo are referred to at various times.\n\nAdaptations and influence\n\nThe novel has been adapted into a number of popular forms, including film, television and theatre. However, perhaps more importantly, the novel has been the centre of a number of rewritings and reinterpretations. Most notably reinterpretations and rewritings by notable authors have become important within British and American literature, including novels such as Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.\n\nReception\n\nAlthough Jane Eyre is now commonly accepted in the canon of English literature and is widely studied in secondary schools, its immediate reception was in stark contrast to its contemporary reception. \nIn 1848, Elizabeth Rigby (later Elizabeth Eastlake), reviewing Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review, found it \"pre-eminently an anti-Christian composition,\" declaring: \"We do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre.\"\n\nIn 2003, the novel was ranked number 10 in the BBC's survey The Big Read.","SparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Character List\nA list of all the characters in Jane Eyre. ... Jane Eyre Charlotte Bront ... The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, ...\nSparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Character List\nCharacter List\nPlot Overview\nAnalysis of Major Characters\nJane Eyre - The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. Although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, Jane repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality. She also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment. Her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the Victorian prejudices against women and the poor.\nRead an in-depth analysis of Jane Eyre.\nEdward Rochester - Jane’s employer and the master of Thornfield, Rochester is a wealthy, passionate man with a dark secret that provides much of the novel’s suspense. Rochester is unconventional, ready to set aside polite manners, propriety, and consideration of social class in order to interact with Jane frankly and directly. He is rash and impetuous and has spent much of his adult life roaming about Europe in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his youthful indiscretions. His problems are partly the result of his own recklessness, but he is a sympathetic figure because he has suffered for so long as a result of his early marriage to Bertha.\nRead an in-depth analysis of Edward Rochester.\nSt. John Rivers - Along with his sisters, Mary and Diana, St. John (pronounced “Sinjin”) serves as Jane’s benefactor after she runs away from Thornfield, giving her food and shelter. The minister at Morton, St. John is cold, reserved, and often controlling in his interactions with others. Because he is entirely alienated from his feelings and devoted solely to an austere ambition, St. John serves as a foil to Edward Rochester.\nRead an in-depth analysis of St. John Rivers.\nMrs. Reed - Mrs. Reed is Jane’s cruel aunt, who raises her at Gateshead Hall until Jane is sent away to school at age ten. Later in her life, Jane attempts reconciliation with her aunt, but the old woman continues to resent her because her husband had always loved Jane more than his own children.\nBessie Lee - The maid at Gateshead, Bessie is the only figure in Jane’s childhood who regularly treats her kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs. Bessie later marries Robert Leaven, the Reeds’ coachman.\nMr. Lloyd - Mr. Lloyd is the Reeds’ apothecary, who suggests that Jane be sent away to school. Always kind to Jane, Mr. Lloyd writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane’s story about her childhood and clearing Jane of Mrs. Reed’s charge that she is a liar.\nGeorgiana Reed - Georgiana Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters. The beautiful Georgiana treats Jane cruelly when they are children, but later in their lives she befriends her cousin and confides in her. Georgiana attempts to elope with a man named Lord Edwin Vere, but her sister, Eliza, alerts Mrs. Reed of the arrangement and sabotages the plan. After Mrs. Reed dies, Georgiana marries a wealthy man.\nEliza Reed - Eliza Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters (along with her sister, Georgiana). Not as beautiful as her sister, Eliza devotes herself somewhat self-righteously to the church and eventually goes to a convent in France where she becomes the Mother Superior.\nJohn Reed - John Reed is Jane’s cousin, Mrs. Reed’s son, and brother to Eliza and Georgiana. John treats Jane with appalling cruelty during their childhood and later falls into a life of drinking and gambling. John commits suicide midway through the novel when his mother ceases to pay his debts for him.\nHelen Burns - Helen Burns is Jane’s close friend at the Lowood School. She endures her miserable life there with a passive dignity that Jane cannot understand. Helen dies of consumption in Jane’s arms.\nRead an in-depth analysis of Helen Burns.\nMr. Brocklehurst - The cruel, hypocritical master of the Lowood School, Mr. Brocklehurst preaches a doctrine of privation, while stealing from the school to support his luxurious lifestyle. After a typhus epidemic sweeps Lowood, Brocklehurst’s shifty and dishonest practices are brought to light and he is publicly discredited.\nMaria Temple - Maria Temple is a kind teacher at Lowood, who treats Jane and Helen with respect and compassion. Along with Bessie Lee, she serves as one of Jane’s first positive female role models. Miss Temple helps clear Jane of Mrs. Reed’s accusations against her.\nMiss Scatcherd - Jane’s sour and vicious teacher at Lowood, Miss Scatcherd behaves with particular cruelty toward Helen.\nAlice Fairfax - Alice Fairfax is the housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. She is the first to tell Jane that the mysterious laughter often heard echoing through the halls is, in fact, the laughter of Grace Poole—a lie that Rochester himself often repeats.\nBertha Mason - Rochester’s clandestine wife, Bertha Mason is a formerly beautiful and wealthy Creole woman who has become insane, violent, and bestial. She lives locked in a secret room on the third story of Thornfield and is guarded by Grace Poole, whose occasional bouts of inebriation sometimes enable Bertha to escape. Bertha eventually burns down Thornfield, plunging to her death in the flames.\nGrace Poole - Grace Poole is Bertha Mason’s keeper at Thornfield, whose drunken carelessness frequently allows Bertha to escape. When Jane first arrives at Thornfield, Mrs. Fairfax attributes to Grace all evidence of Bertha’s misdeeds.\nAdèle Varens - Jane’s pupil at Thornfield, Adèle Varens is a lively though somewhat spoiled child from France. Rochester brought her to Thornfield after her mother, Celine, abandoned her. Although Celine was once Rochester’s mistress, he does not believe himself to be Adèle’s father.\nCeline Varens - Celine Varens is a French opera dancer with whom Rochester once had an affair. Although Rochester does not believe Celine’s claims that he fathered her daughter Adèle, he nonetheless brought the girl to England when Celine abandoned her. Rochester had broken off his relationship with Celine after learning that Celine was unfaithful to him and interested only in his money.\nSophie - Sophie is Adèle’s French nurse at Thornfield.\nRichard Mason - Richard Mason is Bertha’s brother. During a visit to Thornfield, he is injured by his mad sister. After learning of Rochester’s intent to marry Jane, Mason arrives with the solicitor Briggs in order to thwart the wedding and reveal the truth of Rochester’s prior marriage.\nMr. Briggs - John Eyre’s attorney, Mr. Briggs helps Richard Mason prevent Jane’s wedding to Rochester when he learns of the existence of Bertha Mason, Rochester’s wife. After John Eyre’s death, Briggs searches for Jane in order to give her her inheritance.\nBlanche Ingram - Blanche Ingram is a beautiful socialite who despises Jane and hopes to marry Rochester for his money.\nDiana Rivers - Diana Rivers is Jane’s cousin, and the sister of St. John and Mary. Diana is a kind and intelligent person, and she urges Jane not to go to India with St. John. She serves as a model for Jane of an intellectually gifted and independent woman.\nMary Rivers - Mary Rivers is Jane’s cousin, the sister of St. John and Diana. Mary is a kind and intelligent young woman who is forced to work as a governess after her father loses his fortune. Like her sister, she serves as a model for Jane of an independent woman who is also able to maintain close relationships with others and a sense of meaning in her life.\nRosamond Oliver - Rosamond is the beautiful daughter of Mr. Oliver, Morton’s wealthiest inhabitant. Rosamond gives money to the school in Morton where Jane works. Although she is in love with St. John, she becomes engaged to the wealthy Mr. Granby.\nJohn Eyre - John Eyre is Jane’s uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune of 20,000 pounds.\nUncle Reed - Uncle Reed is Mrs. Reed’s late husband. In her childhood, Jane believes that she feels the presence of his ghost. Because he was always fond of Jane and her mother (his sister), Uncle Reed made his wife promise that she would raise Jane as her own child. It is a promise that Mrs. Reed does not keep.","\"Jane Eyre\" by Charlotte Brontë - CreateSpace\nJane Eyre (originally ... is a novel by English writer Charlotte ... ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of ...\nJane Eyre\nAdd to Cart\nAbout the author:\nCharlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 - 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell.\nJane Eyre\nIllustrated by Monro S. Orr\nCover design or artwork by Emily Lam\nJane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name \"Currer Bell.\" The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.\nPrimarily of the bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its eponymous character, including her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalisation of the action — the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry — the novel revolutionised the art of fiction. Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism.\n[Reception]\nAccording to a review of Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review, it was found to be \"pre-eminently an anti-Christian composition\". Although Brontë clearly intended for the book to be a protest against Victorian lifestyle, which caused a great unrest with the Quarterly Review, they found Jane Eyre to be more radical than its original intent: \"We do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre\". Although Jane Eyre is now commonly accepted into the canon of high-school English literature, its immediate reception was in stark contrast to its modern-day reception.\nPublication Date:","Mr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre - Shmoop\nEverything you ever wanted to know about Mr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre, ... Home / Literature / Jane Eyre / ... a novel with a moralistic side: although Jane ...\nMr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre\n(Click the character infographic to download.)\nMr. Rochester is stern-featured, heavy-browed, craggy-faced, rude, abrupt, horny, twice Jane’s age, always on the edge of violence, likes to order people around, keeps his wife locked in the attic, and teases Jane on at least one occasion until she cries.\nHere’s the crazy part: that’s why he’s so awesome.\nHe may be fantastically ugly. He may be kind of a jerk. But he’s real! Well, okay, he’s not real. He’s a character in Jane Eyre. But you know what we’re talking about; he’s a genuine-seeming character, not some stuck-up, pompous, handsome young man who smoothly says all the proper things and doesn’t have any personality of his own. This novel isn’t about proper behavior; it’s about passion.\nTale as Old as Time\nRochester is sort of like the Beast half of a \"Beauty and the Beast\" story. (Forget for a minute that Jane’s no beauty.) He’s even got a sort of shaggy mane of hair that makes him look beast-ish, and at the end of the novel, when he’s locked himself away at Ferndean to wallow in his own self-pity, he’s described as \"some wronged and fettered wild beast or bird, dangerous to approach in his sullen woe\" (3.11.9).\nOf course, if Rochester is the Beast, then Jane will have to do something to tame him. Instead of subduing him once and for all, she develops little ways of manipulating him—making him irritated when he’s horny so that he curses her instead of hitting on her, for example, when they’re engaged for the first time:\nIn other people’s presence I was, as formerly, deferential and quiet; any other line of conduct being uncalled for: it was only in the evening conferences I thus thwarted and afflicted him. He continued to send for me punctually the moment the clock struck seven; though when I appeared before him now, he had no such honeyed terms as \"love\" and \"darling\" on his lips: the best words at my service were \"provoking puppet,\" \"malicious elf,\" \"sprite,\" \"changeling,\" &c. For caresses, too, I now got grimaces; for a pressure of the hand, a pinch on the arm; for a kiss on the cheek, a severe tweak of the ear. It was all right: at present I decidedly preferred these fierce favours to anything more tender. […] Meantime, Mr. Rochester affirmed I was wearing him to skin and bone, and threatened awful vengeance for my present conduct at some period fast coming. I laughed in my sleeve at his menaces. \"I can keep you in reasonable check now,\" I reflected; \"and I don’t doubt to be able to do it hereafter: if one expedient loses its virtue, another must be devised.\"\nYet after all my task was not an easy one; often I would rather have pleased than teased him. (2.9.171-172)\nThere’s more danger than anything else in these strange evening dates. At points the reader is just a little bit nervous that Rochester’s a bit too wild or a bit too incapable of restraining his desires. We’re admittedly a little afraid for what might happen to Jane at some of those moments when he wildly clasps her to him.\nPerhaps that’s one reason Rochester gets compared in the novel to Bluebeard, the mythical nobleman who gets into a marry-and-murder cycle with one wife after another. There’s also a hint of the Arabian Nights here—in those tales, there's a woman named Scheherazade who has to keep coming up with stories to tell the king so he doesn’t behead her in the morning, like he did to his previous 3,000 wives.\nIt’s pretty similar to the way Jane has to keep coming up with ways to tease Rochester and draw out his interest from day to day so that he doesn’t… what? Lose interest in her? Lose control and ravish or even rape her? Both of these seem possible at different points in the novel, though Rochester will later claim that he could never have harmed Jane.\nWe’re not saying this is a healthy relationship... but Jane and Rochester seem to like it. They’re are always playing with the power dynamic between them: Jane likes to call Rochester her \"master\" and to \"serve\" him, but it’s also clear that she’s stronger—emotionally and ethically—than he is, and that he (this Beast + Bluebeard + Persian King dude) desperately needs her.\nMorals? Ethics? I Have Some of those Around Here Somewhere. Check Under the Sofa Cushions.\nRochester likes to make excuses for himself: he’s not a bad person by nature, he was just in a really bad situation with this whole Bertha thing, what could he do but lock her in the attic and sleep his way across Europe, huh? And what’s he supposed to do now that he can’t get a divorce—just take care of his wife for the rest of her life, considering that he’s got all her money anyway and that he shipped her across the Atlantic away from any friends or family who might have helped her? As if! Bigamy is clearly the only reasonable option, right?\nJane’s different from all the previous women in Rochester’s life because she won’t let him get away with that kind of bogus logic. Rochester’s long, sophisticated (read: BS) explanations of why his particular situation requires a new and different sort of morality don’t convince Jane at all:\n[Mr. Rochester:] \"[S]ince happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may.\"\n[Jane:] \"Then you will degenerate still more, sir.\"\n\"Possibly: yet why should I, if I can get sweet, fresh pleasure? And I may get it as sweet and fresh as the wild honey the bee gathers on the moor.\"\n\"It will sting—it will taste bitter, sir.\"\n\"How do you know?—you never tried it. […] I scarcely think the notion that flittered across my brain was an error. I believe it was an inspiration rather than a temptation: it was very genial, very soothing—I know that. Here it comes again! It is no devil, I assure you; or if it be, it has put on the robes of an angel of light. I think I must admit so fair a guest when it asks entrance to my heart.\" (1.14.65-71)\nRochester makes two assumptions about ethics here that are different from Jane’s: 1) that something must be right and good just because it’s pleasant, and 2) that moral principles are not absolute and unchanging, but relative to one’s situation.\nJane doesn’t know what he’s thinking at this point, but we do: that it couldn’t be wrong for him to get romantically involved with her, because he doesn’t really have any existing romance in his life and dating Jane would be great. Jane may not be convinced, but perhaps the reader is, just a little bit.\nWe’re always willing to overlook some of Rochester’s more glaring flaws in order to indulge the passion he and Jane share. That’s one of the strange things about Jane Eyre being a novel with a moralistic side: although Jane always draws a line in the sand and upholds her principles, even the ethically strict Victorian reader might start to see why Rochester’s claims for moral relativity make some sense.\nAfter all, he did really get shafted by his father and brother when he was young and they tricked him into marrying Bertha.\nBlinded By Love (and a House Fire)\nIt’s not surprising that Rochester is injured in the fire that destroys Thornfield Hall, but perhaps it is a little strange that one of his injuries is blindness. With one eye gouged out and the other inflamed, Rochester is uglier than ever, and now he can’t see.\nWe’d like to be able to say that he can see—he \"sees the error of his ways\"—and that's sort of true. At least, Rochester claims that he gets it:\nI did wrong: I would have sullied my innocent flower—breathed guilt on its purity: the Omnipotent snatched it from me. [...] Divine justice pursued its course; disasters came thick on me: I was forced to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. His chastisements are mighty; and one smote me which has humbled me for ever. You know I was proud of my strength: but what is it now, when I must give it over to foreign guidance, as a child does its weakness? Of late, Jane—only—only of late—I began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker. I began sometimes to pray: very brief prayers they were, but very sincere. (3.11.248)\nWhat Rochester seems to understand is that his attempt at bigamy would have negatively impacted Jane (\"sullied my innocent flower\"). He doesn't think that it negatively impacts him in a moral sense, but at least it’s a start.\nIn literature, there’s more to blindness than meets the eye. (Sorry for that one; we couldn’t resist.) You may know the legend of Odin, the king of the Norse gods, who traded one of his eyes in exchange for wisdom. Or maybe you know about Tiresias , a Greek prophet who supposedly became blind but gained \"inner sight.\" What we’re trying to say is that there’s a long mythological and literary tradition of exchanging physical sight for metaphorical sight, and Rochester’s blindness alludes to that tradition. It’s not a perfect parallel, though; Rochester seems more depressed than enlightened.\nSo what does it mean that Rochester gets his sense of sight back two years after he marries Jane? Perhaps whatever wisdom he gained while dealing with their bad breakup disappears, too, and he goes back to feeling entitled to pleasure and happiness. Perhaps it just means that we need to have miracles at the end of a romance in order to really feel like we’re getting that classic happy ending."],"string":"[\n \"Jane_Eyre.txt\\nJane Eyre\\nJane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847, by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name \\\"Currer Bell.\\\" The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.\\n\\nPrimarily of the Bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the Byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalisation of the action—the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility, and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry—Jane Eyre revolutionised the art of fiction. Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism. \\n\\nPlot\\n\\nIntroduction\\n\\nThe novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character. The novel's setting is somewhere in the north of England, during the reign of George III (1760–1820), and goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her; and her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. During these sections the novel provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo (see the Themes section below). Literary critic Jerome Beaty opines that the close first person perspective leaves the reader \\\"too uncritically accepting of her worldview\\\", and often leads reading and conversation about the novel towards supporting Jane, regardless of how irregular her ideas or perspectives are.Beaty, Jerome. \\\"St. John's Way and the Wayward Reader\\\" in \\n\\nJane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters, and most editions are at least 400 pages long. The original publication was in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38; this was a common publishing format during the 19th century (see three-volume novel).\\n\\nBrontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray.\\n\\nJane's childhood\\n\\nThe novel begins with the titular character, Jane Eyre, aged 10, living with her maternal uncle's family, the Reeds, as a result of her uncle's dying wish. It is several years after her parents died of typhus. Mr. Reed, Jane's uncle, was the only one in the Reed family who was kind to Jane. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her, treats her as a burden, and discourages her children from associating with Jane. Mrs. Reed and her three children are abusive to Jane, physically, emotionally, and, as the reader is quick to realize, spiritually. The nursemaid Bessie proves to be Jane's only ally in the household, even though Bessie sometimes harshly scolds Jane. Excluded from the family activities, Jane is incredibly unhappy, with only a doll and books in which to find solace.\\n\\nOne day, after her cousin John knocks her down and she attempts to defend herself, Jane is locked in the red room where her uncle died; there, she faints from panic after she thinks she has seen his ghost. She is subsequently attended to by the kindly apothecary, Mr. Lloyd, to whom Jane reveals how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs. Reed that Jane should be sent to school, an idea Mrs. Reed happily supports. Mrs. Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr. Brocklehurst, director of Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls. Mrs. Reed cautions Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane has a \\\"tendency for deceit\\\", which he interprets as her being a \\\"liar\\\". Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs. Reed and declares that she'll never call her \\\"aunt\\\" again, that Mrs. Reed and her daughter, Georgiana, are the ones who are deceitful, and that she'll tell everyone at Lowood how cruelly Mrs. Reed treated her. \\n\\nLowood\\n\\nAt Lowood Institution, a school for poor and orphaned girls, Jane soon finds that life is harsh, but she attempts to fit in and befriends an older girl, Helen Burns, who is able to accept her punishment philosophically. During a school inspection by Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, thereby drawing attention to herself. He then stands her on a stool, brands her a liar, and shames her before the entire assembly. Jane is later comforted by her friend, Helen. Miss Temple, the caring superintendent, facilitates Jane's self-defence and writes to Mr. Lloyd, whose reply agrees with Jane's. Jane is then publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations.\\n\\nThe 80 pupils at Lowood are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes, and Jane's friend Helen dies of consumption in her arms. When Mr. Brocklehurst's maltreatment of the students is discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and install a sympathetic management committee to moderate Mr. Brocklehurst's harsh rule. Conditions at the school then improve dramatically.\\n\\nThe name Lowood symbolizes the \\\"low\\\" point in Jane's life where she was maltreated. Helen Burns is a representation of Charlotte's elder sister Maria, who died of tuberculosis after spending time at a school where the children were mistreated.\\n\\nThornfield Hall\\n\\nAfter six years as a student and two as a teacher at Lowood, Jane decides to leave, like her friend and confidante Miss Temple, who recently married. She advertises her services as a governess and receives one reply, from Alice Fairfax, housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. Jane takes the position, teaching Adèle Varens, a young French girl.\\n\\nOne night, while Jane is walking to a nearby town, a horseman passes her. The horse slips on ice and throws the rider. Despite the rider's surliness, Jane helps him to get back onto his horse. Later, back at Thornfield, she learns that this man is Edward Rochester, master of the house. Adèle is his ward, left in his care when her mother abandoned her.\\n\\nAt Jane's first meeting with him within Thornfield, Mr. Rochester teases her, accusing her of bewitching his horse to make him fall. He also talks strangely in other ways, but Jane is able to give as good as she gets. Mr. Rochester and Jane soon come to enjoy each other's company, and spend many evenings together.\\n\\nOdd things start to happen at the house, such as a strange laugh, a mysterious fire in Mr. Rochester's room (from which Jane saves Rochester by rousing him and throwing water on him and the fire), and an attack on a house guest of Rochester's, a Mr. Mason. Then Jane receives word that her aunt Mrs. Reed is calling for her, after suffering a stroke because her unruly son John has died in sad circumstances. Jane returns to Gateshead and remains there for a month, attending to her dying aunt. As she lies dying, Mrs. Reed confesses to Jane that she has wronged her, and gives Jane a letter from Jane's paternal uncle, Mr. John Eyre, in which he asks for her to live with him and be his heir. Mrs. Reed admits to telling Mr. Eyre that Jane had died of fever at Lowood. Soon afterward, Jane's aunt dies, and Jane helps her cousins after the funeral before returning to Thornfield. \\n\\nBack at Thornfield, Jane broods over Mr. Rochester's rumoured impending marriage to the beautiful and talented, but snobbish and heartless, Blanche Ingram. However, one midsummer evening, Rochester baits Jane by saying how much he will miss her after getting married, but how she will soon forget him. There then follows one of the most stirring speeches in the whole book, when the normally self-controlled Jane opens her heart to him. Rochester is then sure that Jane is sincerely in love with him, and he proposes marriage. Jane is at first sceptical of his sincerity, but eventually believes him and gladly agrees to marry him. She then writes to her Uncle John, telling him of her happy news. \\n\\nAs she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr. Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole, one of his servants. During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is still married to Mr. Mason's sister, Bertha. Mr. Rochester admits this is true but explains that his father tricked him into the marriage for her money. Once they were united, he discovered that she was rapidly descending into madness, and so he eventually locked her away in Thornfield, hiring Grace Poole as a nurse to look after her. When Grace gets drunk, his wife escapes and causes the strange happenings at Thornfield.\\n\\nIt turns out that Jane's uncle, Mr. John Eyre, is a friend of Mr. Mason's and was visited by him soon after Mr. Eyre received Jane's letter about her impending marriage. After the marriage ceremony is broken off, Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live with him as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night. \\n\\nOther employment\\n\\nJane travels as far from Thornfield as she can using the little money she had previously saved. She accidentally leaves her bundle of possessions on the coach and has to sleep on the moor, and unsuccessfully attempts to trade her handkerchief and gloves for food. Exhausted and hungry, she eventually makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers, but is turned away by the housekeeper. She collapses on the doorstep, preparing for her death. St. John Rivers, Diana and Mary's brother and a clergyman, saves her. After she regains her health, St. John finds Jane a teaching position at a nearby village school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St. John remains aloof.\\n\\nThe sisters leave for governess jobs, and St. John becomes somewhat closer to Jane. St. John learns Jane's true identity and astounds her by telling her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left her his entire fortune of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to over £1.3 million in 2011calculated using the UK Retail Price Index: ). When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John Eyre is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance but were left virtually nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding that she has living and friendly family members, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come back to Moor House to live.\\n\\nProposals\\n\\nThinking Jane will make a suitable missionary's wife, St. John asks her to marry him and to go with him to India, not out of love, but out of duty. Jane initially accepts going to India but rejects the marriage proposal, suggesting they travel as brother and sister. As soon as Jane's resolve against marriage to St. John begins to weaken, she mysteriously hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane then returns to Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Mr. Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. \\\"Am I hideous, Jane?\\\", he asks. “Very, sir: you always were, you know”, she replies. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes, and they are married. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.\\n\\nCharacters\\n\\n* Jane Eyre: The novel's protagonist, second wife of Edward Rochester and title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane is passionate and strongly principled, and values freedom and independence. She also has a strong conscience and is a determined Christian.\\n* Mr. Reed: Jane's maternal uncle, who adopts Jane when her parents die. According to Mrs. Reed, he pitied Jane and often cared for her more than for his own children. Before his own death, he makes his wife promise to care for Jane.\\n* Mrs. Reed: Jane's aunt by marriage, who adopts Jane on her husband's wishes, but abuses and neglects her. She eventually casts her off and sends her to Lowood School.\\n* John Reed: Jane's cousin, who as a child bullies Jane constantly, sometimes in his mother's presence. He ruins himself as an adult by drinking and gambling, and is thought to have committed suicide.\\n* Eliza Reed: Jane's cousin. Jealous of her more attractive sister and a slave to rigid routine, she self-righteously devotes herself to religion. She leaves for a nunnery near Lisle after her mother's death, determined to estrange herself from her sister.\\n* Georgiana Reed: Jane's cousin. Although beautiful and indulged, she is insolent and spiteful. Her sister Eliza foils Georgiana's marriage to the wealthy Lord Edwin Vere, when the couple is about to elope. Georgiana eventually marries a \\\"wealthy worn-out man of fashion\\\".\\n* Bessie Lee: The nursemaid at Gateshead. She often treats Jane kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs, but she has a quick temper. Later, she marries Robert Leaven.\\n* Robert Leaven: The coachman at Gateshead, who brings Jane the news of John Reed's death, which was brought on Mrs. Reed's stroke, and Mrs. Reed's wish to see Jane before Mrs. Reed died.\\n* Mr. Lloyd: A compassionate apothecary who recommends that Jane be sent to school. Later, he writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane's account of her childhood and thereby clears Jane of Mrs. Reed's charge of lying.\\n* Mr. Brocklehurst: The clergyman, director, and treasurer of Lowood School, whose maltreatment of the students is eventually exposed. A religious traditionalist, he advocates for his charges the most harsh, plain, and disciplined possible lifestyle, but not, hypocritically, for himself and his own family. His second daughter Augusta exclaimed, \\\"Oh, dear papa, how quiet and plain all the girls at Lowood look... they looked at my dress and mama's, as if they had never seen a silk gown before.\\\"\\n* Miss Maria Temple: The kind superintendent of Lowood School, who treats the students with respect and compassion. She helps clear Jane of Mr. Brocklehurst's false accusation of deceit and cares for Helen in her last days. Eventually, she marries Reverend Naysmith.\\n* Miss Scatcherd: A sour and strict teacher at Lowood. She constantly punishes Helen Burns for her untidiness but fails to see Helen's substantial good points.\\n* Helen Burns: Jane's best friend at Lowood School. She refuses to hate those who abuse her, trusts in God, and prays for peace one day in heaven. She teaches Jane to trust Christianity and dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Elizabeth Gaskell, in her biography of the Brontë sisters, wrote that Helen Burns was 'an exact transcript' of Maria Brontë, who died of consumption at age 11. \\n* Edward Fairfax Rochester: The master of Thornfield Hall. A Byronic hero, he is tricked into making an unfortunate first marriage to Bertha Mason many years before he meets Jane, with whom he falls madly in love.\\n* Bertha Mason-Rochester Antoinetta Mason: The violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester. She moved to Thornfield, was locked in the attic, and eventually committed suicide after setting fire to Thornfield Hall.\\n* Adèle Varens: An excitable French child to whom Jane is governess at Thornfield. Adèle's mother, a dancer named Céline and Mr Rochester's mistress, claimed that Adèle was Mr Rochester's daughter, but he refuses to believe it because of Céline's unfaithfulness and Adèle's lack of resemblance to him. Adèle seems to believe that her mother is dead (she tells Jane in chapter 11, \\\"I lived long ago with mamma, but she is gone to the Holy Virgin\\\"), but Mr Rochester later tells Jane that Céline in fact abandoned Adèle and \\\"ran away to Italy with a musician or singer\\\" (ch. 15). Adèle and Jane develop a strong liking for one another, and although Mr Rochester places Adèle in a strict school after Jane flees Thornfield, Jane visits Adèle after her return and finds a better, less severe school for her. When Adèle is old enough to leave school, Jane describes her as \\\"a pleasing and obliging companion - docile, good-tempered and well-principled\\\", and considers her kindness to Adèle well repaid.\\n* Mrs. Alice Fairfax: An elderly, kind widow and the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall.\\n* Leah: The housemaid at Thornfield Hall.\\n* John: An old, and normally the only, manservant at Thornfield.\\n* Mary: Normally referred to as 'John's wife' and sometimes 'the cook'.\\n* Blanche Ingram: A socialite whom Mr. Rochester temporarily courts to make Jane jealous. She is described as having great beauty and talent, but displays callous behaviour and avaricious intent.\\n* Richard Mason: An Englishman from the West Indies, whose sister is Mr. Rochester's first wife. He took part in tricking Mr. Rochester into marrying Bertha. He still, however, cares for his sister's well-being.\\n* Grace Poole: Bertha Mason's caretaker. Mr. Rochester pays her a very high salary to keep Bertha hidden and quiet, and she is often used as an explanation for odd happenings. She has a weakness for drink that occasionally allows Bertha to escape.\\n* St. John Eyre Rivers: A clergyman who befriends Jane and turns out to be her cousin. He is thoroughly practical and suppresses all his human passions and emotions in favour of good works. He is determined to go to India as a missionary, despite being in love with Rosamond Oliver.\\n* Diana and Mary Rivers: St. John's sisters and (as it turns out) Jane's cousins. They are poor, intelligent, and kind-hearted, and want St. John to stay in England.\\n* Rosamond Oliver: A beautiful, kindly, wealthy, but not deep thinking, young woman, and the patron of the village school where Jane teaches. Rosamond falls in love with St. John, only to be rejected because she would not make a good missionary's wife.\\n* Mr. Oliver: Rosamond Oliver's wealthy father, who owns a foundry and needle factory in the district. He is a kind and charitable man, and is fond of St. John.\\n* Alice Wood: Jane's maid when Jane is mistress of the girls' village school in Morton.\\n* John Eyre: Jane's paternal uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune and wished to adopt her when she was 15. Mrs. Reed prevents the adoption out of spite towards Jane.\\n\\nThemes\\n\\nMorality\\n\\nJane refuses to become Mr. Rochester's paramour because of her \\\"impassioned self-respect and moral conviction.\\\" She rejects St. John Rivers' religious fervour as much as the libertine aspects of Mr. Rochester's character. Instead, she works out a morality expressed in love, independence, and forgiveness.\\n\\nGod and religion\\n\\nThroughout the novel, Jane endeavours to attain an equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness. She despises the hypocrisy of Mr. Brocklehurst, and sees deficiencies in St. John Rivers' indulgent yet detached devotion to his Christian duty. As a child, Jane admires Helen Burns' life's philosophy of 'turning the other cheek', which in turn helps her in adult life to forgive Aunt Reed and the Reed cousins for their cruelty. Although she does not seem to subscribe to any of the standard forms of popular Christianity, she honours traditional morality – particularly seen when she refuses to marry Mr. Rochester until he is widowed.\\n\\nIn her preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre, Brontë makes her beliefs clear; \\\"conventionality is not morality\\\" and \\\"self-righteousness is not religion,\\\" declaring that narrow human doctrines, which serve only to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. Throughout the novel, Brontë presents contrasts between characters who believe in and practice what she considers a true Christianity, and those who pervert religion to further their own ends. Here are further examples:\\n\\nMr. Brocklehurst, who oversees Lowood Institution, is a hypocritical Christian. He professes aid and charity but does the opposite by using religion as a justification for punishment. For instance, he cites the Biblical passage \\\"man shall not live by bread alone\\\", to rebuke Miss Temple for having fed the girls an extra meal to compensate for their inedible breakfast of burnt porridge. He tells Miss Temple that she \\\"may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!\\\".\\n\\nHelen Burns is a complete contrast to Brocklehurst; she follows the Christian creed of 'turning the other cheek' and by loving\\nthose who hate her. On her deathbed, Helen tells Jane \\\"I'm going home to God, who loves me.\\\"\\nJane herself cannot quite profess Helen's absolute, selfless faith. Jane does not seem to follow a particular doctrine, but she is sincerely religious in a non-doctrinaire, general way; it is Jane, presumably, who places the stone with the word \\\"Resurgam\\\" (Latin for 'I will rise again') on Helen's grave, some fifteen years after her friend's death.\\nJane is seen frequently praying and calling on God to assist her, especially with her struggles concerning Mr. Rochester; praying for his wellness and safety.\\n\\nAfter Hannah, the Rivers' housekeeper, tried to turn the begging Jane away at the door, Jane later tells her that \\\"if you are a Christian, you ought not consider poverty a crime.\\\"\\n\\nThe young evangelical clergyman St. John Rivers is a more conventionally religious figure. However, Brontë portrays his religious aspect ambiguously. Jane calls him \\\"a very good man,\\\" yet she finds him cold and forbidding. In his determination to do good deeds (in the form of missionary work in India), St. John courts martyrdom. Moreover, he is unable to see Jane as a whole person, but views her only as a helpmate in his impending missionary work.\\n\\nMr. Rochester is a less than perfect Christian. He is, indeed, a sinner: he attempts to enter into a bigamous marriage with Jane and, when that fails, tries to persuade her to become his mistress. He also confesses that he has had three previous mistresses. However, at the end of the book Mr.Rochester repents his sinfulness, thanks God for returning Jane, and asks Him for the strength to lead a purer life. It is implied that Rochester's maiming and blindness were God's judgment for his sins, and that the partial recovery of his sight was due to his repentance. \\\"God had tempered judgment with mercy.\\\"\\n\\nSocial class\\n\\nJane's ambiguous social position—a penniless yet decently educated orphan from a good family—leads her to criticise some discrimination based on class, though she makes class discriminations herself. Although she is educated, well-mannered, and relatively sophisticated, she is still a governess, a paid employee (middle class), and therefore relatively powerless. She respectfully defers to Rochester and his guests from the upper class, but she asks Leah, the housemaid (lower class), to get her a candle rather than get it herself, and has a servant girl when she is school mistress at the small village school in Morton. While Jane is always conscious of her social position (Rochester is master and she is employee) in everyday matters, at heart she sees herself as his equal, as evidenced in her passionate speech prior to Rochester's first proposal. \\\"... it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal,—as we are!\\\"\\n\\nGender relations\\n\\nA particularly important theme in the novel is the depiction of a patriarchal society. Jane attempts to assert her own identity within male-dominated society. Three of the main male characters, Mr. Brocklehurst, Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers, try to keep Jane in a subordinate position and prevent her from expressing her own thoughts and feelings. Jane escapes Mr. Brocklehurst and rejects St. John, and she only marries Mr. Rochester once she is sure that their marriage is one between equals. Through Jane, Brontë opposes Victorian stereotypes about women, articulating her own feminist philosophy:\\n\\nWomen are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. (Chapter XII)\\n\\nIt is also interesting to note that while most readings of Jane Eyre dwell on the fact that Bertha is insane, it is not because she is insane that Rochester hates her (chap. 27). The two specific claims that he makes against her, before she became insane, are that she was 'intemperate and unchaste' and that he therefore felt degraded. Some feminist readings of the novel have taken this to mean that the strictures imposed on women contemporary to the book were such that stepping outside of them could have been construed as insane.\\n\\nOther interpretations have seen this as evidence that Bertha was syphilitic, and that the romanticism of the book neglects the truth that Edward Rochester would have been as well. The book may use the syphilitic condition as a metaphor for the sexual predation and narcissistic projection of Edward Rochester; Edward says Bertha is \\\"unchaste\\\" in an attempt to relieve himself of the psychic pain of his having the disease himself and his own likely role in Bertha acquiring that condition as well as the fact he likely has the disease and risks infecting Jane. His psychological projection combined with his position of power distorts reality such that it gives Bertha no choice but to be \\\"insane\\\" (which may be combined with actual physical brain deterioration from the syphilis) if any challenge to his veracity would cause her greater problems, such as abandonment, starvation, etc.\\n\\nLove and passion\\n\\nA central theme in Jane Eyre is that of the clash between conscience and passion—which one is to be adhered to, and how to find a middle ground between the two. Jane, extremely passionate yet also dedicated to a close personal relationship with God, struggles between the two extremes for much of the novel. An instance of her leaning towards conscience over passion can be seen after it has been revealed that Mr. Rochester already has a wife, when Jane is begged to run away with Mr. Rochester and become his mistress. Up until that moment, Jane had been riding on a wave of emotion, forgetting all thoughts of reason and logic, replacing God with Mr. Rochester in her eyes, and allowing herself to be swept away in the moment. However, once the harsh reality of the situation sets in, Jane does everything in her power to refuse Mr. Rochester, despite almost every part of her rejecting the idea and urging her to just give in to Mr. Rochester's appeal. In the moment, Jane experiences an epiphany in regards to conscience, realising that “laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this.” Jane finally comes to understand that all passion, as she had been living her life up until then, and all conscience, as she had leaned towards during her time at Lowood, is neither good nor preferable. In this case, Jane had allowed herself to lean too far in the direction of passion, and she is in danger of giving up all logic and reason in favour of temptation. However, Jane finally asserts that in times of true moral trial, such as the one she is in with Mr. Rochester at the moment, to forgo one's principles, to violate the “law given by God,” would be too easy—and not something she is willing to do. Jane's struggles to find a middle ground between her passionate and conscience-driven sides frequently go back and forth throughout the novel, but in this case she has drawn the line as to where passion is taking too great a role in her life, and where she will not allow herself to forgo her moral and religious principles.\\n\\nFeminism\\n\\nThe role and standing of women in the Victorian era is considered by Brontë in Jane Eyre, specifically in regard to Jane's independence and ability to make decisions for herself. As a young woman, small and of relatively low social standing, Jane encounters men during her journey, of good, bad, and morally debatable character. However, many of them, no matter their ultimate intentions, attempt to establish some form of power and control over Jane. One example can be seen in Mr. Rochester, a man who ardently loves Jane, but who frequently commands and orders Jane about. As a self-assured and established man, and her employer, Mr. Rochester naturally assumes the position of the master in their relationship. He sometimes demands rather than questioning Jane, tries to manipulate and assess her feelings towards him, and enjoys propping up Jane through excessive gifts and luxuries that only he would have been able to provide. Jane, however, believes in the importance of women's independence, and strives to maintain a position in life devoid of any debts to others. Her initial lack of money and social status unnerves her, as she realises that without the means to be an independent woman, she is bound to either struggle through life trying to make a living or marry and become dependent on a man. Even after Jane agrees to marry Mr. Rochester, and is swept up in the passion of the moment, the feminist elements of her personality still show through. She is uncomfortable with the showering of lavish gifts, as she resents that they will make her further reliant on and in debt to Mr. Rochester, and thus tries to resist them. Furthermore, Jane asserts that until she is married to Mr. Rochester, she will continue to be Adèle's governess and earn her keep. This plan, which was entirely radical and unheard of for the time, further illustrates Jane's drive to remain a somewhat independent woman. It was for this reason she suddenly remembered and wrote to her uncle who until now thought her dead. \\\"... if I had but a prospect of one day bringing Mr. Rochester an accession of fortune, I could better endure to be kept by him now.\\\"\\nThis feminist undercurrent also presents itself in Jane's interaction with her long-lost cousin, St. John Rivers. St. John repressed Jane's feeling and controlled her excessively. She often felt that he \\\"took away [her] liberty of mind\\\". During her stay with her cousin, St. John proposes to Jane, by claiming her \\\"as a soldier would a new weapon\\\". Jane realises that she cannot marry a man who constantly forces her into submission and treats her like an object, and she refuses to marry him. Once again, her need for independence shines through.\\n\\nThe only time Jane truly feels ready to marry a man is when she is equal to him. In the end of Jane Eyre, Jane inherits a fortune from her uncle. This allows her to be economically independent from Mr. Rochester. Also, Mr. Rochester becomes lame and blind after the fire that ripped through his home. He now depends on Jane, rather than Jane depending on him. This change in the power dynamic of their relationship unites the two of them once again.\\n\\nWhile the significant men present in Jane's life throughout the novel all try to, in some form or another, establish themselves as dominant over Jane, she in most cases remains resistant at least to a certain degree, refusing to submit fully or lose all of her independence. The only time Jane feels comfortable attaching herself to a man is when she knows that she is his financial, intellectual, and emotional equal. This final adherence to her strong convictions on the independence of women points out Brontë's similar views on the patriarchal Victorian society of the time.\\n\\nAtonement and forgiveness\\n\\nMuch of the religious concern in Jane Eyre has to do with atonement and forgiveness. Mr. Rochester is tormented by his awareness of his past sins and misdeeds. He frequently confesses that he has led a life of vice, and many of his actions in the course of the novel are less than commendable. Readers may accuse him of behaving sadistically in deceiving Jane about the nature of his relationship (or rather, non-relationship) with Blanche Ingram to provoke Jane's jealousy. His confinement of Bertha may bespeak mixed motives. He is certainly aware that in the eyes of both religious and civil authorities, his marriage to Jane before Bertha's death would be bigamous. Yet, at the same time, Mr. Rochester makes genuine efforts to atone for his behaviour. For example, although he does not believe that he is Adèle's natural father, he adopts her as his ward and sees that she is well cared for. This adoption may well be an act of atonement for the sins he has committed. He expresses his self-disgust at having tried to console himself by having three different mistresses during his travels in Europe and begs Jane to forgive him for these past transgressions. However, Mr. Rochester can only atone completely – and be forgiven completely – after Jane has refused to be his mistress and left him. The destruction of Thornfield by fire finally removes the stain of his past sins; the loss of his left hand and of his eyesight is the price he must pay to atone completely for his sins. Only after this purgation can he be redeemed by Jane's love.\\n\\nSearch for home and family\\n\\nWithout any living family that she is aware of (until well into the story), throughout the course of the novel Jane searches for a place that she can call home. Significantly, houses play a prominent part in the story. (In keeping with a long English tradition, all the houses in the book have names). The novel's opening finds Jane living at Gateshead Hall, but this is hardly a home. Mrs. Reed and her children refuse to acknowledge her as a relation, treating her instead as an unwanted intruder and an inferior.\\n\\nShunted off to Lowood Institution, a boarding school for orphans and destitute children, Jane finds a home of sorts, although her place here is ambiguous and temporary. The school's manager, Mr. Brocklehurst, treats it more as a business and a place of correction than as school in loco parentis (in place of the parent). His emphasis on discipline and on spartan conditions at the expense of the girls' health make it the antithesis of the ideal home.\\n\\nJane subsequently believes she has found a home at Thornfield Hall. Anticipating the worst when she arrives, she is relieved when she is made to feel welcome by Mrs. Fairfax. She feels genuine affection for Adèle (who in a way is also an orphan) and is happy to serve as her governess. As her love for Mr. Rochester grows, she believes that she has found her ideal husband in spite of his eccentric manner and that they will make a home together at Thornfield. The revelation – as they are on the verge of marriage – that he is already legally married – brings her dream of home crashing down. Fleeing Thornfield, she literally becomes homeless and is reduced to begging for food and shelter. The opportunity of having a home presents itself when she enters Moor House, where the Rivers sisters and their brother, the Reverend St. John Rivers, are mourning the death of their father. She soon speaks of Diana and Mary Rivers as her own sisters, and is overjoyed when she learns that they are indeed her cousins. She tells St. John Rivers that learning that she has living relations is far more important than inheriting twenty thousand pounds. (She mourns the uncle she never knew. Earlier she was disheartened on learning that Mrs. Reed told her uncle that Jane had died and sent him away.) However, St. John Rivers' offer of marriage cannot sever her emotional attachment to Rochester. In an almost visionary episode, she hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her to return to him. The last chapter begins with the famous simple declarative sentence, \\\"Reader, I married him,\\\" (which inspired a 2016 story collection Reader, I Married Him) and after a long series of travails Jane's search for home and family ends in a union with her ideal mate.\\n\\nContext\\n\\nThe early sequences, in which Jane is sent to Lowood, a harsh boarding school, are derived from the author's own experiences. Helen Burns's death from tuberculosis (referred to as consumption) recalls the deaths of Charlotte Brontë's sisters Elizabeth and Maria, who died of the disease in childhood as a result of the conditions at their school, the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge, near Tunstall, Lancashire. Mr. Brocklehurst is based on Rev. William Carus Wilson (1791–1859), the Evangelical minister who ran the school. Additionally, John Reed's decline into alcoholism and dissolution recalls the life of Charlotte's brother Branwell, who became an opium and alcohol addict in the years preceding his death. Finally, like Jane, Charlotte became a governess. These facts were revealed to the public in The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) by Charlotte's friend and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. \\n\\nThe Gothic manor of Thornfield Hall was probably inspired by North Lees Hall, near Hathersage in the Peak District. This was visited by Charlotte Brontë and her friend Ellen Nussey in the summer of 1845 and is described by the latter in a letter dated 22 July 1845. It was the residence of the Eyre family, and its first owner, Agnes Ashurst, was reputedly confined as a lunatic in a padded second floor room.\\n\\nIt has been suggested that the Wycoller Hall in Lancashire, close to Haworth, provided the setting for Ferndean Manor to which Mr. Rochester retreats after the fire at Thornfield: there are similarities between the owner of Ferndean, Mr. Rochester's father, and Henry Cunliffe who inherited Wycoller in the 1770s and lived there until his death in 1818; one of Cunliffe's relatives was named Elizabeth Eyre (née Cunliffe).\\n\\nThe sequence in which Mr. Rochester's wife sets fire to the bed curtains was prepared in an August 1830 homemade publication of Brontë's The Young Men's Magazine, Number 2.\\n\\nLiterary motifs and allusions\\n\\nJane Eyre uses many motifs from Gothic fiction, such as the Gothic manor (Thornfield Hall), the Byronic hero (Mr. Rochester) and The Madwoman in the Attic (Bertha), whom Jane perceives as resembling \\\"the foul German spectre—the Vampyre\\\" (Chapter XXV) and who attacks her own brother in a distinctly vampiric way: \\\"She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart\\\" (Chapter XX). The mystery of Thornfield Hall with its dark secrets creates a typically Gothic atmosphere of suspense. When resolved, we then get the theme of madness, also common in Gothic fiction, as is the motif of two characters, John Reed and Bertha Mason, who commit suicide. Apparently supernatural happenings are frequently mentioned, such as Jane's prophetic dreams, her sense of the ghost of her uncle, the lightning striking the chestnut tree on the night she agrees to marry Mr. Rochester, and Jane and Mr. Rochester being able to hear each other's call over miles of separation when St. John forces Jane into a decision to marry him.\\n\\nJane Eyre also combines Gothicism with romanticism to create a distinctive Victorian novel. Jane and Rochester are attracted to each other, but there are impediments to their love. The conflicting personalities of the two lead characters and the norms of society are an obstacle to their love, as often occurs in romance novels, but so also is Rochester's secret marriage to Bertha, the main Gothic element of the story.\\n\\nLiterary allusions from the Bible, fairy tales, The Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost, and the novels and poetry of Sir Walter Scott are also much in evidence. John Reed is compared to Caligula. Jane is compared to Guy Fawkes. Both Biblical figures like Samson and figures from Greek myths such as Apollo are referred to at various times.\\n\\nAdaptations and influence\\n\\nThe novel has been adapted into a number of popular forms, including film, television and theatre. However, perhaps more importantly, the novel has been the centre of a number of rewritings and reinterpretations. Most notably reinterpretations and rewritings by notable authors have become important within British and American literature, including novels such as Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.\\n\\nReception\\n\\nAlthough Jane Eyre is now commonly accepted in the canon of English literature and is widely studied in secondary schools, its immediate reception was in stark contrast to its contemporary reception. \\nIn 1848, Elizabeth Rigby (later Elizabeth Eastlake), reviewing Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review, found it \\\"pre-eminently an anti-Christian composition,\\\" declaring: \\\"We do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre.\\\"\\n\\nIn 2003, the novel was ranked number 10 in the BBC's survey The Big Read.\",\n \"SparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Character List\\nA list of all the characters in Jane Eyre. ... Jane Eyre Charlotte Bront ... The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, ...\\nSparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Character List\\nCharacter List\\nPlot Overview\\nAnalysis of Major Characters\\nJane Eyre - The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. Although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, Jane repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality. She also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment. Her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the Victorian prejudices against women and the poor.\\nRead an in-depth analysis of Jane Eyre.\\nEdward Rochester - Jane’s employer and the master of Thornfield, Rochester is a wealthy, passionate man with a dark secret that provides much of the novel’s suspense. Rochester is unconventional, ready to set aside polite manners, propriety, and consideration of social class in order to interact with Jane frankly and directly. He is rash and impetuous and has spent much of his adult life roaming about Europe in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his youthful indiscretions. His problems are partly the result of his own recklessness, but he is a sympathetic figure because he has suffered for so long as a result of his early marriage to Bertha.\\nRead an in-depth analysis of Edward Rochester.\\nSt. John Rivers - Along with his sisters, Mary and Diana, St. John (pronounced “Sinjin”) serves as Jane’s benefactor after she runs away from Thornfield, giving her food and shelter. The minister at Morton, St. John is cold, reserved, and often controlling in his interactions with others. Because he is entirely alienated from his feelings and devoted solely to an austere ambition, St. John serves as a foil to Edward Rochester.\\nRead an in-depth analysis of St. John Rivers.\\nMrs. Reed - Mrs. Reed is Jane’s cruel aunt, who raises her at Gateshead Hall until Jane is sent away to school at age ten. Later in her life, Jane attempts reconciliation with her aunt, but the old woman continues to resent her because her husband had always loved Jane more than his own children.\\nBessie Lee - The maid at Gateshead, Bessie is the only figure in Jane’s childhood who regularly treats her kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs. Bessie later marries Robert Leaven, the Reeds’ coachman.\\nMr. Lloyd - Mr. Lloyd is the Reeds’ apothecary, who suggests that Jane be sent away to school. Always kind to Jane, Mr. Lloyd writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane’s story about her childhood and clearing Jane of Mrs. Reed’s charge that she is a liar.\\nGeorgiana Reed - Georgiana Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters. The beautiful Georgiana treats Jane cruelly when they are children, but later in their lives she befriends her cousin and confides in her. Georgiana attempts to elope with a man named Lord Edwin Vere, but her sister, Eliza, alerts Mrs. Reed of the arrangement and sabotages the plan. After Mrs. Reed dies, Georgiana marries a wealthy man.\\nEliza Reed - Eliza Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters (along with her sister, Georgiana). Not as beautiful as her sister, Eliza devotes herself somewhat self-righteously to the church and eventually goes to a convent in France where she becomes the Mother Superior.\\nJohn Reed - John Reed is Jane’s cousin, Mrs. Reed’s son, and brother to Eliza and Georgiana. John treats Jane with appalling cruelty during their childhood and later falls into a life of drinking and gambling. John commits suicide midway through the novel when his mother ceases to pay his debts for him.\\nHelen Burns - Helen Burns is Jane’s close friend at the Lowood School. She endures her miserable life there with a passive dignity that Jane cannot understand. Helen dies of consumption in Jane’s arms.\\nRead an in-depth analysis of Helen Burns.\\nMr. Brocklehurst - The cruel, hypocritical master of the Lowood School, Mr. Brocklehurst preaches a doctrine of privation, while stealing from the school to support his luxurious lifestyle. After a typhus epidemic sweeps Lowood, Brocklehurst’s shifty and dishonest practices are brought to light and he is publicly discredited.\\nMaria Temple - Maria Temple is a kind teacher at Lowood, who treats Jane and Helen with respect and compassion. Along with Bessie Lee, she serves as one of Jane’s first positive female role models. Miss Temple helps clear Jane of Mrs. Reed’s accusations against her.\\nMiss Scatcherd - Jane’s sour and vicious teacher at Lowood, Miss Scatcherd behaves with particular cruelty toward Helen.\\nAlice Fairfax - Alice Fairfax is the housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. She is the first to tell Jane that the mysterious laughter often heard echoing through the halls is, in fact, the laughter of Grace Poole—a lie that Rochester himself often repeats.\\nBertha Mason - Rochester’s clandestine wife, Bertha Mason is a formerly beautiful and wealthy Creole woman who has become insane, violent, and bestial. She lives locked in a secret room on the third story of Thornfield and is guarded by Grace Poole, whose occasional bouts of inebriation sometimes enable Bertha to escape. Bertha eventually burns down Thornfield, plunging to her death in the flames.\\nGrace Poole - Grace Poole is Bertha Mason’s keeper at Thornfield, whose drunken carelessness frequently allows Bertha to escape. When Jane first arrives at Thornfield, Mrs. Fairfax attributes to Grace all evidence of Bertha’s misdeeds.\\nAdèle Varens - Jane’s pupil at Thornfield, Adèle Varens is a lively though somewhat spoiled child from France. Rochester brought her to Thornfield after her mother, Celine, abandoned her. Although Celine was once Rochester’s mistress, he does not believe himself to be Adèle’s father.\\nCeline Varens - Celine Varens is a French opera dancer with whom Rochester once had an affair. Although Rochester does not believe Celine’s claims that he fathered her daughter Adèle, he nonetheless brought the girl to England when Celine abandoned her. Rochester had broken off his relationship with Celine after learning that Celine was unfaithful to him and interested only in his money.\\nSophie - Sophie is Adèle’s French nurse at Thornfield.\\nRichard Mason - Richard Mason is Bertha’s brother. During a visit to Thornfield, he is injured by his mad sister. After learning of Rochester’s intent to marry Jane, Mason arrives with the solicitor Briggs in order to thwart the wedding and reveal the truth of Rochester’s prior marriage.\\nMr. Briggs - John Eyre’s attorney, Mr. Briggs helps Richard Mason prevent Jane’s wedding to Rochester when he learns of the existence of Bertha Mason, Rochester’s wife. After John Eyre’s death, Briggs searches for Jane in order to give her her inheritance.\\nBlanche Ingram - Blanche Ingram is a beautiful socialite who despises Jane and hopes to marry Rochester for his money.\\nDiana Rivers - Diana Rivers is Jane’s cousin, and the sister of St. John and Mary. Diana is a kind and intelligent person, and she urges Jane not to go to India with St. John. She serves as a model for Jane of an intellectually gifted and independent woman.\\nMary Rivers - Mary Rivers is Jane’s cousin, the sister of St. John and Diana. Mary is a kind and intelligent young woman who is forced to work as a governess after her father loses his fortune. Like her sister, she serves as a model for Jane of an independent woman who is also able to maintain close relationships with others and a sense of meaning in her life.\\nRosamond Oliver - Rosamond is the beautiful daughter of Mr. Oliver, Morton’s wealthiest inhabitant. Rosamond gives money to the school in Morton where Jane works. Although she is in love with St. John, she becomes engaged to the wealthy Mr. Granby.\\nJohn Eyre - John Eyre is Jane’s uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune of 20,000 pounds.\\nUncle Reed - Uncle Reed is Mrs. Reed’s late husband. In her childhood, Jane believes that she feels the presence of his ghost. Because he was always fond of Jane and her mother (his sister), Uncle Reed made his wife promise that she would raise Jane as her own child. It is a promise that Mrs. Reed does not keep.\",\n \"\\\"Jane Eyre\\\" by Charlotte Brontë - CreateSpace\\nJane Eyre (originally ... is a novel by English writer Charlotte ... ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of ...\\nJane Eyre\\nAdd to Cart\\nAbout the author:\\nCharlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 - 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell.\\nJane Eyre\\nIllustrated by Monro S. Orr\\nCover design or artwork by Emily Lam\\nJane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name \\\"Currer Bell.\\\" The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.\\nPrimarily of the bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its eponymous character, including her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalisation of the action — the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry — the novel revolutionised the art of fiction. Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism.\\n[Reception]\\nAccording to a review of Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review, it was found to be \\\"pre-eminently an anti-Christian composition\\\". Although Brontë clearly intended for the book to be a protest against Victorian lifestyle, which caused a great unrest with the Quarterly Review, they found Jane Eyre to be more radical than its original intent: \\\"We do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre\\\". Although Jane Eyre is now commonly accepted into the canon of high-school English literature, its immediate reception was in stark contrast to its modern-day reception.\\nPublication Date:\",\n \"Mr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre - Shmoop\\nEverything you ever wanted to know about Mr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre, ... Home / Literature / Jane Eyre / ... a novel with a moralistic side: although Jane ...\\nMr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre\\n(Click the character infographic to download.)\\nMr. Rochester is stern-featured, heavy-browed, craggy-faced, rude, abrupt, horny, twice Jane’s age, always on the edge of violence, likes to order people around, keeps his wife locked in the attic, and teases Jane on at least one occasion until she cries.\\nHere’s the crazy part: that’s why he’s so awesome.\\nHe may be fantastically ugly. He may be kind of a jerk. But he’s real! Well, okay, he’s not real. He’s a character in Jane Eyre. But you know what we’re talking about; he’s a genuine-seeming character, not some stuck-up, pompous, handsome young man who smoothly says all the proper things and doesn’t have any personality of his own. This novel isn’t about proper behavior; it’s about passion.\\nTale as Old as Time\\nRochester is sort of like the Beast half of a \\\"Beauty and the Beast\\\" story. (Forget for a minute that Jane’s no beauty.) He’s even got a sort of shaggy mane of hair that makes him look beast-ish, and at the end of the novel, when he’s locked himself away at Ferndean to wallow in his own self-pity, he’s described as \\\"some wronged and fettered wild beast or bird, dangerous to approach in his sullen woe\\\" (3.11.9).\\nOf course, if Rochester is the Beast, then Jane will have to do something to tame him. Instead of subduing him once and for all, she develops little ways of manipulating him—making him irritated when he’s horny so that he curses her instead of hitting on her, for example, when they’re engaged for the first time:\\nIn other people’s presence I was, as formerly, deferential and quiet; any other line of conduct being uncalled for: it was only in the evening conferences I thus thwarted and afflicted him. He continued to send for me punctually the moment the clock struck seven; though when I appeared before him now, he had no such honeyed terms as \\\"love\\\" and \\\"darling\\\" on his lips: the best words at my service were \\\"provoking puppet,\\\" \\\"malicious elf,\\\" \\\"sprite,\\\" \\\"changeling,\\\" &c. For caresses, too, I now got grimaces; for a pressure of the hand, a pinch on the arm; for a kiss on the cheek, a severe tweak of the ear. It was all right: at present I decidedly preferred these fierce favours to anything more tender. […] Meantime, Mr. Rochester affirmed I was wearing him to skin and bone, and threatened awful vengeance for my present conduct at some period fast coming. I laughed in my sleeve at his menaces. \\\"I can keep you in reasonable check now,\\\" I reflected; \\\"and I don’t doubt to be able to do it hereafter: if one expedient loses its virtue, another must be devised.\\\"\\nYet after all my task was not an easy one; often I would rather have pleased than teased him. (2.9.171-172)\\nThere’s more danger than anything else in these strange evening dates. At points the reader is just a little bit nervous that Rochester’s a bit too wild or a bit too incapable of restraining his desires. We’re admittedly a little afraid for what might happen to Jane at some of those moments when he wildly clasps her to him.\\nPerhaps that’s one reason Rochester gets compared in the novel to Bluebeard, the mythical nobleman who gets into a marry-and-murder cycle with one wife after another. There’s also a hint of the Arabian Nights here—in those tales, there's a woman named Scheherazade who has to keep coming up with stories to tell the king so he doesn’t behead her in the morning, like he did to his previous 3,000 wives.\\nIt’s pretty similar to the way Jane has to keep coming up with ways to tease Rochester and draw out his interest from day to day so that he doesn’t… what? Lose interest in her? Lose control and ravish or even rape her? Both of these seem possible at different points in the novel, though Rochester will later claim that he could never have harmed Jane.\\nWe’re not saying this is a healthy relationship... but Jane and Rochester seem to like it. They’re are always playing with the power dynamic between them: Jane likes to call Rochester her \\\"master\\\" and to \\\"serve\\\" him, but it’s also clear that she’s stronger—emotionally and ethically—than he is, and that he (this Beast + Bluebeard + Persian King dude) desperately needs her.\\nMorals? Ethics? I Have Some of those Around Here Somewhere. Check Under the Sofa Cushions.\\nRochester likes to make excuses for himself: he’s not a bad person by nature, he was just in a really bad situation with this whole Bertha thing, what could he do but lock her in the attic and sleep his way across Europe, huh? And what’s he supposed to do now that he can’t get a divorce—just take care of his wife for the rest of her life, considering that he’s got all her money anyway and that he shipped her across the Atlantic away from any friends or family who might have helped her? As if! Bigamy is clearly the only reasonable option, right?\\nJane’s different from all the previous women in Rochester’s life because she won’t let him get away with that kind of bogus logic. Rochester’s long, sophisticated (read: BS) explanations of why his particular situation requires a new and different sort of morality don’t convince Jane at all:\\n[Mr. Rochester:] \\\"[S]ince happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may.\\\"\\n[Jane:] \\\"Then you will degenerate still more, sir.\\\"\\n\\\"Possibly: yet why should I, if I can get sweet, fresh pleasure? And I may get it as sweet and fresh as the wild honey the bee gathers on the moor.\\\"\\n\\\"It will sting—it will taste bitter, sir.\\\"\\n\\\"How do you know?—you never tried it. […] I scarcely think the notion that flittered across my brain was an error. I believe it was an inspiration rather than a temptation: it was very genial, very soothing—I know that. Here it comes again! It is no devil, I assure you; or if it be, it has put on the robes of an angel of light. I think I must admit so fair a guest when it asks entrance to my heart.\\\" (1.14.65-71)\\nRochester makes two assumptions about ethics here that are different from Jane’s: 1) that something must be right and good just because it’s pleasant, and 2) that moral principles are not absolute and unchanging, but relative to one’s situation.\\nJane doesn’t know what he’s thinking at this point, but we do: that it couldn’t be wrong for him to get romantically involved with her, because he doesn’t really have any existing romance in his life and dating Jane would be great. Jane may not be convinced, but perhaps the reader is, just a little bit.\\nWe’re always willing to overlook some of Rochester’s more glaring flaws in order to indulge the passion he and Jane share. That’s one of the strange things about Jane Eyre being a novel with a moralistic side: although Jane always draws a line in the sand and upholds her principles, even the ethically strict Victorian reader might start to see why Rochester’s claims for moral relativity make some sense.\\nAfter all, he did really get shafted by his father and brother when he was young and they tricked him into marrying Bertha.\\nBlinded By Love (and a House Fire)\\nIt’s not surprising that Rochester is injured in the fire that destroys Thornfield Hall, but perhaps it is a little strange that one of his injuries is blindness. With one eye gouged out and the other inflamed, Rochester is uglier than ever, and now he can’t see.\\nWe’d like to be able to say that he can see—he \\\"sees the error of his ways\\\"—and that's sort of true. At least, Rochester claims that he gets it:\\nI did wrong: I would have sullied my innocent flower—breathed guilt on its purity: the Omnipotent snatched it from me. [...] Divine justice pursued its course; disasters came thick on me: I was forced to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. His chastisements are mighty; and one smote me which has humbled me for ever. You know I was proud of my strength: but what is it now, when I must give it over to foreign guidance, as a child does its weakness? Of late, Jane—only—only of late—I began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker. I began sometimes to pray: very brief prayers they were, but very sincere. (3.11.248)\\nWhat Rochester seems to understand is that his attempt at bigamy would have negatively impacted Jane (\\\"sullied my innocent flower\\\"). He doesn't think that it negatively impacts him in a moral sense, but at least it’s a start.\\nIn literature, there’s more to blindness than meets the eye. (Sorry for that one; we couldn’t resist.) You may know the legend of Odin, the king of the Norse gods, who traded one of his eyes in exchange for wisdom. Or maybe you know about Tiresias , a Greek prophet who supposedly became blind but gained \\\"inner sight.\\\" What we’re trying to say is that there’s a long mythological and literary tradition of exchanging physical sight for metaphorical sight, and Rochester’s blindness alludes to that tradition. It’s not a perfect parallel, though; Rochester seems more depressed than enlightened.\\nSo what does it mean that Rochester gets his sense of sight back two years after he marries Jane? Perhaps whatever wisdom he gained while dealing with their bad breakup disappears, too, and he goes back to feeling entitled to pleasure and happiness. Perhaps it just means that we need to have miracles at the end of a romance in order to really feel like we’re getting that classic happy ending.\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2291"],"string":"[\n \"2291\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Rochester: A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's \"Jane Eyre\"\n... A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre ... of the original book. Jane Eyre resisted Rochester ... Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester but that's ...\nRochester: A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's \"Jane Eyre\": J. L. Niemann: 9781426916397: Amazon.com: Books\nBy Michelle Santoni on July 11, 2010\nFormat: Paperback|Verified Purchase\nAs a huge fan of Jane Eyre I was excited when I found a book telling the same story but from Rochester's point of view. Now that I read it I have to say that even though it was entertaining at times, I felt dissapointed. The author had the chance to get in this man's head and ended up with a Rochester that was insecure, needy and a drunk. I felt like telling him to quit complaining and be assertive man! This Edward Rochester is nothing like Bronte's Rochester.\nSome of the language did not sound from the era and was repetetive. When he talks with his friend Arthur they sound like two teenage girls. Also, I am not a prude but some of the things Rochester and Jane did were frankly stuff from pornos and I don't think that Jane would do any of that.\nHonestly I read it all because I wanted to see how it ended but then I find out that the story does not end with this book, there are two more! A trilogy! When it all could be done with just one book. Jane Eyre fans beware!\nBy rogertherat on January 12, 2012\nFormat: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase\nReally irritating book. I think the issue with this writer is she does not understand the time of the original book. Jane Eyre resisted Rochester because she valued herself. If she had succumbed she would have been ostracized, unemployable, and her life would have been ruined. Granted her life wasn't that great to begin with, but at least she had dignity and integrity. Also there is a strong moral sense of right and wrong, based on biblical beliefs. And that's what creates the dilema. Jane is passionate, wants to love and be loved, but she respects herself and respects God, and she does the hardest thing in her life by leaving Rochester. That's what makes Jane Eyre Great. It's a great romance, but ultimately it is a moral tale about living with integrity and doing the right thing. Look at Rochester , he succumbed again and again to his desires, and look at what a misreable wretch he is. UGH! This book is like taking the Mona Lisa and giving her a hot pink tube top. Like taking the venus de milo adding pasties and attaching a stripper pole.\nBy Gubba22 on April 4, 2011\nFormat: Paperback\nThe characters are named Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester but that's about all the similarities you'll find to Bronte's classic. The heroine is more of a Celine Varens than a Jane Eyre. Mr Rochester drinks too much and every day is a pity party. The book does offer more humor than the original but it veers too far off the beaten path and the writing is not strong enough to be its own stand-alone story. This book is actually part 1 of 3 and it ends on the morning of Jane & Rochester's wedding. Book 2 is called \"Consummation\" which leaves no doubt that the author will continue with more of the 'Skinemax' scenes that peppered the first book. Reading this could make you laugh but if I were Charlotte Bronte I'd be mad!\nBy Traxy on June 1, 2011\nFormat: Paperback\nSummary: If you don't mind a \"Jane Eyre\" which doesn't follow the book more than loosely and has added sex scenes, this is the one for you. It starts out being the best book you could ever imagine if you're an avid Rochester fan, and then it just starts to go off in the wrong direction from the original, and it's downhill from there. Enjoyable, but not true to the original.\nThe story follows Mr. Rochester from his villa in France, where he wants some absolution from his dreadful loneliness and sinful ways, and decides to return home, and in chapter two, he comes across a young woman by the name of Jane Eyre, the governess at Thornfield Hall... his horse slips on some ice and the rest is history. It finishes just before they're about to head off to church to get married. The bits inbetween is a \"somewhat\" reworked \"Jane Eyre\", from Rochester's perspective.\nIt's clear the author has been inspired by the 2006 adaptation, if the foreword and acknowledgements weren't enough to convince us of the fact. It seems to have started its life as postings on a Toby Stephens fanforum or something along those lines, and was very popular there, so now it's a book. It clocks in at 325 pages, being the first of three books - the story is said to continue \"soon\" in \"Rochester: Consummation\". Can't wait!\nHaving now read this one, the title of the next installment comes as no surprise. This book is steamy, and if you like it hot, you'll love this. I didn't mind the sex scenes - and believe me, there were a fair few of those - but the way it was done... no.\nThe most confusing part is how the events of the original story have been re-worked. While a lot of the things we recognise from \"Jane Eyre\" are there, including some exchanges, they've been changed around in ways that I don't fully understand. Unstead of playing on the sexual tension between Jane and Rochester, Niemann let's it go completely and there's snogging! No, it's just not right.\nOverall, I liked it. Hey, it's all about Mr. Rochester, how can I NOT like it? ;) It's interesting to see things from his point of view, even though that point of view is a little too lewd in this context for my taste. Niemann does a good job of describing food - it's always quite detailed what's beeing served, but there's too much drinking.\nRochester is just about as broody and angsty as you can get, and I had some issues trying to part from the book at times. Especially in the beginning, before things got a bit out of hand with changing stuff around from the book, which I'd say is what lets the book down. It completely changes the chronology of stuff and meaning of things, primarily the Jane/Edward relationship and that's what bothers me. It's enjoyable and definitely written for a modern audience (if Charlotte Brontë had read it, she would've been utterly shocked).\nJ.L. Niemann has offered an interesting re-working of a classic novel and breathed new life into it, one that doesn't scream of Plot Device quite as much as the original. Sometimes the brooding gets a bit too much, but I think she definitely manages to get Rochester's rather complex character in a pretty good way. However, I think it's trying too hard to sex things up - a modern audience doesn't need always need to get inside people's breeches or under their chemises to make a story interesting. But still, once they're married, I suspect I'll be loving the story. Right now, I'm just a bit annoyed that it's not according to the book.\nI've tried to stay away from spoilers here, but if you don't mind those, go to the address listed in brackets after my username above to read my full review, and the discussion afterwards.\nBy Di12381 on July 28, 2010\nFormat: Paperback\nI would think that anyone interested in this book has read Jane Eyre at least once and has some level of admiration and infatuation with this amazing novel.\nThe sexual tension between Jane and her Edward not explicity written on the page, but Miss Bronte found a way to slip it in a way that is extremely paplable, which the reason there is still a following after 160 years.\nI liked the book as it started out and I like seeing the story from Rochester's POV.\nHowever, I found that as I got farther into the book, Ms. Niemann seemed to travel further from the Bronte cannon. I dont mind a new twist to Jane Eyre, but I seek out a certain clinginess to the original novel.\nYes, Rochester is a very sexual creature, but I dont believe he would treat both Blanche (who he uses more than expected) and Jane (who in the novel did not act on her affections for Rochester until married).\nBut it is only part one, lets see what she does with part two and three.","SATIS HOUSE Inspiration\n--Satis House INSPIRATION Dickens and ... When her novel was published in 1847, Dickens disliked it ... The manor name derives from a stay by Charles II on the eve of ...\nSATIS HOUSE Inspiration\nINSPIRATION\nDickens and Beyond: Bronte, Austen, and Rhys\nMy novel is, of course, inspired by Great Expectations. But its true source is--as it was for Dickens--Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. When her novel was published in 1847, Dickens disliked it enough to parody the story, creating a version far less romantic and more attuned to the harsh realities of English Victorian society. There are many parallel characters in the two classics.\nI see Miss Havisham, as I believe Dickens did, as a composite of Bronte's tormented Edward Rochester of Thornfield Hall and his wife Bertha Antoinetta Mason, the \"mysterious lunatic\" secretly kept under lock and key in the mansion's tower. Bronte shows us only Bertha's violent insanity, chalking it up to genetic predisposition, presenting her primarily as an obstacle to the happiness of the virtuous governess Jane Eyre and her employer. But in Wide Sargasso Sea, published in 1966, British author Jean Rhys digs deeper, placing Bertha in the context of her native Jamaica. Through Rhys's 20th-century lens, Bertha's madness becomes an understandable if not logical response to the colonialism and patriarchy that allow her no control over her own destiny.\nSimilarly, Miss Havisham is a casualty of rigid society, but, for me, her madness is also a source of the power she wields over the people around her. Many dismiss her as weak; I see her as incredibly strong-willed and tenacious--the ultimate \"drama queen.\" These contradictions have sparked my curiosity and fueled my imagining of her story. According to Dickens's timeline notes, Miss Havisham would have been a contemporary of Jane Austen, and so that beloved author's life and works are influencing my narrative as well.\nSetting: Rochester in Kent, England\nWith a past reaching back to Roman times, the ancient city of Rochester rests alongside the River Medway, just 30 miles east of central London and 45 miles west of the channel ports. It is home to England's second oldest cathedral and a medieval castle that represents one of the country's finest examples of Norman architecture. Charles Dickens lived in the area as a child and as an author, featuring the city and its denizens in a number of his works, including Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, his final and incomplete novel.\nRestoration House, a short walk from the castle and cathedral, served as Dickens's model for Miss Havisham's Satis House. The manor name derives from a stay by Charles II on the eve of his return to the English throne in 1660. Dickens himself was spotted leaning against the iron gates on the day before he died in 1870. Today visitors can tour the house and gardens, as well as the cathedral and castle.\nFamily Trade: Brewing\nWho doesn't like beer? It is the world's oldest, most popular, and most fascinating fermented beverage. Man may have begun brewing beer even before he learned to bake bread. The craft figures prominently in English history and in the life of Miss Havisham, whose father was a wealthy brewer. His business adjoined the manor house and provides rich context for the family's story.\nContent copyright","Bertha_Mason.txt\nBertha Mason\nBertha Antoinetta Mason is a fictional character. In Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre she is the violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester, moved to Thornfield Hall and locked in the attic. \n\nThe 1966 parallel novel Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys acts as a prequel to Brontë's novel and is the story of Mason (there called Antoinette Cosway), from the time of her youth in the Caribbean to her unhappy marriage and relocation to England. Rhys's novel re-imagines Brontë's devilish madwoman in the attic.\n\nBertha Mason in Jane Eyre \n\nBertha Mason is the only daughter of a very wealthy family living in Spanish Town, Jamaica. The reader learns of her past not from her perspective but only through the description of her unhappy husband, Edward Rochester. She is described as being of Creole heritage. According to Rochester, Bertha was famous for her beauty: she was the pride of the town and sought after by many suitors. Upon leaving college, Rochester was persuaded by his father to visit the Mason family and court Bertha. As he tells it, he first met her at a ball she attended with her father and brother Richard, where he was entranced by her loveliness. Despite never being alone with her, and supposedly having had scarcely any interaction or conversation with her, he married her for her wealth and beauty, and with fierce encouragement from his own father and the Mason family. Rochester and Bertha began their lives as husband and wife in Jamaica. In recounting the history of their relationship, Rochester claims, \"I thought I loved her. . . . Her relatives encouraged me; competitors piqued me; she allured me: a marriage was achieved almost before I knew where I was. Oh, I have no respect for myself when I think of that act! . . . I never loved, I never esteemed, I did not even know her.\" \n\nRochester explains that he was not warned that violent insanity ran in the Mason family and that the past three generations succumbed to it. He assumed Bertha's mother to be dead and was never told otherwise, but she was in fact locked away in an asylum. There was also an intellectually disabled younger brother. Rochester's father knew of this but did not bother to tell his son, caring only about the vast fortune the marriage would bring him, and the Mason family clearly wanted Bertha off their hands as quickly as possible. Rochester asserts that Bertha's mental health deteriorated quickly, though it is unclear which form of mental illness she suffers from. Her insane, violent behaviour becomes frightening to behold: crawling on all fours, snarling, and behaving in a bestial manner. \n\nRochester returns with her to England and has her imprisoned in an attic room for ten years with Grace Poole, a hired nurse who keeps her under control while Rochester travels abroad to forget his horrible marriage. However, Grace drinks sometimes, and Bertha manages to escape, causing havoc in the house: starting a fire in Mr Rochester's bed and biting and stabbing her own visiting brother. \n\nRochester's marriage to Bertha eventually stands in the way of his marrying Jane Eyre, who is unaware of Bertha's existence and whom he truly loves (though he later admits to Jane that he once thought he loved Bertha). As Bertha is insane he cannot divorce her, due to her actions being uncontrollable and thus not legitimate grounds for divorce. Years of violence, insanity, and confinement in an attic destroy Bertha's looks: when Jane sees her in the middle of the night, she describes Bertha as looking \"savage,\" even going so far as to compare her with a \"vampire\" when she destroys Jane's wedding veil (an action that hints that Bertha is at least sane enough to be aware that her husband is planning to enter a bigamous marriage). Despite not loving her, Rochester attempts to save his wife from an enormous fire she starts in the house when she again escapes. Bertha perishes after she throws herself off the roof, leaving her husband free to marry Jane.\n\nAntoinette Cosway in Wide Sargasso Sea \n\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea, \"Bertha Mason\" is portrayed as being a false name for Antoinette Cosway. The book purports to tell Antoinette's side of the story as well as Rochester's and detail how she ended up alone and raving in the attic of Thornfield Hall. According to the book, Antoinette's insanity and drunkenness are the result of Rochester's misguided belief that madness is in her blood and that she was part of the scheme to have him married blindly.\n \nThe characters of Jane Eyre and Antoinette are portrayed as being very similar; independent, vivacious, imaginative young women with troubled childhoods, educated in religious establishments and looked down on by the upper classes — and, of course, they both marry Mr Rochester. However, Antoinette is more rebellious than Jane and less mentally stable. She displays a deep vein of morbidity verging on a death-wish (making her more similar perhaps to the character of Helen from Jane Eyre) and, in contrast with Jane's overt Christianity, holds a cynical viewpoint of both God and religion in general.","London School of Journalism | Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea ...\nShe wrote her version as ... The passionate nature at the heart of the novel is epitomised in Jane's metaphor ... Wide Sargasso Sea derives from Jane Eyre, ...\nLondon School of Journalism | Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea. Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre\nJean Rhys and Charlotte Bronte\nThe use of symbolism in the presentation of characters\nby Jenia Geraghty\nI began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker\nI often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all\nCharlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys composed their novels in different centuries and came from very different backgrounds. However despite these disparities the use of symbolism in their narratives can be compared. Jean Rhys's 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea is a creative response to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, a nineteenth century classic, which has always been one of English Literature's greatest and most popular love stories.\nShe seemed such a poor ghost, I thought I'd like to write her a life. [Jean Rhys]\nJane Eyre is a story of true love that encounters many obstacles and problems, but surmounts these troubles to fulfil destiny. The main source of trouble is Rochester's insane first wife, Bertha Mason, a lunatic Creole who is locked in the attic of his country house, Thornfield Hall. The problem is eventually solved, tragically, when Bertha escapes and burns Thornfield to the ground, killing herself and seriously maiming Rochester in the process. The social and moral imbalances between Jane and Rochester are then equalled by his punishment for his previous actions, and Jane's rise in status due to an inheritance.\nThis ending, however, did not satisfy the Dominican-born Jean Rhys. She disagreed with Bronte's presentation of Bertha Mason and set out to write 'a colonial story that is absent from Bronte's text'. Rhys's story tells the story of Bertha, and relates Bertha and Rochester's meeting, and their doomed marriage.\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea Rhys shifts the perspective on Jane Eyre by expressing the viewpoints of the different characters in the source material, so taking a different structural approach to the first-person narrative technique employed by Bronte. She wrote her version as a multiple narrative, giving Bertha a previously-unheard voice. Rochester, even though un-named in Wide Sargasso Sea, takes over the narration in part two, and Grace Poole enlightens us at the opening of part three. Rhys can be seen as repaying Bronte for her failure to give Bertha a voice by not allowing Jane one, even though she does appear in the novel. Antoinette, as Bertha is named in Rhys's novel, declares, 'There is always the other side', and this proves to be the governing theme throughout both novels.\nI knew you would do me some good in some way . . . I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you [Edward Rochester, Jane Eyre]\nRochester's prescience is an example of a prominent theme in Jane Eyre, in which premonition and the supernatural appear throughout the story. Both Jane and Edward believe in the signs they read in eyes, in nature and in dreams. Jane's own surname, 'Eyre', comes from the name of a historic house in which a madwoman lived, but Bronte also intended it to mean being a free spirit. Jane indeed has a frightening experience and actually sees herself as a spirit in the Red Room mirror at Gateshead, where she subsequently has a fit.\nJane encounters the legend of Gytrash in her fit, 'A great black dog behind him', a tale about a spirit that appears in the shape of either a horse, dog or mule that haunted solitary ways and followed isolated travellers. Jane describes Rochester's dog as Gytrash before she knows to whom he belongs, suggesting that she had a premonition from the vision she saw in her fit that this encounter was to spark off the most incredible aspect of her life.\nJane's dreams form a firm base for the prediction of what is to happen in her life. The symbolism of her dreams forecast her future. When she dreams of a garden that is 'Eden-like' and laden with 'Honey-dew' Rochester proposes to her. That night, however, the old horse chestnut tree is struck by lightning and splits in half, foretelling the difficulties that lie ahead for the couple.\nThe theme of dreams and foresight is also used by Jean Rhys:\nIs it true that England is like a dream? One of my friends wrote and said London is like a cold dark dream.\nAntoinette's dreams appear to be just as significant as Jane's, and Rhys no doubt found inspiration for developing Antoinette's character through the idea of Jane's dreams and premonitions.\nIn Bronte's time writers would often employ the technique of 'word-painting' at pivotal moments in the text and use landscape imagery to integrate plot, character and theme. In the scene where Jane describes herself as 'tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea', for example, Bronte warns the reader that Jane's romantic interlude is not an entirely positive turn of events. The emphasis on 'unquiet sea' informs the reader that Jane may well be in danger. This technique adds to the gothic element of the story, and heightens our response to the characters' perceptions of their predicaments.\nSimilarly, in Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester and Antoinette's marriage can be seen as being doomed from the start due to the landscape that they pass through on their journey to the honeymoon house. They stop in a village named 'Massacre' where it is raining and rather grey, and Rochester takes an instant dislike to the place because of the name and the inhabitants, both of which he describes as 'sly, spiteful, malignant perhaps'; words which appear to convey his whole attitude to all those who surround him. Later Rochester describes the night the couple spent in Massacre, emphasising that he lay awake all night listening to cocks crowing; a symbol of deception. In the Bible Jesus says to Judas, 'before the cock crows, you shall deny me thrice', and this line, interestingly, appears in the novel further on when Rochester confronts Antoinette about her history.\nJust as the name Jane Eyre can be seen to reflect Jane's character, the title of Rhys's novel can be seen to reflect the development of its plot. The Sargasso Sea, ('Sargasso' being the weed that gives that part of the North Atlantic its name), is almost still but at its centre has a mass of swirling currents, an image suggestive of Antoinette's character, and of the turmoil of her imprisonment and the method of her escape.\nThere is a limit to the extent to which we can see Wide Sargasso Sea as an interpretation of Jane Eyre, and we must remember that in some respects Rhys's novel takes pains to distance itself from Jane Eyre. The distinction is seen particularly in the inclusion of post-colonial theory in Wide Sargasso Sea. Antoinette is aware from a young age of the element of imprisonment that hangs over the West Indies;\nThe paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell.\nThe dead flowers represent the institution of slavery, while the fresh living smell represents what has come and will come in a post-emancipation society. In 'Women and Change in the Caribbean', Momsen wrote that when slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century, 'Women were taught that marriage was both prestigious and morally superior'. She also points out that accepting and following the lifestyles of the whites facilitated social mobility, and when Rhys's protagonist Antoinette marries she is seen as forsaking the customs and values of the Negroes.\nAntoinette, as a French Creole, has both black and white blood in her, which causes her much confusion;\nI often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all.\nShe is aware of her family's history and that she has a black and a white side to her. Her actions and thoughts appear to indicate that she is trying to form her identity in a time of change, turbulence and conflict.\nThe theme of black and white also links to the colour imagery presented by both writers, not only in the context of skin colour, but also in terms the colours that surround them in their environments. Antoinette's one time friend Tia, calls Antoinette a 'White Nigger' meaning that the emancipation has left the white slave owners in the same position as the blacks. Neither has power or money and both are resented by the new white people moving into the Caribbean. The 'white nigger' is neither a white person nor a black person, but is regarded as inferior to the Negroes.\nA range of imagery in the form of colours is associated with the development of the intrigue behind Antoinette's madness, and Jane's love for Rochester. Rochester describes Bertha as having 'red balls' for eyes and a 'mask' instead of a face. This use of figurative language makes Bertha appear a grotesque monster, while in contrast Jane is likened to 'an eager little bird'.\nWe can also compare the difference between how the symbolism of fire distinguishes the representations of Jane and Antoinette's characters. Rochester describes the West Indies as 'Fiery' and we see his dislike of this unfamiliar environment grow to overpowering proportions, until he decides to shoot himself. He is prevented by 'a fresh wind from Europe', which entices him home. This scene echoes Jane Eyre, where Jane hears Rochester's voice calling her back to Thornfield. Rochester undoubtedly associates Jamaica with evil and so Bertha's fiery, manic disposition fits in with his view of the Caribbean. England is seen as 'pure', Jane is described as having 'clear eyes' a 'face', this healthy description informing us of her mental health. Rochester wants a true English Rose 'this is what I wished to have' (laying a hand on Jane's shoulder). Bertha's fiery, hateful and wild nature is the opposite of Jane's prim and typically English reserve. The passionate nature at the heart of the novel is epitomised in Jane's metaphor for her love for Rochester, 'Fiery iron grasped my vitals'. Jane's fire is in her love whereas Antoinette's fire is one of pain and fear. Fire also links Jane to Bertha, both in passion and in the actual setting of fire, most notably the fire that kills Bertha but symbolises rebirth in the character of Rochester.\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea fiery emotions surround the character of Antoinette and her progression into her 'zombie-like' state. The 'zombie' theme sums up Rhys's main point about insanity and spiritual death that she introduces in the form of the Caribbean magic, Obeah. Rochester discovers this black magic and is even accused by Antoinette of performing it on her; 'You are trying to make me into someone else, that's Obeah too'. It is Rochester's calling her 'Bertha' after he discovers her history, and that her mother's name was close to her own, that sparks this outburst by Antoinette.\nThe fuel keeping Antoinette alive before she suffers her final death is hate, 'before I die I will show you how much I hate you'. This hate stems from the way she was presented in Jane Eyre, and Grace Poole informs us, 'I don't turn my back on her when her eyes have that look'. Ultimately, Antoinette's only possible solution, because of her zombie-like state, is to follow her dead spirit into death, 'now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do'.\nThe death of Antoinette/Bertha heralds the end of Rhys's story, but is the turning point for Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre. From the destruction of Thornfield and Rochester's disfigurement through his selfless actions in rescuing others from the fire, he is able to redeem himself and find contentment. After he has suffered and felt pain, mentally and physically, and lost his arrogance and pride, he finally realises his true self:\nI began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker.\nWith Rochester's rebirth Jane's quest for love is finally over, as she finally has her equal.\nJane Eyre is a bildungsroman, a novel of personal development, loosely based on Bronte's own experiences, and drawing upon her extensive knowledge of folklore, her vivid imagination and her influences, including the Romantics (Rochester has been described as a 'Byronic hero') and Shakespeare. The novel is a masterpiece that arose from Bronte's intention to create a love story interwoven with her own experiences, even though her own life did not have such a fairy-tale-like ending.\nWide Sargasso Sea derives from Jane Eyre, and the relationship between the two has provoked much critical discussion about the two authors' intentions. The novels must be read together in order to fully appreciate how they complement each other, and how each is also a novel in its own right, with distinct characters and plot.\nBut, as I hope to have shown in this essay, one feature the novels have in common is that both authors make use of the literary device of symbolism in their writing. In both novels our appreciation of the characters and themes is enriched by the symbolism inherent in such narrative elements as dreams, visions, landscapes, characters' names, place names, colours, fire, and even the titles.\nBibliography\nMomsen, Janet. ed. Women and Change in the Caribbean. Kingston: Ian Randle; Bloomington: Indiana University Press; London: J. Currey, 1993.\n© Jenia Geraghty, May 2002\n\"I have really enjoyed the course and my tutor has provided really useful feedback through all the lessons.\"\nKatie S\n\"...such a wonderful course with helpful administration staff and a super tutor.\"\nShirley P\n\"The course was super - most enjoyable and the tutoring was excellent!\"\nBrian C","Jane Eyre Quotes and Analysis | GradeSaver\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis. ... There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. ... In the first line, ...\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis | GradeSaver\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis\nBuy Study Guide\nGod and nature intended you for a missionary's wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary's wife you must - shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you - not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign's service.\nSt. John Rivers\nSt. John makes this statement when he is attempting to convince Jane to marry him and become a missionary in India. St. John's declaration that Jane is formed for \"labour, not for love\" emphasizes his belief that love and passion have no place in a moral life. St. John's argument of ownership also highlights his view of Jane as a subservient companion, not a woman with independent thoughts. Although Jane approves of St. John's morality, she is unwilling to sacrifice love to become the kind of woman that St. John wants her to be.\nThere was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question. I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.\nJane Eyre\nThis is one of the more famous quotations from the novel because it provides an immediate sense of Jane's personality, as well as her position of lonely inferiority among her cousins at Gateshead. In the first line, it seems as if Jane desires to take a walk and is upset that she cannot. However, with the addition of the later lines, it becomes clear that Jane actually dislikes long walks - even from the very beginning of the novel, Bronte informs the readers that Jane is an atypical character who will make some surprising decisions. This opening quotation also describes the extent of Jane's loneliness and unhappiness with the Reed family; it is because of her empty childhood that Jane thirsts for the family and love that she will find with Mr. Rochester at Thornfield Manor.\nI knew you would do me good in some way, at some time; - I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not - did not strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing. People talk of natural sympathies: I have heard of good genii: - there are grains of truth in the wildest fable. My cherished preserver, good-night!\nEdward Rochester\nThis quotation occurs immediately after Bertha Mason has set Mr. Rochester's bed on fire and Jane has rescued him. Mr. Rochester discards his sarcasm for one of the first times in the novel and acknowledges that he feels a significant emotional connection to Jane. This intimate moment is only possible because of Mr. Rochester's vulnerable position, and both the reader and Jane begin to see some of the person who lives beneath his brooding and tormented exterior. Bronte will continue to explore the idea that Jane and Mr. Rochester are kindred spirits as the novel continues, but even these few lines lay the seeds for the fiery passion that will pervade Jane's relationship with Mr. Rochester.\nI am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am dead you must be sure and not grieve: there is nothing to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and gradual: my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me much: I have only a father; and he is lately married, and will not miss me. By dying young I shall escape great sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way very well in the world: I should have been continually at fault.\nHelen Burns\nThis speech comes when Helen Burns is dying in Jane's arms at Lowood School. Although she only appears for a few chapters, Helen and her view of Christianity become very significant to Jane as she grows into adulthood. Helen argued for turning the other cheek: accepting the injustice and unhappiness of the earthly world because of the joys that await in heaven. Although Jane does not wholly agree with Helen's passivity, particularly in the face of the torments at Lowood, she admires Helen's strength of faith. Still, Jane fears for her friend's death and the inevitable loneliness that will come when she is gone. Helen strives to convince Jane not to be unhappy because she is finally fulfilling her destiny and finding peace with God.\nReader, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I, the parson and clerk, were alone present.\nJane Eyre\nThis quotation comes after Jane has gone to Ferndean and discovered the newly-blinded Mr. Rochester. Up until this point in the text, Jane has always maintained a subservient position to Mr. Rochester. However, with the inheritance from her uncle, Jane is now an independent woman and can take charge of her own destiny. Moreover, with the loss of Mr. Rochester's eyesight, he becomes vulnerable and dependent on Jane; he can no longer maintain his former position as the superior male. Thus, instead of using the subservient \"He married me,\" in which Mr. Rochester is the dominating partner, Jane takes the superior in the relationship: \"I married him.\" However, this inequality is resolved when Mr. Rochester regains the use of one of his eyes; Jane and Mr. Rochester are finally able to support a relationship of mutual respect and quality.\nYou never felt jealousy, did you, Miss Eyre? Of course not: I need not ask you; because you never felt love. You have both sentiments yet to experience: your soul sleeps; the shock is yet to be given which shall waken it.\nEdward Rochester\nThis speech occurs when Mr. Rochester tells Jane about Adele's origins and his affair with Celine Varens. Mr. Rochester's assertion that Jane has never felt love is not necessarily false. At this point in her sheltered life, Jane has barely experienced familial love, not to mention romantic love. Mr. Rochester's conclusion about Jane's emotional experience also emphasizes her inferior position in their relationship. Because he has experienced many kinds of love, Mr. Rochester is ultimately wiser and thus, superior to his naive governess. However, Bronte suggests that Jane actually possesses far more wisdom and clarity about love that Mr. Rochester: she is the only one of the two who is able to resist the call of animal passion and resist the temptation to become his mistress.\nWhy, I suppose you have a governess for her: I saw a person with her just now - is she gone? Oh, no! there she is still behind the window-curtain. You pay her, of course: I should think it quite as expensive, - more so; for you have them both to keep in addition...You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi - were they not, mama?\nBlanche Ingram\nJane overhears this speech by Blanche Ingram during one of the social gatherings at Thornfield. Blanche expresses the upper-class prejudice against governesses and other members of the lower-class. Instead of respecting governesses for the work that they must do, Blanches mocks them openly and without any consideration for Jane's presence in the room. In her mind, a governess is nothing more than a servant and worthy of even less respect. This attitude is one that Jane constantly faces as a governess; Mr. Rochester is the only member of high society who ever treats her with respect.\nShe bit me. She worried me like a tigress, when Rochester got the knife from her...She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart.\nRichard Mason\nThis speech takes place after Richard Mason has been attacked by Bertha. Although Mr. Rochester forbids Jane and Richard Mason to speak about what has occurred, Jane cannot help overhearing this clue to the mystery of Thornfield. Through Mason's description, Bronte is able to present Bertha's nature as bestial (as a tigress) and even vampiric, a term in itself that alludes to the Gothic literary tradition. Not only is Bertha akin to the animal world in all its chaos, she is even carnivorous and attempts to suck the life out of her brother in the same way that her presence threatens to suck the life out of Mr. Rochester's happiness with Jane. Bertha's uncontrollable animal nature comes in stark contrast to Jane's placidity and rationality; although Jane possesses some of the same fiery passion that Bertha has, Jane is able to control her inclinations with her humanity.\nIf people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should - so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.\nJane Eyre\nThis speech occurs during one of Jane's conversations with Helen Burns at Lowood. Although Helen prescribes to the idea of \"turning the other cheek\" when mistreated, Jane believes that people should defend themselves to ensure that they are never mistreated again. Jane is unable to mirror Helen's passivity at Lowood and her passion and strength of character will help her to overcome many obstacles in her life. Eventually Jane learns to hide her passion and anger at injustice, but Mr. Rochester will still recognize a kindred spirit beneath her calm exterior.\nYou must be on your guard against her; you must shun her example: if necessary, avoid her company, exclude her from your sports, and shut her out from your converse. Teachers, you must watch her: keep your eyes on her movements, weight well her words, scrutinize her actions, punish her body to saver her soul; if indeed, such salvation be possible for (my tongue falters while I tell it) this girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernaut - this girl is - a liar!\nMr. Brocklehurst\nMr. Brocklehurst represents the worst kind of Christianity in the novel. His evangelical sermons, extreme stinginess, and cruel treatment of his students come in sharp contrast with his family's luxurious lifestyle and his embezzlement of school funds. In this particular scene, Mr. Brocklehurst demonstrates the extent of his cruelty by tormenting Jane with false accusations in front of her school peers. Although Mr. Brocklehurst is eventually removed from his position at Lowood, he remains one of the worst obstacles that the child Jane must overcome in order to continue her quest for independence.","SparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Study Questions & Essay Topics\nSuggested essay topics and study questions for Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. ... there are many possible ways to ... In what ways might Jane Eyre be considered a ...\nSparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Study Questions & Essay Topics\nStudy Questions & Essay Topics\nStudy Questions\n1.\nIn what ways is Jane Eyre influenced by the tradition of the Gothic novel? What do the Gothic elements contribute to the novel?\nThe Gothic tradition utilizes elements such as supernatural encounters, remote locations, complicated family histories, ancient manor houses, dark secrets, and mysteries to create an atmosphere of suspense and terror, and the plot of Jane Eyre includes most of these elements. Lowood, Moor House, and Thornfield are all remote locations, and Thornfield, like Gateshead, is also an ancient manor house. Both Rochester and Jane possess complicated family histories—Rochester’s hidden wife, Bertha, is the dark secret at the novel’s core. The exposure of Bertha is one of the most important moments in the novel, and the mystery surrounding her is the main source of the novel’s suspense.\nOther Gothic occurrences include: Jane’s encounter with the ghost of her late Uncle Reed in the red-room; the moment of supernatural communication between Jane and Rochester when she hears his voice calling her across the misty heath from miles and miles away; and Jane’s mistaking Rochester’s dog, Pilot, for a “Gytrash,” a spirit of North England that manifests itself as a horse or dog.\nAlthough Brontë’s use of Gothic elements heightens her reader’s interest and adds to the emotional and philosophical tensions of the book, most of the seemingly supernatural occurrences are actually explained as the story progresses. It seems that many of the Gothic elements serve to anticipate and elevate the importance of the plot’s turning points.\n2.\nWhat do the names mean in Jane Eyre? Some names to consider include: Jane Eyre, Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Reed, Rivers, Miss Temple, and Ferndean.\nOf course, there are many possible ways to address this question. The following answer includes only a few of the ways the names in Jane Eyre can be interpreted.\nThe name “Jane Eyre” elicits many associations. The contrast between Jane’s first name—with its traditional association with “plainness”—and the names of the novel’s well-born women (Blanche, Eliza, Georgiana, Diana, Rosamond) highlights Jane’s lack of status, but it also emphasizes her lack of pretense. Jane’s last name has many possible interpretations, none of which mutually excludes the other. “Eyre” is an archaic spelling for “air,” and throughout the book, Jane is linked to the spiritual or ethereal as she drifts, windlike, from one location to the next. In French, “aire” refers to a bird’s nesting place, among other things. Jane is compared to a bird repeatedly throughout the novel, and she often uses her imagination as a “nesting-place” of sorts, a private realm where she can feel secure. In medieval times, “eyre” also signified circuit-traveling judges. Perhaps Jane’s name is meant to bring attention to her role as a careful evaluator of all that she sees, and to the importance that she attaches to justice. “Eyre” also sounds like “heir,” and its other homophone—“err”—could certainly be interpreted to be meaningful, especially to feminist and religious critics who take issue with Jane’s actions!\nPlace names also seem to be symbolic. Jane’s story begins at “Gateshead.” From there, she moves to the bosky darkness and spiritual abyss of “Lowood.” At Thornfield, she must fight her way through the stings of many emotional and psychological thorns (or, as many critics argue, wear “a crown of thorns” like Jesus Christ). Jane first tastes true freedom of movement in the open spaces surrounding Moor House, while Ferndean is the home where her love can grow fertile. Thus in Chapter 37 Rochester says to Jane, “I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-tree in Thornfield orchard. . . . And what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?” Jane replies, “You are no ruin, sir—no lightning-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not, because they take delight in your bountiful shadow; and as they grow they will lean towards you, and wind round you, because your strength offers them so safe a prop.”\nSuggested Essay Topics\n1. Discuss Jane as a narrator and as a character. What sort of voice does she have? How does she represent her own actions? Does she seem to be a trustworthy storyteller, or does Brontë require us to read between the lines of her narrative? In light of the fact that people who treat Jane cruelly (John Reed, Mrs. Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst) all seem to come to unhappy endings, what role does Jane play as the novel’s moral center?\n2. In what ways might Jane Eyre be considered a feminist novel? What points does the novel make about the treatment and position of women in Victorian society? With particular attention to the book’s treatment of marriage, is there any way in which it might be considered anti-feminist?\n3. What role does Jane’s ambiguous social position play in determining the conflict of her story? What larger points, if any, does the novel make about social class? Does the book criticize or reinforce existing Victorian social prejudices? Consider the treatment of Jane as a governess, but also of the other servants in the book, along with Jane’s attitude toward her impoverished students at Morton.\n4. Compare and contrast some of the characters who serve as foils throughout Jane Eyre: Blanche to Jane, St. John to Rochester, and, perhaps, Bertha to Jane. Also think about the points of comparison between the Reed and Rivers families. How do these contrasts aid the development of the book’s themes?\nMore Help","John_Wilmot,_2nd_Earl_of_Rochester.txt\nJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester\nJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 – 26 July 1680), was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court. The Restoration reacted against the \"spiritual authoritarianism\" of the Puritan era. Rochester was the embodiment of the new era, and he is as well known for his rakish lifestyle as his poetry, although the two were often interlinked. He died at the age of 33 from venereal disease.\n\nRochester's contemporary Andrew Marvell described him as \"the best English satirist,\" and he is generally considered to be the most considerable poet and the most learned among the Restoration wits. His poetry, despite being widely censored during the Victorian era, enjoyed a revival from the 1920s onwards, with notable champions including Graham Greene and Ezra Pound. The critic Vivian de Sola Pinto linked Rochester's libertinism to Hobbesian materialism. During his lifetime, he was best known for A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind, and it remains among his best known works today.\n\nLife\n\nUpbringing and teens\n\nJohn Wilmot was born at Ditchley House in Oxfordshire on 1 April 1647. His father, Henry, Viscount Wilmot would be created Earl of Rochester in 1652 for his military service to Charles II during the King's exile under the Commonwealth. Paul Davis describes Henry as \"a Cavalier legend, a dashing bon viveur and war-hero who single-handedly engineered the future Charles II's escape to the Continent (including the famous concealment in an oak tree) after the disastrous battle of Worcester in 1651\". His mother, Anne St. John, was a strong-willed Puritan from a noble Wiltshire family.\n\nFrom the age of seven, Rochester was privately tutored, two years later attending the grammar school in nearby Burford. His father died in 1658, and John Wilmot inherited the title of the Earl of Rochester in April of that year. In January 1660, Rochester was admitted as a Fellow commoner to Wadham College, Oxford, a new and comparatively poor college. Whilst there, it is said, the 13-year-old \"grew debauched\". In September 1661 he was awarded an honorary M.A. by the newly elected Chancellor of the university, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, a family friend.Frank H. Ellis, \"Wilmot, John, second earl of Rochester (1647–1680)\", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29623, accessed 12 July 2012]\n\nAs an act of gratitude towards the son of Henry Wilmot, Charles II conferred on Rochester an annual pension of £500. In November 1661 Charles sent Rochester on a three year Grand Tour of France and Italy, and appointed the physician Andrew Balfour as his governor. This exposed him to an unusual degree to European (especially French) writing and thought. In 1664 Rochester returned to London, and made his formal début at the Restoration court on Christmas Day.\n\nIt has been suggested by a number of scholars that the King took a paternal role in Rochester's life. Charles II suggested a marriage between Rochester and the wealthy heiress Elizabeth Malet. Her wealth-hungry relatives opposed marriage to the impoverished Rochester, who conspired with his mother to abduct the young Countess. Samuel Pepys described the attempted abduction in his diary on 28 May 1665:\nThence to my Lady Sandwich's, where, to my shame, I had not been a great while before. Here, upon my telling her a story of my Lord Rochester's running away on Friday night last with Mrs. Mallett, the great beauty and fortune of the North, who had supped at White Hall with Mrs. Stewart, and was going home to her lodgings with her grandfather, my Lord Haly, by coach; and was at Charing Cross seized on by both horse and foot men, and forcibly taken from him, and put into a coach with six horses, and two women provided to receive her, and carried away. Upon immediate pursuit, my Lord of Rochester (for whom the King had spoke to the lady often, but with no successe ) was taken at Uxbridge; but the lady is not yet heard of, and the King mighty angry, and the Lord sent to the Tower. \n\n18-year-old Rochester spent three weeks in the Tower, and was only released after he wrote a penitent apology to the King.\n\nRochester attempted to redeem himself by volunteering for the navy in the Second Dutch War in the winter of 1665, serving under the Earl of Sandwich. His courage at the Battle of Vågen, serving onboard the ship of Thomas Teddeman, made him a war hero. Pleased with his conduct, Charles appointed Rochester a Gentleman of the Bedchamber in March 1666, which granted him prime lodgings in Whitehall and a pension of £1,000 a year. The role encompassed, one week in every four, Rochester helping the King to dress and undress, serve his meals when dining in private, and sleeping at the foot of the King's bed. In the summer of 1666, Rochester returned to sea, serving under Edward Spragge. He again showed extraordinary courage in battle. \n\nUpon returning from sea, Rochester resumed his courtship of Elizabeth Malet. Defying her family's wishes, Malet eloped with Rochester again in January 1667, and they were married at the Knightsbridge chapel.Notes and Queries (2011) 58 (3): 381–386. doi: 10.1093/notesj/gjr109\n\nIn October 1667, the monarch granted Rochester special licence to enter the House of Lords early, despite being seven months underage. The act was an attempt by the King to bolster his number of supporters among the Lords. \n\nTeenage actress Nell Gwyn \"almost certainly\" took him as her lover; she was later to become the mistress of Charles II. Gwyn remained a lifelong friend and political associate, and her relationship with the King gave Rochester influence and status within the Court.\n\n20s and last years\n\nRochester's life was divided between domesticity in the country and a riotous existence at court, where he was renowned for drunkenness, vivacious conversation, and \"extravagant frolics\" as part of the Merry Gang (as Andrew Marvell described them). The Merry Gang flourished for about 15 years after 1665 and included Henry Jermyn; Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset; John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave; Henry Killigrew; Sir Charles Sedley; the playwrights William Wycherley and George Etherege; and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Gilbert Burnet wrote of him that, \"For five years together he was continually Drunk ... [and] not ... perfectly Master of himself ... [which] led him to ... do many wild and unaccountable things.\" In 1669 he committed treason by boxing the ears of Thomas Killigrew in sight of the monarch and was banned from the court, although the King soon called for his return.\n\nIn 1673, Rochester began to train Elizabeth Barry as an actress. She went on to become the most famous actress of her age. He took her as his mistress in 1675. The relationship lasted for around five years, and produced a daughter, before descending into acrimony after Rochester began to resent her success. Rochester wrote afterwards, \"With what face can I incline/To damn you to be only mine? ... Live up to thy might mind/And be the mistress of mankind\".\n\nWhen the King's advisor and friend of Rochester, George Villiers lost power in 1673, Rochester's standing fell as well. At the Christmas festivities at Whitehall of that year, Rochester delivered a satire to Charles II, \"In the Isle of Britain\" – which criticized the King for being obsessed with sex at the expense of his kingdom. Charles' reaction to this satirical portrayal resulted in Rochester's exile from the court until February. During this time Rochester dwelt at his estate in Adderbury. Despite this, in February 1674, after much petitioning by Rochester, the King appointed him Ranger of Woodstock Park.\n\nIn June 1675 \"Lord Rochester in a frolick after a rant did ... beat downe the dyill (i.e. sundial) which stood in the middle of the Privie Garding, which was esteemed the rarest in Europ\". John Aubrey learned what Rochester said on this occasion when he came in from his \"revells\" with Charles Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, and Fleetwood Sheppard to see the object: \"'What ... doest thou stand here to fuck time?' Dash they fell to worke\". It has been speculated that the comment refers not to the dial itself, which was not phallic in appearance, but a painting of the King next to the dial that featured his phallic sceptre. Rochester fled the court again.\n\nRochester fell into disfavour again in 1676. During a late-night scuffle with the night watch, one of Rochester's companions was killed by a pike-thrust. Rochester was reported to have fled the scene of the incident, and his standing with the monarch reached an all time low. Following this incident, Rochester briefly fled to Tower Hill, where he impersonated a mountebank \"Doctor Bendo\". Under this persona, he claimed skill in treating \"barrenness\" (infertility), and other gynecological disorders. Gilbert Burnet wryly noted that Rochester's practice was \"not without success\", implying his intercession of himself as surreptitious sperm donor. On occasion, Rochester also assumed the role of the grave and matronly Mrs. Bendo, presumably so that he could inspect young women privately without arousing their husbands' suspicions. \n\nDeath\n\nBy the age of 33, Rochester was dying, from what is usually described as the effects of syphilis, gonorrhea, or other venereal diseases, combined with the effects of alcoholism. Carol Richards has disputed this, arguing that it is more likely that he died of renal failure due to chronic nephritis as a result of suffering from Bright's disease. His mother had him attended in his final weeks by her religious associates, particularly Gilbert Burnet, later Bishop of Salisbury.\n\nAfter hearing of Burnet's departure from his side, Rochester muttered his last words; \"Has my friend left me? then I shall die shortly\". In the early morning of 26 July 1680, Rochester died \"without a shudder or a sound\". He was buried at Spelsbury Church in Oxfordshire.\n\nA deathbed renunciation of libertinism was published and promulgated as the conversion of a prodigal son. Because the first published account of this story appears in Burnet's own writings, its accuracy has been disputed by some scholars, who accuse Burnet with having shaped the account of Rochester's denunciation of libertinism to enhance his own reputation.\n\nWorks\n\nThree major critical editions of Rochester in the twentieth century have taken very different approaches to authenticating and organizing his canon. David Vieth’s 1968 edition adopts a heavily biographical organization, modernizing spellings and heading the sections of his book \"Prentice Work\", \"Early Maturity\", \"Tragic Maturity\", and \"Disillusionment and Death\". Keith Walker’s 1984 edition takes a genre-based approach, returning to the older spellings and accidentals in an effort to present documents closer to those a seventeenth century audience would have received. Harold Love’s Oxford University Press edition of 1999, now the scholarly standard, notes the variorum history conscientiously, but arranges works in genre sections ordered from the private to the public. Scholarship has identified approximately 75 authentic Rochester poems. \n\nRochester's poetic work varies widely in form, genre, and content. He was part of a \"mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease\", who continued to produce their poetry in manuscripts, rather than in publication. As a consequence, some of Rochester's work deals with topical concerns, such as satires of courtly affairs in libels, to parodies of the styles of his contemporaries, such as Sir Carr Scroope. He is also notable for his impromptus, one of which is a teasing epitaph of King Charles II:\nWe have a pretty witty king,\nAnd whose word no man relies on,\nHe never said a foolish thing,\nAnd never did a wise one\" \nto which Charles supposedly said \"that's true, for my words are my own, but my actions are those of my ministers\". \n\nRochester's poetry displays a range of learning and influences. These included imitations of Malherbe, Ronsard, and Boileau. He also translated or adapted from classical authors such as Petronius, Lucretius, Ovid, Anacreon, Horace, and Seneca.\n\nRochester's writings were at once admired and infamous. A Satyr Against Mankind (1675), one of the few poems he published (in a broadside in 1679) is a scathing denunciation of rationalism and optimism that contrasts human perfidy with animal wisdom.\n\nThe majority of his poetry was not published under his name until after his death. Because most of his poems circulated only in manuscript form during his lifetime, it is likely that much of his writing does not survive. Burnet claimed that Rochester's conversion experience led him to ask that \"all his profane and lewd writings\" be burned; it is unclear how much, if any, of Rochester's writing was destroyed.\n\nRochester was also interested in the theatre. In addition to an interest in actresses, he wrote an adaptation of Fletcher's Valentinian (1685), a scene for Sir Robert Howard's The Conquest of China, a prologue to Elkanah Settle's The Empress of Morocco (1673), and epilogues to Sir Francis Fane's Love in the Dark (1675), Charles Davenant's Circe, a Tragedy (1677). The best-known dramatic work attributed to Rochester, Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery, has never been successfully proven to be written by him. Posthumous printings of Sodom, however, gave rise to prosecutions for obscenity, and were destroyed. On 16 December 2004 one of the few surviving copies of Sodom was sold by Sotheby's for £45,600. \n\nRochester's letters to his wife and to his friend Henry Savile show an admirable mastery of easy, colloquial prose.\n\nReception and influence\n\nRochester was the model for a number of rake heroes in plays of the period, such as Don John in Thomas Shadwell's The Libertine (1675) and Dorimant in George Etherege's The Man of Mode (1676). Meanwhile he was eulogised by his contemporaries such as Aphra Behn and Andrew Marvell, who described him as \"the only man in England that had the true vein of satire\".[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17388/17388-h/17388-h.htm The Project Gutenberg eBook of Andrew Marvell, by Augustine Birrell] Daniel Defoe quoted him in Moll Flanders, and discussed him in other works. Voltaire, who spoke of Rochester as \"the man of genius, the great poet\", admired his satire for its \"energy and fire\" and translated some lines into French to \"display the shining imagination his lordship only could boast\". \n\nBy the 1750s, Rochester's reputation suffered as the liberality of the Restoration era subsided; Samuel Johnson characterised him as a worthless and dissolute rake. Horace Walpole described him as \"a man whom the muses were fond to inspire but ashamed to avow\". Despite this general disdain for Rochester, William Hazlitt commented that his \"verses cut and sparkle like diamonds\" while his \"epigrams were the bitterest, the least laboured, and the truest, that ever were written\". Referring to Rochester's perspective, Hazlitt wrote that \"his contempt for everything that others respect almost amounts to sublimity\". Meanwhile, Goethe quoted A Satyr against Reason and Mankind in English in his Autobiography. Despite this, Rochester's work was largely ignored throughout the Victorian era.\n\nRochester's reputation would not begin to revive until the 1920s. Ezra Pound, in his ABC of Reading, compared Rochester's poetry favourably to better known figures such as Alexander Pope and John Milton. Graham Greene characterised Rochester as a \"spoiled Puritan\". Although F. R. Leavis argued that \"Rochester is not a great poet of any kind\", William Empson admired him. More recently, Germaine Greer has questioned the validity of the appraisal of Rochester as a drunken rake, and hailed the sensitivity of some of his lyrics. \n\nRochester was listed #6 in Time Out's \"Top 30 chart of London's most erotic writers\". Tom Morris, the associate director, of the National Theatre said ‘Rochester reminds me of an unhinged poacher, moving noiselessly through the night and shooting every convention that moves. Bishop Burnett, who coached him to an implausible death-bed repentance, said that he was unable to express any feeling without oaths and obscenities. He seemed like a punk in a frock coat. But once the straw dolls have been slain, Rochester celebrates in a sexual landscape all of his own.’\n\nIn popular culture\n\nA play, The Libertine (1994), was written by Stephen Jeffreys, and staged by the Royal Court Theatre. The 2004 film The Libertine, based on Jeffreys' play, starred Johnny Depp as Rochester, Samantha Morton as Elizabeth Barry, John Malkovich as King Charles II and Rosamund Pike as Elizabeth Malet. Michael Nyman set to music an excerpt of Rochester's poem, \"Signor Dildo\" for the film. \n\nRochester is the central character in Anna Lieff Saxby's 1996 erotic novella 'No Paradise But Pleasure'","The Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters ... most loved characters and his story propelled Dickens to literary stardom. Pinch, Tom ... Tapley, Mark Martin ...\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club\nHonorary Member: Mr Gerald Dickens\nAn Affiliate Member of the Dickens Fellowship\nMore\nBenjamin Allen ( Pickwick Papers ) Medical student, brother of Arabella , and drinking buddy of Bob Sawyer . \nArtful Dodger ( Oliver Twist ) Alias of Jack Dawkins , he is the most successful and interesting of Fagin's thieves. He shows Oliver the ropes of the pickpocket game and is later captured and sentenced to transportation. \nThe Avenger ( Great Expectations ) A servant boy hired by Pip . Pip has such a hard time finding things to keep him busy \"that I sometimes sent him to Hyde Park Corner to see what o'clock it was.\" \nB\nBachelor, The ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Friend to the parson in the village church where Nell and her grandfather end their journey. He turns out to be the brother of Mr Garland and is instrumental in helping the Single Gentleman find his brother, Nell's grandfather. \nBadger, Bayham ( Bleak House ) Doctor, cousin of Kenge , to whom Richard Carstone is apprenticed. Badger's wife Laura talks incessantly about her two former husbands, Capt Swosser and Professor Dingo. \nBagnet Family ( Bleak House ) Musical, military family headed by Matthew, an old army friend of George Rouncewell . Bagnet's wife, the old girl, knows Matthew so well that he always calls upon her to supply his opinion. The Bagnet children: Quebec, Malta, and Woolwich are named for the military bases where the family has been stationed. Matthew is guarantor to George's loan from Smallweed , when Smallweed calls in the debt George is forced to deliver a document Smallweed needs to help lawyer Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. \nBagstock, Major Joseph ( Dombey and Son ) Neighbor of Miss Tox and friend of Paul Dombey who introduces Paul to Edith Granger and Mrs Skewton . The Major describes himself as \"tough, Sir, tough, and de-vilish sly!\" \nBailey, (Benjamin) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Street-wise servant boy at Todger's Boarding House. Later goes to work for Tigg Montigue and is nearly killed in a coach accident. \nMrs Bangham ( Little Dorrit ) Charwoman and messenger in the Marshalsea prison. She attends the birth of Amy Dorrit . \nBarbara ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Modest and pretty servant of the Garlands . She befriends Kit when he is also employed by the Garlands. Barbara later marries Kit. \nMiss Barbary ( Bleak House ) 'Godmother' who raises Esther Summerson . Later found to be Esther's aunt, the sister of Lady Dedlock . \nBardell, Martha ( Pickwick Papers ) Landlady of Samuel Pickwick in Goswell Street. Mrs. Bardell is duped by unscrupulous lawyers, Dodson and Fogg , into bringing a breach of promise to marry suit against Pickwick. When Pickwick refuses to pay damages and is consigned to the Fleet prison, Dodson and Fogg sue Mrs Bardell for costs and have her consigned to the Fleet. Pickwick pays the penitent Bardell's costs to get her released. \nBarkis ( David Copperfield ) A carrier between Blunderstone and Yarmouth. He marries Clara Peggotty . Quote: Barkis is willin' \nBarley, Old Bill ( Great Expectations ) Clara Barley's bedridden father, a retired ship's purser, who suffers with gout which he treats with an abundance of rum and pepper. \nBarley, Clara ( Great Expectations ) Herbert Pocket's fiancee, she cares for her invalid father, Old Bill Barley , in a waterside house at Mill Pond Bank where Magwitch is hidden. After her father's death she marries Herbert. \nBarnacles ( Little Dorrit ) Family that controls the Circumlocution Office, where everything goes round in circles, and nothing ever gets done. Includes Lord Decimus Tite Barnacle, his wife, Lady Jemima Bilberry, nephew Tite Barnacle, and his son Clarence Barnacle (Barnacle Junior). \nBarsad, John/Soloman Pross ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Barsad testifies against Charles Darnay at the treason trial at the Old Bailey. Later Barsad turns up as a spy in Paris and is found to be the brother of Miss Pross . Threatened with exposure, Barsad helps Sydney Carton exchange places with Charles Darnay in prison. \nBates, Charles ( Oliver Twist ) Member of Fagin's band of thieves. He mends his ways after Fagin is captured. \nBazzard ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Clerk to Hiram Grewgious who writes an unproduced tragedy, The Thorn of Anxiety. Grewgious admits that Bazzard has a strange power over him. \nBenjamin ( Barnaby Rudge ) Member of the 'Prentice Knights with Simon Tappertit . \nBetsy (Bet) ( Oliver Twist ) Prostitute and friend of Nancy . Goes mad after identifying Nancy's body. \nBevan, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Boston doctor whom Martin and Mark meet at Pawkins' Boarding House in New York and one of the few positive characters they meet in the America. Bevan later loans them money to return to England. \nBiddy ( Great Expectations ) Mr. Wopsle's great aunt's granddaughter. She loves Pip but he ignores her as his fortunes improve. When Pip realizes that he loves her too she has married Joe Gargery . \nBillickin, Mrs. ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) London landlady of Rosa Bud and her chaperone, Miss Twinkleton . She insists on using the title 'Billickin' in business matters fearing being taken advantage of because she is a woman. Mrs. Billickin and Miss Twinkleton take a comical dislike for each other. \nBitzer ( Hard Times ) A student in Gradgrind's school of hard facts. Later a light porter in Bounderby's bank. \nBlackpool, Stephen ( Hard Times ) A worker in Bounderby's mill. His wife is a drunk and he befriends Rachael . He falls out with his employer and leaves to look for work elsewhere. He is accused of robbing the bank and before his name is cleared he falls down a well and dies. Later he is cleared with the discovery that the robbery was committed by young Tom Gradgrind . \nBlathers ( Oliver Twist ) Bow Street Runner (London Policemen) who, along with Duff , investigates the attempted robbery of the Maylie home. \nBlimber, Dr ( Dombey and Son ) Headmaster of the school in Brighton where Paul Dombey Jr attends. Blimber is assisted at the school by his wife and daughter Cornelia. Dickens describes Blimber as \"a portly gentleman in a suit of black, with strings at the knees, and stockings below them. He had a bald head, highly polished; a deep voice; and a chin so very double, that it was a wonder how he ever managed to shave into the creases.\" \nBoffin, Noddy ( Our Mutual Friend ) John Harmon's servant. When John's son is supposed drowned, Boffin and his wife inherit the Harmon fortune, for a time. \nBoffin, Henrietta ( Our Mutual Friend ) Noddy Boffin's wife. \nBounderby, Josiah ( Hard Times ) Coketown Banker, mill owner, and \"self-made man\" proud that he raised himself in the streets after being abandoned as a child. His story is exposed as a sham when Mrs. Pegler , his loving mother whom he has discarded, is found. Bounderby marries his friend Gradgrind's daughter, Louisa , and later discards her. \nBowley, Sir Joseph ( The Chimes ) Member of Parliament who condescendingly calls himself \"the poor man's friend and father\" and exhorts Trotty to \"Live hard and temperately, be respectful, exercise your self-denial, bring up your family on next to nothing, pay your rent as regularly as the clock strikes, be punctual in your dealings\". His wife is Lady Bowley. \nBrandley, Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Widowed society woman and old friend of Miss Havisham with whom Estella is \"placed\" in Richmond to be sponsored in London society. She has a daughter several years older than Estella. \nBrass, Sally ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Sister and partner of Quilp's unscrupulous attorney, Sampson Brass . She is the mother of the Marchioness , the below-stairs maid. \nBrass, Sampson ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) \"An attorney of no good repute\" and \"One of the greatest scoundrels unhung\". Brass served as Daniel Quilp's lawyer. He helps Quilp get the Curiosity Shop from Nell's grandfather and when he tries to help Quilp frame Kit Nubbles he is undone with the help of his clerk Dick Swiveler and the Marchioness , his below-stairs maid. \nBray, Madeline ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Girl with whom Nicholas falls in love when he first sees her at an employment office. She cares for her selfish, invalid father who tries to sell her in marriage to Arthur Gride , assisted by Ralph Nickleby . Her father dies and the scheme is exposed. She marries Nicholas at the end of the story. \nBray, Walter ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Tyrannical father of Madeline . Heavily in debt, and living in the Rules of the King's Bench debtor's prison, he promises his daughter's hand in marriage to Arthur Gride in return for the forgiveness of his debt to Gride and Ralph Nickleby . He dies on the morning of the wedding thus saving Madeline from the unwanted marriage. \nBrick, Jefferson ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) War correspondent for the New York Rowdy Journal, edited by Colonel Diver . \nBritain, Benjamin ( The Battle of Life ) Manservant of Dr. Jeddler . He later marries Clemency Newcome and together they run the comfortable Nutmeg-Grater and Thimble Inn. \nBrogley, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Second Hand furniture broker with a shop in Bishopsgate Street. Brogley takes possession of the Wooden Midshipman when Sol Gills cannot pay his debts. Sol is loaned money from Paul Dombey to pay the debt. Walter Gay stays with Brogley when he returns from being shipwrecked. \nBrowdie, John ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Son of a small corn-factor. He gives money to Nicholas Nickleby on his escape from Dotheboys Hall. John marries Matilda Price . Later assists in Smike's escape from Squeers in London. \nBrown, Good Mrs. ( Dombey and Son ) An ugly old rag and bone vendor and mother of Alice Marwood (Brown). She kidnaps Florence Dombey and steals her clothes. Later she helps Dombey find Carker and Edith after their elopement. Dickens describes Good Mrs Brown as a \"very ugly old woman, with red rims round her eyes, and a mouth that mumbled and chattered of itself when she was not speaking\". \nBrown, Alice (alias Marwood) ( Dombey and Son ) Daughter of Good Mrs Brown and cousin of Edith Granger . \nBrownlow ( Oliver Twist ) Befriends Oliver after he is charged with pickpocketing. He later establishes Oliver's true identity and adopts him. \nBucket ( Bleak House ) Detective in charge of finding Tulkinghorn's murderer. After Lady Dedlock's disappearance Sir Leicester hires Bucket to find her. He later uncovers the will that is instrumental in clearing up the Jarndyce and Jarndyce chancery case.\nBud, Rosa ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Betrothed to Edwin Drood in childhood, they later agree that they cannot marry. Edwin disappears and John Jasper declares his love for Rosa. In terror she flees to London to her guardian, Grewgious .\n\"The pet pupil of the Nuns' House is Miss Rosa Bud, of course called Rosebud; wonderfully pretty, wonderfully childish, wonderfully whimsical. An awkward interest (awkward because romantic) attaches to Miss Bud in the minds of the young ladies, on account of its being known to them that a husband has been chosen for her by will and bequest, and that her guardian is bound down to bestow her on that husband when he comes of age\". \nBumble ( Oliver Twist ) Beadle at the workhouse where Oliver is born. He mistreats the residents in his care and becomes the symbol of Dickens' distaste for the workhouse system. Marries Mrs. Corney and later is disgraced and becomes a resident in the same workhouse. \nBunsby, Jack ( Dombey and Son ) Seafaring friend of Captain Cuttle who is always called in times of crisis for advise. The advise given confounds everyone listening except his friend Cuttle, who values it immensely. Bunsby is later trapped into marriage by Mrs MacStinger. Bunsby's ship is the Cautious Clara. Bunsby is described by Dickens as having \"one stationary eye in the mahogany face, and one revolving one, on the principle of some lighthouses\". \nBuzfuz, Serjeant ( Pickwick Papers ) Barrister who represents Mrs Bardell in her suit against Samuel Pickwick . He bullies the witnesses into giving incriminating testimony and Pickwick is falsely convicted. \nC\nCarker, Harriet ( Dombey and Son ) Sister to James and John . Harriet lives with John and the two inherit James' fortune and donate it, anonymously, to Mr Dombey . Harriet later marries Mr Morfin . \nCarker, James ( Dombey and Son ) Opportunistic manager at Dombey and Son. Brother of John and Harriet Carker , he elopes with Dombey's wife and is later killed when struck by a train. Dickens describes Carker as \"a gentleman thirty-eight or forty years old, of a florid complexion, and with two unbroken rows of glistening teeth, whose regularity and whiteness were quite distressing. It was impossible to escape the observation of them, for he showed them whenever he spoke; and bore so wide a smile upon his countenance (a smile, however, very rarely, indeed, extending beyond his mouth), that there was something in it like the snarl of a cat.\" \nCarker, John ( Dombey and Son ) Older brother of James although called \"the Junior\" because of his low position at the firm of Dombey and Son. He is looked upon with scorn by his younger brother because he embezzled money from the firm when a young man. Harriet Carker is his sister. \nCarstone, Richard ( Bleak House ) Ward of Mr. Jarndyce and a party to the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. He marries Ada Clare and later dies when his health declines as the estate he hopes to acquire is consumed in court costs. \nCarton, Sydney ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Lawyer who is able to get a charge of treason reversed for Charles Darnay due to a strong physical resemblance. He later takes Darnay's place at the guillotine. Quote: It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known. \nCasby, Christopher ( Little Dorrit ) Father of Flora Finching and landlord who gouges the residents of Bleeding Heart Yard through his collector, Pancks . Pancks later exposes Casby by cutting his long gray hair in front of the residents of Bleeding Heart Yard.\nCavalletto, John Baptist ( Little Dorrit ) Small time Italian smuggler and fellow prisoner with Rigaud as the novel opens. Later employed by Arthur Clennam in Bleeding Heart Yard after being injured in a mail coach accident. Aids in the search for Rigaud.\nRev Chadband ( Bleak House ) Typical Dickensian hypocritical reverend, admonishing Jo in the spirit while he starves. Marries the former Mrs Rachael . \nCheeryble Brothers ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Charles and Edwin (Ned). Benevolent businessmen who employ and befriend Nicholas Nickleby and his family. Frank Cheeryble , who marries Kate Nickleby , is their nephew. \nCheeryble, Frank ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Nephew of the Cheeryble brothers who marries Kate Nickleby . \nChester, Edward ( Barnaby Rudge ) Son of John , eventually overcomes the opposition of his father and her uncle and marries Emma Haredale . The couple relocate to the West Indies. \nChester, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Father of Edward , tries to prevent Edward's marriage to Emma Haredale . Becomes a member of Parliament. Killed in a duel by Emma's uncle Geoffrey. \nChick, Louisa ( Dombey and Son ) Sister of Paul Dombey Sr . and friend to Mrs. Tox . Quote: Make an effort. \nChickenstalker, Anne ( The Chimes ) A stout lady who keeps a shop in the general line to whom Trotty owes some small debts. In Trotty's dream she marries Tugby and is Meg's landlady. \nMr. Chillip ( David Copperfield ) Doctor who delivers David Copperfield . \nChivery, John, Young John, Mrs Chivery ( Little Dorrit ) Turnkeys (jailors) at the Marshalsea . Young John loves Amy Dorrit and assists in finding her father's fortune. Mrs Chivery runs a tobacco shop around the corner from the Marshalsea on Horsemonger Lane. \nChoke, General Cyrus ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Member of the Eden Land Corporation who introduces Martin to Scadder . Like many others Martin Meets in America the General is considered \"one of the most remarkable men in the country.\" \nChollop, Hannibal ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Another of \"the most remarkable men in the country\" Martin meets in Eden. Chollop enforces the propagation of liberty with a brace of revolving-pistols. \nChuckster, Mr ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Clerk to Mr Witherden , friend of Dick Swiveler , and enemy of Kit . \nChuffey ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Devoted old clerk of Anthony Chuzzlewit . \"He looked as if he had been put away and forgotten half a century before, and somebody had just found him in a lumber-closet.\" \nChuzzlewit, Anthony ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Brother of old Martin Chuzzlewit and father of Jonas Chuzzlewit . Greedy and tight-fisted business man who breeds these same qualities into his son, Jonas, who tries to poison him for his trouble. \nChuzzlewit, Jonas ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Son of Anthony Chuzzlewit , he attempts to kill his father to gain his inheritance. Marries Mercy Pecksniff and, through his cruelty, breaks her spirit. He murders Tigg, the murder is discovered, and on the way to prison poisons himself. \nChuzzlewit, Martin ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Grandson of Martin Sr. He has a falling out with his grandfather over his love for Mary Graham . Becomes a pupil of Pecksniff who, because of pressure from the grandfather, throws young Martin out. After a trip to America with Mark Tapley , he comes back to England and, after the undoing of Pecksniff , reconciles with his grandfather and marries Mary Graham . \nChuzzlewit, Old Martin ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Grandfather of Martin , cousin of Pecksniff , brother of Anthony, uncle of Jonas . Martin is suspicious of his hypocritical relatives, chiefly Pecksniff , whose hypocrisy Martin exposes and is reconciled with his grandson, young Martin . \nClare, Ada ( Bleak House ) Ward of John Jarndyce , friend of Esther Summerson , cousin of Richard Carstone , who she marries and is soon widowed as Richard's health fails in the wake of the unhappy conclusion of the Chancery suit. \nClarriker ( Great Expectations ) Shipping merchant from whom Pip secretly buys a partnership for Herbert . After Pip loses his fortune he is also employed in the firm. \nClaypole, Noah ( Oliver Twist ) Assistant at Sowerberry's with whom Oliver fights. Noah later joins Fagin's band and spies on Nancy . After Fagin's capture he testifies against him and becomes an informer for the police. \nClennam, Arthur ( Little Dorrit ) Returns to England from abroad where he has spent years with his father in the family business. On his father's death he falls out with his mother and gives up his share of the family business. He befriends Amy Dorrit at the Marshalsea and becomes business partner to Daniel Doyce . After losing everything in a banking scam by Merdle he is himself imprisoned in the Marshalsea . His health fails and Amy cares for him in the prison. The novel ends with Arthur and Amy's marriage. \nClennam, Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Invalid mother of Arthur with whom she has a falling out over the family business. She avoids a blackmail scheme by Rigaud/Blandois when her tumble-down house tumbles down on him. \nClickett (The Orfling) ( David Copperfield ) Maid to the Micawbers . \"A dark-complexioned young woman, with a habit of snorting.\" Clickett is an orphan from St. Luke's Workhouse. \nCly, Roger ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Former servant of Charles Darnay who testifies against his former master at Darnay's trial for treason. He fakes his death and is buried in a mock funeral in London. Cly surfaces later as a spy and informer in Paris and ends up on the guillotine. \nCobb, Tom ( Barnaby Rudge ) Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. \nCodlin and Short ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Proprietors of a traveling Punch and Judy show that Nell and her grandfather meet on their travels through the English countryside. \nCompeyson ( Great Expectations ) Con man who deceives Miss Havisham , with the help of Miss Havisham's brother Arthur , to get her money with a promise of marriage, and then leaves her at the altar. He is an accomplice of Magwitch in the original prison break. He later exposes Magwitch and accidentally drowns when Magwitch is recaptured. \nCopperfield, David ( David Copperfield ) Narrator of the story modeled after Dickens life. Begins life with his widowed mother and their maid, Peggotty . When his mother marries Mr. Murdstone his life becomes miserable. He is sent to Creakle's school where he meets Steerforth and Traddles . After the death of his mother he goes to work at Murdstone and Grinby and is lodged with the Micawbers . David runs away to live with his aunt Betsy Trotwood in Dover. He later marries his employer Spenlow's daughter, Dora . Dora dies and David marries longtime friend, Agnes Wickfield . David, like Dickens, becomes a successful author. \nCopperfield, Clara ( David Copperfield ) Mother of David Copperfield . A widow when David is born, she later is lured into marriage by Edward Murdstone , who destroys her spirit and she dies along with her newborn son while David is away at school. \nCorney, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. She marries Bumble making him miserable. The Bumbles are disgraced and end up as paupers in the workhouse they once ruled over. \nCratchit, Bob ( A Christmas Carol ) Longsuffering clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge . Bob endures Scrooge's mistreatment until Scrooge, reformed by the visit of the three spirits, raises Bob's salary and vows to help his struggling family. The Cratchit family consists of Bob's wife, eldest daughter Martha, daughter Belinda, son Peter, two younger children: boy and girl, and Tiny Tim .\nCratchit, Tiny Tim ( A Christmas Carol ) Crippled son of Bob Cratchit . The forecast of Tim's death by the Ghosts of Christmas Present and Future is instrumental in Scrooge's reformation after which Tim is afforded proper medical attention and is cured. Dickens based Tiny Tim (and also Paul Dombey Jr ) on his sister Fanny's crippled son Henry Burnett Jr. \nCreakle ( David Copperfield ) Severe headmaster of Salem House Academy where David first goes to school. He was based on William Jones, headmaster of Wellington Academy which Dickens attended from 1825-1827. \nCrewler, Sophy ( David Copperfield ) Fiance of Traddles and \"the dearest girl in the world\". Traddles has trouble gaining permission to marry Sophy because she is indispensible to her large family. \nCrimple, David (Crimp) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Pawnbroker (Crimp) and later partner with Tigg Montigue in the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. After Montigue is murdered he flees the country with the company's money.\nCripples, Mr ( Little Dorrit ) Operates Cripples Evening Academy in the same lodging house where Frederick Dorrit lives. Amy Dorrit attended classes there. \nCrisparkle, Canon ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Minor canon of Cloisterham Cathedral. \"Mr. Crisparkle, Minor Canon, early riser, musical, classical, cheerful, kind, good-natured, social, contented, and boy-like.\" He takes Neville Landless as a pupil and helps Neville flee to London when suspicion is cast on him for the disappearance of Edwin Drood . \nCrummles, Vincent ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Manager of a touring stage company who employs and befriends Nicholas Nickleby and Smike . Described as having \"a very full under- lip, a hoarse voice, as though he were in the habit of shouting very much, and very short black hair, shaved off nearly to the crown of his head--to admit (as he afterwards learnt) of his more easily wearing character wigs of any shape or pattern.\" \nCrummles, Mrs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Wife of Vincent Crummles and actress in his traveling stage troupe. Described as \"a stout, portly female, apparently between forty and fifty, in a tarnished silk cloak, with her bonnet dangling by the strings in her hand, and her hair (of which she had a great quantity) braided in a large festoon over each temple.\" \nCrummles, Ninetta ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Daughter of Vincent Crummles and actress in his traveling stage troupe. Billed as the Infant Phenomenon, her acting capability is greatly over-rated by her father. She is listed as 10 years old but is apparently much older: \"though of short stature, had a comparatively aged countenance, and had moreover been precisely the same age -- not perhaps to the full extent of the memory of the oldest inhabitant, but certainly for five good years. But she had been kept up late every night, and put upon an unlimited allowance of gin-and-water from infancy, to prevent her growing tall, and perhaps this system of training had produced in the infant phenomenon these additional phenomena.\" \nCruncher, Jerry ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Messenger for Tellson's Bank who moonlights as a grave robber. \nCrupp, Mrs ( David Copperfield ) David Copperfield's brandy-loving landlady at the Adelphi. \nCute, Alderman ( The Chimes ) City magistrate who is blind to the plight of the poor. Vows to \"put down\"^ any nonsense claimed by the poor, such as starvation, illness, and suicide. \nCuttle, Captain ( Dombey and Son ) Seafaring friend of Sol Gills , whose shop he cares for when Sol goes in search of his lost nephew, Walter Gay . Quote: When found, make a note of. Dickens describes Captain Cuttle as \"a gentleman in a wide suit of blue, with a hook instead of a hand attached to his right wrist; very bushy black eyebrows; and a thick stick in his left hand, covered all over (like his nose) with knobs. He wore a loose black silk handkerchief round his neck, and such a very large coarse shirt collar, that it looked like a small sail.\" \n \nD\nDaisy, Soloman ( Barnaby Rudge ) Clerk and bell-ringer at the parish church in Chigwell. Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. Daisy tells the story of Reuben Haredale's murder. \nDarnay, Charles ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Son of Marquis de St. Evremonde . He is tried for treason in London and is acquitted due to his resemblance to Sydney Carton . He marries Lucie Manette , daughter of Dr. Manette . He returns to Paris to help a friend imprisoned there and is arrested by the revolutionaries. His life is saved when look-alike Carton takes his place on the guillotine.\nDartle, Rosa ( David Copperfield ) Companion to Mrs. Steerforth, jealously in love with Steerforth , who has marked her face when a child by throwing a hammer in a fit of temper. Rosa hates Emily for running away with Steerforth. Narrator David Copperfield describes Rosa as \"A slight short figure, dark, and not agreeable to look at, but with some appearance of good looks too... I concluded in my own mind that she was about thirty years of age, and that she wished to be married. She was a little dilapidated, like a house, with having been so long to let; yet had, as I have said, an appearance of good looks. Her thinness seemed to be the effect of some wasting fire within her, which found a vent in her gaunt eyes.\" \nDatchery, Dick ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Mysterious visitor to Cloisterham whose \"white head was unusually large, and his shock of white hair was unusually thick and ample.\" Datchery keeps an eye on John Jasper after the disappearance of Edwin Drood . The true identity of Datchery is one of the most contested points of the uncompleted mystery. It is widely believed that Datchery is one of the characters in the book in disguise, most likely candidates include Neville , Bazzard , Tartar , Helena , or even Edwin Drood himself. \nDawkins, Jack ( Oliver Twist ) Also known as the Artful Dodger , he is the most successful and interesting of Fagin's thieves. He shows Oliver the ropes of the pickpocket game and is later captured and sentenced to transportation. \nDedlock, Lady ( Bleak House ) Wife of Sir Leicester Dedlock and, unknown to her husband, mother of Esther Summerson . When Tulkinghorn , the family lawyer, learns the secret she runs away and is found dead by Esther at the gates of the cemetery in which Esther's father, Captain Hawdon, lies buried. \nDedlock, Sir Leicester ( Bleak House ) Husband of Lady Dedlock , owner of Chesney Wold, and guardian of the status quo. \nVolumnia Dedlock ( Bleak House ) Poor relation of Sir Leicester Dedlock . 'Rouged and necklaced' hanger-on at Chesney Wold. \nDefarge, Ernest ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Husband of Madame Defarge and keeper of a wine shop in Paris. He is a leader among the revolutionaries.\n\"This wine-shop keeper was a bull-necked, martial-looking man of thirty, and he should have been of a hot temperament, for, although it was a bitter day, he wore no coat, but carried one slung over his shoulder. His shirt-sleeves were rolled up, too, and his brown arms were bare to the elbows. Neither did he wear anything more on his head than his own crisply-curling short dark hair. He was a dark man altogether, with good eyes and a good bold breadth between them. Good-humoured looking on the whole, but implacable-looking, too; evidently a man of a strong resolution and a set purpose; a man not desirable to be met, rushing down a narrow pass with a gulf on either side, for nothing would turn the man.\" \nDefarge, Madame ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Wife of wine shop keeper, Ernest Defarge , and a leader among the revolutionaries. She harbors an intense hatred of Charles Darnay for atrocities committed against her family by the Evremonde family. Madame Defarge is killed in a struggle with Miss Pross in Paris.\n\"Madame Defarge was a stout woman of about his [Ernest Defarge's] own age, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, a large hand heavily ringed, a steady face, strong features, and great composure of manner. There was a character about Madame Defarge, from which one might have predicated that she did not often make mistakes against herself in any of the reckonings over which she presided. Madame Defarge being sensitive to cold, was wrapped in fur, and had a quantity of bright shawl twined about her head, though not to the concealment of her large earrings.\" \nDennis, Ned ( Barnaby Rudge ) Executioner at Tyburn, becomes involved in the Gordon Riots and is executed. \nDeputy (Winks) ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Boy hired by Durdles to throw stones at him when he is wandering drunk at night. \"Sometimes the stones hit him, and sometimes they miss him, but Durdles seems indifferent to either fortune. The hideous small boy, on the contrary, whenever he hits Durdles, blows a whistle of triumph through a jagged gap, convenient for the purpose, in the front of his mouth, where half his teeth are wanting; and whenever he misses him, yelps out 'Mulled agin!' and tries to atone for the failure by taking a more correct and vicious aim.\" Deputy resides at the Traveler's Twopenny. \nDick, Mr ( David Copperfield ) An eccentric lodger at Betsy Trotwood's and friend of David Copperfield . Real name: Richard Babley. \nDilber, Mrs ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's charwoman who sells his bed linen and curtains to Old Joe when Scrooge is shown shadows of the future by the Ghost of Christmas Future . \nDiver, Colonel ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Editor of the New York Rowdy Journal. Diver meets Mark and Martin onboard the Screwand directs them to Pawkins boarding house. \nDodson and Fogg ( Pickwick Papers ) Sharp dealing lawyers who dupe Mrs. Bardell into bringing a breach of promise to marry suit against Samuel Pickwick . \nDolls, Mr ( Our Mutual Friend ) Drunken father of Jenny Wren whom she refers to as her 'bad child'. \nDombey, Fanny ( Dombey and Son ) First wife of Paul Dombey and mother of Florence and Paul Jr. at who's birth she dies. \nDombey, Florence ( Dombey and Son ) Neglected daughter of Paul Dombey and sister of little Paul whom she nurses in his illness. She marries Walter Gay and is eventually reconciled with her father. \nDombey, Paul ( Dombey and Son ) Powerful head of the House of Dombey. He wants a son, and when a daughter ( Florence ) is born he despises her. His second child, a son ( Paul ), is weak and sickly and dies a child. Paul's first wife dies with the birth of Paul Jr and he remarries. His second wife, Edith Granger , does not love him and eventually runs away with Carker , a manager at the firm. With Carker gone, Paul is incapable of managing the business and it fails. Paul ends his days reconciled with his daughter and doting on his grandchildren, little Paul, but especially little Florence. \nDombey, Paul Jr. ( Dombey and Son ) The long hoped-for heir to the house of Dombey and Son. His mother dies at his birth leaving him a frail and sickly child. His father sends him to Brighton in the care of Mrs. Pipchin hoping the sea air will bolster his failing health. He then attends Dr. Blimber's school and his health continues to decline. Paul returns home to London and dies in the care of his sister, Florence , leaving the firm of Dombey and Son without an heir. Dickens modeled Paul (and also Tiny Tim ) on his sister Fanny's crippled son Henry Burnett Jr. \nDorrit, Amy ( Little Dorrit ) Daughter of William Dorrit , born in the Marshalsea debtor's prison. She works for Mrs Clennam and befriends Arthur . Her father inherits a fortune and they leave the prison and travel abroad. After her father's death she discovers that the fortune has been lost in a banking scam. She nurses Arthur in the Marshalsea when his fortune is lost in the same banking scam. The novel ends with the marriage of Arthur and Amy at St. Georges Church, next to the prison, the same church where she was christened. \nDorrit, Edward (Tip) ( Little Dorrit ) Ne'er do well brother of Amy Dorrit . \nDorrit, Fanny ( Little Dorrit ) Sister of Amy . A dancer with social aspirations, Fanny marries Edmund Sparkler , Step-son of Mr. Merdle . Fanny and Sparkler lose everything in the Merdle banking scam. \nDorrit, Frederick ( Little Dorrit ) Brother of William , Uncle of Fanny , Edward , and Amy . He plays clarionet in a small-time theatre. He is due an inheritance but the knowledge is kept from him by the intrigues of Mrs. Clennam . \nDorrit, William ( Little Dorrit ) Father of Amy (title character), Fanny , and Edward , and long-time inmate of the Marshalsea debtor's prison. He inherits an estate and leaves the prison, traveling in style with his daughters. After his death Amy learns that his fortune has been lost in the Merdle banking scam. \nDoyce, Daniel ( Little Dorrit ) Inventor of an unspecified mechanical wonder which he is unable to get a patent for in the Circumlocution Office. He partners with Arthur Clennam who loses the firm's money in the Merdle scandal. Doyce later sells the invention abroad and returns to liberate Arthur from the Marshalsea . \nDrood, Edwin ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) An orphan, Edwin has been promised to Rosa Bud since early childhood. Later Edwin and Rosa rebel against the arrangement. Rosa is also wooed by Edwin's uncle John Jasper . Edwin turns up missing and his watch is found in the river. Jasper hints suspicion of Neville Landless in the disappearance when the novel ends abruptly with the death of Dickens in 1870. \nDrummle, Bentley ( Great Expectations ) Pip's fellow student at Matthew Pocket's . He marries Estella for her money and abuses her. He is killed when kicked by a horse that he has mistreated. \nDuff ( Oliver Twist ) Bow Street Runner (London Policemen) who, along with Blathers , investigates the attempted robbery of the Maylie home. \nDurdles ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Drunken stonemason who engraves tombstones for Cloisterham Cathedral. John Jasper is interested in Durdles ability to tap on the tombs and discover their contents. Durdles hires Deputy to throw stones at him when he catches him wandering about drunk at night. \"No man is better known in Cloisterham. He is the chartered libertine of the place. Fame trumpets him a wonderful workman - which, for aught that anybody knows, he may be (as he never works); and a wonderful sot - which everybody knows he is.\" \nE\nEmily ( David Copperfield ) Mr. Peggotty's niece and David's childhood friend. She is later engaged to Ham but is lured away by the charms of David's friend Steerforth . Mr. Peggotty is heartbroken and searches for her, finally finding her when Steerforth tires of her and she leaves him. She later emigrates to Australia with her uncle, Mr. Peggotty . \nEndell, Martha ( David Copperfield ) Martha went to school with Emily and works with her at Omer's . She is disgraced in her hometown of Yarmouth and Emily gives her money to go to London where she becomes a prostitute. She later helps Mr. Peggotty find Emily and emigrates to Australia. \nEstella ( Great Expectations ) Adopted as a child by Miss Havisham who teaches her to break men's hearts as revenge for Compeyson having left Miss Havisham at the altar years before. Pip meets Estella at Satis House and falls in love with her but she is cruel to him. Pip goes to London and becomes a gentleman and continues to adore Estella but she warns him that she is incapable of love. She later marries Bentley Drummle who mistreats her and she leaves him. Drummle dies and Estella and Pip meet two years later and vow to remain together. Estella is the daughter of Magwitch and Jagger's maid Molly . \nF\nFagin ( Oliver Twist ) A crafty old Jew who runs a thieve's school near Field Lane in Saffron Hill. Oliver falls in with Fagin's band when he runs away from the undertaker, Sowerberry . When Fagin attempts to help Monks destroy Oliver's reputation he is arrested and executed at Newgate . Fagin was based on real-life Jewish fence (receiver of stolen property), Ikey Soloman (1758-1850). \nFan ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's sister, mother of his nephew Fred . She has died before the story begins but lives again in the 'shadows' shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Past . She is based on Dickens' own sister Fanny who died of consumption at age 38. \nFeeder, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Assistant to Dr Blimber at the school in Brighton where Paul Dombey Jr attends. Later marries Blimber's daughter Cornelia and takes over the management of the school. \nFern, Will ( The Chimes ) Country laborer who comes to London with his niece Lillian to look for work. He is arrested for vagrancy and branded a troublemaker. He and Lillian run into Trotty Veck in the street and Trotty takes them in for the night. Will and Lillian's presence help to spark Trotty's dream in which Will becomes a desperate arsonist and Lillian a prostitute. \nFezziwig ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge was apprenticed to 'Old Fezziwig' in his youth. Scrooge visits his old employer with the Ghost of Christmas Past and is reminded of what a kind, generous man he was. \nFielding, May ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Former lover of Edward Plummer , she is reunited with him after nearly marrying Tackleton at the urging of her mother, Mrs Fielding. \nFielding, Sir John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Blind half-brother of novelist Henry Fielding (Tom Jones). Magistrate at Bow Street. Dickens has him at the scene of the Gordon Riots when, in fact, Fielding was on his deathbed at the time of the riots. \nFiler ( The Chimes ) Friend of Alderman Cute , Filer makes Trotty feel guilty over his meager meal of tripe. \nFinching, Flora ( Little Dorrit ) Daughter of Casby and former sweetheart of Arthur Clennam who reappears 20 years later and \"grown to be very broad, and short of breath.\" Dickens modeled the character of Flora after his own early sweetheart, Maria Beadnell , who reappears later in Dickens life not quite the way he remembered her. \nFips, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Old Martin Chuzzlewit's agent who hires Tom Pinch to put his library in order. Mr Fips was \"small and spare, and looked peaceable, and wore black shorts and powder.\" \nFish, Mr. ( The Chimes ) Sir Joseph Bowley's confidential secretary. \nFladdock, General ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Introduced to Martin Chuzzlewit in America by the Norris family. While condemning the class system in Europe he is so outraged to be considered a fellow passenger to America with Martin, who made the trip in steerage, that \"he almost laid his hand upon his sword.\" \nFledgeby, \"Fascination\" ( Our Mutual Friend ) Moneylender who operates Pubsy & CO. Fledgeby employs the old Jewish man Riah as his front man. \nFleming, Agnes ( Oliver Twist ) Mother of Oliver , whom she has out of wedlock with Edwin Leeford . Agnes is also the sister of Rose Maylie . \nFlintwinch, Jeremiah ( Little Dorrit ) Mrs. Clennam's clerk to whom her son Arthur relinquishes his share of the family business. He intrigues with his twin brother Ephraim against Mrs Clennam. Husband of Affery . \nFlintwinch, Ephraim ( Little Dorrit ) Twin brother of Jeremiah with whom he intrigues against Mrs Clennam . \nFlintwinch, Affery ( Little Dorrit ) Wife of Mrs. Clennam's clerk who sees the evil doings of the house in dreams. \nFlite, Miss ( Bleak House ) A slightly mad old woman who is a regular attendant at the court of Chancery expecting to receive a favorable judgement in a case that no one is sure has ever existed. \nFlopson ( Great Expectations ) One of Mrs Pocket's maids (along with Millers ) who helps control the Pocket's 'tumbled up' children.\nFolair, Augustus (Tommy) ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Pantomimist in Crummles' troupe, jealous of the attention paid to Ninetta Crummles , the 'infant phenomenon', he believes the crowds would be better entertained by his specialty: the Highland Fling. \nFred ( A Christmas Carol ) Good hearted nephew of Ebenezer Scrooge , son of his sister Fan . \nG\nGabelle, Theophile ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Former servant of Charles Darnay who finds himself imprisoned by the revolutionaries in Paris. Gabelle writes to Darnay who comes to Paris to aid Gabelle. Darnay is then put in prison for his trouble. \nGamp, Sairey ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) A midwife, nurse, and \"layer out\" of the dead, although she is much more concerned with her own creature comforts than those of her patients. Habitually in liquor, she creates the imaginary Mrs Harris whose good opinion is used to promote Mrs Gamp's character. Sairey Gamp is one of Dickens most intriguing characters. Meet Mrs Gamp . \nGargery, Joe ( Great Expectations ) Blacksmith and friend to Pip , Joe is the husband of Pip's sister , who badly mistreats both Joe and Pip. After his wife's death Joe comes to London and nurses Pip through an illness. Later Joe marries Pip's friend Biddy .\nGargery, Mrs Joe ( Great Expectations ) Wife of Joe Gargery and sister of Pip who cruelly mistreats them both, frequently going \"on the rampage\" and employing \"the tickler\" to beat them with. She is beaten by Orlick and later dies. \nGarland, Abel ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Son of Mr and Mrs Garland and resembles Mr Garland in face and figure. Abel is apprenticed to the notary Mr Witherden . \nGarland, Mr and Mrs ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kindly plump couple, parents of Abel , who befriend and hire Kit . They, along with Mr Witherden and the Single Gentleman , are instrumental in clearing Kit of false charges made by Brass . \nGashford ( Barnaby Rudge ) Lord George Gordon's hypocritical secretary. He urges the rioters to exact revenge on Geoffrey Haredale , who had exposed his treacherous ways. He abandons Lord Gordon when the riots are suppressed by soldiers and becomes a government spy. He later poisons himself. \nGaspard ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Parisian peasant whose child is killed when hit by the carriage of the Marquis de St Evremonde . The grief-stricken Gaspard follows the Marquis to his country home and kills him in his bed. Gaspard is hung on a 40-foot gallows over the town fountain. \nGay, Walter ( Dombey and Son ) Sol Gill's nephew, he is employed in the house of Dombey and Son. Walter befriends Florence Dombey , her father is displeased and sends him to the firm's branch in Barbados. The ship in which he sails is lost and Sol goes to search for him. Walter returns and marries Florence . Mr. Dombey , after the failure of the house, goes to live with Walter and Florence . \nGeneral, Mrs ( Little Dorrit ) Matron hired as chaperone to \"varnish\" Amy and Fanny Dorrit . She admonishes the girls that reciting \"Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism\" is good for the lips. She has designs on William Dorrit but he dies before he can propose. \nGhost of Christmas Future ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge the demise of Tiny Tim and of himself, leading to Scrooge's reformation. \nGhost of Christmas Past ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge his lonely and difficult childhood and gradual decline into the miser he will become. \nGhost of Christmas Present ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge the joy that Christmas brings, both at the poor household of the Cratchits and at the home of his nephew Fred . The ghost also introduces Scrooge to the children, Ignorance and Want. \nGills, Soloman ( Dombey and Son ) Uncle of Walter Gay and owner of a ship's chandler shop called \"The Wooden Midshipman\". When Walter's ship is lost at sea Solomon goes in search of him, leaving the care of the shop to his friend, Capt. Cuttle . \nGordon, Lord George ( Barnaby Rudge ) 1750-1793 Historical figure and leader of the Gordon (anti-Catholic) Riots (1780) \nGowan, Henry ( Little Dorrit ) Untalented artist who marries Pet Meagles against her parents wishes. Henry's snobbish mother feigns disappointment at her son's marrying beneath himself. Gowan had earlier jilted Miss Wade . \nGradgrind, Louisa ( Hard Times ) Oldest daughter of Thomas . She marries Bounderby , whom she doesn't love. She later leaves her husband and returns to her father. \nGradgrind, Thomas ( Hard Times ) A mill owner retired from business and father of Louisa and Tom . He runs a school and emphasizes the importance of facts and figures over fancy to his students and his children. By the end of the story he learns that facts and figures must be tempered by love and forbearance. \nGradgrind, Tom ( Hard Times ) Son of Thomas . He is employed at Bounderby's bank from whom he later steals, the blame is set on Stephen Blackpool . He later leaves the country with the aid of Sleary and his circus troupe. \nGraham, Mary ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Mary cares for old Martin Chuzzlewit with the knowledge that she will not profit from Martin's wealth after his death. Chuzzlewit's grandson, Martin , falls in love with Mary which displeases his grandfather who disinherits young Martin . Young Martin goes to America to seek his fortune. Finding only sickness and misery in America, Martin returns to England, is reconciled with his grandfather and marries Mary. \nGrainger ( David Copperfield ) Friend of Steerforth's who has dinner with David at his chambers at the Adelphi. \nGranger, Edith ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey's second wife is the widow of Colonel Granger and the daughter of Mrs Skewton. She marries Dombey but does not love him. She later elopes with Carker , a manager at Dombey's firm, to punish her husband.\nGrayper, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Neighbors of Clara Copperfield in Blunderstone. \nGrewgious ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Guardian of Rosa Bud . He is upset at John Jasper's advances to Rosa and finds her lodging in London at an apartment owned by Mrs Billickin . He later investigates the disappearance of Edwin Drood and is suspicious of Jasper . Described as \"an angular man with no conversational powers.\" \nGride, Arthur ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Old moneylender who develops a scheme, along with fellow usurer, Ralph Nickleby , to get Walter Bray's consent to give his daughter, Madeline's , hand for the forgiveness of debts to Gride and Ralph. Gride's plan is undone when Bray dies on the morning of the wedding and his old housekeeper, Peg Sliderskew , jealous of the young wife, steals documents that reveal his scheme. Gride is murdered by burglars before he can be prosecuted. \nGridley ( Bleak House ) Known as the 'Man from Shropshire' and another casualty of Chancery. \nGrimwig, Mr. ( Oliver Twist ) Cantankerous friend of Mr. Brownlow . Quote: \"I'll eat my head!\" \nGrueby, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Loyal servant of Lord George Gordon who tries to isolate Gordon from the rioters when the protest turns to violence. \nGulpidge, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Guests at a dinner party given by the Waterbrooks . \nMrs. Gummidge ( David Copperfield ) Widow of Mr. Peggotty's former partner, who had died very poor. She lives with Mr. Peggotty and later emigrates to Australia with him. Quote: 'a lone lorn creetur' and everythink went contrary with her'. \nWilliam Guppy ( Bleak House ) Clerk for Kenge and Carboy. Proposes marriage to Esther Summerson which she refuses. Guppy is involved in the investigation of Lady Dedlock's secret. \nH\nHaggage, Dr ( Little Dorrit ) Doctor at the Marshalsea prison who delivers Amy Dorrit , described as 'amazingly shabby, in a torn and darned rough-weather sea-jacket, out at elbows and eminently short of buttons (he had been in his time the experienced surgeon carried by a passenger ship), the dirtiest white trousers conceivable by mortal man, carpet slippers, and no visible linen'. \nHandford, Julius ( Our Mutual Friend ) Alias taken by John Harmon in order to investigate his own supposed drowning. \nHaredale, Emma ( Barnaby Rudge ) Daughter of the murdered Reuben and niece of Geoffrey . She eventually marries Edward Chester \nHaredale, Geoffrey ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of the murdered Reuben and uncle of Emma . Suspected of being responsible for the murder of his brother, he spends his life in pursuit of the real killer. A Catholic, his house is burned in the Gordon Riots. He fights a duel with Sir John Chester , kills him, and leaves the country. \nHaredale, Reuben ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of Geoffrey , father of Emma . Murdered before the story begins. \nHarmon, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Son of a wealthy dust contractor and heir to his fortune if he agrees to marry Bella Wilfer . He is away from England when his father dies and on the way home he is supposed drowned in a case of mistaken identity. With his supposed death the dust fortune goes to Boffin . John gets himself hired into the Boffin home as secretary John Rokesmith . Here he meets Bella and, with the help of the Boffins , wins her love as Rokesmith , and marries her. He later reveals his true identity and regains his fortune. \nHarris, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Imaginary friend of Sairey Gamp who uses Mrs Harris's invented quotes to establish Mrs Gamp's good reputation. \nHarthouse, James ( Hard Times ) A Parliamentary candidate visiting Coketown, he befriends Tom Gradgrind in an attempt to seduce his sister, Louisa , who is in an unhappy marriage to Bounderby . As a result of the attempted seduction Louisa runs home to her father and refuses to return to Bounderby and is later disowned by him. \nHavisham, Miss ( Great Expectations ) A very rich and grim old woman who lives in seclusion at Satis House. She is the guardian of Estella whom she teaches to break men's hearts to avenge her own being left at the altar by Compeyson years before. She continues to wear her wedding dress and her room contains the yellowing remnants of the wedding day including the mouldy wedding cake. Pip goes to Miss Havisham's to play and meets Estella . Pip believes Miss Havisham is his secret benefactor as he goes to London and becomes a gentleman, finding out later that the convict Magwitch has supplied his \"Expectations\". Miss Havisham dies when her house burns down and leaves her fortune to Estella . \nHavisham, Arthur ( Great Expectations ) Miss Havisham's drunken brother who plots with Compeyson to gain his sister's fortune.\nHawk, Sir Mulberry ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Business associate of Ralph Nickleby . Makes advances to Kate Nickleby and is thrashed by Nicholas . When his revenge is opposed by Lord Verisopht they duel and Verisopht is killed. Hawk flees to France. \nHeadstone, Bradley ( Our Mutual Friend ) A school teacher and master of the boys department of a school on the borders of Kent and Surrey. Charlie Hexam becomes Headstone's pupil and Bradley becomes obsessed with Charley's sister Lizzie . Lizzie wants nothing to do with him and he becomes jealous of Eugene Wrayburn who also has eyes for Lizzie . He attempts to murder Wrayburn and believes he has been successful. Rogue Riderhood discovers the supposed murder and attempts to blackmail Headstone. In a later confrontation, Riderhood and Headstone are both drowned. \nHeathfield, Alfred ( The Battle of Life ) Ward of Dr. Jeddler who loves the doctor's youngest daughter, Marion . Marion runs away that her sister, Grace , may marry Alfred. Alfred becomes a doctor for the poor. \nHeep, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Widowed mother of Uriah Heep , \"dead image of Uriah, only short.\" She is as \"umble\" as her son, whom she dotes on. \nHeep, Uriah ( David Copperfield ) A hypocritical clerk of Mr. Wickfield's who is continually citing his humbleness. He deviously plots to ruin Wickfield but is later undone by Mr. Micawber . On their first meeting, David describes him as \"a red-haired person - a youth of fifteen, as I take it now, but looking much older - whose hair was cropped as close as the closest stubble; who had hardly any eyebrows, and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep. He was high-shouldered and bony; dressed in decent black, with a white wisp of a neckcloth; buttoned up to the throat; and had a long, lank, skeleton hand, which particularly attracted my attention, as he stood at the pony's head, rubbing his chin with it, and looking up at us in the chaise. He had a way of writhing when he wanted to express enthusiasm, which was very ugly\" Uriah Heep, wonderfully hideous, is one of Dickens' greatest triumphs in character creation. His description of Heep's writhing and scheming, and his cold, clammy nature, makes one's skin crawl. \nHexam, Charlie ( Our Mutual Friend ) Son of Gaffer and brother to Lizzie . Charlie is educated by Bradley Headstone and supports Headstone's advances toward his sister. When Lizzie refuses to marry Headstone Charlie rejects her. \nHexam, Gaffer ( Our Mutual Friend ) Waterman, father of Lizzie and Charlie , who plies the Thames looking for dead bodies. He finds a body thought to be John Harmon , the central character in the story. \nHexam, Lizzie ( Our Mutual Friend ) Daughter of waterman Gaffer Hexam and sister of Charlie . She is opposed to her father's business of combing the Thames looking for drowned bodies but is true to him. When her father drowns she goes to live with Jenny Wren . Lizzie rejects the advances of schoolmaster Bradley Headstone and opposes the attention of Eugene Wrayburn , although she loves him, because they come from different classes of society. She runs away from London to a mill up the river. Wrayburn succeeds in finding her and is followed by Headstone who attempts to murder Wrayburn . Lizzie rescues Wrayburn and later marries him. \nHigden, Betty ( Our Mutual Friend ) Old woman who operates a 'minding school', for orphans and other children. She is adamant about earning her keep and staying away from the workhouse. When an orphan in her keep dies she hits the road and earns a living doing needlework. She dies in the arms of Lizzie Hexam who promises not to take her to the workhouse. Dickens uses the character to illustrate the horror many of the truly needy had of the workhouse system. \nHominy, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Conceited American literary lady Martin is forced to accompany on the first leg of the trip to Eden. \nHoneythunder, Luke ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Loud, overbearing philanthropist and guardian of Neville and Helena Landless .\nHortense ( Bleak House ) Lady Dedlock's French maid. She is dismissed in favor of Rosa and aids lawyer Tulkinghorn in discovering Lady Dedlock's secret. When Tulkinghorn spurns her she murders him. Hortense is based on Mrs Manning , a murderer whose execution Dickens witnessed in 1849. \nHubbles, Mr and Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Friends of the Gargerys, Mr Hubble is the village wheelwright. \nHugh ( Barnaby Rudge ) Hostler at the Maypole. Joins the rioters in London and is later hanged. Revealed to be the son of Sir John Chester . \nI\nJ\nJacques ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Name taken by Ernest Defarge and his fellow revolutionaries. From the word jacquerie meaning a peasant uprising. \nJaggers ( Great Expectations ) Lawyer who serves Miss Havisham and Magwitch . It is through Jaggers that Pip receives the benefits of the great expectations that he assumes are from Miss Havisham . Pip later discovers the convict Magwitch has been his benefactor. \nJanet ( David Copperfield ) Betsy Trotwood's maid. \"a pretty blooming girl of about nineteen or twenty.\" She later marries a tavern keeper. \nMrs Jarley ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Proprietor of a traveling waxwork who employs Nell and her grandfather . When the grandfather schemes to steal from Mrs Jarley, in order to support a gambling habit, Nell persuades him that they should take to the road again. \nJarndyce, John ( Bleak House ) Owner of Bleak House and party in the Chancery suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. He adopts Esther Summerson who becomes close friends with John's cousins, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone . John hates the lawsuit which has gone on for so long with no end in sight. Richard , however, becomes consumed with the case hoping it will make him his fortune. This obsession causes Carstone and Jarndyce to suffer a falling out. Jarndyce falls in love with Esther and proposes marriage, she accepts out of respect for him. Jarndyce later finds that Esther is in love with Woodcourt and releases her from their engagement.\nJasper, John ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Uncle of Edwin Drood who has an opium habit. He cares for his nephew but harbors secret feelings for Edwin's fiancee Rosa Bud . Edwin disappears and the story ends prematurely with Dickens death but many believe that it was Jasper who killed Edwin Drood . Dickens describes Jasper as \"a dark man of some six-and-twenty, with thick, lustrous, well-arranged black hair and whiskers. He looks older than he is, as dark men often do. His voice is deep and good, his face and figure are good, his manner is a little sombre. His room is a little sombre, and may have had its influence in forming his manner.\" \nJeddler, Dr. Anthony ( The Battle of Life ) Country doctor whose view of life is altered by the sacrifices made by his youngest daughter, Marion , for her sister, Grace . \nJeddler, Grace ( The Battle of Life ) Older daughter of Dr. Jeddler . She is the recipient of the sacrifice of her younger sister Marion , who runs away that Grace may marry her beau Alfred Heathfield . \nJeddler, Marion ( The Battle of Life ) Younger daughter of Dr. Jeddler . She runs away to live with her Aunt Martha that her sister Grace may marry Alfred Heathfield . \nJeddler, Martha ( The Battle of Life ) Maiden sister of Dr. Jeddler . The doctor's younger daughter, Marion , runs away and secretly lives with Martha. \nJellyby ( Bleak House ) Mrs. Jellyby is involved in many causes and charities but neglects her large family. Her eldest daughter, Caddy , marries Prince Turveydrop , the dance instructor. Dickens modeled Mrs Jellyby on Caroline Chisholm. \nJellyby, Caroline (Caddy) ( Bleak House ) Neglected daughter of Mrs Jellyby and her personal secretary (\"I'm pen and ink to ma\"). Caddy leaves home and marries Prince Turveydrop . \nJenny ( Bleak House ) Brickmaker's wife, befriended by Esther Summerson after Jenny's child dies. Later exchanges coats with Lady Dedlock , throwing Bucket off in his pursuit of Lady Dedlock as she flees following the revealing of her secret. \nJingle, Alfred ( Pickwick Papers ) A wandering rascal who befriends Mr. Pickwick and accompanies the group to the Wardle home at Dingley Dell. He entices Miss Rachel to elope with him and is run down and bought off by Rachel's brother. Pickwick later finds a penitent Jingle in the Fleet Prison, pays his debt, and sends him and his servant, Job Trotter , off to Demerara, an area of Guyana, to turn over a new leaf. \nJiniwin, Mrs ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Mother of Betsy Quilp and mother-in-law to Daniel Quilp . Mrs Jiniwin makes feigned attempts to defy Quilp but is terrified of him. \nJinkins, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Oldest boarder at Todger's Boarding House. A fish-salesman and book-keeper aged forty. \nJo ( Bleak House ) The crossing sweeper. When Jo shows Lady Dedlock the haunts of Captain Hawdon, lawyer Tulkinghorn has Jo kept moving from place to place. He befriends Esther Summerson at Bleak House and communicates smallpox to Charlie, and then Esther . Jo later dies at the shooting gallery of George Rouncewell. \nJoe (The Fat Boy) ( Pickwick Papers ) Servant of Mr. Wardle , has an amazing ability to fall asleep anytime, unless he's eating.\n \nJobling, Dr. ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Medical officer for the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. Dr Jobling takes the company's money but distances himself from its Board. \nJobling, Tony (Weevle) ( Bleak House ) Friend of Guppy who takes Nemo's room at Krook's after Nemo's death. Jobling and Guppy discover the spectacular death of Krook and are temporary celebrities, drinking for free at the Sol's Arms. \nJoe, Old ( A Christmas Carol ) Fence who buys Scrooge's bed linen from Mrs Dilber when Scrooge is shown the future by the Ghost of Christmas Future . \nJorkins ( David Copperfield ) Partner to Mr Spenlow who plays the heavy in the business. \"a mild man of a heavy temperament, whose place in the business was to keep himself in the background, and be constantly exhibited by name as the most obdurate and ruthless of men.\" \nJupe, Sissy ( Hard Times ) Daughter of Signor Jupe, a clown in Sleary's circus, who is deserted by her father and taken in by Gradgrind where she befriends Louisa . \nK\nKedgick, Captain ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlord of the National Hotel where Mark and Martin stay on their way to and from Eden.\nKenge ( Bleak House ) Solicitor for John Jarndyce in the firm Kenge and Carboy. Known as 'Conversation Kenge'. \nKenwigs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Neighbors of Newman Noggs . Nicholas tutors their three daughters. Mrs Kenwigs' uncle, Mr Lillyvick , is a well-to-do collector of water rates and the family hopes to eventually profit from this relation. Their expectations are dashed when Lillyvick marries actress Henrietta Petowker and are revived when she runs away with a retired navy captain. \nKidgerbury, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Maid (at intervals) to David and Dora Copperfield, and the \"oldest inhabitant of Kentish Town.\" \nKrook ( Bleak House ) Drunken and illiterate proprietor of a rag and bottle shop. Known as the 'Lord Chancellor', Krook collects court documents. A will, instrumental in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case, is found among his holdings by Mr Smallweed who inherits Krook's possessions after his demise by spontaneous combustion. Krook is Mrs Smallweed's brother. \nL\nMiss La Creevy ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Miniature painter in the Strand. The Nickleby's lease lodging from her briefly and she becomes their faithful friend. In the end she marries the Cheeryble Brothers old clerk, Tim Linkinwater . \nLammle, Alfred and Sophronia ( Our Mutual Friend ) Society couple who marry, each thinking that the other has money only to find after marriage that both are broke. They are frustrated in a scheme to worm their way into the Boffin fortune and leave England to escape debts. \nLandless, Helena ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Twin sister of Neville who, as the story ends prematurely, is falling in love with Canon Chrisparkle . \nLandless, Neville ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Twin brother of Helena . He and his sister are brought to Cloisterham by their guardian, Mr. Honeythunder . Neville is attracted to Rosa Bud and, being set up by Jasper , quarrels with Edwin Drood . After Drood's disappearance Jasper cast blame on Neville who has no alibi and flees to London with his sister. \nLangdale ( Barnaby Rudge ) Kindly vintner and distiller in Holborn based on an historical figure. The Catholic Langdale shelters Geoffrey Haredale from the rioters. His home and warehouse are burned in the riots, his stores of spirits are consumed by the mob. \nLarkins, Miss ( David Copperfield ) Early love of David Copperfield , \"a tall, dark, black-eyed, fine figure of a woman.\" She later marries an officer in the Army. \nLeeford, Edward aka Monks ( Oliver Twist ) Villainous son of Edwin and half-brother of Oliver Twist who plots with Fagin to corrupt Oliver , in which case Leeford will inherit all of their father's property. After the plan is foiled Leeford is forced to emigrate to America where he dies in prison. \nLeeford, Edwin ( Oliver Twist ) Father of Oliver, whom he has fathered out of wedlock with Agnes Fleming . Also father of Edward (Monks) from a previous marriage. Edwin has died before the story begins. \nLenville, Thomas ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Member of Crummles' traveling stage troupe: \"a dark-complexioned man, inclining indeed to sallow, with long thick black hair, and very evident inclinations (although he was close shaved) of a stiff beard, and whiskers of the same deep shade. His age did not appear to exceed thirty, though many at first sight would have considered him much older, as his face was long, and very pale, from the constant application of stage paint.\" \nLewsome ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Medical man and old schoolmate of John Westlock . Westlock hires Mrs Gamp to nurse Lewsome through a serious illness. Lewsome has provided poison to Jonas Chuzzlewit who intends using it to kill his father, Anthony . His later confession helps lead to Jonas' arrest. \nLightwood, Mortimer ( Our Mutual Friend ) A lawyer too lazy to take on much work and friend of Eugene Wrayburn . His only client is the Boffins , which puts him in the middle of much of the story. \nLillian ( The Chimes ) Orphaned nine-year-old niece of Will Fern . \nLillyvick, Mr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Collector of water rates and uncle of Mrs Kenwigs . He secretly marries Henrietta Petowker in Portsmouth, much to the dismay of the Kenwigs, who had hoped to inherit his money. The Kenwigs expectations are renewed when Henrietta runs off with a half-pay (retired) captain. \nLinkinwater, Tim ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Faithful clerk to the Cheeryble Brothers and friend of the Nicklebys. He marries Miss La Creevy. \nLittimer ( David Copperfield ) Manservant to Steerforth , involved in the concealment of the elopement of Steerforth and Emily . He is later guilty of embezzlement and is captured with the help of Miss Mowcher . David says of him \"I believe there never existed in his station a more respectable-looking man. He was taciturn, soft-footed, very quiet in his manner, deferential, observant, always at hand when wanted, and never near when not wanted; but his great claim to consideration was his respectability.\" \nLongford, Edmund ( The Haunted Man ) Ailing student at the university where Redlaw teaches chemistry. He is adversely effected by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows and is later restored by his old nurse, Milly Swidger . \nLorry, Jarvis ( A Tale of Two Cities ) An agent for Tellson's bank, Mr. Lorry is instrumental in bringing Dr. Manette , who is imprisoned in Paris, back to England. He returns to Paris to look after the bank's interest after the Revolution starts and while there helps Lucie and Charles Darnay , bringing them back to England after Sydney Carton sacrifices his life to save Darnay .\nDickens decribes Mr. Lorry: \"Very orderly and methodical he looked, with a hand on each knee, and a loud watch ticking a sonorous sermon under his flapped waist-coat, as though it pitted its gravity and longevity against the levity and evanescence of the brisk fire. He had a good leg, and was a little vain of it, for his brown stockings fitted sleek and close, and were of a fine texture; his shoes and buckles, too, though plain, were trim. He wore an odd little sleek crisp flaxen wig, setting very close to his head: which wig, it is to be presumed, was made of hair, but which looked far more as though it were spun from filaments of silk or glass. His linen, though not of a fineness in accordance with his stockings, was as white as the tops of the waves that broke upon the neighbouring beach, or the specks of sail that glinted in the sunlight far at sea. A face habitually suppressed and quieted, was still lighted up under the quaint wig by a pair of moist bright eyes that it must have cost their owner, in years gone by, some pains to drill to the composed and reserved expression of Tellson's Bank. He had a healthy colour in his cheeks, and his face, though lined, bore few traces of anxiety. But, perhaps the confidential bachelor clerks in Tellson's Bank were principally occupied with the cares of other people; and perhaps second-hand cares, like second-hand clothes, come easily off and on.\"\nLosberne, Dr. ( Oliver Twist ) Impetuous doctor who treats Oliver and Rose in illness. A friend of the Maylie family. \nLowten ( Pickwick Papers ) Clerk to the solicitor Perker . Spends evenings with other law clerks at the Magpie and Stump. \nLupin, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlady of the Blue Dragon Inn. Eventually marries Mark Tapley . \nM\nMacStinger, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Captain Cuttle's widowed landlady at Brig Place. The Captain is terrified of her and is constantly trying to avoid her. She eventually coerces the Captain's friend, Jack Bunsby , into marriage. \nMaggy ( Little Dorrit ) Mentally retarded granddaughter of Mrs Bangham and faithful friend of Amy Dorrit . \"She was about eight-and-twenty, with large bones , large features, large feet and hands, large eyes and no hair.\" \nMagnus, Peter ( Pickwick Papers ) Samuel Pickwick's fellow traveler to Ipswich where Magnus plans to propose to Miss Witherfield , the lady in yellow curl papers . \nMagwitch, Abel ( Great Expectations ) A convict whom Pip helps in the marshes after his escape from the prison ship. He is recaptured and transported to Australia where he gains a fortune which he secretly uses to increase Pip's \"expectations\". He secretly returns to England as Provis and confronts Pip with the secret source of his good fortune. Magwitch is recaptured and dies before he can be executed. Magwitch is also the father of Estella . \nMaldon, Jack ( David Copperfield ) Cousin of Annie Strong with whom he is suspected of having an affair. \nManette, Dr. Alexandre ( A Tale of Two Cities ) A prisoner in the Bastille in Paris for eighteen years. He is released and accompanies his daughter, Lucie , and Jarvis Lorry to England. He returns to Paris after the outbreak of the revolution and, as a former prisoner, is able to secure Darnay's release from the revolutionaries. However, a statement written during Manette's long incarceration in the Bastille is later discovered and incriminates Darnay's family. Darnay is again imprisoned and later escapes when Sydney Carton takes his place. \nManette, Lucie ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Daughter of Dr. Manette . She is taken to Paris by Jarvis Lorry when her father is released from prison. She marries Charles Darnay but is adored from afar by Sydney Carton , who feels unworthy of her. When Darnay is imprisoned in Paris by the revolutionaries Carton helps him escape, taking Darnay's place due to their resemblance. As Darnay and Lucie escape to England, Carton makes the supreme sacrifice. \nMann, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Matron of a workhouse farm where Oliver is raised to age 9. \nMantalini, Madame ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Dressmaker in Cavandish Square, she hires Kate Nickleby as a favor to her uncle Ralph , to whom she owes money. Her shiftless husband, Alfred , borrows heavily from Ralph and eventually bankrupts his wife's business.\nMantalini, Alfred ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Husband of Madame Mantalini . A shiftless idler who lives by flattering his older wife until he has gone through all of her money. Ends up working for a laundress who has bailed him out of debtor's prison. \nThe Marchioness ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Dick Swiveller's nickname for the little servant kept locked below stairs by the Brasses . Swiveller later marries her. \nMarkleham, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Mother of Annie Strong . Also known as The Old Soldier. \nMarkham ( David Copperfield ) Friend of Steerforth's who has dinner with David at his chambers at the Adelphi. \nMarley, Jacob ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's former partner, who died seven Christmas Eves ago. Jacob, in life, was a penny-pinching miser like Scrooge and is suffering for it in the afterlife. His ghost comes to haunt Scrooge , hoping to change Scrooge's life and therefore avoid Marley's fate. \nMarton, Mr ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kindly schoolmaster who befriends Nell and her grandfather . He meets up with them again at the end of their journey and obtains a situation for them in the village church where he has been appointed clerk. \nMary ( Pickwick Papers ) Pretty housemaid of Nupkins, mayor of Ipswich, whom Samuel Weller pursues throughout the novel. Later Arabella Allen's maid and finally hired as housemaid by Samuel Pickwick . She marries Weller at the end of the novel. \nMary Anne ( David Copperfield ) Incompetent maid to David and Dora Copperfield. \nMaylie, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Mother of Harry and the adopted mother of Rose . \nMaylie, Harry ( Oliver Twist ) Son of Mrs. Maylie , he marries Rose . \nMaylie, Rose ( Oliver Twist ) A poor girl adopted by Mrs. Maylie , she and Mr. Brownlow endeavor to help Oliver through Nancy . When Nancy's conversation with Rose on London Bridge is overheard by Claypole, Nancy is murdered by Sikes . She later marries Harry . \nM'Choakumchild ( Hard Times ) Schoolmaster in Gradgrind's school where fancy and imagination are discouraged in favor of hard facts. \nMeagles, Mr. and Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Kindhearted retired banker Mr. Meagles, his wife and daughter, Pet, befriend Arthur Clennam , Amy Dorrit , and Daniel Doyce . The Meagles adopt Tattycoram from the Foundling Hospital. \nMeg (Margaret) ( The Chimes ) Daughter of poor ticket porter Trotty Veck . Marries Richard on New Year's Day. \nMell, Charles ( David Copperfield ) Assistant schoolmaster at Salem House Academy attended by David Copperfield . David befriends Mell and finds that Mell's mother lives in an almshouse which he innocently tells Steerforth . Steerforth uses this information to discredit Mell and have him dismissed. Mell later emigrates to Australia and becomes headmaster at Colonial Salem House Grammar School in Port Middlebay. \nMerdle, Mr. and Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Mr. Merdle is an unscrupulous banker. Investing in his enterprises ruins the Dorrits , Arthur Clennam , and others. Merdle commits suicide when his fraud is uncovered. Mrs. Merdle is the mother of Edmund Sparkler by a previous marriage. \nMicawber, Wilkins ( David Copperfield ) Enters the story when David takes lodging at his home. Continually in debt and looking for \"something to turn up\" he ends up in debtor's prison. On his release he rambles through the story in various occupations eventually employed at Mr. Wickfield's office where he exposes the dastardly deeds of Uriah Heep . In gratitude for this his debts are paid and he emigrates to Australia, where he prospers. David describes him as \"a stoutish, middle-aged person, in a brown surtout and black tights and shoes, with no more hair upon his head (which was a large one, and very shining) than there is upon an egg, and with a very extensive face. His clothes were shabby, but he had an imposing shirt-collar on. He carried a jaunty sort of a stick, with a large pair of rusty tassels to it; and a quizzing-glass hung outside his coat, - for ornament, I afterwards found, as he very seldom looked through it, and couldn't see anything when he did.\" The character is drawn heavily on Dickens' father .\nMicawber, Emma ( David Copperfield ) Long suffering wife of Mr. Micawber whom she swears she will never leave despite his financial difficulties. David describes her as \"a thin and faded lady, not at all young, with a baby at her breast. This baby was one of twins; and I may remark here that I hardly ever, in all my experience of the family, saw both the twins detached from Mrs. Micawber at the same time. One of them was always taking refreshment.\" \nMiggs ( Barnaby Rudge ) Maid in the Varden household. Comically allies with Martha Varden against her husband. Miggs aids the rioters when they attempt to capture Gabriel . She is discharged after the riots and becomes a jailor in a woman's prison. \nMillers ( Great Expectations ) One of Mrs Pocket's maids (along with Flopson ) who helps control the Pocket's 'tumbled up' children.\nMilvey, Reverend Frank ( Our Mutual Friend ) Reverend who assists the Boffins in the adoption of Johnny. Reverend Milvey also conducts the funeral of Betty Higden and the marriage of Eugene Wrayburn and Lizzie Hexam . Rev. Frank's wife is Margaretta.\nMills, Julia ( David Copperfield ) Friend and confidant of Dora Spenlow and David's go-between during his courtship with Dora. She later goes to live in India. \nMills, Mr. ( David Copperfield ) Father of Julia . When David visits Dora at the Mills' home he must wait for Mr. Mills to go out, which he takes his good time doing, much to David's annoyance. \nMolly ( Great Expectations ) Jagger's maid whom he had successfully defended in a murder trial. Jaggers gives her little girl ( Estella ) to Miss Havisham to raise. \nMorfin, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Assistant manager at Dombey and Son. Morfin aids John Carker when he overhears John's mistreatment at the hands of his brother James . Morfin later marries Harriet Carker . \nMould ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Undertaker who arranges the funeral of Anthony Chuzzlewit and recommends Mrs Gamp . Mr Mould has \"a face in which a queer attempt at melancholy was at odds with a smirk of satisfaction.\" \nMiss Mowcher ( David Copperfield ) Dwarf hairdresser and manicurist of Steerforth . David , expecting to meet Miss Mowcher for the first time reports: \"I looked at the doorway and saw nothing. I was still looking at the doorway, thinking that Miss Mowcher was a long while making her appearance, when, to my infinite astonishment, there came waddling round a sofa which stood between me and it, a pursy dwarf, of about forty or forty-five, with a very large head and face, a pair of roguish grey eyes, and such extremely little arms, that, to enable herself to lay a finger archly against her snub nose, as she ogled Steerforth, she was obliged to meet the finger half-way, and lay her nose against it. Her chin, which was what is called a double chin, was so fat that it entirely swallowed up the strings of her bonnet, bow and all.\" See sidebar on Copperfield page . \nMr. F's Aunt ( Little Dorrit ) Companion to Flora Finching (Aunt to her late husband) and one of the funniest characters in Dickens. Dickens describes her as \"an amazing little old woman, with a face like a staring wooden doll too cheap for expression, and a stiff yellow wig perched unevenly on the top of her head, as if the child who owned the doll had driven a tack through it anywhere, so that it only got fastened on.\" She has an amazing capacity for uttering totally non-sensible barbs which \"being totally uncalled for by anything said by anybody, and traceable to no association of ideas, confounded and terrified the mind.\"\nMurdstone, Edward ( David Copperfield ) Second husband of Clara Copperfield whom David dislikes. He is a stern disciplinarian and sends David off to Salem House School and later consigns him to the warehouse of Murdstone and Grinby. \nMurdstone, Jane ( David Copperfield ) Sister of Edward Murdstone who moves in with David and his mother after her marriage to Murdstone . David describes her as \"a gloomy-looking lady she was; dark, like her brother, whom she greatly resembled in face and voice; and with very heavy eyebrows, nearly meeting over her large nose. She kept the purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite. I had never, at that time, seen such a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was.\" She surfaces again in the novel as the \"confidential friend\" of Dora Spenlow . \nN\nNadgett ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Private investigator hired by Tigg Montigue to provide information on the customers of the fraudulent life assurance company. Nadgett exposes Jonas Chuzzlewit as Montigue's murderer. Nadgett is also landlord of Tom and Ruth Pinch in Islington. \nNancy ( Oliver Twist ) Prostitute and member of Fagin's band of thieves. Befriends Oliver and is eventually murdered by Sikes trying to help Oliver escape Fagin's clutches. \nNative, The ( Dombey and Son ) Indian servant of Major Joe Bagstock . \nNeckett ( Bleak House ) Sheriff's officer who arrests debtors and delivers them to Coavin's sponging house (temporary debtor's prison) thus Skimpole gives Neckett the nickname \"Coavinses\". Neckett dies leaving three orphans: Charlotte (Charley) , Emma, and Tom. Charley becomes Esther Summerson's maid. \nCharlotte (Charley) Neckett ( Bleak House ) Daughter of sheriff's officer Neckett . When her father dies Charley cares for her two younger siblings: Emma and Tom. Charley becomes Esther Summerson's maid, nursing Esther through smallpox. She later marries a miller. \nNell's Grandfather ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Owner of the Old Curiosity Shop. He has a secret gambling habit, hoping to make a fortune for his granddaughter. He borrows money to gamble from Quilp , when he cannot pay he takes Nell and escapes London to the country. When Nell dies he is heartbroken and dies soon after. \nNemo ( Bleak House ) Alias of Capt. Hawdon (Nemo is Latin for nobody). Nemo is doing some law copying for Snagsby and is a boarder in Krook's rag and bottle shop when he dies of an opium overdose. He is later found to be the former lover of Lady Dedlock and the father of Esther Summerson . \nNewcome, Clemency ( The Battle of Life ) Lovable, awkward, and clumsy servant of Dr. Jeddler . She later marries Benjamin Britain and together they run the comfortable Nutmeg-Grater and Thimble Inn. \nMrs. Nickleby ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Mother of Nicholas and Kate . Absent-minded and self-absorbed, she continues to \"put on airs\" even in the reduced situation of her family after the financial ruin and death of her husband. The character is heavily drawn from Dickens' mother. \nNickleby, Kate ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Sister of Nicholas . She is placed by her uncle, Ralph Nickleby , with Madame Mantalini . Kate becomes the object of the undesirable attentions of some of the evil-minded clients of her uncle, who is using her to his advantage. She is rescued by Nicholas with the help of Newman Noggs . Later she marries Frank Cheeryble . \nNickleby, Nicholas ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Brother to Kate and nephew of Ralph . Hoping to provide support for his mother and sister after the death of his father, he turns to his uncle Ralph for assistance. Ralph wants nothing to do with his late brother's family and feigns to help Nicholas by securing a position as assistant master at the Dotheboys Hall school, run by unscrupulous Wackford Squeers . Nicholas soon becomes disgusted with Squeer's treatment of his pupils and leaves, giving Squeers a sound thrashing and liberating Smike , whom Squeers has mistreated for years. Nicholas and Smike move in with Newman Noggs in London and then travel to Portsmouth where they take up acting in Crummles stage company. On hearing of the mistreatment of his sister at the hands of his uncle, Nicholas, with Smike , returns to London. Nicholas secures employment with the philanthropic Cheeryble brothers and later marries Madeline Bray whom he has helped rescue from the evil designs of Ralph and Arthur Gride .\nNicholas seems to have a bit more pluck than many of Dickens young heroes and in the preface to the 1848 Cheap Edition ofNicholas Nickleby Dickens writes \"If Nicholas be not always found to be blameless or agreeable, he is not always intended to appear so. He is a young man of an impetuous temper and of little or no experience; and I saw no reason why such a hero should be lifted out of nature.\" \nNickleby, Ralph ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Uncle to Nicholas and Kate (and later we find, father of Smike ). A rich and miserly moneylender who feigns to help his late brother's family but, in reality, tries to humiliate Nicholas and use Kate to his own advantage. His evil plans and schemes prove his ultimate undoing and he eventually hangs himself. \nNipper, Susan ( Dombey and Son ) Florence Dombey's maid who is discharged when she confronts Paul Dombey about his treatment of Florence. She later marries Toots . Dickens describes Susan as \"a short, brown womanly girl, with a little snub nose, and black eyes like jet beads.\" \nNoggs, Newman ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Once a well-to-do gentleman but he squanders his money and is reduced to serving Ralph Nickleby as clerk. He befriends Nicholas and eventually helps him defeat the designs of Ralph . \nNorris family ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) New York friends of Mr Bevan whom he introduces to Martin . Their initial warm welcome cools when they discover he made the trip to America in steerage. \nNubbles, Kit ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kit is shop boy at the Curiosity Shop owned by Nell's grandfather and is devoted to Nell . Kit lives at home with his widowed mother, his brother Jacob, and baby brother. Kit is later hired by the Garlands and is wrongly charged with theft by Brass . At the end of the novel we find Kit has married Barbara . \nO\nOmer, Mr ( David Copperfield ) Undertaker in Yarmouth who arranges the funeral of Clara Copperfield . \"a fat, short-winded, merry-looking, little old man in black, with rusty little bunches of ribbons at the knees of his breeches, black stockings, and a broad-brimmer hat\" His daughter Minnie marries the shop foreman, Joram, who later inherits the business. Emily and Martha Endell work for Mr. Omer. \nOrlick, Dolge ( Great Expectations ) Joe Gargary's journeyman blacksmith, he quarrels with Mrs. Joe and later attacks her, leaving her with injuries of which she later dies. He falls in with Compeyson and tries to murder Pip . \nP\nPancks ( Little Dorrit ) Clerk and rent collector for Mr. Casby. He assists in finding William Dorrit's fortune. Dickens employs the metaphor of Pancks as a tugboat guiding Casby's \"ship.\" Pancks moves tugboat style \"with a puff and a snort.\" \nParkes, Phil ( Barnaby Rudge ) Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. \nPawkins, Major and Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Proprietors of a New York boarding house where Martin and Mark stay. The Major is typical of the scoundrels they meet in America. \nPecksniff, Charity (Cherry) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Seth Pecksniff's older daughter and sister of Mercy . Haughty and ill-tempered, without her younger sister's playful nature. She is infuriated when passed over for marriage by Jonas Chuzzlewith who chooses her sister. She later promises herself to Mr Moddle, who leaves her at the alter. Charity has a disposition \"which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour.\" \nPecksniff, Mercy (Merry) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Seth Pecksniff's younger daughter and sister of Charity . Seth gives her in marriage to Jonas Chuzzlewit , who breaks her spirit, and her heart. \nPecksniff, Seth ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Sanctimonious surveyor and architect \"who has never designed or built anything\", and one of the biggest hypocrites in fiction. Father of daughters Mercy and Charity . In an effort to gain old Martin's money he embraces then throws out young Martin at old Martin's wish. When long time servant Tom Pinch learns of Pecksniff's treachery he is also thrown out. Pecksniff's self-serving designs are eventually exposed by Old Martin who reconciles with his grandson, young Martin . Dickens' description of Pecksniff's hypocrisy is telling: \"Some people likened him to a direction-post, which is always telling the way to a place, and never goes there.\" \nPeecher, Emma ( Our Mutual Friend ) Teacher of the girl's class at the school where Bradley Headstone is master. Emma is in love with Headstone but he does not return her affection. \nPeerybingle, John ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Carrier, deliverer of goods, who is much older than his wife, Mary . \nPeerybingle, Mary (Dot) ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Mary is the much younger wife of John. She is called Dot due to her small size and dumpling shape. Her parents are Old Dot and Mrs Dot, both also small. Mary works to reunite old lovers May Fielding and Edward Plummer . \nMrs. Pegler ( Hard Times ) Revealed at the end of the story to be Bounderby's loving mother, exposing his claim as \"self-made man\", who raised himself in the streets, to be a sham. \nPeggotty, Clara ( David Copperfield ) David's devoted nurse and sister to Daniel Peggotty . After the death of David's mother she is discharged and marries Barkis . When Barkis dies she goes to live with David and Betsy Trotwood . David comically describes getting a hug from Peggotty: \"She laid aside her work (which was a stocking of her own), and opening her arms wide, took my curly head within them, and gave it a good squeeze. I know it was a good squeeze, because, being very plump, whenever she made any little exertion after she was dressed, some of the buttons on the back of her gown flew off. And I recollect two bursting to the opposite side of the parlour, while she was hugging me.\" \nPeggotty, Daniel ( David Copperfield ) Crotchety fisherman and dealer in lobsters, crabs, and crawfish. Brother of Clare . He lives in a converted boat on the beach at Yarmouth with Emily , Ham , and Mrs. Gummidge . When Emily abandons them to elope with Steerforth , Daniel vows to find her. Steerforth later leaves Emily and she is re-united with Daniel. At the end of the novel Daniel, Emily , and Mrs Gummidge resettle in Australia. \nPeggotty, Ham ( David Copperfield ) Fisherman and boatbuilder. Orphaned nephew of Daniel Peggotty and fiance of Emily . He drowns trying to rescue Steerforth . \"He was a huge, strong fellow of six feet high, broad in proportion, and round-shouldered; but with a simpering boy's face and curly light hair that gave him quite a sheepish look. He was dressed in a canvas jacket, and a pair of such very stiff trousers that they would have stood quite as well alone, without any legs in them. And you couldn't so properly have said he wore a hat, as that he was covered in a-top, like an old building, with something pitchy.\" \nPell, Solomon ( Pickwick Papers ) Shady lawyer whom Tony Weller engages to arrange Samuel Weller's imprisonment in the Fleet in order to be with his master, Samuel Pickwick . \nPerch ( Dombey and Son ) Messenger at the firm of Dombey and Son. He and his Wife live at Ball's Pond, a suburb on the northern edge of London. \nPerker ( Pickwick Papers ) Solicitor of Mr. Wardle , later represents Samuel Pickwick in the Bardell vs Pickwick breach of promise suit. \nPetowker, Henrietta ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Minor actress at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and neighbor of Kenwigs and Noggs . She marries Mrs Kenwigs' uncle, Mr Lillyvick , but later runs off with a half-pay (retired) captain. \nPickwick, Samuel ( Pickwick Papers ) Retired businessman and founder and chairman of the Pickwick Club. Pickwick, along with his friends Tupman , Snodgrass , Winkle , and his servant Sam Weller , travel around England in search of adventure. Pickwick is one Dickens most loved characters and his story propelled Dickens to literary stardom. \n \nPinch, Tom ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Devoted admirer and assistant to Pecksniff . A kindly, sweet-tempered fellow, completely blind to Pecksniff's hypocrisy despite a multitude of evidence to the contrary. He finally becomes aware of Pecksniff's true character and is dismissed. He goes to London to live with his sister and is employed by a mysterious gentleman which turns out to be old Martin Chuzzlewit . \nPinch, Ruth ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Sister of Tom Pinch . She is governess to a wealthy brass and copper founder's family in Camberwell. When Tom goes to visit her he finds she is unhappy in her work and is accused by the family of being unable to command the respect of her employer's spoiled daughter. She leaves to live with Tom in Islington and later marries Tom's friend John Westlock . \nPip (Pirrip, Phillip) ( Great Expectations ) Principal character of the book. Brought up \"by hand\" by his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery , twenty years his senior, who mistreats him along with her husband, Joe Gargery . Pip meets Magwitch on the marshes after his escape from the prison ship and brings him food. Magwitch is recaptured and sent away to Australia where he prospers. Pip is introduced to Miss Havisham , an eccentric old woman, and her charge, Estella , who Pip falls in love with. Estella has been taught by Miss Havisham to break men's hearts as restitution for Miss Havisham's having been left at the altar years before. Pip begins to receive money through an unknown source. He becomes a gentleman, goes to London, and drifts away from early friends. Pip eventually learns that his benefactor is not Miss Havisham , as he believes, but the convict, Magwitch . \nPipchin, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Cantankerous operator of a boarding house in Brighton when Paul jr and Florence are sent there for Paul's health. Later becomes Mr Dombey's housekeeper. Considers herself ill-used because her husband was killed, 40 years earlier, in the Peruvian Mines. Dickens modeled Pipchin on Mrs Roylance, Dickens' landlady in London when his father was imprisoned for debt. \nPlornish ( Little Dorrit ) Thomas Plornish, a plasterer previously imprisoned at the Marshalsea with the Dorrits, lives with his wife and two children at Bleeding Heart Yard. \nPlummer, Bertha ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Blind daughter of poor toymaker, Caleb Plummer . To help ease Bertha's way Caleb has made her believe that the unfeeling Tackleton is their kind friend and the unknowing Bertha falls in love with him. \nPlummer, Caleb ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Poor toymaker who works for the hard-hearted Tackleton . Acting as the eyes of his blind daughter, Bertha , he tenderly embellishes their humble home and ragged clothes and makes her believe that the unfeeling Tackleton is their friend. \nPlummer, Edward ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Son of Caleb and sister to Bertha . Edward was the former lover of May Fielding , went away to sea, and was supposed dead. With the help of Mary Peerybingle , he is reunited with May on the day she is supposed to marry Tackleton . \nPocket, Herbert ( Great Expectations ) Pip goes to London to begin his education and meets Herbert, whom he discovers is the \"pale young gentleman\" with whom he fought with at Miss Havisham's as a child. Pip and Herbert become best friends and share chambers at Barnard's Inn and at the Temple. Herbert helps teach Pip \"city manners.\" Pip helps Herbert become a partner in the firm of Clarriker and Co. which enables Pocket to marry Clara Barley . \"What a hopeful disposition you have!\" said I, gratefully admiring his cheery ways. \"I ought to have,\" said Herbert, \"for I have not much else.\" \nPocket, Matthew ( Great Expectations ) Father of Herbert and cousin of Miss Havisham . He is the only one of Miss Havisham's relatives who speaks honestly of her and has been banished from her presence. Matthew is Pip's tutor in London. He has no control over his large family and has a habit of pulling himself up by his hair in frustration. Pip tells Miss Havisham of Matthew's good character and she leaves him 4000 pounds in her will. Matthew's wife, Belinda, is obsessed with social position, having been the daughter of a knight, and pays no attention to housekeeping or her young children who are left to \"tumble up\" by themselves. Many believe Dickens modeled the Pocket household after his own large family. \nPodsnap, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Model for \"Podsnappery\" or Victorian middle-class pomp and complacency, along with his wife, and daughter Georgiana. Dickens modeled John Podsnap on his friend and first biographer John Forster . \nPogram, Elijah ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Member of Congress Martin meets on the steamboat when leaving Eden. Pogram has inherited the congressional talent for speechifying much, and saying little. \nPotatoes, Mealy ( David Copperfield ) Co-worker of David Copperfield at Murdstone and Grimby's warehouse. \nPott, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Editor of the Eatenswill Gazette and sworn enemy of Mr Slurk , editor of the Eatenswill Independent.\nPotterson, Abbey ( Our Mutual Friend ) Proprietor of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters pub in Limehouse Hole. \nPrice, Matilda ( Nicholas Nickleby ) A miller's daughter, Fanny Squeers friend. She marries John Browdie . \nPrig, Betsy ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Day nurse and friend of Mrs Gamp . \"Mrs Prig was of the Gamp build, but not so fat; and her voice was deeper and more like a man's. She had also a beard.\" Betsy and Mrs Gamp later have a falling out, Betsy questioning the existence of Gamp's imaginary friend Mrs Harris . \nMiss Pross ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Lucie Manette's loyal maid. In Paris Miss Pross is surprised to find her brother, Soloman, is the spy John Barsad . In the end of the novel she struggles with Madame Defarge , who is killed in the scuffle. \n\"Mr. Lorry knew Miss Pross to be very jealous, but he also knew her by this time to be, beneath the service of her eccentricity, one of those unselfish creatures--found only among women--who will, for pure love and admiration, bind themselves willing slaves, to youth when they have lost it, to beauty that they never had, to accomplishments that they were never fortunate enough to gain, to bright hopes that never shone upon their own sombre lives. He knew enough of the world to know that there is nothing in it better than the faithful service of the heart; so rendered and so free from any mercenary taint, he had such an exalted respect for it, that in the retributive arrangements made by his own mind--we all make such arrangements, more or less-- he stationed Miss Pross much nearer to the lower Angels than many ladies immeasurably better got up both by Nature and Art, who had balances at Tellson's.\" \nPumblechook ( Great Expectations ) Joe Gargary's uncle (\"but Mrs. Joe appropriated him\"), hypocritical and well-to-do corn-chandler in the nearest town, and drove his own chaise-cart. He takes Pip to meet Miss Havisham and takes credit for arranging Pips \"great expectations.\"\n\"A large hard-breathing middle-aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been all but choked.\" \nQ\nQuilp, Daniel ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) An evil dwarf who lends money to Nell's grandfather who gambles it away and flees London with Nell in an attempt to avoid Quilp. Quilp attempts to find the pair as they travel through the country. Later Quilp is pursued by the police and, lost in the fog, drowns in the Thames. \nQuilp, Betsy ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Pretty and timid wife of Daniel Quilp whom he loves to mentally torture. When Quilp dies she inherits his money and happily remarries. Betsy's mother is Mrs Jiniwin . \nQuinion ( David Copperfield ) Manager of Grimby and Murdstone's wine-bottling warehouse who employs David Copperfield . \nR\nMrs Rachael ( Bleak House ) Esther Summerson's nurse. Later marries Rev Chadband . \nRachael ( Hard Times ) Friend of Stephen Blackpool , who loves her but cannot gain release from his drunken wife. She defends Stephen when he is accused of theft from the bank. \nRadfoot, George ( Our Mutual Friend ) Third mate aboard the ship bringing John Harmon back to England. He and Harmon resemble each other and Harmon devises a plan to temporarily exchange clothes and identities with Radfoot so that he can secretly observe his intended bride, Bella Wilfer . Radfoot instead drugs and robs Harmon and is then murdered himself, his body taken for that of John Harmon \nRedlaw ( The Haunted Man ) Professor of chemistry who is visited by a phantom on Christmas Eve and given the gift of forgetting painful memories. The gift turns out to be a curse as it is passed on to those Redlaw touches. The adverse effects of the gift are finally reversed by Milly Swidger . \nRiah ( Our Mutual Friend ) 'An old Jewish man, in an ancient coat, long of skirt and wide of pocket' who fronts Fledgeby's money-lending business. He befriends Lizzie Hexam and Jenny Wren . \nRichard ( The Chimes ) Blacksmith and fiance of Meg , they are married on New Year's Day. \nRiderhood, Pleasant ( Our Mutual Friend ) Daughter of Rogue Riderhood . Pleasant is an unlicensed pawnbroker, she later overcomes her dislike of Mr Venus's occupation and agrees to marry him. \nRiderhood, Rogue ( Our Mutual Friend ) Waterman and former partner of Gaffer Hexam who tries to pin blame on Gaffer for the Harmon murder to gain a reward. Riderhood later becomes a lock-keeper and tries to blackmail Bradley Headstone after Bradley tries to murder Eugene Wrayburn . In a quarrel both Riderhood and Headstone drown in the Thames. Rogue is also the father of Pleasant Riderhood . \nRigaud/Blandois/Lagnier ( Little Dorrit ) Villain of the novel. Rigaud attempts to blackmail Mrs. Clennam and has her house fall on him for his efforts. \"When Monsieur Rigaud laughed, a change took place in his face, that was more remarkable than prepossessing. His moustache went up under his nose, and his nose came down over his moustache, in a very sinister and cruel manner.\" \nRokesmith, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Alias used by John Harmon when he is employed as secretary to the Boffins . \nRosa ( Bleak House ) Personal maid to Lady Dedlock after Hortense is dismissed. Marries Mrs Rouncewell's grandson. \nRouncewell, George ( Bleak House ) Son of the Dedlock's housekeeper Mrs Rouncewell . George ran away to join the army and cut himself off from his mother. After leaving the army George buys a shooting gallery in London with money borrowed from Smallweed . Smallweed pressures George to give over examples of Capt Hawdon's handwriting in order to help Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. George is charged with the murder of Tulkinghorn by Bucket . Later George is exonerated of the crime and is reunited with his mother. \nRouncewell, Mrs ( Bleak House ) Longtime housekeeper of Chesney Wold, home of Sir Leicester Dedlock . Mother of George and another son who is an important ironmaster in northern England. \nRudge, Barnaby ( Barnaby Rudge ) Simple but good hearted boy who unwittingly gets involved in the Gordon Riots when he falls into bad company. He is later arrested and sentenced to death but gains reprieve through the help of Gabriel Varden . \nRudge, Barnaby Sr. ( Barnaby Rudge ) Father of Barnaby and husband of Mary . He was the Steward at the Warren and murdered his employer, Reuben Haredale . He went into hiding after the murder and resurfaces years later trying to extort money from his wife. He is finally captured by Geoffrey Haredale and executed at Newgate. \nRudge, Mary ( Barnaby Rudge ) Barnaby's mother, goes to great lengths to keep Barnaby away from his father who has murdered Reuben Haredale . \nRugg, Mr ( Little Dorrit ) Landlord of Pancks who assists in finding William Dorrit's fortune. \nS\nMarquis de St Evremonde ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Uncle of Charles Darnay . He shows unconcern when his carriage runs over and kills the child of the Parisian peasant Gaspard . Gaspard follows the Marquis to his country home and kills him in his bed. \nSally, Old ( Oliver Twist ) Old hag present at Oliver's birth. She steals the locket and ring from Oliver's mother as she lays dying.\nSapsea, Thomas ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Pompous auctioneer turned mayor of Cloisterham. \"The Purest jackass in Cloisterham.\" \nBob Sawyer ( Pickwick Papers ) Medical student, and drinking buddy of Benjamin Allen . \nScadder, Zephaniah ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Unscrupulous agent of the Eden Land Corporation who sells swamp land to Martin . \"He was a gaunt man in a huge straw hat, and a coat of green stuff. The weather being hot, he had no cravat, and wore his shirt collar wide open; so that every time he spoke something was seen to twitch and jerk up in his throat, like the little hammers in a harpsichord when the notes are struck. Perhaps it was the Truth feebly endeavouring to leap to his lips. If so, it never reached them.\" \nScott, Tom ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Quilp's boy, always at odds with his master, but expresses regret at Quilp's death. Tom has a penchant for standing on his head and walking on his hands. He later becomes a professional tumbler. \nScrooge, Ebenezer ( A Christmas Carol ) Probably Dickens' best known character, the miserly Scrooge, with his familiar cry of \"Bah, Humbug!\", is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley , who sends three more spirits in hopes of reforming Scrooge's heartless and penny-pinching ways. \nSharp, Mr ( David Copperfield ) First master at Salem House where David attends school. \"He was a limp, delicate-looking gentleman...with a good deal of nose, and a way of carrying his head on one side, as if it were a little too heavy for him.\" \nShepherd, Miss ( David Copperfield ) Early infatuation of David Copperfield . A boarder at Miss Nettingall's establishment. \nSikes, Bill ( Oliver Twist ) A vicious thief working on the fringes of Fagin's band of pickpockets. He uses Oliver in an attempt to burglarize the Maylie home. When Nancy tries to help Oliver she is found out by Fagin . Fagin relates the information to Sikes who murders Nancy . While fleeing police after the murder he accidentally hangs himself. \nSingle Gentleman, The ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Mysterious lodger of the Brasses who is trying to find Nell and her grandfather . He is revealed to be the brother of the grandfather and finds the pair shortly before his brother's death. In the original serialization of the novel in Master Humphrey's Clock the Single Gentleman turns out to be the original narrator of the story, Master Humphrey. \nSkewton, Mrs (Cleopatra) ( Dombey and Son ) Mother of Edith Granger who is 70 years old but tries to appear much younger through the use of cosmetics and various devices. Dickens describes Mrs Skewton, in being dismantled for bed by her maid, taking off of paint, clothes, wig, etc as being \"tumbled into ruins like a house of painted cards.\" Edith resents her mother who has packaged Edith to lure rich gentlemen from a child. \nSkiffins, Miss ( Great Expectations ) Wemmick's particular friend, a woman of wooden appearance in an orange gown with green gloves. Wemmick later surprises Pip on an outing by suddenly (\"here's a church, lets go in\") marrying Miss Skiffins. \nSkimpole, Harold ( Bleak House ) Friend of John Jarndyce who claims he is a mere child and understands nothing of money. Through this smooth act he manages to have everyone else pay his way through life. Dickens modeled Skimpole on Leigh Hunt, causing a stir among Hunt and his friends. \nSlammer, Dr ( Pickwick Papers ) Surgeon of the 97th, almost duels Nathaniel Winkle whom he mistakes for Alfred Jingle . \nSleary ( Hard Times ) Proprietor of Sleary's Circus. Speaks with a lisp (\"People mutht be amuthed\"). He helps Tom Gradgrind escape abroad after the bank robbery. \nSliderskew, Peg ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Old and hideously ugly housekeeper of Arthur Gride . Peg is jealous when Gride plans to marry the much younger Madeline Bray . Peg steals documents relating to Madeline's inheritance which are recovered and help undo Gride. For the theft Peg is transported. \nSloppy ( Our Mutual Friend ) Orphan who lives with Betty Higden . Sloppy is taken in by the Boffins and helps expose the rascal Silas Wegg . He later becomes a carpenter. \nSlowboy, Tilly ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Angular and clumsy nurse to the Peerybingle's infant son. \nSlurk, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Editor of the Eatenswill Independent and sworn enemy of Mr Pott , editor of the Eatenswill Gazette.\nSlyme, Chevy ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Nephew of old Martin Chuzzlewit who works with Montigue Tigg to try to squeeze money from the family. Later a London police officer. \nSmallweed ( Bleak House ) Grandfather (Joshua) Smallweed is a usurer to whom George Rouncewell owes money. Smallweed uses this leverage to obtain from George a sample of Captain Hawdon's handwriting in an attempt to help Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. Also in the Smallweed family are grandmother, Krook's sister, at whom grandfather throws cushions when she mentions money, and the twin grandchildren, Bartholomew and Judy. \nSmike ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Abandoned as a child at Dotheboys Hall in the care of the evil Squeers , Smike is mistreated for years before being rescued by Nicholas . He travels to Portsmouth with Nicholas and performs in Crummles stage troupe and is welcomed as part of the family when he and Nicholas return to London. He is briefly retaken in London by Squeers and escapes with the help of John Browdie . Smike later dies from the treatment he received as a child. After his death it is discovered that he was Ralph Nickleby's son, making him the cousin of Nicholas and Kate . \nSnagsby ( Bleak House ) Law stationer near Chancery Lane who hires Nemo (Capt Hawdon) to do some copy work. Snagsby's wife is a zealous supporter of Rev. Chadband . \nSnawley ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Father who puts his two step-sons in Squeers' school, Dotheboys Hall. Snawley later poses as Smike's father in Ralph Nickleby's scheme to get the runaway boy back. Snawley's wife later forces him to expose Ralph's plan.\nSnitchey and Craggs ( The Battle of Life ) Country lawyers who handle the legal affairs of Dr. Jeddler and Michael Warden . \nSnodgrass, Augustus ( Pickwick Papers ) A member of the Pickwick club and party to the adventures of Pickwick's travels. Snodgrass fancies himself a poet, but has written no poetry. He falls in love with Emily Wardle and marries her at the end of the story. \nSowerberry, Mr. ( Oliver Twist ) Undertaker to whom Oliver is apprenticed. Oliver is mistreated and runs away to London \nSparkler, Edmund ( Little Dorrit ) Son of Mrs Merdle by a former marriage. A man of limited talents, he offers marriage to 'all manner of undesirable young ladies' finally marries Fanny Dorrit . Edmund and Fanny lose all in the Merdle banking scam. \nSparsit, Mrs. ( Hard Times ) Housekeeper of Bounderby with aristocratic connections. She is a busybody, causing dissension between Bounderby and his wife Louisa Gradgrind . \nSpenlow, Dora ( David Copperfield ) Daughter of David's employer, Francis . She and David are married and David tries to teach her to keep house, but she has no head for it. She becomes ill with an unspecified illness and dies young. Dickens based Dora on Maria Beadnell , his first love. \nSpenlow, Francis ( David Copperfield ) Proctor at Doctor's Commons where David is apprenticed and father of Dora . David says of him: \"He was a little light-haired gentleman, with undeniable boots, and the stiffest of white cravats and shirt-collars. He was buttoned up, mighty trim and tight, and must have taken a great deal of pains with his whiskers, which were accurately curled.\"\nSpenlow, Misses (Clarissa and Lavinia) ( David Copperfield ) Dora's spinster aunts with whom she goes to live after her father dies. \nSpiker, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Dinner guest of the Waterbrooks . David thinks Mrs Spiker resembles Hamlet's aunt. \nSpottletoe, Mr and Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Relatives of old Martin Chuzzlewit's (Mrs is old Martin's niece) with designs on inheriting his money. \nSqueers, Fanny ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Daughter of Wackford Squeers. Described as \"not tall like her mother, but short like her father; from the former she inherited a voice of harsh quality; from the latter a remarkable expression of the right eye, something akin to having none at all.\" When Nicholas Nickleby becomes her father's assistant she falls madly in love with him, telling her friend Matilda Price that they are practically engaged. Nicholas wants nothing to do with her. \nSqueers, Wackford ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Proprietor of Dotheboys Hall, he takes in boys not wanted by their families and mistreats them. Nicholas Nickleby becomes his assistant master and sees the way he treats his charges, gives him a sound thrashing, and leaves. Squeers seeks revenge and conspires with Ralph Nickleby . He is eventually undone, imprisoned, and transported. \nSqueers, Wackford Jr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Son of schoolmaster Wackford Squeers . Little Wackford is kept fat as an advertisement of the supposed plenty provided at the school. He is spoiled by being given any gifts intended for pupils of the school by their families. \nSqueers, Mrs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Wife of Wackford Squeers : \"a large raw-boned figure, was about half a head taller than Mr Squeers.\" While Mr Squeers attempts to keep his cruelty in check, in order to keep up appearances, Mrs Squeers is openly cruel.\nSquod, Phil ( Bleak House ) George Rouncewell's ugly little assistant at the shooting gallery. Formerly a traveling tinker. \nStagg ( Barnaby Rudge ) Blind member of the 'Prentice Knights with Simon Tappertit . He joins Barnaby Rudge Sr. in trying to extort money from Mary Rudge . Killed when he tries to run from officers arresting Hugh , Barnaby , and Rudge Sr . \nStartop ( Great Expectations ) Pip's fellow student at Matthew Pocket's . He helps Herbert rescue Pip from Orlick and helps Herbert row the boat during the attempt to get Magwitch out of the country. \nSteerforth, James ( David Copperfield ) Friend of David at the Salem House school where his engaging charm makes him everyone's favorite. David later runs into him again in London and he accompanies David on a trip to Yarmouth where he charms Emily into eloping with him. They go abroad and Steerforth soon tires of Emily and deserts her. He is later drowned in a shipwreck where Ham Peggotty , from whom Steerforth stole Emily away, dies trying to save him. \nStiggins, Reverend ( Pickwick Papers ) Hypocritical Deputy Shepherd (from the Dorking branch) of the Brick Lane Branch of the United Grand Junction Ebenezer Temperance Association. Exposed by Tony Weller whose wife Susan is one of Stiggins' flock. \nStrong, Annie ( David Copperfield ) Pretty, young wife of Doctor Strong . Annie is suspected of having an affair with her cousin, Jack Maldon . \nStrong, Doctor ( David Copperfield ) Headmaster at the school David attends in Canterbury. He is chiefly concerned with assembling his Greek dictionary. \nStryver ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Barrister who defends Charles Darnay in his trial for treason with assistance from his friend Sydney Carton . Stryver intends to ask Lucie Manette to marry him until counseled by Jarvis Lorry . \nSummerson, Esther ( Bleak House ) Principal character in the story. She is brought up an orphan by her aunt, Miss Barbery . On her aunt's death she is adopted by John Jarndyce and becomes companions to his wards, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone . Later in the story it is revealed that Esther is the illegitimate daughter of Captain Hawdon and Lady Dedlock . John Jarndyce falls in love with her and asked her to marry him. She consents out of respect for Jarndyce but during the engagement she falls in love with Allan Woodcourt . When Jarndyce learns of her feelings for Allan he releases her from the engagement and she marries Woodcourt .\nSweedlepipe, Paul (Poll) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlord of Mrs Gamp , barber and bird-fancier. \"Poll Sweedlepipe's house was one great bird's nest. Gamecocks resided in the kitchen; pheasants wasted the brightness of their golden plumage on the garret; bantams roosted in the cellar; owls had possession of the bedroom; and specimens of all the smaller fry of birds chirrupped and twittered in the shop.\" \nSwidger, Milly ( The Haunted Man ) Wife of William and the only member of the family not touched by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows. Her inherent goodness, based on remembrance of her lost child, reverses the effects of this curse in her family, the Tetterby family, and Edmund Longford . \nSwidger, Philip ( The Haunted Man ) Eighty-seven year-old patriarch of the Swidger family. He loses his present happiness, based on his memories, when touched by Redlaw's gift. He is restored to happiness by Milly Swidger . \nSwidger, William ( The Haunted Man ) Caretaker of the university where Redlaw teaches chemistry. His family is adversely effected by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows. The adverse effects of this 'gift' are finally reversed by William's wife, Milly .\nSwiveller, Dick ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Friend of Fred Trent , Swiveller has designs to marry Fred's sister, Nell Trent , but is encouraged to wait until Nell has inherited her grandfather's money. When Nell and her grandfather leave London Swiveller is befriended by Quilp who helps him gain employment with the Brasses . While at the Brasses he meets their little half-starved servant the Marchioness . He becomes aware of the Brasses villainy and, with the Marchioness ' help, exposes a plot to frame Kit Nubbles . Swiveller later inherits money from his aunt, puts the Marchioness through school, and later marries her. \nT\nTackleton ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Known as Gruff and Tackleton, the name of his toymaking business. He is the Scrooge of the story, a hard-hearted, unfeeling man who has lived off of the exploitation of children all his life. He is the employer of Caleb Plummer and schemes to marry May Fielding . Like Scrooge, he softens at the end of the story. \nTapley, Mark ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Ostler at the Blue Dragon Inn and servant to young Martin Chuzzlewit . He accompanies Martin to America and later marries Mrs. Lupin , the Blue Dragon's landlady. The inn is renamed The Jolly Tapley. \nTappertit, Simon ( Barnaby Rudge ) Locksmith Gabriel Varden's apprentice who is in love with Gabriel's daughter, Dolly . He becomes a leader of the rioters during the Gordon Riots and during the fighting loses his slender legs, long his pride and joy. After the uprising he is fitted with wooden legs and becomes a bootblack. \nTartar ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Retired navy man and friend of Crisparkle . He befriends Neville in London and works with Grewgious and Crisparkle in protecting Neville from John Jasper . \nTattycoram/Harriet Beadle ( Little Dorrit ) Adopted by the Meagles from the Foundling Hospital, Harriet is given the name Tattycoram and is maid to the Meagles daughter, Pet. She exhibits fits of temper and is counseled by Mr. Meagle to \"count five and twenty, Tattycoram.\" She is influenced away from the Meagles by the evil Miss Wade . She later is reunited with the Meagles and assists in the undoing of the Rigaud/Blandois blackmail attempt. \nTetterby family ( The Haunted Man ) Poor family touched by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows, which turns out to be a curse to them. Adolphus, a newsman, his wife Sophia, Adolphus Jr, a newspaper boy at the railway station, Johnny, who cares for the baby, Sally, called little Moloch. They are restored to their former loving natures by Milly Swidger . \nTicket, Mrs ( Little Dorrit ) Cook and housekeeper for the Meagles . \nTiffey, Mr ( David Copperfield ) \"old clerk with the wig\" that had once visited Mr Spenlow at his house in Norwood and had \"drunk brown East India sherry there, of a quality so precious as to make a man wink.\" \nTigg, Montigue (Tigg Montigue) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Con man and swindler who first appears in the story fronting for Chevy Slyme and trying to squeeze the assembled Chuzzlewit family for money. Later he appears in splendor as head of the fraudulent Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company and has changed his name to Tigg Montigue. He dupes Jonas Chuzzlewit into joining the company, uses Jonas to fleece Pecksniff , and is murdered by Jonas. \nTisher, Mrs. ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Miss Twinkleton's assistant at the school for girls at Nun's House. \nTodgers, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Proprietor of M. Todgers Commercial Boarding House located near the monument. Mrs Todgers is described as a \"rather bony and hard featured lady.\" Pecksniff and his daughters stay at Todgers when visiting London. \nToodle, Polly (Richards) ( Dombey and Son ) Little Paul Dombey's nurse, known in the Dombey household as Richards. She is dismissed when she takes Paul to visit her family in a poorer section of London. She re-enters the story when Captain Cuttle asked her to look after Sol Gill's Shop, the Wooden Midshipman. She is the mother of Rob the Grinder who falls in with bad company and becomes a minor villain in the story. Dickens describes Polly as a \"plump rosy-cheeked wholesome apple-faced young woman.\" \nToots ( Dombey and Son ) Scatterbrained classmate of Paul Dombey Jr at Dr Blimber's Academy. Toots falls helplessly in love with Florence Dombey and pursues her, in his absentminded way, until Florence marries Walter Gay . In the end Toots marries Susan Nipper . Quote: \"it's of no consequence.\" \nTox, Lucretia ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey Sr's sister, Mrs. Chick's , friend. She has designs to marry Paul Sr. after his first wife dies. Paul marries Mrs. Granger instead, breaking Miss Tox's heart, but she stays loyal to him through later hardships. Dickens describes her as \"a long lean figure, wearing such a faded air that she seemed not to have been made in what linen-drapers call 'fast colours' originally, and to have, by little and little, washed out.\" \nTrabb ( Great Expectations ) Tailor who makes Pip a new suit of clothes before he goes to London, also in charge of the mourners at Pip's sister's funeral. \nTrabb's Boy ( Great Expectations ) Assistant to Trabb , the tailor, who terrorizes Pip . He later leads Herbert to the limekiln to rescue Pip from Orlick . \nTraddles, Tommy ( David Copperfield ) Fellow pupil with David Copperfield and Steerforth at Salem House. David's best friend and best man at David's wedding to Dora Spenlow . He later becomes a lawyer and marries Sophy Crewler . \nTrent, Fred ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Nell's brother, a gambler, is interested in his grandfather's money through his friend Dick Swiveller . \nTrent, Nelly ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Known as Little Nell, she is the principal character in the story. She lives with her grandfather , when he falls into the clutches of Daniel Quilp she helps him escape London. The hardships endured during their wanderings are too much for the delicate Nell and she dies in a quiet village where she and her grandfather had gained employment. \nTrotter, Job ( Pickwick Papers ) Manservant of the rascal Alfred Jingle . \nTrotwood, Betsy ( David Copperfield ) David Copperfield's great aunt. David runs away from London when he is installed at Murdstone and Grinby's warehouse and goes to Dover to live with Betsy. She helps David get a start in life and, when she loses her fortune, goes to London to live with David . David describes her as \"A tall, hard-featured lady, but by no means ill-looking. There was an inflexibility in her face, in her voice, in her gait and carriage, amply sufficient to account for the effect she had made upon a gentle creature like my mother; but her features were rather handsome than otherwise, though unbending and austere.\" Dickens' friend and biographer John Forster called Betsy \"a gnarled and knotted piece of female timber, sound to the core.\" \nTulkinghorn ( Bleak House ) Family lawyer to the Dedlocks. When he finds out Lady Dedlock's secret past, and tries to gain from it, he is murdered by Lady Dedlock's former maid, Hortense . \nTungay ( David Copperfield ) Creakle's assistant at Salem House where David Copperfield attends school. Tungay has a wooden leg, having lost his leg in Creakle's service in former employment in the hops business. \nTupman, Tracy ( Pickwick Papers ) A member of the Pickwick club and traveling companion to Mr. Pickwick in the story's adventures. A middle-aged bachelor with a weakness for the ladies. \nTurveydrop, Mr ( Bleak House ) Owner of a dance academy on Newman Street and a \"model of deportment.\" His son, Prince , gives dancing lessons and supports his father. \nTurveydrop, Prince ( Bleak House ) Son of Mr Turveydrop , owner of a dance academy. Prince, named for the Prince Regent, gives dancing lessons and supports his father. Prince marries Caddy Jellyby . \nTwinkleton, Miss ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Principal of a school for girls at Nun's House in Cloisterham where Rosa Bud and Helena Landless attend. She is assisted by Mrs. Tisher . Miss Twinkleton later becomes Rosa's chaperone in London. \nTwist, Oliver ( Oliver Twist ) Oliver is born in a workhouse where he is mistreated by Bumble , the beadle (Quote: 'Please, sir, I want some more'). He is apprenticed to Sowerberry, the undertaker, and runs away to London where he falls in with Fagin and his band of pickpockets. Oliver is charged with theft, actually committed by the Artful Dodger , and later cleared. The object of the theft, Mr. Brownlow , takes Oliver into his home. He is recaptured by Nancy and returned to Fagin's band. Nancy later tries to help Oliver and is murdered. Through the efforts of Rose Maylie and Mr. Brownlow the story of Oliver's real parentage is revealed. \nU\nV\nVarden, Dolly ( Barnaby Rudge ) Daughter of Gabriel and Martha , friend of Emma Haredale , loved by Joe Willet who she eventually marries. \nVarden, Gabriel ( Barnaby Rudge ) Honest locksmith and owner of the Golden Key where Simon Tappertit is apprenticed. Father of Dolly and long-suffering husband of Martha . He is a friend of Barnaby's mother and, after the Gordon riots, helps clear Barnaby's name. \nVarden, Martha ( Barnaby Rudge ) Overbearing wife of Gabriel , mother of Dolly . A woman of \"uncertain temper\" and a fanatical protestant, her fanaticism is tempered after the riots when she witnesses the heroics of her husband \nVeck, Toby (Trotty) ( The Chimes ) Poor ticket porter whose dream on New Year's Eve forms the basis of the story. \nVeneering, Hamilton and Anastasia ( Our Mutual Friend ) High society couple at whose frequent dinner parties the story of John Harmon is discovered. Hamilton buys his way into Parliament and is later bankrupt and the couple flees to France. \nVenus, Mr ( Our Mutual Friend ) Taxidermist and general practitioner in bones. He enters into a scheme with Silas Wegg to blackmail Noddy Boffin , thinks better of it, and later tells Boffin of the plan. He is lovesick over Pleasant Riderhood who objects to his business. She later relents and marries him. \nThe Vengeance ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Female revolutionist and friend of Madame Defarge . She is described as 'a short, rather plump wife of a starved grocer'. At the final execution she is left pondering the absence of Madame Defarge. \nVerisopht, Lord Frederick ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Foppish companion of Sir Mulberry Hawk who is planning to fleece him. When Verisopht tries to interfere in Hawk's plan of revenge on Nicholas Nickleby they duel, and Verisopht is killed. \nVholes ( Bleak House ) Richard Carstone's solicitor in Symond's Inn, recommended by Skimpole , who lures Richard deeper into the Chancery case that will ultimately lead to Richard's despair and death. \nW\nWackles, Sophie ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) First love of Dick Swiveler . Swiveler reluctantly leaves her and enters into a scheme, hatched by Nell's brother Fred Trent , to marry Nell and inherit the grandfather's money. Sophey marries Cheggs, a market gardener. \nWade, Miss ( Little Dorrit ) Dark figure who lures Tattycoram away from the kind-hearted Meagles whom she hates because of Pet Meagles' marriage to Henry Gowan , who had jilted her. \nWalker, Mick ( David Copperfield ) Co-worker of David Copperfield at Murdstone and Grimby's warehouse. \nWarden, Michael ( The Battle of Life ) Spendthrift lover of Marion Jeddler . Marion supposedly runs away with Warden which, in the end, turns out to be untrue. Later the reformed Warden marries Marion. \nWardle ( Pickwick Papers ) Yeoman farmer and owner of Manor Farm at Dingley Dell. Pickwick and his friends visit Manor Farm frequently. Wardle's daughter marries Pickwickian Augustus Snodgrass . Jingle tries to elope with Miss Rachel , Wardle's sister, but is caught and bought off by Wardle. \nWardle, Old Mrs ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Wardle's partially deaf mother. \nWardle, Rachael ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Wardle's spinster sister (aged 50 at least). She courts Tupman but is lured into elopement by Jingle , who is after her money. Rachael and Jingle are caught before a marriage can take place and Jingle is bought off by Mr. Wardle. \nWaterbrook, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Mr Waterbrook is Mr Wickfield's agent with whom Agnes stays while in London. They reside at Ely Place, Holborn. \nWegg, Silas ( Our Mutual Friend ) Rascally street vendor hired by Mr. Boffin to read to him. After installing himself in the Boffin household he goes about trying to get a piece of the Boffin fortune. \nWeller, Samuel ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Pickwick's servant is one of the most popular characters in Dickens' works. He councils his master with Cockney wisdom and is thoroughly devoted to Pickwick . Samuel's father, Tony Weller, is equally entertaining.\n \n \nWeller, Tony ( Pickwick Papers ) Father of Sam Weller , a coachman and repository of Cockney wisdom. His wife, Susan, is proprietor of the Marquis and Granby Inn in Dorking. Susan falls in with the hypocritical Reverend Stiggins , of the Brick Lane Temperance Association, who the frequently imbibing Tony later exposes. \nWemmick, John ( Great Expectations ) Jagger's confidential clerk, friend of Pip who lives in a delightfully strange house with the Aged Parent.\n\"A dry man, rather short in stature, with a square wooden face, whose expression seemed to have been imperfectly chipped out with a dull-edged chisel. There were some marks in it that might have been dimples, if the material had been softer and the instrument finer, but which, as it was, were only dints. The chisel had made three or four of these attempts at embellishment over his nose, but had given them up without an effort to smooth them off. I judged him to be a bachelor from the frayed condition of his linen ... He had glittering eyes-small, keen, and black- and thin wide mottled lips. He had had them, to the best of my belief, from forty to fifty years.\" \nWestlock, John ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Former pupil of Pecksniff and friend of Tom Pinch although they disagree about Pecksniff's character. He is instrumental in exposing Jonas Chuzzlewit and later marries Tom's sister Ruth . \nWhimple, Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Landlady of the house at Mill Pond Bank where Old Bill Barley and his daughter, Clara , live. Magwitch is kept secretly in the house waiting for the escape out of Britain. \nWickfield, Agnes ( David Copperfield ) Childhood friend of David Copperfield and daughter of Betsy Trotwood's lawyer. Becomes David's wife after the death of Dora . \nMr. Wickfield ( David Copperfield ) Father of Agnes and lawyer to Betsy Trotwood . His overindulgence of wine causes him to be vulnerable to the schemes of Uriah Heep , who becomes his partner and attempts to ruin him. \nWickham, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey Jrs' nurse after Polly Toodle is discharged. \nWilfer, Bella ( Our Mutual Friend ) Girl specified in old Harmon's will that his son John should marry in order to gain his inheritance. When John disappears and is presumed drowned she is left \"a widow without ever being married.\" She leaves her home and goes to live with the Boffins where she is wooed by John Rokesmith , alias of John Harmon . She refuses him at first but later falls in love with him and they marry. She finds out later that he is really John Harmon and that they have gained his inheritance. \nWilfer, Lavinia ( Our Mutual Friend ) Sister of Bella . Obstinate and quarrelsome, she takes posession of Bella's beau, George Sampson, when Bella goes to live with the Boffins . \nWilfer, Reginald (R.W.) ( Our Mutual Friend ) Father of Bella , whom she adores. R.W. attends the wedding of of Bella to Rokesmith , unbeknownst to his overbearing wife. \nWillet, Joe ( Barnaby Rudge ) \"A broad-shouldered strapping young fellow of twenty, whom it pleased his father still to consider a little boy, and to treat accordingly.\" Son of John who resents his father's treatment of him, he joins the army and loses an arm in the American Revolution, later marries Dolly Varden . The couple become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole Inn. \nWillet, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) \"Burly, large-headed man with a fat face.\" Proprietor of the Maypole Inn and father of Joe . Father and son quarrel when John treats the adult Joe as a child and Joe leaves, joining the army. John witnesses the destruction of the Maypole by the rioters. He is later reconciled with his son who, along with wife Dolly , become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole.\nWinkle, Nathaniel ( Pickwick Papers ) Member of the Pickwick club and traveling companion to Pickwick and his friends. Winkle is supposedly the sportsman of the group but all of his attempts at sporting activities prove him a humbug. He marries Arabella Allen , which upsets his father. Later Winkle's father comes to London and sees his daughter-in-law for himself, and is reconciled to the marriage. \nWitherfield, Miss ( Pickwick Papers ) The lady in yellow curl papers whom Samuel Pickwick accidentally meets in her room at Ipswich. She is courted by Pickwick's fellow traveler to Ipswich, Peter Magnus . \nWititterly, Julia and Henry ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Kate Nickleby becomes a companion to Julia after leaving Madame Mantalini's . Julia becomes jealous of Kate when Sir Mulberry Hawk begins to pay visits to their Belgravia home. Nicholas removes Kate from the home after he fights with Hawk. \nWoodcourt, Allan ( Bleak House ) A young surgeon who falls in love with Esther Summerson before going away as ship's doctor to India. On his return to England he learns that Esther is engaged to John Jarndyce . When Jarndyce learns that Esther is in love with Woodcourt he releases her to marry him. \nWopsle ( Great Expectations ) Parish clerk and friend of the Gargerys . He aspires to enter the church but instead becomes an actor with the stage name of Waldengarver. Pip sees him perform Hamlet in London. \nWrayburn, Eugene ( Our Mutual Friend ) Lawyer and friend of Mortimer Lightwood . He becomes interested in the Harmon case and meets Lizzie Hexam and falls in love with her. She loves him also but tries to distance herself from him because they come from different classes of society. Lizzie leaves London to get away from Bradley Headstone , the school teacher who also loves her, and Wrayburn. Eugene finds her and is followed by Headstone who attempts to murder him. Lizzie nurses Wrayburn back to health and they are married. \nWren, Jenny aka Fanny Cleaver ( Our Mutual Friend ) Crippled doll's dressmaker with whom Lizzie Hexam lives after the death of her father. She helps Lizzie escape London when pursued by Headstone and Wrayburn . \nX","Haworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single ...\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every ... featuring the popular Bronte burgers. Yorkshire is the biggest and most ... The Bronte-obsessed town of ...\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single Bronte Sister Novel\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single Bronte Sister Novel\nHaworth, England (Photo: Matthew Hartley/Flickr )\nYou pronounce it How’it. The cobbled streets of Haworth , a pretty little English village that clings to the edge of the West Yorkshire moors, wind up the hill, and are lined with pubs like the Fleece, Mrs Beighton’s Sweet Shop , selling black and white minds, the Old Lion Inn , Venables Bookshop.\nIn summer when it’s light until 11 p.m., it bustles with visitors; in winter, under snow, it’s other-worldly and full of ghosts. From every point, as I climb the main street, to the Bronte Parsonage that sits at the very top of the village, there are views of the moors, a huge landscape that reaches into infinity, criss-crossed by the gray stone dry walls, put together without mortar that last forever, a scene more rugged, more powerful than pretty. I feel there are ghosts just over the hill.\nRelated: Never Leave Your Room with These Hotels for Book Lovers\nThe Bronte Parsonage (Photo: Mary /flickr)\nI’m haunted by the feeling that I know this place in my gut, even before I get to the Parsonage. You come here because this is Bronte land. In Howath at this pretty two-story parsonage with a modest garden, Charlotte and Emily Bronte lived and wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights , two of the greatest novels of any time, stories of powerful emotions, and women with complex emotional ambition and desires. Gothic in part — there are plenty of storms and the supernatural — they show an understanding of moral ambiguity decades ahead of the times. There are characters still palpably alive: Jane Eyre; Heathcliffe; Mr Rochester. These are imprinted on us by the stream of movies, TV, theatre, beginning in 1910 with a silent film of Jane Eyre. Some of the later version were shot here in Howarth.\nWATCH: 10 Things You Need to Know About Wuthering Heights\nThe Georgian parsonage of gray stone and brick, built in 1780s, is now a museum with a dozen Bronte-soaked rooms. In the dining room on a large mahogany table, the sisters wrote their novels. (Charlotte also wrote Villette and Shirley , her sister Anne, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ); over here is the sofa where Emily died aged 30; above the stairs hangs the celebrated portrait of the three sisters by their artist brother, Branwell, who waste much of his talent at the Black Bull Inn in town, in a haze of booze and opium.\nPatrick Bronte, a relatively poor country clergyman moved into the parsonage in 1820 with his wife, Maria. By the standards of the time, the rooms are simply furnished but full of moving detail. Emily’s bedroom has the tiny handwritten books written by the girls when they were little. In the hall is the upright piano, which all the sisters played to entertain one another. In Charlotte’s room where she died at 38a re her tiny dresses. She was under five feet. Her white stockings look like a child’s.\nAll dead by 40.\nWuthering Heights novel (Photo: Scott MacLeod Liddle/Flickr )\nBut, then, in their day, Haworth was a crowded industrial town, where water-powered mills replaced the looms villagers used to scratch out a living. Maybe it was this that played on the sisters’ profound human understanding. “I must not forget that these coarsely-clad little peasants are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy,” Jane Eyre thinks.\nRead More\nIt was also the landscape that drove the books. In the kitchen at the back of the parsonage, the Bronte servant would tell the tales of Haworth and the moors. Walk from the parsonage up to Top Withins, you find the setting for Wuthering Heights.","List of the addresses of fictional characters - Wikibin\nList of the addresses of fictional characters. ... In the original film, the Buellers lived in Shermer, ... Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, Slopshire, England * Donald Duck ...\nList of the addresses of fictional characters\nDonate to Wikibin\nList of the addresses of fictional characters\nThis is a list of the addresses of fictional characters, from various media such as television, literature, or film.\n1\n*13 Rue del Percebe (comic of same name by Francisco Ibanez)\nA\n* Abbott family (Bless This House) - Birch Avenue, Putney, UK\n* The Addams Family - Cemetery Ridge, USA\n* Alexander, Susan (Citizen Kane) - 185 West 74th Street, New York, New York\n* Anderson family (Father Knows Best) - 607 South Maple Street, USA\n* Larry Appleton and his cousin Balki Bartokomous (Perfect Strangers) - 711 Calhoun Street, Chicago, Illinois\n* Jon Arbuckle and his pets (Garfield) - alternately 711 Maple Street, USA (comic strip) or 357 Shady Grove Lane, USA (TV series)\n* Lew Archer's office (series of novels) - 8411 1/2 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California\n* Avengers Mansion Headquarters of the Avengers - 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City\nB\n* Barone family (Everybody Loves Raymond) - 320 Fowler Street, Lynbrook, New York (Long Island)\n* Batman - Wayne Manor, Gotham City, USA\n* Baxter family (Hazel) - 123 Marshall Road, Hydsberg, New York\n* Mr. Bear & others (comic strip Achewood) - 62 Achewood Court\n* Mr Benn - 52 Festive Road, Putney, London, UK\n* Frank Black and Family (Millennium) - 1910 Ezekiel Drive, Seattle, WA\n* Sirius Black (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) - 12 Grimmauld Place, London, UK\n* Leopold Bloom - 7 Eccles St.\n* Elwood Blues (The Blues Brothers) - 1060 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois (Wrigley Field) (according to his driver's license)\n* Charlie Bone and family (Children of the Red King) - Number 9 Filbert Street\n* Ed and Christopher Boone (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) - 36 Randolph Street, Swindon\n* Boswell family (Bread) - 30 Kelsall Street, Liverpool\n* The Bower Agency (Who's the Boss?) - 323 East 57th Street, New York, New York\n* Bower family (Who's the Boss?) - 3344 Oak Hills Drive, Fairfield, Connecticut\n* The Brady Bunch - 4222 Clinton Way, Los Angeles, California\n* Emmett Brown (Back to the Future) - 1640 Riverside Drive, Hill Valley, California\n* Hyacinth Bucket (Keeping Up Appearances) - Blossom Avenue, UK\n* Bueller family (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) - 164 North Dutton Street, Santa Monica, CA (This is in the 1990 NBC sitcom. In the original film, the Buellers lived in Shermer, Illinois, also the setting for The Breakfast Club and, possibly, the homes of Neal Page from Planes, Trains and Automobiles and the McAllister family from Home Alone, all films directed by John Hughes.)\n* Phoebe Buffay (Friends) - 5 Morton St. Apt. 14. New York City New York (Manhattan) USA\n* Bundy family (Married... with Children) - 9764 Jeopardy Lane, Chicago, Illinois\n* Bunker family (All in the Family) - 704 Hauser Street, New York City, New York (Astoria, Queens)\n* Burber family - 9 Chickweed Lane (daily comic strip of the same name)\n* Bureau de l'Invisible (French novel series) - 28 Crawford Street, a corner away from Baker Street in London\n* Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons) - 1000 Mammon Lane, Springfield, USA\nC\n* Minnie Caldwell (Coronation Street) - 15 Jubilee Terrace until 1962, then 5 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* Carey, Drew (The Drew Carey Show) - 720 Sedgewick, Cleveland, Ohio\n* Blake Carrington (Dynasty) - 173 Essex Drive, Denver, CO\n* Cheers - 112 1/2 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts. (This is the address given on the show, though the Bull & Finch Pub, the real-life basis for the bar, is at 84 Beacon Street. This may have been an attempt to keep fan letters from going to the real-life counterpart.)\n* Clampett family (Beverly Hillbillies) - 518 Crestview Drive, Beverly Hills, California\n* Joan Clayton (Girlfriends) - 700 block of North Wilton Place, Los Angeles, California\n* Cleaver family (Leave it to Beaver) - 485 Maple Street (later 211 Pine Street), Mayfield, USA\n* The Colbys - Belvedere Mansion, Los Angeles, California\n* Conner family (Roseanne) - 714 Delaware, Lanford IL\n* Dr. Frasier Crane and Martin Crane - Apartment 1901, Elliott Bay Towers, Seattle, Washington\n* Cunningham family (Happy Days) - 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, WI\nD\n* Darcy, Fitzwilliam (Pride and Prejudice) - Pemberley, Derbyshire, England\n* Dethklok (Metalocalypse) - Mordhaus, exact location unknown\n* Blanche Devereaux, who owns the house and rents rooms to Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund, and Sophia Petrillo, (The Golden Girls) - 6151 Richmond Street, Miami, Florida\n*The Doctor, (Doctor Who comic strip and Virgin New Adventures) - Smithwood Manor, Allen Road, Kent, England\n* Dolittle, Dr. John (Doctor Dolittle series of books) - Oxenthorpe Road, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, Slopshire, England\n* Donald Duck - 1313 Webfoot Walk, Duckburg, Calisota\n* Dursley family (Harry Potter books) - 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, UK\n*Durden, Tyler (Fight Club) - 420 Paper St. Wilmington, DE 19886\nE\n* Lord Emsworth (novels of P. G. Wodehouse) - Blandings Castle, Shropshire\n*The Evans family (Good Times) -321 North Gilbert, Chicago, IL\n* Ewing family (Dallas) - Southfork Ranch, Braddock County, Texas, USA\nF\n* The Fantastic Four - The Baxter Building, New York, New York.\n* Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers) - Fawlty Towers Hotel, Torquay, Torbay, UK\n* The Flanders family (The Simpsons) - 740 Evergreen Terrace\n* Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote) - 698 Candlewood Lane, Cabot Cove, ME\n* Phileas Fogg - 7 Savile Row, Burlington Gardens, London, UK\n* The Funnies (Doug) - 21 Jumbo Street, Bluffington, USA\nG\n* Monica Geller, first with Phoebe Buffay, then Rachel Green, finally with Chandler Bing (Friends) - 425 Grove Street, Apartment 20, New York, New York (Chandler and Joey Tribbiani, later Joey and Rachel, lived in Apartment 19; the actual building is at 90 Bedford Street, on the corner of Grove)\n* Griffin family (Family Guy) - 31 Spooner Street, Quahog, Rhode Island\n* From the Goon comic book series - Lonely Street, home to the Priest and his hordes of zombies\nH\n* The Halliwell Manor (Charmed) - 1329 Prescott Street, San Francisco, California (The actual manor is located at 1329 Carroll Ave, Los Angeles, California, in the famous Echo Park neighborhood.)\n* Tony Hancock (Hancock's Half Hour) - 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam\n* Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, DSO (novels of John Buchan) - Fosse Manor, Oxfordshire\n* Harper family (Mama's Family) - 1 Old Decatur Road, Raytown, USA\n* Hatcher family (Judy Blume's \"Fudge\" books) - 25 West 68th Street, New York, New York\n* Doug and Carrie Heffernan; Arthur Spooner (The King of Queens) - 3223 Aberdeen Avenue, Rego Park, New York\n* Earl and Randy Hickey - Room 231, The Palms Motel, 9005 Lincoln Blvd, Camden, USA\n* Hank and Peggy Hill (King of the Hill) - 84 Rainey Street, Arlen, TX, 78054 (The zip code is actually for Beeville, TX)\n* Sherlock Holmes - 221B Baker Street, London, UK\n* Huxtable family (The Cosby Show) - 10 Stigwood Avenue, New York City (Brooklyn)\nI\n* Uncle Fred, The Earl of Ickenham (novels of P. G. Wodehouse) - Ickenham Hall, Ickenham, Hants, UK\nJ\n*Justice Inc. and the Avenger - No. 1 Bleek Street\nK\n* Clark Kent (Superman) - 344 Clinton St., Apt. 3B, Metropolis, USA (later 1938 Sullivan Lane, Metropolis)\n* Eugene Krabs (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 3541 Anchor Way, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Kramden family (The Honeymooners) - 328 1/2 Chauncey Street, Brooklyn, New York\nL\n* Lane family (The Patty Duke Show) - 8 Remsen Drive, Brooklyn Heights New York City, New York, USA\n* Laverne & Shirley - 730 Knapp Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin\n* Lawrence family (Gidget) - 803 N. Dutton Drive, California, USA\n* Leopold Bloom (Ulysses) - 7 Eccles St., Dublin 7, Ireland\nM\n* Magnum, P.I., Robin's Nest - 11435 18th Avenue, Oahu, HI\n* Miss Marple - Danemead, High Street, St Mary Mead\n* Victor Meldrew, 19 Riverbank, UK\n* Mindy McConnell and Mork (Mork and Mindy) - 1619 Pine Street, Boulder, Colorado\n* Fibber McGee and Molly (his wife) - 79 Wistful Vista, USA.\n* Travis McGee - Slip F-18 at Bahia Mar Marina - docking place of houseboat; this was a real address, although it has since been demolished according to Spider Robinson: a photo of him sitting at the base of the dedication plaque to McGee at the slip (as described in Robinson's novel Callahan's Key) may be found on this page )\n* Daria Morgendorffer (Daria) - 1111 Glen Oaks Lane, Lawndale USA\n* Fox Mulder (The X-Files) - 2630 Hegal Place, Apt. 42, Alexandria, Virginia, 23242\n* The Munsters - 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Mockingbird Heights, USA. There is however a Mockingbird Lane in South Pasadena, California.\nN\n* Nelson family (I Dream of Jeannie) - 1020 Palm Drive, Cocoa Beach, FL\n* Navidson Family (House of Leaves) - Succoth and Ash Tree Lane\n* Newman (Seinfeld) - Apartment 5E, 129 West 81st Street, New York, New York\nO\n* Stan & Hilda Ogden (Coronation Street) - 13 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* Oscar and Felix (The Odd Couple) - 1049 Park Avenue, New York, New York\n* Owens family (Mr. Belvedere) - 200 Spring Valley Road, Beaver Falls, PA\nP\n* Paddington Bear - 32 Windsor Gardens, London\n* The Partridge Family - 698 Sycamore Road, San Pueblo, CA\n* Reginald Iolanthe Perrin (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin) - 12 Coleridge Close, Climthorpe, London, UK\n* Adrianna Pennino (Rocky) - 1818 Tusculum St, Philadelphia, PA 19134-3416\n* Petrie family (The Dick Van Dyke Show) - 448 Bonnie Meadow Road, New Rochelle, New York. Their next-door neighbors are Dr. Jerry Helper (a dentist), his wife Millie and their children.\n* Petrillo family (The Golden Girls) - 6151 Richmond Street, Miami Beach, Florida\n* Phil's Bar & Grill (Murphy Brown) - 1595 I Street NW, Washington, D.C. (Usually written as \"EYE Street\" to differentiate it from 1st Street, listed as \"FIRST\" on street signs)\n* Pickle and Lamb families (Cloudstreet) - 1 Cloud Street, West Leederville, Perth, Western Australia\n* Hercule Poirot - Apt. 56B, Whitehaven Mansions, Sandhurst Square, London W1, UK.\n* Solar Pons - 71B Praed Street, London, UK\n* Post family (Mr. Ed) - 17230 Valley Road, USA\n* Harry Potter - The cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey (later moved to normal bedroom, as Dursley family, above)\n* Screech Powers (Saved by the Bell) - 88 Edgemont, Palisades, California\nR\n* Ricardo family (I Love Lucy) - Apartment 4A (later 3D), 623 East 68th Street, New York, New York\n* Mary Richards (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Apartment D, 119 North Weatherly Avenue, Minneapolis, MN\n* Jim Rockford (The Rockford Files) - 2354 Pacific Coast Highway, California, USA\n* Rush family (Keep it in the Family) - Highgate Avenue, Highgate\nS\n* Fred G. and Lamont Sanford (Sanford and Son) - 9114 S. Central Ave., Watts, Los Angeles, California.\n* Doc Savage - 86th floor of \"the skyscraper\" (implicitly the Empire State Building), New York, New York. He also resided in a Fortress of Solitude at the North Pole ... presumably sharing this space with Superman and Santa Claus!\n* Dana Scully (The X-Files) - 3170 W. 53 Rd. #35, Annapolis, Maryland\n* Lynette Scavo and her family (Desperate Housewives) - 4355 Wisteria Lane, Fairview, Eagle State\n* Seaver family (Growing Pains) - 15 Robin Hood Lane, USA (later specified as Huntington, Long Island, New York)\n* Jerry Seinfeld - Apartment 5A, 129 West 81st Street, New York, New York (The actual address of that apartment is 757 S. New Hampshire Ave. in Los Angeles, 1 block south of Wilshire Bl.)\n*Angelica Serralde (Blue Demon Jr., el Legado) - Heriberto Frias 15, Mexico City.\n* Sethe (main character of Toni Morrison's Beloved) - 124 Bluestone Road, Cincinnati, OH\n* Ena Sharples (Coronation Street) - Glad Tidings Mission, 16 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* The Simpsons - 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, USA\n**15201 Maple Systems Road, Cypress Creek, USA (You Only Move Twice )\n* Soprano family (The Sopranos); 633 Stag Trail Road in North Caldwell, New Jersey, USA\n* SpongeBob SquarePants - 124 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Sabrina Spellman (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - 133 Collins Road, in the fictional town of Westbridge, USA\n* Patrick Star (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 120 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Steadman family (Thirtysomething) - 1710 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Philadelphia, PA\n* Stephens family (Bewitched) - 1164 Morning Glory Circle, Westport, CT\n* Harold and Albert Steptoe (Steptoe and Son) - 24 Oil Drum Lane, Shepherd's Bush, UK.\n* Stone family (The Donna Reed Show) - 4-3926 Hillsdale\n*Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum -177A Bleecker Street in New York's Greenwich Village\n* Sugarbaker Design Firm (Designing Women) - 1521 Sycamore, Atlanta, GA\n* Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale, CA\n* Superman and Lois Lane - 1938 Sulivan Lane, Metropolis, USA (in recent/current comics; 1938 being a tribute to the year of the character's comic book debut)\nT\n* Tanner family (ALF) - 167 Hemdale Street, Los Angeles, California\n* Tanner family (Full House) - 1882 Gerard Street, San Francisco, California\n* Albert Tatlock (Coronation Street) - 1 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* Taylor family (The Andy Griffith Show) - 322 Maple, Mayberry, North Carolina\n* Taylor family (Home Improvement) - 510 Glenview, Detroit, Michigan\n* Tenenbaum family (The Royal Tenenbaums) - 111 Archer Avenue, New York City, New York\n* Squidward Tentacles (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 122 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Eric Thursley (Faust Eric) - 13 Midden Lane, Pseudopolis, Sto Plains, The Discworld, On top of Great A'tuin, The Univers, Space. nr. More Space\n* Aunt Dahlia, Mrs Travers (Jeeves and Wooster) - 47 Charles Street, Mayfair, London; Brinkley Court, Brinkley-cum-Snodsfield-in-the-Marsh, near Market Snodsbury, Worcs\n* Tripper, Jack (Three's Company) - 834 Ocean Vista Avenue #201, Santa Monica, California, USA\n* Trotter family (Only Fools and Horses) - Nelson Mandela House, Peckham, London\n* Joy and Darnell Turner (My Name Is Earl) - Pimmit Hills Trailer Park, Space C-13, Camden, USA\n* Jackie and Rose Tyler (Doctor Who) - Flat 48, Bucknall House, Powell Estate, London\nV\n* Vimes family (Discworld novels) - Ramkin Manor, Scoone Avenue, Ankh-Morpork\nW\n* Wallace and Gromit - 62 West Wallaby Street, Wigan, Lancs\n* Walsh family (Beverly Hills 90210) - 933 Hillcrest Drive, Beverly Hills, California\n* Waluigi (Mario Power Tennis) - 12 Grimace Lane, Mushroom Kingdom\n* Bruce Wayne (Batman) - Wayne Manor, outside Gotham City (exact location unknown)\n* Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, home and business of Fred and George Weasley - 93 Diagon Alley, London\n* Wilkerson family ( Malcolm in the Middle ) - 12334 Maple Blvd.\n* Lord Peter Wimsey - 110a Piccadilly, London\n* Charles Emerson Winchester III (') - 16 Briarcliff Lane, Boston. \"Yes, yes, Massachusetts.\" (Though a remark by Colonel Flagg suggests the Winchester family actually lives in suburban Wellesley.)\n* Sandy Winfield II and Kenny Madison - Surfside 6, Miami Beach address of detective agency set on a houseboat.\n* Winslow family (Family Matters) - 263 Pinehurst, Chicago, Illinois\n* Nero Wolfe - 454 West 35th Street, New York, New York ; also described in some of the novels as simply West 35th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, that location is the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.\nX\n* Xavier Institute for Higher Learning (X-Men) - 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, New York\nZ"],"string":"[\n \"Rochester: A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's \\\"Jane Eyre\\\"\\n... A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre ... of the original book. Jane Eyre resisted Rochester ... Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester but that's ...\\nRochester: A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's \\\"Jane Eyre\\\": J. L. Niemann: 9781426916397: Amazon.com: Books\\nBy Michelle Santoni on July 11, 2010\\nFormat: Paperback|Verified Purchase\\nAs a huge fan of Jane Eyre I was excited when I found a book telling the same story but from Rochester's point of view. Now that I read it I have to say that even though it was entertaining at times, I felt dissapointed. The author had the chance to get in this man's head and ended up with a Rochester that was insecure, needy and a drunk. I felt like telling him to quit complaining and be assertive man! This Edward Rochester is nothing like Bronte's Rochester.\\nSome of the language did not sound from the era and was repetetive. When he talks with his friend Arthur they sound like two teenage girls. Also, I am not a prude but some of the things Rochester and Jane did were frankly stuff from pornos and I don't think that Jane would do any of that.\\nHonestly I read it all because I wanted to see how it ended but then I find out that the story does not end with this book, there are two more! A trilogy! When it all could be done with just one book. Jane Eyre fans beware!\\nBy rogertherat on January 12, 2012\\nFormat: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase\\nReally irritating book. I think the issue with this writer is she does not understand the time of the original book. Jane Eyre resisted Rochester because she valued herself. If she had succumbed she would have been ostracized, unemployable, and her life would have been ruined. Granted her life wasn't that great to begin with, but at least she had dignity and integrity. Also there is a strong moral sense of right and wrong, based on biblical beliefs. And that's what creates the dilema. Jane is passionate, wants to love and be loved, but she respects herself and respects God, and she does the hardest thing in her life by leaving Rochester. That's what makes Jane Eyre Great. It's a great romance, but ultimately it is a moral tale about living with integrity and doing the right thing. Look at Rochester , he succumbed again and again to his desires, and look at what a misreable wretch he is. UGH! This book is like taking the Mona Lisa and giving her a hot pink tube top. Like taking the venus de milo adding pasties and attaching a stripper pole.\\nBy Gubba22 on April 4, 2011\\nFormat: Paperback\\nThe characters are named Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester but that's about all the similarities you'll find to Bronte's classic. The heroine is more of a Celine Varens than a Jane Eyre. Mr Rochester drinks too much and every day is a pity party. The book does offer more humor than the original but it veers too far off the beaten path and the writing is not strong enough to be its own stand-alone story. This book is actually part 1 of 3 and it ends on the morning of Jane & Rochester's wedding. Book 2 is called \\\"Consummation\\\" which leaves no doubt that the author will continue with more of the 'Skinemax' scenes that peppered the first book. Reading this could make you laugh but if I were Charlotte Bronte I'd be mad!\\nBy Traxy on June 1, 2011\\nFormat: Paperback\\nSummary: If you don't mind a \\\"Jane Eyre\\\" which doesn't follow the book more than loosely and has added sex scenes, this is the one for you. It starts out being the best book you could ever imagine if you're an avid Rochester fan, and then it just starts to go off in the wrong direction from the original, and it's downhill from there. Enjoyable, but not true to the original.\\nThe story follows Mr. Rochester from his villa in France, where he wants some absolution from his dreadful loneliness and sinful ways, and decides to return home, and in chapter two, he comes across a young woman by the name of Jane Eyre, the governess at Thornfield Hall... his horse slips on some ice and the rest is history. It finishes just before they're about to head off to church to get married. The bits inbetween is a \\\"somewhat\\\" reworked \\\"Jane Eyre\\\", from Rochester's perspective.\\nIt's clear the author has been inspired by the 2006 adaptation, if the foreword and acknowledgements weren't enough to convince us of the fact. It seems to have started its life as postings on a Toby Stephens fanforum or something along those lines, and was very popular there, so now it's a book. It clocks in at 325 pages, being the first of three books - the story is said to continue \\\"soon\\\" in \\\"Rochester: Consummation\\\". Can't wait!\\nHaving now read this one, the title of the next installment comes as no surprise. This book is steamy, and if you like it hot, you'll love this. I didn't mind the sex scenes - and believe me, there were a fair few of those - but the way it was done... no.\\nThe most confusing part is how the events of the original story have been re-worked. While a lot of the things we recognise from \\\"Jane Eyre\\\" are there, including some exchanges, they've been changed around in ways that I don't fully understand. Unstead of playing on the sexual tension between Jane and Rochester, Niemann let's it go completely and there's snogging! No, it's just not right.\\nOverall, I liked it. Hey, it's all about Mr. Rochester, how can I NOT like it? ;) It's interesting to see things from his point of view, even though that point of view is a little too lewd in this context for my taste. Niemann does a good job of describing food - it's always quite detailed what's beeing served, but there's too much drinking.\\nRochester is just about as broody and angsty as you can get, and I had some issues trying to part from the book at times. Especially in the beginning, before things got a bit out of hand with changing stuff around from the book, which I'd say is what lets the book down. It completely changes the chronology of stuff and meaning of things, primarily the Jane/Edward relationship and that's what bothers me. It's enjoyable and definitely written for a modern audience (if Charlotte Brontë had read it, she would've been utterly shocked).\\nJ.L. Niemann has offered an interesting re-working of a classic novel and breathed new life into it, one that doesn't scream of Plot Device quite as much as the original. Sometimes the brooding gets a bit too much, but I think she definitely manages to get Rochester's rather complex character in a pretty good way. However, I think it's trying too hard to sex things up - a modern audience doesn't need always need to get inside people's breeches or under their chemises to make a story interesting. But still, once they're married, I suspect I'll be loving the story. Right now, I'm just a bit annoyed that it's not according to the book.\\nI've tried to stay away from spoilers here, but if you don't mind those, go to the address listed in brackets after my username above to read my full review, and the discussion afterwards.\\nBy Di12381 on July 28, 2010\\nFormat: Paperback\\nI would think that anyone interested in this book has read Jane Eyre at least once and has some level of admiration and infatuation with this amazing novel.\\nThe sexual tension between Jane and her Edward not explicity written on the page, but Miss Bronte found a way to slip it in a way that is extremely paplable, which the reason there is still a following after 160 years.\\nI liked the book as it started out and I like seeing the story from Rochester's POV.\\nHowever, I found that as I got farther into the book, Ms. Niemann seemed to travel further from the Bronte cannon. I dont mind a new twist to Jane Eyre, but I seek out a certain clinginess to the original novel.\\nYes, Rochester is a very sexual creature, but I dont believe he would treat both Blanche (who he uses more than expected) and Jane (who in the novel did not act on her affections for Rochester until married).\\nBut it is only part one, lets see what she does with part two and three.\",\n \"SATIS HOUSE Inspiration\\n--Satis House INSPIRATION Dickens and ... When her novel was published in 1847, Dickens disliked it ... The manor name derives from a stay by Charles II on the eve of ...\\nSATIS HOUSE Inspiration\\nINSPIRATION\\nDickens and Beyond: Bronte, Austen, and Rhys\\nMy novel is, of course, inspired by Great Expectations. But its true source is--as it was for Dickens--Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. When her novel was published in 1847, Dickens disliked it enough to parody the story, creating a version far less romantic and more attuned to the harsh realities of English Victorian society. There are many parallel characters in the two classics.\\nI see Miss Havisham, as I believe Dickens did, as a composite of Bronte's tormented Edward Rochester of Thornfield Hall and his wife Bertha Antoinetta Mason, the \\\"mysterious lunatic\\\" secretly kept under lock and key in the mansion's tower. Bronte shows us only Bertha's violent insanity, chalking it up to genetic predisposition, presenting her primarily as an obstacle to the happiness of the virtuous governess Jane Eyre and her employer. But in Wide Sargasso Sea, published in 1966, British author Jean Rhys digs deeper, placing Bertha in the context of her native Jamaica. Through Rhys's 20th-century lens, Bertha's madness becomes an understandable if not logical response to the colonialism and patriarchy that allow her no control over her own destiny.\\nSimilarly, Miss Havisham is a casualty of rigid society, but, for me, her madness is also a source of the power she wields over the people around her. Many dismiss her as weak; I see her as incredibly strong-willed and tenacious--the ultimate \\\"drama queen.\\\" These contradictions have sparked my curiosity and fueled my imagining of her story. According to Dickens's timeline notes, Miss Havisham would have been a contemporary of Jane Austen, and so that beloved author's life and works are influencing my narrative as well.\\nSetting: Rochester in Kent, England\\nWith a past reaching back to Roman times, the ancient city of Rochester rests alongside the River Medway, just 30 miles east of central London and 45 miles west of the channel ports. It is home to England's second oldest cathedral and a medieval castle that represents one of the country's finest examples of Norman architecture. Charles Dickens lived in the area as a child and as an author, featuring the city and its denizens in a number of his works, including Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, his final and incomplete novel.\\nRestoration House, a short walk from the castle and cathedral, served as Dickens's model for Miss Havisham's Satis House. The manor name derives from a stay by Charles II on the eve of his return to the English throne in 1660. Dickens himself was spotted leaning against the iron gates on the day before he died in 1870. Today visitors can tour the house and gardens, as well as the cathedral and castle.\\nFamily Trade: Brewing\\nWho doesn't like beer? It is the world's oldest, most popular, and most fascinating fermented beverage. Man may have begun brewing beer even before he learned to bake bread. The craft figures prominently in English history and in the life of Miss Havisham, whose father was a wealthy brewer. His business adjoined the manor house and provides rich context for the family's story.\\nContent copyright\",\n \"Bertha_Mason.txt\\nBertha Mason\\nBertha Antoinetta Mason is a fictional character. In Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre she is the violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester, moved to Thornfield Hall and locked in the attic. \\n\\nThe 1966 parallel novel Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys acts as a prequel to Brontë's novel and is the story of Mason (there called Antoinette Cosway), from the time of her youth in the Caribbean to her unhappy marriage and relocation to England. Rhys's novel re-imagines Brontë's devilish madwoman in the attic.\\n\\nBertha Mason in Jane Eyre \\n\\nBertha Mason is the only daughter of a very wealthy family living in Spanish Town, Jamaica. The reader learns of her past not from her perspective but only through the description of her unhappy husband, Edward Rochester. She is described as being of Creole heritage. According to Rochester, Bertha was famous for her beauty: she was the pride of the town and sought after by many suitors. Upon leaving college, Rochester was persuaded by his father to visit the Mason family and court Bertha. As he tells it, he first met her at a ball she attended with her father and brother Richard, where he was entranced by her loveliness. Despite never being alone with her, and supposedly having had scarcely any interaction or conversation with her, he married her for her wealth and beauty, and with fierce encouragement from his own father and the Mason family. Rochester and Bertha began their lives as husband and wife in Jamaica. In recounting the history of their relationship, Rochester claims, \\\"I thought I loved her. . . . Her relatives encouraged me; competitors piqued me; she allured me: a marriage was achieved almost before I knew where I was. Oh, I have no respect for myself when I think of that act! . . . I never loved, I never esteemed, I did not even know her.\\\" \\n\\nRochester explains that he was not warned that violent insanity ran in the Mason family and that the past three generations succumbed to it. He assumed Bertha's mother to be dead and was never told otherwise, but she was in fact locked away in an asylum. There was also an intellectually disabled younger brother. Rochester's father knew of this but did not bother to tell his son, caring only about the vast fortune the marriage would bring him, and the Mason family clearly wanted Bertha off their hands as quickly as possible. Rochester asserts that Bertha's mental health deteriorated quickly, though it is unclear which form of mental illness she suffers from. Her insane, violent behaviour becomes frightening to behold: crawling on all fours, snarling, and behaving in a bestial manner. \\n\\nRochester returns with her to England and has her imprisoned in an attic room for ten years with Grace Poole, a hired nurse who keeps her under control while Rochester travels abroad to forget his horrible marriage. However, Grace drinks sometimes, and Bertha manages to escape, causing havoc in the house: starting a fire in Mr Rochester's bed and biting and stabbing her own visiting brother. \\n\\nRochester's marriage to Bertha eventually stands in the way of his marrying Jane Eyre, who is unaware of Bertha's existence and whom he truly loves (though he later admits to Jane that he once thought he loved Bertha). As Bertha is insane he cannot divorce her, due to her actions being uncontrollable and thus not legitimate grounds for divorce. Years of violence, insanity, and confinement in an attic destroy Bertha's looks: when Jane sees her in the middle of the night, she describes Bertha as looking \\\"savage,\\\" even going so far as to compare her with a \\\"vampire\\\" when she destroys Jane's wedding veil (an action that hints that Bertha is at least sane enough to be aware that her husband is planning to enter a bigamous marriage). Despite not loving her, Rochester attempts to save his wife from an enormous fire she starts in the house when she again escapes. Bertha perishes after she throws herself off the roof, leaving her husband free to marry Jane.\\n\\nAntoinette Cosway in Wide Sargasso Sea \\n\\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea, \\\"Bertha Mason\\\" is portrayed as being a false name for Antoinette Cosway. The book purports to tell Antoinette's side of the story as well as Rochester's and detail how she ended up alone and raving in the attic of Thornfield Hall. According to the book, Antoinette's insanity and drunkenness are the result of Rochester's misguided belief that madness is in her blood and that she was part of the scheme to have him married blindly.\\n \\nThe characters of Jane Eyre and Antoinette are portrayed as being very similar; independent, vivacious, imaginative young women with troubled childhoods, educated in religious establishments and looked down on by the upper classes — and, of course, they both marry Mr Rochester. However, Antoinette is more rebellious than Jane and less mentally stable. She displays a deep vein of morbidity verging on a death-wish (making her more similar perhaps to the character of Helen from Jane Eyre) and, in contrast with Jane's overt Christianity, holds a cynical viewpoint of both God and religion in general.\",\n \"London School of Journalism | Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea ...\\nShe wrote her version as ... The passionate nature at the heart of the novel is epitomised in Jane's metaphor ... Wide Sargasso Sea derives from Jane Eyre, ...\\nLondon School of Journalism | Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea. Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre\\nJean Rhys and Charlotte Bronte\\nThe use of symbolism in the presentation of characters\\nby Jenia Geraghty\\nI began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker\\nI often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all\\nCharlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys composed their novels in different centuries and came from very different backgrounds. However despite these disparities the use of symbolism in their narratives can be compared. Jean Rhys's 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea is a creative response to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, a nineteenth century classic, which has always been one of English Literature's greatest and most popular love stories.\\nShe seemed such a poor ghost, I thought I'd like to write her a life. [Jean Rhys]\\nJane Eyre is a story of true love that encounters many obstacles and problems, but surmounts these troubles to fulfil destiny. The main source of trouble is Rochester's insane first wife, Bertha Mason, a lunatic Creole who is locked in the attic of his country house, Thornfield Hall. The problem is eventually solved, tragically, when Bertha escapes and burns Thornfield to the ground, killing herself and seriously maiming Rochester in the process. The social and moral imbalances between Jane and Rochester are then equalled by his punishment for his previous actions, and Jane's rise in status due to an inheritance.\\nThis ending, however, did not satisfy the Dominican-born Jean Rhys. She disagreed with Bronte's presentation of Bertha Mason and set out to write 'a colonial story that is absent from Bronte's text'. Rhys's story tells the story of Bertha, and relates Bertha and Rochester's meeting, and their doomed marriage.\\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea Rhys shifts the perspective on Jane Eyre by expressing the viewpoints of the different characters in the source material, so taking a different structural approach to the first-person narrative technique employed by Bronte. She wrote her version as a multiple narrative, giving Bertha a previously-unheard voice. Rochester, even though un-named in Wide Sargasso Sea, takes over the narration in part two, and Grace Poole enlightens us at the opening of part three. Rhys can be seen as repaying Bronte for her failure to give Bertha a voice by not allowing Jane one, even though she does appear in the novel. Antoinette, as Bertha is named in Rhys's novel, declares, 'There is always the other side', and this proves to be the governing theme throughout both novels.\\nI knew you would do me some good in some way . . . I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you [Edward Rochester, Jane Eyre]\\nRochester's prescience is an example of a prominent theme in Jane Eyre, in which premonition and the supernatural appear throughout the story. Both Jane and Edward believe in the signs they read in eyes, in nature and in dreams. Jane's own surname, 'Eyre', comes from the name of a historic house in which a madwoman lived, but Bronte also intended it to mean being a free spirit. Jane indeed has a frightening experience and actually sees herself as a spirit in the Red Room mirror at Gateshead, where she subsequently has a fit.\\nJane encounters the legend of Gytrash in her fit, 'A great black dog behind him', a tale about a spirit that appears in the shape of either a horse, dog or mule that haunted solitary ways and followed isolated travellers. Jane describes Rochester's dog as Gytrash before she knows to whom he belongs, suggesting that she had a premonition from the vision she saw in her fit that this encounter was to spark off the most incredible aspect of her life.\\nJane's dreams form a firm base for the prediction of what is to happen in her life. The symbolism of her dreams forecast her future. When she dreams of a garden that is 'Eden-like' and laden with 'Honey-dew' Rochester proposes to her. That night, however, the old horse chestnut tree is struck by lightning and splits in half, foretelling the difficulties that lie ahead for the couple.\\nThe theme of dreams and foresight is also used by Jean Rhys:\\nIs it true that England is like a dream? One of my friends wrote and said London is like a cold dark dream.\\nAntoinette's dreams appear to be just as significant as Jane's, and Rhys no doubt found inspiration for developing Antoinette's character through the idea of Jane's dreams and premonitions.\\nIn Bronte's time writers would often employ the technique of 'word-painting' at pivotal moments in the text and use landscape imagery to integrate plot, character and theme. In the scene where Jane describes herself as 'tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea', for example, Bronte warns the reader that Jane's romantic interlude is not an entirely positive turn of events. The emphasis on 'unquiet sea' informs the reader that Jane may well be in danger. This technique adds to the gothic element of the story, and heightens our response to the characters' perceptions of their predicaments.\\nSimilarly, in Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester and Antoinette's marriage can be seen as being doomed from the start due to the landscape that they pass through on their journey to the honeymoon house. They stop in a village named 'Massacre' where it is raining and rather grey, and Rochester takes an instant dislike to the place because of the name and the inhabitants, both of which he describes as 'sly, spiteful, malignant perhaps'; words which appear to convey his whole attitude to all those who surround him. Later Rochester describes the night the couple spent in Massacre, emphasising that he lay awake all night listening to cocks crowing; a symbol of deception. In the Bible Jesus says to Judas, 'before the cock crows, you shall deny me thrice', and this line, interestingly, appears in the novel further on when Rochester confronts Antoinette about her history.\\nJust as the name Jane Eyre can be seen to reflect Jane's character, the title of Rhys's novel can be seen to reflect the development of its plot. The Sargasso Sea, ('Sargasso' being the weed that gives that part of the North Atlantic its name), is almost still but at its centre has a mass of swirling currents, an image suggestive of Antoinette's character, and of the turmoil of her imprisonment and the method of her escape.\\nThere is a limit to the extent to which we can see Wide Sargasso Sea as an interpretation of Jane Eyre, and we must remember that in some respects Rhys's novel takes pains to distance itself from Jane Eyre. The distinction is seen particularly in the inclusion of post-colonial theory in Wide Sargasso Sea. Antoinette is aware from a young age of the element of imprisonment that hangs over the West Indies;\\nThe paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell.\\nThe dead flowers represent the institution of slavery, while the fresh living smell represents what has come and will come in a post-emancipation society. In 'Women and Change in the Caribbean', Momsen wrote that when slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century, 'Women were taught that marriage was both prestigious and morally superior'. She also points out that accepting and following the lifestyles of the whites facilitated social mobility, and when Rhys's protagonist Antoinette marries she is seen as forsaking the customs and values of the Negroes.\\nAntoinette, as a French Creole, has both black and white blood in her, which causes her much confusion;\\nI often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all.\\nShe is aware of her family's history and that she has a black and a white side to her. Her actions and thoughts appear to indicate that she is trying to form her identity in a time of change, turbulence and conflict.\\nThe theme of black and white also links to the colour imagery presented by both writers, not only in the context of skin colour, but also in terms the colours that surround them in their environments. Antoinette's one time friend Tia, calls Antoinette a 'White Nigger' meaning that the emancipation has left the white slave owners in the same position as the blacks. Neither has power or money and both are resented by the new white people moving into the Caribbean. The 'white nigger' is neither a white person nor a black person, but is regarded as inferior to the Negroes.\\nA range of imagery in the form of colours is associated with the development of the intrigue behind Antoinette's madness, and Jane's love for Rochester. Rochester describes Bertha as having 'red balls' for eyes and a 'mask' instead of a face. This use of figurative language makes Bertha appear a grotesque monster, while in contrast Jane is likened to 'an eager little bird'.\\nWe can also compare the difference between how the symbolism of fire distinguishes the representations of Jane and Antoinette's characters. Rochester describes the West Indies as 'Fiery' and we see his dislike of this unfamiliar environment grow to overpowering proportions, until he decides to shoot himself. He is prevented by 'a fresh wind from Europe', which entices him home. This scene echoes Jane Eyre, where Jane hears Rochester's voice calling her back to Thornfield. Rochester undoubtedly associates Jamaica with evil and so Bertha's fiery, manic disposition fits in with his view of the Caribbean. England is seen as 'pure', Jane is described as having 'clear eyes' a 'face', this healthy description informing us of her mental health. Rochester wants a true English Rose 'this is what I wished to have' (laying a hand on Jane's shoulder). Bertha's fiery, hateful and wild nature is the opposite of Jane's prim and typically English reserve. The passionate nature at the heart of the novel is epitomised in Jane's metaphor for her love for Rochester, 'Fiery iron grasped my vitals'. Jane's fire is in her love whereas Antoinette's fire is one of pain and fear. Fire also links Jane to Bertha, both in passion and in the actual setting of fire, most notably the fire that kills Bertha but symbolises rebirth in the character of Rochester.\\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea fiery emotions surround the character of Antoinette and her progression into her 'zombie-like' state. The 'zombie' theme sums up Rhys's main point about insanity and spiritual death that she introduces in the form of the Caribbean magic, Obeah. Rochester discovers this black magic and is even accused by Antoinette of performing it on her; 'You are trying to make me into someone else, that's Obeah too'. It is Rochester's calling her 'Bertha' after he discovers her history, and that her mother's name was close to her own, that sparks this outburst by Antoinette.\\nThe fuel keeping Antoinette alive before she suffers her final death is hate, 'before I die I will show you how much I hate you'. This hate stems from the way she was presented in Jane Eyre, and Grace Poole informs us, 'I don't turn my back on her when her eyes have that look'. Ultimately, Antoinette's only possible solution, because of her zombie-like state, is to follow her dead spirit into death, 'now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do'.\\nThe death of Antoinette/Bertha heralds the end of Rhys's story, but is the turning point for Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre. From the destruction of Thornfield and Rochester's disfigurement through his selfless actions in rescuing others from the fire, he is able to redeem himself and find contentment. After he has suffered and felt pain, mentally and physically, and lost his arrogance and pride, he finally realises his true self:\\nI began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker.\\nWith Rochester's rebirth Jane's quest for love is finally over, as she finally has her equal.\\nJane Eyre is a bildungsroman, a novel of personal development, loosely based on Bronte's own experiences, and drawing upon her extensive knowledge of folklore, her vivid imagination and her influences, including the Romantics (Rochester has been described as a 'Byronic hero') and Shakespeare. The novel is a masterpiece that arose from Bronte's intention to create a love story interwoven with her own experiences, even though her own life did not have such a fairy-tale-like ending.\\nWide Sargasso Sea derives from Jane Eyre, and the relationship between the two has provoked much critical discussion about the two authors' intentions. The novels must be read together in order to fully appreciate how they complement each other, and how each is also a novel in its own right, with distinct characters and plot.\\nBut, as I hope to have shown in this essay, one feature the novels have in common is that both authors make use of the literary device of symbolism in their writing. In both novels our appreciation of the characters and themes is enriched by the symbolism inherent in such narrative elements as dreams, visions, landscapes, characters' names, place names, colours, fire, and even the titles.\\nBibliography\\nMomsen, Janet. ed. Women and Change in the Caribbean. Kingston: Ian Randle; Bloomington: Indiana University Press; London: J. Currey, 1993.\\n© Jenia Geraghty, May 2002\\n\\\"I have really enjoyed the course and my tutor has provided really useful feedback through all the lessons.\\\"\\nKatie S\\n\\\"...such a wonderful course with helpful administration staff and a super tutor.\\\"\\nShirley P\\n\\\"The course was super - most enjoyable and the tutoring was excellent!\\\"\\nBrian C\",\n \"Jane Eyre Quotes and Analysis | GradeSaver\\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis. ... There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. ... In the first line, ...\\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis | GradeSaver\\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis\\nBuy Study Guide\\nGod and nature intended you for a missionary's wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary's wife you must - shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you - not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign's service.\\nSt. John Rivers\\nSt. John makes this statement when he is attempting to convince Jane to marry him and become a missionary in India. St. John's declaration that Jane is formed for \\\"labour, not for love\\\" emphasizes his belief that love and passion have no place in a moral life. St. John's argument of ownership also highlights his view of Jane as a subservient companion, not a woman with independent thoughts. Although Jane approves of St. John's morality, she is unwilling to sacrifice love to become the kind of woman that St. John wants her to be.\\nThere was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question. I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.\\nJane Eyre\\nThis is one of the more famous quotations from the novel because it provides an immediate sense of Jane's personality, as well as her position of lonely inferiority among her cousins at Gateshead. In the first line, it seems as if Jane desires to take a walk and is upset that she cannot. However, with the addition of the later lines, it becomes clear that Jane actually dislikes long walks - even from the very beginning of the novel, Bronte informs the readers that Jane is an atypical character who will make some surprising decisions. This opening quotation also describes the extent of Jane's loneliness and unhappiness with the Reed family; it is because of her empty childhood that Jane thirsts for the family and love that she will find with Mr. Rochester at Thornfield Manor.\\nI knew you would do me good in some way, at some time; - I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not - did not strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing. People talk of natural sympathies: I have heard of good genii: - there are grains of truth in the wildest fable. My cherished preserver, good-night!\\nEdward Rochester\\nThis quotation occurs immediately after Bertha Mason has set Mr. Rochester's bed on fire and Jane has rescued him. Mr. Rochester discards his sarcasm for one of the first times in the novel and acknowledges that he feels a significant emotional connection to Jane. This intimate moment is only possible because of Mr. Rochester's vulnerable position, and both the reader and Jane begin to see some of the person who lives beneath his brooding and tormented exterior. Bronte will continue to explore the idea that Jane and Mr. Rochester are kindred spirits as the novel continues, but even these few lines lay the seeds for the fiery passion that will pervade Jane's relationship with Mr. Rochester.\\nI am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am dead you must be sure and not grieve: there is nothing to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and gradual: my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me much: I have only a father; and he is lately married, and will not miss me. By dying young I shall escape great sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way very well in the world: I should have been continually at fault.\\nHelen Burns\\nThis speech comes when Helen Burns is dying in Jane's arms at Lowood School. Although she only appears for a few chapters, Helen and her view of Christianity become very significant to Jane as she grows into adulthood. Helen argued for turning the other cheek: accepting the injustice and unhappiness of the earthly world because of the joys that await in heaven. Although Jane does not wholly agree with Helen's passivity, particularly in the face of the torments at Lowood, she admires Helen's strength of faith. Still, Jane fears for her friend's death and the inevitable loneliness that will come when she is gone. Helen strives to convince Jane not to be unhappy because she is finally fulfilling her destiny and finding peace with God.\\nReader, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I, the parson and clerk, were alone present.\\nJane Eyre\\nThis quotation comes after Jane has gone to Ferndean and discovered the newly-blinded Mr. Rochester. Up until this point in the text, Jane has always maintained a subservient position to Mr. Rochester. However, with the inheritance from her uncle, Jane is now an independent woman and can take charge of her own destiny. Moreover, with the loss of Mr. Rochester's eyesight, he becomes vulnerable and dependent on Jane; he can no longer maintain his former position as the superior male. Thus, instead of using the subservient \\\"He married me,\\\" in which Mr. Rochester is the dominating partner, Jane takes the superior in the relationship: \\\"I married him.\\\" However, this inequality is resolved when Mr. Rochester regains the use of one of his eyes; Jane and Mr. Rochester are finally able to support a relationship of mutual respect and quality.\\nYou never felt jealousy, did you, Miss Eyre? Of course not: I need not ask you; because you never felt love. You have both sentiments yet to experience: your soul sleeps; the shock is yet to be given which shall waken it.\\nEdward Rochester\\nThis speech occurs when Mr. Rochester tells Jane about Adele's origins and his affair with Celine Varens. Mr. Rochester's assertion that Jane has never felt love is not necessarily false. At this point in her sheltered life, Jane has barely experienced familial love, not to mention romantic love. Mr. Rochester's conclusion about Jane's emotional experience also emphasizes her inferior position in their relationship. Because he has experienced many kinds of love, Mr. Rochester is ultimately wiser and thus, superior to his naive governess. However, Bronte suggests that Jane actually possesses far more wisdom and clarity about love that Mr. Rochester: she is the only one of the two who is able to resist the call of animal passion and resist the temptation to become his mistress.\\nWhy, I suppose you have a governess for her: I saw a person with her just now - is she gone? Oh, no! there she is still behind the window-curtain. You pay her, of course: I should think it quite as expensive, - more so; for you have them both to keep in addition...You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi - were they not, mama?\\nBlanche Ingram\\nJane overhears this speech by Blanche Ingram during one of the social gatherings at Thornfield. Blanche expresses the upper-class prejudice against governesses and other members of the lower-class. Instead of respecting governesses for the work that they must do, Blanches mocks them openly and without any consideration for Jane's presence in the room. In her mind, a governess is nothing more than a servant and worthy of even less respect. This attitude is one that Jane constantly faces as a governess; Mr. Rochester is the only member of high society who ever treats her with respect.\\nShe bit me. She worried me like a tigress, when Rochester got the knife from her...She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart.\\nRichard Mason\\nThis speech takes place after Richard Mason has been attacked by Bertha. Although Mr. Rochester forbids Jane and Richard Mason to speak about what has occurred, Jane cannot help overhearing this clue to the mystery of Thornfield. Through Mason's description, Bronte is able to present Bertha's nature as bestial (as a tigress) and even vampiric, a term in itself that alludes to the Gothic literary tradition. Not only is Bertha akin to the animal world in all its chaos, she is even carnivorous and attempts to suck the life out of her brother in the same way that her presence threatens to suck the life out of Mr. Rochester's happiness with Jane. Bertha's uncontrollable animal nature comes in stark contrast to Jane's placidity and rationality; although Jane possesses some of the same fiery passion that Bertha has, Jane is able to control her inclinations with her humanity.\\nIf people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should - so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.\\nJane Eyre\\nThis speech occurs during one of Jane's conversations with Helen Burns at Lowood. Although Helen prescribes to the idea of \\\"turning the other cheek\\\" when mistreated, Jane believes that people should defend themselves to ensure that they are never mistreated again. Jane is unable to mirror Helen's passivity at Lowood and her passion and strength of character will help her to overcome many obstacles in her life. Eventually Jane learns to hide her passion and anger at injustice, but Mr. Rochester will still recognize a kindred spirit beneath her calm exterior.\\nYou must be on your guard against her; you must shun her example: if necessary, avoid her company, exclude her from your sports, and shut her out from your converse. Teachers, you must watch her: keep your eyes on her movements, weight well her words, scrutinize her actions, punish her body to saver her soul; if indeed, such salvation be possible for (my tongue falters while I tell it) this girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernaut - this girl is - a liar!\\nMr. Brocklehurst\\nMr. Brocklehurst represents the worst kind of Christianity in the novel. His evangelical sermons, extreme stinginess, and cruel treatment of his students come in sharp contrast with his family's luxurious lifestyle and his embezzlement of school funds. In this particular scene, Mr. Brocklehurst demonstrates the extent of his cruelty by tormenting Jane with false accusations in front of her school peers. Although Mr. Brocklehurst is eventually removed from his position at Lowood, he remains one of the worst obstacles that the child Jane must overcome in order to continue her quest for independence.\",\n \"SparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Study Questions & Essay Topics\\nSuggested essay topics and study questions for Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. ... there are many possible ways to ... In what ways might Jane Eyre be considered a ...\\nSparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Study Questions & Essay Topics\\nStudy Questions & Essay Topics\\nStudy Questions\\n1.\\nIn what ways is Jane Eyre influenced by the tradition of the Gothic novel? What do the Gothic elements contribute to the novel?\\nThe Gothic tradition utilizes elements such as supernatural encounters, remote locations, complicated family histories, ancient manor houses, dark secrets, and mysteries to create an atmosphere of suspense and terror, and the plot of Jane Eyre includes most of these elements. Lowood, Moor House, and Thornfield are all remote locations, and Thornfield, like Gateshead, is also an ancient manor house. Both Rochester and Jane possess complicated family histories—Rochester’s hidden wife, Bertha, is the dark secret at the novel’s core. The exposure of Bertha is one of the most important moments in the novel, and the mystery surrounding her is the main source of the novel’s suspense.\\nOther Gothic occurrences include: Jane’s encounter with the ghost of her late Uncle Reed in the red-room; the moment of supernatural communication between Jane and Rochester when she hears his voice calling her across the misty heath from miles and miles away; and Jane’s mistaking Rochester’s dog, Pilot, for a “Gytrash,” a spirit of North England that manifests itself as a horse or dog.\\nAlthough Brontë’s use of Gothic elements heightens her reader’s interest and adds to the emotional and philosophical tensions of the book, most of the seemingly supernatural occurrences are actually explained as the story progresses. It seems that many of the Gothic elements serve to anticipate and elevate the importance of the plot’s turning points.\\n2.\\nWhat do the names mean in Jane Eyre? Some names to consider include: Jane Eyre, Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Reed, Rivers, Miss Temple, and Ferndean.\\nOf course, there are many possible ways to address this question. The following answer includes only a few of the ways the names in Jane Eyre can be interpreted.\\nThe name “Jane Eyre” elicits many associations. The contrast between Jane’s first name—with its traditional association with “plainness”—and the names of the novel’s well-born women (Blanche, Eliza, Georgiana, Diana, Rosamond) highlights Jane’s lack of status, but it also emphasizes her lack of pretense. Jane’s last name has many possible interpretations, none of which mutually excludes the other. “Eyre” is an archaic spelling for “air,” and throughout the book, Jane is linked to the spiritual or ethereal as she drifts, windlike, from one location to the next. In French, “aire” refers to a bird’s nesting place, among other things. Jane is compared to a bird repeatedly throughout the novel, and she often uses her imagination as a “nesting-place” of sorts, a private realm where she can feel secure. In medieval times, “eyre” also signified circuit-traveling judges. Perhaps Jane’s name is meant to bring attention to her role as a careful evaluator of all that she sees, and to the importance that she attaches to justice. “Eyre” also sounds like “heir,” and its other homophone—“err”—could certainly be interpreted to be meaningful, especially to feminist and religious critics who take issue with Jane’s actions!\\nPlace names also seem to be symbolic. Jane’s story begins at “Gateshead.” From there, she moves to the bosky darkness and spiritual abyss of “Lowood.” At Thornfield, she must fight her way through the stings of many emotional and psychological thorns (or, as many critics argue, wear “a crown of thorns” like Jesus Christ). Jane first tastes true freedom of movement in the open spaces surrounding Moor House, while Ferndean is the home where her love can grow fertile. Thus in Chapter 37 Rochester says to Jane, “I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-tree in Thornfield orchard. . . . And what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?” Jane replies, “You are no ruin, sir—no lightning-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not, because they take delight in your bountiful shadow; and as they grow they will lean towards you, and wind round you, because your strength offers them so safe a prop.”\\nSuggested Essay Topics\\n1. Discuss Jane as a narrator and as a character. What sort of voice does she have? How does she represent her own actions? Does she seem to be a trustworthy storyteller, or does Brontë require us to read between the lines of her narrative? In light of the fact that people who treat Jane cruelly (John Reed, Mrs. Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst) all seem to come to unhappy endings, what role does Jane play as the novel’s moral center?\\n2. In what ways might Jane Eyre be considered a feminist novel? What points does the novel make about the treatment and position of women in Victorian society? With particular attention to the book’s treatment of marriage, is there any way in which it might be considered anti-feminist?\\n3. What role does Jane’s ambiguous social position play in determining the conflict of her story? What larger points, if any, does the novel make about social class? Does the book criticize or reinforce existing Victorian social prejudices? Consider the treatment of Jane as a governess, but also of the other servants in the book, along with Jane’s attitude toward her impoverished students at Morton.\\n4. Compare and contrast some of the characters who serve as foils throughout Jane Eyre: Blanche to Jane, St. John to Rochester, and, perhaps, Bertha to Jane. Also think about the points of comparison between the Reed and Rivers families. How do these contrasts aid the development of the book’s themes?\\nMore Help\",\n \"John_Wilmot,_2nd_Earl_of_Rochester.txt\\nJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester\\nJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 – 26 July 1680), was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court. The Restoration reacted against the \\\"spiritual authoritarianism\\\" of the Puritan era. Rochester was the embodiment of the new era, and he is as well known for his rakish lifestyle as his poetry, although the two were often interlinked. He died at the age of 33 from venereal disease.\\n\\nRochester's contemporary Andrew Marvell described him as \\\"the best English satirist,\\\" and he is generally considered to be the most considerable poet and the most learned among the Restoration wits. His poetry, despite being widely censored during the Victorian era, enjoyed a revival from the 1920s onwards, with notable champions including Graham Greene and Ezra Pound. The critic Vivian de Sola Pinto linked Rochester's libertinism to Hobbesian materialism. During his lifetime, he was best known for A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind, and it remains among his best known works today.\\n\\nLife\\n\\nUpbringing and teens\\n\\nJohn Wilmot was born at Ditchley House in Oxfordshire on 1 April 1647. His father, Henry, Viscount Wilmot would be created Earl of Rochester in 1652 for his military service to Charles II during the King's exile under the Commonwealth. Paul Davis describes Henry as \\\"a Cavalier legend, a dashing bon viveur and war-hero who single-handedly engineered the future Charles II's escape to the Continent (including the famous concealment in an oak tree) after the disastrous battle of Worcester in 1651\\\". His mother, Anne St. John, was a strong-willed Puritan from a noble Wiltshire family.\\n\\nFrom the age of seven, Rochester was privately tutored, two years later attending the grammar school in nearby Burford. His father died in 1658, and John Wilmot inherited the title of the Earl of Rochester in April of that year. In January 1660, Rochester was admitted as a Fellow commoner to Wadham College, Oxford, a new and comparatively poor college. Whilst there, it is said, the 13-year-old \\\"grew debauched\\\". In September 1661 he was awarded an honorary M.A. by the newly elected Chancellor of the university, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, a family friend.Frank H. Ellis, \\\"Wilmot, John, second earl of Rochester (1647–1680)\\\", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29623, accessed 12 July 2012]\\n\\nAs an act of gratitude towards the son of Henry Wilmot, Charles II conferred on Rochester an annual pension of £500. In November 1661 Charles sent Rochester on a three year Grand Tour of France and Italy, and appointed the physician Andrew Balfour as his governor. This exposed him to an unusual degree to European (especially French) writing and thought. In 1664 Rochester returned to London, and made his formal début at the Restoration court on Christmas Day.\\n\\nIt has been suggested by a number of scholars that the King took a paternal role in Rochester's life. Charles II suggested a marriage between Rochester and the wealthy heiress Elizabeth Malet. Her wealth-hungry relatives opposed marriage to the impoverished Rochester, who conspired with his mother to abduct the young Countess. Samuel Pepys described the attempted abduction in his diary on 28 May 1665:\\nThence to my Lady Sandwich's, where, to my shame, I had not been a great while before. Here, upon my telling her a story of my Lord Rochester's running away on Friday night last with Mrs. Mallett, the great beauty and fortune of the North, who had supped at White Hall with Mrs. Stewart, and was going home to her lodgings with her grandfather, my Lord Haly, by coach; and was at Charing Cross seized on by both horse and foot men, and forcibly taken from him, and put into a coach with six horses, and two women provided to receive her, and carried away. Upon immediate pursuit, my Lord of Rochester (for whom the King had spoke to the lady often, but with no successe ) was taken at Uxbridge; but the lady is not yet heard of, and the King mighty angry, and the Lord sent to the Tower. \\n\\n18-year-old Rochester spent three weeks in the Tower, and was only released after he wrote a penitent apology to the King.\\n\\nRochester attempted to redeem himself by volunteering for the navy in the Second Dutch War in the winter of 1665, serving under the Earl of Sandwich. His courage at the Battle of Vågen, serving onboard the ship of Thomas Teddeman, made him a war hero. Pleased with his conduct, Charles appointed Rochester a Gentleman of the Bedchamber in March 1666, which granted him prime lodgings in Whitehall and a pension of £1,000 a year. The role encompassed, one week in every four, Rochester helping the King to dress and undress, serve his meals when dining in private, and sleeping at the foot of the King's bed. In the summer of 1666, Rochester returned to sea, serving under Edward Spragge. He again showed extraordinary courage in battle. \\n\\nUpon returning from sea, Rochester resumed his courtship of Elizabeth Malet. Defying her family's wishes, Malet eloped with Rochester again in January 1667, and they were married at the Knightsbridge chapel.Notes and Queries (2011) 58 (3): 381–386. doi: 10.1093/notesj/gjr109\\n\\nIn October 1667, the monarch granted Rochester special licence to enter the House of Lords early, despite being seven months underage. The act was an attempt by the King to bolster his number of supporters among the Lords. \\n\\nTeenage actress Nell Gwyn \\\"almost certainly\\\" took him as her lover; she was later to become the mistress of Charles II. Gwyn remained a lifelong friend and political associate, and her relationship with the King gave Rochester influence and status within the Court.\\n\\n20s and last years\\n\\nRochester's life was divided between domesticity in the country and a riotous existence at court, where he was renowned for drunkenness, vivacious conversation, and \\\"extravagant frolics\\\" as part of the Merry Gang (as Andrew Marvell described them). The Merry Gang flourished for about 15 years after 1665 and included Henry Jermyn; Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset; John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave; Henry Killigrew; Sir Charles Sedley; the playwrights William Wycherley and George Etherege; and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Gilbert Burnet wrote of him that, \\\"For five years together he was continually Drunk ... [and] not ... perfectly Master of himself ... [which] led him to ... do many wild and unaccountable things.\\\" In 1669 he committed treason by boxing the ears of Thomas Killigrew in sight of the monarch and was banned from the court, although the King soon called for his return.\\n\\nIn 1673, Rochester began to train Elizabeth Barry as an actress. She went on to become the most famous actress of her age. He took her as his mistress in 1675. The relationship lasted for around five years, and produced a daughter, before descending into acrimony after Rochester began to resent her success. Rochester wrote afterwards, \\\"With what face can I incline/To damn you to be only mine? ... Live up to thy might mind/And be the mistress of mankind\\\".\\n\\nWhen the King's advisor and friend of Rochester, George Villiers lost power in 1673, Rochester's standing fell as well. At the Christmas festivities at Whitehall of that year, Rochester delivered a satire to Charles II, \\\"In the Isle of Britain\\\" – which criticized the King for being obsessed with sex at the expense of his kingdom. Charles' reaction to this satirical portrayal resulted in Rochester's exile from the court until February. During this time Rochester dwelt at his estate in Adderbury. Despite this, in February 1674, after much petitioning by Rochester, the King appointed him Ranger of Woodstock Park.\\n\\nIn June 1675 \\\"Lord Rochester in a frolick after a rant did ... beat downe the dyill (i.e. sundial) which stood in the middle of the Privie Garding, which was esteemed the rarest in Europ\\\". John Aubrey learned what Rochester said on this occasion when he came in from his \\\"revells\\\" with Charles Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, and Fleetwood Sheppard to see the object: \\\"'What ... doest thou stand here to fuck time?' Dash they fell to worke\\\". It has been speculated that the comment refers not to the dial itself, which was not phallic in appearance, but a painting of the King next to the dial that featured his phallic sceptre. Rochester fled the court again.\\n\\nRochester fell into disfavour again in 1676. During a late-night scuffle with the night watch, one of Rochester's companions was killed by a pike-thrust. Rochester was reported to have fled the scene of the incident, and his standing with the monarch reached an all time low. Following this incident, Rochester briefly fled to Tower Hill, where he impersonated a mountebank \\\"Doctor Bendo\\\". Under this persona, he claimed skill in treating \\\"barrenness\\\" (infertility), and other gynecological disorders. Gilbert Burnet wryly noted that Rochester's practice was \\\"not without success\\\", implying his intercession of himself as surreptitious sperm donor. On occasion, Rochester also assumed the role of the grave and matronly Mrs. Bendo, presumably so that he could inspect young women privately without arousing their husbands' suspicions. \\n\\nDeath\\n\\nBy the age of 33, Rochester was dying, from what is usually described as the effects of syphilis, gonorrhea, or other venereal diseases, combined with the effects of alcoholism. Carol Richards has disputed this, arguing that it is more likely that he died of renal failure due to chronic nephritis as a result of suffering from Bright's disease. His mother had him attended in his final weeks by her religious associates, particularly Gilbert Burnet, later Bishop of Salisbury.\\n\\nAfter hearing of Burnet's departure from his side, Rochester muttered his last words; \\\"Has my friend left me? then I shall die shortly\\\". In the early morning of 26 July 1680, Rochester died \\\"without a shudder or a sound\\\". He was buried at Spelsbury Church in Oxfordshire.\\n\\nA deathbed renunciation of libertinism was published and promulgated as the conversion of a prodigal son. Because the first published account of this story appears in Burnet's own writings, its accuracy has been disputed by some scholars, who accuse Burnet with having shaped the account of Rochester's denunciation of libertinism to enhance his own reputation.\\n\\nWorks\\n\\nThree major critical editions of Rochester in the twentieth century have taken very different approaches to authenticating and organizing his canon. David Vieth’s 1968 edition adopts a heavily biographical organization, modernizing spellings and heading the sections of his book \\\"Prentice Work\\\", \\\"Early Maturity\\\", \\\"Tragic Maturity\\\", and \\\"Disillusionment and Death\\\". Keith Walker’s 1984 edition takes a genre-based approach, returning to the older spellings and accidentals in an effort to present documents closer to those a seventeenth century audience would have received. Harold Love’s Oxford University Press edition of 1999, now the scholarly standard, notes the variorum history conscientiously, but arranges works in genre sections ordered from the private to the public. Scholarship has identified approximately 75 authentic Rochester poems. \\n\\nRochester's poetic work varies widely in form, genre, and content. He was part of a \\\"mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease\\\", who continued to produce their poetry in manuscripts, rather than in publication. As a consequence, some of Rochester's work deals with topical concerns, such as satires of courtly affairs in libels, to parodies of the styles of his contemporaries, such as Sir Carr Scroope. He is also notable for his impromptus, one of which is a teasing epitaph of King Charles II:\\nWe have a pretty witty king,\\nAnd whose word no man relies on,\\nHe never said a foolish thing,\\nAnd never did a wise one\\\" \\nto which Charles supposedly said \\\"that's true, for my words are my own, but my actions are those of my ministers\\\". \\n\\nRochester's poetry displays a range of learning and influences. These included imitations of Malherbe, Ronsard, and Boileau. He also translated or adapted from classical authors such as Petronius, Lucretius, Ovid, Anacreon, Horace, and Seneca.\\n\\nRochester's writings were at once admired and infamous. A Satyr Against Mankind (1675), one of the few poems he published (in a broadside in 1679) is a scathing denunciation of rationalism and optimism that contrasts human perfidy with animal wisdom.\\n\\nThe majority of his poetry was not published under his name until after his death. Because most of his poems circulated only in manuscript form during his lifetime, it is likely that much of his writing does not survive. Burnet claimed that Rochester's conversion experience led him to ask that \\\"all his profane and lewd writings\\\" be burned; it is unclear how much, if any, of Rochester's writing was destroyed.\\n\\nRochester was also interested in the theatre. In addition to an interest in actresses, he wrote an adaptation of Fletcher's Valentinian (1685), a scene for Sir Robert Howard's The Conquest of China, a prologue to Elkanah Settle's The Empress of Morocco (1673), and epilogues to Sir Francis Fane's Love in the Dark (1675), Charles Davenant's Circe, a Tragedy (1677). The best-known dramatic work attributed to Rochester, Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery, has never been successfully proven to be written by him. Posthumous printings of Sodom, however, gave rise to prosecutions for obscenity, and were destroyed. On 16 December 2004 one of the few surviving copies of Sodom was sold by Sotheby's for £45,600. \\n\\nRochester's letters to his wife and to his friend Henry Savile show an admirable mastery of easy, colloquial prose.\\n\\nReception and influence\\n\\nRochester was the model for a number of rake heroes in plays of the period, such as Don John in Thomas Shadwell's The Libertine (1675) and Dorimant in George Etherege's The Man of Mode (1676). Meanwhile he was eulogised by his contemporaries such as Aphra Behn and Andrew Marvell, who described him as \\\"the only man in England that had the true vein of satire\\\".[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17388/17388-h/17388-h.htm The Project Gutenberg eBook of Andrew Marvell, by Augustine Birrell] Daniel Defoe quoted him in Moll Flanders, and discussed him in other works. Voltaire, who spoke of Rochester as \\\"the man of genius, the great poet\\\", admired his satire for its \\\"energy and fire\\\" and translated some lines into French to \\\"display the shining imagination his lordship only could boast\\\". \\n\\nBy the 1750s, Rochester's reputation suffered as the liberality of the Restoration era subsided; Samuel Johnson characterised him as a worthless and dissolute rake. Horace Walpole described him as \\\"a man whom the muses were fond to inspire but ashamed to avow\\\". Despite this general disdain for Rochester, William Hazlitt commented that his \\\"verses cut and sparkle like diamonds\\\" while his \\\"epigrams were the bitterest, the least laboured, and the truest, that ever were written\\\". Referring to Rochester's perspective, Hazlitt wrote that \\\"his contempt for everything that others respect almost amounts to sublimity\\\". Meanwhile, Goethe quoted A Satyr against Reason and Mankind in English in his Autobiography. Despite this, Rochester's work was largely ignored throughout the Victorian era.\\n\\nRochester's reputation would not begin to revive until the 1920s. Ezra Pound, in his ABC of Reading, compared Rochester's poetry favourably to better known figures such as Alexander Pope and John Milton. Graham Greene characterised Rochester as a \\\"spoiled Puritan\\\". Although F. R. Leavis argued that \\\"Rochester is not a great poet of any kind\\\", William Empson admired him. More recently, Germaine Greer has questioned the validity of the appraisal of Rochester as a drunken rake, and hailed the sensitivity of some of his lyrics. \\n\\nRochester was listed #6 in Time Out's \\\"Top 30 chart of London's most erotic writers\\\". Tom Morris, the associate director, of the National Theatre said ‘Rochester reminds me of an unhinged poacher, moving noiselessly through the night and shooting every convention that moves. Bishop Burnett, who coached him to an implausible death-bed repentance, said that he was unable to express any feeling without oaths and obscenities. He seemed like a punk in a frock coat. But once the straw dolls have been slain, Rochester celebrates in a sexual landscape all of his own.’\\n\\nIn popular culture\\n\\nA play, The Libertine (1994), was written by Stephen Jeffreys, and staged by the Royal Court Theatre. The 2004 film The Libertine, based on Jeffreys' play, starred Johnny Depp as Rochester, Samantha Morton as Elizabeth Barry, John Malkovich as King Charles II and Rosamund Pike as Elizabeth Malet. Michael Nyman set to music an excerpt of Rochester's poem, \\\"Signor Dildo\\\" for the film. \\n\\nRochester is the central character in Anna Lieff Saxby's 1996 erotic novella 'No Paradise But Pleasure'\",\n \"The Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters\\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters ... most loved characters and his story propelled Dickens to literary stardom. Pinch, Tom ... Tapley, Mark Martin ...\\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters\\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club\\nHonorary Member: Mr Gerald Dickens\\nAn Affiliate Member of the Dickens Fellowship\\nMore\\nBenjamin Allen ( Pickwick Papers ) Medical student, brother of Arabella , and drinking buddy of Bob Sawyer . \\nArtful Dodger ( Oliver Twist ) Alias of Jack Dawkins , he is the most successful and interesting of Fagin's thieves. He shows Oliver the ropes of the pickpocket game and is later captured and sentenced to transportation. \\nThe Avenger ( Great Expectations ) A servant boy hired by Pip . Pip has such a hard time finding things to keep him busy \\\"that I sometimes sent him to Hyde Park Corner to see what o'clock it was.\\\" \\nB\\nBachelor, The ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Friend to the parson in the village church where Nell and her grandfather end their journey. He turns out to be the brother of Mr Garland and is instrumental in helping the Single Gentleman find his brother, Nell's grandfather. \\nBadger, Bayham ( Bleak House ) Doctor, cousin of Kenge , to whom Richard Carstone is apprenticed. Badger's wife Laura talks incessantly about her two former husbands, Capt Swosser and Professor Dingo. \\nBagnet Family ( Bleak House ) Musical, military family headed by Matthew, an old army friend of George Rouncewell . Bagnet's wife, the old girl, knows Matthew so well that he always calls upon her to supply his opinion. The Bagnet children: Quebec, Malta, and Woolwich are named for the military bases where the family has been stationed. Matthew is guarantor to George's loan from Smallweed , when Smallweed calls in the debt George is forced to deliver a document Smallweed needs to help lawyer Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. \\nBagstock, Major Joseph ( Dombey and Son ) Neighbor of Miss Tox and friend of Paul Dombey who introduces Paul to Edith Granger and Mrs Skewton . The Major describes himself as \\\"tough, Sir, tough, and de-vilish sly!\\\" \\nBailey, (Benjamin) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Street-wise servant boy at Todger's Boarding House. Later goes to work for Tigg Montigue and is nearly killed in a coach accident. \\nMrs Bangham ( Little Dorrit ) Charwoman and messenger in the Marshalsea prison. She attends the birth of Amy Dorrit . \\nBarbara ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Modest and pretty servant of the Garlands . She befriends Kit when he is also employed by the Garlands. Barbara later marries Kit. \\nMiss Barbary ( Bleak House ) 'Godmother' who raises Esther Summerson . Later found to be Esther's aunt, the sister of Lady Dedlock . \\nBardell, Martha ( Pickwick Papers ) Landlady of Samuel Pickwick in Goswell Street. Mrs. Bardell is duped by unscrupulous lawyers, Dodson and Fogg , into bringing a breach of promise to marry suit against Pickwick. When Pickwick refuses to pay damages and is consigned to the Fleet prison, Dodson and Fogg sue Mrs Bardell for costs and have her consigned to the Fleet. Pickwick pays the penitent Bardell's costs to get her released. \\nBarkis ( David Copperfield ) A carrier between Blunderstone and Yarmouth. He marries Clara Peggotty . Quote: Barkis is willin' \\nBarley, Old Bill ( Great Expectations ) Clara Barley's bedridden father, a retired ship's purser, who suffers with gout which he treats with an abundance of rum and pepper. \\nBarley, Clara ( Great Expectations ) Herbert Pocket's fiancee, she cares for her invalid father, Old Bill Barley , in a waterside house at Mill Pond Bank where Magwitch is hidden. After her father's death she marries Herbert. \\nBarnacles ( Little Dorrit ) Family that controls the Circumlocution Office, where everything goes round in circles, and nothing ever gets done. Includes Lord Decimus Tite Barnacle, his wife, Lady Jemima Bilberry, nephew Tite Barnacle, and his son Clarence Barnacle (Barnacle Junior). \\nBarsad, John/Soloman Pross ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Barsad testifies against Charles Darnay at the treason trial at the Old Bailey. Later Barsad turns up as a spy in Paris and is found to be the brother of Miss Pross . Threatened with exposure, Barsad helps Sydney Carton exchange places with Charles Darnay in prison. \\nBates, Charles ( Oliver Twist ) Member of Fagin's band of thieves. He mends his ways after Fagin is captured. \\nBazzard ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Clerk to Hiram Grewgious who writes an unproduced tragedy, The Thorn of Anxiety. Grewgious admits that Bazzard has a strange power over him. \\nBenjamin ( Barnaby Rudge ) Member of the 'Prentice Knights with Simon Tappertit . \\nBetsy (Bet) ( Oliver Twist ) Prostitute and friend of Nancy . Goes mad after identifying Nancy's body. \\nBevan, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Boston doctor whom Martin and Mark meet at Pawkins' Boarding House in New York and one of the few positive characters they meet in the America. Bevan later loans them money to return to England. \\nBiddy ( Great Expectations ) Mr. Wopsle's great aunt's granddaughter. She loves Pip but he ignores her as his fortunes improve. When Pip realizes that he loves her too she has married Joe Gargery . \\nBillickin, Mrs. ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) London landlady of Rosa Bud and her chaperone, Miss Twinkleton . She insists on using the title 'Billickin' in business matters fearing being taken advantage of because she is a woman. Mrs. Billickin and Miss Twinkleton take a comical dislike for each other. \\nBitzer ( Hard Times ) A student in Gradgrind's school of hard facts. Later a light porter in Bounderby's bank. \\nBlackpool, Stephen ( Hard Times ) A worker in Bounderby's mill. His wife is a drunk and he befriends Rachael . He falls out with his employer and leaves to look for work elsewhere. He is accused of robbing the bank and before his name is cleared he falls down a well and dies. Later he is cleared with the discovery that the robbery was committed by young Tom Gradgrind . \\nBlathers ( Oliver Twist ) Bow Street Runner (London Policemen) who, along with Duff , investigates the attempted robbery of the Maylie home. \\nBlimber, Dr ( Dombey and Son ) Headmaster of the school in Brighton where Paul Dombey Jr attends. Blimber is assisted at the school by his wife and daughter Cornelia. Dickens describes Blimber as \\\"a portly gentleman in a suit of black, with strings at the knees, and stockings below them. He had a bald head, highly polished; a deep voice; and a chin so very double, that it was a wonder how he ever managed to shave into the creases.\\\" \\nBoffin, Noddy ( Our Mutual Friend ) John Harmon's servant. When John's son is supposed drowned, Boffin and his wife inherit the Harmon fortune, for a time. \\nBoffin, Henrietta ( Our Mutual Friend ) Noddy Boffin's wife. \\nBounderby, Josiah ( Hard Times ) Coketown Banker, mill owner, and \\\"self-made man\\\" proud that he raised himself in the streets after being abandoned as a child. His story is exposed as a sham when Mrs. Pegler , his loving mother whom he has discarded, is found. Bounderby marries his friend Gradgrind's daughter, Louisa , and later discards her. \\nBowley, Sir Joseph ( The Chimes ) Member of Parliament who condescendingly calls himself \\\"the poor man's friend and father\\\" and exhorts Trotty to \\\"Live hard and temperately, be respectful, exercise your self-denial, bring up your family on next to nothing, pay your rent as regularly as the clock strikes, be punctual in your dealings\\\". His wife is Lady Bowley. \\nBrandley, Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Widowed society woman and old friend of Miss Havisham with whom Estella is \\\"placed\\\" in Richmond to be sponsored in London society. She has a daughter several years older than Estella. \\nBrass, Sally ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Sister and partner of Quilp's unscrupulous attorney, Sampson Brass . She is the mother of the Marchioness , the below-stairs maid. \\nBrass, Sampson ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) \\\"An attorney of no good repute\\\" and \\\"One of the greatest scoundrels unhung\\\". Brass served as Daniel Quilp's lawyer. He helps Quilp get the Curiosity Shop from Nell's grandfather and when he tries to help Quilp frame Kit Nubbles he is undone with the help of his clerk Dick Swiveler and the Marchioness , his below-stairs maid. \\nBray, Madeline ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Girl with whom Nicholas falls in love when he first sees her at an employment office. She cares for her selfish, invalid father who tries to sell her in marriage to Arthur Gride , assisted by Ralph Nickleby . Her father dies and the scheme is exposed. She marries Nicholas at the end of the story. \\nBray, Walter ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Tyrannical father of Madeline . Heavily in debt, and living in the Rules of the King's Bench debtor's prison, he promises his daughter's hand in marriage to Arthur Gride in return for the forgiveness of his debt to Gride and Ralph Nickleby . He dies on the morning of the wedding thus saving Madeline from the unwanted marriage. \\nBrick, Jefferson ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) War correspondent for the New York Rowdy Journal, edited by Colonel Diver . \\nBritain, Benjamin ( The Battle of Life ) Manservant of Dr. Jeddler . He later marries Clemency Newcome and together they run the comfortable Nutmeg-Grater and Thimble Inn. \\nBrogley, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Second Hand furniture broker with a shop in Bishopsgate Street. Brogley takes possession of the Wooden Midshipman when Sol Gills cannot pay his debts. Sol is loaned money from Paul Dombey to pay the debt. Walter Gay stays with Brogley when he returns from being shipwrecked. \\nBrowdie, John ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Son of a small corn-factor. He gives money to Nicholas Nickleby on his escape from Dotheboys Hall. John marries Matilda Price . Later assists in Smike's escape from Squeers in London. \\nBrown, Good Mrs. ( Dombey and Son ) An ugly old rag and bone vendor and mother of Alice Marwood (Brown). She kidnaps Florence Dombey and steals her clothes. Later she helps Dombey find Carker and Edith after their elopement. Dickens describes Good Mrs Brown as a \\\"very ugly old woman, with red rims round her eyes, and a mouth that mumbled and chattered of itself when she was not speaking\\\". \\nBrown, Alice (alias Marwood) ( Dombey and Son ) Daughter of Good Mrs Brown and cousin of Edith Granger . \\nBrownlow ( Oliver Twist ) Befriends Oliver after he is charged with pickpocketing. He later establishes Oliver's true identity and adopts him. \\nBucket ( Bleak House ) Detective in charge of finding Tulkinghorn's murderer. After Lady Dedlock's disappearance Sir Leicester hires Bucket to find her. He later uncovers the will that is instrumental in clearing up the Jarndyce and Jarndyce chancery case.\\nBud, Rosa ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Betrothed to Edwin Drood in childhood, they later agree that they cannot marry. Edwin disappears and John Jasper declares his love for Rosa. In terror she flees to London to her guardian, Grewgious .\\n\\\"The pet pupil of the Nuns' House is Miss Rosa Bud, of course called Rosebud; wonderfully pretty, wonderfully childish, wonderfully whimsical. An awkward interest (awkward because romantic) attaches to Miss Bud in the minds of the young ladies, on account of its being known to them that a husband has been chosen for her by will and bequest, and that her guardian is bound down to bestow her on that husband when he comes of age\\\". \\nBumble ( Oliver Twist ) Beadle at the workhouse where Oliver is born. He mistreats the residents in his care and becomes the symbol of Dickens' distaste for the workhouse system. Marries Mrs. Corney and later is disgraced and becomes a resident in the same workhouse. \\nBunsby, Jack ( Dombey and Son ) Seafaring friend of Captain Cuttle who is always called in times of crisis for advise. The advise given confounds everyone listening except his friend Cuttle, who values it immensely. Bunsby is later trapped into marriage by Mrs MacStinger. Bunsby's ship is the Cautious Clara. Bunsby is described by Dickens as having \\\"one stationary eye in the mahogany face, and one revolving one, on the principle of some lighthouses\\\". \\nBuzfuz, Serjeant ( Pickwick Papers ) Barrister who represents Mrs Bardell in her suit against Samuel Pickwick . He bullies the witnesses into giving incriminating testimony and Pickwick is falsely convicted. \\nC\\nCarker, Harriet ( Dombey and Son ) Sister to James and John . Harriet lives with John and the two inherit James' fortune and donate it, anonymously, to Mr Dombey . Harriet later marries Mr Morfin . \\nCarker, James ( Dombey and Son ) Opportunistic manager at Dombey and Son. Brother of John and Harriet Carker , he elopes with Dombey's wife and is later killed when struck by a train. Dickens describes Carker as \\\"a gentleman thirty-eight or forty years old, of a florid complexion, and with two unbroken rows of glistening teeth, whose regularity and whiteness were quite distressing. It was impossible to escape the observation of them, for he showed them whenever he spoke; and bore so wide a smile upon his countenance (a smile, however, very rarely, indeed, extending beyond his mouth), that there was something in it like the snarl of a cat.\\\" \\nCarker, John ( Dombey and Son ) Older brother of James although called \\\"the Junior\\\" because of his low position at the firm of Dombey and Son. He is looked upon with scorn by his younger brother because he embezzled money from the firm when a young man. Harriet Carker is his sister. \\nCarstone, Richard ( Bleak House ) Ward of Mr. Jarndyce and a party to the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. He marries Ada Clare and later dies when his health declines as the estate he hopes to acquire is consumed in court costs. \\nCarton, Sydney ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Lawyer who is able to get a charge of treason reversed for Charles Darnay due to a strong physical resemblance. He later takes Darnay's place at the guillotine. Quote: It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known. \\nCasby, Christopher ( Little Dorrit ) Father of Flora Finching and landlord who gouges the residents of Bleeding Heart Yard through his collector, Pancks . Pancks later exposes Casby by cutting his long gray hair in front of the residents of Bleeding Heart Yard.\\nCavalletto, John Baptist ( Little Dorrit ) Small time Italian smuggler and fellow prisoner with Rigaud as the novel opens. Later employed by Arthur Clennam in Bleeding Heart Yard after being injured in a mail coach accident. Aids in the search for Rigaud.\\nRev Chadband ( Bleak House ) Typical Dickensian hypocritical reverend, admonishing Jo in the spirit while he starves. Marries the former Mrs Rachael . \\nCheeryble Brothers ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Charles and Edwin (Ned). Benevolent businessmen who employ and befriend Nicholas Nickleby and his family. Frank Cheeryble , who marries Kate Nickleby , is their nephew. \\nCheeryble, Frank ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Nephew of the Cheeryble brothers who marries Kate Nickleby . \\nChester, Edward ( Barnaby Rudge ) Son of John , eventually overcomes the opposition of his father and her uncle and marries Emma Haredale . The couple relocate to the West Indies. \\nChester, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Father of Edward , tries to prevent Edward's marriage to Emma Haredale . Becomes a member of Parliament. Killed in a duel by Emma's uncle Geoffrey. \\nChick, Louisa ( Dombey and Son ) Sister of Paul Dombey Sr . and friend to Mrs. Tox . Quote: Make an effort. \\nChickenstalker, Anne ( The Chimes ) A stout lady who keeps a shop in the general line to whom Trotty owes some small debts. In Trotty's dream she marries Tugby and is Meg's landlady. \\nMr. Chillip ( David Copperfield ) Doctor who delivers David Copperfield . \\nChivery, John, Young John, Mrs Chivery ( Little Dorrit ) Turnkeys (jailors) at the Marshalsea . Young John loves Amy Dorrit and assists in finding her father's fortune. Mrs Chivery runs a tobacco shop around the corner from the Marshalsea on Horsemonger Lane. \\nChoke, General Cyrus ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Member of the Eden Land Corporation who introduces Martin to Scadder . Like many others Martin Meets in America the General is considered \\\"one of the most remarkable men in the country.\\\" \\nChollop, Hannibal ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Another of \\\"the most remarkable men in the country\\\" Martin meets in Eden. Chollop enforces the propagation of liberty with a brace of revolving-pistols. \\nChuckster, Mr ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Clerk to Mr Witherden , friend of Dick Swiveler , and enemy of Kit . \\nChuffey ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Devoted old clerk of Anthony Chuzzlewit . \\\"He looked as if he had been put away and forgotten half a century before, and somebody had just found him in a lumber-closet.\\\" \\nChuzzlewit, Anthony ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Brother of old Martin Chuzzlewit and father of Jonas Chuzzlewit . Greedy and tight-fisted business man who breeds these same qualities into his son, Jonas, who tries to poison him for his trouble. \\nChuzzlewit, Jonas ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Son of Anthony Chuzzlewit , he attempts to kill his father to gain his inheritance. Marries Mercy Pecksniff and, through his cruelty, breaks her spirit. He murders Tigg, the murder is discovered, and on the way to prison poisons himself. \\nChuzzlewit, Martin ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Grandson of Martin Sr. He has a falling out with his grandfather over his love for Mary Graham . Becomes a pupil of Pecksniff who, because of pressure from the grandfather, throws young Martin out. After a trip to America with Mark Tapley , he comes back to England and, after the undoing of Pecksniff , reconciles with his grandfather and marries Mary Graham . \\nChuzzlewit, Old Martin ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Grandfather of Martin , cousin of Pecksniff , brother of Anthony, uncle of Jonas . Martin is suspicious of his hypocritical relatives, chiefly Pecksniff , whose hypocrisy Martin exposes and is reconciled with his grandson, young Martin . \\nClare, Ada ( Bleak House ) Ward of John Jarndyce , friend of Esther Summerson , cousin of Richard Carstone , who she marries and is soon widowed as Richard's health fails in the wake of the unhappy conclusion of the Chancery suit. \\nClarriker ( Great Expectations ) Shipping merchant from whom Pip secretly buys a partnership for Herbert . After Pip loses his fortune he is also employed in the firm. \\nClaypole, Noah ( Oliver Twist ) Assistant at Sowerberry's with whom Oliver fights. Noah later joins Fagin's band and spies on Nancy . After Fagin's capture he testifies against him and becomes an informer for the police. \\nClennam, Arthur ( Little Dorrit ) Returns to England from abroad where he has spent years with his father in the family business. On his father's death he falls out with his mother and gives up his share of the family business. He befriends Amy Dorrit at the Marshalsea and becomes business partner to Daniel Doyce . After losing everything in a banking scam by Merdle he is himself imprisoned in the Marshalsea . His health fails and Amy cares for him in the prison. The novel ends with Arthur and Amy's marriage. \\nClennam, Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Invalid mother of Arthur with whom she has a falling out over the family business. She avoids a blackmail scheme by Rigaud/Blandois when her tumble-down house tumbles down on him. \\nClickett (The Orfling) ( David Copperfield ) Maid to the Micawbers . \\\"A dark-complexioned young woman, with a habit of snorting.\\\" Clickett is an orphan from St. Luke's Workhouse. \\nCly, Roger ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Former servant of Charles Darnay who testifies against his former master at Darnay's trial for treason. He fakes his death and is buried in a mock funeral in London. Cly surfaces later as a spy and informer in Paris and ends up on the guillotine. \\nCobb, Tom ( Barnaby Rudge ) Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. \\nCodlin and Short ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Proprietors of a traveling Punch and Judy show that Nell and her grandfather meet on their travels through the English countryside. \\nCompeyson ( Great Expectations ) Con man who deceives Miss Havisham , with the help of Miss Havisham's brother Arthur , to get her money with a promise of marriage, and then leaves her at the altar. He is an accomplice of Magwitch in the original prison break. He later exposes Magwitch and accidentally drowns when Magwitch is recaptured. \\nCopperfield, David ( David Copperfield ) Narrator of the story modeled after Dickens life. Begins life with his widowed mother and their maid, Peggotty . When his mother marries Mr. Murdstone his life becomes miserable. He is sent to Creakle's school where he meets Steerforth and Traddles . After the death of his mother he goes to work at Murdstone and Grinby and is lodged with the Micawbers . David runs away to live with his aunt Betsy Trotwood in Dover. He later marries his employer Spenlow's daughter, Dora . Dora dies and David marries longtime friend, Agnes Wickfield . David, like Dickens, becomes a successful author. \\nCopperfield, Clara ( David Copperfield ) Mother of David Copperfield . A widow when David is born, she later is lured into marriage by Edward Murdstone , who destroys her spirit and she dies along with her newborn son while David is away at school. \\nCorney, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. She marries Bumble making him miserable. The Bumbles are disgraced and end up as paupers in the workhouse they once ruled over. \\nCratchit, Bob ( A Christmas Carol ) Longsuffering clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge . Bob endures Scrooge's mistreatment until Scrooge, reformed by the visit of the three spirits, raises Bob's salary and vows to help his struggling family. The Cratchit family consists of Bob's wife, eldest daughter Martha, daughter Belinda, son Peter, two younger children: boy and girl, and Tiny Tim .\\nCratchit, Tiny Tim ( A Christmas Carol ) Crippled son of Bob Cratchit . The forecast of Tim's death by the Ghosts of Christmas Present and Future is instrumental in Scrooge's reformation after which Tim is afforded proper medical attention and is cured. Dickens based Tiny Tim (and also Paul Dombey Jr ) on his sister Fanny's crippled son Henry Burnett Jr. \\nCreakle ( David Copperfield ) Severe headmaster of Salem House Academy where David first goes to school. He was based on William Jones, headmaster of Wellington Academy which Dickens attended from 1825-1827. \\nCrewler, Sophy ( David Copperfield ) Fiance of Traddles and \\\"the dearest girl in the world\\\". Traddles has trouble gaining permission to marry Sophy because she is indispensible to her large family. \\nCrimple, David (Crimp) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Pawnbroker (Crimp) and later partner with Tigg Montigue in the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. After Montigue is murdered he flees the country with the company's money.\\nCripples, Mr ( Little Dorrit ) Operates Cripples Evening Academy in the same lodging house where Frederick Dorrit lives. Amy Dorrit attended classes there. \\nCrisparkle, Canon ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Minor canon of Cloisterham Cathedral. \\\"Mr. Crisparkle, Minor Canon, early riser, musical, classical, cheerful, kind, good-natured, social, contented, and boy-like.\\\" He takes Neville Landless as a pupil and helps Neville flee to London when suspicion is cast on him for the disappearance of Edwin Drood . \\nCrummles, Vincent ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Manager of a touring stage company who employs and befriends Nicholas Nickleby and Smike . Described as having \\\"a very full under- lip, a hoarse voice, as though he were in the habit of shouting very much, and very short black hair, shaved off nearly to the crown of his head--to admit (as he afterwards learnt) of his more easily wearing character wigs of any shape or pattern.\\\" \\nCrummles, Mrs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Wife of Vincent Crummles and actress in his traveling stage troupe. Described as \\\"a stout, portly female, apparently between forty and fifty, in a tarnished silk cloak, with her bonnet dangling by the strings in her hand, and her hair (of which she had a great quantity) braided in a large festoon over each temple.\\\" \\nCrummles, Ninetta ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Daughter of Vincent Crummles and actress in his traveling stage troupe. Billed as the Infant Phenomenon, her acting capability is greatly over-rated by her father. She is listed as 10 years old but is apparently much older: \\\"though of short stature, had a comparatively aged countenance, and had moreover been precisely the same age -- not perhaps to the full extent of the memory of the oldest inhabitant, but certainly for five good years. But she had been kept up late every night, and put upon an unlimited allowance of gin-and-water from infancy, to prevent her growing tall, and perhaps this system of training had produced in the infant phenomenon these additional phenomena.\\\" \\nCruncher, Jerry ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Messenger for Tellson's Bank who moonlights as a grave robber. \\nCrupp, Mrs ( David Copperfield ) David Copperfield's brandy-loving landlady at the Adelphi. \\nCute, Alderman ( The Chimes ) City magistrate who is blind to the plight of the poor. Vows to \\\"put down\\\"^ any nonsense claimed by the poor, such as starvation, illness, and suicide. \\nCuttle, Captain ( Dombey and Son ) Seafaring friend of Sol Gills , whose shop he cares for when Sol goes in search of his lost nephew, Walter Gay . Quote: When found, make a note of. Dickens describes Captain Cuttle as \\\"a gentleman in a wide suit of blue, with a hook instead of a hand attached to his right wrist; very bushy black eyebrows; and a thick stick in his left hand, covered all over (like his nose) with knobs. He wore a loose black silk handkerchief round his neck, and such a very large coarse shirt collar, that it looked like a small sail.\\\" \\n \\nD\\nDaisy, Soloman ( Barnaby Rudge ) Clerk and bell-ringer at the parish church in Chigwell. Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. Daisy tells the story of Reuben Haredale's murder. \\nDarnay, Charles ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Son of Marquis de St. Evremonde . He is tried for treason in London and is acquitted due to his resemblance to Sydney Carton . He marries Lucie Manette , daughter of Dr. Manette . He returns to Paris to help a friend imprisoned there and is arrested by the revolutionaries. His life is saved when look-alike Carton takes his place on the guillotine.\\nDartle, Rosa ( David Copperfield ) Companion to Mrs. Steerforth, jealously in love with Steerforth , who has marked her face when a child by throwing a hammer in a fit of temper. Rosa hates Emily for running away with Steerforth. Narrator David Copperfield describes Rosa as \\\"A slight short figure, dark, and not agreeable to look at, but with some appearance of good looks too... I concluded in my own mind that she was about thirty years of age, and that she wished to be married. She was a little dilapidated, like a house, with having been so long to let; yet had, as I have said, an appearance of good looks. Her thinness seemed to be the effect of some wasting fire within her, which found a vent in her gaunt eyes.\\\" \\nDatchery, Dick ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Mysterious visitor to Cloisterham whose \\\"white head was unusually large, and his shock of white hair was unusually thick and ample.\\\" Datchery keeps an eye on John Jasper after the disappearance of Edwin Drood . The true identity of Datchery is one of the most contested points of the uncompleted mystery. It is widely believed that Datchery is one of the characters in the book in disguise, most likely candidates include Neville , Bazzard , Tartar , Helena , or even Edwin Drood himself. \\nDawkins, Jack ( Oliver Twist ) Also known as the Artful Dodger , he is the most successful and interesting of Fagin's thieves. He shows Oliver the ropes of the pickpocket game and is later captured and sentenced to transportation. \\nDedlock, Lady ( Bleak House ) Wife of Sir Leicester Dedlock and, unknown to her husband, mother of Esther Summerson . When Tulkinghorn , the family lawyer, learns the secret she runs away and is found dead by Esther at the gates of the cemetery in which Esther's father, Captain Hawdon, lies buried. \\nDedlock, Sir Leicester ( Bleak House ) Husband of Lady Dedlock , owner of Chesney Wold, and guardian of the status quo. \\nVolumnia Dedlock ( Bleak House ) Poor relation of Sir Leicester Dedlock . 'Rouged and necklaced' hanger-on at Chesney Wold. \\nDefarge, Ernest ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Husband of Madame Defarge and keeper of a wine shop in Paris. He is a leader among the revolutionaries.\\n\\\"This wine-shop keeper was a bull-necked, martial-looking man of thirty, and he should have been of a hot temperament, for, although it was a bitter day, he wore no coat, but carried one slung over his shoulder. His shirt-sleeves were rolled up, too, and his brown arms were bare to the elbows. Neither did he wear anything more on his head than his own crisply-curling short dark hair. He was a dark man altogether, with good eyes and a good bold breadth between them. Good-humoured looking on the whole, but implacable-looking, too; evidently a man of a strong resolution and a set purpose; a man not desirable to be met, rushing down a narrow pass with a gulf on either side, for nothing would turn the man.\\\" \\nDefarge, Madame ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Wife of wine shop keeper, Ernest Defarge , and a leader among the revolutionaries. She harbors an intense hatred of Charles Darnay for atrocities committed against her family by the Evremonde family. Madame Defarge is killed in a struggle with Miss Pross in Paris.\\n\\\"Madame Defarge was a stout woman of about his [Ernest Defarge's] own age, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, a large hand heavily ringed, a steady face, strong features, and great composure of manner. There was a character about Madame Defarge, from which one might have predicated that she did not often make mistakes against herself in any of the reckonings over which she presided. Madame Defarge being sensitive to cold, was wrapped in fur, and had a quantity of bright shawl twined about her head, though not to the concealment of her large earrings.\\\" \\nDennis, Ned ( Barnaby Rudge ) Executioner at Tyburn, becomes involved in the Gordon Riots and is executed. \\nDeputy (Winks) ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Boy hired by Durdles to throw stones at him when he is wandering drunk at night. \\\"Sometimes the stones hit him, and sometimes they miss him, but Durdles seems indifferent to either fortune. The hideous small boy, on the contrary, whenever he hits Durdles, blows a whistle of triumph through a jagged gap, convenient for the purpose, in the front of his mouth, where half his teeth are wanting; and whenever he misses him, yelps out 'Mulled agin!' and tries to atone for the failure by taking a more correct and vicious aim.\\\" Deputy resides at the Traveler's Twopenny. \\nDick, Mr ( David Copperfield ) An eccentric lodger at Betsy Trotwood's and friend of David Copperfield . Real name: Richard Babley. \\nDilber, Mrs ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's charwoman who sells his bed linen and curtains to Old Joe when Scrooge is shown shadows of the future by the Ghost of Christmas Future . \\nDiver, Colonel ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Editor of the New York Rowdy Journal. Diver meets Mark and Martin onboard the Screwand directs them to Pawkins boarding house. \\nDodson and Fogg ( Pickwick Papers ) Sharp dealing lawyers who dupe Mrs. Bardell into bringing a breach of promise to marry suit against Samuel Pickwick . \\nDolls, Mr ( Our Mutual Friend ) Drunken father of Jenny Wren whom she refers to as her 'bad child'. \\nDombey, Fanny ( Dombey and Son ) First wife of Paul Dombey and mother of Florence and Paul Jr. at who's birth she dies. \\nDombey, Florence ( Dombey and Son ) Neglected daughter of Paul Dombey and sister of little Paul whom she nurses in his illness. She marries Walter Gay and is eventually reconciled with her father. \\nDombey, Paul ( Dombey and Son ) Powerful head of the House of Dombey. He wants a son, and when a daughter ( Florence ) is born he despises her. His second child, a son ( Paul ), is weak and sickly and dies a child. Paul's first wife dies with the birth of Paul Jr and he remarries. His second wife, Edith Granger , does not love him and eventually runs away with Carker , a manager at the firm. With Carker gone, Paul is incapable of managing the business and it fails. Paul ends his days reconciled with his daughter and doting on his grandchildren, little Paul, but especially little Florence. \\nDombey, Paul Jr. ( Dombey and Son ) The long hoped-for heir to the house of Dombey and Son. His mother dies at his birth leaving him a frail and sickly child. His father sends him to Brighton in the care of Mrs. Pipchin hoping the sea air will bolster his failing health. He then attends Dr. Blimber's school and his health continues to decline. Paul returns home to London and dies in the care of his sister, Florence , leaving the firm of Dombey and Son without an heir. Dickens modeled Paul (and also Tiny Tim ) on his sister Fanny's crippled son Henry Burnett Jr. \\nDorrit, Amy ( Little Dorrit ) Daughter of William Dorrit , born in the Marshalsea debtor's prison. She works for Mrs Clennam and befriends Arthur . Her father inherits a fortune and they leave the prison and travel abroad. After her father's death she discovers that the fortune has been lost in a banking scam. She nurses Arthur in the Marshalsea when his fortune is lost in the same banking scam. The novel ends with the marriage of Arthur and Amy at St. Georges Church, next to the prison, the same church where she was christened. \\nDorrit, Edward (Tip) ( Little Dorrit ) Ne'er do well brother of Amy Dorrit . \\nDorrit, Fanny ( Little Dorrit ) Sister of Amy . A dancer with social aspirations, Fanny marries Edmund Sparkler , Step-son of Mr. Merdle . Fanny and Sparkler lose everything in the Merdle banking scam. \\nDorrit, Frederick ( Little Dorrit ) Brother of William , Uncle of Fanny , Edward , and Amy . He plays clarionet in a small-time theatre. He is due an inheritance but the knowledge is kept from him by the intrigues of Mrs. Clennam . \\nDorrit, William ( Little Dorrit ) Father of Amy (title character), Fanny , and Edward , and long-time inmate of the Marshalsea debtor's prison. He inherits an estate and leaves the prison, traveling in style with his daughters. After his death Amy learns that his fortune has been lost in the Merdle banking scam. \\nDoyce, Daniel ( Little Dorrit ) Inventor of an unspecified mechanical wonder which he is unable to get a patent for in the Circumlocution Office. He partners with Arthur Clennam who loses the firm's money in the Merdle scandal. Doyce later sells the invention abroad and returns to liberate Arthur from the Marshalsea . \\nDrood, Edwin ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) An orphan, Edwin has been promised to Rosa Bud since early childhood. Later Edwin and Rosa rebel against the arrangement. Rosa is also wooed by Edwin's uncle John Jasper . Edwin turns up missing and his watch is found in the river. Jasper hints suspicion of Neville Landless in the disappearance when the novel ends abruptly with the death of Dickens in 1870. \\nDrummle, Bentley ( Great Expectations ) Pip's fellow student at Matthew Pocket's . He marries Estella for her money and abuses her. He is killed when kicked by a horse that he has mistreated. \\nDuff ( Oliver Twist ) Bow Street Runner (London Policemen) who, along with Blathers , investigates the attempted robbery of the Maylie home. \\nDurdles ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Drunken stonemason who engraves tombstones for Cloisterham Cathedral. John Jasper is interested in Durdles ability to tap on the tombs and discover their contents. Durdles hires Deputy to throw stones at him when he catches him wandering about drunk at night. \\\"No man is better known in Cloisterham. He is the chartered libertine of the place. Fame trumpets him a wonderful workman - which, for aught that anybody knows, he may be (as he never works); and a wonderful sot - which everybody knows he is.\\\" \\nE\\nEmily ( David Copperfield ) Mr. Peggotty's niece and David's childhood friend. She is later engaged to Ham but is lured away by the charms of David's friend Steerforth . Mr. Peggotty is heartbroken and searches for her, finally finding her when Steerforth tires of her and she leaves him. She later emigrates to Australia with her uncle, Mr. Peggotty . \\nEndell, Martha ( David Copperfield ) Martha went to school with Emily and works with her at Omer's . She is disgraced in her hometown of Yarmouth and Emily gives her money to go to London where she becomes a prostitute. She later helps Mr. Peggotty find Emily and emigrates to Australia. \\nEstella ( Great Expectations ) Adopted as a child by Miss Havisham who teaches her to break men's hearts as revenge for Compeyson having left Miss Havisham at the altar years before. Pip meets Estella at Satis House and falls in love with her but she is cruel to him. Pip goes to London and becomes a gentleman and continues to adore Estella but she warns him that she is incapable of love. She later marries Bentley Drummle who mistreats her and she leaves him. Drummle dies and Estella and Pip meet two years later and vow to remain together. Estella is the daughter of Magwitch and Jagger's maid Molly . \\nF\\nFagin ( Oliver Twist ) A crafty old Jew who runs a thieve's school near Field Lane in Saffron Hill. Oliver falls in with Fagin's band when he runs away from the undertaker, Sowerberry . When Fagin attempts to help Monks destroy Oliver's reputation he is arrested and executed at Newgate . Fagin was based on real-life Jewish fence (receiver of stolen property), Ikey Soloman (1758-1850). \\nFan ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's sister, mother of his nephew Fred . She has died before the story begins but lives again in the 'shadows' shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Past . She is based on Dickens' own sister Fanny who died of consumption at age 38. \\nFeeder, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Assistant to Dr Blimber at the school in Brighton where Paul Dombey Jr attends. Later marries Blimber's daughter Cornelia and takes over the management of the school. \\nFern, Will ( The Chimes ) Country laborer who comes to London with his niece Lillian to look for work. He is arrested for vagrancy and branded a troublemaker. He and Lillian run into Trotty Veck in the street and Trotty takes them in for the night. Will and Lillian's presence help to spark Trotty's dream in which Will becomes a desperate arsonist and Lillian a prostitute. \\nFezziwig ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge was apprenticed to 'Old Fezziwig' in his youth. Scrooge visits his old employer with the Ghost of Christmas Past and is reminded of what a kind, generous man he was. \\nFielding, May ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Former lover of Edward Plummer , she is reunited with him after nearly marrying Tackleton at the urging of her mother, Mrs Fielding. \\nFielding, Sir John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Blind half-brother of novelist Henry Fielding (Tom Jones). Magistrate at Bow Street. Dickens has him at the scene of the Gordon Riots when, in fact, Fielding was on his deathbed at the time of the riots. \\nFiler ( The Chimes ) Friend of Alderman Cute , Filer makes Trotty feel guilty over his meager meal of tripe. \\nFinching, Flora ( Little Dorrit ) Daughter of Casby and former sweetheart of Arthur Clennam who reappears 20 years later and \\\"grown to be very broad, and short of breath.\\\" Dickens modeled the character of Flora after his own early sweetheart, Maria Beadnell , who reappears later in Dickens life not quite the way he remembered her. \\nFips, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Old Martin Chuzzlewit's agent who hires Tom Pinch to put his library in order. Mr Fips was \\\"small and spare, and looked peaceable, and wore black shorts and powder.\\\" \\nFish, Mr. ( The Chimes ) Sir Joseph Bowley's confidential secretary. \\nFladdock, General ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Introduced to Martin Chuzzlewit in America by the Norris family. While condemning the class system in Europe he is so outraged to be considered a fellow passenger to America with Martin, who made the trip in steerage, that \\\"he almost laid his hand upon his sword.\\\" \\nFledgeby, \\\"Fascination\\\" ( Our Mutual Friend ) Moneylender who operates Pubsy & CO. Fledgeby employs the old Jewish man Riah as his front man. \\nFleming, Agnes ( Oliver Twist ) Mother of Oliver , whom she has out of wedlock with Edwin Leeford . Agnes is also the sister of Rose Maylie . \\nFlintwinch, Jeremiah ( Little Dorrit ) Mrs. Clennam's clerk to whom her son Arthur relinquishes his share of the family business. He intrigues with his twin brother Ephraim against Mrs Clennam. Husband of Affery . \\nFlintwinch, Ephraim ( Little Dorrit ) Twin brother of Jeremiah with whom he intrigues against Mrs Clennam . \\nFlintwinch, Affery ( Little Dorrit ) Wife of Mrs. Clennam's clerk who sees the evil doings of the house in dreams. \\nFlite, Miss ( Bleak House ) A slightly mad old woman who is a regular attendant at the court of Chancery expecting to receive a favorable judgement in a case that no one is sure has ever existed. \\nFlopson ( Great Expectations ) One of Mrs Pocket's maids (along with Millers ) who helps control the Pocket's 'tumbled up' children.\\nFolair, Augustus (Tommy) ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Pantomimist in Crummles' troupe, jealous of the attention paid to Ninetta Crummles , the 'infant phenomenon', he believes the crowds would be better entertained by his specialty: the Highland Fling. \\nFred ( A Christmas Carol ) Good hearted nephew of Ebenezer Scrooge , son of his sister Fan . \\nG\\nGabelle, Theophile ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Former servant of Charles Darnay who finds himself imprisoned by the revolutionaries in Paris. Gabelle writes to Darnay who comes to Paris to aid Gabelle. Darnay is then put in prison for his trouble. \\nGamp, Sairey ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) A midwife, nurse, and \\\"layer out\\\" of the dead, although she is much more concerned with her own creature comforts than those of her patients. Habitually in liquor, she creates the imaginary Mrs Harris whose good opinion is used to promote Mrs Gamp's character. Sairey Gamp is one of Dickens most intriguing characters. Meet Mrs Gamp . \\nGargery, Joe ( Great Expectations ) Blacksmith and friend to Pip , Joe is the husband of Pip's sister , who badly mistreats both Joe and Pip. After his wife's death Joe comes to London and nurses Pip through an illness. Later Joe marries Pip's friend Biddy .\\nGargery, Mrs Joe ( Great Expectations ) Wife of Joe Gargery and sister of Pip who cruelly mistreats them both, frequently going \\\"on the rampage\\\" and employing \\\"the tickler\\\" to beat them with. She is beaten by Orlick and later dies. \\nGarland, Abel ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Son of Mr and Mrs Garland and resembles Mr Garland in face and figure. Abel is apprenticed to the notary Mr Witherden . \\nGarland, Mr and Mrs ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kindly plump couple, parents of Abel , who befriend and hire Kit . They, along with Mr Witherden and the Single Gentleman , are instrumental in clearing Kit of false charges made by Brass . \\nGashford ( Barnaby Rudge ) Lord George Gordon's hypocritical secretary. He urges the rioters to exact revenge on Geoffrey Haredale , who had exposed his treacherous ways. He abandons Lord Gordon when the riots are suppressed by soldiers and becomes a government spy. He later poisons himself. \\nGaspard ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Parisian peasant whose child is killed when hit by the carriage of the Marquis de St Evremonde . The grief-stricken Gaspard follows the Marquis to his country home and kills him in his bed. Gaspard is hung on a 40-foot gallows over the town fountain. \\nGay, Walter ( Dombey and Son ) Sol Gill's nephew, he is employed in the house of Dombey and Son. Walter befriends Florence Dombey , her father is displeased and sends him to the firm's branch in Barbados. The ship in which he sails is lost and Sol goes to search for him. Walter returns and marries Florence . Mr. Dombey , after the failure of the house, goes to live with Walter and Florence . \\nGeneral, Mrs ( Little Dorrit ) Matron hired as chaperone to \\\"varnish\\\" Amy and Fanny Dorrit . She admonishes the girls that reciting \\\"Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism\\\" is good for the lips. She has designs on William Dorrit but he dies before he can propose. \\nGhost of Christmas Future ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge the demise of Tiny Tim and of himself, leading to Scrooge's reformation. \\nGhost of Christmas Past ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge his lonely and difficult childhood and gradual decline into the miser he will become. \\nGhost of Christmas Present ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge the joy that Christmas brings, both at the poor household of the Cratchits and at the home of his nephew Fred . The ghost also introduces Scrooge to the children, Ignorance and Want. \\nGills, Soloman ( Dombey and Son ) Uncle of Walter Gay and owner of a ship's chandler shop called \\\"The Wooden Midshipman\\\". When Walter's ship is lost at sea Solomon goes in search of him, leaving the care of the shop to his friend, Capt. Cuttle . \\nGordon, Lord George ( Barnaby Rudge ) 1750-1793 Historical figure and leader of the Gordon (anti-Catholic) Riots (1780) \\nGowan, Henry ( Little Dorrit ) Untalented artist who marries Pet Meagles against her parents wishes. Henry's snobbish mother feigns disappointment at her son's marrying beneath himself. Gowan had earlier jilted Miss Wade . \\nGradgrind, Louisa ( Hard Times ) Oldest daughter of Thomas . She marries Bounderby , whom she doesn't love. She later leaves her husband and returns to her father. \\nGradgrind, Thomas ( Hard Times ) A mill owner retired from business and father of Louisa and Tom . He runs a school and emphasizes the importance of facts and figures over fancy to his students and his children. By the end of the story he learns that facts and figures must be tempered by love and forbearance. \\nGradgrind, Tom ( Hard Times ) Son of Thomas . He is employed at Bounderby's bank from whom he later steals, the blame is set on Stephen Blackpool . He later leaves the country with the aid of Sleary and his circus troupe. \\nGraham, Mary ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Mary cares for old Martin Chuzzlewit with the knowledge that she will not profit from Martin's wealth after his death. Chuzzlewit's grandson, Martin , falls in love with Mary which displeases his grandfather who disinherits young Martin . Young Martin goes to America to seek his fortune. Finding only sickness and misery in America, Martin returns to England, is reconciled with his grandfather and marries Mary. \\nGrainger ( David Copperfield ) Friend of Steerforth's who has dinner with David at his chambers at the Adelphi. \\nGranger, Edith ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey's second wife is the widow of Colonel Granger and the daughter of Mrs Skewton. She marries Dombey but does not love him. She later elopes with Carker , a manager at Dombey's firm, to punish her husband.\\nGrayper, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Neighbors of Clara Copperfield in Blunderstone. \\nGrewgious ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Guardian of Rosa Bud . He is upset at John Jasper's advances to Rosa and finds her lodging in London at an apartment owned by Mrs Billickin . He later investigates the disappearance of Edwin Drood and is suspicious of Jasper . Described as \\\"an angular man with no conversational powers.\\\" \\nGride, Arthur ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Old moneylender who develops a scheme, along with fellow usurer, Ralph Nickleby , to get Walter Bray's consent to give his daughter, Madeline's , hand for the forgiveness of debts to Gride and Ralph. Gride's plan is undone when Bray dies on the morning of the wedding and his old housekeeper, Peg Sliderskew , jealous of the young wife, steals documents that reveal his scheme. Gride is murdered by burglars before he can be prosecuted. \\nGridley ( Bleak House ) Known as the 'Man from Shropshire' and another casualty of Chancery. \\nGrimwig, Mr. ( Oliver Twist ) Cantankerous friend of Mr. Brownlow . Quote: \\\"I'll eat my head!\\\" \\nGrueby, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Loyal servant of Lord George Gordon who tries to isolate Gordon from the rioters when the protest turns to violence. \\nGulpidge, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Guests at a dinner party given by the Waterbrooks . \\nMrs. Gummidge ( David Copperfield ) Widow of Mr. Peggotty's former partner, who had died very poor. She lives with Mr. Peggotty and later emigrates to Australia with him. Quote: 'a lone lorn creetur' and everythink went contrary with her'. \\nWilliam Guppy ( Bleak House ) Clerk for Kenge and Carboy. Proposes marriage to Esther Summerson which she refuses. Guppy is involved in the investigation of Lady Dedlock's secret. \\nH\\nHaggage, Dr ( Little Dorrit ) Doctor at the Marshalsea prison who delivers Amy Dorrit , described as 'amazingly shabby, in a torn and darned rough-weather sea-jacket, out at elbows and eminently short of buttons (he had been in his time the experienced surgeon carried by a passenger ship), the dirtiest white trousers conceivable by mortal man, carpet slippers, and no visible linen'. \\nHandford, Julius ( Our Mutual Friend ) Alias taken by John Harmon in order to investigate his own supposed drowning. \\nHaredale, Emma ( Barnaby Rudge ) Daughter of the murdered Reuben and niece of Geoffrey . She eventually marries Edward Chester \\nHaredale, Geoffrey ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of the murdered Reuben and uncle of Emma . Suspected of being responsible for the murder of his brother, he spends his life in pursuit of the real killer. A Catholic, his house is burned in the Gordon Riots. He fights a duel with Sir John Chester , kills him, and leaves the country. \\nHaredale, Reuben ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of Geoffrey , father of Emma . Murdered before the story begins. \\nHarmon, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Son of a wealthy dust contractor and heir to his fortune if he agrees to marry Bella Wilfer . He is away from England when his father dies and on the way home he is supposed drowned in a case of mistaken identity. With his supposed death the dust fortune goes to Boffin . John gets himself hired into the Boffin home as secretary John Rokesmith . Here he meets Bella and, with the help of the Boffins , wins her love as Rokesmith , and marries her. He later reveals his true identity and regains his fortune. \\nHarris, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Imaginary friend of Sairey Gamp who uses Mrs Harris's invented quotes to establish Mrs Gamp's good reputation. \\nHarthouse, James ( Hard Times ) A Parliamentary candidate visiting Coketown, he befriends Tom Gradgrind in an attempt to seduce his sister, Louisa , who is in an unhappy marriage to Bounderby . As a result of the attempted seduction Louisa runs home to her father and refuses to return to Bounderby and is later disowned by him. \\nHavisham, Miss ( Great Expectations ) A very rich and grim old woman who lives in seclusion at Satis House. She is the guardian of Estella whom she teaches to break men's hearts to avenge her own being left at the altar by Compeyson years before. She continues to wear her wedding dress and her room contains the yellowing remnants of the wedding day including the mouldy wedding cake. Pip goes to Miss Havisham's to play and meets Estella . Pip believes Miss Havisham is his secret benefactor as he goes to London and becomes a gentleman, finding out later that the convict Magwitch has supplied his \\\"Expectations\\\". Miss Havisham dies when her house burns down and leaves her fortune to Estella . \\nHavisham, Arthur ( Great Expectations ) Miss Havisham's drunken brother who plots with Compeyson to gain his sister's fortune.\\nHawk, Sir Mulberry ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Business associate of Ralph Nickleby . Makes advances to Kate Nickleby and is thrashed by Nicholas . When his revenge is opposed by Lord Verisopht they duel and Verisopht is killed. Hawk flees to France. \\nHeadstone, Bradley ( Our Mutual Friend ) A school teacher and master of the boys department of a school on the borders of Kent and Surrey. Charlie Hexam becomes Headstone's pupil and Bradley becomes obsessed with Charley's sister Lizzie . Lizzie wants nothing to do with him and he becomes jealous of Eugene Wrayburn who also has eyes for Lizzie . He attempts to murder Wrayburn and believes he has been successful. Rogue Riderhood discovers the supposed murder and attempts to blackmail Headstone. In a later confrontation, Riderhood and Headstone are both drowned. \\nHeathfield, Alfred ( The Battle of Life ) Ward of Dr. Jeddler who loves the doctor's youngest daughter, Marion . Marion runs away that her sister, Grace , may marry Alfred. Alfred becomes a doctor for the poor. \\nHeep, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Widowed mother of Uriah Heep , \\\"dead image of Uriah, only short.\\\" She is as \\\"umble\\\" as her son, whom she dotes on. \\nHeep, Uriah ( David Copperfield ) A hypocritical clerk of Mr. Wickfield's who is continually citing his humbleness. He deviously plots to ruin Wickfield but is later undone by Mr. Micawber . On their first meeting, David describes him as \\\"a red-haired person - a youth of fifteen, as I take it now, but looking much older - whose hair was cropped as close as the closest stubble; who had hardly any eyebrows, and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep. He was high-shouldered and bony; dressed in decent black, with a white wisp of a neckcloth; buttoned up to the throat; and had a long, lank, skeleton hand, which particularly attracted my attention, as he stood at the pony's head, rubbing his chin with it, and looking up at us in the chaise. He had a way of writhing when he wanted to express enthusiasm, which was very ugly\\\" Uriah Heep, wonderfully hideous, is one of Dickens' greatest triumphs in character creation. His description of Heep's writhing and scheming, and his cold, clammy nature, makes one's skin crawl. \\nHexam, Charlie ( Our Mutual Friend ) Son of Gaffer and brother to Lizzie . Charlie is educated by Bradley Headstone and supports Headstone's advances toward his sister. When Lizzie refuses to marry Headstone Charlie rejects her. \\nHexam, Gaffer ( Our Mutual Friend ) Waterman, father of Lizzie and Charlie , who plies the Thames looking for dead bodies. He finds a body thought to be John Harmon , the central character in the story. \\nHexam, Lizzie ( Our Mutual Friend ) Daughter of waterman Gaffer Hexam and sister of Charlie . She is opposed to her father's business of combing the Thames looking for drowned bodies but is true to him. When her father drowns she goes to live with Jenny Wren . Lizzie rejects the advances of schoolmaster Bradley Headstone and opposes the attention of Eugene Wrayburn , although she loves him, because they come from different classes of society. She runs away from London to a mill up the river. Wrayburn succeeds in finding her and is followed by Headstone who attempts to murder Wrayburn . Lizzie rescues Wrayburn and later marries him. \\nHigden, Betty ( Our Mutual Friend ) Old woman who operates a 'minding school', for orphans and other children. She is adamant about earning her keep and staying away from the workhouse. When an orphan in her keep dies she hits the road and earns a living doing needlework. She dies in the arms of Lizzie Hexam who promises not to take her to the workhouse. Dickens uses the character to illustrate the horror many of the truly needy had of the workhouse system. \\nHominy, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Conceited American literary lady Martin is forced to accompany on the first leg of the trip to Eden. \\nHoneythunder, Luke ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Loud, overbearing philanthropist and guardian of Neville and Helena Landless .\\nHortense ( Bleak House ) Lady Dedlock's French maid. She is dismissed in favor of Rosa and aids lawyer Tulkinghorn in discovering Lady Dedlock's secret. When Tulkinghorn spurns her she murders him. Hortense is based on Mrs Manning , a murderer whose execution Dickens witnessed in 1849. \\nHubbles, Mr and Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Friends of the Gargerys, Mr Hubble is the village wheelwright. \\nHugh ( Barnaby Rudge ) Hostler at the Maypole. Joins the rioters in London and is later hanged. Revealed to be the son of Sir John Chester . \\nI\\nJ\\nJacques ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Name taken by Ernest Defarge and his fellow revolutionaries. From the word jacquerie meaning a peasant uprising. \\nJaggers ( Great Expectations ) Lawyer who serves Miss Havisham and Magwitch . It is through Jaggers that Pip receives the benefits of the great expectations that he assumes are from Miss Havisham . Pip later discovers the convict Magwitch has been his benefactor. \\nJanet ( David Copperfield ) Betsy Trotwood's maid. \\\"a pretty blooming girl of about nineteen or twenty.\\\" She later marries a tavern keeper. \\nMrs Jarley ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Proprietor of a traveling waxwork who employs Nell and her grandfather . When the grandfather schemes to steal from Mrs Jarley, in order to support a gambling habit, Nell persuades him that they should take to the road again. \\nJarndyce, John ( Bleak House ) Owner of Bleak House and party in the Chancery suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. He adopts Esther Summerson who becomes close friends with John's cousins, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone . John hates the lawsuit which has gone on for so long with no end in sight. Richard , however, becomes consumed with the case hoping it will make him his fortune. This obsession causes Carstone and Jarndyce to suffer a falling out. Jarndyce falls in love with Esther and proposes marriage, she accepts out of respect for him. Jarndyce later finds that Esther is in love with Woodcourt and releases her from their engagement.\\nJasper, John ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Uncle of Edwin Drood who has an opium habit. He cares for his nephew but harbors secret feelings for Edwin's fiancee Rosa Bud . Edwin disappears and the story ends prematurely with Dickens death but many believe that it was Jasper who killed Edwin Drood . Dickens describes Jasper as \\\"a dark man of some six-and-twenty, with thick, lustrous, well-arranged black hair and whiskers. He looks older than he is, as dark men often do. His voice is deep and good, his face and figure are good, his manner is a little sombre. His room is a little sombre, and may have had its influence in forming his manner.\\\" \\nJeddler, Dr. Anthony ( The Battle of Life ) Country doctor whose view of life is altered by the sacrifices made by his youngest daughter, Marion , for her sister, Grace . \\nJeddler, Grace ( The Battle of Life ) Older daughter of Dr. Jeddler . She is the recipient of the sacrifice of her younger sister Marion , who runs away that Grace may marry her beau Alfred Heathfield . \\nJeddler, Marion ( The Battle of Life ) Younger daughter of Dr. Jeddler . She runs away to live with her Aunt Martha that her sister Grace may marry Alfred Heathfield . \\nJeddler, Martha ( The Battle of Life ) Maiden sister of Dr. Jeddler . The doctor's younger daughter, Marion , runs away and secretly lives with Martha. \\nJellyby ( Bleak House ) Mrs. Jellyby is involved in many causes and charities but neglects her large family. Her eldest daughter, Caddy , marries Prince Turveydrop , the dance instructor. Dickens modeled Mrs Jellyby on Caroline Chisholm. \\nJellyby, Caroline (Caddy) ( Bleak House ) Neglected daughter of Mrs Jellyby and her personal secretary (\\\"I'm pen and ink to ma\\\"). Caddy leaves home and marries Prince Turveydrop . \\nJenny ( Bleak House ) Brickmaker's wife, befriended by Esther Summerson after Jenny's child dies. Later exchanges coats with Lady Dedlock , throwing Bucket off in his pursuit of Lady Dedlock as she flees following the revealing of her secret. \\nJingle, Alfred ( Pickwick Papers ) A wandering rascal who befriends Mr. Pickwick and accompanies the group to the Wardle home at Dingley Dell. He entices Miss Rachel to elope with him and is run down and bought off by Rachel's brother. Pickwick later finds a penitent Jingle in the Fleet Prison, pays his debt, and sends him and his servant, Job Trotter , off to Demerara, an area of Guyana, to turn over a new leaf. \\nJiniwin, Mrs ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Mother of Betsy Quilp and mother-in-law to Daniel Quilp . Mrs Jiniwin makes feigned attempts to defy Quilp but is terrified of him. \\nJinkins, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Oldest boarder at Todger's Boarding House. A fish-salesman and book-keeper aged forty. \\nJo ( Bleak House ) The crossing sweeper. When Jo shows Lady Dedlock the haunts of Captain Hawdon, lawyer Tulkinghorn has Jo kept moving from place to place. He befriends Esther Summerson at Bleak House and communicates smallpox to Charlie, and then Esther . Jo later dies at the shooting gallery of George Rouncewell. \\nJoe (The Fat Boy) ( Pickwick Papers ) Servant of Mr. Wardle , has an amazing ability to fall asleep anytime, unless he's eating.\\n \\nJobling, Dr. ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Medical officer for the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. Dr Jobling takes the company's money but distances himself from its Board. \\nJobling, Tony (Weevle) ( Bleak House ) Friend of Guppy who takes Nemo's room at Krook's after Nemo's death. Jobling and Guppy discover the spectacular death of Krook and are temporary celebrities, drinking for free at the Sol's Arms. \\nJoe, Old ( A Christmas Carol ) Fence who buys Scrooge's bed linen from Mrs Dilber when Scrooge is shown the future by the Ghost of Christmas Future . \\nJorkins ( David Copperfield ) Partner to Mr Spenlow who plays the heavy in the business. \\\"a mild man of a heavy temperament, whose place in the business was to keep himself in the background, and be constantly exhibited by name as the most obdurate and ruthless of men.\\\" \\nJupe, Sissy ( Hard Times ) Daughter of Signor Jupe, a clown in Sleary's circus, who is deserted by her father and taken in by Gradgrind where she befriends Louisa . \\nK\\nKedgick, Captain ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlord of the National Hotel where Mark and Martin stay on their way to and from Eden.\\nKenge ( Bleak House ) Solicitor for John Jarndyce in the firm Kenge and Carboy. Known as 'Conversation Kenge'. \\nKenwigs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Neighbors of Newman Noggs . Nicholas tutors their three daughters. Mrs Kenwigs' uncle, Mr Lillyvick , is a well-to-do collector of water rates and the family hopes to eventually profit from this relation. Their expectations are dashed when Lillyvick marries actress Henrietta Petowker and are revived when she runs away with a retired navy captain. \\nKidgerbury, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Maid (at intervals) to David and Dora Copperfield, and the \\\"oldest inhabitant of Kentish Town.\\\" \\nKrook ( Bleak House ) Drunken and illiterate proprietor of a rag and bottle shop. Known as the 'Lord Chancellor', Krook collects court documents. A will, instrumental in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case, is found among his holdings by Mr Smallweed who inherits Krook's possessions after his demise by spontaneous combustion. Krook is Mrs Smallweed's brother. \\nL\\nMiss La Creevy ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Miniature painter in the Strand. The Nickleby's lease lodging from her briefly and she becomes their faithful friend. In the end she marries the Cheeryble Brothers old clerk, Tim Linkinwater . \\nLammle, Alfred and Sophronia ( Our Mutual Friend ) Society couple who marry, each thinking that the other has money only to find after marriage that both are broke. They are frustrated in a scheme to worm their way into the Boffin fortune and leave England to escape debts. \\nLandless, Helena ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Twin sister of Neville who, as the story ends prematurely, is falling in love with Canon Chrisparkle . \\nLandless, Neville ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Twin brother of Helena . He and his sister are brought to Cloisterham by their guardian, Mr. Honeythunder . Neville is attracted to Rosa Bud and, being set up by Jasper , quarrels with Edwin Drood . After Drood's disappearance Jasper cast blame on Neville who has no alibi and flees to London with his sister. \\nLangdale ( Barnaby Rudge ) Kindly vintner and distiller in Holborn based on an historical figure. The Catholic Langdale shelters Geoffrey Haredale from the rioters. His home and warehouse are burned in the riots, his stores of spirits are consumed by the mob. \\nLarkins, Miss ( David Copperfield ) Early love of David Copperfield , \\\"a tall, dark, black-eyed, fine figure of a woman.\\\" She later marries an officer in the Army. \\nLeeford, Edward aka Monks ( Oliver Twist ) Villainous son of Edwin and half-brother of Oliver Twist who plots with Fagin to corrupt Oliver , in which case Leeford will inherit all of their father's property. After the plan is foiled Leeford is forced to emigrate to America where he dies in prison. \\nLeeford, Edwin ( Oliver Twist ) Father of Oliver, whom he has fathered out of wedlock with Agnes Fleming . Also father of Edward (Monks) from a previous marriage. Edwin has died before the story begins. \\nLenville, Thomas ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Member of Crummles' traveling stage troupe: \\\"a dark-complexioned man, inclining indeed to sallow, with long thick black hair, and very evident inclinations (although he was close shaved) of a stiff beard, and whiskers of the same deep shade. His age did not appear to exceed thirty, though many at first sight would have considered him much older, as his face was long, and very pale, from the constant application of stage paint.\\\" \\nLewsome ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Medical man and old schoolmate of John Westlock . Westlock hires Mrs Gamp to nurse Lewsome through a serious illness. Lewsome has provided poison to Jonas Chuzzlewit who intends using it to kill his father, Anthony . His later confession helps lead to Jonas' arrest. \\nLightwood, Mortimer ( Our Mutual Friend ) A lawyer too lazy to take on much work and friend of Eugene Wrayburn . His only client is the Boffins , which puts him in the middle of much of the story. \\nLillian ( The Chimes ) Orphaned nine-year-old niece of Will Fern . \\nLillyvick, Mr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Collector of water rates and uncle of Mrs Kenwigs . He secretly marries Henrietta Petowker in Portsmouth, much to the dismay of the Kenwigs, who had hoped to inherit his money. The Kenwigs expectations are renewed when Henrietta runs off with a half-pay (retired) captain. \\nLinkinwater, Tim ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Faithful clerk to the Cheeryble Brothers and friend of the Nicklebys. He marries Miss La Creevy. \\nLittimer ( David Copperfield ) Manservant to Steerforth , involved in the concealment of the elopement of Steerforth and Emily . He is later guilty of embezzlement and is captured with the help of Miss Mowcher . David says of him \\\"I believe there never existed in his station a more respectable-looking man. He was taciturn, soft-footed, very quiet in his manner, deferential, observant, always at hand when wanted, and never near when not wanted; but his great claim to consideration was his respectability.\\\" \\nLongford, Edmund ( The Haunted Man ) Ailing student at the university where Redlaw teaches chemistry. He is adversely effected by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows and is later restored by his old nurse, Milly Swidger . \\nLorry, Jarvis ( A Tale of Two Cities ) An agent for Tellson's bank, Mr. Lorry is instrumental in bringing Dr. Manette , who is imprisoned in Paris, back to England. He returns to Paris to look after the bank's interest after the Revolution starts and while there helps Lucie and Charles Darnay , bringing them back to England after Sydney Carton sacrifices his life to save Darnay .\\nDickens decribes Mr. Lorry: \\\"Very orderly and methodical he looked, with a hand on each knee, and a loud watch ticking a sonorous sermon under his flapped waist-coat, as though it pitted its gravity and longevity against the levity and evanescence of the brisk fire. He had a good leg, and was a little vain of it, for his brown stockings fitted sleek and close, and were of a fine texture; his shoes and buckles, too, though plain, were trim. He wore an odd little sleek crisp flaxen wig, setting very close to his head: which wig, it is to be presumed, was made of hair, but which looked far more as though it were spun from filaments of silk or glass. His linen, though not of a fineness in accordance with his stockings, was as white as the tops of the waves that broke upon the neighbouring beach, or the specks of sail that glinted in the sunlight far at sea. A face habitually suppressed and quieted, was still lighted up under the quaint wig by a pair of moist bright eyes that it must have cost their owner, in years gone by, some pains to drill to the composed and reserved expression of Tellson's Bank. He had a healthy colour in his cheeks, and his face, though lined, bore few traces of anxiety. But, perhaps the confidential bachelor clerks in Tellson's Bank were principally occupied with the cares of other people; and perhaps second-hand cares, like second-hand clothes, come easily off and on.\\\"\\nLosberne, Dr. ( Oliver Twist ) Impetuous doctor who treats Oliver and Rose in illness. A friend of the Maylie family. \\nLowten ( Pickwick Papers ) Clerk to the solicitor Perker . Spends evenings with other law clerks at the Magpie and Stump. \\nLupin, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlady of the Blue Dragon Inn. Eventually marries Mark Tapley . \\nM\\nMacStinger, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Captain Cuttle's widowed landlady at Brig Place. The Captain is terrified of her and is constantly trying to avoid her. She eventually coerces the Captain's friend, Jack Bunsby , into marriage. \\nMaggy ( Little Dorrit ) Mentally retarded granddaughter of Mrs Bangham and faithful friend of Amy Dorrit . \\\"She was about eight-and-twenty, with large bones , large features, large feet and hands, large eyes and no hair.\\\" \\nMagnus, Peter ( Pickwick Papers ) Samuel Pickwick's fellow traveler to Ipswich where Magnus plans to propose to Miss Witherfield , the lady in yellow curl papers . \\nMagwitch, Abel ( Great Expectations ) A convict whom Pip helps in the marshes after his escape from the prison ship. He is recaptured and transported to Australia where he gains a fortune which he secretly uses to increase Pip's \\\"expectations\\\". He secretly returns to England as Provis and confronts Pip with the secret source of his good fortune. Magwitch is recaptured and dies before he can be executed. Magwitch is also the father of Estella . \\nMaldon, Jack ( David Copperfield ) Cousin of Annie Strong with whom he is suspected of having an affair. \\nManette, Dr. Alexandre ( A Tale of Two Cities ) A prisoner in the Bastille in Paris for eighteen years. He is released and accompanies his daughter, Lucie , and Jarvis Lorry to England. He returns to Paris after the outbreak of the revolution and, as a former prisoner, is able to secure Darnay's release from the revolutionaries. However, a statement written during Manette's long incarceration in the Bastille is later discovered and incriminates Darnay's family. Darnay is again imprisoned and later escapes when Sydney Carton takes his place. \\nManette, Lucie ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Daughter of Dr. Manette . She is taken to Paris by Jarvis Lorry when her father is released from prison. She marries Charles Darnay but is adored from afar by Sydney Carton , who feels unworthy of her. When Darnay is imprisoned in Paris by the revolutionaries Carton helps him escape, taking Darnay's place due to their resemblance. As Darnay and Lucie escape to England, Carton makes the supreme sacrifice. \\nMann, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Matron of a workhouse farm where Oliver is raised to age 9. \\nMantalini, Madame ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Dressmaker in Cavandish Square, she hires Kate Nickleby as a favor to her uncle Ralph , to whom she owes money. Her shiftless husband, Alfred , borrows heavily from Ralph and eventually bankrupts his wife's business.\\nMantalini, Alfred ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Husband of Madame Mantalini . A shiftless idler who lives by flattering his older wife until he has gone through all of her money. Ends up working for a laundress who has bailed him out of debtor's prison. \\nThe Marchioness ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Dick Swiveller's nickname for the little servant kept locked below stairs by the Brasses . Swiveller later marries her. \\nMarkleham, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Mother of Annie Strong . Also known as The Old Soldier. \\nMarkham ( David Copperfield ) Friend of Steerforth's who has dinner with David at his chambers at the Adelphi. \\nMarley, Jacob ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's former partner, who died seven Christmas Eves ago. Jacob, in life, was a penny-pinching miser like Scrooge and is suffering for it in the afterlife. His ghost comes to haunt Scrooge , hoping to change Scrooge's life and therefore avoid Marley's fate. \\nMarton, Mr ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kindly schoolmaster who befriends Nell and her grandfather . He meets up with them again at the end of their journey and obtains a situation for them in the village church where he has been appointed clerk. \\nMary ( Pickwick Papers ) Pretty housemaid of Nupkins, mayor of Ipswich, whom Samuel Weller pursues throughout the novel. Later Arabella Allen's maid and finally hired as housemaid by Samuel Pickwick . She marries Weller at the end of the novel. \\nMary Anne ( David Copperfield ) Incompetent maid to David and Dora Copperfield. \\nMaylie, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Mother of Harry and the adopted mother of Rose . \\nMaylie, Harry ( Oliver Twist ) Son of Mrs. Maylie , he marries Rose . \\nMaylie, Rose ( Oliver Twist ) A poor girl adopted by Mrs. Maylie , she and Mr. Brownlow endeavor to help Oliver through Nancy . When Nancy's conversation with Rose on London Bridge is overheard by Claypole, Nancy is murdered by Sikes . She later marries Harry . \\nM'Choakumchild ( Hard Times ) Schoolmaster in Gradgrind's school where fancy and imagination are discouraged in favor of hard facts. \\nMeagles, Mr. and Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Kindhearted retired banker Mr. Meagles, his wife and daughter, Pet, befriend Arthur Clennam , Amy Dorrit , and Daniel Doyce . The Meagles adopt Tattycoram from the Foundling Hospital. \\nMeg (Margaret) ( The Chimes ) Daughter of poor ticket porter Trotty Veck . Marries Richard on New Year's Day. \\nMell, Charles ( David Copperfield ) Assistant schoolmaster at Salem House Academy attended by David Copperfield . David befriends Mell and finds that Mell's mother lives in an almshouse which he innocently tells Steerforth . Steerforth uses this information to discredit Mell and have him dismissed. Mell later emigrates to Australia and becomes headmaster at Colonial Salem House Grammar School in Port Middlebay. \\nMerdle, Mr. and Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Mr. Merdle is an unscrupulous banker. Investing in his enterprises ruins the Dorrits , Arthur Clennam , and others. Merdle commits suicide when his fraud is uncovered. Mrs. Merdle is the mother of Edmund Sparkler by a previous marriage. \\nMicawber, Wilkins ( David Copperfield ) Enters the story when David takes lodging at his home. Continually in debt and looking for \\\"something to turn up\\\" he ends up in debtor's prison. On his release he rambles through the story in various occupations eventually employed at Mr. Wickfield's office where he exposes the dastardly deeds of Uriah Heep . In gratitude for this his debts are paid and he emigrates to Australia, where he prospers. David describes him as \\\"a stoutish, middle-aged person, in a brown surtout and black tights and shoes, with no more hair upon his head (which was a large one, and very shining) than there is upon an egg, and with a very extensive face. His clothes were shabby, but he had an imposing shirt-collar on. He carried a jaunty sort of a stick, with a large pair of rusty tassels to it; and a quizzing-glass hung outside his coat, - for ornament, I afterwards found, as he very seldom looked through it, and couldn't see anything when he did.\\\" The character is drawn heavily on Dickens' father .\\nMicawber, Emma ( David Copperfield ) Long suffering wife of Mr. Micawber whom she swears she will never leave despite his financial difficulties. David describes her as \\\"a thin and faded lady, not at all young, with a baby at her breast. This baby was one of twins; and I may remark here that I hardly ever, in all my experience of the family, saw both the twins detached from Mrs. Micawber at the same time. One of them was always taking refreshment.\\\" \\nMiggs ( Barnaby Rudge ) Maid in the Varden household. Comically allies with Martha Varden against her husband. Miggs aids the rioters when they attempt to capture Gabriel . She is discharged after the riots and becomes a jailor in a woman's prison. \\nMillers ( Great Expectations ) One of Mrs Pocket's maids (along with Flopson ) who helps control the Pocket's 'tumbled up' children.\\nMilvey, Reverend Frank ( Our Mutual Friend ) Reverend who assists the Boffins in the adoption of Johnny. Reverend Milvey also conducts the funeral of Betty Higden and the marriage of Eugene Wrayburn and Lizzie Hexam . Rev. Frank's wife is Margaretta.\\nMills, Julia ( David Copperfield ) Friend and confidant of Dora Spenlow and David's go-between during his courtship with Dora. She later goes to live in India. \\nMills, Mr. ( David Copperfield ) Father of Julia . When David visits Dora at the Mills' home he must wait for Mr. Mills to go out, which he takes his good time doing, much to David's annoyance. \\nMolly ( Great Expectations ) Jagger's maid whom he had successfully defended in a murder trial. Jaggers gives her little girl ( Estella ) to Miss Havisham to raise. \\nMorfin, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Assistant manager at Dombey and Son. Morfin aids John Carker when he overhears John's mistreatment at the hands of his brother James . Morfin later marries Harriet Carker . \\nMould ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Undertaker who arranges the funeral of Anthony Chuzzlewit and recommends Mrs Gamp . Mr Mould has \\\"a face in which a queer attempt at melancholy was at odds with a smirk of satisfaction.\\\" \\nMiss Mowcher ( David Copperfield ) Dwarf hairdresser and manicurist of Steerforth . David , expecting to meet Miss Mowcher for the first time reports: \\\"I looked at the doorway and saw nothing. I was still looking at the doorway, thinking that Miss Mowcher was a long while making her appearance, when, to my infinite astonishment, there came waddling round a sofa which stood between me and it, a pursy dwarf, of about forty or forty-five, with a very large head and face, a pair of roguish grey eyes, and such extremely little arms, that, to enable herself to lay a finger archly against her snub nose, as she ogled Steerforth, she was obliged to meet the finger half-way, and lay her nose against it. Her chin, which was what is called a double chin, was so fat that it entirely swallowed up the strings of her bonnet, bow and all.\\\" See sidebar on Copperfield page . \\nMr. F's Aunt ( Little Dorrit ) Companion to Flora Finching (Aunt to her late husband) and one of the funniest characters in Dickens. Dickens describes her as \\\"an amazing little old woman, with a face like a staring wooden doll too cheap for expression, and a stiff yellow wig perched unevenly on the top of her head, as if the child who owned the doll had driven a tack through it anywhere, so that it only got fastened on.\\\" She has an amazing capacity for uttering totally non-sensible barbs which \\\"being totally uncalled for by anything said by anybody, and traceable to no association of ideas, confounded and terrified the mind.\\\"\\nMurdstone, Edward ( David Copperfield ) Second husband of Clara Copperfield whom David dislikes. He is a stern disciplinarian and sends David off to Salem House School and later consigns him to the warehouse of Murdstone and Grinby. \\nMurdstone, Jane ( David Copperfield ) Sister of Edward Murdstone who moves in with David and his mother after her marriage to Murdstone . David describes her as \\\"a gloomy-looking lady she was; dark, like her brother, whom she greatly resembled in face and voice; and with very heavy eyebrows, nearly meeting over her large nose. She kept the purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite. I had never, at that time, seen such a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was.\\\" She surfaces again in the novel as the \\\"confidential friend\\\" of Dora Spenlow . \\nN\\nNadgett ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Private investigator hired by Tigg Montigue to provide information on the customers of the fraudulent life assurance company. Nadgett exposes Jonas Chuzzlewit as Montigue's murderer. Nadgett is also landlord of Tom and Ruth Pinch in Islington. \\nNancy ( Oliver Twist ) Prostitute and member of Fagin's band of thieves. Befriends Oliver and is eventually murdered by Sikes trying to help Oliver escape Fagin's clutches. \\nNative, The ( Dombey and Son ) Indian servant of Major Joe Bagstock . \\nNeckett ( Bleak House ) Sheriff's officer who arrests debtors and delivers them to Coavin's sponging house (temporary debtor's prison) thus Skimpole gives Neckett the nickname \\\"Coavinses\\\". Neckett dies leaving three orphans: Charlotte (Charley) , Emma, and Tom. Charley becomes Esther Summerson's maid. \\nCharlotte (Charley) Neckett ( Bleak House ) Daughter of sheriff's officer Neckett . When her father dies Charley cares for her two younger siblings: Emma and Tom. Charley becomes Esther Summerson's maid, nursing Esther through smallpox. She later marries a miller. \\nNell's Grandfather ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Owner of the Old Curiosity Shop. He has a secret gambling habit, hoping to make a fortune for his granddaughter. He borrows money to gamble from Quilp , when he cannot pay he takes Nell and escapes London to the country. When Nell dies he is heartbroken and dies soon after. \\nNemo ( Bleak House ) Alias of Capt. Hawdon (Nemo is Latin for nobody). Nemo is doing some law copying for Snagsby and is a boarder in Krook's rag and bottle shop when he dies of an opium overdose. He is later found to be the former lover of Lady Dedlock and the father of Esther Summerson . \\nNewcome, Clemency ( The Battle of Life ) Lovable, awkward, and clumsy servant of Dr. Jeddler . She later marries Benjamin Britain and together they run the comfortable Nutmeg-Grater and Thimble Inn. \\nMrs. Nickleby ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Mother of Nicholas and Kate . Absent-minded and self-absorbed, she continues to \\\"put on airs\\\" even in the reduced situation of her family after the financial ruin and death of her husband. The character is heavily drawn from Dickens' mother. \\nNickleby, Kate ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Sister of Nicholas . She is placed by her uncle, Ralph Nickleby , with Madame Mantalini . Kate becomes the object of the undesirable attentions of some of the evil-minded clients of her uncle, who is using her to his advantage. She is rescued by Nicholas with the help of Newman Noggs . Later she marries Frank Cheeryble . \\nNickleby, Nicholas ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Brother to Kate and nephew of Ralph . Hoping to provide support for his mother and sister after the death of his father, he turns to his uncle Ralph for assistance. Ralph wants nothing to do with his late brother's family and feigns to help Nicholas by securing a position as assistant master at the Dotheboys Hall school, run by unscrupulous Wackford Squeers . Nicholas soon becomes disgusted with Squeer's treatment of his pupils and leaves, giving Squeers a sound thrashing and liberating Smike , whom Squeers has mistreated for years. Nicholas and Smike move in with Newman Noggs in London and then travel to Portsmouth where they take up acting in Crummles stage company. On hearing of the mistreatment of his sister at the hands of his uncle, Nicholas, with Smike , returns to London. Nicholas secures employment with the philanthropic Cheeryble brothers and later marries Madeline Bray whom he has helped rescue from the evil designs of Ralph and Arthur Gride .\\nNicholas seems to have a bit more pluck than many of Dickens young heroes and in the preface to the 1848 Cheap Edition ofNicholas Nickleby Dickens writes \\\"If Nicholas be not always found to be blameless or agreeable, he is not always intended to appear so. He is a young man of an impetuous temper and of little or no experience; and I saw no reason why such a hero should be lifted out of nature.\\\" \\nNickleby, Ralph ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Uncle to Nicholas and Kate (and later we find, father of Smike ). A rich and miserly moneylender who feigns to help his late brother's family but, in reality, tries to humiliate Nicholas and use Kate to his own advantage. His evil plans and schemes prove his ultimate undoing and he eventually hangs himself. \\nNipper, Susan ( Dombey and Son ) Florence Dombey's maid who is discharged when she confronts Paul Dombey about his treatment of Florence. She later marries Toots . Dickens describes Susan as \\\"a short, brown womanly girl, with a little snub nose, and black eyes like jet beads.\\\" \\nNoggs, Newman ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Once a well-to-do gentleman but he squanders his money and is reduced to serving Ralph Nickleby as clerk. He befriends Nicholas and eventually helps him defeat the designs of Ralph . \\nNorris family ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) New York friends of Mr Bevan whom he introduces to Martin . Their initial warm welcome cools when they discover he made the trip to America in steerage. \\nNubbles, Kit ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kit is shop boy at the Curiosity Shop owned by Nell's grandfather and is devoted to Nell . Kit lives at home with his widowed mother, his brother Jacob, and baby brother. Kit is later hired by the Garlands and is wrongly charged with theft by Brass . At the end of the novel we find Kit has married Barbara . \\nO\\nOmer, Mr ( David Copperfield ) Undertaker in Yarmouth who arranges the funeral of Clara Copperfield . \\\"a fat, short-winded, merry-looking, little old man in black, with rusty little bunches of ribbons at the knees of his breeches, black stockings, and a broad-brimmer hat\\\" His daughter Minnie marries the shop foreman, Joram, who later inherits the business. Emily and Martha Endell work for Mr. Omer. \\nOrlick, Dolge ( Great Expectations ) Joe Gargary's journeyman blacksmith, he quarrels with Mrs. Joe and later attacks her, leaving her with injuries of which she later dies. He falls in with Compeyson and tries to murder Pip . \\nP\\nPancks ( Little Dorrit ) Clerk and rent collector for Mr. Casby. He assists in finding William Dorrit's fortune. Dickens employs the metaphor of Pancks as a tugboat guiding Casby's \\\"ship.\\\" Pancks moves tugboat style \\\"with a puff and a snort.\\\" \\nParkes, Phil ( Barnaby Rudge ) Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. \\nPawkins, Major and Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Proprietors of a New York boarding house where Martin and Mark stay. The Major is typical of the scoundrels they meet in America. \\nPecksniff, Charity (Cherry) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Seth Pecksniff's older daughter and sister of Mercy . Haughty and ill-tempered, without her younger sister's playful nature. She is infuriated when passed over for marriage by Jonas Chuzzlewith who chooses her sister. She later promises herself to Mr Moddle, who leaves her at the alter. Charity has a disposition \\\"which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour.\\\" \\nPecksniff, Mercy (Merry) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Seth Pecksniff's younger daughter and sister of Charity . Seth gives her in marriage to Jonas Chuzzlewit , who breaks her spirit, and her heart. \\nPecksniff, Seth ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Sanctimonious surveyor and architect \\\"who has never designed or built anything\\\", and one of the biggest hypocrites in fiction. Father of daughters Mercy and Charity . In an effort to gain old Martin's money he embraces then throws out young Martin at old Martin's wish. When long time servant Tom Pinch learns of Pecksniff's treachery he is also thrown out. Pecksniff's self-serving designs are eventually exposed by Old Martin who reconciles with his grandson, young Martin . Dickens' description of Pecksniff's hypocrisy is telling: \\\"Some people likened him to a direction-post, which is always telling the way to a place, and never goes there.\\\" \\nPeecher, Emma ( Our Mutual Friend ) Teacher of the girl's class at the school where Bradley Headstone is master. Emma is in love with Headstone but he does not return her affection. \\nPeerybingle, John ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Carrier, deliverer of goods, who is much older than his wife, Mary . \\nPeerybingle, Mary (Dot) ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Mary is the much younger wife of John. She is called Dot due to her small size and dumpling shape. Her parents are Old Dot and Mrs Dot, both also small. Mary works to reunite old lovers May Fielding and Edward Plummer . \\nMrs. Pegler ( Hard Times ) Revealed at the end of the story to be Bounderby's loving mother, exposing his claim as \\\"self-made man\\\", who raised himself in the streets, to be a sham. \\nPeggotty, Clara ( David Copperfield ) David's devoted nurse and sister to Daniel Peggotty . After the death of David's mother she is discharged and marries Barkis . When Barkis dies she goes to live with David and Betsy Trotwood . David comically describes getting a hug from Peggotty: \\\"She laid aside her work (which was a stocking of her own), and opening her arms wide, took my curly head within them, and gave it a good squeeze. I know it was a good squeeze, because, being very plump, whenever she made any little exertion after she was dressed, some of the buttons on the back of her gown flew off. And I recollect two bursting to the opposite side of the parlour, while she was hugging me.\\\" \\nPeggotty, Daniel ( David Copperfield ) Crotchety fisherman and dealer in lobsters, crabs, and crawfish. Brother of Clare . He lives in a converted boat on the beach at Yarmouth with Emily , Ham , and Mrs. Gummidge . When Emily abandons them to elope with Steerforth , Daniel vows to find her. Steerforth later leaves Emily and she is re-united with Daniel. At the end of the novel Daniel, Emily , and Mrs Gummidge resettle in Australia. \\nPeggotty, Ham ( David Copperfield ) Fisherman and boatbuilder. Orphaned nephew of Daniel Peggotty and fiance of Emily . He drowns trying to rescue Steerforth . \\\"He was a huge, strong fellow of six feet high, broad in proportion, and round-shouldered; but with a simpering boy's face and curly light hair that gave him quite a sheepish look. He was dressed in a canvas jacket, and a pair of such very stiff trousers that they would have stood quite as well alone, without any legs in them. And you couldn't so properly have said he wore a hat, as that he was covered in a-top, like an old building, with something pitchy.\\\" \\nPell, Solomon ( Pickwick Papers ) Shady lawyer whom Tony Weller engages to arrange Samuel Weller's imprisonment in the Fleet in order to be with his master, Samuel Pickwick . \\nPerch ( Dombey and Son ) Messenger at the firm of Dombey and Son. He and his Wife live at Ball's Pond, a suburb on the northern edge of London. \\nPerker ( Pickwick Papers ) Solicitor of Mr. Wardle , later represents Samuel Pickwick in the Bardell vs Pickwick breach of promise suit. \\nPetowker, Henrietta ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Minor actress at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and neighbor of Kenwigs and Noggs . She marries Mrs Kenwigs' uncle, Mr Lillyvick , but later runs off with a half-pay (retired) captain. \\nPickwick, Samuel ( Pickwick Papers ) Retired businessman and founder and chairman of the Pickwick Club. Pickwick, along with his friends Tupman , Snodgrass , Winkle , and his servant Sam Weller , travel around England in search of adventure. Pickwick is one Dickens most loved characters and his story propelled Dickens to literary stardom. \\n \\nPinch, Tom ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Devoted admirer and assistant to Pecksniff . A kindly, sweet-tempered fellow, completely blind to Pecksniff's hypocrisy despite a multitude of evidence to the contrary. He finally becomes aware of Pecksniff's true character and is dismissed. He goes to London to live with his sister and is employed by a mysterious gentleman which turns out to be old Martin Chuzzlewit . \\nPinch, Ruth ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Sister of Tom Pinch . She is governess to a wealthy brass and copper founder's family in Camberwell. When Tom goes to visit her he finds she is unhappy in her work and is accused by the family of being unable to command the respect of her employer's spoiled daughter. She leaves to live with Tom in Islington and later marries Tom's friend John Westlock . \\nPip (Pirrip, Phillip) ( Great Expectations ) Principal character of the book. Brought up \\\"by hand\\\" by his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery , twenty years his senior, who mistreats him along with her husband, Joe Gargery . Pip meets Magwitch on the marshes after his escape from the prison ship and brings him food. Magwitch is recaptured and sent away to Australia where he prospers. Pip is introduced to Miss Havisham , an eccentric old woman, and her charge, Estella , who Pip falls in love with. Estella has been taught by Miss Havisham to break men's hearts as restitution for Miss Havisham's having been left at the altar years before. Pip begins to receive money through an unknown source. He becomes a gentleman, goes to London, and drifts away from early friends. Pip eventually learns that his benefactor is not Miss Havisham , as he believes, but the convict, Magwitch . \\nPipchin, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Cantankerous operator of a boarding house in Brighton when Paul jr and Florence are sent there for Paul's health. Later becomes Mr Dombey's housekeeper. Considers herself ill-used because her husband was killed, 40 years earlier, in the Peruvian Mines. Dickens modeled Pipchin on Mrs Roylance, Dickens' landlady in London when his father was imprisoned for debt. \\nPlornish ( Little Dorrit ) Thomas Plornish, a plasterer previously imprisoned at the Marshalsea with the Dorrits, lives with his wife and two children at Bleeding Heart Yard. \\nPlummer, Bertha ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Blind daughter of poor toymaker, Caleb Plummer . To help ease Bertha's way Caleb has made her believe that the unfeeling Tackleton is their kind friend and the unknowing Bertha falls in love with him. \\nPlummer, Caleb ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Poor toymaker who works for the hard-hearted Tackleton . Acting as the eyes of his blind daughter, Bertha , he tenderly embellishes their humble home and ragged clothes and makes her believe that the unfeeling Tackleton is their friend. \\nPlummer, Edward ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Son of Caleb and sister to Bertha . Edward was the former lover of May Fielding , went away to sea, and was supposed dead. With the help of Mary Peerybingle , he is reunited with May on the day she is supposed to marry Tackleton . \\nPocket, Herbert ( Great Expectations ) Pip goes to London to begin his education and meets Herbert, whom he discovers is the \\\"pale young gentleman\\\" with whom he fought with at Miss Havisham's as a child. Pip and Herbert become best friends and share chambers at Barnard's Inn and at the Temple. Herbert helps teach Pip \\\"city manners.\\\" Pip helps Herbert become a partner in the firm of Clarriker and Co. which enables Pocket to marry Clara Barley . \\\"What a hopeful disposition you have!\\\" said I, gratefully admiring his cheery ways. \\\"I ought to have,\\\" said Herbert, \\\"for I have not much else.\\\" \\nPocket, Matthew ( Great Expectations ) Father of Herbert and cousin of Miss Havisham . He is the only one of Miss Havisham's relatives who speaks honestly of her and has been banished from her presence. Matthew is Pip's tutor in London. He has no control over his large family and has a habit of pulling himself up by his hair in frustration. Pip tells Miss Havisham of Matthew's good character and she leaves him 4000 pounds in her will. Matthew's wife, Belinda, is obsessed with social position, having been the daughter of a knight, and pays no attention to housekeeping or her young children who are left to \\\"tumble up\\\" by themselves. Many believe Dickens modeled the Pocket household after his own large family. \\nPodsnap, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Model for \\\"Podsnappery\\\" or Victorian middle-class pomp and complacency, along with his wife, and daughter Georgiana. Dickens modeled John Podsnap on his friend and first biographer John Forster . \\nPogram, Elijah ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Member of Congress Martin meets on the steamboat when leaving Eden. Pogram has inherited the congressional talent for speechifying much, and saying little. \\nPotatoes, Mealy ( David Copperfield ) Co-worker of David Copperfield at Murdstone and Grimby's warehouse. \\nPott, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Editor of the Eatenswill Gazette and sworn enemy of Mr Slurk , editor of the Eatenswill Independent.\\nPotterson, Abbey ( Our Mutual Friend ) Proprietor of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters pub in Limehouse Hole. \\nPrice, Matilda ( Nicholas Nickleby ) A miller's daughter, Fanny Squeers friend. She marries John Browdie . \\nPrig, Betsy ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Day nurse and friend of Mrs Gamp . \\\"Mrs Prig was of the Gamp build, but not so fat; and her voice was deeper and more like a man's. She had also a beard.\\\" Betsy and Mrs Gamp later have a falling out, Betsy questioning the existence of Gamp's imaginary friend Mrs Harris . \\nMiss Pross ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Lucie Manette's loyal maid. In Paris Miss Pross is surprised to find her brother, Soloman, is the spy John Barsad . In the end of the novel she struggles with Madame Defarge , who is killed in the scuffle. \\n\\\"Mr. Lorry knew Miss Pross to be very jealous, but he also knew her by this time to be, beneath the service of her eccentricity, one of those unselfish creatures--found only among women--who will, for pure love and admiration, bind themselves willing slaves, to youth when they have lost it, to beauty that they never had, to accomplishments that they were never fortunate enough to gain, to bright hopes that never shone upon their own sombre lives. He knew enough of the world to know that there is nothing in it better than the faithful service of the heart; so rendered and so free from any mercenary taint, he had such an exalted respect for it, that in the retributive arrangements made by his own mind--we all make such arrangements, more or less-- he stationed Miss Pross much nearer to the lower Angels than many ladies immeasurably better got up both by Nature and Art, who had balances at Tellson's.\\\" \\nPumblechook ( Great Expectations ) Joe Gargary's uncle (\\\"but Mrs. Joe appropriated him\\\"), hypocritical and well-to-do corn-chandler in the nearest town, and drove his own chaise-cart. He takes Pip to meet Miss Havisham and takes credit for arranging Pips \\\"great expectations.\\\"\\n\\\"A large hard-breathing middle-aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been all but choked.\\\" \\nQ\\nQuilp, Daniel ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) An evil dwarf who lends money to Nell's grandfather who gambles it away and flees London with Nell in an attempt to avoid Quilp. Quilp attempts to find the pair as they travel through the country. Later Quilp is pursued by the police and, lost in the fog, drowns in the Thames. \\nQuilp, Betsy ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Pretty and timid wife of Daniel Quilp whom he loves to mentally torture. When Quilp dies she inherits his money and happily remarries. Betsy's mother is Mrs Jiniwin . \\nQuinion ( David Copperfield ) Manager of Grimby and Murdstone's wine-bottling warehouse who employs David Copperfield . \\nR\\nMrs Rachael ( Bleak House ) Esther Summerson's nurse. Later marries Rev Chadband . \\nRachael ( Hard Times ) Friend of Stephen Blackpool , who loves her but cannot gain release from his drunken wife. She defends Stephen when he is accused of theft from the bank. \\nRadfoot, George ( Our Mutual Friend ) Third mate aboard the ship bringing John Harmon back to England. He and Harmon resemble each other and Harmon devises a plan to temporarily exchange clothes and identities with Radfoot so that he can secretly observe his intended bride, Bella Wilfer . Radfoot instead drugs and robs Harmon and is then murdered himself, his body taken for that of John Harmon \\nRedlaw ( The Haunted Man ) Professor of chemistry who is visited by a phantom on Christmas Eve and given the gift of forgetting painful memories. The gift turns out to be a curse as it is passed on to those Redlaw touches. The adverse effects of the gift are finally reversed by Milly Swidger . \\nRiah ( Our Mutual Friend ) 'An old Jewish man, in an ancient coat, long of skirt and wide of pocket' who fronts Fledgeby's money-lending business. He befriends Lizzie Hexam and Jenny Wren . \\nRichard ( The Chimes ) Blacksmith and fiance of Meg , they are married on New Year's Day. \\nRiderhood, Pleasant ( Our Mutual Friend ) Daughter of Rogue Riderhood . Pleasant is an unlicensed pawnbroker, she later overcomes her dislike of Mr Venus's occupation and agrees to marry him. \\nRiderhood, Rogue ( Our Mutual Friend ) Waterman and former partner of Gaffer Hexam who tries to pin blame on Gaffer for the Harmon murder to gain a reward. Riderhood later becomes a lock-keeper and tries to blackmail Bradley Headstone after Bradley tries to murder Eugene Wrayburn . In a quarrel both Riderhood and Headstone drown in the Thames. Rogue is also the father of Pleasant Riderhood . \\nRigaud/Blandois/Lagnier ( Little Dorrit ) Villain of the novel. Rigaud attempts to blackmail Mrs. Clennam and has her house fall on him for his efforts. \\\"When Monsieur Rigaud laughed, a change took place in his face, that was more remarkable than prepossessing. His moustache went up under his nose, and his nose came down over his moustache, in a very sinister and cruel manner.\\\" \\nRokesmith, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Alias used by John Harmon when he is employed as secretary to the Boffins . \\nRosa ( Bleak House ) Personal maid to Lady Dedlock after Hortense is dismissed. Marries Mrs Rouncewell's grandson. \\nRouncewell, George ( Bleak House ) Son of the Dedlock's housekeeper Mrs Rouncewell . George ran away to join the army and cut himself off from his mother. After leaving the army George buys a shooting gallery in London with money borrowed from Smallweed . Smallweed pressures George to give over examples of Capt Hawdon's handwriting in order to help Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. George is charged with the murder of Tulkinghorn by Bucket . Later George is exonerated of the crime and is reunited with his mother. \\nRouncewell, Mrs ( Bleak House ) Longtime housekeeper of Chesney Wold, home of Sir Leicester Dedlock . Mother of George and another son who is an important ironmaster in northern England. \\nRudge, Barnaby ( Barnaby Rudge ) Simple but good hearted boy who unwittingly gets involved in the Gordon Riots when he falls into bad company. He is later arrested and sentenced to death but gains reprieve through the help of Gabriel Varden . \\nRudge, Barnaby Sr. ( Barnaby Rudge ) Father of Barnaby and husband of Mary . He was the Steward at the Warren and murdered his employer, Reuben Haredale . He went into hiding after the murder and resurfaces years later trying to extort money from his wife. He is finally captured by Geoffrey Haredale and executed at Newgate. \\nRudge, Mary ( Barnaby Rudge ) Barnaby's mother, goes to great lengths to keep Barnaby away from his father who has murdered Reuben Haredale . \\nRugg, Mr ( Little Dorrit ) Landlord of Pancks who assists in finding William Dorrit's fortune. \\nS\\nMarquis de St Evremonde ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Uncle of Charles Darnay . He shows unconcern when his carriage runs over and kills the child of the Parisian peasant Gaspard . Gaspard follows the Marquis to his country home and kills him in his bed. \\nSally, Old ( Oliver Twist ) Old hag present at Oliver's birth. She steals the locket and ring from Oliver's mother as she lays dying.\\nSapsea, Thomas ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Pompous auctioneer turned mayor of Cloisterham. \\\"The Purest jackass in Cloisterham.\\\" \\nBob Sawyer ( Pickwick Papers ) Medical student, and drinking buddy of Benjamin Allen . \\nScadder, Zephaniah ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Unscrupulous agent of the Eden Land Corporation who sells swamp land to Martin . \\\"He was a gaunt man in a huge straw hat, and a coat of green stuff. The weather being hot, he had no cravat, and wore his shirt collar wide open; so that every time he spoke something was seen to twitch and jerk up in his throat, like the little hammers in a harpsichord when the notes are struck. Perhaps it was the Truth feebly endeavouring to leap to his lips. If so, it never reached them.\\\" \\nScott, Tom ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Quilp's boy, always at odds with his master, but expresses regret at Quilp's death. Tom has a penchant for standing on his head and walking on his hands. He later becomes a professional tumbler. \\nScrooge, Ebenezer ( A Christmas Carol ) Probably Dickens' best known character, the miserly Scrooge, with his familiar cry of \\\"Bah, Humbug!\\\", is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley , who sends three more spirits in hopes of reforming Scrooge's heartless and penny-pinching ways. \\nSharp, Mr ( David Copperfield ) First master at Salem House where David attends school. \\\"He was a limp, delicate-looking gentleman...with a good deal of nose, and a way of carrying his head on one side, as if it were a little too heavy for him.\\\" \\nShepherd, Miss ( David Copperfield ) Early infatuation of David Copperfield . A boarder at Miss Nettingall's establishment. \\nSikes, Bill ( Oliver Twist ) A vicious thief working on the fringes of Fagin's band of pickpockets. He uses Oliver in an attempt to burglarize the Maylie home. When Nancy tries to help Oliver she is found out by Fagin . Fagin relates the information to Sikes who murders Nancy . While fleeing police after the murder he accidentally hangs himself. \\nSingle Gentleman, The ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Mysterious lodger of the Brasses who is trying to find Nell and her grandfather . He is revealed to be the brother of the grandfather and finds the pair shortly before his brother's death. In the original serialization of the novel in Master Humphrey's Clock the Single Gentleman turns out to be the original narrator of the story, Master Humphrey. \\nSkewton, Mrs (Cleopatra) ( Dombey and Son ) Mother of Edith Granger who is 70 years old but tries to appear much younger through the use of cosmetics and various devices. Dickens describes Mrs Skewton, in being dismantled for bed by her maid, taking off of paint, clothes, wig, etc as being \\\"tumbled into ruins like a house of painted cards.\\\" Edith resents her mother who has packaged Edith to lure rich gentlemen from a child. \\nSkiffins, Miss ( Great Expectations ) Wemmick's particular friend, a woman of wooden appearance in an orange gown with green gloves. Wemmick later surprises Pip on an outing by suddenly (\\\"here's a church, lets go in\\\") marrying Miss Skiffins. \\nSkimpole, Harold ( Bleak House ) Friend of John Jarndyce who claims he is a mere child and understands nothing of money. Through this smooth act he manages to have everyone else pay his way through life. Dickens modeled Skimpole on Leigh Hunt, causing a stir among Hunt and his friends. \\nSlammer, Dr ( Pickwick Papers ) Surgeon of the 97th, almost duels Nathaniel Winkle whom he mistakes for Alfred Jingle . \\nSleary ( Hard Times ) Proprietor of Sleary's Circus. Speaks with a lisp (\\\"People mutht be amuthed\\\"). He helps Tom Gradgrind escape abroad after the bank robbery. \\nSliderskew, Peg ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Old and hideously ugly housekeeper of Arthur Gride . Peg is jealous when Gride plans to marry the much younger Madeline Bray . Peg steals documents relating to Madeline's inheritance which are recovered and help undo Gride. For the theft Peg is transported. \\nSloppy ( Our Mutual Friend ) Orphan who lives with Betty Higden . Sloppy is taken in by the Boffins and helps expose the rascal Silas Wegg . He later becomes a carpenter. \\nSlowboy, Tilly ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Angular and clumsy nurse to the Peerybingle's infant son. \\nSlurk, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Editor of the Eatenswill Independent and sworn enemy of Mr Pott , editor of the Eatenswill Gazette.\\nSlyme, Chevy ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Nephew of old Martin Chuzzlewit who works with Montigue Tigg to try to squeeze money from the family. Later a London police officer. \\nSmallweed ( Bleak House ) Grandfather (Joshua) Smallweed is a usurer to whom George Rouncewell owes money. Smallweed uses this leverage to obtain from George a sample of Captain Hawdon's handwriting in an attempt to help Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. Also in the Smallweed family are grandmother, Krook's sister, at whom grandfather throws cushions when she mentions money, and the twin grandchildren, Bartholomew and Judy. \\nSmike ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Abandoned as a child at Dotheboys Hall in the care of the evil Squeers , Smike is mistreated for years before being rescued by Nicholas . He travels to Portsmouth with Nicholas and performs in Crummles stage troupe and is welcomed as part of the family when he and Nicholas return to London. He is briefly retaken in London by Squeers and escapes with the help of John Browdie . Smike later dies from the treatment he received as a child. After his death it is discovered that he was Ralph Nickleby's son, making him the cousin of Nicholas and Kate . \\nSnagsby ( Bleak House ) Law stationer near Chancery Lane who hires Nemo (Capt Hawdon) to do some copy work. Snagsby's wife is a zealous supporter of Rev. Chadband . \\nSnawley ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Father who puts his two step-sons in Squeers' school, Dotheboys Hall. Snawley later poses as Smike's father in Ralph Nickleby's scheme to get the runaway boy back. Snawley's wife later forces him to expose Ralph's plan.\\nSnitchey and Craggs ( The Battle of Life ) Country lawyers who handle the legal affairs of Dr. Jeddler and Michael Warden . \\nSnodgrass, Augustus ( Pickwick Papers ) A member of the Pickwick club and party to the adventures of Pickwick's travels. Snodgrass fancies himself a poet, but has written no poetry. He falls in love with Emily Wardle and marries her at the end of the story. \\nSowerberry, Mr. ( Oliver Twist ) Undertaker to whom Oliver is apprenticed. Oliver is mistreated and runs away to London \\nSparkler, Edmund ( Little Dorrit ) Son of Mrs Merdle by a former marriage. A man of limited talents, he offers marriage to 'all manner of undesirable young ladies' finally marries Fanny Dorrit . Edmund and Fanny lose all in the Merdle banking scam. \\nSparsit, Mrs. ( Hard Times ) Housekeeper of Bounderby with aristocratic connections. She is a busybody, causing dissension between Bounderby and his wife Louisa Gradgrind . \\nSpenlow, Dora ( David Copperfield ) Daughter of David's employer, Francis . She and David are married and David tries to teach her to keep house, but she has no head for it. She becomes ill with an unspecified illness and dies young. Dickens based Dora on Maria Beadnell , his first love. \\nSpenlow, Francis ( David Copperfield ) Proctor at Doctor's Commons where David is apprenticed and father of Dora . David says of him: \\\"He was a little light-haired gentleman, with undeniable boots, and the stiffest of white cravats and shirt-collars. He was buttoned up, mighty trim and tight, and must have taken a great deal of pains with his whiskers, which were accurately curled.\\\"\\nSpenlow, Misses (Clarissa and Lavinia) ( David Copperfield ) Dora's spinster aunts with whom she goes to live after her father dies. \\nSpiker, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Dinner guest of the Waterbrooks . David thinks Mrs Spiker resembles Hamlet's aunt. \\nSpottletoe, Mr and Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Relatives of old Martin Chuzzlewit's (Mrs is old Martin's niece) with designs on inheriting his money. \\nSqueers, Fanny ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Daughter of Wackford Squeers. Described as \\\"not tall like her mother, but short like her father; from the former she inherited a voice of harsh quality; from the latter a remarkable expression of the right eye, something akin to having none at all.\\\" When Nicholas Nickleby becomes her father's assistant she falls madly in love with him, telling her friend Matilda Price that they are practically engaged. Nicholas wants nothing to do with her. \\nSqueers, Wackford ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Proprietor of Dotheboys Hall, he takes in boys not wanted by their families and mistreats them. Nicholas Nickleby becomes his assistant master and sees the way he treats his charges, gives him a sound thrashing, and leaves. Squeers seeks revenge and conspires with Ralph Nickleby . He is eventually undone, imprisoned, and transported. \\nSqueers, Wackford Jr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Son of schoolmaster Wackford Squeers . Little Wackford is kept fat as an advertisement of the supposed plenty provided at the school. He is spoiled by being given any gifts intended for pupils of the school by their families. \\nSqueers, Mrs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Wife of Wackford Squeers : \\\"a large raw-boned figure, was about half a head taller than Mr Squeers.\\\" While Mr Squeers attempts to keep his cruelty in check, in order to keep up appearances, Mrs Squeers is openly cruel.\\nSquod, Phil ( Bleak House ) George Rouncewell's ugly little assistant at the shooting gallery. Formerly a traveling tinker. \\nStagg ( Barnaby Rudge ) Blind member of the 'Prentice Knights with Simon Tappertit . He joins Barnaby Rudge Sr. in trying to extort money from Mary Rudge . Killed when he tries to run from officers arresting Hugh , Barnaby , and Rudge Sr . \\nStartop ( Great Expectations ) Pip's fellow student at Matthew Pocket's . He helps Herbert rescue Pip from Orlick and helps Herbert row the boat during the attempt to get Magwitch out of the country. \\nSteerforth, James ( David Copperfield ) Friend of David at the Salem House school where his engaging charm makes him everyone's favorite. David later runs into him again in London and he accompanies David on a trip to Yarmouth where he charms Emily into eloping with him. They go abroad and Steerforth soon tires of Emily and deserts her. He is later drowned in a shipwreck where Ham Peggotty , from whom Steerforth stole Emily away, dies trying to save him. \\nStiggins, Reverend ( Pickwick Papers ) Hypocritical Deputy Shepherd (from the Dorking branch) of the Brick Lane Branch of the United Grand Junction Ebenezer Temperance Association. Exposed by Tony Weller whose wife Susan is one of Stiggins' flock. \\nStrong, Annie ( David Copperfield ) Pretty, young wife of Doctor Strong . Annie is suspected of having an affair with her cousin, Jack Maldon . \\nStrong, Doctor ( David Copperfield ) Headmaster at the school David attends in Canterbury. He is chiefly concerned with assembling his Greek dictionary. \\nStryver ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Barrister who defends Charles Darnay in his trial for treason with assistance from his friend Sydney Carton . Stryver intends to ask Lucie Manette to marry him until counseled by Jarvis Lorry . \\nSummerson, Esther ( Bleak House ) Principal character in the story. She is brought up an orphan by her aunt, Miss Barbery . On her aunt's death she is adopted by John Jarndyce and becomes companions to his wards, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone . Later in the story it is revealed that Esther is the illegitimate daughter of Captain Hawdon and Lady Dedlock . John Jarndyce falls in love with her and asked her to marry him. She consents out of respect for Jarndyce but during the engagement she falls in love with Allan Woodcourt . When Jarndyce learns of her feelings for Allan he releases her from the engagement and she marries Woodcourt .\\nSweedlepipe, Paul (Poll) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlord of Mrs Gamp , barber and bird-fancier. \\\"Poll Sweedlepipe's house was one great bird's nest. Gamecocks resided in the kitchen; pheasants wasted the brightness of their golden plumage on the garret; bantams roosted in the cellar; owls had possession of the bedroom; and specimens of all the smaller fry of birds chirrupped and twittered in the shop.\\\" \\nSwidger, Milly ( The Haunted Man ) Wife of William and the only member of the family not touched by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows. Her inherent goodness, based on remembrance of her lost child, reverses the effects of this curse in her family, the Tetterby family, and Edmund Longford . \\nSwidger, Philip ( The Haunted Man ) Eighty-seven year-old patriarch of the Swidger family. He loses his present happiness, based on his memories, when touched by Redlaw's gift. He is restored to happiness by Milly Swidger . \\nSwidger, William ( The Haunted Man ) Caretaker of the university where Redlaw teaches chemistry. His family is adversely effected by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows. The adverse effects of this 'gift' are finally reversed by William's wife, Milly .\\nSwiveller, Dick ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Friend of Fred Trent , Swiveller has designs to marry Fred's sister, Nell Trent , but is encouraged to wait until Nell has inherited her grandfather's money. When Nell and her grandfather leave London Swiveller is befriended by Quilp who helps him gain employment with the Brasses . While at the Brasses he meets their little half-starved servant the Marchioness . He becomes aware of the Brasses villainy and, with the Marchioness ' help, exposes a plot to frame Kit Nubbles . Swiveller later inherits money from his aunt, puts the Marchioness through school, and later marries her. \\nT\\nTackleton ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Known as Gruff and Tackleton, the name of his toymaking business. He is the Scrooge of the story, a hard-hearted, unfeeling man who has lived off of the exploitation of children all his life. He is the employer of Caleb Plummer and schemes to marry May Fielding . Like Scrooge, he softens at the end of the story. \\nTapley, Mark ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Ostler at the Blue Dragon Inn and servant to young Martin Chuzzlewit . He accompanies Martin to America and later marries Mrs. Lupin , the Blue Dragon's landlady. The inn is renamed The Jolly Tapley. \\nTappertit, Simon ( Barnaby Rudge ) Locksmith Gabriel Varden's apprentice who is in love with Gabriel's daughter, Dolly . He becomes a leader of the rioters during the Gordon Riots and during the fighting loses his slender legs, long his pride and joy. After the uprising he is fitted with wooden legs and becomes a bootblack. \\nTartar ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Retired navy man and friend of Crisparkle . He befriends Neville in London and works with Grewgious and Crisparkle in protecting Neville from John Jasper . \\nTattycoram/Harriet Beadle ( Little Dorrit ) Adopted by the Meagles from the Foundling Hospital, Harriet is given the name Tattycoram and is maid to the Meagles daughter, Pet. She exhibits fits of temper and is counseled by Mr. Meagle to \\\"count five and twenty, Tattycoram.\\\" She is influenced away from the Meagles by the evil Miss Wade . She later is reunited with the Meagles and assists in the undoing of the Rigaud/Blandois blackmail attempt. \\nTetterby family ( The Haunted Man ) Poor family touched by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows, which turns out to be a curse to them. Adolphus, a newsman, his wife Sophia, Adolphus Jr, a newspaper boy at the railway station, Johnny, who cares for the baby, Sally, called little Moloch. They are restored to their former loving natures by Milly Swidger . \\nTicket, Mrs ( Little Dorrit ) Cook and housekeeper for the Meagles . \\nTiffey, Mr ( David Copperfield ) \\\"old clerk with the wig\\\" that had once visited Mr Spenlow at his house in Norwood and had \\\"drunk brown East India sherry there, of a quality so precious as to make a man wink.\\\" \\nTigg, Montigue (Tigg Montigue) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Con man and swindler who first appears in the story fronting for Chevy Slyme and trying to squeeze the assembled Chuzzlewit family for money. Later he appears in splendor as head of the fraudulent Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company and has changed his name to Tigg Montigue. He dupes Jonas Chuzzlewit into joining the company, uses Jonas to fleece Pecksniff , and is murdered by Jonas. \\nTisher, Mrs. ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Miss Twinkleton's assistant at the school for girls at Nun's House. \\nTodgers, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Proprietor of M. Todgers Commercial Boarding House located near the monument. Mrs Todgers is described as a \\\"rather bony and hard featured lady.\\\" Pecksniff and his daughters stay at Todgers when visiting London. \\nToodle, Polly (Richards) ( Dombey and Son ) Little Paul Dombey's nurse, known in the Dombey household as Richards. She is dismissed when she takes Paul to visit her family in a poorer section of London. She re-enters the story when Captain Cuttle asked her to look after Sol Gill's Shop, the Wooden Midshipman. She is the mother of Rob the Grinder who falls in with bad company and becomes a minor villain in the story. Dickens describes Polly as a \\\"plump rosy-cheeked wholesome apple-faced young woman.\\\" \\nToots ( Dombey and Son ) Scatterbrained classmate of Paul Dombey Jr at Dr Blimber's Academy. Toots falls helplessly in love with Florence Dombey and pursues her, in his absentminded way, until Florence marries Walter Gay . In the end Toots marries Susan Nipper . Quote: \\\"it's of no consequence.\\\" \\nTox, Lucretia ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey Sr's sister, Mrs. Chick's , friend. She has designs to marry Paul Sr. after his first wife dies. Paul marries Mrs. Granger instead, breaking Miss Tox's heart, but she stays loyal to him through later hardships. Dickens describes her as \\\"a long lean figure, wearing such a faded air that she seemed not to have been made in what linen-drapers call 'fast colours' originally, and to have, by little and little, washed out.\\\" \\nTrabb ( Great Expectations ) Tailor who makes Pip a new suit of clothes before he goes to London, also in charge of the mourners at Pip's sister's funeral. \\nTrabb's Boy ( Great Expectations ) Assistant to Trabb , the tailor, who terrorizes Pip . He later leads Herbert to the limekiln to rescue Pip from Orlick . \\nTraddles, Tommy ( David Copperfield ) Fellow pupil with David Copperfield and Steerforth at Salem House. David's best friend and best man at David's wedding to Dora Spenlow . He later becomes a lawyer and marries Sophy Crewler . \\nTrent, Fred ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Nell's brother, a gambler, is interested in his grandfather's money through his friend Dick Swiveller . \\nTrent, Nelly ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Known as Little Nell, she is the principal character in the story. She lives with her grandfather , when he falls into the clutches of Daniel Quilp she helps him escape London. The hardships endured during their wanderings are too much for the delicate Nell and she dies in a quiet village where she and her grandfather had gained employment. \\nTrotter, Job ( Pickwick Papers ) Manservant of the rascal Alfred Jingle . \\nTrotwood, Betsy ( David Copperfield ) David Copperfield's great aunt. David runs away from London when he is installed at Murdstone and Grinby's warehouse and goes to Dover to live with Betsy. She helps David get a start in life and, when she loses her fortune, goes to London to live with David . David describes her as \\\"A tall, hard-featured lady, but by no means ill-looking. There was an inflexibility in her face, in her voice, in her gait and carriage, amply sufficient to account for the effect she had made upon a gentle creature like my mother; but her features were rather handsome than otherwise, though unbending and austere.\\\" Dickens' friend and biographer John Forster called Betsy \\\"a gnarled and knotted piece of female timber, sound to the core.\\\" \\nTulkinghorn ( Bleak House ) Family lawyer to the Dedlocks. When he finds out Lady Dedlock's secret past, and tries to gain from it, he is murdered by Lady Dedlock's former maid, Hortense . \\nTungay ( David Copperfield ) Creakle's assistant at Salem House where David Copperfield attends school. Tungay has a wooden leg, having lost his leg in Creakle's service in former employment in the hops business. \\nTupman, Tracy ( Pickwick Papers ) A member of the Pickwick club and traveling companion to Mr. Pickwick in the story's adventures. A middle-aged bachelor with a weakness for the ladies. \\nTurveydrop, Mr ( Bleak House ) Owner of a dance academy on Newman Street and a \\\"model of deportment.\\\" His son, Prince , gives dancing lessons and supports his father. \\nTurveydrop, Prince ( Bleak House ) Son of Mr Turveydrop , owner of a dance academy. Prince, named for the Prince Regent, gives dancing lessons and supports his father. Prince marries Caddy Jellyby . \\nTwinkleton, Miss ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Principal of a school for girls at Nun's House in Cloisterham where Rosa Bud and Helena Landless attend. She is assisted by Mrs. Tisher . Miss Twinkleton later becomes Rosa's chaperone in London. \\nTwist, Oliver ( Oliver Twist ) Oliver is born in a workhouse where he is mistreated by Bumble , the beadle (Quote: 'Please, sir, I want some more'). He is apprenticed to Sowerberry, the undertaker, and runs away to London where he falls in with Fagin and his band of pickpockets. Oliver is charged with theft, actually committed by the Artful Dodger , and later cleared. The object of the theft, Mr. Brownlow , takes Oliver into his home. He is recaptured by Nancy and returned to Fagin's band. Nancy later tries to help Oliver and is murdered. Through the efforts of Rose Maylie and Mr. Brownlow the story of Oliver's real parentage is revealed. \\nU\\nV\\nVarden, Dolly ( Barnaby Rudge ) Daughter of Gabriel and Martha , friend of Emma Haredale , loved by Joe Willet who she eventually marries. \\nVarden, Gabriel ( Barnaby Rudge ) Honest locksmith and owner of the Golden Key where Simon Tappertit is apprenticed. Father of Dolly and long-suffering husband of Martha . He is a friend of Barnaby's mother and, after the Gordon riots, helps clear Barnaby's name. \\nVarden, Martha ( Barnaby Rudge ) Overbearing wife of Gabriel , mother of Dolly . A woman of \\\"uncertain temper\\\" and a fanatical protestant, her fanaticism is tempered after the riots when she witnesses the heroics of her husband \\nVeck, Toby (Trotty) ( The Chimes ) Poor ticket porter whose dream on New Year's Eve forms the basis of the story. \\nVeneering, Hamilton and Anastasia ( Our Mutual Friend ) High society couple at whose frequent dinner parties the story of John Harmon is discovered. Hamilton buys his way into Parliament and is later bankrupt and the couple flees to France. \\nVenus, Mr ( Our Mutual Friend ) Taxidermist and general practitioner in bones. He enters into a scheme with Silas Wegg to blackmail Noddy Boffin , thinks better of it, and later tells Boffin of the plan. He is lovesick over Pleasant Riderhood who objects to his business. She later relents and marries him. \\nThe Vengeance ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Female revolutionist and friend of Madame Defarge . She is described as 'a short, rather plump wife of a starved grocer'. At the final execution she is left pondering the absence of Madame Defarge. \\nVerisopht, Lord Frederick ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Foppish companion of Sir Mulberry Hawk who is planning to fleece him. When Verisopht tries to interfere in Hawk's plan of revenge on Nicholas Nickleby they duel, and Verisopht is killed. \\nVholes ( Bleak House ) Richard Carstone's solicitor in Symond's Inn, recommended by Skimpole , who lures Richard deeper into the Chancery case that will ultimately lead to Richard's despair and death. \\nW\\nWackles, Sophie ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) First love of Dick Swiveler . Swiveler reluctantly leaves her and enters into a scheme, hatched by Nell's brother Fred Trent , to marry Nell and inherit the grandfather's money. Sophey marries Cheggs, a market gardener. \\nWade, Miss ( Little Dorrit ) Dark figure who lures Tattycoram away from the kind-hearted Meagles whom she hates because of Pet Meagles' marriage to Henry Gowan , who had jilted her. \\nWalker, Mick ( David Copperfield ) Co-worker of David Copperfield at Murdstone and Grimby's warehouse. \\nWarden, Michael ( The Battle of Life ) Spendthrift lover of Marion Jeddler . Marion supposedly runs away with Warden which, in the end, turns out to be untrue. Later the reformed Warden marries Marion. \\nWardle ( Pickwick Papers ) Yeoman farmer and owner of Manor Farm at Dingley Dell. Pickwick and his friends visit Manor Farm frequently. Wardle's daughter marries Pickwickian Augustus Snodgrass . Jingle tries to elope with Miss Rachel , Wardle's sister, but is caught and bought off by Wardle. \\nWardle, Old Mrs ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Wardle's partially deaf mother. \\nWardle, Rachael ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Wardle's spinster sister (aged 50 at least). She courts Tupman but is lured into elopement by Jingle , who is after her money. Rachael and Jingle are caught before a marriage can take place and Jingle is bought off by Mr. Wardle. \\nWaterbrook, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Mr Waterbrook is Mr Wickfield's agent with whom Agnes stays while in London. They reside at Ely Place, Holborn. \\nWegg, Silas ( Our Mutual Friend ) Rascally street vendor hired by Mr. Boffin to read to him. After installing himself in the Boffin household he goes about trying to get a piece of the Boffin fortune. \\nWeller, Samuel ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Pickwick's servant is one of the most popular characters in Dickens' works. He councils his master with Cockney wisdom and is thoroughly devoted to Pickwick . Samuel's father, Tony Weller, is equally entertaining.\\n \\n \\nWeller, Tony ( Pickwick Papers ) Father of Sam Weller , a coachman and repository of Cockney wisdom. His wife, Susan, is proprietor of the Marquis and Granby Inn in Dorking. Susan falls in with the hypocritical Reverend Stiggins , of the Brick Lane Temperance Association, who the frequently imbibing Tony later exposes. \\nWemmick, John ( Great Expectations ) Jagger's confidential clerk, friend of Pip who lives in a delightfully strange house with the Aged Parent.\\n\\\"A dry man, rather short in stature, with a square wooden face, whose expression seemed to have been imperfectly chipped out with a dull-edged chisel. There were some marks in it that might have been dimples, if the material had been softer and the instrument finer, but which, as it was, were only dints. The chisel had made three or four of these attempts at embellishment over his nose, but had given them up without an effort to smooth them off. I judged him to be a bachelor from the frayed condition of his linen ... He had glittering eyes-small, keen, and black- and thin wide mottled lips. He had had them, to the best of my belief, from forty to fifty years.\\\" \\nWestlock, John ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Former pupil of Pecksniff and friend of Tom Pinch although they disagree about Pecksniff's character. He is instrumental in exposing Jonas Chuzzlewit and later marries Tom's sister Ruth . \\nWhimple, Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Landlady of the house at Mill Pond Bank where Old Bill Barley and his daughter, Clara , live. Magwitch is kept secretly in the house waiting for the escape out of Britain. \\nWickfield, Agnes ( David Copperfield ) Childhood friend of David Copperfield and daughter of Betsy Trotwood's lawyer. Becomes David's wife after the death of Dora . \\nMr. Wickfield ( David Copperfield ) Father of Agnes and lawyer to Betsy Trotwood . His overindulgence of wine causes him to be vulnerable to the schemes of Uriah Heep , who becomes his partner and attempts to ruin him. \\nWickham, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey Jrs' nurse after Polly Toodle is discharged. \\nWilfer, Bella ( Our Mutual Friend ) Girl specified in old Harmon's will that his son John should marry in order to gain his inheritance. When John disappears and is presumed drowned she is left \\\"a widow without ever being married.\\\" She leaves her home and goes to live with the Boffins where she is wooed by John Rokesmith , alias of John Harmon . She refuses him at first but later falls in love with him and they marry. She finds out later that he is really John Harmon and that they have gained his inheritance. \\nWilfer, Lavinia ( Our Mutual Friend ) Sister of Bella . Obstinate and quarrelsome, she takes posession of Bella's beau, George Sampson, when Bella goes to live with the Boffins . \\nWilfer, Reginald (R.W.) ( Our Mutual Friend ) Father of Bella , whom she adores. R.W. attends the wedding of of Bella to Rokesmith , unbeknownst to his overbearing wife. \\nWillet, Joe ( Barnaby Rudge ) \\\"A broad-shouldered strapping young fellow of twenty, whom it pleased his father still to consider a little boy, and to treat accordingly.\\\" Son of John who resents his father's treatment of him, he joins the army and loses an arm in the American Revolution, later marries Dolly Varden . The couple become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole Inn. \\nWillet, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) \\\"Burly, large-headed man with a fat face.\\\" Proprietor of the Maypole Inn and father of Joe . Father and son quarrel when John treats the adult Joe as a child and Joe leaves, joining the army. John witnesses the destruction of the Maypole by the rioters. He is later reconciled with his son who, along with wife Dolly , become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole.\\nWinkle, Nathaniel ( Pickwick Papers ) Member of the Pickwick club and traveling companion to Pickwick and his friends. Winkle is supposedly the sportsman of the group but all of his attempts at sporting activities prove him a humbug. He marries Arabella Allen , which upsets his father. Later Winkle's father comes to London and sees his daughter-in-law for himself, and is reconciled to the marriage. \\nWitherfield, Miss ( Pickwick Papers ) The lady in yellow curl papers whom Samuel Pickwick accidentally meets in her room at Ipswich. She is courted by Pickwick's fellow traveler to Ipswich, Peter Magnus . \\nWititterly, Julia and Henry ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Kate Nickleby becomes a companion to Julia after leaving Madame Mantalini's . Julia becomes jealous of Kate when Sir Mulberry Hawk begins to pay visits to their Belgravia home. Nicholas removes Kate from the home after he fights with Hawk. \\nWoodcourt, Allan ( Bleak House ) A young surgeon who falls in love with Esther Summerson before going away as ship's doctor to India. On his return to England he learns that Esther is engaged to John Jarndyce . When Jarndyce learns that Esther is in love with Woodcourt he releases her to marry him. \\nWopsle ( Great Expectations ) Parish clerk and friend of the Gargerys . He aspires to enter the church but instead becomes an actor with the stage name of Waldengarver. Pip sees him perform Hamlet in London. \\nWrayburn, Eugene ( Our Mutual Friend ) Lawyer and friend of Mortimer Lightwood . He becomes interested in the Harmon case and meets Lizzie Hexam and falls in love with her. She loves him also but tries to distance herself from him because they come from different classes of society. Lizzie leaves London to get away from Bradley Headstone , the school teacher who also loves her, and Wrayburn. Eugene finds her and is followed by Headstone who attempts to murder him. Lizzie nurses Wrayburn back to health and they are married. \\nWren, Jenny aka Fanny Cleaver ( Our Mutual Friend ) Crippled doll's dressmaker with whom Lizzie Hexam lives after the death of her father. She helps Lizzie escape London when pursued by Headstone and Wrayburn . \\nX\",\n \"Haworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single ...\\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every ... featuring the popular Bronte burgers. Yorkshire is the biggest and most ... The Bronte-obsessed town of ...\\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single Bronte Sister Novel\\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single Bronte Sister Novel\\nHaworth, England (Photo: Matthew Hartley/Flickr )\\nYou pronounce it How’it. The cobbled streets of Haworth , a pretty little English village that clings to the edge of the West Yorkshire moors, wind up the hill, and are lined with pubs like the Fleece, Mrs Beighton’s Sweet Shop , selling black and white minds, the Old Lion Inn , Venables Bookshop.\\nIn summer when it’s light until 11 p.m., it bustles with visitors; in winter, under snow, it’s other-worldly and full of ghosts. From every point, as I climb the main street, to the Bronte Parsonage that sits at the very top of the village, there are views of the moors, a huge landscape that reaches into infinity, criss-crossed by the gray stone dry walls, put together without mortar that last forever, a scene more rugged, more powerful than pretty. I feel there are ghosts just over the hill.\\nRelated: Never Leave Your Room with These Hotels for Book Lovers\\nThe Bronte Parsonage (Photo: Mary /flickr)\\nI’m haunted by the feeling that I know this place in my gut, even before I get to the Parsonage. You come here because this is Bronte land. In Howath at this pretty two-story parsonage with a modest garden, Charlotte and Emily Bronte lived and wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights , two of the greatest novels of any time, stories of powerful emotions, and women with complex emotional ambition and desires. Gothic in part — there are plenty of storms and the supernatural — they show an understanding of moral ambiguity decades ahead of the times. There are characters still palpably alive: Jane Eyre; Heathcliffe; Mr Rochester. These are imprinted on us by the stream of movies, TV, theatre, beginning in 1910 with a silent film of Jane Eyre. Some of the later version were shot here in Howarth.\\nWATCH: 10 Things You Need to Know About Wuthering Heights\\nThe Georgian parsonage of gray stone and brick, built in 1780s, is now a museum with a dozen Bronte-soaked rooms. In the dining room on a large mahogany table, the sisters wrote their novels. (Charlotte also wrote Villette and Shirley , her sister Anne, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ); over here is the sofa where Emily died aged 30; above the stairs hangs the celebrated portrait of the three sisters by their artist brother, Branwell, who waste much of his talent at the Black Bull Inn in town, in a haze of booze and opium.\\nPatrick Bronte, a relatively poor country clergyman moved into the parsonage in 1820 with his wife, Maria. By the standards of the time, the rooms are simply furnished but full of moving detail. Emily’s bedroom has the tiny handwritten books written by the girls when they were little. In the hall is the upright piano, which all the sisters played to entertain one another. In Charlotte’s room where she died at 38a re her tiny dresses. She was under five feet. Her white stockings look like a child’s.\\nAll dead by 40.\\nWuthering Heights novel (Photo: Scott MacLeod Liddle/Flickr )\\nBut, then, in their day, Haworth was a crowded industrial town, where water-powered mills replaced the looms villagers used to scratch out a living. Maybe it was this that played on the sisters’ profound human understanding. “I must not forget that these coarsely-clad little peasants are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy,” Jane Eyre thinks.\\nRead More\\nIt was also the landscape that drove the books. In the kitchen at the back of the parsonage, the Bronte servant would tell the tales of Haworth and the moors. Walk from the parsonage up to Top Withins, you find the setting for Wuthering Heights.\",\n \"List of the addresses of fictional characters - Wikibin\\nList of the addresses of fictional characters. ... In the original film, the Buellers lived in Shermer, ... Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, Slopshire, England * Donald Duck ...\\nList of the addresses of fictional characters\\nDonate to Wikibin\\nList of the addresses of fictional characters\\nThis is a list of the addresses of fictional characters, from various media such as television, literature, or film.\\n1\\n*13 Rue del Percebe (comic of same name by Francisco Ibanez)\\nA\\n* Abbott family (Bless This House) - Birch Avenue, Putney, UK\\n* The Addams Family - Cemetery Ridge, USA\\n* Alexander, Susan (Citizen Kane) - 185 West 74th Street, New York, New York\\n* Anderson family (Father Knows Best) - 607 South Maple Street, USA\\n* Larry Appleton and his cousin Balki Bartokomous (Perfect Strangers) - 711 Calhoun Street, Chicago, Illinois\\n* Jon Arbuckle and his pets (Garfield) - alternately 711 Maple Street, USA (comic strip) or 357 Shady Grove Lane, USA (TV series)\\n* Lew Archer's office (series of novels) - 8411 1/2 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California\\n* Avengers Mansion Headquarters of the Avengers - 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City\\nB\\n* Barone family (Everybody Loves Raymond) - 320 Fowler Street, Lynbrook, New York (Long Island)\\n* Batman - Wayne Manor, Gotham City, USA\\n* Baxter family (Hazel) - 123 Marshall Road, Hydsberg, New York\\n* Mr. Bear & others (comic strip Achewood) - 62 Achewood Court\\n* Mr Benn - 52 Festive Road, Putney, London, UK\\n* Frank Black and Family (Millennium) - 1910 Ezekiel Drive, Seattle, WA\\n* Sirius Black (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) - 12 Grimmauld Place, London, UK\\n* Leopold Bloom - 7 Eccles St.\\n* Elwood Blues (The Blues Brothers) - 1060 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois (Wrigley Field) (according to his driver's license)\\n* Charlie Bone and family (Children of the Red King) - Number 9 Filbert Street\\n* Ed and Christopher Boone (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) - 36 Randolph Street, Swindon\\n* Boswell family (Bread) - 30 Kelsall Street, Liverpool\\n* The Bower Agency (Who's the Boss?) - 323 East 57th Street, New York, New York\\n* Bower family (Who's the Boss?) - 3344 Oak Hills Drive, Fairfield, Connecticut\\n* The Brady Bunch - 4222 Clinton Way, Los Angeles, California\\n* Emmett Brown (Back to the Future) - 1640 Riverside Drive, Hill Valley, California\\n* Hyacinth Bucket (Keeping Up Appearances) - Blossom Avenue, UK\\n* Bueller family (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) - 164 North Dutton Street, Santa Monica, CA (This is in the 1990 NBC sitcom. In the original film, the Buellers lived in Shermer, Illinois, also the setting for The Breakfast Club and, possibly, the homes of Neal Page from Planes, Trains and Automobiles and the McAllister family from Home Alone, all films directed by John Hughes.)\\n* Phoebe Buffay (Friends) - 5 Morton St. Apt. 14. New York City New York (Manhattan) USA\\n* Bundy family (Married... with Children) - 9764 Jeopardy Lane, Chicago, Illinois\\n* Bunker family (All in the Family) - 704 Hauser Street, New York City, New York (Astoria, Queens)\\n* Burber family - 9 Chickweed Lane (daily comic strip of the same name)\\n* Bureau de l'Invisible (French novel series) - 28 Crawford Street, a corner away from Baker Street in London\\n* Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons) - 1000 Mammon Lane, Springfield, USA\\nC\\n* Minnie Caldwell (Coronation Street) - 15 Jubilee Terrace until 1962, then 5 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\\n* Carey, Drew (The Drew Carey Show) - 720 Sedgewick, Cleveland, Ohio\\n* Blake Carrington (Dynasty) - 173 Essex Drive, Denver, CO\\n* Cheers - 112 1/2 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts. (This is the address given on the show, though the Bull & Finch Pub, the real-life basis for the bar, is at 84 Beacon Street. This may have been an attempt to keep fan letters from going to the real-life counterpart.)\\n* Clampett family (Beverly Hillbillies) - 518 Crestview Drive, Beverly Hills, California\\n* Joan Clayton (Girlfriends) - 700 block of North Wilton Place, Los Angeles, California\\n* Cleaver family (Leave it to Beaver) - 485 Maple Street (later 211 Pine Street), Mayfield, USA\\n* The Colbys - Belvedere Mansion, Los Angeles, California\\n* Conner family (Roseanne) - 714 Delaware, Lanford IL\\n* Dr. Frasier Crane and Martin Crane - Apartment 1901, Elliott Bay Towers, Seattle, Washington\\n* Cunningham family (Happy Days) - 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, WI\\nD\\n* Darcy, Fitzwilliam (Pride and Prejudice) - Pemberley, Derbyshire, England\\n* Dethklok (Metalocalypse) - Mordhaus, exact location unknown\\n* Blanche Devereaux, who owns the house and rents rooms to Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund, and Sophia Petrillo, (The Golden Girls) - 6151 Richmond Street, Miami, Florida\\n*The Doctor, (Doctor Who comic strip and Virgin New Adventures) - Smithwood Manor, Allen Road, Kent, England\\n* Dolittle, Dr. John (Doctor Dolittle series of books) - Oxenthorpe Road, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, Slopshire, England\\n* Donald Duck - 1313 Webfoot Walk, Duckburg, Calisota\\n* Dursley family (Harry Potter books) - 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, UK\\n*Durden, Tyler (Fight Club) - 420 Paper St. Wilmington, DE 19886\\nE\\n* Lord Emsworth (novels of P. G. Wodehouse) - Blandings Castle, Shropshire\\n*The Evans family (Good Times) -321 North Gilbert, Chicago, IL\\n* Ewing family (Dallas) - Southfork Ranch, Braddock County, Texas, USA\\nF\\n* The Fantastic Four - The Baxter Building, New York, New York.\\n* Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers) - Fawlty Towers Hotel, Torquay, Torbay, UK\\n* The Flanders family (The Simpsons) - 740 Evergreen Terrace\\n* Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote) - 698 Candlewood Lane, Cabot Cove, ME\\n* Phileas Fogg - 7 Savile Row, Burlington Gardens, London, UK\\n* The Funnies (Doug) - 21 Jumbo Street, Bluffington, USA\\nG\\n* Monica Geller, first with Phoebe Buffay, then Rachel Green, finally with Chandler Bing (Friends) - 425 Grove Street, Apartment 20, New York, New York (Chandler and Joey Tribbiani, later Joey and Rachel, lived in Apartment 19; the actual building is at 90 Bedford Street, on the corner of Grove)\\n* Griffin family (Family Guy) - 31 Spooner Street, Quahog, Rhode Island\\n* From the Goon comic book series - Lonely Street, home to the Priest and his hordes of zombies\\nH\\n* The Halliwell Manor (Charmed) - 1329 Prescott Street, San Francisco, California (The actual manor is located at 1329 Carroll Ave, Los Angeles, California, in the famous Echo Park neighborhood.)\\n* Tony Hancock (Hancock's Half Hour) - 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam\\n* Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, DSO (novels of John Buchan) - Fosse Manor, Oxfordshire\\n* Harper family (Mama's Family) - 1 Old Decatur Road, Raytown, USA\\n* Hatcher family (Judy Blume's \\\"Fudge\\\" books) - 25 West 68th Street, New York, New York\\n* Doug and Carrie Heffernan; Arthur Spooner (The King of Queens) - 3223 Aberdeen Avenue, Rego Park, New York\\n* Earl and Randy Hickey - Room 231, The Palms Motel, 9005 Lincoln Blvd, Camden, USA\\n* Hank and Peggy Hill (King of the Hill) - 84 Rainey Street, Arlen, TX, 78054 (The zip code is actually for Beeville, TX)\\n* Sherlock Holmes - 221B Baker Street, London, UK\\n* Huxtable family (The Cosby Show) - 10 Stigwood Avenue, New York City (Brooklyn)\\nI\\n* Uncle Fred, The Earl of Ickenham (novels of P. G. Wodehouse) - Ickenham Hall, Ickenham, Hants, UK\\nJ\\n*Justice Inc. and the Avenger - No. 1 Bleek Street\\nK\\n* Clark Kent (Superman) - 344 Clinton St., Apt. 3B, Metropolis, USA (later 1938 Sullivan Lane, Metropolis)\\n* Eugene Krabs (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 3541 Anchor Way, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\\n* Kramden family (The Honeymooners) - 328 1/2 Chauncey Street, Brooklyn, New York\\nL\\n* Lane family (The Patty Duke Show) - 8 Remsen Drive, Brooklyn Heights New York City, New York, USA\\n* Laverne & Shirley - 730 Knapp Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin\\n* Lawrence family (Gidget) - 803 N. Dutton Drive, California, USA\\n* Leopold Bloom (Ulysses) - 7 Eccles St., Dublin 7, Ireland\\nM\\n* Magnum, P.I., Robin's Nest - 11435 18th Avenue, Oahu, HI\\n* Miss Marple - Danemead, High Street, St Mary Mead\\n* Victor Meldrew, 19 Riverbank, UK\\n* Mindy McConnell and Mork (Mork and Mindy) - 1619 Pine Street, Boulder, Colorado\\n* Fibber McGee and Molly (his wife) - 79 Wistful Vista, USA.\\n* Travis McGee - Slip F-18 at Bahia Mar Marina - docking place of houseboat; this was a real address, although it has since been demolished according to Spider Robinson: a photo of him sitting at the base of the dedication plaque to McGee at the slip (as described in Robinson's novel Callahan's Key) may be found on this page )\\n* Daria Morgendorffer (Daria) - 1111 Glen Oaks Lane, Lawndale USA\\n* Fox Mulder (The X-Files) - 2630 Hegal Place, Apt. 42, Alexandria, Virginia, 23242\\n* The Munsters - 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Mockingbird Heights, USA. There is however a Mockingbird Lane in South Pasadena, California.\\nN\\n* Nelson family (I Dream of Jeannie) - 1020 Palm Drive, Cocoa Beach, FL\\n* Navidson Family (House of Leaves) - Succoth and Ash Tree Lane\\n* Newman (Seinfeld) - Apartment 5E, 129 West 81st Street, New York, New York\\nO\\n* Stan & Hilda Ogden (Coronation Street) - 13 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\\n* Oscar and Felix (The Odd Couple) - 1049 Park Avenue, New York, New York\\n* Owens family (Mr. Belvedere) - 200 Spring Valley Road, Beaver Falls, PA\\nP\\n* Paddington Bear - 32 Windsor Gardens, London\\n* The Partridge Family - 698 Sycamore Road, San Pueblo, CA\\n* Reginald Iolanthe Perrin (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin) - 12 Coleridge Close, Climthorpe, London, UK\\n* Adrianna Pennino (Rocky) - 1818 Tusculum St, Philadelphia, PA 19134-3416\\n* Petrie family (The Dick Van Dyke Show) - 448 Bonnie Meadow Road, New Rochelle, New York. Their next-door neighbors are Dr. Jerry Helper (a dentist), his wife Millie and their children.\\n* Petrillo family (The Golden Girls) - 6151 Richmond Street, Miami Beach, Florida\\n* Phil's Bar & Grill (Murphy Brown) - 1595 I Street NW, Washington, D.C. (Usually written as \\\"EYE Street\\\" to differentiate it from 1st Street, listed as \\\"FIRST\\\" on street signs)\\n* Pickle and Lamb families (Cloudstreet) - 1 Cloud Street, West Leederville, Perth, Western Australia\\n* Hercule Poirot - Apt. 56B, Whitehaven Mansions, Sandhurst Square, London W1, UK.\\n* Solar Pons - 71B Praed Street, London, UK\\n* Post family (Mr. Ed) - 17230 Valley Road, USA\\n* Harry Potter - The cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey (later moved to normal bedroom, as Dursley family, above)\\n* Screech Powers (Saved by the Bell) - 88 Edgemont, Palisades, California\\nR\\n* Ricardo family (I Love Lucy) - Apartment 4A (later 3D), 623 East 68th Street, New York, New York\\n* Mary Richards (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Apartment D, 119 North Weatherly Avenue, Minneapolis, MN\\n* Jim Rockford (The Rockford Files) - 2354 Pacific Coast Highway, California, USA\\n* Rush family (Keep it in the Family) - Highgate Avenue, Highgate\\nS\\n* Fred G. and Lamont Sanford (Sanford and Son) - 9114 S. Central Ave., Watts, Los Angeles, California.\\n* Doc Savage - 86th floor of \\\"the skyscraper\\\" (implicitly the Empire State Building), New York, New York. He also resided in a Fortress of Solitude at the North Pole ... presumably sharing this space with Superman and Santa Claus!\\n* Dana Scully (The X-Files) - 3170 W. 53 Rd. #35, Annapolis, Maryland\\n* Lynette Scavo and her family (Desperate Housewives) - 4355 Wisteria Lane, Fairview, Eagle State\\n* Seaver family (Growing Pains) - 15 Robin Hood Lane, USA (later specified as Huntington, Long Island, New York)\\n* Jerry Seinfeld - Apartment 5A, 129 West 81st Street, New York, New York (The actual address of that apartment is 757 S. New Hampshire Ave. in Los Angeles, 1 block south of Wilshire Bl.)\\n*Angelica Serralde (Blue Demon Jr., el Legado) - Heriberto Frias 15, Mexico City.\\n* Sethe (main character of Toni Morrison's Beloved) - 124 Bluestone Road, Cincinnati, OH\\n* Ena Sharples (Coronation Street) - Glad Tidings Mission, 16 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\\n* The Simpsons - 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, USA\\n**15201 Maple Systems Road, Cypress Creek, USA (You Only Move Twice )\\n* Soprano family (The Sopranos); 633 Stag Trail Road in North Caldwell, New Jersey, USA\\n* SpongeBob SquarePants - 124 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\\n* Sabrina Spellman (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - 133 Collins Road, in the fictional town of Westbridge, USA\\n* Patrick Star (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 120 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\\n* Steadman family (Thirtysomething) - 1710 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Philadelphia, PA\\n* Stephens family (Bewitched) - 1164 Morning Glory Circle, Westport, CT\\n* Harold and Albert Steptoe (Steptoe and Son) - 24 Oil Drum Lane, Shepherd's Bush, UK.\\n* Stone family (The Donna Reed Show) - 4-3926 Hillsdale\\n*Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum -177A Bleecker Street in New York's Greenwich Village\\n* Sugarbaker Design Firm (Designing Women) - 1521 Sycamore, Atlanta, GA\\n* Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale, CA\\n* Superman and Lois Lane - 1938 Sulivan Lane, Metropolis, USA (in recent/current comics; 1938 being a tribute to the year of the character's comic book debut)\\nT\\n* Tanner family (ALF) - 167 Hemdale Street, Los Angeles, California\\n* Tanner family (Full House) - 1882 Gerard Street, San Francisco, California\\n* Albert Tatlock (Coronation Street) - 1 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\\n* Taylor family (The Andy Griffith Show) - 322 Maple, Mayberry, North Carolina\\n* Taylor family (Home Improvement) - 510 Glenview, Detroit, Michigan\\n* Tenenbaum family (The Royal Tenenbaums) - 111 Archer Avenue, New York City, New York\\n* Squidward Tentacles (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 122 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\\n* Eric Thursley (Faust Eric) - 13 Midden Lane, Pseudopolis, Sto Plains, The Discworld, On top of Great A'tuin, The Univers, Space. nr. More Space\\n* Aunt Dahlia, Mrs Travers (Jeeves and Wooster) - 47 Charles Street, Mayfair, London; Brinkley Court, Brinkley-cum-Snodsfield-in-the-Marsh, near Market Snodsbury, Worcs\\n* Tripper, Jack (Three's Company) - 834 Ocean Vista Avenue #201, Santa Monica, California, USA\\n* Trotter family (Only Fools and Horses) - Nelson Mandela House, Peckham, London\\n* Joy and Darnell Turner (My Name Is Earl) - Pimmit Hills Trailer Park, Space C-13, Camden, USA\\n* Jackie and Rose Tyler (Doctor Who) - Flat 48, Bucknall House, Powell Estate, London\\nV\\n* Vimes family (Discworld novels) - Ramkin Manor, Scoone Avenue, Ankh-Morpork\\nW\\n* Wallace and Gromit - 62 West Wallaby Street, Wigan, Lancs\\n* Walsh family (Beverly Hills 90210) - 933 Hillcrest Drive, Beverly Hills, California\\n* Waluigi (Mario Power Tennis) - 12 Grimace Lane, Mushroom Kingdom\\n* Bruce Wayne (Batman) - Wayne Manor, outside Gotham City (exact location unknown)\\n* Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, home and business of Fred and George Weasley - 93 Diagon Alley, London\\n* Wilkerson family ( Malcolm in the Middle ) - 12334 Maple Blvd.\\n* Lord Peter Wimsey - 110a Piccadilly, London\\n* Charles Emerson Winchester III (') - 16 Briarcliff Lane, Boston. \\\"Yes, yes, Massachusetts.\\\" (Though a remark by Colonel Flagg suggests the Winchester family actually lives in suburban Wellesley.)\\n* Sandy Winfield II and Kenny Madison - Surfside 6, Miami Beach address of detective agency set on a houseboat.\\n* Winslow family (Family Matters) - 263 Pinehurst, Chicago, Illinois\\n* Nero Wolfe - 454 West 35th Street, New York, New York ; also described in some of the novels as simply West 35th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, that location is the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.\\nX\\n* Xavier Institute for Higher Learning (X-Men) - 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, New York\\nZ\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124625,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"In August 2015 Hamas claimed to have intercepted an Israeli (What?) equipped for spying and armed attack?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Dolphin"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Hamas.txt\nHamas\nHamas ( ', an acronym of ' Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and, since 2007, has been the governing authority of the Gaza Strip.Richard Davis. [https://books.google.com/books?id\nbmaFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT68 Hamas, Popular Support and War in the Middle East: Insurgency in the Holy Land]. Routledge. 2016. pp. 67-69. \n\nHamas was founded in 1987, soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which in its Gaza branch had been non-confrontational towards Israel, refrained from resistance, and was hostile to the PLO. Co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987, and the Hamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The group has stated that it may accept a 10-year truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders and allows Palestinian refugees from 1948, as well as their descendants, to return to what is now Israel, although clarifying that this does not mean recognition of Israel or the end of the conflict. Hamas's military wing has objected to the truce offer. Analysts have said that it seems clear that Hamas knows that many of its conditions for the truce could never be met. \n\nThe military wing of Hamas has launched attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Tactics include suicide bombings, and since 2001, rocket attacks. Hamas's rocket arsenal, though mainly consisting of short-range homemade Qassam rockets, also includes long-range weapons that have reached major Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa. The attacks on civilians have been condemned as war crimes and crimes against humanity by human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch. \n\nIn the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas won a plurality in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the PLO-affiliated Fatah party. Following the elections, the Quartet (the United States, Russia, United Nations, and European Union) made future foreign assistance to the PA conditional upon the future government's commitment to non-violence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements. Hamas rejected those changes, which led to the Quartet suspending its foreign assistance program and Israel imposing economic sanctions on the Hamas-led administration. In March 2007, a national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was briefly formed, but this failed to restart international financial assistance. Tensions over control of Palestinian security forces soon erupted in the 2007 Battle of Gaza, after which Hamas took control of Gaza, while its officials were ousted from government positions in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, on the grounds that Fatah forces were no longer providing security there. In 2011, Hamas and Fatah announced a reconciliation agreement that provides for creation of a joint caretaker Palestinian government. Progress stalled, until an April 2014 agreement to form a compromise unity government, with elections to be held in late 2014. \n\nIn 2006, Hamas used an underground cross-border tunnel to capture the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, holding him captive until 2011, when he was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. Since then, Hamas has continued building a network of internal and cross-border tunnels, which are used to store and deploy weapons, shield militants, and facilitate cross-border attacks. Destroying the tunnels was a primary objective of Israeli forces in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. \n\nHamas, its military wing, together with several charities it runs, has been designated by several governments as a terrorist organization. Others regard this designation as problematic. Israel outlawed Hamas in 1989, in 1996 the United States followed suit, as did Canada in 2002. The European Union defined the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades as terrorist in 2001, and put Hamas in its list of terrorist organizations in 2003 but such designation was successfully challenged by Hamas in the courts. An Egyptian court ruled Hamas was a terrorist organization in 2015. Japan froze Hamas assets according to its legislation on terrorist entities in 2006. Australia and the United Kingdom have designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The organization is also banned in Jordan. It is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, and Brazil.\n\nEtymology\n\nHamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية or Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya, meaning \"Islamic Resistance Movement\". The Arabic word 'hamas' (حماس) means \"courage\" or \"zeal\". The Hamas covenant interprets its name to mean \"strength and bravery\".Jennifer Jefferis. [https://books.google.com/books?id\nrzRpCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and Its Future in Middle East Politics]. ABC-CLIO. 2016. p. 119. \n\nAims\n\nHamas, as its name (Islamic Resistance Movement), aims to liberate Palestine from the Israeli occupation by resisting it. \nAnd according to Hamas armed branch Al-Qassam Brigades:\n\n\"To contribute in the effort of liberating Palestine and restoring the rights of the Palestinian people under the sacred Islamic teachings of the Holy Quran, the Sunnah (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the traditions of Muslims rulers and scholars noted for their piety and dedication.\" \n\nAl-Qassam Brigades aims to liberate all of Palestine from what they describe as Zionist occupation, and to achieve the rights of the Palestinian people that were robbed by the occupation, and it consider itself part of the movement of a project of national liberation. \n\nLeadership and structure\n\nHamas inherited from its predecessor a tripartite structure that consisted in the provision of social services, of religious training and military operations under a Shura Council. Traditionally it had 4 distinct functions: a charitable social welfare division(dawah) (b) a military division for procuring weapons and undertaking operations (al-Mujahideen al Filastinun) (c)a security service (Jehaz Aman) and a (d) media branch (A’alam). Hamas has both an internal leadership within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and an external leadership, split between a Gaza group directed by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook from his exile first in Damascus and then in Egypt, and a Kuwaiti group (Kuwaidia) under Khaled Mashal. The Kuwaiti group of Palestinian exiles began to receive extensive funding from the Gulf States after its leader Mashal broke with Yasser Arafat's decision to side with Saddam Hussein in the Invasion of Kuwait, with Mashal insisting that Iraq withdraw. \n\nThe exact nature of the organization is unclear, secrecy being maintained for fear of Israeli assassinations and to conceal operational activities. Formally, Hamas maintains the wings are separate and independent. Matthew Levitt maintains this is a public myth. Davis argues that they are both separate and combined for reasons of internal and external political necessity. The thoroughness of Israeli intelligence surveillance and an extensive base of informants, makes communications between the political and military wings difficult. After the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, the occasional political direction of the militant wing diminished, with field commanders given discretional autonomy on operations. \n\nConsultative councils\n\nThe governing body is the Majlis al-Shura. The principle behind the Council is based on the Qur'anic concept of consultation and popular assembly (shura), which Hamas leaders argue provides for democracy within an Islamic frasmework. As the organization grew more complex and Israeli pressure increased it needed a broader base for decisions, the Shura Council was renamed the 'General Consultative Council', elected from members of local council groups and this in turn elected a 15-member Politburo (al-Maktab al-Siyasi) that made decisions at the highest level. Representatives come from Gaza, the West Bank, leaders in exile and Israeli prisons.Benedetta Berti, [https://books.google.com/books?id\nEUcDAAAAQBAJ&pgPA88 Armed Political Organizations: From Conflict to Integration,] JHU Press, 2013 p.88. This organ was located in Damascus until the Syrian Civil War led it to transfer to Qatar in January 2012, when Hamas sided with the civil opposition against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. \n\nSocial Services Wing\n\nHamas developed its social welfare programme by replicating the model established by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. In Islamic tradition dawah (lit.'the call to God') obliges the faithful to reach out to others by both proselytising and by charitable works, and typically the latter centre on the mosques which make use of both waqf endowment resources and charitable donations (zakat) to fund grassroots services like nurseries, schools, orphanages, soup kitchens, women's activities, library services and even sporting clubs within a larger context of preaching and political discussions. In the 1990s, some 85% of its budget was allocated to the provision of social services. It has been called perhaps the most significant social services actor in Palestine. By 2000 it or its affiliated charities ran roughly 40% of the social institutions in the West Bank and Gaza and, with other Islamic charities, by 2005 was supporting 120,000 individuals with monthly financial support in Gaza.Lihi Ben Shitrit, [https://books.google.com/books?id\nzUjuCQAAQBAJ&pgPA71 Righteous Transgressions: Women's Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right,] Princeton University Press, 2015 p.71. Part of the appeal of these institutions is that they fill a vacuum in the administration by the PLO of the Palestinian territories, which had failed to cater to the demand for jobs and broad social services, and is widely viewed as corrupt.David L. Phillips,[https://books.google.com/books?idcNq0gvBPcGQC&pg\nPA75 From Bullets to Ballots: Violent Muslim Movements in Transition,] Transaction Publishers, 2011 p.75. As late as 2005, the budget of Hamas, drawing on global charity contributions, was mostly tied up in covering running expenses for its social programmes, which extended from the supply of housing, food and water for the needy to more general functions like financial aid, medical assistance, educational development and religious instruction. A certain accounting flexibility allowed these funds to cover both charitable causes and military operations, permitting transfer from one to the other. \n\nThe dawah infrastructure itself was understood, within the Palestinian context, as providing the soil from which a militant opposition to the occupation would flower. In this regard it differs from the rival Palestinian Islamic Jihad which lacks any social welfare network, and relies on spectacular terrorist attacks to recruit adherents. In 2007, through funding from Iran, Hamas managed to allocate at a cost of $60 million, monthly stipends of $100 for 100,000 workers, and a similar sum for 3,000 fishermen [Blockade of the Gaza Strip#Effect on the fishing industry|laid idle by Israel's imposition of restrictions] on fishing offshore, plus grants totalling $45 million to detainees and their families. Matthew Levitt argues that Hamas grants to people are subject to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis of how beneficiaries will support Hamas, with those linked to terrorist activities receiving more than others. Israel holds the families of suicide bombers accountable and bulldozes their homes, whereas the families of Hamas activists who have been killed or wounded during militant operations are given an initial, one-time grant varying between $500–$5,000, together with a $100 monthly allowance. Rent assistance is also given to families whose homes have been destroyed by Israeli bombing though families unaffiliated with Hamas are said to receive less. \n\nUntil 2007, these activities extended to the West Bank, but, after a PLO crackdown, now continue exclusively in the Gaza Strip. After the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état deposed the elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Hamas found itself in a financial straightjacket and has since endeavoured to throw the burden of responsibility for public works infrastructure in the Gaza Strip back onto the Palestinian National Authority, but without success. \n\nMilitary wing\n\nThe Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing was formed in either mid-1991 Mohammad Najib and Roland Friedrich 'Non-Statutory Armed Groups and Security Sector Governance,' in Roland Friedrich, Arnold Luethold (eds.),[https://books.google.com/books?id\nicV4k__xMmgC&pgPA106 Entry-points to Palestinian Security Sector Reform,] DCAF, 2007 pp.101-127 p.103.This date is based on a Hamas operation that assassinated the rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom inside the Gaza Strip. or 1992,under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas field-commander and bomb-maker assassinated by Israel in 1996. It was constituted from units associated with the earlier al-Jihad wa Da’wa, an umbrella group that had gathered in militants from various Islamic resistance cells like the Al-Mujahidun al-Filastiniun (Palestinian fighters). established by Salah Shehade in 1986. \n\nThe wing takes its name from the prewar militant Palestinian nationalist Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, though Hamas cells sometimes refer to themselves as \"Students of Ayyash\", \"Students of the Engineer\", or \"Yahya Ayyash Units\". At the outset, weapons were hard to come by, and the organization began to resort to intermittent kidnappings of soldiers to secure arms and munitions. This approach had been justified two years earlier when, in the wake of the killing of some 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces dispersing protestors at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1990, Hamas had declared every Israeli soldier a legitimate target.Alincée Van Engeland,'Hamas,' in Jeffrey Ian Ross (ed.)[https://books.google.com/books?idMFfrBgAAQBAJ&pg\nPA319 Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present,] Routledge 2015 pp.319-323: p.319.\n\nAyyash, with a degree in electrical engineering, quickly improved Hamas's strike capacity by developing IEDs and promoting the tactic of suicide bombings. By the time of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Hamas's laboratories had devised a primitive form of rocketry, the Qassam 1,which they first launched in October 2000, carrying a 500 gram warhead with a throw range of 4 kilometres. Both propellant and the explosive were manufactured from chemical fertilizers, though TNT was also tried. Over the next 5 years of the conflict, a 3 kilogram warhead armed version with a strike range of 6-8 kilometres, the Qassam 2, was also produced and in an incremental rise, these rocket types were fired towards Israeli settlements along the Gaza Strip:4 in 2001,35 in 2002, 155 in 2003,281 in 2004, and 179 in 2005. By 2005, the Qassam 3 had been engineered with a 12-14 kilometre range and a 15 kilo warhead. By 2006, 942 such rockets were launched into southern Israel. During the War with Israel in 2008-9, Hamas deployed 122-mm Grad rocketry with a 20-40 kilometre range and a 30 kilogram warhead and a variety of guided Kornet antitank missiles. By 2012 Hamas had engineered a version of the Fajr-5 rocket, which was capable of reaching as far as Tel Aviv, as was shown after the assassination of Ahmed Jabari in that year. In the 2014 war its advanced rocketry reached Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Hamas deployed its increasingly sophisticated rocketry to replace its martyrdom operations. \n \nWhile the number of members is known only to the Brigades leadership, Israel estimates the Brigades have a core of several hundred members who receive military style training, including training in Iran and in Syria (before the Syrian Civil War).Mathieu Guidère, [https://books.google.com/books?id\ntCvhzGiDMYsC&pgPA173 Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism,] Scarecrow Press, 2012 p.173. Additionally, the brigades have an estimated 10,000-17,000 operatives, forming a backup force whenever circumstances call for reinforcements for the Brigade. Recruitment training lasts for 2 years.\n\nThe group's ideology outlines its aim as the liberation of Palestine and the restoration of Palestinian rights under the dispensations set forth in the Qur'an, and this translates into three policy priorities:\nTo evoke the spirit of Jihad (Resistance) among Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims; to defend Palestinians and their land against the Zionist occupation and its manifestations; to liberate Palestinians and their land that was usurped by the Zionist occupation forces and settlers. \nAccording to its official stipulations, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades' military operations are to be restricted to operating only inside Palestine, engaging with Israeli soldiers, and in exercising the right of self-defense against armed settlers. They are to avoid civilian targets, to respect the enemy's humanity by refraining from mutilation, defacement or excessive killing, and to avoid targeting Westerners either in the occupied zones or beyond. \n\nIn practice, Hamas altered its approach restricting actions to 'legitimate military targets' by extended them to Israeli civilians after 7 years. Though between 1996 and 2001 it generally refrained from targeting Israeli civilians, it adopted sporadic suicide bombings in the wake of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre when an Israeli settler in military fatigues, Baruch Goldstein, shot dead 29 Muslims at prayer in 1993.R.Kim Cragin,'Learning to Survive:The Case of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)', in James JF Forrest (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id1R79AAAAQBAJ&pg\nPA199 Teaching Terror: Strategic and Tactical Learning in the Terrorist World,] Rowman & Littlefield, 2006 pp.189-204 p.196. After the Al Aqsa revolt, the Brigades were behind most of the suicide bombings in Israel, a measure it defended as a form of 'reciprocity'.\n\nDown to 2007, the Brigades are estimated to have lost some 800 operatives in conflicts with Israeli forces. The leadership has been consistently undermined by targeted assassinations. Aside from Yahya Ayyash (5 January 1996), it has lost Emad Akel (24 November 1993) Salah Shehade, (23 July 2002), Ibrahim al-Makadmeh, (8 March 2003) Ismail Abu Shanab, (21 August 2003) Ahmed Yassin (March 22, 2004) and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi,( April 17, 2004)., \n\nAfter Israel arrested hundreds of its members in May 1989, Hamas regionalized its command system to make its operative structure more diffuse, and minimalize the chances of being detected.Jeroen Gunning, 'Hamas:Harakat al-Muqamama al-Islamiyya,' in Marianne Heiberg, Brendan O'Leary, John Tirman (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?idm8_pM7Ncij8C&pg\nPA134 Terror, Insurgency, and the State: Ending Protracted Conflicts,] University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007 pp.123-155 p.134. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades groups its fighters in 4-5 man cells, which in turn are integrated into companies and battalions. Unlike the political section, which is split between an internal and external structure, the Brigades are under a local Palestinian leadership, and disobedience with the decisions taken by the political leadership have been relatively rare. \n\nAlthough the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, the exact nature of the relationship is hotly debated:they appear to operate at times independently of Hamas, exercising a certain autonomy. Matthew Levitt,[https://books.google.com/books?idF5EmiYXQUcsC&pg\nPA89 Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks,] Rowman & Littlefield 2008 pp.89f. Some cells have independent links with the external leadership, enabling them to bypass the hierarchical command chain and political leadership in Gaza. Ilana Kass and Bard O'Neill, likening Hamas's relationship with the Brigades to the political party Sinn Féin's relationship to the military arm of the Irish Republican Army. quote a senior Hamas official as stating: \"The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade is a separate armed military wing, which has its own leaders who do not take their orders from Hamas and do not tell us of their plans in advance.\" Ilana Kass & Bard E. O'Neill, [https://books.google.com/books?idApANDp1XzmgC&pg\nPA267 The Deadly Embrace: The Impact of Israeli and Palestinian Rejectionism on the Peace Process,] National Institute for Public Policy/ University Press of America 1997, p. 267. Matthew Levitt on the other hand argues vocally for the idea that Hamas's welfare institutions act as a mere façade or front for the financing of terrorism, and dismisses the idea of two wings as a 'myth'.Julie C.Herrick,'Non-State Actors: A Comparative Analysis of Change and Development Within Hamas and Hezbollah,' in Bahgat Korany (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id\nxyMjPQDzIp8C&pg=PA179 The Changing Middle East: A New Look at Regional Dynamics,] American University in Cairo Press, 2010 pp.167-195, p.179. He cites Sheikh Ahmad Yassin stating in 1998: \"We can not separate the wing from the body. If we do so, the body will not be able to fly. Hamas is one body.\" \n\nFinances and Funding\n\nIn the 1993 Philadelphia conference Hamas leaders's statements indicated that they read George H. W. Bush's outline of as New World Order as embodying a tacit aim to destroy Islam, and that therefore funding should focus on enhancing the Islamic roots of Palestinian society and promoting jihad in the occupying territories. \n\nHamas's budget, calculated to be (2011) roughly $US70 million, is derived in large part (85%), from foreign, rather than internal Palestinian, sources. Only 2 Israeli-Palestinian sources figure in a list seized in 2004, while the other contributors were donor bodies located in Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Germany, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Italy and France. Much of the money raised comes from sources that direct their assistance to what Hamas describes as its charitable work for Palestinians, but investments in support of its ideological position are also relevant, with Persian Gulf States and Saudi Arabia prominent in the latter. Matthew Levitt states that Hamas also taps money from corporations, criminal organizations and financial networks that support terror, and is believed to engage in cigarette and drug smuggling, multimedia copyright infringement and credit card fraud.\nVittori states that, more than other similar organizations, it is particularly careful about keeping resources for its militant, political and pu blic works activities separate. The United States, Israel and the EU have shut down many charities and organs that channel money to Hamas, such as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief, Between 1992-2001 this group is said to have provided $6.8 million to Palestinian charities of the &57 million collected. By 2001 it was alleged to have given Hamas $13 million, and was shut down shortly afterwards. \n\nAbout half of Hamas's funding came from states in the Persian Gulf down to the mid 2000s. Saudi Arabia supplied half of the Hamas budget of $50 million in the early 2000s.Marsh E.Burfeindt, 'Rapprochement with Iran', in Thomas A. Johnson \n(ed.),[https://books.google.com/books?idtu5m8_0iUSoC&pg\nPA198 Power, National Security, and Transformational Global Events: Challenges Confronting America, China, and Iran,] CRC Press, 2012 pp.185-235 p.198. but, under U.S. pressure, began cut its funding by cracking down on Islamic charities and private donor transfers to Hamas in 2004,Jodi Vittori, [https://books.google.com/books?id\nra_GAAAAQBAJ&pgPA193 Terrorist Financing and Resourcing,] Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 pp.72-74, p.193 notes 50,51. which by 2006 drastically reduced the flow of money from that area. Iran and Syria, in the aftermath of Hamas's 2006 electoral victory stepped in to fill the shortfall. Saudi funding, negotiated with third parties like Egypt, remained supportive of Hamas as a Sunni group but chose to provide more assistance to the PNA, the electoral loser, when the EU responded to the outcome by suspending its monetary aid. Iran in the 1980s began by providing 10% of Hamas's funding, which it increased annually until by the 1990s it supplied $30 million, It accounted for $22 million, over a quarter of Hamas's budget, by the late 2000s, According to Matthew Levitt, Iran preferred direct financing to operative groups rather than charities, requiring video proof of attacks. Much of the Iran funding is said to be channeled through Hezbollah.\nAfter 2006 Iran's willingness to take over the burden of the shortfall created by the drying up of Saudi funding also reflected the geopolitical tensions between the two, since, though Shiite, Iran was supporting a Sunni group traditionally closely linked with the Saudi kingdom. The US imposed sanctions on Iran's Bank Saderat, alleging it had funneled hundreds of millions to Hamas. The US has expressed concerns that for Hamas obtains funds through Palestinian and Lebanese sympathizers of Arab descent in the Foz do Iguaçu area of the tri-border region of Latin America, an area long associated with arms trading, drug trafficking, contraband, the manufacture of counterfeit goods, money-laundering and currency fraud. The State Department, but add that confirmatory information of a Hamas operational presence there is lacking. \n\nAfter 2009, sanctions on Iran made funding difficult, forcing Hamas to rely on religious donations by individuals in the West Bank, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Funds, amounting to tens of millions of dollars raised in the Gulf states, were transferred through the Rafah Border Crossing. These were not sufficient to cover the costs of governing the Strip and running the al Qassam Brigades, and when tensions arose with Iran over support of President Assad in Syria, ran dropped its financial assistance to the government, restricting its funding to the military wing, which meant a drop from $150 million in 2012 to $60 million the following year. A further drop occurred in 2015 when Hamas expressed its criticisms of Iran's role in the Yemeni Civil War. \n\nHistory\n\n \n\nGaza Islamic roots and establishment of Hamas\n\nHamas rose as an offshoot of the Gaza Mujama al-Islamiya branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood,Ziyād Abū ʻAmr, [https://books.google.com/books?id\njrTG5sdLHD8C&pgPA16 Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad,] Indiana University Press, 1994 p.16.Rashmi Singh, [https://books.google.com/books?idAQ_TOiLtdtAC&pg\nPA153 Hamas and Suicide Terrorism: Multi-causal and Multi-level Approaches,] Routledge, 2013 p.153 n.70. which had been actively encouraged by Israel to expand as a counterweight to the influence of the secular Palestine Liberation Organization . and had since 1973 been quiescent and non-confrontational towards Israel. Aside from developing Islamic charities to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, it emphasized social justice (adala) and the subordination of the world to the sovereignty of God (hakmiyya).\nHamas was founded in 1987, soon after the outbreak of the First Intifada, the first popular uprising against the Israeli occupation.\nCreating Hamas to participate in the revolt was regarded as a survival measure to enable the Brotherhood itself, which refused to fight against Israel,[https://books.google.com/books?id\n9fQ3AwAAQBAJ&pgPA15 The World Almanac of Islamism: 2014,] American Foreign Policy Council/Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 (Hamas pp.272-278). to hold its own against other competing Palestinian nationalist groups. By forming a military wing distinct from its social charity organizations, it was hoped that the latter would be insulated from being targeted by Israel.Joshua L. Gleis, Benedetta Berti, [https://books.google.com/books?idvYBtwkj78BUC&pg\nPT111 Hezbollah and Hamas: A Comparative Study,] Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012 p.119:'In truth, the creation of Hamas as a separate entity from the Muslim Brotherhood was done precisely to prevent Israeli authorities from targeting the organizations' greater activities, in the hopes that it would leave them relatively immune. Moreover, Hamas was created essentially because the Islamicists connected to the Muslim Brotherhood feared that without their direct participation in the first Intifada, they would lose supporters to both the PIJ and the PLO, the latter of which was anxious to reassert itself in the Palestinian territories after being marginalized following its expulsion from Lebanon. As authors Mishal and Saela, explain, \"The Mujamma's decision to adopt a 'jihad now' policy against 'enemies of Allah' (through the creation of Hamas) was thus largely a matter of survival.'\nCo-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin was convinced that Israel was endeavouring to destroy Islam, and concluded that loyal Muslims had a religious obligation into destroy Israel.Laura Neack, [https://books.google.com/books?id\n7N9O-igbK_gC&pgPA101 The New Foreign Policy: Power Seeking in a Globalized Era,] Rowman & Littlefield 2008 p.101. The short term goal of Hamas was to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation . The long-term aim sought to establish an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.\n\nHamas Charter (1988)\n\nThe foundational document, the Hamas Charter (mīthāq ḥarakat 18 August 1988), declared all of Palestine waqf property endowed by God to Muslims,Gabriel Weimann,[https://books.google.com/books?id\n19iCbNOoYmIC&pg=PA82 Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges,] US Institute of Peace Press, 2006 p.82. with religious coexistence under Islam's wing. Like the Likud party platform, it rejects a two-state solution, envisaging no peaceful solution to the conflict apart from jihad. The antisemitic passages, widely cited as characterizing Hamas despite later policy changes in the organization regarding Israel, and the Jews, have never been revoked. \n\nThe Charter appears to preempt the possibility of Hamas accepting the Two State Solution. The Hamas 1988 charter states that the movement's aim is toraise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned' (Article 6) It adds that, 'when our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims.Mark A. Tessler [https://books.google.com/books?id\n3kbU4BIAcrQC&pg=PA696 A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,] Indiana University Press, 1994 pp.546,696 Mirroring the position outlined by Israeli political parties and movements like Likud and Gush Emunim, for which the whole of the land is non-negotiable, for Hamas, to concede territory is seen as equivalent to renouncing Islam itself. \n\nDecades down the line, Hamas's official position changed with regard to a two-state solution, though like the Likud platform, its charter's irredentist character has not been reformulated. Khaled Mashaal, its leader, has publicly affirmed the movement's readiness to accept such a division.David Whitten, Smith, Elizabeth Geraldine Burr, [https://books.google.com/books?id\n5v-iBAAAQBAJ&pgPA250 Understanding World Religions: A Road Map for Justice and Peace,] Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 p.250Peter Beinart, [https://books.google.com/books?idv0U1fjErMGkC&pg\nPT231 The Crisis of Zionism,] Melbourne University Press 2012 p.231:'If Israel withdraws to the borders of 1967, it doesn't mean that it gives us back all the land of the Palestinians. But we do consider this as an acceptable solution to have a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967'. When Hamas won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Haniyeh, then president-elect, sent messages to both George Bush and Israel's leaders asking to be recognized and offering a long-term truce (hudna), along the 1967 border lines. No response was forthcoming.Dr. Lorenzo Kamel, [http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.608906 'Why do Palestinians in Gaza support Hamas?,'] Haaretz 5 August 2014\n\nMousa Marzook said in 2007 that the charter could not be altered because it would look like a compromise not acceptable to the 'street' and risk fracturing the party's unity. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has stated that the Charter is \"a piece of history and no longer relevant, but cannot be changed for internal reasons\".Ahmed Yousef, senior adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, added in 2011 that it reflected the views of the Elders in the face of a 'relentless occupation.' The details of its religious and political language had not been examined within the framework of international law, and an internal committee review to amend it was shelved out of concern not to offer concessions to Israel, as had Fatah, on a silver platter. While Hamas representatives recognize the problem, one official notes that Arafat got very little in return for changing the PLO Charter under the Oslo Accords, and that there is agreement that little is gained from a non-violent approach.Matthew Duss, [http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/190832/remember-gaza 'Remember Gaza?,]' Tablet Magazine 8 May 2015.\nRichard Davis says the dismissal by contemporary leaders of its relevance and yet the suspension of a desire to rewrite it reflects the differing constituencies Hamas must address, the domestic audience and international relations. The charter itself is considered an 'historical relic.' \n\nIn March 2006, Hamas released its official legislative program. The document clearly signaled that Hamas could refer the issue of recognizing Israel to a national referendum. Under the heading \"Recognition of Israel,\" it stated simply (AFP, 3/11/06): \"The question of recognizing Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people.\" This was a major shift away from their 1988 charter. A few months later, via University of Maryland's Jerome Segal, the group sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush stating they \"don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders\", and asked for direct negotiations: \"Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and a truce for many years could be considered Hamas's de facto recognition of Israel.\" \n\nIn an April 2008 meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, an understanding was reached in which Hamas agreed it would respect the creation of a Palestinian state in the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, provided this were ratified by the Palestinian people in a referendum. Hamas later publicly offered a long-term truce with Israel if Israel agreed to return to its 1967 borders and grant the \"right of return\" to all Palestinian refugees. In November 2008, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh re-stated that Hamas was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and offered Israel a long-term truce \"if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights\". In 2009, in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Haniyeh repeated his group's support for a two-state settlement based on 1967 borders: \"We would never thwart efforts to create an independent Palestinian state with borders [from] June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.\" On December 1, 2010, Ismail Haniyeh again repeated, \"We accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the resolution of the issue of refugees,\" and \"Hamas will respect the results [of a referendum] regardless of whether it differs with its ideology and principles.\" \n\nIn February 2012, according to the Palestinian authority, Hamas forswore the use of violence. Evidence for this was provided by an eruption of violence from Islamic Jihad in March 2012 after an Israeli assassination of a Jihad leader, during which Hamas refrained from attacking Israel. \"Israel—despite its mantra that because Hamas is sovereign in Gaza it is responsible for what goes on there—almost seems to understand,\" wrote Israeli journalists Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, \"and has not bombed Hamas offices or installations\". \n\nIsrael has rejected some truce offers by Hamas because it contends the group uses them to prepare for more fighting rather than peace. The Atlantic magazine columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, along with other analysts, believes Hamas may be incapable of permanent reconciliation with Israel. Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University, writes that Hamas talks \"of hudna [temporary ceasefire], not of peace or reconciliation with Israel. They believe over time they will be strong enough to liberate all historic Palestine.\"\n\n1990s\n\nHamas carried out its first attack against Israel in 1989, abducting and killing two soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces immediately arrested Yassin and sentenced him to life in prison, and deported 400 Hamas activists, including Zahar, to South Lebanon, which at the time was occupied by Israel. During this time Hamas built a relationship with Hezbollah.\nHamas's military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was created in 1991. During the 1990s the al-Qassam Brigades conducted numerous attacks on Israel, with both civilian and military victims. In April 1993, suicide bombings in the West Bank began. After the February 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein of 30 Muslim civilians in a Hebron mosque, the al-Qassam Brigades began suicide attacks inside Israel. \n\nIn December 1992 Israel responded to the killing of a border police officer by deporting 415 leading figures of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to Lebanon, which provoked international condemnation and a unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the action. \n\nAlthough the suicide attacks by the al-Qassam Brigades and other groups violated the 1993 Oslo accords (which Hamas opposed ), Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was reluctant to pursue the attackers and may have had inadequate means to do so. Some analysts state that the Palestinian Authority could have stopped the suicide and other attacks on civilians but refused to do so. \n\nAccording to the Congressional Research Service, Hamas admitted to having executed Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israeli authorities in the 1990s. A transcript of a training film by the al-Qassam Brigades tells how Hamas operatives kidnapped Palestinians accused of collaboration and then forced confessions before executing them.\n\nIn 1996, Yahya Ayash, the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated by the Israeli secret service. \n\nIn September 1997, Israeli agents in Jordan attempted but failed to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, leading to chilled relations between the two countries and release of Sheikh Yassin, Hamas's spiritual leader, from Israeli prison. Two years later Hamas was banned in Jordan, reportedly in part at the request of the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. Jordan's King Abdullah feared the activities of Hamas and its Jordanian allies would jeopardize peace negotiations with Israel, and accused Hamas of engaging in illegitimate activities within Jordan. In mid-September 1999, authorities arrested Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal and Ibrahim Ghosheh on their return from a visit to Iran, and charged them with being members of an illegal organization, storing weapons, conducting military exercises, and using Jordan as a training base. Hamas leaders denied the charges. Mashal was exiled and eventually settled in Syria. He fled to Qatar in 2012 as a result of the Syrian civil war.\n\nSecond Intifada\n\nAl-Qassam Brigades militants were among the armed groups that launched both military-style attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli civilian and military targets during the Second Intifada (also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada (, Intifāat El Aqa; , Intifādat El-Aqtzah), which began in late September 2000. This Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied territories was much more violent than the First Intifada. The military and civilian death toll is estimated at 5500 Palestinians and more than 1100 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners. A 2007 study of Palestinian suicide bombings during the second intifada (September 2000 through August 2005) found that about 40 percent were carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades. \n\nThe immediate trigger for the uprising is disputed, but a more general cause, writes U.S. political science professor Jeremy Pressman, was \"popular Palestinian discontent [that] grew during the Oslo peace process because the reality on the ground did not match the expectations created by the peace agreements\". Hamas would be the beneficiary of this growing discontent in the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections.\n\nIn January 2004, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said that the group would end armed resistance against Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem, and that restoring Palestinians' \"historical rights\" (relating to the 1948 Palestinian exodus) \"would be left for future generations\". On January 25, 2004, senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year truce, or hudna, in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the complete withdrawal by Israel from the territories captured in the 1967 Six Day War. Al-Rantissi stated that Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was \"difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation\". Israel immediately dismissed al-Rantissi's statements as insincere and a smokescreen for military preparations. Yassin was assassinated on March 22, 2004, by a targeted Israeli air strike, and al-Rantisi was assassinated by a similar air strike on April 18, 2004. \n\n2006 presidential and legislative elections\n\nWhile Hamas boycotted the 2005 Palestinian presidential election, it did participate in the 2005 municipal elections organized by Yasser Arafat in the occupied territories. In those elections it won control of over one third of Palestinian municipal councils, besting Fatah, which had for long been the biggest force in Palestinian politics. \n\nIn its election manifesto for the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas omitted a call for an end to Israel, though it did still call for armed struggle against the occupation. Hamas won the 2006 elections, winning 76 of the 132 seats to Fatah's 43. Seen by many as primarily a rejection of the Fatah government's corruption and ineffectiveness, the Hamas victory seemingly had brought to an end 40 years of PLO domination of Palestinian politics. \n\nIn early February 2006, Hamas offered Israel a 10-year truce \"in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem,\" and recognition of Palestinian rights including the \"right of return\". Mashal added that Hamas was not calling for a final end to armed operations against Israel, and it would not impede other Palestinian groups from carrying out such operations. \n\nAfter the election, the Quartet on the Middle East (the United States, Russia, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations) stated that assistance to the Palestinian Authority would only continue if Hamas renounced violence, recognized Israel, and accepted previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements, which Hamas refused to do. The Quartet then imposed a freeze on all international aid to the Palestinian territories. \n\nIn 2006 after the Gaza election, Hamas leader sent a letter addressed to George W. Bush where he among other things declared that Hamas would accept a state on the 1967 borders including a truce. However, the Bush administration did not reply. \n\n;Electoral Platform for Change and Reform\nThe Change and Reform List adopts a set of principles stemming from the Islamic tradition that we embrace. We see these principles as agreed upon not only by our Palestinian people, but also by our Arab and Islamic nation as a whole. These principles are:\n\n# True Islam with its civilized achievements and political, economic, social, and legal aspects is our frame of reference and our way of life.\n# Historic Palestine is part of the Arab and Islamic land and its ownership by the Palestinian people is a right that does not diminish over time. No military or legal measures will change that right.\n# The Palestinian people, wherever they reside, constitute a single and united people and form an integral part of the Arab and Muslim nation ... [Quranic verse]. Our Palestinian people are still living a phase of national liberation, and thus they have the right to strive to recover their own rights and end the occupation using all means, including armed struggle. We have to make all our resources available to support our people and defeat the occupation and establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.\n# The right of return of all Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to their land and properties, and the right to self-determination and all other national rights, are inalienable and cannot be bargained away for any political concessions.\n# We uphold the indigenous and inalienable rights of our people to our land, Jerusalem, our holy places, our water resources, borders, and a fully sovereign independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.\n# Reinforcing and protecting Palestinian national unity is one of the priorities of the Palestinian national action.\n# The issue of the prisoners is at the top of the Palestinian agenda. \n\nLegislative policy and reforming the judiciary.\n\n\"stress the separation between the three powers, the legislative, executive and judicial; activate the role of the Constitutional Court; re-form the Judicial Supreme Council and choose its members by elections and on the basis of qualifications rather than partisan, personal, and social considerations ... ; enact the necessary laws that guarantee the neutrality of general prosecutor ... [and] laws that will stop any transgression by the executive power on the constitution\".\n\nPublic freedoms and citizen rights.\n\n\"Achieve equality before the law among citizens in rights and duties; bring security to all citizens and protect their properties and assure their safety against arbitrary arrest, torture, or revenge; stress the culture of dialogue ... ; support the press and media institutions and maintain the right of journalists to access and to publish information; maintain freedom and independence of professional syndicates and preserve the rights of their membership\".\n\nHamas–Fatah conflict\n\nAfter the formation of the Hamas-led cabinet on March 20, 2006, tensions between Fatah and Hamas militants progressively rose in the Gaza strip as Fatah commanders refused to take orders from the government while the Palestinian Authority initiated a campaign of demonstrations, assassinations and abductions against Hamas, which led to Hamas responding. Israeli intelligence warned Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas had planned to kill him at his office in Gaza. According to a Palestinian source close to Abbas, Hamas considers president Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over the Palestinian Authority and decided to kill him. In a statement to Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Mohammed Nazzal, accused Abbas of being party to besieging and isolating the Hamas-led government. \n\nOn June 9, 2006, during an Israeli artillery operation, an explosion occurred on a busy Gaza beach, killing eight Palestinian civilians. It was assumed that Israeli shellings were responsible for the killings, but Israeli government officials denied this. Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire on June 10, taking responsibility for the subsequent Qassam rocket attacks launched from Gaza into Israel. \n\nOn June 25, two Israeli soldiers were killed and another, Gilad Shalit, captured following an incursion by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Popular Resistance Committees and Army of Islam. In response, the Israeli military launched Operation Summer Rains three days later, to secure the release of the kidnapped soldier, arresting 64 Hamas officials. Among them were 8 Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers and up to 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, The arrests, along with other events, effectively prevented the Hamas-dominated legislature from functioning during most of its term. \n\nOn February 2007 Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca produced agreement on a signed by Mahmoud Abbas on behalf of Fatah and Khaled Mashal on behalf of Hamas. The new government was called on to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the Palestine National Council, the clauses of the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the \"Prisoners' Document\") as well as the decisions of the Arab summit. \n\nIn March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah. In June that year, renewed fighting broke out between Hamas and Fatah. In the course of the June 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas exploited the near total collapse of Palestinian Authority forces in Gaza, to seize control of Gaza, ousting Fatah officials. President Mahmoud Abbas then dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government. and outlawed the Hamas militia. At least 600 Palestinians died in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group, accused both sides in the conflict of torture and war crimes. \n\nHuman Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were \"maimed\" and tortured in the aftermath of the Gaza War. 73 Gazan men accused of \"collaborating\" had their arms and legs broken by \"unidentified perpetrators\" and 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel, who had escaped from Gaza's main prison compound after Israel bombed the facility, were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict. \n\nHamas security forces attacked hundreds Fatah officials who supported Israel. Human Rights Watch interviewed one such person:\n\nIn March 2012 Mahmoud Abbas stated that there were no political differences between Hamas and Fatah as they had reached agreement on a joint political platform and on a truce with Israel. Commenting on relations with Hamas, Abbas revealed in an interview with Al Jazeera that \"We agreed that the period of calm would be not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in the West Bank,\" adding that \"We also agreed on a peaceful popular resistance [against Israel], the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and that the peace talks would continue if Israel halted settlement construction and accepted our conditions.\"\n\nProgress has stalled, until an April 2014 agreement to form a compromise unity government, with elections to be held in late 2014.\n\n2008-09 Gaza War\n\nOn June 17, 2008, Egyptian mediators announced that an informal truce had been agreed to between Hamas and Israel. Hamas agreed to cease rocket attacks on Israel, while Israel agreed to allow limited commercial shipping across its border with Gaza, barring any breakdown of the tentative peace deal; Hamas also hinted that it would discuss the release of Gilad Shalit. Israeli sources state that Hamas also committed itself to enforce the ceasefire on the other Palestinian organizations. Even before the truce was agreed to, some on the Israeli side were not optimistic about it, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin stating in May 2008 that a ground incursion into Gaza was unavoidable and would more effectively quell arms smuggling and pressure Hamas into relinquishing power. \n\nWhile Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire, the lull was sporadically violated by other groups, sometimes in defiance of Hamas. For example, on June 24 Islamic Jihad launched rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot; Israel called the attack a grave violation of the informal truce, and closed its border crossings with Gaza. On November 4, 2008, Israeli forces, in an attempt to stop construction of a tunnel, killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas responded by resuming rocket attacks, a total of 190 rockets in November according to Israel's military. \n\nWith the six-month truce officially expired on December 19, Hamas launched 50 to more than 70 rockets and mortars into Israel over the next three days, though no Israelis were injured. On December 21, Hamas said it was ready to stop the attacks and renew the truce if Israel stopped its \"aggression\" in Gaza and opened up its border crossings. \n\nOn December 27 and 28, Israel implemented Operation Cast Lead against Hamas. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said \"We warned Hamas repeatedly that rejecting the truce would push Israel to aggression against Gaza.\" According to Palestinian officials, over 280 people were killed and 600 were injured in the first two days of airstrikes. Most were Hamas police and security officers, though many civilians also died. According to Israel, militant training camps, rocket-manufacturing facilities and weapons warehouses that had been pre-identified were hit, and later they attacked rocket and mortar squads who fired around 180 rockets and mortars at Israeli communities. Chief of Gaza police force Tawfiq Jabber, head of the General Security Service Salah Abu Shrakh, senior religious authority and security officer Nizar Rayyan, and Interior Minister Said Seyam were among those killed during the fighting. Although Israel sent out thousands of cell-phone messages urging residents of Gaza to leave houses where weapons may be stored, in an attempt to minimise civilian casualties, some residents complained there was nowhere to go because many neighborhoods had received the same message. Israeli bombs landed close to civilian structures such as schools, and some alleged that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians. \n\nIsrael declared a unilateral ceasefire on January 17, 2009. Hamas responded the following day by announcing a one-week ceasefire to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Israeli, Palestinian, and third-party sources disagreed on the total casualty figures from the Gaza war, and the number of Palestinian casualties who were civilians. In November 2010, a senior Hamas official acknowledged that up to 300 fighters were killed and \"In addition to them, between 200 and 300 fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades and another 150 security forces were martyred.\" These new numbers reconcile the total with those of the Israeli military, which originally said were 709 \"terror operatives\" killed. \n\nAfter the Gaza War\n\nOn August 16, 2009, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal stated that the organization is ready to open dialogue with the Obama administration because its policies are much better than those of former U.S. president George W. Bush: \"As long as there's a new language, we welcome it, but we want to see not only a change of language, but also a change of policies on the ground. We have said that we are prepared to cooperate with the US or any other international party that would enable the Palestinians to get rid of occupation.\" Despite this, an August 30, 2009 speech during a visit to Jordan in which Mashal expressed support for the Palestinian right of return was interpreted by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a sign that \"Hamas has now clearly opted out of diplomacy.\" In an interview on May 2010, Mashal said that if a Palestinian state with real sovereignty was established under the conditions he set out, on the borders of 1967 with its capital Jerusalem and with the right of return, that will be the end of the Palestinian resistance, and then the nature of any subsequent ties with Israel would be decided democratically by the Palestinians. \n\nIn July 2009, Khaled Mashal, Hamas's political bureau chief, stated Hamas's willingness to cooperate with a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which included a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, provided that Palestinian refugees be given the right to return to Israel and that East Jerusalem be recognized as the new state's capital. \n\nIn 2011, after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, Hamas distanced itself from the Syrian regime and its members began leaving Syria. Where once there were \"hundreds of exiled Palestinian officials and their relatives\", that number shrunk to \"a few dozen\". In 2012, Hamas publicly announced its support for the Syrian opposition. This prompted Syrian state TV to issue a \"withering attack\" on the Hamas leadership.[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/world/middleeast/syrian-state-tv-lashes-out-at-hamas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?hp&_r\n0 \"Syria Berates Hamas Chief, an Old Ally, on State TV\"]. The New York Times, October 2, 2012. Khaled Mashal said that Hamas had been \"forced out\" of Damascus because of its disagreements with the Syrian regime. In late October, Syrian Army soldiers shot dead two Hamas leaders in Daraa refugee camp. On November 5, 2012, the Syrian state security forces shut down all Hamas offices in the country. In January 2013, another two Hamas members were found dead in Syria's Husseinieh camp. Activists said the two had been arrested and executed by state security forces. In 2013, it was reported that the military wing of Hamas had begun training units of the Free Syrian Army. \n\nIn 2013, after \"several intense weeks of indirect three-way diplomacy between representatives of Hamas, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority\", no agreement was reached. Also, intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks stalled and, as a result, during Obama's visit to Israel, Hamas launched five rocket strikes on Israel. In November, Isra Almodallal was appointed the first spokeswoman of the group. \n\n2014 Israel–Gaza conflict\n\nOn 8 July 2014 Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to counter increased Hamas rocket fire from Gaza. The conflict ended with a permanent cease-fire after 7 weeks, and more than 2,200 dead. 64 of the dead were Israeli soldiers, 7 were civilians in Israel (from rocket attacks), and 2,101 were killed in Gaza, of which according to UN OCHA at least 1,460 were civilians. Israel says 1,000 of the dead were militants. Following the conflict, Mahmoud Abbas president of the Palestinian Authority, accused Hamas of needlessly extending the fighting in the Gaza Strip, contributing to the high death toll, of running a \"shadow government\" in Gaza, and of illegally executing scores of Palestinians. \n\nHamas has complained about the slow delivery of reconstruction materials after the conflict and announced that they were diverting these materials from civilian uses to build more infiltration tunnels. \n\nMedia\n\nIn 2005, Hamas announced its intention to launch an experimental TV channel, Al-Aqsa TV. The station was launched on January 7, 2006, less than three weeks before the Palestinian legislative elections. It has shown television programs, including some children's television, which deliver anti-semitic messages. Hamas has stated that the television station is \"an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement,\" and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views. \n\nHamas produced several propaganda songs aimed to scare Israeli citizen including Shock Israel's Security and \"Go, call a Gazan to rip Giv'ati\". \n\nIslamization efforts\n\nIn the Gaza Strip\n\nThe gender ideology outlined in the Hamas charter, the importance of women in the religious-nationalist project of liberation is asserted, while defining that role as one of manufacturing males and caring for their upbringing and rearing. This is not too different from Fatah's view of women in the First Intifada and resembles also Jewish settlers' outlook, and over time has be subject to change. \n\nIn 1989 to 1989, during the first intifada, a small number of Hamas followers campaigned for the wearing of the hijab, which is not a part of traditional women's attire in Palestine, also insisting women stay at home and be segregated from men, polygamy. In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'. The harassment dropped drastically when, after 18 months UNLU condemned it, though similar campaigns reoccurred.\n\nSince Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, some of its members have attempted to impose Islamic dress or the hijab head covering on women. Also, the government's \"Islamic Endowment Ministry\" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing, and dating. However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women. \n\nHamas officials deny having any plans to impose Islamic law, one legislator stating that \"What you are seeing are incidents, not policy,\" and that Islamic law is the desired standard \"but we believe in persuasion\". The Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. When the BBC in 2010 interviewed five \"middle-class\" women in Gaza City, the subjects generally indicated Hamas attempts to enforce conservative religious standards of dress had been largely rejected by the local population, with some expressing concern that the closure of Gaza would allow the proliferation of extremist enforcement attempts by low-level Hamas officials, and others indicating they were happy to see Hamas enforcing such requirements. They also cited examples of leniency by Hamas authorities, such as allowing widowed women to keep custody of their children so long as they did not remarry, and other relaxations in the enforcement of Shariah law. One woman noted that the environment was \"not as bad\" as during the First Intifada, when women were subject to public criticism and stonings for failure to obey conservative Islamic standards of dress. One woman complained that women were not free to speak their minds or travel alone, and added: \"Hamas want to force themselves onto the people. They want the people to submit to them, this is their cover. They destroyed the reputation of Islam, by saying we're doing this because it is religion. This is how they won the elections.\" \n\nIn 2013, UNRWA canceled its annual marathon in Gaza after Hamas rulers prohibited women from participating in the race. \n\nIn the West Bank\n\nIn 2005, the human rights organization Freemuse released a report titled \"Palestine: Taliban-like attempts to censor music\", which said that Palestinian musicians feared that harsh religious laws against music and concerts will be imposed since Hamas group scored political gains in the Palestinian Authority local elections of 2005. \n\nThe attempt by Hamas to dictate a cultural code of conduct in the 1980s and early 1990s led to a violent fighting between different Palestinian sectors. Hamas members reportedly burned down stores that stocked videos they deemed indecent and destroyed books they described as \"heretical\".\n\nIn 2005, an outdoor music and dance performance in Qalqiliya were suddenly banned by the Hamas led municipality, for the reason that such an event would be forbidden by Islam, or \"Haram\". The municipality also ordered that music no longer be played in the Qalqiliya zoo, and mufti Akrameh Sabri issued a religious edict affirming the municipality decision. In response, the Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish warned that \"There are Taliban-type elements in our society, and this is a very dangerous sign.\" \n\nThe Palestinian columnist Mohammed Abd Al-Hamid, a resident of Ramallah, wrote that this religious coercion could cause the migration of artists, and said \"The religious fanatics in Algeria destroyed every cultural symbol, shattered statues and rare works of art and liquidated intellectuals and artists, reporters and authors, ballet dancers and singers – are we going to imitate the Algerian and Afghani examples?\" \n\nTayyip Erdoğan's Turkey as a role model\n\nSome Hamas members stated that the model of Islamic government that Hamas seeks to emulate is that of Turkey under the rule of Tayyip Erdoğan. The foremost members to distance Hamas from the practices of Taliban and to publicly support the Erdoğan model were Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad, advisers to Prime Minister Hanieh. Yusuf, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, reflected this goal in an interview to a Turkish newspaper, stating that while foreign public opinion equates Hamas with the Taliban or al-Qaeda, the analogy is inaccurate. Yusuf described the Taliban as \"opposed to everything,\" including education and women's rights, while Hamas wants to establish good relations between the religious and secular elements of society and strives for human rights, democracy and an open society. According to professor Yezid Sayigh of the King's College in London, how influential this view is within Hamas is uncertain, since both Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad were dismissed from their posts as advisers to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Hanieh in October 2007. Both have since been appointed to other prominent positions within the Hamas government. Khaled al-Hroub of the West Bank-based and anti-Hamas Palestinian daily Al Ayyam added that despite claims by Hamas leaders that it wants to repeat the Turkish model of Islam, \"what is happening on the ground in reality is a replica of the Taliban model of Islam.\" \n\nAntisemitism and anti-Zionism\n\nAccording to academic Esther Webman, antisemitism is not the main tenet of Hamas ideology, although antisemitic rhetoric is frequent and intense in Hamas leaflets. The leaflets generally do not differentiate between Jews and Zionists. In other Hamas publications and in interviews with its leaders attempts at this differentiation have been made.Webman, Esther. Anti-semitic Motifs in the Ideology of Hizballah and Hamas, Project for the study of Anti-semitism, Tel Aviv University, 1994, p. 22. ISBN 965-222-592-4 In 2009 representatives of the small Jewish sect Neturei Karta met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, who stated that he held nothing against Jews but only against the state of Israel. Some commentators have pointed out parallels between Hamas's youth organization and Hitler Youth. According to writer Tom Doran, Hamas is not recognized as a neo-Nazi group because its members are not \"white Christians\". \n\nHamas has made conflicting statements about its readiness to recognize Israel. In 2006 a spokesman signaled readiness to recognize Israel within the 1967 borders. Speaking of requests for Hamas to recognize agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, senior Hamas member Khaled Suleiman said that \"these agreements are a reality which we view as such, and therefore I see no problem.\" Also in 2006, a Hamas official ruled out recognition of Israel with reference to West and East Germany, which never recognized each other. \n\nHamas Charter (1988)\n\n* Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant provides the following quotation, attributed to Muhammad:\n\n\"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.\"\n\n* Article 22 states that the French revolution, the Russian revolution, colonialism and both world wars were created by the Zionists or forces supportive of Zionism:\n\n\"You may speak as much as you want about regional and world wars. They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it.\" \n\n* Article 32 of the Covenant refers to an antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion:\n\"Today it is Palestine, tomorrow it will be one country or another. The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.\"\n\nStatements by Hamas members and clerics to an Arab audience\n\nIn 2008, Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas said in his sermon at the Katib Wilayat mosque in Gaza that \"Jews are a people who cannot be trusted. They have been traitors to all agreements. Go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing.\" \n\nAnother Hamas legislator and imam, Sheik Yunus al-Astal, discussed a Koranic verse suggesting that \"suffering by fire is the Jews' destiny in this world and the next.\" He concluded \"Therefore we are sure that the Holocaust is still to come upon the Jews.\"\n\nFollowing the rededication of the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem in March 2010, senior Hamas figure al-Zahar called on Palestinians everywhere to observe five minutes of silence \"for Israel's disappearance and to identify with Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque\". He further stated that \"Wherever you have been you've been sent to your destruction. You've killed and murdered your prophets and you have always dealt in loan-sharking and destruction. You've made a deal with the devil and with destruction itself – just like your synagogue.\" \n\nOn August 10, 2012, Ahmad Bahr, Deputy Speaker of the Hamas Parliament, stated in a sermon that aired on Al-Aqsa TV:\n\nIf the enemy sets foot on a single square inch of Islamic land, Jihad becomes an individual duty, incumbent on every Muslim, male or female. A woman may set out [on Jihad] without her husband's permission, and a servant without his master's permission. Why? In order to annihilate those Jews.... O Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. O Allah, destroy the Americans and their supporters. O Allah, count them one by one, and kill them all, without leaving a single one. \n\nIn an interview with Al-Aqsa TV in September 12, 2012, Marwan Abu Ras, a Hamas MP, who is also a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, stated (as translated by MEMRI):\n\nOn December 26, 2012, Senior Hamas official and Jerusalem bureau chief Ahmed Abu Haliba, called on \"all Palestinian factions to resume suicide attacks ... deep inside the Zionist enemy\" and said that \"we must renew the resistance to occupation in any possible way, above all through armed resistance.\" Abu Haliba suggested the use of suicide bombings as a response to Israel's plans to build housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. \n\nIn an interview on Lebanese television on July 28, 2014, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan claimed:\n\nStatements by Hamas members and clerics to an international audience\n\nIn an interview with CBS This Morning in July 27, 2014, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal stated:\n\nOn January 8, 2012, during a visit to Tunis, Gazan Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh told The Associated Press on that he disagrees with the anti-Semitic slogans. \"We are not against the Jews because they are Jews. Our problem is with those occupying the land of Palestine,\" he said. \"There are Jews all over the world, but Hamas does not target them.\" \n\nIn response to a statement by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas preferred non-violent means and had agreed to adopt \"peaceful resistance,\" Hamas contradicted Abbas. According to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri, \"We had agreed to give popular resistance precedence in the West Bank, but this does not come at the expense of armed resistance.\" \n\nIn May 2009, senior Hamas MP Sayed Abu Musameh said, \"in our culture, we respect every foreigner, especially Jews and Christians, but we are against Zionists, not as nationalists but as fascists and racists.\" In the same interview, he also said, \"I hate all kinds of weapons. I dream of seeing every weapon from the atomic bomb to small guns banned everywhere.\"\n\nIn January 2009, Gazan Hamas Health Minister Basim Naim published a letter in The Guardian, stating that Hamas has no quarrel with Jewish people, only with the actions of Israel. \n\nIn October 1994, in a response to Isreael's crackdown on Hamas militants following a suicide bombing on a Tel Aviv bus, Hamas promised retaliation: \"Rabin must know that Hamas loves death more than Rabin and his soldiers love life.\" The statement added that \"Hamas will not hesitate to retaliate severely against any attempt to harm our leaders.\"\n\nStatements on the Holocaust\n\nHamas has been explicit in its Holocaust Denial. In reaction to the Stockholm conference on the Jewish Holocaust, held in late January 2000, Hamas issued a press release that it published on its official website, containing the following statements from a senior leader:\nThis conference bears a clear Zionist goal, aimed at forging history by hiding the truth about the so-called Holocaust, which is an alleged and invented story with no basis. (...) The invention of these grand illusions of an alleged crime that never occurred, ignoring the millions of dead European victims of Nazism during the war, clearly reveals the racist Zionist face, which believes in the superiority of the Jewish race over the rest of the nations. (...) By these methods, the Jews in the world flout scientific methods of research whenever that research contradicts their racist interests. In August 2003, senior Hamas official Dr Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi wrote in the Hamas newspaper Al-Risala that the Zionists encouraged murder of Jews by the Nazis with the aim of forcing them to immigrate to Palestine. \n\nIn 2005, Khaled Mashal called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's December 14, 2005 statements on the Holocaust that Europeans had \"created a myth in the name of Holocaust\" ) as \"courageous\". Later in 2008, Basim Naim, the minister of health in the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government in Gaza countered holocaust denial, and said \"it should be made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian government in Gaza denies the Nazi Holocaust. The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. We condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality.\" \n\nIn an open letter to Gaza Strip UNRWA chief John Ging published August 20, 2009, the movement's Popular Committees for Refugees called the Holocaust \"a lie invented by the Zionists,\" adding that the group refused to let Gazan children study it. Hamas leader Younis al-Astal continued by saying that having the Holocaust included in the UNRWA curriculum for Gaza students amounted to \"marketing a lie and spreading it\". Al-Astal continued \"I do not exaggerate when I say this issue is a war crime, because of how it serves the Zionist colonizers and deals with their hypocrisy and lies.\" \n\nIn February 2011, Hamas voiced opposition to UNRWA's teaching of the Holocaust in Gaza. According to Hamas, \"Holocaust studies in refugee camps is a contemptible plot and serves the Zionist entity with a goal of creating a reality and telling stories in order to justify acts of slaughter against the Palestinian people.\" \n\nIn July 2012, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, denounced a visit by Ziad al-Bandak, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to the Auschwitz death camp, saying it was \"unjustified\" and \"unhelpful\" and only served the \"Zionist occupation\" while coming \"at the expense of a real Palestinian tragedy\". He also called the Holocaust an \"alleged tragedy\" and \"exaggerated\". \n\nIn October 2012, Hamas said that they were opposed to teaching about the Holocaust in Gaza Strip schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. The Refugee Affairs Department of Hamas said that teaching the Holocaust was a \"crime against the issue of the refugees that is aimed at canceling their right of return\". \n\nInternational Positions on Hamas\n\nHamas, together with several charities it runs, has been designated by several governments and some academics as a terrorist organization. Others regard this designation as problematical. Israel outlawed Hamas in September 1989 The United States followed suit in 1995, as did Canada in November 2002.[https://books.google.com/books?id\n9fQ3AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 The World Almanac of Islamism: 2014,] American Foreign Policy Council/Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 p.15. The European Union outlawed its military wing in 2001 and included Hamas in its list of terrorist organizations in 2003, which Hamas successfully challenged in the courts, and has continued to do so under American and Israeli pressure. Egypt, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom have designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The organization is banned in Jordan. It is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, and Brazil, \n\nCriticism\n\nProximity to civilians during warfare\n\nAfter Operation Pillar of Defense, Human Rights Watch stated that Palestinian groups had endangered civilians by \"repeatedly fired rockets from densely populated areas, near homes, businesses, and a hotel\" and noted that under international law, parties to a conflict may not to place military targets in or near densely populated areas. One rocket was launched close to the Shawa and Housari Building, where various Palestinian and international media have offices; another was fired from the yard of a house near the Deira Hotel. New York Times journalist Steven Erlanger reported that \"Hamas rocket and weapons caches, including rocket launchers, have been discovered in and under mosques, schools and civilian homes.\" Another report published by Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center revealed that Hamas used close to 100 mosques to store weapons and as launch-pads to shoot rockets. The report contains testimony from variety Palestinian sources, including a Hamas militant Sabhi Majad Atar, who said he was taught how to shoot rockets from inside a mosque. Hamas has also been criticized by Israeli officials for blending into or hiding among the Palestinian civilian population During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict. The Israeli government published what it said was video evidence of human shield tactics by Hamas. Israel said that Hamas frequently used mosques and school yards as hideouts and places to store weapons, and that Hamas militants stored weapons in their homes, making it difficult to ensure that civilians close to legitimate military targets are not hurt during Israeli military operations. Israeli officials also accused the Hamas leadership of hiding under Shifa Hospital during the conflict, using the patients inside to deter an Israeli attack. \n\nThe Israeli government filed a report entitled \"Gaza Operations Investigation: Second Update\" to the United Nations accusing Hamas of exploiting its rules of engagement by shooting rockets and launching attacks within protected civilian areas. Israel says 12,000 rockets and mortars were fired at it between 2000 and 2008—nearly 3,000 in 2008 alone. \n\nIn one case, an errant Israeli mortar strike killed dozens of people near a UN school. Hamas said that the mortar killed 42 people and left dozens wounded. Israel said that Hamas militants had launched a rocket from a yard adjacent to the school and one mortar of three rounds hit the school, due to a GPS error. According to the Israeli military probe, the remaining two rounds hit the yard used to launch rockets into Israel, killing two members of Hamas's military wing who fired the rockets. \n\nHuman Right Watch called Hamas to \"publicly renounce\" the rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and hold those responsible to account. Human Right Watch program director Iain Levine said the attacks by Hamas were \"unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes\", and accused Hamas of putting Palestinians at risk by launching attacks from built-up areas. Hamas spokesman relied that the report was \"biased\" and he denied that Hamas uses human shields.\n\nHuman Rights Watch investigated 19 incidents involving 53 civilian deaths in Gaza that Israel said were the result of Hamas fighting in densely populated areas and did not find evidence for existence of Palestinian fighters in the areas at the time of the Israeli attack. In other cases where no civilians had died, the report concluded that Hamas may have deliberately fired rockets from areas close to civilians. HRW also investigated 11 deaths that Israel said were civilians being used as human shields by Hamas. HRW found no evidence that the civilians were used as human shields, nor had they been shot in crossfire. \n\nThe Israeli 'human shields' charge against Hamas was called \"full of holes\" by The National (UAE), which stated that only Israel accused Hamas of using human shields during the conflict, though Hamas \"may be guilty\" of \"locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas\" and for \"deliberately firing indiscriminate weapons into civilian populated areas\". \n\nOn July 8, 2014, Hamas's spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri encouraged the \"policy of people confronting the Israeli warplanes with their bare chests\", saying it has proven itself. \n\nOne survey of Gazan residents addressed the subject of human shields during the 2014 war, with respondents issuing statements such as \"People received warnings from the Israelis and tried to evacuate...Hamas shot some of those people...the rest were forced to return to their homes and get bombed\"; \"Hamas imposed a curfew: anyone walking out in the street was shot without being asked any questions. That way Hamas made sure people had to stay in their homes even if they were about to get bombed\"; and \"My father received a text-message from the Israeli army warning him that our area was going to be bombed, and Hamas prevented us from leaving.\" Israeli soldiers recounted \"Suddenly, a small boy appeared, and the terrorist grabbed him and escaped with him\"; \"I saw with my own eyes someone using another person, a woman, as a shield...And I can see very clearly that the woman doesn't want to be there and he's pulling her with him\"; and \"We even found explosives in nurseries. The whole neighborhood was practically a terrorist base.\" \n\nRocket and mortar attacks\n\nRocket attacks by Hamas have been condemned by Human rights organizations as war crimes, both because they usually take aim at civilians and because the weapons' inaccuracy would disproportionately endanger civilians even if military targets were chosen. After Operation Pillar of Defense, Human Rights Watch stated that armed Palestinian groups fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities, violating international humanitarian law, and that statements by Palestinian groups that they deliberately targeted Israeli civilians demonstrated an \"intent to commit war crimes\". HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said that Palestinian groups made clear that \"harming civilians was their aim\" and said that launching rockets at populated areas had no legal justification. International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks on civilians and intentional violations can be war crimes.\n\nIn July 2008 Barack Obama, then the Democratic presidential candidate, said: \"If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.\" On December 28, 2008, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement: \"the United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.\" On March 2, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks. \n\nChildren\n\nChildren and women as human shields\n\nIsrael has accused Hamas of using children as human shields. The Israeli government released video footage in which it claims two militants are shown grabbing a young boy's arm from behind holding him to walk in front of them toward a group of people waiting near a wall. The IDF argues the militants were placing the boy between themselves and an Israeli sniper. The second scene shows an individual, described as a terrorist, grabbing a school boy off of a floor, where he is hiding behind a column from IDF fire, and using him as a human shield to walk to a different location. \n\nAfter 15 alleged militants sought refuge in a mosque from Israeli forces, the BBC reported that Hamas radio instructed local women to go the mosque to protect the militants. Two women were later killed when Israeli forces opened fire.\n\nIn November 2006, the Israeli Air Force warned Muhammad Weil Baroud, commander of the Popular Resistance Committees who are accused of launching rockets into Israeli territory, to evacuate his home in a Jabalya refugee camp apartment block in advance of a planned Israeli air strike. Baroud responded by calling for volunteers to protect the apartment block and nearby buildings and, according to The Jerusalem Post, hundreds of local residents, mostly women and children, responded. Israel suspended the air strike. Israel termed the action an example of Hamas using human shields. In response to the incident, Hamas proclaimed: 'We won. From now on we will form human chains around every house threatened with demolition.'\" In a November 22 press release, Human Rights Watch condemned Hamas, stating: \"There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack. Whether or not the home is a legitimate military target, knowingly asking civilians to stand in harm's way is unlawful.\" Following criticism, Human rights Watch issued a statement saying that their initial assessment of the situation was in error. They stated that, on the basis of available evidence, the home demolition was in fact an administrative act, viewed in the context of Israel's longstanding policy of punitive home demolitions, not a military act and thus would not fall within the purview of the law regulating hostilities during armed conflict, which had been the basis for their initial criticism of Hamas.\n\nWhen the UN-sponsored Goldstone Commission Report on the Gaza War was commissioned in 2009, it stated that it \"found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from attack\" though they deemed credible reports that Palestinian militants were \"not always dressed in a way that distinguished them from civilians\". \n\nHamas MP Fathi Hamed stated that \"For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel ... the elderly excel at this ... and so do the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children.\" \n\nFollowing the release of the Goldstone Report, the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan Col. Richard Kemp was invited to testify at the UN Human Rights Council 12th Special Session that during Operation Cast Lead Israel encountered an \"enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population\". \n\nChildren as combatants\n\nThe Israeli government released a video compiled mostly from Arab news sources showing Palestinian children under the age of 15 going through military training and carrying and firing arms. The video's narration explains that Hamas indoctrinates these child combatants and that Hamas operators send the children \"on missions from which they would not risk their own lives\". According to the Israeli government, the children are used as spotters, to transport explosives and weapons, sent to play in areas to deter Israeli attacks and are sent unknowingly with explosive devices in their schoolbags to be blown up in the vicinity of Israelis. The United Nations defines the use of children for military purposes as a war crime and a form of slavery. See Military use of children.\n\nAlthough Hamas admits to sponsoring summer schools to train teenagers in handling weapons they condemn attacks by children. Following the deaths of three teenagers during a 2002 attack on Netzarim in central Gaza, Hamas banned attacks by children and \"called on the teachers and religious leaders to spread the message of restraint among young boys\". \n\nHamas's use of child labor to build tunnels with which to attack Israel has also been criticized, with at least 160 children killed in the tunnels as of 2012. \n\nChildren's magazine\n\nAl-Fateh (\"the conqueror\") is the Hamas children's magazine, published biweekly in London, and also posted in an online website. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine features stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, and states it is for \"the young builders of the future\". \n\nAccording to MEMRI (three of whose seven founding staff had formerly served in the IDF), the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations and of their planners and perpetrators. as well as characterizations of Jews as \"murderers of the prophets\" and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews. In each issue, a regular feature titled \"The Story of a Martyr\" presents the \"heroic deeds\" of a mujahid from one of the organizations who died in a suicide operation, including operations against civilians, or who was killed by the IDF. MEMRI also noted that the magazine includes illustrations of figures, including child warriors, who embody the ethos of jihad and martyrdom, presenting them as role models. These include the magazine's titular character, Al-Fateh (\"The Conqueror\")—a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn scimitar—as well as children carrying guns, and photos of Hamas fighters launching Qassam rockets. \n\nAl-Aqsa TV\n\nAl-Aqsa TV is a television channel founded by Hamas. The station began broadcasting in the Gaza Strip on January 9, 2006., news24.com, January 22, 2006 Its programming includes ideologically tinged children's shows, news talk, and religiously inspired entertainment. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the station promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis. Hamas has stated that the television station is \"an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement,\" and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views.\n\nAl-Aqsa TV is headed by Fathi Ahmad Hammad, chairman of al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Productions—a Hamas-run company that also produces Hamas's radio station, Voice of al-Aqsa, and its biweekly newspaper, The Message. \n\nDissent and the media\n\n Human rights groups and Gazans have accused the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip of restricting freedom of the press and forcefully suppressing dissent. Both foreign and Palestinian journalists report harassment and other measures taken against them. In September 2007 the Gaza Interior Ministry disbanded the Gaza Strip branch of the pro-Fatah Union of Palestinian Journalists, a move criticized by Reporters without borders. In November of that year the Hamas government arrested a British journalist and for a time canceled all press cards in Gaza. On February 8, 2008, Hamas banned distribution of the pro-Fatah Al-Ayyam newspaper, and closed its offices in the Gaza Strip because it ran a caricature that mocked legislators loyal to Hamas,. The Gaza Strip Interior Ministry later issued an arrest warrant for the editor. \n\nMore widely, in late August 2007 the group was accused in The Telegraph, a conservative British newspaper, of torturing, detaining, and firing on unarmed protesters who had objected to policies of the Hamas government. Also in late August, Palestinian health officials reported that the Hamas government had been shutting down Gaza clinics in retaliation for doctor strikes – The Hamas government confirmed the \"punitive measure against doctors\" because, in its view, they had incited other doctors to suspend services and go out on strike. \n\nIn September 2007 the Hamas government banned public prayers, after Fatah supporters began holding worship sessions that quickly escalated into raucous protests against Hamas rule. Government security forces beat several gathering supporters and journalists. \n\nIn October 2008, the Hamas government announced it would release all political prisoners in custody in Gaza. Several hours after the announcement, 17 Fatah members were released. \n\nOn August 2, 2012, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) accused Hamas of harassing elected officials belong to the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) in Gaza. The IFJ said that journalists' leaders in Gaza have faced a campaign of intimidation, as well as threats designed to force them to stop their union work. Some of these journalists are now facing charges of illegal activities and a travel ban, due to their refusal \"to give in to pressure\". The IFJ said that these accusations are \"malicious\" and \"should be dropped immediately\". The IFJ explained that the campaign against PJS members began in March 2012, after their election, and included a raid organized by Hamas supporters who took over the PJS offices in Gaza with the help of the security forces, and subsequently evicted the staff and elected officials. Other harassment includes the targeting of individuals who were bullied into stopping union work. The IFJ backed the PJS and called on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to intervene to stop \"his officials' unwarranted interference in journalists' affairs\". \n\nIn November 2012, two Gazan journalists were prevented from leaving Gaza by Hamas. There were scheduled to participate in a conference in Cairo, Egypt. After being questioned by security forces, their passports were confiscated. \n\nIn 2016 Reporters Without Borders condemned Hamas for censorship and for torturing journalists. Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said \"As living conditions in the Gaza Strip are disastrous, Hamas wants to silence critics and does not hesitate to torture a journalist in order to control media coverage in its territory.\" \n\nHuman rights abuses\n\nIn June 2011, the Independent Commission for Human Rights based in Ramallah published a report whose findings included that the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were subjected in 2010 to an \"almost systematic campaign\" of human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, as well as by Israeli authorities, with the security forces belonging to the PA and Hamas being responsible for torture, arrests and arbitrary detentions. \n\nIn 2012, the Human Rights Watch presented a 43 page long list of human rights violation committed by Hamas. Among actions attributed to Hamas the HRW report mentions beatings with metal clubs and rubber hoses, hanging of alleged collaborationists with Israel, and torture of 102 individuals. According to the report, Hamas also tortured civil society activists and peaceful protesters. Reflecting on the captivity of Gilad Shalit, the HRW report described it as \"cruel and inhuman\". The report also slams Hamas for harassment of people based on so called morality offenses and for media censorship. In a public statement Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East director of HRW claimed, \"after five years of Hamas rule in Gaza, its criminal justice system reeks of injustice, routinely violates detainees' rights and grants impunity to abusive security services.\" Hamas responded by denying charges and describing them as \"politically motivated\" \n\nOn May 26, 2015 Amnesty International released a report saying that Hamas carried out extrajudicial killings, abductions and arrests of Palestinians and used the Al-Shifa Hospital to detain, interrogate and torture suspects during the Israel–Gaza conflict in 2014. It details the executions of at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel and torture of dozens of others, many victims of torture were members of the rival Palestinian movement, Fatah. \n\nViolence and terrorism\n\nHamas uses both political activities and violence in pursuit of its goals. For example, while politically engaged in the 2006 Palestinian Territories parliamentary election campaign, Hamas stated in its election manifesto that it was prepared to use \"armed resistance to end the occupation\". \n\nFrom 2000 to 2004, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly 400 Israelis and wounding more than 2,000 in 425 attacks, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks into Israel. \n\nAttacks on civilians\n\nIn the first years of the First Intifada (1987–93), Hamas violence was directed first at collaborators with Israel and at individuals it considered moral deviants, and then later at the Israeli military. A new direction began with the formation of the al-Qassam Brigades militia in 1992, and in 1993 suicide attacks began against Israeli targets on the West Bank. \nThe first such attack occurred on April 16, 1993, when an al-Qassam Brigades operative detonated explosives in a car he parked next to two buses, one military and one civilian, in the West Bank town of Mehola, killing a Palestinian civilian and wounding 8 Israeli soldiers. After the February 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein of 30 Muslim civilians in a Hebron mosque, the al-Qassam Brigades expanded suicide attacks to target primarily civilians. The first of the suicide bombings that targeted civilians was at Afula on April 16, 1994, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car next to a bus, killing nine (including the bomber) and wounding 50. The most deadly suicide bombing was an attack on a Netanya hotel on March 27, 2002, in which 30 people were killed and 140 were wounded. The attack has also been referred to as the Passover massacre since it took place on the first night of the Jewish festival of Passover at a Seder.\n\nHamas has defended suicide attacks as a legitimate aspect of its asymmetric warfare against Israel, but they are consideted as crimes against humanity under international law. In a 2002 report, Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas leaders \"should be held accountable\" for \"war crimes and crimes against humanity\" committed by the al-Qassam Brigades. \n\nIn May 2006 Israel arrested a top Hamas official, Ibrahim Hamed, who Israeli security officials alleged was responsible for dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis. Hamed's trial on those charges has not yet concluded. In 2008, Hamas explosives engineer Shihab al-Natsheh organized a deadly suicide bombing in Dimona. \n\nSince 2002, paramilitary soldiers of al-Qassam Brigades and other groups have used homemade Qassam rockets to hit Israeli towns in the Negev, such as Sderot. Al-Qassam Brigades was estimated in 2007 to have launched 22% of the rocket and mortar attacks, which killed fifteen people between the years 2000 and 2009 (see Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel). The introduction of the Qassam-2 rocket in 2008 enabled Palestinian paramilitary groups to reach, from Gaza, such Israeli cities such as Ashkelon. \n\nIn 2008, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, offered that Hamas would attack only military targets if the IDF would stop causing the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Following a June 19, 2008 ceasefire, the al-Qassam Brigades ended its rocket attacks and arrested Fatah militants in Gaza who had continued sporadic rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. The al-Qassam Brigades resumed the attacks after the November 4 Israeli incursion into Gaza. \n\nOn 15 June 2014, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of involvement in the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers (including one who held American citizenship), saying \"This has severe repercussions.\" On 20 July 2014, nearly two weeks into Operation Protective Edge, Netanyahu in an interview with CNN described Hamas as \"genocidal terrorists.\" \n\nOn 5 August 2014 Israel announced that Israeli security forces arrested Hussam Kawasme, in Shuafat, in connection with the murders. During interrogation, Kawasme admitted to being the mastermind behind the attack, in addition to securing the funding from Hamas. Officials have stated that additional people arrested in connection with the murders are still being held, but no names have been released. \n\nOn 20 August, Saleh al-Arouri, a Hamas leader in exile in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens. He delivered an address on behalf of Khaled Mashal at the conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul, a move that might reflect a desire by Hamas to gain leverage. In it he said: \"Our goal was to ignite an intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the Al-Qassam Brigades carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The mujahideen captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal.\" Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal accepted that members of Hamas were responsible, stating that he knew nothing of it in advance and that what the leadership knew of the details came from reading Israeli reports. Meshaal, who has headed Hamas's exiled political wing since 2004, has denied being involved in the \"details\" of Hamas \"military issues\", but \"justified the killings as a legitimate action against Israelis on \"occupied\" lands.\" \n\nRocket attacks on Israel\n\nAccording to Human Rights Watch, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have launched thousands of rockets into Israel since 2001, killing 15 civilians, wounding many more, and posing an ongoing threat to the nearly 800,000 Israeli civilians who live and work in the weapons' range. Hamas officials have said that the rockets were aimed only at military targets, saying that civilian casualties were the \"accidental result\" of the weapons' poor quality. According to Human Rights Watch, statements by Hamas leaders suggest that the purpose of the rocket attacks was indeed to strike civilians and civilian objects. From January 2009, following Operation Cast Lead, Hamas largely stopped launching rocket attacks on Israel and has on at least two occasions arrested members of other groups who have launched rockets, \"showing that it has the ability to impose the law when it wants\". In February 2010, Hamas issued a statement regretting any harm that may have befallen Israeli civilians as a result of Palestinian rocket attacks during the Gaza war. It maintained that its rocket attacks had been aimed at Israeli military targets but lacked accuracy and hence sometimes hit civilian areas. Israel responded that Hamas had boasted repeatedly of targeting and murdering civilians in the media. \n\nAccording to one report, commenting on the 2014 conflict, \"nearly all the 2,500–3,000 rockets and mortars Hamas has fired at Israel since the start of the war seem to have been aimed at towns\", including an attack on \"a kibbutz collective farm close to the Gaza border\", in which an Israeli child was killed. Former Israeli Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi stated that \"Hamas has expressed pride in aiming long-range rockets at strategic targets in Israel including the nuclear reactor in Dimona, the chemical plants in Haifa, and Ben-Gurion Airport\", which \"could have caused thousands\" of Israeli casualties \"if successful\". \n\nAttempts to derail 2010 peace talks\n\nIn 2010, Hamas, who have been actively sidelined from the peace talks by Israel, spearheaded a coordinated effort by 13 Palestinian militant groups, in attempt to derail the stalled peace talks between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority. According to the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major Gen. Eitan Dangot, Israel seeks to work with Salam Fayyad, to help revive the Palestinian economy, and hopes to ease restrictions on the Gaza Strip further, \"while somehow preventing the Islamic militants who rule it from getting credit for any progress\". According to Dangot, Hamas must not be seen as ruling successfully or be allowed to \"get credit for a policy that would improve the lives of people\". The campaign consists of attacks against Israelis in which, according to a Hamas declaration in early September, \"all options are open.\"[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0831/Hamas-targets-Israeli-Palestinian-talks-by-killing-four-Israelis \"Hamas targets Israeli-Palestinian talks by killing four Israelis; Hamas took responsibility for the fatal shooting of four Israeli settlers outside Hebron today, on the eve of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington,\"] Joshua Mitnick, August 31, 2010, Christian Science Monitor. The participating groups also include Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and an unnamed splinter group of Fatah. \n\nAs part of the campaign, on August 31, 2010, 4 Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman, were killed by Hamas militants while driving on Route 60 near the settlement Kiryat Arba, in the West bank. According to witnesses, militants opened fire on the moving vehicle, but then \"approached the car\" and shot the occupants in their seats at \"close range\". The attack was described by Israeli sources as one of the \"worst\" terrorist acts in years. A senior Hamas official said that Israeli settlers in the West Bank are legitimate targets since \"they are an army in every sense of the word.\" \n\nThemes of martyrdom\n\nAccording to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch, in 2008, Fathi Hamad, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated on Al-Aqsa TV, \"For the Palestinian people death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly (Palestinians) created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the Jihad fighters against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death as you desire life.'\" \n\nIn 2010, Hamas speaker Ahmad Bahr praised the virtues of martyrdom and Jihad, and said that 2.5 million black-eyed virgins were waiting in the Garden of Eden, which could be entered only by prophets, by the righteous, and by martyrs. He continued by saying that nobody on Earth \"will be able to confront the resistance, or to confront the mujahideen, those who worship Allah and seek martyrdom\". \n\nGuerrilla warfare\n\nHamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank. It has successfully adapted these techniques over the years since its inception. According to a 2006 report by rival Fatah party, Hamas had smuggled between several hundred and 1,300 tons of advanced rockets, along with other weaponry, into Gaza.\n\nHamas has used IEDs and anti-tank rockets against the IDF in Gaza. The latter include standard RPG-7 warheads and home-made rockets such as the Al-Bana, Al-Batar and Al-Yasin. The IDF has a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas — this is due to the high local support base Hamas enjoys. \n\nExtrajudicial executions of rivals\n\nIn addition to killing Israeli civilians and armed forces, Hamas has also murdered suspected Palestinian Israel collaborators and Fatah rivals. Hundreds of Palestinians were executed by both Hamas and Fatah during the First Intifada. In the wake of the 2006 Israeli conflict with Gaza, Hamas was accused of systematically rounding up, torturing and summarily executing Fatah supporters suspected of supplying information to Israel. Human Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were \"maimed\" and tortured in the aftermath of the conflict. Seventy-three Gazan men accused of \"collaborating\" had their arms and legs broken by \"unidentified perpetrators\" and 18 Palestinians accused of helping Israel were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict. In November 2012, Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassam brigade publicly executed six Gaza residents accused of collaborating with Israel. According to the witnesses, six alleged informers were shot dead one by one in Gaza City, while the corpse of the sixth victim was tied by a cable to the back of a motorcycle and dragged through the streets. In 2013, Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning Hamas for not investigating and giving a proper trial to the 6 men. Their statement was released the day before Hamas issued a deadline for \"collaborators\" to turn themselves in, or they will be pursued \"without mercy\". In August 2014, during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, at least 22 accused collaborators were executed by Hamas shortly after 3 of its commanders were assassinated by Israeli forces. An Israeli source denied that any of the commanders had been targeted on the basis of human intelligence.\n\nFrequent killings of unarmed people have also occurred during Hamas-Fatah clashes. NGOs have cited a number of summary executions as particular examples of violations of the rules of warfare, including the case of Muhammad Swairki, 28, a cook for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard, who was thrown to his death, with his hands and legs tied, from a 15-story apartment building in Gaza City. Hamas security forces reportedly shoot and torture Palestinians who opposed Hamas rule in Gaza. In one case, a Palestinian had criticized Hamas in a conversation on the street with some friends. Later that day, more than a dozen armed men with black masks and red kaffiyeh took the man from his home, and brought him to a solitary area where they shot him three times in the lower legs and ankles. The man told Human Rights Watch that he was not politically active.\n\nOn August 14, 2009, Hamas fighters stormed the Mosque of cleric Abdel-Latif Moussa. The cleric was protected by at least 100 fighters from Jund Ansar Allah (\"Army of the Helpers of God\"), an Islamist group with links to Al-Qaeda. The resulting battle left at least 13 people dead, including Moussa and 6 Hamas fighters, and 120 people injured. \n\nAccording to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, during 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Hamas killed more than 120 Palestinian youths for defying house arrest imposed on them by Hamas, in addition to 30-40 Palestinians killed by Hamas in extrajudicial executions after accusing them of being collaborators with Israel. Referring to the killing of suspected collaborators, a Shin Bet official stated that \"not even one\" of those executed by Hamas provided any intelligence to Israel, while the Shin Bet officially \"confirmed that those executed during Operation Protective Edge had all been held in prison in Gaza in the course of the hostilities.\" \n\n2011–13 Sinai insurgency\n\nHamas has been accused of providing weapons, training and fighters for Sinai-based insurgent attacks, although Hamas strongly denies the allegations, calling them a smear campaign aiming to harm relations with Egypt. According to the Egyptian Army, since the ouster of Egypt's Muslim-Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, over 600 Hamas members have entered the Sinai Peninsula through smuggling tunnels. In addition, several weapons used in Sinai's insurgent attacks are being traced back to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to the army. The four leading insurgent groups in the Sinai have all reportedly maintained close ties with the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also accused of helping Morsi and other high-ranking Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members break out of the Wadi Natroun prison in Cairo during the 2011 revolution. Hamas called the accusation a \"dangerous development\". Egyptian authorities stated that the 2011 Alexandria bombing was carried out by the Gaza-based Army of Islam, which has received sanctuary from Hamas and earlier collaborated in the capture of Gilad Shalit. Army of Islam members linked to the August 2012 Sinai attack have reportedly sought refuge in the Gaza Strip. Egypt stated that Hamas directly provided logistical support to the Muslim Brotherhood militants who carried out the December 2013 Mansoura bombing. \n\nDebate whether to attack America\n\nHamas officials have publicly debated whether or not to attack American interests in the Middle East in response to US support of Mahmoud Abbas preceding the 2006 Gaza elections. \n\nInternational support\n\nHamas has always maintained leadership abroad. The movement is deliberately fragmented to ensure that Israel cannot kill its top political and military leaders. Hamas used to be strongly allied with both Iran and Syria. Iran gave Hamas an estimated $13–15 million in 2011 as well as access to long-range missiles. Hamas’s political bureau was once located in the Syrian capital of Damascus before the start of the Syrian civil war. Relations between Hamas, Iran, and Syria began to turn cold when Hamas refused to back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Instead, Hamas backed the Sunni rebels fighting against Assad. As a result, Iran cut funding to Hamas and their terror proxy Hezbollah ordered Hamas members out of Lebanon. Hamas was then forced out of Syria. Since then, Iran and Hezbollah have tried to mend fences with Hamas. Hamas contacted Jordan and Sudan to see if either would open up its borders to its political bureau. But both countries refused - though they welcomed many Hamas members leaving Syria. In 2012 Hamas headquarters subsequently moved to Doha, Qatar. \n\nFrom 2012-2013, under the leadership of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, Hamas had the support of Egypt. However, when Morsi was removed from Office, his replacement Abdul Fattah al-Sisi outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and destroyed the tunnels Hamas built into Egypt. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are likewise hostile to Hamas. Like Egypt, they designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and Hamas was viewed as its Palestinian equivalent.\n\nQatar and Turkey\n\nAccording to Middle East experts, now Hamas has two firm allies: Qatar and Turkey. Both give Hamas public and financial assistance estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Shashank Joshi, Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute says that “Qatar also hosts Hamas’s political bureau which includes Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.” Meshaal also visits Turkey frequently to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan has dedicated himself to breaking Hamas out of its political and economic seclusion. Last year on U.S. television Erdogan said, \"I don't see Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas is a political party.\"\n\nIn 2007, Qatar was, with Turkey, the only country to back Hamas after the group ousted the Palestinian Authority out of the Gaza Strip. The relationship between Hamas and Qatar strengthened in 2008 and 2009 when Khaled Meshaal was invited to attend the Doha Summit where he was seated next to the then Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani who pledged $250 million to repair the damage caused by the Israel in the Israeli war on Gaza. These events caused Qatar to become the main player in the “Palestinian issue.” Qatar called Gaza’s blockade unjust and immoral, which prompted the Hamas government in Gaza, including former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, to thank Qatar for their “unconditional” support. Qatar then began regularly handing out political, material, humanitarian and charitable support for Hamas.\n\nIn 2012, Qatar’s former Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, became the first head of state to visit Gaza under Hamas rule. He pledged to raise $400 million for reconstruction. Some have argued that the money Qatar gives to reconstruct Palestine is an excuse to pour even more money into Hamas. Qatar’s reason for funding Hamas, which is shared by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is allegedly that Islamist groups are growing and will eventually play a role in the region; thus it is important for Qatar (and Turkey) to maintain ties. During the Arab Spring, for example, Qatar backed the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Islamist group whose offshoot is Hamas. Other sources say that advocating for Hamas is politically beneficial to Turkey and Qatar because the Palestinian cause draws popular support amongst their citizens at home. \n\nSome began to label Qatar a terrorist haven in part because it is harboring Hamas leader Meshaal. They also harbor Husam Badran former leader of Hamas’s military wing in the northern West Bank. Husam Badran, current media spokesman for Hamas, was the instigator of several of the deadliest suicide bombings of the second intifada including the Dolphinarium discotheque bombing in Tel Aviv which killed 21 people. \n\nTurkey has also been criticized for housing terrorists like Saleh al-Arouri, the senior Hamas officer known for his ability to mastermind attacks from abroad. Al-Arouri is alleged to have orchestrated the June 2014 abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers and to have started the 50 days war between Israel and Palestine and now lived in Turkey. \n\nSpeaking in reference to Qatar’s support for Hamas, during a 2015 visit to Palestine, Qatari official Mohammad al-Emadi, said Qatar is using the money not to help Hamas but rather the Palestinian people as a whole. He acknowledges however that giving to the Palestinian people means using Hamas as the local contact. Emadi said, \"You have to support them. You don't like them, don't like them. But they control the country, you know.\" Some argue that Hamas’s relations with Qatar are putting Hamas in an awkward position because Qatar has become part of the regional Arab problem.\n\nBut Hamas claims that having contacts with various Arab countries establishes positive relations which will encourage Arab countries to do their duty toward the Palestinians and support their cause by influencing public opinion in the Arab world. In March 2015, Hamas has announced its support of the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. \n\nU.S.-based support\n\nSeveral U.S. organizations were either shut down or held liable for financing Hamas in early 2001, groups that have origins from the mid-1990s: the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and Kind Hearts. The U.S. Treasury Department specially designated the HLF in 2001 for terror ties: from 1995-2001. The HLF transferred “approximately $12.4 million outside of the United States with the intent to contribute funds, goods, and services to Hamas.” According to the Treasury Department, Khaled Meshal, identified one of HLF’s officers, Mohammed El-Mezain as “the Hamas leader for the U.S.” In 2003, IAP was found liable for financially supporting Hamas, and in 2006 Kind Hearts had their assets frozen for supporting Hamas. In 2016 it was reported that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel includes a web of Hamas supporters from the Illinois-based organization American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)."],"string":"[\n \"Hamas.txt\\nHamas\\nHamas ( ', an acronym of ' Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and, since 2007, has been the governing authority of the Gaza Strip.Richard Davis. [https://books.google.com/books?id\\nbmaFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT68 Hamas, Popular Support and War in the Middle East: Insurgency in the Holy Land]. Routledge. 2016. pp. 67-69. \\n\\nHamas was founded in 1987, soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which in its Gaza branch had been non-confrontational towards Israel, refrained from resistance, and was hostile to the PLO. Co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987, and the Hamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The group has stated that it may accept a 10-year truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders and allows Palestinian refugees from 1948, as well as their descendants, to return to what is now Israel, although clarifying that this does not mean recognition of Israel or the end of the conflict. Hamas's military wing has objected to the truce offer. Analysts have said that it seems clear that Hamas knows that many of its conditions for the truce could never be met. \\n\\nThe military wing of Hamas has launched attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Tactics include suicide bombings, and since 2001, rocket attacks. Hamas's rocket arsenal, though mainly consisting of short-range homemade Qassam rockets, also includes long-range weapons that have reached major Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa. The attacks on civilians have been condemned as war crimes and crimes against humanity by human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch. \\n\\nIn the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas won a plurality in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the PLO-affiliated Fatah party. Following the elections, the Quartet (the United States, Russia, United Nations, and European Union) made future foreign assistance to the PA conditional upon the future government's commitment to non-violence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements. Hamas rejected those changes, which led to the Quartet suspending its foreign assistance program and Israel imposing economic sanctions on the Hamas-led administration. In March 2007, a national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was briefly formed, but this failed to restart international financial assistance. Tensions over control of Palestinian security forces soon erupted in the 2007 Battle of Gaza, after which Hamas took control of Gaza, while its officials were ousted from government positions in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, on the grounds that Fatah forces were no longer providing security there. In 2011, Hamas and Fatah announced a reconciliation agreement that provides for creation of a joint caretaker Palestinian government. Progress stalled, until an April 2014 agreement to form a compromise unity government, with elections to be held in late 2014. \\n\\nIn 2006, Hamas used an underground cross-border tunnel to capture the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, holding him captive until 2011, when he was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. Since then, Hamas has continued building a network of internal and cross-border tunnels, which are used to store and deploy weapons, shield militants, and facilitate cross-border attacks. Destroying the tunnels was a primary objective of Israeli forces in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. \\n\\nHamas, its military wing, together with several charities it runs, has been designated by several governments as a terrorist organization. Others regard this designation as problematic. Israel outlawed Hamas in 1989, in 1996 the United States followed suit, as did Canada in 2002. The European Union defined the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades as terrorist in 2001, and put Hamas in its list of terrorist organizations in 2003 but such designation was successfully challenged by Hamas in the courts. An Egyptian court ruled Hamas was a terrorist organization in 2015. Japan froze Hamas assets according to its legislation on terrorist entities in 2006. Australia and the United Kingdom have designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The organization is also banned in Jordan. It is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, and Brazil.\\n\\nEtymology\\n\\nHamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية or Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya, meaning \\\"Islamic Resistance Movement\\\". The Arabic word 'hamas' (حماس) means \\\"courage\\\" or \\\"zeal\\\". The Hamas covenant interprets its name to mean \\\"strength and bravery\\\".Jennifer Jefferis. [https://books.google.com/books?id\\nrzRpCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and Its Future in Middle East Politics]. ABC-CLIO. 2016. p. 119. \\n\\nAims\\n\\nHamas, as its name (Islamic Resistance Movement), aims to liberate Palestine from the Israeli occupation by resisting it. \\nAnd according to Hamas armed branch Al-Qassam Brigades:\\n\\n\\\"To contribute in the effort of liberating Palestine and restoring the rights of the Palestinian people under the sacred Islamic teachings of the Holy Quran, the Sunnah (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the traditions of Muslims rulers and scholars noted for their piety and dedication.\\\" \\n\\nAl-Qassam Brigades aims to liberate all of Palestine from what they describe as Zionist occupation, and to achieve the rights of the Palestinian people that were robbed by the occupation, and it consider itself part of the movement of a project of national liberation. \\n\\nLeadership and structure\\n\\nHamas inherited from its predecessor a tripartite structure that consisted in the provision of social services, of religious training and military operations under a Shura Council. Traditionally it had 4 distinct functions: a charitable social welfare division(dawah) (b) a military division for procuring weapons and undertaking operations (al-Mujahideen al Filastinun) (c)a security service (Jehaz Aman) and a (d) media branch (A’alam). Hamas has both an internal leadership within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and an external leadership, split between a Gaza group directed by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook from his exile first in Damascus and then in Egypt, and a Kuwaiti group (Kuwaidia) under Khaled Mashal. The Kuwaiti group of Palestinian exiles began to receive extensive funding from the Gulf States after its leader Mashal broke with Yasser Arafat's decision to side with Saddam Hussein in the Invasion of Kuwait, with Mashal insisting that Iraq withdraw. \\n\\nThe exact nature of the organization is unclear, secrecy being maintained for fear of Israeli assassinations and to conceal operational activities. Formally, Hamas maintains the wings are separate and independent. Matthew Levitt maintains this is a public myth. Davis argues that they are both separate and combined for reasons of internal and external political necessity. The thoroughness of Israeli intelligence surveillance and an extensive base of informants, makes communications between the political and military wings difficult. After the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, the occasional political direction of the militant wing diminished, with field commanders given discretional autonomy on operations. \\n\\nConsultative councils\\n\\nThe governing body is the Majlis al-Shura. The principle behind the Council is based on the Qur'anic concept of consultation and popular assembly (shura), which Hamas leaders argue provides for democracy within an Islamic frasmework. As the organization grew more complex and Israeli pressure increased it needed a broader base for decisions, the Shura Council was renamed the 'General Consultative Council', elected from members of local council groups and this in turn elected a 15-member Politburo (al-Maktab al-Siyasi) that made decisions at the highest level. Representatives come from Gaza, the West Bank, leaders in exile and Israeli prisons.Benedetta Berti, [https://books.google.com/books?id\\nEUcDAAAAQBAJ&pgPA88 Armed Political Organizations: From Conflict to Integration,] JHU Press, 2013 p.88. This organ was located in Damascus until the Syrian Civil War led it to transfer to Qatar in January 2012, when Hamas sided with the civil opposition against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. \\n\\nSocial Services Wing\\n\\nHamas developed its social welfare programme by replicating the model established by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. In Islamic tradition dawah (lit.'the call to God') obliges the faithful to reach out to others by both proselytising and by charitable works, and typically the latter centre on the mosques which make use of both waqf endowment resources and charitable donations (zakat) to fund grassroots services like nurseries, schools, orphanages, soup kitchens, women's activities, library services and even sporting clubs within a larger context of preaching and political discussions. In the 1990s, some 85% of its budget was allocated to the provision of social services. It has been called perhaps the most significant social services actor in Palestine. By 2000 it or its affiliated charities ran roughly 40% of the social institutions in the West Bank and Gaza and, with other Islamic charities, by 2005 was supporting 120,000 individuals with monthly financial support in Gaza.Lihi Ben Shitrit, [https://books.google.com/books?id\\nzUjuCQAAQBAJ&pgPA71 Righteous Transgressions: Women's Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right,] Princeton University Press, 2015 p.71. Part of the appeal of these institutions is that they fill a vacuum in the administration by the PLO of the Palestinian territories, which had failed to cater to the demand for jobs and broad social services, and is widely viewed as corrupt.David L. Phillips,[https://books.google.com/books?idcNq0gvBPcGQC&pg\\nPA75 From Bullets to Ballots: Violent Muslim Movements in Transition,] Transaction Publishers, 2011 p.75. As late as 2005, the budget of Hamas, drawing on global charity contributions, was mostly tied up in covering running expenses for its social programmes, which extended from the supply of housing, food and water for the needy to more general functions like financial aid, medical assistance, educational development and religious instruction. A certain accounting flexibility allowed these funds to cover both charitable causes and military operations, permitting transfer from one to the other. \\n\\nThe dawah infrastructure itself was understood, within the Palestinian context, as providing the soil from which a militant opposition to the occupation would flower. In this regard it differs from the rival Palestinian Islamic Jihad which lacks any social welfare network, and relies on spectacular terrorist attacks to recruit adherents. In 2007, through funding from Iran, Hamas managed to allocate at a cost of $60 million, monthly stipends of $100 for 100,000 workers, and a similar sum for 3,000 fishermen [Blockade of the Gaza Strip#Effect on the fishing industry|laid idle by Israel's imposition of restrictions] on fishing offshore, plus grants totalling $45 million to detainees and their families. Matthew Levitt argues that Hamas grants to people are subject to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis of how beneficiaries will support Hamas, with those linked to terrorist activities receiving more than others. Israel holds the families of suicide bombers accountable and bulldozes their homes, whereas the families of Hamas activists who have been killed or wounded during militant operations are given an initial, one-time grant varying between $500–$5,000, together with a $100 monthly allowance. Rent assistance is also given to families whose homes have been destroyed by Israeli bombing though families unaffiliated with Hamas are said to receive less. \\n\\nUntil 2007, these activities extended to the West Bank, but, after a PLO crackdown, now continue exclusively in the Gaza Strip. After the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état deposed the elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Hamas found itself in a financial straightjacket and has since endeavoured to throw the burden of responsibility for public works infrastructure in the Gaza Strip back onto the Palestinian National Authority, but without success. \\n\\nMilitary wing\\n\\nThe Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing was formed in either mid-1991 Mohammad Najib and Roland Friedrich 'Non-Statutory Armed Groups and Security Sector Governance,' in Roland Friedrich, Arnold Luethold (eds.),[https://books.google.com/books?id\\nicV4k__xMmgC&pgPA106 Entry-points to Palestinian Security Sector Reform,] DCAF, 2007 pp.101-127 p.103.This date is based on a Hamas operation that assassinated the rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom inside the Gaza Strip. or 1992,under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas field-commander and bomb-maker assassinated by Israel in 1996. It was constituted from units associated with the earlier al-Jihad wa Da’wa, an umbrella group that had gathered in militants from various Islamic resistance cells like the Al-Mujahidun al-Filastiniun (Palestinian fighters). established by Salah Shehade in 1986. \\n\\nThe wing takes its name from the prewar militant Palestinian nationalist Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, though Hamas cells sometimes refer to themselves as \\\"Students of Ayyash\\\", \\\"Students of the Engineer\\\", or \\\"Yahya Ayyash Units\\\". At the outset, weapons were hard to come by, and the organization began to resort to intermittent kidnappings of soldiers to secure arms and munitions. This approach had been justified two years earlier when, in the wake of the killing of some 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces dispersing protestors at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1990, Hamas had declared every Israeli soldier a legitimate target.Alincée Van Engeland,'Hamas,' in Jeffrey Ian Ross (ed.)[https://books.google.com/books?idMFfrBgAAQBAJ&pg\\nPA319 Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present,] Routledge 2015 pp.319-323: p.319.\\n\\nAyyash, with a degree in electrical engineering, quickly improved Hamas's strike capacity by developing IEDs and promoting the tactic of suicide bombings. By the time of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Hamas's laboratories had devised a primitive form of rocketry, the Qassam 1,which they first launched in October 2000, carrying a 500 gram warhead with a throw range of 4 kilometres. Both propellant and the explosive were manufactured from chemical fertilizers, though TNT was also tried. Over the next 5 years of the conflict, a 3 kilogram warhead armed version with a strike range of 6-8 kilometres, the Qassam 2, was also produced and in an incremental rise, these rocket types were fired towards Israeli settlements along the Gaza Strip:4 in 2001,35 in 2002, 155 in 2003,281 in 2004, and 179 in 2005. By 2005, the Qassam 3 had been engineered with a 12-14 kilometre range and a 15 kilo warhead. By 2006, 942 such rockets were launched into southern Israel. During the War with Israel in 2008-9, Hamas deployed 122-mm Grad rocketry with a 20-40 kilometre range and a 30 kilogram warhead and a variety of guided Kornet antitank missiles. By 2012 Hamas had engineered a version of the Fajr-5 rocket, which was capable of reaching as far as Tel Aviv, as was shown after the assassination of Ahmed Jabari in that year. In the 2014 war its advanced rocketry reached Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Hamas deployed its increasingly sophisticated rocketry to replace its martyrdom operations. \\n \\nWhile the number of members is known only to the Brigades leadership, Israel estimates the Brigades have a core of several hundred members who receive military style training, including training in Iran and in Syria (before the Syrian Civil War).Mathieu Guidère, [https://books.google.com/books?id\\ntCvhzGiDMYsC&pgPA173 Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism,] Scarecrow Press, 2012 p.173. Additionally, the brigades have an estimated 10,000-17,000 operatives, forming a backup force whenever circumstances call for reinforcements for the Brigade. Recruitment training lasts for 2 years.\\n\\nThe group's ideology outlines its aim as the liberation of Palestine and the restoration of Palestinian rights under the dispensations set forth in the Qur'an, and this translates into three policy priorities:\\nTo evoke the spirit of Jihad (Resistance) among Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims; to defend Palestinians and their land against the Zionist occupation and its manifestations; to liberate Palestinians and their land that was usurped by the Zionist occupation forces and settlers. \\nAccording to its official stipulations, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades' military operations are to be restricted to operating only inside Palestine, engaging with Israeli soldiers, and in exercising the right of self-defense against armed settlers. They are to avoid civilian targets, to respect the enemy's humanity by refraining from mutilation, defacement or excessive killing, and to avoid targeting Westerners either in the occupied zones or beyond. \\n\\nIn practice, Hamas altered its approach restricting actions to 'legitimate military targets' by extended them to Israeli civilians after 7 years. Though between 1996 and 2001 it generally refrained from targeting Israeli civilians, it adopted sporadic suicide bombings in the wake of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre when an Israeli settler in military fatigues, Baruch Goldstein, shot dead 29 Muslims at prayer in 1993.R.Kim Cragin,'Learning to Survive:The Case of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)', in James JF Forrest (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id1R79AAAAQBAJ&pg\\nPA199 Teaching Terror: Strategic and Tactical Learning in the Terrorist World,] Rowman & Littlefield, 2006 pp.189-204 p.196. After the Al Aqsa revolt, the Brigades were behind most of the suicide bombings in Israel, a measure it defended as a form of 'reciprocity'.\\n\\nDown to 2007, the Brigades are estimated to have lost some 800 operatives in conflicts with Israeli forces. The leadership has been consistently undermined by targeted assassinations. Aside from Yahya Ayyash (5 January 1996), it has lost Emad Akel (24 November 1993) Salah Shehade, (23 July 2002), Ibrahim al-Makadmeh, (8 March 2003) Ismail Abu Shanab, (21 August 2003) Ahmed Yassin (March 22, 2004) and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi,( April 17, 2004)., \\n\\nAfter Israel arrested hundreds of its members in May 1989, Hamas regionalized its command system to make its operative structure more diffuse, and minimalize the chances of being detected.Jeroen Gunning, 'Hamas:Harakat al-Muqamama al-Islamiyya,' in Marianne Heiberg, Brendan O'Leary, John Tirman (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?idm8_pM7Ncij8C&pg\\nPA134 Terror, Insurgency, and the State: Ending Protracted Conflicts,] University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007 pp.123-155 p.134. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades groups its fighters in 4-5 man cells, which in turn are integrated into companies and battalions. Unlike the political section, which is split between an internal and external structure, the Brigades are under a local Palestinian leadership, and disobedience with the decisions taken by the political leadership have been relatively rare. \\n\\nAlthough the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, the exact nature of the relationship is hotly debated:they appear to operate at times independently of Hamas, exercising a certain autonomy. Matthew Levitt,[https://books.google.com/books?idF5EmiYXQUcsC&pg\\nPA89 Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks,] Rowman & Littlefield 2008 pp.89f. Some cells have independent links with the external leadership, enabling them to bypass the hierarchical command chain and political leadership in Gaza. Ilana Kass and Bard O'Neill, likening Hamas's relationship with the Brigades to the political party Sinn Féin's relationship to the military arm of the Irish Republican Army. quote a senior Hamas official as stating: \\\"The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade is a separate armed military wing, which has its own leaders who do not take their orders from Hamas and do not tell us of their plans in advance.\\\" Ilana Kass & Bard E. O'Neill, [https://books.google.com/books?idApANDp1XzmgC&pg\\nPA267 The Deadly Embrace: The Impact of Israeli and Palestinian Rejectionism on the Peace Process,] National Institute for Public Policy/ University Press of America 1997, p. 267. Matthew Levitt on the other hand argues vocally for the idea that Hamas's welfare institutions act as a mere façade or front for the financing of terrorism, and dismisses the idea of two wings as a 'myth'.Julie C.Herrick,'Non-State Actors: A Comparative Analysis of Change and Development Within Hamas and Hezbollah,' in Bahgat Korany (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id\\nxyMjPQDzIp8C&pg=PA179 The Changing Middle East: A New Look at Regional Dynamics,] American University in Cairo Press, 2010 pp.167-195, p.179. He cites Sheikh Ahmad Yassin stating in 1998: \\\"We can not separate the wing from the body. If we do so, the body will not be able to fly. Hamas is one body.\\\" \\n\\nFinances and Funding\\n\\nIn the 1993 Philadelphia conference Hamas leaders's statements indicated that they read George H. W. Bush's outline of as New World Order as embodying a tacit aim to destroy Islam, and that therefore funding should focus on enhancing the Islamic roots of Palestinian society and promoting jihad in the occupying territories. \\n\\nHamas's budget, calculated to be (2011) roughly $US70 million, is derived in large part (85%), from foreign, rather than internal Palestinian, sources. Only 2 Israeli-Palestinian sources figure in a list seized in 2004, while the other contributors were donor bodies located in Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Germany, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Italy and France. Much of the money raised comes from sources that direct their assistance to what Hamas describes as its charitable work for Palestinians, but investments in support of its ideological position are also relevant, with Persian Gulf States and Saudi Arabia prominent in the latter. Matthew Levitt states that Hamas also taps money from corporations, criminal organizations and financial networks that support terror, and is believed to engage in cigarette and drug smuggling, multimedia copyright infringement and credit card fraud.\\nVittori states that, more than other similar organizations, it is particularly careful about keeping resources for its militant, political and pu blic works activities separate. The United States, Israel and the EU have shut down many charities and organs that channel money to Hamas, such as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief, Between 1992-2001 this group is said to have provided $6.8 million to Palestinian charities of the &57 million collected. By 2001 it was alleged to have given Hamas $13 million, and was shut down shortly afterwards. \\n\\nAbout half of Hamas's funding came from states in the Persian Gulf down to the mid 2000s. Saudi Arabia supplied half of the Hamas budget of $50 million in the early 2000s.Marsh E.Burfeindt, 'Rapprochement with Iran', in Thomas A. Johnson \\n(ed.),[https://books.google.com/books?idtu5m8_0iUSoC&pg\\nPA198 Power, National Security, and Transformational Global Events: Challenges Confronting America, China, and Iran,] CRC Press, 2012 pp.185-235 p.198. but, under U.S. pressure, began cut its funding by cracking down on Islamic charities and private donor transfers to Hamas in 2004,Jodi Vittori, [https://books.google.com/books?id\\nra_GAAAAQBAJ&pgPA193 Terrorist Financing and Resourcing,] Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 pp.72-74, p.193 notes 50,51. which by 2006 drastically reduced the flow of money from that area. Iran and Syria, in the aftermath of Hamas's 2006 electoral victory stepped in to fill the shortfall. Saudi funding, negotiated with third parties like Egypt, remained supportive of Hamas as a Sunni group but chose to provide more assistance to the PNA, the electoral loser, when the EU responded to the outcome by suspending its monetary aid. Iran in the 1980s began by providing 10% of Hamas's funding, which it increased annually until by the 1990s it supplied $30 million, It accounted for $22 million, over a quarter of Hamas's budget, by the late 2000s, According to Matthew Levitt, Iran preferred direct financing to operative groups rather than charities, requiring video proof of attacks. Much of the Iran funding is said to be channeled through Hezbollah.\\nAfter 2006 Iran's willingness to take over the burden of the shortfall created by the drying up of Saudi funding also reflected the geopolitical tensions between the two, since, though Shiite, Iran was supporting a Sunni group traditionally closely linked with the Saudi kingdom. The US imposed sanctions on Iran's Bank Saderat, alleging it had funneled hundreds of millions to Hamas. The US has expressed concerns that for Hamas obtains funds through Palestinian and Lebanese sympathizers of Arab descent in the Foz do Iguaçu area of the tri-border region of Latin America, an area long associated with arms trading, drug trafficking, contraband, the manufacture of counterfeit goods, money-laundering and currency fraud. The State Department, but add that confirmatory information of a Hamas operational presence there is lacking. \\n\\nAfter 2009, sanctions on Iran made funding difficult, forcing Hamas to rely on religious donations by individuals in the West Bank, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Funds, amounting to tens of millions of dollars raised in the Gulf states, were transferred through the Rafah Border Crossing. These were not sufficient to cover the costs of governing the Strip and running the al Qassam Brigades, and when tensions arose with Iran over support of President Assad in Syria, ran dropped its financial assistance to the government, restricting its funding to the military wing, which meant a drop from $150 million in 2012 to $60 million the following year. A further drop occurred in 2015 when Hamas expressed its criticisms of Iran's role in the Yemeni Civil War. \\n\\nHistory\\n\\n \\n\\nGaza Islamic roots and establishment of Hamas\\n\\nHamas rose as an offshoot of the Gaza Mujama al-Islamiya branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood,Ziyād Abū ʻAmr, [https://books.google.com/books?id\\njrTG5sdLHD8C&pgPA16 Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad,] Indiana University Press, 1994 p.16.Rashmi Singh, [https://books.google.com/books?idAQ_TOiLtdtAC&pg\\nPA153 Hamas and Suicide Terrorism: Multi-causal and Multi-level Approaches,] Routledge, 2013 p.153 n.70. which had been actively encouraged by Israel to expand as a counterweight to the influence of the secular Palestine Liberation Organization . and had since 1973 been quiescent and non-confrontational towards Israel. Aside from developing Islamic charities to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, it emphasized social justice (adala) and the subordination of the world to the sovereignty of God (hakmiyya).\\nHamas was founded in 1987, soon after the outbreak of the First Intifada, the first popular uprising against the Israeli occupation.\\nCreating Hamas to participate in the revolt was regarded as a survival measure to enable the Brotherhood itself, which refused to fight against Israel,[https://books.google.com/books?id\\n9fQ3AwAAQBAJ&pgPA15 The World Almanac of Islamism: 2014,] American Foreign Policy Council/Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 (Hamas pp.272-278). to hold its own against other competing Palestinian nationalist groups. By forming a military wing distinct from its social charity organizations, it was hoped that the latter would be insulated from being targeted by Israel.Joshua L. Gleis, Benedetta Berti, [https://books.google.com/books?idvYBtwkj78BUC&pg\\nPT111 Hezbollah and Hamas: A Comparative Study,] Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012 p.119:'In truth, the creation of Hamas as a separate entity from the Muslim Brotherhood was done precisely to prevent Israeli authorities from targeting the organizations' greater activities, in the hopes that it would leave them relatively immune. Moreover, Hamas was created essentially because the Islamicists connected to the Muslim Brotherhood feared that without their direct participation in the first Intifada, they would lose supporters to both the PIJ and the PLO, the latter of which was anxious to reassert itself in the Palestinian territories after being marginalized following its expulsion from Lebanon. As authors Mishal and Saela, explain, \\\"The Mujamma's decision to adopt a 'jihad now' policy against 'enemies of Allah' (through the creation of Hamas) was thus largely a matter of survival.'\\nCo-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin was convinced that Israel was endeavouring to destroy Islam, and concluded that loyal Muslims had a religious obligation into destroy Israel.Laura Neack, [https://books.google.com/books?id\\n7N9O-igbK_gC&pgPA101 The New Foreign Policy: Power Seeking in a Globalized Era,] Rowman & Littlefield 2008 p.101. The short term goal of Hamas was to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation . The long-term aim sought to establish an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.\\n\\nHamas Charter (1988)\\n\\nThe foundational document, the Hamas Charter (mīthāq ḥarakat 18 August 1988), declared all of Palestine waqf property endowed by God to Muslims,Gabriel Weimann,[https://books.google.com/books?id\\n19iCbNOoYmIC&pg=PA82 Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges,] US Institute of Peace Press, 2006 p.82. with religious coexistence under Islam's wing. Like the Likud party platform, it rejects a two-state solution, envisaging no peaceful solution to the conflict apart from jihad. The antisemitic passages, widely cited as characterizing Hamas despite later policy changes in the organization regarding Israel, and the Jews, have never been revoked. \\n\\nThe Charter appears to preempt the possibility of Hamas accepting the Two State Solution. The Hamas 1988 charter states that the movement's aim is toraise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned' (Article 6) It adds that, 'when our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims.Mark A. Tessler [https://books.google.com/books?id\\n3kbU4BIAcrQC&pg=PA696 A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,] Indiana University Press, 1994 pp.546,696 Mirroring the position outlined by Israeli political parties and movements like Likud and Gush Emunim, for which the whole of the land is non-negotiable, for Hamas, to concede territory is seen as equivalent to renouncing Islam itself. \\n\\nDecades down the line, Hamas's official position changed with regard to a two-state solution, though like the Likud platform, its charter's irredentist character has not been reformulated. Khaled Mashaal, its leader, has publicly affirmed the movement's readiness to accept such a division.David Whitten, Smith, Elizabeth Geraldine Burr, [https://books.google.com/books?id\\n5v-iBAAAQBAJ&pgPA250 Understanding World Religions: A Road Map for Justice and Peace,] Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 p.250Peter Beinart, [https://books.google.com/books?idv0U1fjErMGkC&pg\\nPT231 The Crisis of Zionism,] Melbourne University Press 2012 p.231:'If Israel withdraws to the borders of 1967, it doesn't mean that it gives us back all the land of the Palestinians. But we do consider this as an acceptable solution to have a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967'. When Hamas won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Haniyeh, then president-elect, sent messages to both George Bush and Israel's leaders asking to be recognized and offering a long-term truce (hudna), along the 1967 border lines. No response was forthcoming.Dr. Lorenzo Kamel, [http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.608906 'Why do Palestinians in Gaza support Hamas?,'] Haaretz 5 August 2014\\n\\nMousa Marzook said in 2007 that the charter could not be altered because it would look like a compromise not acceptable to the 'street' and risk fracturing the party's unity. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has stated that the Charter is \\\"a piece of history and no longer relevant, but cannot be changed for internal reasons\\\".Ahmed Yousef, senior adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, added in 2011 that it reflected the views of the Elders in the face of a 'relentless occupation.' The details of its religious and political language had not been examined within the framework of international law, and an internal committee review to amend it was shelved out of concern not to offer concessions to Israel, as had Fatah, on a silver platter. While Hamas representatives recognize the problem, one official notes that Arafat got very little in return for changing the PLO Charter under the Oslo Accords, and that there is agreement that little is gained from a non-violent approach.Matthew Duss, [http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/190832/remember-gaza 'Remember Gaza?,]' Tablet Magazine 8 May 2015.\\nRichard Davis says the dismissal by contemporary leaders of its relevance and yet the suspension of a desire to rewrite it reflects the differing constituencies Hamas must address, the domestic audience and international relations. The charter itself is considered an 'historical relic.' \\n\\nIn March 2006, Hamas released its official legislative program. The document clearly signaled that Hamas could refer the issue of recognizing Israel to a national referendum. Under the heading \\\"Recognition of Israel,\\\" it stated simply (AFP, 3/11/06): \\\"The question of recognizing Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people.\\\" This was a major shift away from their 1988 charter. A few months later, via University of Maryland's Jerome Segal, the group sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush stating they \\\"don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders\\\", and asked for direct negotiations: \\\"Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and a truce for many years could be considered Hamas's de facto recognition of Israel.\\\" \\n\\nIn an April 2008 meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, an understanding was reached in which Hamas agreed it would respect the creation of a Palestinian state in the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, provided this were ratified by the Palestinian people in a referendum. Hamas later publicly offered a long-term truce with Israel if Israel agreed to return to its 1967 borders and grant the \\\"right of return\\\" to all Palestinian refugees. In November 2008, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh re-stated that Hamas was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and offered Israel a long-term truce \\\"if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights\\\". In 2009, in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Haniyeh repeated his group's support for a two-state settlement based on 1967 borders: \\\"We would never thwart efforts to create an independent Palestinian state with borders [from] June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.\\\" On December 1, 2010, Ismail Haniyeh again repeated, \\\"We accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the resolution of the issue of refugees,\\\" and \\\"Hamas will respect the results [of a referendum] regardless of whether it differs with its ideology and principles.\\\" \\n\\nIn February 2012, according to the Palestinian authority, Hamas forswore the use of violence. Evidence for this was provided by an eruption of violence from Islamic Jihad in March 2012 after an Israeli assassination of a Jihad leader, during which Hamas refrained from attacking Israel. \\\"Israel—despite its mantra that because Hamas is sovereign in Gaza it is responsible for what goes on there—almost seems to understand,\\\" wrote Israeli journalists Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, \\\"and has not bombed Hamas offices or installations\\\". \\n\\nIsrael has rejected some truce offers by Hamas because it contends the group uses them to prepare for more fighting rather than peace. The Atlantic magazine columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, along with other analysts, believes Hamas may be incapable of permanent reconciliation with Israel. Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University, writes that Hamas talks \\\"of hudna [temporary ceasefire], not of peace or reconciliation with Israel. They believe over time they will be strong enough to liberate all historic Palestine.\\\"\\n\\n1990s\\n\\nHamas carried out its first attack against Israel in 1989, abducting and killing two soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces immediately arrested Yassin and sentenced him to life in prison, and deported 400 Hamas activists, including Zahar, to South Lebanon, which at the time was occupied by Israel. During this time Hamas built a relationship with Hezbollah.\\nHamas's military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was created in 1991. During the 1990s the al-Qassam Brigades conducted numerous attacks on Israel, with both civilian and military victims. In April 1993, suicide bombings in the West Bank began. After the February 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein of 30 Muslim civilians in a Hebron mosque, the al-Qassam Brigades began suicide attacks inside Israel. \\n\\nIn December 1992 Israel responded to the killing of a border police officer by deporting 415 leading figures of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to Lebanon, which provoked international condemnation and a unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the action. \\n\\nAlthough the suicide attacks by the al-Qassam Brigades and other groups violated the 1993 Oslo accords (which Hamas opposed ), Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was reluctant to pursue the attackers and may have had inadequate means to do so. Some analysts state that the Palestinian Authority could have stopped the suicide and other attacks on civilians but refused to do so. \\n\\nAccording to the Congressional Research Service, Hamas admitted to having executed Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israeli authorities in the 1990s. A transcript of a training film by the al-Qassam Brigades tells how Hamas operatives kidnapped Palestinians accused of collaboration and then forced confessions before executing them.\\n\\nIn 1996, Yahya Ayash, the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated by the Israeli secret service. \\n\\nIn September 1997, Israeli agents in Jordan attempted but failed to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, leading to chilled relations between the two countries and release of Sheikh Yassin, Hamas's spiritual leader, from Israeli prison. Two years later Hamas was banned in Jordan, reportedly in part at the request of the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. Jordan's King Abdullah feared the activities of Hamas and its Jordanian allies would jeopardize peace negotiations with Israel, and accused Hamas of engaging in illegitimate activities within Jordan. In mid-September 1999, authorities arrested Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal and Ibrahim Ghosheh on their return from a visit to Iran, and charged them with being members of an illegal organization, storing weapons, conducting military exercises, and using Jordan as a training base. Hamas leaders denied the charges. Mashal was exiled and eventually settled in Syria. He fled to Qatar in 2012 as a result of the Syrian civil war.\\n\\nSecond Intifada\\n\\nAl-Qassam Brigades militants were among the armed groups that launched both military-style attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli civilian and military targets during the Second Intifada (also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada (, Intifāat El Aqa; , Intifādat El-Aqtzah), which began in late September 2000. This Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied territories was much more violent than the First Intifada. The military and civilian death toll is estimated at 5500 Palestinians and more than 1100 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners. A 2007 study of Palestinian suicide bombings during the second intifada (September 2000 through August 2005) found that about 40 percent were carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades. \\n\\nThe immediate trigger for the uprising is disputed, but a more general cause, writes U.S. political science professor Jeremy Pressman, was \\\"popular Palestinian discontent [that] grew during the Oslo peace process because the reality on the ground did not match the expectations created by the peace agreements\\\". Hamas would be the beneficiary of this growing discontent in the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections.\\n\\nIn January 2004, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said that the group would end armed resistance against Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem, and that restoring Palestinians' \\\"historical rights\\\" (relating to the 1948 Palestinian exodus) \\\"would be left for future generations\\\". On January 25, 2004, senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year truce, or hudna, in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the complete withdrawal by Israel from the territories captured in the 1967 Six Day War. Al-Rantissi stated that Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was \\\"difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation\\\". Israel immediately dismissed al-Rantissi's statements as insincere and a smokescreen for military preparations. Yassin was assassinated on March 22, 2004, by a targeted Israeli air strike, and al-Rantisi was assassinated by a similar air strike on April 18, 2004. \\n\\n2006 presidential and legislative elections\\n\\nWhile Hamas boycotted the 2005 Palestinian presidential election, it did participate in the 2005 municipal elections organized by Yasser Arafat in the occupied territories. In those elections it won control of over one third of Palestinian municipal councils, besting Fatah, which had for long been the biggest force in Palestinian politics. \\n\\nIn its election manifesto for the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas omitted a call for an end to Israel, though it did still call for armed struggle against the occupation. Hamas won the 2006 elections, winning 76 of the 132 seats to Fatah's 43. Seen by many as primarily a rejection of the Fatah government's corruption and ineffectiveness, the Hamas victory seemingly had brought to an end 40 years of PLO domination of Palestinian politics. \\n\\nIn early February 2006, Hamas offered Israel a 10-year truce \\\"in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem,\\\" and recognition of Palestinian rights including the \\\"right of return\\\". Mashal added that Hamas was not calling for a final end to armed operations against Israel, and it would not impede other Palestinian groups from carrying out such operations. \\n\\nAfter the election, the Quartet on the Middle East (the United States, Russia, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations) stated that assistance to the Palestinian Authority would only continue if Hamas renounced violence, recognized Israel, and accepted previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements, which Hamas refused to do. The Quartet then imposed a freeze on all international aid to the Palestinian territories. \\n\\nIn 2006 after the Gaza election, Hamas leader sent a letter addressed to George W. Bush where he among other things declared that Hamas would accept a state on the 1967 borders including a truce. However, the Bush administration did not reply. \\n\\n;Electoral Platform for Change and Reform\\nThe Change and Reform List adopts a set of principles stemming from the Islamic tradition that we embrace. We see these principles as agreed upon not only by our Palestinian people, but also by our Arab and Islamic nation as a whole. These principles are:\\n\\n# True Islam with its civilized achievements and political, economic, social, and legal aspects is our frame of reference and our way of life.\\n# Historic Palestine is part of the Arab and Islamic land and its ownership by the Palestinian people is a right that does not diminish over time. No military or legal measures will change that right.\\n# The Palestinian people, wherever they reside, constitute a single and united people and form an integral part of the Arab and Muslim nation ... [Quranic verse]. Our Palestinian people are still living a phase of national liberation, and thus they have the right to strive to recover their own rights and end the occupation using all means, including armed struggle. We have to make all our resources available to support our people and defeat the occupation and establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.\\n# The right of return of all Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to their land and properties, and the right to self-determination and all other national rights, are inalienable and cannot be bargained away for any political concessions.\\n# We uphold the indigenous and inalienable rights of our people to our land, Jerusalem, our holy places, our water resources, borders, and a fully sovereign independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.\\n# Reinforcing and protecting Palestinian national unity is one of the priorities of the Palestinian national action.\\n# The issue of the prisoners is at the top of the Palestinian agenda. \\n\\nLegislative policy and reforming the judiciary.\\n\\n\\\"stress the separation between the three powers, the legislative, executive and judicial; activate the role of the Constitutional Court; re-form the Judicial Supreme Council and choose its members by elections and on the basis of qualifications rather than partisan, personal, and social considerations ... ; enact the necessary laws that guarantee the neutrality of general prosecutor ... [and] laws that will stop any transgression by the executive power on the constitution\\\".\\n\\nPublic freedoms and citizen rights.\\n\\n\\\"Achieve equality before the law among citizens in rights and duties; bring security to all citizens and protect their properties and assure their safety against arbitrary arrest, torture, or revenge; stress the culture of dialogue ... ; support the press and media institutions and maintain the right of journalists to access and to publish information; maintain freedom and independence of professional syndicates and preserve the rights of their membership\\\".\\n\\nHamas–Fatah conflict\\n\\nAfter the formation of the Hamas-led cabinet on March 20, 2006, tensions between Fatah and Hamas militants progressively rose in the Gaza strip as Fatah commanders refused to take orders from the government while the Palestinian Authority initiated a campaign of demonstrations, assassinations and abductions against Hamas, which led to Hamas responding. Israeli intelligence warned Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas had planned to kill him at his office in Gaza. According to a Palestinian source close to Abbas, Hamas considers president Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over the Palestinian Authority and decided to kill him. In a statement to Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Mohammed Nazzal, accused Abbas of being party to besieging and isolating the Hamas-led government. \\n\\nOn June 9, 2006, during an Israeli artillery operation, an explosion occurred on a busy Gaza beach, killing eight Palestinian civilians. It was assumed that Israeli shellings were responsible for the killings, but Israeli government officials denied this. Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire on June 10, taking responsibility for the subsequent Qassam rocket attacks launched from Gaza into Israel. \\n\\nOn June 25, two Israeli soldiers were killed and another, Gilad Shalit, captured following an incursion by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Popular Resistance Committees and Army of Islam. In response, the Israeli military launched Operation Summer Rains three days later, to secure the release of the kidnapped soldier, arresting 64 Hamas officials. Among them were 8 Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers and up to 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, The arrests, along with other events, effectively prevented the Hamas-dominated legislature from functioning during most of its term. \\n\\nOn February 2007 Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca produced agreement on a signed by Mahmoud Abbas on behalf of Fatah and Khaled Mashal on behalf of Hamas. The new government was called on to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the Palestine National Council, the clauses of the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the \\\"Prisoners' Document\\\") as well as the decisions of the Arab summit. \\n\\nIn March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah. In June that year, renewed fighting broke out between Hamas and Fatah. In the course of the June 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas exploited the near total collapse of Palestinian Authority forces in Gaza, to seize control of Gaza, ousting Fatah officials. President Mahmoud Abbas then dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government. and outlawed the Hamas militia. At least 600 Palestinians died in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group, accused both sides in the conflict of torture and war crimes. \\n\\nHuman Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were \\\"maimed\\\" and tortured in the aftermath of the Gaza War. 73 Gazan men accused of \\\"collaborating\\\" had their arms and legs broken by \\\"unidentified perpetrators\\\" and 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel, who had escaped from Gaza's main prison compound after Israel bombed the facility, were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict. \\n\\nHamas security forces attacked hundreds Fatah officials who supported Israel. Human Rights Watch interviewed one such person:\\n\\nIn March 2012 Mahmoud Abbas stated that there were no political differences between Hamas and Fatah as they had reached agreement on a joint political platform and on a truce with Israel. Commenting on relations with Hamas, Abbas revealed in an interview with Al Jazeera that \\\"We agreed that the period of calm would be not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in the West Bank,\\\" adding that \\\"We also agreed on a peaceful popular resistance [against Israel], the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and that the peace talks would continue if Israel halted settlement construction and accepted our conditions.\\\"\\n\\nProgress has stalled, until an April 2014 agreement to form a compromise unity government, with elections to be held in late 2014.\\n\\n2008-09 Gaza War\\n\\nOn June 17, 2008, Egyptian mediators announced that an informal truce had been agreed to between Hamas and Israel. Hamas agreed to cease rocket attacks on Israel, while Israel agreed to allow limited commercial shipping across its border with Gaza, barring any breakdown of the tentative peace deal; Hamas also hinted that it would discuss the release of Gilad Shalit. Israeli sources state that Hamas also committed itself to enforce the ceasefire on the other Palestinian organizations. Even before the truce was agreed to, some on the Israeli side were not optimistic about it, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin stating in May 2008 that a ground incursion into Gaza was unavoidable and would more effectively quell arms smuggling and pressure Hamas into relinquishing power. \\n\\nWhile Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire, the lull was sporadically violated by other groups, sometimes in defiance of Hamas. For example, on June 24 Islamic Jihad launched rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot; Israel called the attack a grave violation of the informal truce, and closed its border crossings with Gaza. On November 4, 2008, Israeli forces, in an attempt to stop construction of a tunnel, killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas responded by resuming rocket attacks, a total of 190 rockets in November according to Israel's military. \\n\\nWith the six-month truce officially expired on December 19, Hamas launched 50 to more than 70 rockets and mortars into Israel over the next three days, though no Israelis were injured. On December 21, Hamas said it was ready to stop the attacks and renew the truce if Israel stopped its \\\"aggression\\\" in Gaza and opened up its border crossings. \\n\\nOn December 27 and 28, Israel implemented Operation Cast Lead against Hamas. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said \\\"We warned Hamas repeatedly that rejecting the truce would push Israel to aggression against Gaza.\\\" According to Palestinian officials, over 280 people were killed and 600 were injured in the first two days of airstrikes. Most were Hamas police and security officers, though many civilians also died. According to Israel, militant training camps, rocket-manufacturing facilities and weapons warehouses that had been pre-identified were hit, and later they attacked rocket and mortar squads who fired around 180 rockets and mortars at Israeli communities. Chief of Gaza police force Tawfiq Jabber, head of the General Security Service Salah Abu Shrakh, senior religious authority and security officer Nizar Rayyan, and Interior Minister Said Seyam were among those killed during the fighting. Although Israel sent out thousands of cell-phone messages urging residents of Gaza to leave houses where weapons may be stored, in an attempt to minimise civilian casualties, some residents complained there was nowhere to go because many neighborhoods had received the same message. Israeli bombs landed close to civilian structures such as schools, and some alleged that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians. \\n\\nIsrael declared a unilateral ceasefire on January 17, 2009. Hamas responded the following day by announcing a one-week ceasefire to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Israeli, Palestinian, and third-party sources disagreed on the total casualty figures from the Gaza war, and the number of Palestinian casualties who were civilians. In November 2010, a senior Hamas official acknowledged that up to 300 fighters were killed and \\\"In addition to them, between 200 and 300 fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades and another 150 security forces were martyred.\\\" These new numbers reconcile the total with those of the Israeli military, which originally said were 709 \\\"terror operatives\\\" killed. \\n\\nAfter the Gaza War\\n\\nOn August 16, 2009, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal stated that the organization is ready to open dialogue with the Obama administration because its policies are much better than those of former U.S. president George W. Bush: \\\"As long as there's a new language, we welcome it, but we want to see not only a change of language, but also a change of policies on the ground. We have said that we are prepared to cooperate with the US or any other international party that would enable the Palestinians to get rid of occupation.\\\" Despite this, an August 30, 2009 speech during a visit to Jordan in which Mashal expressed support for the Palestinian right of return was interpreted by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a sign that \\\"Hamas has now clearly opted out of diplomacy.\\\" In an interview on May 2010, Mashal said that if a Palestinian state with real sovereignty was established under the conditions he set out, on the borders of 1967 with its capital Jerusalem and with the right of return, that will be the end of the Palestinian resistance, and then the nature of any subsequent ties with Israel would be decided democratically by the Palestinians. \\n\\nIn July 2009, Khaled Mashal, Hamas's political bureau chief, stated Hamas's willingness to cooperate with a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which included a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, provided that Palestinian refugees be given the right to return to Israel and that East Jerusalem be recognized as the new state's capital. \\n\\nIn 2011, after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, Hamas distanced itself from the Syrian regime and its members began leaving Syria. Where once there were \\\"hundreds of exiled Palestinian officials and their relatives\\\", that number shrunk to \\\"a few dozen\\\". In 2012, Hamas publicly announced its support for the Syrian opposition. This prompted Syrian state TV to issue a \\\"withering attack\\\" on the Hamas leadership.[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/world/middleeast/syrian-state-tv-lashes-out-at-hamas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?hp&_r\\n0 \\\"Syria Berates Hamas Chief, an Old Ally, on State TV\\\"]. The New York Times, October 2, 2012. Khaled Mashal said that Hamas had been \\\"forced out\\\" of Damascus because of its disagreements with the Syrian regime. In late October, Syrian Army soldiers shot dead two Hamas leaders in Daraa refugee camp. On November 5, 2012, the Syrian state security forces shut down all Hamas offices in the country. In January 2013, another two Hamas members were found dead in Syria's Husseinieh camp. Activists said the two had been arrested and executed by state security forces. In 2013, it was reported that the military wing of Hamas had begun training units of the Free Syrian Army. \\n\\nIn 2013, after \\\"several intense weeks of indirect three-way diplomacy between representatives of Hamas, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority\\\", no agreement was reached. Also, intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks stalled and, as a result, during Obama's visit to Israel, Hamas launched five rocket strikes on Israel. In November, Isra Almodallal was appointed the first spokeswoman of the group. \\n\\n2014 Israel–Gaza conflict\\n\\nOn 8 July 2014 Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to counter increased Hamas rocket fire from Gaza. The conflict ended with a permanent cease-fire after 7 weeks, and more than 2,200 dead. 64 of the dead were Israeli soldiers, 7 were civilians in Israel (from rocket attacks), and 2,101 were killed in Gaza, of which according to UN OCHA at least 1,460 were civilians. Israel says 1,000 of the dead were militants. Following the conflict, Mahmoud Abbas president of the Palestinian Authority, accused Hamas of needlessly extending the fighting in the Gaza Strip, contributing to the high death toll, of running a \\\"shadow government\\\" in Gaza, and of illegally executing scores of Palestinians. \\n\\nHamas has complained about the slow delivery of reconstruction materials after the conflict and announced that they were diverting these materials from civilian uses to build more infiltration tunnels. \\n\\nMedia\\n\\nIn 2005, Hamas announced its intention to launch an experimental TV channel, Al-Aqsa TV. The station was launched on January 7, 2006, less than three weeks before the Palestinian legislative elections. It has shown television programs, including some children's television, which deliver anti-semitic messages. Hamas has stated that the television station is \\\"an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement,\\\" and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views. \\n\\nHamas produced several propaganda songs aimed to scare Israeli citizen including Shock Israel's Security and \\\"Go, call a Gazan to rip Giv'ati\\\". \\n\\nIslamization efforts\\n\\nIn the Gaza Strip\\n\\nThe gender ideology outlined in the Hamas charter, the importance of women in the religious-nationalist project of liberation is asserted, while defining that role as one of manufacturing males and caring for their upbringing and rearing. This is not too different from Fatah's view of women in the First Intifada and resembles also Jewish settlers' outlook, and over time has be subject to change. \\n\\nIn 1989 to 1989, during the first intifada, a small number of Hamas followers campaigned for the wearing of the hijab, which is not a part of traditional women's attire in Palestine, also insisting women stay at home and be segregated from men, polygamy. In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'. The harassment dropped drastically when, after 18 months UNLU condemned it, though similar campaigns reoccurred.\\n\\nSince Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, some of its members have attempted to impose Islamic dress or the hijab head covering on women. Also, the government's \\\"Islamic Endowment Ministry\\\" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing, and dating. However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women. \\n\\nHamas officials deny having any plans to impose Islamic law, one legislator stating that \\\"What you are seeing are incidents, not policy,\\\" and that Islamic law is the desired standard \\\"but we believe in persuasion\\\". The Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. When the BBC in 2010 interviewed five \\\"middle-class\\\" women in Gaza City, the subjects generally indicated Hamas attempts to enforce conservative religious standards of dress had been largely rejected by the local population, with some expressing concern that the closure of Gaza would allow the proliferation of extremist enforcement attempts by low-level Hamas officials, and others indicating they were happy to see Hamas enforcing such requirements. They also cited examples of leniency by Hamas authorities, such as allowing widowed women to keep custody of their children so long as they did not remarry, and other relaxations in the enforcement of Shariah law. One woman noted that the environment was \\\"not as bad\\\" as during the First Intifada, when women were subject to public criticism and stonings for failure to obey conservative Islamic standards of dress. One woman complained that women were not free to speak their minds or travel alone, and added: \\\"Hamas want to force themselves onto the people. They want the people to submit to them, this is their cover. They destroyed the reputation of Islam, by saying we're doing this because it is religion. This is how they won the elections.\\\" \\n\\nIn 2013, UNRWA canceled its annual marathon in Gaza after Hamas rulers prohibited women from participating in the race. \\n\\nIn the West Bank\\n\\nIn 2005, the human rights organization Freemuse released a report titled \\\"Palestine: Taliban-like attempts to censor music\\\", which said that Palestinian musicians feared that harsh religious laws against music and concerts will be imposed since Hamas group scored political gains in the Palestinian Authority local elections of 2005. \\n\\nThe attempt by Hamas to dictate a cultural code of conduct in the 1980s and early 1990s led to a violent fighting between different Palestinian sectors. Hamas members reportedly burned down stores that stocked videos they deemed indecent and destroyed books they described as \\\"heretical\\\".\\n\\nIn 2005, an outdoor music and dance performance in Qalqiliya were suddenly banned by the Hamas led municipality, for the reason that such an event would be forbidden by Islam, or \\\"Haram\\\". The municipality also ordered that music no longer be played in the Qalqiliya zoo, and mufti Akrameh Sabri issued a religious edict affirming the municipality decision. In response, the Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish warned that \\\"There are Taliban-type elements in our society, and this is a very dangerous sign.\\\" \\n\\nThe Palestinian columnist Mohammed Abd Al-Hamid, a resident of Ramallah, wrote that this religious coercion could cause the migration of artists, and said \\\"The religious fanatics in Algeria destroyed every cultural symbol, shattered statues and rare works of art and liquidated intellectuals and artists, reporters and authors, ballet dancers and singers – are we going to imitate the Algerian and Afghani examples?\\\" \\n\\nTayyip Erdoğan's Turkey as a role model\\n\\nSome Hamas members stated that the model of Islamic government that Hamas seeks to emulate is that of Turkey under the rule of Tayyip Erdoğan. The foremost members to distance Hamas from the practices of Taliban and to publicly support the Erdoğan model were Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad, advisers to Prime Minister Hanieh. Yusuf, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, reflected this goal in an interview to a Turkish newspaper, stating that while foreign public opinion equates Hamas with the Taliban or al-Qaeda, the analogy is inaccurate. Yusuf described the Taliban as \\\"opposed to everything,\\\" including education and women's rights, while Hamas wants to establish good relations between the religious and secular elements of society and strives for human rights, democracy and an open society. According to professor Yezid Sayigh of the King's College in London, how influential this view is within Hamas is uncertain, since both Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad were dismissed from their posts as advisers to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Hanieh in October 2007. Both have since been appointed to other prominent positions within the Hamas government. Khaled al-Hroub of the West Bank-based and anti-Hamas Palestinian daily Al Ayyam added that despite claims by Hamas leaders that it wants to repeat the Turkish model of Islam, \\\"what is happening on the ground in reality is a replica of the Taliban model of Islam.\\\" \\n\\nAntisemitism and anti-Zionism\\n\\nAccording to academic Esther Webman, antisemitism is not the main tenet of Hamas ideology, although antisemitic rhetoric is frequent and intense in Hamas leaflets. The leaflets generally do not differentiate between Jews and Zionists. In other Hamas publications and in interviews with its leaders attempts at this differentiation have been made.Webman, Esther. Anti-semitic Motifs in the Ideology of Hizballah and Hamas, Project for the study of Anti-semitism, Tel Aviv University, 1994, p. 22. ISBN 965-222-592-4 In 2009 representatives of the small Jewish sect Neturei Karta met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, who stated that he held nothing against Jews but only against the state of Israel. Some commentators have pointed out parallels between Hamas's youth organization and Hitler Youth. According to writer Tom Doran, Hamas is not recognized as a neo-Nazi group because its members are not \\\"white Christians\\\". \\n\\nHamas has made conflicting statements about its readiness to recognize Israel. In 2006 a spokesman signaled readiness to recognize Israel within the 1967 borders. Speaking of requests for Hamas to recognize agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, senior Hamas member Khaled Suleiman said that \\\"these agreements are a reality which we view as such, and therefore I see no problem.\\\" Also in 2006, a Hamas official ruled out recognition of Israel with reference to West and East Germany, which never recognized each other. \\n\\nHamas Charter (1988)\\n\\n* Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant provides the following quotation, attributed to Muhammad:\\n\\n\\\"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.\\\"\\n\\n* Article 22 states that the French revolution, the Russian revolution, colonialism and both world wars were created by the Zionists or forces supportive of Zionism:\\n\\n\\\"You may speak as much as you want about regional and world wars. They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it.\\\" \\n\\n* Article 32 of the Covenant refers to an antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion:\\n\\\"Today it is Palestine, tomorrow it will be one country or another. The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.\\\"\\n\\nStatements by Hamas members and clerics to an Arab audience\\n\\nIn 2008, Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas said in his sermon at the Katib Wilayat mosque in Gaza that \\\"Jews are a people who cannot be trusted. They have been traitors to all agreements. Go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing.\\\" \\n\\nAnother Hamas legislator and imam, Sheik Yunus al-Astal, discussed a Koranic verse suggesting that \\\"suffering by fire is the Jews' destiny in this world and the next.\\\" He concluded \\\"Therefore we are sure that the Holocaust is still to come upon the Jews.\\\"\\n\\nFollowing the rededication of the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem in March 2010, senior Hamas figure al-Zahar called on Palestinians everywhere to observe five minutes of silence \\\"for Israel's disappearance and to identify with Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque\\\". He further stated that \\\"Wherever you have been you've been sent to your destruction. You've killed and murdered your prophets and you have always dealt in loan-sharking and destruction. You've made a deal with the devil and with destruction itself – just like your synagogue.\\\" \\n\\nOn August 10, 2012, Ahmad Bahr, Deputy Speaker of the Hamas Parliament, stated in a sermon that aired on Al-Aqsa TV:\\n\\nIf the enemy sets foot on a single square inch of Islamic land, Jihad becomes an individual duty, incumbent on every Muslim, male or female. A woman may set out [on Jihad] without her husband's permission, and a servant without his master's permission. Why? In order to annihilate those Jews.... O Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. O Allah, destroy the Americans and their supporters. O Allah, count them one by one, and kill them all, without leaving a single one. \\n\\nIn an interview with Al-Aqsa TV in September 12, 2012, Marwan Abu Ras, a Hamas MP, who is also a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, stated (as translated by MEMRI):\\n\\nOn December 26, 2012, Senior Hamas official and Jerusalem bureau chief Ahmed Abu Haliba, called on \\\"all Palestinian factions to resume suicide attacks ... deep inside the Zionist enemy\\\" and said that \\\"we must renew the resistance to occupation in any possible way, above all through armed resistance.\\\" Abu Haliba suggested the use of suicide bombings as a response to Israel's plans to build housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. \\n\\nIn an interview on Lebanese television on July 28, 2014, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan claimed:\\n\\nStatements by Hamas members and clerics to an international audience\\n\\nIn an interview with CBS This Morning in July 27, 2014, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal stated:\\n\\nOn January 8, 2012, during a visit to Tunis, Gazan Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh told The Associated Press on that he disagrees with the anti-Semitic slogans. \\\"We are not against the Jews because they are Jews. Our problem is with those occupying the land of Palestine,\\\" he said. \\\"There are Jews all over the world, but Hamas does not target them.\\\" \\n\\nIn response to a statement by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas preferred non-violent means and had agreed to adopt \\\"peaceful resistance,\\\" Hamas contradicted Abbas. According to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri, \\\"We had agreed to give popular resistance precedence in the West Bank, but this does not come at the expense of armed resistance.\\\" \\n\\nIn May 2009, senior Hamas MP Sayed Abu Musameh said, \\\"in our culture, we respect every foreigner, especially Jews and Christians, but we are against Zionists, not as nationalists but as fascists and racists.\\\" In the same interview, he also said, \\\"I hate all kinds of weapons. I dream of seeing every weapon from the atomic bomb to small guns banned everywhere.\\\"\\n\\nIn January 2009, Gazan Hamas Health Minister Basim Naim published a letter in The Guardian, stating that Hamas has no quarrel with Jewish people, only with the actions of Israel. \\n\\nIn October 1994, in a response to Isreael's crackdown on Hamas militants following a suicide bombing on a Tel Aviv bus, Hamas promised retaliation: \\\"Rabin must know that Hamas loves death more than Rabin and his soldiers love life.\\\" The statement added that \\\"Hamas will not hesitate to retaliate severely against any attempt to harm our leaders.\\\"\\n\\nStatements on the Holocaust\\n\\nHamas has been explicit in its Holocaust Denial. In reaction to the Stockholm conference on the Jewish Holocaust, held in late January 2000, Hamas issued a press release that it published on its official website, containing the following statements from a senior leader:\\nThis conference bears a clear Zionist goal, aimed at forging history by hiding the truth about the so-called Holocaust, which is an alleged and invented story with no basis. (...) The invention of these grand illusions of an alleged crime that never occurred, ignoring the millions of dead European victims of Nazism during the war, clearly reveals the racist Zionist face, which believes in the superiority of the Jewish race over the rest of the nations. (...) By these methods, the Jews in the world flout scientific methods of research whenever that research contradicts their racist interests. In August 2003, senior Hamas official Dr Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi wrote in the Hamas newspaper Al-Risala that the Zionists encouraged murder of Jews by the Nazis with the aim of forcing them to immigrate to Palestine. \\n\\nIn 2005, Khaled Mashal called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's December 14, 2005 statements on the Holocaust that Europeans had \\\"created a myth in the name of Holocaust\\\" ) as \\\"courageous\\\". Later in 2008, Basim Naim, the minister of health in the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government in Gaza countered holocaust denial, and said \\\"it should be made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian government in Gaza denies the Nazi Holocaust. The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. We condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality.\\\" \\n\\nIn an open letter to Gaza Strip UNRWA chief John Ging published August 20, 2009, the movement's Popular Committees for Refugees called the Holocaust \\\"a lie invented by the Zionists,\\\" adding that the group refused to let Gazan children study it. Hamas leader Younis al-Astal continued by saying that having the Holocaust included in the UNRWA curriculum for Gaza students amounted to \\\"marketing a lie and spreading it\\\". Al-Astal continued \\\"I do not exaggerate when I say this issue is a war crime, because of how it serves the Zionist colonizers and deals with their hypocrisy and lies.\\\" \\n\\nIn February 2011, Hamas voiced opposition to UNRWA's teaching of the Holocaust in Gaza. According to Hamas, \\\"Holocaust studies in refugee camps is a contemptible plot and serves the Zionist entity with a goal of creating a reality and telling stories in order to justify acts of slaughter against the Palestinian people.\\\" \\n\\nIn July 2012, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, denounced a visit by Ziad al-Bandak, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to the Auschwitz death camp, saying it was \\\"unjustified\\\" and \\\"unhelpful\\\" and only served the \\\"Zionist occupation\\\" while coming \\\"at the expense of a real Palestinian tragedy\\\". He also called the Holocaust an \\\"alleged tragedy\\\" and \\\"exaggerated\\\". \\n\\nIn October 2012, Hamas said that they were opposed to teaching about the Holocaust in Gaza Strip schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. The Refugee Affairs Department of Hamas said that teaching the Holocaust was a \\\"crime against the issue of the refugees that is aimed at canceling their right of return\\\". \\n\\nInternational Positions on Hamas\\n\\nHamas, together with several charities it runs, has been designated by several governments and some academics as a terrorist organization. Others regard this designation as problematical. Israel outlawed Hamas in September 1989 The United States followed suit in 1995, as did Canada in November 2002.[https://books.google.com/books?id\\n9fQ3AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 The World Almanac of Islamism: 2014,] American Foreign Policy Council/Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 p.15. The European Union outlawed its military wing in 2001 and included Hamas in its list of terrorist organizations in 2003, which Hamas successfully challenged in the courts, and has continued to do so under American and Israeli pressure. Egypt, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom have designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The organization is banned in Jordan. It is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, and Brazil, \\n\\nCriticism\\n\\nProximity to civilians during warfare\\n\\nAfter Operation Pillar of Defense, Human Rights Watch stated that Palestinian groups had endangered civilians by \\\"repeatedly fired rockets from densely populated areas, near homes, businesses, and a hotel\\\" and noted that under international law, parties to a conflict may not to place military targets in or near densely populated areas. One rocket was launched close to the Shawa and Housari Building, where various Palestinian and international media have offices; another was fired from the yard of a house near the Deira Hotel. New York Times journalist Steven Erlanger reported that \\\"Hamas rocket and weapons caches, including rocket launchers, have been discovered in and under mosques, schools and civilian homes.\\\" Another report published by Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center revealed that Hamas used close to 100 mosques to store weapons and as launch-pads to shoot rockets. The report contains testimony from variety Palestinian sources, including a Hamas militant Sabhi Majad Atar, who said he was taught how to shoot rockets from inside a mosque. Hamas has also been criticized by Israeli officials for blending into or hiding among the Palestinian civilian population During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict. The Israeli government published what it said was video evidence of human shield tactics by Hamas. Israel said that Hamas frequently used mosques and school yards as hideouts and places to store weapons, and that Hamas militants stored weapons in their homes, making it difficult to ensure that civilians close to legitimate military targets are not hurt during Israeli military operations. Israeli officials also accused the Hamas leadership of hiding under Shifa Hospital during the conflict, using the patients inside to deter an Israeli attack. \\n\\nThe Israeli government filed a report entitled \\\"Gaza Operations Investigation: Second Update\\\" to the United Nations accusing Hamas of exploiting its rules of engagement by shooting rockets and launching attacks within protected civilian areas. Israel says 12,000 rockets and mortars were fired at it between 2000 and 2008—nearly 3,000 in 2008 alone. \\n\\nIn one case, an errant Israeli mortar strike killed dozens of people near a UN school. Hamas said that the mortar killed 42 people and left dozens wounded. Israel said that Hamas militants had launched a rocket from a yard adjacent to the school and one mortar of three rounds hit the school, due to a GPS error. According to the Israeli military probe, the remaining two rounds hit the yard used to launch rockets into Israel, killing two members of Hamas's military wing who fired the rockets. \\n\\nHuman Right Watch called Hamas to \\\"publicly renounce\\\" the rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and hold those responsible to account. Human Right Watch program director Iain Levine said the attacks by Hamas were \\\"unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes\\\", and accused Hamas of putting Palestinians at risk by launching attacks from built-up areas. Hamas spokesman relied that the report was \\\"biased\\\" and he denied that Hamas uses human shields.\\n\\nHuman Rights Watch investigated 19 incidents involving 53 civilian deaths in Gaza that Israel said were the result of Hamas fighting in densely populated areas and did not find evidence for existence of Palestinian fighters in the areas at the time of the Israeli attack. In other cases where no civilians had died, the report concluded that Hamas may have deliberately fired rockets from areas close to civilians. HRW also investigated 11 deaths that Israel said were civilians being used as human shields by Hamas. HRW found no evidence that the civilians were used as human shields, nor had they been shot in crossfire. \\n\\nThe Israeli 'human shields' charge against Hamas was called \\\"full of holes\\\" by The National (UAE), which stated that only Israel accused Hamas of using human shields during the conflict, though Hamas \\\"may be guilty\\\" of \\\"locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas\\\" and for \\\"deliberately firing indiscriminate weapons into civilian populated areas\\\". \\n\\nOn July 8, 2014, Hamas's spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri encouraged the \\\"policy of people confronting the Israeli warplanes with their bare chests\\\", saying it has proven itself. \\n\\nOne survey of Gazan residents addressed the subject of human shields during the 2014 war, with respondents issuing statements such as \\\"People received warnings from the Israelis and tried to evacuate...Hamas shot some of those people...the rest were forced to return to their homes and get bombed\\\"; \\\"Hamas imposed a curfew: anyone walking out in the street was shot without being asked any questions. That way Hamas made sure people had to stay in their homes even if they were about to get bombed\\\"; and \\\"My father received a text-message from the Israeli army warning him that our area was going to be bombed, and Hamas prevented us from leaving.\\\" Israeli soldiers recounted \\\"Suddenly, a small boy appeared, and the terrorist grabbed him and escaped with him\\\"; \\\"I saw with my own eyes someone using another person, a woman, as a shield...And I can see very clearly that the woman doesn't want to be there and he's pulling her with him\\\"; and \\\"We even found explosives in nurseries. The whole neighborhood was practically a terrorist base.\\\" \\n\\nRocket and mortar attacks\\n\\nRocket attacks by Hamas have been condemned by Human rights organizations as war crimes, both because they usually take aim at civilians and because the weapons' inaccuracy would disproportionately endanger civilians even if military targets were chosen. After Operation Pillar of Defense, Human Rights Watch stated that armed Palestinian groups fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities, violating international humanitarian law, and that statements by Palestinian groups that they deliberately targeted Israeli civilians demonstrated an \\\"intent to commit war crimes\\\". HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said that Palestinian groups made clear that \\\"harming civilians was their aim\\\" and said that launching rockets at populated areas had no legal justification. International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks on civilians and intentional violations can be war crimes.\\n\\nIn July 2008 Barack Obama, then the Democratic presidential candidate, said: \\\"If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.\\\" On December 28, 2008, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement: \\\"the United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.\\\" On March 2, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks. \\n\\nChildren\\n\\nChildren and women as human shields\\n\\nIsrael has accused Hamas of using children as human shields. The Israeli government released video footage in which it claims two militants are shown grabbing a young boy's arm from behind holding him to walk in front of them toward a group of people waiting near a wall. The IDF argues the militants were placing the boy between themselves and an Israeli sniper. The second scene shows an individual, described as a terrorist, grabbing a school boy off of a floor, where he is hiding behind a column from IDF fire, and using him as a human shield to walk to a different location. \\n\\nAfter 15 alleged militants sought refuge in a mosque from Israeli forces, the BBC reported that Hamas radio instructed local women to go the mosque to protect the militants. Two women were later killed when Israeli forces opened fire.\\n\\nIn November 2006, the Israeli Air Force warned Muhammad Weil Baroud, commander of the Popular Resistance Committees who are accused of launching rockets into Israeli territory, to evacuate his home in a Jabalya refugee camp apartment block in advance of a planned Israeli air strike. Baroud responded by calling for volunteers to protect the apartment block and nearby buildings and, according to The Jerusalem Post, hundreds of local residents, mostly women and children, responded. Israel suspended the air strike. Israel termed the action an example of Hamas using human shields. In response to the incident, Hamas proclaimed: 'We won. From now on we will form human chains around every house threatened with demolition.'\\\" In a November 22 press release, Human Rights Watch condemned Hamas, stating: \\\"There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack. Whether or not the home is a legitimate military target, knowingly asking civilians to stand in harm's way is unlawful.\\\" Following criticism, Human rights Watch issued a statement saying that their initial assessment of the situation was in error. They stated that, on the basis of available evidence, the home demolition was in fact an administrative act, viewed in the context of Israel's longstanding policy of punitive home demolitions, not a military act and thus would not fall within the purview of the law regulating hostilities during armed conflict, which had been the basis for their initial criticism of Hamas.\\n\\nWhen the UN-sponsored Goldstone Commission Report on the Gaza War was commissioned in 2009, it stated that it \\\"found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from attack\\\" though they deemed credible reports that Palestinian militants were \\\"not always dressed in a way that distinguished them from civilians\\\". \\n\\nHamas MP Fathi Hamed stated that \\\"For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel ... the elderly excel at this ... and so do the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children.\\\" \\n\\nFollowing the release of the Goldstone Report, the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan Col. Richard Kemp was invited to testify at the UN Human Rights Council 12th Special Session that during Operation Cast Lead Israel encountered an \\\"enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population\\\". \\n\\nChildren as combatants\\n\\nThe Israeli government released a video compiled mostly from Arab news sources showing Palestinian children under the age of 15 going through military training and carrying and firing arms. The video's narration explains that Hamas indoctrinates these child combatants and that Hamas operators send the children \\\"on missions from which they would not risk their own lives\\\". According to the Israeli government, the children are used as spotters, to transport explosives and weapons, sent to play in areas to deter Israeli attacks and are sent unknowingly with explosive devices in their schoolbags to be blown up in the vicinity of Israelis. The United Nations defines the use of children for military purposes as a war crime and a form of slavery. See Military use of children.\\n\\nAlthough Hamas admits to sponsoring summer schools to train teenagers in handling weapons they condemn attacks by children. Following the deaths of three teenagers during a 2002 attack on Netzarim in central Gaza, Hamas banned attacks by children and \\\"called on the teachers and religious leaders to spread the message of restraint among young boys\\\". \\n\\nHamas's use of child labor to build tunnels with which to attack Israel has also been criticized, with at least 160 children killed in the tunnels as of 2012. \\n\\nChildren's magazine\\n\\nAl-Fateh (\\\"the conqueror\\\") is the Hamas children's magazine, published biweekly in London, and also posted in an online website. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine features stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, and states it is for \\\"the young builders of the future\\\". \\n\\nAccording to MEMRI (three of whose seven founding staff had formerly served in the IDF), the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations and of their planners and perpetrators. as well as characterizations of Jews as \\\"murderers of the prophets\\\" and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews. In each issue, a regular feature titled \\\"The Story of a Martyr\\\" presents the \\\"heroic deeds\\\" of a mujahid from one of the organizations who died in a suicide operation, including operations against civilians, or who was killed by the IDF. MEMRI also noted that the magazine includes illustrations of figures, including child warriors, who embody the ethos of jihad and martyrdom, presenting them as role models. These include the magazine's titular character, Al-Fateh (\\\"The Conqueror\\\")—a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn scimitar—as well as children carrying guns, and photos of Hamas fighters launching Qassam rockets. \\n\\nAl-Aqsa TV\\n\\nAl-Aqsa TV is a television channel founded by Hamas. The station began broadcasting in the Gaza Strip on January 9, 2006., news24.com, January 22, 2006 Its programming includes ideologically tinged children's shows, news talk, and religiously inspired entertainment. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the station promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis. Hamas has stated that the television station is \\\"an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement,\\\" and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views.\\n\\nAl-Aqsa TV is headed by Fathi Ahmad Hammad, chairman of al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Productions—a Hamas-run company that also produces Hamas's radio station, Voice of al-Aqsa, and its biweekly newspaper, The Message. \\n\\nDissent and the media\\n\\n Human rights groups and Gazans have accused the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip of restricting freedom of the press and forcefully suppressing dissent. Both foreign and Palestinian journalists report harassment and other measures taken against them. In September 2007 the Gaza Interior Ministry disbanded the Gaza Strip branch of the pro-Fatah Union of Palestinian Journalists, a move criticized by Reporters without borders. In November of that year the Hamas government arrested a British journalist and for a time canceled all press cards in Gaza. On February 8, 2008, Hamas banned distribution of the pro-Fatah Al-Ayyam newspaper, and closed its offices in the Gaza Strip because it ran a caricature that mocked legislators loyal to Hamas,. The Gaza Strip Interior Ministry later issued an arrest warrant for the editor. \\n\\nMore widely, in late August 2007 the group was accused in The Telegraph, a conservative British newspaper, of torturing, detaining, and firing on unarmed protesters who had objected to policies of the Hamas government. Also in late August, Palestinian health officials reported that the Hamas government had been shutting down Gaza clinics in retaliation for doctor strikes – The Hamas government confirmed the \\\"punitive measure against doctors\\\" because, in its view, they had incited other doctors to suspend services and go out on strike. \\n\\nIn September 2007 the Hamas government banned public prayers, after Fatah supporters began holding worship sessions that quickly escalated into raucous protests against Hamas rule. Government security forces beat several gathering supporters and journalists. \\n\\nIn October 2008, the Hamas government announced it would release all political prisoners in custody in Gaza. Several hours after the announcement, 17 Fatah members were released. \\n\\nOn August 2, 2012, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) accused Hamas of harassing elected officials belong to the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) in Gaza. The IFJ said that journalists' leaders in Gaza have faced a campaign of intimidation, as well as threats designed to force them to stop their union work. Some of these journalists are now facing charges of illegal activities and a travel ban, due to their refusal \\\"to give in to pressure\\\". The IFJ said that these accusations are \\\"malicious\\\" and \\\"should be dropped immediately\\\". The IFJ explained that the campaign against PJS members began in March 2012, after their election, and included a raid organized by Hamas supporters who took over the PJS offices in Gaza with the help of the security forces, and subsequently evicted the staff and elected officials. Other harassment includes the targeting of individuals who were bullied into stopping union work. The IFJ backed the PJS and called on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to intervene to stop \\\"his officials' unwarranted interference in journalists' affairs\\\". \\n\\nIn November 2012, two Gazan journalists were prevented from leaving Gaza by Hamas. There were scheduled to participate in a conference in Cairo, Egypt. After being questioned by security forces, their passports were confiscated. \\n\\nIn 2016 Reporters Without Borders condemned Hamas for censorship and for torturing journalists. Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said \\\"As living conditions in the Gaza Strip are disastrous, Hamas wants to silence critics and does not hesitate to torture a journalist in order to control media coverage in its territory.\\\" \\n\\nHuman rights abuses\\n\\nIn June 2011, the Independent Commission for Human Rights based in Ramallah published a report whose findings included that the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were subjected in 2010 to an \\\"almost systematic campaign\\\" of human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, as well as by Israeli authorities, with the security forces belonging to the PA and Hamas being responsible for torture, arrests and arbitrary detentions. \\n\\nIn 2012, the Human Rights Watch presented a 43 page long list of human rights violation committed by Hamas. Among actions attributed to Hamas the HRW report mentions beatings with metal clubs and rubber hoses, hanging of alleged collaborationists with Israel, and torture of 102 individuals. According to the report, Hamas also tortured civil society activists and peaceful protesters. Reflecting on the captivity of Gilad Shalit, the HRW report described it as \\\"cruel and inhuman\\\". The report also slams Hamas for harassment of people based on so called morality offenses and for media censorship. In a public statement Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East director of HRW claimed, \\\"after five years of Hamas rule in Gaza, its criminal justice system reeks of injustice, routinely violates detainees' rights and grants impunity to abusive security services.\\\" Hamas responded by denying charges and describing them as \\\"politically motivated\\\" \\n\\nOn May 26, 2015 Amnesty International released a report saying that Hamas carried out extrajudicial killings, abductions and arrests of Palestinians and used the Al-Shifa Hospital to detain, interrogate and torture suspects during the Israel–Gaza conflict in 2014. It details the executions of at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel and torture of dozens of others, many victims of torture were members of the rival Palestinian movement, Fatah. \\n\\nViolence and terrorism\\n\\nHamas uses both political activities and violence in pursuit of its goals. For example, while politically engaged in the 2006 Palestinian Territories parliamentary election campaign, Hamas stated in its election manifesto that it was prepared to use \\\"armed resistance to end the occupation\\\". \\n\\nFrom 2000 to 2004, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly 400 Israelis and wounding more than 2,000 in 425 attacks, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks into Israel. \\n\\nAttacks on civilians\\n\\nIn the first years of the First Intifada (1987–93), Hamas violence was directed first at collaborators with Israel and at individuals it considered moral deviants, and then later at the Israeli military. A new direction began with the formation of the al-Qassam Brigades militia in 1992, and in 1993 suicide attacks began against Israeli targets on the West Bank. \\nThe first such attack occurred on April 16, 1993, when an al-Qassam Brigades operative detonated explosives in a car he parked next to two buses, one military and one civilian, in the West Bank town of Mehola, killing a Palestinian civilian and wounding 8 Israeli soldiers. After the February 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein of 30 Muslim civilians in a Hebron mosque, the al-Qassam Brigades expanded suicide attacks to target primarily civilians. The first of the suicide bombings that targeted civilians was at Afula on April 16, 1994, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car next to a bus, killing nine (including the bomber) and wounding 50. The most deadly suicide bombing was an attack on a Netanya hotel on March 27, 2002, in which 30 people were killed and 140 were wounded. The attack has also been referred to as the Passover massacre since it took place on the first night of the Jewish festival of Passover at a Seder.\\n\\nHamas has defended suicide attacks as a legitimate aspect of its asymmetric warfare against Israel, but they are consideted as crimes against humanity under international law. In a 2002 report, Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas leaders \\\"should be held accountable\\\" for \\\"war crimes and crimes against humanity\\\" committed by the al-Qassam Brigades. \\n\\nIn May 2006 Israel arrested a top Hamas official, Ibrahim Hamed, who Israeli security officials alleged was responsible for dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis. Hamed's trial on those charges has not yet concluded. In 2008, Hamas explosives engineer Shihab al-Natsheh organized a deadly suicide bombing in Dimona. \\n\\nSince 2002, paramilitary soldiers of al-Qassam Brigades and other groups have used homemade Qassam rockets to hit Israeli towns in the Negev, such as Sderot. Al-Qassam Brigades was estimated in 2007 to have launched 22% of the rocket and mortar attacks, which killed fifteen people between the years 2000 and 2009 (see Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel). The introduction of the Qassam-2 rocket in 2008 enabled Palestinian paramilitary groups to reach, from Gaza, such Israeli cities such as Ashkelon. \\n\\nIn 2008, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, offered that Hamas would attack only military targets if the IDF would stop causing the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Following a June 19, 2008 ceasefire, the al-Qassam Brigades ended its rocket attacks and arrested Fatah militants in Gaza who had continued sporadic rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. The al-Qassam Brigades resumed the attacks after the November 4 Israeli incursion into Gaza. \\n\\nOn 15 June 2014, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of involvement in the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers (including one who held American citizenship), saying \\\"This has severe repercussions.\\\" On 20 July 2014, nearly two weeks into Operation Protective Edge, Netanyahu in an interview with CNN described Hamas as \\\"genocidal terrorists.\\\" \\n\\nOn 5 August 2014 Israel announced that Israeli security forces arrested Hussam Kawasme, in Shuafat, in connection with the murders. During interrogation, Kawasme admitted to being the mastermind behind the attack, in addition to securing the funding from Hamas. Officials have stated that additional people arrested in connection with the murders are still being held, but no names have been released. \\n\\nOn 20 August, Saleh al-Arouri, a Hamas leader in exile in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens. He delivered an address on behalf of Khaled Mashal at the conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul, a move that might reflect a desire by Hamas to gain leverage. In it he said: \\\"Our goal was to ignite an intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the Al-Qassam Brigades carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The mujahideen captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal.\\\" Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal accepted that members of Hamas were responsible, stating that he knew nothing of it in advance and that what the leadership knew of the details came from reading Israeli reports. Meshaal, who has headed Hamas's exiled political wing since 2004, has denied being involved in the \\\"details\\\" of Hamas \\\"military issues\\\", but \\\"justified the killings as a legitimate action against Israelis on \\\"occupied\\\" lands.\\\" \\n\\nRocket attacks on Israel\\n\\nAccording to Human Rights Watch, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have launched thousands of rockets into Israel since 2001, killing 15 civilians, wounding many more, and posing an ongoing threat to the nearly 800,000 Israeli civilians who live and work in the weapons' range. Hamas officials have said that the rockets were aimed only at military targets, saying that civilian casualties were the \\\"accidental result\\\" of the weapons' poor quality. According to Human Rights Watch, statements by Hamas leaders suggest that the purpose of the rocket attacks was indeed to strike civilians and civilian objects. From January 2009, following Operation Cast Lead, Hamas largely stopped launching rocket attacks on Israel and has on at least two occasions arrested members of other groups who have launched rockets, \\\"showing that it has the ability to impose the law when it wants\\\". In February 2010, Hamas issued a statement regretting any harm that may have befallen Israeli civilians as a result of Palestinian rocket attacks during the Gaza war. It maintained that its rocket attacks had been aimed at Israeli military targets but lacked accuracy and hence sometimes hit civilian areas. Israel responded that Hamas had boasted repeatedly of targeting and murdering civilians in the media. \\n\\nAccording to one report, commenting on the 2014 conflict, \\\"nearly all the 2,500–3,000 rockets and mortars Hamas has fired at Israel since the start of the war seem to have been aimed at towns\\\", including an attack on \\\"a kibbutz collective farm close to the Gaza border\\\", in which an Israeli child was killed. Former Israeli Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi stated that \\\"Hamas has expressed pride in aiming long-range rockets at strategic targets in Israel including the nuclear reactor in Dimona, the chemical plants in Haifa, and Ben-Gurion Airport\\\", which \\\"could have caused thousands\\\" of Israeli casualties \\\"if successful\\\". \\n\\nAttempts to derail 2010 peace talks\\n\\nIn 2010, Hamas, who have been actively sidelined from the peace talks by Israel, spearheaded a coordinated effort by 13 Palestinian militant groups, in attempt to derail the stalled peace talks between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority. According to the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major Gen. Eitan Dangot, Israel seeks to work with Salam Fayyad, to help revive the Palestinian economy, and hopes to ease restrictions on the Gaza Strip further, \\\"while somehow preventing the Islamic militants who rule it from getting credit for any progress\\\". According to Dangot, Hamas must not be seen as ruling successfully or be allowed to \\\"get credit for a policy that would improve the lives of people\\\". The campaign consists of attacks against Israelis in which, according to a Hamas declaration in early September, \\\"all options are open.\\\"[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0831/Hamas-targets-Israeli-Palestinian-talks-by-killing-four-Israelis \\\"Hamas targets Israeli-Palestinian talks by killing four Israelis; Hamas took responsibility for the fatal shooting of four Israeli settlers outside Hebron today, on the eve of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington,\\\"] Joshua Mitnick, August 31, 2010, Christian Science Monitor. The participating groups also include Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and an unnamed splinter group of Fatah. \\n\\nAs part of the campaign, on August 31, 2010, 4 Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman, were killed by Hamas militants while driving on Route 60 near the settlement Kiryat Arba, in the West bank. According to witnesses, militants opened fire on the moving vehicle, but then \\\"approached the car\\\" and shot the occupants in their seats at \\\"close range\\\". The attack was described by Israeli sources as one of the \\\"worst\\\" terrorist acts in years. A senior Hamas official said that Israeli settlers in the West Bank are legitimate targets since \\\"they are an army in every sense of the word.\\\" \\n\\nThemes of martyrdom\\n\\nAccording to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch, in 2008, Fathi Hamad, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated on Al-Aqsa TV, \\\"For the Palestinian people death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly (Palestinians) created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the Jihad fighters against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death as you desire life.'\\\" \\n\\nIn 2010, Hamas speaker Ahmad Bahr praised the virtues of martyrdom and Jihad, and said that 2.5 million black-eyed virgins were waiting in the Garden of Eden, which could be entered only by prophets, by the righteous, and by martyrs. He continued by saying that nobody on Earth \\\"will be able to confront the resistance, or to confront the mujahideen, those who worship Allah and seek martyrdom\\\". \\n\\nGuerrilla warfare\\n\\nHamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank. It has successfully adapted these techniques over the years since its inception. According to a 2006 report by rival Fatah party, Hamas had smuggled between several hundred and 1,300 tons of advanced rockets, along with other weaponry, into Gaza.\\n\\nHamas has used IEDs and anti-tank rockets against the IDF in Gaza. The latter include standard RPG-7 warheads and home-made rockets such as the Al-Bana, Al-Batar and Al-Yasin. The IDF has a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas — this is due to the high local support base Hamas enjoys. \\n\\nExtrajudicial executions of rivals\\n\\nIn addition to killing Israeli civilians and armed forces, Hamas has also murdered suspected Palestinian Israel collaborators and Fatah rivals. Hundreds of Palestinians were executed by both Hamas and Fatah during the First Intifada. In the wake of the 2006 Israeli conflict with Gaza, Hamas was accused of systematically rounding up, torturing and summarily executing Fatah supporters suspected of supplying information to Israel. Human Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were \\\"maimed\\\" and tortured in the aftermath of the conflict. Seventy-three Gazan men accused of \\\"collaborating\\\" had their arms and legs broken by \\\"unidentified perpetrators\\\" and 18 Palestinians accused of helping Israel were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict. In November 2012, Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassam brigade publicly executed six Gaza residents accused of collaborating with Israel. According to the witnesses, six alleged informers were shot dead one by one in Gaza City, while the corpse of the sixth victim was tied by a cable to the back of a motorcycle and dragged through the streets. In 2013, Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning Hamas for not investigating and giving a proper trial to the 6 men. Their statement was released the day before Hamas issued a deadline for \\\"collaborators\\\" to turn themselves in, or they will be pursued \\\"without mercy\\\". In August 2014, during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, at least 22 accused collaborators were executed by Hamas shortly after 3 of its commanders were assassinated by Israeli forces. An Israeli source denied that any of the commanders had been targeted on the basis of human intelligence.\\n\\nFrequent killings of unarmed people have also occurred during Hamas-Fatah clashes. NGOs have cited a number of summary executions as particular examples of violations of the rules of warfare, including the case of Muhammad Swairki, 28, a cook for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard, who was thrown to his death, with his hands and legs tied, from a 15-story apartment building in Gaza City. Hamas security forces reportedly shoot and torture Palestinians who opposed Hamas rule in Gaza. In one case, a Palestinian had criticized Hamas in a conversation on the street with some friends. Later that day, more than a dozen armed men with black masks and red kaffiyeh took the man from his home, and brought him to a solitary area where they shot him three times in the lower legs and ankles. The man told Human Rights Watch that he was not politically active.\\n\\nOn August 14, 2009, Hamas fighters stormed the Mosque of cleric Abdel-Latif Moussa. The cleric was protected by at least 100 fighters from Jund Ansar Allah (\\\"Army of the Helpers of God\\\"), an Islamist group with links to Al-Qaeda. The resulting battle left at least 13 people dead, including Moussa and 6 Hamas fighters, and 120 people injured. \\n\\nAccording to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, during 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Hamas killed more than 120 Palestinian youths for defying house arrest imposed on them by Hamas, in addition to 30-40 Palestinians killed by Hamas in extrajudicial executions after accusing them of being collaborators with Israel. Referring to the killing of suspected collaborators, a Shin Bet official stated that \\\"not even one\\\" of those executed by Hamas provided any intelligence to Israel, while the Shin Bet officially \\\"confirmed that those executed during Operation Protective Edge had all been held in prison in Gaza in the course of the hostilities.\\\" \\n\\n2011–13 Sinai insurgency\\n\\nHamas has been accused of providing weapons, training and fighters for Sinai-based insurgent attacks, although Hamas strongly denies the allegations, calling them a smear campaign aiming to harm relations with Egypt. According to the Egyptian Army, since the ouster of Egypt's Muslim-Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, over 600 Hamas members have entered the Sinai Peninsula through smuggling tunnels. In addition, several weapons used in Sinai's insurgent attacks are being traced back to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to the army. The four leading insurgent groups in the Sinai have all reportedly maintained close ties with the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also accused of helping Morsi and other high-ranking Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members break out of the Wadi Natroun prison in Cairo during the 2011 revolution. Hamas called the accusation a \\\"dangerous development\\\". Egyptian authorities stated that the 2011 Alexandria bombing was carried out by the Gaza-based Army of Islam, which has received sanctuary from Hamas and earlier collaborated in the capture of Gilad Shalit. Army of Islam members linked to the August 2012 Sinai attack have reportedly sought refuge in the Gaza Strip. Egypt stated that Hamas directly provided logistical support to the Muslim Brotherhood militants who carried out the December 2013 Mansoura bombing. \\n\\nDebate whether to attack America\\n\\nHamas officials have publicly debated whether or not to attack American interests in the Middle East in response to US support of Mahmoud Abbas preceding the 2006 Gaza elections. \\n\\nInternational support\\n\\nHamas has always maintained leadership abroad. The movement is deliberately fragmented to ensure that Israel cannot kill its top political and military leaders. Hamas used to be strongly allied with both Iran and Syria. Iran gave Hamas an estimated $13–15 million in 2011 as well as access to long-range missiles. Hamas’s political bureau was once located in the Syrian capital of Damascus before the start of the Syrian civil war. Relations between Hamas, Iran, and Syria began to turn cold when Hamas refused to back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Instead, Hamas backed the Sunni rebels fighting against Assad. As a result, Iran cut funding to Hamas and their terror proxy Hezbollah ordered Hamas members out of Lebanon. Hamas was then forced out of Syria. Since then, Iran and Hezbollah have tried to mend fences with Hamas. Hamas contacted Jordan and Sudan to see if either would open up its borders to its political bureau. But both countries refused - though they welcomed many Hamas members leaving Syria. In 2012 Hamas headquarters subsequently moved to Doha, Qatar. \\n\\nFrom 2012-2013, under the leadership of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, Hamas had the support of Egypt. However, when Morsi was removed from Office, his replacement Abdul Fattah al-Sisi outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and destroyed the tunnels Hamas built into Egypt. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are likewise hostile to Hamas. Like Egypt, they designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and Hamas was viewed as its Palestinian equivalent.\\n\\nQatar and Turkey\\n\\nAccording to Middle East experts, now Hamas has two firm allies: Qatar and Turkey. Both give Hamas public and financial assistance estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Shashank Joshi, Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute says that “Qatar also hosts Hamas’s political bureau which includes Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.” Meshaal also visits Turkey frequently to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan has dedicated himself to breaking Hamas out of its political and economic seclusion. Last year on U.S. television Erdogan said, \\\"I don't see Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas is a political party.\\\"\\n\\nIn 2007, Qatar was, with Turkey, the only country to back Hamas after the group ousted the Palestinian Authority out of the Gaza Strip. The relationship between Hamas and Qatar strengthened in 2008 and 2009 when Khaled Meshaal was invited to attend the Doha Summit where he was seated next to the then Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani who pledged $250 million to repair the damage caused by the Israel in the Israeli war on Gaza. These events caused Qatar to become the main player in the “Palestinian issue.” Qatar called Gaza’s blockade unjust and immoral, which prompted the Hamas government in Gaza, including former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, to thank Qatar for their “unconditional” support. Qatar then began regularly handing out political, material, humanitarian and charitable support for Hamas.\\n\\nIn 2012, Qatar’s former Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, became the first head of state to visit Gaza under Hamas rule. He pledged to raise $400 million for reconstruction. Some have argued that the money Qatar gives to reconstruct Palestine is an excuse to pour even more money into Hamas. Qatar’s reason for funding Hamas, which is shared by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is allegedly that Islamist groups are growing and will eventually play a role in the region; thus it is important for Qatar (and Turkey) to maintain ties. During the Arab Spring, for example, Qatar backed the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Islamist group whose offshoot is Hamas. Other sources say that advocating for Hamas is politically beneficial to Turkey and Qatar because the Palestinian cause draws popular support amongst their citizens at home. \\n\\nSome began to label Qatar a terrorist haven in part because it is harboring Hamas leader Meshaal. They also harbor Husam Badran former leader of Hamas’s military wing in the northern West Bank. Husam Badran, current media spokesman for Hamas, was the instigator of several of the deadliest suicide bombings of the second intifada including the Dolphinarium discotheque bombing in Tel Aviv which killed 21 people. \\n\\nTurkey has also been criticized for housing terrorists like Saleh al-Arouri, the senior Hamas officer known for his ability to mastermind attacks from abroad. Al-Arouri is alleged to have orchestrated the June 2014 abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers and to have started the 50 days war between Israel and Palestine and now lived in Turkey. \\n\\nSpeaking in reference to Qatar’s support for Hamas, during a 2015 visit to Palestine, Qatari official Mohammad al-Emadi, said Qatar is using the money not to help Hamas but rather the Palestinian people as a whole. He acknowledges however that giving to the Palestinian people means using Hamas as the local contact. Emadi said, \\\"You have to support them. You don't like them, don't like them. But they control the country, you know.\\\" Some argue that Hamas’s relations with Qatar are putting Hamas in an awkward position because Qatar has become part of the regional Arab problem.\\n\\nBut Hamas claims that having contacts with various Arab countries establishes positive relations which will encourage Arab countries to do their duty toward the Palestinians and support their cause by influencing public opinion in the Arab world. In March 2015, Hamas has announced its support of the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. \\n\\nU.S.-based support\\n\\nSeveral U.S. organizations were either shut down or held liable for financing Hamas in early 2001, groups that have origins from the mid-1990s: the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and Kind Hearts. The U.S. Treasury Department specially designated the HLF in 2001 for terror ties: from 1995-2001. The HLF transferred “approximately $12.4 million outside of the United States with the intent to contribute funds, goods, and services to Hamas.” According to the Treasury Department, Khaled Meshal, identified one of HLF’s officers, Mohammed El-Mezain as “the Hamas leader for the U.S.” In 2003, IAP was found liable for financially supporting Hamas, and in 2006 Kind Hearts had their assets frozen for supporting Hamas. In 2016 it was reported that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel includes a web of Hamas supporters from the Illinois-based organization American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2292"],"string":"[\n \"2292\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Project MUSE - Chronology: July 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\nJuly 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010. Abbreviations. ... July 21: The Middle East ... was arrested and charged with spying for Israel.\nProject MUSE - Chronology: July 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\nJuly 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\nAbbreviations\nRFE-RL, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty\nRNW, Radio Netherlands Worldwide\nSee also Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey\nJuly 21:\nThe Middle East Quartet released a statement signed by special envoy Tony Blair commending the Bank of Israel's transfer of $13 million into the Gaza Strip and the exchange of $8.2 million of spoiled currency for new bills. The move came as the blockade eased and the approach of Ramadan created more demand for cash. The Palestinian Monetary Authority had requested a $62 million transfer earlier in 2010. [YNET, 7/28]\nJuly 28:\nIsraeli police in East Jerusalem helped Jewish settlers move into a house occupied by a Palestinian family. The Qirrishes returned from a wedding ceremony to discover the eviction and were barred from entering the property or collecting their personal effects. The settlement group Ateret Cohanim and the Palestinian inhabitants had been in dispute over the building since the 1970s. [LAT, 7/30]\nAug. 2:\nFayez Karam, former head of the Lebanese counter-terrorism and counterespionage units, was arrested and charged with spying for Israel. He allegedly relayed information relating to Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement. His was the latest in a string of espionage arrests since Lebanon launched an investigation into Israeli spy rings in 2009. Karam was the first politician to be charged. [MEO, 8/8, BBC, 8/10]\nAug. 3:\nFour people were killed in the worst clash along the Israel-Lebanon border since the 2006 war. The violence erupted when, for strategic purposes, Israeli troops attempted to clear a tree near the site of a 2006 month-long rocket exchange. The following day the UN confirmed that Israel had not crossed its border while cutting down the tree. [LAT, WP, 8/4]\nAug. 5:\nIsrael released the Mavi Marmara and two other Turkish ships from the May 30 flotilla. The vessels were bound for Turkey. The Israeli government kept possession of three non-Turkish vessels and the Rachel Corrie, which had sailed for Gaza a few days after the Turkish flotilla. [BBC, 8/4, Al-Jazeera, 8/7]\nAug. 9:\nIsraeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu testified for an Israeli state-sponsored inquiry into the flotilla incident. He defended Israel's actions, saying that it had not broken international law. He also said that his and Turkey's governments had been in negotiations for weeks to prevent conflict, but Ankara was not keen to take the case seriously. [The Guardian, 8/9]\nAug. 10:\nEhud Barak testified in the Israeli flotilla inquiry, stating that he [End Page 103] took responsibility for the nine deaths on the flotilla in a broad sense, but blamed the military for bungling the raid. He accused the Turkish flotilla of intentionally provoking the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). [The Guardian, 8/10, BBC, 8/10]\nAmidst generally friendly relations and following a series of violent border skirmishes, the IDF announced that it had changed its policy toward the Lebanese Army. According to the new rules, IDF soldiers would increase the intensity with which they responded to Lebanese aggression fourfold. Israel considered the Lebanese Army to be working toward regional stability along with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon. [YNET, LAT, 8/10]\nAug. 11:\nLieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel's top military chief, testified for the Israeli flotilla inquiry that the activists had fired first on IDF soldiers. He defended the use of lethal force, but said that greater precautions should have been taken to neutralize resistance before boarding the flotilla. [NYT, BBC, 8/11]\nAug. 17:\nThe Yesha Council and the Israeli Sheli movement ran two seminars on editing Wikipedia with language and information more sympathetic to Israel. Wikipedia had long been a battleground for informational disputes, such as whether to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Wikipedia had banned similar attempts to alter content by Camera, a Zionist group, in 2008. [The Guardian, Haaretz, 8/18]\nAfter years of debate, the Lebanese Parliament unanimously passed a new energy law allowing for the exploration of oil and natural gas fields in Lebanese waters. The legislation was revived by Israel's announcement that it would begin drilling its own marine oil fields. Lebanon feared that these movements would unfairly impinge upon their waters and resources, especially since Lebanon and Israel had no official maritime borders. [Al-Jazeera, 8/17]\nSept. 2:\nThe first face-to-face peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in over 20 months began in Washington, DC. US President Barack Obama hoped that the issues of borders and refugees could be resolved within a 12-month period. However, the murder of four Israelis by Hamas militants the night before the opening banquet cast a shadow over the talks. [The Guardian, 8/31, 9/2, 9/13, 9/15]\nSept. 3:\nIn drive-by shootings in the West Bank, Hamas killed three, breaking a two-year calm after a crackdown by Israeli and Palestinian Authority security services. [WP, 9/3, The Guardian, 9/15]\nSept. 12:\nPrime Minister Netanyahu announced that while construction would not be accelerated, he would not renew the freeze on settlement building. Palestinian Authority President Mahmud 'Abbas maintained that Palestine would withdraw from talks if the settlement-building continued. US President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton urged Netanyahu to extend the freeze, set to expire September 26. [The Guardian, 9/13]\nSept. 15:\nIsraeli forces bombed tunnels between Gaza and Egypt following a rocket attack from Gaza on the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Violence continued on the ground as Gazans fired mortars into Israel during the opening days of the peace negotiations. [BBC, The Guardian, 9/15]\nSept. 22:\nThe UN probe into the flotilla incident led by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched on August 10 ruled that Israel had broken international law during its raid on the Turkish flotilla. The charges included violating right to life and freedom of expression, and improper handling of captives. Israel dismissed the report, which carried no legal force. [BBC, 9/22, The Guardian, 8/10, 9/23]\nSept. 23:\nIn a speech at the UN General Assembly, US President Obama pleaded for support in Middle East peace talks. He directly appealed to Israel to halt the settlement process in the West Bank, while also exhorting supporters of Palestine to [End Page 104] stop \"trying to tear Israel down.\" He also emphasized that a Palestinian state was the only route to stable Israeli security. [The Guardian, AP, 9/23, Al-Jazeera, 9/24]\nSept. 26:\nDespite a call for restraint from Netanyahu, settlers in Kiryat Netarim, a settlement on the West Bank, declared an end to the 10-month building freeze by laying the cornerstone for a new kindergarten. Defense Minister Ehud Barak had not approved the construction plans. [YNET, 9/26]\nSept. 28:\nIn the first attempt since the Mavi Marmara flotilla, a boat carrying Jewish activists, along with an assortment of toys, medical supplies, books, and outboard motors, set out from Cyprus to break the Gaza blockade. IDF soldiers boarded and diverted the yacht two days later, bringing it to the nearby port of Ashdod. [Al-Jazeera, AP, 9/26, The Guardian, 9/28]\nOct. 4:\nUnknown arsonists attacked a mosque near Hebron in Al-Fajjar, scrawling \"Revenge\" and \"A mosque must be burned\" in Hebrew on the wall. The attack was thought to be part of the \"price tag\" policy, in which retaliation attacks were carried out against Palestinian targets whenever the Israeli state attempted to curb settlement efforts. Ehud Barak called the attack an act of terrorism. [NYT, 10/4]\nCentral Asia and the Caucasus\nSee also Afghanistan\nJuly 19:\nKazakh website owner Valery Khlyupin and online journalist Asror Muminov were accused by Kyrgyz officials of inciting ethnic hatred amidst ethnic violence in June 2010. Kyrgyz prosecutors requested that Kazakhstan charge Khlyupin and Muminov, author of an article entitled \"Kyrgyz Kill Uzbeks Even in Mosques.\" Khlyupin claimed that 90% of the information in the article was provided by sources within Kyrgyzstan and that he was prepared to apologize if any of it was false. [RFE/RL, 7/19]\nJuly 21:\nTajikistan opened a US-funded customs post along the Afghan border, demonstrating a greater joint commitment to drug trafficking. The US committed $12 million to the project, which provided the latest technological equipment and created a large complex of administrative and customs offices, a restaurant, and a hotel. [RFE/RL,7/23]\nJuly 22:\nAzerbaijan confirmed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented Armenia and Azerbaijan with a new plan to end the Nagorno-Karbakh conflict. The confirmation came after Azerbaijani officials had previously denied that new plans had been presented. Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian expressed frustration that Azerbaijan must accept Russia's proposals \"as a basis for negotiations\" or the conflict would remain deadlocked. [RFE/RL, 7/23]\nJuly 26:\nOver 2,000 people gathered in Kyrgyzstan's two largest cities, protesting the government's decision to accept the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) proposal to send a policy advisory unit of 52 members into southern Kyrgyzstan. Opponents of the OSCE force said that local authorities were able to cope with the unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan, but President Roza Otunbaeva stated that the international force would monitor the human rights situation and assist Kyrgyz police. [RFE/RL, 7/26]\nAug. 1:\nTajik authorities detained religious leader Mavlavi Abduqahor and students at his madrasa in the Rudaki district of Tajikistan. Abduqahor was arrested primarily for teaching without a license and for teaching children under the age of seven. The arrests were carried out by Operation Madrasah, which aimed to ban all illegal religious schools in the country. Some Tajik analysts said that officials were trying to control all religious schools in order to prevent the rise of radical Islam. [RFE/RL, 8/2]\nAug. 2:\nA Kyrgyz government commission began investigating the causes of the deadly June 2010 clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Members of the National Commission met with locals in predominantly ethnic [End Page 105] Uzbek villages in Osh who had both been victims of and witnessed the violence. The Commission was charged with finding out whether the violence could have been stopped earlier or prevented. [RFE/RL, 8/2]\nAug. 10:\nThe Muslim call to prayer through loudspeakers was banned in northern Tajikistan, just as Muslims were preparing for the holy month of Ramadan. Authorities in the northern Sughd province implemented the ban because they said it caused confusion and disturbed the peace. Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim country. [RFE/RL, 8/10]\nAug. 19:\nTurkmen authorities allowed some university students to return to Kyrgyzstan to continue their studies after they had been evacuated during the June 2010 clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Authorities agreed to let the students return as long as parents signed a statement assuming responsibility for their child's well-being while in Kyrgyzstan. Diplomas earned by students in Kyrgyzstan would not be recognized in Turkmenistan. [RFE/RL, 8/19]\nAug. 20:\nAzerbaijan's Supreme Court upheld a 2009 sentence given to jailed bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada. The men were sentenced to two and two and a half years, respectively, in prison on hooliganism charges. Lawyers and Hajizada's father called the charges politically motivated, as Milli and Hajizada had often criticized and satirized government policies. [RFE/RL, 8/20]\nAug. 25:\nGeorgia accused Russia of deploying S-300 missile-defense systems in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia. Earlier in the month, Moscow announced the placement of S-300s in the breakaway Abkhazia region, but denied that S-300s had also been deployed in South Ossetia. Georgia and much of the international community insisted that Abkhazia and South Ossetia were integral parts of Georgian history and were opposed to their recognition by Russia as independent states. [RFE/RL, 8/25]\nAug. 26:\nUzbek authorities burned 497 kilograms of confiscated Afghan heroin worth an estimated $150 million. The heroin and more than 700 kilograms of other illegal drugs were burned outside of Tashkent before an audience of diplomats and journalists. The destroyed drugs were used as evidence in trials against drug traffickers and represented just part of almost 2.5 tons of drugs seized from smugglers leaving Afghanistan since early 2010. [RFE/RL, 8/26]\nSept. 6:\nAs part of an exchange of border officials between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Uzbek authorities released a Kyrgyz border guard. A day earlier Kyrgyz authorities released three Uzbek customs officers and Uzbekistan released three Kyrgyz border guards. This release was delayed by additional negotiations over unknown border issues. [RFE/RL, 9/6]\nSept. 15:\nKyrgyzstan courts sentenced well-known ethnic Uzbek human rights activist Azimjan Askarov to life in prison. Askarov, along with seven other ethnic Uzbeks, were found guilty of murdering a Kyrgyz police officer during the violent clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in June 2010. A Kyrgyz official called the verdict politically motivated and said that his office had investigated further and would have held Askarov not guilty. [RFE/RL, 9/15]\nSept. 16:\nArmenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian announced that Armenia and Iran would soon begin building two shared major hydroelectric power stations on their border. Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said that the power stations would give Armenian-Iranian commercial ties a significant boost. The project was estimated to cost $323 million. [RFE/RL, 9/17]\nAn adviser to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev stated that the President would seek a fresh term in office in 2012. Nazarbaev was the country's only leader in its post-Soviet history. Parliament ruled in 2007 that he should be able to run for president as many times as he liked. As \"leader of the nation,\" Parliament also gave Nazarbaev immunity from prosecution. [RFE/RL, 9/16] [End Page 106]\nSept. 20:\nKyrgyzstan closed its border with Tajikistan after deadly clashes between an armed extremist group and Tajik military forces in Tajikistan's Rasht province. Cholponbek Turusbekov, Kyrgyz Border Guard Service Deputy Chairman, stated that Kyrgyz security forces were deployed to the area to control the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. Tajik authorities said armed militants killed about 23 servicemen near the Tajik-Kyrgyz border. [RFE/RL, 9/20]\nSept. 21:\nFive supporters of former opposition commander Mirzokhuja Ahmadov, a leader of the former United Tajik Opposition (UTO), were killed in a counterterrorist operation in the Rasht district. Ahmadov's house was also attacked by rockets. His fate was unknown. After learning of the attack on the commander's home, another former opposition leader, Shoh Iskandarov, reportedly joined the militants. UTO fought in the Tajik civil war of 1992-1997 against President Emomali Rahmon's administration. [RFE/RL, 9/22]\nSept. 23:\nAbkhaz Vice President Aleksandr Ankvab suffered minor shrapnel wounds when his home was attacked with a grenade launcher. The attacker's identity was unknown and the attempt was the fourth on Ankvab's life in the past five years. Motive for the attack remained unclear but a potential reason was that Ankvab was perceived as being capable of forcing the resignation of Abkhaz de facto President Sergei Bagapsh. [RFE/RL, 9/23]\nOct. 5:\nAn Armenian citizen, Manvel Saribekian, who was detained in Azerbaijan in September 2010, was found dead in his prison cell. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry and Military Prosecutor's Office claimed that Saribekian hanged himself, but circumstances surrounding Saribekian's death remained unclear. Azerbaijani authorities stated that Saribekian was part of an armed group intending to carry out armed \"provocations.\" Armenian authorities fiercely refuted that claim. [RFE/RL, 10/5]\nOct. 7:\nAzerbaijan refuted Armenia's claims that it killed an Armenian captive. Officials in Azerbaijan insisted that the captive, Manvel Saribekian, was an Armenian intelligence operative who committed suicide in custody, which Armenia also refuted. Saribekian was taken into custody in Azerbaijan on September 11. [RFE/RL, 10/7]\nOct. 12:\nKyrgyz voters took to the polls to elect a new Parliament as part of the referendum voted upon after the ousting of former President Bakiyev. Though the election was deemed free and fair, none of the top five finishers in the election won a large percentage of the vote, leaving many Kyrgyz voters to be represented by parties they did not vote for. Many analysts believed that the new government would have a very pro-Russian foreign policy. [RFE/RL, 10/12]\nOfficials captured 14 suspected terrorists and confiscated an unknown quantity of guns during a special operation in the normally peaceful Istaravshan district in northern Tajikistan. The men detained were suspected of being involved in a suicide bombing in the northern town of Khujand which killed four police officers and injured 28 people. The detainment was the first time a group so large had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism in Istaravshan. [RFE/RL, 10/14]\nOct. 13:\nA Vienna-based Turkmen human rights group's website was hacked and inaccessible for days. Farid Tukhbatullin, head of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR), left Turkmenistan and received refugee status in 2003. The group's website was hacked directly after President Gurbanguli Berdymukhammedov called on the National Security Ministry to crack down against those disseminating slanderous information about Turkmenistan. Since the hacking, Tukhbatullin was also warned of a possible threat to his personal security. [RFE/RL, 10/13]\nOct. 15:\nGeorgia's Parliament approved a controversial amendment to the constitution that shifted the country's primary political powers from the president to the prime minister. The amendment was designed to introduce more checks and balances by strengthening the role of the prime minister and Parliament while curbing presidential [End Page 107] power. Critics were wary as they believed that the shift would allow President Mikheil Saakashvili to prolong his position of power by seeking the seat of prime minister after his term ended. [RFE/RL, 10/15]\nPalestinian Affairs\nJuly 17:\nGaza's first shopping center opened in a ceremony attended by Hamas party officials and officers. The complex — approximately one-quarter acre — drew crowds hoping to browse the Western and Israeli products, enjoy the air-conditioning, or shop in the new supermarket. [YNET, 7/20, NYT, 8/22]\nJuly 18:\nEngineering students at Hebron University designed and built a completely solar-powered car from scratch as part of an effort to promote environmentally friendly power alternatives in Palestine. The car, celebrated as a victory for the students, could not exceed 19 miles per hour. [The Guardian, 7/18]\nJuly 20:\nBrazilian Presient Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a bill granting $14 million in aid to the reconstruction of Gaza. The gift came after the UN called on the international community to help the region. [AP, ANBA, 7/21]\nAug. 10:\nThe Palestinian Authority reported that Arab countries had cut aid to the Palestinian territories, although the US and Europe had already donated their annual contributions. Arab officials from other countries declined to comment, though some Palestinians speculated that the cut was calculated to force Hamas and Fatah to reach an accord. [Reuters, 8/10]\nAug. 25:\nDozens of protesters, carrying President Mahmud 'Abbas' picture and chanting his name, broke up a conference in Ramallah held to oppose direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. The organizers of the conference, believing the interruption to be the work of Fatah and Palestinian security forces, immediately began their own protest in the streets of the city, but were soon stopped by the police for not holding the necessary protest permit. [LAT, 8/25]\nSept. 19:\nThe Crazy Water Park, one of the few affordable family destinations in Gaza, was attacked for the second time in a month by arsonists. The owner claimed that Hamas ignored threats to the park. The resort competed with Hamas' commercial enterprises and conservatives often criticized it for what they perceived as immoral activities, including hosting mixed-gender parties. [The Guardian, 9/24]\nSept. 20:\nIsrael lifted a ban on car imports to the Gaza Strip for the first time in over three years, allowing the importation of oil, engine parts, and about 20 cars. Restrictions on Gaza had been gradually easing since the May 30 raid on the Mavi Marmara. [NYT, 9/20]\nSept. 22:\nHamas leader Khalid Mish'al hosted Fatah representative 'Azzam al-Ahmad in Damascus in one of a series of reconciliation attempts between the conflicting parties. The two men released a joint statement announcing an initial agreement concerning the path to compromise, and outlined plans to meet in Cairo and finalize a peace agreement. [Al-Jazeera, 9/25]\nAfghanistan\nJuly 19:\nNATO forces intercepted a five-point directive from Mullah 'Umar, the spiritual leader of the Afghan Taliban, in which he called on members to fight foreign troops, obtain heavy weapons, and kill civilians collaborating with coalition forces. If genuine, the directive marked a turnaround for Umar who in 2009 urged Taliban members to avoid killing civilians. [Al-Jazeera, 7/19]\nJuly 26:\nThe US government condemned the leak of more than 90,000 classified military documents on the war in Afghanistan, including details on Afghan civilian deaths, special forces units targeting high-level Taliban members, and concerns that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI was helping the Taliban. The documents were released by the online whistleblower WikiLeaks and covered the period January 2004 through December 2009. [Al-Jazeera, 7/26] [End Page 108]\nJuly 23:\nA NATO rocket attack on an Afghan village killed up to 52 civilians. Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the incident. Witnesses said that civilians were fired upon by helicopters while they sought cover after being warned of an impending firefight between Taliban militants and NATO troops. [Al-Jazeera, 7/27]\nJuly 27:\nThe US Department of Defense launched an investigation into the leak of thousands of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan to whistleblower website WikiLeaks. Officials said that the person who leaked the classified documents appeared to have security clearance and access to sensitive documents. Bradley Manning, an army intelligence analyst, was charged earlier in July over the leak of a classified video to WikiLeaks. [Al-Jazeera, 7/27]\nAug. 13:\nBBC News reported that a routine Afghan National Army (ANA) operation conducted by a 300-man battalion turned into a major confrontation when Taliban militants ambushed army personnel in Bad Pakh valley in northeast Afghanistan. Seven Afghan soldiers were killed and 14 were injured. ANA Commanders and NATO leaders said that the ANA, with over 130,000 soldiers, was increasingly able to operate militarily without support from coalition forces. [BBC, 8/13]\nAug. 15:\nThe Afghan Ministry of Mines announced that an oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels of oil was discovered in north Afghanistan. An oil ministry spokesman indicated that these reserves and other mineral deposits would be offered up for development in the months that followed. [BBC, 8/16]\nNATO forces in Afghanistan killed an al-Qa'ida cell leader as he attacked a police post in Kunduz province. He was also a Taliban commander. [Al-Arabiya, 8/16]\nAug. 24:\nAfghan and international forces killed about 40 Taliban insurgents and captured eight Taliban leaders east of Kabul as part of an operation to provide security for the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in the region in September 2010. A large amount of explosive ordinances and weapons were destroyed. One International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed in the fighting. [AP, 8/24]\nAug. 28:\nTaliban gunmen killed parliamentary candidate Haji Abdul Manan as he walked from his home to a mosque. Also in anticipation of the forthcoming parliamentary election, at least ten campaign workers of Fawzia Gilani, a female candidate in the elections, were kidnapped by armed men three days previously. The motive of the kidnappers was unclear. Both incidents occurred in Herat province. [Al-Jazeera, 8/26, Reuters, 8/29]\nAug. 29:\nExposure to poison gas, confirmed as containing toxic but non-fatal levels of organophosphates, hospitalized 45 students and four teachers from the Zabihullah Esmati High School in the Kart-e-Naw area of Kabul. The method of the poison gas' release was unknown. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid reached via phone said \"We have not and will never take such action against innocent girls.\" A similar attack by unknown assailants was carried out on August 25 at another Kabul high school. [NYT, 8/31]\nBullet-riddled bodies of five campaign workers of female parliamentary candidate Fawzia Gilani were found in the Adraskan district of Herat. It was unclear who killed them. Five other campaign workers were found unharmed. [Reuters, 8/29]\nAug. 30:\nA car bomb killed the district chief of Lal Pur in the eastern province of Nangarhar as he drove into the provincial headquarters for a provincial security meeting with political leaders. Three to five others were wounded in the explosion. [AP, 8/30]\nSept. 6:\nThe Taliban assassinated district chief Rahmad Sror Joshan Pool from Baghlan Province along the Kunduz-Baghlan highway in northern Afghanistan. Pool's bodyguard and one militant were also killed and two militants were wounded in the ensuing firefight. [NYT, 9/7] [End Page 109]\nProminent Afghan journalist and deputy head of Afghanistan's National Journalists' Association Said Hamid Noori was found stabbed to death outside of his home. The motive and responsible party remained unknown. President Hamid Karzai issued a statement ordering authorities to spare no effort in bringing the killers to justice. [AP, 9/6]\nSept. 9:\nAt least 20 Islamist militants, including Taliban members and one border guard, were killed in a firefight along the Tajik-Afghan border. The militants were attempting to cross the border into Tajikistan when Tajik border guards engaged them. The firefight lasted nearly 24 hours, during which most of the militant group was killed. [Dawn, 9/11]\nSept. 12:\nTwo people died and four others were wounded as Afghans continued to protest the proposed but cancelled burning of Qur'ans by a US pastor. The previous day, more than 10,000 Afghans shouted anti-US slogans, set fire to tires, and blocked a highway in protest against the American church's plan. Smaller protests were held throughout Afghanistan since September 9. [AP, 9/11, 9/12]\nSept. 13:\nISAF soldiers were attacked multiple times during a patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand Province and responded with airstrikes, mortars, rockets, and machine gun fire, killing up to 23 insurgents. ISAF stopped firing when they observed women and children entering the compound from which the insurgent gunfire originated. [AP, 9/14]\nSept. 17:\nThe Taliban kidnapped 19 government officials on the eve of the Afghan elections, including Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of Parliament) candidate Abdul Rahman Hayat. The Taliban threatened to target polling centers, election workers, and security forces on election day and warned that voters who tried to cast ballots \"will get hurt.\" Tens of thousands of Afghan security forces were on high alert. [AFP, 9/17]\nSept. 18:\nVoting concluded for Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga elections at over 5,000 polling stations. Hundreds of polling stations were closed due to security concerns. Despite the 115,000 Afghan security forces sent to protect the polls, a total of 93 attacks killed at least 21 voters and wounded 45 others around the country. [AFP, Al-Jazeera, 9/18, WP, 9/20]\nSept. 21:\nNine American NATO troops were killed and one Afghan national security force member wounded in a helicopter crash in the Zabul province of southern Afghanistan, where ISAF increased pressure on Taliban insurgents. While the Taliban claimed responsibility for the crash, NATO denied that the helicopter reported hostile fire. [FOX, 9/21]\nA NATO and Afghan army outpost in the Spera district of Khost province in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border was attacked by insurgents. The skirmish killed 25-30 insurgents. No NATO or Afghan troop casualties were reported. [AP, 9/22]\nSept. 24:\nMore than 30 insurgents were killed in an ISAF and Afghan air assault in the Laghman province. The assault was conducted by more than 250 ISAF and Afghan police and security forces. [CNN, 9/25]\nOct. 3:\nThe Afghan government formally banned eight foreign and domestic private security firms. Among those banned was XE, the company formally known as Blackwater. Weapons and ammunition owned by the companies were also confiscated. President Karzai issued a decree in September to disband all private security firms in the country within four months in order to reduce corruption, security irregularities, and misuse of military weapons which caused tragic incidents throughout the country. [CNN, 10/3]\nOct. 6:\nIt was reported that Taliban representatives authorized to speak for the Quetta Shurra and members of the Karzai government were holding secret peace talks. Sources stressed that the talks were only preliminary. A Karzai spokesman did not confirm or deny the government's participation in such discussions. [Reuters, 10/6]\nOct. 7:\nA US Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry revealed a number of [End Page 110] problems in US military contracts to private security organizations. The report cited poor training, a lack of oversight by Defense Department contract managers, and evidence that some funds eventually fell into the hands of Afghan warlords. The report also claimed that some contractors even engaged in activities opposed to coalition efforts. [Reuters, 10/7]\nOct. 8:\nAt least 20 people were killed and 35 wounded in a bomb explosion at the Shirkat mosque in Takhar province. The attack occurred during Friday prayers. Kunduz province governor Muhammad 'Umar, a Takhar native, was among the dead. He was suspected of being the bomb's target, having survived two previous assassination attempts. [AP, RFE/RL, 10/8]\nOct. 11:\nBritish Prime Minister David Cameron revealed that Linda Norgrove, a British hostage and aid worker killed during a US-led rescue operation on October 8, may not have been killed by her captors as previously reported by the British Foreign Office. Cameron, who authorized the rescue, said that US General David Petraeus reported that a review of the incident suggested that Norgrove could have been killed by the troops attempting to save her, specifically from a grenade explosion rather than bombs on a vest worn by one of the kidnappers. [Reuters, 10/11]\nAlgeria\nJuly 25:\nAziz Abdul Naji, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was transferred to his native Algeria on July 18, was indicted and placed under judicial supervision. Naji was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and held in Guantanamo until his release. He fought against his repatriation and said that he feared mistreatment or even death in his homeland. [KT, 7/27]\nAug. 6:\nIdir Muhamad, Mayor of Baghlia, was assassinated by Algerian Islamist militants. Baghlia was a town located east of Algiers in a region thought to be a stronghold of al-Qa'ida's North African wing. The mayor belonged to the National Liberation Front party, Algeria's largest political party. [Reuters, 8/7]\nAug. 28:\nAlgerian forces killed eight gunmen suspected of belonging to al-Qa'ida during a special operation in the Kabylie region, east of Algiers. The mountainous Kabylie area was considered to be a safe refuge for al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb. Residents in the region alerted authorities after insurgents sought food there. [AP, 8/29]\nOct. 3:\nA remote-controlled bombing of a military convoy by Islamist militants killed five soldiers and injured ten others. The soldiers were on a mission targeting insurgents in the volatile Kabylie region. [AP, 10/3]\nOct. 5:\nTwo recently converted Christian men on trial in Algeria for eating during daylight hours in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan were acquitted. Algerian law considered it an \"offense to the principles of Islam\" to eat during the day during Ramadan. Two similar cases in the courts were pending. [AP, Reuters, 10/5]\nBahrain\nAug. 13:\n'Abdul Jalil Al Singace, spokesman for the Haq Movement for Liberties and Democracy, a large Shi'a opposition group, was arrested as he returned to Manama from a London seminar for terrorist acts and inciting violence. Singace, who had been arrested on terrorism charges in 2009, was accused of spreading fabricated information about the government and judicial system in order to stir unrest. [GN, 8/15]\nAug. 26:\nPublic prosecutor 'Ali al-Bu'aynayn issued a gag order on all coverage of the alleged terrorist plot against Bahraini national security. Violation of the order in any medium entailed a fine or a jail sentence of up to one year. The only exception included statements from Bu'aynayn himself. [GN, 8/28]\nSept. 4:\nOfficials arrested and charged 23 people for conspiring to overthrow the Sunni government in a violent coup. Most of the accused were Shi'a opposition leaders who had been charged with similar offenses in 2009 and subsequently pardoned. The [End Page 111] majority of the more than 160 arrested under anti-terrorism laws since August 2009 were part of the Shi'a majority opposition or human rights groups. [NYT, 9/5]\nSept. 6:\nAfter only four months in office, Salman Kamaluddin, head of the National Human Rights Commission in Bahrain, resigned for unknown reasons. During his tenure he had openly disagreed with the government on the role of politics in human rights. [GN, 9/6]\nSept. 19:\nBahraini officials stripped Shi'a Ayatollah Husayn Mirza Nijati of his citizenship and reportedly banned Shi'a Shaykh 'Abdul Jalil al-Miqdad from delivering sermons for two weeks. Human rights activists were already preparing for the apparent crackdown on Shi'a opposition leaders, accusing the Sunni government of using torture and intimidation to ensure control in the run-up to the October parliamentary elections. [BBC, 9/20]\nEgypt\nJuly 18:\nPresident Husni Mubarak hosted Palestinian President Mahmud 'Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and US Peace Envoy George Mitchell in Cairo. None of the visitors spoke with each other, but instead had back-to-back appointments with Mubarak to discuss the possibility of future direct talks regarding a two-state solution. [Reuters, 7/18]\nAn Egyptian court freed National Democratic Party member Hani Surur who had been jailed for selling defective blood bags to state hospitals. The decision voided a November ruling that sentenced Surur to three years in prison. The court also overturned the three-year prison sentences of Surur's sister and two senior health officials, and acquitted three others who had been sentenced to six months in prison for the same crime. [Reuters, 7/18]\nSixteen Bedouin tribesmen, including Yahya Abu Nasira, an activist who helped to found the opposition party Karama, were freed from jail. The government sought to reduce tension with the Bedouin, who complained of mistreatment and clashed with security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian authorities accused the Bedouin of being involved in weapons and drug smuggling to the Gaza Strip. [Reuters, 7/18]\nJuly 22:\nPresident Mubarak addressed Egyptians in a televised speech to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Egypt's July Revolution. He appeared healthy during the speech only days after Information Minister Anas al-Fekki denied a Washington Times report that Western intelligence agencies thought Mubarak to be suffering from terminal stomach and pancreatic cancer. [Reuters, 7/22]\nAug. 5:\nIn a television interview, an anonymous Egyptian woman accused two police officers of raping her on a deserted rural road north of Cairo. The police opened an investigation into the incident after it was reported. The interview attracted tens-of-thousands of viewers on YouTube as it was unusual for women in Egypt to make public accusations of rape. [BBC, 8/5]\nAug. 11:\nDrought in Russia led to a major wheat shortage in Egypt. Egypt, which imported an estimated 60,000 tons of wheat from Russia each month, had to find another supply as Russia halted its exports. [RFE/RL, 8/11]\nAug. 12:\nThe Egyptian government announced a controversial plan to unify the Islamic call to prayer in Cairo. One muezzin's recitation of the call to prayer would be transmitted by radio to thousands of mosques to be played simultaneously in order to avoid discrepancies about prayer times and end overlapping prayer calls. Many muezzins worried about no longer being able to perform the call to prayer. Some religious scholars called the move an undue government interference. [Al-Jazeera, 8/12]\nAug. 14:\nFour African migrants were shot dead by smugglers and two more were killed [End Page 112] by Egyptian police near Egypt's border with Israel. Smugglers had been holding about 50 Ethiopians and Eritreans for ransom and shot at them when one migrant seized a gun from a guard to free his fellow captives. Egyptian police shot two migrants when they refused orders to stop as they tried to cross barbed wire at the Israeli border. [Reuters, 8/14]\nAug. 18:\nCrowds protested power outages that left many residents without air conditioning during the hot month of Ramadan, blocking a major highway in Fayoum with burning tires. The electricity cuts affected residents from the Nile Delta in the north to Luxor in the south. Residents of Shubra el-Kheima on Cairo's outskirts signed petitions calling for the Minister of Electricity to resign. [AP, 8/18]\nAug. 23:\nDeputy Culture Minister Mohsan Shalaan and four security guards from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo were detained on accusations of neglect and professional delinquency after a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen on August 21 in broad daylight. The same painting was stolen in 1978, found in Kuwait two years later, and returned to Egypt. [AP, 8/23]\nAug. 25:\nA presidential spokesman announced that Egypt would build its first nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast of el-Dabaa which it hoped would be linked into the national grid by 2019. Head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said that the agency was ready to assist Egypt in its nuclear efforts. Egypt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1981. [AFP, 8/25]\nSept. 6:\nOpposition leader Muhammad ElBaradei urged the nation to boycott the November 28 parliamentary election. ElBaradei said that the elections were bound to be rigged and that it was wrong to legitimize the regime by participating in its elections. [AP, 9/6]\nSept. 11:\nApproximately 100 tons of oil leaked into the Nile River in the Aswan region after an oil barge began sinking while unloading its cargo. Three Egyptian provinces declared a state of emergency to contain the spill and prevent it from spreading and contaminating water purification facilities. [AP, 9/11]\nSept. 19:\nA high-ranking Hamas official, Mohammed Dababish, was arrested at the Cairo International Airport for using falsified travel documents. Dababish was a top official in Hamas' internal security unit overseeing intelligence matters in Gaza. [AP, 9/19]\nSept. 21:\nEgyptian police beat and arrested activists demonstrating in downtown Cairo against the possible succession of Gamal Mubarak to the presidency following his father. Close to 300 demonstrators chanted antigovernment slogans, waved flags, and burned pictures of Gamal Mubarak. Police detained more than 30 activists for trying to reach the demonstration and confiscated videotapes from BBC and Al-Jazeera news crews attempting to cover the event. [AP, 9/21]\nSept. 28:\nEgyptian real-estate tycoon and former member of the upper house of parliament Hisham Talaat Mustafa was sentenced to 15 years in prison for paying former Egyptian police officer Mohsen al-Sukkari $2 million to murder Lebanese pop singer Suzanne Tamim. Mustafa was originally sentenced to death in May 2009. His retrial began on April 26, 2010. AlSukkari was also retried and had his death sentence reduced to life in prison. [AP, 9/28]\nOct. 12:\nEleven Culture Ministry employees were sentenced to three years in prison for gross negligence regarding the Van Gogh painting that was stolen from a Cairo museum on August 23. The painting was worth $55 million. [Reuters, 10/12]\nNew restrictions were imposed by Egypt's telecommunications regulators on mobile text messages, forcing companies that send out texts en masse to acquire licenses. Only registered political parties were able to apply to use mass text messages for the November 28 parliamentary elections. As a banned political party, the [End Page 113] Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition party, was not allowed to apply for a license, thereby limiting their ability to mobilize voters. [Al-Jazeera, 10/13]\nOct. 13:\nEgypt's telecommunications regulators imposed new requirements effectively placing all live broadcasts, including TV talk shows and news bulletins, under the control of state television. The licenses of all private companies that provided live broadcast services in Egypt were canceled, requiring them to obtain new licenses under the regulations. [AP, 10/13]\nIran\nSee also Pakistan, Syria\nJuly 16:\nTwo suicide bombers killed 27 people when they attacked the Jamia mosque, a Shi'a mosque in the city of Zahedan in southeastern Iran. Jundallah, a Sunni rebel group, claimed that they had carried out the attack as revenge for the hanging of its leader in June. Iran's clerical leadership accused the US of backing Jundallah in order to create unrest, but the US denied these allegations and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the \"horrific attacks.\" [BBC, 7/16]\nJuly 24:\nIran's Oil Ministry released a statement saying that it signed a $1.3 billion deal with Turkey to build a pipeline to ship gas to Turkey. The Turkish government denied that it was part of the deal, but Som Petrol, Turkey's largest energy company, said it had partnered with Iran. Javad Oji, head of the National Iranian Natural Gas Export Company said that the pipeline would export 50-60 million meters of gas each day and would be constructed within three years. [Al-Jazeera, 7/24]\nJuly 28:\nPresident Mahmud Ahmadinejad launched a new policy to pay couples that have children. Each newborn child would receive $950 plus $95 each year until they turned 18, which could be spent on education, health, marriage, or housing. Ahmadinejad condemned contraceptives and vasectomies as policies from the \"secular world\" and not appropriate for Iran. [BBC, 7/28]\nAug. 4:\nAhmadinejad was unharmed after an attacker threw a homemade explosive device at his motorcade during a visit to Hamadan. The bomb hit a car carrying journalists and presidential staff. One person was arrested, but Iranian state media denied that an attack had occurred. [Reuters, BBC, 8/4]\nAug. 16:\nThe head of Iran's Atomic Organization, 'Ali Akbar Salehi, announced that Iran would continue to expand its uranium enrichment capacity despite international sanctions. He said that Iran had identified ten new locations for enrichment plants and construction would start as early as March 2011. [Reuters, 8/16]\nAug. 18:\nIran banned the well-known economic newspaper, Asia, for \"publishing pictures against public chastity,\" and \"promoting wastefulness and extravagance.\" Ahmad Alavi, an Iranian lecturer at Stockholm University, stated that Asia was likely shut down because it published information about the poor economic state of Iran and the inefficiency of the government. [RFE/RL, 8/19]\nAug. 21:\nRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Iranian Basij members were being trained to control the virtual world as Iranian officials became increasingly concerned about the dangers of the Internet. Officials saw the internet as a dangerous breeding ground for the \"soft war\" that they believed the enemy (US, Israel, etc.) was waging against Iran. The government had launched pro-government sites and banned opposition networks and sites. [RFE/RL, 8/21]\nAug. 22:\nPresident Ahmadinejad appointed four special envoys for foreign affairs. They were seen by some as direct challenges to Ayatollah Khamenei. The Supreme Leader usually approved appointment decisions relating to foreign policy, but experts believed that Ahmadinejad was trying to exert greater control over Iranian foreign policy. [RFE/RL, 9/8]\nAug. 26:\nThe Iranian government announced new restrictions on the number of students admitted to humanities programs in the [End Page 114] country's universities. In 2009, Ayatollah Khamenei commented that humanities promoted doubt in religious beliefs and principles and that it was worrisome that about two-thirds of university students were seeking humanities degrees in Iran. University professors had also been replaced with those more committed to the Supreme Leader and the Islamic ideology. [RFE/RL, 8/26]\nSept. 14:\nSarah Shourd, one of three American hikers accused by Iran of spying, was freed. Shourd was reportedly granted bail for health reasons, specifically a possible breast cancer diagnosis. Iran posted Shourd's bail at $500,000, a sum that the US government denied paying. It was unknown who posted Shourd's bail; US officials stated that Swiss or Omani officials may have been involved. [RFE/RL, 9/14]\nSept. 11:\nIranian diplomat Hossein Alizadeh resigned to join the opposition Green Movement. He criticized the Ahmadinejad administration for \"damaging Iran's prestige and honor.\" Prior to his defection, Alizadeh was second in command at Iran's embassy in Finland. Alizadeh was the third diplomat in Europe to step down and join the opposition in 2010. [RFE/RL, 9/14]\nSept. 16:\nMir Hossein Moussavi's office was raided by security forces who seized the office's computers and possibly confiscated other property. Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was also targeted in September. Security forces were building a case against both men, but no details were provided about the charges. [NYT, 9/16]\nSix people were kidnapped in Sistan-Baluchistan province. Five of them were soldiers but officials insisted that none were high-ranking military officials. In Shi'ite dominant Iran, Sistan-Baluchistan had been the hotspot for the Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundullah. While Iran insisted that Jundullah had ties to al-Qa'ida, Jundullah denied any association with the group. [Reuters, 9/18]\nSept. 17:\nAfter the September 16 raid on Moussavi's office, Iranian security forces surrounded his office, effectively shutting it down. Correspondents in Iran stated that the crackdown was part of growing pressure on the opposition as opposition leaders continued to maintain that Ahmadinejad's re-election was fraudulent. [BBC, 9/17]\nSept. 18:\nSix hostages seized in the Sistan-Baluchistan province were freed by Iranian police after two days of fighting. Police worked with forces from the Quds Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to seal off the area and ambush the militants. Fars News Agency reported that one hostage and one gunman were killed, while two hostages were wounded. Fars also reported that the Sunni militant group Jundullah claimed responsibility on their website, but other sources rejected that claim. [CNN, 9/18]\nShiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights activist and founder of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters in Tehran, was sentenced to six years in prison on antigovernment activity charges. Ahari was arrested in December 2009 on her way to the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein 'Ali Montazeri. Convicted of plotting against the state, among other charges, Ahari was to pay a fine of $400 in addition to her six-year term as an alternative to receiving 74 lashes as punishment. [RFE/RL, 9/18]\nSept. 20:\nCulture Minister Mohammad Hosseini announced the creation of a five-person board that would approve content of all books prior to publication in Iran. Members would be appointed by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Since President Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, censorship in Iran had intensified. [RFE/RL, 9/22]\nSept. 22:\nA bomb exploded during a military parade in Mahabad in northwestern Iran, killing 12 people and wounding at least 35 others. A provincial governor blamed \"counter-revolutionary groups\" for the bombing, which took place on the 30th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war. No group claimed responsibility for the [End Page 115] attack but militants had long been active in the area, which was home to a large Kurdish population. [BBC, 9/22]\nSept. 25:\nIran's Atomic Energy Organization reported that its engineers were trying to protect various facilities from a sophisticated computer worm. The worm, named Stuxnet, had infected industrial plants across the country. It was unclear if the worm had infected any of Iran's nuclear facilities, including Natanz which was the target of covert American and Israeli programs. Stuxnet's origins were unclear. [NYT, 9/25]\nIn a rare admission, IRGC forces crossed into Iraq and killed 30 Kurdish fighters from a group it said was involved in the September 22 bombing of a military parade in Mahabad. General Abdolrasoul Mahmoudabadi of the IRGC admitted to a \"beyond the border\" clash in which \"terrorists\" were killed. IRGC forces were still in pursuit of two men who escaped. Iraqi officials previously complained about Iranian artillery shelling in Iraq's northern mountainous region where Kurdish armed opposition groups had taken refuge. [BBC, 9/26, AA, 9/27]\nSept. 28:\nA prominent Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after being convicted for anti-state activities such as cooperation with hostile countries, spreading propaganda against the ruling government, promoting counterrevolutionary groups, and insulting religious figures and Islamic thoughts. Derakhshan, dubbed Iran's \"Blogfather\" had been in custody since he was arrested in 2008 after returning to Iran after living in Britain and Canada. [RFE/RL, 9/28]\nOct. 4:\nAn Iranian opposition website, daneshjoonews.com, published the names of over 73 students jailed in Iranian prisons and stated that this number was the highest it had been in decades. Amir Rashidi, an opposition student leader in Iran, said that the regime had stopped trying to control students and instead was using military tactics to stop collective student political activity. [RFE/RL, 10/4]\nOct. 9:\nIranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi acknowledged that personnel at some of the country's nuclear facilities had been promised money by Western states in return for passing along Iranian secrets. The Islamic Republic insisted that increased security had stopped Western spying, making clear Iran's struggle with nuclear espionage. [NYT, 10/9]\nOct. 13:\nEighteen IRGC members were killed and 14 were wounded in a remote area of southwestern Iran in an explosion on a base near the city of Khorramabad. The IRGC reported that the blast occurred when fire spread to an ammunition storeroom. The city was close to Iran's Kurdistan region, where several attacks on the IRGC had taken place in recent months. [NYT, 10/13]\nIraq\nSee also Iran\nJuly 16:\nA hotel fire in northern Iraq killed 30 people, including 14 foreigners, and injured 40. There was no evidence that the incident was terror-related. [BBC, 7/16]\nJuly 18:\nA suicide bomber killed 43 people and wounded 41 at an army office west of Baghdad where anti-al-Qa'ida fighters had gathered to receive their paychecks. The bomber struck a group of Sahwa militiamen, Sunni fighters who, until 2006, sided with al-Qa'ida in Iraq. In the past six months, many Sahwa fighters and family members were killed in revenge attacks. [Al-Arabiya, 7/18]\nJuly 25:\nIraqi authorities arrested three senior Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leaders, including two brothers suspected of masterminding major offensives in Diyala in central Iraq. Authorities also arrested Saleem Khalid al-Zawbayi, the Minister of Defense for ISI, a Sunni Islamist insurgent group affiliated with Al-Qa'ida in Iraq. [Al-Arabiya, 7/25]\nJuly 26:\nTwo car bombs exploded on the road between Karbala and Najaf, killing 20 mostly Shi'ite pilgrims and injuring 54 others. A separate bombing killed four and injured ten outside the offices of Al-Arabiya. [Al-Arabiya, 7/26] [End Page 116]\nJuly 29:\nAl-Qa'ida in Iraq claimed responsibility for a July 26 suicide bombing at the Baghdad office of satellite news network Al-Arabiya. Al-Qa'ida warned of further strikes on media targets. [Reuters, 7/29]\nAug. 12:\nIraq's top army officer Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari criticized the US plan to remove US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 and argued that the Iraqi Army would not be able to secure the country until 2020. Violence in Iraq had fallen from its peak in 2006-2007, but civilian deaths rose sharply in July 2010. The White House said US President Barack Obama was satisfied with the progress made by Iraqi security forces. [BBC, 8/12]\nAug. 17:\nA suicide bomber killed 59 people and injured more than 100 at an army recruitment center in Baghdad. The recruitment center took in on average 250 recruits each week as Iraqi authorities tried to boost their armed forces. [BBC, 8/17]\nAug. 19:\nThe last US combat brigade in Iraq left the country seven years after the US-led invasion. About 50,000 US troops would remain in Iraq until the end of 2011 to support Iraqi security forces and protect US interests. The US State Department said its presence in Iraq would be less intrusive and more focused on civilian matters. [BBC, 8/19]\nThe new US Ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, arrived in Baghdad. Jeffrey, a veteran diplomat with experience in Iraq, Kuwait, and Turkey, replaced outgoing Ambassador Christopher Hill. [KT, 8/19]\nAug. 25:\nMore than a dozen apparently coordinated attacks against Iraqi police and civilians killed 52 people and injured around 250. Ten Iraqi cities and towns were affected, including Kut, where a car bomb detonated at a passport office killing 20 people, including 15 police officers. [MEO, 8/25]\nSept. 2:\nIraq signed an agreement with the US to settle abuse claims and pay out $400 million to Americans detained, tortured, starved, used as human shields, and otherwise mistreated under Saddam Husayn's regime during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. The agreement was also a step forward in removing UN sanctions imposed on Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait. [Reuters, 9/11]\nSept. 12:\nAn Amnesty International (AI) report claimed that 30,000 people were being held in Iraqi prisons. The report also said that AI had evidence that some prisoners were tortured, abused, or died in custody. Many were allegedly held without being charged or put on trial. [AFP, 9/13]\nSept. 19:\nMultiple attacks occurred throughout Iraq, including two large car bomb explosions in Baghdad and one in Fallujah. Three mortar rounds that landed in the fortified Green Zone left at least 36 dead and over 128 wounded. Sticky bombs killed two in a minibus and an officer from the Interior Ministry in his car. [CNN, 9/19]\nSept. 28:\nIraq's cabinet approved a $733 million deal to build a new oil export terminal in Basra. Leighton Offshore Private Ltd. was awarded the deal. The floating terminal was expected to increase Iraq's oil export capacity to 3 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 1.6 million bpd. [Dow Jones, 9/28]\nOct. 1:\nIraqi politicians broke the record for time taken to form a new government. The previous record was held by the Dutch, who took 208 days to create a coalition in 1977. [CNN, 10/1]\nAccording to official government figures, the death toll from violence in September was the lowest since January 2010. These records showed that 273 people, including civilians, police, and military, were casualties of violence. [AFP, 10/1]\nOct. 4:\nThe US Department of Commerce made its first trade mission to Iraq since the US pull-out of combat troops in August 2010. Fifteen companies participated, including General Motors and Boeing Corp. Only one, Wamar Engineering, was an energy company. A Commerce Department official said that jobs would be created for both Americans and Iraqis. [CNN, 9/30] [End Page 117]\nIraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani announced that Iraq's extractable oil reserves rose 24% to 143.1 billion barrels. This increase was largely due to oil field development by international companies. If accurate, this would mean that Iraq had larger reserves than Iran. [BBC, 10/4]\nOct. 10:\nCiting a lack of evidence, a Baghdad court acquitted two Iraqis of the 2003 murders of six British Royal Military Police soldiers in Iraq. The six were killed in the southern city of Majar al-Kabir by a mob. Six others were taken into custody in February 2010 but the charges against them were dropped. [BBC, 10/10]\nIsrael\nJuly 21:\nSix Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were killed when a CH-53 helicopter crashed in central Romania during a joint military exercise. After identification, the remains were returned to Jerusalem. Israeli authorities announced there would be no changes to IDF training exercises in the region. [CNN, 7/27, Jerusalem Post, 7/29]\nAug. 17:\nA Palestinian man later identified as Nadim Injaz barricaded himself in the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv with two hostages, demanding asylum and claiming to have been persecuted by Israeli intelligence agents. He was successfully apprehended after he released the hostages unharmed. In 2006, he carried out a similar attack on the British Embassy in Tel Aviv. [The Guardian, BBC, 8/17]\nAug. 24:\nFailed Grade, a report issued by Israeli rights group the Association of Civil Rights in Israel and Ir Amin, found that the government was not providing enough funding for public education in East Jerusalem. Palestinian schools suffered low academic performance and higher drop-out rates, 50% compared to the 11.8% for Jewish schools, which was linked to poor conditions and lack of spending for Arab schools. The report estimated that, on average, the Israeli government was spending about four times more per student in Jewish schools than in Arab schools. [The Guardian, 8/24]\nSept. 5:\nThe Education Ministry transferred most of the funding for high school civics classes to support courses in Jewish studies. Civics, the only subject in Israeli high schools to cover highly sensitive issues such as equality, personal rights, and the Arab and Druze minorities, would be dropped from several curricula. Increased focus on Jewish studies was one of Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar's stated goals. [Haaretz, 9/5]\nSept. 6:\nIn a study conducted by Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, 64% of 500 Israeli high school students polled said that Arab Israelis did not have equal rights. 96% wished Israel to be a Jewish democratic state, and 41% supported stripping citizenship from those who objected to this principle. The poll also revealed bias against gay and special-needs students. [Haaretz, 9/6]\nOct. 1:\nIn remembrance of the October 2000 killing of 12 Arab Israelis, protesters gathered in Kafr Kanna in Galilee. About 200 protesters, including Knesset members, Arab Israeli politicians, and families of the victims, waved Palestinian flags and hurled stones at Israeli vehicles. Protesters called for the prosecution of the police and security forces responsible for the killings and deplored what they called the growing racism of the Israeli state over the previous decade. [YNET, 10/1]\nOct. 3:\nAn Israeli military court convicted two Israeli soldiers of reckless endangerment and conduct unbecoming for using a nine-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield while checking for booby traps in Gaza in January 2009. The boy was unharmed in the incident. This was reportedly the first such conviction. The use of civilians as human shields was banned in Israel. [BBC, 10/3]\nOct. 10:\nThe Israeli government approved an amendment to the Citizenship Act requiring all new citizens to pledge allegiance to the \"Jewish and democratic state\" of Israel. Labor Chairman Ehud Barak withdrew support for the bill at the last minute, saying he feared that the new legislation would be used as a \"racist tool.\" [YNET, 10/10] [End Page 118]\nOct. 11:\nThe Spanish and French Prime Ministers accused Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of violating diplomatic etiquette by revealing the events of a meeting between the three an hour after its end. Netanyahu adopted a hostile and defensive tone during the meeting, telling the two leaders to solve the problems of their home countries before offering advice to Israel. [GN, 10/11]\nOct. 15:\nA study conducted by the Dahaf polling agency showed that 69% of Israeli Jews supported the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act, while 36% supported revoking non-Jewish citizens' right to vote. 80% said that they supported democratic values absolutely. [YNET, 10/15]\nThousands of Druze protesters marched on Berekhat Ram, or Ram Pool, in the Golan Heights. The pool, which had once measured 3,280 feet across, had almost completely disappeared due to Israeli draining for irrigation, handicapping Golani farmers and fishermen. Merokot, Israel's national water authority, said that it had always cooperated with the Water Authority regulations in its handling of Ram Pool. [YNET, 10/15]\nJordan\nSept. 10:\nJordan and Japan signed a nuclear cooperation deal, providing for cooperation on the exploration and exploitation of Jordan's uranium resources, as well as the design, construction, and operation of a reactor. A French and Japanese consortium was also bidding for the right to build Jordan's nuclear power plant, an effort which some thought was boosted by the cooperation agreement. [JP, 9/10]\nKuwait\nAug. 23:\nAl-Bawaba News reported that in February 2010, the Kuwaiti Parliament approved an ambitious four-year development plan in order to counteract slowed economic growth in recent years. The plan's many projects would support various sectors of the economy as Kuwait tried to reduce dependence on oil. It also touted the importance of the private sector in leading economic growth. Discussions were taking place on how to finance the plan. [Al-Bawaba, 8/23]\nLebanon\nSee also Iran, Syria\nJuly 27:\nLebanese newspapers reported the fourth in a series of arrests on charges of slandering President Michel Sulayman. Lebanese journalists and representatives of Human Rights Watch called the move a step backward and a troublesome attack on freedom of expression in Lebanon. [DS, 7/28, LAT, 7/29]\nAug. 2:\nThe US House Committee on Foreign Affairs put a hold on $100 million of military aid to the Lebanese Army, citing what Chairman Howard Berman called the increasing influence of Hizbullah. The State Department expressed its support for the aid continuation. The US had already given more than $700 million of assistance to the Lebanese Army over the previous five years. [YNET, 8/10, Al-Jazeera, 8/12, WP, 8/13]\nAug. 15:\nAfter a three-year search, the Lebanese Army found and killed 'Abdul Rahman Awwad, the suspected head of Fatah al-Islam, a terrorist group which was suspected to have ties to al-Qa'ida and had fought against the Lebanese Army at the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp in 2007. Awwad was also accused of inciting rebels to violence in the 2008 attacks in Tripoli, which resulted in 21 deaths. [Al-Jazeera, 8/15]\nAug. 17:\nThe UN tribunal investigating former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's assassination asked Hizbullah to submit all relevant evidence. The request followed a series of press conferences in which Hasan Nasrallah had revealed surveillance footage and unidentified documents that he called irrefutable proof of Israel's guilt. Most analysts agreed that the materials were inconclusive. [LAT, 8/9, Al-Jazeera, 8/11, MEO, 8/17] [End Page 119]\nThe Lebanese Parliament passed into law a bill affording Palestinian refugees greater workers' rights, including access to new professions and social security benefits. Designating Palestinians as foreign workers, the law still barred refugees from more esteemed professions, such as law and engineering, and did nothing to provide other rights such as property ownership, public education, and health insurance benefits. There were an estimated 425,000 registered Palestinians living in 12 refugee camps across Lebanon. [Al-Jazeera, NYT, 8/17]\nSept. 6:\nIn an interview published in the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Hariri called his 2005 accusation that Syria was responsible for the death of his father, Rafiq Hariri, \"a mistake.\" The shift marked a step in the ongoing rapprochement between Syria and Lebanon. [The Guardian, 9/6, 9/14]\nSept. 17:\nLebanese Prime Minister Hariri visited Damascus for the third time since assuming the premiership. He and President Bashar al-Asad signed 17 cooperation accords dealing with justice, tourism, education, and agriculture. Hariri told a press conference that the two countries had formed a \"friendly relationship\" over the course of the recent meetings. [MEO, 9/17]\nSept. 25:\nThree civilian were injured in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and police at the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut. Two hundred people demonstrated against Egypt's proposed construction of a subterranean metal wall along the Gaza-Egypt border. [Haaretz, 10/1]\nOct. 6:\nUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the probe into the Hariri assassination would continue despite the potential for an outbreak of violence. Many expected that the anticipated accusation against Hizbullah would throw the country into dangerous instability. [Al-Jazeera, 10/7]\nLibya\nAug. 31:\nLibya released 37 Islamists from Tripoli's Abu Salim prison after completing a rehabilitation program aimed at causing them to renounce violence and integrate back into Libyan society. The released included a former driver of Usama bin Ladin, at least one former Guantanamo Bay detainee, and several members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which had been accused of aiming to overthrow Colonel Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. [AFP, 8/31]\nSept. 12:\nLibya apologized for an incident in which a naval patrol boat, originally one of six vessels given to Libya by Italy, fired upon an Italian fishing boat approximately 30 miles from Libya's coast. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gave the vessels to Libya to curb the number of illegal immigrants traveling by boat to the Sicilian islands. [Reuters, 9/14]\nSept. 23:\nA Canadian, Douglas Oriali, who was detained by Libyan authorities for approximately one week under suspicion of working for US intelligence in order to sabotage an oil drilling project off the coast of Libya, was allowed to return to Canada. Suspicions were aroused after \"contacts with a US diplomat suspected of being an intelligence agent,\" according to a Libyan official. [AFP, 9/20, 9/23]\nOct. 3:\nLibya released two South Koreans who had been detained for several months on accusations of proselytizing. The pastor was arrested when he was found with Christian books and other materials for missionary work and the businessman a month later because of his financial support of the pastor's efforts. Negotiations over their release took place amid tense relations between the two countries regarding allegations that surfaced in June 2010 that a South Korean diplomat was collecting information on the President and other senior staff. [AP, 10/3]\nMauritania\nJuly 18:\nRetired general Muhammad Ould 'Abd al-'Aziz won 52% of the vote in the presidential election. The election was supposed to restore democratic order after al-'Aziz [End Page 120] seized power in a military coup in 2009. Opponents called the election fraudulent and asked for an international investigation. Al-'Aziz denied these allegations and promised to use his power to fight terrorism and poverty in the country. [AP, 9/19]\nJuly 23:\nThe French Ministry of Defense disclosed that it had given technical and logistical support to Mauritania in attacks against al-Qa'ida, which had been holding French citizen Michel Germaneau hostage since April 2010. The Ministry said that the raid had effectively subdued the terrorist group and prevented attacks on Mauritanian targets, but Spanish media sources reported that the raid had actually been a failed attempt to rescue Germaneau. [BBC, 7/23]\nSept. 19:\nA dozen al-Qa'ida militants and five Mauritanian soldiers died in a border clash between Mali and Mauritania in Raz-el-Ma. Mali and Mauritania had an agreement that Mauritania would patrol the border region, home to al-Qa'ida forces. France said that none of its troops had been involved and that the kidnapping of several foreigners in Niger earlier that week had no connection with the fighting. [BBC, 9/19]\nMorocco\nJuly 29:\nThe Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy announced that it would accept bids from investors willing to fund a $9 billion solar power project. The proposed power complex would be near the southern town of Ouarzazate and would have a capacity of 500 megawatts - enough to power about 90,000 homes. The project would be part of a plan to build five solar power stations by 2020. [Reuters, 7/29]\nAug. 11:\nThe Interior Ministry released a statement saying that Moroccan security forces broke up an Islamist cell that was planning attacks in Morocco, including on foreign targets. They did not specify which foreign countries' interests were threatened by the cell. [Reuters, 8/11]\nAug. 17:\nMorocco's state power company, l'Office National de l'Electricité, announced that Nareva, the energy arm of the country's biggest conglomerate, would lead construction of a 200 megawatt wind farm outside the southern town of Tarfaya as part of a plan to reduce reliance on imported fuel and build five wind farms in Morocco by 2020. Industry sources stated that the wind farm would cost around 2.7 billion dirhams ($313.3 million) and would be funded by state and private capital, including foreign investments. [Reuters, 8/17]\nOct. 8:\nMoroccan authorities arrested three Sahwari activists after their visit to Algerian refugee camps. The Sahwari government in Western Sahara was run by the Polisaro Front which publicly expressed their support for the self-determination of Western Sahara. Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975 and had refused to grant its independence since, despite the UN mission in the region. Human rights groups called for the release of the Polisario activists who were charged with \"undermining internal security.\" [UPI, 10/14]\nOman\nJuly 17:\nFive Gulf countries, including Oman, launched a cooperative turtle-tracking study and conservation effort. Turtles, threatened worldwide, were endangered most acutely in the Gulf region due to massive construction on their beach habitats. Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar also participated. [Al-Jazeera, 7/17, GN, 7/26]\nJuly 28:\nA Japanese tanker carrying crude oil was damaged in the Strait of Hormuz off the Omani coast. Though the damage was originally attributed to a freak wave, UAE officials later found evidence of explosives on the ship and concluded that the incident had been a terrorist attack. An al-Qa'ida-linked group claimed responsibility for the incident. [The Guardian, 7/28, BBC, 8/6]\nA Royal Decree announced harsher penalties, including possible imprisonment, for foreign workers living in the country [End Page 121] illegally and for citizens who allowed them to do so. The deadline to regularize residency and employment or leave the country with immunity had been extended twice through July 31, after which the new laws were to come into effect. The Manpower Ministry estimated that 40,000 workers had shown a willingness to leave under amnesty, but refused to grant any more extensions. [GN, 7/28]\nPakistan\nSee also Afghanistan\nJuly 17:\nMilitants ambushed a convoy escorted by security forces, killing 16 Shi'ite civilians. The convoy was attacked on its way from the Kurram tribal district to Peshawar. [BBC, 7/17]\nJuly 24:\nMissiles fired from a US drone aircraft struck a compound used by militants in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 16 militants. The compound was located in Dwasarak village in South Waziristan, a hideout for al-Qa'ida and Taliban militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan. [BBC, 7/24]\nJuly 26:\nPakistan strongly denied claims recently disclosed in leaked US documents that its intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), supported the Taliban in the war in Afghanistan. WikiLeaks, a whistle-blower website, leaked more than 90,000 classified US military documents, revealing NATO concerns that Pakistan and Iran were helping the Taliban. [BBC, 7/26]\nJuly 28:\nA commercial airliner crashed near Islamabad on its way from Karachi to the Pakistani capital, killing all 152 people on board. The cause of the crash, the largest air disaster in Pakistani history, was unknown. [BBC, 7/28]\nJuly 30:\nThe worst monsoon floods since 1929 hit northwest Pakistan, killing 800 and affecting one million. The government declared a state of emergency after Pakistan's meteorological department announced that 12 inches of rain had fallen over the previous 36 hours in the northwest region. Charsadda, Nowshera, and Swat were the worst affected regions; thousands were marooned in flooded villages and required immediate evacuation. [Dawn, BBC, 7/31]\nAug. 6:\nThe National Disaster Management Authority announced that 12 million people had been affected by floods in Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab provinces where 650,000 houses were destroyed. Along a 750-mile stretch of the Indus River in Sindh province, the Pakistani government evacuated one million people and planned to evacuate another 500,000. [BBC, 8/6]\nAug. 19:\nThe UN said that the number of Pakistanis in need of urgent humanitarian relief rose from six million to eight million, and that the number of people made homeless by devastating floods that started July 30 rose from two million to over four million. Aid agencies were pushing for more money from donors for food, shelter, and supplies for disease prevention and treatment. [Dawn, 8/19]\nAug. 20:\nThe UN's Financial Tracking Service showed that $490 million had been raised in response to the UN's appeal for aid for flood-hit Pakistan. In this appeal, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon characterized the floods as a \"slow-motion tsunami.\" The largest donations came from the US, Saudi Arabia, and Great Britain. An additional $325 million was promised. [Dawn, 8/21]\nAug. 24:\nThe UN released estimates suggesting that roughly 800,000 people were almost completely cut off due to massive and widespread flooding. These people could only be reached by air support, prompting the UN to request 40 additional helicopters for rescue and aid operations. [Dawn, 8/24]\nSept. 1:\nAt least 25 people were killed in Lahore when three suicide bombers attacked a procession of Shi'ite Muslim worshipers. Over 200 people were wounded in the attack. As rescue workers reached the scene, demonstrations had broken out to protest against the Taliban, whom many demonstrators blamed for the attack, and also the police, who [End Page 122] were blamed for failing to prevent the suicide bombing. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. [NYT, 9/1]\nSept. 3:\nA suicide bomber killed at least 53 people and injured 197 at a Shi'a rally in Quetta. Chaos followed as fires were set and gunfire continued. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The rally was organized to mark international Al-Quds Day. [Dawn, 9/3]\nSept. 16:\nWell-known leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Dr. Imran Farooq was killed in London near his home. The assassination sparked tension in Karachi, as a shop and two buses were set ablaze. Schools, public transportation, and other services were shut down in an effort to prevent political violence as news of Farooq's death spread. [Dawn, 9/17]\nSept. 21:\nArmy, paramilitary, and police forces killed at least 30 militants in northwest Pakistan. The campaign targeted militants that attacked local peace committee officials and were involved in \"kidnap-for-ransom\" operations. Three police officers were also killed. [Dawn, 9/21]\nSept. 23:\nProtests arose in Karachi after a US judge sentenced Pakistani Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years in prison. Siddiqui was convicted of trying to kill US agents and military officers in Afghanistan in 2008. In court, Siddiqui urged her supporters to remain calm and tried to convince them that she was not being tortured in New York where she was being held. [Dawn, 9/24]\nSept. 27:\nThe US Central Intelligence Agency increased its bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan in an effort to cripple the Taliban. The US had increased attacks using armed drone aircraft to strike at the Taliban as the US believed that Pakistan's government was not aggressive enough in dislodging Taliban militants from bases in the Western mountains. Despite protests from the Pakistani government about drone and helicopter attacks, the campaign had increased under the US President Barack Obama's administration. [NYT, 9/27]\nPakistan took over as the chair of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Pakistan was suspected of playing a role in continued nuclear proliferation and was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Pakistan assumed this post after being nominated by a group of Middle Eastern and South Asian member states. [RFE/RL, 9/27]\nSept. 30:\nPakistani officials reported that a NATO helicopter strike killed three Pakistani soldiers at a border post following a series of similar cross-border actions. NATO denied that it crossed into Pakistani airspace. [Reuters, 9/30]\nOct. 1:\nFormer Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his return to politics with the launch of a new political party. Musharraf stated that his decision to join politics was based on his realization that Pakistan's political alternatives showed no signs of being able to improve the country's problems. Part of Musharraf's platform for his political party was to promote an increased role for the Pakistani military in the government. Musharraf was in self-exile in London but stated that he planned to return to Pakistan before the next election. [RFE/RL, 10/1]\nOct. 6:\nFor the first time, the US apologized to Pakistan for the September 30 incident that killed three Pakistani border soldiers, leading to the closure of the nearby border crossing. NATO claimed that the strike was in response to an enemy attack. The apology came amidst attacks at the Pakistani border on more than 50 oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were in response to the September 30 incident. [NYT, 10/6, Dawn, 10/7]\nOct. 7:\nTwo suicide bombers attacked the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 60. The Sufi shrine to the 8th century saint was very close to one of President Asif 'Ali Zardari's residences. The [End Page 123] attack prompted the government to take the unprecedented action of sealing all of the city's shrines. [Dawn, RFE/RL, 10/8]\nOct. 9:\nPresident Zardari appointed retired Justice Deedar Hussain as Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau. Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffery challenged the appointment in the Lahore High Court, citing that the opposition was not properly consulted. Critics complained that he was too closely affiliated with the President's Pakistan People's Party. [Dawn, 10/9]\nOct. 10:\nPakistan reopened the border crossing that was closed in response to a deadly NATO cross-border strike on September 30. Crews began clearing hundreds of NATO oil tankers that had been destroyed as they waited to cross. Militants vowed to continue tanker attacks until the US ended drone strikes in Pakistan's border regions. [RFE/RL, 10/10]\nOct. 12:\nThe World Economic Forum's 2010 Global Gender Gap Report, which measured the status of women, ranked Pakistan 132nd on a list of 134 countries. The Report measured economic opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival. Iran was also ranked toward the bottom of the list at 123rd. [RFE/RL, 10/12]\nOct. 13:\nNew reports from the Asian Development Bank and The World Bank estimated recent flood damage to total between $9.5 and $9.7 billion. This included damage to infrastructure, farms, and homes. The floods were thought to have affected 20 million people, including leaving ten million people homeless. [Reuters, RFE/RL, 10/13]\nQatar\nJuly 18:\nThe Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs launched an online registration program for Muslims planning to perform the Hajj. Applicants submitting requests were required to be based in Qatar for at least three years and must not have performed the Hajj in the past five years. Chip cards would be given to pilgrims as part of a new tracking system. Registration would end on September 8. [GN, 7/18]\nOct. 3:\nOfficials from the Coasts and Borders Security Department (CBSD) stated that Qatari authorities were investigating six pirates after they were caught in Qatari waters. Authorities also seized two boats that were used to attack Qatari fishing vessels. CBSD had recently foiled numerous attempts by pirates to infiltrate Qatari waters. [GN, 10/3]\nSaudi Arabia\nJuly 24:\nShaykh Aed al-Qarni declared that Muslim women visiting France, where the niqab was recently banned, would be exempt from wearing the veil during their stay in the country. Despite this expression of tolerance, al-Qarni criticized the French government for its decision, claiming that the ban violated the freedom of religion guaranteed by secular states. [MEO, 7/25]\nSept. 27:\nInterior Minister Prince Naif bin 'Abd al-'Aziz announced that the Kingdom's security forces prevented nearly 240 planned terrorist attacks in recent years. Only ten terror attacks were actually carried out by extremists. [Al-Bawaba, 9/27]\nSept. 28:\nApproximately 200 deportees escaped from a Jidda prison. Most of them were from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen. [GN, 9/29]\nSudan\nJuly 21:\nThe Sudanese rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) signed an agreement to allow UN officials to check its bases to determine whether children were being recruited as soldiers. JEM leaders maintained that they had no child soldiers but agreed to the deal as a sign of goodwill. An estimated 6,000 children had been involved in fighting in Darfur. [BBC, 7/21]\nJuly 22:\nThe government of Chad refused to arrest Sudanese President 'Umar al-Bashir when he visited Chad to improve relations. [End Page 124] Chad recognized the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on counts of war crimes and genocide, but claimed its own sovereignty overruled the injunctions of international organizations like the ICC. Al-Bashir's visit to Chad marked the first time that he visited an ICC state since 2009 when he was first indicted. [BBC, 7/22]\nJuly 29:\nPresident al-Bashir said the upcoming referendum that would decide whether South Sudan would secede could not take place until border disputes were resolved. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which controlled the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan, insisted that the referendum be held on time. The SPLM fought the mainly Muslim and Arabic-speaking north for 20 years before a 2005 peace deal. [BBC, 7/29]\nJuly 31:\nA spokesman for the Sudanese government said that the UN and African Union had failed to keep the peace in western Sudan and were now responsible for informing the government of their movements on roads in rural and urban areas. The local authorities in south Darfur also asked members of the African Union/ UN peacekeeping venture (UNAMID) to coordinate their movements with Sudanese security forces. The UN Security Council extended its mandate in war-torn Darfur for a year on July 30. [BBC, 7/31]\nAug. 2:\nTalks between officials from North and South Sudan stalled over a referendum in the disputed Abyei region. The referendum, which would occur alongside the January vote that would decide whether South Sudan would declare independence, would decide whether the oil-producing Abyei region would belong to the North or South. The northern National Congress Party and the southern SPLM could not agree who was eligible to vote. [Al-Jazeera, 8/2]\nAug. 6:\nSouthern Sudanese authorities asked musicians and songwriters to compose a national anthem. The South Sudan National Anthem Committee said that the anthem contest did not mean it supported separation from the north. A spokesman for former rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said that the title of the song would be \"Land of Cush,\" a biblical reference to a kingdom in modern-day southern Sudan. [BBC, 8/6]\nA South Sudanese army spokesman said that South Sudan had collected 30,000 guns from civilians since the end of the civil war in 2005. South Sudan was still recovering from decades of civil war with the north. The UN estimated that more than 700 people were killed in tribal violence in South Sudan since January 2010. [MEO, 8/6]\nAug. 11:\nGunmen killed 23 people in an ambush in Unity, an important oil-producing state in South Sudan. There was strong suspicion that the attackers could be followers of militia leader Galwak Gai, a rogue colonel who launched a rebellion after alleging fraud in national elections in April 2010. [MEO, 8/11]\nAug. 24:\nSouth Sudan made plans to repatriate 1.5 million southerners living in North Sudan and in Egypt. The emergency repatriation program proposed a budget of $25 million and used the slogan \"Come Home to Choose.\" Under referendum laws, southerners living in the north or abroad could vote only if they were officially registered after proving their southern origins. [MEO, 8/24]\nAug. 27:\nDespite arrest warrants issued by the ICC for genocide and war crimes and crimes against humanity, President al-Bashir of Sudan traveled to Kenya. Al-Bashir's trip enabled him to participate in an inaugural ceremony for Kenya's new constitution. While warrants issued by the ICC could be enforced by any of its member countries, Kenya allowed al-Bashir into the country without arrest. [NYT, 8/27]\nAug. 31:\nAs the SPLA attempted to transition into a normal army, South Sudan vowed that, with UN help, it would end its dependence on child soldiers by the end of 2010. While many former SPLA child fighters had returned to civilian life, UNICEF maintained that almost 900 [End Page 125] children remained members. [MEO, 8/31]\nSept. 14:\nThe insurgent Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) accused the Sudanese Army of attacking settlements in North Darfur. UNAMID forces confirmed reports that men on horses and camels rode into the settlement and opened fire on a crowd. It was reported that 54 people were killed and 172 others injured, mostly civilians. UNAMID sent a battalian of Rwandan soldiers to the scene of the attack but SLA refused to let them enter. [Reuters, 9/14]\nSept. 26:\nSudanese Information Minister Kamal Obeid reported that South Sudanese would no longer be citizens in the north if they chose independence in next year's referendum. Obeid stated that Southerners would \"not enjoy citizenship rights, jobs or benefits,\" including the ability to buy or sell in the Khartoum market or be treated in hospitals. Some thought that Obeid's comments would heighten southerners fears of what would happen following the independence referendum scheduled for January 9, 2011. [MEO, 9/26]\nOct. 1:\nThousands of South Sudanese rallied on the streets in the southern capital to support the referendum on independence scheduled for January 2011. Crowds welcomed southern President Salva Kiir back to Juba after his trip to address world leaders in New York. Amidst fears that there would not be enough time to finalize the logistics for a credible referendum vote, Kiir assured crowds that there was enough time to hold the vote and that it needed to be done in peace. [MEO, 10/1]\nOct. 3:\nPresident al-Bashir lifted a ban on an influential newspaper that was critical of authorities in South Sudan. The Arabic-language newspaper, Al-Intibaha [Vigilance], was closed three months earlier and would resume publishing on October 6, 2010. [MEO, 10/3]\nOct. 10:\nForeign Minister Ali Karti told UN ambassadors that his government did not want to go to war over the independence vote in the south, but that they would not accept the result if there were \"interference.\" Karti warned that though the Sudanese government was committed to holding the referendum, there were still final details that had to be agreed on, such as the status of the disputed oil district Abyei. Karti insisted that non-interference was the government's only condition for accepting the result of the referendum. [MEO, 10/10]\nSyria\nSee also Lebanon, Turkey\nJuly 18:\nThe Syrian government issued a ban on the niqab, the Islamic veil that reveals only the eyes, in both private and public universities. The new law affected more than 1,000 women working in universities and elementary schools; most women were transferred to administrative positions. The new ordinance was seen as a stand against the growing influence of conservative Islamism, which ran counter to the nominally secular government. [The Guardian, 7/20]\nJuly 30:\nFor the first time since the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, Syrian President Bashar al-Asad visited Beirut. The visit, which also included King 'Abdullah bin 'Abd al-'Aziz of Saudi Arabia, was part of Syria's reemergence as an important power in the region. Lebanese Prime Minsiter Sa'd Hariri and the two leaders discussed, among other topics, the UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. [The Guardian, 7/30]\nAug. 3:\nA secret survey of 1,046 Syrians led by Angela Hawken of Pepperdine University revealed local discontent due to the country's poor political and economic situation. Researchers said that the main significance of the study was the successful administration of a nongovernmental survey, which was technically illegal in Syria. Hawken voiced her hope that similar but wider-reaching studies might be conducted in Syria in the near future. [LAT, 8/18]\nSept. 16:\nAlmost 700 inhabitants of the Golan Heights were permitted to pass into [End Page 126] Syria through the Qunaytra crossing, though their visit was restricted to a period of five days. Some of the travelers had not set foot in Syria for 40 years. At the time, there were 18,000 Syrian inhabitants left in the Golan Heights, most of them Druze who had refused to take Israeli citizenship. [MEO, 9/17]\nSept. 18:\nWithin a two-day period, both Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell visited President Bashar al-Asad in Damascus. During their respective meetings, Mitchell discussed the possibility of Syrian-Israeli peace talks, while Ahmadinejad said that US plans in the Middle East would be disrupted. Both countries had increasingly been courting Syria's allegiance in the region. [LAT, 9/17, AP, 9/18]\nOct. 7:\nIsraeli authorities claimed that satellite images on Google Earth showed five long-range Scud missiles in the Adra military camp about 15 miles north of Damascus. Israel accused Syria of arming Hizbullah militants with Scuds and suggested that Damascus was training the militants within Syrian borders. A former UN security adviser questioned the findings, saying that the resolution of the images was too low to show any such missiles. [DS, 10/7]\nTurkey\nJuly 19:\nA Turkish court indicted 196 people for plotting to topple the government in a military coup. The charged, which included 30 serving or retired military officers, allegedly had tried to start a military coup in 2003 as part of \"Operation Sledgehammer.\" Some saw the move as an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the military, which had unseated the government four times since 1960. [AP, 7/19]\nTurkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mish'al in Damascus. The leaders reportedly discussed cooperation between Fatah and Hamas as well as the Gaza Blockade. The meeting caused further tension in the recently strained relations between Turkey and Israel. Davutoglu also met with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. [BBC, Haaretz, 7/20]\nJuly 20:\nSix Turkish soldiers were killed near the Iraqi border in an overnight attack by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) soldiers. This was one of the worst clashes in a flair-up of violence corresponding with the collapse of proposed peace talks between Istanbul and the PKK. As early as May 2010, Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan had called talks with the government hopeless. [BBC, 7/20]\nJuly 21:\nIn an interview with the BBC, PKK leader Murat Karayilan offered for the first time a deal in which the PKK would disarm if the Turkish government agreed to grant Turkish Kurds certain rights. He also said that if these requests were not met, the PKK would declare a constitutional democracy independent from Ankara. He previously told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the PKK would lay down their weapons if granted autonomy similar to the status enjoyed by Spanish Catalonia. The Turkish government refused to comment on the new proposals. [BBC, 7/21, 9/16]\nJuly 22:\nParliament passed an amendment to a 2006 anti-terrorism law that had allowed for the imprisonment of youth, known in the country as \"stone-throwing children,\" for participating in PKK rallies. Under the amendment, minors charged with terrorism would be tried in juvenile court and receive shorter sentences than before. Hundreds of Kurdish children had already been imprisoned for years under the 2006 law. [Hurriyet, 7/22, NYT, 7/29]\nJuly 23:\nA Turkish court ordered the arrest of 102 military officers of the 196 indicted July 19 for participating in \"Operation Sledgehammer.\" Three of the detained were retired military commanders. [BBC, 7/23]\nAug. 5:\nThe annual Arab Opinion Poll, published by the Brookings Institute in conjunction with Zogby International, showed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip [End Page 127] Erdogan to be the most popular world leader among 4,000 people polled in six Arab countries. The jump in popularity was due in part to Turkey's harsh criticism of the May 30 Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara flotilla. [Al-Jazeera, 8/11]\nAug. 7:\nDays after the military said it would not promote any of the officers associated with the alleged \"Sledgehammer\" coup attempt, the government annulled the arrest warrants issued on July 23 against 102 military officers for participation in the plot. The next day the government and military announced a compromise in which the government, not the army, chose two officers for promotion to top positions. [BBC, 8/7, 8/9, Al-Jazeera, 8/9]\nAug. 8:\nThree people were killed and eight injured at a wedding in southeastern Gaziantep province when the groom lost control of an AK-47 that he was firing into the air. Shooting in the air on festive occasions, a common practice in certain parts of Turkey, was a frequent cause of serious injuries, despite government efforts to curb the practice. [BBC, 8/8]\nAug. 10:\nA pipeline between Iraq and Turkey exploded in Sirnak province, killing two and wounding a third. The PKK, which had attacked the same pipe the previous month, was suspected of setting off the explosion with a remote-controlled mine. The oil line was cut off while the blaze was extinguished. [BBC, 8/10]\nAug. 11:\nA US court of appeals in Massachusetts denied a suit filed by the Turkish American Association in 2005 to allow for teaching materials questioning whether the mass killing of Turkish Armenians in 1915 was in fact genocide. Massachusetts had the largest population of Armenians of any American state. [Al-Jazeera, 8/11]\nAug. 13:\nPKK spokesperson Bouzan Teken declared a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, adding that the PKK would extend the ceasefire past the September 20 end date if the Turkish government agreed to certain conditions: beginning negotiations, releasing the 1,700 Kurdish politicians in jail, and ending military operations against the group. The Turkish government called the conditions unacceptable. [Al-Jazeera, 8/13]\nAug. 17:\nUS President Barack Obama's administration denied a London Financial Times report that he had offered Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan an ultimatum to either change its stance toward Iran and Israel or be denied American weapons deals. Turkey was at the time seeking weapons to fight the PKK. [Al-Jazeera, 8/17]\nAug. 26:\nRains in the Black Sea province of Rize triggered massive landslides that killed at least 12 people and engulfed houses and cars. One person was reported missing. The landslides began as families were breaking the Ramadan fast. [BBC, 8/27]\nAug. 28:\nTurkish authorities identified the body of Yuri Ivanov, a top Russian spy whose remains washed ashore in the Hatay province on August 16. The official report attributed his death to a swimming accident, though the circumstances of the drowning were suspicious. Ivanov had last been stationed in Syria. [The Guardian, 9/1]\nSept. 12:\nWith a 58% majority, Turkish citizens passed 26 constitutional reforms in a national referendum. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which backed the amendments, called the vote a step toward creating a constitution compatible with EU membership requirements, among other things. The reforms allowed military personnel to be tried in civilian courts, increased the number of judges on Turkey's highest court, guaranteed certain civil rights, and introduced some measures to guarantee positive discrimination for women and children. The opposition called the changes a move away from secularism and pointed critically to the lack of attention in the amendments to Kurdish rights, human rights, or religious education in public schools, among other contentious issues. [The Guardian, BBC, 9/12]\nSept. 14:\nThe European Court for Human [End Page 128] Rights ruled that Turkey had not done enough to prevent the death of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in 2008 near the Istanbul office of his newspaper, Agos. Dink had been a voice for the Armenian-Turkish minority, and his death divided the country, as had his 2005 prison sentence for insulting \"Turkishness.\" The court also found that Turkey had not done enough to protect Dink's freedom of speech. [BBC, 9/14]\nSept. 16:\nTen people were killed and three wounded in a minibus explosion, thought to be the work of the PKK, near the Iranian and Iraqi borders. The attack, though similar to previous PKK offenses, was singular in that it did not target the military. The ceasefire declared by the Kurdish resistance group in August was still in effect. [Reuters, BBC, Al-Jazeera, 9/16]\nSept. 19:\nFor the first time in 95 years, a service was held by the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul at the Armenian Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross in Lake Van. Hundreds of Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora attended, but the numbers were not as great as hoped for, partly because of the lasting Armenian mistrust of the Turkish government. Bad feelings were aggravated when Turkish authorities prevented a cross from being placed on top of the historic church. [BBC, 9/19]\nSept. 29:\nTurkish authorities seized the Savarona, the state yacht used by Kemal Atatürk before his death in 1938, after reports broke that it was being used for prostitution. The luxury vessel had been leased to a local businessman. A member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) party called the incident an outrageous offense to the memory of the revered leader. [The Guardian, 9/29]\nSept. 30:\nPKK leaders extended for another month the ceasefire declared on August 13, but did not back down from any of their previous conditions, namely that the Turkish government release imprisoned Kurdish politicians and cease military operations against the group both inside and outside the country. The decision to extend the ceasefire reportedly came from imprisoned leader Ocalan himself. [LAT, 10/1]\nSept. 31:\nPresident Abdullah Gül declined to meet Shimon Peres at the UN general assembly in New York. The Turkish President said that he was too busy for the meeting, but many suspected that there was a political motivation, especially after he made time in his schedule to meet with Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. The two leaders had not met since the Turkish flotilla incident on May 30. [Al-Jazeera, 9/31]\nOct. 1:\nHundreds of Muslim nationalists gathered in the ruins of a holy Armenian cathedral in Ani, the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom in eastern Turkey, where they prayed in honor of Alp Arslan, a Turkish Muslim who had conquered the city in the 11th century. The gathering was seen as a reaction to events during the Armenian mass in the church in Lake Van on September 19. [BBC, 10/1]\nOct. 11:\nA prominent German politician called for the end of Turkish and Arab immigration into Germany and for stricter laws regarding the foreign workers already in the country. At the time, two million Turks were living in Germany. Prime Minister Angela Merkel had recently called the policy of German multiculturalism a failure. [The Guardian, 10/11]\nTunisia\nJuly 22:\nTunisia amended its penal code to prohibit any spanking of children. Under the new law, adults could be prosecuted for using corporal punishment against children. [AFP, 7/22]\nUnited Arab Emirates\nSept. 7:\nThe UAE's central bank froze four Iranian bank accounts cited in the UN Security Council's June 2010 resolution in the fourth round of sanctions against the UAE's key trade partner. By September 2010, most [End Page 129] UAE banks had stopped all transactions, including bank transfers, with Iranian banks due to increased regulations on accounts with Iranian entities. [Reuters, 9/7, AFP, 9/5]\nSept. 10:\nThe UAE donated $42 million to the Palestinian Authority to support Mahmud 'Abbas' government budget and peace talks with Israel. Financial support from Arab countries was in decline as the Palestinian Authority sought to increase its government functions. The UAE gave $173.9 million in 2009. [Reuters, 9/10]\nOct. 7:\nThe UAE reached an agreement with BlackBerry Canadian-based smartphone maker Research In Motion Limited (RIM). The UAE canceled a ban on its devices and services scheduled to be implemented October 11. RIM did not have the ability to monitor the encrypted system, thus hindering regulatory abilities of governments. [AFP, 9/21, 10/9]\nYemen\nJuly 24:\nHuthi rebels and the pro-government Ibn Aziz tribe in northern Yemen brokered a truce to end fighting which killed as many as 70 people during the previous week. These clashes were the bloodiest in the north since a truce was established between the rebels and the Yemeni government in February 2010. [Reuters, 7/25]\nJuly 29:\nOpposition leader 'Abd al-Raqib al-Qirshi died from gunshot wounds sustained upon his return to Yemen after 32 years in exile. Al-Qirshi had returned to participate in renewed national political dialogue. This dialogue, as well as asylum to political opponents, was announced in a May 2010 speech by President 'Ali 'Abdullah Salih. [Reuters, 7/30]\nAug. 1:\nMediator and tribal chief Shaykh Hasan bin 'Abdullah al-Ahmar confirmed that Huthi rebels released 100 Yemeni soldiers in the 'Amran province. This was in addition to 200 soldiers freed days earlier. [AFP, 8/2]\nAug. 15:\nYemeni security officials announced that local al-Qa'ida leader Jamaan Safian surrendered to them. They did not disclose the time of or reason for his surrender. Safian was accused of sheltering non-Yemeni al-Qa'ida members. [AFP, 8/15]\nAug. 20:\nGunmen in the southern city of Lawdar in Abyan governorate killed at least 14 people, including Yemeni soldiers and civilians. Seven gunmen were killed in the clash. This attack followed August 19 fighting in Lawdar that initially drew the Army's presence after two soldiers were killed and two civilians were wounded in Lawdar's marketplace. [AFP, 8/20, 8/22]\nAug. 26:\nThe Yemeni government and Huthi rebels signed a new peace deal in Qatar to support the truce brokered in February 2010. The deal's 22 points sought to support implementation of the previous agreement. [Reuters, 8/27]\nSept. 4:\nYemeni police arrested 14 suspected al-Qa'ida members in Lawdar where they had been searching for al-Qa'ida hideouts in the previous weeks. Some of those arrested were caught in a raid while others were apprehended at security checkpoints that surrounded the district. [AP, 9/5]\nSept. 6:\nThousands protested in the streets, vandalized property, threw stones at police, and set fire to tires in Aden after power was cut to all eight districts on a day when temperatures reached 101 Fahrenheit (40 Celsius). Tensions between the north and south had flared because of previous intermittent and shorter power outages in the region. Residents in the south often complained of discrimination by the government in Sana'a [AFP, 9/6]\nSept. 20:\nAccording to the Red Crescent in Yemen, as many as 12,000 civilians fled the town of Hawta in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa, where security forces laid siege to al-Qa'ida militants in the area with tanks, armored vehicles, and attack helicopters. The Yemeni government considered Hawta an al-Qa'ida hideout, where approximately 120 al-Qa'ida militants took refuge. The radical Muslim cleric Anwar [End Page 130] al-Awlaki allegedly called Shabwa \"home\" and used it as a hiding place. US authorities targeted Al-Awlaki, a US-Yemeni citizen, for his ties to al-Qa'ida. [Reuters, AP, 9/20]\nSept. 29:\nThe governor of Shabwa, the Yemeni military's deputy chief of staff, and various other provincial and army officials survived an ambush against their convoy in the Sa'id district south of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa. The ambush killed three of the governor's guards and wounded several others. [AFP, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 9/29]\nSept. 30:\nYemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi acknowleged that the US had launched attacks against al-Qa'ida in Yemen. This was the first confirmation from Yemen regarding the US military's role in Yemen. Amnesty International reported in June 2010 about suspected US involvement in a December missile attack in Al-Majalah in the Abyan province which killed 55 people, mostly civilians. [AFP, 9/30]\nOct. 6:\nThe vehicle of the deputy chief of the British mission was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade in Sana'a, resulting in minor injuries to one British Embassy diplomat and three Yemeni bystanders. The deputy chief was not wounded in the attack. Al-Qa'ida claimed responsibility for the attack and accused the British envoy of leading a war on Muslims. [Reuters, 10/6]\nA Yemeni guard opened fire, killing a Frenchman and seriously wounding a UK man inside the compound of Austria-owned oil and gas group OMV in Haddah, near Sana'a. Yemeni security forces eventually surrounded and disarmed the compound guard. The attack occurred two days after Yemeni officials warned of a potential al-Qa'ida strike. [BBC, 10/6]\nOct. 10:\nTwo attackers on a motorbike shot and killed criminal investigations officer Ghazi al-Samawi in Zinjibar. One man drove while the other fired his weapon yelling \"Allahu Akbar\" [\"God is greatest\"]. The gunmen escaped unscathed. The officer was on an al-Qa'ida hit list of policeman to be killed. [AFP, 10/11]\nOct. 12:\nQasim al-Rimi, military chief of Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula who had reportedly been killed in a Yemeni airstirke in January 2010, announced in an Internet audio recording the creation of an \"Aden-Abyan Army\" to rid the country of \"crusaders and their apostate agents.\" The recording also threatened President Salih and warned of the new army's aims to overthrow him. No details on the size of the army were given, but al-Rimi claimed that they were so overwhelmed with volunteers from Yemen and abroad that they could not accept them all. [Reuters, 10/1, AFP, AP, 10/12] [End Page 131]\nCopyright © 2011 Middle East Institute\nThis article is for personal research only and may not be copied or distributed in any form without the permission of The Middle East Journal.","Israel's Quest for Satellite Intelligence — Central ...\nLearn more about the Agency and find some top secret things you won't see ... Israel's Quest for Satellite Intelligence ... (the name is the Hebrew word for ...\nIsrael's Quest for Satellite Intelligence — Central Intelligence Agency\nE. L. Zorn\nIn the spring of 1995, the successful orbiting of Ofeq-3 (the name is the Hebrew word for \"horizon\") represented the initial satisfaction of a longstanding Israeli desire: an independent space reconnaissance capability. For more than 20 years before they began receiving imagery from the satellite, Israeli defense officials had recognized that spacecraft offered unique capabilities to intensify information gathering in adjacent countries while extending their intelligence reach to more distant lands. After the nation was almost overwhelmed in 1973, Israeli intelligence officers further focused their efforts on preventing future surprise attacks. Satellite photography was seen as a vital tool, able to provide unprecedented warning about the movement of enemy troops and equipment in preparation for war, as well as the movement of enemy forces once hostilities were underway.\nThe value of satellite imagery was not unknown to the Israelis before the Yom Kippur war. Faced with invading armies on two fronts in October 1973, Israeli military attachés in Washington urgently requested satellite information from the United States about the disposition of the Egyptian and Syrian forces. According to former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gen. Mordecai Gur, who had been one of those attachés, US authorities responded that the information was unavailable due to \"damage\" to the satellite. 1 An unnamed CIA analyst subsequently recalled that the United States had acquired \"wonderful coverage, but…didn't get the pictures until the war was over.\" 2 Even those photos showed the positions of invading forces only during the earliest part of the war. 3 The findings of the House Select Committee on Intelligence (the \"Pike Committee\") in its recommendations to the Final Report in 1976 also indicate that the United States was unable to obtain adequate imagery and other information about the conflict while it was underway. As part of its criticism of US intelligence activities, the committee concluded that the United States had gone \"to the brink of war\" with the Soviet Union during the 1973 war because it lacked timely intelligence. 4\nIsraeli Dissatisfaction\nIf the United States was unable to obtain the satellite photography necessary to satisfy its own intelligence needs during the conflict, then it logically follows that it was likewise unable to provide any information derived from satellite intelligence to Israel. Faced with the possibility of imminent military defeat at the hands of enemies whose avowed purpose in past conflicts had been the total annihilation of the so-called Zionist entity, however, the Israelis were distrustful of US statements that it was unable to respond with desperately needed intelligence assistance. As Gur noted in 1992, \"How could I know if [the satellite] was really damaged? The bottom line was that we didn't get the information.\" 5\nThe general had expressed himself far less ambiguously as Israeli technicians were completing the final preparations for the launch of Ofeq-1, an experimental satellite, in September 1988: \"The United States did not give us enough information [during the October 1973 war]. 6 When I say not enough, I mean less [than] what we got before the war.\" 7 Exactly how long \"before the war\" Gur meant is unclear, because he is also said to have asserted that the United States had actually withheld satellite data from Israel immediately before the war. 8\nPresumably, the information which Gur believes had been held back by the United States would have revealed the true scope of Egyptian and Syrian preparations for war, thus providing adequate warning for the Israelis to prepare properly for the Arab attack. Instead, the Israelis found themselves in such a desperate situation that they deployed long-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads on Cairo and Damascus after then-Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan warned that the nation might be on the verge of destruction at the hands of the Egyptians and Syrians. 9\nIn their examination in 1991 of US and Soviet high-altitude aerial and space reconnaissance during the October 1973 war, Michael Russell Rip and Joseph F. Fontanella dismissed Gur's statements as \"specious\" and \"probably made to help justify the Israeli space venture.\" 10 In fact, Gur's sentiments merit far more serious consideration. Just as the war itself marked a defining moment for Israelis, so too did Gur's experiences in trying to obtain satellite intelligence from the United States clearly leave a deep and lasting impression on him. From Gur's perspective, the United States had kept critical satellite warning data from the Israelis before the two-front attack. Shortly thereafter, when Israel was threatened with imminent annihilation by the invading Arab armies, the United States had demonstrated to the Israelis that it could not be relied on to provide information vital to Israel's survival. Given Gur's assignment at that time and his later positions of influence, there seems little question that he would have been able to share his views with other Israeli security officials and decisionmakers.\nGoing It Alone\nFor the Israelis, the lesson was immediate and unmistakable: they would have to acquire an independent space reconnaissance capability. Details about the earliest Israeli investigations into an indigenous satellite program are extremely limited, but the little information available unambiguously indicates that it was at this time that Israeli scientists and engineers first seriously explored the possibility of launching a satellite. In little-noticed remarks following the launch of Ofeq-1 in 1988, Israel Space Agency (ISA) chairman Yuval Ne'eman disclosed that Israel had been working on the satellite since the early 1970s. 11 Even more telling, as part of a legal action against a former employee, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) revealed in March 1995 that it had in 1973 examined its capability to launch an Ofeq-style satellite using a Shavit-type (the name is the Hebrew word for \"comet\") launcher, and that it had determined that such a project was feasible. 12\nThe documentary evidence thus indicates that the Israeli desire for a photoreconnaissance satellite did indeed originate with the October 1973 war. Further, the information supports the view that the Israeli need was not a consequence of having received timely satellite photography from the United States, but rather the result of the failure of the United States to provide satellite intelligence to Israel just when it was required most. Unfortunately for the Israelis, however, desire and theoretical capability were not in and of themselves sufficient basis for a space program. The large scale and expense of the project kept a reconnaissance spacecraft beyond their reach as they continued to rely on the United States for their satellite intelligence needs.\nThe Postwar Years\nIsrael efforts to gain access to United States satellite imagery after the October 1973 Yom Kippur War proved more successful than they had during the conflict, although perhaps only marginally so in the Israeli view. As part of an ongoing intelligence exchange with Israel, the United States supplied Israel with intelligence information based on satellite collection following the war, and has continued to do so in one form or another ever since. 13\nIsrael began seeking greater access to US satellite intelligence to augment its early warning capabilities immediately after the 1973 war. Ne'eman, then Israel's chief defense scientist, included a request for intelligence satellite \"services\" in Israeli demands to be presented to the United States following the negotiation of the interim agreement at the conclusion of the 1973 war. 14 According to late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, then-Minister of Defense Shimon Peres formally presented the United States with the Israeli request for a $1 billion satellite system in December 1975. Some months later, while testifying before members of Congress who were concerned that such a measure would hurt prospects for peace in the Middle East, Rabin indicated that Israel really did not require the satellite, after all. 15\nUnited States policy with regard to providing satellite intelligence to Israel was uneven throughout the remainder of the 1970s, and seemed to the Israelis to vary with each Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). George Bush was said to have approved providing actual satellite photographs to Israel while he was the DCI in 1976 and 1977. 16 When Stansfield Turner replaced Bush in 1977, he allowed the Israelis to receive only information based on satellite imagery, but not the images themselves. 17 The Israelis would grow increasingly concerned over these and other inconsistencies in United States policy.\nWilliam Casey's arrival as the DCI in 1981 proved a positive experience for the Israelis, at least initially. Casey permitted them to requisition actual satellite photography once again. The imagery to be provided, however, was to be limited to that depicting potential direct threats to Israel's security. 18 Having regained entrée to the imagery, Israel then asked the United States in early April 1981 for direct access to a US reconnaissance satellite. Israeli officials justified the request as \"compensation\" for the planned sale by the United States of airborne warning and control system (AWACS) surveillance aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Israel also voiced its increased need for real-time intelligence data and improved surveillance and warning capabilities due to its scheduled withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula in April 1982. 19\nThe precise details of the Israeli requirement are not clear. A contemporary account, citing unnamed US and Israeli sources, notes that the Israelis had indicated that they would be satisfied with either a new satellite and ground station to be provided by the United States for Israel's exclusive use or with \"full and equal access\" to an existing US satellite. 20 A later report asserts that Israel had \"demanded\" exclusive access to a United States satellite already in orbit as the alternative to receiving its own new satellite. 21 In either case, United States officials considered the Israeli request seriously. The Israelis, however, soon damaged their own cause.\nSetting Limits\nIn early June 1981, Israeli Air Force aircraft successfully bombed an Iraqi nuclear facility near Baghdad. Curious about how the Israelis had obtained the necessary targeting information to carry out the dramatic long-range strike, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) Bobby Inman asked for a review of imagery and other materials that had been provided to Israeli intelligence officials. As previously noted, policies in effect at the time called for limiting Israeli access to satellite imagery to those photos showing potential direct threats to Israel. Inman quickly found that the Israeli and United States concepts of what constituted such threats differed substantially. During their nearly six months of renewed access to US satellite imagery, the Israelis had obtained \"a lot\" of information not only about Iraq, but also about Libya, Pakistan, and other countries lying at considerable distances from Israel. 22 The DDCI immediately restricted future distribution of satellite photography. The Israelis were to be allowed to receive imagery only of areas within 250 miles of Israel's borders. They could, however, make specific requests for any other coverage desired, to be approved or denied by the DCI on a case-by-case basis. 23\nIsrael's then-Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon, according to Inman, was \"furious,\" and immediately protested the decision directly to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, 24 who backed the DDCI. DCI Casey, who had been traveling abroad, disagreed with his deputy's decision, but did not reverse it on his return. Instead, he effectively ignored it. Retired Israeli Maj. Gen. Yehoshua Saguy, who served as the head of Israeli military intelligence from 1979 to 1983, confirmed that \"Casey [said] ‘yes' all the time\" to Israeli requests for satellite photography of areas lying farther than 250 miles from Israel's borders. 25 An unnamed Israeli official has been quoted as saying that the level of support in furnishing satellite intelligence provided by DCI Casey was considered extremely valuable by the Israelis, and that they referred to it among themselves as \"Casey's gift.\" 26\nThe Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear facility became a significant factor in the continuing debate among United States officials over whether to grant Israel's earlier request for a reconnaissance satellite. Advocates on both sides of the argument cited the raid to justify their positions. Proponents argued that satisfying the desire would reduce the likelihood of future preemptive strikes by helping to soothe Israel's insecurities about its ability to detect Arab preparations for a surprise attack. Opponents noted that Israeli officials might use unhampered access to satellite intelligence to plan and execute even more attacks throughout the region. They also raised the matters of expense and the transfer of sensitive technologies. Finally, they pointed out that Arab concerns about the advantages that a satellite afforded Israel might prompt the Soviet Union to provide similar capabilities for Syria, Libya, or other nations in the region. 27\nIsrael and the United States were expected to discuss the Israeli request and other facets of satellite intelligence during talks in September 1981 aimed at strengthening strategic ties between the two countries. 28 The sessions reportedly included discussions about sharing intelligence as part of a broader joint effort to counter Soviet expansion and influence in the Middle East. 29 According to US defense officials, however, there was no specific mention of satellites during the conference. 30 As a result, the Israelis did not receive their own reconnaissance satellite system from the United States, nor were they given direct access to a US spacecraft already in orbit. In November, Weinberger and Sharon signed a memorandum of understanding for \"strategic cooperation\" between the two countries.\nThe agreement proved extremely short-lived. President Ronald Reagan ordered it suspended in December 1981 after the Israelis formally annexed the Golan Heights. Israel's invasion of Lebanon in mid-1982 even further provoked the ire of US officials. It would be November 1983 before the United States, trying to make headway with its Middle East peace initiatives, offered to renew \"strategic cooperation\" with Israel. 31\nContinuing Complaints\nIsraeli officials grew increasingly impatient with the manner in which the United States responded to their needs for satellite intelligence. When the Israelis took actions that they considered to be in the best interests of maintaining their own security and protecting the Israeli people, the United States replied by further restricting access to the information or by abrogating existing agreements. The Israelis apparently perceived themselves as victims of the vagaries of United States policy. They could not depend on the United States to provide satellite intelligence. Indeed, some Israeli officials, most notably Sharon, concluded that the United States was not a reliable ally, period. 32\nEven in the best of times, the Israelis had found fault with the arrangements for their access to US satellite intelligence. They complained that their requests for information based on satellite photography were often delayed or denied outright, or that the information that they did receive was frequently incomplete or dated. 33 They objected that when actual satellite photos were provided to them, the image quality was intentionally degraded, sometimes rendering them useless for the purposes desired 34 . Finally, they protested that US intelligence authorities frequently refused their requests for specific collection against targets of special interest to the Israelis. 35\nImmediately after the September 1988 launch of Ofeq-1, retired General Saguy, head of military intelligence from 1979 to 1983, compared Israel's limited access to United States satellite information to the relationship between \"a patron and his dependent.\" 36 On the same occasion, another former head of military intelligence--who had also served as the head of Mossad, the Israeli secret service--described the situation in even less flattering terms: Meir Amit told Israeli radio that, \"If you are fed from the crumbs of others according to their whim, this is very inconvenient and very difficult. If you have your own independent capability, you climb one level higher.\" 37\nClearly, Israeli authorities would have preferred to have bypassed these difficulties altogether with an independent space intelligence capability. Twice, in 1975 and again in 1981, they had tried to obtain from the United States either a complete photoreconnaissance satellite system of their own or unfettered access to an existing system. In both instances, their requests were refused.\nAn Independent Capability\nIntelligence officials continued to press for an indigenous Israeli photoreconnaissance satellite. Then-Chief of the Israeli Military Intelligence Branch Shlomo Gazit in 1979 included a \"spy satellite\" on a list of military intelligence needs for the following decade. Gazit later noted that his request had been met by \"a mixture of astonishment and scorn\" by other Israeli officials. 38 There could have been no other reaction. The Israelis had made little substantive progress toward developing a satellite, a launcher, or any of the infrastructure necessary to support a space program in the years following IAI's 1973 study. Alon Ganei, a senior Israeli researcher in rocket propulsion, indicated in 1998 that even \"in the [early] 1980s there was still considerable debate over whether to enter the aerospace field at all.\" 39\nThose favoring an Israeli space capability finally triumphed in November 1982, when Ne'eman, then Israeli Minister of Science and Technology, announced that Israel was establishing a space agency to build and launch satellites, including reconnaissance satellites. 40 Later statements by ISA officials, including ISA Chairman Ne'eman, emphasized the commercial and scientific nature of the Israeli space program, denying outright that Israel intended to field a \"spy\" satellite. 41 There was little question, however, that Israeli officials had reached their own conclusions about how best to satisfy Israel's satellite intelligence needs.\nA recent ISA description of the Ofeq satellite program indicates that the project began in 1982, with \"parallel efforts [in] research and development, construction of the necessary infrastructure, training [of] hundreds of engineers and technicians, and then designing, building, testing, and finally launching the satellites.\" 42 It goes on to describe briefly the characteristics of each of the satellites successfully orbited so far, and accompanying materials provide an informative overview of the Israeli space program and the sophisticated products and technologies supporting it.\nFrom a distance, Israel's expectations for United States satellite intelligence support may seem excessive, even preposterous. For the Israelis, however, the enhanced warning capabilities provided by satellites meant survival. Where the preservation of the state and the people were concerned, there could be no compromise. Unfortunately, the United States could not be trusted to furnish all of the satellite intelligence that Israel needed to meet its security requirements. In November 1982, Israeli officials committed to the development of a space program and a reconnaissance satellite.\nThe Israeli decision came nine years after Egyptian and Syrian forces attacked on separate fronts while Israeli citizens observed their most holy day. Not quite another six years later, Israel launched its first satellite. That the launch of Ofeq-1 occurred just two days before Yom Kippur was almost certainly no coincidence.\nThis article is unclassified in its entirety.\n \nNotes\n(1) Interview in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 3 September 1992, quoted in Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, Friends in Deed: The U.S.-Israel Alliance (New York: Hyperion, 1994), p. 161.\n(2) Quoted in Representative George E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA),\"‘The Spies in Space'--(By Jeffrey T. Richelson) (Extension of Remarks--November 26, 1991),\" Congressional Record (26 November 1991): E4120. URL: , accessed 14 February 1999.\n(3) Jeffrey T. Richelson, America's Secret Eyes in Space: The U.S. Keyhole Spy Satellite Program (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), p. 117.\n(4) Brown, Jr. (D-CA), \"‘The Spies in Space'--(By Jeffrey T. Richelson) (Extension of Remarks--November 26, 1991).\"\n(5) Interview in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 3 September 1992, quoted in Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, Friends in Deed: the U.S.-Israel Alliance (New York: Hyperion, 1994), p. 161.\n(6) John Kifner, \"Israel Launches Space Program and a Satellite,\" The New York Times, 20 September 1988, p. A1.\n(24) Ibid.\n(25) Woodward, \"CIA Sought 3rd-Country Contra Aid.\"\n(26) Bob Woodward, \"Probes of Iran Deals Extend to Roles of CIA, Director,\" The Washington Post, 28 November 1986, p. A33.\n(27) Bill Roeder, \"A U.S. Spy Satellite for Israel?\" Newsweek, 7 September 1981, p. 17.\n(28) Bernard Gwertzman, \"U.S.-Israeli Talks on Military Links Are Reported Set,\" The New York Times, 6 September 1981, p. 1.\n(29) John Brecher, with Milan J. Kubic and John Walcott, \"Begin Wins Round One,\" Newsweek, 21 September 1981, p. 61.\n(30) John M. Goshko, \"Reagan, Begin Hold ‘Warm' Meeting; No Decisions Reached on Closer Ties,\" The Washington Post, 10 September 1981, p. A13.\n(31) Bernard Gwertzman, \"Reagan Turns to Israel,\" The New York Times Magazine, 27 November 1983, p. 84.\n(32) Seymour M. Hersh, The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (New York: Random House, 1991), p. 16.\n(33) \"Israeli Spy Satellite Suspected,\" p. 46.\n(34) Gerald M. Steinberg, \"Middle East Space Race Gathers Pace,\" p. 20.\n(35) \"Military Eye-in-the-Sky Over Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Libya,\" Mideast Mirror, 6 April 1995 (NEXIS, 7 April 1995).\n(36) Yehoshua Saguy in Hadashot (Tel Aviv), n.d., quoted in Masha Hamilton, \"Israel Launches Test Satellite,\" Associate Press, International Section, 19 September 1988 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.).\n(37) Glenn Frankel, \"Israel Puts Its First Satellite Into Orbit,\" The Washington Post, 20 September 1988, p. A16.\n(38) Shlomo Gazit, \"Gaps in Satellite Intelligence Collection,\" 95P50108B in Tel Aviv Yedi'ot Aharonot (10 April 1995), p. 5. FBIS Reston VA, 260345Z April 1995.\n(39) Amnon Barzilai, \"Outer Space--Clean Up Your Act,\" Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 28 July 1998, B3. URL: , accessed 11 August 1998.\n(40) (No title), UPI, International Section, 26 November 1982.\n(41) \"Israel: A Communications Satellite\" (text), ME/W1230/B1 Israel Home Service, 1500 GMT (22 March 1983). BBC Summary of World Broadcasts: The Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, 5 April 1983 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.); and Dan Fisher, \"Israeli Space Program Sets Lofty Goals; Security, Industrial Development Are Prime Concerns,\" The Los Angeles Times, 10 June 1985, Home Ed., Section 4, 1 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.).\n(42) Israel Space Agency, \"The Ofeq Satellites Program,\" 16 March 1999. URL: , accessed 18 March 1999.","The National Intelligence Agency of Israel | Belfast Child\nPosts about The National Intelligence Agency of Israel written by belfastchildis\nThe National Intelligence Agency of Israel | Belfast Child\n The national intelligence agency of Israel\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities.\nIts director reports directly to the Prime Minister.\nMOSSAD The Worlds Most Efficient Killing Machine\nMossad ( Hebrew : הַמוֹסָד,\nIPA: \n[ha moˈsad] ; Arabic : الموساد, al-Mōsād; literally meaning “the Institute”), short for HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim ( Hebrew : המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, meaning “Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations”; Arabic : الموساد للاستخبارات والمهام الخاصة al-Mōsād lil-Istikhbārāt wal-Mahāmm al-Khāṣṣah), is the national intelligence agency of Israel . It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community , along with Aman ( military intelligence ) and Shin Bet (internal security).\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection , covert operations , and counterterrorism , as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister .\nOrganization\nExecutive offices\nThe largest department of Mossad is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial. The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working with allied foreign intelligence services, and nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities.\nThe Birth of Israel(full length)\nHistory\nMossad was formed on December 13, 1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah . Ben Gurion wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services—the army’s intelligence department (AMAN), the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), and the foreign office’s “political department”. In March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime minister’s office, reporting directly to the prime minister.\nMotto\nHistory of Israel MOSSAD – Special Elite Forces Documentary\n———————-\nMossad’s former motto, be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh ( Hebrew : בתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה) is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): “For by wise guidance you can wage your war” ( NRSV ). The motto was later changed to another Proverbs passage: be-‘éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō’éts ( Hebrew : באין תחבולות יפול עם, ותשועה ברוב יועץ, Proverbs 11:14). This is translated by NRSV as: “Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”\nCounter-terrorist units\nThe Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as “an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community .” The unit only recruits from “former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units .”\nDirectors\nIn 1960, Mossad discovered that the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina .\n \nA team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and through surveillance , confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11, 1960 and taken to a hideout. He was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as the violation of its sovereignty, and the United Nations Security Council noted that “repetition of acts such as [this] would involve a breach of the principles upon which international order is founded, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust incompatible with the preservation of peace” while also acknowledging that\n“Eichmann should be brought to appropriate justice for the crimes of which he is accused”\nand that “this resolution should in no way be interpreted as condoning the odious crimes of which Eichmann is accused.”\nMossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele .\nUnited States\nDuring the 1990s, Mossad discovered a Hezbollah agent operating within the United States in order to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U.S. intelligence, the agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that he would betray more Hezbollah operatives, but was eventually arrested.\nMossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that based on its intelligence as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning “a major assault on the United States.” The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a “large-scale target” in the United States and that Americans would be “very vulnerable.”. However, “It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response,” A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon .\nUruguay\nMossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs in 1965.\nEurope\nMossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole .\nBelgium\nMossad is alleged to be responsible for the killing of Canadian engineer and ballistics expert Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. He was shot multiple times in the head outside his Brussels apartment. Bull was at the time working for Iraq on the Project Babylon supergun . Others, including Bull’s son, believe that Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. Iraq and Iran are also candidates for suspicion.\nBosnia and Herzegovina\nAssisted in air and overland evacuations of Bosnian Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992 and 1993.\nCyprus\nThe killing of Hussein Al Bashir in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1973 in relation to the Munich massacre .\nFrance\nCherbourg Project – Operation Noa, the 1969 smuggling of five Sa’ar 3-class missile boats out of Cherbourg.\nThe alleged killing of Zuheir Mohsen , a pro-Syrian member of the PLO in 1979.\nThe alleged killing of Atef Bseiso , a top intelligence officer of the PLO in Paris in 1992. French police believe that a team of assassins followed Atef Bseiso from Berlin, where that first team connected with another team to close in on him in front of a Left Bank hotel, where he received three head-shots at point blank range.\nThe killing of Yehia El-Mashad , the head of the Iraq nuclear weapons program, in 1980.\nThe killing of Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, coordinator of the Munich massacre , with an exploding telephone in his Paris apartment in 1972.\nThe killing of Dr. Basil Al-Kubaissi, who was involved in the Munich massacre , in Paris in 1973.\nThe killing of Mohammad Boudia, member of the PFLP , in Paris in 1973.\nOn April 5, 1979, Mossad agents are believed to have triggered an explosion which destroyed 60 percent of components being built in Toulouse for an Iraqi reactor. Although an environmental organization, Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast, most French officials discount the claim. The reactor itself was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981.\nMossad allegedly assisted Morocco ‘s domestic security service in the disappearance of dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965.\nGermany\nOperation Plumbat (1968) was an operation by Lekem -Mossad to further Israel’s nuclear program. The German freighter “Scheersberg A” disappeared on its way from Antwerp to Genoa along with its cargo of 200 tons of yellowcake , after supposedly being transferred to an Israeli ship.\nThe sending of letter bombs during the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. A Mossad letter bomb led to fugitive Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner losing 4 fingers from his right hand in 1980.\nThe alleged targeted killing of Dr Wadie Haddad , using poisoned chocolate. Haddad died on 28 March 1978, in the German Democratic Republic supposedly from leukemia. According to the book Striking Back, published by Aharon Klein in 2006, Haddad was eliminated by Mossad, which had sent the chocolate -loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die severals months later. “It took him a few long months to die”, Klein said in the book.\nMossad discovered that Hezbollah had recruited a German national named Steven Smyrek, and that he was travelling to Israel. In an operation conducted by Mossad, the CIA , the German Internal Security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), and the Israeli Internal Security agency Shin Bet , Smyrek was kept under constant surveillance, and arrested as soon as he landed in Israel. [27]\nMossad is alleged to have been involved in industrial espionage in Germany. In the late 1990s, the head of the BfV reportedly warned his department chiefs that Mossad remained a prime threat in stealing the country’s latest computer secrets.\nGreece\nThe killing of Zaiad Muchasi, Fatah representative to Cyprus , by an explosion in his Athens hotel room in 1973.\nIreland\nThe assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh – a senior Hamas military leader – in Dubai , 2010, was suspected to be the work of Mossad, and there were eight Irish passports (six of which were used) fraudulently obtained by the Israeli embassy in Dublin , Ireland for use by apparent Mossad agents in the operation. The Irish government was angered over the use of Irish passports, summoned the Israeli ambassador and expelled the Israeli diplomat deemed responsible from Dublin, following an investigation. One of the passports was registered to a residence on Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge , on the same road as the Israeli embassy. The house was empty when later searched, but there was suspicion it had been used as a Mossad safe house in the past.\nMossad is reported to have a working relationship with Ireland’s national intelligence agency, the Directorate of Military Intelligence , and has previously tipped the Irish authorities off about arms shipments from the Middle East to Ireland for use by dissident republican militants, resulting in their interception and arrests. Mossad is also believed to cooperate with the British government in combating IRA terrorism, including involvement in Operation Flavius , 1988.\nItaly\nThe killing of Wael Zwaiter , thought to be a member of Black September .\nIn 1986, Mossad used an undercover agent to lure nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu from the United Kingdom to Italy in a honey trap style operation where he was abducted and shipped to Israel where he was tried and found guilty of treason because of his role in exposing Israel’s nuclear programme\nMalta\nThe killing of Fathi Shiqaqi . Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad , was shot several times in the head in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema , Malta .\nNorway\nMain article: Lillehammer affair\nOn July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki , a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer , Norway, was killed by Mossad agents. He had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh , one of the leaders of Black September , the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich massacre , who had been given shelter in Norway. Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports , which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident became known as the Lillehammer affair . Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki’s family.\nUnited Kingdom\nMossad assisted the UK Intelligence organisation MI5 following the 7/7 bombings in London. According to the 2007 edition of a book about Mossad titled Gideon’s Spies , shortly after the 7/7 London underground bombings, MI5 gathered evidence that a senior al-Qaeda operative known only by the alias Mustafa travelled in and out of Britain shortly before the 7/7 bombings.\nFor months, the real identity of Mustafa remained unknown, but in early October 2005, Mossad told MI5 that this person was, in fact, Azhari Husin , a bomb-making expert with Jemaah Islamiyah , the main al-Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia. Husin studied in Britain and reports claim that he met the main 7/7 bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan , in late 2001 in a militant training camp in the Philippines (see Late 2001). Meir Dagan, the then head of Mossad, apparently also told MI5 that Husin helped plan and recruit volunteers for the bombings. Mossad claimed that Husin may have been in London at the time of the bombings, and then fled to al-Qaeda’s principal haven in the tribal area of Pakistan, where he sometimes hid after bombings. Husin was killed in a shootout in Indonesia in November 2005. Later official British government reports about the 7/7 bombings did not mention Husin.\nSwitzerland\nAccording to secret CIA and US State Department documents discovered by the Iranian students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979:\nIn Switzerland the Israelis have an Embassy in Bern and a Consulate-General in Zurich which provide cover for Collection Department officers involved in unilateral operations. These Israeli diplomatic installations also maintain close relations with the Swiss on a local level in regard to overt functions such as physical security for Israeli official and commercial installations in the country and the protection of staff members and visiting Israelis.\nThere is also close collaboration between the Israelis and Swiss on scientific and technical matters pertaining to intelligence and security operations. Swiss officials have made frequent trips to Israel. There is a continual flow of Israelis to and through Switzerland. These visits, however, are usually arranged through the Political Action and Liaison regional controller at the Embassy in Paris directly with the Swiss and not through the officials in the Israeli Embassy in Bern , although the latter are kept informed.\n“\n”\nIn February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught wiretapping the home of a Hezbollah agent in a Bern suburb. Four agents were freed, but the fifth was tried, found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison, and following his release was banned from entering Switzerland for five years.\nSoviet Union/Russia\nMossad was involved in outreach to Refuseniks in the Soviet Union during the crackdown on Soviet Jews in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Mossad helped establish contact with Refuseniks in the USSR, and helped them acquire Jewish religious items, banned by the Soviet government, in addition to passing communications into and out of the USSR. Many rabbinical students from Western countries travelled to the Soviet Union as part of this program in order to establish and maintain contact with refuseniks.\nUkraine\nIn February 2011, a Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi , was allegedly pulled off a train by Mossad agents en route to the capital Kiev from Kharkiv . He had been planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, and reappeared in an Israeli jail only 3 weeks after the incident.\nMiddle East\nA report published on the Israeli military’s official website in February, 2014 said that Middle Eastern countries that cooperate with Israel (Mossad) are the United Arab Emirates , Afghanistan , the Republic of Azerbaijan , Bahrain and Saudi Arabia . The report claimed that Bahrain has been providing Israel with intelligence on Iranian and Palestinian organizations. The report also highlights the growing secret cooperation with Saudi Arabia, claiming that Mossad has been in direct contact with Saudi intelligence about Iran ’s nuclear energy program. [44] [45] [46]\nEgypt\nProvision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.\nMossad spy Wolfgang Lotz , holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his cold war espionage activities.\nAfter a tense May 25, 1967 confrontation with CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director Meir Amit flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel “a flickering green light” to attack. [47]\nOperation Bulmus 6 – Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition .[ citation needed ]\nOperation Damocles – A campaign of assassination and intimidation against German rocket scientists employed by Egypt in building missiles.\nIran\nPrior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service was created under the guidance of United States and Israeli intelligence officers in 1957.\nAfter security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Iran , Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, “training SAVAK personnel and carrying out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK.”\nA US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007. This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev . The Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown.\nLe Figaro claimed that Mossad was possibly behind a blast at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Imam Ali military base, on October 12, 2010. The explosion at the base killed 18 and injured 10 others. Among the dead was also general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam , who served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program and was a crucial figure in building Iran’s long-range missile program.\nThe base is believed to store long-range missiles, including the Shahab-3 , and also has hangars. It is one of Iran’s most secure military base.\nIranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has accused Mossad of assassination plots and killings of Iranian physicists in 2010. Reports have noted that such information has not yet been evidently proven. Iranian state TV broadcast a stated confession from Majid Jamali-Fash, an Iranian man who claimed to have visited Israel to be trained by Mossad.\nMossad has been accused of assassinating Masoud Alimohammadi , Ardeshir Hosseinpour , Majid Shahriari , Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan ; scientists involved in the Iranian nuclear program . It is also suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi .\nMeir Dagan , who served as Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2009, while not taking credit for the assassinations, praised them in an interview with a journalist, saying “the removal of important brains” from the Iranian nuclear project had achieved so-called “white defections ,” frightening other Iranian nuclear scientists into requesting that they be transferred to civilian projects.\nIn early February 2012, Mossad director Tamir Pardo met with U.S. national security officials in Washington, D.C. to sound them out on possible American reactions in the event Israel attacked Iran over the objections of the United States.\nIraq\nMiG-21 at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim\n \nAssistance in the defection and rescuing of the family of Munir Redfa , an Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his MiG-21 to Israel in 1966: “ Operation Diamond “. Redfa’s entire family was also successfully smuggled from Iraq to Israel. Previously unknown information about the MiG-21 was subsequently shared with the United States.\nOperation Sphinx – Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France.\nOperation Bramble Bush II – In the 1990s, Mossad began scouting locations in Iraq where Saddam Hussein could be ambushed by Sayeret Matkal commandos inserted into Iraq from Jordan . The mission was called off due to Operation Desert Fox and the ongoing Israeli-Arab peace process.\nJordan\nIn what is thought to have been a reprisal action for a Hamas suicide-bombing in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997 that killed 16 Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu authorised an operation against Khaled Mashal , the Hamas representative in Jordan. On September 25, 1997, Mashal was injected in the ear with a toxin (thought to have been a derivative of the synthetic opiate Fentanyl called Levofentanyl). Jordanian authorities apprehended two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists and trapped a further six in the Israeli embassy. In exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to Amman and deliver an antidote for Mashal. The fallout from the failed killing eventually led to the release of Sheik Ahmed Yassin , the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners. Netanyahu flew into Amman on September 29 to apologize personally to King Hussein, but was met instead by the King’s brother, Crown Prince Hassan.\nLebanon\nThe provision of intelligence and operational assistance in the 1973 Operation Spring of Youth special forces raid on Beirut .\nThe sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif . Sharif was severely wounded, but survived.\nThe targeted killing of Ali Hassan Salameh , the leader of Black September , on January 22, 1979 in Beirut by a car bomb.\nThe killing of the Palestinian writer and leading PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani , also by a car bomb, in 1972.\nProviding intelligence for the killing of Abbas al-Musawi , secretary general of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 1992.\nAllegedly killed Jihad Ahmed Jibril , the leader of the military wing of the PFLP-GC, in Beirut in 2002.\nAllegedly killed Ali Hussein Saleh , member of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 2003.\nAllegedly killed Ghaleb Awwali , a senior Hezbollah official, in Beirut in 2004.\nAllegedly killed Mahmoud al-Majzoub , a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad , in Sidon in 2006.\nMossad was suspected of establishing a large spy network in Lebanon, recruited from Druze , Christian , and Sunni Muslim communities, and officials in the Lebanese government, to spy on Hezbollah and its Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors. Some have allegedly been active since the 1982 Lebanon War . In 2009, Lebanese Security Services supported by Hezbollah’s intelligence unit, and working in collaboration with Syria , Iran , and possibly Russia, launched a major crackdown which resulted in the arrests of around 100 alleged spies “working for Israel”. Previously, in 2006, the Lebanese army uncovered a network that allegedly assassinated several Lebanese and Palestinian leaders on behalf of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.\nSyria\nEli Cohen infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government, was a close friend of the Syrian President, and was considered for the post of Minister of Defense. He gave his handlers a complete plan of the Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights , the Syrian Armed Forces order of battle, and a complete list of the Syrian military’s weapons inventory. He also ordered the planting of trees by every Syrian fortified position under the pretext of shading soldiers, but the trees actually served as targeting markers for the Israel Defense Forces. He was discovered by Syrian and Soviet intelligence, tried in secret, and executed publicly in 1965.\nHis information played a crucial role during the Six Day War .\nOn 1 April 1978, 12 Syrian military and secret service personnel were killed by a sophisticated Israeli listening device planted on the main telephone cable between Damascus and Jordan.\nThe alleged death of General Anatoly Kuntsevich, who from the late 1990s was suspected of aiding the Syrians in the manufacture of VX nerve-gas, in exchange for which he was paid huge amounts of money by the Syrian government. On April 3, 2002, Kuntsevich died mysteriously during a plane journey, amid allegations that Mossad was responsible.\nThe alleged killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil , a senior member of the military wing of Hamas , in an automobile booby trap in September 2004 in Damascus .\nThe uncovering of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria as a result of surveillance by Mossad of Syrian officials working under the command of Muhammad Suleiman. As a result, the Syrian nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israeli Air Forces in September 2007 (see Operation Orchard ), while Suleiman was assassinated by Israel a year later.\nThe alleged killing of Muhammad Suleiman , head of Syria’s nuclear program, in 2008. Suleiman was on a beach in Tartus and was killed by a sniper firing from a boat.\nOn July 25, 2007, the al-Safir chemical weapons depot exploded, killing 15 Syrian personnel as well as 10 Iranian engineers. Syrian investigations blamed Israeli sabotage.\nThe alleged killing of Imad Mughniyah , a senior leader of Hezbollah complicit in the 1983 United States embassy bombing , with an exploding headrest in Damascus in 2008.\nThe decomposed body of Yuri Ivanov, the deputy head of the GRU , Russia’s foreign military intelligence service, was found on a Turkish beach in early August 2010, amid allegations that Mossad may have played a role. He had disappeared while staying near Latakia, Syria.\nUnited Arab Emirates\nMossad is suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh , a senior Hamas military commander, in January 2010 at Dubai , United Arab Emirates . The team which carried out the killing is estimated, on the basis of CCTV and other evidence, to have consisted of at least 26 agents traveling on bogus passports. The operatives entered al-Mabhouh’s hotel room, where Mabhouh was subjected to electric shocks and interrogated.\nThe door to his room was reported to have been locked from the inside.\nAlthough the UAE police and Hamas have declared Israel responsible for the killing, no direct evidence linking Mossad to the crime has been found. The agents’ bogus passports included six British passports, cloned from those of real British nationals resident in Israel and suspected by Dubai, five Irish passports, apparently forged from those of living individuals, forged Australian passports that raised fears of reprisal against innocent victims of identity theft, a genuine German passport and a false French passport. Emirati police say they have fingerprint and DNA evidence of some of the attackers, as well as retinal scans of 11 suspects recorded at Dubai airport. Dubai’s police chief has said “I am now completely sure that it was Mossad,” adding: “I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad,” for the murder.\nAfrica\nMorocco\nIn September 1956, Mossad established a secretive network in Morocco to smuggle Moroccan Jews to Israel after a ban on immigration to Israel was imposed.\nIn early 1991, two Mossad operatives infiltrated the Moroccan port of Casablanca and planted a tracking device on the freighter Al-Yarmouk, which was carrying a cargo of North Korean missiles bound for Syria . The ship was to be sunk by the Israeli Air Force , but the mission was later called off by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin .\nTunisia\nThe 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a founder of Fatah .\nThe alleged killing of Salah Khalaf , head of intelligence of the PLO and second in command of Fatah behind Yasser Arafat , in 1991.\nUganda\nFor Operation Entebbe in 1976, Mossad provided intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport [91] and extensively interviewed hostages who had been released.\nSouth Africa\nIn the late 1990s, after Mossad was tipped off to the presence of two Iranian agents in Johannesburg on a mission to procure advanced weapons systems from Denel , a Mossad agent was deployed, and met up with a local Jewish contact. Posing as South African intelligence, they abducted the Iranians, drove them to a warehouse, and beat and intimidated them before forcing them to leave the country.\nSudan\nAfter the 1994 AMIA bombing , the largest bombing in Argentine history, Mossad began gathering intelligence for a raid by Israeli Special Forces on the Iranian embassy in Khartoum as retaliation. The operation was called off due to fears that another attack against worldwide Jewish communities might take place as revenge. Mossad also assisted in Operation Moses , the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel from a famine-ridden region of Sudan in 1984, also maintaining a relationship with the Ethiopian government.\nAsia\nPakistan\nIn a September 2003 news article, it was alleged by Rediff News that General Pervez Musharaf, the then-President of Pakistan, decided to establish a clandestine relationship between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mossad via officers of the two services posted at their embassies in Washington, DC.\nNorth Korea\nMossad may have been involved in the 2004 explosion of Ryongchon , where several Syrian nuclear scientists working on the Syrian and Iranian nuclear-weapons programs were killed and a train carrying fissionable material was destroyed.\nOceania\nFurther information: Israel-New Zealand relations\nIn July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australian based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents.\nBoth Kelman and Cara served half of their six-month sentences and, upon release, were deported to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze’ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but they both managed to leave New Zealand before being apprehended.\nShare this:","Israel Intelligence Agencies | Jewish Virtual Library\nIsrael Intelligence & Security: Intelligence Agencies. Intelligence & Security: Table of Contents ... One of the world’s best known intelligence agencies, ...\nIsrael Intelligence Agencies | Jewish Virtual Library\nTweet\nAmanMilitary Intelligence\nAman, or Agaf Hamodein in Hebrew, produces comprehensive national intelligence briefings for the prime minister and the cabinet, daily intelligence reports, risk-of-war estimates, target studies on nearby Arab countries, and communications intercepts. It also handles cross-border operations. The organization uses reconnaissance commando teams behind enemy lines, aerial reconnaissance and military attaches stationed in overseas embassies to gather intelligence.\nThe Shin Bet\nSherut Habitachon Haklali (Shabak), better known as the Shin Bet, is Israels internal counterespionage and counterterrorist agency. It’s motto, inscribed on the organization seal, is “Defends and Shall Not Be Seen.” It is responsible for the security and protection of Israels prime minister and other governmental leaders as well as of defense industries, sensitive economic locations and Israeli installations abroad. The Shin Bet, which is sometimes compared to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), also handles overall security for Israels national airline, El Al.\nIn August 2014 following Operation Protective Edge, the Shin Bet announced that it had foiled a major Hamas plot to carry out massive terror attacks in Israel and overthrow the Palestinian Authority in hopes of starting a third intifada. Shin Bet arrested around 90 Hamas operatives in the search for the three kidnapped teens that sparked Operation Protective Edge, and also seized dozens of weapons and over $170,000 cash that was earmarked for funding terrorist attacks. During the questioning of these arrested Hamas members the Shin Bet was able to get confessions that Hamas had been planning a large scale attack on Israeli sites including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. They stated that Hamas planned on staging a wide string of attacks against Israel, overthrowing Abbas's Palestinian Authority government, and then turning to Israel as a third intifada erupted. The leader of this operation was reportedly going to be Hamas operative Riad Nasser. \nThe Mossad\nOne of the worlds best known intelligence agencies, the Mossad (short for Hamossad Lemode’in Ule’tafkidim Meyuchadim) uses agents to collect intelligence, conduct covert operations and counterterrorism. Its primary focus is on the Arab nations and pro-Arab organizations. According to published accounts, the Mossad has eight departments; the largest of these is the Collections Department, which is responsible for espionage operations and has offices abroad under both diplomatic and unofficial cover.\nA clandestine operations branch, Metzada, executes delicate actions (including assassinations and sabotage) against foreign targets that are considered a significant threat to Israeli national security.\nThe Political Action and Liaison Department conducts political activities and relations with friendly foreign intelligence services and nations with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.\nLechima Psichologit, the department known as LAP, covers the ever-growing sphere of psychological warfare and propaganda.","Mossad.txt\nMossad\nMossad (,; , '; literally meaning \"the Institute\"), short for ' (, meaning \"Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations\"), is the national intelligence agency of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security).\n\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister.\n\nOrganization\n\nExecutive offices\n\nThe largest department of Mossad is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial. The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working with allied foreign intelligence services, and nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities. Metsada is the sabotage unit responsible for attacking the enemy, which is different from the assassination unit.\n\nHistory\n\nMossad was formed on December 13, 1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah. Ben Gurion wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services—the army's intelligence department (AMAN), the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), and the foreign office's \"political department\". In March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime minister's office, reporting directly to the prime minister.\n\nMotto\n\nMossad's former motto, be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh () is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): \"For by wise guidance you can wage your war\" (NRSV). The motto was later changed to another Proverbs passage: be-'éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō'éts (, Proverbs 11:14). This is translated by NRSV as: \"Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.\"\n\nCounter-terrorist units\n\nThe Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as \"an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community.\" The unit only recruits from \"former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units.\" \n\nDirectors\n\n* Reuven Shiloah, 1949–53\n* Isser Harel, 1953–63\n* Meir Amit, 1963–68\n* Zvi Zamir, 1968–73\n* Yitzhak Hofi, 1973–82\n* Nahum Admoni, 1982–89\n* Shabtai Shavit, 1989–96\n* Danny Yatom, 1996–98\n* Efraim Halevy, 1998–2002\n* Meir Dagan, 2002–2011\n* Tamir Pardo, 2011–2016\n* Yossi Cohen, 2016–present\n\nOperations\n\nAmericas\n\nArgentina\n\nIn 1960, Mossad discovered that the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina. A team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and through surveillance, confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11, 1960 and taken to a hideout. He was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as the violation of its sovereignty, and the United Nations Security Council noted that \"repetition of acts such as [this] would involve a breach of the principles upon which international order is founded, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust incompatible with the preservation of peace\" while also acknowledging that \"Eichmann should be brought to appropriate justice for the crimes of which he is accused\" and that \"this resolution should in no way be interpreted as condoning the odious crimes of which Eichmann is accused.\"Argentina claimed that the \"illicit and clandestine transfer of Eichmann from Argentine territory constitutes a flagrant violation of the Argentine State's right of sovereignty[.]\" Bass, Gary J. (2004.) The Adolf Eichmann Case: Universal and National Jurisdiction. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.4) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. In Eichmann's case, the most salient feature from the perspective of international law was the fact of Israeli law enforcement action in another state's territory without consent; the human element includes the dramatic circumstances of the capture by Mossad agents and the ensuing custody and transfer to Israel[.] Damrosch, Lori F. (2004.) Connecting the Threads in the Fabric of International Law. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.5) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. The principle of territorial integrity (in Art. 2(4) UN Charter) At its most obvious level this means that the exercise of enforcement jurisdiction within the territory of another state will be a violation of territorial integrity 32 Note 32: E.g. after Adolf Eichmann [...] was abducted from Argentina by a group of Israelis, now known to be from the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad), the Argentine Government lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council [...] It is however unclear whether as a matter of international law the obligation to make reparation for a violation of territorial sovereignty such as that involved in the Eichmann case includes an obligation to return the offender.\nHiggins, Rosalyn and Maurice Floy. (1997). Terrorism and International Law. UK: Routledge. (p. 48) Mossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele. \n\nUnited States\n\nDuring the 1990s, Mossad discovered a Hezbollah agent operating within the United States in order to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U.S. intelligence, the agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that he would betray more Hezbollah operatives, but was eventually arrested. \n\nMossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that based on its intelligence as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning \"a major assault on the United States.\" The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a \"large-scale target\" in the United States and that Americans would be \"very vulnerable.\" However, \"It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response.\" A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.\n\nUruguay\n\nMossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs in 1965. \n\nEurope\n\nAustria\n\nMossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole. \n\nBelgium\n\nMossad is alleged to be responsible for the killing of Canadian engineer and ballistics expert Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. He was shot multiple times in the head outside his Brussels apartment. Bull was at the time working for Iraq on the Project Babylon supergun. Others, including Bull's son, believe that Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. Iraq and Iran are also candidates for suspicion. \n\nBosnia and Herzegovina\n\nAssisted in air and overland evacuations of Bosnian Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992 and 1993. \n\nCyprus\n\nThe killing of Hussein Al Bashir in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1973 in relation to the Munich massacre. \n\nFrance\n\nMossad allegedly assisted Morocco's domestic security service in the disappearance of dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965. \n\nCherbourg Project - Operation Noa, the 1969 smuggling of five Sa'ar 3-class missile boats out of Cherbourg.\n\nThe killing of Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, coordinator of the Munich massacre, with an exploding telephone in his Paris apartment in 1972.\n\nThe killing of Dr. Basil Al-Kubaissi, who was involved in the Munich massacre, in Paris in 1973.\n\nThe killing of Mohammad Boudia, member of the PFLP, in Paris in 1973.\n\nOn April 5, 1979, Mossad agents are believed to have triggered an explosion which destroyed 60 percent of components being built in Toulouse for an Iraqi reactor. Although an environmental organization, Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast, most French officials discount the claim. The reactor itself was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981. \n\nThe alleged killing of Zuheir Mohsen, a pro-Syrian member of the PLO in 1979. \n\nThe killing of Yehia El-Mashad, the head of the Iraq nuclear weapons program, in 1980. \n\nThe alleged killing of Atef Bseiso, a top intelligence officer of the PLO in Paris in 1992. French police believe that a team of assassins followed Atef Bseiso from Berlin, where that first team connected with another team to close in on him in front of a Left Bank hotel, where he received three head-shots at point blank range. \n\nGermany\n\nOperation Plumbat (1968) was an operation by Lekem-Mossad to further Israel's nuclear program. The German freighter \"Scheersberg A\" disappeared on its way from Antwerp to Genoa along with its cargo of 200 tons of yellowcake, after supposedly being transferred to an Israeli ship.[http://intellit.muskingum.edu/israel_folder/israelplumbat.html ISRAEL The Plumbat Operation (1968)] retrieved 10/12/2008\n\nThe sending of letter bombs during the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. A Mossad letter bomb led to fugitive Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner losing 4 fingers from his right hand in 1980. \n\nThe alleged targeted killing of Dr Wadie Haddad, using poisoned chocolate. Haddad died on 28 March 1978, in the German Democratic Republic supposedly from leukemia. According to the book Striking Back, published by Aharon Klein in 2006, Haddad was eliminated by Mossad, which had sent the chocolate-loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die several months later. \"It took him a few long months to die\", Klein said in the book.\n\nMossad discovered that Hezbollah had recruited a German national named Steven Smyrek, and that he was travelling to Israel. In an operation conducted by Mossad, the CIA, the German Internal Security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), and the Israeli Internal Security agency Shin Bet, Smyrek was kept under constant surveillance, and arrested as soon as he landed in Israel. \n\nMossad is alleged to have been involved in industrial espionage in Germany. In the late 1990s, the head of the BfV reportedly warned his department chiefs that Mossad remained a prime threat in stealing the country's latest computer secrets.Thomas, Gordon: Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad (Fifth Edition)\n\nGreece\n\nThe killing of Zaiad Muchasi, Fatah representative to Cyprus, by an explosion in his Athens hotel room in 1973.\n\nIreland\n\nThe assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh - a senior Hamas military leader - in Dubai, 2010, was suspected to be the work of Mossad, and there were eight Irish passports (six of which were used) fraudulently obtained by the Israeli embassy in Dublin, Ireland for use by apparent Mossad agents in the operation. The Irish government was angered over the use of Irish passports, summoned the Israeli ambassador and expelled the Israeli diplomat deemed responsible from Dublin, following an investigation. One of the passports was registered to a residence on Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, on the same road as the Israeli embassy. The house was empty when later searched, but there was suspicion it had been used as a Mossad safe house in the past. Mossad is reported to have a working relationship with Ireland's national intelligence agency, the Directorate of Military Intelligence, and has previously tipped the Irish authorities off about arms shipments from the Middle East to Ireland for use by dissident republican militants, resulting in their interception and arrests. Mossad is also believed to cooperate with the British government in combating IRA terrorism, including involvement in Operation Flavius, 1988. \n\nItaly\n\nThe killing of Wael Zwaiter, thought to be a member of Black September. \n\nIn 1986, Mossad used an undercover agent to lure nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu from the United Kingdom to Italy in a honey trap style operation where he was abducted and shipped to Israel where he was tried and found guilty of treason because of his role in exposing Israel's nuclear programme.\n\nMalta\n\nThe killing of Fathi Shiqaqi. Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was shot several times in the head in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema, Malta. \n\nNorway\n\nOn July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, was killed by Mossad agents. He had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh, one of the leaders of Black September, the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich massacre, who had been given shelter in Norway. Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports, which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident came to be known as the Lillehammer affair. Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki's family. \n\nUnited Kingdom\n\nMossad assisted the UK Intelligence organisation MI5 following the 7/7 bombings in London. According to the 2007 edition of a book about Mossad titled Gideon’s Spies, shortly after the 7/7 London underground bombings, MI5 gathered evidence that a senior al-Qaeda operative known only by the alias Mustafa travelled in and out of Britain shortly before the 7/7 bombings. For months, the real identity of Mustafa remained unknown, but in early October 2005, Mossad told MI5 that this person was, in fact, Azhari Husin, a bomb-making expert with Jemaah Islamiyah, the main al-Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia. Husin studied in Britain and reports claim that he met the main 7/7 bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan, in late 2001 in a militant training camp in the Philippines (see Late 2001). Meir Dagan, the then head of Mossad, apparently also told MI5 that Husin helped plan and recruit volunteers for the bombings. Mossad claimed that Husin may have been in London at the time of the bombings, and then fled to al-Qaeda’s principal haven in the tribal area of Pakistan, where he sometimes hid after bombings. Husin was killed in a shootout in Indonesia in November 2005. Later official British government reports about the 7/7 bombings did not mention Husin. \n\nIn addition, Gideon's Spies also claimed that Mossad conducted industrial espionage in the UK, and that shortly after Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister, MI5 briefed him on Mossad's efforts to obtain British scientific and defense data.\n\nSwitzerland\n\nAccording to secret CIA and US State Department documents discovered by the Iranian students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979:\n\nIn February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught wiretapping the home of a Hezbollah agent in a Bern suburb. Four agents were freed, but the fifth was tried, found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison, and following his release was banned from entering Switzerland for five years. \n\nSoviet Union/Russia\n\nMossad was involved in outreach to Refuseniks in the Soviet Union during the crackdown on Soviet Jews in the period between the 1950s and the 1980s. Mossad helped establish contact with Refuseniks in the USSR, and helped them acquire Jewish religious items, banned by the Soviet government, in addition to passing communications into and out of the USSR. Many rabbinical students from Western countries travelled to the Soviet Union as part of this program in order to establish and maintain contact with refuseniks.\n\nUkraine\n\nIn February 2011, a Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi, was allegedly pulled off a train by Mossad agents en route to the capital Kiev from Kharkiv. He had been planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, and reappeared in an Israeli jail only three weeks after the incident. \n\nMiddle East\n\nA report published on the Israeli military’s official website in February, 2014 said that Middle Eastern countries that cooperate with Israel (Mossad) are the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The report claimed that Bahrain has been providing Israel with intelligence on Iranian and Palestinian organizations. The report also highlights the growing secret cooperation with Saudi Arabia, claiming that Mossad has been in direct contact with Saudi intelligence about Iran’s nuclear energy program. \n\nEgypt\n\n*Provision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.\n*Mossad spy Wolfgang Lotz, holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his cold war espionage activities.\n*After a tense May 25, 1967 confrontation with CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director Meir Amit flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel \"a flickering green light\" to attack. \n*Provision of intelligence on the Egyptian Air Force for Operation Focus, the opening air strike of the Six-Day War.\n* Operation Bulmus 6 – Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition.\n* Operation Damocles – A campaign of assassination and intimidation against German rocket scientists employed by Egypt in building missiles.\n** A bomb sent to the Heliopolis rocket factory killed five Egyptian workers, allegedly sent by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad. \n** Heinz Krug, 49, the chief of a Munich company supplying military hardware to Egypt disappeared in September 1962 and is believed to have been assassinated by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad.\n\nIran\n\nPrior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service was created under the guidance of United States and Israeli intelligence officers in 1957. After security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Iran, Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, \"training SAVAK personnel and carrying out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK.\" \n\nA US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007. This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev. The Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown. \n\nLe Figaro claimed that Mossad was possibly behind a blast at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Imam Ali military base, on October 12, 2010. The explosion at the base killed 18 and injured 10 others. Among the dead was also general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, who served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program and was a crucial figure in building Iran’s long-range missile program. The base is believed to store long-range missiles, including the Shahab-3, and also has hangars. It is one of Iran's most secure military bases. \n\nIranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has accused Mossad of assassination plots and killings of Iranian physicists in 2010. Reports have noted that such information has not yet been evidently proven. Iranian state TV broadcast a stated confession from Majid Jamali-Fashi, an Iranian man who claimed to have visited Israel to be trained by Mossad. \n\nMossad has been accused of assassinating Masoud Alimohammadi, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan; scientists involved in the Iranian nuclear program. It is also suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi. Meir Dagan, who served as Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2009, while not taking credit for the assassinations, praised them in an interview with a journalist, saying \"the removal of important brains\" from the Iranian nuclear project had achieved so-called \"white defections,\" frightening other Iranian nuclear scientists into requesting that they be transferred to civilian projects.\n\nIn early February 2012, Mossad director Tamir Pardo met with U.S. national security officials in Washington, D.C. to sound them out on possible American reactions in the event Israel attacked Iran over the objections of the United States. \n\nIraq\n\nAssistance in the defection and rescuing of the family of Munir Redfa, an Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his MiG-21 to Israel in 1966: \"Operation Diamond\". Redfa's entire family was also successfully smuggled from Iraq to Israel. Previously unknown information about the MiG-21 was subsequently shared with the United States.\n\nOperation Sphinx – Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France.\n\nOperation Bramble Bush II – In the 1990s, Mossad began scouting locations in Iraq where Saddam Hussein could be ambushed by Sayeret Matkal commandos inserted into Iraq from Jordan. The mission was called off due to Operation Desert Fox and the ongoing Israeli-Arab peace process.\n\nJordan\n\nIn what is thought to have been a reprisal action for a Hamas suicide-bombing in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997 that killed 16 Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu authorised an operation against Khaled Mashal, the Hamas representative in Jordan. On September 25, 1997, Mashal was injected in the ear with a toxin (thought to have been a derivative of the synthetic opiate Fentanyl called Levofentanyl). Jordanian authorities apprehended two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists and trapped a further six in the Israeli embassy. In exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to Amman and deliver an antidote for Mashal. The fallout from the failed killing eventually led to the release of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners. Netanyahu flew into Amman on September 29 to apologize personally to King Hussein, but he was instead met by the King's brother, Crown Prince Hassan.\n\nLebanon\n\nThe provision of intelligence and operational assistance in the 1973 Operation Spring of Youth special forces raid on Beirut.\n\nThe sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif. Sharif was severely wounded, but survived. \n\nThe targeted killing of Ali Hassan Salameh, the leader of Black September, on January 22, 1979 in Beirut by a car bomb. \n\nThe killing of the Palestinian writer and leading PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani, also by a car bomb, in 1972.\n\nProviding intelligence for the killing of Abbas al-Musawi, secretary general of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 1992.\n\nAllegedly killed Jihad Ahmed Jibril, the leader of the military wing of the PFLP-GC, in Beirut in 2002. \n\nAllegedly killed Ali Hussein Saleh, member of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 2003. \n\nAllegedly killed Ghaleb Awwali, a senior Hezbollah official, in Beirut in 2004. \n\nAllegedly killed Mahmoud al-Majzoub, a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in Sidon in 2006. \n\nMossad was suspected of establishing a large spy network in Lebanon, recruited from Druze, Christian, and Sunni Muslim communities, and officials in the Lebanese government, to spy on Hezbollah and its Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors. Some have allegedly been active since the 1982 Lebanon War. In 2009, Lebanese Security Services supported by Hezbollah's intelligence unit, and working in collaboration with Syria, Iran, and possibly Russia, launched a major crackdown which resulted in the arrests of around 100 alleged spies \"working for Israel\". Previously, in 2006, the Lebanese army uncovered a network that allegedly assassinated several Lebanese and Palestinian leaders on behalf of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. \n\nSyria\n\nEli Cohen infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government, was a close friend of the Syrian President, and was considered for the post of Minister of Defense. He gave his handlers a complete plan of the Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights, the Syrian Armed Forces order of battle, and a complete list of the Syrian military's weapons inventory. He also ordered the planting of trees by every Syrian fortified position under the pretext of shading soldiers, but the trees actually served as targeting markers for the Israel Defense Forces. He was discovered by Syrian and Soviet intelligence, tried in secret, and executed publicly in 1965. His information played a crucial role during the Six Day War.\n\nOn 1 April 1978, 12 Syrian military and secret service personnel were killed by a booby trapped sophisticated Israeli listening device planted on the main telephone cable between Damascus and Jordan. \n\nThe alleged death of General Anatoly Kuntsevich, who from the late 1990s was suspected of aiding the Syrians in the manufacture of VX nerve-gas, in exchange for which he was paid huge amounts of money by the Syrian government. On April 3, 2002, Kuntsevich died mysteriously during a plane journey, amid allegations that Mossad was responsible.\n\nThe alleged killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil, a senior member of the military wing of Hamas, in an automobile booby trap in September 2004 in Damascus. \n\nThe uncovering of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria as a result of surveillance by Mossad of Syrian officials working under the command of Muhammad Suleiman. As a result, the Syrian nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israeli Air Forces in September 2007 (see Operation Orchard), while Suleiman was assassinated by Israel a year later.\n\nThe alleged killing of Muhammad Suleiman, head of Syria's nuclear program, in 2008. Suleiman was on a beach in Tartus and was killed by a sniper firing from a boat. \n\nOn July 25, 2007, the al-Safir chemical weapons depot exploded, killing 15 Syrian personnel as well as 10 Iranian engineers. Syrian investigations blamed Israeli sabotage.\n\nThe alleged killing of Imad Mughniyah, a senior leader of Hezbollah complicit in the 1983 United States embassy bombing, with an exploding headrest in Damascus in 2008.\n\nThe decomposed body of Yuri Ivanov, the deputy head of the GRU, Russia's foreign military intelligence service, was found on a Turkish beach in early August 2010,[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7973346/Top-Russian-spys-body-washes-up-after-swimming-accident.html Top Russian spy’s body washes up 'after swimming accident’], Telegraph amid allegations that Mossad may have played a role. He had disappeared while staying near Latakia, Syria. \n\nUnited Arab Emirates\n\nMossad is suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander, in January 2010 at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The team which carried out the killing is estimated, on the basis of CCTV and other evidence, to have consisted of at least 26 agents traveling on bogus passports. The operatives entered al-Mabhouh's hotel room, where Mabhouh was subjected to electric shocks and interrogated. The door to his room was reported to have been locked from the inside. Although the UAE police and Hamas have declared Israel responsible for the killing, no direct evidence linking Mossad to the crime has been found. The agents' bogus passports included six British passports, cloned from those of real British nationals resident in Israel and suspected by Dubai, five Irish passports, apparently forged from those of living individuals, forged Australian passports that raised fears of reprisal against innocent victims of identity theft, a genuine German passport and a false French passport. Emirati police say they have fingerprint and DNA evidence of some of the attackers, as well as retinal scans of 11 suspects recorded at Dubai airport. Dubai's police chief has said \"I am now completely sure that it was Mossad,\" adding: \"I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad,\" for the murder. \n\nAfrica\n\nMorocco\n\nIn September 1956, Mossad established a secretive network in Morocco to smuggle Moroccan Jews to Israel after a ban on immigration to Israel was imposed. \n\nIn early 1991, two Mossad operatives infiltrated the Moroccan port of Casablanca and planted a tracking device on the freighter Al-Yarmouk, which was carrying a cargo of North Korean missiles bound for Syria. The ship was to be sunk by the Israeli Air Force, but the mission was later called off by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. \n\nTunisia\n\nThe 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a founder of Fatah. \n\nThe alleged killing of Salah Khalaf, head of intelligence of the PLO and second in command of Fatah behind Yasser Arafat, in 1991. \n\nUganda\n\nFor Operation Entebbe in 1976, Mossad provided intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport and extensively interviewed hostages who had been released. \n\nSouth Africa\n\nIn the late 1990s, after Mossad was tipped off to the presence of two Iranian agents in Johannesburg on a mission to procure advanced weapons systems from Denel, a Mossad agent was deployed, and met up with a local Jewish contact. Posing as South African intelligence, they abducted the Iranians, drove them to a warehouse, and beat and intimidated them before forcing them to leave the country. \n\nSudan\n\nAfter the 1994 AMIA bombing, the largest bombing in Argentine history, Mossad began gathering intelligence for a raid by Israeli Special Forces on the Iranian embassy in Khartoum as retaliation. The operation was called off due to fears that another attack against worldwide Jewish communities might take place as revenge. Mossad also assisted in Operation Moses, the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel from a famine-ridden region of Sudan in 1984, also maintaining a relationship with the Ethiopian government.\n\nAsia\n\nPakistan\n\nIn a September 2003 news article, it was alleged by Rediff News that General Pervez Musharaf, the then-President of Pakistan, decided to establish a clandestine relationship between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mossad via officers of the two services posted at their embassies in Washington, DC.\n\nNorth Korea\n\nMossad may have been involved in the 2004 explosion of Ryongchon, where several Syrian nuclear scientists working on the Syrian and Iranian nuclear-weapons programs were killed and a train carrying fissionable material was destroyed.\n\nOceania\n\nNew Zealand\n\nIn July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australian based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents. Both Kelman and Cara served half of their six-month sentences and, upon release, were deported to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze'ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but they both managed to leave New Zealand before being apprehended. \n\nIn fiction\n\nIn book 4 of Mark Greaney's Gray Man series, Dead Eye, Mossad and the CIA partner to capture the world's most feared and lethal rogue former black ops agent Courtland Gentry.\n*Since the episode \"Kill Ari (Part 1)\", Mossad has played an instrumental part in the American show NCIS. Mossad's presence includes one of the main characters, Agent Ziva David, who is a former Mossad Agent. She originally filled the position of Mossad liaison to NCIS, until the end of Season 7, when she became a full-time NCIS agent. Her father, Eli David, was the director of Mossad, until the Season 10 episode Shabbat Shalom, when he was killed. Many other characters have been included in the show from Mossad, including Michael Rivkin and Ari Haswari. Some episodes of the show have taken place in Israel.\n*The TV series Covert Affairs also had a Mossad Agent Eyal Lavin as a recurring character.\n*The TV series The Blacklist also has Mossad Agent Navabi as one of the side characters.\n*In the 2001 film Swordfish, lead character Gabriel Shear (played by John Travolta) is believed to be a Mossad agent.","North Africa & Middle East - International Action Center\n... the North African country ... When Secretary of State John Kerry met on June 22 with Gen. Abdel Fattah el ... The ferocious storm of uprisings in North Africa ...\nNorth Africa & Middle East\nNorth Africa & Middle East\nRallies demand freedom for Aafia Siddiqui\nIn Boston on March 8 and in New York City on March 11, the first two of four national rallies demanded that the U.S. government “Free Aafia Siddiqui” and allow her to return to her family in Pakistan. Framed in a U.S. court in 2010, she has been serving an 86-year sentence at Carswell Federal Prison ever since....\nMar 6, 2016\nImperialists provoke crisis for refugees\nEven though the Aegean Sea in winter is cold and rough, conditions for migrants in Turkey are so harsh that over 102,000 of them have crossed the narrow waters from Turkey to the Greek islands since Jan. 1, according to an estimate of the International Organization of Migrants....\nFeb 25, 2016\nTruce? Keep your guard up\nThe news that the Obama administration has finally agreed to a partial truce over Syria with Russia did not bring true relief to those concerned about the Syrian people or about the danger of a wider war. The confrontation between nuclear powers was at least postponed, and it may get worse yet. The anti-war and anti-imperialist movement in the United States better stay on the alert....\nFeb 25, 2016\nU.S. bombs Libya — again\nOver 40 people were killed by Pentagon F-15E fighter jets in a bombing operation Feb. 19 in Sabratha, Libya, which was said to have targeted an Islamic State group (I.S.) training camp. The air strike, 50 miles west of Tripoli, was aimed at I.S. operative and Tunisian national Noureddine Chouchane, who had been linked to an attack on the Bardo Museum in neighboring Tunisia in March 2015. He was accused of arranging the arrival of I.S. operatives in Libya....\nFeb 21, 2016\nU.S. continues endless war in Afghanistan\nUsing smoke and mirrors in Afghanistan, the Obama administration is seeking to convince the world that there will be “an eventual drawdown” of U.S. and NATO forces. A closer look at U.S. imperialism’s strategic goals of a “pivot to Asia” reveals that the 15-year war’s goals include obtaining an economic foothold in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders Iran, Pakistan, China, and the rich oil and gas resources of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia....\nFeb 21, 2016\nWith attack on Libya planned, U.S.-NATO flag waves over Europe\nParticipating (as is now required) in the meeting of European Union defense ministers on Feb. 5 in Amsterdam, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised U.S. “plans to substantially increase their military presence in Europe, by increasing four times the amount they spend on military presence in Europe, so they can fund more troops in the Eastern part of the Alliance, so they can finance the prepositioning of heavy equipment, tanks, armored vehicles and other kinds of heavy equipment. And also more exercises and more investments in infrastructure.” In this way, according to Stoltenberg, “EU-NATO cooperation is reinforced.” [nato.int, Feb. 5]...\nFeb 13, 2016\nPeace talks collapse, aggression continues against Syria\nAs the war against Syria draws closer to entering its fifth year, peace talks have once again fallen apart, as anticipated. The Western powers, right- wing regional regimes such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and the terrorist-ridden opposition refuse to recognize Syria’s sovereignty in the fight against such reactionary forces as the Islamic State group (I.S.), Al Nusra and the Islamic Front. Those seeking to overthrow the Syrian government call for a ceasefire while they themselves continue to bomb and destroy Syria....\nFeb 5, 2016\nPentagon, NATO plan renewed war on Libya\nGen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Jan. 23 that the United States is preparing a renewed military campaign in Libya with its imperialist allies. Dunford’s narrative provides a rationale and political justification for a permanent imperialist occupation of the region, thus negating the right of self-determination for the states involved....\nJan 22, 2016\nSyria and ISIS: Some anti-imperialist observations and analysis\nWith the mid-November ISIS-claimed terrorist attacks in Paris, and even more since the California shootings, there has been a constant stream of reports, official government statements and politicians’ remarks about ISIS and the war against Syria. There have also been reports of French, U.S., Russian and Syrian government air bombing raids on ISIS targets in Syria....\nJan 11, 2016\nA co-founder of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) in 1954 has died in exile in Switzerland....\nDec 31, 2015\nSaudi women’s struggle\nNo country on earth is more brutal and oppressive in its treatment of women than Saudi Arabia. The Saudi state, which is officially controlled by men of the royal family, has kept women encased and immobilized in a poisonous web of binding religious and legal restrictions, like the victims of a monstrous spider....\nDec 31, 2015\nA Saudi-led coalition supported by the U.S. continued to bomb Yemen on Dec. 17 despite announcements of a ceasefire....\nDec 21, 2015\nVietnamese tour U.S. in appeal for Agent Orange victims\n“Who will take care of them? That is my question.” Tran Thi Hoan posed this on World Human Rights Day, Dec. 10. This computer science professional from Central Vietnam is touring the U.S. with a delegation from the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin. She spoke at a meeting at the Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center 1199....\nDec 17, 2015\nDec. 20: About Trump and more\nThe anti-Trump demonstration in New York City planned for Dec. 20 could not come at a more crucial time, not only for the movement and the workers in the U.S. but also globally. Initiated by the International Action Center, this demonstration is being embraced and endorsed by a growing number of progressive, anti-racist and anti-imperialist groups, including Muslims....\nDec 12, 2015\nEuropeans protest war escalation against Syria\nThousands of people marched in England, Spain and Germany in the last eight days to try to stop their governments from joining the U.S. war against Syria. Despite these protests, both the German and the British parliaments voted to send troops and aircraft to the region to join the bombing campaign....\nDec 10, 2015\nBehind the San Bernardino shootings\nThe Dec. 3 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., which claimed the lives of 14 county workers and injured 21 others, occurred less than a week after a mass shooting Nov. 27 at the Colorado Springs, Colo., Planned Parenthood facility. There, it was a “lone gunman” (white) who killed three people and wounded nine others. In San Bernardino, however, the official FBI narrative says the alleged shooters expressed sympathy with the group known as the Islamic State group (often called ISIS or I.S.). Why did this deadly attack happen and how can others be prevented?...\nDec 8, 2015\nUSAF veterans stand strong against drone warfare\nThe secret war using drones operates throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The veterans stated that the program has “fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to [the prison at] Guantánamo Bay.”...\nDec 2, 2015\nU.S.-NATO get out, stay out of Syria!\nThe Turkish regime’s decision to ambush and shoot down a Russian SU-24 bomber on the Syrian-Turkish border north of Latakia has spotlighted the risk of a larger war in Southwest Asia. Boosting this threat is French President François Hollande’s orders to step up the French bombing of Syria. Right behind French imperialism, British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling for a Europe-wide intervention in the region. Both use the Nov. 13 attack in Paris as a pretext for this new aggression, which is ostensibly aimed at the Islamic State group or I.S....\nNov 18, 2015\nHistoric crimes of the French military\nMany young people in Paris were innocent victims of the Nov. 13 attack, but that doesn’t mean that the French imperialist state is innocent. While the 1789 French Revolution raised the idealistic slogans of liberty, equality and fraternity, French imperialism, which developed from that bourgeois revolution, has a bloody history across the world. The actions of the French ruling class have created many enemies, but it is the ordinary people, not the elites, who pay the price....\nNov 18, 2015\nSay no to Muslim bashing!\nThe news from France is grim. The immediate response of the French government to the terrible attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, which killed 129 people and wounded hundreds more, was to send planes to bomb Raqqa in Syria, a city of 200,000 people....\nNov 18, 2015\nU.S., France raise threat of wider war over Syria\nThe series of attacks in Paris claimed by ISIS have riveted world attention. But the most urgent question the working class faces is: “Will the imperialist camp use the attacks as a pretext for wider war?” Using as cover the great sympathy for the hundreds of innocent people who were shot and the 129 who died, the Western imperialist governments may put tens of thousands of other lives at risk....\nNov 15, 2015\nWE MUST NOT ALLOW THE PARIS ATTACKS TO BE USED AS A PRETEXT FOR RACISM & WAR -- MASS PROTEST\nWe mourn for those who were killed and injured in Paris on Friday. But mourning is not enough. We must also remember that what happened in Paris is yet another terrible example of the bitter fruits that are the fallout from endless war, occupation, shock-and-awe bombings, and regime change. ...\nNov 15, 2015\nDon’t let them use Paris as a pretext!\nJust counting recent catastrophes, The International Action Center mourns the tragic loss of 30 people killed by U.S. airstrikes on a charity hospital in Afghanistan; the 224 passengers and crew lost on a Russian plane that exploded over Egypt; the 102 lives cut short by an attack on a Peace Rally in Ankara, Turkey; the 34 killed in Beirut; the many, many families blasted by U.S. drone attacks on wedding parties across West Asia and Africa, and the thousands who have died trying to cross the Mediterranean as they flee war and the loss of lives and homes....\nNov 14, 2015\nLET SYRIA LIVE\nJust a month after the Pentagon admitted that its $500 million program to arm and train “Arab opposition forces” in Syria has failed, with only four or five so-called fighters trained, the Obama administration announced that some 50 U.S. Special Forces “advisers” are being sent to Syria....\nNov 10, 2015\nErdogan regime wins election by waging war\nThe government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Progress Party (AKP) has re-won a majority in the Turkish parliament. Its election campaign included renewed war on the Kurdish people and violent attacks across the country on the headquarters of the leftist People’s Democratic Party (HDP), along with arrests and intimidation of many journalists and hundreds of political activists....\nOct 24, 2015\nFreedom will come to Palestine\nThe situation in the Middle East has been a hotbed of chaos for some time now. From the unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the quagmire you have now in Syria regarding the Islamic State group. Not even Yemen has been spared from the imperialist forces interfering in the self-determination of its peoples. There is one struggle, however, that has remained since 1948, and that is the struggle for the liberation of Palestine from the grip of the cruel Zionist police state....\nOct 24, 2015\nU.N. Security Council authorizes EU naval attack in the Mediterranean on migrant ships\nA further militarization in the Mediterranean has been approved through a resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 9. By a 14 to 1 vote, European Union naval forces were empowered to purportedly halt and turn back vessels transporting migrants across the Mediterranean into Southern Europe. Only the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela abstained in the decision. Millions of people have been dislocated throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the worst refugee crisis since the conclusion of World War II....\nOct 17, 2015\nRainer Rupp about ‘Able Archer,’ his work in NATO headquarters, the Syrian War and the conflict with Russia\nIn the early 1990s he was “most wanted.” The Attorney General at that time called it the “biggest search operation of the German Federal Republic’s police services in the postwar period.” Rainer Rupp, under the code name “Topaz,” had delivered highly sensitive information from NATO headquarters in Brussels to the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (HVA) of the German Democratic Republic. Rupp was arrested in 1993 and sentenced by the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) in Dusseldorf to 12 years’ imprisonment. He was released in the year 2000. The superspy, who turned 70 on Sept. 21, gave the following interview to Karlen Vesper of the newspaper Neues Deutschland....\nOct 12, 2015\nU.S. Syria Strategy suffers setback\nWashington and the European Union countries have spent more than four years in an orchestrated effort of “regime change” in Syria. Now they howl in protest because on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria against forces trying to overthrow Syria’s government....\nSep 29, 2015\nTurkish regime opens fire on Kurds, leftists\nThe Turkish government, as well as admittedly fascist elements, have opened a broad attack on democratic organizations throughout western Turkey. Meanwhile, the Turkish army has continued its assault on the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK), both guerrillas and civilians, in the majority Kurdish southeast of the country....\nSep 28, 2015\nTens of thousands of migrants are living under precarious conditions in Hungary and Croatia as well as other states in the European Union....\nSep 15, 2015\nU.S.-backed ground war intensifies in Yemen\nAn escalating ground war is taking place for control of Yemen, the most underdeveloped state in the Middle East. Reports claim that United Arab Emirates Special Forces have been on the ground in the country fighting against the Shiite-led Ansurallah Movement, also called Houthis. ...\nSep 13, 2015\nIran deal: Imperialists search for new strategy\nhe agreement was the product of negotiations between the Iranian government and what are called the P5+1 — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. Four of the six are imperialist countries that have fought major wars among themselves to recarve the world: the U.S., Britain, France and Germany....\nSep 9, 2015\nU.S. wars caused refugee crisis\nU.S. wars, starvation sanctions and planned destabilization are the overwhelming cause of the surge of hundreds of thousands of war refugees flooding across European borders and across the Mediterranean Sea. The major European-NATO powers collaborated with U.S. imperialism in each war....\nSep 2, 2015\nBoston demonstrators demand peace for Syria\nThe Syrian American Forum mobilized people to gather in Copley Square in Boston to call on the Obama administration to help end the ongoing war in Syria. A group of Syrians and their supporters demonstrated on Aug. 29 outside of the Boston Public Library to demand peace for Syria....\nSep 1, 2015\nMigrant crisis in Europe: Who caused it?\nBehind the horror stories about the treatment of migrants trying to reach Europe is the imperialist system of exploitation of their countries of origin, the policies exacerbating this exploitation and the imperialist wars that made their home countries unlivable for them and their children....\nAug 26, 2015\nSeven thousand refugees arrived in July on the small Greek island of Kos, some 2.5 miles off the Turkish coast, according to the International Organization for Migration. The flow of refugees increased in August....\nAug 25, 2015\nFortress Europe kills\nIf there were an election for France’s head of state today, Marine Le Pen with her neofascists [the National Front] would have a good chance of winning the vote. Polls place her with around 30 percent, winning either first or second place, and a victory in the runoff election no longer seems impossible. In Sweden, too, the influence of the racists continues. For the first time the “Sweden Party” was the strongest force in a survey published on Aug. 20 by the daily newspaper Metro....\nAug 21, 2015\nA video released last week showing the beating and torture of Saadi Gadhafi is not an anomaly in contemporary Libya where the Pentagon and NATO waged a war of regime change in 2011....\nAug 17, 2015\nEmigration and war: Capitalist media suppress the obvious\nThe reports about tens of thousands of desperate refugees scrambling out of the Middle East and North Africa, trying to reach some place in Europe, are excruciatingly painful. The number who have drowned along the way or died of thirst or hunger is unknown. Others survive these perilous journeys on overloaded boats only to be captured and either interned or turned back at the borders. Photographs show them to be thin, often to the point of emaciation, with few possessions other than the threadbare clothes on their backs....\nAug 12, 2015\nRole of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan\nThe Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK) has been involved in a guerrilla war against the oppressive Turkish regime since 1984. Originally defined as a Marxist-Leninist organization with the goal of an independent Kurdistan — Kurds make up 18 percent of the total 83 million people in Turkey and are a majority in the southeast — over the last decade the PKK has dropped Marxist-Leninist ideology and set its goal as autonomy within Turkey....\nJul 18, 2015\nThe agreement reached July 14 between Iran and the “5+1,” the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China) plus Germany, is a huge achievement — for Iran....\nJul 11, 2015\nCall for mass actions to stop Saudi bombing of Yemen\nThe Pentagon-backed and -coordinated bombing campaign has killed thousands and wounded thousands more in Yemen since the air war by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council began on March 26. The Pentagon is providing intelligence, refueling technology and diplomatic cover to the Riyadh-based alliance....\nJun 14, 2015\nEven though peace talks are slated to begin on June 14 in Geneva between the major parties involved in the conflict over control of Yemen, the fighting rages on inside this underdeveloped Middle Eastern state....\nJun 5, 2015\nNYC - Sat., June 13: Rally & Speak-Out: Stop U.S. Proxy Wars from Yemen to Donbass\nToday U.S.-made and paid-for missiles and bombs are raining down on people around the world. Washington funds violent right-wing movements from Venezuela to Syria to Macedonia. It is interfering in a regional dispute in the South China Sea to threaten China. It is establishing more military bases in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Here at home, U.S. police kill and brutalize people of color....\nJun 2, 2015\nThis report is one of several eyewitness accounts provided by International Action Center and FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together) youth activist Caleb Maupin, who took part in a humanitarian aid mission to Yemen in May....\nMay 24, 2015\nI Have Witnessed A Crime Against Humanity! - A Message from Caleb Maupin in the Port of Djibouti\nFrom the Port of Djibouti in North Africa, it is with great sadness and burning outrage that I announce that the voyage of the Iran Shahed Rescue Ship has concluded. We will not reach our destination at the Port of Hodiedah in Yemen to deliver humanitarian aid....\nMay 23, 2015\n‘Stop the Saudi bombing of Yemen’\nWell over a hundred people, most from the local Yemeni community, marched and rallied on May 16 against the Saudi bombing and devastation of Yemen. They gathered at the United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, marched down Market Street to the busy shopping area at Powell Street, and then returned to the U.N. Plaza for a rally....\nMay 23, 2015\nEgypt’s military ruling class tightened its grip over the country on May 16 as three judges imposed death sentences on the former president, Mohamed Morsi, and 105 other people....\nMay 20, 2015\nCall White House! Let Red Crescent ship with humanitarian supplies to Yemen pass! No Blockade!\nThe US and Saudi Arabia are threatening to attack a humanitarian aid ship on the high seas! International observers, including US citizens,are aboard. This would be piracy and an act of war! Call the White House now at 202-456-1414 and 202-456-1111 and say: Let the aid ship pass!...\nMay 14, 2015\nI have just heard what the US officials have said, and I must say that I and all the other peace activists aboard the Iran Shahed are filled with burning outrage....\nMay 14, 2015\nVietnam’s Ho Chi Minh: ‘On lynching & the Ku Klux Klan’\nThis May 19 will mark the 125th birthday anniversary of the great anti-imperialist leader, Ho Chi Minh. “Uncle Ho” was a leader of the National Liberation Front, a people’s army that defeated both French and U.S. military invaders in Vietnam. In honor of this legendary figure and the current Black Lives Matter uprising, the IAC is printing the following excerpts from a report made by this Vietnamese communist at the Fifth Congress of the Communist International gathering held in July 1924 in Moscow during the “National and Colonial Question” session. He died in 1969, six years before Vietnam’s liberation from U.S. imperialism. Go to tinyurl.com ....\nMay 12, 2015\nWhy I'm Aboard The Rescue Ship - A Message from Caleb Maupin in the Persian Gulf\nWhy am I out at sea on the other side of the world? I am part of a humanitarian mission being carried out by the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are attempting to bring medical supplies, flour, and water to the people of Yemen....\nMay 11, 2015\nUS Anti-War Activists Join Iranian Humanitarian Mission to Yemen\nA ship containing over 2,500 tons of flour, rice, and medicine is departing from the Islamic Republic of Iran. The delegation of doctors, journalists, and activists organized by the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran intends to deliver this much needed humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen, who are facing a horrific bombing campaign from Saudi Arabia....\nApr 8, 2015\nThe agreed nuclear framework negotiated between the Iranian government and an unholy alliance of imperialist bandits, in addition to China, must be put in proper perspective....\nMar 31, 2015\nFour years of Syrian resistance to imperialist takeover\nU.S. efforts to overturn the government of Syria have now extended into a fifth year. It is increasingly clear that thousands of predictions reported in the corporate media by Western politicians, think tanks, diplomats and generals of a quick overturn and easy destruction of Syrian sovereignty have been overly optimistic, imperialist dreams. But four years of sabotage, bombings, assassinations and a mercenary invasion of more than 20,000 fighters recruited from over 60 countries have spread great ruin and loss of life....\nMar 27, 2015\nTwo deeply related issues that are of concern to anti-imperialists have been stirring U.S. capitalist politics....\nFeb 27, 2015\nPFLP leadership meets with U.S. delegation\nComrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, deputy general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Comrade Abu Sami Marwan, member of the Political Bureau of the PFLP, met with a U.S. delegation to Syria, which arrived in Damascus on Tuesday [Feb. 24]. The delegation was headed by Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general, and included U.S. leftist activists and leaders, including former member of Congress Cynthia McKinney and Sara Flounders, director of the International Action Center [headquartered] in New York City....\nFeb 19, 2015\nSaudi oil and U.S. hypocrisy\nFew events expose the utter hypocrisy of U.S. politicians’ grand words about democracy so starkly as their praise for the recently deceased King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. For decades U.S. imperialism and all the imperialist powers have given political, military and diplomatic support to the corrupt feudal family that rules Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil....\nJan 27, 2015\nOn Jan. 21, the apartheid Zionist regime of Benjamin Netanyahu was authorized by the United Nations General Assembly to host the first-ever conference devoted to the rise of worldwide “anti-Semitism.”...\nJan 22, 2015\nPentagon deploys more troops\nWith an air of absolute cynicism, the Pentagon announced on Jan. 16 that it will send 400 combat troops and 600 other personnel to the Mideast to train Syrian so-called “moderates” to fight forces of the Islamic State (ISIL). Congress has allocated $5 billion to fund this program....\nJan 21, 2015\nMore protests took place throughout the Muslim world after the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo once again highlighted a cover cartoon that was deliberately offensive to Islam....\nJan 19, 2015\nWe are NOT Charlie Hebdo!\nNeither do we condone the bombings and murder of journalists at their headquarters, however much we are repulsed by their racist, chauvinist and hateful Islamophobic caricatures of oppressed people. Neither do we condone the subsequent murders at the Paris Kosher supermarket....\nJan 14, 2015\nFrench imperialism’s brutal colonial rule\nJan. 11, the French imperialist bourgeoisie mobilized and manipulated a massive demonstration in all the country’s major cities under hypocritical slogans extolling Western civilization and alleged “freedom of speech.” Their goal — which they share with U.S. and European Union imperialism — is a reactionary modern crusade against colonial peoples, mostly Muslims, in the guise of a “war on terror.”...\nJan 13, 2015\nCharlie Hebdo, the free press and racism\nHow do we put in perspective the international media focus on the massacre of 12 journalists in Paris on Jan. 7 at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, notorious for its racist anti-Muslim caricatures and lack of response to the routine, daily, racist police murders of Black youth in the U.S.? Why were any protests banned in France of 15 journalists who were killed among the 2,000 deaths in the Israeli assault of Gaza this past summer? Don’t those lives matter?...\nJan 12, 2015\nBehind the attack in Paris\nHow does someone living in a Muslim or Middle Eastern country feel about the furor raised over the attack on Charlie Hebdo, the French magazine? Can they not be keenly aware of this double standard in the media and politics of the so-called free, democratic world? Think about the Palestinians. They’re not for Al Qaeda, but they must be saying, “Where was this level of anger and condemnation when Gaza was being bombed every single day last summer by the Israelis? Don’t our lives matter?” ...\nJan 7, 2015\nMOSCOW CONFERENCE STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH NOVOROSSIYA, PALESTINE AND BLACK AMERICA\nA conference on the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multipolar World was held in Moscow on Dec. 13, 2015, hosted by the Antiglobalization Movement of Russia. The conference brought together activists from Novorossiya (the Donetsk and Lugansk ), TransDniester, Iran, Syria, the Serb Republic, Italy, the United States and several regions of the Russian Federation. The conference was opened by AGM President Alexander Ionov. Other speakers included Oleg Tsarev, the speaker of the Parliament of Novorossia and Alexander Kofman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk People’s Republic. ...\nDec 14, 2014\nNATO powers threaten re-attack on Libya\nRecent reports claim that Islamic State camps have been set up in Libya, the North African country in chaos after the U.S./NATO-led bombing and ground war in 2011 ousted the Gadhafi government and destroyed Africa’s most prosperous and stable state....\nDec 9, 2014\nEgypt’s military regime set to free Mubarak\nIn 2011, a heroic mass revolution deposed U.S.-supported Egyptian dictator Gen. Hosni Mubarak. This uprising was an inspiration to poor and oppressed people all over the world. Its current assassins — which include the new military regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. imperialism — deserve the condemnation of all progressive and justice-seeking people everywhere....\nDec 7, 2014\nSupport the campaign to get Italy out of NATO. [in English/Italian/French]\nItaly, as part of NATO, must allocate an average of $65 million a day to military spending, according to official NATO data, although the number according to SIPRI is $90 million per day. According to the commitments made by the government in the framework of the Alliance, Italian military spending will increase to over $120 million per day (100 million euro)....\nNov 1, 2014\nA nation in fear\nLook at the United States. Really. Look at it.\nFrom north to south, east to west; from “sea to shining sea,” you’ll see the frenzy of fear. Fear of Ebola. Fear of ISIS. Fear of “crime.” Fear of — fear....\nOct 15, 2014\nIn ‘war on ISIS,’ the main enemy is at home\nThe Turkish government decided Oct. 12 to permit U.S. fighter-bombers to launch attacks on Syrian targets from Incirlik Air Force Base near the Turkish-Syrian border. This decision marked the latest escalation of the U.S.-led “war on ISIS.” It is a further step toward a major U.S. invasion into Syria and Iraq....\nOct 12, 2014\nIt is rare that a U.S. politician reveals any important fact. It is especially rare to reveal one that exposes U.S. propaganda when it is being used to justify a new war of aggression....\nOct 2, 2014\nIsraeli soldiers refuse orders against Palestinians\nSome 43 members of an elite Israeli Defense Force intelligence unit, many still on active duty, sent an open letter of protest to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sept. 12, in which they refuse to spy on the Palestinian people. It states:...\nSep 17, 2014\nWhy Obama’s ‘war on ISIS’ must be opposed\nPresident Barack Obama announced Sept.10 that the U.S. military would build an international coalition to make “war on the Islamic State.” He said there were already 10 countries in this coalition. Administration spokespeople on the Sept. 14 Sunday morning talk shows said they were still building the coalition. The next morning a conference of 30 countries opened in Paris on this theme....\nSep 11, 2014\nImperialist heads of state at the Sept. 4-5 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, met under U.S. pressure to escalate their anti-Russia maneuvers regarding Ukraine, to schedule their gradual exit from Afghanistan and to open war on the Islamic State....\nSep 9, 2014\nImperialist heads of state at the Sept. 4-5 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, met under U.S. pressure to escalate their anti-Russia maneuvers regarding Ukraine, to schedule their gradual exit from Afghanistan and to open war on the Islamic State....\nSep 5, 2014\nNATO opens its curtain of war on two fronts\nThe Summit of Heads of State and Government of the 28 states of NATO opens today in Newport, Wales, where these leaders will take key decisions “to ensure NATO is prepared to address current and future security challenges” that they attribute to “military aggression of Russia against Ukraine” and “growth of extremism and sectarian conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.” In this “crucial” summit, the United States, which retains the undisputed leadership in NATO, and its European allies will mobilize simultaneously on two war fronts. (Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s press conference)...\nSep 4, 2014\nProtests begin at NATO Summit\nThousands of anti-war marchers descended on Newport, Wales, on Aug. 30 for the beginning of a week of protests against the NATO Summit scheduled there for Sept. 4 and 5. Organizers have said they expect 20,000 people in the Welsh city by Sept. 4....\nSep 4, 2014\nFreedom fighters?\nBeware the fickle nature of imperialist propaganda. The political line of the corporate media is apt to flip-flop. Consider the latest revelations in late August that up to 1,000 volunteers from Western countries, including some from the United States, have been fighting in Syria against its government. Most of these volunteers are fighting within military units of the group now known as the Islamic State....\nAug 27, 2014\nStop the U.S. drive to war!\nEach day the Barack Obama administration draws closer to escalating U.S. military intervention in Iraq and extending it to Syria. Already having bombed Iraq for the first time since 2011, the Pentagon admits to sending surveillance drones into Syrian airspace. At the same time Washington and its imperialist allies are pouring weapons into the Iraqi regional Kurdish government in Erbil and, now that Nuri al-Maliki has resigned his post as prime minister under pressure from Washington, into the new pro-West regime in Baghdad....\nAug 20, 2014\nThe following message of solidarity was issued Aug. 19 by the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home coalition, which is organizing for the freedom of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. ...\nAug 15, 2014\nSan Francisco Bay Area people and organizations in solidarity with Gaza announced “a massive and powerful ‘Boat Blockade’ for Aug. 16 to block the Israeli Zim ship from unloading in Oakland!”...\nAug 13, 2014\nU.S. reopens war on Iraq\nPresident Barack Obama has now become the fourth successive U.S. president to order the bombing of Iraq, this time with a “humanitarian” pretext. But it soon became clear that Obama’s “humanitarian” excuse was as much a lie as the pretexts raised by the other three U.S. presidents and that the bombing was aimed at defending U.S. imperialism’s corporate and strategic interests....\nAug 10, 2014\nAs tens of thousands today marched for Gaza worldwide from Dublin to Caracas to Washington, over 10,000 protesters in New York City, the world center of finance capital, marched to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza...\nAug 8, 2014\nSome of the fiercest attacks on Gaza have been Israeli attacks on the Egyptian-Gaza border crossing at Rafah. More than 100 Palestinians were killed in Rafah between Aug. 1 and 3, including 10 children at a well-marked school...\nAug 8, 2014\nLetter from an IDF vet\nI was a member of the Israeli military from 1972 to 1975 and took part in the illegal Zionist occupations of Palestine, Egypt and Syria as well as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. I have witnessed firsthand the steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinian people along with their allies from other Arab communities....\nAug 6, 2014\nThe world movement in solidarity with Palestine must join hands in demanding the complete lifting of the brutal Israeli siege of Gaza and full reconstruction....\nAug 1, 2014\nHezbollah leader calls for unity to aid Gaza\nHezbollah General Secretary Sayed Hassan Nasrallah made a major speech on al-Quds Day, July 25, in Beirut, Lebanon. The IAC is publishing lightly edited excerpts from an unofficial transcription and translation made in Lebanon. It focuses on Nasrallah’s evaluation of the fighting in Gaza as a failure for Israel and a victory for the resistance and also on his call to all Arabs and Arab governments, whatever other disagreements they may have, to come together to support the people of Gaza....\nJul 31, 2014\nGaza, Syria, & Iraq: War MADE IN U.S.-- Making the connections; Upstate New York Speaking Tour\nIsrael’s brutal assault on the people of Gaza, targeting mostly children and civilians while destroying hospitals, schools, infrastructure, and mosques, has been built and paid for by the US. On July 18, every US Senator voted unanimously to support Israel’s attacks and increase funding to the Israeli army, now over $3.5 billion yearly. US and Israel’s goal is clear, defeat the Palestinians and weaken Gaza’s elected leadership, Hamas. Yet the Palestinian people, strengthened by a massive worldwide solidarity movement, have continued to fight back....\nJul 24, 2014\nInt'l Working Women's Coalition statement: “Let Gaza Live! Stop U.S.-backing of Zionist terror!”\nThe International Working Women's Coalition, which for the past 10 years has commemorated International Working Women's Day in New York City, stands with the world's working and oppressed peoples in solidarity with the heroic people of Gaza who are resisting the heinous atrocities by the fascistic, Zionist regime, especially the Israeli Defense Forces....\nJul 23, 2014\nWorldwide solidarity with Gaza\nOften the corporate media use the term “international community” to give weight to an opinion that is really the opinion of a handful of imperialist heads of state — from the U.S., its major NATO allies and Japan. Since the Israeli assault on Gaza began, the real international community is coming out into the streets, sometimes defying police violence, to show its solidarity with Gaza and Palestine and protest....\nJul 22, 2014\nHamas’ conditions for ceasefire\nThe Alternative Information Center describes itself as “an internationally oriented, progressive, joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization, located in Beit Sahour and Jerusalem.” As of July 20, a group of more than 200 Israelis had sent a letter to the European Council, Commission and the European Parliament calling on the EU to pressure Israel to accept Hamas’ terms of truce. And it had also gathered 725 Israeli signers as of July 21 on a Hebrew/Arabic online petition supporting Hamas’ conditions as a basis for immediate and direct negotiations....\nJul 10, 2014\nIsrael prepares criminal invasion of Gaza\nThe Israeli apartheid state has called up as many as 40,000 reserve troops to prepare for an all-out invasion of the Gaza territory, where 1.5 million Palestinians live. Because of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the territory has been described as “the largest open-air prison in the world.”...\nJul 9, 2014\nAlgerian soccer heroes shine for Gaza\nAlgeria’s soccer team competing in the World Cup in Brazil took the prize this year. No, not for winning the cup, although it’s true the Fennec Foxes got further along in the tournament than ever before. The prize the Foxes won was that of advancing the politics of the World Cup spectacle....\nJul 7, 2014\nStop Israeli assault!\nJuly 1 — Early this morning, the Israeli authorities used the death of three Israeli teenagers as the pretext to begin a major assault on Palestinian organizations and civilians in the West Bank and Gaza. Every voice should be raised against this assault....\nJun 28, 2014\nJune 20 is World Refugee Day. This year, a report issued by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees revealed that the number of displaced persons has reached a post-World-War-II high....\nJun 28, 2014\nEgypt, Israel: tools of imperialism\nWhen Secretary of State John Kerry met on June 22 with Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the coup leader who now claims the presidency of Egypt, he proclaimed that things are now “normal” in Egypt so that el-Sisi can receive the official blessings of the U.S. government. This means the U.S. will continue to bankroll the Egyptian military to the immediate tune of $575 million, money that had been “frozen,” with lots more to come. It didn’t matter to Kerry or his masters in the U.S. ruling class that another 183 people, most of them in the Muslim Brotherhood, just received a mass death sentence from the regime....\nJun 25, 2014\nThirty-five years of U.S. subversion, intervention and then direct occupation of Iraq are the primary cause of the violent sectarian divisions now pulling that country apart....\nJun 24, 2014\nSyria election observers at UN: Elections ‘big defeat’ for U.S.\nAn official United Nations press conference featuring five U.S. observers of the June 3 Syrian presidential elections was held on June 18. The briefing, held at the U.N. headquarters here, featured Joe Iosbaker of the Anti-war Committee — Chicago; Paul Larudee of the Syria Solidarity Movement; blogger Jane Stillwater; Judy Bello, founder of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars; and Scott Williams of Fight Imperialism, Stand Together and the International Action Center. These activists joined a distinguished group of observers from 32 countries who visited polling places across Syria....\nJun 20, 2014\nYesterday at 11am, the Syrian Mission to the United Nations convened a press conference featuring people from the US who observed the recent elections....\nJun 19, 2014\nIAC Statement on IRAQ: U.S. Caused Iraq’s present war and chaos\nWith the outbreak of fighting from Mosul to Tikrit putting Iraq back onto the front burner of world media coverage and with the Obama administration threatening air strikes in Iraq once again, anti-war organizations and activists in the United States must take a clear position against further U.S. intervention of any type. Broad opposition must again be mobilized to demand:...\nJun 12, 2014\nSyria’s elections: Big setback to imperialist war plans\nNearly 12 million Syrians cast their ballots on June 3 at 9,601 open polling sites across Syria and in Syrian embassies around the world. With a turnout of 72 percent, President Bashar al-Assad from the Ba’ath Party won over 88 percent of the vote....\nJun 11, 2014\nBowe Bergdahl: hero or scapegoat?\nU.S. imperialism’s political switches can be breathtaking. It only took two days for Bowe Bergdahl to change from a diplomatic tool to a political football.\nThat dizzying switch has one positive result: It helps expose the reactionary character of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and gives an opportunity to review U.S. imperialism’s role in that country....\nJun 8, 2014\nSyrian people elect president by wide margin amid insurgent attacks\nOn June 3, nearly 12 million Syrians cast their ballots at one of the 9,601 polling sites across Syria. With turnout out at 72 percent, including the millions of Syrian refugees who live across the world, President Bashar al-Assad from the Ba’ath Party won the election with over 88 percent of the vote. Defeated was communist legislator Maher Hajjar, known for leading the protest movement in spring 2011 which called for better programs and assistance for the poor, who had 3.2 percent of the votes. Prominent businessman Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri also ran and received 4.3 percent....\nJun 5, 2014\nImperialism & elections in Syria, Egypt & Ukraine\nWhy is the election in Syria so important that U.S. government officials have condemned it before it takes place? Why, at the same time, have U.S. officials embraced and applauded the results of elections organized by the military coup government of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt and the election by the fascist coup forces of billionaire oligarch Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine?...\nJun 4, 2014\nNo to U.S intervention in Syrian election\nWhat makes this election unique is that it can help protect the sovereignty, even the existence of this country. It can help end the bloody war that has drained the lifeblood of the country. It is seen as a essential step toward national reconciliation....\nMay 29, 2014\nThe International Action Center is supporting the following panels at Left Forum this year....\nMay 27, 2014\nProtests say: ‘Stop U.S. march to war’’\n“No to fascism in Ukraine! No war with Russia!” was the theme of the International Action Center protest in New York’s Times Square on May 26, Memorial Day. The demonstrators’ determination to denounce U.S. aggression and the expansion of NATO into Ukraine contrasted with the general mood of the sunny spring holiday. Speakers at the rally demanded hands off the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and expressed solidarity with the anti-fascist fighters there. Representatives of South American liberation struggles in Venezuela and Honduras spoke, aligning with those in Eastern Europe fighting against U.S. imperialism. Anti-war soldiers denounced the Pentagon on Memorial Day and called for people to remember those murdered by fascists in Ukraine. After more than an hour in Times Square, the demonstration set off for CNN headquarters, about a mile away. Signs opposing the U.S. war machine and militant slogans got a great reception from many tourists and passersby as the demonstration moved up Broadway....\nApr 8, 2014\nSeminar in Mexico: Fighting U.S. intervention takes front burner\nSome 260 leftist political activists from 39 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean but including people from around the world, gathered in Mexico City from March 27 to 29. They joined hundreds from the hosting Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo or PT) at its 18th International Seminar. Some 100 speakers, from a broad range of left political positions, spoke on many subjects with a common thread: the danger posed by Washington’s aggressive posture toward all countries south of the U.S. border and especially toward the Bolivarian government of Venezuela....\nApr 4, 2014\nWorkers are striking in both the private and public sectors in Egypt and students are demanding jobs in Tunisia. While students in Kenya won their strike, the demands of transport workers in Nairobi have not yet been met....\nFeb 13, 2014\nSyria: U.S. imperialism and diplomacy\nThe much ballyhooed Geneva II peace talks, which were supposed to bring about peace in Syria, ended on Jan. 31 with no agreement for one very good reason: The U.S had no intention of seeking any real peace agreement, but was intent on using the forum as a background for propaganda and as a way to deceive and weaken the Syrian government....\nJan 30, 2014\nFor nearly seven months in 2011, NATO planes — particularly from the U.S., France, Britain and Canada — carried out a massive bombing campaign in Libya intended to overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi....\nJan 11, 2014\nEgypt sets referendum as coup regime cracks down on activists\nA 50-person committee to draft an amended Egyptian constitution completed its work. The military-appointed regime that came to power through an army coup on July 3 of last year is encouraging people to vote in the upcoming national referendum on Jan. 14-15....\nJan 11, 2014\nInternational meeting to seek justice for Iraq\nAn increase in deaths in Iraq from internal fighting and bombing doubled in 2013 from a year earlier, reaching levels unseen since 2008. In early January, the Nouri al-Maliki regime launched an attack on demonstrators in Falluja and Ramadi, using the alleged presence of al-Qaida as a pretext and asking for U.S. military aid....\nDec 18, 2013\nPulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour M. Hersh has written a detailed and devastating exposure of the U.S. government’s manipulation of military intelligence to create a pretext for the war it very nearly unleashed against Syria last September....\nDec 7, 2013\nWhat’s at stake with the Iran nuclear treaty?\nThe six-month nuclear agreement among Iran and the “5+1” countries has been described as a breakthrough, a departure, a disaster or a betrayal, depending on the speaker. Much of the language of the agreement reached in Geneva on Nov. 24 reeks of imperialist arrogance....\nDec 5, 2013\nThe capitalist press is busy speculating on the motives of the People’s Republic of China in setting up an Air Defense Information Zone that covers the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea....\nNov 19, 2013\nWas drone strike’s goal to wreck peace talks?\nA missile launched from a CIA drone killed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Hakimullah Mehsud in northwest Pakistan. This Nov. 1 strike occurred just 18 hours before a planned invitation to a conference between Taliban leaders and the Pakistan government. The conference was designed to end the long and bloody civil war in that country. (Inter Press Service, Nov. 7)...\nNov 3, 2013\nIAC condemns Israeli air strike against Syria\nThe International Action Center condemns the strike by Israeli planes or missiles of Syrian territory near the coastal city of Latakia on Oct. 31. This is at least the third time this year that Israeli forces have bombed or hit targets inside Syria, according to media and U.S. government sources....\nOct 22, 2013\nIn a reversal of its usual role, Human Rights Watch on Oct. 11 released a report that exposed and condemned rebel groups fighting against the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria....\nOct 21, 2013\nSolidarity message from NWFN to Syrian Women - Español-English-Arabic\nFrom the United States, women who belong to the National Women's Fightback Network of the International Action Center send a warm and caring embrace to the brave people of Syria and especially to the women. It is the women and the children who suffer most from the impact of wars....\nOct 18, 2013\nU.S. military forces intervened in the African states of Libya and Somalia on Oct. 5 under the guise of waging the “war on terrorism.”...\nSep 26, 2013\nOver the next few weeks heads of state and foreign ministers from predatory imperialist countries and developing nations trying to defend their sovereignty will take the podium at the United Nations when the General Assembly convenes....\nSep 26, 2013\nU.S. anti-war delegation witnesses Syria’s resistance to imperialism\nWith the U.S. government keeping both massive bombing and regime change “on the table” for Syria in mid-September, we from the International Action Center and others among the anti-war forces in the U.S. believed it important to organize a delegation to visit this small country now facing imperialist attack....\nSep 21, 2013\nSyrian Americans say ‘No!’ to U.S. war on their country\nA significant turnout of nearly 1,000 anti-war demonstrators, most from the Syrian-American community, marched in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, the day that the U.S. Congress reconvened and the day before President Barack Obama withdrew the war resolution against Syria. The first topic on Congress’ agenda was to discuss the resolution giving the executive authority to bomb Syria. This was the last thing wanted by many of the Syrian-origin people living in the U.S., and so they came to protest....\nSep 21, 2013\nU.S. solidarity & fact-finding delegation visits Syria\nA delegation of anti-war and human-rights activists from the United States entered Syria Sept. 16 on a fact-finding and people-to-people solidarity trip. The participants plan to counter the ubiquitous pro-war propaganda spread in the U.S. and NATO imperialist countries and former colonial powers that demonizes the Syrian government....\nSep 20, 2013\nU.S. anti-war activists visit Syria\nAn anti-war delegation from the United States visited Syria the week of Sept. 16 to see for themselves what is happening there. The delegation included human rights lawyer and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Cynthia McKinney, a former six-term congressperson from Georgia; Dedon Kamathi of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and Pacifica Radio; and Johnny Achi of Arab Americans 4 Syria in Los Angeles. The International Action Center, which pulled together the delegation, sent key organizers John Parker from Los Angeles and Sara Flounders from New York....\nSep 18, 2013\nFormer U.S. Officials Ramsey Clark and Cynthia McKinney Travel to Mideast Anti-War Conference & Syria to Oppose U.S. War Plans\nWhile most media coverage makes it look like the war danger has diminished, Secretary of State John Kerry has made it clear that the threat of attack will persist -- that it is still the U.S. strategic plan to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power even if all Syrian chemical weapons are destroyed. (Business Week, Sept. 16) ...\nSep 18, 2013\nEYEWITNESS SYRIA: Audio Report from IAC Delegation\nThe anti-war movement is in a race with the Pentagon to stop the U.S. from its goal -- pushed back momentarily -- of going to war with Syria. This urgency is what made the International Action Center (IAC) send a delegation from the United States to Syria. The IAC's Sara Flounders gives an audio report (below) on the team's trip so far, featuring an on-air meeting with members of \"Over Our Dead Bodies\" -- the youth encampment of hundreds of voluntary human shields at Syria's communications centers....\nSep 13, 2013\nU.S. maneuvers to derail mass revulsion to war\nPresident Barack Obama and the White House are struggling mightily to override global and domestic opposition to a military adventure in Syria by trying to get Congress to vote for war. Washington is pulling out all the stops. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough went on all five Sunday morning television shows to push the war. Obama is appearing on six major TV networks tonight and will make a major speech tomorrow, all to try to reverse a growing momentum against the Syrian adventure....\nSep 13, 2013\nA crack that lets in light\nIn this age of horribly destructive weapons and the ability of U.S. government agencies to pore over everyone’s private communications — if they are digitized, as most are — there is a tendency to regard the capitalist state as all-powerful, a juggernaut that can roll over everyone if it wants....\nSep 11, 2013\nResponse to Obama's Speech: Accelerate the Antiwar Movement!\nThe President's speech Tuesday night repeated all of the lies the United States has been telling about Syria to justify war -- and shows that war may be delayed, but is not off the table. The biggest lie being told right now is that Assad agreed to give up his country's chemical weapons because of the United States' \"credible military threat.\" What has really happened is that the warmakers in the Pentagon, and their backers on Wall Street, ran into a gigantic brick wall of resistance. They were forced to back down for the time being. They wanted to go to war right now. But when Kerry said on Monday, \"All Assad has to do is give up his chemical weapons,\" Syria and Russia called his bluff. ...\nSep 10, 2013\nReflecting deep opposition to the U.S. plans to attack Syria, yesterday anti-war demonstrations erupted in dozens of cities around the country and worldwide....\nSep 7, 2013\nOpen letter to the AFL-CIO leaders — Oppose war on Syria\nAt this critical moment, the number one priority for organized labor must be to publicly, unequivocally, and loudly oppose the president’s plans to attack Syria. Understandably, the question of another war, this one against Syria, was likely not on the agenda of the AFL-CIO convention beginning this weekend in Los Angeles. Recent events, however, have changed everything and there’s no point in pretending that the situation is the same as before. If the plans to attack Syria are denounced from the podium of the labor convention, this would mean that organized labor has risen to the challenge of becoming the militant, thoroughly progressive, independent movement of working people in the United States. Not to do it would reduce the leadership of the AFL-CIO to providing cover for the president’s war plans....\nSep 7, 2013\nWomen speak out against U.S. intervention in Syria\nWe, the member organizations of the International Women’s Alliance, raise our collective voices against the impending interventionist war that the United States is planning to wage against the Syrian people.\nThe U.S. Senate’s recent approval of a punitive missile strike on Syria constitutes a direct act of aggression masquerading as humanitarian action. Despite widespread opposition from the international community and lack of authorization from the United Nations, the U.S. remains hell-bent on attacking Syria, even as reports show that Syrian rebels funded by the Saudi government — a close U.S. ally — were the ones responsible for the March 19 simultaneous chemical assaults in Aleppo and Ataybah, which left approximately 26 people including 16 Syrian soldiers dead, with 86 more seriously injured....\nSep 6, 2013\nWASHINGTON DC ANTIWAR RALLY MON 9/ 9 AGAINST WAR ESCALATION\nThe Senate Foreign Relations Committee narrowly approved an attack on Syria. But the resolution the committee passed leaped from \"limited air strikes\" to 90 days of bombardment. This is an ominous escalation. Remember \"the Iraq supplement\"? George W. Bush was required to get Congressional funding for the war every 90 days. Once war started, Congress never asserted itself again. That war lasted seven-and-a-half years, cost $4 trillion dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives -- and isn't really over. Kerry admitted to Congress on Monday that the vow of \"no boots on the ground\" isn't firm. \"I don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to a president of the United States.\"...\nSep 4, 2013\nObama pushes war on Syria with new tactic\nOn Sept. 3, Republican senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham, brokers for the Pentagon hawks, met with President Obama and came away saying that they now support plans for missile strikes against Syria. Graham said the attacks were going to be “a little more robust” than he had thought. There was talk of attacks on Syrian aircraft, artillery and rockets, and assurances from Obama that the attacks would be aimed at “shifting the momentum on the battlefield.” McCain called the meeting “encouraging” and said it would be “catastrophic” not to support the strikes....\nSep 4, 2013\nCoast-to-coast protests hit U.S. plans to attack Syria\nOn Aug. 28, with Washington, London and Paris apparently on the verge of opening up another very unpopular and dangerous war by firing missiles at Syria, anti-war activists in the U.S. and around the world went to the streets before the rockets were launched....\nSep 4, 2013\nNo attack on Syria!\nAnti-war, anti-imperialist and Syrian-American organizations inside the U.S. all see the coming week as the last chance to mobilize popular resistance to a military strike on Syria. Polls show the people are very worried about the political and economic consequences of another costly war, but this sentiment must be organized to affect the outcome....\nSep 4, 2013\nHands Off Syria Actions Momentum Grows\nJoin in to stop the attack on Syria. The coming days provide the last chance to mobilize popular resistance to the military strike. The people fear both the political and economic consequences of another costly war. Millions believe the pretext for the war is another Big Lie like the lies used before the Vietnam, Iraq and Libya wars. We need to join together to loudly oppose this new war. ...\nSep 4, 2013\nIn the Bush tradition, Obama lies to push war on Syria\nBarack Obama’s speech today, delivered from the White House Rose Garden, was aimed at winning the acquiescence of the war-weary and austerity-clobbered people in the United States for an illegal, aggressive and highly dangerous assault on the sovereign nation of Syria....\nAug 31, 2013\nEndorse, Volunteer for or List Local HANDS OFF SYRIA Actions\nPresident Obama is using the same tactics as President Bush did before the Iraq War. When the UN Security Council would not support the U.S. war, Bush turned to the U.S. Congress for a war vote giving him “all necessary means”. Ten years later Iraq lay in ruins. A million Iraqis died, millions became refugees. More than 1.5 million US soldiers were deployed to Iraq. Today thousands of U.S. and NATO soldiers are disabled, traumatized and 1/3 will suffer from PTSD. Just as in Iraq, Afghanistan and earlier in Vietnam this is again a U.S. war based on lies. Bombing Syria is NOT a 'humanitarian intervention’. It is another war for Wall Street Profit! This time there is a risk of global confrontation or even world war. ...\nAug 28, 2013\nSTOP U.S. war on SYRIA\nWithout presenting even a hint of proof of Washington’s allegations that Syria has used poison gas, Secretary of State John Kerry has announced that a rocket attack on the sovereign state of Syria from four U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean is imminent....\nAug 27, 2013\nNYC: Thurs., Aug. 29 at 6 pm: Say NO to another U.S. War, BEFORE the Bombs Fall!\nYesterday we sent email alerts urging activists to begin mobilizing for what has long been known as 'Day After' protests against a US military strike. But it is important that across the country everyone opposed to still another US war find ways to raise their opposition now, BEFORE another criminal US war is unleashed with cruise missiles and a barrage of war propaganda and cynical lies of 'humanitarian concern'. In NYC, Chicago, Dearborn MI, Los Angeles, Washington DC and several other cities, there are plans for immediate protests this Wed and Thurs....\nAug 26, 2013\nStop U.S. aggression on Syria!\nBefore we discuss any of the details of the latest Big Lie, The IAC denounces any missile or air attack on Syria as an international war crime. We call upon all anti-war forces in the United States to stand up to say “No!” to this act of aggression.\nU.S. imperialism is poised to open another war. This one, the latest in a long series of aggressive wars, would target Syria. As we write, four U.S. destroyers, each with 90 cruise missiles, are moving into place in the eastern Mediterranean to be able to launch these death-dealers at the Syrian people. As with earlier major U.S. aggressions against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, Washington has presented a Big Lie to try to justify an unwarranted and illegal assault on the Syrian people.With Yugoslavia, the claim, shown later to be false, was that the Serbian government was committing “genocide” against Albanian-ethnic people in Kosovo. In Libya, Moammar Gadhafi’s government was alleged to be on the verge of committing a bloodbath in Benghazi — another Big Lie invented by U.S.-NATO forces. And we all know that no “weapons of mass destruction” were found in Iraq....\nAug 26, 2013\nIACC Denounces the Heinous Maneuvres of the Imperialist Powers in Syria\nThe International Anti-imperialist Coordinating Committee (IACC) condemns the persistent efforts of the imperialist powers to destabilize Syria and oust the present Government of President Bashar el-Assad. They hatched a conspiracy to instigate some anti-Government forces to start an armed conflict against the legitimate Government led by President Assad....\nAug 19, 2013\nThe current campaign of massacres and repression launched by the Egyptian military constitutes a new and bloody chapter in the decades-long war by the generals against the Muslim Brotherhood. But it is more than that...\nAug 19, 2013\nThe Egyptian revolution and the military coup\nOnce again, the Egyptian masses have taken history’s center stage. In what some are calling the greatest outpouring of humanity in history, the people in Egypt took to the streets in the millions for five days, beginning June 30, in a show of no confidence in the Morsi government and to demand their right to food, shelter, justice, dignity and freedom from repression....\nAug 17, 2013\nStop the massacre in Egypt!\nThe latest massacre of Muslim Brotherhood supporters demonstrating in Cairo was ordered by the U.S.-trained Egyptian generals who had earlier carried out the military coup that ousted elected President Mohamed Morsi.\nThis bloody slaughter, along with the appointment of 17 Army and two police generals as governors of the 27 Egyptian governorates, plus the coup regime’s declaration of a one-month “state of emergency,” should wipe out any remaining doubts about the ousting of Morsi. It was an outright military coup. His democratic right to govern based on an election has far more legitimacy than any general’s diktat....\nAug 14, 2013\nU.S.’s Syria policy at crossroads as ‘rebels’ near collapse\nDespite CIA coordination of training operations in Jordan and safe havens in Turkey and despite countless reports in the corporate media of the imminent surrender of a panicked Syrian government, the more than two-year intense effort to overthrow the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad is collapsing....\nJul 18, 2013\nSyria opposition continues to fragment\nOn July 8, the self-styled “National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces” met once again under U.S. direction in neighboring Turkey. But instead of it bringing greater unity, “Prime Minister” in exile Ghassan Hitto resigned his position. Hitto is a U.S. citizen....\nJul 6, 2013\nCoup in Egypt; what does it mean?\nAn unprecedented outpouring of millions of Egyptians from all across the country has shown that the Egyptian revolution is not only alive but is on the rise. Having accomplished the overthrow of dictator Hosni Mubarak by protracted mobilization, enormous heroism and great sacrifice, the masses have once again come into the streets to demand the fulfillment of the revolution that they fought for in 2011....\nJul 5, 2013\nNYC: July 10 demo - No U.S./NATO/Israeli War on Syria\nThe White House’s June 13th announcement that it would begin directly supplying arms to the opposition in Syria is a dramatic escalation of the U.S./NATO war against that country. Thousands of U.S. troops and intelligence personnel are training opposition forces and coordinating operations in Turkey and Jordan. Israel, the recipient of more than $3 billion annually in U.S. military aid, has carried out heavy bombing raids against Syria. The Pentagon has developed plans for a “no-fly” zone over Syria, threatening a new U.S. air war....\nJun 25, 2013\nWar threat to Syria and Iran the focus of NYC forum\nAn extraordinary anti-war forum entitled “Syria & Iran: The Next War?” was held here June 10 at the Solidarity Center. It featured anti-war veterans from the Iranian, Israeli and U.S. militaries, and was organized by United for Peace and Justice, Veterans For Peace and the U.S. Peace Council. The International Action Center hosted the meeting and IAC co-founder Sara Flounders chaired. All the speakers were members of the VFP Iran Working Group....\nJun 24, 2013\nWhen Italian President Giorgio Napolitano met His Majesty King Abdullah II last year in Jordan, he expressed “the high regard with which Italy observes how the Hashemite dynasty has always pursued its desire for peace and its moderate line.”...\nJun 22, 2013\nEyewitness report from Turkey June 17\nOn 15 June, President Recep Erdogan told the demonstrators: “We have our meeting at Kazlicesme tomorrow. Before it, if you don’t leave the park, we will remove you with police.” After this meeting with Erdogan, Taksim Dayanisma (Taksim Solidarity) decided to remove the tents, leaving only one as a symbol. But the police didn’t wait for the resisters to remove their tents. They attacked immediately....\nJun 21, 2013\nDangerous Escalation What's at stake?...\nJun 20, 2013\nObama escalates U.S. role in Syria\nAfter a series of meetings in Washington, the Obama administration escalated the war against Syria by announcing that the United States would ship weapons directly to their proxy rebels in Syria. The New York Times described this materiel as “small arms and ammunition,” but added that the transfers may include anti-tank weapons as well. (New York Times, June 14)...\nJun 20, 2013\nAs night fell on Istanbul June 15, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan unleashed paramilitary forces, called Jandarma, on protesters camped in historic Taksim Square. His aim was to stamp out the people’s movement sweeping Turkey....\nJun 16, 2013\nEyewitness reports on 12 days of Turkey’s rebellion\nSomething so important has been happening in Turkey since May 29 that even we here are bewildered and amazed by this unexpected uprising. It is something, very hopeful, very new and very fresh. For a park and for a few trees, Turkish youth rose up and brought new hope and new light to Turkey’s society....\nJun 16, 2013\nThe Syrian pretext\nhe reactionary terrorist gangs trying to overturn the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad are near collapse after a military defeat in the town of Qusair on the Lebanese border. Leading U.S. militarists — the most prominent being Sen. John McCain — are attacking President Barack Obama for allowing this collapse. The result: The Obama administration, without evidence, claims Assad used chemical weapons. This pretext is his excuse to justify providing small arms and ammunition to those he calls the “rebels.”...\nJun 11, 2013\nU.S.-NATO-Israel open ‘war games’ on Syrian border\nThe crucial victory by the Syrian Arab Army against imperialist-backed terrorist ‘rebels’ in Qusair, a town near the border with Lebanon, has further disintegrated the military and political opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, the threats against Syria’s government by imperialist and reactionary monarchist powers, led by the United States, are increasing....\nJun 11, 2013\nUnited statement to oppose U.S./NATO and Israeli war on Syria\nWhile the White House orders the Pentagon to plan a no-fly zone over Syria and the U.S. has troops at the ready in Jordan, for the past two years the CIA has coordinated massive weapons shipments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey with the aim of guaranteeing that a pro-U.S. regime comes to power, therefore negating the Syrian people’s right to self-determination....\nJun 7, 2013\nSyrian troops battle for Qusair\nThe battle for Qusair is shaping up to be a major turning point in the Syrian war. The two sides, the imperialist-backed “rebels” and the Syrian Arab Army troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, are locked in heavy combat for this strategic city near the Lebanese border....\nJun 3, 2013\nWest weaves web of lies over Syria\nThere is mythology of Western interventionism in Syria: The role of the United States and other Western nations has been to bolster moderates within a broad anti-government coalition fighting for freedom against a tyrannical regime. As late as Feb. 28 of this year, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed the U.S. was for the first time shipping “nonlethal aid” to the Syrian opposition, a public position he has maintained through recent calls to double aid to Syrian rebels and reach a goal of over a billion dollars in international aid....\nMay 11, 2013\nU.S./Israel Hands Off Syria! United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)\nThe May 2-3 and 4-5 nighttime bombings of Syria’s International Airport, military installations in a Damascus suburb and a military supply depot reportedly killed 300 people. The bombings were initially denied but then confirmed by Israel and soon after given the stamp of approval by the Obama Administration....\nMay 5, 2013\nIsraeli attack on Syria widens war -- U.S. anti-war movement on alert: IAC Statement\nThe latest Israeli warplane striking the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, during the nights of May 2-3 and May 4-5 have dangerously escalated foreign intervention in the ongoing war in Syria. The anti-war movement in the United States must be alert to the growing attempt by the U.S., other NATO powers and now the main militarist threat in the region, Israel, to overturn the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria and replace it with an imperialist puppet....\nApr 17, 2013\nThe Boston bombing & racist media\nMuch still remains unknown about the bomb explosions yesterday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon and what was behind this disaster that has tragically hit so many individuals and families who were on the scene, the majority of them spectators....\nApr 6, 2013\nWhile the Obama administration continues to claim that it is providing only “nonlethal” aid to the Syrian opposition, its role in fueling the bloody war there is increasingly coming to light....\nMar 30, 2013\nObama targets Palestinian goals & Syria’s sovereignty\nPresident Barack Obama’s four-day visit to Israel, the first since his first election in 2008, began March 20. Worldwide media attention was focused on what the powerful U.S. leader would tell its client regime and settler state. Overall, reports indicated worse news for the beleaguered Palestinian people and for sovereign Syria....\nMar 23, 2013\nImperialism increases its hand in Syrian war\nFrench President François Hollande called for an end of the European Union’s embargo on arms shipments to Syria just prior to an EU summit meeting in Brussels on March 14. Britain also has taken this position. Both countries are considering directly shipping weapons to the “rebels” if the EU does not lift the embargo. (New York Times, March 15)...\nMar 23, 2013\nTwo steps closer to a U.S. war on Syria\nSyria’s counterrevolutionary opposition has taken a step that moves it even closer to U.S. imperialism. At the same time, the Barack Obama administration has moved a step closer to direct and open intervention in the war against Syria, using the pretext that “chemical weapons” have been used....\nMar 2, 2013\nSPY & KILLER DRONES: Why we must stop them\nIn the almost two decades since the U.S. military first deployed them, drones have generally escaped the spotlight, except in alternative media or military-oriented trade publications. However, their use inside the U.S. has opened a debate that has reached into the U.S. Congress.\nUp until recently, these pilotless planes, which have brought death in the night to villages on the other side of the world, attracted little attention here in the mass media or government “oversight” bodies. Now, as police agencies and private corporations line up to buy drones, civil liberties and other organizations have demanded more information about how they will be used....\nFeb 23, 2013\nSIGN ON to HANDS OFF IRAN statement responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development / also in Spanish and Farsi\nSupport of the legal and legitimate rights of the Iranian people for self-determination and sovereignty is growing as the new round of negotiations with Iran and the countries of 5+1, i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany is set for February 26th in Kazakhstan....\nFeb 22, 2013\nThe new form of global warfare alleges to “protect” by preemptively preventing mass atrocities. Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated academic and mother, is caught in its web and now serving 86 years in a federal prison in Texas....\nFeb 22, 2013\nIn support of efforts to pressure the U.S. government to repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders traveled to Pakistan last December...\nFeb 16, 2013\nCIA confronted for drone attacks\nJohn Brennan found himself in an uncomfortable and unusual situation on Feb. 7 when protesters loudly confronted him, intent on holding him and the U.S. government accountable for their past and present war crimes. Brennan is the chief counterterrorism adviser to the Obama administration....\nFeb 9, 2013\nLeftist leader’s murder arouses mass resistance in Tunisia\nThe 500,000 members of Tunisia’s union federation shut down this North African country’s major cities on Feb 8 as tens of thousands joined the funeral march in Tunis of Chokri Belaïd, slain leader of the Unified Patriotic Democratic Movement, a Marxist and pan-Arabist organization. According to reports, masked killers gunned down Belaïd in his car on the morning of Feb. 6 outside his home in Tunis....\nFeb 1, 2013\nRisk of regional war grows as Israel bombs Syria\nIsrael’s air force bombed a military facility in western Syria at dawn today, according to several media sources. Reports describe Israeli warplanes flying low, below radar, and destroying a building northwest of Damascus. The Syrian Arab News Agency reported that “a scientific research center used by the military” was hit, killing two workers and wounding five....\nJan 30, 2013\nAccording to UN investigations in 2010 there are more than 27,000 prisoners held by the U.S. in more than 100 secret prisons around the world and on 17 ships as floating prisons. These are almost entirely Muslim prisoners....\nJan 26, 2013\nFrench imperialism has launched major military operations in West and East Africa under the guise of fighting “Islamic terrorism.” French fighter jets and commandos have gone into operation in the north and central regions of Mali....\nJan 26, 2013\nOpposition grows worldwide to French invasion of Mali\nIn response to the French imperialist intervention in January, the Coalition of Patriotic Organizations of Mali (COPAM) called demonstrations against the presence of foreign troops in their country. COPAM demands that the current transitional president, Dioncounda Traoré, resign. They target him for giving the green light to troops from the Economic Community of West African States to intervene in Mali under the auspices of the U.N. (Radio France International, Jan. 11)...\nJan 26, 2013\nFrench war on Mali spreads to Algeria\nThe war that French imperialism has escalated in its former West African colony of Mali has now spread to neighboring Algeria. There, some 82 people have been reported killed after an attempted seizure of hostages at a natural gas field. Imperialist governments are lining up for a long intervention in Africa....\nJan 19, 2013\nWho is Dr. Aafia Siddiqui & why did Algerian kidnappers demand her release? by Yvonne Ridle\nThe only thing that surprised me when I heard that the Algerian kidnappers had called for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui was that it hadn’t happened sooner. Don’t get me wrong, as a former hostage myself, there is no way I condone the actions of what has unfolded in a remote corner of the Algerian desert. And my heart goes out to the families of those who have lost loved ones in the unfolding drama at the In Amenas gas plant siege said to have been masterminded by Mohktar Belmokhtar. The infamous one-eyed Algerian militant apparently with ties to al Qaida, has claimed responsibility for launching Wednesday’s attack. It also goes without saying there is no way the kidnappers, whether politically or criminally motivated, can be justified in their actions....\nJan 14, 2013\nIRAN petition responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development -- supported by the IAC and Ramsey Clark\nAs we approach the new round of negotiations between the countries of 5+1 i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany with Iran to discuss the so called “Iran’s nuclear issue”, we the undersigned declare our stand on this issue, as follows:...\nJan 14, 2013\nSIGN ON to IRAN statement responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development -- supported by the IAC and Ramsey Clark\nAs we approach the new round of negotiations between the countries of 5+1 i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany with Iran to discuss the so called “Iran’s nuclear issue”, we the undersigned declare our stand on this issue, as follows:...\nDec 25, 2012\nThe ominous signs of impending war with Syria escalate. NATO is massing troops and military equipment on Syria's borders, and preparing to install missiles aimed at Syria. U.S. warships are stationed off Syria’s coast....\nDec 8, 2012\nOpen political battle breaks out over Egypt’s Constitution\nHundreds of thousands of Egyptians have been demonstrating on both sides with regard to a draft constitution for the North African state. President Mohamed Morsi, whose Nov. 22 edict increasing his political powers sparked mass protests, has now announced a Dec. 15 date for a national referendum to approve or reject the controversial document. The Muslim Brotherhood, which is behind Morsi’s political party, and the Salafist Muslim organizations form a majority in the government and have a broad political base, which means the referendum would likely approve the new constitution....\nDec 5, 2012\nCynthia McKinney and IAC Co-Director Sara Flounders travel to Pakistan in solidarity with Political Prisoner Aafia Siddiqui\nArriving in Karachi, Pakistan, at 4 a.m. for a trip in support of efforts to free and repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders received an overwhelmingly warm welcome on Dec. 2. Hundreds of Siddiqui’s supporters met the two at the airport in the wee hours of the morning, carrying flowers, signs and banners, and chanting “Free Aafia!” and “Welcome!”...\nDec 4, 2012\nCynthia McKinney, Sara Flounders travel to Pakistan in solidarity with political prisoner\nArriving in Karachi, Pakistan, at 4 a.m. for a trip in support of efforts to free and repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders received an overwhelmingly warm welcome on Dec. 2. Hundreds of Siddiqui’s supporters met the two at the airport in the wee hours of the morning, carrying flowers, signs and banners, and chanting “Free Aafia!” and “Welcome!”...\nDec 1, 2012\nTell U.S. to ‘Free Aafia Siddiqui!’\nIn support of continuing efforts to pressure the U.S. government to repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders will travel to Pakistan from Dec. 2-9.\nThe trip will focus on due process and justice and expose U.S. practices of secret renditions, illegal confinement and torture — practices highlighted by Siddiqui’s case....\nNov 30, 2012\nEgypt erupts over Morsi power grab\nMass protests erupted across Egypt following President Mohamed Morsi’s Nov. 22 announcement of a series of decrees that would further consolidate his administration’s power over areas of law, the judiciary and the constitution. On Nov. 26, he met with leaders of the Supreme Judiciary Council in Cairo in an attempt to calm the atmosphere on the eve of scheduled demonstrations both for and against his ruling....\nNov 2, 2012\nU.S. backs Bani Walid’s destruction\nDespite reports that chemical weapons were used against the civilian population of Bani Walid in Libya, the U.S. State Department is supporting its surrogates’ takeover of the western hilltop city. Militias from Misrata, known for their brutality and racism, have held Bani Walid, a stronghold of loyalists allied with Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s government, under siege for a month....\nOct 28, 2012\nPuppets use chemical weapons against Bani Walid, Libya\nSupporters of Bani Walid’s people demonstrated outside the General National Congress parliament in Tripoli, Libya, on Oct. 21 calling for a halt to the town’s siege. Bani Walid’s 80,000 people were a bastion of support for the former Jamahiriya government led by the martyred Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Protesters attempted to enter the building but were dispersed by police....\nOct 28, 2012\nSyria defends itself from imperialist onslaught\nDuring the last 19 months of chaotic civil war in Syria, with opposition rebels armed by the U.S., NATO and the Gulf monarchies through Turkey, have you ever heard Syrian government representatives defend their government’s position regarding the fighting in their country? If you live in the imperialist U.S. or Europe, your answer is probably “never.” Why? Syrian television stations are banned by sanctions, and corporate-owned television hardly ever offers the “enemy” sound bites. Even in other Arabic-speaking countries, the Syrian position has been drowned out by the anti-Syrian propaganda from Qatar and Saudi Arabia....\nOct 23, 2012\nU.S.-NATO driven to wage war on Syria\nTurkey’s war jets forced down a civilian airliner flying from Moscow to Damascus. Thirty-five Russians and Syrians were passengers on the Oct. 10 flight, endangered by the action. U.S. spokesperson Victoria Nuland immediately supported Turkey’s act of air piracy. Also, some 150 U.S. special troops moved into Syria’s southern neighbor, Jordan....\nOct 23, 2012\nLibya becomes focus of U.S. election\nOne year since the brutal assassination of former Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the Republican Party is using Libya’s political crisis in an attempt to defeat President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election. Both U.S. ruling-class parties backed the 2011 war against this oil-producing nation that had maintained the highest standard of living in Africa....\nOct 18, 2012\nWhat’s really behind the attack on Malala Yousafzai\nThe horrible, near-fatal shooting of a young Pakistani schoolgirl, reportedly by members of the Taliban, has focused world attention on the conflict between the armed Islamic group and Pakistani advocates of education for women. Malala Yousafzai, 14 years old, was shot in the head and neck while on a school bus, according to her classmates. She has been flown to Britain to receive medical attention for severe damage to her skull....\nOct 17, 2012\nNYC: Oct 20 --Join the discussion on Syria as it is told by its representatives\nFor over a year and a half we've been hearing about what's going on in the Middle East, and the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. Yet with all the proclamations of ‘free press’ we seldom hear the voices of those most affected by war and terrorism....\nOct 15, 2012\nProtests condemn U.S./NATO wars and wars at home\nhe 11th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was not forgotten by anti-imperialist activists inside the United States. From New York City to Los Angeles, and in dozens of cities in between, the ongoing war and occupation were denounced at actions held Oct. 5-7. Initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition and related organizations, the series of protests demanded “U.S./NATO out of Afghanistan!” “Hands off Syria!” “Don’t attack Iran!” “No more drone attacks!” and “No sanctions!” Following are outlines of actions in several cities....\nOct 12, 2012\nOn Turkey's Grounding of Syrian Airliner - NATO MOVES CLOSER TO WAR\nTurkey’s war-jets forced down a civilian airliner, flying from Moscow to Damascus. Thirty-five Russians and Syrians were passengers. This aggressive act brings NATO another step closer to open war against Syria as part of an imperialist plan to take over the country. ...\nOct 10, 2012\nURGENT PRESS RELEASE FROM THE MADRID PLATFORM AGAINST IMPERIALIST WAR\nFaced with the risk that the escalating tension between Syria and Turkey will lead to an open NATO attack on Syria, either directly or through the Turkish army, the Platform Against Imperialist War CALLS UPON THE POPULATION TO REACT WITH DETERMINATION TO OPPOSE THIS NEW AGGRESSION FROM THE IMPERIALIST POWERS OF THE U.S., THE EU AND ISRAEL....\nOct 4, 2012\nWAR DANGER! NATO Member Turkey Strikes Syria\nNATO-member Turkey has used alleged mortar fire from Syria as a pretext to launch artillery fire across the border, killing Syrian soldiers, and to prepare military intervention. NATO -- an alliance mainly of the former colonial overlords of the world and the current biggest imperialist powers -- immediately supported Turkey's aggression. The British and German governments, the European Union and the U.S. all criticized the Syrian government and sympathized with Turkey. The Turkish Parliament has approved further attacks....\nSep 28, 2012\nNYC: Oct. 7 action: End the wars\nRacism is a weapon of war. We stand in solidarity with victims of police, state, and racial violence and build links to people under attack – Muslims, Sikhs, immigrant workers, death row prisoners, African-American and Latino youth, social justice activists are all targets in an atmosphere of escalating racism and repression....\nSep 25, 2012\nThere are times in history when war and politics converge with economics to create a true turning point, a point at which things cannot and will not ever be the same. Such points in time are marked by fierce struggle....\nSep 18, 2012\nList of Actions and UNAC Statement on attacks on US Embassies in Libya and other Middle Eastern, North African and SW Asian Countries\nThe massive, angry demonstrations and attacks on U.S. embassies sweeping through the Muslim world comes in the context of a campaign against Muslims carried out by the U.S. government in an attempt to justify their wars against Muslim countries. This campaign includes preemptive prosecutions where FBI agents create phony plots and encourage behavior that can be prosecuted and attacks on civil liberties at home; the Peter King hearings; NYPD spying on Muslims; raids and detentions; and states that have passed anti-Muslim laws. It includes the physical attacks on Muslims, on mosques and on people who racist whites think are Muslims, like Sikhs, and opposition to Muslim building projects like Park 51 and much more....\nSep 12, 2012\nNon-Aligned Movement meets in Iran, defies U.S.\nA meeting in Tehran starting Aug. 26 puts into the sharpest perspective the waning position of U.S. imperialism globally and especially in the Middle East. Both the U.S. and Israel’s demands for a boycott of the meeting were ignored. Clearly the U.S. hold is slipping....\nSep 11, 2012\nhe United National Anti-war Coalition has called for protest actions across the country on the anniversary of the imperialist U.S. invasion of Afghanistan....\nAug 25, 2012\nSupport Syria against U.S.-NATO!\nEach week brings U.S. imperialism closer to direct military intervention in Syria with the aim of overthrowing the government of President Bashir al-Assad and crushing Syria’s independence and sovereignty. Up to now Washington has avoided direct intervention, working instead with its NATO allies through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to fund and arm the reactionary opposition to Assad and the Syrian people....\nAug 22, 2012\nVeterans For Peace Appeals to Non-Alignment Movement Leaders: Stop War, Stop Sanctions on Iran\nWith the Non-Aligned Movement meeting this week in Tehran, Veterans For Peace is urging the organization of 120 nations not formally allied with any major power bloc to take steps to deter the Israeli-American threats of war against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program....\nAug 21, 2012\nSyria defends itself against imperialist onslaught\nhe fighting in Syria is shaping up as a military showdown between the Syrian army on one side and “rebel” fighters openly backed by the U.S.-NATO imperialist powers, along with Israel, on the other. These “rebels” are being armed directly through NATO-member Turkey and the Qatari and Saudi Arabian monarchies....\nJul 28, 2012\nStatement of Veterans For Peace: The Solution to the Nuclear “Crisis” with Iran is not Sanctions and War. It is a Middle East Free of All Nuclear Weapons\nWe are once again on the verge of another disastrous war in the Middle East. The United States and its allies in Europe and the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are consciously pushing Syria toward a destructive civil war. The objective is to bring down the Assad regime, an ally of the Iranian government, as a stepping-stone toward further isolation of Iran and preparation of the ground for a military attack on that country....\nJul 21, 2012\nSetback for U.S. war plans in Asia\nWashington’s strategy to cement a military alliance of the U.S., Japan and south Korea came unglued on June 29 at the last minute as popular pressure forced the Seoul regime to back out of signing a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo. ...\nJul 21, 2012\nU.S. prepares anti-Syria war psychology\nThe U.S. and its allies are escalating the war fever against Syria. Not only do they claim to have “discovered” another “massacre” by the government, but they are also trotting out the much discredited charge that Syria possesses — and will use — weapons of mass destruction.\nThe latest “massacre” supposedly occurred on July 12 in the village of Tremseh near the Syrian city of Hama. Some mainstream press headlines bellowed that Syrian government forces and alleged pro-government militia had slaughtered as many as 220 people indiscriminately....\nJul 14, 2012\nFree Lynne Stewart!\nIt is never admitted by U.S. government spokespeople — who love to shout out about “human rights violations” if the target is China or Iran — that the United States has political prisoners. Plenty of them. Many of them have been imprisoned since the Black, Native and Latino/a liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s....\nJul 14, 2012\n‘HANDS OFF SYRIA & IRAN’\nDemonstrations against U.S./NATO military intervention in Syria were held in at least 29 cities coast-to-coast in the United States during the week ending July 1. The United National Antiwar Coalition had called the protests and demanded: Hands off Syria and Iran! End the drone wars! and Money for jobs, education and health care, not endless war! Following are brief descriptions of some of these actions....\nJul 11, 2012\nBelow are 3 interviews where Sara Flounders gives the International Action Center’s views and analysis of the U.S. role in the widening war in Syria today and the growing threats against Iran.\nThe interviews are with: RT News, Press TV and Pacifica – KPFA: Project Censored....\nJun 29, 2012\nHANDS OFF SYRIA\nThe Turkish regime, in cahoots with the NATO powers, has carried out a provocation against the Syrian people that threatens a new war of imperialist conquest in Western Asia. That’s the message out of Brussels on June 26, where a cynical meeting of NATO labeled Syria the “aggressor.” Why? Because Syria’s air defenses shot down a Turkish plane flying low and fast into its airspace as it was about to reach its territory. The Turkish government even admitted that its RF4E Phantom jet had flown into Syria’s airspace on June 22 — “erroneously.” Western governments and corporate media immediately heaped the blame on Syria — making it obvious that a planned provocation is in progress. Important sections of the anti-war and progressive movement in the United States have reacted to this new war thacreat, calling actions during the week of June 23 to July 1 to protest NATO war moves. They have also called for “day after” actions following any new U.S., NATO or Turkish aggression against Syria....\nJun 27, 2012\nThe following timeline reviews the progression of U.S.-NATO intervention in Syria and counteracts the Big Lie in the corporate media aimed at preparing open imperialist military aggression against the Syrian people....\nJun 27, 2012\nActions and Facts to Oppose Growing U.S. War Danger vs. Syria or Iran\nThe growing threat of war against Syria is escalating! Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The U.S. supplied Turkish jet shot down over Syria has heightened tensions. While Washington and its NATO allies openly funds and arms mercenary forces in Syria, the corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another \"Humanitarian War\"....\nJun 26, 2012\nEmergency Protests Against the Growing Threat of War! Hands Off Syria and Iran!\nThe growing threats of war against Syria are alarming. Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another “Humanitarian War”. The drum beat of aggression against Iran grows daily as well. The coup by the U.S. funded and trained Egyptian military, overturning the first popularly elected government in recent history is another ominous warning. The threat of new war is real while US drone attacks are an expanding form of anonymous war....\nJun 11, 2012\nDrones’ murder of innocents highlights U.S. hypocrisy\ns the U.S. and its allies prepare to intervene in Syria, they have seized on the massacre that took place at Houla last week to justify a war. The State Department called the rampage “despicable” and complained about a regime that could “connive in or organize” such a thing, although who was responsible is very much in dispute. Many countries, including the U.S., have expelled Syrian diplomats, which is often a prelude to war....\nJun 9, 2012\nEyewitnesses blame anti-gov’t fighters for Houla massacre\nA Russian news team was told by Syrian eyewitnesses that the May 25 massacre of civilians in Houla, universally blamed on the Assad government, was in fact committed by local criminals, mercenaries and other forces connected to the imperialist-armed “Free Syrian Army.”...\nJun 1, 2012\nHoula Massacre, Syria - IAC Interview on RT News\nActivist Sara Flounders from the International Action Center says that it is likely that the UN will give an absolutely different version of what happened in Houla, “because the whole purpose of the UN – peace mission – from the beginning has been to give a diplomatic cover to continued intervention in Syria,” she told RT....\nMay 30, 2012\nAre U.S.-NATO setting up pretext for attack on Syria?\nSpokespeople from the NATO countries and their loyal media outlets have seized upon a massacre at Houla, Syria, to mobilize for open imperialist military intervention against the Syrian government and — and no one should doubt this — against the people of Syria. NATO governments have already begun expelling Syrian diplomats. There seems to be no doubt at this time — May 29 — that a massacre took place. There is, however, much confusion about who exactly carried out the massacre. The corporate media is blaming the killings on the Syrian government and calling for foreign intervention. The Syrians, however, deny that their armed forces or police have taken part, blame the killings on the armed opposition and have themselves condemned the killings and are organizing an investigation....\nMay 16, 2012\nEgypt masses resist military repression\ns Egyptians prepare for the first round of national presidential elections on May 23-24, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has enacted a series of repressive measures. Clashes between armed militias of supporters of the Islamist political parties killed up to 20 people on May 2 outside the Ministry of Defense in the Abbassiya District of Cairo. Many believe SCAF backs the militias....\nApr 22, 2012\nAhmed Ben Bella, the first president of independent Algeria, and one of the great revolutionary figures of Arab nationalism, died on April 11 at age of 96....\nApr 8, 2012\nBRICS summit opposes intervention in Syria, Iran\nNew Delhi, India, was the venue for the fourth BRICS Summit, which convened on March 29. BRICS stands for Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa, which together house 43 percent of the world’s population and are playing a greater role within a world economic system still dominated by the capitalist mode of production and social relations....\nMar 18, 2012\nAFRICA ROUNDUP\nAs the United States and the European Union escalate their military and economic roles on the African continent, mounting political crises have resulted in much social unrest. From Libya and Kenya to Nigeria and Somalia, internal turmoil, labor unrest and mass resistance illustrate the interconnectedness of events throughout the international scene....\nMar 10, 2012\nLibya: U.N. panel sanitizes U.S.-NATO war crimes\nOn March 2, the so-called U.N. Panel of Experts from the Human Rights Council issued a 200-page report on Libya, saying in essence that war crimes were committed by both the government led by Col. Moammar Gadhafi and the National Transitional Council forces that were put in power by the imperialist states. The report stated that Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 were justified and legitimate and that the Gadhafi administration deserved to be overthrown by the Western states and their allies....\nMar 10, 2012\nCovert operations in Syria\nSyrian insurgents are being trained by personnel of the NATO-backed National Transitional Council in Libya, as Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has complained on March 7 before the UN Security Council. In addition, NATO member States are actively intervening in the Syrian civil war. There is much evidence of direct and even military support to armed opposition groups by U.S., France and British forces, even if the intervening powers have taken every effort to leave no obvious traces....\nFeb 26, 2012\nArmy, Muslim Brotherhood, U.S. jockeying for Egypt rule\nWorkers in some factories and students in the universities in Egypt held strikes on Feb. 11, one year after the revolution that forced President Hosni Mubarak out of office and shook the world. A week earlier massive protests held the Egyptian regime and the police responsible for the deaths of more than 70 people at a soccer match....\nFeb 16, 2012\nLibyans fight back against U.S.-NATO puppet regime\nSince the U.S.-NATO-engineered war began against Libya last March 19, a new push has begun to recolonize Africa through the machinations of various intelligence agencies, special forces and surrogate militias armed and trained by the imperialists. Regional insecurity has grown rapidly....\nFeb 16, 2012\nIn March 2003, Dr. Siddiqui was kidnapped with her three young children in Karachi, Pakistan, and held in secret detention by U.S. forces at Bagram Prison in Afghanistan for five years....\nFeb 11, 2012\nstrong>The struggle for Syria isn't just about Syria--it's the struggle for a free, democratic Middle East versus one that lives under the yoke of American and Israeli hegemony....\nFeb 10, 2012\nLibya: Attacks rise againsat imperialist-backed regime\nA series of attacks have been launched against the U.S.- and NATO-installed National Transitional Council in Libya. The most significant events occurred on Jan. 23 when local forces still loyal to the former government of slain leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi retook the city of Bani Walid, located 120 miles southeast of Tripoli....\nFeb 2, 2012\nThe following are three important anti-imperialist events scheduled for the coming months. The International Action Center is supporting and participating in each of them....\nJan 23, 2012\nIn his speech assuming the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the Republic of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma criticized the U.N. for its stance that led to the eight-month war against Libya....\nJan 20, 2012\nJan 21: Global Day to support the Egyptian revolution\nFeb 11th, 2011, the whole world witnessed millions of Egyptian protesters marching in the streets of Egypt and protesting in Tahrir Square, demanding their basic human rights: dignity, freedom, and social justice. After decades of patience and suffering, Egyptians finally spoke out loudly and peacefully demanding the fall of a police-based authoritarian regime, the end of Mubarak’s dictatorship, and the establishment of a civilian, democratic state. Under the maximal pressure exerted by Egyptians, Mubarak was toppled. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) took charge in leading the country through the transitional stage. At that time, SCAF members and military personnel were regarded as heroes...\nJan 18, 2012\nGlobal Day to support the Egyptian revolution – Sat. Jan 21th, 2012 - NYC: THURS. 6:30 - Help make signs & banners for Sat, Jan 21\nIn Their quest for Dignity, Freedom, Justice, and Democracy, Egyptian & Egyptian Solidarity Groups are calling upon people from all nations, races, colors, and religions as well as human rights and peace groups and organizations to join Egyptians abroad in their rallies to support the Egyptian revolution....\nJan 10, 2012\nJan21: Global Day to support the Egyptian revolution\nIn their quest for dignity, Freedom, Justice, and Democracy, Egyptian Americans & Egyptian Solidarity Groups are calling upon people from all nations, races, colors, and religions as well as human rights and peace groups and organizations to join Egyptians abroad in their rallies to support the Egyptian revolution....\nJan 9, 2012\nSome 10,000 women of all classes and walks of life took to the streets of Cairo on Dec. 20 to protest the military’s misogynistic, violent assaults on Egyptian women. Many demanded that the military step down immediately....\nDec 11, 2011\nThe Egyptian elections: Why an Islamic sweep?\nWhile the military government now says the turnout at the polls was 52 percent, lower than its earlier figure of 70 percent, many voters waited in line for hours to participate in the first of three elections for parliament. They saw the vote as a right won by the revolutionary movement....\nDec 8, 2011\nThe U.S.-NATO forces, using the United Nations and the Arab League as a cover, are positioning themselves for a military intervention in Syria. At the same time, they have upped their economic war on the government led by Bashir al-Assad....\nDec 5, 2011\nSolidarity with Iran - SI Statement; also in Spanish and Farci\nOn Tuesday 29 November 2011, the 1st anniversary of martyrdom of the Iranian scientist and university professor, Majid Shahriari, who was assassinated by terrorists backed by the governments of Israel, US and UK, hundreds of Iranian youth lead by representatives of several organizations of university students hold a demonstration in front of the UK embassy in Tehran to demand closure of that embassy and to end relations of the government of Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) with the government of UK,\nIn view of the fact that:...\nDec 2, 2011\nAfrica 2011: Year of mass upheaval, imperialist interventions\nDec. 17 marks the anniversary of a year of uprisings, strikes, government resignations and regime change on the African continent. A resource-rich and strategically located geopolitical region, Africa has experienced numerous mass demonstrations, general strikes, rebellions and full-scale military assaults as part of a heightening global class struggle for control of the continent’s economic and political future....\nDec 1, 2011\nNew phase of Egypt’s revolution: Masses say: No military rule\nRecord numbers of Egyptian voters of all ages and classes, women and men, cast ballots for a new parliament Nov. 28 and 29. Some waited in line for hours to vote in the first election of its kind in 50 years....\nNov 24, 2011\nEgyptian masses defy military\nThe masses have opened a new chapter in the Egyptian revolution. They have stood strong in Tahrir Square for nearly four days against bullets and gas demanding that the military regime, which succeeded President Hosni Mubarak last Feb. 12, step down....\nOct 24, 2011\nThe brutal lynching of Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya, is the latest criminal act in NATO's seven-month war of regime change and conquest....\nOct 22, 2011\nBig antiwar turnout rocks Boston’s business district\nOccupy Boston and the United National Antiwar Committee rocked the city’s business district as 5,000 protesters marched on Oct. 15 with cries of “Whose streets? Our streets!” A contingent from Steelworkers Local 8751 representing Boston school bus drivers led the march from a union sound truck festooned with placards declaring “Wall Street = War Street.” The truck was ringed by a steadfast security contingent from Vets for Peace/Smedley Butler Brigade....\nOct 22, 2011\nDay of Rage spurred by anger at U.S. aggression\nIt was called as a global Day of Rage that also focused on the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. This convergence of events on Oct. 15 put tens of thousands of people in motion here in New York and in other cities across the country, reinforcing their anger at imperialist wars....\nOct 21, 2011\nThe imperialists murder Gadhafi\nNews spread around the world on Oct. 20-21 that NATO planes had struck a car caravan leaving Sirte in Libya, wounding Moammar Gadhafi, and that the Libyan leader was captured alive and subsequently killed. The details of his death are sketchy and may be purposely distorted or obscured by his killers. This main fact stands out: It took the intervention of the imperialist air forces — including a U.S. Predator drone and a French warplane — to end the life of this African leader....\nOct 18, 2011\nLibyan patriots resist NATO-led forces in Sirte\nU.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, formerly director of the CIA, said at a news conference at NATO headquarters on Oct. 6 that the nearly nine-month-old war against the North African state of Libya would continue until all vestiges of resistance on the part of the people were eliminated....\nSep 27, 2011\nPersecution of Black Libyans draws international outcry\nDespite the Sept. 15 visit to Libya of British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the struggle for control of the oil- producing North African state of Libya is far from complete. Battles for control of Bani Walid and Sirte illustrate that supporters of Muammar Gadhafi’s government still represent a disciplined fighting force against the U.S./NATO fighter jets and military operatives backing the National Transitional Council “rebels.”...\nSep 17, 2011\nWorld Trade Center attacks and consequences, interview with Junge Welt [also in Portuguese, German, Spanish and French]\nBelow is the text of a recent interview John Catalinotto did with Junge Welt about his experience at the World Trade Center 10 years ago and the political consequences of the attack. The jW article is an edited and shorter version of the original comments in English....\nSep 14, 2011\nAs Egyptian masses occupy Israeli embassy, U.S. maneuvers to blunt support for Palestine\nU.S. imperialism is once again maneuvering to counter growing world support for the Palestinian struggle. Its primary motive is to protect the interests of U.S. capital in the Middle East, which center around, but are not restricted to, exploitation of the fabulous oil wealth in the area....\nSep 9, 2011\nAs war continues against Libya, imperialists plot theft of African wealth\nAfter nearly seven months of war against the North African state of Libya, the combined forces of NATO and its National Transitional Council “rebel” units are tightening their noose around the areas of the country where armed resistance has prevented the counterrevolution from taking over. Those millions of Libyans who remain loyal to the government and are opposing the efforts to loot the national wealth of this oil-producing nation are being pressured to lay down their arms and surrender....\nSep 4, 2011\nBy directing their enormous joint military and economic power against a poorly armed, nonindustrialized country of 6 million people, the imperialist states of North America and Western Europe have imposed a criminal regime on the Libyan people....\nAug 27, 2011\nILPS CONDEMNS THE US, NATO AND PUPPET FORCES FOR THEIR BARBARIC ATTACKS ON THE PEOPLE IN LIBYA\nWe, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), condemn in the strongest terms the US, NATO and their puppet forces for their barbaric military campaign against the people in the whole of Libya since several months ago and in Tripoli currently. The combination of escalated NATO air bombardments and ground movement of Libyan puppet forces and NATO special forces against Tripoli since 20 August aims to deliver the final blow on the Gaddafi regime....\nAug 26, 2011\nUnder the most incredibly difficult conditions – including NATO bombing, mercenary landings, Special Forces operations and the destruction of civilian infrastructure – the heroic resistance to imperialist conquest in Libya has continued....\nAug 23, 2011\nLibya: NATO escalates bombing as ‘rebels’ enter capital\nA six-month-old war against the government of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya has reached a new stage as NATO escalated its intervention with air power, naval power, strategy and intelligence to push the Transitional National Council’s armed units into the capital, Tripoli....\nAug 23, 2011\nSpeak up now – U.S./NATO out of Libya!\nThe NATO powers of Europe and the U.S. are declaring victory after having pounded the small country of Libya for five brutal months. They are claiming that the “rebel” forces they command, whose road to Tripoli was paved by NATO air strikes that knocked out much of Libya’s civil and military capability, now control the capital....\nAug 19, 2011\nNYC: August 20th Harlem Teachin Against Imperialist Wars\nOn August 20, the African community of the world will register our condemnation of and resistance to the wars being made against our people and our freedom everywhere.We will oppose the heinous bombing of Libya and the violent attempt to overthrow that government....\nAug 18, 2011\nEvents in Syria – Obama threatens U.S. intervention\nPresident Barack Obama on Aug. 18 demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down, saying that the Syrian leader’s days are numbered. The governments of Britain, France and Germany joined in this demand. This statement is a blatant imperialist interference in Syria’s internal affairs. More than that, it is an open threat to intervene militarily in another country in that region, just as the U.S. and its European allies have done already in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Somalia, with rockets and bombs. It is a threat against the Syrian people of something like the last five months of slaughter of the Libyan people....\nAug 16, 2011\nCollective punishment of civilian populations, including denial of water and food, is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions:...\nAug 12, 2011\nPlanning Meetings for Sept 11: Against Racism & Anti-Muslim Bigotry- Small email size leaflets in PDF & JPG\nWednesday's (Aug. 10) first Planning Meeting of the Emergency Mobilization Against Racism, War and Anti-Muslem Bigotry to counter the racist, right-wing forces on Sunday, September 11 was a tremendous step forward. We discussed plans for a Rally, March and Cultural Exhibition....\nAug 11, 2011\nExtreme right wing racist forces, who last year whipped up an ugly climate of hate against the Islamic Prayer Center at 51 Park Place, have announced new plans for Sunday, September 11 this year at the same location....\nAug 11, 2011\nJoin the International Action Center at the August 13 Millions March in Harlem!...\nAug 8, 2011\nEyewitness Egypt: Egyptian student organizers tell their story -- ‘Tahrir Square was owned by all the people’\nFor 18 days the people of Egypt gathered in the streets in the millions and brought down the 30-year reign of U.S. client Hosni Mubarak. This January 25 Revolution, named for its first day of protest, was led by youth and students....\nAug 8, 2011\nReport from Cairo: Hundreds gather to found Egyptian Socialist Party\nJune 18 — The Egyptian Socialist Party was founded here today before a packed auditorium of more than 400 Egyptians and international guests. What made such an assembly possible was the enormous mass revolution of last Jan. 25 that removed the U.S.-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak and made the name “Tahrir Square” an inspiration for popular revolt worldwide....\nAug 8, 2011\nMore than 85 percent of Egypt’s poor live in rural areas. Like all Egyptians, they are participating in the protests held throughout the country, and are expecting that a new Egyptian government will meet their urgent needs....\nAug 8, 2011\nEyewitness Egypt: Interview--Egyptian pensioners organize union\nIn addition to the mass protests in Egypt, another arena for demanding rights and fighting corruption has been Egypt’s independent trade union movement. This movement expressed its solidarity with the demonstrators, and added its clout to the struggle to bring down Hosni Mubarak five months ago....\nAug 8, 2011\nEyewitness Egypt: Thousands fight police in Tahrir Square\nThousands of angry Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo and Alexandria at the end of June, battling the Central Security forces for hours before successfully pushing the riot police back. These were the most intense clashes in five months, since Egypt’s 18-day revolution in January that ousted U.S.-client Hosni Mubarak....\nAug 5, 2011\nThe destructive bombing attacks on Libya by the Pentagon and NATO are highly unpopular in the United States, although you wouldn’t know it from corporate media coverage....\nJul 30, 2011\nFor almost five months, the combined military forces of the United States and NATO have pounded Libyan cities, towns, villages and ports in an effort to overthrow the government of Moammar Gadhafi....\nJul 22, 2011\nNATO planes bombed Libya’s capital city of Tripoli on July 17 for more than two hours. From 60 to 75 ordinances hit targets in the Tajura and Seraj suburbs....\nJul 22, 2011\nLibya: demonization and self-determination\nIf you went to a shopping center, a street corner or a graduate school of a top university in the U.S. and conducted a pop quiz asking who are the kings or crown princes of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain; the emir of Kuwait, Qatar or Dubai; and the sultan of Oman, most people would not be able to name any of them....\nJul 21, 2011\nHear former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, recently returned from leading a delegation to Libya during the U.S. bombing and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Akbar Muhammad & other leading opponents of the U.S. war on Libya along with VIDEO footage. ...\nJul 11, 2011\nCongress won’t authorize, but continues war on Libya\nAs the U.S./NATO war against the North African state of Libya entered its fourth month, the House of Representatives voted on June 24 to withhold authorization for the bombing campaign. In a resolution to support the war, members of Congress turned down the Obama administration’s military strategy by a vote of 295 against and 123 in favor....\nJun 27, 2011\nNATO continues terrorist attacks on Libya\nTwo NATO airstrikes on June 19 and 20 exposed even further the criminal nature of the imperialist war against the North African state of Libya. On June 19 NATO forces struck a civilian residential area in Tripoli, the capital, killing nine people in a household, including two children....\nJun 25, 2011\nAfrican Union calls for end to NATO bombing of Libya\nSouth African President Jacob Zuma paid a state visit to Libya on May 30 that proved to be a fruitless effort to bring about a ceasefire in the war launched by Western-backed rebels and NATO forces, which have intensified their bombing of the capital of Tripoli and other areas of the country. Zuma was acting on behalf of the African Union, which held an extraordinary meeting on May 25 aimed at bringing an end to the war against Libya....\nJun 25, 2011\nLibya defiant as NATO widens war\nfter nearly three months of U.S./NATO bombing operations over Libya, the North African state has remained defiant in the face of one of the most intense military operations in recent months by the imperialist countries of North America and Western Europe. Official NATO sources say that more than 10,000 sorties have been flown over the oil-rich nation resulting in large-scale destruction of the country’s infrastructure and the reported deaths of 10,000 to 15,000 people....\nJun 24, 2011\nOn direct orders from the Italian government, headed by Silvio Berlusconi (who himself faces many investigations), three Libyans were arrested in Perugia, including Ahusain Nouri, president of the League of Libyan students in Italy...\nJun 23, 2011\nThe International Action Center - IACenter.org urges full support for 2 events to oppose US/NATO War on Libya on Saturday & Monday...\nJun 16, 2011\nTIME TO ACT TO END THE ATTACKS ON LIBYA\nCongressional opposition to the president regarding the authorization of U.S. military attacks against Libya has opened up a path for a more popular participation in the struggle to end U.S. aggression in North Africa. An IAC petition opened a light on this issue: violation of the War Powers Act. The mass unhappiness with the war on Libya -- 70 percent of the population opposing that war in polls -- is reflected in the act of Congress challenging the administration, whatever the motivation of the individuals. This mass displeasure is also reflected in the actions of political figures like Cynthia McKinney in traveling to Libya to bring back the truth....\nJun 16, 2011\nBRIEF FILED BY 10 Members of Congress against President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates for Violation of War Powers Act\nPlaintiffs Dennis Kucinich, Walter B. Jones, John Conyers, Jr., Roscoe Bartlett, Michael E. Capuano, Dan Burton, Howard Coble, John J. Duncan, Jr., Timothy V. Johnson, and Ron Paul (hereinafter “the Plaintiffs”), all members of Congress, bring this Complaint in their official capacities and as taxpayers and allege as follows:...\nJun 16, 2011\n10 U.S. reps sue Obama over Libya strikes\nhe U.S. has now intervened militarily in Libya for almost 90 days. As we wrote last month (see petition), this is a violation of the War Powers Act. For the first time, the Congress has challenged the president regarding the War Powers Act. First the House voted to raise the question with President Barack Obama at the 60-day limit since the March 19 initial bombing raids. Then Republican Rep. John Boehner sent a message warning President Obama that he would have to justify the intervention....\nJun 11, 2011\nA historic vote on the application of the 1973 War Powers Resolution has upheld the Obama administration’s continuation of large-scale bombings aimed at overthrowing the government of Libya....\nJun 11, 2011\nYEMEN: Saleh forced to leave: What next?\nBefore dawn broke June 5, as the news spread that Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh had left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, fireworks filled the sky. As one Yemeni blogger put it, the party started at 6 a.m. To celebrate, people sacrificed cows and goats in “Change Square,” the site of the large encampment that had been peacefully pressuring Saleh to leave for the last four months....\nJun 10, 2011\nWithout presenting a shred of reliable evidence, NATO and International Criminal Court conspirators are charging the Libyan government with conspiracy to rape -- not only rape as the \"collateral damage\" of war, but rape as a political weapon....\nJun 9, 2011\nFrom Cynthia McKinney in Tripoli\nIt is now 1:10 in the afternoon and as the daily life in Tripoli unfolds that includes teachers, staff, and children at school, shopkeepers working in their businesses, streetsweepers sweeping the streets, people moving to and fro in the cars, on bicycles, and on foot, Tripoli has thus far since around 11:00 up to now, received at least 29 bombs....\nJun 8, 2011\nU.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ declared on March 25, 2011 – that there are 3 repressive regimes in the Middle East that must be condemned – Syria, Libya and Iran. Why is the U.S. targeting these particular countries?...\nJun 6, 2011\nCynthia McKinney speaks on Libyan TV\nSpeaking on Libyan TV May 21, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney condemned the brutal war against the government and the people of that country. McKinney, an African American and a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East, traveled to Libya as part of a fact-finding mission to expose the criminal nature of the war....\nJun 6, 2011\nCynthia McKinney: NATO: A feast of blood\nFounded in 1945 at the end of World War II, NATO was founded by the United States in response to the Soviet Union’s survival as a communist state. NATO was the U.S. insurance policy that capitalist ownership and domination of European, Asian and African economies would continue....\nJun 6, 2011\nU.S. imperialism’s role: Yemen teeters on brink of civil war\nHundreds of thousands of people, predominantly youth, took to the streets throughout Yemen on May 28 to demand President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave. Earlier, there had been heavy fighting between government forces and tribally based militias, joined by dissident factions of the army. (Miami Herald, May 28)...\nJun 2, 2011\nFormer U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Returns to Libya with DIGNITY Fact Finding Delegation of independent journalists.\nNATO has announced it will continue the criminal bombing of Libya for another 90 days. The U.S. Congress has postponed any vote on President Obama’s obvious violation of the War Powers Act. In the face of this, Cynthia McKinney has returned to Libya with a fact finding delegation to meet with Libyans under attack by NATO’s bombs. She plans to bring back to the U.S. documented evidence of NATO war crimes....\nJun 2, 2011\nExposing the truth and lies of Obama’s Middle East pro-war speech\nPresident Barack Obama delivered a foreign policy address related to developments in the Middle East on May 19. The speech — which avoided addressing the uprisings throughout North Africa, the Palestinian question and the U.S./NATO war against Libya — created even more hostility toward his administration domestically and internationally....\nMay 17, 2011\nTell Congress: Use War Powers Act to Stop Bombing Libya! End NATO Massacres of Imams and Other Civilians!\nOn May 19 the war against Libya will reach its 60-day mark. On that date this criminal war will be in explicit violation of the War Powers Act. The War Powers Act is a U.S. law that grew out of the struggle against the war in Vietnam. It requires a president involved in a military conflict lasting longer than 60 days to come before Congress for authorization to continue the war. Knowing that this war is immoral, illegal and based on lies, the Obama administration has refused to address the reasons behind initiating yet another war after years of death and destruction in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. In the past 57 days of a war that was promoted as a \"humanitarian intervention\" to enforce a \"no-fly zone,\" the U.S. and NATO have conducted more than 2,500 bombing missions. ...\nMay 15, 2011\nPeople in the U.S. and around the world have broad sympathy for the popular demonstrations taking place in the Middle East. All the uprisings, however, are not necessarily the same....\nMay 12, 2011\nPresident Barack Obama has praised the targeted assassination of Osama bin Laden as a turning point and “one of the greatest military and intelligence operations in U.S. history.”...\nMay 10, 2011\nCalling it all a ‘humanitarian mission’: NATO intensifies airstrikes on Libya, kills leader’s son, grandchildren\nNATO airstrikes carried out April 30 against the home of the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi killed three of Gadhafi’s grandchildren as well as his youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi. The attacks took place amid a dramatic escalation in fighting between Libyan government forces and the Western-backed rebels in various parts of the North African state....\nMay 7, 2011\nBehind the attack on Libya are strategies of economic warfare\nDespite what is being reported, the invasion of Libya has already begun. Units operating on Libyan territory for a long time have prepared the war and are carrying out the assault: they are the powerful oil companies and U.S. and European investment banks....\nMay 6, 2011\nWhen U.S. imperialism engages in an attack on any government or movement, it is essential that the workers’ and progressive political movements for change gather as much information as is available and take a stand....\nMay 4, 2011\nTerror & the Osama bin Laden assassination\nVery little is known about the top-secret U.S. operation that executed Osama bin Laden, except what President Barack Obama chose to announce: that U.S. secret forces found bin Laden, killed him May 1 and disposed of his body at sea on May 2....\nApr 30, 2011\nCondemn NATO assassination of Gadhafi son and three grandsons! U.S., Britain and France: Hands off Libya! Get out of Africa!\nU.S., British and French imperialism have escalated their military intervention in Libya beyond the criminal bombardment of Libya, begun on March 19. The one dominant imperialist power and the two former colonial rulers of the world jointly stated their intentions in a open letter published on April 15 in the Washington Post and other media. U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote that their goal was to remove Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya. for good. That’s what they call “regime change.” This is even in violation of the resolution rammed through the UN Security Council. It is international lawlessness on a grand scale....\nApr 24, 2011\nLibya - Reflections on the threatened ‘Price of Freedom’\nLibya has the highest living standard in Africa. The \"United Nations Development Program (UNDP) confirms that the country has excellent prospects for achieving United Nations development goals by 2015. NATO's war will have already dashed those hopes. A collapse like the one in Iraq now threatens the country.\nThere has been little reaching the European public in the past few years about Libya, whose relationship with the West had normalized. European leaders met with their Libyan counterpart Muammar al-Gadhafi often and business flourished. In the course of preparation for war, the country was suddenly transformed into the most evil dictatorship. Even many war opponents accepted this characterization as their own and now want to overthrow the \"tyrant.\"...\nApr 24, 2011\nThe gradual awakening of the Moroccan people\nThe wave of confrontation churning though the Arab world came late to Morocco.\nIt was only on February 20 that the first demonstrations against the regime took place. Announced in advance, they attracted some 8,000 people in Casablanca and Rabat. Police dispersed them with brutal force....\nApr 24, 2011\nThe heist of the century: the assault of the ‘willing’ on Libyan SWFs\nThe objective of the war against Libya is not just its oil reserves (now estimated at 60 billion barrels), which are the greatest in Africa and whose extraction costs are among the lowest in the world, nor the natural gas reserves of which are estimated at about 1,500 billion cubic meters. In the crosshairs of \"willing\" of the operation “Unified Protector” there are sovereign wealth funds, capital that the Libyan state has invested abroad....\nApr 21, 2011\nThe U.S./NATO war against Libya’s people and government reveals every day that there is no such thing as a humanitarian war carried out by imperialist states against post-colonial countries....\nApr 19, 2011\nNext Steps for UNAC and the Antiwar Movement in New York\nThe antiwar movement is back on the streets. Thousands marched on April 9 in New York and April 10 in San Francisco. These demonstrations represented an important step forward for the United National Antiwar Committee and the antiwar movement as a whole. The new antiwar movement needs to oppose the US foreign wars but also defend the domestic victims of the \"war on terror,\" the Muslims who are being attacked. It must connect the dots between the money spent on war and the attacks on unions and cuts to education and needed programs. This is what these demonstrations on April 9 and 10 did....\nApr 18, 2011\nManik Mukherjee, General Secretary, International Anti-imperilist and People’s Solidarity Coordinating Committee (IAPSCC) has issued the following statement on the imperialist attack on Libya :...\nApr 17, 2011\nAfrica under imperialist siege: Attacks escalate on Libya, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe\nU.S., U.N. and NATO military forces have intensified the implementation of policies aimed at total economic domination and regime change for states that resist interference in their internal affairs. As Africa becomes more of a major source for exploiting oil, strategic minerals and agricultural commodities, the continent will be under increasing pressure from Western capitalist countries....\nApr 14, 2011\nWest Coast April 10 protest U.S. wars abroad, at home\nThree thousand activists demonstrated against U.S. wars abroad on April 10 in San Francisco. Protesters rallied in Dolores Park in the city’s Mission district both before and after a march through the community. The United National Antiwar Committee sponsored the actions. Those who attended were buoyed by what they described as “the renewal of the anti-war movement....\nApr 14, 2011\nThousands protest U.S. wars abroad and at home\nThousands of people from virtually all sectors of U.S. workers, the oppressed and youths gathered in Union Square in New York City April 9 and marched, shouted and drummed their anti-war slogans for two miles to Foley Square in downtown Manhattan. As this largest anti-war march in New York in years stretched for 20 blocks down Broadway, it passed by thousands of New Yorkers busy shopping, who smiled, cheered and waved at what can only be described as the new face of a vibrant movement to confront the war-makers....\nApr 10, 2011\nThe new war in Libya has given rise to a new movement, as the largest anti-war demonstration New York has seen in years took to the streets of Manhattan....\nApr 10, 2011\nWE are the vast majority of humanity who want peace, a healthy planet and a society that prioritizes human needs, democracy and civil liberties for all....\nApr 9, 2011\nCIA & MI6 in Libya: U.S.-British covert operations exposed\nThe New York Times, the Washington Post and other corporate news sources are now openly admitting that the opposition forces fighting the Libyan government are supported and coordinated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI6 with in-country special forces....\nApr 9, 2011\nA‘Lion of the desert’: film about Libya’s resistance to colonialism\nNow is a good time to watch, either again or for the first time, the powerful 1981 film “Lion of the Desert.” It tells the story of Omar Mukhtar, a legendary leader of the armed resistance to Italy’s colonial conquest of Libya....\nApr 9, 2011\nhe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has drawn an important conclusion from the unprovoked bombing of Libya by U.S. and NATO forces: Developing countries should never let down their guard and believe promises made by the imperialists....\nApr 9, 2011\nThe following news release was put out by the Central News Agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea....\nApr 9, 2011\nStop imperialist war on Libya\nThe right-wing, imperialist Italian government headed by Silvio Berlusconi has joined France, Qatar and Kuwait in recognizing the so-called “rebel” Libyan National Transitional Council. The recognition comes after chief executive officer Paolo Scaroni of Italy’s giant oil monopoly, Eni, met with council members to discuss reviving the company’s access to oil production now in “rebel” territory. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, referring to Scaroni, said: “He had important meetings on restarting cooperation about energy....\nApr 7, 2011\nRevolts from Tunisia to Afghanistan disrupt U.S. rule\nThe historical tsunami that continues to shake the Middle East and Southwest Asia has the apologists and strategists of imperialism scrambling to catch up with events. “We have no permanent allies, only permanent interests” seems to be their slogan, but this “pragmatic” approach is fraught with unexpected dangers and contradictions....\nApr 7, 2011\nThe response has been overwhelming. This will be the largest Rally against endless wars and cutbacks in NYC in years....\nApr 1, 2011\nU.S. steps up drive to conquer Libya\nPresident Barack Obama’s speech of March 28 was largely devoted to justifying U.S. military intervention in Libya on humanitarian grounds, as being necessary to prevent a “massacre.” It was meant to obscure the fundamental fact that Washington is leading an effort, joined by the British and French imperialists, to destroy a sovereign government and recolonize Libya....\nMar 28, 2011\nEven before the first U.S. bombs rained down on Libya, protesters across the U.S. stood up to voice their opposition to yet another U.S. war for oil. These protests continue....\nMar 26, 2011\nHowever the rebellion in Libya began, it was both inevitable and entirely predictable that it would quickly become an opening for imperialist intervention and counterrevolution in the oil-rich North African country....\nMar 26, 2011\nThe bombing of Libya, which began on March 19, has aroused world opposition to this new aggression by the U.S. and European imperialist powers....\nMar 25, 2011\nApril 9 & 10 Antiwar Rallies Will Draw Many Thousands to NYC & San Francisco\nhe major national Antiwar Rallies in NYC at Union Square, on Saturday, April 9 and in San Francisco on Sunday, April 10 are just 2 weeks away. Momentum is building based on the urgency of responding to the new attacks in Libya, no end to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more attacks and threats to Gaza, ugly attacks on Muslims, new attacks on unions and collective bargaining and a new rounds of cutbacks of every possible social program, particularly hitting the Black and immigrant communities and the unemployed....\nMar 23, 2011\nRebellions continue across North Africa, Middle East\nThe ferocious storm of uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East continues to stymie the efforts of the U.S. and other Western powers to suppress or contain them. There are ongoing significant protests in Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq, all places with a substantial U.S. military presence....\nMar 22, 2011\nSTOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA\nOn March 17, 2011, Washington showed its true intentions by pushing through a U.N. Security Council resolution that amounts to a declaration of war on the government and people of Libya. A U.S. attack is the worst possible thing that could happen to the people of Libya. It also puts the unfolding Arab revolutions, which have inspired people across North Africa and Western Asia, in the gravest danger. The resolution goes beyond a no-fly zone. It includes language saying U.N. member states could \"take all necessary measures\" ... \"by halting attacks by air, land and sea forces under the control of the Gadhafi regime.\"(CNN.com, Mar 17)...\nMar 20, 2011\nU.S. and French cruise missiles and bombs are raining down on the African state of Libya. This is not a \"humanitarian' intervention....\nMar 18, 2011\nSTOP THE U.S. WAR ON LIBYA AND BAHRAIN!\nThe International Action Center calls on all anti-war and social justice activists to call Emergency Response STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN actions in their areas on Friday, March 18 or Saturday, Marcy 19, or to mobilize support for any already existing anti-war demonstrations called to mark the anniversary of the Iraq War, with this statement and signs to STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN, as well as to intensify the mobilization for the April 9th and 10th Anti-War demonstrations in New York and San Francisco called by the United National Antiwar Committee....\nMar 18, 2011\nWhy imperialists hate Libya, love Bahrain\nMarch 15 — Events continue to unfold rapidly in North Africa and the Gulf states. On March 14 Saudi Arabia sent tanks and 2,000 troops into the kingdom of Bahrain to protect the Al Khalifa royal family there from mass protests demanding an end to the monopoly of political power in the hands of the king....\nMar 17, 2011\nLibyan military routs Western-backed rebels\nMarch 13 — Libyan government forces have taken several towns both east and west of Tripoli, the capital, driving out rebel groups that have been calling for military intervention by the imperialist states. Morale among the opposition is reportedly declining in Benghazi, which has been the de facto headquarters of the rebels....\nMar 16, 2011\nWith the corporate media’s attention concentrated on Libya, its oil reserves and the real danger of U.S. and NATO’s military intervention, one could almost forget that enormous popular revolts are percolating throughout North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....\nMar 14, 2011\nLibya repels attack as U.S. seeks ‘regime change’\nAs of March 7, Libyan military forces have stepped up their counteroffensive against rebel units backed by the U.S. and European Union countries. Government soldiers have retaken the town of Bin Jawad and are mounting assaults on rebels near the oil port of Ras Lanuf as well as Az Zawiyah, Tobruk and Misurata....\nMar 12, 2011\nThe uprisings in Libya, coinciding with the struggles of other countries in North Africa and Western Asia respond to conditions similar to those of other countries but have very different consequences....\nMar 9, 2011\nFollowing is the statement of Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Geneva, March 1 [2011]....\nMar 8, 2011\nTunisia: We won, right? The end of the Second Qasbah / Hemos ganado, ¿no? El fin de la Segunda Qasba\nOn Sunday, Feb. 27, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannochi resigned; he was replaced by the elderly Beji Caïd Essebsi. On Monday the ministers of Industry and Finance, the last remnants of the old regime also resigned. In the evening so did Nejib Chebbi and Ahmed Brahmi, representatives respectively of the Tajdid movement and the PDP, the two legal parties under Ben Ali. On Tuesday they were followed by two other ministers. We have lived without a government for four days in which terror has been circling like a bird of prey around the Qasbah: youth beaten, threatened, persecuted by police and hired criminals who have taken over the streets of the Medina and the surrounding April 9th Avenue. At the same time the space has been restructured and the class divide has drawn new geographical lines: while still Qasbah snugly in its sacred area, with its illustrious barbarians and hardened militants, the silent majority, silent for 23 years, decided to speak for about two hours a day, between 5 and 7 p.m., at a daily assembly convened at the Dome in the pompous Olympic Village, to support Ghannouchi, demand an end to the demonstrations and defend the \"revolution\" from those who want to make one...\nMar 8, 2011\n‘Great day of anger’: Thousands of Iraqis defy puppet regime, occupation\nDefying threats from the puppet government and several party militias, thousands of Iraqis from Basra in the south to Suleimaniya in the Kurdish north took to the streets Feb. 25 in a “Great Day of Anger” inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world....\nMar 8, 2011\nTensions grow between military, masses in Egypt\nA new cabinet was sworn in on Feb. 22 in the aftermath of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and the suspension of parliament and the previous government. This was precipitated by the Feb. 11 Supreme Military Council’s coup. The new cabinet’s appointment and publication of the first set of political reforms on Feb. 26 is an attempt to address the Egyptian people’s demands for a rapid return to civilian rule....\nMar 8, 2011\nAnother NATO Intervention? Libya: Is This Kosovo All Over Again?\nLess than a dozen years after NATO bombed Yugoslavia into pieces, detaching the province of Kosovo from Serbia, there are signs that the military alliance is gearing up for another victorious little “humanitarian war”, this time against Libya. The differences are, of course, enormous. But let’s look at some of the disturbing similarities....\nMar 7, 2011\nSPOTLIGHT ON LIBYA\nThe protests that we are witnessing in Libya must be examined carefully and wisely. We have to realize that the intifada of Libya is not totally a genuine one for reform; Part of it is provoked by the United States and the Zionists to occupy this oil-producing country, under the pretence of “democracy,” to get rid of its legitimate government for saying “no” to US and Zionist domination. Those who broke ranks with Gaddafi called upon the USto intervene, militarily if necessary, to get rid of the legitimate government. This call gives an excuse for the US and its European allies to pass a criminal resolution of the Security Council and propose sanctions and a “no fly zone.” These actions remind us of the same scenario that Iraq endured that caused its destruction. The infamous resolution will give the US and its allies open interpretations and the options of using military power that might lead to the invasion of Libya....\nMar 4, 2011\nLibya, the puzzle of the no-fly zone / Libia, il rebus della no-fly zone / Les porte-avions et les bases US en Italie sont en état d’alerte mais pour le Pentagone, les risques sont élevés\n The leaders of the rebellion, meeting yesterday in the headquarters in Benghazi, have concluded that on their own they will not be able to overthrow Gaddafi. Therefore a majority of them asked for US-NATO intervention using air power, beginning with the imposition of a no-fly zone on Libya. \"The United States - they say - brought democracy when they intervened in Kosovo.\" A part of the rebel forces, however, thought otherwise: \"We must free ourselves on our own; if we ask for foreign intervention it would be treason.\"...\nMar 3, 2011\nThe Pentagon is \"repositioning\" its naval and air forces and preparing for Operation Libya\nMarch 2, 2011--\"The United States is moving naval and air forces in the region\" to \"prepare the full range of options\" in the confrontation with Libya: Pentagon spokesperson Col. Dave Lapan of the Marines made this announcement yesterday, March 1. He then said that \"It was President Obama who asked the military to prepare for these options,\" because the situation in Libya is getting worse. The military then began \"the planning and preparation\" phase for an intervention in Libya. Pentagon planners are working on several specific plans, depending on how the “repositioning of forces” begins so as to have maximum flexibility to implement any option. ...\nMar 3, 2011\nBehind the demonizing of Gadhafi\nLibya had been an Italian colony until Italy’s defeat in World War II. After the war, the U.S. and Britain set up a monarchy in Libya under King Idris I. Moammar al-Gadhafi was a military officer when he led a coup in 1969 against the monarchy. This led to the nationalization of Libya’s oil and social gains for the Libyan people...\nMar 3, 2011\nNo U.S. attack on Libya! / Barcos de guerra cerca de Libia: crece el peligro de intervención militar imperialista / Aumenta o perigo de intervenção imperialista na Líbia\nThe White House is meeting with its allies among the European imperialist NATO countries to discuss imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, jamming all communications of President Moammar Gadhafi inside Libya, and carving military corridors into Libya from Egypt and Tunisia, supposedly to “assist refugees.” (New York Times, Feb. 27)...\nMar 2, 2011\nEgytpt: Al-Mehalla textile workers leads the struggle\nThe Al-Mahalla strike is part of the spate of industrial unrest that has rocked the country in the midst and aftermath of the 25 January revolution. Policemen, bank employees, workers at the Helwan Coke Company, in military production, cement, iron and steel and at the Suez Canal all struck for higher wages and improved working conditions, demanding an end to corruption in the workplace....\nMar 2, 2011\nREFLECTIONS OF FIDEL: NATO’s plan is to occupy Libya\nOIL became the principal wealth in the hands of the large yankee transnationals; with that source of energy, they had at their disposal an instrument that considerably increased their political power in the world. It was their principal weapon when they decided to simply liquidate the Cuban Revolution as soon as the first, just and sovereign laws were enacted in our homeland: by depriving it of oil....\nMar 2, 2011\nVenezuelan president calls for mediation to end crisis while the US and other powers weigh military options....\nFeb 26, 2011\nIraq protests target occupation, puppet regime\nAs popular revolts spread across the Arab world, now breaking out in Morocco and Algeria, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain, even in Kuwait, it is important to remember one of the nations in this region that faces a special situation: It is forcibly occupied by 50,000 U.S. troops. It is Iraq, which the U.S. and Britain invaded in March 2003 and which the U.S. has occupied since. No one should forget, when considering the crimes of the U.S.-backed tyrants, that U.S. imperialism is responsible for the deaths of a million Iraqis and the displacement of 4 million....\nFeb 26, 2011\nAnti-government protesters in Bahrain swarmed back into a symbolic square on Feb. 19, putting riot police to flight in a striking victory for their cause....\nFeb 26, 2011\nYemen’s people demand ouster of ruler\nProtests continued throughout the country of Yemen on Feb. 21 to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The demonstrations, which began during the time of the uprising in Tunisia and gained traction with recent events in Egypt, have increased in scope and intensity in the past 12 days....\nFeb 26, 2011\nOf all the struggles going on in North Africa and the Middle East right now, the most difficult to unravel is the one in Libya....\nFeb 25, 2011\nThe International Action Center urges solidarity with the resistance struggles shaking dictatorships throughout the Arab World....\nFeb 25, 2011\nDjibouti masses protest U.S./French-backed regime\nAnti-government demonstrations have spread to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, where 30,000 people marched on Feb. 18 demanding the resignation of President Ismael Omar Guelleh. Two people were killed when police attacked protesters in this country’s capital, which is also called Djibouti....\nFeb 17, 2011\nEgypt’s workers defy U.S.-backed junta\nThe Egyptian military would like to put the genie of the Egyptian Revolution back in the bottle. But it won’t go back. The so-called “orderly transition” — backed by the Obama administration, NATO and the Egyptian ruling class — has the immediate tactical goal of pushing the masses of people off the streets and off the stage of history....\nFeb 13, 2011\nFrom a Landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (III) / De paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (y III)\nGhazala, a courageous woman, founder of the Committee of Unemployed Graduates of Gafsa that so actively participated in the protests of 2008, has given us a contact in Qasserine. We meet him halfway there, in Mejel Bel Abbes. Boubaker, 33 year old, master's in engineering, also a member of the Committee of Unemployed Graduates, is surviving by doing some odd jobs as an electrician. He is tall, a bit prim, neatly dressed in the dignified severity that attempts to preserve a modest sovereignty of his appearance in the midst of difficulties. Like many educated young people in similar circumstances in a situation where he is forced to remain single, he has wound up developing, without wanting to, an air of a preacher or priest: there is something, how can we put it, excessively clean in their dress and mannerisms. He speaks little French, but has an almost scholarly knowledge of the history of the area, whose natural wealth, well known by Romans, Vandals and Berbers, has been misappropriated and wasted by postcolonial Tunisia....\nFeb 12, 2011\nSalute the People's Victory!\nThe greatest analysts of human society described real revolutions as “festivals of the masses.” We see then that the 18 days that overturned the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship is one of the greatest revolutions in the history of humanity. Never before have so many in such a condensed period of time become the actors and writers of their own history. We congratulate the people of Egypt for their tremendous victory over a tyrant who for 30 years had the support of the “great powers” of the European Union and especially of the United States until the final moments of his reign....\nFeb 12, 2011\nThese reports from Cairo are from Faiza Rady, formerly a resident of Philadelphia, who has returned to Egypt...\nFeb 12, 2011\nSalute the people’s victory! Long live the Egyptian revolution!\nThe International Action Center joins with the people of Egypt and the world in celebrating the stunning triumph of people's power and mass action in Egypt. The greatest analysts of human society described real revolutions as “festivals of the masses.” We see then that the 18 days that overturned the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship is one of the greatest revolutions in the history of humanity. Never before have so many in such a condensed period of time become the actors and writers of their own history. We congratulate the people of Egypt for their tremendous victory over a tyrant who for 30 years had the support of the “great powers” of the European Union and especially of the United States until the final moments of his reign....\nFeb 10, 2011\nFrom a landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (II) / De paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (II)\nFrom Gafsa to Redeyef you travel towards striped mountains that mark the border with Algeria, under a pure blue sky, through a hard, dry terrain, a planetary extension, which is about to succumb once more to the temptation of being landscape: small towns with camels browsing between the houses, shepherds with colorful headdresses, massive women sitting in the sun, wrapped in white cloth, sharing tasks and conversation. Everything seems fresh, clean, motionless, eternal and clear. But in reality there are few places in Tunisia as ground down by its history as this square of adverse and ancient land....\nFeb 10, 2011\nGlobal solidarity with Egypt\nThe Egyptian revolt against the U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarak regime has inspired many workers and oppressed people throughout the world. Mass solidarity demonstrations have taken place to show support for Egypt’s popular uprising. Here are brief reports on just a few notable actions, most of them on Feb. 5 or 6....\nFeb 9, 2011\nU.S. protesters tell government: ‘Stop supporting dictators!’\nWith the popular uprising that is rocking cities across Egypt now heading into its third week, solidarity rallies are building across the U.S. in response. Many of these protests are calling on the U.S. government to end its funding for the repressive regime of Hosni Mubarak....\nFeb 9, 2011\nFeb. 9 reports from Cairo say there are growing numbers of Egyptian workers who have gone out on strike all over the country, as the struggle to oust the despised, U.S.-backed Mubarak regime intensifies....\nFeb 9, 2011\nEGYPTIANS STAY STRONG\nFeb. 8 — Hosni Mubarak’s military-police regime and its creators in Washington are waging a war of attrition to wear down the newly emerging Egyptian revolution. But the people show no signs of backing down. More than a million anti-government demonstrators today once again filled Liberation Square. Despite police-agent attacks, gradual escalation of pressure from the military and slanderous campaigns against the protesters on Egyptian state television, all reports are that masses of people have flooded into central Cairo to demand the immediate ouster of Mubarak....\nFeb 9, 2011\nDays 21-24: From a landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (I) / De Paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (I)\n\"France is Paris, the rest is scenery,\" 19th century French centralism said with contempt. Many times before we had been in central and southern Tunisia, but we had never seen anything but flocks of sheep and clouds, striated mountains and clean deserts, and people who seemed to passively accept, in the villages and cafes along the highway, their condition as a watermark or wrinkle in the tapestry. Our short and intense journey, parallel to the turbulence that has shaken the country for more than a month, reflects the decisive transformation, mental and material, of a landscape into a territory....\nFeb 9, 2011\nMarch in Solidarity with millions of Egyptian People in their struggle for democracy and human rights as they demand the immediate DEPARTURE of the repressive U.S. backed Mubarak regime....\nFeb 7, 2011\n'The Tunisian revolution began in the provinces and remains very active there today' / \"La revolución tunecina empezó en las regiones y sigue hoy muy activa\"\nThis interview was conducted in bits and parts, in the middle of a protest demonstration, stopping to talk once you recovered your breath after running through the streets near Bourghiba Avenue. These are crucial days for the revolution, but the glare of the mainstream media is now directed towards Egypt. \"Tunisia is not an international issue but a local one,\" the Al Jazeera employees told us when we tried to inform them that Benali militia had returned to their old ways in Sfax. Boukadous disagrees. \"The revolution began in the provinces and remains very active there.\"...\nFeb 6, 2011\nNationalists, liberals, Islamists and leftists: A National Assembly should choose new transitional leadership in Egypt. There must be strong representation of youth....\nFeb 5, 2011\nHail the heroes of Liberation Square\nThe masses in Tahrir (Liberation) Square - now known among the fighters as Martyrs’ Square — gave the counterrevolutionary thugs of a dying regime blow for blow, pushed them back and held the square, thus achieving both a military and political victory. They were fully aware of the crucial political importance of holding the square for the people. This was a victory for the masses of Egyptian people, the people of the Middle East as a whole, and the workers and oppressed of the world....\nFeb 4, 2011\n...\nFeb 3, 2011\nNineteenth day (Feb. 1, 2011): Who governs Tunisia? / Día decimonoveno del pueblo tunecino: ¿Quién gobierna Túnez?\n“You can only talk of revolution if there is a time when the whole people go out to the streets to take part in a big festival. The victories are celebrated and if we are not celebrating it's because there is victory. We have not been able to celebrate anything in the street, not even the expulsion of Ben Ali. And that means we have not yet won.”...\nFeb 3, 2011\nDon’t be confused by the deceptive and false statements uttered by President Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Roddam Clinton suggesting that they have sympathy for Egyptians fighting for liberation and jobs in Tahrir Square. <...\nFeb 2, 2011\nEgypt: An entire people stands up\nSince the early hours of the morning loud music from large speakers in front of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on the Corniche Al Nile in downtown Cairo has been booming. Shortly past 8 a.m., at the end of the curfew, as the first cars and pedestrians crossed over from the Nile Zamalik in the direction of the city center, an additional person reports to the loudspeaker to speak. He promises that the government understands the concerns of the people and resolves to keep the country in peace and prosperity. A man holds a T-shirt in the air, on which President Hosni Mubarak is caught looking down and smiling. A good three dozen men wave the Egyptian flag and look around uncertainly, and some melancholy men behind them run swiftly past them along the promenade towards Tahrir Square, Liberation Square. While some — probably for fear of losing their jobs — cheer the Mubarak regime — the others will demand this day the resignation of the man who ruled Egypt for 30 years. Only rarely is there even a short battle of words between the two camps, that is then quickly ended by soldiers, who have been blocking for days now bank of the Nile between the State Department and Tahrir Square....\nFeb 1, 2011\nEighteenth day of the Tunisian people: The strategy of tension / Decimoctavo día del pueblo tunecino: La estrategia de la tensión\nWe returned this morning to Qasba, closed on all four sides by barbed wire. The police only let in the employees who work in the district. But from the outside we were able to see and photograph, the new lime painted on the walls looking like a facelift, revealing a hidden history, a strangled antiquity. There is no doubt they have done a good job. Not a trace of a slogan or a comma of graffiti or stroke of black ink. Not even on the prime minister's stone palace can you find the slightest trace of the noisy discussions that for five days fused politics and life in a pure present without future....\nFeb 1, 2011\nUprisings across Arab world pose dilemma for U.S. imperialism\nThe revolutionary upheaval in Egypt has brought millions of workers, youth and professionals into the streets to demand the removal of the U.S.-backed regime of Hosni Mubarak. The potential looms for a total collapse of Washington’s foreign policy in the region....\nFeb 1, 2011\nAs of Jan. 24, the Lebanese Parliament is holding discussions to form a new government. A year-old “unity government” containing all political factions fell on Jan. 12, when Hezbollah pulled its people out of cabinet posts....\nFeb 1, 2011\nProtests continue in Egypt demanding end to Mubarak regime\nJan. 30 — Massive protests continue throughout Egypt to demand an end to the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, a 30-year dictatorship that has served as an anchor for U.S. imperialism in the Middle East. In the streets protesters have fraternized with members of the military, while police forces have largely retreated. Meanwhile, youth direct traffic, as self-defense committees have been organized to defend neighborhoods from violence at the hands of “thugs,” who many suspect to be plainclothes police and members of the ruling National Democratic Party. After three days of demonstrations in which tens of thousands of people faced brutal repression at the hands of the Egyptian state apparatus, hundreds of thousands came out on Jan. 28 to protest the police brutality, poverty, unemployment and corruption they have endured under the Mubarak regime. Defying a curfew imposed by Mubarak the day before, protesters hit the streets not only in the capital city, Cairo, but in cities throughout the country....\nJan 31, 2011\nSeventeenth day of the Tunisian people: Fire under the ashes / Decimoséptimo día del pueblo tunecino: Fuego bajo las cenizas\nHamida Ben Romdhane, director of La Press on January 13, still director of La Press on January 30, writes an article today entitled \"I am guilty,” in which he lashes out against \"the smoothies, sycophants, calculators and manipulators\" that for years have been lackeys in the service of the dictator's personality cult. \"Today,\" he says, \"Tunisia breathes freely and so does our newspaper. ...\nJan 31, 2011\nIAPSCC hails and supports people’s struggle in Egypt\nIAPSCC salutes the people of Egypt for their determined struggle to end the 30-year long tyrannical rule of Mubarak having a tacit understanding with Israel and who was backed by the imperialist powers, esp. the USA, all these years. Inspired by the example of Tunisian people’s struggle and victory over dictatorial rulers, people in Egypt have taken to the streets for over one week defying curfew and planning still more powerful movement....\nJan 31, 2011\nSixteenth day of the Tunisian people: Freedom ends / Decimosexto día del pueblo tunecino: Se acabó la libertad\nAfter two weeks of restraint, in fact, the police have returned to take charge of the situation. Yesterday they broke hands and legs in the Qasbah and throughout the day lists have circulated of unconfirmed dead and missing. At least 20 people were arrested this afternoon at the station. And on the Qasbah square where yesterday there were still blankets, tents and cooking pots, some dozens of mobile phones were scattered about. Of many of the people the police scattered yesterday nothing is known.Meanwhile this morning, 12 hours later, the walls of the building that for five days was the ministry of the people were being painted over, the Press published a front-page photograph of the crushed concentration under the headline: \"in the Qasbah the freedom caravan follows the protests.\" The revolution is already a brand-name, the spark of life of a government that weaves in the darkness and a press that uses new names to name the same things....\nJan 30, 2011\nFifteenth day of the Tunisian people: The assault on the Qasbah / Día decimoquinto del pueblo tunecino: El asalto de la Qasba\nhe most beautiful place on earth lasted for five days.\nFinally this afternoon, at 4 p.m., the police assaulted the Qasbah, killing Omar Auini, who suffocated on tear gas and injuring at least 15 people, most of them with broken hands and legs....\nJan 29, 2011\nSecond week of the Tunisian people--day 14: Stubbornness vs. counterrevolution/Segunda semana del pueblo tunecino: Obstinación y contrarrevolución\nAt 9:30 a.m. a taxi driver answered our question about Mohamed Ghannouchi with impeccable reasoning:“Do you know why I want him to go? Because he doesn't want to go. If he doesn't want to go, it's because he is hiding something. If he is hiding something, it can't be something good. And if he is hiding something bad, he has to go.”...\nJan 29, 2011\nThirteenth day of the Tunisian people: Tension in the Qasbah/ Día decimotercero del pueblo tunecino: Tensión en la Qasba\nIf everything was following a plan, if 120 people were killed to rejuvenate the old country and better locate it in an Arab world submissive to Washington's plans, if it were aimed at better ensuring continuity by introducing some cosmetic changes, then now it would have to sweep away the embers that the wind -- always unpredictable -- has blown together at the Qasbah. The past returns with unsettling speed....\nJan 29, 2011\nLong Live the Egyptian People's Struggle!\nA seemingly all-powerful military, police and media apparatus, that has had the support of the U.S. superpower for decades, is crumbling before the even greater strength of a united people who have first conquered fear and may now push the dictator’s regime into the dustbin of history....\nJan 28, 2011\nEgyptian protests intensify, challenge 30 years of pro-U.S. dictatorship\nTens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across Egypt demanding the ouster of U.S. ally President Hosni Mubarak. These are the largest anti-regime protests in Mubarak’s 30-year rule of this North African country of 85 million people. Though the White House has declared the Mubarak regime “stable,” even greater protests are expected on Jan. 28 following Friday services at mosques throughout the country. Egyptian opposition forces were inspired by the uprising in nearby Tunisia, which on Jan. 14 forced that country’s dictator, Zine El Abadine Ben Ali, to flee to Saudi Arabia. The uprising in Tunisia surprised not only its own rulers but their imperialist overlords in Paris and Washington....\nJan 27, 2011\n...\nJan 27, 2011\nFOUNDATION STATEMENT OF THE JANUARY 14TH NATIONAL FRONT OF THE NATIONAL PROGRESSIVE AND DEMOCRATIC FORCES OF TUNISIA\nTo affirm and ensure our participation in the revolution of our people, who fought for their right to freedom and national dignity, this people who sacrificed dozens of martyrs and thousands of wounded and arrested, and in order to complete and secure the victory against both domestic and foreign enemies and against those who are attempting to hijack the sacrifices of the people, have constituted \"The January 14th Front” as a political structure to promote and ensure the revolution to achieve its goals and fight and stop the forces of counterrevolution; this front is a structure that brings together national, progressive and democratic parties, forces and organizations....\nJan 27, 2011\nTwelfth day of the Tunisian people/Duodécimo día del pueblo tunecino\nAfter a festive and liberating week with unanimous participation, Tunisian society is beginning to split along class lines. It is a territorial division, which is beginning to separate Bourguiba Avenue from the Qasbah, and is also a cyber division, in which the same people who used facebook to fuel the revolution are today calling for calm and the restoration of order against the insurgent proletariat. You can perceive a disturbing contraction. Hamida Ben Romdhane, director of La Press, which on Jan. 13 dutifully praised the last steps Ben Ali took to try to calm the masses, on Jan. 20 exhibited on its front cover jewels allegedly confiscated from the Trabelsi family and praised the revolution of the worthy people of Tunisia....\nJan 27, 2011\nEleventh day of the Tunisian people/Undécimo día del pueblo tunecino\nThe unknown country, which has made the revolution, which has sacrificed 120 lives in the protests, is found not on Bourguiba Avenue, where intellectuals celebrate a revolution that they can gain from and then withdraw, but in the Qasbah in front of the prime minister's headquarters. Yesterday hundreds of people slept here, and now, at 12 a.m. (on Jan. 24), thousands of them are still shouting: \"nidal nidal hata iusqut el nitham\", \"Al yaum al-yaum tusqut el-hukuma\" (\"Struggle, struggle until we end the regime\",\"today, today we overthrow the government.\") ...\nJan 27, 2011\nTenth day of the Tunisian people/ Décimo día del pueblo tunecino\nA revolution, can it so easily become a habit? Is it compatible with the customary normal duties of government, the production and reproduction of everyday life, the natural decline of forces? The government hopes and protesters fear the same thing: fatigue will set in. But this Sunday [Jan. 23] of transition to \"the first day of normality,\" which will once again put to the test the people's ability to break out, Bourguiba Avenue remains vibrant under a light so pure, so sharp, that its buildings and the trees look bare, even skinless....\nJan 27, 2011\nNinth day of the Tunisian people-Jan. 23, 2011/ Noveno día del pueblo tunecino\nIn some sense these days I feel very Tunisian: because, like other Tunisians, I realize that up to now I understood nothing about Tunisia. And because what is now clear to me, like to all other Tunisians, is mostly a great confusion. The situation, eight days after the collapse of the tyrant, it stretches and stretches without breaking. As in all revolutions, everything is decided in the first few weeks and today one everything feels a little uncomfortable -- like amorphous, painful, formless freedom -- a great uncertainty....\nJan 27, 2011\nThe following is a day-by-day chronicle of developments in Tunisia, which are written in Spanish and which the IAC is translating to English:...\nJan 27, 2011\nEighth day in Tunisia: Will it fall -- or won’t it?\nWe started the day with frightening evidence that there are things the revolution can’t do and that irrational forces operate beyond the dominant logic governing things. Our friend Amin has caught the flu.\nRegardless, the revolution can cure sadness, melancholy, moodiness and suicidal tendencies. Mohammed cites the experience of a friend discharged by his psychiatrist after Jan. 14, the day of the dictator's fall. We invented a new term, \"thauratherapy\" -- the revolution (thaura) as psychological therapy. The demonstrations, which are repeated another day in the city center, are saving bodies and souls....\nJan 27, 2011\nJan. 24 — Tunisia’s workers and youth have continued mass demonstrations and strikes aimed at removing the neocolonial regime and replacing it with a representative government of national unity....\nJan 22, 2011\nHungry and jobless, Tunisian masses rebel\nJan. 18 — A popular uprising in the North African state of Tunisia since mid-December has driven President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled the Western-allied government for 23 years, into exile. Ben Ali fled on Jan. 14 after tens of thousands of workers and youths attacked the Ministry of the Interior and other government buildings in the capital of Tunis and in the city of Carthage. When a street vendor who was attacked by police committed suicide by self-immolation on Dec. 17, it unleashed this enormous struggle. Defying tear gas and even live fire from the security forces that killed between 50 and 100 people, thousands also demonstrated in dozens of Tunisia’s provincial cities until they brought down a repressive head of state....\nJan 2, 2011","Gaza_Strip.txt\nGaza Strip\nThe Gaza Strip (; '), or simply Gaza, is a small self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 km and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border. Gaza, together with the West Bank, comprise the Palestinian territories claimed by the Palestinians as the future sovereign State of Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory. Both fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006. It has been placed under an Israeli and U.S.-led international economic and political boycott from that time onwards. \n\nThe territory is 41 km long, and from 6 to wide, with a total area of 365 km2. With around 1.85 million Palestinians[http://pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2176.pdf Table 3: Projected Population in the State of Palestine by Governorate, End Year 2015]. PCBS, Palestinians at the End of 2015, p. 36. [http://pcbs.gov.ps/PCBS_2012/Publications.aspx Source:] on some 362 square kilometers, Gaza ranks as the 6th most densely populated polity in the world. An extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gaza's Palestinians. Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 2.91% (2014 est.), the 13th highest in the world, and is often referred to as overcrowded. The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020. By that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable, if present trends continue. Due to the Israeli–Egyptian blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip, nor allowed to freely import or export goods. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.\n\nDespite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the United Nations, International human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators consider the territory to be still occupied by Israel, supported by additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.\n\nWhen Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election, 2006, Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, until a short-lived unity government agreement was brokered by Saudi Arabia. When this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Palestinian Authority instituted a government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza.Dennis J. Deeb II, [https://books.google.it/books?id\n-aqJAAAAQBAJ&pgPA45 Israel, Palestine, & the Quest for Middle East Peace,] University Press of America, 2013. Further economic sanctions were imposed by Israel and the European Quartet against Hamas. A brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when, apparently under a U.S.-backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas’s administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PA's security apparatus from the Strip, and has remained the sole governing power in Gaza since that date.\n\nGovernance\n\nHamas government\n\nThe Hamas government of 2012 was the second Palestinian Hamas-dominated government, ruling over the Gaza Strip, since the split of the Palestinian National Authority in 2007. It was announced in early September 2012. The reshuffle of the previous government was approved by Gaza-based Hamas MPs from the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) or parliament.\n\nOther political and militant groups in Gaza\n\nThe Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, also known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Palestinian militant organization operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel. Iran is a major financial supporter of the PIJ. \nIslamic Jihad is the second largest militant Islamic group in Gaza with 8,000 fighters present in the Gaza strip. In June 2013, the Islamic Jihad broke ties with Hamas leaders after Hamas police fatally shot the commander of Islamic Jihad's military wing.\n\nDeal with Fatah\n\nOn September 25, 2014, Hamas agreed to let the Palestinian Authority resume control over the Gaza Strip and its border crossings with Egypt and Israel.\n\nStatus\n\nMilitary occupation\n\nThe international community regards all of the Palestinian territories including Gaza as occupied.See the short video [http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/upfront/2015/10/reality-check-gaza-occupied-151023153703888.html Reality Check: Gaza is still occupied] on Al Jazeera, showing the arguments Human Rights Watch has declared at the UN Human Rights Council that it views Israel as a de facto occupying power in the Gaza Strip, even though Israel has no military or other presence, because the Oslo Accord authorizes Israel to control the airspace and the territorial sea. \n\nIn his statement on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur wrote that international humanitarian law applied to Israel \"in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.\" Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, Oxfam, the International Committee of the Red Cross, The United Nations, the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza, international human rights organizations, US government websites, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and a significant number of legal commentators (Geoffrey Aronson, Meron Benvenisti, Claude Bruderlein, Sari Bashi and Kenneth Mann, Shane Darcy and John Reynolds, Yoram Dinstein, John Dugard, Marc S. Kaliser, Mustafa Mari, Iain Scobbie, and Yuval Shany maintain that Israel's extensive direct external control over Gaza, and indirect control over the lives of its internal population mean that Gaza remained occupied. \n\nIsrael states that it does not exercise effective control or authority over any land or institutions in the Gaza Strip and thus the Gaza Strip is no longer subject to the former military occupation.Dore Gold, [http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief005-3.htm JCPA Legal Acrobatics: The Palestinian Claim that Gaza is Still \"Occupied\" Even After Israel Withdraws], Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, Vol. 5, No. 3, 26 August 2005. Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Tzipi Livni stated in January 2008: \"Israel got out of Gaza. It dismantled its settlements there. No Israeli soldiers were left there after the disengagement.\" In spite of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Hamas Government in Gaza considers Gaza as occupied territory.[http://hamas.ps/en/page/13/FAQ Israel ended its occupation of the Gaza Strip when it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, so why does Hamas continue to fire rockets into Israel?]. FAQ on the official Hamas website. Accessed November 2015. \"This is one of the myths perpetuated by Israel's propaganda ... Israel re-deployed its military occupation forces and evacuated its illegal settlers outside the population centers in Gaza. BUT Israel effectively controls the sea, land and air spaces and border crossings that link the Gaza Strip to the outside world. According to the UN and human rights organizations, Israel still maintains its occupation of the Gaza Strip and subjects the 1.8 million Palestinians in this tiny strip to a horrendous siege and blockade that constitute a war crime under international law.\" Here, Hamas cites the view of the international community.\n\nHuman rights organization Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has set up the project \"We Are Not Numbers\", in which Gazans are encouraged to write their personal story as Palestinian living under occupation or in a refugee camp. \n\nControl over airspace\n\nAs agreed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the Oslo Accords, Israel has exclusive control over the airspace. It can interfere with radio and TV transmissions, and the Palestinian Authority cannot engage in independent initiatives for operating a seaport or airport. The Accords also permitted Palestinians to construct an airport, which was duly built and opened in 1998. Israel destroyed Gaza's only airport in 2001 and 2002, during the Second Intifada.\n\nThe Israeli army makes use of drones, which can launch precise missiles. They are equipped with high-resolution cameras and other sensors. In addition, the missile fired from a drone has its own cameras that allow the operator to observe the target from the moment of firing. After a missile has been launched, the drone operator can remotely divert it elsewhere. Drone operators can view objects on the ground in detail during both day and night.[https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/06/30/precisely-wrong/gaza-civilians-killed-israeli-drone-launched-missiles Precisely Wrong—Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles]. Human Rights Watch, 30 June 2009 Israeli drones routinely patrol over Gaza.\n\nBuffer Zone\n\nPart of the territory is depopulated because of the imposition of buffer zones on both the Israeli and Egyptian borders.[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11721118 Hard times drive Gazans into perilous ′buffer zone′]. BBC, 10 November 2010[http://www.imemc.org/article/71548 PCHR-Gaza: Israeli Buffer Zone Policies Typically Enforced with Live Fire]. PCHR, 11 May 2015 \n\nInitially, Israel imposed a 50-meter buffer zone in Gaza.[http://www.imemc.org/article/61003 Palestinian Killed in Gaza Buffer Zone]. IMEMC, 5 April 2011 In 2000, it was expanded to 150 meters. Following the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, an undefined buffer zone was maintained, including a no-fishing zone along the coast.\n\nIn 2009/2010, Israel expanded the buffer zone to 300 meters. In 2010, the UN estimated that 30 percent of the arable land in Gaza had been lost to the buffer zone.\n\nOn 25 February 2013, pursuant to a November 2012 ceasefire, Israel declared a buffer zone of 100 meters on land and 6 nautical miles offshore. In the following month, the zone was changed to 300 meters and 3 nautical miles. The 1994 Gaza Jericho Agreement allows 20 nautical miles, and the 2002 Bertini Commitment allows 12 nautical miles.\n\nIn August 2015, the IDF confirmed a buffer zone of 300 meters for residents and 100 meters for farmers, but without explaining how to distinguish between the two.[http://gisha.org/legal/4577 IDF spokesman provides contradictory answers regarding the width of the “no-go zone” which residents of the Gaza Strip are prohibited from entering]. Gisha, August 2015 , on a third of Gaza's agricultural land, residents risk Israeli attacks. According to PCHR, Israeli attacks take place up to approximately from the border, making 17% of Gaza's total territory a risk zone.\n\nIsrael says the buffer zone is needed to protect Israeli communities just over the border from sniper fire and rocket attacks. In the 18 months until November 2010, one Thai farm worker in Israel was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, and in 2010, according to IDF figures, 180 rockets and mortars had been fired into Israel by militants. In 6 months, however, 11 Palestinians civilians, including four children, had been killed by Israeli fire and at least 70 Palestinian civilians were injured in the same period, including at least 49 who were working collecting rubble and scrap metal.\n\nA buffer zone was also created on the Egyptian side of the Gaza–Egypt border. In 2014, scores of homes in Rafah were destroyed for the buffer zone. According to Amnesty International, more than 800 homes had been destroyed and more than 1,000 families evicted. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed with the destruction of smuggling tunnels by flooding them, and then punishing the owners of the houses that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their houses, arguing that the tunnels had produced 1,800 millionaires, and were used for smuggling weapons, drugs, cash, and equipment for forging documents.[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?qcache:LGk-8K_BsrUJ:www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.629397+&cd\n1&ct=clnk Abbas: Egypt Right to Create Buffer Zone on Gaza Border]. Jack Khoury, Haaretz, 1 December 2014 (premium). ″Abbas believed the destruction of the tunnels was the best solution. The Palestinian president said he had recommended previously the sealing or destruction of the tunnels by flooding them and then punishing the owners of the homes that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their homes.″\n\nGaza blockade\n\nIsrael and Egypt maintain a blockade of the Gaza Strip, although Israel allows in limited quantities of medical humanitarian aid. The Red Cross claimed that the blockade harms the economy and causes a shortage of basic medicines and equipment such as painkillers and x-ray film. \n\nIsrael claims the blockade is necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. For example, in 2014, a Panamanian-flagged ship claiming to be carrying construction materials was boarded by the IDF and was found to contain Syrian produced rockets. \nIsrael maintains that the blockade is legal and necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons. \n\nDirector of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval Diskin did not oppose easing trade restrictions, but said that smuggling tunnels in Sinai and an open seaport in the Gaza Strip endangered Israel's security. According to Diskin, Hamas and Islamic Jihad had smuggled in over \"5,000 rockets with ranges up to 40 km.\" Some of the rockets could reach as far as the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area. \n\nIsraeli spokesman Mark Regev described Israel's actions as \"sanctions,\" not a blockade, but a Gazan legal consultant for UNRWA called the blockade \"an action outside of international law.” \n\nIn July 2010, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, \"humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.\" In response, the spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said, \"The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organization Hamas. The situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas' rule and priorities.\"\n\nThe Arab League accused Israel of waging a financial war. The IDF strictly controlled travel within the area of the crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and sealed its border with Gaza. U.S. government travel guides warned tourists that the region was dangerous.\n\nFacing mounting international pressure, Egypt and Israel lessened the restrictions starting in June 2010, when the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza was partially opened by Egypt. Egypt’s foreign ministry said that the crossing would remain open mainly for people, but not for supplies. Israel announced that it would allow the passage of civilian goods but not weapons and items that could be used for dual purposes. In December 2015, Egypt asked Israel not to allow Turkish aid to get through to the Gaza Strip. Benjamin Netanyahu said that it is impossible to lift the siege on Gaza and that the security of Israel is the primary issue for him. He confirmed \"that Israel is the only country that currently sends supplies to the coastal enclave\".[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23021-israel-confirms-it-has-not-reached-an-agreement-with-turkey Israel confirms it has not reached an agreement with Turkey]. MEMO, 24 December 2015\n\nIn January and February 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) assessed measures taken to ease the blockade and concluded that they were helpful but not sufficient to improve the lives of the local inhabitants. UNOCHA called on Israel to reduce restrictions on exports and the import of construction materials, and to lift the general ban on movement between Gaza and the West Bank via Israel. After Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 28 May 2011, Egypt permanently opened its border with the Gaza Strip to students, medical patients, and foreign passport holders. \nFollowing the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, Egypt's military has destroyed most of the 1,200 tunnels which are used for smuggling food, weapons, and other goods to Gaza. After the August 2013 Rabaa Massacre in Egypt, the border crossing was closed 'indefinitely.' \n\nIsrael has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross the terrestrial border and handles vicariously the movement of goods into and out of Gaza by air and sea. Israel largely provides for Gaza's water supply, electricity, and communications infrastructure. While the import of food is restricted through the Gaza blockade, the Israeli military destroys agricultural crops by spraying toxic chemicals over the Gazan lands, using aircraft flying over the border zone.[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23117-israeli-military-admits-destroying-gaza-crops-on-border Israeli military admits destroying Gaza crops on border]. MEMO, 31 December 2015 Also Gaza's agricultural research and development station was destroyed in 2014 and again in January 2016, while import of new equipment is obstructed. \n\nMovement of people\n\nBecause of the Israeli–Egyptian blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip. Only in exceptional cases are people allowed to pass through the Erez Crossing or the Rafah Border Crossing.[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_July_2015_english.pdf The Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of the Blockade]. UN OCHA, July 2015. \"1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are ‘locked in’, denied free access to the remainder of the occupied Palestinian territory and the outside world.\" Available at [http://www.ochaopt.org/reports.aspx?id\n103&page1 Fact Sheets].[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/gaza_crossings_operations_status_september%202015.pdf Gaza crossings’ operations status:Monthly update—September 2015]. UN OCHA. Available at [http://gaza.ochaopt.org/2015/09/gaza-crossings-operations-status-monthly-update-july-2015/ Gaza Crossings’ Operations Status: Monthly Update]. [http://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files2/201401_'so_near_and_yet_so_far_eng.pdf So near and yet so far—Implications of Israeli‐Imposed Seclusion of Gaza Strip on Palestinians’ Right to Family Life]. Hamoked and B'Tselem, January 2014. [http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/201401_so_near_and_yet_so_far Here available] In 2015, a Gazan woman was not allowed to travel through Israel to Jordan on her way to her own wedding. The Israeli authorities found she did not meet the criteria for travel, namely only in exceptional humanitarian cases. \n\nUnder the long-term blockade, the Gaza Strip is often described as a \"prison-camp or open air prison for its collective denizens.\" The comparison is done by observers, ranging from Roger Cohen and Lawrence Weschler to NGOs, such as B'tselem, and politicians and diplomats, such as David Cameron, Noam Chomsky, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, David Shoebridge and Sir John Holmes \nIn 2014 French President Francois Hollande called for the demilitarization of Gaza and a lifting of the blockade, saying \"Gaza must neither be an open prison nor a military base.\" \n\nAn anonymous Israeli analyst has called it \"Israel's Alcatraz.\" While Lauren Booth, Philip Slater, Giorgio Agamben compare it to a \"concentration camp.\" For Robert S. Wistrich, and Philip Mendes, such analogies are designed to offend Jews, while Philip Seib dismisses the comparison as absurd, and claims that it arises from sources like Al Jazeera and statements by Arab leaders. \n\nEconomy\n\nThe economy of the Gaza Strip is severely hampered by Egypt and Israel's almost total blockade, the high population density, limited land access, strict internal and external security controls, the effects of Israeli military operations, and restrictions on labor and trade access across the border. Per capita income (PPP) was estimated at US$3,100 in 2009, a position of 164th in the world. Seventy percent of the population is below the poverty line according to a 2009 estimate. Gaza Strip industries are generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs.\n\nThe main agricultural products are olives, citrus, vegetables, Halal beef, and dairy products. Primary exports are citrus and cut flowers, while primary imports are food, consumer goods, and construction materials. The main trade partners of the Gaza Strip are Israel and Egypt. \n\nThe EU described the Gaza economy as follows: \"Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and following the closure imposed by Israel, the situation in the Strip has been one of chronic need, de-development and donor dependency, despite a temporary relaxation on restrictions in movement of people and goods after the Gaza flotilla raid in 2010. The closure has effectively cut off access for exports to traditional markets in Israel, transfers to the West Bank and has severely restricted imports. Exports are now down to 2% of 2007 levels.\"\n\nAccording to Sara Roy, one senior IDF officer told an UNWRA official in 2015 that Israel's policy towards the Gaza Strip consisted of: \"No development, no prosperity, no humanitarian crisis.” \n\nAfter Oslo (1994-2007)\n\nEconomic output in the Gaza Strip declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996. This downturn was attributed to Israeli closure policies and, to a lesser extent, corruption and mismanagement by Yasser Arafat. Economic development has been hindered by Israel refusing to allow the operation of a sea harbour. A Gaza Seaport was planned to be built in Gaza with help from France and The Netherlands, but the project was bombed by Israel in 2001. Israel said that the reason for bombing was that Israeli settlements were being shot at from the construction site at the harbour. As a result, international transports (both trade and aid) had to go through Israel, which was hindered by the imposition of generalized border closures. These also disrupted previously established labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the Strip. A serious negative social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high unemployment.\n\nFor its energy, Gaza is largely dependent on Israel either for import of electricity or fuel for its sole power plant. The Oslo Accords set limits for the Palestinian production and importation of energy. Pursuant to the Accords, the Israel Electric Corporation exclusively supplies the electricity (63% of the total consumption in 2013).[http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/tdb62d3_en.pdf Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people: Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory], para 20. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 6 July 2015 (doc.nr. TD/B/62/3). [http://unctad.org/en/Pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID\n260 Source].para 40: \"The study stressed that Gaza’s population would increase from 1.6 million in 2011 to 2.1 million in 2020, and concluded that for Gaza to be a liveable place in 2020 “herculean efforts” needed to be accelerated in such sectors as health, education, energy, water and sanitation (United Nations, 2012). However, instead of such efforts, the tragedy in Gaza has deteriorated and its de-development was accelerated by destruction in 2014.\" para 43: \"The social, health\nand security-related ramifications of the high population density and overcrowding are\namong the factors that may render Gaza unliveable by 2020, if present trends continue\"\n The amount of electricity has consistently been limited to 120 megawatts, which is the amount Israel undertook to sell to Gaza pursuant to the Oslo Accords. \n\nIsrael's use of comprehensive closures decreased over the next few years. In 1998, Israel implemented new policies to ease security procedures and allow somewhat freer movement of Gazan goods and labor into Israel. These changes led to three years of economic recovery in the Gaza Strip, disrupted by the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in the last quarter of 2000. Before the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, around 25,000 workers from the Gaza Strip (about 2% of the population) worked in Israel on a daily basis. \n\nThe Second Intifada led to a steep decline in the economy of Gaza, which was heavily reliant upon external markets. Israel—which had begun its occupation by helping Gazans to plant approximately 618,000 trees in 1968, and to improve seed selection—over the first 3-year period of the second intifada, destroyed 10 percent of Gazan agricultural land, and uprooted 226,000 trees. The population became largely dependent on humanitarian assistance, primarily from UN agencies.\n\nThe al-Aqsa Intifada triggered tight IDF closures of the border with Israel, as well as frequent curbs on traffic in Palestinian self-rule areas, severely disrupting trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more so in early 2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures led to widespread business closures and a sharp drop in GDP. Civilian infrastructure, such as the Palestine airport, was destroyed by Israel. Another major factor was a drop in income due to reduction in the number of Gazans permitted entry to work in Israel. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the flow of a limited number of workers into Israel resumed, although Israel said it would reduce or end such permits due to the victory of Hamas in the 2006 parliamentary elections.\n\nThe Israeli settlers of Gush Katif built greenhouses and experimented with new forms of agriculture. These greenhouses provided employment for hundreds of Gazans. When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, more than 3,000 (about half) of the greenhouses were purchased with $14 million raised by former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, and given to Palestinians to jump-start their economy. The rest were demolished by the departing settlers before there were offered a compensation as an inducement to leave them behind. The farming effort faltered due to limited water supply, Palestinian looting, restrictions on exports, and corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinian companies repaired the greenhouses damaged and looted by the Palestinians after the Israeli withdrawal. \n\nIn 2005, after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Gaza businessmen envisaged a \"magnificent future.\" $1.1 million was invested in an upscale restaurant, Roots, and plans were made to turn one of the Israeli settlements into a family resort. \n\nFollowing Hamas takeover (2007-present)\n\nThe European Union states: \"Gaza has experienced continuous economic decline since the imposition of a closure policy by Israel in 2007. This has had serious social and humanitarian consequences for many of its 1.7 million inhabitants. The situation has deteriorated further in recent months as a result of the geo-political changes which took place in the region during the course of 2013, particularly in Egypt and its closure of the majority of smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza as well as increased restrictions at Rafah.\" Israel, the United States, Canada, and the European Union have frozen all funds to the Palestinian government after the formation of a Hamas-controlled government after its democratic victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. They view the group as a terrorist organization, and have pressured Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and make good on past agreements. Prior to disengagement, 120,000 Palestinians from Gaza had been employed in Israel or in joint projects. After the Israeli withdrawal, the gross domestic product of the Gaza Strip declined. Jewish enterprises shut down, work relationships were severed, and job opportunities in Israel dried up. After the 2006 elections, fighting broke out between Fatah and Hamas, which Hamas won in the Gaza Strip on 14 June 2007. Israel imposed a blockade, and the only goods permitted into the Strip through the land crossings were goods of a humanitarian nature, and these were permitted in limited quantities.\n\nAn easing of Israel's closure policy in 2010 resulted in an improvement in some economic indicators, although exports were still restricted. According to the Israeli Defense Forces and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the economy of the Gaza Strip improved in 2011, with a drop in unemployment and an increase in GDP. New malls opened and local industry began to develop. This economic upswing has led to the construction of hotels and a rise in the import of cars. Wide-scale development has been made possible by the unhindered movement of goods into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The current rate of trucks entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom is 250 trucks per day. The increase in building activity has led to a shortage of construction workers. To make up for the deficit, young people are being sent to learn the trade in Turkey. \n\nIn 2012, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said that Gaza's economic situation has improved and Gaza has become self-reliant \"in several aspects except petroleum and electricity\" despite Israel's blockade. Zahar said that Gaza's economic conditions are better than those in the West Bank. In 2014, the EU's opinion was: \"Today, Gaza is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation with power outages across Gaza for up to 16 hours a day and, as a consequence, the closure of sewage pumping operations, reduced access to clean water; a reduction in medical supplies and equipment; the cessation of imports of construction materials; rising unemployment, rising prices and increased food insecurity. If left unaddressed, the situation could have serious consequences for stability in Gaza, for security more widely in the region as well as for the peace process itself.\"\n\n2012 fuel crisis\n\nUsually, diesel for Gaza came from Israel, but in 2011, Hamas started to buy cheaper fuel from Egypt, bringing it via a network of underground tunnels, and refused to allow it from Israel. \n\nIn early 2012, due to internal economic disagreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government in Gaza, decreased supplies from Egypt and through tunnel smuggling, and Hamas's refusal to ship fuel via Israel, the Gaza Strip plunged into a fuel crisis, bringing increasingly long electricity shut downs and disruption of transportation. Egypt had attempted for a while to stop the use of underground tunnels for delivery of Egyptian fuel purchased by Palestinian authorities, and had severely reduced supply through the tunnel network. As the crisis broke out, Hamas sought to equip the Rafah terminal between Egypt and Gaza for fuel transfer, and refused to accept fuel to be delivered via the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza. \n\nIn mid-February 2012, as the crisis escalated, Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal to bring in fuel via the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza to reactivate Gaza’s only power plant. Ahmed Abu Al-Amreen of the Hamas-run Energy Authority refused it on the grounds that the crossing is operated by Israel and Hamas' fierce opposition to the existence of Israel. Egypt cannot ship diesel fuel to Gaza directly through the Rafah crossing point, because it is limited to the movement of individuals.\n\nIn early March 2012, the head of Gaza's energy authority stated that Egypt wanted to transfer energy via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, but he personally refused it to go through the \"Zionist entity\" (Israel) and insisted that Egypt transfer the fuel through the Rafah Crossing, although this crossing is not equipped to handle the half-million liters needed each day. \n\nIn late March 2012, Hamas began offering carpools for people to use Hamas state vehicles to get to work. Many Gazans began to wonder how these vehicles have fuel themselves, as diesel was completely unavailable in Gaza, ambulances could no longer be used, but Hamas government officials still had fuel for their own cars. Many Gazans said that Hamas confiscated the fuel it needed from petrol stations and used it exclusively for their own purposes.\n\nEgypt agreed to provide 600,000 liters of fuel to Gaza daily, but it had no way of delivering it that Hamas would agree to. \n\nIn addition, Israel introduced a number of goods and vehicles into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as well as the normal diesel for hospitals. Israel also shipped 150,000 liters of diesel through the crossing, which was paid for by the Red Cross.\n\nIn April 2012, the issue was resolved as certain amounts of fuel were supplied with the involvement of the Red Cross, after the Palestinian Authority and Hamas reached a deal. Fuel was finally transferred via the Israeli Kerem Shalom Crossing, which Hamas previously refused to transfer fuel from. \n\nCurrent budget\n\nMost of the Gaza Strip administration funding comes from outside as an aid, with large portion delivered by UN organizations directly to education and food supply. Most of the Gaza GDP comes as foreign humanitarian and direct economic support. Of those funds, the major part is supported by the U.S. and the European Union. Portions of the direct economic support have been provided by the Arab League, though it largely has not provided funds according to schedule. Among other alleged sources of Gaza administration budget is Iran.\n\nA diplomatic source told Reuters that Iran had funded Hamas in the past with up to $300 million per year, but the flow of money had not been regular in 2011. \"Payment has been in suspension since August,\" said the source.[http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/30/191571.html] \"The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Qatar on Monday, beginning a regional tour that is also expected to take him to Kuwait, Bahrain and Iran.\"\n\nOn January 2012, some diplomatic sources said that Turkey promised to provide Haniyeh's Gaza Strip administration with $300 million to support its annual budget.\n\nOn April 2012, the Hamas government in Gaza approved its budget for 2012, which was up 25 percent year-on-year over 2011 budget, indicating that donors, including Iran, benefactors in the Islamic world, and Palestinian expatriates, are still heavily funding the movement. Chief of Gaza's parliament's budget committee Jamal Nassar said the 2012 budget is $769 million, compared to $630 million in 2011.\n\nGeography and climate\n\nThe Gaza Strip is located in the Middle East (at ). It has a 51 km border with Israel, and an 11 km border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah. Khan Yunis is located 7 km northeast of Rafah, and several towns around Deir el-Balah are located along the coast between it and Gaza City. Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun are located to the north and northeast of Gaza City, respectively. The Gush Katif bloc of Israeli settlements used to exist on the sand dunes adjacent to Rafah and Khan Yunis, along the southwestern edge of the 40 km Mediterranean coastline. Al Deira beach is a popular venue for surfers. \n\nThe Gaza Strip has an arid climate, with mild winters, and dry, hot summers subject to drought. The terrain is flat or rolling, with dunes near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105 m above sea level. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne diseases; soil degradation; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources.\n\nNatural resources \n\nNatural resources of Gaza include arable land—about a third of the strip is irrigated. Recently, natural gas was discovered. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; water-borne disease; soil degradation; lack of adequate sewage treatment; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources. The Gaza Strip is largely dependent on water from Wadi Gaza, which also supplies Israel. \n\nGaza's marine gas reserves extend 32 kilometres from the Gaza Strip's coastlineNafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, [http://mondediplo.com/blogs/israel-s-war-for-gaza-s-gas 'Israel’s War for Gaza’s Gas,'] Le Monde diplomatique, November 2012. and were calculated at 35 BCM.Steven W. Popper, Claude Berrebi, James Griffin, Thomas Light, Endy Y. Min, [https://books.google.it/books?iddMtllbFoH9UC&pg\nPA11 Natural Gas and Israel's Energy Future: Near-Term Decisions from a Strategic Perspective,] Rand Corporation, 2009 p.11.\n\nDemographics\n\nIn 2010 approximately 1.6 million Palestinians lived in the Gaza Strip, almost 1.0 million of them UN-registered refugees. The majority of the Palestinians descend from refugees who were driven from or left their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, one of the main reasons being a total fertility rate of 4.24 children per woman (2014 est). In a ranking by total fertility rate, this places Gaza 34th of 224 regions. According to the UN, unless remedial steps are taken to repair the basic infrastructure by 2020, with a further demographic increase of 500,000 and intensified housing problems, the Gaza Strip will become effectively uninhabitable. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.\n\nMost of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims, with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Arab Christians, making the region 99.8 percent Sunni Muslim and 0.2 percent Christian.\n\nReligion and culture\n\nReligious compliance of population to Islam\n\nIslamic law in Gaza\n\nFrom 1987 to 1991, during the First Intifada, Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab head-cover and for other measures (such as the promotion of polygamy, segregating women from men and insisting they stay at home). In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed by Hamas activists, leading to hijabs being worn \"just to avoid problems on the streets\". \n\nIn October 2000, Islamic extremists burned down the Windmill Hotel, owned by Basil Eleiwa, when they learned it had served alcohol. \n\nSince Hamas took over in 2007, attempts have been made by Islamist activists to impose \"Islamic dress\" and to require women to wear the hijab. The government's \"Islamic Endowment Ministry\" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing and dating. However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women. \n\nAccording to Human Rights Watch, the Hamas-controlled government stepped up its efforts to \"Islamize\" Gaza in 2010, efforts it says included the \"repression of civil society\" and \"severe violations of personal freedom.\"[http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/27/opinion/la-oe-vanesveld-gaza-20100627 \"In Gaza, prisoners twice over; Palestinians are being squeezed by the Israeli blockade and Hamas' 'Islamizing' actions,\"] Bill Van Esveld, Bill Van Esveld is a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, 27 June 2010, Los Angeles Times.\n\nPalestinian researcher Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the \"Taliban-like steps\" Hamas has taken: \"The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip—the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s]—is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.\" Hamas officials denied having any plans to impose Islamic law. One legislator stated that \"[w]hat you are seeing are incidents, not policy\" and that \"we believe in persuasion\".\n\nIn October 2012 Gaza youth complained that security officers had obstructed their freedom to wear saggy pants and to have haircuts of their own choosing, and that they faced being arrested. Youth in Gaza are also arrested by security officers for wearing shorts and for showing their legs, which have been described by youth as embarrassing incidents, and one youth explained that \"My saggy pants did not harm anyone.\" However, a spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Interior denied such a campaign, and denied interfering in the lives of Gaza citizens, but explained that \"maintaining the morals and values of the Palestinian society is highly required\". \n\nIslamic politics\n\nIran was the largest state supporter of Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood also gave support, but these political relationships have recently been disrupted following the Arab Spring by Iranian support for and the position of Hamas has declined as support diminishes.\n\nSalafism\n\nIn addition to Hamas, a Salafist movement began to appear about 2005 in Gaza, characterized by \"a strict lifestyle based on that of the earliest followers of Islam\". , there are estimated to be only \"hundreds or perhaps a few thousand\" Salafists in Gaza. However, the failure of Hamas to lift the Israeli blockade of Gaza despite thousands of casualties and much destruction during 2008-9 and 2014 wars has weakened Hamas's support and led some in Hamas to be concerned about the possibility of defections to the Salafist \"Islamic State\".\n\nThe movement has clashed with Hamas on a number of occasions. In 2009, a Salafist leader, Abdul Latif Moussa, declared an Islamic emirate in the town of Rafah, on Gaza's southern border. Moussa and 19 other people were killed when Hamas forces stormed his mosque and house. In 2011, Salafists abducted and murdered a pro-Palestinian Italian activist, Vittorio Arrigoni. Following this Hamas again took action to crush the Salafist groups.\n\nArchaeology\n\nThe Gaza Museum of Archaeology was established by Jawdat N. Khoudary in 2008.[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/world/middleeast/25gaza.html?_r\n1&scp2&sq\narchaeology&stcse&oref\nslogin Museum Offers Gray Gaza a View of Its Dazzling Past, Ethan Bronner], New York Times, 25 July 2008\n\nEducation\n\nIn 2010, illiteracy among Gazan youth was less than 1%. In 2012, there were five universities in the Gaza Strip and eight new schools are under construction. According to UNRWA figures, there are 640 schools in Gaza: 383 government schools, 221 UNRWA schools and 36 private schools, serving a total of 441,452 students. \n\nIn 2010, Al Zahara, a private school in central Gaza introduced a special program for mental development based on math computations. The program was created in Malaysia in 1993, according to the school principal, Majed al-Bari. \n\nThe Community College of Applied Science and Technology (CCAST) was established in 1998 in Gaza City. In 2003, the college moved into its new campus and established the Gaza Polytechnic Institute (GPI) in 2006 in southern Gaza. In 2007, the college received accreditation to award BA degrees as the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS). In 2010, the college had a student population of 6,000 in eight departments offering over 40 majors. \n\nIn June 2011, some Gazans, upset that UNRWA did not rebuild their homes that were lost in the Second Intifada, blocked UNRWA from performing its services and shut down UNRWA's summer camps. Gaza residents also closed UNRWA's emergency department, social services office and ration stores. \n\nHealth\n\nStatistics\n\nIn Gaza, there are hospitals and additional healthcare facilities. Because of the high number of young people the mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world, at 0.315% per year. The infant mortality rate is ranked 105th highest out of 224 countries and territories, at 16.55 deaths per 1,000 births. The Gaza Strip places 24th out of 135 countries according to Human Poverty Index.\n\nA study carried out by Johns Hopkins University (U.S.) and Al-Quds University (in Abu Dis) for CARE International in late 2002 revealed very high levels of dietary deficiency among the Palestinian population. The study found that 17.5% of children aged 6–59 months suffered from chronic malnutrition. 53% of women of reproductive age and 44% of children were found to be anemic. After the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip health conditions in Gaza Strip faced new challenges. World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concerns about the consequences of the Palestinian internal political fragmentation; the socioeconomic decline; military actions; and the physical, psychological and economic isolation on the health of the population in Gaza. In a 2012 study of the occupied territories, the WHO reported that roughly 50% of the young children and infants under two years old and 39.1% of pregnant women receiving antenatal services care in Gaza suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. The organization also observed chronic malnutrition in children under five \"is not improving and may be deteriorating.\" \n\nDr. Mohammed Abu Shaban, director of the Blood Tumors Department in Al-Rantisy Hospital in Gaza witnessed an increase in blood cancer. In March 2010 the department had seen 55 cases that year, compared to 20 to 25 cases normally seen in an entire year. According to the United Nations Development Programme, the average life expectancy in the Gaza Strip is 72. \n\nHealthcare availability\n\nAccording to Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip, the majority of medical aid delivered are \"past their expiration date.\" Mounir el-Barash, the director of donations in Gaza's health department, claims 30% of aid sent to Gaza is used. \n\nGazans who desire medical care in Israeli hospitals must apply for a medical visa permit. In 2007, State of Israel granted 7,176 permits and denied 1,627. [http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_PSE.html Human Development Reports]\n\nIn 2012, two hospitals funded by Turkey and Saudi Arabia were under construction. \n\nCulture and sports\n\nFine arts\n\nThe Gaza Strip has been home to a significant branch of the contemporary Palestinian art movement since the mid 20th century. Notable artists include painters Ismail Ashour, Shafiq Redwan, Bashir Senwar, Majed Shalla, Fayez Sersawi, Abdul Rahman al Muzayan and Ismail Shammout, and media artists Taysir Batniji (who lives in France) and Laila al Shawa (who lives in London). An emerging generation of artists is also active in nonprofit art organizations such as Windows From Gaza and Eltiqa Group, which regularly host exhibitions and events open to the public. \n\nAthletics\n\nIn 2010, Gaza inaugurated its first Olympic-size swimming pool at the As-Sadaka club. The opening ceremony was held by the Islamic Society.[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID\n285242 Gaza opens first Olympic-size swimming pool], 18 May 2010, Ma'an News Agency. The swimming team of as-Sadaka holds several gold and silver medals from Palestinian swimming competitions. \n\nTransport and communications\n\nTransport\n\nThe Oslo Accords ceded control of the airspace and territorial waters to Israel. Any external travel from Gaza requires cooperation from either Egypt or Israel.\n\nHighways\n\nSalah al-Din Road (also known as the Salah ad-Deen Highway) is the main highway of the Gaza Strip and extends over 45 km, spanning the entire length of the territory from the Rafah Crossing in the south to the Erez Crossing in the north. The road is named after the 12th-century Ayyubid general Salah al-Din.\n\nRail transport\n\nFormer railway: see Palestine Railways#Railway in the Gaza Strip\n\nMarine transport\n\nThe Port of Gaza has been an important and active port since antiquity. Despite plans under the Oslo Peace Accords to expand the port, it has been under a blockade since Hamas was elected as a majority party in the 2006 elections. Both the Israeli Navy and Egypt enforce the blockade, which continues currently and has limited many aspects of life in Gaza, especially, according to Human Rights Watch, the movement of people and commerce, with exports being most affected. The improvement and rebuilding of infrastructure is also negatively impacted by these sanctions. Plans to expand the port were halted after the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada.\n\nAir transport\n\nThe Yasser Arafat International Airport opened on 24 November 1998 after the signing of the Oslo II Accord and the Wye River Memorandum. It was closed by Israel in October 2000. Its radar station and control tower were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces aircraft in 2001 during the al-Aqsa Intifada, and bulldozers razed the runway in January 2002.[http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7900217/ Grounded in Gaza, but hoping to fly again], MSNBC, 19 May 2005[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4449461.stm Years of delays at Gaza airport], Johnston, Alan. BBC News, 15 April 2005 The only remaining runway in the strip, at the Gush Katif Airport, fell in to disuse following Israeli disengagement. The airspace over Gaza may be restricted by the Israeli Air Force as the Oslo Accords authorized.\n\nTelecommunications\n\nTelephone service\n\nThe Gaza Strip has rudimentary land line telephone service provided by an open-wire system, as well as extensive mobile telephone services provided by PalTel (Jawwal) and Israeli providers such as Cellcom. Gaza is serviced by four internet service providers that now compete for ADSL and dial-up customers.\n\nTelevision and radio\n\nMost Gaza households have a radio and a TV (70%+), and approximately 20% have a personal computer. People living in Gaza have access to FTA satellite programs, broadcast TV from the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority. \n\nHistory\n\nRule over Gaza, overview\n\nGaza was part of the Ottoman Empire, before it was occupied by the United Kingdom (1918-1948), Egypt (1948-1967), and then Israel, which in 1994 granted the Palestinian Authority in Gaza limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people.\n\nThe territory is still considered to be occupied by Israel by the United Nations, International human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators, despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza and additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.* * \n\nThe Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, confirmed by the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949. Article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by the Arab League in September 1948. All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, the Gaza Strip was directly administered by an Egyptian military governor.\n\nIsrael captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, the Palestinian Authority became the administrative body that governed Palestinian population centers while Israel maintained control of the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings with the exception of the land border with Egypt which is controlled by Egypt. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan.\n\nIn July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government. In 2007, Hamas expelled the rival party Fatah from Gaza. This broke the Unity Government between Gaza Strip and the West Bank, creating two separate governments for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.\n\nIn 2014, following reconciliation talks, Hamas and Fatah formed a Palestinian unity government within the West Bank and Gaza. Rami Hamdallah became the coalition's Prime Minister and has planned for elections in Gaza and the West Bank. In July 2014, a set of lethal incidents between Hamas and Israel led to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.\n\nFollowing the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the territory has been subjected to a blockade, maintained by Israel and Egypt, with Israel arguing that it is necessary to impede Hamas from rearming and to restrict Palestinian rocket attacks and Egypt preventing Gaza residents from entering Egypt. The blockades by Israel and Egypt extends to drastic reductions in basic construction materials, medical supplies, and food stuffs. Under the blockade, Gaza is viewed by some critics as an \"open-air prison\", although the claim is contested. \n\nPrior to 1923\n\n1923–48 British rule\n\nThe Palestine Mandate was based on the principles contained in Article 22 of the draft Covenant of the League of Nations and the San Remo Resolution of 25 April 1920 by the principal Allied and associated powers after the First World War.[http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/88A6BF6F1BD82405852574CD006C457F Palestine Royal Commission Report Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, July 1937, Cmd. 5479]. His Majesty’s Stationery Office., London, 1937. 404 pages + maps. The mandate formalized British rule in the southern part of Ottoman Syria from 1923–1948.\n\n1948 All-Palestine government\n\nOn 22 September 1948, towards the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the All-Palestine Government was proclaimed in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza City by the Arab League. It was conceived partly as an Arab League attempt to limit the influence of Transjordan in Palestine. The All-Palestine Government was quickly recognized by six of the then seven members of the Arab League: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, but not by Transjordan. It was not recognized by any country outside the Arab League.\n\nAfter the cessation of hostilities, the Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement of 24 February 1949 established the separation line between Egyptian and Israeli forces, and established what became the present boundary between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Both sides declared that the boundary was not an international border. The southern border with Egypt continued to be the international border which had been drawn in 1906 between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. \n\nPalestinians living in the Gaza Strip or Egypt were issued All-Palestine passports. Egypt did not offer them citizenship. From the end of 1949, they received aid directly from UNRWA. During the Suez Crisis (1956), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula were occupied by Israeli troops, who withdrew under international pressure. The government was accused of being little more than a façade for Egyptian control, with negligible independent funding or influence. It subsequently moved to Cairo and dissolved in 1959 by decree of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser.\n\n1959–67 Egyptian occupation\n\nAfter the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government in 1959, under the excuse of pan-Arabism, Egypt continued to occupy the Gaza Strip until 1967. Egypt never annexed the Gaza Strip, but instead treated it as a controlled territory and administered it through a military governor. The influx of over 200,000 refugees from former Mandatory Palestine, roughly a quarter of those who fled or were expelled from their homes during, and in the aftermath of, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War into Gaza resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living. Because the Egyptian government restricted movement to and from the Gaza Strip, its inhabitants could not look elsewhere for gainful employment. \n\n1967 Israeli occupation\n\nIn June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel Defense Forces captured the Gaza Strip.\n\nSubsequent to this military victory, Israel created the first settlement bloc in the Strip, Gush Katif, in the southwest corner of the Strip near Rafah and the Egyptian border on a spot where a small kibbutz had previously existed for 18 months between 1946-48. In total, between 1967 and 2005, Israel established 21 settlements in Gaza, comprising 20% of the total territory.\n\n1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty\n\nOn March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Among other things, the treaty provided for the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War. The Egyptians agreed to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized. The final status of the Gaza Strip, and other relations between Israel and Palestinians, was not dealt with in the treaty. Egypt renounced all territorial claims to territory north of the international border. The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration until 1994. During that time, the military was responsible for the maintenance of civil facilities and services.\n\nAfter the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty 1979, a 100-meter-wide buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Route was established. The international border along the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is 7 mi long. With the Agreement on Movement and Access, known as the Rafah Agreement, in 2005, Israel ended its presence in the Philadelphi Route and transferred responsibility for security arrangements to Egypt and the PA under the supervision of the EU. The Egyptian army has since destroyed some Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels \"in order to fight any element of terrorism\", according to an Egyptian security official. The Gaza border crossing into Egypt remains under the full control of Egypt. Egypt has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross that terrestrial border.\n\n1994: Gaza under Palestinian Authority\n\nIn September 1992, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy \"I would like Gaza to sink into the sea, but that won't happen, and a solution must be found.\" \n\nIn May 1994, following the Palestinian-Israeli agreements known as the Oslo Accords, a phased transfer of governmental authority to the Palestinians took place. Much of the Strip (except for the settlement blocs and military areas) came under Palestinian control. The Israeli forces left Gaza City and other urban areas, leaving the new Palestinian Authority to administer and police those areas. The Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, chose Gaza City as its first provincial headquarters. In September 1995, Israel and the PLO signed a second peace agreement, extending the Palestinian Authority to most West Bank towns.\n\nBetween 1994 and 1996, Israel built the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier to improve security in Israel. The barrier was largely torn down by Palestinians at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000.\n\n2000 Second Intifada\n\nThe Second Intifada broke out in September 2000 with waves of protest, civil unrest and bombings against Israeli military and civilians, many of them perpetrated by suicide bombers. The Second Intifada also marked the beginning of rocket attacks and bombings of Israeli border localities by Palestinian guerrillas from Gaza Strip, especially by the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements.\n\nBetween December 2000 and June 2001, the barrier between Gaza and Israel was reconstructed. A barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was constructed starting in 2004. The main crossing points are the northern Erez Crossing into Israel and the southern Rafah Crossing into Egypt. The eastern Karni Crossing used for cargo, closed down in 2011. Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel. Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. \"Egypt maintains a strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai.\" \n\n2005 Israel's unilateral disengagement\n\nIn February 2005, the Knesset approved a unilateral disengagement plan and began removing Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. All Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the joint Israeli-Palestinian Erez Industrial Zone were dismantled, and 9,000 Israelis, most living in Gush Katif, were forcibly evicted.\n\nOn 12 September 2005, the Israeli cabinet formally declared an end to Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip.\n\n\"The Oslo Agreements gave Israel full control over Gaza's airspace, but established that the Palestinians could build an airport in the area...\" and the disengagement plan states that: \"Israel will hold sole control of Gaza airspace and will continue to carry out military activity in the waters of the Gaza Strip.\" \"Therefore, Israel continues to maintain exclusive control of Gaza's airspace and the territorial waters, just as it has since it occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967.\" Human Rights Watch has advised the UN Human Rights Council that it (and others) consider Israel to be the occupying power of the Gaza Strip because Israel controls Gaza Strip's airspace, territorial waters and controls the movement of people or goods in or out of Gaza by air or sea. The EU considers Gaza to be occupied. Israel also withdrew from the Philadelphi Route, a narrow strip of land adjacent to the border with Egypt, after Egypt agreed to secure its side of the border. Under the Oslo Accords, the Philadelphi Route was to remain under Israeli control to prevent the smuggling of weapons and people across the Egyptian border, but Egypt (under EU supervision) committed itself to patrolling the area and preventing such incidents. Israel maintained control over the crossings in and out of Gaza, and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was monitored by special surveillance cameras.\n\nThe Israel Defense Forces left the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan and all Israeli citizens were evicted from the area. In November 2005, an \"Agreement on Movement and Access\" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was brokered by then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to improve Palestinian freedom of movement and economic activity in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah crossing with Egypt was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Palestinian National Authority and the European Union. Only people with Palestinian ID, or foreign nationals, by exception, in certain categories, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. All goods, vehicles and trucks to and from Egypt passed through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, under full Israeli supervision. Goods were also permitted transit at the Karni crossing in the north.\n\nAfter the Israeli withdrawal in 2005 the Oslo Accords give the Palestinian Authority administrative authority in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah Border Crossing has been supervised by EU Border Assistance Mission Rafah under an agreement finalized in November 2005. The Oslo Accord permits Israel to control the airspace and sea space. \n\nPost-2006 elections violence\n\nIn the Palestinian parliamentary elections held on 25 January 2006, Hamas won a plurality of 42.9% of the total vote and 74 out of 132 total seats (56%). When Hamas assumed power the next month, Israel, the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations demanded that Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused, they cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, although some aid money was redirected to humanitarian organizations not affiliated with the government. The resulting political disorder and economic stagnation led to many Palestinians emigrating from the Gaza Strip. \n\nIn January 2007, fighting erupted between Hamas and Fatah. The deadliest clashes occurred in the northern Gaza Strip, where General Muhammed Gharib, a senior commander of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Force, died when a rocket hit his home.\n\nOn 30 January 2007, a truce was negotiated between Fatah and Hamas. However, after a few days, new fighting broke out. On 1 February, Hamas killed 6 people in an ambush on a Gaza convoy which delivered equipment for Abbas' Palestinian Presidential Guard, according to diplomats, meant to counter smuggling of more powerful weapons into Gaza by Hamas for its fast-growing \"Executive Force\". According to Hamas, the deliveries to the Presidential Guard were intended to instigate sedition (against Hamas), while withholding money and assistance from the Palestinian people. Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university in the Gaza Strip. Officers from Abbas' presidential guard battled Hamas gunmen guarding the Hamas-led Interior Ministry. \n\nIn May 2007, new fighting broke out between the factions. Interior Minister Hani Qawasmi, who had been considered a moderate civil servant acceptable to both factions, resigned due to what he termed harmful behavior by both sides. \n\nFighting spread in the Gaza Strip, with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. Following a breakdown in an Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel launched an air strike which destroyed a building used by Hamas. Ongoing violence prompted fear that it could bring the end of the Fatah-Hamas coalition government, and possibly the end of the Palestinian authority. \n\nHamas spokesman Moussa Abu Marzouk blamed the conflict between Hamas and Fatah on Israel, stating that the constant pressure of economic sanctions resulted in the \"real explosion.\" Associated Press reporter Ibrahim Barzak wrote an eyewitness account stating: \"Today I have seen people shot before my eyes, I heard the screams of terrified women and children in a burning building, and I argued with gunmen who wanted to take over my home. I have seen a lot in my years as a journalist in Gaza, but this is the worst it's been.\"\n\nFrom 2006-2007 more than 600 Palestinians were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. In the aftermath of the Gaza War, a series of violent acts killed 54 Palestinians, while hundreds have claimed they were tortured. 349 Palestinians were killed in fighting between factions in 2007. 160 Palestinians killed each other in June alone. \n\n2007 Hamas takeover\n\nFollowing the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinian authority national unity government headed by Ismail Haniya. Shortly after, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own. By 14 June, Hamas fully controlled the Gaza Strip. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by declaring a state of emergency, dissolving the unity government and forming a new government without Hamas participation. PNA security forces in the West Bank arrested a number of Hamas members.\n\nIn late June 2008, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan declared the West Bank-based cabinet formed by Abbas as \"the sole legitimate Palestinian government\". Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to the West Bank. \n\nSaudi Arabia and Egypt supported reconciliation and a new unity government and pressed Abbas to start talks with Hamas. Abbas had always conditioned this on Hamas returning control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas visited a number of countries, including Russia, and the EU member states. Opposition parties and politicians called for a dialogue with Hamas as well as an end to the economic sanctions.\n\nAfter the takeover, Israel and Egypt closed their border crossings with Gaza. Palestinian sources reported that European Union monitors fled the Rafah Border Crossing, on the Gaza–Egypt border for fear of being kidnapped or harmed. Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian officials presented a united front against control of the border by Hamas. \n\nMeanwhile, Israeli and Egyptian security reports said that Hamas continued smuggling in large quantities of explosives and arms from Egypt through tunnels. Egyptian security forces uncovered 60 tunnels in 2007. \n\n2007 issues\n\nAfter Hamas' June win, it ousted Fatah-linked officials from positions of power and authority (such as government positions, security services, universities, newspapers, etc.) and strove to enforce law by progressively removing guns from the hands of peripheral militias, clans, and criminal groups, and gaining control of supply tunnels. According to Amnesty International, under Hamas rule, newspapers were closed down and journalists were harassed. Fatah demonstrations were forbidden or suppressed, as in the case of a large demonstration on the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, after protesters hurled stones at Hamas security forces. \n\nHamas and other militant groups continued to fire Qassam rockets across the border into Israel. According to Israel, between the Hamas takeover and the end of January 2008, 697 rockets and 822 mortar bombs were fired at Israeli towns. In response, Israel targeted Qassam launchers and military targets and declared the Gaza Strip a hostile entity. In January 2008, Israel curtailed travel from Gaza, the entry of goods, and cut fuel supplies, resulting in power shortages. This brought charges that Israel was inflicting collective punishment on the Gaza population, leading to international condemnation. Despite multiple reports from within the Strip that food and other essentials were in short supply, Israel said that Gaza had enough food and energy supplies for weeks. \n\nThe Israeli government uses economic means to pressure Hamas. Among other things, it caused Israeli commercial enterprises like banks and fuel companies to stop doing business with the Gaza Strip. The role of private corporations in the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip is an issue that has not been extensively studied. \n\nDue to continued rocket attacks including 50 in one day, on March 2008, air strikes and ground incursions by the IDF led to the deaths of over 110 Palestinians and extensive damage to Jabalia. \n\nViolence\n\nViolence against Christians was recorded. The owner of a Christian bookshop was abducted and murdered and, on 15 February 2008, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) library in Gaza City was bombed. \n\nEgyptian border barrier breach\n\nOn 23 January 2008, after months of preparation during which the steel reinforcement of the border barrier was weakened, Hamas destroyed several parts of the wall dividing Gaza and Egypt in the town of Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to the crisis, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians in but to verify that they did not bring weapons back across the border. Egypt arrested and later released several armed Hamas militants in the Sinai who presumably wanted to infiltrate into Israel. At the same time, Israel increased its state of alert along the length of the Israel-Egypt Sinai border, and warned its citizens to leave Sinai \"without delay.\"\n\nThe EU Border Monitors initially monitored the border because Hamas guaranteed their safety, but they later fled. The Palestinian Authority demanded that Egypt deal only with the Authority in negotiations relating to borders. Israel eased restrictions on the delivery of goods and medical supplies but curtailed electricity by 5% in one of its ten lines. The Rafah crossing remained closed into mid-February. \n\nIn February 2008, 2008 Israel-Gaza conflict intensified, with rockets launched at Israeli cities. Aggression by Hamas led to Israeli military action on 1 March 2008, resulting in over 110 Palestinians being killed according to BBC News, as well as 2 Israeli soldiers. Israeli human rights group B'Tselem estimated that 45 of those killed were not involved in hostilities, and 15 were minors. \n\nAfter a round of tit-for-tat arrests between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the Hilles clan from Gaza were relocated to Jericho on 4 August 2008. Retiring Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on 11 November 2008, \"The question is not whether there will be a confrontation, but when it will take place, under what circumstances, and who will control these circumstances, who will dictate them, and who will know to exploit the time from the beginning of the ceasefire until the moment of confrontation in the best possible way.” On 14 November 2008, Israel blockaded its border with Gaza after a five-month ceasefire broke down. In 2013 Israel and Qatar brought Gaza’s lone power plant back to life for the first time in seven weeks, bringing relief to the Palestinian coastal enclave where a lack of cheap fuel has contributed to the overflow of raw sewage, 21-hour blackouts and flooding after a ferocious winter storm. \"Palestinian officials said that a $10 million grant from Qatar was covering the cost of two weeks’ worth of industrial diesel that started entering Gaza by truckload from Israel.\" \n\nOn 25 November 2008, Israel closed its cargo crossing with Gaza after Qassam rockets were fired into its territory. On 28 November, after a 24-hour period of quiet, the IDF facilitated the transfer of over thirty truckloads of food, basic supplies and medicine into Gaza and transferred fuel to the area's main power plant. \n\n2008 Gaza War\n\nOn 27 December 2008, Israeli F-16 fighters launched a series of air strikes against targets in Gaza following the breakdown of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas. Israeli defense sources said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to prepare for the operation six months before it began, using long-term planning and intelligence-gathering. \n\nVarious sites that Israel claimed were being used as weapons depots were struck: police stations, schools, hospitals, UN warehouses, mosques, various Hamas government buildings and other buildings. Israel said that the attack was a response to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, which totaled over 3,000 in 2008, and which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. Israel advised people near military targets to leave before the attacks. Palestinian medical staff claimed at least 434 Palestinians were killed, and at least 2,800 wounded, consisting of many civilians and an unknown number of Hamas members, in the first five days of Israeli strikes on Gaza. The IDF denied that the majority of the dead were civilian. Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on 3 January 2009. Israel rebuffed many cease-fire calls but later declared a cease fire although Hamas vowed to fight on. \n\nA total of 1,100-1,400 Palestinians (295-926 civilians) and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day war. \n\nThe conflict damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes, 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities, 800 water wells, 186 greenhouses, and nearly all of its 10,000 family farms; leaving 50,000 homeless, 400,000-500,000 without running water, one million without electricity, and resulting in acute food shortages. The people of Gaza still suffer from the loss of these facilities and homes, especially since they have great challenges to rebuild them.\n\nBy February 2009, food availability returned to pre-war levels but a shortage of fresh produce was forecast due to damage sustained by the agricultural sector. \n\nA 2014 unity government with Fatah\n\nOn 5 June 2014 Fatah signed a unity agreement with Hamas political party. \n\n2014 Israel–Gaza conflict\n\nConnections to Sinai insurgency\n\nEgypt's Sinai Peninsula borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. Its vast and desolate terrain has transformed it into a hotbed of illicit and militant activity. Although most of the area's inhabitants are tribal Bedouins, there has been a recent increase in al-Qaeda inspired global jihadi militant groups operating in the region. Out of the approximately 15 main militant groups operating in the Sinai desert, the most dominant and active militant groups have close relations with the Gaza Strip. \n\nAccording to Egyptian authorities, the Army of Islam, a U.S. designated \"terrorist organization\" based in the Gaza Strip, is responsible for training and supplying many militant organizations and jihadist members in Sinai. Mohammed Dormosh, the Army of Islam's leader, is known for his close relationships to the Hamas leadership. Army of Islam smuggles members into the Gaza Strip for training, then returns them to the Sinai Peninsula to engage in militant and jihadist activities.","Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups - U.S. Department of State\nU.S. Department of State Diplomacy in Action. ... known to be responsible for the kidnapping or death of any US citizen during the ... Several of the hostages, ...\nChapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups\nChapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups\nOffice of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism\nApril 27, 2005\nReport\nTitle 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f, which requires the Department of State to provide an annual report to Congress on terrorism, requires the report to include, inter alia, information on terrorist groups and umbrella groups under which any terrorist group falls, known to be responsible for the kidnapping or death of any US citizen during the preceding five years; groups known to be financed by state sponsors of terrorism about which Congress was notified during the past year in accordance with Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act; and any other known international terrorist group that the Secretary of State determined should be the subject of the report. The list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) below is followed by a list of other selected terrorist groups also deemed of relevance in the global war on terrorism.\nForeign Terrorist Organizations\nBasque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)\nCommunist Party of Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA)\nContinuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)\nGama'a al-Islamiyya (IG)\nIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)\nJaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)\nLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)\nLibyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)\nMujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)\nAl-Qa'ida\nRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN)\nRevolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)\nSalafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)\nShining Path (SL)\nTanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR)\nUnited Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)\n17 November\na.k.a. Epanastatiki Organosi 17 Noemvri\nRevolutionary Organization 17 November\nDescription\n17 November is a radical leftist group established in 1975 and named for the student uprising in Greece in November 1973 that protested the ruling military junta. 17 November is an anti-Greek establishment, anti-United States, anti-Turkey, and anti-NATO group that seeks the ouster of US bases from Greece, the removal of Turkish military forces from Cyprus, and the severing of Greece's ties to NATO and the European Union (EU).\nActivities\nInitial attacks were assassinations of senior US officials and Greek public figures. They began using bombings in the 1980s. Since 1990, 17 November has expanded its targets to include EU facilities and foreign firms investing in Greece and has added improvised rocket attacks to its methods. It supported itself largely through bank robberies. A failed 17 November bombing attempt in June 2002 at the Port of Piraeus in Athens, coupled with robust detective work, led to the arrest of 19 members --the first 17 November operatives ever arrested. In December 2003, a Greek court convicted 15 members -- five of whom were given multiple life terms -- of hundreds of crimes. Four other alleged members were acquitted for lack of evidence. In September 2004, several jailed members serving life sentences began hunger strikes to attain better prison conditions.\nStrength\nUnknown but presumed to be small.\nLocation/Area of Operation\na.k.a. Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims\nDescription\nThe ANO international terrorist organization was founded by Sabri al-Banna (a.k.a. Abu Nidal) after splitting from the PLO in 1974. The group's previous known structure consisted of various functional committees, including political, military, and financial. In November 2002 Abu Nidal died in Baghdad; the new leadership of the organization remains unclear.\nActivities\nThe ANO has carried out terrorist attacks in 20 countries, killing or injuring almost 900 persons. Targets include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO, and various Arab countries. Major attacks included the Rome and Vienna airports in 1985, the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi in 1986, and the City of Poros day-excursion ship attack in Greece in 1988. The ANO is suspected of assassinating PLO deputy chief Abu Iyad and PLO security chief Abu Hul in Tunis in 1991. The ANO assassinated a Jordanian diplomat in Lebanon in 1994 and has been linked to the killing of the PLO representative there. The group has not staged a major attack against Western targets since the late 1980s.\nStrength\nFew hundred plus limited overseas support structure.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAl-Banna relocated to Iraq in December 1998 where the group maintained a presence until Operation Iraqi Freedom, but its current status in country is unknown. Known members have an operational presence in Lebanon, including in several Palestinian refugee camps. Authorities shut down the ANO's operations in Libya and Egypt in 1999. The group has demonstrated the ability to operate over a wide area, including the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. However, financial problems and internal disorganization have greatly reduced the group's activities and its ability to maintain cohesive terrorist capability.\nExternal Aid\nThe ANO received considerable support, including safe haven, training, logistical assistance, and financial aid from Iraq, Libya, and Syria (until 1987), in addition to close support for selected operations.\nAbu Sayyaf Group (ASG)\nDescription\nThe ASG is primarily a small, violent Muslim terrorist group operating in the southern Philippines. Some ASG leaders allegedly fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet war and are students and proponents of radical Islamic teachings. The group split from the much larger Moro National Liberation Front in the early 1990s under the leadership of Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine police in December 1998. His younger brother, Khadaffy Janjalani, replaced him as the nominal leader of the group and appears to have consolidated power.\nActivities\nThe ASG engages in kidnappings for ransom, bombings, beheadings, assassinations, and extortion. The group's stated goal is to promote an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago (areas in the southern Philippines heavily populated by Muslims) but the ASG has primarily used terror for financial profit. Recent bombings may herald a return to a more radical, politicized agenda, at least among certain factions. The group's first large-scale action was a raid on the town of Ipil in Mindanao in April 1995. In April of 2000, an ASG faction kidnapped 21 persons, including 10 Western tourists, from a resort in Malaysia. On May 27, 2001, the ASG kidnapped three US citizens and 17 Filipinos from a tourist resort in Palawan, Philippines. Several of the hostages, including US citizen Guillermo Sobero, were murdered. During a Philippine military hostage rescue operation on June 7, 2002, US hostage Gracia Burnham was rescued, but her husband Martin Burnham and Filipina Deborah Yap were killed. Philippine authorities say that the ASG had a role in the bombing near a Philippine military base in Zamboanga in October 2002 that killed a US serviceman. In February 2004, Khadaffy Janjalani's faction bombed SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay, killing approximately 132, and in March, Philippine authorities arrested an ASG cell whose bombing targets included the US Embassy in Manila.\nStrength\nEstimated to have 200 to 500 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe ASG was founded in Basilan Province and operates there and in the neighboring provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the Sulu Archipelago. The group also operates on the Zamboanga peninsula, and members occasionally travel to Manila. In mid-2003, the group started operating in the major city of Cotobato and on the coast of Sultan Kudarat on Mindanao. The group expanded its operational reach to Malaysia in 2000 when it abducted foreigners from a tourist resort.\nExternal Aid\nLargely self-financing through ransom and extortion; has received support from Islamic extremists in the Middle East and may receive support from regional terrorist groups. Libya publicly paid millions of dollars for the release of the foreign hostages seized from Malaysia in 2000.\nAl-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (al-Aqsa)\na.k.a. al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalion\nDescription\nThe al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade consists of an unknown number of small cells of terrorists associated with the Palestinian Fatah organization. Al-Aqsa emerged at the outset of the 2000 Palestinian intifadah to attack Israeli targets with the aim of driving the Israeli military and settlers from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem, and to establish a Palestinian state.\nActivities\nAl-Aqsa has carried out shootings and suicide operations against Israeli civilians and military personnel in Israel and the Palestinian territories, rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, and the killing of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. Al-Aqsa has killed a number of US citizens, the majority of them dual US-Israeli citizens, in its attacks. In January 2002, al-Aqsa was the first Palestinian terrorist group to use a female suicide bomber.\nStrength\nUnknown.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAl-Aqsa operates in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip, and has only claimed attacks inside these three areas. It may have followers in Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nIn the last year, numerous public accusations suggest Iran and Hizballah are providing support to al-Aqsa elements, but the extent of external influence on al-Aqsa as a whole is not clear.\nAnsar al-Islam (AI)\na.k.a. Ansar al-Sunnah Partisans of Islam, Helpers of Islam, Kurdish Taliban\nDescription\nAnsar al-Islam (AI) is a radical Islamist group of Iraqi Kurds and Arabs who have vowed to establish an independent Islamic state in Iraq. The group was formed in December 2001. In the fall of 2003, a statement was issued calling all jihadists in Iraq to unite under the name Ansar al-Sunnah (AS). Since that time, it is likely that AI has posted all claims of attack under the name AS.\nAI is closely allied with al-Qa'ida and Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's group, Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) in Iraq. Some members of AI trained in al-Qa'ida camps in Afghanistan, and the group provided safe haven to al-Qa'ida fighters before Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Since OIF, AI has become one of the leading groups engaged in anti-Coalition attacks in Iraq and has developed a robust propaganda campaign.\nActivities\nAI continues to conduct attacks against Coalition forces, Iraqi Government officials and security forces, and ethnic Iraqi groups and political parties. AI members have been implicated in assassinations and assassination attempts against Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) officials and Coalition forces, and also work closely with both al-Qa'ida operatives and associates in QJBR. AI has also claimed responsibility for many high profile attacks, including the simultaneous suicide bombings of the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) party offices in Ibril on February 1, 2004, and the bombing of the US military dining facility in Mosul on December 21, 2004.\nStrength\nApproximately 500 to 1,000 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily central and northern Iraq.\nExternal Aid\nThe group receives funding, training, equipment, and combat support from al-Qa'ida, QJBR, and other international jihadist backers throughout the world. AI also has operational and logistic support cells in Europe.\nArmed Islamic Group (GIA)\nDescription\nAn Islamist extremist group, the GIA aims to overthrow the Algerian regime and replace it with a fundamentalist Islamic state. The GIA began its violent activity in 1992 after the military government suspended legislative elections in anticipation of an overwhelming victory by the Islamic Salvation Front, the largest Islamic opposition party.\nActivities\nThe GIA has engaged in attacks against civilians and government workers. Starting in 1992, the GIA conducted a terrorist campaign of civilian massacres, sometimes wiping out entire villages in its area of operation, and killing tens of thousands of Algerians. GIA's brutal attacks on civilians alienated them from the Algerian populace. Since announcing its campaign against foreigners living in Algeria in 1992, the GIA has killed more than 100 expatriate men and women, mostly Europeans, in the country. Many of the GIA's members have joined other Islamist groups or been killed or captured by the Algerian Government. The GIA's most recent significant attacks were in August, 2001.\nStrength\nPrecise numbers are unknown, but probably fewer than 100.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAlgeria, Sahel (i.e. northern Mali, northern Mauritania, and northern Niger), and Europe.\nExternal Aid\nThe GIA has members in Europe that provide funding.\nAsbat al-Ansar\nDescription\nAsbat al-Ansar, the League of the Followers or Partisans' League, is a Lebanon-based Sunni extremist group, composed primarily of Palestinians with links to Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida organization and other Sunni extremist groups. The group follows an extremist interpretation of Islam that justifies violence against civilian targets to achieve political ends. Some of the group's goals include overthrowing the Lebanese Government and thwarting perceived anti-Islamic and pro-Western influences in the country.\nActivities\nAsbat al-Ansar has carried out multiple terrorist attacks in Lebanon since it first emerged in the early 1990s. The group assassinated Lebanese religious leaders and bombed nightclubs, theaters, and liquor stores in the mid1990s. The group raised its operational profile in 2000 with two attacks against Lebanese and international targets. It was involved in clashes in northern Lebanon in December 1999 and carried out a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Russian Embassy in Beirut in January 2000. Asbat al-Ansar's leader, Abu Muhjin, remains at large despite being sentenced to death in absentia for the 1994 murder of a Muslim cleric.\nSuspected Asbat al-Ansar elements were responsible for an attempt in April 2003 to use a car bomb against a McDonald's in a Beirut suburb. By October, Lebanese security forces arrested Ibn al-Shahid, who is believed to be associated with Asbat al-Ansar, and charged him with masterminding the bombing of three fast food restaurants in 2002 and the attempted attack on a McDonald's in 2003. Asbat forces were involved in other violence in Lebanon in 2003, including clashes with members of Yassir Arafat's Fatah movement in the 'Ayn al-Hilwah refugee camp and a rocket attack in June on the Future TV building in Beirut.\nIn 2004, no successful terrorist attacks were attributed to Asbat al-Ansar. However, in September, operatives with links to the group were believed to be involved in a planned terrorist operation targeting the Italian Embassy, the Ukrainian Consulate General, and Lebanese Government offices. The plot, which reportedly also involved other Lebanese Sunni extremists, was thwarted by Italian, Lebanese, and Syrian security agencies. In 2004, Asbat al-Ansar remained vocal in its condemnation of the United States' presence in Iraq, and in April the group urged Iraqi insurgents to kill US and other hostages to avenge the death of HAMAS leaders Abdul Aziz Rantisi and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. In October, Mahir al-Sa'di, a member of Asbat al-Ansar, was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for plotting to assassinate former US Ambassador to Lebanon David Satterfield in 2000. Until his death in March 2003, al-Sa'di worked in cooperation with Abu Muhammad al-Masri, the head of al-Qa'ida at the 'Ayn al-Hilwah refugee camp, where fighting has occurred between Asbat al-Ansar and Fatah elements.\nStrength\nThe group commands about 300 fighters in Lebanon.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe group's primary base of operations is the 'Ayn al-Hilwah Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nProbably receives money through international Sunni extremist networks and possibly Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida network.\nAum Shinrikyo (Aum)\na.k.a. Aum Supreme Truth, Aleph\nDescription\nA cult established in 1987 by Shoko Asahara, the Aum aimed to take over Japan and then the world. Approved as a religious entity in 1989 under Japanese law, the group ran candidates in a Japanese parliamentary election in 1990. Over time, the cult began to emphasize the imminence of the end of the world and stated that the United States would initiate Armageddon by starting World War III with Japan. The Japanese Government revoked its recognition of the Aum as a religious organization in October 1995, but in 1997 a Government panel decided not to invoke the Anti-Subversive Law against the group, which would have outlawed it. A 1999 law continues to give the Japanese Government authorization to maintain police surveillance of the group due to concerns that the Aum might launch future terrorist attacks. Under the leadership of Fumihiro Joyu, the Aum changed its name to Aleph in January 2000 and tried to distance itself from the violent and apocalyptic teachings of its founder. However, in late 2003, Joyu stepped down, pressured by members who wanted to return fully to the worship of Asahara.\nActivities\nOn March 20, 1995, Aum members simultaneously released the chemical nerve agent sarin on several Tokyo subway trains, killing 12 persons and injuring up to 1,500. The group was responsible for other mysterious events involving chemical incidents in Japan in 1994. Its efforts to conduct attacks using biological agents have been unsuccessful. Japanese police arrested Asahara in May 1995, and authorities sentenced him in February 2004 to death for his role in the attacks of 1995. Since 1997, the cult has continued to recruit new members, engage in commercial enterprise, and acquire property, although it scaled back these activities significantly in 2001 in response to public outcry. In July 2001, Russian authorities arrested a group of Russian Aum followers who had planned to set off bombs near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as part of an operation to free Asahara from jail and smuggle him to Russia.\nStrength\nThe Aum's current membership in Japan is estimated to be about 1,650 persons. At the time of the Tokyo subway attack, the group claimed to have 9,000 members in Japan and as many as 40,000 worldwide.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe Aum's principal membership is located in Japan, but a residual branch comprising about 300 followers has surfaced in Russia.\nExternal Aid\nBasque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)\na.k.a. Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna, Batasuna\nDescription\nETA was founded in 1959 with the aim of establishing an independent homeland based on Marxist principles and encompassing the Spanish Basque provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, as well as the autonomous region of Navarra and the southwestern French Departments of Labourd, Basse-Navarra, and Soule. Spanish and French counterterrorism initiatives since 2000 have hampered the group's operational capabilities. Spanish police arrested scores of ETA members and accomplices in Spain in 2004, and dozens were apprehended in France, including two key group leaders. These arrests included the capture in October of two key ETA leaders in southwestern France. ETA's political wing, Batasuna, remains banned in Spain. Spanish and French prisons are estimated to hold over 700 ETA members.\nActivities\nPrimarily involved in bombings and assassinations of Spanish Government officials, security and military forces, politicians, and judicial figures, but has also targeted journalists and tourist areas. Security service scrutiny and a public outcry after the Islamic extremist train bombing on March 11, 2004, in Madrid limited ETA's capabilities and willingness to inflict casualties. ETA conducted no fatal attacks in 2004, but did mount several low-level bombings in Spanish tourist areas during the summer and 11 bombings in early December, each preceded by a warning call. The group has killed more than 850 persons and injured hundreds of others since it began lethal attacks in the 1960s. ETA finances its activities primarily through extortion and robbery.\nStrength\nUnknown; hundreds of members plus supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates primarily in the Basque autonomous regions of northern Spain and southwestern France, but also has attacked Spanish and French interests elsewhere.\nExternal Aid\nHas received training at various times in the past in Libya, Lebanon, and Nicaragua. Some ETA members allegedly fled to Cuba and Mexico while others reside in South America. ETA members have operated and been arrested in other European countries, including Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany.\nCommunist Party of Philippines/ New People's Army (CPP/NPA)\nDescription\nThe military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the NPA is a Maoist group formed in March 1969 with the aim of overthrowing the Government through protracted guerrilla warfare. The chairman of the CPP's Central Committee and the NPA's founder, Jose Maria Sison, reportedly directs CPP and NPA activity from The Netherlands, where he lives in self-imposed exile. Fellow Central Committee member and director of the CPP's overt political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF), Luis Jalandoni also lives in The Netherlands and has become a Dutch citizen. Although primarily a rural-based guerrilla group, the NPA has an active urban infrastructure to support its terrorist activities and uses city-based assassination squads. The rebels have claimed that the FTO designation has made it difficult to obtain foreign funding and forced them to step up extortion of businesses and politicians in the Philippines.\nActivities\nThe NPA primarily targets Philippine security forces, politicians, judges, government informers, former rebels who wish to leave the NPA, rival splinter groups, alleged criminals, Philippine infrastructure, and businesses that refuse to pay extortion, or \"revolutionary taxes.\" The NPA opposes any US military presence in the Philippines and attacked US military interests, killing several US service personnel, before the US base closures in 1992. Press reports in 1999 and in late 2001 indicated the NPA was again targeting US troops participating in joint military exercises, as well as US Embassy personnel. The NPA has claimed responsibility for the assassination of two congressmen from Quezon in May 2001 and Cagayan in June 2001 and for many other killings. In January 2002, the NPA publicly expressed its intent to target US personnel if discovered in NPA operating areas.\nStrength\nEstimated at less than 9,000, a number significantly lower than its peak strength of around 25,000 in the 1980s.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nOperates in rural Luzon, Visayas, and parts of Mindanao. Has cells in Manila and other metropolitan centers.\nExternal Aid\nContinuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)\na.k.a. Continuity Army Council, Republican Sinn Fein\nDescription\nCIRA is a terrorist splinter group formed in the mid 1990s as the clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Fein, which split from Sinn Fein in 1986. \"Continuity\" refers to the group's belief that it is carrying on the original Irish Republican Army's (IRA) goal of forcing the British out of Northern Ireland. CIRA's aliases, Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein, were also designated as FTOs. CIRA cooperates with the larger Real IRA.\nActivities\nCIRA has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include British military, Northern Ireland security forces, and Loyalist paramilitary groups. Unlike the Provisional IRA, CIRA is not observing a cease-fire. CIRA has continued its activities with a series of hoax bomb threats, low-level improvised explosive device attacks, kidnapping, intimidation, and so-called \"punishment beatings.\"\nStrength\nMembership is small, with possibly fewer than 50 hardcore activists. Police counterterrorist operations have reduced the group's strength, but CIRA continues to recruit, train, and plan operations.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic. Does not have an established presence in Great Britain.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States. May have acquired arms and materiel from the Balkans in cooperation with the Real IRA.\nGama'a al-Islamiyya (IG)\na.k.a. Islamic Group, al-Gama'at\nDescription\nThe IG, Egypt's largest militant group, has been active since the late 1970s, and is a loosely organized network. It has an external wing with supporters in several countries. The group's issuance of a cease-fire in 1997 led to a split into two factions: one, led by Mustafa Hamza, supported the cease-fire; the other, led by Rifa'i Taha Musa, called for a return to armed operations. The IG issued another ceasefire in March 1999, but its spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, sentenced to life in prison in January 1996 for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and incarcerated in the United States, rescinded his support for the cease-fire in June 2000. IG has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since the Luxor attack in 1997, which killed 58 tourists and four Egyptians and wounded dozens more. In February 1998, a senior member signed Usama Bin Ladin's fatwa calling for attacks against the United States.\nIn early 2001, Taha Musa published a book in which he attempted to justify terrorist attacks that would cause mass casualties. Taha Musa disappeared several months thereafter, and there is no information as to his current whereabouts. In March 2002, members of the group's historic leadership in Egypt declared use of violence misguided and renounced its future use, prompting denunciations by much of the leadership abroad. The Egyptian Government continues to release IG members from prison, including approximately 900 in 2003; likewise, most of the 700 persons released in 2004 at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan were IG members.\nFor IG members still dedicated to violent jihad, their primary goal is to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Disaffected IG members, such as those inspired by Taha Musa or Abd al-Rahman, may be interested in carrying out attacks against US interests.\nActivities\nIG conducted armed attacks against Egyptian security and other Government officials, Coptic Christians, and Egyptian opponents of Islamic extremism before the cease-fire. After the 1997 cease-fire, the faction led by Taha Musa launched attacks on tourists in Egypt, most notably the attack in November 1997 at Luxor. IG also claimed responsibility for the attempt in June 1995 to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.\nStrength\nUnknown. At its peak IG probably commanded several thousand hard-core members and a like number of sympathizers. The 1999 cease-fire, security crackdowns following the attack in Luxor in 1997 and, more recently, security efforts following September 11 probably have resulted in a substantial decrease in the group's numbers.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates mainly in the al-Minya, Asyut, Qina, and Sohaj Governorates of southern Egypt. Also appears to have support in Cairo, Alexandria, and other urban locations, particularly among unemployed graduates and students. Has a worldwide presence, including in the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Yemen, and various locations in Europe.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown. There is some evidence that Usama bin Ladin and Afghan militant groups support the organization. IG also may obtain some funding through various Islamic non-governmental organizations (NGOs).\nHAMAS\na.k.a. Islamic Resistance Movement\nDescription\nHAMAS was formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various HAMAS elements have used both violent and political means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel. It is loosely structured, with some elements working clandestinely and others operating openly through mosques and social service institutions to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and distribute propaganda. HAMAS' strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.\nActivities\nHAMAS terrorists, especially those in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets. HAMAS maintained the pace of its operational activity in 2004, claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests. HAMAS has not yet directly targeted US interests, although the group makes little or no effort to avoid targets frequented by foreigners. HAMAS continues to confine its attacks to Israelis inside Israel and the occupied territories.\nStrength\nUnknown number of official members; tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nHAMAS currently limits its terrorist operations to Israeli military and civilian targets in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Israel. Two of the group's most senior leaders in the Gaza Strip, Shaykh Ahmad Yasin and Abd al Aziz al Rantisi, were killed in Israeli air strikes in 2004. The group retains a cadre of senior leaders spread throughout the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and the Gulf States.\nExternal Aid\nReceives some funding from Iran but primarily relies on donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. Some fundraising and propaganda activity take place in Western Europe and North America.\nHarakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)\na.k.a. Harakat ul-Ansar\nDescription\nHUM is an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan that operates primarily in Kashmir. It is politically aligned with the radical political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F). The long-time leader of the group, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, in mid-February 2000 stepped down as HUM emir, turning the reins over to the popular Kashmiri commander and his second-in-com-mand, Farooqi Kashmiri. Khalil, who has been linked to Usama Bin Ladin and signed his fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks on US and Western interests, assumed the position of HUM Secretary General. HUM operated terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan until Coalition air strikes destroyed them during fall 2001. Khalil was detained by the Pakistanis in mid-2004 and subsequently released in late December. In 2003, HUM began using the name Jamiat ul-Ansar (JUA), and Pakistan banned JUA in November 2003.\nActivities\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year. HUM was responsible for the hijacking of an Indian airliner on December 24, 1999, which resulted in the release of Masood Azhar. Azhar, an important leader in the former Harakat ul-Ansar, was imprisoned by the Indians in 1994 and founded Jaish-e-Muhammad after his release. Also released in 1999 was Ahmed Omar Sheik, who was convicted of the abduc-tion/murder in January-February 2002 of US journalist Daniel Pearl.\nStrength\nHas several hundred armed supporters located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Kashmir valley. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Uses light and heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets. HUM lost a significant share of its membership in defections to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) in 2000.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nBased in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, and several other towns in Pakistan, but members conduct insurgent and terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. HUM trained its militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.\nExternal Aid\nCollects donations from Saudi Arabia, other Gulf and Islamic states, Pakistanis and Kashmiris. HUM's financial collection methods also include soliciting donations in magazine ads and pamphlets. The sources and amount of HUM's military funding are unknown. In anticipation of asset seizures in 2001 by the Pakistani Government, the HUM withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods. Its fundraising in Pakistan has been constrained since the Government clampdown on extremist groups and freezing of terrorist assets.\nHizballah\na.k.a. Party of God, Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine\nDescription\nFormed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, this Lebanon-based radical Shia group takes its ideological inspiration from the Iranian revolution and the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, is the group's highest governing body and is led by Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah. Hizballah is dedicated to liberating Jerusalem and eliminating Israel, and has formally advocated ultimate establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon. Nonetheless, Hizballah has actively participated in Lebanon's political system since 1992. Hizballah is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran but has the capability and willingness to act independently. Though Hizballah does not share the Syrian regime's secular orientation, the group has been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in the region.\nActivities\nKnown or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-US and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984. Three members of Hizballah, 'Imad Mughniyah, Hasan Izz-al-Din, and Ali Atwa, are on the FBI's list of 22 Most Wanted Terrorists for the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 during which a US Navy diver was murdered. Elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention of Americans and other Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hizballah also attacked the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. In 2000, Hizballah operatives captured three Israeli soldiers in the Shab'a Farms and kidnapped an Israeli noncombatant.\nHizballah also provides guidance and financial and operational support for Palestinian extremist groups engaged in terrorist operations in Israel and the occupied territories.\nIn 2004, Hizballah launched an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that left Lebanese airspace and flew over the Israeli town of Nahariya before crashing into Lebanese territorial waters. Ten days prior to the event, the Hizballah Secretary General said Hizballah would come up with new measures to counter Israeli Air Force violations of Lebanese airspace. Hizballah also continued launching small scale attacks across the Israeli border, resulting in the deaths of several Israeli soldiers. In March 2004, Hizballah and HAMAS signed an agreement to increase joint efforts to perpetrate attacks against Israel. In late 2004, Hizballah's al-Manar television station, based in Beirut with an estimated ten million viewers worldwide, was prohibited from broadcasting in France. Al-Manar was placed on the Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) in the United States, which led to its removal from the program offerings of its main cable service provider, and made it more difficult for al-Manar associates and affiliates to operate in the United States.\nStrength\nSeveral thousand supporters and a few hundred terrorist operatives.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Beka'a Valley, and southern Lebanon. Has established cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and Asia.\nExternal Aid\nReceives financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran, and diplomatic, political, and logistical support from Syria. Hizballah also receives funding from charitable donations and business interests.\nIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is a group of Islamic militants from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states. The IMU is closely affiliated with al-Qa'ida and, under the leadership of Tohir Yoldashev, has embraced Usama Bin Ladin's anti-US, anti-Western agenda. The IMU also remains committed to its original goals of overthrowing Uzbekistani President Karimov and establishing an Islamic state in Uzbekistan.\nActivities\nThe IMU in recent years has participated in attacks on US and Coalition soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and plotted attacks on US diplomatic facilities in Central Asia.\nIn November 2004, the IMU was blamed for an explosion in the southern Kyrgyzstani city of Osh that killed one police officer and one terrorist. In May 2003, Kyrgyzstani security forces disrupted an IMU cell that was seeking to bomb the US Embassy and a nearby hotel in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The IMU was also responsible for explosions in Bishkek in December 2002 and Osh in May 2003 that killed eight people. The IMU primarily targeted Uzbekistani interests before October 2001 and is believed to have been responsible for five car bombs in Tashkent in February 1999. IMU militants also took foreigners hostage in 1999 and 2000, including four US citizens who were mountain climbing in August 2000 and four Japanese geologists and eight Kyrgyzstani soldiers in August 1999.\nStrength\nProbably fewer than 500.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nIMU militants are scattered throughout South Asia, Tajikistan, and Iran. The area of operations includes Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.\nExternal Aid\nThe IMU receives support from other Islamic extremist groups and patrons in the Middle East and Central and South Asia.\nJaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)\na.k.a. Army of Mohammed Tehrik ul-Furqaan, Khuddam-ul-Islam\nDescription\nThe Jaish-e-Mohammed is an Islamic extremist group based in Pakistan that was formed in early 2000 by Masood Azhar upon his release from prison in India. The group's aim is to unite Kashmir with Pakistan. It is politically aligned with the radical political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F). By 2003, JEM had splintered into Khuddam ul-Islam (KUI), headed by Azhar, and Jamaat ul-Furqan (JUF), led by Abdul Jabbar, who was released in August 2004 from Pakistani custody after being detained for suspected involvement in the December 2003 assassination attempts against President Musharraf. Pakistan banned KUI and JUF in November 2003. Elements of JEM and Lashkar e-Tayyiba combined with other groups to mount attacks as \"The Save Kashmir Movement.\"\nActivities\nThe JEM's leader, Masood Azhar, was released from Indian imprisonment in December 1999 in exchange for 155 hijacked Indian Airlines hostages. The Harakat-ul-Ansar (HUA) kidnappings in 1994 of US and British nationals by Omar Sheik in New Delhi and the HUA/al-Faran kidnappings in July 1995 of Westerners in Kashmir were two of several previous HUA efforts to free Azhar. On October 1, 2001, JEM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly building in Srinagar that killed at least 31 persons but later denied the claim. The Indian Government has publicly implicated JEM, along with Lashkar e-Tayyiba, for the December 13, 2001, attack on the Indian Parliament that killed nine and injured 18. Pakistani authorities suspect that perpetrators of fatal anti-Christian attacks in Islamabad, Murree, and Taxila during 2002 were affiliated with JEM. The Pakistanis have implicated elements of JEM in the assassination attempts against President Musharraf in December 2003.\nStrength\nHas several hundred armed supporters located in Pakistan and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Kashmir valley, including a large cadre of former HUM members. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPakistan. JEM maintained training camps in Afghanistan until the fall of 2001.\nExternal Aid\nMost of JEM's cadre and material resources have been drawn from the militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM). JEM had close ties to Afghan Arabs and the Taliban. Usama bin Ladin is suspected of giving funding to JEM. JEM also collects funds through donation requests in magazines and pamphlets. In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani Government, JEM withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods.\nJemaah Islamiya Organization (JI)\nDescription\nJemaah Islamiya Organization is responsible for numerous high-profile bombings, including the bombing of the J. W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on August 5, 2003, and the Bali bombings on October 12, 2002. Members of the group have also been implicated in the September 9, 2004, attack outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The Bali attack, which left more than 200 dead, was reportedly the final outcome of meetings in early 2002 in Thailand, where attacks in Singapore and against soft targets such as tourist spots were also considered. In June 2003, authorities disrupted a JI plan to attack several Western embassies and tourist sites in Thailand. In December 2001, Singaporean authorities uncovered a JI plot to attack the US and Israeli Embassies and British and Australian diplomatic buildings in Singapore. JI is also responsible for the coordinated bombings of numerous Christian churches in Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000 and was involved in the bombings of several targets in Manila on December 31, 2000. The capture in August 2003 of Indonesian Riduan bin Isomoddin (a.k.a. Hambali), JI leader and al-Qa'ida Southeast Asia operations chief, damaged the JI, but the group maintains its ability to target Western interests in the region and to recruit new members through a network of radical Islamic schools based primarily in Indonesia. The emir, or spiritual leader, of JI, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, was on trial at year's end on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, and for his links to the Bali and Jakarta Marriott bombings and to a cache of arms and explosives found in central Java.\nStrength\nExact numbers are unknown, but Southeast Asian authorities continue to uncover and arrest JI elements. Estimates of total JI members vary widely from the hundreds to the thousands.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nJI is believed to have cells spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.\nExternal Aid\nInvestigations indicate that JI is fully capable of its own fundraising, although it also receives financial, ideological, and logistical support from Middle Eastern and South Asian contacts, non-governmental organizations, and other groups.\nAl-Jihad (AJ)\na.k.a. Jihad Group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, EIJ\nDescription\nThis Egyptian Islamic extremist group merged with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida organization in 2001. Usama Bin Ladin's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was the former head of AJ. Active since the 1970s, AJ's primary goal has been the overthrow of the Egyptian Government and the establishment of an Islamic state. The group's primary targets, historically, have been high-level Egyptian Government officials as well as US and Israeli interests in Egypt and abroad. Regular Egyptian crackdowns on extremists, including on AJ, have greatly reduced AJ capabilities in Egypt.\nActivities\nThe original AJ was responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It claimed responsibility for the attempted assassinations of Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi in August 1993 and Prime Minister Atef Sedky in November 1993. AJ has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since 1993 and has never successfully targeted foreign tourists there. The group was responsible for the Egyptian Embassy bombing in Islamabad in 1995 and a disrupted plot against the US Embassy in Albania in 1998.\nStrength\nUnknown, but probably has several hundred hard-core members inside and outside of Egypt.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nHistorically AJ operated in the Cairo area. Most AJ members today are outside Egypt in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, and Yemen. AJ activities have been centered outside Egypt for several years under the auspices of al-Qa'ida.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown. Since 1998 AJ received most of its funding from al-Qa'ida, and these close ties culminated in the eventual merger of the groups. Some funding may come from various Islamic non-governmental organizations, cover businesses, and criminal acts.\nKahane Chai (Kach)\nDescription\nKach's stated goal is to restore the biblical state of Israel. Kach, founded by radical Israeli-American rabbi Meir Kahane, and its offshoot Kahane Chai, (translation: \"Kahane Lives\"), founded by Meir Kahane's son Binyamin following his father's 1990 assassination in the United States, were declared to be terrorist organizations in 1994 by the Israeli Cabinet under its 1948 Terrorism Law. This followed the groups' statements in support of Dr. Baruch Goldstein's attack in February 1994 on the al-Ibrahimi Mosque (Goldstein was affiliated with Kach) and their verbal attacks on the Israeli Government. Palestinian gunmen killed Binyamin Kahane and his wife in a drive-by shooting in December 2000 in the West Bank.\nActivities\nThe group has organized protests against the Israeli Government. Kach has harassed and threatened Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli Government officials, and has vowed revenge for the death of Binyamin Kahane and his wife. Kach is suspected of involvement in a number of low-level attacks since the start of the al-Aqsa intifadah in 2000. Known Kach sympathizers are becoming more vocal and active against the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in mid-2005.\nStrength\nIsrael and West Bank settlements, particularly Qiryat Arba' in Hebron.\nExternal Aid\nReceives support from sympathizers in the United States and Europe.\nKongra-Gel (KGK)\na.k.a. Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress, KADEK, Kurdistan People's Congress, Freedom and Democracy Congress of Kurdistan\nDescription\nThe Kongra-Gel was founded by Abdullah Ocalan in 1974 as a Marxist-Leninist separatist organization and formally named the Kurdistan Workers' Party in 1978. The group, composed primarily of Turkish Kurds, began its campaign of armed violence in 1984, which has resulted in some 30,000 casualties. The PKK's goal has been to establish an independent, democratic Kurdish state in southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, and parts of Iran and Syria. In the early 1990s, the PKK moved beyond rural-based insurgent activities to include urban terrorism. Turkish authorities captured Ocalan in Kenya in early 1999, and the Turkish State Security Court subsequently sentenced him to death. In August 1999, Ocalan announced a \"peace initiative,\" ordering members to refrain from violence and requesting dialogue with Ankara on Kurdish issues. At a PKK Congress in January 2000, members supported Ocalan's initiative and claimed the group now would use only political means to achieve its public goal of improved rights for Kurds in Turkey. In April 2002 at its 8th Party Congress, the PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) and proclaimed a commitment to non-violent activities in support of Kurdish rights. In late 2003, the group sought to engineer another political face-lift, renaming itself Kongra-Gel (KGK) and promoting its \"peaceful\" intentions while continuing to conduct attacks in \"self-defense\" and to refuse disarmament. After five years, the group's hard-line militant wing, the People's Defense Force (HPG), renounced its self-imposed cease-fire on June 1, 2004. Over the course of the cease-fire, the group had divided into two factions -- politically-minded reformists, and hardliners who advocated a return to violence. The hardliners took control of the group in February 2004.\nActivities\nPrimary targets have been Turkish Government security forces, local Turkish officials, and villagers who oppose the organization in Turkey. It conducted attacks on Turkish diplomatic and commercial facilities in dozens of West European cities in 1993 and again in spring 1995. In an attempt to damage Turkey's tourist industry, the then-PKK bombed tourist sites and hotels and kidnapped foreign tourists in the early-to-mid-1990s. While most of the group's violence in 2004 was directed toward Turkish security forces, KGK was likely responsible for an unsuccessful July car bomb attack against the governor of Van Province, although it publicly denied responsibility, and may have played a role in the August bombings of two Istanbul hotels and a gas complex in which two people died.\nStrength\nApproximately 4,000 to 5,000, 3,000 to 3,500 of whom currently are located in northern Iraq. The group has thousands of sympathizers in Turkey and Europe. In November, Dutch police raided a suspected KGK training camp in The Netherlands, arresting roughly 30 suspected members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates primarily in Turkey, Iraq, Europe, and the Middle East.\nExternal Aid\nHas received safe haven and modest aid from Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Syria and Iran appear to cooperate with Turkey against KGK in a limited fashion when it serves their immediate interests. KGK uses Europe for fundraising and conducting political propaganda.\nLashkar e-Tayyiba (LT)\na.k.a. Army of the Righteous, Lashkar-e-Toiba, al Monsooreen, al-Mansoorian, Army of the Pure, Army of the Righteous, Army of the Pure and Righteous\nDescription\nLT is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based religious organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), an anti-US Sunni missionary organization formed in 1989. LT is led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and is one of the three largest and best trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India. It is not connected to any political party. The Pakistani Government banned the group and froze its assets in January 2002. Elements of LT and Jaish-e-Mohammed combined with other groups to mount attacks as \"The Save Kashmir Movement.\"\nActivities\nLT has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Jammu and Kashmir since 1993. LT claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in 2001, including an attack in January on Srinagar airport that killed five Indians; an attack on a police station in Srinagar that killed at least eight officers and wounded several others; and an attack in April against Indian border security forces that left at least four dead. The Indian Government publicly implicated LT, along with JEM, for the attack on December 13, 2001, on the Indian Parliament building, although concrete evidence is lacking. LT is also suspected of involvement in the attack on May 14, 2002, on an Indian Army base in Kaluchak that left 36 dead. Senior al-Qa'ida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah was captured at an LT safe house in Faisalabad in March 2002, suggesting some members are facilitating the movement of al-Qa'ida members in Pakistan.\nStrength\nHas several thousand members in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, in the southern Jammu and Kashmir and Doda regions, and in the Kashmir valley. Almost all LT members are Pakistanis from madrassas across Pakistan or Afghan veterans of the Afghan wars.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nBased in Muridke (near Lahore) and Muzaffarabad.\nExternal Aid\nCollects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani and other Kashmiri business people. LT also maintains a Web site (under the name Jamaat ud-Daawa), through which it solicits funds and provides information on the group's activities. The amount of LT funding is unknown. LT maintains ties to religious/militant groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya through the fraternal network of its parent organization Jamaat ud-Dawa (formerly Markaz Dawa ul-Irshad). In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani Government, the LT withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods.\nLashkar i Jhangvi (LJ)\nDescription\nLashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) is the militant offshoot of the Sunni sectarian group Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan. LJ focuses primarily on anti-Shia attacks and was banned by Pakistani President Musharraf in August 2001 as part of an effort to rein in sectarian violence. Many of its members then sought refuge in Afghanistan with the Taliban, with whom they had existing ties. After the collapse of the Taliban, LJ members became active in aiding other terrorists with safe houses, false identities, and protection in Pakistani cities, including Karachi, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi. In January 2003, the United States added LJ to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.\nActivities\nLJ specializes in armed attacks and bombings. The group attempted to assassinate former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shabaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab Province, in January 1999. Pakistani authorities have publicly linked LJ members to the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in early 2002. Police officials initially suspected LJ members were involved in the two suicide car bombings in Karachi in 2002 against a French shuttle bus in May and the US Consulate in June, but their subsequent investigations have not led to any LJ members being charged in the attacks. Similarly, press reports have linked LJ to attacks on Christian targets in Pakistan, including a grenade assault on the Protestant International Church in Islamabad in March 2002 that killed two US citizens, but no formal charges have been filed against the group. Pakistani authorities believe LJ was responsible for the bombing in July 2003 of a Shiite mosque in Quetta, Pakistan. Authorities have also implicated LJ in several sectarian incidents in 2004, including the May and June bombings of two Shiite mosques in Karachi that killed over 40 people.\nStrength\nLJ is active primarily in Punjab and Karachi. Some members travel between Pakistan and Afghanistan.\nExternal Aid\nLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)\na.k.a. The Tamil Tigers, The Ellalan Force\nDescription\nFounded in 1976, the LTTE is the most powerful Tamil group in Sri Lanka. It began its insurgency against the Sri Lankan Government in 1983 and has relied on a guerrilla strategy that includes the use of terrorist tactics. The LTTE currently is observing a cease-fire agreement with the Sri Lankan Government.\nActivities\nThe LTTE has integrated a battlefield insurgent strategy with a terrorist program that targets key personnel in the countryside and senior Sri Lankan political and military leaders in Colombo and other urban centers. The LTTE is most notorious for its cadre of suicide bombers, the Black Tigers. Political assassinations and bombings were commonplace tactics prior to the cease-fire.\nStrength\nExact strength is unknown, but the LTTE is estimated to have 8,000 to 10,000 armed combatants in Sri Lanka, with a core of 3,000 to 6,000 trained fighters. The LTTE also has a significant overseas support structure for fundraising, weapons procurement, and propaganda activities.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nThe LTTE controls most of the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka but has conducted operations throughout the island. Headquartered in northern Sri Lanka, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has established an extensive network of checkpoints and informants to keep track of any outsiders who enter the group's area of control.\nExternal Aid\nThe LTTE's overt organizations support Tamil separatism by lobbying foreign governments and the United Nations. The LTTE also uses its international contacts and the large Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe, and Asia to procure weapons, communications, funding, and other needed supplies.\nLibyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)\nDescription\nThe Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) emerged in the early 1990s among Libyans who had fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan and against the Qadhafi regime in Libya. The LIFG declared the Government of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi un-Islamic and pledged to overthrow it. Some members maintain a strictly anti-Qadhafi focus and organize against Libyan Government interests, but others are aligned with Usama Bin Ladin and believed to be part of al-Qa'ida's leadership structure or active in the international terrorist network.\nActivities\nLibyans associated with the LIFG are part of the broader international jihadist movement. The LIFG is one of the groups believed to have planned the Casablanca suicide bombings in May 2003. The LIFG claimed responsibility for a failed assassination attempt against Qadhafi in 1996 and engaged Libyan security forces in armed clashes during the 1990s. It continues to target Libyan interests and may engage in sporadic clashes with Libyan security forces.\nStrength\nNot known, but probably has several hundred active members or supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nProbably maintains a clandestine presence in Libya, but since the late 1990s many members have fled to various Asian, Persian Gulf, African, and European countries, particularly the United Kingdom.\nExternal Aid\nNot known. May obtain some funding through private donations, various Islamic non-governmental organizations, and criminal acts.\nMujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)\na.k.a. The National Liberation Army of Iran, The People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistance (NCR), The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Muslim Iranian Students' Society\nDescription\nThe MEK philosophy mixes Marxism and Islam. Formed in the 1960s, the organization was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein starting in the late 1980s. The MEK conducted anti-West-ern attacks prior to the Islamic Revolution. Since then, it has conducted terrorist attacks against the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. The MEK advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime and its replacement with the group's own leadership.\nActivities\nThe group's worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism. During the 1970s, the MEK killed US military personnel and US civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran. In 1981, the MEK detonated bombs in the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Premier's office, killing some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Premier Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. Near the end of the 19801988 war with Iran, Baghdad armed the MEK with military equipment and sent it into action against Iranian forces. In 1991, the MEK assisted the Government of Iraq in suppressing the Shia and Kurdish uprisings in southern Iraq and the Kurdish uprisings in the north. In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and installations in 13 countries, demonstrating the group's ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. In April 1999, the MEK targeted key military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff. In April 2000, the MEK attempted to assassinate the commander of the Nasr Headquarters, Tehran's interagency board responsible for coordinating policies on Iraq. The normal pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during \"Operation Great Bahman\" in February 2000, when the group launched a dozen attacks against Iran. One of those attacks included a mortar attack against the leadership complex in Tehran that housed the offices of the Supreme Leader and the President. In 2000 and 2001, the MEK was involved regularly in mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids on Iranian military and law enforcement units and Government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border, although MEK terrorism in Iran declined toward the end of 2001. After Coalition aircraft bombed MEK bases at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the MEK leadership ordered its members not to resist Coalition forces, and a formal cease-fire arrangement was reached in May 2003.\nStrength\nOver 3,000 MEK members are currently confined to Camp Ashraf, the MEK's main compound north of Baghdad, where they remain under the Geneva Convention's \"protected person\" status and Coalition control. As a condition of the cease-fire agreement, the group relinquished its weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. A significant number of MEK personnel have \"defected\" from the Ashraf group, and several dozen of them have been voluntarily repatriated to Iran.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nIn the 1980s, the MEK's leaders were forced by Iranian security forces to flee to France. On resettling in Iraq in 1987, almost all of its armed units were stationed in fortified bases near the border with Iran. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom, the bulk of the group is limited to Camp Ashraf, although an overseas support structure remains with associates and supporters scattered throughout Europe and North America.\nExternal Aid\nBefore Operation Iraqi Freedom, the group received all of its military assistance, and most of its financial support, from the former Iraqi regime. The MEK also has used front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.\nNational Liberation Army (ELN)\nDescription\nThe ELN is a Colombian Marxist insurgent group formed in 1965 by urban intellectuals inspired by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. It is primarily rural-based, although it possesses several urban units. In May 2004, Colombian President Uribe proposed a renewal of peace talks, but by the end of the year talks had not commenced.\nActivities\nKidnapping, hijacking, bombing, and extortion. Minimal conventional military capability. Annually conducts hundreds of kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreign employees of large corporations, especially in the petroleum industry. Derives some revenue from taxation of the illegal narcotics industry. Frequently assaults energy infrastructure and has inflicted major damage on pipelines and the electric distribution network.\nStrength\nApproximately 3,000 armed combatants and an unknown number of active supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nMostly in rural and mountainous areas of northern, northeastern, and southwestern Colombia, and Venezuelan border regions.\nExternal Aid\nCuba provides some medical care and political consultation. Venezuela continues to provide a hospitable environment.\nPalestine Liberation Front (PLF)\na.k.a. PLF-Abu Abbas Faction\nDescription\nThe Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) broke away from the PFLP-GC in the late 1970s and later split again into pro-PLO, pro-Syrian, and pro-Libyan factions. The pro-PLO faction was led by Muhammad Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Abbas) and was based in Baghdad prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.\nActivities\nAbbas' group was responsible for the attack in 1985 on the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and the murder of US citizen Leon Klinghoffer. Abu Abbas died of natural causes in April 2004 while in US custody in Iraq. Current leadership and membership of the relatively small PLF appears to be based in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The PLF has become more active since the start of the al-Aqsa intifadah and several PLF members have been arrested by Israeli authorities for planning attacks in Israel and the West Bank.\nStrength\nBased in Iraq since 1990, has a presence in Lebanon and the West Bank.\nExternal Aid\nReceived support mainly from Iraq; has received support from Libya in the past.\nPalestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)\na.k.a. Islamic Jihad of Palestine, PIJ-Shaqaqi Faction, PIJ-Shalla Faction, Al-Quds Brigades\nDescription\nFormed by militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the 1970s, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is committed to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel through attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets inside Israel and the Palestinian territories.\nActivities\nPIJ militants have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets. The group maintained operational activity in 2004, claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests. PIJ has not yet directly targeted US interests; it continues to direct attacks against Israelis inside Israel and the territories, although US citizens have died in attacks mounted by the PIJ.\nStrength\nUnknown.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The group's primary leadership resides in Syria, though other leadership elements reside in Lebanon, as well as other parts of the Middle East.\nExternal Aid\nReceives financial assistance from Iran and limited logistical assistance from Syria.\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\nDescription\nFormerly a part of the PLO, the Marxist-Leninist PFLP was founded by George Habash when it broke away from the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1967. The PFLP does not view the Palestinian struggle as religious, seeing it instead as a broader revolution against Western imperialism. The group earned a reputation for spectacular international attacks, including airline hijackings, that have killed at least 20 US citizens.\nActivities\nThe PFLP committed numerous international terrorist attacks during the 1970s. Since 1978, the group has conducted attacks against Israeli or moderate Arab targets, including killing a settler and her son in December 1996. The PFLP has stepped up its operational activity since the start of the current intifadah, highlighted by at least two suicide bombings since 2003, multiple joint operations with other Palestinian terrorist groups, and assassination of the Israeli Tourism Minster in 2001 to avenge Israel's killing of the PFLP Secretary General earlier that year.\nStrength\nSyria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.\nExternal Aid\nReceives safe haven and some logistical assistance from Syria.\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)\nDescription\nThe PFLP-GC split from the PFLP in 1968, claiming it wanted to focus more on fighting and less on politics. Originally it was violently opposed to the Arafat-led PLO. The group is led by Ahmad Jabril, a former captain in the Syrian Army, whose son Jihad was killed by a car bomb in May 2002. The PFLP-GC is closely tied to both Syria and Iran.\nActivities\nCarried out dozens of attacks in Europe and the Middle East during the 1970s and 1980s. Known for cross-bor-der terrorist attacks into Israel using unusual means, such as hot-air balloons and motorized hang gliders. Primary focus is now on guerrilla operations in southern Lebanon and small-scale attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.\nStrength\nHeadquartered in Damascus with bases in Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nReceives logistical and military support from Syria and financial support from Iran.\nAl-Qa'ida\na.k.a. Usama Bin Ladin Organization\nDescription\nAl-Qa'ida was established by Usama Bin Ladin in 1988 with Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. Helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Goal is to unite Muslims to fight the United States as a means of defeating Israel, overthrowing regimes it deems \"non-Is-lamic,\" and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries. Eventual goal would be establishment of a pan-Islamic caliphate throughout the world. Issued statement in February 1998 under the banner of \"The World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders\" saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens, civilian and military, and their allies everywhere. Merged with al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) in June 2001, renaming itself \"Qa'idat al-Jihad.\" Merged with Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's organization in Iraq in late 2004, with al-Zarqawi's group changing its name to \"Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn\" (al-Qa'ida in the Land of the Two Rivers).\nActivities\nIn 2004, the Saudi-based al-Qa'ida network and associated extremists launched at least 11 attacks, killing over 60 people, including six Americans, and wounding more than 225 in Saudi Arabia. Focused on targets associated with US and Western presence and Saudi security forces in Riyadh, Yanbu, Jeddah, and Dhahran. Attacks consisted of vehicle bombs, infantry assaults, kidnappings, targeted shootings, bombings, and beheadings. Other al-Qa'ida networks have been involved in attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.\nIn 2003, carried out the assault and bombing on May 12 of three expatriate housing complexes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 30 and injured 216. Backed attacks on May 16 in Casablanca, Morocco, of a Jewish center, restaurant, nightclub, and hotel that killed 33 and injured 101. Probably supported the bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 5, that killed 12 and injured 149. Responsible for the assault and bombing on November 9 of a housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 17 and injured 122. The suicide bombers and others associated with the bombings of two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 15 that killed 20 and injured 300 and the bombings in Istanbul of the British Consulate and HSBC Bank on November 20 that resulted in 41 dead and 555 injured had strong links to al-Qa'ida. Conducted two assassination attempts against Pakistani President Musharraf in December 2003. Was involved in some attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.\nIn 2002, carried out bombing on November 28 of a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killing 15 and injuring 40. Probably supported a nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12 by Jemaah Islamiya that killed more than 200. Responsible for an attack on US military personnel in Kuwait on October 8 that killed one US soldier and injured another. Directed a suicide attack on the tanker M/V Limburg off the coast of Yemen on October 6 that killed one and injured four. Carried out a firebombing of a synagogue in Tunisia on April 11 that killed 19 and injured 22. On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qa'ida suicide attackers hijacked and crashed four US commercial jets -- two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon near Washington, DC, and a fourth into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- leaving nearly 3,000 individuals dead or missing. Directed the attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, on October 12, 2000, killing 17 US Navy sailors and injuring another 39.\nConducted the bombings in August 1998 of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed at least 301 individuals and injured more than 5,000 others. Claims to have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 and to have conducted three bombings that targeted US troops in Aden, Yemen, in December 1992.\nAl-Qa'ida is linked to the following plans that were disrupted or not carried out: to bomb in mid-air a dozen US trans-Pacific flights in 1995, and to set off a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport in 1999. Also plotted to carry out terrorist operations against US and Israeli tourists visiting Jordan for millennial celebrations in late 1999 (Jordanian authorities thwarted the planned attacks and put 28 suspects on trial). In December 2001, suspected al-Qa'ida associate Richard Colvin Reid attempted to ignite a shoe bomb on a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris to Miami. Attempted to shoot down an Israeli chartered plane with a surface-to-air missile as it departed the Mombasa, Kenya, airport in November 2002.\nStrength\nAl-Qa'ida's organizational strength is difficult to determine in the aftermath of extensive counterterrorist efforts since 9/11. However, the group probably has several thousand extremists and associates worldwide inspired by the group's ideology. The arrest and deaths of mid-level and senior al-Qa'ida operatives have disrupted some communication, financial, and facilitation nodes and interrupted some terrorist plots. Al-Qa'ida also serves as a focal point or umbrella organization for a worldwide network that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, including some members of Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAl-Qa'ida has cells worldwide and is reinforced by its ties to Sunni extremist networks. It was based in Afghanistan until Coalition forces removed the Taliban from power in late 2001. Al-Qa'ida has dispersed in small groups across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and probably will attempt to carry out future attacks against US interests.\nExternal Aid\nAl-Qa'ida maintains moneymaking front businesses, solicits donations from like-minded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations. US and international efforts to block al-Qa'ida funding have hampered the group's ability to obtain money.\nReal IRA (RIRA)\na.k.a. 32-County Sovereignty Committee\nDescription\nRIRA was formed in the late 1990s as the clandestine armed wing of the 32-County Sovereignty Movement, a \"political pressure group\" dedicated to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and unifying Ireland. The RIRA also seeks to disrupt the Northern Ireland peace process. The 32-County Sovereignty Movement opposed Sinn Fein's adoption in September 1997 of the Mitchell principles of democracy and non-violence; it also opposed the amendment in December 1999 of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution, which had claimed the territory of Northern Ireland. Despite internal rifts and calls by some jailed members -- including the group's founder Michael \"Mickey\" McKevitt -- for a ceasefire and disbandment, RIRA has pledged additional violence and continues to conduct attacks.\nActivities\nBombings, assassinations, and robberies. Many Real IRA members are former Provisional Irish Republican Army members who left that organization after the Provisional IRA renewed its cease-fire in 1997. These members brought a wealth of experience in terrorist tactics and bomb making to RIRA. Targets have included civilians (most notoriously in the Omagh bombing in August 1998), British security forces, police in Northern Ireland, and local Protestant communities. RIRA's most recent fatal attack was in August 2002 at a London army base that killed a construction worker. In 2004, RIRA conducted several postal bomb attacks and made threats against prison officers, people involved in the new policing arrangements, and senior politicians. RIRA also planted incendiary devices in Belfast shopping areas and conducted a serious shooting attack against a Police Service of Northern Ireland station in September. The organization reportedly wants to improve its intelligence-gathering ability, engineering capacity, and access to weaponry; it also trains members in the use of guns and explosives. RIRA continues to attract new members, and its senior members are committed to launching attacks on security forces. Arrests in the spring led to the discovery of incendiary and explosive devices at a RIRA bomb making facility in Limerick. The group also engaged in smuggling and other non-terrorist crime in Ireland.\nStrength\nThe number of activists may have fallen to less than 100. The organization may receive limited support from IRA hardliners and Republican sympathizers dissatisfied with the IRA's continuing cease-fire and Sinn Fein's involvement in the peace process. Approximately 40 RIRA members are in Irish jails.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Great Britain, and Irish Republic.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected of receiving funds from sympathizers in the United States and of attempting to buy weapons from US gun dealers. RIRA also is reported to have purchased sophisticated weapons from the Balkans, and to have taken materials from Provisional IRA arms dumps in the later 1990s.\nRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)\nDescription\nEstablished in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC is Latin America's oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped insurgency of Marxist origin. Although only nominally fighting in support of Marxist goals today, the FARC is governed by a general secretariat led by long-time leader Manuel Marulanda (a.k.a. \"Tirofijo\") and six others, including senior military commander Jorge Briceno (a.k.a. \"Mono Jojoy\"). Organized along military lines but includes some specialized urban fighting units. A Colombian military offensive targeting FARC fighters in their former safe haven in southern Colombia has experienced some success, with several FARC mid-level leaders killed or captured. On December 31, 2004, FARC leader Simon Trinidad, the highest-ranking FARC leader ever captured, was extradited to the United States on drug charges.\nActivities\nBombings, murder, mortar attacks, kidnapping, extortion, and hijacking, as well as guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military, and economic targets. In March 1999, the FARC executed three US indigenous rights activists on Venezuelan territory after it kidnapped them in Colombia. In February 2003, the FARC captured and continues to hold three US contractors and killed one other American when their plane crashed in Florencia. Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC kidnapping for ransom. The FARC has well-documented ties to the full range of narcotics trafficking activities, including taxation, cultivation, and distribution.\nStrength\nApproximately 9,000 to 12,000 armed combatants and several thousand more supporters, mostly in rural areas.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily in Colombia with some activities -- extortion, kidnapping, weapons sourcing, logistics, and R&R -- suspected in neighboring Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Peru, and Ecuador.\nExternal Aid\nCuba provides some medical care, safe haven, and political consultation. In December 2004, a Colombian Appeals Court declared three members of the Irish Republican Army -- arrested in Colombia in 2001 upon exiting the former FARC-controlled demilitarized zone (despeje) -- guilty of providing advanced explosives training to the FARC. The FARC often uses the Colombia/ Venezuela border area for cross-border incursions and consider Venezuelan territory as a safe haven.\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN)\na.k.a. Revolutionary Cells, Revolutionary Popular Struggle, ELA\nDescription\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN) emerged from a broad range of antiestablishment and anti-US/NATO/EU leftist groups active in Greece between 1995 and 1998. The group is believed to be the successor to or offshoot of Greece's most prolific terrorist group, Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA), which has not claimed an attack since January 1995. Indeed, RN appeared to fill the void left by ELA, particularly as lesser groups faded from the scene. RN's few communiqu�s show strong similarities in rhetoric, tone, and theme to ELA proclamations. RN has not claimed an attack since November 2000, nor has it announced its disbandment.\nActivities\nSince it began operations in January 1995, the group has claimed responsibility for some two dozen arson attacks and low-level bombings against a range of US, Greek, and other European targets in Greece. In its most infamous and lethal attack to date, the group claimed responsibility for a bomb it detonated at the Intercontinental Hotel in April 1999 that resulted in the death of a Greek woman and injured a Greek man. Its modus operandi includes warning calls of impending attacks, attacks targeting property instead of individuals, use of rudimentary timing devices, and strikes during the late-evening to early-morning hours. RN may have been responsible for two attacks in July 2003 against a US insurance company and a local bank in Athens. RN's last confirmed attacks against US interests in Greece came in November 2000, with two separate bombings against the Athens offices of Citigroup and the studio of a Greek-American sculptor. Greek targets have included judicial and other Government office buildings, private vehicles, and the offices of Greek firms involved in NATO-related defense contracts in Greece. Similarly, the group has attacked European interests in Athens. The group did not conduct an attack in 2004.\nStrength\nGroup membership is believed to be small, probably drawing from the Greek militant leftist or anarchist milieu.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimary area of operation is in the Athens metropolitan area.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown but believed to be self-sustaining.\nRevolutionary People's Liberation Party/ Front (DHKP/C)\na.k.a. Devrimci Sol, Dev Sol, Revolutionary Left\nDescription\nThis group originally formed in Turkey in 1978 as Devrimci Sol, or Dev Sol, a splinter faction of Dev Genc (Revolutionary Youth). Renamed in 1994 after factional infighting. \"Party\" refers to the group's political activities, while \"Front\" is a reference to the group's militant operations. The group espouses a Marxist-Leninist ideology and is vehemently anti-US, anti-NATO, and anti-Turkish establishment. Its goals are the establishment of a socialist state and the abolition of one- to three-man prison cells, called F-type prisons. DHKP/C finances its activities chiefly through donations and extortion.\nActivities\nSince the late 1980s the group has targeted primarily current and retired Turkish security and military officials. It began a new campaign against foreign interests in 1990, which included attacks against US military and diplomatic personnel and facilities. To protest perceived US imperialism during the Gulf War, Dev Sol assassinated two US military contractors, wounded an Air Force officer, and bombed more than 20 US and NATO military, commercial, and cultural facilities. In its first significant terrorist act as DHKP/C in 1996, the group assassinated a prominent Turkish businessman and two others. DHKP/C added suicide bombings to its repertoire in 2001, with successful attacks against Turkish police in January and September. Since the end of 2001, DHKP/C has typically used improvised explosive devices against official Turkish targets and soft US targets of opportunity; attacks against US targets beginning in 2003 probably came in response to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operations and arrests against the group have weakened its capabilities. DHKP/C did not conduct any major terrorist attacks in 2003, but on June 24, 2004 -- just days before the NATO summit -- an explosive device detonated, apparently prematurely, aboard a passenger bus in Istanbul while a DHKP/C operative was transporting it to another location, killing the operative and three other persons.\nStrength\nProbably several dozen terrorist operatives inside Turkey, with a large support network throughout Europe. On April 1, 2004, authorities arrested more than 40 suspected DHKP/C members in coordinated raids across Turkey and Europe. In October, 10 alleged members of the group were sentenced to life imprisonment, while charges were dropped against 20 other defendants because of a statute of limitations.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nTurkey, primarily Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana. Raises funds in Europe.\nExternal Aid\nWidely believed to have training facilities or offices in Lebanon and Syria.\nSalafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)\na.k.a. Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, Le Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat\nDescription\nThe Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), a splinter group of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), seeks to overthrow the Algerian Government with the goal of installing an Islamic regime. GSPC eclipsed the GIA in approximately 1998, and is currently the most effective and largest armed group inside Algeria. In contrast to the GIA, the GSPC pledged to avoid civilian attacks inside Algeria.\nActivities\nThe GSPC continues to conduct operations aimed at Algerian Government and military targets, primarily in rural areas, although civilians are sometimes killed. The Government of Algeria scored major counterterrorism successes against GSPC in 2004, significantly weakening the organization, which also has been plagued with internal divisions. Algerian military forces killed GSPC leader Nabil Sahraoui and one of his top lieutenants, Abbi Abdelaziz, in June 2004 in the mountainous area east of Algiers. In October, the Algerian Government took custody of Abderazak al-Para, who led a GSPC faction that held 32 European tourists hostage in 2003. According to press reporting, some GSPC members in Europe and the Middle East maintain contact with other North African extremists sympathetic to al-Qa'ida. In late 2003, the GSPC leader issued a communiqu� announcing the group's support of a number of jihadist causes and movements, including al-Qa'ida.\nStrength\nSeveral hundred fighters with an unknown number of facilitators outside Algeria.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAlgeria, the Sahel (i.e. northern Mali, northern Mauritania, and northern Niger), Canada, and Western Europe.\nExternal Aid\nAlgerian expatriates and GSPC members abroad, many residing in Western Europe, provide financial and logistical support. GSPC members also engage in criminal activity.\nShining Path (SL)\na.k.a. Sendero Luminoso People's Liberation Army\nDescription\nFormer university professor Abimael Guzman formed SL in Peru in the late 1960s, and his teachings created the foundation of SL's militant Maoist doctrine. In the 1980s, SL became one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately 30,000 persons have died since Shining Path took up arms in 1980. The Peruvian Government made dramatic gains against SL during the 1990s, but reports of recent SL involvement in narco-trafficking and kidnapping for ransom indicate it may be developing new sources of support. Its stated goal is to destroy existing Peruvian institutions and replace them with a communist peasant revolutionary regime. It also opposes any influence by foreign governments. Peruvian Courts in 2003 granted approximately 1,900 members the right to request retrials in a civilian court, including the imprisoned top leadership. The trial of Guzman, who was arrested in 1992, was scheduled for November 5, 2004, but was postponed after the first day, when chaos erupted in the courtroom.\nActivities\nConducted indiscriminate bombing campaigns and selective assassinations.\nStrength\nUnknown but estimated to be some 300 armed militants.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPeru, with most activity in rural areas.\nExternal\nAid None.\nTanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR)\na.k.a. Al-Zarqawi Network, Al-Qa'ida in Iraq, Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organization in the Land of The Two Rivers, Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad\nDescription\nThe Jordanian Palestinian Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi (Ahmad Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalaylah, a.k.a. Abu Ahmad, Abu Azraq) established cells in Iraq soon after the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), formalizing his group in April 2004 to bring together jihadists and other insurgents in Iraq fighting against US and Coalition forces. Zarqawi initially called his group \"Unity and Jihad\" (Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, or JTJ). Zarqawi and his group helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Iraqi resistance. The group adopted its current name after its October 2004 merger with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida. The immediate goal of QJBR is to expel the Coalition -- through a campaign of bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, and intimidation -- and establish an Islamic state in Iraq. QJBR's longer-term goal is to proliferate jihad from Iraq into \"Greater Syria,\" that is, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.\nActivities\nIn August 2003, Zarqawi's group carried out a major international terrorist attack in Iraq when it bombed the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, followed 12 days later by a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack against the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, killing 23, including the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Also in August the group conducted a VBIED attack against Shi'a worshippers outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Al Najaf, killing 85 -- including the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). It kept up its attack pace throughout 2003, striking numerous Iraqi, Coalition, and relief agency targets such as the Red Cross. Zarqawi's group conducted VBIED attacks against US military personnel and Iraqi infrastructure throughout 2004, including suicide attacks inside the Green Zone perimeter in Baghdad. The group successfully penetrated the Green Zone in the October bombing of a popular caf� and market. Zarqawi's group fulfilled a pledge to target Shi'a; its March attacks on Shi'a celebrating the religious holiday of Ashura, killing over 180, was its most lethal attack to date. The group also killed key Iraqi political figures in 2004, most notably the head of Iraq's Governing Council. The group has claimed responsibility for the videotaped execution by beheading of Americans Nicholas Berg (May 8, 2004), Jack Armstrong (September 20, 2004), and Jack Hensley (September 21, 2004). The group may have been involved in other hostage incidents as well.\nZarqawi's group has been active in the Levant since its involvement in the failed Millennium plot directed against US, Western, and Jordanian targets in Jordan in late 1999. The group assassinated USAID official Laurence Foley in 2002, but the Jordanian Government has successfully disrupted further plots against US and Western interests in Jordan, including a major arrest of Zarqawi associates in 2004 planning to attack Jordanian security targets.\nStrength\nQJBR's numerical strength is unknown, though the group has attracted new recruits to replace key leaders and other members killed or captured by Coalition forces. Zarqawi's increased stature from his formal relationship with al-Qa'ida could attract additional recruits to QJBR.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nQJBR's operations are predominately Iraq-based, but the group maintains an extensive logistical network throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.\nExternal Aid\nQJBR probably receives funds from donors in the Middle East and Europe, local sympathizers in Iraq, and a variety of businesses and criminal activities. In many cases, QJBR's donors are probably motivated by support for jihad rather than affiliation with any specific terrorist group.\nUnited Self-Defense Forces/Group of Colombia (AUC)\na.k.a. Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia\nDescription\nThe AUC, commonly referred to as \"the paramilitaries,\" is an umbrella organization formed in April 1997 to coordinate the activities of local paramilitary groups and develop a cohesive paramilitary effort to combat insurgents. The AUC is supported by economic elites, drug traffickers, and local communities lacking effective Government security, and claims its primary objective is to protect its sponsors from Marxist insurgents. The AUC's affiliate groups and other paramilitary units are in negotiations with the Government of Colombia and in the midst of the largest demobilization in modern Colombian history. To date, approximately 3,600 AUC-affiliated fighters have demobilized since November 2003.\nActivities\nAUC operations vary from assassinating suspected insurgent supporters to engaging guerrilla combat units. As much as 70 percent of the AUC's operational costs are financed with drug-related earnings, with the rest coming from \"donations\" from its sponsors. The AUC generally avoids actions against US personnel or interests.\nStrength\nEstimated 8,000 to 11,000, with an unknown number of active supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAUC forces are strongest in the northwest of Colombia in Antioquia, Cordoba, Sucre, Atlantico, Magdelena, Cesar, La Guajira, and Bolivar Departments, with affiliate groups in the coffee region, Valle del Cauca, and in Meta Department.\nExternal Aid\nMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)\nNew Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC)\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)\nRed Hand Defenders (RHD)\nRevolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei (NIPR)\nRevolutionary Struggle (RS)\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM)\nSipah-I-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)\nSpecial Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR)\nTunisian Combatant Group (TCG)\nTupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)\nTurkish Hizballah\nUlster Defense Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF)\nUlster Volunteer Force (UVF)\nUnited Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)\nAl Badhr Mujahedin (al-Badr)\nDescription\nThe Al Badhr Mujahedin split from Hizbul-Mujahedin (HM) in 1998. Traces its origins to 1971, when a group named Al Badr attacked Bengalis in East Pakistan. Later operated as part of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-I Islami (HIG) in Afghanistan and, from 1990, as a unit of HM in Kashmir. The group was relatively inactive until 2000. Since then, it has increasingly claimed responsibility for attacks against Indian military targets.\nActivities\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir.\nStrength\nJammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.\nExternal\nAl-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI)\nDescription\nAIAI rose to prominence in the Horn of Africa in the early 1990s, following the downfall of the Siad Barre regime and the subsequent collapse of the Somali nation state into anarchy. AIAI was not internally cohesive and suffered divisions between factions supporting moderate Islam and more puritanical Islamic ideology. Following military defeats in 1996 and 1997, AIAI evolved into a loose network of highly compartmentalized cells, factions, and individuals with no central control or coordination. AIAI elements pursue a variety of agendas ranging from social services and education to insurgency activities in the Ogaden. Some AIAI-associated sheikhs espouse a radical fundamentalist version of Islam, with particular emphasis on a strict adherence to Sharia (Islamic law), a view often at odds with Somali emphasis on clan identity. A small number of AIAI-associated individuals have provided logistical support to and maintain ties with al-Qa'ida; however, the network's central focus remains the establishment of an Islamic government in Somalia.\nActivities\nElements of AIAI may have been responsible for the kidnapping and murder of relief workers in Somalia and Somaliland in 2003 and 2004, and during the late 1990s. Factions of AIAI may also have been responsible for a series of bomb attacks in public places in Addis Ababa in 1996 and 1997. Most AIAI factions have recently concentrated on broadening their religious base, renewed emphasis on building businesses, and undertaking \"hearts and minds\" actions, such as sponsoring orphanages and schools and providing security that uses an Islamic legal structure in the areas where it is active.\nStrength\nThe actual membership strength is unknown.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nPrimarily in Somalia, with a presence in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, Kenya, and possibly Djibouti.\nExternal Aid\nReceives funds from Middle East financiers and Somali diaspora communities in Europe, North America, and the Arabian Peninsula.\nAlex Boncayao Brigade (ABB)\nDescription\nThe ABB, the breakaway urban hit squad of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army, was formed in the mid-1980s. The ABB was added to the Terrorist Exclusion list in December 2001.\nActivities\nResponsible for more than 100 murders, including the murder in 1989 of US Army Col. James Rowe in the Philippines. In March 1997, the group announced it had formed an alliance with another armed group, the Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPA). In March 2000, the group claimed credit for a rifle grenade attack against the Department of Energy building in Manila and strafed Shell Oil offices in the central Philippines to protest rising oil prices.\nStrength\na.k.a. Anti-Imperialist Territorial Units\nDescription\nThe NTA is a clandestine leftist extremist group that first appeared in Italy's Friuli region in 1995. Adopted the class struggle ideology of the Red Brigades of the 1970s and 1980s and a similar logo -- an encircled five-point star -- for their declarations. Seeks the formation of an \"anti-imperialist fighting front\" with other Italian leftist terrorist groups, including Revolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei and the New Red Brigades. Opposes what it perceives as US and NATO imperialism and condemns Italy's foreign and labor polices. In a leaflet dated January 2002, NTA identified experts in four Italian Government sectors -- federalism, privatizations, justice reform, and jobs and pensions -- as potential targets.\nActivities\nTo date, NTA has conducted attacks only against property. During the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999, NTA members threw gasoline bombs at the Venice and Rome headquarters of the then-ruling party, Democrats of the Left. NTA claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in September 2000 against the Central European Initiative office in Trieste and a bomb attack in August 2001 against the Venice Tribunal building. In January 2002, police thwarted an attempt by four NTA members to enter the Rivolto Military Air Base. In 2003, NTA claimed responsibility for the arson attacks against three vehicles belonging to US troops serving at the Ederle and Aviano bases in Italy. There has been no reported activity by the group since the arrest in January 2004 of NTA's founder and leader.\nStrength\nAccounts vary from one to approximately 20 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily northeastern Italy and near US military installations in northern Italy.\nExternal Aid\na.k.a. Cholana Kangtoap Serei Cheat Kampouchea\nDescription\nThe Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) emerged in November 1998 in the wake of political violence that saw many influential Cambodian leaders flee and the Cambodian People's Party assume power. With an avowed aim of overthrowing the Government, the group is led by a Cambodian-American, a former member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party. The CFF's membership reportedly includes Cambodian-Americans based in Thailand and the United States, and former soldiers from the Khmer Rouge, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and various political factions.\nActivities\nThe Cambodian Government arrested seven CFF members who were reportedly planning an unspecified terrorist attack in southwestern Cambodia in late 2003, but there were no successful CFF attacks that year. Cambodian courts in February and March 2002 prosecuted 38 CFF members suspected of staging an attack in Cambodia in 2000. The courts convicted 19 members, including one US citizen, of \"terrorism\" and/or \"membership in an armed group\" and sentenced them to terms of five years to life imprisonment. The group claimed responsibility for an attack in late November 2000 on several Government installations that killed at least eight persons and wounded more than a dozen. In April 1999, five CFF members were arrested for plotting to blow up a fuel depot outside Phnom Penh with anti-tank weapons.\nStrength\nExact strength is unknown, but totals probably never have exceeded 100 armed fighters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNortheastern Cambodia near the Thai border, and the United States.\nExternal Aid\nUS-based leadership collects funds from the Cambodian-American community.\nCommunist Party of India (Maoist)\nFormerly Maoist Communist Center of India (MCCI) and People's War (PW)\nDescription\nThe Indian groups known as the Maoist Communist Center of India and People's War (a.k.a. People's War Group) joined together in September 2004 to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist), or CPI (Maoist). The MCCI was originally formed in the early 1970s, while People's War was founded in 1975. Both groups are referred to as Naxalites, after the West Bengal village where a revolutionary radical Left movement originated in 1967. The new organization continues to employ violence to achieve its goals -- peasant revolution, abolition of class hierarchies, and expansion of Maoist-controlled \"liberated zones,\" eventually leading to the creation of an independent \"Maoist\" state. The CPI (Maoist) reportedly has a significant cadre of women. Important leaders include Ganapati (the PW leader from Andhra Pradesh), Pramod Mishra, Uma Shankar, and P.N.G. (alias Nathuni Mistry, arrested by Jharkhand police in 2002).\nActivities\nPrior to its consolidation with the PW, the MCCI ran a virtual parallel government in remote areas, where it collected a \"tax\" from the villagers and, in turn, provided infrastructure improvements such as building hospitals, schools, and irrigation projects. It ran a parallel court system wherein allegedly corrupt block development officials and landlords -- frequent MCCI targets -- had been punished by amputation and even death. People's War conducted a low-intensity insurgency that included attempted political assassination, theft of weapons from police stations, kidnapping police officers, assaulting civilians, extorting money from construction firms, and vandalizing the property of multinational corporations. Together the two groups were reportedly responsible for the deaths of up to 170 civilians and police a year.\nStrength\nAlthough difficult to assess with any accuracy, media reports and local authorities suggest the CPI (Maoist)'s membership may be as high as 31,000, including both hard-core militants and dedicated sympathizers.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nThe CPI (Maoist), believed to be enlarging the scope of its influence, operates in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and parts of West Bengal. It also has a presence on the Bihar-Nepal border.\nExternal Aid\nThe CPI (Maoist) has loose links to other Maoist groups in the region, including the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists). The MCCI was a founding member of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA).\nCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoists) CPN/M\nDescription\nThe Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) insurgency grew out of the radicalization and fragmentation of left-wing parties following Nepal's transition to democracy in 1990. The United People's Front -- a coalition of left-wing parties -- participated in the elections of 1991, but the Maoist wing failed to win the required minimum number of votes, leading to its exclusion from voter lists in the elections of 1994 and prompting the group to launch the insurgency in 1996. The CPN/M's ultimate objective is the overthrow of the Nepalese Government and the establishment of a Maoist state. In 2003, the United States designated Nepal's Maoists under Executive Order (EO) 13224 as a supporter of terrorist activity.\nActivities\nThe Maoists have utilized traditional guerrilla warfare tactics and engage in murder, torture, arson, sabotage, extortion, child conscription, kidnapping, bombings, and assassinations to intimidate and coerce the populace. In 2002, Maoists claimed responsibility for assassinating two Nepalese US Embassy guards, citing anti-Maoist spying, and in a press statement threatened foreign embassies, including the US mission, to deter foreign support for the Nepalese Government. Maoists are suspected in the September 2004 bombing at the American Cultural Center in Kathmandu. The attack, which caused no injuries and only minor damage, marked the first time the Maoists had damaged US Government property.\nStrength\nProbably several thousand full-time cadres.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperations are conducted throughout Nepal. Press reports indicate some Maoist leaders reside in India.\nExternal Aid\nDemocratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)\na.k.a. Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), Ex-FAR/Interahamwe\nDescription\nThe Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in 2001 supplanted the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), which is the armed branch of the PALIR, or the Party for the Liberation of Rwanda. ALIR was formed from the merger of the Armed Forces of Rwanda (FAR), the army of the ethnic Hutu-dominated Rwandan regime that orchestrated the genocide of 500,000 or more Tutsis and regime opponents in 1994, and Interahamwe, the civilian militia force that carried out much of the killing, after the two groups were forced from Rwanda into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC- then Zaire) that year. Though directly descended from those who organized and carried out the genocide, identified FDLR leaders are not thought to have played a role in the killing. They have worked to build bridges to other opponents of the Kigali regime, including ethnic Tutsis.\nActivities\nALIR sought to topple Rwanda's Tutsi-dominated Government, reinstitute Hutu domination, and, possibly, complete the genocide. In 1996, a message -- allegedly from the ALIR -- threatened to kill the US ambassador to Rwanda and other US citizens. In 1999, ALIR guerrillas critical of US-UK support for the Rwandan regime kidnapped and killed eight foreign tourists, including two US citizens, in a game park on the Democratic Republic of Congo-Uganda border. Three suspects in the attack are in US custody awaiting trial. In the 1998-2002 Congolese war, the ALIR/FDLR was allied with Kinshasa against the Rwandan invaders. FDLR's political wing mainly has sought to topple the Kigali regime via an alliance with Tutsi regime opponents. It established the ADRN Igihango alliance in 2002, but it has not resonated politically in Rwanda.\nStrength\nExact strength is unknown, but several thousand FDLR guerrillas operate in the eastern DRC close to the Rwandan border. In 2003, the United Nations, with Rwandan assistance, repatriated close to 1,500 FDLR combatants from the DRC. The senior FDLR military commander returned to Rwanda in November 2003 and has been working with Kigali to encourage the return of his comrades.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nMostly in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nExternal Support\nThe Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo provided training, arms, and supplies to ALIR forces to combat Rwandan armed forces that invaded the DRC in 1998. Kinshasa halted that support in 2002, though allegations persist of continued support from several local Congolese warlords and militias (including the Mai Mai).\nEast Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)\nDescription\nThe East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a small Islamic extremist group based in China's western Xinjiang Province. It is the most militant of the ethnic Uighur separatist groups pursuing an independent \"Eastern Turkistan,\" an area that would include Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China. ETIM is linked to al-Qa'ida and the international mujahedin movement. In September 2002 the group was designated under EO 13224 as a supporter of terrorist activity.\nActivities\nETIM militants fought alongside al-Qa'ida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In October 2003, Pakistani soldiers killed ETIM leader Hassan Makhsum during raids on al-Qa'ida-associated compounds in western Pakistan. US and Chinese Government information suggests ETIM is responsible for various terrorist acts inside and outside China. In May 2002, two ETIM members were deported to China from Kyrgyzstan for plotting to attack the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan as well as other US interests abroad.\nStrength\nUnknown. Only a small minority of ethnic Uighurs supports the Xinjiang independence movement or the formation of an Eastern Turkistan.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nXinjiang Province and neighboring countries in the region.\nExternal Aid\nETIM has received training and financial assistance from al-Qa'ida.\nFirst of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) Grupo de Resistencia Anti-Fascista Primero de Octubre\nDescription\nGRAPO was formed in 1975 as the armed wing of the illegal Communist Party of Spain during the Franco era. Advocates the overthrow of the Spanish Government and its replacement with a Marxist-Leninist regime. GRAPO is vehemently anti-American, seeks the removal of all US military forces from Spanish territory, and has conducted and attempted several attacks against US targets since 1977. The group issued a communiqu� following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, expressing its satisfaction that \"symbols of imperialist power\" were decimated and affirming that \"the war\" has only just begun. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nGRAPO did not mount a successful terrorist operation in 2004, marking the third consecutive year without an attack. The group suffered more setbacks in 2004, with several members and sympathizers arrested and sentences upheld or handed down in April in the appellate case for GRAPO militants arrested in Paris in 2000. GRAPO has killed more than 90 persons and injured more than 200 since its formation. The group's operations traditionally have been designed to cause material damage and gain publicity rather than inflict casualties, but the terrorists have conducted lethal bombings and close-range assassinations.\nStrength\nFewer than two dozen activists remain. Police have made periodic large-scale arrests of GRAPO members, crippling the organization and forcing it into lengthy rebuilding periods. In 2002, Spanish and French authorities arrested 22 suspected members, including some of the group's reconstituted leadership. More members were arrested throughout 2003 and 2004.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nHarakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI) (Movement of Islamic Holy War)\nDescription\nHUJI, a Sunni extremist group that follows the Deobandi tradition of Islam, was founded in 1980 in Afghanistan to fight in the jihad against the Soviets. It also is affiliated with the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F) of the extremist religious party Jamiat Ulema-I-Is-lam (JUI). The group, led by Qari Saifullah Akhtar and chief commander Amin Rabbani, is made up primarily of Pakistanis and foreign Islamists who are fighting for the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan. The group has links to al-Qa'ida. At present, Akhtar remains in detention in Pakistan after his August 2004 arrest and extradition from Dubai.\nActivities\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year.\nStrength\nExact numbers are unknown, but there may be several hundred members in Kashmir.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPakistan and Kashmir. Trained members in Afghanistan until autumn of 2001.\nExternal Aid\nSpecific sources of external aid are unknown.\nHarakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)\nDescription\nThe mission of HUJI-B, led by Shauqat Osman, is to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. HUJI-B has connections to the Pakistani militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI) and Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), which advocate similar objectives in Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. These groups all maintain contacts with the al-Qa'ida network in Afghanistan. The leaders of HUJIB and HUM both signed the February 1998 fatwa sponsored by Usama bin Ladin that declared American civilians to be legitimate targets for attack.\nActivities\nHUJI-B was accused of stabbing a senior Bangladeshi journalist in November 2000 for making a documentary on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. HUJI-B was suspected in the assassination attempt in July 2000 of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The group may also have been responsible for indiscriminate attacks using improvised explosive devices against cultural gatherings in Dhaka in January and April 2001.\nStrength\nUnknown; some estimates of HUJI-B cadre strength suggest several thousand members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe group operates and trains members in Bangladesh, where it maintains at least six camps.\nExternal Aid\nFunding of the HUJI-B comes primarily from madrassas in Bangladesh. The group also has ties to militants in Pakistan that may provide another funding source.\nHizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)\nDescription\nGulbuddin Hikmatyar founded Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) as a faction of the Hizb-I Islami party in 1977, and it was one of the major mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. HIG has long-established links with Usama Bin Ladin. In the early 1990s, Hikmatyar ran several terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and was a pioneer in sending mercenary fighters to other Islamic conflicts. Hikmatyar offered to shelter Bin Ladin after the latter fled Sudan in 1996. In a late 2004 press release, Hikmatyar reiterated his commitment to fight US and Coalition forces.\nActivities\nHIG has staged small attacks in its attempt to force US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan Transitional Administration, and establish an Islamic fundamentalist state. In 2004, several US soldiers were killed in attacks in Konar, Afghanistan, the area in which HIG is most active.\nStrength\nUnknown, but possibly could have hundreds of veteran fighters on which to call.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nEastern Afghanistan (particularly Konar and Nurestan Provinces) and adjacent areas of Pakistan's tribal areas.\nExternal Aid\nHizbul-Mujahedin (HM)\nDescription\nHizbul-Mujahedin (HM), the largest Kashmiri militant group, was founded in 1989 and officially supports the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan, although some cadres favor independence. The group is the militant wing of Pakistan's largest Islamic political party, the Jamaat-i-Islami, and targets Indian security forces,politicians and civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. It reportedly operated in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and trained with the Afghan Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) in Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover. The group, led by Syed Salahuddin, is comprised primarily of ethnic Kashmiris.\nActivities\nHM has conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir. The group also occasionally strikes at civilian targets, but has not engaged in terrorist acts outside India. HM claimed responsibility for numerous attacks within Kashmir in 2004.\nStrength\nExact numbers are unknown, but estimates range from several hundred to possibly as many as 1,000 members in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nJammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.\nExternal Aid\nSpecific sources of external aid are unknown.\nIrish National Liberation Army (INLA)\nDescription\nThe INLA is a terrorist group formed in 1975 as the military wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), which split from the Official IRA (OIRA) because of OIRA's cease-fire in 1972. The group's primary aim is to end British rule in Northern Ireland, force British troops out of the province, and unite Ireland's 32 counties into a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary state. Responsible for some of the most notorious killings of \"The Troubles,\" including the bombing of a Ballykelly pub that killed 17 people in 1982. Bloody internal feuding has repeatedly torn the INLA. The INLA announced a cease-fire in August 1998 but continues to carry out occasional attacks and punishment beatings.\nActivities\nThe INLA has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has conducted bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. It is also involved in drug trafficking. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include the British military, Northern Ireland security forces, and Loyalist paramilitary groups. The INLA continues to observe a cease-fire, because -- in the words of its leadership in 2003 -- a return to armed struggle is \"not a viable option at this time.\" However, members of the group were accused of involvement in a robbery and kidnapping in December 2004, which the group denies.\nStrength\nUnclear, but probably fewer than 50 hard-core activists. Police counterterrorist operations and internal feuding have reduced the group's strength and capabilities.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic. Does not have a significant established presence on the UK mainland.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected in the past of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States.\nIrish Republican Army (IRA)\na.k.a. Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), the Provos\nDescription\nFormed in 1969 as the clandestine armed wing of the political movement Sinn Fein, the IRA is devoted both to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and to unifying Ireland. The IRA conducted attacks until its cease-fire in 1997 and agreed to disarm as a part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which established the basis for peace in Northern Ireland. Dissension within the IRA over support for the Northern Ireland peace process resulted in the formation of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA (CIRA), and the Real IRA (RIRA) in mid to late 1990s. The IRA, sometimes referred to as the PIRA to distinguish it from RIRA and CIRA, is organized into small, tightly-knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.\nActivities\nTraditional IRA activities have included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the group had conducted bombing campaigns on various targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, including senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military targets. The group's refusal in late 2004 to allow photographic documentation of its decommissioning process was an obstacle to progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement and stalled talks. The group previously had disposed of light, medium, and heavy weapons, ammunition, and explosives in three rounds of decommissioning. However, the IRA is believed to retain the ability to conduct paramilitary operations. The group's extensive criminal activities reportedly provide the IRA and the political party Sinn Fein with millions of dollars each year; the IRA was implicated in two significant robberies in 2004, one involving almost $50 million.\nStrength\nSeveral hundred members and several thousand sympathizers despite the defection of some members to RIRA and CIRA.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic, Great Britain, and Europe.\nExternal Aid\nIn the past, the IRA has received aid from a variety of groups and countries and considerable training and arms from Libya and the PLO. Is suspected of receiving funds, arms, and other terrorist-related materiel from sympathizers in the United States. Similarities in operations suggest links to ETA and the FARC. In August 2002, three suspected IRA members were arrested in Colombia on charges of helping the FARC improve its explosives capabilities.\nIslamic Army of Aden (IAA)\na.k.a. Aden-Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Army of Aden (IAA) emerged publicly in mid1998 when the group released a series of communiqu�s that expressed support for Usama Bin Ladin, appealed for the overthrow of the Yemeni Government, and called for operations against US and other Western interests in Yemen. IAA was first designated under EO 13224 in September 2001.\nActivities\nIAA has engaged in small-scale operations such as bombings, kidnappings, and small arms attacks to promote its goals. The group reportedly was behind an attack in June 2003 against a medical assistance convoy in the Abyan Governorate. Yemeni authorities responded with a raid on a suspected IAA facility, killing several individuals and capturing others, including Khalid al-Nabi al-Yazidi, the group's leader. Before that attack, the group had not conducted operations since the bombing of the British Embassy in Sanaa in October 2000. In 2001, Yemeni authorities found an IAA member and three associates responsible for that attack. In December 1998, the group kidnapped 16 British, American, and Australian tourists near Mudiyah in southern Yemen. Although Yemeni officials previously have claimed that the group is operationally defunct, their recent attribution of the attack in 2003 against the medical convoy and reports that al-Yazidi was released from prison in mid-October 2003 suggest that the IAA, or at least elements of the group, have resumed activity. Speculation after the attack on the USS Cole pointed to the involvement of the IAA, and the group later claimed responsibility for the attack. The IAA has been affiliated with al-Qa'ida. IAA members are known to have trained and served in Afghanistan under the leadership of seasoned mujahedin.\nStrength\nOperates in the southern governorates of Yemen -- primarily Aden and Abyan.\nExternal Aid\nIslamic Great East Raiders-Front (IBDA-C)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Great East Raiders-Front (IBDA-C) is a Sunni Salafist group that supports Islamic rule in Turkey and believes that Turkey's present secular leadership is \"illegal.\" It has been known to cooperate with various opposition elements in Turkey in attempts to destabilize the country's political structure. The group supports the establishment of a \"pure Islamic\" state, to replace the present \"corrupt\" Turkish regime that is cooperating with the West. Its primary goal is the establishment of a \"Federative Islamic State,\" a goal backed by armed terrorist attacks primarily against civilian targets. It has been active since the mid1970s.\nActivities\nIBDA-C has engaged in activities such as bombings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and sabotage. The group has announced its actions and targets in publications to its members, who are free to launch independent attacks. IBDA-C typically has attacked civilian targets, including churches, charities, minority-affiliated targets, television transmitters, newspapers, pro-secular journalists, Ataturk statues, taverns, banks, clubs, and tobacco shops. In May 2004, Turkish police indicted seven members of the group for the assassination of retired Colonel Ihsan Guven, the alleged leader of the \"Dost\" (Friend) sect, and his wife. One of IBDA-C's more renowned attacks was the killing of 37 people in a firebomb attack in July 1993 on a hotel in Sivas. Turkish police believe that IBDA-C has also claimed responsibility for attacks carried out by other groups to elevate its image.\nStrength\nIslamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB)\nDescription\nThe IIPB is a terrorist group affiliated with the Chechen separatist movement demanding a single Islamic state in the North Caucasus. Chechen extremist leader Shamil Basayev established the IIPB -- consisting of Chechens, Arabs, and other foreign fighters -- in 1998, which he led with Saudi-born mujahedin leader Ibn al-Khattab until the latter's death in March 2002. The IIPB was one of three groups affiliated with Chechen guerrillas that seized Moscow's Dubrovka Theater and took more than 700 hostages in October 2002. While this group has not been identified as conducting attacks since their designation two years ago, those Arab mujahedin still operating in Chechnya now fall under the command of Abu Hafs al-Urduni, who assumed the leadership in April 2004 after the death of Khattab's successor, Abu al-Walid. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\nActivities\nInvolved in terrorist and guerilla operations against Russian forces, pro-Russian Chechen forces, and Chechen non-combatants.\nStrength\nUp to 400 fighters, including as many as 100 Arabs and other foreign fighters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily in Russia and adjacent areas of the north Caucasus, particularly in the mountainous south of Chechnya, with major logistical activities in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.\nExternal Aid\nThe IIPB and its Arab leaders appear to be a primary conduit for Islamic funding of the Chechen guerrillas, in part through links to al-Qa'ida-related financiers on the Arabian Peninsula.\nIslamic Jihad Group (IJG)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Jihad Group (IJG), probably founded by former members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, made its first appearance in early April 2004 when it claimed responsibility for a string of events -- including shootouts and terrorist attacks -- in Uzbekistan in late March and early April that killed approximately 47 people, including 33 terrorists. The claim of responsibility, which was posted to multiple militant Islamic websites, raged against the leadership of Uzbekistan. In late July 2004, the group struck again with near-simultaneous suicide bombings of the US and Israeli Embassies and the Uzbek Prosecutor General's office in Tashkent. The IJG again claimed responsibility via an Islamic website and stated that martyrdom operations by the group would continue. The statement also indicated the attacks were done in support of their Palestinian, Iraqi, and Afghan brothers in the global jihad.\nActivities\nThe IJG claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in 2004 against Uzbekistani, American, and Israeli entities. The attackers in the March and April 2004 attacks, some of whom were female suicide bombers, targeted the local government offices of the Uzbekistani and Bukhara police, killing approximately 47 people, including 33 terrorists. These attacks marked the first use of female suicide bombers in Central Asia. On July 30, 2004, the group launched a set of same-day attacks against the US and Israeli Embassies and the Uzbek Prosecutor General's office. These attacks left four Uzbekistanis and three suicide operatives dead. The date of the latter attack corresponds to the start of a trial for individuals arrested for their participation in earlier attacks.\nStrength\na.k.a. Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB)\nDescription\nThe JRA is an international terrorist group formed around 1970 after breaking away from the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. The JRA's historical goal has been to overthrow the Japanese Government and monarchy and to help foment world revolution. JRA's leader, Fusako Shigenobu, claimed that the forefront of the battle against international imperialism was in Palestine, so in the early 1970s she led her small group to the Middle East to support the Palestinian struggle against Israel and the West. After her arrest in November 2000, Shigenobu announced she intended to pursue her goals using a legitimate political party rather than revolutionary violence, and the group announced it would disband in April 2001.\nActivities\nDuring the 1970s, JRA carried out a series of attacks around the world, including the massacre in 1972 at Lod Airport in Israel, two Japanese airliner hijackings, and an attempted takeover of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. During the late 1980s, JRA began to single out American targets and used car bombs and rockets in attempted attacks on US Embassies in Jakarta, Rome, and Madrid. In April 1988, JRA operative Yu Kikumura was arrested with explosives on the New Jersey Turnpike, apparently planning an attack to coincide with the bombing of a USO club in Naples, a suspected JRA operation that killed five, including a US servicewoman. He was convicted of the charges and is serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States. Tsutomu Shirosaki, captured in 1996, is also jailed in the United States. In 2000, Lebanon deported to Japan four members it arrested in 1997, but granted a fifth operative, Kozo Okamoto, political asylum. Longtime leader Shigenobu was arrested in November 2000 and faces charges of terrorism and passport fraud. Four JRA members remain in North Korea following their involvement in a hijacking in 1970; five of their family members returned to Japan in 2004.\nStrength\nAbout six hard-core members; undetermined number of sympathizers. At its peak, the group claimed to have 30 to 40 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nLocation unknown, but possibly in Asia and/or Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nKumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM)\nDescription\nKumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) favors the overthrow of the Malaysian Government and the creation of an Islamic state comprising Malaysia, Indonesia, and the southern Philippines. Malaysian authorities believe an extremist wing of the KMM has engaged in terrorist acts and has close ties to the regional terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiya (JI). Key JI leaders, including the group's spiritual head, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, and JI operational leader Hambali, reportedly had great influence over KMM members. The Government of Singapore asserts that a Singaporean JI member assisted the KMM in buying a boat to support jihad activities in Indonesia.\nActivities\nMalaysia is holding a number of KMM members under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for activities deemed threatening to Malaysia's national security, including planning to wage jihad, possession of weaponry, bombings and robberies, the murder of a former state assemblyman, and planning attacks on foreigners, including US citizens. A number of those detained are also believed to be members of Jemaah Islamiya. Several of the arrested KMM militants have reportedly undergone military training in Afghanistan, and some fought with the Afghan mujahedin during the war against the former Soviet Union. Some members are alleged to have ties to Islamic extremist organizations in Indonesia and the Philippines. In September 2003, alleged KMM leader Nik Adli Nik Abdul Aziz's detention was extended for another two years. In March 2004, Aziz and other suspected KMM members went on a hunger strike as part of an unsuccessful bid for freedom, but the Malaysian court rejected their applications for a writ of habeas corpus in September. One alleged KMM member was sentenced to 10 years in prison for unlawful possession of firearms, explosives, and ammunition, but eight other alleged members in detention since 2001 were released in July and in November. The Malaysian Government is confident that the arrests of KMM leaders have crippled the organization and rendered it incapable of engaging in militant activities. Malaysian officials in May 2004 denied Thailand's charge that the KMM was involved in the Muslim separatist movement in southern Thailand.\nStrength\nKMM's current membership is unknown.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe KMM is reported to have networks in the Malaysian states of Perak, Johor, Kedah, Selangor, Terengganu, and Kelantan. They also operate in Kuala Lumpur. According to press reports, the KMM has ties to radical Indonesian Islamic groups and has sent members to Ambon, Indonesia, to fight against Christians and to the southern Philippines for operational training.\nExternal Aid\nLord's Resistance Army (LRA)\nDescription\nThe LRA was formally established in 1994, succeeding the ethnic Acholi-dominated Holy Spirit Movement and other insurgent groups. LRA leader Joseph Kony has called for the overthrow of the Ugandan Government and its replacement with a regime run on the basis of the Ten Commandments. More frequently, however, he has spoken of the liberation and honor of the Acholi people, whom he sees as oppressed by the \"foreign\" Government of Ugandan President Museveni. Kony is the LRA's undisputed leader. He claims to have supernatural powers and to receive messages from spirits, which he uses to formulate the LRA's strategy.\nActivities\nThe Acholi people, whom Kony claims to be fighting to liberate, are the ones who suffer most from his actions. Since the early 1990's, the LRA has kidnapped some 20,000 Ugandan children, mostly ethnic Acholi, to replenish its ranks. Kony despises Acholi elders for having given up the fight against Museveni and relies on abducted children who can be brutally indoctrinated to fight for the LRA. The LRA forces kidnapped children and adult civilians to become soldiers, porters, and \"wives\" for LRA leaders. The LRA prefers to attack camps for internally displaced persons and other civilian targets, avoiding direct engagement with the Ugandan military. Victims of LRA attacks sometimes have their hands, fingers, ears, noses, or other extremities cut off. The LRA stepped up its activities from 2002 to 2004 after the Ugandan army, with the Sudanese Government's permission, attacked LRA positions inside Sudan. By late 2003, the number of internally displaced had doubled to 1.4 million, and the LRA had pushed deep into non-Acholi areas where it had never previously operated. During 2004, a combination of military pressure, offers of amnesty, and several rounds of negotiation markedly degraded LRA capabilities due to death, desertion, and defection of senior commanders.\nStrength\nEstimated in early 2004 at between 500 and 1,000 fighters, 85 percent of whom are abducted children and civilians, but numbers have since declined significantly.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Uganda and southern Sudan.\nExternal Aid\nAlthough the LRA has been supported by the Government of Sudan in the past, the Sudanese now appear to be cooperating with the Government of Uganda in a campaign to eliminate LRA sanctuaries in Sudan.\nLoyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)\nDescription\nAn extreme Loyalist group formed in 1996 as a faction of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the LVF did not emerge publicly until 1997. Composed largely of UVF hardliners who have sought to prevent a political settlement with Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland by attacking Catholic politicians, civilians, and Protestant politicians who endorse the Northern Ireland peace process. LVF occasionally uses the Red Hand Defenders as a cover name for its actions but has also called for the group's disbandment. In October 2001, the British Government ruled that the LVF had broken the cease-fire it declared in 1998 after linking the group to the murder of a journalist. According to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, the LVF decommissioned a small amount of weapons in December 1998, but it has not repeated this gesture. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nBombings, kidnappings, and close-quarter shooting attacks. Finances its activities with drug money and other criminal activities. LVF attacks have been particularly vicious; the group has murdered numerous Catholic civilians with no political or paramilitary affiliations, including an 18-year-old Catholic girl in July 1997 because she had a Protestant boyfriend. The terrorists also have conducted successful attacks against Irish targets in Irish border towns. From 2000 to 2004, the LVF has been engaged in a violent feud with other Loyalists, which has left several men dead.\nStrength\nSmall, perhaps dozens of active members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)\nDescription\nThe goals of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) include establishing an Islamic state in Morocco and supporting al-Qa'ida's jihad against the West. The group appears to have emerged in the 1990s and is comprised of Moroccan recruits who trained in armed camps in Afghanistan and some who fought in the Afghan resistance against Soviet occupation. GICM members interact with other North African extremists, particularly in Europe. On November 22, 2002, the United States designated the GICM for asset freeze under EO 13224 following the group's submission to the UNSCR 1267 Sanctions Committee.\nActivities\nMoroccans associated with the GICM are part of the broader international jihadist movement. GICM is one of the groups believed to be involved in planning the May 2003 Casablanca suicide bombings, and has been involved in other plots. Members work with other North African extremists, engage in trafficking falsified documents, and possibly arms smuggling. The group in the past has issued communiqu�s and statements against the Moroccan Government. In the last year, a number of arrests in Belgium, France, and Spain have disrupted the group's ability to operate, though cells and key members still remain throughout Europe. Although the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, among others, claimed responsibility on behalf of al-Qa'ida, Spanish authorities are investigating the possibility that GICM was involved in the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings.\nStrength\nMorocco, Western Europe, Afghanistan, and Canada.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown, but believed to include criminal activity abroad.\nNew Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC)\na.k.a. Brigate Rosse/Partito Comunista Combattente\nDescription\nThis Marxist-Leninist group is a successor to the Red Brigades, active in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to ideology, both groups share the same symbol, a five-pointed star inside a circle. The group is opposed to Italy's foreign and labor policies and to NATO.\nActivities\nIn 2004, the BR/PCC continued to suffer setbacks, with their leadership in prison and other members under pressure from the Italian Government. The BR/PCC did not claim responsibility for a blast at an employment agency in Milan in late October, although the police suspect remnants of the group are responsible. In 2003, Italian authorities captured at least seven members of the BR/ PCC, dealing the terrorist group a severe blow to its operational effectiveness. Some of those arrested are suspects in the assassination in 1999 of Labor Ministry adviser Massimo D'Antona, and authorities are hoping to link them to the assassination in 2002 of Labor Ministry advisor Marco Biagi. The arrests in October came on the heels of a clash in March 2003 involving Italian Railway Police and two BR/PCC members, which resulted in the deaths of one of the operatives and an Italian security officer. The BR/PCC has financed its activities through armed robberies.\nStrength\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)\nDescription\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) and its ally Qibla (an Islamic fundamentalist group that favors political Islam and takes an anti-US and anti-Israel stance) view the South African Government as a threat to Islamic values. The two groups work to promote a greater political voice for South African Muslims. PAGAD has used front names such as Muslims Against Global Oppression and Muslims Against Illegitimate Leaders when launching anti-Western protests and campaigns.\nActivities\nPAGAD formed in November 1995 as a vigilante group in reaction to crime in some neighborhoods of Cape Town. In September 1996, a change in the group's leadership resulted in a change in the group's goal, and it began to support a violent jihad to establish an Islamic state. Between 1996 and 2000, PAGAD conducted a total of 189 bomb attacks, including nine bombings in the Western Cape that caused serious injuries. PAGAD's targets included South African authorities, moderate Muslims, synagogues, gay nightclubs, tourist attractions, and West-ern-associated restaurants. PAGAD is believed to have masterminded the bombing on August 25, 1998, of the Cape Town Planet Hollywood. Since 2001, PAGAD's violent activities have been severely curtailed by law enforcement and prosecutorial efforts against leading members of the organization. Qibla leadership has organized demonstrations against visiting US dignitaries and other protests, but the extent of PAGAD's involvement is uncertain.\nStrength\nEarly estimates were several hundred members. Current operational strength is unknown, but probably vastly diminished.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates mainly in the Cape Town area.\nExternal Aid\nMay have ties to international Islamic extremists.\nRed Hand Defenders (RHD)\nDescription\nThe RHD is an extremist terrorist group formed in 1998 and composed largely of Protestant hardliners from Loyalist groups observing a cease-fire. RHD seeks to prevent a political settlement with Irish nationalists by attacking Catholic civilian interests in Northern Ireland. In January 2002, the group announced all staff at Catholic schools in Belfast and Catholic postal workers were legitimate targets. Despite calls in February 2002 by the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), and Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) to announce its disbandment, RHD continued to make threats and issue claims of responsibility. RHD is a cover name often used by elements of the banned UDA and LVF. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nIn early 2003, the RHD claimed responsibility for killing two UDA members as a result of what is described as Loyalist internecine warfare. It also claimed responsibility for a bomb that was left in the offices of Republican Sinn Fein in West Belfast, although the device was defused and no one was injured. In recent years, the group has carried out numerous pipe bombings and arson attacks against \"soft\" civilian targets such as homes, churches, and private businesses. In January 2002, the group bombed the home of a prison official in North Belfast. Twice in 2002 the group claimed responsibility for attacks -- the murder of a Catholic postman and a Catholic teenager -- that were later claimed by the UDAUFF, further blurring distinctions between the groups. In 2001, RHD claimed responsibility for killing five persons. The RHD has claimed responsibility for hoax bomb devices, and recently has set off petrol bombs and made death threats against local politicians.\nStrength\nUp to 20 members, some of whom have experience in terrorist tactics and bomb making. Police arrested one member in June 2001 for making a hoax bomb threat.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nRevolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei (NIPR)\nDescription\nThe NIPR is a clandestine leftist extremist group that appeared in Rome in 2000. Adopted the logo of the Red Brigades of the 1970s and 1980s -- an encircled five point star -- for its declarations. Opposes Italy's foreign and labor policies. Has targeted property interests rather than personnel in its attacks.\nActivities\nThe NIPR has not claimed responsibility for any attacks since an April 2001 bomb attack on a building housing a US-Italian relations association and an international affairs institute in Rome's historic center. The NIPR claimed to have carried out a bombing in May 2000 in Rome at an oversight committee facility for implementation of the law on strikes in public services. The group also claimed responsibility for an explosion in February 2002 on Via Palermo adjacent to the Interior Ministry in Rome.\nStrength\nMainly in Rome, Milan, Lazio, and Tuscany.\nExternal Aid\nRevolutionary Struggle (RS)\nDescription\nRS is a radical leftist group that is anti-Greek establishment and ideologically aligns itself with the organization 17 November. Although the group is not specifically anti-US, its anti-imperialist rhetoric suggests it may become so.\nActivities\nFirst became known when the group conducted a bombing in September 2003 against the courthouse at which the trials of alleged 17 November members were ongoing. In May 2004, the group detonated four improvised explosive devices at a police station in Athens. These two attacks were notable for their apparent attempts to target and kill first responders -- the first time a Greek terrorist group had used this tactic. RS is widely regarded as the most dangerous indigenous Greek terrorist group at this time.\nStrength\nLikely less than 50 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM)\nDescription\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM), led by Chechen extremist leader Shamil Basayev, uses terrorism as part of an effort to secure an independent Muslim state in the North Caucasus. Basayev claimed the group was responsible for the Beslan school hostage crisis of September 1-3, 2004, which culminated in the deaths of about 330 people; simultaneous suicide bombings aboard two Russian civilian airliners in late August 2004; and a third suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway that same month. The RSRSBCM, whose name translates into English as \"Requirements for Getting into Paradise,\" was not known to Western observers before October 2002, when it participated in the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\nActivities\nPrimarily terrorist and guerilla operations against Russian forces, pro-Russian Chechen forces, and Russian and Chechen non-combatants.\nStrength\nProbably no more than 50 fighters at any given time.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nMay receive some external assistance from foreign mujahedin.\nSipah-i-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)\nDescription\nThe Sipah-I-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP) is a Sunni sectarian group that follows the Deobandi school. Violently anti-Shia, the SSP emerged in central Punjab in the mid-1980s as a response to the Iranian Revolution. Pakistani President Musharraf banned the SSP in January 2002. In August 2002, the SSP renamed itself Millat-i-Islami Pakistan, and Musharraf re-banned the group under its new name in November 2003. The SSP also has operated as a political party, winning seats in Pakistan's National Assembly.\nActivities\nThe group's activities range from organizing political rallies calling for Shia to be declared non-Muslims to assassinating prominent Shia leaders. The group was responsible for attacks on Shia worshippers in May 2004, when at least 50 people were killed.\nStrength\nThe SSP may have approximately 3,000 to 6,000 trained activists who carry out various kinds of sectarian activities.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe SSP has influence in all four provinces of Pakistan. It is considered to be one of the most powerful sectarian groups in the country.\nExternal Aid\nThe SSP reportedly receives significant funding from Saudi Arabia through wealthy private donors in Pakistan. Funds also are acquired from other sources, including other Sunni extremist groups, madrassas, and contributions by political groups.\nSpecial Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR)\nDescription\nThe SPIR is one of three terrorist groups affiliated with Chechen guerrillas that furnished personnel to carry out the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow in October 2002. The SPIR has had at least seven commanders since it was founded in the late 1990s. Movsar Barayev, who led and was killed during the theater standoff, was the first publicly identified leader. The group continues to conduct guerrilla operations in Chechnya under the leadership of the current leader, Amir Aslan, whose true identity is not known. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\nActivities\nPrimarily guerrilla operations against Russian forces. Has also been involved in various hostage and ransom operations, including the execution of ethnic Chechens who have collaborated with Russian authorities.\nStrength\nProbably no more than 100 fighters at any given time.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nMay receive some external assistance from foreign mujahedin.\nTunisian Combatant Group (TCG)\nDescription\nThe Tunisian Combatant Group (TCG), also known as the Jama'a Combattante Tunisienne, seeks to establish an Islamic regime in Tunisia and has targeted US and Western interests. The group is an offshoot of the banned Tunisian Islamist movement, an-Nahda. Founded around 2000 by Tarek Maaroufi and Saifallah Ben Hassine, the TCG has drawn members from the Tunisian diaspora in Europe and elsewhere. It has lost some of its leadership, but may still exist, particularly in Western Europe. Belgian authorities arrested Maaroufi in late 2001 and sentenced him to six years in prison in 2003 for his role in the assassination of anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud two days before 9/11. The TCG was designated under EO 13224 in October 2002. Historically, the group has been associated with al-Qa'ida as well. Members also have ties to other North African extremist groups. The TCG was designated for sanctions under UNSCR 1333 in December 2000.\nActivities\nTunisians associated with the TCG are part of the support network of the broader international jihadist movement. According to European press reports, TCG members or affiliates in the past have engaged in trafficking falsified documents and recruiting for terror training camps in Afghanistan. Some TCG associates were suspected of planning an attack against the US, Algerian, and Tunisian diplomatic missions in Rome in April 2001. Some members reportedly maintain ties to the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat.\nStrength\nTupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)\nDescription\nMRTA is a traditional Marxist-Leninist revolutionary movement formed in 1983 from remnants of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left, a Peruvian insurgent group active in the 1960s. It aims to establish a Marxist regime and to rid Peru of all imperialist elements (primarily US and Japanese influence). Peru's counterterrorist program has diminished the group's ability to conduct terrorist attacks, and the MRTA has suffered from infighting, the imprisonment or deaths of senior leaders, and the loss of leftist support.\nActivities\nPreviously conducted bombings, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations, but recent activity has fallen drastically. In December 1996, 14 MRTA members occupied the Japanese Ambassador's residence in Lima and held 72 hostages for more than four months. Peruvian forces stormed the residence in April 1997, rescuing all but one of the remaining hostages and killing all 14 group members, including the remaining leaders. The group has not conducted a significant terrorist operation since and appears more focused on obtaining the release of imprisoned MRTA members, although there are reports of low-level rebuilding efforts.\nStrength\nBelieved to be no more than 100 members, consisting largely of young fighters who lack leadership skills and experience.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPeru, with supporters throughout Latin America and Western Europe. Controls no territory.\nExternal Aid\nTurkish Hizballah\nDescription\nTurkish Hizballah is a Kurdish Sunni Islamic terrorist organization that arose in the early 1980s in response to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)'s secularist approach of establishing an independent Kurdistan. Turkish Hizballah spent its first 10 years fighting the PKK, accusing the group of atrocities against Muslims in southeastern Turkey, where Turkish Hizballah seeks to establish an independent Islamic state.\nActivities\nBeginning in the mid-1990s, Turkish Hizballah, which is unrelated to Lebanese Hizballah, expanded its target base and modus operandi from killing PKK militants to conducting low-level bombings against liquor stores, bordellos, and other establishments the organization considered \"anti-Islamic.\" In January 2000, Turkish security forces killed Huseyin Velioglu, the leader of Turkish Hizballah, in a shootout at a safe house in Istanbul. The incident sparked a year-long series of counterterrorist operations against the group that resulted in the detention of some 2,000 individuals; authorities arrested several hundred of those on criminal charges. At the same time, police recovered nearly 70 bodies of Turkish and Kurdish businessmen and journalists that Turkish Hizballah had tortured and brutally murdered during the mid-to-late 1990s. The group began targeting official Turkish interests in January 2001, when its operatives assassinated the Diyarbakir police chief in the group's most sophisticated operation to date. Turkish Hizballah did not conduct a major operation in 2003 or 2004 and probably is focusing on recruitment, fundraising, and reorganization.\nStrength\nPossibly a few hundred members and several thousand supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily the Diyarbakir region of southeastern Turkey.\nExternal Aid\nIt is widely believed that Turkey's security apparatus originally backed Turkish Hizballah to help the Turkish Government combat the PKK. Alternative views are that the Turkish Government turned a blind eye to Turkish Hizballah's activities because its primary targets were PKK members and supporters, or that the Government simply had to prioritize scarce resources and was unable to wage war on both groups simultaneously. Allegations of collusion have never been laid to rest, and the Government of Turkey continues to issue denials. Turkish Hizballah also is suspected of having ties with Iran, although there is not sufficient evidence to establish a link.\nUlster Defense Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF)\nDescription\nThe Ulster Defense Association (UDA), the largest Loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, was formed in 1971 as an umbrella organization for Loyalist paramilitary groups such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Today, the UFF constitutes almost the entire UDA membership. The UDA/UFF declared a series of cease-fires between 1994 and 1998. In September 2001, the UDA/ UFF's Inner Council withdrew its support for Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement. The following month, after a series of murders, bombings, and street violence, the British Government ruled the UDA/UFF's cease-fire defunct. The dissolution of the organization's political wing, the Ulster Democratic Party, soon followed. In January 2002, however, the UDA created the Ulster Political Research Group to serve in a similar capacity. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nThe UDA/UFF has evolved into a criminal organization deeply involved in drug trafficking and other moneymaking criminal activities through six largely independent \"brigades.\" It has also been involved in murder, shootings, arson, and assaults. According to the International Monitoring Commission, \"the UDA has the capacity to launch serious, if crude, attacks.\" Some UDA activities have been of a sectarian nature directed at the Catholic community, aimed at what are sometimes described as 'soft' targets, and often have taken place at the interface between the Protestant and Catholic communities, especially in Belfast. The organization continues to be involved in targeting individual Catholics and has undertaken attacks against retired and serving prison officers. The group has also been involved in a violent internecine war with other Loyalist paramilitary groups for the past several years. In February 2003, the UDA/UFF declared a 12-month cease-fire, but refused to decommission its arsenal until Republican groups did likewise and emphasized its continued disagreement with the Good Friday accords. The cease-fire has been extended. Even though numerous attacks on Catholics were blamed on the group, the UDA/ UFF did not claim credit for any attacks, and in August 2003 reiterated its intention to remain militarily inactive.\nStrength\nEstimates vary from 2,000 to 5,000 members, with several hundred active in paramilitary operations.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nUlster Volunteer Force (UVF)\nDescription\nThe UVF is a Loyalist terrorist group formed in 1966 to oppose liberal reforms in Northern Ireland that members feared would lead to unification of Ireland. The group adopted the name of an earlier organization formed in 1912 to combat Home Rule for Ireland. The UVF's goal is to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the UK; to that end it has killed some 550 persons since 1966. The UVF and its offshoots have been responsible for some of the most vicious attacks of \"The Troubles,\" including horrific sectarian killings like those perpetrated in the 1970s by the UVF-affiliated \"Shankill Butchers.\" In October 1994, the Combined Loyalist Military Command, which included the UVF, declared a cease-fire, and the UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, has played an active role in the peace process. Despite the cease-fire, the organization has been involved in a series of bloody feuds with other Loyalist paramilitary organizations. The Red Hand Commando is linked to the UVF.\nActivities\nThe UVF has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. UVF members have been linked to recent racial attacks on minorities; however, these assaults were reportedly not authorized by the UVF leadership. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include nationalist civilians, Republican paramilitary groups, and, on occasion, rival Loyalist paramilitary groups. The UVF is a relatively disciplined organization with a centralized command. The UVF leadership continues to observe a cease-fire.\nStrength\nUnclear, but probably several hundred supporters, with a smaller number of hard-core activists. Police counterterrorist operations and internal feuding have reduced the group's strength and capabilities.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland. Some support on the UK mainland.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected in the past of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers overseas.\nUnited Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)\nDescription\nNortheast India's most prominent insurgent group, ULFA -- an ethnic secessionist organization in the Indian stateof Assam, bordering Bangladesh and Bhutan -- was founded on April 7, 1979 at Rang Ghar, during agitation organized by the state's powerful students' union. The group's objective is an independent Assam, reflected in its ideology of \"Oikya, Biplab, Mukti\" (\"Unity, Revolution, Freedom\"). ULFA enjoyed widespread support in upper Assam in its initial years, especially in 1985-1992. ULFA's kidnappings, killings and extortion led New Delhi to ban the group and start a military offensive against it in 1990, which forced it to go underground. ULFA began to lose popularity in the late 1990s after it increasingly targeted civilians, including a prominent NGO activist. It lost further support for its anti-Indian stand during the 1999 Kargil War.\nActivities\nULFA trains, finances and equips cadres for a \"liberation struggle\" while extortion helps finance military training and weapons purchases. ULFA conducts hit and run operations on security forces in Assam, selective assassinations, and explosions in public places. During the 1980s-1990s ULFA undertook a series of abductions and murders, particularly of businessmen. In 2000, ULFA assassinated an Assam state minister. In 2003, ULFA killed more than 60 \"outsiders\" in Assam, mainly residents of the bordering state of Bihar. Following the December 2003 Bhutanese Army's attack on ULFA camps in Bhutan, the group is believed to have suffered a setback. Some important ULFA functionaries surrendered in Assam, but incidents of violence, though of a lesser magnitude than in the past, continue. On August 14, one civilian was killed and 18 others injured when ULFA militants triggered a grenade blast inside a cinema hall at Gauripur in Dhubri district. The next day, at an Indian Independence Day event, a bomb blast in Dhemaji killed an estimated 13 people, including 6 children, and injured 21.\nStrength\nULFA's earlier numbers (3,000 plus) dropped following the December 2003 attack on its camps in Bhutan. Total cadre strength now is estimated at 700.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nULFA is active in the state of Assam, and its workers are believed to transit (and sometimes conduct operations in) parts of neighboring Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. All ULFA camps in Bhutan are reportedly demolished. The group may have linkages with other ethnic insurgent groups active in neighboring states.\nExternal Aid\nULFA reportedly procures and trades in arms with other Northeast Indian groups, and receives aid from unknown external sources.\nApril 27, 2005","AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #26-10 dated 13 July 2010\nAFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #26-10 dated 13 July 2010 REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not ... CIA to Debrief Agents Freed by Russia; NSA ...\nAFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes\nSection I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS\nAfghan NSA Blasts Pak for Providing Safe Havens to Al-Qaeda, Other Terror Groups. In what appears to be a significant change in Afghanistan's policy after continuous overtures to Pakistan, National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta has called on Islamabad to take \"serious measures\" against militants using the country's soil to launch attacks on the war-torn nation.\nIn an interview with a foreign news agency, Spanta said there was \"tremendous evidence\" that Pakistani authorities were allowing Al-Qaeda and other terror groups to operate from safe havens based inside the country, and that Kabul, on many occasions, had presented that evidence to Islamabad.\n\"My expectation is that Pakistan after nine years - because theoretically Pakistan is part of the anti-terror alliance - they have to begin to take some serious measures against terrorism,\" The Dawn quoted Spanta, as saying.\n\"We have evidence that the terrorists from Pakistan are involved in daily attacks against our people and international 'jihadi' groups are active here. They have their base and sanctuaries behind our border and this is a serious problem,\" he added.\nSpanta said Pakistan has failed to tackle extremists on a whole, and has also been unsuccessful in carrying out action against any militant group be it Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network or the less powerful Hekmatyar group and the Hizb-u-Tahrir.\n\"It is not a particular secret that the terrorists have sanctuaries in Pakistan, that they have training centres, that they have the possibility to come to Afghanistan, attack us and go back,\" he said. [ SIFY /6July2010] \nBritain Pledges Inquiry Into Torture. Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Britain's new coalition government would appoint an independent inquiry into allegations that its security services, MI5 and MI6, colluded with the Central Intelligence Agency and other foreign organizations in the rendition and torture of terrorism suspects held in foreign prisons after the 9/11 attacks.\nMr. Cameron had called for the inquiry before the spring election campaign against the former Labor government, which had endured years of criticism at home for being too cozy with the Bush administration in the reaction to terrorism.\nMr. Cameron said a 76-year-old retired appeals court judge, Sir Peter Gibson, would head a three-member panel to review actions by the security services that have led to a dozen cases before British courts in which former detainees have alleged that the British agencies knew - or should have known - that the detainees were being mistreated.\n\"It's time to clear this matter up once and for all,\" he told the House of Commons.\nHe said he hoped that the inquiry would start before 2011, and that he would have the panel's full report within 12 months of its first sitting. While the panel would hold \"some of its hearings\" in public, he said, much of its work would be conducted behind closed doors.\n\"Let's be frank,\" he said, \"it is not possible to have a full public inquiry into something that is meant to be secret.\"\nIn a further bid to end the controversy, he said the government was committed to a role of \"mediation\" in the civil suits for damages that former detainees had brought against the British security services and, \"wherever appropriate,\" to pay compensation. It was the closest any British minister had come to acknowledging outright that British agents knew or suspected that the detainees were being abused, and did little or nothing to prevent it.\n\"While there is no evidence that any British officer was directly engaged in torture in the aftermath of 9/11, there are questions over the degree to which British officers were working with foreign security services who were treating detainees in ways they should not have done,\" Mr. Cameron said. He said this had \"led to accusations that Britain may have been complicit in the mistreatment of detainees.\"\nUnder the Labor government, MI5, responsible for Britain's internal security, and MI6, responsible for external security, issued strong denials that their agents were complicit in mistreatment. The agencies received vigorous backing from the government, at least until court disclosures began to show that the detainees' allegations against them might have had some validity.\nMr. Cameron said that the security agencies were being \"paralyzed by paperwork\" as they defended themselves against the allegations in court, and that Britain's international reputation was being damaged, too.\n\"Public confidence is being eroded, with people doubting the ability of our services to protect us and questioning the rules under which they operate,\" he said. \"And terrorists and extremists are able to exploit these allegations for their own propaganda.\"\nFormer detainees have said that British agents who questioned them while they were detained, or who were working closely with American and other foreign agencies overseeing their interrogations, were complicit in their being shuttled through the C.I.A.'s secret archipelago of \"ghost prisons.\" In several cases, the detainees said the agents either witnessed the abuse or knew enough to conclude that they were being mistreated.\nAmong other charges, the detainees have claimed that they were subjected to sleep deprivation and painful \"stress positions,\" as well as to excessive noise, cold and threats of being killed or \"disappeared.\" One widely publicized case involved Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born former detainee with a British right of residency who was released from the prison at Guant�namo Bay last year and returned to Britain; among the charges are that his genitals were sliced with a razor while he was being held in Morocco.\nIn his Commons statement, Mr. Cameron trod warily around the implications of the inquiry for relations with the United States. In Mr. Mohamed's court case, the Labour government fought - and lost - a bid to keep secret information about his treatment that was provided to Britain by the C.I.A. At one point, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Britain's Foreign Office that security cooperation between the countries would be harmed if the information provided to Britain in secret were made public by the court.\nMr. Cameron said the inquiry would be expected to review aspects of Britain's cooperation on terrorism matters with the United States. \"Did we allow our own high standards to slip - either systematically or individually?\" he asked. \"Did we give clear enough guidance to officers in the field?\"\nBut the prime minister also stressed the damage that could result if the United States lost confidence in Britain. There were doubts, he said, about the British agencies' ability to \"protect the secrets\" of allied agencies like the C.I.A. He added, \"This has strained some of our oldest and most important security partnerships in the world - in particular, that with America.\" [ NYTimes /7July2010] \nNorth Korean Female Spy Spared. South Korean prosecutors will not charge a woman forced to spy for North Korea because she is in poor health and cooperated with investigators, a spokesman said.\nThe 36-year-old identified only as Kim was arrested in May for allegedly obtaining classified information on Seoul's subway system from a male employee in return for providing him with sexual services. Her arrest came eight months after she entered South Korea via China and Laos in the guise of a defector.\nThe subway employee, who first met Kim online when she was operating a travel agency in China in 2006 and 2007, has been charged with espionage.\n'Prosecution authorities have decided not to indict Kim as she has clearly expressed her intention to shift loyalty to the South and she was in poor health,' the Seoul central district prosecution office spokesman told AFP. She needs a liver transplant, he said.\nAuthorities also took into account the fact that she was forced into espionage to avoid punishment for losing her communist party membership card on a train in 1997 in North Korea.\n'She became disillusioned with the North after she arrived in the South,' a prosecution source was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. 'We expect her to cooperate well not only in her own case but in other spy cases as well.' Spies can in theory face the death sentence but are sometimes treated leniently if they renounce the North's regime and cooperate. [ StraitsTimes /8July2010] \nBritish Government Curbs Stop-and-Search Terrorism Powers. The British government said it was suspending anti-terror legislation allowing people to be searched by police without good reason after European judges ruled it was unlawful.\nHome Secretary Theresa May said she was introducing interim guidelines for police stating they could only use stop and search powers if they reasonably suspect the person of terror-related activities.\nShe was responding to a European Court of Human Rights judgment earlier this year that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows police to search people without suspicion, was illegal.\n\"Officers will no longer be able to search individuals using section 44 powers. Instead, they will have to rely on section 43 powers - which require officers to reasonably suspect the person to be a terrorist,\" May told the House of Commons.\n\"And officers will only be able to use section 44 in relation to the searches of vehicles.\n\"I will only confirm these authorizations where they are considered to be necessary - and officers will only be able to use them when they have 'reasonable suspicion'.\"\nThe new guidelines will be in place until a wide-ranging review of counter-terrorism legislation has been conducted by Prime Minister David Cameron's new coalition government, she said.\nShami Chakrabarti, director of civil liberties group Liberty, welcomed the move, saying Section 44 had \"criminalized and alienated more people than it ever protected\".\n\"It is a blanket and secretive power that has been used against school kids, journalists, peace protesters and a disproportionate number of young black men,\" she said.\n\"To our knowledge, it has never helped catch a single terrorist. This is a very important day for personal privacy, protest rights and race equality in Britain.\"\nIn a unanimous ruling in January, seven European Court judges said the searches breached the complainants' right to respect for their private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.\nMay said the government could not appeal the ruling but would not have done so even if it wanted to. [ Breitbart /8July2010] \nTwo U.S. Spies for Cuba Ask Court to Jail Them Near Each Other. A Washington, D.C., couple who spent 30 years spying for Cuba are asking a federal judge to recommend that they be incarcerated near each other - but not in Florida, where they say the federal prisons \"will likely have populations of Cuban-Americans who might react strongly to their offense.\"\nWalter Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers pleaded guilty in November to sending secrets to the United States' longtime antagonist. They are scheduled to be sentenced Friday before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.\nWalter Myers - a former State Department employee with top-secret clearance - agreed to a life sentence without parole and to cooperate with the federal government in a deal that offered his wife a much lighter sentence than the 20 years she might have faced at trial.\nIn court documents filed late Friday, the couple's defense attorneys are asking Walton to sentence Gwendolyn Myers to the low end of the plea deal - six years, rather than seven-and-a-half years.\n\"The eighteen-month difference between 72 and 90 months could potentially represent a significant percentage of her remaining life span,\" her lawyers wrote, noting that Gwendolyn Myers, whom they portray as a doting grandmother, will be 72 on Friday and has suffered cardiac complications, including a heart attack since her incarceration last June.\nIn arguing for a lighter sentence, her attorneys note that although Gwendolyn Myers \"shared her husband's political beliefs, she had no capacity to commit the offense on her own.\"\nThey include letters of support from friends, former employees and family members who plead for leniency.\n\"Mrs. Myers has positively impacted each community in which she has lived, and her release from prison would allow her to continue contributing to those around her, starting with, but by no means limited to, her extended family,\" her attorneys wrote.\nThey argued that she and Walter Myers \"within days of their arrest\" offered to cooperate with the government and have undergone nearly 100 debriefings with the FBI and other intelligence agencies. They noted that Gwendolyn Myers has worked as a teacher's assistant in the jail's life-skills class, helping teach other inmates.\nGovernment prosecutors, however, are asking for the maximum sentence, with U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen writing that the couple \"committed one of the worst crimes a citizen can perpetrate against his or her own country - espionage on behalf of a long-standing foreign adversary.\"\nIn addition, he noted that \"without Gwendolyn Myers's deference to, if not active support and encouragement of, seemingly everything her husband did, (Walter) Kendall Myers's desire to become a Cuban spy 30 years ago may well have been short-lived.\"\nAt one point, he calls her \"far more than just a knowing wife of a spy,\" noting that they both were recruited by Cuban intelligence and that she, like her husband, had a code name supplied by the Cubans. \"He was Agent 202. She was Agent 123,\" Machen wrote. \"She not only supported and encouraged her husband's theft of U.S. secrets from the Department of State, but she also actively engaged in their espionage.\"\nMachen argued that her \"criminal culpability\" was greater than other past spouses of spies, including Rosario Ames, the wife of Russian spy Aldrich Ames, and Anne Case Pollard, the wife of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.\n\"Unlike Gwendolyn Myers, neither Rosario Ames nor Anne Pollard decrypted coded messages from, assisted in the transmission of classified information to, nor had repeated, substantive operational meets with, the foreign intelligence service at issue,\" he said.\nMachen also suggested that Walter Myers was not always forthcoming during the briefings, which remain classified. He wrote that the couple was \"generally outwardly cooperative\" during the briefings and never refused to attend a session.\nBut he said, \"there were times when the FBI assessed that (Walter) Kendall Myers, in particular, gave inconsistent or uncooperative responses or was intentionally withholding information.\"\nThe pair is asking that Walton recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that they be incarcerated in facilities near each other, to allow their siblings, their six children, and seven grandchildren to visit them. They suggest placing Gwendolyn Myers in the Satellite Camp in Lexington, Ky., and Walter Myers in an adjacent Administrative Facility.\nOr alternatively, that Walter Myers be placed at the U. S. penitentiary for male inmates in Atwater, Calif., and Gwendolyn Myers at the Federal Correctional Institution for women in Dublin, California.\n\"Such proximity also means something to Dr. and Mrs. Myers personally: both will derive some comfort from knowing the other is not physically far away. In light of the depth of the emotional bonds of their marriage - a relationship numerous letter writers comment upon as exceptionally loving and close.\"\nThey also are asking that Walton recommend that the prison allow Walter to continue to teach fellow inmates and \"continue his scholarly writing,\" noting that he is working on a book on.\n\"At all turns, they have attempted to benefit in some small way their fellow inmates and to salvage some larger good from their situation. Their behavior has reflected their determination, as they serve out their punishments, to use their talents in the service of others. Their conduct since their arrest is entirely consistent with the idealism that brought them before this court.\" [Clark/ KansasCity /10July2010] \nCIA to Debrief Agents Freed by Russia. CIA officials were expected to whisk agents freed by Moscow to a safe house for a long debriefing, a former top security aide said, adding they could provide valuable information to the spy agency.\n\"They will be taken to a safe facility... by intelligence officers who will go through a period of debriefing them and preparing them for a new life and arranging for new identities,\" Fran Townsend said.\nTownsend, the homeland security adviser to former president George W, Bush, was speaking after the White House confirmed the CIA chief Leon Panetta had led negotiations with Russia for the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.\nTen convicted Russian agents were exchanged for four Russians convicted of spying for Western countries in a dramatic deal completed Friday at Vienna airport.\nBut it was not immediately clear how many of the four released by Moscow arrived in the United States, after their plane stopped briefly in England.\nUS and British media reports suggested at least one, and possibly two of the four, had stayed behind in Britain. The CIA did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry on the issue.\nA spokesman for President Barack Obama told reporters that Panetta, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had led the swap negotiations and that Obama himself was first briefed on the situation as far back as a month ago.\n\"The United States government came up with the four individuals to be freed by the Russians based on humanitarian concerns, health concerns, and other reasons that we put forward to the Russians,\" the White House official, who asked not to be named, said.\n\"Director Panetta led these conversations and we received a response soon after the names were offered,\" the official said.\nTownsend said the CIA will offer the freed agents housing and financial assistance as they start their new lives.\nAnd they will quiz them closely to \"understand what were the sorts of questions that Russian officials were asking them when they were in prison and arrested and how were they treated,\" she said.\nThe debriefings, which could take weeks or even months, will help \"from a counterintelligence perspective,\" she added, saying: \"We will likely learn a fair amount from these people.\"\nThe US administration said security agencies first briefed the White House in February and that Obama was briefed in person on June 11.\nObama chaired a National Security Council meeting to discuss the agents on June 18th, who were arrested June 27.\n\"At the time of the arrests, the president was kept fully apprised of developments,\" the official said.\nThe deal was seen as a high-level solution to a spy scandal that threatened to disrupt improving US-Russian relations.\nThe 10 Russian agents, who were arrested last month, pleaded guilty Thursday to being foreign agents and were ordered to leave the country immediately, avoiding the need for a politically embarrassing trial. [ AP /9July2010] \nNSA Offers Explanation of Perfect Citizen. The Perfect Citizen project is purely a research-and-engineering effort, not an attempt to monitor companies against cyberattack, the National Security Agency said.\nThe NSA issued a brief explanation of the new project in response to a Wall Street Journal story that described Perfect Citizen as a government system designed to monitor vital agencies and private utilities against potential cyberthreats. The project would establish a series of sensors installed throughout various computer networks that would raise an alarm in case of a pending cyberattack, according to the Journal.\nBut in an e-mail statement attributed to NSA spokeswoman Judith Emmel, the agency denied that Perfect Citizen would involve any type of monitoring activity or sensors, and labeled it as \"purely a vulnerabilities assessment and capabilities development contract.\" She added that \"it does not involve the monitoring of communications or the placement of sensors on utility company systems.\"\nAlthough the agency called the Journal's story an \"inaccurate portrayal of the work performed at the National Security Agency,\" it said that due to the highly sensitive nature of its work, it could not confirm or deny specific allegations addressed in the article. As a result, the NSA shared few details on the project.\nSpecifically referring to it as a contract, the NSA said Perfect Citizen \"provides a set of technical solutions that help the agency better understand the threats to national-security networks, which is a critical part of NSA's mission of defending the nation.\" The Journal had pinpointed Raytheon as the recipient of the initial phase of the contract in a deal worth up to $100 million, though neither the NSA nor Raytheon would confirm that report, according to Reuters.\nAs described in the Journal, the project has reportedly triggered mixed reactions, with some eyeing it as an effort by the NSA to intrude into domestic affairs and others seeing it as an important step in combating cyberattacks.\nAddressing those allegations in the statement, Emmel said \"any suggestions that there are illegal or invasive domestic activities associated with this contracted effort are simply not true. We strictly adhere to both the spirit and the letter of U.S. laws and regulations.\"\nWhether Perfect Citizen is a monitoring system, as reported by the Journal, or a simply an R&D contract, as defined by the NSA, the threat of cyberattacks against the United States remains real. Security experts both inside and outside the beltway have long been warning that a serious cyberattack against the nation's infrastructure could do significant damage.\nAlthough cybersecurity has been on the government's agenda for the past few years, many believe that the United States remains highly vulnerable and still has much work to do to shore up its cyberdefenses. [Whitney/ CNET /9July2010]\nEx-CIA Chief: Secrecy After Attack on Syrian Nuclear Plant Unjustified. The secrecy surrounding the attack on the nuclear plant in eastern Syria in September 2007 was justified only for the period immediately after the operation, according to the CIA head at the time, Gen. Michael Hayden. That secrecy had been meant to save President Bashar Assad from embarrassment that could have provoked him to retaliate.\nHayden's comments, published in a journal on intelligence published by the CIA, reflect a view different from that of Israel, which has not commented on the attack, widely attributed to its air force.\nBefore being appointed CIA head by George W. Bush, Hayden was a senior officer in the U.S. Air Force and head of the National Security Agency - the main signals-intelligence service in the United States. He resigned last February after President Barack Obama turned down his request to have his tenure extended by six months.\nSome analysts were critical of the CIA's release of information related to the air strike, and argued that the main motivation was for the organization to show an intelligence success following the failure to prevent the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.\nIn the interview, Hayden was asked to explain his support for exposing the role of intelligence in unveiling the presence of the Syrian reactor.\n\"It was a very complex political problem,\" he said. \"First of all, when we became aware of it, it became very important to keep it secret. Arguably secret, because it had to be dealt with in a way that didn't create a war in the Middle East. And the more public it became, the more difficult it would be for the Syrians to act responsibly. So no question that it needed to be kept secret.\n\"But after a time, after the facility had been destroyed, there were two lines working - because you had two bad actors here, the Syrians and the North Koreans,\" Hayden said.\n\"With the Syrians, you needed to keep it secret, otherwise they might do something stupid if they were publicly embarrassed. With the North Koreans on the other hand, we were moving in the direction of a new arrangement with regard to things 'nuclear,' including proliferation.\"\nIn the dispute between the two approaches, it appears that Hayden was right and those who advocated secrecy were wrong. Nearly three years after the strike and two years and three months since the CIA officially released the information, Syria did not do \"something stupid\" and Assad did not go to war. [Oren/ Haaretz /9July2010]\nMicrosoft Gives Source Code for Windows to KGB Successor. American software titan Microsoft has released the source code for Windows 7 and Office 2010 to Russia's intelligence services. The move is expected to bolster government contracts and is an extension to an agreement signed back in 2002.\nAccording to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, Microsoft has signed an extension to an agreement with Atlas, a unitary enterprise that develops information security systems. In 2002, Atlas signed an agreement with Microsoft that allowed it access to the source code for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Server 2000.\nThe amended agreement will include source code access for Windows 7, Office 2010, and Windows Server 2008, as well as SQL Server. The idea is to allow Russian officials access to the whole platform, not just pieces of it.\nThe list of official Russian government branches that will gain access to the data includes the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), which replaced the Cold War intelligence agency better known ask the KGB.\nWhile the inclusion of the FSB looks like the beginning of a spy novel, the intelligence agency will be allowed to share conclusions with Atlas. If things go well, defenses can be created for Microsoft's newest line of products that will position them for government purchase and usage. The real purpose is to get Microsoft's foot through the door while gaining more government contracts.\nSpeaking to Russian media organization RT, Microsoft's PR director in Russia, Marina Levin, said that during the eight years the initial agreement with Atlas had been in place, there were no information leaks and a mutual trust had been built between the two parties.\nAccording to Microsoft, contracts with the state in Russia account for about 10 percent of its revenue, which is estimated to top one billion dollars annually. In order for Microsoft to sell Server 2008, Windows 7, and Office 2010 to the state, its programs must be vetted to ensure they meet the requirements of the FSB and other agencies.\nIn addition to selling to Russia, Microsoft hopes that other countries will ask for access as well, leading to more opportunities to close lucrative contracts. [ TheTechHerald /12July2010] \nLack of Ethnic Minorities a Concern in Intelligence Services. Britain's anti-terrorism capabilities are being compromised by a lack of ethnic minority staff with key language skills employed in the intelligence services, according to a leaked report.\nA culture of racism was also said to exist at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ), which intercepts telephone calls and emails between suspected terrorists for MI5 and MI6.\nThe report, leaked to the Sunday Times, found that black and Asian officers felt racially discriminated against and their loyalty to Britain was often questioned.\nA shortage of specialist knowledge in languages such as Arabic and Urdu was also shown to pose a potential problem when conducting counter-terrorism surveillance.\nApproximately 2.5 per cent of GCHQ's 5,500 strong workforce are from an ethnic minority background, and the report was critical of the lack of diversity within GCHQ and its record for recruiting from ethnic minority communities around Britain.\nThe report stated: \"It is critical to have a diverse staff group who are able to profile and recognize certain behavior patterns and communications.\n\"There is a very small pool of black and minority ethnic employees within the total workforce... specific concerns have been raised by both management and staff around the language team.\"\nThe Representation of Black and Minority Ethnic People report was authorised by the head of the civil service, Sir Gus O'Donnell, and written by Whitehall race advisor, Sharon Ferguson, who spent four months interviewing ethnic minority staff at GCHQ in Cheltenham.\nThe discussions revealed that some black and Asian staff were made to feel unwelcome by both recruiters and white colleagues. The report also discovered that an \"unprecedented\" number of ethnic minority staff were employed in junior roles, while all the agency's 60 senior civil servants were white and only 1 per cent of management black or Asian.\nThe report recommended the \"embedding\" of equality and diversity into recruitment practice, and expanding the recruitment area outside Cheltenham to include nearby cities such as Birmingham and Gloucester.\nChris Marshall, GCHQ's director of corporate communications, denied the organization was \"institutionally racist\". Although acknowledging GCHQ was \"falling short\" in meeting diversity targets, he added that the current recruitment freeze, plus \"strict nationality and residency requirements\", had hampered attempts to increase diversity within the organisation. [ PeopleManagement /12July2010] \nYemen Arrests Journalist Over Links Al-Qaeda. A Yemeni journalist was arrested over suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda's attack on a Yemeni intelligence agency, a top intelligence official said.\n\"An arrest warrant was issued late today by the Director of the Political Security Agency (the intelligence) to capture Abdulelah Haidar Shaiee, a Yemeni analyst and journalist on the security affairs and Al-Qaeda group,\" the official told Xinhua.\n\"The arrest came following a statement that released on the same day by the Yemeni-based Al-Qaeda militants, in which they claimed responsibility for the June 19 attack on the intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Aden,\" he said on condition of anonymity.\nThe intelligence official said that Shaiee is facing charges of having links with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).\n\"He is accused of having close relations with the al-Qaida attackers who targeted the building of the intelligence service in Aden that left nearly 20 intelligence officers dead,\" he added.\nShaiee was taken by four gunmen from his friends' car in Hadda street, near the main intelligence headquarters in Sanaa late Sunday, said lawyer Abdulrahman Barman, a director of a non-governmental human right organization based in Sanaa.\nOn the same day, Yemeni al-Qaida group released a statement, claiming the responsibility for the June 19 attack on the intelligence headquarters in Aden.\n\"Battalion of martyr broke into the intelligence headquarters' building in Aden on June 19 and successfully managed to kill at least 24 security officers and soldiers,\" said the statement posted on al-Qaida-related jihadist website.\nIt added the attack was a \"revenge for the government air raid on the group's stronghold in Marib province, northeast of Sanaa.\"\nShaiee is a journalist with the official Saba News Agency, and also a freelancer for other international medias. He reportedly managed to conduct several exclusive interviews with AQAP's top leaders, such as the group's leader Naser al-Wiheshi and the US-wanted Yemeni-American fugitive radical imam Anwar al-Awlaqi.\nYemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida network leader Osama bin Laden, has intensified security operations and air raids against terrorist groups, after the Yemen-based al-Qaida wing claimed responsibility for a failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US passenger plane bound for Detroit last year. [ GlobalTimes /12July2010] \nSection II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE\nEverything You Wanted to Know About the KGB But Were Afraid to Ask. Boris Volodarsky was trained as an officer in the GRU Spetsnaz, the Soviet military's intelligence arm. When I met him while on book research in London in 2007, he was writing The KGB's Poison Factory, his own book on Moscow's fascination with murder-by-poison. With his encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of the KGB and its history, he is finishing a new book called The Orlov KGB File. I asked whether Volodarsky would reply to a few questions about last week's arrest of 10 Russian \"illegals,\" sleeper agents planted without diplomatic cover, in the United States.\nWhat would you say is most misunderstood about the illegals indicted in the U.S.?\nVolodarsky: As most people, including some journalists who write long articles commenting on the arrests, have no knowledge of the Russian intelligence tradecraft or the intelligence history in general, the activities of the members of this group seem a bizarre collection of strange actions looking like a bad movie about the Russkies. But many things shown even in bad movies are unfortunately true: Yes, the Russians like to wear fur hats, drink vodka, eat caviar, take pretty girls to the sauna. And, apart from some modern innovations like ad hoc networks, burst transmissions and stenography, the old proven tradecraft is pretty much the same. It is good and it normally works well (except in cases, when somebody is already being shadowed - then nothing works). The public and writers alike do not really realize that this is not a film - a very large group of very experienced FBI agents and watchers spent a very considerable sum of taxpayers' money and plenty of time to uncover a real group of the Russian undercover operators who brazenly operated in the United States, as they had been absolutely sure that no one would ever catch them because their education, training, intelligence tradition, and the belief that the wealth of the country behind them is much superior than the FBI. They forgot that the FBI of 2010 is much different from the Bureau of the 1950s. All 11 accused are trained professionals whose task was to penetrate American society. It is the first time that such a large group of illegals has been uncovered. Normally, there have been one or a maximum of two, while I have on record a great number of documented illegal operations in the U.S. for at least the last 80 years. It must be added that very few of them like Fisher/Abel and Molody/Lonsdale were successful. But we probably know only about 50 percent of the operations that were mounted and the people deployed.\nIs it possible that this is simply a rogue operation by someone in Moscow who, as some commentators have suggested, misunderstand what type of information is openly available? In other words, are illegals a relic, or is there real continuing value to be gained by illegals today?\nVolodarsky: No way it is a rogue operation. It took a lot of time, effort and money, and all was done by the book. It is always done this way. Again, I can list several dozen examples when, after training, the Soviet illegals were sent first to Europe, then almost always to Canada, and then relocated to the U.S.\nConcerning the information. First of all, the illegals are not here to collect intelligence. Their role is to control important agents already recruited in the government structures, those who have access to secret information (CIA, FBI, other intelligence services, military, scientists, R&D people, IT specialists, etc), or they may exert influence (on journalists or politicians). The Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR) has all information that is available from open sources. This has always been the case, but it is never enough. What Russian intelligence in striving to get is secret information (political, economic, industrial, military, etc) and have a chance to influence decision-making and public opinion in favor of Russia. This is why agents are recruited or penetrated into sensitive or politically important targets.\nThe role of illegals is threefold: to act as cut-outs between important sources and the Center (directly or via the SVR station); to serve as talent-spotters finding potential candidates for further intelligence cultivation and possible recruitment (a rather long and complex process, where the illegals only act at its early stage); and to establish the right contacts that would allow other intelligence operators (members of the SVR station) or the Center (visiting intelligence officers under different covers, journalists, diplomats or scientists tasked by the SVR) to get intelligence information and/or receive favors that the Center is interested in. The illegals also have a number of technical tasks like renting accommodations that could be used as safe houses, finding places for dead drops, planning hit operations like assassinations that are also carried out by illegals (but from a different department of the same directorate). They also collect sample documents that could be used in other covert operations and update Moscow about some standard proceedings (buying a house, getting a job, registering a company, and so on).\nThe illegals are no relic, they have been always used full scale. The last known case was in Canada when 'Paul William Hampel' was arrested in the middle of the Alexander Litvinenko case (November 2006). As I seek to prove in The KGB Poison Factory, the Litvinenko operation itself was the work of a Russian illegal. Certainly, the illegals are used in other countries with difficult counterintelligence environments like Britain, for example, but rarely in \"soft\" countries like Austria or Finland.\nIllegals could be used for corporate and commercial penetration as much as government or military penetration, correct?\nVolodarsky: As mentioned above, very seldom, as this is normally not their task. But in many cases their children, born American citizens, are prepared for penetrations. In this group only Mikhail Semenko seems to have made attempts to penetrate sensitive institutions by trying to get a job there (the American Foreign Policy Council, for example). But in one case, a Soviet illegal served as the Costa Rican ambassador to Italy. His detailed story is in The Orlov KGB File, my next book. In principle, corporate and commercial penetration by the illegals is possible - in the 1960s \"Rudi Herrmann\" was tasked to penetrate the Hudson Institute.\nIllegals could also be present in other nations, just like in the Cold War?\nVolodarsky: Certainly, and other nationals, not only the Russians, can be used. There are many examples, especially with East Germans.\nWhat is your sense of why they were arrested at this time?\nVolodarsky: Two obvious reasons: first of all, Anna Kuschenko-Chapman sensed that she was dealing with an undercover FBI agent, and called her controller from the Russian UN mission; second, 'Richard Murphy' was going to leave for Moscow on Sunday with, some believe, important intelligence.\nThe Obama administration is on \"reset\" with Russia. President Medvedev had just left the U.S. Is there a discordant note here?\nVolodarsky: Not at all. The Security Service works according to the operational situation disregarding what's going on in the White House and what the President thinks about it.\nAnna Chapman has attracted the most public attention of all the accused. Is she a serious spy?\nVolodarsky: Everything shows that Anna Vasilievna Kuschenko started to collaborate with the SVR shortly after she finished secondary school at the age of 16 in 1998 and before she entered the university. Her father is a KGB-SVR officer, possibly from Line N (illegal support), so this would be a normal thing. After a year, she enrolled in a course at the People's Friendship University of Moscow, which is the alma mater of many Soviet and Russian intelligence officers and agents. During her second year, in 2001, she went to London (extremely unusual) and quickly picked up a na�ve young Englishman in a disco. She took him to bed on their second meeting, and by his and another account of her use of sex toys seems to have been specifically trained in the art of love. She told him how much she loved him, burst into tears when leaving for Moscow and quickly arranged an invitation, so he came and they were married in March 2002 without the usual formalities.\nAfter getting settled in London (still being a full-time student in Moscow), she worked in several places for a short time and on small jobs, serving as a personal assistant in a hedge fund, and as a secretary in a private jet company. She dumped her husband after three years, having moved in with a young French playboy who took her to expensive private clubs in London, where she got the right contacts. He also advised her to open an Internet real estate company. In 2004, she miraculously graduated from the university (without studying there and still living in London), returned to Moscow in 2007, opened such an Internet company there, then opened a similar company in New York in February 2010, using $1 million she received from a Kremlin-backed investment fund. Almost immediately she started to send reports to her New York controller using her laptop. It is a big and interesting story worth writing much more. [Levine/ ForeignPolicy /6July2010] \nFormer Top CIA Spy: How US Intelligence Became Big Business. Few who have seen the dramatic privatization of US intelligence operations from the inside ever speak about the role private contractors play in covert operations - certainly not in public. In late June, however, the CIA's former top counterterrorism official, Robert Grenier, participated in a rare public discussion on issues ranging from the incredible extent to which the US has relied on contractors to fill sensitive national security positions; to battlefield contractors in Afghanistan; to allegations of contractor involvement in \"direct action\" (lethal) operations, as well as commenting on Blackwater owner Erik Prince's reported involvement in a secret CIA assassination program. The former spy also criticized what he called attempts by the US military to \"overstep their bounds\" by conducting intelligence operations that traditionally have fallen under the purview of the CIA.\nGrenier was undoubtedly one of the US intelligence community's heavy hitters in the aftermath of 9/11. He was CIA station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan when the 9/11 attacks took place and coordinated the initial incursions by CIA personnel and contractors in the first year of the US invasion of Afghanistan. After a stint in what Grenier jokingly called \"our excellent adventure in Iraq,\" where, as chief of the Iraq Issues Group, he planned covert US actions in the lead up to and ultimate invasion of the country, Grenier was named as director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center (CTC), the unit coordinating the tip of the spear of the CIA's covert activities. In 2006, Grenier left the CIA, reportedly over disagreements with then-CIA director Porter Goss, including the issue of treatment of detainees and prisoners. After leaving the agency, Grenier worked at Kroll Inc., a security consulting firm, and is currently chairman of ERG Partners, a small consulting company.\nGrenier and I participated in a frank discussion, along with Professor Katerie Carmola, author of Private Security Contractors and New Wars: Risk, Law, and Ethics, at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, where I had a chance to publicly ask Grenier some specific questions.\nGrenier estimated that \"many more than half\" of the personnel who worked under him at the CIA's counterterrorism center were private contractors. Contractors \"were coming in and they were all over the place,\" Grenier said of his time at CTC. \"Often I would go down and talk to people in my work force and I would say, 'Hey, that was a great job and I saw what you did last night, I saw that cable that you turned up, thank you very much.' And I'd be startled when they would give me a business card.\"\nIt is difficult to access detailed information about the extent to which US intelligence activities are privatized, primarily because the budgets of the eighteen intelligence agencies operated by the United States are mostly classified. In 2007, journalist Tim Shorrock, who wrote the definitive book on the privatization of intelligence, Spies for Hire, obtained and published an unclassified document from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence showing that 70 percent of the US intelligence budget was spent on private contractors. No documents on these classified budgets have been made public since.\nGrenier largely defended the use of contractors, primarily because he said he believes that the government, in a time of war, needs to be able to hire skilled, specialized personnel capable of securing the necessary security clearances. \"It's far easier to go through the process to get a contractor if time is an issue than it would be to bring somebody on as a regular employee,\" Grenier said. He said that when he was running CIA operations in Afghanistan immediately after 9/11, he was working with several of his predecessors who had left the CIA, but returned, with their experience and clearances, as independent contractors. Grenier cited another \"very prosaic\" reason for the reliance on contractors: the federal budgeting process.\nGrenier called the system of allocating funds to US agencies the \"most illogical process ever devised by the mind of man.\" He described Congressional funding restrictions that provided huge sums of money to the CIA post-9/11 to purchase goods and services, but not to hire new employees. Instead, he said, Congress provided one year supplemental funding packages to the CIA for \"non-personal services.\" That funding, Grenier asserted, \"you can spend for anything.\"\n\"You can buy armored vehicles, you can buy drones, or you can buy contractors. Contractors are not considered persons in the context of the federal budgeting process,\" Genier added. The CIA, therefore, got creative. \"So, here was the Congress saying, 'What can we do for you, what can we give you?' Money was not the object - they'd give us anything we asked for and what we got was non-personal services dollars on a supplemental basis. And so, what did we have to do? We went out and bought contractors.\"\nIn the early stages of the US war in Afghanistan, Grenier said, many people were hired as individual independent contractors. Then, he says, small companies began popping up that specialized in providing the government and other entities with seasoned veterans of US special forces and intelligence agencies for hire. Within months, companies like Blackwater jumped head first into the rent-a-soldier industry. These companies offered what they called \"turnkey solutions\" in the war zone.\n\"Well, they figured out that they could extort - I should say that they could command - more money form the federal government if they somehow banded together,\" says Grenier, who described the rise of what he called \"body shops\" providing personnel. \"It was like a form of unionization. They got together and they formed these little companies and they could engage in what we might call collective bargaining and thereby raise their salaries.\"\nShorrock, who analyzes government contracts for an AFL-CIO union, found Grenier's description interesting. \"CIA and NSA employees are banned by statute from engaging in collective bargaining. But forming a company might be one way a group of operatives could get a better deal from the CIA on wages, health benefits or insurance,\" said Shorrock. \"That shouldn't be confused with union rights, though.\"\nWhile Grenier provided a utilitarian rationale for the CIA using contractors, he veered away from discussing the political expediency private forces offer the CIA by providing unattributable forces specializing in plausible deniability.\nSeveral times during our discussion, I asked Grenier about the use of contractors in lethal \"direct action\" operations, some of which have been characterized as part of a secret CIA assassination program. I specifically asked him about the report in January in Vanity Fair that Blackwater owner Erik Prince had trained a CIA team whose ultimate job would be to \"find, fix and finish\" suspected terrorists across the globe. Prince's men, according to the article, never \"finished\" a suspect, but they did do everything but pull the trigger in several countries, including in Germany. Prince claims to have paid for some operations \"out of my own pocket.\"\nMany of the activities alleged to have been carried out by Prince and Blackwater occurred while Grenier was director of CTC.\nGrenier was visibly uncomfortable discussing the issue of Blackwater and \"direct action,\" saying, \"Although some of these things have been revealed and some of what has been revealed is perhaps true and some of it is perhaps untrue and some of it is perhaps exaggerated or misrepresented, but all of it is still classified and so it's difficult for me to speak to it directly to the extent that I know about it.\" He added: \"There were things that frankly were new to me in what I read in that article.\"\nGrenier rejected the notion that Blackwater would have been specifically hired by the CIA for assassination operations, offering a denial that carefully relied on the CIA's contracting process. \"CIA would not be soliciting or putting out an RFP [a Request for Proposal] to solicit bids for a company, perhaps for the lowest bidder, to come out and perform services like [direct lethal action].\"\nWhile there is little chance that there is a US government contract with Blackwater floating around showing the CIA hired Blackwater to kill people, this type of contracting inherently creates gray areas that ultimately benefit the secrecy of the operations. There is no doubt that Blackwater forces have killed plenty of people in Iraq and Afghanistan and that not all of these \"kills\" have been defensive security operations.\nWithout confirming details of Blackwater's involvement in any lethal direct action operations, Grenier did say that to the extent that Prince and his men were potentially involved, they likely were not fully aware of the role they were playing in broader CIA operations. \"By [Prince's] own admission those actions have never been carried out,\" Grenier said. \"And certainly, if I had anything to do with it, they would not be carried out by private individuals.\" He then added: \"A Navy SEAL in a buzz cut is probably not the individual that I would put on the street in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon to do surveillance on a potential target.\"\nWhat Grenier did describe, in a careful and circumspect way, is a major reason why a company like Blackwater would be hired for involvement in such operations: the combination of experienced personnel and the networks of foreign nationals they cultivated over years of government intelligence work. At the time Grenier was running CTC, Blackwater was flush with well-connected CIA veterans who had vast networks of assets and contacts across the globe. In addition to Cofer Black, Prince counted among his most valued employees Enrique \"Ric\" Prado, a former CIA paramilitary officer who served as chief of operations for the CTC and Robert Richer, former deputy director of operations at the CIA. All of these men were deeply connected in a wide array of countries where the US was operating under the banner of \"the war on terror.\"\n\"If, let us say, that one wanted to find individuals, probably foreign nationals who can go out and mount an effective surveillance against a particular target for whatever purpose - intelligence collection or whatever - then you are going to be looking for the right group of individuals who provide you with the right combination of skills that you are seeking,\" said Grenier. \"I just wanted the right people with the right skills doing the job. Depending on the operation and what you want to get done, there really is no standard template. Every time is the first time.\"\nAccording to Vanity Fair, while Grenier was at CTC, \"[Erik] Prince was developing unconventional means of penetrating 'hard target' countries - where the C.I.A. has great difficulty working either because there are no stations from which to operate or because local intelligence services have the wherewithal to frustrate the agency's designs.\"\nGrenier described the value of access to such networks and connections held by some contractors: \"It may well be that you're dealing with an individual and let's just say for the sake of discussion that he's a Blackwater employee and perhaps that individual knows some other individual - perhaps foreigners with whom he or she has dealt in the past - that you want to gain access to and bring in on the team. And maybe you want them to know what they're supposed to be doing and maybe you don't. Maybe you're going to have them only partially aware of what they're doing and not aware of what the ultimate purpose for it.\"\nI pressed Grenier on why the CIA might use a company like Blackwater at any stage of a lethal operation instead of using US military special forces teams like those from the Joint Special Operations Command. Grenier pointed to the complicated logistics of preparing such operations. \"It's not just a matter of sending in a direct action team, a JSOC squad to go and hit somebody. There's a tremendous amount of preparation, if you will, that has to be done beforehand - most of it having to do with intelligence collection.\"\nAs for Erik Prince's claims about his work with covert CIA teams, Grenier said, \"The characterization that Erik Prince has provided - to the extent that he fully understood himself what he was saying - I think is easily subject to misinterpretation. I don't know what was in his mind when he spoke.\"\nOverall, Grenier was generally supportive of the use of private contractors, though he did offer some criticisms. He expressed concerned about the \"revolving door\" between government and the private sector, saying he endorsed moves to ban CIA personnel from returning as contractors less than a year after leaving the agency before official retirement. \"Many of these relationships are far too cozy, far too clubby and there are serious risks associated with the revolving door,\" he said.\nHe also said he believes that contractors who work with US intelligence agencies should not subsequently or concurrently be working with foreign governments. \"I can assure you that if the CIA were employing a contractor who had, thereby, access to very sensitive information, [the CIA] would take a very dim view of that same individual working for that company under a different contract, say, for the Israelis or for some other foreign government,\" said Grenier.\nI asked Grenier about the US military classifying operations that might traditionally be considered intelligence operations, such as US special forces activities in countries like Yemen or Somalia, as \"preparing the battlefield,\" making them a military rather than an intelligence operation. Some critics have suggested that such classification is an attempt to avoid Congressional oversight of certain covert operations. \"That's a very interesting dodge,\" Grenier said. \"It has not kept the Department of Defense from trying, at least in my view and the view of others in the intelligence community, to at least to some degree overstep their bounds.\" Grenier also said Congress \"is complicit in it,\" saying, \"One of the things that keeps the military from having to report its intelligence-related activities to the relevant intelligence committees is the very jealous armed services committees who don't want to have their military reporting to these other committees.\"\nThe Obama administration has continued the US policy of overwhelming reliance on private contractors at every level of the US national security apparatus and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, the administration has dramatically increased the number of contractors from Bush-era levels. In Iraq, while the overall US presence is decreasing, the percentage of contractors within the total US force continues to rise. But it is not just on the battlefield. According to a recent Congressional investigation, some 69 percent of all Department of Defense personnel are private contractors. The CIA's recent $100 million contract with Blackwater for \"security\" services globally is a clear sign that this trend continues unabated at the agency under Leon Panetta.\nThe Commission on Wartime Contracting recently examined the issue of the use of contractors in sensitive operations at a hearing called, \"Are Private Security Contractors Performing Inherently Governmental Functions?\" One of the experts who testified, Dr. Allison Stanger, professor and director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs at Middlebury College, said that the government use of contractors has become a necessity, rather than a choice, but she painted a sober picture of the implications of the United States using such forces. It \"blurs the line between the legitimate and illegitimate use of force, which is just what our enemies want. Al Qaeda's operatives have no country and are private actors waging war on the United States. Terrorists may receive funding from states, but they are by definition non-state actors,\" Stanger said. \"If the United States can legitimately rely on non-state actors wielding weapons to protect our interests, why can't Al Qaeda or the Taliban, especially when contractor misdeeds appear to go completely unpunished?\" [Scahill/ TheNation /8July2010] \nEx-KGB General: Soviet Spy Stood Ready to Poison DC's Water. A Soviet \"sleeper agent\" had orders in the mid-1960s to poison the District's water and to sabotage its power supply if war with the United States became imminent, a former chief of KGB operations in North America said.\nThe deep-cover spy was inside the United States around 1963 to 1965, \"during the Kennedy-Johnson era,\" said Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB major general who is now a U.S. citizen.\nKalugin said he learned about the operation in the 1970s, when he was moving up the intelligence service's ranks. He would eventually become the KGB's youngest-ever major general.\nKalugin made the revelation during a question-and-answer session at the International Spy Museum. It followed a screening of \"Salt,\" a new spy thriller starring Angelina Jolie.\nAfterward, Kalugin told SpyTalk that he had not previously mentioned the sabotage operation in any of his books.\nNo intelligence official from the period could be immediately located to verify Kalugin's claim.\nKalugin also said the KGB had only \"a couple\" of long-term, deep-cover agents here in the 1980s,when he was head of North American operations and controlled such infamous American turncoats as John Walker Jr., a U.S. Navy warrant officer who sold Moscow the communication codes used by U.S. submarines.\nHe called the 11-person Russian spy ring indicted here two weeks ago \"a waste of money and time\" for Moscow. [Stein/ WashingtonPost /9July2010] \nFive Spy Experts Discuss Lessons Learned from the Spy Swap. The arrest and speedy deportation of ten suspected Russian spies in U.S. suburbs has raised concerns about relations between Moscow and Washington, and prompted speculation about methods associated with 21st century spy craft.\nFive former members of the U.S. intelligence community offer insight into lessons learned from one of the largest cases of espionage to surface on U.S. soil with the Council on Foreign Relations Greg Bruno.\nEric M. O'Neill, a former undercover operative for the FBI who helped bring down Russian spy Robert Hanssen in 2001, believes that in this most recent case, \"Russia took a large risk of political embarrassment\" by embedding illegal agents, but thought it would pay off.\nBurton L. Gerber, a former CIA chief of station during the Cold War, notes this is because human intelligence sources are still absolutely vital for a country like Russia seeking \"to understand the full scope of a competing nation's goals/intentions/capabilities.\"\nJack Devine, a former CIA deputy director of operations, adds that the details of the case - as cloaked in mystery as they are - suggest a major Russian operation.\nAnd Mark Stout, an intelligence community veteran and historian at the International Spy Museum, says this incident underscores the fact that for many countries, open sources of information will never replace human assets, a point Peter Brookes, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, concurs with.\nEric M. O'Neill, Partner, the Georgetown Group: The world is growing smaller. Extraordinary advances in information sharing have made distances irrelevant. As the virtual world shrinks, difficulties arise in protecting information. Entire lives are posted on social networking sites. Companies lose trade secrets to regulatory requests, accidental publishing on web pages, and to \"dumpster divers\" who sort through discarded trash. What we don't volunteer may still fall into the public eye through cybercrime, fraud, and espionage.\nThe ten Russian \"illegal\" spies recently arrested and swapped in a historic exchange emphasize that foreign intelligence services continue to rely on human intelligence to feed their voracious need for information. The best spies are people, not machines. To both spy and catch a spy, a person must be able to rely on instinct, experience, and luck, often making decisions based on a gut feeling, something a mechanical device cannot emulate.\nThe FBI's investigation into the Russian illegal spy network relied on human fieldwork and professional counterintelligence. The ten-year operation to dismantle the spy network suggests a level of severity that is not balanced by the purposefully brief indictment. Numerous experts have cited the lack of an espionage charge to label the illegal spies ineffective amateurs that passed little more than publicly available policy information. Russia took a large risk of political embarrassment by training and embedding illegal agents - a risk that requires more than what is available on Google.\nReading between the lines of the indictment, one finds reference to a more insidious task - recruitment of Americans with access to sensitive policy information. Russia swept the illegals away through a hasty swap only eleven days after the arrest - far too little time for a useful debrief. Time will tell whether the FBI learned enough to truly understand the purpose of the illegal network - perhaps enough to find additional conspirators.\nBurton L. Gerber, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University: When U.S. officials announced the arrest of ten alleged Russian \"illegals,\" much of the media and other commentary seemed to see this as old stuff, inconsistent with the post-Cold War-age and the reset of Russian/American relations. How serious could this be? What kind of access could these Russians have had? What possibly could they have reported?\nNations still need to understand adversaries, real and potential. While much data and insights are available through other means, intelligence operations, using human officers and recruited agents, are still vital to understand the full scope of a competing nation's goals/intentions/capabilities. And for a nation with the history and tradition of Russia, turning to clandestine collection is second nature.\nRussian - and earlier Soviet - intelligence, has usually been noted for its patience. The dispatch of \"illegal\" officers to establish themselves, develop contacts as appropriate, serve as couriers or support agents, or even [deploy] themselves to get into position to collect important information, is consistent with Russian experience and goals. While their exact technical communications capabilities may not yet be known to us outside observers, it appears they had access to devices/systems that go well beyond traditional dead drops and brush contacts. This was a serious Russian program.\nAmerican counterintelligence, the FBI, was on to several of the illegals early, perhaps ten years or so ago, and apparently there were some Russian missteps in the course of those years which caused additional illegals to be identified. Using a support agent to service more than one illegal, as was apparently done, is not sound tradecraft.\nWhile we cannot be sure of the scope of the illegals' success, we can conclude that their pay-off may have been larger than we first can understand, or that the Russian SVR [Russia's foreign intelligence service] was prepared to invest time and resources in the expectation of greater achievement. American counterintelligence impeded this program. Russia and other countries will likely introduce successive ones.\nJack Devine, President, the Arkin Group LLC: Twenty-five years ago, much of what a country's intelligence agencies knew was collected by operatives abroad. Today, much of that information is available instantaneously to anyone with an Internet connection and access to twenty-four-hour news channels. In addition to the problems around verifying data found on the Internet, it contains only as much as people load onto its networks. There is also a great deal of copycat reporting in the press. It is amazing how quickly the media settles into \"conventional wisdom,\" which is often misplaced.\nWeb sites and the media provide us with easy access to basic information, but the questions of critical importance to intelligence professionals can rarely if ever be answered online. In this regard, computers are no match for human operators and agents in gleaning insights into the plans, intentions, and psychologies of their targets. The United States, other major powers, and very clearly the Russians understand this. All continue to invest in field collection activities. Recently, we've even seen an uptick in the number of smaller, less developed countries funding and fielding collection efforts abroad, including inside the United States.\nInstead of questioning the relevance of human agents and operatives in the cyber-era of the 21st century, we should question why the Russians, over the course of ten years, invested so heavily in developing a large network of operatives spanning the American Northeast and Central Atlantic regions. Despite the reported lack of intelligence obtained from the group's operations and their various tradecraft failures, let's not be mistaken about their intended role either; the eleven \"illegals\" were most likely in the United States to handle American moles. According to what is known publicly, they were to become intermediaries, unconnected from the recruitment process. The Russians either had or anticipated having a large number of American assets to handle and they'd laid in the plumbing for this task with the eleven alleged spies placed strategically outside \"hot zones\" to avoid detection.\nWhat is baffling is why the SVR would break a cardinal rule of the spy game - always keep your operatives compartmentalized so that the compromise of one doesn't lead to the collapse of the network. Perhaps we should take some satisfaction or comfort from this mystifying oversight, but I remain alarmed by the Russians' optimism about recruiting Americans.\nMark Stout, Historian, International Spy Museum: Americans are so enamored with technology that they often miss the continued relevance of espionage in this age of Google, \"Total Information Awareness,\" signals intelligence, and Predator drones. However, espionage remains an indispensable component of the intelligence capabilities of modern states.\nThough their recently thwarted operation may have been feckless, the Russian services - like all serious intelligence services - understand that espionage and other forms of human intelligence can provide nuances that open-source information or technical means often cannot. For instance, an analyst who wanted to know whether Saddam's soldiers would stand and fight would certainly want to have reporting from human sources to provide a feel for morale in the ranks.\nAs for the vaunted power of open sources, the history of the stealth fighter plane provides a useful cautionary tale. In the early 1980s, everyone knew that the United States Air Force had the first ever stealth fighter, but nobody without a security clearance had ever seen it. However, extensive research in the open sources allowed the Testor model company to sell a 1:48 model of the curvaceous F-19. The models flew off the shelves, and even the impeccably well-informed Tom Clancy was convinced, featuring the F-19 in one of his novels. There was just one problem. There was no F-19. There was an F-117A, but it was angular to the point of ugliness. The open sources were utterly wrong; the real secrets had been kept.\nAn intelligence service that wishes to have a deep understanding of its adversaries will conduct espionage. Furthermore, an intelligence service which wishes to avoid being deceived will collect intelligence in as many ways as possible. Espionage has been around for thousands of years. It is here to stay. The Russians have been leading practitioners for many years. While this case may well turn out to be an embarrassment for them, other Russian agents could well be stealing serious American secrets right now.\nPeter Brookes, Senior Fellow, Heritage Foundation: In the wake of the recent round of U.S.-Russia spy swaps, people are asking: With all the high-tech intelligence collecting gadgets that exist today - from drones to satellites to cybersnooping - who needs a bunch of James or Jane Bonds running around? [The answer]: We do.\nSure, you can get a lot of intelligence from satellites that can practically read license plates or even from translating open-source journals and newspapers, but the human spy still plays a unique role in getting access to privileged information this country needs for its national security. Who is going to \"borrow\" the briefing book on a country's illicit nuclear weapons plans and programs that will inform American policymaker decisions? A satellite can't do that.\nYou might respond that you can get that briefing book by hacking into a ministry's computer system and stealing the files. Fair enough, but a drone can't plant the \"bug\" in the ministry's conference room to listen - live - to discussion on that topic.\nOr how about finding the terrorist who doesn't use a cell phone or a computer and who travels around at night concealed in the back of a truck or ambulance? Maybe the spy who has penetrated that terrorist's inner circle can. Good luck recruiting that spy from a laptop.\nThe list goes on and on of examples of what the human spy can do that the electronic spy can't, ranging from espionage's ridiculous to the sublime. Unfortunately, the world's second oldest profession can be wrought with danger or even national embarrassment under certain circumstances. [But] there is still a robust need for the human spy in the cloak and dagger game. [ MSNBC /12July2010]\nCuban Ex-Intelligence Chief Recalls JFK Assassination. Like many, Fabian Escalante remembers what he was doing when he heard U.S. President John F. Kennedy had been shot: he was trying to stop the Central Intelligence Agency from toppling the Cuban government with the help of anti-Castro exiles.\nYears later, when he had risen to head Cuba's Department of State Security, he was well placed to consider whether those same exiles may have had a hand in the November 22, 1963 slaying of the dashing young president in Dallas.\nEscalante does not claim to know who killed JFK, but says that Cuban exiles recruited by the CIA had planned to kill Kennedy twice in November 1963, because they felt the U.S. president had done too little to topple the government on the Caribbean island.\n\"They had the capability, the means and the intent,\" he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Semana Negra crime writing festival in Gijon, northern Spain.\n\"How was this meant to turn out? To assassinate Kennedy, launch a furious campaign against Cuba, blaming it for the assassination, which they did, then kill Fidel Castro a few days later, on December 12, and invade Cuba.\"\nEscalante worked with members of the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations investigating the JFK killing when they travelled to Cuba in 1978 to collect data on the activities of Cuban exiles.\nIn his retirement, he has published many of his findings in book form, along with research he has conducted since he set up the Centre for Security Studies in 1993.\nEscalante says one anti-Castro exile and former CIA operative who may hold clues to the JFK assassination is Luis Posada Carriles, who lives in Miami and is wanted in Cuba on charges of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cubana Airlines jet which killed 73 people.\nPosada Carriles is also accused of involvement in a 1997 wave of hotel bombings, which were aimed at destabilizing Cuba and scaring away tourists, but Escalante doubts the U.S. government will deport him to Cuba to face trial.\n\"He has a life insurance policy, which is what he knows about the Kennedy plot,\" Escalante said.\n\"He and (fellow exile) Orlando Bosch were in the thick of the Kennedy plot. Remember, both he and Posada were part of this terrorist mechanism set up in New Orleans, which is where the plot was hatched to assassinate Kennedy.\"\nNow 69, Escalante was just 18 when a revolution led by Fidel Castro took power in 1959. In the next few years, he and other young novices built up a counter-intelligence service from scratch.\nHe was invited to participate in the Spanish crime-writing festival because organizers say fiction falls short of a world Escalante has uncovered, in which the CIA plotted to make Castro's beard fall off or poison Cubans with infected coins.\nEscalante belonged to the Q Section in 1961, which had 50 case officers to thwart the efforts of the so-called JMWAVE CIA base in Florida assigned to conduct sabotage operations in Cuba with a $100 million budget and 4,000 agents.\nIn his book \"Executive Action,\" Escalante lists 634 conspiracies to kill Castro between 1959 and 2000, including 168 plots which may have succeeded.\nHe says the closest the Cuban leader came to death was when a CIA agent working at Havana's former Hilton hotel tried to poison a chocolate milk shake Castro ordered.\nHowever, a capsule containing botulin stuck to the side of the freezer compartment in the bar and broke when the agent tried to pry it loose.\nEscalante says the Q Section often intercepted false documents sent by the CIA to their agents in Cuba, which were as good as genuine ones, so he used one for himself.\n\"Security measures for documents in those days were very lax. There was just ordinary paper, a photo, stamp and plastic cover. So that was how I began to drive, with a CIA license.\" [Roberts/ Reuters /12July2010] \nTimeline: Spy Swaps in History. 10 February 1962: Crossing the \"Iron Curtain.\" On the border between West Berlin and East Germany, a US photo-reconnaissance pilot named Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for the reputed director of a Soviet spy cell in the US named Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. Powers' U-2 plane was shot down over the U.S.S.R. in 1960; Abel was arrested in the US in the late 1950s.\n\"It was a peaceful scene, static and unreal,\" a Reuters reporter present during the exchange wrote in 1962. \"The men, wrapped in winter coats, who stood on the bridge, were in two groups, divided by a white line that was brushed across the tarmac to declare that here was the Iron Curtain.\"\nOne group walked Eastwards, the other Westwards, the reporter said. Then they \"took off like rockets\" in separate limousines.\n11 October 1963: Two for two. In a two-for-two swap, a 24-year-old American student arrested while touring Kiev in 1961 and a Jesuit missionary arrested in the USSR in 1941 are exchanged for a Russian couple arrested and held by the U.S. on charges of espionage.\n22 April 1964: Berlin border exchange. A British businessman convicted of spying for the U.S. and Britain is exchanged for a Russian army officer who had been imprisoned in Britain in 1961 for allegedly operating a spy ring seeking to gain information about British submarines. The swap, once again, takes place on the West Berlin-East Germany border.\n24 June 1969: Handing over the Krogers. Britain releases Peter and Helen Kroger in exchange for Gerald Brooke, a lecturer who had been jailed for spying in the Soviet Union. The Krogers allegedly passed on secrets to Moscow from the Royal Navy's underwater warfare headquarters in southern England. \n30 April 1978: Three-country deal. In a three-way exchange between Mozambique, the U.S. and East Germany, Mozambique releases an Israeli citizen held for two years, the U.S. releases a former Air Force intelligence clerk convicted of passing secrets to the Soviets, and East Germany releases a Minnesota man arrested for trying to smuggle a German doctor's family to the West.\n27 April 1979: The Ginzburg swap. Russia releases five political and religious dissidents for two Russians convicted of spying in the U.S. Alexander Ginzburg - a notable Russian writer and activist - is among the five sent back to New York.\n1 October 1981: One for many. Guenter Guillaume, an East German agent who served as a close aide to West Germany Chancellor Willy Brandt, is exchanged for a number of Western spies.\n11 June 1985: Largest swap since WWII. Twenty-nine people are exchange din one of the largest swaps since World War II. In the massive exchange, which took place on the Glienecke Bridge between East Germany and West Berlin, four people indicted for spying in the U.S. were exchanged for five Polish prisoners and 20 other alleged spies held in East Germany and Poland. \n30 September 1986: Journalist for U.N. spy. Around three weeks after their respective arrests, American journalist Nicholas Daniloff and accused Soviet spy and United Nations worker Gennadiy Zakharov are released just days apart. \n9 July 2010: Suburban spies Russia-bound. In the biggest spy swap since the Cold War, 10 convicted Russian agents were exchanged for four people convicted of spying for the U.S. on an airstrip in Vienna, Austria. [ MSNBC /July2010]\nSection III - COMMENTARY\nDefense Department Broadens Congressional Oversight of Secret Programs, by Marc Ambinder. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tussles with the White House over expanded intelligence oversight, the Department of Defense quietly and subtly offered Congress an olive branch last week, setting out a formal procedure for the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, to be granted access to special access programs, or SAPs. The change of policy, contained in a directive issued July 1, was first noticed by the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.\nPelosi wants the Government Accountability Office to oversee special access programs across the intelligence community, including those established by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency. The White House has vehemently resisted GAO oversight on the grounds that it interferes with the prerogative of the executive branch to protect national security information.\nAccording to the Pentagon instruction, GAO personnel \"shall be granted SAP access if\" the director of the DoD oversight committee on SAPs agrees, after receiving a request from the chair and ranking member of either the defense or intelligence committees, and if the GAO employee who would review the SAP has the appropriate security clearance level.\nIn practice, as Secrecy News notes, GAO personnel who work with Congress on these programs have the clearance level, and regularly undergo a counterintelligence polygraph to keep their clearances current. Previously, the DoD had no formal mechanism for complying with, or refusing, congressional requests to have the GAO investigate its secret programs.\nThere are three kinds of SAPS - open SAPs, which are acknowledged and reported to Congress in an unclassified manner; black or \"closed\" SAPs, which are reported to Congress in a classified annex to the Defense Department budget; \"waived\" SAPs, which are orally briefed to the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees, their staff directors, and the chairs and ranking members of the appropriations subcommittee for defense.\nMost SAPs involve technology projects. At the Department of Defense there are relatively few SAPs involving sensitive human intelligence collection or exploitation methods. Examples of ongoing non-technology SAPs include interrogation protocols for high-level battlefield detainees in Afghanistan managed by the Defense Counterintelligence and HUMINT Center of the DIA, and every single capability of all of special missions units of the Joint Special Operations Command. One entire government agency, the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office, is protected by a SAP.\nSAPs are managed by security officers in charge of \"Special Technical Operations.\" [Marc Ambinder is the politics editor of The Atlantic. He has covered Washington for ABC News and the Hotline, and he is chief political consultant to CBS News.] [Ambinder/ TheAtlantic /7July2010] \nWhy Doesn't the FBI Prosecute More Spies? The Logic Behind Swapping the Russian Agents Rather Than Bringing Them to Trial, by Asha Rangappa. After a tantalizing two weeks involving the arrest of 10 Russian intelligence agents in three U.S. cities, the anticlimactic denouement came yesterday with a spy-swap deal between the United States and Russia in which the accused spies will go free after spending just 10 days in jail. It may seem odd to end a 10-year investigation on suspected foreign agents this way, even if their intelligence amounted to Google searches and pool-party gossip. But given the way the FBI normally deals with spies, putting them in jail probably wasn't its only goal in the first place.\nRelative to the large number of foreign spies tracked and monitored by the FBI, very few are brought to light through criminal prosecution. This is partly due to the limited number of laws against spying. Apart from the federal espionage statute, which requires prosecutors to prove the intentional passage of classified information, the only law against spies (and the one under which the latest Russian agents have been charged) is the Foreign Agent Registration Act. FARA requires anyone acting on behalf of a foreign government to register as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice. If you're caught breaking the law, the penalty is fairly weak: five years in prison. Only four criminal cases have been brought under the statute since 1966. The dearth of spies prosecuted under either the espionage statute or FARA reflects the FBI's reluctance to lay all of its cards on the table, which is what it generally has to do at trial in a criminal case.\nIn the game of spy vs. spy, the FBI's strongest weapon is keeping its adversary from knowing what it knows. The investigation into the 10 Russian spies shows that Russia's foreign intelligence service, the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (successor to the KGB) apparently felt confident that it was operating undetected. Working under this assumption, the SVR unwittingly enabled the FBI to collect a steady stream of information on the SVR's agents, contacts, interests, and capabilities. By staying behind the scenes, the FBI ensured that the SVR was giving up all these goodies for almost 10 years.\nCriminal cases, by contrast, are public, and unless a judge chooses to seal sensitive evidence, they require the government to present exactly what it knows. The criminal complaint against the Russian spies, many note, reads like a Cold War spy thriller, complete with secret rendezvous, false identities, and messages written in invisible ink. For the Russians, though, it should read more like a McKinsey report for how the SVR can improve its game. The complaint names - or, in spytalk, \"burns\" - the specific FBI agents who conducted this investigation. While FBI counterintelligence agents normally operate overtly - meaning that they don't have to hide the fact that they are with the FBI - they generally do not reveal the country whose agents they are targeting. Now that the complaint has revealed the identities of the SVR's adversaries, the Russian intelligence service can keep an eye out for the specific agents working against them in the United States. (The FBI could, of course, counter-counter-counter by moving these agents to a different target, but given their institutional knowledge and Russian expertise, that would be a loss for our intelligence capabilities).\nMore significantly, the complaint reveals what the FBI knew about the SVR's tactics and tradecraft. For instance, the FBI learned that in addition to old-school techniques like the \"brush pass\" (casually exchanging bags between two people while passing), the Russians were using Web imaging encryption software to encode secret messages into ordinary pictures on the Internet, a technique known as steganography. Discovering and decrypting this software allowed the FBI to analyze more than 100 coded text files related to this investigation and likely more communications related to other classified investigations. Now that the SVR knows we know, it will no doubt improve its codes, or abandon this technique entirely, drying up a potential intelligence source for the FBI. (Other, less sophisticated notes to self for future SVR spies include not using bright orange bags, mentioning \"Siberia\" in conversations, or throwing cell phone receipts into the garbage.)\nDespite the information it reveals to the other side, criminal prosecution has been necessary and inevitable to stop exchanges of highly classified information such as the secrets passed on to the Russians by former FBI agent Robert Hansen. Still, even that case revealed more about the FBI's own shortcomings than about the Russians. After all, as a Russian counterintelligence agent himself, Hansen had the knowledge and training to outmaneuver the traditional techniques of his FBI colleagues for almost two decades. The investigation into his activities gave the FBI guidance on internal security loopholes that needed to be fixed. The FBI adapted accordingly, enhancing its computer security and requiring regular financial disclosures and polygraphs of its agents.\nTrading the Russian spies makes sense to ensure that the FBI doesn't leak any more than it already has. But in light of what the FBI lost to the Russians with Hansen, officials must have thought carefully before making the decision to arrest the spies at all. The FBI's Russian counterintelligence program is the agency's oldest and the most protective of its methods and sources. Its agents were well-aware that they were killing (or at least maiming) the goose with the golden eggs by making this case public, and only an anticipated benefit would justify the injury. One possibility is that the arrests were necessary to force the SVR to shut down other activities that pose a greater threat to national security - one that the American public will never know about. Another may be that these arrests will serve to as an example to more important spies on the FBI's radar and help persuade them to work for us as double agents rather than risk being sent home, or to jail. What is certain is that the FBI must have thought it had more to gain than lose - otherwise, the normal course of business would have been to let the spies continue their charade, at the Russians' expense. [Rangappa/ Slate /10July2010] \nSpy Swap Was a Mistake, by Gene Coyle. [Gene Coyle is a retired, Russian-speaking, 30-year veteran of the CIA, who specialized for most of his career on Russian affairs. He is a recipient of the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit. He is now an adjunct professor at Indiana University and the author of two spy novels.] The Obama administration's rush to sweep the recent Russian spy scandal off the table as quickly as possible with this swap is a bad move on several counts.\nIt is understandable and correct that President Barack Obama values the overall U.S.-Russian relationship above the question of whether a few Russian spies spend years in jail.\nThe \"reset\" campaign was an excellent idea; too bad no one in our Department of State knew how to correctly spell the word in Russian when Secretary Hillary Clinton presented the \"button\" to the Russian Foreign Minister. However, there is a line between seeking a mutually beneficial relationship and delusional pandering.\nThe history of U.S.-Russian relations shows that dealing respectfully but firmly is what works best. Most importantly, Moscow only agrees to anything that it perceives to be at least 50 percent in its self-interest, not because we've been nice guys. The only thing releasing all of these deep-cover Russian intelligence officers within a matter of days is going to teach Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, an old KGB officer, is that Obama is a pushover - overly focused on making sure not to offend Russia.\nAside from sending the wrong political message, the quick swap also tells the leadership of the Russian government and the SVR, its intelligence service, that there is really no downside to being caught carrying out espionage in America.\nAny intelligence service in the world, including Russia's, when deciding whether to carry out a particular espionage operation looks at the \"risk factor.\" What will be the blow back if this becomes known?\nRunning \"illegals\" - that is, Russians posing as citizens from a third country and who have no overt connection to the Russian embassy or consulates in America - would usually be considered a high-risk operation by Moscow because those Russian citizens don't have diplomatic immunity if caught. It's bad press and it's bad for morale within the SVR if one, much less 11, of your deep cover officers get caught and are facing decades in prison. But Obama has now just told the SVR, \"Hey, there is no penalty for spying in America. If we catch you, we'll just let you go so as not to damage 'big picture' relations.\"\nWe did show Russia certain appropriate courtesies in these arrests, which would have indicated we didn't want to harm our political relationship with Russia.\nWe waited until Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had made his visit to America. We waited until after the G20 meetings in Canada. We haven't even publicly named or expelled the Russian diplomats who were apparently observed being involved in the communications with these illegals. (Hopefully, the Department of State has at least told the Russian ambassador that certain of his diplomats should quietly leave America.) And speaking of morale, what message does this send to the hundreds of FBI special agents who spent thousands of hours working these cases?\nAccording to various press accounts, the number of Russian intelligence officers in America and Western Europe has already returned to Cold War levels. Obama has now told the Russians, there isn't even a problem if we catch you. Try anything you want.\nNormally, when any intelligence service has a major flap as this was, it would order an immediate stand down of other operations in that country for perhaps several months while it tried to figure out what had gone wrong. By immediately sending these SVR officers back to Moscow, they will be available to assist in that investigation.\nNot knowing what all they were involved in - it was certainly more than \"penetrating the local PTA\" - I don't necessarily advocate having kept these people in prison for decades, but a year or two in prison before offering a swap would have sent a strong message to Putin and the SVR. And if the press accounts are accurate, getting four people out of Russian jails in return for these 10 doesn't seem like much of a bargain either. (An 11th suspect detained in Cyprus remains on the loose after being released on bail.)\nObama is no doubt an intelligent fellow, but he certainly didn't get very good advice from his intelligence community or Russian experts about how to handle this spy caper. [Coyle/ CNN /11July2010] \nObituaries\nSergei Tretyakov: Former Russian Spy Defected to U.S. in 2000. Sergei Tretyakov, a high-ranking Russian spy whose defection to the United States in 2000 was regarded as one of the most significant coups against the Russian government since the collapse of the Soviet Union, died June 13 at his home in Osprey, Fla.\nMr. Tretyakov's wife said he died after suffering a heart attack, according to Pete Earley, the author of a book about Mr. Tretyakov. The former Russian spy was 53 and news of his death was withheld at the request of his family pending an investigation into the cause, Earley said.\n\"This man literally held the keys to a Russian intelligence gold mine,\" an unnamed FBI official was quoted as saying in Earley's 2007 book, \"Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War.\" \"He used those keys to unlock its doors and go into the mine every day to bring us nuggets.\"\nMr. Tretyakov was born into a spying family and rose through the ranks of Russian intelligence to become a colonel in the SVR, the successor to the Soviet KGB espionage agency.\nAt the time of his defection on Oct. 11, 2000, Mr. Tretyakov allegedly had been working as a double agent for the United States for three years while he was the SVR's second-in-command in New York. From 1995 to 2000, he oversaw all Russian covert operations in the city and had more than 60 intelligence officers under his command, according to Earley's book.\nThe intelligence Mr. Tretyakov handed over during his time as a double agent amounted to more than 5,000 top-secret SVR cables and scores of classified Russian intelligence reports. He wrote an estimated 400 papers for the CIA, the FBI, the State Department and the White House.\nFor his efforts, Mr. Tretyakov and his family were given U.S. citizenship, and he reportedly netted the highest amount ever paid to a U.S. intelligence source - a fortune that was said to be in the millions of dollars, which he used to buy himself a Lexus SUV and his wife a Porsche.\nSergei Olegovich Tretyakov was born in Moscow on Oct. 5, 1956. His grandmother was a typist and secretary in the forerunner of the KGB. His father worked in the Soviet nuclear weapons program, and his mother worked in the financial office of the KGB and helped her son gain entry into the spy service.\nMr. Tretyakov was born with a heart defect that would have denied him entry into the KGB, but his mother bribed a doctor to leave the condition out of his application to the agency.\nWhen the ruse was discovered, his commander recognized that Mr. Tretyakov's skill at beating the system suggested great potential as a spy.\nEarly in his career, Mr. Tretyakov impressed senior officers by analyzing seemingly innocuous, and unclassified, U.S. reports and gleaning valuable intelligence from their pages.\nIn one instance, he was able to extrapolate from a congressional report on U.S. military installations which types of aircraft could land at certain bases, judging from the length of their runways.\nHe was dispatched to Ottawa on his first overseas assignment in 1990 and was known under the code name \"Comrade Jean.\" There, he recruited several high-ranking Canadian officials, allegedly including a member of Parliament.\nIn Earley's book, Mr. Tretyakov revealed much of the SVR's structure, including technical details about operations and the identities of agents and sources. He also revealed that his agents had skimmed $500 million in profits for the Russian government from the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq.\nHe claimed to have unmasked dozens of SVR undercover agents, including several ambassadors and U.N. representatives, but despite the sweeping accusations, no one cited by Mr. Tretyakov has been charged with espionage.\nMany critics said Mr. Tretyakov exaggerated his persona as a good guy, but he never denied his role within the ruthless intelligence agency, saying, \"I'm not a Boy Scout.\"\nNewspaper accounts speculated that Mr. Tretyakov had taken part in outing FBI double agent Robert Hanssen in 2001 and in the recent arrests of Russian agents living deep undercover in the United States for more than a decade. But Earley said that Mr. Tretyakov never admitted to being the Hanssen source and that he apparently had no role in the investigation of the spy ring.\nSurvivors include his wife, Helen, and a daughter, Ksenia, both of Osprey.\nEarley, a former Washington Post reporter, said he was skeptical of Mr. Tretyakov's motivations when he first met the former spy. But Mr. Tretyakov said he came forward only because of his disgust with the Russian government.\n\"Of course I want people to know what I have done,\" Mr. Tretyakov told Earley in the book. \"However, most Americans can't pronounce Tretyakov, nor will they remember the name for longer than a few seconds.\" [Shapiro/ WashingtonPost /10July2010]\nArnold Kramish: Physicist Worked on Manhattan Project. Arnold Kramish, 87, a physicist, historian and author who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II, died June 15 at George Washington University Hospital of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurological disorder.\nMr. Kramish participated in the Manhattan Project, the U.S. program to develop the atomic bomb, as a member of the special engineering division at Oak Ridge, Tenn., the Philadelphia Navy Yard and Los Alamos, N.M.\nOn Sept. 2, 1944, he was severely burned during an explosion at an experimental uranium enrichment facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. According to Mr. Kramish, who described the accident in an article published in The Washington Post, the result was \"perhaps then the largest release in history of radioactive materials.\"\nTwo men were killed in the blast, and the cause of their deaths was kept confidential to avoid leaking information about the top-secret bomb project. Years later, Mr. Kramish campaigned for official recognition of their contributions to the war effort.\nAfter the war, Mr. Kramish served with the Atomic Energy Commission and later as a nuclear weapons research strategist at the Rand Corp., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank that often advised the government.\nDuring the 1970s, he was posted in Paris as a State Department counselor, and he served as nuclear arms control and security adviser to UNESCO and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.\nHe wrote \"The Griffin\" (1986), a biography of Paul Rosbaud, an Austrian spy who during World War II provided the Allies with information about Nazi attempts to build an atomic bomb.\nIn a Washington Post review of the book, author and historian Gregg Herken wrote, \"Despite Kramish's careful research, which included interviews with approximately 500 of those who knew Rosbaud, it is an ironic tribute to this bookish spy's mastery of his trade that the Griffin remains a surprisingly shadowy figure, one who continues to defy the effort to capture him.\"\nArnold Kramish was born in Denver on June 6, 1923. He graduated from the University of Denver in 1945 and received a master's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1947.\nHe moved frequently for his career, settling in Reston in 1976.\nDuring the Reagan administration, Mr. Kramish directed a White House study on the Strategic Defense Initiative and served as an adviser to the undersecretary of defense for policy. He received a Carnegie Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.\nMr. Kramish taught courses at the University of California at Los Angeles, the London School of Economics and other institutions.\nHis books included \"Atomic Energy in the Soviet Union\" (1959), \"The Peaceful Atom in Foreign Policy\" (1963) and \"The Future of Non-Nuclear Nations\" (1970). He held a patent for a nuclear radiometer.\nMr. Kramish was a member of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation and the Authors Guild.\nSurvivors include his wife of 57 years, Vivian Raker of Reston; two children, Pamela Jones of Hickory, N.C., and Robert Kramish of Berkeley, Calif.; a sister; and four grandchildren. [Brown/ WashingtonPost /10July2010]\nComing Events\nEVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....\n16, 23 July 2010, 8 and 10 pm - Washington, DC - THE SPY MAGIC SHOW - An incredible exploration into the secrets of spies, shown through stunning sleight-of-hand magic by master magician Michael Gutenplan.\nMichael Gutenplan, an expert in sleight-of-hand magic is about to expose the secrets of the CIA and you are invited to watch! In an intimate room at the famed Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., Michael will perform world-class magical effects and tell how magicians and the CIA have worked together since its creation in 1947. Using cards, money and mind reading Michael will expose the secrets and skills that have only been rumored to exist. From thought transference and teleportation to lie detection and invisible ink, Michael will transport you to another world where fact and legend go hand- in-hand and spies are around every corner. Grab a drink, have a seat and join us for this once in a lifetime event!\nTickets can be purchased through www.spymagicshow.com or by calling 1-866-811-4111. All tickets are $40.00.\nThe Spy Magic Show plays Friday, July 16 and 23rd at 8:00 PM and 10:00 in the Roosevelt Room at the Ritz Carlton, located at 1150 22nd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037\nMichael Gutenplan is a professional magician originally from New York and now residing in Los Angeles. He has performed his signature brand of magic around the world including in Great Britain, Spain, Israel, Jordan and across the United States. He was the creator and star of Extraordinary Deceptions, an Off-Broadway magic show that earned Michael rave reviews in the New York Times, Variety and other prestigious publications.\nWednesday, 21 July 2010, 10 am - 12:45 pm - Annapolis Junction, MD - \"The Mysterious Rosetta Stone: A Code-Cracking International Treasure\" with Dr. Joel Freeman, is topic at the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation Summer Cryptologic meeting .\nAll AFIO members are invited to hear our guest speaker, Dr. Joel Freeman, CEO and President of the Freeman Institute, discuss the history of the Rosetta Stone, focusing on the historical connection between the Rosetta Stone and the breaking of codes. Guests will have an opportunity to view the full-sized, three-dimensional Rosetta Stone replica normally on display in the lobby of the National Cryptologic Museum. Dr. Freeman is an gifted speaker and author. As part of the program there will be a brief presentation to acknowledge the Milt Zaslow Memorial Award for Cryptology that was presented for the first time at this year's Maryland History Day Ceremony on 24 April.\nLocation: the L3 Conference Center in the National Business Park. Lunch will be served at 11:45 following the presentation. L3 Conference Center is located at 2720 Technology Dr, Annapolis Junction, MD 21076 in the Rt. 32 National Business Park.\nCost: the fee is $25 to cover program & lunch costs.\nConfirm your attendance by Wednesday, 14 July, by calling (301) 688-5436 to pay by credit card or by mailing a check to NCMF, POB 1682, Ft. Meade, MD 20755. We look forward to seeing you there.\n22 July 2010 – San Francisco, CA – The AFIO Jim Quesada San Francisco Chapter hosts John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism after the September 11 attacks .\nJohn Yoo is currently a professor of law at UC Berkeley. Yoo will be discussing his new book, Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush. RSVP and pre-payment required. The meeting will be held in San Francisco: 11:30 AM no host cocktails; noon - luncheon. $25 member rate with advance reservation and payment; $35 non-member. E-mail RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi (please indicate chicken or fish): afiosf@aol.com and mail check made out to \"AFIO\" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578 Burlingame, CA 94011\n24 July 2010 - Abilene, KS - Korea 60: Eisenhower the Peacemaker - Honoring Those who Served in Korea - CIA joint conference at Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene, Kansas\nThe Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum will host a day of programs on July 24 to honor the service of Americans who have served in the Republic of Korea from 1950 to the present.\nThe day begins with a presentation by intelligence agency historians and ends with dinner and entertainment. All events are free and open to the public with the exception of the dinner, which costs $20 per person.\nThe schedule is as follows: Eisenhower, Intelligence, and Korea Visitors Center Auditorium, 10:30 a.m. - noon -Dr. Clayton Laurie, CIA \"Baptism by Fire: CIA Analysis of the Korean War\" -Dr. David Hatch, NSA historian, \"DDE and COMINT: Astute Consumer and Agent of Change\" The Korean War was the Agency's first role in an international conflict. The opening of classified material as featured in the \"Baptism By Fire\" book will contribute significantly to the historic record of the Korean War, making possible new research and great understanding of early Cold War history.\nKorean War and Service Veterans Panel Discussion Visitors Center Auditorium, 1 to 2:45 p.m. The panel will feature Dr. Paul Edwards, Director Emeritus, Center for the Study of the Korean War, as moderator. Panel members include veterans who have served in Korea at various times from the 1950s to the 1990s.\nKeynote Address | Lt. Gen. Robert Arter, U.S. Army (Ret.) Presentation of Eisenhower Peacemaker Coins Visitors Center Auditorium, 3 to 4:30 p.m.\nKeynote speaker retired Lt. Gen. Robert Arter is a veteran of the wars in Korea and Vietnam and former commander of the U.S. Sixth Army. Arter is a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, and a consultant and bank director. In 2009 he received the Distinguished Civilian Service Award for his work as a Civilian Aide. It is the highest award a civilian can receive from the Army.\nThe Eisenhower Peacemaker Coin is available to Korean War veterans and all those who have served to keep the peace in Korea since the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953. (Coin recipients or their representatives MUST be present at the ceremony.) If you or a loved one served in Korea and are able to attend the ceremony, sign up to receive the Eisenhower Peacemaker Coin.\nReception and Dinner 5:30 p.m. Social | Library Lobby 6:00 p.m. Dinner | Library Courtyard Cost is $20 per person and includes the remarks by retired Maj. Gen. Singlaub and entertainment by Ray Marco. RSVPs required by July 16. Please send check, made payable to Eisenhower Foundation, to P.O. Box 339, Abilene, Kan. 67410.\nRemarks | Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, U.S. Army (Ret.) - Singlaub is a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. From July 1976 to June 1977 he served as Chief of Staff, United Nations Command, U.S. Forces Korea. He is recipient of many decorations and awards. His autobiography, Hazardous Duty, was published in 1991.\nEntertainment | Ray Marco Mr. Marco is a veteran performer of the stage, television and motion picture screen. His 1956 hit \"Abilene\" was the unofficial campaign song for President Eisenhower's successful re-election. Mr. Marco is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Security Service.\nThis program is in partnership with the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Please visit the Truman Library web site at www.trumanlibrary.org for a full schedule of events. The Truman Library programming focuses on the early time period of the war while the Eisenhower Library focuses on the latter time period and years since the signing of the armistice. This program is sponsored by the Eisenhower Foundation and Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. It is dedicated to President Eisenhower's successful conclusion of the conflict on July 27, 1953.\n28 July 2010, 9 am - 5 pm - Miami, FL - INFRAGARD South Florida and the FBI invite AFIO MEMBERS to their South Florida Conference\nLocation: Florida International University, Management Advanced Research Center, Room # 125, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33199\nSpeakers: Eric S. Ackerman, PhD, InfraGard South Florida Chapter President, Stewart L. Appelrouth, CPA, InfraGard Treasurer, SA Nelson J. Barbosa, InfraGard Coordinator/FBI Miami\nSam Fadel, Florida Regional Field Investigator, Corporate Security Department, This presentation will focus on data breach investigations, specifically credit card/account number breaches. Defines the roles of the issuers, law enforcement and forensic experts.\nSA Kathleen J. Cymbaluk, Miami FBI Recruiter on FBI Employment Needs. This presentation will discuss current hiring needs of the FBI and requirements on how to qualify and apply.\nStewart Appelrouth and Ed Farath, CPA, Appelrouth/Farah & Co., P.A., This presentation will focus on Financial Fraud, Specifically Ponzi Schemes.\nRichard Wickliffe, Team Manager, Special Investigation Unit, State Farm Insurance Companies, Will discuss Fraud, White Collar Financial Issues- and Possible Counterterrorism Implications.\nRandall C. Culp, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI, This presentation will discuss Health Care Fraud – Adapting Investigations and Prosecutions to deal with emerging trends.\nGun Running from Broward and Palm Beaches Counties - Mark A. Hastbacka, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI, This presentation will touch on IRA gun running operation in the above counties from a counterterrorism investigation point-of view\nRSVP TO Nelson Barbosa at FBI Miami Field Office: Nelson.Barbosa@ic.fbi.gov\nSaturday, 31 July 2010, 10 am - 12 noon - Coral Gables, FL - AFIO/Miami Police Department Counter-Terrorism Training. In cooperation with the City of Miami Police Dept, Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, Officer Marcos T. Perez, AFIO will be presenting a Counter-Terrorism Training and Program. \"Operation Miami Shield.\" There is limited space available for this program.\nPlease RSVP with checks enclosed before July 21, 2010. There is a $10 charge for AFIO Members. Guests will be charged at $25 per person. Checks payable to \"AFIO\" and mailed to Tom Spencer at 999 Ponce de Leon Blvd Ste 510, Coral Gables, FL 33134\nSaturday, 14 August 2010, 11 am - Orange Park, FL - AFIO Northern Florida Chapter hears expert on technology capabilities of FBI/DEA/ATF regarding air travel.\nSocial hour from 11:00 am, lunch at noon, and speaker and meeting to follow until 3:00 pm. This meeting's guest speaker will be Mr. Bob DeFrancesco, Security Chief at Jacksonville International Airport. In concert with Ken Nimmich, DeFrancesco will delve privately and confidentially into the technology requirements and capabilities of his systems. He will address successes and failures of both the technology and the dependency of interagency regimes, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, etc. Also in preparation for the meeting, there will be a review of the Nova video on NSA ( www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZWtEp3fLLvo ) and 9/11 ( www.youtube.com/ watch?v=8EiiZUUGQyI ) ramp up from an interagency perspective. Chapter President Dane Baird applauds Bill Webb on this effort and hopes all members can watch the videos, twice if possible, prior to the meeting. Hopefully these are the right YouTube links to access these videos - let me know if not! For potential upcoming meetings, President Baird has uncovered some impressive resumes of generals and admirals living within reach of Ponte Vedra, including one who flew with the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. Think about it, and let us know if a special China program would be interesting – and we're sure that Bill could certainly enhance and enlighten such presentation(s).\nRSVP right away for the 14 August 2010 meeting to Quiel at qbegonia@comcast.net or 904-545-9549. The cost will be $16 each, pay the Country Club at the event.\n17 - 20 August 2010 - Cleveland, OH - AFIO National Symposium on the Great Lakes - \"Intelligence and National Security on the Great Lakes\"\nCo-Hosted with the AFIO Northern Ohio Chapter at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cleveland, OH. Includes presentations by U.S. Coast Guard on Great Lakes security; Canadian counterparts to explain double-border issues; National Air/Space Intelligence Center; Air Force Technical Applications Center; Ohio Aerospace Institute. Cruise on Lake Erie .\nSpies-in-Black-Ties Dinner and Cruise on Lake Erie. Make your reservations here . Agenda here.\n29-30 September 2010 - Washington, DC - Conference on the American Experience in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975 by the U.S. Department of State .\nThe U.S. Department of State's Office of the Historian is pleased to invite AFIO members to a conference on the American Experience in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975, which will be held in the George C. Marshall Conference Center at the State Dept. The conference will feature a number of key Department of State personnel, both past and present. Those speaking will include:\n* Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger\n* Former Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte\n* Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard A. Holbrooke\nThe conference will include a panel composed of key print and television media personnel from the Vietnam period discussing the impact of the press on public opinion and United States policy. A number of scholarly panels featuring thought-provoking works by leading scholars will also take place. Registration information will be available at the State Dept website, http://history.state.gov , after August 1.\nSaturday, 2 October 2010, 6:30 pm - Washington, DC - William J. Donovan Award Dinner Honoring Ross Perot by The OSS Society\nThe OSS Society celebrates the historical accomplishments of the OSS during WWII through a William J. Donovan Award Dinner. This year the annual dinner honors Ross Perot. Event includes special performance by humorist Mark Russell. Black Tie/Dress Mess. Location: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC. By invitation. Tables of ten: $25,000; Table of ten: $15,000; Table of eight: $10,000; Table of Six: $5000; Seating of four: $3,000; One guest: $1,000. Some tickets available for $175 pp. Donations welcomed. Inquiries to The OSS Society at oss@osssociety.org\n \nFor Additional Events two+ months or greater....view our online Calendar of Events\n----------------------------------------------------------------------- \nWeekly Intelligence Notes (WINs) are commentaries on Intelligence and related national security matters, based on open media sources, selected, interpreted, edited and produced for non-profit educational uses by members and WIN subscribers. \nREMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not wish to add clutter to inboxes. 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Voice: (703) 790-0320; Fax: (703) 991-1278; Email: afio@afio.com\nClick here to return to top.","Nasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon [Archive] - Israel ...\n... Nasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon ... all Shi ite muslim, ... midnight talks with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that were followed by ...\nNasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon [Archive] - Israel Military Forum\nRascal\n05-26-2007, 10:21 AM\nDEBKAfile: Hizballah head warns Lebanon and Arab world not to tangle with al Qaeda on US behalf. BBC reporter�s kidnappers urge jihadists to help Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon\nMay 26, 2007, 11:56 AM (GMT+02:00)\nhttp://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif http://www.debka.com/photos/s_4236.jpg http://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif\nhttp://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif\nAl Qaeda�s regional and Palestinian network has come to the surface under the pressure of the Fatah al-Islam-Lebanese showdown in the northern Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp.\nHassan Nasrallah�s dramatic TV speech Friday night, May 25, confirmed that the Fatah al-Islam faction fighting in Lebanon is al Qaeda, at a time when the jihadists� deepening involvement in the Palestinian cause is taboo for Israeli, Arab and Western spokesmen. Nasrallah bluntly urged the Lebanese army not to storm the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli because that would entangle Lebanon in the US war on al Qaeda. The camp and Palestinian civilians would be a red line. �We will not accept or provide cover or be partners in this,� he said. The Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah alliance should support the Sunni group fighting in the Lebanese Palestinian camp, not oppose it.\nDEBKAfile�s intelligence sources point to the relevance of Nasrallah�s words to the Gaza crisis. He spoke shortly after the Palestinian Army of Islam in Gaza posted an Internet statement calling on jihadists to rally behind Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon. The group said it is holding BBC journalist Alan Johnston who was kidnapped in Gaza City on March 12.\nThree further points are pertinent to the Palestinian-Israel conflict:\n1. Nasrallah�s �red line� has opened the door to the transfer of Hizballah hardware to support Fatah al-Islam to counter-balance US military aid to the Lebanese army.\n2. While Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the world-wide Palestinian Liberation Organization, insists that the Palestinians are not involved with Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon, Palestinian groups in Gaza and South Lebanon have announced they are prepared to wage battle in their respective arenas in support of their Lebanese comrades. Abbas has conspicuously omitted mention of the pro-Syrian Palestinian organizations fighting alongside Fatah al-Islam at Damascus� instigation.\n3. The Iran-Syria-Hizballah bloc�s support for al Qaeda�s campaign in Lebanon applies equally to the Gaza-based jihadist group�s offensive against Israel.\nRascal\n05-26-2007, 11:54 AM\nIf the US assisted with troops in Lebanon,Hizbo would be fuked and totally surounded.I am sure Israel is beefing up its defences in the North as we speak.\nPaparock\nWhy might Syria wish to sow chaos in Lebanon now?\nBy Jonathan Spyer\nThe Jerusalem Post, May 20, 2007\nThirty eight people lost their lives on Sunday in fierce fighting between the Lebanese military and Sunni jihadist operatives near the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, close to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. This outbreak of violence represents the heaviest toll in intra-Lebanese violence since the conclusion of the Lebanese civil war of 1975-90. The events in Nahr al-Bared cast light on a side of the Lebanese crisis which has until now been largely ignored by the international media. This is the emergence in recent months of an organization of armed Sunni Islamist operatives in the largely-Sunni north of the country. So far, much of the coverage has suggested that the group in question, known as Fatah al-Islam, may be linked to the al-Qaida network. Nevertheless, informed opinion suggests caution before drawing the simple conclusion that Fatah al-Islam is merely Osama bin-Laden's latest local franchise.\nFatah al-Islam is a breakaway of a Syrian-backed Palestinian organization called Fatah-intifada, which itself split from the mainstream Palestinian Fatah group in 1983. Fatah-intifada has little presence outside of the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon and Syria, and is widely regarded as a tool of the Syrian regime with little popular support. The group, led by a Palestinian called Shakir al-Abssi, surfaced in the Nahr al-Bared camp last November and is thought to contain around 100 fighters from the camp. The group includes Sunni Islamists of a variety of nationalities, about half of whom are drawn from the Sunni Lebanese community. Apart from Palestinians, there are also said to be Syrian and Saudi citizens among its ranks.\nWhile Syrian officials have been keen from the outset to describe al-Abssi and his group as operating \"in favor of al-Qaida,\" Lebanese authorities suspect that the group may in fact be a client of the Syrian authorities themselves, established to act as an instrument of policy in Lebanon, fomenting disorder. The Assad regime has a long history of utilizing terrorist and paramilitary groups for such a purpose. Fatah-intifada itself was used by Hafez Assad in a power struggle with Yassir Arafat in the Lebanon refugee camps between 1985-88. The regime is known also to have engaged operatives of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party to carry out assassinations in Lebanon during the civil war period.\nSuspicions regarding Fatah al-Islam center on the fact that Shakir al-Abssi was sentenced in 2003 to three years in prison in Syria after being convicted of plotting attacks inside the country. This was an unusually lenient sentence. By comparison, for example, Syrians suspected of involvement in the Muslim Brotherhood are routinely given 12-year terms. Al-Abssi, after his release, turned up among pro-Syrian Fatah-intifada circles in Nahr al-Bared and shortly afterward emerged as the leader of the new group, Fatah al-Islam. These facts have led General Ashraf Rifi, head of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (FSI), to conclude that \"this is a Syrian creation to sow chaos.\" Which raises the question, why might the Syrians wish to sow chaos in Lebanon, and why now?\nA draft resolution for the unilateral establishment of an international tribunal on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was circulated in the UN Security Council by the US, France and Britain last week. It is known that the Syrian regime is determined to prevent this tribunal at all costs, since it is believed that senior Syrian officials may be found to have been involved in the Hariri killing. Could it be that the regime in Damascus might see an escalation of tension in Lebanon as currently helpful - as a tacit reminder to the international community of what Damascus is capable of when put in a corner? This is the view of senior officials in Lebanese government, and is in keeping with earlier practices of the Damascus regime.\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nDr. Jonathan Spyer is a research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.\nAt this same time:\nAl-Qaida Leader in Afghanistan Begs for Cash Donations\nBy Evan Kohlmann\nIn a new As-Sahab Media Foundation video broadcast yesterday on Al-Jazeera, the declared leader of Al-Qaida's forces in Afghanistan Shaykh Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (a.k.a. \"Shaykh Saeed\") signals that the Taliban are suffering from a serious cash crunch. An unidentified interviewer asks, \"What are the current needs of the Jihad in Afghanistan?\" Whereupon, Shaykh Saeed responds:\n\"As for the needs of the Jihad in Afghanistan, the first of them is financial. The Mujahideen of the Taliban number in the thousands, but they lack funds. And there are hundreds wishing to carry out martyrdom-seeking operations, but they can't find the funds to equip themselves. So funding is the mainstay of Jihad. They also need personnel from their Arab brothers and their brothers from other countries in all spheres: military, scientific, informational and otherwise... And here we would like to point out that those who perform Jihad with their wealth should be certain to only send the funds to those responsible for finances and no other party, as to do otherwise leads to disunity and differences in the ranks of the Mujahideen.\"\nPaparock\n05-26-2007, 03:40 PM\nDEBKAfile’s military sources report that Friday, May 25, the first cargoes of American advanced weapons, ammunition and special anti-terror combat systems landed in Beirut to boost the Lebanese army’s bid to subdue the radical Fatah al-Islam uprising in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli.\nOur sources add that the scale of this military aid injection is extensive.\nThe transports’ holds are being loaded from US emergency stores in the region. For the first time, Arab and Gulf governments are overtly taking a direct hand in US warfare against al Qaeda in the Middle East as it spreads from Iraq to Lebanon with Syrian connivance. Washington has determined to quench the flames in N. Lebanon before they engulf the rest of the country.\nDEBKAfile’s military sources add that some of the Jordanian air transports are also carrying assistance in the form of officers and instructors of the kingdom’s special force and intelligence, who are well-seasoned in combat against the al Qaeda menace in Iraq and at home. They are now on hand to take command of Lebanese army units and anti-Syrian factions in Tripoli which have failed so far to contain the Fatah al-Islam challenge which has escalated dangerously following the infiltration of pro-Syrian reinforcements to the camp.\nThey are led by members of the pro-Syrian Tehran-funded Palestinian extremist Ahmed Jibril’s group, armed by Damascus and directed by Syrian military intelligence officers, who maintain a presence in North Lebanon.\nTourists in Lebanon will be bombed and no Christian will be safe unless the Lebanese army lifts is siege of Nahr al-Bared camp. This threat came from al Qaeda in the Levant over a video and web site.\nHundreds of al Qaeda-linked extremists are stirring up the inmates of the Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp of Ein Hilwa in the south to support Fatah al Islam.\nAbout 75 people have been killed in the battles and half of the camp’s 40,000 residents have fled.\n'WE WILL ERADICATE THEM'\nThe End Nears for Militants in Lebanese Camp\nBy Ulrike Putz (ulrike_putz@spiegel.de) in Tripoli, Lebanon\nThe Islamist militants from Fatah Islam have vowed to fight to the end. The Lebanese military has promised to annhiliate them. On day five of the crisis at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, the stand-off continues.\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,877772,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-877771-484733,00.html) http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/icons/ic_lupe.gif (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-877771-484733,00.html)\nGetty Images\nA Lebanese soldier stands guard at the edge of the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared.\n\"During the next 48 hours, we will eradicate them,\" says the elite Lebanese soldier, lying behind a freshly raised mound of red earth. \"They,\" of course, are the militants of the radical Palestinian group Fatah Islam. And the effort to eradicate them has virtually destroyed the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared where they are holed up.\nThe ground is strewn with the empty casings of high-caliber bullets; the soot-blackened ruins of the camp north of the Lebanese seaport of Tripoli stand about 200 meters (650 feet) away. Fatah Islam snipers on the roofs take aim at the Lebanese rangers who have dug in east of the camp. \"I hope they will attack us soon. Then we'll strike back and finish them off,\" says the officer, who wants only to be called Spiro.\nSpiro's merciless prediction is certainly not improbable. A massacre seems inevitable on the fifth day of the stand-off between fundamentalist Muslim militants and the Lebanese military. The militia, which has entrenched itself in Nahr al-Bared, is surrounded by a large contingent of soldiers -- including at least 700 elite troops. Even as a cease-fire appears to be holding on Thursday, with only sporadic gunfire, they are waiting for the decisive battle. It's a battle the Fatah Islam militants cannot win and don't intend to survive: Spokesmen for the group, which Western intelligence agencies consider close to al-Qaida, have warned that it will fight to the end, and take as many soldiers down with it as possible.\n'Prepared to Commit Suicide'\nThe Lebanese side seems just as unwilling to back down. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in a television address on Thursday that his military remains committed to eliminating Fatah Islam. Calling the group a terrorist organization, he said it was \"attempting to ride on the suffering and the struggle of the Palestinian people.\" He continued: \"We will work to root out and strike at terrorism but we will embrace and protect our brothers in the camps.\"\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,798728,00.gif (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460322,00.html)\nJust how many radicals are still alive and willing to fight is unclear. A high-ranking officer said on Wednesday that more than 750 had barricaded themselves in the camp. The Fatah Islam militants are just as well equipped and trained as the military, the officer says. \"But they are prepared to commit suicide, and that could be described as their advantage.\"\nThe militia and the military have been engaged in heavy fighting since Sunday, leaving about 70 militiamen and soldiers dead, according to news agency reports. At least 20 civilians are also said to have been killed during the skirmishes before a cease-fire negotiated on Tuesday enabled many of the 31,000 inhabitants of the densely populated Nahr al-Bared camp to flee.\nThe Lebanese government accuses the militia of having planned and executed terrorist attacks, with the Nahr al-Bared camp serving as a hideout and command center. About 400,000 Palestinian refugees, forced by the wars in the Middle East to leave their homes, live in 12 camps inside Lebanon -- camps to which the Lebanese police have no access due to a 40-year-old agreement with the Palestinians.\n'They Are Prepared to Commit Suicide'\nThe terrain on the edge of the camp where Spiro's soldiers have dug in was still in the hands of the Fatah Islam militants on Tuesday. The rangers moved in at dawn on Wednesday, flattening the reeds that grew there and raising protective mounds of earth among the cypress trees. Ranger Rommel can't say how many people he has killed in the past few days. \"It must have been a lot,\" says the 27-year-old, whose parents named him after the German Field Marshal who commanded the Nazi Afrikakorps. \"At first it was a shock to be in a real battle after all the training,\" Rommel says. Later, he adds, it was like being in a movie. \"A drunk state in which you don't care whether you're shooting at children, the elderly or militants.\"\nPhoto Gallery: Day Three in Lebanon\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876161,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876138,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876114,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (7 Photos)\nIt looks like the movie will play again soon, he says: \"We have precise indications that our position will be a target for suicide attacks.\" The information he has indicates that the attackers will be old women.\nIt's the first time since the fighting started that Spiros's and Rommel's units have had a chance to rest. The men smoke, eat fresh plums and make bawdy jokes about each other's girlfriends. One soldier hands out plastic bags with pita bread, tins of tuna and tomatoes. Most answer questions in flawless English, having received, they say, part of their training in the United States. Some of them are even citizens of both the US and Lebanon.\nThe men have repeatedly raided the camp during the past 72 hours and are markedly shaken by the house-to-house fighting they have experienced. \"These militants are not religious people; they're sadists,\" says Husam, whose voice is hoarse from shouting over the noise of battle. \"They decapitated some of our people.\" He and his fellow soldiers found Egyptian, Sudanese and Bangladeshi passports on the bodies of dead Fatah Islam militants, he says. \"Most of them are not from here. They're fanatics from outside who have rallied here.\"\nNothing Good to Say about Fatah Islam\nA few kilometers to the south, a caravan of refugees is leaving the camp behind, moving slowly. Everyone's ID is checked to ensure no militants escape by mingling with the refugees. From neighbors shot while fetching bread to one farmer's economic ruin -- caused by a grenade that killed eleven of his cows -- the refugees have gone through days of horror. Now they are fleeing into a nearby Palestinian camp, where an uncertain future awaits them. Even though it was the Lebanese military that opened fire on the camp, nobody has anything good to say about Fatah Islam.\nMahmud Darwish, an IT student who lives in the camp, also says that the problems were started by foreigners who began moving into the camp one or two years ago. The men, he says, married into Palestinian families and spent lavishly to buy apartments in Nahr al-Bared. A pharmacist reports that the fundamentalist Muslims disclosed their identity increasingly openly in recent months. \"They were impossible to overlook, riding mopeds with their long beards and dressed in ostentatiously chaste clothing,\" he says. As time went by, the fundamentalists became increasingly self-confident. \"When a man cursed in their presence, they surrounded and scolded him,\" the pharmacist says.\nThe Palestinians didn't just stand idly by as Fatah Islam moved in. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Nahr al-Bared tried for months to isolate the fundamentalists. The current intervention by the Lebanese army is -- over and above the suffering it has caused the refugees inside the camp -- unwelcome by the Palestinian powers that be.\nAfter the cease-fire went into effect on Tuesday, the PLO announced it wants to get rid of the radicals itself. The PLO's authority in the camp would be substantially weakened were the Lebanese military to find success where they have not. Most observers, though, have little faith that the PLO would have much chance of victory.\nMeanwhile, the Lebanese forces are considering storming the camp as the Islamic militants have refused an ultimatum to surrender. Some Islamists have allegedly tried to escape -- the Lebanese military announced on Thursday that it had destroyed two small boats full of militants trying to escape into the nearby Mediterranean Sea.\nAt the camp, the soldiers are busy preparing for more fighting. Some, though, are also reflective after the four-day orgy of violence. Spiro, standing next to the wreck of a vehicle that is missing all of its windows, says: \"People sought safety in this bus.\" Large puddles of blood have dried on the pavement below. \"They drove towards us. They could have been militants,\" Spiro says.\nHis troops were the ones who opened fire on the bus -- before retrieving three corpses and several injured from the wreck. \"Terrible, but that's just what war is like.\"\n'Fath Al-Islam' Military Commander: We Are 'Ready To Blow Up Every Place In Lebanon'In an interview with the London daily Al-Hayat, the military commander of the Fath Al-Islam organization, Shihab Al-Qaddour, also known as Abu Hurieira, threatened that if attacks by the Lebanese military against his organization continued, \"all fronts will be opened\" and that Fath Al-Islam would be \"ready to blow up every place in Lebanon.\" He also noted that his organization's activists were prepared for a battle lasting two years or more.\nAl-Qaddour, 36, from the village of Mishmish in the sub-district of Akkar in northern Lebanon, is considered the No. 2 man in Fath Al-Islam, after the leader Shaker Al-'Absi. According to Al-Qaddour, who spent five and a half years in a Syrian prison, he has fought for 21 years in various areas, including Iraq.\nThe following are excerpts from the interview:\n\"We Have Sleeper Cells On Alert In All Palestinian Refuge Camps\"\nDuring the interview, Al-Qaddour told Al-Hayat that the Fath Al-Islam organization \"would respond against the Lebanese military if the attacks on it were to continue,\" and added that \"[our response] will not be limited [solely] to the Palestinian refugee camps or to Beirut, but all fronts will be opened.\" Referring to the battles in Tripoli and the bombings in the neighborhoods of Beirut during the past week, he said: \"This is only the beginning... We are ready to blow up Beirut and every other place in Lebanon.\"\nAl-Qaddour stated that \"in addition to the supporters of the organization, Fath Al-Islam has bases and sleeper cells in all the Palestinian refugee camps in the various regions of Lebanon, and they are on alert [to launch] a harsh response - they await only a sign from us.\" He said, \"Fath Al-Islam's threat to open the fire of hell against Lebanon is a serious one. As long as we are under attack, we will [defend ourselves] by any and all means. The organization has the full capability to bring the battle to every place in Lebanon. We can easily do this...\"\nFath Al-Islam - A Palestinian Organization, Not Al-Qaeda Affiliated\nAl-Qaddour, who spent five and a half years in a Syrian prison, also said in the interview that some accuse the Fath Al-Islam activists of being \"Syrian agents inside Lebanon.\" However, he said, his organization comprises Palestinian activists from various countries, with rich battle experience: \"The Fath Al-Islam organization is Palestinian, and includes 600 to 700 activists in all the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, not only in the Nahr Al-Bared refuge camp. All the activists are on the highest battle alert.\" He added, \"The number of Fath Al-Islam [members who were] killed in the first three days of the battles with the Lebanese military was only 10, and all the killed were Palestinians from Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan. This is in spite of that we expected to have many more killed.\" [1] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn1)\nAl-Qaddour said: \"Many Fath Al-Islam members have very rich battle experience outside Lebanon. I personally have 21 years of experience in fighting in various regions - the most recent of which was Iraq. \"\nAl-Qaddour noted that he was not worried about a possible scenario in which the residents of the Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp rebelled against Fath Al-Islam. He said, \"Many of the members of the Palestinian factions that oppose us politically deviated from their leaders' orders, stood with us, and identified with us when the camp was recently bombed.\"\nAl-Qaddour denied that Fath Al-Islam was affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and added: \"Our organization is an Islamic project aimed at liberating Palestine and Jerusalem. Our fire [will strike] at every obstacle that stands against our achieving our goal.\" He continued, \"If the right to defend our land [Palestine] is stripped from us, the responsibility will be borne by all those who stand in our way and who carry out the American and Jewish plan and the Western [plan] in general.\"\n\"We Are Prepared for a Battle That Will Last Two Years Or More\"\nAl-Qaddour stated that in his organization there were \"people who are prepared for martyrdom and to carry out [such] operations,\" and refused to call them suicide bombers. He added, \"If the noose tightens around our neck, we will not exclude any means [of response].\" Al-Qaddour likewise noted that Fath Al-Islam has shelters and underground fortifications in the Nahr Al-Bared camp, and added: \"We have nothing to lose. We are prepared for a battle that will last two years or more.\"\nOn the warfare methods of Fath Al-Islam, Al-Qaddour said: \"We adopt guerilla warfare, which no army can vanquish as demonstrated in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.\"\nFath Al-Islam is Not Against the Shi'ites and Has Connections With Hizbullah\nAl-Qaddour added, \"We have no intention of attacking UNIFIL in the south [of Lebanon] as long as those forces do not attack us.\" He further noted that his organization had \"connections with Hizbullah and also that it bore no enmity towards Hizbullah, or towards the Shi'ites in Lebanon,\" and that therefore they had no \"intention to carry out operations against the Shi'ites in Lebanon.\" [2] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn2)\nFath Al-Islam Leader: We Have Hundreds of People Ready for Martyrdom\nTwo months before the outbreak of hostilities between the Lebanese army and Fath Al-Islam, Fath Al-Islam leader Shaker Al-'Absi threatened, in an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, to set the region on fire: \"We are now monitoring the movements of the military around the [Nahr Al-Bared] refugee camp. If we sense [that there is about] to be a real attack against us, our reaction will be very harsh, and it will not stop. We have hundreds of people who are willing to martyr themselves [istishhad], who have prepared themselves to strike at the entity state [i.e. Israel], and they are ready to defend [the banner of Islam] 'There is no God but Allah' everywhere in the world.\" Al-'Absi further added that the organization had activists not only in the refuge camps but throughout Lebanon, Palestine, and the surrounding region.\nAl-'Absi, who has spent time in Syrian prison, denied Syrian claims that he had been jailed on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda. He said that he had been arrested for attempting to carry out an operation in the Golan, and that he was accused of possessing weapons and transferring weapons to Palestine. [3] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn3)\n[1] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref1) In an Al-Jazeera TV interview on May 25, 2007, PLO spokesman As'ad Abd Al-Rahman defied reports that Fath Al-Islam is a Palestinian organization, asserting that there are no Palestinians nor are the casualties in the battles with the Lebanese Army Palestinian, and hinted that the organization is operated by the Syrian regime.\n[2] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref2) Al-Hayat (London), May 25, 2007 [3] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref3) Al-Nahar (Lebanon), March 16, 2007.\nRascal\nRE:\"Fath Al-Islam Leader: We Have Hundreds of People Ready for Martyrdom \"\nWe aim to make them martyrs!!!\nUltra Requete\n05-27-2007, 10:48 AM\nThe enemies of mankind are droping their masks. I wonder what Iraqi shia will tell about their brothers in Lebanon and Iran helping the shia butching AQ and pals.:rolleyes:\nRascal\n05-28-2007, 02:08 AM\nBraindead shia will believe what ever their Iman tells them.Thinking outside the box isn't an option for them unless they are westernized.\nPaparock\n05-29-2007, 05:15 PM\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/\nThe Lebanese Government has given Palestinian Political Groups till mid week to resolve the situation with Fatah Al-Islam. After that point the Lebanese Army will take the situation into their own hands.\nMore Military supplies have been coming in to the Lebanese Army.\nRevised Draft on the UN Tribunal headed for discussion and possible passing next Tuesday - Thursday at the UN.\nFear that Fatah Al-Islam is not letting all the civilians leave the camps - thus using them as human shields, because as one insider noted - they know if all the civilans leave the army will confront them.\nLebanese worldwide react to Hezbollah's comments on the camp being a red line, being seen as coming out against Lebanon and in support of the criminal terrorists, thus questioning is Hezbollah part of the Syrian Master Plan to destabilize Lebanon and then take over\nJumblat accused former powerbroker and neighboring Syria of being behind the fighting in Nahr al-Bared and three bombings on shopping areas in and around Beirut since Sunday.\n\"They want to distract the army from watching the arms smuggled (from Syria) and to obstruct the tribunal,\" he said referring to U.N. plans to create a court to try suspects in the killing of ex-premier Rafik Hariri which has been widely blamed on Syria.\nHe criticized Nasrallah for not condemning Fatah al-Islam, saying the Hizbullah leader has become a \"mere tool\" of the Syrian regime.\nThe parties negotiating a possible solution to the Fatah al-Islam issue are the main Palestinian factions in Lebanon including Fatah, the Islamic group Hamas and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). Naharnet\nPaparock\nIs Lebanon planning on letting Fatah al-Islam forces live to fight another day?\nThey will if the Palestinians have anything to say about it.\nPalestinians Present Plan to End Standoff at Nahr al-BaredWith the Lebanese government demanding the surrender of Islamist militants holed up inside the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp or face an all-out onslaught, Palestinian factions pressed for a negotiated solution to end the week-long standoff between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam extremists.\nMeanwhile, a brief but violent firefight flared early Monday in Nahr al-Bared after militants tried to attack a Lebanese army position outside the camp, state-run National News Agency said.\nIt said several Fatah al-Islam fighters were injured in the clash which broke out at 7:30 a.m. Army troops deployed around Nahr al-Bared fired four shells toward the northern entrance to the camp where the Islamists are besieged.\nThe four-point plan presented by the Palestinian factions to the Lebanese government aimed at a peaceful resolution to the camp fight, Abu Imad Rifai, a representative of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, told the Associated Press on Sunday.\nThe plan calls for a cease-fire, the creation of a Palestinian security force to maintain law and order in the camp, the barring of other armed groups in the camp and the creation of \"a mechanism for the departure\" of Fatah al-Islam from the camp, Rifai said.\nThere was no immediate reaction from the government to the plan, which falls short of its demands for the handover of the militants. Rifai said the government found \"some positive elements\" in the plan but that details on how to deal with the departure of the fighters had to be worked out. \"A final plan will be presented to the government in the next few days,\" he said.\nIt is not known where the militants would go. Syria is one option � Fatah al-Islam's leader Shaker Absi spent years in the country, part of them in prison, before arriving in Nahr al-Bared last year. That has raised accusations among Lebanese security forces that Damascus is using the group to stir up trouble in Lebanon, and they may be reluctant to allow Fatah al-Islam to return there.\nDamascus denies the accusations and says Absi and other Fatah al-Islam leaders are wanted in Syria for suspected terrorist activities. Absi is also wanted in Jordan, where he has been sentenced to death in absentia for involvement in the 2002 killing of an American diplomat in Amman.\nBut Rifai insisted that \"a political solution is the only option.\"\n\"The repercussions of a military solution are much more serious than a political solution,\" Rifai said, in a clear warning that a military assault on Nahr al-Bared would trigger violence in Lebanon's 11 other Palestinian refugee camps.\nFatah al-Islam Vows Not to Turn in Militants\nFatah al-Islam group, which is battling the Lebanese army in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, refused to hand over militants but said it was working with mediators to find an end to the standoff. \"We refuse to hand over any member of Fatah al-Islam,\" spokesman Abu Salim Taha told Agence France Presse.\nLebanese government forces have been besieging the militants in Nahr al-Bared since the group attacked army targets on May 20.\nA three-member delegation of clerics from the Union of Palestinian Scholars met Fatah al-Islam militants in the camp on Sunday.\nEfforts to end the standoff were complicated, however, when the team of mediators came under fire while entering the camp.\nThe government has insisted on the handover of fighters to stand trial over attacks against its armed forces during the bloodiest fighting in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war.\n\"We are still working with the delegation of the Union of Palestinian Scholars in order to find a political solution,\" Taha said.\n\"I don't want to get into the details of the negotiations which are based on finding a political solution.\"\nHe said Fatah al-Islam has been observing a complete ceasefire since Monday night, \"and will continue to observe it for 24 hours in order to allow the entry of aid to the residents of the camp.\"\nPosted on 29 May 2007 @ 13:47 GMT\nPaparock\n06-01-2007, 03:00 PM\nLatest Compilation - AP/AFP/Naharnet - A Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday. Following this, artillery bombardment intensified at Nahr al-Bared around midmorning Friday, with Lebanese troops attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah al-Islam in the northeastern part of the Palestinian refugee camp. A resident from inside the camp said \"Fatah al-Islam positions were overtaken and destroyed in the push.\"\nOn a separate front, members of the mainstream Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist Jund al-Sham group exchanged gunfire in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon. According to the account, a Fatah militant, whose brother had been killed by the Islamists earlier this month, shot at one of Jun al-Sham members he thought was responsible, without hitting him.\nA military judge filed terrorism charges against 20 suspected members of an Islamic militant group fighting Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp, court officials said.\nFatah al-Islam, the source added, \"is one of such local groups. Its members are inspired by al-Qaida ideology, but its attacks are directed by Syrian intelligence officers.\"\nPolice have arrested at least 90 people on charges of affiliation with Fatah al-Islam and were under interrogation.\nThe source said some of them have provided \"priceless information related to terrorist activity.\"\nIn a related development, the source said police also arrested \"two Syrian nationals\" that had with them \"dozens of photographs of Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul Aziz Khoja.\"\n\"They had pictures of him at his apartment's balcony, at the entrance to the building and in so many other locations. It appears they were monitoring his moves in preparation for an attack on him,\" the source added without further elaboration.\nSecurity has been beefed up at major Lebanese cities and towns following outbreak of the clashes with Fatah al-Islam militants in the northern town of Tripoli 11 days ago and the spate of bombings that followed.\nThe group, headed by Palestinian-Jordanian Shaker Absi, has vowed to attack a variety of targets throughout Lebanon if the army maintained the siege of its militants at Nahr al-Bared camp.\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn10406011011.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn104 .jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=3mvIQ41V2RjqC5LEzweMZA--\nLebanese army vehicles move into the the refugee camp while smoke rises over the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn11206011107.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn112 .jpg?x=380&y=261&sig=zaypV6d.7.70XAQUvFnNcg--\nLebanese army vehicles line up during the military operation at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn10706011024.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn107 .jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=0DUYvDqMqUYMIwBf8RnC1A--\nSmoke rises over the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\nFighting Resumes at Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon\nFriday, June 01, 2007\nBEIRUT, Lebanon � Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon (javascript:siteSearch('Lebanon');).\nThe artillery bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising out of the Nahr el-Bared (javascript:siteSearch('Nahr el-Bared');) camp where Fatah Islam (javascript:siteSearch('Fatah Islam');) militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army. The shelling also ignited fires in the camp that spewed black smoke. The militants have barricaded themselves in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.\nAbout 50 armored carriers, battle tanks and military vehicles from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according to APTN television crew at the scene.\nThere was no confirmation that the army units were making a final push to take over the camp, or were just advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants in pockets. But a significant decrease at one point in the shelling, accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, suggested the troops were already engaging the militants.\nThe bombardment intensified several hours later. Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., a leading television station, said troops were attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah Islam in the northeastern part of the camp in the Samed neighborhood. But Al-Arabiya television said troops seized militant sniper positions.\nTelevision footage showed the movement of T-55 Russian-made tanks, French-made Panhard tanks, M-113 U.S.-built armored personnel carriers and jeeps with 106mm rifles mounted on them. Sandbags were packed on some of the vehicles.\nMilitary officials would not comment on the troop movements and journalists were pushed back further from the camp. But a statement by the army command said troops came under fire from the militants and the army was \"responding with accurate and decisive fire to deter them.\" The statement said the army was at the same time avoiding civilian casualties.\nThe concentrated bombardment began in the morning, with heavy barrages targeting all parts of the camp.\nSporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting.\nA Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday.\nThe death Thursday raised to 32 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed.\nThe army has ringed the Nahr el-Bared camp with hundreds of soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, poised to storm the camp and prevent militants from fleeing. The government has vowed to crush the militants, who have said they will fight till the end.\nThousands of Palestinians have fled the camp, but thousands more are still inside, along with the Fatah Islam fighters.\nOn Thursday, army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman toured the military positions around the Nahr el-Bared camp in the northern city of Tripoli, vowing to track down the militants responsible for killing the soldiers.\nPaparock\n06-02-2007, 03:55 AM\nTRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese tanks and armored vehicles battled their way into the outer neighborhoods of a Palestinian refugee camp Friday in some of the heaviest fighting since violence broke out between the military and al-Qaida-inspired militants nearly two weeks ago.\nThe military demanded the Fatah Islam fighters holed up in the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon surrender and promised to pursue them if they didn't.\nTwo Lebanese soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in Friday's fighting, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to address the media. They said a unit of Fatah Islam militants was destroyed, but gave no casualty count.\nFriday's deaths raised to 34 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed in the 13 days of fighting, but it was unclear whether there were any civilian casualties Friday.\nMost of the camp's 31,000 refugees have fled, many to the nearby Beddawi refugee camp.\nThe army appeared to have limited Friday's advance to neighborhoods on the outer ring of the camp, which militants use for sniper fire against army positions. Nahr el-Bared, like the other 11 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, has been off-limits to Lebanese authorities under a nearly 40-year-old agreement that allowed Palestinians to run their own affairs.\nThe Palestinian representative to Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, said the army would not storm into the camp, where several thousand civilians remain trapped and militants are barricaded in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.\nA soldier at the scene said troops were fighting from building to building. A resident of the camp, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of militant reprisals, said some Fatah Islam positions were overrun or destroyed.\nThe army later issued a statement saying it destroyed positions from which the militants attacked troops and civilians, and \"tightened the ring\" around them, causing many casualties. The statement said other militants had fled deeper inside the camp, taking civilians as \"human shields.\"\n\"What we have decided is to deal with Fatah Islam as a group, a terrorist group taking hostages who are left in the camp,\" said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. He told AP Television News in Beirut that the army may be seeking to isolate the militants.\nCabinet Minister Ahmed Fatfat told Al-Arabiya television the army came under sniper fire early Friday and decided to respond. \"It seems they have destroyed those positions.\"\nThe bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising from the camp throughout the day, and the shelling ignited fires that spewed black smoke.\nThe fighting between the army and the Fatah Islam group erupted in the northern port city of Tripoli and the adjacent Nahr el-Bared camp on May 20. At least 22 soldiers and 17 militants were killed that day � the worst internal violence in Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.\nAfter three days of heavy clashes, the government agreed to a truce to give Palestinian mediators and Islamic clerics time to persuade the militants to surrender. Thousands of residents then fled the camp.\nSeveral hundred militants inside Nahr el-Bared continued to target troops with sniper fire, however, vowing to fight to the death. Political support also has grown for the army to resolve the conflict through military action.\nHowever, limiting the military operation to the camp's perimeter could be an effort to avoid � at least for now � enraging Palestinians in other refugee camps across the country.\nFatah Islam is an offshoot of the pro-Syrian Fatah Uprising, which broke from the mainstream Fatah movement in the early 1980s, Lebanese officials say.\nSome Lebanese security officials consider Fatah Islam a radical Sunni Muslim group with ties to al-Qaida or at least al-Qaida-style militancy and doctrine. Others say it is a front for Syrian military intelligence aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.\nMany Palestinian refugees support the army's moves against the militants, whom they consider alien to the camp's population. Zaki, the Palestinian representative, said after meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora that he hoped the militants would \"surrender to justice.\"\nIn the Beddawi camp, about 500 Palestinians demonstrated after Friday noon prayers, demanding an end to the fighting. A group of mothers staged a sit-in outside a school that has been turned into a refugee center and stopped trucks from delivering relief.\nMohammed Abu Hussein, 26, a computer technician from Nahr el-Bared who fled to Beddawi, said the militants were \"so fanatical, they would rather die than surrender.\"\n\"So the army has no other choice but finish them off,\" the Palestinian said.\nPaparock\nEnglish transcript: Al-Qaida Threatens Lebanon Over Fatah al-Islam\nBy Evan Kohlmann\nOn May 25, 2007, copies of a new video recording were publicly distributed over password-protected Al-Qaida Internet websites after being authenticated by the pre-eminent Al-Fajr Media Center. The seven-minute recording contains a speech by a masked individual identifying himself only as the �military commander of Al-Qaida�s Committee in Al-Shams� (�Greater Syria�) (http://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.pdf). This is the first known occasion that any individual or organization inside of Lebanon has explicitly identified themselves as part of the international Al-Qaida terrorist network. The speaker addresses a message directly to the Patriarch of the Christian Maronite church in Lebanon: \"pull back your dogs from our people, and cease your artillery fire�or else, from today onwards, there will be no safe place for any crusader in Lebanon, and as you strike, we will strike... If you do not stop, we will tear your hearts out with explosives, and surround your every post with our bombs. We will target your entire economy, starting with tourism and ending with all the incoming resources you [received when you] launched this new crusader war... We have ignored you previously, but we give you this final warning that from now on, an ocean of blood will be spilled.�\nClick to view English transcript c/o Globalterroralert.com (http://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.pdf)\nSee also: Fatah al-Islam: Al-Qaida or Not? (http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/05/fatah_alislam_alqaida_or_not_a.php)\nhttp://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.jpg\nhttp://www.beirutspring.com/\nThe Meaning Of Victory (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/05/the-meaning-of-victory/)\nBarring surprises, the Army is headed to a resounding victory against Fateh Al Islam in the Naher Al Bared camp. How did it happen and what will the repercussions be?\nhttp://www.lebarmy.gov.lb/images/wallpapers/1/1.jpg\nThings didn�t start too well. The Army�s initial reaction to the terrorists� provocation was clumsy. Its pride wounded, its only plan (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbeirutspring.com%2Fblog%2F2007%2F 05%2F22%2Fdoes-the-army-have-a-plan%2F&ei=XrdlRs_HMo6KgQKrvbiJCg&usg=AFQjCNERqKGBMtmttwxLzChKsb_k0MUWOw&sig2=cBavgadrxNuN9fwDyDFPzg) was to bomb away at anything that moved in the camp, risking a backlash in public opinion.Thankfully, sanity prevailed later when time was given to the militants to surrender.\nThat was exactly what the Army needed: The Generals went back to their drawing boards, the Government fought the propaganda war, negotiated with factions and asked for extra ammunition. At the same time, Lebanese and Arab aid organizations began addressing the unfolding humanitarian crisis.\nTheir heads cool (http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&C8AD4BA486910038C22572F1001CC085), the Army later managed, with a combination of careful advancement, boots on the ground and air and sea cover to slowly tighten the noose around the necks of the terrorists. The Army also took care of staying on top of the propaganda war by repeatedly exposing the Terrorists� PR tricks.\nBy avoiding to rush into anything stupid, the Army has allowed the movement that could have terrorized the country to implode from within. The militants are reportedly (http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/06/lebanon_militan.php) showing signs of desperation, low morale, and are beginning to surrender.\nA victory will have very large implications.\nThe Americans have had their doubts about the Army�s allegiance. It was very common to read in the western media that �The army is 40% Shiaa who are loyal to Hezbollah.� This is why many countries dragged their feet in supplying it with the weapons it needed to establish its authority on all of our territory. That will now change, as the Army not only ignored Hassan Nassrallah�s red line (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/05/25/nassrallah-warns-against-assaulting-the-palestinian-camp/), but showed contempt to it. You can now expect enthusiastic international endorsements for our men in uniform.\nThe Army will also teach a lesson about counter-insurgency that many can learn from: You don�t have to commit Hama-style massacres to defeat Islamist insurgencies. All you need is the right combination of Power, sophistication, propaganda and popular support.\nFinally, and most importantly, the Army will boost its authority and deter future malicious designs to destabilize this delicate country.\nA lot of rice is waiting to be thrown.\nPaparock\nhttp://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=82817\nLebanese Army claims 'less resistance' at Nahr al-Bared\n�atah al-islam threatens to expand battle 'within the next two days'By Rym Ghazal\nDaily Star staff\nThursday, June 07, 2007\nNAHR AL-BARED, North Lebanon: Heavy bouts of shelling and gunfire alternated with long periods of quiet on Wednesday as the Lebanese Army pounded away at the remaining posts held by Fatah al-Islam militants along the southern part of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.\nThere were no new reports of casualties on Wednesday, keeping the official death toll at 114 people, including 46 soldiers and 38 militants, since fighting broke out on May 20. While an army source would not confirm any new troop injuries, medical sources said at least three wounded soldiers were taken to nearby hospitals on Wednesday.\n\"Our attacks have lessened and are now more targeted, since we have destroyed most of Fatah al-Islam's positions,\" the army source told The Daily Star on Wednesday. \"The militants have decreased their resistance.\"\nDespite the army's reports of success, a senior member of Fatah al-Islam warned the group was ready to expand its attacks beyond Lebanon.\n\"If the army continues to bomb civilians and pursue its inhumane practices ... we will move within the next two days to the second phase of the battle,\" Fatah al-Islam military commander Shahin Shahin told Reuters by telephone from the Nahr al-Bared camp.\n\"We will show them the capabilities of Fatah al-Islam, starting with Lebanon and then moving to the whole of Greater Syria,\" he said, referring to what is now Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.\nFatah al-Islam also launched four mortars at a building used by journalists for broadcasting.\nOne ambulance from the Palestinian Red Cross packed with medicine and vegetables entered the camp on Wednesday to supply the estimated 3,000-5,000 of the camp's original 40,000 inhabitants.\nThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned in a report of the humanitarian situation in the camp, saying that unexploded ordnance was hampering relief activities.\n\"It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris and rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp's roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles,\" said Jordi Raich Curco, the ICRC head in Lebanon.\nIn related developments, security sources said a Lebanese military prosecutor filed \"terrorism charges\" on Wednesday against six militants from Fatah al-Islam who have been detained by the security forces.\nThe accused are alleged to have \"formed armed groups to attack civilians, the authority of the state and its civil and military institutions, and to have carried out terrorist actions which killed or injured military personnel and civilians,\" said the judicial source. If convicted, the militants could face the death sentence.\nThe sources said those in custody are mainly Lebanese and Syrian citizens. The military prosecutor has also launched proceedings in absentia against a Lebanese national in custody in Saudi Arabia on the same charges.\nSince the beginning of clashes, a total of 27 men have been charged by the Lebanese authorities in connection with Fatah al-Islam.\nThe Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported Wednesday that a wounded Fatah al-Islam fighter had been arrested in the Minyeh district of Tripoli while dressed as a woman.\nIn another development, the army discovered a depot containing more than 200 kilograms of explosives during a raid after nightfall Tuesday in the Akkar region of North Lebanon. The explosives were found at the home of a suspected Fatah al-Islam militant who was detained four days ago, the An-Nahar daily said on Wednesday.\nAuthorities also arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda members in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday for possessing weapons and explosives.\nThe three men were arrested at a flat in the Bar Elias village just west of the border with Syria in the Bekaa Valley, a security source said.\nThey also had forged travel and identity documents, computers, maps of Lebanese cities and night-vision equipment. - With agencies, Naharnet\nExplosives experts defuse bomb near Tyre\nMohammed Zaatari\nDaily Star staff\nTYRE: Lebanese Army explosives experts defused a bomb near a public beach in the Southern port city of Tyre Wednesday morning.\nAt about 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, workers at the Tyre Municipality found an empty can of baby-milk powder containing an explosive device wired to a timer, a source told The Daily Star.\n\"The bomb was set to go off at 11:15 a.m.,\" said the source on condition of anonymity.\nTwo kilograms of C4 explosive were found in the can, which had been planted at one of the entrances to Tyre's public beach, the National News Agency reported.\nThe targeted area is visited daily by hundreds of the region's residents for swimming and jogging.\nThe bomb was found about 500 meters from the Rest House beach resort in Tyre and about 1.5 kilometers from the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp.\nTroops sealed off the area, about 80 kilometers south of Beirut, as experts dismantled the bomb.\nUNIFIL deputy spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane rejected claims that the bomb had been planted to target international peacekeepers.\n\"International troops do not visit the location where the bomb was found,\" Bouziane said. \"Lebanese authorities and armed forces are the ones responsible for maintaining security in that region.\"\n\"We have full confidence in the Lebanese armed forces' ability to ensure security,\" Bouziane added.\nTyre is popular with vacationing UN peacekeepers, who are deployed in the zone near the border with Israel to monitor the cease-fire that ended the summer 2006 war with Israel.\nLater in the day, a number of military and security figures inspected the area after army and ISF troops combed the region stretching between Tyre's rest house and nature reserve. The army also conducted patrols and put up checkpoints at the northern and southern entrances to the city.\nLebanon has witnessed a string of bombings in and around Beirut since fighting erupted between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in North Lebanon on May 20.\nA bomb exploded Monday beside an empty bus parked in the northeastern Beirut suburb of Sad al-Bouchrieh, wounding 13 people. - With agencies\nNew Ron\n06-07-2007, 04:35 PM\nNasrallah is afraid, because Nasrallah is a coward! Sending others to do his dirty work! Like that guy in Iraq, Moqtada Sadr! Actually all Terrorists behave the same way, trick thier people into hurting others!\nPaparock\nLebanese Army advances on Fatah al-Islam positions, killing 16\nBy Hani M. Bathish\nDaily Star staff\nSaturday, June 09, 2007\nBEIRUT: The Lebanese Army continued advancing against Fatah al-Islam positions in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Friday, taking over buildings used by Fatah al-Islam snipers and tightening the army's grip on what remains of the militant group's fighters amid heavy and persistent bombardment.\nFierce battles erupted around the camp's Samed center, the Cooperative building and UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools, where the remnants of Fatah al-Islam fighters are holed up. Thick plumes of smoke were seen billowing from these positions as fires engulfed buildings around the area. While the army reported no casualties, an estimated 16 Fatah al-Islam fighters are believed to have fallen on Friday, six of them at the Mhammara front, said a report by the National News Agency.\nThe army briefly stopped bombardment at about noon to allow camp residents to go to Friday prayers. The reduction in the intensity of the bombardment allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in conjunction with the Palestinian Red Crescent, to ferry out 85 camp residents, mostly women, children, the elderly and the infirm.\nVirginia De LaGuardia, an ICRC spokeswoman, told The Daily Star Friday evening seven ambulances managed to enter the camp to evacuate civilians. In addition, humanitarian-aid deliveries were made for the remaining civilians inside the camp.\n\"Today we managed to get in 1,200 liters of water, 1.9 metric tons of canned tuna and 1.6 metric tons of meals-ready-to-eat,\" De LaGuardia said. \"We enter the camp whenever we can. It's always very difficult - there is a lot of rubble and debris, as well as unexploded ordnance. That is why we send ambulances [and] not trucks - because it's difficult to maneuver.\"\nTanks and heavy artillery opened an intensive barrage on militant positions at about 9 a.m. Friday morning, responding to machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade fire from inside the camp targeting army positions in Khan al-Abde to the north of the camp. Artillery fire also targeted militant positions at the northern bank of the Bared River, close to the main road at the center of the camp.\nA senior army source said on condition of anonymity that the army was advancing \"extremely slowly\" and clearing rigged buildings, but troops have not yet penetrated into the heart of the camp and remain on the outskirts. \"We are not storming the camp - we are going building by building.\" Later in the day the southern entrance to the camp also came under fire, as militants tried to infiltrate the area. A mortar round from the camp also landed in the Mhammara heights to the east of the camp.\nMeanwhile, mediation efforts continued as Fathi Yakan, who heads the group of Sunni clerics and politicians known as the Islamic Action Front, met with Palestinian clerics Friday evening and will meet Saturday with Palestinian factions to try to mediate a peaceful end to the clashes.\nThe Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported that Yakan's four-point initiative to bring an end to the fighting includes \"resolving the Fatah al-Islam phenomenon, handing over suspects in the slaying of army soldiers, deporting the remaining Fatah al-Islam members to countries that accept them and establishing a security force in Nahr al-Bared similar to that set up in Ain al-Hilweh.\" The plan has not been conveyed to Fatah al-Islam, but clerics are expected to meet the militants in the coming days.\nCamp resident Wissam Badran told Reuters by telephone Friday from inside Nahr al-Bared that a shell hit a house in which 10 civilians were taking shelter. Badran said he rescued a woman, a man and two children from under the rubble. \"They had lost consciousness. We thought they were dead, but, thank God, they are alive,\" he said. The six others in the building sustained minor injuries.\nIn a statement issued Friday, the army said it is steadily taking control of militant positions in and around the camp with the aim of \"ending this deviant phenomenon\" that has been imposed on Lebanon for the purpose of creating instability and insecurity in the country.\nWhile Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction completely backs the Lebanese government's military approach to the standoff in Nahr al-Bared, Palestinian Premier Ismail Haniyya called on Lebanon Friday to agree to a negotiated end to the siege.\n\"The solution to the Nahr al-Bared problem should be political and not military,\" Haniyya said. \"We need to spare our people, who have suffered for over 60 years, a new exodus.\"\nLebanese authorities have said that based on admissions of Fatah al-Islam members in custody, the militants were planning to target UN peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon. On Thursday, Fatah al-Islam spokesman Shahine Shahine, speaking to AFP, promised to widen the scope of the attacks beyond Nahr al-Bared if the army continues its bombardment. Lebanese authorities have demanded that Fatah al-Islam militants in Nahr al-Bared surrender, particularly those blamed for killing 27 soldiers on the first day of the fighting.\nPaparock\n06-13-2007, 04:16 PM\nLebanese lawmaker killed in Beirut blast\nBEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A member of the Lebanese parliament was killed in an explosion Wednesday outside a Beirut military sports club in what hospital sources said was an assassination.\nLawmaker Walid Eido, known as a foe of Syrian involvement in Lebanon, his son, Khalid, and two of his bodyguards were killed, Lebanese media reports said.\nAt least one other person died and 10 were wounded in the explosion in the seaside neighborhood of Manara, according to Lebanese security sources.\nThe impact of the blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings, while bystanders sustained injuries from the shrapnel. CNN's Brent Sadler witnessed wounded people being carried out of one building.\nThe blast happened near a military sports club and a side street that leads to several restaurants. Sadler said two vehicles were engulfed in flames, and the explosion had all the hallmarks of a bombing attack.\nMany of the off-duty soldiers, still wearing their workout clothes, rushed to the scene trying to calm people down. Video footage also showed Lebanese forces trying to control the crowds.\nAs many as six explosions, many in the capital city, have rocked parts of Lebanon over the past month.\nLast week, a large explosion struck Zouk Mosbeh, a predominantly Christian neighborhood north of Beirut, killing one person and wounding four.\nSadler said he felt the blast during an interview with a shopkeeper. They were discussing when the next bomb could strike Beirut.\n\"The Lebanese man I've known for a long, long time said, 'Look, I think one could happen at any moment,' \" Sadler said. \"He said those very words when that explosion really shook his shop.\"\nRascal\n06-13-2007, 10:00 PM\nIt is time for some targeted killing of Hizbullah and Syrian agents.It seems to be all they understand.\nPaparock\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/lebflag2.gif Wednesday June 13, 2007 DAY 25 Nahr Al-Baled\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.b09fbc2a3b1e46c0a21196d55fe9d88b.correction_m ideast_lebanon_explosion_bei113.jpg?x=243&y=345&sig=FqoayLoDNNXc1P9jkBVjGw--\nFILE ** Lebanese lawmaker Walid Eido is seen in Beirut, Lebanon in this June 17, 2006 file photo. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and three others, local media reported. The lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil, File)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.c5edd83400cf4161afc59b1d15aaee7c.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei112.jpg?x=262&y=345&sig=dFuSC0t5bg6f_WEJl2QpQg--\nLebanese lawmaker Walid Eido is seen at the Parliament in Beirut, Lebanon in this undated 2007 file photo. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and three others, local media reported. The lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil, File)\nMarch 14 MP Walid Eido assassinated in Beirut bombing\nBy Rym Ghazal and Hani M. Bathish\nDaily Star staff\nThursday, June 14, 2007\nBEIRUT: Anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido was killed on Wednesday - along with his eldest son Khaled and eight other people - when a booby-trapped car tore through the politician's convoy near Beirut's seafront. Residents and passersby in Ras beirut flocked to the now-familiar scene of blazing cars, shattered windows and wounded bystanders. The booby-trapped car was on a side street sandwiched between the Madinat al-Malahi amusement park and the Sporting Club beach resort, where Eido frequently swam and played cards.\n\"Oh my God, not another assassination,\" screamed a woman as she ran to the site, followed by others looking for their children and relatives who had been at the amusement park or strolling on the capital's seafront promenade.\nApart from the 65-year-old chairman of Parliament's Defense Committee and his son, the blast also claimed the lives of two bodyguards and six civilians, security sources said.\nPrime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced the attack and declared Thursday a national day of mourning. All official government offices will be closed, along with private and public schools and universities.\n\"All I saw were flames. A car passed - I think it was a Mercedes - then the bomb went off,\" said a dazed Jihad Fahs, manager of Madinat al-Malahi, as he surveyed his badly battered business.\nEleven other people were wounded and rushed to nearby hospitals as several blood-stained bystanders assisted in the rescue operation.\n\"We have to unite and help each other before this country completely rips apart,\" said one of the residents, his hands caked with dried blood after having carried a woman and two young men wounded in a coffee shop near the amusement park.\n\"At first I thought a gas cylinder had exploded,\" said Nour al-Souqi, who works at the park. \"I ran out to check on our staff, and all I saw was fire. Fortunately we were not very busy because of the general situation. It only gets busy at night.\"\nMadinat al-Malahi's cafeteria suffered minor damage in the blast. Khaled Hamed, the brother of the cafeteria's owner, said he was in the back of the cafeteria praying when the bomb detonated.\n\"I was blown back by the pressure of the blast,\" Hamed said. \"When I got up I immediately called 112 and told them a bomb went off. I turned the corner and saw cars on fire.\"\nEido was a member of parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement and one of the most vocal critics of what he repeatedly called \"Syria's relentless interference\" in Lebanon.\n\"It's the same evil fingers and the apparatus of evil that are planting terror in all of Lebanon,\" Hariri said in a televised speech after the bombing.\nHe called on the Arab League to boycott what he called \"a terrorist regime,\" an obvious reference to Syria. \"They do not want Lebanon to rest. They do not want its government to rise or its army to do its job defending order. We will not evacuate Beirut in the face of terror,\" he said.\nHariri said Eido had been \"a powerful voice for freedom, independence and justice for Lebanon,\" adding that his death was a big loss for the Future Movement and added another victim to a list led by Hariri's father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.\nEido was the seventh anti-Syrian figure to be killed since Rafik Hariri and Basil Fuleihan were assassinated in a massive bomb blast in February 2005 - about 1.5 kilometers along the seafront from Wednesday's attack. He was also the third member of the parliamentary majority to be killed, leaving it with 68 MPs in the 128-seat Parliament.\nThe MP was a prominent leader of the mass demonstra-tions that followed Hariri's killing and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005 and the end of three decades of Syrian tutelage over Lebanon.\nIt was the ninth explosion to hit Beirut and its environs since the onset of fighting between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli on May 20 .\nThe last assassination to shake the country was that of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, another prominent anti-Syrian politician and who was gunned down in his car in broad daylight last November.\nSyrian workers from a construction site just a few meters away from the blast were seen being lined up for interrogation by the police, with some of them handcuffed and sitting on the ground.\nSecurity sources said the bomb consisted of about 80 kilograms of TNT and was planted in a car parked near the exit from the resort.\nThe site of the blast is just a couple of hundred meters from a military beach club where President Emile Lahoud regularly swims and which is heavily guarded by the army.\nEido was formerly a member of the Murabitoun, a Sunni militia that was active during Lebanon's 1975-1990 Civil War. A retired judge, he was killed just three days after UN Security Council Resolution 1757 came into effect, mandating the establishment of a hybrid Lebanese-international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination and other similar attacks.\nIn his speech, Siniora asked that the United Nations add Eido's slaying to the list and provide technical assistance for the investigation. He also requested that the Arab League convene an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the complex crisis in Lebanon.\nSpeaker Nabih Berri, Reform and Change parliamentary bloc leader MP Michel Aoun, Hizbullah and Lahoud issued statements late Wednesday decrying the crime.\n\"No one, not individuals or organizations, will be able to turn Lebanon through terrorism and organized crime into a field for chaos subversion and wars,\" the speaker declared. \"No one will be able to shatter this small country big with its martyrs.\"\nAoun expressed outrage at the killing of a \"representative of the people,\" expressing hope that the security forces would apprehend the perpetrators.\n\"What is most important is to uncover the side behind these repeated crimes and bring them to trial,\" the former army commander said. \"Denouncing these crimes is no longer enough while people fall.\"\nLahoud noted that the attack coincided with apparent progress in initiatives and contacts aimed at solving the ongoing power struggle between the government and the opposition, which he said makes it necessary for all Lebanese to unite in order to foil the plans of \"the enemies of Lebanon\" to further undermine security and stability in the country.\n\"If we have failed so far to meet, maybe now the sadness that has befallen Lebanon once again will bring the leaders together to make a national stand to save Lebanon and preserve its unity and protect its from dangers that threaten all of us,\" Lahoud said.\nAs has been the case following previous assassinations, pro-government politicians pointed accusatory fingers at the government of Syria.\nWednesday's attack was part of a campaign being carried out by Damascus to change the balance of power in the Lebanese Parliament, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said.\n\"It is the same serial killer who wants to liquidate the parliamentary majority; it is a physical liquidation by the Syrian regime,\" he said.\nAnother member of the anti-Syrian camp, former President Amin Gemayel, described Eido's assassination as having been \"part of the criminal attacks that have targeted leaders and personalities of the 'Cedar Revolution'\" that ended Syrian domination in Lebanon.\n\"This crime will not deter us ... and what happens today highlights the importance of the international tribunal,\" said Gemayel, father of the industry minister slain in November.\nCondemnations also poured in from outside the country, with the US and French government leading the chorus.\n\"The United States deplores this latest attack in Beirut that led to the death of a respected member of Parliament, Walid Eido, and his son,\" White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.\nFrench Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also deplored the killing.\n\"I condemn with the greatest severity this odious and cowardly crime. Those responsible must be caught and punished,\" he said. \"France and the whole international community stand side-by-side with Lebanon against these repeated attempts at destabilization. More than ever it is time for Lebanese of all confessions to come together and resume political dialogue.\"\nThe rotating presidency of the European Union, currently held by Germany, also voiced outrage at the latest assassination to rattle Beirut.\n\"The presidency condemns in the strongest possible terms this attack, a new attempt to destabilize Lebanon,\" the EU presidency said in a statement released through the German Foreign Ministry.\n\"This is unacceptable and will not succeed,\" the statement added. - With agencies\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.9d6617d7581f40e198002182ee007420.aptopix_mide ast_lebanon_explosion_xhm103.jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=EfZbqErF1w6oUYamtTJkdg--\nA Lebanese soldier gestures in front of burned out cars after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.33d539acb55e46f19e56c4e1ffc0c4f4.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei115.jpg?x=380&y=248&sig=Qs1NTdZvxVBfwNGC15XiCQ--\nCivil defense workers cover bodies in a burnt car after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.637d273d7da44e8db7aabb0bb6e02a5c.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm115.jpg?x=380&y=242&sig=qbvhd2KImMnlXHXVyc_2Qg--\nA Lebanese soldier gestures in front of burned out cars after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.54c7db17b9ad43a199f02583328dfd07.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm114.jpg?x=227&y=345&sig=4onLY38om.QmqOOVyr_kig--\nA Lebanese army officer, inspects the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.4357b37abbd042b78d83a20d40ccef98.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm118.jpg?x=380&y=261&sig=Txu7gnqF0HK6CutNPbWZrQ--\nLebanese civilians, look through a damaged building at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.3f45cb9324e64fa4b761c3258ccce21b.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm112.jpg?x=380&y=264&sig=5jnB1Hs91mpMMqg8c3BbSg--\nLebanese civil defense workers, stand next to a covered dead body in front of a damaged building at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\n[http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.dd522d834baa4a388a522fd3d8cc6cbe.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm113.jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=Sgh0T7wHz8tuBbrqAwP.MQ--\nA Lebanese civil defense worker, covers a dead body at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.7d72ba7188b3485b97beb54587e56a38.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm111.jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=Q4C2xJOAdWfhdnjM2w_ulw--\nLebanese prosecutor Said Mirza, center fourth from left, arrives to check a dead body which lies on the ground at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r1403734385.jpg?x=380&y=246&sig=0m.IG5JNjC580DYFTZ9ZNw--\nA Lebanese civil defence personnel rests next to an unidentified body near the site of an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido was killed with at least seven other people on Wednesday by a blast on Beirut's seafront, security sources said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r1554513101.jpg?x=380&y=293&sig=lObo.NIi4t14Xq2nNof1.w--\nLebanese policemen and officials inspect an unidentified body near the site of an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. A blast in Beirut on Wednesday killed anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, one of his sons and two other people who were with him , security sources said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r2061318514.jpg?x=380&y=220&sig=3TH7fcfSQ88vv1PE_Q5WCw--\nLebanese plain clothes policemen inspect the remains of a car after an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. A blast in Beirut on Wednesday killed anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, one of his sons and two other people who were with him, security sources said. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen (LEBANON)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.b9ef142789444cfbaf93f9a6fb5291c4.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei111.jpg?x=380&y=262&sig=UN7lwWTw3k8uFC6h0rkCrA--\nCivil defense workers and police check the scene after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)\nNew Ron\n06-14-2007, 03:32 PM\nSyria (and its friends) just does not seem to want to stop its intimidation of Lebanons Future movement ! BTW So everyone knows Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are all Shi ite muslim, simple explanation to why they are such allys ! However recent information has emerged that Iran is providing weapons to Al Qaeda a sunni muslim group,( and sworn enemy of the Shi ite muslims) in order to fight the U.S. in Iraq ! So who can say now, that it is impossible that they are doing the same with Fatah al islam (sunni muslim group with ties to Al Qaeda!) in Lebanon ? Something to ponder about, someday we will know the truth !\nPaparock\nHezbollah Kidnaps Lebanese Policemen (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/15/hezbollah-kidnapps-lebanese-policemen/) | June 15th, 2007 http://beirutspring.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/print/images/printer_famfamfam.gif (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/15/hezbollah-kidnapps-lebanese-policemen/print/)\nhttp://beirutspring.com/beirutspring-images/headers/32.gif\nIs the Party of God testing the waters for a Hamas-style takeover?\nHere’s this curious news I just read on Naharnet (http://www.naharnet.com/):Hizbullah gunmen kidnapped three policemen in south Beirut, stripped them of their weapons, interrogated them and then set them free. The LF site (http://www.lebanese-forces.com/) has more details:\nاوقف مسلحون من حزب الله دورية من قوى الامن الداخلي قوامها ثلاثة عناصر بحجة دخولها الى المربع الامني في بئر العبد واقتادوها الى احد مراكز حزب الله الامنية حيث تم التحقيق معها لمدة ساعة . ولم يتم اطلاقها الا بعد تدخلات سياسية رفيعة المست\nThe question remains: Under which authority Hezbollah thinks it can arrest and interrogate Lebanese men in uniform?\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/lebflag2.gif Friday June 15, 2007\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/fleche-red.gif Clashes renewed on Friday between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam fighters after militants sniper-fired on the troops from buildings in the center of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, LBCI TV reported.\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/fleche-red.gif Security officials also said that at least four soldiers were killed and six others wounded in fighting Friday.\nJune 15, 2007\nSyro-Iranian massacre of Lebanese Politicians\nBy Walid Phares\nWith the assassination of Lebanese MP Jebran Tueni in December 2006, months after the murder of political leaders George Hawi and Samir Qassir during the summer, the Syro-Iranian terror war room had opened a bloody hunt against the democratically elected Lebanese Parliament. After the withdrawal of regular Syrian forces from Lebanon in April 2005, Bashar Assad and his allies in Tehran designed a counter offensive (which we described then and later) aiming at crumbling the Cedars Revolution. One of the main components of this strategy was (and remain) to use all intelligence and security assets of Syria and Iran in Lebanon in order to “reduce” the number of deputies who form the anti-Syrian majority in the Parliament. As simple as that: assassinate as many members as needed to flip the quantitative majority in the Legislative Assembly. And when that is done, the Seniora Government collapses and a Hezbollah-led cabinet forms. In addition, if the Terror war kills about 8 legislators, the remnant of the Parliament can elect a new President of the Republic who will move the country under the tutelage of the Assad regime.\nAs incredibly barbaric as it seems in the West, the genocide of the legislators in Lebanon at the hands of the Syrian regime and its allies is very “normal” by Baathist (and certainly by Jihadist) political culture. During the 1980s, Saddam Hussein executed a large segment of his own Party’s national assembly to maintain his regime intact. In the same decade, Hafez Assad eliminated systematically his political adversaries both inside Syria and across Syrian occupied Lebanon to secure his control over the two “sister” countries. So for Bashar to order the assassination of his opponents in Lebanon as of the fall of 2004 to perpetuate his domination of the little Baathist “empire” is not a stunning development: it is the standing procedure in Damascus since 1970.\nAnd to “achieve” these goals, the junta in Syria has a plethora of tools and assets left in Lebanon. First, the vast Syrian intelligence networks still deeply rooted in the small country; second, the powerful Iranian-financed Hezbollah with its lethal security apparatus; third, the Syrian-controlled groups within the Palestinian camps from various ideological backgrounds including Baathists, Marxists, or even Islamist such as Fatah al Islam; fourth the pro-Syrian and Hezbollah sympathizers “inside” the Lebanese Army as well as the units and security services still under the control of General Emile Lahoud; fifth, the client militias and organizations remote-controlled by Syrian intelligence such as the Syrian National-Social Party; and sixth, operatives inserted within political groups gravitating around Damascus such as those of Sleiman Frangieh, Michel Aoun and Talal Arslan. In short, the Syro-Iranian axis has a wide array of security and intelligence assets from which it can select the most appropriate perpetrators for each “take down.” The Assad regime has its “own” Sunni operatives to kill Sunnis, Christians to murder Christians and Druze to eliminate Druze and has the full resources of Hezbollah terror to obstruct the Government of Lebanon and ultimately crumble it.\nThe “reduction” –both physical and political- of the Lebanese Parliamentary majority began as soon as the assembly was elected in the spring of 2005. The Lebanese opposition to Assad and Hezbollah got originally 72 seats out of the 128 members, a comfortable majority to resume the “liberation” of the country from occupation and Terrorism. In December of 2006 a car bomb kills MP Jebran Tueni bringing the majority to 71. Though he is quickly replaced by his father Ghassan, the latter’s old age and unwillingness to pursue the same anti-Terrorist activism is a negative in the big battle. In January 2006 a majority-MP Edmond Naim, dies of old age. The anti-Cedars revolution pressure brings in Pierre Daccache, “neutral” in principle, but essentially close to now Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun. Since, the majority has 71 seats. In December of 2006, majority-MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated by Syrian operatives. The number of dedicated MPs falls to 70. Few weeks ago, Syrian threats compel the Alawi MP from the north to quit the majority, bringing the number to 69. Today’s assassination of Sunni Walid Eido, a fierce opponent to the Syrian regime brings the number of MPs to 68. Four more assassinations and the Parliamentary majority in Lebanon would collapse, bringing back Ahmedinijad and Assad’s Terror power to the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean.\nWhat can be done to stop the legislators’ massacre in Lebanon and its dramatic consequences?\nThe UN Security Council, under resolutions 1559 and 1701 should intervene massively by ordering and overseeing the following steps:\na) Put all remaining 68 MPs under direct international protection. A special international security force should be dispatched to Lebanon, gather the endangered legislators in one or several protected locations and escort them later to perform their constitutional duties.\nb) Ask the Lebanese Government of Mr Seniora to organize the appropriate legislative elections in the districts of Matn and Beirut to replace the assassinated MPs Gemayel and Eido. Dispatch UN observers to oversee these elections.\nc) Ask the Lebanese Parliament to elect a new President during the constitutional period beginning in August and escort the 68 endangered MPs (plus the two newly elected ones) to the location of the Presidential elections and provide security during the voting process.\nBy doing so, the UNSC would be implementing its own resolutions, fulfilling the democratic process in Lebanon and fighting back against Terrorism with the power of the people of Lebanon. For when a new democratically elected President is elected in Lebanon, the road –still very difficult and dangerous- to democracy will be paved.\nDr Walid Phares is the Director of Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, a visiting scholar at the European Foundation for Democracy and the author of the War of Ideas. Dr Phares was one of the architects of UNSCR 1559.\nPaparock\n06-19-2007, 03:22 PM\nThe Lebanese media is filled with news about the Army�s �upcoming victory� against Fateh Al Islam. Was that just a face-saving cover for a pragmatic deal that would end up deporting the fighters and giving back control to the Palestinian factions?\nhttp://www.annahar.com/media/images/Tue_pix/main/p01-01-23036.jpg\nTo many of us Army supporters, we can�t help getting all cheesy when we see pictures like the above (from Annahar (http://www.annahar.com/), H/T AKais (http://beirutbeltway.com/)) and read headlines like �Army To declare victory soon�, but are we being duped? Did the Army really �crush� Fateh Al Islam?\nAljazeera�s fly in the ointment: (http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7A2D4827-A0C6-46CF-812E-DFE312EF9915.htm)\nأفادت مراسلة الجزيرة في لبنان أن مبادرة رابطة علماء فلسطين لإنهاء الاشتباكات في نهر البارد وصلت إلى مراحلها النهائية، ورجحت أن يتم إعلان وقف لإطلاق النار بالمخيم مساء غد.\nوقالت المراسلة إن الاتفاق يتضمن وقفا لإطلاق النار من جانب تنظيم فتح الإسلام وموافقته على ترحيل مقاتليه العرب إلى خارج لبنان وتسليم سلاحه إلى فصيل فلسطيني إسلامي يعتقد أنه الجهاد الإسلامي.\nوأشارت إلى أن الاتفاق يتضمن نشر قوة أمنية فلسطينية مشتركة في المخيم القديم والسماح بدخول خبراء لتفكيك الألغام وإزالتها من المخيم تمهيدا لإعادة النازحين.\nTranslation mine:\nAljazeera�s Lebanon correspondent reported that the initiative of the Palestine�s Association Of Scholars to end the fightings in Naher Al Bared reached its final stages, and it estimates reaching a ceasefire by tomorrow evening.\nThe Correspondent said that the agreement involves a ceasefire from Fateh Al Islam�s part and its agreeing to deport its Arab fighters outside of Lebanon and handing in their weapons to a Palestinian faction thought to be the Islamic Jihad.\nShe pointed out that the agreement also includes the deployment of Palestinian security forces in the old camp and allowing explosives experts to defuse the bombs in the camps before the refugees can come back.\nAlthough this seems short of a complete victory, it is not as bad is it sounds on Aljazeera, which after all, has its strong biases. For example, Instead of writing �handing all the Lebanese terrorist members to the Army�, Aljazeera chose to write �deporting Arab fighters outside of Lebanon.�\nThe Army has still not officially approved the initiative, but at the same time, it didn�t post its usually prompt strong rebuttal of �any solution that does not involve the complete surrender of the militants� on its website.\nAnother question begs to be asked: Will the deported fighters be hosted by countries like Qatar, or will they end up in their country of origin�s legal systems?\nhttp://www.beirutspring.com/\n06-20-2007, 07:42 PM\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/Wednesday June 20, 2007\nA Lebanese army officer said Wednesday the military was now in full control of the new part of Nahr al-Bared.\n\"All of the buildings in the new part of Nahr al-Bared where the terrorists were dug in have been taken, and one could say fighting has stopped in this area,\" an army officer told AFP.\nLebanese troops earlier on Wednesday were clearing out the remaining pockets of resistance in Nahr al-Bared, Future TV said.\nIt said the army’s artillery continued shelling the southern front, cornering diehard militants in what has been known as the \"old camp,\" a small segment on the southern tip of Nahr al-Bared.\nPaparock\n06-21-2007, 08:28 PM\nhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6228766.stm\nLebanon says a military operation against Islamist fighters based in a Palestinian refugee camp has ended after a month-long battle.\nDefence Minister Elias Murr said all of Fatah al-Islam's positions in the Nahr al-Bared camp had been destroyed.\nThe leaders of the group were now on the run, Mr Murr said.\nMore than 150 people have died at the camp, including at least 20 civilians, in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.\n\"I can notify the Lebanese that the military operation is over,\" Mr Murr told Lebanese TV, saying the army had \"crushed those terrorists\".\n\"What is happening now is some clean-up that the army's heroes are carrying out, and dismantling some mines.\"\nTroops would continue to pursue the leaders and remaining fighter of Fatah al-Islam, Mr Murr said, suggesting that some clashes could still flare up inside the refugee camp.\nNahr al-Bared, near the northern city of Tripoli, was home to 30,000 people before the fighting broke out.\nLarge parts of the camp have been left in ruins after a bitter struggle that began in late May.\nPaparock"],"string":"[\n \"Project MUSE - Chronology: July 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\\nJuly 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010. Abbreviations. ... July 21: The Middle East ... was arrested and charged with spying for Israel.\\nProject MUSE - Chronology: July 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\\nJuly 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\\nAbbreviations\\nRFE-RL, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty\\nRNW, Radio Netherlands Worldwide\\nSee also Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey\\nJuly 21:\\nThe Middle East Quartet released a statement signed by special envoy Tony Blair commending the Bank of Israel's transfer of $13 million into the Gaza Strip and the exchange of $8.2 million of spoiled currency for new bills. The move came as the blockade eased and the approach of Ramadan created more demand for cash. The Palestinian Monetary Authority had requested a $62 million transfer earlier in 2010. [YNET, 7/28]\\nJuly 28:\\nIsraeli police in East Jerusalem helped Jewish settlers move into a house occupied by a Palestinian family. The Qirrishes returned from a wedding ceremony to discover the eviction and were barred from entering the property or collecting their personal effects. The settlement group Ateret Cohanim and the Palestinian inhabitants had been in dispute over the building since the 1970s. [LAT, 7/30]\\nAug. 2:\\nFayez Karam, former head of the Lebanese counter-terrorism and counterespionage units, was arrested and charged with spying for Israel. He allegedly relayed information relating to Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement. His was the latest in a string of espionage arrests since Lebanon launched an investigation into Israeli spy rings in 2009. Karam was the first politician to be charged. [MEO, 8/8, BBC, 8/10]\\nAug. 3:\\nFour people were killed in the worst clash along the Israel-Lebanon border since the 2006 war. The violence erupted when, for strategic purposes, Israeli troops attempted to clear a tree near the site of a 2006 month-long rocket exchange. The following day the UN confirmed that Israel had not crossed its border while cutting down the tree. [LAT, WP, 8/4]\\nAug. 5:\\nIsrael released the Mavi Marmara and two other Turkish ships from the May 30 flotilla. The vessels were bound for Turkey. The Israeli government kept possession of three non-Turkish vessels and the Rachel Corrie, which had sailed for Gaza a few days after the Turkish flotilla. [BBC, 8/4, Al-Jazeera, 8/7]\\nAug. 9:\\nIsraeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu testified for an Israeli state-sponsored inquiry into the flotilla incident. He defended Israel's actions, saying that it had not broken international law. He also said that his and Turkey's governments had been in negotiations for weeks to prevent conflict, but Ankara was not keen to take the case seriously. [The Guardian, 8/9]\\nAug. 10:\\nEhud Barak testified in the Israeli flotilla inquiry, stating that he [End Page 103] took responsibility for the nine deaths on the flotilla in a broad sense, but blamed the military for bungling the raid. He accused the Turkish flotilla of intentionally provoking the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). [The Guardian, 8/10, BBC, 8/10]\\nAmidst generally friendly relations and following a series of violent border skirmishes, the IDF announced that it had changed its policy toward the Lebanese Army. According to the new rules, IDF soldiers would increase the intensity with which they responded to Lebanese aggression fourfold. Israel considered the Lebanese Army to be working toward regional stability along with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon. [YNET, LAT, 8/10]\\nAug. 11:\\nLieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel's top military chief, testified for the Israeli flotilla inquiry that the activists had fired first on IDF soldiers. He defended the use of lethal force, but said that greater precautions should have been taken to neutralize resistance before boarding the flotilla. [NYT, BBC, 8/11]\\nAug. 17:\\nThe Yesha Council and the Israeli Sheli movement ran two seminars on editing Wikipedia with language and information more sympathetic to Israel. Wikipedia had long been a battleground for informational disputes, such as whether to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Wikipedia had banned similar attempts to alter content by Camera, a Zionist group, in 2008. [The Guardian, Haaretz, 8/18]\\nAfter years of debate, the Lebanese Parliament unanimously passed a new energy law allowing for the exploration of oil and natural gas fields in Lebanese waters. The legislation was revived by Israel's announcement that it would begin drilling its own marine oil fields. Lebanon feared that these movements would unfairly impinge upon their waters and resources, especially since Lebanon and Israel had no official maritime borders. [Al-Jazeera, 8/17]\\nSept. 2:\\nThe first face-to-face peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in over 20 months began in Washington, DC. US President Barack Obama hoped that the issues of borders and refugees could be resolved within a 12-month period. However, the murder of four Israelis by Hamas militants the night before the opening banquet cast a shadow over the talks. [The Guardian, 8/31, 9/2, 9/13, 9/15]\\nSept. 3:\\nIn drive-by shootings in the West Bank, Hamas killed three, breaking a two-year calm after a crackdown by Israeli and Palestinian Authority security services. [WP, 9/3, The Guardian, 9/15]\\nSept. 12:\\nPrime Minister Netanyahu announced that while construction would not be accelerated, he would not renew the freeze on settlement building. Palestinian Authority President Mahmud 'Abbas maintained that Palestine would withdraw from talks if the settlement-building continued. US President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton urged Netanyahu to extend the freeze, set to expire September 26. [The Guardian, 9/13]\\nSept. 15:\\nIsraeli forces bombed tunnels between Gaza and Egypt following a rocket attack from Gaza on the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Violence continued on the ground as Gazans fired mortars into Israel during the opening days of the peace negotiations. [BBC, The Guardian, 9/15]\\nSept. 22:\\nThe UN probe into the flotilla incident led by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched on August 10 ruled that Israel had broken international law during its raid on the Turkish flotilla. The charges included violating right to life and freedom of expression, and improper handling of captives. Israel dismissed the report, which carried no legal force. [BBC, 9/22, The Guardian, 8/10, 9/23]\\nSept. 23:\\nIn a speech at the UN General Assembly, US President Obama pleaded for support in Middle East peace talks. He directly appealed to Israel to halt the settlement process in the West Bank, while also exhorting supporters of Palestine to [End Page 104] stop \\\"trying to tear Israel down.\\\" He also emphasized that a Palestinian state was the only route to stable Israeli security. [The Guardian, AP, 9/23, Al-Jazeera, 9/24]\\nSept. 26:\\nDespite a call for restraint from Netanyahu, settlers in Kiryat Netarim, a settlement on the West Bank, declared an end to the 10-month building freeze by laying the cornerstone for a new kindergarten. Defense Minister Ehud Barak had not approved the construction plans. [YNET, 9/26]\\nSept. 28:\\nIn the first attempt since the Mavi Marmara flotilla, a boat carrying Jewish activists, along with an assortment of toys, medical supplies, books, and outboard motors, set out from Cyprus to break the Gaza blockade. IDF soldiers boarded and diverted the yacht two days later, bringing it to the nearby port of Ashdod. [Al-Jazeera, AP, 9/26, The Guardian, 9/28]\\nOct. 4:\\nUnknown arsonists attacked a mosque near Hebron in Al-Fajjar, scrawling \\\"Revenge\\\" and \\\"A mosque must be burned\\\" in Hebrew on the wall. The attack was thought to be part of the \\\"price tag\\\" policy, in which retaliation attacks were carried out against Palestinian targets whenever the Israeli state attempted to curb settlement efforts. Ehud Barak called the attack an act of terrorism. [NYT, 10/4]\\nCentral Asia and the Caucasus\\nSee also Afghanistan\\nJuly 19:\\nKazakh website owner Valery Khlyupin and online journalist Asror Muminov were accused by Kyrgyz officials of inciting ethnic hatred amidst ethnic violence in June 2010. Kyrgyz prosecutors requested that Kazakhstan charge Khlyupin and Muminov, author of an article entitled \\\"Kyrgyz Kill Uzbeks Even in Mosques.\\\" Khlyupin claimed that 90% of the information in the article was provided by sources within Kyrgyzstan and that he was prepared to apologize if any of it was false. [RFE/RL, 7/19]\\nJuly 21:\\nTajikistan opened a US-funded customs post along the Afghan border, demonstrating a greater joint commitment to drug trafficking. The US committed $12 million to the project, which provided the latest technological equipment and created a large complex of administrative and customs offices, a restaurant, and a hotel. [RFE/RL,7/23]\\nJuly 22:\\nAzerbaijan confirmed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented Armenia and Azerbaijan with a new plan to end the Nagorno-Karbakh conflict. The confirmation came after Azerbaijani officials had previously denied that new plans had been presented. Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian expressed frustration that Azerbaijan must accept Russia's proposals \\\"as a basis for negotiations\\\" or the conflict would remain deadlocked. [RFE/RL, 7/23]\\nJuly 26:\\nOver 2,000 people gathered in Kyrgyzstan's two largest cities, protesting the government's decision to accept the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) proposal to send a policy advisory unit of 52 members into southern Kyrgyzstan. Opponents of the OSCE force said that local authorities were able to cope with the unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan, but President Roza Otunbaeva stated that the international force would monitor the human rights situation and assist Kyrgyz police. [RFE/RL, 7/26]\\nAug. 1:\\nTajik authorities detained religious leader Mavlavi Abduqahor and students at his madrasa in the Rudaki district of Tajikistan. Abduqahor was arrested primarily for teaching without a license and for teaching children under the age of seven. The arrests were carried out by Operation Madrasah, which aimed to ban all illegal religious schools in the country. Some Tajik analysts said that officials were trying to control all religious schools in order to prevent the rise of radical Islam. [RFE/RL, 8/2]\\nAug. 2:\\nA Kyrgyz government commission began investigating the causes of the deadly June 2010 clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Members of the National Commission met with locals in predominantly ethnic [End Page 105] Uzbek villages in Osh who had both been victims of and witnessed the violence. The Commission was charged with finding out whether the violence could have been stopped earlier or prevented. [RFE/RL, 8/2]\\nAug. 10:\\nThe Muslim call to prayer through loudspeakers was banned in northern Tajikistan, just as Muslims were preparing for the holy month of Ramadan. Authorities in the northern Sughd province implemented the ban because they said it caused confusion and disturbed the peace. Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim country. [RFE/RL, 8/10]\\nAug. 19:\\nTurkmen authorities allowed some university students to return to Kyrgyzstan to continue their studies after they had been evacuated during the June 2010 clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Authorities agreed to let the students return as long as parents signed a statement assuming responsibility for their child's well-being while in Kyrgyzstan. Diplomas earned by students in Kyrgyzstan would not be recognized in Turkmenistan. [RFE/RL, 8/19]\\nAug. 20:\\nAzerbaijan's Supreme Court upheld a 2009 sentence given to jailed bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada. The men were sentenced to two and two and a half years, respectively, in prison on hooliganism charges. Lawyers and Hajizada's father called the charges politically motivated, as Milli and Hajizada had often criticized and satirized government policies. [RFE/RL, 8/20]\\nAug. 25:\\nGeorgia accused Russia of deploying S-300 missile-defense systems in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia. Earlier in the month, Moscow announced the placement of S-300s in the breakaway Abkhazia region, but denied that S-300s had also been deployed in South Ossetia. Georgia and much of the international community insisted that Abkhazia and South Ossetia were integral parts of Georgian history and were opposed to their recognition by Russia as independent states. [RFE/RL, 8/25]\\nAug. 26:\\nUzbek authorities burned 497 kilograms of confiscated Afghan heroin worth an estimated $150 million. The heroin and more than 700 kilograms of other illegal drugs were burned outside of Tashkent before an audience of diplomats and journalists. The destroyed drugs were used as evidence in trials against drug traffickers and represented just part of almost 2.5 tons of drugs seized from smugglers leaving Afghanistan since early 2010. [RFE/RL, 8/26]\\nSept. 6:\\nAs part of an exchange of border officials between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Uzbek authorities released a Kyrgyz border guard. A day earlier Kyrgyz authorities released three Uzbek customs officers and Uzbekistan released three Kyrgyz border guards. This release was delayed by additional negotiations over unknown border issues. [RFE/RL, 9/6]\\nSept. 15:\\nKyrgyzstan courts sentenced well-known ethnic Uzbek human rights activist Azimjan Askarov to life in prison. Askarov, along with seven other ethnic Uzbeks, were found guilty of murdering a Kyrgyz police officer during the violent clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in June 2010. A Kyrgyz official called the verdict politically motivated and said that his office had investigated further and would have held Askarov not guilty. [RFE/RL, 9/15]\\nSept. 16:\\nArmenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian announced that Armenia and Iran would soon begin building two shared major hydroelectric power stations on their border. Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said that the power stations would give Armenian-Iranian commercial ties a significant boost. The project was estimated to cost $323 million. [RFE/RL, 9/17]\\nAn adviser to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev stated that the President would seek a fresh term in office in 2012. Nazarbaev was the country's only leader in its post-Soviet history. Parliament ruled in 2007 that he should be able to run for president as many times as he liked. As \\\"leader of the nation,\\\" Parliament also gave Nazarbaev immunity from prosecution. [RFE/RL, 9/16] [End Page 106]\\nSept. 20:\\nKyrgyzstan closed its border with Tajikistan after deadly clashes between an armed extremist group and Tajik military forces in Tajikistan's Rasht province. Cholponbek Turusbekov, Kyrgyz Border Guard Service Deputy Chairman, stated that Kyrgyz security forces were deployed to the area to control the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. Tajik authorities said armed militants killed about 23 servicemen near the Tajik-Kyrgyz border. [RFE/RL, 9/20]\\nSept. 21:\\nFive supporters of former opposition commander Mirzokhuja Ahmadov, a leader of the former United Tajik Opposition (UTO), were killed in a counterterrorist operation in the Rasht district. Ahmadov's house was also attacked by rockets. His fate was unknown. After learning of the attack on the commander's home, another former opposition leader, Shoh Iskandarov, reportedly joined the militants. UTO fought in the Tajik civil war of 1992-1997 against President Emomali Rahmon's administration. [RFE/RL, 9/22]\\nSept. 23:\\nAbkhaz Vice President Aleksandr Ankvab suffered minor shrapnel wounds when his home was attacked with a grenade launcher. The attacker's identity was unknown and the attempt was the fourth on Ankvab's life in the past five years. Motive for the attack remained unclear but a potential reason was that Ankvab was perceived as being capable of forcing the resignation of Abkhaz de facto President Sergei Bagapsh. [RFE/RL, 9/23]\\nOct. 5:\\nAn Armenian citizen, Manvel Saribekian, who was detained in Azerbaijan in September 2010, was found dead in his prison cell. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry and Military Prosecutor's Office claimed that Saribekian hanged himself, but circumstances surrounding Saribekian's death remained unclear. Azerbaijani authorities stated that Saribekian was part of an armed group intending to carry out armed \\\"provocations.\\\" Armenian authorities fiercely refuted that claim. [RFE/RL, 10/5]\\nOct. 7:\\nAzerbaijan refuted Armenia's claims that it killed an Armenian captive. Officials in Azerbaijan insisted that the captive, Manvel Saribekian, was an Armenian intelligence operative who committed suicide in custody, which Armenia also refuted. Saribekian was taken into custody in Azerbaijan on September 11. [RFE/RL, 10/7]\\nOct. 12:\\nKyrgyz voters took to the polls to elect a new Parliament as part of the referendum voted upon after the ousting of former President Bakiyev. Though the election was deemed free and fair, none of the top five finishers in the election won a large percentage of the vote, leaving many Kyrgyz voters to be represented by parties they did not vote for. Many analysts believed that the new government would have a very pro-Russian foreign policy. [RFE/RL, 10/12]\\nOfficials captured 14 suspected terrorists and confiscated an unknown quantity of guns during a special operation in the normally peaceful Istaravshan district in northern Tajikistan. The men detained were suspected of being involved in a suicide bombing in the northern town of Khujand which killed four police officers and injured 28 people. The detainment was the first time a group so large had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism in Istaravshan. [RFE/RL, 10/14]\\nOct. 13:\\nA Vienna-based Turkmen human rights group's website was hacked and inaccessible for days. Farid Tukhbatullin, head of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR), left Turkmenistan and received refugee status in 2003. The group's website was hacked directly after President Gurbanguli Berdymukhammedov called on the National Security Ministry to crack down against those disseminating slanderous information about Turkmenistan. Since the hacking, Tukhbatullin was also warned of a possible threat to his personal security. [RFE/RL, 10/13]\\nOct. 15:\\nGeorgia's Parliament approved a controversial amendment to the constitution that shifted the country's primary political powers from the president to the prime minister. The amendment was designed to introduce more checks and balances by strengthening the role of the prime minister and Parliament while curbing presidential [End Page 107] power. Critics were wary as they believed that the shift would allow President Mikheil Saakashvili to prolong his position of power by seeking the seat of prime minister after his term ended. [RFE/RL, 10/15]\\nPalestinian Affairs\\nJuly 17:\\nGaza's first shopping center opened in a ceremony attended by Hamas party officials and officers. The complex — approximately one-quarter acre — drew crowds hoping to browse the Western and Israeli products, enjoy the air-conditioning, or shop in the new supermarket. [YNET, 7/20, NYT, 8/22]\\nJuly 18:\\nEngineering students at Hebron University designed and built a completely solar-powered car from scratch as part of an effort to promote environmentally friendly power alternatives in Palestine. The car, celebrated as a victory for the students, could not exceed 19 miles per hour. [The Guardian, 7/18]\\nJuly 20:\\nBrazilian Presient Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a bill granting $14 million in aid to the reconstruction of Gaza. The gift came after the UN called on the international community to help the region. [AP, ANBA, 7/21]\\nAug. 10:\\nThe Palestinian Authority reported that Arab countries had cut aid to the Palestinian territories, although the US and Europe had already donated their annual contributions. Arab officials from other countries declined to comment, though some Palestinians speculated that the cut was calculated to force Hamas and Fatah to reach an accord. [Reuters, 8/10]\\nAug. 25:\\nDozens of protesters, carrying President Mahmud 'Abbas' picture and chanting his name, broke up a conference in Ramallah held to oppose direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. The organizers of the conference, believing the interruption to be the work of Fatah and Palestinian security forces, immediately began their own protest in the streets of the city, but were soon stopped by the police for not holding the necessary protest permit. [LAT, 8/25]\\nSept. 19:\\nThe Crazy Water Park, one of the few affordable family destinations in Gaza, was attacked for the second time in a month by arsonists. The owner claimed that Hamas ignored threats to the park. The resort competed with Hamas' commercial enterprises and conservatives often criticized it for what they perceived as immoral activities, including hosting mixed-gender parties. [The Guardian, 9/24]\\nSept. 20:\\nIsrael lifted a ban on car imports to the Gaza Strip for the first time in over three years, allowing the importation of oil, engine parts, and about 20 cars. Restrictions on Gaza had been gradually easing since the May 30 raid on the Mavi Marmara. [NYT, 9/20]\\nSept. 22:\\nHamas leader Khalid Mish'al hosted Fatah representative 'Azzam al-Ahmad in Damascus in one of a series of reconciliation attempts between the conflicting parties. The two men released a joint statement announcing an initial agreement concerning the path to compromise, and outlined plans to meet in Cairo and finalize a peace agreement. [Al-Jazeera, 9/25]\\nAfghanistan\\nJuly 19:\\nNATO forces intercepted a five-point directive from Mullah 'Umar, the spiritual leader of the Afghan Taliban, in which he called on members to fight foreign troops, obtain heavy weapons, and kill civilians collaborating with coalition forces. If genuine, the directive marked a turnaround for Umar who in 2009 urged Taliban members to avoid killing civilians. [Al-Jazeera, 7/19]\\nJuly 26:\\nThe US government condemned the leak of more than 90,000 classified military documents on the war in Afghanistan, including details on Afghan civilian deaths, special forces units targeting high-level Taliban members, and concerns that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI was helping the Taliban. The documents were released by the online whistleblower WikiLeaks and covered the period January 2004 through December 2009. [Al-Jazeera, 7/26] [End Page 108]\\nJuly 23:\\nA NATO rocket attack on an Afghan village killed up to 52 civilians. Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the incident. Witnesses said that civilians were fired upon by helicopters while they sought cover after being warned of an impending firefight between Taliban militants and NATO troops. [Al-Jazeera, 7/27]\\nJuly 27:\\nThe US Department of Defense launched an investigation into the leak of thousands of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan to whistleblower website WikiLeaks. Officials said that the person who leaked the classified documents appeared to have security clearance and access to sensitive documents. Bradley Manning, an army intelligence analyst, was charged earlier in July over the leak of a classified video to WikiLeaks. [Al-Jazeera, 7/27]\\nAug. 13:\\nBBC News reported that a routine Afghan National Army (ANA) operation conducted by a 300-man battalion turned into a major confrontation when Taliban militants ambushed army personnel in Bad Pakh valley in northeast Afghanistan. Seven Afghan soldiers were killed and 14 were injured. ANA Commanders and NATO leaders said that the ANA, with over 130,000 soldiers, was increasingly able to operate militarily without support from coalition forces. [BBC, 8/13]\\nAug. 15:\\nThe Afghan Ministry of Mines announced that an oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels of oil was discovered in north Afghanistan. An oil ministry spokesman indicated that these reserves and other mineral deposits would be offered up for development in the months that followed. [BBC, 8/16]\\nNATO forces in Afghanistan killed an al-Qa'ida cell leader as he attacked a police post in Kunduz province. He was also a Taliban commander. [Al-Arabiya, 8/16]\\nAug. 24:\\nAfghan and international forces killed about 40 Taliban insurgents and captured eight Taliban leaders east of Kabul as part of an operation to provide security for the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in the region in September 2010. A large amount of explosive ordinances and weapons were destroyed. One International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed in the fighting. [AP, 8/24]\\nAug. 28:\\nTaliban gunmen killed parliamentary candidate Haji Abdul Manan as he walked from his home to a mosque. Also in anticipation of the forthcoming parliamentary election, at least ten campaign workers of Fawzia Gilani, a female candidate in the elections, were kidnapped by armed men three days previously. The motive of the kidnappers was unclear. Both incidents occurred in Herat province. [Al-Jazeera, 8/26, Reuters, 8/29]\\nAug. 29:\\nExposure to poison gas, confirmed as containing toxic but non-fatal levels of organophosphates, hospitalized 45 students and four teachers from the Zabihullah Esmati High School in the Kart-e-Naw area of Kabul. The method of the poison gas' release was unknown. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid reached via phone said \\\"We have not and will never take such action against innocent girls.\\\" A similar attack by unknown assailants was carried out on August 25 at another Kabul high school. [NYT, 8/31]\\nBullet-riddled bodies of five campaign workers of female parliamentary candidate Fawzia Gilani were found in the Adraskan district of Herat. It was unclear who killed them. Five other campaign workers were found unharmed. [Reuters, 8/29]\\nAug. 30:\\nA car bomb killed the district chief of Lal Pur in the eastern province of Nangarhar as he drove into the provincial headquarters for a provincial security meeting with political leaders. Three to five others were wounded in the explosion. [AP, 8/30]\\nSept. 6:\\nThe Taliban assassinated district chief Rahmad Sror Joshan Pool from Baghlan Province along the Kunduz-Baghlan highway in northern Afghanistan. Pool's bodyguard and one militant were also killed and two militants were wounded in the ensuing firefight. [NYT, 9/7] [End Page 109]\\nProminent Afghan journalist and deputy head of Afghanistan's National Journalists' Association Said Hamid Noori was found stabbed to death outside of his home. The motive and responsible party remained unknown. President Hamid Karzai issued a statement ordering authorities to spare no effort in bringing the killers to justice. [AP, 9/6]\\nSept. 9:\\nAt least 20 Islamist militants, including Taliban members and one border guard, were killed in a firefight along the Tajik-Afghan border. The militants were attempting to cross the border into Tajikistan when Tajik border guards engaged them. The firefight lasted nearly 24 hours, during which most of the militant group was killed. [Dawn, 9/11]\\nSept. 12:\\nTwo people died and four others were wounded as Afghans continued to protest the proposed but cancelled burning of Qur'ans by a US pastor. The previous day, more than 10,000 Afghans shouted anti-US slogans, set fire to tires, and blocked a highway in protest against the American church's plan. Smaller protests were held throughout Afghanistan since September 9. [AP, 9/11, 9/12]\\nSept. 13:\\nISAF soldiers were attacked multiple times during a patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand Province and responded with airstrikes, mortars, rockets, and machine gun fire, killing up to 23 insurgents. ISAF stopped firing when they observed women and children entering the compound from which the insurgent gunfire originated. [AP, 9/14]\\nSept. 17:\\nThe Taliban kidnapped 19 government officials on the eve of the Afghan elections, including Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of Parliament) candidate Abdul Rahman Hayat. The Taliban threatened to target polling centers, election workers, and security forces on election day and warned that voters who tried to cast ballots \\\"will get hurt.\\\" Tens of thousands of Afghan security forces were on high alert. [AFP, 9/17]\\nSept. 18:\\nVoting concluded for Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga elections at over 5,000 polling stations. Hundreds of polling stations were closed due to security concerns. Despite the 115,000 Afghan security forces sent to protect the polls, a total of 93 attacks killed at least 21 voters and wounded 45 others around the country. [AFP, Al-Jazeera, 9/18, WP, 9/20]\\nSept. 21:\\nNine American NATO troops were killed and one Afghan national security force member wounded in a helicopter crash in the Zabul province of southern Afghanistan, where ISAF increased pressure on Taliban insurgents. While the Taliban claimed responsibility for the crash, NATO denied that the helicopter reported hostile fire. [FOX, 9/21]\\nA NATO and Afghan army outpost in the Spera district of Khost province in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border was attacked by insurgents. The skirmish killed 25-30 insurgents. No NATO or Afghan troop casualties were reported. [AP, 9/22]\\nSept. 24:\\nMore than 30 insurgents were killed in an ISAF and Afghan air assault in the Laghman province. The assault was conducted by more than 250 ISAF and Afghan police and security forces. [CNN, 9/25]\\nOct. 3:\\nThe Afghan government formally banned eight foreign and domestic private security firms. Among those banned was XE, the company formally known as Blackwater. Weapons and ammunition owned by the companies were also confiscated. President Karzai issued a decree in September to disband all private security firms in the country within four months in order to reduce corruption, security irregularities, and misuse of military weapons which caused tragic incidents throughout the country. [CNN, 10/3]\\nOct. 6:\\nIt was reported that Taliban representatives authorized to speak for the Quetta Shurra and members of the Karzai government were holding secret peace talks. Sources stressed that the talks were only preliminary. A Karzai spokesman did not confirm or deny the government's participation in such discussions. [Reuters, 10/6]\\nOct. 7:\\nA US Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry revealed a number of [End Page 110] problems in US military contracts to private security organizations. The report cited poor training, a lack of oversight by Defense Department contract managers, and evidence that some funds eventually fell into the hands of Afghan warlords. The report also claimed that some contractors even engaged in activities opposed to coalition efforts. [Reuters, 10/7]\\nOct. 8:\\nAt least 20 people were killed and 35 wounded in a bomb explosion at the Shirkat mosque in Takhar province. The attack occurred during Friday prayers. Kunduz province governor Muhammad 'Umar, a Takhar native, was among the dead. He was suspected of being the bomb's target, having survived two previous assassination attempts. [AP, RFE/RL, 10/8]\\nOct. 11:\\nBritish Prime Minister David Cameron revealed that Linda Norgrove, a British hostage and aid worker killed during a US-led rescue operation on October 8, may not have been killed by her captors as previously reported by the British Foreign Office. Cameron, who authorized the rescue, said that US General David Petraeus reported that a review of the incident suggested that Norgrove could have been killed by the troops attempting to save her, specifically from a grenade explosion rather than bombs on a vest worn by one of the kidnappers. [Reuters, 10/11]\\nAlgeria\\nJuly 25:\\nAziz Abdul Naji, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was transferred to his native Algeria on July 18, was indicted and placed under judicial supervision. Naji was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and held in Guantanamo until his release. He fought against his repatriation and said that he feared mistreatment or even death in his homeland. [KT, 7/27]\\nAug. 6:\\nIdir Muhamad, Mayor of Baghlia, was assassinated by Algerian Islamist militants. Baghlia was a town located east of Algiers in a region thought to be a stronghold of al-Qa'ida's North African wing. The mayor belonged to the National Liberation Front party, Algeria's largest political party. [Reuters, 8/7]\\nAug. 28:\\nAlgerian forces killed eight gunmen suspected of belonging to al-Qa'ida during a special operation in the Kabylie region, east of Algiers. The mountainous Kabylie area was considered to be a safe refuge for al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb. Residents in the region alerted authorities after insurgents sought food there. [AP, 8/29]\\nOct. 3:\\nA remote-controlled bombing of a military convoy by Islamist militants killed five soldiers and injured ten others. The soldiers were on a mission targeting insurgents in the volatile Kabylie region. [AP, 10/3]\\nOct. 5:\\nTwo recently converted Christian men on trial in Algeria for eating during daylight hours in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan were acquitted. Algerian law considered it an \\\"offense to the principles of Islam\\\" to eat during the day during Ramadan. Two similar cases in the courts were pending. [AP, Reuters, 10/5]\\nBahrain\\nAug. 13:\\n'Abdul Jalil Al Singace, spokesman for the Haq Movement for Liberties and Democracy, a large Shi'a opposition group, was arrested as he returned to Manama from a London seminar for terrorist acts and inciting violence. Singace, who had been arrested on terrorism charges in 2009, was accused of spreading fabricated information about the government and judicial system in order to stir unrest. [GN, 8/15]\\nAug. 26:\\nPublic prosecutor 'Ali al-Bu'aynayn issued a gag order on all coverage of the alleged terrorist plot against Bahraini national security. Violation of the order in any medium entailed a fine or a jail sentence of up to one year. The only exception included statements from Bu'aynayn himself. [GN, 8/28]\\nSept. 4:\\nOfficials arrested and charged 23 people for conspiring to overthrow the Sunni government in a violent coup. Most of the accused were Shi'a opposition leaders who had been charged with similar offenses in 2009 and subsequently pardoned. The [End Page 111] majority of the more than 160 arrested under anti-terrorism laws since August 2009 were part of the Shi'a majority opposition or human rights groups. [NYT, 9/5]\\nSept. 6:\\nAfter only four months in office, Salman Kamaluddin, head of the National Human Rights Commission in Bahrain, resigned for unknown reasons. During his tenure he had openly disagreed with the government on the role of politics in human rights. [GN, 9/6]\\nSept. 19:\\nBahraini officials stripped Shi'a Ayatollah Husayn Mirza Nijati of his citizenship and reportedly banned Shi'a Shaykh 'Abdul Jalil al-Miqdad from delivering sermons for two weeks. Human rights activists were already preparing for the apparent crackdown on Shi'a opposition leaders, accusing the Sunni government of using torture and intimidation to ensure control in the run-up to the October parliamentary elections. [BBC, 9/20]\\nEgypt\\nJuly 18:\\nPresident Husni Mubarak hosted Palestinian President Mahmud 'Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and US Peace Envoy George Mitchell in Cairo. None of the visitors spoke with each other, but instead had back-to-back appointments with Mubarak to discuss the possibility of future direct talks regarding a two-state solution. [Reuters, 7/18]\\nAn Egyptian court freed National Democratic Party member Hani Surur who had been jailed for selling defective blood bags to state hospitals. The decision voided a November ruling that sentenced Surur to three years in prison. The court also overturned the three-year prison sentences of Surur's sister and two senior health officials, and acquitted three others who had been sentenced to six months in prison for the same crime. [Reuters, 7/18]\\nSixteen Bedouin tribesmen, including Yahya Abu Nasira, an activist who helped to found the opposition party Karama, were freed from jail. The government sought to reduce tension with the Bedouin, who complained of mistreatment and clashed with security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian authorities accused the Bedouin of being involved in weapons and drug smuggling to the Gaza Strip. [Reuters, 7/18]\\nJuly 22:\\nPresident Mubarak addressed Egyptians in a televised speech to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Egypt's July Revolution. He appeared healthy during the speech only days after Information Minister Anas al-Fekki denied a Washington Times report that Western intelligence agencies thought Mubarak to be suffering from terminal stomach and pancreatic cancer. [Reuters, 7/22]\\nAug. 5:\\nIn a television interview, an anonymous Egyptian woman accused two police officers of raping her on a deserted rural road north of Cairo. The police opened an investigation into the incident after it was reported. The interview attracted tens-of-thousands of viewers on YouTube as it was unusual for women in Egypt to make public accusations of rape. [BBC, 8/5]\\nAug. 11:\\nDrought in Russia led to a major wheat shortage in Egypt. Egypt, which imported an estimated 60,000 tons of wheat from Russia each month, had to find another supply as Russia halted its exports. [RFE/RL, 8/11]\\nAug. 12:\\nThe Egyptian government announced a controversial plan to unify the Islamic call to prayer in Cairo. One muezzin's recitation of the call to prayer would be transmitted by radio to thousands of mosques to be played simultaneously in order to avoid discrepancies about prayer times and end overlapping prayer calls. Many muezzins worried about no longer being able to perform the call to prayer. Some religious scholars called the move an undue government interference. [Al-Jazeera, 8/12]\\nAug. 14:\\nFour African migrants were shot dead by smugglers and two more were killed [End Page 112] by Egyptian police near Egypt's border with Israel. Smugglers had been holding about 50 Ethiopians and Eritreans for ransom and shot at them when one migrant seized a gun from a guard to free his fellow captives. Egyptian police shot two migrants when they refused orders to stop as they tried to cross barbed wire at the Israeli border. [Reuters, 8/14]\\nAug. 18:\\nCrowds protested power outages that left many residents without air conditioning during the hot month of Ramadan, blocking a major highway in Fayoum with burning tires. The electricity cuts affected residents from the Nile Delta in the north to Luxor in the south. Residents of Shubra el-Kheima on Cairo's outskirts signed petitions calling for the Minister of Electricity to resign. [AP, 8/18]\\nAug. 23:\\nDeputy Culture Minister Mohsan Shalaan and four security guards from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo were detained on accusations of neglect and professional delinquency after a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen on August 21 in broad daylight. The same painting was stolen in 1978, found in Kuwait two years later, and returned to Egypt. [AP, 8/23]\\nAug. 25:\\nA presidential spokesman announced that Egypt would build its first nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast of el-Dabaa which it hoped would be linked into the national grid by 2019. Head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said that the agency was ready to assist Egypt in its nuclear efforts. Egypt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1981. [AFP, 8/25]\\nSept. 6:\\nOpposition leader Muhammad ElBaradei urged the nation to boycott the November 28 parliamentary election. ElBaradei said that the elections were bound to be rigged and that it was wrong to legitimize the regime by participating in its elections. [AP, 9/6]\\nSept. 11:\\nApproximately 100 tons of oil leaked into the Nile River in the Aswan region after an oil barge began sinking while unloading its cargo. Three Egyptian provinces declared a state of emergency to contain the spill and prevent it from spreading and contaminating water purification facilities. [AP, 9/11]\\nSept. 19:\\nA high-ranking Hamas official, Mohammed Dababish, was arrested at the Cairo International Airport for using falsified travel documents. Dababish was a top official in Hamas' internal security unit overseeing intelligence matters in Gaza. [AP, 9/19]\\nSept. 21:\\nEgyptian police beat and arrested activists demonstrating in downtown Cairo against the possible succession of Gamal Mubarak to the presidency following his father. Close to 300 demonstrators chanted antigovernment slogans, waved flags, and burned pictures of Gamal Mubarak. Police detained more than 30 activists for trying to reach the demonstration and confiscated videotapes from BBC and Al-Jazeera news crews attempting to cover the event. [AP, 9/21]\\nSept. 28:\\nEgyptian real-estate tycoon and former member of the upper house of parliament Hisham Talaat Mustafa was sentenced to 15 years in prison for paying former Egyptian police officer Mohsen al-Sukkari $2 million to murder Lebanese pop singer Suzanne Tamim. Mustafa was originally sentenced to death in May 2009. His retrial began on April 26, 2010. AlSukkari was also retried and had his death sentence reduced to life in prison. [AP, 9/28]\\nOct. 12:\\nEleven Culture Ministry employees were sentenced to three years in prison for gross negligence regarding the Van Gogh painting that was stolen from a Cairo museum on August 23. The painting was worth $55 million. [Reuters, 10/12]\\nNew restrictions were imposed by Egypt's telecommunications regulators on mobile text messages, forcing companies that send out texts en masse to acquire licenses. Only registered political parties were able to apply to use mass text messages for the November 28 parliamentary elections. As a banned political party, the [End Page 113] Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition party, was not allowed to apply for a license, thereby limiting their ability to mobilize voters. [Al-Jazeera, 10/13]\\nOct. 13:\\nEgypt's telecommunications regulators imposed new requirements effectively placing all live broadcasts, including TV talk shows and news bulletins, under the control of state television. The licenses of all private companies that provided live broadcast services in Egypt were canceled, requiring them to obtain new licenses under the regulations. [AP, 10/13]\\nIran\\nSee also Pakistan, Syria\\nJuly 16:\\nTwo suicide bombers killed 27 people when they attacked the Jamia mosque, a Shi'a mosque in the city of Zahedan in southeastern Iran. Jundallah, a Sunni rebel group, claimed that they had carried out the attack as revenge for the hanging of its leader in June. Iran's clerical leadership accused the US of backing Jundallah in order to create unrest, but the US denied these allegations and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the \\\"horrific attacks.\\\" [BBC, 7/16]\\nJuly 24:\\nIran's Oil Ministry released a statement saying that it signed a $1.3 billion deal with Turkey to build a pipeline to ship gas to Turkey. The Turkish government denied that it was part of the deal, but Som Petrol, Turkey's largest energy company, said it had partnered with Iran. Javad Oji, head of the National Iranian Natural Gas Export Company said that the pipeline would export 50-60 million meters of gas each day and would be constructed within three years. [Al-Jazeera, 7/24]\\nJuly 28:\\nPresident Mahmud Ahmadinejad launched a new policy to pay couples that have children. Each newborn child would receive $950 plus $95 each year until they turned 18, which could be spent on education, health, marriage, or housing. Ahmadinejad condemned contraceptives and vasectomies as policies from the \\\"secular world\\\" and not appropriate for Iran. [BBC, 7/28]\\nAug. 4:\\nAhmadinejad was unharmed after an attacker threw a homemade explosive device at his motorcade during a visit to Hamadan. The bomb hit a car carrying journalists and presidential staff. One person was arrested, but Iranian state media denied that an attack had occurred. [Reuters, BBC, 8/4]\\nAug. 16:\\nThe head of Iran's Atomic Organization, 'Ali Akbar Salehi, announced that Iran would continue to expand its uranium enrichment capacity despite international sanctions. He said that Iran had identified ten new locations for enrichment plants and construction would start as early as March 2011. [Reuters, 8/16]\\nAug. 18:\\nIran banned the well-known economic newspaper, Asia, for \\\"publishing pictures against public chastity,\\\" and \\\"promoting wastefulness and extravagance.\\\" Ahmad Alavi, an Iranian lecturer at Stockholm University, stated that Asia was likely shut down because it published information about the poor economic state of Iran and the inefficiency of the government. [RFE/RL, 8/19]\\nAug. 21:\\nRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Iranian Basij members were being trained to control the virtual world as Iranian officials became increasingly concerned about the dangers of the Internet. Officials saw the internet as a dangerous breeding ground for the \\\"soft war\\\" that they believed the enemy (US, Israel, etc.) was waging against Iran. The government had launched pro-government sites and banned opposition networks and sites. [RFE/RL, 8/21]\\nAug. 22:\\nPresident Ahmadinejad appointed four special envoys for foreign affairs. They were seen by some as direct challenges to Ayatollah Khamenei. The Supreme Leader usually approved appointment decisions relating to foreign policy, but experts believed that Ahmadinejad was trying to exert greater control over Iranian foreign policy. [RFE/RL, 9/8]\\nAug. 26:\\nThe Iranian government announced new restrictions on the number of students admitted to humanities programs in the [End Page 114] country's universities. In 2009, Ayatollah Khamenei commented that humanities promoted doubt in religious beliefs and principles and that it was worrisome that about two-thirds of university students were seeking humanities degrees in Iran. University professors had also been replaced with those more committed to the Supreme Leader and the Islamic ideology. [RFE/RL, 8/26]\\nSept. 14:\\nSarah Shourd, one of three American hikers accused by Iran of spying, was freed. Shourd was reportedly granted bail for health reasons, specifically a possible breast cancer diagnosis. Iran posted Shourd's bail at $500,000, a sum that the US government denied paying. It was unknown who posted Shourd's bail; US officials stated that Swiss or Omani officials may have been involved. [RFE/RL, 9/14]\\nSept. 11:\\nIranian diplomat Hossein Alizadeh resigned to join the opposition Green Movement. He criticized the Ahmadinejad administration for \\\"damaging Iran's prestige and honor.\\\" Prior to his defection, Alizadeh was second in command at Iran's embassy in Finland. Alizadeh was the third diplomat in Europe to step down and join the opposition in 2010. [RFE/RL, 9/14]\\nSept. 16:\\nMir Hossein Moussavi's office was raided by security forces who seized the office's computers and possibly confiscated other property. Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was also targeted in September. Security forces were building a case against both men, but no details were provided about the charges. [NYT, 9/16]\\nSix people were kidnapped in Sistan-Baluchistan province. Five of them were soldiers but officials insisted that none were high-ranking military officials. In Shi'ite dominant Iran, Sistan-Baluchistan had been the hotspot for the Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundullah. While Iran insisted that Jundullah had ties to al-Qa'ida, Jundullah denied any association with the group. [Reuters, 9/18]\\nSept. 17:\\nAfter the September 16 raid on Moussavi's office, Iranian security forces surrounded his office, effectively shutting it down. Correspondents in Iran stated that the crackdown was part of growing pressure on the opposition as opposition leaders continued to maintain that Ahmadinejad's re-election was fraudulent. [BBC, 9/17]\\nSept. 18:\\nSix hostages seized in the Sistan-Baluchistan province were freed by Iranian police after two days of fighting. Police worked with forces from the Quds Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to seal off the area and ambush the militants. Fars News Agency reported that one hostage and one gunman were killed, while two hostages were wounded. Fars also reported that the Sunni militant group Jundullah claimed responsibility on their website, but other sources rejected that claim. [CNN, 9/18]\\nShiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights activist and founder of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters in Tehran, was sentenced to six years in prison on antigovernment activity charges. Ahari was arrested in December 2009 on her way to the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein 'Ali Montazeri. Convicted of plotting against the state, among other charges, Ahari was to pay a fine of $400 in addition to her six-year term as an alternative to receiving 74 lashes as punishment. [RFE/RL, 9/18]\\nSept. 20:\\nCulture Minister Mohammad Hosseini announced the creation of a five-person board that would approve content of all books prior to publication in Iran. Members would be appointed by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Since President Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, censorship in Iran had intensified. [RFE/RL, 9/22]\\nSept. 22:\\nA bomb exploded during a military parade in Mahabad in northwestern Iran, killing 12 people and wounding at least 35 others. A provincial governor blamed \\\"counter-revolutionary groups\\\" for the bombing, which took place on the 30th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war. No group claimed responsibility for the [End Page 115] attack but militants had long been active in the area, which was home to a large Kurdish population. [BBC, 9/22]\\nSept. 25:\\nIran's Atomic Energy Organization reported that its engineers were trying to protect various facilities from a sophisticated computer worm. The worm, named Stuxnet, had infected industrial plants across the country. It was unclear if the worm had infected any of Iran's nuclear facilities, including Natanz which was the target of covert American and Israeli programs. Stuxnet's origins were unclear. [NYT, 9/25]\\nIn a rare admission, IRGC forces crossed into Iraq and killed 30 Kurdish fighters from a group it said was involved in the September 22 bombing of a military parade in Mahabad. General Abdolrasoul Mahmoudabadi of the IRGC admitted to a \\\"beyond the border\\\" clash in which \\\"terrorists\\\" were killed. IRGC forces were still in pursuit of two men who escaped. Iraqi officials previously complained about Iranian artillery shelling in Iraq's northern mountainous region where Kurdish armed opposition groups had taken refuge. [BBC, 9/26, AA, 9/27]\\nSept. 28:\\nA prominent Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after being convicted for anti-state activities such as cooperation with hostile countries, spreading propaganda against the ruling government, promoting counterrevolutionary groups, and insulting religious figures and Islamic thoughts. Derakhshan, dubbed Iran's \\\"Blogfather\\\" had been in custody since he was arrested in 2008 after returning to Iran after living in Britain and Canada. [RFE/RL, 9/28]\\nOct. 4:\\nAn Iranian opposition website, daneshjoonews.com, published the names of over 73 students jailed in Iranian prisons and stated that this number was the highest it had been in decades. Amir Rashidi, an opposition student leader in Iran, said that the regime had stopped trying to control students and instead was using military tactics to stop collective student political activity. [RFE/RL, 10/4]\\nOct. 9:\\nIranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi acknowledged that personnel at some of the country's nuclear facilities had been promised money by Western states in return for passing along Iranian secrets. The Islamic Republic insisted that increased security had stopped Western spying, making clear Iran's struggle with nuclear espionage. [NYT, 10/9]\\nOct. 13:\\nEighteen IRGC members were killed and 14 were wounded in a remote area of southwestern Iran in an explosion on a base near the city of Khorramabad. The IRGC reported that the blast occurred when fire spread to an ammunition storeroom. The city was close to Iran's Kurdistan region, where several attacks on the IRGC had taken place in recent months. [NYT, 10/13]\\nIraq\\nSee also Iran\\nJuly 16:\\nA hotel fire in northern Iraq killed 30 people, including 14 foreigners, and injured 40. There was no evidence that the incident was terror-related. [BBC, 7/16]\\nJuly 18:\\nA suicide bomber killed 43 people and wounded 41 at an army office west of Baghdad where anti-al-Qa'ida fighters had gathered to receive their paychecks. The bomber struck a group of Sahwa militiamen, Sunni fighters who, until 2006, sided with al-Qa'ida in Iraq. In the past six months, many Sahwa fighters and family members were killed in revenge attacks. [Al-Arabiya, 7/18]\\nJuly 25:\\nIraqi authorities arrested three senior Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leaders, including two brothers suspected of masterminding major offensives in Diyala in central Iraq. Authorities also arrested Saleem Khalid al-Zawbayi, the Minister of Defense for ISI, a Sunni Islamist insurgent group affiliated with Al-Qa'ida in Iraq. [Al-Arabiya, 7/25]\\nJuly 26:\\nTwo car bombs exploded on the road between Karbala and Najaf, killing 20 mostly Shi'ite pilgrims and injuring 54 others. A separate bombing killed four and injured ten outside the offices of Al-Arabiya. [Al-Arabiya, 7/26] [End Page 116]\\nJuly 29:\\nAl-Qa'ida in Iraq claimed responsibility for a July 26 suicide bombing at the Baghdad office of satellite news network Al-Arabiya. Al-Qa'ida warned of further strikes on media targets. [Reuters, 7/29]\\nAug. 12:\\nIraq's top army officer Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari criticized the US plan to remove US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 and argued that the Iraqi Army would not be able to secure the country until 2020. Violence in Iraq had fallen from its peak in 2006-2007, but civilian deaths rose sharply in July 2010. The White House said US President Barack Obama was satisfied with the progress made by Iraqi security forces. [BBC, 8/12]\\nAug. 17:\\nA suicide bomber killed 59 people and injured more than 100 at an army recruitment center in Baghdad. The recruitment center took in on average 250 recruits each week as Iraqi authorities tried to boost their armed forces. [BBC, 8/17]\\nAug. 19:\\nThe last US combat brigade in Iraq left the country seven years after the US-led invasion. About 50,000 US troops would remain in Iraq until the end of 2011 to support Iraqi security forces and protect US interests. The US State Department said its presence in Iraq would be less intrusive and more focused on civilian matters. [BBC, 8/19]\\nThe new US Ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, arrived in Baghdad. Jeffrey, a veteran diplomat with experience in Iraq, Kuwait, and Turkey, replaced outgoing Ambassador Christopher Hill. [KT, 8/19]\\nAug. 25:\\nMore than a dozen apparently coordinated attacks against Iraqi police and civilians killed 52 people and injured around 250. Ten Iraqi cities and towns were affected, including Kut, where a car bomb detonated at a passport office killing 20 people, including 15 police officers. [MEO, 8/25]\\nSept. 2:\\nIraq signed an agreement with the US to settle abuse claims and pay out $400 million to Americans detained, tortured, starved, used as human shields, and otherwise mistreated under Saddam Husayn's regime during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. The agreement was also a step forward in removing UN sanctions imposed on Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait. [Reuters, 9/11]\\nSept. 12:\\nAn Amnesty International (AI) report claimed that 30,000 people were being held in Iraqi prisons. The report also said that AI had evidence that some prisoners were tortured, abused, or died in custody. Many were allegedly held without being charged or put on trial. [AFP, 9/13]\\nSept. 19:\\nMultiple attacks occurred throughout Iraq, including two large car bomb explosions in Baghdad and one in Fallujah. Three mortar rounds that landed in the fortified Green Zone left at least 36 dead and over 128 wounded. Sticky bombs killed two in a minibus and an officer from the Interior Ministry in his car. [CNN, 9/19]\\nSept. 28:\\nIraq's cabinet approved a $733 million deal to build a new oil export terminal in Basra. Leighton Offshore Private Ltd. was awarded the deal. The floating terminal was expected to increase Iraq's oil export capacity to 3 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 1.6 million bpd. [Dow Jones, 9/28]\\nOct. 1:\\nIraqi politicians broke the record for time taken to form a new government. The previous record was held by the Dutch, who took 208 days to create a coalition in 1977. [CNN, 10/1]\\nAccording to official government figures, the death toll from violence in September was the lowest since January 2010. These records showed that 273 people, including civilians, police, and military, were casualties of violence. [AFP, 10/1]\\nOct. 4:\\nThe US Department of Commerce made its first trade mission to Iraq since the US pull-out of combat troops in August 2010. Fifteen companies participated, including General Motors and Boeing Corp. Only one, Wamar Engineering, was an energy company. A Commerce Department official said that jobs would be created for both Americans and Iraqis. [CNN, 9/30] [End Page 117]\\nIraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani announced that Iraq's extractable oil reserves rose 24% to 143.1 billion barrels. This increase was largely due to oil field development by international companies. If accurate, this would mean that Iraq had larger reserves than Iran. [BBC, 10/4]\\nOct. 10:\\nCiting a lack of evidence, a Baghdad court acquitted two Iraqis of the 2003 murders of six British Royal Military Police soldiers in Iraq. The six were killed in the southern city of Majar al-Kabir by a mob. Six others were taken into custody in February 2010 but the charges against them were dropped. [BBC, 10/10]\\nIsrael\\nJuly 21:\\nSix Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were killed when a CH-53 helicopter crashed in central Romania during a joint military exercise. After identification, the remains were returned to Jerusalem. Israeli authorities announced there would be no changes to IDF training exercises in the region. [CNN, 7/27, Jerusalem Post, 7/29]\\nAug. 17:\\nA Palestinian man later identified as Nadim Injaz barricaded himself in the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv with two hostages, demanding asylum and claiming to have been persecuted by Israeli intelligence agents. He was successfully apprehended after he released the hostages unharmed. In 2006, he carried out a similar attack on the British Embassy in Tel Aviv. [The Guardian, BBC, 8/17]\\nAug. 24:\\nFailed Grade, a report issued by Israeli rights group the Association of Civil Rights in Israel and Ir Amin, found that the government was not providing enough funding for public education in East Jerusalem. Palestinian schools suffered low academic performance and higher drop-out rates, 50% compared to the 11.8% for Jewish schools, which was linked to poor conditions and lack of spending for Arab schools. The report estimated that, on average, the Israeli government was spending about four times more per student in Jewish schools than in Arab schools. [The Guardian, 8/24]\\nSept. 5:\\nThe Education Ministry transferred most of the funding for high school civics classes to support courses in Jewish studies. Civics, the only subject in Israeli high schools to cover highly sensitive issues such as equality, personal rights, and the Arab and Druze minorities, would be dropped from several curricula. Increased focus on Jewish studies was one of Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar's stated goals. [Haaretz, 9/5]\\nSept. 6:\\nIn a study conducted by Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, 64% of 500 Israeli high school students polled said that Arab Israelis did not have equal rights. 96% wished Israel to be a Jewish democratic state, and 41% supported stripping citizenship from those who objected to this principle. The poll also revealed bias against gay and special-needs students. [Haaretz, 9/6]\\nOct. 1:\\nIn remembrance of the October 2000 killing of 12 Arab Israelis, protesters gathered in Kafr Kanna in Galilee. About 200 protesters, including Knesset members, Arab Israeli politicians, and families of the victims, waved Palestinian flags and hurled stones at Israeli vehicles. Protesters called for the prosecution of the police and security forces responsible for the killings and deplored what they called the growing racism of the Israeli state over the previous decade. [YNET, 10/1]\\nOct. 3:\\nAn Israeli military court convicted two Israeli soldiers of reckless endangerment and conduct unbecoming for using a nine-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield while checking for booby traps in Gaza in January 2009. The boy was unharmed in the incident. This was reportedly the first such conviction. The use of civilians as human shields was banned in Israel. [BBC, 10/3]\\nOct. 10:\\nThe Israeli government approved an amendment to the Citizenship Act requiring all new citizens to pledge allegiance to the \\\"Jewish and democratic state\\\" of Israel. Labor Chairman Ehud Barak withdrew support for the bill at the last minute, saying he feared that the new legislation would be used as a \\\"racist tool.\\\" [YNET, 10/10] [End Page 118]\\nOct. 11:\\nThe Spanish and French Prime Ministers accused Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of violating diplomatic etiquette by revealing the events of a meeting between the three an hour after its end. Netanyahu adopted a hostile and defensive tone during the meeting, telling the two leaders to solve the problems of their home countries before offering advice to Israel. [GN, 10/11]\\nOct. 15:\\nA study conducted by the Dahaf polling agency showed that 69% of Israeli Jews supported the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act, while 36% supported revoking non-Jewish citizens' right to vote. 80% said that they supported democratic values absolutely. [YNET, 10/15]\\nThousands of Druze protesters marched on Berekhat Ram, or Ram Pool, in the Golan Heights. The pool, which had once measured 3,280 feet across, had almost completely disappeared due to Israeli draining for irrigation, handicapping Golani farmers and fishermen. Merokot, Israel's national water authority, said that it had always cooperated with the Water Authority regulations in its handling of Ram Pool. [YNET, 10/15]\\nJordan\\nSept. 10:\\nJordan and Japan signed a nuclear cooperation deal, providing for cooperation on the exploration and exploitation of Jordan's uranium resources, as well as the design, construction, and operation of a reactor. A French and Japanese consortium was also bidding for the right to build Jordan's nuclear power plant, an effort which some thought was boosted by the cooperation agreement. [JP, 9/10]\\nKuwait\\nAug. 23:\\nAl-Bawaba News reported that in February 2010, the Kuwaiti Parliament approved an ambitious four-year development plan in order to counteract slowed economic growth in recent years. The plan's many projects would support various sectors of the economy as Kuwait tried to reduce dependence on oil. It also touted the importance of the private sector in leading economic growth. Discussions were taking place on how to finance the plan. [Al-Bawaba, 8/23]\\nLebanon\\nSee also Iran, Syria\\nJuly 27:\\nLebanese newspapers reported the fourth in a series of arrests on charges of slandering President Michel Sulayman. Lebanese journalists and representatives of Human Rights Watch called the move a step backward and a troublesome attack on freedom of expression in Lebanon. [DS, 7/28, LAT, 7/29]\\nAug. 2:\\nThe US House Committee on Foreign Affairs put a hold on $100 million of military aid to the Lebanese Army, citing what Chairman Howard Berman called the increasing influence of Hizbullah. The State Department expressed its support for the aid continuation. The US had already given more than $700 million of assistance to the Lebanese Army over the previous five years. [YNET, 8/10, Al-Jazeera, 8/12, WP, 8/13]\\nAug. 15:\\nAfter a three-year search, the Lebanese Army found and killed 'Abdul Rahman Awwad, the suspected head of Fatah al-Islam, a terrorist group which was suspected to have ties to al-Qa'ida and had fought against the Lebanese Army at the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp in 2007. Awwad was also accused of inciting rebels to violence in the 2008 attacks in Tripoli, which resulted in 21 deaths. [Al-Jazeera, 8/15]\\nAug. 17:\\nThe UN tribunal investigating former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's assassination asked Hizbullah to submit all relevant evidence. The request followed a series of press conferences in which Hasan Nasrallah had revealed surveillance footage and unidentified documents that he called irrefutable proof of Israel's guilt. Most analysts agreed that the materials were inconclusive. [LAT, 8/9, Al-Jazeera, 8/11, MEO, 8/17] [End Page 119]\\nThe Lebanese Parliament passed into law a bill affording Palestinian refugees greater workers' rights, including access to new professions and social security benefits. Designating Palestinians as foreign workers, the law still barred refugees from more esteemed professions, such as law and engineering, and did nothing to provide other rights such as property ownership, public education, and health insurance benefits. There were an estimated 425,000 registered Palestinians living in 12 refugee camps across Lebanon. [Al-Jazeera, NYT, 8/17]\\nSept. 6:\\nIn an interview published in the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Hariri called his 2005 accusation that Syria was responsible for the death of his father, Rafiq Hariri, \\\"a mistake.\\\" The shift marked a step in the ongoing rapprochement between Syria and Lebanon. [The Guardian, 9/6, 9/14]\\nSept. 17:\\nLebanese Prime Minister Hariri visited Damascus for the third time since assuming the premiership. He and President Bashar al-Asad signed 17 cooperation accords dealing with justice, tourism, education, and agriculture. Hariri told a press conference that the two countries had formed a \\\"friendly relationship\\\" over the course of the recent meetings. [MEO, 9/17]\\nSept. 25:\\nThree civilian were injured in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and police at the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut. Two hundred people demonstrated against Egypt's proposed construction of a subterranean metal wall along the Gaza-Egypt border. [Haaretz, 10/1]\\nOct. 6:\\nUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the probe into the Hariri assassination would continue despite the potential for an outbreak of violence. Many expected that the anticipated accusation against Hizbullah would throw the country into dangerous instability. [Al-Jazeera, 10/7]\\nLibya\\nAug. 31:\\nLibya released 37 Islamists from Tripoli's Abu Salim prison after completing a rehabilitation program aimed at causing them to renounce violence and integrate back into Libyan society. The released included a former driver of Usama bin Ladin, at least one former Guantanamo Bay detainee, and several members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which had been accused of aiming to overthrow Colonel Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. [AFP, 8/31]\\nSept. 12:\\nLibya apologized for an incident in which a naval patrol boat, originally one of six vessels given to Libya by Italy, fired upon an Italian fishing boat approximately 30 miles from Libya's coast. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gave the vessels to Libya to curb the number of illegal immigrants traveling by boat to the Sicilian islands. [Reuters, 9/14]\\nSept. 23:\\nA Canadian, Douglas Oriali, who was detained by Libyan authorities for approximately one week under suspicion of working for US intelligence in order to sabotage an oil drilling project off the coast of Libya, was allowed to return to Canada. Suspicions were aroused after \\\"contacts with a US diplomat suspected of being an intelligence agent,\\\" according to a Libyan official. [AFP, 9/20, 9/23]\\nOct. 3:\\nLibya released two South Koreans who had been detained for several months on accusations of proselytizing. The pastor was arrested when he was found with Christian books and other materials for missionary work and the businessman a month later because of his financial support of the pastor's efforts. Negotiations over their release took place amid tense relations between the two countries regarding allegations that surfaced in June 2010 that a South Korean diplomat was collecting information on the President and other senior staff. [AP, 10/3]\\nMauritania\\nJuly 18:\\nRetired general Muhammad Ould 'Abd al-'Aziz won 52% of the vote in the presidential election. The election was supposed to restore democratic order after al-'Aziz [End Page 120] seized power in a military coup in 2009. Opponents called the election fraudulent and asked for an international investigation. Al-'Aziz denied these allegations and promised to use his power to fight terrorism and poverty in the country. [AP, 9/19]\\nJuly 23:\\nThe French Ministry of Defense disclosed that it had given technical and logistical support to Mauritania in attacks against al-Qa'ida, which had been holding French citizen Michel Germaneau hostage since April 2010. The Ministry said that the raid had effectively subdued the terrorist group and prevented attacks on Mauritanian targets, but Spanish media sources reported that the raid had actually been a failed attempt to rescue Germaneau. [BBC, 7/23]\\nSept. 19:\\nA dozen al-Qa'ida militants and five Mauritanian soldiers died in a border clash between Mali and Mauritania in Raz-el-Ma. Mali and Mauritania had an agreement that Mauritania would patrol the border region, home to al-Qa'ida forces. France said that none of its troops had been involved and that the kidnapping of several foreigners in Niger earlier that week had no connection with the fighting. [BBC, 9/19]\\nMorocco\\nJuly 29:\\nThe Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy announced that it would accept bids from investors willing to fund a $9 billion solar power project. The proposed power complex would be near the southern town of Ouarzazate and would have a capacity of 500 megawatts - enough to power about 90,000 homes. The project would be part of a plan to build five solar power stations by 2020. [Reuters, 7/29]\\nAug. 11:\\nThe Interior Ministry released a statement saying that Moroccan security forces broke up an Islamist cell that was planning attacks in Morocco, including on foreign targets. They did not specify which foreign countries' interests were threatened by the cell. [Reuters, 8/11]\\nAug. 17:\\nMorocco's state power company, l'Office National de l'Electricité, announced that Nareva, the energy arm of the country's biggest conglomerate, would lead construction of a 200 megawatt wind farm outside the southern town of Tarfaya as part of a plan to reduce reliance on imported fuel and build five wind farms in Morocco by 2020. Industry sources stated that the wind farm would cost around 2.7 billion dirhams ($313.3 million) and would be funded by state and private capital, including foreign investments. [Reuters, 8/17]\\nOct. 8:\\nMoroccan authorities arrested three Sahwari activists after their visit to Algerian refugee camps. The Sahwari government in Western Sahara was run by the Polisaro Front which publicly expressed their support for the self-determination of Western Sahara. Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975 and had refused to grant its independence since, despite the UN mission in the region. Human rights groups called for the release of the Polisario activists who were charged with \\\"undermining internal security.\\\" [UPI, 10/14]\\nOman\\nJuly 17:\\nFive Gulf countries, including Oman, launched a cooperative turtle-tracking study and conservation effort. Turtles, threatened worldwide, were endangered most acutely in the Gulf region due to massive construction on their beach habitats. Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar also participated. [Al-Jazeera, 7/17, GN, 7/26]\\nJuly 28:\\nA Japanese tanker carrying crude oil was damaged in the Strait of Hormuz off the Omani coast. Though the damage was originally attributed to a freak wave, UAE officials later found evidence of explosives on the ship and concluded that the incident had been a terrorist attack. An al-Qa'ida-linked group claimed responsibility for the incident. [The Guardian, 7/28, BBC, 8/6]\\nA Royal Decree announced harsher penalties, including possible imprisonment, for foreign workers living in the country [End Page 121] illegally and for citizens who allowed them to do so. The deadline to regularize residency and employment or leave the country with immunity had been extended twice through July 31, after which the new laws were to come into effect. The Manpower Ministry estimated that 40,000 workers had shown a willingness to leave under amnesty, but refused to grant any more extensions. [GN, 7/28]\\nPakistan\\nSee also Afghanistan\\nJuly 17:\\nMilitants ambushed a convoy escorted by security forces, killing 16 Shi'ite civilians. The convoy was attacked on its way from the Kurram tribal district to Peshawar. [BBC, 7/17]\\nJuly 24:\\nMissiles fired from a US drone aircraft struck a compound used by militants in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 16 militants. The compound was located in Dwasarak village in South Waziristan, a hideout for al-Qa'ida and Taliban militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan. [BBC, 7/24]\\nJuly 26:\\nPakistan strongly denied claims recently disclosed in leaked US documents that its intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), supported the Taliban in the war in Afghanistan. WikiLeaks, a whistle-blower website, leaked more than 90,000 classified US military documents, revealing NATO concerns that Pakistan and Iran were helping the Taliban. [BBC, 7/26]\\nJuly 28:\\nA commercial airliner crashed near Islamabad on its way from Karachi to the Pakistani capital, killing all 152 people on board. The cause of the crash, the largest air disaster in Pakistani history, was unknown. [BBC, 7/28]\\nJuly 30:\\nThe worst monsoon floods since 1929 hit northwest Pakistan, killing 800 and affecting one million. The government declared a state of emergency after Pakistan's meteorological department announced that 12 inches of rain had fallen over the previous 36 hours in the northwest region. Charsadda, Nowshera, and Swat were the worst affected regions; thousands were marooned in flooded villages and required immediate evacuation. [Dawn, BBC, 7/31]\\nAug. 6:\\nThe National Disaster Management Authority announced that 12 million people had been affected by floods in Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab provinces where 650,000 houses were destroyed. Along a 750-mile stretch of the Indus River in Sindh province, the Pakistani government evacuated one million people and planned to evacuate another 500,000. [BBC, 8/6]\\nAug. 19:\\nThe UN said that the number of Pakistanis in need of urgent humanitarian relief rose from six million to eight million, and that the number of people made homeless by devastating floods that started July 30 rose from two million to over four million. Aid agencies were pushing for more money from donors for food, shelter, and supplies for disease prevention and treatment. [Dawn, 8/19]\\nAug. 20:\\nThe UN's Financial Tracking Service showed that $490 million had been raised in response to the UN's appeal for aid for flood-hit Pakistan. In this appeal, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon characterized the floods as a \\\"slow-motion tsunami.\\\" The largest donations came from the US, Saudi Arabia, and Great Britain. An additional $325 million was promised. [Dawn, 8/21]\\nAug. 24:\\nThe UN released estimates suggesting that roughly 800,000 people were almost completely cut off due to massive and widespread flooding. These people could only be reached by air support, prompting the UN to request 40 additional helicopters for rescue and aid operations. [Dawn, 8/24]\\nSept. 1:\\nAt least 25 people were killed in Lahore when three suicide bombers attacked a procession of Shi'ite Muslim worshipers. Over 200 people were wounded in the attack. As rescue workers reached the scene, demonstrations had broken out to protest against the Taliban, whom many demonstrators blamed for the attack, and also the police, who [End Page 122] were blamed for failing to prevent the suicide bombing. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. [NYT, 9/1]\\nSept. 3:\\nA suicide bomber killed at least 53 people and injured 197 at a Shi'a rally in Quetta. Chaos followed as fires were set and gunfire continued. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The rally was organized to mark international Al-Quds Day. [Dawn, 9/3]\\nSept. 16:\\nWell-known leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Dr. Imran Farooq was killed in London near his home. The assassination sparked tension in Karachi, as a shop and two buses were set ablaze. Schools, public transportation, and other services were shut down in an effort to prevent political violence as news of Farooq's death spread. [Dawn, 9/17]\\nSept. 21:\\nArmy, paramilitary, and police forces killed at least 30 militants in northwest Pakistan. The campaign targeted militants that attacked local peace committee officials and were involved in \\\"kidnap-for-ransom\\\" operations. Three police officers were also killed. [Dawn, 9/21]\\nSept. 23:\\nProtests arose in Karachi after a US judge sentenced Pakistani Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years in prison. Siddiqui was convicted of trying to kill US agents and military officers in Afghanistan in 2008. In court, Siddiqui urged her supporters to remain calm and tried to convince them that she was not being tortured in New York where she was being held. [Dawn, 9/24]\\nSept. 27:\\nThe US Central Intelligence Agency increased its bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan in an effort to cripple the Taliban. The US had increased attacks using armed drone aircraft to strike at the Taliban as the US believed that Pakistan's government was not aggressive enough in dislodging Taliban militants from bases in the Western mountains. Despite protests from the Pakistani government about drone and helicopter attacks, the campaign had increased under the US President Barack Obama's administration. [NYT, 9/27]\\nPakistan took over as the chair of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Pakistan was suspected of playing a role in continued nuclear proliferation and was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Pakistan assumed this post after being nominated by a group of Middle Eastern and South Asian member states. [RFE/RL, 9/27]\\nSept. 30:\\nPakistani officials reported that a NATO helicopter strike killed three Pakistani soldiers at a border post following a series of similar cross-border actions. NATO denied that it crossed into Pakistani airspace. [Reuters, 9/30]\\nOct. 1:\\nFormer Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his return to politics with the launch of a new political party. Musharraf stated that his decision to join politics was based on his realization that Pakistan's political alternatives showed no signs of being able to improve the country's problems. Part of Musharraf's platform for his political party was to promote an increased role for the Pakistani military in the government. Musharraf was in self-exile in London but stated that he planned to return to Pakistan before the next election. [RFE/RL, 10/1]\\nOct. 6:\\nFor the first time, the US apologized to Pakistan for the September 30 incident that killed three Pakistani border soldiers, leading to the closure of the nearby border crossing. NATO claimed that the strike was in response to an enemy attack. The apology came amidst attacks at the Pakistani border on more than 50 oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were in response to the September 30 incident. [NYT, 10/6, Dawn, 10/7]\\nOct. 7:\\nTwo suicide bombers attacked the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 60. The Sufi shrine to the 8th century saint was very close to one of President Asif 'Ali Zardari's residences. The [End Page 123] attack prompted the government to take the unprecedented action of sealing all of the city's shrines. [Dawn, RFE/RL, 10/8]\\nOct. 9:\\nPresident Zardari appointed retired Justice Deedar Hussain as Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau. Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffery challenged the appointment in the Lahore High Court, citing that the opposition was not properly consulted. Critics complained that he was too closely affiliated with the President's Pakistan People's Party. [Dawn, 10/9]\\nOct. 10:\\nPakistan reopened the border crossing that was closed in response to a deadly NATO cross-border strike on September 30. Crews began clearing hundreds of NATO oil tankers that had been destroyed as they waited to cross. Militants vowed to continue tanker attacks until the US ended drone strikes in Pakistan's border regions. [RFE/RL, 10/10]\\nOct. 12:\\nThe World Economic Forum's 2010 Global Gender Gap Report, which measured the status of women, ranked Pakistan 132nd on a list of 134 countries. The Report measured economic opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival. Iran was also ranked toward the bottom of the list at 123rd. [RFE/RL, 10/12]\\nOct. 13:\\nNew reports from the Asian Development Bank and The World Bank estimated recent flood damage to total between $9.5 and $9.7 billion. This included damage to infrastructure, farms, and homes. The floods were thought to have affected 20 million people, including leaving ten million people homeless. [Reuters, RFE/RL, 10/13]\\nQatar\\nJuly 18:\\nThe Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs launched an online registration program for Muslims planning to perform the Hajj. Applicants submitting requests were required to be based in Qatar for at least three years and must not have performed the Hajj in the past five years. Chip cards would be given to pilgrims as part of a new tracking system. Registration would end on September 8. [GN, 7/18]\\nOct. 3:\\nOfficials from the Coasts and Borders Security Department (CBSD) stated that Qatari authorities were investigating six pirates after they were caught in Qatari waters. Authorities also seized two boats that were used to attack Qatari fishing vessels. CBSD had recently foiled numerous attempts by pirates to infiltrate Qatari waters. [GN, 10/3]\\nSaudi Arabia\\nJuly 24:\\nShaykh Aed al-Qarni declared that Muslim women visiting France, where the niqab was recently banned, would be exempt from wearing the veil during their stay in the country. Despite this expression of tolerance, al-Qarni criticized the French government for its decision, claiming that the ban violated the freedom of religion guaranteed by secular states. [MEO, 7/25]\\nSept. 27:\\nInterior Minister Prince Naif bin 'Abd al-'Aziz announced that the Kingdom's security forces prevented nearly 240 planned terrorist attacks in recent years. Only ten terror attacks were actually carried out by extremists. [Al-Bawaba, 9/27]\\nSept. 28:\\nApproximately 200 deportees escaped from a Jidda prison. Most of them were from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen. [GN, 9/29]\\nSudan\\nJuly 21:\\nThe Sudanese rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) signed an agreement to allow UN officials to check its bases to determine whether children were being recruited as soldiers. JEM leaders maintained that they had no child soldiers but agreed to the deal as a sign of goodwill. An estimated 6,000 children had been involved in fighting in Darfur. [BBC, 7/21]\\nJuly 22:\\nThe government of Chad refused to arrest Sudanese President 'Umar al-Bashir when he visited Chad to improve relations. [End Page 124] Chad recognized the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on counts of war crimes and genocide, but claimed its own sovereignty overruled the injunctions of international organizations like the ICC. Al-Bashir's visit to Chad marked the first time that he visited an ICC state since 2009 when he was first indicted. [BBC, 7/22]\\nJuly 29:\\nPresident al-Bashir said the upcoming referendum that would decide whether South Sudan would secede could not take place until border disputes were resolved. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which controlled the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan, insisted that the referendum be held on time. The SPLM fought the mainly Muslim and Arabic-speaking north for 20 years before a 2005 peace deal. [BBC, 7/29]\\nJuly 31:\\nA spokesman for the Sudanese government said that the UN and African Union had failed to keep the peace in western Sudan and were now responsible for informing the government of their movements on roads in rural and urban areas. The local authorities in south Darfur also asked members of the African Union/ UN peacekeeping venture (UNAMID) to coordinate their movements with Sudanese security forces. The UN Security Council extended its mandate in war-torn Darfur for a year on July 30. [BBC, 7/31]\\nAug. 2:\\nTalks between officials from North and South Sudan stalled over a referendum in the disputed Abyei region. The referendum, which would occur alongside the January vote that would decide whether South Sudan would declare independence, would decide whether the oil-producing Abyei region would belong to the North or South. The northern National Congress Party and the southern SPLM could not agree who was eligible to vote. [Al-Jazeera, 8/2]\\nAug. 6:\\nSouthern Sudanese authorities asked musicians and songwriters to compose a national anthem. The South Sudan National Anthem Committee said that the anthem contest did not mean it supported separation from the north. A spokesman for former rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said that the title of the song would be \\\"Land of Cush,\\\" a biblical reference to a kingdom in modern-day southern Sudan. [BBC, 8/6]\\nA South Sudanese army spokesman said that South Sudan had collected 30,000 guns from civilians since the end of the civil war in 2005. South Sudan was still recovering from decades of civil war with the north. The UN estimated that more than 700 people were killed in tribal violence in South Sudan since January 2010. [MEO, 8/6]\\nAug. 11:\\nGunmen killed 23 people in an ambush in Unity, an important oil-producing state in South Sudan. There was strong suspicion that the attackers could be followers of militia leader Galwak Gai, a rogue colonel who launched a rebellion after alleging fraud in national elections in April 2010. [MEO, 8/11]\\nAug. 24:\\nSouth Sudan made plans to repatriate 1.5 million southerners living in North Sudan and in Egypt. The emergency repatriation program proposed a budget of $25 million and used the slogan \\\"Come Home to Choose.\\\" Under referendum laws, southerners living in the north or abroad could vote only if they were officially registered after proving their southern origins. [MEO, 8/24]\\nAug. 27:\\nDespite arrest warrants issued by the ICC for genocide and war crimes and crimes against humanity, President al-Bashir of Sudan traveled to Kenya. Al-Bashir's trip enabled him to participate in an inaugural ceremony for Kenya's new constitution. While warrants issued by the ICC could be enforced by any of its member countries, Kenya allowed al-Bashir into the country without arrest. [NYT, 8/27]\\nAug. 31:\\nAs the SPLA attempted to transition into a normal army, South Sudan vowed that, with UN help, it would end its dependence on child soldiers by the end of 2010. While many former SPLA child fighters had returned to civilian life, UNICEF maintained that almost 900 [End Page 125] children remained members. [MEO, 8/31]\\nSept. 14:\\nThe insurgent Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) accused the Sudanese Army of attacking settlements in North Darfur. UNAMID forces confirmed reports that men on horses and camels rode into the settlement and opened fire on a crowd. It was reported that 54 people were killed and 172 others injured, mostly civilians. UNAMID sent a battalian of Rwandan soldiers to the scene of the attack but SLA refused to let them enter. [Reuters, 9/14]\\nSept. 26:\\nSudanese Information Minister Kamal Obeid reported that South Sudanese would no longer be citizens in the north if they chose independence in next year's referendum. Obeid stated that Southerners would \\\"not enjoy citizenship rights, jobs or benefits,\\\" including the ability to buy or sell in the Khartoum market or be treated in hospitals. Some thought that Obeid's comments would heighten southerners fears of what would happen following the independence referendum scheduled for January 9, 2011. [MEO, 9/26]\\nOct. 1:\\nThousands of South Sudanese rallied on the streets in the southern capital to support the referendum on independence scheduled for January 2011. Crowds welcomed southern President Salva Kiir back to Juba after his trip to address world leaders in New York. Amidst fears that there would not be enough time to finalize the logistics for a credible referendum vote, Kiir assured crowds that there was enough time to hold the vote and that it needed to be done in peace. [MEO, 10/1]\\nOct. 3:\\nPresident al-Bashir lifted a ban on an influential newspaper that was critical of authorities in South Sudan. The Arabic-language newspaper, Al-Intibaha [Vigilance], was closed three months earlier and would resume publishing on October 6, 2010. [MEO, 10/3]\\nOct. 10:\\nForeign Minister Ali Karti told UN ambassadors that his government did not want to go to war over the independence vote in the south, but that they would not accept the result if there were \\\"interference.\\\" Karti warned that though the Sudanese government was committed to holding the referendum, there were still final details that had to be agreed on, such as the status of the disputed oil district Abyei. Karti insisted that non-interference was the government's only condition for accepting the result of the referendum. [MEO, 10/10]\\nSyria\\nSee also Lebanon, Turkey\\nJuly 18:\\nThe Syrian government issued a ban on the niqab, the Islamic veil that reveals only the eyes, in both private and public universities. The new law affected more than 1,000 women working in universities and elementary schools; most women were transferred to administrative positions. The new ordinance was seen as a stand against the growing influence of conservative Islamism, which ran counter to the nominally secular government. [The Guardian, 7/20]\\nJuly 30:\\nFor the first time since the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, Syrian President Bashar al-Asad visited Beirut. The visit, which also included King 'Abdullah bin 'Abd al-'Aziz of Saudi Arabia, was part of Syria's reemergence as an important power in the region. Lebanese Prime Minsiter Sa'd Hariri and the two leaders discussed, among other topics, the UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. [The Guardian, 7/30]\\nAug. 3:\\nA secret survey of 1,046 Syrians led by Angela Hawken of Pepperdine University revealed local discontent due to the country's poor political and economic situation. Researchers said that the main significance of the study was the successful administration of a nongovernmental survey, which was technically illegal in Syria. Hawken voiced her hope that similar but wider-reaching studies might be conducted in Syria in the near future. [LAT, 8/18]\\nSept. 16:\\nAlmost 700 inhabitants of the Golan Heights were permitted to pass into [End Page 126] Syria through the Qunaytra crossing, though their visit was restricted to a period of five days. Some of the travelers had not set foot in Syria for 40 years. At the time, there were 18,000 Syrian inhabitants left in the Golan Heights, most of them Druze who had refused to take Israeli citizenship. [MEO, 9/17]\\nSept. 18:\\nWithin a two-day period, both Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell visited President Bashar al-Asad in Damascus. During their respective meetings, Mitchell discussed the possibility of Syrian-Israeli peace talks, while Ahmadinejad said that US plans in the Middle East would be disrupted. Both countries had increasingly been courting Syria's allegiance in the region. [LAT, 9/17, AP, 9/18]\\nOct. 7:\\nIsraeli authorities claimed that satellite images on Google Earth showed five long-range Scud missiles in the Adra military camp about 15 miles north of Damascus. Israel accused Syria of arming Hizbullah militants with Scuds and suggested that Damascus was training the militants within Syrian borders. A former UN security adviser questioned the findings, saying that the resolution of the images was too low to show any such missiles. [DS, 10/7]\\nTurkey\\nJuly 19:\\nA Turkish court indicted 196 people for plotting to topple the government in a military coup. The charged, which included 30 serving or retired military officers, allegedly had tried to start a military coup in 2003 as part of \\\"Operation Sledgehammer.\\\" Some saw the move as an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the military, which had unseated the government four times since 1960. [AP, 7/19]\\nTurkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mish'al in Damascus. The leaders reportedly discussed cooperation between Fatah and Hamas as well as the Gaza Blockade. The meeting caused further tension in the recently strained relations between Turkey and Israel. Davutoglu also met with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. [BBC, Haaretz, 7/20]\\nJuly 20:\\nSix Turkish soldiers were killed near the Iraqi border in an overnight attack by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) soldiers. This was one of the worst clashes in a flair-up of violence corresponding with the collapse of proposed peace talks between Istanbul and the PKK. As early as May 2010, Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan had called talks with the government hopeless. [BBC, 7/20]\\nJuly 21:\\nIn an interview with the BBC, PKK leader Murat Karayilan offered for the first time a deal in which the PKK would disarm if the Turkish government agreed to grant Turkish Kurds certain rights. He also said that if these requests were not met, the PKK would declare a constitutional democracy independent from Ankara. He previously told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the PKK would lay down their weapons if granted autonomy similar to the status enjoyed by Spanish Catalonia. The Turkish government refused to comment on the new proposals. [BBC, 7/21, 9/16]\\nJuly 22:\\nParliament passed an amendment to a 2006 anti-terrorism law that had allowed for the imprisonment of youth, known in the country as \\\"stone-throwing children,\\\" for participating in PKK rallies. Under the amendment, minors charged with terrorism would be tried in juvenile court and receive shorter sentences than before. Hundreds of Kurdish children had already been imprisoned for years under the 2006 law. [Hurriyet, 7/22, NYT, 7/29]\\nJuly 23:\\nA Turkish court ordered the arrest of 102 military officers of the 196 indicted July 19 for participating in \\\"Operation Sledgehammer.\\\" Three of the detained were retired military commanders. [BBC, 7/23]\\nAug. 5:\\nThe annual Arab Opinion Poll, published by the Brookings Institute in conjunction with Zogby International, showed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip [End Page 127] Erdogan to be the most popular world leader among 4,000 people polled in six Arab countries. The jump in popularity was due in part to Turkey's harsh criticism of the May 30 Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara flotilla. [Al-Jazeera, 8/11]\\nAug. 7:\\nDays after the military said it would not promote any of the officers associated with the alleged \\\"Sledgehammer\\\" coup attempt, the government annulled the arrest warrants issued on July 23 against 102 military officers for participation in the plot. The next day the government and military announced a compromise in which the government, not the army, chose two officers for promotion to top positions. [BBC, 8/7, 8/9, Al-Jazeera, 8/9]\\nAug. 8:\\nThree people were killed and eight injured at a wedding in southeastern Gaziantep province when the groom lost control of an AK-47 that he was firing into the air. Shooting in the air on festive occasions, a common practice in certain parts of Turkey, was a frequent cause of serious injuries, despite government efforts to curb the practice. [BBC, 8/8]\\nAug. 10:\\nA pipeline between Iraq and Turkey exploded in Sirnak province, killing two and wounding a third. The PKK, which had attacked the same pipe the previous month, was suspected of setting off the explosion with a remote-controlled mine. The oil line was cut off while the blaze was extinguished. [BBC, 8/10]\\nAug. 11:\\nA US court of appeals in Massachusetts denied a suit filed by the Turkish American Association in 2005 to allow for teaching materials questioning whether the mass killing of Turkish Armenians in 1915 was in fact genocide. Massachusetts had the largest population of Armenians of any American state. [Al-Jazeera, 8/11]\\nAug. 13:\\nPKK spokesperson Bouzan Teken declared a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, adding that the PKK would extend the ceasefire past the September 20 end date if the Turkish government agreed to certain conditions: beginning negotiations, releasing the 1,700 Kurdish politicians in jail, and ending military operations against the group. The Turkish government called the conditions unacceptable. [Al-Jazeera, 8/13]\\nAug. 17:\\nUS President Barack Obama's administration denied a London Financial Times report that he had offered Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan an ultimatum to either change its stance toward Iran and Israel or be denied American weapons deals. Turkey was at the time seeking weapons to fight the PKK. [Al-Jazeera, 8/17]\\nAug. 26:\\nRains in the Black Sea province of Rize triggered massive landslides that killed at least 12 people and engulfed houses and cars. One person was reported missing. The landslides began as families were breaking the Ramadan fast. [BBC, 8/27]\\nAug. 28:\\nTurkish authorities identified the body of Yuri Ivanov, a top Russian spy whose remains washed ashore in the Hatay province on August 16. The official report attributed his death to a swimming accident, though the circumstances of the drowning were suspicious. Ivanov had last been stationed in Syria. [The Guardian, 9/1]\\nSept. 12:\\nWith a 58% majority, Turkish citizens passed 26 constitutional reforms in a national referendum. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which backed the amendments, called the vote a step toward creating a constitution compatible with EU membership requirements, among other things. The reforms allowed military personnel to be tried in civilian courts, increased the number of judges on Turkey's highest court, guaranteed certain civil rights, and introduced some measures to guarantee positive discrimination for women and children. The opposition called the changes a move away from secularism and pointed critically to the lack of attention in the amendments to Kurdish rights, human rights, or religious education in public schools, among other contentious issues. [The Guardian, BBC, 9/12]\\nSept. 14:\\nThe European Court for Human [End Page 128] Rights ruled that Turkey had not done enough to prevent the death of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in 2008 near the Istanbul office of his newspaper, Agos. Dink had been a voice for the Armenian-Turkish minority, and his death divided the country, as had his 2005 prison sentence for insulting \\\"Turkishness.\\\" The court also found that Turkey had not done enough to protect Dink's freedom of speech. [BBC, 9/14]\\nSept. 16:\\nTen people were killed and three wounded in a minibus explosion, thought to be the work of the PKK, near the Iranian and Iraqi borders. The attack, though similar to previous PKK offenses, was singular in that it did not target the military. The ceasefire declared by the Kurdish resistance group in August was still in effect. [Reuters, BBC, Al-Jazeera, 9/16]\\nSept. 19:\\nFor the first time in 95 years, a service was held by the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul at the Armenian Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross in Lake Van. Hundreds of Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora attended, but the numbers were not as great as hoped for, partly because of the lasting Armenian mistrust of the Turkish government. Bad feelings were aggravated when Turkish authorities prevented a cross from being placed on top of the historic church. [BBC, 9/19]\\nSept. 29:\\nTurkish authorities seized the Savarona, the state yacht used by Kemal Atatürk before his death in 1938, after reports broke that it was being used for prostitution. The luxury vessel had been leased to a local businessman. A member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) party called the incident an outrageous offense to the memory of the revered leader. [The Guardian, 9/29]\\nSept. 30:\\nPKK leaders extended for another month the ceasefire declared on August 13, but did not back down from any of their previous conditions, namely that the Turkish government release imprisoned Kurdish politicians and cease military operations against the group both inside and outside the country. The decision to extend the ceasefire reportedly came from imprisoned leader Ocalan himself. [LAT, 10/1]\\nSept. 31:\\nPresident Abdullah Gül declined to meet Shimon Peres at the UN general assembly in New York. The Turkish President said that he was too busy for the meeting, but many suspected that there was a political motivation, especially after he made time in his schedule to meet with Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. The two leaders had not met since the Turkish flotilla incident on May 30. [Al-Jazeera, 9/31]\\nOct. 1:\\nHundreds of Muslim nationalists gathered in the ruins of a holy Armenian cathedral in Ani, the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom in eastern Turkey, where they prayed in honor of Alp Arslan, a Turkish Muslim who had conquered the city in the 11th century. The gathering was seen as a reaction to events during the Armenian mass in the church in Lake Van on September 19. [BBC, 10/1]\\nOct. 11:\\nA prominent German politician called for the end of Turkish and Arab immigration into Germany and for stricter laws regarding the foreign workers already in the country. At the time, two million Turks were living in Germany. Prime Minister Angela Merkel had recently called the policy of German multiculturalism a failure. [The Guardian, 10/11]\\nTunisia\\nJuly 22:\\nTunisia amended its penal code to prohibit any spanking of children. Under the new law, adults could be prosecuted for using corporal punishment against children. [AFP, 7/22]\\nUnited Arab Emirates\\nSept. 7:\\nThe UAE's central bank froze four Iranian bank accounts cited in the UN Security Council's June 2010 resolution in the fourth round of sanctions against the UAE's key trade partner. By September 2010, most [End Page 129] UAE banks had stopped all transactions, including bank transfers, with Iranian banks due to increased regulations on accounts with Iranian entities. [Reuters, 9/7, AFP, 9/5]\\nSept. 10:\\nThe UAE donated $42 million to the Palestinian Authority to support Mahmud 'Abbas' government budget and peace talks with Israel. Financial support from Arab countries was in decline as the Palestinian Authority sought to increase its government functions. The UAE gave $173.9 million in 2009. [Reuters, 9/10]\\nOct. 7:\\nThe UAE reached an agreement with BlackBerry Canadian-based smartphone maker Research In Motion Limited (RIM). The UAE canceled a ban on its devices and services scheduled to be implemented October 11. RIM did not have the ability to monitor the encrypted system, thus hindering regulatory abilities of governments. [AFP, 9/21, 10/9]\\nYemen\\nJuly 24:\\nHuthi rebels and the pro-government Ibn Aziz tribe in northern Yemen brokered a truce to end fighting which killed as many as 70 people during the previous week. These clashes were the bloodiest in the north since a truce was established between the rebels and the Yemeni government in February 2010. [Reuters, 7/25]\\nJuly 29:\\nOpposition leader 'Abd al-Raqib al-Qirshi died from gunshot wounds sustained upon his return to Yemen after 32 years in exile. Al-Qirshi had returned to participate in renewed national political dialogue. This dialogue, as well as asylum to political opponents, was announced in a May 2010 speech by President 'Ali 'Abdullah Salih. [Reuters, 7/30]\\nAug. 1:\\nMediator and tribal chief Shaykh Hasan bin 'Abdullah al-Ahmar confirmed that Huthi rebels released 100 Yemeni soldiers in the 'Amran province. This was in addition to 200 soldiers freed days earlier. [AFP, 8/2]\\nAug. 15:\\nYemeni security officials announced that local al-Qa'ida leader Jamaan Safian surrendered to them. They did not disclose the time of or reason for his surrender. Safian was accused of sheltering non-Yemeni al-Qa'ida members. [AFP, 8/15]\\nAug. 20:\\nGunmen in the southern city of Lawdar in Abyan governorate killed at least 14 people, including Yemeni soldiers and civilians. Seven gunmen were killed in the clash. This attack followed August 19 fighting in Lawdar that initially drew the Army's presence after two soldiers were killed and two civilians were wounded in Lawdar's marketplace. [AFP, 8/20, 8/22]\\nAug. 26:\\nThe Yemeni government and Huthi rebels signed a new peace deal in Qatar to support the truce brokered in February 2010. The deal's 22 points sought to support implementation of the previous agreement. [Reuters, 8/27]\\nSept. 4:\\nYemeni police arrested 14 suspected al-Qa'ida members in Lawdar where they had been searching for al-Qa'ida hideouts in the previous weeks. Some of those arrested were caught in a raid while others were apprehended at security checkpoints that surrounded the district. [AP, 9/5]\\nSept. 6:\\nThousands protested in the streets, vandalized property, threw stones at police, and set fire to tires in Aden after power was cut to all eight districts on a day when temperatures reached 101 Fahrenheit (40 Celsius). Tensions between the north and south had flared because of previous intermittent and shorter power outages in the region. Residents in the south often complained of discrimination by the government in Sana'a [AFP, 9/6]\\nSept. 20:\\nAccording to the Red Crescent in Yemen, as many as 12,000 civilians fled the town of Hawta in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa, where security forces laid siege to al-Qa'ida militants in the area with tanks, armored vehicles, and attack helicopters. The Yemeni government considered Hawta an al-Qa'ida hideout, where approximately 120 al-Qa'ida militants took refuge. The radical Muslim cleric Anwar [End Page 130] al-Awlaki allegedly called Shabwa \\\"home\\\" and used it as a hiding place. US authorities targeted Al-Awlaki, a US-Yemeni citizen, for his ties to al-Qa'ida. [Reuters, AP, 9/20]\\nSept. 29:\\nThe governor of Shabwa, the Yemeni military's deputy chief of staff, and various other provincial and army officials survived an ambush against their convoy in the Sa'id district south of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa. The ambush killed three of the governor's guards and wounded several others. [AFP, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 9/29]\\nSept. 30:\\nYemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi acknowleged that the US had launched attacks against al-Qa'ida in Yemen. This was the first confirmation from Yemen regarding the US military's role in Yemen. Amnesty International reported in June 2010 about suspected US involvement in a December missile attack in Al-Majalah in the Abyan province which killed 55 people, mostly civilians. [AFP, 9/30]\\nOct. 6:\\nThe vehicle of the deputy chief of the British mission was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade in Sana'a, resulting in minor injuries to one British Embassy diplomat and three Yemeni bystanders. The deputy chief was not wounded in the attack. Al-Qa'ida claimed responsibility for the attack and accused the British envoy of leading a war on Muslims. [Reuters, 10/6]\\nA Yemeni guard opened fire, killing a Frenchman and seriously wounding a UK man inside the compound of Austria-owned oil and gas group OMV in Haddah, near Sana'a. Yemeni security forces eventually surrounded and disarmed the compound guard. The attack occurred two days after Yemeni officials warned of a potential al-Qa'ida strike. [BBC, 10/6]\\nOct. 10:\\nTwo attackers on a motorbike shot and killed criminal investigations officer Ghazi al-Samawi in Zinjibar. One man drove while the other fired his weapon yelling \\\"Allahu Akbar\\\" [\\\"God is greatest\\\"]. The gunmen escaped unscathed. The officer was on an al-Qa'ida hit list of policeman to be killed. [AFP, 10/11]\\nOct. 12:\\nQasim al-Rimi, military chief of Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula who had reportedly been killed in a Yemeni airstirke in January 2010, announced in an Internet audio recording the creation of an \\\"Aden-Abyan Army\\\" to rid the country of \\\"crusaders and their apostate agents.\\\" The recording also threatened President Salih and warned of the new army's aims to overthrow him. No details on the size of the army were given, but al-Rimi claimed that they were so overwhelmed with volunteers from Yemen and abroad that they could not accept them all. [Reuters, 10/1, AFP, AP, 10/12] [End Page 131]\\nCopyright © 2011 Middle East Institute\\nThis article is for personal research only and may not be copied or distributed in any form without the permission of The Middle East Journal.\",\n \"Israel's Quest for Satellite Intelligence — Central ...\\nLearn more about the Agency and find some top secret things you won't see ... Israel's Quest for Satellite Intelligence ... (the name is the Hebrew word for ...\\nIsrael's Quest for Satellite Intelligence — Central Intelligence Agency\\nE. L. Zorn\\nIn the spring of 1995, the successful orbiting of Ofeq-3 (the name is the Hebrew word for \\\"horizon\\\") represented the initial satisfaction of a longstanding Israeli desire: an independent space reconnaissance capability. For more than 20 years before they began receiving imagery from the satellite, Israeli defense officials had recognized that spacecraft offered unique capabilities to intensify information gathering in adjacent countries while extending their intelligence reach to more distant lands. After the nation was almost overwhelmed in 1973, Israeli intelligence officers further focused their efforts on preventing future surprise attacks. Satellite photography was seen as a vital tool, able to provide unprecedented warning about the movement of enemy troops and equipment in preparation for war, as well as the movement of enemy forces once hostilities were underway.\\nThe value of satellite imagery was not unknown to the Israelis before the Yom Kippur war. Faced with invading armies on two fronts in October 1973, Israeli military attachés in Washington urgently requested satellite information from the United States about the disposition of the Egyptian and Syrian forces. According to former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gen. Mordecai Gur, who had been one of those attachés, US authorities responded that the information was unavailable due to \\\"damage\\\" to the satellite. 1 An unnamed CIA analyst subsequently recalled that the United States had acquired \\\"wonderful coverage, but…didn't get the pictures until the war was over.\\\" 2 Even those photos showed the positions of invading forces only during the earliest part of the war. 3 The findings of the House Select Committee on Intelligence (the \\\"Pike Committee\\\") in its recommendations to the Final Report in 1976 also indicate that the United States was unable to obtain adequate imagery and other information about the conflict while it was underway. As part of its criticism of US intelligence activities, the committee concluded that the United States had gone \\\"to the brink of war\\\" with the Soviet Union during the 1973 war because it lacked timely intelligence. 4\\nIsraeli Dissatisfaction\\nIf the United States was unable to obtain the satellite photography necessary to satisfy its own intelligence needs during the conflict, then it logically follows that it was likewise unable to provide any information derived from satellite intelligence to Israel. Faced with the possibility of imminent military defeat at the hands of enemies whose avowed purpose in past conflicts had been the total annihilation of the so-called Zionist entity, however, the Israelis were distrustful of US statements that it was unable to respond with desperately needed intelligence assistance. As Gur noted in 1992, \\\"How could I know if [the satellite] was really damaged? The bottom line was that we didn't get the information.\\\" 5\\nThe general had expressed himself far less ambiguously as Israeli technicians were completing the final preparations for the launch of Ofeq-1, an experimental satellite, in September 1988: \\\"The United States did not give us enough information [during the October 1973 war]. 6 When I say not enough, I mean less [than] what we got before the war.\\\" 7 Exactly how long \\\"before the war\\\" Gur meant is unclear, because he is also said to have asserted that the United States had actually withheld satellite data from Israel immediately before the war. 8\\nPresumably, the information which Gur believes had been held back by the United States would have revealed the true scope of Egyptian and Syrian preparations for war, thus providing adequate warning for the Israelis to prepare properly for the Arab attack. Instead, the Israelis found themselves in such a desperate situation that they deployed long-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads on Cairo and Damascus after then-Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan warned that the nation might be on the verge of destruction at the hands of the Egyptians and Syrians. 9\\nIn their examination in 1991 of US and Soviet high-altitude aerial and space reconnaissance during the October 1973 war, Michael Russell Rip and Joseph F. Fontanella dismissed Gur's statements as \\\"specious\\\" and \\\"probably made to help justify the Israeli space venture.\\\" 10 In fact, Gur's sentiments merit far more serious consideration. Just as the war itself marked a defining moment for Israelis, so too did Gur's experiences in trying to obtain satellite intelligence from the United States clearly leave a deep and lasting impression on him. From Gur's perspective, the United States had kept critical satellite warning data from the Israelis before the two-front attack. Shortly thereafter, when Israel was threatened with imminent annihilation by the invading Arab armies, the United States had demonstrated to the Israelis that it could not be relied on to provide information vital to Israel's survival. Given Gur's assignment at that time and his later positions of influence, there seems little question that he would have been able to share his views with other Israeli security officials and decisionmakers.\\nGoing It Alone\\nFor the Israelis, the lesson was immediate and unmistakable: they would have to acquire an independent space reconnaissance capability. Details about the earliest Israeli investigations into an indigenous satellite program are extremely limited, but the little information available unambiguously indicates that it was at this time that Israeli scientists and engineers first seriously explored the possibility of launching a satellite. In little-noticed remarks following the launch of Ofeq-1 in 1988, Israel Space Agency (ISA) chairman Yuval Ne'eman disclosed that Israel had been working on the satellite since the early 1970s. 11 Even more telling, as part of a legal action against a former employee, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) revealed in March 1995 that it had in 1973 examined its capability to launch an Ofeq-style satellite using a Shavit-type (the name is the Hebrew word for \\\"comet\\\") launcher, and that it had determined that such a project was feasible. 12\\nThe documentary evidence thus indicates that the Israeli desire for a photoreconnaissance satellite did indeed originate with the October 1973 war. Further, the information supports the view that the Israeli need was not a consequence of having received timely satellite photography from the United States, but rather the result of the failure of the United States to provide satellite intelligence to Israel just when it was required most. Unfortunately for the Israelis, however, desire and theoretical capability were not in and of themselves sufficient basis for a space program. The large scale and expense of the project kept a reconnaissance spacecraft beyond their reach as they continued to rely on the United States for their satellite intelligence needs.\\nThe Postwar Years\\nIsrael efforts to gain access to United States satellite imagery after the October 1973 Yom Kippur War proved more successful than they had during the conflict, although perhaps only marginally so in the Israeli view. As part of an ongoing intelligence exchange with Israel, the United States supplied Israel with intelligence information based on satellite collection following the war, and has continued to do so in one form or another ever since. 13\\nIsrael began seeking greater access to US satellite intelligence to augment its early warning capabilities immediately after the 1973 war. Ne'eman, then Israel's chief defense scientist, included a request for intelligence satellite \\\"services\\\" in Israeli demands to be presented to the United States following the negotiation of the interim agreement at the conclusion of the 1973 war. 14 According to late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, then-Minister of Defense Shimon Peres formally presented the United States with the Israeli request for a $1 billion satellite system in December 1975. Some months later, while testifying before members of Congress who were concerned that such a measure would hurt prospects for peace in the Middle East, Rabin indicated that Israel really did not require the satellite, after all. 15\\nUnited States policy with regard to providing satellite intelligence to Israel was uneven throughout the remainder of the 1970s, and seemed to the Israelis to vary with each Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). George Bush was said to have approved providing actual satellite photographs to Israel while he was the DCI in 1976 and 1977. 16 When Stansfield Turner replaced Bush in 1977, he allowed the Israelis to receive only information based on satellite imagery, but not the images themselves. 17 The Israelis would grow increasingly concerned over these and other inconsistencies in United States policy.\\nWilliam Casey's arrival as the DCI in 1981 proved a positive experience for the Israelis, at least initially. Casey permitted them to requisition actual satellite photography once again. The imagery to be provided, however, was to be limited to that depicting potential direct threats to Israel's security. 18 Having regained entrée to the imagery, Israel then asked the United States in early April 1981 for direct access to a US reconnaissance satellite. Israeli officials justified the request as \\\"compensation\\\" for the planned sale by the United States of airborne warning and control system (AWACS) surveillance aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Israel also voiced its increased need for real-time intelligence data and improved surveillance and warning capabilities due to its scheduled withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula in April 1982. 19\\nThe precise details of the Israeli requirement are not clear. A contemporary account, citing unnamed US and Israeli sources, notes that the Israelis had indicated that they would be satisfied with either a new satellite and ground station to be provided by the United States for Israel's exclusive use or with \\\"full and equal access\\\" to an existing US satellite. 20 A later report asserts that Israel had \\\"demanded\\\" exclusive access to a United States satellite already in orbit as the alternative to receiving its own new satellite. 21 In either case, United States officials considered the Israeli request seriously. The Israelis, however, soon damaged their own cause.\\nSetting Limits\\nIn early June 1981, Israeli Air Force aircraft successfully bombed an Iraqi nuclear facility near Baghdad. Curious about how the Israelis had obtained the necessary targeting information to carry out the dramatic long-range strike, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) Bobby Inman asked for a review of imagery and other materials that had been provided to Israeli intelligence officials. As previously noted, policies in effect at the time called for limiting Israeli access to satellite imagery to those photos showing potential direct threats to Israel. Inman quickly found that the Israeli and United States concepts of what constituted such threats differed substantially. During their nearly six months of renewed access to US satellite imagery, the Israelis had obtained \\\"a lot\\\" of information not only about Iraq, but also about Libya, Pakistan, and other countries lying at considerable distances from Israel. 22 The DDCI immediately restricted future distribution of satellite photography. The Israelis were to be allowed to receive imagery only of areas within 250 miles of Israel's borders. They could, however, make specific requests for any other coverage desired, to be approved or denied by the DCI on a case-by-case basis. 23\\nIsrael's then-Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon, according to Inman, was \\\"furious,\\\" and immediately protested the decision directly to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, 24 who backed the DDCI. DCI Casey, who had been traveling abroad, disagreed with his deputy's decision, but did not reverse it on his return. Instead, he effectively ignored it. Retired Israeli Maj. Gen. Yehoshua Saguy, who served as the head of Israeli military intelligence from 1979 to 1983, confirmed that \\\"Casey [said] ‘yes' all the time\\\" to Israeli requests for satellite photography of areas lying farther than 250 miles from Israel's borders. 25 An unnamed Israeli official has been quoted as saying that the level of support in furnishing satellite intelligence provided by DCI Casey was considered extremely valuable by the Israelis, and that they referred to it among themselves as \\\"Casey's gift.\\\" 26\\nThe Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear facility became a significant factor in the continuing debate among United States officials over whether to grant Israel's earlier request for a reconnaissance satellite. Advocates on both sides of the argument cited the raid to justify their positions. Proponents argued that satisfying the desire would reduce the likelihood of future preemptive strikes by helping to soothe Israel's insecurities about its ability to detect Arab preparations for a surprise attack. Opponents noted that Israeli officials might use unhampered access to satellite intelligence to plan and execute even more attacks throughout the region. They also raised the matters of expense and the transfer of sensitive technologies. Finally, they pointed out that Arab concerns about the advantages that a satellite afforded Israel might prompt the Soviet Union to provide similar capabilities for Syria, Libya, or other nations in the region. 27\\nIsrael and the United States were expected to discuss the Israeli request and other facets of satellite intelligence during talks in September 1981 aimed at strengthening strategic ties between the two countries. 28 The sessions reportedly included discussions about sharing intelligence as part of a broader joint effort to counter Soviet expansion and influence in the Middle East. 29 According to US defense officials, however, there was no specific mention of satellites during the conference. 30 As a result, the Israelis did not receive their own reconnaissance satellite system from the United States, nor were they given direct access to a US spacecraft already in orbit. In November, Weinberger and Sharon signed a memorandum of understanding for \\\"strategic cooperation\\\" between the two countries.\\nThe agreement proved extremely short-lived. President Ronald Reagan ordered it suspended in December 1981 after the Israelis formally annexed the Golan Heights. Israel's invasion of Lebanon in mid-1982 even further provoked the ire of US officials. It would be November 1983 before the United States, trying to make headway with its Middle East peace initiatives, offered to renew \\\"strategic cooperation\\\" with Israel. 31\\nContinuing Complaints\\nIsraeli officials grew increasingly impatient with the manner in which the United States responded to their needs for satellite intelligence. When the Israelis took actions that they considered to be in the best interests of maintaining their own security and protecting the Israeli people, the United States replied by further restricting access to the information or by abrogating existing agreements. The Israelis apparently perceived themselves as victims of the vagaries of United States policy. They could not depend on the United States to provide satellite intelligence. Indeed, some Israeli officials, most notably Sharon, concluded that the United States was not a reliable ally, period. 32\\nEven in the best of times, the Israelis had found fault with the arrangements for their access to US satellite intelligence. They complained that their requests for information based on satellite photography were often delayed or denied outright, or that the information that they did receive was frequently incomplete or dated. 33 They objected that when actual satellite photos were provided to them, the image quality was intentionally degraded, sometimes rendering them useless for the purposes desired 34 . Finally, they protested that US intelligence authorities frequently refused their requests for specific collection against targets of special interest to the Israelis. 35\\nImmediately after the September 1988 launch of Ofeq-1, retired General Saguy, head of military intelligence from 1979 to 1983, compared Israel's limited access to United States satellite information to the relationship between \\\"a patron and his dependent.\\\" 36 On the same occasion, another former head of military intelligence--who had also served as the head of Mossad, the Israeli secret service--described the situation in even less flattering terms: Meir Amit told Israeli radio that, \\\"If you are fed from the crumbs of others according to their whim, this is very inconvenient and very difficult. If you have your own independent capability, you climb one level higher.\\\" 37\\nClearly, Israeli authorities would have preferred to have bypassed these difficulties altogether with an independent space intelligence capability. Twice, in 1975 and again in 1981, they had tried to obtain from the United States either a complete photoreconnaissance satellite system of their own or unfettered access to an existing system. In both instances, their requests were refused.\\nAn Independent Capability\\nIntelligence officials continued to press for an indigenous Israeli photoreconnaissance satellite. Then-Chief of the Israeli Military Intelligence Branch Shlomo Gazit in 1979 included a \\\"spy satellite\\\" on a list of military intelligence needs for the following decade. Gazit later noted that his request had been met by \\\"a mixture of astonishment and scorn\\\" by other Israeli officials. 38 There could have been no other reaction. The Israelis had made little substantive progress toward developing a satellite, a launcher, or any of the infrastructure necessary to support a space program in the years following IAI's 1973 study. Alon Ganei, a senior Israeli researcher in rocket propulsion, indicated in 1998 that even \\\"in the [early] 1980s there was still considerable debate over whether to enter the aerospace field at all.\\\" 39\\nThose favoring an Israeli space capability finally triumphed in November 1982, when Ne'eman, then Israeli Minister of Science and Technology, announced that Israel was establishing a space agency to build and launch satellites, including reconnaissance satellites. 40 Later statements by ISA officials, including ISA Chairman Ne'eman, emphasized the commercial and scientific nature of the Israeli space program, denying outright that Israel intended to field a \\\"spy\\\" satellite. 41 There was little question, however, that Israeli officials had reached their own conclusions about how best to satisfy Israel's satellite intelligence needs.\\nA recent ISA description of the Ofeq satellite program indicates that the project began in 1982, with \\\"parallel efforts [in] research and development, construction of the necessary infrastructure, training [of] hundreds of engineers and technicians, and then designing, building, testing, and finally launching the satellites.\\\" 42 It goes on to describe briefly the characteristics of each of the satellites successfully orbited so far, and accompanying materials provide an informative overview of the Israeli space program and the sophisticated products and technologies supporting it.\\nFrom a distance, Israel's expectations for United States satellite intelligence support may seem excessive, even preposterous. For the Israelis, however, the enhanced warning capabilities provided by satellites meant survival. Where the preservation of the state and the people were concerned, there could be no compromise. Unfortunately, the United States could not be trusted to furnish all of the satellite intelligence that Israel needed to meet its security requirements. In November 1982, Israeli officials committed to the development of a space program and a reconnaissance satellite.\\nThe Israeli decision came nine years after Egyptian and Syrian forces attacked on separate fronts while Israeli citizens observed their most holy day. Not quite another six years later, Israel launched its first satellite. That the launch of Ofeq-1 occurred just two days before Yom Kippur was almost certainly no coincidence.\\nThis article is unclassified in its entirety.\\n \\nNotes\\n(1) Interview in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 3 September 1992, quoted in Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, Friends in Deed: The U.S.-Israel Alliance (New York: Hyperion, 1994), p. 161.\\n(2) Quoted in Representative George E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA),\\\"‘The Spies in Space'--(By Jeffrey T. Richelson) (Extension of Remarks--November 26, 1991),\\\" Congressional Record (26 November 1991): E4120. URL: , accessed 14 February 1999.\\n(3) Jeffrey T. Richelson, America's Secret Eyes in Space: The U.S. Keyhole Spy Satellite Program (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), p. 117.\\n(4) Brown, Jr. (D-CA), \\\"‘The Spies in Space'--(By Jeffrey T. Richelson) (Extension of Remarks--November 26, 1991).\\\"\\n(5) Interview in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 3 September 1992, quoted in Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, Friends in Deed: the U.S.-Israel Alliance (New York: Hyperion, 1994), p. 161.\\n(6) John Kifner, \\\"Israel Launches Space Program and a Satellite,\\\" The New York Times, 20 September 1988, p. A1.\\n(24) Ibid.\\n(25) Woodward, \\\"CIA Sought 3rd-Country Contra Aid.\\\"\\n(26) Bob Woodward, \\\"Probes of Iran Deals Extend to Roles of CIA, Director,\\\" The Washington Post, 28 November 1986, p. A33.\\n(27) Bill Roeder, \\\"A U.S. Spy Satellite for Israel?\\\" Newsweek, 7 September 1981, p. 17.\\n(28) Bernard Gwertzman, \\\"U.S.-Israeli Talks on Military Links Are Reported Set,\\\" The New York Times, 6 September 1981, p. 1.\\n(29) John Brecher, with Milan J. Kubic and John Walcott, \\\"Begin Wins Round One,\\\" Newsweek, 21 September 1981, p. 61.\\n(30) John M. Goshko, \\\"Reagan, Begin Hold ‘Warm' Meeting; No Decisions Reached on Closer Ties,\\\" The Washington Post, 10 September 1981, p. A13.\\n(31) Bernard Gwertzman, \\\"Reagan Turns to Israel,\\\" The New York Times Magazine, 27 November 1983, p. 84.\\n(32) Seymour M. Hersh, The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (New York: Random House, 1991), p. 16.\\n(33) \\\"Israeli Spy Satellite Suspected,\\\" p. 46.\\n(34) Gerald M. Steinberg, \\\"Middle East Space Race Gathers Pace,\\\" p. 20.\\n(35) \\\"Military Eye-in-the-Sky Over Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Libya,\\\" Mideast Mirror, 6 April 1995 (NEXIS, 7 April 1995).\\n(36) Yehoshua Saguy in Hadashot (Tel Aviv), n.d., quoted in Masha Hamilton, \\\"Israel Launches Test Satellite,\\\" Associate Press, International Section, 19 September 1988 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.).\\n(37) Glenn Frankel, \\\"Israel Puts Its First Satellite Into Orbit,\\\" The Washington Post, 20 September 1988, p. A16.\\n(38) Shlomo Gazit, \\\"Gaps in Satellite Intelligence Collection,\\\" 95P50108B in Tel Aviv Yedi'ot Aharonot (10 April 1995), p. 5. FBIS Reston VA, 260345Z April 1995.\\n(39) Amnon Barzilai, \\\"Outer Space--Clean Up Your Act,\\\" Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 28 July 1998, B3. URL: , accessed 11 August 1998.\\n(40) (No title), UPI, International Section, 26 November 1982.\\n(41) \\\"Israel: A Communications Satellite\\\" (text), ME/W1230/B1 Israel Home Service, 1500 GMT (22 March 1983). BBC Summary of World Broadcasts: The Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, 5 April 1983 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.); and Dan Fisher, \\\"Israeli Space Program Sets Lofty Goals; Security, Industrial Development Are Prime Concerns,\\\" The Los Angeles Times, 10 June 1985, Home Ed., Section 4, 1 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.).\\n(42) Israel Space Agency, \\\"The Ofeq Satellites Program,\\\" 16 March 1999. URL: , accessed 18 March 1999.\",\n \"The National Intelligence Agency of Israel | Belfast Child\\nPosts about The National Intelligence Agency of Israel written by belfastchildis\\nThe National Intelligence Agency of Israel | Belfast Child\\n The national intelligence agency of Israel\\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities.\\nIts director reports directly to the Prime Minister.\\nMOSSAD The Worlds Most Efficient Killing Machine\\nMossad ( Hebrew : הַמוֹסָד,\\nIPA: \\n[ha moˈsad] ; Arabic : الموساد, al-Mōsād; literally meaning “the Institute”), short for HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim ( Hebrew : המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, meaning “Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations”; Arabic : الموساد للاستخبارات والمهام الخاصة al-Mōsād lil-Istikhbārāt wal-Mahāmm al-Khāṣṣah), is the national intelligence agency of Israel . It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community , along with Aman ( military intelligence ) and Shin Bet (internal security).\\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection , covert operations , and counterterrorism , as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister .\\nOrganization\\nExecutive offices\\nThe largest department of Mossad is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial. The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working with allied foreign intelligence services, and nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities.\\nThe Birth of Israel(full length)\\nHistory\\nMossad was formed on December 13, 1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah . Ben Gurion wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services—the army’s intelligence department (AMAN), the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), and the foreign office’s “political department”. In March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime minister’s office, reporting directly to the prime minister.\\nMotto\\nHistory of Israel MOSSAD – Special Elite Forces Documentary\\n———————-\\nMossad’s former motto, be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh ( Hebrew : בתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה) is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): “For by wise guidance you can wage your war” ( NRSV ). The motto was later changed to another Proverbs passage: be-‘éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō’éts ( Hebrew : באין תחבולות יפול עם, ותשועה ברוב יועץ, Proverbs 11:14). This is translated by NRSV as: “Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”\\nCounter-terrorist units\\nThe Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as “an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community .” The unit only recruits from “former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units .”\\nDirectors\\nIn 1960, Mossad discovered that the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina .\\n \\nA team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and through surveillance , confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11, 1960 and taken to a hideout. He was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as the violation of its sovereignty, and the United Nations Security Council noted that “repetition of acts such as [this] would involve a breach of the principles upon which international order is founded, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust incompatible with the preservation of peace” while also acknowledging that\\n“Eichmann should be brought to appropriate justice for the crimes of which he is accused”\\nand that “this resolution should in no way be interpreted as condoning the odious crimes of which Eichmann is accused.”\\nMossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele .\\nUnited States\\nDuring the 1990s, Mossad discovered a Hezbollah agent operating within the United States in order to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U.S. intelligence, the agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that he would betray more Hezbollah operatives, but was eventually arrested.\\nMossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that based on its intelligence as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning “a major assault on the United States.” The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a “large-scale target” in the United States and that Americans would be “very vulnerable.”. However, “It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response,” A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon .\\nUruguay\\nMossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs in 1965.\\nEurope\\nMossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole .\\nBelgium\\nMossad is alleged to be responsible for the killing of Canadian engineer and ballistics expert Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. He was shot multiple times in the head outside his Brussels apartment. Bull was at the time working for Iraq on the Project Babylon supergun . Others, including Bull’s son, believe that Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. Iraq and Iran are also candidates for suspicion.\\nBosnia and Herzegovina\\nAssisted in air and overland evacuations of Bosnian Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992 and 1993.\\nCyprus\\nThe killing of Hussein Al Bashir in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1973 in relation to the Munich massacre .\\nFrance\\nCherbourg Project – Operation Noa, the 1969 smuggling of five Sa’ar 3-class missile boats out of Cherbourg.\\nThe alleged killing of Zuheir Mohsen , a pro-Syrian member of the PLO in 1979.\\nThe alleged killing of Atef Bseiso , a top intelligence officer of the PLO in Paris in 1992. French police believe that a team of assassins followed Atef Bseiso from Berlin, where that first team connected with another team to close in on him in front of a Left Bank hotel, where he received three head-shots at point blank range.\\nThe killing of Yehia El-Mashad , the head of the Iraq nuclear weapons program, in 1980.\\nThe killing of Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, coordinator of the Munich massacre , with an exploding telephone in his Paris apartment in 1972.\\nThe killing of Dr. Basil Al-Kubaissi, who was involved in the Munich massacre , in Paris in 1973.\\nThe killing of Mohammad Boudia, member of the PFLP , in Paris in 1973.\\nOn April 5, 1979, Mossad agents are believed to have triggered an explosion which destroyed 60 percent of components being built in Toulouse for an Iraqi reactor. Although an environmental organization, Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast, most French officials discount the claim. The reactor itself was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981.\\nMossad allegedly assisted Morocco ‘s domestic security service in the disappearance of dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965.\\nGermany\\nOperation Plumbat (1968) was an operation by Lekem -Mossad to further Israel’s nuclear program. The German freighter “Scheersberg A” disappeared on its way from Antwerp to Genoa along with its cargo of 200 tons of yellowcake , after supposedly being transferred to an Israeli ship.\\nThe sending of letter bombs during the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. A Mossad letter bomb led to fugitive Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner losing 4 fingers from his right hand in 1980.\\nThe alleged targeted killing of Dr Wadie Haddad , using poisoned chocolate. Haddad died on 28 March 1978, in the German Democratic Republic supposedly from leukemia. According to the book Striking Back, published by Aharon Klein in 2006, Haddad was eliminated by Mossad, which had sent the chocolate -loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die severals months later. “It took him a few long months to die”, Klein said in the book.\\nMossad discovered that Hezbollah had recruited a German national named Steven Smyrek, and that he was travelling to Israel. In an operation conducted by Mossad, the CIA , the German Internal Security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), and the Israeli Internal Security agency Shin Bet , Smyrek was kept under constant surveillance, and arrested as soon as he landed in Israel. [27]\\nMossad is alleged to have been involved in industrial espionage in Germany. In the late 1990s, the head of the BfV reportedly warned his department chiefs that Mossad remained a prime threat in stealing the country’s latest computer secrets.\\nGreece\\nThe killing of Zaiad Muchasi, Fatah representative to Cyprus , by an explosion in his Athens hotel room in 1973.\\nIreland\\nThe assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh – a senior Hamas military leader – in Dubai , 2010, was suspected to be the work of Mossad, and there were eight Irish passports (six of which were used) fraudulently obtained by the Israeli embassy in Dublin , Ireland for use by apparent Mossad agents in the operation. The Irish government was angered over the use of Irish passports, summoned the Israeli ambassador and expelled the Israeli diplomat deemed responsible from Dublin, following an investigation. One of the passports was registered to a residence on Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge , on the same road as the Israeli embassy. The house was empty when later searched, but there was suspicion it had been used as a Mossad safe house in the past.\\nMossad is reported to have a working relationship with Ireland’s national intelligence agency, the Directorate of Military Intelligence , and has previously tipped the Irish authorities off about arms shipments from the Middle East to Ireland for use by dissident republican militants, resulting in their interception and arrests. Mossad is also believed to cooperate with the British government in combating IRA terrorism, including involvement in Operation Flavius , 1988.\\nItaly\\nThe killing of Wael Zwaiter , thought to be a member of Black September .\\nIn 1986, Mossad used an undercover agent to lure nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu from the United Kingdom to Italy in a honey trap style operation where he was abducted and shipped to Israel where he was tried and found guilty of treason because of his role in exposing Israel’s nuclear programme\\nMalta\\nThe killing of Fathi Shiqaqi . Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad , was shot several times in the head in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema , Malta .\\nNorway\\nMain article: Lillehammer affair\\nOn July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki , a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer , Norway, was killed by Mossad agents. He had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh , one of the leaders of Black September , the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich massacre , who had been given shelter in Norway. Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports , which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident became known as the Lillehammer affair . Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki’s family.\\nUnited Kingdom\\nMossad assisted the UK Intelligence organisation MI5 following the 7/7 bombings in London. According to the 2007 edition of a book about Mossad titled Gideon’s Spies , shortly after the 7/7 London underground bombings, MI5 gathered evidence that a senior al-Qaeda operative known only by the alias Mustafa travelled in and out of Britain shortly before the 7/7 bombings.\\nFor months, the real identity of Mustafa remained unknown, but in early October 2005, Mossad told MI5 that this person was, in fact, Azhari Husin , a bomb-making expert with Jemaah Islamiyah , the main al-Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia. Husin studied in Britain and reports claim that he met the main 7/7 bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan , in late 2001 in a militant training camp in the Philippines (see Late 2001). Meir Dagan, the then head of Mossad, apparently also told MI5 that Husin helped plan and recruit volunteers for the bombings. Mossad claimed that Husin may have been in London at the time of the bombings, and then fled to al-Qaeda’s principal haven in the tribal area of Pakistan, where he sometimes hid after bombings. Husin was killed in a shootout in Indonesia in November 2005. Later official British government reports about the 7/7 bombings did not mention Husin.\\nSwitzerland\\nAccording to secret CIA and US State Department documents discovered by the Iranian students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979:\\nIn Switzerland the Israelis have an Embassy in Bern and a Consulate-General in Zurich which provide cover for Collection Department officers involved in unilateral operations. These Israeli diplomatic installations also maintain close relations with the Swiss on a local level in regard to overt functions such as physical security for Israeli official and commercial installations in the country and the protection of staff members and visiting Israelis.\\nThere is also close collaboration between the Israelis and Swiss on scientific and technical matters pertaining to intelligence and security operations. Swiss officials have made frequent trips to Israel. There is a continual flow of Israelis to and through Switzerland. These visits, however, are usually arranged through the Political Action and Liaison regional controller at the Embassy in Paris directly with the Swiss and not through the officials in the Israeli Embassy in Bern , although the latter are kept informed.\\n“\\n”\\nIn February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught wiretapping the home of a Hezbollah agent in a Bern suburb. Four agents were freed, but the fifth was tried, found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison, and following his release was banned from entering Switzerland for five years.\\nSoviet Union/Russia\\nMossad was involved in outreach to Refuseniks in the Soviet Union during the crackdown on Soviet Jews in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Mossad helped establish contact with Refuseniks in the USSR, and helped them acquire Jewish religious items, banned by the Soviet government, in addition to passing communications into and out of the USSR. Many rabbinical students from Western countries travelled to the Soviet Union as part of this program in order to establish and maintain contact with refuseniks.\\nUkraine\\nIn February 2011, a Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi , was allegedly pulled off a train by Mossad agents en route to the capital Kiev from Kharkiv . He had been planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, and reappeared in an Israeli jail only 3 weeks after the incident.\\nMiddle East\\nA report published on the Israeli military’s official website in February, 2014 said that Middle Eastern countries that cooperate with Israel (Mossad) are the United Arab Emirates , Afghanistan , the Republic of Azerbaijan , Bahrain and Saudi Arabia . The report claimed that Bahrain has been providing Israel with intelligence on Iranian and Palestinian organizations. The report also highlights the growing secret cooperation with Saudi Arabia, claiming that Mossad has been in direct contact with Saudi intelligence about Iran ’s nuclear energy program. [44] [45] [46]\\nEgypt\\nProvision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.\\nMossad spy Wolfgang Lotz , holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his cold war espionage activities.\\nAfter a tense May 25, 1967 confrontation with CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director Meir Amit flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel “a flickering green light” to attack. [47]\\nOperation Bulmus 6 – Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition .[ citation needed ]\\nOperation Damocles – A campaign of assassination and intimidation against German rocket scientists employed by Egypt in building missiles.\\nIran\\nPrior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service was created under the guidance of United States and Israeli intelligence officers in 1957.\\nAfter security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Iran , Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, “training SAVAK personnel and carrying out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK.”\\nA US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007. This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev . The Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown.\\nLe Figaro claimed that Mossad was possibly behind a blast at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Imam Ali military base, on October 12, 2010. The explosion at the base killed 18 and injured 10 others. Among the dead was also general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam , who served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program and was a crucial figure in building Iran’s long-range missile program.\\nThe base is believed to store long-range missiles, including the Shahab-3 , and also has hangars. It is one of Iran’s most secure military base.\\nIranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has accused Mossad of assassination plots and killings of Iranian physicists in 2010. Reports have noted that such information has not yet been evidently proven. Iranian state TV broadcast a stated confession from Majid Jamali-Fash, an Iranian man who claimed to have visited Israel to be trained by Mossad.\\nMossad has been accused of assassinating Masoud Alimohammadi , Ardeshir Hosseinpour , Majid Shahriari , Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan ; scientists involved in the Iranian nuclear program . It is also suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi .\\nMeir Dagan , who served as Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2009, while not taking credit for the assassinations, praised them in an interview with a journalist, saying “the removal of important brains” from the Iranian nuclear project had achieved so-called “white defections ,” frightening other Iranian nuclear scientists into requesting that they be transferred to civilian projects.\\nIn early February 2012, Mossad director Tamir Pardo met with U.S. national security officials in Washington, D.C. to sound them out on possible American reactions in the event Israel attacked Iran over the objections of the United States.\\nIraq\\nMiG-21 at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim\\n \\nAssistance in the defection and rescuing of the family of Munir Redfa , an Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his MiG-21 to Israel in 1966: “ Operation Diamond “. Redfa’s entire family was also successfully smuggled from Iraq to Israel. Previously unknown information about the MiG-21 was subsequently shared with the United States.\\nOperation Sphinx – Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France.\\nOperation Bramble Bush II – In the 1990s, Mossad began scouting locations in Iraq where Saddam Hussein could be ambushed by Sayeret Matkal commandos inserted into Iraq from Jordan . The mission was called off due to Operation Desert Fox and the ongoing Israeli-Arab peace process.\\nJordan\\nIn what is thought to have been a reprisal action for a Hamas suicide-bombing in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997 that killed 16 Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu authorised an operation against Khaled Mashal , the Hamas representative in Jordan. On September 25, 1997, Mashal was injected in the ear with a toxin (thought to have been a derivative of the synthetic opiate Fentanyl called Levofentanyl). Jordanian authorities apprehended two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists and trapped a further six in the Israeli embassy. In exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to Amman and deliver an antidote for Mashal. The fallout from the failed killing eventually led to the release of Sheik Ahmed Yassin , the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners. Netanyahu flew into Amman on September 29 to apologize personally to King Hussein, but was met instead by the King’s brother, Crown Prince Hassan.\\nLebanon\\nThe provision of intelligence and operational assistance in the 1973 Operation Spring of Youth special forces raid on Beirut .\\nThe sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif . Sharif was severely wounded, but survived.\\nThe targeted killing of Ali Hassan Salameh , the leader of Black September , on January 22, 1979 in Beirut by a car bomb.\\nThe killing of the Palestinian writer and leading PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani , also by a car bomb, in 1972.\\nProviding intelligence for the killing of Abbas al-Musawi , secretary general of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 1992.\\nAllegedly killed Jihad Ahmed Jibril , the leader of the military wing of the PFLP-GC, in Beirut in 2002.\\nAllegedly killed Ali Hussein Saleh , member of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 2003.\\nAllegedly killed Ghaleb Awwali , a senior Hezbollah official, in Beirut in 2004.\\nAllegedly killed Mahmoud al-Majzoub , a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad , in Sidon in 2006.\\nMossad was suspected of establishing a large spy network in Lebanon, recruited from Druze , Christian , and Sunni Muslim communities, and officials in the Lebanese government, to spy on Hezbollah and its Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors. Some have allegedly been active since the 1982 Lebanon War . In 2009, Lebanese Security Services supported by Hezbollah’s intelligence unit, and working in collaboration with Syria , Iran , and possibly Russia, launched a major crackdown which resulted in the arrests of around 100 alleged spies “working for Israel”. Previously, in 2006, the Lebanese army uncovered a network that allegedly assassinated several Lebanese and Palestinian leaders on behalf of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.\\nSyria\\nEli Cohen infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government, was a close friend of the Syrian President, and was considered for the post of Minister of Defense. He gave his handlers a complete plan of the Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights , the Syrian Armed Forces order of battle, and a complete list of the Syrian military’s weapons inventory. He also ordered the planting of trees by every Syrian fortified position under the pretext of shading soldiers, but the trees actually served as targeting markers for the Israel Defense Forces. He was discovered by Syrian and Soviet intelligence, tried in secret, and executed publicly in 1965.\\nHis information played a crucial role during the Six Day War .\\nOn 1 April 1978, 12 Syrian military and secret service personnel were killed by a sophisticated Israeli listening device planted on the main telephone cable between Damascus and Jordan.\\nThe alleged death of General Anatoly Kuntsevich, who from the late 1990s was suspected of aiding the Syrians in the manufacture of VX nerve-gas, in exchange for which he was paid huge amounts of money by the Syrian government. On April 3, 2002, Kuntsevich died mysteriously during a plane journey, amid allegations that Mossad was responsible.\\nThe alleged killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil , a senior member of the military wing of Hamas , in an automobile booby trap in September 2004 in Damascus .\\nThe uncovering of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria as a result of surveillance by Mossad of Syrian officials working under the command of Muhammad Suleiman. As a result, the Syrian nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israeli Air Forces in September 2007 (see Operation Orchard ), while Suleiman was assassinated by Israel a year later.\\nThe alleged killing of Muhammad Suleiman , head of Syria’s nuclear program, in 2008. Suleiman was on a beach in Tartus and was killed by a sniper firing from a boat.\\nOn July 25, 2007, the al-Safir chemical weapons depot exploded, killing 15 Syrian personnel as well as 10 Iranian engineers. Syrian investigations blamed Israeli sabotage.\\nThe alleged killing of Imad Mughniyah , a senior leader of Hezbollah complicit in the 1983 United States embassy bombing , with an exploding headrest in Damascus in 2008.\\nThe decomposed body of Yuri Ivanov, the deputy head of the GRU , Russia’s foreign military intelligence service, was found on a Turkish beach in early August 2010, amid allegations that Mossad may have played a role. He had disappeared while staying near Latakia, Syria.\\nUnited Arab Emirates\\nMossad is suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh , a senior Hamas military commander, in January 2010 at Dubai , United Arab Emirates . The team which carried out the killing is estimated, on the basis of CCTV and other evidence, to have consisted of at least 26 agents traveling on bogus passports. The operatives entered al-Mabhouh’s hotel room, where Mabhouh was subjected to electric shocks and interrogated.\\nThe door to his room was reported to have been locked from the inside.\\nAlthough the UAE police and Hamas have declared Israel responsible for the killing, no direct evidence linking Mossad to the crime has been found. The agents’ bogus passports included six British passports, cloned from those of real British nationals resident in Israel and suspected by Dubai, five Irish passports, apparently forged from those of living individuals, forged Australian passports that raised fears of reprisal against innocent victims of identity theft, a genuine German passport and a false French passport. Emirati police say they have fingerprint and DNA evidence of some of the attackers, as well as retinal scans of 11 suspects recorded at Dubai airport. Dubai’s police chief has said “I am now completely sure that it was Mossad,” adding: “I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad,” for the murder.\\nAfrica\\nMorocco\\nIn September 1956, Mossad established a secretive network in Morocco to smuggle Moroccan Jews to Israel after a ban on immigration to Israel was imposed.\\nIn early 1991, two Mossad operatives infiltrated the Moroccan port of Casablanca and planted a tracking device on the freighter Al-Yarmouk, which was carrying a cargo of North Korean missiles bound for Syria . The ship was to be sunk by the Israeli Air Force , but the mission was later called off by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin .\\nTunisia\\nThe 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a founder of Fatah .\\nThe alleged killing of Salah Khalaf , head of intelligence of the PLO and second in command of Fatah behind Yasser Arafat , in 1991.\\nUganda\\nFor Operation Entebbe in 1976, Mossad provided intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport [91] and extensively interviewed hostages who had been released.\\nSouth Africa\\nIn the late 1990s, after Mossad was tipped off to the presence of two Iranian agents in Johannesburg on a mission to procure advanced weapons systems from Denel , a Mossad agent was deployed, and met up with a local Jewish contact. Posing as South African intelligence, they abducted the Iranians, drove them to a warehouse, and beat and intimidated them before forcing them to leave the country.\\nSudan\\nAfter the 1994 AMIA bombing , the largest bombing in Argentine history, Mossad began gathering intelligence for a raid by Israeli Special Forces on the Iranian embassy in Khartoum as retaliation. The operation was called off due to fears that another attack against worldwide Jewish communities might take place as revenge. Mossad also assisted in Operation Moses , the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel from a famine-ridden region of Sudan in 1984, also maintaining a relationship with the Ethiopian government.\\nAsia\\nPakistan\\nIn a September 2003 news article, it was alleged by Rediff News that General Pervez Musharaf, the then-President of Pakistan, decided to establish a clandestine relationship between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mossad via officers of the two services posted at their embassies in Washington, DC.\\nNorth Korea\\nMossad may have been involved in the 2004 explosion of Ryongchon , where several Syrian nuclear scientists working on the Syrian and Iranian nuclear-weapons programs were killed and a train carrying fissionable material was destroyed.\\nOceania\\nFurther information: Israel-New Zealand relations\\nIn July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australian based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents.\\nBoth Kelman and Cara served half of their six-month sentences and, upon release, were deported to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze’ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but they both managed to leave New Zealand before being apprehended.\\nShare this:\",\n \"Israel Intelligence Agencies | Jewish Virtual Library\\nIsrael Intelligence & Security: Intelligence Agencies. Intelligence & Security: Table of Contents ... One of the world’s best known intelligence agencies, ...\\nIsrael Intelligence Agencies | Jewish Virtual Library\\nTweet\\nAmanMilitary Intelligence\\nAman, or Agaf Hamodein in Hebrew, produces comprehensive national intelligence briefings for the prime minister and the cabinet, daily intelligence reports, risk-of-war estimates, target studies on nearby Arab countries, and communications intercepts. It also handles cross-border operations. The organization uses reconnaissance commando teams behind enemy lines, aerial reconnaissance and military attaches stationed in overseas embassies to gather intelligence.\\nThe Shin Bet\\nSherut Habitachon Haklali (Shabak), better known as the Shin Bet, is Israels internal counterespionage and counterterrorist agency. It’s motto, inscribed on the organization seal, is “Defends and Shall Not Be Seen.” It is responsible for the security and protection of Israels prime minister and other governmental leaders as well as of defense industries, sensitive economic locations and Israeli installations abroad. The Shin Bet, which is sometimes compared to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), also handles overall security for Israels national airline, El Al.\\nIn August 2014 following Operation Protective Edge, the Shin Bet announced that it had foiled a major Hamas plot to carry out massive terror attacks in Israel and overthrow the Palestinian Authority in hopes of starting a third intifada. Shin Bet arrested around 90 Hamas operatives in the search for the three kidnapped teens that sparked Operation Protective Edge, and also seized dozens of weapons and over $170,000 cash that was earmarked for funding terrorist attacks. During the questioning of these arrested Hamas members the Shin Bet was able to get confessions that Hamas had been planning a large scale attack on Israeli sites including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. They stated that Hamas planned on staging a wide string of attacks against Israel, overthrowing Abbas's Palestinian Authority government, and then turning to Israel as a third intifada erupted. The leader of this operation was reportedly going to be Hamas operative Riad Nasser. \\nThe Mossad\\nOne of the worlds best known intelligence agencies, the Mossad (short for Hamossad Lemode’in Ule’tafkidim Meyuchadim) uses agents to collect intelligence, conduct covert operations and counterterrorism. Its primary focus is on the Arab nations and pro-Arab organizations. According to published accounts, the Mossad has eight departments; the largest of these is the Collections Department, which is responsible for espionage operations and has offices abroad under both diplomatic and unofficial cover.\\nA clandestine operations branch, Metzada, executes delicate actions (including assassinations and sabotage) against foreign targets that are considered a significant threat to Israeli national security.\\nThe Political Action and Liaison Department conducts political activities and relations with friendly foreign intelligence services and nations with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.\\nLechima Psichologit, the department known as LAP, covers the ever-growing sphere of psychological warfare and propaganda.\",\n \"Mossad.txt\\nMossad\\nMossad (,; , '; literally meaning \\\"the Institute\\\"), short for ' (, meaning \\\"Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations\\\"), is the national intelligence agency of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security).\\n\\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister.\\n\\nOrganization\\n\\nExecutive offices\\n\\nThe largest department of Mossad is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial. The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working with allied foreign intelligence services, and nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities. Metsada is the sabotage unit responsible for attacking the enemy, which is different from the assassination unit.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nMossad was formed on December 13, 1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah. Ben Gurion wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services—the army's intelligence department (AMAN), the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), and the foreign office's \\\"political department\\\". In March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime minister's office, reporting directly to the prime minister.\\n\\nMotto\\n\\nMossad's former motto, be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh () is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): \\\"For by wise guidance you can wage your war\\\" (NRSV). The motto was later changed to another Proverbs passage: be-'éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō'éts (, Proverbs 11:14). This is translated by NRSV as: \\\"Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.\\\"\\n\\nCounter-terrorist units\\n\\nThe Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as \\\"an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community.\\\" The unit only recruits from \\\"former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units.\\\" \\n\\nDirectors\\n\\n* Reuven Shiloah, 1949–53\\n* Isser Harel, 1953–63\\n* Meir Amit, 1963–68\\n* Zvi Zamir, 1968–73\\n* Yitzhak Hofi, 1973–82\\n* Nahum Admoni, 1982–89\\n* Shabtai Shavit, 1989–96\\n* Danny Yatom, 1996–98\\n* Efraim Halevy, 1998–2002\\n* Meir Dagan, 2002–2011\\n* Tamir Pardo, 2011–2016\\n* Yossi Cohen, 2016–present\\n\\nOperations\\n\\nAmericas\\n\\nArgentina\\n\\nIn 1960, Mossad discovered that the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina. A team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and through surveillance, confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11, 1960 and taken to a hideout. He was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as the violation of its sovereignty, and the United Nations Security Council noted that \\\"repetition of acts such as [this] would involve a breach of the principles upon which international order is founded, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust incompatible with the preservation of peace\\\" while also acknowledging that \\\"Eichmann should be brought to appropriate justice for the crimes of which he is accused\\\" and that \\\"this resolution should in no way be interpreted as condoning the odious crimes of which Eichmann is accused.\\\"Argentina claimed that the \\\"illicit and clandestine transfer of Eichmann from Argentine territory constitutes a flagrant violation of the Argentine State's right of sovereignty[.]\\\" Bass, Gary J. (2004.) The Adolf Eichmann Case: Universal and National Jurisdiction. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.4) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. In Eichmann's case, the most salient feature from the perspective of international law was the fact of Israeli law enforcement action in another state's territory without consent; the human element includes the dramatic circumstances of the capture by Mossad agents and the ensuing custody and transfer to Israel[.] Damrosch, Lori F. (2004.) Connecting the Threads in the Fabric of International Law. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.5) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. The principle of territorial integrity (in Art. 2(4) UN Charter) At its most obvious level this means that the exercise of enforcement jurisdiction within the territory of another state will be a violation of territorial integrity 32 Note 32: E.g. after Adolf Eichmann [...] was abducted from Argentina by a group of Israelis, now known to be from the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad), the Argentine Government lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council [...] It is however unclear whether as a matter of international law the obligation to make reparation for a violation of territorial sovereignty such as that involved in the Eichmann case includes an obligation to return the offender.\\nHiggins, Rosalyn and Maurice Floy. (1997). Terrorism and International Law. UK: Routledge. (p. 48) Mossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele. \\n\\nUnited States\\n\\nDuring the 1990s, Mossad discovered a Hezbollah agent operating within the United States in order to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U.S. intelligence, the agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that he would betray more Hezbollah operatives, but was eventually arrested. \\n\\nMossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that based on its intelligence as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning \\\"a major assault on the United States.\\\" The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a \\\"large-scale target\\\" in the United States and that Americans would be \\\"very vulnerable.\\\" However, \\\"It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response.\\\" A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.\\n\\nUruguay\\n\\nMossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs in 1965. \\n\\nEurope\\n\\nAustria\\n\\nMossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole. \\n\\nBelgium\\n\\nMossad is alleged to be responsible for the killing of Canadian engineer and ballistics expert Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. He was shot multiple times in the head outside his Brussels apartment. Bull was at the time working for Iraq on the Project Babylon supergun. Others, including Bull's son, believe that Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. Iraq and Iran are also candidates for suspicion. \\n\\nBosnia and Herzegovina\\n\\nAssisted in air and overland evacuations of Bosnian Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992 and 1993. \\n\\nCyprus\\n\\nThe killing of Hussein Al Bashir in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1973 in relation to the Munich massacre. \\n\\nFrance\\n\\nMossad allegedly assisted Morocco's domestic security service in the disappearance of dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965. \\n\\nCherbourg Project - Operation Noa, the 1969 smuggling of five Sa'ar 3-class missile boats out of Cherbourg.\\n\\nThe killing of Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, coordinator of the Munich massacre, with an exploding telephone in his Paris apartment in 1972.\\n\\nThe killing of Dr. Basil Al-Kubaissi, who was involved in the Munich massacre, in Paris in 1973.\\n\\nThe killing of Mohammad Boudia, member of the PFLP, in Paris in 1973.\\n\\nOn April 5, 1979, Mossad agents are believed to have triggered an explosion which destroyed 60 percent of components being built in Toulouse for an Iraqi reactor. Although an environmental organization, Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast, most French officials discount the claim. The reactor itself was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981. \\n\\nThe alleged killing of Zuheir Mohsen, a pro-Syrian member of the PLO in 1979. \\n\\nThe killing of Yehia El-Mashad, the head of the Iraq nuclear weapons program, in 1980. \\n\\nThe alleged killing of Atef Bseiso, a top intelligence officer of the PLO in Paris in 1992. French police believe that a team of assassins followed Atef Bseiso from Berlin, where that first team connected with another team to close in on him in front of a Left Bank hotel, where he received three head-shots at point blank range. \\n\\nGermany\\n\\nOperation Plumbat (1968) was an operation by Lekem-Mossad to further Israel's nuclear program. The German freighter \\\"Scheersberg A\\\" disappeared on its way from Antwerp to Genoa along with its cargo of 200 tons of yellowcake, after supposedly being transferred to an Israeli ship.[http://intellit.muskingum.edu/israel_folder/israelplumbat.html ISRAEL The Plumbat Operation (1968)] retrieved 10/12/2008\\n\\nThe sending of letter bombs during the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. A Mossad letter bomb led to fugitive Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner losing 4 fingers from his right hand in 1980. \\n\\nThe alleged targeted killing of Dr Wadie Haddad, using poisoned chocolate. Haddad died on 28 March 1978, in the German Democratic Republic supposedly from leukemia. According to the book Striking Back, published by Aharon Klein in 2006, Haddad was eliminated by Mossad, which had sent the chocolate-loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die several months later. \\\"It took him a few long months to die\\\", Klein said in the book.\\n\\nMossad discovered that Hezbollah had recruited a German national named Steven Smyrek, and that he was travelling to Israel. In an operation conducted by Mossad, the CIA, the German Internal Security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), and the Israeli Internal Security agency Shin Bet, Smyrek was kept under constant surveillance, and arrested as soon as he landed in Israel. \\n\\nMossad is alleged to have been involved in industrial espionage in Germany. In the late 1990s, the head of the BfV reportedly warned his department chiefs that Mossad remained a prime threat in stealing the country's latest computer secrets.Thomas, Gordon: Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad (Fifth Edition)\\n\\nGreece\\n\\nThe killing of Zaiad Muchasi, Fatah representative to Cyprus, by an explosion in his Athens hotel room in 1973.\\n\\nIreland\\n\\nThe assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh - a senior Hamas military leader - in Dubai, 2010, was suspected to be the work of Mossad, and there were eight Irish passports (six of which were used) fraudulently obtained by the Israeli embassy in Dublin, Ireland for use by apparent Mossad agents in the operation. The Irish government was angered over the use of Irish passports, summoned the Israeli ambassador and expelled the Israeli diplomat deemed responsible from Dublin, following an investigation. One of the passports was registered to a residence on Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, on the same road as the Israeli embassy. The house was empty when later searched, but there was suspicion it had been used as a Mossad safe house in the past. Mossad is reported to have a working relationship with Ireland's national intelligence agency, the Directorate of Military Intelligence, and has previously tipped the Irish authorities off about arms shipments from the Middle East to Ireland for use by dissident republican militants, resulting in their interception and arrests. Mossad is also believed to cooperate with the British government in combating IRA terrorism, including involvement in Operation Flavius, 1988. \\n\\nItaly\\n\\nThe killing of Wael Zwaiter, thought to be a member of Black September. \\n\\nIn 1986, Mossad used an undercover agent to lure nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu from the United Kingdom to Italy in a honey trap style operation where he was abducted and shipped to Israel where he was tried and found guilty of treason because of his role in exposing Israel's nuclear programme.\\n\\nMalta\\n\\nThe killing of Fathi Shiqaqi. Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was shot several times in the head in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema, Malta. \\n\\nNorway\\n\\nOn July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, was killed by Mossad agents. He had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh, one of the leaders of Black September, the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich massacre, who had been given shelter in Norway. Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports, which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident came to be known as the Lillehammer affair. Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki's family. \\n\\nUnited Kingdom\\n\\nMossad assisted the UK Intelligence organisation MI5 following the 7/7 bombings in London. According to the 2007 edition of a book about Mossad titled Gideon’s Spies, shortly after the 7/7 London underground bombings, MI5 gathered evidence that a senior al-Qaeda operative known only by the alias Mustafa travelled in and out of Britain shortly before the 7/7 bombings. For months, the real identity of Mustafa remained unknown, but in early October 2005, Mossad told MI5 that this person was, in fact, Azhari Husin, a bomb-making expert with Jemaah Islamiyah, the main al-Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia. Husin studied in Britain and reports claim that he met the main 7/7 bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan, in late 2001 in a militant training camp in the Philippines (see Late 2001). Meir Dagan, the then head of Mossad, apparently also told MI5 that Husin helped plan and recruit volunteers for the bombings. Mossad claimed that Husin may have been in London at the time of the bombings, and then fled to al-Qaeda’s principal haven in the tribal area of Pakistan, where he sometimes hid after bombings. Husin was killed in a shootout in Indonesia in November 2005. Later official British government reports about the 7/7 bombings did not mention Husin. \\n\\nIn addition, Gideon's Spies also claimed that Mossad conducted industrial espionage in the UK, and that shortly after Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister, MI5 briefed him on Mossad's efforts to obtain British scientific and defense data.\\n\\nSwitzerland\\n\\nAccording to secret CIA and US State Department documents discovered by the Iranian students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979:\\n\\nIn February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught wiretapping the home of a Hezbollah agent in a Bern suburb. Four agents were freed, but the fifth was tried, found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison, and following his release was banned from entering Switzerland for five years. \\n\\nSoviet Union/Russia\\n\\nMossad was involved in outreach to Refuseniks in the Soviet Union during the crackdown on Soviet Jews in the period between the 1950s and the 1980s. Mossad helped establish contact with Refuseniks in the USSR, and helped them acquire Jewish religious items, banned by the Soviet government, in addition to passing communications into and out of the USSR. Many rabbinical students from Western countries travelled to the Soviet Union as part of this program in order to establish and maintain contact with refuseniks.\\n\\nUkraine\\n\\nIn February 2011, a Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi, was allegedly pulled off a train by Mossad agents en route to the capital Kiev from Kharkiv. He had been planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, and reappeared in an Israeli jail only three weeks after the incident. \\n\\nMiddle East\\n\\nA report published on the Israeli military’s official website in February, 2014 said that Middle Eastern countries that cooperate with Israel (Mossad) are the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The report claimed that Bahrain has been providing Israel with intelligence on Iranian and Palestinian organizations. The report also highlights the growing secret cooperation with Saudi Arabia, claiming that Mossad has been in direct contact with Saudi intelligence about Iran’s nuclear energy program. \\n\\nEgypt\\n\\n*Provision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.\\n*Mossad spy Wolfgang Lotz, holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his cold war espionage activities.\\n*After a tense May 25, 1967 confrontation with CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director Meir Amit flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel \\\"a flickering green light\\\" to attack. \\n*Provision of intelligence on the Egyptian Air Force for Operation Focus, the opening air strike of the Six-Day War.\\n* Operation Bulmus 6 – Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition.\\n* Operation Damocles – A campaign of assassination and intimidation against German rocket scientists employed by Egypt in building missiles.\\n** A bomb sent to the Heliopolis rocket factory killed five Egyptian workers, allegedly sent by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad. \\n** Heinz Krug, 49, the chief of a Munich company supplying military hardware to Egypt disappeared in September 1962 and is believed to have been assassinated by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad.\\n\\nIran\\n\\nPrior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service was created under the guidance of United States and Israeli intelligence officers in 1957. After security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Iran, Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, \\\"training SAVAK personnel and carrying out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK.\\\" \\n\\nA US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007. This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev. The Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown. \\n\\nLe Figaro claimed that Mossad was possibly behind a blast at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Imam Ali military base, on October 12, 2010. The explosion at the base killed 18 and injured 10 others. Among the dead was also general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, who served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program and was a crucial figure in building Iran’s long-range missile program. The base is believed to store long-range missiles, including the Shahab-3, and also has hangars. It is one of Iran's most secure military bases. \\n\\nIranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has accused Mossad of assassination plots and killings of Iranian physicists in 2010. Reports have noted that such information has not yet been evidently proven. Iranian state TV broadcast a stated confession from Majid Jamali-Fashi, an Iranian man who claimed to have visited Israel to be trained by Mossad. \\n\\nMossad has been accused of assassinating Masoud Alimohammadi, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan; scientists involved in the Iranian nuclear program. It is also suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi. Meir Dagan, who served as Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2009, while not taking credit for the assassinations, praised them in an interview with a journalist, saying \\\"the removal of important brains\\\" from the Iranian nuclear project had achieved so-called \\\"white defections,\\\" frightening other Iranian nuclear scientists into requesting that they be transferred to civilian projects.\\n\\nIn early February 2012, Mossad director Tamir Pardo met with U.S. national security officials in Washington, D.C. to sound them out on possible American reactions in the event Israel attacked Iran over the objections of the United States. \\n\\nIraq\\n\\nAssistance in the defection and rescuing of the family of Munir Redfa, an Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his MiG-21 to Israel in 1966: \\\"Operation Diamond\\\". Redfa's entire family was also successfully smuggled from Iraq to Israel. Previously unknown information about the MiG-21 was subsequently shared with the United States.\\n\\nOperation Sphinx – Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France.\\n\\nOperation Bramble Bush II – In the 1990s, Mossad began scouting locations in Iraq where Saddam Hussein could be ambushed by Sayeret Matkal commandos inserted into Iraq from Jordan. The mission was called off due to Operation Desert Fox and the ongoing Israeli-Arab peace process.\\n\\nJordan\\n\\nIn what is thought to have been a reprisal action for a Hamas suicide-bombing in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997 that killed 16 Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu authorised an operation against Khaled Mashal, the Hamas representative in Jordan. On September 25, 1997, Mashal was injected in the ear with a toxin (thought to have been a derivative of the synthetic opiate Fentanyl called Levofentanyl). Jordanian authorities apprehended two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists and trapped a further six in the Israeli embassy. In exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to Amman and deliver an antidote for Mashal. The fallout from the failed killing eventually led to the release of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners. Netanyahu flew into Amman on September 29 to apologize personally to King Hussein, but he was instead met by the King's brother, Crown Prince Hassan.\\n\\nLebanon\\n\\nThe provision of intelligence and operational assistance in the 1973 Operation Spring of Youth special forces raid on Beirut.\\n\\nThe sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif. Sharif was severely wounded, but survived. \\n\\nThe targeted killing of Ali Hassan Salameh, the leader of Black September, on January 22, 1979 in Beirut by a car bomb. \\n\\nThe killing of the Palestinian writer and leading PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani, also by a car bomb, in 1972.\\n\\nProviding intelligence for the killing of Abbas al-Musawi, secretary general of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 1992.\\n\\nAllegedly killed Jihad Ahmed Jibril, the leader of the military wing of the PFLP-GC, in Beirut in 2002. \\n\\nAllegedly killed Ali Hussein Saleh, member of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 2003. \\n\\nAllegedly killed Ghaleb Awwali, a senior Hezbollah official, in Beirut in 2004. \\n\\nAllegedly killed Mahmoud al-Majzoub, a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in Sidon in 2006. \\n\\nMossad was suspected of establishing a large spy network in Lebanon, recruited from Druze, Christian, and Sunni Muslim communities, and officials in the Lebanese government, to spy on Hezbollah and its Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors. Some have allegedly been active since the 1982 Lebanon War. In 2009, Lebanese Security Services supported by Hezbollah's intelligence unit, and working in collaboration with Syria, Iran, and possibly Russia, launched a major crackdown which resulted in the arrests of around 100 alleged spies \\\"working for Israel\\\". Previously, in 2006, the Lebanese army uncovered a network that allegedly assassinated several Lebanese and Palestinian leaders on behalf of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. \\n\\nSyria\\n\\nEli Cohen infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government, was a close friend of the Syrian President, and was considered for the post of Minister of Defense. He gave his handlers a complete plan of the Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights, the Syrian Armed Forces order of battle, and a complete list of the Syrian military's weapons inventory. He also ordered the planting of trees by every Syrian fortified position under the pretext of shading soldiers, but the trees actually served as targeting markers for the Israel Defense Forces. He was discovered by Syrian and Soviet intelligence, tried in secret, and executed publicly in 1965. His information played a crucial role during the Six Day War.\\n\\nOn 1 April 1978, 12 Syrian military and secret service personnel were killed by a booby trapped sophisticated Israeli listening device planted on the main telephone cable between Damascus and Jordan. \\n\\nThe alleged death of General Anatoly Kuntsevich, who from the late 1990s was suspected of aiding the Syrians in the manufacture of VX nerve-gas, in exchange for which he was paid huge amounts of money by the Syrian government. On April 3, 2002, Kuntsevich died mysteriously during a plane journey, amid allegations that Mossad was responsible.\\n\\nThe alleged killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil, a senior member of the military wing of Hamas, in an automobile booby trap in September 2004 in Damascus. \\n\\nThe uncovering of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria as a result of surveillance by Mossad of Syrian officials working under the command of Muhammad Suleiman. As a result, the Syrian nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israeli Air Forces in September 2007 (see Operation Orchard), while Suleiman was assassinated by Israel a year later.\\n\\nThe alleged killing of Muhammad Suleiman, head of Syria's nuclear program, in 2008. Suleiman was on a beach in Tartus and was killed by a sniper firing from a boat. \\n\\nOn July 25, 2007, the al-Safir chemical weapons depot exploded, killing 15 Syrian personnel as well as 10 Iranian engineers. Syrian investigations blamed Israeli sabotage.\\n\\nThe alleged killing of Imad Mughniyah, a senior leader of Hezbollah complicit in the 1983 United States embassy bombing, with an exploding headrest in Damascus in 2008.\\n\\nThe decomposed body of Yuri Ivanov, the deputy head of the GRU, Russia's foreign military intelligence service, was found on a Turkish beach in early August 2010,[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7973346/Top-Russian-spys-body-washes-up-after-swimming-accident.html Top Russian spy’s body washes up 'after swimming accident’], Telegraph amid allegations that Mossad may have played a role. He had disappeared while staying near Latakia, Syria. \\n\\nUnited Arab Emirates\\n\\nMossad is suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander, in January 2010 at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The team which carried out the killing is estimated, on the basis of CCTV and other evidence, to have consisted of at least 26 agents traveling on bogus passports. The operatives entered al-Mabhouh's hotel room, where Mabhouh was subjected to electric shocks and interrogated. The door to his room was reported to have been locked from the inside. Although the UAE police and Hamas have declared Israel responsible for the killing, no direct evidence linking Mossad to the crime has been found. The agents' bogus passports included six British passports, cloned from those of real British nationals resident in Israel and suspected by Dubai, five Irish passports, apparently forged from those of living individuals, forged Australian passports that raised fears of reprisal against innocent victims of identity theft, a genuine German passport and a false French passport. Emirati police say they have fingerprint and DNA evidence of some of the attackers, as well as retinal scans of 11 suspects recorded at Dubai airport. Dubai's police chief has said \\\"I am now completely sure that it was Mossad,\\\" adding: \\\"I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad,\\\" for the murder. \\n\\nAfrica\\n\\nMorocco\\n\\nIn September 1956, Mossad established a secretive network in Morocco to smuggle Moroccan Jews to Israel after a ban on immigration to Israel was imposed. \\n\\nIn early 1991, two Mossad operatives infiltrated the Moroccan port of Casablanca and planted a tracking device on the freighter Al-Yarmouk, which was carrying a cargo of North Korean missiles bound for Syria. The ship was to be sunk by the Israeli Air Force, but the mission was later called off by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. \\n\\nTunisia\\n\\nThe 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a founder of Fatah. \\n\\nThe alleged killing of Salah Khalaf, head of intelligence of the PLO and second in command of Fatah behind Yasser Arafat, in 1991. \\n\\nUganda\\n\\nFor Operation Entebbe in 1976, Mossad provided intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport and extensively interviewed hostages who had been released. \\n\\nSouth Africa\\n\\nIn the late 1990s, after Mossad was tipped off to the presence of two Iranian agents in Johannesburg on a mission to procure advanced weapons systems from Denel, a Mossad agent was deployed, and met up with a local Jewish contact. Posing as South African intelligence, they abducted the Iranians, drove them to a warehouse, and beat and intimidated them before forcing them to leave the country. \\n\\nSudan\\n\\nAfter the 1994 AMIA bombing, the largest bombing in Argentine history, Mossad began gathering intelligence for a raid by Israeli Special Forces on the Iranian embassy in Khartoum as retaliation. The operation was called off due to fears that another attack against worldwide Jewish communities might take place as revenge. Mossad also assisted in Operation Moses, the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel from a famine-ridden region of Sudan in 1984, also maintaining a relationship with the Ethiopian government.\\n\\nAsia\\n\\nPakistan\\n\\nIn a September 2003 news article, it was alleged by Rediff News that General Pervez Musharaf, the then-President of Pakistan, decided to establish a clandestine relationship between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mossad via officers of the two services posted at their embassies in Washington, DC.\\n\\nNorth Korea\\n\\nMossad may have been involved in the 2004 explosion of Ryongchon, where several Syrian nuclear scientists working on the Syrian and Iranian nuclear-weapons programs were killed and a train carrying fissionable material was destroyed.\\n\\nOceania\\n\\nNew Zealand\\n\\nIn July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australian based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents. Both Kelman and Cara served half of their six-month sentences and, upon release, were deported to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze'ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but they both managed to leave New Zealand before being apprehended. \\n\\nIn fiction\\n\\nIn book 4 of Mark Greaney's Gray Man series, Dead Eye, Mossad and the CIA partner to capture the world's most feared and lethal rogue former black ops agent Courtland Gentry.\\n*Since the episode \\\"Kill Ari (Part 1)\\\", Mossad has played an instrumental part in the American show NCIS. Mossad's presence includes one of the main characters, Agent Ziva David, who is a former Mossad Agent. She originally filled the position of Mossad liaison to NCIS, until the end of Season 7, when she became a full-time NCIS agent. Her father, Eli David, was the director of Mossad, until the Season 10 episode Shabbat Shalom, when he was killed. Many other characters have been included in the show from Mossad, including Michael Rivkin and Ari Haswari. Some episodes of the show have taken place in Israel.\\n*The TV series Covert Affairs also had a Mossad Agent Eyal Lavin as a recurring character.\\n*The TV series The Blacklist also has Mossad Agent Navabi as one of the side characters.\\n*In the 2001 film Swordfish, lead character Gabriel Shear (played by John Travolta) is believed to be a Mossad agent.\",\n \"North Africa & Middle East - International Action Center\\n... the North African country ... When Secretary of State John Kerry met on June 22 with Gen. Abdel Fattah el ... The ferocious storm of uprisings in North Africa ...\\nNorth Africa & Middle East\\nNorth Africa & Middle East\\nRallies demand freedom for Aafia Siddiqui\\nIn Boston on March 8 and in New York City on March 11, the first two of four national rallies demanded that the U.S. government “Free Aafia Siddiqui” and allow her to return to her family in Pakistan. Framed in a U.S. court in 2010, she has been serving an 86-year sentence at Carswell Federal Prison ever since....\\nMar 6, 2016\\nImperialists provoke crisis for refugees\\nEven though the Aegean Sea in winter is cold and rough, conditions for migrants in Turkey are so harsh that over 102,000 of them have crossed the narrow waters from Turkey to the Greek islands since Jan. 1, according to an estimate of the International Organization of Migrants....\\nFeb 25, 2016\\nTruce? Keep your guard up\\nThe news that the Obama administration has finally agreed to a partial truce over Syria with Russia did not bring true relief to those concerned about the Syrian people or about the danger of a wider war. The confrontation between nuclear powers was at least postponed, and it may get worse yet. The anti-war and anti-imperialist movement in the United States better stay on the alert....\\nFeb 25, 2016\\nU.S. bombs Libya — again\\nOver 40 people were killed by Pentagon F-15E fighter jets in a bombing operation Feb. 19 in Sabratha, Libya, which was said to have targeted an Islamic State group (I.S.) training camp. The air strike, 50 miles west of Tripoli, was aimed at I.S. operative and Tunisian national Noureddine Chouchane, who had been linked to an attack on the Bardo Museum in neighboring Tunisia in March 2015. He was accused of arranging the arrival of I.S. operatives in Libya....\\nFeb 21, 2016\\nU.S. continues endless war in Afghanistan\\nUsing smoke and mirrors in Afghanistan, the Obama administration is seeking to convince the world that there will be “an eventual drawdown” of U.S. and NATO forces. A closer look at U.S. imperialism’s strategic goals of a “pivot to Asia” reveals that the 15-year war’s goals include obtaining an economic foothold in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders Iran, Pakistan, China, and the rich oil and gas resources of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia....\\nFeb 21, 2016\\nWith attack on Libya planned, U.S.-NATO flag waves over Europe\\nParticipating (as is now required) in the meeting of European Union defense ministers on Feb. 5 in Amsterdam, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised U.S. “plans to substantially increase their military presence in Europe, by increasing four times the amount they spend on military presence in Europe, so they can fund more troops in the Eastern part of the Alliance, so they can finance the prepositioning of heavy equipment, tanks, armored vehicles and other kinds of heavy equipment. And also more exercises and more investments in infrastructure.” In this way, according to Stoltenberg, “EU-NATO cooperation is reinforced.” [nato.int, Feb. 5]...\\nFeb 13, 2016\\nPeace talks collapse, aggression continues against Syria\\nAs the war against Syria draws closer to entering its fifth year, peace talks have once again fallen apart, as anticipated. The Western powers, right- wing regional regimes such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and the terrorist-ridden opposition refuse to recognize Syria’s sovereignty in the fight against such reactionary forces as the Islamic State group (I.S.), Al Nusra and the Islamic Front. Those seeking to overthrow the Syrian government call for a ceasefire while they themselves continue to bomb and destroy Syria....\\nFeb 5, 2016\\nPentagon, NATO plan renewed war on Libya\\nGen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Jan. 23 that the United States is preparing a renewed military campaign in Libya with its imperialist allies. Dunford’s narrative provides a rationale and political justification for a permanent imperialist occupation of the region, thus negating the right of self-determination for the states involved....\\nJan 22, 2016\\nSyria and ISIS: Some anti-imperialist observations and analysis\\nWith the mid-November ISIS-claimed terrorist attacks in Paris, and even more since the California shootings, there has been a constant stream of reports, official government statements and politicians’ remarks about ISIS and the war against Syria. There have also been reports of French, U.S., Russian and Syrian government air bombing raids on ISIS targets in Syria....\\nJan 11, 2016\\nA co-founder of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) in 1954 has died in exile in Switzerland....\\nDec 31, 2015\\nSaudi women’s struggle\\nNo country on earth is more brutal and oppressive in its treatment of women than Saudi Arabia. The Saudi state, which is officially controlled by men of the royal family, has kept women encased and immobilized in a poisonous web of binding religious and legal restrictions, like the victims of a monstrous spider....\\nDec 31, 2015\\nA Saudi-led coalition supported by the U.S. continued to bomb Yemen on Dec. 17 despite announcements of a ceasefire....\\nDec 21, 2015\\nVietnamese tour U.S. in appeal for Agent Orange victims\\n“Who will take care of them? That is my question.” Tran Thi Hoan posed this on World Human Rights Day, Dec. 10. This computer science professional from Central Vietnam is touring the U.S. with a delegation from the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin. She spoke at a meeting at the Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center 1199....\\nDec 17, 2015\\nDec. 20: About Trump and more\\nThe anti-Trump demonstration in New York City planned for Dec. 20 could not come at a more crucial time, not only for the movement and the workers in the U.S. but also globally. Initiated by the International Action Center, this demonstration is being embraced and endorsed by a growing number of progressive, anti-racist and anti-imperialist groups, including Muslims....\\nDec 12, 2015\\nEuropeans protest war escalation against Syria\\nThousands of people marched in England, Spain and Germany in the last eight days to try to stop their governments from joining the U.S. war against Syria. Despite these protests, both the German and the British parliaments voted to send troops and aircraft to the region to join the bombing campaign....\\nDec 10, 2015\\nBehind the San Bernardino shootings\\nThe Dec. 3 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., which claimed the lives of 14 county workers and injured 21 others, occurred less than a week after a mass shooting Nov. 27 at the Colorado Springs, Colo., Planned Parenthood facility. There, it was a “lone gunman” (white) who killed three people and wounded nine others. In San Bernardino, however, the official FBI narrative says the alleged shooters expressed sympathy with the group known as the Islamic State group (often called ISIS or I.S.). Why did this deadly attack happen and how can others be prevented?...\\nDec 8, 2015\\nUSAF veterans stand strong against drone warfare\\nThe secret war using drones operates throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The veterans stated that the program has “fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to [the prison at] Guantánamo Bay.”...\\nDec 2, 2015\\nU.S.-NATO get out, stay out of Syria!\\nThe Turkish regime’s decision to ambush and shoot down a Russian SU-24 bomber on the Syrian-Turkish border north of Latakia has spotlighted the risk of a larger war in Southwest Asia. Boosting this threat is French President François Hollande’s orders to step up the French bombing of Syria. Right behind French imperialism, British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling for a Europe-wide intervention in the region. Both use the Nov. 13 attack in Paris as a pretext for this new aggression, which is ostensibly aimed at the Islamic State group or I.S....\\nNov 18, 2015\\nHistoric crimes of the French military\\nMany young people in Paris were innocent victims of the Nov. 13 attack, but that doesn’t mean that the French imperialist state is innocent. While the 1789 French Revolution raised the idealistic slogans of liberty, equality and fraternity, French imperialism, which developed from that bourgeois revolution, has a bloody history across the world. The actions of the French ruling class have created many enemies, but it is the ordinary people, not the elites, who pay the price....\\nNov 18, 2015\\nSay no to Muslim bashing!\\nThe news from France is grim. The immediate response of the French government to the terrible attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, which killed 129 people and wounded hundreds more, was to send planes to bomb Raqqa in Syria, a city of 200,000 people....\\nNov 18, 2015\\nU.S., France raise threat of wider war over Syria\\nThe series of attacks in Paris claimed by ISIS have riveted world attention. But the most urgent question the working class faces is: “Will the imperialist camp use the attacks as a pretext for wider war?” Using as cover the great sympathy for the hundreds of innocent people who were shot and the 129 who died, the Western imperialist governments may put tens of thousands of other lives at risk....\\nNov 15, 2015\\nWE MUST NOT ALLOW THE PARIS ATTACKS TO BE USED AS A PRETEXT FOR RACISM & WAR -- MASS PROTEST\\nWe mourn for those who were killed and injured in Paris on Friday. But mourning is not enough. We must also remember that what happened in Paris is yet another terrible example of the bitter fruits that are the fallout from endless war, occupation, shock-and-awe bombings, and regime change. ...\\nNov 15, 2015\\nDon’t let them use Paris as a pretext!\\nJust counting recent catastrophes, The International Action Center mourns the tragic loss of 30 people killed by U.S. airstrikes on a charity hospital in Afghanistan; the 224 passengers and crew lost on a Russian plane that exploded over Egypt; the 102 lives cut short by an attack on a Peace Rally in Ankara, Turkey; the 34 killed in Beirut; the many, many families blasted by U.S. drone attacks on wedding parties across West Asia and Africa, and the thousands who have died trying to cross the Mediterranean as they flee war and the loss of lives and homes....\\nNov 14, 2015\\nLET SYRIA LIVE\\nJust a month after the Pentagon admitted that its $500 million program to arm and train “Arab opposition forces” in Syria has failed, with only four or five so-called fighters trained, the Obama administration announced that some 50 U.S. Special Forces “advisers” are being sent to Syria....\\nNov 10, 2015\\nErdogan regime wins election by waging war\\nThe government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Progress Party (AKP) has re-won a majority in the Turkish parliament. Its election campaign included renewed war on the Kurdish people and violent attacks across the country on the headquarters of the leftist People’s Democratic Party (HDP), along with arrests and intimidation of many journalists and hundreds of political activists....\\nOct 24, 2015\\nFreedom will come to Palestine\\nThe situation in the Middle East has been a hotbed of chaos for some time now. From the unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the quagmire you have now in Syria regarding the Islamic State group. Not even Yemen has been spared from the imperialist forces interfering in the self-determination of its peoples. There is one struggle, however, that has remained since 1948, and that is the struggle for the liberation of Palestine from the grip of the cruel Zionist police state....\\nOct 24, 2015\\nU.N. Security Council authorizes EU naval attack in the Mediterranean on migrant ships\\nA further militarization in the Mediterranean has been approved through a resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 9. By a 14 to 1 vote, European Union naval forces were empowered to purportedly halt and turn back vessels transporting migrants across the Mediterranean into Southern Europe. Only the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela abstained in the decision. Millions of people have been dislocated throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the worst refugee crisis since the conclusion of World War II....\\nOct 17, 2015\\nRainer Rupp about ‘Able Archer,’ his work in NATO headquarters, the Syrian War and the conflict with Russia\\nIn the early 1990s he was “most wanted.” The Attorney General at that time called it the “biggest search operation of the German Federal Republic’s police services in the postwar period.” Rainer Rupp, under the code name “Topaz,” had delivered highly sensitive information from NATO headquarters in Brussels to the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (HVA) of the German Democratic Republic. Rupp was arrested in 1993 and sentenced by the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) in Dusseldorf to 12 years’ imprisonment. He was released in the year 2000. The superspy, who turned 70 on Sept. 21, gave the following interview to Karlen Vesper of the newspaper Neues Deutschland....\\nOct 12, 2015\\nU.S. Syria Strategy suffers setback\\nWashington and the European Union countries have spent more than four years in an orchestrated effort of “regime change” in Syria. Now they howl in protest because on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria against forces trying to overthrow Syria’s government....\\nSep 29, 2015\\nTurkish regime opens fire on Kurds, leftists\\nThe Turkish government, as well as admittedly fascist elements, have opened a broad attack on democratic organizations throughout western Turkey. Meanwhile, the Turkish army has continued its assault on the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK), both guerrillas and civilians, in the majority Kurdish southeast of the country....\\nSep 28, 2015\\nTens of thousands of migrants are living under precarious conditions in Hungary and Croatia as well as other states in the European Union....\\nSep 15, 2015\\nU.S.-backed ground war intensifies in Yemen\\nAn escalating ground war is taking place for control of Yemen, the most underdeveloped state in the Middle East. Reports claim that United Arab Emirates Special Forces have been on the ground in the country fighting against the Shiite-led Ansurallah Movement, also called Houthis. ...\\nSep 13, 2015\\nIran deal: Imperialists search for new strategy\\nhe agreement was the product of negotiations between the Iranian government and what are called the P5+1 — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. Four of the six are imperialist countries that have fought major wars among themselves to recarve the world: the U.S., Britain, France and Germany....\\nSep 9, 2015\\nU.S. wars caused refugee crisis\\nU.S. wars, starvation sanctions and planned destabilization are the overwhelming cause of the surge of hundreds of thousands of war refugees flooding across European borders and across the Mediterranean Sea. The major European-NATO powers collaborated with U.S. imperialism in each war....\\nSep 2, 2015\\nBoston demonstrators demand peace for Syria\\nThe Syrian American Forum mobilized people to gather in Copley Square in Boston to call on the Obama administration to help end the ongoing war in Syria. A group of Syrians and their supporters demonstrated on Aug. 29 outside of the Boston Public Library to demand peace for Syria....\\nSep 1, 2015\\nMigrant crisis in Europe: Who caused it?\\nBehind the horror stories about the treatment of migrants trying to reach Europe is the imperialist system of exploitation of their countries of origin, the policies exacerbating this exploitation and the imperialist wars that made their home countries unlivable for them and their children....\\nAug 26, 2015\\nSeven thousand refugees arrived in July on the small Greek island of Kos, some 2.5 miles off the Turkish coast, according to the International Organization for Migration. The flow of refugees increased in August....\\nAug 25, 2015\\nFortress Europe kills\\nIf there were an election for France’s head of state today, Marine Le Pen with her neofascists [the National Front] would have a good chance of winning the vote. Polls place her with around 30 percent, winning either first or second place, and a victory in the runoff election no longer seems impossible. In Sweden, too, the influence of the racists continues. For the first time the “Sweden Party” was the strongest force in a survey published on Aug. 20 by the daily newspaper Metro....\\nAug 21, 2015\\nA video released last week showing the beating and torture of Saadi Gadhafi is not an anomaly in contemporary Libya where the Pentagon and NATO waged a war of regime change in 2011....\\nAug 17, 2015\\nEmigration and war: Capitalist media suppress the obvious\\nThe reports about tens of thousands of desperate refugees scrambling out of the Middle East and North Africa, trying to reach some place in Europe, are excruciatingly painful. The number who have drowned along the way or died of thirst or hunger is unknown. Others survive these perilous journeys on overloaded boats only to be captured and either interned or turned back at the borders. Photographs show them to be thin, often to the point of emaciation, with few possessions other than the threadbare clothes on their backs....\\nAug 12, 2015\\nRole of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan\\nThe Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK) has been involved in a guerrilla war against the oppressive Turkish regime since 1984. Originally defined as a Marxist-Leninist organization with the goal of an independent Kurdistan — Kurds make up 18 percent of the total 83 million people in Turkey and are a majority in the southeast — over the last decade the PKK has dropped Marxist-Leninist ideology and set its goal as autonomy within Turkey....\\nJul 18, 2015\\nThe agreement reached July 14 between Iran and the “5+1,” the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China) plus Germany, is a huge achievement — for Iran....\\nJul 11, 2015\\nCall for mass actions to stop Saudi bombing of Yemen\\nThe Pentagon-backed and -coordinated bombing campaign has killed thousands and wounded thousands more in Yemen since the air war by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council began on March 26. The Pentagon is providing intelligence, refueling technology and diplomatic cover to the Riyadh-based alliance....\\nJun 14, 2015\\nEven though peace talks are slated to begin on June 14 in Geneva between the major parties involved in the conflict over control of Yemen, the fighting rages on inside this underdeveloped Middle Eastern state....\\nJun 5, 2015\\nNYC - Sat., June 13: Rally & Speak-Out: Stop U.S. Proxy Wars from Yemen to Donbass\\nToday U.S.-made and paid-for missiles and bombs are raining down on people around the world. Washington funds violent right-wing movements from Venezuela to Syria to Macedonia. It is interfering in a regional dispute in the South China Sea to threaten China. It is establishing more military bases in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Here at home, U.S. police kill and brutalize people of color....\\nJun 2, 2015\\nThis report is one of several eyewitness accounts provided by International Action Center and FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together) youth activist Caleb Maupin, who took part in a humanitarian aid mission to Yemen in May....\\nMay 24, 2015\\nI Have Witnessed A Crime Against Humanity! - A Message from Caleb Maupin in the Port of Djibouti\\nFrom the Port of Djibouti in North Africa, it is with great sadness and burning outrage that I announce that the voyage of the Iran Shahed Rescue Ship has concluded. We will not reach our destination at the Port of Hodiedah in Yemen to deliver humanitarian aid....\\nMay 23, 2015\\n‘Stop the Saudi bombing of Yemen’\\nWell over a hundred people, most from the local Yemeni community, marched and rallied on May 16 against the Saudi bombing and devastation of Yemen. They gathered at the United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, marched down Market Street to the busy shopping area at Powell Street, and then returned to the U.N. Plaza for a rally....\\nMay 23, 2015\\nEgypt’s military ruling class tightened its grip over the country on May 16 as three judges imposed death sentences on the former president, Mohamed Morsi, and 105 other people....\\nMay 20, 2015\\nCall White House! Let Red Crescent ship with humanitarian supplies to Yemen pass! No Blockade!\\nThe US and Saudi Arabia are threatening to attack a humanitarian aid ship on the high seas! International observers, including US citizens,are aboard. This would be piracy and an act of war! Call the White House now at 202-456-1414 and 202-456-1111 and say: Let the aid ship pass!...\\nMay 14, 2015\\nI have just heard what the US officials have said, and I must say that I and all the other peace activists aboard the Iran Shahed are filled with burning outrage....\\nMay 14, 2015\\nVietnam’s Ho Chi Minh: ‘On lynching & the Ku Klux Klan’\\nThis May 19 will mark the 125th birthday anniversary of the great anti-imperialist leader, Ho Chi Minh. “Uncle Ho” was a leader of the National Liberation Front, a people’s army that defeated both French and U.S. military invaders in Vietnam. In honor of this legendary figure and the current Black Lives Matter uprising, the IAC is printing the following excerpts from a report made by this Vietnamese communist at the Fifth Congress of the Communist International gathering held in July 1924 in Moscow during the “National and Colonial Question” session. He died in 1969, six years before Vietnam’s liberation from U.S. imperialism. Go to tinyurl.com ....\\nMay 12, 2015\\nWhy I'm Aboard The Rescue Ship - A Message from Caleb Maupin in the Persian Gulf\\nWhy am I out at sea on the other side of the world? I am part of a humanitarian mission being carried out by the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are attempting to bring medical supplies, flour, and water to the people of Yemen....\\nMay 11, 2015\\nUS Anti-War Activists Join Iranian Humanitarian Mission to Yemen\\nA ship containing over 2,500 tons of flour, rice, and medicine is departing from the Islamic Republic of Iran. The delegation of doctors, journalists, and activists organized by the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran intends to deliver this much needed humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen, who are facing a horrific bombing campaign from Saudi Arabia....\\nApr 8, 2015\\nThe agreed nuclear framework negotiated between the Iranian government and an unholy alliance of imperialist bandits, in addition to China, must be put in proper perspective....\\nMar 31, 2015\\nFour years of Syrian resistance to imperialist takeover\\nU.S. efforts to overturn the government of Syria have now extended into a fifth year. It is increasingly clear that thousands of predictions reported in the corporate media by Western politicians, think tanks, diplomats and generals of a quick overturn and easy destruction of Syrian sovereignty have been overly optimistic, imperialist dreams. But four years of sabotage, bombings, assassinations and a mercenary invasion of more than 20,000 fighters recruited from over 60 countries have spread great ruin and loss of life....\\nMar 27, 2015\\nTwo deeply related issues that are of concern to anti-imperialists have been stirring U.S. capitalist politics....\\nFeb 27, 2015\\nPFLP leadership meets with U.S. delegation\\nComrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, deputy general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Comrade Abu Sami Marwan, member of the Political Bureau of the PFLP, met with a U.S. delegation to Syria, which arrived in Damascus on Tuesday [Feb. 24]. The delegation was headed by Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general, and included U.S. leftist activists and leaders, including former member of Congress Cynthia McKinney and Sara Flounders, director of the International Action Center [headquartered] in New York City....\\nFeb 19, 2015\\nSaudi oil and U.S. hypocrisy\\nFew events expose the utter hypocrisy of U.S. politicians’ grand words about democracy so starkly as their praise for the recently deceased King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. For decades U.S. imperialism and all the imperialist powers have given political, military and diplomatic support to the corrupt feudal family that rules Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil....\\nJan 27, 2015\\nOn Jan. 21, the apartheid Zionist regime of Benjamin Netanyahu was authorized by the United Nations General Assembly to host the first-ever conference devoted to the rise of worldwide “anti-Semitism.”...\\nJan 22, 2015\\nPentagon deploys more troops\\nWith an air of absolute cynicism, the Pentagon announced on Jan. 16 that it will send 400 combat troops and 600 other personnel to the Mideast to train Syrian so-called “moderates” to fight forces of the Islamic State (ISIL). Congress has allocated $5 billion to fund this program....\\nJan 21, 2015\\nMore protests took place throughout the Muslim world after the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo once again highlighted a cover cartoon that was deliberately offensive to Islam....\\nJan 19, 2015\\nWe are NOT Charlie Hebdo!\\nNeither do we condone the bombings and murder of journalists at their headquarters, however much we are repulsed by their racist, chauvinist and hateful Islamophobic caricatures of oppressed people. Neither do we condone the subsequent murders at the Paris Kosher supermarket....\\nJan 14, 2015\\nFrench imperialism’s brutal colonial rule\\nJan. 11, the French imperialist bourgeoisie mobilized and manipulated a massive demonstration in all the country’s major cities under hypocritical slogans extolling Western civilization and alleged “freedom of speech.” Their goal — which they share with U.S. and European Union imperialism — is a reactionary modern crusade against colonial peoples, mostly Muslims, in the guise of a “war on terror.”...\\nJan 13, 2015\\nCharlie Hebdo, the free press and racism\\nHow do we put in perspective the international media focus on the massacre of 12 journalists in Paris on Jan. 7 at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, notorious for its racist anti-Muslim caricatures and lack of response to the routine, daily, racist police murders of Black youth in the U.S.? Why were any protests banned in France of 15 journalists who were killed among the 2,000 deaths in the Israeli assault of Gaza this past summer? Don’t those lives matter?...\\nJan 12, 2015\\nBehind the attack in Paris\\nHow does someone living in a Muslim or Middle Eastern country feel about the furor raised over the attack on Charlie Hebdo, the French magazine? Can they not be keenly aware of this double standard in the media and politics of the so-called free, democratic world? Think about the Palestinians. They’re not for Al Qaeda, but they must be saying, “Where was this level of anger and condemnation when Gaza was being bombed every single day last summer by the Israelis? Don’t our lives matter?” ...\\nJan 7, 2015\\nMOSCOW CONFERENCE STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH NOVOROSSIYA, PALESTINE AND BLACK AMERICA\\nA conference on the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multipolar World was held in Moscow on Dec. 13, 2015, hosted by the Antiglobalization Movement of Russia. The conference brought together activists from Novorossiya (the Donetsk and Lugansk ), TransDniester, Iran, Syria, the Serb Republic, Italy, the United States and several regions of the Russian Federation. The conference was opened by AGM President Alexander Ionov. Other speakers included Oleg Tsarev, the speaker of the Parliament of Novorossia and Alexander Kofman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk People’s Republic. ...\\nDec 14, 2014\\nNATO powers threaten re-attack on Libya\\nRecent reports claim that Islamic State camps have been set up in Libya, the North African country in chaos after the U.S./NATO-led bombing and ground war in 2011 ousted the Gadhafi government and destroyed Africa’s most prosperous and stable state....\\nDec 9, 2014\\nEgypt’s military regime set to free Mubarak\\nIn 2011, a heroic mass revolution deposed U.S.-supported Egyptian dictator Gen. Hosni Mubarak. This uprising was an inspiration to poor and oppressed people all over the world. Its current assassins — which include the new military regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. imperialism — deserve the condemnation of all progressive and justice-seeking people everywhere....\\nDec 7, 2014\\nSupport the campaign to get Italy out of NATO. [in English/Italian/French]\\nItaly, as part of NATO, must allocate an average of $65 million a day to military spending, according to official NATO data, although the number according to SIPRI is $90 million per day. According to the commitments made by the government in the framework of the Alliance, Italian military spending will increase to over $120 million per day (100 million euro)....\\nNov 1, 2014\\nA nation in fear\\nLook at the United States. Really. Look at it.\\nFrom north to south, east to west; from “sea to shining sea,” you’ll see the frenzy of fear. Fear of Ebola. Fear of ISIS. Fear of “crime.” Fear of — fear....\\nOct 15, 2014\\nIn ‘war on ISIS,’ the main enemy is at home\\nThe Turkish government decided Oct. 12 to permit U.S. fighter-bombers to launch attacks on Syrian targets from Incirlik Air Force Base near the Turkish-Syrian border. This decision marked the latest escalation of the U.S.-led “war on ISIS.” It is a further step toward a major U.S. invasion into Syria and Iraq....\\nOct 12, 2014\\nIt is rare that a U.S. politician reveals any important fact. It is especially rare to reveal one that exposes U.S. propaganda when it is being used to justify a new war of aggression....\\nOct 2, 2014\\nIsraeli soldiers refuse orders against Palestinians\\nSome 43 members of an elite Israeli Defense Force intelligence unit, many still on active duty, sent an open letter of protest to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sept. 12, in which they refuse to spy on the Palestinian people. It states:...\\nSep 17, 2014\\nWhy Obama’s ‘war on ISIS’ must be opposed\\nPresident Barack Obama announced Sept.10 that the U.S. military would build an international coalition to make “war on the Islamic State.” He said there were already 10 countries in this coalition. Administration spokespeople on the Sept. 14 Sunday morning talk shows said they were still building the coalition. The next morning a conference of 30 countries opened in Paris on this theme....\\nSep 11, 2014\\nImperialist heads of state at the Sept. 4-5 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, met under U.S. pressure to escalate their anti-Russia maneuvers regarding Ukraine, to schedule their gradual exit from Afghanistan and to open war on the Islamic State....\\nSep 9, 2014\\nImperialist heads of state at the Sept. 4-5 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, met under U.S. pressure to escalate their anti-Russia maneuvers regarding Ukraine, to schedule their gradual exit from Afghanistan and to open war on the Islamic State....\\nSep 5, 2014\\nNATO opens its curtain of war on two fronts\\nThe Summit of Heads of State and Government of the 28 states of NATO opens today in Newport, Wales, where these leaders will take key decisions “to ensure NATO is prepared to address current and future security challenges” that they attribute to “military aggression of Russia against Ukraine” and “growth of extremism and sectarian conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.” In this “crucial” summit, the United States, which retains the undisputed leadership in NATO, and its European allies will mobilize simultaneously on two war fronts. (Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s press conference)...\\nSep 4, 2014\\nProtests begin at NATO Summit\\nThousands of anti-war marchers descended on Newport, Wales, on Aug. 30 for the beginning of a week of protests against the NATO Summit scheduled there for Sept. 4 and 5. Organizers have said they expect 20,000 people in the Welsh city by Sept. 4....\\nSep 4, 2014\\nFreedom fighters?\\nBeware the fickle nature of imperialist propaganda. The political line of the corporate media is apt to flip-flop. Consider the latest revelations in late August that up to 1,000 volunteers from Western countries, including some from the United States, have been fighting in Syria against its government. Most of these volunteers are fighting within military units of the group now known as the Islamic State....\\nAug 27, 2014\\nStop the U.S. drive to war!\\nEach day the Barack Obama administration draws closer to escalating U.S. military intervention in Iraq and extending it to Syria. Already having bombed Iraq for the first time since 2011, the Pentagon admits to sending surveillance drones into Syrian airspace. At the same time Washington and its imperialist allies are pouring weapons into the Iraqi regional Kurdish government in Erbil and, now that Nuri al-Maliki has resigned his post as prime minister under pressure from Washington, into the new pro-West regime in Baghdad....\\nAug 20, 2014\\nThe following message of solidarity was issued Aug. 19 by the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home coalition, which is organizing for the freedom of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. ...\\nAug 15, 2014\\nSan Francisco Bay Area people and organizations in solidarity with Gaza announced “a massive and powerful ‘Boat Blockade’ for Aug. 16 to block the Israeli Zim ship from unloading in Oakland!”...\\nAug 13, 2014\\nU.S. reopens war on Iraq\\nPresident Barack Obama has now become the fourth successive U.S. president to order the bombing of Iraq, this time with a “humanitarian” pretext. But it soon became clear that Obama’s “humanitarian” excuse was as much a lie as the pretexts raised by the other three U.S. presidents and that the bombing was aimed at defending U.S. imperialism’s corporate and strategic interests....\\nAug 10, 2014\\nAs tens of thousands today marched for Gaza worldwide from Dublin to Caracas to Washington, over 10,000 protesters in New York City, the world center of finance capital, marched to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza...\\nAug 8, 2014\\nSome of the fiercest attacks on Gaza have been Israeli attacks on the Egyptian-Gaza border crossing at Rafah. More than 100 Palestinians were killed in Rafah between Aug. 1 and 3, including 10 children at a well-marked school...\\nAug 8, 2014\\nLetter from an IDF vet\\nI was a member of the Israeli military from 1972 to 1975 and took part in the illegal Zionist occupations of Palestine, Egypt and Syria as well as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. I have witnessed firsthand the steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinian people along with their allies from other Arab communities....\\nAug 6, 2014\\nThe world movement in solidarity with Palestine must join hands in demanding the complete lifting of the brutal Israeli siege of Gaza and full reconstruction....\\nAug 1, 2014\\nHezbollah leader calls for unity to aid Gaza\\nHezbollah General Secretary Sayed Hassan Nasrallah made a major speech on al-Quds Day, July 25, in Beirut, Lebanon. The IAC is publishing lightly edited excerpts from an unofficial transcription and translation made in Lebanon. It focuses on Nasrallah’s evaluation of the fighting in Gaza as a failure for Israel and a victory for the resistance and also on his call to all Arabs and Arab governments, whatever other disagreements they may have, to come together to support the people of Gaza....\\nJul 31, 2014\\nGaza, Syria, & Iraq: War MADE IN U.S.-- Making the connections; Upstate New York Speaking Tour\\nIsrael’s brutal assault on the people of Gaza, targeting mostly children and civilians while destroying hospitals, schools, infrastructure, and mosques, has been built and paid for by the US. On July 18, every US Senator voted unanimously to support Israel’s attacks and increase funding to the Israeli army, now over $3.5 billion yearly. US and Israel’s goal is clear, defeat the Palestinians and weaken Gaza’s elected leadership, Hamas. Yet the Palestinian people, strengthened by a massive worldwide solidarity movement, have continued to fight back....\\nJul 24, 2014\\nInt'l Working Women's Coalition statement: “Let Gaza Live! Stop U.S.-backing of Zionist terror!”\\nThe International Working Women's Coalition, which for the past 10 years has commemorated International Working Women's Day in New York City, stands with the world's working and oppressed peoples in solidarity with the heroic people of Gaza who are resisting the heinous atrocities by the fascistic, Zionist regime, especially the Israeli Defense Forces....\\nJul 23, 2014\\nWorldwide solidarity with Gaza\\nOften the corporate media use the term “international community” to give weight to an opinion that is really the opinion of a handful of imperialist heads of state — from the U.S., its major NATO allies and Japan. Since the Israeli assault on Gaza began, the real international community is coming out into the streets, sometimes defying police violence, to show its solidarity with Gaza and Palestine and protest....\\nJul 22, 2014\\nHamas’ conditions for ceasefire\\nThe Alternative Information Center describes itself as “an internationally oriented, progressive, joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization, located in Beit Sahour and Jerusalem.” As of July 20, a group of more than 200 Israelis had sent a letter to the European Council, Commission and the European Parliament calling on the EU to pressure Israel to accept Hamas’ terms of truce. And it had also gathered 725 Israeli signers as of July 21 on a Hebrew/Arabic online petition supporting Hamas’ conditions as a basis for immediate and direct negotiations....\\nJul 10, 2014\\nIsrael prepares criminal invasion of Gaza\\nThe Israeli apartheid state has called up as many as 40,000 reserve troops to prepare for an all-out invasion of the Gaza territory, where 1.5 million Palestinians live. Because of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the territory has been described as “the largest open-air prison in the world.”...\\nJul 9, 2014\\nAlgerian soccer heroes shine for Gaza\\nAlgeria’s soccer team competing in the World Cup in Brazil took the prize this year. No, not for winning the cup, although it’s true the Fennec Foxes got further along in the tournament than ever before. The prize the Foxes won was that of advancing the politics of the World Cup spectacle....\\nJul 7, 2014\\nStop Israeli assault!\\nJuly 1 — Early this morning, the Israeli authorities used the death of three Israeli teenagers as the pretext to begin a major assault on Palestinian organizations and civilians in the West Bank and Gaza. Every voice should be raised against this assault....\\nJun 28, 2014\\nJune 20 is World Refugee Day. This year, a report issued by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees revealed that the number of displaced persons has reached a post-World-War-II high....\\nJun 28, 2014\\nEgypt, Israel: tools of imperialism\\nWhen Secretary of State John Kerry met on June 22 with Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the coup leader who now claims the presidency of Egypt, he proclaimed that things are now “normal” in Egypt so that el-Sisi can receive the official blessings of the U.S. government. This means the U.S. will continue to bankroll the Egyptian military to the immediate tune of $575 million, money that had been “frozen,” with lots more to come. It didn’t matter to Kerry or his masters in the U.S. ruling class that another 183 people, most of them in the Muslim Brotherhood, just received a mass death sentence from the regime....\\nJun 25, 2014\\nThirty-five years of U.S. subversion, intervention and then direct occupation of Iraq are the primary cause of the violent sectarian divisions now pulling that country apart....\\nJun 24, 2014\\nSyria election observers at UN: Elections ‘big defeat’ for U.S.\\nAn official United Nations press conference featuring five U.S. observers of the June 3 Syrian presidential elections was held on June 18. The briefing, held at the U.N. headquarters here, featured Joe Iosbaker of the Anti-war Committee — Chicago; Paul Larudee of the Syria Solidarity Movement; blogger Jane Stillwater; Judy Bello, founder of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars; and Scott Williams of Fight Imperialism, Stand Together and the International Action Center. These activists joined a distinguished group of observers from 32 countries who visited polling places across Syria....\\nJun 20, 2014\\nYesterday at 11am, the Syrian Mission to the United Nations convened a press conference featuring people from the US who observed the recent elections....\\nJun 19, 2014\\nIAC Statement on IRAQ: U.S. Caused Iraq’s present war and chaos\\nWith the outbreak of fighting from Mosul to Tikrit putting Iraq back onto the front burner of world media coverage and with the Obama administration threatening air strikes in Iraq once again, anti-war organizations and activists in the United States must take a clear position against further U.S. intervention of any type. Broad opposition must again be mobilized to demand:...\\nJun 12, 2014\\nSyria’s elections: Big setback to imperialist war plans\\nNearly 12 million Syrians cast their ballots on June 3 at 9,601 open polling sites across Syria and in Syrian embassies around the world. With a turnout of 72 percent, President Bashar al-Assad from the Ba’ath Party won over 88 percent of the vote....\\nJun 11, 2014\\nBowe Bergdahl: hero or scapegoat?\\nU.S. imperialism’s political switches can be breathtaking. It only took two days for Bowe Bergdahl to change from a diplomatic tool to a political football.\\nThat dizzying switch has one positive result: It helps expose the reactionary character of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and gives an opportunity to review U.S. imperialism’s role in that country....\\nJun 8, 2014\\nSyrian people elect president by wide margin amid insurgent attacks\\nOn June 3, nearly 12 million Syrians cast their ballots at one of the 9,601 polling sites across Syria. With turnout out at 72 percent, including the millions of Syrian refugees who live across the world, President Bashar al-Assad from the Ba’ath Party won the election with over 88 percent of the vote. Defeated was communist legislator Maher Hajjar, known for leading the protest movement in spring 2011 which called for better programs and assistance for the poor, who had 3.2 percent of the votes. Prominent businessman Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri also ran and received 4.3 percent....\\nJun 5, 2014\\nImperialism & elections in Syria, Egypt & Ukraine\\nWhy is the election in Syria so important that U.S. government officials have condemned it before it takes place? Why, at the same time, have U.S. officials embraced and applauded the results of elections organized by the military coup government of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt and the election by the fascist coup forces of billionaire oligarch Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine?...\\nJun 4, 2014\\nNo to U.S intervention in Syrian election\\nWhat makes this election unique is that it can help protect the sovereignty, even the existence of this country. It can help end the bloody war that has drained the lifeblood of the country. It is seen as a essential step toward national reconciliation....\\nMay 29, 2014\\nThe International Action Center is supporting the following panels at Left Forum this year....\\nMay 27, 2014\\nProtests say: ‘Stop U.S. march to war’’\\n“No to fascism in Ukraine! No war with Russia!” was the theme of the International Action Center protest in New York’s Times Square on May 26, Memorial Day. The demonstrators’ determination to denounce U.S. aggression and the expansion of NATO into Ukraine contrasted with the general mood of the sunny spring holiday. Speakers at the rally demanded hands off the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and expressed solidarity with the anti-fascist fighters there. Representatives of South American liberation struggles in Venezuela and Honduras spoke, aligning with those in Eastern Europe fighting against U.S. imperialism. Anti-war soldiers denounced the Pentagon on Memorial Day and called for people to remember those murdered by fascists in Ukraine. After more than an hour in Times Square, the demonstration set off for CNN headquarters, about a mile away. Signs opposing the U.S. war machine and militant slogans got a great reception from many tourists and passersby as the demonstration moved up Broadway....\\nApr 8, 2014\\nSeminar in Mexico: Fighting U.S. intervention takes front burner\\nSome 260 leftist political activists from 39 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean but including people from around the world, gathered in Mexico City from March 27 to 29. They joined hundreds from the hosting Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo or PT) at its 18th International Seminar. Some 100 speakers, from a broad range of left political positions, spoke on many subjects with a common thread: the danger posed by Washington’s aggressive posture toward all countries south of the U.S. border and especially toward the Bolivarian government of Venezuela....\\nApr 4, 2014\\nWorkers are striking in both the private and public sectors in Egypt and students are demanding jobs in Tunisia. While students in Kenya won their strike, the demands of transport workers in Nairobi have not yet been met....\\nFeb 13, 2014\\nSyria: U.S. imperialism and diplomacy\\nThe much ballyhooed Geneva II peace talks, which were supposed to bring about peace in Syria, ended on Jan. 31 with no agreement for one very good reason: The U.S had no intention of seeking any real peace agreement, but was intent on using the forum as a background for propaganda and as a way to deceive and weaken the Syrian government....\\nJan 30, 2014\\nFor nearly seven months in 2011, NATO planes — particularly from the U.S., France, Britain and Canada — carried out a massive bombing campaign in Libya intended to overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi....\\nJan 11, 2014\\nEgypt sets referendum as coup regime cracks down on activists\\nA 50-person committee to draft an amended Egyptian constitution completed its work. The military-appointed regime that came to power through an army coup on July 3 of last year is encouraging people to vote in the upcoming national referendum on Jan. 14-15....\\nJan 11, 2014\\nInternational meeting to seek justice for Iraq\\nAn increase in deaths in Iraq from internal fighting and bombing doubled in 2013 from a year earlier, reaching levels unseen since 2008. In early January, the Nouri al-Maliki regime launched an attack on demonstrators in Falluja and Ramadi, using the alleged presence of al-Qaida as a pretext and asking for U.S. military aid....\\nDec 18, 2013\\nPulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour M. Hersh has written a detailed and devastating exposure of the U.S. government’s manipulation of military intelligence to create a pretext for the war it very nearly unleashed against Syria last September....\\nDec 7, 2013\\nWhat’s at stake with the Iran nuclear treaty?\\nThe six-month nuclear agreement among Iran and the “5+1” countries has been described as a breakthrough, a departure, a disaster or a betrayal, depending on the speaker. Much of the language of the agreement reached in Geneva on Nov. 24 reeks of imperialist arrogance....\\nDec 5, 2013\\nThe capitalist press is busy speculating on the motives of the People’s Republic of China in setting up an Air Defense Information Zone that covers the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea....\\nNov 19, 2013\\nWas drone strike’s goal to wreck peace talks?\\nA missile launched from a CIA drone killed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Hakimullah Mehsud in northwest Pakistan. This Nov. 1 strike occurred just 18 hours before a planned invitation to a conference between Taliban leaders and the Pakistan government. The conference was designed to end the long and bloody civil war in that country. (Inter Press Service, Nov. 7)...\\nNov 3, 2013\\nIAC condemns Israeli air strike against Syria\\nThe International Action Center condemns the strike by Israeli planes or missiles of Syrian territory near the coastal city of Latakia on Oct. 31. This is at least the third time this year that Israeli forces have bombed or hit targets inside Syria, according to media and U.S. government sources....\\nOct 22, 2013\\nIn a reversal of its usual role, Human Rights Watch on Oct. 11 released a report that exposed and condemned rebel groups fighting against the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria....\\nOct 21, 2013\\nSolidarity message from NWFN to Syrian Women - Español-English-Arabic\\nFrom the United States, women who belong to the National Women's Fightback Network of the International Action Center send a warm and caring embrace to the brave people of Syria and especially to the women. It is the women and the children who suffer most from the impact of wars....\\nOct 18, 2013\\nU.S. military forces intervened in the African states of Libya and Somalia on Oct. 5 under the guise of waging the “war on terrorism.”...\\nSep 26, 2013\\nOver the next few weeks heads of state and foreign ministers from predatory imperialist countries and developing nations trying to defend their sovereignty will take the podium at the United Nations when the General Assembly convenes....\\nSep 26, 2013\\nU.S. anti-war delegation witnesses Syria’s resistance to imperialism\\nWith the U.S. government keeping both massive bombing and regime change “on the table” for Syria in mid-September, we from the International Action Center and others among the anti-war forces in the U.S. believed it important to organize a delegation to visit this small country now facing imperialist attack....\\nSep 21, 2013\\nSyrian Americans say ‘No!’ to U.S. war on their country\\nA significant turnout of nearly 1,000 anti-war demonstrators, most from the Syrian-American community, marched in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, the day that the U.S. Congress reconvened and the day before President Barack Obama withdrew the war resolution against Syria. The first topic on Congress’ agenda was to discuss the resolution giving the executive authority to bomb Syria. This was the last thing wanted by many of the Syrian-origin people living in the U.S., and so they came to protest....\\nSep 21, 2013\\nU.S. solidarity & fact-finding delegation visits Syria\\nA delegation of anti-war and human-rights activists from the United States entered Syria Sept. 16 on a fact-finding and people-to-people solidarity trip. The participants plan to counter the ubiquitous pro-war propaganda spread in the U.S. and NATO imperialist countries and former colonial powers that demonizes the Syrian government....\\nSep 20, 2013\\nU.S. anti-war activists visit Syria\\nAn anti-war delegation from the United States visited Syria the week of Sept. 16 to see for themselves what is happening there. The delegation included human rights lawyer and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Cynthia McKinney, a former six-term congressperson from Georgia; Dedon Kamathi of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and Pacifica Radio; and Johnny Achi of Arab Americans 4 Syria in Los Angeles. The International Action Center, which pulled together the delegation, sent key organizers John Parker from Los Angeles and Sara Flounders from New York....\\nSep 18, 2013\\nFormer U.S. Officials Ramsey Clark and Cynthia McKinney Travel to Mideast Anti-War Conference & Syria to Oppose U.S. War Plans\\nWhile most media coverage makes it look like the war danger has diminished, Secretary of State John Kerry has made it clear that the threat of attack will persist -- that it is still the U.S. strategic plan to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power even if all Syrian chemical weapons are destroyed. (Business Week, Sept. 16) ...\\nSep 18, 2013\\nEYEWITNESS SYRIA: Audio Report from IAC Delegation\\nThe anti-war movement is in a race with the Pentagon to stop the U.S. from its goal -- pushed back momentarily -- of going to war with Syria. This urgency is what made the International Action Center (IAC) send a delegation from the United States to Syria. The IAC's Sara Flounders gives an audio report (below) on the team's trip so far, featuring an on-air meeting with members of \\\"Over Our Dead Bodies\\\" -- the youth encampment of hundreds of voluntary human shields at Syria's communications centers....\\nSep 13, 2013\\nU.S. maneuvers to derail mass revulsion to war\\nPresident Barack Obama and the White House are struggling mightily to override global and domestic opposition to a military adventure in Syria by trying to get Congress to vote for war. Washington is pulling out all the stops. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough went on all five Sunday morning television shows to push the war. Obama is appearing on six major TV networks tonight and will make a major speech tomorrow, all to try to reverse a growing momentum against the Syrian adventure....\\nSep 13, 2013\\nA crack that lets in light\\nIn this age of horribly destructive weapons and the ability of U.S. government agencies to pore over everyone’s private communications — if they are digitized, as most are — there is a tendency to regard the capitalist state as all-powerful, a juggernaut that can roll over everyone if it wants....\\nSep 11, 2013\\nResponse to Obama's Speech: Accelerate the Antiwar Movement!\\nThe President's speech Tuesday night repeated all of the lies the United States has been telling about Syria to justify war -- and shows that war may be delayed, but is not off the table. The biggest lie being told right now is that Assad agreed to give up his country's chemical weapons because of the United States' \\\"credible military threat.\\\" What has really happened is that the warmakers in the Pentagon, and their backers on Wall Street, ran into a gigantic brick wall of resistance. They were forced to back down for the time being. They wanted to go to war right now. But when Kerry said on Monday, \\\"All Assad has to do is give up his chemical weapons,\\\" Syria and Russia called his bluff. ...\\nSep 10, 2013\\nReflecting deep opposition to the U.S. plans to attack Syria, yesterday anti-war demonstrations erupted in dozens of cities around the country and worldwide....\\nSep 7, 2013\\nOpen letter to the AFL-CIO leaders — Oppose war on Syria\\nAt this critical moment, the number one priority for organized labor must be to publicly, unequivocally, and loudly oppose the president’s plans to attack Syria. Understandably, the question of another war, this one against Syria, was likely not on the agenda of the AFL-CIO convention beginning this weekend in Los Angeles. Recent events, however, have changed everything and there’s no point in pretending that the situation is the same as before. If the plans to attack Syria are denounced from the podium of the labor convention, this would mean that organized labor has risen to the challenge of becoming the militant, thoroughly progressive, independent movement of working people in the United States. Not to do it would reduce the leadership of the AFL-CIO to providing cover for the president’s war plans....\\nSep 7, 2013\\nWomen speak out against U.S. intervention in Syria\\nWe, the member organizations of the International Women’s Alliance, raise our collective voices against the impending interventionist war that the United States is planning to wage against the Syrian people.\\nThe U.S. Senate’s recent approval of a punitive missile strike on Syria constitutes a direct act of aggression masquerading as humanitarian action. Despite widespread opposition from the international community and lack of authorization from the United Nations, the U.S. remains hell-bent on attacking Syria, even as reports show that Syrian rebels funded by the Saudi government — a close U.S. ally — were the ones responsible for the March 19 simultaneous chemical assaults in Aleppo and Ataybah, which left approximately 26 people including 16 Syrian soldiers dead, with 86 more seriously injured....\\nSep 6, 2013\\nWASHINGTON DC ANTIWAR RALLY MON 9/ 9 AGAINST WAR ESCALATION\\nThe Senate Foreign Relations Committee narrowly approved an attack on Syria. But the resolution the committee passed leaped from \\\"limited air strikes\\\" to 90 days of bombardment. This is an ominous escalation. Remember \\\"the Iraq supplement\\\"? George W. Bush was required to get Congressional funding for the war every 90 days. Once war started, Congress never asserted itself again. That war lasted seven-and-a-half years, cost $4 trillion dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives -- and isn't really over. Kerry admitted to Congress on Monday that the vow of \\\"no boots on the ground\\\" isn't firm. \\\"I don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to a president of the United States.\\\"...\\nSep 4, 2013\\nObama pushes war on Syria with new tactic\\nOn Sept. 3, Republican senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham, brokers for the Pentagon hawks, met with President Obama and came away saying that they now support plans for missile strikes against Syria. Graham said the attacks were going to be “a little more robust” than he had thought. There was talk of attacks on Syrian aircraft, artillery and rockets, and assurances from Obama that the attacks would be aimed at “shifting the momentum on the battlefield.” McCain called the meeting “encouraging” and said it would be “catastrophic” not to support the strikes....\\nSep 4, 2013\\nCoast-to-coast protests hit U.S. plans to attack Syria\\nOn Aug. 28, with Washington, London and Paris apparently on the verge of opening up another very unpopular and dangerous war by firing missiles at Syria, anti-war activists in the U.S. and around the world went to the streets before the rockets were launched....\\nSep 4, 2013\\nNo attack on Syria!\\nAnti-war, anti-imperialist and Syrian-American organizations inside the U.S. all see the coming week as the last chance to mobilize popular resistance to a military strike on Syria. Polls show the people are very worried about the political and economic consequences of another costly war, but this sentiment must be organized to affect the outcome....\\nSep 4, 2013\\nHands Off Syria Actions Momentum Grows\\nJoin in to stop the attack on Syria. The coming days provide the last chance to mobilize popular resistance to the military strike. The people fear both the political and economic consequences of another costly war. Millions believe the pretext for the war is another Big Lie like the lies used before the Vietnam, Iraq and Libya wars. We need to join together to loudly oppose this new war. ...\\nSep 4, 2013\\nIn the Bush tradition, Obama lies to push war on Syria\\nBarack Obama’s speech today, delivered from the White House Rose Garden, was aimed at winning the acquiescence of the war-weary and austerity-clobbered people in the United States for an illegal, aggressive and highly dangerous assault on the sovereign nation of Syria....\\nAug 31, 2013\\nEndorse, Volunteer for or List Local HANDS OFF SYRIA Actions\\nPresident Obama is using the same tactics as President Bush did before the Iraq War. When the UN Security Council would not support the U.S. war, Bush turned to the U.S. Congress for a war vote giving him “all necessary means”. Ten years later Iraq lay in ruins. A million Iraqis died, millions became refugees. More than 1.5 million US soldiers were deployed to Iraq. Today thousands of U.S. and NATO soldiers are disabled, traumatized and 1/3 will suffer from PTSD. Just as in Iraq, Afghanistan and earlier in Vietnam this is again a U.S. war based on lies. Bombing Syria is NOT a 'humanitarian intervention’. It is another war for Wall Street Profit! This time there is a risk of global confrontation or even world war. ...\\nAug 28, 2013\\nSTOP U.S. war on SYRIA\\nWithout presenting even a hint of proof of Washington’s allegations that Syria has used poison gas, Secretary of State John Kerry has announced that a rocket attack on the sovereign state of Syria from four U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean is imminent....\\nAug 27, 2013\\nNYC: Thurs., Aug. 29 at 6 pm: Say NO to another U.S. War, BEFORE the Bombs Fall!\\nYesterday we sent email alerts urging activists to begin mobilizing for what has long been known as 'Day After' protests against a US military strike. But it is important that across the country everyone opposed to still another US war find ways to raise their opposition now, BEFORE another criminal US war is unleashed with cruise missiles and a barrage of war propaganda and cynical lies of 'humanitarian concern'. In NYC, Chicago, Dearborn MI, Los Angeles, Washington DC and several other cities, there are plans for immediate protests this Wed and Thurs....\\nAug 26, 2013\\nStop U.S. aggression on Syria!\\nBefore we discuss any of the details of the latest Big Lie, The IAC denounces any missile or air attack on Syria as an international war crime. We call upon all anti-war forces in the United States to stand up to say “No!” to this act of aggression.\\nU.S. imperialism is poised to open another war. This one, the latest in a long series of aggressive wars, would target Syria. As we write, four U.S. destroyers, each with 90 cruise missiles, are moving into place in the eastern Mediterranean to be able to launch these death-dealers at the Syrian people. As with earlier major U.S. aggressions against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, Washington has presented a Big Lie to try to justify an unwarranted and illegal assault on the Syrian people.With Yugoslavia, the claim, shown later to be false, was that the Serbian government was committing “genocide” against Albanian-ethnic people in Kosovo. In Libya, Moammar Gadhafi’s government was alleged to be on the verge of committing a bloodbath in Benghazi — another Big Lie invented by U.S.-NATO forces. And we all know that no “weapons of mass destruction” were found in Iraq....\\nAug 26, 2013\\nIACC Denounces the Heinous Maneuvres of the Imperialist Powers in Syria\\nThe International Anti-imperialist Coordinating Committee (IACC) condemns the persistent efforts of the imperialist powers to destabilize Syria and oust the present Government of President Bashar el-Assad. They hatched a conspiracy to instigate some anti-Government forces to start an armed conflict against the legitimate Government led by President Assad....\\nAug 19, 2013\\nThe current campaign of massacres and repression launched by the Egyptian military constitutes a new and bloody chapter in the decades-long war by the generals against the Muslim Brotherhood. But it is more than that...\\nAug 19, 2013\\nThe Egyptian revolution and the military coup\\nOnce again, the Egyptian masses have taken history’s center stage. In what some are calling the greatest outpouring of humanity in history, the people in Egypt took to the streets in the millions for five days, beginning June 30, in a show of no confidence in the Morsi government and to demand their right to food, shelter, justice, dignity and freedom from repression....\\nAug 17, 2013\\nStop the massacre in Egypt!\\nThe latest massacre of Muslim Brotherhood supporters demonstrating in Cairo was ordered by the U.S.-trained Egyptian generals who had earlier carried out the military coup that ousted elected President Mohamed Morsi.\\nThis bloody slaughter, along with the appointment of 17 Army and two police generals as governors of the 27 Egyptian governorates, plus the coup regime’s declaration of a one-month “state of emergency,” should wipe out any remaining doubts about the ousting of Morsi. It was an outright military coup. His democratic right to govern based on an election has far more legitimacy than any general’s diktat....\\nAug 14, 2013\\nU.S.’s Syria policy at crossroads as ‘rebels’ near collapse\\nDespite CIA coordination of training operations in Jordan and safe havens in Turkey and despite countless reports in the corporate media of the imminent surrender of a panicked Syrian government, the more than two-year intense effort to overthrow the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad is collapsing....\\nJul 18, 2013\\nSyria opposition continues to fragment\\nOn July 8, the self-styled “National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces” met once again under U.S. direction in neighboring Turkey. But instead of it bringing greater unity, “Prime Minister” in exile Ghassan Hitto resigned his position. Hitto is a U.S. citizen....\\nJul 6, 2013\\nCoup in Egypt; what does it mean?\\nAn unprecedented outpouring of millions of Egyptians from all across the country has shown that the Egyptian revolution is not only alive but is on the rise. Having accomplished the overthrow of dictator Hosni Mubarak by protracted mobilization, enormous heroism and great sacrifice, the masses have once again come into the streets to demand the fulfillment of the revolution that they fought for in 2011....\\nJul 5, 2013\\nNYC: July 10 demo - No U.S./NATO/Israeli War on Syria\\nThe White House’s June 13th announcement that it would begin directly supplying arms to the opposition in Syria is a dramatic escalation of the U.S./NATO war against that country. Thousands of U.S. troops and intelligence personnel are training opposition forces and coordinating operations in Turkey and Jordan. Israel, the recipient of more than $3 billion annually in U.S. military aid, has carried out heavy bombing raids against Syria. The Pentagon has developed plans for a “no-fly” zone over Syria, threatening a new U.S. air war....\\nJun 25, 2013\\nWar threat to Syria and Iran the focus of NYC forum\\nAn extraordinary anti-war forum entitled “Syria & Iran: The Next War?” was held here June 10 at the Solidarity Center. It featured anti-war veterans from the Iranian, Israeli and U.S. militaries, and was organized by United for Peace and Justice, Veterans For Peace and the U.S. Peace Council. The International Action Center hosted the meeting and IAC co-founder Sara Flounders chaired. All the speakers were members of the VFP Iran Working Group....\\nJun 24, 2013\\nWhen Italian President Giorgio Napolitano met His Majesty King Abdullah II last year in Jordan, he expressed “the high regard with which Italy observes how the Hashemite dynasty has always pursued its desire for peace and its moderate line.”...\\nJun 22, 2013\\nEyewitness report from Turkey June 17\\nOn 15 June, President Recep Erdogan told the demonstrators: “We have our meeting at Kazlicesme tomorrow. Before it, if you don’t leave the park, we will remove you with police.” After this meeting with Erdogan, Taksim Dayanisma (Taksim Solidarity) decided to remove the tents, leaving only one as a symbol. But the police didn’t wait for the resisters to remove their tents. They attacked immediately....\\nJun 21, 2013\\nDangerous Escalation What's at stake?...\\nJun 20, 2013\\nObama escalates U.S. role in Syria\\nAfter a series of meetings in Washington, the Obama administration escalated the war against Syria by announcing that the United States would ship weapons directly to their proxy rebels in Syria. The New York Times described this materiel as “small arms and ammunition,” but added that the transfers may include anti-tank weapons as well. (New York Times, June 14)...\\nJun 20, 2013\\nAs night fell on Istanbul June 15, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan unleashed paramilitary forces, called Jandarma, on protesters camped in historic Taksim Square. His aim was to stamp out the people’s movement sweeping Turkey....\\nJun 16, 2013\\nEyewitness reports on 12 days of Turkey’s rebellion\\nSomething so important has been happening in Turkey since May 29 that even we here are bewildered and amazed by this unexpected uprising. It is something, very hopeful, very new and very fresh. For a park and for a few trees, Turkish youth rose up and brought new hope and new light to Turkey’s society....\\nJun 16, 2013\\nThe Syrian pretext\\nhe reactionary terrorist gangs trying to overturn the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad are near collapse after a military defeat in the town of Qusair on the Lebanese border. Leading U.S. militarists — the most prominent being Sen. John McCain — are attacking President Barack Obama for allowing this collapse. The result: The Obama administration, without evidence, claims Assad used chemical weapons. This pretext is his excuse to justify providing small arms and ammunition to those he calls the “rebels.”...\\nJun 11, 2013\\nU.S.-NATO-Israel open ‘war games’ on Syrian border\\nThe crucial victory by the Syrian Arab Army against imperialist-backed terrorist ‘rebels’ in Qusair, a town near the border with Lebanon, has further disintegrated the military and political opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, the threats against Syria’s government by imperialist and reactionary monarchist powers, led by the United States, are increasing....\\nJun 11, 2013\\nUnited statement to oppose U.S./NATO and Israeli war on Syria\\nWhile the White House orders the Pentagon to plan a no-fly zone over Syria and the U.S. has troops at the ready in Jordan, for the past two years the CIA has coordinated massive weapons shipments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey with the aim of guaranteeing that a pro-U.S. regime comes to power, therefore negating the Syrian people’s right to self-determination....\\nJun 7, 2013\\nSyrian troops battle for Qusair\\nThe battle for Qusair is shaping up to be a major turning point in the Syrian war. The two sides, the imperialist-backed “rebels” and the Syrian Arab Army troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, are locked in heavy combat for this strategic city near the Lebanese border....\\nJun 3, 2013\\nWest weaves web of lies over Syria\\nThere is mythology of Western interventionism in Syria: The role of the United States and other Western nations has been to bolster moderates within a broad anti-government coalition fighting for freedom against a tyrannical regime. As late as Feb. 28 of this year, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed the U.S. was for the first time shipping “nonlethal aid” to the Syrian opposition, a public position he has maintained through recent calls to double aid to Syrian rebels and reach a goal of over a billion dollars in international aid....\\nMay 11, 2013\\nU.S./Israel Hands Off Syria! United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)\\nThe May 2-3 and 4-5 nighttime bombings of Syria’s International Airport, military installations in a Damascus suburb and a military supply depot reportedly killed 300 people. The bombings were initially denied but then confirmed by Israel and soon after given the stamp of approval by the Obama Administration....\\nMay 5, 2013\\nIsraeli attack on Syria widens war -- U.S. anti-war movement on alert: IAC Statement\\nThe latest Israeli warplane striking the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, during the nights of May 2-3 and May 4-5 have dangerously escalated foreign intervention in the ongoing war in Syria. The anti-war movement in the United States must be alert to the growing attempt by the U.S., other NATO powers and now the main militarist threat in the region, Israel, to overturn the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria and replace it with an imperialist puppet....\\nApr 17, 2013\\nThe Boston bombing & racist media\\nMuch still remains unknown about the bomb explosions yesterday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon and what was behind this disaster that has tragically hit so many individuals and families who were on the scene, the majority of them spectators....\\nApr 6, 2013\\nWhile the Obama administration continues to claim that it is providing only “nonlethal” aid to the Syrian opposition, its role in fueling the bloody war there is increasingly coming to light....\\nMar 30, 2013\\nObama targets Palestinian goals & Syria’s sovereignty\\nPresident Barack Obama’s four-day visit to Israel, the first since his first election in 2008, began March 20. Worldwide media attention was focused on what the powerful U.S. leader would tell its client regime and settler state. Overall, reports indicated worse news for the beleaguered Palestinian people and for sovereign Syria....\\nMar 23, 2013\\nImperialism increases its hand in Syrian war\\nFrench President François Hollande called for an end of the European Union’s embargo on arms shipments to Syria just prior to an EU summit meeting in Brussels on March 14. Britain also has taken this position. Both countries are considering directly shipping weapons to the “rebels” if the EU does not lift the embargo. (New York Times, March 15)...\\nMar 23, 2013\\nTwo steps closer to a U.S. war on Syria\\nSyria’s counterrevolutionary opposition has taken a step that moves it even closer to U.S. imperialism. At the same time, the Barack Obama administration has moved a step closer to direct and open intervention in the war against Syria, using the pretext that “chemical weapons” have been used....\\nMar 2, 2013\\nSPY & KILLER DRONES: Why we must stop them\\nIn the almost two decades since the U.S. military first deployed them, drones have generally escaped the spotlight, except in alternative media or military-oriented trade publications. However, their use inside the U.S. has opened a debate that has reached into the U.S. Congress.\\nUp until recently, these pilotless planes, which have brought death in the night to villages on the other side of the world, attracted little attention here in the mass media or government “oversight” bodies. Now, as police agencies and private corporations line up to buy drones, civil liberties and other organizations have demanded more information about how they will be used....\\nFeb 23, 2013\\nSIGN ON to HANDS OFF IRAN statement responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development / also in Spanish and Farsi\\nSupport of the legal and legitimate rights of the Iranian people for self-determination and sovereignty is growing as the new round of negotiations with Iran and the countries of 5+1, i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany is set for February 26th in Kazakhstan....\\nFeb 22, 2013\\nThe new form of global warfare alleges to “protect” by preemptively preventing mass atrocities. Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated academic and mother, is caught in its web and now serving 86 years in a federal prison in Texas....\\nFeb 22, 2013\\nIn support of efforts to pressure the U.S. government to repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders traveled to Pakistan last December...\\nFeb 16, 2013\\nCIA confronted for drone attacks\\nJohn Brennan found himself in an uncomfortable and unusual situation on Feb. 7 when protesters loudly confronted him, intent on holding him and the U.S. government accountable for their past and present war crimes. Brennan is the chief counterterrorism adviser to the Obama administration....\\nFeb 9, 2013\\nLeftist leader’s murder arouses mass resistance in Tunisia\\nThe 500,000 members of Tunisia’s union federation shut down this North African country’s major cities on Feb 8 as tens of thousands joined the funeral march in Tunis of Chokri Belaïd, slain leader of the Unified Patriotic Democratic Movement, a Marxist and pan-Arabist organization. According to reports, masked killers gunned down Belaïd in his car on the morning of Feb. 6 outside his home in Tunis....\\nFeb 1, 2013\\nRisk of regional war grows as Israel bombs Syria\\nIsrael’s air force bombed a military facility in western Syria at dawn today, according to several media sources. Reports describe Israeli warplanes flying low, below radar, and destroying a building northwest of Damascus. The Syrian Arab News Agency reported that “a scientific research center used by the military” was hit, killing two workers and wounding five....\\nJan 30, 2013\\nAccording to UN investigations in 2010 there are more than 27,000 prisoners held by the U.S. in more than 100 secret prisons around the world and on 17 ships as floating prisons. These are almost entirely Muslim prisoners....\\nJan 26, 2013\\nFrench imperialism has launched major military operations in West and East Africa under the guise of fighting “Islamic terrorism.” French fighter jets and commandos have gone into operation in the north and central regions of Mali....\\nJan 26, 2013\\nOpposition grows worldwide to French invasion of Mali\\nIn response to the French imperialist intervention in January, the Coalition of Patriotic Organizations of Mali (COPAM) called demonstrations against the presence of foreign troops in their country. COPAM demands that the current transitional president, Dioncounda Traoré, resign. They target him for giving the green light to troops from the Economic Community of West African States to intervene in Mali under the auspices of the U.N. (Radio France International, Jan. 11)...\\nJan 26, 2013\\nFrench war on Mali spreads to Algeria\\nThe war that French imperialism has escalated in its former West African colony of Mali has now spread to neighboring Algeria. There, some 82 people have been reported killed after an attempted seizure of hostages at a natural gas field. Imperialist governments are lining up for a long intervention in Africa....\\nJan 19, 2013\\nWho is Dr. Aafia Siddiqui & why did Algerian kidnappers demand her release? by Yvonne Ridle\\nThe only thing that surprised me when I heard that the Algerian kidnappers had called for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui was that it hadn’t happened sooner. Don’t get me wrong, as a former hostage myself, there is no way I condone the actions of what has unfolded in a remote corner of the Algerian desert. And my heart goes out to the families of those who have lost loved ones in the unfolding drama at the In Amenas gas plant siege said to have been masterminded by Mohktar Belmokhtar. The infamous one-eyed Algerian militant apparently with ties to al Qaida, has claimed responsibility for launching Wednesday’s attack. It also goes without saying there is no way the kidnappers, whether politically or criminally motivated, can be justified in their actions....\\nJan 14, 2013\\nIRAN petition responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development -- supported by the IAC and Ramsey Clark\\nAs we approach the new round of negotiations between the countries of 5+1 i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany with Iran to discuss the so called “Iran’s nuclear issue”, we the undersigned declare our stand on this issue, as follows:...\\nJan 14, 2013\\nSIGN ON to IRAN statement responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development -- supported by the IAC and Ramsey Clark\\nAs we approach the new round of negotiations between the countries of 5+1 i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany with Iran to discuss the so called “Iran’s nuclear issue”, we the undersigned declare our stand on this issue, as follows:...\\nDec 25, 2012\\nThe ominous signs of impending war with Syria escalate. NATO is massing troops and military equipment on Syria's borders, and preparing to install missiles aimed at Syria. U.S. warships are stationed off Syria’s coast....\\nDec 8, 2012\\nOpen political battle breaks out over Egypt’s Constitution\\nHundreds of thousands of Egyptians have been demonstrating on both sides with regard to a draft constitution for the North African state. President Mohamed Morsi, whose Nov. 22 edict increasing his political powers sparked mass protests, has now announced a Dec. 15 date for a national referendum to approve or reject the controversial document. The Muslim Brotherhood, which is behind Morsi’s political party, and the Salafist Muslim organizations form a majority in the government and have a broad political base, which means the referendum would likely approve the new constitution....\\nDec 5, 2012\\nCynthia McKinney and IAC Co-Director Sara Flounders travel to Pakistan in solidarity with Political Prisoner Aafia Siddiqui\\nArriving in Karachi, Pakistan, at 4 a.m. for a trip in support of efforts to free and repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders received an overwhelmingly warm welcome on Dec. 2. Hundreds of Siddiqui’s supporters met the two at the airport in the wee hours of the morning, carrying flowers, signs and banners, and chanting “Free Aafia!” and “Welcome!”...\\nDec 4, 2012\\nCynthia McKinney, Sara Flounders travel to Pakistan in solidarity with political prisoner\\nArriving in Karachi, Pakistan, at 4 a.m. for a trip in support of efforts to free and repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders received an overwhelmingly warm welcome on Dec. 2. Hundreds of Siddiqui’s supporters met the two at the airport in the wee hours of the morning, carrying flowers, signs and banners, and chanting “Free Aafia!” and “Welcome!”...\\nDec 1, 2012\\nTell U.S. to ‘Free Aafia Siddiqui!’\\nIn support of continuing efforts to pressure the U.S. government to repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders will travel to Pakistan from Dec. 2-9.\\nThe trip will focus on due process and justice and expose U.S. practices of secret renditions, illegal confinement and torture — practices highlighted by Siddiqui’s case....\\nNov 30, 2012\\nEgypt erupts over Morsi power grab\\nMass protests erupted across Egypt following President Mohamed Morsi’s Nov. 22 announcement of a series of decrees that would further consolidate his administration’s power over areas of law, the judiciary and the constitution. On Nov. 26, he met with leaders of the Supreme Judiciary Council in Cairo in an attempt to calm the atmosphere on the eve of scheduled demonstrations both for and against his ruling....\\nNov 2, 2012\\nU.S. backs Bani Walid’s destruction\\nDespite reports that chemical weapons were used against the civilian population of Bani Walid in Libya, the U.S. State Department is supporting its surrogates’ takeover of the western hilltop city. Militias from Misrata, known for their brutality and racism, have held Bani Walid, a stronghold of loyalists allied with Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s government, under siege for a month....\\nOct 28, 2012\\nPuppets use chemical weapons against Bani Walid, Libya\\nSupporters of Bani Walid’s people demonstrated outside the General National Congress parliament in Tripoli, Libya, on Oct. 21 calling for a halt to the town’s siege. Bani Walid’s 80,000 people were a bastion of support for the former Jamahiriya government led by the martyred Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Protesters attempted to enter the building but were dispersed by police....\\nOct 28, 2012\\nSyria defends itself from imperialist onslaught\\nDuring the last 19 months of chaotic civil war in Syria, with opposition rebels armed by the U.S., NATO and the Gulf monarchies through Turkey, have you ever heard Syrian government representatives defend their government’s position regarding the fighting in their country? If you live in the imperialist U.S. or Europe, your answer is probably “never.” Why? Syrian television stations are banned by sanctions, and corporate-owned television hardly ever offers the “enemy” sound bites. Even in other Arabic-speaking countries, the Syrian position has been drowned out by the anti-Syrian propaganda from Qatar and Saudi Arabia....\\nOct 23, 2012\\nU.S.-NATO driven to wage war on Syria\\nTurkey’s war jets forced down a civilian airliner flying from Moscow to Damascus. Thirty-five Russians and Syrians were passengers on the Oct. 10 flight, endangered by the action. U.S. spokesperson Victoria Nuland immediately supported Turkey’s act of air piracy. Also, some 150 U.S. special troops moved into Syria’s southern neighbor, Jordan....\\nOct 23, 2012\\nLibya becomes focus of U.S. election\\nOne year since the brutal assassination of former Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the Republican Party is using Libya’s political crisis in an attempt to defeat President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election. Both U.S. ruling-class parties backed the 2011 war against this oil-producing nation that had maintained the highest standard of living in Africa....\\nOct 18, 2012\\nWhat’s really behind the attack on Malala Yousafzai\\nThe horrible, near-fatal shooting of a young Pakistani schoolgirl, reportedly by members of the Taliban, has focused world attention on the conflict between the armed Islamic group and Pakistani advocates of education for women. Malala Yousafzai, 14 years old, was shot in the head and neck while on a school bus, according to her classmates. She has been flown to Britain to receive medical attention for severe damage to her skull....\\nOct 17, 2012\\nNYC: Oct 20 --Join the discussion on Syria as it is told by its representatives\\nFor over a year and a half we've been hearing about what's going on in the Middle East, and the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. Yet with all the proclamations of ‘free press’ we seldom hear the voices of those most affected by war and terrorism....\\nOct 15, 2012\\nProtests condemn U.S./NATO wars and wars at home\\nhe 11th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was not forgotten by anti-imperialist activists inside the United States. From New York City to Los Angeles, and in dozens of cities in between, the ongoing war and occupation were denounced at actions held Oct. 5-7. Initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition and related organizations, the series of protests demanded “U.S./NATO out of Afghanistan!” “Hands off Syria!” “Don’t attack Iran!” “No more drone attacks!” and “No sanctions!” Following are outlines of actions in several cities....\\nOct 12, 2012\\nOn Turkey's Grounding of Syrian Airliner - NATO MOVES CLOSER TO WAR\\nTurkey’s war-jets forced down a civilian airliner, flying from Moscow to Damascus. Thirty-five Russians and Syrians were passengers. This aggressive act brings NATO another step closer to open war against Syria as part of an imperialist plan to take over the country. ...\\nOct 10, 2012\\nURGENT PRESS RELEASE FROM THE MADRID PLATFORM AGAINST IMPERIALIST WAR\\nFaced with the risk that the escalating tension between Syria and Turkey will lead to an open NATO attack on Syria, either directly or through the Turkish army, the Platform Against Imperialist War CALLS UPON THE POPULATION TO REACT WITH DETERMINATION TO OPPOSE THIS NEW AGGRESSION FROM THE IMPERIALIST POWERS OF THE U.S., THE EU AND ISRAEL....\\nOct 4, 2012\\nWAR DANGER! NATO Member Turkey Strikes Syria\\nNATO-member Turkey has used alleged mortar fire from Syria as a pretext to launch artillery fire across the border, killing Syrian soldiers, and to prepare military intervention. NATO -- an alliance mainly of the former colonial overlords of the world and the current biggest imperialist powers -- immediately supported Turkey's aggression. The British and German governments, the European Union and the U.S. all criticized the Syrian government and sympathized with Turkey. The Turkish Parliament has approved further attacks....\\nSep 28, 2012\\nNYC: Oct. 7 action: End the wars\\nRacism is a weapon of war. We stand in solidarity with victims of police, state, and racial violence and build links to people under attack – Muslims, Sikhs, immigrant workers, death row prisoners, African-American and Latino youth, social justice activists are all targets in an atmosphere of escalating racism and repression....\\nSep 25, 2012\\nThere are times in history when war and politics converge with economics to create a true turning point, a point at which things cannot and will not ever be the same. Such points in time are marked by fierce struggle....\\nSep 18, 2012\\nList of Actions and UNAC Statement on attacks on US Embassies in Libya and other Middle Eastern, North African and SW Asian Countries\\nThe massive, angry demonstrations and attacks on U.S. embassies sweeping through the Muslim world comes in the context of a campaign against Muslims carried out by the U.S. government in an attempt to justify their wars against Muslim countries. This campaign includes preemptive prosecutions where FBI agents create phony plots and encourage behavior that can be prosecuted and attacks on civil liberties at home; the Peter King hearings; NYPD spying on Muslims; raids and detentions; and states that have passed anti-Muslim laws. It includes the physical attacks on Muslims, on mosques and on people who racist whites think are Muslims, like Sikhs, and opposition to Muslim building projects like Park 51 and much more....\\nSep 12, 2012\\nNon-Aligned Movement meets in Iran, defies U.S.\\nA meeting in Tehran starting Aug. 26 puts into the sharpest perspective the waning position of U.S. imperialism globally and especially in the Middle East. Both the U.S. and Israel’s demands for a boycott of the meeting were ignored. Clearly the U.S. hold is slipping....\\nSep 11, 2012\\nhe United National Anti-war Coalition has called for protest actions across the country on the anniversary of the imperialist U.S. invasion of Afghanistan....\\nAug 25, 2012\\nSupport Syria against U.S.-NATO!\\nEach week brings U.S. imperialism closer to direct military intervention in Syria with the aim of overthrowing the government of President Bashir al-Assad and crushing Syria’s independence and sovereignty. Up to now Washington has avoided direct intervention, working instead with its NATO allies through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to fund and arm the reactionary opposition to Assad and the Syrian people....\\nAug 22, 2012\\nVeterans For Peace Appeals to Non-Alignment Movement Leaders: Stop War, Stop Sanctions on Iran\\nWith the Non-Aligned Movement meeting this week in Tehran, Veterans For Peace is urging the organization of 120 nations not formally allied with any major power bloc to take steps to deter the Israeli-American threats of war against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program....\\nAug 21, 2012\\nSyria defends itself against imperialist onslaught\\nhe fighting in Syria is shaping up as a military showdown between the Syrian army on one side and “rebel” fighters openly backed by the U.S.-NATO imperialist powers, along with Israel, on the other. These “rebels” are being armed directly through NATO-member Turkey and the Qatari and Saudi Arabian monarchies....\\nJul 28, 2012\\nStatement of Veterans For Peace: The Solution to the Nuclear “Crisis” with Iran is not Sanctions and War. It is a Middle East Free of All Nuclear Weapons\\nWe are once again on the verge of another disastrous war in the Middle East. The United States and its allies in Europe and the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are consciously pushing Syria toward a destructive civil war. The objective is to bring down the Assad regime, an ally of the Iranian government, as a stepping-stone toward further isolation of Iran and preparation of the ground for a military attack on that country....\\nJul 21, 2012\\nSetback for U.S. war plans in Asia\\nWashington’s strategy to cement a military alliance of the U.S., Japan and south Korea came unglued on June 29 at the last minute as popular pressure forced the Seoul regime to back out of signing a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo. ...\\nJul 21, 2012\\nU.S. prepares anti-Syria war psychology\\nThe U.S. and its allies are escalating the war fever against Syria. Not only do they claim to have “discovered” another “massacre” by the government, but they are also trotting out the much discredited charge that Syria possesses — and will use — weapons of mass destruction.\\nThe latest “massacre” supposedly occurred on July 12 in the village of Tremseh near the Syrian city of Hama. Some mainstream press headlines bellowed that Syrian government forces and alleged pro-government militia had slaughtered as many as 220 people indiscriminately....\\nJul 14, 2012\\nFree Lynne Stewart!\\nIt is never admitted by U.S. government spokespeople — who love to shout out about “human rights violations” if the target is China or Iran — that the United States has political prisoners. Plenty of them. Many of them have been imprisoned since the Black, Native and Latino/a liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s....\\nJul 14, 2012\\n‘HANDS OFF SYRIA & IRAN’\\nDemonstrations against U.S./NATO military intervention in Syria were held in at least 29 cities coast-to-coast in the United States during the week ending July 1. The United National Antiwar Coalition had called the protests and demanded: Hands off Syria and Iran! End the drone wars! and Money for jobs, education and health care, not endless war! Following are brief descriptions of some of these actions....\\nJul 11, 2012\\nBelow are 3 interviews where Sara Flounders gives the International Action Center’s views and analysis of the U.S. role in the widening war in Syria today and the growing threats against Iran.\\nThe interviews are with: RT News, Press TV and Pacifica – KPFA: Project Censored....\\nJun 29, 2012\\nHANDS OFF SYRIA\\nThe Turkish regime, in cahoots with the NATO powers, has carried out a provocation against the Syrian people that threatens a new war of imperialist conquest in Western Asia. That’s the message out of Brussels on June 26, where a cynical meeting of NATO labeled Syria the “aggressor.” Why? Because Syria’s air defenses shot down a Turkish plane flying low and fast into its airspace as it was about to reach its territory. The Turkish government even admitted that its RF4E Phantom jet had flown into Syria’s airspace on June 22 — “erroneously.” Western governments and corporate media immediately heaped the blame on Syria — making it obvious that a planned provocation is in progress. Important sections of the anti-war and progressive movement in the United States have reacted to this new war thacreat, calling actions during the week of June 23 to July 1 to protest NATO war moves. They have also called for “day after” actions following any new U.S., NATO or Turkish aggression against Syria....\\nJun 27, 2012\\nThe following timeline reviews the progression of U.S.-NATO intervention in Syria and counteracts the Big Lie in the corporate media aimed at preparing open imperialist military aggression against the Syrian people....\\nJun 27, 2012\\nActions and Facts to Oppose Growing U.S. War Danger vs. Syria or Iran\\nThe growing threat of war against Syria is escalating! Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The U.S. supplied Turkish jet shot down over Syria has heightened tensions. While Washington and its NATO allies openly funds and arms mercenary forces in Syria, the corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another \\\"Humanitarian War\\\"....\\nJun 26, 2012\\nEmergency Protests Against the Growing Threat of War! Hands Off Syria and Iran!\\nThe growing threats of war against Syria are alarming. Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another “Humanitarian War”. The drum beat of aggression against Iran grows daily as well. The coup by the U.S. funded and trained Egyptian military, overturning the first popularly elected government in recent history is another ominous warning. The threat of new war is real while US drone attacks are an expanding form of anonymous war....\\nJun 11, 2012\\nDrones’ murder of innocents highlights U.S. hypocrisy\\ns the U.S. and its allies prepare to intervene in Syria, they have seized on the massacre that took place at Houla last week to justify a war. The State Department called the rampage “despicable” and complained about a regime that could “connive in or organize” such a thing, although who was responsible is very much in dispute. Many countries, including the U.S., have expelled Syrian diplomats, which is often a prelude to war....\\nJun 9, 2012\\nEyewitnesses blame anti-gov’t fighters for Houla massacre\\nA Russian news team was told by Syrian eyewitnesses that the May 25 massacre of civilians in Houla, universally blamed on the Assad government, was in fact committed by local criminals, mercenaries and other forces connected to the imperialist-armed “Free Syrian Army.”...\\nJun 1, 2012\\nHoula Massacre, Syria - IAC Interview on RT News\\nActivist Sara Flounders from the International Action Center says that it is likely that the UN will give an absolutely different version of what happened in Houla, “because the whole purpose of the UN – peace mission – from the beginning has been to give a diplomatic cover to continued intervention in Syria,” she told RT....\\nMay 30, 2012\\nAre U.S.-NATO setting up pretext for attack on Syria?\\nSpokespeople from the NATO countries and their loyal media outlets have seized upon a massacre at Houla, Syria, to mobilize for open imperialist military intervention against the Syrian government and — and no one should doubt this — against the people of Syria. NATO governments have already begun expelling Syrian diplomats. There seems to be no doubt at this time — May 29 — that a massacre took place. There is, however, much confusion about who exactly carried out the massacre. The corporate media is blaming the killings on the Syrian government and calling for foreign intervention. The Syrians, however, deny that their armed forces or police have taken part, blame the killings on the armed opposition and have themselves condemned the killings and are organizing an investigation....\\nMay 16, 2012\\nEgypt masses resist military repression\\ns Egyptians prepare for the first round of national presidential elections on May 23-24, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has enacted a series of repressive measures. Clashes between armed militias of supporters of the Islamist political parties killed up to 20 people on May 2 outside the Ministry of Defense in the Abbassiya District of Cairo. Many believe SCAF backs the militias....\\nApr 22, 2012\\nAhmed Ben Bella, the first president of independent Algeria, and one of the great revolutionary figures of Arab nationalism, died on April 11 at age of 96....\\nApr 8, 2012\\nBRICS summit opposes intervention in Syria, Iran\\nNew Delhi, India, was the venue for the fourth BRICS Summit, which convened on March 29. BRICS stands for Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa, which together house 43 percent of the world’s population and are playing a greater role within a world economic system still dominated by the capitalist mode of production and social relations....\\nMar 18, 2012\\nAFRICA ROUNDUP\\nAs the United States and the European Union escalate their military and economic roles on the African continent, mounting political crises have resulted in much social unrest. From Libya and Kenya to Nigeria and Somalia, internal turmoil, labor unrest and mass resistance illustrate the interconnectedness of events throughout the international scene....\\nMar 10, 2012\\nLibya: U.N. panel sanitizes U.S.-NATO war crimes\\nOn March 2, the so-called U.N. Panel of Experts from the Human Rights Council issued a 200-page report on Libya, saying in essence that war crimes were committed by both the government led by Col. Moammar Gadhafi and the National Transitional Council forces that were put in power by the imperialist states. The report stated that Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 were justified and legitimate and that the Gadhafi administration deserved to be overthrown by the Western states and their allies....\\nMar 10, 2012\\nCovert operations in Syria\\nSyrian insurgents are being trained by personnel of the NATO-backed National Transitional Council in Libya, as Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has complained on March 7 before the UN Security Council. In addition, NATO member States are actively intervening in the Syrian civil war. There is much evidence of direct and even military support to armed opposition groups by U.S., France and British forces, even if the intervening powers have taken every effort to leave no obvious traces....\\nFeb 26, 2012\\nArmy, Muslim Brotherhood, U.S. jockeying for Egypt rule\\nWorkers in some factories and students in the universities in Egypt held strikes on Feb. 11, one year after the revolution that forced President Hosni Mubarak out of office and shook the world. A week earlier massive protests held the Egyptian regime and the police responsible for the deaths of more than 70 people at a soccer match....\\nFeb 16, 2012\\nLibyans fight back against U.S.-NATO puppet regime\\nSince the U.S.-NATO-engineered war began against Libya last March 19, a new push has begun to recolonize Africa through the machinations of various intelligence agencies, special forces and surrogate militias armed and trained by the imperialists. Regional insecurity has grown rapidly....\\nFeb 16, 2012\\nIn March 2003, Dr. Siddiqui was kidnapped with her three young children in Karachi, Pakistan, and held in secret detention by U.S. forces at Bagram Prison in Afghanistan for five years....\\nFeb 11, 2012\\nstrong>The struggle for Syria isn't just about Syria--it's the struggle for a free, democratic Middle East versus one that lives under the yoke of American and Israeli hegemony....\\nFeb 10, 2012\\nLibya: Attacks rise againsat imperialist-backed regime\\nA series of attacks have been launched against the U.S.- and NATO-installed National Transitional Council in Libya. The most significant events occurred on Jan. 23 when local forces still loyal to the former government of slain leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi retook the city of Bani Walid, located 120 miles southeast of Tripoli....\\nFeb 2, 2012\\nThe following are three important anti-imperialist events scheduled for the coming months. The International Action Center is supporting and participating in each of them....\\nJan 23, 2012\\nIn his speech assuming the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the Republic of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma criticized the U.N. for its stance that led to the eight-month war against Libya....\\nJan 20, 2012\\nJan 21: Global Day to support the Egyptian revolution\\nFeb 11th, 2011, the whole world witnessed millions of Egyptian protesters marching in the streets of Egypt and protesting in Tahrir Square, demanding their basic human rights: dignity, freedom, and social justice. After decades of patience and suffering, Egyptians finally spoke out loudly and peacefully demanding the fall of a police-based authoritarian regime, the end of Mubarak’s dictatorship, and the establishment of a civilian, democratic state. Under the maximal pressure exerted by Egyptians, Mubarak was toppled. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) took charge in leading the country through the transitional stage. At that time, SCAF members and military personnel were regarded as heroes...\\nJan 18, 2012\\nGlobal Day to support the Egyptian revolution – Sat. Jan 21th, 2012 - NYC: THURS. 6:30 - Help make signs & banners for Sat, Jan 21\\nIn Their quest for Dignity, Freedom, Justice, and Democracy, Egyptian & Egyptian Solidarity Groups are calling upon people from all nations, races, colors, and religions as well as human rights and peace groups and organizations to join Egyptians abroad in their rallies to support the Egyptian revolution....\\nJan 10, 2012\\nJan21: Global Day to support the Egyptian revolution\\nIn their quest for dignity, Freedom, Justice, and Democracy, Egyptian Americans & Egyptian Solidarity Groups are calling upon people from all nations, races, colors, and religions as well as human rights and peace groups and organizations to join Egyptians abroad in their rallies to support the Egyptian revolution....\\nJan 9, 2012\\nSome 10,000 women of all classes and walks of life took to the streets of Cairo on Dec. 20 to protest the military’s misogynistic, violent assaults on Egyptian women. Many demanded that the military step down immediately....\\nDec 11, 2011\\nThe Egyptian elections: Why an Islamic sweep?\\nWhile the military government now says the turnout at the polls was 52 percent, lower than its earlier figure of 70 percent, many voters waited in line for hours to participate in the first of three elections for parliament. They saw the vote as a right won by the revolutionary movement....\\nDec 8, 2011\\nThe U.S.-NATO forces, using the United Nations and the Arab League as a cover, are positioning themselves for a military intervention in Syria. At the same time, they have upped their economic war on the government led by Bashir al-Assad....\\nDec 5, 2011\\nSolidarity with Iran - SI Statement; also in Spanish and Farci\\nOn Tuesday 29 November 2011, the 1st anniversary of martyrdom of the Iranian scientist and university professor, Majid Shahriari, who was assassinated by terrorists backed by the governments of Israel, US and UK, hundreds of Iranian youth lead by representatives of several organizations of university students hold a demonstration in front of the UK embassy in Tehran to demand closure of that embassy and to end relations of the government of Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) with the government of UK,\\nIn view of the fact that:...\\nDec 2, 2011\\nAfrica 2011: Year of mass upheaval, imperialist interventions\\nDec. 17 marks the anniversary of a year of uprisings, strikes, government resignations and regime change on the African continent. A resource-rich and strategically located geopolitical region, Africa has experienced numerous mass demonstrations, general strikes, rebellions and full-scale military assaults as part of a heightening global class struggle for control of the continent’s economic and political future....\\nDec 1, 2011\\nNew phase of Egypt’s revolution: Masses say: No military rule\\nRecord numbers of Egyptian voters of all ages and classes, women and men, cast ballots for a new parliament Nov. 28 and 29. Some waited in line for hours to vote in the first election of its kind in 50 years....\\nNov 24, 2011\\nEgyptian masses defy military\\nThe masses have opened a new chapter in the Egyptian revolution. They have stood strong in Tahrir Square for nearly four days against bullets and gas demanding that the military regime, which succeeded President Hosni Mubarak last Feb. 12, step down....\\nOct 24, 2011\\nThe brutal lynching of Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya, is the latest criminal act in NATO's seven-month war of regime change and conquest....\\nOct 22, 2011\\nBig antiwar turnout rocks Boston’s business district\\nOccupy Boston and the United National Antiwar Committee rocked the city’s business district as 5,000 protesters marched on Oct. 15 with cries of “Whose streets? Our streets!” A contingent from Steelworkers Local 8751 representing Boston school bus drivers led the march from a union sound truck festooned with placards declaring “Wall Street = War Street.” The truck was ringed by a steadfast security contingent from Vets for Peace/Smedley Butler Brigade....\\nOct 22, 2011\\nDay of Rage spurred by anger at U.S. aggression\\nIt was called as a global Day of Rage that also focused on the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. This convergence of events on Oct. 15 put tens of thousands of people in motion here in New York and in other cities across the country, reinforcing their anger at imperialist wars....\\nOct 21, 2011\\nThe imperialists murder Gadhafi\\nNews spread around the world on Oct. 20-21 that NATO planes had struck a car caravan leaving Sirte in Libya, wounding Moammar Gadhafi, and that the Libyan leader was captured alive and subsequently killed. The details of his death are sketchy and may be purposely distorted or obscured by his killers. This main fact stands out: It took the intervention of the imperialist air forces — including a U.S. Predator drone and a French warplane — to end the life of this African leader....\\nOct 18, 2011\\nLibyan patriots resist NATO-led forces in Sirte\\nU.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, formerly director of the CIA, said at a news conference at NATO headquarters on Oct. 6 that the nearly nine-month-old war against the North African state of Libya would continue until all vestiges of resistance on the part of the people were eliminated....\\nSep 27, 2011\\nPersecution of Black Libyans draws international outcry\\nDespite the Sept. 15 visit to Libya of British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the struggle for control of the oil- producing North African state of Libya is far from complete. Battles for control of Bani Walid and Sirte illustrate that supporters of Muammar Gadhafi’s government still represent a disciplined fighting force against the U.S./NATO fighter jets and military operatives backing the National Transitional Council “rebels.”...\\nSep 17, 2011\\nWorld Trade Center attacks and consequences, interview with Junge Welt [also in Portuguese, German, Spanish and French]\\nBelow is the text of a recent interview John Catalinotto did with Junge Welt about his experience at the World Trade Center 10 years ago and the political consequences of the attack. The jW article is an edited and shorter version of the original comments in English....\\nSep 14, 2011\\nAs Egyptian masses occupy Israeli embassy, U.S. maneuvers to blunt support for Palestine\\nU.S. imperialism is once again maneuvering to counter growing world support for the Palestinian struggle. Its primary motive is to protect the interests of U.S. capital in the Middle East, which center around, but are not restricted to, exploitation of the fabulous oil wealth in the area....\\nSep 9, 2011\\nAs war continues against Libya, imperialists plot theft of African wealth\\nAfter nearly seven months of war against the North African state of Libya, the combined forces of NATO and its National Transitional Council “rebel” units are tightening their noose around the areas of the country where armed resistance has prevented the counterrevolution from taking over. Those millions of Libyans who remain loyal to the government and are opposing the efforts to loot the national wealth of this oil-producing nation are being pressured to lay down their arms and surrender....\\nSep 4, 2011\\nBy directing their enormous joint military and economic power against a poorly armed, nonindustrialized country of 6 million people, the imperialist states of North America and Western Europe have imposed a criminal regime on the Libyan people....\\nAug 27, 2011\\nILPS CONDEMNS THE US, NATO AND PUPPET FORCES FOR THEIR BARBARIC ATTACKS ON THE PEOPLE IN LIBYA\\nWe, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), condemn in the strongest terms the US, NATO and their puppet forces for their barbaric military campaign against the people in the whole of Libya since several months ago and in Tripoli currently. The combination of escalated NATO air bombardments and ground movement of Libyan puppet forces and NATO special forces against Tripoli since 20 August aims to deliver the final blow on the Gaddafi regime....\\nAug 26, 2011\\nUnder the most incredibly difficult conditions – including NATO bombing, mercenary landings, Special Forces operations and the destruction of civilian infrastructure – the heroic resistance to imperialist conquest in Libya has continued....\\nAug 23, 2011\\nLibya: NATO escalates bombing as ‘rebels’ enter capital\\nA six-month-old war against the government of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya has reached a new stage as NATO escalated its intervention with air power, naval power, strategy and intelligence to push the Transitional National Council’s armed units into the capital, Tripoli....\\nAug 23, 2011\\nSpeak up now – U.S./NATO out of Libya!\\nThe NATO powers of Europe and the U.S. are declaring victory after having pounded the small country of Libya for five brutal months. They are claiming that the “rebel” forces they command, whose road to Tripoli was paved by NATO air strikes that knocked out much of Libya’s civil and military capability, now control the capital....\\nAug 19, 2011\\nNYC: August 20th Harlem Teachin Against Imperialist Wars\\nOn August 20, the African community of the world will register our condemnation of and resistance to the wars being made against our people and our freedom everywhere.We will oppose the heinous bombing of Libya and the violent attempt to overthrow that government....\\nAug 18, 2011\\nEvents in Syria – Obama threatens U.S. intervention\\nPresident Barack Obama on Aug. 18 demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down, saying that the Syrian leader’s days are numbered. The governments of Britain, France and Germany joined in this demand. This statement is a blatant imperialist interference in Syria’s internal affairs. More than that, it is an open threat to intervene militarily in another country in that region, just as the U.S. and its European allies have done already in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Somalia, with rockets and bombs. It is a threat against the Syrian people of something like the last five months of slaughter of the Libyan people....\\nAug 16, 2011\\nCollective punishment of civilian populations, including denial of water and food, is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions:...\\nAug 12, 2011\\nPlanning Meetings for Sept 11: Against Racism & Anti-Muslim Bigotry- Small email size leaflets in PDF & JPG\\nWednesday's (Aug. 10) first Planning Meeting of the Emergency Mobilization Against Racism, War and Anti-Muslem Bigotry to counter the racist, right-wing forces on Sunday, September 11 was a tremendous step forward. We discussed plans for a Rally, March and Cultural Exhibition....\\nAug 11, 2011\\nExtreme right wing racist forces, who last year whipped up an ugly climate of hate against the Islamic Prayer Center at 51 Park Place, have announced new plans for Sunday, September 11 this year at the same location....\\nAug 11, 2011\\nJoin the International Action Center at the August 13 Millions March in Harlem!...\\nAug 8, 2011\\nEyewitness Egypt: Egyptian student organizers tell their story -- ‘Tahrir Square was owned by all the people’\\nFor 18 days the people of Egypt gathered in the streets in the millions and brought down the 30-year reign of U.S. client Hosni Mubarak. This January 25 Revolution, named for its first day of protest, was led by youth and students....\\nAug 8, 2011\\nReport from Cairo: Hundreds gather to found Egyptian Socialist Party\\nJune 18 — The Egyptian Socialist Party was founded here today before a packed auditorium of more than 400 Egyptians and international guests. What made such an assembly possible was the enormous mass revolution of last Jan. 25 that removed the U.S.-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak and made the name “Tahrir Square” an inspiration for popular revolt worldwide....\\nAug 8, 2011\\nMore than 85 percent of Egypt’s poor live in rural areas. Like all Egyptians, they are participating in the protests held throughout the country, and are expecting that a new Egyptian government will meet their urgent needs....\\nAug 8, 2011\\nEyewitness Egypt: Interview--Egyptian pensioners organize union\\nIn addition to the mass protests in Egypt, another arena for demanding rights and fighting corruption has been Egypt’s independent trade union movement. This movement expressed its solidarity with the demonstrators, and added its clout to the struggle to bring down Hosni Mubarak five months ago....\\nAug 8, 2011\\nEyewitness Egypt: Thousands fight police in Tahrir Square\\nThousands of angry Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo and Alexandria at the end of June, battling the Central Security forces for hours before successfully pushing the riot police back. These were the most intense clashes in five months, since Egypt’s 18-day revolution in January that ousted U.S.-client Hosni Mubarak....\\nAug 5, 2011\\nThe destructive bombing attacks on Libya by the Pentagon and NATO are highly unpopular in the United States, although you wouldn’t know it from corporate media coverage....\\nJul 30, 2011\\nFor almost five months, the combined military forces of the United States and NATO have pounded Libyan cities, towns, villages and ports in an effort to overthrow the government of Moammar Gadhafi....\\nJul 22, 2011\\nNATO planes bombed Libya’s capital city of Tripoli on July 17 for more than two hours. From 60 to 75 ordinances hit targets in the Tajura and Seraj suburbs....\\nJul 22, 2011\\nLibya: demonization and self-determination\\nIf you went to a shopping center, a street corner or a graduate school of a top university in the U.S. and conducted a pop quiz asking who are the kings or crown princes of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain; the emir of Kuwait, Qatar or Dubai; and the sultan of Oman, most people would not be able to name any of them....\\nJul 21, 2011\\nHear former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, recently returned from leading a delegation to Libya during the U.S. bombing and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Akbar Muhammad & other leading opponents of the U.S. war on Libya along with VIDEO footage. ...\\nJul 11, 2011\\nCongress won’t authorize, but continues war on Libya\\nAs the U.S./NATO war against the North African state of Libya entered its fourth month, the House of Representatives voted on June 24 to withhold authorization for the bombing campaign. In a resolution to support the war, members of Congress turned down the Obama administration’s military strategy by a vote of 295 against and 123 in favor....\\nJun 27, 2011\\nNATO continues terrorist attacks on Libya\\nTwo NATO airstrikes on June 19 and 20 exposed even further the criminal nature of the imperialist war against the North African state of Libya. On June 19 NATO forces struck a civilian residential area in Tripoli, the capital, killing nine people in a household, including two children....\\nJun 25, 2011\\nAfrican Union calls for end to NATO bombing of Libya\\nSouth African President Jacob Zuma paid a state visit to Libya on May 30 that proved to be a fruitless effort to bring about a ceasefire in the war launched by Western-backed rebels and NATO forces, which have intensified their bombing of the capital of Tripoli and other areas of the country. Zuma was acting on behalf of the African Union, which held an extraordinary meeting on May 25 aimed at bringing an end to the war against Libya....\\nJun 25, 2011\\nLibya defiant as NATO widens war\\nfter nearly three months of U.S./NATO bombing operations over Libya, the North African state has remained defiant in the face of one of the most intense military operations in recent months by the imperialist countries of North America and Western Europe. Official NATO sources say that more than 10,000 sorties have been flown over the oil-rich nation resulting in large-scale destruction of the country’s infrastructure and the reported deaths of 10,000 to 15,000 people....\\nJun 24, 2011\\nOn direct orders from the Italian government, headed by Silvio Berlusconi (who himself faces many investigations), three Libyans were arrested in Perugia, including Ahusain Nouri, president of the League of Libyan students in Italy...\\nJun 23, 2011\\nThe International Action Center - IACenter.org urges full support for 2 events to oppose US/NATO War on Libya on Saturday & Monday...\\nJun 16, 2011\\nTIME TO ACT TO END THE ATTACKS ON LIBYA\\nCongressional opposition to the president regarding the authorization of U.S. military attacks against Libya has opened up a path for a more popular participation in the struggle to end U.S. aggression in North Africa. An IAC petition opened a light on this issue: violation of the War Powers Act. The mass unhappiness with the war on Libya -- 70 percent of the population opposing that war in polls -- is reflected in the act of Congress challenging the administration, whatever the motivation of the individuals. This mass displeasure is also reflected in the actions of political figures like Cynthia McKinney in traveling to Libya to bring back the truth....\\nJun 16, 2011\\nBRIEF FILED BY 10 Members of Congress against President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates for Violation of War Powers Act\\nPlaintiffs Dennis Kucinich, Walter B. Jones, John Conyers, Jr., Roscoe Bartlett, Michael E. Capuano, Dan Burton, Howard Coble, John J. Duncan, Jr., Timothy V. Johnson, and Ron Paul (hereinafter “the Plaintiffs”), all members of Congress, bring this Complaint in their official capacities and as taxpayers and allege as follows:...\\nJun 16, 2011\\n10 U.S. reps sue Obama over Libya strikes\\nhe U.S. has now intervened militarily in Libya for almost 90 days. As we wrote last month (see petition), this is a violation of the War Powers Act. For the first time, the Congress has challenged the president regarding the War Powers Act. First the House voted to raise the question with President Barack Obama at the 60-day limit since the March 19 initial bombing raids. Then Republican Rep. John Boehner sent a message warning President Obama that he would have to justify the intervention....\\nJun 11, 2011\\nA historic vote on the application of the 1973 War Powers Resolution has upheld the Obama administration’s continuation of large-scale bombings aimed at overthrowing the government of Libya....\\nJun 11, 2011\\nYEMEN: Saleh forced to leave: What next?\\nBefore dawn broke June 5, as the news spread that Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh had left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, fireworks filled the sky. As one Yemeni blogger put it, the party started at 6 a.m. To celebrate, people sacrificed cows and goats in “Change Square,” the site of the large encampment that had been peacefully pressuring Saleh to leave for the last four months....\\nJun 10, 2011\\nWithout presenting a shred of reliable evidence, NATO and International Criminal Court conspirators are charging the Libyan government with conspiracy to rape -- not only rape as the \\\"collateral damage\\\" of war, but rape as a political weapon....\\nJun 9, 2011\\nFrom Cynthia McKinney in Tripoli\\nIt is now 1:10 in the afternoon and as the daily life in Tripoli unfolds that includes teachers, staff, and children at school, shopkeepers working in their businesses, streetsweepers sweeping the streets, people moving to and fro in the cars, on bicycles, and on foot, Tripoli has thus far since around 11:00 up to now, received at least 29 bombs....\\nJun 8, 2011\\nU.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ declared on March 25, 2011 – that there are 3 repressive regimes in the Middle East that must be condemned – Syria, Libya and Iran. Why is the U.S. targeting these particular countries?...\\nJun 6, 2011\\nCynthia McKinney speaks on Libyan TV\\nSpeaking on Libyan TV May 21, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney condemned the brutal war against the government and the people of that country. McKinney, an African American and a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East, traveled to Libya as part of a fact-finding mission to expose the criminal nature of the war....\\nJun 6, 2011\\nCynthia McKinney: NATO: A feast of blood\\nFounded in 1945 at the end of World War II, NATO was founded by the United States in response to the Soviet Union’s survival as a communist state. NATO was the U.S. insurance policy that capitalist ownership and domination of European, Asian and African economies would continue....\\nJun 6, 2011\\nU.S. imperialism’s role: Yemen teeters on brink of civil war\\nHundreds of thousands of people, predominantly youth, took to the streets throughout Yemen on May 28 to demand President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave. Earlier, there had been heavy fighting between government forces and tribally based militias, joined by dissident factions of the army. (Miami Herald, May 28)...\\nJun 2, 2011\\nFormer U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Returns to Libya with DIGNITY Fact Finding Delegation of independent journalists.\\nNATO has announced it will continue the criminal bombing of Libya for another 90 days. The U.S. Congress has postponed any vote on President Obama’s obvious violation of the War Powers Act. In the face of this, Cynthia McKinney has returned to Libya with a fact finding delegation to meet with Libyans under attack by NATO’s bombs. She plans to bring back to the U.S. documented evidence of NATO war crimes....\\nJun 2, 2011\\nExposing the truth and lies of Obama’s Middle East pro-war speech\\nPresident Barack Obama delivered a foreign policy address related to developments in the Middle East on May 19. The speech — which avoided addressing the uprisings throughout North Africa, the Palestinian question and the U.S./NATO war against Libya — created even more hostility toward his administration domestically and internationally....\\nMay 17, 2011\\nTell Congress: Use War Powers Act to Stop Bombing Libya! End NATO Massacres of Imams and Other Civilians!\\nOn May 19 the war against Libya will reach its 60-day mark. On that date this criminal war will be in explicit violation of the War Powers Act. The War Powers Act is a U.S. law that grew out of the struggle against the war in Vietnam. It requires a president involved in a military conflict lasting longer than 60 days to come before Congress for authorization to continue the war. Knowing that this war is immoral, illegal and based on lies, the Obama administration has refused to address the reasons behind initiating yet another war after years of death and destruction in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. In the past 57 days of a war that was promoted as a \\\"humanitarian intervention\\\" to enforce a \\\"no-fly zone,\\\" the U.S. and NATO have conducted more than 2,500 bombing missions. ...\\nMay 15, 2011\\nPeople in the U.S. and around the world have broad sympathy for the popular demonstrations taking place in the Middle East. All the uprisings, however, are not necessarily the same....\\nMay 12, 2011\\nPresident Barack Obama has praised the targeted assassination of Osama bin Laden as a turning point and “one of the greatest military and intelligence operations in U.S. history.”...\\nMay 10, 2011\\nCalling it all a ‘humanitarian mission’: NATO intensifies airstrikes on Libya, kills leader’s son, grandchildren\\nNATO airstrikes carried out April 30 against the home of the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi killed three of Gadhafi’s grandchildren as well as his youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi. The attacks took place amid a dramatic escalation in fighting between Libyan government forces and the Western-backed rebels in various parts of the North African state....\\nMay 7, 2011\\nBehind the attack on Libya are strategies of economic warfare\\nDespite what is being reported, the invasion of Libya has already begun. Units operating on Libyan territory for a long time have prepared the war and are carrying out the assault: they are the powerful oil companies and U.S. and European investment banks....\\nMay 6, 2011\\nWhen U.S. imperialism engages in an attack on any government or movement, it is essential that the workers’ and progressive political movements for change gather as much information as is available and take a stand....\\nMay 4, 2011\\nTerror & the Osama bin Laden assassination\\nVery little is known about the top-secret U.S. operation that executed Osama bin Laden, except what President Barack Obama chose to announce: that U.S. secret forces found bin Laden, killed him May 1 and disposed of his body at sea on May 2....\\nApr 30, 2011\\nCondemn NATO assassination of Gadhafi son and three grandsons! U.S., Britain and France: Hands off Libya! Get out of Africa!\\nU.S., British and French imperialism have escalated their military intervention in Libya beyond the criminal bombardment of Libya, begun on March 19. The one dominant imperialist power and the two former colonial rulers of the world jointly stated their intentions in a open letter published on April 15 in the Washington Post and other media. U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote that their goal was to remove Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya. for good. That’s what they call “regime change.” This is even in violation of the resolution rammed through the UN Security Council. It is international lawlessness on a grand scale....\\nApr 24, 2011\\nLibya - Reflections on the threatened ‘Price of Freedom’\\nLibya has the highest living standard in Africa. The \\\"United Nations Development Program (UNDP) confirms that the country has excellent prospects for achieving United Nations development goals by 2015. NATO's war will have already dashed those hopes. A collapse like the one in Iraq now threatens the country.\\nThere has been little reaching the European public in the past few years about Libya, whose relationship with the West had normalized. European leaders met with their Libyan counterpart Muammar al-Gadhafi often and business flourished. In the course of preparation for war, the country was suddenly transformed into the most evil dictatorship. Even many war opponents accepted this characterization as their own and now want to overthrow the \\\"tyrant.\\\"...\\nApr 24, 2011\\nThe gradual awakening of the Moroccan people\\nThe wave of confrontation churning though the Arab world came late to Morocco.\\nIt was only on February 20 that the first demonstrations against the regime took place. Announced in advance, they attracted some 8,000 people in Casablanca and Rabat. Police dispersed them with brutal force....\\nApr 24, 2011\\nThe heist of the century: the assault of the ‘willing’ on Libyan SWFs\\nThe objective of the war against Libya is not just its oil reserves (now estimated at 60 billion barrels), which are the greatest in Africa and whose extraction costs are among the lowest in the world, nor the natural gas reserves of which are estimated at about 1,500 billion cubic meters. In the crosshairs of \\\"willing\\\" of the operation “Unified Protector” there are sovereign wealth funds, capital that the Libyan state has invested abroad....\\nApr 21, 2011\\nThe U.S./NATO war against Libya’s people and government reveals every day that there is no such thing as a humanitarian war carried out by imperialist states against post-colonial countries....\\nApr 19, 2011\\nNext Steps for UNAC and the Antiwar Movement in New York\\nThe antiwar movement is back on the streets. Thousands marched on April 9 in New York and April 10 in San Francisco. These demonstrations represented an important step forward for the United National Antiwar Committee and the antiwar movement as a whole. The new antiwar movement needs to oppose the US foreign wars but also defend the domestic victims of the \\\"war on terror,\\\" the Muslims who are being attacked. It must connect the dots between the money spent on war and the attacks on unions and cuts to education and needed programs. This is what these demonstrations on April 9 and 10 did....\\nApr 18, 2011\\nManik Mukherjee, General Secretary, International Anti-imperilist and People’s Solidarity Coordinating Committee (IAPSCC) has issued the following statement on the imperialist attack on Libya :...\\nApr 17, 2011\\nAfrica under imperialist siege: Attacks escalate on Libya, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe\\nU.S., U.N. and NATO military forces have intensified the implementation of policies aimed at total economic domination and regime change for states that resist interference in their internal affairs. As Africa becomes more of a major source for exploiting oil, strategic minerals and agricultural commodities, the continent will be under increasing pressure from Western capitalist countries....\\nApr 14, 2011\\nWest Coast April 10 protest U.S. wars abroad, at home\\nThree thousand activists demonstrated against U.S. wars abroad on April 10 in San Francisco. Protesters rallied in Dolores Park in the city’s Mission district both before and after a march through the community. The United National Antiwar Committee sponsored the actions. Those who attended were buoyed by what they described as “the renewal of the anti-war movement....\\nApr 14, 2011\\nThousands protest U.S. wars abroad and at home\\nThousands of people from virtually all sectors of U.S. workers, the oppressed and youths gathered in Union Square in New York City April 9 and marched, shouted and drummed their anti-war slogans for two miles to Foley Square in downtown Manhattan. As this largest anti-war march in New York in years stretched for 20 blocks down Broadway, it passed by thousands of New Yorkers busy shopping, who smiled, cheered and waved at what can only be described as the new face of a vibrant movement to confront the war-makers....\\nApr 10, 2011\\nThe new war in Libya has given rise to a new movement, as the largest anti-war demonstration New York has seen in years took to the streets of Manhattan....\\nApr 10, 2011\\nWE are the vast majority of humanity who want peace, a healthy planet and a society that prioritizes human needs, democracy and civil liberties for all....\\nApr 9, 2011\\nCIA & MI6 in Libya: U.S.-British covert operations exposed\\nThe New York Times, the Washington Post and other corporate news sources are now openly admitting that the opposition forces fighting the Libyan government are supported and coordinated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI6 with in-country special forces....\\nApr 9, 2011\\nA‘Lion of the desert’: film about Libya’s resistance to colonialism\\nNow is a good time to watch, either again or for the first time, the powerful 1981 film “Lion of the Desert.” It tells the story of Omar Mukhtar, a legendary leader of the armed resistance to Italy’s colonial conquest of Libya....\\nApr 9, 2011\\nhe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has drawn an important conclusion from the unprovoked bombing of Libya by U.S. and NATO forces: Developing countries should never let down their guard and believe promises made by the imperialists....\\nApr 9, 2011\\nThe following news release was put out by the Central News Agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea....\\nApr 9, 2011\\nStop imperialist war on Libya\\nThe right-wing, imperialist Italian government headed by Silvio Berlusconi has joined France, Qatar and Kuwait in recognizing the so-called “rebel” Libyan National Transitional Council. The recognition comes after chief executive officer Paolo Scaroni of Italy’s giant oil monopoly, Eni, met with council members to discuss reviving the company’s access to oil production now in “rebel” territory. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, referring to Scaroni, said: “He had important meetings on restarting cooperation about energy....\\nApr 7, 2011\\nRevolts from Tunisia to Afghanistan disrupt U.S. rule\\nThe historical tsunami that continues to shake the Middle East and Southwest Asia has the apologists and strategists of imperialism scrambling to catch up with events. “We have no permanent allies, only permanent interests” seems to be their slogan, but this “pragmatic” approach is fraught with unexpected dangers and contradictions....\\nApr 7, 2011\\nThe response has been overwhelming. This will be the largest Rally against endless wars and cutbacks in NYC in years....\\nApr 1, 2011\\nU.S. steps up drive to conquer Libya\\nPresident Barack Obama’s speech of March 28 was largely devoted to justifying U.S. military intervention in Libya on humanitarian grounds, as being necessary to prevent a “massacre.” It was meant to obscure the fundamental fact that Washington is leading an effort, joined by the British and French imperialists, to destroy a sovereign government and recolonize Libya....\\nMar 28, 2011\\nEven before the first U.S. bombs rained down on Libya, protesters across the U.S. stood up to voice their opposition to yet another U.S. war for oil. These protests continue....\\nMar 26, 2011\\nHowever the rebellion in Libya began, it was both inevitable and entirely predictable that it would quickly become an opening for imperialist intervention and counterrevolution in the oil-rich North African country....\\nMar 26, 2011\\nThe bombing of Libya, which began on March 19, has aroused world opposition to this new aggression by the U.S. and European imperialist powers....\\nMar 25, 2011\\nApril 9 & 10 Antiwar Rallies Will Draw Many Thousands to NYC & San Francisco\\nhe major national Antiwar Rallies in NYC at Union Square, on Saturday, April 9 and in San Francisco on Sunday, April 10 are just 2 weeks away. Momentum is building based on the urgency of responding to the new attacks in Libya, no end to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more attacks and threats to Gaza, ugly attacks on Muslims, new attacks on unions and collective bargaining and a new rounds of cutbacks of every possible social program, particularly hitting the Black and immigrant communities and the unemployed....\\nMar 23, 2011\\nRebellions continue across North Africa, Middle East\\nThe ferocious storm of uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East continues to stymie the efforts of the U.S. and other Western powers to suppress or contain them. There are ongoing significant protests in Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq, all places with a substantial U.S. military presence....\\nMar 22, 2011\\nSTOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA\\nOn March 17, 2011, Washington showed its true intentions by pushing through a U.N. Security Council resolution that amounts to a declaration of war on the government and people of Libya. A U.S. attack is the worst possible thing that could happen to the people of Libya. It also puts the unfolding Arab revolutions, which have inspired people across North Africa and Western Asia, in the gravest danger. The resolution goes beyond a no-fly zone. It includes language saying U.N. member states could \\\"take all necessary measures\\\" ... \\\"by halting attacks by air, land and sea forces under the control of the Gadhafi regime.\\\"(CNN.com, Mar 17)...\\nMar 20, 2011\\nU.S. and French cruise missiles and bombs are raining down on the African state of Libya. This is not a \\\"humanitarian' intervention....\\nMar 18, 2011\\nSTOP THE U.S. WAR ON LIBYA AND BAHRAIN!\\nThe International Action Center calls on all anti-war and social justice activists to call Emergency Response STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN actions in their areas on Friday, March 18 or Saturday, Marcy 19, or to mobilize support for any already existing anti-war demonstrations called to mark the anniversary of the Iraq War, with this statement and signs to STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN, as well as to intensify the mobilization for the April 9th and 10th Anti-War demonstrations in New York and San Francisco called by the United National Antiwar Committee....\\nMar 18, 2011\\nWhy imperialists hate Libya, love Bahrain\\nMarch 15 — Events continue to unfold rapidly in North Africa and the Gulf states. On March 14 Saudi Arabia sent tanks and 2,000 troops into the kingdom of Bahrain to protect the Al Khalifa royal family there from mass protests demanding an end to the monopoly of political power in the hands of the king....\\nMar 17, 2011\\nLibyan military routs Western-backed rebels\\nMarch 13 — Libyan government forces have taken several towns both east and west of Tripoli, the capital, driving out rebel groups that have been calling for military intervention by the imperialist states. Morale among the opposition is reportedly declining in Benghazi, which has been the de facto headquarters of the rebels....\\nMar 16, 2011\\nWith the corporate media’s attention concentrated on Libya, its oil reserves and the real danger of U.S. and NATO’s military intervention, one could almost forget that enormous popular revolts are percolating throughout North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....\\nMar 14, 2011\\nLibya repels attack as U.S. seeks ‘regime change’\\nAs of March 7, Libyan military forces have stepped up their counteroffensive against rebel units backed by the U.S. and European Union countries. Government soldiers have retaken the town of Bin Jawad and are mounting assaults on rebels near the oil port of Ras Lanuf as well as Az Zawiyah, Tobruk and Misurata....\\nMar 12, 2011\\nThe uprisings in Libya, coinciding with the struggles of other countries in North Africa and Western Asia respond to conditions similar to those of other countries but have very different consequences....\\nMar 9, 2011\\nFollowing is the statement of Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Geneva, March 1 [2011]....\\nMar 8, 2011\\nTunisia: We won, right? The end of the Second Qasbah / Hemos ganado, ¿no? El fin de la Segunda Qasba\\nOn Sunday, Feb. 27, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannochi resigned; he was replaced by the elderly Beji Caïd Essebsi. On Monday the ministers of Industry and Finance, the last remnants of the old regime also resigned. In the evening so did Nejib Chebbi and Ahmed Brahmi, representatives respectively of the Tajdid movement and the PDP, the two legal parties under Ben Ali. On Tuesday they were followed by two other ministers. We have lived without a government for four days in which terror has been circling like a bird of prey around the Qasbah: youth beaten, threatened, persecuted by police and hired criminals who have taken over the streets of the Medina and the surrounding April 9th Avenue. At the same time the space has been restructured and the class divide has drawn new geographical lines: while still Qasbah snugly in its sacred area, with its illustrious barbarians and hardened militants, the silent majority, silent for 23 years, decided to speak for about two hours a day, between 5 and 7 p.m., at a daily assembly convened at the Dome in the pompous Olympic Village, to support Ghannouchi, demand an end to the demonstrations and defend the \\\"revolution\\\" from those who want to make one...\\nMar 8, 2011\\n‘Great day of anger’: Thousands of Iraqis defy puppet regime, occupation\\nDefying threats from the puppet government and several party militias, thousands of Iraqis from Basra in the south to Suleimaniya in the Kurdish north took to the streets Feb. 25 in a “Great Day of Anger” inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world....\\nMar 8, 2011\\nTensions grow between military, masses in Egypt\\nA new cabinet was sworn in on Feb. 22 in the aftermath of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and the suspension of parliament and the previous government. This was precipitated by the Feb. 11 Supreme Military Council’s coup. The new cabinet’s appointment and publication of the first set of political reforms on Feb. 26 is an attempt to address the Egyptian people’s demands for a rapid return to civilian rule....\\nMar 8, 2011\\nAnother NATO Intervention? Libya: Is This Kosovo All Over Again?\\nLess than a dozen years after NATO bombed Yugoslavia into pieces, detaching the province of Kosovo from Serbia, there are signs that the military alliance is gearing up for another victorious little “humanitarian war”, this time against Libya. The differences are, of course, enormous. But let’s look at some of the disturbing similarities....\\nMar 7, 2011\\nSPOTLIGHT ON LIBYA\\nThe protests that we are witnessing in Libya must be examined carefully and wisely. We have to realize that the intifada of Libya is not totally a genuine one for reform; Part of it is provoked by the United States and the Zionists to occupy this oil-producing country, under the pretence of “democracy,” to get rid of its legitimate government for saying “no” to US and Zionist domination. Those who broke ranks with Gaddafi called upon the USto intervene, militarily if necessary, to get rid of the legitimate government. This call gives an excuse for the US and its European allies to pass a criminal resolution of the Security Council and propose sanctions and a “no fly zone.” These actions remind us of the same scenario that Iraq endured that caused its destruction. The infamous resolution will give the US and its allies open interpretations and the options of using military power that might lead to the invasion of Libya....\\nMar 4, 2011\\nLibya, the puzzle of the no-fly zone / Libia, il rebus della no-fly zone / Les porte-avions et les bases US en Italie sont en état d’alerte mais pour le Pentagone, les risques sont élevés\\n The leaders of the rebellion, meeting yesterday in the headquarters in Benghazi, have concluded that on their own they will not be able to overthrow Gaddafi. Therefore a majority of them asked for US-NATO intervention using air power, beginning with the imposition of a no-fly zone on Libya. \\\"The United States - they say - brought democracy when they intervened in Kosovo.\\\" A part of the rebel forces, however, thought otherwise: \\\"We must free ourselves on our own; if we ask for foreign intervention it would be treason.\\\"...\\nMar 3, 2011\\nThe Pentagon is \\\"repositioning\\\" its naval and air forces and preparing for Operation Libya\\nMarch 2, 2011--\\\"The United States is moving naval and air forces in the region\\\" to \\\"prepare the full range of options\\\" in the confrontation with Libya: Pentagon spokesperson Col. Dave Lapan of the Marines made this announcement yesterday, March 1. He then said that \\\"It was President Obama who asked the military to prepare for these options,\\\" because the situation in Libya is getting worse. The military then began \\\"the planning and preparation\\\" phase for an intervention in Libya. Pentagon planners are working on several specific plans, depending on how the “repositioning of forces” begins so as to have maximum flexibility to implement any option. ...\\nMar 3, 2011\\nBehind the demonizing of Gadhafi\\nLibya had been an Italian colony until Italy’s defeat in World War II. After the war, the U.S. and Britain set up a monarchy in Libya under King Idris I. Moammar al-Gadhafi was a military officer when he led a coup in 1969 against the monarchy. This led to the nationalization of Libya’s oil and social gains for the Libyan people...\\nMar 3, 2011\\nNo U.S. attack on Libya! / Barcos de guerra cerca de Libia: crece el peligro de intervención militar imperialista / Aumenta o perigo de intervenção imperialista na Líbia\\nThe White House is meeting with its allies among the European imperialist NATO countries to discuss imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, jamming all communications of President Moammar Gadhafi inside Libya, and carving military corridors into Libya from Egypt and Tunisia, supposedly to “assist refugees.” (New York Times, Feb. 27)...\\nMar 2, 2011\\nEgytpt: Al-Mehalla textile workers leads the struggle\\nThe Al-Mahalla strike is part of the spate of industrial unrest that has rocked the country in the midst and aftermath of the 25 January revolution. Policemen, bank employees, workers at the Helwan Coke Company, in military production, cement, iron and steel and at the Suez Canal all struck for higher wages and improved working conditions, demanding an end to corruption in the workplace....\\nMar 2, 2011\\nREFLECTIONS OF FIDEL: NATO’s plan is to occupy Libya\\nOIL became the principal wealth in the hands of the large yankee transnationals; with that source of energy, they had at their disposal an instrument that considerably increased their political power in the world. It was their principal weapon when they decided to simply liquidate the Cuban Revolution as soon as the first, just and sovereign laws were enacted in our homeland: by depriving it of oil....\\nMar 2, 2011\\nVenezuelan president calls for mediation to end crisis while the US and other powers weigh military options....\\nFeb 26, 2011\\nIraq protests target occupation, puppet regime\\nAs popular revolts spread across the Arab world, now breaking out in Morocco and Algeria, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain, even in Kuwait, it is important to remember one of the nations in this region that faces a special situation: It is forcibly occupied by 50,000 U.S. troops. It is Iraq, which the U.S. and Britain invaded in March 2003 and which the U.S. has occupied since. No one should forget, when considering the crimes of the U.S.-backed tyrants, that U.S. imperialism is responsible for the deaths of a million Iraqis and the displacement of 4 million....\\nFeb 26, 2011\\nAnti-government protesters in Bahrain swarmed back into a symbolic square on Feb. 19, putting riot police to flight in a striking victory for their cause....\\nFeb 26, 2011\\nYemen’s people demand ouster of ruler\\nProtests continued throughout the country of Yemen on Feb. 21 to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The demonstrations, which began during the time of the uprising in Tunisia and gained traction with recent events in Egypt, have increased in scope and intensity in the past 12 days....\\nFeb 26, 2011\\nOf all the struggles going on in North Africa and the Middle East right now, the most difficult to unravel is the one in Libya....\\nFeb 25, 2011\\nThe International Action Center urges solidarity with the resistance struggles shaking dictatorships throughout the Arab World....\\nFeb 25, 2011\\nDjibouti masses protest U.S./French-backed regime\\nAnti-government demonstrations have spread to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, where 30,000 people marched on Feb. 18 demanding the resignation of President Ismael Omar Guelleh. Two people were killed when police attacked protesters in this country’s capital, which is also called Djibouti....\\nFeb 17, 2011\\nEgypt’s workers defy U.S.-backed junta\\nThe Egyptian military would like to put the genie of the Egyptian Revolution back in the bottle. But it won’t go back. The so-called “orderly transition” — backed by the Obama administration, NATO and the Egyptian ruling class — has the immediate tactical goal of pushing the masses of people off the streets and off the stage of history....\\nFeb 13, 2011\\nFrom a Landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (III) / De paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (y III)\\nGhazala, a courageous woman, founder of the Committee of Unemployed Graduates of Gafsa that so actively participated in the protests of 2008, has given us a contact in Qasserine. We meet him halfway there, in Mejel Bel Abbes. Boubaker, 33 year old, master's in engineering, also a member of the Committee of Unemployed Graduates, is surviving by doing some odd jobs as an electrician. He is tall, a bit prim, neatly dressed in the dignified severity that attempts to preserve a modest sovereignty of his appearance in the midst of difficulties. Like many educated young people in similar circumstances in a situation where he is forced to remain single, he has wound up developing, without wanting to, an air of a preacher or priest: there is something, how can we put it, excessively clean in their dress and mannerisms. He speaks little French, but has an almost scholarly knowledge of the history of the area, whose natural wealth, well known by Romans, Vandals and Berbers, has been misappropriated and wasted by postcolonial Tunisia....\\nFeb 12, 2011\\nSalute the People's Victory!\\nThe greatest analysts of human society described real revolutions as “festivals of the masses.” We see then that the 18 days that overturned the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship is one of the greatest revolutions in the history of humanity. Never before have so many in such a condensed period of time become the actors and writers of their own history. We congratulate the people of Egypt for their tremendous victory over a tyrant who for 30 years had the support of the “great powers” of the European Union and especially of the United States until the final moments of his reign....\\nFeb 12, 2011\\nThese reports from Cairo are from Faiza Rady, formerly a resident of Philadelphia, who has returned to Egypt...\\nFeb 12, 2011\\nSalute the people’s victory! Long live the Egyptian revolution!\\nThe International Action Center joins with the people of Egypt and the world in celebrating the stunning triumph of people's power and mass action in Egypt. The greatest analysts of human society described real revolutions as “festivals of the masses.” We see then that the 18 days that overturned the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship is one of the greatest revolutions in the history of humanity. Never before have so many in such a condensed period of time become the actors and writers of their own history. We congratulate the people of Egypt for their tremendous victory over a tyrant who for 30 years had the support of the “great powers” of the European Union and especially of the United States until the final moments of his reign....\\nFeb 10, 2011\\nFrom a landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (II) / De paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (II)\\nFrom Gafsa to Redeyef you travel towards striped mountains that mark the border with Algeria, under a pure blue sky, through a hard, dry terrain, a planetary extension, which is about to succumb once more to the temptation of being landscape: small towns with camels browsing between the houses, shepherds with colorful headdresses, massive women sitting in the sun, wrapped in white cloth, sharing tasks and conversation. Everything seems fresh, clean, motionless, eternal and clear. But in reality there are few places in Tunisia as ground down by its history as this square of adverse and ancient land....\\nFeb 10, 2011\\nGlobal solidarity with Egypt\\nThe Egyptian revolt against the U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarak regime has inspired many workers and oppressed people throughout the world. Mass solidarity demonstrations have taken place to show support for Egypt’s popular uprising. Here are brief reports on just a few notable actions, most of them on Feb. 5 or 6....\\nFeb 9, 2011\\nU.S. protesters tell government: ‘Stop supporting dictators!’\\nWith the popular uprising that is rocking cities across Egypt now heading into its third week, solidarity rallies are building across the U.S. in response. Many of these protests are calling on the U.S. government to end its funding for the repressive regime of Hosni Mubarak....\\nFeb 9, 2011\\nFeb. 9 reports from Cairo say there are growing numbers of Egyptian workers who have gone out on strike all over the country, as the struggle to oust the despised, U.S.-backed Mubarak regime intensifies....\\nFeb 9, 2011\\nEGYPTIANS STAY STRONG\\nFeb. 8 — Hosni Mubarak’s military-police regime and its creators in Washington are waging a war of attrition to wear down the newly emerging Egyptian revolution. But the people show no signs of backing down. More than a million anti-government demonstrators today once again filled Liberation Square. Despite police-agent attacks, gradual escalation of pressure from the military and slanderous campaigns against the protesters on Egyptian state television, all reports are that masses of people have flooded into central Cairo to demand the immediate ouster of Mubarak....\\nFeb 9, 2011\\nDays 21-24: From a landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (I) / De Paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (I)\\n\\\"France is Paris, the rest is scenery,\\\" 19th century French centralism said with contempt. Many times before we had been in central and southern Tunisia, but we had never seen anything but flocks of sheep and clouds, striated mountains and clean deserts, and people who seemed to passively accept, in the villages and cafes along the highway, their condition as a watermark or wrinkle in the tapestry. Our short and intense journey, parallel to the turbulence that has shaken the country for more than a month, reflects the decisive transformation, mental and material, of a landscape into a territory....\\nFeb 9, 2011\\nMarch in Solidarity with millions of Egyptian People in their struggle for democracy and human rights as they demand the immediate DEPARTURE of the repressive U.S. backed Mubarak regime....\\nFeb 7, 2011\\n'The Tunisian revolution began in the provinces and remains very active there today' / \\\"La revolución tunecina empezó en las regiones y sigue hoy muy activa\\\"\\nThis interview was conducted in bits and parts, in the middle of a protest demonstration, stopping to talk once you recovered your breath after running through the streets near Bourghiba Avenue. These are crucial days for the revolution, but the glare of the mainstream media is now directed towards Egypt. \\\"Tunisia is not an international issue but a local one,\\\" the Al Jazeera employees told us when we tried to inform them that Benali militia had returned to their old ways in Sfax. Boukadous disagrees. \\\"The revolution began in the provinces and remains very active there.\\\"...\\nFeb 6, 2011\\nNationalists, liberals, Islamists and leftists: A National Assembly should choose new transitional leadership in Egypt. There must be strong representation of youth....\\nFeb 5, 2011\\nHail the heroes of Liberation Square\\nThe masses in Tahrir (Liberation) Square - now known among the fighters as Martyrs’ Square — gave the counterrevolutionary thugs of a dying regime blow for blow, pushed them back and held the square, thus achieving both a military and political victory. They were fully aware of the crucial political importance of holding the square for the people. This was a victory for the masses of Egyptian people, the people of the Middle East as a whole, and the workers and oppressed of the world....\\nFeb 4, 2011\\n...\\nFeb 3, 2011\\nNineteenth day (Feb. 1, 2011): Who governs Tunisia? / Día decimonoveno del pueblo tunecino: ¿Quién gobierna Túnez?\\n“You can only talk of revolution if there is a time when the whole people go out to the streets to take part in a big festival. The victories are celebrated and if we are not celebrating it's because there is victory. We have not been able to celebrate anything in the street, not even the expulsion of Ben Ali. And that means we have not yet won.”...\\nFeb 3, 2011\\nDon’t be confused by the deceptive and false statements uttered by President Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Roddam Clinton suggesting that they have sympathy for Egyptians fighting for liberation and jobs in Tahrir Square. <...\\nFeb 2, 2011\\nEgypt: An entire people stands up\\nSince the early hours of the morning loud music from large speakers in front of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on the Corniche Al Nile in downtown Cairo has been booming. Shortly past 8 a.m., at the end of the curfew, as the first cars and pedestrians crossed over from the Nile Zamalik in the direction of the city center, an additional person reports to the loudspeaker to speak. He promises that the government understands the concerns of the people and resolves to keep the country in peace and prosperity. A man holds a T-shirt in the air, on which President Hosni Mubarak is caught looking down and smiling. A good three dozen men wave the Egyptian flag and look around uncertainly, and some melancholy men behind them run swiftly past them along the promenade towards Tahrir Square, Liberation Square. While some — probably for fear of losing their jobs — cheer the Mubarak regime — the others will demand this day the resignation of the man who ruled Egypt for 30 years. Only rarely is there even a short battle of words between the two camps, that is then quickly ended by soldiers, who have been blocking for days now bank of the Nile between the State Department and Tahrir Square....\\nFeb 1, 2011\\nEighteenth day of the Tunisian people: The strategy of tension / Decimoctavo día del pueblo tunecino: La estrategia de la tensión\\nWe returned this morning to Qasba, closed on all four sides by barbed wire. The police only let in the employees who work in the district. But from the outside we were able to see and photograph, the new lime painted on the walls looking like a facelift, revealing a hidden history, a strangled antiquity. There is no doubt they have done a good job. Not a trace of a slogan or a comma of graffiti or stroke of black ink. Not even on the prime minister's stone palace can you find the slightest trace of the noisy discussions that for five days fused politics and life in a pure present without future....\\nFeb 1, 2011\\nUprisings across Arab world pose dilemma for U.S. imperialism\\nThe revolutionary upheaval in Egypt has brought millions of workers, youth and professionals into the streets to demand the removal of the U.S.-backed regime of Hosni Mubarak. The potential looms for a total collapse of Washington’s foreign policy in the region....\\nFeb 1, 2011\\nAs of Jan. 24, the Lebanese Parliament is holding discussions to form a new government. A year-old “unity government” containing all political factions fell on Jan. 12, when Hezbollah pulled its people out of cabinet posts....\\nFeb 1, 2011\\nProtests continue in Egypt demanding end to Mubarak regime\\nJan. 30 — Massive protests continue throughout Egypt to demand an end to the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, a 30-year dictatorship that has served as an anchor for U.S. imperialism in the Middle East. In the streets protesters have fraternized with members of the military, while police forces have largely retreated. Meanwhile, youth direct traffic, as self-defense committees have been organized to defend neighborhoods from violence at the hands of “thugs,” who many suspect to be plainclothes police and members of the ruling National Democratic Party. After three days of demonstrations in which tens of thousands of people faced brutal repression at the hands of the Egyptian state apparatus, hundreds of thousands came out on Jan. 28 to protest the police brutality, poverty, unemployment and corruption they have endured under the Mubarak regime. Defying a curfew imposed by Mubarak the day before, protesters hit the streets not only in the capital city, Cairo, but in cities throughout the country....\\nJan 31, 2011\\nSeventeenth day of the Tunisian people: Fire under the ashes / Decimoséptimo día del pueblo tunecino: Fuego bajo las cenizas\\nHamida Ben Romdhane, director of La Press on January 13, still director of La Press on January 30, writes an article today entitled \\\"I am guilty,” in which he lashes out against \\\"the smoothies, sycophants, calculators and manipulators\\\" that for years have been lackeys in the service of the dictator's personality cult. \\\"Today,\\\" he says, \\\"Tunisia breathes freely and so does our newspaper. ...\\nJan 31, 2011\\nIAPSCC hails and supports people’s struggle in Egypt\\nIAPSCC salutes the people of Egypt for their determined struggle to end the 30-year long tyrannical rule of Mubarak having a tacit understanding with Israel and who was backed by the imperialist powers, esp. the USA, all these years. Inspired by the example of Tunisian people’s struggle and victory over dictatorial rulers, people in Egypt have taken to the streets for over one week defying curfew and planning still more powerful movement....\\nJan 31, 2011\\nSixteenth day of the Tunisian people: Freedom ends / Decimosexto día del pueblo tunecino: Se acabó la libertad\\nAfter two weeks of restraint, in fact, the police have returned to take charge of the situation. Yesterday they broke hands and legs in the Qasbah and throughout the day lists have circulated of unconfirmed dead and missing. At least 20 people were arrested this afternoon at the station. And on the Qasbah square where yesterday there were still blankets, tents and cooking pots, some dozens of mobile phones were scattered about. Of many of the people the police scattered yesterday nothing is known.Meanwhile this morning, 12 hours later, the walls of the building that for five days was the ministry of the people were being painted over, the Press published a front-page photograph of the crushed concentration under the headline: \\\"in the Qasbah the freedom caravan follows the protests.\\\" The revolution is already a brand-name, the spark of life of a government that weaves in the darkness and a press that uses new names to name the same things....\\nJan 30, 2011\\nFifteenth day of the Tunisian people: The assault on the Qasbah / Día decimoquinto del pueblo tunecino: El asalto de la Qasba\\nhe most beautiful place on earth lasted for five days.\\nFinally this afternoon, at 4 p.m., the police assaulted the Qasbah, killing Omar Auini, who suffocated on tear gas and injuring at least 15 people, most of them with broken hands and legs....\\nJan 29, 2011\\nSecond week of the Tunisian people--day 14: Stubbornness vs. counterrevolution/Segunda semana del pueblo tunecino: Obstinación y contrarrevolución\\nAt 9:30 a.m. a taxi driver answered our question about Mohamed Ghannouchi with impeccable reasoning:“Do you know why I want him to go? Because he doesn't want to go. If he doesn't want to go, it's because he is hiding something. If he is hiding something, it can't be something good. And if he is hiding something bad, he has to go.”...\\nJan 29, 2011\\nThirteenth day of the Tunisian people: Tension in the Qasbah/ Día decimotercero del pueblo tunecino: Tensión en la Qasba\\nIf everything was following a plan, if 120 people were killed to rejuvenate the old country and better locate it in an Arab world submissive to Washington's plans, if it were aimed at better ensuring continuity by introducing some cosmetic changes, then now it would have to sweep away the embers that the wind -- always unpredictable -- has blown together at the Qasbah. The past returns with unsettling speed....\\nJan 29, 2011\\nLong Live the Egyptian People's Struggle!\\nA seemingly all-powerful military, police and media apparatus, that has had the support of the U.S. superpower for decades, is crumbling before the even greater strength of a united people who have first conquered fear and may now push the dictator’s regime into the dustbin of history....\\nJan 28, 2011\\nEgyptian protests intensify, challenge 30 years of pro-U.S. dictatorship\\nTens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across Egypt demanding the ouster of U.S. ally President Hosni Mubarak. These are the largest anti-regime protests in Mubarak’s 30-year rule of this North African country of 85 million people. Though the White House has declared the Mubarak regime “stable,” even greater protests are expected on Jan. 28 following Friday services at mosques throughout the country. Egyptian opposition forces were inspired by the uprising in nearby Tunisia, which on Jan. 14 forced that country’s dictator, Zine El Abadine Ben Ali, to flee to Saudi Arabia. The uprising in Tunisia surprised not only its own rulers but their imperialist overlords in Paris and Washington....\\nJan 27, 2011\\n...\\nJan 27, 2011\\nFOUNDATION STATEMENT OF THE JANUARY 14TH NATIONAL FRONT OF THE NATIONAL PROGRESSIVE AND DEMOCRATIC FORCES OF TUNISIA\\nTo affirm and ensure our participation in the revolution of our people, who fought for their right to freedom and national dignity, this people who sacrificed dozens of martyrs and thousands of wounded and arrested, and in order to complete and secure the victory against both domestic and foreign enemies and against those who are attempting to hijack the sacrifices of the people, have constituted \\\"The January 14th Front” as a political structure to promote and ensure the revolution to achieve its goals and fight and stop the forces of counterrevolution; this front is a structure that brings together national, progressive and democratic parties, forces and organizations....\\nJan 27, 2011\\nTwelfth day of the Tunisian people/Duodécimo día del pueblo tunecino\\nAfter a festive and liberating week with unanimous participation, Tunisian society is beginning to split along class lines. It is a territorial division, which is beginning to separate Bourguiba Avenue from the Qasbah, and is also a cyber division, in which the same people who used facebook to fuel the revolution are today calling for calm and the restoration of order against the insurgent proletariat. You can perceive a disturbing contraction. Hamida Ben Romdhane, director of La Press, which on Jan. 13 dutifully praised the last steps Ben Ali took to try to calm the masses, on Jan. 20 exhibited on its front cover jewels allegedly confiscated from the Trabelsi family and praised the revolution of the worthy people of Tunisia....\\nJan 27, 2011\\nEleventh day of the Tunisian people/Undécimo día del pueblo tunecino\\nThe unknown country, which has made the revolution, which has sacrificed 120 lives in the protests, is found not on Bourguiba Avenue, where intellectuals celebrate a revolution that they can gain from and then withdraw, but in the Qasbah in front of the prime minister's headquarters. Yesterday hundreds of people slept here, and now, at 12 a.m. (on Jan. 24), thousands of them are still shouting: \\\"nidal nidal hata iusqut el nitham\\\", \\\"Al yaum al-yaum tusqut el-hukuma\\\" (\\\"Struggle, struggle until we end the regime\\\",\\\"today, today we overthrow the government.\\\") ...\\nJan 27, 2011\\nTenth day of the Tunisian people/ Décimo día del pueblo tunecino\\nA revolution, can it so easily become a habit? Is it compatible with the customary normal duties of government, the production and reproduction of everyday life, the natural decline of forces? The government hopes and protesters fear the same thing: fatigue will set in. But this Sunday [Jan. 23] of transition to \\\"the first day of normality,\\\" which will once again put to the test the people's ability to break out, Bourguiba Avenue remains vibrant under a light so pure, so sharp, that its buildings and the trees look bare, even skinless....\\nJan 27, 2011\\nNinth day of the Tunisian people-Jan. 23, 2011/ Noveno día del pueblo tunecino\\nIn some sense these days I feel very Tunisian: because, like other Tunisians, I realize that up to now I understood nothing about Tunisia. And because what is now clear to me, like to all other Tunisians, is mostly a great confusion. The situation, eight days after the collapse of the tyrant, it stretches and stretches without breaking. As in all revolutions, everything is decided in the first few weeks and today one everything feels a little uncomfortable -- like amorphous, painful, formless freedom -- a great uncertainty....\\nJan 27, 2011\\nThe following is a day-by-day chronicle of developments in Tunisia, which are written in Spanish and which the IAC is translating to English:...\\nJan 27, 2011\\nEighth day in Tunisia: Will it fall -- or won’t it?\\nWe started the day with frightening evidence that there are things the revolution can’t do and that irrational forces operate beyond the dominant logic governing things. Our friend Amin has caught the flu.\\nRegardless, the revolution can cure sadness, melancholy, moodiness and suicidal tendencies. Mohammed cites the experience of a friend discharged by his psychiatrist after Jan. 14, the day of the dictator's fall. We invented a new term, \\\"thauratherapy\\\" -- the revolution (thaura) as psychological therapy. The demonstrations, which are repeated another day in the city center, are saving bodies and souls....\\nJan 27, 2011\\nJan. 24 — Tunisia’s workers and youth have continued mass demonstrations and strikes aimed at removing the neocolonial regime and replacing it with a representative government of national unity....\\nJan 22, 2011\\nHungry and jobless, Tunisian masses rebel\\nJan. 18 — A popular uprising in the North African state of Tunisia since mid-December has driven President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled the Western-allied government for 23 years, into exile. Ben Ali fled on Jan. 14 after tens of thousands of workers and youths attacked the Ministry of the Interior and other government buildings in the capital of Tunis and in the city of Carthage. When a street vendor who was attacked by police committed suicide by self-immolation on Dec. 17, it unleashed this enormous struggle. Defying tear gas and even live fire from the security forces that killed between 50 and 100 people, thousands also demonstrated in dozens of Tunisia’s provincial cities until they brought down a repressive head of state....\\nJan 2, 2011\",\n \"Gaza_Strip.txt\\nGaza Strip\\nThe Gaza Strip (; '), or simply Gaza, is a small self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 km and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border. Gaza, together with the West Bank, comprise the Palestinian territories claimed by the Palestinians as the future sovereign State of Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory. Both fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006. It has been placed under an Israeli and U.S.-led international economic and political boycott from that time onwards. \\n\\nThe territory is 41 km long, and from 6 to wide, with a total area of 365 km2. With around 1.85 million Palestinians[http://pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2176.pdf Table 3: Projected Population in the State of Palestine by Governorate, End Year 2015]. PCBS, Palestinians at the End of 2015, p. 36. [http://pcbs.gov.ps/PCBS_2012/Publications.aspx Source:] on some 362 square kilometers, Gaza ranks as the 6th most densely populated polity in the world. An extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gaza's Palestinians. Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 2.91% (2014 est.), the 13th highest in the world, and is often referred to as overcrowded. The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020. By that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable, if present trends continue. Due to the Israeli–Egyptian blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip, nor allowed to freely import or export goods. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.\\n\\nDespite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the United Nations, International human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators consider the territory to be still occupied by Israel, supported by additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.\\n\\nWhen Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election, 2006, Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, until a short-lived unity government agreement was brokered by Saudi Arabia. When this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Palestinian Authority instituted a government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza.Dennis J. Deeb II, [https://books.google.it/books?id\\n-aqJAAAAQBAJ&pgPA45 Israel, Palestine, & the Quest for Middle East Peace,] University Press of America, 2013. Further economic sanctions were imposed by Israel and the European Quartet against Hamas. A brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when, apparently under a U.S.-backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas’s administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PA's security apparatus from the Strip, and has remained the sole governing power in Gaza since that date.\\n\\nGovernance\\n\\nHamas government\\n\\nThe Hamas government of 2012 was the second Palestinian Hamas-dominated government, ruling over the Gaza Strip, since the split of the Palestinian National Authority in 2007. It was announced in early September 2012. The reshuffle of the previous government was approved by Gaza-based Hamas MPs from the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) or parliament.\\n\\nOther political and militant groups in Gaza\\n\\nThe Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, also known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Palestinian militant organization operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel. Iran is a major financial supporter of the PIJ. \\nIslamic Jihad is the second largest militant Islamic group in Gaza with 8,000 fighters present in the Gaza strip. In June 2013, the Islamic Jihad broke ties with Hamas leaders after Hamas police fatally shot the commander of Islamic Jihad's military wing.\\n\\nDeal with Fatah\\n\\nOn September 25, 2014, Hamas agreed to let the Palestinian Authority resume control over the Gaza Strip and its border crossings with Egypt and Israel.\\n\\nStatus\\n\\nMilitary occupation\\n\\nThe international community regards all of the Palestinian territories including Gaza as occupied.See the short video [http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/upfront/2015/10/reality-check-gaza-occupied-151023153703888.html Reality Check: Gaza is still occupied] on Al Jazeera, showing the arguments Human Rights Watch has declared at the UN Human Rights Council that it views Israel as a de facto occupying power in the Gaza Strip, even though Israel has no military or other presence, because the Oslo Accord authorizes Israel to control the airspace and the territorial sea. \\n\\nIn his statement on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur wrote that international humanitarian law applied to Israel \\\"in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.\\\" Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, Oxfam, the International Committee of the Red Cross, The United Nations, the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza, international human rights organizations, US government websites, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and a significant number of legal commentators (Geoffrey Aronson, Meron Benvenisti, Claude Bruderlein, Sari Bashi and Kenneth Mann, Shane Darcy and John Reynolds, Yoram Dinstein, John Dugard, Marc S. Kaliser, Mustafa Mari, Iain Scobbie, and Yuval Shany maintain that Israel's extensive direct external control over Gaza, and indirect control over the lives of its internal population mean that Gaza remained occupied. \\n\\nIsrael states that it does not exercise effective control or authority over any land or institutions in the Gaza Strip and thus the Gaza Strip is no longer subject to the former military occupation.Dore Gold, [http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief005-3.htm JCPA Legal Acrobatics: The Palestinian Claim that Gaza is Still \\\"Occupied\\\" Even After Israel Withdraws], Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, Vol. 5, No. 3, 26 August 2005. Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Tzipi Livni stated in January 2008: \\\"Israel got out of Gaza. It dismantled its settlements there. No Israeli soldiers were left there after the disengagement.\\\" In spite of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Hamas Government in Gaza considers Gaza as occupied territory.[http://hamas.ps/en/page/13/FAQ Israel ended its occupation of the Gaza Strip when it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, so why does Hamas continue to fire rockets into Israel?]. FAQ on the official Hamas website. Accessed November 2015. \\\"This is one of the myths perpetuated by Israel's propaganda ... Israel re-deployed its military occupation forces and evacuated its illegal settlers outside the population centers in Gaza. BUT Israel effectively controls the sea, land and air spaces and border crossings that link the Gaza Strip to the outside world. According to the UN and human rights organizations, Israel still maintains its occupation of the Gaza Strip and subjects the 1.8 million Palestinians in this tiny strip to a horrendous siege and blockade that constitute a war crime under international law.\\\" Here, Hamas cites the view of the international community.\\n\\nHuman rights organization Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has set up the project \\\"We Are Not Numbers\\\", in which Gazans are encouraged to write their personal story as Palestinian living under occupation or in a refugee camp. \\n\\nControl over airspace\\n\\nAs agreed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the Oslo Accords, Israel has exclusive control over the airspace. It can interfere with radio and TV transmissions, and the Palestinian Authority cannot engage in independent initiatives for operating a seaport or airport. The Accords also permitted Palestinians to construct an airport, which was duly built and opened in 1998. Israel destroyed Gaza's only airport in 2001 and 2002, during the Second Intifada.\\n\\nThe Israeli army makes use of drones, which can launch precise missiles. They are equipped with high-resolution cameras and other sensors. In addition, the missile fired from a drone has its own cameras that allow the operator to observe the target from the moment of firing. After a missile has been launched, the drone operator can remotely divert it elsewhere. Drone operators can view objects on the ground in detail during both day and night.[https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/06/30/precisely-wrong/gaza-civilians-killed-israeli-drone-launched-missiles Precisely Wrong—Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles]. Human Rights Watch, 30 June 2009 Israeli drones routinely patrol over Gaza.\\n\\nBuffer Zone\\n\\nPart of the territory is depopulated because of the imposition of buffer zones on both the Israeli and Egyptian borders.[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11721118 Hard times drive Gazans into perilous ′buffer zone′]. BBC, 10 November 2010[http://www.imemc.org/article/71548 PCHR-Gaza: Israeli Buffer Zone Policies Typically Enforced with Live Fire]. PCHR, 11 May 2015 \\n\\nInitially, Israel imposed a 50-meter buffer zone in Gaza.[http://www.imemc.org/article/61003 Palestinian Killed in Gaza Buffer Zone]. IMEMC, 5 April 2011 In 2000, it was expanded to 150 meters. Following the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, an undefined buffer zone was maintained, including a no-fishing zone along the coast.\\n\\nIn 2009/2010, Israel expanded the buffer zone to 300 meters. In 2010, the UN estimated that 30 percent of the arable land in Gaza had been lost to the buffer zone.\\n\\nOn 25 February 2013, pursuant to a November 2012 ceasefire, Israel declared a buffer zone of 100 meters on land and 6 nautical miles offshore. In the following month, the zone was changed to 300 meters and 3 nautical miles. The 1994 Gaza Jericho Agreement allows 20 nautical miles, and the 2002 Bertini Commitment allows 12 nautical miles.\\n\\nIn August 2015, the IDF confirmed a buffer zone of 300 meters for residents and 100 meters for farmers, but without explaining how to distinguish between the two.[http://gisha.org/legal/4577 IDF spokesman provides contradictory answers regarding the width of the “no-go zone” which residents of the Gaza Strip are prohibited from entering]. Gisha, August 2015 , on a third of Gaza's agricultural land, residents risk Israeli attacks. According to PCHR, Israeli attacks take place up to approximately from the border, making 17% of Gaza's total territory a risk zone.\\n\\nIsrael says the buffer zone is needed to protect Israeli communities just over the border from sniper fire and rocket attacks. In the 18 months until November 2010, one Thai farm worker in Israel was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, and in 2010, according to IDF figures, 180 rockets and mortars had been fired into Israel by militants. In 6 months, however, 11 Palestinians civilians, including four children, had been killed by Israeli fire and at least 70 Palestinian civilians were injured in the same period, including at least 49 who were working collecting rubble and scrap metal.\\n\\nA buffer zone was also created on the Egyptian side of the Gaza–Egypt border. In 2014, scores of homes in Rafah were destroyed for the buffer zone. According to Amnesty International, more than 800 homes had been destroyed and more than 1,000 families evicted. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed with the destruction of smuggling tunnels by flooding them, and then punishing the owners of the houses that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their houses, arguing that the tunnels had produced 1,800 millionaires, and were used for smuggling weapons, drugs, cash, and equipment for forging documents.[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?qcache:LGk-8K_BsrUJ:www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.629397+&cd\\n1&ct=clnk Abbas: Egypt Right to Create Buffer Zone on Gaza Border]. Jack Khoury, Haaretz, 1 December 2014 (premium). ″Abbas believed the destruction of the tunnels was the best solution. The Palestinian president said he had recommended previously the sealing or destruction of the tunnels by flooding them and then punishing the owners of the homes that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their homes.″\\n\\nGaza blockade\\n\\nIsrael and Egypt maintain a blockade of the Gaza Strip, although Israel allows in limited quantities of medical humanitarian aid. The Red Cross claimed that the blockade harms the economy and causes a shortage of basic medicines and equipment such as painkillers and x-ray film. \\n\\nIsrael claims the blockade is necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. For example, in 2014, a Panamanian-flagged ship claiming to be carrying construction materials was boarded by the IDF and was found to contain Syrian produced rockets. \\nIsrael maintains that the blockade is legal and necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons. \\n\\nDirector of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval Diskin did not oppose easing trade restrictions, but said that smuggling tunnels in Sinai and an open seaport in the Gaza Strip endangered Israel's security. According to Diskin, Hamas and Islamic Jihad had smuggled in over \\\"5,000 rockets with ranges up to 40 km.\\\" Some of the rockets could reach as far as the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area. \\n\\nIsraeli spokesman Mark Regev described Israel's actions as \\\"sanctions,\\\" not a blockade, but a Gazan legal consultant for UNRWA called the blockade \\\"an action outside of international law.” \\n\\nIn July 2010, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, \\\"humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.\\\" In response, the spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said, \\\"The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organization Hamas. The situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas' rule and priorities.\\\"\\n\\nThe Arab League accused Israel of waging a financial war. The IDF strictly controlled travel within the area of the crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and sealed its border with Gaza. U.S. government travel guides warned tourists that the region was dangerous.\\n\\nFacing mounting international pressure, Egypt and Israel lessened the restrictions starting in June 2010, when the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza was partially opened by Egypt. Egypt’s foreign ministry said that the crossing would remain open mainly for people, but not for supplies. Israel announced that it would allow the passage of civilian goods but not weapons and items that could be used for dual purposes. In December 2015, Egypt asked Israel not to allow Turkish aid to get through to the Gaza Strip. Benjamin Netanyahu said that it is impossible to lift the siege on Gaza and that the security of Israel is the primary issue for him. He confirmed \\\"that Israel is the only country that currently sends supplies to the coastal enclave\\\".[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23021-israel-confirms-it-has-not-reached-an-agreement-with-turkey Israel confirms it has not reached an agreement with Turkey]. MEMO, 24 December 2015\\n\\nIn January and February 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) assessed measures taken to ease the blockade and concluded that they were helpful but not sufficient to improve the lives of the local inhabitants. UNOCHA called on Israel to reduce restrictions on exports and the import of construction materials, and to lift the general ban on movement between Gaza and the West Bank via Israel. After Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 28 May 2011, Egypt permanently opened its border with the Gaza Strip to students, medical patients, and foreign passport holders. \\nFollowing the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, Egypt's military has destroyed most of the 1,200 tunnels which are used for smuggling food, weapons, and other goods to Gaza. After the August 2013 Rabaa Massacre in Egypt, the border crossing was closed 'indefinitely.' \\n\\nIsrael has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross the terrestrial border and handles vicariously the movement of goods into and out of Gaza by air and sea. Israel largely provides for Gaza's water supply, electricity, and communications infrastructure. While the import of food is restricted through the Gaza blockade, the Israeli military destroys agricultural crops by spraying toxic chemicals over the Gazan lands, using aircraft flying over the border zone.[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23117-israeli-military-admits-destroying-gaza-crops-on-border Israeli military admits destroying Gaza crops on border]. MEMO, 31 December 2015 Also Gaza's agricultural research and development station was destroyed in 2014 and again in January 2016, while import of new equipment is obstructed. \\n\\nMovement of people\\n\\nBecause of the Israeli–Egyptian blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip. Only in exceptional cases are people allowed to pass through the Erez Crossing or the Rafah Border Crossing.[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_July_2015_english.pdf The Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of the Blockade]. UN OCHA, July 2015. \\\"1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are ‘locked in’, denied free access to the remainder of the occupied Palestinian territory and the outside world.\\\" Available at [http://www.ochaopt.org/reports.aspx?id\\n103&page1 Fact Sheets].[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/gaza_crossings_operations_status_september%202015.pdf Gaza crossings’ operations status:Monthly update—September 2015]. UN OCHA. Available at [http://gaza.ochaopt.org/2015/09/gaza-crossings-operations-status-monthly-update-july-2015/ Gaza Crossings’ Operations Status: Monthly Update]. [http://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files2/201401_'so_near_and_yet_so_far_eng.pdf So near and yet so far—Implications of Israeli‐Imposed Seclusion of Gaza Strip on Palestinians’ Right to Family Life]. Hamoked and B'Tselem, January 2014. [http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/201401_so_near_and_yet_so_far Here available] In 2015, a Gazan woman was not allowed to travel through Israel to Jordan on her way to her own wedding. The Israeli authorities found she did not meet the criteria for travel, namely only in exceptional humanitarian cases. \\n\\nUnder the long-term blockade, the Gaza Strip is often described as a \\\"prison-camp or open air prison for its collective denizens.\\\" The comparison is done by observers, ranging from Roger Cohen and Lawrence Weschler to NGOs, such as B'tselem, and politicians and diplomats, such as David Cameron, Noam Chomsky, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, David Shoebridge and Sir John Holmes \\nIn 2014 French President Francois Hollande called for the demilitarization of Gaza and a lifting of the blockade, saying \\\"Gaza must neither be an open prison nor a military base.\\\" \\n\\nAn anonymous Israeli analyst has called it \\\"Israel's Alcatraz.\\\" While Lauren Booth, Philip Slater, Giorgio Agamben compare it to a \\\"concentration camp.\\\" For Robert S. Wistrich, and Philip Mendes, such analogies are designed to offend Jews, while Philip Seib dismisses the comparison as absurd, and claims that it arises from sources like Al Jazeera and statements by Arab leaders. \\n\\nEconomy\\n\\nThe economy of the Gaza Strip is severely hampered by Egypt and Israel's almost total blockade, the high population density, limited land access, strict internal and external security controls, the effects of Israeli military operations, and restrictions on labor and trade access across the border. Per capita income (PPP) was estimated at US$3,100 in 2009, a position of 164th in the world. Seventy percent of the population is below the poverty line according to a 2009 estimate. Gaza Strip industries are generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs.\\n\\nThe main agricultural products are olives, citrus, vegetables, Halal beef, and dairy products. Primary exports are citrus and cut flowers, while primary imports are food, consumer goods, and construction materials. The main trade partners of the Gaza Strip are Israel and Egypt. \\n\\nThe EU described the Gaza economy as follows: \\\"Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and following the closure imposed by Israel, the situation in the Strip has been one of chronic need, de-development and donor dependency, despite a temporary relaxation on restrictions in movement of people and goods after the Gaza flotilla raid in 2010. The closure has effectively cut off access for exports to traditional markets in Israel, transfers to the West Bank and has severely restricted imports. Exports are now down to 2% of 2007 levels.\\\"\\n\\nAccording to Sara Roy, one senior IDF officer told an UNWRA official in 2015 that Israel's policy towards the Gaza Strip consisted of: \\\"No development, no prosperity, no humanitarian crisis.” \\n\\nAfter Oslo (1994-2007)\\n\\nEconomic output in the Gaza Strip declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996. This downturn was attributed to Israeli closure policies and, to a lesser extent, corruption and mismanagement by Yasser Arafat. Economic development has been hindered by Israel refusing to allow the operation of a sea harbour. A Gaza Seaport was planned to be built in Gaza with help from France and The Netherlands, but the project was bombed by Israel in 2001. Israel said that the reason for bombing was that Israeli settlements were being shot at from the construction site at the harbour. As a result, international transports (both trade and aid) had to go through Israel, which was hindered by the imposition of generalized border closures. These also disrupted previously established labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the Strip. A serious negative social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high unemployment.\\n\\nFor its energy, Gaza is largely dependent on Israel either for import of electricity or fuel for its sole power plant. The Oslo Accords set limits for the Palestinian production and importation of energy. Pursuant to the Accords, the Israel Electric Corporation exclusively supplies the electricity (63% of the total consumption in 2013).[http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/tdb62d3_en.pdf Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people: Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory], para 20. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 6 July 2015 (doc.nr. TD/B/62/3). [http://unctad.org/en/Pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID\\n260 Source].para 40: \\\"The study stressed that Gaza’s population would increase from 1.6 million in 2011 to 2.1 million in 2020, and concluded that for Gaza to be a liveable place in 2020 “herculean efforts” needed to be accelerated in such sectors as health, education, energy, water and sanitation (United Nations, 2012). However, instead of such efforts, the tragedy in Gaza has deteriorated and its de-development was accelerated by destruction in 2014.\\\" para 43: \\\"The social, health\\nand security-related ramifications of the high population density and overcrowding are\\namong the factors that may render Gaza unliveable by 2020, if present trends continue\\\"\\n The amount of electricity has consistently been limited to 120 megawatts, which is the amount Israel undertook to sell to Gaza pursuant to the Oslo Accords. \\n\\nIsrael's use of comprehensive closures decreased over the next few years. In 1998, Israel implemented new policies to ease security procedures and allow somewhat freer movement of Gazan goods and labor into Israel. These changes led to three years of economic recovery in the Gaza Strip, disrupted by the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in the last quarter of 2000. Before the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, around 25,000 workers from the Gaza Strip (about 2% of the population) worked in Israel on a daily basis. \\n\\nThe Second Intifada led to a steep decline in the economy of Gaza, which was heavily reliant upon external markets. Israel—which had begun its occupation by helping Gazans to plant approximately 618,000 trees in 1968, and to improve seed selection—over the first 3-year period of the second intifada, destroyed 10 percent of Gazan agricultural land, and uprooted 226,000 trees. The population became largely dependent on humanitarian assistance, primarily from UN agencies.\\n\\nThe al-Aqsa Intifada triggered tight IDF closures of the border with Israel, as well as frequent curbs on traffic in Palestinian self-rule areas, severely disrupting trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more so in early 2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures led to widespread business closures and a sharp drop in GDP. Civilian infrastructure, such as the Palestine airport, was destroyed by Israel. Another major factor was a drop in income due to reduction in the number of Gazans permitted entry to work in Israel. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the flow of a limited number of workers into Israel resumed, although Israel said it would reduce or end such permits due to the victory of Hamas in the 2006 parliamentary elections.\\n\\nThe Israeli settlers of Gush Katif built greenhouses and experimented with new forms of agriculture. These greenhouses provided employment for hundreds of Gazans. When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, more than 3,000 (about half) of the greenhouses were purchased with $14 million raised by former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, and given to Palestinians to jump-start their economy. The rest were demolished by the departing settlers before there were offered a compensation as an inducement to leave them behind. The farming effort faltered due to limited water supply, Palestinian looting, restrictions on exports, and corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinian companies repaired the greenhouses damaged and looted by the Palestinians after the Israeli withdrawal. \\n\\nIn 2005, after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Gaza businessmen envisaged a \\\"magnificent future.\\\" $1.1 million was invested in an upscale restaurant, Roots, and plans were made to turn one of the Israeli settlements into a family resort. \\n\\nFollowing Hamas takeover (2007-present)\\n\\nThe European Union states: \\\"Gaza has experienced continuous economic decline since the imposition of a closure policy by Israel in 2007. This has had serious social and humanitarian consequences for many of its 1.7 million inhabitants. The situation has deteriorated further in recent months as a result of the geo-political changes which took place in the region during the course of 2013, particularly in Egypt and its closure of the majority of smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza as well as increased restrictions at Rafah.\\\" Israel, the United States, Canada, and the European Union have frozen all funds to the Palestinian government after the formation of a Hamas-controlled government after its democratic victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. They view the group as a terrorist organization, and have pressured Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and make good on past agreements. Prior to disengagement, 120,000 Palestinians from Gaza had been employed in Israel or in joint projects. After the Israeli withdrawal, the gross domestic product of the Gaza Strip declined. Jewish enterprises shut down, work relationships were severed, and job opportunities in Israel dried up. After the 2006 elections, fighting broke out between Fatah and Hamas, which Hamas won in the Gaza Strip on 14 June 2007. Israel imposed a blockade, and the only goods permitted into the Strip through the land crossings were goods of a humanitarian nature, and these were permitted in limited quantities.\\n\\nAn easing of Israel's closure policy in 2010 resulted in an improvement in some economic indicators, although exports were still restricted. According to the Israeli Defense Forces and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the economy of the Gaza Strip improved in 2011, with a drop in unemployment and an increase in GDP. New malls opened and local industry began to develop. This economic upswing has led to the construction of hotels and a rise in the import of cars. Wide-scale development has been made possible by the unhindered movement of goods into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The current rate of trucks entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom is 250 trucks per day. The increase in building activity has led to a shortage of construction workers. To make up for the deficit, young people are being sent to learn the trade in Turkey. \\n\\nIn 2012, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said that Gaza's economic situation has improved and Gaza has become self-reliant \\\"in several aspects except petroleum and electricity\\\" despite Israel's blockade. Zahar said that Gaza's economic conditions are better than those in the West Bank. In 2014, the EU's opinion was: \\\"Today, Gaza is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation with power outages across Gaza for up to 16 hours a day and, as a consequence, the closure of sewage pumping operations, reduced access to clean water; a reduction in medical supplies and equipment; the cessation of imports of construction materials; rising unemployment, rising prices and increased food insecurity. If left unaddressed, the situation could have serious consequences for stability in Gaza, for security more widely in the region as well as for the peace process itself.\\\"\\n\\n2012 fuel crisis\\n\\nUsually, diesel for Gaza came from Israel, but in 2011, Hamas started to buy cheaper fuel from Egypt, bringing it via a network of underground tunnels, and refused to allow it from Israel. \\n\\nIn early 2012, due to internal economic disagreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government in Gaza, decreased supplies from Egypt and through tunnel smuggling, and Hamas's refusal to ship fuel via Israel, the Gaza Strip plunged into a fuel crisis, bringing increasingly long electricity shut downs and disruption of transportation. Egypt had attempted for a while to stop the use of underground tunnels for delivery of Egyptian fuel purchased by Palestinian authorities, and had severely reduced supply through the tunnel network. As the crisis broke out, Hamas sought to equip the Rafah terminal between Egypt and Gaza for fuel transfer, and refused to accept fuel to be delivered via the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza. \\n\\nIn mid-February 2012, as the crisis escalated, Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal to bring in fuel via the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza to reactivate Gaza’s only power plant. Ahmed Abu Al-Amreen of the Hamas-run Energy Authority refused it on the grounds that the crossing is operated by Israel and Hamas' fierce opposition to the existence of Israel. Egypt cannot ship diesel fuel to Gaza directly through the Rafah crossing point, because it is limited to the movement of individuals.\\n\\nIn early March 2012, the head of Gaza's energy authority stated that Egypt wanted to transfer energy via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, but he personally refused it to go through the \\\"Zionist entity\\\" (Israel) and insisted that Egypt transfer the fuel through the Rafah Crossing, although this crossing is not equipped to handle the half-million liters needed each day. \\n\\nIn late March 2012, Hamas began offering carpools for people to use Hamas state vehicles to get to work. Many Gazans began to wonder how these vehicles have fuel themselves, as diesel was completely unavailable in Gaza, ambulances could no longer be used, but Hamas government officials still had fuel for their own cars. Many Gazans said that Hamas confiscated the fuel it needed from petrol stations and used it exclusively for their own purposes.\\n\\nEgypt agreed to provide 600,000 liters of fuel to Gaza daily, but it had no way of delivering it that Hamas would agree to. \\n\\nIn addition, Israel introduced a number of goods and vehicles into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as well as the normal diesel for hospitals. Israel also shipped 150,000 liters of diesel through the crossing, which was paid for by the Red Cross.\\n\\nIn April 2012, the issue was resolved as certain amounts of fuel were supplied with the involvement of the Red Cross, after the Palestinian Authority and Hamas reached a deal. Fuel was finally transferred via the Israeli Kerem Shalom Crossing, which Hamas previously refused to transfer fuel from. \\n\\nCurrent budget\\n\\nMost of the Gaza Strip administration funding comes from outside as an aid, with large portion delivered by UN organizations directly to education and food supply. Most of the Gaza GDP comes as foreign humanitarian and direct economic support. Of those funds, the major part is supported by the U.S. and the European Union. Portions of the direct economic support have been provided by the Arab League, though it largely has not provided funds according to schedule. Among other alleged sources of Gaza administration budget is Iran.\\n\\nA diplomatic source told Reuters that Iran had funded Hamas in the past with up to $300 million per year, but the flow of money had not been regular in 2011. \\\"Payment has been in suspension since August,\\\" said the source.[http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/30/191571.html] \\\"The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Qatar on Monday, beginning a regional tour that is also expected to take him to Kuwait, Bahrain and Iran.\\\"\\n\\nOn January 2012, some diplomatic sources said that Turkey promised to provide Haniyeh's Gaza Strip administration with $300 million to support its annual budget.\\n\\nOn April 2012, the Hamas government in Gaza approved its budget for 2012, which was up 25 percent year-on-year over 2011 budget, indicating that donors, including Iran, benefactors in the Islamic world, and Palestinian expatriates, are still heavily funding the movement. Chief of Gaza's parliament's budget committee Jamal Nassar said the 2012 budget is $769 million, compared to $630 million in 2011.\\n\\nGeography and climate\\n\\nThe Gaza Strip is located in the Middle East (at ). It has a 51 km border with Israel, and an 11 km border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah. Khan Yunis is located 7 km northeast of Rafah, and several towns around Deir el-Balah are located along the coast between it and Gaza City. Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun are located to the north and northeast of Gaza City, respectively. The Gush Katif bloc of Israeli settlements used to exist on the sand dunes adjacent to Rafah and Khan Yunis, along the southwestern edge of the 40 km Mediterranean coastline. Al Deira beach is a popular venue for surfers. \\n\\nThe Gaza Strip has an arid climate, with mild winters, and dry, hot summers subject to drought. The terrain is flat or rolling, with dunes near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105 m above sea level. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne diseases; soil degradation; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources.\\n\\nNatural resources \\n\\nNatural resources of Gaza include arable land—about a third of the strip is irrigated. Recently, natural gas was discovered. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; water-borne disease; soil degradation; lack of adequate sewage treatment; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources. The Gaza Strip is largely dependent on water from Wadi Gaza, which also supplies Israel. \\n\\nGaza's marine gas reserves extend 32 kilometres from the Gaza Strip's coastlineNafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, [http://mondediplo.com/blogs/israel-s-war-for-gaza-s-gas 'Israel’s War for Gaza’s Gas,'] Le Monde diplomatique, November 2012. and were calculated at 35 BCM.Steven W. Popper, Claude Berrebi, James Griffin, Thomas Light, Endy Y. Min, [https://books.google.it/books?iddMtllbFoH9UC&pg\\nPA11 Natural Gas and Israel's Energy Future: Near-Term Decisions from a Strategic Perspective,] Rand Corporation, 2009 p.11.\\n\\nDemographics\\n\\nIn 2010 approximately 1.6 million Palestinians lived in the Gaza Strip, almost 1.0 million of them UN-registered refugees. The majority of the Palestinians descend from refugees who were driven from or left their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, one of the main reasons being a total fertility rate of 4.24 children per woman (2014 est). In a ranking by total fertility rate, this places Gaza 34th of 224 regions. According to the UN, unless remedial steps are taken to repair the basic infrastructure by 2020, with a further demographic increase of 500,000 and intensified housing problems, the Gaza Strip will become effectively uninhabitable. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.\\n\\nMost of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims, with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Arab Christians, making the region 99.8 percent Sunni Muslim and 0.2 percent Christian.\\n\\nReligion and culture\\n\\nReligious compliance of population to Islam\\n\\nIslamic law in Gaza\\n\\nFrom 1987 to 1991, during the First Intifada, Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab head-cover and for other measures (such as the promotion of polygamy, segregating women from men and insisting they stay at home). In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed by Hamas activists, leading to hijabs being worn \\\"just to avoid problems on the streets\\\". \\n\\nIn October 2000, Islamic extremists burned down the Windmill Hotel, owned by Basil Eleiwa, when they learned it had served alcohol. \\n\\nSince Hamas took over in 2007, attempts have been made by Islamist activists to impose \\\"Islamic dress\\\" and to require women to wear the hijab. The government's \\\"Islamic Endowment Ministry\\\" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing and dating. However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women. \\n\\nAccording to Human Rights Watch, the Hamas-controlled government stepped up its efforts to \\\"Islamize\\\" Gaza in 2010, efforts it says included the \\\"repression of civil society\\\" and \\\"severe violations of personal freedom.\\\"[http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/27/opinion/la-oe-vanesveld-gaza-20100627 \\\"In Gaza, prisoners twice over; Palestinians are being squeezed by the Israeli blockade and Hamas' 'Islamizing' actions,\\\"] Bill Van Esveld, Bill Van Esveld is a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, 27 June 2010, Los Angeles Times.\\n\\nPalestinian researcher Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the \\\"Taliban-like steps\\\" Hamas has taken: \\\"The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip—the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s]—is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.\\\" Hamas officials denied having any plans to impose Islamic law. One legislator stated that \\\"[w]hat you are seeing are incidents, not policy\\\" and that \\\"we believe in persuasion\\\".\\n\\nIn October 2012 Gaza youth complained that security officers had obstructed their freedom to wear saggy pants and to have haircuts of their own choosing, and that they faced being arrested. Youth in Gaza are also arrested by security officers for wearing shorts and for showing their legs, which have been described by youth as embarrassing incidents, and one youth explained that \\\"My saggy pants did not harm anyone.\\\" However, a spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Interior denied such a campaign, and denied interfering in the lives of Gaza citizens, but explained that \\\"maintaining the morals and values of the Palestinian society is highly required\\\". \\n\\nIslamic politics\\n\\nIran was the largest state supporter of Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood also gave support, but these political relationships have recently been disrupted following the Arab Spring by Iranian support for and the position of Hamas has declined as support diminishes.\\n\\nSalafism\\n\\nIn addition to Hamas, a Salafist movement began to appear about 2005 in Gaza, characterized by \\\"a strict lifestyle based on that of the earliest followers of Islam\\\". , there are estimated to be only \\\"hundreds or perhaps a few thousand\\\" Salafists in Gaza. However, the failure of Hamas to lift the Israeli blockade of Gaza despite thousands of casualties and much destruction during 2008-9 and 2014 wars has weakened Hamas's support and led some in Hamas to be concerned about the possibility of defections to the Salafist \\\"Islamic State\\\".\\n\\nThe movement has clashed with Hamas on a number of occasions. In 2009, a Salafist leader, Abdul Latif Moussa, declared an Islamic emirate in the town of Rafah, on Gaza's southern border. Moussa and 19 other people were killed when Hamas forces stormed his mosque and house. In 2011, Salafists abducted and murdered a pro-Palestinian Italian activist, Vittorio Arrigoni. Following this Hamas again took action to crush the Salafist groups.\\n\\nArchaeology\\n\\nThe Gaza Museum of Archaeology was established by Jawdat N. Khoudary in 2008.[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/world/middleeast/25gaza.html?_r\\n1&scp2&sq\\narchaeology&stcse&oref\\nslogin Museum Offers Gray Gaza a View of Its Dazzling Past, Ethan Bronner], New York Times, 25 July 2008\\n\\nEducation\\n\\nIn 2010, illiteracy among Gazan youth was less than 1%. In 2012, there were five universities in the Gaza Strip and eight new schools are under construction. According to UNRWA figures, there are 640 schools in Gaza: 383 government schools, 221 UNRWA schools and 36 private schools, serving a total of 441,452 students. \\n\\nIn 2010, Al Zahara, a private school in central Gaza introduced a special program for mental development based on math computations. The program was created in Malaysia in 1993, according to the school principal, Majed al-Bari. \\n\\nThe Community College of Applied Science and Technology (CCAST) was established in 1998 in Gaza City. In 2003, the college moved into its new campus and established the Gaza Polytechnic Institute (GPI) in 2006 in southern Gaza. In 2007, the college received accreditation to award BA degrees as the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS). In 2010, the college had a student population of 6,000 in eight departments offering over 40 majors. \\n\\nIn June 2011, some Gazans, upset that UNRWA did not rebuild their homes that were lost in the Second Intifada, blocked UNRWA from performing its services and shut down UNRWA's summer camps. Gaza residents also closed UNRWA's emergency department, social services office and ration stores. \\n\\nHealth\\n\\nStatistics\\n\\nIn Gaza, there are hospitals and additional healthcare facilities. Because of the high number of young people the mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world, at 0.315% per year. The infant mortality rate is ranked 105th highest out of 224 countries and territories, at 16.55 deaths per 1,000 births. The Gaza Strip places 24th out of 135 countries according to Human Poverty Index.\\n\\nA study carried out by Johns Hopkins University (U.S.) and Al-Quds University (in Abu Dis) for CARE International in late 2002 revealed very high levels of dietary deficiency among the Palestinian population. The study found that 17.5% of children aged 6–59 months suffered from chronic malnutrition. 53% of women of reproductive age and 44% of children were found to be anemic. After the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip health conditions in Gaza Strip faced new challenges. World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concerns about the consequences of the Palestinian internal political fragmentation; the socioeconomic decline; military actions; and the physical, psychological and economic isolation on the health of the population in Gaza. In a 2012 study of the occupied territories, the WHO reported that roughly 50% of the young children and infants under two years old and 39.1% of pregnant women receiving antenatal services care in Gaza suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. The organization also observed chronic malnutrition in children under five \\\"is not improving and may be deteriorating.\\\" \\n\\nDr. Mohammed Abu Shaban, director of the Blood Tumors Department in Al-Rantisy Hospital in Gaza witnessed an increase in blood cancer. In March 2010 the department had seen 55 cases that year, compared to 20 to 25 cases normally seen in an entire year. According to the United Nations Development Programme, the average life expectancy in the Gaza Strip is 72. \\n\\nHealthcare availability\\n\\nAccording to Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip, the majority of medical aid delivered are \\\"past their expiration date.\\\" Mounir el-Barash, the director of donations in Gaza's health department, claims 30% of aid sent to Gaza is used. \\n\\nGazans who desire medical care in Israeli hospitals must apply for a medical visa permit. In 2007, State of Israel granted 7,176 permits and denied 1,627. [http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_PSE.html Human Development Reports]\\n\\nIn 2012, two hospitals funded by Turkey and Saudi Arabia were under construction. \\n\\nCulture and sports\\n\\nFine arts\\n\\nThe Gaza Strip has been home to a significant branch of the contemporary Palestinian art movement since the mid 20th century. Notable artists include painters Ismail Ashour, Shafiq Redwan, Bashir Senwar, Majed Shalla, Fayez Sersawi, Abdul Rahman al Muzayan and Ismail Shammout, and media artists Taysir Batniji (who lives in France) and Laila al Shawa (who lives in London). An emerging generation of artists is also active in nonprofit art organizations such as Windows From Gaza and Eltiqa Group, which regularly host exhibitions and events open to the public. \\n\\nAthletics\\n\\nIn 2010, Gaza inaugurated its first Olympic-size swimming pool at the As-Sadaka club. The opening ceremony was held by the Islamic Society.[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID\\n285242 Gaza opens first Olympic-size swimming pool], 18 May 2010, Ma'an News Agency. The swimming team of as-Sadaka holds several gold and silver medals from Palestinian swimming competitions. \\n\\nTransport and communications\\n\\nTransport\\n\\nThe Oslo Accords ceded control of the airspace and territorial waters to Israel. Any external travel from Gaza requires cooperation from either Egypt or Israel.\\n\\nHighways\\n\\nSalah al-Din Road (also known as the Salah ad-Deen Highway) is the main highway of the Gaza Strip and extends over 45 km, spanning the entire length of the territory from the Rafah Crossing in the south to the Erez Crossing in the north. The road is named after the 12th-century Ayyubid general Salah al-Din.\\n\\nRail transport\\n\\nFormer railway: see Palestine Railways#Railway in the Gaza Strip\\n\\nMarine transport\\n\\nThe Port of Gaza has been an important and active port since antiquity. Despite plans under the Oslo Peace Accords to expand the port, it has been under a blockade since Hamas was elected as a majority party in the 2006 elections. Both the Israeli Navy and Egypt enforce the blockade, which continues currently and has limited many aspects of life in Gaza, especially, according to Human Rights Watch, the movement of people and commerce, with exports being most affected. The improvement and rebuilding of infrastructure is also negatively impacted by these sanctions. Plans to expand the port were halted after the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada.\\n\\nAir transport\\n\\nThe Yasser Arafat International Airport opened on 24 November 1998 after the signing of the Oslo II Accord and the Wye River Memorandum. It was closed by Israel in October 2000. Its radar station and control tower were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces aircraft in 2001 during the al-Aqsa Intifada, and bulldozers razed the runway in January 2002.[http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7900217/ Grounded in Gaza, but hoping to fly again], MSNBC, 19 May 2005[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4449461.stm Years of delays at Gaza airport], Johnston, Alan. BBC News, 15 April 2005 The only remaining runway in the strip, at the Gush Katif Airport, fell in to disuse following Israeli disengagement. The airspace over Gaza may be restricted by the Israeli Air Force as the Oslo Accords authorized.\\n\\nTelecommunications\\n\\nTelephone service\\n\\nThe Gaza Strip has rudimentary land line telephone service provided by an open-wire system, as well as extensive mobile telephone services provided by PalTel (Jawwal) and Israeli providers such as Cellcom. Gaza is serviced by four internet service providers that now compete for ADSL and dial-up customers.\\n\\nTelevision and radio\\n\\nMost Gaza households have a radio and a TV (70%+), and approximately 20% have a personal computer. People living in Gaza have access to FTA satellite programs, broadcast TV from the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority. \\n\\nHistory\\n\\nRule over Gaza, overview\\n\\nGaza was part of the Ottoman Empire, before it was occupied by the United Kingdom (1918-1948), Egypt (1948-1967), and then Israel, which in 1994 granted the Palestinian Authority in Gaza limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people.\\n\\nThe territory is still considered to be occupied by Israel by the United Nations, International human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators, despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza and additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.* * \\n\\nThe Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, confirmed by the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949. Article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by the Arab League in September 1948. All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, the Gaza Strip was directly administered by an Egyptian military governor.\\n\\nIsrael captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, the Palestinian Authority became the administrative body that governed Palestinian population centers while Israel maintained control of the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings with the exception of the land border with Egypt which is controlled by Egypt. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan.\\n\\nIn July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government. In 2007, Hamas expelled the rival party Fatah from Gaza. This broke the Unity Government between Gaza Strip and the West Bank, creating two separate governments for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.\\n\\nIn 2014, following reconciliation talks, Hamas and Fatah formed a Palestinian unity government within the West Bank and Gaza. Rami Hamdallah became the coalition's Prime Minister and has planned for elections in Gaza and the West Bank. In July 2014, a set of lethal incidents between Hamas and Israel led to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.\\n\\nFollowing the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the territory has been subjected to a blockade, maintained by Israel and Egypt, with Israel arguing that it is necessary to impede Hamas from rearming and to restrict Palestinian rocket attacks and Egypt preventing Gaza residents from entering Egypt. The blockades by Israel and Egypt extends to drastic reductions in basic construction materials, medical supplies, and food stuffs. Under the blockade, Gaza is viewed by some critics as an \\\"open-air prison\\\", although the claim is contested. \\n\\nPrior to 1923\\n\\n1923–48 British rule\\n\\nThe Palestine Mandate was based on the principles contained in Article 22 of the draft Covenant of the League of Nations and the San Remo Resolution of 25 April 1920 by the principal Allied and associated powers after the First World War.[http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/88A6BF6F1BD82405852574CD006C457F Palestine Royal Commission Report Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, July 1937, Cmd. 5479]. His Majesty’s Stationery Office., London, 1937. 404 pages + maps. The mandate formalized British rule in the southern part of Ottoman Syria from 1923–1948.\\n\\n1948 All-Palestine government\\n\\nOn 22 September 1948, towards the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the All-Palestine Government was proclaimed in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza City by the Arab League. It was conceived partly as an Arab League attempt to limit the influence of Transjordan in Palestine. The All-Palestine Government was quickly recognized by six of the then seven members of the Arab League: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, but not by Transjordan. It was not recognized by any country outside the Arab League.\\n\\nAfter the cessation of hostilities, the Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement of 24 February 1949 established the separation line between Egyptian and Israeli forces, and established what became the present boundary between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Both sides declared that the boundary was not an international border. The southern border with Egypt continued to be the international border which had been drawn in 1906 between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. \\n\\nPalestinians living in the Gaza Strip or Egypt were issued All-Palestine passports. Egypt did not offer them citizenship. From the end of 1949, they received aid directly from UNRWA. During the Suez Crisis (1956), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula were occupied by Israeli troops, who withdrew under international pressure. The government was accused of being little more than a façade for Egyptian control, with negligible independent funding or influence. It subsequently moved to Cairo and dissolved in 1959 by decree of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser.\\n\\n1959–67 Egyptian occupation\\n\\nAfter the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government in 1959, under the excuse of pan-Arabism, Egypt continued to occupy the Gaza Strip until 1967. Egypt never annexed the Gaza Strip, but instead treated it as a controlled territory and administered it through a military governor. The influx of over 200,000 refugees from former Mandatory Palestine, roughly a quarter of those who fled or were expelled from their homes during, and in the aftermath of, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War into Gaza resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living. Because the Egyptian government restricted movement to and from the Gaza Strip, its inhabitants could not look elsewhere for gainful employment. \\n\\n1967 Israeli occupation\\n\\nIn June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel Defense Forces captured the Gaza Strip.\\n\\nSubsequent to this military victory, Israel created the first settlement bloc in the Strip, Gush Katif, in the southwest corner of the Strip near Rafah and the Egyptian border on a spot where a small kibbutz had previously existed for 18 months between 1946-48. In total, between 1967 and 2005, Israel established 21 settlements in Gaza, comprising 20% of the total territory.\\n\\n1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty\\n\\nOn March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Among other things, the treaty provided for the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War. The Egyptians agreed to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized. The final status of the Gaza Strip, and other relations between Israel and Palestinians, was not dealt with in the treaty. Egypt renounced all territorial claims to territory north of the international border. The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration until 1994. During that time, the military was responsible for the maintenance of civil facilities and services.\\n\\nAfter the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty 1979, a 100-meter-wide buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Route was established. The international border along the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is 7 mi long. With the Agreement on Movement and Access, known as the Rafah Agreement, in 2005, Israel ended its presence in the Philadelphi Route and transferred responsibility for security arrangements to Egypt and the PA under the supervision of the EU. The Egyptian army has since destroyed some Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels \\\"in order to fight any element of terrorism\\\", according to an Egyptian security official. The Gaza border crossing into Egypt remains under the full control of Egypt. Egypt has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross that terrestrial border.\\n\\n1994: Gaza under Palestinian Authority\\n\\nIn September 1992, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy \\\"I would like Gaza to sink into the sea, but that won't happen, and a solution must be found.\\\" \\n\\nIn May 1994, following the Palestinian-Israeli agreements known as the Oslo Accords, a phased transfer of governmental authority to the Palestinians took place. Much of the Strip (except for the settlement blocs and military areas) came under Palestinian control. The Israeli forces left Gaza City and other urban areas, leaving the new Palestinian Authority to administer and police those areas. The Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, chose Gaza City as its first provincial headquarters. In September 1995, Israel and the PLO signed a second peace agreement, extending the Palestinian Authority to most West Bank towns.\\n\\nBetween 1994 and 1996, Israel built the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier to improve security in Israel. The barrier was largely torn down by Palestinians at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000.\\n\\n2000 Second Intifada\\n\\nThe Second Intifada broke out in September 2000 with waves of protest, civil unrest and bombings against Israeli military and civilians, many of them perpetrated by suicide bombers. The Second Intifada also marked the beginning of rocket attacks and bombings of Israeli border localities by Palestinian guerrillas from Gaza Strip, especially by the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements.\\n\\nBetween December 2000 and June 2001, the barrier between Gaza and Israel was reconstructed. A barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was constructed starting in 2004. The main crossing points are the northern Erez Crossing into Israel and the southern Rafah Crossing into Egypt. The eastern Karni Crossing used for cargo, closed down in 2011. Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel. Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. \\\"Egypt maintains a strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai.\\\" \\n\\n2005 Israel's unilateral disengagement\\n\\nIn February 2005, the Knesset approved a unilateral disengagement plan and began removing Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. All Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the joint Israeli-Palestinian Erez Industrial Zone were dismantled, and 9,000 Israelis, most living in Gush Katif, were forcibly evicted.\\n\\nOn 12 September 2005, the Israeli cabinet formally declared an end to Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip.\\n\\n\\\"The Oslo Agreements gave Israel full control over Gaza's airspace, but established that the Palestinians could build an airport in the area...\\\" and the disengagement plan states that: \\\"Israel will hold sole control of Gaza airspace and will continue to carry out military activity in the waters of the Gaza Strip.\\\" \\\"Therefore, Israel continues to maintain exclusive control of Gaza's airspace and the territorial waters, just as it has since it occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967.\\\" Human Rights Watch has advised the UN Human Rights Council that it (and others) consider Israel to be the occupying power of the Gaza Strip because Israel controls Gaza Strip's airspace, territorial waters and controls the movement of people or goods in or out of Gaza by air or sea. The EU considers Gaza to be occupied. Israel also withdrew from the Philadelphi Route, a narrow strip of land adjacent to the border with Egypt, after Egypt agreed to secure its side of the border. Under the Oslo Accords, the Philadelphi Route was to remain under Israeli control to prevent the smuggling of weapons and people across the Egyptian border, but Egypt (under EU supervision) committed itself to patrolling the area and preventing such incidents. Israel maintained control over the crossings in and out of Gaza, and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was monitored by special surveillance cameras.\\n\\nThe Israel Defense Forces left the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan and all Israeli citizens were evicted from the area. In November 2005, an \\\"Agreement on Movement and Access\\\" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was brokered by then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to improve Palestinian freedom of movement and economic activity in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah crossing with Egypt was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Palestinian National Authority and the European Union. Only people with Palestinian ID, or foreign nationals, by exception, in certain categories, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. All goods, vehicles and trucks to and from Egypt passed through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, under full Israeli supervision. Goods were also permitted transit at the Karni crossing in the north.\\n\\nAfter the Israeli withdrawal in 2005 the Oslo Accords give the Palestinian Authority administrative authority in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah Border Crossing has been supervised by EU Border Assistance Mission Rafah under an agreement finalized in November 2005. The Oslo Accord permits Israel to control the airspace and sea space. \\n\\nPost-2006 elections violence\\n\\nIn the Palestinian parliamentary elections held on 25 January 2006, Hamas won a plurality of 42.9% of the total vote and 74 out of 132 total seats (56%). When Hamas assumed power the next month, Israel, the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations demanded that Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused, they cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, although some aid money was redirected to humanitarian organizations not affiliated with the government. The resulting political disorder and economic stagnation led to many Palestinians emigrating from the Gaza Strip. \\n\\nIn January 2007, fighting erupted between Hamas and Fatah. The deadliest clashes occurred in the northern Gaza Strip, where General Muhammed Gharib, a senior commander of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Force, died when a rocket hit his home.\\n\\nOn 30 January 2007, a truce was negotiated between Fatah and Hamas. However, after a few days, new fighting broke out. On 1 February, Hamas killed 6 people in an ambush on a Gaza convoy which delivered equipment for Abbas' Palestinian Presidential Guard, according to diplomats, meant to counter smuggling of more powerful weapons into Gaza by Hamas for its fast-growing \\\"Executive Force\\\". According to Hamas, the deliveries to the Presidential Guard were intended to instigate sedition (against Hamas), while withholding money and assistance from the Palestinian people. Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university in the Gaza Strip. Officers from Abbas' presidential guard battled Hamas gunmen guarding the Hamas-led Interior Ministry. \\n\\nIn May 2007, new fighting broke out between the factions. Interior Minister Hani Qawasmi, who had been considered a moderate civil servant acceptable to both factions, resigned due to what he termed harmful behavior by both sides. \\n\\nFighting spread in the Gaza Strip, with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. Following a breakdown in an Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel launched an air strike which destroyed a building used by Hamas. Ongoing violence prompted fear that it could bring the end of the Fatah-Hamas coalition government, and possibly the end of the Palestinian authority. \\n\\nHamas spokesman Moussa Abu Marzouk blamed the conflict between Hamas and Fatah on Israel, stating that the constant pressure of economic sanctions resulted in the \\\"real explosion.\\\" Associated Press reporter Ibrahim Barzak wrote an eyewitness account stating: \\\"Today I have seen people shot before my eyes, I heard the screams of terrified women and children in a burning building, and I argued with gunmen who wanted to take over my home. I have seen a lot in my years as a journalist in Gaza, but this is the worst it's been.\\\"\\n\\nFrom 2006-2007 more than 600 Palestinians were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. In the aftermath of the Gaza War, a series of violent acts killed 54 Palestinians, while hundreds have claimed they were tortured. 349 Palestinians were killed in fighting between factions in 2007. 160 Palestinians killed each other in June alone. \\n\\n2007 Hamas takeover\\n\\nFollowing the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinian authority national unity government headed by Ismail Haniya. Shortly after, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own. By 14 June, Hamas fully controlled the Gaza Strip. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by declaring a state of emergency, dissolving the unity government and forming a new government without Hamas participation. PNA security forces in the West Bank arrested a number of Hamas members.\\n\\nIn late June 2008, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan declared the West Bank-based cabinet formed by Abbas as \\\"the sole legitimate Palestinian government\\\". Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to the West Bank. \\n\\nSaudi Arabia and Egypt supported reconciliation and a new unity government and pressed Abbas to start talks with Hamas. Abbas had always conditioned this on Hamas returning control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas visited a number of countries, including Russia, and the EU member states. Opposition parties and politicians called for a dialogue with Hamas as well as an end to the economic sanctions.\\n\\nAfter the takeover, Israel and Egypt closed their border crossings with Gaza. Palestinian sources reported that European Union monitors fled the Rafah Border Crossing, on the Gaza–Egypt border for fear of being kidnapped or harmed. Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian officials presented a united front against control of the border by Hamas. \\n\\nMeanwhile, Israeli and Egyptian security reports said that Hamas continued smuggling in large quantities of explosives and arms from Egypt through tunnels. Egyptian security forces uncovered 60 tunnels in 2007. \\n\\n2007 issues\\n\\nAfter Hamas' June win, it ousted Fatah-linked officials from positions of power and authority (such as government positions, security services, universities, newspapers, etc.) and strove to enforce law by progressively removing guns from the hands of peripheral militias, clans, and criminal groups, and gaining control of supply tunnels. According to Amnesty International, under Hamas rule, newspapers were closed down and journalists were harassed. Fatah demonstrations were forbidden or suppressed, as in the case of a large demonstration on the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, after protesters hurled stones at Hamas security forces. \\n\\nHamas and other militant groups continued to fire Qassam rockets across the border into Israel. According to Israel, between the Hamas takeover and the end of January 2008, 697 rockets and 822 mortar bombs were fired at Israeli towns. In response, Israel targeted Qassam launchers and military targets and declared the Gaza Strip a hostile entity. In January 2008, Israel curtailed travel from Gaza, the entry of goods, and cut fuel supplies, resulting in power shortages. This brought charges that Israel was inflicting collective punishment on the Gaza population, leading to international condemnation. Despite multiple reports from within the Strip that food and other essentials were in short supply, Israel said that Gaza had enough food and energy supplies for weeks. \\n\\nThe Israeli government uses economic means to pressure Hamas. Among other things, it caused Israeli commercial enterprises like banks and fuel companies to stop doing business with the Gaza Strip. The role of private corporations in the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip is an issue that has not been extensively studied. \\n\\nDue to continued rocket attacks including 50 in one day, on March 2008, air strikes and ground incursions by the IDF led to the deaths of over 110 Palestinians and extensive damage to Jabalia. \\n\\nViolence\\n\\nViolence against Christians was recorded. The owner of a Christian bookshop was abducted and murdered and, on 15 February 2008, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) library in Gaza City was bombed. \\n\\nEgyptian border barrier breach\\n\\nOn 23 January 2008, after months of preparation during which the steel reinforcement of the border barrier was weakened, Hamas destroyed several parts of the wall dividing Gaza and Egypt in the town of Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to the crisis, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians in but to verify that they did not bring weapons back across the border. Egypt arrested and later released several armed Hamas militants in the Sinai who presumably wanted to infiltrate into Israel. At the same time, Israel increased its state of alert along the length of the Israel-Egypt Sinai border, and warned its citizens to leave Sinai \\\"without delay.\\\"\\n\\nThe EU Border Monitors initially monitored the border because Hamas guaranteed their safety, but they later fled. The Palestinian Authority demanded that Egypt deal only with the Authority in negotiations relating to borders. Israel eased restrictions on the delivery of goods and medical supplies but curtailed electricity by 5% in one of its ten lines. The Rafah crossing remained closed into mid-February. \\n\\nIn February 2008, 2008 Israel-Gaza conflict intensified, with rockets launched at Israeli cities. Aggression by Hamas led to Israeli military action on 1 March 2008, resulting in over 110 Palestinians being killed according to BBC News, as well as 2 Israeli soldiers. Israeli human rights group B'Tselem estimated that 45 of those killed were not involved in hostilities, and 15 were minors. \\n\\nAfter a round of tit-for-tat arrests between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the Hilles clan from Gaza were relocated to Jericho on 4 August 2008. Retiring Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on 11 November 2008, \\\"The question is not whether there will be a confrontation, but when it will take place, under what circumstances, and who will control these circumstances, who will dictate them, and who will know to exploit the time from the beginning of the ceasefire until the moment of confrontation in the best possible way.” On 14 November 2008, Israel blockaded its border with Gaza after a five-month ceasefire broke down. In 2013 Israel and Qatar brought Gaza’s lone power plant back to life for the first time in seven weeks, bringing relief to the Palestinian coastal enclave where a lack of cheap fuel has contributed to the overflow of raw sewage, 21-hour blackouts and flooding after a ferocious winter storm. \\\"Palestinian officials said that a $10 million grant from Qatar was covering the cost of two weeks’ worth of industrial diesel that started entering Gaza by truckload from Israel.\\\" \\n\\nOn 25 November 2008, Israel closed its cargo crossing with Gaza after Qassam rockets were fired into its territory. On 28 November, after a 24-hour period of quiet, the IDF facilitated the transfer of over thirty truckloads of food, basic supplies and medicine into Gaza and transferred fuel to the area's main power plant. \\n\\n2008 Gaza War\\n\\nOn 27 December 2008, Israeli F-16 fighters launched a series of air strikes against targets in Gaza following the breakdown of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas. Israeli defense sources said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to prepare for the operation six months before it began, using long-term planning and intelligence-gathering. \\n\\nVarious sites that Israel claimed were being used as weapons depots were struck: police stations, schools, hospitals, UN warehouses, mosques, various Hamas government buildings and other buildings. Israel said that the attack was a response to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, which totaled over 3,000 in 2008, and which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. Israel advised people near military targets to leave before the attacks. Palestinian medical staff claimed at least 434 Palestinians were killed, and at least 2,800 wounded, consisting of many civilians and an unknown number of Hamas members, in the first five days of Israeli strikes on Gaza. The IDF denied that the majority of the dead were civilian. Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on 3 January 2009. Israel rebuffed many cease-fire calls but later declared a cease fire although Hamas vowed to fight on. \\n\\nA total of 1,100-1,400 Palestinians (295-926 civilians) and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day war. \\n\\nThe conflict damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes, 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities, 800 water wells, 186 greenhouses, and nearly all of its 10,000 family farms; leaving 50,000 homeless, 400,000-500,000 without running water, one million without electricity, and resulting in acute food shortages. The people of Gaza still suffer from the loss of these facilities and homes, especially since they have great challenges to rebuild them.\\n\\nBy February 2009, food availability returned to pre-war levels but a shortage of fresh produce was forecast due to damage sustained by the agricultural sector. \\n\\nA 2014 unity government with Fatah\\n\\nOn 5 June 2014 Fatah signed a unity agreement with Hamas political party. \\n\\n2014 Israel–Gaza conflict\\n\\nConnections to Sinai insurgency\\n\\nEgypt's Sinai Peninsula borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. Its vast and desolate terrain has transformed it into a hotbed of illicit and militant activity. Although most of the area's inhabitants are tribal Bedouins, there has been a recent increase in al-Qaeda inspired global jihadi militant groups operating in the region. Out of the approximately 15 main militant groups operating in the Sinai desert, the most dominant and active militant groups have close relations with the Gaza Strip. \\n\\nAccording to Egyptian authorities, the Army of Islam, a U.S. designated \\\"terrorist organization\\\" based in the Gaza Strip, is responsible for training and supplying many militant organizations and jihadist members in Sinai. Mohammed Dormosh, the Army of Islam's leader, is known for his close relationships to the Hamas leadership. Army of Islam smuggles members into the Gaza Strip for training, then returns them to the Sinai Peninsula to engage in militant and jihadist activities.\",\n \"Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups - U.S. Department of State\\nU.S. Department of State Diplomacy in Action. ... known to be responsible for the kidnapping or death of any US citizen during the ... Several of the hostages, ...\\nChapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups\\nChapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups\\nOffice of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism\\nApril 27, 2005\\nReport\\nTitle 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f, which requires the Department of State to provide an annual report to Congress on terrorism, requires the report to include, inter alia, information on terrorist groups and umbrella groups under which any terrorist group falls, known to be responsible for the kidnapping or death of any US citizen during the preceding five years; groups known to be financed by state sponsors of terrorism about which Congress was notified during the past year in accordance with Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act; and any other known international terrorist group that the Secretary of State determined should be the subject of the report. The list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) below is followed by a list of other selected terrorist groups also deemed of relevance in the global war on terrorism.\\nForeign Terrorist Organizations\\nBasque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)\\nCommunist Party of Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA)\\nContinuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)\\nGama'a al-Islamiyya (IG)\\nIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)\\nJaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)\\nLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)\\nLibyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)\\nMujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)\\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)\\nAl-Qa'ida\\nRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)\\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN)\\nRevolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)\\nSalafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)\\nShining Path (SL)\\nTanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR)\\nUnited Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)\\n17 November\\na.k.a. Epanastatiki Organosi 17 Noemvri\\nRevolutionary Organization 17 November\\nDescription\\n17 November is a radical leftist group established in 1975 and named for the student uprising in Greece in November 1973 that protested the ruling military junta. 17 November is an anti-Greek establishment, anti-United States, anti-Turkey, and anti-NATO group that seeks the ouster of US bases from Greece, the removal of Turkish military forces from Cyprus, and the severing of Greece's ties to NATO and the European Union (EU).\\nActivities\\nInitial attacks were assassinations of senior US officials and Greek public figures. They began using bombings in the 1980s. Since 1990, 17 November has expanded its targets to include EU facilities and foreign firms investing in Greece and has added improvised rocket attacks to its methods. It supported itself largely through bank robberies. A failed 17 November bombing attempt in June 2002 at the Port of Piraeus in Athens, coupled with robust detective work, led to the arrest of 19 members --the first 17 November operatives ever arrested. In December 2003, a Greek court convicted 15 members -- five of whom were given multiple life terms -- of hundreds of crimes. Four other alleged members were acquitted for lack of evidence. In September 2004, several jailed members serving life sentences began hunger strikes to attain better prison conditions.\\nStrength\\nUnknown but presumed to be small.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\na.k.a. Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims\\nDescription\\nThe ANO international terrorist organization was founded by Sabri al-Banna (a.k.a. Abu Nidal) after splitting from the PLO in 1974. The group's previous known structure consisted of various functional committees, including political, military, and financial. In November 2002 Abu Nidal died in Baghdad; the new leadership of the organization remains unclear.\\nActivities\\nThe ANO has carried out terrorist attacks in 20 countries, killing or injuring almost 900 persons. Targets include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO, and various Arab countries. Major attacks included the Rome and Vienna airports in 1985, the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi in 1986, and the City of Poros day-excursion ship attack in Greece in 1988. The ANO is suspected of assassinating PLO deputy chief Abu Iyad and PLO security chief Abu Hul in Tunis in 1991. The ANO assassinated a Jordanian diplomat in Lebanon in 1994 and has been linked to the killing of the PLO representative there. The group has not staged a major attack against Western targets since the late 1980s.\\nStrength\\nFew hundred plus limited overseas support structure.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nAl-Banna relocated to Iraq in December 1998 where the group maintained a presence until Operation Iraqi Freedom, but its current status in country is unknown. Known members have an operational presence in Lebanon, including in several Palestinian refugee camps. Authorities shut down the ANO's operations in Libya and Egypt in 1999. The group has demonstrated the ability to operate over a wide area, including the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. However, financial problems and internal disorganization have greatly reduced the group's activities and its ability to maintain cohesive terrorist capability.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe ANO received considerable support, including safe haven, training, logistical assistance, and financial aid from Iraq, Libya, and Syria (until 1987), in addition to close support for selected operations.\\nAbu Sayyaf Group (ASG)\\nDescription\\nThe ASG is primarily a small, violent Muslim terrorist group operating in the southern Philippines. Some ASG leaders allegedly fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet war and are students and proponents of radical Islamic teachings. The group split from the much larger Moro National Liberation Front in the early 1990s under the leadership of Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine police in December 1998. His younger brother, Khadaffy Janjalani, replaced him as the nominal leader of the group and appears to have consolidated power.\\nActivities\\nThe ASG engages in kidnappings for ransom, bombings, beheadings, assassinations, and extortion. The group's stated goal is to promote an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago (areas in the southern Philippines heavily populated by Muslims) but the ASG has primarily used terror for financial profit. Recent bombings may herald a return to a more radical, politicized agenda, at least among certain factions. The group's first large-scale action was a raid on the town of Ipil in Mindanao in April 1995. In April of 2000, an ASG faction kidnapped 21 persons, including 10 Western tourists, from a resort in Malaysia. On May 27, 2001, the ASG kidnapped three US citizens and 17 Filipinos from a tourist resort in Palawan, Philippines. Several of the hostages, including US citizen Guillermo Sobero, were murdered. During a Philippine military hostage rescue operation on June 7, 2002, US hostage Gracia Burnham was rescued, but her husband Martin Burnham and Filipina Deborah Yap were killed. Philippine authorities say that the ASG had a role in the bombing near a Philippine military base in Zamboanga in October 2002 that killed a US serviceman. In February 2004, Khadaffy Janjalani's faction bombed SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay, killing approximately 132, and in March, Philippine authorities arrested an ASG cell whose bombing targets included the US Embassy in Manila.\\nStrength\\nEstimated to have 200 to 500 members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nThe ASG was founded in Basilan Province and operates there and in the neighboring provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the Sulu Archipelago. The group also operates on the Zamboanga peninsula, and members occasionally travel to Manila. In mid-2003, the group started operating in the major city of Cotobato and on the coast of Sultan Kudarat on Mindanao. The group expanded its operational reach to Malaysia in 2000 when it abducted foreigners from a tourist resort.\\nExternal Aid\\nLargely self-financing through ransom and extortion; has received support from Islamic extremists in the Middle East and may receive support from regional terrorist groups. Libya publicly paid millions of dollars for the release of the foreign hostages seized from Malaysia in 2000.\\nAl-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (al-Aqsa)\\na.k.a. al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalion\\nDescription\\nThe al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade consists of an unknown number of small cells of terrorists associated with the Palestinian Fatah organization. Al-Aqsa emerged at the outset of the 2000 Palestinian intifadah to attack Israeli targets with the aim of driving the Israeli military and settlers from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem, and to establish a Palestinian state.\\nActivities\\nAl-Aqsa has carried out shootings and suicide operations against Israeli civilians and military personnel in Israel and the Palestinian territories, rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, and the killing of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. Al-Aqsa has killed a number of US citizens, the majority of them dual US-Israeli citizens, in its attacks. In January 2002, al-Aqsa was the first Palestinian terrorist group to use a female suicide bomber.\\nStrength\\nUnknown.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nAl-Aqsa operates in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip, and has only claimed attacks inside these three areas. It may have followers in Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon.\\nExternal Aid\\nIn the last year, numerous public accusations suggest Iran and Hizballah are providing support to al-Aqsa elements, but the extent of external influence on al-Aqsa as a whole is not clear.\\nAnsar al-Islam (AI)\\na.k.a. Ansar al-Sunnah Partisans of Islam, Helpers of Islam, Kurdish Taliban\\nDescription\\nAnsar al-Islam (AI) is a radical Islamist group of Iraqi Kurds and Arabs who have vowed to establish an independent Islamic state in Iraq. The group was formed in December 2001. In the fall of 2003, a statement was issued calling all jihadists in Iraq to unite under the name Ansar al-Sunnah (AS). Since that time, it is likely that AI has posted all claims of attack under the name AS.\\nAI is closely allied with al-Qa'ida and Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's group, Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) in Iraq. Some members of AI trained in al-Qa'ida camps in Afghanistan, and the group provided safe haven to al-Qa'ida fighters before Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Since OIF, AI has become one of the leading groups engaged in anti-Coalition attacks in Iraq and has developed a robust propaganda campaign.\\nActivities\\nAI continues to conduct attacks against Coalition forces, Iraqi Government officials and security forces, and ethnic Iraqi groups and political parties. AI members have been implicated in assassinations and assassination attempts against Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) officials and Coalition forces, and also work closely with both al-Qa'ida operatives and associates in QJBR. AI has also claimed responsibility for many high profile attacks, including the simultaneous suicide bombings of the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) party offices in Ibril on February 1, 2004, and the bombing of the US military dining facility in Mosul on December 21, 2004.\\nStrength\\nApproximately 500 to 1,000 members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPrimarily central and northern Iraq.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe group receives funding, training, equipment, and combat support from al-Qa'ida, QJBR, and other international jihadist backers throughout the world. AI also has operational and logistic support cells in Europe.\\nArmed Islamic Group (GIA)\\nDescription\\nAn Islamist extremist group, the GIA aims to overthrow the Algerian regime and replace it with a fundamentalist Islamic state. The GIA began its violent activity in 1992 after the military government suspended legislative elections in anticipation of an overwhelming victory by the Islamic Salvation Front, the largest Islamic opposition party.\\nActivities\\nThe GIA has engaged in attacks against civilians and government workers. Starting in 1992, the GIA conducted a terrorist campaign of civilian massacres, sometimes wiping out entire villages in its area of operation, and killing tens of thousands of Algerians. GIA's brutal attacks on civilians alienated them from the Algerian populace. Since announcing its campaign against foreigners living in Algeria in 1992, the GIA has killed more than 100 expatriate men and women, mostly Europeans, in the country. Many of the GIA's members have joined other Islamist groups or been killed or captured by the Algerian Government. The GIA's most recent significant attacks were in August, 2001.\\nStrength\\nPrecise numbers are unknown, but probably fewer than 100.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nAlgeria, Sahel (i.e. northern Mali, northern Mauritania, and northern Niger), and Europe.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe GIA has members in Europe that provide funding.\\nAsbat al-Ansar\\nDescription\\nAsbat al-Ansar, the League of the Followers or Partisans' League, is a Lebanon-based Sunni extremist group, composed primarily of Palestinians with links to Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida organization and other Sunni extremist groups. The group follows an extremist interpretation of Islam that justifies violence against civilian targets to achieve political ends. Some of the group's goals include overthrowing the Lebanese Government and thwarting perceived anti-Islamic and pro-Western influences in the country.\\nActivities\\nAsbat al-Ansar has carried out multiple terrorist attacks in Lebanon since it first emerged in the early 1990s. The group assassinated Lebanese religious leaders and bombed nightclubs, theaters, and liquor stores in the mid1990s. The group raised its operational profile in 2000 with two attacks against Lebanese and international targets. It was involved in clashes in northern Lebanon in December 1999 and carried out a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Russian Embassy in Beirut in January 2000. Asbat al-Ansar's leader, Abu Muhjin, remains at large despite being sentenced to death in absentia for the 1994 murder of a Muslim cleric.\\nSuspected Asbat al-Ansar elements were responsible for an attempt in April 2003 to use a car bomb against a McDonald's in a Beirut suburb. By October, Lebanese security forces arrested Ibn al-Shahid, who is believed to be associated with Asbat al-Ansar, and charged him with masterminding the bombing of three fast food restaurants in 2002 and the attempted attack on a McDonald's in 2003. Asbat forces were involved in other violence in Lebanon in 2003, including clashes with members of Yassir Arafat's Fatah movement in the 'Ayn al-Hilwah refugee camp and a rocket attack in June on the Future TV building in Beirut.\\nIn 2004, no successful terrorist attacks were attributed to Asbat al-Ansar. However, in September, operatives with links to the group were believed to be involved in a planned terrorist operation targeting the Italian Embassy, the Ukrainian Consulate General, and Lebanese Government offices. The plot, which reportedly also involved other Lebanese Sunni extremists, was thwarted by Italian, Lebanese, and Syrian security agencies. In 2004, Asbat al-Ansar remained vocal in its condemnation of the United States' presence in Iraq, and in April the group urged Iraqi insurgents to kill US and other hostages to avenge the death of HAMAS leaders Abdul Aziz Rantisi and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. In October, Mahir al-Sa'di, a member of Asbat al-Ansar, was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for plotting to assassinate former US Ambassador to Lebanon David Satterfield in 2000. Until his death in March 2003, al-Sa'di worked in cooperation with Abu Muhammad al-Masri, the head of al-Qa'ida at the 'Ayn al-Hilwah refugee camp, where fighting has occurred between Asbat al-Ansar and Fatah elements.\\nStrength\\nThe group commands about 300 fighters in Lebanon.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nThe group's primary base of operations is the 'Ayn al-Hilwah Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon.\\nExternal Aid\\nProbably receives money through international Sunni extremist networks and possibly Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida network.\\nAum Shinrikyo (Aum)\\na.k.a. Aum Supreme Truth, Aleph\\nDescription\\nA cult established in 1987 by Shoko Asahara, the Aum aimed to take over Japan and then the world. Approved as a religious entity in 1989 under Japanese law, the group ran candidates in a Japanese parliamentary election in 1990. Over time, the cult began to emphasize the imminence of the end of the world and stated that the United States would initiate Armageddon by starting World War III with Japan. The Japanese Government revoked its recognition of the Aum as a religious organization in October 1995, but in 1997 a Government panel decided not to invoke the Anti-Subversive Law against the group, which would have outlawed it. A 1999 law continues to give the Japanese Government authorization to maintain police surveillance of the group due to concerns that the Aum might launch future terrorist attacks. Under the leadership of Fumihiro Joyu, the Aum changed its name to Aleph in January 2000 and tried to distance itself from the violent and apocalyptic teachings of its founder. However, in late 2003, Joyu stepped down, pressured by members who wanted to return fully to the worship of Asahara.\\nActivities\\nOn March 20, 1995, Aum members simultaneously released the chemical nerve agent sarin on several Tokyo subway trains, killing 12 persons and injuring up to 1,500. The group was responsible for other mysterious events involving chemical incidents in Japan in 1994. Its efforts to conduct attacks using biological agents have been unsuccessful. Japanese police arrested Asahara in May 1995, and authorities sentenced him in February 2004 to death for his role in the attacks of 1995. Since 1997, the cult has continued to recruit new members, engage in commercial enterprise, and acquire property, although it scaled back these activities significantly in 2001 in response to public outcry. In July 2001, Russian authorities arrested a group of Russian Aum followers who had planned to set off bombs near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as part of an operation to free Asahara from jail and smuggle him to Russia.\\nStrength\\nThe Aum's current membership in Japan is estimated to be about 1,650 persons. At the time of the Tokyo subway attack, the group claimed to have 9,000 members in Japan and as many as 40,000 worldwide.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nThe Aum's principal membership is located in Japan, but a residual branch comprising about 300 followers has surfaced in Russia.\\nExternal Aid\\nBasque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)\\na.k.a. Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna, Batasuna\\nDescription\\nETA was founded in 1959 with the aim of establishing an independent homeland based on Marxist principles and encompassing the Spanish Basque provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, as well as the autonomous region of Navarra and the southwestern French Departments of Labourd, Basse-Navarra, and Soule. Spanish and French counterterrorism initiatives since 2000 have hampered the group's operational capabilities. Spanish police arrested scores of ETA members and accomplices in Spain in 2004, and dozens were apprehended in France, including two key group leaders. These arrests included the capture in October of two key ETA leaders in southwestern France. ETA's political wing, Batasuna, remains banned in Spain. Spanish and French prisons are estimated to hold over 700 ETA members.\\nActivities\\nPrimarily involved in bombings and assassinations of Spanish Government officials, security and military forces, politicians, and judicial figures, but has also targeted journalists and tourist areas. Security service scrutiny and a public outcry after the Islamic extremist train bombing on March 11, 2004, in Madrid limited ETA's capabilities and willingness to inflict casualties. ETA conducted no fatal attacks in 2004, but did mount several low-level bombings in Spanish tourist areas during the summer and 11 bombings in early December, each preceded by a warning call. The group has killed more than 850 persons and injured hundreds of others since it began lethal attacks in the 1960s. ETA finances its activities primarily through extortion and robbery.\\nStrength\\nUnknown; hundreds of members plus supporters.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nOperates primarily in the Basque autonomous regions of northern Spain and southwestern France, but also has attacked Spanish and French interests elsewhere.\\nExternal Aid\\nHas received training at various times in the past in Libya, Lebanon, and Nicaragua. Some ETA members allegedly fled to Cuba and Mexico while others reside in South America. ETA members have operated and been arrested in other European countries, including Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany.\\nCommunist Party of Philippines/ New People's Army (CPP/NPA)\\nDescription\\nThe military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the NPA is a Maoist group formed in March 1969 with the aim of overthrowing the Government through protracted guerrilla warfare. The chairman of the CPP's Central Committee and the NPA's founder, Jose Maria Sison, reportedly directs CPP and NPA activity from The Netherlands, where he lives in self-imposed exile. Fellow Central Committee member and director of the CPP's overt political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF), Luis Jalandoni also lives in The Netherlands and has become a Dutch citizen. Although primarily a rural-based guerrilla group, the NPA has an active urban infrastructure to support its terrorist activities and uses city-based assassination squads. The rebels have claimed that the FTO designation has made it difficult to obtain foreign funding and forced them to step up extortion of businesses and politicians in the Philippines.\\nActivities\\nThe NPA primarily targets Philippine security forces, politicians, judges, government informers, former rebels who wish to leave the NPA, rival splinter groups, alleged criminals, Philippine infrastructure, and businesses that refuse to pay extortion, or \\\"revolutionary taxes.\\\" The NPA opposes any US military presence in the Philippines and attacked US military interests, killing several US service personnel, before the US base closures in 1992. Press reports in 1999 and in late 2001 indicated the NPA was again targeting US troops participating in joint military exercises, as well as US Embassy personnel. The NPA has claimed responsibility for the assassination of two congressmen from Quezon in May 2001 and Cagayan in June 2001 and for many other killings. In January 2002, the NPA publicly expressed its intent to target US personnel if discovered in NPA operating areas.\\nStrength\\nEstimated at less than 9,000, a number significantly lower than its peak strength of around 25,000 in the 1980s.\\nLocation/Area of Operations\\nOperates in rural Luzon, Visayas, and parts of Mindanao. Has cells in Manila and other metropolitan centers.\\nExternal Aid\\nContinuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)\\na.k.a. Continuity Army Council, Republican Sinn Fein\\nDescription\\nCIRA is a terrorist splinter group formed in the mid 1990s as the clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Fein, which split from Sinn Fein in 1986. \\\"Continuity\\\" refers to the group's belief that it is carrying on the original Irish Republican Army's (IRA) goal of forcing the British out of Northern Ireland. CIRA's aliases, Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein, were also designated as FTOs. CIRA cooperates with the larger Real IRA.\\nActivities\\nCIRA has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include British military, Northern Ireland security forces, and Loyalist paramilitary groups. Unlike the Provisional IRA, CIRA is not observing a cease-fire. CIRA has continued its activities with a series of hoax bomb threats, low-level improvised explosive device attacks, kidnapping, intimidation, and so-called \\\"punishment beatings.\\\"\\nStrength\\nMembership is small, with possibly fewer than 50 hardcore activists. Police counterterrorist operations have reduced the group's strength, but CIRA continues to recruit, train, and plan operations.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic. Does not have an established presence in Great Britain.\\nExternal Aid\\nSuspected of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States. May have acquired arms and materiel from the Balkans in cooperation with the Real IRA.\\nGama'a al-Islamiyya (IG)\\na.k.a. Islamic Group, al-Gama'at\\nDescription\\nThe IG, Egypt's largest militant group, has been active since the late 1970s, and is a loosely organized network. It has an external wing with supporters in several countries. The group's issuance of a cease-fire in 1997 led to a split into two factions: one, led by Mustafa Hamza, supported the cease-fire; the other, led by Rifa'i Taha Musa, called for a return to armed operations. The IG issued another ceasefire in March 1999, but its spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, sentenced to life in prison in January 1996 for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and incarcerated in the United States, rescinded his support for the cease-fire in June 2000. IG has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since the Luxor attack in 1997, which killed 58 tourists and four Egyptians and wounded dozens more. In February 1998, a senior member signed Usama Bin Ladin's fatwa calling for attacks against the United States.\\nIn early 2001, Taha Musa published a book in which he attempted to justify terrorist attacks that would cause mass casualties. Taha Musa disappeared several months thereafter, and there is no information as to his current whereabouts. In March 2002, members of the group's historic leadership in Egypt declared use of violence misguided and renounced its future use, prompting denunciations by much of the leadership abroad. The Egyptian Government continues to release IG members from prison, including approximately 900 in 2003; likewise, most of the 700 persons released in 2004 at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan were IG members.\\nFor IG members still dedicated to violent jihad, their primary goal is to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Disaffected IG members, such as those inspired by Taha Musa or Abd al-Rahman, may be interested in carrying out attacks against US interests.\\nActivities\\nIG conducted armed attacks against Egyptian security and other Government officials, Coptic Christians, and Egyptian opponents of Islamic extremism before the cease-fire. After the 1997 cease-fire, the faction led by Taha Musa launched attacks on tourists in Egypt, most notably the attack in November 1997 at Luxor. IG also claimed responsibility for the attempt in June 1995 to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.\\nStrength\\nUnknown. At its peak IG probably commanded several thousand hard-core members and a like number of sympathizers. The 1999 cease-fire, security crackdowns following the attack in Luxor in 1997 and, more recently, security efforts following September 11 probably have resulted in a substantial decrease in the group's numbers.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nOperates mainly in the al-Minya, Asyut, Qina, and Sohaj Governorates of southern Egypt. Also appears to have support in Cairo, Alexandria, and other urban locations, particularly among unemployed graduates and students. Has a worldwide presence, including in the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Yemen, and various locations in Europe.\\nExternal Aid\\nUnknown. There is some evidence that Usama bin Ladin and Afghan militant groups support the organization. IG also may obtain some funding through various Islamic non-governmental organizations (NGOs).\\nHAMAS\\na.k.a. Islamic Resistance Movement\\nDescription\\nHAMAS was formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various HAMAS elements have used both violent and political means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel. It is loosely structured, with some elements working clandestinely and others operating openly through mosques and social service institutions to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and distribute propaganda. HAMAS' strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.\\nActivities\\nHAMAS terrorists, especially those in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets. HAMAS maintained the pace of its operational activity in 2004, claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests. HAMAS has not yet directly targeted US interests, although the group makes little or no effort to avoid targets frequented by foreigners. HAMAS continues to confine its attacks to Israelis inside Israel and the occupied territories.\\nStrength\\nUnknown number of official members; tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nHAMAS currently limits its terrorist operations to Israeli military and civilian targets in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Israel. Two of the group's most senior leaders in the Gaza Strip, Shaykh Ahmad Yasin and Abd al Aziz al Rantisi, were killed in Israeli air strikes in 2004. The group retains a cadre of senior leaders spread throughout the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and the Gulf States.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceives some funding from Iran but primarily relies on donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. Some fundraising and propaganda activity take place in Western Europe and North America.\\nHarakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)\\na.k.a. Harakat ul-Ansar\\nDescription\\nHUM is an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan that operates primarily in Kashmir. It is politically aligned with the radical political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F). The long-time leader of the group, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, in mid-February 2000 stepped down as HUM emir, turning the reins over to the popular Kashmiri commander and his second-in-com-mand, Farooqi Kashmiri. Khalil, who has been linked to Usama Bin Ladin and signed his fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks on US and Western interests, assumed the position of HUM Secretary General. HUM operated terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan until Coalition air strikes destroyed them during fall 2001. Khalil was detained by the Pakistanis in mid-2004 and subsequently released in late December. In 2003, HUM began using the name Jamiat ul-Ansar (JUA), and Pakistan banned JUA in November 2003.\\nActivities\\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year. HUM was responsible for the hijacking of an Indian airliner on December 24, 1999, which resulted in the release of Masood Azhar. Azhar, an important leader in the former Harakat ul-Ansar, was imprisoned by the Indians in 1994 and founded Jaish-e-Muhammad after his release. Also released in 1999 was Ahmed Omar Sheik, who was convicted of the abduc-tion/murder in January-February 2002 of US journalist Daniel Pearl.\\nStrength\\nHas several hundred armed supporters located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Kashmir valley. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Uses light and heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets. HUM lost a significant share of its membership in defections to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) in 2000.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nBased in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, and several other towns in Pakistan, but members conduct insurgent and terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. HUM trained its militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.\\nExternal Aid\\nCollects donations from Saudi Arabia, other Gulf and Islamic states, Pakistanis and Kashmiris. HUM's financial collection methods also include soliciting donations in magazine ads and pamphlets. The sources and amount of HUM's military funding are unknown. In anticipation of asset seizures in 2001 by the Pakistani Government, the HUM withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods. Its fundraising in Pakistan has been constrained since the Government clampdown on extremist groups and freezing of terrorist assets.\\nHizballah\\na.k.a. Party of God, Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine\\nDescription\\nFormed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, this Lebanon-based radical Shia group takes its ideological inspiration from the Iranian revolution and the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, is the group's highest governing body and is led by Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah. Hizballah is dedicated to liberating Jerusalem and eliminating Israel, and has formally advocated ultimate establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon. Nonetheless, Hizballah has actively participated in Lebanon's political system since 1992. Hizballah is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran but has the capability and willingness to act independently. Though Hizballah does not share the Syrian regime's secular orientation, the group has been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in the region.\\nActivities\\nKnown or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-US and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984. Three members of Hizballah, 'Imad Mughniyah, Hasan Izz-al-Din, and Ali Atwa, are on the FBI's list of 22 Most Wanted Terrorists for the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 during which a US Navy diver was murdered. Elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention of Americans and other Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hizballah also attacked the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. In 2000, Hizballah operatives captured three Israeli soldiers in the Shab'a Farms and kidnapped an Israeli noncombatant.\\nHizballah also provides guidance and financial and operational support for Palestinian extremist groups engaged in terrorist operations in Israel and the occupied territories.\\nIn 2004, Hizballah launched an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that left Lebanese airspace and flew over the Israeli town of Nahariya before crashing into Lebanese territorial waters. Ten days prior to the event, the Hizballah Secretary General said Hizballah would come up with new measures to counter Israeli Air Force violations of Lebanese airspace. Hizballah also continued launching small scale attacks across the Israeli border, resulting in the deaths of several Israeli soldiers. In March 2004, Hizballah and HAMAS signed an agreement to increase joint efforts to perpetrate attacks against Israel. In late 2004, Hizballah's al-Manar television station, based in Beirut with an estimated ten million viewers worldwide, was prohibited from broadcasting in France. Al-Manar was placed on the Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) in the United States, which led to its removal from the program offerings of its main cable service provider, and made it more difficult for al-Manar associates and affiliates to operate in the United States.\\nStrength\\nSeveral thousand supporters and a few hundred terrorist operatives.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nOperates in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Beka'a Valley, and southern Lebanon. Has established cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and Asia.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceives financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran, and diplomatic, political, and logistical support from Syria. Hizballah also receives funding from charitable donations and business interests.\\nIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)\\nDescription\\nThe Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is a group of Islamic militants from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states. The IMU is closely affiliated with al-Qa'ida and, under the leadership of Tohir Yoldashev, has embraced Usama Bin Ladin's anti-US, anti-Western agenda. The IMU also remains committed to its original goals of overthrowing Uzbekistani President Karimov and establishing an Islamic state in Uzbekistan.\\nActivities\\nThe IMU in recent years has participated in attacks on US and Coalition soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and plotted attacks on US diplomatic facilities in Central Asia.\\nIn November 2004, the IMU was blamed for an explosion in the southern Kyrgyzstani city of Osh that killed one police officer and one terrorist. In May 2003, Kyrgyzstani security forces disrupted an IMU cell that was seeking to bomb the US Embassy and a nearby hotel in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The IMU was also responsible for explosions in Bishkek in December 2002 and Osh in May 2003 that killed eight people. The IMU primarily targeted Uzbekistani interests before October 2001 and is believed to have been responsible for five car bombs in Tashkent in February 1999. IMU militants also took foreigners hostage in 1999 and 2000, including four US citizens who were mountain climbing in August 2000 and four Japanese geologists and eight Kyrgyzstani soldiers in August 1999.\\nStrength\\nProbably fewer than 500.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nIMU militants are scattered throughout South Asia, Tajikistan, and Iran. The area of operations includes Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe IMU receives support from other Islamic extremist groups and patrons in the Middle East and Central and South Asia.\\nJaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)\\na.k.a. Army of Mohammed Tehrik ul-Furqaan, Khuddam-ul-Islam\\nDescription\\nThe Jaish-e-Mohammed is an Islamic extremist group based in Pakistan that was formed in early 2000 by Masood Azhar upon his release from prison in India. The group's aim is to unite Kashmir with Pakistan. It is politically aligned with the radical political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F). By 2003, JEM had splintered into Khuddam ul-Islam (KUI), headed by Azhar, and Jamaat ul-Furqan (JUF), led by Abdul Jabbar, who was released in August 2004 from Pakistani custody after being detained for suspected involvement in the December 2003 assassination attempts against President Musharraf. Pakistan banned KUI and JUF in November 2003. Elements of JEM and Lashkar e-Tayyiba combined with other groups to mount attacks as \\\"The Save Kashmir Movement.\\\"\\nActivities\\nThe JEM's leader, Masood Azhar, was released from Indian imprisonment in December 1999 in exchange for 155 hijacked Indian Airlines hostages. The Harakat-ul-Ansar (HUA) kidnappings in 1994 of US and British nationals by Omar Sheik in New Delhi and the HUA/al-Faran kidnappings in July 1995 of Westerners in Kashmir were two of several previous HUA efforts to free Azhar. On October 1, 2001, JEM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly building in Srinagar that killed at least 31 persons but later denied the claim. The Indian Government has publicly implicated JEM, along with Lashkar e-Tayyiba, for the December 13, 2001, attack on the Indian Parliament that killed nine and injured 18. Pakistani authorities suspect that perpetrators of fatal anti-Christian attacks in Islamabad, Murree, and Taxila during 2002 were affiliated with JEM. The Pakistanis have implicated elements of JEM in the assassination attempts against President Musharraf in December 2003.\\nStrength\\nHas several hundred armed supporters located in Pakistan and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Kashmir valley, including a large cadre of former HUM members. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPakistan. JEM maintained training camps in Afghanistan until the fall of 2001.\\nExternal Aid\\nMost of JEM's cadre and material resources have been drawn from the militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM). JEM had close ties to Afghan Arabs and the Taliban. Usama bin Ladin is suspected of giving funding to JEM. JEM also collects funds through donation requests in magazines and pamphlets. In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani Government, JEM withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods.\\nJemaah Islamiya Organization (JI)\\nDescription\\nJemaah Islamiya Organization is responsible for numerous high-profile bombings, including the bombing of the J. W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on August 5, 2003, and the Bali bombings on October 12, 2002. Members of the group have also been implicated in the September 9, 2004, attack outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The Bali attack, which left more than 200 dead, was reportedly the final outcome of meetings in early 2002 in Thailand, where attacks in Singapore and against soft targets such as tourist spots were also considered. In June 2003, authorities disrupted a JI plan to attack several Western embassies and tourist sites in Thailand. In December 2001, Singaporean authorities uncovered a JI plot to attack the US and Israeli Embassies and British and Australian diplomatic buildings in Singapore. JI is also responsible for the coordinated bombings of numerous Christian churches in Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000 and was involved in the bombings of several targets in Manila on December 31, 2000. The capture in August 2003 of Indonesian Riduan bin Isomoddin (a.k.a. Hambali), JI leader and al-Qa'ida Southeast Asia operations chief, damaged the JI, but the group maintains its ability to target Western interests in the region and to recruit new members through a network of radical Islamic schools based primarily in Indonesia. The emir, or spiritual leader, of JI, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, was on trial at year's end on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, and for his links to the Bali and Jakarta Marriott bombings and to a cache of arms and explosives found in central Java.\\nStrength\\nExact numbers are unknown, but Southeast Asian authorities continue to uncover and arrest JI elements. Estimates of total JI members vary widely from the hundreds to the thousands.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nJI is believed to have cells spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.\\nExternal Aid\\nInvestigations indicate that JI is fully capable of its own fundraising, although it also receives financial, ideological, and logistical support from Middle Eastern and South Asian contacts, non-governmental organizations, and other groups.\\nAl-Jihad (AJ)\\na.k.a. Jihad Group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, EIJ\\nDescription\\nThis Egyptian Islamic extremist group merged with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida organization in 2001. Usama Bin Ladin's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was the former head of AJ. Active since the 1970s, AJ's primary goal has been the overthrow of the Egyptian Government and the establishment of an Islamic state. The group's primary targets, historically, have been high-level Egyptian Government officials as well as US and Israeli interests in Egypt and abroad. Regular Egyptian crackdowns on extremists, including on AJ, have greatly reduced AJ capabilities in Egypt.\\nActivities\\nThe original AJ was responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It claimed responsibility for the attempted assassinations of Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi in August 1993 and Prime Minister Atef Sedky in November 1993. AJ has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since 1993 and has never successfully targeted foreign tourists there. The group was responsible for the Egyptian Embassy bombing in Islamabad in 1995 and a disrupted plot against the US Embassy in Albania in 1998.\\nStrength\\nUnknown, but probably has several hundred hard-core members inside and outside of Egypt.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nHistorically AJ operated in the Cairo area. Most AJ members today are outside Egypt in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, and Yemen. AJ activities have been centered outside Egypt for several years under the auspices of al-Qa'ida.\\nExternal Aid\\nUnknown. Since 1998 AJ received most of its funding from al-Qa'ida, and these close ties culminated in the eventual merger of the groups. Some funding may come from various Islamic non-governmental organizations, cover businesses, and criminal acts.\\nKahane Chai (Kach)\\nDescription\\nKach's stated goal is to restore the biblical state of Israel. Kach, founded by radical Israeli-American rabbi Meir Kahane, and its offshoot Kahane Chai, (translation: \\\"Kahane Lives\\\"), founded by Meir Kahane's son Binyamin following his father's 1990 assassination in the United States, were declared to be terrorist organizations in 1994 by the Israeli Cabinet under its 1948 Terrorism Law. This followed the groups' statements in support of Dr. Baruch Goldstein's attack in February 1994 on the al-Ibrahimi Mosque (Goldstein was affiliated with Kach) and their verbal attacks on the Israeli Government. Palestinian gunmen killed Binyamin Kahane and his wife in a drive-by shooting in December 2000 in the West Bank.\\nActivities\\nThe group has organized protests against the Israeli Government. Kach has harassed and threatened Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli Government officials, and has vowed revenge for the death of Binyamin Kahane and his wife. Kach is suspected of involvement in a number of low-level attacks since the start of the al-Aqsa intifadah in 2000. Known Kach sympathizers are becoming more vocal and active against the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in mid-2005.\\nStrength\\nIsrael and West Bank settlements, particularly Qiryat Arba' in Hebron.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceives support from sympathizers in the United States and Europe.\\nKongra-Gel (KGK)\\na.k.a. Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress, KADEK, Kurdistan People's Congress, Freedom and Democracy Congress of Kurdistan\\nDescription\\nThe Kongra-Gel was founded by Abdullah Ocalan in 1974 as a Marxist-Leninist separatist organization and formally named the Kurdistan Workers' Party in 1978. The group, composed primarily of Turkish Kurds, began its campaign of armed violence in 1984, which has resulted in some 30,000 casualties. The PKK's goal has been to establish an independent, democratic Kurdish state in southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, and parts of Iran and Syria. In the early 1990s, the PKK moved beyond rural-based insurgent activities to include urban terrorism. Turkish authorities captured Ocalan in Kenya in early 1999, and the Turkish State Security Court subsequently sentenced him to death. In August 1999, Ocalan announced a \\\"peace initiative,\\\" ordering members to refrain from violence and requesting dialogue with Ankara on Kurdish issues. At a PKK Congress in January 2000, members supported Ocalan's initiative and claimed the group now would use only political means to achieve its public goal of improved rights for Kurds in Turkey. In April 2002 at its 8th Party Congress, the PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) and proclaimed a commitment to non-violent activities in support of Kurdish rights. In late 2003, the group sought to engineer another political face-lift, renaming itself Kongra-Gel (KGK) and promoting its \\\"peaceful\\\" intentions while continuing to conduct attacks in \\\"self-defense\\\" and to refuse disarmament. After five years, the group's hard-line militant wing, the People's Defense Force (HPG), renounced its self-imposed cease-fire on June 1, 2004. Over the course of the cease-fire, the group had divided into two factions -- politically-minded reformists, and hardliners who advocated a return to violence. The hardliners took control of the group in February 2004.\\nActivities\\nPrimary targets have been Turkish Government security forces, local Turkish officials, and villagers who oppose the organization in Turkey. It conducted attacks on Turkish diplomatic and commercial facilities in dozens of West European cities in 1993 and again in spring 1995. In an attempt to damage Turkey's tourist industry, the then-PKK bombed tourist sites and hotels and kidnapped foreign tourists in the early-to-mid-1990s. While most of the group's violence in 2004 was directed toward Turkish security forces, KGK was likely responsible for an unsuccessful July car bomb attack against the governor of Van Province, although it publicly denied responsibility, and may have played a role in the August bombings of two Istanbul hotels and a gas complex in which two people died.\\nStrength\\nApproximately 4,000 to 5,000, 3,000 to 3,500 of whom currently are located in northern Iraq. The group has thousands of sympathizers in Turkey and Europe. In November, Dutch police raided a suspected KGK training camp in The Netherlands, arresting roughly 30 suspected members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nOperates primarily in Turkey, Iraq, Europe, and the Middle East.\\nExternal Aid\\nHas received safe haven and modest aid from Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Syria and Iran appear to cooperate with Turkey against KGK in a limited fashion when it serves their immediate interests. KGK uses Europe for fundraising and conducting political propaganda.\\nLashkar e-Tayyiba (LT)\\na.k.a. Army of the Righteous, Lashkar-e-Toiba, al Monsooreen, al-Mansoorian, Army of the Pure, Army of the Righteous, Army of the Pure and Righteous\\nDescription\\nLT is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based religious organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), an anti-US Sunni missionary organization formed in 1989. LT is led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and is one of the three largest and best trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India. It is not connected to any political party. The Pakistani Government banned the group and froze its assets in January 2002. Elements of LT and Jaish-e-Mohammed combined with other groups to mount attacks as \\\"The Save Kashmir Movement.\\\"\\nActivities\\nLT has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Jammu and Kashmir since 1993. LT claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in 2001, including an attack in January on Srinagar airport that killed five Indians; an attack on a police station in Srinagar that killed at least eight officers and wounded several others; and an attack in April against Indian border security forces that left at least four dead. The Indian Government publicly implicated LT, along with JEM, for the attack on December 13, 2001, on the Indian Parliament building, although concrete evidence is lacking. LT is also suspected of involvement in the attack on May 14, 2002, on an Indian Army base in Kaluchak that left 36 dead. Senior al-Qa'ida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah was captured at an LT safe house in Faisalabad in March 2002, suggesting some members are facilitating the movement of al-Qa'ida members in Pakistan.\\nStrength\\nHas several thousand members in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, in the southern Jammu and Kashmir and Doda regions, and in the Kashmir valley. Almost all LT members are Pakistanis from madrassas across Pakistan or Afghan veterans of the Afghan wars.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nBased in Muridke (near Lahore) and Muzaffarabad.\\nExternal Aid\\nCollects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani and other Kashmiri business people. LT also maintains a Web site (under the name Jamaat ud-Daawa), through which it solicits funds and provides information on the group's activities. The amount of LT funding is unknown. LT maintains ties to religious/militant groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya through the fraternal network of its parent organization Jamaat ud-Dawa (formerly Markaz Dawa ul-Irshad). In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani Government, the LT withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods.\\nLashkar i Jhangvi (LJ)\\nDescription\\nLashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) is the militant offshoot of the Sunni sectarian group Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan. LJ focuses primarily on anti-Shia attacks and was banned by Pakistani President Musharraf in August 2001 as part of an effort to rein in sectarian violence. Many of its members then sought refuge in Afghanistan with the Taliban, with whom they had existing ties. After the collapse of the Taliban, LJ members became active in aiding other terrorists with safe houses, false identities, and protection in Pakistani cities, including Karachi, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi. In January 2003, the United States added LJ to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.\\nActivities\\nLJ specializes in armed attacks and bombings. The group attempted to assassinate former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shabaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab Province, in January 1999. Pakistani authorities have publicly linked LJ members to the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in early 2002. Police officials initially suspected LJ members were involved in the two suicide car bombings in Karachi in 2002 against a French shuttle bus in May and the US Consulate in June, but their subsequent investigations have not led to any LJ members being charged in the attacks. Similarly, press reports have linked LJ to attacks on Christian targets in Pakistan, including a grenade assault on the Protestant International Church in Islamabad in March 2002 that killed two US citizens, but no formal charges have been filed against the group. Pakistani authorities believe LJ was responsible for the bombing in July 2003 of a Shiite mosque in Quetta, Pakistan. Authorities have also implicated LJ in several sectarian incidents in 2004, including the May and June bombings of two Shiite mosques in Karachi that killed over 40 people.\\nStrength\\nLJ is active primarily in Punjab and Karachi. Some members travel between Pakistan and Afghanistan.\\nExternal Aid\\nLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)\\na.k.a. The Tamil Tigers, The Ellalan Force\\nDescription\\nFounded in 1976, the LTTE is the most powerful Tamil group in Sri Lanka. It began its insurgency against the Sri Lankan Government in 1983 and has relied on a guerrilla strategy that includes the use of terrorist tactics. The LTTE currently is observing a cease-fire agreement with the Sri Lankan Government.\\nActivities\\nThe LTTE has integrated a battlefield insurgent strategy with a terrorist program that targets key personnel in the countryside and senior Sri Lankan political and military leaders in Colombo and other urban centers. The LTTE is most notorious for its cadre of suicide bombers, the Black Tigers. Political assassinations and bombings were commonplace tactics prior to the cease-fire.\\nStrength\\nExact strength is unknown, but the LTTE is estimated to have 8,000 to 10,000 armed combatants in Sri Lanka, with a core of 3,000 to 6,000 trained fighters. The LTTE also has a significant overseas support structure for fundraising, weapons procurement, and propaganda activities.\\nLocation/Area of Operations\\nThe LTTE controls most of the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka but has conducted operations throughout the island. Headquartered in northern Sri Lanka, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has established an extensive network of checkpoints and informants to keep track of any outsiders who enter the group's area of control.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe LTTE's overt organizations support Tamil separatism by lobbying foreign governments and the United Nations. The LTTE also uses its international contacts and the large Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe, and Asia to procure weapons, communications, funding, and other needed supplies.\\nLibyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)\\nDescription\\nThe Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) emerged in the early 1990s among Libyans who had fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan and against the Qadhafi regime in Libya. The LIFG declared the Government of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi un-Islamic and pledged to overthrow it. Some members maintain a strictly anti-Qadhafi focus and organize against Libyan Government interests, but others are aligned with Usama Bin Ladin and believed to be part of al-Qa'ida's leadership structure or active in the international terrorist network.\\nActivities\\nLibyans associated with the LIFG are part of the broader international jihadist movement. The LIFG is one of the groups believed to have planned the Casablanca suicide bombings in May 2003. The LIFG claimed responsibility for a failed assassination attempt against Qadhafi in 1996 and engaged Libyan security forces in armed clashes during the 1990s. It continues to target Libyan interests and may engage in sporadic clashes with Libyan security forces.\\nStrength\\nNot known, but probably has several hundred active members or supporters.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nProbably maintains a clandestine presence in Libya, but since the late 1990s many members have fled to various Asian, Persian Gulf, African, and European countries, particularly the United Kingdom.\\nExternal Aid\\nNot known. May obtain some funding through private donations, various Islamic non-governmental organizations, and criminal acts.\\nMujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)\\na.k.a. The National Liberation Army of Iran, The People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistance (NCR), The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Muslim Iranian Students' Society\\nDescription\\nThe MEK philosophy mixes Marxism and Islam. Formed in the 1960s, the organization was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein starting in the late 1980s. The MEK conducted anti-West-ern attacks prior to the Islamic Revolution. Since then, it has conducted terrorist attacks against the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. The MEK advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime and its replacement with the group's own leadership.\\nActivities\\nThe group's worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism. During the 1970s, the MEK killed US military personnel and US civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran. In 1981, the MEK detonated bombs in the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Premier's office, killing some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Premier Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. Near the end of the 19801988 war with Iran, Baghdad armed the MEK with military equipment and sent it into action against Iranian forces. In 1991, the MEK assisted the Government of Iraq in suppressing the Shia and Kurdish uprisings in southern Iraq and the Kurdish uprisings in the north. In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and installations in 13 countries, demonstrating the group's ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. In April 1999, the MEK targeted key military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff. In April 2000, the MEK attempted to assassinate the commander of the Nasr Headquarters, Tehran's interagency board responsible for coordinating policies on Iraq. The normal pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during \\\"Operation Great Bahman\\\" in February 2000, when the group launched a dozen attacks against Iran. One of those attacks included a mortar attack against the leadership complex in Tehran that housed the offices of the Supreme Leader and the President. In 2000 and 2001, the MEK was involved regularly in mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids on Iranian military and law enforcement units and Government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border, although MEK terrorism in Iran declined toward the end of 2001. After Coalition aircraft bombed MEK bases at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the MEK leadership ordered its members not to resist Coalition forces, and a formal cease-fire arrangement was reached in May 2003.\\nStrength\\nOver 3,000 MEK members are currently confined to Camp Ashraf, the MEK's main compound north of Baghdad, where they remain under the Geneva Convention's \\\"protected person\\\" status and Coalition control. As a condition of the cease-fire agreement, the group relinquished its weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. A significant number of MEK personnel have \\\"defected\\\" from the Ashraf group, and several dozen of them have been voluntarily repatriated to Iran.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nIn the 1980s, the MEK's leaders were forced by Iranian security forces to flee to France. On resettling in Iraq in 1987, almost all of its armed units were stationed in fortified bases near the border with Iran. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom, the bulk of the group is limited to Camp Ashraf, although an overseas support structure remains with associates and supporters scattered throughout Europe and North America.\\nExternal Aid\\nBefore Operation Iraqi Freedom, the group received all of its military assistance, and most of its financial support, from the former Iraqi regime. The MEK also has used front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.\\nNational Liberation Army (ELN)\\nDescription\\nThe ELN is a Colombian Marxist insurgent group formed in 1965 by urban intellectuals inspired by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. It is primarily rural-based, although it possesses several urban units. In May 2004, Colombian President Uribe proposed a renewal of peace talks, but by the end of the year talks had not commenced.\\nActivities\\nKidnapping, hijacking, bombing, and extortion. Minimal conventional military capability. Annually conducts hundreds of kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreign employees of large corporations, especially in the petroleum industry. Derives some revenue from taxation of the illegal narcotics industry. Frequently assaults energy infrastructure and has inflicted major damage on pipelines and the electric distribution network.\\nStrength\\nApproximately 3,000 armed combatants and an unknown number of active supporters.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nMostly in rural and mountainous areas of northern, northeastern, and southwestern Colombia, and Venezuelan border regions.\\nExternal Aid\\nCuba provides some medical care and political consultation. Venezuela continues to provide a hospitable environment.\\nPalestine Liberation Front (PLF)\\na.k.a. PLF-Abu Abbas Faction\\nDescription\\nThe Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) broke away from the PFLP-GC in the late 1970s and later split again into pro-PLO, pro-Syrian, and pro-Libyan factions. The pro-PLO faction was led by Muhammad Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Abbas) and was based in Baghdad prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.\\nActivities\\nAbbas' group was responsible for the attack in 1985 on the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and the murder of US citizen Leon Klinghoffer. Abu Abbas died of natural causes in April 2004 while in US custody in Iraq. Current leadership and membership of the relatively small PLF appears to be based in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The PLF has become more active since the start of the al-Aqsa intifadah and several PLF members have been arrested by Israeli authorities for planning attacks in Israel and the West Bank.\\nStrength\\nBased in Iraq since 1990, has a presence in Lebanon and the West Bank.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceived support mainly from Iraq; has received support from Libya in the past.\\nPalestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)\\na.k.a. Islamic Jihad of Palestine, PIJ-Shaqaqi Faction, PIJ-Shalla Faction, Al-Quds Brigades\\nDescription\\nFormed by militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the 1970s, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is committed to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel through attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets inside Israel and the Palestinian territories.\\nActivities\\nPIJ militants have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets. The group maintained operational activity in 2004, claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests. PIJ has not yet directly targeted US interests; it continues to direct attacks against Israelis inside Israel and the territories, although US citizens have died in attacks mounted by the PIJ.\\nStrength\\nUnknown.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPrimarily Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The group's primary leadership resides in Syria, though other leadership elements reside in Lebanon, as well as other parts of the Middle East.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceives financial assistance from Iran and limited logistical assistance from Syria.\\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\\nDescription\\nFormerly a part of the PLO, the Marxist-Leninist PFLP was founded by George Habash when it broke away from the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1967. The PFLP does not view the Palestinian struggle as religious, seeing it instead as a broader revolution against Western imperialism. The group earned a reputation for spectacular international attacks, including airline hijackings, that have killed at least 20 US citizens.\\nActivities\\nThe PFLP committed numerous international terrorist attacks during the 1970s. Since 1978, the group has conducted attacks against Israeli or moderate Arab targets, including killing a settler and her son in December 1996. The PFLP has stepped up its operational activity since the start of the current intifadah, highlighted by at least two suicide bombings since 2003, multiple joint operations with other Palestinian terrorist groups, and assassination of the Israeli Tourism Minster in 2001 to avenge Israel's killing of the PFLP Secretary General earlier that year.\\nStrength\\nSyria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceives safe haven and some logistical assistance from Syria.\\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)\\nDescription\\nThe PFLP-GC split from the PFLP in 1968, claiming it wanted to focus more on fighting and less on politics. Originally it was violently opposed to the Arafat-led PLO. The group is led by Ahmad Jabril, a former captain in the Syrian Army, whose son Jihad was killed by a car bomb in May 2002. The PFLP-GC is closely tied to both Syria and Iran.\\nActivities\\nCarried out dozens of attacks in Europe and the Middle East during the 1970s and 1980s. Known for cross-bor-der terrorist attacks into Israel using unusual means, such as hot-air balloons and motorized hang gliders. Primary focus is now on guerrilla operations in southern Lebanon and small-scale attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.\\nStrength\\nHeadquartered in Damascus with bases in Lebanon.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceives logistical and military support from Syria and financial support from Iran.\\nAl-Qa'ida\\na.k.a. Usama Bin Ladin Organization\\nDescription\\nAl-Qa'ida was established by Usama Bin Ladin in 1988 with Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. Helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Goal is to unite Muslims to fight the United States as a means of defeating Israel, overthrowing regimes it deems \\\"non-Is-lamic,\\\" and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries. Eventual goal would be establishment of a pan-Islamic caliphate throughout the world. Issued statement in February 1998 under the banner of \\\"The World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders\\\" saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens, civilian and military, and their allies everywhere. Merged with al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) in June 2001, renaming itself \\\"Qa'idat al-Jihad.\\\" Merged with Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's organization in Iraq in late 2004, with al-Zarqawi's group changing its name to \\\"Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn\\\" (al-Qa'ida in the Land of the Two Rivers).\\nActivities\\nIn 2004, the Saudi-based al-Qa'ida network and associated extremists launched at least 11 attacks, killing over 60 people, including six Americans, and wounding more than 225 in Saudi Arabia. Focused on targets associated with US and Western presence and Saudi security forces in Riyadh, Yanbu, Jeddah, and Dhahran. Attacks consisted of vehicle bombs, infantry assaults, kidnappings, targeted shootings, bombings, and beheadings. Other al-Qa'ida networks have been involved in attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.\\nIn 2003, carried out the assault and bombing on May 12 of three expatriate housing complexes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 30 and injured 216. Backed attacks on May 16 in Casablanca, Morocco, of a Jewish center, restaurant, nightclub, and hotel that killed 33 and injured 101. Probably supported the bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 5, that killed 12 and injured 149. Responsible for the assault and bombing on November 9 of a housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 17 and injured 122. The suicide bombers and others associated with the bombings of two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 15 that killed 20 and injured 300 and the bombings in Istanbul of the British Consulate and HSBC Bank on November 20 that resulted in 41 dead and 555 injured had strong links to al-Qa'ida. Conducted two assassination attempts against Pakistani President Musharraf in December 2003. Was involved in some attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.\\nIn 2002, carried out bombing on November 28 of a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killing 15 and injuring 40. Probably supported a nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12 by Jemaah Islamiya that killed more than 200. Responsible for an attack on US military personnel in Kuwait on October 8 that killed one US soldier and injured another. Directed a suicide attack on the tanker M/V Limburg off the coast of Yemen on October 6 that killed one and injured four. Carried out a firebombing of a synagogue in Tunisia on April 11 that killed 19 and injured 22. On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qa'ida suicide attackers hijacked and crashed four US commercial jets -- two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon near Washington, DC, and a fourth into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- leaving nearly 3,000 individuals dead or missing. Directed the attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, on October 12, 2000, killing 17 US Navy sailors and injuring another 39.\\nConducted the bombings in August 1998 of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed at least 301 individuals and injured more than 5,000 others. Claims to have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 and to have conducted three bombings that targeted US troops in Aden, Yemen, in December 1992.\\nAl-Qa'ida is linked to the following plans that were disrupted or not carried out: to bomb in mid-air a dozen US trans-Pacific flights in 1995, and to set off a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport in 1999. Also plotted to carry out terrorist operations against US and Israeli tourists visiting Jordan for millennial celebrations in late 1999 (Jordanian authorities thwarted the planned attacks and put 28 suspects on trial). In December 2001, suspected al-Qa'ida associate Richard Colvin Reid attempted to ignite a shoe bomb on a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris to Miami. Attempted to shoot down an Israeli chartered plane with a surface-to-air missile as it departed the Mombasa, Kenya, airport in November 2002.\\nStrength\\nAl-Qa'ida's organizational strength is difficult to determine in the aftermath of extensive counterterrorist efforts since 9/11. However, the group probably has several thousand extremists and associates worldwide inspired by the group's ideology. The arrest and deaths of mid-level and senior al-Qa'ida operatives have disrupted some communication, financial, and facilitation nodes and interrupted some terrorist plots. Al-Qa'ida also serves as a focal point or umbrella organization for a worldwide network that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, including some members of Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nAl-Qa'ida has cells worldwide and is reinforced by its ties to Sunni extremist networks. It was based in Afghanistan until Coalition forces removed the Taliban from power in late 2001. Al-Qa'ida has dispersed in small groups across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and probably will attempt to carry out future attacks against US interests.\\nExternal Aid\\nAl-Qa'ida maintains moneymaking front businesses, solicits donations from like-minded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations. US and international efforts to block al-Qa'ida funding have hampered the group's ability to obtain money.\\nReal IRA (RIRA)\\na.k.a. 32-County Sovereignty Committee\\nDescription\\nRIRA was formed in the late 1990s as the clandestine armed wing of the 32-County Sovereignty Movement, a \\\"political pressure group\\\" dedicated to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and unifying Ireland. The RIRA also seeks to disrupt the Northern Ireland peace process. The 32-County Sovereignty Movement opposed Sinn Fein's adoption in September 1997 of the Mitchell principles of democracy and non-violence; it also opposed the amendment in December 1999 of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution, which had claimed the territory of Northern Ireland. Despite internal rifts and calls by some jailed members -- including the group's founder Michael \\\"Mickey\\\" McKevitt -- for a ceasefire and disbandment, RIRA has pledged additional violence and continues to conduct attacks.\\nActivities\\nBombings, assassinations, and robberies. Many Real IRA members are former Provisional Irish Republican Army members who left that organization after the Provisional IRA renewed its cease-fire in 1997. These members brought a wealth of experience in terrorist tactics and bomb making to RIRA. Targets have included civilians (most notoriously in the Omagh bombing in August 1998), British security forces, police in Northern Ireland, and local Protestant communities. RIRA's most recent fatal attack was in August 2002 at a London army base that killed a construction worker. In 2004, RIRA conducted several postal bomb attacks and made threats against prison officers, people involved in the new policing arrangements, and senior politicians. RIRA also planted incendiary devices in Belfast shopping areas and conducted a serious shooting attack against a Police Service of Northern Ireland station in September. The organization reportedly wants to improve its intelligence-gathering ability, engineering capacity, and access to weaponry; it also trains members in the use of guns and explosives. RIRA continues to attract new members, and its senior members are committed to launching attacks on security forces. Arrests in the spring led to the discovery of incendiary and explosive devices at a RIRA bomb making facility in Limerick. The group also engaged in smuggling and other non-terrorist crime in Ireland.\\nStrength\\nThe number of activists may have fallen to less than 100. The organization may receive limited support from IRA hardliners and Republican sympathizers dissatisfied with the IRA's continuing cease-fire and Sinn Fein's involvement in the peace process. Approximately 40 RIRA members are in Irish jails.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nNorthern Ireland, Great Britain, and Irish Republic.\\nExternal Aid\\nSuspected of receiving funds from sympathizers in the United States and of attempting to buy weapons from US gun dealers. RIRA also is reported to have purchased sophisticated weapons from the Balkans, and to have taken materials from Provisional IRA arms dumps in the later 1990s.\\nRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)\\nDescription\\nEstablished in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC is Latin America's oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped insurgency of Marxist origin. Although only nominally fighting in support of Marxist goals today, the FARC is governed by a general secretariat led by long-time leader Manuel Marulanda (a.k.a. \\\"Tirofijo\\\") and six others, including senior military commander Jorge Briceno (a.k.a. \\\"Mono Jojoy\\\"). Organized along military lines but includes some specialized urban fighting units. A Colombian military offensive targeting FARC fighters in their former safe haven in southern Colombia has experienced some success, with several FARC mid-level leaders killed or captured. On December 31, 2004, FARC leader Simon Trinidad, the highest-ranking FARC leader ever captured, was extradited to the United States on drug charges.\\nActivities\\nBombings, murder, mortar attacks, kidnapping, extortion, and hijacking, as well as guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military, and economic targets. In March 1999, the FARC executed three US indigenous rights activists on Venezuelan territory after it kidnapped them in Colombia. In February 2003, the FARC captured and continues to hold three US contractors and killed one other American when their plane crashed in Florencia. Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC kidnapping for ransom. The FARC has well-documented ties to the full range of narcotics trafficking activities, including taxation, cultivation, and distribution.\\nStrength\\nApproximately 9,000 to 12,000 armed combatants and several thousand more supporters, mostly in rural areas.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPrimarily in Colombia with some activities -- extortion, kidnapping, weapons sourcing, logistics, and R&R -- suspected in neighboring Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Peru, and Ecuador.\\nExternal Aid\\nCuba provides some medical care, safe haven, and political consultation. In December 2004, a Colombian Appeals Court declared three members of the Irish Republican Army -- arrested in Colombia in 2001 upon exiting the former FARC-controlled demilitarized zone (despeje) -- guilty of providing advanced explosives training to the FARC. The FARC often uses the Colombia/ Venezuela border area for cross-border incursions and consider Venezuelan territory as a safe haven.\\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN)\\na.k.a. Revolutionary Cells, Revolutionary Popular Struggle, ELA\\nDescription\\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN) emerged from a broad range of antiestablishment and anti-US/NATO/EU leftist groups active in Greece between 1995 and 1998. The group is believed to be the successor to or offshoot of Greece's most prolific terrorist group, Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA), which has not claimed an attack since January 1995. Indeed, RN appeared to fill the void left by ELA, particularly as lesser groups faded from the scene. RN's few communiqu�s show strong similarities in rhetoric, tone, and theme to ELA proclamations. RN has not claimed an attack since November 2000, nor has it announced its disbandment.\\nActivities\\nSince it began operations in January 1995, the group has claimed responsibility for some two dozen arson attacks and low-level bombings against a range of US, Greek, and other European targets in Greece. In its most infamous and lethal attack to date, the group claimed responsibility for a bomb it detonated at the Intercontinental Hotel in April 1999 that resulted in the death of a Greek woman and injured a Greek man. Its modus operandi includes warning calls of impending attacks, attacks targeting property instead of individuals, use of rudimentary timing devices, and strikes during the late-evening to early-morning hours. RN may have been responsible for two attacks in July 2003 against a US insurance company and a local bank in Athens. RN's last confirmed attacks against US interests in Greece came in November 2000, with two separate bombings against the Athens offices of Citigroup and the studio of a Greek-American sculptor. Greek targets have included judicial and other Government office buildings, private vehicles, and the offices of Greek firms involved in NATO-related defense contracts in Greece. Similarly, the group has attacked European interests in Athens. The group did not conduct an attack in 2004.\\nStrength\\nGroup membership is believed to be small, probably drawing from the Greek militant leftist or anarchist milieu.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPrimary area of operation is in the Athens metropolitan area.\\nExternal Aid\\nUnknown but believed to be self-sustaining.\\nRevolutionary People's Liberation Party/ Front (DHKP/C)\\na.k.a. Devrimci Sol, Dev Sol, Revolutionary Left\\nDescription\\nThis group originally formed in Turkey in 1978 as Devrimci Sol, or Dev Sol, a splinter faction of Dev Genc (Revolutionary Youth). Renamed in 1994 after factional infighting. \\\"Party\\\" refers to the group's political activities, while \\\"Front\\\" is a reference to the group's militant operations. The group espouses a Marxist-Leninist ideology and is vehemently anti-US, anti-NATO, and anti-Turkish establishment. Its goals are the establishment of a socialist state and the abolition of one- to three-man prison cells, called F-type prisons. DHKP/C finances its activities chiefly through donations and extortion.\\nActivities\\nSince the late 1980s the group has targeted primarily current and retired Turkish security and military officials. It began a new campaign against foreign interests in 1990, which included attacks against US military and diplomatic personnel and facilities. To protest perceived US imperialism during the Gulf War, Dev Sol assassinated two US military contractors, wounded an Air Force officer, and bombed more than 20 US and NATO military, commercial, and cultural facilities. In its first significant terrorist act as DHKP/C in 1996, the group assassinated a prominent Turkish businessman and two others. DHKP/C added suicide bombings to its repertoire in 2001, with successful attacks against Turkish police in January and September. Since the end of 2001, DHKP/C has typically used improvised explosive devices against official Turkish targets and soft US targets of opportunity; attacks against US targets beginning in 2003 probably came in response to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operations and arrests against the group have weakened its capabilities. DHKP/C did not conduct any major terrorist attacks in 2003, but on June 24, 2004 -- just days before the NATO summit -- an explosive device detonated, apparently prematurely, aboard a passenger bus in Istanbul while a DHKP/C operative was transporting it to another location, killing the operative and three other persons.\\nStrength\\nProbably several dozen terrorist operatives inside Turkey, with a large support network throughout Europe. On April 1, 2004, authorities arrested more than 40 suspected DHKP/C members in coordinated raids across Turkey and Europe. In October, 10 alleged members of the group were sentenced to life imprisonment, while charges were dropped against 20 other defendants because of a statute of limitations.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nTurkey, primarily Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana. Raises funds in Europe.\\nExternal Aid\\nWidely believed to have training facilities or offices in Lebanon and Syria.\\nSalafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)\\na.k.a. Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, Le Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat\\nDescription\\nThe Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), a splinter group of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), seeks to overthrow the Algerian Government with the goal of installing an Islamic regime. GSPC eclipsed the GIA in approximately 1998, and is currently the most effective and largest armed group inside Algeria. In contrast to the GIA, the GSPC pledged to avoid civilian attacks inside Algeria.\\nActivities\\nThe GSPC continues to conduct operations aimed at Algerian Government and military targets, primarily in rural areas, although civilians are sometimes killed. The Government of Algeria scored major counterterrorism successes against GSPC in 2004, significantly weakening the organization, which also has been plagued with internal divisions. Algerian military forces killed GSPC leader Nabil Sahraoui and one of his top lieutenants, Abbi Abdelaziz, in June 2004 in the mountainous area east of Algiers. In October, the Algerian Government took custody of Abderazak al-Para, who led a GSPC faction that held 32 European tourists hostage in 2003. According to press reporting, some GSPC members in Europe and the Middle East maintain contact with other North African extremists sympathetic to al-Qa'ida. In late 2003, the GSPC leader issued a communiqu� announcing the group's support of a number of jihadist causes and movements, including al-Qa'ida.\\nStrength\\nSeveral hundred fighters with an unknown number of facilitators outside Algeria.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nAlgeria, the Sahel (i.e. northern Mali, northern Mauritania, and northern Niger), Canada, and Western Europe.\\nExternal Aid\\nAlgerian expatriates and GSPC members abroad, many residing in Western Europe, provide financial and logistical support. GSPC members also engage in criminal activity.\\nShining Path (SL)\\na.k.a. Sendero Luminoso People's Liberation Army\\nDescription\\nFormer university professor Abimael Guzman formed SL in Peru in the late 1960s, and his teachings created the foundation of SL's militant Maoist doctrine. In the 1980s, SL became one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately 30,000 persons have died since Shining Path took up arms in 1980. The Peruvian Government made dramatic gains against SL during the 1990s, but reports of recent SL involvement in narco-trafficking and kidnapping for ransom indicate it may be developing new sources of support. Its stated goal is to destroy existing Peruvian institutions and replace them with a communist peasant revolutionary regime. It also opposes any influence by foreign governments. Peruvian Courts in 2003 granted approximately 1,900 members the right to request retrials in a civilian court, including the imprisoned top leadership. The trial of Guzman, who was arrested in 1992, was scheduled for November 5, 2004, but was postponed after the first day, when chaos erupted in the courtroom.\\nActivities\\nConducted indiscriminate bombing campaigns and selective assassinations.\\nStrength\\nUnknown but estimated to be some 300 armed militants.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPeru, with most activity in rural areas.\\nExternal\\nAid None.\\nTanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR)\\na.k.a. Al-Zarqawi Network, Al-Qa'ida in Iraq, Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organization in the Land of The Two Rivers, Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad\\nDescription\\nThe Jordanian Palestinian Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi (Ahmad Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalaylah, a.k.a. Abu Ahmad, Abu Azraq) established cells in Iraq soon after the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), formalizing his group in April 2004 to bring together jihadists and other insurgents in Iraq fighting against US and Coalition forces. Zarqawi initially called his group \\\"Unity and Jihad\\\" (Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, or JTJ). Zarqawi and his group helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Iraqi resistance. The group adopted its current name after its October 2004 merger with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida. The immediate goal of QJBR is to expel the Coalition -- through a campaign of bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, and intimidation -- and establish an Islamic state in Iraq. QJBR's longer-term goal is to proliferate jihad from Iraq into \\\"Greater Syria,\\\" that is, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.\\nActivities\\nIn August 2003, Zarqawi's group carried out a major international terrorist attack in Iraq when it bombed the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, followed 12 days later by a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack against the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, killing 23, including the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Also in August the group conducted a VBIED attack against Shi'a worshippers outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Al Najaf, killing 85 -- including the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). It kept up its attack pace throughout 2003, striking numerous Iraqi, Coalition, and relief agency targets such as the Red Cross. Zarqawi's group conducted VBIED attacks against US military personnel and Iraqi infrastructure throughout 2004, including suicide attacks inside the Green Zone perimeter in Baghdad. The group successfully penetrated the Green Zone in the October bombing of a popular caf� and market. Zarqawi's group fulfilled a pledge to target Shi'a; its March attacks on Shi'a celebrating the religious holiday of Ashura, killing over 180, was its most lethal attack to date. The group also killed key Iraqi political figures in 2004, most notably the head of Iraq's Governing Council. The group has claimed responsibility for the videotaped execution by beheading of Americans Nicholas Berg (May 8, 2004), Jack Armstrong (September 20, 2004), and Jack Hensley (September 21, 2004). The group may have been involved in other hostage incidents as well.\\nZarqawi's group has been active in the Levant since its involvement in the failed Millennium plot directed against US, Western, and Jordanian targets in Jordan in late 1999. The group assassinated USAID official Laurence Foley in 2002, but the Jordanian Government has successfully disrupted further plots against US and Western interests in Jordan, including a major arrest of Zarqawi associates in 2004 planning to attack Jordanian security targets.\\nStrength\\nQJBR's numerical strength is unknown, though the group has attracted new recruits to replace key leaders and other members killed or captured by Coalition forces. Zarqawi's increased stature from his formal relationship with al-Qa'ida could attract additional recruits to QJBR.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nQJBR's operations are predominately Iraq-based, but the group maintains an extensive logistical network throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.\\nExternal Aid\\nQJBR probably receives funds from donors in the Middle East and Europe, local sympathizers in Iraq, and a variety of businesses and criminal activities. In many cases, QJBR's donors are probably motivated by support for jihad rather than affiliation with any specific terrorist group.\\nUnited Self-Defense Forces/Group of Colombia (AUC)\\na.k.a. Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia\\nDescription\\nThe AUC, commonly referred to as \\\"the paramilitaries,\\\" is an umbrella organization formed in April 1997 to coordinate the activities of local paramilitary groups and develop a cohesive paramilitary effort to combat insurgents. The AUC is supported by economic elites, drug traffickers, and local communities lacking effective Government security, and claims its primary objective is to protect its sponsors from Marxist insurgents. The AUC's affiliate groups and other paramilitary units are in negotiations with the Government of Colombia and in the midst of the largest demobilization in modern Colombian history. To date, approximately 3,600 AUC-affiliated fighters have demobilized since November 2003.\\nActivities\\nAUC operations vary from assassinating suspected insurgent supporters to engaging guerrilla combat units. As much as 70 percent of the AUC's operational costs are financed with drug-related earnings, with the rest coming from \\\"donations\\\" from its sponsors. The AUC generally avoids actions against US personnel or interests.\\nStrength\\nEstimated 8,000 to 11,000, with an unknown number of active supporters.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nAUC forces are strongest in the northwest of Colombia in Antioquia, Cordoba, Sucre, Atlantico, Magdelena, Cesar, La Guajira, and Bolivar Departments, with affiliate groups in the coffee region, Valle del Cauca, and in Meta Department.\\nExternal Aid\\nMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)\\nNew Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC)\\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)\\nRed Hand Defenders (RHD)\\nRevolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei (NIPR)\\nRevolutionary Struggle (RS)\\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM)\\nSipah-I-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)\\nSpecial Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR)\\nTunisian Combatant Group (TCG)\\nTupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)\\nTurkish Hizballah\\nUlster Defense Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF)\\nUlster Volunteer Force (UVF)\\nUnited Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)\\nAl Badhr Mujahedin (al-Badr)\\nDescription\\nThe Al Badhr Mujahedin split from Hizbul-Mujahedin (HM) in 1998. Traces its origins to 1971, when a group named Al Badr attacked Bengalis in East Pakistan. Later operated as part of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-I Islami (HIG) in Afghanistan and, from 1990, as a unit of HM in Kashmir. The group was relatively inactive until 2000. Since then, it has increasingly claimed responsibility for attacks against Indian military targets.\\nActivities\\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir.\\nStrength\\nJammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.\\nExternal\\nAl-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI)\\nDescription\\nAIAI rose to prominence in the Horn of Africa in the early 1990s, following the downfall of the Siad Barre regime and the subsequent collapse of the Somali nation state into anarchy. AIAI was not internally cohesive and suffered divisions between factions supporting moderate Islam and more puritanical Islamic ideology. Following military defeats in 1996 and 1997, AIAI evolved into a loose network of highly compartmentalized cells, factions, and individuals with no central control or coordination. AIAI elements pursue a variety of agendas ranging from social services and education to insurgency activities in the Ogaden. Some AIAI-associated sheikhs espouse a radical fundamentalist version of Islam, with particular emphasis on a strict adherence to Sharia (Islamic law), a view often at odds with Somali emphasis on clan identity. A small number of AIAI-associated individuals have provided logistical support to and maintain ties with al-Qa'ida; however, the network's central focus remains the establishment of an Islamic government in Somalia.\\nActivities\\nElements of AIAI may have been responsible for the kidnapping and murder of relief workers in Somalia and Somaliland in 2003 and 2004, and during the late 1990s. Factions of AIAI may also have been responsible for a series of bomb attacks in public places in Addis Ababa in 1996 and 1997. Most AIAI factions have recently concentrated on broadening their religious base, renewed emphasis on building businesses, and undertaking \\\"hearts and minds\\\" actions, such as sponsoring orphanages and schools and providing security that uses an Islamic legal structure in the areas where it is active.\\nStrength\\nThe actual membership strength is unknown.\\nLocation/Area of Operations\\nPrimarily in Somalia, with a presence in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, Kenya, and possibly Djibouti.\\nExternal Aid\\nReceives funds from Middle East financiers and Somali diaspora communities in Europe, North America, and the Arabian Peninsula.\\nAlex Boncayao Brigade (ABB)\\nDescription\\nThe ABB, the breakaway urban hit squad of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army, was formed in the mid-1980s. The ABB was added to the Terrorist Exclusion list in December 2001.\\nActivities\\nResponsible for more than 100 murders, including the murder in 1989 of US Army Col. James Rowe in the Philippines. In March 1997, the group announced it had formed an alliance with another armed group, the Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPA). In March 2000, the group claimed credit for a rifle grenade attack against the Department of Energy building in Manila and strafed Shell Oil offices in the central Philippines to protest rising oil prices.\\nStrength\\na.k.a. Anti-Imperialist Territorial Units\\nDescription\\nThe NTA is a clandestine leftist extremist group that first appeared in Italy's Friuli region in 1995. Adopted the class struggle ideology of the Red Brigades of the 1970s and 1980s and a similar logo -- an encircled five-point star -- for their declarations. Seeks the formation of an \\\"anti-imperialist fighting front\\\" with other Italian leftist terrorist groups, including Revolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei and the New Red Brigades. Opposes what it perceives as US and NATO imperialism and condemns Italy's foreign and labor polices. In a leaflet dated January 2002, NTA identified experts in four Italian Government sectors -- federalism, privatizations, justice reform, and jobs and pensions -- as potential targets.\\nActivities\\nTo date, NTA has conducted attacks only against property. During the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999, NTA members threw gasoline bombs at the Venice and Rome headquarters of the then-ruling party, Democrats of the Left. NTA claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in September 2000 against the Central European Initiative office in Trieste and a bomb attack in August 2001 against the Venice Tribunal building. In January 2002, police thwarted an attempt by four NTA members to enter the Rivolto Military Air Base. In 2003, NTA claimed responsibility for the arson attacks against three vehicles belonging to US troops serving at the Ederle and Aviano bases in Italy. There has been no reported activity by the group since the arrest in January 2004 of NTA's founder and leader.\\nStrength\\nAccounts vary from one to approximately 20 members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPrimarily northeastern Italy and near US military installations in northern Italy.\\nExternal Aid\\na.k.a. Cholana Kangtoap Serei Cheat Kampouchea\\nDescription\\nThe Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) emerged in November 1998 in the wake of political violence that saw many influential Cambodian leaders flee and the Cambodian People's Party assume power. With an avowed aim of overthrowing the Government, the group is led by a Cambodian-American, a former member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party. The CFF's membership reportedly includes Cambodian-Americans based in Thailand and the United States, and former soldiers from the Khmer Rouge, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and various political factions.\\nActivities\\nThe Cambodian Government arrested seven CFF members who were reportedly planning an unspecified terrorist attack in southwestern Cambodia in late 2003, but there were no successful CFF attacks that year. Cambodian courts in February and March 2002 prosecuted 38 CFF members suspected of staging an attack in Cambodia in 2000. The courts convicted 19 members, including one US citizen, of \\\"terrorism\\\" and/or \\\"membership in an armed group\\\" and sentenced them to terms of five years to life imprisonment. The group claimed responsibility for an attack in late November 2000 on several Government installations that killed at least eight persons and wounded more than a dozen. In April 1999, five CFF members were arrested for plotting to blow up a fuel depot outside Phnom Penh with anti-tank weapons.\\nStrength\\nExact strength is unknown, but totals probably never have exceeded 100 armed fighters.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nNortheastern Cambodia near the Thai border, and the United States.\\nExternal Aid\\nUS-based leadership collects funds from the Cambodian-American community.\\nCommunist Party of India (Maoist)\\nFormerly Maoist Communist Center of India (MCCI) and People's War (PW)\\nDescription\\nThe Indian groups known as the Maoist Communist Center of India and People's War (a.k.a. People's War Group) joined together in September 2004 to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist), or CPI (Maoist). The MCCI was originally formed in the early 1970s, while People's War was founded in 1975. Both groups are referred to as Naxalites, after the West Bengal village where a revolutionary radical Left movement originated in 1967. The new organization continues to employ violence to achieve its goals -- peasant revolution, abolition of class hierarchies, and expansion of Maoist-controlled \\\"liberated zones,\\\" eventually leading to the creation of an independent \\\"Maoist\\\" state. The CPI (Maoist) reportedly has a significant cadre of women. Important leaders include Ganapati (the PW leader from Andhra Pradesh), Pramod Mishra, Uma Shankar, and P.N.G. (alias Nathuni Mistry, arrested by Jharkhand police in 2002).\\nActivities\\nPrior to its consolidation with the PW, the MCCI ran a virtual parallel government in remote areas, where it collected a \\\"tax\\\" from the villagers and, in turn, provided infrastructure improvements such as building hospitals, schools, and irrigation projects. It ran a parallel court system wherein allegedly corrupt block development officials and landlords -- frequent MCCI targets -- had been punished by amputation and even death. People's War conducted a low-intensity insurgency that included attempted political assassination, theft of weapons from police stations, kidnapping police officers, assaulting civilians, extorting money from construction firms, and vandalizing the property of multinational corporations. Together the two groups were reportedly responsible for the deaths of up to 170 civilians and police a year.\\nStrength\\nAlthough difficult to assess with any accuracy, media reports and local authorities suggest the CPI (Maoist)'s membership may be as high as 31,000, including both hard-core militants and dedicated sympathizers.\\nLocation/Area of Operations\\nThe CPI (Maoist), believed to be enlarging the scope of its influence, operates in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and parts of West Bengal. It also has a presence on the Bihar-Nepal border.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe CPI (Maoist) has loose links to other Maoist groups in the region, including the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists). The MCCI was a founding member of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA).\\nCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoists) CPN/M\\nDescription\\nThe Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) insurgency grew out of the radicalization and fragmentation of left-wing parties following Nepal's transition to democracy in 1990. The United People's Front -- a coalition of left-wing parties -- participated in the elections of 1991, but the Maoist wing failed to win the required minimum number of votes, leading to its exclusion from voter lists in the elections of 1994 and prompting the group to launch the insurgency in 1996. The CPN/M's ultimate objective is the overthrow of the Nepalese Government and the establishment of a Maoist state. In 2003, the United States designated Nepal's Maoists under Executive Order (EO) 13224 as a supporter of terrorist activity.\\nActivities\\nThe Maoists have utilized traditional guerrilla warfare tactics and engage in murder, torture, arson, sabotage, extortion, child conscription, kidnapping, bombings, and assassinations to intimidate and coerce the populace. In 2002, Maoists claimed responsibility for assassinating two Nepalese US Embassy guards, citing anti-Maoist spying, and in a press statement threatened foreign embassies, including the US mission, to deter foreign support for the Nepalese Government. Maoists are suspected in the September 2004 bombing at the American Cultural Center in Kathmandu. The attack, which caused no injuries and only minor damage, marked the first time the Maoists had damaged US Government property.\\nStrength\\nProbably several thousand full-time cadres.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nOperations are conducted throughout Nepal. Press reports indicate some Maoist leaders reside in India.\\nExternal Aid\\nDemocratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)\\na.k.a. Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), Ex-FAR/Interahamwe\\nDescription\\nThe Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in 2001 supplanted the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), which is the armed branch of the PALIR, or the Party for the Liberation of Rwanda. ALIR was formed from the merger of the Armed Forces of Rwanda (FAR), the army of the ethnic Hutu-dominated Rwandan regime that orchestrated the genocide of 500,000 or more Tutsis and regime opponents in 1994, and Interahamwe, the civilian militia force that carried out much of the killing, after the two groups were forced from Rwanda into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC- then Zaire) that year. Though directly descended from those who organized and carried out the genocide, identified FDLR leaders are not thought to have played a role in the killing. They have worked to build bridges to other opponents of the Kigali regime, including ethnic Tutsis.\\nActivities\\nALIR sought to topple Rwanda's Tutsi-dominated Government, reinstitute Hutu domination, and, possibly, complete the genocide. In 1996, a message -- allegedly from the ALIR -- threatened to kill the US ambassador to Rwanda and other US citizens. In 1999, ALIR guerrillas critical of US-UK support for the Rwandan regime kidnapped and killed eight foreign tourists, including two US citizens, in a game park on the Democratic Republic of Congo-Uganda border. Three suspects in the attack are in US custody awaiting trial. In the 1998-2002 Congolese war, the ALIR/FDLR was allied with Kinshasa against the Rwandan invaders. FDLR's political wing mainly has sought to topple the Kigali regime via an alliance with Tutsi regime opponents. It established the ADRN Igihango alliance in 2002, but it has not resonated politically in Rwanda.\\nStrength\\nExact strength is unknown, but several thousand FDLR guerrillas operate in the eastern DRC close to the Rwandan border. In 2003, the United Nations, with Rwandan assistance, repatriated close to 1,500 FDLR combatants from the DRC. The senior FDLR military commander returned to Rwanda in November 2003 and has been working with Kigali to encourage the return of his comrades.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nMostly in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.\\nExternal Support\\nThe Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo provided training, arms, and supplies to ALIR forces to combat Rwandan armed forces that invaded the DRC in 1998. Kinshasa halted that support in 2002, though allegations persist of continued support from several local Congolese warlords and militias (including the Mai Mai).\\nEast Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)\\nDescription\\nThe East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a small Islamic extremist group based in China's western Xinjiang Province. It is the most militant of the ethnic Uighur separatist groups pursuing an independent \\\"Eastern Turkistan,\\\" an area that would include Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China. ETIM is linked to al-Qa'ida and the international mujahedin movement. In September 2002 the group was designated under EO 13224 as a supporter of terrorist activity.\\nActivities\\nETIM militants fought alongside al-Qa'ida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In October 2003, Pakistani soldiers killed ETIM leader Hassan Makhsum during raids on al-Qa'ida-associated compounds in western Pakistan. US and Chinese Government information suggests ETIM is responsible for various terrorist acts inside and outside China. In May 2002, two ETIM members were deported to China from Kyrgyzstan for plotting to attack the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan as well as other US interests abroad.\\nStrength\\nUnknown. Only a small minority of ethnic Uighurs supports the Xinjiang independence movement or the formation of an Eastern Turkistan.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nXinjiang Province and neighboring countries in the region.\\nExternal Aid\\nETIM has received training and financial assistance from al-Qa'ida.\\nFirst of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) Grupo de Resistencia Anti-Fascista Primero de Octubre\\nDescription\\nGRAPO was formed in 1975 as the armed wing of the illegal Communist Party of Spain during the Franco era. Advocates the overthrow of the Spanish Government and its replacement with a Marxist-Leninist regime. GRAPO is vehemently anti-American, seeks the removal of all US military forces from Spanish territory, and has conducted and attempted several attacks against US targets since 1977. The group issued a communiqu� following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, expressing its satisfaction that \\\"symbols of imperialist power\\\" were decimated and affirming that \\\"the war\\\" has only just begun. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\\nActivities\\nGRAPO did not mount a successful terrorist operation in 2004, marking the third consecutive year without an attack. The group suffered more setbacks in 2004, with several members and sympathizers arrested and sentences upheld or handed down in April in the appellate case for GRAPO militants arrested in Paris in 2000. GRAPO has killed more than 90 persons and injured more than 200 since its formation. The group's operations traditionally have been designed to cause material damage and gain publicity rather than inflict casualties, but the terrorists have conducted lethal bombings and close-range assassinations.\\nStrength\\nFewer than two dozen activists remain. Police have made periodic large-scale arrests of GRAPO members, crippling the organization and forcing it into lengthy rebuilding periods. In 2002, Spanish and French authorities arrested 22 suspected members, including some of the group's reconstituted leadership. More members were arrested throughout 2003 and 2004.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nHarakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI) (Movement of Islamic Holy War)\\nDescription\\nHUJI, a Sunni extremist group that follows the Deobandi tradition of Islam, was founded in 1980 in Afghanistan to fight in the jihad against the Soviets. It also is affiliated with the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F) of the extremist religious party Jamiat Ulema-I-Is-lam (JUI). The group, led by Qari Saifullah Akhtar and chief commander Amin Rabbani, is made up primarily of Pakistanis and foreign Islamists who are fighting for the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan. The group has links to al-Qa'ida. At present, Akhtar remains in detention in Pakistan after his August 2004 arrest and extradition from Dubai.\\nActivities\\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year.\\nStrength\\nExact numbers are unknown, but there may be several hundred members in Kashmir.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPakistan and Kashmir. Trained members in Afghanistan until autumn of 2001.\\nExternal Aid\\nSpecific sources of external aid are unknown.\\nHarakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)\\nDescription\\nThe mission of HUJI-B, led by Shauqat Osman, is to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. HUJI-B has connections to the Pakistani militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI) and Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), which advocate similar objectives in Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. These groups all maintain contacts with the al-Qa'ida network in Afghanistan. The leaders of HUJIB and HUM both signed the February 1998 fatwa sponsored by Usama bin Ladin that declared American civilians to be legitimate targets for attack.\\nActivities\\nHUJI-B was accused of stabbing a senior Bangladeshi journalist in November 2000 for making a documentary on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. HUJI-B was suspected in the assassination attempt in July 2000 of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The group may also have been responsible for indiscriminate attacks using improvised explosive devices against cultural gatherings in Dhaka in January and April 2001.\\nStrength\\nUnknown; some estimates of HUJI-B cadre strength suggest several thousand members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nThe group operates and trains members in Bangladesh, where it maintains at least six camps.\\nExternal Aid\\nFunding of the HUJI-B comes primarily from madrassas in Bangladesh. The group also has ties to militants in Pakistan that may provide another funding source.\\nHizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)\\nDescription\\nGulbuddin Hikmatyar founded Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) as a faction of the Hizb-I Islami party in 1977, and it was one of the major mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. HIG has long-established links with Usama Bin Ladin. In the early 1990s, Hikmatyar ran several terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and was a pioneer in sending mercenary fighters to other Islamic conflicts. Hikmatyar offered to shelter Bin Ladin after the latter fled Sudan in 1996. In a late 2004 press release, Hikmatyar reiterated his commitment to fight US and Coalition forces.\\nActivities\\nHIG has staged small attacks in its attempt to force US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan Transitional Administration, and establish an Islamic fundamentalist state. In 2004, several US soldiers were killed in attacks in Konar, Afghanistan, the area in which HIG is most active.\\nStrength\\nUnknown, but possibly could have hundreds of veteran fighters on which to call.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nEastern Afghanistan (particularly Konar and Nurestan Provinces) and adjacent areas of Pakistan's tribal areas.\\nExternal Aid\\nHizbul-Mujahedin (HM)\\nDescription\\nHizbul-Mujahedin (HM), the largest Kashmiri militant group, was founded in 1989 and officially supports the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan, although some cadres favor independence. The group is the militant wing of Pakistan's largest Islamic political party, the Jamaat-i-Islami, and targets Indian security forces,politicians and civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. It reportedly operated in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and trained with the Afghan Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) in Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover. The group, led by Syed Salahuddin, is comprised primarily of ethnic Kashmiris.\\nActivities\\nHM has conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir. The group also occasionally strikes at civilian targets, but has not engaged in terrorist acts outside India. HM claimed responsibility for numerous attacks within Kashmir in 2004.\\nStrength\\nExact numbers are unknown, but estimates range from several hundred to possibly as many as 1,000 members in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nJammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.\\nExternal Aid\\nSpecific sources of external aid are unknown.\\nIrish National Liberation Army (INLA)\\nDescription\\nThe INLA is a terrorist group formed in 1975 as the military wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), which split from the Official IRA (OIRA) because of OIRA's cease-fire in 1972. The group's primary aim is to end British rule in Northern Ireland, force British troops out of the province, and unite Ireland's 32 counties into a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary state. Responsible for some of the most notorious killings of \\\"The Troubles,\\\" including the bombing of a Ballykelly pub that killed 17 people in 1982. Bloody internal feuding has repeatedly torn the INLA. The INLA announced a cease-fire in August 1998 but continues to carry out occasional attacks and punishment beatings.\\nActivities\\nThe INLA has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has conducted bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. It is also involved in drug trafficking. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include the British military, Northern Ireland security forces, and Loyalist paramilitary groups. The INLA continues to observe a cease-fire, because -- in the words of its leadership in 2003 -- a return to armed struggle is \\\"not a viable option at this time.\\\" However, members of the group were accused of involvement in a robbery and kidnapping in December 2004, which the group denies.\\nStrength\\nUnclear, but probably fewer than 50 hard-core activists. Police counterterrorist operations and internal feuding have reduced the group's strength and capabilities.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic. Does not have a significant established presence on the UK mainland.\\nExternal Aid\\nSuspected in the past of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States.\\nIrish Republican Army (IRA)\\na.k.a. Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), the Provos\\nDescription\\nFormed in 1969 as the clandestine armed wing of the political movement Sinn Fein, the IRA is devoted both to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and to unifying Ireland. The IRA conducted attacks until its cease-fire in 1997 and agreed to disarm as a part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which established the basis for peace in Northern Ireland. Dissension within the IRA over support for the Northern Ireland peace process resulted in the formation of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA (CIRA), and the Real IRA (RIRA) in mid to late 1990s. The IRA, sometimes referred to as the PIRA to distinguish it from RIRA and CIRA, is organized into small, tightly-knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.\\nActivities\\nTraditional IRA activities have included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the group had conducted bombing campaigns on various targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, including senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military targets. The group's refusal in late 2004 to allow photographic documentation of its decommissioning process was an obstacle to progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement and stalled talks. The group previously had disposed of light, medium, and heavy weapons, ammunition, and explosives in three rounds of decommissioning. However, the IRA is believed to retain the ability to conduct paramilitary operations. The group's extensive criminal activities reportedly provide the IRA and the political party Sinn Fein with millions of dollars each year; the IRA was implicated in two significant robberies in 2004, one involving almost $50 million.\\nStrength\\nSeveral hundred members and several thousand sympathizers despite the defection of some members to RIRA and CIRA.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic, Great Britain, and Europe.\\nExternal Aid\\nIn the past, the IRA has received aid from a variety of groups and countries and considerable training and arms from Libya and the PLO. Is suspected of receiving funds, arms, and other terrorist-related materiel from sympathizers in the United States. Similarities in operations suggest links to ETA and the FARC. In August 2002, three suspected IRA members were arrested in Colombia on charges of helping the FARC improve its explosives capabilities.\\nIslamic Army of Aden (IAA)\\na.k.a. Aden-Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA)\\nDescription\\nThe Islamic Army of Aden (IAA) emerged publicly in mid1998 when the group released a series of communiqu�s that expressed support for Usama Bin Ladin, appealed for the overthrow of the Yemeni Government, and called for operations against US and other Western interests in Yemen. IAA was first designated under EO 13224 in September 2001.\\nActivities\\nIAA has engaged in small-scale operations such as bombings, kidnappings, and small arms attacks to promote its goals. The group reportedly was behind an attack in June 2003 against a medical assistance convoy in the Abyan Governorate. Yemeni authorities responded with a raid on a suspected IAA facility, killing several individuals and capturing others, including Khalid al-Nabi al-Yazidi, the group's leader. Before that attack, the group had not conducted operations since the bombing of the British Embassy in Sanaa in October 2000. In 2001, Yemeni authorities found an IAA member and three associates responsible for that attack. In December 1998, the group kidnapped 16 British, American, and Australian tourists near Mudiyah in southern Yemen. Although Yemeni officials previously have claimed that the group is operationally defunct, their recent attribution of the attack in 2003 against the medical convoy and reports that al-Yazidi was released from prison in mid-October 2003 suggest that the IAA, or at least elements of the group, have resumed activity. Speculation after the attack on the USS Cole pointed to the involvement of the IAA, and the group later claimed responsibility for the attack. The IAA has been affiliated with al-Qa'ida. IAA members are known to have trained and served in Afghanistan under the leadership of seasoned mujahedin.\\nStrength\\nOperates in the southern governorates of Yemen -- primarily Aden and Abyan.\\nExternal Aid\\nIslamic Great East Raiders-Front (IBDA-C)\\nDescription\\nThe Islamic Great East Raiders-Front (IBDA-C) is a Sunni Salafist group that supports Islamic rule in Turkey and believes that Turkey's present secular leadership is \\\"illegal.\\\" It has been known to cooperate with various opposition elements in Turkey in attempts to destabilize the country's political structure. The group supports the establishment of a \\\"pure Islamic\\\" state, to replace the present \\\"corrupt\\\" Turkish regime that is cooperating with the West. Its primary goal is the establishment of a \\\"Federative Islamic State,\\\" a goal backed by armed terrorist attacks primarily against civilian targets. It has been active since the mid1970s.\\nActivities\\nIBDA-C has engaged in activities such as bombings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and sabotage. The group has announced its actions and targets in publications to its members, who are free to launch independent attacks. IBDA-C typically has attacked civilian targets, including churches, charities, minority-affiliated targets, television transmitters, newspapers, pro-secular journalists, Ataturk statues, taverns, banks, clubs, and tobacco shops. In May 2004, Turkish police indicted seven members of the group for the assassination of retired Colonel Ihsan Guven, the alleged leader of the \\\"Dost\\\" (Friend) sect, and his wife. One of IBDA-C's more renowned attacks was the killing of 37 people in a firebomb attack in July 1993 on a hotel in Sivas. Turkish police believe that IBDA-C has also claimed responsibility for attacks carried out by other groups to elevate its image.\\nStrength\\nIslamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB)\\nDescription\\nThe IIPB is a terrorist group affiliated with the Chechen separatist movement demanding a single Islamic state in the North Caucasus. Chechen extremist leader Shamil Basayev established the IIPB -- consisting of Chechens, Arabs, and other foreign fighters -- in 1998, which he led with Saudi-born mujahedin leader Ibn al-Khattab until the latter's death in March 2002. The IIPB was one of three groups affiliated with Chechen guerrillas that seized Moscow's Dubrovka Theater and took more than 700 hostages in October 2002. While this group has not been identified as conducting attacks since their designation two years ago, those Arab mujahedin still operating in Chechnya now fall under the command of Abu Hafs al-Urduni, who assumed the leadership in April 2004 after the death of Khattab's successor, Abu al-Walid. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\\nActivities\\nInvolved in terrorist and guerilla operations against Russian forces, pro-Russian Chechen forces, and Chechen non-combatants.\\nStrength\\nUp to 400 fighters, including as many as 100 Arabs and other foreign fighters.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPrimarily in Russia and adjacent areas of the north Caucasus, particularly in the mountainous south of Chechnya, with major logistical activities in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe IIPB and its Arab leaders appear to be a primary conduit for Islamic funding of the Chechen guerrillas, in part through links to al-Qa'ida-related financiers on the Arabian Peninsula.\\nIslamic Jihad Group (IJG)\\nDescription\\nThe Islamic Jihad Group (IJG), probably founded by former members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, made its first appearance in early April 2004 when it claimed responsibility for a string of events -- including shootouts and terrorist attacks -- in Uzbekistan in late March and early April that killed approximately 47 people, including 33 terrorists. The claim of responsibility, which was posted to multiple militant Islamic websites, raged against the leadership of Uzbekistan. In late July 2004, the group struck again with near-simultaneous suicide bombings of the US and Israeli Embassies and the Uzbek Prosecutor General's office in Tashkent. The IJG again claimed responsibility via an Islamic website and stated that martyrdom operations by the group would continue. The statement also indicated the attacks were done in support of their Palestinian, Iraqi, and Afghan brothers in the global jihad.\\nActivities\\nThe IJG claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in 2004 against Uzbekistani, American, and Israeli entities. The attackers in the March and April 2004 attacks, some of whom were female suicide bombers, targeted the local government offices of the Uzbekistani and Bukhara police, killing approximately 47 people, including 33 terrorists. These attacks marked the first use of female suicide bombers in Central Asia. On July 30, 2004, the group launched a set of same-day attacks against the US and Israeli Embassies and the Uzbek Prosecutor General's office. These attacks left four Uzbekistanis and three suicide operatives dead. The date of the latter attack corresponds to the start of a trial for individuals arrested for their participation in earlier attacks.\\nStrength\\na.k.a. Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB)\\nDescription\\nThe JRA is an international terrorist group formed around 1970 after breaking away from the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. The JRA's historical goal has been to overthrow the Japanese Government and monarchy and to help foment world revolution. JRA's leader, Fusako Shigenobu, claimed that the forefront of the battle against international imperialism was in Palestine, so in the early 1970s she led her small group to the Middle East to support the Palestinian struggle against Israel and the West. After her arrest in November 2000, Shigenobu announced she intended to pursue her goals using a legitimate political party rather than revolutionary violence, and the group announced it would disband in April 2001.\\nActivities\\nDuring the 1970s, JRA carried out a series of attacks around the world, including the massacre in 1972 at Lod Airport in Israel, two Japanese airliner hijackings, and an attempted takeover of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. During the late 1980s, JRA began to single out American targets and used car bombs and rockets in attempted attacks on US Embassies in Jakarta, Rome, and Madrid. In April 1988, JRA operative Yu Kikumura was arrested with explosives on the New Jersey Turnpike, apparently planning an attack to coincide with the bombing of a USO club in Naples, a suspected JRA operation that killed five, including a US servicewoman. He was convicted of the charges and is serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States. Tsutomu Shirosaki, captured in 1996, is also jailed in the United States. In 2000, Lebanon deported to Japan four members it arrested in 1997, but granted a fifth operative, Kozo Okamoto, political asylum. Longtime leader Shigenobu was arrested in November 2000 and faces charges of terrorism and passport fraud. Four JRA members remain in North Korea following their involvement in a hijacking in 1970; five of their family members returned to Japan in 2004.\\nStrength\\nAbout six hard-core members; undetermined number of sympathizers. At its peak, the group claimed to have 30 to 40 members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nLocation unknown, but possibly in Asia and/or Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon.\\nExternal Aid\\nKumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM)\\nDescription\\nKumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) favors the overthrow of the Malaysian Government and the creation of an Islamic state comprising Malaysia, Indonesia, and the southern Philippines. Malaysian authorities believe an extremist wing of the KMM has engaged in terrorist acts and has close ties to the regional terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiya (JI). Key JI leaders, including the group's spiritual head, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, and JI operational leader Hambali, reportedly had great influence over KMM members. The Government of Singapore asserts that a Singaporean JI member assisted the KMM in buying a boat to support jihad activities in Indonesia.\\nActivities\\nMalaysia is holding a number of KMM members under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for activities deemed threatening to Malaysia's national security, including planning to wage jihad, possession of weaponry, bombings and robberies, the murder of a former state assemblyman, and planning attacks on foreigners, including US citizens. A number of those detained are also believed to be members of Jemaah Islamiya. Several of the arrested KMM militants have reportedly undergone military training in Afghanistan, and some fought with the Afghan mujahedin during the war against the former Soviet Union. Some members are alleged to have ties to Islamic extremist organizations in Indonesia and the Philippines. In September 2003, alleged KMM leader Nik Adli Nik Abdul Aziz's detention was extended for another two years. In March 2004, Aziz and other suspected KMM members went on a hunger strike as part of an unsuccessful bid for freedom, but the Malaysian court rejected their applications for a writ of habeas corpus in September. One alleged KMM member was sentenced to 10 years in prison for unlawful possession of firearms, explosives, and ammunition, but eight other alleged members in detention since 2001 were released in July and in November. The Malaysian Government is confident that the arrests of KMM leaders have crippled the organization and rendered it incapable of engaging in militant activities. Malaysian officials in May 2004 denied Thailand's charge that the KMM was involved in the Muslim separatist movement in southern Thailand.\\nStrength\\nKMM's current membership is unknown.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nThe KMM is reported to have networks in the Malaysian states of Perak, Johor, Kedah, Selangor, Terengganu, and Kelantan. They also operate in Kuala Lumpur. According to press reports, the KMM has ties to radical Indonesian Islamic groups and has sent members to Ambon, Indonesia, to fight against Christians and to the southern Philippines for operational training.\\nExternal Aid\\nLord's Resistance Army (LRA)\\nDescription\\nThe LRA was formally established in 1994, succeeding the ethnic Acholi-dominated Holy Spirit Movement and other insurgent groups. LRA leader Joseph Kony has called for the overthrow of the Ugandan Government and its replacement with a regime run on the basis of the Ten Commandments. More frequently, however, he has spoken of the liberation and honor of the Acholi people, whom he sees as oppressed by the \\\"foreign\\\" Government of Ugandan President Museveni. Kony is the LRA's undisputed leader. He claims to have supernatural powers and to receive messages from spirits, which he uses to formulate the LRA's strategy.\\nActivities\\nThe Acholi people, whom Kony claims to be fighting to liberate, are the ones who suffer most from his actions. Since the early 1990's, the LRA has kidnapped some 20,000 Ugandan children, mostly ethnic Acholi, to replenish its ranks. Kony despises Acholi elders for having given up the fight against Museveni and relies on abducted children who can be brutally indoctrinated to fight for the LRA. The LRA forces kidnapped children and adult civilians to become soldiers, porters, and \\\"wives\\\" for LRA leaders. The LRA prefers to attack camps for internally displaced persons and other civilian targets, avoiding direct engagement with the Ugandan military. Victims of LRA attacks sometimes have their hands, fingers, ears, noses, or other extremities cut off. The LRA stepped up its activities from 2002 to 2004 after the Ugandan army, with the Sudanese Government's permission, attacked LRA positions inside Sudan. By late 2003, the number of internally displaced had doubled to 1.4 million, and the LRA had pushed deep into non-Acholi areas where it had never previously operated. During 2004, a combination of military pressure, offers of amnesty, and several rounds of negotiation markedly degraded LRA capabilities due to death, desertion, and defection of senior commanders.\\nStrength\\nEstimated in early 2004 at between 500 and 1,000 fighters, 85 percent of whom are abducted children and civilians, but numbers have since declined significantly.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nNorthern Uganda and southern Sudan.\\nExternal Aid\\nAlthough the LRA has been supported by the Government of Sudan in the past, the Sudanese now appear to be cooperating with the Government of Uganda in a campaign to eliminate LRA sanctuaries in Sudan.\\nLoyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)\\nDescription\\nAn extreme Loyalist group formed in 1996 as a faction of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the LVF did not emerge publicly until 1997. Composed largely of UVF hardliners who have sought to prevent a political settlement with Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland by attacking Catholic politicians, civilians, and Protestant politicians who endorse the Northern Ireland peace process. LVF occasionally uses the Red Hand Defenders as a cover name for its actions but has also called for the group's disbandment. In October 2001, the British Government ruled that the LVF had broken the cease-fire it declared in 1998 after linking the group to the murder of a journalist. According to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, the LVF decommissioned a small amount of weapons in December 1998, but it has not repeated this gesture. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\\nActivities\\nBombings, kidnappings, and close-quarter shooting attacks. Finances its activities with drug money and other criminal activities. LVF attacks have been particularly vicious; the group has murdered numerous Catholic civilians with no political or paramilitary affiliations, including an 18-year-old Catholic girl in July 1997 because she had a Protestant boyfriend. The terrorists also have conducted successful attacks against Irish targets in Irish border towns. From 2000 to 2004, the LVF has been engaged in a violent feud with other Loyalists, which has left several men dead.\\nStrength\\nSmall, perhaps dozens of active members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)\\nDescription\\nThe goals of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) include establishing an Islamic state in Morocco and supporting al-Qa'ida's jihad against the West. The group appears to have emerged in the 1990s and is comprised of Moroccan recruits who trained in armed camps in Afghanistan and some who fought in the Afghan resistance against Soviet occupation. GICM members interact with other North African extremists, particularly in Europe. On November 22, 2002, the United States designated the GICM for asset freeze under EO 13224 following the group's submission to the UNSCR 1267 Sanctions Committee.\\nActivities\\nMoroccans associated with the GICM are part of the broader international jihadist movement. GICM is one of the groups believed to be involved in planning the May 2003 Casablanca suicide bombings, and has been involved in other plots. Members work with other North African extremists, engage in trafficking falsified documents, and possibly arms smuggling. The group in the past has issued communiqu�s and statements against the Moroccan Government. In the last year, a number of arrests in Belgium, France, and Spain have disrupted the group's ability to operate, though cells and key members still remain throughout Europe. Although the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, among others, claimed responsibility on behalf of al-Qa'ida, Spanish authorities are investigating the possibility that GICM was involved in the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings.\\nStrength\\nMorocco, Western Europe, Afghanistan, and Canada.\\nExternal Aid\\nUnknown, but believed to include criminal activity abroad.\\nNew Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC)\\na.k.a. Brigate Rosse/Partito Comunista Combattente\\nDescription\\nThis Marxist-Leninist group is a successor to the Red Brigades, active in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to ideology, both groups share the same symbol, a five-pointed star inside a circle. The group is opposed to Italy's foreign and labor policies and to NATO.\\nActivities\\nIn 2004, the BR/PCC continued to suffer setbacks, with their leadership in prison and other members under pressure from the Italian Government. The BR/PCC did not claim responsibility for a blast at an employment agency in Milan in late October, although the police suspect remnants of the group are responsible. In 2003, Italian authorities captured at least seven members of the BR/ PCC, dealing the terrorist group a severe blow to its operational effectiveness. Some of those arrested are suspects in the assassination in 1999 of Labor Ministry adviser Massimo D'Antona, and authorities are hoping to link them to the assassination in 2002 of Labor Ministry advisor Marco Biagi. The arrests in October came on the heels of a clash in March 2003 involving Italian Railway Police and two BR/PCC members, which resulted in the deaths of one of the operatives and an Italian security officer. The BR/PCC has financed its activities through armed robberies.\\nStrength\\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)\\nDescription\\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) and its ally Qibla (an Islamic fundamentalist group that favors political Islam and takes an anti-US and anti-Israel stance) view the South African Government as a threat to Islamic values. The two groups work to promote a greater political voice for South African Muslims. PAGAD has used front names such as Muslims Against Global Oppression and Muslims Against Illegitimate Leaders when launching anti-Western protests and campaigns.\\nActivities\\nPAGAD formed in November 1995 as a vigilante group in reaction to crime in some neighborhoods of Cape Town. In September 1996, a change in the group's leadership resulted in a change in the group's goal, and it began to support a violent jihad to establish an Islamic state. Between 1996 and 2000, PAGAD conducted a total of 189 bomb attacks, including nine bombings in the Western Cape that caused serious injuries. PAGAD's targets included South African authorities, moderate Muslims, synagogues, gay nightclubs, tourist attractions, and West-ern-associated restaurants. PAGAD is believed to have masterminded the bombing on August 25, 1998, of the Cape Town Planet Hollywood. Since 2001, PAGAD's violent activities have been severely curtailed by law enforcement and prosecutorial efforts against leading members of the organization. Qibla leadership has organized demonstrations against visiting US dignitaries and other protests, but the extent of PAGAD's involvement is uncertain.\\nStrength\\nEarly estimates were several hundred members. Current operational strength is unknown, but probably vastly diminished.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nOperates mainly in the Cape Town area.\\nExternal Aid\\nMay have ties to international Islamic extremists.\\nRed Hand Defenders (RHD)\\nDescription\\nThe RHD is an extremist terrorist group formed in 1998 and composed largely of Protestant hardliners from Loyalist groups observing a cease-fire. RHD seeks to prevent a political settlement with Irish nationalists by attacking Catholic civilian interests in Northern Ireland. In January 2002, the group announced all staff at Catholic schools in Belfast and Catholic postal workers were legitimate targets. Despite calls in February 2002 by the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), and Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) to announce its disbandment, RHD continued to make threats and issue claims of responsibility. RHD is a cover name often used by elements of the banned UDA and LVF. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\\nActivities\\nIn early 2003, the RHD claimed responsibility for killing two UDA members as a result of what is described as Loyalist internecine warfare. It also claimed responsibility for a bomb that was left in the offices of Republican Sinn Fein in West Belfast, although the device was defused and no one was injured. In recent years, the group has carried out numerous pipe bombings and arson attacks against \\\"soft\\\" civilian targets such as homes, churches, and private businesses. In January 2002, the group bombed the home of a prison official in North Belfast. Twice in 2002 the group claimed responsibility for attacks -- the murder of a Catholic postman and a Catholic teenager -- that were later claimed by the UDAUFF, further blurring distinctions between the groups. In 2001, RHD claimed responsibility for killing five persons. The RHD has claimed responsibility for hoax bomb devices, and recently has set off petrol bombs and made death threats against local politicians.\\nStrength\\nUp to 20 members, some of whom have experience in terrorist tactics and bomb making. Police arrested one member in June 2001 for making a hoax bomb threat.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nRevolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei (NIPR)\\nDescription\\nThe NIPR is a clandestine leftist extremist group that appeared in Rome in 2000. Adopted the logo of the Red Brigades of the 1970s and 1980s -- an encircled five point star -- for its declarations. Opposes Italy's foreign and labor policies. Has targeted property interests rather than personnel in its attacks.\\nActivities\\nThe NIPR has not claimed responsibility for any attacks since an April 2001 bomb attack on a building housing a US-Italian relations association and an international affairs institute in Rome's historic center. The NIPR claimed to have carried out a bombing in May 2000 in Rome at an oversight committee facility for implementation of the law on strikes in public services. The group also claimed responsibility for an explosion in February 2002 on Via Palermo adjacent to the Interior Ministry in Rome.\\nStrength\\nMainly in Rome, Milan, Lazio, and Tuscany.\\nExternal Aid\\nRevolutionary Struggle (RS)\\nDescription\\nRS is a radical leftist group that is anti-Greek establishment and ideologically aligns itself with the organization 17 November. Although the group is not specifically anti-US, its anti-imperialist rhetoric suggests it may become so.\\nActivities\\nFirst became known when the group conducted a bombing in September 2003 against the courthouse at which the trials of alleged 17 November members were ongoing. In May 2004, the group detonated four improvised explosive devices at a police station in Athens. These two attacks were notable for their apparent attempts to target and kill first responders -- the first time a Greek terrorist group had used this tactic. RS is widely regarded as the most dangerous indigenous Greek terrorist group at this time.\\nStrength\\nLikely less than 50 members.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM)\\nDescription\\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM), led by Chechen extremist leader Shamil Basayev, uses terrorism as part of an effort to secure an independent Muslim state in the North Caucasus. Basayev claimed the group was responsible for the Beslan school hostage crisis of September 1-3, 2004, which culminated in the deaths of about 330 people; simultaneous suicide bombings aboard two Russian civilian airliners in late August 2004; and a third suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway that same month. The RSRSBCM, whose name translates into English as \\\"Requirements for Getting into Paradise,\\\" was not known to Western observers before October 2002, when it participated in the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\\nActivities\\nPrimarily terrorist and guerilla operations against Russian forces, pro-Russian Chechen forces, and Russian and Chechen non-combatants.\\nStrength\\nProbably no more than 50 fighters at any given time.\\nLocation/Area of Operations\\nMay receive some external assistance from foreign mujahedin.\\nSipah-i-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)\\nDescription\\nThe Sipah-I-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP) is a Sunni sectarian group that follows the Deobandi school. Violently anti-Shia, the SSP emerged in central Punjab in the mid-1980s as a response to the Iranian Revolution. Pakistani President Musharraf banned the SSP in January 2002. In August 2002, the SSP renamed itself Millat-i-Islami Pakistan, and Musharraf re-banned the group under its new name in November 2003. The SSP also has operated as a political party, winning seats in Pakistan's National Assembly.\\nActivities\\nThe group's activities range from organizing political rallies calling for Shia to be declared non-Muslims to assassinating prominent Shia leaders. The group was responsible for attacks on Shia worshippers in May 2004, when at least 50 people were killed.\\nStrength\\nThe SSP may have approximately 3,000 to 6,000 trained activists who carry out various kinds of sectarian activities.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nThe SSP has influence in all four provinces of Pakistan. It is considered to be one of the most powerful sectarian groups in the country.\\nExternal Aid\\nThe SSP reportedly receives significant funding from Saudi Arabia through wealthy private donors in Pakistan. Funds also are acquired from other sources, including other Sunni extremist groups, madrassas, and contributions by political groups.\\nSpecial Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR)\\nDescription\\nThe SPIR is one of three terrorist groups affiliated with Chechen guerrillas that furnished personnel to carry out the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow in October 2002. The SPIR has had at least seven commanders since it was founded in the late 1990s. Movsar Barayev, who led and was killed during the theater standoff, was the first publicly identified leader. The group continues to conduct guerrilla operations in Chechnya under the leadership of the current leader, Amir Aslan, whose true identity is not known. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\\nActivities\\nPrimarily guerrilla operations against Russian forces. Has also been involved in various hostage and ransom operations, including the execution of ethnic Chechens who have collaborated with Russian authorities.\\nStrength\\nProbably no more than 100 fighters at any given time.\\nLocation/Area of Operations\\nMay receive some external assistance from foreign mujahedin.\\nTunisian Combatant Group (TCG)\\nDescription\\nThe Tunisian Combatant Group (TCG), also known as the Jama'a Combattante Tunisienne, seeks to establish an Islamic regime in Tunisia and has targeted US and Western interests. The group is an offshoot of the banned Tunisian Islamist movement, an-Nahda. Founded around 2000 by Tarek Maaroufi and Saifallah Ben Hassine, the TCG has drawn members from the Tunisian diaspora in Europe and elsewhere. It has lost some of its leadership, but may still exist, particularly in Western Europe. Belgian authorities arrested Maaroufi in late 2001 and sentenced him to six years in prison in 2003 for his role in the assassination of anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud two days before 9/11. The TCG was designated under EO 13224 in October 2002. Historically, the group has been associated with al-Qa'ida as well. Members also have ties to other North African extremist groups. The TCG was designated for sanctions under UNSCR 1333 in December 2000.\\nActivities\\nTunisians associated with the TCG are part of the support network of the broader international jihadist movement. According to European press reports, TCG members or affiliates in the past have engaged in trafficking falsified documents and recruiting for terror training camps in Afghanistan. Some TCG associates were suspected of planning an attack against the US, Algerian, and Tunisian diplomatic missions in Rome in April 2001. Some members reportedly maintain ties to the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat.\\nStrength\\nTupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)\\nDescription\\nMRTA is a traditional Marxist-Leninist revolutionary movement formed in 1983 from remnants of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left, a Peruvian insurgent group active in the 1960s. It aims to establish a Marxist regime and to rid Peru of all imperialist elements (primarily US and Japanese influence). Peru's counterterrorist program has diminished the group's ability to conduct terrorist attacks, and the MRTA has suffered from infighting, the imprisonment or deaths of senior leaders, and the loss of leftist support.\\nActivities\\nPreviously conducted bombings, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations, but recent activity has fallen drastically. In December 1996, 14 MRTA members occupied the Japanese Ambassador's residence in Lima and held 72 hostages for more than four months. Peruvian forces stormed the residence in April 1997, rescuing all but one of the remaining hostages and killing all 14 group members, including the remaining leaders. The group has not conducted a significant terrorist operation since and appears more focused on obtaining the release of imprisoned MRTA members, although there are reports of low-level rebuilding efforts.\\nStrength\\nBelieved to be no more than 100 members, consisting largely of young fighters who lack leadership skills and experience.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPeru, with supporters throughout Latin America and Western Europe. Controls no territory.\\nExternal Aid\\nTurkish Hizballah\\nDescription\\nTurkish Hizballah is a Kurdish Sunni Islamic terrorist organization that arose in the early 1980s in response to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)'s secularist approach of establishing an independent Kurdistan. Turkish Hizballah spent its first 10 years fighting the PKK, accusing the group of atrocities against Muslims in southeastern Turkey, where Turkish Hizballah seeks to establish an independent Islamic state.\\nActivities\\nBeginning in the mid-1990s, Turkish Hizballah, which is unrelated to Lebanese Hizballah, expanded its target base and modus operandi from killing PKK militants to conducting low-level bombings against liquor stores, bordellos, and other establishments the organization considered \\\"anti-Islamic.\\\" In January 2000, Turkish security forces killed Huseyin Velioglu, the leader of Turkish Hizballah, in a shootout at a safe house in Istanbul. The incident sparked a year-long series of counterterrorist operations against the group that resulted in the detention of some 2,000 individuals; authorities arrested several hundred of those on criminal charges. At the same time, police recovered nearly 70 bodies of Turkish and Kurdish businessmen and journalists that Turkish Hizballah had tortured and brutally murdered during the mid-to-late 1990s. The group began targeting official Turkish interests in January 2001, when its operatives assassinated the Diyarbakir police chief in the group's most sophisticated operation to date. Turkish Hizballah did not conduct a major operation in 2003 or 2004 and probably is focusing on recruitment, fundraising, and reorganization.\\nStrength\\nPossibly a few hundred members and several thousand supporters.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nPrimarily the Diyarbakir region of southeastern Turkey.\\nExternal Aid\\nIt is widely believed that Turkey's security apparatus originally backed Turkish Hizballah to help the Turkish Government combat the PKK. Alternative views are that the Turkish Government turned a blind eye to Turkish Hizballah's activities because its primary targets were PKK members and supporters, or that the Government simply had to prioritize scarce resources and was unable to wage war on both groups simultaneously. Allegations of collusion have never been laid to rest, and the Government of Turkey continues to issue denials. Turkish Hizballah also is suspected of having ties with Iran, although there is not sufficient evidence to establish a link.\\nUlster Defense Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF)\\nDescription\\nThe Ulster Defense Association (UDA), the largest Loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, was formed in 1971 as an umbrella organization for Loyalist paramilitary groups such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Today, the UFF constitutes almost the entire UDA membership. The UDA/UFF declared a series of cease-fires between 1994 and 1998. In September 2001, the UDA/ UFF's Inner Council withdrew its support for Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement. The following month, after a series of murders, bombings, and street violence, the British Government ruled the UDA/UFF's cease-fire defunct. The dissolution of the organization's political wing, the Ulster Democratic Party, soon followed. In January 2002, however, the UDA created the Ulster Political Research Group to serve in a similar capacity. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\\nActivities\\nThe UDA/UFF has evolved into a criminal organization deeply involved in drug trafficking and other moneymaking criminal activities through six largely independent \\\"brigades.\\\" It has also been involved in murder, shootings, arson, and assaults. According to the International Monitoring Commission, \\\"the UDA has the capacity to launch serious, if crude, attacks.\\\" Some UDA activities have been of a sectarian nature directed at the Catholic community, aimed at what are sometimes described as 'soft' targets, and often have taken place at the interface between the Protestant and Catholic communities, especially in Belfast. The organization continues to be involved in targeting individual Catholics and has undertaken attacks against retired and serving prison officers. The group has also been involved in a violent internecine war with other Loyalist paramilitary groups for the past several years. In February 2003, the UDA/UFF declared a 12-month cease-fire, but refused to decommission its arsenal until Republican groups did likewise and emphasized its continued disagreement with the Good Friday accords. The cease-fire has been extended. Even though numerous attacks on Catholics were blamed on the group, the UDA/ UFF did not claim credit for any attacks, and in August 2003 reiterated its intention to remain militarily inactive.\\nStrength\\nEstimates vary from 2,000 to 5,000 members, with several hundred active in paramilitary operations.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nUlster Volunteer Force (UVF)\\nDescription\\nThe UVF is a Loyalist terrorist group formed in 1966 to oppose liberal reforms in Northern Ireland that members feared would lead to unification of Ireland. The group adopted the name of an earlier organization formed in 1912 to combat Home Rule for Ireland. The UVF's goal is to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the UK; to that end it has killed some 550 persons since 1966. The UVF and its offshoots have been responsible for some of the most vicious attacks of \\\"The Troubles,\\\" including horrific sectarian killings like those perpetrated in the 1970s by the UVF-affiliated \\\"Shankill Butchers.\\\" In October 1994, the Combined Loyalist Military Command, which included the UVF, declared a cease-fire, and the UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, has played an active role in the peace process. Despite the cease-fire, the organization has been involved in a series of bloody feuds with other Loyalist paramilitary organizations. The Red Hand Commando is linked to the UVF.\\nActivities\\nThe UVF has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. UVF members have been linked to recent racial attacks on minorities; however, these assaults were reportedly not authorized by the UVF leadership. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include nationalist civilians, Republican paramilitary groups, and, on occasion, rival Loyalist paramilitary groups. The UVF is a relatively disciplined organization with a centralized command. The UVF leadership continues to observe a cease-fire.\\nStrength\\nUnclear, but probably several hundred supporters, with a smaller number of hard-core activists. Police counterterrorist operations and internal feuding have reduced the group's strength and capabilities.\\nLocation/Area of Operation\\nNorthern Ireland. Some support on the UK mainland.\\nExternal Aid\\nSuspected in the past of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers overseas.\\nUnited Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)\\nDescription\\nNortheast India's most prominent insurgent group, ULFA -- an ethnic secessionist organization in the Indian stateof Assam, bordering Bangladesh and Bhutan -- was founded on April 7, 1979 at Rang Ghar, during agitation organized by the state's powerful students' union. The group's objective is an independent Assam, reflected in its ideology of \\\"Oikya, Biplab, Mukti\\\" (\\\"Unity, Revolution, Freedom\\\"). ULFA enjoyed widespread support in upper Assam in its initial years, especially in 1985-1992. ULFA's kidnappings, killings and extortion led New Delhi to ban the group and start a military offensive against it in 1990, which forced it to go underground. ULFA began to lose popularity in the late 1990s after it increasingly targeted civilians, including a prominent NGO activist. It lost further support for its anti-Indian stand during the 1999 Kargil War.\\nActivities\\nULFA trains, finances and equips cadres for a \\\"liberation struggle\\\" while extortion helps finance military training and weapons purchases. ULFA conducts hit and run operations on security forces in Assam, selective assassinations, and explosions in public places. During the 1980s-1990s ULFA undertook a series of abductions and murders, particularly of businessmen. In 2000, ULFA assassinated an Assam state minister. In 2003, ULFA killed more than 60 \\\"outsiders\\\" in Assam, mainly residents of the bordering state of Bihar. Following the December 2003 Bhutanese Army's attack on ULFA camps in Bhutan, the group is believed to have suffered a setback. Some important ULFA functionaries surrendered in Assam, but incidents of violence, though of a lesser magnitude than in the past, continue. On August 14, one civilian was killed and 18 others injured when ULFA militants triggered a grenade blast inside a cinema hall at Gauripur in Dhubri district. The next day, at an Indian Independence Day event, a bomb blast in Dhemaji killed an estimated 13 people, including 6 children, and injured 21.\\nStrength\\nULFA's earlier numbers (3,000 plus) dropped following the December 2003 attack on its camps in Bhutan. Total cadre strength now is estimated at 700.\\nLocation/Area of Operations\\nULFA is active in the state of Assam, and its workers are believed to transit (and sometimes conduct operations in) parts of neighboring Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. All ULFA camps in Bhutan are reportedly demolished. The group may have linkages with other ethnic insurgent groups active in neighboring states.\\nExternal Aid\\nULFA reportedly procures and trades in arms with other Northeast Indian groups, and receives aid from unknown external sources.\\nApril 27, 2005\",\n \"AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #26-10 dated 13 July 2010\\nAFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #26-10 dated 13 July 2010 REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not ... CIA to Debrief Agents Freed by Russia; NSA ...\\nAFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes\\nSection I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS\\nAfghan NSA Blasts Pak for Providing Safe Havens to Al-Qaeda, Other Terror Groups. In what appears to be a significant change in Afghanistan's policy after continuous overtures to Pakistan, National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta has called on Islamabad to take \\\"serious measures\\\" against militants using the country's soil to launch attacks on the war-torn nation.\\nIn an interview with a foreign news agency, Spanta said there was \\\"tremendous evidence\\\" that Pakistani authorities were allowing Al-Qaeda and other terror groups to operate from safe havens based inside the country, and that Kabul, on many occasions, had presented that evidence to Islamabad.\\n\\\"My expectation is that Pakistan after nine years - because theoretically Pakistan is part of the anti-terror alliance - they have to begin to take some serious measures against terrorism,\\\" The Dawn quoted Spanta, as saying.\\n\\\"We have evidence that the terrorists from Pakistan are involved in daily attacks against our people and international 'jihadi' groups are active here. They have their base and sanctuaries behind our border and this is a serious problem,\\\" he added.\\nSpanta said Pakistan has failed to tackle extremists on a whole, and has also been unsuccessful in carrying out action against any militant group be it Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network or the less powerful Hekmatyar group and the Hizb-u-Tahrir.\\n\\\"It is not a particular secret that the terrorists have sanctuaries in Pakistan, that they have training centres, that they have the possibility to come to Afghanistan, attack us and go back,\\\" he said. [ SIFY /6July2010] \\nBritain Pledges Inquiry Into Torture. Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Britain's new coalition government would appoint an independent inquiry into allegations that its security services, MI5 and MI6, colluded with the Central Intelligence Agency and other foreign organizations in the rendition and torture of terrorism suspects held in foreign prisons after the 9/11 attacks.\\nMr. Cameron had called for the inquiry before the spring election campaign against the former Labor government, which had endured years of criticism at home for being too cozy with the Bush administration in the reaction to terrorism.\\nMr. Cameron said a 76-year-old retired appeals court judge, Sir Peter Gibson, would head a three-member panel to review actions by the security services that have led to a dozen cases before British courts in which former detainees have alleged that the British agencies knew - or should have known - that the detainees were being mistreated.\\n\\\"It's time to clear this matter up once and for all,\\\" he told the House of Commons.\\nHe said he hoped that the inquiry would start before 2011, and that he would have the panel's full report within 12 months of its first sitting. While the panel would hold \\\"some of its hearings\\\" in public, he said, much of its work would be conducted behind closed doors.\\n\\\"Let's be frank,\\\" he said, \\\"it is not possible to have a full public inquiry into something that is meant to be secret.\\\"\\nIn a further bid to end the controversy, he said the government was committed to a role of \\\"mediation\\\" in the civil suits for damages that former detainees had brought against the British security services and, \\\"wherever appropriate,\\\" to pay compensation. It was the closest any British minister had come to acknowledging outright that British agents knew or suspected that the detainees were being abused, and did little or nothing to prevent it.\\n\\\"While there is no evidence that any British officer was directly engaged in torture in the aftermath of 9/11, there are questions over the degree to which British officers were working with foreign security services who were treating detainees in ways they should not have done,\\\" Mr. Cameron said. He said this had \\\"led to accusations that Britain may have been complicit in the mistreatment of detainees.\\\"\\nUnder the Labor government, MI5, responsible for Britain's internal security, and MI6, responsible for external security, issued strong denials that their agents were complicit in mistreatment. The agencies received vigorous backing from the government, at least until court disclosures began to show that the detainees' allegations against them might have had some validity.\\nMr. Cameron said that the security agencies were being \\\"paralyzed by paperwork\\\" as they defended themselves against the allegations in court, and that Britain's international reputation was being damaged, too.\\n\\\"Public confidence is being eroded, with people doubting the ability of our services to protect us and questioning the rules under which they operate,\\\" he said. \\\"And terrorists and extremists are able to exploit these allegations for their own propaganda.\\\"\\nFormer detainees have said that British agents who questioned them while they were detained, or who were working closely with American and other foreign agencies overseeing their interrogations, were complicit in their being shuttled through the C.I.A.'s secret archipelago of \\\"ghost prisons.\\\" In several cases, the detainees said the agents either witnessed the abuse or knew enough to conclude that they were being mistreated.\\nAmong other charges, the detainees have claimed that they were subjected to sleep deprivation and painful \\\"stress positions,\\\" as well as to excessive noise, cold and threats of being killed or \\\"disappeared.\\\" One widely publicized case involved Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born former detainee with a British right of residency who was released from the prison at Guant�namo Bay last year and returned to Britain; among the charges are that his genitals were sliced with a razor while he was being held in Morocco.\\nIn his Commons statement, Mr. Cameron trod warily around the implications of the inquiry for relations with the United States. In Mr. Mohamed's court case, the Labour government fought - and lost - a bid to keep secret information about his treatment that was provided to Britain by the C.I.A. At one point, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Britain's Foreign Office that security cooperation between the countries would be harmed if the information provided to Britain in secret were made public by the court.\\nMr. Cameron said the inquiry would be expected to review aspects of Britain's cooperation on terrorism matters with the United States. \\\"Did we allow our own high standards to slip - either systematically or individually?\\\" he asked. \\\"Did we give clear enough guidance to officers in the field?\\\"\\nBut the prime minister also stressed the damage that could result if the United States lost confidence in Britain. There were doubts, he said, about the British agencies' ability to \\\"protect the secrets\\\" of allied agencies like the C.I.A. He added, \\\"This has strained some of our oldest and most important security partnerships in the world - in particular, that with America.\\\" [ NYTimes /7July2010] \\nNorth Korean Female Spy Spared. South Korean prosecutors will not charge a woman forced to spy for North Korea because she is in poor health and cooperated with investigators, a spokesman said.\\nThe 36-year-old identified only as Kim was arrested in May for allegedly obtaining classified information on Seoul's subway system from a male employee in return for providing him with sexual services. Her arrest came eight months after she entered South Korea via China and Laos in the guise of a defector.\\nThe subway employee, who first met Kim online when she was operating a travel agency in China in 2006 and 2007, has been charged with espionage.\\n'Prosecution authorities have decided not to indict Kim as she has clearly expressed her intention to shift loyalty to the South and she was in poor health,' the Seoul central district prosecution office spokesman told AFP. She needs a liver transplant, he said.\\nAuthorities also took into account the fact that she was forced into espionage to avoid punishment for losing her communist party membership card on a train in 1997 in North Korea.\\n'She became disillusioned with the North after she arrived in the South,' a prosecution source was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. 'We expect her to cooperate well not only in her own case but in other spy cases as well.' Spies can in theory face the death sentence but are sometimes treated leniently if they renounce the North's regime and cooperate. [ StraitsTimes /8July2010] \\nBritish Government Curbs Stop-and-Search Terrorism Powers. The British government said it was suspending anti-terror legislation allowing people to be searched by police without good reason after European judges ruled it was unlawful.\\nHome Secretary Theresa May said she was introducing interim guidelines for police stating they could only use stop and search powers if they reasonably suspect the person of terror-related activities.\\nShe was responding to a European Court of Human Rights judgment earlier this year that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows police to search people without suspicion, was illegal.\\n\\\"Officers will no longer be able to search individuals using section 44 powers. Instead, they will have to rely on section 43 powers - which require officers to reasonably suspect the person to be a terrorist,\\\" May told the House of Commons.\\n\\\"And officers will only be able to use section 44 in relation to the searches of vehicles.\\n\\\"I will only confirm these authorizations where they are considered to be necessary - and officers will only be able to use them when they have 'reasonable suspicion'.\\\"\\nThe new guidelines will be in place until a wide-ranging review of counter-terrorism legislation has been conducted by Prime Minister David Cameron's new coalition government, she said.\\nShami Chakrabarti, director of civil liberties group Liberty, welcomed the move, saying Section 44 had \\\"criminalized and alienated more people than it ever protected\\\".\\n\\\"It is a blanket and secretive power that has been used against school kids, journalists, peace protesters and a disproportionate number of young black men,\\\" she said.\\n\\\"To our knowledge, it has never helped catch a single terrorist. This is a very important day for personal privacy, protest rights and race equality in Britain.\\\"\\nIn a unanimous ruling in January, seven European Court judges said the searches breached the complainants' right to respect for their private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.\\nMay said the government could not appeal the ruling but would not have done so even if it wanted to. [ Breitbart /8July2010] \\nTwo U.S. Spies for Cuba Ask Court to Jail Them Near Each Other. A Washington, D.C., couple who spent 30 years spying for Cuba are asking a federal judge to recommend that they be incarcerated near each other - but not in Florida, where they say the federal prisons \\\"will likely have populations of Cuban-Americans who might react strongly to their offense.\\\"\\nWalter Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers pleaded guilty in November to sending secrets to the United States' longtime antagonist. They are scheduled to be sentenced Friday before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.\\nWalter Myers - a former State Department employee with top-secret clearance - agreed to a life sentence without parole and to cooperate with the federal government in a deal that offered his wife a much lighter sentence than the 20 years she might have faced at trial.\\nIn court documents filed late Friday, the couple's defense attorneys are asking Walton to sentence Gwendolyn Myers to the low end of the plea deal - six years, rather than seven-and-a-half years.\\n\\\"The eighteen-month difference between 72 and 90 months could potentially represent a significant percentage of her remaining life span,\\\" her lawyers wrote, noting that Gwendolyn Myers, whom they portray as a doting grandmother, will be 72 on Friday and has suffered cardiac complications, including a heart attack since her incarceration last June.\\nIn arguing for a lighter sentence, her attorneys note that although Gwendolyn Myers \\\"shared her husband's political beliefs, she had no capacity to commit the offense on her own.\\\"\\nThey include letters of support from friends, former employees and family members who plead for leniency.\\n\\\"Mrs. Myers has positively impacted each community in which she has lived, and her release from prison would allow her to continue contributing to those around her, starting with, but by no means limited to, her extended family,\\\" her attorneys wrote.\\nThey argued that she and Walter Myers \\\"within days of their arrest\\\" offered to cooperate with the government and have undergone nearly 100 debriefings with the FBI and other intelligence agencies. They noted that Gwendolyn Myers has worked as a teacher's assistant in the jail's life-skills class, helping teach other inmates.\\nGovernment prosecutors, however, are asking for the maximum sentence, with U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen writing that the couple \\\"committed one of the worst crimes a citizen can perpetrate against his or her own country - espionage on behalf of a long-standing foreign adversary.\\\"\\nIn addition, he noted that \\\"without Gwendolyn Myers's deference to, if not active support and encouragement of, seemingly everything her husband did, (Walter) Kendall Myers's desire to become a Cuban spy 30 years ago may well have been short-lived.\\\"\\nAt one point, he calls her \\\"far more than just a knowing wife of a spy,\\\" noting that they both were recruited by Cuban intelligence and that she, like her husband, had a code name supplied by the Cubans. \\\"He was Agent 202. She was Agent 123,\\\" Machen wrote. \\\"She not only supported and encouraged her husband's theft of U.S. secrets from the Department of State, but she also actively engaged in their espionage.\\\"\\nMachen argued that her \\\"criminal culpability\\\" was greater than other past spouses of spies, including Rosario Ames, the wife of Russian spy Aldrich Ames, and Anne Case Pollard, the wife of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.\\n\\\"Unlike Gwendolyn Myers, neither Rosario Ames nor Anne Pollard decrypted coded messages from, assisted in the transmission of classified information to, nor had repeated, substantive operational meets with, the foreign intelligence service at issue,\\\" he said.\\nMachen also suggested that Walter Myers was not always forthcoming during the briefings, which remain classified. He wrote that the couple was \\\"generally outwardly cooperative\\\" during the briefings and never refused to attend a session.\\nBut he said, \\\"there were times when the FBI assessed that (Walter) Kendall Myers, in particular, gave inconsistent or uncooperative responses or was intentionally withholding information.\\\"\\nThe pair is asking that Walton recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that they be incarcerated in facilities near each other, to allow their siblings, their six children, and seven grandchildren to visit them. They suggest placing Gwendolyn Myers in the Satellite Camp in Lexington, Ky., and Walter Myers in an adjacent Administrative Facility.\\nOr alternatively, that Walter Myers be placed at the U. S. penitentiary for male inmates in Atwater, Calif., and Gwendolyn Myers at the Federal Correctional Institution for women in Dublin, California.\\n\\\"Such proximity also means something to Dr. and Mrs. Myers personally: both will derive some comfort from knowing the other is not physically far away. In light of the depth of the emotional bonds of their marriage - a relationship numerous letter writers comment upon as exceptionally loving and close.\\\"\\nThey also are asking that Walton recommend that the prison allow Walter to continue to teach fellow inmates and \\\"continue his scholarly writing,\\\" noting that he is working on a book on.\\n\\\"At all turns, they have attempted to benefit in some small way their fellow inmates and to salvage some larger good from their situation. Their behavior has reflected their determination, as they serve out their punishments, to use their talents in the service of others. Their conduct since their arrest is entirely consistent with the idealism that brought them before this court.\\\" [Clark/ KansasCity /10July2010] \\nCIA to Debrief Agents Freed by Russia. CIA officials were expected to whisk agents freed by Moscow to a safe house for a long debriefing, a former top security aide said, adding they could provide valuable information to the spy agency.\\n\\\"They will be taken to a safe facility... by intelligence officers who will go through a period of debriefing them and preparing them for a new life and arranging for new identities,\\\" Fran Townsend said.\\nTownsend, the homeland security adviser to former president George W, Bush, was speaking after the White House confirmed the CIA chief Leon Panetta had led negotiations with Russia for the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.\\nTen convicted Russian agents were exchanged for four Russians convicted of spying for Western countries in a dramatic deal completed Friday at Vienna airport.\\nBut it was not immediately clear how many of the four released by Moscow arrived in the United States, after their plane stopped briefly in England.\\nUS and British media reports suggested at least one, and possibly two of the four, had stayed behind in Britain. The CIA did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry on the issue.\\nA spokesman for President Barack Obama told reporters that Panetta, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had led the swap negotiations and that Obama himself was first briefed on the situation as far back as a month ago.\\n\\\"The United States government came up with the four individuals to be freed by the Russians based on humanitarian concerns, health concerns, and other reasons that we put forward to the Russians,\\\" the White House official, who asked not to be named, said.\\n\\\"Director Panetta led these conversations and we received a response soon after the names were offered,\\\" the official said.\\nTownsend said the CIA will offer the freed agents housing and financial assistance as they start their new lives.\\nAnd they will quiz them closely to \\\"understand what were the sorts of questions that Russian officials were asking them when they were in prison and arrested and how were they treated,\\\" she said.\\nThe debriefings, which could take weeks or even months, will help \\\"from a counterintelligence perspective,\\\" she added, saying: \\\"We will likely learn a fair amount from these people.\\\"\\nThe US administration said security agencies first briefed the White House in February and that Obama was briefed in person on June 11.\\nObama chaired a National Security Council meeting to discuss the agents on June 18th, who were arrested June 27.\\n\\\"At the time of the arrests, the president was kept fully apprised of developments,\\\" the official said.\\nThe deal was seen as a high-level solution to a spy scandal that threatened to disrupt improving US-Russian relations.\\nThe 10 Russian agents, who were arrested last month, pleaded guilty Thursday to being foreign agents and were ordered to leave the country immediately, avoiding the need for a politically embarrassing trial. [ AP /9July2010] \\nNSA Offers Explanation of Perfect Citizen. The Perfect Citizen project is purely a research-and-engineering effort, not an attempt to monitor companies against cyberattack, the National Security Agency said.\\nThe NSA issued a brief explanation of the new project in response to a Wall Street Journal story that described Perfect Citizen as a government system designed to monitor vital agencies and private utilities against potential cyberthreats. The project would establish a series of sensors installed throughout various computer networks that would raise an alarm in case of a pending cyberattack, according to the Journal.\\nBut in an e-mail statement attributed to NSA spokeswoman Judith Emmel, the agency denied that Perfect Citizen would involve any type of monitoring activity or sensors, and labeled it as \\\"purely a vulnerabilities assessment and capabilities development contract.\\\" She added that \\\"it does not involve the monitoring of communications or the placement of sensors on utility company systems.\\\"\\nAlthough the agency called the Journal's story an \\\"inaccurate portrayal of the work performed at the National Security Agency,\\\" it said that due to the highly sensitive nature of its work, it could not confirm or deny specific allegations addressed in the article. As a result, the NSA shared few details on the project.\\nSpecifically referring to it as a contract, the NSA said Perfect Citizen \\\"provides a set of technical solutions that help the agency better understand the threats to national-security networks, which is a critical part of NSA's mission of defending the nation.\\\" The Journal had pinpointed Raytheon as the recipient of the initial phase of the contract in a deal worth up to $100 million, though neither the NSA nor Raytheon would confirm that report, according to Reuters.\\nAs described in the Journal, the project has reportedly triggered mixed reactions, with some eyeing it as an effort by the NSA to intrude into domestic affairs and others seeing it as an important step in combating cyberattacks.\\nAddressing those allegations in the statement, Emmel said \\\"any suggestions that there are illegal or invasive domestic activities associated with this contracted effort are simply not true. We strictly adhere to both the spirit and the letter of U.S. laws and regulations.\\\"\\nWhether Perfect Citizen is a monitoring system, as reported by the Journal, or a simply an R&D contract, as defined by the NSA, the threat of cyberattacks against the United States remains real. Security experts both inside and outside the beltway have long been warning that a serious cyberattack against the nation's infrastructure could do significant damage.\\nAlthough cybersecurity has been on the government's agenda for the past few years, many believe that the United States remains highly vulnerable and still has much work to do to shore up its cyberdefenses. [Whitney/ CNET /9July2010]\\nEx-CIA Chief: Secrecy After Attack on Syrian Nuclear Plant Unjustified. The secrecy surrounding the attack on the nuclear plant in eastern Syria in September 2007 was justified only for the period immediately after the operation, according to the CIA head at the time, Gen. Michael Hayden. That secrecy had been meant to save President Bashar Assad from embarrassment that could have provoked him to retaliate.\\nHayden's comments, published in a journal on intelligence published by the CIA, reflect a view different from that of Israel, which has not commented on the attack, widely attributed to its air force.\\nBefore being appointed CIA head by George W. Bush, Hayden was a senior officer in the U.S. Air Force and head of the National Security Agency - the main signals-intelligence service in the United States. He resigned last February after President Barack Obama turned down his request to have his tenure extended by six months.\\nSome analysts were critical of the CIA's release of information related to the air strike, and argued that the main motivation was for the organization to show an intelligence success following the failure to prevent the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.\\nIn the interview, Hayden was asked to explain his support for exposing the role of intelligence in unveiling the presence of the Syrian reactor.\\n\\\"It was a very complex political problem,\\\" he said. \\\"First of all, when we became aware of it, it became very important to keep it secret. Arguably secret, because it had to be dealt with in a way that didn't create a war in the Middle East. And the more public it became, the more difficult it would be for the Syrians to act responsibly. So no question that it needed to be kept secret.\\n\\\"But after a time, after the facility had been destroyed, there were two lines working - because you had two bad actors here, the Syrians and the North Koreans,\\\" Hayden said.\\n\\\"With the Syrians, you needed to keep it secret, otherwise they might do something stupid if they were publicly embarrassed. With the North Koreans on the other hand, we were moving in the direction of a new arrangement with regard to things 'nuclear,' including proliferation.\\\"\\nIn the dispute between the two approaches, it appears that Hayden was right and those who advocated secrecy were wrong. Nearly three years after the strike and two years and three months since the CIA officially released the information, Syria did not do \\\"something stupid\\\" and Assad did not go to war. [Oren/ Haaretz /9July2010]\\nMicrosoft Gives Source Code for Windows to KGB Successor. American software titan Microsoft has released the source code for Windows 7 and Office 2010 to Russia's intelligence services. The move is expected to bolster government contracts and is an extension to an agreement signed back in 2002.\\nAccording to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, Microsoft has signed an extension to an agreement with Atlas, a unitary enterprise that develops information security systems. In 2002, Atlas signed an agreement with Microsoft that allowed it access to the source code for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Server 2000.\\nThe amended agreement will include source code access for Windows 7, Office 2010, and Windows Server 2008, as well as SQL Server. The idea is to allow Russian officials access to the whole platform, not just pieces of it.\\nThe list of official Russian government branches that will gain access to the data includes the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), which replaced the Cold War intelligence agency better known ask the KGB.\\nWhile the inclusion of the FSB looks like the beginning of a spy novel, the intelligence agency will be allowed to share conclusions with Atlas. If things go well, defenses can be created for Microsoft's newest line of products that will position them for government purchase and usage. The real purpose is to get Microsoft's foot through the door while gaining more government contracts.\\nSpeaking to Russian media organization RT, Microsoft's PR director in Russia, Marina Levin, said that during the eight years the initial agreement with Atlas had been in place, there were no information leaks and a mutual trust had been built between the two parties.\\nAccording to Microsoft, contracts with the state in Russia account for about 10 percent of its revenue, which is estimated to top one billion dollars annually. In order for Microsoft to sell Server 2008, Windows 7, and Office 2010 to the state, its programs must be vetted to ensure they meet the requirements of the FSB and other agencies.\\nIn addition to selling to Russia, Microsoft hopes that other countries will ask for access as well, leading to more opportunities to close lucrative contracts. [ TheTechHerald /12July2010] \\nLack of Ethnic Minorities a Concern in Intelligence Services. Britain's anti-terrorism capabilities are being compromised by a lack of ethnic minority staff with key language skills employed in the intelligence services, according to a leaked report.\\nA culture of racism was also said to exist at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ), which intercepts telephone calls and emails between suspected terrorists for MI5 and MI6.\\nThe report, leaked to the Sunday Times, found that black and Asian officers felt racially discriminated against and their loyalty to Britain was often questioned.\\nA shortage of specialist knowledge in languages such as Arabic and Urdu was also shown to pose a potential problem when conducting counter-terrorism surveillance.\\nApproximately 2.5 per cent of GCHQ's 5,500 strong workforce are from an ethnic minority background, and the report was critical of the lack of diversity within GCHQ and its record for recruiting from ethnic minority communities around Britain.\\nThe report stated: \\\"It is critical to have a diverse staff group who are able to profile and recognize certain behavior patterns and communications.\\n\\\"There is a very small pool of black and minority ethnic employees within the total workforce... specific concerns have been raised by both management and staff around the language team.\\\"\\nThe Representation of Black and Minority Ethnic People report was authorised by the head of the civil service, Sir Gus O'Donnell, and written by Whitehall race advisor, Sharon Ferguson, who spent four months interviewing ethnic minority staff at GCHQ in Cheltenham.\\nThe discussions revealed that some black and Asian staff were made to feel unwelcome by both recruiters and white colleagues. The report also discovered that an \\\"unprecedented\\\" number of ethnic minority staff were employed in junior roles, while all the agency's 60 senior civil servants were white and only 1 per cent of management black or Asian.\\nThe report recommended the \\\"embedding\\\" of equality and diversity into recruitment practice, and expanding the recruitment area outside Cheltenham to include nearby cities such as Birmingham and Gloucester.\\nChris Marshall, GCHQ's director of corporate communications, denied the organization was \\\"institutionally racist\\\". Although acknowledging GCHQ was \\\"falling short\\\" in meeting diversity targets, he added that the current recruitment freeze, plus \\\"strict nationality and residency requirements\\\", had hampered attempts to increase diversity within the organisation. [ PeopleManagement /12July2010] \\nYemen Arrests Journalist Over Links Al-Qaeda. A Yemeni journalist was arrested over suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda's attack on a Yemeni intelligence agency, a top intelligence official said.\\n\\\"An arrest warrant was issued late today by the Director of the Political Security Agency (the intelligence) to capture Abdulelah Haidar Shaiee, a Yemeni analyst and journalist on the security affairs and Al-Qaeda group,\\\" the official told Xinhua.\\n\\\"The arrest came following a statement that released on the same day by the Yemeni-based Al-Qaeda militants, in which they claimed responsibility for the June 19 attack on the intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Aden,\\\" he said on condition of anonymity.\\nThe intelligence official said that Shaiee is facing charges of having links with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).\\n\\\"He is accused of having close relations with the al-Qaida attackers who targeted the building of the intelligence service in Aden that left nearly 20 intelligence officers dead,\\\" he added.\\nShaiee was taken by four gunmen from his friends' car in Hadda street, near the main intelligence headquarters in Sanaa late Sunday, said lawyer Abdulrahman Barman, a director of a non-governmental human right organization based in Sanaa.\\nOn the same day, Yemeni al-Qaida group released a statement, claiming the responsibility for the June 19 attack on the intelligence headquarters in Aden.\\n\\\"Battalion of martyr broke into the intelligence headquarters' building in Aden on June 19 and successfully managed to kill at least 24 security officers and soldiers,\\\" said the statement posted on al-Qaida-related jihadist website.\\nIt added the attack was a \\\"revenge for the government air raid on the group's stronghold in Marib province, northeast of Sanaa.\\\"\\nShaiee is a journalist with the official Saba News Agency, and also a freelancer for other international medias. He reportedly managed to conduct several exclusive interviews with AQAP's top leaders, such as the group's leader Naser al-Wiheshi and the US-wanted Yemeni-American fugitive radical imam Anwar al-Awlaqi.\\nYemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida network leader Osama bin Laden, has intensified security operations and air raids against terrorist groups, after the Yemen-based al-Qaida wing claimed responsibility for a failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US passenger plane bound for Detroit last year. [ GlobalTimes /12July2010] \\nSection II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE\\nEverything You Wanted to Know About the KGB But Were Afraid to Ask. Boris Volodarsky was trained as an officer in the GRU Spetsnaz, the Soviet military's intelligence arm. When I met him while on book research in London in 2007, he was writing The KGB's Poison Factory, his own book on Moscow's fascination with murder-by-poison. With his encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of the KGB and its history, he is finishing a new book called The Orlov KGB File. I asked whether Volodarsky would reply to a few questions about last week's arrest of 10 Russian \\\"illegals,\\\" sleeper agents planted without diplomatic cover, in the United States.\\nWhat would you say is most misunderstood about the illegals indicted in the U.S.?\\nVolodarsky: As most people, including some journalists who write long articles commenting on the arrests, have no knowledge of the Russian intelligence tradecraft or the intelligence history in general, the activities of the members of this group seem a bizarre collection of strange actions looking like a bad movie about the Russkies. But many things shown even in bad movies are unfortunately true: Yes, the Russians like to wear fur hats, drink vodka, eat caviar, take pretty girls to the sauna. And, apart from some modern innovations like ad hoc networks, burst transmissions and stenography, the old proven tradecraft is pretty much the same. It is good and it normally works well (except in cases, when somebody is already being shadowed - then nothing works). The public and writers alike do not really realize that this is not a film - a very large group of very experienced FBI agents and watchers spent a very considerable sum of taxpayers' money and plenty of time to uncover a real group of the Russian undercover operators who brazenly operated in the United States, as they had been absolutely sure that no one would ever catch them because their education, training, intelligence tradition, and the belief that the wealth of the country behind them is much superior than the FBI. They forgot that the FBI of 2010 is much different from the Bureau of the 1950s. All 11 accused are trained professionals whose task was to penetrate American society. It is the first time that such a large group of illegals has been uncovered. Normally, there have been one or a maximum of two, while I have on record a great number of documented illegal operations in the U.S. for at least the last 80 years. It must be added that very few of them like Fisher/Abel and Molody/Lonsdale were successful. But we probably know only about 50 percent of the operations that were mounted and the people deployed.\\nIs it possible that this is simply a rogue operation by someone in Moscow who, as some commentators have suggested, misunderstand what type of information is openly available? In other words, are illegals a relic, or is there real continuing value to be gained by illegals today?\\nVolodarsky: No way it is a rogue operation. It took a lot of time, effort and money, and all was done by the book. It is always done this way. Again, I can list several dozen examples when, after training, the Soviet illegals were sent first to Europe, then almost always to Canada, and then relocated to the U.S.\\nConcerning the information. First of all, the illegals are not here to collect intelligence. Their role is to control important agents already recruited in the government structures, those who have access to secret information (CIA, FBI, other intelligence services, military, scientists, R&D people, IT specialists, etc), or they may exert influence (on journalists or politicians). The Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR) has all information that is available from open sources. This has always been the case, but it is never enough. What Russian intelligence in striving to get is secret information (political, economic, industrial, military, etc) and have a chance to influence decision-making and public opinion in favor of Russia. This is why agents are recruited or penetrated into sensitive or politically important targets.\\nThe role of illegals is threefold: to act as cut-outs between important sources and the Center (directly or via the SVR station); to serve as talent-spotters finding potential candidates for further intelligence cultivation and possible recruitment (a rather long and complex process, where the illegals only act at its early stage); and to establish the right contacts that would allow other intelligence operators (members of the SVR station) or the Center (visiting intelligence officers under different covers, journalists, diplomats or scientists tasked by the SVR) to get intelligence information and/or receive favors that the Center is interested in. The illegals also have a number of technical tasks like renting accommodations that could be used as safe houses, finding places for dead drops, planning hit operations like assassinations that are also carried out by illegals (but from a different department of the same directorate). They also collect sample documents that could be used in other covert operations and update Moscow about some standard proceedings (buying a house, getting a job, registering a company, and so on).\\nThe illegals are no relic, they have been always used full scale. The last known case was in Canada when 'Paul William Hampel' was arrested in the middle of the Alexander Litvinenko case (November 2006). As I seek to prove in The KGB Poison Factory, the Litvinenko operation itself was the work of a Russian illegal. Certainly, the illegals are used in other countries with difficult counterintelligence environments like Britain, for example, but rarely in \\\"soft\\\" countries like Austria or Finland.\\nIllegals could be used for corporate and commercial penetration as much as government or military penetration, correct?\\nVolodarsky: As mentioned above, very seldom, as this is normally not their task. But in many cases their children, born American citizens, are prepared for penetrations. In this group only Mikhail Semenko seems to have made attempts to penetrate sensitive institutions by trying to get a job there (the American Foreign Policy Council, for example). But in one case, a Soviet illegal served as the Costa Rican ambassador to Italy. His detailed story is in The Orlov KGB File, my next book. In principle, corporate and commercial penetration by the illegals is possible - in the 1960s \\\"Rudi Herrmann\\\" was tasked to penetrate the Hudson Institute.\\nIllegals could also be present in other nations, just like in the Cold War?\\nVolodarsky: Certainly, and other nationals, not only the Russians, can be used. There are many examples, especially with East Germans.\\nWhat is your sense of why they were arrested at this time?\\nVolodarsky: Two obvious reasons: first of all, Anna Kuschenko-Chapman sensed that she was dealing with an undercover FBI agent, and called her controller from the Russian UN mission; second, 'Richard Murphy' was going to leave for Moscow on Sunday with, some believe, important intelligence.\\nThe Obama administration is on \\\"reset\\\" with Russia. President Medvedev had just left the U.S. Is there a discordant note here?\\nVolodarsky: Not at all. The Security Service works according to the operational situation disregarding what's going on in the White House and what the President thinks about it.\\nAnna Chapman has attracted the most public attention of all the accused. Is she a serious spy?\\nVolodarsky: Everything shows that Anna Vasilievna Kuschenko started to collaborate with the SVR shortly after she finished secondary school at the age of 16 in 1998 and before she entered the university. Her father is a KGB-SVR officer, possibly from Line N (illegal support), so this would be a normal thing. After a year, she enrolled in a course at the People's Friendship University of Moscow, which is the alma mater of many Soviet and Russian intelligence officers and agents. During her second year, in 2001, she went to London (extremely unusual) and quickly picked up a na�ve young Englishman in a disco. She took him to bed on their second meeting, and by his and another account of her use of sex toys seems to have been specifically trained in the art of love. She told him how much she loved him, burst into tears when leaving for Moscow and quickly arranged an invitation, so he came and they were married in March 2002 without the usual formalities.\\nAfter getting settled in London (still being a full-time student in Moscow), she worked in several places for a short time and on small jobs, serving as a personal assistant in a hedge fund, and as a secretary in a private jet company. She dumped her husband after three years, having moved in with a young French playboy who took her to expensive private clubs in London, where she got the right contacts. He also advised her to open an Internet real estate company. In 2004, she miraculously graduated from the university (without studying there and still living in London), returned to Moscow in 2007, opened such an Internet company there, then opened a similar company in New York in February 2010, using $1 million she received from a Kremlin-backed investment fund. Almost immediately she started to send reports to her New York controller using her laptop. It is a big and interesting story worth writing much more. [Levine/ ForeignPolicy /6July2010] \\nFormer Top CIA Spy: How US Intelligence Became Big Business. Few who have seen the dramatic privatization of US intelligence operations from the inside ever speak about the role private contractors play in covert operations - certainly not in public. In late June, however, the CIA's former top counterterrorism official, Robert Grenier, participated in a rare public discussion on issues ranging from the incredible extent to which the US has relied on contractors to fill sensitive national security positions; to battlefield contractors in Afghanistan; to allegations of contractor involvement in \\\"direct action\\\" (lethal) operations, as well as commenting on Blackwater owner Erik Prince's reported involvement in a secret CIA assassination program. The former spy also criticized what he called attempts by the US military to \\\"overstep their bounds\\\" by conducting intelligence operations that traditionally have fallen under the purview of the CIA.\\nGrenier was undoubtedly one of the US intelligence community's heavy hitters in the aftermath of 9/11. He was CIA station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan when the 9/11 attacks took place and coordinated the initial incursions by CIA personnel and contractors in the first year of the US invasion of Afghanistan. After a stint in what Grenier jokingly called \\\"our excellent adventure in Iraq,\\\" where, as chief of the Iraq Issues Group, he planned covert US actions in the lead up to and ultimate invasion of the country, Grenier was named as director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center (CTC), the unit coordinating the tip of the spear of the CIA's covert activities. In 2006, Grenier left the CIA, reportedly over disagreements with then-CIA director Porter Goss, including the issue of treatment of detainees and prisoners. After leaving the agency, Grenier worked at Kroll Inc., a security consulting firm, and is currently chairman of ERG Partners, a small consulting company.\\nGrenier and I participated in a frank discussion, along with Professor Katerie Carmola, author of Private Security Contractors and New Wars: Risk, Law, and Ethics, at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, where I had a chance to publicly ask Grenier some specific questions.\\nGrenier estimated that \\\"many more than half\\\" of the personnel who worked under him at the CIA's counterterrorism center were private contractors. Contractors \\\"were coming in and they were all over the place,\\\" Grenier said of his time at CTC. \\\"Often I would go down and talk to people in my work force and I would say, 'Hey, that was a great job and I saw what you did last night, I saw that cable that you turned up, thank you very much.' And I'd be startled when they would give me a business card.\\\"\\nIt is difficult to access detailed information about the extent to which US intelligence activities are privatized, primarily because the budgets of the eighteen intelligence agencies operated by the United States are mostly classified. In 2007, journalist Tim Shorrock, who wrote the definitive book on the privatization of intelligence, Spies for Hire, obtained and published an unclassified document from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence showing that 70 percent of the US intelligence budget was spent on private contractors. No documents on these classified budgets have been made public since.\\nGrenier largely defended the use of contractors, primarily because he said he believes that the government, in a time of war, needs to be able to hire skilled, specialized personnel capable of securing the necessary security clearances. \\\"It's far easier to go through the process to get a contractor if time is an issue than it would be to bring somebody on as a regular employee,\\\" Grenier said. He said that when he was running CIA operations in Afghanistan immediately after 9/11, he was working with several of his predecessors who had left the CIA, but returned, with their experience and clearances, as independent contractors. Grenier cited another \\\"very prosaic\\\" reason for the reliance on contractors: the federal budgeting process.\\nGrenier called the system of allocating funds to US agencies the \\\"most illogical process ever devised by the mind of man.\\\" He described Congressional funding restrictions that provided huge sums of money to the CIA post-9/11 to purchase goods and services, but not to hire new employees. Instead, he said, Congress provided one year supplemental funding packages to the CIA for \\\"non-personal services.\\\" That funding, Grenier asserted, \\\"you can spend for anything.\\\"\\n\\\"You can buy armored vehicles, you can buy drones, or you can buy contractors. Contractors are not considered persons in the context of the federal budgeting process,\\\" Genier added. The CIA, therefore, got creative. \\\"So, here was the Congress saying, 'What can we do for you, what can we give you?' Money was not the object - they'd give us anything we asked for and what we got was non-personal services dollars on a supplemental basis. And so, what did we have to do? We went out and bought contractors.\\\"\\nIn the early stages of the US war in Afghanistan, Grenier said, many people were hired as individual independent contractors. Then, he says, small companies began popping up that specialized in providing the government and other entities with seasoned veterans of US special forces and intelligence agencies for hire. Within months, companies like Blackwater jumped head first into the rent-a-soldier industry. These companies offered what they called \\\"turnkey solutions\\\" in the war zone.\\n\\\"Well, they figured out that they could extort - I should say that they could command - more money form the federal government if they somehow banded together,\\\" says Grenier, who described the rise of what he called \\\"body shops\\\" providing personnel. \\\"It was like a form of unionization. They got together and they formed these little companies and they could engage in what we might call collective bargaining and thereby raise their salaries.\\\"\\nShorrock, who analyzes government contracts for an AFL-CIO union, found Grenier's description interesting. \\\"CIA and NSA employees are banned by statute from engaging in collective bargaining. But forming a company might be one way a group of operatives could get a better deal from the CIA on wages, health benefits or insurance,\\\" said Shorrock. \\\"That shouldn't be confused with union rights, though.\\\"\\nWhile Grenier provided a utilitarian rationale for the CIA using contractors, he veered away from discussing the political expediency private forces offer the CIA by providing unattributable forces specializing in plausible deniability.\\nSeveral times during our discussion, I asked Grenier about the use of contractors in lethal \\\"direct action\\\" operations, some of which have been characterized as part of a secret CIA assassination program. I specifically asked him about the report in January in Vanity Fair that Blackwater owner Erik Prince had trained a CIA team whose ultimate job would be to \\\"find, fix and finish\\\" suspected terrorists across the globe. Prince's men, according to the article, never \\\"finished\\\" a suspect, but they did do everything but pull the trigger in several countries, including in Germany. Prince claims to have paid for some operations \\\"out of my own pocket.\\\"\\nMany of the activities alleged to have been carried out by Prince and Blackwater occurred while Grenier was director of CTC.\\nGrenier was visibly uncomfortable discussing the issue of Blackwater and \\\"direct action,\\\" saying, \\\"Although some of these things have been revealed and some of what has been revealed is perhaps true and some of it is perhaps untrue and some of it is perhaps exaggerated or misrepresented, but all of it is still classified and so it's difficult for me to speak to it directly to the extent that I know about it.\\\" He added: \\\"There were things that frankly were new to me in what I read in that article.\\\"\\nGrenier rejected the notion that Blackwater would have been specifically hired by the CIA for assassination operations, offering a denial that carefully relied on the CIA's contracting process. \\\"CIA would not be soliciting or putting out an RFP [a Request for Proposal] to solicit bids for a company, perhaps for the lowest bidder, to come out and perform services like [direct lethal action].\\\"\\nWhile there is little chance that there is a US government contract with Blackwater floating around showing the CIA hired Blackwater to kill people, this type of contracting inherently creates gray areas that ultimately benefit the secrecy of the operations. There is no doubt that Blackwater forces have killed plenty of people in Iraq and Afghanistan and that not all of these \\\"kills\\\" have been defensive security operations.\\nWithout confirming details of Blackwater's involvement in any lethal direct action operations, Grenier did say that to the extent that Prince and his men were potentially involved, they likely were not fully aware of the role they were playing in broader CIA operations. \\\"By [Prince's] own admission those actions have never been carried out,\\\" Grenier said. \\\"And certainly, if I had anything to do with it, they would not be carried out by private individuals.\\\" He then added: \\\"A Navy SEAL in a buzz cut is probably not the individual that I would put on the street in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon to do surveillance on a potential target.\\\"\\nWhat Grenier did describe, in a careful and circumspect way, is a major reason why a company like Blackwater would be hired for involvement in such operations: the combination of experienced personnel and the networks of foreign nationals they cultivated over years of government intelligence work. At the time Grenier was running CTC, Blackwater was flush with well-connected CIA veterans who had vast networks of assets and contacts across the globe. In addition to Cofer Black, Prince counted among his most valued employees Enrique \\\"Ric\\\" Prado, a former CIA paramilitary officer who served as chief of operations for the CTC and Robert Richer, former deputy director of operations at the CIA. All of these men were deeply connected in a wide array of countries where the US was operating under the banner of \\\"the war on terror.\\\"\\n\\\"If, let us say, that one wanted to find individuals, probably foreign nationals who can go out and mount an effective surveillance against a particular target for whatever purpose - intelligence collection or whatever - then you are going to be looking for the right group of individuals who provide you with the right combination of skills that you are seeking,\\\" said Grenier. \\\"I just wanted the right people with the right skills doing the job. Depending on the operation and what you want to get done, there really is no standard template. Every time is the first time.\\\"\\nAccording to Vanity Fair, while Grenier was at CTC, \\\"[Erik] Prince was developing unconventional means of penetrating 'hard target' countries - where the C.I.A. has great difficulty working either because there are no stations from which to operate or because local intelligence services have the wherewithal to frustrate the agency's designs.\\\"\\nGrenier described the value of access to such networks and connections held by some contractors: \\\"It may well be that you're dealing with an individual and let's just say for the sake of discussion that he's a Blackwater employee and perhaps that individual knows some other individual - perhaps foreigners with whom he or she has dealt in the past - that you want to gain access to and bring in on the team. And maybe you want them to know what they're supposed to be doing and maybe you don't. Maybe you're going to have them only partially aware of what they're doing and not aware of what the ultimate purpose for it.\\\"\\nI pressed Grenier on why the CIA might use a company like Blackwater at any stage of a lethal operation instead of using US military special forces teams like those from the Joint Special Operations Command. Grenier pointed to the complicated logistics of preparing such operations. \\\"It's not just a matter of sending in a direct action team, a JSOC squad to go and hit somebody. There's a tremendous amount of preparation, if you will, that has to be done beforehand - most of it having to do with intelligence collection.\\\"\\nAs for Erik Prince's claims about his work with covert CIA teams, Grenier said, \\\"The characterization that Erik Prince has provided - to the extent that he fully understood himself what he was saying - I think is easily subject to misinterpretation. I don't know what was in his mind when he spoke.\\\"\\nOverall, Grenier was generally supportive of the use of private contractors, though he did offer some criticisms. He expressed concerned about the \\\"revolving door\\\" between government and the private sector, saying he endorsed moves to ban CIA personnel from returning as contractors less than a year after leaving the agency before official retirement. \\\"Many of these relationships are far too cozy, far too clubby and there are serious risks associated with the revolving door,\\\" he said.\\nHe also said he believes that contractors who work with US intelligence agencies should not subsequently or concurrently be working with foreign governments. \\\"I can assure you that if the CIA were employing a contractor who had, thereby, access to very sensitive information, [the CIA] would take a very dim view of that same individual working for that company under a different contract, say, for the Israelis or for some other foreign government,\\\" said Grenier.\\nI asked Grenier about the US military classifying operations that might traditionally be considered intelligence operations, such as US special forces activities in countries like Yemen or Somalia, as \\\"preparing the battlefield,\\\" making them a military rather than an intelligence operation. Some critics have suggested that such classification is an attempt to avoid Congressional oversight of certain covert operations. \\\"That's a very interesting dodge,\\\" Grenier said. \\\"It has not kept the Department of Defense from trying, at least in my view and the view of others in the intelligence community, to at least to some degree overstep their bounds.\\\" Grenier also said Congress \\\"is complicit in it,\\\" saying, \\\"One of the things that keeps the military from having to report its intelligence-related activities to the relevant intelligence committees is the very jealous armed services committees who don't want to have their military reporting to these other committees.\\\"\\nThe Obama administration has continued the US policy of overwhelming reliance on private contractors at every level of the US national security apparatus and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, the administration has dramatically increased the number of contractors from Bush-era levels. In Iraq, while the overall US presence is decreasing, the percentage of contractors within the total US force continues to rise. But it is not just on the battlefield. According to a recent Congressional investigation, some 69 percent of all Department of Defense personnel are private contractors. The CIA's recent $100 million contract with Blackwater for \\\"security\\\" services globally is a clear sign that this trend continues unabated at the agency under Leon Panetta.\\nThe Commission on Wartime Contracting recently examined the issue of the use of contractors in sensitive operations at a hearing called, \\\"Are Private Security Contractors Performing Inherently Governmental Functions?\\\" One of the experts who testified, Dr. Allison Stanger, professor and director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs at Middlebury College, said that the government use of contractors has become a necessity, rather than a choice, but she painted a sober picture of the implications of the United States using such forces. It \\\"blurs the line between the legitimate and illegitimate use of force, which is just what our enemies want. Al Qaeda's operatives have no country and are private actors waging war on the United States. Terrorists may receive funding from states, but they are by definition non-state actors,\\\" Stanger said. \\\"If the United States can legitimately rely on non-state actors wielding weapons to protect our interests, why can't Al Qaeda or the Taliban, especially when contractor misdeeds appear to go completely unpunished?\\\" [Scahill/ TheNation /8July2010] \\nEx-KGB General: Soviet Spy Stood Ready to Poison DC's Water. A Soviet \\\"sleeper agent\\\" had orders in the mid-1960s to poison the District's water and to sabotage its power supply if war with the United States became imminent, a former chief of KGB operations in North America said.\\nThe deep-cover spy was inside the United States around 1963 to 1965, \\\"during the Kennedy-Johnson era,\\\" said Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB major general who is now a U.S. citizen.\\nKalugin said he learned about the operation in the 1970s, when he was moving up the intelligence service's ranks. He would eventually become the KGB's youngest-ever major general.\\nKalugin made the revelation during a question-and-answer session at the International Spy Museum. It followed a screening of \\\"Salt,\\\" a new spy thriller starring Angelina Jolie.\\nAfterward, Kalugin told SpyTalk that he had not previously mentioned the sabotage operation in any of his books.\\nNo intelligence official from the period could be immediately located to verify Kalugin's claim.\\nKalugin also said the KGB had only \\\"a couple\\\" of long-term, deep-cover agents here in the 1980s,when he was head of North American operations and controlled such infamous American turncoats as John Walker Jr., a U.S. Navy warrant officer who sold Moscow the communication codes used by U.S. submarines.\\nHe called the 11-person Russian spy ring indicted here two weeks ago \\\"a waste of money and time\\\" for Moscow. [Stein/ WashingtonPost /9July2010] \\nFive Spy Experts Discuss Lessons Learned from the Spy Swap. The arrest and speedy deportation of ten suspected Russian spies in U.S. suburbs has raised concerns about relations between Moscow and Washington, and prompted speculation about methods associated with 21st century spy craft.\\nFive former members of the U.S. intelligence community offer insight into lessons learned from one of the largest cases of espionage to surface on U.S. soil with the Council on Foreign Relations Greg Bruno.\\nEric M. O'Neill, a former undercover operative for the FBI who helped bring down Russian spy Robert Hanssen in 2001, believes that in this most recent case, \\\"Russia took a large risk of political embarrassment\\\" by embedding illegal agents, but thought it would pay off.\\nBurton L. Gerber, a former CIA chief of station during the Cold War, notes this is because human intelligence sources are still absolutely vital for a country like Russia seeking \\\"to understand the full scope of a competing nation's goals/intentions/capabilities.\\\"\\nJack Devine, a former CIA deputy director of operations, adds that the details of the case - as cloaked in mystery as they are - suggest a major Russian operation.\\nAnd Mark Stout, an intelligence community veteran and historian at the International Spy Museum, says this incident underscores the fact that for many countries, open sources of information will never replace human assets, a point Peter Brookes, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, concurs with.\\nEric M. O'Neill, Partner, the Georgetown Group: The world is growing smaller. Extraordinary advances in information sharing have made distances irrelevant. As the virtual world shrinks, difficulties arise in protecting information. Entire lives are posted on social networking sites. Companies lose trade secrets to regulatory requests, accidental publishing on web pages, and to \\\"dumpster divers\\\" who sort through discarded trash. What we don't volunteer may still fall into the public eye through cybercrime, fraud, and espionage.\\nThe ten Russian \\\"illegal\\\" spies recently arrested and swapped in a historic exchange emphasize that foreign intelligence services continue to rely on human intelligence to feed their voracious need for information. The best spies are people, not machines. To both spy and catch a spy, a person must be able to rely on instinct, experience, and luck, often making decisions based on a gut feeling, something a mechanical device cannot emulate.\\nThe FBI's investigation into the Russian illegal spy network relied on human fieldwork and professional counterintelligence. The ten-year operation to dismantle the spy network suggests a level of severity that is not balanced by the purposefully brief indictment. Numerous experts have cited the lack of an espionage charge to label the illegal spies ineffective amateurs that passed little more than publicly available policy information. Russia took a large risk of political embarrassment by training and embedding illegal agents - a risk that requires more than what is available on Google.\\nReading between the lines of the indictment, one finds reference to a more insidious task - recruitment of Americans with access to sensitive policy information. Russia swept the illegals away through a hasty swap only eleven days after the arrest - far too little time for a useful debrief. Time will tell whether the FBI learned enough to truly understand the purpose of the illegal network - perhaps enough to find additional conspirators.\\nBurton L. Gerber, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University: When U.S. officials announced the arrest of ten alleged Russian \\\"illegals,\\\" much of the media and other commentary seemed to see this as old stuff, inconsistent with the post-Cold War-age and the reset of Russian/American relations. How serious could this be? What kind of access could these Russians have had? What possibly could they have reported?\\nNations still need to understand adversaries, real and potential. While much data and insights are available through other means, intelligence operations, using human officers and recruited agents, are still vital to understand the full scope of a competing nation's goals/intentions/capabilities. And for a nation with the history and tradition of Russia, turning to clandestine collection is second nature.\\nRussian - and earlier Soviet - intelligence, has usually been noted for its patience. The dispatch of \\\"illegal\\\" officers to establish themselves, develop contacts as appropriate, serve as couriers or support agents, or even [deploy] themselves to get into position to collect important information, is consistent with Russian experience and goals. While their exact technical communications capabilities may not yet be known to us outside observers, it appears they had access to devices/systems that go well beyond traditional dead drops and brush contacts. This was a serious Russian program.\\nAmerican counterintelligence, the FBI, was on to several of the illegals early, perhaps ten years or so ago, and apparently there were some Russian missteps in the course of those years which caused additional illegals to be identified. Using a support agent to service more than one illegal, as was apparently done, is not sound tradecraft.\\nWhile we cannot be sure of the scope of the illegals' success, we can conclude that their pay-off may have been larger than we first can understand, or that the Russian SVR [Russia's foreign intelligence service] was prepared to invest time and resources in the expectation of greater achievement. American counterintelligence impeded this program. Russia and other countries will likely introduce successive ones.\\nJack Devine, President, the Arkin Group LLC: Twenty-five years ago, much of what a country's intelligence agencies knew was collected by operatives abroad. Today, much of that information is available instantaneously to anyone with an Internet connection and access to twenty-four-hour news channels. In addition to the problems around verifying data found on the Internet, it contains only as much as people load onto its networks. There is also a great deal of copycat reporting in the press. It is amazing how quickly the media settles into \\\"conventional wisdom,\\\" which is often misplaced.\\nWeb sites and the media provide us with easy access to basic information, but the questions of critical importance to intelligence professionals can rarely if ever be answered online. In this regard, computers are no match for human operators and agents in gleaning insights into the plans, intentions, and psychologies of their targets. The United States, other major powers, and very clearly the Russians understand this. All continue to invest in field collection activities. Recently, we've even seen an uptick in the number of smaller, less developed countries funding and fielding collection efforts abroad, including inside the United States.\\nInstead of questioning the relevance of human agents and operatives in the cyber-era of the 21st century, we should question why the Russians, over the course of ten years, invested so heavily in developing a large network of operatives spanning the American Northeast and Central Atlantic regions. Despite the reported lack of intelligence obtained from the group's operations and their various tradecraft failures, let's not be mistaken about their intended role either; the eleven \\\"illegals\\\" were most likely in the United States to handle American moles. According to what is known publicly, they were to become intermediaries, unconnected from the recruitment process. The Russians either had or anticipated having a large number of American assets to handle and they'd laid in the plumbing for this task with the eleven alleged spies placed strategically outside \\\"hot zones\\\" to avoid detection.\\nWhat is baffling is why the SVR would break a cardinal rule of the spy game - always keep your operatives compartmentalized so that the compromise of one doesn't lead to the collapse of the network. Perhaps we should take some satisfaction or comfort from this mystifying oversight, but I remain alarmed by the Russians' optimism about recruiting Americans.\\nMark Stout, Historian, International Spy Museum: Americans are so enamored with technology that they often miss the continued relevance of espionage in this age of Google, \\\"Total Information Awareness,\\\" signals intelligence, and Predator drones. However, espionage remains an indispensable component of the intelligence capabilities of modern states.\\nThough their recently thwarted operation may have been feckless, the Russian services - like all serious intelligence services - understand that espionage and other forms of human intelligence can provide nuances that open-source information or technical means often cannot. For instance, an analyst who wanted to know whether Saddam's soldiers would stand and fight would certainly want to have reporting from human sources to provide a feel for morale in the ranks.\\nAs for the vaunted power of open sources, the history of the stealth fighter plane provides a useful cautionary tale. In the early 1980s, everyone knew that the United States Air Force had the first ever stealth fighter, but nobody without a security clearance had ever seen it. However, extensive research in the open sources allowed the Testor model company to sell a 1:48 model of the curvaceous F-19. The models flew off the shelves, and even the impeccably well-informed Tom Clancy was convinced, featuring the F-19 in one of his novels. There was just one problem. There was no F-19. There was an F-117A, but it was angular to the point of ugliness. The open sources were utterly wrong; the real secrets had been kept.\\nAn intelligence service that wishes to have a deep understanding of its adversaries will conduct espionage. Furthermore, an intelligence service which wishes to avoid being deceived will collect intelligence in as many ways as possible. Espionage has been around for thousands of years. It is here to stay. The Russians have been leading practitioners for many years. While this case may well turn out to be an embarrassment for them, other Russian agents could well be stealing serious American secrets right now.\\nPeter Brookes, Senior Fellow, Heritage Foundation: In the wake of the recent round of U.S.-Russia spy swaps, people are asking: With all the high-tech intelligence collecting gadgets that exist today - from drones to satellites to cybersnooping - who needs a bunch of James or Jane Bonds running around? [The answer]: We do.\\nSure, you can get a lot of intelligence from satellites that can practically read license plates or even from translating open-source journals and newspapers, but the human spy still plays a unique role in getting access to privileged information this country needs for its national security. Who is going to \\\"borrow\\\" the briefing book on a country's illicit nuclear weapons plans and programs that will inform American policymaker decisions? A satellite can't do that.\\nYou might respond that you can get that briefing book by hacking into a ministry's computer system and stealing the files. Fair enough, but a drone can't plant the \\\"bug\\\" in the ministry's conference room to listen - live - to discussion on that topic.\\nOr how about finding the terrorist who doesn't use a cell phone or a computer and who travels around at night concealed in the back of a truck or ambulance? Maybe the spy who has penetrated that terrorist's inner circle can. Good luck recruiting that spy from a laptop.\\nThe list goes on and on of examples of what the human spy can do that the electronic spy can't, ranging from espionage's ridiculous to the sublime. Unfortunately, the world's second oldest profession can be wrought with danger or even national embarrassment under certain circumstances. [But] there is still a robust need for the human spy in the cloak and dagger game. [ MSNBC /12July2010]\\nCuban Ex-Intelligence Chief Recalls JFK Assassination. Like many, Fabian Escalante remembers what he was doing when he heard U.S. President John F. Kennedy had been shot: he was trying to stop the Central Intelligence Agency from toppling the Cuban government with the help of anti-Castro exiles.\\nYears later, when he had risen to head Cuba's Department of State Security, he was well placed to consider whether those same exiles may have had a hand in the November 22, 1963 slaying of the dashing young president in Dallas.\\nEscalante does not claim to know who killed JFK, but says that Cuban exiles recruited by the CIA had planned to kill Kennedy twice in November 1963, because they felt the U.S. president had done too little to topple the government on the Caribbean island.\\n\\\"They had the capability, the means and the intent,\\\" he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Semana Negra crime writing festival in Gijon, northern Spain.\\n\\\"How was this meant to turn out? To assassinate Kennedy, launch a furious campaign against Cuba, blaming it for the assassination, which they did, then kill Fidel Castro a few days later, on December 12, and invade Cuba.\\\"\\nEscalante worked with members of the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations investigating the JFK killing when they travelled to Cuba in 1978 to collect data on the activities of Cuban exiles.\\nIn his retirement, he has published many of his findings in book form, along with research he has conducted since he set up the Centre for Security Studies in 1993.\\nEscalante says one anti-Castro exile and former CIA operative who may hold clues to the JFK assassination is Luis Posada Carriles, who lives in Miami and is wanted in Cuba on charges of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cubana Airlines jet which killed 73 people.\\nPosada Carriles is also accused of involvement in a 1997 wave of hotel bombings, which were aimed at destabilizing Cuba and scaring away tourists, but Escalante doubts the U.S. government will deport him to Cuba to face trial.\\n\\\"He has a life insurance policy, which is what he knows about the Kennedy plot,\\\" Escalante said.\\n\\\"He and (fellow exile) Orlando Bosch were in the thick of the Kennedy plot. Remember, both he and Posada were part of this terrorist mechanism set up in New Orleans, which is where the plot was hatched to assassinate Kennedy.\\\"\\nNow 69, Escalante was just 18 when a revolution led by Fidel Castro took power in 1959. In the next few years, he and other young novices built up a counter-intelligence service from scratch.\\nHe was invited to participate in the Spanish crime-writing festival because organizers say fiction falls short of a world Escalante has uncovered, in which the CIA plotted to make Castro's beard fall off or poison Cubans with infected coins.\\nEscalante belonged to the Q Section in 1961, which had 50 case officers to thwart the efforts of the so-called JMWAVE CIA base in Florida assigned to conduct sabotage operations in Cuba with a $100 million budget and 4,000 agents.\\nIn his book \\\"Executive Action,\\\" Escalante lists 634 conspiracies to kill Castro between 1959 and 2000, including 168 plots which may have succeeded.\\nHe says the closest the Cuban leader came to death was when a CIA agent working at Havana's former Hilton hotel tried to poison a chocolate milk shake Castro ordered.\\nHowever, a capsule containing botulin stuck to the side of the freezer compartment in the bar and broke when the agent tried to pry it loose.\\nEscalante says the Q Section often intercepted false documents sent by the CIA to their agents in Cuba, which were as good as genuine ones, so he used one for himself.\\n\\\"Security measures for documents in those days were very lax. There was just ordinary paper, a photo, stamp and plastic cover. So that was how I began to drive, with a CIA license.\\\" [Roberts/ Reuters /12July2010] \\nTimeline: Spy Swaps in History. 10 February 1962: Crossing the \\\"Iron Curtain.\\\" On the border between West Berlin and East Germany, a US photo-reconnaissance pilot named Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for the reputed director of a Soviet spy cell in the US named Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. Powers' U-2 plane was shot down over the U.S.S.R. in 1960; Abel was arrested in the US in the late 1950s.\\n\\\"It was a peaceful scene, static and unreal,\\\" a Reuters reporter present during the exchange wrote in 1962. \\\"The men, wrapped in winter coats, who stood on the bridge, were in two groups, divided by a white line that was brushed across the tarmac to declare that here was the Iron Curtain.\\\"\\nOne group walked Eastwards, the other Westwards, the reporter said. Then they \\\"took off like rockets\\\" in separate limousines.\\n11 October 1963: Two for two. In a two-for-two swap, a 24-year-old American student arrested while touring Kiev in 1961 and a Jesuit missionary arrested in the USSR in 1941 are exchanged for a Russian couple arrested and held by the U.S. on charges of espionage.\\n22 April 1964: Berlin border exchange. A British businessman convicted of spying for the U.S. and Britain is exchanged for a Russian army officer who had been imprisoned in Britain in 1961 for allegedly operating a spy ring seeking to gain information about British submarines. The swap, once again, takes place on the West Berlin-East Germany border.\\n24 June 1969: Handing over the Krogers. Britain releases Peter and Helen Kroger in exchange for Gerald Brooke, a lecturer who had been jailed for spying in the Soviet Union. The Krogers allegedly passed on secrets to Moscow from the Royal Navy's underwater warfare headquarters in southern England. \\n30 April 1978: Three-country deal. In a three-way exchange between Mozambique, the U.S. and East Germany, Mozambique releases an Israeli citizen held for two years, the U.S. releases a former Air Force intelligence clerk convicted of passing secrets to the Soviets, and East Germany releases a Minnesota man arrested for trying to smuggle a German doctor's family to the West.\\n27 April 1979: The Ginzburg swap. Russia releases five political and religious dissidents for two Russians convicted of spying in the U.S. Alexander Ginzburg - a notable Russian writer and activist - is among the five sent back to New York.\\n1 October 1981: One for many. Guenter Guillaume, an East German agent who served as a close aide to West Germany Chancellor Willy Brandt, is exchanged for a number of Western spies.\\n11 June 1985: Largest swap since WWII. Twenty-nine people are exchange din one of the largest swaps since World War II. In the massive exchange, which took place on the Glienecke Bridge between East Germany and West Berlin, four people indicted for spying in the U.S. were exchanged for five Polish prisoners and 20 other alleged spies held in East Germany and Poland. \\n30 September 1986: Journalist for U.N. spy. Around three weeks after their respective arrests, American journalist Nicholas Daniloff and accused Soviet spy and United Nations worker Gennadiy Zakharov are released just days apart. \\n9 July 2010: Suburban spies Russia-bound. In the biggest spy swap since the Cold War, 10 convicted Russian agents were exchanged for four people convicted of spying for the U.S. on an airstrip in Vienna, Austria. [ MSNBC /July2010]\\nSection III - COMMENTARY\\nDefense Department Broadens Congressional Oversight of Secret Programs, by Marc Ambinder. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tussles with the White House over expanded intelligence oversight, the Department of Defense quietly and subtly offered Congress an olive branch last week, setting out a formal procedure for the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, to be granted access to special access programs, or SAPs. The change of policy, contained in a directive issued July 1, was first noticed by the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.\\nPelosi wants the Government Accountability Office to oversee special access programs across the intelligence community, including those established by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency. The White House has vehemently resisted GAO oversight on the grounds that it interferes with the prerogative of the executive branch to protect national security information.\\nAccording to the Pentagon instruction, GAO personnel \\\"shall be granted SAP access if\\\" the director of the DoD oversight committee on SAPs agrees, after receiving a request from the chair and ranking member of either the defense or intelligence committees, and if the GAO employee who would review the SAP has the appropriate security clearance level.\\nIn practice, as Secrecy News notes, GAO personnel who work with Congress on these programs have the clearance level, and regularly undergo a counterintelligence polygraph to keep their clearances current. Previously, the DoD had no formal mechanism for complying with, or refusing, congressional requests to have the GAO investigate its secret programs.\\nThere are three kinds of SAPS - open SAPs, which are acknowledged and reported to Congress in an unclassified manner; black or \\\"closed\\\" SAPs, which are reported to Congress in a classified annex to the Defense Department budget; \\\"waived\\\" SAPs, which are orally briefed to the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees, their staff directors, and the chairs and ranking members of the appropriations subcommittee for defense.\\nMost SAPs involve technology projects. At the Department of Defense there are relatively few SAPs involving sensitive human intelligence collection or exploitation methods. Examples of ongoing non-technology SAPs include interrogation protocols for high-level battlefield detainees in Afghanistan managed by the Defense Counterintelligence and HUMINT Center of the DIA, and every single capability of all of special missions units of the Joint Special Operations Command. One entire government agency, the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office, is protected by a SAP.\\nSAPs are managed by security officers in charge of \\\"Special Technical Operations.\\\" [Marc Ambinder is the politics editor of The Atlantic. He has covered Washington for ABC News and the Hotline, and he is chief political consultant to CBS News.] [Ambinder/ TheAtlantic /7July2010] \\nWhy Doesn't the FBI Prosecute More Spies? The Logic Behind Swapping the Russian Agents Rather Than Bringing Them to Trial, by Asha Rangappa. After a tantalizing two weeks involving the arrest of 10 Russian intelligence agents in three U.S. cities, the anticlimactic denouement came yesterday with a spy-swap deal between the United States and Russia in which the accused spies will go free after spending just 10 days in jail. It may seem odd to end a 10-year investigation on suspected foreign agents this way, even if their intelligence amounted to Google searches and pool-party gossip. But given the way the FBI normally deals with spies, putting them in jail probably wasn't its only goal in the first place.\\nRelative to the large number of foreign spies tracked and monitored by the FBI, very few are brought to light through criminal prosecution. This is partly due to the limited number of laws against spying. Apart from the federal espionage statute, which requires prosecutors to prove the intentional passage of classified information, the only law against spies (and the one under which the latest Russian agents have been charged) is the Foreign Agent Registration Act. FARA requires anyone acting on behalf of a foreign government to register as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice. If you're caught breaking the law, the penalty is fairly weak: five years in prison. Only four criminal cases have been brought under the statute since 1966. The dearth of spies prosecuted under either the espionage statute or FARA reflects the FBI's reluctance to lay all of its cards on the table, which is what it generally has to do at trial in a criminal case.\\nIn the game of spy vs. spy, the FBI's strongest weapon is keeping its adversary from knowing what it knows. The investigation into the 10 Russian spies shows that Russia's foreign intelligence service, the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (successor to the KGB) apparently felt confident that it was operating undetected. Working under this assumption, the SVR unwittingly enabled the FBI to collect a steady stream of information on the SVR's agents, contacts, interests, and capabilities. By staying behind the scenes, the FBI ensured that the SVR was giving up all these goodies for almost 10 years.\\nCriminal cases, by contrast, are public, and unless a judge chooses to seal sensitive evidence, they require the government to present exactly what it knows. The criminal complaint against the Russian spies, many note, reads like a Cold War spy thriller, complete with secret rendezvous, false identities, and messages written in invisible ink. For the Russians, though, it should read more like a McKinsey report for how the SVR can improve its game. The complaint names - or, in spytalk, \\\"burns\\\" - the specific FBI agents who conducted this investigation. While FBI counterintelligence agents normally operate overtly - meaning that they don't have to hide the fact that they are with the FBI - they generally do not reveal the country whose agents they are targeting. Now that the complaint has revealed the identities of the SVR's adversaries, the Russian intelligence service can keep an eye out for the specific agents working against them in the United States. (The FBI could, of course, counter-counter-counter by moving these agents to a different target, but given their institutional knowledge and Russian expertise, that would be a loss for our intelligence capabilities).\\nMore significantly, the complaint reveals what the FBI knew about the SVR's tactics and tradecraft. For instance, the FBI learned that in addition to old-school techniques like the \\\"brush pass\\\" (casually exchanging bags between two people while passing), the Russians were using Web imaging encryption software to encode secret messages into ordinary pictures on the Internet, a technique known as steganography. Discovering and decrypting this software allowed the FBI to analyze more than 100 coded text files related to this investigation and likely more communications related to other classified investigations. Now that the SVR knows we know, it will no doubt improve its codes, or abandon this technique entirely, drying up a potential intelligence source for the FBI. (Other, less sophisticated notes to self for future SVR spies include not using bright orange bags, mentioning \\\"Siberia\\\" in conversations, or throwing cell phone receipts into the garbage.)\\nDespite the information it reveals to the other side, criminal prosecution has been necessary and inevitable to stop exchanges of highly classified information such as the secrets passed on to the Russians by former FBI agent Robert Hansen. Still, even that case revealed more about the FBI's own shortcomings than about the Russians. After all, as a Russian counterintelligence agent himself, Hansen had the knowledge and training to outmaneuver the traditional techniques of his FBI colleagues for almost two decades. The investigation into his activities gave the FBI guidance on internal security loopholes that needed to be fixed. The FBI adapted accordingly, enhancing its computer security and requiring regular financial disclosures and polygraphs of its agents.\\nTrading the Russian spies makes sense to ensure that the FBI doesn't leak any more than it already has. But in light of what the FBI lost to the Russians with Hansen, officials must have thought carefully before making the decision to arrest the spies at all. The FBI's Russian counterintelligence program is the agency's oldest and the most protective of its methods and sources. Its agents were well-aware that they were killing (or at least maiming) the goose with the golden eggs by making this case public, and only an anticipated benefit would justify the injury. One possibility is that the arrests were necessary to force the SVR to shut down other activities that pose a greater threat to national security - one that the American public will never know about. Another may be that these arrests will serve to as an example to more important spies on the FBI's radar and help persuade them to work for us as double agents rather than risk being sent home, or to jail. What is certain is that the FBI must have thought it had more to gain than lose - otherwise, the normal course of business would have been to let the spies continue their charade, at the Russians' expense. [Rangappa/ Slate /10July2010] \\nSpy Swap Was a Mistake, by Gene Coyle. [Gene Coyle is a retired, Russian-speaking, 30-year veteran of the CIA, who specialized for most of his career on Russian affairs. He is a recipient of the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit. He is now an adjunct professor at Indiana University and the author of two spy novels.] The Obama administration's rush to sweep the recent Russian spy scandal off the table as quickly as possible with this swap is a bad move on several counts.\\nIt is understandable and correct that President Barack Obama values the overall U.S.-Russian relationship above the question of whether a few Russian spies spend years in jail.\\nThe \\\"reset\\\" campaign was an excellent idea; too bad no one in our Department of State knew how to correctly spell the word in Russian when Secretary Hillary Clinton presented the \\\"button\\\" to the Russian Foreign Minister. However, there is a line between seeking a mutually beneficial relationship and delusional pandering.\\nThe history of U.S.-Russian relations shows that dealing respectfully but firmly is what works best. Most importantly, Moscow only agrees to anything that it perceives to be at least 50 percent in its self-interest, not because we've been nice guys. The only thing releasing all of these deep-cover Russian intelligence officers within a matter of days is going to teach Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, an old KGB officer, is that Obama is a pushover - overly focused on making sure not to offend Russia.\\nAside from sending the wrong political message, the quick swap also tells the leadership of the Russian government and the SVR, its intelligence service, that there is really no downside to being caught carrying out espionage in America.\\nAny intelligence service in the world, including Russia's, when deciding whether to carry out a particular espionage operation looks at the \\\"risk factor.\\\" What will be the blow back if this becomes known?\\nRunning \\\"illegals\\\" - that is, Russians posing as citizens from a third country and who have no overt connection to the Russian embassy or consulates in America - would usually be considered a high-risk operation by Moscow because those Russian citizens don't have diplomatic immunity if caught. It's bad press and it's bad for morale within the SVR if one, much less 11, of your deep cover officers get caught and are facing decades in prison. But Obama has now just told the SVR, \\\"Hey, there is no penalty for spying in America. If we catch you, we'll just let you go so as not to damage 'big picture' relations.\\\"\\nWe did show Russia certain appropriate courtesies in these arrests, which would have indicated we didn't want to harm our political relationship with Russia.\\nWe waited until Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had made his visit to America. We waited until after the G20 meetings in Canada. We haven't even publicly named or expelled the Russian diplomats who were apparently observed being involved in the communications with these illegals. (Hopefully, the Department of State has at least told the Russian ambassador that certain of his diplomats should quietly leave America.) And speaking of morale, what message does this send to the hundreds of FBI special agents who spent thousands of hours working these cases?\\nAccording to various press accounts, the number of Russian intelligence officers in America and Western Europe has already returned to Cold War levels. Obama has now told the Russians, there isn't even a problem if we catch you. Try anything you want.\\nNormally, when any intelligence service has a major flap as this was, it would order an immediate stand down of other operations in that country for perhaps several months while it tried to figure out what had gone wrong. By immediately sending these SVR officers back to Moscow, they will be available to assist in that investigation.\\nNot knowing what all they were involved in - it was certainly more than \\\"penetrating the local PTA\\\" - I don't necessarily advocate having kept these people in prison for decades, but a year or two in prison before offering a swap would have sent a strong message to Putin and the SVR. And if the press accounts are accurate, getting four people out of Russian jails in return for these 10 doesn't seem like much of a bargain either. (An 11th suspect detained in Cyprus remains on the loose after being released on bail.)\\nObama is no doubt an intelligent fellow, but he certainly didn't get very good advice from his intelligence community or Russian experts about how to handle this spy caper. [Coyle/ CNN /11July2010] \\nObituaries\\nSergei Tretyakov: Former Russian Spy Defected to U.S. in 2000. Sergei Tretyakov, a high-ranking Russian spy whose defection to the United States in 2000 was regarded as one of the most significant coups against the Russian government since the collapse of the Soviet Union, died June 13 at his home in Osprey, Fla.\\nMr. Tretyakov's wife said he died after suffering a heart attack, according to Pete Earley, the author of a book about Mr. Tretyakov. The former Russian spy was 53 and news of his death was withheld at the request of his family pending an investigation into the cause, Earley said.\\n\\\"This man literally held the keys to a Russian intelligence gold mine,\\\" an unnamed FBI official was quoted as saying in Earley's 2007 book, \\\"Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War.\\\" \\\"He used those keys to unlock its doors and go into the mine every day to bring us nuggets.\\\"\\nMr. Tretyakov was born into a spying family and rose through the ranks of Russian intelligence to become a colonel in the SVR, the successor to the Soviet KGB espionage agency.\\nAt the time of his defection on Oct. 11, 2000, Mr. Tretyakov allegedly had been working as a double agent for the United States for three years while he was the SVR's second-in-command in New York. From 1995 to 2000, he oversaw all Russian covert operations in the city and had more than 60 intelligence officers under his command, according to Earley's book.\\nThe intelligence Mr. Tretyakov handed over during his time as a double agent amounted to more than 5,000 top-secret SVR cables and scores of classified Russian intelligence reports. He wrote an estimated 400 papers for the CIA, the FBI, the State Department and the White House.\\nFor his efforts, Mr. Tretyakov and his family were given U.S. citizenship, and he reportedly netted the highest amount ever paid to a U.S. intelligence source - a fortune that was said to be in the millions of dollars, which he used to buy himself a Lexus SUV and his wife a Porsche.\\nSergei Olegovich Tretyakov was born in Moscow on Oct. 5, 1956. His grandmother was a typist and secretary in the forerunner of the KGB. His father worked in the Soviet nuclear weapons program, and his mother worked in the financial office of the KGB and helped her son gain entry into the spy service.\\nMr. Tretyakov was born with a heart defect that would have denied him entry into the KGB, but his mother bribed a doctor to leave the condition out of his application to the agency.\\nWhen the ruse was discovered, his commander recognized that Mr. Tretyakov's skill at beating the system suggested great potential as a spy.\\nEarly in his career, Mr. Tretyakov impressed senior officers by analyzing seemingly innocuous, and unclassified, U.S. reports and gleaning valuable intelligence from their pages.\\nIn one instance, he was able to extrapolate from a congressional report on U.S. military installations which types of aircraft could land at certain bases, judging from the length of their runways.\\nHe was dispatched to Ottawa on his first overseas assignment in 1990 and was known under the code name \\\"Comrade Jean.\\\" There, he recruited several high-ranking Canadian officials, allegedly including a member of Parliament.\\nIn Earley's book, Mr. Tretyakov revealed much of the SVR's structure, including technical details about operations and the identities of agents and sources. He also revealed that his agents had skimmed $500 million in profits for the Russian government from the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq.\\nHe claimed to have unmasked dozens of SVR undercover agents, including several ambassadors and U.N. representatives, but despite the sweeping accusations, no one cited by Mr. Tretyakov has been charged with espionage.\\nMany critics said Mr. Tretyakov exaggerated his persona as a good guy, but he never denied his role within the ruthless intelligence agency, saying, \\\"I'm not a Boy Scout.\\\"\\nNewspaper accounts speculated that Mr. Tretyakov had taken part in outing FBI double agent Robert Hanssen in 2001 and in the recent arrests of Russian agents living deep undercover in the United States for more than a decade. But Earley said that Mr. Tretyakov never admitted to being the Hanssen source and that he apparently had no role in the investigation of the spy ring.\\nSurvivors include his wife, Helen, and a daughter, Ksenia, both of Osprey.\\nEarley, a former Washington Post reporter, said he was skeptical of Mr. Tretyakov's motivations when he first met the former spy. But Mr. Tretyakov said he came forward only because of his disgust with the Russian government.\\n\\\"Of course I want people to know what I have done,\\\" Mr. Tretyakov told Earley in the book. \\\"However, most Americans can't pronounce Tretyakov, nor will they remember the name for longer than a few seconds.\\\" [Shapiro/ WashingtonPost /10July2010]\\nArnold Kramish: Physicist Worked on Manhattan Project. Arnold Kramish, 87, a physicist, historian and author who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II, died June 15 at George Washington University Hospital of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurological disorder.\\nMr. Kramish participated in the Manhattan Project, the U.S. program to develop the atomic bomb, as a member of the special engineering division at Oak Ridge, Tenn., the Philadelphia Navy Yard and Los Alamos, N.M.\\nOn Sept. 2, 1944, he was severely burned during an explosion at an experimental uranium enrichment facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. According to Mr. Kramish, who described the accident in an article published in The Washington Post, the result was \\\"perhaps then the largest release in history of radioactive materials.\\\"\\nTwo men were killed in the blast, and the cause of their deaths was kept confidential to avoid leaking information about the top-secret bomb project. Years later, Mr. Kramish campaigned for official recognition of their contributions to the war effort.\\nAfter the war, Mr. Kramish served with the Atomic Energy Commission and later as a nuclear weapons research strategist at the Rand Corp., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank that often advised the government.\\nDuring the 1970s, he was posted in Paris as a State Department counselor, and he served as nuclear arms control and security adviser to UNESCO and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.\\nHe wrote \\\"The Griffin\\\" (1986), a biography of Paul Rosbaud, an Austrian spy who during World War II provided the Allies with information about Nazi attempts to build an atomic bomb.\\nIn a Washington Post review of the book, author and historian Gregg Herken wrote, \\\"Despite Kramish's careful research, which included interviews with approximately 500 of those who knew Rosbaud, it is an ironic tribute to this bookish spy's mastery of his trade that the Griffin remains a surprisingly shadowy figure, one who continues to defy the effort to capture him.\\\"\\nArnold Kramish was born in Denver on June 6, 1923. He graduated from the University of Denver in 1945 and received a master's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1947.\\nHe moved frequently for his career, settling in Reston in 1976.\\nDuring the Reagan administration, Mr. Kramish directed a White House study on the Strategic Defense Initiative and served as an adviser to the undersecretary of defense for policy. He received a Carnegie Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.\\nMr. Kramish taught courses at the University of California at Los Angeles, the London School of Economics and other institutions.\\nHis books included \\\"Atomic Energy in the Soviet Union\\\" (1959), \\\"The Peaceful Atom in Foreign Policy\\\" (1963) and \\\"The Future of Non-Nuclear Nations\\\" (1970). He held a patent for a nuclear radiometer.\\nMr. Kramish was a member of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation and the Authors Guild.\\nSurvivors include his wife of 57 years, Vivian Raker of Reston; two children, Pamela Jones of Hickory, N.C., and Robert Kramish of Berkeley, Calif.; a sister; and four grandchildren. [Brown/ WashingtonPost /10July2010]\\nComing Events\\nEVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....\\n16, 23 July 2010, 8 and 10 pm - Washington, DC - THE SPY MAGIC SHOW - An incredible exploration into the secrets of spies, shown through stunning sleight-of-hand magic by master magician Michael Gutenplan.\\nMichael Gutenplan, an expert in sleight-of-hand magic is about to expose the secrets of the CIA and you are invited to watch! In an intimate room at the famed Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., Michael will perform world-class magical effects and tell how magicians and the CIA have worked together since its creation in 1947. Using cards, money and mind reading Michael will expose the secrets and skills that have only been rumored to exist. From thought transference and teleportation to lie detection and invisible ink, Michael will transport you to another world where fact and legend go hand- in-hand and spies are around every corner. Grab a drink, have a seat and join us for this once in a lifetime event!\\nTickets can be purchased through www.spymagicshow.com or by calling 1-866-811-4111. All tickets are $40.00.\\nThe Spy Magic Show plays Friday, July 16 and 23rd at 8:00 PM and 10:00 in the Roosevelt Room at the Ritz Carlton, located at 1150 22nd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037\\nMichael Gutenplan is a professional magician originally from New York and now residing in Los Angeles. He has performed his signature brand of magic around the world including in Great Britain, Spain, Israel, Jordan and across the United States. He was the creator and star of Extraordinary Deceptions, an Off-Broadway magic show that earned Michael rave reviews in the New York Times, Variety and other prestigious publications.\\nWednesday, 21 July 2010, 10 am - 12:45 pm - Annapolis Junction, MD - \\\"The Mysterious Rosetta Stone: A Code-Cracking International Treasure\\\" with Dr. Joel Freeman, is topic at the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation Summer Cryptologic meeting .\\nAll AFIO members are invited to hear our guest speaker, Dr. Joel Freeman, CEO and President of the Freeman Institute, discuss the history of the Rosetta Stone, focusing on the historical connection between the Rosetta Stone and the breaking of codes. Guests will have an opportunity to view the full-sized, three-dimensional Rosetta Stone replica normally on display in the lobby of the National Cryptologic Museum. Dr. Freeman is an gifted speaker and author. As part of the program there will be a brief presentation to acknowledge the Milt Zaslow Memorial Award for Cryptology that was presented for the first time at this year's Maryland History Day Ceremony on 24 April.\\nLocation: the L3 Conference Center in the National Business Park. Lunch will be served at 11:45 following the presentation. L3 Conference Center is located at 2720 Technology Dr, Annapolis Junction, MD 21076 in the Rt. 32 National Business Park.\\nCost: the fee is $25 to cover program & lunch costs.\\nConfirm your attendance by Wednesday, 14 July, by calling (301) 688-5436 to pay by credit card or by mailing a check to NCMF, POB 1682, Ft. Meade, MD 20755. We look forward to seeing you there.\\n22 July 2010 – San Francisco, CA – The AFIO Jim Quesada San Francisco Chapter hosts John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism after the September 11 attacks .\\nJohn Yoo is currently a professor of law at UC Berkeley. Yoo will be discussing his new book, Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush. RSVP and pre-payment required. The meeting will be held in San Francisco: 11:30 AM no host cocktails; noon - luncheon. $25 member rate with advance reservation and payment; $35 non-member. E-mail RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi (please indicate chicken or fish): afiosf@aol.com and mail check made out to \\\"AFIO\\\" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578 Burlingame, CA 94011\\n24 July 2010 - Abilene, KS - Korea 60: Eisenhower the Peacemaker - Honoring Those who Served in Korea - CIA joint conference at Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene, Kansas\\nThe Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum will host a day of programs on July 24 to honor the service of Americans who have served in the Republic of Korea from 1950 to the present.\\nThe day begins with a presentation by intelligence agency historians and ends with dinner and entertainment. All events are free and open to the public with the exception of the dinner, which costs $20 per person.\\nThe schedule is as follows: Eisenhower, Intelligence, and Korea Visitors Center Auditorium, 10:30 a.m. - noon -Dr. Clayton Laurie, CIA \\\"Baptism by Fire: CIA Analysis of the Korean War\\\" -Dr. David Hatch, NSA historian, \\\"DDE and COMINT: Astute Consumer and Agent of Change\\\" The Korean War was the Agency's first role in an international conflict. The opening of classified material as featured in the \\\"Baptism By Fire\\\" book will contribute significantly to the historic record of the Korean War, making possible new research and great understanding of early Cold War history.\\nKorean War and Service Veterans Panel Discussion Visitors Center Auditorium, 1 to 2:45 p.m. The panel will feature Dr. Paul Edwards, Director Emeritus, Center for the Study of the Korean War, as moderator. Panel members include veterans who have served in Korea at various times from the 1950s to the 1990s.\\nKeynote Address | Lt. Gen. Robert Arter, U.S. Army (Ret.) Presentation of Eisenhower Peacemaker Coins Visitors Center Auditorium, 3 to 4:30 p.m.\\nKeynote speaker retired Lt. Gen. Robert Arter is a veteran of the wars in Korea and Vietnam and former commander of the U.S. Sixth Army. Arter is a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, and a consultant and bank director. In 2009 he received the Distinguished Civilian Service Award for his work as a Civilian Aide. It is the highest award a civilian can receive from the Army.\\nThe Eisenhower Peacemaker Coin is available to Korean War veterans and all those who have served to keep the peace in Korea since the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953. (Coin recipients or their representatives MUST be present at the ceremony.) If you or a loved one served in Korea and are able to attend the ceremony, sign up to receive the Eisenhower Peacemaker Coin.\\nReception and Dinner 5:30 p.m. Social | Library Lobby 6:00 p.m. Dinner | Library Courtyard Cost is $20 per person and includes the remarks by retired Maj. Gen. Singlaub and entertainment by Ray Marco. RSVPs required by July 16. Please send check, made payable to Eisenhower Foundation, to P.O. Box 339, Abilene, Kan. 67410.\\nRemarks | Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, U.S. Army (Ret.) - Singlaub is a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. From July 1976 to June 1977 he served as Chief of Staff, United Nations Command, U.S. Forces Korea. He is recipient of many decorations and awards. His autobiography, Hazardous Duty, was published in 1991.\\nEntertainment | Ray Marco Mr. Marco is a veteran performer of the stage, television and motion picture screen. His 1956 hit \\\"Abilene\\\" was the unofficial campaign song for President Eisenhower's successful re-election. Mr. Marco is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Security Service.\\nThis program is in partnership with the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Please visit the Truman Library web site at www.trumanlibrary.org for a full schedule of events. The Truman Library programming focuses on the early time period of the war while the Eisenhower Library focuses on the latter time period and years since the signing of the armistice. This program is sponsored by the Eisenhower Foundation and Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. It is dedicated to President Eisenhower's successful conclusion of the conflict on July 27, 1953.\\n28 July 2010, 9 am - 5 pm - Miami, FL - INFRAGARD South Florida and the FBI invite AFIO MEMBERS to their South Florida Conference\\nLocation: Florida International University, Management Advanced Research Center, Room # 125, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33199\\nSpeakers: Eric S. Ackerman, PhD, InfraGard South Florida Chapter President, Stewart L. Appelrouth, CPA, InfraGard Treasurer, SA Nelson J. Barbosa, InfraGard Coordinator/FBI Miami\\nSam Fadel, Florida Regional Field Investigator, Corporate Security Department, This presentation will focus on data breach investigations, specifically credit card/account number breaches. Defines the roles of the issuers, law enforcement and forensic experts.\\nSA Kathleen J. Cymbaluk, Miami FBI Recruiter on FBI Employment Needs. This presentation will discuss current hiring needs of the FBI and requirements on how to qualify and apply.\\nStewart Appelrouth and Ed Farath, CPA, Appelrouth/Farah & Co., P.A., This presentation will focus on Financial Fraud, Specifically Ponzi Schemes.\\nRichard Wickliffe, Team Manager, Special Investigation Unit, State Farm Insurance Companies, Will discuss Fraud, White Collar Financial Issues- and Possible Counterterrorism Implications.\\nRandall C. Culp, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI, This presentation will discuss Health Care Fraud – Adapting Investigations and Prosecutions to deal with emerging trends.\\nGun Running from Broward and Palm Beaches Counties - Mark A. Hastbacka, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI, This presentation will touch on IRA gun running operation in the above counties from a counterterrorism investigation point-of view\\nRSVP TO Nelson Barbosa at FBI Miami Field Office: Nelson.Barbosa@ic.fbi.gov\\nSaturday, 31 July 2010, 10 am - 12 noon - Coral Gables, FL - AFIO/Miami Police Department Counter-Terrorism Training. In cooperation with the City of Miami Police Dept, Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, Officer Marcos T. Perez, AFIO will be presenting a Counter-Terrorism Training and Program. \\\"Operation Miami Shield.\\\" There is limited space available for this program.\\nPlease RSVP with checks enclosed before July 21, 2010. There is a $10 charge for AFIO Members. Guests will be charged at $25 per person. Checks payable to \\\"AFIO\\\" and mailed to Tom Spencer at 999 Ponce de Leon Blvd Ste 510, Coral Gables, FL 33134\\nSaturday, 14 August 2010, 11 am - Orange Park, FL - AFIO Northern Florida Chapter hears expert on technology capabilities of FBI/DEA/ATF regarding air travel.\\nSocial hour from 11:00 am, lunch at noon, and speaker and meeting to follow until 3:00 pm. This meeting's guest speaker will be Mr. Bob DeFrancesco, Security Chief at Jacksonville International Airport. In concert with Ken Nimmich, DeFrancesco will delve privately and confidentially into the technology requirements and capabilities of his systems. He will address successes and failures of both the technology and the dependency of interagency regimes, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, etc. Also in preparation for the meeting, there will be a review of the Nova video on NSA ( www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZWtEp3fLLvo ) and 9/11 ( www.youtube.com/ watch?v=8EiiZUUGQyI ) ramp up from an interagency perspective. Chapter President Dane Baird applauds Bill Webb on this effort and hopes all members can watch the videos, twice if possible, prior to the meeting. Hopefully these are the right YouTube links to access these videos - let me know if not! For potential upcoming meetings, President Baird has uncovered some impressive resumes of generals and admirals living within reach of Ponte Vedra, including one who flew with the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. Think about it, and let us know if a special China program would be interesting – and we're sure that Bill could certainly enhance and enlighten such presentation(s).\\nRSVP right away for the 14 August 2010 meeting to Quiel at qbegonia@comcast.net or 904-545-9549. The cost will be $16 each, pay the Country Club at the event.\\n17 - 20 August 2010 - Cleveland, OH - AFIO National Symposium on the Great Lakes - \\\"Intelligence and National Security on the Great Lakes\\\"\\nCo-Hosted with the AFIO Northern Ohio Chapter at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cleveland, OH. Includes presentations by U.S. Coast Guard on Great Lakes security; Canadian counterparts to explain double-border issues; National Air/Space Intelligence Center; Air Force Technical Applications Center; Ohio Aerospace Institute. Cruise on Lake Erie .\\nSpies-in-Black-Ties Dinner and Cruise on Lake Erie. Make your reservations here . Agenda here.\\n29-30 September 2010 - Washington, DC - Conference on the American Experience in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975 by the U.S. Department of State .\\nThe U.S. Department of State's Office of the Historian is pleased to invite AFIO members to a conference on the American Experience in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975, which will be held in the George C. Marshall Conference Center at the State Dept. The conference will feature a number of key Department of State personnel, both past and present. Those speaking will include:\\n* Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger\\n* Former Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte\\n* Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard A. Holbrooke\\nThe conference will include a panel composed of key print and television media personnel from the Vietnam period discussing the impact of the press on public opinion and United States policy. A number of scholarly panels featuring thought-provoking works by leading scholars will also take place. Registration information will be available at the State Dept website, http://history.state.gov , after August 1.\\nSaturday, 2 October 2010, 6:30 pm - Washington, DC - William J. Donovan Award Dinner Honoring Ross Perot by The OSS Society\\nThe OSS Society celebrates the historical accomplishments of the OSS during WWII through a William J. Donovan Award Dinner. This year the annual dinner honors Ross Perot. Event includes special performance by humorist Mark Russell. Black Tie/Dress Mess. Location: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC. By invitation. Tables of ten: $25,000; Table of ten: $15,000; Table of eight: $10,000; Table of Six: $5000; Seating of four: $3,000; One guest: $1,000. Some tickets available for $175 pp. Donations welcomed. Inquiries to The OSS Society at oss@osssociety.org\\n \\nFor Additional Events two+ months or greater....view our online Calendar of Events\\n----------------------------------------------------------------------- \\nWeekly Intelligence Notes (WINs) are commentaries on Intelligence and related national security matters, based on open media sources, selected, interpreted, edited and produced for non-profit educational uses by members and WIN subscribers. \\nREMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not wish to add clutter to inboxes. To discontinue receiving the WINs: \\na) IF YOU ARE A MEMBER -- click here: UNSUBSCRIBE and supply your full name and email address where you receive the WINs. Click SEND, you will be removed from list. If this link doesn't open a blank email, create one on your own and send to afio@afio.com with the words: REMOVE FROM WINs as the subject, and provide your full name and email address where you are currently receiving them.\\n b) IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER, and you received this message, someone forwarded this newsletter to you [contrary to AFIO policies]. Forward to afio@afio.com the entire WIN or message you received and we will remove the sender from our membership and distribution lists. The problem will be solved for both of us.\\nCONTENTS of this WIN [HTML version recipients - Click title to jump to story or section, Click Article Title to return to Contents. This feature does not work for Plaintext Edition or for some AOL recipients]. If you wish to change to HTML format, let us know at afio@afio.com . The HTML feature also does not work for those who access their e-mail using web mail...however NON-HTML recipients may view the latest edition each week in HTML at this link: http://www.afio.com/sections/wins/currentwins/currentwin.htm\\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------\\nWINs are protected by copyright laws and intellectual property laws, and may not be reproduced or re-sent without specific permission from the Producer. Opinions expressed in the WINs are solely those of the editor(s) or author(s) listed with each article. AFIO Members Support the AFIO Mission - sponsor new members! CHECK THE AFIO WEBSITE at www.afio.com for back issues of the WINs, information about AFIO, conference agenda and registrations materials, and membership applications and much more!\\n(c) 2010, AFIO, 6723 Whittier Ave Suite 200, McLean, VA 22101. Voice: (703) 790-0320; Fax: (703) 991-1278; Email: afio@afio.com\\nClick here to return to top.\",\n \"Nasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon [Archive] - Israel ...\\n... Nasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon ... all Shi ite muslim, ... midnight talks with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that were followed by ...\\nNasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon [Archive] - Israel Military Forum\\nRascal\\n05-26-2007, 10:21 AM\\nDEBKAfile: Hizballah head warns Lebanon and Arab world not to tangle with al Qaeda on US behalf. BBC reporter�s kidnappers urge jihadists to help Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon\\nMay 26, 2007, 11:56 AM (GMT+02:00)\\nhttp://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif http://www.debka.com/photos/s_4236.jpg http://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif\\nhttp://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif\\nAl Qaeda�s regional and Palestinian network has come to the surface under the pressure of the Fatah al-Islam-Lebanese showdown in the northern Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp.\\nHassan Nasrallah�s dramatic TV speech Friday night, May 25, confirmed that the Fatah al-Islam faction fighting in Lebanon is al Qaeda, at a time when the jihadists� deepening involvement in the Palestinian cause is taboo for Israeli, Arab and Western spokesmen. Nasrallah bluntly urged the Lebanese army not to storm the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli because that would entangle Lebanon in the US war on al Qaeda. The camp and Palestinian civilians would be a red line. �We will not accept or provide cover or be partners in this,� he said. The Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah alliance should support the Sunni group fighting in the Lebanese Palestinian camp, not oppose it.\\nDEBKAfile�s intelligence sources point to the relevance of Nasrallah�s words to the Gaza crisis. He spoke shortly after the Palestinian Army of Islam in Gaza posted an Internet statement calling on jihadists to rally behind Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon. The group said it is holding BBC journalist Alan Johnston who was kidnapped in Gaza City on March 12.\\nThree further points are pertinent to the Palestinian-Israel conflict:\\n1. Nasrallah�s �red line� has opened the door to the transfer of Hizballah hardware to support Fatah al-Islam to counter-balance US military aid to the Lebanese army.\\n2. While Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the world-wide Palestinian Liberation Organization, insists that the Palestinians are not involved with Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon, Palestinian groups in Gaza and South Lebanon have announced they are prepared to wage battle in their respective arenas in support of their Lebanese comrades. Abbas has conspicuously omitted mention of the pro-Syrian Palestinian organizations fighting alongside Fatah al-Islam at Damascus� instigation.\\n3. The Iran-Syria-Hizballah bloc�s support for al Qaeda�s campaign in Lebanon applies equally to the Gaza-based jihadist group�s offensive against Israel.\\nRascal\\n05-26-2007, 11:54 AM\\nIf the US assisted with troops in Lebanon,Hizbo would be fuked and totally surounded.I am sure Israel is beefing up its defences in the North as we speak.\\nPaparock\\nWhy might Syria wish to sow chaos in Lebanon now?\\nBy Jonathan Spyer\\nThe Jerusalem Post, May 20, 2007\\nThirty eight people lost their lives on Sunday in fierce fighting between the Lebanese military and Sunni jihadist operatives near the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, close to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. This outbreak of violence represents the heaviest toll in intra-Lebanese violence since the conclusion of the Lebanese civil war of 1975-90. The events in Nahr al-Bared cast light on a side of the Lebanese crisis which has until now been largely ignored by the international media. This is the emergence in recent months of an organization of armed Sunni Islamist operatives in the largely-Sunni north of the country. So far, much of the coverage has suggested that the group in question, known as Fatah al-Islam, may be linked to the al-Qaida network. Nevertheless, informed opinion suggests caution before drawing the simple conclusion that Fatah al-Islam is merely Osama bin-Laden's latest local franchise.\\nFatah al-Islam is a breakaway of a Syrian-backed Palestinian organization called Fatah-intifada, which itself split from the mainstream Palestinian Fatah group in 1983. Fatah-intifada has little presence outside of the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon and Syria, and is widely regarded as a tool of the Syrian regime with little popular support. The group, led by a Palestinian called Shakir al-Abssi, surfaced in the Nahr al-Bared camp last November and is thought to contain around 100 fighters from the camp. The group includes Sunni Islamists of a variety of nationalities, about half of whom are drawn from the Sunni Lebanese community. Apart from Palestinians, there are also said to be Syrian and Saudi citizens among its ranks.\\nWhile Syrian officials have been keen from the outset to describe al-Abssi and his group as operating \\\"in favor of al-Qaida,\\\" Lebanese authorities suspect that the group may in fact be a client of the Syrian authorities themselves, established to act as an instrument of policy in Lebanon, fomenting disorder. The Assad regime has a long history of utilizing terrorist and paramilitary groups for such a purpose. Fatah-intifada itself was used by Hafez Assad in a power struggle with Yassir Arafat in the Lebanon refugee camps between 1985-88. The regime is known also to have engaged operatives of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party to carry out assassinations in Lebanon during the civil war period.\\nSuspicions regarding Fatah al-Islam center on the fact that Shakir al-Abssi was sentenced in 2003 to three years in prison in Syria after being convicted of plotting attacks inside the country. This was an unusually lenient sentence. By comparison, for example, Syrians suspected of involvement in the Muslim Brotherhood are routinely given 12-year terms. Al-Abssi, after his release, turned up among pro-Syrian Fatah-intifada circles in Nahr al-Bared and shortly afterward emerged as the leader of the new group, Fatah al-Islam. These facts have led General Ashraf Rifi, head of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (FSI), to conclude that \\\"this is a Syrian creation to sow chaos.\\\" Which raises the question, why might the Syrians wish to sow chaos in Lebanon, and why now?\\nA draft resolution for the unilateral establishment of an international tribunal on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was circulated in the UN Security Council by the US, France and Britain last week. It is known that the Syrian regime is determined to prevent this tribunal at all costs, since it is believed that senior Syrian officials may be found to have been involved in the Hariri killing. Could it be that the regime in Damascus might see an escalation of tension in Lebanon as currently helpful - as a tacit reminder to the international community of what Damascus is capable of when put in a corner? This is the view of senior officials in Lebanese government, and is in keeping with earlier practices of the Damascus regime.\\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\nDr. Jonathan Spyer is a research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.\\nAt this same time:\\nAl-Qaida Leader in Afghanistan Begs for Cash Donations\\nBy Evan Kohlmann\\nIn a new As-Sahab Media Foundation video broadcast yesterday on Al-Jazeera, the declared leader of Al-Qaida's forces in Afghanistan Shaykh Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (a.k.a. \\\"Shaykh Saeed\\\") signals that the Taliban are suffering from a serious cash crunch. An unidentified interviewer asks, \\\"What are the current needs of the Jihad in Afghanistan?\\\" Whereupon, Shaykh Saeed responds:\\n\\\"As for the needs of the Jihad in Afghanistan, the first of them is financial. The Mujahideen of the Taliban number in the thousands, but they lack funds. And there are hundreds wishing to carry out martyrdom-seeking operations, but they can't find the funds to equip themselves. So funding is the mainstay of Jihad. They also need personnel from their Arab brothers and their brothers from other countries in all spheres: military, scientific, informational and otherwise... And here we would like to point out that those who perform Jihad with their wealth should be certain to only send the funds to those responsible for finances and no other party, as to do otherwise leads to disunity and differences in the ranks of the Mujahideen.\\\"\\nPaparock\\n05-26-2007, 03:40 PM\\nDEBKAfile’s military sources report that Friday, May 25, the first cargoes of American advanced weapons, ammunition and special anti-terror combat systems landed in Beirut to boost the Lebanese army’s bid to subdue the radical Fatah al-Islam uprising in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli.\\nOur sources add that the scale of this military aid injection is extensive.\\nThe transports’ holds are being loaded from US emergency stores in the region. For the first time, Arab and Gulf governments are overtly taking a direct hand in US warfare against al Qaeda in the Middle East as it spreads from Iraq to Lebanon with Syrian connivance. Washington has determined to quench the flames in N. Lebanon before they engulf the rest of the country.\\nDEBKAfile’s military sources add that some of the Jordanian air transports are also carrying assistance in the form of officers and instructors of the kingdom’s special force and intelligence, who are well-seasoned in combat against the al Qaeda menace in Iraq and at home. They are now on hand to take command of Lebanese army units and anti-Syrian factions in Tripoli which have failed so far to contain the Fatah al-Islam challenge which has escalated dangerously following the infiltration of pro-Syrian reinforcements to the camp.\\nThey are led by members of the pro-Syrian Tehran-funded Palestinian extremist Ahmed Jibril’s group, armed by Damascus and directed by Syrian military intelligence officers, who maintain a presence in North Lebanon.\\nTourists in Lebanon will be bombed and no Christian will be safe unless the Lebanese army lifts is siege of Nahr al-Bared camp. This threat came from al Qaeda in the Levant over a video and web site.\\nHundreds of al Qaeda-linked extremists are stirring up the inmates of the Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp of Ein Hilwa in the south to support Fatah al Islam.\\nAbout 75 people have been killed in the battles and half of the camp’s 40,000 residents have fled.\\n'WE WILL ERADICATE THEM'\\nThe End Nears for Militants in Lebanese Camp\\nBy Ulrike Putz (ulrike_putz@spiegel.de) in Tripoli, Lebanon\\nThe Islamist militants from Fatah Islam have vowed to fight to the end. The Lebanese military has promised to annhiliate them. On day five of the crisis at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, the stand-off continues.\\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,877772,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-877771-484733,00.html) http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/icons/ic_lupe.gif (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-877771-484733,00.html)\\nGetty Images\\nA Lebanese soldier stands guard at the edge of the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared.\\n\\\"During the next 48 hours, we will eradicate them,\\\" says the elite Lebanese soldier, lying behind a freshly raised mound of red earth. \\\"They,\\\" of course, are the militants of the radical Palestinian group Fatah Islam. And the effort to eradicate them has virtually destroyed the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared where they are holed up.\\nThe ground is strewn with the empty casings of high-caliber bullets; the soot-blackened ruins of the camp north of the Lebanese seaport of Tripoli stand about 200 meters (650 feet) away. Fatah Islam snipers on the roofs take aim at the Lebanese rangers who have dug in east of the camp. \\\"I hope they will attack us soon. Then we'll strike back and finish them off,\\\" says the officer, who wants only to be called Spiro.\\nSpiro's merciless prediction is certainly not improbable. A massacre seems inevitable on the fifth day of the stand-off between fundamentalist Muslim militants and the Lebanese military. The militia, which has entrenched itself in Nahr al-Bared, is surrounded by a large contingent of soldiers -- including at least 700 elite troops. Even as a cease-fire appears to be holding on Thursday, with only sporadic gunfire, they are waiting for the decisive battle. It's a battle the Fatah Islam militants cannot win and don't intend to survive: Spokesmen for the group, which Western intelligence agencies consider close to al-Qaida, have warned that it will fight to the end, and take as many soldiers down with it as possible.\\n'Prepared to Commit Suicide'\\nThe Lebanese side seems just as unwilling to back down. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in a television address on Thursday that his military remains committed to eliminating Fatah Islam. Calling the group a terrorist organization, he said it was \\\"attempting to ride on the suffering and the struggle of the Palestinian people.\\\" He continued: \\\"We will work to root out and strike at terrorism but we will embrace and protect our brothers in the camps.\\\"\\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,798728,00.gif (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460322,00.html)\\nJust how many radicals are still alive and willing to fight is unclear. A high-ranking officer said on Wednesday that more than 750 had barricaded themselves in the camp. The Fatah Islam militants are just as well equipped and trained as the military, the officer says. \\\"But they are prepared to commit suicide, and that could be described as their advantage.\\\"\\nThe militia and the military have been engaged in heavy fighting since Sunday, leaving about 70 militiamen and soldiers dead, according to news agency reports. At least 20 civilians are also said to have been killed during the skirmishes before a cease-fire negotiated on Tuesday enabled many of the 31,000 inhabitants of the densely populated Nahr al-Bared camp to flee.\\nThe Lebanese government accuses the militia of having planned and executed terrorist attacks, with the Nahr al-Bared camp serving as a hideout and command center. About 400,000 Palestinian refugees, forced by the wars in the Middle East to leave their homes, live in 12 camps inside Lebanon -- camps to which the Lebanese police have no access due to a 40-year-old agreement with the Palestinians.\\n'They Are Prepared to Commit Suicide'\\nThe terrain on the edge of the camp where Spiro's soldiers have dug in was still in the hands of the Fatah Islam militants on Tuesday. The rangers moved in at dawn on Wednesday, flattening the reeds that grew there and raising protective mounds of earth among the cypress trees. Ranger Rommel can't say how many people he has killed in the past few days. \\\"It must have been a lot,\\\" says the 27-year-old, whose parents named him after the German Field Marshal who commanded the Nazi Afrikakorps. \\\"At first it was a shock to be in a real battle after all the training,\\\" Rommel says. Later, he adds, it was like being in a movie. \\\"A drunk state in which you don't care whether you're shooting at children, the elderly or militants.\\\"\\nPhoto Gallery: Day Three in Lebanon\\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876161,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)\\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876138,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)\\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876114,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (7 Photos)\\nIt looks like the movie will play again soon, he says: \\\"We have precise indications that our position will be a target for suicide attacks.\\\" The information he has indicates that the attackers will be old women.\\nIt's the first time since the fighting started that Spiros's and Rommel's units have had a chance to rest. The men smoke, eat fresh plums and make bawdy jokes about each other's girlfriends. One soldier hands out plastic bags with pita bread, tins of tuna and tomatoes. Most answer questions in flawless English, having received, they say, part of their training in the United States. Some of them are even citizens of both the US and Lebanon.\\nThe men have repeatedly raided the camp during the past 72 hours and are markedly shaken by the house-to-house fighting they have experienced. \\\"These militants are not religious people; they're sadists,\\\" says Husam, whose voice is hoarse from shouting over the noise of battle. \\\"They decapitated some of our people.\\\" He and his fellow soldiers found Egyptian, Sudanese and Bangladeshi passports on the bodies of dead Fatah Islam militants, he says. \\\"Most of them are not from here. They're fanatics from outside who have rallied here.\\\"\\nNothing Good to Say about Fatah Islam\\nA few kilometers to the south, a caravan of refugees is leaving the camp behind, moving slowly. Everyone's ID is checked to ensure no militants escape by mingling with the refugees. From neighbors shot while fetching bread to one farmer's economic ruin -- caused by a grenade that killed eleven of his cows -- the refugees have gone through days of horror. Now they are fleeing into a nearby Palestinian camp, where an uncertain future awaits them. Even though it was the Lebanese military that opened fire on the camp, nobody has anything good to say about Fatah Islam.\\nMahmud Darwish, an IT student who lives in the camp, also says that the problems were started by foreigners who began moving into the camp one or two years ago. The men, he says, married into Palestinian families and spent lavishly to buy apartments in Nahr al-Bared. A pharmacist reports that the fundamentalist Muslims disclosed their identity increasingly openly in recent months. \\\"They were impossible to overlook, riding mopeds with their long beards and dressed in ostentatiously chaste clothing,\\\" he says. As time went by, the fundamentalists became increasingly self-confident. \\\"When a man cursed in their presence, they surrounded and scolded him,\\\" the pharmacist says.\\nThe Palestinians didn't just stand idly by as Fatah Islam moved in. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Nahr al-Bared tried for months to isolate the fundamentalists. The current intervention by the Lebanese army is -- over and above the suffering it has caused the refugees inside the camp -- unwelcome by the Palestinian powers that be.\\nAfter the cease-fire went into effect on Tuesday, the PLO announced it wants to get rid of the radicals itself. The PLO's authority in the camp would be substantially weakened were the Lebanese military to find success where they have not. Most observers, though, have little faith that the PLO would have much chance of victory.\\nMeanwhile, the Lebanese forces are considering storming the camp as the Islamic militants have refused an ultimatum to surrender. Some Islamists have allegedly tried to escape -- the Lebanese military announced on Thursday that it had destroyed two small boats full of militants trying to escape into the nearby Mediterranean Sea.\\nAt the camp, the soldiers are busy preparing for more fighting. Some, though, are also reflective after the four-day orgy of violence. Spiro, standing next to the wreck of a vehicle that is missing all of its windows, says: \\\"People sought safety in this bus.\\\" Large puddles of blood have dried on the pavement below. \\\"They drove towards us. They could have been militants,\\\" Spiro says.\\nHis troops were the ones who opened fire on the bus -- before retrieving three corpses and several injured from the wreck. \\\"Terrible, but that's just what war is like.\\\"\\n'Fath Al-Islam' Military Commander: We Are 'Ready To Blow Up Every Place In Lebanon'In an interview with the London daily Al-Hayat, the military commander of the Fath Al-Islam organization, Shihab Al-Qaddour, also known as Abu Hurieira, threatened that if attacks by the Lebanese military against his organization continued, \\\"all fronts will be opened\\\" and that Fath Al-Islam would be \\\"ready to blow up every place in Lebanon.\\\" He also noted that his organization's activists were prepared for a battle lasting two years or more.\\nAl-Qaddour, 36, from the village of Mishmish in the sub-district of Akkar in northern Lebanon, is considered the No. 2 man in Fath Al-Islam, after the leader Shaker Al-'Absi. According to Al-Qaddour, who spent five and a half years in a Syrian prison, he has fought for 21 years in various areas, including Iraq.\\nThe following are excerpts from the interview:\\n\\\"We Have Sleeper Cells On Alert In All Palestinian Refuge Camps\\\"\\nDuring the interview, Al-Qaddour told Al-Hayat that the Fath Al-Islam organization \\\"would respond against the Lebanese military if the attacks on it were to continue,\\\" and added that \\\"[our response] will not be limited [solely] to the Palestinian refugee camps or to Beirut, but all fronts will be opened.\\\" Referring to the battles in Tripoli and the bombings in the neighborhoods of Beirut during the past week, he said: \\\"This is only the beginning... We are ready to blow up Beirut and every other place in Lebanon.\\\"\\nAl-Qaddour stated that \\\"in addition to the supporters of the organization, Fath Al-Islam has bases and sleeper cells in all the Palestinian refugee camps in the various regions of Lebanon, and they are on alert [to launch] a harsh response - they await only a sign from us.\\\" He said, \\\"Fath Al-Islam's threat to open the fire of hell against Lebanon is a serious one. As long as we are under attack, we will [defend ourselves] by any and all means. The organization has the full capability to bring the battle to every place in Lebanon. We can easily do this...\\\"\\nFath Al-Islam - A Palestinian Organization, Not Al-Qaeda Affiliated\\nAl-Qaddour, who spent five and a half years in a Syrian prison, also said in the interview that some accuse the Fath Al-Islam activists of being \\\"Syrian agents inside Lebanon.\\\" However, he said, his organization comprises Palestinian activists from various countries, with rich battle experience: \\\"The Fath Al-Islam organization is Palestinian, and includes 600 to 700 activists in all the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, not only in the Nahr Al-Bared refuge camp. All the activists are on the highest battle alert.\\\" He added, \\\"The number of Fath Al-Islam [members who were] killed in the first three days of the battles with the Lebanese military was only 10, and all the killed were Palestinians from Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan. This is in spite of that we expected to have many more killed.\\\" [1] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn1)\\nAl-Qaddour said: \\\"Many Fath Al-Islam members have very rich battle experience outside Lebanon. I personally have 21 years of experience in fighting in various regions - the most recent of which was Iraq. \\\"\\nAl-Qaddour noted that he was not worried about a possible scenario in which the residents of the Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp rebelled against Fath Al-Islam. He said, \\\"Many of the members of the Palestinian factions that oppose us politically deviated from their leaders' orders, stood with us, and identified with us when the camp was recently bombed.\\\"\\nAl-Qaddour denied that Fath Al-Islam was affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and added: \\\"Our organization is an Islamic project aimed at liberating Palestine and Jerusalem. Our fire [will strike] at every obstacle that stands against our achieving our goal.\\\" He continued, \\\"If the right to defend our land [Palestine] is stripped from us, the responsibility will be borne by all those who stand in our way and who carry out the American and Jewish plan and the Western [plan] in general.\\\"\\n\\\"We Are Prepared for a Battle That Will Last Two Years Or More\\\"\\nAl-Qaddour stated that in his organization there were \\\"people who are prepared for martyrdom and to carry out [such] operations,\\\" and refused to call them suicide bombers. He added, \\\"If the noose tightens around our neck, we will not exclude any means [of response].\\\" Al-Qaddour likewise noted that Fath Al-Islam has shelters and underground fortifications in the Nahr Al-Bared camp, and added: \\\"We have nothing to lose. We are prepared for a battle that will last two years or more.\\\"\\nOn the warfare methods of Fath Al-Islam, Al-Qaddour said: \\\"We adopt guerilla warfare, which no army can vanquish as demonstrated in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.\\\"\\nFath Al-Islam is Not Against the Shi'ites and Has Connections With Hizbullah\\nAl-Qaddour added, \\\"We have no intention of attacking UNIFIL in the south [of Lebanon] as long as those forces do not attack us.\\\" He further noted that his organization had \\\"connections with Hizbullah and also that it bore no enmity towards Hizbullah, or towards the Shi'ites in Lebanon,\\\" and that therefore they had no \\\"intention to carry out operations against the Shi'ites in Lebanon.\\\" [2] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn2)\\nFath Al-Islam Leader: We Have Hundreds of People Ready for Martyrdom\\nTwo months before the outbreak of hostilities between the Lebanese army and Fath Al-Islam, Fath Al-Islam leader Shaker Al-'Absi threatened, in an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, to set the region on fire: \\\"We are now monitoring the movements of the military around the [Nahr Al-Bared] refugee camp. If we sense [that there is about] to be a real attack against us, our reaction will be very harsh, and it will not stop. We have hundreds of people who are willing to martyr themselves [istishhad], who have prepared themselves to strike at the entity state [i.e. Israel], and they are ready to defend [the banner of Islam] 'There is no God but Allah' everywhere in the world.\\\" Al-'Absi further added that the organization had activists not only in the refuge camps but throughout Lebanon, Palestine, and the surrounding region.\\nAl-'Absi, who has spent time in Syrian prison, denied Syrian claims that he had been jailed on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda. He said that he had been arrested for attempting to carry out an operation in the Golan, and that he was accused of possessing weapons and transferring weapons to Palestine. [3] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn3)\\n[1] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref1) In an Al-Jazeera TV interview on May 25, 2007, PLO spokesman As'ad Abd Al-Rahman defied reports that Fath Al-Islam is a Palestinian organization, asserting that there are no Palestinians nor are the casualties in the battles with the Lebanese Army Palestinian, and hinted that the organization is operated by the Syrian regime.\\n[2] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref2) Al-Hayat (London), May 25, 2007 [3] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref3) Al-Nahar (Lebanon), March 16, 2007.\\nRascal\\nRE:\\\"Fath Al-Islam Leader: We Have Hundreds of People Ready for Martyrdom \\\"\\nWe aim to make them martyrs!!!\\nUltra Requete\\n05-27-2007, 10:48 AM\\nThe enemies of mankind are droping their masks. I wonder what Iraqi shia will tell about their brothers in Lebanon and Iran helping the shia butching AQ and pals.:rolleyes:\\nRascal\\n05-28-2007, 02:08 AM\\nBraindead shia will believe what ever their Iman tells them.Thinking outside the box isn't an option for them unless they are westernized.\\nPaparock\\n05-29-2007, 05:15 PM\\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/\\nThe Lebanese Government has given Palestinian Political Groups till mid week to resolve the situation with Fatah Al-Islam. After that point the Lebanese Army will take the situation into their own hands.\\nMore Military supplies have been coming in to the Lebanese Army.\\nRevised Draft on the UN Tribunal headed for discussion and possible passing next Tuesday - Thursday at the UN.\\nFear that Fatah Al-Islam is not letting all the civilians leave the camps - thus using them as human shields, because as one insider noted - they know if all the civilans leave the army will confront them.\\nLebanese worldwide react to Hezbollah's comments on the camp being a red line, being seen as coming out against Lebanon and in support of the criminal terrorists, thus questioning is Hezbollah part of the Syrian Master Plan to destabilize Lebanon and then take over\\nJumblat accused former powerbroker and neighboring Syria of being behind the fighting in Nahr al-Bared and three bombings on shopping areas in and around Beirut since Sunday.\\n\\\"They want to distract the army from watching the arms smuggled (from Syria) and to obstruct the tribunal,\\\" he said referring to U.N. plans to create a court to try suspects in the killing of ex-premier Rafik Hariri which has been widely blamed on Syria.\\nHe criticized Nasrallah for not condemning Fatah al-Islam, saying the Hizbullah leader has become a \\\"mere tool\\\" of the Syrian regime.\\nThe parties negotiating a possible solution to the Fatah al-Islam issue are the main Palestinian factions in Lebanon including Fatah, the Islamic group Hamas and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). Naharnet\\nPaparock\\nIs Lebanon planning on letting Fatah al-Islam forces live to fight another day?\\nThey will if the Palestinians have anything to say about it.\\nPalestinians Present Plan to End Standoff at Nahr al-BaredWith the Lebanese government demanding the surrender of Islamist militants holed up inside the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp or face an all-out onslaught, Palestinian factions pressed for a negotiated solution to end the week-long standoff between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam extremists.\\nMeanwhile, a brief but violent firefight flared early Monday in Nahr al-Bared after militants tried to attack a Lebanese army position outside the camp, state-run National News Agency said.\\nIt said several Fatah al-Islam fighters were injured in the clash which broke out at 7:30 a.m. Army troops deployed around Nahr al-Bared fired four shells toward the northern entrance to the camp where the Islamists are besieged.\\nThe four-point plan presented by the Palestinian factions to the Lebanese government aimed at a peaceful resolution to the camp fight, Abu Imad Rifai, a representative of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, told the Associated Press on Sunday.\\nThe plan calls for a cease-fire, the creation of a Palestinian security force to maintain law and order in the camp, the barring of other armed groups in the camp and the creation of \\\"a mechanism for the departure\\\" of Fatah al-Islam from the camp, Rifai said.\\nThere was no immediate reaction from the government to the plan, which falls short of its demands for the handover of the militants. Rifai said the government found \\\"some positive elements\\\" in the plan but that details on how to deal with the departure of the fighters had to be worked out. \\\"A final plan will be presented to the government in the next few days,\\\" he said.\\nIt is not known where the militants would go. Syria is one option � Fatah al-Islam's leader Shaker Absi spent years in the country, part of them in prison, before arriving in Nahr al-Bared last year. That has raised accusations among Lebanese security forces that Damascus is using the group to stir up trouble in Lebanon, and they may be reluctant to allow Fatah al-Islam to return there.\\nDamascus denies the accusations and says Absi and other Fatah al-Islam leaders are wanted in Syria for suspected terrorist activities. Absi is also wanted in Jordan, where he has been sentenced to death in absentia for involvement in the 2002 killing of an American diplomat in Amman.\\nBut Rifai insisted that \\\"a political solution is the only option.\\\"\\n\\\"The repercussions of a military solution are much more serious than a political solution,\\\" Rifai said, in a clear warning that a military assault on Nahr al-Bared would trigger violence in Lebanon's 11 other Palestinian refugee camps.\\nFatah al-Islam Vows Not to Turn in Militants\\nFatah al-Islam group, which is battling the Lebanese army in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, refused to hand over militants but said it was working with mediators to find an end to the standoff. \\\"We refuse to hand over any member of Fatah al-Islam,\\\" spokesman Abu Salim Taha told Agence France Presse.\\nLebanese government forces have been besieging the militants in Nahr al-Bared since the group attacked army targets on May 20.\\nA three-member delegation of clerics from the Union of Palestinian Scholars met Fatah al-Islam militants in the camp on Sunday.\\nEfforts to end the standoff were complicated, however, when the team of mediators came under fire while entering the camp.\\nThe government has insisted on the handover of fighters to stand trial over attacks against its armed forces during the bloodiest fighting in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war.\\n\\\"We are still working with the delegation of the Union of Palestinian Scholars in order to find a political solution,\\\" Taha said.\\n\\\"I don't want to get into the details of the negotiations which are based on finding a political solution.\\\"\\nHe said Fatah al-Islam has been observing a complete ceasefire since Monday night, \\\"and will continue to observe it for 24 hours in order to allow the entry of aid to the residents of the camp.\\\"\\nPosted on 29 May 2007 @ 13:47 GMT\\nPaparock\\n06-01-2007, 03:00 PM\\nLatest Compilation - AP/AFP/Naharnet - A Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday. Following this, artillery bombardment intensified at Nahr al-Bared around midmorning Friday, with Lebanese troops attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah al-Islam in the northeastern part of the Palestinian refugee camp. A resident from inside the camp said \\\"Fatah al-Islam positions were overtaken and destroyed in the push.\\\"\\nOn a separate front, members of the mainstream Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist Jund al-Sham group exchanged gunfire in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon. According to the account, a Fatah militant, whose brother had been killed by the Islamists earlier this month, shot at one of Jun al-Sham members he thought was responsible, without hitting him.\\nA military judge filed terrorism charges against 20 suspected members of an Islamic militant group fighting Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp, court officials said.\\nFatah al-Islam, the source added, \\\"is one of such local groups. Its members are inspired by al-Qaida ideology, but its attacks are directed by Syrian intelligence officers.\\\"\\nPolice have arrested at least 90 people on charges of affiliation with Fatah al-Islam and were under interrogation.\\nThe source said some of them have provided \\\"priceless information related to terrorist activity.\\\"\\nIn a related development, the source said police also arrested \\\"two Syrian nationals\\\" that had with them \\\"dozens of photographs of Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul Aziz Khoja.\\\"\\n\\\"They had pictures of him at his apartment's balcony, at the entrance to the building and in so many other locations. It appears they were monitoring his moves in preparation for an attack on him,\\\" the source added without further elaboration.\\nSecurity has been beefed up at major Lebanese cities and towns following outbreak of the clashes with Fatah al-Islam militants in the northern town of Tripoli 11 days ago and the spate of bombings that followed.\\nThe group, headed by Palestinian-Jordanian Shaker Absi, has vowed to attack a variety of targets throughout Lebanon if the army maintained the siege of its militants at Nahr al-Bared camp.\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn10406011011.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn104 .jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=3mvIQ41V2RjqC5LEzweMZA--\\nLebanese army vehicles move into the the refugee camp while smoke rises over the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn11206011107.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn112 .jpg?x=380&y=261&sig=zaypV6d.7.70XAQUvFnNcg--\\nLebanese army vehicles line up during the military operation at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn10706011024.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn107 .jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=0DUYvDqMqUYMIwBf8RnC1A--\\nSmoke rises over the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\\nFighting Resumes at Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon\\nFriday, June 01, 2007\\nBEIRUT, Lebanon � Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon (javascript:siteSearch('Lebanon');).\\nThe artillery bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising out of the Nahr el-Bared (javascript:siteSearch('Nahr el-Bared');) camp where Fatah Islam (javascript:siteSearch('Fatah Islam');) militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army. The shelling also ignited fires in the camp that spewed black smoke. The militants have barricaded themselves in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.\\nAbout 50 armored carriers, battle tanks and military vehicles from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according to APTN television crew at the scene.\\nThere was no confirmation that the army units were making a final push to take over the camp, or were just advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants in pockets. But a significant decrease at one point in the shelling, accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, suggested the troops were already engaging the militants.\\nThe bombardment intensified several hours later. Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., a leading television station, said troops were attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah Islam in the northeastern part of the camp in the Samed neighborhood. But Al-Arabiya television said troops seized militant sniper positions.\\nTelevision footage showed the movement of T-55 Russian-made tanks, French-made Panhard tanks, M-113 U.S.-built armored personnel carriers and jeeps with 106mm rifles mounted on them. Sandbags were packed on some of the vehicles.\\nMilitary officials would not comment on the troop movements and journalists were pushed back further from the camp. But a statement by the army command said troops came under fire from the militants and the army was \\\"responding with accurate and decisive fire to deter them.\\\" The statement said the army was at the same time avoiding civilian casualties.\\nThe concentrated bombardment began in the morning, with heavy barrages targeting all parts of the camp.\\nSporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting.\\nA Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday.\\nThe death Thursday raised to 32 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed.\\nThe army has ringed the Nahr el-Bared camp with hundreds of soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, poised to storm the camp and prevent militants from fleeing. The government has vowed to crush the militants, who have said they will fight till the end.\\nThousands of Palestinians have fled the camp, but thousands more are still inside, along with the Fatah Islam fighters.\\nOn Thursday, army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman toured the military positions around the Nahr el-Bared camp in the northern city of Tripoli, vowing to track down the militants responsible for killing the soldiers.\\nPaparock\\n06-02-2007, 03:55 AM\\nTRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese tanks and armored vehicles battled their way into the outer neighborhoods of a Palestinian refugee camp Friday in some of the heaviest fighting since violence broke out between the military and al-Qaida-inspired militants nearly two weeks ago.\\nThe military demanded the Fatah Islam fighters holed up in the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon surrender and promised to pursue them if they didn't.\\nTwo Lebanese soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in Friday's fighting, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to address the media. They said a unit of Fatah Islam militants was destroyed, but gave no casualty count.\\nFriday's deaths raised to 34 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed in the 13 days of fighting, but it was unclear whether there were any civilian casualties Friday.\\nMost of the camp's 31,000 refugees have fled, many to the nearby Beddawi refugee camp.\\nThe army appeared to have limited Friday's advance to neighborhoods on the outer ring of the camp, which militants use for sniper fire against army positions. Nahr el-Bared, like the other 11 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, has been off-limits to Lebanese authorities under a nearly 40-year-old agreement that allowed Palestinians to run their own affairs.\\nThe Palestinian representative to Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, said the army would not storm into the camp, where several thousand civilians remain trapped and militants are barricaded in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.\\nA soldier at the scene said troops were fighting from building to building. A resident of the camp, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of militant reprisals, said some Fatah Islam positions were overrun or destroyed.\\nThe army later issued a statement saying it destroyed positions from which the militants attacked troops and civilians, and \\\"tightened the ring\\\" around them, causing many casualties. The statement said other militants had fled deeper inside the camp, taking civilians as \\\"human shields.\\\"\\n\\\"What we have decided is to deal with Fatah Islam as a group, a terrorist group taking hostages who are left in the camp,\\\" said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. He told AP Television News in Beirut that the army may be seeking to isolate the militants.\\nCabinet Minister Ahmed Fatfat told Al-Arabiya television the army came under sniper fire early Friday and decided to respond. \\\"It seems they have destroyed those positions.\\\"\\nThe bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising from the camp throughout the day, and the shelling ignited fires that spewed black smoke.\\nThe fighting between the army and the Fatah Islam group erupted in the northern port city of Tripoli and the adjacent Nahr el-Bared camp on May 20. At least 22 soldiers and 17 militants were killed that day � the worst internal violence in Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.\\nAfter three days of heavy clashes, the government agreed to a truce to give Palestinian mediators and Islamic clerics time to persuade the militants to surrender. Thousands of residents then fled the camp.\\nSeveral hundred militants inside Nahr el-Bared continued to target troops with sniper fire, however, vowing to fight to the death. Political support also has grown for the army to resolve the conflict through military action.\\nHowever, limiting the military operation to the camp's perimeter could be an effort to avoid � at least for now � enraging Palestinians in other refugee camps across the country.\\nFatah Islam is an offshoot of the pro-Syrian Fatah Uprising, which broke from the mainstream Fatah movement in the early 1980s, Lebanese officials say.\\nSome Lebanese security officials consider Fatah Islam a radical Sunni Muslim group with ties to al-Qaida or at least al-Qaida-style militancy and doctrine. Others say it is a front for Syrian military intelligence aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.\\nMany Palestinian refugees support the army's moves against the militants, whom they consider alien to the camp's population. Zaki, the Palestinian representative, said after meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora that he hoped the militants would \\\"surrender to justice.\\\"\\nIn the Beddawi camp, about 500 Palestinians demonstrated after Friday noon prayers, demanding an end to the fighting. A group of mothers staged a sit-in outside a school that has been turned into a refugee center and stopped trucks from delivering relief.\\nMohammed Abu Hussein, 26, a computer technician from Nahr el-Bared who fled to Beddawi, said the militants were \\\"so fanatical, they would rather die than surrender.\\\"\\n\\\"So the army has no other choice but finish them off,\\\" the Palestinian said.\\nPaparock\\nEnglish transcript: Al-Qaida Threatens Lebanon Over Fatah al-Islam\\nBy Evan Kohlmann\\nOn May 25, 2007, copies of a new video recording were publicly distributed over password-protected Al-Qaida Internet websites after being authenticated by the pre-eminent Al-Fajr Media Center. The seven-minute recording contains a speech by a masked individual identifying himself only as the �military commander of Al-Qaida�s Committee in Al-Shams� (�Greater Syria�) (http://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.pdf). This is the first known occasion that any individual or organization inside of Lebanon has explicitly identified themselves as part of the international Al-Qaida terrorist network. The speaker addresses a message directly to the Patriarch of the Christian Maronite church in Lebanon: \\\"pull back your dogs from our people, and cease your artillery fire�or else, from today onwards, there will be no safe place for any crusader in Lebanon, and as you strike, we will strike... If you do not stop, we will tear your hearts out with explosives, and surround your every post with our bombs. We will target your entire economy, starting with tourism and ending with all the incoming resources you [received when you] launched this new crusader war... We have ignored you previously, but we give you this final warning that from now on, an ocean of blood will be spilled.�\\nClick to view English transcript c/o Globalterroralert.com (http://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.pdf)\\nSee also: Fatah al-Islam: Al-Qaida or Not? (http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/05/fatah_alislam_alqaida_or_not_a.php)\\nhttp://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.jpg\\nhttp://www.beirutspring.com/\\nThe Meaning Of Victory (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/05/the-meaning-of-victory/)\\nBarring surprises, the Army is headed to a resounding victory against Fateh Al Islam in the Naher Al Bared camp. How did it happen and what will the repercussions be?\\nhttp://www.lebarmy.gov.lb/images/wallpapers/1/1.jpg\\nThings didn�t start too well. The Army�s initial reaction to the terrorists� provocation was clumsy. Its pride wounded, its only plan (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbeirutspring.com%2Fblog%2F2007%2F 05%2F22%2Fdoes-the-army-have-a-plan%2F&ei=XrdlRs_HMo6KgQKrvbiJCg&usg=AFQjCNERqKGBMtmttwxLzChKsb_k0MUWOw&sig2=cBavgadrxNuN9fwDyDFPzg) was to bomb away at anything that moved in the camp, risking a backlash in public opinion.Thankfully, sanity prevailed later when time was given to the militants to surrender.\\nThat was exactly what the Army needed: The Generals went back to their drawing boards, the Government fought the propaganda war, negotiated with factions and asked for extra ammunition. At the same time, Lebanese and Arab aid organizations began addressing the unfolding humanitarian crisis.\\nTheir heads cool (http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&C8AD4BA486910038C22572F1001CC085), the Army later managed, with a combination of careful advancement, boots on the ground and air and sea cover to slowly tighten the noose around the necks of the terrorists. The Army also took care of staying on top of the propaganda war by repeatedly exposing the Terrorists� PR tricks.\\nBy avoiding to rush into anything stupid, the Army has allowed the movement that could have terrorized the country to implode from within. The militants are reportedly (http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/06/lebanon_militan.php) showing signs of desperation, low morale, and are beginning to surrender.\\nA victory will have very large implications.\\nThe Americans have had their doubts about the Army�s allegiance. It was very common to read in the western media that �The army is 40% Shiaa who are loyal to Hezbollah.� This is why many countries dragged their feet in supplying it with the weapons it needed to establish its authority on all of our territory. That will now change, as the Army not only ignored Hassan Nassrallah�s red line (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/05/25/nassrallah-warns-against-assaulting-the-palestinian-camp/), but showed contempt to it. You can now expect enthusiastic international endorsements for our men in uniform.\\nThe Army will also teach a lesson about counter-insurgency that many can learn from: You don�t have to commit Hama-style massacres to defeat Islamist insurgencies. All you need is the right combination of Power, sophistication, propaganda and popular support.\\nFinally, and most importantly, the Army will boost its authority and deter future malicious designs to destabilize this delicate country.\\nA lot of rice is waiting to be thrown.\\nPaparock\\nhttp://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=82817\\nLebanese Army claims 'less resistance' at Nahr al-Bared\\n�atah al-islam threatens to expand battle 'within the next two days'By Rym Ghazal\\nDaily Star staff\\nThursday, June 07, 2007\\nNAHR AL-BARED, North Lebanon: Heavy bouts of shelling and gunfire alternated with long periods of quiet on Wednesday as the Lebanese Army pounded away at the remaining posts held by Fatah al-Islam militants along the southern part of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.\\nThere were no new reports of casualties on Wednesday, keeping the official death toll at 114 people, including 46 soldiers and 38 militants, since fighting broke out on May 20. While an army source would not confirm any new troop injuries, medical sources said at least three wounded soldiers were taken to nearby hospitals on Wednesday.\\n\\\"Our attacks have lessened and are now more targeted, since we have destroyed most of Fatah al-Islam's positions,\\\" the army source told The Daily Star on Wednesday. \\\"The militants have decreased their resistance.\\\"\\nDespite the army's reports of success, a senior member of Fatah al-Islam warned the group was ready to expand its attacks beyond Lebanon.\\n\\\"If the army continues to bomb civilians and pursue its inhumane practices ... we will move within the next two days to the second phase of the battle,\\\" Fatah al-Islam military commander Shahin Shahin told Reuters by telephone from the Nahr al-Bared camp.\\n\\\"We will show them the capabilities of Fatah al-Islam, starting with Lebanon and then moving to the whole of Greater Syria,\\\" he said, referring to what is now Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.\\nFatah al-Islam also launched four mortars at a building used by journalists for broadcasting.\\nOne ambulance from the Palestinian Red Cross packed with medicine and vegetables entered the camp on Wednesday to supply the estimated 3,000-5,000 of the camp's original 40,000 inhabitants.\\nThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned in a report of the humanitarian situation in the camp, saying that unexploded ordnance was hampering relief activities.\\n\\\"It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris and rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp's roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles,\\\" said Jordi Raich Curco, the ICRC head in Lebanon.\\nIn related developments, security sources said a Lebanese military prosecutor filed \\\"terrorism charges\\\" on Wednesday against six militants from Fatah al-Islam who have been detained by the security forces.\\nThe accused are alleged to have \\\"formed armed groups to attack civilians, the authority of the state and its civil and military institutions, and to have carried out terrorist actions which killed or injured military personnel and civilians,\\\" said the judicial source. If convicted, the militants could face the death sentence.\\nThe sources said those in custody are mainly Lebanese and Syrian citizens. The military prosecutor has also launched proceedings in absentia against a Lebanese national in custody in Saudi Arabia on the same charges.\\nSince the beginning of clashes, a total of 27 men have been charged by the Lebanese authorities in connection with Fatah al-Islam.\\nThe Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported Wednesday that a wounded Fatah al-Islam fighter had been arrested in the Minyeh district of Tripoli while dressed as a woman.\\nIn another development, the army discovered a depot containing more than 200 kilograms of explosives during a raid after nightfall Tuesday in the Akkar region of North Lebanon. The explosives were found at the home of a suspected Fatah al-Islam militant who was detained four days ago, the An-Nahar daily said on Wednesday.\\nAuthorities also arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda members in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday for possessing weapons and explosives.\\nThe three men were arrested at a flat in the Bar Elias village just west of the border with Syria in the Bekaa Valley, a security source said.\\nThey also had forged travel and identity documents, computers, maps of Lebanese cities and night-vision equipment. - With agencies, Naharnet\\nExplosives experts defuse bomb near Tyre\\nMohammed Zaatari\\nDaily Star staff\\nTYRE: Lebanese Army explosives experts defused a bomb near a public beach in the Southern port city of Tyre Wednesday morning.\\nAt about 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, workers at the Tyre Municipality found an empty can of baby-milk powder containing an explosive device wired to a timer, a source told The Daily Star.\\n\\\"The bomb was set to go off at 11:15 a.m.,\\\" said the source on condition of anonymity.\\nTwo kilograms of C4 explosive were found in the can, which had been planted at one of the entrances to Tyre's public beach, the National News Agency reported.\\nThe targeted area is visited daily by hundreds of the region's residents for swimming and jogging.\\nThe bomb was found about 500 meters from the Rest House beach resort in Tyre and about 1.5 kilometers from the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp.\\nTroops sealed off the area, about 80 kilometers south of Beirut, as experts dismantled the bomb.\\nUNIFIL deputy spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane rejected claims that the bomb had been planted to target international peacekeepers.\\n\\\"International troops do not visit the location where the bomb was found,\\\" Bouziane said. \\\"Lebanese authorities and armed forces are the ones responsible for maintaining security in that region.\\\"\\n\\\"We have full confidence in the Lebanese armed forces' ability to ensure security,\\\" Bouziane added.\\nTyre is popular with vacationing UN peacekeepers, who are deployed in the zone near the border with Israel to monitor the cease-fire that ended the summer 2006 war with Israel.\\nLater in the day, a number of military and security figures inspected the area after army and ISF troops combed the region stretching between Tyre's rest house and nature reserve. The army also conducted patrols and put up checkpoints at the northern and southern entrances to the city.\\nLebanon has witnessed a string of bombings in and around Beirut since fighting erupted between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in North Lebanon on May 20.\\nA bomb exploded Monday beside an empty bus parked in the northeastern Beirut suburb of Sad al-Bouchrieh, wounding 13 people. - With agencies\\nNew Ron\\n06-07-2007, 04:35 PM\\nNasrallah is afraid, because Nasrallah is a coward! Sending others to do his dirty work! Like that guy in Iraq, Moqtada Sadr! Actually all Terrorists behave the same way, trick thier people into hurting others!\\nPaparock\\nLebanese Army advances on Fatah al-Islam positions, killing 16\\nBy Hani M. Bathish\\nDaily Star staff\\nSaturday, June 09, 2007\\nBEIRUT: The Lebanese Army continued advancing against Fatah al-Islam positions in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Friday, taking over buildings used by Fatah al-Islam snipers and tightening the army's grip on what remains of the militant group's fighters amid heavy and persistent bombardment.\\nFierce battles erupted around the camp's Samed center, the Cooperative building and UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools, where the remnants of Fatah al-Islam fighters are holed up. Thick plumes of smoke were seen billowing from these positions as fires engulfed buildings around the area. While the army reported no casualties, an estimated 16 Fatah al-Islam fighters are believed to have fallen on Friday, six of them at the Mhammara front, said a report by the National News Agency.\\nThe army briefly stopped bombardment at about noon to allow camp residents to go to Friday prayers. The reduction in the intensity of the bombardment allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in conjunction with the Palestinian Red Crescent, to ferry out 85 camp residents, mostly women, children, the elderly and the infirm.\\nVirginia De LaGuardia, an ICRC spokeswoman, told The Daily Star Friday evening seven ambulances managed to enter the camp to evacuate civilians. In addition, humanitarian-aid deliveries were made for the remaining civilians inside the camp.\\n\\\"Today we managed to get in 1,200 liters of water, 1.9 metric tons of canned tuna and 1.6 metric tons of meals-ready-to-eat,\\\" De LaGuardia said. \\\"We enter the camp whenever we can. It's always very difficult - there is a lot of rubble and debris, as well as unexploded ordnance. That is why we send ambulances [and] not trucks - because it's difficult to maneuver.\\\"\\nTanks and heavy artillery opened an intensive barrage on militant positions at about 9 a.m. Friday morning, responding to machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade fire from inside the camp targeting army positions in Khan al-Abde to the north of the camp. Artillery fire also targeted militant positions at the northern bank of the Bared River, close to the main road at the center of the camp.\\nA senior army source said on condition of anonymity that the army was advancing \\\"extremely slowly\\\" and clearing rigged buildings, but troops have not yet penetrated into the heart of the camp and remain on the outskirts. \\\"We are not storming the camp - we are going building by building.\\\" Later in the day the southern entrance to the camp also came under fire, as militants tried to infiltrate the area. A mortar round from the camp also landed in the Mhammara heights to the east of the camp.\\nMeanwhile, mediation efforts continued as Fathi Yakan, who heads the group of Sunni clerics and politicians known as the Islamic Action Front, met with Palestinian clerics Friday evening and will meet Saturday with Palestinian factions to try to mediate a peaceful end to the clashes.\\nThe Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported that Yakan's four-point initiative to bring an end to the fighting includes \\\"resolving the Fatah al-Islam phenomenon, handing over suspects in the slaying of army soldiers, deporting the remaining Fatah al-Islam members to countries that accept them and establishing a security force in Nahr al-Bared similar to that set up in Ain al-Hilweh.\\\" The plan has not been conveyed to Fatah al-Islam, but clerics are expected to meet the militants in the coming days.\\nCamp resident Wissam Badran told Reuters by telephone Friday from inside Nahr al-Bared that a shell hit a house in which 10 civilians were taking shelter. Badran said he rescued a woman, a man and two children from under the rubble. \\\"They had lost consciousness. We thought they were dead, but, thank God, they are alive,\\\" he said. The six others in the building sustained minor injuries.\\nIn a statement issued Friday, the army said it is steadily taking control of militant positions in and around the camp with the aim of \\\"ending this deviant phenomenon\\\" that has been imposed on Lebanon for the purpose of creating instability and insecurity in the country.\\nWhile Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction completely backs the Lebanese government's military approach to the standoff in Nahr al-Bared, Palestinian Premier Ismail Haniyya called on Lebanon Friday to agree to a negotiated end to the siege.\\n\\\"The solution to the Nahr al-Bared problem should be political and not military,\\\" Haniyya said. \\\"We need to spare our people, who have suffered for over 60 years, a new exodus.\\\"\\nLebanese authorities have said that based on admissions of Fatah al-Islam members in custody, the militants were planning to target UN peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon. On Thursday, Fatah al-Islam spokesman Shahine Shahine, speaking to AFP, promised to widen the scope of the attacks beyond Nahr al-Bared if the army continues its bombardment. Lebanese authorities have demanded that Fatah al-Islam militants in Nahr al-Bared surrender, particularly those blamed for killing 27 soldiers on the first day of the fighting.\\nPaparock\\n06-13-2007, 04:16 PM\\nLebanese lawmaker killed in Beirut blast\\nBEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A member of the Lebanese parliament was killed in an explosion Wednesday outside a Beirut military sports club in what hospital sources said was an assassination.\\nLawmaker Walid Eido, known as a foe of Syrian involvement in Lebanon, his son, Khalid, and two of his bodyguards were killed, Lebanese media reports said.\\nAt least one other person died and 10 were wounded in the explosion in the seaside neighborhood of Manara, according to Lebanese security sources.\\nThe impact of the blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings, while bystanders sustained injuries from the shrapnel. CNN's Brent Sadler witnessed wounded people being carried out of one building.\\nThe blast happened near a military sports club and a side street that leads to several restaurants. Sadler said two vehicles were engulfed in flames, and the explosion had all the hallmarks of a bombing attack.\\nMany of the off-duty soldiers, still wearing their workout clothes, rushed to the scene trying to calm people down. Video footage also showed Lebanese forces trying to control the crowds.\\nAs many as six explosions, many in the capital city, have rocked parts of Lebanon over the past month.\\nLast week, a large explosion struck Zouk Mosbeh, a predominantly Christian neighborhood north of Beirut, killing one person and wounding four.\\nSadler said he felt the blast during an interview with a shopkeeper. They were discussing when the next bomb could strike Beirut.\\n\\\"The Lebanese man I've known for a long, long time said, 'Look, I think one could happen at any moment,' \\\" Sadler said. \\\"He said those very words when that explosion really shook his shop.\\\"\\nRascal\\n06-13-2007, 10:00 PM\\nIt is time for some targeted killing of Hizbullah and Syrian agents.It seems to be all they understand.\\nPaparock\\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/lebflag2.gif Wednesday June 13, 2007 DAY 25 Nahr Al-Baled\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.b09fbc2a3b1e46c0a21196d55fe9d88b.correction_m ideast_lebanon_explosion_bei113.jpg?x=243&y=345&sig=FqoayLoDNNXc1P9jkBVjGw--\\nFILE ** Lebanese lawmaker Walid Eido is seen in Beirut, Lebanon in this June 17, 2006 file photo. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and three others, local media reported. The lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil, File)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.c5edd83400cf4161afc59b1d15aaee7c.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei112.jpg?x=262&y=345&sig=dFuSC0t5bg6f_WEJl2QpQg--\\nLebanese lawmaker Walid Eido is seen at the Parliament in Beirut, Lebanon in this undated 2007 file photo. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and three others, local media reported. The lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil, File)\\nMarch 14 MP Walid Eido assassinated in Beirut bombing\\nBy Rym Ghazal and Hani M. Bathish\\nDaily Star staff\\nThursday, June 14, 2007\\nBEIRUT: Anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido was killed on Wednesday - along with his eldest son Khaled and eight other people - when a booby-trapped car tore through the politician's convoy near Beirut's seafront. Residents and passersby in Ras beirut flocked to the now-familiar scene of blazing cars, shattered windows and wounded bystanders. The booby-trapped car was on a side street sandwiched between the Madinat al-Malahi amusement park and the Sporting Club beach resort, where Eido frequently swam and played cards.\\n\\\"Oh my God, not another assassination,\\\" screamed a woman as she ran to the site, followed by others looking for their children and relatives who had been at the amusement park or strolling on the capital's seafront promenade.\\nApart from the 65-year-old chairman of Parliament's Defense Committee and his son, the blast also claimed the lives of two bodyguards and six civilians, security sources said.\\nPrime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced the attack and declared Thursday a national day of mourning. All official government offices will be closed, along with private and public schools and universities.\\n\\\"All I saw were flames. A car passed - I think it was a Mercedes - then the bomb went off,\\\" said a dazed Jihad Fahs, manager of Madinat al-Malahi, as he surveyed his badly battered business.\\nEleven other people were wounded and rushed to nearby hospitals as several blood-stained bystanders assisted in the rescue operation.\\n\\\"We have to unite and help each other before this country completely rips apart,\\\" said one of the residents, his hands caked with dried blood after having carried a woman and two young men wounded in a coffee shop near the amusement park.\\n\\\"At first I thought a gas cylinder had exploded,\\\" said Nour al-Souqi, who works at the park. \\\"I ran out to check on our staff, and all I saw was fire. Fortunately we were not very busy because of the general situation. It only gets busy at night.\\\"\\nMadinat al-Malahi's cafeteria suffered minor damage in the blast. Khaled Hamed, the brother of the cafeteria's owner, said he was in the back of the cafeteria praying when the bomb detonated.\\n\\\"I was blown back by the pressure of the blast,\\\" Hamed said. \\\"When I got up I immediately called 112 and told them a bomb went off. I turned the corner and saw cars on fire.\\\"\\nEido was a member of parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement and one of the most vocal critics of what he repeatedly called \\\"Syria's relentless interference\\\" in Lebanon.\\n\\\"It's the same evil fingers and the apparatus of evil that are planting terror in all of Lebanon,\\\" Hariri said in a televised speech after the bombing.\\nHe called on the Arab League to boycott what he called \\\"a terrorist regime,\\\" an obvious reference to Syria. \\\"They do not want Lebanon to rest. They do not want its government to rise or its army to do its job defending order. We will not evacuate Beirut in the face of terror,\\\" he said.\\nHariri said Eido had been \\\"a powerful voice for freedom, independence and justice for Lebanon,\\\" adding that his death was a big loss for the Future Movement and added another victim to a list led by Hariri's father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.\\nEido was the seventh anti-Syrian figure to be killed since Rafik Hariri and Basil Fuleihan were assassinated in a massive bomb blast in February 2005 - about 1.5 kilometers along the seafront from Wednesday's attack. He was also the third member of the parliamentary majority to be killed, leaving it with 68 MPs in the 128-seat Parliament.\\nThe MP was a prominent leader of the mass demonstra-tions that followed Hariri's killing and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005 and the end of three decades of Syrian tutelage over Lebanon.\\nIt was the ninth explosion to hit Beirut and its environs since the onset of fighting between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli on May 20 .\\nThe last assassination to shake the country was that of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, another prominent anti-Syrian politician and who was gunned down in his car in broad daylight last November.\\nSyrian workers from a construction site just a few meters away from the blast were seen being lined up for interrogation by the police, with some of them handcuffed and sitting on the ground.\\nSecurity sources said the bomb consisted of about 80 kilograms of TNT and was planted in a car parked near the exit from the resort.\\nThe site of the blast is just a couple of hundred meters from a military beach club where President Emile Lahoud regularly swims and which is heavily guarded by the army.\\nEido was formerly a member of the Murabitoun, a Sunni militia that was active during Lebanon's 1975-1990 Civil War. A retired judge, he was killed just three days after UN Security Council Resolution 1757 came into effect, mandating the establishment of a hybrid Lebanese-international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination and other similar attacks.\\nIn his speech, Siniora asked that the United Nations add Eido's slaying to the list and provide technical assistance for the investigation. He also requested that the Arab League convene an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the complex crisis in Lebanon.\\nSpeaker Nabih Berri, Reform and Change parliamentary bloc leader MP Michel Aoun, Hizbullah and Lahoud issued statements late Wednesday decrying the crime.\\n\\\"No one, not individuals or organizations, will be able to turn Lebanon through terrorism and organized crime into a field for chaos subversion and wars,\\\" the speaker declared. \\\"No one will be able to shatter this small country big with its martyrs.\\\"\\nAoun expressed outrage at the killing of a \\\"representative of the people,\\\" expressing hope that the security forces would apprehend the perpetrators.\\n\\\"What is most important is to uncover the side behind these repeated crimes and bring them to trial,\\\" the former army commander said. \\\"Denouncing these crimes is no longer enough while people fall.\\\"\\nLahoud noted that the attack coincided with apparent progress in initiatives and contacts aimed at solving the ongoing power struggle between the government and the opposition, which he said makes it necessary for all Lebanese to unite in order to foil the plans of \\\"the enemies of Lebanon\\\" to further undermine security and stability in the country.\\n\\\"If we have failed so far to meet, maybe now the sadness that has befallen Lebanon once again will bring the leaders together to make a national stand to save Lebanon and preserve its unity and protect its from dangers that threaten all of us,\\\" Lahoud said.\\nAs has been the case following previous assassinations, pro-government politicians pointed accusatory fingers at the government of Syria.\\nWednesday's attack was part of a campaign being carried out by Damascus to change the balance of power in the Lebanese Parliament, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said.\\n\\\"It is the same serial killer who wants to liquidate the parliamentary majority; it is a physical liquidation by the Syrian regime,\\\" he said.\\nAnother member of the anti-Syrian camp, former President Amin Gemayel, described Eido's assassination as having been \\\"part of the criminal attacks that have targeted leaders and personalities of the 'Cedar Revolution'\\\" that ended Syrian domination in Lebanon.\\n\\\"This crime will not deter us ... and what happens today highlights the importance of the international tribunal,\\\" said Gemayel, father of the industry minister slain in November.\\nCondemnations also poured in from outside the country, with the US and French government leading the chorus.\\n\\\"The United States deplores this latest attack in Beirut that led to the death of a respected member of Parliament, Walid Eido, and his son,\\\" White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.\\nFrench Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also deplored the killing.\\n\\\"I condemn with the greatest severity this odious and cowardly crime. Those responsible must be caught and punished,\\\" he said. \\\"France and the whole international community stand side-by-side with Lebanon against these repeated attempts at destabilization. More than ever it is time for Lebanese of all confessions to come together and resume political dialogue.\\\"\\nThe rotating presidency of the European Union, currently held by Germany, also voiced outrage at the latest assassination to rattle Beirut.\\n\\\"The presidency condemns in the strongest possible terms this attack, a new attempt to destabilize Lebanon,\\\" the EU presidency said in a statement released through the German Foreign Ministry.\\n\\\"This is unacceptable and will not succeed,\\\" the statement added. - With agencies\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.9d6617d7581f40e198002182ee007420.aptopix_mide ast_lebanon_explosion_xhm103.jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=EfZbqErF1w6oUYamtTJkdg--\\nA Lebanese soldier gestures in front of burned out cars after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.33d539acb55e46f19e56c4e1ffc0c4f4.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei115.jpg?x=380&y=248&sig=Qs1NTdZvxVBfwNGC15XiCQ--\\nCivil defense workers cover bodies in a burnt car after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.637d273d7da44e8db7aabb0bb6e02a5c.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm115.jpg?x=380&y=242&sig=qbvhd2KImMnlXHXVyc_2Qg--\\nA Lebanese soldier gestures in front of burned out cars after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.54c7db17b9ad43a199f02583328dfd07.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm114.jpg?x=227&y=345&sig=4onLY38om.QmqOOVyr_kig--\\nA Lebanese army officer, inspects the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.4357b37abbd042b78d83a20d40ccef98.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm118.jpg?x=380&y=261&sig=Txu7gnqF0HK6CutNPbWZrQ--\\nLebanese civilians, look through a damaged building at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.3f45cb9324e64fa4b761c3258ccce21b.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm112.jpg?x=380&y=264&sig=5jnB1Hs91mpMMqg8c3BbSg--\\nLebanese civil defense workers, stand next to a covered dead body in front of a damaged building at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\\n[http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.dd522d834baa4a388a522fd3d8cc6cbe.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm113.jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=Sgh0T7wHz8tuBbrqAwP.MQ--\\nA Lebanese civil defense worker, covers a dead body at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.7d72ba7188b3485b97beb54587e56a38.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm111.jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=Q4C2xJOAdWfhdnjM2w_ulw--\\nLebanese prosecutor Said Mirza, center fourth from left, arrives to check a dead body which lies on the ground at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r1403734385.jpg?x=380&y=246&sig=0m.IG5JNjC580DYFTZ9ZNw--\\nA Lebanese civil defence personnel rests next to an unidentified body near the site of an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido was killed with at least seven other people on Wednesday by a blast on Beirut's seafront, security sources said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r1554513101.jpg?x=380&y=293&sig=lObo.NIi4t14Xq2nNof1.w--\\nLebanese policemen and officials inspect an unidentified body near the site of an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. A blast in Beirut on Wednesday killed anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, one of his sons and two other people who were with him , security sources said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r2061318514.jpg?x=380&y=220&sig=3TH7fcfSQ88vv1PE_Q5WCw--\\nLebanese plain clothes policemen inspect the remains of a car after an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. A blast in Beirut on Wednesday killed anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, one of his sons and two other people who were with him, security sources said. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen (LEBANON)\\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.b9ef142789444cfbaf93f9a6fb5291c4.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei111.jpg?x=380&y=262&sig=UN7lwWTw3k8uFC6h0rkCrA--\\nCivil defense workers and police check the scene after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)\\nNew Ron\\n06-14-2007, 03:32 PM\\nSyria (and its friends) just does not seem to want to stop its intimidation of Lebanons Future movement ! BTW So everyone knows Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are all Shi ite muslim, simple explanation to why they are such allys ! However recent information has emerged that Iran is providing weapons to Al Qaeda a sunni muslim group,( and sworn enemy of the Shi ite muslims) in order to fight the U.S. in Iraq ! So who can say now, that it is impossible that they are doing the same with Fatah al islam (sunni muslim group with ties to Al Qaeda!) in Lebanon ? Something to ponder about, someday we will know the truth !\\nPaparock\\nHezbollah Kidnaps Lebanese Policemen (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/15/hezbollah-kidnapps-lebanese-policemen/) | June 15th, 2007 http://beirutspring.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/print/images/printer_famfamfam.gif (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/15/hezbollah-kidnapps-lebanese-policemen/print/)\\nhttp://beirutspring.com/beirutspring-images/headers/32.gif\\nIs the Party of God testing the waters for a Hamas-style takeover?\\nHere’s this curious news I just read on Naharnet (http://www.naharnet.com/):Hizbullah gunmen kidnapped three policemen in south Beirut, stripped them of their weapons, interrogated them and then set them free. The LF site (http://www.lebanese-forces.com/) has more details:\\nاوقف مسلحون من حزب الله دورية من قوى الامن الداخلي قوامها ثلاثة عناصر بحجة دخولها الى المربع الامني في بئر العبد واقتادوها الى احد مراكز حزب الله الامنية حيث تم التحقيق معها لمدة ساعة . ولم يتم اطلاقها الا بعد تدخلات سياسية رفيعة المست\\nThe question remains: Under which authority Hezbollah thinks it can arrest and interrogate Lebanese men in uniform?\\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/\\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/lebflag2.gif Friday June 15, 2007\\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/fleche-red.gif Clashes renewed on Friday between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam fighters after militants sniper-fired on the troops from buildings in the center of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, LBCI TV reported.\\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/fleche-red.gif Security officials also said that at least four soldiers were killed and six others wounded in fighting Friday.\\nJune 15, 2007\\nSyro-Iranian massacre of Lebanese Politicians\\nBy Walid Phares\\nWith the assassination of Lebanese MP Jebran Tueni in December 2006, months after the murder of political leaders George Hawi and Samir Qassir during the summer, the Syro-Iranian terror war room had opened a bloody hunt against the democratically elected Lebanese Parliament. After the withdrawal of regular Syrian forces from Lebanon in April 2005, Bashar Assad and his allies in Tehran designed a counter offensive (which we described then and later) aiming at crumbling the Cedars Revolution. One of the main components of this strategy was (and remain) to use all intelligence and security assets of Syria and Iran in Lebanon in order to “reduce” the number of deputies who form the anti-Syrian majority in the Parliament. As simple as that: assassinate as many members as needed to flip the quantitative majority in the Legislative Assembly. And when that is done, the Seniora Government collapses and a Hezbollah-led cabinet forms. In addition, if the Terror war kills about 8 legislators, the remnant of the Parliament can elect a new President of the Republic who will move the country under the tutelage of the Assad regime.\\nAs incredibly barbaric as it seems in the West, the genocide of the legislators in Lebanon at the hands of the Syrian regime and its allies is very “normal” by Baathist (and certainly by Jihadist) political culture. During the 1980s, Saddam Hussein executed a large segment of his own Party’s national assembly to maintain his regime intact. In the same decade, Hafez Assad eliminated systematically his political adversaries both inside Syria and across Syrian occupied Lebanon to secure his control over the two “sister” countries. So for Bashar to order the assassination of his opponents in Lebanon as of the fall of 2004 to perpetuate his domination of the little Baathist “empire” is not a stunning development: it is the standing procedure in Damascus since 1970.\\nAnd to “achieve” these goals, the junta in Syria has a plethora of tools and assets left in Lebanon. First, the vast Syrian intelligence networks still deeply rooted in the small country; second, the powerful Iranian-financed Hezbollah with its lethal security apparatus; third, the Syrian-controlled groups within the Palestinian camps from various ideological backgrounds including Baathists, Marxists, or even Islamist such as Fatah al Islam; fourth the pro-Syrian and Hezbollah sympathizers “inside” the Lebanese Army as well as the units and security services still under the control of General Emile Lahoud; fifth, the client militias and organizations remote-controlled by Syrian intelligence such as the Syrian National-Social Party; and sixth, operatives inserted within political groups gravitating around Damascus such as those of Sleiman Frangieh, Michel Aoun and Talal Arslan. In short, the Syro-Iranian axis has a wide array of security and intelligence assets from which it can select the most appropriate perpetrators for each “take down.” The Assad regime has its “own” Sunni operatives to kill Sunnis, Christians to murder Christians and Druze to eliminate Druze and has the full resources of Hezbollah terror to obstruct the Government of Lebanon and ultimately crumble it.\\nThe “reduction” –both physical and political- of the Lebanese Parliamentary majority began as soon as the assembly was elected in the spring of 2005. The Lebanese opposition to Assad and Hezbollah got originally 72 seats out of the 128 members, a comfortable majority to resume the “liberation” of the country from occupation and Terrorism. In December of 2006 a car bomb kills MP Jebran Tueni bringing the majority to 71. Though he is quickly replaced by his father Ghassan, the latter’s old age and unwillingness to pursue the same anti-Terrorist activism is a negative in the big battle. In January 2006 a majority-MP Edmond Naim, dies of old age. The anti-Cedars revolution pressure brings in Pierre Daccache, “neutral” in principle, but essentially close to now Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun. Since, the majority has 71 seats. In December of 2006, majority-MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated by Syrian operatives. The number of dedicated MPs falls to 70. Few weeks ago, Syrian threats compel the Alawi MP from the north to quit the majority, bringing the number to 69. Today’s assassination of Sunni Walid Eido, a fierce opponent to the Syrian regime brings the number of MPs to 68. Four more assassinations and the Parliamentary majority in Lebanon would collapse, bringing back Ahmedinijad and Assad’s Terror power to the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean.\\nWhat can be done to stop the legislators’ massacre in Lebanon and its dramatic consequences?\\nThe UN Security Council, under resolutions 1559 and 1701 should intervene massively by ordering and overseeing the following steps:\\na) Put all remaining 68 MPs under direct international protection. A special international security force should be dispatched to Lebanon, gather the endangered legislators in one or several protected locations and escort them later to perform their constitutional duties.\\nb) Ask the Lebanese Government of Mr Seniora to organize the appropriate legislative elections in the districts of Matn and Beirut to replace the assassinated MPs Gemayel and Eido. Dispatch UN observers to oversee these elections.\\nc) Ask the Lebanese Parliament to elect a new President during the constitutional period beginning in August and escort the 68 endangered MPs (plus the two newly elected ones) to the location of the Presidential elections and provide security during the voting process.\\nBy doing so, the UNSC would be implementing its own resolutions, fulfilling the democratic process in Lebanon and fighting back against Terrorism with the power of the people of Lebanon. For when a new democratically elected President is elected in Lebanon, the road –still very difficult and dangerous- to democracy will be paved.\\nDr Walid Phares is the Director of Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, a visiting scholar at the European Foundation for Democracy and the author of the War of Ideas. Dr Phares was one of the architects of UNSCR 1559.\\nPaparock\\n06-19-2007, 03:22 PM\\nThe Lebanese media is filled with news about the Army�s �upcoming victory� against Fateh Al Islam. Was that just a face-saving cover for a pragmatic deal that would end up deporting the fighters and giving back control to the Palestinian factions?\\nhttp://www.annahar.com/media/images/Tue_pix/main/p01-01-23036.jpg\\nTo many of us Army supporters, we can�t help getting all cheesy when we see pictures like the above (from Annahar (http://www.annahar.com/), H/T AKais (http://beirutbeltway.com/)) and read headlines like �Army To declare victory soon�, but are we being duped? Did the Army really �crush� Fateh Al Islam?\\nAljazeera�s fly in the ointment: (http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7A2D4827-A0C6-46CF-812E-DFE312EF9915.htm)\\nأفادت مراسلة الجزيرة في لبنان أن مبادرة رابطة علماء فلسطين لإنهاء الاشتباكات في نهر البارد وصلت إلى مراحلها النهائية، ورجحت أن يتم إعلان وقف لإطلاق النار بالمخيم مساء غد.\\nوقالت المراسلة إن الاتفاق يتضمن وقفا لإطلاق النار من جانب تنظيم فتح الإسلام وموافقته على ترحيل مقاتليه العرب إلى خارج لبنان وتسليم سلاحه إلى فصيل فلسطيني إسلامي يعتقد أنه الجهاد الإسلامي.\\nوأشارت إلى أن الاتفاق يتضمن نشر قوة أمنية فلسطينية مشتركة في المخيم القديم والسماح بدخول خبراء لتفكيك الألغام وإزالتها من المخيم تمهيدا لإعادة النازحين.\\nTranslation mine:\\nAljazeera�s Lebanon correspondent reported that the initiative of the Palestine�s Association Of Scholars to end the fightings in Naher Al Bared reached its final stages, and it estimates reaching a ceasefire by tomorrow evening.\\nThe Correspondent said that the agreement involves a ceasefire from Fateh Al Islam�s part and its agreeing to deport its Arab fighters outside of Lebanon and handing in their weapons to a Palestinian faction thought to be the Islamic Jihad.\\nShe pointed out that the agreement also includes the deployment of Palestinian security forces in the old camp and allowing explosives experts to defuse the bombs in the camps before the refugees can come back.\\nAlthough this seems short of a complete victory, it is not as bad is it sounds on Aljazeera, which after all, has its strong biases. For example, Instead of writing �handing all the Lebanese terrorist members to the Army�, Aljazeera chose to write �deporting Arab fighters outside of Lebanon.�\\nThe Army has still not officially approved the initiative, but at the same time, it didn�t post its usually prompt strong rebuttal of �any solution that does not involve the complete surrender of the militants� on its website.\\nAnother question begs to be asked: Will the deported fighters be hosted by countries like Qatar, or will they end up in their country of origin�s legal systems?\\nhttp://www.beirutspring.com/\\n06-20-2007, 07:42 PM\\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/Wednesday June 20, 2007\\nA Lebanese army officer said Wednesday the military was now in full control of the new part of Nahr al-Bared.\\n\\\"All of the buildings in the new part of Nahr al-Bared where the terrorists were dug in have been taken, and one could say fighting has stopped in this area,\\\" an army officer told AFP.\\nLebanese troops earlier on Wednesday were clearing out the remaining pockets of resistance in Nahr al-Bared, Future TV said.\\nIt said the army’s artillery continued shelling the southern front, cornering diehard militants in what has been known as the \\\"old camp,\\\" a small segment on the southern tip of Nahr al-Bared.\\nPaparock\\n06-21-2007, 08:28 PM\\nhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6228766.stm\\nLebanon says a military operation against Islamist fighters based in a Palestinian refugee camp has ended after a month-long battle.\\nDefence Minister Elias Murr said all of Fatah al-Islam's positions in the Nahr al-Bared camp had been destroyed.\\nThe leaders of the group were now on the run, Mr Murr said.\\nMore than 150 people have died at the camp, including at least 20 civilians, in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.\\n\\\"I can notify the Lebanese that the military operation is over,\\\" Mr Murr told Lebanese TV, saying the army had \\\"crushed those terrorists\\\".\\n\\\"What is happening now is some clean-up that the army's heroes are carrying out, and dismantling some mines.\\\"\\nTroops would continue to pursue the leaders and remaining fighter of Fatah al-Islam, Mr Murr said, suggesting that some clashes could still flare up inside the refugee camp.\\nNahr al-Bared, near the northern city of Tripoli, was home to 30,000 people before the fighting broke out.\\nLarge parts of the camp have been left in ruins after a bitter struggle that began in late May.\\nPaparock\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124626,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"A Lucy Stoner is a married woman who retains …….what?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Her Maiden Surname"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Lucy_Stone_League.txt\nLucy Stone League\nThe Lucy Stone League is a women’s rights organization founded in 1921. Its motto is \"A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should hers. My name is my identity and must not be lost.\"http://lucystoneleague.org The League's official website, which uses retro-style graphics. Navigation is by clicking as usual. It was the first group to fight for women to be allowed to keep their maiden name after marriage—and to use it legally.Stannard 1977, the entire Ch. 15 \"The Lucy Stone League\" \n pp. 188-218.\n\nIt was among the first feminist groups to arise from the suffrage movement and gained attention for seeking and preserving women's own-name rights, such as the particular ones which follow in this article.\n\nThe group took its name from Lucy Stone (1818–1893), the first married woman in the United States to carry her birth name through life (she married in 1855). The New York Times called the group the \"Maiden Namers.\" They held their first meetings, debates, and functions at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, including the founding meeting on 17 May 1921. \n\nThe founder of the Lucy Stone League was Ruth Hale, a New York City journalist and critic. The wife of New York World columnist Heywood Broun, Ruth Hale challenged in federal court any government edict that would not recognize a married woman (such as herself) by the name she chose to use. The only one in her household called Mrs. Heywood Broun was the cat. \n\nThe League became so well known that a new term, Lucy Stoner, came into common use, meaning anyone who advocates that a wife be allowed to keep and use her own name. This term was eventually included in dictionaries. \n\nMembers\n\nThe group was open to women and men. Some early members were, in alphabetical order: \n* Franklin Pierce Adams, columnist\n* Heywood Broun, columnist\n* Janet Flanner, Paris correspondent for The New Yorker\n*Zona Gale, Wisconsin-based author and playwright, first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and political-campaigner for women's rights\n* Jane Grant, New York Times reporter, wife of Harold Ross (founder of The New Yorker), and cofounder of The New Yorker\n* Ruth Hale, journalist and publicist\n* Fannie Hurst, author\n* Beulah Livingstone, silent movie publicist\n* Anita Loos, playwright-author\n* Neysa McMein, illustrator\n* Solita Solano, drama critic, editor, and writer\n\nSome of the members often attended the Algonquin Round Table. Since many League members wrote for a living, they could and did write frequently about the group in New York City newspapers.\n\nThere were many well-known women who were Lucy Stoners and kept their names after marriage but were not known to be League members, such as (listed alphabetically) Isadora Duncan (dancer), Amelia Earhart (aviation celebrity), Margaret Mead (anthropologist), Edna St. Vincent Millay (poet), Georgia O'Keeffe (artist), Frances Perkins (first woman appointed to any U.S. cabinet), and Michael Strange (poet, playwright, actress) – aka Blanche Oelrichs – aka the wife of actor John Barrymore. \n\nFirst historical period\n\nThe founding of the League was presented above, in the introduction.\n\nRuth Hale's first battle (begun in 1920) with the government was to get a passport issued to her by the U.S. State Department in her own name – just as for any man. Victory was attained five years later in 1925, by the League, when the first married woman in the United States to receive a passport in her own name was Doris Fleischman, the wife of Edward L. Bernays. \n\nAn earlier victory for the group came in May 1921 when Hale got a real estate deed issued in her birth name rather than Mrs. Heywood Broun. When the time came to transfer the title of the Upper West Side apartment building, Hale refused to go on record as Mrs. Heywood Broun; the papers were changed to Ruth Hale.\n\nThe League pioneered and fought for other married women's rights, in the 1920s U.S., to do each of the following in their own names: to register at a hotel, to have bank accounts and sign checks, to have a telephone account or a store account or an insurance policy or a library card, to register (to vote) and to vote, to get a copyright, and to receive paychecks. These rights may be taken for granted today, but the legal right of a married woman in the U.S. to use her own name (rather than her husband's name) was denied by many officials and courts until a 9 Oct 1972 court decision, as documented in the 1977 book Mrs Man, by Una Stannard. \n\nIn its first incarnation the League was short lived. The group's lawyer, Rose Bres, died in 1927; by 1931 Ruth Hale, who believed that a woman is \"through after forty\", became depressed and then died in 1934. By the early 1930s the Lucy Stone League was inactive. \n\nSecond historical period\n\nThe League was restarted in 1950 by Jane Grant, plus twenty two former members, its first meeting being on 22 Mar 1950 in New York City. Grant promptly won the Census Bureau's agreement that a married woman could use her maiden surname as her official or real name in the census. (The New York Times, 10 Apr 1950). \n\nBut the \"legal stone wall\" that U.S. women ran into with many officials and even in the courts persisted until the U.S. Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment on 22 Mar 1972 (never ratified by the U.S.). This 22 Mar 1972 event, plus the researching of and documentation of past legal cases by women lawyers, led to the above-mentioned 9 Oct 1972 court decision. \n\nSo in the 1950s and 1960s period, prior to 1972, the \"new\" League had to change its approach – it widened its focus to include all discrimination against women in the U.S.; the League became a proto – National Organization for Women (NOW). \n\nThe reborn League operated as a non-political and non-partisan center of research and information on the status of women. It sponsored college scholarships and set up feminist libraries in high schools. It worked for gender equality in legal, economic, educational, and social relationships. http://lucystoneleague.org/history.html The League's official history. To access it from the League's homepage: First click on the tab \"Who are we?\", and then on its button \"LSL History\".\n\nAs of the early 1990s the Lucy Stone League \"still gave nursing scholarships and hosted a combination annual meeting and strawberry festival\" – though the gender equality issues listed in the previous paragraph had been largely taken over by NOW (since 1966) and other women's groups. \n\nThird historical period\n\nA modern version of the League was started in 1997, as follows: By 1997 the activities of the League had ceased and a report was published that \"Alas, the League is no more.\" When he read this report, Morrison Bonpasse, a past president of the League, was \"inspired\" to restart the League, at the same time shifting the focus back to name equality – which was/is not addressed by NOW. This restart eventually became \"the re-launching of the website (lucystoneleague.org) under the direction of a new board and its current president Ms. Cristina Lucia Stasia\".\n\nIn addition, there is a group of women in New York who are still active under the name \"Lucy Stone League\" and this group has been a dues paying affiliate of the International Alliance of Women, for decades. It hosted the IAW Triennial Congress in New York City in 1999."],"string":"[\n \"Lucy_Stone_League.txt\\nLucy Stone League\\nThe Lucy Stone League is a women’s rights organization founded in 1921. Its motto is \\\"A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should hers. My name is my identity and must not be lost.\\\"http://lucystoneleague.org The League's official website, which uses retro-style graphics. Navigation is by clicking as usual. It was the first group to fight for women to be allowed to keep their maiden name after marriage—and to use it legally.Stannard 1977, the entire Ch. 15 \\\"The Lucy Stone League\\\" \\n pp. 188-218.\\n\\nIt was among the first feminist groups to arise from the suffrage movement and gained attention for seeking and preserving women's own-name rights, such as the particular ones which follow in this article.\\n\\nThe group took its name from Lucy Stone (1818–1893), the first married woman in the United States to carry her birth name through life (she married in 1855). The New York Times called the group the \\\"Maiden Namers.\\\" They held their first meetings, debates, and functions at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, including the founding meeting on 17 May 1921. \\n\\nThe founder of the Lucy Stone League was Ruth Hale, a New York City journalist and critic. The wife of New York World columnist Heywood Broun, Ruth Hale challenged in federal court any government edict that would not recognize a married woman (such as herself) by the name she chose to use. The only one in her household called Mrs. Heywood Broun was the cat. \\n\\nThe League became so well known that a new term, Lucy Stoner, came into common use, meaning anyone who advocates that a wife be allowed to keep and use her own name. This term was eventually included in dictionaries. \\n\\nMembers\\n\\nThe group was open to women and men. Some early members were, in alphabetical order: \\n* Franklin Pierce Adams, columnist\\n* Heywood Broun, columnist\\n* Janet Flanner, Paris correspondent for The New Yorker\\n*Zona Gale, Wisconsin-based author and playwright, first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and political-campaigner for women's rights\\n* Jane Grant, New York Times reporter, wife of Harold Ross (founder of The New Yorker), and cofounder of The New Yorker\\n* Ruth Hale, journalist and publicist\\n* Fannie Hurst, author\\n* Beulah Livingstone, silent movie publicist\\n* Anita Loos, playwright-author\\n* Neysa McMein, illustrator\\n* Solita Solano, drama critic, editor, and writer\\n\\nSome of the members often attended the Algonquin Round Table. Since many League members wrote for a living, they could and did write frequently about the group in New York City newspapers.\\n\\nThere were many well-known women who were Lucy Stoners and kept their names after marriage but were not known to be League members, such as (listed alphabetically) Isadora Duncan (dancer), Amelia Earhart (aviation celebrity), Margaret Mead (anthropologist), Edna St. Vincent Millay (poet), Georgia O'Keeffe (artist), Frances Perkins (first woman appointed to any U.S. cabinet), and Michael Strange (poet, playwright, actress) – aka Blanche Oelrichs – aka the wife of actor John Barrymore. \\n\\nFirst historical period\\n\\nThe founding of the League was presented above, in the introduction.\\n\\nRuth Hale's first battle (begun in 1920) with the government was to get a passport issued to her by the U.S. State Department in her own name – just as for any man. Victory was attained five years later in 1925, by the League, when the first married woman in the United States to receive a passport in her own name was Doris Fleischman, the wife of Edward L. Bernays. \\n\\nAn earlier victory for the group came in May 1921 when Hale got a real estate deed issued in her birth name rather than Mrs. Heywood Broun. When the time came to transfer the title of the Upper West Side apartment building, Hale refused to go on record as Mrs. Heywood Broun; the papers were changed to Ruth Hale.\\n\\nThe League pioneered and fought for other married women's rights, in the 1920s U.S., to do each of the following in their own names: to register at a hotel, to have bank accounts and sign checks, to have a telephone account or a store account or an insurance policy or a library card, to register (to vote) and to vote, to get a copyright, and to receive paychecks. These rights may be taken for granted today, but the legal right of a married woman in the U.S. to use her own name (rather than her husband's name) was denied by many officials and courts until a 9 Oct 1972 court decision, as documented in the 1977 book Mrs Man, by Una Stannard. \\n\\nIn its first incarnation the League was short lived. The group's lawyer, Rose Bres, died in 1927; by 1931 Ruth Hale, who believed that a woman is \\\"through after forty\\\", became depressed and then died in 1934. By the early 1930s the Lucy Stone League was inactive. \\n\\nSecond historical period\\n\\nThe League was restarted in 1950 by Jane Grant, plus twenty two former members, its first meeting being on 22 Mar 1950 in New York City. Grant promptly won the Census Bureau's agreement that a married woman could use her maiden surname as her official or real name in the census. (The New York Times, 10 Apr 1950). \\n\\nBut the \\\"legal stone wall\\\" that U.S. women ran into with many officials and even in the courts persisted until the U.S. Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment on 22 Mar 1972 (never ratified by the U.S.). This 22 Mar 1972 event, plus the researching of and documentation of past legal cases by women lawyers, led to the above-mentioned 9 Oct 1972 court decision. \\n\\nSo in the 1950s and 1960s period, prior to 1972, the \\\"new\\\" League had to change its approach – it widened its focus to include all discrimination against women in the U.S.; the League became a proto – National Organization for Women (NOW). \\n\\nThe reborn League operated as a non-political and non-partisan center of research and information on the status of women. It sponsored college scholarships and set up feminist libraries in high schools. It worked for gender equality in legal, economic, educational, and social relationships. http://lucystoneleague.org/history.html The League's official history. To access it from the League's homepage: First click on the tab \\\"Who are we?\\\", and then on its button \\\"LSL History\\\".\\n\\nAs of the early 1990s the Lucy Stone League \\\"still gave nursing scholarships and hosted a combination annual meeting and strawberry festival\\\" – though the gender equality issues listed in the previous paragraph had been largely taken over by NOW (since 1966) and other women's groups. \\n\\nThird historical period\\n\\nA modern version of the League was started in 1997, as follows: By 1997 the activities of the League had ceased and a report was published that \\\"Alas, the League is no more.\\\" When he read this report, Morrison Bonpasse, a past president of the League, was \\\"inspired\\\" to restart the League, at the same time shifting the focus back to name equality – which was/is not addressed by NOW. This restart eventually became \\\"the re-launching of the website (lucystoneleague.org) under the direction of a new board and its current president Ms. Cristina Lucia Stasia\\\".\\n\\nIn addition, there is a group of women in New York who are still active under the name \\\"Lucy Stone League\\\" and this group has been a dues paying affiliate of the International Alliance of Women, for decades. It hosted the IAW Triennial Congress in New York City in 1999.\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2293"],"string":"[\n \"2293\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sense_and_Sensibility.txt\nSense and Sensibility\nSense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, and was her first published work when it appeared in 1811 under the pseudonym \"A Lady\". A work of romantic fiction, and a comedy of manners, Sense and Sensibility is set in southwest England, London and Kent between 1792 and 1797, and portrays the life and loves of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. The novel follows the young women to their new home, a meagre cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience love, romance and heartbreak.\n\nTitle\n\nJane Austen wrote the first draft of the novel in the form of a novel-in-letters (epistolary form) sometime around 1795 when she was about 19 years old, and gave it the title Elinor and Marianne. She later changed the form to a narrative and the title to Sense and Sensibility. \"Sense\" in the book means good judgment or prudence, and \"sensibility\" means sensitivity or emotionality. \"Sense\" is identified with the character of Elinor, while \"sensibility\" is identified with the character of Marianne. By changing the title, Austen added \"philosophical depth\" to what began as a sketch of two characters. The title of the book, and that of her next published novel, Pride and Prejudice (1813), may be suggestive of political conflicts of the 1790s. \n\nSource texts\n\nAusten also drew inspiration for Sense and Sensibility from other novels of the 1790s that treated similar themes, including Adam Stevenson's \"Life and Love\" (1785) which he had written about himself and a relationship that wasn't meant to be, Also Jane West's, A Gossip's Story (1796), which features two sisters, one full of rational sense and the other of romantic, emotive sensibility. West’s romantic sister-heroine shares a first name with Austen’s: Marianne. There are further textual similarities, described in a modern edition of West's novel. \n\nCritical views \n\nAusten biographer Claire Tomalin argues that Sense and Sensibility has a \"wobble in its approach\", which developed because Austen, in the course of writing the novel, gradually became less certain about whether sense or sensibility should triumph. Austen characterises Marianne as a sweet lady with attractive qualities: intelligence, musical talent, frankness, and the capacity to love deeply. She also acknowledges that Willoughby, with all his faults, continues to love and, in some measure, appreciate Marianne. For these reasons, some readers find Marianne's ultimate marriage to Colonel Brandon an unsatisfactory ending. \n\nOther interpretations, however, have argued that Austen's intention was not to debate the superior value of either sense or sensibility in good judgment, but rather to demonstrate that both qualities are equally important, but must be in balance.\n\nPlot summary \n\nWhen Mr. Henry Dashwood dies, his house, Norland Park, passes directly to his only son John, the child of his first wife. His second wife, Mrs. Dashwood, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, inherit only a small income. On his deathbed, Mr. Dashwood extracts a promise from his son, that he will take care of his half-sisters; however, John's selfish and greedy wife, Fanny, soon persuades him to renege on the promise. John and Fanny immediately move in as the new owners of Norland, while the Dashwood women are treated as unwelcome guests. Mrs. Dashwood begins looking for somewhere else to live.\n\nIn the meantime, Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars, a pleasant, unassuming, intelligent but reserved young man, visits Norland and soon forms an attachment with Elinor. Fanny disapproves of the match and offends Mrs. Dashwood with the implication that Elinor is motivated by money. Mrs. Dashwood indignantly speeds her search for a new home.\n\nMrs. Dashwood moves her family to Barton Cottage in Devonshire, near the home of her cousin, Sir John Middleton. Their new home is modest; however, they are warmly received by Sir John, and welcomed into local society—meeting his wife, Lady Middleton, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings and his friend, the grave, quiet and gentlemanly Colonel Brandon. It soon becomes apparent that Colonel Brandon is attracted to Marianne, and Mrs. Jennings teases them about it. Marianne is not pleased as she considers the thirty-five-year-old Colonel Brandon an old bachelor, incapable of falling in love or inspiring love in anyone else.\n\nMarianne, out for a walk, gets caught in the rain, slips and sprains her ankle. The dashing, handsome John Willoughby sees the accident and assists her. Marianne quickly comes to admire his good looks and outspoken views on poetry, music, art and love. Mr. Willoughby's attentions are so overt that Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood begin to suspect that the couple are secretly engaged. Elinor cautions Marianne against her unguarded conduct, but Marianne refuses to check her emotions. Unexpectedly, Mr. Willoughby informs the Dashwoods that his aunt is sending him to London on business, indefinitely. Marianne is distraught and abandons herself to her sorrow.\n\nEdward Ferrars then pays a short visit to Barton Cottage but seems unhappy. Elinor fears that he no longer has feelings for her, but feels compelled, by a sense of duty, to protect her family from knowing her heartache. Soon after Edward departs, Anne and Lucy Steele, the vulgar and uneducated cousins of Lady Middleton, come to stay at Barton Park. Lucy informs Elinor of her secret four-year engagement to Edward Ferrars, displaying proofs. Elinor comes to understand Edward's recent behaviour towards her and acquits him of blame. She pities Edward for being held to a loveless engagement by his sense of honour.\n\nAs winter approaches, Elinor and Marianne accompany Mrs. Jennings to London. On arriving, Marianne rashly writes a series of personal letters to Willoughby, which go unanswered. When they finally meet, Mr. Willoughby greets Marianne reluctantly and coldly, to her extreme distress. Soon Marianne receives a curt letter enclosing their former correspondence and love tokens, including a lock of her hair and informing her of his engagement to a young lady with a large fortune. Marianne is devastated, and admits to Elinor that she and Willoughby were never engaged, but she loved him and he led her to believe he loved her. In sympathy for Marianne, and to illuminate Willoughby's true character, Colonel Brandon reveals to Elinor that Willoughby had seduced Brandon's fifteen-year-old ward, Miss Williams, then abandoned her when she became pregnant. Brandon had been in love with her mother, who had been his father's ward and who had been forced into an unhappy marriage to his brother; Marianne strongly reminds him of her.\n\nIn the meantime, the Steele sisters have come to London as guests of John and Fanny Dashwood. Lucy sees her invitation to the Dashwoods' as a personal compliment, rather than what it is, a slight to Elinor. In the false confidence of their popularity, Anne Steele betrays Lucy's secret. As a result, the Misses Steele are turned out of the house, and Edward is ordered to break off the engagement on pain of disinheritance. Edward, refuses to comply and is immediately disinherited in favour of his brother, gaining widespread respect for his conduct, and sympathy from Elinor and Marianne who understand how much he has sacrificed. Colonel Brandon shows his admiration by offering Edward the living of Delaford parsonage.\n\nMrs. Jennings takes Elinor and Marianne to the country to visit her second daughter. In her misery over Willoughby's marriage, Marianne becomes dangerously ill. Willoughby arrives to repent and reveals to Elinor that his love for Marianne was genuine. When his aunt learned of his behaviour towards Miss Williams and disinherited him, he felt he had to marry for money rather than love. But he elicits Elinor's pity because his choice has made him unhappy.\n\nWhen Marianne recovers, Elinor tells her of Willoughby's visit. Marianne comes to see that she could never have been happy with Willoughby's immoral and expansive nature. She comes to value Elinor's conduct in a similar situation and resolves to model herself after Elinor's courage and good sense.\n\nOn learning that Lucy has married 'Mr. Ferrars', Elinor grieves, until Edward arrives and reveals that, after his disinheritance, Lucy jilted him in favour of his now wealthy brother, Robert. Edward and Elinor soon marry, and later Marianne marries Colonel Brandon, having gradually come to love him.\n\nCharacters\n\nMain characters\n\n*Elinor Dashwood — the sensible and reserved eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is 19 years old at the beginning of the book. She becomes attached to Edward Ferrars, the brother-in-law of her elder half-brother, John. Always feeling a keen sense of responsibility to her family and friends, she places their welfare and interests above her own, and suppresses her own strong emotions in a way that leads others to think she is indifferent or cold-hearted.\n*Marianne Dashwood — the romantically inclined and eagerly expressive second daughter of Mr and Mrs Henry Dashwood. She is 16 years old at the beginning of the book. She is the object of the attentions of Colonel Brandon and Mr. Willoughby. She is attracted to young, handsome, romantically spirited Willoughby and does not think much of the older, more reserved Colonel Brandon. Marianne undergoes the most development within the book, learning her sensibilities have been selfish. She decides her conduct should be more like that of her elder sister, Elinor.\n*Edward Ferrars — the elder of Fanny Dashwood's two brothers. He forms an attachment to Elinor Dashwood. Years before meeting the Dashwoods, Ferrars proposed to Lucy Steele, the niece of his tutor. The engagement has been kept secret owing to the expectation that Ferrars' family would object to his marrying Miss Steele. He is disowned by his mother on discovery of the engagement after refusing to give it up.\n*John Willoughby — a philandering nephew of a neighbour of the Middletons, a dashing figure who charms Marianne and shares her artistic and cultural sensibilities. It is generally presumed by many of their mutual acquaintances that he is engaged to marry Marianne (partly due to her own overly familiar actions, i.e., addressing personal letters directly to him).\n*Colonel Brandon — a close friend of Sir John Middleton. He is 35 years old at the beginning of the book. He falls in love with Marianne at first sight, as she reminds him of his father's ward whom he had fallen in love with when he was young. He is prevented from marrying the ward because his father was determined she marry his older brother. He was sent into the military abroad to be away from her, and while gone, the girl suffered numerous misfortunes—partly as a consequence of her unhappy marriage. She finally dies penniless and disgraced, and with a natural (i.e., illegitimate) daughter, who becomes the ward of the Colonel. He is a very honourable friend to the Dashwoods, particularly Elinor, and offers Edward Ferrars a living after Edward is disowned by his mother.\n\nMinor characters\n\n*Henry Dashwood – a wealthy gentleman who dies at the beginning of the story. The terms of his estate — entailment to a male heir — prevent him from leaving anything to his second wife and their children. He asks John, his son by his first wife, to look after (meaning ensure the financial security of) his second wife and their three daughters.\n*Mrs. Dashwood – the second wife of Henry Dashwood, who is left in difficult financial straits by the death of her husband. She is 40 years old at the beginning of the book. Much like her daughter Marianne, she is very emotive and often makes poor decisions based on emotion rather than reason.\n*Margaret Dashwood – the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is thirteen at the beginning of the book. She is also romantic and good-tempered but not expected to be as clever as her sisters when she grows older.\n*John Dashwood – the son of Henry Dashwood by his first wife. He intends to do well by his half-sisters, but he has a keen sense of avarice, and is easily swayed by his wife.\n*Fanny Dashwood – the wife of John Dashwood, and sister to Edward and Robert Ferrars. She is vain, selfish, and snobbish. She spoils her son Harry. She is very harsh to her husband's half-sisters and stepmother, especially since she fears her brother Edward is attached to Elinor.\n*Sir John Middleton – a distant relative of Mrs Dashwood who, after the death of Henry Dashwood, invites her and her three daughters to live in a cottage on his property. Described as a wealthy, sporting man who served in the army with Colonel Brandon, he is very affable and keen to throw frequent parties, picnics, and other social gatherings to bring together the young people of their village. He and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, make a jolly, teasing, and gossipy pair.\n*Lady Middleton – the genteel, but reserved wife of Sir John Middleton, she is quieter than her husband, and is primarily concerned with mothering her four spoiled children.\n*Mrs Jennings – mother to Lady Middleton and Charlotte Palmer. A widow who has married off all her children, she spends most of her time visiting her daughters and their families, especially the Middletons. She and her son-in-law, Sir John Middleton, take an active interest in the romantic affairs of the young people around them and seek to encourage suitable matches, often to the particular chagrin of Elinor and Marianne.\n*Robert Ferrars – the younger brother of Edward Ferrars and Fanny Dashwood, he is most concerned about status, fashion, and his new barouche. He subsequently marries Miss Lucy Steele after Edward is disowned.\n*Mrs. Ferrars – Fanny Dashwood and Edward and Robert Ferrars' mother. A bad-tempered, unsympathetic woman who embodies all the foibles demonstrated in Fanny and Robert's characteristics. She is determined that her sons should marry well.\n*Charlotte Palmer – the daughter of Mrs. Jennings and the younger sister of Lady Middleton, Mrs Palmer is jolly but empty-headed and laughs at inappropriate things, such as her husband's continual rudeness to her and to others.\n*Thomas Palmer – the husband of Charlotte Palmer who is running for a seat in Parliament, but is idle and often rude. He is considerate toward the Dashwood sisters.\n*Lucy Steele – a young, distant relation of Mrs. Jennings, who has for some time been secretly engaged to Edward Ferrars. She assiduously cultivates the friendship with Elinor Dashwood and Mrs John Dashwood. Limited in formal education and financial means, she is nonetheless attractive, clever, manipulative, cunning and scheming.\n*Anne/Nancy Steele – Lucy Steele's elder, socially inept, and less clever sister.\n*Miss Sophia Grey – a wealthy and malicious heiress whom Mr. Willoughby marries to retain his comfortable lifestyle after he is disinherited by his aunt.\n*Lord Morton – the father of Miss Morton.\n*Miss Morton – a wealthy woman whom Mrs. Ferrars wants her eldest son, Edward, and later Robert, to marry.\n*Mr Pratt – an uncle of Lucy Steele and Edward's tutor.\n*Eliza Williams (daughter) – the ward of Col. Brandon, she is about 15 years old and bore an illegitimate child to John Willoughby. She has the same name as her mother.\n*Eliza Williams (mother) – the former love interest of Colonel Brandon. Williams was Brandon's father's ward, and was forced to marry Brandon's older brother. The marriage was an unhappy one, and it is revealed that her daughter was left as Colonel Brandon's ward when he found his lost love dying in a poorhouse.\n*Mrs. Smith – the wealthy aunt of Mr. Willoughby who disowns him for seducing and abandoning the young Eliza Williams, Col. Brandon's ward.\n\nPublication\n\nIn 1811, Thomas Egerton of the Military Library publishing house in London accepted the manuscript for publication in three volumes. Austen paid to have the book published and paid the publisher a commission on sales. The cost of publication was more than a third of Austen's annual household income of £460 (about £15,000 in 2008 currency). She made a profit of £140 (almost £5,000 in 2008 currency) on the first edition, which sold all 750 printed copies by July 1813. A second edition was advertised in October 1813.\n\nAdaptations\n\nThe book has been adapted for film and television a number of times, including a 1981 serial for TV directed by Rodney Bennett; a 1995 movie adapted by Emma Thompson and directed by Ang Lee; a version in Tamil called Kandukondain Kandukondain, released in 2000, starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan; and a 2008 TV series on BBC adapted by Andrew Davies and directed by John Alexander.\n\nSense & Sensibility, the Musical (book and lyrics by Jeffrey Haddow and music by Neal Hampton) received its world premiere by the Denver Center Theatre Company in April 2013 staged by Tony-nominated director Marcia Milgrom Dodge. In 2014, the Utah Shakespeare Festival presented Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan's adaptation of the novel. In 2016, the [http://bedlam.org/ Bedlam theatrical troupe] mounted a well-received minimalist production, adapted by Kate Hamill and directed by Eric Tucker, from a repertory run in 2014. \n\nIn 2013, author Joanna Trollope published her own version of the story, bringing the characters into the present day and providing modern satire.","Sense and Sensibility Summary | GradeSaver\nSense and Sensibility study guide contains a ... Elinor and Marianne meet the Middletons ... Representations of Mothers in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility;\nSense and Sensibility Summary | GradeSaver\nSense and Sensibility Summary\nBuy Study Guide\nThe Dashwood family is introduced; Mr. and Mrs. Dashwood and their three daughters live at Norland Park, an estate in Sussex. Unfortunately, Mr. Dashwood's wife and daughters are left with very little when he dies and the estate goes to his son, John Dashwood . John and his wife Fanny (nee Ferrars) have a great deal of money, yet refuse to help his half-sisters and their mother.\nElinor, one of the Dashwood girls, is entirely sensible and prudent; her sister, Marianne, is very emotional and never moderate. Margaret, the youngest sister, is young and good-natured. Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters stay at Norland for a few months, mostly because of the promising friendship developing between Elinor and Edward Ferrars , Fanny's shy, but very kind, brother. Elinor likes Edward, but is not convinced her feelings are mutual; Fanny is especially displeased by their apparent regard, as Edward's mother wants him to marry very well.\nA relative of Mrs. Dashwood's, Sir John Middleton , offers them a cottage at Barton Park in Devonshire; the family must accept, and are sad at leaving their home and having to separate Edward and Elinor. They find Barton Cottage and the countryside around it charming, and Sir John Middleton a very kind and obliging host. His wife, Lady Middleton , is cold and passionless; still, they accept frequent invitations to dinners and parties at Barton Park.\nThe Dashwoods meet Mrs. Jennings , Sir John's mother-in-law, a merry, somewhat vulgar older woman, and Colonel Brandon , a gentleman and a bachelor. The Colonel is soon taken with Marianne, but Marianne objects to Mrs. Jennings attempts to get them together, and to the \"advanced\" age (35) and serious demeanor of the Colonel.\nMarianne falls and twists her ankle while walking; she is lucky enough to be found and carried home by a dashing man named Willoughby. Marianne and Willoughby have a similar romantic temperament, and Marianne is much pleased to find that Willoughby has a passion for art, poetry, and music. Willoughby and Marianne's attachment develops steadily, though Elinor believes that they should be more restrained in showing their regard publicly.\nOne pleasant day, the Middletons, the Dashwoods, and Willoughby are supposed to go on a picnic with the Colonel, but their plans are ditched when Colonel Brandon is forced to leave because of distressing news. Willoughby becomes an even more attentive guest at the cottage, spending a great deal more time there than Allenham with his aunt. Willoughby openly confesses his affections for Marianne and for all of them, and hopes they will always think of him as fondly as he does of them; this leaves Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor convinced that if Marianne and Willoughby are not engaged, they soon will be.\nOne morning, Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor, and Margaret leave the couple, hoping for a proposal; when they return, they find Marianne crying, and Willoughby saying that he must immediately go to London. Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor are completely unsettled by this hasty departure, and Elinor fears that they might have had a falling-out. Marianne is torn up by Willoughby's departure, and Elinor begins to question whether Willoughby's intentions were honorable. But, whether Willoughby and Marianne are engaged remains a mystery, as Marianne will not speak of it.\nEdward comes to visit them at Barton, and is welcomed very warmly as their guest. It is soon apparent that Edward is unhappy, and doesn't show as much affection for Elinor; when they spot a ring he is wearing, with a lock of hair suspiciously similar to Elinor's, even Elinor is baffled. Edward finally forces himself to leave, still seeming distressed.\nSir John and Mrs. Jennings soon introduce Mrs. Jennings' other daughter, Mrs. Palmer , and her husband to the family. Mrs. Palmer says that people in town believe that Willoughby and Marianne will soon be married, which puzzles Elinor, as she knows of no such arrangements herself. Elinor and Marianne meet the Middletons' new guests, the Miss Steeles, apparently cousins; they find Miss Steele to be nothing remarkable, while Lucy is very pretty but not much better company. However, the Miss Steeles instantly gain Lady Middleton's admiration by paying endless attention to her obnoxious children.\nElinor, unfortunately, becomes the preferred companion of Lucy. Lucy inquires of Mrs. Ferrars , which prompts Elinor to ask about her acquaintance with the Ferrars family; Lucy then reveals that she is secretly engaged to Edward. It turns out that Edward and Lucy knew each other while Edward studied with Lucy's uncle, Mr. Pratt, and have been engaged for some years. Although Elinor is first angry about Edward's secrecy, she soon sees that marrying Lucy will be punishment enough, as she is unpolished, manipulative, and jealous of Edward's high regard for Elinor.\nThe Miss Steeles end up staying at Barton Park for two months. Mrs. Jennings invites Marianne and Elinor to spend the winter with her in London. Marianne is determined to go to see Willoughby, and Elinor decides she must go too, because Marianne needs Elinor's polite guidance. They accept the invitation, and leave in January. Once in town, they find Mrs. Jennings' house comfortable, and their company less than ideal; still, they try their best to enjoy it all.\nMarianne anxiously awaits Willoughby's arrival, while Elinor finds her greatest enjoyment in Colonel Brandon's daily visits. Elinor is much disturbed when Colonel Brandon tells her that the engagement between Marianne and Willoughby is widely known throughout town. At a party, Elinor and Marianne see Willoughby; Marianne approaches him, although he avoids Marianne, and his behavior is insulting.\nMarianne angrily writes Willoughby, and receives a reply in which he denies having loved Marianne, and says he hopes he didn't lead her on. Marianne is deeply grieved at being deceived and dumped so coldly; Elinor feels only anger at Willoughby's unpardonable behavior. Marianne then reveals that she and Willoughby were never engaged, and Elinor observes that Marianne should have been more prudent in her affections. Apparently, Willoughby is to marry the wealthy Lady Grey due to his constant need for money.\nColonel Brandon calls after hearing the news, and offers up his knowledge of Willoughby's character to Elinor. Colonel Brandon was once in love with a ward to his family, Eliza, who became a fallen woman and had an illegitimate daughter. Colonel Brandon placed the daughter, Miss Williams , in care after her mother's death. The Colonel learned on the day of the Delaford picnic that she had become pregnant, and was abandoned by Willoughby. Elinor is shocked, though the Colonel sincerely hopes that this will help Marianne feel better about losing Willoughby, since he was not of solid character.\nThe story convinces Marianne of Willoughby's guilt, though it does not ease her mind. Out of sympathy, Marianne also stops avoiding the Colonel's company and becomes more civil to him. Willoughby is soon married, which Marianne is grieved to hear; then, again unfortunately, the Miss Steeles come to stay with the Middletons.\nJohn and Fanny Dashwood arrive, and are introduced to Mrs. Jennings, and to Sir John and Lady Middleton, deeming them worthy company. John reveals to Elinor that Edward is soon to be married to Miss Morton , an orphan with a great deal of money left to her, as per the plans of his mother. At a dinner party given by John and Fanny for their new acquaintance, Mrs. Ferrars is present, along with the entire Barton party. Mrs. Ferrars turns out to be sallow, unpleasant, and uncivil; she slights Elinor, which hurts Marianne deeply, as she is Edward's mother.\nThe Miss Steeles are invited to stay with John and Fanny. But, Mrs. Jennings soon informs them that Miss Steele told Fanny of Lucy and Edward's engagement, and that the Ferrars family threw the Steele girls out in a rage. Marianne is much grieved to hear of the engagement, and cannot believe that Elinor has also kept her knowledge of it a secret for so long. Edward is to be disinherited if he chooses to marry Lucy; unfortunately, Edward is too honorable to reject Lucy, even if he no longer loves her. Financial obstacles to their marriage remain; he must find a position in the church that pays enough to allow them to marry. Much to Elinor's chagrin, the Colonel, although he barely knows Edward, generously offers the small parish at Delaford to him. Elinor is to convey the offer to Edward, though she regrets that it might help the marriage.\nEdward is surprised at the generous offer, since he hardly knows the Colonel. Edward decides to accept the position; they say goodbye, as Elinor is to leave town soon. Much to Elinor's surprise, Robert Ferrars , Edward's selfish, vain, and rather dim brother, is now to marry Miss Morton; he has also received Edward's inheritance and money, and doesn't care about Edward's grim situation.\nIt is April, and the Dashwood girls, the Palmers, and Mrs. Jennings, and Colonel Brandon set out for Cleveland, the Palmer's estate. Marianne is still feeling grief over Willoughby; she soon becomes ill after her walks in the rain, and gets a serious fever. The Palmers leave with her child; Mrs. Jennings, though, helps Elinor nurse Marianne, and insists that Colonel Brandon stay, since he is anxious about Marianne's health. Colonel Brandon soon sets off to get Mrs. Dashwood from Barton when Marianne's illness worsens. At last, Marianne's state improves, right in time for her mother and the Colonel's arrival; but Willoughby makes an unexpected visit.\nElinor is horrified at seeing him; he has come to inquire after Marianne's health and to explain his past actions. Willoughby says he led Marianne on at first out of vanity; he finally began to love her as well, and would have proposed to her, if not for the money.\nBy saying that he also has no regard for his wife, and still loves Marianne, he attempts to gain Elinor's compassion; Elinor's opinion of him is somewhat improved in being assured of his regard for Marianne. Elinor cannot think him a total blackguard since he has been punished for his mistakes, and tells him so; Willoughby leaves with this assurance, lamenting that Marianne is lost to him forever.\nMrs. Dashwood finally arrives, and Elinor assures her that Marianne is out of danger; both Mrs. Dashwood and the Colonel are relieved. Mrs. Dashwood tells Elinor that the Colonel had confessed his love for Marianne during the journey from Barton; Mrs. Dashwood wishes the Colonel and Marianne to be married. Elinor wishes the Colonel well in securing Marianne's affections, but is more pessimistic regarding Marianne's ability to accept the Colonel after disliking him for so long.\nMarianne makes a quick recovery, thanking Colonel Brandon for his help and acting friendly toward him. Marianne finally seems calm and happy as they leave for Barton, which Elinor believes to signal Marianne's recovery from Willoughby. She is also far more mature, keeping herself busy and refusing to let herself languish in her grief.\nWhen Marianne decides to talk about Willoughby, Elinor takes the opportunity to tell her what Willoughby had said at Cleveland, and Marianne takes this very well. Marianne also laments her selfishness toward Elinor, and her lack of civility toward most of their acquaintance. Marianne finally says that she could not have been happy with Willoughby, after hearing of his cruelty toward Miss Williams, and no longer regrets him.\nThe family is stunned when one of their servants returns with news that Edward is married to Lucy, as he just saw them in the village. Elinor knows now that Edward is lost to her forever. Mrs. Dashwood sees how upset Elinor is, and realizes that Elinor felt more for Edward than she ever revealed. One afternoon, Elinor is convinced that the Colonel has arrived at the cottage, but is surprised to find that it is Edward instead. Their meeting is awkward at best; he soon informs them that it is his brother who has been married to Lucy, and not him. Elinor immediately runs from the room, crying out of joy; Edward then senses Elinor's regard for him, and proposes to her that afternoon. Elinor accepts and he gains Mrs. Dashwood's consent to the match.\nEdward admits that any regard he had for Lucy was formed out of idleness and lack of knowledge; he came to regret the engagement soon after it was formed. After leaving London, Edward received a letter from Lucy saying that she had married his brother Robert, and has not seen her since; thus, he was honorably relieved of the engagement. After receiving the letter, he set out for Barton immediately to see Elinor. Edward will still accept the position at Delaford, although he and Elinor again will not have enough money to live on comfortably. The Colonel visits Barton, and he and Edward become good friends.\nEdward then becomes reconciled with his family, although he does not regain his inheritance from Robert. His mother even gives her consent for his marriage to Elinor, however much she is displeased by it; she gives them ten thousand pounds, the interest of which will allow them to live comfortably. Edward and Elinor are married at Barton that fall.\nMrs. Dashwood and her two remaining daughters spend most of their time at Delaford, both to be near Elinor, and out of the hope that Marianne might accept the Colonel. In the two years that have passed, Marianne has become more mature and more grounded; and she does finally change her mind about the Colonel, and accepts his offer of marriage. The Colonel becomes far more cheerful, and soon Marianne grows to love him as much as she ever loved Willoughby. Mrs. Dashwood remains at Barton with Margaret, now fifteen, much to the delight of Sir John, who retains their company. And Elinor and Marianne both live together at Delaford, and remain good friends with each other and each other's husbands.","The Moonstone questions??? | Pride and Prejudice Questions ...\nHome Pride and Prejudice Q & A The Moonstone questions ... of Rachel Verinder and Rosanna Spearman. Give examples from the ... for most of the book, ...\nThe Moonstone questions??? | Pride and Prejudice Questions | Q & A | GradeSaver\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:26 PM\n2) The Moonstone stands, in the first place, as a symbol for the exoticness, impenetrability, and dark mysticism of the East—Gabriel remarks that the stone \"seemed unfathomable as the heavens themselves\" and \"shone awfully out of the depths of its own brightness, with a moony gleam, in the dark.\" In the second place, the Moonstone is associated with femininity and even feminine virginity, through its associations with the moon and with pricelessness. The theft of the Moonstone from Rachel Verinder's bedroom by her nearly betrothed, Franklin Blake, can be read as a metaphor for her deflowering.\n3) genre · Victorian novel; sensation novel; detective novel\n5) narrator · The Moonstone features eleven different narrators: an unnamed cousin of John Herncastle; Gabriel Betteredge (steward to Lady Verinder); Miss Clack (Lady Verinder's niece); Mr. Bruff (Lady Verinder's lawyer); Franklin Blake (Lady Verinder's nephew); Ezra Jennings (assistant to Dr. Candy); Sergeant Cuff; Dr. Candy; Sergeant Cuff's investigator; the Captain of the steamboat Bewley Castle; Mr. Murthwaite (traveler to India). Gabriel Betteredge and Franklin Blake narrate more than two sections each. Everyone else narrates one section.\npoint of view · The point of view is first person, according to whoever is narrating. Franklin Blake has solicited all of the characters' first-person narrations and acts as editor. He occasionally steps into a narrative with a footnote to offer a different viewpoint.\ntone · The tone differs according to narrator. Betteredge's narrative has a tone of provincial good humor. Miss Clack's has a tone of self-righteous piety. The tone of the remaining narrators is mainly journalistic.\ntense · Franklin Blake begins to solicit the narratives in May of 1850, so the narrators are writing in 1850 of events that took place in 1848 or 1849. Their narratives are largely in the past tense, slipping into the present tense to describe current interactions with Franklin as editor.\n6)Rachel Verinder\nRachel Verinder stands at the center of The Moonstone's plot, yet never speaks her own narrative. In fact, her character is defined largely by omission—omission of her own story—and her withholding of her knowledge about the theft of The Moonstone. This reticence makes Rachel an alluring heroine, according to the cultural logic by which women in a position of holding back are invested with a particular attractiveness. Aside from this quality, Rachel seems an un-idealized image of a heroine. Collins makes clear that she is slightly unconventional, physically, with small stature and dark features. Rachel challenges Victorian propriety and gender roles by treating men and women alike with a straightforward manner that can be startling in its lack of coyness. Rachel's most important character trait is her unwillingness to tell on the misdeeds of another. Collins is clear on the fact that this never amounts to dishonesty—instead of lying about a delicate subject, Rachel says nothing at all.\nRachel's main conflict in the novel is an internal one: the evidence of her senses, which tell her that Franklin Blake stole her diamond and lied about it, must combat her passionate feelings of love and trust in Franklin. Rachel seems to have a tragic counterpart in the outcast Rosanna Spearman. The two women are kindred in their impassioned natures and love for Franklin Blake.\nSource(s)\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:27 PM\nPoor Rosanna. She's not a major character, but she plays an important role in moving the story forward. Like Rachel, if Rosanna had been more forthright, the mystery would not have been as long and drawn out. If Rosanna had gone to Lady Verinder with the stained nightgown, or even to Franklin himself, instead of hiding it in the quicksand, the mystery would have been solved. But Rosanna's reticence, or unwillingness to speak out, isn't the same as Rachel's. She refuses to speak because she's in love with Franklin Blake.\nThis is actually kind of scandalous: a female servant in love with someone from the upper class? Especially a female servant with a disability? It was practically unheard of during the nineteenth century for any woman to admit that she was in love with a man before he made advances first. It was considered improper. And for a servant girl to admit that she was in love with a social superior? That was just socially wrong.\nOr was it? Collins makes Rosanna a very sympathetic character. She doesn't have a lot going for her – she doesn't have a pretty face, one of her shoulders is deformed, she used to be a thief, and the other servants don't like her. But Collins shows that it's totally natural that she should fall in love with Franklin Blake. She has as much right to fall in love as Rachel has, even though Rosanna has less chance of happiness.\nSource(s)\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:28 PM\nThe Moonstone Narrator:\nWho is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?\nFirst Person (multiple central narrators)\nThe Moonstone is composed of a series of first-person narratives, memos, letters, and journal entries. The bulk of it is told retrospectively, from the points of view of the people involved in the action. Franklin Blake, one of the main characters, is responsible for collecting all the documents, and Gabriel Betteredge, the first narrator, quotes Franklin Blake's explanation on the first page of his narrative:\n'There can be no doubt that this strange family story of ours ought to be told. And I think, Betteredge, Mr. Bruff and I together have hit on the right way of telling it. […] We have certain events to relate, […] and we have certain persons concerned in those events who are capable of relating them. Starting from these plain facts, the idea is that we should all write the story of the Moonstone in turn—as far as our own personal experience extends, and no farther. (1.1.1.7-8)\nSo the first assertion Franklin Blake makes is that the story \"ought to be told.\" He thinks that it's important for future generations of their family to know the truth about the Moonstone. He also thinks that there's a \"right way of telling it.\" Lucky us! We're sitting down to read a story that needs to be told, and we're going to hear it the only \"right way\" that it could be told. Of course, Franklin Blake wants to make sure that the bare facts are told – the reader (his imagined future generations) should be allowed to judge for him or herself. So that puts us in the position of detective – we hear the events just as the characters themselves experienced them, and we know only what they knew at the time.\nSource(s)\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:29 PM\nRachel is one of the central characters of the novel. You might even think of her as the romantic heroine, since she's the pretty girl that everyone wants to marry. Yet we never hear the story from her point of view. Why is that? Well, for one thing, it would spoil the suspense: she knows from the beginning that Franklin Blake took the Moonstone, although she doesn't know the reason why. And she keeps that knowledge to herself for most of the book, right up until Franklin forces her to speak out.\nThat reticence, or unwillingness to speak out, is one aspect of Rachel's character that is continually brought up. She's not chatty or gossipy like the other girls of her age. She doesn't tend to ask for advice. She is stubbornly secretive. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? On the one hand, it makes her very independent. She doesn't rely on anyone else to give her advice. When she has a difficult decision to make, she takes her time, considers her options, and makes up her mind on her own.\nBeing self-reliant is a good thing, right? Isn't it good that she doesn't tattle-tale on people she likes, even when it means getting in trouble herself? Sure, but up to a point. Think about how much time and trouble would have been saved if she had just confronted Franklin the morning after the diamond was stolen, and said, \"Look, Franklin, I SAW you take it!\" They would have figured out pretty quickly what must have happened, and the novel would have ended about three hundred pages sooner.\nSo Rachel's reticence is partly a plot device: for the story to go forward, it's necessary that Rachel should withhold what she knows. But it's also a comment about gender and femininity. When Gabriel Betteredge first describes her, he compares her to \"other girls of her age,\" saying that \"she judged for herself, as few women of twice her age judge in general\" (1.1.8.19). Betteredge describes this as a \"defect,\" though – it's not a compliment to say that a young woman is \"independent\" during the Victorian period. Mr. Bruff thinks so, too, generally speaking. But in Rachel, he considers it a virtue:\nThis absolute self dependence is a great virtue in a man. In a woman it has the serious drawback of morally separating her from the mass of her sex, and so exposing her to misconstruction by the general opinion. I strongly suspect myself of thinking as the rest of the world think in this matter—except in the case of Rachel Verinder. The self-dependence in her character, was one of its virtues in my estimation. (2.2.1.55)\nMost women, according to Mr. Bruff, should allow themselves to be guided by outside advice, while it's good for men, in general, to think for themselves. He's willing to make an exception for Rachel, though, because he knows that she's intelligent and sensible enough to make good decisions, even without asking advice.\nSo where does that leave us? Most characters in the novel seem to hold the general view that women need guidance from men. But then, Mr. Bruff makes exceptions for women like Lady Verinder and Rachel who don't actually need guidance. It seems that Wilkie Collins might be making fun of the commonly held, sexist belief that women need men's advice to make important decisions. Everyone keeps saying that women need help, but in practice, none of the main female characters actually do.\nSource(s)\nLog In To Your GradeSaver Account\nEmail","Character List - cliffsnotes.com\nSarah Woodruff She is an ... Charles Smithson He is a wealthy gentleman and is heir to a minor title. ... represents a type of Victorian character who seems more ...\nCharacter List\nCharacter List\n Bookmark this page Manage My Reading List\nSarah Woodruff She is an educated but impoverished young woman. She is called \"the French Lieutenant's Woman\" or \"Tragedy\" or the \"French lieutenant's whore\" because it is believed that she had an affair with a shipwrecked French sailor. It is also believed that she is half-mad with grief and that she stares out to sea, vainly hoping for the day he will return to her. Because of her reputation she can no longer gain any employment until Mrs. Poulteney hires her as a paid companion. Sarah is a mysterious figure. No one knows much about her, and later we find that much of what people believe about her is untrue.\nCharles Smithson He is a wealthy gentleman and is heir to a minor title. His hobby is collecting fossils and he considers himself to be something of a naturalist. He is an admirer of the controversial Darwin and he is rather pleased with himself that he is one of a minority in the 1860s to hold scientifically advanced ideas, such as the theories espoused by Darwin and others. He is both sensitive and intelligent, but he is unsure of himself. He is bored and dissatisfied with the course his life is taking. His fiancée is Ernestina Freeman, but that relationship is changed when he meets Sarah Woodruff.\nErnestina Freeman Ernestina is Charles' fiancée. She is attractive and clever but also very young and naive. Although she considers herself to be a modern young woman, her attitudes are similar, for the most part, to those of most proper young ladies. She is vacationing in Lyme when the story opens, staying with Aunt Tranter.\nAunt Tranter Ernestina's aunt is a kindly woman whose temperament contrasts greatly with that of the sharp-tongued Mrs. Poulteney. Aunt Tranter's honesty and lack of hypocrisy seem to present a welcome bright spot in the small town governed by the malicious gossip of less charitable souls.\nMrs. Poulteney The vicar convinces the wealthy widow to take in Sarah Woodruff and give her employment. Mrs. Poulteney's main motive in doing so is to show how charitable she is, and it does not stem from any real feelings of compassion for Sarah. Mrs. Poulteney is a stereotype, a conglomerate of all the malicious old villainesses who have appeared in numerous Victorian novels.\nDr. Grogan He is a friendly man whom Charles finds to be a sympathetic listener. Although he feels sorry for Sarah Woodruff, unlike Charles, he cannot take her seriously. He tries to convince Charles that she really is ill. Dr. Grogan, like Aunt Tranter, represents a type of Victorian character who seems more understanding and less hampered by convention than most people. Part of the reason for this is that both of the older people actually belong to the generation before Victoria's, an era somewhat less repressive in certain respects.\nCaptain and Mrs. Talbot Sarah was the governess for the Talbot's children when she met the French lieutenant. Even after she told them of her experience with him, they did not condemn her for it.\nLieutenant Varguennes Caught in a shipwreck, his leg was injured, and Varguennes was nursed at the home of the Talbots, mostly by Sarah. Although he flirted with Sarah, and wished to seduce her, he was married, as she later found out.\nMrs. Fairley She is Mrs. Poulteney's housekeeper and is as unkind as her mistress. She delights in spying on Sarah and reporting her activities to Mrs. Poulteney.\nMillie Mrs. Poulteney's young maid who is befriended by Sarah.\nMary Aunt Tranter's maid whose life is considerably more pleasant than Millie's. She eventually marries Charles' man-servant, Sam Farrow.\nSam Farrow While Sam is often the object of Charles' teasing, he is not merely a humorous figure as was Dickens' Sam Weller. He takes himself seriously and is an ambitious member of the working class. He is determined to wed Mary and make a good life for the two of them.\nSir Robert Charles Smithson's uncle. It is his title that Charles hopes to inherit, although that prospect is altered when Sir Robert marries Mrs. Tomkins, an attractive widow.\nLieutenant de la Roncière and Marie de Morell These are two individuals in a case history given to Charles by Dr. Grogan for him to read. The doctor hopes that reading about how the neurotic young woman convinced the French courts that she had been assaulted and her family sent poison-pen letters by the officer would convince Charles that Sarah possibly had similar intentions regarding him. While Charles conceded that the story might be true, he did not believe it applied to Sarah.\nMr. Freeman He was a haberdasher who became very successful. One sign of his success was that he, a member of the middle class, could have his daughter marry one of the nobility.\nGabriel and Christina Rosseti They were the founders of a school of art called the Pre-Raphaelite school. In their day they were considered as radical as Mr. Freeman was conservative. However, by the time Sarah came to stay with them, their work, while still shocking to some, was coming to be more accepted.\nJohn Fowles He is the bearded man who enters the novel several times as an observer and sometimes as a sort of theatrical director. He comments on the actions of his characters and discusses the relationship between the art of the novel and life.","Short Stories: The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by ...\nFull online text of The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle. Other short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle also available ... His name is Armitage ...\nShort Stories: The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle\n< 2 >\n \"My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.\"\n I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis wlth which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.\n \"Good-morning, madam,\" said Holmes cheerily. \"My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are shivering.\"\n \"lt is not cold which makes me shiver,\" said the woman in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.\n \"What, then?\"\n \"It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.\" She raised her veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with restless frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.\n \"You must not fear,\" said he soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm. \"We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see.\"\n \"You know me, then?\"\n \"No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station.\"\n< 3 >\n The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my companion.\n \"There is no mystery, my dear madam,\" said he, smiling. \"The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.\"\n \"Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,\" said she. \"I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. I have no one to turn to -- none, save only one, who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you shall not find me ungrateful.\"\n Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small case-book, which he consulted.\n \"Farintosh,\" said he. \"Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the matter.\"\n< 4 >\n \"Alas!\" replied our visitor, \"the very horror of my situation lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me.\"\n \"I am all attention, madam.\"\n \"My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.\"\n Holmes nodded his head. \"The name is familiar to me,\" said he.\n \"The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man.\n< 5 >\n \"When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable sum of money -- not less than 1000 pounds a year -- and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England my mother died -- she was killed eight years ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.\n \"But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbors, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.\n \"Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gypsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the villagers almost as much as their master.\n< 6 >\n \"You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even as mine has.\"\n \"Your sister is dead, then?\"\n \"She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and offered no objection to the marriage; but wlthin a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event occurred which has deprived me of my only companion.\"\n Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened hls lids now and glanced across at his visitor.\n \"Pray be precise as to details,\" said he.\n \"It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?\"\n< 7 >\n \"Perfectly so.\"\n \"The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door and looked back.\n \"'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle in the dead of the night?'\n \"'Never,' said I.\n \"'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your sleep?'\n \"'Certainly not. But why?'\n \"'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would just ask you whether you had heard it.'\n \"'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in the plantation.'\n \"'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did not hear it also.'\n \"'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.'\n \"'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.\"\n \"Indeed,\" said Holmes. \"Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in at night?\"\n \"Always.\"\n \"I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked.\"\n \"Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.\"\n \"I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not recognized me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died without having recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.\"\n< 9 >\n \"One moment,\" said Holmes, \"are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?\"\n \"That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.\"\n \"Was your sister dressed?\"\n \"No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box.\"\n \"Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the coroner come to?\"\n \"He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her.\"\n \"How about poison?\"\n \"The doctors examined her for it, but without success.\"\n \"What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?\"\n \"It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.\"\n \"Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time?\"\n \"Yes, there are nearly always some there.\"\n< 10 >\n \"Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band -- a speckled band?\"\n \"Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people, perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she used.\"\n Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.\n \"These are very deep waters,\" said he; \"pray go on with your narrative.\"\n \"Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have known for many years, has done me the honor to ask my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage -- Percy Armitage -- the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your advice.\"\n \"You have done wisely,\" said my friend. \"But have you told me all?\"\n \"Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.\"\n \"Why, what do you mean?\"\n For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.\n \"You have been cruelly used,\" said Holmes.\n The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured wrist. \"He is a hard man,\" she said, \"and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.\"\n There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire.\n \"This is a very deep business,\" he said at last. \"There are a thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your stepfather?\"\n \"As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most important business. It is probable that he will be away all day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of the way.\"\n \"Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?\"\n \"By no means.\"\n \"Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?\"\n \"I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to be there in time for your coming.\"\n< 12 >\n \"And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and breakfast?\"\n \"No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you again this afternoon.\" She dropped her thick black veil over her face and glided from the room.\n \"And what do you think of it all, Watson?\" asked Sherlock Holmes, leaning back in his chair.\n \"It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.\"\n \"Dark enough and sinister enough.\"\n \"Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her mysterious end.\"\n \"What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the very peculiar words of the dying woman?\"\n \"I cannot think.\"\n \"When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place, I think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along those lines.\"\n \"But what, then, did the gypsies do?\"\n \"I cannot imagine.\"\n \"I see many objections to any such theory.\"\n \"And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!\"\n< 13 >\n The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.\n \"Which of you is Holmes?\" asked this apparition.\n \"My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,\" said my companion quietly.\n \"I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.\"\n \"Indeed, Doctor,\" said Holmes blandly. \"Pray take a seat.\"\n \"I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?\"\n \"It is a little cold for the time of the year,\" said Holmes.\n \"What has she been saying to you?\" screamed the old man furiously.\n \"But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,\" continued my companion imperturbably.\n \"Ha! You put me off, do you?\" said our new visitor, taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-crop. \"I know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.\"\n My friend smiled.\n< 14 >\n \"Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!\"\n Holmes chuckled heartily. \"Your conversation is most entertaining,\" said he. \"When you go out close the door, for there is a decided draught.\"\n \"I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.\" He stepped swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.\n \"See that you keep yourself out of my grip,\" he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the room.\n \"He seems a very amiable person,\" said Holmes, laughing. \"I am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than his own.\" As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.\n \"Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may help us in this matter.\"\n \nIt was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over with notes and figures.\n \"I have seen the will of the deceased wife,\" said he. \"To determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.\"\n< 15 >\n At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey laries. It was a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed over the meadows\n \"Look there!\" said he.\n A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening mto a grove at the highest point. From amid the branches there jutted out the gray gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.\n \"Stoke Moran?\" said he.\n \"Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,\" remarked the driver.\n \"There is some building going on there,\" said Holmes; \"that is where we are going.\"\n \"There's the village,\" said the driver, pointing to a cluster of roofs some distance to the left; \"but if you want to get to the house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.\"\n \"And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,\" observed Holmes, shading his eyes. \"Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest.\"\n We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to Leatherhead.\n \"I thought it as well,\" said Holmes as we climbed the stile, \"that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as our word.\"\n< 16 >\n Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face which spoke her joy. \"I have been waiting so eagerly for you,\" she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. \"All has turned out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he will be back before evening.\"\n \"We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance,\" said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.\n \"Good heavens!\" she cried, \"he has followed me, then.\"\n \"So it appears.\"\n \"He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What will he say when he returns?\"\n \"He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to examine.\"\n The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the outsides of the windows.\n \"This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?\"\n< 17 >\n \"Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.\"\n \"Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall.\"\n \"There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my room.\"\n \"Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are windows in it, of course?\"\n \"Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass through.\"\n \"As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to go into your room and bar your shutters?\"\n Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window, endeavored in every way to force the shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. \"Hum!\" said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, \"my theory certainly presents some difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter.\"\n A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old and discolored that it may have dated from the original building of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in every detail of the apartment.\n \"Where does that bell communicate with?\" he asked at last pointing to a thick belt-rope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually lying upon the pillow.\n \"It goes to the housekeeper's room.\"\n \"It looks newer than the other things?\"\n \"Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.\"\n \"Your sister asked for it, I suppose?\"\n \"No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we wanted for ourselves.\"\n \"Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this floor.\" He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.\n \"Why, it's a dummy,\" said he.\n \"Won't it ring?\"\n \"No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is.\"\n \"How very absurd! I never noticed that before.\"\n \"Very strange!\" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. \"There are one or two very singular points about this room. For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air!\"\n \"That is also quite modern,\" said the lady.\n \"Done about the same time as the bell-rope?\" remarked Holmes.\n \"Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that time.\"\n \"They seem to have been of a most interesting character -- dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the inner apartment.\"\n Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character an armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest.\n \"What's in here?\" he asked, tapping the safe.\n \"My stepfather's business papers.\"\n \"Oh! you have seen inside, then?\"\n \"Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.\"\n \"There isn't a cat in it, for example?\"\n \"No. What a strange idea!\"\n \"Well, look at this!\" He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.\n \"No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.\"\n \"Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine.\" He squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention.\n \"Thank you. That is quite settled,\" said he, rising and putting his lens in his pocket. \"Hello! Here is something interesting!\"\n The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord.\n \"What do you make of that, Watson?\"\n \"It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why if should be tied.\"\n \"That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.\"\n I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself from his reverie.\n \"It is very essential, Miss Stoner,\" said he, \"that you should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.\"\n \"I shall most certainly do so.\"\n \"The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend upon your compliance.\"\n \"I assure you that I am in your hands.\"\n \"In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your room.\"\n Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.\n \"Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village inn over there?\"\n \"Yes, that is the Crown.\"\n \"Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?\"\n \"Certainly.\"\n< 21 >\n \"You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night.\"\n \"Oh, yes, easily.\"\n \"The rest you will leave in our hands.\"\n \"But what will you do?\"\n \"We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the cause of this noise which has disturbed you.\"\n \"I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,\" said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve.\n \"Perhaps I have.\"\n \"Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's death.\"\n \"I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.\"\n \"You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if she died from some sudden fright.\"\n \"No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.\"\n Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.\n \"Do you know, Watson,\" said Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness, \"I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.\"\n \"Can I be of assistance?\"\n \"Your presence might be invaluable.\"\n \"Then I shall certainly come.\"\n \"It is very kind of you.\"\n \"You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me.\"\n \"No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that you saw all that I did.\"\n \"I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.\"\n \"You saw the ventilator, too?\"\n \"Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat could hardly pass through.\"\n \"I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke Moran.\"\n \"My dear Holmes!\"\n \"Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once that there must be a communication between the two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.\"\n \"But what harm can there be in that?\"\n \"Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does not that strike you?\"\n \"I cannot as yet see any connection.\"\n \"Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?\"\n \"No.\"\n \"It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that before?\"\n \"I cannot say that I have.\"\n \"The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same relative position to the ventilator and to the rope -- or so we may call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.\"\n \"Holmes,\" I cried, \"I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime.\"\n \"Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful.\"\n \nAbout nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us.\n \"That is our signal,\" said Holmes, springing to his feet; \"it comes from the middle window.\"\n As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand.\n< 24 >\n There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness.\n \"My God!\" I whispered; \"did you see it?\"\n Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vise upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh and put his lips to my ear.\n \"It is a nice household,\" he murmured. \"That is the baboon.\"\n I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, after following Holmes's example and slipping off my shoes, I found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to distinguish the words:\n \"The least sound would be fatal to our plans.\"\n I nodded to show that I had heard.\n \"We must sit without light. He would see it through the ventilator.\"\n I nodded again.\n \"Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of the bed, and you in that chair.\"\n< 25 >\n I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.\n Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in darkness.\n How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.\n From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might befall.\n Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound became audible -- a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull.\n \"You see it, Watson?\" he yelled. \"You see it?\"\n But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it had died away into the silence from which it rose.\n< 26 >\n \"What can it mean?\" I gasped.\n \"It means that it is all over,\" Holmes answered. \"And perhaps, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr. Roylott's room.\"\n With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand.\n It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott clad in a long gray dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion.\n \"The band! the speckled band!\" whispered Holmes.\n I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.\n \"It is a swamp adder!\" cried Holmes; \"the deadliest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter and let the county police know what has happened.\"\n As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into the iron safe, which he closed upon it.\n< 27 >\n Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back next day.\n \"I had,\" said he, \"come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data. The presence of the gypsies, and the use of the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt to explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim.","John_Bingham,_7th_Earl_of_Lucan.txt\nJohn Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan\nRichard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934; presumed dead), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer suspected of murder who disappeared in 1974. He was born into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family in Marylebone, the eldest son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan by his marriage to Kaitlin Dawson. An evacuee during the Second World War, Lucan returned to attend Eton College, and then from 1953 to 1955 served with the Coldstream Guards in West Germany. He developed a taste for gambling and, skilled at backgammon and bridge, became an early member of the Clermont Club. Although his losses often exceeded his winnings, he left his job at a London-based merchant bank and became a professional gambler. He was known as Lord Bingham from April 1949 until January 1964.\n\nOnce considered for the role of James Bond, Lucan was noted for his expensive tastes; he raced power boats and drove an Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica Duncan, with whom he had three children. When the marriage collapsed late in 1972, he moved out of the family home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street, in London's Belgravia, to a property nearby. A bitter custody battle ensued, which Lucan lost. He began to spy on his wife and record their telephone conversations, apparently obsessed with regaining custody of the children. This fixation, combined with his gambling losses, had a dramatic effect on his life and personal finances.\n\nOn the evening of 7 November 1974, the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death in the basement of the Lucan family home. Lady Lucan was also attacked; she later identified Lucan as her assailant. As the police began their murder investigation, Lucan telephoned his mother, asking her to collect the children, and then drove a borrowed Ford Corsair to a friend's house in Uckfield, East Sussex. Hours later, he left the property and was never seen again. The car was later found abandoned in Newhaven, its interior stained with blood and its boot containing a piece of bandaged lead pipe similar to one found at the crime scene. A warrant for Lucan's arrest was issued a few days later, and in his absence the inquest into Rivett's death named him as her murderer, the last occasion in Britain a coroner's court was allowed to do so.\n\nLucan's fate remains a fascinating mystery for the British public. Since Rivett's murder, hundreds of reported sightings have been made in various countries around the world, although none have been substantiated. Despite a police investigation and huge press interest, Lucan has not been found and is presumed dead; a death certificate was issued in 2016.\n\nEarly life and education\n\nRichard John Bingham was born on 18 December 1934 at 19 Bentinck Street, Marylebone, London, the second child and elder son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan, an Anglo-Irish peer, and his wife Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne Dawson. A blood clot found in her lung forced his mother to remain in a nursing home, so John, as he became known, was initially cared for by the family's nurserymaid. Aged three years, he attended a pre-prep school in Tite Street with his elder sister, Jane, but in 1939, with war approaching, the two were taken to the relative safety of Wales. The following year, joined by their younger siblings, Sally and Hugh, the Lucan children travelled to Toronto, moving shortly thereafter to Mount Kisco, New York. They stayed for five years with multi-millionairess Marcia Brady Tucker; John was enrolled at The Harvey School and spent summer holidays away from his siblings at a summer camp in the Adirondack Mountains. \n\nWhile in the U.S., John and his siblings lived in grandeur and wanted for nothing, but on their return to England in February 1945 they were faced with the stark realities of wartime Britain. Rationing was still in force, their former home at Cheyne Walk had been bombed, and the house at 22 Eaton Square had had its windows blown out. Despite the family's rich ancestry, the 6th Earl and his wife were agnostics and socialists and preferred a more austere existence than that offered by Tucker, an extremely wealthy Christian. For a time, John suffered nightmares and was taken to a psychotherapist. As an adult he remained an agnostic, but ensured his children attended Sunday school, preferring to give them a traditional childhood. \n\nAt Eton College, John developed a taste for gambling. He supplemented his pocket money with income from bookmaking, placing his earnings into a \"secret\" bank account, and regularly left the school's grounds to attend horse races. Although according to his mother his academic record was \"far from creditable\", he became Captain of Roe's House, before leaving in 1953 to undertake his National Service. He became a second lieutenant in his father's regiment, the Coldstream Guards, and was stationed mainly in Krefeld, West Germany. While there, he also became a keen poker player. \n\nCareer\n\nOn leaving the army in 1955, Lucan joined a London-based merchant bank, William Brandt's Sons and Co., on an annual salary of £500 (). In 1960 he met Stephen Raphael, a rich stockbroker who was a skilled backgammon player. They holidayed together in the Bahamas, went water-skiing, and played golf, backgammon and poker. Lucan became a regular gambler and an early member of John Aspinall's Clermont gaming club, located in Berkeley Square. Although he often won at games of skill like bridge and backgammon, he also accumulated huge losses. On one occasion he lost £8,000, or about two-thirds of the money he received annually from various family trusts. On another disastrous night at a casino he lost £10,000. That time his stockbroker uncle, John Bevan, helped him to pay the debt, and Lucan repaid his uncle two years later. \n\nLucan left Brandt's in about 1960, shortly after he had won £26,000 playing chemin de fer. A colleague had been promoted before him, and he protested and then gave up his job, saying \"why should I work in a bank, when I can earn a year's money in one single night at the tables?\" He travelled to the US, where he played golf, raced powerboats, and drove his Aston Martin around the West Coast of the United States. He also visited his elder sister, Jane, and his former guardian, Marcia Tucker. On his return to England he moved out of his parents' home in St John's Wood and into a flat in Park Crescent. \n\nPersonal life\n\nMarriage\n\nLucan met his future wife, Veronica Duncan, early in 1963. She was born in 1937 to Major Charles Moorhouse Duncan and his wife Thelma. Her father had died in a car accident while she was still very young, following which the family had moved to South Africa. Her mother remarried, and when her new step-father became manager of a hotel in Guildford, the family returned to England. Along with her sister, Christina, she was educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester, and after displaying a talent for art she went on to study at an art college in Bournemouth. The two sisters later shared a flat in London, where Veronica worked as a model and later as a secretary. Christina's marriage to the rich William Shand-Kydd introduced her to London high society, and it was at a golf-club function in the country that Veronica and Lucan first met. \n\nNews of their engagement appeared in the Times and Telegraph newspapers on 14 October 1963, and the two were married at Holy Trinity Brompton Church on 20 November. After a high society ceremony attended by, amongst other dignitaries, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the couple honeymooned in Europe, travelling first class on the Orient Express. Lucan's already embattled finances were given a welcome boost by his father, who provided him with a marriage settlement designed to finance a larger family home and any future additions to the Lucan family tree. Lucan repaid some of his creditors and leased number 46 Lower Belgrave Street, Westminster, redecorating it to suit Veronica's tastes. Two months after the wedding, on 21 January 1964, the 6th Earl of Lucan died of a stroke. In addition to a reputed £250,000 inheritance, Lucan acquired his father's titles: Earl of Lucan; Baron Lucan of Castlebar; Baron Lucan of Melcombe Lucan and Baronet Bingham of Castlebar. His wife became the Countess of Lucan. Their first child, Frances, was born on 24 October 1964, and early the next year they employed a nanny, Lillian Jenkins, to look after her. Lucan tried to teach Veronica about gambling and traditional pursuits like hunting, shooting, and fishing. He bought her golf lessons, although she later gave up the sport. \n\nLucan's daily routine consisted of breakfast at 9:00 am, coffee, dealing with the morning's letters, reading the newspapers, and playing the piano. He sometimes jogged in the park and, while he had him, took his Doberman Pinscher for walks. Lunch at the Clermont Club was followed by afternoon games of backgammon. Returning home to change into evening dress, the earl typically spent the remainder of the day at the Clermont, gambling into the early hours, watched sometimes by Veronica. In 1956, while still working at Brandt's, he had written of his desire to have \"£2m in the bank\", claiming that \"motor-cars, yachts, expensive holidays and security for the future would give myself and a lot of other people a lot of pleasure\". Although he was described by his friends as a shy and taciturn man, with his tall stature, \"luxuriant guardsman's moustache\" and masculine pursuits, his exploits made him popular. His profligacy extended to hiring private aircraft to take his friends to the races, asking a car dealer he knew to source an Aston Martin drophead coupé, drinking expensive Russian vodka and racing powerboats. In September 1966 he unsuccessfully screen tested for a part in Woman Times Seven, prompting him to automatically decline a later offer from film producer Cubby Broccoli, to screen test him for the role of James Bond. \n\nAs a professional gambler he was undoubtedly a skilled player, once rated amongst the world's top ten backgammon competitors. He won the St James's Club tournament and was Champion of the West Coast of America. He gained the moniker \"Lucky\" Lucan, but as his losses easily outweighed his winnings, in reality he was anything but lucky. He had interests in thoroughbred horses, although in 1968 he paid more in race entry fees than he received in winnings. Despite some arguments over money, his wife remained largely ignorant of his losses, retaining the use of accounts at Savile Row tailors and various Knightsbridge shops. Following the births of George (b. 1967) and Camilla (b. 1970), she struggled with post-natal depression. Lucan became increasingly involved in her mental well-being and in 1971 took her for treatment at a psychiatric clinic in Hampstead, although she refused to be admitted. Instead, she agreed to home visits from a psychiatrist and a course of anti-depressants. In July 1972 the family holidayed in Monte Carlo but Veronica quickly returned to England, leaving Lucan with their two elder children. The combined pressures of maintaining their finances, paying for Lucan's gambling addiction and Veronica's weakened mental condition took their toll on the marriage; two weeks after a strained family Christmas in 1972, Lucan moved into a small property in Eaton Row. \n\nSeparation\n\nSome months later Lucan moved again, to a larger rented flat in nearby Elizabeth Street. Despite an early attempt by his wife at reconciliation, by that point all Lucan wanted from the marriage was custody of his children. In an effort to demonstrate that Veronica was unfit to look after them, he began to spy on his family (his car was regularly seen parked in Lower Belgrave Street), later employing private investigators to perform the same task. Lucan also canvassed doctors, who explained that his wife had not \"gone mad\", but was suffering from depression and anxiety. Lucan told his friends that nobody would work for Veronica (she sacked the children's long-term nanny, Lillian Jenkins, in December 1972). Of the series of nannies employed in the house, one, 26-year-old Stefanja Sawicka, was told by Veronica that Lucan had hit her with a cane and had, on one occasion, pushed her down the stairs. The countess apparently feared for her safety and told Sawicka not to be surprised \"if he kills me one day.\" \n\nSawicka's time at the Lucan household ended late in March 1973. While with two of the children near Grosvenor Place, she was confronted by Lucan and two private detectives. They told her that the children had been made wards of court and that she must release them into his custody, which she did. Frances was collected from school later in the day. Lady Lucan applied to the court to have the children returned, but concerned about the case's complexity, the judge set a date for the hearing three months ahead, for June 1973. To defend herself against Lucan's claims about her mental state, Veronica booked herself a four-day stay at the Priory Clinic in Roehampton. While it was acknowledged that she still required some psychiatric support, the doctors reported that there was no indication that she was mentally ill. Lucan's case depended upon Veronica being unable to care for the children, but at the hearing, he was instead forced to defend his own behaviour toward her. After several weeks of witnesses and protracted arguments in camera, on the advice of his lawyers he conceded the case. Unimpressed by Lucan's character, Mr Justice Rees awarded custody to Veronica. The earl was allowed access every other weekend. \n\nThus began a bitter dispute between the two, involving many of their friends and Veronica's own sister. Lucan again began to watch his wife's movements. He recorded some of their telephone conversations with a small Sony tape recorder and played excerpts to any friends prepared to listen. He also told them—and his bank manager—that Lady Lucan had been \"spending money like water\". He continued to pay her £40 a week, although he may have cancelled their regular food order with Harrods. He delayed payment to the milkman and—knowing that Veronica was required by the court to employ a live-in nanny—the childcare agency. With no income of her own, Veronica took a part-time job in a local hospital. A temporary nanny, Elizabeth Murphy, was befriended by Lucan, who bought her drinks and asked her for information on his wife. He instructed his detective agency to investigate Murphy, looking for evidence that she was failing in her duty of care to his children. This they found, although he dispensed with the detective agency's services when they presented him with bills amounting to several hundred pounds. Murphy was later hospitalised with cancer. Another temporary nanny, Christabel Martin, reported strange telephone calls to the house, some with heavy breathing and some from a man asking for non-existent people. Following a series of temporary nannies, Sandra Rivett started work in late 1974. \n\nGambling\n\nLosing the court case proved devastating for Lucan. It had cost him an estimated £20,000 and by late 1974 his financial position was dire. As he drank more heavily and started chain-smoking, his friends began to worry. In drunken conversations with some of them, including Aspinall's mother, Lady Osborne, and her son, Lucan discussed murdering his wife. Greville Howard later gave a statement to the police describing how Lucan had talked of how killing his wife might save him from bankruptcy, how her body might be disposed of in the Solent and how he \"would never be caught\". Lucan borrowed £4,000 from his mother and asked Marcia Tucker for a loan of £100,000. Having no luck there, he wrote to Tucker's son, explaining how he wished to \"buy\" his children from Veronica; the money was not forthcoming. He turned to his friends and acquaintances, asking anyone plausible to loan him money to fund his gambling addiction. The financier James Goldsmith guaranteed a £5,000 overdraft for him, which for years remained unpaid. Lucan also applied to the discreet Edgware Trust. On request, he supplied details of his income, which was apparently around £12,000 a year from various family trusts. He was required to provide a surety and received only £3,000 of the £5,000 he asked for. Much to their managers' consternation, his four bank accounts were hugely overdrawn; Coutts, £2,841; Lloyds, £4,379; National Westminster, £1,290; Midland, £5,667. Even though by then he was playing for much lower stakes than had previously been the case, Lucan's gambling remained completely out of control. Ranson (1994) estimates that between September and October 1974 alone, the earl ran up debts of around £50,000. \n\nDespite these problems, from late October 1974 his demeanour appeared to change for the better. His best man, John Wilbraham, remarked that Lucan's apparent obsession over regaining his children had diminished. While having dinner with his mother he cast aside talk of his family problems and turned instead to politics. On 6 November he met his uncle John, apparently in good spirits. Later that day he met 21-year-old Charlotte Andrina Colquhoun, who said that \"he seemed very happy, just his usual self, and there was nothing to suggest that he was worried or depressed\". He also dined at the Clermont with racing driver Graham Hill. At the time, casinos could open only between 2:00 pm and 4:00 am, so Lucan often gambled into the early hours of the morning. He took tablets to deal with his insomnia and therefore usually awoke around lunchtime. On 7 November though, he broke routine and called his solicitor early that morning, and at 10:30 am took a call from Colquhoun. They arranged to eat at the Clermont at about 3:00 pm, but Lucan failed to appear. Colquhoun drove past the Clermont and Ladbroke clubs, and past Elizabeth Street, but could not find his car anywhere. Lucan also failed to arrive for his 1:00 pm lunch appointment with artist Dominic Elwes and banker Daniel Meinertzhagen, again at the Clermont. \n\nAt 4:00 pm Lucan called at a chemist's on Lower Belgrave Street, close to Veronica's home, and asked the pharmacist there to identify a small capsule. It turned out to be Limbitrol 5, a drug for the treatment of anxiety and depression. Lucan had apparently made several similar visits since he separated from his wife, although he never told the pharmacist where he got the drugs. At 4:45 pm he called a friend, literary agent Michael Hicks-Beach, and between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm met with him at his flat on Elizabeth Street. Lucan wanted his help with an article on gambling he had been asked to write for an Oxford University magazine. He drove Hicks-Beach home for about 8:00 pm, not in his Mercedes-Benz, but in \"an old, dark and scruffy Ford\", possibly the Ford Corsair he borrowed from Michael Stoop several weeks earlier. At 8:30 pm he called the Clermont to check on a reservation for dinner with Greville Howard and friends. Howard had called him at 5:15 pm and asked if he wished to come to the theatre, but Lucan had declined and made the alternative suggestion to meet at the Clermont at 11:00 pm. He failed to arrive and did not answer his telephone when called. \n\nMurder\n\nSandra Rivett\n\nSandra Eleanor Rivett was born on 16 September 1945, the third child of Albert and Eunice Hensby. The family moved to Australia when she was two years old, but returned in 1955. Sandra was a popular child, described at school as \"intelligent, although she does not excel academically\". She worked for six months as an apprentice hairdresser before taking a job as a secretary in Croydon. Following a failed romance she became a voluntary patient at a mental hospital near Redhill, Surrey, where she was treated for depression. She became engaged to a builder named John and took a job as a children's nanny for a doctor in Croydon. On 13 March 1964, she gave birth to a boy named Stephen, but, as her relationship with John was failing, she returned home to live with her parents and considered giving the baby up for adoption. Her parents took on the responsibility and adopted him in May 1965. Sandra later worked at an old people's home, before moving to Portsmouth to stay with her elder sister. While there she met Roger Rivett; the two married on 10 June 1967 in Croydon. Roger was serving as a Royal Navy able seaman and later worked as a loader for British Road Services, while Sandra worked part-time at Reedham Orphanage in Purley. In summer 1973 he took a job on an Esso tanker, returning to their flat in Kenley a few months later by which time Sandra was employed by a cigarette company in Croydon. Their marriage collapsed in May 1974 when, suspicious of Sandra's movements while he was away, Roger went to live with his parents. She was by then listed on the books of a Belgravia domestic agency and had been caring for an elderly couple in that district. A few weeks later she began to work for the Lucans. \n\nSandra normally went out with her boyfriend, John Hankins, on Thursday nights, but had decided to change her night off and thus, had seen him the previous day. The two last spoke on the telephone at about 8:00 pm on 7 November. After putting the younger children to bed, at about 8:55 pm she asked Veronica if she would like a cup of tea, before heading downstairs to the basement kitchen to make one. As she entered the room, she was bludgeoned to death with a piece of bandaged lead pipe. Her killer then placed her body into a canvas mailsack. Meanwhile, wondering what had delayed her nanny, Lady Lucan descended from the first floor to see what had happened. She called to Rivett from the top of the basement stairs and was herself attacked. As she screamed for her life, her attacker told her to \"shut up\". Lady Lucan later claimed at that moment to have recognised her husband's voice. The two apparently continued to fight; she bit his fingers, and when he threw her face down to the carpet, managed to turn around and squeeze his testicles, causing him to release his grip on her throat and give up the fight. When she asked where Rivett was, Lucan was at first evasive, but eventually admitted to having killed her. Terrified, Lady Lucan told him she could help him escape if only he would remain at the house for a few days, to allow her injuries to heal. Lucan walked upstairs and sent his daughter to bed, then went into one of the bedrooms. When Veronica entered, to lie on the bed, he told her to put towels down first to avoid staining the bedding. Lucan asked her if she had any barbiturates and went to the bathroom to get a wet towel, supposedly to clean Veronica's face. Lady Lucan realised her husband would be unable to hear her from the bathroom, and made her escape, running outside to a nearby public house, the Plumbers Arms. \n\nLucan may have called at the Chester Square home of Madelaine Florman (mother of one of Frances's school friends) sometime between 10:00 pm and 10:30 pm. Alone in the house, Florman ignored the door, but shortly afterwards she received an incoherent telephone call and put the receiver down. Blood stains, which after forensic examination were found to be a mixture of blood groups A and B, were later discovered on her doorstep. Lucan certainly called his mother between 10:30 pm and 11:00 pm and asked her to collect the children from Lower Belgrave Street. According to the Dowager Countess, he spoke of a \"terrible catastrophe\" at his wife's home. He told her that he had been driving past the house when he saw Veronica fighting with a man, in the basement. He had entered the property and found his wife screaming. The location from which he made this, and possibly the call to Florman, remains unknown. The police forced their way into Lady Lucan's home and discovered Sandra Rivett's body, before his wife was taken by ambulance to St George's Hospital. Lucan drove the Ford Corsair 42 mi to Uckfield, in East Sussex, to visit his friends, the Maxwell-Scotts. Susan Maxwell-Scott's meeting with Lucan was his last confirmed sighting. \n\nInvestigation\n\nBy the time Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson arrived at Lower Belgrave Street early on Friday 8 November, the divisional surgeon had pronounced Sandra Rivett dead and forensic officers and photographers had been called to the property. Other than the front door, which the first two officers on the scene had kicked in, there was no sign of a forced entry. A blood-stained towel was found in Veronica's first-floor bedroom. The area around the top of the basement staircase was heavily blood-stained. A blood-stained lead pipe lay on the floor. Pictures hanging from the staircase walls were askew and a metal banister rail was damaged. At the foot of the stairs, two cups and saucers lay in a pool of blood. Rivett's arm protruded from the canvas sack, which lay in a slowly expanding pool of blood. The light fitting at the bottom of the stairs was missing its bulb; one was noted nearby, on a chair. Blood was also found on various leaves in the adjoining rear garden. \n\nOfficers also searched 5 Eaton Row, into which Lucan had moved early in 1973, and after interviewing his mother (who had called to take the children to her home in St John's Wood), his last address at 72a Elizabeth Street. Nothing untoward was found, although on the bed, a suit and shirt lay alongside a book on Greek shipping millionaires, and Lucan's wallet, car keys, money, driving licence, handkerchief and spectacles were on a bedside table. His passport was in a drawer and his blue Mercedes-Benz parked outside, its engine cold and its battery flat. Ranson then visited Veronica Lucan at St George's Hospital. Although heavily sedated, she was able to describe what had happened to her. A police officer was left to guard her, should her assailant return. Rivett's body was taken to the mortuary, and a search was undertaken of all local basement areas and gardens, skips and open spaces. \n\nAfter removing her corpse from the canvas sack and beginning the post mortem examination, pathologist Keith Simpson told Ranson he was certain that Rivett had been killed before her body was placed in the sack, and that in his opinion the lead pipe found at the scene could be the murder weapon. Her estranged husband, Roger, had an alibi for the night concerned, and was eliminated from the police's enquiries. Other male friends and boyfriends were questioned and discounted as suspects. Her parents confirmed that Sandra had a good working relationship with Lady Lucan, and was extremely fond of the children. Meanwhile, Lucan had yet to make an appearance, and so his description was circulated to police forces across the country. Newspapers and television stations were told only that Lucan was wanted by the police for questioning. \n\nHours earlier, Lucan had again called his mother, at about 12:30 am. He told her that he would be in touch later that day, but declined to speak with the police constable who had accompanied her to her flat; instead, he said he would call the police later that morning. Ranson discovered that Lucan had travelled to Uckfield when he was called by Ian Maxwell-Scott, who told him that Lucan had arrived at his home a few hours after the murder, and spoken with his wife, Susan. While there, the earl had written two letters to his brother-in-law, Bill Shand-Kydd, and posted them to his London address. Maxwell-Scott also called Shand-Kydd at his country house near Leighton Buzzard and told him about the letters, prompting the latter to immediately drive to London to collect them. After reading them, and noting that they were bloodstained, he took them to Ranson. \n\nWhen asked why she did not immediately inform the police of Lucan's presence, Susan Maxwell-Scott said she had not seen any newspapers or television news, or listened to any radio broadcasts that might have warned her of the importance of his visit. Meanwhile, Lucan's children were taken by their aunt, Lady Sarah Gibbs, to her home in Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, where they would remain for several weeks. On the day Veronica Lucan was discharged from hospital, a High Court hearing confirmed that the children could return to live with her. Repeated press intrusions later forced the family to move to a friend's home in Plymouth. \n\nThe Ford Corsair that Lucan had been seen driving and whose details had the previous day been circulated across the country was found on Sunday in Norman Road, Newhaven, about 16 mi from Uckfield. In its boot was a piece of lead pipe covered in surgical tape, and a full bottle of vodka. The car was removed for forensic examination. Later statements from two witnesses suggest that it was parked there sometime between 5:00 am and 8:00 am on the morning of Friday 8 November. Its owner, Michael Stoop, also received a letter from Lucan, delivered to his club, the St James's. However, Stoop threw the envelope away and it was therefore not possible to check its postmark to see where it had been sent from. \n\nRanson suspected a suicide, but a thorough search of Newhaven Downs was judged impossible. A partial search was made, using tracker dogs, although all that was found were the skeletal remains of a judge who had disappeared years earlier. Police divers searched the harbour, and a partial search using infra-red photography was undertaken the following year, to no avail. A warrant for Lucan's arrest, to answer charges of murdering Sandra Rivett, and attempting to murder his wife, was issued on Tuesday 12 November 1974. Descriptions of his appearance, already issued to police forces across the UK, were then issued to Interpol.\n\nForensics\n\nThe forensic examination of the lead pipes found at the murder scene and in the Corsair's boot revealed traces of blood on the pipe from 46 Lower Belgrave Street. This proved to be a mixture of Lady Lucan's (blood group A) and Sandra Rivett's (B) blood. Hair belonging to Veronica Lucan was also found on that pipe, but none belonging to Sandra Rivett. The pipe found inside the car had neither blood nor hair on it. Home Office scientists were unable to prove conclusively that both pipes were cut from the same, longer, piece of piping, although they thought it likely. The tape wrapped around both was similar, but those too could not be conclusively linked. The letters written to Bill Shand-Kydd were stained with blood considered to be from both women. The letter to Michael Stoop had no blood on it, but it was later proven that the paper it was written on had been torn from a writing pad found in the Corsair's boot. \n\nAn examination of the blood stains found inside 46 Lower Belgrave Street demonstrated that Rivett had been attacked in the basement kitchen, while Lady Lucan had been attacked at the top of the basement stairs. The bloodstains found inside the Ford Corsair were of the AB blood group; the report concluded that this might have been a mixture of blood from both women. Hair similar to Lady Lucan's was also found inside the car.\n\nMedia reaction\n\nBy the afternoon of Friday 8 November, the newspapers' early editions carried photographs of the Lucans across their front pages, accompanied by headlines like \"\", and \"\". A meeting that day at the Clermont, between John Aspinall, Daniel Meinertzhagen, Charles Benson, Stephen Raphael, Bill Shand-Kydd and Dominic Elwes, became the cause of much press speculation. Meinertzhagen and Raphael later insisted that the gathering was just a rational discussion between concerned friends, keen to share anything they knew about what had happened, but the relationship between the police and Lucan's social circle was strained; some officers complained that an \"Eton mafia\" worked against them. Susan Maxwell-Scott refused to add to her statement, and when Aspinall's mother, Lady Osborne, was asked if she could help locate Lucan's body, she replied \"The last I heard of him, he was being fed to the tigers at my son's zoo\", prompting the police to search the house and the animal cages there. They searched fourteen country houses and estates, including Holkham Hall and Warwick Castle, to no avail. Amidst concerns expressed by the Labour MP Marcus Lipton that some people were \"being a bit snooty\" with the police, Benson wrote a letter to The Times asking him to either identify those people or \"kindly withdraw his remarks\". To their cost, Private Eye accused James Goldsmith of being at the Clermont meeting, when he was actually in Ireland. Dominic Elwes went to see Lady Lucan in hospital and was reportedly deeply shocked both by her appearance and her statement \"Who's the mad one now?\" Elwes was apparently unhappy at some of the negative press coverage of the countess, and was later ostracised by his friends for his part in an article critical of Lucan, which appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine. He committed suicide in September 1975. \n\nRivett's case made headlines around the world. Within days of the murder, newspapers reported on Veronica Lucan's statement to the police, with claims that she had pretended to collude with her husband to ensure her safety. In January 1975 Veronica gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Express. She also appeared in a murder reconstruction, in the same newspaper, complete with posed photographs taken inside the house. \n\nInquest\n\nThe inquest into Sandra Rivett's death opened on 13 November 1974 and was led by the Coroner for Inner West London, Gavin Thurston. Two witnesses were called to the courtroom, which was packed with reporters; Roger Rivett, who confirmed that he had identified his wife's body, and the pathologist, Keith Simpson, who confirmed that Rivett had died from being hit on the head with a blunt instrument. At Ranson's request, the hearing was then adjourned. Further adjournments were made on 11 December 1974 and 10 March 1975, before a full inquest was scheduled for 16 June 1975. \n\nThe hearing began with the swearing-in of the jury and introductions from various legal representatives, including a lawyer hired for Lucan by his mother. Thurston introduced the jury to the case and explained their duties. He had selected 33 witnesses to be called over the following few days, including Veronica Lucan, who each day wore a dark coat and white headscarf. Thurston questioned her on her relationship with Lucan, her marriage, her financial affairs, her employment of Rivett and what had happened on the night of the attack. The Dowager Countess's QC attempted to ask Lady Lucan about the nature of their relationship, if she hated her husband, but Thurston ruled his line of questioning inadmissible. Woman Detective Constable Sally Blower, who had taken a statement from Frances on 20 November 1974, read the young girl's words to the court. Frances had heard a scream, and a few minutes later had watched as her mother (blood on her face) and father had entered the room. Her mother had then sent her to bed. She later heard her father calling for her mother, asking where she was, and watched as he left the bathroom and walked downstairs. She also described how Sandra Rivett did not normally work on Thursday nights. \n\nThe landlord of \"The Plumbers Arms\" described how Lady Lucan had entered his bar covered \"head to toe in blood\" before she fell into \"a state of shock\". He claimed that she shouted \"Help me, help me, I've just escaped from being murdered\" and \"My children, my children, he's murdered my nanny\", although no name was mentioned. Pathologist Keith Simpson outlined his post mortem examination, concluding that death was caused by \"blunt head injuries\" and \"inhalation of blood\". He confirmed that the lead pipe found at the scene was most likely responsible for Rivett's injuries, although some, to the left eye and mouth, he thought more likely to have been caused by punches from a clenched fist. The last person to confirm seeing Lucan alive, Susan Maxwell-Scott, told the court that the earl looked \"dishevelled\", and his hair \"a little ruffled\". His trousers had a damp patch on the right hip. Lucan had told her that he was walking, or passing by the house when he saw Veronica being attacked by a man. He let himself in but slipped in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs. He told Maxwell-Scott that the attacker ran off, and that Veronica was \"very hysterical\" and accused him of having hired a hitman to kill her. \n\nOnce the hearing had ended, Thurston made a summary of the evidence presented and told the jury their options. At 11:45 am, their foreman announced \"Murder by Lord Lucan\". Lucan became the first member of the House of Lords to be named a murderer since 1760, when Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, was hanged for killing his bailiff. He was also the last person to be committed by a coroner to a Crown Court for unlawful killing; the coroner's power to do so was removed by the Criminal Law Act 1977. \n\nRivett's body, which had been held for several weeks following the murder, was released to her family and cremated at Croydon crematorium on 18 December 1974. A police spokesman cited Lady Lucan's desire not to upset the family as a reason for her non-attendance at the cremation. \n\nLucan's defence\n\nLucan's friends and family were critical of the inquest, which they felt offered a one-sided view of events. His mother told reporters that it did not serve \"any useful purpose at all\". Veronica's sister, Christina, said she felt \"great sadness and sorrow\" at the verdict. Susan Maxwell-Scott continued to press the earl's claims of innocence and claimed to feel \"awfully sorry\" for the countess. However, as Lucan remained absent, his description of \"a traumatic night of unbelievable coincidence\" came only from the letters he authored and the people he spoke with soon after Rivett's murder. While his fingerprints were not found at the scene, his assertions make no provision for the lead pipe discovered in the boot of the Ford Corsair, the claims by some that he discussed murdering his wife, or the lack of a viable suspect for the man he claimed to have seen fighting her. No sign of a forced entry was found, and officers attempting to demonstrate that Lucan could have seen into the basement kitchen, from the street, could only do so by stooping low to the pavement. The basement light was not working, making it even more difficult to see into the room; its lightbulb (which was tested and found to be in working order) was found removed from its holder and left lying on a chair. Furthermore, Lady Lucan claimed not to have entered the basement that night, contradicting the earl's version of events; his wife's account is supported by the forensic examination made of the blood splashes and stains around the property. Some traces of her blood were found in the basement, the rear garden and on the canvas sack used to store Rivett's body, although this may have been due to contamination at the scene. The man Lucan claimed to have seen could not have left through the basement's front door as it was locked, and the rear door led to a walled garden through which no trace of an escape was found. No signs that the man left by the ground level front door were discovered, and no witnesses reported seeing any such person near 46 Lower Belgrave Street. \n\nIn contrast to his defenders, the national press were almost unanimous in their condemnation of Lucan. Their leader-writers ignored the threat of libel and identified him as Rivett's killer. \n\nBankruptcy and estate\n\nAs Lucan's bankruptcy proceeded, in August 1975 his creditors were informed that the missing earl had unsecured debts of £45,000 and preferential liabilities for £1,326. His assets were estimated at £22,632. The family silver was sold in March 1976 for around £30,000. His remaining debts were repaid by the Lucan family trust in the years immediately following his disappearance. His family was granted probate over his estate in 1999, although no death certificate was issued, and his heir, George Bingham, Lord Bingham, was refused permission to take his father's title and seat in the House of Lords. Following the passage of the Presumption of Death Act 2013, Bingham began a new attempt to have his father declared dead, which proved successful in a High Court hearing at the Rolls Building on 3 February 2016. He therefore inherited his father's title, becoming the 8th Earl of Lucan.\n\nUltimate fate and reported sightings\n\nThe last confirmed sighting of Lucan was at about 1:15 am on 8 November 1974 as he exited the driveway of the Maxwell-Scott property, in his friend's Ford Corsair. Since then, his whereabouts and ultimate fate remain a mystery. Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson initially claimed that Lucan had \"done the honourable thing\" and \"fallen on his own sword\", a view publicly repeated by many of Lucan's friends, including John Aspinall, who shortly before his death in 2000 said he believed the earl was guilty of Rivett's murder, and that his body lay \"250 feet under the Channel\". Veronica Lucan believes her husband killed himself \"like the nobleman he was\". \n\nRanson later changed his view, explaining that he considered it more likely that suicide was far from Lucan's thoughts, that a rumoured drowning at sea was implausible and that the earl had moved to southern Africa. Thirty years after the murder, the detective leading a new investigation into Lucan's disappearance told the Telegraph that \"the evidence points towards the fact that Lord Lucan left the country and lived abroad for a number of years.\" Speaking to author John Pearson before she died, Susan Maxwell-Scott suggested that Lucan might have been helped out of the country by shadowy underground financiers, before being judged too great a risk and killed and buried in Switzerland. A similar theory was proposed by advertising executive Jeremy Scott, who was familiar with some of the Clermont Set. \n\nLucan's disappearance has captivated the public's imagination for decades, with thousands of sightings reported across the world. One of the earliest, shortly after the murder, turned out to be a British ex-politician, John Stonehouse, who had attempted to fake his own death. The police travelled to France in June the following year to hunt another lead, to no avail. A sighting in Colombia turned out to be an American businessman. John Miller, a bounty hunter who kidnapped the fugitive train robber Ronnie Biggs, claimed in 1982 to have captured the earl, but was later exposed by the News of the World as a hoaxer. In 2003 a former Scotland Yard detective thought he had tracked the earl to Goa, India, although the man he traced was actually Barry Halpin, a folk singer from St Helens. In 2007, reporters in New Zealand interviewed a homeless British expatriate who neighbours claimed was the missing earl. \n\nMore recently, responding to claims that the two eldest Lucan children were sent to Gabon in the early 1980s so that their father might secretly watch them \"from a distance\", George Bingham denied ever visiting the country. His mother dismissed the newspaper claims of sightings as \"nonsense\", reiterating that in her opinion \"he was not the sort of Englishman to cope abroad\".","The French Lieutenant’s Woman Characters | GradeSaver\nThe French Lieutenant's Woman study guide contains a ... Sarah Woodruff. ... Mrs. Talbot is a positive and sympathetic minor character in The French Lieutenant's Woman.\nThe French Lieutenant’s Woman Characters | GradeSaver\nBuy Study Guide\nSarah Woodruff\nSarah is a woman of about twenty-five years old, an ambitious farmer's daughter with a reasonable education which has left her stranded between two classes: the lower class, into which she was born, and the middle class, to which her education pushes her but cannot bring her entirely, since she lacks both breeding and money.\nThe first thing we learn about Sarah - and it is almost all we learn in the opening chapters - is that she has a bad reputation because she has had premarital sex with a marooned French sailor. The other thing we learn about her, from Charles' first impression in Chapter 2, is that she is deeply sad; indeed, Sarah suffers from \"melancholia,\" as the doctor diagnoses her in Chapter 9 (53). We might assume that these two things are related, but in fact, Sarah has always felt lonely and depressed, and she chose her bad reputation - in fact, she lied about having sex with the French lieutenant in order to be ostracized from a society that she never felt at home in.\nHer primary characteristic, when we get to know her better, is her extreme insightfulness and perspicacity. This insight has its downsides: for example, Sarah finds it hard to choose a man to marry, since she can see through all their pretenses. The narrator speculates that had she been born hundreds of years before, \"she would have been either a saint or an emperor's mistress,\" and he makes this bold claim with the reasoning that Sarah combines both \"understanding and emotion\" in a \"fused rare power\" (52). Sarah's sensitivity is partly why Charles is attracted to her, but it also means that she can see through him, and she eventually leaves him because there is a \"formality\" and a \"falsehood\" to the way he interacts with her that prevents there from being true love and intimacy between them (351).\nErnestina is anxious and jealous about all of Charles' past lovers, but she is especially worried that he might have liaised with a \"modern girl\" - and it is to a modern girl that she eventually loses him (64). Sarah is a modern woman - this idea is introduced to us in the infamous Chapter 13. This mainly manifests itself in her desire for freedom at any cost, and a striking independence compared to the coddled Ernestina and her peers. Because she is a modern woman trapped in the Victorian era, Sarah is a little anachronistic. The narrator emphasizes this in some of his description of her - for example, he says that she has a \"computer in her heart\" that allows her to read people very accurately (87). By the end of the novel, she has been able to fully realize her modernity by throwing off society's restraints and living a bohemian lifestyle in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's house.\nIs she the protagonist of the book? The title corroborates this claim - despite her transitory and shadowy presence in the first few chapters, the narrator wants us to think that Sarah Woodruff is indeed the protagonist of the novel. The narrator himself refers to her as \"the protagonist\" in Chapter 54, where she is shown to have more complex desires and to be a more difficult character for the narrator than Charles, whose wants are clear (317). However, we spend a lot less time in Sarah's mind than in Charles', and the novel ends with Charles' new view about life, and leaves Sarah largely unexplained. It's hard for her to be the protagonist when we are constantly reminded that she is an enigma to us, to Charles, and even to the narrator, as he claims in Chapter 54.\nCharles Smithson\nAt thirty-two years old, Charles is the son of a baronet and sole heir to both his father's diminished fortune and his uncle's considerable one (17). He is a member of the upper class by blood and by money, and he has no need to work for his living; he can afford to keep a manservant around him always, and he has endless amounts of free time to spend however he likes. His hobby of choice is dabbling in academia, specifically paleontology. Growing up, Charles spent more time reading books than most young men, and in his uncle's eyes, Charles' interest in libraries is \"sinister\" - it seems bizarre to him that someone should choose books over hunting guns.\nWhen we meet him, Charles is an engaged man of 32, settling down and preparing to start his own family, but we learn early in the novel that he has had a wild youth. After a series of wild adventures during his college years, during which he lost his virginity in questionable circumstances and impulsively tried to take Holy Orders to repent of his sin, Charles spent six months in Paris. During this time, he continued to lead a sordid lifestyle and eventually lost all his faith in God (18). During his twenties, Charles, now a \"healthy agnostic,\" moved into a small apartment in Kensington and spent a lot of time traveling abroad (18). His main occupation during this time was \"toying with ideas,\" and he eventually settling upon paleontology as his academic subject of choice (18-19).\nCharles prefers to think of himself as a \"scientific young man\" (16), but he is \"a born amateur,\" and is not cut out for serious scientific inquiry (42). The narrator refers to him as an \"ungifted scientist\" (45), and also comments that Charles' \"distinguishing trait\" is \"[l]aziness.\" (19) On the other hand, he is a \"quite competent ornithologist and botanist\" who takes some of his scientific pursuits seriously: he certainly dresses up for the role of fossil-collector in Chapter 8 (44).\nCharles is very well educated, and this \"educational privilege\" supplements a naturally inquiring and fairly intelligent mind (39). This tendency to \"ask life too many questions\" sometimes manifests itself in a rather melancholy and overly reflective disposition (16). But at heart, Charles is like a child who has never grown up: he has a schoolboy’s sense of humor, and can be quite childlike when he is around people with whom he is comfortable, like his servant, Sam. Charles likes to show off by making \"labored puns and innuendoes,\" and he has to put on a \"formal outdoor mask\" when he goes out into the world - to meet other scientists, or to spend time with Ernestina (39).\nSelf-doubt plagues Charles, despite his many blessings. He has travelled, he has become engaged, and he has practiced science - and yet he has accomplished very little, as he realizes in Chapter 7 (38). In terms of love, he is even more of an amateur than he is in science: Ernestina worries about his past affairs, but he has \"never really been in love,\" and his heart is \"a place without history\" (64). Charles likes to think that he is \"not like the vast majority of his peers and contemporaries,\" but it is ironic that he never succeeds at being as modern as Sarah does, despite the desire to be forward-thinking and not conventional (107).\nBy the end of the novel, however, Charles' personality has developed significantly. He comes to the important realization that there isn't a 'quick fix' that will make him happy, and that marrying Sarah or answering life's \"riddle\" won't suddenly help him to be fulfilled (366). Instead, he must endure life as best he can - this is a very adult epiphany, and it marks a serious change to his outlook on the world.\nErnestina Freeman\nErnestina is a member of the nouveau riche class: she has no title, and her ancestors were not part of the aristocracy, but her father has plenty of money, and her family can afford to live in style and marry her off to the grandson of a baronet. Her parents are incredibly solicitous and overprotective of her, sending her to Lyme Regis for part of the year to cure her supposed consumption. Ernestina resents these trips, because she finds the seaside town very boring compared to the London parties that she is used to.\nShe is \"irresistible\" to Charles partly because of her pale beauty, but mostly because of her slight deviation from the masses of her pampered, simpering friends - she is a little more willful and coquettish than they are (27). She also is described of having \"more [will] than the age allowed for\" - that is, she is more stubborn and determined than the majority of her peers, who are blandly obedient to their parents and the dictates of society (28). Charles and Ernestina do not have very much in common, deep down, but they like each other because they share \"a sense of self-irony\" and a \"superiority of intelligence\" (29, 68). In fact, this is one of the only traits that stop Ernestina from being merely \"a horrid spoiled child,\" according to the narrator (29). Nevertheless, she is quite child-like and petulant at times - quite the opposite of Sarah Woodruff, with her calm voice and her deep capacity for suffering.\nErnestina's dreams and worries are for the most part mundane, and this is a product of her sheltered life. She believes that she loves Charles, but she expends a lot of worry on speculating about his past loves; she cannot bear the thought that he should have loved \"a tragic French countess\" or someone like that before her (64). She worries that because she is not from aristocratic stock, like Charles is, that he will think less of her (68).\nHer goal in life is to get married and have children, but she is terrified by \"the payment\" that she will have to pay to achieve this: the act of sex (29). In this way she is supposed to represent the typical feminine Victorian view, and this fear of sex puts her in stark contrast to Sarah Woodruff, who epitomizes quite another class of female: 'the fallen woman'.\nErnestina is a 'flatter' character than the others in this novel, because she represents - almost but not quite - a type of girl that was common in her time period. She is very much a product of her environment; Charles asks himself, when he is shocked by her apparent shallowness, \"How could the only child of two rich parents be anything else?\" (107.) In this novel, Ernestina represents convention where Sarah represents modernity; perhaps we can see Sarah's victory over Charles' heart as an allegory for the changing times, and the emergence of the independent 'modern woman' to replace the delicate Victorian lady.\nToward the end of the novel, when Charles breaks off his engagement to her, Ernestina actually shows herself to be surprisingly self-aware. She knows her worse qualities: as she says, \"I know I am innocent. I know I am spoiled. I am not a Helen of Troy or a Cleopatra\" (296). Ernestina also shows a deeply sensitive and compassionate side when she notes that Charles has low self-esteem, and that she intended her \"bridal present\" to him to be some \"[f]aith in himself\" because he deserves to realize how \"generous\" and wise he is (297). In the space of a few pages, Ernestina becomes a much more three-dimensional and sympathetic character, and we understand that she is merely young, with the potential to become a good person. Her love for Charles is deeper than we might have thought before, and we realize that we may have misjudged her and treated her unfairly - she is of course very young, and a product of a very sheltered upbringing.\nMrs. Poulteney\nMrs. Poulteney is the woman who has hired Sarah Woodruff as a companion, on the recommendation of the local vicar. She owns a large house in the town of Lyme Regis, and hates Dirt and Immorality, dealing strictly with the employees who let either of these things enter the house. Her morality is very cliché and not very sincere: her two mantras are \"Civilization is Soap\" and \"Respectability is what does not give me offense\" (31).\nShe gives quite a bit of money to the local church - this, combined with her having taken in Sarah, has given her a reputation for charity. Mrs. Poulteney does not practice charity for charity's sake: she is terrified of Hell, and hopes to do enough good deeds to ensure a place for herself in heaven. The narrator blasts her as \"an epitome of all the most crassly arrogant traits of the ascendant British Empire\" (23). In Chapter 44, the narrator teases us with a vision of Mrs. Poulteney's afterlife, describing how she is first taken to Heaven, and then thrown down into Hell, where she belongs. Although he later admits that this is just Charles' reverie, we certainly get the sense that he is condemning Mrs. Poulteney for her false charity.\nSam Farrow\nSam Farrow is Charles' Cockney manservant, whom we first meet in Chapter 7. He and Charles are quite close - they \"kn[o]w each other rather better than the partners in many a supposedly more intimate menage,\" and the dynamic between them is one of light banter and teasing (37). In Charles' eyes, Sam is someone around whom he can be himself, making ridiculous puns and acting the Don Quixote to Sam's \"Sancho Panza\" (40).\nSam is contrasted with Sam Weller from Dickens' Pickwick Papers. The two share names and jobs but, unlike the cheerful Sam Weller, Sam Farrow \"suffer[s]\" his role as a servant, and really aspires to higher things. He \"fancies himself a Don Juan\" and would like very much to seduce Mary, Mrs. Tranter's maid (67). He demonstrates an interest in horses because such an interest, he thinks, is a \"sign of his social progress,\" and he spends \"most of his wages on keeping in fashion\" (39).\nSam falls in love with Mary, and we learn that he has a tender side to him that appreciates her innocence, and doesn't want to hurt her. He ends up hurting Charles badly for the sake of his marriage to Mary and his future ambitions, but it is also by Sam's action of sending an anonymous tip to Charles' solicitor that Charles and Sarah are brought back together. When we see Sam and Mary after they are married, they seem to be a perfect couple - the domestic married life suits them very well, and we are happy for them, because they are such sympathetic characters.\nMrs. Talbot\nMrs. Talbot is a positive and sympathetic minor character in The French Lieutenant's Woman. She is a young wife and mother for whom Sarah works for some time as a governess before the novel's action begins, and in whose house Sarah meets the infamous French lieutenant.\nMrs. Talbot is described as \"extremely kindhearted\" but \"not very perspicacious,\" in other words, she has very good intentions but is not the most intelligent or intuitive person - in this way, she acts as a foil for Sarah, who is incredibly good at reading people (47). Although Sarah leaves Mrs. Talbot's house more or less in disgrace, Mrs. Talbot is always very kind to her, and even offered her the position again after the Frenchman abandoned Sarah. She is very worried about Sarah's well being; in Chapter 9 we see her lying awake, terrified that Sarah will end up penniless, chased, and starved, like the destitute heroines of the romantic novels that she reads. It is Mrs. Talbot who encourages Sarah to take up a place in Mrs. Poulteney's household.\nAunt Tranter\nErnestina's aunt lives in Lyme Regis, giving Ernestina's parents an excuse to send their daughter to the seaside for a consumptive cure (although Ernestina is perfectly healthy). She is a kind lady, whom \"[n]obody could dislike\" because she is so innocent, caring, and profoundly optimistic (27). She plays the \"flat-footed nurse\" to Ernestina's Juliet; Ernestina resents being sent away from London society to Aunt Tranter's old-fashioned house, and she displays this resentment through undeserved anger toward her aunt. Aunt Tranter is very protective of and loyal toward Ernestina, and although she initially likes Charles, she curses him more strongly than anyone else when he jilts Ernestina.\nMary\nMary works in Mrs. Tranter's household as a maid. Good-natured and good-humored, she is very well liked by Mrs. Tranter and by the rest of the staff. When Ernestina comes to stay, however, Mary is no longer the favorite in the house (at least not in the eyes of Mrs. Tranter, Ernestina's aunt), and so she resents Ernestina's presence. She also envies Ernestina her fashionable dresses from London, and her handsome fiancé - Mary thinks Charles is too good for Ernestina.\nMary is sexually appealing - we first hear of her via Sam, who certainly finds her attractive - and seems to embrace her sexuality in a different way to Ernestina, who desperately shuts out all thoughts of sexual contact, and also to Sarah Woodruff, who is a martyr-like figure. Mary enjoys flirting with the local boys, and their efforts to solicit kisses are \"not...very successfully resisted\" (65). Where Ernestina is delicate and Sarah is sallow, Mary is vibrant and rosy - which makes her, in the eyes of the narrator, \"by far the prettiest\" of the three girls (64).\nShe is also very innocent, and her relationship with Sam Farrow is beautifully tender. It seems by the end of the novel that justice is done when Mary and Sam are climbing the social ladder, and living in a nice house with two beautiful children. Mary is delighted that she is richer than her parents, and that she can afford her own maid - we are happy for her and for Sam.\nDr. Grogan\nAn Irishman and a confirmed \"old bachelor,\" Dr. Grogan is well liked in Lyme Regis. He flirts with Aunt Tranter and tends to Mrs. Poulteney's ills, and is equally skillful at keeping his heart from getting entangled in a love affair and dealing with his patients' different temperaments. He attends the surprise party at the White Lion for Aunt Tranter in Chapter 19.\nIt is Dr. Grogan who first suggests to Charles that Sarah might be trying to hurt herself to inspire pity in the young man, whom she finds attractive. Most of Charles' doubts about Sarah stem from Dr. Grogan, whom he often tries to argue against but is also often persuaded by. When Charles jilts Ernestina, Dr. Grogan is the stern voice of reason, condemning him for having made Ernestina suffer, and encoring Charles to try and become a better person so he can atone for his sins.\nMillie\nMillie is a maid in Mrs. Poulteney's service, whom Sarah saves from being fired. Millie is a ploughman's daughter with ten siblings who all live in bitter poverty. Sarah takes her under her wing while she is living at Mrs. Poulteney's house, and they share a bed.\nMrs. Martha Endicott\nMrs. Endicott is the owner of a hotel in Exeter where Sarah goes to stay in Chapter 36 once she leaves Lyme Regis. Mrs. Endicott is \"rapacious\" and overcharges for her rooms, but conveniently doesn't inquire into her guests' private business, which makes her hotel a good place to hide.\nMr. Freeman\nErnestina's father is a wealthy businessman who has managed to move his family into the upper class of London, despite the fact that he has no connection to nobility, and his only claim to status is wealth. Mr. Freeman is skeptical of Charles' status as a gentleman; he values wealth over aristocratic blood. He is very protective of his daughter, and when Charles jilts Ernestina, Ernestina has to restrain her father from completely demolishing Charles' name and taking him to court.\nSarah (the prostitute)\nSarah is a prostitute whom Charles hires in Chapters 39-40 while he is in London. She bears a vague physical resemblance to Sarah Woodruff, which is why Charles is drawn to her. She has a daughter but no husband, and is selling sex to make ends meet for her and her child.\nThe narrator\nThe author intrudes frequently into the storyline when he makes comments about the act of writing the novel, but he appears just twice in person - firstly in Chapter 55, and then again in Chapter 61. Fowles pokes fun at himself, calling himself \"a very minor figure,\" and using hyperbole to reassure us that he is as \"minimal...as a gamma-ray particle\" (361). The rest of the description in Chapter 61 is not positive, and paints Fowles as merely a \"successful impresario\" or a flashy magician (362). The author has the power to manipulate the time of the narrative, and to decide - to some degree - on the actions of the characters.\nMr. Montague\nMontague is Charles' young solicitor, who accompanies him to the meeting in Chapter 56 with Ernestina's father's solicitors. He is sympathetic toward Charles, but believes that he must accept the punishment for what he has done. Montague encourages Charles to go abroad, and Charles takes him up on this advice at the end of Chapter 56.\nDante Gabriel Rossetti\nRossetti is a famous artist from the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He notices Sarah on the street when she is pregnant with Lalage, and asks if he can paint her. At the end of the novel, Sarah is living in his house and acting as his assistant; she is incredibly grateful to him for offering her a wonderful new life.\nLalage\nLalage is the baby daughter of Charles and Sarah, the product of their first sexual encounter in the Endicott Family Hotel. Sarah conceals the existence of this daughter from Charles until he comes to visit her at her new residence in Rossetti's house.","Dracula - The Iron Maiden Commentary\nDracula (1897 ) Song: 'Transylvania' ... , is the initiating point of the novel since someone from England must make ... Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is often ...\nChapter 1: Summary\nThis novel is not told in a straightforward, chronological, omniscient manner, like many nineteenth-century novels. Instead, it is composed of a collage of letters, journal entries and diary jottings, in addition to a portion of a ship's log, various newspaper clippings, and even a \"phonograph diary.\" Since the story is basically a mystery, this technique is highly effective in sustaining suspense, for there are literally dozens of narrative pieces for readers to fit together before they can see the complexity of the novel resolved and the entirety of Stoker's pattern. Stoker most likely borrowed this approach to his novel from Wilkie Collins, who used the same technique in his \"detective\" novel The Woman in White (1860).\nJonathan Harker's journal entries begin on May 3, sometime in the late nineteenth century. The young London lawyer has been traveling by train across Europe and is currently in Budapest, in route to Count Dracula's estate, located somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania—the \"land beyond the forest.\" Harker has been sent by his London law firm to complete the final transactions for a transfer of real estate, which the Count has recently purchased in England, and thus far, Harker is very pleased with his trip. He is favorably impressed with Budapest, and he remarks that already he can tell that he is leaving the Western world behind him and that he is \"entering the East,\" a section of Europe whose peoples and customs will be, for the most part, strange and unfamiliar.\nAt the beginning of his journey, the tenor of his narrative is low-key—that is, Harker records what he contemplates, what he sees, and what he eats (in regard to the latter, he jots off a couple of reminders to himself to obtain certain recipes for his fiancée, Mina Murray).\nAs his journal entries continue, Harker continues to record the details of the exotically spiced meals which he dines on, plus descriptions of the many old castles which he sees perched atop steep hills in the distance. The train dawdles on through the countryside, and Harker continues to describe the colorfully costumed peasants whom he sees; he is especially fascinated by the local garb of the swarthy, rather fierce looking men of the region, for they remind him of bandits, but he says that he has been assured that they are quite harmless.\nAt the eve of twilight, when Harker's train reaches Bistritz, not far from the infamous Borgo Pass, Harker disembarks and checks into the \"delightful ... old fashioned\" Golden Krone Hotel (Count Dracula has instructed him to stay here). Before retiring for the night, Harker reads a note of cordial welcome from Count Dracula, then he records some of the local stories about the Pass, as well as some of the other local beliefs and superstitions. For example, the Borgo Pass marks the entry into Bukovina, and the Pass itself has been the scene of great fires and centuries of massacres, famine, and disease. Coincidentally, Harker's arrival at Bistritz is on the eve of St. George's Day, a night when \"evil things in the world ... have full sway.\" At first, Harker is unconcerned about these local superstitions, but after he witnesses an old peasant woman's fearful awe of the name \"Dracula,\" and after he realizes the extent of her fear for his safety, and after he finally accepts her gift of a rosary to ward off evil spirits, Harker begins to become a bit uneasy about setting off the next day for the Borgo Pass, despite the fact that Dracula's carriage will be waiting for him when he arrives late on the eve of St. George's Day.\nThe morning of the departure does not bode well: A considerable crowd of peasants has gathered around the coach, muttering polyglot words which all seem to be variants of the word vampire; then, almost as if it happens en mass, the crowd makes the sign of the cross and points two fingers at him (a superstitious sign of blessing for a good, safe journey). The coach is off, and in contrast to the rugged road and the feverish haste of the horses, the countryside seems happy, bright, and colorful. But the forest trail, Harker notes, begins to rise ever upward, and soon they begin ascending the lofty, steep terrain of the Carpathian Mountains. The country peasants, as the coach dashes by them, all kneel and cross themselves, and Harker notes that the hills soon pass into a misty and cold gloom. Evening arrives, and soon they are passing beneath ghost-like clouds, as the coach careens alongside late-lying snows. Harker asks to walk, but his request is denied; foot travel is impossible because of the large number of fierce wild dogs in the woods. Meanwhile, the driver lashes his horses onward at an ever faster and more furious speed until at last the coach enters the Borgo Pass.\nThe passengers disembark, the horses neigh and snort violently, and the peasants suddenly begin screaming. Simultaneously, a horse-drawn caleche drives up, and the driver instructs Harker that he will take him to Count Dracula. Once inside the caleche, Harker collapses in the close darkness, feeling like a child, cowering within the eerie loneliness. Glancing at his watch, he notices in alarm that it is midnight. A wild howling commences, the horses strain and rear, and wolves begin to gather from all sides as fine, powdery snow begins to fall. Harker falls asleep, probably from psychological strain and also from physical weariness; when he awakens, the caleche is stopped and the driver is gone. A ring of wolves \"with white teeth and lolling red tongues\" surrounds Harker. He feels \"a sort of paralysis of fear.\" The ring of terror is unbearable; he shouts and beats on the side of the caleche. There seems to be no one around. Then without warning, the driver reappears, signals the wolves to disperse, and he drives onward, ascending again, ever higher, until at last they are in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, the castle of Count Dracula.\n \nChapter 1: Commentary\nFrom what we read in Harker's journal, it is clear that the young lawyer is a very logical, organized sort of man. Clearly, Stoker is setting up his protagonist as a very rational individual; in this way, the horror of the melodrama which will occur later will be encountered by a man who will try to combat it with common sense and logic. As a result, the terror of Stoker's narrative will become heightened and will seem more believable and less excessively hysterical. Had Stoker chosen a nervous, emotional type of man for his hero, his gothic melodrama would have become, or could have become, laughable and ludicrous. This is not the case, however; because of the carefully calculated way in which Stoker indicates and unravels the mystery of Count Dracula, he achieves a mastery over his subject matter that mitigates the raw horror and, instead, intensifies each chapter's sense of anxiety and portentous dread.\nOne of the first devices that Stoker uses to let us know that Harker is sensible and rational (in addition to the fact that he is a lawyer) is by having Harker recall in his journal that he spent quite a bit of time prior to his journey in the British Museum; there, he read as much as he could about the provinces through which he would be traveling (provinces originally occupied by Attila and the Huns); Harker tried his best to locate the exact locality of Castle Dracula, but unfortunately, he was not able to pinpoint the location precisely, because the castle is located in one of the \"wildest and least known portions of Europe.\" Yet even this ominously mysterious fact does not worry Harker unduly; because he is able to use his smattering of German, he is enjoying his adventuresome trip—thus far—and his notes become more minutely descriptive and confessional as he continues; the purpose for recording as much as he can, he says, is so that he can later refresh his memory when he is telling his fiancée, Mina, about the journey.\nOne of the first clues in Harker's journal that suggests to us something about the terror that will soon commence concerns Harker's reaction to Transylvania itself. He notes that \"every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians\"; he also records, again matter-of-factly, the minor annoyance of his having had \"all sorts of queer dreams\" recently; in addition, he heard a \"dog howling all night under [his] window.\" He wonders, rather naively, if perhaps it was the excessive paprika in the chicken casserole which he ate for dinner that could have been responsible for his bad dreams.\n \n \nChapters 2–4: Summary\nDracula's castle is described, like almost everything else, in precise detail. Harker notes the castle's great round arches, the immense iron-studded stone doors, the rattling chains, and the clanking of massive bolts, and he compares the scene with a nightmare. Dracula himself is as mysterious as his castle is. He is an old man and is clean shaven, except for a long white Victorian moustache, and he is clad all in black without \"a single speck of color about him anywhere.\" He speaks in perfect English and welcomes Harker inside, shaking his hand with an ice-cold, vice-like grip. His house, as he guides Harker forward, is seen to be filled with long passageways and heavy doors; finally they come to a room in which a table is laid for dinner, set beside a roaring fire. The Count's greeting is so warm that Harker forgets his fears and gives Dracula the details of the real estate transfer. Dracula explains that, at present, because of gout, he will not be able to make the journey to England himself, but that one of his trusted servants will accompany Harker back to London.\nAfter supper, Harker enjoys a cigar (Dracula does not smoke), and he studies his host: Dracula's face is strong; his high, thin nose is aquiline, and his nostrils seem to arch peculiarly; his shaggy brows almost meet, and his bushy hair seems to curl in profusion. His mouth, thick and white, covers \"sharp white teeth which protrude over the lips.\" His ears are pale and pointed, and his cheeks are firm but extremely thin. His breath is fetid and rank. \"The general effect is one of extraordinary pallor.\"\nBoth of the men hear wolves howling from far off, and Dracula is the first to speak: \"The children of the night,\" he says, \"what music they make!\" Shortly, thereafter, the two men retire, and Harker records a final entry for the day: \"I think strange things which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me.\"\nAs Harker explores the Count's castle the next day, he notices a number of unusual, intriguing things: A meal is already prepared and is ready for him—and no servant is present. The table service is made of gold, the curtains and upholstery are made of costly fabrics, seemingly centuries old, and nowhere is there a mirror. To his joy, however, Harker at last discovers a vast library, and he is in the midst of perusing one of the volumes when the Count appears. Dracula tells Harker that he may go anywhere he wishes in the castle, except where the doors are locked. Then he changes the subject and reveals that he greatly fears his proposed journey to England. He feels that his mastery of the English language is insufficient. In addition, he has grown so accustomed to being a master in his own land that he dreads going to England and suddenly being a nobody. For that reason, he wants Harker to remain in the castle as long as possible in order to perfect Dracula's English pronunciation. Harker immediately agrees to do so, and thus they talk further—first, about inconsequential things, and then Dracula explains about the evil spirits in Transylvania that sometimes hold sway. There is \"hardly a foot of soil\" in all this region, says the Count, \"that has not been enriched by the blood of men, patriots, or invaders.\"\nAfterward, their conversation turns to England, and while it is evident that the Count is concerned that he shall, for the most part, be alone in his new surroundings, he is immensely pleased by the description of his new estate: It is surrounded by high walls, made of heavy stone, is in need of repair, but contains massive, old iron gates; it is surrounded by dense trees, and the only building in the nearby vicinity is a private lunatic asylum. \"I love the shade and the shadow,\" Dracula says; \"I am no longer young; and my heart, through years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth.\"\nThe two men talk throughout the night, and at the coming of dawn, when the cock crows, Dracula leaps up excitedly and excuses himself. Harker feels nothing tangibly amiss, but he confesses in his diary that he feels uneasy; he wishes that he were home and that he had never journeyed to Transylvania.\nNext morning as Harker is shaving, his host's voice startles him, and he cuts himself. Then two unexplainable, horrible things occur. Harker realizes that, first, there is no reflection of Count Dracula in the shaving mirror; and second, when the Count sees Harker's fresh blood trickling from his chin, his eyes blaze up \"with a sudden demoniac fury,\" and he lunges for Harker's throat. Instinctively, Harker touches his crucifix, and Dracula's fury vanishes. He counsels Harker to take care how he cuts himself in this country; then Dracula flings the shaving glass onto the courtyard stones below, where it shatters into a thousand pieces. Dracula vanishes, and Harker ponders about what has happened. He also wonders about the fact that he has never seen the Count eat or drink. Harker then explores the castle farther and finally concludes that no matter how many beautiful vistas which he is able to see from the battlements, the castle is a veritable prison, and he is its prisoner.\nAfter Harker realizes that he is indeed a prisoner in Dracula's castle, he succumbs to panic and feelings of helplessness; momentarily, he believes that he is going mad, but he recovers almost instantly and tries to rationally analyze what he must do to escape and survive. More than anything else, Harker realizes that he will \"need all [his] brains to get through.\" Ironically, since Harker is not a religious man, he is grateful for the crucifix which was given to him; it is \"a comfort and a strength.\"\nA good night's sleep is virtually impossible for Harker, despite the fact that he has placed the crucifix over the head of the bed; thus, he paces throughout the night, looks out of his windows, and by accident, he sees Dracula, on two separate occasions, emerge from his room on the floor below, slither out, head downward, in lizard fashion, with his cloak spread out \"around him like great wings.\" It is shortly afterward that Harker records in his diary that he fears for his sanity; he hopes that he does not go mad. His diary is his only solace; he turns to it \"for repose.\"\nOne of Harker's favorite rooms in the castle is one that he feels was probably a woman's room; romantically, he likes to imagine that in this room \"ladies sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.\" It is during one moonlight night in this room that three women appear before Harker—and whether or not this is a dream, we cannot be sure. Harker's horror, however, is quite real, and that concerns us most. Two of the women are dark, and both of them have vivid, glowing red eyes; the other woman is fair. All have \"brilliant white teeth,\" and all of them cause a burning, sexual desire within Harker. Unexplainably, Harker finds himself allowing the fair woman to bend over him until he can feel her hot breath on his neck. As two sharp teeth touch his neck, and as he closes [his] eyes \"in languorous ecstasy,\" waiting \"with beating heart,\" Count Dracula suddenly sweeps in and orders the women out. But before they go, Harker notices that they grab a small bag with \"some living thing within it\"; with horror, Harker is sure that he hears a low wail, like that \"of a half-smothered child.\" Then he sinks into unconsciousness.\nSignificantly, Harker awakens in his own bed. Perhaps the women and the gruesome bag were only part of a bad dream. Thus he steels himself for others \"who are ... waiting to suck [his] blood.\" Harker waits, and while he does so, he notices gypsies who are driving wagons filled with large, square, empty boxes. Later, he hears the muffled sounds of digging, and again, he sees the Count slither down the side of the castle, lizard-fashion, wearing Harker's clothes and carrying \"the terrible bag.\" A howling dog cries far below in the valley. The horror overcomes Harker; locked in his prison, he sits down and cries.\nIt is then that he hears a woman below, crying out for her child, tearing her hair, beating her breasts, and \"beating her naked hands against the door.\" Within moments, a pack of wolves pour \"like a pent-up dam\" into the courtyard. Then they stream away, \"licking their lips.\"\nHarker has no choice; he must try to encounter Dracula during daylight. Therefore, he crawls out his window and descends, perilously, until he reaches the Count's room. Oddly, it is empty, and it seems \"to have never been used\"; everything is covered with dust, including a \"great heap of gold in one corner.\" Seeing an open door, Harker follows a circular stairway down through dark, tunnel-like passages; with every step, he becomes more aware of a \"deathly, sickly odour, the odour of old earth newly turned.\"\nIn the vaults below, Harker discovers fifty boxes, and in one of them, he finds the Count, apparently asleep, even though his eyes are \"open and strong.\" Horrified, he flees to his room and tries to decide what he must do.\nOn June 29th, he reveals the full extent of his terror. He is terribly afraid; if he had a gun, he would try to kill the Count, but at this point, he believes that the Count is supernatural and that bullets would have no effect on him. Yet when the Count appears, he bids Harker goodbye, assuring him that a carriage will take him to the Borgo Pass and from there, he will be able to return to England.\nLater, Harker opens his door and sees \"the three terrible women licking their lips.\" He throws himself on the floor, imploring heaven to save him until he can escape the following day.\nNot surprisingly, Harker wakes early, scales down the wall, and once more he finds the Count laid out in one of the large wooden boxes. Curiously, the old man looks \"as if his youth [had] been half renewed.\" The reason is clear. He has been renewed by blood. On his lips are thick blotches of fresh blood which trickle from the corners of his mouth and run over his chin and neck. Dracula is gorged with blood, \"like a filthy leech.\" The thought of Harker's assisting this monster to travel to England and satiate his lust on unsuspecting English men and women so horrifies Harker that he seizes a shovel and slashes madly at the Count's \"hateful face.\" The Count's mad eyes so paralyze Harker, however, that the blow only grazes the Count's forehead. Hearing voices, Harker flees to the Count's room, where he hears the boxes below being filled with earth and the covers nailed shut. Then he hears the sound of wheels in the driveway, the crack of whips, and a chorus of gypsies. Now Harker is convinced that he is absolutely alone, a prisoner, and Dracula is off for England to wreak his evil. Yet Harker is still determined to at least try and escape and take some of the gold with him. He is sure that this castle is a nest for the \"devil and his children,\" and he cannot remain in it a moment longer. The precipice which he must confront is steep and high, but he must attempt it at all costs. The last entry in his journal, at this point, is desperate: \"Good-bye, all! Mina!\"\n \nChapters 2–4: Commentary\nThese three chapters set the tone for all subsequent treatments of the Dracula legend. That is, whereas many works based on Count Dracula will alter the story significantly, most of the subsequent treatments of this legend will have some of the incidents found in these chapters. They include (1) an emissary (sometimes the pattern includes unsuspecting travelers) who is in a foreign land to contact the mysterious Count Dracula, who has bought some property in England. The young man, therefore, has come to finalize the arrangements with Dracula. (2) The setting is always someplace in Transylvania, a land sparsely populated and filled with howling wolves. It is also often remote and strange and unfamiliar, with no main roads to enter or depart by. (3) Everything is strange, even the language, which prevents the emissary from communicating with the natives (The natives are always of peasant stock and extremely superstitious and often xenophobic). (4) The representative usually stops in some remote inn, without such modern conveniences as telephones, where a carriage with an inscrutable driver will take him to the Borgo Pass. (5) The peasants will offer him various charms to ward off vampires, a word that strikes fear into the peasants. (6) The Borgo Pass is well known for mysterious happenings and the emissary usually arrives about midnight, a time when evil spirits have free reign in the world. (7) The emissary is met by someone working for the Count and is taken to the Count's castle. (8) The castle is a decaying edifice, located at the top of a tall mountain amid a desolate area, where one can gain access to the castle only by a steep, narrow road. The castle is a landmark, but few people tour the place. (9) Everything is old and musty in the castle. (10) Count Dracula is seen only at nighttime, and the emissary never sees him eat anything even though there is plenty of freshly prepared food. (11) The narrator usually sees Count Dracula performing some act which would be considered supernatural, such as slithering down the sheer precipice of the castle in a \"bat-like\" manner. (12) Often there is the presence of a female vampire (or vampires), who will attempt to seduce the narrator. (13) Usually the emissary is imprisoned in the castle and must effect his own escape.\nOther factors of a lesser nature can be included, factors such as the narrator's explorations of the castle and his discovery of many coffins or boxes of dirt or the proliferation of bats about the castle, the eerie noises, and the mysterious absence of mirrors (since vampires do not cast a reflection in a mirror), and sometimes there are the cries of young babies and the presence of blood at unexpected places. Therefore, the individual writer can utilize as many of the above archetypical patterns as he or she so chooses.\n \n \nChapters 5 & 6: Summary\nThe scene abruptly shifts from Transylvania to London, and the story of Mina Murray (later Mina Harker) and Lucy Westenra is introduced. The story in the following few chapters is presented through a series of letters between Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra, and also through journal entries of various characters, as well as by newspaper articles and even a ship's log. In these chapters we are also introduced to Dr. John Seward whom Lucy describes as \"one of the most resolute men\" she ever saw, \"yet the most calm\"; Arthur Holmwood, whom Lucy chooses to marry; and Quincey P. Morris, a Texan, a friend of Arthur Holmwood; and Dr. Seward, director of a lunatic asylum. All of these characters will figure prominently in the story.\nMina Murray, an assistant \"schoolmistress,\" is engaged to Jonathan Harker. In Mina's letter to her dear friend Lucy, she tells of Jonathan's recent letters from Transylvania which assure her that he is well and will soon be returning home. (These are early letters from Jonathan, of course.) Mina's first letter is dated a few days after Jonathan's arrival at Castle Dracula.\nLucy's reply reveals that she is in love with a Mr. Arthur Holmwood, a \"tall, curly haired man.\" She also mentions a doctor whom she would like Mina to meet. The doctor, John Seward, is \"handsome\" and \"really clever,\" twenty-nine years old, and the administrator of a lunatic asylum. At the conclusion of Lucy's letter, we learn that Mina and Lucy have been friends since childhood and that each depends on the other for happiness.\nIn Lucy's next letter to Mina, Lucy reveals to us that she will be twenty years old in three months. On this particular day (the 24th of May), she has had no less than three marriage proposals, and she is ecstatic. The first proposal was from Dr. Seward, whom she turned down. The second proposal came from the American, Quincey P. Morris. She finds the American to be gallant and romantic, yet she feels that she must turn him down as well. The third proposal came from Arthur Holmwood, whose proposal she accepted.\nFollowing the exchange of letters between Mina and Lucy, we have an excerpt from Dr. Seward's diary (kept on a phonograph) from the 25th of May, the day following his proposal to Lucy. Dr. Seward reveals his depression over Lucy's rejection, but he will resign himself to his vocation. Dr. Seward also mentions, most importantly, his curiosity about one of his patients. This patient's name is R. M. Renfield, who is fifty-nine years old and a man of \"great physical strength.\" Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is \"morbidly excitable\" and has \"periods of gloom ending in some fixed idea\" which the doctor is unable to determine. Seward concludes the entry by stating that he believes Renfield to be potentially dangerous.\nFollowing Seward's entry is a letter from the American, Quincey P. Morris, to Arthur Holmwood, dated May 25th. In the letter, Quincey asks Arthur to drink with him to drown his sorrows over a woman's rejection—and also, he proposes to drink to Arthur's happiness. Quincey also reveals the name of another fellow who will be present, one who also happens to wish to drown his sorrows—Dr. Seward.\nMina's journal of the 24th of July comes from Whitby, a town located in northeast England, on the seacoast; her description of Whitby would pass for one in a travel guide. Of special note is Mina's description of the ruins of Whitby Abbey: Mina says that it is a \"most noble ruin ... full of beautiful and romantic bits,\" and she mentions the legend of a \"white lady\" who is seen in one of the Abbey's windows. She also mentions a large graveyard which lies above the town and has a \"full view of the harbor.\"\nOf the friends whom Mina makes at Whitby, she is most charmed by a \"funny old man\" named Mr. Swales. Mr. Swales is very old, for Mina tells us that his face is \"all gnarled and twisted like the bark of a tree,\" and that Swales brags that he is almost one hundred years old. He is a skeptical person and scoffs at the legend of the \"white lady\" of Whitby Abbey.\nA week later, Mina and Lucy are on the hillside above Whitby talking to old Mr. Swales. Lucy playfully refers to him as the \"Sir Oracle\" of the area. Mina mentions Lucy's robust health and her happy spirits since coming to Whitby. On this day, Mr. Swales refuses to tell Mina and Lucy about a legend which he scoffs at. The legend involves and maintains that many of the graves in the yard are actually empty. This notion is, of course, preposterous to Mr. Swales, and he tells the ladies that they should not believe the silly superstitions of the area.\nMina reports that Lucy and Arthur are preparing for their wedding and that she still hasn't heard from Jonathan for a month; interestingly, the date of this entry is also the date of the last entry that Jonathan Harker made in the journal that he kept in Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania.\nDr. Seward, meanwhile, reports that the case of Renfield is becoming more and more curious. Seward reports that Renfield has developed qualities of selfishness, secrecy, and dubiousness; in addition, Renfield has pets of odd sorts; presently, Renfield's hobby is catching flies, and he has a large number of them. When Seward demands that Renfield get rid of them, Renfield asks for a delay of three days. Two weeks later, Seward reports that Renfield has become interested in spiders and has \"several very big fellows in a box.\" Evidently, Renfield is feeding the flies to the spiders and also munching on the flies himself. About ten days later, Seward reports that the spiders are becoming a great nuisance and that he has ordered Renfield to get rid of them. As Seward is issuing this demand, a fly buzzes into the room and Renfield catches it and \"exultantly\" eats it. Renfield keeps a notebook in which whole pages are filled with masses of numbers, as if it is an account book; we can assume that he is totaling up the number of flies that he has eaten.\nA week later, Seward discovers that Renfield also has a pet sparrow and that Renfield's supply of spiders has diminished; it would seem that Renfield also maintains a supply of flies for the spiders by tempting them with pieces of food. About ten days later, Seward reports that Renfield has \"a whole colony of sparrows\" and that the supply of flies and spiders is almost depleted.\nFawning like a dog, Renfield begs Seward for a nice little kitten which he can \"feed—and feed—and feed.\" Seward refuses Renfield's request, and Renfield immediately becomes hostile and threatening. Seward fears that Renfield is an \"undeveloped homicidal maniac.\" Upon returning to Renfield's cell a few hours later, Seward discovers Renfield in the corner, \"gnawing his fingers.\" Renfield immediately begs for a kitten again. The next day, Renfield is spreading sugar on the window sill, evidently trying to catch flies again. Seward is surprised that the room is empty of birds, and when Renfield is asked where they are, he responds that they have all flown away. Seward is disconcerted, however, when he sees a few feathers and some blood on Renfield's pillow. A few hours later, an attendant tells Seward that Renfield vomited and disgorged a large quantity of feathers. That evening, Seward orders that Renfield be given a strong opiate to make him sleep. Seward decides to classify Renfield as a \"zoöphagous [life eating] maniac.\" Seward defines this phenomenon as a person who tries \"to absorb as many lives as he can,\" one who has laid himself out to achieve it in a cumulative way. Seward is thrilled with the possibility that he might advance this branch of science and, thus, become famous.\nThe novel now shifts back to Mina Murray's journal, July 26th, about a week after Seward's last entry. Mina voices concern about not hearing from Jonathan Harker and also, curiously, about Lucy.\nAdditionally, Mina is confused as to why she hasn't heard from Jonathan because yesterday, Jonathan's employer, Mr. Hawkins, sent her a letter from Jonathan, a letter that was written at Count Dracula's castle. The letter consists of only one line, a statement that he is starting home. Mina notes that this extreme brevity is totally unlike Jonathan.\nMina is also concerned about Lucy because Lucy has once again \"taken to her old habit of walking in her sleep.\" In a late entry of the 6th of August, Mina notes that the fishermen claim that a harsh storm is approaching. Old Mr. Swales tells her that he has never felt closer to death and that he is tired of fighting it. He also senses approaching calamity and doom: \"There is something in that wind that sounds, and looks, and tastes, and smells like death.\" At the end of the entry, she reports sighting a strange ship which old Mr. Swales says is a Russian ship.\n \nChapters 5 & 6: Commentary\nStoker continues with his epistolary style, continuing in the tradition of having two young, naive ladies corresponding about love and life. These innocent girls will very soon become involved in the horror which Dracula brings. Stoker contrasts their innocence with the approaching plague of horror and evil, a typically gothic pattern of narrative; it would not be dramatically effective to have depraved characters confront the evil menace.\nThe setting is a typical one for the gothic novel. We leave the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan city and journey to an isolated city, replete with legends of empty graves, sepulchral old natives, and legends of dead people who haunt huge old houses. Furthermore, any type of ghost story should be set in some place far from civilization, and here at Whitby, where there are rambling old houses, sleepwalking, and graveyards, we have a perfect gothic setting.\nThe story of Renfield foreshadows the social disruption and insanity which will accompany Dracula's descent upon England. This is further symbolized by Renfield's desire for blood and the sucking of fresh blood, which will be Dracula's, or the vampire's, goal. Renfield can be seen as an archetype of \"the predecessor\" (such as John the Baptist) because Renfield prepares us for the imminent arrival of his \"lord\" and \"master,\" Dracula. Stoker will continue to pervert Christian myths throughout the novel. Dracula is a satanic figure, and the horrors of Renfield are maudlin, compared to the greater horror which is Dracula himself.\nLucy's sleepwalking also prefigures the arrival of Count Dracula. As it happens, the day that she begins sleepwalking will closely correspond to the day that Dracula's ship crosses the straits of Gibraltar into Western civilization. And it will be because of her sleepwalking that she will become a member of the \"Un-Dead.\"\nOld Mr. Swales is the archetypal prophetic figure, one who senses and can articulate the approaching doom and horror, yet one whose exhortations and prophesies are ignored or remain misunderstood by the populace.\n \n \nChapters 7 & 8: Summary\nUtilizing the narrative device of a newspaper clipping (dated August 8th), the story of the landing of Count Dracula's ship is presented. The report indicates that the recent storm, one of the worst storms on record, was responsible for the shipwreck of a strange Russian vessel. The article also mentions several observations which indicate the vessel's strange method of navigation; we learn that observers feel that the captain had to be mad because in the midst of the storm the ship's sails were wholly unfurled.\nMany people who witnessed the approach of the strange vessel were gathered on one of Whitby's piers to await the ship's arrival. By the light of a spotlight, witnesses noticed that \"lashed to the helm was a corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro\" as the ship rocked. As the vessel violently ran aground, \"an immense dog sprang up on deck from below,\" jumped from the ship, and ran off. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the man lashed to the wheel (the helm) had a crucifix clutched in his hand. According to a local doctor, the man had been dead for at least two days. Coast Guard officials discovered a bottle in the dead man's pocket, carefully sealed, which contained a roll of paper.\nIn a newspaper article the next day, it is revealed that the ship, a schooner, was a Russian vessel, one from Varna, called the Demeter. The only cargo on board was a \"ballast of silver sand\" and \"a number of great wooden boxes filled with mould.\" It is revealed that the cargo was consigned to a Whitby solicitor, Mr. S. F. Billington, who has claimed the boxes. The bizarre circumstances of the ship's arrival have been the talk about town for the last few days, and there has also been some interest as to the whereabouts of the big dog which jumped ashore on the first night. The dog has disappeared, and some citizens are worried that the dog may be dangerous. Reportedly, a half-breed mastiff was found dead, its throat torn out and its belly split open.\nThe narrative continues with excerpts from the Demeter's log. The log begins on the 6th of July, which would be a week after Jonathan Harker's last entry in his journal. According to the log entries, all is calm aboard the ship for several days. On the 16th of July, however, one crew member is found missing, and the log indicates that all the sailors are downcast and anxious. The next day, the 17th of July, a sailor reports seeing a \"tall, thin man, who was not like any of the crew, come up the companionway, and go along the deck forward and disappear.\" Yet no one, upon inspection of the ship, is to be found.\nFive days later, on the 22nd of July, the ship passes Gibraltar and sails out through the Straits with apparently no further problems. Two days later, however, another man is reported lost, and the remaining men grow panicky and frightened. Five days later, another sailor is missing. On the 30th of July, only the captain, his mate, and two crew members are left. On the 2nd of August, another crew member disappears. At midnight on the next night, the remaining deck hand disappears, and the captain and the mate are the only remaining men aboard. The captain reports that the mate is haggard and close to madness. In a panic, the mate, a Roumanian, hisses, \"It is here.\" The mate thinks that \"it\" is in the hold, perhaps \"in one of the boxes.\" The mate descends into the hold, only to come flying from the hold moments later, screaming in terror, telling the captain, \"He is there. I know the secret now.\" In despair, the mate throws himself overboard, preferring drowning to a confrontation with \"the thing.\" Since the captain feels that it is his duty to remain with the ship, he vows to tie his hands to the wheel and take the ship to port. At this point, the log ends.\nThe log of the Demeter stirs up a great deal of controversy, and most of the townsfolk regard the captain as a hero. The reporter ends his narration by stating that the great dog has not yet been found.\nThe narrative shifts then to Mina's journal (August 8th), the day of the great storm. Lucy is still sleepwalking, and Mina has yet to hear from Jonathan.\nOn the 10th of August, Mina indicates that the burial of the sea captain was on this day and that Lucy is very upset about the events of the last few days. In a shocking revelation, we learn that old Mr. Swales was found dead this morning, near the graveyard, at the seat where Lucy and Mina would often visit with him. According to the doctor, the old man must have \"fallen back in the seat in some sort of fright\" because his neck was broken.\nMina's journal for the 10th of August concludes with the observation that Lucy is happy and seems better in body and in spirit than she has for quite some time. The next entry is a few hours later; at 3 A.M., Mina awakened with a horrible sense of fear and discovered that Lucy's bed was empty. After satisfying herself that Lucy was nowhere to be found inside the house, she threw a heavy shawl about herself and headed outdoors to search for Lucy. While searching, it occurred to Mina that Lucy might have gone to their favorite place, the seat on the hill where old Mr. Swales was found. She looked towards the hill where the seat was located and, under the light of a \"beautiful moon,\" she saw on the seat a half-reclining figure, \"snowy white.\" Above the figure, \"something dark\" was bending over the reclining figure. Mina raced to the spot. When she approached the seat, Mina saw something \"long and black\" bent over the half reclining figure. Mina called to Lucy in fright, and \"the thing raised a head.\" Mina could see \"a white face and red, gleaming eyes.\" By the time Mina reached the seat, the moonlight was so brilliant that Mina could see that Lucy was alone. It appeared that Lucy was merely asleep, but her breathing was hesitant and coming in long, heavy gasps; then Lucy shuddered and covered her throat with her hand. Mina threw her shawl over Lucy to warm her, and Lucy pulled the shawl up about her neck as though she were cold. Mina accounts for the two puncture wounds in Lucy's throat as the result of pin pricks caused when Mina was trying to pin a shawl around Lucy's exposed neck. Mina then escorts Lucy back home and puts her back to bed. Just before falling asleep, Lucy begs Mina not to tell anyone of the incident.\nThat morning (August 11th) Lucy looks better to Mina than she has for weeks. Mina berates herself for wounding Lucy with the safety pin, for again she notices the two little red pin pricks on Lucy's neck, \"and on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood.\" Lucy casually laughs off Mina's concern. The rest of the day is spent happily, and Mina expects a restful night.\nIn her journal entry of the next day, however, Mina indicates that her expectations were wrong. Twice that night Mina discovered that Lucy was awake and trying to leave the room. Yet, the next morning, Lucy was, seemingly, the picture of health to Mina.\nThe 13th of August is a quiet day, yet that night Mina discovers Lucy sitting up in bed in a dazed sleep, \"pointing to the window.\" Mina goes to the window, and in the brilliant moonlight she notices \"a great bat\" flitting about in circles. Evidently the bat is frightened by the sudden appearance of Mina at the window and flies off.\nThe next day at sunset, Mina indicates that she and Lucy spent the day at a favorite spot on the East Cliff, and, at sunset, Lucy made a most unusual remark: \"His red eyes again! They are just the same.\" At the moment when Lucy utters this phrase, Mina notices that Lucy's eyes are directed towards their favorite seat, \"whereon was a dark figure seated alone.\" To Mina, the stranger's eyes appeared for a moment \"like burning flames.\" Later, the two return home and say no more about the incident.\nAfter seeing Lucy to bed that night, Mina decided to go for a short stroll. Coming home in the bright moonlight, she glanced up at their bedroom window and noticed Lucy's head leaning out. Mina thought that Lucy was looking for her, but she was not—Lucy did not even notice Mina. She appeared, in fact, to be fast asleep. Curiously, seated on the window sill next to her was something that looked like a \"good sized bird.\" Running upstairs to the bedroom in a panic, Mina discovered that Lucy was now back in her bed—asleep, but holding her hand to her throat as if chilled. Mina chooses not to awaken her, yet she notices, much to her dismay, that Lucy looks pale and haggard. Mina attributes this to Lucy's fretting about something.\nOn the next day (15th of August), Mina notices that Lucy is \"languid and tired\" and that she slept later than normal. Mina receives a bit of unexpected and shocking news from Mrs. Westenra, Lucy's mother. Mrs. Westenra's doctor has informed her that she has only a few months to live because of a heart condition.\nTwo days later, Mina is despondent. She has had no news from Jonathan yet, and Lucy seems to be growing weaker and weaker by the day. Mina cannot understand Lucy's decline, for she eats well and sleeps well and gets plenty of exercise. Yet at night, Mina has heard her awaken as if gasping for air, and just last night, she found Lucy leaning out of the open window again; Lucy was incredibly weak and her breath came with much difficulty. Inspecting Lucy's throat as she lay asleep, Mina noticed that the puncture wounds had not healed; if anything, they were larger than before and the edges were pale and faintly puckered. \"They were like little white dots with red centers.\"\nIn a letter dated the 17th of August, Mr. S. F. Billington (to whom the boxes from the Demeter were consigned) orders the boxes to be delivered to Carfax, near Purfleet, in London.\nMina's journal (August 18th) records that Lucy is looking better and slept well the last night. Lucy seems to have come to terms with the night when she was found sleepwalking. Lucy spends most of her time thinking of her fiancé, Arthur. Lucy feels that the recent events are like a dream, yet she has a \"vague memory of something long and dark with red eyes ... and something very sweet and very bitter all around, sinking into deep green water.\" Her \"soul seemed to go out from [her] body and float about in the air.\" She tells Mina there was suddenly \"a sort of agonizing feeling.\" And then Mina woke her.\nOn the 19th of August, Mina receives news of Jonathan—he is in a hospital in Budapest. Mina intends to leave the next morning to go to Budapest to be with him; Jonathan apparently has been hospitalized because of brain fever. In a letter from a Sister Agatha, Mina is warned that she should be prepared to spend some time at the hospital, for Jonathan's illness is very serious.\nThe narrative shifts then to Dr. Seward's diary. Renfield, it seems, has had a swift and drastic change in personality. He has periods of excitement, and he acts as if he were a caged animal. He had been respectful, but recently, he has become quite \"haughty.\" He has told Seward that \"the Master is at hand.\" Dr. Seward attributes Renfield's condition to a \"religious mania.\" Renfield's pets (the spiders, flies, and sparrows) are no longer important to him. Later that night, Renfield escapes. Dr. Seward and several attendants follow Renfield to Carfax (the destination of the fifty boxes of earth belonging to Count Dracula). Following him onto the grounds, Seward finds Renfield \"pressed close against the old iron-bound oak door of the chapel,\" apparently talking to someone. Renfield is apparently addressing someone whom he calls \"Master\"; Renfield seems to consider himself a slave. Dr. Seward and the attendants put a restraint on Renfield and return him to his cell. There, Renfield says that he \"shall be patient, Master.\"\n \nChapters 7 & 8: Commentary\nOnce again Stoker relies on clever stylistic devices to add verisimilitude to his story. By using newspaper clippings, the ship's log, the medical journal, excerpts from telegrams and diaries, he builds a cumulative picture of events as though they might really have happened and, thus, he gives greater credence to this improbable story.\nThe ship that was sighted at the end of Chapter 6 has turned out to be the ship which was carrying the loads of dirt from Count Dracula's estate, the cargo that Jonathan Harker saw being loaded on wagons in Transylvania. Apparently, Count Dracula himself is \"residing\" in one of these boxes. The storm, the howling dogs, and the mysterious disappearance of the sailors—all are symbolic of the approaching evil which is represented by Count Dracula. It is clear that Dracula is a harbinger of the natural catastrophes which are occurring. His evil presence is felt by old Mr. Swales, who at his advanced age cannot withstand the horrors represented by the arrival of Dracula and is found dead, murdered to make it seem as though he were killed accidentally. It can be assumed that the mysterious dog that came from the ship was Dracula himself in one of his guises, and that it was responsible for knocking the old man down and causing his death. Many supernatural things, like Mr. Swales's death, are never fully explained by Stoker, leaving all the events surrounded by an aura of superstition and mystery.\nThe calm Victorian life, filled with all of the amenities of life, is being penetrated by everything which Dracula represents, and the disruption is seen mainly in the manner in which he \"penetrates\" a young virgin's (Lucy's) neck, sucking both life and blood from her.\nThe illness of Arthur Holmwood's father (only slightly mentioned), as well as the approaching death of Lucy's mother, seem cabalistically linked to the approach and arrival of Count Dracula, and, thus, by the end of the novel we will see that both Lucy and her mother have become victims of the intruding spectre of horror. Dracula is more than just a vampire, more than just a satanic presence affecting only a few; he is also a symbol of total social disruption and chaos. If not stopped, he will destroy all of Victorian society. Count Dracula's appearance and his satanic presence—his black clothes, his fiery red eyes, and his pale features—are a total contrast to the winsome, innocent, and virginal presence of the two ladies (Lucy and Mina) who represent purity.\nOnce again, Stoker inverts the traditional Christian myth when Renfield anticipates and looks forward to the arrival of his \"lord and master\" in the person of Count Dracula. Stoker, in an interesting choice of phraseology, considers Renfield's behavior at Carfax as though Renfield is experiencing a \"Real Presence,\" as though Dracula were the (perverted) Holy Ghost. The entire scene is a perversion of the Catholic communion, wherein the Real Presence of the Holy Ghost is present each time that the Eucharist is administered.\nIn terms of the narrative structure so far, we don't know why Count Dracula left Transylvania to come to England—rather than go somewhere else, or even why he had to leave his native country. However, in these chapters, we find out that Jonathan Harker did escape, but his method of escape will never be revealed to us; remember that when we last saw him, he was a prisoner in Dracula's castle, surrounded by wolves and supernatural beings. Yet suddenly, without explanation, he appears in Budapest, where he is cared for by nurses.\n \n \nChapters 9 & 10: Summary\nIn a letter from Budapest, Mina tells Lucy that she has arrived safely and that she has found Jonathan Harker greatly changed. He is only a shadow of his former self, and he remembers very little of what has happened to him; he suffered a terrible shock, and his brain has a mental block against whatever caused his present condition.\nSister Agatha, who has attended him, has told Mina that he raved and ranted about dreadful and unspeakable things, so dreadful that she often had \"to cross herself.\" Sister Agatha maintains that \"his fear is of great and horrible things, which no mortal can think of.\" Mina notices a notebook and wonders if she could look through it for some clue as to what happened; Jonathan tells her that he has had brain fever, and he thinks that the cause of the brain fever might be recorded in the notebook. However, he does not ever want to read the contents of the book himself. Thus he gives the journal to Mina and says that if she wants to read it she may, but he never wants to read it lest it cause some horror in their married life.\nMina informs Lucy that she and Jonathan have decided to get married immediately, and, that very afternoon, the marriage ceremony was performed. As a wedding gift, Mina took the notebook, wrapped it, tied it, and sealed it in wax, using her wedding ring as the seal, saying that she would never open it unless it were for his—Jonathan's—sake. After reading her friend's letter, Lucy sends Mina a letter of congratulations, telling her that she herself is feeling quite healthy.\nDr. Seward records in his diary that Renfield has now grown very quiet and often murmurs to himself, \"Now I can wait, now I can wait.\" He does not speak to anyone, even when he is offered a kitten or a full grown cat as a pet. He responds, \"I don't take any stock in cats. I have more to think of now.\"\nThis has happened for three nights; now, Seward plans to arrange a way for Renfield to escape so that they can follow him. At an unexpected moment, however, Renfield escapes. The attendant follows him to Carfax, where he is again pressed against the old chapel door.\nWhen Renfield sees Dr. Seward, he tries to attack him, but is restrained. Renfield grows strangely calm, and Dr. Seward becomes aware that Renfield is staring at something in the moonlit sky. Upon following his gaze, Seward can see nothing, however, but an exceptionally large bat.\nLucy Westenra, (on the 24th of August) records in her diary that she has been dreaming, as she did earlier at Whitby (she is now at Hillingham, another of the houses which her family owns). Also, she notes that her mother's health is declining. On the night of the 25th, she writes that she awoke around midnight to the sound of something scratching and flapping at the window. When she awoke in the morning, she was pale, and her throat pained her severely.\nArthur Holmwood writes to Dr. Seward on the 31st of August, asking him to visit Lucy and examine her. Then, the next day, he telegrams Dr. Seward to inform him that he has been called to his father's bedside, where he wants Dr. Seward to contact him.\nOn the 2nd of September, Dr. Seward writes to Arthur Holmwood that Lucy's health does not conform to any malady that he knows of, and that Lucy is somewhat reluctant to have him examine her completely. Dr. Seward is concerned about her \"somewhat bloodless condition\" because there are no signs of anemia. Lucy complains of difficulty in breathing, lethargic sleep, and dreams that frighten her. Dr. Seward is so concerned that he has sent for his old friend and master, the famous Professor Van Helsing of Amsterdam. The doctor is a profound philosopher, a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day.\nIn a letter of response, Dr. Van Helsing tells Dr. Seward that his affairs will allow him to come immediately, and that he is happy to do Dr. Seward a favor since Dr. Seward once saved his life. Consequently, Dr. Seward is able to write to Arthur Holmwood on the 3rd of September that Dr. Van Helsing has already seen Lucy and that he too is concerned about her condition, yet he has not said what is wrong with Lucy, except that there is no apparent functional cause of her illness. However, Dr. Van Helsing insists that a telegram be sent to him every day in Amsterdam letting him know about Lucy's condition.\nIn his diary, Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is often becoming violent at the stroke of noon and that he often howls like a wolf, disturbing the other patients. Later, the same day, he seems very contented, \"catching flies and eating them.\" He has more sugar now and is reaping quite a harvest of flies, keeping them in a box as he did earlier. He asks for more sugar, which Dr. Seward promises to get for him. At midnight, Dr. Seward records another change in the patient. Visiting Renfield at sunset, he witnesses Renfield trying \"to grab the sun\" just as it sinks; then Renfield sinks to the floor. Rising, Renfield dusts the sugar and crumbs from his ledge, tosses all his flies out the window, and says, \"I'm sick of all that rubbish.\" Dr. Seward wonders if the sun (or the moon) has any influence on Renfield's \"paroxysms of sudden passion.\"\nDr. Seward sends telegrams on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of September to Dr. Van Helsing, the final one being a desperate plea for Dr. Van Helsing to visit Lucy, for her condition has become much worse. Seward then sends a letter to Arthur, telling him that Lucy's condition is worse and that Van Helsing is coming to attend her. Seward cannot tell Lucy's mother about the problem because of the old woman's heart condition.\nIn his diary, Dr. Seward says that when Van Helsing arrived he was admonished to keep everything about this case a secret until they are certain about what is going on. Dr. Seward is anxious to know as much as possible about the case, but Van Helsing thinks that it is too premature to discuss it. When they reach Lucy's room, Dr. Seward is horrified by Lucy's ghastly pale, white face, the prominence of her bones, and her painful breathing. Observing Lucy's condition, Van Helsing frantically realizes that she must be given an immediate blood transfusion or she will die. Dr. Seward is prepared to give blood himself when Arthur suddenly arrives, volunteering that he will give \"the last drop of blood in my body for her.\"\nWhile Dr. Van Helsing is administering the transfer of blood from Arthur to Lucy, he gives Lucy a narcotic to allow her to sleep. After awhile, the transfusion restores color to Lucy's face, while Arthur, meanwhile, grows paler and paler. During the transfusion, the scarf around Lucy's throat falls away, and Dr. Seward notices the red marks on Lucy's throat. Later, Van Helsing asks Seward what he thinks about the marks. As they examine the wounds, they notice that they occur \"just over the external jugular vein ... two punctures, not large, but not wholesome looking.\" There is no sign of disease, and Seward wonders if this is not how the blood is lost. Van Helsing has to leave, and so he orders Seward to stay all night and watch over Lucy. The next morning (September 8th), Seward thinks Lucy looks better. He recalls the conversation of the evening before, when Lucy told him she did not like to go to sleep because \"all that weakness comes to me in sleep.\" However, when Seward promised to stay with her all night, she slept soundly.\nNext day, Dr. Seward had to work all day at the asylum, and that night, the 9th of September, he was extremely exhausted by work and the lack of sleep. Therefore, when Lucy showed him a room next to hers, a room with a sofa, he instinctively stretched out and fell asleep. That night, Lucy recorded in her diary how safe she feels with Dr. Seward sleeping close by.\nDr. Seward records in his diary that early on the morning of September 10th, he was awakened by the gentle hand of Dr. Van Helsing, and together they went to visit Lucy. They found her—horribly white, with shrunken gums, lips pale and blue, and looking as though she were a corpse. Immediately, they realized that another transfusion would be essential. This time, Dr. Seward is the only person available for giving blood, and he does so, \"for the woman he loved.\" Van Helsing reminds Seward that nothing is to be said of this. Again they examine the little punctures in her throat; the wounds now have a \"ragged, exhausted appearance at their edges.\"\nIn the afternoon, Van Helsing is with Lucy when the professor opens a large bundle. He opens it, hands Lucy the contents, and instructs Lucy to wear the flowers around her neck: Lucy, recognizing that \"the flowers\" are common garlic, thinks that he is joking. Van Helsing tells her that he is not joking; he says that the garlic is a special garlic, coming all the way from Haarlem (a town in Holland). Dr. Seward skeptically observes all of this, wondering if Van Helsing is \"working some spell to keep out an evil spirit.\" Van Helsing places other bits of garlic around the room, and when they leave he tells Dr. Seward that he will be able to sleep peacefully tonight since all is well.\n \nChapters 9 & 10: Commentary\nJonathan Harker's journal ended on the 30th of June, and it is still with him in the hospital, sealed and to be opened and transcribed later by Mina. The entire novel, then, is, to a large degree, held together by Harker's journal, and his observations become instrumental in resolving the mystery of Dracula.\nThroughout these two chapters, Lucy's health declines and improves, only to decline again. Constant emphasis is given to the two small wounds on her neck, and the reader must assume, although the author does not state it, that the expansion of the wounds and the decline of Lucy's health is a result of the vampire's repeated bloodsucking.\nIn addition to focusing on bloodsucking, these chapters include other examples of the Vampire-Gothic tradition. There is Renfield, who howls at noon (Dracula's powers are weakest then), yet Renfield is calm at sunset. There is also the presence of bats, as well as other mysterious \"noises.\" Mainly, however, these chapters are concerned with the transfusion of blood into Lucy. Of course, Stoker is playing on the notion of a lover's life's blood. Recall that Arthur declares, \"My life is hers, and I would give the last drop of blood in my body for her.\" The same thing, in a perverted sense, can be said for Lucy's blood, which is given to her \"demon lover,\" the vampire. The same thing is happening when Dr. Seward gives his blood to his beloved Lucy, and finally, in future chapters, Van Helsing, who has learned to love Lucy as a daughter, will gladly give his blood to save her. Each time, Van Helsing points out that the blood is from a strong, powerful, virile young man, yet he is continually vexed as to how the lady's strength disappears. Of note here is the fact that it was dangerous to give such transfusions, because if the blood wasn't of a matching type, it could have possibly killed her. In emergencies, however, any blood is usually given to a patient if a transfusion will, hopefully, save a life.\n \n \nChapters 11–13: Summary\nOn the 12th of September, Lucy is perplexed by the presence of the garlic flowers, but she has such trust in Van Helsing that she is not frightened to fall asleep that night.\nIn Dr. Seward's diary, we learn that he picked up Van Helsing and went to see Lucy the next day. They met Mrs. Westenra in the hall and discovered that she had checked on Lucy, found the room very \"stuffy,\" and, thus, she removed those \"horrible, strong smelling flowers\" from around Lucy's neck and from here and there in the room, and then opened the windows in order for the room to air out. Van Helsing was very restrained in the presence of Mrs. Westenra, but as soon as she had left, Dr. Seward saw Van Helsing break down and begin to \"sob with loud, dry sobs, that seemed to come from the very wracking of his heart.\" He feels that they are \"sore beset\" by some pagan fate. He recovers, and then he rushes to Lucy's room. Lucy is on the verge of death, and Seward knows that she must have another transfusion immediately, or she will die. This time, Van Helsing must be the donor since Seward has given blood to her so recently. Later, Van Helsing gently warns Mrs. Westenra that she must never remove anything from Lucy's room because the \"flowers\" and other objects have medicinal value.\nFour days later, Lucy records that she is feeling much better. Even the bats flapping at her window, the harsh voices, and the distant sounds do not bother her any more.\nAt this point, the story is interrupted with a newspaper article about an \"escaped wolf.\" The article tells about a curious incident a few nights earlier. It seems that when the moon was shining one night, all of the wolves of the zoo began to howl and a \"big grey dog was seen coming close to the cages where the wolves were.\" When the zoo keeper checked the cells at midnight, he found one of the wolves missing. Suddenly the big wolf, Bersicker, returned home, docile and peaceful, except that his head was peppered with broken glass.\nDr. Seward's diary records how, on the 17th of September, he was attacked by Renfield in his office. Renfield grabbed a knife, cut Seward's wrist rather severely, and a puddle of blood formed on the floor; Renfield then began \"licking it up like a dog,\" murmuring over and over to himself, \"The blood is life.\"\nVan Helsing telegraphs Seward, telling him to meet him at Lucy's house that night. The telegram, however, doesn't arrive until almost morning, and Seward leaves immediately for Lucy's—on the 18th of September. On the 17th of September, at nighttime, Lucy records everything she can remember in a memorandum: she was awakened by a flapping at the window and was frightened because no one was in the house; she tried to stay awake and heard something like the howl of a dog, but it was more fierce and frightening. She looked out the window, but could see only a big bat flapping its wings. Disturbed by the noise, her mother came into the room and got into bed with her. The flapping continued, and Lucy tried to calm her mother. Suddenly there was a low howl, broken glass was flying into the room, and in the window was seen \"the head of a great, gaunt, grey wolf.\" Lucy's mother, frightened, clutched at the wreath of garlic and tore it from Lucy's neck in fright. When the wolf drew its head back, there seemed to be a \"whole myriad of little specks ... wheeling and circling around like a pillar of dust.\" Lucy found her mother lying lifeless, and then Lucy lost consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness a short time later, the four household maids came in and were so frightened at the sight of Mrs. Westenra's body that Lucy instructed them to go into the dining room to fetch a glass of wine. Later, when Lucy checked on them, she found them all unconscious, and upon examining the decanter, she discovered that it reeked of laudanum (an opium and alcohol mixture used as a painkiller). Lucy realizes that she is alone in the house, and she wonders where she can hide her memorandum so that someone can find it next day.\nIn his diary (September 18th), Dr. Seward records that he arrives at Lucy's house but isn't admitted inside. A moment later, Van Helsing arrives, and he learns that Seward did not get the telegram instructing him to stay the night. They go to the rear of the house, break in and discover the four servant women's bodies. Running to Lucy's room, they see a horror indescribable to them. Lucy's mother is dead, partly covered with a white sheet. Lucy herself is unconscious, her throat bare, the two white wounds horribly mangled, and Lucy lifeless as a corpse. Before a transfusion can be considered, however, they must warm Lucy.\nThey revive the maids and order them to heat water, towels, and sheets. As they are wondering how to proceed next, since neither of them can give blood at the moment, and the maids are too superstitious to be relied upon, Quincey Morris arrives. He reminds them that he also loved Lucy, and he will give his blood to save her. While the transfusion is taking place, Van Helsing hands Seward a piece of paper that dropped from Lucy's nightgown as they carried her to the bath. Seward reads it and is vexed by its contents. He asks Van Helsing about it. The grim reality confronting them immediately, however, is to get a certificate of death filled out for Mrs. Westenra.\nLater, Quincey questions Dr. Seward about Lucy's illness; he wonders where all of the blood which she received from Arthur, Seward, and Van Helsing has gone. He is reminded of a time \"on the Pampas ... [when] one of those big bats that they call vampires\" attacked one of his prize mares, and the mare had to be shot.\nWhen Lucy awakens late in the afternoon, she feels her breast for the note (which Dr. Van Helsing returned); she finds it and tears it to pieces. That night, Lucy sleeps peacefully, but her mouth \"show[s] pale gums drawn back from the teeth,\" which look sharper and longer than usual.\nThat night (September 19th) Arthur Holmwood arrives to stay with Lucy. Dr. Seward's entry for September 20th notes that he is despondent and depressed. Arthur's father's death, along with the death of Mrs. Westenra, has disheartened him, and, it seems, Lucy's condition is worsening. Arthur, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing take turns looking over her. Van Helsing has placed garlic all around the room, as well as around Lucy's neck, and he has covered the wounds on her neck with a silk handkerchief. Lucy's canine teeth appear longer and sharper than the rest. Around midnight, Seward hears a noise outside Lucy's window, and he sees a great bat flying around. When he checks on Lucy, he discovers that she has removed the garlic from around her neck. Seward also notices that she seems to be fluctuating between two states—when she is conscious, she clutches the flowers close to her neck, but when she is unconscious, she pushes the garlic from her, as though it were abhorrent. At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 20th, when Van Helsing examines Lucy, he is shocked and calls for light. The wounds on Lucy's throat have disappeared. He announces that she will soon be dead. Arthur is awakened so that he can be with her at the end, and when he comes to her, she revives. As Arthur stoops to kiss her, Van Helsing notes that Lucy's teeth seem as though they are about to fasten onto Arthur's throat. He stops Arthur and tells him to simply hold Lucy's hand, for it will comfort her more. Seward again notices that Lucy's teeth look longer and sharper than before, and suddenly Lucy opens her eyes and says to Arthur \"in a soft voluptuous voice\" that Seward has never heard before \"Arthur, Oh my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me.\" As Arthur bends to kiss her, Van Helsing, in a fury of strength, flings Arthur across the room, saying, \"Not for your living soul, and hers!\" He then instructs Arthur to come and kiss her on the forehead, only once. Suddenly, Lucy is dead! And in death, Lucy seems to regain some of the beauty that she had in life. Seward remarks, \"It is the end!\" but Van Helsing replies, \"Not so. It is only the beginning. We can do nothing as yet. Wait and see.\"\nChapter 13 begins with a continuation of Dr. Seward's diary, where we read that arrangements are made for Lucy and her mother to be buried at the same time. Meanwhile, Arthur must return to bury his father. Van Helsing, who is also a lawyer, looks through Lucy's papers and retrieves all those documents which he feels might give him a clue about her death.\nThat night, Seward is confused by Van Helsing's actions. Van Helsing once again takes a handful of wild garlic and places the garlic all around the room and around Lucy's coffin, and then he takes a small gold crucifix and places it over Lucy's mouth. Then he makes an astonishing request to Seward. Tomorrow, he wants Seward to help him cut off Lucy's head, take out her heart, and, as we later learn, stuff her mouth with garlic. They will have to do it after the coffin has been sealed so that Arthur and others will not see the mutilated body. Seward is confused about the need for mutilating the poor girl's body, but Van Helsing tells him to be patient about an explanation; then he reminds him of that moment when Lucy was dying, when she reached up to kiss Arthur. At that moment Lucy gained consciousness enough to thank the good doctor for his actions. He reminds Seward that \"there are strange and terrible days before us.\"\nAfter a good sleep, Van Helsing awakens Seward with perplexing news—someone has stolen the crucifix from Lucy's mouth during the night. Now they must wait to see what happens.\nWhen Arthur returns, he tries to explain his total despair to Seward—he has lost his fiancée, his father, and, now, his fianc�e's mother, all in the matter of just a few days. He looks at Lucy's corpse and doubts that she is really dead. That night, Van Helsing asks Arthur if he can have Lucy's personal papers, assuring him that he will examine them only to determine the cause of Lucy's death. Arthur agrees with Van Helsing's request.\nMina Harker records in her journal (September 22nd) that she and Jonathan are on the train to Exeter. They arrive soon in London and then take a bus to Hyde Park. While strolling about, Mina is alarmed when Jonathan suddenly has another \"nervous fit.\" She follows Jonathan's gaze to discover Jonathan is staring in terror at a \"tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard.\" Jonathan exclaims \"It is the man himself!\" In a few minutes, the man hails a carriage and leaves. Jonathan is convinced that it is Count Dracula. That night, Mina receives a telegram from Van Helsing, who informs her that Mrs. Westenra and Lucy have died.\nThe chapter concludes with an excerpt from the Westminster Gazette (September 25th), three days after the funeral. According to the article, the area surrounding Hampstead Hill, the area where Lucy was buried, has been terrorized by a mysterious woman whom the local children refer to as \"the Bloofer Lady.\"\n \nChapters 11–13: Commentary\nThese chapters include some of the more traditional treatments for handling or warding off the presence of vampires. Van Helsing, who is the only one knowledgeable about demonology and in particular about vampire lore, sends for garlic and hangs Lucy's entire room, especially the windows, with it; then he makes a wreath of garlic to drape around Lucy's neck, and he also places a crucifix around her neck. The garlic and the crucifix are two traditional agents that have become associated with the devices that can be used to ward off vampires.\nIn these chapters, it is clear that evil spirits can accomplish their aims in devious sorts of ways, as attested to by sixteenth-century legends concerning Faust. For example, even though Lucy is locked in her room and protected from the vampire by the profusion of garlic, the evil spirit of the Un-Dead is able to summon a wolf from his cage in a zoo, have him smash in a window, and thereby enable the vampire to enter the room. The smashing of the window and the wolf's horrible and terrifying attempt to enter the room cause Lucy's mother to panic and to rip the garlic away from Lucy's throat, leaving Lucy vulnerable to attack. The evil presence of the vampire manages to \"materialize\" inside Lucy's room, where it drugs the four household maids, thus preventing their aiding Lucy.\nIt is interesting to note that at this point, while we have been using the term \"vampire\" off-handedly, Quincey Morris's discussion of the vampire bat is the first time that the term \"vampire\" has actually been used in the novel. Stoker is careful to point out, or to detail, the lengthening of Lucy's canine teeth so that they resemble the archetypical vampire teeth, the teeth that the vampire uses to suck blood from its victim.\nAs a sidenote, it is interesting to consider that within a week we have witnessed the deaths of four people intimately associated with either Lucy or Mina: Lucy's mother, Mr. Hawkins (Jonathan's employer), and Arthur's father (Lord Godalming) have died (thus causing Arthur Holmwood to inherit the title), and, of course, Lucy herself has died.\nEarly in Chapter 11, when Van Helsing finds out that Lucy's mother took the garlic out of Lucy's room, Van Helsing, for the first time in his life, breaks down, loses his composure, and sobs bitterly. This is a dramatic device, used to indicate the magnitude of the evil which he is facing.\nIn this novel and other similar stories, Van Helsing represents those powers for good combating the powers of evil which are so dimly known and which so few people believe; thus, the deaths and Van Helsing's dejected state illustrate how completely the evil of Dracula has affected society.\nAs we will discover, Lucy is, in fact, the Bloofer Lady. Recall that she died on September 20th, and the first appearance of the Bloofer Lady occurred after Lucy's burial on the 22nd; thus, Lucy has risen from the dead after three days—in a dreadful perversion of the Christian Resurrection.\n \n \nChapters 14–16: Summary\nMina decides to transcribe the journal which Jonathan kept at the Castle Dracula in Transylvania. On the 24th of September, she receives a letter from Dr. Van Helsing asking her if he may discuss Lucy's illness with her. Mina agrees to see him and, that day, Van Helsing arrives. This is the first time that Mina has met Van Helsing, and she gives him Jonathan's journal, which she has finished transcribing. Later that day, Mina receives a note from Van Helsing in which he expresses an intense desire to meet Jonathan. Mina suggests that Van Helsing come for breakfast on the next day.\nFor the first time in several months, Jonathan Harker begins another diary (or journal). In the new journal, he writes that he is sure that Count Dracula has reached London; in fact, it was the Count whom he saw in Hyde Park. That day Jonathan meets Van Helsing, and the two discuss Jonathan's trip to Transylvania. Just before Van Helsing leaves, he notices an article in the local paper, and he becomes visibly shaken.\nDr. Seward also begins keeping a diary again, even though earlier he had resolved never to do so again. In his diary, Seward notes that Renfield is his same old self—that is, Renfield is back to counting flies and spiders. Seward notes that Arthur seems to be doing well and that Quincey Morris is with him. That very day, in fact, Van Helsing shows him the article in the paper concerning the Bloofer Lady. Van Helsing points out that the injuries to the children are similar to Lucy's neck injury; therefore, the incidents have something in common. Seward is skeptical that there is any connection between the injuries, but Van Helsing berates him, asking him, \"Do you not think that there are things that you cannot understand and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?\" Van Helsing continues to urge Seward to believe in things supernatural, to believe in things which, heretofore, he did not believe in. In desperation, Van Helsing finally tells Seward that the marks on the children \"were made by Miss Lucy\" (Chapter 15).\nFor awhile, Seward has to struggle to master his anger against Van Helsing, and he questions the sanity of the good doctor. Van Helsing points out that he knows how difficult it is to believe something horrible, particularly about one so beloved as Lucy, but he offers to prove his accusation that very night.\nThe two men have a mutual acquaintance (Dr. Vincent), who is in charge of one of the children who was injured by the Bloofer Lady. They plan to visit the child and then to visit Lucy's grave.\nThe child is awake when Van Helsing and Seward arrive, and Dr. Vincent removes the bandages from around the child's neck, exposing the puncture wounds, which are identical to those which were on Lucy's throat. Dr. Vincent attributes the marks to some animal, perhaps a bat.\nWhen they leave the hospital, it is already dark, and they go immediately to the cemetery and find the Westenra tomb. They enter the tomb and light a candle. To Seward's dismay, Van Helsing begins to open the coffin. Seward expects a rush of gas from the week-old corpse, but when the coffin is finally opened, they discover it to be empty.\nSeward, despite what he sees, is not convinced; he believes a body-snatcher may have stolen the corpse. The two leave the tomb, and Van Helsing and Seward take up vigils in the cemetery near the Westenra tomb. After some hours, Seward sees \"something like a white streak\" and, then, at the same time, he sees something move near Van Helsing. When he approaches Van Helsing, he discovers that Van Helsing is holding a small child in his arms. Still, this is not proof enough for Seward. They take the child where a policeman will be sure to find it, and they then head home, planning to meet at noontime the next day.\nThe next day (September 27th), they return to the cemetery, and as soon as possible, they reenter the Westenra tomb and reopen the coffin again. To Seward's shock and dismay, there lies the lovely Lucy, \"more radiantly beautiful than ever.\" Still, Seward is not convinced; again, he wonders if someone might not have placed her there, but he cannot understand why she looks so beautiful after being dead an entire week. Van Helsing then tells Seward that a horrible thing must be done: They must cut off Lucy's head, fill her mouth with garlic, and drive a stake through her heart. Yet before doing it, Van Helsing has second thoughts. He feels that he cannot perform the act without Arthur's and Quincey's knowing about it, since they both loved her and gave their blood for her.\nThat night, Van Helsing informs Seward that he intends to watch the Westenra tomb and try to prevent Lucy's prowling about by blocking the tomb's door with garlic and a crucifix. He leaves Seward a set of instructions which he is to follow if something should happen to him.\nThe following night (September 28th) Arthur and Quincey come to Van Helsing's room. After the two are convinced of Van Helsing's good intentions and have his trust, Van Helsing informs them of the things which he intends to do. First, he will open the coffin (which Arthur strongly objects to—until Van Helsing explains that Lucy might be one of the \"Un-Dead\"), then he will perform the necessary \"service.\" Arthur, however, will not consent to any mutilation of Lucy's body. Van Helsing pleads that he must do these things for Lucy's sake, so that her soul will rest peacefully. A few hours later, the four men go to the cemetery. In the tomb, the coffin lid is removed, and they all see that the coffin is empty. Van Helsing asks for Seward's confirmation that the body was in the coffin yesterday; Seward, of course, concurs with Van Helsing. Van Helsing then begins an intricate ceremony: From his bag he removes a \"thin, wafer-like biscuit\" and crumbles it to a fine powder; then, he mixes the crumbs with a doughy substance and begins to roll the material into the crevices between the door jam and the mausoleum door. Van Helsing informs them that he is sealing the tomb so that the \"Un-Dead may not enter.\" He informs them that the wafer was \"the host\" which he brought with him from Amsterdam. The four men hide among some trees near the tomb and begin waiting. Soon, by the light of the moon, the men see a ghostly white figure moving through the cemetery. As it nears them, it becomes all too apparent that the creature is, indeed, Lucy Westenra. According to Seward's diary entry, her \"sweetness was turned to adamantine ... and the purity to voluptuous wantonness.\" The four men surround her before the tomb. Lucy's lips are covered with fresh blood, and her burial gown is stained with blood. Upon learning that she is surrounded, Lucy reacts like a cornered animal. The child which she holds is tossed to the ground, and she moves towards Arthur saying, \"Come, my husband, come.\" Arthur's love turns to hate and disgust, yet he is also petrified with fear. Just as Lucy is about to attack him, Van Helsing repels her with a crucifix. Dashing towards the tomb, she is prevented from entry by the host, which Van Helsing placed earlier around the door. Asking Arthur if he is to proceed with his duty, Arthur responds: \"Do as you will ... There can be no horror ever any more.\" Advancing on the tomb, Van Helsing removes the seal around the door, and immediately, the ghostly body passes through the interstices and vanishes inside. After witnessing this, the men return home for a night's rest.\nThe next night (September 29th), the four men return to the Westenra tomb and perform the necessary ceremonies which destroy the vampire. Arthur himself must drive the stake through his fiancée's heart. Before parting ways that evening, they vow to join together and seek out \"the author of all this our sorrow\" (Count Dracula) and destroy him.\n \nChapters 14–16: Commentary\nIn these chapters, even though we have heard earlier that Jonathan Harker's journal was to be sealed as a bond of faith between Jonathan and Mina, we now discover that Mina has not only read it but transcribed it because Dr. Van Helsing thinks that something in it might provide a clue about the mystery of Lucy's death. Thus, as the novel began with Jonathan Harker's journal and then progressed for many chapters without his narration, now Mina and Harker are again both drawn back into the main story.\nThis novel has set the course for all subsequent vampire lore—for example, the belief that a wooden stake must be driven through the vampire's heart and that the head must be removed and the mouth stuffed with garlic. All of the numerous, subsequent treatments of the vampire legend depend on these factors.\nFurthermore, in Chapter 16, the term nosferatu is used. Stoker tells us that it is an Eastern European term and that it means the \"Un-Dead\"; this is the first time that all of the protagonists are privy to all of the information that Van Helsing has so far withheld. As a point of historical fact, Nosferatu is the title of two German films that deal with the Dracula legend (See the section on Filmography ). Furthermore, the translation of \"nosferatu\" as the \"Un-Dead\" has now become standard usage.\nIt is interesting that the love which Arthur, Quincey, and Seward had for Lucy has been basely transfigured into hate at the sight of Lucy; moreover, it is somewhat surprising that these lusty men are disgusted at the abundant sensuality of Lucy, now that she is a vampire. When she approaches Arthur in her vampire form, it is with a sensual embrace. Instead of arousing passion, however, there is only a feeling of repulsion and disgust. It is clear that in her vampire form, Lucy's carnal aspect is highlighted and emphasized. The ceremony which kills her \"Un-Dead\" self frees her pure spirit from the sinful, carnal nature of her body and is a rite of purification, as symbolized by the sudden return of innocent beauty to her face at the conclusion of the ceremony.\n \n \nChapters 17–19: Summary\nDr. Seward's diary continues sometime later, and he details for us his first meeting with Mina Harker. Mina, he says, will travel with Seward to Seward's asylum, where she will stay as a guest. In her journal, Mina details the discussion which she and Seward had concerning Lucy's death. Mina agrees to type out Seward's diary, which has heretofore been kept on a phonograph. Seward is horror-struck that Mina may discover the true nature of Lucy's death, but Mina, through her persistence, convinces Seward to allow her to listen to the phonograph cylinders. Later, both Seward and Mina express their dismay at the stories which they read in each other's respective diaries.\nThe next day (September 30th), Jonathan arrives, and Seward expresses his admiration for Jonathan's courage. For the first time, Seward realizes that Count Dracula might be next door, at the estate at Carfax. Seward concludes his diary, noting that Renfield has been calm for several days. Seward assumes that Renfield's outbreak was due to Dracula's proximity.\nJonathan Harker discovers from his journey to Whitby that the \"fifty cases of common earth\" which arrived on Dracula's ship have been sent to the old chapel at Carfax. While Jonathan assumes that all fifty cases are still at Carfax, we later learn that Count Dracula has had them sent to various locations in and around London.\nMina is both pleased and inspired by the resolute, determined energy which she now sees in Jonathan; he now seems cured of his illness, full \"of life and hope and determination.\" Later on the 30th, Arthur Holmwood—now referred to as Lord Godalming—and Quincey Morris arrive. Lord Godalming is still physically shaken by the deaths of his father, Mrs. Westenra, and Lucy. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he breaks down and cries like a baby on Mina's breast.\nIn Chapter 18, Dr. Seward notes that Mina Harker wishes to see Renfield. He takes her to Renfield's room, and Renfield, curiously, asks them to wait until he tidies things up. \"His method of tidying was peculiar. He simply swallowed all the flies and spiders in the boxes ...\" Renfield is extremely polite to Mina and seems to respond in a most sane way to her inquiries. Van Helsing arrives and is pleased to discover that all the records—diaries, journals, etc.—are in order and that all those intimate with the Count now are to be presented with the facts surrounding the case.\nMina Harker, in her journal (September 30th), recalls in detail many of the things known about vampires, a subject which prior to this time she has been ignorant of. Van Helsing presents many conclusions about the nosferatu (or the \"Un-Dead\"): (1) They do not die; (2) can be as strong as twenty men; (3) can direct the elements—storms, fog, thunder, etc.; (4) can command the rat, the owl, the bat, the wolf, the fox, and the dog; (5) can grow large or become small at will; (6) can, at times, vanish and \"become unknown\"; and (7) can appear at will in different forms. The problem which the vampire's adversary must overcome is how to deal successfully with all of these obstacles. They all make a pact to work together in order to see how \"the general powers arrayed against us can be controlled and to consider the limitations of the vampire.\" Van Helsing points out that the vampire has been known in all lands all over the world. From the world's information about vampires, it is known that: (1) the vampire cannot die due to the passing of time; (2) the vampire flourishes on the blood of human beings; (3) the vampire grows younger after feeding on blood; (4) its physical strength and vital faculties are refreshed by blood; (5) it cannot survive without blood; (6) it can survive for great lengths of time without any nourishment; (7) it throws no shadow; (8) it makes no reflection in a mirror; (9) it has the strength of many; (10) it can control wild packs of wolves and can become a wolf (as the Count did when his ship arrived at Whitby); (11) the vampire can transform itself into a bat; (12) it can appear in a mist, which it itself can create; (13) the vampire can travel on moonlight rays as elemental dust; (14) it can become so small and transparent that it can pass through the tiniest crevices; and (15) it can see perfectly in the dark. Its limitations are as follows: (1) it cannot enter a household unless it is summoned first; (2) its power ceases at daylight; (3) in whatever form it is in when daylight comes, it will remain in that form until sunset; (4) the vampire must always return to the unhallowed earth of its coffin, which restores its strength (this, of course, is the purpose of the fifty cases of earth); (5) garlic is abhorrent to a vampire; (6) the crucifix, holy water, and holy wafers (the host) are anathemas; (7) it is rendered inactive if a wild rose is placed over it; and (8) death occurs when a wooden stake is driven through the heart, the head cut off, and garlic stuffed in the mouth.\nAs Van Helsing concludes his lecture, Quincey Morris leaves the room, and a shot is heard outside. Morris explains that he saw a bat and fired at it.\nOn October 1st, early in the morning, Dr. Seward records that as they were about to leave the asylum, he received an urgent message from Renfield. The others ask if they may attend the meeting with Renfield, and they are astonished at the brilliance and lucidity of Renfield's plea to be released immediately. His scholarly logic and perfect elocution are that of a totally sane man. His request is denied.\nIn Chapter 19, in his journal, Jonathan Harker records that Seward believes Renfield's erratic behavior to be directly influenced by the immediate proximity of Count Dracula. Later, as they are about to enter Dracula's Carfax residence, Van Helsing distributes objects which will protect each of them from the vampire. The house, they discover, is musty, dusty, and malodorous. They immediately search out the chapel and, to their horror, they can find only twenty-nine of the original fifty boxes of earth. Suddenly, the chapel is filled by a mass of rats.\nTowards noon, Seward records that Van Helsing is deeply fascinated by Renfield. On the same day, Mina feels strange to be left out of Jonathan's confidence, because she has no idea what happened last night, but she does remember that just before falling asleep, she heard unusual sounds and noises outside her window, and she felt as if she were in the grip of a strange lethargy. She thought that she saw a poor man \"with some passionate entreaty on his part\" who wanted inside. She put on her clothes, but she must have fallen asleep or gone into a trance, accompanied by strange dreams. When she awakened she noticed that the window of her bedroom was open, and she was certain that she closed it before she went to sleep.\nThings became confused in her mind, but she recalls seeing two red eyes which alarmed her extremely.\nOn the second of October, she records that she slept but felt very weak that day and asked for an opiate to help her sleep. The chapter closes as Mina feels sleep coming upon her.\n \nChapters 17–19: Commentary\nChapter 17 is the first time in the novel when all of the protagonists are finally together. These six people—Mina, Jonathan, Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Lord Godalming (Arthur), and Quincey Morris—will confront the evil represented by Count Dracula. They must undertake the task by themselves since no authority or outsider would possibly believe their story. These six people, of course, have positive proof of the existence of vampires. In fact, Jonathan feels rejuvenated in health now that he is confronting the evil Count head-on. Stoker is dependent on the tradition that only a few people are privy to information which exposes them to the dangerous forces of the supernatural, thus isolating them from the general populace. This is a standard device of many a thriller and gothic romance.\nChapter 18 is a key chapter of the novel, because for the first time Stoker defines the vampire and its supernatural powers, strengths, and the means by which the vampire can be entrapped. In all subsequent stories concerning vampires or Dracula himself, Stoker's parameters have been used—the garlic, the crucifix, the wooden stake, the holy wafers, etc. This chapter, then, defines the very essence of what constitutes vampire literature. Other authors may vary or slightly redefine these parameters, but the more traditional material concerning vampires is presented here.\nThe later portions of Chapter 19 present us with the first clue, however slight, that Mina Harker is to become the vampire's next victim. It is not by accident that he chooses Mina as his next victim; she is the wife of Jonathan Harker, whom the vampire encountered in Transylvania, and she was the closest friend of his last victim, Lucy Westenra. It is interesting that we are made aware of the Count's visit by the impressionistic writing of Mina herself. For example, she records things in her journal which she does not fully understand or associate with vampirism, but the reader, through dramatic irony, is fully aware of what is transpiring. There is a curious ambiguity presented in this chapter, as to how the vampire gains entrance to Mina's room. Recall that Van Helsing stated that vampires cannot enter a place without first being invited. The reader, at this point, does not have any idea as to how the vampire entered the room, unless it was because of the actions of Mina herself.\n \n \nChapters 20–23: Summary\nJonathan, through his persistent investigations, discovers the whereabouts of twelve more of the boxes of earth: Two groups of six were deposited at two different places in London. Jonathan assumes that it is the Count's plan to scatter the boxes throughout all of London. We should recall that there were twenty-nine boxes in the chapel and, added to the twelve which Jonathan discovered, they have now accounted for forty-one of the original fifty boxes. On the evening of October 2nd, Jonathan receives a note which informs him of the whereabouts of the remaining nine boxes. He also notes that Mina is lethargic and pale, but he puts it out of his mind.\nThat evening, all of the men meet to determine the course of action for retrieving the remaining nine boxes. Once again, Jonathan notes that Mina is very tired and pale.\nDr. Seward notes again that Renfield is remarkably lucid and, what is more, that Renfield seems to be a literate and learned man. Renfield scoffs at the notion of collecting flies and spiders. Later, however, Renfield reverts to his old ways. That night, Seward orders an attendant to stand guard outside Renfield's cell to note any aberrant behavior. Later that night there is a scream from Renfield's cell. Upon rushing to investigate, Seward discovers that Renfield has been seriously hurt—his face has been brutally beaten, there is a pool of blood on the cell floor, and his back is apparently broken.\nSeward knows Renfield himself could not have administered the wounds to his own face—especially with his back broken. Dr. Van Helsing arrives, and they determine that Renfield is slipping fast; thus, they decide to operate immediately. Renfield, realizing that he is dying, tells them in an agony of despair what happened. Apparently, without identifying who it was, he says that he \"came up to the window in the mist ... but he was solid then ... I wouldn't ask him to come in ...\" He maintains that it was \"he\" who used to send the flies and spiders and the rats and dogs, promising that he would give Renfield everything that lives: \"all red blood, with years of life in it.\" Renfield refers to \"him\" as \"Lord and Master.\" Last night, Renfield says, \"he\" slid through the window. Renfield then says that after Mrs. Harker came to see him, he knew she wasn't the same and knew that \"he had been taking the life out of her.\" Renfield tried to attack \"him,\" but he was \"burned,\" and his strength became \"like water.\" Van Helsing realizes that \"he is here and we know his purpose.\"\nThey rush to Mina's door immediately, leaving Renfield, and begin to arm themselves against the vampire. Van Helsing tries to open the door, which is locked, and when they finally break the door down, the sight which greets them is appalling. Jonathan Harker is lying unconscious on the bed and, kneeling on the edge of the bed, is the \"white clad\" Mina. Beside her is a tall thin man, clad in black—Count Dracula himself. His right hand is behind Mina's head, and he is forcing her to suck the blood from a cut in his bare chest. When the Count raises his head to greet them, his eyes are blood-red, his nostrils white, and they see \"white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping mouth, clamped together like those of a wild beast.\" The Count begins to attack them, but is repelled by the sacred wafer which is wielded as a weapon by Van Helsing. The lights go out, and when they come on again they see nothing but a faint vapor escaping under the door. Suddenly, Mina Harker recovers and emits an ear-piercing scream, filled with despair and disgust. Her face is \"ghastly ... from the blood which smeared her lips and cheeks and chin.\" From her throat trickles a thin stream of blood.\nThey have difficulty awakening Jonathan, and soon all traces of the vampire are lost. Mina feels unclean and untouchable. Lord Godalming examines the house and discovers that the Count has apparently destroyed all of their records and that Renfield is dead.\nIn spite of the horror that the story might cause, they ask Mina to recount the entire episode as best she can remember it. She recalls the first time she saw the thin, black clad man with the strange teeth when Lucy was alive, and how he subsequently came to her in her room and placed \"his reeking lips\" upon her throat. Mina would swoon and not know how long Dracula was overpowering her. He told her, \"You are now to me flesh of my flesh when my brain says 'Come,' you shall come.\" With that, he opened his shirt, and with a sharp nail he cut himself across his breast and pressed Mina's mouth to the wound, so that she either had to suffocate or drink the blood.\nIn Chapter 22, Jonathan Harker states that he feels compelled to either write in his journal or go mad after hearing Mina's story. Jonathan wants to stay with his wife, but since it is daylight, he knows that there is no danger to her. They go to Carfax and \"sterilize\" all of the boxes by placing a holy wafer within each of them. They then find a way to enter into the Count's most recent abode in Piccadilly (a prominent London square). Before they leave the asylum, they make sure that Mina is appropriately armed. As Van Helsing touches her forehead with a sacred wafer, Mina lets out a fearful scream because the wafer has seared and burned her forehead. Mina realizes that she is \"unclean\" and pleads with the men to kill her if she becomes a vampire.\nDracula's house in Piccadilly is as malodorous as the one at Carfax. Expecting to find nine boxes of earth, they are astonished to find only eight boxes. They do find keys to all of the other houses belonging to the Count, however, and then Quincey and Lord Godalming go off to destroy the boxes of earth in those houses.\nChapter 23 begins with Van Helsing, Harker, and Seward waiting for the return of Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris. Van Helsing, in an attempt to draw Jonathan's mind from Mina's condition, informs them of his resolution that Dracula must be killed, because, he says, Dracula is expanding his circle of power in order to harm innocent people; he cites Dracula's using Renfield to gain access to Mina. While waiting, they receive a note from Mina informing them that Dracula has left Carfax and is heading south, presumably to spend the evening in one of his other houses.\nLord Godalming and Quincey Morris return with the news that they have \"sterilized\" Dracula's remaining boxes, and Van Helsing suddenly realizes that Dracula will be forced to come to the house at Piccadilly soon. A short time later, they hear a key inserted into the door, and with a gigantic \"panther-like\" leap, Count Dracula enters and eludes their ambush. Through his diabolical quickness, the Count dodges their attempts to kill him, yet with a powerful thrust of a knife, Jonathan manages to rip open the Count's vestments, scattering banknotes and gold. As they corner the Count, he suddenly dodges away from them; then he retrieves a handful of money from the floor and throws himself out a window. As he flees, he taunts the men, reminding them that his revenge has just begun. All of them return to Seward's house, where Mina is awaiting them. Before they retire, Van Helsing prepares Mina's room against the vampire's entry.\nIn Jonathan Harker's journal, early on the morning of the 4th of October, he records how Mina asked him to call Van Helsing in order to hypnotize her. Under hypnosis, Mina is able to enter into the spirit of Dracula, and she becomes aware of flapping sails, the lapping of water, and the creaking of an anchor chain. Van Helsing concludes that Dracula is on board a ship that is now ready to sail. He now understands why Dracula so desperately tried to retrieve the gold coins—he needed ready cash to pay for his passage out of the country. Once again, they all renew their pledge to follow Dracula and destroy him.\n \nChapters 20–23: Commentary\nThe two central incidents of these chapters involve Mina's encounter with Dracula and her coming under his evil influence. Second, these chapters are also concerned with the discovery and \"sterilization\" of the fifty boxes of earth which Dracula brought with him.\nSince we earlier heard that a vampire can only enter an establishment if invited, we are at first surprised that he has been able to enter Mina's room, and we are inclined to wonder if she invited him in. Later, however, we learn that Dracula had used the \"zoöphagous\" patient Renfield to invite Dracula into the house. It is now clear why Stoker has been using the patient in the novel and also why all the principal characters are visitors in Seward's house. Later, Van Helsing uses the fate of Renfield to prove that Dracula is expanding his sphere of influence and is using innocent people to accomplish his aims—therefore, Dracula must be searched out and destroyed.\nIt becomes clear in these chapters that Dracula has some kind of mind control over his victims—that is, he can induce them to open windows, for example, in order to let him enter the home. Evidently Stoker was interested in hypnosis or \"animal magnetism,\" since Van Helsing, through hypnotizing Mina, is able to learn of Dracula's whereabouts. Dracula, too, can hypnotize and, indeed, he is an individual of great personal magnetism. It is in these chapters that we learn that Stoker was, in fact, creating a gothic villain which would be similar to many gothic villains in earlier literature. Among other things, Count Dracula is a member of the corrupt aristocracy. The gothic villain/aristocrat was probably derived from Richardson's novels Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1747), in which the villain's persecution of the innocent maiden dramatized for middle-class audiences the exaggerated nature of the class struggle.\nIt is important for the reader to understand the dramatic and philosophical importance of the villain's aristocratic heritage; if Dracula were a peasant, the story would hardly be as dramatic.\n \n \nChapters 24 & 25: Summary\nVan Helsing thinks that Jonathan Harker should stay in England with his wife, since he now knows that Dracula is returning to Transylvania. Jonathan Harker expresses in his journal how happy Mina is that Dracula is returning to Transylvania, but when Harker looks at the terrible mark on Mina's forehead (a sign of the evil \"infection\" that was caused by Dracula's blood), he is reminded of the reality of the vampire.\nIn her journal Mina Harker records the various reports concerning Dracula's departure. In the investigations, it was discovered that Dracula boarded a ship headed for Varna, a seaport on the Black Sea, near the mouth of the Danube River, the same place he had left from three months earlier. Evidently, Van Helsing has deduced the reason why Dracula came to England: Dracula's own country is so \"barren of people\" that he came to England, a place where life is rich and flourishing; he is now returning to his native soil to escape discovery.\nSeward recalls his fear concerning Mina Harker, and in a short time, Van Helsing confirms his views: Mina is changing. Characteristics of the vampire are beginning to show in her face—that is, her teeth are longer, and her eyes are colder. He now fears that the Count could, by hypnosis, even over long distances, discover their plans, so they must keep Mina ignorant of their plans so that the Count cannot discover their whereabouts through her. They determine how long it will take the ship to reach Varna by sea, and they set a date for their own departure so that they will be in Varna before Count Dracula arrives. Then Mina surprises them by telling them that she should accompany them on the journey, since through hypnotizing her they can discover the whereabouts and intentions of Count Dracula. Everyone agrees with her, so it is settled: Mina will accompany them.\nChapter 25 begins with Dr. Seward's journal, written on the evening of October 11th. While Mina Harker is pleased that they are going to take her with them, she makes them repeat their promise to kill her if she is ever so totally changed into a vampire form that they cannot save her. All of them swear to do so, and Seward is pleased that the word \"euthanasia\" exists, because it euphemistically disguises the nature of her request. Mina makes one seemingly unusual request—in case she has to be killed, she would like to hear the \"burial service\" read to her immediately this very night.\nFour days later, on the 15th of October, the six people arrive at Varna via the Orient Express, and when they arrive, they place Mina under hypnosis, during which she reports that she still senses the lapping of water against the ship. Van Helsing expresses his desire for them to board the ship as soon as it arrives at Varna. If they can board the ship before Dracula's coffin is removed, they will have him trapped, for one of the limitations of vampires is that they cannot cross running water. On the 17th, Jonathan notes in his journal that Van Helsing has secured admittance for the group to board Dracula's ship as soon as it arrives, so that they may more easily carry out the extermination of the vampire.\nA week later, they receive a telegram from London reporting that the ship was sighted at the Dardanelles. Dr. Seward, therefore, assumes that it will arrive the next day. While waiting, Dr. Seward and Van Helsing are concerned about Mina's lethargy and her general state of weakness. They wait for two days and still the ship does not arrive. On the 28th of October they receive a telegram reporting that the ship has arrived at the port of Galatz, a city on the coast, near Varna.\nVan Helsing offers a theory that when Mina was weak, the Count had pulled her spirit to him; now, the Count knows of their presence, as well as their efforts to trap and exterminate him. At present, however, Mina is feeling free and healthy, and she and Van Helsing use their knowledge of criminology to deduce that the Count is a \"criminal type\"—hence, he will act as a criminal, and therefore, his main purpose will be to escape his pursuers.\n \nChapters 24 & 25: Commentary\nIt is only now, this late in the novel, that we learn the real reason why Dracula has come to England: his country is \"barren of people,\" and England is teeming with numbers of new victims. Since Count Dracula brought with him fifty boxes of earth, one can assume that he was intending to stay in England quite some time.\nThe central incident of these chapters is the infection of Mina: She has a mark on her forehead, a sign that she is \"unclean,\" that she is \"infected\" with vampirism. Her teeth have grown noticeably longer and her eyes have grown colder. We are also led to believe, in the course of these chapters, that the pursuers are in perfect control because they remember to arm themselves with all kinds of weapons—even Winchesters for the wolves. In theory, they will be able to track down Dracula's destination as far as Varna. However, in the next chapter, we discover that the Count deliberately misled them, and that instead of Varna, he had his box of earth sent on to Galatz, thus bypassing the awaiting pursuers.\nThe idea of hypnosis is continued throughout these chapters, as well as in the two remaining chapters, in order to track down Dracula, and once again Mina extracts a promise that if she begins to change into a vampire, she wants to be killed. In preparation she has the Church's burial service read to her. The notion of \"euthanasia\" would have been a shocking notion to Victorian readers.\n \n \nChapters 26 & 27: Summary\nOn the 29th day of October, Dr. Seward records that Mina, under hypnosis, can hear and distinguish very little, and that the things which she does hear—such as the lowing of cattle—indicate that Dracula's coffin is now being moved up-river. Jonathan Harker records on October 30th that the captain of the ship which brought Dracula told of the unusual journey which they made from London to Galatz—that is, many of the Roumanians on board ship wanted him to throw the box overboard, but the captain felt obligated to deliver the box to the person to whom it was assigned. We find out, then, that one Immanuel Hildesheim received the box, and that the box was given to a Slovak, Petrof Skinsky. Skinsky was found dead in a churchyard, his throat apparently torn open by some wild animal. On that same day, Mina, having read all of the journal entries, and after consulting maps for waterways and roads, concludes that the Count would have had to take the river to Sereth, which is then joined to the Bristriza, which leads then to the Borgo Pass, where Jonathan Harker stopped at the beginning of the novel. They choose to separate and head for the pass: Van Helsing and Mina by train; Lord Godalming and Jonathan Harker by a steam launch (steamboat); Quincey Morris and Seward by horseback.\nHarker and Godalming, in questioning various captains of other boats along the river, hear of a large launch with a double crew traveling ahead of them. They keep up the pursuit during the first three days of November. Meanwhile, Mina and Van Helsing arrive at Veresti on the 31st of October, where Van Helsing hires a horse and carriage for the last seventy miles of the journey.\nChapter 27 begins with a continuation of Mina Harker's journal. She records that she and Van Helsing traveled all day by carriage on the first of November. She remarks that she thinks the countryside is beautiful, yet the people are \"very, very superstitious.\" In one house where the two of them stop, a woman noticed the red mark on Mina's forehead and crossed herself and pointed two fingers at Mina \"to keep off the evil eye.\" That evening, Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina, and they learn that Dracula is still on board ship. On the 2nd of November, they again travel all day towards the Borgo Pass, hoping to arrive on the morning of the 3rd of November. They arrive at the Borgo Pass, and Van Helsing again hypnotizes Mina.\nThey discover that the Count is still on board ship; after Mina awakens from the trance, she is full of energy and zeal, and she miraculously knows the way towards the Count's castle; she also \"knows\" the location of an unused side road, a road which is unmarked. They choose to take that path. That day Mina sleeps considerably and seems incredibly weak and lethargic. When Van Helsing attempts to hypnotize her again, he discovers that he can no longer do it. He has lost his power to hypnotize.\nThey spend the night in a wild forest east of the Borgo Pass, and Van Helsing builds a fire. Then, using a holy wafer, he places Mina in a protective circle. Later that night, the three female vampires which accosted Jonathan materialize near their campfire and tempt Van Helsing with their teeming sexuality. They also tempt Mina to come with them. The horses evidently die of terror, and Van Helsing's only weapon against the three female vampires is the fire and the holy wafer. At dawn, the sunlight drives away the three female vampires.\nOn the afternoon of the 5th of November, Van Helsing and Mina arrive by foot at Count Dracula's castle. Using a heavy blacksmith's hammer, Van Helsing knocks the castle door off its hinges and enters Dracula's demesnes. Recalling the description in Jonathan's journal, Van Helsing finds his way to the old chapel where Dracula lies during his non-active times. In his search of the old chapel, Van Helsing discovers the three graves of the three female vampires. He performs the purification ritual and puts an end to the female vampires. The female vampires' voluptuous beauty dissolves into dust upon the driving of a stake through their hearts. Van Helsing then finds a large tomb \"more lordly than all the rest,\" upon which is one word: DRACULA. Van Helsing crushes a holy wafer and lays it within the tomb \"and so vanished him from it, Un-Dead, forever.\" Before he leaves the castle, Van Helsing places holy material around the entrance so that the Count can never enter the castle again.\nThe novel ends with a passage from Mina Harker's journal, an entry that begins on the late afternoon of the 6th of November, a date some six months since the novel began. Mina and Van Helsing are on foot, traveling east in the midst of a heavy snowfall. The howling of wolves seems perilously close. On a high mountain road, utilizing his field glasses, Van Helsing notices in the distance a group of men; they seem to be gypsies around a cart. Van Helsing knows instinctively that the cart is carrying a box of un-holy dirt containing the Count and that they must reach the box before sunset, which is quickly approaching. The two men who are riding toward the North, Van Helsing assumes, must be Quincey Morris and Dr. Seward. This would mean that from the other direction, Jonathan and Lord Godalining must not be far away. Simultaneously, the six people converge on the wagon and the gypsies. The sun continues to set.\nJonathan and Lord Godalming stop the gypsies by using their Winchesters, just as Morris and Seward arrive, wielding their guns. With an almost superhuman effort, Jonathan eludes the defenders, leaps upon the cart, and throws the box to the ground. Quincey, wielding his knife, slashes his way through the gypsies and gains access to the box, but not before he is stabbed by one of the gypsies. Regardless of the wounds, Quincey, along with Jonathan, rips the lid from the box. Inside is the dreaded Count Dracula, covered with the un-holy dirt which has been jostled all over him. As the six of them stare into the coffin, Dracula's eyes look toward the setting sun, \"and the look of hate in them turned to triumph.\" Then, at the very last moment of sunlight, Jonathan, wielding a great knife, chops off Count Dracula's head, while Quincey Morris's bowie knife plunges into the Count's heart, \"and almost in the drawing of a breath,\" writes Mina, \"the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from sight.\" Mina notices that even at the moment of death, within such a horrid face and image, she sees a look of peace. The gypsies, seeing the body disintegrate, withdraw in abject fright. Sadly, Quincey Morris has been fatally wounded; before he dies, however, he is able to note that the curse on Mina's forehead is gone. Quincey dies \"a gallant gentleman.\"\nIn a Note attached to the end of the novel (reportedly from Jonathan Harker), we learn that it is seven years later; he and Mina have a son whom they named Quincey. Lord Godalming and Dr. Seward are both happily married. In a final note of irony, Jonathan reports that of all the material of which \"the record\" is made, \"there is hardly one authentic document\"; the only remaining notes are those which have been transcribed on a typewriter: \"Therefore, we could hardly ask anyone ... to accept these as proofs of so wild a story.\"\n \nChapters 26 & 27: Commentary\nThe closing chapters of the novel suggest a type of chase novel, with the \"good guys\" chasing the evil person, who seems to be able to constantly elude them. Even at the end of the novel, it seems as though the Count will escape into the sinking sunset before the \"rituals\" can be performed upon him. Actually, for most readers, the last half of the novel becomes somewhat long and drawn out, but this novel was written at the end of the Victorian period when the reading public expected novels to last a long time. The killing of Dracula, of course, represents the social victory of middle-class morality over the corrupt morality of the aristocracy. The latent virtue of the Count is revealed in Mina's account, however, for as the Count is freed from the influence of the vampire form, his face contains a look of peace.\nThat the events really happened is now questioned by the final Note, which announces that all of the original documents have been lost and what we have read has been no more than the typewritten, transcribed notes of the originals, notes which cannot be used as absolute proof of the horrible things which have transpired.\nIn spite of the flaws of this novel, it has been an unlimited source of stories, plays, novels, and movies, as well as a source for assorted psychological theories. This novel is an example of a type of literature in which the germ, or kernel, idea far transcends the execution.\n \n \nThe American Horror Film and the Influence of German Expressionism\nWhat exactly is a \"horror film,\" or, more specifically, what exactly is horror? In what ways are our expectations different when we go to see a horror film than when we go to see a \"western film\" or a \"science-fiction film\"? What is it that we hope to experience when we go to see a \"horror film\"?\nCertainly, we expect to be \"terrified,\" whatever that may be, or at least we are prepared to be \"frightened\" in some way; we expect the hair to rise on the back of our necks. But what is it that terrifies us, or \"frightens\" us, or, essentially, incites in us a sense of horror? Is it the presence of \"horrible creatures\"—however we may imagine them? Or is it the presence of ghosts, or other kinds of supernatural creatures, that frightens us? Certainly, the supernatural is present in all these experiences, and human beings generally fear the supernatural because things supernatural are considered hostile to human life. The fact that human beings fear the supernatural can be observed every Sunday; priests and ministers, for example, often exhort us to fear God. Yet God, ideally, is not hostile to human life.\nThus, some consideration of what horror is may help us to arrive at some tentative conclusion about the nature of horror. Tentatively, perhaps we can consider what horror does: Horror reaffirms the sacred, or Holy, through a formulaic plot in which human beings encounter the demonic, or Un-Holy. If there are Un-Holy beings, by implication, there are Holy beings. To test this tentative hypothesis, perhaps an application of it to classic horror stories would be helpful.\nThis hypothesis is certainly applicable to Dracula. The Count has a terrifying sense of the demonic about him, suggested superficially by his appearance. Yet religious artifacts such as the cross affect the Count (in fact, it has become a popular cultural cliché that to ward off a vampire, all one has to do is brandish a cross—even if the \"cross\" is no more than crossed forefingers).\nHorror has an interesting history. Essentially, the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft posits the existence of a race of supernatural beings which are hostile to human life, eagerly awaiting their chance to reclaim the earth and rid it of human beings. Lovecraft, especially in such stories as \"The Colour Out of Space,\" \"The Shadow over Innsmouth,\" and \"The Rats in the Walls,\" was perhaps the first Western author to write exclusively in the horror genre, and he quickly learned how to manipulate the intuitive revulsion that human beings have towards tentacled and clawed creatures. And, in addition, Lovecraft's creatures, besides being hideously and abnormally ugly, reek horribly.\nOf course, there are other works of horror which do not precisely conform to the tentative definition of horror, such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Yet what these works posit is that if there is anything demonic or Un-Holy that exists, it consists of those obscure motivations and desires which lurk within the human mind. These works conform to what we can label \"modern horror,\" as opposed to \"classic horror\"\"\nConcerning \"classic horror,\" one of the first great horror films, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), certainly subscribes to the \"modern horror\" genre also. What is ostensibly a tale of insane authority becomes the musings of a madman. In fact, the influence of German Expressionism on Hollywood films of the Thirties and Forties was tremendous. As an art form, Expressionism is generally considered to be best represented by the works of Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Edward Munch. In painting, Expressionistic art is characterized by a sense of imbalance in the pictorial arrangements in order to achieve distortion; the use of oblique angles and sharp curves; a distortion of line and color, where primary colors are generally used in violent contrast; and a subjective vision of the exterior world. Expressionism also usually incorporates the style of grisaille, painting in grey monotone in which objects are often seen only with a suggestion of form and outline without attention to precise detail. The content of Expressionistic art is characterized by its grotesqueness and implausibility. It is a revolt against both Naturalism and Impressionism and has similar counterparts in literature and sculpture.\nThe enormously creative German cinema in the 1920s was influenced, on the one hand, by the theater of Max Reinhardt, an innovative stage director, and, on the other, it was influenced by Expressionistic art. The advances in lighting techniques, pioneered by Reinhardt, coupled with the rise of Expressionism, was of supreme importance to the experimental film-makers in post World War I Germany. Most of the actors in the early Expressionistic films were members of Reinhardt's acting company; later, some of them became film directors themselves.\nThe first great Expressionistic masterpiece in film is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, and directed by Robert Wiene. Janowitz was deeply impressed by the work of Paul Wegener, a member of Reinhardt's acting troupe, who had directed the influential Student of Prague (1913), in collaboration with the Dane Stellan Rye, and The Golem (1915), remade in 1920.\nMany of the Expressionistic film-makers in Germany during the Twenties eventually came to the United States. Caligari screenwriter Carl Mayer did, as well as Conrad Veidt, the actor who played the somnambulist Cesare in Caligari. (Veidt, interestingly enough, was also a member of Reinhardt's acting company.) In addition to these men, the great German film director F. W. Murnau, who directed the first \"vampire\" film, Nosferatu (1922), also went to Hollywood and directed several important films. The innovative Expressionistic cinematographer Karl Freund, who had photographed Wegener's 1920 version of The Golem and Fritz Lang's science-fiction classic, Metropolis (1927), became one of the most in demand cinematographers in Hollywood. Freund was the cinematographer of Dracula (1931), and he also became an accomplished film director. He directed such horror film masterpieces as The Mummy (1932, the first of the series) and Mad Love (1934). Mad Love starred the now famous, late actor Peter Lorre, who achieved stardom with his powerful portrayal of the child murderer in Fritz Lang's M (1931). Fritz Lang, director of Metropolis (1927), was the first scheduled director of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but he was committed to finish an earlier project. The Expressionist Paul Leni, a set designer for Max Reinhardt, came to the United States in 1927 and directed Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs (1928), a silent film produced by Universal Pictures. Leni is important because he single-handedly developed a new genre of the horror film, juxtaposing scenes which utilized carefully designed and lighted sets and uniquely focused cameras against scenes intended as comic interludes. Leni's unique approach was certainly an influence on James Whale, the director of the first two Frankenstein films. Leni's influence can also be found in the work of Whale's art director for the first two Universal Frankenstein pictures—Charles D. Hall, who was the art director for Leni's The Man Who Laughs (1928), The Cat and the Canary (1927), and The Last Warning (1929). Although Leni's output was slight (he died in Hollywood in 1929), he was an important link between the German and American cinemas.\nThus, the influence of German Expressionism on early Hollywood films is profound and readily evident. Most directors truly concerned about film art knew of the German Expressionistic films and learned from them. Upon close examination of the classic horror films of the Thirties, it is discovered that these films are not simply idle \"crowd-pleasers,\" but serious attempts by concerned individuals at producing art.\n \nSelected Filmography\nThe following selected filmography does not attempt to be, nor does it wish to be, exhaustive or complete. Nevertheless, the listing does present the more interesting and noteworthy \"vampire\" films. Every attempt has been made to include those films which possibly can be seen by contemporary audiences.\nUnfortunately, some films have disappeared or have been lost; therefore, no attempt has been made to include those films. In addition, most foreign productions have been excluded. Of the foreign productions, only those films which possibly can be seen by American audiences have been included. The notes and annotations on the films produced by Hammer Studios of Great Britain are dependent largely on A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema 1946–72, by David Pine (London: Gordon Fraser, 1973).\nRating Scale\n* * * * * A film that is a \"must-see\"; both artistically brilliant and influential in the history of cinema.\n* * * * An excellent film, distinguished by its innovation on the genre because of its technical brilliance, yet artistically insubstantial in some way.\n* * * A good film, which, due either to negligence in production or to technical incompetence, resulted in no special distinction; most likely, a work which is exploitive of the genre; nevertheless, a film that is valuable.\n* * Mediocre. Technically competent, nostalgically interesting, yet it carries no special distinction whatsoever.\n* Poor. A film in which, in addition to the producer's irresponsibility, the directorial integrity is in question.\nNosferatu (or, A Symphony of Horror) (1922). * * * * *\nDirected by the acclaimed German Expressionist F. W. Murnau and photographed by the brilliant Fritz Arno Wagner (M), this is one of the most critically acclaimed horror films. Max Schreck's appearance in the film is perhaps one of the most memorable in all of cinema history: Pale and thin, his version of a vampire has a shaved head with two elongated front teeth, sunken cheeks, wide bulging eyes, and fingernails which are extremely long, curved, and pointed like claws. Because Murnau did not have the literary rights to Bram Stoker's Dracula, he changed the setting, altered the plot slightly and changed the vampire's name to Count Orlock. Nosferatu can be considered the first vampire film in much the same way that Stoker's Dracula is the first vampire novel; every subsequent artistic attempt must measure itself against both this film and the novel.\nLondon After Midnight (1927). * * *\nThis silent film was directed by Tod Browning (who would eventually direct Dracula for Universal). It starred Lon Chaney as Inspector Edmund Burke, alias \"Mooney,\" a fake vampire. The story was based on Browning's own novel, entitled The Hypnotist. London After Midnight may be, in fact, the first full-length American vampire film. Murnau's Nosferatu did not reach the United States until 1929, when it was released as Nosferatu, the Vampire. Curiously, Chaney's make-up is similar, though not identical, to Max Schreck's in Nosferatu.\nDracula (1931). * * *\nDirected by the \"Edgar Allan Poe of the Cinema,\" Tod Browning, and photographed by the Expressionist cinematographer Karl Freund, this film is the first vampire sound film and is still one of the most popular vampire films. Its popularity is probably due to Bela Lugosi's Dracula, who, with his authentic Hungarian accent and satanic appearance, captured the popular culture's imagination as an authentic vampire. The script for the film was not based on Stoker's Dracula, however. Instead, it was based on a popular play by John Balderston and Hamilton Deane. Lugosi, in fact, recreated his stage role for the movie. While this original movie is a popular film, it is not a great film. Browning's direction is adequate but not compelling; it does not match the energy of his earlier films—such as The Unholy Three (1925), or The Unknown (1927), which are more lavish and carefully directed; nor does it approach the genuinely grotesque horror of his next film, Freaks (1932). Freund's photography is rather lackluster; his next effort, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), made with Robert Florey, is a more appropriate example of Freund's innovative technique. Still, Dracula, like the novel, has managed to capture the public's imagination ever since its release.\nVampyr (1932). * * * * *\nThis film is one of Carl Theodore Dreyer's best movies, a film which relies on suggested rather than visible horror. It has a remarkably gloomy sense of atmosphere; every shot is as carefully composed as the finest photograph. It is probably one of the most artistically crafted of any vampire film, perhaps of all horror films—with the exception of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922).\nThe Vampire Bat (1933). * *\nA rather run-of-the-mill horror picture which has a superb cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Dwight Frye, who played the role of Renfield in Browning's Dracula, as well as the hunchbacked laboratory assistant of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein (1931). The story takes place in a remote Balkan village, where a \"mad\" doctor tries to conceal his bizarre experiments by creating a vampire \"scare.\"\nThe Mark of the Vampire (1935). * * *\nMade in 1935, but not released until 1972, the film is a re-make by Tod Browning of his earlier silent film London After Midnight. Browning expanded the original story by adding a seductive female ghoul (played by Carol Borland). The movie is memorable because it was the last of Tod Browning's horror films—four years later, in 1939, Browning retired from filmmaking altogether.\nDracula's Daughter (1936). * *\nThis film was directed by Lambert Hillyer for Universal. Hillyer was a prolific director, responsible for directing dozens of \"B-grade\" westerns. The story is based on a short story by Bram Stoker entitled \"Dracula's Ghost,\" which was originally part of Dracula, but extracted just before the novel's release. Thus, one can see how derivative vampire films were becoming. The direction was increasingly hackneyed, and the writers were desperately lacking in inspiration. Universal did the same thing with the Frankenstein series; they produced countless spin-offs of the original, and each subsequent film was representative of uninspired artistic conviction.\nThe Vampire Bat (1940). * *\nIn this film, vampire bats are bred for instruments of revenge by a \"mad\" scientist (Bela Lugosi). A rather uninspired film which exploited both the audience's attraction to vampirism and Lugosi's cult personality.\nSpooks Run Wild (1941). *\nAnother film which exploits the cult of personality surrounding Lugosi; in this case, he plays Nardo, a magician suspected of being a vampire. It is a rather shoddy attempt to adapt the plot of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to a vampire story.\nSon of Dracula (1943). *\nWritten by Curt Siodinak (creator of the original script for The Wolf Man [1941], a true classic of the horror film genre), the premise is hardly original. It is, basically, the plot of Dracula all over again: The son of the Count emigrates to England in search of new victims, except that his name isn't Dracula, but, instead, it is Alucard—Dracula spelled backwards. This kind of comic book gimmick is indicative of the inspiration for this banal film. Moreover, casting Lon Chaney, Jr. an actor capable of eliciting a great deal of sympathy for his (often) confused and misunderstood \"Beastman\" was a serious mistake.\nReturn of the Vampire (1943). *\nThe plot of Dracula again, except adapted to World War II England. Instead of searching for new victims, the screenwriters suggest that the vampire (named Armand Tesla) is in England seeking revenge against those who tried to kill him.\nHouse of Frankenstein (1944). *\nAs the popularity of the Frankenstein series declined, Universal (which produced every American Frankenstein picture until 1948) attempted to capture an audience by tossing into the plot every \"monster\" popular at the time—the Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein, and even the ever-present \"mad\" scientist. A predictably silly and banal film.\nHouse of Dracula (1945). * * *\nDirected by Erle C. Kenton, House of Dracula contains an acting performance by Onslow Stevens (as Dr. Edelmann) which approaches the sublimity of Ernest Thesiger's in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), possibly the best horror film ever made. Edelmann discovers the Frankenstein monster and is prompted to revive it, but is convinced by his beautiful, yet hunchbacked laboratory assistant (played by Jane Adams) to forsake his attempt to revive the monster. Eventually, Edelmann, who has become infected by a vampire's blood, chooses to revive the monster. The material, however, is never quite under control by director Kenton; the film stumbles and plods along at its own unique pace, while the preposterousness of the action proves to be the very reason why the film works. Despite its B-movie status and its illogical plotting, the film is ultimately both humane and moral.\nIsle of the Dead (1945). *\nThis RKO-Radio production, directed by Mark Robson and produced by the phenomenal \"boy wonder\" producer Val Lewton, promises much and produces almost nothing. The story centers around a group of people stranded on an island and menaced by a malevolent force, and the situation seems insolvable. In other words, the plot is as banal as an exhausted horror genre can make it. When plague breaks out among the group, an old peasant woman suspects the presence of \"vorvolakas,\" demons which \"drain all the life and joy from those who want to live.\" Isle of the Dead is essentially a poorly done \"stalk and slash\" movie and has no vampire per se.\nThe Vampire's Ghost (1945). * * *\nA film notable for the script and story by Leigh Brackett (1915–78), one of the best of the American screenwriters (she wrote the script for Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep (1946) along with William Faulkner and Jules Furthman, as well as the screenplay for Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973), among others). The film has a disturbingly oppressive atmosphere and concerns a vampire terrorizing a small African village.\nThe Thing (1945). * *\nThe Thing is memorable for several reasons: As a piece of popular culture trivia (James Arness was \"The Thing\"; as the first science fiction film which utilizes the vampire figure; and as one of the few science fiction films of which critics are fond). Yet, The Thing neither merits the lavish critical acclaim it has received, nor does it truly deserve to be forgotten. The plot of The Thing is stereotypical horror: A group of victims are stranded and isolated in a remote location and are stalked by a hostile presence.\nPlan Nine from Outer Space (1966). *\nA 1-star rating for this film was given reluctantly. The film is so badly done that it must be seen to be believed. Its alternative title gives one a clue to its plot: Grave Robbers from Outer Space. It is Bela Lugosi's last film. In fact, Lugosi died during production of the film, and he was replaced by a look-alike who always kept his cape up around his face so that the audience (presumably) wouldn't know that the actor wasn't Lugosi. Essentially, the plot concerns a group of aliens from outer space who intend to implement \"Plan Nine\"—the revival of corpses which will be used as troops against living human beings.\nThe Horror of Dracula (1957). * * * * *\nThis is the first of Great Britain's Hammer Studios' vampire films, and it is a true classic of the genre. It was directed by Terence Fisher and was written by Jimmy Sangster, who based the film on Stoker's novel. Sangster managed to return the Count to the tradition of the English gothic villain: He is a charming and intelligent aristocrat who transforms his female victims into carnal, lascivious creatures. The death of the Count is similar to the death of the vampire in Murnau's Nosferatu: He is tricked into staying out until daybreak, and then he is exposed to sunlight, which causes him to crumble away into dust. Not only does the villain's demise allow special effects, but it culminates the hero's ritualistic chase of the villain to his castle.\nBlood of the Vampire (1957). * * *\nAn interesting film which revolves around a prison warden who is also a vampire and supplies himself with blood from his prisoners. Prints of this film are rare.\nThe Brides of Dracula (1960). * * * *\nBrides was Hammer's sequel to The Horror of Dracula, and it features the same writer and director as the previous effort. This film also has a climactic chase scene and a sufficiently bombastic demise of the vampire.\nBlack Sunday (1960). * * * *\nBased on a short story by Nikolai Gogol entitled \"The Viy,\" Black Sunday (also known as Revenge of the Vampire) was labeled by critic Carlos Clemens as a \"relentless nightmare,\" and it has been said of cinematographer Ubaldo Terzoni's photography that it was \"the best black and white photography to enhance a horror movie in the past two decades.\" Directed by Mario Bava, the film depicts a witch/vampire's vengeance on the descendants of the people who ritualistically killed her in the seventeenth century. Virtually unknown outside of the horror film, the film stars Barbara Steele, who has become, curiously, a cult figure.\nKiss of the Vampire (1962). * * *\nHammer Studios eventually found it difficult to continue resurrecting the Count, but this film, directed by Don Sharp, features a clever script about a young couple seduced into depravity while on their honeymoon in Bavaria.\nDevils of Darkness (1964). * *\nInteresting only as trivia, this was the first of the British vampire films in a modern setting—that of \"swinging London.\"\nThe Last Man on Earth (1964). * * *\nBased on Richard Matheson's classic science fiction novel I Am Legend, in which the sole survivor of a horrible plague is a man who wanders around in a grim, deserted world and is relentlessly stalked at night by a group of vampires. Shot in black and white, the film is quite unrelenting in its vision of terror. Vincent Price plays the title role. The story was later re-made in the United States (this production was Italian), and it was entitled The Omega Man (1971).\nDracula—Prince of Darkness (1965). * * * *\nDirected by veteran director Terence Fisher, this film is a true gem of the vampire cinema. A group of bored and provincial Victorian couples are stranded in a remote castle, where a lone, devoted follower of the Count murders one of them and uses the victim's blood to resurrect the Count by pouring it over his ashes. Unfortunately, the Count had degenerated into a one-dimensional character: He is just menacing; no longer is he charming or refined or even rapaciously seductive. The Van Helsing figure in the novel is replaced in this film by a priest—Father Sandor, who stalks the vampire to his castle and brings about his demise.\nBilly the Kid vs. Dracula (1966). *\nPerhaps the worst horror film—if one can call it that—ever made, along with Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1965); both were directed by William Beaudine. The most amazing thing about this film is why—and how—it ever got produced.\nThe Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). * * *\nThis is Roman Polanski's much over-praised vampire film, an attempt to parody the genre, a task easily enough accomplished given the trivialized state of the contemporary genre. At least, however, Polanski got the mythology right, but the humor is rather juvenile, and his attempts at eroticism are adolescent.\nA Taste of Blood (1967). * *\nA run-of-the-mill horror film about an American who is infected with the vampire blood of one of his ancestors. Its form is that of the \"stalk and slash\" movie—the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stereotypical formula.\nDracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968). * *\nA Hammer Studios' film in which, as the title implies, the plot is banal and the writer's inspiration is sorely lacking.\nTaste the Blood of Dracula (1970). * * * *\nHammer Studios hired Hungarian-born Peter Sasdy to direct this sequel to 1968's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, using a script by John Elder (Anthony Hinds). Coupled with Arthur Grant's superb photography, Hammer achieved its best effort since 1957's Horror of Dracula. In this picture, the Dracula presence is explicitly associated with the disintegration of the family, coming much closer in spirit to Stoker's novel. Certainly one of the best vampire films Hammer ever made.\nThe Scars of Dracula (1970). *\nProduced immediately after Taste the Blood of Dracula and directed by Roy Ward Baker, this film is one of the most seriously flawed vampire films which Hammer ever attempted. A vicious, unbelievably cruel film.\nCount Yorga, Vampire (1970). * *\nDirected by Bob Kelljan, this production features a vampire in the tradition of the English gothic villain. Courteous and refined, Count Yorga seeks the blood of Southern California teenage girls. Unfortunately, the situations have become stereotyped, and the plot is absolutely predictable.\nDaughters of Darkness (1970). *\nHarry Kumel's film is concerned with the sexuality of vampirism. This film features bisexual female vampires and lots of self-consciously \"arty\" scenes composed of red, black, and white colors. This kind of sophomoric symbolism is indicative of the artistic pretensions of this silly little soft-core film. The film did well, however, when it premiered in the United States in May of 1971.\nHouse of Dark Shadows (1970). *\nAnother of the bumper crop of vampire films made in 1970 which exploits the teenage fascination with Dark Shadows, a gothic soap opera of the late 60s. The vampire in this film and in the TV series was played by Jonathan Frid.\nThe 'Karnstein Trilogy':\nThe Vampire Lovers (1970). * * Directed by Roy Ward Baker\nLust for a Vampire (1970). * * Directed by Jimmy Sangster\nCountess Dracula (1970). * * Directed by Peter Sasdy.\nThese films are based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's short story \"Carmilla\" (1871), a story of vampirism with lesbian overtones. Thus, these films exploit the sexuality of vampirism—specifically, a female vampire whose favorite victims are the daughters of nobility. Most of the action of these films centers around Karnstein castle. All of the films feature wonderfully stylized sets and (self-consciously) \"arty\" photography, creating a rather dream-like atmosphere. The Vampire Lovers, the first of the series, was a huge commercial success, and thus inspired Hammer to produce more of the same. The second film, Lust for a Vampire, is probably the best of the trilogy, although it too exults in lots of free-flowing blood. Countess Dracula features a vampire who bathes in the blood of her victims in order to restore her youth and beauty. All of these films are blatant \"soft-core\" pornography and were extremely popular with American teenage audiences.\nThe Omega Man (1971). *\nA competent film adaptation of Matheson's I Am Legend (see The Last Man on Earth, 1964) starring Charlton Heston in the title role. This film has rather stylized production values, though its symbols—such as that of Heston's crucifixion at the end of the film—is rather blatant and heavy-handed. Nevertheless, a thoroughly competent and delightful film.\nTwins of Evil (1971). * *\nThis film was a further attempt by Hammer Studios to exploit Le Fanu's \"Carmilla,\" with predictable results.\nDracula, A.D. 1972 (1971) * and Dracula Is Dead (1972). *\nBoth of these films were directed by Alan Gibson and scripted by Don Houghton. The second of the above films is a sequel to the first. These films represent Hammer's attempt to set the story of Dracula in modern London. The results are wretched. In both films, Christopher Lee played the vampire while Peter Cushing played the protagonist.\nVampire Circus (1971). * * *\nDirected by Robert Young, this film is one of Hammer's plethora of films during the 1970–71 period which have any merit at all and is well worth seeing.\nThe Return of Count Yorga (1971). * * * *\nWith the aid of Yvonne Wilder on the script, who also plays a featured role in the film as a Cassandra-like mute, Bob Kelljan was able to surpass his mediocre Count Yorga, Vampire and create something close to a classic of the genre—albeit, for the most part, forgotten. With the aid of cinematographer Bill Butler (Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Kelljan was able to create a film with an overpowering sense of menace and pervasive horror. The presence of the vampire is similar to Stoker's—an indication of growing social disruption. Count Yorga and followers completely disrupt an orphanage and pervert all relationships. The ending of the film is one of the best of the vampire cinema. Butler unleashed his visual pyrotechnics; it was filmed in slow motion freeze frame for optimum effect.\nBlacula (1973). * * *\nShakespearian actor William Marshall played the role of the vampire in this picture, which is neither one of the great vampire films nor a \"blackploitation\" film. The film has a spirit of fun which wasn't present in any vampire films of the previous decade.\nScream, Blacula, Scream (1973). * *\nDirector Bob Kelljan was not able to achieve the merits of the original Blacula (directed by William Cram), much less approach the artistry of his best film, The Return of Count Yorga, with this picture.\nAndy Warhol's Dracula (1975). * * * *\nReleased a few months after Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (May, 1974), this film, like its predecessor, evaluates its particular genre, in this case the vampire cinema, and it views it as one which exploits the subliminal psycho-sexual fears of its audience. Of course, the assumption of the film-makers is that these audiences are awaiting some kind of ludicrous confirmation of those subliminal fears through ritual enactment and formulaic plot. Thus, the proceedings of Andy Warhol's Dracula are predictably ludicrous and necessarily silly. They are also, paradoxically, quite disturbing.\nOld Dracula (1975). *\nAn American International release—in the worst sense of that infamous genre. This film, which stars David Niven as the vampire, is a prolonged practical joke at the audience's expense.\nDracula (1979). * *\nDirected by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever), this production attempts to be quite stylized and original. The script is based on a popular Broadway play of the same title, and Frank Langella re-created his stage role for the film. The film focuses on Dracula's seductive charms, and it features him as an archetypal Byronic lover. The premise is not so clever (or original) as the film-makers thought. The plot is predictably stereotyped.\nNosferatu (1979). * *\nThe nature of this film is the natural result when a world-acclaimed artistic director sees fit to give his stamp of approval to a genre which has undergone pop culture trivializing. This is Werner Herzog's re-make (called homage by the director) of Murnau's classic. The film was, predictably, self-consciously \"arty\" and did not transcend the genre to any large degree whatsoever.\nLove at First Bite (1980). * *\nPremise: Dracula is kicked out of his Transylvanian castle by local officials and comes to America, where he falls in love (with a beautiful woman) for the first time in his life. As a Dracula \"spoof,\" it exhibits some degree of comic sophistication, thus rendering the film pleasantly innocuous.","\"KATHARINA\" IN \"THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.\"\n\"'Katharina' in 'The Taming of the Shrew.'\" by Mrs ... until he shall have disposed of her naughty sister. ... the 'Taming of the Shrew' in Shakespeare ...\n'Katharina'in'The Taming of the Shrew.'.\nChicago, Ill: Monarch Book Company, 1894. pp. 544-554.\n[Page 544] \n\"KATHARINA\" IN \"THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.\" *\nBy MRS. EMMA PRATT MOTT.\nMRS. EMMA PRATT MOTT.\nThe prelude to this play, \"The Taming of the Shrew,\" is one of the richest, raciest most delectable pieces of humor extant. This play has been called a perfect whirlwind of the oldest, maddest freaks and farces imaginable.\" Let us for a few moments attend to a brief study of the principal characters:\nA rich gentleman of Padua has two daughters, one apparently all that is shrewish, and the other apparently all loveliness. Like other good parents, he of course desired to see them married. Kate, the shrew, must be married anyhow, and Bianca must have a fat estate for a husband, but he wisely denies the hand of the seeming angel to anyone until the seeming shrew shall have been disposed of, which sets the wits of the angelic Bianca's suitors at work to find a suitor for the shrewish Kate. Presently the very genius of whims and self-will appears as the suitor of Kate, in the person of one Petruchio, a rich gentleman of Verona, a friend to one of Bianca's suitors. Meanwhile the son of another rich gentleman of Pisa visits Padua and is brought within the circle of Bianca's attractions. Lucentio sees Bianca, and the first sight is fatal. By a simple though skillful enough intrigue he wins her in the disguise of a tutor to her in classic lore, he being obliged to employ this method because Bianca's father has cut off all open approaches to her until he shall have disposed of her naughty sister. This forms a sort of under plot in the play, the interests turning upon the manner in which Petruchio woos and weds and tames the so-called frightful Kate. Both these girls are affected, their affectation passing for sincerity. Kate puts on the show of what she has not, and Bianca puts off the show of what she has. The one purposely seems worse and the other better than she is. Kate, the shrew, too proud to be vain, will do nothing to gain friends, everything to serve them. Bianca, too vain to be proud, will do everything to gain friends and nothing to serve them. Bianca is fond of admiration and gets it. Kate envies her what she sees, but will not stoop or bend to get it. In a word, Kate is willful, Bianca selfish. The one affects shrewishness before marriage, the other conceals it until after marriage, for they do not so much change their real faces after marriage as to drop the masks which conceal them. We have all known men who were studiously wise, gentle and amiable in appearance, yet mean and selfish apart, and who appeared to be gentle and amiable because of their selfishness. Again we know men who rather study to be rough, rash, reckless and unkind, seemingly from mere disinterestedness, because they were more concerned for the good of others than for their favor, and [Page 545] more willing to do them a kindness than to have it known. The first will caress their friends and then desert them. The second will abuse their friends, and then imperil their lives to serve them. Kate belongs to that class of women who will never allow their husbands to govern them if they can help it, nor ever respect their husbands unless they do govern them; who, unsubdued, will do their worst to plague them, but who once subdued will do their utmost to please them. There seems to be a desire with some women to try to prove their husbands and to know them, whether they be what they call genuine pieces of manhood or not. Petruchio's treatment therefore rather reforms the conduct than the character of his wife, rather brings out the good which she seemed to want than to remove the bad which she seemed to have. After marriage there are no traces of the shrew in her conduct. One writer naively says, her sense of duty in the relation dissipates all her artificial life and straightens her behavior. All the materials of her closing speech are in her heart all the while, but she disdains to let them out, and it is not until Petruchio forces them out that she stands before us in her true character. Still the tender and considerate husband is all the while lurking under his affected willfulness. Some writers think that Petruchio falsifies himself more than Kate does because he has more to falsify. He is himself all truth, yet utters nothing but lies; full of kindness and good-nature, he will put on the garb of a fiend to do the work of a benefactor. \"He will at any time say more and do fewer bad things than any other man in Italy.\" He now proceeds to work out of Kate what seems to others the plainest impossibility by the wildest contradiction. \"Say that she rails; why then I'll tell her plain she sings.\" His outrageous humor reached at once its height when riding with his wife he visits her father, he meets old Vincentio, and requires him to salute her as a beautiful lady.\n\"Tell me, sweet Kate, and tell me truly true,\nHast thou beheld a fresher gentlewoman?\"\nThus do we see, as if by magic, Kate the cursed presently become the most loyal of wives. We have not a grain of pity to spare for Kate, who is better pleased to find a conqueror than to be the conqueror. On the whole it is satisfactory to her to discover that there is at least one man of force and spirit in the world, and to know that he, and no other, has chosen her for his wife; and so Kate transfers all her boldness to the very effrontery of obedience. Behind her delightful sauciness lie warmth and courage at heart. Strange that Shakespeare should have known so long ago that which most people still find so hard to learn. We behold in the great bard's wonderful magic mirrors that his heroines are more perfectly feminine than any woman could have found it in her heart or brain to make them. Woman, as she resembles man, was of less consequence to Shakespeare than woman in herself. Shakespeare says: \"Here woman stands, the modern world stooping at her feet will have to yield some of the reputed exclusiveness of men, but only such traits of it as Imogene, Cordelia, Beatrice or Portia will elect.\" In dealing with married love Shakespeare, ever true to nature, gives it no rhapsodies or flowers of speech. It may be a love that overwhelms a man's whole nature, as with Othello, when he exclaimed after an enforced absence, and looking into his wife's face:\n\"If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy.\"\nOr Brutus, comforting his wife when she desires to know the secret that is oppressing him:\n\"Am I yourself but as it were in sort of limitation,\n To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,\nAnd talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs\nOf your good pleasure? If it be no more,\nPortia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.\"\nand his answer is full of profound, earnest, sad truth: [Page 546] \n\"You are my true and honorable wife,\nAs dear to me as are the ruddy drops\nThat visit my sad heart.\"\nHere is true, consistent, reasonable love. It does not worship the ground she walks upon. It does not desire to kiss the glove she wears. He, the Shakespeare husband lover, despises the ground, and would throw the glove into the fire. But Othello, in that moment of fury, would willingly die, and Brutus would give his life for his wife. This love in married life, as represented by Shakespeare, is the real. It has grown out of companionship and friendship, and passion only plays a super's part, says his lines and departs. \"My husband is my friend,\" is the grandest exclamation of Shakespeare's married love. The great and noble friendship between husband and wife, which, like sun rays, serve to reveal the black and bloody canvas of human history, become fewer and fewer as the progress of the age teaches us the art of a greater selfishness, and teaches us to laugh where once we wept, and never weep at all. Petruchio had the right which was accorded husbands in those days to resort to the English custom of selling wives whenever considered shrews, but the thought never once suggested itself to him, for he loved Katharina, and endeavored to let her see herself in an exaggerated form, and thus become disgusted with such conduct. But as late as April 7, 1832, at Carlisle, England, occurred an example of wife selling. One Mrs. Thompson was eloquently shuffled off at auction, her husband being the auctioneer, and this is his speech:\n\"Gentleman, I have to offer to your notice my wife, Mary Ann Thompson, otherwise Williams, whom I mean to sell to the highest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her wish as well as mine to part forever. She has been to me only a born serpent. I took her for the comfort and the good of my house, but she became my tormenter, a domestic curse. Gentlemen, I speak truth when I say may God deliver us from troublesome wives and frolicsome women. Avoid them as you would a mad-dog, a roaring lion, a loaded pistol, cholera, Mt. Etna, or any other pestilential thing in nature. Now I have told you the dark side of my wife and shown you her faults and failings. I will introduce the bright side and explain her qualifications and goodness. She can read novels and milk cows. She can laugh and weep with the same ease that you take a glass of ale. Indeed, gentlemen, she reminds me of what the poet said of women:\n\"'Heaven gave to women the peculiar grace\nTo laugh, to weep, to cheat the human race.'\n\"She can make butter and scold the maid, and she can sing Moore's melodies, and make her frill and cap. She can not make rum, but she is a good judge of its quality from long experience. I therefore offer her, with all her perfections and imperfections, for the sum of fifty shillings.\"\nIt is marvelous that there could have been found any man with courage and valor enough to buy, but such there was by name Henry Mears, who, after an hour's haggling, offered twenty shillings and a Newfoundland dog. They then parted in perfect good temper, Mears and the shrew and Mr. Thompson and the dog. Petruchio could have exercised his right also to the use of the bridle or brank, which being put upon the offender by order of the magistrate, and fastened with a padlock behind the ear, she is lead in it around the town by an officer to her shame, nor is it taken off until the woman begins to show external signs of humiliation. The character of Petruchio is not so uncommon, and the world is full of Katharinas. Katharina's closing speech is at once elegant, eloquent, poetical and true. It is worth all volumes on household virtues.\nWhat kind of a man is our modern Petruchio? A sensible fellow with practical ideas to suit his wife, who fancies that men are in danger in their turn of losing some of their rights. He is like the majority of young men in this country, well-meaning, industrious, hoping to make a moderate fortune because a good citizen, husband and father, and go through life creditably and honorable. He says: \"What is my wife to [Page 547] be to me and I to my wife?\" Since I began to listen to the story of woman's wrongs and woman's rights, the world is turned topsy-turvy. I am morally sea-sick. 'Tis a state of transition with women, answers this modern American Katharina, with her pale, striking features, a skin like dough, gray, thoughtful eyes, her chest flat, her movements and her whole bearing full of unrest, and these hinting subtly at suppressed powers, and whether she condemn a philosophy or dismiss a lover to arrange her hair, it is done alike with the same careless air of superiority. This modern Kate grows courteously satirical when she talks of her grandmother's days, but one notices that this same charming woman on examining some old ivory miniature grows annoyed to find the features of those last century dames as refined as their own, and the vehicle of as subtle and strong minds. \"Strange,\" says the nineteenth century woman, as she puts them away, \"That these faces could have been content with a life of serfdom–mere housekeepers.\" \"But, Kate,\" says our modern Petruchio, \"men are mulish; these same domestic women are here in the nineteenth century. They won't die out; they won't be weeded out. This domestic woman is a great stumbling block in your modern woman's way. Man treats you precisely as the Chinese would were you a missionary, would receive your new spiritual deity–that is to say, with all politeness, with uplifted hands and drooping eyes of adoration, and then go home and plump on their knees before their own private little gods behind the kitchen door. This same old-fashioned domestic woman lives and moves and has her being in her home! Really, Kate, how long is this transition to last? Whose fault is it that it lasts so long?\" \"Petruchio, as you are one of those men who come in with the mob at the end of a reform, I advise you to shut your ears to the tumult, and attend only to your business.\" \"But how can I shut my ears? The air is fill with the protests of women. Do tell what it is they want. What is it that they do not want? What is it that is needed in the right training of girls that is not needed just as imperatively in the right training of boys? What makes the difference then between the position in the world of young men and young women when we men have always granted, and always will, that neither sex is naturally the superior nor the inferior of the other in essentials?\"\n\"The difference,\" says Katharina, \"lies wholly in the idea that underlies the teaching of each, for from the day the boy chips the shell until he dies he is taught, he breathes it in the air, he learns it by perpetual hard experience, that she is to be taken care of all her days. Nearly every girl in our fashionable boarding schools and in our public schools has the day, when the prince will arrive and carry her off, fixed in her horizon like the light to which the mariner steers. What marriage means, what it implicates of duty to herself, to her husband, and to her possible children, she never thinks, nor is she required to think.\"\n\"It seems strange to me, Kate, that women will submit to live with us men when they are feeling that we are depriving them of their rights, and that man is the enemy of woman's best advancement. If we were told the history of any race which for three thousand years had lived in daily intercourse with another with a chance for the same culture, with the same language, seated side by side in perfect social equality, and which had yet remained in a state of subjection, debarred from rights which they had held to be theirs, we should be apt to decide sharply enough that the rights are not fitted to them by nature, or that their cowardice and hesitation to grasp their rights deserved the serfdom. There have been women soldiers, judges, merchants in every country and in every age, women who were leaders in the state in war or in intrigue, and the readiness with which the ground was ceded to them, the applause with which their slightest merit was welcomed, proved how easily climed was the path they trod, and how accessible to every woman if she had chosen to climb it. It was not altogether the fault of the obdurate rock that it hid for so many years the gifts of manhood from the boy Theseus, but his own flaccid muscles and uncertain will which failed to overturn it. When the hour came to use them, the rock was put aside, the golden sandals and magic sword, which were to make his path easy and clear to him, lay underneath.\"\n\"The transcendental inspiration you men have in guessing why God ever made [Page 548] woman, the knowledge you have of the secret of our power, is appalling. We have been told by our self-appointed advisers how we may become charming, and in what way we are in danger of losing our charms. That we are the last and most perfect work of God, sprung from the rib of Adam, nearest the heart, we are told, and at length after six thousand years of tuition we are flattered with having risen to an equality with man. The efforts to equalize with man's woman's wages, to multiply her opportunities, to claim her interests in the politics of human rights, to secure her alleviating presence in the rude scenes of republicanism, these, Petruchio, are of small consequences to men.\"\n\"You have sprung so many points on me, Kate, I can only hope to see one at a time. I wish I might answer you as a man who honors woman and longs for her noble power in all that man holds dear. Let us look at equal rights first. The assertion that the sexes are equal is true if rightly understood, but the way the word equal is often used it does not covey the exact truth and leads to confusion. When we say that five dollars in gold is equal to five dollars in silver, we do not mean that there is equality of weight, but of value. The statement that Napoleon was equal to Milton is true. An examination of the two brains would show a difference of mental organization so that in some respects one would be found superior to the other, and at the same time inferior in other points, but the value of mental endowments in one would be equal to that of the other. The only kind of equality that can be said to exist between the sexes is that which exists between objects that are unlike. If in addition to what woman can do now, she could compete successfully with men wherein they have the pre-eminence, she would not be his equal, but his superior. There is no danger of this, as God has provided a regular system of compensation, so that when one person covets that he has not with the idea that it is better than that actually possessed, he loses the old in acquiring the new. It is not desirable that husband and wife should stand on different planes, so that the mind of one is so far above the other that there is no point of contact; but if their minds are on the same level, the blending of these diverse characteristics produces a union which can not be readily sundered. If men and women were alike this world would resemble the monotonous plane whereon there is a superabundance of a certain kind of equality. The aggressive and tedious assertions of woman's ability to do this, that or the other work in the world are superfluous, or would be so but for modern myopia. In the outer world of fact, of demonstration, of volition, tangible proofs and causalities and material processes, man is supreme, while in that more subtle sphere where lie spiritual convictions which overtop our actual life, and lead up from grossness to glory, woman is the priestess. Are these two spheres independent of each other? Are they not conjoined indissolubly? It is a mistake, and takes from us men one of our supreme rights, that which places antagonism between the two. There should be between them harmony as sweet as that which moves the concentric rings of Saturn, which I viewed the other night. Untaught by the presence and inspiration of woman, we men would soon become cold, dry petrifactions, constantly obeying the centripetal force of our lives and ending by alluring self. And I take it, without man's firmness and strength, woman, in whom the centrifugal force is stronger, would remain a weak, vacillating creature, without self-poise. Cultivate her intellect and his heart, and the healthy action and reaction consequent upon such a balance of forces, you have the true relationship established between the sexes–the relationship which the Creator pronounced good. Do not misunderstand me, Kate. I say, let woman, if she will, measure the stellar distances, study mechanical principles or the learned professions, make a picture or write a book, and there are women, not a few, true and noble, who have done all this, but let her never for such as these abdicate her own nobler work, neglecting the greater for the less. If a woman has a special gift let her exercise it. If she has a particular mission let her work it out. Few women, though, are of this elect class, just as few men are. But I would have woman never forget that it is not for what they may possibly add to the sum of human knowledge that the world values them primarily. That [Page 549] some man is as likely to do as not. But what women fail to do in their own peculiar sphere, no man can possibly do. Did you ever think, Kate, that woman may be able to do anything that man does in his sphere, if she be trained, but it is inconceivable that man could do a woman's work, essentially that which is most womanly? Before you answer this, let us look at your second point, where you generously and most practically inquire about the maidens by choice and the maidens by necessity. What are they to do, and how are they to live in this world? Just here is where one of the rights of man should be emphasized. There is one hard fact which women are apt to shirk, but which they must after all–that is, that in the pitiless economies of nations, the question is not the worker, but the value of the work. When Rosa Bonheur or Jean Ingelow bring their wares to market, the question of sex does not intrude itself in the matter of payment. If a woman has taken a desk in a counting-room, let her do her duty like a man, expecting no favors because she is a woman. She has no right to stay at home when it rains, and no right to leave before her hour because she can not cross certain places after dark, no right not to expect to be 'blown up' (using the expression which suits us men best) when she makes wrong entries. It is one reason for less wages that woman will not submit to conditions that men have to submit to, because their uncertain future makes them careless and less interested in their work. Once let woman face fate, and not flirt with it, and this question of 'less wages' will emerge from its present muddle. In the matter of wages, as between husband and wife, the husband's wages are not simply payment from the capitalist for his work, but for his wife's also. The money he earns the wife applies to the household and their common wants. The wife in the truest sense is her husband's most important business partner, his partner in a more complete and comprehensive sense than any other he can have. The household is her department of the business of life, as her husband's is the store, the manufactory or the office. If she fail to act constantly upon this principle she is an unfaithful and untrustworthy partner, and is as much to blame as if her husband were to neglect his stock, his shipping, his contract, his client. Why should the husband be expected to manage his part of the business upon sound and correct business principles while his wife-partner is letting hers go at loose ends, with a shiftlessness which, if he should imitate, would ruin them in a year? Now what is the principle upon which every good business man manages his affairs? Why, simply that of sovereignty. He keeps, if he is a sensible man, his stock under lock and key, and extracts a rigid accountability in its use.\"\n\"But,\" says Kate, \"we housekeepers would not dare lock up our butter, eggs or sugar. We could not keep a girl a day if we doled out our stores and held our servants accountable for their use.\"\n\"Suppose a manufacturer of jewelry should reason as you do, Kate. He says, 'I can not keep my help satisfied unless I give them free access to my stock of gold and diamonds. I must throw open my tool drawers, and I must not ask how much material this or that manufactured article has taken to make.' You know that man would have to shut up shop in less than a year. Now I still ask, Kate, is it fair, is it right that while the husband superintends his business himself the wife partner surrenders her responsibility into the hands of ignorant and irresponsible subordinates? Thus conducting the household on purely business principles does not necessarily entail upon you the least participation in the labor of the family. It does not absolutely require your personal presence at the scene of those labors, although the woman who considers it beneath her dignity to go into her kitchen has no more business to undertake to keep house than the master mechanic who is too proud to enter his workshop has to try to carry on a shop. The absolutely essential thing is that yours should be the controlling and directing mind, and that to you everyone in your employ should be held rigorously responsible.\"\n\"I wish,\" says Kate, \"that you would specialize a little. You men in laying down your instructions to us women do it in the most stupendously general way, which we are sometimes tempted to think betrays a condition of mind which lacks experimental knowledge.\" [Page 550] \n\"Well, I readily own up to little experimental knowledge in housekeeping, but I am only suggesting that housekeeping should be conducted on the same principle on which we men conduct business. And first, to specialize, you should tell your servants that employing them at stipulated wages to do certain work their time belongs to you. Tell them distinctly that if you prefer to keep your stores under lock and key it is not because you suspect their integrity, but that you consider it your business as a housekeeper to know what is the cost of living. And secondly, although the plan of keeping a book of family accounts only belongs incidentally to the main subject under discussion, it is so important that I can not refrain from a special mention of it. It is the simplest thing in the world, not taking on an average more than ten minutes a day. For reference in case of a disputed bill it is invaluable, while its influence in keeping down expenses is wonderfully wholesome. It would be just as safe for the merchant to neglect his cash book as for his domestic partner, who undertakes to do her business properly, to neglect her cash book. I believe, Kate, that no higher compliment can a husband pay to his wife than to say, 'She is an excellent manager of my home, finely as she has been educated; she knows everything, and how to direct what should be done, from the private family dinner to a sumptuous entertainment.\"\n\"You may add, if you please, Petruchio, that woman has done nearly everything that has been done in the peaceful arts from the dawn of history up to the present era, as you will have to acknowledge, if you have examined at all intelligently the Woman's Building at this wonderful fair of this wonderful nation. In all the earlier ages woman established the home, built the house, reared the family, provided food, tilled the ground, garnered the crops, provided materials for raiment, spun thread and wove cloth, designed and manufactured clothing, cared for the sick and educated the children. Modern civilization, developing commerce and manufactures and improving agriculture, has diverted the attention of men from fighting and hunting, and given into their hands the task of providing food and raiment and luxuries for the family. Indeed, the history of civilization may be regarded as a history of the transfer of these tasks from the hands of women in the household to the hands of men in the factory, the mill and the shop. And may not the single monotonous occupation to which women are now confined account for that which seems to militate against domestic peace?\"\n\"Why, Kate, the science of domestic economy is one of the noblest arts, the handmaid of domestic and, therefore, national health, riches and welfare, and worthy the highest powers of the most gifted of our women. You re-read the story of Ruth Pinch as given in 'Martin Chuzzlewit.' It is enough to make one in love with cooking and keeping house. The pretty girl does everything with such grace and alertness, her whole soul is so bent on infusing comfort into everything, she is so unselfish, so wise, so unconscious of her wisdom, so good, and knows so little about her goodness, that she is one of the sweetest of Dickens' many lovely, thoroughly human, women. It is a pitiful truth that we may become homeless without being actually houseless, for it does look as though the family or homekeeping was fast becoming a matter of temporary arrangement. Home, once a woman's temple, is now her prison. The sweet, quiet virtues which were once her greatest charm are now the badge of her slavery. Strong to do, she is weak to bear, and while she can nerve herself to perform the most revolting offices of a hospital nurse, and take an active part in the most ghastly operations, she can not live under the comparative monotony of her home life. Duty is not in her vocabulary now. She writes work over where it stood. And, Kate, I fear work means simply excitement and publicity. Is there not danger that not a grace, not a gift will be kept in the maturing shade, that not a violet hides behind its leaves? All the treasure which once used to be kept in sacred shrines are now laid in the shop window for everyone to stare at, and all buy who will. A pretty piping voice, that can sing passably well a drawing-room ballad, hires herself for public display. You hear girls say they are hoping to become another Camilla Urso because they can strike a true note on the violin. Many a girl who can draw [Page 551] well enough for a parlor album plunges into an exhibit, and dreams of fame through her art, and one with the faintest faculty for situation dashes off a novel which is to bring her name very near to that of George Eliot. While I sincerely, deeply sympathize with every reform which tends to afford a fair field for exertion for those women who are forced to select for themselves a trade or profession, I deprecate everything that allures those who possess the inestimable privilege of a home to desert their fittest sphere of action. You will smile, Kate, when I say that the manhood of man must suffer some loss when woman has appropriated a portion of it; for its nobler attributes are created and evoked by the duty and privilege of ministering to her wants, and fortifying and protecting her. I believe woman is a complement, not a substitute, for man. Is it, my Kate, so beneath the glory of a woman to be one whose society is sought with avidity by the opposite sex, whose most ardent champions are men, at whose bidding men are prompt to respond, and in whose companionship men seem to find peculiar happiness? A woman whose husband will think her adorable, it matters little whether her eyes be large or light, small or dark, her features classic or irregular, whether her tongue be eloquent or she be given to silence, she hides within her being that subtle something which emphasizes the fact that men have some rights which women are bound to respect. I can not express it better than to say that, while she is restful, at the same time she coaxes out ambitions which we never dreamed were ours. She seems to have the grace of leisure. She is never too busy. She would inject a little bit of duncehood into our American life–into this restless desire for study. If she be fortunate enough to possess children, she assimilates the spirit of the age and interprets it to them, and in them evolution seems to take strides swift and sure and forward. Should we give small credit to her who has kept holy and watered with the rain of deep feeling this acrid, dusty highway of civilization, and instructed her nature so that it will bring forth beautiful June blossoms?\n \"'Happy he!\nWith such a mother; faith in womankind\nBeats with his blood, and truth in all things high\nComes easy to him, and though he trip and fall,\nHe shall not blind his soul with clay!'\n\"You spoke, Kate, of securing woman's alleviating presence in the rude scenes of republicanism. I suppose you have reference to her participation in politics. History tells us that when the contrast between the sexes has been least marked, the tenderer one does not seem to have gained purity or the physically stronger elevation. The Spartan maids who exercised in public unrobed, did not always, as Plato fondly hoped, wear virtue for a garment. The mothers of the Partheniæs doubtlessly acted from patriotism, but less strong-minded women would have considered their honor paramount. The idea of marriage, of the natural choice of each other by one man and one woman, to unite and form one separate family, seems to be as naturally implanted in the human race as does the idea of language or religion, and if the family is one as the United States government is one, then it would be as absurd to send two representatives to the polls as it would be to send two representatives or ministers to Great Britain to act on their individual responsibilities. So long as a woman elects her own husband, and she can sometimes take her choice out of several candidates, it is her own fault if she is not properly represented.\"\n\"And have American women, whether married or single, any vital share or interest in this grand free government of ours?\" asked Kate.\n\"With all the emphasis of a profound conviction I answer, yes. Such a touching and intimate interest as no women ever had before in any government under the sun, because the principles embodied in it and represented by it have made her what she is, and they alone can make her what she hopes to be. If it be true that the position of woman in society is a sure test of its civilization, then is our America in the van of progress. Nowhere else in the world is the ideal of womanhood so chivalrously [Page 552] worshiped and protected. Nowhere else is she so respected, obeyed and beloved. In three exterior forms of action women excel–talk, manner and dress. It is in talk–yes, in all three that American women take the lead. Great as is your proficiency in the handling of manner and dress, it is by talk alone that you exercise a conquering force. I know that dress and manner are regarded as indispensable auxiliaries, but none except the foolish place them in the front rank of combat, while every woman who merits being counted as a social artist, takes care in using them as but subordinates to her speech. In society our American women are extremely self-poised, reasonable and capable of defending their own opinions and of abetting their desires, and as you talk more and laugh more you lead and dictate more to your brother man. It is to you women that men must go for exhilaration, elevation, brightening and appetizing, and above all, strengthening to do our duty, and contentment while we are doing it. Kate, I do wish that men's rights could be regarded just a little–talked about, sung about, prayed about, and preached about.\"\n\"Men's rights! What do you mean, Petruchio? Men have always had all the rights there were to have, and what more can you cry for?\"\n\"My dear Kate, this is the age of woman worship. Women are angels and men are mostly demons. Our modern literature makes all virtues feminine and all vices masculine. A well-formed, fair-faced, sweet-tempered, gentle-spoken woman, if young and accomplished, is an angel, though her heart may be cold, selfish, incapable of a generous emotion; an angel, though utterly regardless of the misery she ruthlessly inflicts upon others. What with women's journals and women's clubs and women's colleges and women's departments, and women's this and that, we are beginning to fear entire exclusion from the human family. Some one has said that we are in danger of forgetting that 'a woman is a human being first and a woman afterward.' But we have one hope and one consolation, and that is in the motto on the letter-paper of the Woman's Branch of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition, viz.: 'Not things, but men.' We are still recognized as a man and brother. For this I for one am devoutly thankful. I confess to you, Kate, that I have just joined the P. A. S. O. M. T. N. R., which in this age of cabalistic nomenclature, means the 'Protective Association for Securing to Oppressed Men Their Neglected Rights.' I have never liked the 'Taming of the Shrew' in Shakespeare version, and would like to get out an edition of my own. There is something so out of keeping with all reality in it. Whoever knew a man in the better circles of society have his way by any domineering method as against the contrary by his wife? I believe there are cases, such as that of the one-time invincible John L. Sullivan, where man's superior muscular action is put into play to secure him what he is pleased to term his rights. But you know, Kate, that it is not considered good form for a man in the best society to beat his wife. This puts him at a certain disadvantage. If he is not permitted to show his superiority in the sense physical, where then can he show it? There is something so far-fetched in the whole conception of a man's having his way that it seems to me that the play lacks human interest. Perhaps there will be a land some time–\n\"'Where wives will all obedient be,\nAnd men will have their way.'\n\"Meanwhile, Kate, there is another thing that you enjoy, and which seems to be denied to us men, for the most part, at least. I refer to the literary circles all over our land. Of the members of the Chautauqua and kindred circles, what an infinitesimal fraction are men. I know that we have, as a rule, less ability and taste for this sort of thing, but the reason is that we have been repressed for generations. Give us a chance. When you women gather to hear a play of Shakespeare, or to throw additional obscurity on Browning, or see what extravagant panegyric can do for Walt Whitman, men look on with envious eyes. When there are 9 o'clock breakfasts and formal luncheons and coffees and 5 o'clock teas, we men must rest content to stay without the portals. The one persistent and unquestioned right which we seem to [Page 553] have left, is to supply the ducats for the same. You know, Kate, that if you attend the fine literary association, of which you are a bright and particular star, I must meanwhile in my office earn enough to buy the paper and ink with which you write those essays which delight all readers. If you will bear with me, Katharina, I would like to tell you of two or three prominent faults of your sex which injure and restrict our rights as men. The most mischievous and glaring, and the most ruinous, is extravagance. I knew you would look aghast at this, and ask me for an account of the money I spend for tobacco, etc., but you should be charitable toward some of our habits, seeing that we do not interfere with yours.\"\n\"Bless me, Petruchio, what habits have we, I should like to know?\"\n\"A multitude, Kate. I don't know the half. Crochet work, embroidery, painting–tea is milder than tobacco, but your systems are more sensitive. Then there are powders, perfumes, eau-de-cologne, lavender, verbena, heliotrope, and what not, against all of which I have nothing to say, because their odors are nearly equal to that of a fine Havana cigar. I would be glad if this feminine love for color and fragrance was more common among men. But there are curious differences of taste. The peculiar fascination in smoking is not in the taste of the weed, but in the sight of the smoke. It is called the ear of corn which we hold out to induce into harmony the skittish thoughts which are running loose. I understand that knitting is the great feminine narcotic. You will agree with me, Kate, that this habit is not very important in comparison with those vices of character. Is not the use of the weed less objectionable than those systemic habits of envy, avarice, hypocrisy, or the vice of extravagance? Wastefulness has almost become a trait of society. American women, especially, are profuse and lavish in money and dress, in equipage, in furniture, in houses, in entertainments. Perhaps the largeness, the immensity of our land's resources and materials, as well as the wonderful national advance we have already made, tends to cultivate in our people a feeling of profusion and the habit of extravagant display. When fortunes do not arrive by magic, but must be built up painfully, slowly, at the expense of the nerve and sinew, the brain and the heart of the builder, and when a close attention to money-making is rapidly becoming a national badge and is in danger of eating out entirely what is of infinitely more value than wealth, a high national integrity and conscience, and sinking the immaterial and the intellectual in the material and the sensual. It is, then, by you, the women of America, that the men shall have saved to them their rights. Great financial crisises in which colossal schemes burst like bubbles; commercial bankruptcies, in which honorable names are bandied on the lips of common rumor and white reputations are blackened by public suspicion; minds that started in life with pure and honest principles, determined to win fortune by the straight path of rectitude, gradually growing distorted and ending by enthroning gold in the place made vacant by departed virtues; hearts that were once responsive to the fair and beautiful in life and in the universe, that were wont to thrill through and through at a noble deed or fine thought, now pulseless and hard as the nether millstone; souls that once believed in God, Heaven, and good, now worshiping commercial success and its exponent, money, and living and dying with their eager eyes fixed dustward. And yet, if this is to be checked, it must be begun in the home and by its guardian woman.\n\"Another thing, Kate, which you women do, and which I think defraud us of our rights, is your wild chase after, and copying of, European fashions, habits and styles of living. We are accused of being a nation of copyists, and it is more than half true. And why it should be I can not understand. I am thankful, as I look at this wonderful \"Dream City,\" that we are beginning to have an art and a literature our very own. Let us have the fashion, as well, which shall be distinctively American. Not what is sensible or becoming, but what is the fashion, does the American woman buy. Not what she can afford to purchase, but what her neighbors have, is generally the criterion. The aping of aristocratic pretentions has been a much ridiculed weakness of Americans. It is certain that American society needs republicanizing in all its grades. [Page 554] This is another right which men look to women to preserve–the effort to renew society in the natural simplicity of our republican institutions. America has need of you, Kate. Man has need of you. We suffer for the need, as well as for the power, of loving and being loved. This is even greater in man than in woman, hence the chief reason why she almost always controls him. Man craves for the ideal, suffers for the want of it, but he dies not knowing how to get it. I say, Kate, that not even yet has womankind, in spite of her irrepressible longing to utter the clear, free, elevated speech, that shall yet stir the pulses of the world. I can not better tell you what I believe is needed than to close with the words of that true American woman:\n\"'If thou wouldst have happiness, choose neither fame, which doth not long abide, nor power, which stings the hand that wields it; nor gold, which glitters, but never glorifies; but choose thou love, and hold it forever in thy heart of hearts; for love is the purest and the mightiest force in the universe, and once it is thine, all other gifts shall be added unto thee. Love that is passionate, yet reverent, gentle, yet strong, selfish in desiring all, yet generous in giving all, love of man for woman, of woman for man, of parent for child, of friend for friend–when this is born in the soul the desert blossoms of the rose; straightway new wishes, hopes, sweet longings and pure ambitions spring into being like green shoots that lift their tender heads in sunny places, and if the soil be kind they grow stronger and more beautiful as each glad day laughs in the rosy sky.'\"\n[Page 544] \nMrs. Emma Pratt Mott is a native of Michigan. Her parents were Dr. and Mrs. Frank H. Pratt. She was educated in Boston and Elmira, New York. She married the Rev. Henry Elliott Mott, a Presbyterian minister of high standing and ability. Her principal literary works are magazine articles and journalistic work. Her profession is that of a Shakespearean Teacher. In religious faith she is Presbyterian. She is a graceful writer and speaker, a beautiful and accomplished woman, of great popularity as a social and literary leader in every community in which she sojourns. As a devoted and beloved wife, she is a model for the world, and a pillar of strength to her husband in his most noble work. Her present postoffice address is Buffalo, New York.\n[Page 544] \n* The full title of the address as delivered was, \"Katharina\" in \"The 'Taming of the Shrew' or The Rights of Men.\"","Downton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our ...\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses. Television drama, ... Belvoir Castle, as a business.\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses - The F-Word\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses\nTelevision drama, Downton Abbey and recent documentary, The Last Dukes both offer insights into the patriarchal traditions of the often unaccountable ruling class. Beccy Roberts challenges these traditions and discusses the importance of women in sustaining the UK’s country houses\nBeccy Roberts , 6 November 2015\nDownton Abbey recently saw the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) powerless to stop his outspoken eldest daughter Lady Mary, now joint agent of the family estate, and his wife Cora, an American heiress whose dowry saved Downton from ruin years earlier, opening up his home to the public to raise funds.\nCompare this to the documentary The Last Dukes, which was shown the following evening on BBC2, and it seems women don’t only run the show at the fictional Downton; the real Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire was saved by its own Lady Cora, when the 9th Duke of Marlborough married the American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1895, whereas Blair Castle in Scotland was saved by Lady Cowdray gifting a substantial amount of her money to her granddaughter Angela, whose son Iain became the 10th Duke of Atholl in 1957.\nIain left no heirs, resulting in the Dukedom being split between his half-sister Sarah Troughton, who got the castle and the land, and a distant cousin, Bruce Murray, who got the title. Sarah now runs the estate year round with great success. Meanwhile, Bruce, who lives in South Africa, visits once a year to take part in the chivalric ritual of overseeing his own private army. Both Sarah and Bruce are happy with the arrangement, with Bruce unable to imagine running such a complex establishment and Sarah unable to imagine being a Duchess: “I prefer to get on with the business side of things.”\nCould it be that women are better than men at the ‘business side of things’? Are the Dukes only able to don their coronets because their wives have got their thinking caps on? Within the class hierarchy of the UK, a Duke is the highest position a subject can achieve, with only royalty above him. The privilege of a Dukedom can only be bestowed by the monarch, with the last non-royal Duke created way back in the reign of Queen Victoria.\nI would argue patriarchy itself needs to be destroyed so that some of our customs can live on in a way that fits with today’s culture\nThe reluctance of recent monarchs to create Dukes, along with the fact that Dukedoms can only be passed down the male line, is putting this symbol of the chivalric code in danger of becoming extinct. It is the patriarchal nature of this custom that is destroying it and I would argue patriarchy itself needs to be destroyed so that some of our customs can live on in a way that fits with today’s culture.\nThe Last Dukes shows how the Dukedom of Leeds has not survived to see the 21st Century, as Lady Camilla Osbourne was the only child of the 11th Duke of Leeds, and consequently there were no male heirs to carry on the title. Camilla tells director, Michael Waldman, rather matter-of-factly, “ If I’d been born a boy I would have been my father’s heir and 12th Duke of Leeds,” taking off the coronet she adds, “But I wasn’t.”\nJust as Dukedoms have dwindled in number over the years, stately homes have suffered a similar fate. During the 1950s and 1960s, in particular, many country houses were destroyed. Giles Worsley looked at the factors affecting the demise of the country house , noting that although death duties and the two world wars were intrinsic in making the cost of sustaining such houses almost impossible, the loss of power and political influence associated with the stately house also contributed to their downfall. These emblems of aristocratic pride have become wonders of a past time, no longer as influential in society as they were, just as Dukedoms have become less instrumental in the political sphere, the aristocracy proving rather more humorous than effective in the modern world .\nSimilar to how Bruce, the current Duke of Atholl, enjoys his title without the onerous trappings of managing the ancestral seat, Worsley notes how the 11th Duke of Leeds preferred life on the French Riviera, free from responsibility and therefore in 1930 sold Hornby Castle in Yorkshire, which was later demolished. However, Sarah Troughton appears to relish the responsibility that comes with overseeing the Atholl estate and Lady Camilla Osbourne recognises that the family home, the demolished Hornby Castle, even with all its responsibility, would have given her father a much happier life, providing him with a purpose. Could it be that women are more attached to the home that comes with the Dukedom and the men to the title itself? After all, a woman’s place is apparently in the home. Surely, then, we should at least give women the right to make sure that home can survive?\nWomen have not only provided money to save country estates and the male-centred tradition they support, but have also generated money to pay for the upkeep of these country piles. The Last Dukes is definitely not oblivious to the importance of women in sustaining the custom of Dukedom, with one section titled ‘The Determined Duchess’. In this segment, we hear from The Duchess of Rutland, who runs the ancestral seat, Belvoir Castle, as a business. Given a tin of keys for the Castle by her mother-in-law, along with an ominous good luck wish, the Duchess set about commercialising the castle to provide a sufficient income to maintain it. Now estranged from her husband, the Duchess lives in one tower of the castle while the Duke inhabits the other.\nWe do see a different side to the Duchess when she talks of how she felt pressurised by the patriarchal dukedom system to produce a male heir\nThere’s no Rapunzel at Belvoir though; the Duchess, with her perfectly coiffed hair and wedged espadrilles needs no man to rescue her. As Chief Executive, she has a savvy business brain and markets her home primarily to the Asian Wedding scene – a rich pool in the Midlands where Belvoir sits. We hear how she negotiated with the government over inheritance tax so she could reduce the number of days Belvoir opens to the public and focus on weddings and elaborate shooting parties.\nWe see the Duchess visiting two of her employees on the estate and hear how, in order to make the estate more financially sustainable, she restructured the workforce, making many employees redundant. Although the farmer praises the Duchess’ actions, seeing them as necessary for the improvement in the efficiency of the estate, the nervous laughter by both parties proves slightly uncomfortable to watch.\nUnlike Lady Mary in Downton Abbey – who found herself warming to Barrow, the under-butler facing the chop, as he piggy-backed her son George along the gallery – the Duchess of Rutland seems less sympathetic. Indeed, I found myself wondering how many of her servants ended their last day as Barrow ended his at Downton – crying into the fire. We do see a different side to the Duchess when she talks of how she felt pressurised by the patriarchal dukedom system to produce a male heir, but this clearly turned out to be a temporary concern for her because, after three daughters, she had two boys (well one always needs an heir and a spare).\nNot all the Dukes in the programme live in such grand establishments as Belvoir, however. The Duke of St. Albans’ ancestral seat, Bestwood Lodge, is now a Best Western hotel (the idea of charging the public to see inside a stately home perhaps taken to the extreme). The current Duke, now living in a terraced house in London, still displays characteristics of a country squire; he’s disgruntled by the fact his ancient title of Hereditary Grand Falconer no longer gets him his haunch of venison from Richmond Park every year, after the Labour government under Blair did away with the privilege to save money. There might not be a country home to sustain here but the Duchess of St. Albans, once again, stands out as the stronger character of the two. She barely lets the Duke get a word in edgeways and as she presents his ceremonial robes to the camera there is an impression that, although he gets to wear these vestments of power on state occasions, he never gets to ‘wear the trousers’ at home.\nWe need to challenge the rituals restricting women’s influence in the management and ownership of ancestral seats\nAlthough you’ve probably heard of the current Duke of Marlborough due to his list of criminal convictions – which are even longer than the list of titles his fellow Duke of Atholl has trouble remembering – I doubt you’ve heard much of his sister Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill. She is acutely aware of the instability of the country house and recognises that the ability to capitalise on the public’s fascination with such majestic buildings is necessary to sustain the life she and her sibling currently enjoy. This understanding of, and interest in, her ancestral seat comes as no surprise. After all, she descends from the first Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, who famously had a disagreement with the architect John Vanbrugh about the design of the building of Blenheim during the early years of the 18th Century. Churchill had no qualms standing up to her husband’s architect, revealing “I made Mr. Vanbrugh my enemy by the constant disputes I had with him to prevent his extravagance.” As Lady Henrietta confidently glides through the private apartments of Blenheim in the documentary, I almost expect her to break into song:\nNow there was a time when they used to say, That behind every great man there had to be a great woman. But in these times of change, you know that it’s no longer true ….\nBecause, it seems, sisters are doing it for themselves, and wives, come to think of it.\nBlenheim Palace welcomes around 700,000 visitors a year and Downton Abbey reaches an audience of over seven million – nine million at its peak – perhaps indicating the fascination many people have with seeing how the rich live or used to live. I suggest we need to look at the country house in a way that challenges the patriarchal rituals restricting women’s influence in the management and ownership of ancestral seats. If women were able to inherit the title of Duchess, rather than only being able to achieve this status through marriage – as a consequence of connection to a man – there would be a greater opportunity for women to play a more decisive role in the fate of country houses. Would the Duchess of Rutland be managing Belvoir Castle if her husband didn’t still live in one of the towers? Is his presence at the Castle needed to condone his wife’s management of the building?\nAlthough one gets the impression the ‘Determined Duchess’ would not let go of the castle easily if the situation with her husband changed, just as Lady Anne Clifford fought for her rightful inheritance in the 17th Century ; a fter years of struggle in a patriarchal society, Anne’s perseverance paid off and she became the owner of the family estates in Yorkshire. She then remodelled many of the castles, such as Skipton, Brough and Brougham, conserving them for future generations.\nPerhaps we should acknowledge that women could be the key in sustaining these beautiful mementoes to the past and remember that, unlike the Duchess of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, we don’t have a whole load of keys to choose from.\nThe last episode of Downton Abbey will be screened on Sunday (8 November) on ITV1, with catch-up available on ITV Player . The Last Dukes is on BBC iPlayer until 26 November.\n[Image descriptions and credits:\n1. Head and shoulders shot of Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey. Her right hand is under her chin and she has a fond expression that suggests she may be listening to a story from a dear friend or family member. From the ITV website and shared under fair dealing. Credit: ITV/Downton Abbey.\n2. Lady Camilla Osborne, daughter of the late 10th Duke of Leeds, wearing the Duke’s coronet, in her bedroom in London. Image Credit: BBC/Spun Gold TV. Photographer: Grab. Image Copyright: Spun Gold TV.]\nBeccy Roberts is a doctor of architectural history working in the heritage industry. She has recently started her own blog, Working with Anxiety , about mental health issues and begun proofreading and copy-editing for Wordscene . She has also started contributing to Neeach , a social network dedicated to food. All this has given her a taste for writing that she hopes to keep feeding"],"string":"[\n \"Sense_and_Sensibility.txt\\nSense and Sensibility\\nSense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, and was her first published work when it appeared in 1811 under the pseudonym \\\"A Lady\\\". A work of romantic fiction, and a comedy of manners, Sense and Sensibility is set in southwest England, London and Kent between 1792 and 1797, and portrays the life and loves of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. The novel follows the young women to their new home, a meagre cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience love, romance and heartbreak.\\n\\nTitle\\n\\nJane Austen wrote the first draft of the novel in the form of a novel-in-letters (epistolary form) sometime around 1795 when she was about 19 years old, and gave it the title Elinor and Marianne. She later changed the form to a narrative and the title to Sense and Sensibility. \\\"Sense\\\" in the book means good judgment or prudence, and \\\"sensibility\\\" means sensitivity or emotionality. \\\"Sense\\\" is identified with the character of Elinor, while \\\"sensibility\\\" is identified with the character of Marianne. By changing the title, Austen added \\\"philosophical depth\\\" to what began as a sketch of two characters. The title of the book, and that of her next published novel, Pride and Prejudice (1813), may be suggestive of political conflicts of the 1790s. \\n\\nSource texts\\n\\nAusten also drew inspiration for Sense and Sensibility from other novels of the 1790s that treated similar themes, including Adam Stevenson's \\\"Life and Love\\\" (1785) which he had written about himself and a relationship that wasn't meant to be, Also Jane West's, A Gossip's Story (1796), which features two sisters, one full of rational sense and the other of romantic, emotive sensibility. West’s romantic sister-heroine shares a first name with Austen’s: Marianne. There are further textual similarities, described in a modern edition of West's novel. \\n\\nCritical views \\n\\nAusten biographer Claire Tomalin argues that Sense and Sensibility has a \\\"wobble in its approach\\\", which developed because Austen, in the course of writing the novel, gradually became less certain about whether sense or sensibility should triumph. Austen characterises Marianne as a sweet lady with attractive qualities: intelligence, musical talent, frankness, and the capacity to love deeply. She also acknowledges that Willoughby, with all his faults, continues to love and, in some measure, appreciate Marianne. For these reasons, some readers find Marianne's ultimate marriage to Colonel Brandon an unsatisfactory ending. \\n\\nOther interpretations, however, have argued that Austen's intention was not to debate the superior value of either sense or sensibility in good judgment, but rather to demonstrate that both qualities are equally important, but must be in balance.\\n\\nPlot summary \\n\\nWhen Mr. Henry Dashwood dies, his house, Norland Park, passes directly to his only son John, the child of his first wife. His second wife, Mrs. Dashwood, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, inherit only a small income. On his deathbed, Mr. Dashwood extracts a promise from his son, that he will take care of his half-sisters; however, John's selfish and greedy wife, Fanny, soon persuades him to renege on the promise. John and Fanny immediately move in as the new owners of Norland, while the Dashwood women are treated as unwelcome guests. Mrs. Dashwood begins looking for somewhere else to live.\\n\\nIn the meantime, Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars, a pleasant, unassuming, intelligent but reserved young man, visits Norland and soon forms an attachment with Elinor. Fanny disapproves of the match and offends Mrs. Dashwood with the implication that Elinor is motivated by money. Mrs. Dashwood indignantly speeds her search for a new home.\\n\\nMrs. Dashwood moves her family to Barton Cottage in Devonshire, near the home of her cousin, Sir John Middleton. Their new home is modest; however, they are warmly received by Sir John, and welcomed into local society—meeting his wife, Lady Middleton, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings and his friend, the grave, quiet and gentlemanly Colonel Brandon. It soon becomes apparent that Colonel Brandon is attracted to Marianne, and Mrs. Jennings teases them about it. Marianne is not pleased as she considers the thirty-five-year-old Colonel Brandon an old bachelor, incapable of falling in love or inspiring love in anyone else.\\n\\nMarianne, out for a walk, gets caught in the rain, slips and sprains her ankle. The dashing, handsome John Willoughby sees the accident and assists her. Marianne quickly comes to admire his good looks and outspoken views on poetry, music, art and love. Mr. Willoughby's attentions are so overt that Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood begin to suspect that the couple are secretly engaged. Elinor cautions Marianne against her unguarded conduct, but Marianne refuses to check her emotions. Unexpectedly, Mr. Willoughby informs the Dashwoods that his aunt is sending him to London on business, indefinitely. Marianne is distraught and abandons herself to her sorrow.\\n\\nEdward Ferrars then pays a short visit to Barton Cottage but seems unhappy. Elinor fears that he no longer has feelings for her, but feels compelled, by a sense of duty, to protect her family from knowing her heartache. Soon after Edward departs, Anne and Lucy Steele, the vulgar and uneducated cousins of Lady Middleton, come to stay at Barton Park. Lucy informs Elinor of her secret four-year engagement to Edward Ferrars, displaying proofs. Elinor comes to understand Edward's recent behaviour towards her and acquits him of blame. She pities Edward for being held to a loveless engagement by his sense of honour.\\n\\nAs winter approaches, Elinor and Marianne accompany Mrs. Jennings to London. On arriving, Marianne rashly writes a series of personal letters to Willoughby, which go unanswered. When they finally meet, Mr. Willoughby greets Marianne reluctantly and coldly, to her extreme distress. Soon Marianne receives a curt letter enclosing their former correspondence and love tokens, including a lock of her hair and informing her of his engagement to a young lady with a large fortune. Marianne is devastated, and admits to Elinor that she and Willoughby were never engaged, but she loved him and he led her to believe he loved her. In sympathy for Marianne, and to illuminate Willoughby's true character, Colonel Brandon reveals to Elinor that Willoughby had seduced Brandon's fifteen-year-old ward, Miss Williams, then abandoned her when she became pregnant. Brandon had been in love with her mother, who had been his father's ward and who had been forced into an unhappy marriage to his brother; Marianne strongly reminds him of her.\\n\\nIn the meantime, the Steele sisters have come to London as guests of John and Fanny Dashwood. Lucy sees her invitation to the Dashwoods' as a personal compliment, rather than what it is, a slight to Elinor. In the false confidence of their popularity, Anne Steele betrays Lucy's secret. As a result, the Misses Steele are turned out of the house, and Edward is ordered to break off the engagement on pain of disinheritance. Edward, refuses to comply and is immediately disinherited in favour of his brother, gaining widespread respect for his conduct, and sympathy from Elinor and Marianne who understand how much he has sacrificed. Colonel Brandon shows his admiration by offering Edward the living of Delaford parsonage.\\n\\nMrs. Jennings takes Elinor and Marianne to the country to visit her second daughter. In her misery over Willoughby's marriage, Marianne becomes dangerously ill. Willoughby arrives to repent and reveals to Elinor that his love for Marianne was genuine. When his aunt learned of his behaviour towards Miss Williams and disinherited him, he felt he had to marry for money rather than love. But he elicits Elinor's pity because his choice has made him unhappy.\\n\\nWhen Marianne recovers, Elinor tells her of Willoughby's visit. Marianne comes to see that she could never have been happy with Willoughby's immoral and expansive nature. She comes to value Elinor's conduct in a similar situation and resolves to model herself after Elinor's courage and good sense.\\n\\nOn learning that Lucy has married 'Mr. Ferrars', Elinor grieves, until Edward arrives and reveals that, after his disinheritance, Lucy jilted him in favour of his now wealthy brother, Robert. Edward and Elinor soon marry, and later Marianne marries Colonel Brandon, having gradually come to love him.\\n\\nCharacters\\n\\nMain characters\\n\\n*Elinor Dashwood — the sensible and reserved eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is 19 years old at the beginning of the book. She becomes attached to Edward Ferrars, the brother-in-law of her elder half-brother, John. Always feeling a keen sense of responsibility to her family and friends, she places their welfare and interests above her own, and suppresses her own strong emotions in a way that leads others to think she is indifferent or cold-hearted.\\n*Marianne Dashwood — the romantically inclined and eagerly expressive second daughter of Mr and Mrs Henry Dashwood. She is 16 years old at the beginning of the book. She is the object of the attentions of Colonel Brandon and Mr. Willoughby. She is attracted to young, handsome, romantically spirited Willoughby and does not think much of the older, more reserved Colonel Brandon. Marianne undergoes the most development within the book, learning her sensibilities have been selfish. She decides her conduct should be more like that of her elder sister, Elinor.\\n*Edward Ferrars — the elder of Fanny Dashwood's two brothers. He forms an attachment to Elinor Dashwood. Years before meeting the Dashwoods, Ferrars proposed to Lucy Steele, the niece of his tutor. The engagement has been kept secret owing to the expectation that Ferrars' family would object to his marrying Miss Steele. He is disowned by his mother on discovery of the engagement after refusing to give it up.\\n*John Willoughby — a philandering nephew of a neighbour of the Middletons, a dashing figure who charms Marianne and shares her artistic and cultural sensibilities. It is generally presumed by many of their mutual acquaintances that he is engaged to marry Marianne (partly due to her own overly familiar actions, i.e., addressing personal letters directly to him).\\n*Colonel Brandon — a close friend of Sir John Middleton. He is 35 years old at the beginning of the book. He falls in love with Marianne at first sight, as she reminds him of his father's ward whom he had fallen in love with when he was young. He is prevented from marrying the ward because his father was determined she marry his older brother. He was sent into the military abroad to be away from her, and while gone, the girl suffered numerous misfortunes—partly as a consequence of her unhappy marriage. She finally dies penniless and disgraced, and with a natural (i.e., illegitimate) daughter, who becomes the ward of the Colonel. He is a very honourable friend to the Dashwoods, particularly Elinor, and offers Edward Ferrars a living after Edward is disowned by his mother.\\n\\nMinor characters\\n\\n*Henry Dashwood – a wealthy gentleman who dies at the beginning of the story. The terms of his estate — entailment to a male heir — prevent him from leaving anything to his second wife and their children. He asks John, his son by his first wife, to look after (meaning ensure the financial security of) his second wife and their three daughters.\\n*Mrs. Dashwood – the second wife of Henry Dashwood, who is left in difficult financial straits by the death of her husband. She is 40 years old at the beginning of the book. Much like her daughter Marianne, she is very emotive and often makes poor decisions based on emotion rather than reason.\\n*Margaret Dashwood – the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is thirteen at the beginning of the book. She is also romantic and good-tempered but not expected to be as clever as her sisters when she grows older.\\n*John Dashwood – the son of Henry Dashwood by his first wife. He intends to do well by his half-sisters, but he has a keen sense of avarice, and is easily swayed by his wife.\\n*Fanny Dashwood – the wife of John Dashwood, and sister to Edward and Robert Ferrars. She is vain, selfish, and snobbish. She spoils her son Harry. She is very harsh to her husband's half-sisters and stepmother, especially since she fears her brother Edward is attached to Elinor.\\n*Sir John Middleton – a distant relative of Mrs Dashwood who, after the death of Henry Dashwood, invites her and her three daughters to live in a cottage on his property. Described as a wealthy, sporting man who served in the army with Colonel Brandon, he is very affable and keen to throw frequent parties, picnics, and other social gatherings to bring together the young people of their village. He and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, make a jolly, teasing, and gossipy pair.\\n*Lady Middleton – the genteel, but reserved wife of Sir John Middleton, she is quieter than her husband, and is primarily concerned with mothering her four spoiled children.\\n*Mrs Jennings – mother to Lady Middleton and Charlotte Palmer. A widow who has married off all her children, she spends most of her time visiting her daughters and their families, especially the Middletons. She and her son-in-law, Sir John Middleton, take an active interest in the romantic affairs of the young people around them and seek to encourage suitable matches, often to the particular chagrin of Elinor and Marianne.\\n*Robert Ferrars – the younger brother of Edward Ferrars and Fanny Dashwood, he is most concerned about status, fashion, and his new barouche. He subsequently marries Miss Lucy Steele after Edward is disowned.\\n*Mrs. Ferrars – Fanny Dashwood and Edward and Robert Ferrars' mother. A bad-tempered, unsympathetic woman who embodies all the foibles demonstrated in Fanny and Robert's characteristics. She is determined that her sons should marry well.\\n*Charlotte Palmer – the daughter of Mrs. Jennings and the younger sister of Lady Middleton, Mrs Palmer is jolly but empty-headed and laughs at inappropriate things, such as her husband's continual rudeness to her and to others.\\n*Thomas Palmer – the husband of Charlotte Palmer who is running for a seat in Parliament, but is idle and often rude. He is considerate toward the Dashwood sisters.\\n*Lucy Steele – a young, distant relation of Mrs. Jennings, who has for some time been secretly engaged to Edward Ferrars. She assiduously cultivates the friendship with Elinor Dashwood and Mrs John Dashwood. Limited in formal education and financial means, she is nonetheless attractive, clever, manipulative, cunning and scheming.\\n*Anne/Nancy Steele – Lucy Steele's elder, socially inept, and less clever sister.\\n*Miss Sophia Grey – a wealthy and malicious heiress whom Mr. Willoughby marries to retain his comfortable lifestyle after he is disinherited by his aunt.\\n*Lord Morton – the father of Miss Morton.\\n*Miss Morton – a wealthy woman whom Mrs. Ferrars wants her eldest son, Edward, and later Robert, to marry.\\n*Mr Pratt – an uncle of Lucy Steele and Edward's tutor.\\n*Eliza Williams (daughter) – the ward of Col. Brandon, she is about 15 years old and bore an illegitimate child to John Willoughby. She has the same name as her mother.\\n*Eliza Williams (mother) – the former love interest of Colonel Brandon. Williams was Brandon's father's ward, and was forced to marry Brandon's older brother. The marriage was an unhappy one, and it is revealed that her daughter was left as Colonel Brandon's ward when he found his lost love dying in a poorhouse.\\n*Mrs. Smith – the wealthy aunt of Mr. Willoughby who disowns him for seducing and abandoning the young Eliza Williams, Col. Brandon's ward.\\n\\nPublication\\n\\nIn 1811, Thomas Egerton of the Military Library publishing house in London accepted the manuscript for publication in three volumes. Austen paid to have the book published and paid the publisher a commission on sales. The cost of publication was more than a third of Austen's annual household income of £460 (about £15,000 in 2008 currency). She made a profit of £140 (almost £5,000 in 2008 currency) on the first edition, which sold all 750 printed copies by July 1813. A second edition was advertised in October 1813.\\n\\nAdaptations\\n\\nThe book has been adapted for film and television a number of times, including a 1981 serial for TV directed by Rodney Bennett; a 1995 movie adapted by Emma Thompson and directed by Ang Lee; a version in Tamil called Kandukondain Kandukondain, released in 2000, starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan; and a 2008 TV series on BBC adapted by Andrew Davies and directed by John Alexander.\\n\\nSense & Sensibility, the Musical (book and lyrics by Jeffrey Haddow and music by Neal Hampton) received its world premiere by the Denver Center Theatre Company in April 2013 staged by Tony-nominated director Marcia Milgrom Dodge. In 2014, the Utah Shakespeare Festival presented Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan's adaptation of the novel. In 2016, the [http://bedlam.org/ Bedlam theatrical troupe] mounted a well-received minimalist production, adapted by Kate Hamill and directed by Eric Tucker, from a repertory run in 2014. \\n\\nIn 2013, author Joanna Trollope published her own version of the story, bringing the characters into the present day and providing modern satire.\",\n \"Sense and Sensibility Summary | GradeSaver\\nSense and Sensibility study guide contains a ... Elinor and Marianne meet the Middletons ... Representations of Mothers in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility;\\nSense and Sensibility Summary | GradeSaver\\nSense and Sensibility Summary\\nBuy Study Guide\\nThe Dashwood family is introduced; Mr. and Mrs. Dashwood and their three daughters live at Norland Park, an estate in Sussex. Unfortunately, Mr. Dashwood's wife and daughters are left with very little when he dies and the estate goes to his son, John Dashwood . John and his wife Fanny (nee Ferrars) have a great deal of money, yet refuse to help his half-sisters and their mother.\\nElinor, one of the Dashwood girls, is entirely sensible and prudent; her sister, Marianne, is very emotional and never moderate. Margaret, the youngest sister, is young and good-natured. Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters stay at Norland for a few months, mostly because of the promising friendship developing between Elinor and Edward Ferrars , Fanny's shy, but very kind, brother. Elinor likes Edward, but is not convinced her feelings are mutual; Fanny is especially displeased by their apparent regard, as Edward's mother wants him to marry very well.\\nA relative of Mrs. Dashwood's, Sir John Middleton , offers them a cottage at Barton Park in Devonshire; the family must accept, and are sad at leaving their home and having to separate Edward and Elinor. They find Barton Cottage and the countryside around it charming, and Sir John Middleton a very kind and obliging host. His wife, Lady Middleton , is cold and passionless; still, they accept frequent invitations to dinners and parties at Barton Park.\\nThe Dashwoods meet Mrs. Jennings , Sir John's mother-in-law, a merry, somewhat vulgar older woman, and Colonel Brandon , a gentleman and a bachelor. The Colonel is soon taken with Marianne, but Marianne objects to Mrs. Jennings attempts to get them together, and to the \\\"advanced\\\" age (35) and serious demeanor of the Colonel.\\nMarianne falls and twists her ankle while walking; she is lucky enough to be found and carried home by a dashing man named Willoughby. Marianne and Willoughby have a similar romantic temperament, and Marianne is much pleased to find that Willoughby has a passion for art, poetry, and music. Willoughby and Marianne's attachment develops steadily, though Elinor believes that they should be more restrained in showing their regard publicly.\\nOne pleasant day, the Middletons, the Dashwoods, and Willoughby are supposed to go on a picnic with the Colonel, but their plans are ditched when Colonel Brandon is forced to leave because of distressing news. Willoughby becomes an even more attentive guest at the cottage, spending a great deal more time there than Allenham with his aunt. Willoughby openly confesses his affections for Marianne and for all of them, and hopes they will always think of him as fondly as he does of them; this leaves Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor convinced that if Marianne and Willoughby are not engaged, they soon will be.\\nOne morning, Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor, and Margaret leave the couple, hoping for a proposal; when they return, they find Marianne crying, and Willoughby saying that he must immediately go to London. Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor are completely unsettled by this hasty departure, and Elinor fears that they might have had a falling-out. Marianne is torn up by Willoughby's departure, and Elinor begins to question whether Willoughby's intentions were honorable. But, whether Willoughby and Marianne are engaged remains a mystery, as Marianne will not speak of it.\\nEdward comes to visit them at Barton, and is welcomed very warmly as their guest. It is soon apparent that Edward is unhappy, and doesn't show as much affection for Elinor; when they spot a ring he is wearing, with a lock of hair suspiciously similar to Elinor's, even Elinor is baffled. Edward finally forces himself to leave, still seeming distressed.\\nSir John and Mrs. Jennings soon introduce Mrs. Jennings' other daughter, Mrs. Palmer , and her husband to the family. Mrs. Palmer says that people in town believe that Willoughby and Marianne will soon be married, which puzzles Elinor, as she knows of no such arrangements herself. Elinor and Marianne meet the Middletons' new guests, the Miss Steeles, apparently cousins; they find Miss Steele to be nothing remarkable, while Lucy is very pretty but not much better company. However, the Miss Steeles instantly gain Lady Middleton's admiration by paying endless attention to her obnoxious children.\\nElinor, unfortunately, becomes the preferred companion of Lucy. Lucy inquires of Mrs. Ferrars , which prompts Elinor to ask about her acquaintance with the Ferrars family; Lucy then reveals that she is secretly engaged to Edward. It turns out that Edward and Lucy knew each other while Edward studied with Lucy's uncle, Mr. Pratt, and have been engaged for some years. Although Elinor is first angry about Edward's secrecy, she soon sees that marrying Lucy will be punishment enough, as she is unpolished, manipulative, and jealous of Edward's high regard for Elinor.\\nThe Miss Steeles end up staying at Barton Park for two months. Mrs. Jennings invites Marianne and Elinor to spend the winter with her in London. Marianne is determined to go to see Willoughby, and Elinor decides she must go too, because Marianne needs Elinor's polite guidance. They accept the invitation, and leave in January. Once in town, they find Mrs. Jennings' house comfortable, and their company less than ideal; still, they try their best to enjoy it all.\\nMarianne anxiously awaits Willoughby's arrival, while Elinor finds her greatest enjoyment in Colonel Brandon's daily visits. Elinor is much disturbed when Colonel Brandon tells her that the engagement between Marianne and Willoughby is widely known throughout town. At a party, Elinor and Marianne see Willoughby; Marianne approaches him, although he avoids Marianne, and his behavior is insulting.\\nMarianne angrily writes Willoughby, and receives a reply in which he denies having loved Marianne, and says he hopes he didn't lead her on. Marianne is deeply grieved at being deceived and dumped so coldly; Elinor feels only anger at Willoughby's unpardonable behavior. Marianne then reveals that she and Willoughby were never engaged, and Elinor observes that Marianne should have been more prudent in her affections. Apparently, Willoughby is to marry the wealthy Lady Grey due to his constant need for money.\\nColonel Brandon calls after hearing the news, and offers up his knowledge of Willoughby's character to Elinor. Colonel Brandon was once in love with a ward to his family, Eliza, who became a fallen woman and had an illegitimate daughter. Colonel Brandon placed the daughter, Miss Williams , in care after her mother's death. The Colonel learned on the day of the Delaford picnic that she had become pregnant, and was abandoned by Willoughby. Elinor is shocked, though the Colonel sincerely hopes that this will help Marianne feel better about losing Willoughby, since he was not of solid character.\\nThe story convinces Marianne of Willoughby's guilt, though it does not ease her mind. Out of sympathy, Marianne also stops avoiding the Colonel's company and becomes more civil to him. Willoughby is soon married, which Marianne is grieved to hear; then, again unfortunately, the Miss Steeles come to stay with the Middletons.\\nJohn and Fanny Dashwood arrive, and are introduced to Mrs. Jennings, and to Sir John and Lady Middleton, deeming them worthy company. John reveals to Elinor that Edward is soon to be married to Miss Morton , an orphan with a great deal of money left to her, as per the plans of his mother. At a dinner party given by John and Fanny for their new acquaintance, Mrs. Ferrars is present, along with the entire Barton party. Mrs. Ferrars turns out to be sallow, unpleasant, and uncivil; she slights Elinor, which hurts Marianne deeply, as she is Edward's mother.\\nThe Miss Steeles are invited to stay with John and Fanny. But, Mrs. Jennings soon informs them that Miss Steele told Fanny of Lucy and Edward's engagement, and that the Ferrars family threw the Steele girls out in a rage. Marianne is much grieved to hear of the engagement, and cannot believe that Elinor has also kept her knowledge of it a secret for so long. Edward is to be disinherited if he chooses to marry Lucy; unfortunately, Edward is too honorable to reject Lucy, even if he no longer loves her. Financial obstacles to their marriage remain; he must find a position in the church that pays enough to allow them to marry. Much to Elinor's chagrin, the Colonel, although he barely knows Edward, generously offers the small parish at Delaford to him. Elinor is to convey the offer to Edward, though she regrets that it might help the marriage.\\nEdward is surprised at the generous offer, since he hardly knows the Colonel. Edward decides to accept the position; they say goodbye, as Elinor is to leave town soon. Much to Elinor's surprise, Robert Ferrars , Edward's selfish, vain, and rather dim brother, is now to marry Miss Morton; he has also received Edward's inheritance and money, and doesn't care about Edward's grim situation.\\nIt is April, and the Dashwood girls, the Palmers, and Mrs. Jennings, and Colonel Brandon set out for Cleveland, the Palmer's estate. Marianne is still feeling grief over Willoughby; she soon becomes ill after her walks in the rain, and gets a serious fever. The Palmers leave with her child; Mrs. Jennings, though, helps Elinor nurse Marianne, and insists that Colonel Brandon stay, since he is anxious about Marianne's health. Colonel Brandon soon sets off to get Mrs. Dashwood from Barton when Marianne's illness worsens. At last, Marianne's state improves, right in time for her mother and the Colonel's arrival; but Willoughby makes an unexpected visit.\\nElinor is horrified at seeing him; he has come to inquire after Marianne's health and to explain his past actions. Willoughby says he led Marianne on at first out of vanity; he finally began to love her as well, and would have proposed to her, if not for the money.\\nBy saying that he also has no regard for his wife, and still loves Marianne, he attempts to gain Elinor's compassion; Elinor's opinion of him is somewhat improved in being assured of his regard for Marianne. Elinor cannot think him a total blackguard since he has been punished for his mistakes, and tells him so; Willoughby leaves with this assurance, lamenting that Marianne is lost to him forever.\\nMrs. Dashwood finally arrives, and Elinor assures her that Marianne is out of danger; both Mrs. Dashwood and the Colonel are relieved. Mrs. Dashwood tells Elinor that the Colonel had confessed his love for Marianne during the journey from Barton; Mrs. Dashwood wishes the Colonel and Marianne to be married. Elinor wishes the Colonel well in securing Marianne's affections, but is more pessimistic regarding Marianne's ability to accept the Colonel after disliking him for so long.\\nMarianne makes a quick recovery, thanking Colonel Brandon for his help and acting friendly toward him. Marianne finally seems calm and happy as they leave for Barton, which Elinor believes to signal Marianne's recovery from Willoughby. She is also far more mature, keeping herself busy and refusing to let herself languish in her grief.\\nWhen Marianne decides to talk about Willoughby, Elinor takes the opportunity to tell her what Willoughby had said at Cleveland, and Marianne takes this very well. Marianne also laments her selfishness toward Elinor, and her lack of civility toward most of their acquaintance. Marianne finally says that she could not have been happy with Willoughby, after hearing of his cruelty toward Miss Williams, and no longer regrets him.\\nThe family is stunned when one of their servants returns with news that Edward is married to Lucy, as he just saw them in the village. Elinor knows now that Edward is lost to her forever. Mrs. Dashwood sees how upset Elinor is, and realizes that Elinor felt more for Edward than she ever revealed. One afternoon, Elinor is convinced that the Colonel has arrived at the cottage, but is surprised to find that it is Edward instead. Their meeting is awkward at best; he soon informs them that it is his brother who has been married to Lucy, and not him. Elinor immediately runs from the room, crying out of joy; Edward then senses Elinor's regard for him, and proposes to her that afternoon. Elinor accepts and he gains Mrs. Dashwood's consent to the match.\\nEdward admits that any regard he had for Lucy was formed out of idleness and lack of knowledge; he came to regret the engagement soon after it was formed. After leaving London, Edward received a letter from Lucy saying that she had married his brother Robert, and has not seen her since; thus, he was honorably relieved of the engagement. After receiving the letter, he set out for Barton immediately to see Elinor. Edward will still accept the position at Delaford, although he and Elinor again will not have enough money to live on comfortably. The Colonel visits Barton, and he and Edward become good friends.\\nEdward then becomes reconciled with his family, although he does not regain his inheritance from Robert. His mother even gives her consent for his marriage to Elinor, however much she is displeased by it; she gives them ten thousand pounds, the interest of which will allow them to live comfortably. Edward and Elinor are married at Barton that fall.\\nMrs. Dashwood and her two remaining daughters spend most of their time at Delaford, both to be near Elinor, and out of the hope that Marianne might accept the Colonel. In the two years that have passed, Marianne has become more mature and more grounded; and she does finally change her mind about the Colonel, and accepts his offer of marriage. The Colonel becomes far more cheerful, and soon Marianne grows to love him as much as she ever loved Willoughby. Mrs. Dashwood remains at Barton with Margaret, now fifteen, much to the delight of Sir John, who retains their company. And Elinor and Marianne both live together at Delaford, and remain good friends with each other and each other's husbands.\",\n \"The Moonstone questions??? | Pride and Prejudice Questions ...\\nHome Pride and Prejudice Q & A The Moonstone questions ... of Rachel Verinder and Rosanna Spearman. Give examples from the ... for most of the book, ...\\nThe Moonstone questions??? | Pride and Prejudice Questions | Q & A | GradeSaver\\nAnswered by jill d #170087\\non 3/18/2012 6:26 PM\\n2) The Moonstone stands, in the first place, as a symbol for the exoticness, impenetrability, and dark mysticism of the East—Gabriel remarks that the stone \\\"seemed unfathomable as the heavens themselves\\\" and \\\"shone awfully out of the depths of its own brightness, with a moony gleam, in the dark.\\\" In the second place, the Moonstone is associated with femininity and even feminine virginity, through its associations with the moon and with pricelessness. The theft of the Moonstone from Rachel Verinder's bedroom by her nearly betrothed, Franklin Blake, can be read as a metaphor for her deflowering.\\n3) genre · Victorian novel; sensation novel; detective novel\\n5) narrator · The Moonstone features eleven different narrators: an unnamed cousin of John Herncastle; Gabriel Betteredge (steward to Lady Verinder); Miss Clack (Lady Verinder's niece); Mr. Bruff (Lady Verinder's lawyer); Franklin Blake (Lady Verinder's nephew); Ezra Jennings (assistant to Dr. Candy); Sergeant Cuff; Dr. Candy; Sergeant Cuff's investigator; the Captain of the steamboat Bewley Castle; Mr. Murthwaite (traveler to India). Gabriel Betteredge and Franklin Blake narrate more than two sections each. Everyone else narrates one section.\\npoint of view · The point of view is first person, according to whoever is narrating. Franklin Blake has solicited all of the characters' first-person narrations and acts as editor. He occasionally steps into a narrative with a footnote to offer a different viewpoint.\\ntone · The tone differs according to narrator. Betteredge's narrative has a tone of provincial good humor. Miss Clack's has a tone of self-righteous piety. The tone of the remaining narrators is mainly journalistic.\\ntense · Franklin Blake begins to solicit the narratives in May of 1850, so the narrators are writing in 1850 of events that took place in 1848 or 1849. Their narratives are largely in the past tense, slipping into the present tense to describe current interactions with Franklin as editor.\\n6)Rachel Verinder\\nRachel Verinder stands at the center of The Moonstone's plot, yet never speaks her own narrative. In fact, her character is defined largely by omission—omission of her own story—and her withholding of her knowledge about the theft of The Moonstone. This reticence makes Rachel an alluring heroine, according to the cultural logic by which women in a position of holding back are invested with a particular attractiveness. Aside from this quality, Rachel seems an un-idealized image of a heroine. Collins makes clear that she is slightly unconventional, physically, with small stature and dark features. Rachel challenges Victorian propriety and gender roles by treating men and women alike with a straightforward manner that can be startling in its lack of coyness. Rachel's most important character trait is her unwillingness to tell on the misdeeds of another. Collins is clear on the fact that this never amounts to dishonesty—instead of lying about a delicate subject, Rachel says nothing at all.\\nRachel's main conflict in the novel is an internal one: the evidence of her senses, which tell her that Franklin Blake stole her diamond and lied about it, must combat her passionate feelings of love and trust in Franklin. Rachel seems to have a tragic counterpart in the outcast Rosanna Spearman. The two women are kindred in their impassioned natures and love for Franklin Blake.\\nSource(s)\\nAnswered by jill d #170087\\non 3/18/2012 6:27 PM\\nPoor Rosanna. She's not a major character, but she plays an important role in moving the story forward. Like Rachel, if Rosanna had been more forthright, the mystery would not have been as long and drawn out. If Rosanna had gone to Lady Verinder with the stained nightgown, or even to Franklin himself, instead of hiding it in the quicksand, the mystery would have been solved. But Rosanna's reticence, or unwillingness to speak out, isn't the same as Rachel's. She refuses to speak because she's in love with Franklin Blake.\\nThis is actually kind of scandalous: a female servant in love with someone from the upper class? Especially a female servant with a disability? It was practically unheard of during the nineteenth century for any woman to admit that she was in love with a man before he made advances first. It was considered improper. And for a servant girl to admit that she was in love with a social superior? That was just socially wrong.\\nOr was it? Collins makes Rosanna a very sympathetic character. She doesn't have a lot going for her – she doesn't have a pretty face, one of her shoulders is deformed, she used to be a thief, and the other servants don't like her. But Collins shows that it's totally natural that she should fall in love with Franklin Blake. She has as much right to fall in love as Rachel has, even though Rosanna has less chance of happiness.\\nSource(s)\\nAnswered by jill d #170087\\non 3/18/2012 6:28 PM\\nThe Moonstone Narrator:\\nWho is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?\\nFirst Person (multiple central narrators)\\nThe Moonstone is composed of a series of first-person narratives, memos, letters, and journal entries. The bulk of it is told retrospectively, from the points of view of the people involved in the action. Franklin Blake, one of the main characters, is responsible for collecting all the documents, and Gabriel Betteredge, the first narrator, quotes Franklin Blake's explanation on the first page of his narrative:\\n'There can be no doubt that this strange family story of ours ought to be told. And I think, Betteredge, Mr. Bruff and I together have hit on the right way of telling it. […] We have certain events to relate, […] and we have certain persons concerned in those events who are capable of relating them. Starting from these plain facts, the idea is that we should all write the story of the Moonstone in turn—as far as our own personal experience extends, and no farther. (1.1.1.7-8)\\nSo the first assertion Franklin Blake makes is that the story \\\"ought to be told.\\\" He thinks that it's important for future generations of their family to know the truth about the Moonstone. He also thinks that there's a \\\"right way of telling it.\\\" Lucky us! We're sitting down to read a story that needs to be told, and we're going to hear it the only \\\"right way\\\" that it could be told. Of course, Franklin Blake wants to make sure that the bare facts are told – the reader (his imagined future generations) should be allowed to judge for him or herself. So that puts us in the position of detective – we hear the events just as the characters themselves experienced them, and we know only what they knew at the time.\\nSource(s)\\nAnswered by jill d #170087\\non 3/18/2012 6:29 PM\\nRachel is one of the central characters of the novel. You might even think of her as the romantic heroine, since she's the pretty girl that everyone wants to marry. Yet we never hear the story from her point of view. Why is that? Well, for one thing, it would spoil the suspense: she knows from the beginning that Franklin Blake took the Moonstone, although she doesn't know the reason why. And she keeps that knowledge to herself for most of the book, right up until Franklin forces her to speak out.\\nThat reticence, or unwillingness to speak out, is one aspect of Rachel's character that is continually brought up. She's not chatty or gossipy like the other girls of her age. She doesn't tend to ask for advice. She is stubbornly secretive. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? On the one hand, it makes her very independent. She doesn't rely on anyone else to give her advice. When she has a difficult decision to make, she takes her time, considers her options, and makes up her mind on her own.\\nBeing self-reliant is a good thing, right? Isn't it good that she doesn't tattle-tale on people she likes, even when it means getting in trouble herself? Sure, but up to a point. Think about how much time and trouble would have been saved if she had just confronted Franklin the morning after the diamond was stolen, and said, \\\"Look, Franklin, I SAW you take it!\\\" They would have figured out pretty quickly what must have happened, and the novel would have ended about three hundred pages sooner.\\nSo Rachel's reticence is partly a plot device: for the story to go forward, it's necessary that Rachel should withhold what she knows. But it's also a comment about gender and femininity. When Gabriel Betteredge first describes her, he compares her to \\\"other girls of her age,\\\" saying that \\\"she judged for herself, as few women of twice her age judge in general\\\" (1.1.8.19). Betteredge describes this as a \\\"defect,\\\" though – it's not a compliment to say that a young woman is \\\"independent\\\" during the Victorian period. Mr. Bruff thinks so, too, generally speaking. But in Rachel, he considers it a virtue:\\nThis absolute self dependence is a great virtue in a man. In a woman it has the serious drawback of morally separating her from the mass of her sex, and so exposing her to misconstruction by the general opinion. I strongly suspect myself of thinking as the rest of the world think in this matter—except in the case of Rachel Verinder. The self-dependence in her character, was one of its virtues in my estimation. (2.2.1.55)\\nMost women, according to Mr. Bruff, should allow themselves to be guided by outside advice, while it's good for men, in general, to think for themselves. He's willing to make an exception for Rachel, though, because he knows that she's intelligent and sensible enough to make good decisions, even without asking advice.\\nSo where does that leave us? Most characters in the novel seem to hold the general view that women need guidance from men. But then, Mr. Bruff makes exceptions for women like Lady Verinder and Rachel who don't actually need guidance. It seems that Wilkie Collins might be making fun of the commonly held, sexist belief that women need men's advice to make important decisions. Everyone keeps saying that women need help, but in practice, none of the main female characters actually do.\\nSource(s)\\nLog In To Your GradeSaver Account\\nEmail\",\n \"Character List - cliffsnotes.com\\nSarah Woodruff She is an ... Charles Smithson He is a wealthy gentleman and is heir to a minor title. ... represents a type of Victorian character who seems more ...\\nCharacter List\\nCharacter List\\n Bookmark this page Manage My Reading List\\nSarah Woodruff She is an educated but impoverished young woman. She is called \\\"the French Lieutenant's Woman\\\" or \\\"Tragedy\\\" or the \\\"French lieutenant's whore\\\" because it is believed that she had an affair with a shipwrecked French sailor. It is also believed that she is half-mad with grief and that she stares out to sea, vainly hoping for the day he will return to her. Because of her reputation she can no longer gain any employment until Mrs. Poulteney hires her as a paid companion. Sarah is a mysterious figure. No one knows much about her, and later we find that much of what people believe about her is untrue.\\nCharles Smithson He is a wealthy gentleman and is heir to a minor title. His hobby is collecting fossils and he considers himself to be something of a naturalist. He is an admirer of the controversial Darwin and he is rather pleased with himself that he is one of a minority in the 1860s to hold scientifically advanced ideas, such as the theories espoused by Darwin and others. He is both sensitive and intelligent, but he is unsure of himself. He is bored and dissatisfied with the course his life is taking. His fiancée is Ernestina Freeman, but that relationship is changed when he meets Sarah Woodruff.\\nErnestina Freeman Ernestina is Charles' fiancée. She is attractive and clever but also very young and naive. Although she considers herself to be a modern young woman, her attitudes are similar, for the most part, to those of most proper young ladies. She is vacationing in Lyme when the story opens, staying with Aunt Tranter.\\nAunt Tranter Ernestina's aunt is a kindly woman whose temperament contrasts greatly with that of the sharp-tongued Mrs. Poulteney. Aunt Tranter's honesty and lack of hypocrisy seem to present a welcome bright spot in the small town governed by the malicious gossip of less charitable souls.\\nMrs. Poulteney The vicar convinces the wealthy widow to take in Sarah Woodruff and give her employment. Mrs. Poulteney's main motive in doing so is to show how charitable she is, and it does not stem from any real feelings of compassion for Sarah. Mrs. Poulteney is a stereotype, a conglomerate of all the malicious old villainesses who have appeared in numerous Victorian novels.\\nDr. Grogan He is a friendly man whom Charles finds to be a sympathetic listener. Although he feels sorry for Sarah Woodruff, unlike Charles, he cannot take her seriously. He tries to convince Charles that she really is ill. Dr. Grogan, like Aunt Tranter, represents a type of Victorian character who seems more understanding and less hampered by convention than most people. Part of the reason for this is that both of the older people actually belong to the generation before Victoria's, an era somewhat less repressive in certain respects.\\nCaptain and Mrs. Talbot Sarah was the governess for the Talbot's children when she met the French lieutenant. Even after she told them of her experience with him, they did not condemn her for it.\\nLieutenant Varguennes Caught in a shipwreck, his leg was injured, and Varguennes was nursed at the home of the Talbots, mostly by Sarah. Although he flirted with Sarah, and wished to seduce her, he was married, as she later found out.\\nMrs. Fairley She is Mrs. Poulteney's housekeeper and is as unkind as her mistress. She delights in spying on Sarah and reporting her activities to Mrs. Poulteney.\\nMillie Mrs. Poulteney's young maid who is befriended by Sarah.\\nMary Aunt Tranter's maid whose life is considerably more pleasant than Millie's. She eventually marries Charles' man-servant, Sam Farrow.\\nSam Farrow While Sam is often the object of Charles' teasing, he is not merely a humorous figure as was Dickens' Sam Weller. He takes himself seriously and is an ambitious member of the working class. He is determined to wed Mary and make a good life for the two of them.\\nSir Robert Charles Smithson's uncle. It is his title that Charles hopes to inherit, although that prospect is altered when Sir Robert marries Mrs. Tomkins, an attractive widow.\\nLieutenant de la Roncière and Marie de Morell These are two individuals in a case history given to Charles by Dr. Grogan for him to read. The doctor hopes that reading about how the neurotic young woman convinced the French courts that she had been assaulted and her family sent poison-pen letters by the officer would convince Charles that Sarah possibly had similar intentions regarding him. While Charles conceded that the story might be true, he did not believe it applied to Sarah.\\nMr. Freeman He was a haberdasher who became very successful. One sign of his success was that he, a member of the middle class, could have his daughter marry one of the nobility.\\nGabriel and Christina Rosseti They were the founders of a school of art called the Pre-Raphaelite school. In their day they were considered as radical as Mr. Freeman was conservative. However, by the time Sarah came to stay with them, their work, while still shocking to some, was coming to be more accepted.\\nJohn Fowles He is the bearded man who enters the novel several times as an observer and sometimes as a sort of theatrical director. He comments on the actions of his characters and discusses the relationship between the art of the novel and life.\",\n \"Short Stories: The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by ...\\nFull online text of The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle. Other short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle also available ... His name is Armitage ...\\nShort Stories: The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle\\n< 2 >\\n \\\"My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.\\\"\\n I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis wlth which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.\\n \\\"Good-morning, madam,\\\" said Holmes cheerily. \\\"My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are shivering.\\\"\\n \\\"lt is not cold which makes me shiver,\\\" said the woman in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.\\n \\\"What, then?\\\"\\n \\\"It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.\\\" She raised her veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with restless frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.\\n \\\"You must not fear,\\\" said he soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm. \\\"We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see.\\\"\\n \\\"You know me, then?\\\"\\n \\\"No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station.\\\"\\n< 3 >\\n The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my companion.\\n \\\"There is no mystery, my dear madam,\\\" said he, smiling. \\\"The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.\\\"\\n \\\"Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,\\\" said she. \\\"I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. I have no one to turn to -- none, save only one, who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you shall not find me ungrateful.\\\"\\n Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small case-book, which he consulted.\\n \\\"Farintosh,\\\" said he. \\\"Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the matter.\\\"\\n< 4 >\\n \\\"Alas!\\\" replied our visitor, \\\"the very horror of my situation lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me.\\\"\\n \\\"I am all attention, madam.\\\"\\n \\\"My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.\\\"\\n Holmes nodded his head. \\\"The name is familiar to me,\\\" said he.\\n \\\"The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man.\\n< 5 >\\n \\\"When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable sum of money -- not less than 1000 pounds a year -- and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England my mother died -- she was killed eight years ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.\\n \\\"But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbors, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.\\n \\\"Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gypsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the villagers almost as much as their master.\\n< 6 >\\n \\\"You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even as mine has.\\\"\\n \\\"Your sister is dead, then?\\\"\\n \\\"She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and offered no objection to the marriage; but wlthin a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event occurred which has deprived me of my only companion.\\\"\\n Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened hls lids now and glanced across at his visitor.\\n \\\"Pray be precise as to details,\\\" said he.\\n \\\"It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?\\\"\\n< 7 >\\n \\\"Perfectly so.\\\"\\n \\\"The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door and looked back.\\n \\\"'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle in the dead of the night?'\\n \\\"'Never,' said I.\\n \\\"'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your sleep?'\\n \\\"'Certainly not. But why?'\\n \\\"'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would just ask you whether you had heard it.'\\n \\\"'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in the plantation.'\\n \\\"'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did not hear it also.'\\n \\\"'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.'\\n \\\"'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.\\\"\\n \\\"Indeed,\\\" said Holmes. \\\"Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in at night?\\\"\\n \\\"Always.\\\"\\n \\\"I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked.\\\"\\n \\\"Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.\\\"\\n \\\"I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not recognized me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died without having recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.\\\"\\n< 9 >\\n \\\"One moment,\\\" said Holmes, \\\"are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?\\\"\\n \\\"That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.\\\"\\n \\\"Was your sister dressed?\\\"\\n \\\"No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box.\\\"\\n \\\"Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the coroner come to?\\\"\\n \\\"He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her.\\\"\\n \\\"How about poison?\\\"\\n \\\"The doctors examined her for it, but without success.\\\"\\n \\\"What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?\\\"\\n \\\"It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.\\\"\\n \\\"Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time?\\\"\\n \\\"Yes, there are nearly always some there.\\\"\\n< 10 >\\n \\\"Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band -- a speckled band?\\\"\\n \\\"Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people, perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she used.\\\"\\n Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.\\n \\\"These are very deep waters,\\\" said he; \\\"pray go on with your narrative.\\\"\\n \\\"Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have known for many years, has done me the honor to ask my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage -- Percy Armitage -- the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your advice.\\\"\\n \\\"You have done wisely,\\\" said my friend. \\\"But have you told me all?\\\"\\n \\\"Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.\\\"\\n \\\"Why, what do you mean?\\\"\\n For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.\\n \\\"You have been cruelly used,\\\" said Holmes.\\n The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured wrist. \\\"He is a hard man,\\\" she said, \\\"and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.\\\"\\n There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire.\\n \\\"This is a very deep business,\\\" he said at last. \\\"There are a thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your stepfather?\\\"\\n \\\"As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most important business. It is probable that he will be away all day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of the way.\\\"\\n \\\"Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?\\\"\\n \\\"By no means.\\\"\\n \\\"Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?\\\"\\n \\\"I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to be there in time for your coming.\\\"\\n< 12 >\\n \\\"And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and breakfast?\\\"\\n \\\"No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you again this afternoon.\\\" She dropped her thick black veil over her face and glided from the room.\\n \\\"And what do you think of it all, Watson?\\\" asked Sherlock Holmes, leaning back in his chair.\\n \\\"It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.\\\"\\n \\\"Dark enough and sinister enough.\\\"\\n \\\"Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her mysterious end.\\\"\\n \\\"What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the very peculiar words of the dying woman?\\\"\\n \\\"I cannot think.\\\"\\n \\\"When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place, I think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along those lines.\\\"\\n \\\"But what, then, did the gypsies do?\\\"\\n \\\"I cannot imagine.\\\"\\n \\\"I see many objections to any such theory.\\\"\\n \\\"And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!\\\"\\n< 13 >\\n The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.\\n \\\"Which of you is Holmes?\\\" asked this apparition.\\n \\\"My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,\\\" said my companion quietly.\\n \\\"I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.\\\"\\n \\\"Indeed, Doctor,\\\" said Holmes blandly. \\\"Pray take a seat.\\\"\\n \\\"I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?\\\"\\n \\\"It is a little cold for the time of the year,\\\" said Holmes.\\n \\\"What has she been saying to you?\\\" screamed the old man furiously.\\n \\\"But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,\\\" continued my companion imperturbably.\\n \\\"Ha! You put me off, do you?\\\" said our new visitor, taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-crop. \\\"I know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.\\\"\\n My friend smiled.\\n< 14 >\\n \\\"Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!\\\"\\n Holmes chuckled heartily. \\\"Your conversation is most entertaining,\\\" said he. \\\"When you go out close the door, for there is a decided draught.\\\"\\n \\\"I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.\\\" He stepped swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.\\n \\\"See that you keep yourself out of my grip,\\\" he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the room.\\n \\\"He seems a very amiable person,\\\" said Holmes, laughing. \\\"I am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than his own.\\\" As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.\\n \\\"Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may help us in this matter.\\\"\\n \\nIt was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over with notes and figures.\\n \\\"I have seen the will of the deceased wife,\\\" said he. \\\"To determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.\\\"\\n< 15 >\\n At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey laries. It was a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed over the meadows\\n \\\"Look there!\\\" said he.\\n A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening mto a grove at the highest point. From amid the branches there jutted out the gray gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.\\n \\\"Stoke Moran?\\\" said he.\\n \\\"Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,\\\" remarked the driver.\\n \\\"There is some building going on there,\\\" said Holmes; \\\"that is where we are going.\\\"\\n \\\"There's the village,\\\" said the driver, pointing to a cluster of roofs some distance to the left; \\\"but if you want to get to the house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.\\\"\\n \\\"And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,\\\" observed Holmes, shading his eyes. \\\"Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest.\\\"\\n We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to Leatherhead.\\n \\\"I thought it as well,\\\" said Holmes as we climbed the stile, \\\"that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as our word.\\\"\\n< 16 >\\n Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face which spoke her joy. \\\"I have been waiting so eagerly for you,\\\" she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. \\\"All has turned out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he will be back before evening.\\\"\\n \\\"We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance,\\\" said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.\\n \\\"Good heavens!\\\" she cried, \\\"he has followed me, then.\\\"\\n \\\"So it appears.\\\"\\n \\\"He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What will he say when he returns?\\\"\\n \\\"He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to examine.\\\"\\n The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the outsides of the windows.\\n \\\"This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?\\\"\\n< 17 >\\n \\\"Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.\\\"\\n \\\"Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall.\\\"\\n \\\"There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my room.\\\"\\n \\\"Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are windows in it, of course?\\\"\\n \\\"Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass through.\\\"\\n \\\"As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to go into your room and bar your shutters?\\\"\\n Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window, endeavored in every way to force the shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. \\\"Hum!\\\" said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, \\\"my theory certainly presents some difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter.\\\"\\n A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old and discolored that it may have dated from the original building of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in every detail of the apartment.\\n \\\"Where does that bell communicate with?\\\" he asked at last pointing to a thick belt-rope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually lying upon the pillow.\\n \\\"It goes to the housekeeper's room.\\\"\\n \\\"It looks newer than the other things?\\\"\\n \\\"Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.\\\"\\n \\\"Your sister asked for it, I suppose?\\\"\\n \\\"No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we wanted for ourselves.\\\"\\n \\\"Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this floor.\\\" He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.\\n \\\"Why, it's a dummy,\\\" said he.\\n \\\"Won't it ring?\\\"\\n \\\"No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is.\\\"\\n \\\"How very absurd! I never noticed that before.\\\"\\n \\\"Very strange!\\\" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. \\\"There are one or two very singular points about this room. For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air!\\\"\\n \\\"That is also quite modern,\\\" said the lady.\\n \\\"Done about the same time as the bell-rope?\\\" remarked Holmes.\\n \\\"Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that time.\\\"\\n \\\"They seem to have been of a most interesting character -- dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the inner apartment.\\\"\\n Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character an armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest.\\n \\\"What's in here?\\\" he asked, tapping the safe.\\n \\\"My stepfather's business papers.\\\"\\n \\\"Oh! you have seen inside, then?\\\"\\n \\\"Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.\\\"\\n \\\"There isn't a cat in it, for example?\\\"\\n \\\"No. What a strange idea!\\\"\\n \\\"Well, look at this!\\\" He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.\\n \\\"No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.\\\"\\n \\\"Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine.\\\" He squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention.\\n \\\"Thank you. That is quite settled,\\\" said he, rising and putting his lens in his pocket. \\\"Hello! Here is something interesting!\\\"\\n The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord.\\n \\\"What do you make of that, Watson?\\\"\\n \\\"It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why if should be tied.\\\"\\n \\\"That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.\\\"\\n I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself from his reverie.\\n \\\"It is very essential, Miss Stoner,\\\" said he, \\\"that you should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.\\\"\\n \\\"I shall most certainly do so.\\\"\\n \\\"The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend upon your compliance.\\\"\\n \\\"I assure you that I am in your hands.\\\"\\n \\\"In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your room.\\\"\\n Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.\\n \\\"Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village inn over there?\\\"\\n \\\"Yes, that is the Crown.\\\"\\n \\\"Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?\\\"\\n \\\"Certainly.\\\"\\n< 21 >\\n \\\"You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night.\\\"\\n \\\"Oh, yes, easily.\\\"\\n \\\"The rest you will leave in our hands.\\\"\\n \\\"But what will you do?\\\"\\n \\\"We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the cause of this noise which has disturbed you.\\\"\\n \\\"I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,\\\" said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve.\\n \\\"Perhaps I have.\\\"\\n \\\"Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's death.\\\"\\n \\\"I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.\\\"\\n \\\"You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if she died from some sudden fright.\\\"\\n \\\"No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.\\\"\\n Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.\\n \\\"Do you know, Watson,\\\" said Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness, \\\"I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.\\\"\\n \\\"Can I be of assistance?\\\"\\n \\\"Your presence might be invaluable.\\\"\\n \\\"Then I shall certainly come.\\\"\\n \\\"It is very kind of you.\\\"\\n \\\"You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me.\\\"\\n \\\"No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that you saw all that I did.\\\"\\n \\\"I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.\\\"\\n \\\"You saw the ventilator, too?\\\"\\n \\\"Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat could hardly pass through.\\\"\\n \\\"I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke Moran.\\\"\\n \\\"My dear Holmes!\\\"\\n \\\"Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once that there must be a communication between the two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.\\\"\\n \\\"But what harm can there be in that?\\\"\\n \\\"Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does not that strike you?\\\"\\n \\\"I cannot as yet see any connection.\\\"\\n \\\"Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?\\\"\\n \\\"No.\\\"\\n \\\"It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that before?\\\"\\n \\\"I cannot say that I have.\\\"\\n \\\"The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same relative position to the ventilator and to the rope -- or so we may call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.\\\"\\n \\\"Holmes,\\\" I cried, \\\"I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime.\\\"\\n \\\"Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful.\\\"\\n \\nAbout nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us.\\n \\\"That is our signal,\\\" said Holmes, springing to his feet; \\\"it comes from the middle window.\\\"\\n As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand.\\n< 24 >\\n There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness.\\n \\\"My God!\\\" I whispered; \\\"did you see it?\\\"\\n Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vise upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh and put his lips to my ear.\\n \\\"It is a nice household,\\\" he murmured. \\\"That is the baboon.\\\"\\n I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, after following Holmes's example and slipping off my shoes, I found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to distinguish the words:\\n \\\"The least sound would be fatal to our plans.\\\"\\n I nodded to show that I had heard.\\n \\\"We must sit without light. He would see it through the ventilator.\\\"\\n I nodded again.\\n \\\"Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of the bed, and you in that chair.\\\"\\n< 25 >\\n I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.\\n Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in darkness.\\n How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.\\n From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might befall.\\n Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound became audible -- a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull.\\n \\\"You see it, Watson?\\\" he yelled. \\\"You see it?\\\"\\n But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it had died away into the silence from which it rose.\\n< 26 >\\n \\\"What can it mean?\\\" I gasped.\\n \\\"It means that it is all over,\\\" Holmes answered. \\\"And perhaps, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr. Roylott's room.\\\"\\n With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand.\\n It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott clad in a long gray dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion.\\n \\\"The band! the speckled band!\\\" whispered Holmes.\\n I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.\\n \\\"It is a swamp adder!\\\" cried Holmes; \\\"the deadliest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter and let the county police know what has happened.\\\"\\n As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into the iron safe, which he closed upon it.\\n< 27 >\\n Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back next day.\\n \\\"I had,\\\" said he, \\\"come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data. The presence of the gypsies, and the use of the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt to explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim.\",\n \"John_Bingham,_7th_Earl_of_Lucan.txt\\nJohn Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan\\nRichard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934; presumed dead), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer suspected of murder who disappeared in 1974. He was born into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family in Marylebone, the eldest son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan by his marriage to Kaitlin Dawson. An evacuee during the Second World War, Lucan returned to attend Eton College, and then from 1953 to 1955 served with the Coldstream Guards in West Germany. He developed a taste for gambling and, skilled at backgammon and bridge, became an early member of the Clermont Club. Although his losses often exceeded his winnings, he left his job at a London-based merchant bank and became a professional gambler. He was known as Lord Bingham from April 1949 until January 1964.\\n\\nOnce considered for the role of James Bond, Lucan was noted for his expensive tastes; he raced power boats and drove an Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica Duncan, with whom he had three children. When the marriage collapsed late in 1972, he moved out of the family home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street, in London's Belgravia, to a property nearby. A bitter custody battle ensued, which Lucan lost. He began to spy on his wife and record their telephone conversations, apparently obsessed with regaining custody of the children. This fixation, combined with his gambling losses, had a dramatic effect on his life and personal finances.\\n\\nOn the evening of 7 November 1974, the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death in the basement of the Lucan family home. Lady Lucan was also attacked; she later identified Lucan as her assailant. As the police began their murder investigation, Lucan telephoned his mother, asking her to collect the children, and then drove a borrowed Ford Corsair to a friend's house in Uckfield, East Sussex. Hours later, he left the property and was never seen again. The car was later found abandoned in Newhaven, its interior stained with blood and its boot containing a piece of bandaged lead pipe similar to one found at the crime scene. A warrant for Lucan's arrest was issued a few days later, and in his absence the inquest into Rivett's death named him as her murderer, the last occasion in Britain a coroner's court was allowed to do so.\\n\\nLucan's fate remains a fascinating mystery for the British public. Since Rivett's murder, hundreds of reported sightings have been made in various countries around the world, although none have been substantiated. Despite a police investigation and huge press interest, Lucan has not been found and is presumed dead; a death certificate was issued in 2016.\\n\\nEarly life and education\\n\\nRichard John Bingham was born on 18 December 1934 at 19 Bentinck Street, Marylebone, London, the second child and elder son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan, an Anglo-Irish peer, and his wife Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne Dawson. A blood clot found in her lung forced his mother to remain in a nursing home, so John, as he became known, was initially cared for by the family's nurserymaid. Aged three years, he attended a pre-prep school in Tite Street with his elder sister, Jane, but in 1939, with war approaching, the two were taken to the relative safety of Wales. The following year, joined by their younger siblings, Sally and Hugh, the Lucan children travelled to Toronto, moving shortly thereafter to Mount Kisco, New York. They stayed for five years with multi-millionairess Marcia Brady Tucker; John was enrolled at The Harvey School and spent summer holidays away from his siblings at a summer camp in the Adirondack Mountains. \\n\\nWhile in the U.S., John and his siblings lived in grandeur and wanted for nothing, but on their return to England in February 1945 they were faced with the stark realities of wartime Britain. Rationing was still in force, their former home at Cheyne Walk had been bombed, and the house at 22 Eaton Square had had its windows blown out. Despite the family's rich ancestry, the 6th Earl and his wife were agnostics and socialists and preferred a more austere existence than that offered by Tucker, an extremely wealthy Christian. For a time, John suffered nightmares and was taken to a psychotherapist. As an adult he remained an agnostic, but ensured his children attended Sunday school, preferring to give them a traditional childhood. \\n\\nAt Eton College, John developed a taste for gambling. He supplemented his pocket money with income from bookmaking, placing his earnings into a \\\"secret\\\" bank account, and regularly left the school's grounds to attend horse races. Although according to his mother his academic record was \\\"far from creditable\\\", he became Captain of Roe's House, before leaving in 1953 to undertake his National Service. He became a second lieutenant in his father's regiment, the Coldstream Guards, and was stationed mainly in Krefeld, West Germany. While there, he also became a keen poker player. \\n\\nCareer\\n\\nOn leaving the army in 1955, Lucan joined a London-based merchant bank, William Brandt's Sons and Co., on an annual salary of £500 (). In 1960 he met Stephen Raphael, a rich stockbroker who was a skilled backgammon player. They holidayed together in the Bahamas, went water-skiing, and played golf, backgammon and poker. Lucan became a regular gambler and an early member of John Aspinall's Clermont gaming club, located in Berkeley Square. Although he often won at games of skill like bridge and backgammon, he also accumulated huge losses. On one occasion he lost £8,000, or about two-thirds of the money he received annually from various family trusts. On another disastrous night at a casino he lost £10,000. That time his stockbroker uncle, John Bevan, helped him to pay the debt, and Lucan repaid his uncle two years later. \\n\\nLucan left Brandt's in about 1960, shortly after he had won £26,000 playing chemin de fer. A colleague had been promoted before him, and he protested and then gave up his job, saying \\\"why should I work in a bank, when I can earn a year's money in one single night at the tables?\\\" He travelled to the US, where he played golf, raced powerboats, and drove his Aston Martin around the West Coast of the United States. He also visited his elder sister, Jane, and his former guardian, Marcia Tucker. On his return to England he moved out of his parents' home in St John's Wood and into a flat in Park Crescent. \\n\\nPersonal life\\n\\nMarriage\\n\\nLucan met his future wife, Veronica Duncan, early in 1963. She was born in 1937 to Major Charles Moorhouse Duncan and his wife Thelma. Her father had died in a car accident while she was still very young, following which the family had moved to South Africa. Her mother remarried, and when her new step-father became manager of a hotel in Guildford, the family returned to England. Along with her sister, Christina, she was educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester, and after displaying a talent for art she went on to study at an art college in Bournemouth. The two sisters later shared a flat in London, where Veronica worked as a model and later as a secretary. Christina's marriage to the rich William Shand-Kydd introduced her to London high society, and it was at a golf-club function in the country that Veronica and Lucan first met. \\n\\nNews of their engagement appeared in the Times and Telegraph newspapers on 14 October 1963, and the two were married at Holy Trinity Brompton Church on 20 November. After a high society ceremony attended by, amongst other dignitaries, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the couple honeymooned in Europe, travelling first class on the Orient Express. Lucan's already embattled finances were given a welcome boost by his father, who provided him with a marriage settlement designed to finance a larger family home and any future additions to the Lucan family tree. Lucan repaid some of his creditors and leased number 46 Lower Belgrave Street, Westminster, redecorating it to suit Veronica's tastes. Two months after the wedding, on 21 January 1964, the 6th Earl of Lucan died of a stroke. In addition to a reputed £250,000 inheritance, Lucan acquired his father's titles: Earl of Lucan; Baron Lucan of Castlebar; Baron Lucan of Melcombe Lucan and Baronet Bingham of Castlebar. His wife became the Countess of Lucan. Their first child, Frances, was born on 24 October 1964, and early the next year they employed a nanny, Lillian Jenkins, to look after her. Lucan tried to teach Veronica about gambling and traditional pursuits like hunting, shooting, and fishing. He bought her golf lessons, although she later gave up the sport. \\n\\nLucan's daily routine consisted of breakfast at 9:00 am, coffee, dealing with the morning's letters, reading the newspapers, and playing the piano. He sometimes jogged in the park and, while he had him, took his Doberman Pinscher for walks. Lunch at the Clermont Club was followed by afternoon games of backgammon. Returning home to change into evening dress, the earl typically spent the remainder of the day at the Clermont, gambling into the early hours, watched sometimes by Veronica. In 1956, while still working at Brandt's, he had written of his desire to have \\\"£2m in the bank\\\", claiming that \\\"motor-cars, yachts, expensive holidays and security for the future would give myself and a lot of other people a lot of pleasure\\\". Although he was described by his friends as a shy and taciturn man, with his tall stature, \\\"luxuriant guardsman's moustache\\\" and masculine pursuits, his exploits made him popular. His profligacy extended to hiring private aircraft to take his friends to the races, asking a car dealer he knew to source an Aston Martin drophead coupé, drinking expensive Russian vodka and racing powerboats. In September 1966 he unsuccessfully screen tested for a part in Woman Times Seven, prompting him to automatically decline a later offer from film producer Cubby Broccoli, to screen test him for the role of James Bond. \\n\\nAs a professional gambler he was undoubtedly a skilled player, once rated amongst the world's top ten backgammon competitors. He won the St James's Club tournament and was Champion of the West Coast of America. He gained the moniker \\\"Lucky\\\" Lucan, but as his losses easily outweighed his winnings, in reality he was anything but lucky. He had interests in thoroughbred horses, although in 1968 he paid more in race entry fees than he received in winnings. Despite some arguments over money, his wife remained largely ignorant of his losses, retaining the use of accounts at Savile Row tailors and various Knightsbridge shops. Following the births of George (b. 1967) and Camilla (b. 1970), she struggled with post-natal depression. Lucan became increasingly involved in her mental well-being and in 1971 took her for treatment at a psychiatric clinic in Hampstead, although she refused to be admitted. Instead, she agreed to home visits from a psychiatrist and a course of anti-depressants. In July 1972 the family holidayed in Monte Carlo but Veronica quickly returned to England, leaving Lucan with their two elder children. The combined pressures of maintaining their finances, paying for Lucan's gambling addiction and Veronica's weakened mental condition took their toll on the marriage; two weeks after a strained family Christmas in 1972, Lucan moved into a small property in Eaton Row. \\n\\nSeparation\\n\\nSome months later Lucan moved again, to a larger rented flat in nearby Elizabeth Street. Despite an early attempt by his wife at reconciliation, by that point all Lucan wanted from the marriage was custody of his children. In an effort to demonstrate that Veronica was unfit to look after them, he began to spy on his family (his car was regularly seen parked in Lower Belgrave Street), later employing private investigators to perform the same task. Lucan also canvassed doctors, who explained that his wife had not \\\"gone mad\\\", but was suffering from depression and anxiety. Lucan told his friends that nobody would work for Veronica (she sacked the children's long-term nanny, Lillian Jenkins, in December 1972). Of the series of nannies employed in the house, one, 26-year-old Stefanja Sawicka, was told by Veronica that Lucan had hit her with a cane and had, on one occasion, pushed her down the stairs. The countess apparently feared for her safety and told Sawicka not to be surprised \\\"if he kills me one day.\\\" \\n\\nSawicka's time at the Lucan household ended late in March 1973. While with two of the children near Grosvenor Place, she was confronted by Lucan and two private detectives. They told her that the children had been made wards of court and that she must release them into his custody, which she did. Frances was collected from school later in the day. Lady Lucan applied to the court to have the children returned, but concerned about the case's complexity, the judge set a date for the hearing three months ahead, for June 1973. To defend herself against Lucan's claims about her mental state, Veronica booked herself a four-day stay at the Priory Clinic in Roehampton. While it was acknowledged that she still required some psychiatric support, the doctors reported that there was no indication that she was mentally ill. Lucan's case depended upon Veronica being unable to care for the children, but at the hearing, he was instead forced to defend his own behaviour toward her. After several weeks of witnesses and protracted arguments in camera, on the advice of his lawyers he conceded the case. Unimpressed by Lucan's character, Mr Justice Rees awarded custody to Veronica. The earl was allowed access every other weekend. \\n\\nThus began a bitter dispute between the two, involving many of their friends and Veronica's own sister. Lucan again began to watch his wife's movements. He recorded some of their telephone conversations with a small Sony tape recorder and played excerpts to any friends prepared to listen. He also told them—and his bank manager—that Lady Lucan had been \\\"spending money like water\\\". He continued to pay her £40 a week, although he may have cancelled their regular food order with Harrods. He delayed payment to the milkman and—knowing that Veronica was required by the court to employ a live-in nanny—the childcare agency. With no income of her own, Veronica took a part-time job in a local hospital. A temporary nanny, Elizabeth Murphy, was befriended by Lucan, who bought her drinks and asked her for information on his wife. He instructed his detective agency to investigate Murphy, looking for evidence that she was failing in her duty of care to his children. This they found, although he dispensed with the detective agency's services when they presented him with bills amounting to several hundred pounds. Murphy was later hospitalised with cancer. Another temporary nanny, Christabel Martin, reported strange telephone calls to the house, some with heavy breathing and some from a man asking for non-existent people. Following a series of temporary nannies, Sandra Rivett started work in late 1974. \\n\\nGambling\\n\\nLosing the court case proved devastating for Lucan. It had cost him an estimated £20,000 and by late 1974 his financial position was dire. As he drank more heavily and started chain-smoking, his friends began to worry. In drunken conversations with some of them, including Aspinall's mother, Lady Osborne, and her son, Lucan discussed murdering his wife. Greville Howard later gave a statement to the police describing how Lucan had talked of how killing his wife might save him from bankruptcy, how her body might be disposed of in the Solent and how he \\\"would never be caught\\\". Lucan borrowed £4,000 from his mother and asked Marcia Tucker for a loan of £100,000. Having no luck there, he wrote to Tucker's son, explaining how he wished to \\\"buy\\\" his children from Veronica; the money was not forthcoming. He turned to his friends and acquaintances, asking anyone plausible to loan him money to fund his gambling addiction. The financier James Goldsmith guaranteed a £5,000 overdraft for him, which for years remained unpaid. Lucan also applied to the discreet Edgware Trust. On request, he supplied details of his income, which was apparently around £12,000 a year from various family trusts. He was required to provide a surety and received only £3,000 of the £5,000 he asked for. Much to their managers' consternation, his four bank accounts were hugely overdrawn; Coutts, £2,841; Lloyds, £4,379; National Westminster, £1,290; Midland, £5,667. Even though by then he was playing for much lower stakes than had previously been the case, Lucan's gambling remained completely out of control. Ranson (1994) estimates that between September and October 1974 alone, the earl ran up debts of around £50,000. \\n\\nDespite these problems, from late October 1974 his demeanour appeared to change for the better. His best man, John Wilbraham, remarked that Lucan's apparent obsession over regaining his children had diminished. While having dinner with his mother he cast aside talk of his family problems and turned instead to politics. On 6 November he met his uncle John, apparently in good spirits. Later that day he met 21-year-old Charlotte Andrina Colquhoun, who said that \\\"he seemed very happy, just his usual self, and there was nothing to suggest that he was worried or depressed\\\". He also dined at the Clermont with racing driver Graham Hill. At the time, casinos could open only between 2:00 pm and 4:00 am, so Lucan often gambled into the early hours of the morning. He took tablets to deal with his insomnia and therefore usually awoke around lunchtime. On 7 November though, he broke routine and called his solicitor early that morning, and at 10:30 am took a call from Colquhoun. They arranged to eat at the Clermont at about 3:00 pm, but Lucan failed to appear. Colquhoun drove past the Clermont and Ladbroke clubs, and past Elizabeth Street, but could not find his car anywhere. Lucan also failed to arrive for his 1:00 pm lunch appointment with artist Dominic Elwes and banker Daniel Meinertzhagen, again at the Clermont. \\n\\nAt 4:00 pm Lucan called at a chemist's on Lower Belgrave Street, close to Veronica's home, and asked the pharmacist there to identify a small capsule. It turned out to be Limbitrol 5, a drug for the treatment of anxiety and depression. Lucan had apparently made several similar visits since he separated from his wife, although he never told the pharmacist where he got the drugs. At 4:45 pm he called a friend, literary agent Michael Hicks-Beach, and between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm met with him at his flat on Elizabeth Street. Lucan wanted his help with an article on gambling he had been asked to write for an Oxford University magazine. He drove Hicks-Beach home for about 8:00 pm, not in his Mercedes-Benz, but in \\\"an old, dark and scruffy Ford\\\", possibly the Ford Corsair he borrowed from Michael Stoop several weeks earlier. At 8:30 pm he called the Clermont to check on a reservation for dinner with Greville Howard and friends. Howard had called him at 5:15 pm and asked if he wished to come to the theatre, but Lucan had declined and made the alternative suggestion to meet at the Clermont at 11:00 pm. He failed to arrive and did not answer his telephone when called. \\n\\nMurder\\n\\nSandra Rivett\\n\\nSandra Eleanor Rivett was born on 16 September 1945, the third child of Albert and Eunice Hensby. The family moved to Australia when she was two years old, but returned in 1955. Sandra was a popular child, described at school as \\\"intelligent, although she does not excel academically\\\". She worked for six months as an apprentice hairdresser before taking a job as a secretary in Croydon. Following a failed romance she became a voluntary patient at a mental hospital near Redhill, Surrey, where she was treated for depression. She became engaged to a builder named John and took a job as a children's nanny for a doctor in Croydon. On 13 March 1964, she gave birth to a boy named Stephen, but, as her relationship with John was failing, she returned home to live with her parents and considered giving the baby up for adoption. Her parents took on the responsibility and adopted him in May 1965. Sandra later worked at an old people's home, before moving to Portsmouth to stay with her elder sister. While there she met Roger Rivett; the two married on 10 June 1967 in Croydon. Roger was serving as a Royal Navy able seaman and later worked as a loader for British Road Services, while Sandra worked part-time at Reedham Orphanage in Purley. In summer 1973 he took a job on an Esso tanker, returning to their flat in Kenley a few months later by which time Sandra was employed by a cigarette company in Croydon. Their marriage collapsed in May 1974 when, suspicious of Sandra's movements while he was away, Roger went to live with his parents. She was by then listed on the books of a Belgravia domestic agency and had been caring for an elderly couple in that district. A few weeks later she began to work for the Lucans. \\n\\nSandra normally went out with her boyfriend, John Hankins, on Thursday nights, but had decided to change her night off and thus, had seen him the previous day. The two last spoke on the telephone at about 8:00 pm on 7 November. After putting the younger children to bed, at about 8:55 pm she asked Veronica if she would like a cup of tea, before heading downstairs to the basement kitchen to make one. As she entered the room, she was bludgeoned to death with a piece of bandaged lead pipe. Her killer then placed her body into a canvas mailsack. Meanwhile, wondering what had delayed her nanny, Lady Lucan descended from the first floor to see what had happened. She called to Rivett from the top of the basement stairs and was herself attacked. As she screamed for her life, her attacker told her to \\\"shut up\\\". Lady Lucan later claimed at that moment to have recognised her husband's voice. The two apparently continued to fight; she bit his fingers, and when he threw her face down to the carpet, managed to turn around and squeeze his testicles, causing him to release his grip on her throat and give up the fight. When she asked where Rivett was, Lucan was at first evasive, but eventually admitted to having killed her. Terrified, Lady Lucan told him she could help him escape if only he would remain at the house for a few days, to allow her injuries to heal. Lucan walked upstairs and sent his daughter to bed, then went into one of the bedrooms. When Veronica entered, to lie on the bed, he told her to put towels down first to avoid staining the bedding. Lucan asked her if she had any barbiturates and went to the bathroom to get a wet towel, supposedly to clean Veronica's face. Lady Lucan realised her husband would be unable to hear her from the bathroom, and made her escape, running outside to a nearby public house, the Plumbers Arms. \\n\\nLucan may have called at the Chester Square home of Madelaine Florman (mother of one of Frances's school friends) sometime between 10:00 pm and 10:30 pm. Alone in the house, Florman ignored the door, but shortly afterwards she received an incoherent telephone call and put the receiver down. Blood stains, which after forensic examination were found to be a mixture of blood groups A and B, were later discovered on her doorstep. Lucan certainly called his mother between 10:30 pm and 11:00 pm and asked her to collect the children from Lower Belgrave Street. According to the Dowager Countess, he spoke of a \\\"terrible catastrophe\\\" at his wife's home. He told her that he had been driving past the house when he saw Veronica fighting with a man, in the basement. He had entered the property and found his wife screaming. The location from which he made this, and possibly the call to Florman, remains unknown. The police forced their way into Lady Lucan's home and discovered Sandra Rivett's body, before his wife was taken by ambulance to St George's Hospital. Lucan drove the Ford Corsair 42 mi to Uckfield, in East Sussex, to visit his friends, the Maxwell-Scotts. Susan Maxwell-Scott's meeting with Lucan was his last confirmed sighting. \\n\\nInvestigation\\n\\nBy the time Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson arrived at Lower Belgrave Street early on Friday 8 November, the divisional surgeon had pronounced Sandra Rivett dead and forensic officers and photographers had been called to the property. Other than the front door, which the first two officers on the scene had kicked in, there was no sign of a forced entry. A blood-stained towel was found in Veronica's first-floor bedroom. The area around the top of the basement staircase was heavily blood-stained. A blood-stained lead pipe lay on the floor. Pictures hanging from the staircase walls were askew and a metal banister rail was damaged. At the foot of the stairs, two cups and saucers lay in a pool of blood. Rivett's arm protruded from the canvas sack, which lay in a slowly expanding pool of blood. The light fitting at the bottom of the stairs was missing its bulb; one was noted nearby, on a chair. Blood was also found on various leaves in the adjoining rear garden. \\n\\nOfficers also searched 5 Eaton Row, into which Lucan had moved early in 1973, and after interviewing his mother (who had called to take the children to her home in St John's Wood), his last address at 72a Elizabeth Street. Nothing untoward was found, although on the bed, a suit and shirt lay alongside a book on Greek shipping millionaires, and Lucan's wallet, car keys, money, driving licence, handkerchief and spectacles were on a bedside table. His passport was in a drawer and his blue Mercedes-Benz parked outside, its engine cold and its battery flat. Ranson then visited Veronica Lucan at St George's Hospital. Although heavily sedated, she was able to describe what had happened to her. A police officer was left to guard her, should her assailant return. Rivett's body was taken to the mortuary, and a search was undertaken of all local basement areas and gardens, skips and open spaces. \\n\\nAfter removing her corpse from the canvas sack and beginning the post mortem examination, pathologist Keith Simpson told Ranson he was certain that Rivett had been killed before her body was placed in the sack, and that in his opinion the lead pipe found at the scene could be the murder weapon. Her estranged husband, Roger, had an alibi for the night concerned, and was eliminated from the police's enquiries. Other male friends and boyfriends were questioned and discounted as suspects. Her parents confirmed that Sandra had a good working relationship with Lady Lucan, and was extremely fond of the children. Meanwhile, Lucan had yet to make an appearance, and so his description was circulated to police forces across the country. Newspapers and television stations were told only that Lucan was wanted by the police for questioning. \\n\\nHours earlier, Lucan had again called his mother, at about 12:30 am. He told her that he would be in touch later that day, but declined to speak with the police constable who had accompanied her to her flat; instead, he said he would call the police later that morning. Ranson discovered that Lucan had travelled to Uckfield when he was called by Ian Maxwell-Scott, who told him that Lucan had arrived at his home a few hours after the murder, and spoken with his wife, Susan. While there, the earl had written two letters to his brother-in-law, Bill Shand-Kydd, and posted them to his London address. Maxwell-Scott also called Shand-Kydd at his country house near Leighton Buzzard and told him about the letters, prompting the latter to immediately drive to London to collect them. After reading them, and noting that they were bloodstained, he took them to Ranson. \\n\\nWhen asked why she did not immediately inform the police of Lucan's presence, Susan Maxwell-Scott said she had not seen any newspapers or television news, or listened to any radio broadcasts that might have warned her of the importance of his visit. Meanwhile, Lucan's children were taken by their aunt, Lady Sarah Gibbs, to her home in Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, where they would remain for several weeks. On the day Veronica Lucan was discharged from hospital, a High Court hearing confirmed that the children could return to live with her. Repeated press intrusions later forced the family to move to a friend's home in Plymouth. \\n\\nThe Ford Corsair that Lucan had been seen driving and whose details had the previous day been circulated across the country was found on Sunday in Norman Road, Newhaven, about 16 mi from Uckfield. In its boot was a piece of lead pipe covered in surgical tape, and a full bottle of vodka. The car was removed for forensic examination. Later statements from two witnesses suggest that it was parked there sometime between 5:00 am and 8:00 am on the morning of Friday 8 November. Its owner, Michael Stoop, also received a letter from Lucan, delivered to his club, the St James's. However, Stoop threw the envelope away and it was therefore not possible to check its postmark to see where it had been sent from. \\n\\nRanson suspected a suicide, but a thorough search of Newhaven Downs was judged impossible. A partial search was made, using tracker dogs, although all that was found were the skeletal remains of a judge who had disappeared years earlier. Police divers searched the harbour, and a partial search using infra-red photography was undertaken the following year, to no avail. A warrant for Lucan's arrest, to answer charges of murdering Sandra Rivett, and attempting to murder his wife, was issued on Tuesday 12 November 1974. Descriptions of his appearance, already issued to police forces across the UK, were then issued to Interpol.\\n\\nForensics\\n\\nThe forensic examination of the lead pipes found at the murder scene and in the Corsair's boot revealed traces of blood on the pipe from 46 Lower Belgrave Street. This proved to be a mixture of Lady Lucan's (blood group A) and Sandra Rivett's (B) blood. Hair belonging to Veronica Lucan was also found on that pipe, but none belonging to Sandra Rivett. The pipe found inside the car had neither blood nor hair on it. Home Office scientists were unable to prove conclusively that both pipes were cut from the same, longer, piece of piping, although they thought it likely. The tape wrapped around both was similar, but those too could not be conclusively linked. The letters written to Bill Shand-Kydd were stained with blood considered to be from both women. The letter to Michael Stoop had no blood on it, but it was later proven that the paper it was written on had been torn from a writing pad found in the Corsair's boot. \\n\\nAn examination of the blood stains found inside 46 Lower Belgrave Street demonstrated that Rivett had been attacked in the basement kitchen, while Lady Lucan had been attacked at the top of the basement stairs. The bloodstains found inside the Ford Corsair were of the AB blood group; the report concluded that this might have been a mixture of blood from both women. Hair similar to Lady Lucan's was also found inside the car.\\n\\nMedia reaction\\n\\nBy the afternoon of Friday 8 November, the newspapers' early editions carried photographs of the Lucans across their front pages, accompanied by headlines like \\\"\\\", and \\\"\\\". A meeting that day at the Clermont, between John Aspinall, Daniel Meinertzhagen, Charles Benson, Stephen Raphael, Bill Shand-Kydd and Dominic Elwes, became the cause of much press speculation. Meinertzhagen and Raphael later insisted that the gathering was just a rational discussion between concerned friends, keen to share anything they knew about what had happened, but the relationship between the police and Lucan's social circle was strained; some officers complained that an \\\"Eton mafia\\\" worked against them. Susan Maxwell-Scott refused to add to her statement, and when Aspinall's mother, Lady Osborne, was asked if she could help locate Lucan's body, she replied \\\"The last I heard of him, he was being fed to the tigers at my son's zoo\\\", prompting the police to search the house and the animal cages there. They searched fourteen country houses and estates, including Holkham Hall and Warwick Castle, to no avail. Amidst concerns expressed by the Labour MP Marcus Lipton that some people were \\\"being a bit snooty\\\" with the police, Benson wrote a letter to The Times asking him to either identify those people or \\\"kindly withdraw his remarks\\\". To their cost, Private Eye accused James Goldsmith of being at the Clermont meeting, when he was actually in Ireland. Dominic Elwes went to see Lady Lucan in hospital and was reportedly deeply shocked both by her appearance and her statement \\\"Who's the mad one now?\\\" Elwes was apparently unhappy at some of the negative press coverage of the countess, and was later ostracised by his friends for his part in an article critical of Lucan, which appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine. He committed suicide in September 1975. \\n\\nRivett's case made headlines around the world. Within days of the murder, newspapers reported on Veronica Lucan's statement to the police, with claims that she had pretended to collude with her husband to ensure her safety. In January 1975 Veronica gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Express. She also appeared in a murder reconstruction, in the same newspaper, complete with posed photographs taken inside the house. \\n\\nInquest\\n\\nThe inquest into Sandra Rivett's death opened on 13 November 1974 and was led by the Coroner for Inner West London, Gavin Thurston. Two witnesses were called to the courtroom, which was packed with reporters; Roger Rivett, who confirmed that he had identified his wife's body, and the pathologist, Keith Simpson, who confirmed that Rivett had died from being hit on the head with a blunt instrument. At Ranson's request, the hearing was then adjourned. Further adjournments were made on 11 December 1974 and 10 March 1975, before a full inquest was scheduled for 16 June 1975. \\n\\nThe hearing began with the swearing-in of the jury and introductions from various legal representatives, including a lawyer hired for Lucan by his mother. Thurston introduced the jury to the case and explained their duties. He had selected 33 witnesses to be called over the following few days, including Veronica Lucan, who each day wore a dark coat and white headscarf. Thurston questioned her on her relationship with Lucan, her marriage, her financial affairs, her employment of Rivett and what had happened on the night of the attack. The Dowager Countess's QC attempted to ask Lady Lucan about the nature of their relationship, if she hated her husband, but Thurston ruled his line of questioning inadmissible. Woman Detective Constable Sally Blower, who had taken a statement from Frances on 20 November 1974, read the young girl's words to the court. Frances had heard a scream, and a few minutes later had watched as her mother (blood on her face) and father had entered the room. Her mother had then sent her to bed. She later heard her father calling for her mother, asking where she was, and watched as he left the bathroom and walked downstairs. She also described how Sandra Rivett did not normally work on Thursday nights. \\n\\nThe landlord of \\\"The Plumbers Arms\\\" described how Lady Lucan had entered his bar covered \\\"head to toe in blood\\\" before she fell into \\\"a state of shock\\\". He claimed that she shouted \\\"Help me, help me, I've just escaped from being murdered\\\" and \\\"My children, my children, he's murdered my nanny\\\", although no name was mentioned. Pathologist Keith Simpson outlined his post mortem examination, concluding that death was caused by \\\"blunt head injuries\\\" and \\\"inhalation of blood\\\". He confirmed that the lead pipe found at the scene was most likely responsible for Rivett's injuries, although some, to the left eye and mouth, he thought more likely to have been caused by punches from a clenched fist. The last person to confirm seeing Lucan alive, Susan Maxwell-Scott, told the court that the earl looked \\\"dishevelled\\\", and his hair \\\"a little ruffled\\\". His trousers had a damp patch on the right hip. Lucan had told her that he was walking, or passing by the house when he saw Veronica being attacked by a man. He let himself in but slipped in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs. He told Maxwell-Scott that the attacker ran off, and that Veronica was \\\"very hysterical\\\" and accused him of having hired a hitman to kill her. \\n\\nOnce the hearing had ended, Thurston made a summary of the evidence presented and told the jury their options. At 11:45 am, their foreman announced \\\"Murder by Lord Lucan\\\". Lucan became the first member of the House of Lords to be named a murderer since 1760, when Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, was hanged for killing his bailiff. He was also the last person to be committed by a coroner to a Crown Court for unlawful killing; the coroner's power to do so was removed by the Criminal Law Act 1977. \\n\\nRivett's body, which had been held for several weeks following the murder, was released to her family and cremated at Croydon crematorium on 18 December 1974. A police spokesman cited Lady Lucan's desire not to upset the family as a reason for her non-attendance at the cremation. \\n\\nLucan's defence\\n\\nLucan's friends and family were critical of the inquest, which they felt offered a one-sided view of events. His mother told reporters that it did not serve \\\"any useful purpose at all\\\". Veronica's sister, Christina, said she felt \\\"great sadness and sorrow\\\" at the verdict. Susan Maxwell-Scott continued to press the earl's claims of innocence and claimed to feel \\\"awfully sorry\\\" for the countess. However, as Lucan remained absent, his description of \\\"a traumatic night of unbelievable coincidence\\\" came only from the letters he authored and the people he spoke with soon after Rivett's murder. While his fingerprints were not found at the scene, his assertions make no provision for the lead pipe discovered in the boot of the Ford Corsair, the claims by some that he discussed murdering his wife, or the lack of a viable suspect for the man he claimed to have seen fighting her. No sign of a forced entry was found, and officers attempting to demonstrate that Lucan could have seen into the basement kitchen, from the street, could only do so by stooping low to the pavement. The basement light was not working, making it even more difficult to see into the room; its lightbulb (which was tested and found to be in working order) was found removed from its holder and left lying on a chair. Furthermore, Lady Lucan claimed not to have entered the basement that night, contradicting the earl's version of events; his wife's account is supported by the forensic examination made of the blood splashes and stains around the property. Some traces of her blood were found in the basement, the rear garden and on the canvas sack used to store Rivett's body, although this may have been due to contamination at the scene. The man Lucan claimed to have seen could not have left through the basement's front door as it was locked, and the rear door led to a walled garden through which no trace of an escape was found. No signs that the man left by the ground level front door were discovered, and no witnesses reported seeing any such person near 46 Lower Belgrave Street. \\n\\nIn contrast to his defenders, the national press were almost unanimous in their condemnation of Lucan. Their leader-writers ignored the threat of libel and identified him as Rivett's killer. \\n\\nBankruptcy and estate\\n\\nAs Lucan's bankruptcy proceeded, in August 1975 his creditors were informed that the missing earl had unsecured debts of £45,000 and preferential liabilities for £1,326. His assets were estimated at £22,632. The family silver was sold in March 1976 for around £30,000. His remaining debts were repaid by the Lucan family trust in the years immediately following his disappearance. His family was granted probate over his estate in 1999, although no death certificate was issued, and his heir, George Bingham, Lord Bingham, was refused permission to take his father's title and seat in the House of Lords. Following the passage of the Presumption of Death Act 2013, Bingham began a new attempt to have his father declared dead, which proved successful in a High Court hearing at the Rolls Building on 3 February 2016. He therefore inherited his father's title, becoming the 8th Earl of Lucan.\\n\\nUltimate fate and reported sightings\\n\\nThe last confirmed sighting of Lucan was at about 1:15 am on 8 November 1974 as he exited the driveway of the Maxwell-Scott property, in his friend's Ford Corsair. Since then, his whereabouts and ultimate fate remain a mystery. Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson initially claimed that Lucan had \\\"done the honourable thing\\\" and \\\"fallen on his own sword\\\", a view publicly repeated by many of Lucan's friends, including John Aspinall, who shortly before his death in 2000 said he believed the earl was guilty of Rivett's murder, and that his body lay \\\"250 feet under the Channel\\\". Veronica Lucan believes her husband killed himself \\\"like the nobleman he was\\\". \\n\\nRanson later changed his view, explaining that he considered it more likely that suicide was far from Lucan's thoughts, that a rumoured drowning at sea was implausible and that the earl had moved to southern Africa. Thirty years after the murder, the detective leading a new investigation into Lucan's disappearance told the Telegraph that \\\"the evidence points towards the fact that Lord Lucan left the country and lived abroad for a number of years.\\\" Speaking to author John Pearson before she died, Susan Maxwell-Scott suggested that Lucan might have been helped out of the country by shadowy underground financiers, before being judged too great a risk and killed and buried in Switzerland. A similar theory was proposed by advertising executive Jeremy Scott, who was familiar with some of the Clermont Set. \\n\\nLucan's disappearance has captivated the public's imagination for decades, with thousands of sightings reported across the world. One of the earliest, shortly after the murder, turned out to be a British ex-politician, John Stonehouse, who had attempted to fake his own death. The police travelled to France in June the following year to hunt another lead, to no avail. A sighting in Colombia turned out to be an American businessman. John Miller, a bounty hunter who kidnapped the fugitive train robber Ronnie Biggs, claimed in 1982 to have captured the earl, but was later exposed by the News of the World as a hoaxer. In 2003 a former Scotland Yard detective thought he had tracked the earl to Goa, India, although the man he traced was actually Barry Halpin, a folk singer from St Helens. In 2007, reporters in New Zealand interviewed a homeless British expatriate who neighbours claimed was the missing earl. \\n\\nMore recently, responding to claims that the two eldest Lucan children were sent to Gabon in the early 1980s so that their father might secretly watch them \\\"from a distance\\\", George Bingham denied ever visiting the country. His mother dismissed the newspaper claims of sightings as \\\"nonsense\\\", reiterating that in her opinion \\\"he was not the sort of Englishman to cope abroad\\\".\",\n \"The French Lieutenant’s Woman Characters | GradeSaver\\nThe French Lieutenant's Woman study guide contains a ... Sarah Woodruff. ... Mrs. Talbot is a positive and sympathetic minor character in The French Lieutenant's Woman.\\nThe French Lieutenant’s Woman Characters | GradeSaver\\nBuy Study Guide\\nSarah Woodruff\\nSarah is a woman of about twenty-five years old, an ambitious farmer's daughter with a reasonable education which has left her stranded between two classes: the lower class, into which she was born, and the middle class, to which her education pushes her but cannot bring her entirely, since she lacks both breeding and money.\\nThe first thing we learn about Sarah - and it is almost all we learn in the opening chapters - is that she has a bad reputation because she has had premarital sex with a marooned French sailor. The other thing we learn about her, from Charles' first impression in Chapter 2, is that she is deeply sad; indeed, Sarah suffers from \\\"melancholia,\\\" as the doctor diagnoses her in Chapter 9 (53). We might assume that these two things are related, but in fact, Sarah has always felt lonely and depressed, and she chose her bad reputation - in fact, she lied about having sex with the French lieutenant in order to be ostracized from a society that she never felt at home in.\\nHer primary characteristic, when we get to know her better, is her extreme insightfulness and perspicacity. This insight has its downsides: for example, Sarah finds it hard to choose a man to marry, since she can see through all their pretenses. The narrator speculates that had she been born hundreds of years before, \\\"she would have been either a saint or an emperor's mistress,\\\" and he makes this bold claim with the reasoning that Sarah combines both \\\"understanding and emotion\\\" in a \\\"fused rare power\\\" (52). Sarah's sensitivity is partly why Charles is attracted to her, but it also means that she can see through him, and she eventually leaves him because there is a \\\"formality\\\" and a \\\"falsehood\\\" to the way he interacts with her that prevents there from being true love and intimacy between them (351).\\nErnestina is anxious and jealous about all of Charles' past lovers, but she is especially worried that he might have liaised with a \\\"modern girl\\\" - and it is to a modern girl that she eventually loses him (64). Sarah is a modern woman - this idea is introduced to us in the infamous Chapter 13. This mainly manifests itself in her desire for freedom at any cost, and a striking independence compared to the coddled Ernestina and her peers. Because she is a modern woman trapped in the Victorian era, Sarah is a little anachronistic. The narrator emphasizes this in some of his description of her - for example, he says that she has a \\\"computer in her heart\\\" that allows her to read people very accurately (87). By the end of the novel, she has been able to fully realize her modernity by throwing off society's restraints and living a bohemian lifestyle in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's house.\\nIs she the protagonist of the book? The title corroborates this claim - despite her transitory and shadowy presence in the first few chapters, the narrator wants us to think that Sarah Woodruff is indeed the protagonist of the novel. The narrator himself refers to her as \\\"the protagonist\\\" in Chapter 54, where she is shown to have more complex desires and to be a more difficult character for the narrator than Charles, whose wants are clear (317). However, we spend a lot less time in Sarah's mind than in Charles', and the novel ends with Charles' new view about life, and leaves Sarah largely unexplained. It's hard for her to be the protagonist when we are constantly reminded that she is an enigma to us, to Charles, and even to the narrator, as he claims in Chapter 54.\\nCharles Smithson\\nAt thirty-two years old, Charles is the son of a baronet and sole heir to both his father's diminished fortune and his uncle's considerable one (17). He is a member of the upper class by blood and by money, and he has no need to work for his living; he can afford to keep a manservant around him always, and he has endless amounts of free time to spend however he likes. His hobby of choice is dabbling in academia, specifically paleontology. Growing up, Charles spent more time reading books than most young men, and in his uncle's eyes, Charles' interest in libraries is \\\"sinister\\\" - it seems bizarre to him that someone should choose books over hunting guns.\\nWhen we meet him, Charles is an engaged man of 32, settling down and preparing to start his own family, but we learn early in the novel that he has had a wild youth. After a series of wild adventures during his college years, during which he lost his virginity in questionable circumstances and impulsively tried to take Holy Orders to repent of his sin, Charles spent six months in Paris. During this time, he continued to lead a sordid lifestyle and eventually lost all his faith in God (18). During his twenties, Charles, now a \\\"healthy agnostic,\\\" moved into a small apartment in Kensington and spent a lot of time traveling abroad (18). His main occupation during this time was \\\"toying with ideas,\\\" and he eventually settling upon paleontology as his academic subject of choice (18-19).\\nCharles prefers to think of himself as a \\\"scientific young man\\\" (16), but he is \\\"a born amateur,\\\" and is not cut out for serious scientific inquiry (42). The narrator refers to him as an \\\"ungifted scientist\\\" (45), and also comments that Charles' \\\"distinguishing trait\\\" is \\\"[l]aziness.\\\" (19) On the other hand, he is a \\\"quite competent ornithologist and botanist\\\" who takes some of his scientific pursuits seriously: he certainly dresses up for the role of fossil-collector in Chapter 8 (44).\\nCharles is very well educated, and this \\\"educational privilege\\\" supplements a naturally inquiring and fairly intelligent mind (39). This tendency to \\\"ask life too many questions\\\" sometimes manifests itself in a rather melancholy and overly reflective disposition (16). But at heart, Charles is like a child who has never grown up: he has a schoolboy’s sense of humor, and can be quite childlike when he is around people with whom he is comfortable, like his servant, Sam. Charles likes to show off by making \\\"labored puns and innuendoes,\\\" and he has to put on a \\\"formal outdoor mask\\\" when he goes out into the world - to meet other scientists, or to spend time with Ernestina (39).\\nSelf-doubt plagues Charles, despite his many blessings. He has travelled, he has become engaged, and he has practiced science - and yet he has accomplished very little, as he realizes in Chapter 7 (38). In terms of love, he is even more of an amateur than he is in science: Ernestina worries about his past affairs, but he has \\\"never really been in love,\\\" and his heart is \\\"a place without history\\\" (64). Charles likes to think that he is \\\"not like the vast majority of his peers and contemporaries,\\\" but it is ironic that he never succeeds at being as modern as Sarah does, despite the desire to be forward-thinking and not conventional (107).\\nBy the end of the novel, however, Charles' personality has developed significantly. He comes to the important realization that there isn't a 'quick fix' that will make him happy, and that marrying Sarah or answering life's \\\"riddle\\\" won't suddenly help him to be fulfilled (366). Instead, he must endure life as best he can - this is a very adult epiphany, and it marks a serious change to his outlook on the world.\\nErnestina Freeman\\nErnestina is a member of the nouveau riche class: she has no title, and her ancestors were not part of the aristocracy, but her father has plenty of money, and her family can afford to live in style and marry her off to the grandson of a baronet. Her parents are incredibly solicitous and overprotective of her, sending her to Lyme Regis for part of the year to cure her supposed consumption. Ernestina resents these trips, because she finds the seaside town very boring compared to the London parties that she is used to.\\nShe is \\\"irresistible\\\" to Charles partly because of her pale beauty, but mostly because of her slight deviation from the masses of her pampered, simpering friends - she is a little more willful and coquettish than they are (27). She also is described of having \\\"more [will] than the age allowed for\\\" - that is, she is more stubborn and determined than the majority of her peers, who are blandly obedient to their parents and the dictates of society (28). Charles and Ernestina do not have very much in common, deep down, but they like each other because they share \\\"a sense of self-irony\\\" and a \\\"superiority of intelligence\\\" (29, 68). In fact, this is one of the only traits that stop Ernestina from being merely \\\"a horrid spoiled child,\\\" according to the narrator (29). Nevertheless, she is quite child-like and petulant at times - quite the opposite of Sarah Woodruff, with her calm voice and her deep capacity for suffering.\\nErnestina's dreams and worries are for the most part mundane, and this is a product of her sheltered life. She believes that she loves Charles, but she expends a lot of worry on speculating about his past loves; she cannot bear the thought that he should have loved \\\"a tragic French countess\\\" or someone like that before her (64). She worries that because she is not from aristocratic stock, like Charles is, that he will think less of her (68).\\nHer goal in life is to get married and have children, but she is terrified by \\\"the payment\\\" that she will have to pay to achieve this: the act of sex (29). In this way she is supposed to represent the typical feminine Victorian view, and this fear of sex puts her in stark contrast to Sarah Woodruff, who epitomizes quite another class of female: 'the fallen woman'.\\nErnestina is a 'flatter' character than the others in this novel, because she represents - almost but not quite - a type of girl that was common in her time period. She is very much a product of her environment; Charles asks himself, when he is shocked by her apparent shallowness, \\\"How could the only child of two rich parents be anything else?\\\" (107.) In this novel, Ernestina represents convention where Sarah represents modernity; perhaps we can see Sarah's victory over Charles' heart as an allegory for the changing times, and the emergence of the independent 'modern woman' to replace the delicate Victorian lady.\\nToward the end of the novel, when Charles breaks off his engagement to her, Ernestina actually shows herself to be surprisingly self-aware. She knows her worse qualities: as she says, \\\"I know I am innocent. I know I am spoiled. I am not a Helen of Troy or a Cleopatra\\\" (296). Ernestina also shows a deeply sensitive and compassionate side when she notes that Charles has low self-esteem, and that she intended her \\\"bridal present\\\" to him to be some \\\"[f]aith in himself\\\" because he deserves to realize how \\\"generous\\\" and wise he is (297). In the space of a few pages, Ernestina becomes a much more three-dimensional and sympathetic character, and we understand that she is merely young, with the potential to become a good person. Her love for Charles is deeper than we might have thought before, and we realize that we may have misjudged her and treated her unfairly - she is of course very young, and a product of a very sheltered upbringing.\\nMrs. Poulteney\\nMrs. Poulteney is the woman who has hired Sarah Woodruff as a companion, on the recommendation of the local vicar. She owns a large house in the town of Lyme Regis, and hates Dirt and Immorality, dealing strictly with the employees who let either of these things enter the house. Her morality is very cliché and not very sincere: her two mantras are \\\"Civilization is Soap\\\" and \\\"Respectability is what does not give me offense\\\" (31).\\nShe gives quite a bit of money to the local church - this, combined with her having taken in Sarah, has given her a reputation for charity. Mrs. Poulteney does not practice charity for charity's sake: she is terrified of Hell, and hopes to do enough good deeds to ensure a place for herself in heaven. The narrator blasts her as \\\"an epitome of all the most crassly arrogant traits of the ascendant British Empire\\\" (23). In Chapter 44, the narrator teases us with a vision of Mrs. Poulteney's afterlife, describing how she is first taken to Heaven, and then thrown down into Hell, where she belongs. Although he later admits that this is just Charles' reverie, we certainly get the sense that he is condemning Mrs. Poulteney for her false charity.\\nSam Farrow\\nSam Farrow is Charles' Cockney manservant, whom we first meet in Chapter 7. He and Charles are quite close - they \\\"kn[o]w each other rather better than the partners in many a supposedly more intimate menage,\\\" and the dynamic between them is one of light banter and teasing (37). In Charles' eyes, Sam is someone around whom he can be himself, making ridiculous puns and acting the Don Quixote to Sam's \\\"Sancho Panza\\\" (40).\\nSam is contrasted with Sam Weller from Dickens' Pickwick Papers. The two share names and jobs but, unlike the cheerful Sam Weller, Sam Farrow \\\"suffer[s]\\\" his role as a servant, and really aspires to higher things. He \\\"fancies himself a Don Juan\\\" and would like very much to seduce Mary, Mrs. Tranter's maid (67). He demonstrates an interest in horses because such an interest, he thinks, is a \\\"sign of his social progress,\\\" and he spends \\\"most of his wages on keeping in fashion\\\" (39).\\nSam falls in love with Mary, and we learn that he has a tender side to him that appreciates her innocence, and doesn't want to hurt her. He ends up hurting Charles badly for the sake of his marriage to Mary and his future ambitions, but it is also by Sam's action of sending an anonymous tip to Charles' solicitor that Charles and Sarah are brought back together. When we see Sam and Mary after they are married, they seem to be a perfect couple - the domestic married life suits them very well, and we are happy for them, because they are such sympathetic characters.\\nMrs. Talbot\\nMrs. Talbot is a positive and sympathetic minor character in The French Lieutenant's Woman. She is a young wife and mother for whom Sarah works for some time as a governess before the novel's action begins, and in whose house Sarah meets the infamous French lieutenant.\\nMrs. Talbot is described as \\\"extremely kindhearted\\\" but \\\"not very perspicacious,\\\" in other words, she has very good intentions but is not the most intelligent or intuitive person - in this way, she acts as a foil for Sarah, who is incredibly good at reading people (47). Although Sarah leaves Mrs. Talbot's house more or less in disgrace, Mrs. Talbot is always very kind to her, and even offered her the position again after the Frenchman abandoned Sarah. She is very worried about Sarah's well being; in Chapter 9 we see her lying awake, terrified that Sarah will end up penniless, chased, and starved, like the destitute heroines of the romantic novels that she reads. It is Mrs. Talbot who encourages Sarah to take up a place in Mrs. Poulteney's household.\\nAunt Tranter\\nErnestina's aunt lives in Lyme Regis, giving Ernestina's parents an excuse to send their daughter to the seaside for a consumptive cure (although Ernestina is perfectly healthy). She is a kind lady, whom \\\"[n]obody could dislike\\\" because she is so innocent, caring, and profoundly optimistic (27). She plays the \\\"flat-footed nurse\\\" to Ernestina's Juliet; Ernestina resents being sent away from London society to Aunt Tranter's old-fashioned house, and she displays this resentment through undeserved anger toward her aunt. Aunt Tranter is very protective of and loyal toward Ernestina, and although she initially likes Charles, she curses him more strongly than anyone else when he jilts Ernestina.\\nMary\\nMary works in Mrs. Tranter's household as a maid. Good-natured and good-humored, she is very well liked by Mrs. Tranter and by the rest of the staff. When Ernestina comes to stay, however, Mary is no longer the favorite in the house (at least not in the eyes of Mrs. Tranter, Ernestina's aunt), and so she resents Ernestina's presence. She also envies Ernestina her fashionable dresses from London, and her handsome fiancé - Mary thinks Charles is too good for Ernestina.\\nMary is sexually appealing - we first hear of her via Sam, who certainly finds her attractive - and seems to embrace her sexuality in a different way to Ernestina, who desperately shuts out all thoughts of sexual contact, and also to Sarah Woodruff, who is a martyr-like figure. Mary enjoys flirting with the local boys, and their efforts to solicit kisses are \\\"not...very successfully resisted\\\" (65). Where Ernestina is delicate and Sarah is sallow, Mary is vibrant and rosy - which makes her, in the eyes of the narrator, \\\"by far the prettiest\\\" of the three girls (64).\\nShe is also very innocent, and her relationship with Sam Farrow is beautifully tender. It seems by the end of the novel that justice is done when Mary and Sam are climbing the social ladder, and living in a nice house with two beautiful children. Mary is delighted that she is richer than her parents, and that she can afford her own maid - we are happy for her and for Sam.\\nDr. Grogan\\nAn Irishman and a confirmed \\\"old bachelor,\\\" Dr. Grogan is well liked in Lyme Regis. He flirts with Aunt Tranter and tends to Mrs. Poulteney's ills, and is equally skillful at keeping his heart from getting entangled in a love affair and dealing with his patients' different temperaments. He attends the surprise party at the White Lion for Aunt Tranter in Chapter 19.\\nIt is Dr. Grogan who first suggests to Charles that Sarah might be trying to hurt herself to inspire pity in the young man, whom she finds attractive. Most of Charles' doubts about Sarah stem from Dr. Grogan, whom he often tries to argue against but is also often persuaded by. When Charles jilts Ernestina, Dr. Grogan is the stern voice of reason, condemning him for having made Ernestina suffer, and encoring Charles to try and become a better person so he can atone for his sins.\\nMillie\\nMillie is a maid in Mrs. Poulteney's service, whom Sarah saves from being fired. Millie is a ploughman's daughter with ten siblings who all live in bitter poverty. Sarah takes her under her wing while she is living at Mrs. Poulteney's house, and they share a bed.\\nMrs. Martha Endicott\\nMrs. Endicott is the owner of a hotel in Exeter where Sarah goes to stay in Chapter 36 once she leaves Lyme Regis. Mrs. Endicott is \\\"rapacious\\\" and overcharges for her rooms, but conveniently doesn't inquire into her guests' private business, which makes her hotel a good place to hide.\\nMr. Freeman\\nErnestina's father is a wealthy businessman who has managed to move his family into the upper class of London, despite the fact that he has no connection to nobility, and his only claim to status is wealth. Mr. Freeman is skeptical of Charles' status as a gentleman; he values wealth over aristocratic blood. He is very protective of his daughter, and when Charles jilts Ernestina, Ernestina has to restrain her father from completely demolishing Charles' name and taking him to court.\\nSarah (the prostitute)\\nSarah is a prostitute whom Charles hires in Chapters 39-40 while he is in London. She bears a vague physical resemblance to Sarah Woodruff, which is why Charles is drawn to her. She has a daughter but no husband, and is selling sex to make ends meet for her and her child.\\nThe narrator\\nThe author intrudes frequently into the storyline when he makes comments about the act of writing the novel, but he appears just twice in person - firstly in Chapter 55, and then again in Chapter 61. Fowles pokes fun at himself, calling himself \\\"a very minor figure,\\\" and using hyperbole to reassure us that he is as \\\"minimal...as a gamma-ray particle\\\" (361). The rest of the description in Chapter 61 is not positive, and paints Fowles as merely a \\\"successful impresario\\\" or a flashy magician (362). The author has the power to manipulate the time of the narrative, and to decide - to some degree - on the actions of the characters.\\nMr. Montague\\nMontague is Charles' young solicitor, who accompanies him to the meeting in Chapter 56 with Ernestina's father's solicitors. He is sympathetic toward Charles, but believes that he must accept the punishment for what he has done. Montague encourages Charles to go abroad, and Charles takes him up on this advice at the end of Chapter 56.\\nDante Gabriel Rossetti\\nRossetti is a famous artist from the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He notices Sarah on the street when she is pregnant with Lalage, and asks if he can paint her. At the end of the novel, Sarah is living in his house and acting as his assistant; she is incredibly grateful to him for offering her a wonderful new life.\\nLalage\\nLalage is the baby daughter of Charles and Sarah, the product of their first sexual encounter in the Endicott Family Hotel. Sarah conceals the existence of this daughter from Charles until he comes to visit her at her new residence in Rossetti's house.\",\n \"Dracula - The Iron Maiden Commentary\\nDracula (1897 ) Song: 'Transylvania' ... , is the initiating point of the novel since someone from England must make ... Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is often ...\\nChapter 1: Summary\\nThis novel is not told in a straightforward, chronological, omniscient manner, like many nineteenth-century novels. Instead, it is composed of a collage of letters, journal entries and diary jottings, in addition to a portion of a ship's log, various newspaper clippings, and even a \\\"phonograph diary.\\\" Since the story is basically a mystery, this technique is highly effective in sustaining suspense, for there are literally dozens of narrative pieces for readers to fit together before they can see the complexity of the novel resolved and the entirety of Stoker's pattern. Stoker most likely borrowed this approach to his novel from Wilkie Collins, who used the same technique in his \\\"detective\\\" novel The Woman in White (1860).\\nJonathan Harker's journal entries begin on May 3, sometime in the late nineteenth century. The young London lawyer has been traveling by train across Europe and is currently in Budapest, in route to Count Dracula's estate, located somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania—the \\\"land beyond the forest.\\\" Harker has been sent by his London law firm to complete the final transactions for a transfer of real estate, which the Count has recently purchased in England, and thus far, Harker is very pleased with his trip. He is favorably impressed with Budapest, and he remarks that already he can tell that he is leaving the Western world behind him and that he is \\\"entering the East,\\\" a section of Europe whose peoples and customs will be, for the most part, strange and unfamiliar.\\nAt the beginning of his journey, the tenor of his narrative is low-key—that is, Harker records what he contemplates, what he sees, and what he eats (in regard to the latter, he jots off a couple of reminders to himself to obtain certain recipes for his fiancée, Mina Murray).\\nAs his journal entries continue, Harker continues to record the details of the exotically spiced meals which he dines on, plus descriptions of the many old castles which he sees perched atop steep hills in the distance. The train dawdles on through the countryside, and Harker continues to describe the colorfully costumed peasants whom he sees; he is especially fascinated by the local garb of the swarthy, rather fierce looking men of the region, for they remind him of bandits, but he says that he has been assured that they are quite harmless.\\nAt the eve of twilight, when Harker's train reaches Bistritz, not far from the infamous Borgo Pass, Harker disembarks and checks into the \\\"delightful ... old fashioned\\\" Golden Krone Hotel (Count Dracula has instructed him to stay here). Before retiring for the night, Harker reads a note of cordial welcome from Count Dracula, then he records some of the local stories about the Pass, as well as some of the other local beliefs and superstitions. For example, the Borgo Pass marks the entry into Bukovina, and the Pass itself has been the scene of great fires and centuries of massacres, famine, and disease. Coincidentally, Harker's arrival at Bistritz is on the eve of St. George's Day, a night when \\\"evil things in the world ... have full sway.\\\" At first, Harker is unconcerned about these local superstitions, but after he witnesses an old peasant woman's fearful awe of the name \\\"Dracula,\\\" and after he realizes the extent of her fear for his safety, and after he finally accepts her gift of a rosary to ward off evil spirits, Harker begins to become a bit uneasy about setting off the next day for the Borgo Pass, despite the fact that Dracula's carriage will be waiting for him when he arrives late on the eve of St. George's Day.\\nThe morning of the departure does not bode well: A considerable crowd of peasants has gathered around the coach, muttering polyglot words which all seem to be variants of the word vampire; then, almost as if it happens en mass, the crowd makes the sign of the cross and points two fingers at him (a superstitious sign of blessing for a good, safe journey). The coach is off, and in contrast to the rugged road and the feverish haste of the horses, the countryside seems happy, bright, and colorful. But the forest trail, Harker notes, begins to rise ever upward, and soon they begin ascending the lofty, steep terrain of the Carpathian Mountains. The country peasants, as the coach dashes by them, all kneel and cross themselves, and Harker notes that the hills soon pass into a misty and cold gloom. Evening arrives, and soon they are passing beneath ghost-like clouds, as the coach careens alongside late-lying snows. Harker asks to walk, but his request is denied; foot travel is impossible because of the large number of fierce wild dogs in the woods. Meanwhile, the driver lashes his horses onward at an ever faster and more furious speed until at last the coach enters the Borgo Pass.\\nThe passengers disembark, the horses neigh and snort violently, and the peasants suddenly begin screaming. Simultaneously, a horse-drawn caleche drives up, and the driver instructs Harker that he will take him to Count Dracula. Once inside the caleche, Harker collapses in the close darkness, feeling like a child, cowering within the eerie loneliness. Glancing at his watch, he notices in alarm that it is midnight. A wild howling commences, the horses strain and rear, and wolves begin to gather from all sides as fine, powdery snow begins to fall. Harker falls asleep, probably from psychological strain and also from physical weariness; when he awakens, the caleche is stopped and the driver is gone. A ring of wolves \\\"with white teeth and lolling red tongues\\\" surrounds Harker. He feels \\\"a sort of paralysis of fear.\\\" The ring of terror is unbearable; he shouts and beats on the side of the caleche. There seems to be no one around. Then without warning, the driver reappears, signals the wolves to disperse, and he drives onward, ascending again, ever higher, until at last they are in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, the castle of Count Dracula.\\n \\nChapter 1: Commentary\\nFrom what we read in Harker's journal, it is clear that the young lawyer is a very logical, organized sort of man. Clearly, Stoker is setting up his protagonist as a very rational individual; in this way, the horror of the melodrama which will occur later will be encountered by a man who will try to combat it with common sense and logic. As a result, the terror of Stoker's narrative will become heightened and will seem more believable and less excessively hysterical. Had Stoker chosen a nervous, emotional type of man for his hero, his gothic melodrama would have become, or could have become, laughable and ludicrous. This is not the case, however; because of the carefully calculated way in which Stoker indicates and unravels the mystery of Count Dracula, he achieves a mastery over his subject matter that mitigates the raw horror and, instead, intensifies each chapter's sense of anxiety and portentous dread.\\nOne of the first devices that Stoker uses to let us know that Harker is sensible and rational (in addition to the fact that he is a lawyer) is by having Harker recall in his journal that he spent quite a bit of time prior to his journey in the British Museum; there, he read as much as he could about the provinces through which he would be traveling (provinces originally occupied by Attila and the Huns); Harker tried his best to locate the exact locality of Castle Dracula, but unfortunately, he was not able to pinpoint the location precisely, because the castle is located in one of the \\\"wildest and least known portions of Europe.\\\" Yet even this ominously mysterious fact does not worry Harker unduly; because he is able to use his smattering of German, he is enjoying his adventuresome trip—thus far—and his notes become more minutely descriptive and confessional as he continues; the purpose for recording as much as he can, he says, is so that he can later refresh his memory when he is telling his fiancée, Mina, about the journey.\\nOne of the first clues in Harker's journal that suggests to us something about the terror that will soon commence concerns Harker's reaction to Transylvania itself. He notes that \\\"every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians\\\"; he also records, again matter-of-factly, the minor annoyance of his having had \\\"all sorts of queer dreams\\\" recently; in addition, he heard a \\\"dog howling all night under [his] window.\\\" He wonders, rather naively, if perhaps it was the excessive paprika in the chicken casserole which he ate for dinner that could have been responsible for his bad dreams.\\n \\n \\nChapters 2–4: Summary\\nDracula's castle is described, like almost everything else, in precise detail. Harker notes the castle's great round arches, the immense iron-studded stone doors, the rattling chains, and the clanking of massive bolts, and he compares the scene with a nightmare. Dracula himself is as mysterious as his castle is. He is an old man and is clean shaven, except for a long white Victorian moustache, and he is clad all in black without \\\"a single speck of color about him anywhere.\\\" He speaks in perfect English and welcomes Harker inside, shaking his hand with an ice-cold, vice-like grip. His house, as he guides Harker forward, is seen to be filled with long passageways and heavy doors; finally they come to a room in which a table is laid for dinner, set beside a roaring fire. The Count's greeting is so warm that Harker forgets his fears and gives Dracula the details of the real estate transfer. Dracula explains that, at present, because of gout, he will not be able to make the journey to England himself, but that one of his trusted servants will accompany Harker back to London.\\nAfter supper, Harker enjoys a cigar (Dracula does not smoke), and he studies his host: Dracula's face is strong; his high, thin nose is aquiline, and his nostrils seem to arch peculiarly; his shaggy brows almost meet, and his bushy hair seems to curl in profusion. His mouth, thick and white, covers \\\"sharp white teeth which protrude over the lips.\\\" His ears are pale and pointed, and his cheeks are firm but extremely thin. His breath is fetid and rank. \\\"The general effect is one of extraordinary pallor.\\\"\\nBoth of the men hear wolves howling from far off, and Dracula is the first to speak: \\\"The children of the night,\\\" he says, \\\"what music they make!\\\" Shortly, thereafter, the two men retire, and Harker records a final entry for the day: \\\"I think strange things which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me.\\\"\\nAs Harker explores the Count's castle the next day, he notices a number of unusual, intriguing things: A meal is already prepared and is ready for him—and no servant is present. The table service is made of gold, the curtains and upholstery are made of costly fabrics, seemingly centuries old, and nowhere is there a mirror. To his joy, however, Harker at last discovers a vast library, and he is in the midst of perusing one of the volumes when the Count appears. Dracula tells Harker that he may go anywhere he wishes in the castle, except where the doors are locked. Then he changes the subject and reveals that he greatly fears his proposed journey to England. He feels that his mastery of the English language is insufficient. In addition, he has grown so accustomed to being a master in his own land that he dreads going to England and suddenly being a nobody. For that reason, he wants Harker to remain in the castle as long as possible in order to perfect Dracula's English pronunciation. Harker immediately agrees to do so, and thus they talk further—first, about inconsequential things, and then Dracula explains about the evil spirits in Transylvania that sometimes hold sway. There is \\\"hardly a foot of soil\\\" in all this region, says the Count, \\\"that has not been enriched by the blood of men, patriots, or invaders.\\\"\\nAfterward, their conversation turns to England, and while it is evident that the Count is concerned that he shall, for the most part, be alone in his new surroundings, he is immensely pleased by the description of his new estate: It is surrounded by high walls, made of heavy stone, is in need of repair, but contains massive, old iron gates; it is surrounded by dense trees, and the only building in the nearby vicinity is a private lunatic asylum. \\\"I love the shade and the shadow,\\\" Dracula says; \\\"I am no longer young; and my heart, through years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth.\\\"\\nThe two men talk throughout the night, and at the coming of dawn, when the cock crows, Dracula leaps up excitedly and excuses himself. Harker feels nothing tangibly amiss, but he confesses in his diary that he feels uneasy; he wishes that he were home and that he had never journeyed to Transylvania.\\nNext morning as Harker is shaving, his host's voice startles him, and he cuts himself. Then two unexplainable, horrible things occur. Harker realizes that, first, there is no reflection of Count Dracula in the shaving mirror; and second, when the Count sees Harker's fresh blood trickling from his chin, his eyes blaze up \\\"with a sudden demoniac fury,\\\" and he lunges for Harker's throat. Instinctively, Harker touches his crucifix, and Dracula's fury vanishes. He counsels Harker to take care how he cuts himself in this country; then Dracula flings the shaving glass onto the courtyard stones below, where it shatters into a thousand pieces. Dracula vanishes, and Harker ponders about what has happened. He also wonders about the fact that he has never seen the Count eat or drink. Harker then explores the castle farther and finally concludes that no matter how many beautiful vistas which he is able to see from the battlements, the castle is a veritable prison, and he is its prisoner.\\nAfter Harker realizes that he is indeed a prisoner in Dracula's castle, he succumbs to panic and feelings of helplessness; momentarily, he believes that he is going mad, but he recovers almost instantly and tries to rationally analyze what he must do to escape and survive. More than anything else, Harker realizes that he will \\\"need all [his] brains to get through.\\\" Ironically, since Harker is not a religious man, he is grateful for the crucifix which was given to him; it is \\\"a comfort and a strength.\\\"\\nA good night's sleep is virtually impossible for Harker, despite the fact that he has placed the crucifix over the head of the bed; thus, he paces throughout the night, looks out of his windows, and by accident, he sees Dracula, on two separate occasions, emerge from his room on the floor below, slither out, head downward, in lizard fashion, with his cloak spread out \\\"around him like great wings.\\\" It is shortly afterward that Harker records in his diary that he fears for his sanity; he hopes that he does not go mad. His diary is his only solace; he turns to it \\\"for repose.\\\"\\nOne of Harker's favorite rooms in the castle is one that he feels was probably a woman's room; romantically, he likes to imagine that in this room \\\"ladies sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.\\\" It is during one moonlight night in this room that three women appear before Harker—and whether or not this is a dream, we cannot be sure. Harker's horror, however, is quite real, and that concerns us most. Two of the women are dark, and both of them have vivid, glowing red eyes; the other woman is fair. All have \\\"brilliant white teeth,\\\" and all of them cause a burning, sexual desire within Harker. Unexplainably, Harker finds himself allowing the fair woman to bend over him until he can feel her hot breath on his neck. As two sharp teeth touch his neck, and as he closes [his] eyes \\\"in languorous ecstasy,\\\" waiting \\\"with beating heart,\\\" Count Dracula suddenly sweeps in and orders the women out. But before they go, Harker notices that they grab a small bag with \\\"some living thing within it\\\"; with horror, Harker is sure that he hears a low wail, like that \\\"of a half-smothered child.\\\" Then he sinks into unconsciousness.\\nSignificantly, Harker awakens in his own bed. Perhaps the women and the gruesome bag were only part of a bad dream. Thus he steels himself for others \\\"who are ... waiting to suck [his] blood.\\\" Harker waits, and while he does so, he notices gypsies who are driving wagons filled with large, square, empty boxes. Later, he hears the muffled sounds of digging, and again, he sees the Count slither down the side of the castle, lizard-fashion, wearing Harker's clothes and carrying \\\"the terrible bag.\\\" A howling dog cries far below in the valley. The horror overcomes Harker; locked in his prison, he sits down and cries.\\nIt is then that he hears a woman below, crying out for her child, tearing her hair, beating her breasts, and \\\"beating her naked hands against the door.\\\" Within moments, a pack of wolves pour \\\"like a pent-up dam\\\" into the courtyard. Then they stream away, \\\"licking their lips.\\\"\\nHarker has no choice; he must try to encounter Dracula during daylight. Therefore, he crawls out his window and descends, perilously, until he reaches the Count's room. Oddly, it is empty, and it seems \\\"to have never been used\\\"; everything is covered with dust, including a \\\"great heap of gold in one corner.\\\" Seeing an open door, Harker follows a circular stairway down through dark, tunnel-like passages; with every step, he becomes more aware of a \\\"deathly, sickly odour, the odour of old earth newly turned.\\\"\\nIn the vaults below, Harker discovers fifty boxes, and in one of them, he finds the Count, apparently asleep, even though his eyes are \\\"open and strong.\\\" Horrified, he flees to his room and tries to decide what he must do.\\nOn June 29th, he reveals the full extent of his terror. He is terribly afraid; if he had a gun, he would try to kill the Count, but at this point, he believes that the Count is supernatural and that bullets would have no effect on him. Yet when the Count appears, he bids Harker goodbye, assuring him that a carriage will take him to the Borgo Pass and from there, he will be able to return to England.\\nLater, Harker opens his door and sees \\\"the three terrible women licking their lips.\\\" He throws himself on the floor, imploring heaven to save him until he can escape the following day.\\nNot surprisingly, Harker wakes early, scales down the wall, and once more he finds the Count laid out in one of the large wooden boxes. Curiously, the old man looks \\\"as if his youth [had] been half renewed.\\\" The reason is clear. He has been renewed by blood. On his lips are thick blotches of fresh blood which trickle from the corners of his mouth and run over his chin and neck. Dracula is gorged with blood, \\\"like a filthy leech.\\\" The thought of Harker's assisting this monster to travel to England and satiate his lust on unsuspecting English men and women so horrifies Harker that he seizes a shovel and slashes madly at the Count's \\\"hateful face.\\\" The Count's mad eyes so paralyze Harker, however, that the blow only grazes the Count's forehead. Hearing voices, Harker flees to the Count's room, where he hears the boxes below being filled with earth and the covers nailed shut. Then he hears the sound of wheels in the driveway, the crack of whips, and a chorus of gypsies. Now Harker is convinced that he is absolutely alone, a prisoner, and Dracula is off for England to wreak his evil. Yet Harker is still determined to at least try and escape and take some of the gold with him. He is sure that this castle is a nest for the \\\"devil and his children,\\\" and he cannot remain in it a moment longer. The precipice which he must confront is steep and high, but he must attempt it at all costs. The last entry in his journal, at this point, is desperate: \\\"Good-bye, all! Mina!\\\"\\n \\nChapters 2–4: Commentary\\nThese three chapters set the tone for all subsequent treatments of the Dracula legend. That is, whereas many works based on Count Dracula will alter the story significantly, most of the subsequent treatments of this legend will have some of the incidents found in these chapters. They include (1) an emissary (sometimes the pattern includes unsuspecting travelers) who is in a foreign land to contact the mysterious Count Dracula, who has bought some property in England. The young man, therefore, has come to finalize the arrangements with Dracula. (2) The setting is always someplace in Transylvania, a land sparsely populated and filled with howling wolves. It is also often remote and strange and unfamiliar, with no main roads to enter or depart by. (3) Everything is strange, even the language, which prevents the emissary from communicating with the natives (The natives are always of peasant stock and extremely superstitious and often xenophobic). (4) The representative usually stops in some remote inn, without such modern conveniences as telephones, where a carriage with an inscrutable driver will take him to the Borgo Pass. (5) The peasants will offer him various charms to ward off vampires, a word that strikes fear into the peasants. (6) The Borgo Pass is well known for mysterious happenings and the emissary usually arrives about midnight, a time when evil spirits have free reign in the world. (7) The emissary is met by someone working for the Count and is taken to the Count's castle. (8) The castle is a decaying edifice, located at the top of a tall mountain amid a desolate area, where one can gain access to the castle only by a steep, narrow road. The castle is a landmark, but few people tour the place. (9) Everything is old and musty in the castle. (10) Count Dracula is seen only at nighttime, and the emissary never sees him eat anything even though there is plenty of freshly prepared food. (11) The narrator usually sees Count Dracula performing some act which would be considered supernatural, such as slithering down the sheer precipice of the castle in a \\\"bat-like\\\" manner. (12) Often there is the presence of a female vampire (or vampires), who will attempt to seduce the narrator. (13) Usually the emissary is imprisoned in the castle and must effect his own escape.\\nOther factors of a lesser nature can be included, factors such as the narrator's explorations of the castle and his discovery of many coffins or boxes of dirt or the proliferation of bats about the castle, the eerie noises, and the mysterious absence of mirrors (since vampires do not cast a reflection in a mirror), and sometimes there are the cries of young babies and the presence of blood at unexpected places. Therefore, the individual writer can utilize as many of the above archetypical patterns as he or she so chooses.\\n \\n \\nChapters 5 & 6: Summary\\nThe scene abruptly shifts from Transylvania to London, and the story of Mina Murray (later Mina Harker) and Lucy Westenra is introduced. The story in the following few chapters is presented through a series of letters between Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra, and also through journal entries of various characters, as well as by newspaper articles and even a ship's log. In these chapters we are also introduced to Dr. John Seward whom Lucy describes as \\\"one of the most resolute men\\\" she ever saw, \\\"yet the most calm\\\"; Arthur Holmwood, whom Lucy chooses to marry; and Quincey P. Morris, a Texan, a friend of Arthur Holmwood; and Dr. Seward, director of a lunatic asylum. All of these characters will figure prominently in the story.\\nMina Murray, an assistant \\\"schoolmistress,\\\" is engaged to Jonathan Harker. In Mina's letter to her dear friend Lucy, she tells of Jonathan's recent letters from Transylvania which assure her that he is well and will soon be returning home. (These are early letters from Jonathan, of course.) Mina's first letter is dated a few days after Jonathan's arrival at Castle Dracula.\\nLucy's reply reveals that she is in love with a Mr. Arthur Holmwood, a \\\"tall, curly haired man.\\\" She also mentions a doctor whom she would like Mina to meet. The doctor, John Seward, is \\\"handsome\\\" and \\\"really clever,\\\" twenty-nine years old, and the administrator of a lunatic asylum. At the conclusion of Lucy's letter, we learn that Mina and Lucy have been friends since childhood and that each depends on the other for happiness.\\nIn Lucy's next letter to Mina, Lucy reveals to us that she will be twenty years old in three months. On this particular day (the 24th of May), she has had no less than three marriage proposals, and she is ecstatic. The first proposal was from Dr. Seward, whom she turned down. The second proposal came from the American, Quincey P. Morris. She finds the American to be gallant and romantic, yet she feels that she must turn him down as well. The third proposal came from Arthur Holmwood, whose proposal she accepted.\\nFollowing the exchange of letters between Mina and Lucy, we have an excerpt from Dr. Seward's diary (kept on a phonograph) from the 25th of May, the day following his proposal to Lucy. Dr. Seward reveals his depression over Lucy's rejection, but he will resign himself to his vocation. Dr. Seward also mentions, most importantly, his curiosity about one of his patients. This patient's name is R. M. Renfield, who is fifty-nine years old and a man of \\\"great physical strength.\\\" Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is \\\"morbidly excitable\\\" and has \\\"periods of gloom ending in some fixed idea\\\" which the doctor is unable to determine. Seward concludes the entry by stating that he believes Renfield to be potentially dangerous.\\nFollowing Seward's entry is a letter from the American, Quincey P. Morris, to Arthur Holmwood, dated May 25th. In the letter, Quincey asks Arthur to drink with him to drown his sorrows over a woman's rejection—and also, he proposes to drink to Arthur's happiness. Quincey also reveals the name of another fellow who will be present, one who also happens to wish to drown his sorrows—Dr. Seward.\\nMina's journal of the 24th of July comes from Whitby, a town located in northeast England, on the seacoast; her description of Whitby would pass for one in a travel guide. Of special note is Mina's description of the ruins of Whitby Abbey: Mina says that it is a \\\"most noble ruin ... full of beautiful and romantic bits,\\\" and she mentions the legend of a \\\"white lady\\\" who is seen in one of the Abbey's windows. She also mentions a large graveyard which lies above the town and has a \\\"full view of the harbor.\\\"\\nOf the friends whom Mina makes at Whitby, she is most charmed by a \\\"funny old man\\\" named Mr. Swales. Mr. Swales is very old, for Mina tells us that his face is \\\"all gnarled and twisted like the bark of a tree,\\\" and that Swales brags that he is almost one hundred years old. He is a skeptical person and scoffs at the legend of the \\\"white lady\\\" of Whitby Abbey.\\nA week later, Mina and Lucy are on the hillside above Whitby talking to old Mr. Swales. Lucy playfully refers to him as the \\\"Sir Oracle\\\" of the area. Mina mentions Lucy's robust health and her happy spirits since coming to Whitby. On this day, Mr. Swales refuses to tell Mina and Lucy about a legend which he scoffs at. The legend involves and maintains that many of the graves in the yard are actually empty. This notion is, of course, preposterous to Mr. Swales, and he tells the ladies that they should not believe the silly superstitions of the area.\\nMina reports that Lucy and Arthur are preparing for their wedding and that she still hasn't heard from Jonathan for a month; interestingly, the date of this entry is also the date of the last entry that Jonathan Harker made in the journal that he kept in Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania.\\nDr. Seward, meanwhile, reports that the case of Renfield is becoming more and more curious. Seward reports that Renfield has developed qualities of selfishness, secrecy, and dubiousness; in addition, Renfield has pets of odd sorts; presently, Renfield's hobby is catching flies, and he has a large number of them. When Seward demands that Renfield get rid of them, Renfield asks for a delay of three days. Two weeks later, Seward reports that Renfield has become interested in spiders and has \\\"several very big fellows in a box.\\\" Evidently, Renfield is feeding the flies to the spiders and also munching on the flies himself. About ten days later, Seward reports that the spiders are becoming a great nuisance and that he has ordered Renfield to get rid of them. As Seward is issuing this demand, a fly buzzes into the room and Renfield catches it and \\\"exultantly\\\" eats it. Renfield keeps a notebook in which whole pages are filled with masses of numbers, as if it is an account book; we can assume that he is totaling up the number of flies that he has eaten.\\nA week later, Seward discovers that Renfield also has a pet sparrow and that Renfield's supply of spiders has diminished; it would seem that Renfield also maintains a supply of flies for the spiders by tempting them with pieces of food. About ten days later, Seward reports that Renfield has \\\"a whole colony of sparrows\\\" and that the supply of flies and spiders is almost depleted.\\nFawning like a dog, Renfield begs Seward for a nice little kitten which he can \\\"feed—and feed—and feed.\\\" Seward refuses Renfield's request, and Renfield immediately becomes hostile and threatening. Seward fears that Renfield is an \\\"undeveloped homicidal maniac.\\\" Upon returning to Renfield's cell a few hours later, Seward discovers Renfield in the corner, \\\"gnawing his fingers.\\\" Renfield immediately begs for a kitten again. The next day, Renfield is spreading sugar on the window sill, evidently trying to catch flies again. Seward is surprised that the room is empty of birds, and when Renfield is asked where they are, he responds that they have all flown away. Seward is disconcerted, however, when he sees a few feathers and some blood on Renfield's pillow. A few hours later, an attendant tells Seward that Renfield vomited and disgorged a large quantity of feathers. That evening, Seward orders that Renfield be given a strong opiate to make him sleep. Seward decides to classify Renfield as a \\\"zoöphagous [life eating] maniac.\\\" Seward defines this phenomenon as a person who tries \\\"to absorb as many lives as he can,\\\" one who has laid himself out to achieve it in a cumulative way. Seward is thrilled with the possibility that he might advance this branch of science and, thus, become famous.\\nThe novel now shifts back to Mina Murray's journal, July 26th, about a week after Seward's last entry. Mina voices concern about not hearing from Jonathan Harker and also, curiously, about Lucy.\\nAdditionally, Mina is confused as to why she hasn't heard from Jonathan because yesterday, Jonathan's employer, Mr. Hawkins, sent her a letter from Jonathan, a letter that was written at Count Dracula's castle. The letter consists of only one line, a statement that he is starting home. Mina notes that this extreme brevity is totally unlike Jonathan.\\nMina is also concerned about Lucy because Lucy has once again \\\"taken to her old habit of walking in her sleep.\\\" In a late entry of the 6th of August, Mina notes that the fishermen claim that a harsh storm is approaching. Old Mr. Swales tells her that he has never felt closer to death and that he is tired of fighting it. He also senses approaching calamity and doom: \\\"There is something in that wind that sounds, and looks, and tastes, and smells like death.\\\" At the end of the entry, she reports sighting a strange ship which old Mr. Swales says is a Russian ship.\\n \\nChapters 5 & 6: Commentary\\nStoker continues with his epistolary style, continuing in the tradition of having two young, naive ladies corresponding about love and life. These innocent girls will very soon become involved in the horror which Dracula brings. Stoker contrasts their innocence with the approaching plague of horror and evil, a typically gothic pattern of narrative; it would not be dramatically effective to have depraved characters confront the evil menace.\\nThe setting is a typical one for the gothic novel. We leave the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan city and journey to an isolated city, replete with legends of empty graves, sepulchral old natives, and legends of dead people who haunt huge old houses. Furthermore, any type of ghost story should be set in some place far from civilization, and here at Whitby, where there are rambling old houses, sleepwalking, and graveyards, we have a perfect gothic setting.\\nThe story of Renfield foreshadows the social disruption and insanity which will accompany Dracula's descent upon England. This is further symbolized by Renfield's desire for blood and the sucking of fresh blood, which will be Dracula's, or the vampire's, goal. Renfield can be seen as an archetype of \\\"the predecessor\\\" (such as John the Baptist) because Renfield prepares us for the imminent arrival of his \\\"lord\\\" and \\\"master,\\\" Dracula. Stoker will continue to pervert Christian myths throughout the novel. Dracula is a satanic figure, and the horrors of Renfield are maudlin, compared to the greater horror which is Dracula himself.\\nLucy's sleepwalking also prefigures the arrival of Count Dracula. As it happens, the day that she begins sleepwalking will closely correspond to the day that Dracula's ship crosses the straits of Gibraltar into Western civilization. And it will be because of her sleepwalking that she will become a member of the \\\"Un-Dead.\\\"\\nOld Mr. Swales is the archetypal prophetic figure, one who senses and can articulate the approaching doom and horror, yet one whose exhortations and prophesies are ignored or remain misunderstood by the populace.\\n \\n \\nChapters 7 & 8: Summary\\nUtilizing the narrative device of a newspaper clipping (dated August 8th), the story of the landing of Count Dracula's ship is presented. The report indicates that the recent storm, one of the worst storms on record, was responsible for the shipwreck of a strange Russian vessel. The article also mentions several observations which indicate the vessel's strange method of navigation; we learn that observers feel that the captain had to be mad because in the midst of the storm the ship's sails were wholly unfurled.\\nMany people who witnessed the approach of the strange vessel were gathered on one of Whitby's piers to await the ship's arrival. By the light of a spotlight, witnesses noticed that \\\"lashed to the helm was a corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro\\\" as the ship rocked. As the vessel violently ran aground, \\\"an immense dog sprang up on deck from below,\\\" jumped from the ship, and ran off. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the man lashed to the wheel (the helm) had a crucifix clutched in his hand. According to a local doctor, the man had been dead for at least two days. Coast Guard officials discovered a bottle in the dead man's pocket, carefully sealed, which contained a roll of paper.\\nIn a newspaper article the next day, it is revealed that the ship, a schooner, was a Russian vessel, one from Varna, called the Demeter. The only cargo on board was a \\\"ballast of silver sand\\\" and \\\"a number of great wooden boxes filled with mould.\\\" It is revealed that the cargo was consigned to a Whitby solicitor, Mr. S. F. Billington, who has claimed the boxes. The bizarre circumstances of the ship's arrival have been the talk about town for the last few days, and there has also been some interest as to the whereabouts of the big dog which jumped ashore on the first night. The dog has disappeared, and some citizens are worried that the dog may be dangerous. Reportedly, a half-breed mastiff was found dead, its throat torn out and its belly split open.\\nThe narrative continues with excerpts from the Demeter's log. The log begins on the 6th of July, which would be a week after Jonathan Harker's last entry in his journal. According to the log entries, all is calm aboard the ship for several days. On the 16th of July, however, one crew member is found missing, and the log indicates that all the sailors are downcast and anxious. The next day, the 17th of July, a sailor reports seeing a \\\"tall, thin man, who was not like any of the crew, come up the companionway, and go along the deck forward and disappear.\\\" Yet no one, upon inspection of the ship, is to be found.\\nFive days later, on the 22nd of July, the ship passes Gibraltar and sails out through the Straits with apparently no further problems. Two days later, however, another man is reported lost, and the remaining men grow panicky and frightened. Five days later, another sailor is missing. On the 30th of July, only the captain, his mate, and two crew members are left. On the 2nd of August, another crew member disappears. At midnight on the next night, the remaining deck hand disappears, and the captain and the mate are the only remaining men aboard. The captain reports that the mate is haggard and close to madness. In a panic, the mate, a Roumanian, hisses, \\\"It is here.\\\" The mate thinks that \\\"it\\\" is in the hold, perhaps \\\"in one of the boxes.\\\" The mate descends into the hold, only to come flying from the hold moments later, screaming in terror, telling the captain, \\\"He is there. I know the secret now.\\\" In despair, the mate throws himself overboard, preferring drowning to a confrontation with \\\"the thing.\\\" Since the captain feels that it is his duty to remain with the ship, he vows to tie his hands to the wheel and take the ship to port. At this point, the log ends.\\nThe log of the Demeter stirs up a great deal of controversy, and most of the townsfolk regard the captain as a hero. The reporter ends his narration by stating that the great dog has not yet been found.\\nThe narrative shifts then to Mina's journal (August 8th), the day of the great storm. Lucy is still sleepwalking, and Mina has yet to hear from Jonathan.\\nOn the 10th of August, Mina indicates that the burial of the sea captain was on this day and that Lucy is very upset about the events of the last few days. In a shocking revelation, we learn that old Mr. Swales was found dead this morning, near the graveyard, at the seat where Lucy and Mina would often visit with him. According to the doctor, the old man must have \\\"fallen back in the seat in some sort of fright\\\" because his neck was broken.\\nMina's journal for the 10th of August concludes with the observation that Lucy is happy and seems better in body and in spirit than she has for quite some time. The next entry is a few hours later; at 3 A.M., Mina awakened with a horrible sense of fear and discovered that Lucy's bed was empty. After satisfying herself that Lucy was nowhere to be found inside the house, she threw a heavy shawl about herself and headed outdoors to search for Lucy. While searching, it occurred to Mina that Lucy might have gone to their favorite place, the seat on the hill where old Mr. Swales was found. She looked towards the hill where the seat was located and, under the light of a \\\"beautiful moon,\\\" she saw on the seat a half-reclining figure, \\\"snowy white.\\\" Above the figure, \\\"something dark\\\" was bending over the reclining figure. Mina raced to the spot. When she approached the seat, Mina saw something \\\"long and black\\\" bent over the half reclining figure. Mina called to Lucy in fright, and \\\"the thing raised a head.\\\" Mina could see \\\"a white face and red, gleaming eyes.\\\" By the time Mina reached the seat, the moonlight was so brilliant that Mina could see that Lucy was alone. It appeared that Lucy was merely asleep, but her breathing was hesitant and coming in long, heavy gasps; then Lucy shuddered and covered her throat with her hand. Mina threw her shawl over Lucy to warm her, and Lucy pulled the shawl up about her neck as though she were cold. Mina accounts for the two puncture wounds in Lucy's throat as the result of pin pricks caused when Mina was trying to pin a shawl around Lucy's exposed neck. Mina then escorts Lucy back home and puts her back to bed. Just before falling asleep, Lucy begs Mina not to tell anyone of the incident.\\nThat morning (August 11th) Lucy looks better to Mina than she has for weeks. Mina berates herself for wounding Lucy with the safety pin, for again she notices the two little red pin pricks on Lucy's neck, \\\"and on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood.\\\" Lucy casually laughs off Mina's concern. The rest of the day is spent happily, and Mina expects a restful night.\\nIn her journal entry of the next day, however, Mina indicates that her expectations were wrong. Twice that night Mina discovered that Lucy was awake and trying to leave the room. Yet, the next morning, Lucy was, seemingly, the picture of health to Mina.\\nThe 13th of August is a quiet day, yet that night Mina discovers Lucy sitting up in bed in a dazed sleep, \\\"pointing to the window.\\\" Mina goes to the window, and in the brilliant moonlight she notices \\\"a great bat\\\" flitting about in circles. Evidently the bat is frightened by the sudden appearance of Mina at the window and flies off.\\nThe next day at sunset, Mina indicates that she and Lucy spent the day at a favorite spot on the East Cliff, and, at sunset, Lucy made a most unusual remark: \\\"His red eyes again! They are just the same.\\\" At the moment when Lucy utters this phrase, Mina notices that Lucy's eyes are directed towards their favorite seat, \\\"whereon was a dark figure seated alone.\\\" To Mina, the stranger's eyes appeared for a moment \\\"like burning flames.\\\" Later, the two return home and say no more about the incident.\\nAfter seeing Lucy to bed that night, Mina decided to go for a short stroll. Coming home in the bright moonlight, she glanced up at their bedroom window and noticed Lucy's head leaning out. Mina thought that Lucy was looking for her, but she was not—Lucy did not even notice Mina. She appeared, in fact, to be fast asleep. Curiously, seated on the window sill next to her was something that looked like a \\\"good sized bird.\\\" Running upstairs to the bedroom in a panic, Mina discovered that Lucy was now back in her bed—asleep, but holding her hand to her throat as if chilled. Mina chooses not to awaken her, yet she notices, much to her dismay, that Lucy looks pale and haggard. Mina attributes this to Lucy's fretting about something.\\nOn the next day (15th of August), Mina notices that Lucy is \\\"languid and tired\\\" and that she slept later than normal. Mina receives a bit of unexpected and shocking news from Mrs. Westenra, Lucy's mother. Mrs. Westenra's doctor has informed her that she has only a few months to live because of a heart condition.\\nTwo days later, Mina is despondent. She has had no news from Jonathan yet, and Lucy seems to be growing weaker and weaker by the day. Mina cannot understand Lucy's decline, for she eats well and sleeps well and gets plenty of exercise. Yet at night, Mina has heard her awaken as if gasping for air, and just last night, she found Lucy leaning out of the open window again; Lucy was incredibly weak and her breath came with much difficulty. Inspecting Lucy's throat as she lay asleep, Mina noticed that the puncture wounds had not healed; if anything, they were larger than before and the edges were pale and faintly puckered. \\\"They were like little white dots with red centers.\\\"\\nIn a letter dated the 17th of August, Mr. S. F. Billington (to whom the boxes from the Demeter were consigned) orders the boxes to be delivered to Carfax, near Purfleet, in London.\\nMina's journal (August 18th) records that Lucy is looking better and slept well the last night. Lucy seems to have come to terms with the night when she was found sleepwalking. Lucy spends most of her time thinking of her fiancé, Arthur. Lucy feels that the recent events are like a dream, yet she has a \\\"vague memory of something long and dark with red eyes ... and something very sweet and very bitter all around, sinking into deep green water.\\\" Her \\\"soul seemed to go out from [her] body and float about in the air.\\\" She tells Mina there was suddenly \\\"a sort of agonizing feeling.\\\" And then Mina woke her.\\nOn the 19th of August, Mina receives news of Jonathan—he is in a hospital in Budapest. Mina intends to leave the next morning to go to Budapest to be with him; Jonathan apparently has been hospitalized because of brain fever. In a letter from a Sister Agatha, Mina is warned that she should be prepared to spend some time at the hospital, for Jonathan's illness is very serious.\\nThe narrative shifts then to Dr. Seward's diary. Renfield, it seems, has had a swift and drastic change in personality. He has periods of excitement, and he acts as if he were a caged animal. He had been respectful, but recently, he has become quite \\\"haughty.\\\" He has told Seward that \\\"the Master is at hand.\\\" Dr. Seward attributes Renfield's condition to a \\\"religious mania.\\\" Renfield's pets (the spiders, flies, and sparrows) are no longer important to him. Later that night, Renfield escapes. Dr. Seward and several attendants follow Renfield to Carfax (the destination of the fifty boxes of earth belonging to Count Dracula). Following him onto the grounds, Seward finds Renfield \\\"pressed close against the old iron-bound oak door of the chapel,\\\" apparently talking to someone. Renfield is apparently addressing someone whom he calls \\\"Master\\\"; Renfield seems to consider himself a slave. Dr. Seward and the attendants put a restraint on Renfield and return him to his cell. There, Renfield says that he \\\"shall be patient, Master.\\\"\\n \\nChapters 7 & 8: Commentary\\nOnce again Stoker relies on clever stylistic devices to add verisimilitude to his story. By using newspaper clippings, the ship's log, the medical journal, excerpts from telegrams and diaries, he builds a cumulative picture of events as though they might really have happened and, thus, he gives greater credence to this improbable story.\\nThe ship that was sighted at the end of Chapter 6 has turned out to be the ship which was carrying the loads of dirt from Count Dracula's estate, the cargo that Jonathan Harker saw being loaded on wagons in Transylvania. Apparently, Count Dracula himself is \\\"residing\\\" in one of these boxes. The storm, the howling dogs, and the mysterious disappearance of the sailors—all are symbolic of the approaching evil which is represented by Count Dracula. It is clear that Dracula is a harbinger of the natural catastrophes which are occurring. His evil presence is felt by old Mr. Swales, who at his advanced age cannot withstand the horrors represented by the arrival of Dracula and is found dead, murdered to make it seem as though he were killed accidentally. It can be assumed that the mysterious dog that came from the ship was Dracula himself in one of his guises, and that it was responsible for knocking the old man down and causing his death. Many supernatural things, like Mr. Swales's death, are never fully explained by Stoker, leaving all the events surrounded by an aura of superstition and mystery.\\nThe calm Victorian life, filled with all of the amenities of life, is being penetrated by everything which Dracula represents, and the disruption is seen mainly in the manner in which he \\\"penetrates\\\" a young virgin's (Lucy's) neck, sucking both life and blood from her.\\nThe illness of Arthur Holmwood's father (only slightly mentioned), as well as the approaching death of Lucy's mother, seem cabalistically linked to the approach and arrival of Count Dracula, and, thus, by the end of the novel we will see that both Lucy and her mother have become victims of the intruding spectre of horror. Dracula is more than just a vampire, more than just a satanic presence affecting only a few; he is also a symbol of total social disruption and chaos. If not stopped, he will destroy all of Victorian society. Count Dracula's appearance and his satanic presence—his black clothes, his fiery red eyes, and his pale features—are a total contrast to the winsome, innocent, and virginal presence of the two ladies (Lucy and Mina) who represent purity.\\nOnce again, Stoker inverts the traditional Christian myth when Renfield anticipates and looks forward to the arrival of his \\\"lord and master\\\" in the person of Count Dracula. Stoker, in an interesting choice of phraseology, considers Renfield's behavior at Carfax as though Renfield is experiencing a \\\"Real Presence,\\\" as though Dracula were the (perverted) Holy Ghost. The entire scene is a perversion of the Catholic communion, wherein the Real Presence of the Holy Ghost is present each time that the Eucharist is administered.\\nIn terms of the narrative structure so far, we don't know why Count Dracula left Transylvania to come to England—rather than go somewhere else, or even why he had to leave his native country. However, in these chapters, we find out that Jonathan Harker did escape, but his method of escape will never be revealed to us; remember that when we last saw him, he was a prisoner in Dracula's castle, surrounded by wolves and supernatural beings. Yet suddenly, without explanation, he appears in Budapest, where he is cared for by nurses.\\n \\n \\nChapters 9 & 10: Summary\\nIn a letter from Budapest, Mina tells Lucy that she has arrived safely and that she has found Jonathan Harker greatly changed. He is only a shadow of his former self, and he remembers very little of what has happened to him; he suffered a terrible shock, and his brain has a mental block against whatever caused his present condition.\\nSister Agatha, who has attended him, has told Mina that he raved and ranted about dreadful and unspeakable things, so dreadful that she often had \\\"to cross herself.\\\" Sister Agatha maintains that \\\"his fear is of great and horrible things, which no mortal can think of.\\\" Mina notices a notebook and wonders if she could look through it for some clue as to what happened; Jonathan tells her that he has had brain fever, and he thinks that the cause of the brain fever might be recorded in the notebook. However, he does not ever want to read the contents of the book himself. Thus he gives the journal to Mina and says that if she wants to read it she may, but he never wants to read it lest it cause some horror in their married life.\\nMina informs Lucy that she and Jonathan have decided to get married immediately, and, that very afternoon, the marriage ceremony was performed. As a wedding gift, Mina took the notebook, wrapped it, tied it, and sealed it in wax, using her wedding ring as the seal, saying that she would never open it unless it were for his—Jonathan's—sake. After reading her friend's letter, Lucy sends Mina a letter of congratulations, telling her that she herself is feeling quite healthy.\\nDr. Seward records in his diary that Renfield has now grown very quiet and often murmurs to himself, \\\"Now I can wait, now I can wait.\\\" He does not speak to anyone, even when he is offered a kitten or a full grown cat as a pet. He responds, \\\"I don't take any stock in cats. I have more to think of now.\\\"\\nThis has happened for three nights; now, Seward plans to arrange a way for Renfield to escape so that they can follow him. At an unexpected moment, however, Renfield escapes. The attendant follows him to Carfax, where he is again pressed against the old chapel door.\\nWhen Renfield sees Dr. Seward, he tries to attack him, but is restrained. Renfield grows strangely calm, and Dr. Seward becomes aware that Renfield is staring at something in the moonlit sky. Upon following his gaze, Seward can see nothing, however, but an exceptionally large bat.\\nLucy Westenra, (on the 24th of August) records in her diary that she has been dreaming, as she did earlier at Whitby (she is now at Hillingham, another of the houses which her family owns). Also, she notes that her mother's health is declining. On the night of the 25th, she writes that she awoke around midnight to the sound of something scratching and flapping at the window. When she awoke in the morning, she was pale, and her throat pained her severely.\\nArthur Holmwood writes to Dr. Seward on the 31st of August, asking him to visit Lucy and examine her. Then, the next day, he telegrams Dr. Seward to inform him that he has been called to his father's bedside, where he wants Dr. Seward to contact him.\\nOn the 2nd of September, Dr. Seward writes to Arthur Holmwood that Lucy's health does not conform to any malady that he knows of, and that Lucy is somewhat reluctant to have him examine her completely. Dr. Seward is concerned about her \\\"somewhat bloodless condition\\\" because there are no signs of anemia. Lucy complains of difficulty in breathing, lethargic sleep, and dreams that frighten her. Dr. Seward is so concerned that he has sent for his old friend and master, the famous Professor Van Helsing of Amsterdam. The doctor is a profound philosopher, a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day.\\nIn a letter of response, Dr. Van Helsing tells Dr. Seward that his affairs will allow him to come immediately, and that he is happy to do Dr. Seward a favor since Dr. Seward once saved his life. Consequently, Dr. Seward is able to write to Arthur Holmwood on the 3rd of September that Dr. Van Helsing has already seen Lucy and that he too is concerned about her condition, yet he has not said what is wrong with Lucy, except that there is no apparent functional cause of her illness. However, Dr. Van Helsing insists that a telegram be sent to him every day in Amsterdam letting him know about Lucy's condition.\\nIn his diary, Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is often becoming violent at the stroke of noon and that he often howls like a wolf, disturbing the other patients. Later, the same day, he seems very contented, \\\"catching flies and eating them.\\\" He has more sugar now and is reaping quite a harvest of flies, keeping them in a box as he did earlier. He asks for more sugar, which Dr. Seward promises to get for him. At midnight, Dr. Seward records another change in the patient. Visiting Renfield at sunset, he witnesses Renfield trying \\\"to grab the sun\\\" just as it sinks; then Renfield sinks to the floor. Rising, Renfield dusts the sugar and crumbs from his ledge, tosses all his flies out the window, and says, \\\"I'm sick of all that rubbish.\\\" Dr. Seward wonders if the sun (or the moon) has any influence on Renfield's \\\"paroxysms of sudden passion.\\\"\\nDr. Seward sends telegrams on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of September to Dr. Van Helsing, the final one being a desperate plea for Dr. Van Helsing to visit Lucy, for her condition has become much worse. Seward then sends a letter to Arthur, telling him that Lucy's condition is worse and that Van Helsing is coming to attend her. Seward cannot tell Lucy's mother about the problem because of the old woman's heart condition.\\nIn his diary, Dr. Seward says that when Van Helsing arrived he was admonished to keep everything about this case a secret until they are certain about what is going on. Dr. Seward is anxious to know as much as possible about the case, but Van Helsing thinks that it is too premature to discuss it. When they reach Lucy's room, Dr. Seward is horrified by Lucy's ghastly pale, white face, the prominence of her bones, and her painful breathing. Observing Lucy's condition, Van Helsing frantically realizes that she must be given an immediate blood transfusion or she will die. Dr. Seward is prepared to give blood himself when Arthur suddenly arrives, volunteering that he will give \\\"the last drop of blood in my body for her.\\\"\\nWhile Dr. Van Helsing is administering the transfer of blood from Arthur to Lucy, he gives Lucy a narcotic to allow her to sleep. After awhile, the transfusion restores color to Lucy's face, while Arthur, meanwhile, grows paler and paler. During the transfusion, the scarf around Lucy's throat falls away, and Dr. Seward notices the red marks on Lucy's throat. Later, Van Helsing asks Seward what he thinks about the marks. As they examine the wounds, they notice that they occur \\\"just over the external jugular vein ... two punctures, not large, but not wholesome looking.\\\" There is no sign of disease, and Seward wonders if this is not how the blood is lost. Van Helsing has to leave, and so he orders Seward to stay all night and watch over Lucy. The next morning (September 8th), Seward thinks Lucy looks better. He recalls the conversation of the evening before, when Lucy told him she did not like to go to sleep because \\\"all that weakness comes to me in sleep.\\\" However, when Seward promised to stay with her all night, she slept soundly.\\nNext day, Dr. Seward had to work all day at the asylum, and that night, the 9th of September, he was extremely exhausted by work and the lack of sleep. Therefore, when Lucy showed him a room next to hers, a room with a sofa, he instinctively stretched out and fell asleep. That night, Lucy recorded in her diary how safe she feels with Dr. Seward sleeping close by.\\nDr. Seward records in his diary that early on the morning of September 10th, he was awakened by the gentle hand of Dr. Van Helsing, and together they went to visit Lucy. They found her—horribly white, with shrunken gums, lips pale and blue, and looking as though she were a corpse. Immediately, they realized that another transfusion would be essential. This time, Dr. Seward is the only person available for giving blood, and he does so, \\\"for the woman he loved.\\\" Van Helsing reminds Seward that nothing is to be said of this. Again they examine the little punctures in her throat; the wounds now have a \\\"ragged, exhausted appearance at their edges.\\\"\\nIn the afternoon, Van Helsing is with Lucy when the professor opens a large bundle. He opens it, hands Lucy the contents, and instructs Lucy to wear the flowers around her neck: Lucy, recognizing that \\\"the flowers\\\" are common garlic, thinks that he is joking. Van Helsing tells her that he is not joking; he says that the garlic is a special garlic, coming all the way from Haarlem (a town in Holland). Dr. Seward skeptically observes all of this, wondering if Van Helsing is \\\"working some spell to keep out an evil spirit.\\\" Van Helsing places other bits of garlic around the room, and when they leave he tells Dr. Seward that he will be able to sleep peacefully tonight since all is well.\\n \\nChapters 9 & 10: Commentary\\nJonathan Harker's journal ended on the 30th of June, and it is still with him in the hospital, sealed and to be opened and transcribed later by Mina. The entire novel, then, is, to a large degree, held together by Harker's journal, and his observations become instrumental in resolving the mystery of Dracula.\\nThroughout these two chapters, Lucy's health declines and improves, only to decline again. Constant emphasis is given to the two small wounds on her neck, and the reader must assume, although the author does not state it, that the expansion of the wounds and the decline of Lucy's health is a result of the vampire's repeated bloodsucking.\\nIn addition to focusing on bloodsucking, these chapters include other examples of the Vampire-Gothic tradition. There is Renfield, who howls at noon (Dracula's powers are weakest then), yet Renfield is calm at sunset. There is also the presence of bats, as well as other mysterious \\\"noises.\\\" Mainly, however, these chapters are concerned with the transfusion of blood into Lucy. Of course, Stoker is playing on the notion of a lover's life's blood. Recall that Arthur declares, \\\"My life is hers, and I would give the last drop of blood in my body for her.\\\" The same thing, in a perverted sense, can be said for Lucy's blood, which is given to her \\\"demon lover,\\\" the vampire. The same thing is happening when Dr. Seward gives his blood to his beloved Lucy, and finally, in future chapters, Van Helsing, who has learned to love Lucy as a daughter, will gladly give his blood to save her. Each time, Van Helsing points out that the blood is from a strong, powerful, virile young man, yet he is continually vexed as to how the lady's strength disappears. Of note here is the fact that it was dangerous to give such transfusions, because if the blood wasn't of a matching type, it could have possibly killed her. In emergencies, however, any blood is usually given to a patient if a transfusion will, hopefully, save a life.\\n \\n \\nChapters 11–13: Summary\\nOn the 12th of September, Lucy is perplexed by the presence of the garlic flowers, but she has such trust in Van Helsing that she is not frightened to fall asleep that night.\\nIn Dr. Seward's diary, we learn that he picked up Van Helsing and went to see Lucy the next day. They met Mrs. Westenra in the hall and discovered that she had checked on Lucy, found the room very \\\"stuffy,\\\" and, thus, she removed those \\\"horrible, strong smelling flowers\\\" from around Lucy's neck and from here and there in the room, and then opened the windows in order for the room to air out. Van Helsing was very restrained in the presence of Mrs. Westenra, but as soon as she had left, Dr. Seward saw Van Helsing break down and begin to \\\"sob with loud, dry sobs, that seemed to come from the very wracking of his heart.\\\" He feels that they are \\\"sore beset\\\" by some pagan fate. He recovers, and then he rushes to Lucy's room. Lucy is on the verge of death, and Seward knows that she must have another transfusion immediately, or she will die. This time, Van Helsing must be the donor since Seward has given blood to her so recently. Later, Van Helsing gently warns Mrs. Westenra that she must never remove anything from Lucy's room because the \\\"flowers\\\" and other objects have medicinal value.\\nFour days later, Lucy records that she is feeling much better. Even the bats flapping at her window, the harsh voices, and the distant sounds do not bother her any more.\\nAt this point, the story is interrupted with a newspaper article about an \\\"escaped wolf.\\\" The article tells about a curious incident a few nights earlier. It seems that when the moon was shining one night, all of the wolves of the zoo began to howl and a \\\"big grey dog was seen coming close to the cages where the wolves were.\\\" When the zoo keeper checked the cells at midnight, he found one of the wolves missing. Suddenly the big wolf, Bersicker, returned home, docile and peaceful, except that his head was peppered with broken glass.\\nDr. Seward's diary records how, on the 17th of September, he was attacked by Renfield in his office. Renfield grabbed a knife, cut Seward's wrist rather severely, and a puddle of blood formed on the floor; Renfield then began \\\"licking it up like a dog,\\\" murmuring over and over to himself, \\\"The blood is life.\\\"\\nVan Helsing telegraphs Seward, telling him to meet him at Lucy's house that night. The telegram, however, doesn't arrive until almost morning, and Seward leaves immediately for Lucy's—on the 18th of September. On the 17th of September, at nighttime, Lucy records everything she can remember in a memorandum: she was awakened by a flapping at the window and was frightened because no one was in the house; she tried to stay awake and heard something like the howl of a dog, but it was more fierce and frightening. She looked out the window, but could see only a big bat flapping its wings. Disturbed by the noise, her mother came into the room and got into bed with her. The flapping continued, and Lucy tried to calm her mother. Suddenly there was a low howl, broken glass was flying into the room, and in the window was seen \\\"the head of a great, gaunt, grey wolf.\\\" Lucy's mother, frightened, clutched at the wreath of garlic and tore it from Lucy's neck in fright. When the wolf drew its head back, there seemed to be a \\\"whole myriad of little specks ... wheeling and circling around like a pillar of dust.\\\" Lucy found her mother lying lifeless, and then Lucy lost consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness a short time later, the four household maids came in and were so frightened at the sight of Mrs. Westenra's body that Lucy instructed them to go into the dining room to fetch a glass of wine. Later, when Lucy checked on them, she found them all unconscious, and upon examining the decanter, she discovered that it reeked of laudanum (an opium and alcohol mixture used as a painkiller). Lucy realizes that she is alone in the house, and she wonders where she can hide her memorandum so that someone can find it next day.\\nIn his diary (September 18th), Dr. Seward records that he arrives at Lucy's house but isn't admitted inside. A moment later, Van Helsing arrives, and he learns that Seward did not get the telegram instructing him to stay the night. They go to the rear of the house, break in and discover the four servant women's bodies. Running to Lucy's room, they see a horror indescribable to them. Lucy's mother is dead, partly covered with a white sheet. Lucy herself is unconscious, her throat bare, the two white wounds horribly mangled, and Lucy lifeless as a corpse. Before a transfusion can be considered, however, they must warm Lucy.\\nThey revive the maids and order them to heat water, towels, and sheets. As they are wondering how to proceed next, since neither of them can give blood at the moment, and the maids are too superstitious to be relied upon, Quincey Morris arrives. He reminds them that he also loved Lucy, and he will give his blood to save her. While the transfusion is taking place, Van Helsing hands Seward a piece of paper that dropped from Lucy's nightgown as they carried her to the bath. Seward reads it and is vexed by its contents. He asks Van Helsing about it. The grim reality confronting them immediately, however, is to get a certificate of death filled out for Mrs. Westenra.\\nLater, Quincey questions Dr. Seward about Lucy's illness; he wonders where all of the blood which she received from Arthur, Seward, and Van Helsing has gone. He is reminded of a time \\\"on the Pampas ... [when] one of those big bats that they call vampires\\\" attacked one of his prize mares, and the mare had to be shot.\\nWhen Lucy awakens late in the afternoon, she feels her breast for the note (which Dr. Van Helsing returned); she finds it and tears it to pieces. That night, Lucy sleeps peacefully, but her mouth \\\"show[s] pale gums drawn back from the teeth,\\\" which look sharper and longer than usual.\\nThat night (September 19th) Arthur Holmwood arrives to stay with Lucy. Dr. Seward's entry for September 20th notes that he is despondent and depressed. Arthur's father's death, along with the death of Mrs. Westenra, has disheartened him, and, it seems, Lucy's condition is worsening. Arthur, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing take turns looking over her. Van Helsing has placed garlic all around the room, as well as around Lucy's neck, and he has covered the wounds on her neck with a silk handkerchief. Lucy's canine teeth appear longer and sharper than the rest. Around midnight, Seward hears a noise outside Lucy's window, and he sees a great bat flying around. When he checks on Lucy, he discovers that she has removed the garlic from around her neck. Seward also notices that she seems to be fluctuating between two states—when she is conscious, she clutches the flowers close to her neck, but when she is unconscious, she pushes the garlic from her, as though it were abhorrent. At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 20th, when Van Helsing examines Lucy, he is shocked and calls for light. The wounds on Lucy's throat have disappeared. He announces that she will soon be dead. Arthur is awakened so that he can be with her at the end, and when he comes to her, she revives. As Arthur stoops to kiss her, Van Helsing notes that Lucy's teeth seem as though they are about to fasten onto Arthur's throat. He stops Arthur and tells him to simply hold Lucy's hand, for it will comfort her more. Seward again notices that Lucy's teeth look longer and sharper than before, and suddenly Lucy opens her eyes and says to Arthur \\\"in a soft voluptuous voice\\\" that Seward has never heard before \\\"Arthur, Oh my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me.\\\" As Arthur bends to kiss her, Van Helsing, in a fury of strength, flings Arthur across the room, saying, \\\"Not for your living soul, and hers!\\\" He then instructs Arthur to come and kiss her on the forehead, only once. Suddenly, Lucy is dead! And in death, Lucy seems to regain some of the beauty that she had in life. Seward remarks, \\\"It is the end!\\\" but Van Helsing replies, \\\"Not so. It is only the beginning. We can do nothing as yet. Wait and see.\\\"\\nChapter 13 begins with a continuation of Dr. Seward's diary, where we read that arrangements are made for Lucy and her mother to be buried at the same time. Meanwhile, Arthur must return to bury his father. Van Helsing, who is also a lawyer, looks through Lucy's papers and retrieves all those documents which he feels might give him a clue about her death.\\nThat night, Seward is confused by Van Helsing's actions. Van Helsing once again takes a handful of wild garlic and places the garlic all around the room and around Lucy's coffin, and then he takes a small gold crucifix and places it over Lucy's mouth. Then he makes an astonishing request to Seward. Tomorrow, he wants Seward to help him cut off Lucy's head, take out her heart, and, as we later learn, stuff her mouth with garlic. They will have to do it after the coffin has been sealed so that Arthur and others will not see the mutilated body. Seward is confused about the need for mutilating the poor girl's body, but Van Helsing tells him to be patient about an explanation; then he reminds him of that moment when Lucy was dying, when she reached up to kiss Arthur. At that moment Lucy gained consciousness enough to thank the good doctor for his actions. He reminds Seward that \\\"there are strange and terrible days before us.\\\"\\nAfter a good sleep, Van Helsing awakens Seward with perplexing news—someone has stolen the crucifix from Lucy's mouth during the night. Now they must wait to see what happens.\\nWhen Arthur returns, he tries to explain his total despair to Seward—he has lost his fiancée, his father, and, now, his fianc�e's mother, all in the matter of just a few days. He looks at Lucy's corpse and doubts that she is really dead. That night, Van Helsing asks Arthur if he can have Lucy's personal papers, assuring him that he will examine them only to determine the cause of Lucy's death. Arthur agrees with Van Helsing's request.\\nMina Harker records in her journal (September 22nd) that she and Jonathan are on the train to Exeter. They arrive soon in London and then take a bus to Hyde Park. While strolling about, Mina is alarmed when Jonathan suddenly has another \\\"nervous fit.\\\" She follows Jonathan's gaze to discover Jonathan is staring in terror at a \\\"tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard.\\\" Jonathan exclaims \\\"It is the man himself!\\\" In a few minutes, the man hails a carriage and leaves. Jonathan is convinced that it is Count Dracula. That night, Mina receives a telegram from Van Helsing, who informs her that Mrs. Westenra and Lucy have died.\\nThe chapter concludes with an excerpt from the Westminster Gazette (September 25th), three days after the funeral. According to the article, the area surrounding Hampstead Hill, the area where Lucy was buried, has been terrorized by a mysterious woman whom the local children refer to as \\\"the Bloofer Lady.\\\"\\n \\nChapters 11–13: Commentary\\nThese chapters include some of the more traditional treatments for handling or warding off the presence of vampires. Van Helsing, who is the only one knowledgeable about demonology and in particular about vampire lore, sends for garlic and hangs Lucy's entire room, especially the windows, with it; then he makes a wreath of garlic to drape around Lucy's neck, and he also places a crucifix around her neck. The garlic and the crucifix are two traditional agents that have become associated with the devices that can be used to ward off vampires.\\nIn these chapters, it is clear that evil spirits can accomplish their aims in devious sorts of ways, as attested to by sixteenth-century legends concerning Faust. For example, even though Lucy is locked in her room and protected from the vampire by the profusion of garlic, the evil spirit of the Un-Dead is able to summon a wolf from his cage in a zoo, have him smash in a window, and thereby enable the vampire to enter the room. The smashing of the window and the wolf's horrible and terrifying attempt to enter the room cause Lucy's mother to panic and to rip the garlic away from Lucy's throat, leaving Lucy vulnerable to attack. The evil presence of the vampire manages to \\\"materialize\\\" inside Lucy's room, where it drugs the four household maids, thus preventing their aiding Lucy.\\nIt is interesting to note that at this point, while we have been using the term \\\"vampire\\\" off-handedly, Quincey Morris's discussion of the vampire bat is the first time that the term \\\"vampire\\\" has actually been used in the novel. Stoker is careful to point out, or to detail, the lengthening of Lucy's canine teeth so that they resemble the archetypical vampire teeth, the teeth that the vampire uses to suck blood from its victim.\\nAs a sidenote, it is interesting to consider that within a week we have witnessed the deaths of four people intimately associated with either Lucy or Mina: Lucy's mother, Mr. Hawkins (Jonathan's employer), and Arthur's father (Lord Godalming) have died (thus causing Arthur Holmwood to inherit the title), and, of course, Lucy herself has died.\\nEarly in Chapter 11, when Van Helsing finds out that Lucy's mother took the garlic out of Lucy's room, Van Helsing, for the first time in his life, breaks down, loses his composure, and sobs bitterly. This is a dramatic device, used to indicate the magnitude of the evil which he is facing.\\nIn this novel and other similar stories, Van Helsing represents those powers for good combating the powers of evil which are so dimly known and which so few people believe; thus, the deaths and Van Helsing's dejected state illustrate how completely the evil of Dracula has affected society.\\nAs we will discover, Lucy is, in fact, the Bloofer Lady. Recall that she died on September 20th, and the first appearance of the Bloofer Lady occurred after Lucy's burial on the 22nd; thus, Lucy has risen from the dead after three days—in a dreadful perversion of the Christian Resurrection.\\n \\n \\nChapters 14–16: Summary\\nMina decides to transcribe the journal which Jonathan kept at the Castle Dracula in Transylvania. On the 24th of September, she receives a letter from Dr. Van Helsing asking her if he may discuss Lucy's illness with her. Mina agrees to see him and, that day, Van Helsing arrives. This is the first time that Mina has met Van Helsing, and she gives him Jonathan's journal, which she has finished transcribing. Later that day, Mina receives a note from Van Helsing in which he expresses an intense desire to meet Jonathan. Mina suggests that Van Helsing come for breakfast on the next day.\\nFor the first time in several months, Jonathan Harker begins another diary (or journal). In the new journal, he writes that he is sure that Count Dracula has reached London; in fact, it was the Count whom he saw in Hyde Park. That day Jonathan meets Van Helsing, and the two discuss Jonathan's trip to Transylvania. Just before Van Helsing leaves, he notices an article in the local paper, and he becomes visibly shaken.\\nDr. Seward also begins keeping a diary again, even though earlier he had resolved never to do so again. In his diary, Seward notes that Renfield is his same old self—that is, Renfield is back to counting flies and spiders. Seward notes that Arthur seems to be doing well and that Quincey Morris is with him. That very day, in fact, Van Helsing shows him the article in the paper concerning the Bloofer Lady. Van Helsing points out that the injuries to the children are similar to Lucy's neck injury; therefore, the incidents have something in common. Seward is skeptical that there is any connection between the injuries, but Van Helsing berates him, asking him, \\\"Do you not think that there are things that you cannot understand and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?\\\" Van Helsing continues to urge Seward to believe in things supernatural, to believe in things which, heretofore, he did not believe in. In desperation, Van Helsing finally tells Seward that the marks on the children \\\"were made by Miss Lucy\\\" (Chapter 15).\\nFor awhile, Seward has to struggle to master his anger against Van Helsing, and he questions the sanity of the good doctor. Van Helsing points out that he knows how difficult it is to believe something horrible, particularly about one so beloved as Lucy, but he offers to prove his accusation that very night.\\nThe two men have a mutual acquaintance (Dr. Vincent), who is in charge of one of the children who was injured by the Bloofer Lady. They plan to visit the child and then to visit Lucy's grave.\\nThe child is awake when Van Helsing and Seward arrive, and Dr. Vincent removes the bandages from around the child's neck, exposing the puncture wounds, which are identical to those which were on Lucy's throat. Dr. Vincent attributes the marks to some animal, perhaps a bat.\\nWhen they leave the hospital, it is already dark, and they go immediately to the cemetery and find the Westenra tomb. They enter the tomb and light a candle. To Seward's dismay, Van Helsing begins to open the coffin. Seward expects a rush of gas from the week-old corpse, but when the coffin is finally opened, they discover it to be empty.\\nSeward, despite what he sees, is not convinced; he believes a body-snatcher may have stolen the corpse. The two leave the tomb, and Van Helsing and Seward take up vigils in the cemetery near the Westenra tomb. After some hours, Seward sees \\\"something like a white streak\\\" and, then, at the same time, he sees something move near Van Helsing. When he approaches Van Helsing, he discovers that Van Helsing is holding a small child in his arms. Still, this is not proof enough for Seward. They take the child where a policeman will be sure to find it, and they then head home, planning to meet at noontime the next day.\\nThe next day (September 27th), they return to the cemetery, and as soon as possible, they reenter the Westenra tomb and reopen the coffin again. To Seward's shock and dismay, there lies the lovely Lucy, \\\"more radiantly beautiful than ever.\\\" Still, Seward is not convinced; again, he wonders if someone might not have placed her there, but he cannot understand why she looks so beautiful after being dead an entire week. Van Helsing then tells Seward that a horrible thing must be done: They must cut off Lucy's head, fill her mouth with garlic, and drive a stake through her heart. Yet before doing it, Van Helsing has second thoughts. He feels that he cannot perform the act without Arthur's and Quincey's knowing about it, since they both loved her and gave their blood for her.\\nThat night, Van Helsing informs Seward that he intends to watch the Westenra tomb and try to prevent Lucy's prowling about by blocking the tomb's door with garlic and a crucifix. He leaves Seward a set of instructions which he is to follow if something should happen to him.\\nThe following night (September 28th) Arthur and Quincey come to Van Helsing's room. After the two are convinced of Van Helsing's good intentions and have his trust, Van Helsing informs them of the things which he intends to do. First, he will open the coffin (which Arthur strongly objects to—until Van Helsing explains that Lucy might be one of the \\\"Un-Dead\\\"), then he will perform the necessary \\\"service.\\\" Arthur, however, will not consent to any mutilation of Lucy's body. Van Helsing pleads that he must do these things for Lucy's sake, so that her soul will rest peacefully. A few hours later, the four men go to the cemetery. In the tomb, the coffin lid is removed, and they all see that the coffin is empty. Van Helsing asks for Seward's confirmation that the body was in the coffin yesterday; Seward, of course, concurs with Van Helsing. Van Helsing then begins an intricate ceremony: From his bag he removes a \\\"thin, wafer-like biscuit\\\" and crumbles it to a fine powder; then, he mixes the crumbs with a doughy substance and begins to roll the material into the crevices between the door jam and the mausoleum door. Van Helsing informs them that he is sealing the tomb so that the \\\"Un-Dead may not enter.\\\" He informs them that the wafer was \\\"the host\\\" which he brought with him from Amsterdam. The four men hide among some trees near the tomb and begin waiting. Soon, by the light of the moon, the men see a ghostly white figure moving through the cemetery. As it nears them, it becomes all too apparent that the creature is, indeed, Lucy Westenra. According to Seward's diary entry, her \\\"sweetness was turned to adamantine ... and the purity to voluptuous wantonness.\\\" The four men surround her before the tomb. Lucy's lips are covered with fresh blood, and her burial gown is stained with blood. Upon learning that she is surrounded, Lucy reacts like a cornered animal. The child which she holds is tossed to the ground, and she moves towards Arthur saying, \\\"Come, my husband, come.\\\" Arthur's love turns to hate and disgust, yet he is also petrified with fear. Just as Lucy is about to attack him, Van Helsing repels her with a crucifix. Dashing towards the tomb, she is prevented from entry by the host, which Van Helsing placed earlier around the door. Asking Arthur if he is to proceed with his duty, Arthur responds: \\\"Do as you will ... There can be no horror ever any more.\\\" Advancing on the tomb, Van Helsing removes the seal around the door, and immediately, the ghostly body passes through the interstices and vanishes inside. After witnessing this, the men return home for a night's rest.\\nThe next night (September 29th), the four men return to the Westenra tomb and perform the necessary ceremonies which destroy the vampire. Arthur himself must drive the stake through his fiancée's heart. Before parting ways that evening, they vow to join together and seek out \\\"the author of all this our sorrow\\\" (Count Dracula) and destroy him.\\n \\nChapters 14–16: Commentary\\nIn these chapters, even though we have heard earlier that Jonathan Harker's journal was to be sealed as a bond of faith between Jonathan and Mina, we now discover that Mina has not only read it but transcribed it because Dr. Van Helsing thinks that something in it might provide a clue about the mystery of Lucy's death. Thus, as the novel began with Jonathan Harker's journal and then progressed for many chapters without his narration, now Mina and Harker are again both drawn back into the main story.\\nThis novel has set the course for all subsequent vampire lore—for example, the belief that a wooden stake must be driven through the vampire's heart and that the head must be removed and the mouth stuffed with garlic. All of the numerous, subsequent treatments of the vampire legend depend on these factors.\\nFurthermore, in Chapter 16, the term nosferatu is used. Stoker tells us that it is an Eastern European term and that it means the \\\"Un-Dead\\\"; this is the first time that all of the protagonists are privy to all of the information that Van Helsing has so far withheld. As a point of historical fact, Nosferatu is the title of two German films that deal with the Dracula legend (See the section on Filmography ). Furthermore, the translation of \\\"nosferatu\\\" as the \\\"Un-Dead\\\" has now become standard usage.\\nIt is interesting that the love which Arthur, Quincey, and Seward had for Lucy has been basely transfigured into hate at the sight of Lucy; moreover, it is somewhat surprising that these lusty men are disgusted at the abundant sensuality of Lucy, now that she is a vampire. When she approaches Arthur in her vampire form, it is with a sensual embrace. Instead of arousing passion, however, there is only a feeling of repulsion and disgust. It is clear that in her vampire form, Lucy's carnal aspect is highlighted and emphasized. The ceremony which kills her \\\"Un-Dead\\\" self frees her pure spirit from the sinful, carnal nature of her body and is a rite of purification, as symbolized by the sudden return of innocent beauty to her face at the conclusion of the ceremony.\\n \\n \\nChapters 17–19: Summary\\nDr. Seward's diary continues sometime later, and he details for us his first meeting with Mina Harker. Mina, he says, will travel with Seward to Seward's asylum, where she will stay as a guest. In her journal, Mina details the discussion which she and Seward had concerning Lucy's death. Mina agrees to type out Seward's diary, which has heretofore been kept on a phonograph. Seward is horror-struck that Mina may discover the true nature of Lucy's death, but Mina, through her persistence, convinces Seward to allow her to listen to the phonograph cylinders. Later, both Seward and Mina express their dismay at the stories which they read in each other's respective diaries.\\nThe next day (September 30th), Jonathan arrives, and Seward expresses his admiration for Jonathan's courage. For the first time, Seward realizes that Count Dracula might be next door, at the estate at Carfax. Seward concludes his diary, noting that Renfield has been calm for several days. Seward assumes that Renfield's outbreak was due to Dracula's proximity.\\nJonathan Harker discovers from his journey to Whitby that the \\\"fifty cases of common earth\\\" which arrived on Dracula's ship have been sent to the old chapel at Carfax. While Jonathan assumes that all fifty cases are still at Carfax, we later learn that Count Dracula has had them sent to various locations in and around London.\\nMina is both pleased and inspired by the resolute, determined energy which she now sees in Jonathan; he now seems cured of his illness, full \\\"of life and hope and determination.\\\" Later on the 30th, Arthur Holmwood—now referred to as Lord Godalming—and Quincey Morris arrive. Lord Godalming is still physically shaken by the deaths of his father, Mrs. Westenra, and Lucy. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he breaks down and cries like a baby on Mina's breast.\\nIn Chapter 18, Dr. Seward notes that Mina Harker wishes to see Renfield. He takes her to Renfield's room, and Renfield, curiously, asks them to wait until he tidies things up. \\\"His method of tidying was peculiar. He simply swallowed all the flies and spiders in the boxes ...\\\" Renfield is extremely polite to Mina and seems to respond in a most sane way to her inquiries. Van Helsing arrives and is pleased to discover that all the records—diaries, journals, etc.—are in order and that all those intimate with the Count now are to be presented with the facts surrounding the case.\\nMina Harker, in her journal (September 30th), recalls in detail many of the things known about vampires, a subject which prior to this time she has been ignorant of. Van Helsing presents many conclusions about the nosferatu (or the \\\"Un-Dead\\\"): (1) They do not die; (2) can be as strong as twenty men; (3) can direct the elements—storms, fog, thunder, etc.; (4) can command the rat, the owl, the bat, the wolf, the fox, and the dog; (5) can grow large or become small at will; (6) can, at times, vanish and \\\"become unknown\\\"; and (7) can appear at will in different forms. The problem which the vampire's adversary must overcome is how to deal successfully with all of these obstacles. They all make a pact to work together in order to see how \\\"the general powers arrayed against us can be controlled and to consider the limitations of the vampire.\\\" Van Helsing points out that the vampire has been known in all lands all over the world. From the world's information about vampires, it is known that: (1) the vampire cannot die due to the passing of time; (2) the vampire flourishes on the blood of human beings; (3) the vampire grows younger after feeding on blood; (4) its physical strength and vital faculties are refreshed by blood; (5) it cannot survive without blood; (6) it can survive for great lengths of time without any nourishment; (7) it throws no shadow; (8) it makes no reflection in a mirror; (9) it has the strength of many; (10) it can control wild packs of wolves and can become a wolf (as the Count did when his ship arrived at Whitby); (11) the vampire can transform itself into a bat; (12) it can appear in a mist, which it itself can create; (13) the vampire can travel on moonlight rays as elemental dust; (14) it can become so small and transparent that it can pass through the tiniest crevices; and (15) it can see perfectly in the dark. Its limitations are as follows: (1) it cannot enter a household unless it is summoned first; (2) its power ceases at daylight; (3) in whatever form it is in when daylight comes, it will remain in that form until sunset; (4) the vampire must always return to the unhallowed earth of its coffin, which restores its strength (this, of course, is the purpose of the fifty cases of earth); (5) garlic is abhorrent to a vampire; (6) the crucifix, holy water, and holy wafers (the host) are anathemas; (7) it is rendered inactive if a wild rose is placed over it; and (8) death occurs when a wooden stake is driven through the heart, the head cut off, and garlic stuffed in the mouth.\\nAs Van Helsing concludes his lecture, Quincey Morris leaves the room, and a shot is heard outside. Morris explains that he saw a bat and fired at it.\\nOn October 1st, early in the morning, Dr. Seward records that as they were about to leave the asylum, he received an urgent message from Renfield. The others ask if they may attend the meeting with Renfield, and they are astonished at the brilliance and lucidity of Renfield's plea to be released immediately. His scholarly logic and perfect elocution are that of a totally sane man. His request is denied.\\nIn Chapter 19, in his journal, Jonathan Harker records that Seward believes Renfield's erratic behavior to be directly influenced by the immediate proximity of Count Dracula. Later, as they are about to enter Dracula's Carfax residence, Van Helsing distributes objects which will protect each of them from the vampire. The house, they discover, is musty, dusty, and malodorous. They immediately search out the chapel and, to their horror, they can find only twenty-nine of the original fifty boxes of earth. Suddenly, the chapel is filled by a mass of rats.\\nTowards noon, Seward records that Van Helsing is deeply fascinated by Renfield. On the same day, Mina feels strange to be left out of Jonathan's confidence, because she has no idea what happened last night, but she does remember that just before falling asleep, she heard unusual sounds and noises outside her window, and she felt as if she were in the grip of a strange lethargy. She thought that she saw a poor man \\\"with some passionate entreaty on his part\\\" who wanted inside. She put on her clothes, but she must have fallen asleep or gone into a trance, accompanied by strange dreams. When she awakened she noticed that the window of her bedroom was open, and she was certain that she closed it before she went to sleep.\\nThings became confused in her mind, but she recalls seeing two red eyes which alarmed her extremely.\\nOn the second of October, she records that she slept but felt very weak that day and asked for an opiate to help her sleep. The chapter closes as Mina feels sleep coming upon her.\\n \\nChapters 17–19: Commentary\\nChapter 17 is the first time in the novel when all of the protagonists are finally together. These six people—Mina, Jonathan, Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Lord Godalming (Arthur), and Quincey Morris—will confront the evil represented by Count Dracula. They must undertake the task by themselves since no authority or outsider would possibly believe their story. These six people, of course, have positive proof of the existence of vampires. In fact, Jonathan feels rejuvenated in health now that he is confronting the evil Count head-on. Stoker is dependent on the tradition that only a few people are privy to information which exposes them to the dangerous forces of the supernatural, thus isolating them from the general populace. This is a standard device of many a thriller and gothic romance.\\nChapter 18 is a key chapter of the novel, because for the first time Stoker defines the vampire and its supernatural powers, strengths, and the means by which the vampire can be entrapped. In all subsequent stories concerning vampires or Dracula himself, Stoker's parameters have been used—the garlic, the crucifix, the wooden stake, the holy wafers, etc. This chapter, then, defines the very essence of what constitutes vampire literature. Other authors may vary or slightly redefine these parameters, but the more traditional material concerning vampires is presented here.\\nThe later portions of Chapter 19 present us with the first clue, however slight, that Mina Harker is to become the vampire's next victim. It is not by accident that he chooses Mina as his next victim; she is the wife of Jonathan Harker, whom the vampire encountered in Transylvania, and she was the closest friend of his last victim, Lucy Westenra. It is interesting that we are made aware of the Count's visit by the impressionistic writing of Mina herself. For example, she records things in her journal which she does not fully understand or associate with vampirism, but the reader, through dramatic irony, is fully aware of what is transpiring. There is a curious ambiguity presented in this chapter, as to how the vampire gains entrance to Mina's room. Recall that Van Helsing stated that vampires cannot enter a place without first being invited. The reader, at this point, does not have any idea as to how the vampire entered the room, unless it was because of the actions of Mina herself.\\n \\n \\nChapters 20–23: Summary\\nJonathan, through his persistent investigations, discovers the whereabouts of twelve more of the boxes of earth: Two groups of six were deposited at two different places in London. Jonathan assumes that it is the Count's plan to scatter the boxes throughout all of London. We should recall that there were twenty-nine boxes in the chapel and, added to the twelve which Jonathan discovered, they have now accounted for forty-one of the original fifty boxes. On the evening of October 2nd, Jonathan receives a note which informs him of the whereabouts of the remaining nine boxes. He also notes that Mina is lethargic and pale, but he puts it out of his mind.\\nThat evening, all of the men meet to determine the course of action for retrieving the remaining nine boxes. Once again, Jonathan notes that Mina is very tired and pale.\\nDr. Seward notes again that Renfield is remarkably lucid and, what is more, that Renfield seems to be a literate and learned man. Renfield scoffs at the notion of collecting flies and spiders. Later, however, Renfield reverts to his old ways. That night, Seward orders an attendant to stand guard outside Renfield's cell to note any aberrant behavior. Later that night there is a scream from Renfield's cell. Upon rushing to investigate, Seward discovers that Renfield has been seriously hurt—his face has been brutally beaten, there is a pool of blood on the cell floor, and his back is apparently broken.\\nSeward knows Renfield himself could not have administered the wounds to his own face—especially with his back broken. Dr. Van Helsing arrives, and they determine that Renfield is slipping fast; thus, they decide to operate immediately. Renfield, realizing that he is dying, tells them in an agony of despair what happened. Apparently, without identifying who it was, he says that he \\\"came up to the window in the mist ... but he was solid then ... I wouldn't ask him to come in ...\\\" He maintains that it was \\\"he\\\" who used to send the flies and spiders and the rats and dogs, promising that he would give Renfield everything that lives: \\\"all red blood, with years of life in it.\\\" Renfield refers to \\\"him\\\" as \\\"Lord and Master.\\\" Last night, Renfield says, \\\"he\\\" slid through the window. Renfield then says that after Mrs. Harker came to see him, he knew she wasn't the same and knew that \\\"he had been taking the life out of her.\\\" Renfield tried to attack \\\"him,\\\" but he was \\\"burned,\\\" and his strength became \\\"like water.\\\" Van Helsing realizes that \\\"he is here and we know his purpose.\\\"\\nThey rush to Mina's door immediately, leaving Renfield, and begin to arm themselves against the vampire. Van Helsing tries to open the door, which is locked, and when they finally break the door down, the sight which greets them is appalling. Jonathan Harker is lying unconscious on the bed and, kneeling on the edge of the bed, is the \\\"white clad\\\" Mina. Beside her is a tall thin man, clad in black—Count Dracula himself. His right hand is behind Mina's head, and he is forcing her to suck the blood from a cut in his bare chest. When the Count raises his head to greet them, his eyes are blood-red, his nostrils white, and they see \\\"white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping mouth, clamped together like those of a wild beast.\\\" The Count begins to attack them, but is repelled by the sacred wafer which is wielded as a weapon by Van Helsing. The lights go out, and when they come on again they see nothing but a faint vapor escaping under the door. Suddenly, Mina Harker recovers and emits an ear-piercing scream, filled with despair and disgust. Her face is \\\"ghastly ... from the blood which smeared her lips and cheeks and chin.\\\" From her throat trickles a thin stream of blood.\\nThey have difficulty awakening Jonathan, and soon all traces of the vampire are lost. Mina feels unclean and untouchable. Lord Godalming examines the house and discovers that the Count has apparently destroyed all of their records and that Renfield is dead.\\nIn spite of the horror that the story might cause, they ask Mina to recount the entire episode as best she can remember it. She recalls the first time she saw the thin, black clad man with the strange teeth when Lucy was alive, and how he subsequently came to her in her room and placed \\\"his reeking lips\\\" upon her throat. Mina would swoon and not know how long Dracula was overpowering her. He told her, \\\"You are now to me flesh of my flesh when my brain says 'Come,' you shall come.\\\" With that, he opened his shirt, and with a sharp nail he cut himself across his breast and pressed Mina's mouth to the wound, so that she either had to suffocate or drink the blood.\\nIn Chapter 22, Jonathan Harker states that he feels compelled to either write in his journal or go mad after hearing Mina's story. Jonathan wants to stay with his wife, but since it is daylight, he knows that there is no danger to her. They go to Carfax and \\\"sterilize\\\" all of the boxes by placing a holy wafer within each of them. They then find a way to enter into the Count's most recent abode in Piccadilly (a prominent London square). Before they leave the asylum, they make sure that Mina is appropriately armed. As Van Helsing touches her forehead with a sacred wafer, Mina lets out a fearful scream because the wafer has seared and burned her forehead. Mina realizes that she is \\\"unclean\\\" and pleads with the men to kill her if she becomes a vampire.\\nDracula's house in Piccadilly is as malodorous as the one at Carfax. Expecting to find nine boxes of earth, they are astonished to find only eight boxes. They do find keys to all of the other houses belonging to the Count, however, and then Quincey and Lord Godalming go off to destroy the boxes of earth in those houses.\\nChapter 23 begins with Van Helsing, Harker, and Seward waiting for the return of Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris. Van Helsing, in an attempt to draw Jonathan's mind from Mina's condition, informs them of his resolution that Dracula must be killed, because, he says, Dracula is expanding his circle of power in order to harm innocent people; he cites Dracula's using Renfield to gain access to Mina. While waiting, they receive a note from Mina informing them that Dracula has left Carfax and is heading south, presumably to spend the evening in one of his other houses.\\nLord Godalming and Quincey Morris return with the news that they have \\\"sterilized\\\" Dracula's remaining boxes, and Van Helsing suddenly realizes that Dracula will be forced to come to the house at Piccadilly soon. A short time later, they hear a key inserted into the door, and with a gigantic \\\"panther-like\\\" leap, Count Dracula enters and eludes their ambush. Through his diabolical quickness, the Count dodges their attempts to kill him, yet with a powerful thrust of a knife, Jonathan manages to rip open the Count's vestments, scattering banknotes and gold. As they corner the Count, he suddenly dodges away from them; then he retrieves a handful of money from the floor and throws himself out a window. As he flees, he taunts the men, reminding them that his revenge has just begun. All of them return to Seward's house, where Mina is awaiting them. Before they retire, Van Helsing prepares Mina's room against the vampire's entry.\\nIn Jonathan Harker's journal, early on the morning of the 4th of October, he records how Mina asked him to call Van Helsing in order to hypnotize her. Under hypnosis, Mina is able to enter into the spirit of Dracula, and she becomes aware of flapping sails, the lapping of water, and the creaking of an anchor chain. Van Helsing concludes that Dracula is on board a ship that is now ready to sail. He now understands why Dracula so desperately tried to retrieve the gold coins—he needed ready cash to pay for his passage out of the country. Once again, they all renew their pledge to follow Dracula and destroy him.\\n \\nChapters 20–23: Commentary\\nThe two central incidents of these chapters involve Mina's encounter with Dracula and her coming under his evil influence. Second, these chapters are also concerned with the discovery and \\\"sterilization\\\" of the fifty boxes of earth which Dracula brought with him.\\nSince we earlier heard that a vampire can only enter an establishment if invited, we are at first surprised that he has been able to enter Mina's room, and we are inclined to wonder if she invited him in. Later, however, we learn that Dracula had used the \\\"zoöphagous\\\" patient Renfield to invite Dracula into the house. It is now clear why Stoker has been using the patient in the novel and also why all the principal characters are visitors in Seward's house. Later, Van Helsing uses the fate of Renfield to prove that Dracula is expanding his sphere of influence and is using innocent people to accomplish his aims—therefore, Dracula must be searched out and destroyed.\\nIt becomes clear in these chapters that Dracula has some kind of mind control over his victims—that is, he can induce them to open windows, for example, in order to let him enter the home. Evidently Stoker was interested in hypnosis or \\\"animal magnetism,\\\" since Van Helsing, through hypnotizing Mina, is able to learn of Dracula's whereabouts. Dracula, too, can hypnotize and, indeed, he is an individual of great personal magnetism. It is in these chapters that we learn that Stoker was, in fact, creating a gothic villain which would be similar to many gothic villains in earlier literature. Among other things, Count Dracula is a member of the corrupt aristocracy. The gothic villain/aristocrat was probably derived from Richardson's novels Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1747), in which the villain's persecution of the innocent maiden dramatized for middle-class audiences the exaggerated nature of the class struggle.\\nIt is important for the reader to understand the dramatic and philosophical importance of the villain's aristocratic heritage; if Dracula were a peasant, the story would hardly be as dramatic.\\n \\n \\nChapters 24 & 25: Summary\\nVan Helsing thinks that Jonathan Harker should stay in England with his wife, since he now knows that Dracula is returning to Transylvania. Jonathan Harker expresses in his journal how happy Mina is that Dracula is returning to Transylvania, but when Harker looks at the terrible mark on Mina's forehead (a sign of the evil \\\"infection\\\" that was caused by Dracula's blood), he is reminded of the reality of the vampire.\\nIn her journal Mina Harker records the various reports concerning Dracula's departure. In the investigations, it was discovered that Dracula boarded a ship headed for Varna, a seaport on the Black Sea, near the mouth of the Danube River, the same place he had left from three months earlier. Evidently, Van Helsing has deduced the reason why Dracula came to England: Dracula's own country is so \\\"barren of people\\\" that he came to England, a place where life is rich and flourishing; he is now returning to his native soil to escape discovery.\\nSeward recalls his fear concerning Mina Harker, and in a short time, Van Helsing confirms his views: Mina is changing. Characteristics of the vampire are beginning to show in her face—that is, her teeth are longer, and her eyes are colder. He now fears that the Count could, by hypnosis, even over long distances, discover their plans, so they must keep Mina ignorant of their plans so that the Count cannot discover their whereabouts through her. They determine how long it will take the ship to reach Varna by sea, and they set a date for their own departure so that they will be in Varna before Count Dracula arrives. Then Mina surprises them by telling them that she should accompany them on the journey, since through hypnotizing her they can discover the whereabouts and intentions of Count Dracula. Everyone agrees with her, so it is settled: Mina will accompany them.\\nChapter 25 begins with Dr. Seward's journal, written on the evening of October 11th. While Mina Harker is pleased that they are going to take her with them, she makes them repeat their promise to kill her if she is ever so totally changed into a vampire form that they cannot save her. All of them swear to do so, and Seward is pleased that the word \\\"euthanasia\\\" exists, because it euphemistically disguises the nature of her request. Mina makes one seemingly unusual request—in case she has to be killed, she would like to hear the \\\"burial service\\\" read to her immediately this very night.\\nFour days later, on the 15th of October, the six people arrive at Varna via the Orient Express, and when they arrive, they place Mina under hypnosis, during which she reports that she still senses the lapping of water against the ship. Van Helsing expresses his desire for them to board the ship as soon as it arrives at Varna. If they can board the ship before Dracula's coffin is removed, they will have him trapped, for one of the limitations of vampires is that they cannot cross running water. On the 17th, Jonathan notes in his journal that Van Helsing has secured admittance for the group to board Dracula's ship as soon as it arrives, so that they may more easily carry out the extermination of the vampire.\\nA week later, they receive a telegram from London reporting that the ship was sighted at the Dardanelles. Dr. Seward, therefore, assumes that it will arrive the next day. While waiting, Dr. Seward and Van Helsing are concerned about Mina's lethargy and her general state of weakness. They wait for two days and still the ship does not arrive. On the 28th of October they receive a telegram reporting that the ship has arrived at the port of Galatz, a city on the coast, near Varna.\\nVan Helsing offers a theory that when Mina was weak, the Count had pulled her spirit to him; now, the Count knows of their presence, as well as their efforts to trap and exterminate him. At present, however, Mina is feeling free and healthy, and she and Van Helsing use their knowledge of criminology to deduce that the Count is a \\\"criminal type\\\"—hence, he will act as a criminal, and therefore, his main purpose will be to escape his pursuers.\\n \\nChapters 24 & 25: Commentary\\nIt is only now, this late in the novel, that we learn the real reason why Dracula has come to England: his country is \\\"barren of people,\\\" and England is teeming with numbers of new victims. Since Count Dracula brought with him fifty boxes of earth, one can assume that he was intending to stay in England quite some time.\\nThe central incident of these chapters is the infection of Mina: She has a mark on her forehead, a sign that she is \\\"unclean,\\\" that she is \\\"infected\\\" with vampirism. Her teeth have grown noticeably longer and her eyes have grown colder. We are also led to believe, in the course of these chapters, that the pursuers are in perfect control because they remember to arm themselves with all kinds of weapons—even Winchesters for the wolves. In theory, they will be able to track down Dracula's destination as far as Varna. However, in the next chapter, we discover that the Count deliberately misled them, and that instead of Varna, he had his box of earth sent on to Galatz, thus bypassing the awaiting pursuers.\\nThe idea of hypnosis is continued throughout these chapters, as well as in the two remaining chapters, in order to track down Dracula, and once again Mina extracts a promise that if she begins to change into a vampire, she wants to be killed. In preparation she has the Church's burial service read to her. The notion of \\\"euthanasia\\\" would have been a shocking notion to Victorian readers.\\n \\n \\nChapters 26 & 27: Summary\\nOn the 29th day of October, Dr. Seward records that Mina, under hypnosis, can hear and distinguish very little, and that the things which she does hear—such as the lowing of cattle—indicate that Dracula's coffin is now being moved up-river. Jonathan Harker records on October 30th that the captain of the ship which brought Dracula told of the unusual journey which they made from London to Galatz—that is, many of the Roumanians on board ship wanted him to throw the box overboard, but the captain felt obligated to deliver the box to the person to whom it was assigned. We find out, then, that one Immanuel Hildesheim received the box, and that the box was given to a Slovak, Petrof Skinsky. Skinsky was found dead in a churchyard, his throat apparently torn open by some wild animal. On that same day, Mina, having read all of the journal entries, and after consulting maps for waterways and roads, concludes that the Count would have had to take the river to Sereth, which is then joined to the Bristriza, which leads then to the Borgo Pass, where Jonathan Harker stopped at the beginning of the novel. They choose to separate and head for the pass: Van Helsing and Mina by train; Lord Godalming and Jonathan Harker by a steam launch (steamboat); Quincey Morris and Seward by horseback.\\nHarker and Godalming, in questioning various captains of other boats along the river, hear of a large launch with a double crew traveling ahead of them. They keep up the pursuit during the first three days of November. Meanwhile, Mina and Van Helsing arrive at Veresti on the 31st of October, where Van Helsing hires a horse and carriage for the last seventy miles of the journey.\\nChapter 27 begins with a continuation of Mina Harker's journal. She records that she and Van Helsing traveled all day by carriage on the first of November. She remarks that she thinks the countryside is beautiful, yet the people are \\\"very, very superstitious.\\\" In one house where the two of them stop, a woman noticed the red mark on Mina's forehead and crossed herself and pointed two fingers at Mina \\\"to keep off the evil eye.\\\" That evening, Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina, and they learn that Dracula is still on board ship. On the 2nd of November, they again travel all day towards the Borgo Pass, hoping to arrive on the morning of the 3rd of November. They arrive at the Borgo Pass, and Van Helsing again hypnotizes Mina.\\nThey discover that the Count is still on board ship; after Mina awakens from the trance, she is full of energy and zeal, and she miraculously knows the way towards the Count's castle; she also \\\"knows\\\" the location of an unused side road, a road which is unmarked. They choose to take that path. That day Mina sleeps considerably and seems incredibly weak and lethargic. When Van Helsing attempts to hypnotize her again, he discovers that he can no longer do it. He has lost his power to hypnotize.\\nThey spend the night in a wild forest east of the Borgo Pass, and Van Helsing builds a fire. Then, using a holy wafer, he places Mina in a protective circle. Later that night, the three female vampires which accosted Jonathan materialize near their campfire and tempt Van Helsing with their teeming sexuality. They also tempt Mina to come with them. The horses evidently die of terror, and Van Helsing's only weapon against the three female vampires is the fire and the holy wafer. At dawn, the sunlight drives away the three female vampires.\\nOn the afternoon of the 5th of November, Van Helsing and Mina arrive by foot at Count Dracula's castle. Using a heavy blacksmith's hammer, Van Helsing knocks the castle door off its hinges and enters Dracula's demesnes. Recalling the description in Jonathan's journal, Van Helsing finds his way to the old chapel where Dracula lies during his non-active times. In his search of the old chapel, Van Helsing discovers the three graves of the three female vampires. He performs the purification ritual and puts an end to the female vampires. The female vampires' voluptuous beauty dissolves into dust upon the driving of a stake through their hearts. Van Helsing then finds a large tomb \\\"more lordly than all the rest,\\\" upon which is one word: DRACULA. Van Helsing crushes a holy wafer and lays it within the tomb \\\"and so vanished him from it, Un-Dead, forever.\\\" Before he leaves the castle, Van Helsing places holy material around the entrance so that the Count can never enter the castle again.\\nThe novel ends with a passage from Mina Harker's journal, an entry that begins on the late afternoon of the 6th of November, a date some six months since the novel began. Mina and Van Helsing are on foot, traveling east in the midst of a heavy snowfall. The howling of wolves seems perilously close. On a high mountain road, utilizing his field glasses, Van Helsing notices in the distance a group of men; they seem to be gypsies around a cart. Van Helsing knows instinctively that the cart is carrying a box of un-holy dirt containing the Count and that they must reach the box before sunset, which is quickly approaching. The two men who are riding toward the North, Van Helsing assumes, must be Quincey Morris and Dr. Seward. This would mean that from the other direction, Jonathan and Lord Godalining must not be far away. Simultaneously, the six people converge on the wagon and the gypsies. The sun continues to set.\\nJonathan and Lord Godalming stop the gypsies by using their Winchesters, just as Morris and Seward arrive, wielding their guns. With an almost superhuman effort, Jonathan eludes the defenders, leaps upon the cart, and throws the box to the ground. Quincey, wielding his knife, slashes his way through the gypsies and gains access to the box, but not before he is stabbed by one of the gypsies. Regardless of the wounds, Quincey, along with Jonathan, rips the lid from the box. Inside is the dreaded Count Dracula, covered with the un-holy dirt which has been jostled all over him. As the six of them stare into the coffin, Dracula's eyes look toward the setting sun, \\\"and the look of hate in them turned to triumph.\\\" Then, at the very last moment of sunlight, Jonathan, wielding a great knife, chops off Count Dracula's head, while Quincey Morris's bowie knife plunges into the Count's heart, \\\"and almost in the drawing of a breath,\\\" writes Mina, \\\"the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from sight.\\\" Mina notices that even at the moment of death, within such a horrid face and image, she sees a look of peace. The gypsies, seeing the body disintegrate, withdraw in abject fright. Sadly, Quincey Morris has been fatally wounded; before he dies, however, he is able to note that the curse on Mina's forehead is gone. Quincey dies \\\"a gallant gentleman.\\\"\\nIn a Note attached to the end of the novel (reportedly from Jonathan Harker), we learn that it is seven years later; he and Mina have a son whom they named Quincey. Lord Godalming and Dr. Seward are both happily married. In a final note of irony, Jonathan reports that of all the material of which \\\"the record\\\" is made, \\\"there is hardly one authentic document\\\"; the only remaining notes are those which have been transcribed on a typewriter: \\\"Therefore, we could hardly ask anyone ... to accept these as proofs of so wild a story.\\\"\\n \\nChapters 26 & 27: Commentary\\nThe closing chapters of the novel suggest a type of chase novel, with the \\\"good guys\\\" chasing the evil person, who seems to be able to constantly elude them. Even at the end of the novel, it seems as though the Count will escape into the sinking sunset before the \\\"rituals\\\" can be performed upon him. Actually, for most readers, the last half of the novel becomes somewhat long and drawn out, but this novel was written at the end of the Victorian period when the reading public expected novels to last a long time. The killing of Dracula, of course, represents the social victory of middle-class morality over the corrupt morality of the aristocracy. The latent virtue of the Count is revealed in Mina's account, however, for as the Count is freed from the influence of the vampire form, his face contains a look of peace.\\nThat the events really happened is now questioned by the final Note, which announces that all of the original documents have been lost and what we have read has been no more than the typewritten, transcribed notes of the originals, notes which cannot be used as absolute proof of the horrible things which have transpired.\\nIn spite of the flaws of this novel, it has been an unlimited source of stories, plays, novels, and movies, as well as a source for assorted psychological theories. This novel is an example of a type of literature in which the germ, or kernel, idea far transcends the execution.\\n \\n \\nThe American Horror Film and the Influence of German Expressionism\\nWhat exactly is a \\\"horror film,\\\" or, more specifically, what exactly is horror? In what ways are our expectations different when we go to see a horror film than when we go to see a \\\"western film\\\" or a \\\"science-fiction film\\\"? What is it that we hope to experience when we go to see a \\\"horror film\\\"?\\nCertainly, we expect to be \\\"terrified,\\\" whatever that may be, or at least we are prepared to be \\\"frightened\\\" in some way; we expect the hair to rise on the back of our necks. But what is it that terrifies us, or \\\"frightens\\\" us, or, essentially, incites in us a sense of horror? Is it the presence of \\\"horrible creatures\\\"—however we may imagine them? Or is it the presence of ghosts, or other kinds of supernatural creatures, that frightens us? Certainly, the supernatural is present in all these experiences, and human beings generally fear the supernatural because things supernatural are considered hostile to human life. The fact that human beings fear the supernatural can be observed every Sunday; priests and ministers, for example, often exhort us to fear God. Yet God, ideally, is not hostile to human life.\\nThus, some consideration of what horror is may help us to arrive at some tentative conclusion about the nature of horror. Tentatively, perhaps we can consider what horror does: Horror reaffirms the sacred, or Holy, through a formulaic plot in which human beings encounter the demonic, or Un-Holy. If there are Un-Holy beings, by implication, there are Holy beings. To test this tentative hypothesis, perhaps an application of it to classic horror stories would be helpful.\\nThis hypothesis is certainly applicable to Dracula. The Count has a terrifying sense of the demonic about him, suggested superficially by his appearance. Yet religious artifacts such as the cross affect the Count (in fact, it has become a popular cultural cliché that to ward off a vampire, all one has to do is brandish a cross—even if the \\\"cross\\\" is no more than crossed forefingers).\\nHorror has an interesting history. Essentially, the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft posits the existence of a race of supernatural beings which are hostile to human life, eagerly awaiting their chance to reclaim the earth and rid it of human beings. Lovecraft, especially in such stories as \\\"The Colour Out of Space,\\\" \\\"The Shadow over Innsmouth,\\\" and \\\"The Rats in the Walls,\\\" was perhaps the first Western author to write exclusively in the horror genre, and he quickly learned how to manipulate the intuitive revulsion that human beings have towards tentacled and clawed creatures. And, in addition, Lovecraft's creatures, besides being hideously and abnormally ugly, reek horribly.\\nOf course, there are other works of horror which do not precisely conform to the tentative definition of horror, such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Yet what these works posit is that if there is anything demonic or Un-Holy that exists, it consists of those obscure motivations and desires which lurk within the human mind. These works conform to what we can label \\\"modern horror,\\\" as opposed to \\\"classic horror\\\"\\\"\\nConcerning \\\"classic horror,\\\" one of the first great horror films, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), certainly subscribes to the \\\"modern horror\\\" genre also. What is ostensibly a tale of insane authority becomes the musings of a madman. In fact, the influence of German Expressionism on Hollywood films of the Thirties and Forties was tremendous. As an art form, Expressionism is generally considered to be best represented by the works of Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Edward Munch. In painting, Expressionistic art is characterized by a sense of imbalance in the pictorial arrangements in order to achieve distortion; the use of oblique angles and sharp curves; a distortion of line and color, where primary colors are generally used in violent contrast; and a subjective vision of the exterior world. Expressionism also usually incorporates the style of grisaille, painting in grey monotone in which objects are often seen only with a suggestion of form and outline without attention to precise detail. The content of Expressionistic art is characterized by its grotesqueness and implausibility. It is a revolt against both Naturalism and Impressionism and has similar counterparts in literature and sculpture.\\nThe enormously creative German cinema in the 1920s was influenced, on the one hand, by the theater of Max Reinhardt, an innovative stage director, and, on the other, it was influenced by Expressionistic art. The advances in lighting techniques, pioneered by Reinhardt, coupled with the rise of Expressionism, was of supreme importance to the experimental film-makers in post World War I Germany. Most of the actors in the early Expressionistic films were members of Reinhardt's acting company; later, some of them became film directors themselves.\\nThe first great Expressionistic masterpiece in film is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, and directed by Robert Wiene. Janowitz was deeply impressed by the work of Paul Wegener, a member of Reinhardt's acting troupe, who had directed the influential Student of Prague (1913), in collaboration with the Dane Stellan Rye, and The Golem (1915), remade in 1920.\\nMany of the Expressionistic film-makers in Germany during the Twenties eventually came to the United States. Caligari screenwriter Carl Mayer did, as well as Conrad Veidt, the actor who played the somnambulist Cesare in Caligari. (Veidt, interestingly enough, was also a member of Reinhardt's acting company.) In addition to these men, the great German film director F. W. Murnau, who directed the first \\\"vampire\\\" film, Nosferatu (1922), also went to Hollywood and directed several important films. The innovative Expressionistic cinematographer Karl Freund, who had photographed Wegener's 1920 version of The Golem and Fritz Lang's science-fiction classic, Metropolis (1927), became one of the most in demand cinematographers in Hollywood. Freund was the cinematographer of Dracula (1931), and he also became an accomplished film director. He directed such horror film masterpieces as The Mummy (1932, the first of the series) and Mad Love (1934). Mad Love starred the now famous, late actor Peter Lorre, who achieved stardom with his powerful portrayal of the child murderer in Fritz Lang's M (1931). Fritz Lang, director of Metropolis (1927), was the first scheduled director of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but he was committed to finish an earlier project. The Expressionist Paul Leni, a set designer for Max Reinhardt, came to the United States in 1927 and directed Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs (1928), a silent film produced by Universal Pictures. Leni is important because he single-handedly developed a new genre of the horror film, juxtaposing scenes which utilized carefully designed and lighted sets and uniquely focused cameras against scenes intended as comic interludes. Leni's unique approach was certainly an influence on James Whale, the director of the first two Frankenstein films. Leni's influence can also be found in the work of Whale's art director for the first two Universal Frankenstein pictures—Charles D. Hall, who was the art director for Leni's The Man Who Laughs (1928), The Cat and the Canary (1927), and The Last Warning (1929). Although Leni's output was slight (he died in Hollywood in 1929), he was an important link between the German and American cinemas.\\nThus, the influence of German Expressionism on early Hollywood films is profound and readily evident. Most directors truly concerned about film art knew of the German Expressionistic films and learned from them. Upon close examination of the classic horror films of the Thirties, it is discovered that these films are not simply idle \\\"crowd-pleasers,\\\" but serious attempts by concerned individuals at producing art.\\n \\nSelected Filmography\\nThe following selected filmography does not attempt to be, nor does it wish to be, exhaustive or complete. Nevertheless, the listing does present the more interesting and noteworthy \\\"vampire\\\" films. Every attempt has been made to include those films which possibly can be seen by contemporary audiences.\\nUnfortunately, some films have disappeared or have been lost; therefore, no attempt has been made to include those films. In addition, most foreign productions have been excluded. Of the foreign productions, only those films which possibly can be seen by American audiences have been included. The notes and annotations on the films produced by Hammer Studios of Great Britain are dependent largely on A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema 1946–72, by David Pine (London: Gordon Fraser, 1973).\\nRating Scale\\n* * * * * A film that is a \\\"must-see\\\"; both artistically brilliant and influential in the history of cinema.\\n* * * * An excellent film, distinguished by its innovation on the genre because of its technical brilliance, yet artistically insubstantial in some way.\\n* * * A good film, which, due either to negligence in production or to technical incompetence, resulted in no special distinction; most likely, a work which is exploitive of the genre; nevertheless, a film that is valuable.\\n* * Mediocre. Technically competent, nostalgically interesting, yet it carries no special distinction whatsoever.\\n* Poor. A film in which, in addition to the producer's irresponsibility, the directorial integrity is in question.\\nNosferatu (or, A Symphony of Horror) (1922). * * * * *\\nDirected by the acclaimed German Expressionist F. W. Murnau and photographed by the brilliant Fritz Arno Wagner (M), this is one of the most critically acclaimed horror films. Max Schreck's appearance in the film is perhaps one of the most memorable in all of cinema history: Pale and thin, his version of a vampire has a shaved head with two elongated front teeth, sunken cheeks, wide bulging eyes, and fingernails which are extremely long, curved, and pointed like claws. Because Murnau did not have the literary rights to Bram Stoker's Dracula, he changed the setting, altered the plot slightly and changed the vampire's name to Count Orlock. Nosferatu can be considered the first vampire film in much the same way that Stoker's Dracula is the first vampire novel; every subsequent artistic attempt must measure itself against both this film and the novel.\\nLondon After Midnight (1927). * * *\\nThis silent film was directed by Tod Browning (who would eventually direct Dracula for Universal). It starred Lon Chaney as Inspector Edmund Burke, alias \\\"Mooney,\\\" a fake vampire. The story was based on Browning's own novel, entitled The Hypnotist. London After Midnight may be, in fact, the first full-length American vampire film. Murnau's Nosferatu did not reach the United States until 1929, when it was released as Nosferatu, the Vampire. Curiously, Chaney's make-up is similar, though not identical, to Max Schreck's in Nosferatu.\\nDracula (1931). * * *\\nDirected by the \\\"Edgar Allan Poe of the Cinema,\\\" Tod Browning, and photographed by the Expressionist cinematographer Karl Freund, this film is the first vampire sound film and is still one of the most popular vampire films. Its popularity is probably due to Bela Lugosi's Dracula, who, with his authentic Hungarian accent and satanic appearance, captured the popular culture's imagination as an authentic vampire. The script for the film was not based on Stoker's Dracula, however. Instead, it was based on a popular play by John Balderston and Hamilton Deane. Lugosi, in fact, recreated his stage role for the movie. While this original movie is a popular film, it is not a great film. Browning's direction is adequate but not compelling; it does not match the energy of his earlier films—such as The Unholy Three (1925), or The Unknown (1927), which are more lavish and carefully directed; nor does it approach the genuinely grotesque horror of his next film, Freaks (1932). Freund's photography is rather lackluster; his next effort, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), made with Robert Florey, is a more appropriate example of Freund's innovative technique. Still, Dracula, like the novel, has managed to capture the public's imagination ever since its release.\\nVampyr (1932). * * * * *\\nThis film is one of Carl Theodore Dreyer's best movies, a film which relies on suggested rather than visible horror. It has a remarkably gloomy sense of atmosphere; every shot is as carefully composed as the finest photograph. It is probably one of the most artistically crafted of any vampire film, perhaps of all horror films—with the exception of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922).\\nThe Vampire Bat (1933). * *\\nA rather run-of-the-mill horror picture which has a superb cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Dwight Frye, who played the role of Renfield in Browning's Dracula, as well as the hunchbacked laboratory assistant of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein (1931). The story takes place in a remote Balkan village, where a \\\"mad\\\" doctor tries to conceal his bizarre experiments by creating a vampire \\\"scare.\\\"\\nThe Mark of the Vampire (1935). * * *\\nMade in 1935, but not released until 1972, the film is a re-make by Tod Browning of his earlier silent film London After Midnight. Browning expanded the original story by adding a seductive female ghoul (played by Carol Borland). The movie is memorable because it was the last of Tod Browning's horror films—four years later, in 1939, Browning retired from filmmaking altogether.\\nDracula's Daughter (1936). * *\\nThis film was directed by Lambert Hillyer for Universal. Hillyer was a prolific director, responsible for directing dozens of \\\"B-grade\\\" westerns. The story is based on a short story by Bram Stoker entitled \\\"Dracula's Ghost,\\\" which was originally part of Dracula, but extracted just before the novel's release. Thus, one can see how derivative vampire films were becoming. The direction was increasingly hackneyed, and the writers were desperately lacking in inspiration. Universal did the same thing with the Frankenstein series; they produced countless spin-offs of the original, and each subsequent film was representative of uninspired artistic conviction.\\nThe Vampire Bat (1940). * *\\nIn this film, vampire bats are bred for instruments of revenge by a \\\"mad\\\" scientist (Bela Lugosi). A rather uninspired film which exploited both the audience's attraction to vampirism and Lugosi's cult personality.\\nSpooks Run Wild (1941). *\\nAnother film which exploits the cult of personality surrounding Lugosi; in this case, he plays Nardo, a magician suspected of being a vampire. It is a rather shoddy attempt to adapt the plot of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to a vampire story.\\nSon of Dracula (1943). *\\nWritten by Curt Siodinak (creator of the original script for The Wolf Man [1941], a true classic of the horror film genre), the premise is hardly original. It is, basically, the plot of Dracula all over again: The son of the Count emigrates to England in search of new victims, except that his name isn't Dracula, but, instead, it is Alucard—Dracula spelled backwards. This kind of comic book gimmick is indicative of the inspiration for this banal film. Moreover, casting Lon Chaney, Jr. an actor capable of eliciting a great deal of sympathy for his (often) confused and misunderstood \\\"Beastman\\\" was a serious mistake.\\nReturn of the Vampire (1943). *\\nThe plot of Dracula again, except adapted to World War II England. Instead of searching for new victims, the screenwriters suggest that the vampire (named Armand Tesla) is in England seeking revenge against those who tried to kill him.\\nHouse of Frankenstein (1944). *\\nAs the popularity of the Frankenstein series declined, Universal (which produced every American Frankenstein picture until 1948) attempted to capture an audience by tossing into the plot every \\\"monster\\\" popular at the time—the Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein, and even the ever-present \\\"mad\\\" scientist. A predictably silly and banal film.\\nHouse of Dracula (1945). * * *\\nDirected by Erle C. Kenton, House of Dracula contains an acting performance by Onslow Stevens (as Dr. Edelmann) which approaches the sublimity of Ernest Thesiger's in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), possibly the best horror film ever made. Edelmann discovers the Frankenstein monster and is prompted to revive it, but is convinced by his beautiful, yet hunchbacked laboratory assistant (played by Jane Adams) to forsake his attempt to revive the monster. Eventually, Edelmann, who has become infected by a vampire's blood, chooses to revive the monster. The material, however, is never quite under control by director Kenton; the film stumbles and plods along at its own unique pace, while the preposterousness of the action proves to be the very reason why the film works. Despite its B-movie status and its illogical plotting, the film is ultimately both humane and moral.\\nIsle of the Dead (1945). *\\nThis RKO-Radio production, directed by Mark Robson and produced by the phenomenal \\\"boy wonder\\\" producer Val Lewton, promises much and produces almost nothing. The story centers around a group of people stranded on an island and menaced by a malevolent force, and the situation seems insolvable. In other words, the plot is as banal as an exhausted horror genre can make it. When plague breaks out among the group, an old peasant woman suspects the presence of \\\"vorvolakas,\\\" demons which \\\"drain all the life and joy from those who want to live.\\\" Isle of the Dead is essentially a poorly done \\\"stalk and slash\\\" movie and has no vampire per se.\\nThe Vampire's Ghost (1945). * * *\\nA film notable for the script and story by Leigh Brackett (1915–78), one of the best of the American screenwriters (she wrote the script for Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep (1946) along with William Faulkner and Jules Furthman, as well as the screenplay for Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973), among others). The film has a disturbingly oppressive atmosphere and concerns a vampire terrorizing a small African village.\\nThe Thing (1945). * *\\nThe Thing is memorable for several reasons: As a piece of popular culture trivia (James Arness was \\\"The Thing\\\"; as the first science fiction film which utilizes the vampire figure; and as one of the few science fiction films of which critics are fond). Yet, The Thing neither merits the lavish critical acclaim it has received, nor does it truly deserve to be forgotten. The plot of The Thing is stereotypical horror: A group of victims are stranded and isolated in a remote location and are stalked by a hostile presence.\\nPlan Nine from Outer Space (1966). *\\nA 1-star rating for this film was given reluctantly. The film is so badly done that it must be seen to be believed. Its alternative title gives one a clue to its plot: Grave Robbers from Outer Space. It is Bela Lugosi's last film. In fact, Lugosi died during production of the film, and he was replaced by a look-alike who always kept his cape up around his face so that the audience (presumably) wouldn't know that the actor wasn't Lugosi. Essentially, the plot concerns a group of aliens from outer space who intend to implement \\\"Plan Nine\\\"—the revival of corpses which will be used as troops against living human beings.\\nThe Horror of Dracula (1957). * * * * *\\nThis is the first of Great Britain's Hammer Studios' vampire films, and it is a true classic of the genre. It was directed by Terence Fisher and was written by Jimmy Sangster, who based the film on Stoker's novel. Sangster managed to return the Count to the tradition of the English gothic villain: He is a charming and intelligent aristocrat who transforms his female victims into carnal, lascivious creatures. The death of the Count is similar to the death of the vampire in Murnau's Nosferatu: He is tricked into staying out until daybreak, and then he is exposed to sunlight, which causes him to crumble away into dust. Not only does the villain's demise allow special effects, but it culminates the hero's ritualistic chase of the villain to his castle.\\nBlood of the Vampire (1957). * * *\\nAn interesting film which revolves around a prison warden who is also a vampire and supplies himself with blood from his prisoners. Prints of this film are rare.\\nThe Brides of Dracula (1960). * * * *\\nBrides was Hammer's sequel to The Horror of Dracula, and it features the same writer and director as the previous effort. This film also has a climactic chase scene and a sufficiently bombastic demise of the vampire.\\nBlack Sunday (1960). * * * *\\nBased on a short story by Nikolai Gogol entitled \\\"The Viy,\\\" Black Sunday (also known as Revenge of the Vampire) was labeled by critic Carlos Clemens as a \\\"relentless nightmare,\\\" and it has been said of cinematographer Ubaldo Terzoni's photography that it was \\\"the best black and white photography to enhance a horror movie in the past two decades.\\\" Directed by Mario Bava, the film depicts a witch/vampire's vengeance on the descendants of the people who ritualistically killed her in the seventeenth century. Virtually unknown outside of the horror film, the film stars Barbara Steele, who has become, curiously, a cult figure.\\nKiss of the Vampire (1962). * * *\\nHammer Studios eventually found it difficult to continue resurrecting the Count, but this film, directed by Don Sharp, features a clever script about a young couple seduced into depravity while on their honeymoon in Bavaria.\\nDevils of Darkness (1964). * *\\nInteresting only as trivia, this was the first of the British vampire films in a modern setting—that of \\\"swinging London.\\\"\\nThe Last Man on Earth (1964). * * *\\nBased on Richard Matheson's classic science fiction novel I Am Legend, in which the sole survivor of a horrible plague is a man who wanders around in a grim, deserted world and is relentlessly stalked at night by a group of vampires. Shot in black and white, the film is quite unrelenting in its vision of terror. Vincent Price plays the title role. The story was later re-made in the United States (this production was Italian), and it was entitled The Omega Man (1971).\\nDracula—Prince of Darkness (1965). * * * *\\nDirected by veteran director Terence Fisher, this film is a true gem of the vampire cinema. A group of bored and provincial Victorian couples are stranded in a remote castle, where a lone, devoted follower of the Count murders one of them and uses the victim's blood to resurrect the Count by pouring it over his ashes. Unfortunately, the Count had degenerated into a one-dimensional character: He is just menacing; no longer is he charming or refined or even rapaciously seductive. The Van Helsing figure in the novel is replaced in this film by a priest—Father Sandor, who stalks the vampire to his castle and brings about his demise.\\nBilly the Kid vs. Dracula (1966). *\\nPerhaps the worst horror film—if one can call it that—ever made, along with Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1965); both were directed by William Beaudine. The most amazing thing about this film is why—and how—it ever got produced.\\nThe Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). * * *\\nThis is Roman Polanski's much over-praised vampire film, an attempt to parody the genre, a task easily enough accomplished given the trivialized state of the contemporary genre. At least, however, Polanski got the mythology right, but the humor is rather juvenile, and his attempts at eroticism are adolescent.\\nA Taste of Blood (1967). * *\\nA run-of-the-mill horror film about an American who is infected with the vampire blood of one of his ancestors. Its form is that of the \\\"stalk and slash\\\" movie—the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stereotypical formula.\\nDracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968). * *\\nA Hammer Studios' film in which, as the title implies, the plot is banal and the writer's inspiration is sorely lacking.\\nTaste the Blood of Dracula (1970). * * * *\\nHammer Studios hired Hungarian-born Peter Sasdy to direct this sequel to 1968's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, using a script by John Elder (Anthony Hinds). Coupled with Arthur Grant's superb photography, Hammer achieved its best effort since 1957's Horror of Dracula. In this picture, the Dracula presence is explicitly associated with the disintegration of the family, coming much closer in spirit to Stoker's novel. Certainly one of the best vampire films Hammer ever made.\\nThe Scars of Dracula (1970). *\\nProduced immediately after Taste the Blood of Dracula and directed by Roy Ward Baker, this film is one of the most seriously flawed vampire films which Hammer ever attempted. A vicious, unbelievably cruel film.\\nCount Yorga, Vampire (1970). * *\\nDirected by Bob Kelljan, this production features a vampire in the tradition of the English gothic villain. Courteous and refined, Count Yorga seeks the blood of Southern California teenage girls. Unfortunately, the situations have become stereotyped, and the plot is absolutely predictable.\\nDaughters of Darkness (1970). *\\nHarry Kumel's film is concerned with the sexuality of vampirism. This film features bisexual female vampires and lots of self-consciously \\\"arty\\\" scenes composed of red, black, and white colors. This kind of sophomoric symbolism is indicative of the artistic pretensions of this silly little soft-core film. The film did well, however, when it premiered in the United States in May of 1971.\\nHouse of Dark Shadows (1970). *\\nAnother of the bumper crop of vampire films made in 1970 which exploits the teenage fascination with Dark Shadows, a gothic soap opera of the late 60s. The vampire in this film and in the TV series was played by Jonathan Frid.\\nThe 'Karnstein Trilogy':\\nThe Vampire Lovers (1970). * * Directed by Roy Ward Baker\\nLust for a Vampire (1970). * * Directed by Jimmy Sangster\\nCountess Dracula (1970). * * Directed by Peter Sasdy.\\nThese films are based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's short story \\\"Carmilla\\\" (1871), a story of vampirism with lesbian overtones. Thus, these films exploit the sexuality of vampirism—specifically, a female vampire whose favorite victims are the daughters of nobility. Most of the action of these films centers around Karnstein castle. All of the films feature wonderfully stylized sets and (self-consciously) \\\"arty\\\" photography, creating a rather dream-like atmosphere. The Vampire Lovers, the first of the series, was a huge commercial success, and thus inspired Hammer to produce more of the same. The second film, Lust for a Vampire, is probably the best of the trilogy, although it too exults in lots of free-flowing blood. Countess Dracula features a vampire who bathes in the blood of her victims in order to restore her youth and beauty. All of these films are blatant \\\"soft-core\\\" pornography and were extremely popular with American teenage audiences.\\nThe Omega Man (1971). *\\nA competent film adaptation of Matheson's I Am Legend (see The Last Man on Earth, 1964) starring Charlton Heston in the title role. This film has rather stylized production values, though its symbols—such as that of Heston's crucifixion at the end of the film—is rather blatant and heavy-handed. Nevertheless, a thoroughly competent and delightful film.\\nTwins of Evil (1971). * *\\nThis film was a further attempt by Hammer Studios to exploit Le Fanu's \\\"Carmilla,\\\" with predictable results.\\nDracula, A.D. 1972 (1971) * and Dracula Is Dead (1972). *\\nBoth of these films were directed by Alan Gibson and scripted by Don Houghton. The second of the above films is a sequel to the first. These films represent Hammer's attempt to set the story of Dracula in modern London. The results are wretched. In both films, Christopher Lee played the vampire while Peter Cushing played the protagonist.\\nVampire Circus (1971). * * *\\nDirected by Robert Young, this film is one of Hammer's plethora of films during the 1970–71 period which have any merit at all and is well worth seeing.\\nThe Return of Count Yorga (1971). * * * *\\nWith the aid of Yvonne Wilder on the script, who also plays a featured role in the film as a Cassandra-like mute, Bob Kelljan was able to surpass his mediocre Count Yorga, Vampire and create something close to a classic of the genre—albeit, for the most part, forgotten. With the aid of cinematographer Bill Butler (Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Kelljan was able to create a film with an overpowering sense of menace and pervasive horror. The presence of the vampire is similar to Stoker's—an indication of growing social disruption. Count Yorga and followers completely disrupt an orphanage and pervert all relationships. The ending of the film is one of the best of the vampire cinema. Butler unleashed his visual pyrotechnics; it was filmed in slow motion freeze frame for optimum effect.\\nBlacula (1973). * * *\\nShakespearian actor William Marshall played the role of the vampire in this picture, which is neither one of the great vampire films nor a \\\"blackploitation\\\" film. The film has a spirit of fun which wasn't present in any vampire films of the previous decade.\\nScream, Blacula, Scream (1973). * *\\nDirector Bob Kelljan was not able to achieve the merits of the original Blacula (directed by William Cram), much less approach the artistry of his best film, The Return of Count Yorga, with this picture.\\nAndy Warhol's Dracula (1975). * * * *\\nReleased a few months after Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (May, 1974), this film, like its predecessor, evaluates its particular genre, in this case the vampire cinema, and it views it as one which exploits the subliminal psycho-sexual fears of its audience. Of course, the assumption of the film-makers is that these audiences are awaiting some kind of ludicrous confirmation of those subliminal fears through ritual enactment and formulaic plot. Thus, the proceedings of Andy Warhol's Dracula are predictably ludicrous and necessarily silly. They are also, paradoxically, quite disturbing.\\nOld Dracula (1975). *\\nAn American International release—in the worst sense of that infamous genre. This film, which stars David Niven as the vampire, is a prolonged practical joke at the audience's expense.\\nDracula (1979). * *\\nDirected by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever), this production attempts to be quite stylized and original. The script is based on a popular Broadway play of the same title, and Frank Langella re-created his stage role for the film. The film focuses on Dracula's seductive charms, and it features him as an archetypal Byronic lover. The premise is not so clever (or original) as the film-makers thought. The plot is predictably stereotyped.\\nNosferatu (1979). * *\\nThe nature of this film is the natural result when a world-acclaimed artistic director sees fit to give his stamp of approval to a genre which has undergone pop culture trivializing. This is Werner Herzog's re-make (called homage by the director) of Murnau's classic. The film was, predictably, self-consciously \\\"arty\\\" and did not transcend the genre to any large degree whatsoever.\\nLove at First Bite (1980). * *\\nPremise: Dracula is kicked out of his Transylvanian castle by local officials and comes to America, where he falls in love (with a beautiful woman) for the first time in his life. As a Dracula \\\"spoof,\\\" it exhibits some degree of comic sophistication, thus rendering the film pleasantly innocuous.\",\n \"\\\"KATHARINA\\\" IN \\\"THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.\\\"\\n\\\"'Katharina' in 'The Taming of the Shrew.'\\\" by Mrs ... until he shall have disposed of her naughty sister. ... the 'Taming of the Shrew' in Shakespeare ...\\n'Katharina'in'The Taming of the Shrew.'.\\nChicago, Ill: Monarch Book Company, 1894. pp. 544-554.\\n[Page 544] \\n\\\"KATHARINA\\\" IN \\\"THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.\\\" *\\nBy MRS. EMMA PRATT MOTT.\\nMRS. EMMA PRATT MOTT.\\nThe prelude to this play, \\\"The Taming of the Shrew,\\\" is one of the richest, raciest most delectable pieces of humor extant. This play has been called a perfect whirlwind of the oldest, maddest freaks and farces imaginable.\\\" Let us for a few moments attend to a brief study of the principal characters:\\nA rich gentleman of Padua has two daughters, one apparently all that is shrewish, and the other apparently all loveliness. Like other good parents, he of course desired to see them married. Kate, the shrew, must be married anyhow, and Bianca must have a fat estate for a husband, but he wisely denies the hand of the seeming angel to anyone until the seeming shrew shall have been disposed of, which sets the wits of the angelic Bianca's suitors at work to find a suitor for the shrewish Kate. Presently the very genius of whims and self-will appears as the suitor of Kate, in the person of one Petruchio, a rich gentleman of Verona, a friend to one of Bianca's suitors. Meanwhile the son of another rich gentleman of Pisa visits Padua and is brought within the circle of Bianca's attractions. Lucentio sees Bianca, and the first sight is fatal. By a simple though skillful enough intrigue he wins her in the disguise of a tutor to her in classic lore, he being obliged to employ this method because Bianca's father has cut off all open approaches to her until he shall have disposed of her naughty sister. This forms a sort of under plot in the play, the interests turning upon the manner in which Petruchio woos and weds and tames the so-called frightful Kate. Both these girls are affected, their affectation passing for sincerity. Kate puts on the show of what she has not, and Bianca puts off the show of what she has. The one purposely seems worse and the other better than she is. Kate, the shrew, too proud to be vain, will do nothing to gain friends, everything to serve them. Bianca, too vain to be proud, will do everything to gain friends and nothing to serve them. Bianca is fond of admiration and gets it. Kate envies her what she sees, but will not stoop or bend to get it. In a word, Kate is willful, Bianca selfish. The one affects shrewishness before marriage, the other conceals it until after marriage, for they do not so much change their real faces after marriage as to drop the masks which conceal them. We have all known men who were studiously wise, gentle and amiable in appearance, yet mean and selfish apart, and who appeared to be gentle and amiable because of their selfishness. Again we know men who rather study to be rough, rash, reckless and unkind, seemingly from mere disinterestedness, because they were more concerned for the good of others than for their favor, and [Page 545] more willing to do them a kindness than to have it known. The first will caress their friends and then desert them. The second will abuse their friends, and then imperil their lives to serve them. Kate belongs to that class of women who will never allow their husbands to govern them if they can help it, nor ever respect their husbands unless they do govern them; who, unsubdued, will do their worst to plague them, but who once subdued will do their utmost to please them. There seems to be a desire with some women to try to prove their husbands and to know them, whether they be what they call genuine pieces of manhood or not. Petruchio's treatment therefore rather reforms the conduct than the character of his wife, rather brings out the good which she seemed to want than to remove the bad which she seemed to have. After marriage there are no traces of the shrew in her conduct. One writer naively says, her sense of duty in the relation dissipates all her artificial life and straightens her behavior. All the materials of her closing speech are in her heart all the while, but she disdains to let them out, and it is not until Petruchio forces them out that she stands before us in her true character. Still the tender and considerate husband is all the while lurking under his affected willfulness. Some writers think that Petruchio falsifies himself more than Kate does because he has more to falsify. He is himself all truth, yet utters nothing but lies; full of kindness and good-nature, he will put on the garb of a fiend to do the work of a benefactor. \\\"He will at any time say more and do fewer bad things than any other man in Italy.\\\" He now proceeds to work out of Kate what seems to others the plainest impossibility by the wildest contradiction. \\\"Say that she rails; why then I'll tell her plain she sings.\\\" His outrageous humor reached at once its height when riding with his wife he visits her father, he meets old Vincentio, and requires him to salute her as a beautiful lady.\\n\\\"Tell me, sweet Kate, and tell me truly true,\\nHast thou beheld a fresher gentlewoman?\\\"\\nThus do we see, as if by magic, Kate the cursed presently become the most loyal of wives. We have not a grain of pity to spare for Kate, who is better pleased to find a conqueror than to be the conqueror. On the whole it is satisfactory to her to discover that there is at least one man of force and spirit in the world, and to know that he, and no other, has chosen her for his wife; and so Kate transfers all her boldness to the very effrontery of obedience. Behind her delightful sauciness lie warmth and courage at heart. Strange that Shakespeare should have known so long ago that which most people still find so hard to learn. We behold in the great bard's wonderful magic mirrors that his heroines are more perfectly feminine than any woman could have found it in her heart or brain to make them. Woman, as she resembles man, was of less consequence to Shakespeare than woman in herself. Shakespeare says: \\\"Here woman stands, the modern world stooping at her feet will have to yield some of the reputed exclusiveness of men, but only such traits of it as Imogene, Cordelia, Beatrice or Portia will elect.\\\" In dealing with married love Shakespeare, ever true to nature, gives it no rhapsodies or flowers of speech. It may be a love that overwhelms a man's whole nature, as with Othello, when he exclaimed after an enforced absence, and looking into his wife's face:\\n\\\"If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy.\\\"\\nOr Brutus, comforting his wife when she desires to know the secret that is oppressing him:\\n\\\"Am I yourself but as it were in sort of limitation,\\n To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,\\nAnd talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs\\nOf your good pleasure? If it be no more,\\nPortia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.\\\"\\nand his answer is full of profound, earnest, sad truth: [Page 546] \\n\\\"You are my true and honorable wife,\\nAs dear to me as are the ruddy drops\\nThat visit my sad heart.\\\"\\nHere is true, consistent, reasonable love. It does not worship the ground she walks upon. It does not desire to kiss the glove she wears. He, the Shakespeare husband lover, despises the ground, and would throw the glove into the fire. But Othello, in that moment of fury, would willingly die, and Brutus would give his life for his wife. This love in married life, as represented by Shakespeare, is the real. It has grown out of companionship and friendship, and passion only plays a super's part, says his lines and departs. \\\"My husband is my friend,\\\" is the grandest exclamation of Shakespeare's married love. The great and noble friendship between husband and wife, which, like sun rays, serve to reveal the black and bloody canvas of human history, become fewer and fewer as the progress of the age teaches us the art of a greater selfishness, and teaches us to laugh where once we wept, and never weep at all. Petruchio had the right which was accorded husbands in those days to resort to the English custom of selling wives whenever considered shrews, but the thought never once suggested itself to him, for he loved Katharina, and endeavored to let her see herself in an exaggerated form, and thus become disgusted with such conduct. But as late as April 7, 1832, at Carlisle, England, occurred an example of wife selling. One Mrs. Thompson was eloquently shuffled off at auction, her husband being the auctioneer, and this is his speech:\\n\\\"Gentleman, I have to offer to your notice my wife, Mary Ann Thompson, otherwise Williams, whom I mean to sell to the highest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her wish as well as mine to part forever. She has been to me only a born serpent. I took her for the comfort and the good of my house, but she became my tormenter, a domestic curse. Gentlemen, I speak truth when I say may God deliver us from troublesome wives and frolicsome women. Avoid them as you would a mad-dog, a roaring lion, a loaded pistol, cholera, Mt. Etna, or any other pestilential thing in nature. Now I have told you the dark side of my wife and shown you her faults and failings. I will introduce the bright side and explain her qualifications and goodness. She can read novels and milk cows. She can laugh and weep with the same ease that you take a glass of ale. Indeed, gentlemen, she reminds me of what the poet said of women:\\n\\\"'Heaven gave to women the peculiar grace\\nTo laugh, to weep, to cheat the human race.'\\n\\\"She can make butter and scold the maid, and she can sing Moore's melodies, and make her frill and cap. She can not make rum, but she is a good judge of its quality from long experience. I therefore offer her, with all her perfections and imperfections, for the sum of fifty shillings.\\\"\\nIt is marvelous that there could have been found any man with courage and valor enough to buy, but such there was by name Henry Mears, who, after an hour's haggling, offered twenty shillings and a Newfoundland dog. They then parted in perfect good temper, Mears and the shrew and Mr. Thompson and the dog. Petruchio could have exercised his right also to the use of the bridle or brank, which being put upon the offender by order of the magistrate, and fastened with a padlock behind the ear, she is lead in it around the town by an officer to her shame, nor is it taken off until the woman begins to show external signs of humiliation. The character of Petruchio is not so uncommon, and the world is full of Katharinas. Katharina's closing speech is at once elegant, eloquent, poetical and true. It is worth all volumes on household virtues.\\nWhat kind of a man is our modern Petruchio? A sensible fellow with practical ideas to suit his wife, who fancies that men are in danger in their turn of losing some of their rights. He is like the majority of young men in this country, well-meaning, industrious, hoping to make a moderate fortune because a good citizen, husband and father, and go through life creditably and honorable. He says: \\\"What is my wife to [Page 547] be to me and I to my wife?\\\" Since I began to listen to the story of woman's wrongs and woman's rights, the world is turned topsy-turvy. I am morally sea-sick. 'Tis a state of transition with women, answers this modern American Katharina, with her pale, striking features, a skin like dough, gray, thoughtful eyes, her chest flat, her movements and her whole bearing full of unrest, and these hinting subtly at suppressed powers, and whether she condemn a philosophy or dismiss a lover to arrange her hair, it is done alike with the same careless air of superiority. This modern Kate grows courteously satirical when she talks of her grandmother's days, but one notices that this same charming woman on examining some old ivory miniature grows annoyed to find the features of those last century dames as refined as their own, and the vehicle of as subtle and strong minds. \\\"Strange,\\\" says the nineteenth century woman, as she puts them away, \\\"That these faces could have been content with a life of serfdom–mere housekeepers.\\\" \\\"But, Kate,\\\" says our modern Petruchio, \\\"men are mulish; these same domestic women are here in the nineteenth century. They won't die out; they won't be weeded out. This domestic woman is a great stumbling block in your modern woman's way. Man treats you precisely as the Chinese would were you a missionary, would receive your new spiritual deity–that is to say, with all politeness, with uplifted hands and drooping eyes of adoration, and then go home and plump on their knees before their own private little gods behind the kitchen door. This same old-fashioned domestic woman lives and moves and has her being in her home! Really, Kate, how long is this transition to last? Whose fault is it that it lasts so long?\\\" \\\"Petruchio, as you are one of those men who come in with the mob at the end of a reform, I advise you to shut your ears to the tumult, and attend only to your business.\\\" \\\"But how can I shut my ears? The air is fill with the protests of women. Do tell what it is they want. What is it that they do not want? What is it that is needed in the right training of girls that is not needed just as imperatively in the right training of boys? What makes the difference then between the position in the world of young men and young women when we men have always granted, and always will, that neither sex is naturally the superior nor the inferior of the other in essentials?\\\"\\n\\\"The difference,\\\" says Katharina, \\\"lies wholly in the idea that underlies the teaching of each, for from the day the boy chips the shell until he dies he is taught, he breathes it in the air, he learns it by perpetual hard experience, that she is to be taken care of all her days. Nearly every girl in our fashionable boarding schools and in our public schools has the day, when the prince will arrive and carry her off, fixed in her horizon like the light to which the mariner steers. What marriage means, what it implicates of duty to herself, to her husband, and to her possible children, she never thinks, nor is she required to think.\\\"\\n\\\"It seems strange to me, Kate, that women will submit to live with us men when they are feeling that we are depriving them of their rights, and that man is the enemy of woman's best advancement. If we were told the history of any race which for three thousand years had lived in daily intercourse with another with a chance for the same culture, with the same language, seated side by side in perfect social equality, and which had yet remained in a state of subjection, debarred from rights which they had held to be theirs, we should be apt to decide sharply enough that the rights are not fitted to them by nature, or that their cowardice and hesitation to grasp their rights deserved the serfdom. There have been women soldiers, judges, merchants in every country and in every age, women who were leaders in the state in war or in intrigue, and the readiness with which the ground was ceded to them, the applause with which their slightest merit was welcomed, proved how easily climed was the path they trod, and how accessible to every woman if she had chosen to climb it. It was not altogether the fault of the obdurate rock that it hid for so many years the gifts of manhood from the boy Theseus, but his own flaccid muscles and uncertain will which failed to overturn it. When the hour came to use them, the rock was put aside, the golden sandals and magic sword, which were to make his path easy and clear to him, lay underneath.\\\"\\n\\\"The transcendental inspiration you men have in guessing why God ever made [Page 548] woman, the knowledge you have of the secret of our power, is appalling. We have been told by our self-appointed advisers how we may become charming, and in what way we are in danger of losing our charms. That we are the last and most perfect work of God, sprung from the rib of Adam, nearest the heart, we are told, and at length after six thousand years of tuition we are flattered with having risen to an equality with man. The efforts to equalize with man's woman's wages, to multiply her opportunities, to claim her interests in the politics of human rights, to secure her alleviating presence in the rude scenes of republicanism, these, Petruchio, are of small consequences to men.\\\"\\n\\\"You have sprung so many points on me, Kate, I can only hope to see one at a time. I wish I might answer you as a man who honors woman and longs for her noble power in all that man holds dear. Let us look at equal rights first. The assertion that the sexes are equal is true if rightly understood, but the way the word equal is often used it does not covey the exact truth and leads to confusion. When we say that five dollars in gold is equal to five dollars in silver, we do not mean that there is equality of weight, but of value. The statement that Napoleon was equal to Milton is true. An examination of the two brains would show a difference of mental organization so that in some respects one would be found superior to the other, and at the same time inferior in other points, but the value of mental endowments in one would be equal to that of the other. The only kind of equality that can be said to exist between the sexes is that which exists between objects that are unlike. If in addition to what woman can do now, she could compete successfully with men wherein they have the pre-eminence, she would not be his equal, but his superior. There is no danger of this, as God has provided a regular system of compensation, so that when one person covets that he has not with the idea that it is better than that actually possessed, he loses the old in acquiring the new. It is not desirable that husband and wife should stand on different planes, so that the mind of one is so far above the other that there is no point of contact; but if their minds are on the same level, the blending of these diverse characteristics produces a union which can not be readily sundered. If men and women were alike this world would resemble the monotonous plane whereon there is a superabundance of a certain kind of equality. The aggressive and tedious assertions of woman's ability to do this, that or the other work in the world are superfluous, or would be so but for modern myopia. In the outer world of fact, of demonstration, of volition, tangible proofs and causalities and material processes, man is supreme, while in that more subtle sphere where lie spiritual convictions which overtop our actual life, and lead up from grossness to glory, woman is the priestess. Are these two spheres independent of each other? Are they not conjoined indissolubly? It is a mistake, and takes from us men one of our supreme rights, that which places antagonism between the two. There should be between them harmony as sweet as that which moves the concentric rings of Saturn, which I viewed the other night. Untaught by the presence and inspiration of woman, we men would soon become cold, dry petrifactions, constantly obeying the centripetal force of our lives and ending by alluring self. And I take it, without man's firmness and strength, woman, in whom the centrifugal force is stronger, would remain a weak, vacillating creature, without self-poise. Cultivate her intellect and his heart, and the healthy action and reaction consequent upon such a balance of forces, you have the true relationship established between the sexes–the relationship which the Creator pronounced good. Do not misunderstand me, Kate. I say, let woman, if she will, measure the stellar distances, study mechanical principles or the learned professions, make a picture or write a book, and there are women, not a few, true and noble, who have done all this, but let her never for such as these abdicate her own nobler work, neglecting the greater for the less. If a woman has a special gift let her exercise it. If she has a particular mission let her work it out. Few women, though, are of this elect class, just as few men are. But I would have woman never forget that it is not for what they may possibly add to the sum of human knowledge that the world values them primarily. That [Page 549] some man is as likely to do as not. But what women fail to do in their own peculiar sphere, no man can possibly do. Did you ever think, Kate, that woman may be able to do anything that man does in his sphere, if she be trained, but it is inconceivable that man could do a woman's work, essentially that which is most womanly? Before you answer this, let us look at your second point, where you generously and most practically inquire about the maidens by choice and the maidens by necessity. What are they to do, and how are they to live in this world? Just here is where one of the rights of man should be emphasized. There is one hard fact which women are apt to shirk, but which they must after all–that is, that in the pitiless economies of nations, the question is not the worker, but the value of the work. When Rosa Bonheur or Jean Ingelow bring their wares to market, the question of sex does not intrude itself in the matter of payment. If a woman has taken a desk in a counting-room, let her do her duty like a man, expecting no favors because she is a woman. She has no right to stay at home when it rains, and no right to leave before her hour because she can not cross certain places after dark, no right not to expect to be 'blown up' (using the expression which suits us men best) when she makes wrong entries. It is one reason for less wages that woman will not submit to conditions that men have to submit to, because their uncertain future makes them careless and less interested in their work. Once let woman face fate, and not flirt with it, and this question of 'less wages' will emerge from its present muddle. In the matter of wages, as between husband and wife, the husband's wages are not simply payment from the capitalist for his work, but for his wife's also. The money he earns the wife applies to the household and their common wants. The wife in the truest sense is her husband's most important business partner, his partner in a more complete and comprehensive sense than any other he can have. The household is her department of the business of life, as her husband's is the store, the manufactory or the office. If she fail to act constantly upon this principle she is an unfaithful and untrustworthy partner, and is as much to blame as if her husband were to neglect his stock, his shipping, his contract, his client. Why should the husband be expected to manage his part of the business upon sound and correct business principles while his wife-partner is letting hers go at loose ends, with a shiftlessness which, if he should imitate, would ruin them in a year? Now what is the principle upon which every good business man manages his affairs? Why, simply that of sovereignty. He keeps, if he is a sensible man, his stock under lock and key, and extracts a rigid accountability in its use.\\\"\\n\\\"But,\\\" says Kate, \\\"we housekeepers would not dare lock up our butter, eggs or sugar. We could not keep a girl a day if we doled out our stores and held our servants accountable for their use.\\\"\\n\\\"Suppose a manufacturer of jewelry should reason as you do, Kate. He says, 'I can not keep my help satisfied unless I give them free access to my stock of gold and diamonds. I must throw open my tool drawers, and I must not ask how much material this or that manufactured article has taken to make.' You know that man would have to shut up shop in less than a year. Now I still ask, Kate, is it fair, is it right that while the husband superintends his business himself the wife partner surrenders her responsibility into the hands of ignorant and irresponsible subordinates? Thus conducting the household on purely business principles does not necessarily entail upon you the least participation in the labor of the family. It does not absolutely require your personal presence at the scene of those labors, although the woman who considers it beneath her dignity to go into her kitchen has no more business to undertake to keep house than the master mechanic who is too proud to enter his workshop has to try to carry on a shop. The absolutely essential thing is that yours should be the controlling and directing mind, and that to you everyone in your employ should be held rigorously responsible.\\\"\\n\\\"I wish,\\\" says Kate, \\\"that you would specialize a little. You men in laying down your instructions to us women do it in the most stupendously general way, which we are sometimes tempted to think betrays a condition of mind which lacks experimental knowledge.\\\" [Page 550] \\n\\\"Well, I readily own up to little experimental knowledge in housekeeping, but I am only suggesting that housekeeping should be conducted on the same principle on which we men conduct business. And first, to specialize, you should tell your servants that employing them at stipulated wages to do certain work their time belongs to you. Tell them distinctly that if you prefer to keep your stores under lock and key it is not because you suspect their integrity, but that you consider it your business as a housekeeper to know what is the cost of living. And secondly, although the plan of keeping a book of family accounts only belongs incidentally to the main subject under discussion, it is so important that I can not refrain from a special mention of it. It is the simplest thing in the world, not taking on an average more than ten minutes a day. For reference in case of a disputed bill it is invaluable, while its influence in keeping down expenses is wonderfully wholesome. It would be just as safe for the merchant to neglect his cash book as for his domestic partner, who undertakes to do her business properly, to neglect her cash book. I believe, Kate, that no higher compliment can a husband pay to his wife than to say, 'She is an excellent manager of my home, finely as she has been educated; she knows everything, and how to direct what should be done, from the private family dinner to a sumptuous entertainment.\\\"\\n\\\"You may add, if you please, Petruchio, that woman has done nearly everything that has been done in the peaceful arts from the dawn of history up to the present era, as you will have to acknowledge, if you have examined at all intelligently the Woman's Building at this wonderful fair of this wonderful nation. In all the earlier ages woman established the home, built the house, reared the family, provided food, tilled the ground, garnered the crops, provided materials for raiment, spun thread and wove cloth, designed and manufactured clothing, cared for the sick and educated the children. Modern civilization, developing commerce and manufactures and improving agriculture, has diverted the attention of men from fighting and hunting, and given into their hands the task of providing food and raiment and luxuries for the family. Indeed, the history of civilization may be regarded as a history of the transfer of these tasks from the hands of women in the household to the hands of men in the factory, the mill and the shop. And may not the single monotonous occupation to which women are now confined account for that which seems to militate against domestic peace?\\\"\\n\\\"Why, Kate, the science of domestic economy is one of the noblest arts, the handmaid of domestic and, therefore, national health, riches and welfare, and worthy the highest powers of the most gifted of our women. You re-read the story of Ruth Pinch as given in 'Martin Chuzzlewit.' It is enough to make one in love with cooking and keeping house. The pretty girl does everything with such grace and alertness, her whole soul is so bent on infusing comfort into everything, she is so unselfish, so wise, so unconscious of her wisdom, so good, and knows so little about her goodness, that she is one of the sweetest of Dickens' many lovely, thoroughly human, women. It is a pitiful truth that we may become homeless without being actually houseless, for it does look as though the family or homekeeping was fast becoming a matter of temporary arrangement. Home, once a woman's temple, is now her prison. The sweet, quiet virtues which were once her greatest charm are now the badge of her slavery. Strong to do, she is weak to bear, and while she can nerve herself to perform the most revolting offices of a hospital nurse, and take an active part in the most ghastly operations, she can not live under the comparative monotony of her home life. Duty is not in her vocabulary now. She writes work over where it stood. And, Kate, I fear work means simply excitement and publicity. Is there not danger that not a grace, not a gift will be kept in the maturing shade, that not a violet hides behind its leaves? All the treasure which once used to be kept in sacred shrines are now laid in the shop window for everyone to stare at, and all buy who will. A pretty piping voice, that can sing passably well a drawing-room ballad, hires herself for public display. You hear girls say they are hoping to become another Camilla Urso because they can strike a true note on the violin. Many a girl who can draw [Page 551] well enough for a parlor album plunges into an exhibit, and dreams of fame through her art, and one with the faintest faculty for situation dashes off a novel which is to bring her name very near to that of George Eliot. While I sincerely, deeply sympathize with every reform which tends to afford a fair field for exertion for those women who are forced to select for themselves a trade or profession, I deprecate everything that allures those who possess the inestimable privilege of a home to desert their fittest sphere of action. You will smile, Kate, when I say that the manhood of man must suffer some loss when woman has appropriated a portion of it; for its nobler attributes are created and evoked by the duty and privilege of ministering to her wants, and fortifying and protecting her. I believe woman is a complement, not a substitute, for man. Is it, my Kate, so beneath the glory of a woman to be one whose society is sought with avidity by the opposite sex, whose most ardent champions are men, at whose bidding men are prompt to respond, and in whose companionship men seem to find peculiar happiness? A woman whose husband will think her adorable, it matters little whether her eyes be large or light, small or dark, her features classic or irregular, whether her tongue be eloquent or she be given to silence, she hides within her being that subtle something which emphasizes the fact that men have some rights which women are bound to respect. I can not express it better than to say that, while she is restful, at the same time she coaxes out ambitions which we never dreamed were ours. She seems to have the grace of leisure. She is never too busy. She would inject a little bit of duncehood into our American life–into this restless desire for study. If she be fortunate enough to possess children, she assimilates the spirit of the age and interprets it to them, and in them evolution seems to take strides swift and sure and forward. Should we give small credit to her who has kept holy and watered with the rain of deep feeling this acrid, dusty highway of civilization, and instructed her nature so that it will bring forth beautiful June blossoms?\\n \\\"'Happy he!\\nWith such a mother; faith in womankind\\nBeats with his blood, and truth in all things high\\nComes easy to him, and though he trip and fall,\\nHe shall not blind his soul with clay!'\\n\\\"You spoke, Kate, of securing woman's alleviating presence in the rude scenes of republicanism. I suppose you have reference to her participation in politics. History tells us that when the contrast between the sexes has been least marked, the tenderer one does not seem to have gained purity or the physically stronger elevation. The Spartan maids who exercised in public unrobed, did not always, as Plato fondly hoped, wear virtue for a garment. The mothers of the Partheniæs doubtlessly acted from patriotism, but less strong-minded women would have considered their honor paramount. The idea of marriage, of the natural choice of each other by one man and one woman, to unite and form one separate family, seems to be as naturally implanted in the human race as does the idea of language or religion, and if the family is one as the United States government is one, then it would be as absurd to send two representatives to the polls as it would be to send two representatives or ministers to Great Britain to act on their individual responsibilities. So long as a woman elects her own husband, and she can sometimes take her choice out of several candidates, it is her own fault if she is not properly represented.\\\"\\n\\\"And have American women, whether married or single, any vital share or interest in this grand free government of ours?\\\" asked Kate.\\n\\\"With all the emphasis of a profound conviction I answer, yes. Such a touching and intimate interest as no women ever had before in any government under the sun, because the principles embodied in it and represented by it have made her what she is, and they alone can make her what she hopes to be. If it be true that the position of woman in society is a sure test of its civilization, then is our America in the van of progress. Nowhere else in the world is the ideal of womanhood so chivalrously [Page 552] worshiped and protected. Nowhere else is she so respected, obeyed and beloved. In three exterior forms of action women excel–talk, manner and dress. It is in talk–yes, in all three that American women take the lead. Great as is your proficiency in the handling of manner and dress, it is by talk alone that you exercise a conquering force. I know that dress and manner are regarded as indispensable auxiliaries, but none except the foolish place them in the front rank of combat, while every woman who merits being counted as a social artist, takes care in using them as but subordinates to her speech. In society our American women are extremely self-poised, reasonable and capable of defending their own opinions and of abetting their desires, and as you talk more and laugh more you lead and dictate more to your brother man. It is to you women that men must go for exhilaration, elevation, brightening and appetizing, and above all, strengthening to do our duty, and contentment while we are doing it. Kate, I do wish that men's rights could be regarded just a little–talked about, sung about, prayed about, and preached about.\\\"\\n\\\"Men's rights! What do you mean, Petruchio? Men have always had all the rights there were to have, and what more can you cry for?\\\"\\n\\\"My dear Kate, this is the age of woman worship. Women are angels and men are mostly demons. Our modern literature makes all virtues feminine and all vices masculine. A well-formed, fair-faced, sweet-tempered, gentle-spoken woman, if young and accomplished, is an angel, though her heart may be cold, selfish, incapable of a generous emotion; an angel, though utterly regardless of the misery she ruthlessly inflicts upon others. What with women's journals and women's clubs and women's colleges and women's departments, and women's this and that, we are beginning to fear entire exclusion from the human family. Some one has said that we are in danger of forgetting that 'a woman is a human being first and a woman afterward.' But we have one hope and one consolation, and that is in the motto on the letter-paper of the Woman's Branch of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition, viz.: 'Not things, but men.' We are still recognized as a man and brother. For this I for one am devoutly thankful. I confess to you, Kate, that I have just joined the P. A. S. O. M. T. N. R., which in this age of cabalistic nomenclature, means the 'Protective Association for Securing to Oppressed Men Their Neglected Rights.' I have never liked the 'Taming of the Shrew' in Shakespeare version, and would like to get out an edition of my own. There is something so out of keeping with all reality in it. Whoever knew a man in the better circles of society have his way by any domineering method as against the contrary by his wife? I believe there are cases, such as that of the one-time invincible John L. Sullivan, where man's superior muscular action is put into play to secure him what he is pleased to term his rights. But you know, Kate, that it is not considered good form for a man in the best society to beat his wife. This puts him at a certain disadvantage. If he is not permitted to show his superiority in the sense physical, where then can he show it? There is something so far-fetched in the whole conception of a man's having his way that it seems to me that the play lacks human interest. Perhaps there will be a land some time–\\n\\\"'Where wives will all obedient be,\\nAnd men will have their way.'\\n\\\"Meanwhile, Kate, there is another thing that you enjoy, and which seems to be denied to us men, for the most part, at least. I refer to the literary circles all over our land. Of the members of the Chautauqua and kindred circles, what an infinitesimal fraction are men. I know that we have, as a rule, less ability and taste for this sort of thing, but the reason is that we have been repressed for generations. Give us a chance. When you women gather to hear a play of Shakespeare, or to throw additional obscurity on Browning, or see what extravagant panegyric can do for Walt Whitman, men look on with envious eyes. When there are 9 o'clock breakfasts and formal luncheons and coffees and 5 o'clock teas, we men must rest content to stay without the portals. The one persistent and unquestioned right which we seem to [Page 553] have left, is to supply the ducats for the same. You know, Kate, that if you attend the fine literary association, of which you are a bright and particular star, I must meanwhile in my office earn enough to buy the paper and ink with which you write those essays which delight all readers. If you will bear with me, Katharina, I would like to tell you of two or three prominent faults of your sex which injure and restrict our rights as men. The most mischievous and glaring, and the most ruinous, is extravagance. I knew you would look aghast at this, and ask me for an account of the money I spend for tobacco, etc., but you should be charitable toward some of our habits, seeing that we do not interfere with yours.\\\"\\n\\\"Bless me, Petruchio, what habits have we, I should like to know?\\\"\\n\\\"A multitude, Kate. I don't know the half. Crochet work, embroidery, painting–tea is milder than tobacco, but your systems are more sensitive. Then there are powders, perfumes, eau-de-cologne, lavender, verbena, heliotrope, and what not, against all of which I have nothing to say, because their odors are nearly equal to that of a fine Havana cigar. I would be glad if this feminine love for color and fragrance was more common among men. But there are curious differences of taste. The peculiar fascination in smoking is not in the taste of the weed, but in the sight of the smoke. It is called the ear of corn which we hold out to induce into harmony the skittish thoughts which are running loose. I understand that knitting is the great feminine narcotic. You will agree with me, Kate, that this habit is not very important in comparison with those vices of character. Is not the use of the weed less objectionable than those systemic habits of envy, avarice, hypocrisy, or the vice of extravagance? Wastefulness has almost become a trait of society. American women, especially, are profuse and lavish in money and dress, in equipage, in furniture, in houses, in entertainments. Perhaps the largeness, the immensity of our land's resources and materials, as well as the wonderful national advance we have already made, tends to cultivate in our people a feeling of profusion and the habit of extravagant display. When fortunes do not arrive by magic, but must be built up painfully, slowly, at the expense of the nerve and sinew, the brain and the heart of the builder, and when a close attention to money-making is rapidly becoming a national badge and is in danger of eating out entirely what is of infinitely more value than wealth, a high national integrity and conscience, and sinking the immaterial and the intellectual in the material and the sensual. It is, then, by you, the women of America, that the men shall have saved to them their rights. Great financial crisises in which colossal schemes burst like bubbles; commercial bankruptcies, in which honorable names are bandied on the lips of common rumor and white reputations are blackened by public suspicion; minds that started in life with pure and honest principles, determined to win fortune by the straight path of rectitude, gradually growing distorted and ending by enthroning gold in the place made vacant by departed virtues; hearts that were once responsive to the fair and beautiful in life and in the universe, that were wont to thrill through and through at a noble deed or fine thought, now pulseless and hard as the nether millstone; souls that once believed in God, Heaven, and good, now worshiping commercial success and its exponent, money, and living and dying with their eager eyes fixed dustward. And yet, if this is to be checked, it must be begun in the home and by its guardian woman.\\n\\\"Another thing, Kate, which you women do, and which I think defraud us of our rights, is your wild chase after, and copying of, European fashions, habits and styles of living. We are accused of being a nation of copyists, and it is more than half true. And why it should be I can not understand. I am thankful, as I look at this wonderful \\\"Dream City,\\\" that we are beginning to have an art and a literature our very own. Let us have the fashion, as well, which shall be distinctively American. Not what is sensible or becoming, but what is the fashion, does the American woman buy. Not what she can afford to purchase, but what her neighbors have, is generally the criterion. The aping of aristocratic pretentions has been a much ridiculed weakness of Americans. It is certain that American society needs republicanizing in all its grades. [Page 554] This is another right which men look to women to preserve–the effort to renew society in the natural simplicity of our republican institutions. America has need of you, Kate. Man has need of you. We suffer for the need, as well as for the power, of loving and being loved. This is even greater in man than in woman, hence the chief reason why she almost always controls him. Man craves for the ideal, suffers for the want of it, but he dies not knowing how to get it. I say, Kate, that not even yet has womankind, in spite of her irrepressible longing to utter the clear, free, elevated speech, that shall yet stir the pulses of the world. I can not better tell you what I believe is needed than to close with the words of that true American woman:\\n\\\"'If thou wouldst have happiness, choose neither fame, which doth not long abide, nor power, which stings the hand that wields it; nor gold, which glitters, but never glorifies; but choose thou love, and hold it forever in thy heart of hearts; for love is the purest and the mightiest force in the universe, and once it is thine, all other gifts shall be added unto thee. Love that is passionate, yet reverent, gentle, yet strong, selfish in desiring all, yet generous in giving all, love of man for woman, of woman for man, of parent for child, of friend for friend–when this is born in the soul the desert blossoms of the rose; straightway new wishes, hopes, sweet longings and pure ambitions spring into being like green shoots that lift their tender heads in sunny places, and if the soil be kind they grow stronger and more beautiful as each glad day laughs in the rosy sky.'\\\"\\n[Page 544] \\nMrs. Emma Pratt Mott is a native of Michigan. Her parents were Dr. and Mrs. Frank H. Pratt. She was educated in Boston and Elmira, New York. She married the Rev. Henry Elliott Mott, a Presbyterian minister of high standing and ability. Her principal literary works are magazine articles and journalistic work. Her profession is that of a Shakespearean Teacher. In religious faith she is Presbyterian. She is a graceful writer and speaker, a beautiful and accomplished woman, of great popularity as a social and literary leader in every community in which she sojourns. As a devoted and beloved wife, she is a model for the world, and a pillar of strength to her husband in his most noble work. Her present postoffice address is Buffalo, New York.\\n[Page 544] \\n* The full title of the address as delivered was, \\\"Katharina\\\" in \\\"The 'Taming of the Shrew' or The Rights of Men.\\\"\",\n \"Downton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our ...\\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses. Television drama, ... Belvoir Castle, as a business.\\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses - The F-Word\\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses\\nTelevision drama, Downton Abbey and recent documentary, The Last Dukes both offer insights into the patriarchal traditions of the often unaccountable ruling class. Beccy Roberts challenges these traditions and discusses the importance of women in sustaining the UK’s country houses\\nBeccy Roberts , 6 November 2015\\nDownton Abbey recently saw the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) powerless to stop his outspoken eldest daughter Lady Mary, now joint agent of the family estate, and his wife Cora, an American heiress whose dowry saved Downton from ruin years earlier, opening up his home to the public to raise funds.\\nCompare this to the documentary The Last Dukes, which was shown the following evening on BBC2, and it seems women don’t only run the show at the fictional Downton; the real Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire was saved by its own Lady Cora, when the 9th Duke of Marlborough married the American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1895, whereas Blair Castle in Scotland was saved by Lady Cowdray gifting a substantial amount of her money to her granddaughter Angela, whose son Iain became the 10th Duke of Atholl in 1957.\\nIain left no heirs, resulting in the Dukedom being split between his half-sister Sarah Troughton, who got the castle and the land, and a distant cousin, Bruce Murray, who got the title. Sarah now runs the estate year round with great success. Meanwhile, Bruce, who lives in South Africa, visits once a year to take part in the chivalric ritual of overseeing his own private army. Both Sarah and Bruce are happy with the arrangement, with Bruce unable to imagine running such a complex establishment and Sarah unable to imagine being a Duchess: “I prefer to get on with the business side of things.”\\nCould it be that women are better than men at the ‘business side of things’? Are the Dukes only able to don their coronets because their wives have got their thinking caps on? Within the class hierarchy of the UK, a Duke is the highest position a subject can achieve, with only royalty above him. The privilege of a Dukedom can only be bestowed by the monarch, with the last non-royal Duke created way back in the reign of Queen Victoria.\\nI would argue patriarchy itself needs to be destroyed so that some of our customs can live on in a way that fits with today’s culture\\nThe reluctance of recent monarchs to create Dukes, along with the fact that Dukedoms can only be passed down the male line, is putting this symbol of the chivalric code in danger of becoming extinct. It is the patriarchal nature of this custom that is destroying it and I would argue patriarchy itself needs to be destroyed so that some of our customs can live on in a way that fits with today’s culture.\\nThe Last Dukes shows how the Dukedom of Leeds has not survived to see the 21st Century, as Lady Camilla Osbourne was the only child of the 11th Duke of Leeds, and consequently there were no male heirs to carry on the title. Camilla tells director, Michael Waldman, rather matter-of-factly, “ If I’d been born a boy I would have been my father’s heir and 12th Duke of Leeds,” taking off the coronet she adds, “But I wasn’t.”\\nJust as Dukedoms have dwindled in number over the years, stately homes have suffered a similar fate. During the 1950s and 1960s, in particular, many country houses were destroyed. Giles Worsley looked at the factors affecting the demise of the country house , noting that although death duties and the two world wars were intrinsic in making the cost of sustaining such houses almost impossible, the loss of power and political influence associated with the stately house also contributed to their downfall. These emblems of aristocratic pride have become wonders of a past time, no longer as influential in society as they were, just as Dukedoms have become less instrumental in the political sphere, the aristocracy proving rather more humorous than effective in the modern world .\\nSimilar to how Bruce, the current Duke of Atholl, enjoys his title without the onerous trappings of managing the ancestral seat, Worsley notes how the 11th Duke of Leeds preferred life on the French Riviera, free from responsibility and therefore in 1930 sold Hornby Castle in Yorkshire, which was later demolished. However, Sarah Troughton appears to relish the responsibility that comes with overseeing the Atholl estate and Lady Camilla Osbourne recognises that the family home, the demolished Hornby Castle, even with all its responsibility, would have given her father a much happier life, providing him with a purpose. Could it be that women are more attached to the home that comes with the Dukedom and the men to the title itself? After all, a woman’s place is apparently in the home. Surely, then, we should at least give women the right to make sure that home can survive?\\nWomen have not only provided money to save country estates and the male-centred tradition they support, but have also generated money to pay for the upkeep of these country piles. The Last Dukes is definitely not oblivious to the importance of women in sustaining the custom of Dukedom, with one section titled ‘The Determined Duchess’. In this segment, we hear from The Duchess of Rutland, who runs the ancestral seat, Belvoir Castle, as a business. Given a tin of keys for the Castle by her mother-in-law, along with an ominous good luck wish, the Duchess set about commercialising the castle to provide a sufficient income to maintain it. Now estranged from her husband, the Duchess lives in one tower of the castle while the Duke inhabits the other.\\nWe do see a different side to the Duchess when she talks of how she felt pressurised by the patriarchal dukedom system to produce a male heir\\nThere’s no Rapunzel at Belvoir though; the Duchess, with her perfectly coiffed hair and wedged espadrilles needs no man to rescue her. As Chief Executive, she has a savvy business brain and markets her home primarily to the Asian Wedding scene – a rich pool in the Midlands where Belvoir sits. We hear how she negotiated with the government over inheritance tax so she could reduce the number of days Belvoir opens to the public and focus on weddings and elaborate shooting parties.\\nWe see the Duchess visiting two of her employees on the estate and hear how, in order to make the estate more financially sustainable, she restructured the workforce, making many employees redundant. Although the farmer praises the Duchess’ actions, seeing them as necessary for the improvement in the efficiency of the estate, the nervous laughter by both parties proves slightly uncomfortable to watch.\\nUnlike Lady Mary in Downton Abbey – who found herself warming to Barrow, the under-butler facing the chop, as he piggy-backed her son George along the gallery – the Duchess of Rutland seems less sympathetic. Indeed, I found myself wondering how many of her servants ended their last day as Barrow ended his at Downton – crying into the fire. We do see a different side to the Duchess when she talks of how she felt pressurised by the patriarchal dukedom system to produce a male heir, but this clearly turned out to be a temporary concern for her because, after three daughters, she had two boys (well one always needs an heir and a spare).\\nNot all the Dukes in the programme live in such grand establishments as Belvoir, however. The Duke of St. Albans’ ancestral seat, Bestwood Lodge, is now a Best Western hotel (the idea of charging the public to see inside a stately home perhaps taken to the extreme). The current Duke, now living in a terraced house in London, still displays characteristics of a country squire; he’s disgruntled by the fact his ancient title of Hereditary Grand Falconer no longer gets him his haunch of venison from Richmond Park every year, after the Labour government under Blair did away with the privilege to save money. There might not be a country home to sustain here but the Duchess of St. Albans, once again, stands out as the stronger character of the two. She barely lets the Duke get a word in edgeways and as she presents his ceremonial robes to the camera there is an impression that, although he gets to wear these vestments of power on state occasions, he never gets to ‘wear the trousers’ at home.\\nWe need to challenge the rituals restricting women’s influence in the management and ownership of ancestral seats\\nAlthough you’ve probably heard of the current Duke of Marlborough due to his list of criminal convictions – which are even longer than the list of titles his fellow Duke of Atholl has trouble remembering – I doubt you’ve heard much of his sister Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill. She is acutely aware of the instability of the country house and recognises that the ability to capitalise on the public’s fascination with such majestic buildings is necessary to sustain the life she and her sibling currently enjoy. This understanding of, and interest in, her ancestral seat comes as no surprise. After all, she descends from the first Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, who famously had a disagreement with the architect John Vanbrugh about the design of the building of Blenheim during the early years of the 18th Century. Churchill had no qualms standing up to her husband’s architect, revealing “I made Mr. Vanbrugh my enemy by the constant disputes I had with him to prevent his extravagance.” As Lady Henrietta confidently glides through the private apartments of Blenheim in the documentary, I almost expect her to break into song:\\nNow there was a time when they used to say, That behind every great man there had to be a great woman. But in these times of change, you know that it’s no longer true ….\\nBecause, it seems, sisters are doing it for themselves, and wives, come to think of it.\\nBlenheim Palace welcomes around 700,000 visitors a year and Downton Abbey reaches an audience of over seven million – nine million at its peak – perhaps indicating the fascination many people have with seeing how the rich live or used to live. I suggest we need to look at the country house in a way that challenges the patriarchal rituals restricting women’s influence in the management and ownership of ancestral seats. If women were able to inherit the title of Duchess, rather than only being able to achieve this status through marriage – as a consequence of connection to a man – there would be a greater opportunity for women to play a more decisive role in the fate of country houses. Would the Duchess of Rutland be managing Belvoir Castle if her husband didn’t still live in one of the towers? Is his presence at the Castle needed to condone his wife’s management of the building?\\nAlthough one gets the impression the ‘Determined Duchess’ would not let go of the castle easily if the situation with her husband changed, just as Lady Anne Clifford fought for her rightful inheritance in the 17th Century ; a fter years of struggle in a patriarchal society, Anne’s perseverance paid off and she became the owner of the family estates in Yorkshire. She then remodelled many of the castles, such as Skipton, Brough and Brougham, conserving them for future generations.\\nPerhaps we should acknowledge that women could be the key in sustaining these beautiful mementoes to the past and remember that, unlike the Duchess of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, we don’t have a whole load of keys to choose from.\\nThe last episode of Downton Abbey will be screened on Sunday (8 November) on ITV1, with catch-up available on ITV Player . The Last Dukes is on BBC iPlayer until 26 November.\\n[Image descriptions and credits:\\n1. Head and shoulders shot of Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey. Her right hand is under her chin and she has a fond expression that suggests she may be listening to a story from a dear friend or family member. From the ITV website and shared under fair dealing. Credit: ITV/Downton Abbey.\\n2. Lady Camilla Osborne, daughter of the late 10th Duke of Leeds, wearing the Duke’s coronet, in her bedroom in London. Image Credit: BBC/Spun Gold TV. Photographer: Grab. Image Copyright: Spun Gold TV.]\\nBeccy Roberts is a doctor of architectural history working in the heritage industry. She has recently started her own blog, Working with Anxiety , about mental health issues and begun proofreading and copy-editing for Wordscene . She has also started contributing to Neeach , a social network dedicated to food. All this has given her a taste for writing that she hopes to keep feeding\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124627,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"The green coloured melon liqueur, Midori, was originally produced in which country?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"JAPAN"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Midori_(liqueur).txt\nMidori (liqueur)\nMidori is a sweet, bright-green-coloured, muskmelon-flavored liqueur made by Suntory. It is manufactured in Japan, USA, Mexico, and France, although it was made exclusively in Japan until 1987. Midori is usually 20–21% alcohol by volume. Its name is the Japanese word for \"green\". French-made Midori is sweeter than the original Japanese version.\n\nAs it is extremely sweet, Midori is not usually taken \"straight\"; it is generally used in a mixed drink (i.e., a cocktail), such as a Japanese slipper. It is usually used in a range of long drinks – with lemonade, fresh lemon juice, lime juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice. Sour flavours are often combined with it to balance its sweetness.\n\nHistory\n\nMidori was launched in 1978, with a party held at New York City's legendary Studio 54.[http://www.midori-world.com/product/history.html \"Midori History\"] Midoriworld.com (accessed September 8, 2013)\n\nIn 2013 following consumer research, Suntory reduced the sugar content and began producing Midori with a redesigned label and frosted glass bottle.[http://barmagazine.co.uk/new-look-and-less-sugar-for-midori.html \"New look and less sugar for Midori\"] \"Bar Magazine April 4, 2013\""],"string":"[\n \"Midori_(liqueur).txt\\nMidori (liqueur)\\nMidori is a sweet, bright-green-coloured, muskmelon-flavored liqueur made by Suntory. It is manufactured in Japan, USA, Mexico, and France, although it was made exclusively in Japan until 1987. Midori is usually 20–21% alcohol by volume. Its name is the Japanese word for \\\"green\\\". French-made Midori is sweeter than the original Japanese version.\\n\\nAs it is extremely sweet, Midori is not usually taken \\\"straight\\\"; it is generally used in a mixed drink (i.e., a cocktail), such as a Japanese slipper. It is usually used in a range of long drinks – with lemonade, fresh lemon juice, lime juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice. Sour flavours are often combined with it to balance its sweetness.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nMidori was launched in 1978, with a party held at New York City's legendary Studio 54.[http://www.midori-world.com/product/history.html \\\"Midori History\\\"] Midoriworld.com (accessed September 8, 2013)\\n\\nIn 2013 following consumer research, Suntory reduced the sugar content and began producing Midori with a redesigned label and frosted glass bottle.[http://barmagazine.co.uk/new-look-and-less-sugar-for-midori.html \\\"New look and less sugar for Midori\\\"] \\\"Bar Magazine April 4, 2013\\\"\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2294"],"string":"[\n \"2294\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Top 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur - iCohol.com\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands ... 2. Chartreuse Yellow VEP liqueur ... Most everyone enjoys something flashy and the bright green color of this liqueur is as aesthetically ...\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur - iCohol.com\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur\nWhat’s Liqueur?\nLiqueur is an alcoholic beverage that’s usually flavored with assorted flavors. Liqueur is bottled with added sugar. This added sugar is what defines it.\nYou can’t simply go by a spirit being flavored to be classified as a liqueur because many spirts are flavored such as rum, vodka, etc. Like stated above, what really sets a liqueur apart from a spirit is that it contains the added sugar, which spirits do not.\nLiqueurs usually range from 14% to 35%. Desset Wines are not liqueurs, while cordials have become synoumous with liquers.\n1. Arran Gold Cream Liqueur\nWinner of the World’s Best Whisky Liqueur back in 2007 so is deserved of being on this list. The color is a light brown that immediately makes a drinker think of chocolate which would be correct because one’s nose immediately carries that idea through the senses. Smelling of a chocolate milkshake, Arran Gold is great to mix with Whiskey because it is able to envelope the bold taste of the liquor and produce something both tasty and warming. If you try it on the rocks, you’ll realize just how creamy and smooth this treat is, but you’ll also be surprised to taste a hint of malt on the backend. Arran Gold finds a way to make a great Whiskey even smoother with its light body and full taste. Try it in: A glass with or without ice. Simple enough.\n2. Chartreuse Yellow VEP liqueur\nChartreuse is undoubtedly the healthiest liqueur on the list. But don’t think it loses any of its tastiness. Chartreuse is made by French monks who have been working on the brand for over 500 years. Chartreuse is more bold than the others on the list, stepping it up at 42% alcohol by volume. Off the nose, you’ll gather mainly licorice and fennel, but don’t be surprised if you begin picking out one or two of the 130 herbs used for this drink. The only liqueur to use oak castes to age the product, Chartreuse will give your tongue a bit more floral taste, pushing some of its other herbs like sage, saffron and thyme. Chartreuse is a popular liqueur, but understand that this is something you should use sporadically or when you’re dying to impress. At $123 a liter, the VEP is a hefty drink with awesome taste. Cocktails include: April Shower, Yellow Bird and the Torii Toddy\n3. Frangelico\nFirst, can I just say this bottle reminds me of Aunt Jemima Syrup. Anyone else see it? It makes sense since the bottle is supposed to look like a monk in his habit. This Italian liqueur is popular already and I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Frangelico owns a light caramel coloring and is a hazelnut and herb flavored drink. When you open the bottle, wafts of hazelnut, vanilla and cinnamon enter your nose, giving you a dynamic and strong idea of what is to come. The body is more light weight then most liqueurs and also differs in the fact that while its smooth, it doesn’t leave that feeling of cream or syrup on your tongue after a swig. Its flavors sit on the tongue quickly, producing chocolate, hazelnut and spice to your taste buds. Again, the smell is so delicious that you’ll want to keep inhaling this drinks aromas, even while you’re pouring some down your throat. An easy finish, and its easy to see why Frangelico is such a popular liqueur. Here are the cocktails to try: Chocolate Cake Shooter, Friar Tuck #2 and Procrastinator Shot\n4. Tia maria\nTia Maria is a liqueur made from Jamaica that encompasses two of my favorite things: Jamaican Rum and Blue Mountain Coffee. Ok, the Blue Mountain might be a stretch, but it actually is the finest coffee produced in Jamaica. Mix that with a rich Jamaican Rum and you have a thumbs up. The alcohol percentage is at 20% which makes this a great liqueur for adding to coco, coffee or sipping over the rocks. Tia Maria is a smoother blend with a hint of spice that can add a hint of something different to any drink you make it with and since it’s not made with cream, its perfect for those out there watching their caloric intake. Want to try it but not sure how? Here are a few options you can throw together at your next party to introduce everyone to an internationally known liqueur: Dark Indulgence Cocktail, Mike Tyson Cocktail and Ciel Recipe\n5. Midori\nComing from the Japanese word for “green”, Midori is a must-have in any home bar. Its easy to see why this liqueur is popular to begin with. Most everyone enjoys something flashy and the bright green color of this liqueur is as aesthetically pleasing as it is aromatically and tasting wise. Again, a liqueur with a 20% alcohol by volume, its a drink that can easily mixed and added to practically any real liquor. When you open a bottle of Midori, you’ll be hit with the obvious scent of melons; but the smell of bananas and strawberries also follows. Midori on the rocks doesn’t disappoint either, with a slightly more fruity taste than some of the other liqueurs you’ll find on this list. Don’t worry though, Midori isn’t too sweet, but it certainly will ensure that you taste it throughout the entirety of your drink. Cocktails that everyone should try with Midori: Midori Berry Bliss, Carpet Licker and Frozen Midori Sour\n6. Amarula\nYou might not know what Amarula is, but you should. Its best description could be simply this: a thinner and milkshake. I don’t know about you, but I will drink anything that reminds me of ice cream deliciousness. But I’m getting a touch ahead of myself. Lets start with how it smells. This African treat brings one word caramel into play. It smells, looks and tastes like a butterscotch dream, creating a slight layering on the glass and gently coating the tongue with each sip. While it can become a bit sweet, Amarula is a perfect after dinner sipper and can be added to drinks much the same way Baileys Irish Cream can. Amarula is quickly become a favorite for its taste, but you might also enjoy it for its aphrodisiac powers. The drinks to make with it: French Toast, Amarula Dusky Decadence (complicated but worth it) and Elephant Shake\n7. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur\nThis is a liqueur you need to try. It is hard to keep since it produced in small quantities and stores can go weeks without carrying it, but once you get your hands on a bottle of St. Germain, you’ll want to keep tabs on its delivery dates. A liqueur with a medium body, it is like our other liqueurs on the list with a 20% abv, making it great for drinking on the rocks for a great deal of time. Unlike the other liqueurs on this list, its coloring is lighter (and more normal than the green of Midori) with a golden hue. Its smell also differs because it doesn’t hold that punch of spicy or deep flavorfulness, but rather, introduces a citrusy and light aroma to the drinker. You’ll smell flowers and pears and you’ll receive slightly sweet mix with a slight tart. Ultimately an amazing mix. St. Germain Elderflower won’t overpower any cocktail you add it to, but it will bring about a freshness that would be perfect for this summer. Cocktails to try are: The St. Germain Cocktail, Sangria Flora and Cuzco Fizz\n8. Aperol liqueur\nThis Italian liqueur is a good transition here, with an alcohol content of 11%. Aperol is a younger liqueur, only being around since 1919, but its found a way to differentiate itself rather quickly. Aperol looks simple, with a simple bottle and a simple label, but it certainly hold more complex contents. A mix of orange, rhubarb, gentian and other herbs, Aperol finds a way to mix all the above together for something that is surprisingly subtle and delightful. A refreshing liqueur, it is owned in almost every Italian home and is quickly making its way into most of America’s homes as well. Cocktails to try: Aperol Royal, Aperol Betty and Aperol Sour\n9. Domaine de canton ginger liqueur\nThe name holds the main key to this awesomely tasty liqueur. Made in France, Domaine de Canton begins with baby Vietnamese ginger which is then macerated with various herbs. Hand made, it can be difficult to get your hands on a bottle of times due to its small quantities, but along with its awesome bottle…it proves to be a uniqueness you want on hand. Domaine de Canton Ginger also mixes with VSOP Cognac, Grand Champagne, vanilla and orange blossom honey to give it both an inviting and aromatic smell. Pop open the bottle and you’ll be intrigued by its vanilla and citrus smell. The body is medium with 28% abv and yields a golden coloring. On the tongue, you’ll certainly taste the ginger, but its evenly balanced with the subtleness of the cognac and champagne. Cocktails you should try include: El Diablo Martini, Ginger Cosmopolitan and The Gold Rush\n10. Bols Advocaat\nTo understand how this liqueur is different, you need to understand what makes an advocaat different first. Made from eggs, sugar and brandy, Bols Advocaat is a decently simple receipe for a liqueur which proves to be versatile. Because of its simplicity, Bols has created a various array of liqueurs from Bols Watermelon to Bols Strawberry to garshdarn Bols Coconut. Each liqueur has its definitive characteristics. For example, the Bols Banana proves true to its name by pushing the banana taste into your mouth, but also follows up with vanilla and hints of almonds. The color is true to the name as well with its bright yellow liquid sitting in the clear glass bottle. While it would be great to try every one of these, it would be also incredibly difficult. So while you might want to start with some of the more moderate flavors, you have to admit the Bols Parfait Amour looks pretty inviting. Drinks to try for the Bols Banana: Bols Banana & Orange, Banana Banshee and a Banana Colada.\nDiscuss! #Bestliqueur","Citrus Pages / Sour oranges\nA friend from a horticultural project in Afghanistan informed me that sour oranges are popular ... (as a pomelo × mandarin hybrid, see Citrus ... 25-30 seeds, fruit ...\nCitrus Pages / Sour oranges\n'Bouquet de fleurs' sour oranges\n� Jorma Koskinen\n \nHistory\nThe sour orange is thought to have originated in the north-eastern parts of India and the neighbouring south-western parts of China and northern Burma. Its cultivation spread slowly westward and reached the Near East at the beginning of the Christian era. The history of the introduction of the sour orange to Europe is very interesting because it consists of two separate stories and strains, a fact which is usually misunderstood.\nArabs had conquered the southern part of Spain by 711 and called it Al-Andalus. They reigned various parts of it until 1492. Arab architects designed beautiful mosques, the most famous of which is the Mesquita in Cordoba. The building was completed in 987 when the famous Patio de los naranjos, the courtyard of oranges also took its final form. The Caliphs of Cordoba were very fond of sour orange trees and ordered them to be planted in the most prominent public spaces in the most important towns of Al-Andalus.\nThis strain of sour orange brought to Spain by Arabs through Northern Africa at the end of the first millenium became the type we today know as the Seville orange, which later became the standard form of sour orange (see Sevillano below). The largest plantations of it still exist around the town of Seville. Arab conquerors also brought the sour orange to the eastern Mediterranean area and the island of Sicily where it is known to have grown in 1002 A.D. \nThe story of the sour orange being brought back by crusaders returning from the Holy Land in the 12th and 13th centuries is also true but of another variety completely. The crusaders brought the Bittersweet orange to the northern Mediterranean countries from where it travelled to Versailles and farther to America (see Bittersweet below). All through the Middle Ages in central and southern Europe citron and sour orange were the only known citrus fruit. Sour orange was considered an important medicinal plant. The fruit was used as a condiment to hide the unpleasant flavour of salted meat and fish (the only known form of preserving). It was also used as a spice and to make marmalade. The flowers were used as a scent. The sweet orange came to Europe during the 15th century and because it could be eaten fresh, it slowly displaced the sour orange. \nUses\nSour oranges are usually not eaten fresh. Their importance lies in the oil that can be extracted from the flowers, leaves, seeds and rind. This oil gives its typical orange-like flavour to spices, sweets, liqueurs etc. Some varieties of sour orange impart their aroma to expensive perfumes, soaps and after-shaves. The oils from sour oranges are used in aromatherapy and many health products. The dried flowers and buds as well as some oils are used in blendings of fine tea. The whole fruit is used to make the orange marmalade the British prefer.\nCertain sour oranges are caramelized whole and eaten as a dessert. The main constituent in the aroma of many soft drinks is sour orange. More detailed information on uses can be found in the description of each variety. In addition to the many food uses what really makes the sour orange important for the whole citrus industry is its suitability for being used as rootstock . Being resistant to many plant diseases and compatible with the majority of commercial citrus types makes it invaluable. \nA friend from a horticultural project in Afghanistan informed me that sour oranges are popular there at meal times. Many people prefer them to lemons and limes and sour orange juice is squeezed on food the same way lemon is used in the Mediterranean. The zest is used to flavour rice. The vesicle segments without seeds and membranes are also eaten fresh. The variety of this sour orange is not known to him but he sent pictures of the tree and fruit and of a meal where it is used. From the pictures it can clearly be seen that it is a sour orange, maybe a bittersweet orange . Pictures on the left by � Muhammad Aziz\nTaste\nThe taste of sour orange varieties and hybrids differ more from each other than is usual in other citrus types. The taste of a standard sour orange is unpalatable to most people and only good for making marmalade. Various sour orange hybrids are too acrid even for marmalade. However, several sour oranges have quite a bit of sugar and some are subacid, which makes them suitable for various food uses. See the descriptions of the individual varieties below. Quite often the taste of orange in food products comes from the sour orange. When sweet oranges are cooked they lose their flavour, especially the juice. Marmalade made of sweet oranges only does not have a strong taste of orange, surprisingly enough. The same is true of sweets, chocolates and liqueurs. But when a few drops of the essence of sour orange is added a strong taste of orange emerges. The alcohol products marketed as orange liqueurs are all made of sour orange. Several varieties are planted for ornamental purposes because of their thick and beautiful foliage as well as their plentiful fruit, which remain on the trees for most of the year. Visiting Spain and other Mediterranean countries one may have thought it peculiar that so many beautiful orange trees full of fruit line the promenades and boulevards. Picking a fruit to taste it one may have been disappointed to find it inedible. Most likely it was one of the several varieties of sour orange.\nVarieties\nMore than 80 cultivated varieties of sour orange are known. About twenty are of commercial importance. Sour oranges are divided into four main groups. The varieties described below are mentioned after each group: \n1. Common sour oranges: Standard sour orange and Sevillano\n2. Bittersweet oranges: \nCitrus aurantium var. amara Engl.\n \n \nSour orange, Common sour orange or Standard sour orange, also known as bitter orange and in food contexts as Seville orange\n, very much resembles the sweet orange. The rind is usually much thicker, rough on the surface and hard to peel. The sour orange is seldom very juicy and often has many seeds. When fully ripe the core at the centre of the segments becomes hollow.\nAn important part of the world production is sold to England, Scotland and South Africa where it is made into marmalade. The orange marmalade preferred by the British is made out of sour oranges only and a marmalade made from sweet oranges is not acceptable. Some sour oranges are often added to regular sweet orange marmalade to improve its flavour. The dried peel of sour orange is used as a spice in baking and confectioneries.\nThe flower of the sour orange \nis the source of Neroli oil (produced by steam distillation) and Neroli absolute (produced by solvent extraction). The flowers yield nectar for honey bees. Neroli petitgrain oil is made from leaves and twigs by steam distillation. Neroli bigarade oil is made from the peel of nearly ripe fruit by cold expression. These oils are widely used in perfumery and cosmetics, and as a flavouring agent in foods, alcoholic and soft drinks. They are also used in aromatherapy. For more information see citrus oils , bittersweet orange and perfumery varieties . Genuine orange flower-water is a by-product of the steam distillation of oils.\nThe thick peel of certain types of sour orange, especially 'Jacmel' in Jamaica, is cut into segments, which are dried in the sun. They are then soaked in pure alcohol in a process called maceration. Later this mixture is distilled and the clear liquid obtained is used for flavouring citrus liqueurs such as Grand Marnier and Cointreau. The dried peel of a sour orange variety from the island of Cura�ao is used in the making of citrus liqueurs Cura�ao and Triple sec. The peel and seeds also\nhave medicinal uses and are used in making soap. \nAll parts of the sour orange can be used. It adapts easily to varying conditions and survives with little or no care. It can stand several degrees of frost for short periods. In proper conditions the tree can attain exceptional longevity. Some trees in Spain are said to be over 600 years old.\nSome cultivated varieties with their country of origin:\nAlgeria: Algerian, Trabout\nCitrus � aurantium 'Sevillano'\n Syn\nCitrus � aurantium 'Real'\nCitrus � aurantium 'Agrio de Espa�a'\n \n \n'Sevillano' is the sour orange variety grown in southern Spain in and around the city of Seville.\nUnlike the 'Bittersweet' (see below) this variety was brought directly to Spain by Arab conquerors in the 10th century from northern Africa via Morocco. This was the original Seville orange and later became known as the standard sour orange. The variety is also known by its Spanish name Real (royal), Agrio de Espa�a (Spanish sour). The tree is attractive, large, vigorous, productive and cold tolerant. It has very few or no thorns. The fruit is seedy, bitter, and acidic, medium size, round, with a slightly depressed apex and a pebbled dark orange rind.\nThis is the principal marmalade variety. It is exported chiefly to England and Scotland for orange marmalade production. The typical bitterness combined with its sour orange characteristics make it an ideal variety for this. The Spanish production area in 2006 was 1120 hectares (2770 acres) and the production around 17 000 metric tons.\n \nSeville orange, Common sour orange, Common bitter orange\n FRA\nBigarade sans �pine, Bigarade d'Espagne\nPhotos\n \n \nThe Bittersweet orange came from the Near East to Europe with the returning crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. The tree is known to have been commercially grown in the Nice area from the year 1322 (as opposed to the ' Sevillano ' above). This is the sour orange that first reached Paris and Versailles and became the favourite of kings and aristocrats or anyone who could afford to build the special greenhouses\ncalled orangerie that were needed for growing them.\nThis was also the first orange to reach the New World with the second voyage of Columbus (1493). It quickly established itself in suitable surroundings like Florida and Paraguay, where the largest cultivated areas still are and where it soon started to grow wild. The tree is large and thorny, the fruit medium size, globose and with a smoother rind texture than the common sour orange. The rind is medium thick and seeds are numerous. The taste is sweet but bitter at the same time. The distinguishing feature is the relative lack of acidity, which makes these varieties almost palatable to some. The two main varieties Bittersweet and Paraguay (Apepu) have acquired slightly different characteristics: Bittersweet has more sugar whereas Paraguay is subacid and therefore sometimes actually tastes sweeter.\nIn its cultivation area the bittersweet orange is used for making marmalade. In the Caribbean islands dried peel is used to aromatize citrus liqueurs. The juice is also used for marinades. The mojo of Cuba is a marinade of half sour orange juice and half oil, spiced with garlic and onions. The leaves and twigs of the bittersweet orange are used to make petitgrain (Paraguay) oil by steam distillation. The peel of the immature fruit is used to obtain bigarade oil by cold expression. These oils are not as highly esteemed as Neroli petitgrain or Neroli bigarade from the common sour orange , but they are largely used in perfumery and in aromatherapy. The most important producer of these is still Paraguay. For more information see citrus oils .\nCultivated varieties: Orlando, Dummet, Bittersweet of Florida and Paraguay (Apepu).\n \nCitrus � aurantium ’Bouquetier group’\n'Bouquet de fleurs'\n'Bouquetier de Nice � fleurs doubles'\n \nCitrus � aurantium ’Bouquet’\nCitrus � aurantium ‘Bouquetier � Grandes Fleurs’\nCitrus � aurantium\n ‘Bouquetier de Nice � Fleurs Doubles’ \nIn Algeria: 'Bouquetier � fruits mous'\n \nThere is some confusion about these perfumery varieties. On the French Riviera and around the town of Grasse as well as in Algeria and Tunisia several sour orange varieties are grown solely for their flowers, which yield a superior quality of Neroli oil that is used in perfumery and aromatherapy.\nThe trees are small, some even dwarfish, and the small fruit are often discarded, although they can be used for making petitgrain and bigarade oils. The flowers of these varieties differ. The flowers of the most highly prized varieties are doubled. The bottom picture shows one of the most valued varieties called the Double-flowered Bouquetier of Nice. The oil obtained from these varieties is more expensive than gold.\nBouquet (Bouquet des fleurs) has small, oval leaves and dense clustered foliage. The fruits are small, moderately pebbled and well-coloured.\nBouquetier � grandes fleurs is the most important perfumery variety. It has very large, simple flowers and large round fruits with very thick rinds. The tree is small and spineless. The fruit makes excellent confections.\nBouquetier de Nice � fleurs doubles has doubled flowers, which develop into double fruits that have a secondary fruit inside the primary. The leaves are very large and broad.\nThe word bouquetier means either a small narrow vase for holding nosegays or a flower-seller, the feminine form bouqueti�re means a flower-girl. Bouquet is a bunch of flowers, among other things. There are several named cultivars, see above. For more information on the oils, see citrus oils .\n ENG\nCitrus � aurantium 'Variegated'\nSyn\nCitrus � aurantium 'Panach�'\nCitrus � aurantium\n \n \nVariegated sour orange has several forms or clones that differ in the degree of variegation. In some trees the variegation only occurs in the leaves; in all leaves in some clones and only in part of the leaves in others.\nIn certain strains only the fruit is variegated but the leaves are not or only partly. Variegated fruit fall into two types: those that are variegated only when immature and those that retain the variegation of the peel colouring also in maturity. A famous example of this kind is 'Virgatum', the Swiss orange, so called because the stripes of the ripe orange resemble the striped trousers of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican. It is rare to find a tree where the fruit and all the leaves are variegated.\nVariegated forms of sour oranges were reported already in the gardens of 16th century Italian palaces.\nVolkamer \nin 1714 and Gallesio in 1839\ndrew and described a sour orange tree with variegated leaves and fruit.\nVariegated varieties grow true from seed.\nENG\nCitrus � aurantium 'Corniculata ' Horned sour orange\n Syn \nCitrus � aurantium 'Cornuto', 'Cornicul�', 'De Grasse', 'Horned'\n \nThe Horned sour orange 'Corniculata' is an old ornamental form of sour orange that was already known to Volkamer as Aranzo Cornuto in his Hesperides from 1708. This variety can sometimes grow digit-like curved extremities that look like small horns. The formation is similar to the way the Fingered citron (Buddha's hand) grows its \"fingers\". In their famous book\nHistoire Naturelle des Orangers published in 1818 Risso and Poiteau described and illustrated this variety as Bigaradier � fruit cornicul�, the \"sour orange with horned fruit\" and in Italian it was called Melangolo a frutto cornuto. This variety was thought to have been lost until a clone of it was found near the town of Grasse in southern France. This variety is now called 'De Grasse'.\nThe tree has a low bushy form of growing and is usually wider than it is tall.\n ENG\nCitrus � aurantium 'Abers Narrow Leaf'\nSyn\n \nAbers Narrow Leaf is an extremely narrow-leaved form of sour orange The tree is small and drooping in habit and the fruit is typical of bitter orange except that the calyx is fleshy. The presumption is that Abers Narrow Leaf originated in Florida, where it received its name, though it may have been an introduction. \nIn appearance it somewhat resembles the Granito and the Willowleaf variety, but is not identical with either one.\nAbers is much used for the extraction of essential oil from its leaves.\nENG\nAbers Narrow Leaf sour orange\nFRA\nCitrus � aurantium 'Willowleaf'\nSyn\nCitrus � aurantium var. salicifolia\n \nIn their famous treatise of 1818 Risso and Poiteau published a picture and a description of a\nBigaradier � feuilles de saule, a\nsour orange with willow-like narrow leaves. This variety is reported to have originated in 18th century Italy.\nWillowleaf is an ornamental sour orange. The tree is moderately dwarfed, of highly symmetrical round-topped form, with dense compact foliage consisting of small, narrow, sharp-pointed, yellowish-green leaves. Fruit is small, round to pyriform, yellowish orange and about one third to half of normal sour orange size. Rind thick and rough. Pulp yellow, sour; few seeds. The juice is very acid and somewhat bitter.\nOnly one clone of Willowleaf has been noted in California and its origin and history are unknown, although it is believed to have been introduced under the botanical variety name salicifolia. It is markedly different from Abers which has sometimes been called Willowleaf.\nWillowleaf forms grow true from seed.\nENG\nCitrus aurantium var. myrtifolia Ker-Gawl.\n \nMyrtle-leaved orange gets its name from the myrtle (Myrtus communis) because its leaves resemble those of the myrtle. The leaves grow densely and the fruit hang on the tree for most of the year, which makes it an attractive ornamental plant. The myrtle-leaved orange\nis grown on the Mediterranean coast of France and in Italy as well as in the citrus zones of the US. The French call it chinois (Chinese). The tree was introduced from China. The Americans call it by its Italian name chinotto.\nThere is an Italian home page for \"chinottofiles\", friends of the chinotto. The Chinotto homepage tells you everything you want to know about this tree, and more. Surprisingly it lists dozens of different kinds of soft drinks and beverages made of chinotto. Presumably most of these are only available in Italy, the promised land of chinotto enthusiasts. The fruit are too sour to be eaten fresh but they are candied whole and eaten as a luxury dessert.\nFour main varieties of chinotto are grown:\nItaly\nThe bergamot is of hybrid origin. It has been suggested that\nit is a hybrid between sour orange (C. aurantium L.) and lemon (C. limon\n(L.) Burm.f.), or a mutation of the latter. Others considered it a hybrid between\nsour orange and lime (C. aurantiifolia (Christm. & Panzer) Swingle). However, in the year 2000 a group of scientists at the University of California found in a study using various types of DNA markers 1 that the bergamot is a cross of Sour orange and limetta Citrus limetta.\nBergamot is only known from cultivation and consists of a limited and well\ndefined number of cultivars. Four groups of bergamot types are recognized: Common group, \nMelarosa group (fruit rather flattened), Torulosa group\n(fruit ridged) and Piccola group (dwarf cultivars).\nOnly cultivars in the Common bergamot group are commercially cultivated for the essential oil and three cultivars are grown:\n'Castagnaro', 'Femminello' and 'Fantastico' (a.k.a. 'Inserto'). Formerly, 'Femminello' and\n'Castagnaro' constituted virtually all commercial plantings in the world, but\nthey have largely been replaced by 'Fantastico', a hybrid of\n'Femminello' and 'Castagnaro'.\n'Femminello' is somewhat less vigorous\nand smaller than 'Castagnaro'. 'Castagnaro' is more upright and vigorous, attaining\na larger size than 'Femminello', but is less fruitful and the oil is less aromatic.Their hybrid 'Fantastico' ('Inserto') is a fairly vigorous tree, that yields well and\nhas only a slight tendency to alternate-bearing, its fruit is medium in size,\naveraging about 130 g with a rough rind texture and pleasant aroma.\nJuice: The juice of the fruit was formerly used to prepare calcium citrate and citric acid, while nowadays it is a\ncomponent of citrus soft drinks.\nPulp: The pulp is used as animal feed and for the extraction of pectins.\nEssential oils: Bergamot is mainly grown for the essential oil present in the peel of its fruit (bergamot oil). Bergamot oil\nis an important component of a toilet water, which was first developed around 1675 in Cologne\n(Germany) by the Italian immigrant Gian Paolo Feminis and sold by the name Aqua Mirabilis. His relatives further developed the industry and brought it to\nseveral other cities. Giovanni Maria Farina launched a new product called Eau de Cologne in 1709 .\nIn 1803 Wilhelm M�hlens bought the rights and introduced a new toilet water called Eau de Cologne 4711 , which was the first industrially produced perfume. The number was the address number assigned to his house. The number later became Glockengasse 26-28 where the \"4711\" house still stands. Bergamot oil soon became a constituent of high quality perfumes and of men's perfumes, such as aftershaves.\nCosmetics: The oil is further used in skin care products (bronzers), soaps, lotions and creams. \nOther uses: Bergamot oil is also a characteristic additive of Earl Grey tea and of tobacco flavourings. In the Castelli\narea south of Rome it is customary to put a bergamot fruit in a cask of Frascati wine to impart its characteristic aroma.\nBergamot oil is also used to flavour confectionery, sweets, marmalades and citrus liqueurs.\nA different oil is obtained\nfrom the leaves (bergamot petitgrain oil), but is only produced to order, mainly for the perfume/after shave industry.\nIn the Mediterranean area flowering is in March-April, fruits are harvestable in December-\nFebruary.\nThe commercial cultivation of Bergamot is limited to the coasts of the Calabria region of Southern Italy where the Ionian Sea and the nearby mountain range protect the coastal areas from cold weather and northerly winds in the winter.\nThe\narea has the highest average annual temperature and the highest number of sunshine hours in Italy and is further\ncharacterized by mild winters, a small difference between day and night temperatures and the absence of frost.\nCultivated varieties: 'Castagnaro', 'Femminello' and 'Fantastico ('Inserto')\nENG\nBergamot, Bergamot orange, Lemon bergamot\nFRA\nCitrus � aurantium 'Smooth Flat Seville '\n Syn \nCitrus � paradisi 'Smooth Seville'\n \nSmooth Flat Seville\nis an old Australian fruit that is thought to have originated as a seedling of unknown parentage and has generally been regarded as either a sour orange or a sweet orange and grapefruit hybrid. Its age and numerous resemblances to Poorman orange , however, suggest that it may be of similar origin and possibly a sister seedling.\nFruit is similar to Poorman in size, form, and flavour, but rind surface is very smooth. Both rind and flesh colour is reddish-orange. Tree and foliage similar to Poorman but tree commonly more vigorous and larger. Younger branches also exhibit dark bark streaks characteristic of Poorman.\nLike Poorman, Smooth Seville has a lower heat requirement for maturity than the grapefruit and hence ripens earlier and serves as a satisfactory substitute.\n ENG\nSmooth Flat Seville, Smooth Seville\nFRA\nL. subf. canaliculata ( Hort. ex Yu.Tanaka ) M.Hiroe\n \nAccording to The Citrus Industry, vol 1:\n\"The Kikudaidai variety is an attractive, somewhat dwarfed ornamental with fruits that have a solid core and are medium-small, subglobose to oblate, yellowish-orange, and characteristically deeply, longitudinally grooved. The origin of this ornamental is unknown.\"\nSome observations made at the UC-Riverside Citrus Variety Collection:\n\"The Kikudaidai was known in Japan as early as 1864 and is still grown in gardens as a curiosity. Its flower forms a very short inflorescence and leaves are rather broad with large petiole wings.\"\n\"A medium-large yellow fruit. Rind is rough similar to rough lemon. Rind of medium thickness, flesh yellow, hollow core, many seeds.\"\nKikudaidai is known as Ju dai dai in Chinese.\nThe variety is also known as 'Consolei' and 'Chrysanthemum'\nENG\n L. f. intermedia ( Hort. ex Tanaka ) M.Hiroe\n \nObservations made on the Yama or Yama-mikan cultivar grown at the UC-Riverside Citrus Variety Collection include:\n\"A large fruit, wide 9.5 cm, height 7.9 cm, similar to Natsudaidai in size, shape & color, oblate to slightly oblique shaped, stem end flat, slightly bumpy, rind 7.8 mm, very hollow center, 25-30 seeds, fruit is acid, low solids, leaves large, acuinate tips, petiole average, large wings on petiole (like grapefruit).\"\n\"Slightly necked, grapefruit-colored fruit; rind 1 cm thick; large oil glands, marked aroma of sweet orange; light orange flesh, tender, juicy, fairly sweet and pleasant; fairly seedy. Large tree. Seems like a hybrid of sweet orange and grapefruit, by the fruit.\"\nYama is known as Shan mi gan in Chinese\n \nYama, Intermediate orange, Yama-mikan sour orange, Mountain citrus\nFRA\nCitrus � aurantium L. var. khatta Bonavia \nCitrus dimorphocarpa Lush.\n \n \nKarna (Khatta) is an old fruit from Maharashtra State, India. It is of unkknown origin but is suspected to be a cross or sour orange and lemon. While the tree and fruit are distinctive, they exhibit characters of both rough lemon and sour orange and there are also characters suggestive of the acid citron.\nThe fruits are typical sour oranges but the flowers are red-tinted like those of the lemon.\nThe commercial importance of karna arises from the fact that it is extensively employed in India as a rootstock, second only to rough lemon.\nThe tree is vigorous, medium to large in size, upright-spreading. Foliage is lemon-like but darker green. New growth is also purple-tinted. Fruit medium to medium large, of variable form but in general round to oval; usually with broad and prominent nipple, Rind moderately thick, firm; surface smooth, warty or ribbed; tightly adherent; color golden yellow to deep orange.\nFlesh color dull orange; coarse-textured, only moderately juicy; flavor acid with faint aroma suggestive of sour orange.\nThe two best-known cultivars are: Khatta and Kabbad.\nThe fruit is also known as: \nKarna nimbu, Karna Khatta, Khatta, Soh-sarkar\nENG\n \nKitchli\nis an old Indian fruit of unknown origin. It somewhat resembles the bittersweet orange though it is smaller, flatter, and rougher in surface texture. It is of commercial importance in South India, principally in the Guntur district. Several clones are recognized, but only that of mildest flavor is propagated commercially\nKitchli has medium adherent to loose skin that is rough and somewhat warty and of medium thickness. The colour is yellowish-orange. The fruit is seedy, the flesh is pale orange-coloured.\nThe flavour pleasant at full maturity, with slightly bitter aftertaste and musky aroma. Prior to maturity flesh is sharply acid. \nThe best-known variety is Guntur.\nENG\nKitchli sour orange, Vadlapudi sour orange, Guntur sour orange\nFRA\n \nNatsudaidai (Natsumikan) is a natural hybrid of pomelo and sour orange.\nThe original seedling tree of this fruit is said to have been found in a garden in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, toward the end of the 17th century and is reported still alive. The value of its late-ripening characteristic was not appreciated until approximately a century later and is reflected in the names most commonly used for it: (natsu means summer) Natsudaidai, summer sour orange and Natsumikan summer orange.\nFruit medium to medium-large (grapefruit size), sometimes with very short collared neck and apex slightly depressed; moderately seedy. Color yellowish-orange. Rind medium-thick; surface coarsely pebbled slightly rough. Segments fairly numerous (12); axis large and semi-hollow at maturity. Flavor acid and refreshing. Late in maturity (summer-maturing in most climates). Holds well on the tree and improves in storage.\nThe Natsudaidai tree is reported to be less cold resistant than the satsuma mandarin in Japan. Heat requirement for fruit maturity somewhat less than that of the grapefruit and comparable with the so-called Poorman orange and Wheeny grapefruit, both of which attain acceptable quality in climates too cool for satisfactory maturity of the grapefruit. Nevertheless, even at full maturity the Natsudaidai remains too acid for some palates.\nNatsudaidai is grown commercially in the Japanese coastal regions of mildest winters in Kumamoto and Ehime prefecture. The rough textured fruit is easy to peel and is commonly eaten fresh. It is currently second in importance only to the satsuma mandarin. It is also used for wide variety of products ranging from marmalades to alcoholic beverages.\nNumerous unnamed clones and selections are grown, some of which exhibit minor differences, but only two derivative varieties—Kawano and Tajima— are propagated commercially. Kawano differs from the common Natsudaidai in the fact that the fruit is less acid (and hence sweeter), matures much earlier, and loses quality if held on the tree after maturity. Tajima is a new and very juicy, late-ripening, high acid variety of much less importance, but considered to be promising.\nThe best-known varieties are: Amanatsu, Beni Amanatsu, Kawano, Tajima and Natsudaidai.\nNatsudaidai is also known as Natsukan, Daidai mikan, Ri ben ku ju, Tajima.\nENG\n L. var. cyathifera Yu. Tanaka\n \nZadaidai is a well-known variety in Japan. The tree is somewhat lacking in vigor, usually dwarfed, round-topped, and nearly thornless, but otherwise similar to the common sour orange except that the leaves are slightly smaller, with petioles more narrowly winged. \n \nFruits globose, about the size of a small orange with yellowish orange rind.\nThe fruit is otherwise round but it is flattened and slightly depressed at both ends. Flesh light to medium orange in color, seedy, juicy and sour.\nZadaidai differs from most other sour orange hybrids due to its relatively thin, loose and tender rind, which peels of easily, almost like a Satsuma. The rind also puffs with age. This has led to the theory that Zadaidai could be a hybrid of mandarin and sour orange\n.\nZadaidai is also known as: Rokugatsu-mikan\nENG\nZadaidai sour orange, Rokugatsu-mikan sour orange\nFRA\n L. subf. sulcata ( Ik.Takah. ) M.Hiroe\n \nSanbokan\n(Sanb�)\nis an old Japanese fruit of unknown origin. It was first described in 1848 and is still popular and grown mainly in the Wakayama Prefecture of Japan. It was early classified as a sour orange hybrid and indeed, molecular analysis has shown it to be a close relative of Nansho-daidai (Citrus taiwanica).\nDue to its popularity and the shape and taste of the fruit is has many names: Sanbokan lemon, Sanbokan Sweet Lemon, Sanbokan grapefruit.\nThis comparatively cold resistant 10 -15 feet tall tree bears large grapefruit-sized obovoid fruit. The prominent collar or neck of the mature fruit is a distinguishing feature. The yellow, coarsely pebbled rind is medium thick, about 1 cm, and easily removed.\nThe flesh is seedy, moderately juicy, sweet and has a good flavour. The leaves are fairly small, slightly winged with a petiole slightly shorter than average.\nThe flavour of Sanbokan is lemon-like but sweeter. It can be used as limes and lemons. The juice tastes somewhat like sweetened lemonade.\nSanbokan is San bao gan in Chinese and Sanboukan in Japanese\nENG\nSanbokan sour orange, Sanbokan Sweet Lemon, Sanbokan grapefruit \nFRA\nCitrus nansh�-daidai\n \nNansho Daidai sour orange (Citrus taiwanica) was found growing semiwild in forests of Taiwan (formerly Formosa, present day Chinese Taipei) especially in the Nan Zhuang (formerly Nansh�) district. Nansho resembles the ordinary Japanese sour orange (Daidai) but has much longer lanceolate leaves (12-15 cm) that are sharply pointed and the yellow fruits are somewhat flattened, slightly necked with a small nipple at the apex. The tree is vigorous, upright-spreading, and very thorny. Flesh is juicy with an acid flavour and bitter aftertaste. Flesh colour is dull yellow.\nRecent molecular studies have shown it to be a close relative of Sanbokan (Citrus sulcata) and as a pomelo-mandarin hybrid studies have placed it at about 60% pomelo - 40% mandarin.\nNansho Daidai is very hardy. It tolerates freezing temperatures well for a certain period without leaf drop or loss of crop the following season. It is reported to have survived temperatures down to 5� F (-15� C). Nansho Daidai is one of the hardiest evergreen citrus trees.\nNansho Daidai is known as Nan zhuang cheng or Nan zhuang dai dai in Chinese and Nanshou daidai in Japanese.\nENG\nTaiwan orange, Nansho Daidai sour orange\nFRA\nBigarade nansh�-da�da�","Green_tea.txt\nGreen tea\nGreen tea is made from Camellia sinensis leaves that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation applied when processing Camellia sinensis into oolong tea and black tea. Green tea originated in China, but its production has spread to many countries in Asia.\n\nSeveral varieties of green tea exist, which differ substantially due to growing conditions, horticulture, production processing, and time of harvest.\n\nHistory\n\nTea consumption has its legendary origins in China dating back to more than 4,000 years ago, making it the oldest plant-based tea known. According to legend, green tea was first brewed in 2737 BC during the reign of Emperor Shennong. \n\nA book written by Lu Yu in 600-900 AD (Tang Dynasty), \"Tea Classic\" (), is considered important in green tea history. The Kissa Yojoki (喫茶養生記 Book of Tea), written by Zen priest Eisai in 1191, describes how drinking green tea may affect five vital organs, the shapes of tea plants, flowers and leaves, and how to grow and process tea leaves.\n\nBrewing and serving\n\nSteeping is the process of making a cup of tea; it is also referred to as brewing. In general, two grams of tea per 100 ml of water, or about one teaspoon of green tea per five-ounce (150 ml) cup, should be used. With very high-quality teas like gyokuro, more than this amount of leaf is used, and the leaf is steeped multiple times for short durations.\n\nGreen tea steeping time and temperature vary with a different tea. The hottest steeping temperatures are 81 to water and the longest steeping times two to three minutes. The coolest brewing temperatures are 61 to and the shortest times about 30 seconds. In general, lower-quality green teas are steeped hotter and longer, whereas higher-quality teas are steeped cooler and shorter. Steeping green tea too hot or too long will result in a bitter, astringent brew, regardless of the initial quality, because it will result in the release of an excessive amount of tannins. High-quality green teas can be and usually are steeped multiple times; two or three steepings is typical. The steeping technique also plays a very important role in avoiding the tea developing an overcooked taste. The container in which the tea is steeped or teapot should also be warmed beforehand so that the tea does not immediately cool down. It is common practice for tea leaf to be left in the cup or pot and for hot water to be added as the tea is drunk until the flavor degrades.\n\nResearch and health effects\n\nRegular green tea is 99.9% water, provides 1 Calorie per 100 mL serving, is devoid of significant nutrient content (table) and contains phytochemicals, such as polyphenols and caffeine. Polyphenols found in green tea include epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin gallate, epicatechins and flavanols.\n\nAlthough numerous claims have been made for the health benefits of green tea, human clinical research has not provided conclusive evidence of any effects. In 2011, a panel of scientists published a report on the claims for health effects at the request of the European Commission: in general they found that the claims made for green tea were not supported by sufficient scientific evidence. Although the mean content of flavonoids and catechins in a cup of green tea is higher than that in the same volume of other food and drink items that are traditionally considered to promote health, flavonoids and catechins have no proven biological effect in humans. \n\nCancer\n\nThere is no conclusive evidence that green tea helps to prevent or treat cancer in people. A review of existing studies concluded that while suggestive evidence existed, it did not amount to a clear indication of benefit.\n\nDaily consumption of black tea (but not green tea) has been associated with a significant reduction in death from all cancers. There is limited evidence to suggest that green tea consumption may be associated with a slightly lower risk of esophageal cancer in the Chinese population, a lower risk of lung cancer in women, and a lower risk of oral cancer in Asian people. A 2015 meta-analysis of nine prospective cohort studies concluded that a high amount of green tea consumption may be associated with a lower risk of liver cancer in Asian women. This association was not seen in Asian men or when one cup of green tea was consumed daily. Similarly, another analysis of observational data conducted in 2012 suggested that green tea consumption may have a favorable effect on lung cancer risk. The observed effect was strongest in those who consumed more than seven cups of green tea daily. A 2011 meta-analysis of epidemiological studies found limited evidence that green tea consumption may be associated with a moderately reduced risk of liver cancer in Chinese and Japanese people. \n\nLimited evidence suggests that green tea consumption is not associated with the risk of developing pancreatic cancer or prostate cancer. The link between green tea consumption and stomach cancer risk is unclear due to inconsistent evidence. \n\nGreen tea interferes with the chemotherapy drug bortezomib (Velcade) and other boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitors, and should be avoided by people taking these medications. \n\nCardiovascular disease\n\nDaily consumption of green tea has been associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. In a 2015 meta-analysis of observational studies, an increase in one cup of green tea per day was associated with a 5% lower risk of death from cardiovascular causes. Green tea consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of stroke. A 2013 Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials concluded that green tea consumption for 3–6 months appears to lower systolic and diastolic blood pressures a small amount (about 3 mm Hg each). Additional analyses examining the effects of long-term green tea consumption on blood pressure have reached similar conclusions. \n\nGlycemic control\n\nGreen tea consumption lowers fasting blood sugar but in clinical studies the beverage's effect on hemoglobin A1c and fasting insulin levels was inconsistent. \n\nHyperlipidemia\n\nDrinking green tea or taking green tea supplements decreases the blood concentration of total cholesterol (about 7 mg/dL), LDL cholesterol (about 2 mg/dL), and does not affect the concentration of HDL cholesterol. A 2013 Cochrane review performed a meta-analysis of longer-term randomized controlled trials (>3 months duration) and concluded that green tea consumption lowers total and LDL cholesterol concentrations in the blood.\n\nInflammation\n\nA 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials found that green tea consumption was not significantly associated with lower plasma levels of C-reactive protein levels (a marker of inflammation). \n\nMortality risk\n\nDaily consumption of green tea is significantly associated with a lower risk of death from any cause; an increase of one cup of green tea per day is linked with a 4% lower risk of death from any cause. A separate analysis found an increase of three cups of green tea per day was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause.\n\nWeight loss\n\nThere is no conclusive evidence that green tea aids in weight loss.\n\nToxicity\n\nModerate, regular, and habitual consumption of green tea is safe; however, there are reports of liver toxicity in humans after consuming high doses (10–29 mg/kg/day) of green tea extract dietary supplements. \n\nProduction\n\nGrowing, harvesting and processing\n\nGreen tea is processed and grown in a variety of ways, depending on the type of green tea desired. As a result of these methods, maximum amounts of polyphenols and volatile organic compounds are retained, affecting aroma and taste. The growing conditions can be broken down into two basic types − those grown in the sun and those grown under the shade. The green tea plants are grown in rows that are pruned to produce shoots in a regular manner, and in general are harvested three times per year. The first flush takes place in late April to early May. The second harvest usually takes place from June through July, and the third picking takes place in late July to early August. Sometimes, there will also be the fourth harvest. It is the first flush in the spring that brings the best-quality leaves, with higher prices to match.\n\nGreen tea is processed using either artisanal or modern methods. Sun-drying, basket or charcoal firing, or pan-firing are common artisanal methods. Oven-drying, tumbling, or steaming are common modern methods. Processed green teas, known as aracha are stored under low humidity refrigeration in 30- or 60-kg paper bags at 0 -. This aracha has yet to be refined at this stage, with a final firing taking place before blending, selection and packaging take place. The leaves in this state will be re-fired throughout the year as they are needed, giving the green teas a longer shelf-life and better flavor. The first flush tea of May will readily store in this fashion until the next year's harvest. After this re-drying process, each crude tea will be sifted and graded according to size. Finally, each lot will be blended according to the blending order by the tasters and packed for sale. \n\nProduction by country\n\nImport of Japanese tea\n\nOn 17 June 2011, radioactive cesium of 1,038 becquerels per kilogram was detected at Charles de Gaulle airport in France in tea leaves imported from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which was more than twice as much as the restricted amount of 500 becquerels per kilogram designated by the European Union, and the government of France announced that they rejected the tea leaves, which amounted to 162 kg. The governor of Shizuoka Prefecture Heita Kawakatsu stated that \"there is absolutely no problem when they [people] drink them because it will be diluted to about ten becquerels per kilogram when they steep them even if the leaves have 1,000 becquerels per kilogram,\" which was a consequence of own examinations of the prefecture. Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Renhō stated on 3 June 2011, that \"there are cases in which aracha are sold as furikake [condiments sprinkled on rice] and so on and they are eaten as they are, therefore we think that it is important to inspect tea leaves including aracha from the viewpoint of consumers' safety.\" \n\nGreen tea by country\n\nChina\n\nGreen tea is the most popular form of tea in China. Chinese green teas are made from over 600 different cultivars of the Camellia sinensis plant, giving plenty of variety and regional teas. Chinese green teas are traditionally pan-fired, unlike the Japanese steaming process. Other processes in China include oven-dried and sun-dried. Due to the different production process, Chinese teas are said to have a more \"earthy\" taste than Japanese teas. \n*Zhejiang Province is home to the most famous of all teas, Xi Hu Longjing (西湖龙井), as well as many other high-quality green teas.\n* 龙井 Longjing\n: Maybe the most well-known green tea in China; originates from Hangzhou (杭州), the capital of Zhejiang Province. Longjing in Chinese literally means dragon well. It is pan-fired and has a distinctive flat appearance. The tasteless frying oil is obtained from tea seeds and other plants. There are many fake Longjings on the market and in less-scrupulous tea houses around the country.\n* 景宁惠明茶 Huiming\n: Named after a temple in Zhejiang.\n* 开化龙顶 Kaihua Longding\n: A tea from Kaihua County known as Dragon Mountain.\n* 华顶云雾 Hua Ding\n: A tea from Tiantai County, named after a peak in the Tiantai mountain range.\n* 天目青顶 Qing Ding\n: A tea from Tian Mu, also known as Green Top.\n* 平水珠茶 Gunpowder\n: This popular tea is also known as zhuchá, originates in Zhejiang but is now grown elsewhere in China. This tea is also the quintessential ingredient in brewing Maghrebi mint tea, which is brewed green tea with fresh mint.\n\n*Jiangsu Province\n\n* 洞庭碧螺春 Bi Luo Chun\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Snail Spring, from Dong Ting. As with Longjing, inauthentic Bi Luo Chun is common and most of the tea marketed under this name may, in fact, be grown in Sichuan.\n* 南京雨花茶 Rain Flower\n: A tea from Nanjing.\n* 金坛雀舌 Que She (Tongue of golden altar sparrow)\n: originate in Jin Tan city of Jiangsu Province.\n* 太湖白云 White Cloud\n\n*Fujian Province is known for mountain-grown organic green tea as well as white tea and oolong tea. The coastal mountains provide a perfect growing environment for tea growing. Green tea is picked in spring and summer seasons.\n* 茉莉花茶 Jasmine tea (Mo Li Hua Cha)\n: A tea with added jasmine flowers.\n* 毛峰 Mao Feng tea\n: Meaning \"furry peak\".\n* 翠剑 Cui Jian\n: Meaning \"jade sword\".\n\n*Hubei Province\n* 玉露 \n: A steamed tea also known as Gyokuro (Jade Dew) in Japanese, made in the Japanese style.\n\n*Henan Province\n\n* 信阳毛尖 Xin Yang Mao Jian\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Tip, or Tippy Green.\n\n*Jiangxi Province\n* 珍眉 Chun Mee\n: Meaning \"precious eyebrows\"; from Jiangxi, it is now grown elsewhere.\n* 狗牯 Gou Gu Nao\n: A well-known tea within China and recipient of numerous national awards.\n* 云雾 Yun Wu\n: A tea also known as Cloud and Mist.\n\n*Anhui Province is home to several varieties of tea, including three Chinese famous teas. These are:\n* 大方 Da Fang\n: A tea from Huangshan also known as Big Square suneet.\n* 黄山毛峰 Huangshan Maofeng\n: A Chinese famous tea from Huangshan\n* 六安瓜片 Liuan Leaf\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Melon Seed\n* 猴魁 Hou Kui\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Monkey tea\n* 屯绿 Tun Lu\n: A tea from Tunxi District.\n* 火青 Huo Qing\n: A tea from Jing County, also known as Fire Green\n* 雾里青 Wuliqing\n: Wuliqing was known since the Song dynasty. Since 2002, Wuliqing is produced again according to the original processing methods by a company called Tianfang (天方). Zhan Luojiu a tea expert and professor at the Anhui Agricultural University who revived its production procedure.\n* Hyson\n: A medium-quality tea from many provinces, an early harvested tea.\n\n*Sichuan Province\n* 竹叶青茶 Zhu Ye Qing \n: Also known as Meng Ding Cui Zhu or Green Bamboo\n* 蒙顶甘露 Meng Ding Gan Lu\n: A yellowish-green tea with sweet after taste.\n* 百美绿茶 Baimei Green Tea\n\n*Shaanxi Province\n* 汉中仙毫 Han Zhong Xian Hao \n: A green tea from the Han Zhong.\n\n Japan\n\n is ubiquitous in Japan and is commonly known simply as . Tea was first used in China, and in 1191, was brought to Japan by Myōan Eisai, a Japanese Buddhist priest who also introduced the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Teas from Japan may be referred to as .\n\nJapanese green teas are mainly made from Yabukita (やぶきた), a cultivar of the camellia sinensis plant. Unlike Chinese green teas which are pan-fired, Japanese green teas are steamed giving them a more \"vegetative\" or \"leafy\" taste. The exception is hōjicha, a Japanese roasted tea. Japanese green teas are categorized by the age of the leaves: young leaves are called sencha and the more mature, larger leaves are called bancha. Types of tea are commonly graded depending on the quality and the parts of the plant used as well as how they are processed. There are large variations in both price and quality within these broad categories, and there are many green teas that fall outside this spectrum. Here shows well-known tea-growing districts in Japan; Shizuoka Prefecture (Shizuoka-cha, the largest yield in Japan), Uji region of Kyoto Prefecture (Uji-cha), region of Fukuoka Prefecture (Yame-cha), Kagoshima Prefecture (Chiran-cha).\n\n* \nThe first and second flushes of green tea made from leaves that are exposed directly to sunlight. This is the most common green tea in Japan. The name describes the method for preparing the beverage.\n\n* \n: Sencha, which, in the processing of the leaves, has been steamed two times longer than usual Sencha, giving it a deeper color and producing a fuller flavor in the beverage.\n* \nGyokuro is a fine and expensive type that differs from Sencha (煎茶) in that it is grown under the shade rather than the full sun for approximately 20 days. The name \"Gyokuro\" translates as \"jade dew\" and refers to the pale green color of the infusion. The shading causes the amino acids (Theanine) and caffeine in the tea leaves to increase, while catechins (the source of bitterness in tea, along with caffeine) decreases, giving rise to a sweet taste. The tea also has a distinct aroma.\n* \nKabusecha is made from the leaves grown in the shade prior to harvest, although not for as long as Gyokuro. It has a more delicate flavor than Sencha. It is sometimes marketed as Gyokuro.\n* \nTamaryokucha has a tangy, berry-like taste, with a long almondy aftertaste and a deep aroma with tones of citrus, grass, and berries. It is also called Guricha.\n* \nLower grade of Sencha harvested as a third- or fourth flush tea between summer and autumn. Aki-Bancha (autumn Bancha) is not made from entire leaves, but from the trimmed unnecessary twigs of the tea plant.\n* \nKamairicha is a pan-fired green tea that does not undergo the usual steam treatments of Japanese tea and does not have the characteristic bitter taste of most Japanese tea.\n* By-product of Sencha or Gyokuro\n\n*\n: A tea made from stems, stalks, and twigs. Kukicha has a mildly nutty, and slightly creamy sweet flavor.\n\n*\n: Mecha is green tea derived from a collection of leaf buds and tips of the early crops. Mecha is harvested in spring and made as rolled leaf teas that are graded somewhere between Gyokuro and Sencha in quality.\n\n*\n: Konacha is the dust and smallest parts after processing Gyokuro or Sencha. It is cheaper than Sencha and usually served at Sushi restaurants. It is also marketed as or Gyokurokocha.\n* Other\n\n*\n: A fine ground tea made from Tencha. It has a very similar cultivation process as Gyokuro. It is expensive and is used primarily in the Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha is also a popular flavor of ice cream and other sweets in Japan.\n\n*\n: Half-finished products used for Matcha production. The name indicates its intended eventual milling into matcha. Because, like gyokuro, it is cultivated in shade, it has a sweet aroma. In its processing, it is not rolled during drying, and tencha, therefore, remains spread out like the original fresh leaf.\n\n*\n: Bancha (sometimes Sencha) and roasted genmai (brown rice) blend. It is often mixed with a small amount of Matcha to make the color better.\n\n*\n: A green tea roasted over charcoal (usually Bancha).\n\n*\n: Half-finished products used for Sencha and Gyokuro production. It contains all parts of the tea plant.\n\n*\n: First flush tea. The name is used for either Sencha or Gyokuro.\n\n*\n: Milled green tea, used just like instant coffee. Another name for this recent style of tea is \"tokeru ocha,\" or \"tea that melts.\"\n\nKorea\n\n*Ujeoncha ()\n\n*Sejakcha ()\n\nOther countries\n\n* Green tea from Ceylon\n* Kahwah\n* New Zealand - Zealong","Yogurt.txt\nYogurt\nYogurt, yoghurt, or yoghourt ( or; from ; other spellings listed below) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk.\n\nThe bacteria used to make yogurt are known as \"yogurt cultures\". Fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and characteristic tang. Cow's milk is commonly available worldwide, and, as such, is the milk most commonly used to make yogurt. Milk from water buffalo, goats, ewes, mares, camels, and yaks is also used to produce yogurt where available locally. Milk used may be homogenized or not (milk distributed in many parts of the world is homogenized); both types may be used, with substantially different results.\n\nYogurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus bacteria. In addition, other lactobacilli and bifidobacteria are also sometimes added during or after culturing yogurt. Some countries require yogurt to contain a certain amount of colony-forming units of bacteria; in China, for example, the requirement for the number of lactobacillus bacteria is at least 1 × 106 CFA per gram per milliliter. \nTo produce yogurt, milk is first heated, usually to about 85 °C (185 °F), to denature the milk proteins so that they set together rather than form curds. In some places, such as parts of India and Bangladesh, the milk is boiled. After heating, the milk is allowed to cool to about 45 °C (113 °F). The bacterial culture is mixed in, and a temperature of 45 °C (113 °F) is maintained for four to seven hours to allow fermentation.\n\nEtymology and spelling\n\nThe word is derived from , and is usually related to the verb yoğurmak, \"to knead\", or \"to be curdled or coagulated; to thicken\". It may be related to yoğun, meaning thick or dense. The letter ğ was traditionally rendered as \"gh\" in transliterations of Turkish prior to 1928. In older Turkish, the letter denoted a voiced velar fricative, but this sound is elided between back vowels in modern Turkish, in which the word is pronounced, or.\n\nIn English, there are several variations of the spelling of the word, including yogurt, yoghurt and to a lesser extent yoghourt, yogourt, yaghourt, yahourth, yoghurd, joghourt, and jogourt. In the United Kingdom and Australia, yogurt and yoghurt are both current, yogurt being used by the Australian and British dairy councils, and yoghourt is an uncommon alternative. In the United States, yogurt is the usual spelling and yoghurt a minor variant. In New Zealand, yoghurt is preferred by the New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. In Canada, yogurt is most common among English speakers, although \"yoghurt\" is also used; however, many brands use yogourt instead, since it is an acceptable spelling in both English and French.\n\nHistorically, there have been cases of yogurt being spelled with a \"J\" instead of a \"Y\" (e.g. jogurt and joghurt) due to alternative transliteration methods. However, there has been a decline in these variations in English speaking countries; in certain European countries, on the other hand, it is still commonly spelled with a \"J\". Most people tend to spell in the manner shown on the packaging of the major brands in their country.\n\nWhatever the spelling, the word is usually pronounced with a short o in England and Wales, and with a long o in Scotland, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa.\n\nHistory\n\nAnalysis of the L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus genome indicates that the bacterium may have originated on the surface of a plant. Milk may have become spontaneously and unintentionally exposed to it through contact with plants, or bacteria may have been transferred from the udder of domestic milk-producing animals. \n\nThe origins of yogurt are unknown, but it is thought to have been invented in Mesopotamia around 5000 B.C. \n\nIn ancient Indian records, the combination of yogurt and honey is called \"the food of the gods\". Persian traditions hold that \"Abraham owed his fecundity and longevity to the regular ingestion of yogurt\". \n\nThe cuisine of ancient Greece included a dairy product known as oxygala () which is believed to have been a form of yogurt. Galen (AD 129 – c. 200/c. 216) mentioned that oxygala was consumed with honey, similar to the way thickened Greek yogurt is eaten today.\n\nThe oldest writings mentioning yogurt are attributed to Pliny the Elder, who remarked that certain \"barbarous nations\" knew how \"to thicken the milk into a substance with an agreeable acidity\". The use of yogurt by medieval Turks is recorded in the books Diwan Lughat al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari and Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Has Hajib written in the 11th century. Both texts mention the word \"yogurt\" in different sections and describe its use by nomadic Turks. The earliest yogurts were probably spontaneously fermented by wild bacteria in goat skin bags. \n\nSome accounts suggest that Indian emperor Akbar's cooks would flavor yogurt with mustard seeds and cinnamon. Another early account of a European encounter with yogurt occurs in French clinical history: Francis I suffered from a severe diarrhea which no French doctor could cure. His ally Suleiman the Magnificent sent a doctor, who allegedly cured the patient with yogurt. Being grateful, the French king spread around the information about the food which had cured him.\n\nUntil the 1900s, yogurt was a staple in diets of people in the Russian Empire (and especially Central Asia and the Caucasus), Western Asia, South Eastern Europe/Balkans, Central Europe, and India. Stamen Grigorov (1878–1945), a Bulgarian student of medicine in Geneva, first examined the microflora of the Bulgarian yogurt. In 1905, he described it as consisting of a spherical and a rod-like lactic acid-producing bacteria. In 1907, the rod-like bacterium was called Bacillus bulgaricus (now Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus). The Russian Nobel laureate and biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (also known as Élie Metchnikoff), from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, was influenced by Grigorov's work and hypothesized that regular consumption of yogurt was responsible for the unusually long lifespans of Bulgarian peasants. Believing Lactobacillus to be essential for good health, Mechnikov worked to popularize yogurt as a foodstuff throughout Europe.\n\nIsaac Carasso industrialized the production of yogurt. In 1919, Carasso, who was from Ottoman Salonika, started a small yogurt business in Barcelona, Spain, and named the business Danone (\"little Daniel\") after his son. The brand later expanded to the United States under an Americanized version of the name: Dannon.\n\nYogurt with added fruit jam was patented in 1933 by the Radlická Mlékárna dairy in Prague. \n\nYogurt was introduced to the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century, influenced by Élie Metchnikoff's The Prolongation of Life; Optimistic Studies (1908); it was available in tablet form for those with digestive intolerance and for home culturing. It was popularized by John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where it was used both orally and in enemas, and later by Armenian immigrants Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who started \"Colombo and Sons Creamery\" in Andover, Massachusetts in 1929. Colombo Yogurt was originally delivered around New England in a horse-drawn wagon inscribed with the Armenian word \"madzoon\" which was later changed to \"yogurt\", the Turkish name of the product, as Turkish was the lingua franca between immigrants of the various Near Eastern ethnicities who were the main consumers at that time. Yogurt's popularity in the United States was enhanced in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was presented as a health food. By the late 20th century, yogurt had become a common American food item and Colombo Yogurt was sold in 1993 to General Mills, which discontinued the brand in 2010. \n\nNutrition and health\n\nIn a 100 gram amount providing 97 calories, yogurt (plain Greek yogurt from whole milk) is 81% water, 9% protein, 5% fat and 4% carbohydrates, including 4% sugars (table). As a proportion of the Daily Value (DV), a serving of yogurt is a rich source of vitamin B12 (31% DV) and riboflavin (23% DV), with moderate content of protein, phosphorus and selenium (14 to 19% DV; table).\n\nAlthough yogurt is often associated with probiotics having positive effects on immune, cardiovascular or metabolic health, there is insufficient high-quality clinical evidence to conclude that consuming yogurt lowers risk of diseases or improves health.\n\nLactose-intolerant individuals may tolerate yogurt better than other dairy products due to the conversion of lactose to the sugars glucose and galactose, and the fermentation of lactose to lactic acid carried out by the bacteria present in the yogurt. \n\nVarieties and presentation\n\nDa-hi is a yogurt of the Indian subcontinent, known for its characteristic taste and consistency. The word da-hi seems to be derived from the Sanskrit word dadhi, one of the five elixirs, or panchamrita, often used in Hindu ritual. Dahi also holds cultural symbolism in many homes in the Mithila region of Nepal and Bihar. Yogurt balances the palate across regional cuisines throughout India. In the hot and humid south, yogurt and foods made of yogurt are a staple in order to cool down – yogurt rice is always the last dish of the meal. Also, the vegetarian population of India derives some protein from yogurt (other than lentil and beans). Sweet yogurt (meesti doi or meethi dahi) is common in eastern parts of India, made by fermenting sweetened milk. While cow's milk is considered sacred and is currently the primary ingredient for yogurt, goat and buffalo milk were widely used in the past, and valued for the fat content (see buffalo curd). Butter and cream were made by churning the yogurt/milk.\n\nIn India and Pakistan, it is often used in cosmetics mixed with turmeric and honey. Sour yogurt, is also used as a hair conditioner by women in many parts of India and Pakistan. \nDahi is also known as Mosaru (Kannada), Thayir (Tamil), Thayiru (Malayalam), doi (Assamese, Bengali), dohi (Odia), perugu (Telugu), Qәzana a pәәner (Pashto) and Dhahi or Dhaunro (Sindhi ڏهي، ڌونرو)\n\nRaita is a yogurt-based South Asian/Indian condiment, used as a side dish. The yogurt is seasoned with coriander (cilantro), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. Vegetables such as cucumber and onions are mixed in, and the mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian and Pakistani dishes. Raita is sometimes also referred to as dahi.\n\nDadiah or Dadih is a traditional West Sumatran yogurt made from water buffalo milk, fermented in bamboo tubes. \n\nYogurt is popular in Nepal, where it is served as both an appetizer and dessert. Locally called dahi (दही), it is a part of the Nepali culture, used in local festivals, marriage ceremonies, parties, religious occasions, family gatherings, and so on. The most famous type of Nepalese yogurt is called juju dhau, originating from the city of Bhaktapur.\n\nIn Tibet, yak milk (technically dri milk, as the word yak refers to the male animal) is made into yogurt (and butter and cheese) and consumed.\n\nIn Northern Iran, Mâst Chekide is a variety of kefir yogurt with a distinct sour taste. It is usually mixed with a pesto-like water and fresh herb purée called delal. Yogurt is a side dish to all Iranian meals. The most popular appetizers are spinach or eggplant borani, Mâst-o-Khiâr with cucumber, spring onions and herbs, and Mâst-Musir with wild shallots. In the summertime, yogurt and ice cubes are mixed together with cucumbers, raisins, salt, pepper and onions and topped with some croutons made of Persian traditional bread and served as a cold soup. Ashe-Mâst is a warm yogurt soup with fresh herbs, spinach and lentils. Even the leftover water extracted when straining yogurt is cooked to make a sour cream sauce called kashk, which is usually used as a topping on soups and stews.\n\nMatsoni is a Georgian yogurt popular in the Caucasus and Russia. It is used in a wide variety of Georgian dishes and is believed to have contributed to the high life expectancy and longevity in the country. Dannon used this theory in their 1978 TV advertisement called In Soviet Georgia where shots of elderly Georgian farmers were interspersed with an off-camera announcer intoning, \"In Soviet Georgia, where they eat a lot of yogurt, a lot of people live past 100.\" Matsoni is also popular in Japan under the name Caspian Sea Yogurt (カスピ海ヨーグルト).\n\nTarator and Cacık are popular cold soups made from yogurt, popular during summertime in Albania, Azerbaijan (known as Dogramac), Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. They are made with ayran, cucumbers, dill, salt, olive oil, and optionally garlic and ground walnuts. Tzatziki in Greece and milk salad in Bulgaria are thick yogurt-based salads similar to tarator.\n\nKhyar w Laban (cucumber and yogurt salad) is a popular dish in Lebanon and Syria. Also, a wide variety of local Lebanese and Syrian dishes are cooked with yogurt like \"Kibbi bi Laban\", etc.\n\nRahmjoghurt, a creamy yogurt with much higher fat content (10%) than many yogurts offered in English-speaking countries (Rahm is German for \"cream\"), is available in Germany and other countries.\n\nDovga, a yogurt soup cooked with a variety of herbs and rice is popular in Azerbaijan, often served warm in winter or refreshingly cold in summer.\n\nYogurt made with unhomogenized milk is sometimes called cream-top yogurt; a layer of cream rises to the top.\n\nJameed is yogurt which is salted and dried to preserve it. It is popular in Jordan.\n\nZabadi is the type of yogurt made in Egypt, usually from the milk of the Egyptian water buffalo. It is particularly associated with Ramadan fasting, as it is thought to prevent thirst during all-day fasting. \n\nSweetened and flavored yogurt\n\nTo offset its natural sourness, yogurt is also sold sweetened, flavored or in containers with fruit or fruit jam on the bottom. The two styles of yogurt commonly found in the grocery store are set type yogurt and Swiss style yogurt. Set type yogurt is when the yogurt is packaged with the fruit on the bottom of the cup and the yogurt on top. Swiss style yogurt is when the fruit is blended into the yogurt prior to packaging. \n\nLassi and Moru are common beverages in India. Lassi is milk that is sweetened with sugar commonly, less commonly honey and often combined with fruit pulp to create flavored lassi. Mango lassi is a western favorite, as is coconut lassi. Consistency can vary widely, with urban and commercial lassis being of uniform texture through being processed, whereas rural and rustic lassi has curds in it, and sometimes has malai (cream) added or removed. Moru is a popular South Indian summer drink, meant to keep drinkers hydrated through the hot and humid summers of the South. It is prepared by considerably thinning down yogurt with water, adding salt (for electrolyte balance) and spices, usually green chili peppers, asafoetida, curry leaves and mustard.\n\nLarge amounts of sugar – or other sweeteners for low-calorie yogurts – are often used in commercial yogurt. Some yogurts contain added starch, pectin (found naturally in fruit), and/or gelatin to create thickness and creaminess artificially at lower cost. Gelatin is a meat or fish product, therefore vegetarians should avoid products containing it. This type of yogurt is also marketed under the name Swiss-style, although it is unrelated to the way yogurt is eaten in Switzerland. Some yogurts, often called \"cream line\", are made with whole milk which has not been homogenized so the cream rises to the top. Fruit jam is used instead of raw fruit pieces in fruit yogurts to allow storage for weeks.\n\nIn the UK, Ireland, France and United States, sweetened, flavored yogurt is the most popular type, typically sold in single-serving plastic cups. Common flavors include vanilla, honey, and toffee, and fruit such as strawberry, cherry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, mango and peach. In the early twenty-first century yogurt flavors inspired by desserts, such as chocolate or cheesecake, have been available.\n\nThere is concern about the health effects of sweetened yogurt. The United Kingdom and the United States recommend different maximum amounts of daily sugar intake but in both nations many sweetened yogurts have too much.\n\nConsumers wanting sweetened yogurt are advised to choose yogurt sweetened with sugar substitute and check the contents list to avoid corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, or sugar.\n\nStrained yogurt\n\nStrained yogurt is yogurt which has been strained through a filter, traditionally made of muslin and more recently of paper or cloth. This removes the whey, giving a much thicker consistency and a distinctive slightly tangy taste. Strained yogurt is becoming more popular with those who make yogurt at home, especially if using skimmed milk which results in a thinner consistency. \n\nYogurt that has been strained to filter or remove the whey is known as Labneh in Middle Eastern countries. It has a consistency between that of yogurt and cheese. It is popular for sandwiches in Arab countries. Olive oil, cucumber slices, olives, and various green herbs may be added. It can be thickened further and rolled into balls, preserved in olive oil, and fermented for a few more weeks. It is sometimes used with onions, meat, and nuts as a stuffing for a variety of pies or kibbeh () balls.\n\nSome types of strained yogurts are boiled in open vats first, so that the liquid content is reduced. The popular East Indian dessert, a variation of traditional dahi called mishti dahi, offers a thicker, more custard-like consistency, and is usually sweeter than western yogurts. \n\nStrained yogurt is also enjoyed in Greece and is the main component of tzatziki (from Turkish \"cacık\"), a well-known accompaniment to gyros and souvlaki pita sandwiches: it is a yogurt sauce or dip made with the addition of grated cucumber, olive oil, salt and, optionally, mashed garlic.\n\nSrikhand, a popular dessert in India, is made from strained yogurt, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg and sugar and sometimes fruits such as mango or pineapple.\n\nIn North America and Britain, strained yogurt is commonly called “Greek yogurt”. Strained yogurt is sometimes marketed in North America as \"Greek yogurt\" and in Britain as \"Greek-style yoghurt\". In Britain the name \"Greek\" may only be applied to yogurt made in Greece \n\nBeverages\n\nDugh (\"dawghe\" in Neo-Aramaic), ayran or dhallë is a yogurt-based, salty drink popular in Iran, Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is made by mixing yogurt with water and (sometimes) salt. The same drink is known as doogh in Iran, in Armenia; laban ayran in Syria and Lebanon; shenina in Iraq and Jordan; laban arbil in Iraq; majjiga (Telugu), majjige (Kannada), and moru (Tamil and Malayalam) in South India; namkeen lassi in Punjab and all over Pakistan. A similar drink, doogh, is popular in the Middle East between Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq; it differs from ayran by the addition of herbs, usually mint, and is sometimes carbonated, commonly with carbonated water.\n\nBorhani (or Burhani) is a spicy yogurt drink popular in Bangladesh and parts of Bengal. It is usually served with kacchi biryani at weddings and special feasts. Key ingredients are yogurt blended with mint leaves (mentha), mustard seeds and black rock salt (Kala Namak). Ground roasted cumin, ground white pepper, green chili pepper paste and sugar are often added.\n\nLassi (Hindi: लस्सी, Urdu: لسی) is a yogurt-based beverage originally from the Indian subcontinent that is usually slightly salty or sweet. Lassi is a staple in Punjab. In some parts of the subcontinent, the sweet version may be commercially flavored with rosewater, mango or other fruit juice to create a very different drink. Salty lassi is usually flavored with ground, roasted cumin and red chilies; this salty variation may also use buttermilk, and in India is interchangeably called ghol (Bengal), mattha (North India), \"majjige\" (Karnataka), majjiga (Telangana & Andhra Pradesh), moru (Tamil Nadu and Kerala), Dahi paani Chalha (Odisha), tak (Maharashtra), or chaas (Gujarat). Lassi is very widely drunk in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Mango Lassi is a popular drink at Indian restaurants in US.\n\nIn Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, an unsweetened and unsalted yogurt drink usually called simply jogurt is a popular accompaniment to burek and other baked goods.\n\nSweetened yogurt drinks are the usual form in Europe (including the UK) and the US, containing fruit and added sweeteners. These are typically called \"drinking / drinkable yogurt\", such as Yop and BioBest Smoothie.\n\nAlso available are \"yogurt smoothies\", which contain a higher proportion of fruit and are more like smoothies. In Ecuador, yogurt smoothies flavored with native fruit are served with pan de yuca as a common type of fast food.\n\nAlso in Turkey, yogurt soup or Yayla Çorbası is a popular way of consuming yogurt. The soup is a mix of yogurt, rice, flour and dried mint.\n\nPlant-milk yogurt\n\nA variety of plant-milk yogurts appeared in the 2000s, using soy milk, rice milk, and nut milks such as almond milk and coconut milk. So far the most widely sold variety of plant milk yogurts is soy yogurt. These yogurts are suitable for vegans, people with intolerance to dairy milk, and those who prefer plant milks. \n\nMaking yogurt at home\n\nYogurt is made by heating milk to a temperature that denaturates its proteins (scalding), essential for making yogurt, cooling it to a temperature that will not kill the live microorganisms that turn the milk into yogurt, inoculating certain bacteria (starter culture), usually Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, into the milk, and finally keeping it warm for several hours. The milk may be held at 85 C for a few minutes, or boiled (giving a somewhat different result). It must be cooled to 50 C or somewhat less, typically 40 -. Starter culture must then be mixed in well, and the mixture must be kept undisturbed and warm for several hours, ranging from 5 to 12, with longer fermentation producing a more acid yogurt. The starter culture may be a small amount of live yogurt; dried starter culture is available commercially.\n\nMilk with a higher concentration of solids than normal milk may be used; the higher solids content produces a firmer yogurt. Solids can be increased by adding dried milk. \n\nThe yogurt-making process provides two significant barriers to pathogen growth, heat and acidity (low pH). Both are necessary to ensure a safe product. Acidity alone has been questioned by recent outbreaks of food poisoning by E. coli O157:H7 that is acid-tolerant. E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by pasteurization (heating); the initial heating of the milk kills pathogens as well as denaturing proteins. The microorganisms that turn milk into yogurt can tolerate higher temperatures than most pathogens, so that a suitable temperature not only encourages the formation of yogurt, but inhibits pathogenic microorganisms.\n\nOnce the yogurt has formed it can, if desired, be strained to reduce the whey content and thicken it.","Perry.txt\nPerry\nPerry is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, similar to the way cider is made from apples. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in the Three Counties (Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire); it is also made in parts of South Wales and France, especially Normandy and Anjou.\n\nIn more recent years, commercial perry has also been referred to as \"pear cider\", but some organisations (such as CAMRA) do not accept this as a name for the traditional drink. The National Association of Cider Makers, on the other hand, disagrees, insisting that the terms perry and pear cider are interchangeable.Pear cider ruling gives perry a timely boost, The Grocer, 19-05-2007 An over twenty-fold increase of sales of industrially manufactured \"pear cider\" produced from often imported concentrate makes the matter especially contentious.\n\nProduction\n\nFruit\n\nAs with cider apples, special pear cultivars are used to make Perry. Perry pears are thought to be descended from wild hybrids, known as wildings, between the cultivated pear Pyrus communis subsp. communis, brought to northern Europe by the Romans, and the now-rare wild pear Pyrus communis subsp. pyraster. Perry pears are higher in tannin and acid than eating or cooking pears, and are generally smaller.\n\nThe majority of perry pear varieties in the UK originate from the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the west of England. Of these, most originate in parishes around May Hill on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border.[http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup.org.uk/varieties/pears/ Gloucestershire Orchard Group, Pears], accessed 08-12-2009 The standard reference work on these varieties of pear was published in 1963 by the Long Ashton Research Station; since then many varieties have become critically endangered or lost. There were over 100 varieties, known by over 200 local names, in Gloucestershire alone.[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/history2.htm Pears and Perry Making in the UK], accessed 8 December 2009 Perry pears were particularly known for their picturesque names, such as the various Huffcap varieties (Hendre Huffcap, Red Huffcap, Black Huffcap, all having an elliptical shape), those named for the effects of their product (Merrylegs, Mumblehead), pears commemorating an individual (Stinking Bishop, named for the man who first grew it, or Judge Amphlett, named for Assizes court judge Richard Amphlett), or those named for the place they grew (Hartpury Green, Bosbury Scarlet, Bartestree Squash). In the UK the most commonly used variety is the Blakeney Red. Unsuitable for eating, it produces superior perry.\n\nPerry pear trees can live to a great age, and can be fully productive for 250 years. They also grow to a considerable height and can have very large canopies; the largest recorded, a tree at Holme Lacy which still partly survives, covered three quarters of an acre and yielded a crop of 5–7 tons in 1790.Oliver, T. [http://www.theolivers.org.uk/SFPP_Protocol.pdf The Three Counties & Welsh Marches Perry Presidium Protocol] Their size often led to them being planted to provide a windbreak for apple orchards.\n\nTechnique\n\nTraditional perry making is broadly similar to traditional cider making, in that the fruit is picked, crushed, and pressed to extract the juice, which is then fermented using the wild yeasts found on the fruit's skin. The principal differences between perry and cider are that pears must be left for a critical period to mature after picking, and the pomace must be left to stand after initial crushing to lose tannins, a process analogous to wine maceration.Grafton, G. [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/perry.htm Perry Making], accessed 8 December 2009 After initial fermentation, the drink undergoes a secondary malolactic fermentation while maturing.\n\nPerry pears often have higher levels of sugar than cider apples, including unfermentable sugars such as sorbitol, which can give the finished drink a residual sweetness. They also have a very different tannin content to cider apples, with a predominance of astringent over bitter flavours. The presence of sorbitol can also give perry a mild laxative effect.\n\nPerry from Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire made from traditional recipes now forms a European Union Protected Geographical Indication.\n\nHistory\n\nThe earliest known reference to fermented alcoholic drinks being made from pears is found in Pliny, but perry making seems to have become well established in what is today France following the collapse of the Roman empire; references to perry making in its later heartland of England do not appear before the Norman Conquest. In the medieval period, France retained its association with pear growing, and the majority of pears consumed in England were in fact imported from France.\n\nBy the sixteenth and seventeenth century, however, perry making had become well established in the west of England, where the climate and soil was especially suitable for pear cultivation. In the three counties of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire in particular, as well as in Monmouthshire across the Welsh border, it was found that perry pears grew well in conditions where cider apple trees would not. Smaller amounts were also produced in other cider-producing areas such as Somerset. Perry may have grown in popularity after the English Civil War, when the large numbers of soldiers billeted in the Three Counties became acquainted with it,Wilson, C. A. Liquid Nourishment: Potable foods and stimulating drinks, Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p.94 and reached a zenith of popularity during the eighteenth century, when intermittent conflicts with France made the importing of wine difficult.[http://www.rhs.org.uk/RHSWebsite/files/7f/7f2b102c-f4a6-4c27-bfbb-b3b7d235bff1.pdf Keeping It Real], Royal Horticultural Society Many farms and estates had their own orchards, and many varieties of pear developed that were unique to particular parishes or villages.\n\nWhereas perry in England remained an overwhelmingly dry, still drink served from the cask, Normandy perry (poiré) developed a bottle-fermented, sparkling style with a good deal of sweetness.[http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option\ncom_content&taskview&id\n96&Itemid=105 Normandy, World Perry Capital], Welsh Perry & Cider Society, accessed 8 December 2009\n\nModern commercial perries\n\nThe production of traditional perry began to decline during the 20th century, in part due to changing farming practices – perry pears could be difficult and labour-intensive to crop, and orchards took many years to mature. The industry was, however, to a certain degree revived by modern commercial perry making techniques, developed by Francis Showering of the firm Showerings of Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in the creation of their sparkling branded perry Babycham. Babycham, the first mass-produced branded perry, was developed by Showering from application of the Long Ashton Institute's research, and was formerly produced from authentic perry pears, though today it is produced from concentrate, the firm's pear orchards having now been dug up. Aimed at the female drinker at a time when wine was not commonly available in UK pubs, Babycham was sold in miniature Champagne-style bottles; the drink was for many years a strong seller and made a fortune for the Showering family.[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/propertymarket/3334960/Prancing-to-the-tune-of-Babycham.html Prancing to the tune of Babycham], Daily Telegraph Another competing brand of light perry, Lambrini, is manufactured in Liverpool by Halewood International, and marketed under the slogan \"Lambrini Girls Just Wanna Have Fun\". It now dominates the light perry market and has a somewhat downmarket image in Britain.Alan Carr plies his guests with it on his chat show Chatty Man, and remarked that some guests, like The Black Eyed Peas and Samuel L. Jackson, seemed to like it – \"though in Britain you can't give it away.\" (Alan Carr, speaking to Paul O'Grady on O'Gradys Channel Four show 17 November 2009) The Irish drinks company, Cantrell and Cochrane, Plc (C&C), more famous for its Magners and Bulmers ciders, launched a similar light perry, Ritz, in 1986.\n\nLike commercial pale lager and commercial cider, commercial perry is highly standardised, and today often contains large quantities of cereal adjuncts such as corn syrup or invert sugar. It is also generally of lower strength, and sweeter, than traditional perry, and is artificially carbonated to give a sparkling finish. However, unlike traditional perry it is a consistent product: the nature of perry pears means that it is very difficult to produce traditional perry in commercial quantities. Traditional perry was overwhelmingly a drink made on farms for home consumption, or to sell in small quantities either at the farm gate or to local inns.\n\nDecline and revival of traditional perry\n\nBoth English perry making, and the orchards that supplied it, suffered a catastrophic decline in the second half of the 20th century as a result of changing tastes and agricultural practices (in South Gloucestershire alone, an estimated 90% of orchards were lost in the last 75 years).[http://www.southglos.gov.uk/NR/exeres/F0121B68-C8C5-4001-B521-E55500F2A957 South Gloucestershire Council – Orchards] Many pear orchards were also lost to Fire blight in the 1970s and 1980s. As well as the clearing of orchards, the decline of day labouring on farms meant that the manpower to harvest perry pears – as well as its traditional consumers – disappeared. It also lost popularity due to makers turning to dessert or general purpose pears in its manufacture rather than perry pears, resulting in a thin and tasteless product. In the UK prior to 2007, the small amounts of traditional perry still produced were mainly consumed by people living in farming communities.\n\nHowever, perry (often marketed under the name \"pear cider\", below) has in very recent times increased in popularity, with around 2.5 million British consumers purchasing it in one year. In addition, various organisations have been actively seeking out old perry pear trees and orchards and rediscovering lost varieties, many of which now exist only as single trees on isolated farms; for example, the Welsh Cider Society recently rediscovered the old Monmouthshire varieties \"Burgundy\" and the \"Potato Pear\" as well as a number of further types unrecorded up to that point.[http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option\ncom_content&taskview&id\n3&Itemid=4 Welsh Cider Society], accessed 8 December 2009\n\nOne may also find perry concentrated, in a similar style to applejack.\n\n\"Pear cider\"\n\n\"Pear cider\" has in recent years been used as an alternative name for alcoholic drinks containing pear juice, in preference to the term perry . According to the BBC, the term was first used when Brothers Cider, a product industrially made from pear concentrate, rather than the traditional method using perry pears, was sold at Glastonbury Festival in 1995: nobody understood what perry was and were told that it was \"like cider, but made from pears\".\n\nThe use of the term \"pear cider\", instead of perry, is one of the reasons for a new commercial lease of life to a drink that was in decline; in two years sales of the drink increased from £3.4 million to £46 million. The brewers Brothers, Gaymers and Bulmers/Magners now all have their own brands of pear cider, and Tesco and other major supermarkets have increased the number of pear ciders that they sell. The term \"pear cider\" is seen by the manufacturers as being more marketeable to the younger 18–34 demographic and by differentiating their products from previous brands associated with the word perry, such as Babycham and Lambrini that are either associated with the female market or deemed out of fashion by the younger demographic.\n\nCAMRA takes makers like Brothers to task, defining perry and pear cider as quite different drinks, stating that \"pear cider\" as made by the large industrial cidermakers is merely a pear-flavoured drink, or more specifically a cider-style drink flavoured with pear concentrate, whereas \"perry\" should be made by traditional methods from perry pears only. (Brothers, Bulmers and other pear ciders are made from pear concentrate, often imported.) Others, including the industry trade National Association of Cider Makers, maintain that the terms perry and pear cider are interchangeable. Its own rules specify that perry or pear cider may contain no more than 25% apple juice.[http://www.cideruk.com/cider_market/code_of_practice NACM Code of Practice]\n\nOutside England, Wales & Normandy\n\nIn Australia\n\nThe beverage is also becoming increasingly popular in Australia. Small local manufacturers are beginning to appear such as Gypsy Cider, brewed by 2 Brothers Brewery in Melbourne, Henry's of Harcourt (VIC) and LOBO Cider in the Adelaide Hills as well as Paracombe Premium Perry also in the Adelaide Hills. Few traditional European Perry pears are available, it is believed that Moorcroft, Gin, Green Horse & Yellow Huffcap varieties are in Australia. \nEating pears are generally used with differing results in Australia. Australian Food Standards permit up to 25% of apple juice in Perry or Pear cider. The importation of pear ciders from abroad include brands such as Weston's, St Helier, Magners, Rekorderlig and Kopparberg now available. The only true Perry imported comes from Weston's where it also has the European Union Geographical indication protection. Weston's also import an Organic Pear Cider into Australia.\n\nIn Sweden\n\nAs 'Pear cider', the drink is popular in Sweden with brands such as Briska, Kopparberg, Herrljunga Cider, Rekorderlig Cider, and Gravendals being present.\n\nIn the United States\n\nWith hard cider sales on the increase in the American alcoholic beverage market, the production of perry has increased alongside, with many craft cideries making perries (typically called pear cider in the United States) alongside their apple ciders. As the craft beer and cider industries took off in the United States in the 1990s, a few players experimented with perries. One of the first commercially available domestic perries in the US was Ace Cider's Perry Cider, introduced in 1996. Today, even mass market brands, such as MillerCoors' Crispin Hard Cider Company and Boston Beer Company's Angry Orchard, are producing perries.\n\nIn New Zealand\n\nNew Zealand is seeing a surge in the popularity of Pear Cider with Old Mout Cidery, Macs and Monteiths Brewery each producing a pear cider.\n\nIn Japan\n\nJapanese pear cider is called ' Nashi pear's sparkling wine ' or ' Pear Cidre ' (In Japan, Cidre is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from the unfiltered juice of apples. Cider in Japan refers to a soft drink similar to Sprite or lemonade.).\n\nIn Japan, the most commonly used Cidre pear is the Nashi pear. Nashi pear are used for both cider and eating purposes.\n\nPear Cidre can be used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled ciders containing a cider widget, or which are cold-filtered rather than pasteurised.\n\nHigher quality pear cider is sold in champagne-style bottles (cidre bouché). Many pear ciders are sold in corked bottles, but some screw-top bottles exist.","www.growingfreedom.yolasite.com\nhybridum, alsike or Swedish ... red and white colour. ... and having pointed rather than rounded flower bracts. The fruit is a globose pink to red compound berry 2 ...\nhttps://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1oXwtTpEDXSZvmwScYW_LGSI-8NmXxnDZrYhzJXH0hHw \nThis link above is to the current plant database I'm working on for the book, its far from done.\n Here is the plant database, some items may be repeated do to different classification families/species etc. I focus on plants able to be grown in USDA zones 4,5,6 but not limited to. As possible pictures will also be added eventually. If you know of something not listed please email me at growingfreedompodcast@gmail.com with a full description etc as you see here along with a picture if possible. Thanks\nnote: that this data base is not in any particular order as of yet, also most information has been taken from Wikipedia, I will fix errors etc when possible as well as some of the odd charecters, thanks for your patience.\nMullein\nThe Mulleins genus Verbascum, (also known as velvet plants) are a genus of about 250\nspecies of flowering plants in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). They are native to\nEurope and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.\nThey are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5–3 m\ntall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending\nup a tall flowering stem. Biennial plants will form the rosette the first year, and during\nthe following season is when the stem emerges. The leaves are spirally arranged, often\ndensely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five\nsymmetrical petals; petal colors in different species include yellow (most common),\norange, red-brown, purple, blue or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute\nseeds.\nVarious species have been introduced (and in some case naturalized) in the Americas,\nChicory\nCommon chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a bushy perennial herbaceous plant with blue,\nlavender, or occasionally white flowers. Various varieties are cultivated for salad leaves,\nchicons (blanched buds), or for roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as\na coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock. It lives\nas a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America and Australia,\nwhere it has become naturalized.\n\"Chicory\" is also the common name in the US (and in French) for curly endive (Cichorium\nendivia); these two closely related species are often confused.\nCommon chicory is also known as blue sailors, succory, and coffeeweed. It is also called\ncornflower, although that name is more commonly applied to Centaurea cyanus. Common names\nfor varieties of var. foliosum include endive, radicchio, Belgian endive, French endive,\nred endive, sugarloaf or witloof.\nWhen flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from 30 to 100\ncentimetres (10 to 40 in) tall.\nThe leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed.\nThe flower heads are 2 to 4 centimeters (0.79 to 1.6 in) wide, and bright blue. There are\ntwo rows of involucral bracts - the inner are longer and erect, the outer are shorter and\nspreading. It flowers from July until October.\nThe achenes have no pappus (feathery hairs), but do have toothed scales on top.\nWild chicory leaves are usually bitter. Their bitterness is appreciated in certain\ncuisines, such as in the Liguria and Puglia regions of Italy and also in Catalonia, in\nGreece and in Turkey.[4] In Ligurian cuisine the wild chicory leaves are an ingredient of\npreboggion and in Greek cuisine of horta; in the Puglian region wild chicory leaves are\ncombined with fava bean puree in the traditional local dish Fave e Cicorie Selvatiche.\nBy cooking and discarding the water the bitterness is reduced, after which the chicory\nleaves may be sauteed with garlic, anchovies and other ingredients. In this form the\nresulting greens might be combined with pasta[6] or to accompany meat dishes\nChicory may be cultivated for its leaves, usually eaten raw as salad leaves. Cultivated\nchicory is generally divided into three types of which there are many varieties:[8]\n * Radicchio usually has variegated red or red and green leaves. Some only refer to the\nwhite-veined red leaved type as radicchio. Also known as red endive and red chicory. It has\na bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. It can also be used\nto add color and zest to salads.\n * Sugarloaf looks rather like cos lettuce, with tightly packed leaves.\nWitlof\n * Belgian endive is also known as French endive, witlof in Dutch or witloof in Belgian\nDutch, witloof in the United States[citation needed], chicory in the UK, as witloof in\nAustralia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France and in Wallonia. It has\na small head of cream-colored, bitter leaves. It is grown completely underground or\nindoors in the absence of sunlight in order to prevent the leaves from turning green and\nopening up (etiolation). The plant has to be kept just below the soil surface as it grows,\nonly showing the very tip of the leaves. It is often sold wrapped in blue paper to protect\nit from light and so preserve its pale color and delicate flavor. The smooth, creamy\nwhite leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or\nsimply cut raw. Slightly bitter, the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste. The harder\ninner part of the stem, at the bottom of the head, should be cut out before cooking to\nprevent bitterness. Belgium exports chicon/witloof to over 40 different countries. The\ntechnique for growing blanched endives was accidentally discovered in the 1850s in\nSchaerbeek, Belgium.[9] Endive is cultivated for culinary use by cutting the leaves from\nthe growing plant, then keeping the living stem and root in a dark place. A new bud\ndevelops but without sunlight it is white and lacks the bitterness of the sun-exposed\nfoliage. Today France is the largest producer of endives.\nFlower of Cichorium intybus\nnote two rows of bracts\nIllustration\nAlthough leaf chicory is often called \"endive\", true endive (Cichorium endivia) is a\ndifferent species in the genus.\n[edit] Root chicory\nRoot chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been in cultivation in Europe as a coffee\nsubstitute. The roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive,\nespecially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native), although its use as a\ncoffee additive is also very popular in India, parts of Southeast Asia, South Africa and\nsouthern United States, particularly in New Orleans. It has also been popular as a coffee\nsubstitute in poorer economic areas, and has gained wider popularity during economic crises\nsuch as the Great Depression in the 1930s. Chicory, with sugar beet and rye was used as an\ningredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the \"coffee\ncrisis\" of 1976-79.\nSome beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to their stouts.\nAround 1970 it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar\nto starch. Inulin is mainly found in the plant family Asteraceae as a storage carbohydrate\n(for example Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia etc.). It is used as a sweetener in the food\nindustry with a sweetening power 1⁄10 that of sucrose[10] and is sometimes added to yogurts\nas a prebiotic. Inulin can be converted to fructose and glucose through hydrolysis. Inulin\nis also gaining popularity as a source of soluble dietary fiber.\nChicory root extract is a dietary supplement or food additive produced by mixing dried,\nground, chicory root with water, and removing the insoluble fraction by filtration and\ncentrifugation. Other methods may be used to remove pigments and sugars. Fresh chicory root\ntypically contains, by dry weight, 68% inulin, 14% sucrose, 5% cellulose, 6% protein, 4%\nash, and 3% other compounds. Dried chicory root extract contains, by weight, approximately\n98% inulin and 2% other compounds.[11] Fresh chicory root may contain between 13 and 23%\ninulin, by total weight.[12]\n[edit] Agents responsible for bitterness\nThe bitter substances are primarily the two sesquiterpene lactones Lactucin and\nLactucopicrin. Other ingredients are Aesculetin, Aesculin, Cichoriin, Umbelliferone,\nScopoletin and 6.7-Dihydrocoumarin and further sesquiterpene lactones and their\nglycosides.[13]\nRoot chicory contains volatile oils similar to those found in plants in the related genus\nTanacetum which includes Tansy, and is similarly effective at eliminating intestinal worms.\nAll parts of the plant contain these volatile oils, with the majority of the toxic\ncomponents concentrated in the plant's root.[14]\nChicory is well known for its toxicity to internal parasites. Studies indicate that\ningestion of chicory by farm animals results in reduction of worm burdens,[15][16][17]\nwhich has prompted its widespread use as a forage supplement. Only a few major companies\nare active in research, development, and production of chicory varieties and selections,\nmost in New Zealand.\nChicory (especially the flower) was used as a treatment in Germany, and is recorded in many\nbooks as an ancient German treatment for everyday ailments. It is variously used as a tonic\nand as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinus problems and cuts and bruises.\n(Howard M. 1987). Inulin, the dietary fiber found in Chicory finds application in diabetes\nand constipation.\n This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline\ncitations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (July 2010)\nChicory produces a large volume of palatable and relatively easily digested foliage with a\nhigh protein and mineral content and is suitable for grazing sheep and dairy cattle.\nChicory contains small amounts of condensed tannins (some varieties more than others)\naiding in the conversion of nitrogen to proteins in ruminant digestion. Tannins are also\nrumored[by whom?] to reduce intestinal parasites, however, scientific studies have not\nproved a direct anti-parasite effect. Studies[which?] indicate that the increased\navailability of high quality protein to the animal (perhaps in combination with increased\nlevels of trace minerals) results in a general increase in animal condition that helps in\nreducing worm burdens.\nDevelopment of chicory varieties has taken place mostly in New Zealand, with some use in\nNorth America\n * Puna (Grasslands Puna) – One of the most popular forage varieties, developed in New\nZealand. It is well adapted to different climates, being grown from Alberta, Canada, to New\nMexico and Florida. It is resistant to bolting, which leads to high nutrient levels in the\nleaves in spring. It also has high resistance to grazing.\n * Forage Feast – A variety from France used for human consumption and also for wildlife\nplots.[clarification needed] It is very cold-hardy, and due to use for human consumption it\nis lower in tannins than other forage varieties.\n * Choice – Choice has been bred for high winter and early-spring growth activity, and\nlower amounts of lactucin and lactone, which are believed to taint milk. It is also use for\nseeding deer wildlife plots.\n * Oasis – Bred for increased lactone rates for the forage industry, and for higher\nresistance to fungal diseases like Sclerotinia.[clarification needed]\n * Puna II – More winter-active than most other varieties, which leads to greater\npersistence and longevity.\n * Grouse – A New Zealand variety used as a planting companion for forage brassicas.\nMore prone to early flowering than other varieties, with higher crowns more susceptible to\noverbrowsing.\n * Six Point – A United States variety, very similar to Puna.\n[edit] History\nThe chicory plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace mentions it\nin reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: \"Me pascunt olivae, me\ncichorea, me malvae\" (\"As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance\").[18]\nLord Monboddo describes the plant in 1779[19] as the \"chicoree\", which the French cultivate\nas a pot herb. In the Napoleonic Era in France, chicory frequently appeared as either an\nadulterant in coffee or a coffee substitute.;[20] this practice also became common in the\nUnited States and the United Kingdom, e.g., in England during the Second World War and in\nCamp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence which has been on sale since 1885.\nThe cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval\nmonks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that\nchicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.\nIn the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in\nprisons.[21] By the 1840s, after New York, the port of New Orleans was the second largest\nimporter of coffee.[20] Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union\nnaval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans creating a\nlong-standing tradition.[20]\nChicory is a common ingredient in typical Roman recipes, generally fried with garlic and\nred pepper to add its bitter and spicy flavor to meat or potato dishes. FAO reports that in\n2005, China and the USA were the top producers of lettuce and chicory.[citation needed]\nChicory is also mentioned in certain sericulture (silk-growing) texts. It is said that the\nprimary caretaker of the silkworms, the \"silkworm mother\" should not eat or even touch\nit.[citation needed]\nThe chicory flower is often seen as inspiration for the Romantic concept of the Blue\nFlower. It was also believed to be able to open locked doors, according to European\nfolklore.\n \nClovers\nClover (Trifolium), or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the leguminous\npea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is\nfound in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America\nand Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual,\nbiennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants. The leaves are trifoliate (rarely 5-\nor 7-foliate), with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small\nred, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the\ncalyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus (sweet clover)\nand Medicago (alfalfa or 'calvary clover'). The \"shamrock\" of popular iconography is\nsometimes considered to be young clover. The scientific name derives from the Latin tres,\n\"three\", and folium, \"leaf\", so called from the characteristic form of the leaf, which has\nthree leaflets (trifoliate); hence the popular name trefoil. Clovers are used as food\nplants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species; see list of\nLepidoptera that feed on clovers.\nSeveral species are extensively cultivated as fodder plants. The most widely cultivated\nclovers are white clover Trifolium repens and red clover Trifolium pratense. Clover, either\nsown alone or in mixture with ryegrass, has for a long time formed a staple crop for\nsoiling, for several reasons: it grows freely, shooting up again after repeated mowings; it\nproduces an abundant crop; it is palatable to and nutritious for livestock; it grows in a\ngreat range of soils and climates; and it is appropriate for either pasturage or green\ncomposting.\nIn many areas, particularly on acidic soil, clover is short-lived because of a combination\nof insect pests, diseases and nutrient balance; this is known as \"clover sickness\". When\ncrop rotations are managed so that clover does not recur at intervals shorter than eight\nyears, it grows with much of its pristine vigor.\nClover sickness in more recent times may also be linked to pollinator decline; clovers are\nmost efficiently pollinated by bumblebees, which have declined as a result of agricultural\nintensification.[3] Honeybees can also pollinate clover, and beekeepers are often in heavy\ndemand from farmers with clover pastures. Farmers reap the benefits of increased reseeding\nthat occurs with increased bee activity, which means that future clover yields remain\nabundant. Beekeepers benefit from the clover bloom as clover is one of the main nectar\nsources for honeybees.\nT. repens, white or Dutch clover, is a perennial abundant in meadows and good pastures. The\nflowers are white or pinkish, becoming brown and deflexed as the corolla fades. T.\nhybridum, alsike or Swedish clover, is a perennial which was introduced early in the 19th\ncentury and has now become naturalized in Britain. The flowers are white or rosy, and\nresemble those of the last species. T. medium, meadow or zigzag clover, a perennial with\nstraggling flexuous stems and rose-purple flowers, is of little agricultural value.\nOther South African species are: T. arvense, hare's-foot trefoil; found in fields and dry\npastures, a soft hairy plant with minute white or pale pink flowers and feathery sepals; T.\nfragiferum, orange clover, with hot-grounded, globose, rose-purple heads and swollen\ncalyxes; T. procumbens, hop trefoil, on dry pastures and roadsides, the heads of pale\nyellow flowers suggesting miniature hops; and the somewhat similar T. minus, common in\npastures and roadsides, with smaller heads and small yellow flowers turning dark brown. It\nis a source of high protein.\n[edit] Symbolism and mythology\nShamrock, the traditional Irish symbol coined by Saint Patrick for the Holy Trinity, is\ncommonly associated with clover, though sometimes with Oxalis species, which are also\ntrifoliate (i.e., they have three leaves).\nClovers occasionally have leaves with four leaflets, instead of the usual three. These\nfour-leaf clovers, like other rarities, are considered lucky. Clovers can also have five,\nsix, or more leaves, but these are more rare. The most ever recorded is twenty-one,[4] a\nrecord set in June 2008 by the same man who held the prior record and the current Guinness\nWorld Record of eighteen.[5] Unofficial claims of discovery have ranged as high as\ntwenty-seven.[4]\nA common idiom is \"to be (live) in clover\", meaning to live a carefree life of ease,\ncomfort, or prosperity. This originally referred to the fact that clover is fattening to\ncattle.[6]\nThe cloverleaf interchange is named for the resemblance to the leaves of a (four-leafed)\nclover when viewed from the air.\n \nTypha (pronounced /ˈtaɪfə/) is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous\nflowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere\ndistribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland\nhabitats. These plants are known in British English as bulrush, bullrush, or reedmace,[1]\nin American English as cattail, punks, or corndog grass, in Australia as cumbungi & also\nbulrush, and in New Zealand as raupo. Typha should not be confused with other plants known\nas bulrush, such as some sedges (mostly in Scirpus and related genera).\nTheir rhizomes are edible. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests\nthey were eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago.\nTypha leaves are alternate and mostly basal to a simple, jointless stem that eventually\nbears the flowering spikes. The rhizomes spread horizontally beneath the surface of muddy\nground to start new upright growth, and the spread of Typha is an important part of the\nprocess of open water bodies being converted to vegetated marshland and eventually dry\nland.\nTypha plants are monoecious and bear unisexual, wind-pollinated flowers, developing in\ndense spikes. The numerous male flowers form a narrow spike at the top of the vertical\nstem. Each male (staminate) flower is reduced to a pair of stamens and hairs, and withers\nonce the pollen is shed. The very large numbers of tiny female flowers form a dense,\nsausage-shaped spike on the stem below the male spike — in larger species this can be up to\n30 centimeters (12 in) long and 1 to 4 centimeters (0.39 to 1.6 in) thick. Seeds are\nminute, 0.2 millimeters (0.0079 in) long, and attached to a fine hair. When ripe the heads\ndisintegrate into dense cottony fluff, from which the seeds disperse by wind. Typha is\noften among the first wetland plants to colonize areas of newly exposed wet mud; it also\nspreads by rhizomes, forming dense stands often to the exclusion of other plants.\n[edit] Species\n * Typha angustifolia - Lesser Bulrush, Narrow Leaf Cattail (America) or Jambu (India)\n * Typha domingensis - Bulrush, Southern Cattail (America) or Narrow-leaved Cumbungi\n(Australia)\n * Typha ×glauca (angustifolia × latifolia) - Hybrid or White Cattail\n * Typha latifolia - Common Cattail\n * Typha muelleri - Raupo (New Zealand)\n * Typha orientalis - Broadleaf Cumbungi (Australia) or Raupo (New Zealand)\n * Typha capensis - Cape bulrush\nTypha plants at the edge of a small wetland in Indiana.\nThe most widespread species is Typha latifolia, extending across the entire temperate\nnorthern hemisphere. T. angustifolia is nearly as widespread, but does not extend so far\nnorth; some believe it is introduced and invasive in North America. T. domingensis is a\nmore southerly American and Australian species, extending from the U.S. to South America.\nT. orientalis is widespread in eastern & northern Australia, temperate & tropical Asia, New\nZealand. T. laxmannii, T. minima, and T. shuttleworthii are largely restricted to Asia and\nparts of southern Europe. Typha latifolia has also been recently introduced into fresh\nwater creeks and lakes in Australia where the water is shallow and contains levels of\ndirty, turbid water. It affects the flow of the water and also filters the water and\ncatches floating or submerged items, possibly damming the water flow.\nTypha plants grow along lake margins and in marshes, often in dense colonies, and are\nsometimes considered a weed in managed wetlands. The plant's root systems help prevent\nerosion, and the plants themselves are often home to many insects, birds and amphibians.\n[edit] Uses\nTypha has a wide variety of parts that are edible to humans. The rhizomes, underground\nlateral stems, are a pleasant nutritious and energy-rich food source that when processed\ninto flour contains 266 kcal per 100 g.[2]. They are generally harvested from late autumn\nto early spring. These are starchy, but also fibrous, so the starch must be scraped or\nsucked from the tough fibers. The bases of the leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, in late\nspring when they are young and tender. As the flower spike is developing in early summer,\nit can be broken off and eaten like corn on the cob[clarification needed]. In mid-summer,\nonce the male flowers are mature [3], the pollen can be collected and used as a flour\nsupplement or thickener. Typha has also recently been suggested as a source of\noil.[clarification needed] However, the plant's airborne seeds have also been known to\ncreate skin irritation and can trigger asthma.\nStarch grains have been found on grinding stones widely across Europe from 30,000 BP\nsuggesting that Typha plants were a widely used Upper Paleolithic food.[2]\n[edit] Other uses\nTypha seeds are very small, embedded in down parachutes, and very effectively\nwind-dispersed\nTypha (蒲, gama?) with/without seeds. Seeds used for Futon (布団 or 蒲団, futon?) before cotton\nThe disintegrating heads are used by some birds to line their nests. The downy material was\nalso used by some Native American tribes as tinder for starting fires.\nSome Native American tribes also used Typha down to line moccasins, and for bedding,\ndiapers, baby powder, and papoose boards. One Native American word for Typha meant \"fruit\nfor papoose's bed\". Today some people still use Typha down to stuff clothing items and\npillows.[4] When using Typha for pillow stuffing, dense batting material is used, as the\nfluff may cause a skin reaction similar to urticaria.\nTypha can be dipped in wax then lit as a candle, the stem serving as a wick.\nThe down has been used to fill life vests in the same manner as kapok.[citation needed]\nTypha can be used as a source of ethanol, instead of cereals.[clarification needed] They\nhave the advantage that they do not require much, if any, maintenance.[5]\nOne informal experiment has indicated that Typha is able to remove the poisonous element\narsenic from drinking water. Such a filtration system may be one way to provide cheap water\nfiltration for people in developing nations.[6]\nThe boiled root stocks have been used as a diuretic for increasing urination, or used\nmashing, to make a jelly-like paste for sores, boils, wounds, burns, scabs, inflammations,\nand smallpox pustules.[citation needed]\nTypha orientalis is used to make compostable food packaging.\n \nBurdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae.\nNative to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide.[2]\nPlants of the genus Arctium have dark green leaves that can grow up to 28\" (71 cm) long.\nThey are generally large, coarse and ovate, with the lower ones being heart-shaped. They\nare woolly underneath. The leafstalks are generally hollow. Arctium species generally\nflower from July through to October.\nThe prickly heads of these plants (burrs) are noted for easily catching on to fur and\nclothing (being the inspiration for Velcro[3]), thus providing an excellent mechanism for\nseed dispersal.[2] Burrs cause local irritation and can possibly cause intestinal hairballs\nin pets. However, most animals avoid ingesting these plants.\nA large number of species have been placed in genus Arctium at one time or another, but\nmost of them are now classified in the related genus Cousinia. The precise limits between\nArctium and Cousinia are hard to define; there is an exact correlation between their\nmolecular phylogeny. The burdocks are sometimes confused with the cockleburs (genus\nXanthium) and rhubarb (genus Rheum).\nThe roots of burdock, among other plants, are eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth\n(Hepialus humuli). The plant is used as a food plant by other Lepidoptera including\nBrown-tail, Coleophora paripennella, Coleophora peribenanderi, the Gothic, Lime-speck Pug\nand Scalloped Hazel.\nThe green, above-ground portions may cause contact dermatitis in humans due to the lactones\nthe plant produces.\nUses\n[edit] Food and drink\nThe taproot of young burdock plants can be harvested and eaten as a root vegetable. While\ngenerally out of favour in modern European cuisine, it remains popular in Asia. In Japan,\nA. lappa (Greater burdock) is called \"gobō\" (牛蒡 or ごぼう); in Korea burdock root is called\n\"u-eong\" (우엉) and sold as \"tong u-eong\" (통우엉), or \"whole burdock\". Plants are cultivated\nfor their slender roots, which can grow about 1 meter long and 2 cm across. Burdock root is\nvery crisp and has a sweet, mild, and pungent flavor with a little muddy harshness that\ncan be reduced by soaking julienned or shredded roots in water for five to ten minutes.\nImmature flower stalks may also be harvested in late spring, before flowers appear; their\ntaste resembles that of artichoke, to which the burdock is related. Leaves are also eaten\nin springs in Japan when a plant is young and leaves are soft. Some A. lappa cultivars are\nspecialized in this purpose. A popular Japanese dish is kinpira gobō (金平牛蒡), julienned or\nshredded burdock root and carrot, braised with soy sauce, sugar, mirin and/or sake, and\nsesame oil; another is burdock makizushi (sushi filled with pickled burdock root; the\nburdock root is often artificially coloured orange to resemble a carrot).\nIn the second half of the 20th century, burdock achieved international recognition for its\nculinary use due to the increasing popularity of the macrobiotic diet, which advocates its\nconsumption. It contains a fair amount of dietary fiber (GDF, 6g per 100g), calcium,\npotassium, amino acids,[4] and is low in calories. It contains a polyphenol oxidase,[5]\nwhich cause its darkened surface and muddy harshness by forming tannin-iron complexes.\nBurdock root's harshness harmonizes well with pork in miso soup (tonjiru) and with\nJapanese-style pilaf (takikomi gohan).\nDandelion and burdock is today a soft drink that has long been popular in the United\nKingdom, which has its origins in hedgerow mead commonly drunk in the medieval\nperiod.[citation needed] Burdock is believed to be a galactagogue, a substance that\nincreases lactation, but it is sometimes recommended to be avoided during pregnancy based\non animal studies that show components of burdock to cause uterus stimulation.[6]\nIn parts of the US (notably western New York), burdock stalks are eaten as a substitute for\ncardoon. The stalks are peeled, scrubbed, boiled in salt water, and fried in an egg and\nbreadcrumb batter.\nFolk herbalists consider dried burdock to be a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying\nagent. The seeds of A. lappa are used in traditional Chinese medicine, under the name\nniupangzi (Chinese: 牛蒡子; pinyin: niúpángzi; Some dictionaries list the Chinese as just 牛蒡\nniúbàng.)\nBurdock is a traditional medicinal herb that is used for many ailments. Burdock root oil\nextract, also called Bur oil, is popular in Europe as a scalp treatment applied to improve\nhair strength, shine and body, help reverse scalp conditions such as dandruff, and combat\nhair loss. Modern studies[citation needed] indicate that burdock root oil extract is rich\nin phytosterols and essential fatty acids (including rare long-chain EFAs), the nutrients\nrequired to maintain a healthy scalp and promote natural hair growth. It combines an\nimmediate relieving effect with nutritional support of normal functions of sebaceous glands\nand hair follicles According to some European herbalists, combining burdock root oil with a\nnettle root oil and massaging these two oils into the scalp every day has a greater effect\nthan Bur oil alone.[citation needed]\nBurdock leaves are used by some burn care workers for pain management and to speed healing\ntime in natural burn treatment.[7] Burn care workers hold that it eases dressing changes\nand appears to impede bacterial growth on the wound site and that it also provides a great\nmoisture barrier.\n[edit] French Cloth\nIn the early 1700s, Frenchmen introduced these by the thousands into North America. They\nused it exclusively as a cotton twill. But once the cotton gin was invented, the Frenchmen\nleft, and the burdock spread incredibly quickly.[citation needed] The Frenchmen left during\nthe windy season, and it spread even more. Burdock is considered an invasive species in\nNorth America.\n[edit] Burdock and Velcro\nAfter taking his dog for a walk one day in the early 1940s, George de Mestral, a Swiss\ninventor, became curious about the seeds of the burdock plant that had attached themselves\nto his clothes and to the dog's fur. Under a microscope, he looked closely at the\nhook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals aiding seed\ndispersal, and he realised that the same approach could be used to join other things\ntogether. The result was Velcro.[3]\n[edit] Tolstoy\nThe Russian writer Leo Tolstoy wrote in his journal, in 1896, about a tiny shoot of burdock\nhe saw in a ploughed field, \"black from dust but still alive and red in the center … It\nmakes me want to write. It asserts life to the end, and alone in the midst of the whole\nfield, somehow or other had asserted it.\"\n[edit] Species\n * Arctium lappa : Greater Burdock, Gobō\n * Arctium minus : Lesser Burdock, Burweed, Louse-bur, Button-bur\n o Arctium minus nemorosum (=Arctium vulgare) : Woodland Burdock, Wood Burdock\n * Arctium pubens : Common Burdock\n * Arctium tomentosum : Downy Burdock, Woolly Burdock\n[edit] Safety\nBecause the roots of burdock resemble those of Deadly nightshade (also known as belladonna\nor Atropa belladonna), which is extremely poisonous, it is sometimes cautioned as a safety\nrisk. Given that the plants above ground are readily distinguishable, and chiefly because\ntheir habitats rarely overlap, it is unlikely that the toxic plant's root should be found\nbeneath the foliage of the edible one's. However, positive identification is a necessary\nprecondition to the consumption of any wild plant.\n \nAsparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial[1] plant species in the\ngenus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its allium cousins, onions\nand garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the\nfamily Alliaceae and asparagus in the Asparagaceae. Asparagus officinalis is native to most\nof Europe, northern Africa and western Asia,[2][3][4] and is widely cultivated as a\nvegetable crop.\nAsparagus is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 100–150 centimetres (39–59 in) tall,\nwith stout stems with much-branched feathery foliage. The \"leaves\" are in fact needle-like\ncladodes (modified stems) in the axils of scale leaves; they are 6–32 millimetres (0.24–1.3\nin) long and 1 millimeter (0.039 in) broad, and clustered 4–15 together. The root system is\nadventitious and the root type is fasciculated. The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white\nto yellowish, 4.5–6.5 millimeters (0.18–0.26 in) long, with six tepals partially fused\ntogether at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of 2–3 in the junctions of\nthe branchlets. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants,\nbut sometimes hermaphrodite flowers are found. The fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm\ndiameter, which is poisonous to humans.[5]\nPlants native to the western coasts of Europe (from northern Spain north to Ireland, Great\nBritain, and northwest Germany) are treated as Asparagus officinalis subsp. prostratus\n(Dumort.) Corb., distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only\n30–70 centimeters (12–28 in) high, and shorter cladodes 2–18 millimeters (0.079–0.71 in)\nlong.[2][6] It is treated as a distinct species Asparagus prostratus Dumort by some\nauthors.[7][8]\n[edit] History\nAsparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate\nflavor and diuretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest\nsurviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third century AD De re coquinaria, Book III. It was\ncultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and\ndried the vegetable for use in winter. Asparagus is pictured on an Egyptian frieze dating\nto 3000 B.C. France’s Louis XIV had special greenhouses built for growing it.[9]\nIt lost its popularity in the Middle Ages but returned to favor in the seventeenth\ncentury.[10]\n[edit] Uses\n[edit] Culinary\nThree types of asparagus on a shop display, with white asparagus at the back and green\nasparagus in the middle. The plant at the front is Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, commonly called\nwild asparagus, and sometimes \"Bath Asparagus\".\nOnly young asparagus shoots are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open the shoots\nquickly turn woody and become strongly flavoured.\nAsparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B6,\ncalcium, magnesium and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A,\nvitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron,\nphosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium[citation needed], as well as\nchromium, a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from\nthe bloodstream into cells[citation needed]. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from\nasparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.\nThe shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, typically as an\nappetizer[11] or vegetable side dish. In Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often\nstir-fried. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried\nwith chicken, shrimp, or beef, and also wrapped in bacon. Asparagus may also be quickly\ngrilled over charcoal or hardwood embers. It is also used as an ingredient in some stews\nand soups. In the French style, it is often boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise\nsauce, melted butter or olive oil, Parmesan cheese or mayonnaise. Tall, narrow asparagus\ncooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water. In\nrecent years, almost as a cycle dating back to early culinary habits, asparagus has\nregained its popularity eaten raw as a component of a salad.[12]\nAsparagus can also be pickled and stored for several years. Some brands may label shoots\nprepared this way as \"marinated.\"\nThe bottom portion of asparagus often contains sand and dirt and therefore thorough\ncleaning is generally advised in cooking asparagus.\nGreen asparagus is eaten worldwide, though the availability of imports throughout the year\nhas made it less of a delicacy than it once was.[6] However, in the UK, due to the short\ngrowing season and demand for local produce, asparagus commands a premium and the\n\"asparagus season is a highlight of the foodie calendar.\"[13] In continental northern\nEurope, there is also a strong seasonal following for local white asparagus, nicknamed\n\"white gold\".\nGerman botanical illustration of asparagus\n[edit] Medicinal\nThe second century physician Galen described asparagus as \"cleansing and healing.\"\nNutrition studies have shown that asparagus is a low-calorie source of folate and\npotassium. Its stalks are high in antioxidants. \"Asparagus provides essential nutrients:\nsix spears contain some 135 micrograms (μg) of folate, almost half the adult RDI\n(recommended daily intake), 20 milligrams of potassium,\" notes an article in Reader's\nDigest. Research suggests folate is key in taming homocysteine, a substance implicated in\nheart disease. Folate is also critical for pregnant women, since it protects against neural\ntube defects in babies. Several studies indicate that getting plenty of potassium may\nreduce the loss of calcium from the body.\nParticularly green asparagus is a good source of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body\nproduce and maintain collagen, the major structural protein component of the body's\nconnective tissues.\n\"Asparagus has long been recognized for its medicinal properties,\" wrote D. Onstad, author\nof Whole Foods Companion: A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers and Lovers of\nNatural Foods. \"Asparagus contains substances that act as a diuretic, neutralize ammonia\nthat makes us tired, and protect small blood vessels from rupturing. Its fiber content\nmakes it a laxative too.\" It should be noted, however, that ammonia only \"makes us tired\"\nif we are in end stage liver failure.\n[edit] Cultivation\nGreen asparagus for sale in New York City.\nSee also: List of asparagus diseases\nSince asparagus often originates in maritime habitats, it thrives in soils that are too\nsaline for normal weeds to grow in. Thus a little salt was traditionally used to suppress\nweeds in beds intended for asparagus; this has the disadvantage that the soil cannot be\nused for anything else. Some places are better for growing asparagus than others. The\nfertility of the soil is a large factor. \"Crowns\" are planted in winter, and the first\nshoots appear in spring; the first pickings or \"thinnings\" are known as sprue asparagus.\nSprue have thin stems.[14]\nWhite asparagus, known as spargel, is cultivated by denying the plants light while they are\nbeing grown. Less bitter than the green variety, it is very popular in the Netherlands,\nFrance, Belgium and Germany where 57,000 tonnes (61% of consumer demands) are produced\nannually.[15]\nPurple asparagus differs from its green and white counterparts, having high sugar and low\nfibre levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in Italy and commercialised under\nthe variety name Violetto d'Albenga. Since then, breeding work has continued in countries\nsuch as the United States and New Zealand.[verification needed]\nIn northwestern Europe, the season for asparagus production is short, traditionally\nbeginning on April 23 and ending on Midsummer Day.[16]\n[edit] Companion planting\nAsparagus is a useful companion plant for tomatoes. The tomato plant repels the asparagus\nbeetle, as do several other common companion plants of tomatoes. Meanwhile, asparagus may\nrepel some harmful root nematodes that affect tomato plants.[\n \nAmaranthus, collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately\n60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to\ngold. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely\nrelated genus Celosia.\nAlthough several species are often considered weeds, people around the world value\namaranths as leaf vegetables, cereals, and ornamentals. A traditional food plant in Africa,\namaranth has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural\ndevelopment and support sustainable landcare.[1]\nThe ultimate root of \"amaranth\" is the Greek ἀμάραντος[2] (amarantos) \"unfading\" with the\nGreek word for \"flower\" ἄνθος (anthos) factoring into the word's development as \"amaranth\"\n- the more correct \"amarant\" is an archaic variant.\nSystematics\nAmaranthus shows a wide variety of morphological diversity among and even within certain\nspecies. Although the family (Amaranthaceae) is distinctive, the genus has few\ndistinguishing characters among the 70 species included.[3] This complicates taxonomy and\nAmaranthus has generally been considered among systematists as a “difficult” genus.[4]\nFormerly, Sauer (1955) classified the genus into 2 sub-genera, differentiating only between\nmonoecious and dioecious species: Acnida (L.) Aellen ex K.R. Robertson and Amaranthus.[4]\nAlthough this classification was widely accepted, further infrageneric classification was\n(and still is) needed to differentiate this widely diverse group.\nCurrently, Amaranthus includes 3 recognized sub-genera and 70 species, although species\nnumbers are questionable due to hybridization and species concepts.[5] Infrageneric\nclassification focuses on inflorescence, flower characters and whether a species is\nmonoecious/dioecious, as in the Sauer (1955) suggested classification.[3] A modified\ninfrageneric classification of Amaranthus was published by Mosyakin & Robertson (1996) and\nincludes 3 subgenera: Acnida, Amaranthus and Albersia. The taxonomy is further\ndifferentiated by sections within each of the sub-genera.[6]\n[edit] Uses\nSeveral species are raised for amaranth \"grain\" in Asia and the Americas. This should more\ncorrectly be termed \"pseudograin\" (see below). They are highly edible by gluten intolerant\nindividuals because they are not a member of the grass family and contain no gluten.\nAncient amaranth grains still used to this day include the three species, Amaranthus\ncaudatus, Amaranthus cruentus, and Amaranthus hypochondriacus.[7] Although amaranth was\n(and still is) cultivated on a small scale in parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, India, and\nNepal, there is potential for further cultivation in the U.S and tropical countries and it\nis often referred to as \"the crop of the future.\"[8] It has been proposed as an inexpensive\nnative crop that could be cultivated by indigenous people in rural areas for several\nreasons: 1) it is easily harvested, 2) it produces lots of fruit and thus seeds, which are\nused as grain, 3) it is highly tolerant of arid environments, which are typical of most\nsubtropical and some tropical regions, and 4) its seeds contain large amounts of protein\nand essential amino acids, such as lysine.[9] 5) Amaranthus species are reported to have a\n30% higher protein value than cereals, such as rice, wheat flour, oats, and rye.[10] 6) It\nrequires little fuel to cook. As befits its weedy life history, amaranth grains grow very\nrapidly and their large seedheads can weigh up to 1 kilogram and contain a half-million\nseeds.[11]\nAmaranth was one of the staple foodstuffs of the Incas, and it is known as kiwicha in the\nAndes today. It was also used by the ancient Aztecs, who called it huautli, and other\nNative America peoples in Mexico to prepare ritual drinks and foods. To this day, amaranth\ngrains are toasted much like popcorn or martala and mixed with honey, molasses or chocolate\nto make a treat called alegría (joy in Spanish).\nAmaranth grain is a crop of moderate importance in the Himalaya.\nBecause of its importance as a symbol of indigenous culture, and because it is very\npalatable, easy to cook, and its protein particularly well suited to human nutritional\nneeds, interest in grain amaranth (especially A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus) revived\nin the 1970s. It was recovered in Mexico from wild varieties and is now commercially\ncultivated. It is a popular snack sold in Mexico City and other parts of Mexico, sometimes\nmixed with chocolate or puffed rice, and its use has spread to Europe and parts of North\nAmerica. Amaranth and quinoa are called pseudograins because of their flavor and cooking\nsimilarities to grains. These are dicot plant seeds, and both contain exceptionally\ncomplete protein for plant sources. Besides protein, amaranth grain provides a good source\nof dietary fiber and dietary minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and\nespecially manganese. It has been claimed to be beneficial in preventing greying of\nhair.[citation needed]\nAmaranth species are cultivated and consumed as a leaf vegetable in many parts of the\nworld. There are 4 species of Amaranthus documented as cultivated vegetables in eastern\nAsia: Amaranthus cruentus, Amaranthus blitum, Amaranthus dubius, and Amaranthus\ntricolor.[12]\nIn Indonesia and Malaysia, leaf amaranth is called bayam, while the Tagalogs in the\nPhilippines call the plant kulitis or Callaloo. In Karnataka state in India it is used to\nprepare curries like Hulee, palya, Majjigay-hulee and so on. In Tamilnadu State, it is\ncalled முளைக்கீரை, and is regularly consumed as a favourite dish, where the greens are\nsteamed, and mashed, with light seasoning of salt, red chillis and cumin. It is called\nkeerai masial (கீரை மசியல்). In Andhra Pradesh, India, this leaf is added in preparation of\na popular dal called thotakura pappu తొట కూర పప్పు (Telugu). In Maharashtra, it is called\nas \"Shravani Maath\" (literally माठ grown in month of Shravan) and it is available in both\nred and white colour. In Orissa, it is called as \"Khada saga\", it is used to prepare 'Saga\nBhaja', in which the leaf is fried with chillies and onions.\nRoot of mature amaranth is an excellent vegetable. It is white in colour and is cooked with\ntomatoes or tamarind gravy. It has a milky taste and is alkaline.\nIn China, the leaves and stems are used as a stir-fry vegetable, or in soups, and called\nyin choi (苋菜; pinyin: xiàncài; and variations on this transliteration in various dialects).\nAmaranth greens are believed to help enhance eyesight. In Vietnam, it is called rau dền and\nis used to make soup. There are two species popular as edible vegetable in Vietnam: dền đỏ-\namaranthus tricolor and dền cơm or dền trắng- amaranthus viridis.\nIn East Africa, Amaranth leaf is known in Chewa as Bonongwe, and in Swahili as mchicha. In\nBantu-speaking regions of Uganda it is known as Doodo.[13] It is sometimes recommended by\nsome doctors for people having low red blood cell count. Also known among the Kalenjin as a\ndrought crop (chepkerta). In West Africa such as in Nigeria, it is a common vegetable, and\ngoes with all Nigerian carbohydrate dishes. It is known in Yoruba as efo tete or arowo jeja\n(\"we have money left over for fish\"). In Congo[clarification needed] it is known as lenga\nlenga or biteku teku.[14] In the Caribbean, the leaves are called callaloo and are\nsometimes used in a soup called pepperpot soup.\nIn Greece, Green Amaranth (Amaranthus viridis) is a popular dish and is called vlita or\nvleeta. It's boiled, then served with olive oil and lemon like a salad, usually alongside\nfried fish. Greeks stop harvesting the (usually wild-grown) plant when it starts to bloom\nat the end of August. In Sri Lanka, it is called \"Koora Thampala\". Sri Lankans cook it and\neat it with rice. Fiji Indians call it choraiya bhaji.\n[edit] Dyes\nThe flowers of the 'Hopi Red Dye' amaranth were used by the Hopi (a tribe in the western\nUnited States) as the source of a deep red dye. There is also a synthetic dye that has been\nnamed \"amaranth\" for its similarity in color to the natural amaranth pigments known as\nbetalains. This synthetic dye is also known as Red No. 2 in North America and E123 in the\nEuropean Union.[15]\nThe genus also contains several well-known ornamental plants, such as Amaranthus caudatus\n(love-lies-bleeding), a native of India and a vigorous, hardy annual with dark purplish\nflowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes. Another Indian annual, A. hypochondriacus\n(prince's feather), has deeply veined lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under face, and\ndeep crimson flowers densely packed on erect spikes.\nAmaranths are recorded as food plants for some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species\nincluding the nutmeg moth and various case-bearer moths of the genus Coleophora: C.\namaranthella, C. enchorda (feeds exclusively on Amaranthus), C. immortalis (feeds\nexclusively on Amaranthus), C. lineapulvella and C. versurella (recorded on A. spinosus).\n[edit] Nutritional value\nAmaranth greens, also called Chinese spinach, hinn choy or yin tsoi (simplified Chinese: 苋菜\n; traditional Chinese: 莧菜; pinyin: xiàncài); callaloo, dhantinasoppu (Kannada); తోటకూర\n(Telugu); Rajgira (Marathi); முளைக் கீரை (Tamil), cheera ചീര (Malayalam); bayam\n(Indonesian); phak khom ผักโขม (Thai); tampala, or quelite, (Oriya); Khada Saga, are a\ncommon leaf vegetable throughout the tropics and in many warm temperate regions. It is very\npopular in India. They are a very good source of vitamins including vitamin A, vitamin K,\nvitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin, and folate, and dietary minerals including calcium,\niron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. Because of its\nvaluable nutrition, some farmers grow amaranth today. However their moderately high content\nof oxalic acid can inhibit the absorption of calcium and zinc, and also indicates that they\nshould be eaten with caution under consultation with healthcare providers by people with\nkidney disorders, gout, or rheumatoid arthritis, concerning mineral absorption and\nsupplementation.[citation needed] Reheating cooked amaranth greens is often discouraged,\nparticularly for consumption by small children, as the nitrates in the leaves can be\nconverted to nitrites, similarly to spinach.[citation needed]\nAmaranth seeds, like buckwheat and quinoa, contain protein that is unusually complete for\nplant sources.[16] Most fruits and vegetables do not contain a complete set of amino acids,\nand thus different sources of protein must be used.\nIts seeds have a protein content greater than that of wheat. However, unlike that found in\ntrue grains (i.e. from grass seeds) its protein is not of the problematical type known as\ngluten.[17]\nSeveral studies have shown that like oats, amaranth seed or oil may be of benefit for those\nwith hypertension and cardiovascular disease; regular consumption reduces blood pressure\nand cholesterol levels, while improving antioxidant status and some immune\nparameters.[18][19][20] While the active ingredient in oats appears to be water-soluble\nfiber, amaranth appears to lower cholesterol via its content of plant stanols and squalene.\n[edit] As a weed\nNot all amaranth plants are cultivated. Most of the species from Amaranthus are summer\nannual weeds and are commonly referred to as pigweeds.[21] These species have an extended\nperiod of germination, rapid growth, and high rates of seed production[21] and have been\ncausing problems for farmers since the mid-1990s. This is partially due to the reduction in\ntillage, reduction in herbicidal use and the evolution of herbicidal resistance in several\nspecies where herbicides have been applied more often.[22] The following 9 species of\nAmaranthus are considered invasive and noxious weeds in the U.S and Canada: A. albus, A.\nblitoides, A. hybridus, A. palmeri, A. powellii, A. retroflexus, A. spinosus, A.\ntuberculatus, and A. viridis.[23]\nA new herbicide-resistant strain of Amaranthus palmeri or Palmer amaranth has appeared; it\nis Glyphosate-resistant and so cannot be killed by the widely used Roundup herbicide. Also,\nthis plant can survive in tough conditions. This could be of particular concern to cotton\nfarmers using Roundup Ready cotton.[24] The species Amaranthus palmeri (Palmer amaranth)\ncauses the greatest reduction in soybean yields and has the potential to reduce yields by\n17-68% in field experiments.[21] Palmer amaranth is among the “top five most troublesome\nweeds” in the southeast and has already evolved resistances to dinitroanilines and\nacetolactate synthase inhibitors.[25] This makes the proper identification of Amaranthus\nspecies at the seedling stage essential for agriculturalists. Proper herbicide treatment\nneeds to be applied before the species successfully colonizes in the crop field and causes\nsignificant yield reductions.\n[edit] Beneficial weed\nPigweed can be a beneficial weed, as well as a companion plant, serving as a trap for leaf\nminers and some other pests, as well as sheltering ground beetles (which prey upon insect\npests) and breaking up hard soil for more delicate neighboring plants\n \nOther Names: Common Chickweeds, Star Chickweed, Mouse-ear Chickweed\nChickweeds are an annual herb, widespread in temperate zones, arctic zones, and throughout,\nprobable origin Eurasia. Chickweeds have established themselves all over the world,\npossibly carried on the clothes and shoes of explorers. They are as numerous in species as\nthey are in region. Most are succulent and have white flowers, and all with practically the\nsame edible and medicinal values. They all exhibit a very interesting trait, (they sleep)\ntermed the 'Sleep of Plants,' every night the leaves fold over the tender buds and the new\nshoots.\nThe cultivation of this one is not necessary it is abundant and easy to find. Gather fresh\nedible plant between May and July, as soon as flowers appear, it can be used fresh or be\ndried for later herb use.\nProperties\n Chickweeds are Medicinal and edible, they are very nutritious, high in vitamins and\nminerals, can be added to salads or cooked as a pot herb, tasting somewhat like spinach.\nThe major plant constituents in Chickweed are Ascorbic-acid, Beta-carotene, Calcium,\nCoumarins, Genistein, Gamma-linolenic-acid, Flavonoids, Hentriacontanol, Magnesium, Niacin,\nOleic-acid, Potassium, Riboflavin, Rutin, Selenium, Triterpenoid saponins, Thiamin, and\nZinc. The whole plant is used in alternative medicine as an astringent, carminative,\ndemulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary. A decoction of the\nwhole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative, emmenagogue, galactogogue and\ncirculatory tonic. It is also used to relieve constipation, an infusion of the dried herb\nis used in coughs and hoarseness, and is beneficial in the treatment of kidney complaints.\nas an astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant,\nvulnerary. A decoction of the whole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative,\nemmenagogue, galactogogue and circulatory tonic. It is also used to relieve constipation,\nan infusion of the dried herb is used in coughs and hoarseness, and is beneficial in the\ntreatment of kidney complaints. New research indicates it's use as an effective\nantihistamine. The decoction is also used externally to treat rheumatic pains, wounds and\nulcers. It can be applied as a medicinal poultice and will relieve any kind of roseola and\nis effective wherever there are fragile superficial veins or itching skin conditions.\n \nCurled Dock (Rumex crispus), also known as Curly Dock, Yellow Dock, Sour Dock, Narrow Dock,\nsometimes as \"narrow-leaved dock\" (which properly refers to a variant of Sorrel), and\nambiguously as \"garden patience\", is a perennial flowering plant in the family\nPolygonaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia.\nThe mature plant is a reddish brown colour, and produces a stalk that grows to about 1 m\nhigh. It has smooth leaves shooting off from a large basal rosette, with distinctive waved\nor curled edges. On the stalk flowers and seeds are produced in clusters on branched stems,\nwith the largest cluster being found at the apex. The seeds are shiny, brown and encased in\nthe calyx of the flower that produced them. This casing enables the seeds to float on water\nand get caught in wool and animal fur, and this helps the seeds to spread to new\nlocations.[1] The root-structure is a large, yellow, forking taproot.\nCurled Dock grows in roadsides, all types of fields, and low-maintenance crops. It prefers\nrich, moist and heavy soils.\n[edit] Distribution\nCurled Dock is a widespread naturalised species throughout the temperate world, which has\nbecome a serious invasive species in many areas, including throughout North America,\nsouthern South America, New Zealand and parts of Australia. It spreads through the seeds\ncontaminating crop seeds, and sticking to clothing. It is designated an \"injurious weed\"\nunder the UK Weeds Act 1959.[2] It is often seen in disturbed soils at the edges of\nroadsides, railway beds, and car parks.\n[edit] Uses and toxicity\nIt can be used as a wild leaf vegetable; the young leaves should be boiled in several\nchanges of water to remove as much of the oxalic acid in the leaves as possible, or can be\nadded directly to salads in moderate amounts.[3] Once the plant matures it becomes too\nbitter to consume. Dock leaves are an excellent source of both vitamin A and protein, and\nare rich in iron and potassium. Curly Dock leaves are somewhat tart due to the presence of\nhigh levels of oxalic acid, and although quite palatable, this plant should only be\nconsumed in moderation as it can irritate the urinary tract and increase the risk of\ndeveloping kidney stones.\nThe roots have also been used medicinally as an astringent, tonic, and laxative. Compounds\ncontained in the plant's roots have been clinically verified to bind with heavy metals such\nas lead and arsenic and expel them from the body by stimulating biliary function in the\nliver. The plant is considered a highly effective blood cleanser and is used by herbalists\nto assist the body in eliminating heavy metals and to treat other hepatic disorders\n \nTaraxacum (pronounced /təˈræksəkʉm/) is a large genus of flowering plants in the family\nAsteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale\nand T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide.[1] Both species are edible in their\nentirety.[2] The common name dandelion (pronounced /ˈdændɨlaɪ.ən/ DAN-di-lye-ən, from\nFrench dent-de-lion, meaning lion's tooth) is given to members of the genus, and like other\nmembers of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a\ncomposite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum\nspecies produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without\npollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.[\nDescription\nThe species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted biennial or perennial herbaceous plants, native to\ntemperate areas of the Old World.\nThe leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple and basal, entire or lobed, forming a rosette\nabove the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange colored, and are open in\nthe daytime but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) that\nrises 1–10 cm or more[4] above the leaves and exudes a milky sap (latex) when broken. A\nrosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in\ndiameter and consists entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into a spherical\n\"clocks\"[5] containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to\na pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances.\nThe flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series.\nThe inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to\ndisperse; the outer bracts are always reflexed downward. Some species drop the \"parachute\"\nfrom the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals.\nBetween the pappus and the achene, there is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the\nfruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from\nthe parachute.\nA number of species of Taraxacum are seed dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize\ndisturbed soil, especially the Common dandelion (T. officinale), which has been introduced\nover much of the temperate world. After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head\ndries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex (curve\nbackwards), and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. Finally, the seed-bearing\nparachutes expand and lift out of it. The parachute drops off the achene when it strikes an\nobstacle[citation needed]. After the seed is released, the parachutes lose their feathered\nstructure and take on a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, often called \"dandelion\nsnow\"[citation needed].\nHawksbeard flower heads and ripe seeds are sometimes confused with Dandelions.\nDandelions are so similar to catsears (Hypochaeris) that catsears are also known as \"false\ndandelions\". Both plants carry similar flowers, which form into windborne seeds. However,\ndandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems,\nwhile catsear flowering stems are branched, solid and carry bracts. Both plants have a\nbasal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth\nor glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.\nOther plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and\nhawksbeards (Crepis). These are readily distinguished by branched flowering stems, which\nare usually hairy and bear leaves.\n[edit] Classification\nThe genus is taxonomically complex, with some botanists dividing the group into about 34\nmacrospecies, and about 2000 microspecies;[6] approximately 235 apomictic and polyploid\nmicrospecies have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland.[7] Some botanists take a much\nnarrower view and only accept a total of about 60 species.[6]\n[edit] Selected species\n * Taraxacum albidum, a white-flowering Japanese dandelion.\n * Taraxacum californicum, the endangered California dandelion\n * Taraxacum japonicum, Japanese dandelion. No ring of smallish, downward-turned leaves\nunder the flowerhead.\n * Taraxacum kok-saghyz, Russian dandelion, which produces rubber[8]\n * Taraxacum laevigatum, Red-seeded Dandelion; achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply\ncut throughout length. Inner bracts' tips are hooded.\n o Taraxacum erythrospermum, often considered a variety of Taraxacum\nlaevigatum.[9]\n * Taraxacum officinale (syn. T. officinale subsp. vulgare), Common Dandelion. Found in\nmany forms.\n * 'Amélioré à Coeur Plein' - Yields an abundant crop without taking up much ground, and\ntends to blanch itself naturally, due to its clumping growth habit.\n * 'Broad Leaved' - The leaves are thick and tender and easily blanched. In rich soils\nthey can be up to 60 cm wide. Plants do not go to seed as quickly as French types.\n * 'Vert de Montmagny'- Long dark green leaves, some find them mild enough to be\npalatable without blanching. Vigorous and productive.[10]\n[edit] History\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\nDandelions are thought to have evolved about thirty million years ago in Eurasia;[11] they\nhave been used by humans for food and as a herb for much of recorded history[citation\nneeded]. They were introduced to North America by early European immigrants.\n[edit] Origin of the names\nThe Latin name taraxacum has its origin in medieval Arabic writings on pharamacy. Al-Razi\naround 900 (A.D.) wrote \"the tarashaquq is like chicory\". Ibn Sīnā around 1000 (A.D.) wrote\na book chapter on taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Latin around 1170,\nspelled it tarasacon.[12]\nThe English name dandelion is a corruption of the French dent de lion[13] meaning \"lion's\ntooth\", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The names of the plant have the same\nmeaning in several other European languages, such as the Welsh dant y llew, Italian dente\ndi leone, Catalan dent de lleó, Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão,Norwegian\nLøvetann, Danish Løvetand and German Löwenzahn.\nIn modern French the plant is named pissenlit, (or pisse au lit Fr vernacular).[14]\nLikewise, \"piss-a-bed\" is an English folk-name for this plant,[15] as is piscialletto in\nItalian and the Spanish meacamas.[citation needed] These names refer to the strong diuretic\neffect of the roots of the herb,[15] roasted or raw/fresh. In various north-eastern Italian\ndialects the plant is known as pisacan (\"dog pisses\"), referring to how common they are\nfound at the side of pavements.[16]\nIn France it is also known as Laitue de Chien (Dog's lettuce); Salade de Taupe (Mole's\nsalad or Brown salad), Florin d'Or (Golden florin); Cochet (Cockerel); Fausse Chicorée\n(False Chicory); Couronne de moine (Monk's crown); Baraban.[14]\nIn several European languages the plant, or at least its parachute ball stage, is named\nafter the popular children's pastime of blowing the parachutes off the stalk: Pusteblume\nGerman for \"blowing flower\"), soffione (Italian for \"blowing\"; in some northern Italian\ndialects),[16] dmuchawiec (Polish, derived from the verb \"blow\"), одуванчик (Russian,\nderived from the verb \"blow\").[citation needed]\nIn other languages the plant is named after the white sap found in its stem, e.g. Mlecz\n(derived from the Polish word for \"milk\"), mælkebøtte (Danish for \"milk pot\") kutyatej\n(Hungarian for \"dog milk\"), маслачак (derived from the Serbian word маслац, meaning\n\"butter\").[citation needed] Also the Lithuanian name kiaulpienė can be translated as \"sow\nmilk\"[citation needed], and similarly, in Latvian it is called 'pienene, the word being\nderived from piens - milk[citation needed].\nThe alternative Hungarian name gyermekláncfű (\"child's chain grass\"), refers to the habit\nof children to pick dandelions, remove the flowers, and make links out of the stems by\n\"plugging\" the narrow top end of the stem into the wider bottom end.[citation needed] In\nMacedonian, it's called глуварче, stemming from the word глув, which means deaf, because of\na traditional belief that says that if a dandelion parachute gets in your ear, you might\nbecome deaf. In Turkish the dandelion is called karahindiba meaning \"black\nendive\".[citation needed] While the root flesh is white colored, the outer skin of the root\nis dark brown or black. In Swedish, it is called maskros (\"worm rose\", named after the\nsmall insects (thrips) usually present in the flowers).[17] In Finnish and Estonian, it is\ncalled voikukka and võilill, respectively, meaning \"butter flower\", referring to its\nbuttery colour.[citation needed] In Dutch it is called paardenbloem, meaning\n\"horse-flower\".[citation needed] In Chinese it is called pú gōng yīng (蒲公英), meaning flower\nthat grows in public spaces by the riverside.[citation needed] In Japanese, it is tanpopo (\nタンポポ?).\n[edit] Beneficial but often unappreciated weed\nA tall specimen, at 85 centimetres (33 in)\nThe dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good\ncompanion plant for gardening, but is often thought of solely as \"bad\". It has been\ndescribed as \"a plant for which we once knew the use but we've forgotten it\".[18]\nHomeowners or hired lawn-keepers often control dandelions with herbicides, and\ncounter-efforts against herbicide use can create social friction in residential\nneighborhoods.[19] However, its ability to break up hard earth with its deep tap root,\nbringing up nutrients from below the reach of other plants, makes it a good companion for\nweaker or shallower-rooted crops. It is also known to attract pollinating insects and\nrelease ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen.[20]\n[edit] Culinary use\nDandelion leaves contain abundant amounts of vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamins A,\nC and K, and are good sources of calcium (0.19% net weight), potassium (0.4% net weight)\nand fair amounts of iron and manganese,[21] higher than similar leafy greens such as\nspinach. They contain 15% protein and 73% carbohydrates, 37% of which is fiber (27% of the\nleaves are fiber).[22] The leaves also contain smaller amounts of over two dozen other\nnutrients, and are a significant source of beta carotene (0.03% net weight), lutein and\nzeaxanthin (combined 0.066% net weight).[23] A cup of dandelion leaves contains 112% daily\nrecommendation of vitamin A, 32% of vitamin C, and 535% of vitamin K and 218 mg potassium,\n103 mg calcium, and 1.7 mg of iron. Dandelions are also an excellent source of vitamin H,\nwhich aids weight loss when ingested.[citation needed]\nDandelion flowers contain luteolin, an antioxidant, and have demonstrated antioxidant\nproperties without cytotoxicity.[24][25]\nDandelion contains Caffeic acid, as a secondary plant metabolite, which some studies show\nto exhibit anticarcinogenic properties[26][27] at low doses but carcinogenic properties at\nhigh doses.[28] There have been no known ill effects of caffeic acid in humans.[29][30]\nDandelion leaves and buds have been a part of traditional Mediterranean (especially\nSephardic[31][32][33]) and Asian, most notably Chinese and Korean cuisine.[34][35] In\nCrete, Greece, a variety called Mari (Μαρί), Mariaki (Μαριάκι) or Koproradiko\n(Κοπροράδικο), has its leaves eaten raw or boiled in salads by the locals. Another endemic\nspecies of Crete, which is found only at high altitudes (1000 to 1600 m.) and in fallow\nsites, called pentaramia (πενταράμια) or agrioradiko (αγριοράδικο) and which has been named\nTaraxacum megalorhizon by Prof. Michalis Damanakis of the Botanics Department of the\nUniversity of Crete, has its leaves eaten raw or boiled in salads by the locals.[36]\nThe flower petals, along with other ingredients, are used to make dandelion wine. The\nroasted, ground roots can be used as a caffeine-free dandelion coffee.\n[edit] Medicinal uses\nDandelions, flowers, roots and leaves, have been used for centuries in traditional medicine\n& medicinal teas, most notably for liver detoxification, as a natural diuretic and for\ninflammation reduction[citation needed]. Unlike other diuretics, dandelion leaves contain\npotassium, a mineral that is often lost during increased urination. There is also evidence\nthat this property of dandelion leaves may normalize blood sugar.[37]\nDandelion leaves are believed to have a diuretic effect as they increase salt and water\nexcretion from the kidneys.[38]\n[edit] Bees\nDandelions are important plants for northern hemisphere bees. Not only is their flowering\nused as an indicator that the honey bee season is starting,[citation needed] but they are\nalso an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season.[39] Dandelion pollen is\na common allergen and a common component in bee pollen.[40] This allergen may be commonly\nresponsible for asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and contact dermatitis\nin sensitive individuals.\nDandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera\n(butterflies and moths). See List of Lepidoptera that feed on dandelions. They are also\nused as a source of nectar by the Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), one of\nthe earliest emerging butterflies in the spring.\n[edit] Culture\nFour dandelion flowers are the emblem of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.[41] The\ncitizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festival.\nThe dandelion is the official flower of the University of Rochester and \"Dandelion Yellow\"\nis one of the school's official colors. The Dandelion Yellow is an official University of\nRochester song.[42]\nAt the time of blooming, crowns are made from dandelions by some children and adults.[43]\nOccasionally, Japanese horticulturists grow the dandelions.\n \nPlant height: 10-50 cm tall.\nGrowth habit: erect annual.\nStems: simple to freely branched, leafy, hairless.\nLeaves: mostly alternate, oblanceolate, 2-6 cm long,\nthe lower strongly wavy-margined to almost lobed, with\nlarger end lobe, narrowed to a short stalk. Leaves farther\nup becoming stalkless, with ear-shaped lobes at base.\nBasal leaves few, withering by flowering time.\nFlowers: white, in open clusters on branches, with\n4 petals 3-4 mm long and sepals 1.5-2.2 mm long.\nFlowering time: May-August.\nFruits: pods strongly flattened, oval or heart-shaped,\nshallowly notched, 10-17 mm long, with winged edge all\naround, the notch 1.5-2.5 mm deep. Stalks slender,\nspreading to upcurved, 7-15 mm long. Style almost\nlacking, 0.1-0.2 mm long. Seeds about 2 mm long, not\nedged, wrinkled lengthwise.\nCommon weed on disturbed ground in all parts of MT.\nIntroduced from Europe, now spread across N. America.\nEdible uses:\nYoung leaves of field pennycress were used for food by the Cherokee Indians. Even the young\nleaves have a somewhat bitter flavor and aroma, and has been added in small quantities to\nsalads and other foods. However, this plant is not recommended to use for food because its\ntoxic properties, see below.\nThe plant contains sufficient quantities of glucosinolates to be toxic. During dry periods,\ncattle in western Canada have ingested hay containing high quantities of stinkweed, or\nfield pennycress. Poisoning, death and abortion occurred. Tests of field pennycress showed\nthat the allylthiocyanate (a glucosinolate) content is sufficient to cause sickness and\ndeath in cattle. Fatalities occurred at about 65 mg/kg of body weight. The amount of this\nchemical varies with the stage of maturity of the plant, the highest amount is in the\nseeds. Cattle that ingested hay containing between 25-100% field pennycress were colicky\nand some abortions occurred. Ensiling hay containing field pennycress apparently prevented\nliberation of allylthiocyanate.\nMedicinal uses:\nThe entire plant is anti-inflammatory and acts as a blood tonic and blood purifier. It has\nagents that induces sweating, agents that induces the removal (coughing up) of mucous\nsecretions from the lungs. It is fever-reducing and promotes the well-being of the liver\nand increases the secretion of bile. The seed is a tonic. Both the seed and the young\nshoots are said to be good for the eyes. The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine and are\nconsidered to have an acrid taste and a cooling potency. They are anti-inflammatory and\nfever-reducing, and are used in the treatment of pus in the lungs, renal inflammation,\nappendicitis, seminal and vaginal discharges. Field pennycress was used medicinally by the\nIroquois Indians. They made an infusion of the plant taken for sore throats. Pennycress\nalso has a broad antibacterial activity, effective against the growth of staphylococci and\nstreptococci.\nOther uses:\nSeed of field pennycress might be useful for making biodiesel (it is 36 to 40 percent oil\nby weight) and a nature-based weed killer. The seed oil can be used for lighting.\n \nEpilobium angustifolium, commonly known as Fireweed (mainly in North America), Great\nWillow-herb (Canada)[1], or Rosebay Willowherb (mainly in Britain), is a perennial\nherbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is native throughout the temperate\nNorthern Hemisphere, including large parts of the boreal forests.\nSome botanists distinguish the species from other willowherbs into either of the genera\nChamaenerion or Chamerion, on the basis of its spiral (rather than opposite or whorled)\nleaf arrangement, but this feature (which occurs also to a greater or lesser extent in some\nother willowherbs) is not of marked taxonomic significance.\nTwo subspecies are recognized as valid:\n * Epilobium angustifolium ssp. angustifolium\nThis herb is often abundant in wet calcareous to slightly acidic soils in open fields,\npastures, and particularly burned-over lands; the name Fireweed derives from the species'\nabundance as a coloniser on burnt sites after forest fires. Its tendency to quickly\ncolonize open areas with little competition, such as sites of forest fires and forest\nclearings, makes it a clear example of a pioneer species. Plants grow and flower as long as\nthere is open space and plenty of light, as trees and brush grow larger the plants die out,\nbut the seeds remain viable in the soil seed bank for many years, when a new fire or other\ndisturbance occurs that opens up the ground to light again the seeds germinate. Some areas\nwith heavy seed counts in the soil, after burning, can be covered with pure dense stands of\nthis species and when in flower the landscape is turned into fields of color.\nIn Britain the plant was considered a rare species in the 18th century,[2] and one confined\nto a few locations with damp, gravelly soils. It was mis-identified as Great Hairy\nWillowherb in contemporary floras. The plant's rise from local rarity to widespread weed\nseems to have occurred at the same time as the expansion of the railway network, and the\nassociated soil disturbance. The plant became locally known as bombweed due to its rapid\ncolonization of bomb craters in the second world war.[2]\nFireweed (drawing)\nThe reddish stems of this herbaceous perennial are usually simple, erect, smooth, 0.5–2.5 m\n(1½–8 feet) high with scattered alternate leaves. The leaves are entire, lanceolate, and\npinnately veined. A relative species, Dwarf Fireweed (Epilobium latifolium), grows to\n0.3–0.6 m tall.\nThe radially symmetrical flowers have four magenta to pink petals, 2 to 3 cm in diameter.\nThe styles have four stigmas, which occur in symmetrical terminal racemes.\nThe reddish-brown linear seed capsule splits from the apex. It bears many minute brown\nseeds, about 300 to 400 per capsule and 80,000 per plant. The seeds have silky hairs to aid\nwind dispersal and are very easily spread by the wind, often becoming a weed and a dominant\nspecies on disturbed ground. Once established, the plants also spread extensively by\nunderground roots, an individual plant eventually forming a large patch.\nThe leaves of fireweed are unique in that the leaf veins are circular and do not terminate\non the edges of the leaf, but form circular loops and join together inside the outer leaf\nmargins. This feature makes the plants very easy to identify in all stages of growth. When\nfireweed first emerges in early spring, it can closely resemble several highly toxic\nmembers of the lily family, however, it is easily identified by its unique leaf vein\nstructure.\n[edit] Uses\nThe young shoots were often collected in the spring by Native American people and mixed\nwith other greens. They are best when young and tender; as the plant matures the leaves\nbecome tough and somewhat bitter. The southeast Native Americans use the stems in the\nstage. They are peeled and eaten raw. When properly prepared soon after picking they are a\ngood source of vitamin C and pro-vitamin A. The Dena'ina add fireweed to their dogs' food.\nFireweed is also a medicine of the Upper Inlet Dena'ina, who treat pus-filled boils or cuts\nby placing a piece of the raw stem on the afflicted area. This is said to draw the pus out\nof the cut or boil and prevents a cut with pus in it from healing over too quickly.\nA flowering fireweed plant\nThe root can be roasted after scraping off the outside, but often tastes bitter. To\nmitigate this, the root is collected before the plant flowers and the brown thread in the\nmiddle removed.\nIn Alaska, candies, syrups, jellies, and even ice cream are made from fireweed. Monofloral\nhoney made primarily from fireweed nectar has a distinctive, spiced flavor.\nIn Russia, its leaves were often used as tea substitute and were even exported, known in\nWestern Europe as Kapor tea. Fireweed leaves can undergo fermentation, much like real tea.\nToday, Kapor tea is still occasionally consumed though not commercially important.\n[edit] In habitat restoration\nBecause fireweed can colonize disturbed sites, even following an old oil spill, it is often\nused to reestablish vegetation. It grows in (and is native to) a variety of temperate to\narctic ecosystems. Although it is also grown as an ornamental plant, some may find it too\naggressive in that context.[3]\nPurslane\nPortulaca oleracea (Common Purslane, also known as Verdolaga, Pigweed, Little Hogweed or\nPusley), is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which can reach 40 cm in\nheight. About 40 varieties are currently cultivated.[1] It has an extensive old-world\ndistribution extending from North Africa through the Middle East and the Indian\nSubcontinent to Malesia and Australasia. The species status in the New World is uncertain:\nit is generally considered an exotic weed; however, there is evidence that the species was\nin Crawford Lake deposits (Ontario) in 1430-89 AD, suggesting that it reached North America\nin the pre-Columbian era.[2] It is naturalised elsewhere and in some regions is considered\nan invasive weed. It has smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems and alternate leaves\nclustered at stem joints and ends. The yellow flowers have five regular parts and are up to\n6 mm wide. The flowers appear depending upon rainfall and may occur year round. The flowers\nopen singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. Seeds\nare formed in a tiny pod, which opens when the seeds are ready. Purslane has a taproot with\nfibrous secondary roots and is able to tolerate poor, compacted soils and drought.\nCulinary usage\nA Purslane cultivar grown as a vegetable\nAlthough purslane is considered a weed in the United States, it can be eaten as a leaf\nvegetable. It has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout much of Europe,\nAsia and Mexico.[1][3] The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible. Purslane can be\nused fresh as a salad, stir-fried, or cooked like spinach, and because of its mucilaginous\nquality it is also suitable for soups and stews. Australian Aborigines use the seeds to\nmake seedcakes. Greeks, who call it andrakla (αντράκλα) or glystrida (γλυστρίδα), fry the\nleaves and the stems with feta cheese, tomato, onion, garlic, oregano and olive oil.\nPurslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid in particular[4]) than any\nother leafy vegetable plant. Simopoulos states that Purslane has 0.01 mg/g of\neicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is an extraordinary amount of EPA for land based\nvegetable sources. EPA is an Omega-3 fatty acid normally found mostly in fish, some algae\nand flax seeds.[5] It also contains vitamins (mainly vitamin A, vitamin C, and some vitamin\nB and carotenoids), as well as dietary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and\niron. Also present are two types of betalain alkaloid pigments, the reddish betacyanins\n(visible in the coloration of the stems) and the yellow betaxanthins (noticeable in the\nflowers and in the slight yellowish cast of the leaves). Both of these pigment types are\npotent antioxidants and have been found to have antimutagenic properties in laboratory\nstudies.[6]\n100 grams of fresh purslane leaves (about 1 cup) contain 300 to 400 mg of alpha-linolenic\nacid.[7] One cup of cooked leaves contains 90 mg of calcium, 561 mg of potassium, and more\nthan 2,000 IUs of vitamin A. One half cup of purslane leaves contains as much as 910 mg of\noxalate, a compound implicated in the formation of kidney stones. However, note that many\ncommon vegetables, such as spinach, also can contain high concentrations of oxalates.\nWhen stressed by low availability of water, purslane, which has evolved in hot and dry\nenvironments, switches to photosynthesis using Crassulacean acid metabolism (the CAM\npathway): at night its leaves trap carbon dioxide, which is converted into malic acid (the\nsouring principle of apples), and in the day, the malic acid is converted into glucose.\nWhen harvested in the early morning, the leaves have 10 times the malic acid content as\nwhen harvested in the late afternoon, and thus have a significantly more tangy taste.\n[edit] Medicinal usage\nSeed pods, closed and open, revealing the seeds.\nKnown as Ma Chi Xian (pinyin: translates literally as \"horse tooth amaranth\") in\nTraditional Chinese Medicine, it is used to treat infections or bleeding of the\ngenito-urinary tract as well as dysentery. The fresh herb may also be applied topically to\nrelieve sores and insect or snake bites on the skin.[8] Eating purslane can dramatically\nreduce oral lichen planus.[9]\n[edit] Companion plant\nAs a companion plant, Purslane provides ground cover to create a humid microclimate for\nnearby plants, stabilizing ground moisture. Its deep roots bring up moisture and nutrients\nthat those plants can use, and some, including corn, will \"follow\" purslane roots down\nthrough harder soil than they can penetrate on their own. It is known as a beneficial weed\nin places that don't already grow it as a crop in its own right.\n \nRumex acetosella is a species of sorrel bearing the common names sheep's sorrel, red\nsorrel, sour weed, and field sorrel. The plant and its subspecies are common perennial\nweeds. It has green arrowhead-shaped leaves and red-tinted deeply ridged stems, and it\nsprouts from an aggressive rhizome. The flowers emerge from a tall, upright stem. Female\nflowers are maroon in color.\n[edit] Growth\nThe plant is native to Eurasia but has been introduced to most of the rest of the northern\nhemisphere. In North America it is a common weed in fields, grasslands, and woodlands. It\nfavors moist soil, so it thrives in floodplains and near marshes. It is often one of the\nfirst species to take hold in disturbed areas, such as abandoned mining sites, especially\nif the soil is acidic. Livestock will graze on the plant, but it is not very nutritious and\ncontains oxalates which make the plant toxic if grazed in large amounts.\nR. acetosella is a host plant for Lycaena phlaeas, also known as the American Copper or\nSmall Copper butterfly.\n[edit] Characteristics\nR. acetosella is a perennial herb that has an upright stem that is slender and reddish in\ncolor, and branched at top, reaching a height of 18 inches (0.5 meters). The arrow-shaped\nleaves are simple, slightly more than 1 inch (3 cm) in length, and smooth with a pair of\nhorizontal lobes at base. Flowers from March to November, when yellowish-green flowers\n(male) or reddish (female) flowers develop on separate plants, at the apex of the stem.\nFruits are red achenes.\nSheep's sorrel is widely considered to be a noxious weed, and one that is hard to control\ndue to its spreading rhizome. Blueberry farmers are familiar with the weed, due to its\nability to thrive in the same conditions under which blueberries are cultivated. It is\ncommonly considered by farmers as an Indicator plant of the need for liming.\n[edit] Culinary Uses\nThere are several uses of sheep sorrel in the preparation of food including a garnish, a\ntart flavoring agent and a curdling agent for cheese. The leaves have a lemony, tangy or\nnicely tart flavor. You can put the leaves in a salad.\n[edit] Medicinal uses\n This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline\ncitations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (November 2010)\nSheep Sorrel contains constituents including beta carotene, tartaric acid, oxalates (oxalic\nacid), anthraquinones (chrysophanol, emodin, Rhein), glycosides like hyperoside, the\nquercitin-3d-galactoside.\nIt has a number of purported uses and folk remedies that include treatment for\ninflammation, cancer, diarrhea, scurvy and fever. A tea made from the stem and leaves can\nbe made to act as a diuretic. It also has certain astringent properties and uses. Other\nhistorical uses include that of a vermifuge, as the plant allegedly contains compounds\ntoxic to intestinal parasites (worms).\nThe entire plant, including the root, is used as a cancer treatment,[citation needed] and\nis a primary ingredient in a preparation commonly referred to by the name Essiac.\nWhite Mustard\nWhite mustard (Sinapis alba) is an annual plant of the family Brassicaceae. It is sometimes\nalso referred to as Brassica alba or B hirta . Grown for its seeds, mustard, as fodder crop\nor as a green manure, it is now wide spread worldwide although it probably originated in\nthe Mediterranean region.\n * 4 External links\n[edit] Culinary uses\nThe yellow flowers of the plant produce hairy seed pods, with each pod containing roughly a\nhalf dozen seeds. These seeds are harvested just prior to the pods becoming ripe and\nbursting.\nWhite mustard seeds are hard round seeds, usually around 1 to 1.5 millimetres in\ndiameter[1], with a color ranging from beige or yellow to light brown. They can be used\nwhole for pickling or toasted for use in dishes. When ground and mixed with other\ningredients, a paste or more standard condiment can be produced.\nThe seeds contain sinalbin, which is a thioglycoside responsible for their pungent taste.\nWhite mustard has fewer volatile oils and the flavor is considered to be milder than that\nproduced by black mustard seeds.[citation needed]\nIn Greece, the plant's leaves can be eaten during the winter, before it blooms. Greeks call\nit \"vrouves\" or \"lapsana\".\nThe blooming season of this plant (February-March) is celebrated with the Mustard Festival,\na series of festivities in the Wine Country of California (Napa and Sonoma counties)\n \nWood Sorrel\nCommon Wood-sorrel is a plant from the genus Oxalis, common in most of Europe and parts of\nAsia. The binomial name is Oxalis acetosella, because of its sour taste. In much of its\nrange it is the only member of its genus and hence simply known as \"the\" wood-sorrel.\nThe plant has heart-shaped leaves, folded through the middle, that occur in groups of three\natop a reddish brown stalk. It flowers for a few months during the spring, with small white\nflowers with pink streaks. Red or violet flowers also occur rarely.During the night or when\nit rains both flowers and leaves contract.\nWood sorrel has been eaten by humans for millennia. In Dr. James Duke's \"Handbook of Edible\nWeeds,\" he notes that the Kiowa Indian tribe chewed wood sorrel to alleviate thirst on long\ntrips, that the Potawatomi Indians cooked it with sugar to make a dessert, the Algonquin\nIndians considered it an aphrodisiac, the Cherokee tribe ate wood sorrel to alleviate mouth\nsores and a sore throat, and the Iroquois ate wood sorrel to help with cramps, fever and\nnausea.[1] Wood sorrel, like spinach and broccoli, contains oxalic acid which is considered\nslightly toxic because it interferes with food digestion and the absorption of some trace\nminerals. However, the U.S. National Institutes of Health have determined that the negative\neffects of oxalic acid are generally of little or no nutritional consequence in persons who\neat a variety of foods.[2] An oxalate called \"sal acetosella\" was formerly extracted from\nthe plant, through boiling.\nThe \"Common wood sorrel\" of North America is Oxalis montana, found from New England and\nNova Scotia to Wisconsin and Manitoba and more unambiguously known as Mountain Wood-sorrel.\nIt is similar to the species described above, but the petals are noticeably notched. It is\ncalled sours in the Northeast US.\nThe common wood sorrel is sometimes referred to as a shamrock (due to its three-leaf\nclover-like motif) and given as a gift on St. Patrick's Day.\n \nThe Alismaceae group of plants in general contain acrid juices, on account of which, a\nnumber of species, besides the Water Plantain, have been used as diuretics and\nantiscorbutic.\nSeveral species of Sagittaria, natives of Brazil, are astringent and their expressed juice\nhas been used in making ink.\nThe rhizome of Sagittaria sagittifolia (Linn.), the Arrowhead, Wapatoo, and S. Chinensis\n(Is'-ze-kn) are used respectively by the North American Indians and the Chinese as starchy\nfoods, as are some other species.\nThe Arrowhead is a water plant widely distributed in Europe and Northern Asia, as well as\nNorth America, and abundant in many parts of England, though only naturalized in Scotland.\nThe stem is swollen at the base and throws out creeping stolons or runners, which produce\nglobose winter tubers, 1/2 inch in diameter, composed almost entirely of starch.\nThe leaves are borne on triangular stalks that vary in length with the depth of the water\nin which the plant is growing. They do not lie on the water, like those of the Water Lily,\nbut stand boldly above it. They are large and arrow-shaped and very glossy. The early,\nsubmerged leaves are ribbonlike.\nThe flower-stem rises directly from the root and bears several rings of buds and blossoms,\nthree in each ring or whorl, and each flower composed of three outer sepals and three\nlarge, pure white petals, with a purple blotch at their base. The upper flowers are\nstamen-bearing, the lower ones generally contain the seed vessels only.\nThe root tubers are about the size of a small walnut. They grow just below the surface of\nthe mud. The Chinese and Japanese cultivate the plant for the sake of these tubercles,\nwhich are eaten as an article of wholesome food. Bryant, in Flora Dietetica, writes of\nthem:\n 'I cured some of the bulbs of this plant in the same manner that saloop is cured, when\nthey acquired a sort of pellucidness, and on boiling afterwards, they broke into a\ngelatinous meal and tasted like old peas boiled.'\nThe tubers, it has been stated, may also be eaten in the raw state.\n---Medicinal Action and Uses---Diuretic and antiscorbutic. \nDaylily\nDaylily is the common name of the species, hybrids and cultivars of the genus Hemerocallis\n(pronounced /ˌhɛmɨroʊˈkælɪs/).[1] The flowers of these plants are highly diverse in colour\nand form, often resulting from hybridization by gardening enthusiasts. Thousands of\nregistered cultivars are appreciated and studied by international Hemerocallis\nsocieties.[2] Once considered part of the Liliaceae family, such as Lilium (true lilies),\nthe genus name was given to the family Hemerocallidaceae in later circumscriptions.\nDaylilies are perennial plants. The name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words ἡμέρα\n(hēmera) \"day\" and καλός (kalos) \"beautiful\". The flowers of most species open at sunrise\nand wither at sunset, possibly replaced by another one on the same stem the next day. Some\nspecies are night-blooming. Daylilies are not commonly used as cut flowers for formal\nflower arranging, yet they make good cut flowers otherwise as new flowers continue to open\non cut stems over several days.\nOriginally native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, their large showy flowers have\nmade them popular worldwide. There are over 60,000 registered cultivars. Only a few\ncultivars are scented, scented cultivars are appearing more frequently in northern\nhybridization however. Some cultivars rebloom later in the season, particularly if their\ndeveloping seedpods are removed.\nDaylilies occur as a clump including leaves, the crown, and the roots. The long, often\nlinear lanceolate leaves are grouped into opposite flat fans with leaves arching out to\nboth sides. The crown of a daylily is the small white portion between the leaves and the\nroots, an essential part of the fan. Along the flower stem or scape, small leafy\n\"proliferations\" may form at nodes or in bracts. These proliferations form roots when\nplanted and are the exact clones of the parent plant. Some daylilies show elongated\nwidenings along the roots, made by the plant mostly for water storage and an indication of\ngood health.\nThe flower consists of three petals and three sepals, collectively called tepals, each with\na midrib in the same or in a contrasting color. The centermost section of the flower,\ncalled the throat, has usually a different and contrasting color. There are six (sometimes\nseven) stamens, each with a two-lobed anther. After pollination, the flower forms a pod.\nThe common Daylily has potential to become a noxious weed and is listed as such by the\nWisconsin Department of Natural Resources.[3] While sometimes planted due to their ease of\ngrowth and the fact that they produce a flower, non-clumping varieties of daylily can\nquickly overrun a garden. Once established, it is difficult to remove runner daylilies from\nthe yard.\n[edit] Cultivars\n'Kwanzo' – a triple-flowered triploid cultivar\nDaylilies can be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 11, making them some of the\nmost adaptable landscape plants. Most of the cultivars have been developed within the last\n100 years. The large-flowered clear yellow 'Hyperion', introduced in the 1920s, heralded a\nreturn to gardens of the once-dismissed daylily, and is still widely available. Daylily\nbreeding has been a specialty in the United States, where their heat- and\ndrought-resistance made them garden standbys during the later 20th century. New cultivars\nhave sold for thousands of dollars, but sturdy and prolific introductions soon reach\nreasonable prices.\nThe Tawny Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva), and sweet-scented H. lilioasphodelus (H. flava is\nan illegitimate name), colloquially called Lemon Lily, were early imports from England to\n17th century American gardens and soon established themselves. Tawny Daylily is so widely\ngrowing wild that it is often considered a native wildflower. It is called Roadside or\nRailroad Daylily, and gained the nickname Wash-house or Outhouse Lily because it was\nfrequently planted at such buildings.\nHemerocallis is one of the most hybridized of all garden plants, with registrations of new\nhybrids being made in the thousands each year in the search for new traits. Hybridizers\nhave extended the plant's color range from the yellow, orange, and pale pink of the\nspecies, to vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, near-white, and\nmore. However, a blue daylily is a milestone yet to be reached.\nCommon Tawny Daylily\nOther flower traits that hybridizers develop include height, scent, ruffled edges,\ncontrasting \"eyes\" in the center of the bloom, and an illusion of glitter or \"diamond\ndust.\" Sought-after improvements in foliage include color, variegation, disease resistance,\nand the ability to form large, neat clumps. Hybridizers also seek to make less hardy plants\nhardier in the North by breeding evergreen or semi-evergreen plants with those that become\ndormant. All daylilies are herbaceous perennials – some are evergreen or semi-evergreen\nwhile some go dormant in winter, losing their foliage. Although, there are a number of\nnorthern hybridizers that specialize in the advancements of the dormant daylily.\nA recent trend in hybridizing is to focus on tetraploid plants, with thicker petal\nsubstance and sturdier stems. Until this trend took root, nearly all daylilies were\ndiploid. \"Tets,\" as they are called by aficionados, have double the number of chromosomes\nas a diploid plant.[4] Hemerocallis fulva 'Europa', H. fulva 'Kwanso', H. fulva 'Kwanso\nVariegata,' H. fulva 'Kwanso Kaempfer,' H. fulva var. maculata, H. fulva var. angustifolia\n,and H. fulva 'Flore Pleno' are all triplods that cannot set seed and are reproduced solely\nby underground runners (stolons) and division. Usually referred to as a \"double,\" meaning\nproducing flowers with double the usual number of petals (e.g., daylily 'Double Grapette'),\n'Kwanzo' actually produces triple the usual number of petals.\n[edit] Culinary use\nDried golden needles\nThe flowers of some species are edible and are used in Chinese cuisine. They are sold\n(fresh or dried) in Asian markets as gum jum or golden needles (金针 in Chinese; pinyin:\njīnzhēn) or yellow flower vegetables (黃花菜 in Chinese; pinyin: huánghuācài). They are used\nin hot and sour soup, daylily soup (金針花湯), Buddha's delight, and moo shu pork. The young\ngreen leaves and the tubers of some (but not all[citation needed]) species are also edible.\nThe plant has also been used for medicinal purposes. Care must be used as some species of\nlilies can be toxic.\nStinging nettle or common nettle, Urtica dioica, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant,\nnative to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of\nthe nettle genus Urtica. The plant has many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on its\nleaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles that inject histamine and other\nchemicals that produce a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and other animals.[1]\nThe plant has a long history of use as a medicine and as a food source.\nDescription\nStinging nettle is a dioecious herbaceous perennial, 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) tall in the\nsummer and dying down to the ground in winter. It has widely spreading rhizomes and\nstolons, which are bright yellow as are the roots. The soft green leaves are 3 to 15 cm (1\nto 6 in) long and are borne oppositely on an erect wiry green stem. The leaves have a\nstrongly serrated margin, a cordate base and an acuminate tip with a terminal leaf tooth\nlonger than adjacent laterals. It bears small greenish or brownish numerous flowers in\ndense axillary inflorescences. The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs\nand also bear many stinging hairs (trichomes), whose tips come off when touched,\ntransforming the hair into a needle that will inject several chemicals: acetylcholine,\nhistamine, 5-HT or serotonin, and possibly formic acid.[2][3] This mixture of chemical\ncompounds cause a painful sting or paresthesia from which the species derives its common\nname, as well as the colloquial names burn nettle, burn weed, burn hazel.\n[edit] Taxonomy\nThe taxonomy of stinging nettles has been confused, and older sources are likely to use a\nvariety of systematic names for these plants. Formerly, more species were recognised than\nare now accepted. However, there are at least five clear subspecies, some formerly\nclassified as separate species:\n * U. dioica subsp. dioica (European stinging nettle). Europe, Asia, northern Africa.\n * U. dioica subsp. galeopsifolia (fen nettle or stingless nettle). Europe. (Sometimes\nknown as Urtica galeopsifolia)\n * U. dioica subsp. afghanica. Southwestern and central Asia. (Gazaneh in Iran)\n * U. dioica subsp. gansuensis. Eastern Asia (China).\n * U. dioica subsp. gracilis (Ait.) Selander (American stinging nettle). North America.\n * U. dioica subsp. holosericea (Nutt.) Thorne (hairy nettle). North America.\nOther species names formerly accepted as distinct by some authors but now regarded as\nsynonyms of U. dioica include U. breweri, U. californica, U. cardiophylla, U. lyalli, U.\nmajor, U. procera, U. serra, U. strigosissima, U. trachycarpa, and U. viridis. Other\nvernacular names include tall nettle, slender nettle, California nettle, jaggy nettle,\nburning weed, fire weed and bull nettle (a name shared by Cnidoscolus texanus and Solanum\ncarolinense).\nD. urticaria: close-up of the defensive hairs\nStinging nettles are abundant in northern Europe and much of Asia, usually found in the\ncountryside. It is less gregarious in southern Europe and north Africa, where it is\nrestricted by its need for moist soil. In North America it is widely distributed in Canada\nand the United States, where it is found in every province and state except for Hawaii and\nalso can be found in northernmost Mexico. It grows in abundance in the Pacific Northwest,\nespecially in places where annual rainfall is high. In North America the stinging nettle is\nfar less common than in northern Europe. The European subspecies has been introduced into\nNorth America as well as South America.\nIn the UK stinging nettles have a strong association with human habitation and buildings.\nThe presence of nettles may indicate that a building has been long abandoned. Human and\nanimal waste may be responsible for elevated levels of phosphate and nitrogen in the soil,\nproviding an ideal environment for stinging nettles.\n[edit] Ecology\nThe Nettle Pouch Gall Dasineura urticae on Urtica dioica\nNettles are the exclusive larval food plant for several species of butterfly, such as the\nPeacock Butterfly[4] or the Small Tortoiseshell, and are also eaten by the larvae of some\nmoths including Angle Shades, Buff Ermine, Dot Moth, The Flame, The Gothic, Grey Chi, Grey\nPug, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Mouse Moth, Setaceous Hebrew Character and\nSmall Angle Shades. The roots are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth Hepialus\nhumuli.\nDetail of flowering stinging nettle.\nDetail of immature fruits of stinging nettle.\nAs Old English Stiðe, nettle is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon\nNine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century. Nettle is believed to be a galactagogue[5]\nand a clinical trial has shown that the juice is diuretic in patients with congestive heart\nfailure[citation needed].\nUrtication, or flogging with nettles, is the process of deliberately applying stinging\nnettles to the skin in order to provoke inflammation. An agent thus used is known as a\nrubefacient (something that causes redness). This is done as a folk remedy for rheumatism,\nproviding temporary relief from pain.[citation needed] The counter-irritant action to which\nthis is often attributed can be preserved by the preparation of an alcoholic tincture which\ncan be applied as part of a topical preparation, but not as an infusion, which drastically\nreduces the irritant action.\nExtracts can be used to treat arthritis, anemia, hay fever, kidney problems, and\npain.[citation needed]\nNettle leaf is a herb that has a long tradition of use as an adjuvant remedy in the\ntreatment of arthritis in Germany. Nettle leaf extract contains active compounds that\nreduce TNF-α and other inflammatory cytokines.[6][7] It has been demonstrated that nettle\nleaf lowers TNF-α levels by potently inhibiting the genetic transcription factor that\nactivates TNF-α and IL-1B in the synovial tissue that lines the joint.[8]\nNettle is used in hair shampoos to control dandruff and is said to make hair more glossy,\nwhich is why some farmers include a handful of nettles with cattle feed.[9] It is also\nthought nettles can ease eczema.\nNettle root extracts have been extensively studied in human clinical trials as a treatment\nfor symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). These extracts have been shown to help\nrelieve symptoms compared to placebo both by themselves and when combined with other herbal\nmedicines.[10]\nBecause it contains 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran, certain extracts of the nettle are used\nby bodybuilders in an effort to increase free testosterone by occupying sex-hormone binding\nglobulin[11]\nFresh nettle is used in folk remedies to stop bleeding because of its high Vitamin K\ncontent. Meanwhile, in dry U. dioica, the Vitamin K is practically non-existent and so is\nused as a blood thinner.\nAn extract from the nettle root (Urtica dioica) is used to alleviate symptoms of benign\nprostate enlargement. Nettle leaf extract, on the other hand, is what has been shown to\nreduce the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-B1.\n[edit] Food\nA young red-tinted variety of American stinging nettle.\nStinging nettle has a flavour similar to spinach when cooked and is rich in vitamins A, C,\niron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Young plants were harvested by Native Americans\nand used as a cooked plant in spring when other food plants were scarce.[12] Soaking\nnettles in water or cooking will remove the stinging chemicals from the plant, which allows\nthem to be handled and eaten without incidence of stinging. After Stinging Nettle enters\nits flowering and seed setting stages the leaves develop gritty particles called\n\"cystoliths\", which can irritate the urinary tract. [12] In its peak season, stinging\nnettle contains up to 25% protein, dry weight, which is high for a leafy green\nvegetable.[13] The young leaves are edible and make a very good pot-herb. The leaves are\nalso dried and may then be used to make a tisane, as can also be done with the nettle's\nflowers.\nNettles can be used in a variety of recipes, such as polenta and pesto. Nettle soup is a\ncommon use of the plant, particularly in Northern and Eastern Europe.\nNettles are sometimes used in cheese making, for example in the production of Yarg[14] and\nas a flavouring in varieties of Gouda[15]\nIn Nepal and in Kumaon region of Northern India, Stinging Nettle is known as Shishnu. It's\na very popular cuisine and cooked with Indian spices.\n[edit] Competitive eating\nIn the UK, an annual Stinging Nettle Eating Championship draws thousands of people to\nDorset, where competitors attempt to eat as much of the raw plant as possible. Competitors\nare given 60 cm (20 in) stalks of the plant, from which they strip the leaves and eat them.\nWhoever strips and eats the most stinging nettle leaves in a fixed time is the winner. The\ncompetition dates back to 1986, when two neighbouring farmers attempted to settle a dispute\nabout which had the worst infestation of nettles.[16][17]\n[edit] Drink\nNettle cordial is a soft drink made largely from a refined sugar and water solution\nflavoured with the leaves of the nettle.[citation needed] Historically it has been popular\nin North Western Europe; however, versions of a nettle cordial recipe can be traced back to\nRoman times.[citation needed] It is an aromatic syrup, and when mixed with sparkling water,\nis very refreshing.\nNettle leaves are steeped in a concentrated sugar solution so the flavour is extracted into\nthe sugar solution. The leaves are then removed and a source of citric acid (usually lemon\njuice) is added to help preserve the cordial and add a tart flavour.\nCommercially produced cordials are generally quite concentrated and are usually diluted by\none part cordial to ten parts water – thus a 0.5 litres (0.11 imp gal; 0.13 US gal) bottle\nof cordial would be enough for 5.5 litres (1.2 imp gal; 1.5 US gal) diluted. The high\nconcentration of sugar in nettle cordial gives it a long shelf life.\nThere are also many recipes for alcoholic nettle beer which is a countryside favourite in\nthe British Isles such as these.[18]\n[edit] Nettle sting treatment\nAnti-itch drugs, usually in the form of creams containing antihistaminics or\nhydrocortisone[citation needed] may provide relief from the symptoms of being stung by\nnettles. But due to the combination of chemicals involved other remedies may be required.\nCalamine lotion may be helpful. Many folk remedies exist for treating the itching including\nhorsetail (Equisetopsida spp.), leaf of dock (Rumex spp.), Jewelweed, (Impatiens capensis\nand Impatiens pallida), the underside of a fern (the spores), mud, saliva, or baking soda,\noil and onions, and topical use of milk of magnesia.\n[edit] Influence on language and culture\nUrtica dioica from Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885.\nIn Great Britain the stinging nettle is the only common stinging plant and has found a\nplace in several figures of speech in the English language. Shakespeare's Hotspur urges\nthat \"out of this nettle, danger, we grasp this flower, safety\" (Henry IV, part 1, Act II\nScene 3). The figure of speech \"to grasp the nettle\" probably originated from Aesop's fable\n\"The Boy and the Nettle\".[19] In Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock one of the characters\nquotes Aesop \"Gently touch a nettle and it'll sting you for your pains/Grasp it as a lad of\nmettle and soft as silk remains\". The metaphor may refer to the fact that if a nettle plant\nis grasped firmly rather than brushed against, it does not sting so readily, because the\nhairs are crushed down flat and do not penetrate the skin so easily.[20] In the German\nlanguage, the idiom \"sich in die Nesseln setzen\", or to sit in nettles, means to get into\ntrouble.\n[edit] Textiles\nNettle stems contain a bast fibre that has been traditionally used for the same purposes as\nlinen and is produced by a similar retting process. Unlike cotton, nettles grow easily\nwithout pesticides. The fibres are coarser however.[21]\nIn recent years a German company has started to produce commercial nettle textiles.\nNettles may be used as a dye-stuff, producing yellow from the roots, or yellowish green\nfrom the leaves.[22]\nAs well as the potential for encouraging beneficial insects, nettles have a number of other\nuses in the vegetable garden.\nThe growth of stinging nettle is an indicator that an area has high fertility (especially\nphosphorus) and has been disturbed.[23][24]\nNettles contain a lot of nitrogen and so are used as a compost activator[25] or can be used\nto make a liquid fertiliser which although somewhat low in phosphate is useful in supplying\nmagnesium, sulphur and iron.[26][27] They are also one of the few plants that can tolerate,\nand flourish in, soils rich in poultry droppings.\nRecent experiments have shown that nettles may have some use as a companion plant.[28]\nStinging nettle can be a troubling weed, and mowing can increase plant density.[29] Regular\nand persistent tilling will greatly reduce its numbers, the use of herbicides such as 2,4-D\nand Glyphosate, are effective control measures.\nLamb’s Quarters\n(Chenopodium album)\nChenopodium albumIn most temperate climes the beginning of summer is an odd time for\nforagers, at least for those who forage for food rather than medicine. The bounty of the\nearly spring herb harvest is over, the dandelions, nettles and mustard garlics have grown\ntoo big and old, too tough and stringy or have otherwise become unpalatable. There are some\nedible herbs that will last into the summer, but very few that will actually reach their\nprime at that time. Lambs Quarters is one of those exceptions. When nettles are beginning\nto set seed, Lambs Quarter and its close relative, Good King Henry take over as the wild\nspinach herb par excellence.\nLambs Quarters belong to the family of Chenopodiums, which translates as 'Goosefoot' in\nallusion to the shape of the leaves, which some botanist has fancied to resemble the webbed\nfeet of geese. This family of plants, though humble in appearance, includes such luminaries\nas Quinoa, the fabled grain of the Incas, Epazote, the Mexican bean spice and 'Good King\nHenry', a well-known potherb of the Old World. Lambs Quarters is the most common member of\nthis inconspicuous family, a humble herb that favours waste grounds and other grimy places.\nIt is now considered an invasive weed in many parts of the US. How low it has fallen from\nits once honoured position as a cultivar of the Old World, where it enjoyed some\nconsiderable esteem for its nutritional properties and mild flavour.\nFrom a distance Lambs Quarters always looks dusty, a deceptive trick due to a white powdery\ncoating on the leaves. On closer inspection this powdery stuff proves to be quite a\nremarkable repellent: try washing the herb and you will notice that water simply beads and\nruns off. Thus rinsing it under running water can be a bit of a futile exercise, you have\nto actually submerge the entire herb and swish it around in order to wash it thoroughly.\nLuckily it is not the kind of herb you will often find encrusted with dirt - dirt seems to\nbe removed from the plant's surface in much the same way as the water. However, insidious\ndirt, such as soil pollutants and artificial fertilizers pose a far greater threat. Lambs\nQuarters is a 'purifier herb' and in its effort to cleanse the soil, it absorbs these\npollutants and concentrates them in its leaves. Thus foragers should be weary of patches\nwhere this plant grows in abundance - it could be an indication of soil pollution. At the\nvery least you should investigate what gets dumped in nearby fields or streams. Another\nabnormality to watch for is a reddish hue on the leaves, which indicates that spinach leaf\nminer larvae are squatting in the foliage.\nLambs Quarters can be collected throughout the summer. The plants come up in late spring\nand while tender can be collected whole. As they get older, taller and tougher, restrict\nyour harvest to the tender tops. Flowers and seeds are edible as well, so you can continue\nthe harvest throughout the summer. The herb is best used as a spinach type vegetable in\nbroth or as a green vegetable. Collect plenty if you want to make a meal of it as it\nreduces tremendously when boiled or steamed.\nIt can also be used raw in salads, alone or with other greens. It does contain oxalic acid\nand for this reason it is best not to overdo it, especially when eating the raw herb.\nPeople with kidney problems should avoid this herb since the crystals can irritate the\nkidneys.\nNative Americans used to gather the flowers to dry and grind them into a flour, which can\nbe used as an admixture to other flours. It vaguely resembles buckwheat.\nIn some countries (e.g. Canada, U.S.) this herb is known as 'pigweed' as once upon a time\nit used to be grown as pig feed. In Europe both Chenopodium album and its close relative\n'Good King Henry' used to be cultivated as potherbs.\nCommon Spicebush\n(Lindera benzoin)\nThis 5-20 feet tall, spreading bush is a native member of the laurel family. The bushes are\nusually colonial, spreading by the roots. Crush or scratch the thin, brittle twigs, or any\npart of spicebush to release its lemony-spicy fragrance.\nThe bright green, alternate, toothless, pointy-tipped, stalked leaves are elliptical, 2-6\"\nlong.\nUnlike other shrubs, some of the leaves never get large.\nIn the early spring, before the leaves appear, dense clusters of tiny, yellow flowers in\nthe axils scent the air, attracting early-season insects.\nEach tiny, radially symmetrical flower has cream-colored petals and protruding, yellow,\npollen-bearing stigmas.\nThe leafless spicebush is festooned with tiny yellow flowers in early spring.\nThe spiciest parts are the hard, oval, stalked, scarlet berries, each with one large seed.\nSpiceberries, Unripe and Ripe\nFinely chopped, the ripe berries are a superb seasoning.\nThey grow in clusters, from the leaf axils of the female bushes, in autumn.\nLook for spicebushes in damp, partially shaded, rich woodlands, on mountains' lower slopes,\nin thickets, and along stream banks, throughout the Eastern United States, except the\nnorthernmost regions. Pioneers knew that this was good soil for farms, with moist, fertile\nsoil.\nThe berries, which taste a little like allspice, are an irreplaceable seasoning for me.\nRinse them, pat them dry, and chop them in a blender or spice grinder. If you have neither,\nput them under a towel and crush them with a hammer. Some people remove the seeds, but I\ncrush them along with the rest of the berries.\nSince spiceberries are ripe in apple season, they often find themselves in the same pot. I\nlove compotes with sliced apples, walnuts, orange rind and spiceberries, simmered about 15\nminutes. Spiceberries donít go quite so well with some other later autumn fruits, such as\nautumn olives and persimmons. Wild raisins, on the other hand, get a much-needed zing from\nspiceberries. The seasoning is also wonderful for main courses, and in pastries, like\ncommercial allspice.\nTo store long-range, donít dry the berries. Theyíre too oily, and may go rancid at room\ntemperature. Spread the chopped berries out on a plate or cookie sheet and freeze them,\nthen pack into a freezer container. This way, you can remove small amounts of herb as\nneeded, and your seasoning doesnít stick together. I think 1/2 teaspoon is plenty for a\nrecipe that serves six, but depends on your personal preference.\nCollect the twigs year-round for teas, or use the leaves from mid spring to fall. In one\ncup of water, steep either 1/2 cup of fresh leaves (dried leaves loose their flavor) or\ntwigs, or two tablespoons of chopped berries.\nPioneers called this plant fever bush because a strong bark decoction makes you sweat,\nactivating the immune system and expelling toxins. They used it for typhoid and other\nfevers, and to expel worms. I use a tincture of the leaves, along with wild ginger and\nfield garlic, plus as vitamin C and zinc lozenges, at the first sign of a cold or sore\nthroat, and it sometimes works.\nThe Indians used a spiceberry infusion for coughs, colds, delayed menstruation, croup, and\nmeasles. They used the oil from the berries, externally, for chronic arthritis. Itís also\ngood for flatulence and colic. Spicebush leaf, bark, or berry tea compresses are also good\nfor mild skin irritations, such as rashes, itching, and bruises.\n \nSow thistles (less commonly hare thistles or hare lettuces) are annual herbs in the genus\nSonchus, after their Ancient Greek name. All are characterized by soft, somewhat\nirregularly lobed leaves that clasp the stem and, at least initially, form a basal rosette.\nThe stem contains a milky sap. Flower heads are yellow and range in size from half to one\ninch in diameter; the florets are all of ray type. Sow thistles are common roadside plants,\nand while native to Eurasia and tropical Africa, they are found almost worldwide in\ntemperate regions. Like the true thistles, sow thistles are in the family Asteraceae.\nMature sow thistle stems can range from 30 cm to 2 m (1 to 6 feet) tall, depending upon\nspecies and growing conditions. Colouration ranges from green to purple in older plants.\nSow thistles exude a milky latex when any part of the plant is cut or damaged, and it is\nfrom this fact that the plants obtained the common name, \"sow thistle\", as they were fed to\nlactating sows in the belief that milk production would increase. Sow thistles are known as\n\"milk thistles\" in some regions, although true milk thistles belong to the genus Silybum.\nSow thistles have been used as fodder, particularly for rabbits, hence the other common\nnames of \"hare thistle\" or \"hare lettuce\". They are also edible to humans as a leaf\nvegetable; old leaves and stalks can be bitter but young leaves have a flavour similar to\nlettuce. Going by the name puha or rareke (raraki) it is frequently eaten in New Zealand as\na vegetable, particularly by the native Māori. When cooked it tastes a little similar to\nchard.\nIn many areas sow thistles are considered noxious weeds,[2] as they grow quickly in a wide\nrange of conditions and their wind-borne seeds allow them to spread rapidly. Sonchus\narvensis, the perennial sow thistle, is considered the most economically detrimental, as it\ncan crowd commercial crops, is a heavy consumer of nitrogen in soils, may deplete soil\nwater of land left to fallow, and can regrow and sprout additional plants from its creeping\nroots. However, sow thistles are easily uprooted by hand, and their soft stems present\nlittle resistance to slashing or mowing. Most livestock will readily devour sow thistle in\npreference to grass, and this lettuce-relative is edible and nutritious to humans -- in\nfact this is the meaning of the second part of the Latin name, oleraceus.[1] Attempts at\nweed control by herbicidal use, to the neglect of other methods, may have led to a\nproliferation of this species in some environments.[2]\nSonchus tenerrimus and Sonchus oleraceus infest many crops in Italy, especially in the\nSouthern area of the peninsula. Here they are also considered good taste edible plants and\nthey are cooked with spaghetti.\nIn traditional medicine, the plant has medicinal qualities, having \"nearly the same\nproperties as Dandelion and Succory\"[3].\nSow thistles are common host plants for aphids. Gardeners may consider this a benefit or a\ncurse; aphids may spread from sow thistle to other plants, but alternatively the sow\nthistle can encourage the growth of beneficial predators such as hoverflies. In this regard\nsow thistles make excellent sacrificial plants. Sonchus species are used as food plants by\nthe larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Broad-barred White, Grey Chi, The Nutmeg,\nThe Shark and the tortrix moth Celypha rufana.\nEpazote\nEpazote, Wormseed, Jesuit's Tea, Mexican Tea, Paico or Herba Sancti Mariæ (Dysphania\nambrosioides, formerly Chenopodium ambrosioides) is an herb native to Central America,\nSouth America, and southern Mexico.\nContents\nIt is an annual or short-lived perennial plant, growing to 1.2 m tall, irregularly\nbranched, with oblong-lanceolate leaves up to 12 cm long. The flowers are small and green,\nproduced in a branched panicle at the apex of the stem.\nAs well as in its native areas, it is grown in warm temperate to subtropical areas of\nEurope and the United States (Missouri, New England, Eastern United States),[1] sometimes\nbecoming an invasive weed.\nThe common Spanish name, epazote (sometimes spelled and pronounced ipasote or ypasote), is\nderived from Nahuatl: epazōtl (pronounced [eˈpasoːtɬ]).\n[edit] Usage\n[edit] Culinary uses\nEpazote is used as a leaf vegetable and herb for its pungent flavor. Raw, it has a\nresinous, medicinal pungency, similar to anise, fennel, or even tarragon, but stronger.\nEpazote's fragrance is strong, but difficult to describe. It has been compared to citrus,\npetroleum, savory, mint and camphor.\nAlthough it is traditionally used with black beans for flavor and its carminative\nproperties, it is also sometimes used to flavor other traditional Mexican dishes as well:\nit can be used to season quesadillas and sopes (especially those containing huitlacoche),\nsoups, mole de olla, tamales with cheese and chile, chilaquiles, eggs and potatoes and\nenchiladas.\nEpazote is commonly believed to prevent flatulence caused by eating beans, and is therefore\nused to season them. It is also used in the treatment of amenorrhea,[2] dysmenorrhea,\nmalaria, chorea, hysteria, catarrh, and asthma.[3]\nOil of chenopodium is derived from this plant. It is antihelminthic, that is, it kills\nintestinal worms, and was once listed for this use in the US Pharmacopeia. It is also cited\nas an antispasmodic and abortifacient.\nEpazote essential oil contains ascaridole (up to 70%), limonene, p-cymene, and smaller\namounts of numerous other monoterpenes and monoterpene derivatives (α-pinene, myrcene,\nterpinene, thymol, camphor and trans-isocarveol). Ascaridole (1,4-peroxido-p-menth-2-ene)\nis rather an uncommon constituent of spices; another plant owing much of its character to\nthis monoterpene peroxide is boldo. Ascaridole is toxic and has a pungent, not very\npleasant flavor; in pure form, it is an explosive sensitive to shock. Allegedly, ascaridole\ncontent is lower in epazote from Mexico than in epazote grown in Europe or Asia.\n[edit] Agricultural use\nAn extract of epazote is the active ingredient of the pesticide Requiem.\nGarlic mustard\nGarlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a biennial flowering plant in the Mustard family,\nBrassicaceae. It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, and northwestern Africa,\nfrom Morocco, Iberia and the British Isles, north to northern Scandinavia, and east to\nnorthern India and western China (Xinjiang).[1] In the first year of growth, plants form\nattractive clumps of round shaped, slightly wrinkled leaves, that when crushed smell like\ngarlic. The next year plants flower in spring, producing cross shaped white flowers in\ndense clusters, as the flowering stems bloom they elongate into a spike-like shape. When\nblooming is complete, plants produce upright fruits that release seeds in mid summer.\nPlants are often found growing along the margins of hedgerows, giving rise to the old\nBritish folk name of Jack-by-the-hedge. Other common names include Garlic Root, Hedge\nGarlic, Sauce-alone, Jack-in-the-bush, Penny Hedge and Poor Man's Mustard. The genus name\nAlliaria, \"resembling Allium\", refers to the garlic-like odour of the crushed foliage.\nLawrence Newcomb gives the species name Alliaria officinalis for this plant.\nDescription\nIt is a herbaceous biennial plant (sometimes an annual plant) growing from a deeply\ngrowing, thin, white taproot that is scented like a horse-radish. Plants grow from 30–100\ncm (rarely to 130 cm) tall. The leaves are stalked, triangular to heart-shaped, 10–15 cm\nlong (of which about half being the petiole) and 2–6 cm broad, with a coarsely toothed\nmargin. In biennial specimens, first-year plants appear as a rosette of green leaves close\nto the ground; these rosettes remain green through the winter and develop into mature\nflowering plants the following spring. The flowers are produced in spring and summer in\nbutton-like clusters. Each small flower has four white petals 4–8 mm long and 2–3 mm broad,\narranged in a cross shape. The fruit is an erect, slender, four-sided pod 4 to 5.5 cm long\n[3] , called a silique, green maturing pale grey-brown, containing two rows of small shiny\nblack seeds which are released when the pod splits open. Some plants can flower and\ncomplete their life-cycle in the first year. A single plant can produce hundreds of seeds,\nwhich scatter as much as several meters from the parent plant. Depending upon conditions,\ngarlic mustard flowers either self-fertilize or are cross-pollinated by a variety of\ninsects. Self-fertilized seeds are genetically identical to the parent plant, enhancing its\nability to colonize an area where that genotype is suited to thrive.[4]\nClose-up of Garlic Mustard flowers\nFruits and seeds\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe leaves, flowers and fruit are edible as food for humans, and are best when young. They\nhave a mild flavour of both garlic and mustard, and are used in salads and pesto. They were\nonce used as medicine.[5]\nIn Europe as many as 69 species of insects and 7 species of fungi utilize Garlic Mustard as\na food plant, including the larvae of some Lepidoptera species such as the Garden Carpet\nmoth.\n[edit] As an invasive species\nGarlic mustard was introduced in North America as a culinary herb in the 1860s and is an\ninvasive species in much of North America and is listed as a noxious or restricted plant as\nof 2006 in the US states of Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire,\nOregon, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington.[6] Like most invasive plants, once it has an\nintroduction into a new location, it persists and spreads into undisturbed plant\ncommunities. In many areas of its introduction in Eastern North America, it has become the\ndominant under-story species in woodland and flood plain environments, where eradication is\ndifficult.[7]\nThe insects and fungi that feed on it in its native habitat are not present in North\nAmerica, increasing its seed productivity and allowing it to out-compete native plants. It\nis a possible threat to the West Virginia White Butterfly (Pieris virginiensis) and Mustard\nWhite Butterfly (Pieris oleracea); adult butterflies of both species lay their eggs on\nnative Dentaria or Toothwort plants, but they often confuse garlic mustard plants with\nDentaria and lay their eggs on garlic mustard, because they have similar flowers. The eggs\nand young butterflies cannot live on the garlic mustard, because it has chemicals that are\ntoxic to the larvae and eggs.[8]\nA study published in 2006 concluded that Garlic Mustard produces allelochemicals that harm\nmycorrhizal fungi that many North American plants, including native forest trees, require\nfor optimum growth.[9] Additionally, because White-tailed Deer rarely feed on Garlic\nMustard, large deer populations may help to increase its population densities by consuming\ncompeting native plants. Trampling by browsing deer encourages additional seed growth by\ndisturbing the soil. A complication to the eradication of Garlic Mustard from an area is\nthe longevity of viable seeds in the ground. Seeds contained in the soil can germinate up\nto five years after being produced.[10] Garlic mustard has been classified as\nMagnoliopsida.\nGarlic mustard produces a variety of secondary compounds, including the flavonoid\nisovitexin 6″-O-β-d-glucopyranoside as a feeding deterrent to Pieris napi oleracea[11],\ndefense proteins, glycosides, and glucosinolates that reduce its palatability to\nherbivores. [12][13] Research published in 2007 shows that, in Northeast Forests, garlic\nmustard rosettes increased the rate of native leaf litter decomposition, increasing\nnutrient availability and possibly creating conditions favorable to garlic mustard's own\nspread.\nGinkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese and Japanese 銀杏, pinyin romanization: yín xìng, Hepburn\nromanization: ichō or ginnan), also spelled gingko and known as the Maidenhair Tree, is a\nunique species of tree with no close living relatives. The tree is widely cultivated and\nintroduced, since an early period in human history, and has various uses as a food and\ntraditional medicine.\nGinkgoes are very large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66–115 feet), with\nsome specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet). The tree has an angular crown and long,\nsomewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow\ndamage. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched; the crown becomes\nbroader as the tree ages. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall,\nsometimes within a short space of time (1–15 days). A combination of resistance to disease,\ninsect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos\nlong-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old.\nGinkgo is a relatively shade-intolerant species that (at least in cultivation) grows best\nin environments that are well-watered and well-drained. The species shows a preference for\ndisturbed sites; in the \"semi-wild\" stands at Tian Mu Shan, many specimens are found along\nstream banks, rocky slopes, and cliff edges. Accordingly, Ginkgo retains a prodigious\ncapacity for vegetative growth. It is capable of sprouting from embedded buds near the base\nof the trunk (lignotubers, or basal chi chi) in response to disturbances, such as soil\nerosion. Old individuals are also capable of producing aerial roots (chi chi) on the\nundersides of large branches in response to disturbances such as crown damage; these roots\ncan lead to successful clonal reproduction upon contacting the soil. These strategies are\nevidently important in the persistence of Ginkgo; in a survey of the \"semi-wild\" stands\nremaining in Tian Mu Shan, 40% of the Ginkgo specimens surveyed were multi-stemmed, and few\nsaplings were present.[3]\nTrunk bark\n[edit] Stem\nGinkgo branches grow in length by growth of shoots with regularly spaced leaves, as seen on\nmost trees. From the axils of these leaves, \"spur shoots\" (also known as short shoots)\ndevelop on second-year growth. Short shoots have very short internodes (so they may grow\nonly one or two centimeters in several years) and their leaves are usually unlobed. They\nare short and knobby, and are arranged regularly on the branches except on first-year\ngrowth. Because of the short internodes, leaves appear to be clustered at the tips of short\nshoots, and reproductive structures are formed only on them (see pictures below - seeds and\nleaves are visible on short shoots). In Ginkgos, as in other plants that possess them,\nshort shoots allow the formation of new leaves in the older parts of the crown. After a\nnumber of years, a short shoot may change into a long (ordinary) shoot, or vice versa.\n[edit] Leaves\nThe leaves are unique among seed plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating out into the\nleaf blade, sometimes bifurcating (splitting) but never anastomosing to form a network.[4]\nTwo veins enter the leaf blade at the base and fork repeatedly in two; this is known as\ndichotomous venation. The leaves are usually 5–10 cm (2-4 inches), but sometimes up to 15\ncm (6 inches) long. The old popular name \"Maidenhair tree\" is because the leaves resemble\nsome of the pinnae of the Maidenhair fern Adiantum capillus-veneris.\nLeaves of long shoots are usually notched or lobed, but only from the outer surface,\nbetween the veins. They are borne both on the more rapidly-growing branch tips, where they\nare alternate and spaced out, and also on the short, stubby spur shoots, where they are\nclustered at the tips.\nGinkgos are dioecious, with separate sexes, some trees being female and others being male.\nMale plants produce small pollen cones with sporophylls each bearing two microsporangia\nspirally arranged around a central axis.\nFemale plants do not produce cones. Two ovules are formed at the end of a stalk, and after\npollination, one or both develop into seeds. The seed is 1.5–2 cm long. Its fleshy outer\nlayer (the sarcotesta) is light yellow-brown, soft, and fruit-like. It is attractive in\nappearance, but contains butanoic acid[5] (also known as butyric acid) and smells like\nrancid butter (which contains the same chemical) or feces[6] when fallen. Beneath the\nsarcotesta is the hard sclerotesta (what is normally known as the \"shell\" of the seed) and\na papery endotesta, with the nucellus surrounding the female gametophyte at the center.[7]\nThe fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs via motile sperm, as in cycads, ferns, mosses and\nalgae. The sperm are large (about 250-300 micrometres) and are similar to the sperm of\ncycads, which are slightly larger. Ginkgo sperm were first discovered by the Japanese\nbotanist Sakugoro Hirase in 1896.[8] The sperm have a complex multi-layered structure,\nwhich is a continuous belt of basal bodies that form the base of several thousand flagella\nwhich actually have a cilia-like motion. The flagella/cilia apparatus pulls the body of the\nsperm forwards. The sperm have only a tiny distance to travel to the archegonia, of which\nthere are usually two or three. Two sperm are produced, one of which successfully\nfertilizes the ovule. Although it is widely held that fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs\njust before or after they fall in early autumn,[4][7] embryos ordinarily occur in seeds\njust before and after they drop from the tree.[\n \nThe ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria) is a perennial plant in the carrot family\n(Apiaceae) that grows in shady places. Its name is also sometimes spelled \"ground elder\",\nthough this format invites confusion with elder (Sambucus), a very distantly related genus\nwith visually similar leaves. Ground-elder is also known as herb gerard, bishop's weed,\ngoutweed, and snow-in-the-mountain. It is the type species of the genus Aegopodium.\n[edit] Uses as food and medicine\nThe tender leaves have been used as a spring leaf vegetable, much as spinach was used. It\nhas also been used to treat gout and arthritis. The plant is said to have been introduced\ninto England by the Romans as a food plant and into Northern Europe by monks. It is also\neaten by Chinese and Tibetan monks.\nIt is best picked from when it appears (as early as February in the UK) to just before it\nflowers (May to June). If it is picked after this point it takes on an unusual taste and a\nlaxative effect. However it can be stopped from flowering by pinching out the flowers,\nensuring that the plant remains edible if used more sparingly as a pot herb.[1]\n[edit] Invasive habit\nIn some areas, this plant is considered among the worst of weeds, as it readily spreads\nover large areas of ground by underground rhizomes. It is extremely invasive, and crowds\nout native species. The smallest piece of rhizome left in the ground will quickly form a\nsturdy new plant, followed by many more.\nIf a small plant finds its way into a perennial flower garden it will spread with vigor,\nresist all attempts at eradication, and make continued ornamental gardening there very\ndifficult.\n[edit] Ornamental use\nA variegated form is grown as an ornamental plant, though with the advice to keep it\nisolated.\n[edit] Importance to wildlife\nIt is used as a food plant by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera including dot moth,\ngrey dagger and grey pug.\n \nJapanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica) is a\nlarge, herbaceous perennial plant, native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. In\nNorth America and Europe the species is very successful and has been classified as an\ninvasive species in several countries.\nA member of the family Polygonaceae, Japanese knotweed has hollow stems with distinct\nraised nodes that give it the appearance of bamboo, though it is not closely related. While\nstems may reach a maximum height of 3–4 m each growing season, it is typical to see much\nsmaller plants in places where they sprout through cracks in the pavement or are repeatedly\ncut down. The leaves are broad oval with a truncated base, 7–14 cm long and 5–12 cm broad,\nwith an entire margin. The flowers are small, cream or white, produced in erect racemes\n6–15 cm long in late summer and early autumn.\nClosely related species include giant knotweed (Fallopia sachalinensis, syn. Polygonum\nsachalinense) and Russian vine (Fallopia baldschuanica, syn. Polygonum aubertii, Polygonum\nbaldschuanicum).\nOther English names for Japanese knotweed include fleeceflower, Himalayan fleece vine,\nmonkeyweed, Huzhang (Chinese: 虎杖; pinyin: Hǔzhàng), Hancock's curse, elephant ears, pea\nshooters, donkey rhubarb (although it is not a rhubarb), sally rhubarb, Japanese bamboo,\nAmerican bamboo, and Mexican bamboo (though it is not a bamboo). There are also regional\nnames, and it is sometimes confused with sorrel.\nIn Japanese, the name is itadori (虎杖, イタドリ?).[1]\nOld stems remain in place as new growth appears\nA hedgerow made up of roses and Japanese knotweed in Caersws, Wales in 2010\nErect inflorescence\n[edit] Invasive species\nIn the U.S. and Europe, Japanese knotweed is widely considered an invasive species or\nweed.[2] It is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world's 100 worst\ninvasive species.[3]\nThe invasive root system and strong growth can damage foundations, buildings, flood\ndefences, roads, paving, retaining walls and architectural sites. It can also reduce the\ncapacity of channels in flood defences to carry water.[4]\nIt is a frequent colonizer of temperate riparian ecosystems, roadsides and waste places. It\nforms thick, dense colonies that completely crowd out any other herbaceous species and is\nnow considered one of the worst invasive exotics in parts of the eastern United States. The\nsuccess of the species has been partially attributed to its tolerance of a very wide range\nof soil types, pH and salinity. Its rhizomes can survive temperatures of −35 °C (−31 °F)\nand can extend 7 metres (23 ft) horizontally and 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, making removal by\nexcavation extremely difficult. The plant is also resilient to cutting, vigorously\nre-sprouting from the roots. The most effective method of control is by herbicide\napplication close to the flowering stage in late summer or autumn. In some cases it is\npossible to eradicate Japanese knotweed in one growing season using only herbicides. Trials\nin the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) of British Columbia using sea water sprayed on\nthe foliage have demonstrated promising results, which may prove to be a viable option for\neradication where concerns over herbicide application are too great.[citation needed]\nIt can be found in 39 of the 50 United States[5] and in six provinces in Canada. It is\nlisted as an invasive weed in Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, New York, Alaska, Pennsylvania,\nOregon and Washington state.[6] The species is also common in Europe. In the UK it was made\nillegal to spread Japanese knotweed by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is also\nclassed as \"controlled waste\" in Britain under part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act\n1990. This requires disposal at licensed landfill sites.[7]\nTwo biological pest control agents that show promise in the control of the plant are the\npsyllid Aphalara itadori[8] and a leaf spot fungus from genus Mycosphaerella.[9]\n[edit] Uses\nJapanese knotweed flowers are valued by some beekeepers as an important source of nectar\nfor honeybees, at a time of year when little else is flowering. Japanese knotweed yields a\nmonofloral honey, usually called bamboo honey by northeastern U.S. beekeepers, like a\nmild-flavored version of buckwheat honey (a related plant also in the Polygonaceae).\nThe young stems are edible as a spring vegetable, with a flavor similar to mild rhubarb. In\nsome locations, semi-cultivating Japanese knotweed for food has been used as a means of\ncontrolling knotweed populations that invade sensitive wetland areas and drive out the\nnative vegetation.[10] Some caution should be exercised when consuming this plant because\nit contains oxalic acid, which may aggravate conditions such as rheumatism, arthritis,\ngout, kidney stones or hyperacidity.[11]\nBoth Japanese knotweed and giant knotweed are important concentrated sources of\nresveratrol, replacing grape byproducts. Many large supplement sources of resveratrol now\nuse Japanese knotweed and use its scientific name in the supplement labels. The plant is\nuseful because of its year-round growth and robustness in different climates.[12]\nJapanese knotweed is a concentrated source of emodin, used as a nutritional supplement to\nregulate bowel motility. The roots of Japanese knotweed are used in traditional Chinese and\nJapanese herbal medicines as a natural laxative. The active principle responsible for the\nlaxative effect is emodin, present in its natural form as a complex of its analogs. Emodin\nhas a mild laxative effect in doses of 20 to 50 mg per day.\nMethanol extracts of the roots of Polygonum cuspidatum (Polygonaceae), traditionally used\nin Korea to maintain oral health, were shown to reduce the viability of Streptococcus\nmutans and Streptococcus sobrinus as well as inhibit sucrose-dependent adherence,\nwater-insoluble glucan formation, glycolytic acid production and acid tolerance. The\nauthors suggested that inhibitory effects may be mediated by the presence of alkaloids,\nphenolics and sterol/terpenes in the extract.[13]\nThis antique locomotive at Beekbergen, Netherlands is overgrown by knotweed. A few years\nago, it was knotweed-free\n[edit] Control\nJapanese knotweed has a large underground network of roots (rhizomes). To eradicate the\nplant the roots need to be killed. Picking the right herbicide is essential, as it must\ntravel through the plant and into the root system below. Glyphosate is the best active\ningredient in herbicide for use on Japanese knotweed as it is ’systemic’; it penetrates\nthrough the whole plant and travels to the roots. Glyphosate is available under several\ntrade names - all label the product as a \"weed and grass killer\". Commercial glyphosate\nconcentrates contain approximately 20%-40% glyphosate; the balance is mostly water. Such\nconcentrates need to be diluted in water.\nThe most effective spraying solution contains about 5%-10% glyphosate in water. (To make a\n5% solution from a 40% concentrate mix 1 part concentrate with 7 parts water.) Ready-to-use\nsolutions that contain less than 5% glyphosate are too weak and do not work. A small amount\nof liquid dish-washing detergent can be added to improve wetting of the leaves. If\npossible, both sides of the leaves should be sprayed until they are completely wet. It\ntakes about 3 weeks for most of the plants to die. After 3 weeks, all remaining plants\nshould be sprayed again. This process needs to be repeated until all the plants die.\nTypically this can take 3 years.\nThe US federal government will come and spray Japanese knotweed for no charge in many areas\nunder the Invasive Species Act. Local county extension agencies can be contacted for more\ndetails.\nDigging up the rhizomes is a common solution where the land is to be developed, as this is\nquicker than the use of herbicides, but disposal of the plant material is difficult,\ngoverned by law in the UK, where it is classed as controlled waste.\nMore ecologically friendly means are being tested as an alternative to chemical treatments.\nSoil steaming [14] involves injecting steam into contaminated soil in order to kill\nsubterranean plant parts. Research has also been carried out on 'Mycosphaerella leafspot\nfungus, which devastates knotweed in its native Japan. Research with Mycosphaerella has\nbeen relatively slow, due to its complex life cycle.[15]\nIn the UK, it is an offence under section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981 to\n\"plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild\" any plant listed in Schedule nine, Part II\nto the Act, which includes Japanese knotweed. Over £150m is spent annually on Japanese\nknotweed control, and a decision was taken on 9 March 2010 in the UK to release into the\nwild a Japanese psyllid insect, Aphalara itadori.[16] Its diet is highly specific to\nJapanese knotweed and shows good potential for its control[\nJuneberry, Shadbush, Serviceberry\nAmelanchier (pronounced /æməˈlænʃɪər/ am-ə-LAN-sheer[2]), also known as shadbush,\nserviceberry, sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, shadblow, shadwood, sugarplum, chuckley\npear, and wild-plum, is a genus of about 20 species of shrubs and small deciduous trees in\nthe Rosaceae (Rose family).\nThe genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, growing primarily in\nearly successional habitats. It is most diverse taxonomically in North America, especially\nin the northern United States and in Canada, and is native to every state of the United\nStates except Hawaii. Two species also occur in Asia, and one in Europe. These plants are\nvalued horticulturally, and their fruits are important to wildlife. The systematics\n(taxonomy) of shadbushes has long perplexed botanists, horticulturalists, and others, as\nsuggested by the range in number of species recognized in the genus from 6 to 33 in two\nrecent publications [3][4]. A major source of complexity comes from the occurrence of\napomixis (asexual seed production), polyploidy, and hybridization.[5]\nAmelanchier species grow to 0.2–20 m tall, arborecent or suckering and forming loose\ncolonies or dense clumps to single-stemmed. The bark is gray or less often brown, smooth or\nfissuring in older trees. The leaves are deciduous, cauline, alternate, simple, lanceolate\nto elliptic to orbiculate, 0.5–10 x 0.5–5.5 cm, thin to coriaceous, with surfaces abaxially\nglabrous or densely tomentose at flowering, abaxially glabrous or more or less hairy at\nmaturity. The inflorescences are terminal, with 1–20 flowers, erect or drooping, either in\nclusters of one to four flowers, or in racemes with 4–20 flowers. The flowers have five\nwhite (rarely somewhat pink, yellow, or streaked with red), linear to orbiculate petals,\n2.6–25 mm long, occasionally andropetalous (bearing apical microsporangia adaxially; only\nknown in this genus in A. nantucketensis). The flowers appear in early spring, \"when the\nshad run\" according to tradition (leading to names such as \"shadbush\"). The fruit is a\nberry-like pome, red to purple to nearly black at maturity, 5–15 mm diameter, insipid to\ndelectably sweet, maturing in summer.[5]\nContents\n[edit] Selected species\nFor North American species, the taxonomy follows the forthcoming Flora of North\nAmerica;[5][6] for Asian species the Flora of China;[7] and for European species the Flora\nEuropaea.[8]\n * Amelanchier alnifolia var. alnifolia - Saskatoon serviceberry, alder-leaved shadbush,\nsaskatoon, saskatoon berry, amélanchier à feuilles d'aulne[9]\n * Amelanchier amabilis - Lovely shadbush, amélanchier gracieux [10]\n * Amelanchier arborea - Downy shadbush[11]\n * Amelanchier bartramiana - Mountain shadbush, amélanchier de Bartram [12]\n * Amelanchier canadensis var. canadensis - Eastern shadbush, amélanchier du Canada[13]\n * Amelanchier humilis - Low shadbush, amélanchier bas[14]\n * Amelanchier interior - Wiegand's shadbush, amélanchier de l'intérieur[15]\n * Amelanchier laevis - Smooth shadbush, amélanchier glabre [16]\n * Amelanchier nantucketensis - Nantucket serviceberry\n * Amelanchier ovalis - Snowy Mespilus[17]\n * Amelanchier sanguinea - Red-twigged shadbush, amélanchier sanguin[18]\n * Amelanchier sinica - Chinese Serviceberry[19]\n * Amelanchier spicata - Thicket shadbush, amélanchier en épis[20]\n * Amelanchier utahensis - Utah serviceberry[21]\nSeveral natural hybrids also exist.\n[edit] Etymology\nThe origin of the generic name Amelanchier is probably derived from amalenquièr,\namelanchièr, the Provençal names of the European Amelanchier ovalis. The name serviceberry\ncomes from the similarity of the fruit to the related European Sorbus. Juneberry refers to\nthe fruits of certain species becoming ripe in June. The name saskatoon originated from a\nCree Indian noun misâskwatômina (misāskwatōmina, misaaskwatoomina) for Amelanchier\nalnifolia. The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is named after this plant.\n[edit] Ecology\nAmelanchier are preferred browse for deer and rabbits, and heavy browsing pressure can\nsuppress natural regeneration. Caterpillars of Lepidoptera such as Brimstone Moth,\nBrown-tail, Grey Dagger, Mottled Umber, Rough Prominent, The Satellite, Winter Moth,\nLimenitis arthemis and other herbivorous insects also have a taste for serviceberry. Many\ninsects and diseases that attack orchard trees also affect this genus, in particular trunk\nborers and Gymnosporangium rust. In years when late flowers overlap those of wild roses and\nbrambles, bees may spread bacterial fireblight.\n[edit] Uses and cultivation\nThe fruit of several species are excellent to eat raw, tasting somewhat like a blueberry,\nstrongly accented by the almond-like flavour of the seeds. Fruit is harvested locally for\npies and jams[22]. The saskatoon berry is harvested commercially. The Native American food\npemmican was flavored by shadbush fruits in combination with fat and dried meats, and the\nstems were made into arrow shafts.\nSeveral species are very popular ornamental shrubs, grown for their flowers, bark, and fall\ncolor. All need similar conditions to grow well, requiring good drainage, air circulation\n(to discourage leaf diseases), watering during drought and acceptable soil. Note that\nspecies names are often used interchangeably in the nursery trade. Many A. arborea plants\nthat are offered for sale are actually hybrids, or entirely different species.\nThe wood is brown, hard, close-grained, and heavy. The heartwood is reddish-brown, and the\nsapwood is lighter in color. It can be used for tool handles and fishing rods.\nPropagation is by seed, divisions and grafting. Serviceberries graft so readily that grafts\nwith other genera, such as Crataegus and Sorbus, are often successful.\nGeorge Washington planted specimens on the grounds of Mount Vernon.\nA taxon commonly cited as Amelanchier \"lamarckii\" is very widely cultivated and naturalized\nin Europe, where it was introduced in the 17th century; it is known to be of North American\norigin, probably from eastern Canada. It is not currently known to occur in the wild, and\nis probably of hybrid origin between A. laevis and either A. arborea or A. canadensis; it\nis apomictic and breeds true from seed\n \nThe Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa or Benthamidia kousa), also known as the Japanese Flowering\nDogwood (Yamaboushi (ヤマボウシ?)), is a small deciduous tree 8–12 m tall, native to eastern\nAsia. Like most dogwoods, it has opposite, simple leaves, which are 4–10 cm long.\nThe tree is extremely showy when in bloom, but what appear to be four petaled white flowers\nare actually bracts spread open below the cluster of inconspicuous yellow-green flowers.\nThe blossoms appear is in late spring, weeks after the tree leafs out.\n[edit] Characteristics\nThe kousa dogwood can be distinguished from the closely related Flowering Dogwood (Cornus\nflorida) of eastern North America by its more upright habit, flowering about a month later,\nand having pointed rather than rounded flower bracts.\nThe fruit is a globose pink to red compound berry 2–3 cm diameter, though these berries\ntend to grow larger towards the end of the season and some berry clusters that do not fall\nfrom the tree surpass 4 cm. It is edible, a delicious addition to the tree's ornamental\nvalue.\n * Cornus kousa var. kousa. Leaves 4–7 cm; flower bracts 3–5 cm. Japan.\n * Cornus kousa var. chinensis. Leaves 5–10 cm; flower bracts 4–6 cm. China.\nIt is resistant to the dogwood anthracnose disease, caused by the fungus Discula\ndestructiva, unlike Flowering Dogwood, which is very susceptible and commonly killed by it;\nfor this reason, Kousa Dogwood is being widely planted as an ornamental tree in areas\naffected by the disease. A number of hybrids between Kousa Dogwood and Flowering Dogwood\nhave also been selected for their disease resistance and good flower appearance.\nMulberries\nMorus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous\ntrees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries. They are native to warm temperate and\nsubtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, with the majority of the\nspecies native to Asia.\nThe closely related genus Broussonetia is also commonly known as mulberry, notably the\nPaper Mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera.\nMulberries are swift-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely exceed\n10–15 m (33–49 ft) tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, often lobed, more\noften lobed on juvenile shoots than on mature trees, and serrated on the margin.\nThe fruit is a multiple fruit, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) long. The fruits when immature are\nwhite or green to pale yellow with pink edges. In most species the fruits are red when they\nare ripening, turning dark purple to black and have a sweet flavor. The fruits of the\nwhite-fruited cultivar of the white mulberry are green when young and white when ripe; the\nfruit in this cultivar is also sweet but has a very mild flavor compared with the darker\nvariety.\nThe taxonomy of Morus is complex and disputed. Over 150 species names have been published,\nand although differing sources may cite different selections of accepted names, only 10–16\nare generally cited as being accepted by the vast majority of botanical authorities. Morus\nclassification is even further complicated by widespread hybridisation, wherein the hybrids\nare fertile.\nThe following species are generally accepted:\n * Morus alba L. – White Mulberry (E Asia)\n * Morus australis Poir. – Chinese Mulberry (SE Asia)\n * Morus celtidifolia Kunth (Mexico)\n * Morus mesozygia Stapf – African Mulberry (S and C Africa)\n \n * Morus microphylla – Texas Mulberry (Mexico, Texas (USA))\n * Morus nigra L. – Black Mulberry (SW Asia)\n * Morus rubra L. – Red Mulberry (E N America)\n \nThe following, all from eastern and southern Asia, are additionally accepted by one or more\ntaxonomic lists or studies; synonymy, as given by other lists or studies, is indicated in\nsquare brackets:\n * Morus serrata [M. alba var. serrata], Himalayan mulberry\n * Morus tillaefolia\n * Morus trilobata [M. australis var. trilobata]\n * Morus wittiorum\n \n[edit] Uses and cultivation\nThe ripe fruit is edible and is widely used in pies, tarts, wines, cordials and tea. The\nfruit of the black mulberry, native to southwest Asia, and the red mulberry, native to\neastern North America, have the strongest flavor. The fruit of the white mulberry, an east\nAsian species which is extensively naturalized in urban regions of eastern North America,\nhas a different flavor, sometimes characterized as insipid.[2] The mature plant contains\nsignificant amounts of resveratrol, particularly in stem bark.[3] The fruit and leaves are\nsold in various forms as nutritional supplements. Unripe fruit and green parts of the plant\nhave a white sap that is intoxicating and mildly hallucinogenic.[4]\nBlack, red, and white mulberry are widespread in Northern India, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Syria,\nLebanon, Georgia, Armenia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan, where the tree and the\nfruit are known by the Persian-derived names toot (mulberry) or shahtoot (King's or\n\"superior\" mulberry). Jams and sherbets are often made from the fruit in this region. Black\nmulberry was imported to Britain in the 17th century in the hope that it would be useful in\nthe cultivation of silkworms. It was much used in folk medicine, especially in the\ntreatment of ringworm. Mulberries are also widespread in Greece, particularly in the\nPeloponnese, which in the Middle Ages was known as Morea (Greek: Μωριάς, Morias), deriving\nfrom the Greek word for the tree (Greek: Μουριά, Μouria). Mulberry trees were used for silk\nproduction, which was a major source of wealth for the region.\nMulberry leaves, particularly those of the white mulberry, are ecologically important as\nthe sole food source of the silkworm (Bombyx mori, named after the mulberry genus Morus),\nthe pupa/cocoon of which is used to make silk. Other Lepidoptera larvae also sometimes feed\non the plant including common emerald, lime hawk-moth, and the sycamore.\nMulberries can be grown from seed, and this is often advised as seedling-grown trees are\ngenerally of better shape and health. But they are most often planted from large cuttings\nwhich root readily. The mulberry plants which are allowed to grow tall with a crown height\nof 5 - 6 feet from the ground level having stem girth of 4 -5 inches or more is called tree\nmulberry. They are specially raised with the help of well grown saplings of 8 - 10 months\nold with any of the varieties recommended for rain fed areas like S-13 (for red loamy soil)\nor S-34 (black cotton soil) which are tolerant to draught or soil moisture stress\nconditions. Usually the plantation is raised as block plantation with a spacing of 6 feet x\n6 feet or 8 feet x 8 feet as plant to plant and row to row distance. The plants are usually\npruned once in a year during monsoon (July - August) at a height of 5 - 6 feet from the\nground level and allowed to grow with maximum of 8 - 10 shoots at crown. The leaf is\nharvested 3-4 times in a year by leaf picking method under rain fed or semi-arid conditions\ndepending upon the monsoon. The tree branches pruned during the fall season (after the\nleaves have fallen) are cut and used to make very durable baskets which are used in a lot\nof village jobs related to agriculture and animal husbandry.\n[edit] Anthocyanins from mulberry fruits\nAnthocyanins are pigments which hold potential use as dietary modulators of mechanisms for\nvarious diseases[5][6] and as natural food colorants. Due to increasing demand for natural\nfood colorants, their significance in the food industry is increasing. Anthocyanins are\nresponsible for the attractive colors of fresh plant foods, producing colors such as\norange, red, purple, black, and blue. They are water-soluble and easily extractable.\nA cheap and industrially feasible method to purify anthocyanins from mulberry fruit which\ncould be used as a fabric tanning agent or food colorant of high color value (of above 100)\nhas been established. Scientists found that out of 31 Chinese mulberry cultivars tested,\nthe total anthocyanin yield varied from 148 mg to 2725 mg per liter of fruit juice.[7]\nTotal sugars, total acids, and vitamins remained intact in the residual juice after removal\nof anthocyanins and that the residual juice could be fermented to produce products such as\njuice, wine, and sauce.\nWorldwide, mulberry is grown for its fruit. In traditional and folk medicine, the fruit is\nbelieved to have medicinal properties and is used for making jam, wine, and other food\nproducts. As the genus Morus has been domesticated over thousands of years and constantly\nbeen subjected to heterosis breeding (mainly for improving leaf yield), it is possible to\nhybridize breeds suitable for berry production, thus offering possible industrial use of\nmulberry as a source of anthocyanins for functional foods or food colorants which could\nenhance the overall profitability of sericulture.\nAnthocyanin content depends on climate, area of cultivation, and is particularly higher in\nsunny climates.[8] This finding holds promise for tropical sericulture countries to profit\nfrom industrial anthocyanin production from mulberry through anthocyanin recovery.\nThis offers a challenging task to the mulberry germplasm resources for\n * exploration and collection of fruit yielding mulberry species;\n * their characterization, cataloging, and evaluation for anthocyanin content by using\ntraditional as well as modern means and biotechnology tools;\n * developing an information system about these cultivars or varieties;\n * training and global coordination of genetic stocks;\n * evolving suitable breeding strategies to improve the anthocyanin content in potential\nbreeds by collaboration with various research stations in the field of sericulture, plant\ngenetics, and breeding, biotechnology and pharmacology.\n \nArtemisia vulgaris (mugwort or common wormwood) is one of several species in the genus\nArtemisia which have common names that include the word mugwort. This species is also\noccasionally known as Felon Herb, Chrysanthemum Weed, Wild Wormwood, Old uncle Henry,\nSailor's Tobacco, Naughty Man, Old Man or St. John's Plant (not to be confused with St\nJohn's wort).\nIt is native to temperate Europe, Asia, northern Africa and Alaska and is naturalized in\nNorth America,[1] where some consider it an invasive weed. It is a very common plant\ngrowing on nitrogenous soils, like weedy and uncultivated areas, such as waste places and\nroadsides.\nIt is a tall herbaceous perennial plant growing 1–2 m (rarely 2.5 m) tall, with a woody\nroot. The leaves are 5–20 cm long, dark green, pinnate, with dense white tomentose hairs on\nthe underside. The erect stem often has a red-purplish tinge. The rather small flowers (5\nmm long) are radially symmetrical with many yellow or dark red petals. The narrow and\nnumerous capitula (flower heads) spread out in racemose panicles. It flowers from July to\nSeptember.\nA number of species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) feed on the leaves and flowers;\nsee List of Lepidoptera that feed on Artemisia for details.\nContents\nWiki letter w.svg This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.\n[edit] List of the cultivars\nWiki letter w.svg This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.\n[edit] Etymology\nMugwort is often said to derive from the word \"mug\" since it has been used in flavoring\ndrinks at least since the early Iron Age.[2] However, this may be a folk etymology based on\ncoincidental sounds. Other sources say Mugwort is derived from the old Norse muggi, meaning\n\"marsh\", and Germanic \"wuertz\", meaning \"root\", which refers to its use since ancient times\nto repel insects, especially moths.[3] The Old English word for mugwort is \"mucgwyrt\" where\n\"mucg-\" could be a variation of the Old English word for midge \"mycg\". Wort comes from the\nOld English \"wyrt\" (root/herb/plant) which is related to the Old High Germany \"wurz\" (root)\nand the Old Norse \"urt\" (plant).[4] Mugwort is called chornobylnik in Ukrainian, and has\ngiven its name to the abandoned city of Chernobyl (Chornobyl in Ukrainian). The name\nchornobyl has an interesting history, meaning \"place where mugwort grows\" in the related\nIndo-European languages.[citation needed]\nThere are other species in the genus Artemisia called mugwort:\n * Artemisia douglasiana – Douglas' Mugwort\nMugwort contains thujone, which is toxic in large amounts or under prolonged intake.\nThujone is also present in Thuja plicata (western red cedar), from which the name is\nderived. Pregnant women, in particular, should avoid consuming large amounts of mugwort.\nThe species has a number of recorded historic uses in food, herbal medicine, and as a\nsmoking herb.\n[edit] Middle ages\nIn the Middle Ages, mugwort was used as a magical protective herb. Mugwort was used to\nrepel insects, especially moths, from gardens. Mugwort has also been used from ancient\ntimes as a remedy against fatigue and to protect travelers against evil spirits and wild\nanimals. Roman soldiers put mugwort in their sandals to protect their feet against\nfatigue.[5] Mugwort is one of the nine herbs invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs\nCharm, recorded in the 10th century in the Lacnunga.[6]\n[edit] Witchcraft\nMuch used in witchcraft, mugwort is said to be useful in inducing lucid dreaming and astral\ntravel/astral projection. Consumption of the plant, or a tincture thereof, prior to\nsleeping is said to increase the intensity of dreams, the level of control, and to aid in\nthe recall of dreams upon waking. One common method of ingestion is to smoke the plant.[7]\n[edit] Food\nThe leaves and buds, best picked shortly before the plant flowers in July to September,\nwere used as a bitter flavoring agent to season fat, meat and fish.\nIt has also been used to flavor beer before the introduction of or instead of hops.[8][2]\n[edit] Medicinal\nA mugwort leaf with the pointed leaves characteristic of a mature plant\nThe mugwort plant contains essential oils (such as cineole, or wormwood oil, and thujone),\nflavonoids, triterpenes, and coumarin derivatives. It was also used as an anthelminthic, so\nit is sometimes confused with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). The plant, called nagadamni\nin Sanskrit, is used in Ayurveda for cardiac complaints as well as feelings of unease,\nunwellness and general malaise.[9]\nThe British RCT yielded results that indicate that moxibustion of mugwort was indeed\neffective at increasing the cephalic positioning of fetuses who were in a breech position\nbefore the intervention[citation needed]. In contrast, a Cochrane review in 2005 found that\nmoxibustion may be beneficial in reducing the need for ECV, but stressed a need for\nwell-designed randomised controlled trials to evaluate this usage[10]. Since it also causes\nuterine contractions, it has been used to cause abortion. It also plays a role in Asian\ntraditional medicine as a method of correcting breech presentation. A study of 260 Chinese\nwomen at 33 weeks of pregnancy demonstrated cephalic version within two weeks in 75% of\nfetuses carried by patients who were treated with moxibustion, as opposed to 48% in the\ncontrol group.[11] It has also been shown that acupuncture plus moxibustion slows fetal\nheart rates while increasing fetal movement.[12] Two recent studies of Italian patients\nproduced conflicting results. In the first, involving 226 patients, there was cephalic\npresentation at delivery in 54% of women treated between 33 and 35 weeks with acupuncture\nand moxibustion, vs. 37% in the control group.[13] The second was terminated prematurely\nbecause of poor compliance with treatment, but found no difference between moxibustion and\ncontrol groups.[14]\nIn rats, Mugwort shows efficacy against trichinellosis.[15]\n[edit] China\nThere are several references to the Chinese using mugwort in cuisine. The famous Chinese\npoet Su Shi (苏轼） in the 11th century mentioned it in one of his poems. There are even older\npoems and songs that can be tracked back to 3 BC. Mainly it was called Lou Hao (蒌蒿） in\nMandarin. Mugwort can be prepared as a cold dish or can be stir fried with fresh or smoked\nmeat. The Hakka Taiwanese also use it to make chhú-khak-ké (鼠麹粿, 草仔粿).\nMugwort is used in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in a pulverized and aged\nform called moxa.\n[edit] Germany\nIn Germany, known as Beifuß, it is mainly used to season goose, especially the roast goose\ntraditionally eaten for Christmas. From the German, ancient use of a sprig of mugwort\ninserted into the goose cavity, comes the saying \"goosed\" or \"is goosed\".[citation needed]\n[edit] Korea\nMugwort or Sook is also used in Korea as a common ingredient in rice cakes, teas, soups,\nand pancakes. Known as a blood cleanser, it is believed to have different medicinal\nproperties depending on the region it is collected. In some regions, mugwort thins the\nblood, while in another region, it is proposed to have hallucigenic properties, leading to\nsome bonneted grandmothers passing out from direct skin contact (dermal absorption) with\nthe active chemicals. For this reason, Koreans also wear a silk sleeve when picking mugwort\nplants.\n[edit] Japan\nMugwort or yomogi is used in a number of Japanese dishes, including yōkan, a dessert, or\nkusa mochi, also known as yomogi mochi.\nMugwort rice cakes, or kusa mochi are used for Japanese sweets called Daifuku (which\nliterally translated means 'great luck'). To make these take a small amount of mochi and\nstuff it or wrap it round a filling of fruit or sweetened azuki (red bean) paste.\nTraditional Daifuku can be pale green, white or pale pink and are covered in a fine layer\nof potato starch to prevent sticking.\nIngredients for kusa mochi[16]: Whole-grain sweet brown rice and Japanese mugwort (yomogi)\nherb.\nMugwort is a vital ingredient of kusa mochi (rice cake with mugwort) and hishi mochi\n(lozenge rice cake) which is served at the Doll Festival in March. In addition, the fuzz on\nthe underside of the mugwort leaves is gathered and used in moxibustion. In some regions in\nJapan[17], there is an ancient custom of hanging yomogi and iris leaves together outside\nhomes in order to keep evil spirits away. It is said that evil spirits dislike their smell.\nThe juice is said to be effective at stopping bleeding, lowering fevers and purging the\nstomach of impurities. It can also be boiled and taken to relieve colds and coughs.\n[edit] Allergen\nMugwort pollen is one of main sources of hay fever and allergic asthma, in North Europe,\nNorth America and in parts of Asia.[18][19]. Mugwort pollen generally travels less than\n2,000 meters[20]. The highest concentration of mugwort pollen is generally found between 9\nand 11 am. The Finnish allergy association recommends tearing as method of eradicating\nmugwort[20]. Tearing mugwort is known to lessen the effect of the allergy, since the pollen\nflies only short distance[20]].\nCooking is known to decrease the allergenicity of mugwort.\nOstrich Fern\nThe ostrich fern or shuttlecock fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is a crown-forming,\ncolony-forming fern, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in eastern\nand northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.\nSpore-bearing fertile fronds in early spring\nIt grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out\nlateral stolons to form new crowns. It thus can form dense colonies resistant to\ndestruction by floodwaters.\nThe fronds are dimorphic, with the deciduous green sterile fronds being almost vertical,\n100-170 cm tall and 20-35 cm broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the\ntip, so that they resemble ostrich plumes, hence the name. The fertile fronds are shorter,\n40-60 cm long, brown when ripe, with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled\nover the sporangia; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the\nspores in early spring.\nMatteuccia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species\nincluding Sthenopis auratus.\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe ostrich fern is a popular ornamental plant in gardens. While choosing a place of\nplanting it should be taken into account that these ferns are very expansive and its leaves\noften lose their beauty throughout the summer, especially if not protected from wind and\nhail. The tightly wound immature fronds, called fiddleheads, are also used as a cooked\nvegetable, and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of northeastern North\nAmerica.\nThe plants are also grown in Japan, where the sprouts (\"kogomi\" in Japanese) are a\ndelicacy.\nMatteuccia struthiopteris is the only species in the genus Matteuccia. Some sources include\ntwo Asian species, M. orientalis and M. intermedia, but molecular data shows that M.\nstruthiopteris is more closely related to Onocleopsis and Onoclea (sensitive fern) than it\nis to M. orientalis and M. intermedia, and so the latter should be moved to a genus\nPentarhizidium which contains those two species. [2] Formerly classified as a member of the\nDryopteridaceae, Matteuccia has been reassigned to the new much smaller family Onocleaceae.\n \nAmerican Persimmon\nA persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in\nthe ebony wood family (Ebenaceae). The word Diospyros means \"the fruit of the gods\" in\nancient Greek.[1] As a tree, it is a perennial plant. The word persimmon is derived from\nputchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin, from Powhatan, an Algonquian language (related to\nBlackfoot, Cree and Mohican) of the eastern United States, meaning \"a dry fruit\".[2]\nPersimmons are generally light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in color, and depending on\nthe species, vary in size from 1.5 to 9 cm (0.5 to 4 in) diameter, and may be spherical,\nacorn-, or pumpkin-shaped.[3] The calyx often remains attached to the fruit after\nharvesting, but becomes easier to remove as it ripens. They are high in glucose, with a\nbalanced protein profile, and possess various medicinal and chemical uses.\nLike the tomato, it is not considered a \"common berry\", but is in fact a \"true berry\" by\ndefinition.\nThe shizi (柿子 in Chinese), also known as Japanese Persimmon or kaki (柿) (Diospyros kaki),\nis the most widely cultivated species. These are sweet, slightly tangy fruits with a soft\nto occasionally fibrous texture. This species, native to China, is deciduous, with broad,\nstiff leaves. Cultivation of the fruit extended first to other parts of east Asia, and was\nlater introduced to California and southern Europe in the 1800s, to Brazil in the 1890s[4],\nand numerous cultivars have been selected. It is edible in its crisp firm state, but has\nits best flavor when allowed to rest and soften slightly after harvest. The Japanese\ncultivar 'Hachiya' is a widely grown cultivar. The fruit has a high tannin content which\nmakes the immature fruit astringent and bitter. The tannin levels are reduced as the fruit\nmatures. Persimmons like 'Hachiya' must be completely ripened before consumption. When\nripe, this fruit comprises thick pulpy jelly encased in a waxy thin skinned shell. \"Sharon\nFruit\" (named originally after Sharon plain in Israel) is the trade name for D. kaki fruit\nthat has been artificially ripened with chemicals.[5]\nNanyo City, Yamagata, Japan. October 2005.\nThe Date-plum (Diospyros lotus) is native to southwest Asia and southeast Europe. It was\nknown to the ancient Greeks as \"the fruit of the gods\", or often referred to as \"nature's\ncandy\" i.e. Dios pyros (lit. \"the wheat of Zeus\"), hence the scientific name of the genus.\nIts English name probably derives from Persian Khormaloo خرمالو literally \"Date-Plum\",\nreferring to the taste of this fruit which is reminiscent of both plums and dates. This\nspecies is one candidate for the lotus mentioned in the Odyssey: it was so delicious that\nthose who ate it forgot about returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus with the\nlotus-eaters.[6] The fruit is also known as 'Amlok' or 'Japani Phal' in Pakistan.\nThe American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is native to the eastern United States and is\nhigher in nutrients like vitamin C and calcium than the Japanese Persimmon.[7]\nThe Black Persimmon or Black Sapote (Diospyros digyna) is native to Mexico. Its fruit has\ngreen skin and white flesh, which turns black when ripe.\nThe Mabolo or Velvet-apple (Diospyros discolor) is native to the Philippines. It is bright\nred when ripe. It is also native to China, where it is known as shizi. It is also known as\nKorean Mango.\nThere are many other species of Diospyros that are inedible to humans, and thus have little\nor no commercial value for their fruit.\n[edit] Fruit\nA ripe hachiya persimmon fruit\nCommercially, there are generally two types of persimmon fruit: astringent and\nnon-astringent.\nThe heart-shaped Hachiya is the most common variety of astringent persimmon. Astringent\npersimmons contain very high levels of soluble tannins and are unpalatable (or \"furry\"\ntasting) if eaten before softening. The astringency of tannins is removed through ripening\nby exposure to light over several days, wrapping the fruit in paper (probably because this\nincreases the ethylene concentration of the surrounding air), and/or artificially with\nchemicals such as alcohol and carbon dioxide which change tannin into the insoluble form.\nThis bletting process is sometimes jumpstarted by exposing the fruit to cold or frost which\nhastens cellular wall breakdown. These astringent persimmons can also be prepared for\ncommercial purposes by drying. Tanenashi fruit will occasionally contain a seed or two,\nwhich can be planted and will yield a larger more vertical tree than when merely grafted\nonto the D. virginiana rootstock most commonly used in the U.S. Such seedling trees may\nproduce fruit that bears more seeds, usually 6 to 8 per fruit, and the fruit itself may\nvary slightly from the parent tree. Seedlings are said to be more susceptible to root\nnematodes. Those wanting to obtain native persimmon fruit and seeds might look at the\nreststop on the west side of Interstate 26 about 6 miles south of Columbia, South Carolina\nin the fall. There are several large D. virginiana trees near the exit from the rest stop\nwhich yield abundant seed from which seedlings can be grown and used as rootstock.\nThe non-astringent persimmon is squat like a tomato and is most commonly sold as fuyu.\nNon-astringent persimmons are not actually free of tannins as the term suggests, but rather\nare far less astringent before ripening, and lose more of their tannic quality sooner.\nNon-astringent persimmons may be consumed when still very firm, and remain edible when very\nsoft.\nThere is a third type, less commonly available, the pollination-variant non-astringent\npersimmons. When fully pollinated, the flesh of these fruit is brown inside -known as goma\nin Japan, and the fruit can be eaten firm. These varieties are highly sought after and can\nbe found at specialty markets or farmers markets only[citation needed]. Tsurunoko, sold as\n\"Chocolate persimmon\" for its dark brown flesh, Maru, sold as \"Cinnamon persimmon\" for its\nspicy flavor, and Hyakume, sold as \"Brown sugar\" are the three best known.\nBefore ripening, persimmons usually have a \"chalky\" taste or bitter taste.\nCulinary uses\nPeeled, flattened, and dried persimmons (shibing;柿餅) in a Xi'an market\nPersimmons are eaten fresh, dried, raw, or cooked. When eaten fresh, the skin is usually\ncut/peeled off and the fruit is often cut into quarters or eaten whole like an apple. One\nway to consume very ripe persimmons, which can have the texture of pudding, is to remove\nthe top leaf with a paring knife and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. The flesh ranges\nfrom firm to mushy and the texture is unique. The flesh is very sweet and when firm\npossesses an apple-like crunch. American persimmons are completely inedible until they are\nfully ripe. In China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam after harvesting, 'Hachiya' persimmons are\nprepared using traditional hand-drying techniques, outdoors for two to three weeks. The\nfruit is then further dried by exposure to heat over several days before being shipped to\nmarket. In Japan the dried fruit is called hoshigaki (干し柿), in China it is known as\n\"shi-bing\" (柿饼), in Korea it is known as gotgam (hangul: 곶감), and in Vietnam it is called\nhồng khô. It is eaten as a snack or dessert and used for other culinary purposes.\nKaki preserved in lime water\nIn Korea, dried persimmon fruits are used to make the traditional Korean spicy punch,\nsujeonggwa, while the matured, fermented fruit is used to make a persimmon vinegar called\ngamsikcho (감식초), which is alleged to have a variety of health benefits. The hoshigaki\ntradition traveled to California with Japanese American immigrants.\nIn Taiwan, fruits of astringent varieties are sealed in jars filled with lime water to get\nrid of bitterness. Slightly hardened in the process, they are sold under the name \"crisp\npersimmon\" (cuishi 脆柿) or \"water persimmon\" (shuishizi 水柿子). Preparation time is dependent\nupon temperature (5 to 7 days at 25–28°C). In some areas of Manchuria and Korea, the dried\nleaves of the fruit are used for making tea. The Korean name for this tea is ghamnip cha (감\n잎차).\n干し柿 Hoshigaki, Japanese dried persimmon\nIn the State of Indiana (USA), persimmons are harvested and used in a variety of dessert\ndishes most notably pies. It can be used in cookies, cakes, puddings, salads, curries [2]\nand as a topping for breakfast cereal. Persimmon pudding is a dessert using fresh\npersimmons. An annual persimmon festival, featuring a persimmon pudding contest, is held\nevery September in Mitchell, Indiana. Persimmon pudding is a baked pudding that has the\nconsistency of pumpkin pie but resembles a brownie and is almost always topped with whipped\ncream. Persimmons may be stored at room temperature (20°C) where they will continue to\nripen. In northern China, unripe persimmons are frozen outside during winter to speed up\nthe ripening process.\nThe fruits of some persimmon varieties contain the tannins catechin and gallocatechin,[9]\nas well as the candidate anti-tumor compounds betulinic acid and shibuol.[citation needed]\nUnripened persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak\nacid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum, a 'foodball' or phytobezoar,\nthat can affix with other stomach matter.[10] These phytobezoars are often very hard and\nalmost woody in consistency. More than 85% phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of\nunripened persimmons.[11] Persimmon bezoars (diospyrobezoars) often occur in epidemics in\nregions where the fruit is grown.[12][13][14]. Diospyrobezoars should not be of concern\nwhen consuming moderate quantities of persimmons. One case in medical literature from 2004\nrevealed a 51-year old patient who had eaten a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of unpeeled persimmons\neach day for 40 years.[15][16] Cases have been rare and required surgical removal, but more\nrecently chemical depolymerization by Coca-Cola has been used.[17]\nHorses may develop a taste for the fruit growing on a tree in their pasture and overindulge\nalso, making them quite ill. It is often advised that persimmons should not be eaten on an\nempty stomach.[18]\n[edit] Wood\nAn example of persimmon wood furniture\nThough persimmon trees belong to the same genus as ebony trees, persimmon tree wood has a\nlimited use in the manufacture of objects requiring hard wood. It is hard, but cracks\neasily and is somewhat difficult to process. Persimmon wood is used for paneling in\ntraditional Korean and Japanese furniture.\nIn North America, the lightly colored, fine-grained wood of D. virginiana is used to\nmanufacture billiard cues and textile shuttles. It is also used in the percussion field as\nthe shaft of the Tim Genis Signature Timpani Mallet Collection. Persimmon wood was also\nheavily used in making the highest-quality heads of the golf clubs known as \"woods\" until\nthe golf industry moved primarily to metal woods in the last years of the 20th century. In\nfact, the first metal woods made by TaylorMade, an early pioneer of that club type, were\nbranded as \"Pittsburgh Persimmons\". Persimmon woods are still made, but in far lower\nnumbers than in past decades. Over the last few decades persimmon wood has become popular\namong bow craftsmen, especially in the making of traditional longbows. Persimmon wood is\nused in making a small number of wooden flutes and eating utensils such as wooden spoons\nand cornbread knives (wooden knives that may cut through the bread without scarring the\ndish).\nLike some other plants of the genus Diospyros, older persimmon heartwood is black or dark\nbrown in color, in stark contrast to the sapwood and younger heartwood, which is pale in\ncolor.\n[edit] Trees\nPersimmon Tree\nThe trees of all species have stiff, tumescent leaves, but the female of the D. virginiana\ncan look less turgid than the male because the leaves droop when fruiting, perhaps because\nof the heavier nutrient requirements. They grow swiftly, and are immune to the usual\ndelicacy of trees planted in unpredictable climates. They are one of the last trees to leaf\nout in the spring, and do not flower until well after the leaves have formed, bypassing the\nthreat of blossom loss to frosts. The fruit hangs on the branches long into the winter.\nBecause they grow swiftly and colonize off their root systems, they are ideal for helping\nrecover habitat. A 1–2 year old persimmon tree will be mature enough to bear fruit within\n7–8 years. They hold their own against flooding riverbanks quite well and are listed in\nStormwater Journal's list of water-holding trees.[19]\n \nPineapple Weed\nMatricaria discoidea, commonly known as pineapple weed and disc mayweed is an annual plant\nnative to North America and Northeast Asia but which has become a cosmopolitan weed. It is\nin the family Asteraceae. The flowers exude a chamomile/pineapple aroma when crushed. They\nare edible and have been used in salads (although they may become bitter by the time the\nplant blooms) and to make herbal tea. Pineapple weed has been used for medicinal purposes,\nincluding for relief of gastrointestinal upset, infected sores, fevers, and postpartum\nanemia.\nThe pinnately dissected leaves are sweet-scented when crushed (Fir Island, Washington).\nThe flower head is cone-shaped, composed of dense-packed yellowish-green corollas, and\nlacking ray-florets. The leaves are pinnately dissected and sweet-scented when crushed. The\nplant grows 2 to 16 inches (5.1 to 41 cm) high. Flowerheads are produced from May to\nSeptember.\nThe plant grows well in disturbed areas, especially those with poor, compacted soil. It can\nbe seen blooming on footpaths, roadsides, and similar places in spring and early summer. In\nthe USA, it can be found from central Alaska down to California and all the way to Nova\nScotia.\n[edit] Uses\nPineapple weed flowers used to be gathered for food by children, although most find it too\nbitter to consume raw. The plant, when bruised and rubbed on skin, provides an effective,\nyet temporary insect repellent.\n \nSassafras\nSassafras is a genus of three[1][2] extant and one extinct[3] species of deciduous trees in\nthe family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.[2]\nSassafras trees grow from 9.1–18 m (30–59 ft) tall and spreading 7.6–12 m (25–39 ft)[4] The\ntrunk grows 70–150 cm (28–59 in) in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth,\norange-brown bark. The branching is sympodial. The bark of the mature trunk is thick,\nred-brown, and deeply furrowed. The wood is light, hard, and sometimes brittle. All parts\nof the plants are very fragrant. The species are unusual in having three distinct leaf\npatterns on the same plant, unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three\npronged); rarely the leaves can be five-lobed.[5] They have smooth margins and grow 7–20 cm\nlong by 5–10 cm broad. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous, and produce a\ncitrus-like scent when crushed. The tiny, yellow flowers are five-petaled and bloom in the\nspring; they are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. The fruit are\nblue-black, egg-shaped, 1 cm long, produced on long, red-stalked cups, and mature in late\nsummer.[1] The largest Sassafras tree in the United States is located in Owensboro,\nKentucky, which measures over 100 feet high and 21 feet in circumference.[6][7]\nThe name \"Sassafras,\" applied by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the sixteenth century, is\nsaid to be a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage.\nContents\n * Sassafras albidum (Nuttall) Nees - Sassafras, White Sassafras, Red Sassafras or Silky\nSassafras. Eastern North America, from southernmost Ontario, Canada through the eastern\nUnited States south to central Florida, and west to southern Iowa and eastern Texas.\n * †Sassafras hesperia (Berry) Wolfe & Wehr 1987 - From the Eocene Klondike Mountain\nFormation of Washington and British Columbia[3]\n * Sassafras tzumu (Hemsl.) Hemsl. - Chinese Sassafras or Tzumu. Central and\nsouthwestern China. It differs from S. albidum in the leaves being more frequently\nthree-lobed,[8] the lobes having a tapered acuminate apex (not rounded to weakly acute).\n * Sassafras randaiense (Hayata) Rehd. - Taiwanese Sassafras. Taiwan. Treated by some\nbotanists in a distinct genus as Yushunia randaiensis (Hayata) Kamikoti,[9] though this is\nnot supported by recent genetic evidence which shows Sassafras to be monophyletic.[2]\n[edit] Usage\nS. albidum is a host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail\nSteam distillation of dried root bark produces an essential oil consisting mostly of\nsafrole that once was extensively used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food and for\naromatherapy. The yield of this oil from American sassafras is quite low and great effort\nis needed to produce useful amounts of the root bark.[citation needed] Sassafras extract\nwas a primary ingredient in root beer. Commercial \"sassafras oil\" generally is a by-product\nof camphor production in Asia or comes from related trees in Brazil. Safrole is a precursor\nfor the clandestine manufacture of the drug MDMA (ecstasy), and as such, its transport is\nmonitored internationally.\n[edit] Importance to livestock and wildlife\nSassafras leaves and twigs are consumed by white-tailed deer in both summer and winter. In\nsome areas it is an important deer food.[10] Sassafras leaf browsers include groundhogs,\nMarsh Rabbits, and American Black Bears.[10] Rabbits eat sassafras bark in winter.[10]\nAmerican Beavers will cut sassafras stems.[10] Sassafras fruits are eaten by many species\nof birds including Bobwhite Quail,[10] Eastern Kingbirds, Great Crested Flycatchers,\nPhoebes, Wild Turkeys, Gray Catbirds, Northern Flickers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Downy\nWoodpeckers, thrushes, vireos, and Northern Mockingbirds. Some small mammals also consume\nsassafras fruits.[10]\nFor most of the above mentioned animals, sassafras is not consumed in large enough\nquantities to be important. Carey and Gill rate its value to wildlife as fair, their lowest\nrating.[10]\n[edit] Culinary uses\nThe dried and ground leaves are used to make filé powder, a condiment served with some\ntypes of gumbo.\nThe roots of Sassafras can be steeped to make tea and were used in the flavoring of\ntraditional root beer until being banned for mass production by the FDA. Laboratory animals\nthat were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained large doses of\nsafrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer. In humans liver damage\ncan take years to develop and it may not have obvious signs. Along with commercially\navailable sarsaparilla, sassafras remains an ingredient in use among hobby or microbrew\nenthusiasts.\nIn 1960, the FDA banned the use of sassafras oil and safrole in commercially mass produced\nfoods and drugs based on the animal studies and human case reports.[11] Several years later\nsassafras tea was banned,[11] a ban that lasted until the passage of the Dietary Supplement\nHealth and Education Act in 1994.[12] Sassafras root extracts which do not contain safrole\nor in which the safrole has been removed are permissible, and are still widely used\ncommercially in teas and root beers.\nSassafras tea can also be used as an anticoagulant.\n[edit] Ethnobotanical history\nDuring the establishment of the Virginia Colony, including Jamestown in the seventeenth\ncentury, sassafras was a major export commodity to England. A medicinal root and a wood\nprized for its beauty and durability, sassafras was popular from its first import by Sir\nWalter Raleigh in 1602 until the eighteenth century.[13] There was a brief period of time\nin the early seventeenth century in which sassafras was the second largest export from\nAmerica behind tobacco.\nSassafras was a commodity prized in Europe as a cure for gonorrhea[14] and syphilis.\nWild Strawberry\nDescription: This is a low, colony-forming native perennial plant. A plant typically\nconsists of several trifoliate leaves with long hairy petioles that emerge directly from a\ncentral taproot in the ground. Each leaflet is about 3\" long and 1½\" wide, pale green\nunderneath, coarsely serrated, and obovate or oval in shape. The petioles of the compound\nleaves are green or dull red and about 3\" long. While actively growing, Wild Strawberry\nproduces long hairy runners up to 2' long, which re-root to form plantlets. These runners\nare often dull red as well.\nEach plant can produce one or more clusters of flowers in stalks about 3-4\" long, which\nalso emerge directly from the ground. Each flower is about ¾\" across and consists of 5\nwhite petals. Toward the center, there are about 25 yellow stamens surrounding a small\nblunt cone. The blooming period occurs during late spring or early summer, and lasts about\n1-2 months. There is no noticeable floral scent. Afterwards, small red drupes are produced\nthat are about ½–¾\" long, and shaped like the familiar cultivated strawberry. They are\nsweet and edible. Unlike Fragaria vesca (Hillside Strawberry), the yellow achenes occur in\nsunken pits along the surface of the drupe.\nCultivation: The preference is full or partial sun and moist to slightly dry conditions. A\nrich loamy soil is preferred. Wild Strawberry is a cool-season plant that grows actively\nduring the spring and fall, but becomes dormant after setting fruit during the hot summer\nmonths. It is an easy plant to grow, which will spread to form a loose ground cover. It is\nsubject to foliar disease to a lesser extent than most cultivated strawberries.\nRange & Habitat: Wild Strawberry is occasional to locally common in most areas of Illinois,\nbut it is uncommon or absent in parts of NW and southern Illinois (see Distribution Map).\nHabitats include moist to mesic black soil prairies, openings and edges of woodlands\n(including drier areas), savannas, limestone glades, and areas along railroads. Wild\nStrawberry is able to tolerate [Close-Up of Flower] competition from taller plants because\nit develops early in the spring, and is able to tolerate some shade later in the year. It\noccurs in both degraded and high quality habitats, often not far from woodland areas.\nFaunal Associations: The ecological value of Wild Strawberry to various insects, birds, and\nanimals is high. The flowers attract long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, flies, small\nbutterflies, and skippers. Among these, small bees are the most important pollinator of the\nflowers; this includes such visitors as Little Carpenter bees, Nomadine Cuckoo bees, Mason\nbees, Halictid bees, and Andrenine bees. The caterpillars of several species of moths feed\non the foliage and flowers of Wild Strawberry (see Moth Table). Other insects that feed on\nWild Strawberry include Chactosiphum fragraefolii (Strawberry Aphid), Aphis forbesi\n(Strawberry Root Aphid), and Otiochynchus ovatus (Strawberry Root Weevil). Various upland\ngamebirds, songbirds, and mammals eat the fruit or foliage (see Wildlife Table), including\nsuch prairie-inhabiting species as Tympanuchus cupido (Greater Prairie Chicken) and\nPhasianus colchicus (Ring-Necked Pheasant). These birds and animals help to distribute the\nseeds far and wide. People also nibble on the fruits.\nPhotographic Location: The upper photograph was taken along a roadside near Urbana,\nIllinois, while the lower photograph was taken at Dave Monk's postage stamp prairie in\nChampaign, Illinois.\nComments: This is one of the parent plants for the cultivated hybrid strawberry (the other\nplant being native to Chile). The root system forms a symbiotic relationship with\nendomycorrhizal bacteria.\nThis group of herbaceous (non-woody) plants has a bilaterally symmetrical (2-sided)\n5-petaled flowers, often with bushy stamens forming a \"beard\" inside. Many have tasty,\nedible flowers and leaves, although the yellow violet, which grows in wetlands, may cause\ngastrointestinal distress. Don't eat African \"violets,\" which aren't true violets.\nCommon Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)\nThis is the most common species, with a sterile violet-colored flower that blooms in the\nspring. There are no leaves on the flower stalk. The heart-shaped, shallow-toothed leaves\narise separately from the ground. They're good to eat in springtime, but become tough and\ncoarse in the summer.\nPoisonous dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne) has a similar violet flower, but with a\n\"spur\" behind the flower, and a different leaf. Monkshood (Aconitum uncinatum), also\npoisonous, has a large, helmet-like upper sepal that covers 2 petals\nViolets grow in partially shaded spots in moist woods, and in meadows and gardens. They\nspread by underground rhizomes (which are toxic), creating dense stands of plants.\nWhite Violet Flower\nThe white violet's flowers and leaves are also edible. Note the \"beard\" of fuzzy stamens in\nthe lower petals\nThis hybrid between blue and white species is also quite beautiful and tasty.\nWild Carrot\nDaucus carota (common names include wild carrot, (UK) bird's nest, bishop's lace, and (US)\nQueen Anne's lace) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions\nof Europe, southwest Asia and naturalised to northeast North America and Australia;\ndomesticated carrots are cultivars of a subspecies, Daucus carota subsp. sativus.\nDaucus carota is a variable biennial plant, usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering\nfrom June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then\nbright white and rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon of\nbracts beneath; finally, as they turn to seed, they contract and become concave like a\nbird's nest. The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds.[1]\nVery similar in appearance to the deadly Poison Hemlock, Daucus carota is distinguished by\na mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that\nsmells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in its center.\nSee carrot for the modern cultivated forms of the species.\nContents\n[edit] Uses\nLike the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes\ntoo woody to consume. A teaspoon of crushed seeds has long been used as a form of birth\ncontrol; its use for this purpose was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years\nago.[citation needed] Research conducted on mice has offered a degree of confirmation for\nthis use—it was found that wild carrot disrupts the implantation process, which reinforces\nits reputation as a contraceptive.[2] Chinese studies have also indicated that the seeds\nblock progesterone synthesis, which could explain this effect.[citation needed]\nAs with all herbal remedies and wild food gathering, extra caution should be used,\nespecially since the wild carrot bears close resemblance to a dangerous species Poison\nHemlock. The leaves of the wild carrot can cause phytophotodermatitis, so caution should\nalso be used when handling the plant.\nThe wild carrot, when freshly cut, will draw or change color depending on the color of the\nwater it is in. Note that this effect is only visible on the \"head\" or flower of the plant.\nCarnation also exhibits this effect. This occurrence is a popular science experiment in\nprimary grade school.\n[edit] Beneficial weed\nThis beneficial weed can be used as a companion plant to crops. Like most umbellifers it\nattracts predatory wasps to its small flowers in its native land; however, where it has\nbeen introduced it attracts only very few of such wasps . This species is also documented\nto boost tomato plant production when kept nearby, and it can provide a microclimate of\ncooler, moister air for lettuce, when intercropped with it.\n[edit] Queen Anne's lace\nWild carrot was introduced and naturalised in North America, where it is often known as\n\"Queen Anne's lace\". It is so called because the flower resembles lace; the red flower in\nthe center represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when\nshe was making the lace. The function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is\nto attract insects.\nThe USDA has listed it as a noxious weed [3], and it is considered a serious pest in\npastures. It persists in the soil seed bank for two to five years.\n \n Wineberry\nA member of the Rubus genus (as are raspberries and blackberries, as well as a dozen or so\nother species), the wineberry is native to China and Japan. It was brought to this country\nby way of Europe and sold as an ornamental plant during the later part of the nineteenth\ncentury.\nSince wineberries (Rubusphoenicolasius) are relatively new to the U.S., they've established\nthemselves in the wild only throughout most of the eastern states so far. [EDITOR'S\nNOTE:Western folks can grow their own, though. In case you don't happen to live in an area\nwhere wineberries flourish, you'll be glad to know that it's possible to purchase plants by\nmail from seed companies. One firm that offers the wineberry is Burpee (Dept. TMEN, 300\nPark Avenue, Warminster, Pennsylvania 18991). The folks there will sell you one plant for\n$5.25,_ five for $8.95, and ten for $14.75 . . . plus a $1.00 handling charge per order.\nBurpee advises that the bushes grow best in Zones 5 through 8.J\nLike their raspberry cousins, wineberries produce new canes each year, which then bear\nfruit the following summer. The brambles usually flower sometime between April and June\n(depending upon climate), and their berries ripen approximately two months later.\nWHAT TO LOOK FOR\nFortunately, unlike many of their kin (which often seem to grow best where they're hardest\nto find), R.phoenicolasius appear to possess an affinity for being devoured by hungry\nberry-hunters .. . be cause their telltale eight- to ten-foot-long canes, which are covered\n(all year long) with bright red bristles, are remarkably easy to 'spot. In fact, the\ncolorful little hairs make it o possible for a forager to scout out wineberry patches well\nin advance of harvest time . . . even in the dead of winter, and especially when there's\nsnow on the ground.\nThe foliage of the wineberry plant is distinctive, too. Its silky green leaves (with\nsilvery white undersides) grow in clusters of three, one of which is always noticeably\nlarger than the other two. White (or sometimes pink) blossoms appear in the spring, but\nthey seem pale in comparison with the splendid array of color that develops as the berries\nthemselves ripen.\nGrowing, picking, preparation and cooking advice for these tasty berries, and recipes for\nraspberry...\nThe lowdown on the safest techniques for keeping Canning...\nCanners Come Together\nExperience the camaraderie of community canning....\nGrowing Raspberries and Blackberries\nGrowing raspberries and blackberries is fun and will help you save money on pricey fruits.\nLearn ho...\nOnce the calyx (which houses the tiny immature morsels) opens to expose the fruit to the\nsun, the berries turn from green to yellow to orange, and finally to deep wine red when\nthey're ready for sampling. (Besides having that characteristic coloration, mature berries\nwill be slightly sticky to the touch.) At the height of the picking season, the richlooking\nberries glistening amidst the lush green foliage and scarlet-furred branches make a\nwineberry thicket both a dramatic and an unmistakable sight.\nYOUR PICK\nWhen you're ready to visit the briar patch, arm yourself with plenty of containers . . .\nbecause wineberries tend to grow in abundance. And be sure to wear good thick socks and\nhigh boots for protection against snakes and poison ivy . . . since the tangled clusters of\ncanes are often home to both.\nCarnelian Cherry\nThe European Cornel (Cornus mas) is a species of dogwood native to southern Europe and\nsouthwest Asia. In North America, the plant is known by the common name of Cornelian\nCherry.\nIt is a medium to large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5–12 m tall, with dark\nbrown branches and greenish twigs. The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm broad,\nwith an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin. The flowers are small (5–10 mm\ndiameter), with four yellow petals, produced in clusters of 10–25 together in the late\nwinter, well before the leaves appear. The fruit is an oblong red drupe 2 cm long and 1.5\ncm in diameter, containing a single seed.\nThe fruit is edible, but the unripe fruit is astringent. The fruit only fully ripens after\nit falls from the tree. When ripe, the fruit is dark ruby red. It has an acidic flavour\nwhich is best described as a mixture of cranberry and sour cherry; it is mainly used for\nmaking jam, makes an excellent sauce similar to cranberry sauce when pitted and then boiled\nwith sugar and orange, but also can be eaten dried. In Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fruit is\nused for distilling vodka, while in Albania it is distilled into raki. In Turkey and Iran\nit is eaten with salt as a snack in summer, and traditionally drunk in a cold drink called\nkizilcik sherbeti. Cultivars selected for fruit production in Ukraine have fruit up to 4 cm\nlong. The berries when ripe on the plant bear a resemblance to coffee berries, and ripen in\nmid to late summer.\n[edit] Flowers\nEuropean Cornel flowering\nThe species is also grown as an ornamental plant for its late winter flowers, which open\nearlier than those of forsythia, and, while not as large and vibrant as those of the\nforsythia, the entire plant can be used for a similar effect in the landscape.\n[edit] Wood\nThe wood of C. mas is extremely dense, and unlike the wood of most other woody plant\nspecies, sinks in water. This density makes it valuable for crafting into tool handles,\nparts for machines, etc.[1] Cornus mas was used from the seventh century B.C. onward by\nGreek craftsman to construct spears, javelins and bows, the craftsmen considering it far\nsuperior to any other wood.[2] The wood's association with weaponry was so well known that\nthe Greek name for it was used as a synonym for \"spear\" in poetry during the fourth and\nthird centuries B.C.[2]\nThe red dye used to make fezzes was produced from its bark and tannin is produced from its\nleaves.\nRubus occidentalis is a species of Rubus native to eastern North America. Its common name\nblack raspberry is shared with the closely related western American species Rubus\nleucodermis. Other names occasionally used include wild black raspberry, black caps, black\ncap raspberry, thimbleberry,[1][2] and scotch cap.[3]\nRubus occidentalis is a deciduous shrub growing to 2–3 m tall, with prickly shoots. The\nleaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves strong-growing stems in their first year,\nand three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets. The flowers are distinct in having\nlong, slender sepals 6–8 mm long, more than twice as long as the petals. The round-shaped\nfruit is a 12–15 mm diameter aggregation of drupelets; it is edible, and has a high content\nof anthocyanins and ellagic acid.[4][5]\nBlack raspberries are high in anthocyanins. This has led to their being very useful as\nnatural dyes and, since anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants, to a great deal of interest\nin them for their potential nutraceutical value. Extensive work has been ongoing at Ohio\nState University to evaluate their benefit for cancer treatment in mammalian test\nsystems,[6] and the first clinical trials on patients with esophageal cancer.[7]\nThe black raspberry is also closely related to the red raspberries Rubus idaeus and Rubus\nstrigosus, sharing the distinctively white underside of the leaves and fruit that readily\ndetaches from the carpel, but differing in the ripe fruit being black, and in the stems\nbeing more prickly. The black fruit makes them look like blackberries, though this is only\nsuperficial, with the taste being unique and not like either the red raspberry or the\nblackberry. In much of the Mid-Atlantic United States, black raspberries are simply called\nblackberries, even though they are not.\nAs suggested by the common name, black raspberries usually have very dark purple-black\nfruits, rich in anthocyanin pigments. However, due to occasional mutations in the genes\ncontrolling anthocyanin production, yellow-fruited variants (yellow raspberries) sometimes\noccur, and have been occasionally propagated, especially in home/farm gardens in the\nmidwestern United States (e.g., Ohio). The yellow-fruited variants of the black raspberry\nretain that species' distinctive flavor, different from the similar-appearing pale-fruited\nvariants of cultivated red raspberries (generally the Eurasian Rubus idaeus, but with some\nbeing the North American Rubus strigosus, and other cultivars representing hybrids between\nthese two widespread species).\n[edit] Commercial growing and processing\nA basket of black raspberries\nBlack raspberries (Rubus occidentalis L.) being grown commercially in Korea\nThe center for black raspberry production is in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The main\ncultivar, 'Munger', is grown on about 600 ha (1500 acres). Other cultivars include 'John\nRobertson', 'Allen', 'Jewel', 'Blackhawk', 'Macblack', 'Plum Farmer', 'Dundee', 'Hanover',\nand 'Huron'. The plants are summer tipped by hand, mechanically pruned in winter and then\nmachine harvested. The yields are generally low per acre and this is why the fruits are\noften expensive.\nThe species has been used in the breeding of many Rubus hybrids; those between red and\nblack raspberries are common under the name purple raspberries; 'Brandywine', 'Royalty' and\n'Estate' are examples of purple raspberry cultivars.\nThe berries are typically dried, frozen or made into purées and juices or processed as\ncolorants. Two well known liqueurs predominantly based on black raspberry fruit include\nFrance's Chambord Liqueur Royale de France and South Korea's various manufacturers of\nBokbunja (see Korean alcoholic beverages).\n \nBlack Cherry\nPrunus serotina, commonly called Black Cherry, Wild Black Cherry, Rum Cherry, or Mountain\nBlack Cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. This cherry is native\nto eastern North America: from Eastern Canada through southern Quebec and Ontario; south\nthrough the Eastern United States to Texas and central Florida; with disjunct populations\nin Arizona and New Mexico; and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala.[2][3]\nImmature fruit\n * 6 References\n[edit] Description\nThe Black Cherry is a species in the subgenus Padus with flowers in racemes, and is a\ndeciduous tree growing to 15–30 m tall with a trunk diameter of up to 70–120 cm,\noccasionally more. The leaves are simple, 6–14 cm long, with a serrated margin. The flowers\nare small (10–15 mm diameter), with five white petals and about 20 stamens, and are\nfragrant; there are around 40 flowers on each raceme. The fruit is a drupe, 1 cm diameter,\ngreen to red at first, ripening black; it is usually astringent and bitter when eaten\nfresh, but also somewhat sweet. The fruit is readily eaten by birds.[2][4]\nCloseup of Bark\nA mature Black Cherry can easily be identified in a forest by its very broken, dark grey to\nblack bark, which has the appearance of very thick, burnt potato chips. However, for about\nthe first decade or so of its life, the bark resembles that of a Birch, and is thin and\nstriped. It can also quickly be identified by its long, shiny leaves resembling that of a\nSourwood, and by an almond-like odor when a young twig is scratched and held close to the\nnose.[5][6]\nThere are two subspecies:[7]\n * Prunus serotina subsp. serotina. Canada, United States.\n * Prunus serotina subsp. capuli (Cav.) McVaugh. Mexico, Guatemala.\nThe typical subsp. serotina is sometimes further divided into four varieties, var. serotina\nin the east of the range, var. eximia in Texas, and vars. rufula and virens in Arizona, New\nMexico and Texas.[3]\nBlack Cherry is closely related to the Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), however Chokecherry\nis classified as a shrub or small tree and has smaller and less glossy leaves.\n[edit] Ecology\nThe Black Cherry is a pioneer species. In the Midwest, it is seen growing mostly in old\nfields with other sunlight loving species, such as Black Walnut, Black locust, and\nHackberry. It is a moderately long-lived tree, with ages of up to 258 years known, though\nit is prone to storm damage with branches breaking easily; any decay resulting however only\nprogresses slowly.[2] It is well known to proliferate in the Allegheny National Forest\nregion of northwest Pennsylvania.\nThe Black Cherry is also a host of caterpillars of various Lepidoptera (see List of\nLepidoptera which feed on Prunus). The Eastern tent caterpillar defoliates entire groves\nsome springs.\nBlack knot infection\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe fruit is suitable for making jam, cherry pies and has some use in flavoring liqueurs;\nthey are also a popular flavoring for sodas and used in many ice creams. The black cherry\nis commonly used instead of sweet cherries (Prunus avium) in order to achieve a sharper\ntaste. It is also used in cakes which involve dark chocolate such as a Black Forest gateau\nand as garnishes to drinks like cocktails.[citation needed]\nThe timber is valuable, perhaps the premier cabinetry timber of the U.S., traded as\n\"cherry\". It is known for its strong red color and high price. Its weight per cubic meter\nwhen dried is around 580 kg.[8]\nThe wood is also used for cooking and smoking foods, where it imparts a unique flavor.\nThe foliage, particularly when wilted, contains cyanogenic glycosides which convert to\nhydrogen cyanide if eaten by animals.[4] It is recommended that farmers remove any Black\nCherry trees that fall in a field containing livestock, because the wilted leaves could\npoison the animals. Removal is not always practical though, because Black Cherries often\ngrow in very large numbers on farms, taking advantage of the light brought about by mowing\nand grazing. Entire fencerows can be lined with this poisonous tree, making it difficult to\nmonitor all the branches falling into the grazing area.\nBlack Cherry is locally naturalized in parts of Europe, having escaped from cultivation as\nan ornamental tree.[9]\nP. serotina was widely introduced into Central Europe in the mid 20th century.[10][11] It\nhas acted as an invasive species there, negatively impacting forest community diversity and\nregeneration.[12]\nLike apricots, the seeds of black cherries contain compounds that can be converted into\ncyanide, such as amygdalin.[13][14] These compounds release hydrogen cyanide when the seed\nis ground or minced, which releases enzymes that break down the compounds. These enzymes\ninclude amygdalin beta-glucosidase, prunasin beta-glucosidase and mandelonitrile lyase.[15]\nIn contrast, although the flesh of cherries also contain these compounds, they do not\ncontain the enzymes needed to produce cyanide, so the flesh is safe to eat.\nBlack Birch\nBetula lenta (Sweet Birch, also known as Black Birch, Cherry Birch, Mahogany Birch, or\nSpice Birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from southern Maine\nwest to southernmost Ontario, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.\n[edit] Characteristics and habitat\nIt is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching 20 m tall with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter.\nThe bark is (unlike most birches) rough, dark blackish-brown, cracking into irregular scaly\nplates. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of oil of wintergreen. The leaves are\nalternate, ovate, 5-10 cm long and 4-8 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers\nare wind-pollinated catkins 3-6 cm long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins\nerect. The fruit, maturing in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed\nbetween the catkin bracts.\nBetula lenta was used commercially in the past for production of oil of wintergreen before\nmodern industrial synthesis; the tree's name reflects this scent of the shoots.\nThe sap flows about a month later than maple sap, and much faster. The trees can be tapped\nin a similar fashion, but must be gathered about three times more often. Birch sap can be\nboiled the same as maple sap, but its syrup is stronger (like molasses).\nBetula lenta's leaves serve as food for some lepidopteran caterpillars. See List of\nLepidoptera that feed on birches.\nGrowing in forests throughout eastern North America, this common native tree's cambium (the\ngreen layer under the bark) contains the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory oil of\nwintergreen, which you can smell if you scratch-and-sniff the twigs or bark.\nChew on the delicious twigs like chewing gum (this also alleviates bad breath), or steep\nthem for tea. A strong cup may be the equivalent of 1/4 to 1/2 an aspirin.\nChewing on the twigs tastes great, and it reduces the pain of teething.\nWild Blackberries\nThe blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of\nthe Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate\nfruit, composed of small drupelets. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial\nroots. Blackberries and raspberries are also called caneberries or brambles. It is a\nwidespread, and well known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related\napomictic microspecies native throughout the temperate northern hemisphere and South\nAmerica.[1]\n[edit] Growth and anatomical description\nBlackberries are perennial plants which typically bear biennial stems (\"canes\") from the\nperennial root system.[2]\nIn its first year, a new stem, the primocane, grows vigorously to its full length of 3–6 m\n(in some cases, up to 9 m), arching or trailing along the ground and bearing large\npalmately compound leaves with five or seven leaflets; it does not produce any flowers. In\nits second year, the cane becomes a floricane and the stem does not grow longer, but the\nlateral buds break to produce flowering laterals (which have smaller leaves with three or\nfive leaflets).[2] First and second year shoots usually have numerous short curved very\nsharp prickles. Prickle-free cultivars have been developed. Recently the University of\nArkansas has developed primocane fruiting blackberries that grow and flower on first year\ngrowth much as the primocane-fruiting (also called fall bearing or everbearing) red\nraspberries do.\nUnmanaged mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems, the branches rooting from the\nnode tip on many species when they reach the ground. Vigorous and growing rapidly in woods,\nscrub, hillsides and hedgerows, blackberry shrubs tolerate poor soils, readily colonizing\nwasteland, ditches and vacant lots.[1][3]\nThe flowers are produced in late spring and early summer on short racemes on the tips of\nthe flowering laterals.[2] Each flower is about 2–3 cm in diameter with five white or pale\npink petals.[2]\nThe drupelets only develop around ovules that are fertilized by the male gamete from a\npollen grain. The most likely cause of undeveloped ovules is inadequate pollinator\nvisits.[4] Even a small change in conditions, such as a rainy day or a day too hot for bees\nto work after early morning, can reduce the number of bee visits to the flower, thus\nreducing the quality of the fruit. Incomplete drupelet development can also be a symptom of\nexhausted reserves in the plant's roots, or infection with a virus such as Raspberry bushy\ndwarf virus.\nIn botanical terminology, the fruit is not a berry, but an aggregate fruit of numerous\ndrupelets.\nBlackberry leaves are food for certain caterpillars; some grazing mammals, especially deer,\nare also very fond of the leaves. Caterpillars of the concealer moth Alabonia geoffrella\nhave been found feeding inside dead blackberry shoots.\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nPrimary cultivation takes place in the state of Oregon located in the United States of\nAmerica. Recorded in 1995 and 2006: 6,180 acres (25.0 km2) to 6,900 acres (28 km2) of\nblackberries, producing 42.6 to 41.5 million pounds, making Oregon the leading blackberry\nproducer in the world.[5][6] While Oregon may lead the world in volume of fruit produced,\nSerbia has tremendous acreage and Mexico has had dramatically increasing acreage and may\nsoon lead the world.\nThe soft fruit is popular for use in desserts, jams, seedless jellies and sometimes wine.\nIt is often mixed with apples for pies and crumbles.\nGood nectar producers, blackberry shrubs bearing flowers yield a medium to dark, fruity\nhoney.\nThe blackberry is known to contain polyphenol antioxidants, naturally occurring chemicals\nthat can upregulate certain beneficial metabolic processes in mammals. The astringent\nblackberry root is sometimes used in herbal medicine as a treatment for diarrhea and\ndysentery.[7] The related but smaller dewberry can be distinguished by the white, waxy\ncoating on the fruits, which also usually have fewer drupelets. (Rubus caesius) is in its\nown section (Caesii) within the subgenus Rubus.\nIn some parts of the world, such as in Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the Pacific\nNorthwest region of North America, some blackberry species, particularly Rubus armeniacus\n(syn. R. procerus, 'Himalaya') and Rubus laciniatus ('Evergreen') are naturalised and\nconsidered an invasive species and a serious weed.[1]\nAs there is forensic evidence from the Iron Age Haraldskær Woman that she consumed\nblackberries some 2500 years ago, it is reasonable to conclude that blackberries have been\neaten by humans over thousands of years.\n[edit] Diseases and pests\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\nThe spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii is a serious pest of blackberries. Unlike\nits vinegar fly relatives which are primarily attracted to rotting or fermented fruit, D.\nsuzukii attacks fresh, ripe fruit by laying eggs under the soft skin. The larvae hatch and\ngrow in the fruit, destroying the fruit's commercial value.\n[edit] Commercial cultivars\nNumerous cultivars have been selected for commercial and amateur cultivation in Europe[1]\nand United States.[8] Since the many species form hybrids easily, there are numerous\ncultivars with more than one species in their ancestry.\n'Marion' (marketed as \"marionberry\") is an important cultivar that was selected from\nseedlings from a cross between 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' (commonly called \"olallieberry\")\nberries.[9] It is claimed to \"capture the best attributes of both berries and yields an\naromatic bouquet and an intense blackberry flavor\". The marionberry was introduced by\nGeorge F. Waldo of the USDA-ARS in Corvallis, Oregon in 1956. Adapted to Western Oregon,\nthe marionberry is named after Marion County, Oregon, in which it was tested extensively.\n'Olallie' in turn is a cross between loganberry and youngberry. 'Marion', 'Chehalem' and\n'Olallie' are just three of many trailing blackberry cultivars developed by the United\nStates Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) blackberry\nbreeding program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.\nThe most recent cultivars released from this program are the thornless cultivars 'Black\nDiamond', 'Black Pearl' and 'Nightfall' as well as the very early ripening 'Obsidian' and\n'Metolius'. 'Black Diamond' is now the leading cultivar being planted in the Pacific\nNorthwest. Some of the other cultivars from this program are 'Waldo', 'Siskiyou', 'Black\nButte', 'Kotata', 'Pacific' and 'Cascade'.[10]\nTrailing blackberries are vigorous, crown forming, require a trellis for support, and are\nless cold hardy than the erect or semi-erect blackberries. In addition to the U.S. Pacific\nNorthwest, these types do well in similar climates such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand,\nChile, and the Mediterranean countries.\nSemi-erect, thornless blackberries were first developed at the John Innes Centre in\nNorwich, UK, and subsequently by the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, Maryland. These are crown\nforming, very vigorous, and need a trellis for support. Cultivars include 'Black Satin'\n'Chester Thornless', 'Dirksen Thornless', 'Hull Thornless', 'Loch Ness', 'Loch Tay',\n'Merton Thornless', 'Smoothstem' and 'Triple Crown'. Recently, the cultivar 'Cacanska\nBestrna' (also called 'Cacak Thornless') has been developed in Serbia and has been planted\non many thousands of hectares there.\nThe University of Arkansas has developed cultivars of erect blackberries. These types are\nless vigorous than the semi-erect types and produce new canes from root initials (therefore\nthey spread underground like raspberries). There are thornless and thorny cultivars from\nthis program, including 'Navaho', 'Ouachita', 'Cherokee', 'Apache', 'Arapaho' and 'Kiowa'.\nThey are also responsible for developing the primocane fruiting blackberries such as\n'Prime-Jan' and 'Prime-Jim'.\nIn raspberries, these types are called primocane fruiting, fall fruiting, or everbearing.\n'Prime-Jim' and 'Prime-Jan' were released in 2004 and are the first cultivars of primocane\nfruiting blackberry.[citation needed] They grow much like the other erect cultivars\ndescribed above, however the canes that emerge in the spring, will flower in mid-summer and\nfruit in late summer or fall. The fall crop has its highest quality when it ripens in cool\nmild climate such as in California or the Pacific Northwest.[citation needed]\n'Illini Hardy' a semi-erect thorny cultivar introduced by the University of Illinois is\ncane hardy in zone 5, where traditionally blackberry production has been problematic, since\ncanes often failed to survive the winter.\nThe blackberry tends to be red during its unripe (\"green\") phase, leading to an old\nexpression that \"blackberries are red when they're green\".\nIn various parts of the United States, wild blackberries are sometimes called \"Black-caps\",\na term more commonly used for black raspberries, Rubus occidentalis.\nBlackberry production in Mexico has expanded enormously in the past decade. While once\nbased on the cultivar 'Brazos', an old erect blackberry cultivar developed in Texas in\n1959, the Mexican industry is now dominated by the Brazilian 'Tupy' released in the 1990s.\n'Tupy' has the erect blackberry 'Comanche' and a \"wild Uruguayan blackberry\" as\nparents.[11] Since there are no native blackberries in Uruguay, the suspicion is that the\nwidely grown 'Boysenberry' is the male parent. In order to produce these blackberries in\nregions of Mexico where there is no winter chilling to stimulate flower bud development,\nchemical defoliation and application of growth regulators are used to bring the plants into\nbloom.\n[edit] Nutrients and antioxidant qualities\nBlackberries are notable for their high nutritional contents of dietary fiber, vitamin C,\nvitamin K, folic acid - a B vitamin, and the essential mineral, manganese (table).\nNutrients in raw blackberries[12] Nutrient Value per 100 grams % Daily Value\nEnergy 43 kcal \nFiber, total dietary 5.3 g 21%\nSugars, total 4.9 g \nCalcium, Ca 29 mg 3%\nMagnesium, Mg 20 mg 5%\nManganese, Mn 0.6 mg 32%\nCopper, Cu 0.2 mg 8%\nPotassium, K 162 mg 5%\nSodium, Na 1 mg 0%\nVitamin C, total ascorbic acid 21 mg 35%\nVitamin A, IU 214 IU 4%\nVitamin K, µg 20 µg 25%\nFolic acid, µg 36 µg 9%\nCarotene, beta 128 µg ne\nLutein + zeaxanthin 118 µg ne\nne: Daily Value not established\nBlackberries rank highly among fruits for antioxidant strength, particularly due to their\ndense contents of polyphenolic compounds, such as ellagic acid, tannins, ellagitannins,\nquercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins and cyanidins.[13][14]\nBlackberries have an ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of 5347 per 100 grams,\nincluding them among the top-ranked ORAC fruits. Another report using a different assay for\nassessing antioxidant strength placed blackberry at the top of more than 1000 antioxidant\nfoods consumed in the United States.[15]\n[edit] Nutrient content of seeds\nBlackberries are exceptional among other Rubus berries for their numerous, large seeds not\nalways preferred by consumers. They contain rich amounts of omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid)\nand -6 fats (linoleic acid), protein, dietary fiber, carotenoids, ellagitannins and ellagic\nacid.\n \nBeach Plum\nPrunus maritima (Beach Plum) is a species of plum native to the Atlantic coast of North\nAmerica, from Maine south to Maryland.[1][2] Although sometimes listed as extending to New\nBrunswick, the species is not known from collections there, and does not appear in the most\nauthoritative works on the flora of that Canadian province.[3]\nIt is a deciduous shrub, in its natural sand dune habitat growing 1-2 m high, although it\ncan grow larger, up to 4 m tall, when cultivated in gardens. The leaves are alternate,\nelliptical, 3-7 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a sharply serrated margin. They are colored\ngreen on top and pale below, becoming showy in the autumn. The flowers are 1-1.5 cm\ndiameter, with five white petals and large yellow anthers. The fruit is an edible drupe\n1.5-2 cm diameter in the wild plant.[4][5]\nA plant with rounded leaves, of which only a single specimen has ever been found in the\nwild, has been described as Prunus maritima var. gravesii (Small) G.J.Anderson,[6] though\nits taxonomic status is questionable, and it may be better considered a cultivar Prunus\nmaritima 'Gravesii'.[7] The original plant, found in Connecticut, died in about 2000, but\nit is maintained in cultivation from rooted cuttings.[6]\nThe plant is salt-tolerant and cold-hardy. It prefers the full sun and well-drained soil.\nIt spreads roots by putting out suckers but in coarse soil puts down a tap root. In dunes\nit is often partly buried in drifting sand. It blooms in mid-May and June. The fruit ripens\nin August and early September.\nThe species is endangered in Maine, where it is in serious decline due to commercial\ndevelopment of its beach habitats.[4]\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe species is grown commercially for its fruit to a small extent, used to make jam.[8] It\ncan be eaten out of hand and usually is a sweet snack although it is much smaller in size\nwhen compared to the longer cultivated Asian varieties found in the supermarket. A number\nof cultivars have been selected for larger and better flavored fruit, including 'Eastham',\n'Oceanview', 'Hancock' and 'Squibnocket'\n \nPEACH AND NECTARINE\nThe peach tree (Prunus persica) is a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible\njuicy fruit called a peach. It is a deciduous tree growing to 4–10 m (13–33 ft) tall,\nbelonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It is classified with the\nalmond in the subgenus Amygdalus within the genus Prunus, distinguished from the other\nsubgenera by the corrugated seed shell.\nThe leaves are lanceolate, 7–16 cm (2.8–6.3 in) long, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) broad, pinnately\nveined. The flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or\npaired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals. The fruit has yellow or whitish flesh, a\ndelicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in\ndifferent cultivars. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but\nis fairly firm in some commercial varieties, especially when green. The single, large seed\nis red-brown, oval shaped, approximately 1.3–2 cm long, and is surrounded by a wood-like\nhusk. Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes).\nThe scientific name persica, along with the word \"peach\" itself and its cognates in many\nEuropean languages, derives from an early European belief that peaches were native to\nPersia (now Iran). The modern botanical consensus is that they originate in China, and were\nintroduced to Persia and the Mediterranean region along the Silk Road before Christian\ntimes.[1] Cultivated peaches are divided into clingstones and freestones, depending on\nwhether the flesh sticks to the stone or not; both can have either white or yellow flesh.\nPeaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little acidity, while yellow-fleshed\npeaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies\ngreatly. Both colours often have some red on their skin. Low-acid white-fleshed peaches are\nthe most popular kinds in China, Japan, and neighbouring Asian countries, while Europeans\nand North Americans have historically favoured the acidic, yellow-fleshed kinds.\nContents\nAlthough its botanical name Prunus persica suggests the peach is native to Persia, peaches\nactually originated in China where they have been cultivated since the early days of\nChinese culture. Peaches were mentioned in Chinese writings as far back as the 10th century\nBC and were a favoured fruit of kings and emperors. Recently, the history of cultivation of\npeaches in China has been extensively reviewed citing numerous original manuscripts dating\nback to 1100 BC.[2]\nIts English name derives originally from the Latin Prunus persica, then persica, then\npessica, then pesca, then the French pêche, then peach in Middle English.[citation needed]\nThe peach was brought to India and Western Asia in ancient times.[3] Alexander the Great\nintroduced the fruit into Europe after he conquered the Persians.[3] Then it was brought to\nthe Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and eventually made it to England and\nFrance in the 17th century, where it was a prized, albeit rare, treat.[citation needed]\nThe horticulturist George Minifie supposedly brought the first peaches from England to its\nNorth American colonies in the early 17th century, planting them at his Estate of Buckland\nin Virginia.[4]\nVarious American Indian tribes are credited with spreading the peach tree across the United\nStates, taking seeds along with them and planting as they roved the country.\nAlthough Thomas Jefferson had peach trees at Monticello, United States farmers did not\nbegin commercial production until the 19th century in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia and\nfinally Virginia. California today grows 65% of peaches grown for commercial production in\nthe United States,[5] but the states of Colorado, Michigan, and Washington also grow a\nsignificant amount. Italy, China, India and Greece are major producers of peaches outside\nof the United States.\nIn 2010, a team of researchers at Clemson University, USA, announced they had sequenced the\npeach tree genome (doubled haploid Lovell).[6][7]\n[edit] Cultivation\nWorldwide peach and nectarine output in 2005. The major producer, China, is in green;\nsmaller producers are in yellow; the smallest producers are in red.\nPeach plants grow very well in a fairly limited range, since they have a chilling\nrequirement that tropical areas cannot satisfy, and they are not very cold-hardy. The trees\nthemselves can usually tolerate temperatures to around -26 to -30 °C (-15 to -22 °F),\nalthough the following season's flower buds are usually killed at these temperatures,\nleading to no crop that summer. Flower bud kill begins to occur between -15 and -25 °C (5\nand -13 °F) depending on the cultivar (some are more cold-tolerant than others) and the\ntiming of the cold, with the buds becoming less cold tolerant in late winter.[8] Certain\ncultivars are more tender and others can tolerate a few degrees colder. In addition, a lot\nof summer heat is required to mature the crop, with mean temperatures of the hottest month\nbetween 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F). Another problematic issue in many peach-growing areas\nis spring frost. The trees tend to flower fairly early in spring. The blooms often can be\ndamaged or killed by freezes; typically, if temperatures drop below about −4 °C (24.8 °F),\nmost flowers will be killed. However, if the flowers are not fully open, they can tolerate\na couple of degrees colder.[citation needed]\nImportant historical peach-producing areas are China, Iran, France, and the Mediterranean\ncountries like Italy, Spain and Greece. More recently, the United States (where the three\nlargest-producing states are California, South Carolina,[9] and Georgia[10]), Canada\n(British Columbia), and Australia (the Riverland region) have also become important; peach\ngrowing in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, Canada, was formerly intensive but slowed\nsubstantially in 2008 when the last fruit cannery in Canada was closed by the\nproprietors.[11] Oceanic climate areas like the Pacific Northwest and coastline of North\nWestern Europe are generally not satisfactory for peach-growing due to inadequate summer\nheat, though they are sometimes grown trained against south-facing walls to catch extra\nheat from the sun. Trees grown in a sheltered and south-facing position in the southeast of\nEngland are capable of producing both flowers and a large crop of fruit. In Vietnam, the\nmost famous variety of peach fruit product is grown in Mẫu Sơn commune, Lộc Bình district,\nLạng Sơn province.\nFor home gardeners, semi-dwarf (3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13 ft)) and dwarf (2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to\n9 ft 10 in)) varieties have been developed by grafting desirable cultivars onto dwarfing\nrootstock. Fruit size is not affected. Another mutation is flowering peaches, selected for\nornamental display rather than fruit production.\nDepending on climate and cultivar, peach harvest can occur from late May into August;\nharvest from each tree lasts about a week.\n[edit] Nectarines\nWhite nectarines, whole and cut open\nThe nectarine is a cultivar group of peach that has a smooth skin. Though fuzzy peaches and\nnectarines are regarded commercially as different fruits, with nectarines often erroneously\nbelieved to be a crossbreed between peaches and plums, or a \"peach with a plum skin\", they\nbelong to the same species as peaches. Several genetic studies have concluded in fact that\nnectarines are created due to a recessive gene, whereas a fuzzy peach skin is dominant.[12]\nNectarines have arisen many times from peach trees, often as bud sports.\nAs with peaches, nectarines can be white or yellow, and clingstone or freestone. On\naverage, nectarines are slightly smaller and sweeter than peaches, but with much\noverlap.[12] The lack of skin fuzz can make nectarine skins appear more reddish than those\nof peaches, contributing to the fruit's plum-like appearance. The lack of down on\nnectarines' skin also means their skin is more easily bruised than peaches.\nThe history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention in English is from\n1616,[13] but they had probably been grown much earlier within the native range of the\npeach in central and eastern Asia. Nectarines were introduced into the United States by\nDavid Fairchild of the Department of Agriculture in 1906.[14]\n[edit] Diseases\nMain article: List of peach and nectarine diseases\nThe trees are prone to a disease called leaf curl, which usually does not directly affect\nthe fruit but does reduce the crop yield by partially defoliating the tree. The fruit is\nvery susceptible to brown rot, or a dark reddish spot.\n[edit] Planting\nThe developmental sequence of a nectarine over a 7 1⁄2-month period, from bud formation in\nearly winter to fruit ripening in midsummer (see image page for further information)\nMost peach trees sold by nurseries are named cultivars budded or grafted onto a suitable\nrootstock. It is also possible to grow a tree from either a peach or nectarine seed, but\nthe fruit quality of the resulting tree will be very unpredictable.\nPeaches should be located in full sun, and with good air flow. This allows cold air to flow\naway on frosty nights and keeps the area cool in summer. Peaches are best planted in early\nwinter, as this allows time for the roots to establish and to sustain the new spring\ngrowth. When planting in rows, plant north–south.\nFor optimum growth, peach trees require a constant supply of water. This should be\nincreased shortly before the harvest. The best tasting fruit is produced when the peach is\nwatered throughout the season. Drip irrigation is ideal, with at least one dripper per\ntree. Although it is better to use multiple drippers around the tree, this is not\nnecessary. A quarter of the root being watered is sufficient.\nPeaches have a high nutrient requirement, needing more nitrogen than most other fruit\ntrees. An NPK fertilizer can be applied regularly, and an additional mulch of poultry\nmanure in autumn soon after the harvest will benefit the tree. If the leaves of the peach\nare yellow or small, the tree needs more nitrogen. Blood meal and bone meal, 3–5 kilograms\n(6.6–11 lb) per mature tree, or calcium ammonium nitrate, 0.5–1 kilogram (1.1–2.2 lb), are\nsuitable fertilizers. This also applies if the tree is putting forth little growth.\nIf the full amount of peaches is left, they will be under-sized and lacking in sugar and\nflavour. In dry conditions, extra watering is important. The fruit should be thinned when\nthey have reached 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in diameter, usually about two months after\nflowering. Fresh fruit are best consumed on the day of picking, and do not keep well. They\nare best eaten when the fruit is slightly soft, having aroma, and heated by the sun.\n[edit] Storage\nPeaches should be stored at room temperature and refrigeration should be avoided as this\ncan lessen the taste of the peach. Peaches do not ripen after being picked from the tree,\nso storing for ripening is not necessary.[15]\n[edit] Asian tradition\n This section contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see\nquestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.\nThe Chinese flat peach, also called Paraguaya (Paraguayan)\nPeaches are known in China, Japan, Korea, Laos, and Vietnam not only as a popular fruit but\nfor the many folk tales and traditions associated with it.\nIn China, the peach （Chinese: 桃; pinyin: táo) was said to be consumed by the immortals due\nto its mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. The divinity Yu Huang,\nalso called the Jade Emperor, and his mother Xi Wangmu, also known as Queen Mother of the\nWest, ensured the gods' everlasting existence by feeding them the peaches of immortality.\nThe immortals residing in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant\nbanquet called the Pantao Hui or \"The Feast of Peaches\". The immortals waited six thousand\nyears before gathering for this magnificent feast; the peach tree put forth leaves once\nevery thousand years and it required another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen.\nIvory statues depicting Xi Wangmu's attendants often held three peaches.\nA Chinese Song Dynasty painting of a bird and peach blossom, by Emperor Huizong of Song,\n11th century. The bird resembles and is most likely a type of pigeon. A favourite of many\npigeons are leaves of the plum family (which includes peaches etc).\n. The peach often plays an important part in Chinese tradition and is symbolic of long\nlife. One example is in the peach-gathering story of Zhang Daoling, who some say is the\ntrue founder of Taoism. Elder Zhang Guo, one of the Chinese Eight Immortals, is often\ndepicted carrying a Peach of Immortality. Peach blossoms are highly prized in Chinese\nculture and because they appear before a single leaf has sprouted, the ancient Chinese\nbelieved the peach to possess more vitality than any other tree. When early rulers of China\nvisited their territories they were preceded by sorcerers armed with peach rods to protect\nthem from spectral evils. On the last day of the year local magistrates would cut peach\nwood branches and place them over their doors to protect against evil influences.[16] Peach\nkernels (桃仁 táo rén) are a common ingredient used in Traditional Chinese medicine to dispel\nblood stasis, counter inflammation and reduce allergies.[17]\nIt was in an orchard of flowering peach trees that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took an\noath of brotherhood in the opening chapter of the classic Chinese novel Romance of the\nThree Kingdoms.\nMomotaro, one of Japan's most noble and semi-historical heroes, was born from within an\nenormous peach floating down a stream. Momotaro or \"Peach Boy\" went on to fight evil oni\nand face many adventures.\nIn Korea, peaches have been cultivated from ancient times. According to Samguk Sagi, peach\ntrees were planted during the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, and Sallim gyeongje also\nmentions cultivation skills of peach trees. Peach is seen as the fruit of happiness,\nriches, honours and longevity. It is one of the ten immortal plants and animals, so peach\nappears in many minhwa (folk painting). It is believed that peach and peach trees chase\naway spirits, so peach is not placed on the table for jesa (ancestor veneration) unlike\nother fruits.[18][19]\nA Vietnamese mythic history states that, in the spring of 1789, after marching to Ngọc Hồi\nand then winning a great victory against invaders from the Qing Dynasty of China, the King\nQuang Trung ordered a messenger to gallop to Phú Xuân citadel (Huế nowadays) and deliver a\nflowering peach branch to the Princess Ngọc Hân. This took place on the fifth day of the\nfirst lunar month, two days before the predicted end of the battle. The branch of peach\nflowers that was sent from the North to the Centre of Vietnam was not only a message of\nvictory from the King to his wife, but also the start of a new spring of peace and\nhappiness for all the Vietnamese people. In addition to that, since the land of Nhật Tân\nhad freely given that very branch of peach flowers to the King, it became the loyal garden\nof his dynasty.\nA peach tree is also the context in which Kim Trọng and Thuý Kiều fell in love in The Tale\nof Kieu. And in Vietnam, the blossoming peach flower is the signal of spring. Finally,\npeach bonsai trees are used as decoration during Vietnamese New Year (Tết) in Northern\nVietnam.\n[edit] Nutrition and health\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\nA medium peach 75 g (2.6 oz), has 30 Cal, 7 g of carbohydrate (6 g sugars and 1 g fibre), 1\ng of protein, 140 mg of potassium, and 8% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin C.[20]\nAs with many other members of the rose family, peach seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides,\nincluding amygdalin (note the subgenus designation: Amygdalus). These substances are\ncapable of decomposing into a sugar molecule and hydrogen cyanide gas. While peach seeds\nare not the most toxic within the rose family, that dubious honour going to the bitter\nalmond, large doses of these chemicals from any source are hazardous to human health.\nPeach allergy or intolerance is a relatively common form of hypersensitivity to proteins\ncontained in peaches and related fruit (almonds). Symptoms range from local symptoms (e.g.\noral allergy syndrome, contact urticaria) to systemic symptoms including anaphylaxis (e.g.\nurticaria, angioedema, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms).[21] Adverse reactions\nare related to the \"freshness\" of the fruit: peeled or canned fruit may be tolerated.\n \nApples\nThe apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose\nfamily (Rosaceae). It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely\nknown of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans.\nThe tree originated in Western Asia, where its wild ancestor, the Alma, is still found\ntoday. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting in a range of desired\ncharacteristics. Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when\ngrown on the same rootstock.[2]\nAt least 55 million tonnes of apples were grown worldwide in 2005, with a value of about\n$10 billion. China produced about 35% of this total.[3] The United States is the\nsecond-leading producer, with more than 7.5% of world production. Iran is third, followed\nby Turkey, Russia, Italy and India.\nIn the wild, apples grow quite readily from seeds. However, like most perennial fruits,\napples are ordinarily propagated asexually by grafting. This is because seedling apples are\nan example of \"extreme heterozygotes\", in that rather than inheriting DNA from their\nparents to create a new apple with those characteristics, they are instead different from\ntheir parents, sometimes radically.[28] Triploids have an additional reproductive barrier\nin that the 3 sets of chromosomes cannot be divided evenly during meiosis, yielding unequal\nsegregation of the chromosomes (aneuploids). Even in the very unusual case when a triploid\nplant can produce a seed (apples are an example), it happens infrequently, and seedlings\nrarely survive.[29] Most new apple cultivars originate as seedlings, which either arise by\nchance or are bred by deliberately crossing cultivars with promising characteristics.[30]\nThe words 'seedling', 'pippin', and 'kernel' in the name of an apple cultivar suggest that\nit originated as a seedling. Apples can also form bud sports (mutations on a single\nbranch). Some bud sports turn out to be improved strains of the parent cultivar. Some\ndiffer sufficiently from the parent tree to be considered new cultivars.[31]\nBreeders can produce more rigid apples through crossing.[32] For example, the Excelsior\nExperiment Station of the University of Minnesota has, since the 1930s, introduced a steady\nprogression of important hardy apples that are widely grown, both commercially and by\nbackyard orchardists, throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its most important introductions\nhave included 'Haralson' (which is the most widely cultivated apple in Minnesota),\n'Wealthy', 'Honeygold', and 'Honeycrisp'.\nApples have been acclimatized in Ecuador at very high altitudes, where they provide crops\ntwice per year because of constant temperate conditions in a whole year.[33]\nApple rootstocks\nRootstocks used to control tree size have been used in apple cultivation for over 2,000\nyears. Dwarfing rootstocks were probably discovered by chance in Asia. Alexander the Great\nsent samples of dwarf apple trees back to his teacher, Aristotle, in Greece. They were\nmaintained at the Lyceum, a center of learning in Greece.\nMost modern apple rootstocks were bred in the 20th century. Much research into the existing\nrootstocks was begun at the East Malling Research Station in Kent, England. Following that\nresearch, Malling worked with the John Innes Institute and Long Ashton to produce a series\nof different rootstocks with disease resistance and a range of different sizes, which have\nbeen used all over the world.\nPollination\nSee also: Fruit tree pollination\nApple tree in flower\nOrchard mason bee on apple bloom, British Columbia, Canada\nApples are self-incompatible; they must cross-pollinate to develop fruit. During the\nflowering each season, apple growers usually provide pollinators to carry the pollen. Honey\nbees are most commonly used. Orchard mason bees are also used as supplemental pollinators\nin commercial orchards. Bumblebee queens are sometimes present in orchards, but not usually\nin enough quantity to be significant pollinators.[31]\nThere are four to seven pollination groups in apples, depending on climate:\n * Group A – Early flowering, May 1 to 3 in England (Gravenstein, Red Astrachan)\n * Group B – May 4 to 7 (Idared, McIntosh)\n * Group C – Mid-season flowering, May 8 to 11 (Granny Smith, Cox's Orange Pippin)\n * Group D – Mid/late season flowering, May 12 to 15 (Golden Delicious, Calville blanc\nd'hiver)\n * Group E – Late flowering, May 16 to 18 (Braeburn, Reinette d'Orléans)\n * Group F – May 19 to 23 (Suntan)\n * Group H – May 24 to 28 (Court-Pendu Gris) (also called Court-Pendu plat)\nOne cultivar can be pollinated by a compatible cultivar from the same group or close (A\nwith A, or A with B, but not A with C or D).[34]\nVarieties are sometimes classed as to the day of peak bloom in the average 30 day blossom\nperiod, with pollinizers selected from varieties within a 6 day overlap period.\nMaturation and harvest\nSee also: Fruit picking and Fruit tree pruning\nCultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the\nsame rootstock. Some cultivars, if left unpruned, will grow very large, which allows them\nto bear much more fruit, but makes harvesting very difficult. Mature trees typically bear\n40–200 kilograms (88–440 lb) of apples each year, though productivity can be close to zero\nin poor years. Apples are harvested using three-point ladders that are designed to fit\namongst the branches. Dwarf trees will bear about 10–80 kilograms (22–180 lb) of fruit per\nyear.[31]\nCommercially, apples can be stored for some months in controlled-atmosphere chambers to\ndelay ethylene-induced onset of ripening. The apples are commonly stored in chambers with\nhigher concentrations of carbon dioxide with high air filtration. This prevents ethylene\nconcentrations from rising to higher amounts and preventing ripening from moving too\nquickly. Ripening continues when the fruit is removed.[35] For home storage, most varieties\nof apple can be held for approximately two weeks when kept at the coolest part of the\nrefrigerator (i.e. below 5°C). Some types, including the Granny Smith and Fuji, have a\nlonger shelf life.[36]\nLeaves with significant insect damage\nMain article: List of apple diseases\nSee also: List of Lepidoptera that feed on apple trees\nThe trees are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial diseases and insect pests.\nMany commercial orchards pursue an aggressive program of chemical sprays to maintain high\nfruit quality, tree health, and high yields. A trend in orchard management is the use of\norganic methods. These use a less aggressive and direct methods of conventional farming.\nInstead of spraying potent chemicals, often shown to be potentially dangerous and\nmaleficent to the tree in the long run, organic methods include encouraging or discouraging\ncertain cycles and pests. To control a specific pest, organic growers might encourage the\nprosperity of its natural predator instead of outright killing it, and with it the natural\nbiochemistry around the tree. Organic apples generally have the same or greater taste than\nconventionally grown apples, with reduced cosmetic appearances.[37]\nA wide range of pests and diseases can affect the plant; three of the more common\ndiseases/pests are mildew, aphids and apple scab.\n * Mildew: which is characterized by light grey powdery patches appearing on the leaves,\nshoots and flowers, normally in spring. The flowers will turn a creamy yellow colour and\nwill not develop correctly. This can be treated in a manner not dissimilar from treating\nBotrytis; eliminating the conditions which caused the disease in the first place and\nburning the infected plants are among the recommended actions to take.[38][38]\nFeeding aphids\n * Aphids: There are five species of aphids commonly found on apples: apple grain aphid,\nrosy apple aphid, apple aphid, spirea aphid and the woolly apple aphid. The aphid species\ncan be identified by their colour, the time of year when they are present and by\ndifferences in the cornicles, which are small paired projections from the rear of\naphids.[38] Aphids feed on foliage using needle-like mouth parts to suck out plant juices.\nWhen present in high numbers, certain species reduce tree growth and vigor.[39]\n * Apple scab: Symptoms of scab are olive-green or brown blotches on the leaves.[40] The\nblotches turn more brown as time progresses, then brown scabs form on the fruit.[38] The\ndiseased leaves will fall early and the fruit will become increasingly covered in scabs -\neventually the fruit skin will crack. Although there are chemicals to treat scab, their use\nmight not be encouraged as they are quite often systematic, which means they are absorbed\nby the tree, and spread throughout the fruit.[40]\nAmong the most serious disease problems are fireblight, a bacterial disease; and\nGymnosporangium rust, and black spot, two fungal diseases.[39]\nYoung apple trees are also prone to mammal pests like mice and deer, which feed on the soft\nbark of the trees, especially in winter.\n \nCeltis occidentalis, commonly known as the Common hackberry, is a medium-size deciduous\ntree native to North America. It is also known as the nettletree, beaverwood, northern\nhackberry, and American hackberry.[1] It is a moderately long-lived[1] hardwood[1] with a\nlight-colored wood, yellowish gray to light brown with yellow streaks.[2]\nThe Common Hackberry is easily distinguished from elms and some other hackberries by its\ncork-like bark with wart-like protuberances. The leaves are distinctly asymmetrical and\ncoarse-textured. It produces small berries that turn orange-red to dark purple in the\nAutumn, often staying on the trees for several months. The Common Hackberry is easily\nconfused with the sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) and is most easily distinguished by range\nand habitat. The Common Hackberry also has wider leaves that are coarser above than the\nsugarberry.\n[edit] Description\nBark\nUsually the Common Hackberry forms a medium sized tree, thirty to fifty feet in height,[1]\nwith a slender trunk; however, it can rise to the height of one hundred and thirty feet, in\nthe best conditions in the southern Mississippi valley area. In the middle states of its\nrange it seldom attains a height of more than sixty feet, and has a handsome round-topped\nhead and pendulous branches. It prefers rich moist soil, but will grow on gravelly or rocky\nhillsides. The roots are fibrous and it grows rapidly.[3] In the western part of its range\nwith less rainfall and poorer soils it normally averages about thirty feet in height, but\nat least one specimen was found at ninety five feet.[1] The maximum age attained by\nhackberry is probably between 150 and 200 years in ideal conditions.[1]\nThe bark is light brown or silvery gray, broken on the surface into thick appressed scales\nand sometimes roughened with excrescenses; pattern is very distinctive. The branchlets are\nslender, light green at first, finally red brown, at length become dark brown tinged with\nred. The winter buds are axillary, ovate, acute, somewhat flattened, one-fourth of an inch\nlong, light brown. Scales enlarge with the growing shoot, the innermost becoming stipules.\nNo terminal bud is formed. The leaves are alternately arranged on stems, ovate to\novate-lanceolate, more or less falcate, two and a half to four inches (102 mm) long, one to\ntwo inches wide, very oblique at the base, serrate, except at the base which is mostly\nentire, acute. Three-nerved, midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud\nconduplicate with slightly involute margins, pale yellow green, downy; when full grown are\nthin, bright green, rough above, paler green beneath. In autumn they turn to a light\nyellow. Petioles slender, slightly grooved, hairy. Stipules varying in form, caducous.\nLeaf\nThe flowers appear in May, soon after the leaves. Polygamo-monœ cious, greenish. Of three\nkinds—staminate, pistillate, perfect; born on slender drooping pedicels. The calyx is light\nyellow green, five-lobed, divided nearly to the base; lobes linear, acute, more or less cut\nat the apex, often tipped with hairs, imbricate in bud.\n * Corolla: Wanting.\nThere are five stamens, which are hypogynous; the filaments are white, smooth, slightly\nflattened and gradually narrowed from base to apex; in the bud incurved, bringing the\nanthers face to face, as flower opens they abruptly straighten; anthers extrorse, oblong,\ntwo-celled; cells opening longitudinally.\n * Pistil: ovary superior, one-celled; style two-lobed; ovules solitary.\n * Fruit: Fleshy drupe, oblong, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, tipped with\nremnants of style, dark purple. Borne on a slender stem; ripens in September and October.\nRemains on branches during winter.[3]\n[edit] Distribution and habitat\nThe Common Hackberry is native to North America from southern Ontario and Quebec, through\nparts of New England, south to North Carolina-(Appalachia), west to northern Oklahoma, and\nnorth to South Dakota. Hackberry's range overlaps with the sugarberry (Celtis laevigata),\nmaking it difficult to establish the exact range of either species in the South. Although\nthere is little actual overlap, in the western part of its range the Common Hackberry is\nsometimes confused with the smaller Netleaf Hackberry (Celtis reticulata), which has a\nsimilar bark. Hackberry grows in many different habitats, although it prefers bottomlands\nand soils high in limestone. Its shade tolerance is greatly dependent on conditions. In\nfavorable conditions its seedlings will persist under a closed canopy, but in less\nfavorable conditions it can be considered shade intolerant.\n[edit] Ecology\nFruits\nHackberry is highly susceptible to fire damage. The leaves are eaten by four gall-producing\ninsects of the Pachypsylla genus, which do not cause serious damage to the tree. A number\nof insects and fungi cause rapid decay of dead branches or roots of the tree.\nThe small berries, hackberries, are eaten by a number of birds and mammals. Most seeds are\ndispersed by animals, but some seeds are also dispersed by water.\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe wood is light yellow; heavy, soft, coarse-grained, not strong. Used for fencing and\ncheap furniture. Sp. gr., 0.7287; weight of cu. ft., 45.41 lb (20.60 kg).\nHackberry's wood is soft and rots easily, making the wood undesirable commercially,\nalthough it is occasionally used for furniture or other uses. The berries, although edible,\nare small and out of reach, and are seldom eaten by humans. Hackberry is only occasionally\nused as a street or landscape tree, although its tolerance for urban conditions make it\nwell suited to this role. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is known for the extensive\nuse of Hackberry as a street tree.\n \nThe Eastern Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a species of flowering tree in the hickory\nfamily, Juglandaceae, that is native to eastern North America. It grows mostly in riparian\nzones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern\nFlorida and southwest to central Texas. Isolated wild trees in the Upper Ottawa Valley may\nbe an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.\nThe black walnut is a large deciduous tree attaining heights of 30–40 metres (98–130 ft).\nUnder forest competition it develops a tall, clear bole; the open-grown form has a short\nbole and broad crown. The bark is grey-black and deeply furrowed. The pith of the twigs\ncontains air spaces. The leaves are alternate, 30–60 cm long, odd-pinnate with 15–23\nleaflets, the largest leaflets located in the center, 7–10 cm long and 2–3 cm broad. The\nmale flowers are in drooping catkins 8–10 cm long, the female flowers terminal, in clusters\nof two to five, ripening during the autumn into a fruit (nut) with a brownish-green,\nsemi-fleshy husk and a brown corrugated nut. The whole fruit, including the husk, falls in\nOctober; the seed is relatively small and very hard. The tree tends to crop more heavily in\nalternate years.\nWhile its primary native region is the midwest and east central United States, the black\nwalnut was introduced into Europe in 1629. It is cultivated there and in North America as a\nforest tree for its high quality wood. Nuts are produced more by open-grown trees. Black\nwalnut is more resistant to frost than the Persian walnut (also known as the English\nwalnut), but thrives best in the warmer regions of fertile, lowland soils with a high water\ntable. It is a light-demanding species. The wood is used to make furniture, flooring, and\nrifle stocks, and oil is pressed from the seeds. Nuts are harvested by hand from wild\ntrees. About 65% of the annual wild harvest comes from the U.S. state of Missouri and the\nlargest processing plant is in Stockton, Missouri.[citation needed] The black walnut\nnutmeats are used as an ingredient in food while the hard black walnut shell is used\ncommercially in abrasive cleaning, cosmetics, and oil well drilling and water filtration.\nWhere the range of J. nigra overlaps that of the Texas black walnut J. microcarpa, the two\nspecies sometimes interbreed, producing populations with characteristics intermediate\nbetween the two species.[1]\nContents\nPercentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.\nSource: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/cgi-bin/list_nut_edit.pl\nIn addition to its use as a shade tree, J. nigra can be used for the fruits it produces,\nand for lumber.\nBlack walnut nuts are shelled commercially in the United States. The nutmeats provide a\nrobust, distinctive, natural flavor and crunch as a food ingredient. Popular uses include\nice cream, bakery goods and confections. Consumers include black walnuts in traditional\ntreats, such as cakes, cookies, fudge, and pies during the fall holiday season. The nut’s\nstrong nutritional profile leads to uses in other foods such as salads, fish, pork,\nchicken, vegetables and pasta dishes.\nNutritionally similar to the milder-tasting English walnut, the black walnut kernel is high\nin unsaturated fat and protein. An analysis of nut oil from five named J. nigra cultivars\n(Ogden, Sparrow, Baugh, Carter and Thomas) showed that the most prevalent fatty acid in J.\nnigra oil is linoleic acid (27.80–33.34 g/100g dry kernel), followed (in the same units) by\noleic acid (14.52–24.40), linolenic acid (1.61–3.23), palmitic acid (1.61–2.15), and\nstearic acid (1.07–1.69).[2] The oil from the cultivar Carter had the highest mol percent\nof linoleate (61.6), linolenate (5.97%), and palmitate (3.98%); the oil from the cultivar\nBaugh had the highest mol percent of oleate (42.7%); the oil from the cultivar Ogden has\nthe highest mol percent of stearate (2.98%).\nTapped in spring, the tree yields a sweet sap that can be drunk or concentrated into syrup\nor sugar.[1]\n[edit] Nut processing by hand\nA woman's hands after removing the husks from 500 black walnuts\nThe extraction of the kernel from the fruit of the black walnut is difficult. The thick\nhard shell is tightly bound by tall ridges to a thick husk. The husk is best removed when\ngreen as the nuts taste better if it is removed then.[citation needed] Rolling the nut\nunderfoot on a hard surface such as a driveway is a common method; commercial huskers use a\ncar tire rotating against a metal mesh. Some take a thick plywood board and drill a nut\nsized hole in it (from one to two inches in diameter) and smash the nut through using a\nhammer. The nut goes through and the husk remains behind.\nWhile the flavor of the Juglans nigra kernel is prized, the difficulty in preparing it may\naccount for the wider popularity and availability of the Persian walnut.\n[edit] Dye\nBlack walnut drupes contain juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone), plumbagin (yellow\nquinone pigments), and tannin.[3] The brownish-black dye was used by early settlers to dye\nhair.[4] Extracts of the outer soft part of the drupe are still used as a natural dye for\nhandicrafts.[5] The tannins present in walnuts act as a mordant aiding in the dyeing\nprocess;[6][7] usable as a dark ink or wood stain.[8]\n[edit] Wood\nBlack walnut is highly prized for its dark-colored true heartwood. It is heavy and strong,\nyet easily split and worked. Walnut wood has historically been used for gunstocks,\nfurniture, flooring, paddles, coffins, and a variety of other woodworking products. Due to\nits value, forestry officials often are called on to track down walnut poachers; in 2004,\nDNA testing was used to solve one such poaching case, involving a 55 foot (16m) tree worth\nUS $2500. Black walnut has a density per cubic meter of 660kg (41.2 lb/cubic foot),[9]\nwhich makes it lighter than oak.\n[edit] Pests\nMaggots (larvae of Rhagoletis completa and Rhagoletis suavis) in the husk are common,\nthough more a nuisance than a serious problem for amateurs, who may simply remove the\naffected husk as soon as infestation is noticed. The maggots develop entirely within the\nhusk and thus the quality of the nutmeat is not affected.[10] However, infestations of\nPersian walnuts are undesirable because they make the husk difficult to remove and are\nunsightly. Maggots can be serious for commercial walnut growers, who tend to use chemical\ntreatments to prevent damage to the crop.[11] Some organic controls also exist, such as\nremoving and disposing of infested nuts.[12]\nThe walnut curculio (Conotrachelus retentus) grows to 5 mm long as an adult. The adult\nsucks plant juices through a snout. The eggs are laid in fruits in the spring and summer.\nMany nuts are lost due to damage from the larvae, which burrow through the nut shell.[13]\nThe codling moth (Cydia pomonella) larva eats walnut kernels, as well as apple and pear\nseeds.[14]\nA disease complex known as Thousand cankers disease has been threatening black walnut in\nseveral western states.[15] This disease has recently been discovered in Tennessee and\ncould potentially have devastating effects on the species in the eastern United States.[16]\n[edit] Toxicity\nThe roots, nut husks, and leaves secrete a substance into the soil called juglone that is a\nrespiratory inhibitor to some plants. A number of other plants (most notably white birch)\nare also poisoned by juglone, and should not be planted in close proximity to a black\nwalnut. Horses are susceptible to laminitis from exposure to black walnut wood in bedding.[\n \n(Borago officinalis), also known as a starflower, is an annual herb originating in\nSyria,[1] but naturalized throughout the Mediterranean region, as well as Asia Minor,\nEurope, North Africa, and South America. It grows to a height of 60–100 cm (2.0–3.3 ft),\nand is bristly or hairy all over the stems and leaves; the leaves are alternate, simple,\nand 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in) long. The flowers are complete, perfect with five narrow,\ntriangular-pointed petals. Flowers are most often blue in color, although pink flowers are\nsometimes observed. White flowered types are also cultivated. The flowers arise along\nscorpiod cymes to form large floral displays with multiple flowers blooming simultaneously,\nsuggesting that borage has a high degree of geitonogamy. It has an indeterminate growth\nhabit which may lead to prolific spreading. In milder climates, borage will bloom\ncontinuously for most of the year.\nContents\nTraditionally borage was cultivated for culinary and medicinal uses, although today\ncommercial cultivation is mainly as an oilseed. The seed oil is desired as source of\ngamma-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3, cis 6,9,12-octadecatrienoic acid), for which borage is the\nhighest known plant-based source (17-28%).[2] The seed oil content is between 26-38% and in\naddition to GLA contains the fatty acids palmitic acid (10-11%), stearic acid (3.5-4.5%),\noleic acid (16-20%), linoleic acid (35-38%), eicosenoic acid (3.5-5.5%), erucic acid\n(1.5-3.5%), and nervonic acid (1.5%). The oil is often marketed as \"starflower oil\" or\n\"borage oil\" for uses as a GLA supplement, although healthy adults will typically produce\nample GLA through dietary linoleic acid.\nBorage production does include use as either a fresh vegetable or a dried herb. As a fresh\nvegetable, borage, with a cucumber like taste, is often used in salads or as a garnish.[3]\nThe flower, which contains the non-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid thesinine,[citation needed]\nhas a sweet honey-like taste and as one of the few truly blue-colored edible\nthings,[citation needed] is often used to decorate dessert.[3] It is notable that the\nleaves have been found to contain small amounts (10 ppm of dried herb) of the liver-toxic\npyrrolizidine alkaloids: intermedine, lycopsamine, amabiline and supinine.[citation needed]\nVegetable use of borage is common in Germany, in the Spanish regions of Aragón and Navarra,\nin the Greek island of Crete and in the Italian northern region Liguria. Although often\nused in soups, one of the better known German borage recipes is the Green Sauce (Grüne\nSoße) made in Frankfurt. In Italian Liguria, borage is commonly used as filling of the\ntraditional pasta ravioli and pansoti. The leaves and flowers were originally used in Pimms\nbefore it was replaced by mint. It is used to flavour pickled gherkins in Poland.[citation\nneeded]\nNaturopathic practitioners use borage for regulation of metabolism and the hormonal system,\nand consider it to be a good remedy for PMS and menopause symptoms, such as the hot\nflash.[citation needed] Borage is sometimes indicated to alleviate and heal colds,\nbronchitis, and respiratory infections, and in general for its anti-inflammatory and\nbalsamic properties.[citation needed] The flowers can be prepared in infusion to take\nadvantage of its medicinal properties. The oleic and palmitic acid of borage may also\nconfer a hypocholesterolemic effect.[citation needed]\nBorage is also traditionally used as a garnish in the Pimms Cup cocktail,[3] but is often\nreplaced by cucumber if not available.[citation needed]\n[edit] Companion plant\nBorage is used in companion planting.[4] It is said to protect or nurse legumes, spinach,\nbrassicas, and even strawberries.[5] It is also said to be a good companion plant to\ntomatoes because it confuses the search image of the mother moths of tomato hornworms or\nmanduca looking for a place to lay their eggs.[6] Claims that it improves tomato growth [7]\nand makes them taste better [8] remain unsubstantiated.\n \nHoneysuckles (Lonicera, pronounced /lɒˈnɪsərə/;[1] syn. Caprifolium Mill.) are arching\nshrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere.\nThere are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe and North\nAmerica have only about 20 native species each. Widely known species include Lonicera\npericlymenum (European Honeysuckle or Woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle,\nWhite Honeysuckle, or Chinese Honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens (Coral Honeysuckle,\nTrumpet Honeysuckle, or Woodbine Honeysuckle). Hummingbirds are attracted to these plants.\nThe leaves are opposite, simple oval, 1–10 cm long; most are deciduous but some are\nevergreen. Many of the species have sweetly-scented, bell-shaped flowers that produce a\nsweet, edible nectar. Breaking of the Honeysuckle's stem will release this powerful sweet\nodor. The fruit is a red, blue or black berry containing several seeds; in most species the\nberries are mildly poisonous, but a few (notably Lonicera caerulea) have edible berries.\nThe plant is eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera that\nfeed on honeysuckles.\nThe name Lonicera stems from Adam Lonicer, a Renaissance botanist.\nNasturtiums\nNasturtium (pronounced /næˈstɜrʃⁱəm/)[1] literally \"nose-twister\" or \"nose-tweaker\"), as a\ncommon name, refers to a genus of roughly 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous\nflowering plants in the genus Tropaeolum (pronounced /trɵˈpiː.ələm/,[2] \"trophy\"), one of\nthree genera in the family Tropaeolaceae. It should not be confused with the Watercresses\nof the genus Nasturtium, of the Mustard family. The genus Tropaeolum, native to South and\nCentral America, includes several very popular garden plants, the most commonly grown being\nT. majus, T. peregrinum and T. speciosum. The hardiest species is T. polyphyllum from\nChile, the perennial roots of which can survive underground when air temperatures drop as\nlow as -15°C (5°F).\nThey have showy, often intensely bright flowers (the intense color may pose problems in\nmacrophotography)[citation needed], and rounded, peltate (shield-shaped) leaves with the\npetiole in the center. The flowers have five petals (sometimes more), a three-carpelled\novary, and a funnel-shaped nectar tube in the back.\nTropaeolum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species\nincluding Dot Moth and Garden Carpet. A very common \"pest\" found on Nasturtium in\nparticular is the caterpillar of the Large White (Cabbage White) Butterfly.\nThe Nasturtiums receive their name from the fact that they produce an oil that is similar\nto that produced by Watercress (Nasturtium officinale), from the family Brassicaceae.\nContents\nIn cultivation, most varieties of nasturtiums prefer to be grown in direct or indirect\nsunlight, with a few preferring partial shade.\nThe most common use of the nasturtium plant in cultivation is as an ornamental flower. It\ngrows easily and prolifically, and is a self-seeding annual.\nThe flowers and leaves of the nasturtium plant.\nAll parts of the plant are edible. The flower has most often been consumed, making for an\nespecially ornamental salad ingredient; it has a slightly peppery taste reminiscent of\nwatercress, and is also used in stir fry. The unripe seed pods can be harvested and pickled\nwith hot vinegar, to produce a condiment and garnish, sometimes used in place of capers,\nalthough the taste is strongly peppery. The mashua (T. tuberosum) produces an edible\nunderground tuber that is a major food source in parts of the Andes.\nNasturtiums are also considered widely useful companion plants. They repel a great many\ncucurbit pests, like squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and several caterpillars. They have a\nsimilar range of benefits for brassica plants, especially broccoli and cauliflower. They\nalso attract black fly aphids, and are sometimes planted in the hope of saving crops\nsusceptible to them (as a trap crop). They may also attract beneficial predatory insects.\n[edit] Taxonomy\nTropaeolum was previously placed in the family Tropaeolaceae along with two other genera,\nMagallan and Tropaeastrum. In 2000, a molecular study found Tropaeolum to be paraphyletic\nwith respect to the other two genera, so they were transferred into Tropaeolum.\nTropaeolaceae was thus rendered monogeneric.[\n \nAcca sellowiana is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is\nnative to the highlands of southern Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina.[1]\nCommon names include Feijoa (pronounced /feɪˈʒoʊ.ə/, /feɪˈdʒoʊ.ə/,[2] or /feɪˈhoʊ.ə/[3])\nPineapple Guava and Guavasteen. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1–7 metres (3.3–23\nft) in height. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree and is a\nperennial. The German botanist Otto Karl Berg named Feijoa after João da Silva Feijó, a\nPortuguese botanist born in the colony of Brazil.[citation needed]\nContents\n * 8 External links\n[edit] Fruit\nThe fruit, maturing in autumn, is green, ellipsoid, and about the size of a chicken egg. It\nhas a sweet, aromatic flavor. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear gelatinous\nseed pulp and a firmer, slightly gritty, opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit drops when\nripe and at its fullest flavor, but may be picked from the tree prior to the drop to\nprevent bruising.\nThe fruit pulp resembles the closely related guava, having a gritty texture. The Feijoa\npulp is used in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. Feijoa fruit has a\ndistinctive smell. The aroma is due to the ester methyl benzoate and related compounds that\nexist in the fruit.\nWhole and cut ripe Feijoas\nIt is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that also will grow in the tropics, but\nrequires some winter chilling to fruit and the plant is frost-tolerant.\nIn the northern hemisphere this species has been cultivated as far north as western\nScotland, but under such conditions it does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures\nbelow approximately −9 °C (16 °F) kill the flower buds.\n[edit] Seasonality\nLarge quantities of the fruit are grown in New Zealand, where it is a popular garden tree\nand the fruit commonly is available in season. The New Zealand season runs from March to\nJune.\nHarder varieties are grown for years in Russian region of Buriatia (city Ulan-Ude), with\nwinters up to -40 C.\n[edit] Consumption and uses\nThe fruit usually is eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a\nspoon.[4] The fruit has a juicy sweet seed pulp and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin.\nThe flavour is aromatic and sweet. If the utensils needed to eat it this way are not\navailable, the Feijoa may be torn or bitten in half, and the contents squeezed out and\nconsumed. An alternative method is to bite the end off and then tear the fruit in half\nlength ways, exposing a larger surface with less curvature and using one's teeth to scrape\nthe pulp out closer to the skin. This method results in less waste of the fruit.\nA Feijoa may be used as an interesting addition to a fruit smoothie, and may be used to\nmake Feijoa wine or cider and feijoa infused vodka. It also is possible to buy Feijoa\nyogurt, fruit drinks, jam, ice-cream, and such in New Zealand. The Feijoa also may be\ncooked and used in dishes where one would use stewed fruit. It is a popular ingredient in\nchutney.\nCut over-mature fruit showing browning\nFruit maturity is not always apparent visually as the fruits remain the same shade of green\nuntil they are over-mature or rotting. One usually may sense ripeness, however, by giving\nthe fruit a soft squeeze; a ripe Feijoa will give somewhat like a just-ripe banana.\nGenerally, the fruit is at its optimum ripeness the day it drops from the tree. While still\nhanging it may well prove bitter, however, once fallen, fruit very quickly becomes\nover-ripe, so a daily collection of fallen fruit is advisable during the season.\nWhen the fruits are immature the seed pulp is white and opaque. It becomes clear and\ngelatinous when ripe. Fruits are at their optimum maturity when the seed pulp has turned\ninto a clear jelly with no hint of browning. Once the seed pulp and surrounding flesh start\nto brown, the fruit is over-mature, but still may be eaten. Over-mature but not rotten\nfruits may be used to make a delicious juice very popular in places such as the Colombian\nHighlands.[citation needed]\nThe pink to white flower petals have a delightful flavor, being crisp, moist, and fleshy.\nThey regularly are consumed by birds.\n[edit] Sale and shipping\nRipe fruit is very prone to bruising; maintaining the fruit in good condition for any\nlength of time is not easy. This, along with the short period of optimum ripeness and full\nfavor, probably explains why Feijoas, although delicious, frequently are not exported, and\nwhere grown commercially, often only are sold close to the source of the crop.\nBecause of the relatively short shelf-life, store keepers need to be careful to replace\nolder Feijoas regularly to ensure high quality. In some countries, Feijoas also may be\npurchased at roadside stalls, often at a lower price.\nFeijoas may be cool-stored for approximately a month and still have a few days of shelf\nlife at optimum eating maturity. They also may be frozen for up to one year without a loss\nin quality.\nFeijoa flower\nSome grafted cultivars of Feijoa are self-fertile. Most are not, and require a pollinator.\nSeedlings may or may not be of usable quality, and may or may not be self fertile.\nIn New Zealand, the pollinators of this plant are bees, bumblebees, or medium-sized birds.\nThe latter include such as the Silvereye in the cooler parts of the South Island, the\nblackbird, or the Indian myna farther north, which feed on the sweet, fleshy petals of the\nFeijoa flower.\nIn California, robins, mockingbirds, hummingbirds, starlings, scrub jays, towhees, and grey\nsquirrels feast on the petals and are presumed to be assisting with pollination.[citation\nneeded] Honeybees also visit the flowers.\nIn some areas where the species has been introduced, however, the trees have been\nunproductive due to lack of pollinators. The shrub has very few insect pests.\n \nYucca\nYucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the agave family, Agavaceae. Its 40-50\nspecies are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large\nterminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry (arid)\nparts of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Early reports of\nthe species were confused with the cassava (Manihot esculenta).[2] Consequently, Linnaeus\nmistakenly derived the generic name from the Carib word for the latter, yuca.[3]\nContents\nDistribution of the capsular fruited species in southwest, midwest USA, Mexico's Baja\nCalifornia and Canada. Overview\nThe natural distribution range of the genus Yucca (49 species and 24 subspecies) covers a\nvast area of North and Central America. From Baja California in the west, northwards into\nthe southwestern United States, through the drier central states as far north as Alberta in\nCanada (Yucca glauca ssp. albertana), and moving east along the Gulf of Mexico, and then\nnorth again, through the Atlantic coastal and inland neighbouring states. To the south, the\ngenus is represented throughout Mexico and extends into Guatemala (Yucca guatemalensis).\nYuccas have adapted to an equally vast range of climatic and ecological conditions. They\nare to be found in rocky deserts and badlands, in prairies and grassland, in mountainous\nregions, in light woodland, in coastal sands (Yucca filamentosa), and even in subtropical\nand semi-temperate zones, although these are nearly always arid to semi-arid.\n[edit] Ecology\nYuccas have a very specialized, mutualistic pollination system, being pollinated by yucca\nmoths (family Prodoxidae); the insect purposefully transfers the pollen from the stamens of\none plant to the stigma of another, and at the same time lays an egg in the flower; the\nmoth larva then feeds on some of the developing seeds, always leaving enough seed to\nperpetuate the species. Yucca species are the host plants for the caterpillars of the Yucca\nGiant-Skipper (Megathymus yuccae),[4] Ursine Giant-Skipper (Megathymus ursus),[5] and\nStrecker's Giant-Skipper (Megathymus streckeri).[6]\n[edit] Uses\nYuccas are widely grown as ornamental plants in gardens. Many species of yucca also bear\nedible parts, including fruits, seeds, flowers, flowering stems,[7] and more rarely roots.\nReferences to yucca root as food often stem from confusion with the similarly spelled but\nbotanically unrelated yuca, also called cassava (Manihot esculenta). Roots of soaptree\nyucca (Yucca elata) are high in saponins and are used as a shampoo in Native American\nrituals. Dried yucca leaves and trunk fibers have a low ignition temperature, making the\nplant desirable for use in starting fires via friction.[8]\n[edit] Cultivation\nYucca are widely planted in the western US as a landscape plant. Most species are generally\nheat and cold tolerant, requiring little care and low water. They offer a dramatic accent\nto a landscape design.\nJoshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) are protected by law in some states and should not be wild\ncollected without permit. As a landscape plant, they can be killed by excessive water\nduring their summer dormant phase. For these two reasons they are avoided by landscape\ncontractors.\nThe gooseberry (pronounced /ˈɡʊzbəri/;[1] Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia) is a\nspecies of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and southwestern Asia. It is one of\nseveral similar species in the subgenus Grossularia; for the other related species (e.g.,\nNorth American Gooseberry Ribes hirtellum), see the genus page Ribes.\nAlthough usually placed as a subgenus within Ribes, a few taxonomists treat Grossularia as\na separate genus, although hybrids between gooseberry and blackcurrant (e.g., the\nJostaberry) are possible. The subgenus Grossularia differs somewhat from currants, chiefly\nin their spiny stems, and in that their flowers grow one to three together on short stems,\nnot in racemes.\nGooseberry bushes produce an edible fruit and are grown on both a commercial and domestic\nbasis.\nGrowth habit and physical characteristics\nThe gooseberry is a straggling bush growing to 1–3 metres (3–10 feet) tall, the branches\nbeing thickly set with sharp spines, standing out singly or in diverging tufts of two or\nthree from the bases of the short spurs or lateral leaf shoots. The bell-shaped flowers are\nproduced, singly or in pairs, from the groups of rounded, deeply-crenated 3 or 5 lobed\nleaves. The fruit of wild gooseberries is smaller than in the cultivated varieties, but is\noften of good flavour; it is generally hairy, but in one variety smooth, constituting the\nR. uva-crispa of writers; berries' colour is usually green, but there are red variants and\noccasionally deep purple berries occur.\n[edit] Range\nThe gooseberry is indigenous in Europe and western Asia, growing naturally in alpine\nthickets and rocky woods in the lower country, from France eastward, well into the\nHimalayas and peninsular India.\nCurrant and gooseberry output in 2005\nIn Britain, gooseberry bushes are often found in copses and hedgerows and about old ruins,\nbut the gooseberry has been cultivated for so long that it is difficult to distinguish wild\nbushes from feral ones, or where the gooseberry fits into the native flora of the island.\nCommon as it is now on some of the lower slopes of the Alps of Piedmont and Savoy, it is\nuncertain whether the Romans were acquainted with the gooseberry, though it may possibly be\nalluded to in a vague passage of Pliny the Elder's Natural History; the hot summers of\nItaly, in ancient times as at present, would be unfavourable to its cultivation. Although\ngooseberries are now abundant in Germany and France, it does not appear to have been much\ngrown there in the Middle Ages, though the wild fruit was held in some esteem medicinally\nfor the cooling properties of its acid juice in fevers; while the old English name,\nFea-berry, still surviving in some provincial dialects, indicates that it was similarly\nvalued in Britain, where it was planted in gardens at a comparatively early period.\nWilliam Turner describes the gooseberry in his Herball, written about the middle of the\n16th century, and a few years later it is mentioned in one of Thomas Tusser's quaint rhymes\nas an ordinary object of garden culture. Improved varieties were probably first raised by\nthe skilful gardeners of Holland, whose name for the fruit, Kruisbezie, may have been\neasily corrupted into the present English vernacular word. Towards the end of the 18th\ncentury the gooseberry became a favourite object of cottage-horticulture, especially in\nLancashire, where the working cotton-spinners have raised numerous varieties from seed,\ntheir efforts having been chiefly directed to increasing the size of the fruit.\nRed gooseberries\n[edit] Climate\nOf the many hundred varieties enumerated in recent horticultural works, few perhaps equal\nin flavour some of the older denizens of the fruit-garden, such as the old rough red and\nhairy amber. The climate of the British Isles seems peculiarly adapted to bring the\ngooseberry to perfection,[citation needed] and it may be grown successfully even in the\nmost northern parts of Scotland where it is commonly known as a \"grozet\"; indeed, the\nflavour of the fruit is said to improve with increasing latitude. In Norway (where it's\nnamed \"stikkelsbær\" — or \"prickly berry\"), the bush flourishes in gardens on the west coast\nnearly up to the Arctic circle, and it is found wild as far north as 63°. The dry summers\nof the French and German plains are less suited to it, though it is grown in some hilly\ndistricts with tolerable success. The gooseberry in the south of England will grow well in\ncool situations, and may be sometimes seen in gardens near London flourishing under the\npartial shade of apple trees; but in the north it needs full exposure to the sun to bring\nthe fruit to perfection. It will succeed in almost any soil, but prefers a rich loam or\nblack alluvium, and, though naturally a plant of rather dry places, will do well in moist\nland, if drained.\nIt is also widely found in villages throughout the former Czechoslovakia.\nSectioned gooseberries showing seeds\nThe easiest method of propagating gooseberries is by cuttings rather than raising from\nseed;cuttings planted in the autumn will take root quickly and can begin to bear fruit\nwithin a few years.\nVigorous pruning may be necessary; fruit is produced on lateral spurs and the previous\nyear's shoots, so the 19th-century custom was to trim side branches in the winter, and\nperhaps trim leading shoots at that time or remove their tips in the summer.\nLarge berries can be produced by heavy composting, especially if the majority of the fruit\nis picked off while small to allow room for a few berries to continue to grow. Grafting of\ngooseberry vines onto ornamental golden currants (Ribes aurum) or other Ribes species can\nbe helpful for this purpose. Some 19th- and early 20th-century cultivators produced single\ngooseberries near to two ounces in weight, but, as with many varieties of fruit, larger\nsizes of gooseberry proved to have weaker flavor.\nRibes uva-crispa[2]\n[edit] Pests\nGooseberry bushes are vulnerable to magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata) caterpillars. In\ncultivation, the best method for removing them is to remove the larvae by hand soon after\nthey hatch; its eggs are laid on fallen gooseberry leaves.\nOther potential threats are V-moth (Macaria wauaria) and Gooseberry sawfly (Nematus\nribesii). Nematus reibesii grubs will bury themselves in the ground to pupate; on hatching\ninto adult form, they lay their eggs, which soon hatch into larvae, on the underside of\ngooseberry leaves. 19th-century insecticides against these included tar water, weak\nsolutions of carbolic acid, and powdered hellebore, which worked against magpie moths and\nV-moths as well as gooseberry sawflies. (Foxglove and tobacco infusions were also sometimes\nused.) Careful removal of fallen leaves and tilling of the ground around the plant will\nalso destroy most eggs and chrysalises of these insects.\nPotassium sulfide was known to be an effective treatment for blights and other parasitic\ngrowths, such as American gooseberry mildew.\nNote that like most Ribes, the gooseberry is a potential host for white pine blister rust,\nwhich can cause serious damage to white pines; thus, gooseberry cultivation is illegal in\nsome areas of the U.S.\n[edit] Culinary uses\nGooseberries for sale in Hainan, China\nGooseberries are best known for their use in desserts such as pies, fools and crumbles.\nGooseberries are commonly preserved by drying, storing in sugar syrup, or as jam or pickle.\nGooseberries are used to flavoured drinks such as soda, water or even milk, and are used to\nmake Fruit wine. In India some use gooseberry for acidity problem and stomach ache.\n[edit] Etymology\nThe \"goose\" in \"gooseberry\" has usually been seen as a corruption of either the Dutch word\nKruisbezie or the allied German Krausbeere, or of the earlier forms of the French\ngroseille. Alternatively the word has been connected to the Middle High German krus (curl,\ncrisped), in Latin as grossularia. However, the Oxford English Dictionary takes the obvious\nderivation from goose and berry as probable because \"the grounds on which plants and fruits\nhave received names associating them with animals are so often inexplicable that the\ninappropriateness in the meaning does not necessarily give good grounds for believing that\nthe word is an etymological corruption.\n \nZiziphus zizyphus (from Greek ζίζυφον, zizyfon[1]), commonly called jujube, red date, or\nChinese date, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily\nfor its fruits. Common names in Arabic are nabq, dum, tsal, sadr, zufzuuf (in Morocco) and\nsidr, the last of which also means Ziziphus lotus.[2] In Persian it is called anab or annab\n, a name also used in Lebanon.\nContents\nIts precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation, but is thought\nto be in southern Asia, between Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, northern India, Bangladesh, the\nKorean peninsula, and southern and central China, and also southeastern Europe though more\nlikely introduced there.[3]\n[edit] Growth\nIt is a small deciduous tree or shrub reaching a height of 5–10 m, usually with thorny\nbranches. The leaves are shiny-green, ovate-acute, 2–7-cm wide and 1–3-cm broad, with three\nconspicuous veins at the base, and a finely toothed margin. The flowers are small, 5-mm\nwide, with five inconspicuous yellowish-green petals. The fruit is an edible oval drupe\n1.5–3-cm deep; when immature it is smooth-green, with the consistency and taste of an\napple, maturing brown to purplish-black and eventually wrinkled, looking like a small date.\nThere is a single hard stone similar to an olive stone.[3]\n[edit] Nomenclature\nThe species has a curious nomenclatural history, due to a combination of botanical naming\nregulations, and variations in spelling. It was first described scientifically by Carolus\nLinnaeus as Rhamnus zizyphus, in Species Plantarum in 1753. Later, in 1768, Philip Miller\nconcluded it was sufficiently distinct from Rhamnus to merit separation into a new genus,\nin which he named it Ziziphus jujube, using Linnaeus' species name for the genus but with a\nprobably accidental single letter spelling difference, 'i' for 'y'; for the species name he\nused a different name, as tautonyms (repetition of exactly the same name in the genus and\nspecies) are not permitted in botanical naming. However, because of Miller's slightly\ndifferent spelling, the combination correctly using the earliest species name (from\nLinnaeus) with the new genus, Ziziphus zizyphus, is not a tautonym, and therefore permitted\nas a botanical name; this combination was made by Hermann Karsten in 1882.[3][4]\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nJujube was domesticated in the Indian subcontinent by 9000 BCE.[5] Over 400 cultivars have\nbeen selected.\nThe tree tolerates a wide range of temperatures and rainfall, though it requires hot\nsummers and sufficient water for acceptable fruiting. Unlike most of the other species in\nthe genus, it tolerates fairly cold winters, surviving temperatures down to about −15°C.\nThis enables the jujube to grow in desert habitats, provided there is access to underground\nwater through the summer. Virtually no temperature seems to be too high in summertime.\n[edit] Medicinal use\nThe fruits are used in Chinese and Korean traditional medicine, where they are believed to\nalleviate stress.[citation needed] The jujube-based Australian drink 1-bil avoids making\nspecific stress-related claims, but does suggest drinking 1-bil \"when you feel yourself\nbecoming distressed\".[6]\nZiziphin, a compound in the leaves of the jujube, suppresses the ability to perceive sweet\ntaste in humans.[7] The fruit, being mucilaginous, is very soothing to the throat and\ndecoctions of jujube have often been used in pharmacy to treat sore throats.\nFresh jujube fruits.\n[edit] Culinary use\nDried jujube fruits, which naturally turn red upon drying.\nThe freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or\nwith tea. They are available in either red or black (called hóng zǎo or hēi zǎo,\nrespectively, in Chinese), the latter being smoked to enhance their flavor.[8] In China and\nKorea, a sweetened tea syrup containing jujube fruits is available in glass jars,[9] and\ncanned jujube tea or jujube tea in the form of teabags is also available. Although not\nwidely available, jujube juice[10] and jujube vinegar[11] (called 枣醋 or 红枣醋 in Chinese) are\nalso produced; they are used for making pickles (কুলের আচার) in West Bengal and Bangladesh.\nIn China, a wine made from jujubes, called hong zao jiu (红枣酒) is also produced.[12] Jujubes\nare sometimes preserved by storing in a jar filled with baijiu (Chinese liquor), which\nallows them to be kept fresh for a long time, especially through the winter. Such jujubes\nare called jiu zao (酒枣; literally \"spirited jujube\"). These fruits, often stoned, are also\na significant ingredient in a wide variety of Chinese delicacies. In Korea, jujubes are\ncalled daechu (대추) and are used in teas and samgyetang. It is said to be helpful in aiding\nthe common cold.\nIn Lebanon, the fruit is eaten as snacks or alongside a dessert after a meal.\nIn Persian cuisine, the dried drupes are known as annab, while in neighboring Azerbaijan it\nis commonly eaten as a snack, and are known as innab. In Pakistan, the fruit is eaten both\nfresh and dried, and is known as ber (a generic term for berry).\nIn Tamil-speaking regions, the fruit is called ilanthai pazham (இலந்தை பழம்). In Kannada\nthis fruit is called \"Yelchi Hannu\" and in Telugu it is called \"Regi pandu\". Traditionally,\nthe fruits are dried in the sun and the hard nuts are removed. Then, it is pounded with\ntamarind, red chillies, salt, and jaggery. Small dishes are made from this dough and again\ndried in the sun, and are referred to as ilanthai vadai. In some parts of the Indian state\nof Tamil Nadu, fresh whole ripe fruit is crushed with the above ingredients and dried under\nthe sun to make delicious cakes called ilanthai vadai.[13]\n[edit] Other uses\nThe jujube's sweet smell is said to make teenagers fall in love, and as a result, in the\nHimalaya and Karakoram regions, men take a stem of sweet-smelling jujube flowers with them\nor put it on their hats to attract women.[citation needed]\nIn the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, the jujube was often placed in the newlyweds'\nbedroom as a good luck charm for fertility, along with peanuts, longan, and chestnuts,\npunning on an invocation to \"have an honored child soon\".\nIn Bhutan, the leaves are used as a potpourri to help keep the houses of the inhabitants\nsmelling fresh and clean. It is also said to keep bugs and other insects out of the house\nand free of infestation.\nIn Japan, the natsume has given its name to a style of tea caddy used in the Japanese tea\nceremony.\nIn Korea, the wood is used to make the body of the taepyeongso, a double-reed wind\ninstrument. The wood is also used to make Go bowls.\nIn Vietnam, the jujube fruit is eaten freshly picked from the tree as a snack. It is also\ndried and used in desserts, such as sâm bổ lượng, a cold beverage that includes the dried\njujube, longan, fresh seaweed, barley, and lotus seeds.\nA jujube honey is produced in the middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.\n[edit] Pests and diseases\nWitch's brooms, prevalent in China and Korea, is the main disease affecting jujubes, though\nplantings in North America currently are not affected by any pests or diseases.\n \nCommon Names: Raisin Tree, Japanese Raisin Tree, Kenpo Nashi\nDistant Affinity: Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), Indian Jujube (Z. mauritiana).\nOrigin: The raisin tree is native to moist areas and mountains of China, although\ncultivation spread long ago to Japan, Korea and India. The plant was introduced to the West\nin about 1820.\nAdaptation: The northern limits for winter survival and fruit ripening of the tree has not\nbeen fully determined. It is cold-hardy to about -10° F, and fruits ripen in eastern North\nAmerica at least as far north as southern New York. There is a 28-year old specimen in the\nAsian section of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and another specimen at nearby Huntington\nGardens. Raisin tree plants are not particularly suitable for container culture.\nDESCRIPTION\nGrowth Habit: The raisin tree is deciduous and can grow to a height of 70 feet or more, but\ncultivated specimens typically reach a height of about 30 feet with a singular trunk and a\nrounded head. The lower branches frequently drop off leaving a fairly high crotch. Growth\nrate is moderate, perhaps a foot or two per year, more when young and less when old. Raisin\ntrees are particularly handsome when planted in groups. The deeply fissured bark is\ncounterpointed by gently undulating branches and overlapping leaves\nFoliage: The cordate, glossy green leaves are borne alternately. They are a large (up to\nsix inches in length), rather limp leaf which must be spread out to see its shape.\nFlowers: Racemes of small self-fruitful flowers bloom in late spring. They are cream\ncolored and compensate for their small size by being clustered together in great masses.\nWhere summers are cool, bloom may be delayed even until the end of summer with the result\nthat fruit does not form or ripen.\nFruit: The edible \"raisins\" are not a fruit at all but a short, swollen mature flower stalk\nor peduncle which supports the inedible seed pod. As the pod matures, the peduncle of stem\nattaching it to the cluster swells, becomes knobby and turns a translucent reddish brown. A\npear-like flavor develops as the sugars increase, and the peduncle is ready to eat when it\nfalls to the ground. Although the edible portions are small, close to the size of a raisin,\nthe crop is copious. The brown pod which is actually the fruit is not used.\nCULTURE\nLocation: Although native to partially shaded sites, full sun helps hasten flowering and\nripening. When placed in a southwest corner, the tree provides summer shade and allows\nwinter sun to pass through the bare limbs.\nSoil: The raisin tree tolerates a wide range of soil conditions and thrives in sandy loam.\nIrrigation: Although somewhat tolerant of drought, raisin trees do best with a regular\nsupply of moisture.\nFertilization: Little is known about the fertilization needs of the tree, but a light to\nmoderate fertilizing in mid-spring is probably useful.\nPruning: The tree tends to prune itself, dropping the lower branches as the tree grows.\nPropagation: The seeds have an impermeable seed coat that severely inhibits germination.\nSeveral methods have been employed to get around the problem. The seed coat can be\nscarified by nicking it with a file, or soaking the seed in concentrated sulfuric acid for\ntwo hours. Wash the seed thoroughly with water following the acid soak. The seed can also\nbe soaked in hot tap water (approximately 140° F) for three consecutive days. Others have\nhad some luck with freezing the seed. After treatment, the seed are planted in potting\nsoil, covered with clear plastic wrap and placed in bright light. Seeds should germinate\nwithin a week to a month or more. Plants grown from seed usually bear fruit within 7 - 10\nyears, though bearing within 3 years is possible under good conditions\nThe plant can also be propagated by softwood cuttings taken in late summer, and by root\ncuttings. Little work has been done in the area of grafting.\nPests and diseases: Raisin trees are apparently free of any significant pests and diseases.\nDeer will probably browse the foliage, but the roots do not seem to be attractive to\ngophers.\nHarvest: Raisin tree peduncles do not become tasty until very late in the season. They are\nexcellent to eat out of hand or may be used in anything where raisins are normally used.\nThe bonus with raisin tree \"raisins\" is that they don't have to be dried. They are chopped\nand added to fruitcake in Australia, and in China they are made into a beverage called\n\"tree honey\" that is said to neutralize hangovers.\n \nCommon Names: Hardy Kiwi, Bower Vine, Dessert Kiwi, Cocktail Kiwi, Tara Vine, Yang-tao.\nRelated Species: Chinese Egg Gooseberry (Actinidia coriacea), Kiwifruit (A. deliciosa),\nSuper-hardy Kiwi (A. kolomikta), Red Kiwi (A. melanandra), Silver Vine (A. polygama),\nPurple Kiwi (A. purpurea).\nOrigin: The hardy kiwi is native to northern China, Korea, Siberia and possibly Japan.\nAdaptation: The plants need a long growing season (about 150 frost-free days) which will\nnot be hampered by late winter or early autumn freezes. When fully dormant, they can\nwithstand temperatures to about -25° F (and perhaps a bit lower.) However they must\nacclimate to cold slowly and any sudden plunge in temperature may cause trunk splitting and\nsubsequent damage to the vine. All cultivars need a certain period of winter chilling and\ntheir needs vary, dependent upon cultivar, however, the exact amounts needed has not yet\nbeen established. To date, all cultivars that have been grown in both high chill and low\nchill areas have produced equally well. Late winter freezing temperatures will kill any\nexposed buds. The plants can be successfully grown in large containers.\nDESCRIPTION\nGrowth Habit: In the forests where it is native, it is a climbing vine (liana), sometimes\nclimbing one hundred feet high into trees. In cultivation it is more well-behaved but must\nbe supported by a trellising system. The plant has a more delicate appearance than regular\nkiwifruit.\nFoliage: Leaves are elongated and generally 2 to 5 inches long and attached to the stem on\nred petioles. They are usually serrated and far less leathery and fuzzy than regular\nkiwifruit.\nFlowers: The flowers are about one-half inch in diameter, white to cream colored, somewhat\nfragrant, and produced as singlets to triplets in the leaf axiles. Flowering period extends\nover several weeks from early May to June, depending on climatic conditions. Plants are\ndioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants, thus needing plants of both\nsexes to produce crops. However, self-fruiting females are known to exist.\nFruit: The fruit are generally green, fuzzless, and the size of grapes. Cut open, they look\nmuch like regular kiwifruit with its small black seeds, emerald green color, and typical\nrayed pattern. Although typically green in both the skin and flesh, some cultivars have\nvarious amount of red, either in the skin, flesh or both. Hardy kiwifruits are generally\nsweeter than regular kiwifruit. Sugar levels vary, ranging from 14% (as with kiwifruit) up\nto 29%.\nAdditional differences between cultivars can include perceived aroma of the fruit as well\nas bitterness of the skin. Commercial cultivation has begun for this crop in many regions\nof the United States due to the plants ability to grow in harsher climates than the\nkiwifruit.\nLocation: The vines will tolerate some shade but prefer a sunny location where they can\nramble across some type of trellising system. They should have some protection from strong\nwinds\nSite Preparation: Hardy kiwi plants need a substantial trellis, patio cover, or other\npermanent place to grow upon. For the trellis system, either a single wire or T-bar system\ncan be installed. Both have a 4 inch by 4 inch redwood post of 8 feet. For the T-bar, a 2\ninch by 6 inch crossarm about 4 feet long is bolted in place. Bury the post 2 feet into the\nground and cement in if at all possible. At each end of the system, a cemented deadman\nshould be in place. Run wires across the posts and anchor tautly to the deadman. When using\na patio cover, no extra trellising needs to be in place. Simply run the plant up a corner\npost to the top and allow the plant to then form a spoke work of shoots which would\nresemble an umbrella.\nSoils: Hardy kiwi prefer well-drained, somewhat acid (pH 5 - 6.5) soils. Neutral soils are\nacceptable but the leaves may show nitrogen deficiency when the soils become too basic. The\nplants will not tolerate salty soils.\nIrrigation: Hardy kiwi plants need large volumes of water during the entire growing season\nbut must also be in well-drained soils. Watering regularly in the heat of the summer is a\nmust. Never allow a plant to undergo drought stress. Symptoms of drought stress are\ndrooping leaves, browning of the leaves around the edges, and complete defoliation with\nregrowth of new shoots when the stress is continuous. More plants probably die from water\nrelated problems than any other reason.\nFertilization: Based on work done on the regular kiwifruit, hardy kiwi plants are heavy\nnitrogen feeders which should be applied in abundance during the first half of the growing\nseason. Late season applications of nitrogen will enhance fruit size but are discouraged as\nfruit then tends to store poorly. In basic soils, a citrus and avocado tree fertilizer\nshould be broadcast about the vine and watered in well in early March. Follow up the\ninitial fertilizing by supplemental additions to early summer. In other areas, use a high\nnitrogen fertilizer which contains trace elements unless it is known that the particular\nsoil is deficient in another nutrient. Mulching with manures and/or straws is very\nbeneficial. However, do not put the mulch directly in contact with the vine as crown rot\nwill occur.\nPruning: For best fruit production, pruning in the winter is a must. All pruning techniques\nare usually based on a \"cane replacement\" and differ only based on the trellising method\nused. Kiwi vines need to be supported and this is usually done in one of three ways: single\nwire, 3-5 wire on a T-bar system, or onto a patio cover. In all cases, one stem is trained\nup to a wire at six feet and then allowed to grow along the wire. When growth ends in a\n\"pig-tailing\" of the shoot, it is cut behind the entanglement and new a shoot allowed to\ngrow from a leaf base. After two years multiple shoots will now emerge from the lateral\nmainline. During the growing season, each lateral cane will send out a new shoot about 1/3\nof the way from its own starting point. The next winter, prune off the older cane at the\npoint that it connects with last summers new shoot. This process repeats itself every year.\nPropagation: In areas where the regular kiwifruit will grow, scions of the hardy kiwi may\nbe grafted directly onto kiwifruit rootstock. Otherwise, one must either root their own\nfrom hardwood or greenwood cuttings or buy established plants.\nPests and diseases: Plants are relatively free from problems, possibly due to their lack of\nheavy planting into areas so that pests begin to take a liking to the leaves, trunk, or\nroots. One odd problem is the fact that the trunks have a catnip-like aroma which cats love\nto rub against. When plants are small, this can be a problem as they can rub off any new\nshoots which emerge in the spring. Garden snails can also be a problem on younger\nplantings. Other pests include deer that browse on the leaves and gophers that attack the\nroots. Scale insects can damage if populations build up too extensively. Greenhouse thrips\nmay also damage the fruit.\nHarvest: Ripening depends both on the cultivar grown and local climatic conditions. The\nCordifolia cultivar ripens first in early September while the Anna (Ananasnaja) may need to\nwait until late October/early November before it sweetens to its best. Hardy kiwifruits\ndrop or come off easily when they are ripe. Usually they are picked at the mature-ripe\nstage and allowed to ripen off of the vine as is done with kiwifruit.\nCULTIVARS\nFemales\nMany cultivars are known although no real attempt has been yet made to determine the best\nfor specific climates or regions. The following is a partial listing of cultivars:\n * Ananasnaja (Anna)\n * Seedling selections by Professor Meader\n * 74 Series\nMales\nVarious males are known but no extensive work has been done to determine pollen count or\nviability, flowering times, or vigorousness. If available, pollen from the regular\nkiwifruit works well but the seed resulting is usually sterile.\n \nPAWPAW\nPawpaw (Asimina) is a genus of small clustered trees with large leaves and fruit, native to\nNorth America. The genus includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent.\nThey are understory trees found in well drained deep fertile bottom land and hilly upland\nhabitat. Pawpaw is in the same family (Annonaceae) as the custard-apple, cherimoya,\nsweetsop, ylang-ylang and soursop, and it is the only member of that family not confined to\nthe tropics.\nThe name, also spelled paw paw, paw-paw, and papaw, probably derives from the Spanish\npapaya, perhaps because of the superficial similarity of their fruit. Pawpaw has numerous\nother common names, often very local, such as prairie banana, Indiana (Hoosier) banana,\nWest Virginia banana, Kansas banana, Kentucky banana, Michigan banana, Missouri Banana, the\npoor man's banana, Ozark banana, and Banango.\n[edit] Description\nPawpaws are shrubs or small trees, reaching heights of 2–12 m tall. The northern,\ncold-tolerant common pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is deciduous, while the southern species are\noften evergreen.\nThe leaves are alternate, obovate, entire, 20–35 cm long and 10–15 cm broad.\nThe fetid flowers are produced singly or in clusters of up to eight together; they are\nlarge, 4–6 cm across, perfect, with six sepals and petals (three large outer petals, three\nsmaller inner petals). The petal color varies from white to purple or red-brown.\nThe fruit is a large edible berry, 5–16 cm long and 3–7 cm broad, weighing from 20–500 g,\nwith numerous seeds; it is green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown. It has a flavor\nsomewhat similar to both banana and mango, varying significantly by cultivar, and has more\nprotein than most fruits.\nThe shelf life of the ripe fruit is almost non-existent; it ripens to the point of\nfermentation soon after it is picked. Methods of preservation include dehydration, making\nit into jams or jellies, or pressure canning by using the numerical values for bananas. In\nsouthern West Virginia pawpaws are made into a native version of banana nut cake or fruit\ncake, and baked inside canning jars, the lids heat-sealed to keep the food for at least a\nyear.\n * Bark: Light gray, sometimes blotched with lighter gray spots, sometimes covered with\nsmall excrescences, divided by shallow fissures. Inner bark tough, fibrous. Branchlets\nlight brown, tinged with red, marked by shallow grooves.\n * Wood: Pale, greenish yellow, sapwood lighter; light, soft, coarse-grained and spongy.\nSp. gr., 0.3969; weight of cu ft 24.74 lb.\n * Winter buds: Small, brown, acuminate, hairy.\n * Leaves: Alternate, simple, feather-veined, obovate-lanceolate, ten to twelve inches\nlong, four to five broad, wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute at apex; midrib and primary\nveins prominent. They come out of the bud conduplicate, green, covered with rusty tomentum\nbeneath, hairy above; when full grown are smooth, dark green above, paler beneath. When\ncrushed they have a scent similar to a green bell pepper. In autumn they are a rusty\nyellow, which make spotting pawpaw groves possible from a long distance. Petioles short and\nstout with a prominent adaxial groove. Stipules wanting.\n * Flowers: April, with the leaves. Perfect, solitary, axillary, rich red purple, two\ninches across, borne on stout, hairy peduncles. Ill smelling. The triloba refers to the\nshape of the flower, which is not unlike a tricorner hat.\n * Calyx: Sepals three, valvate in bud, ovate, acuminate, pale green, downy.\n * Corolla: Petals six, in two rows, imbricate in the bud. Inner row acute, erect,\nnectariferous. Outer row broadly ovate, reflexed at maturity. Petals at first are green,\nthen brown, and finally become dull purple and conspicuously veiny.\n * Stamens: Indefinite, densely packed on the globular receptacle. Filaments short;\nanthers extrorse, two-celled, opening longitudinally.\n * Pistils: Several, on the summit of the receptacle, projecting from the mass of\nstamens. Ovary one-celled; stigma sessile; ovules many.\n * Fruit: September, October.[1]\nA red-purple, green, and white flower\nAsimina reticulata\n * Asimina angustifolia Raf. - Slimleaf Pawpaw. Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.\n * Asimina incana (W. Bartram) Exell - Woolly Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\n o Annona incana W. Bartram[2]\n * Asimina obovata (Willd.) Nash - Bigflower Pawpaw. Florida.\n o Annona obovata Willd.[3]\n * Asimina parviflora (Michx.) Dunal - Smallflower Pawpaw. Southern states from Texas to\nVirginia.\n * Asimina pygmea (W. Bartram) Dunal - Dwarf Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\n * Asimina reticulata Shuttlw. ex Chapman - Netted Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\n * Asimina tetramera Small - Fourpetal Pawpaw. Florida (Endangered)\n * Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal - Common Pawpaw. Extreme southern Ontario, Canada, and the\neastern United States from New York west to southeast Nebraska, and south to northern\nFlorida and eastern Texas.\n o Annona triloba L.[4]\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nAsimina triloba is often called prairie banana because of its banana-like creamy texture\nand flavor.\nThe pawpaw is native to shady, rich bottom lands, where it often forms a dense undergrowth\nin the forest. Where it dominates a tract it appears as a thicket of small slender trees,\nwhose great leaves are borne so close together at the ends of the branches, and which cover\neach other so symmetrically, that the effect is to give a peculiar imbricated appearance to\nthe tree.[1]\nAlthough it is a delicious and nutritious fruit[citation needed], it has never been\ncultivated on the scale of apples and peaches, primarily because only frozen fruit will\nstore or ship well. It is also difficult to transplant because of fragile hairy root\ntentacles that tend to break off unless a cluster of moist soil is retained on the root\nmass. Cultivars are propagated by chip budding or whip grafting.\nIn recent years the pawpaw has attracted renewed interest, particularly among organic\ngrowers, as a native fruit which has few to no pests, and which therefore requires no\npesticide use for cultivation. The shipping and storage problem has largely been addressed\nby freezing. Among backyard gardeners it also is gaining in popularity because of the\nappeal of fresh fruit and because it is relatively low maintenance once planted. The pulp\nis used primarily in baked dessert recipes and for juicing fresh pawpaw drink or drink\nmixtures (pawpaw, pineapple, banana, lime, lemon and orange tea mix). The pulp can also be\nmade into a country wine. In many recipes calling for bananas, pawpaw can be used with\nvolumetric equivalency.\nThe commercial growing and harvesting of pawpaws is strong in southeast Ohio. The Ohio\nPawpaw Growers' Association annually sponsors the Ohio Pawpaw Festival at Lake Snowden near\nAlbany, Ohio.\nPawpaw flowers are insect-pollinated, but fruit production is limited since few if any\npollinators are attracted to the flower's faint, or sometimes non-existent scent. Those\ninsects that are attracted are often scavenging fruit flies, carrion flies and beetles.\nBecause of difficult pollination, some[who?] may believe the flowers are self-incompatible.\nCross pollination of at least two different varieties of the plant is recommended. The\nflowers produce an odor similar to that of rotting meat to attract blowflies or carrion\nbeetles for cross pollination.[citation needed] Lack of pollination is the most common\ncause of poor fruiting, and growers resort to hand pollination, spraying fish emulsion, or\nto hanging chicken necks or other meat to attract pollinators. Several species of Asimina\nare larval hosts for the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly.\nThe leaves, twigs, and bark of the tree also contain natural insecticides known as\nacetogenins, which can be used to make an organic pesticide.[5] Pawpaw fruit may be eaten\nby foxes, opossums, squirrels and raccoons. However, pawpaw leaves and twigs are seldom\nbothered by rabbits or deer.[6]\nThis colonial tree has a strong tendency to form colonial thickets if left unchecked. It is\nideal for creating a swift-growing habitat particularly in areas where frequent flooding\ncan threaten erosion. The root systems are capable of holding streambanks steady, and grow\nwell even in cold hollows with little exposure to winter sunlight.[citation needed]\n[edit] History\nThe earliest documentation of pawpaws is in the 1541 report of the de Soto expedition, who\nfound Native Americans cultivating it east of the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark\nExpedition sometimes subsisted on pawpaws during their travels. Chilled pawpaw fruit was a\nfavorite dessert of George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson planted it at Monticello. The\nOhio Pawpaw Growers' Association lobbied for the pawpaw to be the Ohio state native fruit\nin 2006; this was made official in 2009.[\n \nCudrania tricuspidata Bur. ex Lavallee\nMoraceae\nCommon Names: Che, Chinese Che, Chinese Mulberry, Cudrang, Mandarin Melon Berry, Silkworm\nThorn.\nDistant Affinity: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), Jackfruit (A. heterophyllus), Fig (Ficus\nspp.), Mulberry (Morus spp.), African Breadfruit (Treculis africana).\nOrigin: The che is native to many parts of eastern Asia from the Shantung and Kiangson\nProvinces of China to the Nepalese sub-Himalayas. It became naturalized in Japan many years\nago. In China, the leaves of the che serve as a backup food for silkworms when mulberry\nleaves are in short supply. The tree was introduced into England and other parts of Europe\naround 1872, and into the U.S. around 1930.\nAdaptation: The che requires minimal care and has a tolerance of drought and poor soils\nsimilar to that of the related mulberry. It can be grown in most parts of California and\nother parts of the country, withstanding temperatures of -20° F.\nDESCRIPTION\nGrowth Habit: The deciduous trees can eventually grow to about 25 ft. in height, but often\nremains a broad, spreading bush or small tree if not otherwise trained when they are young.\nImmature wood is thorny but loses its thorns as it matures. Female trees are larger and\nmore robust than male trees.\nFoliage: The alternate leaves resemble those of the mulberry, but are smaller and thinner\nand pale yellowish-green in color. The typical form is distinctly trilobate, with the\ncentral lobe sometimes twice as long as the lateral ones, but frequently unlobed leaves of\nvaried outlines are also found on the same plant. As the plant grows, the tendency seems\ntowards larger and entire leaves, with at the most indistinct or irregular lobing. The\ngeneral form of the leaves comprise many variations between oblong and lanceolate. The che\nleafs and blooms late in spring--after apples.\nFlowers: The che is dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants. Appearing\nin June, both types of flowers are green and pea-sized. The male flowers turn yellow as the\npollen ripens and is released, while the wind-pollinated female flowers develop many small\nstigmas over the surface of the immature fruit. Male plants occasionally have a few female\nflowers which will set fruit.\nFruit: Like the related mulberry, the che fruit is not a berry but a collective fruit, in\nappearance somewhat like a round mulberry crossed with a lychee, 1 to 2 inches in diameter.\nThe ripe fruits are an attractive red or maroon-red color with a juicy, rich red flesh\ninside and 3 to 6 small brown seeds per fruit. The flavor is quite unlike the vinous\nquality of better mulberries. While still firm they are almost tasteless, but when fully\nsoft ripe they develop a watermelon-like flavor that can be quite delicious. The sugar\ncontent is similar to that of a ripe fig. In colder areas with early leaf drop the bright\nred fruit are an attractive sight dangling from smooth, leafless branches.\nCULTURE\nLocation: Ches need a warm, sunny location. They should not be planted near sidewalks since\nthe fallen fruit will stain. Like the mulberry, the trees are quite wind-resistant. One\nmethod of planting is to put a male and a female plant in a single site, about 1 ft. apart,\nand prune to a combined volume of approximately 25% male and 75% female.\nSoil: The trees are relatively undemanding, but perform best in a warm, well-drained soil,\nideally a deep loam.\nIrrigation: Although somewhat drought-resistant, ches need to be watered in dry seasons. In\nsummer dry California a deep watering about every two weeks is recommended. If the roots\nbecome too dry during drought, the plant may began to defoliate and the unripe fruit is\nlikely to drop.\nFertilization: An annual application of a balanced fertilizer such as 10:10:10 NPK in late\nspring will maintain satisfactory growth. Nitrogen is the only element likely to be needed\nin California.\nPruning: The trees need regular pruning to control their shape. The branches formed the\nprevious season should be pruned to half their length. The branchlets on the remaining part\nof the branches should also be trimmed about 50%. A summer pruning of the male plant is\nalso necessary when planted in a single site with the female. To grow as a tree, in\naddition to pruning the lateral branches, the leading branch may also need to be staked to\npoint it in a vertical direction. Trees grafted onto Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)\nrootstock tend to be more robust and grow in a more upright fashion.\nPropagation: The che is readily grown from seed, although the plants can take up to 10\nyears to bear. Seeds should be sown as soon as extracted from the fruit. The plants are\noften propagated from softwood cuttings taken in midsummer and treated with rooting\nhormone. The che is also easily grafted to Osage orange rootstock using either a cleft or\nwhip-and-tongue graft.\nPests and Diseases: No pests or diseases have been noted. The ripe fruit is attractive to\nbirds, and deer will browse on both the fruit and foliage.\nHarvest: Ches begin to bear at an early age and mature trees can produce as much as 400\npounds of fruit. The fruits ripen around November in California. Unlike mulberries, the\nripe fruits do not separate easily from the tree and must be individually picked. It is\nimportant that the fruits be thoroughly ripe to be at their best. A darker shade of red\nwith some blackening of the skin is a good indication of full ripeness. The fruit will keep\nfor several days in a refrigerator in a covered dish. The fruits can be eaten out of hand\nor cooked in various ways. Cooking with other fruits that can contribute some tartness\nimproves the taste. Mixing the ripe fruit in a blender and straining out the seeds yields a\nbeautiful and delicious che \"nectar\".\nCommercial Potential: In China and other parts of East Asia the fruit is sometimes found in\nlocal markets, but is relatively unknown commercially elsewhere. The attractive color and\nreasonable shelf life of the che seem to indicate that with a little effort, there could be\na niche for it in farmer's markets and specialty stores. There also appears to be some\ndemand for the fruit in Asian markets. Better selection should further increase the\nmarketing potential of the che. A seedless fruit or one with with a bit of tartness would\nbe a great improvement, as would earlier ripening cultivars that separate readily from the\nbranches.\nGOUMI (Eleagnus multiflora) This fast-growing shrub has many excellent qualities aside from\nits small red fruit called goumi berries. Light, lilac-scented flowers appear in April or\nMay, developing into small fruit that can be eaten raw or cooked. The fruit is astringent\nuntil ripe, but can be made into pies and jams if picked a little early. Goumi berries are\na rich source of vitamins A, C amd E and are under investigation as anti-cancer agents. The\ndeciduous bush can grow in almost any well-drained soil (including by the seaside) and\ntolerates drought and pollution. Fixes nitrogen and can increase fruit yields when\ninterplanted in your orchard. Self fertile. Zones 7-9\nSWEET SCARLET GOUMI (Eleagnus multiflora) Wouldn't you love to have a smallish (4-6ft.)\nshrub that is self-fertile and produces fragrant creamy white flowers in May followed by\ntasty (and nutritious) little red berries the size of small pie cherries? Goumi fruit is\ndelicious fresh, dried, or in a pie or jam. Scarlet Sweet is a Ukrainian variety. This easy\nlittle shrub adapts well to any well-drained site in at least a half-day of sun, and it's\nnot bothered by pests or diseases. In addition, it's actually a nitrogen-fixing plant,\nmeaning it requires little fertilizer and makes a beneficial companion to other nearby\nfruiting plants. Bees love the flowers too! Goumi is also highly valued as a medicinal\nplant for many purposes. Begins bearing young, at 2-3 years. Zones 4-7.\n \n Wolfberry, commercially called goji berry,\nis the common name for the fruit of two very closely related species: Lycium barbarum\n(Chinese: 寧夏枸杞; pinyin: Níngxià gǒuqǐ) and L. chinense (Chinese: 枸杞; pinyin: gǒuqǐ), two\nspecies of boxthorn in the family Solanaceae (which also includes the potato, tomato,\neggplant, deadly nightshade, chili pepper, and tobacco). It is native to southeastern\nEurope and Asia.[1]\nIt is also known as Chinese wolfberry, mede berry, barbary matrimony vine, bocksdorn, Duke\nof Argyll's tea tree, Murali (in India),[2] red medlar, or matrimony vine.[3] Unrelated to\nthe plant's geographic origin, the names Tibetan goji and Himalayan goji are in common use\nin the health food market for products from this plant.\nContents\n This section does not cite any references or sources.\nPlease help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced\nmaterial may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)\nLycium barbarum illustration from Flora von Deutschland, by Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé,\nÖsterreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany.\nWolfberry species are deciduous woody perennial plants, growing 1–3 m high. L. chinense is\ngrown in the south of China and tends to be somewhat shorter, while L. barbarum is grown in\nthe north, primarily in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and tends to be somewhat taller.\n[edit] Leaves and flower\nWolfberry leaves and flower\nWolfberry leaves form on the shoot either in an alternating arrangement or in bundles of up\nto three, each having a shape that is either lanceolate (shaped like a spearhead longer\nthan it is wide) or ovate (egg-like). Leaf dimensions are 7-cm wide by 3.5-cm broad with\nblunted or round tips.\nThe flowers grow in groups of one to three in the leaf axils. The calyx (eventually\nruptured by the growing berry) consists of bell-shaped or tubular sepals forming short,\ntriangular lobes. The corolla are lavender or light purple, 9–14 mm wide with five or six\nlobes shorter than the tube. The stamens are structured with filaments longer than the\nanthers. The anthers are longitudinally dehiscent.\nIn the northern hemisphere, flowering occurs from June through September and berry\nmaturation from August to October, depending on the latitude, altitude, and climate.\n[edit] Fruit\nThese species produce a bright orange-red, ellipsoid berry 1–2-cm deep. The number of seeds\nin each berry varies widely based on cultivar and fruit size, containing anywhere between\n10–60 tiny yellow seeds that are compressed with a curved embryo. The berries ripen from\nJuly to October in the northern hemisphere.\n[edit] Etymology\n\"Wolfberry\" is the most commonly used English name[citation needed], while gǒuqǐ (枸杞) is\nthe Chinese name for the berry producing plant. In Chinese, the berries themselves are\ncalled gǒuqǐzi (枸杞子), with zi meaning \"seed\" or specifically \"berry\". Other common names\nare \"the Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree\"[3] and \"matrimony vine\".[3] Rarely, wolfberry is also\nknown in pharmacological references as Lycii fructus, meaning \"Lycium fruit\" in Latin.\nThe origin of the common name \"wolfberry\" is unknown, perhaps resulting from confusion over\nthe genus name, which resembles \"lycos\", the Greek word for wolf. In the English-speaking\nworld, \"goji berry\" has been used since the early 21st century as a synonym for\n\"wolfberry\". The word \"goji\" is pronunciation of gǒuqǐ in Taiwanese Hokkien, the Mandarin\nname of the plant, developed by those marketing wolfberry products in the West.\nLycium, the genus name, is derived from the ancient southern Anatolian region of Lycia\n(Λυκία).[4] L. chinense was first described by the Scottish botanist Philip Miller in the\neighth edition of his The Gardener's Dictionary, published in 1768.\nIn Japan the plant is known as kuko (クコ) and the fruits are called kuko no mi (クコ の 実) or\nkuko no kajitsu (クコ の 果 実); in Korea the berries are known as gugija (hangul: 구기자; hanja: 枸\n杞子)[13]; in Vietnam the fruit is called \"kỷ tử\" (杞子), \"cẩu kỷ\" (枸杞), \"cẩu kỷ tử\"(枸杞子) but\nthe plant and its leaves are known more popularly as \"củ khởi\"; and in Thailand the plant\nis called găo gèe (เก๋ากี้). In Tibetan the plant is called dretsherma\n(Tibetwolfberryspelling.png), with dre meaning \"ghost\" and tsherma meaning \"thorn\"; and the\nname of the fruit is dretshermǟ dräwu (Wolfberrytibetanname.png), with dräwu meaning\n\"fruit\".[citation needed]\nSince the early 21st century in the United States and other such developed countries, there\nhas been rapidly growing attention for wolfberries for their nutrient value and antioxidant\ncontent, leading to a profusion of consumer products. Such rapid commercial development\nextends from wolfberry having a high ranking among superfruits[5] expected to be part of a\nmulti-billion dollar market by 2011.[6][7]\n[edit] Cultivation\nThe majority of commercially produced wolfberries come from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous\nRegion of north-central China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China,\nwhere they are grown on plantations. In Zhongning County, Ningxia, wolfberry plantations\ntypically range between 100 and 1000 acres (or 500–6000 mu) in area. As of 2005, over 10\nmillion mu have been planted with wolfberries in Ningxia.[8]\nCultivated along the fertile aggradational floodplains of the Yellow River for more than\n600 years, Ningxia wolfberries have earned a reputation throughout Asia for premium quality\nsometimes described commercially as \"red diamonds\".[9] Government releases of annual\nwolfberry production, premium fruit grades, and export are based on yields from Ningxia,\nthe region recognized with\n * The largest annual harvest in China, accounting for 42% (13 million kg, 2001) of the\nnation's total yield of wolfberries, estimated at approximately 33 million kg (72 million\nlb) in 2001.\n * Formation of an industrial association of growers, processors, marketers, and\nscholars of wolfberry cultivation to promote the berry's commercial and export potential.\n * The nation's only source of therapeutic grade (\"superior-grade\") wolfberries used by\npractitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.[10]\nIn addition, commercial volumes of wolfberries grow in the Chinese regions of Inner\nMongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei. When ripe, the oblong, red berries\nare tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the vine into trays to avoid\nspoiling. The fruits are preserved by drying them in full sun on open trays or by\nmechanical dehydration employing a progressively increasing series of heat exposure over 48\nhours.\nWolfberries are celebrated each August in Ningxia with an annual festival coinciding with\nthe berry harvest.[8] Originally held in Ningxia's capital, Yinchuan, the festival has been\nbased since 2000 in Zhongning County, an important center of wolfberry cultivation for the\nregion.[8] As Ningxia's borders merge with three deserts, wolfberries are also planted to\ncontrol erosion and reclaim irrigable soils from desertification.[11]\nChina, the main supplier of wolfberry products in the world, had total exports generating\nUS$120 million in 2004. This production derived from 82,000 hectares farmed nationwide,\nyielding 95,000 tons of wolfberries.[9]\n[edit] Pesticide and fungicide use\nOrganochlorine pesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation to\nmitigate destruction of the delicate berries by insects. Since the early 21st century, high\nlevels of insecticide residues (including fenvalerate, cypermethrin, and acetamiprid) and\nfungicide residues (such as triadimenol and isoprothiolane), have been detected by the\nUnited States Food and Drug Administration in some imported wolfberries and wolfberry\nproducts of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[12][13]\nChina's Green Food Standard, administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's China\nGreen Food Development Center, does permit some amount of pesticide and herbicide\nuse.[14][15][16] Agriculture in the Tibetan plateau (where many \"Himalayan\" or\n\"Tibetan\"-branded berries originate) conventionally uses fertilizers and pesticides, making\norganic claims for berries originating here dubious.[17]\n[edit] United Kingdom\nThe Duke of Argyll introduced the plant into the United Kingdom in the 1730s where it is\nknown as Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree. It was and still is used for hedging, especially in\ncoastal districts. Its red berries are attractive to a wide variety of British birds.[18]\nThe plant continues to grow wild in UK hedgerows. On 15 January 2003, the Department for\nEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a project to improve the regulations\nprotecting traditional countryside hedgerows, and specifically mentioned Duke of Argyll's\nTea Tree as one of the species to be found growing in hedges located in Suffolk Sandlings,\nHadleigh, Bawdsey, near Ipswich, and Walberswick.[19]\nThe wolfberry has been naturalized as an ornamental and edible plant in the UK for nearly\n300 years. On June 18, 2007, the FSA (UK Food Standards Agency) stated that there was a\nsignificant history of the fruit being consumed in Europe before 1997, and has removed it\nfrom the Novel Foods list.[20] It is now legal to sell the wolfberry in the UK as a food as\nreported by the British Food Standards Agency.[21](also see discussion below, Marketing\nclaims under scrutiny in Europe).\n[edit] Importation of mature plants\nImportation of wolfberry plants into the United Kingdom from most countries outside Europe\nis illegal, due to the possibility that as an introduced species they could be vectors of\ndiseases attacking Solanaceae crops, such as potato or tomato.[22]\n[edit] Uses\nDried wolfberries\nWolfberries are almost never found in their fresh form outside of their production regions,\nand are usually sold in open boxes and small packages in dried form. The amount of\ndesiccation varies in wolfberries: some are soft and somewhat tacky in the manner of\nraisins, while others may be very hard.\n[edit] Culinary\nAs a food, dried wolfberries are traditionally cooked before consumption. Dried wolfberries\nare often added to rice congee and almond jelly, as well as used in Chinese tonic soups, in\ncombination with chicken or pork, vegetables, and other herbs such as wild yam, Astragalus\nmembranaceus, Codonopsis pilosula, and licorice root. The berries are also boiled as an\nherbal tea, often along with chrysanthemum flowers and/or red jujubes, or with tea,\nparticularly pu-erh tea,[citation needed] and packaged teas are also available.\nVarious wines containing wolfberries (called gǒuqǐ jiǔ; 枸杞酒) are also produced,[23][24]\nincluding some that are a blend of grape wine and wolfberries.\nAt least one Chinese company also produces wolfberry beer, and New Belgium Brewery makes\ntheir seasonal Springboard ale with wolfberries used as flavoring. Since the early 21st\ncentury, an instant coffee product containing wolfberry extract has been produced in China.\nYoung wolfberry shoots and leaves are also grown commercially as a leaf\nvegetable.photorecipe\nMarketing literature for wolfberry products including several \"goji juices\" suggest that\nwolfberry polysaccharides have extensive biological effects and health benefits, although\nnone of these claims have been supported by peer-reviewed research.\nA May 2008 clinical study published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and\nComplementary Medicine indicated that parametric data, including body weight, did not show\nsignificant differences between subjects receiving Lycium barbarum berry juice and subjects\nreceiving the placebo; the study concluded that subjective measures of health were improved\nand suggested further research in humans was necessary.[25] This study, however, was\nsubject to a variety of criticisms concerning its experimental design and\ninterpretations.[26]\nPublished studies have also reported possible medicinal benefits of Lycium barbarum,\nespecially due to its antioxidant properties,[27] including potential benefits against\ncardiovascular and inflammatory diseases,[28][29] vision-related diseases[30] (such as\nage-related macular degeneration and glaucoma[31]), having neuroprotective properties[32]\nor as an anticancer[33] and immunomodulatory agent.[34]\nWolfberry leaves may be used to make tea,[35] together with Lycium root bark (called\ndìgǔpí; 地 骨 皮 in Chinese), for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A glucopyranoside\n(namely (+)-Lyoniresinol-3α-O-β-d-glucopyranoside) and phenolic amides\n(dihydro-N-caffeoyltyramine, trans-N-feruloyloctopamine, trans-N-caffeoyltyramine and\ncis-N-caffeoyltyramine) isolated from wolfberry root bark have inhibitory activity in vitro\nagainst human pathogenic bacteria and fungi.[36][37]\n[edit] Safety issues\nTwo published case reports described elderly women who experienced increased bleeding,\nexpressed as an elevated INR, after drinking quantities of wolfberry tea.[38][39] Further\nin vitro testing revealed that the tea inhibited warfarin metabolism, providing evidence\nfor possible interaction between warfarin and undefined wolfberry phytochemicals.[38]\nAtropine, a toxic alkaloid found in other members of the Solanaceae family, occurs\nnaturally in wolfberry fruit. The atropine concentrations of berries from China and\nThailand are variable, with a maximum content of 19 ppb, below the likely toxic amount.[40]\n[edit] Nutrient content\nWolfberry contains significant percentages of a day's macronutrient needs – carbohydrates,\nprotein, fat and dietary fiber. About 68% of the mass of dried wolfberries exists as\ncarbohydrate, 12% as protein, and 10% each as fiber and fat, giving a total caloric value\nin a 100 gram serving of 370 (kilo)calories.\n[edit] Micronutrients and phytochemicals\nWolfberries contain many nutrients and phytochemicals including\n * 11 essential and 22 trace dietary minerals\n * 18 amino acids\n * 8 polysaccharides and 6 monosaccharides\n * 5 unsaturated fatty acids, including the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and\nalpha-linolenic acid\n * 5 carotenoids, including beta-carotene and zeaxanthin (below), lutein, lycopene and\ncryptoxanthin, a xanthophyll\n * numerous phenolic pigments (phenols) associated with antioxidant properties\nSelect examples given below are for 100 grams of dried berries.\n * Calcium. Wolfberries contain 112 mg per 100 gram serving, providing about 8-10% of\nthe Dietary Reference Intake (DRI).\n * Potassium. Wolfberries contain 1,132 mg per 100 grams dried fruit, giving about 24%\nof the DRI.\n * Iron. Wolfberries have 9 mg iron per 100 grams (100% DRI).\n * Zinc. 2 mg per 100 grams dried fruit (18% DRI).\n * Selenium. 100 grams of dried wolfberries contain 50 micrograms (91% DRI)\n * Riboflavin (vitamin B2). At 1.3 mg, 100 grams of dried wolfberries provide 100% of\nDRI.\n * Vitamin C. Vitamin C content in dried wolfberries has a wide range (from different\nsources[citation needed]) from 29 mg per 100 grams to as high as 148 mg per 100 grams\n(respectively, 32% and 163% DRI).\nWolfberries also contain numerous phytochemicals for which there are no established DRI\nvalues. Examples:\n * Beta-carotene: 7 mg per 100 grams dried fruit.\n * Zeaxanthin. Reported values for zeaxanthin content in dried wolfberries vary\nconsiderably, from 2.4 mg per 100 grams [41] to 82.4 mg per 100 grams [42] to 200 mg per\n100 grams.[43] The higher values would make wolfberry one of the richest edible plant\nsources known for zeaxanthin content.[44] Up to 77% of total carotenoids present in\nwolfberry exist as zeaxanthin.[45]\n * Polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are a major constituent of wolfberries, representing\nup to 31% of pulp weight.\n[edit] Wolfberry polysaccharides\nOne study[46] published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that:\n * Endogenous lipid peroxidation, and decreased antioxidant activities, as assessed by\nsuperoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total\nantioxidant capacity (TAOC), and immune function were observed in aged mice and restored to\nnormal levels in Lycium polysaccharide-treated groups. Antioxidant activities of Lycium\nbarbarum polysaccharides were found to be comparable with normal antioxidant, vitamin C.\nFurthemore, adding vitamin C to the polysaccharide treatment further increased in vivo\nantioxidant activity of the polysaccharides.","Spirits Glossary - Big Red Liquors\nSpirits Glossary; Store Locator; ... Originally referring to wine, ... Liqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, ...\n» Spirits Glossary\nSpirits Glossary\nThe Grape & Food\nSpirits Glossary\nFrom Amarula African Crème to Zaya Rum, you will find almost 1,500 varieties of spirits in Big Red locations. Regardless of whether you are seeking the ultimate $2,000 bottle of Cognac or need an inexpensive Vodka for the punch at a holiday party, you will find it at Big Red Liquors!\nBecause of our enormous purchasing power and solid belief in providing our customers with reasonable prices, you will find many of our spirits priced from 10 to 25% below the competition. These are not just “sale” items, but Big Red’s everyday low prices. Many of our brands come from difficult to locate sources that are not in every corner store and Big Red’s size also allows us to be one of the first in bringing new and exciting brands to market in our area.\nMany Big Red employees are specialists in one or more types of spirits and you will find managers with an incredible depth of knowledge in areas such as Scotch, Bourbon, Cognac, Vodka and others. We are happy to help – it is our passion!\nAbsinthe: A once illegal anise based aperitif drink with an infusion of wormwood, considered by some to be hallucinogenic and dangerous. Brands now available are made without all of the dangerous ingredients.\nAllspice: A ground spice made from an unripe berry with an aroma reminiscent of a cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg blend.\nAmaretto: Almond flavored liqueur.\nAmaretto di Saronno: Italian amaretto produced since 1525. Originally created by a widow as a gift to an artist of the Leonardo da Vinci School of Art.\nAngostura Bitters: Aromatic bitters originating in Angostura, Venezuela; now produced in Trinidad.\nAnisette: A licorice tasting liqueur made from the anise seed.\nAperitif: Originally referring to wine, but now may mean any liquor taken to stimulate the appetite before a meal.\nApricot Brandy: Apricot flavored brandy.\nApplejack: North American name for apple brandy.\nAquavit: Scandinavian grain spirit, usually flavored with caraway and anise.\nArmagnac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the city of Condom, France.\nBenedictine: An herb flavored liqueur produced by the Benedictine monks of France.\nBitters: A non-alcoholic aromatic combination of herbs, fruits, roots, barks, seeds, and flowers steeped in an alcohol base and then aged. (See Peychauds and Angostura.)\nBlack Raspberry Liqueur: A black raspberry flavored liqueur. (See Chambord.)\nBlended straight whiskey: A blend consisting of only straight whiskeys.\nBlended whiskey: A blending of straight whiskeys with either light-bodied whiskeys or with neutral alcohols.\nBlue Curacao: Blue colored Dutch West Indian Curacao orange liqueur. Produced in Holland.\nBottled-in-bond whiskey: At least a 100 proof straight bourbon whiskey that has aged two or more years in a bonded warehouse kept under federal lock and key. All bottled-in-bond whiskey bears a green government stamp.\nBourbon Whiskey: American whiskey made by using at least 51% corn grain mash in a wheat, oats, rye, and barley combination.\nBrandy: A product of the distillation of wine, or fruit in the case of flavored brandies such as peach or cherry. Cognac and Armagnac are special varieties made from grapes grown in specific areas of France.\nCachaca: A Brazilian sugar cane based spirit similar to rum.\nCalvados: French apple brandy from Normandy.\nCampari: An Italian brand of bitter aperitif wine.\nCanadian Whiskey: A light-bodied whiskey balanced so that no one particular mash ingredient is allowed to dominate the flavor.\nChambord: A black raspberry flavored liqueur produced in Burgundy, France.\nChartreuse: Yellow and green herbal liqueurs made only by the Carthusian monks of La Grande Chartreuse, France. Produced since 1605 from a secret recipe consisting of over 100 alpine herbs.\nCoco Lopez: A sweet, syrupy, coconut based drink mixer. Non Alcoholic.\nCoffee Liqueur: Coffee flavored liqueur.\nCognac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the cities of Cognac and Jarnac.\nCointreau: A French made, bitter-sweet orange flavored liqueur. Produced by the Cointreau family since 1849.\nCordial: A strong, highly flavored and sweet liquor typically consumed after a meal.\nCorn whiskey: A whiskey made from a mash of at least 80% corn. May or may not be aged.\nCrème: A thick and concentrated infusion of fruit in neutral grain spirits. Commonly made from Cassis, Frambois, but can be from any fruit or nut source.\nCrème de Banana: Banana flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Cacao: A white or brown colored liqueur made from cocoa beans, vanilla and spices.\nCrème de Cassis: A French liqueur made from black currants.\nCrème de Menthe: A red, green, or white colored, peppermint flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Framboise: Raspberry-flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Violette: Violet-flavored liqueur.\nCuracao: Orange-flavored liqueur, produced mainly in France and the Netherlands, but originating from the Caribbean; an orange flavored liqueur made from the peels of oranges grown on the island of Curacao, in the West Indies.\nDigestif: A liquor consumed at or after a meal to aid in digestion.\nDrambuie: A Scotch based, honey flavored liqueur first produced in Skye, Scotland in 1745, now produced in Edinburgh.\nDry Vermouth: French made, herb flavored wine that is used in making drinks such as the Martini and Manhattan.\nDubonnet: A French brand of aperitif wine made from aromatics.\nEverclear: In the United States, Everclear is a brand of grain alcohol (ethanol), available at concentrations of 95% alcohol (190 proof) and 75.5% (151 proof).\nEau de Vie: Eau-de-vie (plural eaux-de-vie) is a French term for a colorless brandy, derived from one or more fruits. Literally translated it means “water of life”.\nFernet Branca: A bitter, aromatic spirit made from over 40 herbs and spices.\nFlips: A combination of eggnog and fizz, made with liqueur, egg, sugar and shaved ice.\nFrangelico: An Italian liqueur made with wild hazelnuts, berries and flowers.\nFrappe: Any mixture of liqueurs over finely crushed ice.\nGalliano: A yellow herb and spice liqueur made in Solaro, Italy.\nGin: A neutral alcohol base flavored with the juniper berry.\nGrain Neutral Spirits: Alcohol distilled from grain at 190 proof. Used in blended whiskeys and for making vodka, gin and other liquors.\nGrand Marnier: A cognac brandy based liqueur flavored with orange.\nGrappa: An Italian brandy distilled from the pulp of grapes used in winemaking.\nGrenadine: A non-alcoholic cherry flavoring used in a variety of drinks such as the Sling or the Shirley Temple.\nIrish whiskey: A whiskey whose flavor is obtained from the malted barley component of its mash, made in Ireland.\nJigger: also called a shot, a small glass used to measure liquor.\nJulep: Originally a sweet syrup, now a family of spirit-based cocktails, flavored and decorated with fresh mint.\nKahlua: A coffee flavored liqueur made in sunny Mexico.\nKirshwasser: Colorless, cherry-flavored eau-de-vie, mainly from France and Switzerland.\nKummel: Colorless Dutch liqueur, flavored with caraway.\nLillet: French herb-flavored liqueur, based on wine and Armagnac.\nLimoncello: A distinctive, premium liqueur made with the juice of fresh lemons from Southern Italy.\nLiqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, herbs, coffee, nuts, mint and chocolate.\nLondon gin: The driest gin available.\nMadeira: Fortified wine from the Portuguese island of the same name.\nMandarin Napoleon: Belgian, brandy-based liqueur flavored with tangerines.\nMaraschino: Italian, cherry-flavored liqueur – usually colorless, but may be red.\nMelon liqueur: Spirit-based, melon-flavored liqueur, (See Midori).\nMezcal: Spirit similar to tequila made from one of five permissible Agave plants. Most is made in the state of Oaxaca, but it can be produced elsewhere. The worm found in the bottom of the bottle in some brands originated in the 1940’s as a marketing ploy.\nMidori: A green colored, melon flavored liqueur made in Japan.\nMirabelle: Plum eau-de-vie, or colorless brandy.\nMonte Alban: A Mezcal named after an Aztec mountain-top settlement in Oaxaca, Mexico where Mezcal has been produced since the mid 1500’s. True Oaxacan mezcal has an agave cactus worm in each bottle.\nMuddle: To mash or crush ingredients with a spoon or muddler.\nNeat: A term referring to liquor that is consumed undiluted by ice, water or mixers.\nNocello Walnut: Nocello, from the Emeligia-Romagna region of Italy is a walnut flavored liqueur.\nOuzo: An unsweetened anise-flavored liqueur made in Greece since 1888.\nPastis: Anise based aperitif, turns cloudy with water, Often known by the brand names Pernod, Ricard or Mon Pastis.\nPeter Heering Cherry Liqueur: A world renowned cherry flavored liqueur. Produced since 1818 in Copenhagen, Denmark.\nPeychaud Bitters: Originally created in 1830 by Antoine Peychaud in Haiti, now produced in New Orleans by the Sazerac Company.\nPimms: Pimm’s No. 1 is a gin-based liquor made in England from dry gin, liqueur, fruit juices and spices.\nPisco: A Peruvian grape based brandy, often used to make a Pisco Sour.\nPousse-Café: A drink poured in layers to float on top of one another, which gives its name to a narrow, straight-sided stemmed glass.\nPrisonniere: Literally “prisoner”. When an apple or pear is grown inside a bottle which is then filled with either Calvados or Poire William.\nProof: An American system for measuring alcohol content by volume. 80 proof equals 40% alcohol by volume (ABV).\nRickey: A spirit-based cocktail including lemon or lime juice and soda water.\nRoses: A sweetened West Indian lime juice produced in St. Albans, England. Non-Alcoholic.\nRum: Spirit made from the fermentation and distillation of sugar cane. Light, medium, and heavy bodied flavor variations exist as do variations in color when not clear. Often flavored with spices or fruit flavors.\nRye whiskey: Mainly American and Canadian whiskey which must be made from a mash containing at least 51 percent rye.\nSake: Japanese rice wine, may be served warm or chilled.\nSambuca: Italian, anise flavored liqueur often served flaming with coffee beans.\nSchnapps: A peppermint flavored liqueur. Many flavored varieties of peppermint schnapps exist, such as root beer or peach; all have peppermint as the base flavoring.\nScotch Whisky: Blends are a mixture of about 40 percent malt and 60 percent grain whiskey and single malts are 100% from a single distillery.\nSlivovitz: A Croatian version of plum brandy.\nSloe Gin: Liqueur made by steeping sloe berries in gin – previously homemade but now available commercially.\nSour: A spirit-based cocktail containing sugar, and lemon or lime juice.\nSour Mash Whiskey: A broad category of whiskey where a portion of old mash is mixed in with new to help advance the character and smoothness of the flavor.\nStraight Whiskey: A whiskey that is distilled and then aged at least two years without blending.\nStrega: Italian, herb-flavored liqueur made with over 50 botanicals and colored with saffron.\nSugar syrup: A sweetener for cocktails, made by dissolving sugar in boiling water.\nSweet Vermouth: An Italian made, herb flavored wine. Used in making drinks such as Rob Roy’s and Manhattans.\nTequila: Mexican spirit distilled from the blue agave plant, a succulent. Tequila can only be made in the state of Jalisco. Generally available in three categories: Blanco (no wood aging), Reposado and Anejo.\nTia Maria: Popular, Jamaican rum-based coffee liqueur.\nTriple sec: Colorless, orange-flavored liqueur.\nVermouth: Wine-based aperitif flavored with extracts of wormwood – both sweet and dry vermouths are widely used in cocktails.\nVodka: Colorless, grain-based spirit, originally from Russia and Poland. Now made from virtually any grain, many fruits and potatoes as well and available in dozens of flavors.\nWhiskey: Spirit distilled from grain in either Ireland or North America. Corn, rye and barley are all used.\nWhisky: A spirit from Scotland traditionally distilled from grain in the lowlands and barley in the rest of the country. Also known as Scotch Whisky.","Culinary Dictionary - A, Food Dictionary, Whats Cooking ...\nToday the term means according to the menu and that which is written down as available on the menu. ... meaning they only have one shell, ... au poivre (pwa-vra) ...\nCulinary Dictionary - A, Food Dictionary, Whats Cooking America\nCulinary Dictionary\nLinda’s Culinary Dictionary – A\nA Dictionary of Cooking, Food, and Beverage Terms\n \nAn outstanding and large culinary dictionary and glossary that includes the definitions and history of cooking, food, and beverage terms.\nPlease click on a letter below to alphabetically search the many food and cooking terms:\n \nA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U-Y Z\n.\na la (ah lah) – It is French for “in the manner of,” “in the style of,” and “according to” In cooking, this phrase designates the style of preparation or a particular garnish. There is no difference between dishes listed as “a la boulangere” and “boulangere.” Many menus drop the “a la” because it is implied.\na la Anglaise (ah-la-an-glaz) – It is a French term for English. It refers to food which has been dipped in beaten egg, and then coated with bread crumbs and cooked in butter and oil.\na la boulangere (boo-lan-jair) – Describes a simple dish of stock, potatoes, and onions. “Boulangere” is French for “baker.” In history in France, many homes did not have an oven, so anything to be baked was taken to a local baker to be cooked in his oven.\na la Broche – Prepared on a skewer over a flame. Also called Brochettes.\na la Carte (KART) – “Carte” was originally a French term for a piece of paper or cardboard and later a bill of fare or menu. Today the term means according to the menu and that which is written down as available on the menu. Refers to meal in which the diner selects individual items, paying for each, rather than taking a complete meal at a fixed price.\na la Creole – Dishes prepared with tomatoes, green peppers and onions as the main ingredients.\na la Diable (ah-la-dee-abla) – “Diable” is French for the devil or satan. The term means food served deviled or in the devil’s style, usually served with a very sharp and hot seasoning.\na la King – Prepared with a Bechamel sauce containing mushrooms, green peppers, and red or pimento peppers.\na la Lyonnaise (ah-la-lee-on-az) – In French the term means with onions or served with Lyonnaise sauce, which is made from onions, white wine, and a meat glaze.\na la Maitre d’Hotel – Prepared with a sauce of lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and drawn butter.\na la Marinera (ah-la-mah-ree-neh-rah) – Common style of cooking in Spanish cuisine, It says that the food is cooked with white wine, onions and sometimes tomatoes.\na la mode (ah lah MODH) – A French word for “in the manner of” or “mode or according to fashion.” Desserts a la mode are served with ice cream. Meats cooked a la mode are braised with vegetables and served with gravy.\na la Nage – A French term that literally means “in the swim” and refers to the fact that a some kind of seafood is “swimming” in a flavorful broth.\na la Plancha (ah-la-plahn-chah) – A Spanish cooking term that refers to the method of cooking grilled on a metal plate or cast-iron skillet that is used for cooking by dry heat.\na la Provencale (prov-on-sal) – Provence is a French maritime province that is famed for its wines and cuisine. The term is used to describe a dish, which uses products, which flourish, in the area of Provence, namely tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olives.\na la Royale – Prepared in the royal style; typically a veloute sauce with truffles, served on poached fish or poultry.\na la Russe – Prepared in the Russian style with sour cream or beetroot or both are added.\n \nababai – Ababai comes from the Caricacae family of fruits, which also contains the Mau Mau, and some forms of papaya. It is considered an exotic fruit in the United States. It is imported from Chile, as Chile is the only country in the world that exports this luscious fruit. Very few countries grow Ababai and then only for their local market. It is a protected fruit in Chile and was only recently available for export.\nFresh off the tree, ababai has a thin skin and looks like a small papaya. It is never eaten fresh due to its high enzyme content. It is first cooked for several minutes and then jarred. Its pale yellow color turns to a brilliant gold after processing. It is one of the few fruits that will not dissolve when cooked. It is superb for sauteing with vegetables, broiling on fish, and grilling on the barbecue (shish kebob). The seeds look like small raisins. The male and female seeds of the fruit cannot be distinguished before planting, and there is also a hermaphrodite seed. Several seeds are planted with the prospect of growing one successful Ababai tree. Ababai trees grow for 7 1/2 to 8 years and only bear fruit for 5 years. The tree is then cut down, recycled, and must be replanted on virgin soil.\n \nabais – A French term that describes puff pastry that has been rolled very thin or sponge cake that has been cut very thin for dessert preparation.\n \nabalone – Abalone are shellfish of the univalve family, meaning they only have one shell, unlike bivalves such as clams that consist of two shells. This edible gastropod belongs to the same family as the sea slug and is related to the snail. Out of its shell, it resembles a large scallop. They are found in United States, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and Indo-Pacific Region. On the Pacific coast, they are found on rocky inter-tidal and sub-tidal areas from Baja California to Alaska, as each species prefers a particular habitat, which appears related to the local sea temperature. They are also called ear shells, or sea ears (as their shape resembles the human ear). Also called Awabi in Japanese cuisine and Loco in South American cuisine. Since the abalone has been over-harvested, it is very expensive when available.\nHistory: Abalone has lived along the Pacific coast of North America for millions of years. Fossilized shells have been found in sediments that are approximately 100 million years old. In more recent times, abalone were important in the economy of all native American peoples who dwelled in California’s coastal areas. Native Americans were using abalone for food, implements, and decoration long before the arrival of Europeans in North America\n \nAbsinthe (AB-sinth) – An anise-flavored liqueur that is made by steeping wormwood and other aromatic herbs (hyssop, lemon balm, and angelica) in alcohol. The drink is distinguished by its dazzling blue-green clarity due to its chlorophyll content. It was traditionally served with water and a cube of sugar; the sugar cube was placed on an “absinthe spoon” and the liquor was drizzled over the sugar into the glass of water. The sugar helped take the bitter edge from the absinthe, and when poured into the water the liquor turned milky white. Absinthe was believed to raise the drinker’s consciousness, insights, and emotional experience to another level altogether. Unfortunately, it also caused terrible hallucinations, permanent neural damage, as seen in the dazed condition of dedicated drinkers, and even its own diseases, known as absinthism, recognized as early as the 1850s. Read my web page on Absinthe Drinks – Learn how to make and drink absinthe.\nHistory: Dr. Pierre Ordinaire as an all-purpose remedy invented Absinthe in 1792. Used as a cure-all for epilepsy, gout, drunkenness, kidney stones, colic, headaches, and worms, it was nicknamed “La Fee Verte” meaning The Green Fairy. In 1797, the heirs of Dr. Ordinaire sold the recipe to Henri-Louis Pernod. Pernod opened the first absinthe distillery in Switzerland and then moved to a larger one in Pontarlier, France in 1805. After the Algerian War (1844-1847), the demand for absinthe rose dramatically. The soldiers had developed a taste for absinthe, as they were given rations of absinthe along with their drinking water as a bacterial deterrent, and began drinking it after the war.\nAt the beginning of the 20th century, the drinking of absinthe was so popular that the cocktail hour in France was called “lheure verte,” meaning the “green hour.” Absinthe was exported to New Orleans and reached the same popularity in the United States. It was a drink considered ladylike and women freely enjoyed it in the coffee houses, where it was commonly served. In New Orleans, as well as in the rest of the United States, it became banned in 1912. Absinthe is still available in other areas of the world where it is not illegal.\n \nAcetomel – A mixture of honey and vinegar that produces sweet-sour syrup. Traditionally used to preserve fruits.\nacidify – To add acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to a culinary preparation to made a dish slightly acid, sour, or piquant.\n \nacidulated water – It is a solution of 5 to 6 parts water to 1 part acid (typically the acid ingredient is lemon juice or vinegar). Since the flesh of certain fruits and vegetables, such as apples and pears, will darken when exposed to air unless used immediately after cutting, they are dropped into an acidulated water to stop this process.\n \naerate (ER-ayt) – Aerate means the same as “sift.” To pass dry ingredients through a fine-mesh sifter so large pieces can be removed. The process also incorporates air to make ingredients like flour, lighter.\n \nafter taste – Taste which returns to the mouth after ingestion of certain foods and beverages.\n \nagar-agar – processed seaweed, grayish white in color and comes in sticks, flakes, granules or powder. It is a vegetarian gelatin. After it is soaked in cold water, it becomes bouncy, resilient, and crisp . It is used mostly for cold oriental dishes that contain chicken, meat, and vegetables. In the old days, before the introduction of gelatin, agar-agar was also used as a thickening agent in making cold jellied dishes. Once soaked in boiling water, it melts into a gelatinous substance. The Chinese use this paste to make their famous delicacy called “bird’s nest soup.” Agar-agar is commonly referred to as Chinese gelatin.\n \nahi (AH-hee) – Ahi tuna is simply yellow fin tuna. It is a term used in Hawaii to describe this variety of tuna, which is distinguished from the other variety of tuna, known as blue fin.\n \naiguillette – Long, thin slices of poultry of fish.\n \naioli (eye-YO-lee) – (French) The French word for garlic is “ail.” Aioli is garlic-flavored mayonnaise made from pounded cloves of garlic, egg yolks, oil, and seasoning. Just before it is served, lemon juice and a little cold water are added. It is served as a sauce for a variety of garnishes and main courses. The Italian for aioli is “aglio,” the Spanish is “ajo” and “allioil.”\nHistory: It is believed to have originated in Provence, France. See “mayonnaise.”\n \nakutaq – Also known as aqutuk, ackutuk, or Eskimo Ice Cream. Not the creamy ice cream as we know it, but a concoction made from reindeer fat or tallow, seal oil, freshly fallen snow or water, fresh berries, and sometimes ground fish. Air is whipped in by hand so that it slowly cools into foam. It is eaten as a desert, a meal, a snack, or a spread. Traditionally it was made for funerals, pot latches, celebrations of a boy’s first hunt, and any other celebration where food is brought. Today it is usually made with Crisco shortening instead of tallow and with raisins and sugar sometimes added\nHistory: Alaska Natives have thrived on this delicacy for thousands of years. The region lived in usually determines what berry is used, and each family usually has their favorite recipe. It is said that your choice of berries used is a lifetime decision. If it okay to eat any flavor made by others, but if you are caught making more than one kind, you will lose all social standing. Learn more about the history and culture of Akuta or Eskimo Ice Cream .\n \nal dente (ahl-DEN-tay) – In Italian the phrase means “to the tooth” and is a term used to describe the correct degree of doneness when cooking pasta, risotto, and vegetables. The food should have a slight resistance (chewy) when biting into it, but should not be soft, overdone, or have a hard center.\n \nal forno (ahl FOHR-noh) – An Italian term to describe a dish that is “oven baked” or “oven roasted.”\n \nall-purpose flour – All-purpose flour is made from a blend of high-gluten hard wheat and low-gluten soft wheat. It is a fine-textured flour milled from the inner part of the wheat kernel and contains neither the germ (the sprouting section) nor the bran (the outer husk). By law, in the United States, all flours not containing wheat germ must have niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin added. Most all-purpose flours are labeled “enriched,” indicating that these nutrients have been\nallspice – The dried, unripe berry of a small tree. It is available ground or in seed form. Allspice can be used in a variety of dishes such as pickles, casseroles, cakes, and puddings. Also known as Jamaica Pepper. It is the fruit of the evergreen pimiento tree. The flavor resembles a blend of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This spice is used in both sweet and savory cooking and can be purchased whole or ground.\n \nalmond (AH-mund, AM-und) – It is the kernel of the fruit of the almond tree that is native of the warmer parts of western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the same group of plants as the rose, plum, cherry, and peach. The seed is rounded at one end and pointed at the other, and covered with a thin brown coat. There are two types of almonds – sweet and bitter. Today, Americans give guests at weddings a bag of sugared almonds (representing children, happiness, romance, good health, and fortune). In Sweden, cinnamon-flavored rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is a Christmas custom (find it and good fortune is yours for a year).\nHistory – Almonds were well know in Greece and Italy long before the Christian era. Explorers ate almonds while traveling the “Silk Road” between Asia and the Mediterranean. Before long, almond trees flourished in the Mediterranean (especially in Spain and Italy). Throughout history, almonds have maintained religious, ethnic, and social significance. The Bible’s “Book of Numbers” tells the story of Aaron’s rod that blossomed and bore almonds, giving the almond the symbolism of divine approval. The Romans showered newlyweds with almonds as a fertility charm. In the mid 1700s, the Franciscan Padres brought almond trees to California from Spain.\nalmond extract – A solution of oil, bitter almonds, and alcohol (approximately 1%) that is used for a flavoring in baking.\nalmond flour – Almond flour or meal is the residue left after almond oil has been extracted from the kernels. It is entirely free from starch and is used in making bread and biscuits for diabetics.\nalmond paste – A mixture of sugar, almonds, and egg whites. Also called marzipan. It is widely used in dessert preparations. Almond paste and marzipan are both made from ground almonds. They differ mainly in their sugar content. Marzipan is made from almond paste and sugar and is used primarily in confections and decorations because it is more moldable and the almond flavor is less pronounced. Almond paste is used in pastries and other baked goods. They are not interchangeable in recipes.\n \namaranth – Amaranth is from the Greek for “never-fading flower” or “everlasting.” It is an annual herb, and therefore not a true grain. It has broad leaves and large flower heads that produce thousands of tiny, protein-rich seeds. There are hundreds of varieties of amaranth. It is grown for its leaves-some varieties are good in salad, some are delicious steamed or stir-fried-and its somewhat peppery seeds. Amaranth can be cooked as a cereal. The seeds are very tiny-looking, a bit like caviar when cooked, and their lack of substance makes them rather unsatisfactory as the base of pilaf-type dishes. Amaranth is most often ground into flour, which has a fairly strong malt-like vegetable taste and is beige in color. It is the only known food that contains between 75% and 87% of total human nutritional requirements.\nAmaranth is used in several cultures in very interesting ways, In Mexico, it is popped and mixed with a sugar solution to make a candy called alegria and the roasted seed is used to create a traditional Mexican drink called atole. People from Peru use fermented amaranth seeds to make chichi (beer). During the carnival festival, women dancers often use the red amaranth flower as rouge, painting their cheeks, and then dancing while carrying bundles of amaranth on their backs.\nHistory: There is evidence that it has been in Central and South America for nearly 8,000 years. Amaranth was a staple in the diet of pre-Columbian Aztecs. Aztec Indians in Mexico grew it alongside maize as the main ingredient in their diets. They thought that it gave them supernatural powers and incorporated it into their religious ceremonies. On religious holidays, Aztec women ground the seed, mixed it with honey or human blood, then shaped it into idols that were eaten ceremoniously, a practice that appalled the conquistadors. After conquering Montezuma in 1519, the Spanish missionaries forbade its use because of its association with human sacrifice.\nIn ancient Greece, amaranth was considered sacred and was used to decorate tombs and images of gods as a symbol of immortality. The early Christian Church also adopted the amaranth as a symbol of immortality.\nBy the middle the 20th century, the cultivation of this grain had declined to the point where it was grown only in small plots in Mexico, the Andean highlands, and in the Himalayan foothills of India and Nepal. It was used to make tortillas even before the cultivation of corn. It remained in obscurity until the 1950’s when its nutritional values were again recognized through scientific development.\n \namaretti (ah-mah-REHT-tee) – An Italian almond macaroon cookie. The Italian word “amaro” means “bitter,” and the literal translation of “amaretti” is “the little bitter ones.” They are called amaretti because they are flavored with bitter almonds.\nHistory: Francesco Moriodo, pastry chef at the court of Savoy, created them in the mid-17th century.\n \namaretto (am-ah-REHT-toh) – An Italian almond flavored liqueur (or cordial) that is made from apricot pits and flavored with almonds and aromatic extracts.\nHistory: It is named after the town of Saronno Italy. It has been produced commercially since the 19th century.\n \nambrosia (am-BROH-zhah) – (1) The name is sometimes applied to certain beverages. (2) A traditional Christmas dish in many Southern homes, where the dessert is served in the best cut-glass bowl from the sideboard. It usually consists of chilled fruit (usually oranges and bananas) mixed with coconut.\nHistory: In Greek mythology, this was a balsamic juice, which served as the “food of the gods” and was said to preserve their immortality, and without this substance, they became weak. Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera, served the Gods Ambrosia and Nectar. One day she tripped and fell so Zeus dismissed her and in the shape of an eagle. A human being who took Ambrosia became strong and immortal, and received additional beauty, strength, and swiftness (becoming in some measure akin to the gods).\n \nAmerican Breakfast – It is an restaurant term that usually consists of eggs, juice, bacon or sausage, toast or hash browns.\n \namuse-bouche (ah-mewz-BOOSH) – Also known as amuse-gueule, amusee, petite amuse, and lagniappe are used interchangeably to describe these tasty morsels. A French term that literally means “mouth amusement.” These are tiny bites of food served before a meal to whet the palate and invigorate the appetite. They are more whimsical than hors d’oeuvres, and smaller than appetizers.\nThe best restaurants offer a tiny serving of something interesting (also known as palate teasers) soon after you sit down, which ideally previews the cooking style of the restaurant. In some restaurants, it is also a way to present something luxurious to favored customers. In the United States we think of them as ‘hors-d’oeuvre’. Customers regard them as tokens of appreciation. In this age of frequently getting less than what is expected, gestures like this make diners feel welcome and can promote customer loyalty.\nHistory: According to the 1992 edition of Dictionnaire Historique de la Langue Francais (Dictionary of the History of the French Language), the term originated in 1946.\n \namuse-gueule – See “amuse-bouche.”\nAnadama Bread (ana-a-dam-a) – It is a specialty yeast bread of the New England States that is made with flour, cornmeal, and molasses.\nHistory: This bread originated in New England. There are a variety of stories or legends on how this bread got its name. According to these many legends, a farmer, fisherman, miner, sailor, or Yankee (depending on what account you read), angry with his wife, Anna, for serving him nothing but cornmeal and molasses, one day adds flour and yeast to his porridge and eats the resulting bread while cursing, “Anna, damn her.”\nAnaheim chile (An-uh-hime) – Mild, long green chile peppers that are named after the area near Los Angeles where they were first cultivated. Also known as Chile Verde (green), Chile Colorado (red) or the California Long Green, the Anaheim Chile is light green in color and slightly bent . It is the most commonly found variety in the United States. Mild, sweet, and slightly bitter in flavor, this chile pepper can be used fresh or roasted and is often available canned. If you buy them fresh, Anaheim Chile peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for one week. Learn all about Chile Peppers (Preparing Fresh Chile Peppers, Roasting Fresh Chile Peppers, Preparing Dried Chile Peppers), Science of Chile Peppers\n \nancho chile peppers (AHN-choh) – A dried deep reddish brown chile pepper about 3 inches wide and 4 inches long with a sweet hot flavor. When fresh they are referred to as poblanos. They look like small bell peppers. Anchos are flat, wrinkled, and heart shaped. They range in color from very dark red to almost black. Anchos are mild to moderately hot and often soaked and ground for use in sauces.\n \nancho powder – It is ground ancho (pablano) chile peppers. In other words, it is a chile powder. Ancho Chili is a dark Smokey chili with a deep rich flavor and mild to medium heat. Their flavor is somewhat sweet and a little raisin like. This pepper is the most commonly used in authentic Mexican cooking and is a staple in red chili and tamales. Ancho Powder is a terrific choice for those who are looking for a “milder” taste in their cooking. Use Ancho Powder just as you would salt or pepper. Sprinkle on pasta, baked potatoes, vegetables, soups, pizza, popcorn and more. Also try it to season chicken, stews, potatoes, vegetables and, of course, Mexican dishes.\n \nanchovy (AN-choh-vee) – Anchovies are tiny silver fish, about three inches long. They swim in large schools where the sea is temperate. In modern Italy, Spain, and Greece, salted anchovies are offered as appetizers. For the rest of the world, they are usually sold as flat or rolled fillets, salted, and packed in oil. The most popular and tasty are the ones in olive oil and salt.\n \nanchovy paste – A paste of pureed anchovies with oil and salt. Available in tubes at most supermarkets and specialty food stores. You can also make your own using a can of anchovy fillets. First wash them in cold water, then mash them with a fork, and add just enough olive oil to make a smooth paste.more\nHistory: Check out Linda Stradley’s web page Anchovy and Anchovy Paste .\nandouille (ahn-doo-ee) – (1) Traditionally, the andouilles from France were made from the large intestines and stomach of the pig (seasoned heavily and smoked). (2) Andouille is also the Cajun smoked sausage so famous nationally today. Made with pork butt, shank, and a small amount of pork fat. This sausage is seasoned with salt, cracked black pepper, and garlic. The andouille is then slowly smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane. True andouille is stuffed into the beef middle casing, which makes the sausage approximately one and a half inches in diameter. When smoked, it becomes very dark to almost black in color. It is not uncommon for the Cajuns to smoke andouille for seven to eight hours at approximately 175 degrees.\nHistory: The finest andouilles in France reportedly come from the Brittany and Normandy areas. It is believed that over half of the Acadian exiles that came to Louisiana in 1755 were originally from these coastal regions. In parts of Germany, where some say andouille originated, the sausage was made with all remaining intestines and casings pulled through a larger casing, seasoned and smoked . It was served thinly sliced as a hors d’oeuvre.\n \nAngel Food Cake – Angel Food Cake is also known as foam-style cake. They are made with a large quantity of egg whites and no shortening or leavening. Angel Food or “angel cake” is thought to be a takeoff of the cornstarch cake and the sponge cake.\nHistory: For a detailed history of the Angel Food Cake, check out Linda Stradley’s History of Cakes .\nAngostura bitters – Named after a town in Venezuela and made in Trinidad from roots, bark, leaves, and alcohol. It is used in small amounts to lend an aromatic and slightly bitter element to mixed drinks. It is best known as the essential ingredient of the popular cocktail called the “Manhattan.”\nHistory: In 1824, a German doctor living in Venezuela mixed this substance to create a tonic for his ailing wife. Legend says that this creation worked as a cure for malaria and other tropical diseases. Sailors swore that it cured seasickness (especially when mixed with rum).\n \nantipasto (ahn-tee-PAH-sto) – The term antipasto, usually translated as “appetizer” in English. It literally means “before the meal” and denotes a relatively light dish designed to stimulate the palate before the service of more substantial courses.\nAntipasti are not essential to the Italian kitchen; a formal Italian dinner without antipasti would not betray the traditions of Italian gastronomy. Today, however, it is difficult to imagine a formal dinner that would not include some dishes classified as antipasto. In the regional Italian kitchen, antipasti are an important element, not on a daily basis, but certainly on holidays and special occasions. Many dishes, served as accompaniments to main courses, are today considered too rich for such use. So, through the years, many of these dishes have been adapted to serve as antipasto. Antipasto takes full advantage of all kinds of different foods not generally regarded as being substantial enough to be served as main courses. The ingredients may be varied, but generally they must all be eaten with a fork.\n \naperitif (ah-pear-uh-TEEF) – A French term for an alcoholic beverage served before a meal as an appetizer to stimulate the appetite. It can be a punch made to complement the meal, but it is usually a white wine, sherry, champagne, or a sparkling wine It can also be non-alcoholic.\n \nappetizer (apy-tizer) – It is a small portion of bite-size food which is served before a main meal as the first course in order to stimulate the appetite. If served before a meal it should be small. They may be hot or cold, plated, or served as finger food. If served at a cocktail party, it is usually called hors d’ oeuvres.\n \napple – Of nearly 8000 varieties known around the world, about 100 are grown in commercial quantity in the U.S., with the top 10 comprising over 90% of the crop. New varieties are still being discovered and cultivated, with the best eventually becoming household words like McIntosh, Delicious, Empire, Rome, Spartan, Cortland, Granny Smith, etc.\nHistory: Check out History and Legend of Apples.\n \napple butter – Apple butter is a kind of jam made of tart apples, boiled in cider until reduced to a very thick smooth paste, to which is added a flavoring of allspice, while cooking. It is then placed in jars and covered tightly.\nHistory: Apple butter was one of the favorite sweets during the colonial and pioneering historical eras of the United States.\n \nApple Charlotte – Apple Charlotte consists of layers of cake or breadcrumbs, sugar, butter, and apples.\nHistory: For a detailed history of the Charlotte Russe, check out Linda Stradley’s History of Cakes .\n \napple cider – Most cider is made from fermented apple juice. Natural cider has nothing added and relies, for fermentation, upon the wild yeast present in the apples. For mass-produced ciders, a yeast culture is added in order to achieve consistency. Although much of today’s cider is produced from apple concentrate, many traditional cider-makers use only cider apples, cultivated specifically for the purpose.\nHistory: When the Romans arrived in England in 55 B.C., they were reported to have found the local Kentish villagers drinking a delicious cider-like beverage made from apples. It has been recorded that the Romans and in particular their leader, Julius Caesar, embraced the pleasant pursuit with enthusiasm! How long the locals had been making this apple drink, prior to the arrival of the Romans, is anybody’s guess.\nIn America, cider was an everyday drink up until the middle of the 19th century. Anytime was considered a good time for drinking in the New England Colonies, and upon rising in the morning, the downing of a mug of cider was considered customary. Most of the early apple crops were made into cider since the apples had not yet been perfected into the sweet, juicy, eating apples of today. By the 1670s, cider was the most abundant and least expensive drink in New England. It quickly took the place of water, which was considered unsafe. During the colonial period, hard cider was the most popular beverage in America and often the measure of a town’s wealth was measured by how many barrels of cider were stored for the winter.\napple juice – It is the juice squeezed from apples. As long as apple juice (fresh cider) remains in its natural state and is not sweetened, preserved, clarified, or otherwise altered, it is apple juice. In sweet cider, fermentation is not permitted at all. See apple cider.\n \napplejack – A brandy made by distilling apple cider. The name is also given to a beverage produced by freezing hard cider.\nHistory: As early as 1698, William Laird began it distill cider for himself and neighbors, producing apple brandy or applejack. Applejack, because of its power, was also know as “jersey Lighting.” In 1780, a descendant of laird began commercial production of applejack and the company still distills it today.\n \napricot – The apricot derives its name from the Latin world “praecox” meaning “precocious.”\nHistory: The apricot has a long history of cultivation, starting in China some 4,000 years ago and traveling along the trade routes to the shores of the Mediterranean. In Iraq and Iran, apricots are served with lamb, and a regional specialty is “kamraddin” (a kind of apricot leather). A drink is made from it to mark the end of a period of religious fasting. The Spanish missionaries introduced the apricot trees to the Santa Clara Valley in California.\n \naquaculture – It is the cultivation of the sea. The term refers specifically to the intensive production of fish and shellfish in a controlled environment for human food. It is an ancient practice in Asia but it has only began approximately 20 years ago in the U.S., but in virtually no time has become one of the fastest growing segments of the United States economy.\noffshore farming – It takes place in deep, navigable waters and involves the use of boats.\nonshore farming – It is done in shallow waters where boats are not necessary.\ntank culture – It is another form of onshore farming. Tanks, usually made of steel and reinforced cement, or fiberglass in a variety of shapes, are used to contain populations of fish in water.\npond culture – It is the most widely used method of fish farming. All catfish farming is pond raised. The farming is done in man-made ponds that are drainable and often incorporate a system of dikes for harvesting.\ntray culture – A tray culture involves the use of a permanent structure for mollusks to attach themselves to. Trays are set underwater in calm bays or estuaries to stimulate the growth of clams, oyster, and other shellfish. Sometimes ropes or strings are hung into the water for mussels and scallops to grow on.\n \narborio rice (ar-BOH-ree-oh) – An Italian short grain rice that was virtually synonymous with risotto for many years. It is the best known of the top-grade varieties of Italian rice. When purchasing arborio rice, the only precaution is to check the label to be sure it is not precooked.\n \nArchitectural Cuisine – Menu items that are stacked for height. Also called Vertical Cuisine.\n \narepas (ah-ray-pay-rah) – Similar to an English muffins but made from precooked corn flour, it is a cornmeal patty or pancake that is considered like bread in other countries. Arepas are popular throughout South America, but especially popular in Colombian and Venezuelan. It is considered the national dish of Venezuela (the local equivalent of an American hamburger). You can find arepas in small restaurants called Areperas. T he most famous arepa is La reina pepiada, made with chopped meat, avocado and cheese. The favorite way to serve them in Venezuela is to split them open, remove some of the steaming moist corn meal, and then stuff them with your favorite ingredients. The arepa is wrapped in a square of slick paper (like butcher paper), and handed to the purchaser to eat standing up. Very few people make arepas at home, choosing to buy them at the store or have them delivered directly to their homes. You can also find arepas all over Miami, Florida (the traditional arepa served in Miami has two cornmeal pancakes with a layer of cheese inside).\nHistory: First made by the Indians of Columbia and Venezuela, an important part of their diet just like corn tortillas were to the Aztecs. For many centuries, it was considered a food for the poor. Today they are considered a comfort food for everyone.\n \naromatic – (1) A vegetable, herb, or spice used to enhance the flavor and fragrance of food and drinks. In classic cooking, a reference to “aromatics” most often means onions, carrot, and celery. (2) It also means spicy, pungent, or having a fragrant aroma.\n \narracheras – The Mexican term for fajitas or skirt steak.\n \narrack (Ah-RAK) – Also called arak. It is an anise-flavored liqueur, often homemade. It is a popular aperitif in the Middle East. It is a distilled from grapes, dates, and other fruits. In its countries of origin, it is included in cooking in some recipes for fish stews.\n \narrowroot – Also called arrowhead. A fine, dry white powdered starch made from a tropical root and exported from the British West Indies. It is named for its curative properties in treating arrow wounds. It makes exceptionally smooth sauces, and is a very good last minute thickener (it can be stirred into a sauce at the last minute without lumping). Arrowroot is slightly stronger in thickening power than cornstarch. However, if the sauce boils for more than a few seconds, the starch breaks down and its thickening power is lost.\n \narroz (AH-roz) – Spanish word for long-grain white rice. This is a main staple in Mexican cooking.\n \narroz con pollo (arros kon POH-yoh) – It is a popular chicken and rice Spanish and Mexican dish that is actually a paella without any shellfish or meat.\n \nartichoke – The artichoke is a perennial in the thistle group of the sunflower family that is native to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. A name shared by three unrelated plants: the globe artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, and Chinese (or Japanese) artichoke. In full growth, the plant spreads to cover an area about six feet in diameter and reaches a height of three to four feet. The part that we eat is actually the plant’s flower bud. If allowed to flower, the blossoms measure up to seven inches in diameter and are a beautiful violet-blue color. The size of the bud depends on where it is located on the plant. Larger artichokes are found on central stems towards the top of the plant, where they receive maximum sunshine. Smaller or “baby” artichokes are found lower down on the plant where they are shaded from the sun by the larger buds above.\nHistory: Check out History of Artichokes .\n \narugula (ah-ROO-guh-lah) – It is also known as rocket, rulola, Italian cress, and roquette. It is a delicate salad green that is related to mustard. When the leaves are young, they are tender and nutty, with a subtle peppery flavor. The leaves look like radish leaves. The white blossoms are also edible. It is used as a salad green, as a garnish, and in combination with other ingredients in sandwiches.\n \n \nasafetida (ah-sah-FEH-teh-dah) – This pungent resinous gum is used widely in Indian vegetarian cooking. Also called stinking gum and devil’s dung because of its unpleasant smell, this seasoning is obtained from the gum of a plant native to Afghanistan, Iran, and northern India. A perennial of the carrot family that grows wild to 12 feet high in natural forests. The whole plant exudes a characteristic smell, described by some as stink. The milky resin comes from both the thick stems and the root and it dries into asafoetida.\nA popular ingredient in Indian vegetarian dishes, it imparts a subtle flavor if used sparingly (the odor does not transmit to cooked food). In the raw state, the resin or the powder has an unpleasant smell. This completely disappears when the spice is added to a variety of fish, vegetable pulse, and pickle ingredients. Also used in the curries and pickles of West and South India. The powdered version is easier to handle. Buy asafoetida in small quantities. The powder resin is usually mixed with flour to provide bulk and is sold in bright yellow plastic tubs.\nHistory: Early record show that Alexander the Great carried this “Stink Finger” west in 4 BC. It was used as a flavoring in the kitchens of ancient Rome.\n \n \nasiago cheese (ah-see-AH-go) – Asiago cheese is a semi-firm Cheese from Italy. Also known as “poor man’s Parmesan cheese.” It is made from whole or part-skim cow’s milk. It comes in small wheels with glossy rinds and is yellow inside with many small holes called “eyes.” Asiago is rich and nutty in flavor and used as a table cheese when young; when matured for 6 months or more it hardens and may be grated.\nHistory: Originally, this cheese was made from ewe’s milk in the village of Asiago in the province of Vicenza.\n \n \nasparagus – The name asparagus comes from the Greek language meaning “sprout” or “shoot,” and it is a member of the lily family. Plants in the lily family are also related to various grasses. In the dialects of 18th and 19th century cookbooks, asparagus was referred to as sparagrass or sparrowgrass. People throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States use fresh Asparagus in their favorite cuisine. In China, Asparagus spears are candied and served as special treats. It is widely popular today as a scrumptious, fresh, healthy vegetable. Learn more about A sparagus .\nHistory: Asparagus cultivation began more than 2,000 years ago in the eastern Mediterranean Region. Greeks and Romans prized asparagus for its unique flavor, texture and, alleged medicinal qualities. They ate it fresh and dried the vegetable to use in winter. In the 16th Century, asparagus gained popularity in France and in England. Asparagus is often called the “Food of Kings.” King Louis XIV of France was so fond of this delicacy that he ordered special greenhouses build so he could enjoy asparagus all year round.\n \n \nau bleu – The French term for the method of preparing fish the instant after it is killed. Used especially for trout, as in “truite au blue,” when the freshly killed fish is plunged into a boiling court bouillon, which turns the skin a metallic blue color.\n \n \nAu (saw) – It is a French term that has the same meaning as “a la” meaning “in the manner of,” “in the style of,” and “according to” In cooking, this phrase designates the style of preparation or a particular garnish.\nau beurre (bur) – Made with or in butter\nau bleu (blo) – Means blue and describes the process where freshly killed fish is plunged into boiling water and poached until the skin of the fish has a bluish tinge.\nau fromage (from-azh) – The term means cheese and means made with or in cheese.\nau gratin (GRAH-tn) – To dress up vegetables, meats, and fish with a layer of bread crumbs and/or grated cheese on top. It is then broiled or baked until a thin brown crust forms.\nau jus (joos) – (1) Is French and has the same meaning as a la and be translated as “in” or “with.” (2) It also describes meat served in its own natural juices, not with gravy.\nAu lait – Contain milk.\nau naturel (nat-tur-el) – Means natural or simple. It refers to foods which are served very simply or which are uncooked.\nau poivre (pwa-vra) – Means pepper, and means cooked with pepper.\n \n \navocado (a-voh-KAH-doh) – The avocado used to be called alligator pear. It is a tropical fruit native to Central America. Today, this fruit is grown in Southern California. Avocados do not ripen on the tree and are rarely found ripe in the markets.","Spirits Lexicon | Food & Wine\nSpirits Lexicon ... A grain-based liqueur first distilled in Holland in the late ... A clear brandy distilled from grapes in the wine-producing regions of Peru ...\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nAbsinthe\nAn anise-flavored spirit formerly banned in the United States. It’s flavored with such botanicals as wormwood, green anise and fennel seeds.\nAgave nectar\nA rich, sweet syrup made from the sap of the cactus-like agave plant.\nAllspice dram\nAlso known as pimento dram; a rum-based liqueur infused with Jamaican allspice berries. St. Elizabeth and The Bitter Truth are good brands.\nAmaro\nA bittersweet Italian herbal liqueur often served as an after-dinner drink.\nAngostura bitters\nA brand of concentrated aromatic bitters created in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1824 from a secret combination of herbs and spices.\nAperol\nA low-proof Italian aperitif flavored with bitter orange, rhubarb and gentian.\nApfelkorn\nA low-proof apple schnapps made by blending a wheat-based spirit with sugar and fresh apples.\nApple brandy\nA distilled fermented apple cider that is aged in oak barrels. Most of the brandy is bottled at 80 proof, but bonded apple brandy, which is preferable in cocktails because of its concentrated green-apple flavor, is 100 proof.\nApplejack\nAn American apple brandy that’s blended with neutral spirits.\nApricot brandy\nA sweet brandy-based amber liqueur flavored with apricots.\nAquavit\nA clear, grain- or potato-based Scandinavian spirit flavored with caraway seeds and other botanicals, such as fennel, anise and citrus peel.\nAverna\nA bitter Italian liqueur flavored with herbs and citrus peel.\nBarolo Chinato\nAn Italian digestif made from Nebbiolo-based wine (produced in Piedmont’s Barolo zone) and various herbs and spices, including cardamom, rhubarb and quinine (china).\nBärenjäger\nAn intensely honey-flavored proprietary German liqueur.\nBatavia Arrack\nA clear spirit from Java that is made from fermented sugarcane and red rice.\nBecherovka\nA bittersweet liqueur produced in the Czech Republic from the recipe that pharmacist Josef Becher used to formulate his apothecary bitters in 1807.\nBelle de Brillet\nA French liqueur made by infusing Cognac with macerated ripe Alsatian pears.\nBénédictine\nA brandy-based herbal liqueur derived from a recipe developed by a French monk in 1510.\nBianco vermouth\nAn aromatic, sweet Italian white vermouth traditionally served on the rocks as an aperitif.\nBitters\nA concentrated tincture of bitter and aromatic herbs, roots and spices that adds complexity to drinks. Varieties include orange, grapefruit, rhubarb and aromatic bitters, the best known of which is Angostura, created in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1824. Germany’s Bitter Truth makes bitters in traditional flavors as well as unusual ones like celery and chocolate. Fee Brothers bitters, which come in 12 flavors, have been made in Rochester, New York, for more than 60 years. Peychaud’s bitters have bright anise and cranberry flavors; the recipe dates to 19th-century New Orleans.\nBonal Gentiane-Quina\nA slightly bitter French aperitif wine infused with gentian root and cinchona bark, which contains quinine.\nBonded Whiskey\nA whiskey that’s been produced by a single distillery, distilled during a single season, aged a minimum of four years, bottled at 100 proof and stored in a \"bonded\" warehouse under U.S. government supervision.\nCachaça\nA potent Brazilian spirit distilled from sugarcane juice.\nCalvados\nA cask-aged brandy made in the Normandy region of France from apples and sometimes pears.\nCampari\nA potent, bright red Italian aperitif made from fruit, herbs and spices.\nCane Syrup\nA very sweet, thick syrup made by evaporating the water from sugarcane juice.\nCarpano Antica Formula\nA rich and complex crimson-colored sweet Italian vermouth.\nChartreuse\nA spicy French herbal liqueur made from more than 100 botanicals; green Chartreuse is more potent than the honey-sweetened yellow one.\nCherry Heering\nA Danish brandy-based cherry liqueur.\nCherry Kijafa\nA sweet Danish cherry wine that’s fortified with brandy.\nCocchi Aperitivo Americano\nA low-alcohol, wine-based aperitif infused with citrus, herbs such as gentian and quinine-rich cinchona bark.\nCognac\nAn oak-aged brandy made from grapes grown in France’s Charente region. VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) Cognac must be aged a minimum of four years in French oak barrels.\nCointreau\nA French triple sec that is made by macerating and distilling sun-dried sweet and bitter orange peels.\nCrème de cassis\nA sweet, black currant-flavored liqueur.\nCrème de violette\nA sweet, violet-flavored and -colored liqueur.\nCréole Shrubb\nA potent liqueur made by infusing a blend of Martinican rums with bitter orange peel and pulp and Caribbean spices.\nCuraçao\nA rum-based orange liqueur flavored with Creole spices and bitter orange peels.\nCynar\nA pleasantly bitter Italian liqueur made from 13 herbs and plants, including artichokes.\nDimmi\nA fruity and floral liqueur infused with licorice, vanilla, bitter orange and peach.\nDrambuie\nA whisky-based Scottish liqueur flavored with honey, herbs and spices.\nDubonnet\nA wine-based, quinine-enhanced aperitif that comes in two varieties. The rouge is full-bodied. The drier blanc is a good substitute for dry vermouth.\nEau-de-vie\nA clear, unaged fruit brandy. Classic varieties include framboise (raspberry), poire (pear), abricot (apricot), kirsch (cherry) and mirabelle (plum).\nFernet-Branca\nA potent, bitter Italian digestif made from 27 herbs.\nFee Brothers bitters\nA brand of bitters made in Rochester, New York, for more than 60 years. Classic flavors include orange and peach; grapefruit is a newer flavor.\nGalliano\nA yellow Italian liqueur made with up to 30 herbs, berries and flowers, including licorice, anise and vanilla.\nGenever\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nGenever\nA clear, botanically rich, malted grain-based spirit from Holland. Oude refers to the maltier old-style; lighter, less malty versions are called jonge.\nGrenadine\nA sweet red syrup made from pomegranate juice and sugar (see the Homemade Grenadine recipe ).\nGum Syrup\nA simple syrup that’s been thickened with gum arabic, a natural gum made from the sap of acacia trees.\nHerbsaint\nAn anise-flavored absinthe substitute produced in New Orleans.\nKirsch\nShort for kirschwasser; an unaged brandy or eau-de-vie produced by pot-distilling crushed cherries and their pits.\nKümmel\nA grain-based liqueur first distilled in Holland in the late 1500s. It’s flavored with cumin, caraway and fennel.\nLicor 43\nA citrus-and-vanilla-flavored Spanish liqueur made from a combination of 43 herbs and spices.\nLillet\nA wine-based French aperitif flavored with orange peel and quinine. The lesser-known rouge variety is sweeter than the more widely available blanc.\nLimoncello\nAn intensely flavored Italian liqueur made from lemon peels soaked in neutral spirits, then sweetened with sugar.\nMadeira\nA fortified wine from the island of Madeira, usually named for one of four grape varieties: sercial (the driest), verdelho, bual or malmsey, which are progressively sweeter.\nMaraschino liqueur\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nMaraschino liqueur\nA clear Italian liqueur, the best of which is distilled from sour marasca cherries and their pits, aged in ash barrels, then sweetened with sugar.\nMarsala\nA Sicilian fortified wine; styles include secco (dry), which is often served as an aperitif, and semisecco (semisweet) and dolce (sweet), which are commonly served as dessert wines.\nMead\nA fermented honey-based beverage that is often flavored with herbs, spices or flowers.\nMetaxa\nA greek brandy sweetened with Muscat wine; aged up to 30 years.\nMezcal\nAn agave-based spirit with a smoky flavor that comes from roasting the agave hearts in pits before fermentation. The best mezcal is made in Mexico’s Oaxaca region.\nNavan\nA Cognac infused with black Madagascar vanilla.\nNocino\nAn Italian or Swiss liqueur traditionally made from brandy or grappa, unripe walnuts, sugar and spices.\nNoilly Prat rouge\nA bittersweet red vermouth from the south of France made from a secret mixture of herbs and spices, including saffron, quinine and cloves.\nOrange Bitters\nA concentrated infusion of neutral alcohol, orange peel, herbs and spices such as cardamom\nOrgeat\nA sweet, nonalcoholic syrup made from almonds or almond extract, sugar and rose or orange flower water.\nOverproof Rum\nAlso known as 151-proof rum, a high-octane spirit that’s often used for flaming drinks.\nParfait Amour\nA purple French liqueur flavored with orange, violets and vanilla.\nPastis\nA licorice-flavored French spirit that turns cloudy when mixed with water. It’s similar to absinthe but sweeter and lower in alcohol.\nPernod\nA French producer of a liqueur made from the essential oils of star anise and fennel combined with herbs, spices, sugar and a neutral spirit. Pernod recently rereleased their absinthe, which, like all absinthes, had been banned in the United States since 1912.\nPeychaud’s bitters\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nPeychaud’s bitters\nA brand of bitters with bright anise and cranberry flavors; the recipe dates to 19th-century New Orleans.\nPimm’s No. 1\nA gin-based English aperitif often served with ginger beer or lemonade.\nPineau des Charentes\nA low-proof French spirit made by combining unfermented grape juice and young Cognac, then briefly aging in oak.\nPisco\nA clear brandy distilled from grapes in the wine-producing regions of Peru and Chile\nPoire Williams\nA pear eau-de-vie, usually made in Switzerland or the Alsace region of France.\nPommeau de Normandie\nA French aperitif spirit made by adding fresh-pressed apple juice to young Calvados, then aging it in oak.\nPort\nA fortified wine from the Douro region of Portugal. Styles include fruity, young ruby port; richer, nuttier tawny; thick-textured, oak-aged late bottled vintage (LBV); and decadent vintage port, made from the best grapes in the best vintages. Dry white port is often served chilled, as an aperitif.\nPunt e Mes\nA spicy, orange-accented sweet Italian vermouth fortified with bitters.\nRhum agricole\nAn aromatic rum made in the French West Indies from sugarcane juice. When aged from one to six months, it is bottled as white rhum agricole, or rhum blanc; aged for a minimum of three years, it can be sold as aged rhum agricole, or rhum vieux.\nRoot Liqueur\nA sugarcane-distilled liqueur flavored with birch bark, smoked black tea, citrus peels, cloves and other spices. Art in the Age, in Philadelphia, is the main producer.\nRye whiskey\nA primarily rye-based distilled spirit, often blended with corn mash and barley. American straight rye whiskey is produced from a mash of at least 51 percent rye, aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years and diluted with nothing but water.\nSherry\nA fortified wine from Spain’s Jerez region. Varieties include dry styles like fino and manzanilla; nuttier, richer amontillado and oloroso; and viscous sweet Pedro Ximénez (PX) and cream sherry. East India sherry falls between an oloroso and a PX in style.\nShochu\nAn unaged or lightly aged, clear East Asian spirit distilled most commonly from rice, barley, buckwheat and/or a variety of sweet potato.\nSloe gin\nA bittersweet liqueur produced by infusing gin or a neutral spirit with sloe berries and sugar.\nSt. Elizabeth Allspice Dram\nAn Austrian rum-based liqueur infused with Jamaican allspice berries.\nSt-Germain elderflower liqueur\nA French liqueur made by blending macerated elderflower blossoms with eau-de-vie. It has hints of pear, peach and grapefruit zest.\nStrega\nAn Italian liqueur infused with about 70 herbs and spices, including saffron, which gives it a golden yellow color.\nTriple sec\nAn orange-flavored liqueur that is similar to curaçao but not as sweet. Cointreau, created in France in 1875, is the most famous.\nTuaca\nA brandy-based Italian liqueur flavored with vanilla and citrus.\nVelvet Falernum\nA low-alcohol, sugarcane-based liqueur from Barbados flavored with clove, almond and lime.\nVermouth\nAn aromatic fortified wine. The dry variety is used in martinis. sweet vermouth, which is usually red, is often used for Manhattans. Bianco, or blanc, vermouth is an aromatic, sweet white vermouth traditionally served on the rocks.\nZwack\nAn intense Hungarian herbal liqueur produced since 1790 from a secret blend of more than 40 herbs and spices.\nAdvertisement","Chicory.txt\nChicory\nCommon chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the dandelion family, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds), or roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock. It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and is now common in North America, China, and Australia, where it has become widely naturalized. [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id2&taxon_id\n200023652 Flora of China, Cichorium intybus Linnaeus, 1753. 菊苣 ju ju ] \n\n\"Chicory\" is also the common name in the United States for curly endive (Cichorium endivia); these two closely related species are often confused. \n\nNames\n\nCommon chicory is also known as blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailors, blue weed, bunk, coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, ragged sailors, succory, wild bachelor's buttons, and wild endive. (Note: \"Cornflower\" is commonly applied to Centaurea cyanus.) Common names for varieties of var. foliosum include endive, radicchio, Belgian endive, French endive, red endive, sugarloaf, and witloof (or witlof).\n\nDescription\n\nWhen flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from tall. The leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed. The flower heads are wide, and usually bright blue, rarely white or pink. Of the two rows of involucral bracts, the inner is longer and erect, the outer is shorter and spreading. It flowers from July until October. The achenes have no pappus (feathery hairs), but do have toothed scales on top. \n\nLeaf chicory\n\nWild\n\nWild chicory leaves usually have a bitter taste. Their bitterness is appreciated in certain cuisines, such as in the Ligurian and Apulian regions of Italy and also in southern part of India along with coffee, in Catalonia, Greece, and Turkey. In Ligurian cuisine, wild chicory leaves are an ingredient of preboggion and in Greek cuisine of horta; in the Apulian region, wild chicory leaves are combined with fava bean puree in the traditional local dish fave e cicorie selvatiche.; in Albania, the leaves are used as a spinach substitute, mainly served simmered and marinated in olive oil, or as ingredient for fillings of byrek.\n\nBy cooking and discarding the water, the bitterness is reduced, after which the chicory leaves may be sautéed with garlic, anchovies, and other ingredients. In this form, the resulting greens might be combined with pasta or accompany meat dishes. \n\nCultivated\n\nChicory may be cultivated for its leaves, usually eaten raw as salad leaves. Cultivated chicory is generally divided into three types, of which there are many varieties: \n\n* Radicchio usually has variegated red or red and green leaves. Some only refer to the white-veined red-leaved type as radicchio, also known as red endive and red chicory. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. It can also be used to add color and zest to salads. It is largely used in Italy in different varieties, the most famous being the ones from Treviso (known as radicchio rosso di Treviso), from Verona (radicchio di Verona), and Chioggia (radicchio di Chioggia), which are classified as an IGP. It is also common in Greece.\n*Sugarloaf looks rather like cos lettuce, with tightly packed leaves. \n\n*Belgian endive, known in Dutch as witloof or witlof (\"white leaf\"), endive or (very rarely) witloof in the United States, indivia in Italy, endivias in Spain, chicory in the UK, as witlof in Australia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France and in Wallonia. It has a small head of cream-coloured, bitter leaves. It is grown completely underground or indoors in the absence of sunlight in order to prevent the leaves from turning green and opening up (etiolation). The plant has to be kept just below the soil surface as it grows, only showing the very tip of the leaves. It is often sold wrapped in blue paper to protect it from light and so preserve its pale colour and delicate flavour. The smooth, creamy white leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or simply cut raw. The tender leaves are slightly bitter; the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste. The harder inner part of the stem at the bottom of the head should be cut out before cooking to prevent bitterness. Belgium exports chicon/witloof to over 40 different countries. The technique for growing blanched endives was accidentally discovered in the 1850s at the Botanical Garden of Brussels in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium. Today France is the largest producer of endive. \n\nThe Catalogna chicory (also known as puntarelle) includes a whole subfamily (some varieties from Belgian endive and some from radicchio) of chicory and used throughout Italy.\n\nAlthough leaf chicory is often called \"endive\", true endive (Cichorium endivia) is a different species in the genus and should not be confused with Belgian endive.\n\nRoot chicory\n\nRoot chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been cultivated in Europe as a coffee substitute. The roots are baked, roasted, ground, and used as an additive, especially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native). As a coffee additive, it is also mixed in Indian filter coffee, and in parts of Southeast Asia, South Africa, and southern United States, particularly in New Orleans. It has been more widely used during economic crises such as the Great Depression in the 1930s and during World War II in Continental Europe. Chicory, with sugar beet and rye, was used as an ingredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the \"East German coffee crisis\" of 1976-79.\n\nSome beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to stouts (commonly expected to have a coffee-like flavour). Others have added it to strong blond Belgian-style ales, to augment the hops, making a witlofbier, from the Dutch name for the plant.\n\nAround 1970, it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar to starch. Inulin is mainly found in the plant family Asteraceae as a storage carbohydrate (for example Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia, yacon, etc.). It is used as a sweetener in the food industry with a sweetening power that of sucrose and is sometimes added to yogurts as a prebiotic. Inulin is also gaining popularity as a source of soluble dietary fiber and functional food. \n\nChicory root extract is a dietary supplement or food additive produced by mixing dried, ground chicory root with water, and removing the insoluble fraction by filtration and centrifugation. Other methods may be used to remove pigments and sugars. It is used as a source of soluble fiber. Fresh chicory root typically contains, by dry weight, 68% inulin, 14% sucrose, 5% cellulose, 6% protein, 4% ash, and 3% other compounds. Dried chicory root extract contains, by weight, about 98% inulin and 2% other compounds. \nFresh chicory root may contain between 13 and 23% inulin, by total weight. \n\nAgents responsible for bitterness \n\nThe bitter substances are primarily the two sesquiterpene lactones lactucin and lactucopicrin. Other ingredients are aesculetin, aesculin, cichoriin, umbelliferone, scopoletin, 6,7-dihydrocoumarin, and further sesquiterpene lactones and their glycosides. \n\nMedicinal use\n\nRoot chicory contains volatile oils similar to those found in plants in the related genus Tanacetum which includes Tansy, and is similarly effective at eliminating intestinal worms. All parts of the plant contain these volatile oils, with the majority of the toxic components concentrated in the plant's root. \n\nChicory is well known for its toxicity to internal parasites. Studies indicate that ingestion of chicory by farm animals results in reduction of worm burdens, which has prompted its widespread use as a forage supplement. Only a few major companies are active in research, development, and production of chicory varieties and selections, most in New Zealand.\n\nChicory (especially the flower), used as a folk medicine in Germany, is recorded in many books as an ancient German treatment for everyday ailments. It is variously used as a tonic and as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinus problems and cuts and bruises. (Howard M. 1987). Chicory contains inulin, which may help humans with weight loss, constipation, improving bowel function and general health. In rats, it may increase calcium absorption and bone mineral density. It also increases absorption of calcium and other minerals in humans. \n\nChicory has demonstrated antihepatotoxic potential in animal studies. \n\nAlternative medicine\n\nChicory has been listed as one of the 38 plants that are used to prepare Bach flower remedies, a kind of alternative medicine. However, according to Cancer Research UK, \"there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, cure or prevent any type of disease, including cancer\". \n\nNative American use\n\nThe Cherokee use an infusion of the root as a tonic for nerves. The Iroquois use a decoction of the roots as a wash and apply a poultice of it to chancres and fever sores. \n\nForage \n\nChicory is highly digestible for ruminants and has a low fiber concentration. Chicory roots are an \"excellent substitute for oats\" for horses due to their protein and fat content. Chicory contains a low quantity of reduced tannins that may increase protein utilization efficiency in ruminants. Some tannins reduce intestinal parasites. (Excessively large quantities of tannins, however, could bind with and precipitate proteins, resulting in low digestibility and nutrient reduction.)\n \nAlthough chicory might have originated in France, Italy, and India, much development of chicory for use with livestock has taken place in New Zealand. \n\nForage chicory varieties\n\n*Puna (Grasslands Puna)\nDeveloped in New Zealand, Grasslands Puna is well adapted to different climates, being grown from Alberta, Canada, to New Mexico and Florida. It is resistant to bolting, which leads to high nutrient levels in the leaves in spring. It also has high resistance to grazing.\n*Forage Feast\nA variety from France used for human consumption and also for wildlife plots. It is very cold-hardy and, being lower in tannins than other forage varieties, is suitable for human consumption.\n*Choice\nChoice has been bred for high winter and early-spring growth activity, and lower amounts of lactucin and lactone, which are believed to taint milk. It is also use for seeding deer wildlife plots.\n*Oasis\nBred for increased lactone rates for the forage industry, and for higher resistance to fungal diseases like Sclerotinia.\n*Puna II\nMore winter-active than most other varieties, which leads to greater persistence and longevity.\n*Grouse\nA New Zealand variety used as a planting companion for forage brassicas. More prone to early flowering than other varieties, with higher crowns more susceptible to overbrowsing.\n*Six Point\nA United States variety, very similar to Puna.\n\nHistory\n\nThe chicory plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: \"Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae\" (\"As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance\"). In 1766, Frederick the Great banned the importation of coffee into Prussia leading to the development of a coffee-substitute by Brunswick innkeeper Christian Gottlieb Förster (died 1801), who gained a concession in 1769/70 to manufacture it in Brunswick and Berlin. By 1795 there were 22 to 24 factories of this type in Brunswick. Lord Monboddo describes the plant in 1779 as the \"chicoree\", which the French cultivated as a pot herb. In Napoleonic Era France, chicory frequently appeared as either an adulterant in coffee, or as a coffee substitute. Chicory was also adopted as a coffee substitute by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, and has become common in the United States. It was also used in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, where Camp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence, has been on sale since 1885.\n\nThe cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval monks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that chicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.\n\nIn the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in prisons.(a) Delaney, John H. \"New York (State). Dept. of Efficiency and Economy Annual Report\". Albany New York, 1915, p. 673. Accessed via Google Books.(b) \"Prison Talk\" website; Kentucky section: http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-173368.html. By the 1840s, the port of New Orleans was the second largest importer of coffee (after New York). Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union naval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans, thereby creating a long-standing tradition.\n\nA common meal in Rome, puntarelle, is made with chicory sprouts. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that Chicory is a native plant of western Asia, North Africa and Europe.\n\nChicory is also mentioned in certain sericulture (silk-growing) texts. It is said that the primary caretaker of the silkworms, the \"silkworm mother\", should not eat or even touch it.\n\nThe chicory flower is often seen as inspiration for the Romantic concept of the Blue Flower (e. g. in German language 'Blauwarte' ≈ 'blue lookout by the wayside'). It could open locked doors, according to European folklore. \n\nInvasive\n\nCichorium intybus has been declared an invasive species in several states in the USA."],"string":"[\n \"Top 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur - iCohol.com\\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands ... 2. Chartreuse Yellow VEP liqueur ... Most everyone enjoys something flashy and the bright green color of this liqueur is as aesthetically ...\\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur - iCohol.com\\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur\\nWhat’s Liqueur?\\nLiqueur is an alcoholic beverage that’s usually flavored with assorted flavors. Liqueur is bottled with added sugar. This added sugar is what defines it.\\nYou can’t simply go by a spirit being flavored to be classified as a liqueur because many spirts are flavored such as rum, vodka, etc. Like stated above, what really sets a liqueur apart from a spirit is that it contains the added sugar, which spirits do not.\\nLiqueurs usually range from 14% to 35%. Desset Wines are not liqueurs, while cordials have become synoumous with liquers.\\n1. Arran Gold Cream Liqueur\\nWinner of the World’s Best Whisky Liqueur back in 2007 so is deserved of being on this list. The color is a light brown that immediately makes a drinker think of chocolate which would be correct because one’s nose immediately carries that idea through the senses. Smelling of a chocolate milkshake, Arran Gold is great to mix with Whiskey because it is able to envelope the bold taste of the liquor and produce something both tasty and warming. If you try it on the rocks, you’ll realize just how creamy and smooth this treat is, but you’ll also be surprised to taste a hint of malt on the backend. Arran Gold finds a way to make a great Whiskey even smoother with its light body and full taste. Try it in: A glass with or without ice. Simple enough.\\n2. Chartreuse Yellow VEP liqueur\\nChartreuse is undoubtedly the healthiest liqueur on the list. But don’t think it loses any of its tastiness. Chartreuse is made by French monks who have been working on the brand for over 500 years. Chartreuse is more bold than the others on the list, stepping it up at 42% alcohol by volume. Off the nose, you’ll gather mainly licorice and fennel, but don’t be surprised if you begin picking out one or two of the 130 herbs used for this drink. The only liqueur to use oak castes to age the product, Chartreuse will give your tongue a bit more floral taste, pushing some of its other herbs like sage, saffron and thyme. Chartreuse is a popular liqueur, but understand that this is something you should use sporadically or when you’re dying to impress. At $123 a liter, the VEP is a hefty drink with awesome taste. Cocktails include: April Shower, Yellow Bird and the Torii Toddy\\n3. Frangelico\\nFirst, can I just say this bottle reminds me of Aunt Jemima Syrup. Anyone else see it? It makes sense since the bottle is supposed to look like a monk in his habit. This Italian liqueur is popular already and I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Frangelico owns a light caramel coloring and is a hazelnut and herb flavored drink. When you open the bottle, wafts of hazelnut, vanilla and cinnamon enter your nose, giving you a dynamic and strong idea of what is to come. The body is more light weight then most liqueurs and also differs in the fact that while its smooth, it doesn’t leave that feeling of cream or syrup on your tongue after a swig. Its flavors sit on the tongue quickly, producing chocolate, hazelnut and spice to your taste buds. Again, the smell is so delicious that you’ll want to keep inhaling this drinks aromas, even while you’re pouring some down your throat. An easy finish, and its easy to see why Frangelico is such a popular liqueur. Here are the cocktails to try: Chocolate Cake Shooter, Friar Tuck #2 and Procrastinator Shot\\n4. Tia maria\\nTia Maria is a liqueur made from Jamaica that encompasses two of my favorite things: Jamaican Rum and Blue Mountain Coffee. Ok, the Blue Mountain might be a stretch, but it actually is the finest coffee produced in Jamaica. Mix that with a rich Jamaican Rum and you have a thumbs up. The alcohol percentage is at 20% which makes this a great liqueur for adding to coco, coffee or sipping over the rocks. Tia Maria is a smoother blend with a hint of spice that can add a hint of something different to any drink you make it with and since it’s not made with cream, its perfect for those out there watching their caloric intake. Want to try it but not sure how? Here are a few options you can throw together at your next party to introduce everyone to an internationally known liqueur: Dark Indulgence Cocktail, Mike Tyson Cocktail and Ciel Recipe\\n5. Midori\\nComing from the Japanese word for “green”, Midori is a must-have in any home bar. Its easy to see why this liqueur is popular to begin with. Most everyone enjoys something flashy and the bright green color of this liqueur is as aesthetically pleasing as it is aromatically and tasting wise. Again, a liqueur with a 20% alcohol by volume, its a drink that can easily mixed and added to practically any real liquor. When you open a bottle of Midori, you’ll be hit with the obvious scent of melons; but the smell of bananas and strawberries also follows. Midori on the rocks doesn’t disappoint either, with a slightly more fruity taste than some of the other liqueurs you’ll find on this list. Don’t worry though, Midori isn’t too sweet, but it certainly will ensure that you taste it throughout the entirety of your drink. Cocktails that everyone should try with Midori: Midori Berry Bliss, Carpet Licker and Frozen Midori Sour\\n6. Amarula\\nYou might not know what Amarula is, but you should. Its best description could be simply this: a thinner and milkshake. I don’t know about you, but I will drink anything that reminds me of ice cream deliciousness. But I’m getting a touch ahead of myself. Lets start with how it smells. This African treat brings one word caramel into play. It smells, looks and tastes like a butterscotch dream, creating a slight layering on the glass and gently coating the tongue with each sip. While it can become a bit sweet, Amarula is a perfect after dinner sipper and can be added to drinks much the same way Baileys Irish Cream can. Amarula is quickly become a favorite for its taste, but you might also enjoy it for its aphrodisiac powers. The drinks to make with it: French Toast, Amarula Dusky Decadence (complicated but worth it) and Elephant Shake\\n7. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur\\nThis is a liqueur you need to try. It is hard to keep since it produced in small quantities and stores can go weeks without carrying it, but once you get your hands on a bottle of St. Germain, you’ll want to keep tabs on its delivery dates. A liqueur with a medium body, it is like our other liqueurs on the list with a 20% abv, making it great for drinking on the rocks for a great deal of time. Unlike the other liqueurs on this list, its coloring is lighter (and more normal than the green of Midori) with a golden hue. Its smell also differs because it doesn’t hold that punch of spicy or deep flavorfulness, but rather, introduces a citrusy and light aroma to the drinker. You’ll smell flowers and pears and you’ll receive slightly sweet mix with a slight tart. Ultimately an amazing mix. St. Germain Elderflower won’t overpower any cocktail you add it to, but it will bring about a freshness that would be perfect for this summer. Cocktails to try are: The St. Germain Cocktail, Sangria Flora and Cuzco Fizz\\n8. Aperol liqueur\\nThis Italian liqueur is a good transition here, with an alcohol content of 11%. Aperol is a younger liqueur, only being around since 1919, but its found a way to differentiate itself rather quickly. Aperol looks simple, with a simple bottle and a simple label, but it certainly hold more complex contents. A mix of orange, rhubarb, gentian and other herbs, Aperol finds a way to mix all the above together for something that is surprisingly subtle and delightful. A refreshing liqueur, it is owned in almost every Italian home and is quickly making its way into most of America’s homes as well. Cocktails to try: Aperol Royal, Aperol Betty and Aperol Sour\\n9. Domaine de canton ginger liqueur\\nThe name holds the main key to this awesomely tasty liqueur. Made in France, Domaine de Canton begins with baby Vietnamese ginger which is then macerated with various herbs. Hand made, it can be difficult to get your hands on a bottle of times due to its small quantities, but along with its awesome bottle…it proves to be a uniqueness you want on hand. Domaine de Canton Ginger also mixes with VSOP Cognac, Grand Champagne, vanilla and orange blossom honey to give it both an inviting and aromatic smell. Pop open the bottle and you’ll be intrigued by its vanilla and citrus smell. The body is medium with 28% abv and yields a golden coloring. On the tongue, you’ll certainly taste the ginger, but its evenly balanced with the subtleness of the cognac and champagne. Cocktails you should try include: El Diablo Martini, Ginger Cosmopolitan and The Gold Rush\\n10. Bols Advocaat\\nTo understand how this liqueur is different, you need to understand what makes an advocaat different first. Made from eggs, sugar and brandy, Bols Advocaat is a decently simple receipe for a liqueur which proves to be versatile. Because of its simplicity, Bols has created a various array of liqueurs from Bols Watermelon to Bols Strawberry to garshdarn Bols Coconut. Each liqueur has its definitive characteristics. For example, the Bols Banana proves true to its name by pushing the banana taste into your mouth, but also follows up with vanilla and hints of almonds. The color is true to the name as well with its bright yellow liquid sitting in the clear glass bottle. While it would be great to try every one of these, it would be also incredibly difficult. So while you might want to start with some of the more moderate flavors, you have to admit the Bols Parfait Amour looks pretty inviting. Drinks to try for the Bols Banana: Bols Banana & Orange, Banana Banshee and a Banana Colada.\\nDiscuss! #Bestliqueur\",\n \"Citrus Pages / Sour oranges\\nA friend from a horticultural project in Afghanistan informed me that sour oranges are popular ... (as a pomelo × mandarin hybrid, see Citrus ... 25-30 seeds, fruit ...\\nCitrus Pages / Sour oranges\\n'Bouquet de fleurs' sour oranges\\n� Jorma Koskinen\\n \\nHistory\\nThe sour orange is thought to have originated in the north-eastern parts of India and the neighbouring south-western parts of China and northern Burma. Its cultivation spread slowly westward and reached the Near East at the beginning of the Christian era. The history of the introduction of the sour orange to Europe is very interesting because it consists of two separate stories and strains, a fact which is usually misunderstood.\\nArabs had conquered the southern part of Spain by 711 and called it Al-Andalus. They reigned various parts of it until 1492. Arab architects designed beautiful mosques, the most famous of which is the Mesquita in Cordoba. The building was completed in 987 when the famous Patio de los naranjos, the courtyard of oranges also took its final form. The Caliphs of Cordoba were very fond of sour orange trees and ordered them to be planted in the most prominent public spaces in the most important towns of Al-Andalus.\\nThis strain of sour orange brought to Spain by Arabs through Northern Africa at the end of the first millenium became the type we today know as the Seville orange, which later became the standard form of sour orange (see Sevillano below). The largest plantations of it still exist around the town of Seville. Arab conquerors also brought the sour orange to the eastern Mediterranean area and the island of Sicily where it is known to have grown in 1002 A.D. \\nThe story of the sour orange being brought back by crusaders returning from the Holy Land in the 12th and 13th centuries is also true but of another variety completely. The crusaders brought the Bittersweet orange to the northern Mediterranean countries from where it travelled to Versailles and farther to America (see Bittersweet below). All through the Middle Ages in central and southern Europe citron and sour orange were the only known citrus fruit. Sour orange was considered an important medicinal plant. The fruit was used as a condiment to hide the unpleasant flavour of salted meat and fish (the only known form of preserving). It was also used as a spice and to make marmalade. The flowers were used as a scent. The sweet orange came to Europe during the 15th century and because it could be eaten fresh, it slowly displaced the sour orange. \\nUses\\nSour oranges are usually not eaten fresh. Their importance lies in the oil that can be extracted from the flowers, leaves, seeds and rind. This oil gives its typical orange-like flavour to spices, sweets, liqueurs etc. Some varieties of sour orange impart their aroma to expensive perfumes, soaps and after-shaves. The oils from sour oranges are used in aromatherapy and many health products. The dried flowers and buds as well as some oils are used in blendings of fine tea. The whole fruit is used to make the orange marmalade the British prefer.\\nCertain sour oranges are caramelized whole and eaten as a dessert. The main constituent in the aroma of many soft drinks is sour orange. More detailed information on uses can be found in the description of each variety. In addition to the many food uses what really makes the sour orange important for the whole citrus industry is its suitability for being used as rootstock . Being resistant to many plant diseases and compatible with the majority of commercial citrus types makes it invaluable. \\nA friend from a horticultural project in Afghanistan informed me that sour oranges are popular there at meal times. Many people prefer them to lemons and limes and sour orange juice is squeezed on food the same way lemon is used in the Mediterranean. The zest is used to flavour rice. The vesicle segments without seeds and membranes are also eaten fresh. The variety of this sour orange is not known to him but he sent pictures of the tree and fruit and of a meal where it is used. From the pictures it can clearly be seen that it is a sour orange, maybe a bittersweet orange . Pictures on the left by � Muhammad Aziz\\nTaste\\nThe taste of sour orange varieties and hybrids differ more from each other than is usual in other citrus types. The taste of a standard sour orange is unpalatable to most people and only good for making marmalade. Various sour orange hybrids are too acrid even for marmalade. However, several sour oranges have quite a bit of sugar and some are subacid, which makes them suitable for various food uses. See the descriptions of the individual varieties below. Quite often the taste of orange in food products comes from the sour orange. When sweet oranges are cooked they lose their flavour, especially the juice. Marmalade made of sweet oranges only does not have a strong taste of orange, surprisingly enough. The same is true of sweets, chocolates and liqueurs. But when a few drops of the essence of sour orange is added a strong taste of orange emerges. The alcohol products marketed as orange liqueurs are all made of sour orange. Several varieties are planted for ornamental purposes because of their thick and beautiful foliage as well as their plentiful fruit, which remain on the trees for most of the year. Visiting Spain and other Mediterranean countries one may have thought it peculiar that so many beautiful orange trees full of fruit line the promenades and boulevards. Picking a fruit to taste it one may have been disappointed to find it inedible. Most likely it was one of the several varieties of sour orange.\\nVarieties\\nMore than 80 cultivated varieties of sour orange are known. About twenty are of commercial importance. Sour oranges are divided into four main groups. The varieties described below are mentioned after each group: \\n1. Common sour oranges: Standard sour orange and Sevillano\\n2. Bittersweet oranges: \\nCitrus aurantium var. amara Engl.\\n \\n \\nSour orange, Common sour orange or Standard sour orange, also known as bitter orange and in food contexts as Seville orange\\n, very much resembles the sweet orange. The rind is usually much thicker, rough on the surface and hard to peel. The sour orange is seldom very juicy and often has many seeds. When fully ripe the core at the centre of the segments becomes hollow.\\nAn important part of the world production is sold to England, Scotland and South Africa where it is made into marmalade. The orange marmalade preferred by the British is made out of sour oranges only and a marmalade made from sweet oranges is not acceptable. Some sour oranges are often added to regular sweet orange marmalade to improve its flavour. The dried peel of sour orange is used as a spice in baking and confectioneries.\\nThe flower of the sour orange \\nis the source of Neroli oil (produced by steam distillation) and Neroli absolute (produced by solvent extraction). The flowers yield nectar for honey bees. Neroli petitgrain oil is made from leaves and twigs by steam distillation. Neroli bigarade oil is made from the peel of nearly ripe fruit by cold expression. These oils are widely used in perfumery and cosmetics, and as a flavouring agent in foods, alcoholic and soft drinks. They are also used in aromatherapy. For more information see citrus oils , bittersweet orange and perfumery varieties . Genuine orange flower-water is a by-product of the steam distillation of oils.\\nThe thick peel of certain types of sour orange, especially 'Jacmel' in Jamaica, is cut into segments, which are dried in the sun. They are then soaked in pure alcohol in a process called maceration. Later this mixture is distilled and the clear liquid obtained is used for flavouring citrus liqueurs such as Grand Marnier and Cointreau. The dried peel of a sour orange variety from the island of Cura�ao is used in the making of citrus liqueurs Cura�ao and Triple sec. The peel and seeds also\\nhave medicinal uses and are used in making soap. \\nAll parts of the sour orange can be used. It adapts easily to varying conditions and survives with little or no care. It can stand several degrees of frost for short periods. In proper conditions the tree can attain exceptional longevity. Some trees in Spain are said to be over 600 years old.\\nSome cultivated varieties with their country of origin:\\nAlgeria: Algerian, Trabout\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Sevillano'\\n Syn\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Real'\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Agrio de Espa�a'\\n \\n \\n'Sevillano' is the sour orange variety grown in southern Spain in and around the city of Seville.\\nUnlike the 'Bittersweet' (see below) this variety was brought directly to Spain by Arab conquerors in the 10th century from northern Africa via Morocco. This was the original Seville orange and later became known as the standard sour orange. The variety is also known by its Spanish name Real (royal), Agrio de Espa�a (Spanish sour). The tree is attractive, large, vigorous, productive and cold tolerant. It has very few or no thorns. The fruit is seedy, bitter, and acidic, medium size, round, with a slightly depressed apex and a pebbled dark orange rind.\\nThis is the principal marmalade variety. It is exported chiefly to England and Scotland for orange marmalade production. The typical bitterness combined with its sour orange characteristics make it an ideal variety for this. The Spanish production area in 2006 was 1120 hectares (2770 acres) and the production around 17 000 metric tons.\\n \\nSeville orange, Common sour orange, Common bitter orange\\n FRA\\nBigarade sans �pine, Bigarade d'Espagne\\nPhotos\\n \\n \\nThe Bittersweet orange came from the Near East to Europe with the returning crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. The tree is known to have been commercially grown in the Nice area from the year 1322 (as opposed to the ' Sevillano ' above). This is the sour orange that first reached Paris and Versailles and became the favourite of kings and aristocrats or anyone who could afford to build the special greenhouses\\ncalled orangerie that were needed for growing them.\\nThis was also the first orange to reach the New World with the second voyage of Columbus (1493). It quickly established itself in suitable surroundings like Florida and Paraguay, where the largest cultivated areas still are and where it soon started to grow wild. The tree is large and thorny, the fruit medium size, globose and with a smoother rind texture than the common sour orange. The rind is medium thick and seeds are numerous. The taste is sweet but bitter at the same time. The distinguishing feature is the relative lack of acidity, which makes these varieties almost palatable to some. The two main varieties Bittersweet and Paraguay (Apepu) have acquired slightly different characteristics: Bittersweet has more sugar whereas Paraguay is subacid and therefore sometimes actually tastes sweeter.\\nIn its cultivation area the bittersweet orange is used for making marmalade. In the Caribbean islands dried peel is used to aromatize citrus liqueurs. The juice is also used for marinades. The mojo of Cuba is a marinade of half sour orange juice and half oil, spiced with garlic and onions. The leaves and twigs of the bittersweet orange are used to make petitgrain (Paraguay) oil by steam distillation. The peel of the immature fruit is used to obtain bigarade oil by cold expression. These oils are not as highly esteemed as Neroli petitgrain or Neroli bigarade from the common sour orange , but they are largely used in perfumery and in aromatherapy. The most important producer of these is still Paraguay. For more information see citrus oils .\\nCultivated varieties: Orlando, Dummet, Bittersweet of Florida and Paraguay (Apepu).\\n \\nCitrus � aurantium ’Bouquetier group’\\n'Bouquet de fleurs'\\n'Bouquetier de Nice � fleurs doubles'\\n \\nCitrus � aurantium ’Bouquet’\\nCitrus � aurantium ‘Bouquetier � Grandes Fleurs’\\nCitrus � aurantium\\n ‘Bouquetier de Nice � Fleurs Doubles’ \\nIn Algeria: 'Bouquetier � fruits mous'\\n \\nThere is some confusion about these perfumery varieties. On the French Riviera and around the town of Grasse as well as in Algeria and Tunisia several sour orange varieties are grown solely for their flowers, which yield a superior quality of Neroli oil that is used in perfumery and aromatherapy.\\nThe trees are small, some even dwarfish, and the small fruit are often discarded, although they can be used for making petitgrain and bigarade oils. The flowers of these varieties differ. The flowers of the most highly prized varieties are doubled. The bottom picture shows one of the most valued varieties called the Double-flowered Bouquetier of Nice. The oil obtained from these varieties is more expensive than gold.\\nBouquet (Bouquet des fleurs) has small, oval leaves and dense clustered foliage. The fruits are small, moderately pebbled and well-coloured.\\nBouquetier � grandes fleurs is the most important perfumery variety. It has very large, simple flowers and large round fruits with very thick rinds. The tree is small and spineless. The fruit makes excellent confections.\\nBouquetier de Nice � fleurs doubles has doubled flowers, which develop into double fruits that have a secondary fruit inside the primary. The leaves are very large and broad.\\nThe word bouquetier means either a small narrow vase for holding nosegays or a flower-seller, the feminine form bouqueti�re means a flower-girl. Bouquet is a bunch of flowers, among other things. There are several named cultivars, see above. For more information on the oils, see citrus oils .\\n ENG\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Variegated'\\nSyn\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Panach�'\\nCitrus � aurantium\\n \\n \\nVariegated sour orange has several forms or clones that differ in the degree of variegation. In some trees the variegation only occurs in the leaves; in all leaves in some clones and only in part of the leaves in others.\\nIn certain strains only the fruit is variegated but the leaves are not or only partly. Variegated fruit fall into two types: those that are variegated only when immature and those that retain the variegation of the peel colouring also in maturity. A famous example of this kind is 'Virgatum', the Swiss orange, so called because the stripes of the ripe orange resemble the striped trousers of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican. It is rare to find a tree where the fruit and all the leaves are variegated.\\nVariegated forms of sour oranges were reported already in the gardens of 16th century Italian palaces.\\nVolkamer \\nin 1714 and Gallesio in 1839\\ndrew and described a sour orange tree with variegated leaves and fruit.\\nVariegated varieties grow true from seed.\\nENG\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Corniculata ' Horned sour orange\\n Syn \\nCitrus � aurantium 'Cornuto', 'Cornicul�', 'De Grasse', 'Horned'\\n \\nThe Horned sour orange 'Corniculata' is an old ornamental form of sour orange that was already known to Volkamer as Aranzo Cornuto in his Hesperides from 1708. This variety can sometimes grow digit-like curved extremities that look like small horns. The formation is similar to the way the Fingered citron (Buddha's hand) grows its \\\"fingers\\\". In their famous book\\nHistoire Naturelle des Orangers published in 1818 Risso and Poiteau described and illustrated this variety as Bigaradier � fruit cornicul�, the \\\"sour orange with horned fruit\\\" and in Italian it was called Melangolo a frutto cornuto. This variety was thought to have been lost until a clone of it was found near the town of Grasse in southern France. This variety is now called 'De Grasse'.\\nThe tree has a low bushy form of growing and is usually wider than it is tall.\\n ENG\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Abers Narrow Leaf'\\nSyn\\n \\nAbers Narrow Leaf is an extremely narrow-leaved form of sour orange The tree is small and drooping in habit and the fruit is typical of bitter orange except that the calyx is fleshy. The presumption is that Abers Narrow Leaf originated in Florida, where it received its name, though it may have been an introduction. \\nIn appearance it somewhat resembles the Granito and the Willowleaf variety, but is not identical with either one.\\nAbers is much used for the extraction of essential oil from its leaves.\\nENG\\nAbers Narrow Leaf sour orange\\nFRA\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Willowleaf'\\nSyn\\nCitrus � aurantium var. salicifolia\\n \\nIn their famous treatise of 1818 Risso and Poiteau published a picture and a description of a\\nBigaradier � feuilles de saule, a\\nsour orange with willow-like narrow leaves. This variety is reported to have originated in 18th century Italy.\\nWillowleaf is an ornamental sour orange. The tree is moderately dwarfed, of highly symmetrical round-topped form, with dense compact foliage consisting of small, narrow, sharp-pointed, yellowish-green leaves. Fruit is small, round to pyriform, yellowish orange and about one third to half of normal sour orange size. Rind thick and rough. Pulp yellow, sour; few seeds. The juice is very acid and somewhat bitter.\\nOnly one clone of Willowleaf has been noted in California and its origin and history are unknown, although it is believed to have been introduced under the botanical variety name salicifolia. It is markedly different from Abers which has sometimes been called Willowleaf.\\nWillowleaf forms grow true from seed.\\nENG\\nCitrus aurantium var. myrtifolia Ker-Gawl.\\n \\nMyrtle-leaved orange gets its name from the myrtle (Myrtus communis) because its leaves resemble those of the myrtle. The leaves grow densely and the fruit hang on the tree for most of the year, which makes it an attractive ornamental plant. The myrtle-leaved orange\\nis grown on the Mediterranean coast of France and in Italy as well as in the citrus zones of the US. The French call it chinois (Chinese). The tree was introduced from China. The Americans call it by its Italian name chinotto.\\nThere is an Italian home page for \\\"chinottofiles\\\", friends of the chinotto. The Chinotto homepage tells you everything you want to know about this tree, and more. Surprisingly it lists dozens of different kinds of soft drinks and beverages made of chinotto. Presumably most of these are only available in Italy, the promised land of chinotto enthusiasts. The fruit are too sour to be eaten fresh but they are candied whole and eaten as a luxury dessert.\\nFour main varieties of chinotto are grown:\\nItaly\\nThe bergamot is of hybrid origin. It has been suggested that\\nit is a hybrid between sour orange (C. aurantium L.) and lemon (C. limon\\n(L.) Burm.f.), or a mutation of the latter. Others considered it a hybrid between\\nsour orange and lime (C. aurantiifolia (Christm. & Panzer) Swingle). However, in the year 2000 a group of scientists at the University of California found in a study using various types of DNA markers 1 that the bergamot is a cross of Sour orange and limetta Citrus limetta.\\nBergamot is only known from cultivation and consists of a limited and well\\ndefined number of cultivars. Four groups of bergamot types are recognized: Common group, \\nMelarosa group (fruit rather flattened), Torulosa group\\n(fruit ridged) and Piccola group (dwarf cultivars).\\nOnly cultivars in the Common bergamot group are commercially cultivated for the essential oil and three cultivars are grown:\\n'Castagnaro', 'Femminello' and 'Fantastico' (a.k.a. 'Inserto'). Formerly, 'Femminello' and\\n'Castagnaro' constituted virtually all commercial plantings in the world, but\\nthey have largely been replaced by 'Fantastico', a hybrid of\\n'Femminello' and 'Castagnaro'.\\n'Femminello' is somewhat less vigorous\\nand smaller than 'Castagnaro'. 'Castagnaro' is more upright and vigorous, attaining\\na larger size than 'Femminello', but is less fruitful and the oil is less aromatic.Their hybrid 'Fantastico' ('Inserto') is a fairly vigorous tree, that yields well and\\nhas only a slight tendency to alternate-bearing, its fruit is medium in size,\\naveraging about 130 g with a rough rind texture and pleasant aroma.\\nJuice: The juice of the fruit was formerly used to prepare calcium citrate and citric acid, while nowadays it is a\\ncomponent of citrus soft drinks.\\nPulp: The pulp is used as animal feed and for the extraction of pectins.\\nEssential oils: Bergamot is mainly grown for the essential oil present in the peel of its fruit (bergamot oil). Bergamot oil\\nis an important component of a toilet water, which was first developed around 1675 in Cologne\\n(Germany) by the Italian immigrant Gian Paolo Feminis and sold by the name Aqua Mirabilis. His relatives further developed the industry and brought it to\\nseveral other cities. Giovanni Maria Farina launched a new product called Eau de Cologne in 1709 .\\nIn 1803 Wilhelm M�hlens bought the rights and introduced a new toilet water called Eau de Cologne 4711 , which was the first industrially produced perfume. The number was the address number assigned to his house. The number later became Glockengasse 26-28 where the \\\"4711\\\" house still stands. Bergamot oil soon became a constituent of high quality perfumes and of men's perfumes, such as aftershaves.\\nCosmetics: The oil is further used in skin care products (bronzers), soaps, lotions and creams. \\nOther uses: Bergamot oil is also a characteristic additive of Earl Grey tea and of tobacco flavourings. In the Castelli\\narea south of Rome it is customary to put a bergamot fruit in a cask of Frascati wine to impart its characteristic aroma.\\nBergamot oil is also used to flavour confectionery, sweets, marmalades and citrus liqueurs.\\nA different oil is obtained\\nfrom the leaves (bergamot petitgrain oil), but is only produced to order, mainly for the perfume/after shave industry.\\nIn the Mediterranean area flowering is in March-April, fruits are harvestable in December-\\nFebruary.\\nThe commercial cultivation of Bergamot is limited to the coasts of the Calabria region of Southern Italy where the Ionian Sea and the nearby mountain range protect the coastal areas from cold weather and northerly winds in the winter.\\nThe\\narea has the highest average annual temperature and the highest number of sunshine hours in Italy and is further\\ncharacterized by mild winters, a small difference between day and night temperatures and the absence of frost.\\nCultivated varieties: 'Castagnaro', 'Femminello' and 'Fantastico ('Inserto')\\nENG\\nBergamot, Bergamot orange, Lemon bergamot\\nFRA\\nCitrus � aurantium 'Smooth Flat Seville '\\n Syn \\nCitrus � paradisi 'Smooth Seville'\\n \\nSmooth Flat Seville\\nis an old Australian fruit that is thought to have originated as a seedling of unknown parentage and has generally been regarded as either a sour orange or a sweet orange and grapefruit hybrid. Its age and numerous resemblances to Poorman orange , however, suggest that it may be of similar origin and possibly a sister seedling.\\nFruit is similar to Poorman in size, form, and flavour, but rind surface is very smooth. Both rind and flesh colour is reddish-orange. Tree and foliage similar to Poorman but tree commonly more vigorous and larger. Younger branches also exhibit dark bark streaks characteristic of Poorman.\\nLike Poorman, Smooth Seville has a lower heat requirement for maturity than the grapefruit and hence ripens earlier and serves as a satisfactory substitute.\\n ENG\\nSmooth Flat Seville, Smooth Seville\\nFRA\\nL. subf. canaliculata ( Hort. ex Yu.Tanaka ) M.Hiroe\\n \\nAccording to The Citrus Industry, vol 1:\\n\\\"The Kikudaidai variety is an attractive, somewhat dwarfed ornamental with fruits that have a solid core and are medium-small, subglobose to oblate, yellowish-orange, and characteristically deeply, longitudinally grooved. The origin of this ornamental is unknown.\\\"\\nSome observations made at the UC-Riverside Citrus Variety Collection:\\n\\\"The Kikudaidai was known in Japan as early as 1864 and is still grown in gardens as a curiosity. Its flower forms a very short inflorescence and leaves are rather broad with large petiole wings.\\\"\\n\\\"A medium-large yellow fruit. Rind is rough similar to rough lemon. Rind of medium thickness, flesh yellow, hollow core, many seeds.\\\"\\nKikudaidai is known as Ju dai dai in Chinese.\\nThe variety is also known as 'Consolei' and 'Chrysanthemum'\\nENG\\n L. f. intermedia ( Hort. ex Tanaka ) M.Hiroe\\n \\nObservations made on the Yama or Yama-mikan cultivar grown at the UC-Riverside Citrus Variety Collection include:\\n\\\"A large fruit, wide 9.5 cm, height 7.9 cm, similar to Natsudaidai in size, shape & color, oblate to slightly oblique shaped, stem end flat, slightly bumpy, rind 7.8 mm, very hollow center, 25-30 seeds, fruit is acid, low solids, leaves large, acuinate tips, petiole average, large wings on petiole (like grapefruit).\\\"\\n\\\"Slightly necked, grapefruit-colored fruit; rind 1 cm thick; large oil glands, marked aroma of sweet orange; light orange flesh, tender, juicy, fairly sweet and pleasant; fairly seedy. Large tree. Seems like a hybrid of sweet orange and grapefruit, by the fruit.\\\"\\nYama is known as Shan mi gan in Chinese\\n \\nYama, Intermediate orange, Yama-mikan sour orange, Mountain citrus\\nFRA\\nCitrus � aurantium L. var. khatta Bonavia \\nCitrus dimorphocarpa Lush.\\n \\n \\nKarna (Khatta) is an old fruit from Maharashtra State, India. It is of unkknown origin but is suspected to be a cross or sour orange and lemon. While the tree and fruit are distinctive, they exhibit characters of both rough lemon and sour orange and there are also characters suggestive of the acid citron.\\nThe fruits are typical sour oranges but the flowers are red-tinted like those of the lemon.\\nThe commercial importance of karna arises from the fact that it is extensively employed in India as a rootstock, second only to rough lemon.\\nThe tree is vigorous, medium to large in size, upright-spreading. Foliage is lemon-like but darker green. New growth is also purple-tinted. Fruit medium to medium large, of variable form but in general round to oval; usually with broad and prominent nipple, Rind moderately thick, firm; surface smooth, warty or ribbed; tightly adherent; color golden yellow to deep orange.\\nFlesh color dull orange; coarse-textured, only moderately juicy; flavor acid with faint aroma suggestive of sour orange.\\nThe two best-known cultivars are: Khatta and Kabbad.\\nThe fruit is also known as: \\nKarna nimbu, Karna Khatta, Khatta, Soh-sarkar\\nENG\\n \\nKitchli\\nis an old Indian fruit of unknown origin. It somewhat resembles the bittersweet orange though it is smaller, flatter, and rougher in surface texture. It is of commercial importance in South India, principally in the Guntur district. Several clones are recognized, but only that of mildest flavor is propagated commercially\\nKitchli has medium adherent to loose skin that is rough and somewhat warty and of medium thickness. The colour is yellowish-orange. The fruit is seedy, the flesh is pale orange-coloured.\\nThe flavour pleasant at full maturity, with slightly bitter aftertaste and musky aroma. Prior to maturity flesh is sharply acid. \\nThe best-known variety is Guntur.\\nENG\\nKitchli sour orange, Vadlapudi sour orange, Guntur sour orange\\nFRA\\n \\nNatsudaidai (Natsumikan) is a natural hybrid of pomelo and sour orange.\\nThe original seedling tree of this fruit is said to have been found in a garden in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, toward the end of the 17th century and is reported still alive. The value of its late-ripening characteristic was not appreciated until approximately a century later and is reflected in the names most commonly used for it: (natsu means summer) Natsudaidai, summer sour orange and Natsumikan summer orange.\\nFruit medium to medium-large (grapefruit size), sometimes with very short collared neck and apex slightly depressed; moderately seedy. Color yellowish-orange. Rind medium-thick; surface coarsely pebbled slightly rough. Segments fairly numerous (12); axis large and semi-hollow at maturity. Flavor acid and refreshing. Late in maturity (summer-maturing in most climates). Holds well on the tree and improves in storage.\\nThe Natsudaidai tree is reported to be less cold resistant than the satsuma mandarin in Japan. Heat requirement for fruit maturity somewhat less than that of the grapefruit and comparable with the so-called Poorman orange and Wheeny grapefruit, both of which attain acceptable quality in climates too cool for satisfactory maturity of the grapefruit. Nevertheless, even at full maturity the Natsudaidai remains too acid for some palates.\\nNatsudaidai is grown commercially in the Japanese coastal regions of mildest winters in Kumamoto and Ehime prefecture. The rough textured fruit is easy to peel and is commonly eaten fresh. It is currently second in importance only to the satsuma mandarin. It is also used for wide variety of products ranging from marmalades to alcoholic beverages.\\nNumerous unnamed clones and selections are grown, some of which exhibit minor differences, but only two derivative varieties—Kawano and Tajima— are propagated commercially. Kawano differs from the common Natsudaidai in the fact that the fruit is less acid (and hence sweeter), matures much earlier, and loses quality if held on the tree after maturity. Tajima is a new and very juicy, late-ripening, high acid variety of much less importance, but considered to be promising.\\nThe best-known varieties are: Amanatsu, Beni Amanatsu, Kawano, Tajima and Natsudaidai.\\nNatsudaidai is also known as Natsukan, Daidai mikan, Ri ben ku ju, Tajima.\\nENG\\n L. var. cyathifera Yu. Tanaka\\n \\nZadaidai is a well-known variety in Japan. The tree is somewhat lacking in vigor, usually dwarfed, round-topped, and nearly thornless, but otherwise similar to the common sour orange except that the leaves are slightly smaller, with petioles more narrowly winged. \\n \\nFruits globose, about the size of a small orange with yellowish orange rind.\\nThe fruit is otherwise round but it is flattened and slightly depressed at both ends. Flesh light to medium orange in color, seedy, juicy and sour.\\nZadaidai differs from most other sour orange hybrids due to its relatively thin, loose and tender rind, which peels of easily, almost like a Satsuma. The rind also puffs with age. This has led to the theory that Zadaidai could be a hybrid of mandarin and sour orange\\n.\\nZadaidai is also known as: Rokugatsu-mikan\\nENG\\nZadaidai sour orange, Rokugatsu-mikan sour orange\\nFRA\\n L. subf. sulcata ( Ik.Takah. ) M.Hiroe\\n \\nSanbokan\\n(Sanb�)\\nis an old Japanese fruit of unknown origin. It was first described in 1848 and is still popular and grown mainly in the Wakayama Prefecture of Japan. It was early classified as a sour orange hybrid and indeed, molecular analysis has shown it to be a close relative of Nansho-daidai (Citrus taiwanica).\\nDue to its popularity and the shape and taste of the fruit is has many names: Sanbokan lemon, Sanbokan Sweet Lemon, Sanbokan grapefruit.\\nThis comparatively cold resistant 10 -15 feet tall tree bears large grapefruit-sized obovoid fruit. The prominent collar or neck of the mature fruit is a distinguishing feature. The yellow, coarsely pebbled rind is medium thick, about 1 cm, and easily removed.\\nThe flesh is seedy, moderately juicy, sweet and has a good flavour. The leaves are fairly small, slightly winged with a petiole slightly shorter than average.\\nThe flavour of Sanbokan is lemon-like but sweeter. It can be used as limes and lemons. The juice tastes somewhat like sweetened lemonade.\\nSanbokan is San bao gan in Chinese and Sanboukan in Japanese\\nENG\\nSanbokan sour orange, Sanbokan Sweet Lemon, Sanbokan grapefruit \\nFRA\\nCitrus nansh�-daidai\\n \\nNansho Daidai sour orange (Citrus taiwanica) was found growing semiwild in forests of Taiwan (formerly Formosa, present day Chinese Taipei) especially in the Nan Zhuang (formerly Nansh�) district. Nansho resembles the ordinary Japanese sour orange (Daidai) but has much longer lanceolate leaves (12-15 cm) that are sharply pointed and the yellow fruits are somewhat flattened, slightly necked with a small nipple at the apex. The tree is vigorous, upright-spreading, and very thorny. Flesh is juicy with an acid flavour and bitter aftertaste. Flesh colour is dull yellow.\\nRecent molecular studies have shown it to be a close relative of Sanbokan (Citrus sulcata) and as a pomelo-mandarin hybrid studies have placed it at about 60% pomelo - 40% mandarin.\\nNansho Daidai is very hardy. It tolerates freezing temperatures well for a certain period without leaf drop or loss of crop the following season. It is reported to have survived temperatures down to 5� F (-15� C). Nansho Daidai is one of the hardiest evergreen citrus trees.\\nNansho Daidai is known as Nan zhuang cheng or Nan zhuang dai dai in Chinese and Nanshou daidai in Japanese.\\nENG\\nTaiwan orange, Nansho Daidai sour orange\\nFRA\\nBigarade nansh�-da�da�\",\n \"Green_tea.txt\\nGreen tea\\nGreen tea is made from Camellia sinensis leaves that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation applied when processing Camellia sinensis into oolong tea and black tea. Green tea originated in China, but its production has spread to many countries in Asia.\\n\\nSeveral varieties of green tea exist, which differ substantially due to growing conditions, horticulture, production processing, and time of harvest.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nTea consumption has its legendary origins in China dating back to more than 4,000 years ago, making it the oldest plant-based tea known. According to legend, green tea was first brewed in 2737 BC during the reign of Emperor Shennong. \\n\\nA book written by Lu Yu in 600-900 AD (Tang Dynasty), \\\"Tea Classic\\\" (), is considered important in green tea history. The Kissa Yojoki (喫茶養生記 Book of Tea), written by Zen priest Eisai in 1191, describes how drinking green tea may affect five vital organs, the shapes of tea plants, flowers and leaves, and how to grow and process tea leaves.\\n\\nBrewing and serving\\n\\nSteeping is the process of making a cup of tea; it is also referred to as brewing. In general, two grams of tea per 100 ml of water, or about one teaspoon of green tea per five-ounce (150 ml) cup, should be used. With very high-quality teas like gyokuro, more than this amount of leaf is used, and the leaf is steeped multiple times for short durations.\\n\\nGreen tea steeping time and temperature vary with a different tea. The hottest steeping temperatures are 81 to water and the longest steeping times two to three minutes. The coolest brewing temperatures are 61 to and the shortest times about 30 seconds. In general, lower-quality green teas are steeped hotter and longer, whereas higher-quality teas are steeped cooler and shorter. Steeping green tea too hot or too long will result in a bitter, astringent brew, regardless of the initial quality, because it will result in the release of an excessive amount of tannins. High-quality green teas can be and usually are steeped multiple times; two or three steepings is typical. The steeping technique also plays a very important role in avoiding the tea developing an overcooked taste. The container in which the tea is steeped or teapot should also be warmed beforehand so that the tea does not immediately cool down. It is common practice for tea leaf to be left in the cup or pot and for hot water to be added as the tea is drunk until the flavor degrades.\\n\\nResearch and health effects\\n\\nRegular green tea is 99.9% water, provides 1 Calorie per 100 mL serving, is devoid of significant nutrient content (table) and contains phytochemicals, such as polyphenols and caffeine. Polyphenols found in green tea include epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin gallate, epicatechins and flavanols.\\n\\nAlthough numerous claims have been made for the health benefits of green tea, human clinical research has not provided conclusive evidence of any effects. In 2011, a panel of scientists published a report on the claims for health effects at the request of the European Commission: in general they found that the claims made for green tea were not supported by sufficient scientific evidence. Although the mean content of flavonoids and catechins in a cup of green tea is higher than that in the same volume of other food and drink items that are traditionally considered to promote health, flavonoids and catechins have no proven biological effect in humans. \\n\\nCancer\\n\\nThere is no conclusive evidence that green tea helps to prevent or treat cancer in people. A review of existing studies concluded that while suggestive evidence existed, it did not amount to a clear indication of benefit.\\n\\nDaily consumption of black tea (but not green tea) has been associated with a significant reduction in death from all cancers. There is limited evidence to suggest that green tea consumption may be associated with a slightly lower risk of esophageal cancer in the Chinese population, a lower risk of lung cancer in women, and a lower risk of oral cancer in Asian people. A 2015 meta-analysis of nine prospective cohort studies concluded that a high amount of green tea consumption may be associated with a lower risk of liver cancer in Asian women. This association was not seen in Asian men or when one cup of green tea was consumed daily. Similarly, another analysis of observational data conducted in 2012 suggested that green tea consumption may have a favorable effect on lung cancer risk. The observed effect was strongest in those who consumed more than seven cups of green tea daily. A 2011 meta-analysis of epidemiological studies found limited evidence that green tea consumption may be associated with a moderately reduced risk of liver cancer in Chinese and Japanese people. \\n\\nLimited evidence suggests that green tea consumption is not associated with the risk of developing pancreatic cancer or prostate cancer. The link between green tea consumption and stomach cancer risk is unclear due to inconsistent evidence. \\n\\nGreen tea interferes with the chemotherapy drug bortezomib (Velcade) and other boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitors, and should be avoided by people taking these medications. \\n\\nCardiovascular disease\\n\\nDaily consumption of green tea has been associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. In a 2015 meta-analysis of observational studies, an increase in one cup of green tea per day was associated with a 5% lower risk of death from cardiovascular causes. Green tea consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of stroke. A 2013 Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials concluded that green tea consumption for 3–6 months appears to lower systolic and diastolic blood pressures a small amount (about 3 mm Hg each). Additional analyses examining the effects of long-term green tea consumption on blood pressure have reached similar conclusions. \\n\\nGlycemic control\\n\\nGreen tea consumption lowers fasting blood sugar but in clinical studies the beverage's effect on hemoglobin A1c and fasting insulin levels was inconsistent. \\n\\nHyperlipidemia\\n\\nDrinking green tea or taking green tea supplements decreases the blood concentration of total cholesterol (about 7 mg/dL), LDL cholesterol (about 2 mg/dL), and does not affect the concentration of HDL cholesterol. A 2013 Cochrane review performed a meta-analysis of longer-term randomized controlled trials (>3 months duration) and concluded that green tea consumption lowers total and LDL cholesterol concentrations in the blood.\\n\\nInflammation\\n\\nA 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials found that green tea consumption was not significantly associated with lower plasma levels of C-reactive protein levels (a marker of inflammation). \\n\\nMortality risk\\n\\nDaily consumption of green tea is significantly associated with a lower risk of death from any cause; an increase of one cup of green tea per day is linked with a 4% lower risk of death from any cause. A separate analysis found an increase of three cups of green tea per day was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause.\\n\\nWeight loss\\n\\nThere is no conclusive evidence that green tea aids in weight loss.\\n\\nToxicity\\n\\nModerate, regular, and habitual consumption of green tea is safe; however, there are reports of liver toxicity in humans after consuming high doses (10–29 mg/kg/day) of green tea extract dietary supplements. \\n\\nProduction\\n\\nGrowing, harvesting and processing\\n\\nGreen tea is processed and grown in a variety of ways, depending on the type of green tea desired. As a result of these methods, maximum amounts of polyphenols and volatile organic compounds are retained, affecting aroma and taste. The growing conditions can be broken down into two basic types − those grown in the sun and those grown under the shade. The green tea plants are grown in rows that are pruned to produce shoots in a regular manner, and in general are harvested three times per year. The first flush takes place in late April to early May. The second harvest usually takes place from June through July, and the third picking takes place in late July to early August. Sometimes, there will also be the fourth harvest. It is the first flush in the spring that brings the best-quality leaves, with higher prices to match.\\n\\nGreen tea is processed using either artisanal or modern methods. Sun-drying, basket or charcoal firing, or pan-firing are common artisanal methods. Oven-drying, tumbling, or steaming are common modern methods. Processed green teas, known as aracha are stored under low humidity refrigeration in 30- or 60-kg paper bags at 0 -. This aracha has yet to be refined at this stage, with a final firing taking place before blending, selection and packaging take place. The leaves in this state will be re-fired throughout the year as they are needed, giving the green teas a longer shelf-life and better flavor. The first flush tea of May will readily store in this fashion until the next year's harvest. After this re-drying process, each crude tea will be sifted and graded according to size. Finally, each lot will be blended according to the blending order by the tasters and packed for sale. \\n\\nProduction by country\\n\\nImport of Japanese tea\\n\\nOn 17 June 2011, radioactive cesium of 1,038 becquerels per kilogram was detected at Charles de Gaulle airport in France in tea leaves imported from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which was more than twice as much as the restricted amount of 500 becquerels per kilogram designated by the European Union, and the government of France announced that they rejected the tea leaves, which amounted to 162 kg. The governor of Shizuoka Prefecture Heita Kawakatsu stated that \\\"there is absolutely no problem when they [people] drink them because it will be diluted to about ten becquerels per kilogram when they steep them even if the leaves have 1,000 becquerels per kilogram,\\\" which was a consequence of own examinations of the prefecture. Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Renhō stated on 3 June 2011, that \\\"there are cases in which aracha are sold as furikake [condiments sprinkled on rice] and so on and they are eaten as they are, therefore we think that it is important to inspect tea leaves including aracha from the viewpoint of consumers' safety.\\\" \\n\\nGreen tea by country\\n\\nChina\\n\\nGreen tea is the most popular form of tea in China. Chinese green teas are made from over 600 different cultivars of the Camellia sinensis plant, giving plenty of variety and regional teas. Chinese green teas are traditionally pan-fired, unlike the Japanese steaming process. Other processes in China include oven-dried and sun-dried. Due to the different production process, Chinese teas are said to have a more \\\"earthy\\\" taste than Japanese teas. \\n*Zhejiang Province is home to the most famous of all teas, Xi Hu Longjing (西湖龙井), as well as many other high-quality green teas.\\n* 龙井 Longjing\\n: Maybe the most well-known green tea in China; originates from Hangzhou (杭州), the capital of Zhejiang Province. Longjing in Chinese literally means dragon well. It is pan-fired and has a distinctive flat appearance. The tasteless frying oil is obtained from tea seeds and other plants. There are many fake Longjings on the market and in less-scrupulous tea houses around the country.\\n* 景宁惠明茶 Huiming\\n: Named after a temple in Zhejiang.\\n* 开化龙顶 Kaihua Longding\\n: A tea from Kaihua County known as Dragon Mountain.\\n* 华顶云雾 Hua Ding\\n: A tea from Tiantai County, named after a peak in the Tiantai mountain range.\\n* 天目青顶 Qing Ding\\n: A tea from Tian Mu, also known as Green Top.\\n* 平水珠茶 Gunpowder\\n: This popular tea is also known as zhuchá, originates in Zhejiang but is now grown elsewhere in China. This tea is also the quintessential ingredient in brewing Maghrebi mint tea, which is brewed green tea with fresh mint.\\n\\n*Jiangsu Province\\n\\n* 洞庭碧螺春 Bi Luo Chun\\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Snail Spring, from Dong Ting. As with Longjing, inauthentic Bi Luo Chun is common and most of the tea marketed under this name may, in fact, be grown in Sichuan.\\n* 南京雨花茶 Rain Flower\\n: A tea from Nanjing.\\n* 金坛雀舌 Que She (Tongue of golden altar sparrow)\\n: originate in Jin Tan city of Jiangsu Province.\\n* 太湖白云 White Cloud\\n\\n*Fujian Province is known for mountain-grown organic green tea as well as white tea and oolong tea. The coastal mountains provide a perfect growing environment for tea growing. Green tea is picked in spring and summer seasons.\\n* 茉莉花茶 Jasmine tea (Mo Li Hua Cha)\\n: A tea with added jasmine flowers.\\n* 毛峰 Mao Feng tea\\n: Meaning \\\"furry peak\\\".\\n* 翠剑 Cui Jian\\n: Meaning \\\"jade sword\\\".\\n\\n*Hubei Province\\n* 玉露 \\n: A steamed tea also known as Gyokuro (Jade Dew) in Japanese, made in the Japanese style.\\n\\n*Henan Province\\n\\n* 信阳毛尖 Xin Yang Mao Jian\\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Tip, or Tippy Green.\\n\\n*Jiangxi Province\\n* 珍眉 Chun Mee\\n: Meaning \\\"precious eyebrows\\\"; from Jiangxi, it is now grown elsewhere.\\n* 狗牯 Gou Gu Nao\\n: A well-known tea within China and recipient of numerous national awards.\\n* 云雾 Yun Wu\\n: A tea also known as Cloud and Mist.\\n\\n*Anhui Province is home to several varieties of tea, including three Chinese famous teas. These are:\\n* 大方 Da Fang\\n: A tea from Huangshan also known as Big Square suneet.\\n* 黄山毛峰 Huangshan Maofeng\\n: A Chinese famous tea from Huangshan\\n* 六安瓜片 Liuan Leaf\\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Melon Seed\\n* 猴魁 Hou Kui\\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Monkey tea\\n* 屯绿 Tun Lu\\n: A tea from Tunxi District.\\n* 火青 Huo Qing\\n: A tea from Jing County, also known as Fire Green\\n* 雾里青 Wuliqing\\n: Wuliqing was known since the Song dynasty. Since 2002, Wuliqing is produced again according to the original processing methods by a company called Tianfang (天方). Zhan Luojiu a tea expert and professor at the Anhui Agricultural University who revived its production procedure.\\n* Hyson\\n: A medium-quality tea from many provinces, an early harvested tea.\\n\\n*Sichuan Province\\n* 竹叶青茶 Zhu Ye Qing \\n: Also known as Meng Ding Cui Zhu or Green Bamboo\\n* 蒙顶甘露 Meng Ding Gan Lu\\n: A yellowish-green tea with sweet after taste.\\n* 百美绿茶 Baimei Green Tea\\n\\n*Shaanxi Province\\n* 汉中仙毫 Han Zhong Xian Hao \\n: A green tea from the Han Zhong.\\n\\n Japan\\n\\n is ubiquitous in Japan and is commonly known simply as . Tea was first used in China, and in 1191, was brought to Japan by Myōan Eisai, a Japanese Buddhist priest who also introduced the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Teas from Japan may be referred to as .\\n\\nJapanese green teas are mainly made from Yabukita (やぶきた), a cultivar of the camellia sinensis plant. Unlike Chinese green teas which are pan-fired, Japanese green teas are steamed giving them a more \\\"vegetative\\\" or \\\"leafy\\\" taste. The exception is hōjicha, a Japanese roasted tea. Japanese green teas are categorized by the age of the leaves: young leaves are called sencha and the more mature, larger leaves are called bancha. Types of tea are commonly graded depending on the quality and the parts of the plant used as well as how they are processed. There are large variations in both price and quality within these broad categories, and there are many green teas that fall outside this spectrum. Here shows well-known tea-growing districts in Japan; Shizuoka Prefecture (Shizuoka-cha, the largest yield in Japan), Uji region of Kyoto Prefecture (Uji-cha), region of Fukuoka Prefecture (Yame-cha), Kagoshima Prefecture (Chiran-cha).\\n\\n* \\nThe first and second flushes of green tea made from leaves that are exposed directly to sunlight. This is the most common green tea in Japan. The name describes the method for preparing the beverage.\\n\\n* \\n: Sencha, which, in the processing of the leaves, has been steamed two times longer than usual Sencha, giving it a deeper color and producing a fuller flavor in the beverage.\\n* \\nGyokuro is a fine and expensive type that differs from Sencha (煎茶) in that it is grown under the shade rather than the full sun for approximately 20 days. The name \\\"Gyokuro\\\" translates as \\\"jade dew\\\" and refers to the pale green color of the infusion. The shading causes the amino acids (Theanine) and caffeine in the tea leaves to increase, while catechins (the source of bitterness in tea, along with caffeine) decreases, giving rise to a sweet taste. The tea also has a distinct aroma.\\n* \\nKabusecha is made from the leaves grown in the shade prior to harvest, although not for as long as Gyokuro. It has a more delicate flavor than Sencha. It is sometimes marketed as Gyokuro.\\n* \\nTamaryokucha has a tangy, berry-like taste, with a long almondy aftertaste and a deep aroma with tones of citrus, grass, and berries. It is also called Guricha.\\n* \\nLower grade of Sencha harvested as a third- or fourth flush tea between summer and autumn. Aki-Bancha (autumn Bancha) is not made from entire leaves, but from the trimmed unnecessary twigs of the tea plant.\\n* \\nKamairicha is a pan-fired green tea that does not undergo the usual steam treatments of Japanese tea and does not have the characteristic bitter taste of most Japanese tea.\\n* By-product of Sencha or Gyokuro\\n\\n*\\n: A tea made from stems, stalks, and twigs. Kukicha has a mildly nutty, and slightly creamy sweet flavor.\\n\\n*\\n: Mecha is green tea derived from a collection of leaf buds and tips of the early crops. Mecha is harvested in spring and made as rolled leaf teas that are graded somewhere between Gyokuro and Sencha in quality.\\n\\n*\\n: Konacha is the dust and smallest parts after processing Gyokuro or Sencha. It is cheaper than Sencha and usually served at Sushi restaurants. It is also marketed as or Gyokurokocha.\\n* Other\\n\\n*\\n: A fine ground tea made from Tencha. It has a very similar cultivation process as Gyokuro. It is expensive and is used primarily in the Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha is also a popular flavor of ice cream and other sweets in Japan.\\n\\n*\\n: Half-finished products used for Matcha production. The name indicates its intended eventual milling into matcha. Because, like gyokuro, it is cultivated in shade, it has a sweet aroma. In its processing, it is not rolled during drying, and tencha, therefore, remains spread out like the original fresh leaf.\\n\\n*\\n: Bancha (sometimes Sencha) and roasted genmai (brown rice) blend. It is often mixed with a small amount of Matcha to make the color better.\\n\\n*\\n: A green tea roasted over charcoal (usually Bancha).\\n\\n*\\n: Half-finished products used for Sencha and Gyokuro production. It contains all parts of the tea plant.\\n\\n*\\n: First flush tea. The name is used for either Sencha or Gyokuro.\\n\\n*\\n: Milled green tea, used just like instant coffee. Another name for this recent style of tea is \\\"tokeru ocha,\\\" or \\\"tea that melts.\\\"\\n\\nKorea\\n\\n*Ujeoncha ()\\n\\n*Sejakcha ()\\n\\nOther countries\\n\\n* Green tea from Ceylon\\n* Kahwah\\n* New Zealand - Zealong\",\n \"Yogurt.txt\\nYogurt\\nYogurt, yoghurt, or yoghourt ( or; from ; other spellings listed below) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk.\\n\\nThe bacteria used to make yogurt are known as \\\"yogurt cultures\\\". Fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and characteristic tang. Cow's milk is commonly available worldwide, and, as such, is the milk most commonly used to make yogurt. Milk from water buffalo, goats, ewes, mares, camels, and yaks is also used to produce yogurt where available locally. Milk used may be homogenized or not (milk distributed in many parts of the world is homogenized); both types may be used, with substantially different results.\\n\\nYogurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus bacteria. In addition, other lactobacilli and bifidobacteria are also sometimes added during or after culturing yogurt. Some countries require yogurt to contain a certain amount of colony-forming units of bacteria; in China, for example, the requirement for the number of lactobacillus bacteria is at least 1 × 106 CFA per gram per milliliter. \\nTo produce yogurt, milk is first heated, usually to about 85 °C (185 °F), to denature the milk proteins so that they set together rather than form curds. In some places, such as parts of India and Bangladesh, the milk is boiled. After heating, the milk is allowed to cool to about 45 °C (113 °F). The bacterial culture is mixed in, and a temperature of 45 °C (113 °F) is maintained for four to seven hours to allow fermentation.\\n\\nEtymology and spelling\\n\\nThe word is derived from , and is usually related to the verb yoğurmak, \\\"to knead\\\", or \\\"to be curdled or coagulated; to thicken\\\". It may be related to yoğun, meaning thick or dense. The letter ğ was traditionally rendered as \\\"gh\\\" in transliterations of Turkish prior to 1928. In older Turkish, the letter denoted a voiced velar fricative, but this sound is elided between back vowels in modern Turkish, in which the word is pronounced, or.\\n\\nIn English, there are several variations of the spelling of the word, including yogurt, yoghurt and to a lesser extent yoghourt, yogourt, yaghourt, yahourth, yoghurd, joghourt, and jogourt. In the United Kingdom and Australia, yogurt and yoghurt are both current, yogurt being used by the Australian and British dairy councils, and yoghourt is an uncommon alternative. In the United States, yogurt is the usual spelling and yoghurt a minor variant. In New Zealand, yoghurt is preferred by the New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. In Canada, yogurt is most common among English speakers, although \\\"yoghurt\\\" is also used; however, many brands use yogourt instead, since it is an acceptable spelling in both English and French.\\n\\nHistorically, there have been cases of yogurt being spelled with a \\\"J\\\" instead of a \\\"Y\\\" (e.g. jogurt and joghurt) due to alternative transliteration methods. However, there has been a decline in these variations in English speaking countries; in certain European countries, on the other hand, it is still commonly spelled with a \\\"J\\\". Most people tend to spell in the manner shown on the packaging of the major brands in their country.\\n\\nWhatever the spelling, the word is usually pronounced with a short o in England and Wales, and with a long o in Scotland, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nAnalysis of the L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus genome indicates that the bacterium may have originated on the surface of a plant. Milk may have become spontaneously and unintentionally exposed to it through contact with plants, or bacteria may have been transferred from the udder of domestic milk-producing animals. \\n\\nThe origins of yogurt are unknown, but it is thought to have been invented in Mesopotamia around 5000 B.C. \\n\\nIn ancient Indian records, the combination of yogurt and honey is called \\\"the food of the gods\\\". Persian traditions hold that \\\"Abraham owed his fecundity and longevity to the regular ingestion of yogurt\\\". \\n\\nThe cuisine of ancient Greece included a dairy product known as oxygala () which is believed to have been a form of yogurt. Galen (AD 129 – c. 200/c. 216) mentioned that oxygala was consumed with honey, similar to the way thickened Greek yogurt is eaten today.\\n\\nThe oldest writings mentioning yogurt are attributed to Pliny the Elder, who remarked that certain \\\"barbarous nations\\\" knew how \\\"to thicken the milk into a substance with an agreeable acidity\\\". The use of yogurt by medieval Turks is recorded in the books Diwan Lughat al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari and Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Has Hajib written in the 11th century. Both texts mention the word \\\"yogurt\\\" in different sections and describe its use by nomadic Turks. The earliest yogurts were probably spontaneously fermented by wild bacteria in goat skin bags. \\n\\nSome accounts suggest that Indian emperor Akbar's cooks would flavor yogurt with mustard seeds and cinnamon. Another early account of a European encounter with yogurt occurs in French clinical history: Francis I suffered from a severe diarrhea which no French doctor could cure. His ally Suleiman the Magnificent sent a doctor, who allegedly cured the patient with yogurt. Being grateful, the French king spread around the information about the food which had cured him.\\n\\nUntil the 1900s, yogurt was a staple in diets of people in the Russian Empire (and especially Central Asia and the Caucasus), Western Asia, South Eastern Europe/Balkans, Central Europe, and India. Stamen Grigorov (1878–1945), a Bulgarian student of medicine in Geneva, first examined the microflora of the Bulgarian yogurt. In 1905, he described it as consisting of a spherical and a rod-like lactic acid-producing bacteria. In 1907, the rod-like bacterium was called Bacillus bulgaricus (now Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus). The Russian Nobel laureate and biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (also known as Élie Metchnikoff), from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, was influenced by Grigorov's work and hypothesized that regular consumption of yogurt was responsible for the unusually long lifespans of Bulgarian peasants. Believing Lactobacillus to be essential for good health, Mechnikov worked to popularize yogurt as a foodstuff throughout Europe.\\n\\nIsaac Carasso industrialized the production of yogurt. In 1919, Carasso, who was from Ottoman Salonika, started a small yogurt business in Barcelona, Spain, and named the business Danone (\\\"little Daniel\\\") after his son. The brand later expanded to the United States under an Americanized version of the name: Dannon.\\n\\nYogurt with added fruit jam was patented in 1933 by the Radlická Mlékárna dairy in Prague. \\n\\nYogurt was introduced to the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century, influenced by Élie Metchnikoff's The Prolongation of Life; Optimistic Studies (1908); it was available in tablet form for those with digestive intolerance and for home culturing. It was popularized by John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where it was used both orally and in enemas, and later by Armenian immigrants Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who started \\\"Colombo and Sons Creamery\\\" in Andover, Massachusetts in 1929. Colombo Yogurt was originally delivered around New England in a horse-drawn wagon inscribed with the Armenian word \\\"madzoon\\\" which was later changed to \\\"yogurt\\\", the Turkish name of the product, as Turkish was the lingua franca between immigrants of the various Near Eastern ethnicities who were the main consumers at that time. Yogurt's popularity in the United States was enhanced in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was presented as a health food. By the late 20th century, yogurt had become a common American food item and Colombo Yogurt was sold in 1993 to General Mills, which discontinued the brand in 2010. \\n\\nNutrition and health\\n\\nIn a 100 gram amount providing 97 calories, yogurt (plain Greek yogurt from whole milk) is 81% water, 9% protein, 5% fat and 4% carbohydrates, including 4% sugars (table). As a proportion of the Daily Value (DV), a serving of yogurt is a rich source of vitamin B12 (31% DV) and riboflavin (23% DV), with moderate content of protein, phosphorus and selenium (14 to 19% DV; table).\\n\\nAlthough yogurt is often associated with probiotics having positive effects on immune, cardiovascular or metabolic health, there is insufficient high-quality clinical evidence to conclude that consuming yogurt lowers risk of diseases or improves health.\\n\\nLactose-intolerant individuals may tolerate yogurt better than other dairy products due to the conversion of lactose to the sugars glucose and galactose, and the fermentation of lactose to lactic acid carried out by the bacteria present in the yogurt. \\n\\nVarieties and presentation\\n\\nDa-hi is a yogurt of the Indian subcontinent, known for its characteristic taste and consistency. The word da-hi seems to be derived from the Sanskrit word dadhi, one of the five elixirs, or panchamrita, often used in Hindu ritual. Dahi also holds cultural symbolism in many homes in the Mithila region of Nepal and Bihar. Yogurt balances the palate across regional cuisines throughout India. In the hot and humid south, yogurt and foods made of yogurt are a staple in order to cool down – yogurt rice is always the last dish of the meal. Also, the vegetarian population of India derives some protein from yogurt (other than lentil and beans). Sweet yogurt (meesti doi or meethi dahi) is common in eastern parts of India, made by fermenting sweetened milk. While cow's milk is considered sacred and is currently the primary ingredient for yogurt, goat and buffalo milk were widely used in the past, and valued for the fat content (see buffalo curd). Butter and cream were made by churning the yogurt/milk.\\n\\nIn India and Pakistan, it is often used in cosmetics mixed with turmeric and honey. Sour yogurt, is also used as a hair conditioner by women in many parts of India and Pakistan. \\nDahi is also known as Mosaru (Kannada), Thayir (Tamil), Thayiru (Malayalam), doi (Assamese, Bengali), dohi (Odia), perugu (Telugu), Qәzana a pәәner (Pashto) and Dhahi or Dhaunro (Sindhi ڏهي، ڌونرو)\\n\\nRaita is a yogurt-based South Asian/Indian condiment, used as a side dish. The yogurt is seasoned with coriander (cilantro), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. Vegetables such as cucumber and onions are mixed in, and the mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian and Pakistani dishes. Raita is sometimes also referred to as dahi.\\n\\nDadiah or Dadih is a traditional West Sumatran yogurt made from water buffalo milk, fermented in bamboo tubes. \\n\\nYogurt is popular in Nepal, where it is served as both an appetizer and dessert. Locally called dahi (दही), it is a part of the Nepali culture, used in local festivals, marriage ceremonies, parties, religious occasions, family gatherings, and so on. The most famous type of Nepalese yogurt is called juju dhau, originating from the city of Bhaktapur.\\n\\nIn Tibet, yak milk (technically dri milk, as the word yak refers to the male animal) is made into yogurt (and butter and cheese) and consumed.\\n\\nIn Northern Iran, Mâst Chekide is a variety of kefir yogurt with a distinct sour taste. It is usually mixed with a pesto-like water and fresh herb purée called delal. Yogurt is a side dish to all Iranian meals. The most popular appetizers are spinach or eggplant borani, Mâst-o-Khiâr with cucumber, spring onions and herbs, and Mâst-Musir with wild shallots. In the summertime, yogurt and ice cubes are mixed together with cucumbers, raisins, salt, pepper and onions and topped with some croutons made of Persian traditional bread and served as a cold soup. Ashe-Mâst is a warm yogurt soup with fresh herbs, spinach and lentils. Even the leftover water extracted when straining yogurt is cooked to make a sour cream sauce called kashk, which is usually used as a topping on soups and stews.\\n\\nMatsoni is a Georgian yogurt popular in the Caucasus and Russia. It is used in a wide variety of Georgian dishes and is believed to have contributed to the high life expectancy and longevity in the country. Dannon used this theory in their 1978 TV advertisement called In Soviet Georgia where shots of elderly Georgian farmers were interspersed with an off-camera announcer intoning, \\\"In Soviet Georgia, where they eat a lot of yogurt, a lot of people live past 100.\\\" Matsoni is also popular in Japan under the name Caspian Sea Yogurt (カスピ海ヨーグルト).\\n\\nTarator and Cacık are popular cold soups made from yogurt, popular during summertime in Albania, Azerbaijan (known as Dogramac), Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. They are made with ayran, cucumbers, dill, salt, olive oil, and optionally garlic and ground walnuts. Tzatziki in Greece and milk salad in Bulgaria are thick yogurt-based salads similar to tarator.\\n\\nKhyar w Laban (cucumber and yogurt salad) is a popular dish in Lebanon and Syria. Also, a wide variety of local Lebanese and Syrian dishes are cooked with yogurt like \\\"Kibbi bi Laban\\\", etc.\\n\\nRahmjoghurt, a creamy yogurt with much higher fat content (10%) than many yogurts offered in English-speaking countries (Rahm is German for \\\"cream\\\"), is available in Germany and other countries.\\n\\nDovga, a yogurt soup cooked with a variety of herbs and rice is popular in Azerbaijan, often served warm in winter or refreshingly cold in summer.\\n\\nYogurt made with unhomogenized milk is sometimes called cream-top yogurt; a layer of cream rises to the top.\\n\\nJameed is yogurt which is salted and dried to preserve it. It is popular in Jordan.\\n\\nZabadi is the type of yogurt made in Egypt, usually from the milk of the Egyptian water buffalo. It is particularly associated with Ramadan fasting, as it is thought to prevent thirst during all-day fasting. \\n\\nSweetened and flavored yogurt\\n\\nTo offset its natural sourness, yogurt is also sold sweetened, flavored or in containers with fruit or fruit jam on the bottom. The two styles of yogurt commonly found in the grocery store are set type yogurt and Swiss style yogurt. Set type yogurt is when the yogurt is packaged with the fruit on the bottom of the cup and the yogurt on top. Swiss style yogurt is when the fruit is blended into the yogurt prior to packaging. \\n\\nLassi and Moru are common beverages in India. Lassi is milk that is sweetened with sugar commonly, less commonly honey and often combined with fruit pulp to create flavored lassi. Mango lassi is a western favorite, as is coconut lassi. Consistency can vary widely, with urban and commercial lassis being of uniform texture through being processed, whereas rural and rustic lassi has curds in it, and sometimes has malai (cream) added or removed. Moru is a popular South Indian summer drink, meant to keep drinkers hydrated through the hot and humid summers of the South. It is prepared by considerably thinning down yogurt with water, adding salt (for electrolyte balance) and spices, usually green chili peppers, asafoetida, curry leaves and mustard.\\n\\nLarge amounts of sugar – or other sweeteners for low-calorie yogurts – are often used in commercial yogurt. Some yogurts contain added starch, pectin (found naturally in fruit), and/or gelatin to create thickness and creaminess artificially at lower cost. Gelatin is a meat or fish product, therefore vegetarians should avoid products containing it. This type of yogurt is also marketed under the name Swiss-style, although it is unrelated to the way yogurt is eaten in Switzerland. Some yogurts, often called \\\"cream line\\\", are made with whole milk which has not been homogenized so the cream rises to the top. Fruit jam is used instead of raw fruit pieces in fruit yogurts to allow storage for weeks.\\n\\nIn the UK, Ireland, France and United States, sweetened, flavored yogurt is the most popular type, typically sold in single-serving plastic cups. Common flavors include vanilla, honey, and toffee, and fruit such as strawberry, cherry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, mango and peach. In the early twenty-first century yogurt flavors inspired by desserts, such as chocolate or cheesecake, have been available.\\n\\nThere is concern about the health effects of sweetened yogurt. The United Kingdom and the United States recommend different maximum amounts of daily sugar intake but in both nations many sweetened yogurts have too much.\\n\\nConsumers wanting sweetened yogurt are advised to choose yogurt sweetened with sugar substitute and check the contents list to avoid corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, or sugar.\\n\\nStrained yogurt\\n\\nStrained yogurt is yogurt which has been strained through a filter, traditionally made of muslin and more recently of paper or cloth. This removes the whey, giving a much thicker consistency and a distinctive slightly tangy taste. Strained yogurt is becoming more popular with those who make yogurt at home, especially if using skimmed milk which results in a thinner consistency. \\n\\nYogurt that has been strained to filter or remove the whey is known as Labneh in Middle Eastern countries. It has a consistency between that of yogurt and cheese. It is popular for sandwiches in Arab countries. Olive oil, cucumber slices, olives, and various green herbs may be added. It can be thickened further and rolled into balls, preserved in olive oil, and fermented for a few more weeks. It is sometimes used with onions, meat, and nuts as a stuffing for a variety of pies or kibbeh () balls.\\n\\nSome types of strained yogurts are boiled in open vats first, so that the liquid content is reduced. The popular East Indian dessert, a variation of traditional dahi called mishti dahi, offers a thicker, more custard-like consistency, and is usually sweeter than western yogurts. \\n\\nStrained yogurt is also enjoyed in Greece and is the main component of tzatziki (from Turkish \\\"cacık\\\"), a well-known accompaniment to gyros and souvlaki pita sandwiches: it is a yogurt sauce or dip made with the addition of grated cucumber, olive oil, salt and, optionally, mashed garlic.\\n\\nSrikhand, a popular dessert in India, is made from strained yogurt, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg and sugar and sometimes fruits such as mango or pineapple.\\n\\nIn North America and Britain, strained yogurt is commonly called “Greek yogurt”. Strained yogurt is sometimes marketed in North America as \\\"Greek yogurt\\\" and in Britain as \\\"Greek-style yoghurt\\\". In Britain the name \\\"Greek\\\" may only be applied to yogurt made in Greece \\n\\nBeverages\\n\\nDugh (\\\"dawghe\\\" in Neo-Aramaic), ayran or dhallë is a yogurt-based, salty drink popular in Iran, Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is made by mixing yogurt with water and (sometimes) salt. The same drink is known as doogh in Iran, in Armenia; laban ayran in Syria and Lebanon; shenina in Iraq and Jordan; laban arbil in Iraq; majjiga (Telugu), majjige (Kannada), and moru (Tamil and Malayalam) in South India; namkeen lassi in Punjab and all over Pakistan. A similar drink, doogh, is popular in the Middle East between Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq; it differs from ayran by the addition of herbs, usually mint, and is sometimes carbonated, commonly with carbonated water.\\n\\nBorhani (or Burhani) is a spicy yogurt drink popular in Bangladesh and parts of Bengal. It is usually served with kacchi biryani at weddings and special feasts. Key ingredients are yogurt blended with mint leaves (mentha), mustard seeds and black rock salt (Kala Namak). Ground roasted cumin, ground white pepper, green chili pepper paste and sugar are often added.\\n\\nLassi (Hindi: लस्सी, Urdu: لسی) is a yogurt-based beverage originally from the Indian subcontinent that is usually slightly salty or sweet. Lassi is a staple in Punjab. In some parts of the subcontinent, the sweet version may be commercially flavored with rosewater, mango or other fruit juice to create a very different drink. Salty lassi is usually flavored with ground, roasted cumin and red chilies; this salty variation may also use buttermilk, and in India is interchangeably called ghol (Bengal), mattha (North India), \\\"majjige\\\" (Karnataka), majjiga (Telangana & Andhra Pradesh), moru (Tamil Nadu and Kerala), Dahi paani Chalha (Odisha), tak (Maharashtra), or chaas (Gujarat). Lassi is very widely drunk in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Mango Lassi is a popular drink at Indian restaurants in US.\\n\\nIn Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, an unsweetened and unsalted yogurt drink usually called simply jogurt is a popular accompaniment to burek and other baked goods.\\n\\nSweetened yogurt drinks are the usual form in Europe (including the UK) and the US, containing fruit and added sweeteners. These are typically called \\\"drinking / drinkable yogurt\\\", such as Yop and BioBest Smoothie.\\n\\nAlso available are \\\"yogurt smoothies\\\", which contain a higher proportion of fruit and are more like smoothies. In Ecuador, yogurt smoothies flavored with native fruit are served with pan de yuca as a common type of fast food.\\n\\nAlso in Turkey, yogurt soup or Yayla Çorbası is a popular way of consuming yogurt. The soup is a mix of yogurt, rice, flour and dried mint.\\n\\nPlant-milk yogurt\\n\\nA variety of plant-milk yogurts appeared in the 2000s, using soy milk, rice milk, and nut milks such as almond milk and coconut milk. So far the most widely sold variety of plant milk yogurts is soy yogurt. These yogurts are suitable for vegans, people with intolerance to dairy milk, and those who prefer plant milks. \\n\\nMaking yogurt at home\\n\\nYogurt is made by heating milk to a temperature that denaturates its proteins (scalding), essential for making yogurt, cooling it to a temperature that will not kill the live microorganisms that turn the milk into yogurt, inoculating certain bacteria (starter culture), usually Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, into the milk, and finally keeping it warm for several hours. The milk may be held at 85 C for a few minutes, or boiled (giving a somewhat different result). It must be cooled to 50 C or somewhat less, typically 40 -. Starter culture must then be mixed in well, and the mixture must be kept undisturbed and warm for several hours, ranging from 5 to 12, with longer fermentation producing a more acid yogurt. The starter culture may be a small amount of live yogurt; dried starter culture is available commercially.\\n\\nMilk with a higher concentration of solids than normal milk may be used; the higher solids content produces a firmer yogurt. Solids can be increased by adding dried milk. \\n\\nThe yogurt-making process provides two significant barriers to pathogen growth, heat and acidity (low pH). Both are necessary to ensure a safe product. Acidity alone has been questioned by recent outbreaks of food poisoning by E. coli O157:H7 that is acid-tolerant. E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by pasteurization (heating); the initial heating of the milk kills pathogens as well as denaturing proteins. The microorganisms that turn milk into yogurt can tolerate higher temperatures than most pathogens, so that a suitable temperature not only encourages the formation of yogurt, but inhibits pathogenic microorganisms.\\n\\nOnce the yogurt has formed it can, if desired, be strained to reduce the whey content and thicken it.\",\n \"Perry.txt\\nPerry\\nPerry is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, similar to the way cider is made from apples. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in the Three Counties (Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire); it is also made in parts of South Wales and France, especially Normandy and Anjou.\\n\\nIn more recent years, commercial perry has also been referred to as \\\"pear cider\\\", but some organisations (such as CAMRA) do not accept this as a name for the traditional drink. The National Association of Cider Makers, on the other hand, disagrees, insisting that the terms perry and pear cider are interchangeable.Pear cider ruling gives perry a timely boost, The Grocer, 19-05-2007 An over twenty-fold increase of sales of industrially manufactured \\\"pear cider\\\" produced from often imported concentrate makes the matter especially contentious.\\n\\nProduction\\n\\nFruit\\n\\nAs with cider apples, special pear cultivars are used to make Perry. Perry pears are thought to be descended from wild hybrids, known as wildings, between the cultivated pear Pyrus communis subsp. communis, brought to northern Europe by the Romans, and the now-rare wild pear Pyrus communis subsp. pyraster. Perry pears are higher in tannin and acid than eating or cooking pears, and are generally smaller.\\n\\nThe majority of perry pear varieties in the UK originate from the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the west of England. Of these, most originate in parishes around May Hill on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border.[http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup.org.uk/varieties/pears/ Gloucestershire Orchard Group, Pears], accessed 08-12-2009 The standard reference work on these varieties of pear was published in 1963 by the Long Ashton Research Station; since then many varieties have become critically endangered or lost. There were over 100 varieties, known by over 200 local names, in Gloucestershire alone.[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/history2.htm Pears and Perry Making in the UK], accessed 8 December 2009 Perry pears were particularly known for their picturesque names, such as the various Huffcap varieties (Hendre Huffcap, Red Huffcap, Black Huffcap, all having an elliptical shape), those named for the effects of their product (Merrylegs, Mumblehead), pears commemorating an individual (Stinking Bishop, named for the man who first grew it, or Judge Amphlett, named for Assizes court judge Richard Amphlett), or those named for the place they grew (Hartpury Green, Bosbury Scarlet, Bartestree Squash). In the UK the most commonly used variety is the Blakeney Red. Unsuitable for eating, it produces superior perry.\\n\\nPerry pear trees can live to a great age, and can be fully productive for 250 years. They also grow to a considerable height and can have very large canopies; the largest recorded, a tree at Holme Lacy which still partly survives, covered three quarters of an acre and yielded a crop of 5–7 tons in 1790.Oliver, T. [http://www.theolivers.org.uk/SFPP_Protocol.pdf The Three Counties & Welsh Marches Perry Presidium Protocol] Their size often led to them being planted to provide a windbreak for apple orchards.\\n\\nTechnique\\n\\nTraditional perry making is broadly similar to traditional cider making, in that the fruit is picked, crushed, and pressed to extract the juice, which is then fermented using the wild yeasts found on the fruit's skin. The principal differences between perry and cider are that pears must be left for a critical period to mature after picking, and the pomace must be left to stand after initial crushing to lose tannins, a process analogous to wine maceration.Grafton, G. [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/perry.htm Perry Making], accessed 8 December 2009 After initial fermentation, the drink undergoes a secondary malolactic fermentation while maturing.\\n\\nPerry pears often have higher levels of sugar than cider apples, including unfermentable sugars such as sorbitol, which can give the finished drink a residual sweetness. They also have a very different tannin content to cider apples, with a predominance of astringent over bitter flavours. The presence of sorbitol can also give perry a mild laxative effect.\\n\\nPerry from Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire made from traditional recipes now forms a European Union Protected Geographical Indication.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nThe earliest known reference to fermented alcoholic drinks being made from pears is found in Pliny, but perry making seems to have become well established in what is today France following the collapse of the Roman empire; references to perry making in its later heartland of England do not appear before the Norman Conquest. In the medieval period, France retained its association with pear growing, and the majority of pears consumed in England were in fact imported from France.\\n\\nBy the sixteenth and seventeenth century, however, perry making had become well established in the west of England, where the climate and soil was especially suitable for pear cultivation. In the three counties of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire in particular, as well as in Monmouthshire across the Welsh border, it was found that perry pears grew well in conditions where cider apple trees would not. Smaller amounts were also produced in other cider-producing areas such as Somerset. Perry may have grown in popularity after the English Civil War, when the large numbers of soldiers billeted in the Three Counties became acquainted with it,Wilson, C. A. Liquid Nourishment: Potable foods and stimulating drinks, Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p.94 and reached a zenith of popularity during the eighteenth century, when intermittent conflicts with France made the importing of wine difficult.[http://www.rhs.org.uk/RHSWebsite/files/7f/7f2b102c-f4a6-4c27-bfbb-b3b7d235bff1.pdf Keeping It Real], Royal Horticultural Society Many farms and estates had their own orchards, and many varieties of pear developed that were unique to particular parishes or villages.\\n\\nWhereas perry in England remained an overwhelmingly dry, still drink served from the cask, Normandy perry (poiré) developed a bottle-fermented, sparkling style with a good deal of sweetness.[http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option\\ncom_content&taskview&id\\n96&Itemid=105 Normandy, World Perry Capital], Welsh Perry & Cider Society, accessed 8 December 2009\\n\\nModern commercial perries\\n\\nThe production of traditional perry began to decline during the 20th century, in part due to changing farming practices – perry pears could be difficult and labour-intensive to crop, and orchards took many years to mature. The industry was, however, to a certain degree revived by modern commercial perry making techniques, developed by Francis Showering of the firm Showerings of Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in the creation of their sparkling branded perry Babycham. Babycham, the first mass-produced branded perry, was developed by Showering from application of the Long Ashton Institute's research, and was formerly produced from authentic perry pears, though today it is produced from concentrate, the firm's pear orchards having now been dug up. Aimed at the female drinker at a time when wine was not commonly available in UK pubs, Babycham was sold in miniature Champagne-style bottles; the drink was for many years a strong seller and made a fortune for the Showering family.[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/propertymarket/3334960/Prancing-to-the-tune-of-Babycham.html Prancing to the tune of Babycham], Daily Telegraph Another competing brand of light perry, Lambrini, is manufactured in Liverpool by Halewood International, and marketed under the slogan \\\"Lambrini Girls Just Wanna Have Fun\\\". It now dominates the light perry market and has a somewhat downmarket image in Britain.Alan Carr plies his guests with it on his chat show Chatty Man, and remarked that some guests, like The Black Eyed Peas and Samuel L. Jackson, seemed to like it – \\\"though in Britain you can't give it away.\\\" (Alan Carr, speaking to Paul O'Grady on O'Gradys Channel Four show 17 November 2009) The Irish drinks company, Cantrell and Cochrane, Plc (C&C), more famous for its Magners and Bulmers ciders, launched a similar light perry, Ritz, in 1986.\\n\\nLike commercial pale lager and commercial cider, commercial perry is highly standardised, and today often contains large quantities of cereal adjuncts such as corn syrup or invert sugar. It is also generally of lower strength, and sweeter, than traditional perry, and is artificially carbonated to give a sparkling finish. However, unlike traditional perry it is a consistent product: the nature of perry pears means that it is very difficult to produce traditional perry in commercial quantities. Traditional perry was overwhelmingly a drink made on farms for home consumption, or to sell in small quantities either at the farm gate or to local inns.\\n\\nDecline and revival of traditional perry\\n\\nBoth English perry making, and the orchards that supplied it, suffered a catastrophic decline in the second half of the 20th century as a result of changing tastes and agricultural practices (in South Gloucestershire alone, an estimated 90% of orchards were lost in the last 75 years).[http://www.southglos.gov.uk/NR/exeres/F0121B68-C8C5-4001-B521-E55500F2A957 South Gloucestershire Council – Orchards] Many pear orchards were also lost to Fire blight in the 1970s and 1980s. As well as the clearing of orchards, the decline of day labouring on farms meant that the manpower to harvest perry pears – as well as its traditional consumers – disappeared. It also lost popularity due to makers turning to dessert or general purpose pears in its manufacture rather than perry pears, resulting in a thin and tasteless product. In the UK prior to 2007, the small amounts of traditional perry still produced were mainly consumed by people living in farming communities.\\n\\nHowever, perry (often marketed under the name \\\"pear cider\\\", below) has in very recent times increased in popularity, with around 2.5 million British consumers purchasing it in one year. In addition, various organisations have been actively seeking out old perry pear trees and orchards and rediscovering lost varieties, many of which now exist only as single trees on isolated farms; for example, the Welsh Cider Society recently rediscovered the old Monmouthshire varieties \\\"Burgundy\\\" and the \\\"Potato Pear\\\" as well as a number of further types unrecorded up to that point.[http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option\\ncom_content&taskview&id\\n3&Itemid=4 Welsh Cider Society], accessed 8 December 2009\\n\\nOne may also find perry concentrated, in a similar style to applejack.\\n\\n\\\"Pear cider\\\"\\n\\n\\\"Pear cider\\\" has in recent years been used as an alternative name for alcoholic drinks containing pear juice, in preference to the term perry . According to the BBC, the term was first used when Brothers Cider, a product industrially made from pear concentrate, rather than the traditional method using perry pears, was sold at Glastonbury Festival in 1995: nobody understood what perry was and were told that it was \\\"like cider, but made from pears\\\".\\n\\nThe use of the term \\\"pear cider\\\", instead of perry, is one of the reasons for a new commercial lease of life to a drink that was in decline; in two years sales of the drink increased from £3.4 million to £46 million. The brewers Brothers, Gaymers and Bulmers/Magners now all have their own brands of pear cider, and Tesco and other major supermarkets have increased the number of pear ciders that they sell. The term \\\"pear cider\\\" is seen by the manufacturers as being more marketeable to the younger 18–34 demographic and by differentiating their products from previous brands associated with the word perry, such as Babycham and Lambrini that are either associated with the female market or deemed out of fashion by the younger demographic.\\n\\nCAMRA takes makers like Brothers to task, defining perry and pear cider as quite different drinks, stating that \\\"pear cider\\\" as made by the large industrial cidermakers is merely a pear-flavoured drink, or more specifically a cider-style drink flavoured with pear concentrate, whereas \\\"perry\\\" should be made by traditional methods from perry pears only. (Brothers, Bulmers and other pear ciders are made from pear concentrate, often imported.) Others, including the industry trade National Association of Cider Makers, maintain that the terms perry and pear cider are interchangeable. Its own rules specify that perry or pear cider may contain no more than 25% apple juice.[http://www.cideruk.com/cider_market/code_of_practice NACM Code of Practice]\\n\\nOutside England, Wales & Normandy\\n\\nIn Australia\\n\\nThe beverage is also becoming increasingly popular in Australia. Small local manufacturers are beginning to appear such as Gypsy Cider, brewed by 2 Brothers Brewery in Melbourne, Henry's of Harcourt (VIC) and LOBO Cider in the Adelaide Hills as well as Paracombe Premium Perry also in the Adelaide Hills. Few traditional European Perry pears are available, it is believed that Moorcroft, Gin, Green Horse & Yellow Huffcap varieties are in Australia. \\nEating pears are generally used with differing results in Australia. Australian Food Standards permit up to 25% of apple juice in Perry or Pear cider. The importation of pear ciders from abroad include brands such as Weston's, St Helier, Magners, Rekorderlig and Kopparberg now available. The only true Perry imported comes from Weston's where it also has the European Union Geographical indication protection. Weston's also import an Organic Pear Cider into Australia.\\n\\nIn Sweden\\n\\nAs 'Pear cider', the drink is popular in Sweden with brands such as Briska, Kopparberg, Herrljunga Cider, Rekorderlig Cider, and Gravendals being present.\\n\\nIn the United States\\n\\nWith hard cider sales on the increase in the American alcoholic beverage market, the production of perry has increased alongside, with many craft cideries making perries (typically called pear cider in the United States) alongside their apple ciders. As the craft beer and cider industries took off in the United States in the 1990s, a few players experimented with perries. One of the first commercially available domestic perries in the US was Ace Cider's Perry Cider, introduced in 1996. Today, even mass market brands, such as MillerCoors' Crispin Hard Cider Company and Boston Beer Company's Angry Orchard, are producing perries.\\n\\nIn New Zealand\\n\\nNew Zealand is seeing a surge in the popularity of Pear Cider with Old Mout Cidery, Macs and Monteiths Brewery each producing a pear cider.\\n\\nIn Japan\\n\\nJapanese pear cider is called ' Nashi pear's sparkling wine ' or ' Pear Cidre ' (In Japan, Cidre is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from the unfiltered juice of apples. Cider in Japan refers to a soft drink similar to Sprite or lemonade.).\\n\\nIn Japan, the most commonly used Cidre pear is the Nashi pear. Nashi pear are used for both cider and eating purposes.\\n\\nPear Cidre can be used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled ciders containing a cider widget, or which are cold-filtered rather than pasteurised.\\n\\nHigher quality pear cider is sold in champagne-style bottles (cidre bouché). Many pear ciders are sold in corked bottles, but some screw-top bottles exist.\",\n \"www.growingfreedom.yolasite.com\\nhybridum, alsike or Swedish ... red and white colour. ... and having pointed rather than rounded flower bracts. The fruit is a globose pink to red compound berry 2 ...\\nhttps://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1oXwtTpEDXSZvmwScYW_LGSI-8NmXxnDZrYhzJXH0hHw \\nThis link above is to the current plant database I'm working on for the book, its far from done.\\n Here is the plant database, some items may be repeated do to different classification families/species etc. I focus on plants able to be grown in USDA zones 4,5,6 but not limited to. As possible pictures will also be added eventually. If you know of something not listed please email me at growingfreedompodcast@gmail.com with a full description etc as you see here along with a picture if possible. Thanks\\nnote: that this data base is not in any particular order as of yet, also most information has been taken from Wikipedia, I will fix errors etc when possible as well as some of the odd charecters, thanks for your patience.\\nMullein\\nThe Mulleins genus Verbascum, (also known as velvet plants) are a genus of about 250\\nspecies of flowering plants in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). They are native to\\nEurope and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.\\nThey are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5–3 m\\ntall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending\\nup a tall flowering stem. Biennial plants will form the rosette the first year, and during\\nthe following season is when the stem emerges. The leaves are spirally arranged, often\\ndensely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five\\nsymmetrical petals; petal colors in different species include yellow (most common),\\norange, red-brown, purple, blue or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute\\nseeds.\\nVarious species have been introduced (and in some case naturalized) in the Americas,\\nChicory\\nCommon chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a bushy perennial herbaceous plant with blue,\\nlavender, or occasionally white flowers. Various varieties are cultivated for salad leaves,\\nchicons (blanched buds), or for roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as\\na coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock. It lives\\nas a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America and Australia,\\nwhere it has become naturalized.\\n\\\"Chicory\\\" is also the common name in the US (and in French) for curly endive (Cichorium\\nendivia); these two closely related species are often confused.\\nCommon chicory is also known as blue sailors, succory, and coffeeweed. It is also called\\ncornflower, although that name is more commonly applied to Centaurea cyanus. Common names\\nfor varieties of var. foliosum include endive, radicchio, Belgian endive, French endive,\\nred endive, sugarloaf or witloof.\\nWhen flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from 30 to 100\\ncentimetres (10 to 40 in) tall.\\nThe leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed.\\nThe flower heads are 2 to 4 centimeters (0.79 to 1.6 in) wide, and bright blue. There are\\ntwo rows of involucral bracts - the inner are longer and erect, the outer are shorter and\\nspreading. It flowers from July until October.\\nThe achenes have no pappus (feathery hairs), but do have toothed scales on top.\\nWild chicory leaves are usually bitter. Their bitterness is appreciated in certain\\ncuisines, such as in the Liguria and Puglia regions of Italy and also in Catalonia, in\\nGreece and in Turkey.[4] In Ligurian cuisine the wild chicory leaves are an ingredient of\\npreboggion and in Greek cuisine of horta; in the Puglian region wild chicory leaves are\\ncombined with fava bean puree in the traditional local dish Fave e Cicorie Selvatiche.\\nBy cooking and discarding the water the bitterness is reduced, after which the chicory\\nleaves may be sauteed with garlic, anchovies and other ingredients. In this form the\\nresulting greens might be combined with pasta[6] or to accompany meat dishes\\nChicory may be cultivated for its leaves, usually eaten raw as salad leaves. Cultivated\\nchicory is generally divided into three types of which there are many varieties:[8]\\n * Radicchio usually has variegated red or red and green leaves. Some only refer to the\\nwhite-veined red leaved type as radicchio. Also known as red endive and red chicory. It has\\na bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. It can also be used\\nto add color and zest to salads.\\n * Sugarloaf looks rather like cos lettuce, with tightly packed leaves.\\nWitlof\\n * Belgian endive is also known as French endive, witlof in Dutch or witloof in Belgian\\nDutch, witloof in the United States[citation needed], chicory in the UK, as witloof in\\nAustralia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France and in Wallonia. It has\\na small head of cream-colored, bitter leaves. It is grown completely underground or\\nindoors in the absence of sunlight in order to prevent the leaves from turning green and\\nopening up (etiolation). The plant has to be kept just below the soil surface as it grows,\\nonly showing the very tip of the leaves. It is often sold wrapped in blue paper to protect\\nit from light and so preserve its pale color and delicate flavor. The smooth, creamy\\nwhite leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or\\nsimply cut raw. Slightly bitter, the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste. The harder\\ninner part of the stem, at the bottom of the head, should be cut out before cooking to\\nprevent bitterness. Belgium exports chicon/witloof to over 40 different countries. The\\ntechnique for growing blanched endives was accidentally discovered in the 1850s in\\nSchaerbeek, Belgium.[9] Endive is cultivated for culinary use by cutting the leaves from\\nthe growing plant, then keeping the living stem and root in a dark place. A new bud\\ndevelops but without sunlight it is white and lacks the bitterness of the sun-exposed\\nfoliage. Today France is the largest producer of endives.\\nFlower of Cichorium intybus\\nnote two rows of bracts\\nIllustration\\nAlthough leaf chicory is often called \\\"endive\\\", true endive (Cichorium endivia) is a\\ndifferent species in the genus.\\n[edit] Root chicory\\nRoot chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been in cultivation in Europe as a coffee\\nsubstitute. The roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive,\\nespecially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native), although its use as a\\ncoffee additive is also very popular in India, parts of Southeast Asia, South Africa and\\nsouthern United States, particularly in New Orleans. It has also been popular as a coffee\\nsubstitute in poorer economic areas, and has gained wider popularity during economic crises\\nsuch as the Great Depression in the 1930s. Chicory, with sugar beet and rye was used as an\\ningredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the \\\"coffee\\ncrisis\\\" of 1976-79.\\nSome beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to their stouts.\\nAround 1970 it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar\\nto starch. Inulin is mainly found in the plant family Asteraceae as a storage carbohydrate\\n(for example Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia etc.). It is used as a sweetener in the food\\nindustry with a sweetening power 1⁄10 that of sucrose[10] and is sometimes added to yogurts\\nas a prebiotic. Inulin can be converted to fructose and glucose through hydrolysis. Inulin\\nis also gaining popularity as a source of soluble dietary fiber.\\nChicory root extract is a dietary supplement or food additive produced by mixing dried,\\nground, chicory root with water, and removing the insoluble fraction by filtration and\\ncentrifugation. Other methods may be used to remove pigments and sugars. Fresh chicory root\\ntypically contains, by dry weight, 68% inulin, 14% sucrose, 5% cellulose, 6% protein, 4%\\nash, and 3% other compounds. Dried chicory root extract contains, by weight, approximately\\n98% inulin and 2% other compounds.[11] Fresh chicory root may contain between 13 and 23%\\ninulin, by total weight.[12]\\n[edit] Agents responsible for bitterness\\nThe bitter substances are primarily the two sesquiterpene lactones Lactucin and\\nLactucopicrin. Other ingredients are Aesculetin, Aesculin, Cichoriin, Umbelliferone,\\nScopoletin and 6.7-Dihydrocoumarin and further sesquiterpene lactones and their\\nglycosides.[13]\\nRoot chicory contains volatile oils similar to those found in plants in the related genus\\nTanacetum which includes Tansy, and is similarly effective at eliminating intestinal worms.\\nAll parts of the plant contain these volatile oils, with the majority of the toxic\\ncomponents concentrated in the plant's root.[14]\\nChicory is well known for its toxicity to internal parasites. Studies indicate that\\ningestion of chicory by farm animals results in reduction of worm burdens,[15][16][17]\\nwhich has prompted its widespread use as a forage supplement. Only a few major companies\\nare active in research, development, and production of chicory varieties and selections,\\nmost in New Zealand.\\nChicory (especially the flower) was used as a treatment in Germany, and is recorded in many\\nbooks as an ancient German treatment for everyday ailments. It is variously used as a tonic\\nand as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinus problems and cuts and bruises.\\n(Howard M. 1987). Inulin, the dietary fiber found in Chicory finds application in diabetes\\nand constipation.\\n This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline\\ncitations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (July 2010)\\nChicory produces a large volume of palatable and relatively easily digested foliage with a\\nhigh protein and mineral content and is suitable for grazing sheep and dairy cattle.\\nChicory contains small amounts of condensed tannins (some varieties more than others)\\naiding in the conversion of nitrogen to proteins in ruminant digestion. Tannins are also\\nrumored[by whom?] to reduce intestinal parasites, however, scientific studies have not\\nproved a direct anti-parasite effect. Studies[which?] indicate that the increased\\navailability of high quality protein to the animal (perhaps in combination with increased\\nlevels of trace minerals) results in a general increase in animal condition that helps in\\nreducing worm burdens.\\nDevelopment of chicory varieties has taken place mostly in New Zealand, with some use in\\nNorth America\\n * Puna (Grasslands Puna) – One of the most popular forage varieties, developed in New\\nZealand. It is well adapted to different climates, being grown from Alberta, Canada, to New\\nMexico and Florida. It is resistant to bolting, which leads to high nutrient levels in the\\nleaves in spring. It also has high resistance to grazing.\\n * Forage Feast – A variety from France used for human consumption and also for wildlife\\nplots.[clarification needed] It is very cold-hardy, and due to use for human consumption it\\nis lower in tannins than other forage varieties.\\n * Choice – Choice has been bred for high winter and early-spring growth activity, and\\nlower amounts of lactucin and lactone, which are believed to taint milk. It is also use for\\nseeding deer wildlife plots.\\n * Oasis – Bred for increased lactone rates for the forage industry, and for higher\\nresistance to fungal diseases like Sclerotinia.[clarification needed]\\n * Puna II – More winter-active than most other varieties, which leads to greater\\npersistence and longevity.\\n * Grouse – A New Zealand variety used as a planting companion for forage brassicas.\\nMore prone to early flowering than other varieties, with higher crowns more susceptible to\\noverbrowsing.\\n * Six Point – A United States variety, very similar to Puna.\\n[edit] History\\nThe chicory plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace mentions it\\nin reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: \\\"Me pascunt olivae, me\\ncichorea, me malvae\\\" (\\\"As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance\\\").[18]\\nLord Monboddo describes the plant in 1779[19] as the \\\"chicoree\\\", which the French cultivate\\nas a pot herb. In the Napoleonic Era in France, chicory frequently appeared as either an\\nadulterant in coffee or a coffee substitute.;[20] this practice also became common in the\\nUnited States and the United Kingdom, e.g., in England during the Second World War and in\\nCamp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence which has been on sale since 1885.\\nThe cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval\\nmonks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that\\nchicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.\\nIn the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in\\nprisons.[21] By the 1840s, after New York, the port of New Orleans was the second largest\\nimporter of coffee.[20] Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union\\nnaval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans creating a\\nlong-standing tradition.[20]\\nChicory is a common ingredient in typical Roman recipes, generally fried with garlic and\\nred pepper to add its bitter and spicy flavor to meat or potato dishes. FAO reports that in\\n2005, China and the USA were the top producers of lettuce and chicory.[citation needed]\\nChicory is also mentioned in certain sericulture (silk-growing) texts. It is said that the\\nprimary caretaker of the silkworms, the \\\"silkworm mother\\\" should not eat or even touch\\nit.[citation needed]\\nThe chicory flower is often seen as inspiration for the Romantic concept of the Blue\\nFlower. It was also believed to be able to open locked doors, according to European\\nfolklore.\\n \\nClovers\\nClover (Trifolium), or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the leguminous\\npea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is\\nfound in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America\\nand Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual,\\nbiennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants. The leaves are trifoliate (rarely 5-\\nor 7-foliate), with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small\\nred, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the\\ncalyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus (sweet clover)\\nand Medicago (alfalfa or 'calvary clover'). The \\\"shamrock\\\" of popular iconography is\\nsometimes considered to be young clover. The scientific name derives from the Latin tres,\\n\\\"three\\\", and folium, \\\"leaf\\\", so called from the characteristic form of the leaf, which has\\nthree leaflets (trifoliate); hence the popular name trefoil. Clovers are used as food\\nplants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species; see list of\\nLepidoptera that feed on clovers.\\nSeveral species are extensively cultivated as fodder plants. The most widely cultivated\\nclovers are white clover Trifolium repens and red clover Trifolium pratense. Clover, either\\nsown alone or in mixture with ryegrass, has for a long time formed a staple crop for\\nsoiling, for several reasons: it grows freely, shooting up again after repeated mowings; it\\nproduces an abundant crop; it is palatable to and nutritious for livestock; it grows in a\\ngreat range of soils and climates; and it is appropriate for either pasturage or green\\ncomposting.\\nIn many areas, particularly on acidic soil, clover is short-lived because of a combination\\nof insect pests, diseases and nutrient balance; this is known as \\\"clover sickness\\\". When\\ncrop rotations are managed so that clover does not recur at intervals shorter than eight\\nyears, it grows with much of its pristine vigor.\\nClover sickness in more recent times may also be linked to pollinator decline; clovers are\\nmost efficiently pollinated by bumblebees, which have declined as a result of agricultural\\nintensification.[3] Honeybees can also pollinate clover, and beekeepers are often in heavy\\ndemand from farmers with clover pastures. Farmers reap the benefits of increased reseeding\\nthat occurs with increased bee activity, which means that future clover yields remain\\nabundant. Beekeepers benefit from the clover bloom as clover is one of the main nectar\\nsources for honeybees.\\nT. repens, white or Dutch clover, is a perennial abundant in meadows and good pastures. The\\nflowers are white or pinkish, becoming brown and deflexed as the corolla fades. T.\\nhybridum, alsike or Swedish clover, is a perennial which was introduced early in the 19th\\ncentury and has now become naturalized in Britain. The flowers are white or rosy, and\\nresemble those of the last species. T. medium, meadow or zigzag clover, a perennial with\\nstraggling flexuous stems and rose-purple flowers, is of little agricultural value.\\nOther South African species are: T. arvense, hare's-foot trefoil; found in fields and dry\\npastures, a soft hairy plant with minute white or pale pink flowers and feathery sepals; T.\\nfragiferum, orange clover, with hot-grounded, globose, rose-purple heads and swollen\\ncalyxes; T. procumbens, hop trefoil, on dry pastures and roadsides, the heads of pale\\nyellow flowers suggesting miniature hops; and the somewhat similar T. minus, common in\\npastures and roadsides, with smaller heads and small yellow flowers turning dark brown. It\\nis a source of high protein.\\n[edit] Symbolism and mythology\\nShamrock, the traditional Irish symbol coined by Saint Patrick for the Holy Trinity, is\\ncommonly associated with clover, though sometimes with Oxalis species, which are also\\ntrifoliate (i.e., they have three leaves).\\nClovers occasionally have leaves with four leaflets, instead of the usual three. These\\nfour-leaf clovers, like other rarities, are considered lucky. Clovers can also have five,\\nsix, or more leaves, but these are more rare. The most ever recorded is twenty-one,[4] a\\nrecord set in June 2008 by the same man who held the prior record and the current Guinness\\nWorld Record of eighteen.[5] Unofficial claims of discovery have ranged as high as\\ntwenty-seven.[4]\\nA common idiom is \\\"to be (live) in clover\\\", meaning to live a carefree life of ease,\\ncomfort, or prosperity. This originally referred to the fact that clover is fattening to\\ncattle.[6]\\nThe cloverleaf interchange is named for the resemblance to the leaves of a (four-leafed)\\nclover when viewed from the air.\\n \\nTypha (pronounced /ˈtaɪfə/) is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous\\nflowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere\\ndistribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland\\nhabitats. These plants are known in British English as bulrush, bullrush, or reedmace,[1]\\nin American English as cattail, punks, or corndog grass, in Australia as cumbungi & also\\nbulrush, and in New Zealand as raupo. Typha should not be confused with other plants known\\nas bulrush, such as some sedges (mostly in Scirpus and related genera).\\nTheir rhizomes are edible. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests\\nthey were eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago.\\nTypha leaves are alternate and mostly basal to a simple, jointless stem that eventually\\nbears the flowering spikes. The rhizomes spread horizontally beneath the surface of muddy\\nground to start new upright growth, and the spread of Typha is an important part of the\\nprocess of open water bodies being converted to vegetated marshland and eventually dry\\nland.\\nTypha plants are monoecious and bear unisexual, wind-pollinated flowers, developing in\\ndense spikes. The numerous male flowers form a narrow spike at the top of the vertical\\nstem. Each male (staminate) flower is reduced to a pair of stamens and hairs, and withers\\nonce the pollen is shed. The very large numbers of tiny female flowers form a dense,\\nsausage-shaped spike on the stem below the male spike — in larger species this can be up to\\n30 centimeters (12 in) long and 1 to 4 centimeters (0.39 to 1.6 in) thick. Seeds are\\nminute, 0.2 millimeters (0.0079 in) long, and attached to a fine hair. When ripe the heads\\ndisintegrate into dense cottony fluff, from which the seeds disperse by wind. Typha is\\noften among the first wetland plants to colonize areas of newly exposed wet mud; it also\\nspreads by rhizomes, forming dense stands often to the exclusion of other plants.\\n[edit] Species\\n * Typha angustifolia - Lesser Bulrush, Narrow Leaf Cattail (America) or Jambu (India)\\n * Typha domingensis - Bulrush, Southern Cattail (America) or Narrow-leaved Cumbungi\\n(Australia)\\n * Typha ×glauca (angustifolia × latifolia) - Hybrid or White Cattail\\n * Typha latifolia - Common Cattail\\n * Typha muelleri - Raupo (New Zealand)\\n * Typha orientalis - Broadleaf Cumbungi (Australia) or Raupo (New Zealand)\\n * Typha capensis - Cape bulrush\\nTypha plants at the edge of a small wetland in Indiana.\\nThe most widespread species is Typha latifolia, extending across the entire temperate\\nnorthern hemisphere. T. angustifolia is nearly as widespread, but does not extend so far\\nnorth; some believe it is introduced and invasive in North America. T. domingensis is a\\nmore southerly American and Australian species, extending from the U.S. to South America.\\nT. orientalis is widespread in eastern & northern Australia, temperate & tropical Asia, New\\nZealand. T. laxmannii, T. minima, and T. shuttleworthii are largely restricted to Asia and\\nparts of southern Europe. Typha latifolia has also been recently introduced into fresh\\nwater creeks and lakes in Australia where the water is shallow and contains levels of\\ndirty, turbid water. It affects the flow of the water and also filters the water and\\ncatches floating or submerged items, possibly damming the water flow.\\nTypha plants grow along lake margins and in marshes, often in dense colonies, and are\\nsometimes considered a weed in managed wetlands. The plant's root systems help prevent\\nerosion, and the plants themselves are often home to many insects, birds and amphibians.\\n[edit] Uses\\nTypha has a wide variety of parts that are edible to humans. The rhizomes, underground\\nlateral stems, are a pleasant nutritious and energy-rich food source that when processed\\ninto flour contains 266 kcal per 100 g.[2]. They are generally harvested from late autumn\\nto early spring. These are starchy, but also fibrous, so the starch must be scraped or\\nsucked from the tough fibers. The bases of the leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, in late\\nspring when they are young and tender. As the flower spike is developing in early summer,\\nit can be broken off and eaten like corn on the cob[clarification needed]. In mid-summer,\\nonce the male flowers are mature [3], the pollen can be collected and used as a flour\\nsupplement or thickener. Typha has also recently been suggested as a source of\\noil.[clarification needed] However, the plant's airborne seeds have also been known to\\ncreate skin irritation and can trigger asthma.\\nStarch grains have been found on grinding stones widely across Europe from 30,000 BP\\nsuggesting that Typha plants were a widely used Upper Paleolithic food.[2]\\n[edit] Other uses\\nTypha seeds are very small, embedded in down parachutes, and very effectively\\nwind-dispersed\\nTypha (蒲, gama?) with/without seeds. Seeds used for Futon (布団 or 蒲団, futon?) before cotton\\nThe disintegrating heads are used by some birds to line their nests. The downy material was\\nalso used by some Native American tribes as tinder for starting fires.\\nSome Native American tribes also used Typha down to line moccasins, and for bedding,\\ndiapers, baby powder, and papoose boards. One Native American word for Typha meant \\\"fruit\\nfor papoose's bed\\\". Today some people still use Typha down to stuff clothing items and\\npillows.[4] When using Typha for pillow stuffing, dense batting material is used, as the\\nfluff may cause a skin reaction similar to urticaria.\\nTypha can be dipped in wax then lit as a candle, the stem serving as a wick.\\nThe down has been used to fill life vests in the same manner as kapok.[citation needed]\\nTypha can be used as a source of ethanol, instead of cereals.[clarification needed] They\\nhave the advantage that they do not require much, if any, maintenance.[5]\\nOne informal experiment has indicated that Typha is able to remove the poisonous element\\narsenic from drinking water. Such a filtration system may be one way to provide cheap water\\nfiltration for people in developing nations.[6]\\nThe boiled root stocks have been used as a diuretic for increasing urination, or used\\nmashing, to make a jelly-like paste for sores, boils, wounds, burns, scabs, inflammations,\\nand smallpox pustules.[citation needed]\\nTypha orientalis is used to make compostable food packaging.\\n \\nBurdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae.\\nNative to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide.[2]\\nPlants of the genus Arctium have dark green leaves that can grow up to 28\\\" (71 cm) long.\\nThey are generally large, coarse and ovate, with the lower ones being heart-shaped. They\\nare woolly underneath. The leafstalks are generally hollow. Arctium species generally\\nflower from July through to October.\\nThe prickly heads of these plants (burrs) are noted for easily catching on to fur and\\nclothing (being the inspiration for Velcro[3]), thus providing an excellent mechanism for\\nseed dispersal.[2] Burrs cause local irritation and can possibly cause intestinal hairballs\\nin pets. However, most animals avoid ingesting these plants.\\nA large number of species have been placed in genus Arctium at one time or another, but\\nmost of them are now classified in the related genus Cousinia. The precise limits between\\nArctium and Cousinia are hard to define; there is an exact correlation between their\\nmolecular phylogeny. The burdocks are sometimes confused with the cockleburs (genus\\nXanthium) and rhubarb (genus Rheum).\\nThe roots of burdock, among other plants, are eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth\\n(Hepialus humuli). The plant is used as a food plant by other Lepidoptera including\\nBrown-tail, Coleophora paripennella, Coleophora peribenanderi, the Gothic, Lime-speck Pug\\nand Scalloped Hazel.\\nThe green, above-ground portions may cause contact dermatitis in humans due to the lactones\\nthe plant produces.\\nUses\\n[edit] Food and drink\\nThe taproot of young burdock plants can be harvested and eaten as a root vegetable. While\\ngenerally out of favour in modern European cuisine, it remains popular in Asia. In Japan,\\nA. lappa (Greater burdock) is called \\\"gobō\\\" (牛蒡 or ごぼう); in Korea burdock root is called\\n\\\"u-eong\\\" (우엉) and sold as \\\"tong u-eong\\\" (통우엉), or \\\"whole burdock\\\". Plants are cultivated\\nfor their slender roots, which can grow about 1 meter long and 2 cm across. Burdock root is\\nvery crisp and has a sweet, mild, and pungent flavor with a little muddy harshness that\\ncan be reduced by soaking julienned or shredded roots in water for five to ten minutes.\\nImmature flower stalks may also be harvested in late spring, before flowers appear; their\\ntaste resembles that of artichoke, to which the burdock is related. Leaves are also eaten\\nin springs in Japan when a plant is young and leaves are soft. Some A. lappa cultivars are\\nspecialized in this purpose. A popular Japanese dish is kinpira gobō (金平牛蒡), julienned or\\nshredded burdock root and carrot, braised with soy sauce, sugar, mirin and/or sake, and\\nsesame oil; another is burdock makizushi (sushi filled with pickled burdock root; the\\nburdock root is often artificially coloured orange to resemble a carrot).\\nIn the second half of the 20th century, burdock achieved international recognition for its\\nculinary use due to the increasing popularity of the macrobiotic diet, which advocates its\\nconsumption. It contains a fair amount of dietary fiber (GDF, 6g per 100g), calcium,\\npotassium, amino acids,[4] and is low in calories. It contains a polyphenol oxidase,[5]\\nwhich cause its darkened surface and muddy harshness by forming tannin-iron complexes.\\nBurdock root's harshness harmonizes well with pork in miso soup (tonjiru) and with\\nJapanese-style pilaf (takikomi gohan).\\nDandelion and burdock is today a soft drink that has long been popular in the United\\nKingdom, which has its origins in hedgerow mead commonly drunk in the medieval\\nperiod.[citation needed] Burdock is believed to be a galactagogue, a substance that\\nincreases lactation, but it is sometimes recommended to be avoided during pregnancy based\\non animal studies that show components of burdock to cause uterus stimulation.[6]\\nIn parts of the US (notably western New York), burdock stalks are eaten as a substitute for\\ncardoon. The stalks are peeled, scrubbed, boiled in salt water, and fried in an egg and\\nbreadcrumb batter.\\nFolk herbalists consider dried burdock to be a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying\\nagent. The seeds of A. lappa are used in traditional Chinese medicine, under the name\\nniupangzi (Chinese: 牛蒡子; pinyin: niúpángzi; Some dictionaries list the Chinese as just 牛蒡\\nniúbàng.)\\nBurdock is a traditional medicinal herb that is used for many ailments. Burdock root oil\\nextract, also called Bur oil, is popular in Europe as a scalp treatment applied to improve\\nhair strength, shine and body, help reverse scalp conditions such as dandruff, and combat\\nhair loss. Modern studies[citation needed] indicate that burdock root oil extract is rich\\nin phytosterols and essential fatty acids (including rare long-chain EFAs), the nutrients\\nrequired to maintain a healthy scalp and promote natural hair growth. It combines an\\nimmediate relieving effect with nutritional support of normal functions of sebaceous glands\\nand hair follicles According to some European herbalists, combining burdock root oil with a\\nnettle root oil and massaging these two oils into the scalp every day has a greater effect\\nthan Bur oil alone.[citation needed]\\nBurdock leaves are used by some burn care workers for pain management and to speed healing\\ntime in natural burn treatment.[7] Burn care workers hold that it eases dressing changes\\nand appears to impede bacterial growth on the wound site and that it also provides a great\\nmoisture barrier.\\n[edit] French Cloth\\nIn the early 1700s, Frenchmen introduced these by the thousands into North America. They\\nused it exclusively as a cotton twill. But once the cotton gin was invented, the Frenchmen\\nleft, and the burdock spread incredibly quickly.[citation needed] The Frenchmen left during\\nthe windy season, and it spread even more. Burdock is considered an invasive species in\\nNorth America.\\n[edit] Burdock and Velcro\\nAfter taking his dog for a walk one day in the early 1940s, George de Mestral, a Swiss\\ninventor, became curious about the seeds of the burdock plant that had attached themselves\\nto his clothes and to the dog's fur. Under a microscope, he looked closely at the\\nhook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals aiding seed\\ndispersal, and he realised that the same approach could be used to join other things\\ntogether. The result was Velcro.[3]\\n[edit] Tolstoy\\nThe Russian writer Leo Tolstoy wrote in his journal, in 1896, about a tiny shoot of burdock\\nhe saw in a ploughed field, \\\"black from dust but still alive and red in the center … It\\nmakes me want to write. It asserts life to the end, and alone in the midst of the whole\\nfield, somehow or other had asserted it.\\\"\\n[edit] Species\\n * Arctium lappa : Greater Burdock, Gobō\\n * Arctium minus : Lesser Burdock, Burweed, Louse-bur, Button-bur\\n o Arctium minus nemorosum (=Arctium vulgare) : Woodland Burdock, Wood Burdock\\n * Arctium pubens : Common Burdock\\n * Arctium tomentosum : Downy Burdock, Woolly Burdock\\n[edit] Safety\\nBecause the roots of burdock resemble those of Deadly nightshade (also known as belladonna\\nor Atropa belladonna), which is extremely poisonous, it is sometimes cautioned as a safety\\nrisk. Given that the plants above ground are readily distinguishable, and chiefly because\\ntheir habitats rarely overlap, it is unlikely that the toxic plant's root should be found\\nbeneath the foliage of the edible one's. However, positive identification is a necessary\\nprecondition to the consumption of any wild plant.\\n \\nAsparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial[1] plant species in the\\ngenus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its allium cousins, onions\\nand garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the\\nfamily Alliaceae and asparagus in the Asparagaceae. Asparagus officinalis is native to most\\nof Europe, northern Africa and western Asia,[2][3][4] and is widely cultivated as a\\nvegetable crop.\\nAsparagus is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 100–150 centimetres (39–59 in) tall,\\nwith stout stems with much-branched feathery foliage. The \\\"leaves\\\" are in fact needle-like\\ncladodes (modified stems) in the axils of scale leaves; they are 6–32 millimetres (0.24–1.3\\nin) long and 1 millimeter (0.039 in) broad, and clustered 4–15 together. The root system is\\nadventitious and the root type is fasciculated. The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white\\nto yellowish, 4.5–6.5 millimeters (0.18–0.26 in) long, with six tepals partially fused\\ntogether at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of 2–3 in the junctions of\\nthe branchlets. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants,\\nbut sometimes hermaphrodite flowers are found. The fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm\\ndiameter, which is poisonous to humans.[5]\\nPlants native to the western coasts of Europe (from northern Spain north to Ireland, Great\\nBritain, and northwest Germany) are treated as Asparagus officinalis subsp. prostratus\\n(Dumort.) Corb., distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only\\n30–70 centimeters (12–28 in) high, and shorter cladodes 2–18 millimeters (0.079–0.71 in)\\nlong.[2][6] It is treated as a distinct species Asparagus prostratus Dumort by some\\nauthors.[7][8]\\n[edit] History\\nAsparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate\\nflavor and diuretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest\\nsurviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third century AD De re coquinaria, Book III. It was\\ncultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and\\ndried the vegetable for use in winter. Asparagus is pictured on an Egyptian frieze dating\\nto 3000 B.C. France’s Louis XIV had special greenhouses built for growing it.[9]\\nIt lost its popularity in the Middle Ages but returned to favor in the seventeenth\\ncentury.[10]\\n[edit] Uses\\n[edit] Culinary\\nThree types of asparagus on a shop display, with white asparagus at the back and green\\nasparagus in the middle. The plant at the front is Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, commonly called\\nwild asparagus, and sometimes \\\"Bath Asparagus\\\".\\nOnly young asparagus shoots are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open the shoots\\nquickly turn woody and become strongly flavoured.\\nAsparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B6,\\ncalcium, magnesium and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A,\\nvitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron,\\nphosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium[citation needed], as well as\\nchromium, a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from\\nthe bloodstream into cells[citation needed]. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from\\nasparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.\\nThe shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, typically as an\\nappetizer[11] or vegetable side dish. In Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often\\nstir-fried. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried\\nwith chicken, shrimp, or beef, and also wrapped in bacon. Asparagus may also be quickly\\ngrilled over charcoal or hardwood embers. It is also used as an ingredient in some stews\\nand soups. In the French style, it is often boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise\\nsauce, melted butter or olive oil, Parmesan cheese or mayonnaise. Tall, narrow asparagus\\ncooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water. In\\nrecent years, almost as a cycle dating back to early culinary habits, asparagus has\\nregained its popularity eaten raw as a component of a salad.[12]\\nAsparagus can also be pickled and stored for several years. Some brands may label shoots\\nprepared this way as \\\"marinated.\\\"\\nThe bottom portion of asparagus often contains sand and dirt and therefore thorough\\ncleaning is generally advised in cooking asparagus.\\nGreen asparagus is eaten worldwide, though the availability of imports throughout the year\\nhas made it less of a delicacy than it once was.[6] However, in the UK, due to the short\\ngrowing season and demand for local produce, asparagus commands a premium and the\\n\\\"asparagus season is a highlight of the foodie calendar.\\\"[13] In continental northern\\nEurope, there is also a strong seasonal following for local white asparagus, nicknamed\\n\\\"white gold\\\".\\nGerman botanical illustration of asparagus\\n[edit] Medicinal\\nThe second century physician Galen described asparagus as \\\"cleansing and healing.\\\"\\nNutrition studies have shown that asparagus is a low-calorie source of folate and\\npotassium. Its stalks are high in antioxidants. \\\"Asparagus provides essential nutrients:\\nsix spears contain some 135 micrograms (μg) of folate, almost half the adult RDI\\n(recommended daily intake), 20 milligrams of potassium,\\\" notes an article in Reader's\\nDigest. Research suggests folate is key in taming homocysteine, a substance implicated in\\nheart disease. Folate is also critical for pregnant women, since it protects against neural\\ntube defects in babies. Several studies indicate that getting plenty of potassium may\\nreduce the loss of calcium from the body.\\nParticularly green asparagus is a good source of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body\\nproduce and maintain collagen, the major structural protein component of the body's\\nconnective tissues.\\n\\\"Asparagus has long been recognized for its medicinal properties,\\\" wrote D. Onstad, author\\nof Whole Foods Companion: A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers and Lovers of\\nNatural Foods. \\\"Asparagus contains substances that act as a diuretic, neutralize ammonia\\nthat makes us tired, and protect small blood vessels from rupturing. Its fiber content\\nmakes it a laxative too.\\\" It should be noted, however, that ammonia only \\\"makes us tired\\\"\\nif we are in end stage liver failure.\\n[edit] Cultivation\\nGreen asparagus for sale in New York City.\\nSee also: List of asparagus diseases\\nSince asparagus often originates in maritime habitats, it thrives in soils that are too\\nsaline for normal weeds to grow in. Thus a little salt was traditionally used to suppress\\nweeds in beds intended for asparagus; this has the disadvantage that the soil cannot be\\nused for anything else. Some places are better for growing asparagus than others. The\\nfertility of the soil is a large factor. \\\"Crowns\\\" are planted in winter, and the first\\nshoots appear in spring; the first pickings or \\\"thinnings\\\" are known as sprue asparagus.\\nSprue have thin stems.[14]\\nWhite asparagus, known as spargel, is cultivated by denying the plants light while they are\\nbeing grown. Less bitter than the green variety, it is very popular in the Netherlands,\\nFrance, Belgium and Germany where 57,000 tonnes (61% of consumer demands) are produced\\nannually.[15]\\nPurple asparagus differs from its green and white counterparts, having high sugar and low\\nfibre levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in Italy and commercialised under\\nthe variety name Violetto d'Albenga. Since then, breeding work has continued in countries\\nsuch as the United States and New Zealand.[verification needed]\\nIn northwestern Europe, the season for asparagus production is short, traditionally\\nbeginning on April 23 and ending on Midsummer Day.[16]\\n[edit] Companion planting\\nAsparagus is a useful companion plant for tomatoes. The tomato plant repels the asparagus\\nbeetle, as do several other common companion plants of tomatoes. Meanwhile, asparagus may\\nrepel some harmful root nematodes that affect tomato plants.[\\n \\nAmaranthus, collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately\\n60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to\\ngold. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely\\nrelated genus Celosia.\\nAlthough several species are often considered weeds, people around the world value\\namaranths as leaf vegetables, cereals, and ornamentals. A traditional food plant in Africa,\\namaranth has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural\\ndevelopment and support sustainable landcare.[1]\\nThe ultimate root of \\\"amaranth\\\" is the Greek ἀμάραντος[2] (amarantos) \\\"unfading\\\" with the\\nGreek word for \\\"flower\\\" ἄνθος (anthos) factoring into the word's development as \\\"amaranth\\\"\\n- the more correct \\\"amarant\\\" is an archaic variant.\\nSystematics\\nAmaranthus shows a wide variety of morphological diversity among and even within certain\\nspecies. Although the family (Amaranthaceae) is distinctive, the genus has few\\ndistinguishing characters among the 70 species included.[3] This complicates taxonomy and\\nAmaranthus has generally been considered among systematists as a “difficult” genus.[4]\\nFormerly, Sauer (1955) classified the genus into 2 sub-genera, differentiating only between\\nmonoecious and dioecious species: Acnida (L.) Aellen ex K.R. Robertson and Amaranthus.[4]\\nAlthough this classification was widely accepted, further infrageneric classification was\\n(and still is) needed to differentiate this widely diverse group.\\nCurrently, Amaranthus includes 3 recognized sub-genera and 70 species, although species\\nnumbers are questionable due to hybridization and species concepts.[5] Infrageneric\\nclassification focuses on inflorescence, flower characters and whether a species is\\nmonoecious/dioecious, as in the Sauer (1955) suggested classification.[3] A modified\\ninfrageneric classification of Amaranthus was published by Mosyakin & Robertson (1996) and\\nincludes 3 subgenera: Acnida, Amaranthus and Albersia. The taxonomy is further\\ndifferentiated by sections within each of the sub-genera.[6]\\n[edit] Uses\\nSeveral species are raised for amaranth \\\"grain\\\" in Asia and the Americas. This should more\\ncorrectly be termed \\\"pseudograin\\\" (see below). They are highly edible by gluten intolerant\\nindividuals because they are not a member of the grass family and contain no gluten.\\nAncient amaranth grains still used to this day include the three species, Amaranthus\\ncaudatus, Amaranthus cruentus, and Amaranthus hypochondriacus.[7] Although amaranth was\\n(and still is) cultivated on a small scale in parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, India, and\\nNepal, there is potential for further cultivation in the U.S and tropical countries and it\\nis often referred to as \\\"the crop of the future.\\\"[8] It has been proposed as an inexpensive\\nnative crop that could be cultivated by indigenous people in rural areas for several\\nreasons: 1) it is easily harvested, 2) it produces lots of fruit and thus seeds, which are\\nused as grain, 3) it is highly tolerant of arid environments, which are typical of most\\nsubtropical and some tropical regions, and 4) its seeds contain large amounts of protein\\nand essential amino acids, such as lysine.[9] 5) Amaranthus species are reported to have a\\n30% higher protein value than cereals, such as rice, wheat flour, oats, and rye.[10] 6) It\\nrequires little fuel to cook. As befits its weedy life history, amaranth grains grow very\\nrapidly and their large seedheads can weigh up to 1 kilogram and contain a half-million\\nseeds.[11]\\nAmaranth was one of the staple foodstuffs of the Incas, and it is known as kiwicha in the\\nAndes today. It was also used by the ancient Aztecs, who called it huautli, and other\\nNative America peoples in Mexico to prepare ritual drinks and foods. To this day, amaranth\\ngrains are toasted much like popcorn or martala and mixed with honey, molasses or chocolate\\nto make a treat called alegría (joy in Spanish).\\nAmaranth grain is a crop of moderate importance in the Himalaya.\\nBecause of its importance as a symbol of indigenous culture, and because it is very\\npalatable, easy to cook, and its protein particularly well suited to human nutritional\\nneeds, interest in grain amaranth (especially A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus) revived\\nin the 1970s. It was recovered in Mexico from wild varieties and is now commercially\\ncultivated. It is a popular snack sold in Mexico City and other parts of Mexico, sometimes\\nmixed with chocolate or puffed rice, and its use has spread to Europe and parts of North\\nAmerica. Amaranth and quinoa are called pseudograins because of their flavor and cooking\\nsimilarities to grains. These are dicot plant seeds, and both contain exceptionally\\ncomplete protein for plant sources. Besides protein, amaranth grain provides a good source\\nof dietary fiber and dietary minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and\\nespecially manganese. It has been claimed to be beneficial in preventing greying of\\nhair.[citation needed]\\nAmaranth species are cultivated and consumed as a leaf vegetable in many parts of the\\nworld. There are 4 species of Amaranthus documented as cultivated vegetables in eastern\\nAsia: Amaranthus cruentus, Amaranthus blitum, Amaranthus dubius, and Amaranthus\\ntricolor.[12]\\nIn Indonesia and Malaysia, leaf amaranth is called bayam, while the Tagalogs in the\\nPhilippines call the plant kulitis or Callaloo. In Karnataka state in India it is used to\\nprepare curries like Hulee, palya, Majjigay-hulee and so on. In Tamilnadu State, it is\\ncalled முளைக்கீரை, and is regularly consumed as a favourite dish, where the greens are\\nsteamed, and mashed, with light seasoning of salt, red chillis and cumin. It is called\\nkeerai masial (கீரை மசியல்). In Andhra Pradesh, India, this leaf is added in preparation of\\na popular dal called thotakura pappu తొట కూర పప్పు (Telugu). In Maharashtra, it is called\\nas \\\"Shravani Maath\\\" (literally माठ grown in month of Shravan) and it is available in both\\nred and white colour. In Orissa, it is called as \\\"Khada saga\\\", it is used to prepare 'Saga\\nBhaja', in which the leaf is fried with chillies and onions.\\nRoot of mature amaranth is an excellent vegetable. It is white in colour and is cooked with\\ntomatoes or tamarind gravy. It has a milky taste and is alkaline.\\nIn China, the leaves and stems are used as a stir-fry vegetable, or in soups, and called\\nyin choi (苋菜; pinyin: xiàncài; and variations on this transliteration in various dialects).\\nAmaranth greens are believed to help enhance eyesight. In Vietnam, it is called rau dền and\\nis used to make soup. There are two species popular as edible vegetable in Vietnam: dền đỏ-\\namaranthus tricolor and dền cơm or dền trắng- amaranthus viridis.\\nIn East Africa, Amaranth leaf is known in Chewa as Bonongwe, and in Swahili as mchicha. In\\nBantu-speaking regions of Uganda it is known as Doodo.[13] It is sometimes recommended by\\nsome doctors for people having low red blood cell count. Also known among the Kalenjin as a\\ndrought crop (chepkerta). In West Africa such as in Nigeria, it is a common vegetable, and\\ngoes with all Nigerian carbohydrate dishes. It is known in Yoruba as efo tete or arowo jeja\\n(\\\"we have money left over for fish\\\"). In Congo[clarification needed] it is known as lenga\\nlenga or biteku teku.[14] In the Caribbean, the leaves are called callaloo and are\\nsometimes used in a soup called pepperpot soup.\\nIn Greece, Green Amaranth (Amaranthus viridis) is a popular dish and is called vlita or\\nvleeta. It's boiled, then served with olive oil and lemon like a salad, usually alongside\\nfried fish. Greeks stop harvesting the (usually wild-grown) plant when it starts to bloom\\nat the end of August. In Sri Lanka, it is called \\\"Koora Thampala\\\". Sri Lankans cook it and\\neat it with rice. Fiji Indians call it choraiya bhaji.\\n[edit] Dyes\\nThe flowers of the 'Hopi Red Dye' amaranth were used by the Hopi (a tribe in the western\\nUnited States) as the source of a deep red dye. There is also a synthetic dye that has been\\nnamed \\\"amaranth\\\" for its similarity in color to the natural amaranth pigments known as\\nbetalains. This synthetic dye is also known as Red No. 2 in North America and E123 in the\\nEuropean Union.[15]\\nThe genus also contains several well-known ornamental plants, such as Amaranthus caudatus\\n(love-lies-bleeding), a native of India and a vigorous, hardy annual with dark purplish\\nflowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes. Another Indian annual, A. hypochondriacus\\n(prince's feather), has deeply veined lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under face, and\\ndeep crimson flowers densely packed on erect spikes.\\nAmaranths are recorded as food plants for some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species\\nincluding the nutmeg moth and various case-bearer moths of the genus Coleophora: C.\\namaranthella, C. enchorda (feeds exclusively on Amaranthus), C. immortalis (feeds\\nexclusively on Amaranthus), C. lineapulvella and C. versurella (recorded on A. spinosus).\\n[edit] Nutritional value\\nAmaranth greens, also called Chinese spinach, hinn choy or yin tsoi (simplified Chinese: 苋菜\\n; traditional Chinese: 莧菜; pinyin: xiàncài); callaloo, dhantinasoppu (Kannada); తోటకూర\\n(Telugu); Rajgira (Marathi); முளைக் கீரை (Tamil), cheera ചീര (Malayalam); bayam\\n(Indonesian); phak khom ผักโขม (Thai); tampala, or quelite, (Oriya); Khada Saga, are a\\ncommon leaf vegetable throughout the tropics and in many warm temperate regions. It is very\\npopular in India. They are a very good source of vitamins including vitamin A, vitamin K,\\nvitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin, and folate, and dietary minerals including calcium,\\niron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. Because of its\\nvaluable nutrition, some farmers grow amaranth today. However their moderately high content\\nof oxalic acid can inhibit the absorption of calcium and zinc, and also indicates that they\\nshould be eaten with caution under consultation with healthcare providers by people with\\nkidney disorders, gout, or rheumatoid arthritis, concerning mineral absorption and\\nsupplementation.[citation needed] Reheating cooked amaranth greens is often discouraged,\\nparticularly for consumption by small children, as the nitrates in the leaves can be\\nconverted to nitrites, similarly to spinach.[citation needed]\\nAmaranth seeds, like buckwheat and quinoa, contain protein that is unusually complete for\\nplant sources.[16] Most fruits and vegetables do not contain a complete set of amino acids,\\nand thus different sources of protein must be used.\\nIts seeds have a protein content greater than that of wheat. However, unlike that found in\\ntrue grains (i.e. from grass seeds) its protein is not of the problematical type known as\\ngluten.[17]\\nSeveral studies have shown that like oats, amaranth seed or oil may be of benefit for those\\nwith hypertension and cardiovascular disease; regular consumption reduces blood pressure\\nand cholesterol levels, while improving antioxidant status and some immune\\nparameters.[18][19][20] While the active ingredient in oats appears to be water-soluble\\nfiber, amaranth appears to lower cholesterol via its content of plant stanols and squalene.\\n[edit] As a weed\\nNot all amaranth plants are cultivated. Most of the species from Amaranthus are summer\\nannual weeds and are commonly referred to as pigweeds.[21] These species have an extended\\nperiod of germination, rapid growth, and high rates of seed production[21] and have been\\ncausing problems for farmers since the mid-1990s. This is partially due to the reduction in\\ntillage, reduction in herbicidal use and the evolution of herbicidal resistance in several\\nspecies where herbicides have been applied more often.[22] The following 9 species of\\nAmaranthus are considered invasive and noxious weeds in the U.S and Canada: A. albus, A.\\nblitoides, A. hybridus, A. palmeri, A. powellii, A. retroflexus, A. spinosus, A.\\ntuberculatus, and A. viridis.[23]\\nA new herbicide-resistant strain of Amaranthus palmeri or Palmer amaranth has appeared; it\\nis Glyphosate-resistant and so cannot be killed by the widely used Roundup herbicide. Also,\\nthis plant can survive in tough conditions. This could be of particular concern to cotton\\nfarmers using Roundup Ready cotton.[24] The species Amaranthus palmeri (Palmer amaranth)\\ncauses the greatest reduction in soybean yields and has the potential to reduce yields by\\n17-68% in field experiments.[21] Palmer amaranth is among the “top five most troublesome\\nweeds” in the southeast and has already evolved resistances to dinitroanilines and\\nacetolactate synthase inhibitors.[25] This makes the proper identification of Amaranthus\\nspecies at the seedling stage essential for agriculturalists. Proper herbicide treatment\\nneeds to be applied before the species successfully colonizes in the crop field and causes\\nsignificant yield reductions.\\n[edit] Beneficial weed\\nPigweed can be a beneficial weed, as well as a companion plant, serving as a trap for leaf\\nminers and some other pests, as well as sheltering ground beetles (which prey upon insect\\npests) and breaking up hard soil for more delicate neighboring plants\\n \\nOther Names: Common Chickweeds, Star Chickweed, Mouse-ear Chickweed\\nChickweeds are an annual herb, widespread in temperate zones, arctic zones, and throughout,\\nprobable origin Eurasia. Chickweeds have established themselves all over the world,\\npossibly carried on the clothes and shoes of explorers. They are as numerous in species as\\nthey are in region. Most are succulent and have white flowers, and all with practically the\\nsame edible and medicinal values. They all exhibit a very interesting trait, (they sleep)\\ntermed the 'Sleep of Plants,' every night the leaves fold over the tender buds and the new\\nshoots.\\nThe cultivation of this one is not necessary it is abundant and easy to find. Gather fresh\\nedible plant between May and July, as soon as flowers appear, it can be used fresh or be\\ndried for later herb use.\\nProperties\\n Chickweeds are Medicinal and edible, they are very nutritious, high in vitamins and\\nminerals, can be added to salads or cooked as a pot herb, tasting somewhat like spinach.\\nThe major plant constituents in Chickweed are Ascorbic-acid, Beta-carotene, Calcium,\\nCoumarins, Genistein, Gamma-linolenic-acid, Flavonoids, Hentriacontanol, Magnesium, Niacin,\\nOleic-acid, Potassium, Riboflavin, Rutin, Selenium, Triterpenoid saponins, Thiamin, and\\nZinc. The whole plant is used in alternative medicine as an astringent, carminative,\\ndemulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary. A decoction of the\\nwhole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative, emmenagogue, galactogogue and\\ncirculatory tonic. It is also used to relieve constipation, an infusion of the dried herb\\nis used in coughs and hoarseness, and is beneficial in the treatment of kidney complaints.\\nas an astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant,\\nvulnerary. A decoction of the whole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative,\\nemmenagogue, galactogogue and circulatory tonic. It is also used to relieve constipation,\\nan infusion of the dried herb is used in coughs and hoarseness, and is beneficial in the\\ntreatment of kidney complaints. New research indicates it's use as an effective\\nantihistamine. The decoction is also used externally to treat rheumatic pains, wounds and\\nulcers. It can be applied as a medicinal poultice and will relieve any kind of roseola and\\nis effective wherever there are fragile superficial veins or itching skin conditions.\\n \\nCurled Dock (Rumex crispus), also known as Curly Dock, Yellow Dock, Sour Dock, Narrow Dock,\\nsometimes as \\\"narrow-leaved dock\\\" (which properly refers to a variant of Sorrel), and\\nambiguously as \\\"garden patience\\\", is a perennial flowering plant in the family\\nPolygonaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia.\\nThe mature plant is a reddish brown colour, and produces a stalk that grows to about 1 m\\nhigh. It has smooth leaves shooting off from a large basal rosette, with distinctive waved\\nor curled edges. On the stalk flowers and seeds are produced in clusters on branched stems,\\nwith the largest cluster being found at the apex. The seeds are shiny, brown and encased in\\nthe calyx of the flower that produced them. This casing enables the seeds to float on water\\nand get caught in wool and animal fur, and this helps the seeds to spread to new\\nlocations.[1] The root-structure is a large, yellow, forking taproot.\\nCurled Dock grows in roadsides, all types of fields, and low-maintenance crops. It prefers\\nrich, moist and heavy soils.\\n[edit] Distribution\\nCurled Dock is a widespread naturalised species throughout the temperate world, which has\\nbecome a serious invasive species in many areas, including throughout North America,\\nsouthern South America, New Zealand and parts of Australia. It spreads through the seeds\\ncontaminating crop seeds, and sticking to clothing. It is designated an \\\"injurious weed\\\"\\nunder the UK Weeds Act 1959.[2] It is often seen in disturbed soils at the edges of\\nroadsides, railway beds, and car parks.\\n[edit] Uses and toxicity\\nIt can be used as a wild leaf vegetable; the young leaves should be boiled in several\\nchanges of water to remove as much of the oxalic acid in the leaves as possible, or can be\\nadded directly to salads in moderate amounts.[3] Once the plant matures it becomes too\\nbitter to consume. Dock leaves are an excellent source of both vitamin A and protein, and\\nare rich in iron and potassium. Curly Dock leaves are somewhat tart due to the presence of\\nhigh levels of oxalic acid, and although quite palatable, this plant should only be\\nconsumed in moderation as it can irritate the urinary tract and increase the risk of\\ndeveloping kidney stones.\\nThe roots have also been used medicinally as an astringent, tonic, and laxative. Compounds\\ncontained in the plant's roots have been clinically verified to bind with heavy metals such\\nas lead and arsenic and expel them from the body by stimulating biliary function in the\\nliver. The plant is considered a highly effective blood cleanser and is used by herbalists\\nto assist the body in eliminating heavy metals and to treat other hepatic disorders\\n \\nTaraxacum (pronounced /təˈræksəkʉm/) is a large genus of flowering plants in the family\\nAsteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale\\nand T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide.[1] Both species are edible in their\\nentirety.[2] The common name dandelion (pronounced /ˈdændɨlaɪ.ən/ DAN-di-lye-ən, from\\nFrench dent-de-lion, meaning lion's tooth) is given to members of the genus, and like other\\nmembers of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a\\ncomposite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum\\nspecies produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without\\npollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.[\\nDescription\\nThe species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted biennial or perennial herbaceous plants, native to\\ntemperate areas of the Old World.\\nThe leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple and basal, entire or lobed, forming a rosette\\nabove the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange colored, and are open in\\nthe daytime but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) that\\nrises 1–10 cm or more[4] above the leaves and exudes a milky sap (latex) when broken. A\\nrosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in\\ndiameter and consists entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into a spherical\\n\\\"clocks\\\"[5] containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to\\na pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances.\\nThe flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series.\\nThe inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to\\ndisperse; the outer bracts are always reflexed downward. Some species drop the \\\"parachute\\\"\\nfrom the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals.\\nBetween the pappus and the achene, there is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the\\nfruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from\\nthe parachute.\\nA number of species of Taraxacum are seed dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize\\ndisturbed soil, especially the Common dandelion (T. officinale), which has been introduced\\nover much of the temperate world. After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head\\ndries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex (curve\\nbackwards), and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. Finally, the seed-bearing\\nparachutes expand and lift out of it. The parachute drops off the achene when it strikes an\\nobstacle[citation needed]. After the seed is released, the parachutes lose their feathered\\nstructure and take on a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, often called \\\"dandelion\\nsnow\\\"[citation needed].\\nHawksbeard flower heads and ripe seeds are sometimes confused with Dandelions.\\nDandelions are so similar to catsears (Hypochaeris) that catsears are also known as \\\"false\\ndandelions\\\". Both plants carry similar flowers, which form into windborne seeds. However,\\ndandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems,\\nwhile catsear flowering stems are branched, solid and carry bracts. Both plants have a\\nbasal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth\\nor glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.\\nOther plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and\\nhawksbeards (Crepis). These are readily distinguished by branched flowering stems, which\\nare usually hairy and bear leaves.\\n[edit] Classification\\nThe genus is taxonomically complex, with some botanists dividing the group into about 34\\nmacrospecies, and about 2000 microspecies;[6] approximately 235 apomictic and polyploid\\nmicrospecies have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland.[7] Some botanists take a much\\nnarrower view and only accept a total of about 60 species.[6]\\n[edit] Selected species\\n * Taraxacum albidum, a white-flowering Japanese dandelion.\\n * Taraxacum californicum, the endangered California dandelion\\n * Taraxacum japonicum, Japanese dandelion. No ring of smallish, downward-turned leaves\\nunder the flowerhead.\\n * Taraxacum kok-saghyz, Russian dandelion, which produces rubber[8]\\n * Taraxacum laevigatum, Red-seeded Dandelion; achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply\\ncut throughout length. Inner bracts' tips are hooded.\\n o Taraxacum erythrospermum, often considered a variety of Taraxacum\\nlaevigatum.[9]\\n * Taraxacum officinale (syn. T. officinale subsp. vulgare), Common Dandelion. Found in\\nmany forms.\\n * 'Amélioré à Coeur Plein' - Yields an abundant crop without taking up much ground, and\\ntends to blanch itself naturally, due to its clumping growth habit.\\n * 'Broad Leaved' - The leaves are thick and tender and easily blanched. In rich soils\\nthey can be up to 60 cm wide. Plants do not go to seed as quickly as French types.\\n * 'Vert de Montmagny'- Long dark green leaves, some find them mild enough to be\\npalatable without blanching. Vigorous and productive.[10]\\n[edit] History\\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\\nDandelions are thought to have evolved about thirty million years ago in Eurasia;[11] they\\nhave been used by humans for food and as a herb for much of recorded history[citation\\nneeded]. They were introduced to North America by early European immigrants.\\n[edit] Origin of the names\\nThe Latin name taraxacum has its origin in medieval Arabic writings on pharamacy. Al-Razi\\naround 900 (A.D.) wrote \\\"the tarashaquq is like chicory\\\". Ibn Sīnā around 1000 (A.D.) wrote\\na book chapter on taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Latin around 1170,\\nspelled it tarasacon.[12]\\nThe English name dandelion is a corruption of the French dent de lion[13] meaning \\\"lion's\\ntooth\\\", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The names of the plant have the same\\nmeaning in several other European languages, such as the Welsh dant y llew, Italian dente\\ndi leone, Catalan dent de lleó, Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão,Norwegian\\nLøvetann, Danish Løvetand and German Löwenzahn.\\nIn modern French the plant is named pissenlit, (or pisse au lit Fr vernacular).[14]\\nLikewise, \\\"piss-a-bed\\\" is an English folk-name for this plant,[15] as is piscialletto in\\nItalian and the Spanish meacamas.[citation needed] These names refer to the strong diuretic\\neffect of the roots of the herb,[15] roasted or raw/fresh. In various north-eastern Italian\\ndialects the plant is known as pisacan (\\\"dog pisses\\\"), referring to how common they are\\nfound at the side of pavements.[16]\\nIn France it is also known as Laitue de Chien (Dog's lettuce); Salade de Taupe (Mole's\\nsalad or Brown salad), Florin d'Or (Golden florin); Cochet (Cockerel); Fausse Chicorée\\n(False Chicory); Couronne de moine (Monk's crown); Baraban.[14]\\nIn several European languages the plant, or at least its parachute ball stage, is named\\nafter the popular children's pastime of blowing the parachutes off the stalk: Pusteblume\\nGerman for \\\"blowing flower\\\"), soffione (Italian for \\\"blowing\\\"; in some northern Italian\\ndialects),[16] dmuchawiec (Polish, derived from the verb \\\"blow\\\"), одуванчик (Russian,\\nderived from the verb \\\"blow\\\").[citation needed]\\nIn other languages the plant is named after the white sap found in its stem, e.g. Mlecz\\n(derived from the Polish word for \\\"milk\\\"), mælkebøtte (Danish for \\\"milk pot\\\") kutyatej\\n(Hungarian for \\\"dog milk\\\"), маслачак (derived from the Serbian word маслац, meaning\\n\\\"butter\\\").[citation needed] Also the Lithuanian name kiaulpienė can be translated as \\\"sow\\nmilk\\\"[citation needed], and similarly, in Latvian it is called 'pienene, the word being\\nderived from piens - milk[citation needed].\\nThe alternative Hungarian name gyermekláncfű (\\\"child's chain grass\\\"), refers to the habit\\nof children to pick dandelions, remove the flowers, and make links out of the stems by\\n\\\"plugging\\\" the narrow top end of the stem into the wider bottom end.[citation needed] In\\nMacedonian, it's called глуварче, stemming from the word глув, which means deaf, because of\\na traditional belief that says that if a dandelion parachute gets in your ear, you might\\nbecome deaf. In Turkish the dandelion is called karahindiba meaning \\\"black\\nendive\\\".[citation needed] While the root flesh is white colored, the outer skin of the root\\nis dark brown or black. In Swedish, it is called maskros (\\\"worm rose\\\", named after the\\nsmall insects (thrips) usually present in the flowers).[17] In Finnish and Estonian, it is\\ncalled voikukka and võilill, respectively, meaning \\\"butter flower\\\", referring to its\\nbuttery colour.[citation needed] In Dutch it is called paardenbloem, meaning\\n\\\"horse-flower\\\".[citation needed] In Chinese it is called pú gōng yīng (蒲公英), meaning flower\\nthat grows in public spaces by the riverside.[citation needed] In Japanese, it is tanpopo (\\nタンポポ?).\\n[edit] Beneficial but often unappreciated weed\\nA tall specimen, at 85 centimetres (33 in)\\nThe dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good\\ncompanion plant for gardening, but is often thought of solely as \\\"bad\\\". It has been\\ndescribed as \\\"a plant for which we once knew the use but we've forgotten it\\\".[18]\\nHomeowners or hired lawn-keepers often control dandelions with herbicides, and\\ncounter-efforts against herbicide use can create social friction in residential\\nneighborhoods.[19] However, its ability to break up hard earth with its deep tap root,\\nbringing up nutrients from below the reach of other plants, makes it a good companion for\\nweaker or shallower-rooted crops. It is also known to attract pollinating insects and\\nrelease ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen.[20]\\n[edit] Culinary use\\nDandelion leaves contain abundant amounts of vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamins A,\\nC and K, and are good sources of calcium (0.19% net weight), potassium (0.4% net weight)\\nand fair amounts of iron and manganese,[21] higher than similar leafy greens such as\\nspinach. They contain 15% protein and 73% carbohydrates, 37% of which is fiber (27% of the\\nleaves are fiber).[22] The leaves also contain smaller amounts of over two dozen other\\nnutrients, and are a significant source of beta carotene (0.03% net weight), lutein and\\nzeaxanthin (combined 0.066% net weight).[23] A cup of dandelion leaves contains 112% daily\\nrecommendation of vitamin A, 32% of vitamin C, and 535% of vitamin K and 218 mg potassium,\\n103 mg calcium, and 1.7 mg of iron. Dandelions are also an excellent source of vitamin H,\\nwhich aids weight loss when ingested.[citation needed]\\nDandelion flowers contain luteolin, an antioxidant, and have demonstrated antioxidant\\nproperties without cytotoxicity.[24][25]\\nDandelion contains Caffeic acid, as a secondary plant metabolite, which some studies show\\nto exhibit anticarcinogenic properties[26][27] at low doses but carcinogenic properties at\\nhigh doses.[28] There have been no known ill effects of caffeic acid in humans.[29][30]\\nDandelion leaves and buds have been a part of traditional Mediterranean (especially\\nSephardic[31][32][33]) and Asian, most notably Chinese and Korean cuisine.[34][35] In\\nCrete, Greece, a variety called Mari (Μαρί), Mariaki (Μαριάκι) or Koproradiko\\n(Κοπροράδικο), has its leaves eaten raw or boiled in salads by the locals. Another endemic\\nspecies of Crete, which is found only at high altitudes (1000 to 1600 m.) and in fallow\\nsites, called pentaramia (πενταράμια) or agrioradiko (αγριοράδικο) and which has been named\\nTaraxacum megalorhizon by Prof. Michalis Damanakis of the Botanics Department of the\\nUniversity of Crete, has its leaves eaten raw or boiled in salads by the locals.[36]\\nThe flower petals, along with other ingredients, are used to make dandelion wine. The\\nroasted, ground roots can be used as a caffeine-free dandelion coffee.\\n[edit] Medicinal uses\\nDandelions, flowers, roots and leaves, have been used for centuries in traditional medicine\\n& medicinal teas, most notably for liver detoxification, as a natural diuretic and for\\ninflammation reduction[citation needed]. Unlike other diuretics, dandelion leaves contain\\npotassium, a mineral that is often lost during increased urination. There is also evidence\\nthat this property of dandelion leaves may normalize blood sugar.[37]\\nDandelion leaves are believed to have a diuretic effect as they increase salt and water\\nexcretion from the kidneys.[38]\\n[edit] Bees\\nDandelions are important plants for northern hemisphere bees. Not only is their flowering\\nused as an indicator that the honey bee season is starting,[citation needed] but they are\\nalso an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season.[39] Dandelion pollen is\\na common allergen and a common component in bee pollen.[40] This allergen may be commonly\\nresponsible for asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and contact dermatitis\\nin sensitive individuals.\\nDandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera\\n(butterflies and moths). See List of Lepidoptera that feed on dandelions. They are also\\nused as a source of nectar by the Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), one of\\nthe earliest emerging butterflies in the spring.\\n[edit] Culture\\nFour dandelion flowers are the emblem of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.[41] The\\ncitizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festival.\\nThe dandelion is the official flower of the University of Rochester and \\\"Dandelion Yellow\\\"\\nis one of the school's official colors. The Dandelion Yellow is an official University of\\nRochester song.[42]\\nAt the time of blooming, crowns are made from dandelions by some children and adults.[43]\\nOccasionally, Japanese horticulturists grow the dandelions.\\n \\nPlant height: 10-50 cm tall.\\nGrowth habit: erect annual.\\nStems: simple to freely branched, leafy, hairless.\\nLeaves: mostly alternate, oblanceolate, 2-6 cm long,\\nthe lower strongly wavy-margined to almost lobed, with\\nlarger end lobe, narrowed to a short stalk. Leaves farther\\nup becoming stalkless, with ear-shaped lobes at base.\\nBasal leaves few, withering by flowering time.\\nFlowers: white, in open clusters on branches, with\\n4 petals 3-4 mm long and sepals 1.5-2.2 mm long.\\nFlowering time: May-August.\\nFruits: pods strongly flattened, oval or heart-shaped,\\nshallowly notched, 10-17 mm long, with winged edge all\\naround, the notch 1.5-2.5 mm deep. Stalks slender,\\nspreading to upcurved, 7-15 mm long. Style almost\\nlacking, 0.1-0.2 mm long. Seeds about 2 mm long, not\\nedged, wrinkled lengthwise.\\nCommon weed on disturbed ground in all parts of MT.\\nIntroduced from Europe, now spread across N. America.\\nEdible uses:\\nYoung leaves of field pennycress were used for food by the Cherokee Indians. Even the young\\nleaves have a somewhat bitter flavor and aroma, and has been added in small quantities to\\nsalads and other foods. However, this plant is not recommended to use for food because its\\ntoxic properties, see below.\\nThe plant contains sufficient quantities of glucosinolates to be toxic. During dry periods,\\ncattle in western Canada have ingested hay containing high quantities of stinkweed, or\\nfield pennycress. Poisoning, death and abortion occurred. Tests of field pennycress showed\\nthat the allylthiocyanate (a glucosinolate) content is sufficient to cause sickness and\\ndeath in cattle. Fatalities occurred at about 65 mg/kg of body weight. The amount of this\\nchemical varies with the stage of maturity of the plant, the highest amount is in the\\nseeds. Cattle that ingested hay containing between 25-100% field pennycress were colicky\\nand some abortions occurred. Ensiling hay containing field pennycress apparently prevented\\nliberation of allylthiocyanate.\\nMedicinal uses:\\nThe entire plant is anti-inflammatory and acts as a blood tonic and blood purifier. It has\\nagents that induces sweating, agents that induces the removal (coughing up) of mucous\\nsecretions from the lungs. It is fever-reducing and promotes the well-being of the liver\\nand increases the secretion of bile. The seed is a tonic. Both the seed and the young\\nshoots are said to be good for the eyes. The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine and are\\nconsidered to have an acrid taste and a cooling potency. They are anti-inflammatory and\\nfever-reducing, and are used in the treatment of pus in the lungs, renal inflammation,\\nappendicitis, seminal and vaginal discharges. Field pennycress was used medicinally by the\\nIroquois Indians. They made an infusion of the plant taken for sore throats. Pennycress\\nalso has a broad antibacterial activity, effective against the growth of staphylococci and\\nstreptococci.\\nOther uses:\\nSeed of field pennycress might be useful for making biodiesel (it is 36 to 40 percent oil\\nby weight) and a nature-based weed killer. The seed oil can be used for lighting.\\n \\nEpilobium angustifolium, commonly known as Fireweed (mainly in North America), Great\\nWillow-herb (Canada)[1], or Rosebay Willowherb (mainly in Britain), is a perennial\\nherbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is native throughout the temperate\\nNorthern Hemisphere, including large parts of the boreal forests.\\nSome botanists distinguish the species from other willowherbs into either of the genera\\nChamaenerion or Chamerion, on the basis of its spiral (rather than opposite or whorled)\\nleaf arrangement, but this feature (which occurs also to a greater or lesser extent in some\\nother willowherbs) is not of marked taxonomic significance.\\nTwo subspecies are recognized as valid:\\n * Epilobium angustifolium ssp. angustifolium\\nThis herb is often abundant in wet calcareous to slightly acidic soils in open fields,\\npastures, and particularly burned-over lands; the name Fireweed derives from the species'\\nabundance as a coloniser on burnt sites after forest fires. Its tendency to quickly\\ncolonize open areas with little competition, such as sites of forest fires and forest\\nclearings, makes it a clear example of a pioneer species. Plants grow and flower as long as\\nthere is open space and plenty of light, as trees and brush grow larger the plants die out,\\nbut the seeds remain viable in the soil seed bank for many years, when a new fire or other\\ndisturbance occurs that opens up the ground to light again the seeds germinate. Some areas\\nwith heavy seed counts in the soil, after burning, can be covered with pure dense stands of\\nthis species and when in flower the landscape is turned into fields of color.\\nIn Britain the plant was considered a rare species in the 18th century,[2] and one confined\\nto a few locations with damp, gravelly soils. It was mis-identified as Great Hairy\\nWillowherb in contemporary floras. The plant's rise from local rarity to widespread weed\\nseems to have occurred at the same time as the expansion of the railway network, and the\\nassociated soil disturbance. The plant became locally known as bombweed due to its rapid\\ncolonization of bomb craters in the second world war.[2]\\nFireweed (drawing)\\nThe reddish stems of this herbaceous perennial are usually simple, erect, smooth, 0.5–2.5 m\\n(1½–8 feet) high with scattered alternate leaves. The leaves are entire, lanceolate, and\\npinnately veined. A relative species, Dwarf Fireweed (Epilobium latifolium), grows to\\n0.3–0.6 m tall.\\nThe radially symmetrical flowers have four magenta to pink petals, 2 to 3 cm in diameter.\\nThe styles have four stigmas, which occur in symmetrical terminal racemes.\\nThe reddish-brown linear seed capsule splits from the apex. It bears many minute brown\\nseeds, about 300 to 400 per capsule and 80,000 per plant. The seeds have silky hairs to aid\\nwind dispersal and are very easily spread by the wind, often becoming a weed and a dominant\\nspecies on disturbed ground. Once established, the plants also spread extensively by\\nunderground roots, an individual plant eventually forming a large patch.\\nThe leaves of fireweed are unique in that the leaf veins are circular and do not terminate\\non the edges of the leaf, but form circular loops and join together inside the outer leaf\\nmargins. This feature makes the plants very easy to identify in all stages of growth. When\\nfireweed first emerges in early spring, it can closely resemble several highly toxic\\nmembers of the lily family, however, it is easily identified by its unique leaf vein\\nstructure.\\n[edit] Uses\\nThe young shoots were often collected in the spring by Native American people and mixed\\nwith other greens. They are best when young and tender; as the plant matures the leaves\\nbecome tough and somewhat bitter. The southeast Native Americans use the stems in the\\nstage. They are peeled and eaten raw. When properly prepared soon after picking they are a\\ngood source of vitamin C and pro-vitamin A. The Dena'ina add fireweed to their dogs' food.\\nFireweed is also a medicine of the Upper Inlet Dena'ina, who treat pus-filled boils or cuts\\nby placing a piece of the raw stem on the afflicted area. This is said to draw the pus out\\nof the cut or boil and prevents a cut with pus in it from healing over too quickly.\\nA flowering fireweed plant\\nThe root can be roasted after scraping off the outside, but often tastes bitter. To\\nmitigate this, the root is collected before the plant flowers and the brown thread in the\\nmiddle removed.\\nIn Alaska, candies, syrups, jellies, and even ice cream are made from fireweed. Monofloral\\nhoney made primarily from fireweed nectar has a distinctive, spiced flavor.\\nIn Russia, its leaves were often used as tea substitute and were even exported, known in\\nWestern Europe as Kapor tea. Fireweed leaves can undergo fermentation, much like real tea.\\nToday, Kapor tea is still occasionally consumed though not commercially important.\\n[edit] In habitat restoration\\nBecause fireweed can colonize disturbed sites, even following an old oil spill, it is often\\nused to reestablish vegetation. It grows in (and is native to) a variety of temperate to\\narctic ecosystems. Although it is also grown as an ornamental plant, some may find it too\\naggressive in that context.[3]\\nPurslane\\nPortulaca oleracea (Common Purslane, also known as Verdolaga, Pigweed, Little Hogweed or\\nPusley), is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which can reach 40 cm in\\nheight. About 40 varieties are currently cultivated.[1] It has an extensive old-world\\ndistribution extending from North Africa through the Middle East and the Indian\\nSubcontinent to Malesia and Australasia. The species status in the New World is uncertain:\\nit is generally considered an exotic weed; however, there is evidence that the species was\\nin Crawford Lake deposits (Ontario) in 1430-89 AD, suggesting that it reached North America\\nin the pre-Columbian era.[2] It is naturalised elsewhere and in some regions is considered\\nan invasive weed. It has smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems and alternate leaves\\nclustered at stem joints and ends. The yellow flowers have five regular parts and are up to\\n6 mm wide. The flowers appear depending upon rainfall and may occur year round. The flowers\\nopen singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. Seeds\\nare formed in a tiny pod, which opens when the seeds are ready. Purslane has a taproot with\\nfibrous secondary roots and is able to tolerate poor, compacted soils and drought.\\nCulinary usage\\nA Purslane cultivar grown as a vegetable\\nAlthough purslane is considered a weed in the United States, it can be eaten as a leaf\\nvegetable. It has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout much of Europe,\\nAsia and Mexico.[1][3] The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible. Purslane can be\\nused fresh as a salad, stir-fried, or cooked like spinach, and because of its mucilaginous\\nquality it is also suitable for soups and stews. Australian Aborigines use the seeds to\\nmake seedcakes. Greeks, who call it andrakla (αντράκλα) or glystrida (γλυστρίδα), fry the\\nleaves and the stems with feta cheese, tomato, onion, garlic, oregano and olive oil.\\nPurslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid in particular[4]) than any\\nother leafy vegetable plant. Simopoulos states that Purslane has 0.01 mg/g of\\neicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is an extraordinary amount of EPA for land based\\nvegetable sources. EPA is an Omega-3 fatty acid normally found mostly in fish, some algae\\nand flax seeds.[5] It also contains vitamins (mainly vitamin A, vitamin C, and some vitamin\\nB and carotenoids), as well as dietary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and\\niron. Also present are two types of betalain alkaloid pigments, the reddish betacyanins\\n(visible in the coloration of the stems) and the yellow betaxanthins (noticeable in the\\nflowers and in the slight yellowish cast of the leaves). Both of these pigment types are\\npotent antioxidants and have been found to have antimutagenic properties in laboratory\\nstudies.[6]\\n100 grams of fresh purslane leaves (about 1 cup) contain 300 to 400 mg of alpha-linolenic\\nacid.[7] One cup of cooked leaves contains 90 mg of calcium, 561 mg of potassium, and more\\nthan 2,000 IUs of vitamin A. One half cup of purslane leaves contains as much as 910 mg of\\noxalate, a compound implicated in the formation of kidney stones. However, note that many\\ncommon vegetables, such as spinach, also can contain high concentrations of oxalates.\\nWhen stressed by low availability of water, purslane, which has evolved in hot and dry\\nenvironments, switches to photosynthesis using Crassulacean acid metabolism (the CAM\\npathway): at night its leaves trap carbon dioxide, which is converted into malic acid (the\\nsouring principle of apples), and in the day, the malic acid is converted into glucose.\\nWhen harvested in the early morning, the leaves have 10 times the malic acid content as\\nwhen harvested in the late afternoon, and thus have a significantly more tangy taste.\\n[edit] Medicinal usage\\nSeed pods, closed and open, revealing the seeds.\\nKnown as Ma Chi Xian (pinyin: translates literally as \\\"horse tooth amaranth\\\") in\\nTraditional Chinese Medicine, it is used to treat infections or bleeding of the\\ngenito-urinary tract as well as dysentery. The fresh herb may also be applied topically to\\nrelieve sores and insect or snake bites on the skin.[8] Eating purslane can dramatically\\nreduce oral lichen planus.[9]\\n[edit] Companion plant\\nAs a companion plant, Purslane provides ground cover to create a humid microclimate for\\nnearby plants, stabilizing ground moisture. Its deep roots bring up moisture and nutrients\\nthat those plants can use, and some, including corn, will \\\"follow\\\" purslane roots down\\nthrough harder soil than they can penetrate on their own. It is known as a beneficial weed\\nin places that don't already grow it as a crop in its own right.\\n \\nRumex acetosella is a species of sorrel bearing the common names sheep's sorrel, red\\nsorrel, sour weed, and field sorrel. The plant and its subspecies are common perennial\\nweeds. It has green arrowhead-shaped leaves and red-tinted deeply ridged stems, and it\\nsprouts from an aggressive rhizome. The flowers emerge from a tall, upright stem. Female\\nflowers are maroon in color.\\n[edit] Growth\\nThe plant is native to Eurasia but has been introduced to most of the rest of the northern\\nhemisphere. In North America it is a common weed in fields, grasslands, and woodlands. It\\nfavors moist soil, so it thrives in floodplains and near marshes. It is often one of the\\nfirst species to take hold in disturbed areas, such as abandoned mining sites, especially\\nif the soil is acidic. Livestock will graze on the plant, but it is not very nutritious and\\ncontains oxalates which make the plant toxic if grazed in large amounts.\\nR. acetosella is a host plant for Lycaena phlaeas, also known as the American Copper or\\nSmall Copper butterfly.\\n[edit] Characteristics\\nR. acetosella is a perennial herb that has an upright stem that is slender and reddish in\\ncolor, and branched at top, reaching a height of 18 inches (0.5 meters). The arrow-shaped\\nleaves are simple, slightly more than 1 inch (3 cm) in length, and smooth with a pair of\\nhorizontal lobes at base. Flowers from March to November, when yellowish-green flowers\\n(male) or reddish (female) flowers develop on separate plants, at the apex of the stem.\\nFruits are red achenes.\\nSheep's sorrel is widely considered to be a noxious weed, and one that is hard to control\\ndue to its spreading rhizome. Blueberry farmers are familiar with the weed, due to its\\nability to thrive in the same conditions under which blueberries are cultivated. It is\\ncommonly considered by farmers as an Indicator plant of the need for liming.\\n[edit] Culinary Uses\\nThere are several uses of sheep sorrel in the preparation of food including a garnish, a\\ntart flavoring agent and a curdling agent for cheese. The leaves have a lemony, tangy or\\nnicely tart flavor. You can put the leaves in a salad.\\n[edit] Medicinal uses\\n This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline\\ncitations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (November 2010)\\nSheep Sorrel contains constituents including beta carotene, tartaric acid, oxalates (oxalic\\nacid), anthraquinones (chrysophanol, emodin, Rhein), glycosides like hyperoside, the\\nquercitin-3d-galactoside.\\nIt has a number of purported uses and folk remedies that include treatment for\\ninflammation, cancer, diarrhea, scurvy and fever. A tea made from the stem and leaves can\\nbe made to act as a diuretic. It also has certain astringent properties and uses. Other\\nhistorical uses include that of a vermifuge, as the plant allegedly contains compounds\\ntoxic to intestinal parasites (worms).\\nThe entire plant, including the root, is used as a cancer treatment,[citation needed] and\\nis a primary ingredient in a preparation commonly referred to by the name Essiac.\\nWhite Mustard\\nWhite mustard (Sinapis alba) is an annual plant of the family Brassicaceae. It is sometimes\\nalso referred to as Brassica alba or B hirta . Grown for its seeds, mustard, as fodder crop\\nor as a green manure, it is now wide spread worldwide although it probably originated in\\nthe Mediterranean region.\\n * 4 External links\\n[edit] Culinary uses\\nThe yellow flowers of the plant produce hairy seed pods, with each pod containing roughly a\\nhalf dozen seeds. These seeds are harvested just prior to the pods becoming ripe and\\nbursting.\\nWhite mustard seeds are hard round seeds, usually around 1 to 1.5 millimetres in\\ndiameter[1], with a color ranging from beige or yellow to light brown. They can be used\\nwhole for pickling or toasted for use in dishes. When ground and mixed with other\\ningredients, a paste or more standard condiment can be produced.\\nThe seeds contain sinalbin, which is a thioglycoside responsible for their pungent taste.\\nWhite mustard has fewer volatile oils and the flavor is considered to be milder than that\\nproduced by black mustard seeds.[citation needed]\\nIn Greece, the plant's leaves can be eaten during the winter, before it blooms. Greeks call\\nit \\\"vrouves\\\" or \\\"lapsana\\\".\\nThe blooming season of this plant (February-March) is celebrated with the Mustard Festival,\\na series of festivities in the Wine Country of California (Napa and Sonoma counties)\\n \\nWood Sorrel\\nCommon Wood-sorrel is a plant from the genus Oxalis, common in most of Europe and parts of\\nAsia. The binomial name is Oxalis acetosella, because of its sour taste. In much of its\\nrange it is the only member of its genus and hence simply known as \\\"the\\\" wood-sorrel.\\nThe plant has heart-shaped leaves, folded through the middle, that occur in groups of three\\natop a reddish brown stalk. It flowers for a few months during the spring, with small white\\nflowers with pink streaks. Red or violet flowers also occur rarely.During the night or when\\nit rains both flowers and leaves contract.\\nWood sorrel has been eaten by humans for millennia. In Dr. James Duke's \\\"Handbook of Edible\\nWeeds,\\\" he notes that the Kiowa Indian tribe chewed wood sorrel to alleviate thirst on long\\ntrips, that the Potawatomi Indians cooked it with sugar to make a dessert, the Algonquin\\nIndians considered it an aphrodisiac, the Cherokee tribe ate wood sorrel to alleviate mouth\\nsores and a sore throat, and the Iroquois ate wood sorrel to help with cramps, fever and\\nnausea.[1] Wood sorrel, like spinach and broccoli, contains oxalic acid which is considered\\nslightly toxic because it interferes with food digestion and the absorption of some trace\\nminerals. However, the U.S. National Institutes of Health have determined that the negative\\neffects of oxalic acid are generally of little or no nutritional consequence in persons who\\neat a variety of foods.[2] An oxalate called \\\"sal acetosella\\\" was formerly extracted from\\nthe plant, through boiling.\\nThe \\\"Common wood sorrel\\\" of North America is Oxalis montana, found from New England and\\nNova Scotia to Wisconsin and Manitoba and more unambiguously known as Mountain Wood-sorrel.\\nIt is similar to the species described above, but the petals are noticeably notched. It is\\ncalled sours in the Northeast US.\\nThe common wood sorrel is sometimes referred to as a shamrock (due to its three-leaf\\nclover-like motif) and given as a gift on St. Patrick's Day.\\n \\nThe Alismaceae group of plants in general contain acrid juices, on account of which, a\\nnumber of species, besides the Water Plantain, have been used as diuretics and\\nantiscorbutic.\\nSeveral species of Sagittaria, natives of Brazil, are astringent and their expressed juice\\nhas been used in making ink.\\nThe rhizome of Sagittaria sagittifolia (Linn.), the Arrowhead, Wapatoo, and S. Chinensis\\n(Is'-ze-kn) are used respectively by the North American Indians and the Chinese as starchy\\nfoods, as are some other species.\\nThe Arrowhead is a water plant widely distributed in Europe and Northern Asia, as well as\\nNorth America, and abundant in many parts of England, though only naturalized in Scotland.\\nThe stem is swollen at the base and throws out creeping stolons or runners, which produce\\nglobose winter tubers, 1/2 inch in diameter, composed almost entirely of starch.\\nThe leaves are borne on triangular stalks that vary in length with the depth of the water\\nin which the plant is growing. They do not lie on the water, like those of the Water Lily,\\nbut stand boldly above it. They are large and arrow-shaped and very glossy. The early,\\nsubmerged leaves are ribbonlike.\\nThe flower-stem rises directly from the root and bears several rings of buds and blossoms,\\nthree in each ring or whorl, and each flower composed of three outer sepals and three\\nlarge, pure white petals, with a purple blotch at their base. The upper flowers are\\nstamen-bearing, the lower ones generally contain the seed vessels only.\\nThe root tubers are about the size of a small walnut. They grow just below the surface of\\nthe mud. The Chinese and Japanese cultivate the plant for the sake of these tubercles,\\nwhich are eaten as an article of wholesome food. Bryant, in Flora Dietetica, writes of\\nthem:\\n 'I cured some of the bulbs of this plant in the same manner that saloop is cured, when\\nthey acquired a sort of pellucidness, and on boiling afterwards, they broke into a\\ngelatinous meal and tasted like old peas boiled.'\\nThe tubers, it has been stated, may also be eaten in the raw state.\\n---Medicinal Action and Uses---Diuretic and antiscorbutic. \\nDaylily\\nDaylily is the common name of the species, hybrids and cultivars of the genus Hemerocallis\\n(pronounced /ˌhɛmɨroʊˈkælɪs/).[1] The flowers of these plants are highly diverse in colour\\nand form, often resulting from hybridization by gardening enthusiasts. Thousands of\\nregistered cultivars are appreciated and studied by international Hemerocallis\\nsocieties.[2] Once considered part of the Liliaceae family, such as Lilium (true lilies),\\nthe genus name was given to the family Hemerocallidaceae in later circumscriptions.\\nDaylilies are perennial plants. The name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words ἡμέρα\\n(hēmera) \\\"day\\\" and καλός (kalos) \\\"beautiful\\\". The flowers of most species open at sunrise\\nand wither at sunset, possibly replaced by another one on the same stem the next day. Some\\nspecies are night-blooming. Daylilies are not commonly used as cut flowers for formal\\nflower arranging, yet they make good cut flowers otherwise as new flowers continue to open\\non cut stems over several days.\\nOriginally native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, their large showy flowers have\\nmade them popular worldwide. There are over 60,000 registered cultivars. Only a few\\ncultivars are scented, scented cultivars are appearing more frequently in northern\\nhybridization however. Some cultivars rebloom later in the season, particularly if their\\ndeveloping seedpods are removed.\\nDaylilies occur as a clump including leaves, the crown, and the roots. The long, often\\nlinear lanceolate leaves are grouped into opposite flat fans with leaves arching out to\\nboth sides. The crown of a daylily is the small white portion between the leaves and the\\nroots, an essential part of the fan. Along the flower stem or scape, small leafy\\n\\\"proliferations\\\" may form at nodes or in bracts. These proliferations form roots when\\nplanted and are the exact clones of the parent plant. Some daylilies show elongated\\nwidenings along the roots, made by the plant mostly for water storage and an indication of\\ngood health.\\nThe flower consists of three petals and three sepals, collectively called tepals, each with\\na midrib in the same or in a contrasting color. The centermost section of the flower,\\ncalled the throat, has usually a different and contrasting color. There are six (sometimes\\nseven) stamens, each with a two-lobed anther. After pollination, the flower forms a pod.\\nThe common Daylily has potential to become a noxious weed and is listed as such by the\\nWisconsin Department of Natural Resources.[3] While sometimes planted due to their ease of\\ngrowth and the fact that they produce a flower, non-clumping varieties of daylily can\\nquickly overrun a garden. Once established, it is difficult to remove runner daylilies from\\nthe yard.\\n[edit] Cultivars\\n'Kwanzo' – a triple-flowered triploid cultivar\\nDaylilies can be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 11, making them some of the\\nmost adaptable landscape plants. Most of the cultivars have been developed within the last\\n100 years. The large-flowered clear yellow 'Hyperion', introduced in the 1920s, heralded a\\nreturn to gardens of the once-dismissed daylily, and is still widely available. Daylily\\nbreeding has been a specialty in the United States, where their heat- and\\ndrought-resistance made them garden standbys during the later 20th century. New cultivars\\nhave sold for thousands of dollars, but sturdy and prolific introductions soon reach\\nreasonable prices.\\nThe Tawny Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva), and sweet-scented H. lilioasphodelus (H. flava is\\nan illegitimate name), colloquially called Lemon Lily, were early imports from England to\\n17th century American gardens and soon established themselves. Tawny Daylily is so widely\\ngrowing wild that it is often considered a native wildflower. It is called Roadside or\\nRailroad Daylily, and gained the nickname Wash-house or Outhouse Lily because it was\\nfrequently planted at such buildings.\\nHemerocallis is one of the most hybridized of all garden plants, with registrations of new\\nhybrids being made in the thousands each year in the search for new traits. Hybridizers\\nhave extended the plant's color range from the yellow, orange, and pale pink of the\\nspecies, to vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, near-white, and\\nmore. However, a blue daylily is a milestone yet to be reached.\\nCommon Tawny Daylily\\nOther flower traits that hybridizers develop include height, scent, ruffled edges,\\ncontrasting \\\"eyes\\\" in the center of the bloom, and an illusion of glitter or \\\"diamond\\ndust.\\\" Sought-after improvements in foliage include color, variegation, disease resistance,\\nand the ability to form large, neat clumps. Hybridizers also seek to make less hardy plants\\nhardier in the North by breeding evergreen or semi-evergreen plants with those that become\\ndormant. All daylilies are herbaceous perennials – some are evergreen or semi-evergreen\\nwhile some go dormant in winter, losing their foliage. Although, there are a number of\\nnorthern hybridizers that specialize in the advancements of the dormant daylily.\\nA recent trend in hybridizing is to focus on tetraploid plants, with thicker petal\\nsubstance and sturdier stems. Until this trend took root, nearly all daylilies were\\ndiploid. \\\"Tets,\\\" as they are called by aficionados, have double the number of chromosomes\\nas a diploid plant.[4] Hemerocallis fulva 'Europa', H. fulva 'Kwanso', H. fulva 'Kwanso\\nVariegata,' H. fulva 'Kwanso Kaempfer,' H. fulva var. maculata, H. fulva var. angustifolia\\n,and H. fulva 'Flore Pleno' are all triplods that cannot set seed and are reproduced solely\\nby underground runners (stolons) and division. Usually referred to as a \\\"double,\\\" meaning\\nproducing flowers with double the usual number of petals (e.g., daylily 'Double Grapette'),\\n'Kwanzo' actually produces triple the usual number of petals.\\n[edit] Culinary use\\nDried golden needles\\nThe flowers of some species are edible and are used in Chinese cuisine. They are sold\\n(fresh or dried) in Asian markets as gum jum or golden needles (金针 in Chinese; pinyin:\\njīnzhēn) or yellow flower vegetables (黃花菜 in Chinese; pinyin: huánghuācài). They are used\\nin hot and sour soup, daylily soup (金針花湯), Buddha's delight, and moo shu pork. The young\\ngreen leaves and the tubers of some (but not all[citation needed]) species are also edible.\\nThe plant has also been used for medicinal purposes. Care must be used as some species of\\nlilies can be toxic.\\nStinging nettle or common nettle, Urtica dioica, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant,\\nnative to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of\\nthe nettle genus Urtica. The plant has many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on its\\nleaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles that inject histamine and other\\nchemicals that produce a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and other animals.[1]\\nThe plant has a long history of use as a medicine and as a food source.\\nDescription\\nStinging nettle is a dioecious herbaceous perennial, 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) tall in the\\nsummer and dying down to the ground in winter. It has widely spreading rhizomes and\\nstolons, which are bright yellow as are the roots. The soft green leaves are 3 to 15 cm (1\\nto 6 in) long and are borne oppositely on an erect wiry green stem. The leaves have a\\nstrongly serrated margin, a cordate base and an acuminate tip with a terminal leaf tooth\\nlonger than adjacent laterals. It bears small greenish or brownish numerous flowers in\\ndense axillary inflorescences. The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs\\nand also bear many stinging hairs (trichomes), whose tips come off when touched,\\ntransforming the hair into a needle that will inject several chemicals: acetylcholine,\\nhistamine, 5-HT or serotonin, and possibly formic acid.[2][3] This mixture of chemical\\ncompounds cause a painful sting or paresthesia from which the species derives its common\\nname, as well as the colloquial names burn nettle, burn weed, burn hazel.\\n[edit] Taxonomy\\nThe taxonomy of stinging nettles has been confused, and older sources are likely to use a\\nvariety of systematic names for these plants. Formerly, more species were recognised than\\nare now accepted. However, there are at least five clear subspecies, some formerly\\nclassified as separate species:\\n * U. dioica subsp. dioica (European stinging nettle). Europe, Asia, northern Africa.\\n * U. dioica subsp. galeopsifolia (fen nettle or stingless nettle). Europe. (Sometimes\\nknown as Urtica galeopsifolia)\\n * U. dioica subsp. afghanica. Southwestern and central Asia. (Gazaneh in Iran)\\n * U. dioica subsp. gansuensis. Eastern Asia (China).\\n * U. dioica subsp. gracilis (Ait.) Selander (American stinging nettle). North America.\\n * U. dioica subsp. holosericea (Nutt.) Thorne (hairy nettle). North America.\\nOther species names formerly accepted as distinct by some authors but now regarded as\\nsynonyms of U. dioica include U. breweri, U. californica, U. cardiophylla, U. lyalli, U.\\nmajor, U. procera, U. serra, U. strigosissima, U. trachycarpa, and U. viridis. Other\\nvernacular names include tall nettle, slender nettle, California nettle, jaggy nettle,\\nburning weed, fire weed and bull nettle (a name shared by Cnidoscolus texanus and Solanum\\ncarolinense).\\nD. urticaria: close-up of the defensive hairs\\nStinging nettles are abundant in northern Europe and much of Asia, usually found in the\\ncountryside. It is less gregarious in southern Europe and north Africa, where it is\\nrestricted by its need for moist soil. In North America it is widely distributed in Canada\\nand the United States, where it is found in every province and state except for Hawaii and\\nalso can be found in northernmost Mexico. It grows in abundance in the Pacific Northwest,\\nespecially in places where annual rainfall is high. In North America the stinging nettle is\\nfar less common than in northern Europe. The European subspecies has been introduced into\\nNorth America as well as South America.\\nIn the UK stinging nettles have a strong association with human habitation and buildings.\\nThe presence of nettles may indicate that a building has been long abandoned. Human and\\nanimal waste may be responsible for elevated levels of phosphate and nitrogen in the soil,\\nproviding an ideal environment for stinging nettles.\\n[edit] Ecology\\nThe Nettle Pouch Gall Dasineura urticae on Urtica dioica\\nNettles are the exclusive larval food plant for several species of butterfly, such as the\\nPeacock Butterfly[4] or the Small Tortoiseshell, and are also eaten by the larvae of some\\nmoths including Angle Shades, Buff Ermine, Dot Moth, The Flame, The Gothic, Grey Chi, Grey\\nPug, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Mouse Moth, Setaceous Hebrew Character and\\nSmall Angle Shades. The roots are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth Hepialus\\nhumuli.\\nDetail of flowering stinging nettle.\\nDetail of immature fruits of stinging nettle.\\nAs Old English Stiðe, nettle is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon\\nNine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century. Nettle is believed to be a galactagogue[5]\\nand a clinical trial has shown that the juice is diuretic in patients with congestive heart\\nfailure[citation needed].\\nUrtication, or flogging with nettles, is the process of deliberately applying stinging\\nnettles to the skin in order to provoke inflammation. An agent thus used is known as a\\nrubefacient (something that causes redness). This is done as a folk remedy for rheumatism,\\nproviding temporary relief from pain.[citation needed] The counter-irritant action to which\\nthis is often attributed can be preserved by the preparation of an alcoholic tincture which\\ncan be applied as part of a topical preparation, but not as an infusion, which drastically\\nreduces the irritant action.\\nExtracts can be used to treat arthritis, anemia, hay fever, kidney problems, and\\npain.[citation needed]\\nNettle leaf is a herb that has a long tradition of use as an adjuvant remedy in the\\ntreatment of arthritis in Germany. Nettle leaf extract contains active compounds that\\nreduce TNF-α and other inflammatory cytokines.[6][7] It has been demonstrated that nettle\\nleaf lowers TNF-α levels by potently inhibiting the genetic transcription factor that\\nactivates TNF-α and IL-1B in the synovial tissue that lines the joint.[8]\\nNettle is used in hair shampoos to control dandruff and is said to make hair more glossy,\\nwhich is why some farmers include a handful of nettles with cattle feed.[9] It is also\\nthought nettles can ease eczema.\\nNettle root extracts have been extensively studied in human clinical trials as a treatment\\nfor symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). These extracts have been shown to help\\nrelieve symptoms compared to placebo both by themselves and when combined with other herbal\\nmedicines.[10]\\nBecause it contains 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran, certain extracts of the nettle are used\\nby bodybuilders in an effort to increase free testosterone by occupying sex-hormone binding\\nglobulin[11]\\nFresh nettle is used in folk remedies to stop bleeding because of its high Vitamin K\\ncontent. Meanwhile, in dry U. dioica, the Vitamin K is practically non-existent and so is\\nused as a blood thinner.\\nAn extract from the nettle root (Urtica dioica) is used to alleviate symptoms of benign\\nprostate enlargement. Nettle leaf extract, on the other hand, is what has been shown to\\nreduce the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-B1.\\n[edit] Food\\nA young red-tinted variety of American stinging nettle.\\nStinging nettle has a flavour similar to spinach when cooked and is rich in vitamins A, C,\\niron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Young plants were harvested by Native Americans\\nand used as a cooked plant in spring when other food plants were scarce.[12] Soaking\\nnettles in water or cooking will remove the stinging chemicals from the plant, which allows\\nthem to be handled and eaten without incidence of stinging. After Stinging Nettle enters\\nits flowering and seed setting stages the leaves develop gritty particles called\\n\\\"cystoliths\\\", which can irritate the urinary tract. [12] In its peak season, stinging\\nnettle contains up to 25% protein, dry weight, which is high for a leafy green\\nvegetable.[13] The young leaves are edible and make a very good pot-herb. The leaves are\\nalso dried and may then be used to make a tisane, as can also be done with the nettle's\\nflowers.\\nNettles can be used in a variety of recipes, such as polenta and pesto. Nettle soup is a\\ncommon use of the plant, particularly in Northern and Eastern Europe.\\nNettles are sometimes used in cheese making, for example in the production of Yarg[14] and\\nas a flavouring in varieties of Gouda[15]\\nIn Nepal and in Kumaon region of Northern India, Stinging Nettle is known as Shishnu. It's\\na very popular cuisine and cooked with Indian spices.\\n[edit] Competitive eating\\nIn the UK, an annual Stinging Nettle Eating Championship draws thousands of people to\\nDorset, where competitors attempt to eat as much of the raw plant as possible. Competitors\\nare given 60 cm (20 in) stalks of the plant, from which they strip the leaves and eat them.\\nWhoever strips and eats the most stinging nettle leaves in a fixed time is the winner. The\\ncompetition dates back to 1986, when two neighbouring farmers attempted to settle a dispute\\nabout which had the worst infestation of nettles.[16][17]\\n[edit] Drink\\nNettle cordial is a soft drink made largely from a refined sugar and water solution\\nflavoured with the leaves of the nettle.[citation needed] Historically it has been popular\\nin North Western Europe; however, versions of a nettle cordial recipe can be traced back to\\nRoman times.[citation needed] It is an aromatic syrup, and when mixed with sparkling water,\\nis very refreshing.\\nNettle leaves are steeped in a concentrated sugar solution so the flavour is extracted into\\nthe sugar solution. The leaves are then removed and a source of citric acid (usually lemon\\njuice) is added to help preserve the cordial and add a tart flavour.\\nCommercially produced cordials are generally quite concentrated and are usually diluted by\\none part cordial to ten parts water – thus a 0.5 litres (0.11 imp gal; 0.13 US gal) bottle\\nof cordial would be enough for 5.5 litres (1.2 imp gal; 1.5 US gal) diluted. The high\\nconcentration of sugar in nettle cordial gives it a long shelf life.\\nThere are also many recipes for alcoholic nettle beer which is a countryside favourite in\\nthe British Isles such as these.[18]\\n[edit] Nettle sting treatment\\nAnti-itch drugs, usually in the form of creams containing antihistaminics or\\nhydrocortisone[citation needed] may provide relief from the symptoms of being stung by\\nnettles. But due to the combination of chemicals involved other remedies may be required.\\nCalamine lotion may be helpful. Many folk remedies exist for treating the itching including\\nhorsetail (Equisetopsida spp.), leaf of dock (Rumex spp.), Jewelweed, (Impatiens capensis\\nand Impatiens pallida), the underside of a fern (the spores), mud, saliva, or baking soda,\\noil and onions, and topical use of milk of magnesia.\\n[edit] Influence on language and culture\\nUrtica dioica from Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885.\\nIn Great Britain the stinging nettle is the only common stinging plant and has found a\\nplace in several figures of speech in the English language. Shakespeare's Hotspur urges\\nthat \\\"out of this nettle, danger, we grasp this flower, safety\\\" (Henry IV, part 1, Act II\\nScene 3). The figure of speech \\\"to grasp the nettle\\\" probably originated from Aesop's fable\\n\\\"The Boy and the Nettle\\\".[19] In Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock one of the characters\\nquotes Aesop \\\"Gently touch a nettle and it'll sting you for your pains/Grasp it as a lad of\\nmettle and soft as silk remains\\\". The metaphor may refer to the fact that if a nettle plant\\nis grasped firmly rather than brushed against, it does not sting so readily, because the\\nhairs are crushed down flat and do not penetrate the skin so easily.[20] In the German\\nlanguage, the idiom \\\"sich in die Nesseln setzen\\\", or to sit in nettles, means to get into\\ntrouble.\\n[edit] Textiles\\nNettle stems contain a bast fibre that has been traditionally used for the same purposes as\\nlinen and is produced by a similar retting process. Unlike cotton, nettles grow easily\\nwithout pesticides. The fibres are coarser however.[21]\\nIn recent years a German company has started to produce commercial nettle textiles.\\nNettles may be used as a dye-stuff, producing yellow from the roots, or yellowish green\\nfrom the leaves.[22]\\nAs well as the potential for encouraging beneficial insects, nettles have a number of other\\nuses in the vegetable garden.\\nThe growth of stinging nettle is an indicator that an area has high fertility (especially\\nphosphorus) and has been disturbed.[23][24]\\nNettles contain a lot of nitrogen and so are used as a compost activator[25] or can be used\\nto make a liquid fertiliser which although somewhat low in phosphate is useful in supplying\\nmagnesium, sulphur and iron.[26][27] They are also one of the few plants that can tolerate,\\nand flourish in, soils rich in poultry droppings.\\nRecent experiments have shown that nettles may have some use as a companion plant.[28]\\nStinging nettle can be a troubling weed, and mowing can increase plant density.[29] Regular\\nand persistent tilling will greatly reduce its numbers, the use of herbicides such as 2,4-D\\nand Glyphosate, are effective control measures.\\nLamb’s Quarters\\n(Chenopodium album)\\nChenopodium albumIn most temperate climes the beginning of summer is an odd time for\\nforagers, at least for those who forage for food rather than medicine. The bounty of the\\nearly spring herb harvest is over, the dandelions, nettles and mustard garlics have grown\\ntoo big and old, too tough and stringy or have otherwise become unpalatable. There are some\\nedible herbs that will last into the summer, but very few that will actually reach their\\nprime at that time. Lambs Quarters is one of those exceptions. When nettles are beginning\\nto set seed, Lambs Quarter and its close relative, Good King Henry take over as the wild\\nspinach herb par excellence.\\nLambs Quarters belong to the family of Chenopodiums, which translates as 'Goosefoot' in\\nallusion to the shape of the leaves, which some botanist has fancied to resemble the webbed\\nfeet of geese. This family of plants, though humble in appearance, includes such luminaries\\nas Quinoa, the fabled grain of the Incas, Epazote, the Mexican bean spice and 'Good King\\nHenry', a well-known potherb of the Old World. Lambs Quarters is the most common member of\\nthis inconspicuous family, a humble herb that favours waste grounds and other grimy places.\\nIt is now considered an invasive weed in many parts of the US. How low it has fallen from\\nits once honoured position as a cultivar of the Old World, where it enjoyed some\\nconsiderable esteem for its nutritional properties and mild flavour.\\nFrom a distance Lambs Quarters always looks dusty, a deceptive trick due to a white powdery\\ncoating on the leaves. On closer inspection this powdery stuff proves to be quite a\\nremarkable repellent: try washing the herb and you will notice that water simply beads and\\nruns off. Thus rinsing it under running water can be a bit of a futile exercise, you have\\nto actually submerge the entire herb and swish it around in order to wash it thoroughly.\\nLuckily it is not the kind of herb you will often find encrusted with dirt - dirt seems to\\nbe removed from the plant's surface in much the same way as the water. However, insidious\\ndirt, such as soil pollutants and artificial fertilizers pose a far greater threat. Lambs\\nQuarters is a 'purifier herb' and in its effort to cleanse the soil, it absorbs these\\npollutants and concentrates them in its leaves. Thus foragers should be weary of patches\\nwhere this plant grows in abundance - it could be an indication of soil pollution. At the\\nvery least you should investigate what gets dumped in nearby fields or streams. Another\\nabnormality to watch for is a reddish hue on the leaves, which indicates that spinach leaf\\nminer larvae are squatting in the foliage.\\nLambs Quarters can be collected throughout the summer. The plants come up in late spring\\nand while tender can be collected whole. As they get older, taller and tougher, restrict\\nyour harvest to the tender tops. Flowers and seeds are edible as well, so you can continue\\nthe harvest throughout the summer. The herb is best used as a spinach type vegetable in\\nbroth or as a green vegetable. Collect plenty if you want to make a meal of it as it\\nreduces tremendously when boiled or steamed.\\nIt can also be used raw in salads, alone or with other greens. It does contain oxalic acid\\nand for this reason it is best not to overdo it, especially when eating the raw herb.\\nPeople with kidney problems should avoid this herb since the crystals can irritate the\\nkidneys.\\nNative Americans used to gather the flowers to dry and grind them into a flour, which can\\nbe used as an admixture to other flours. It vaguely resembles buckwheat.\\nIn some countries (e.g. Canada, U.S.) this herb is known as 'pigweed' as once upon a time\\nit used to be grown as pig feed. In Europe both Chenopodium album and its close relative\\n'Good King Henry' used to be cultivated as potherbs.\\nCommon Spicebush\\n(Lindera benzoin)\\nThis 5-20 feet tall, spreading bush is a native member of the laurel family. The bushes are\\nusually colonial, spreading by the roots. Crush or scratch the thin, brittle twigs, or any\\npart of spicebush to release its lemony-spicy fragrance.\\nThe bright green, alternate, toothless, pointy-tipped, stalked leaves are elliptical, 2-6\\\"\\nlong.\\nUnlike other shrubs, some of the leaves never get large.\\nIn the early spring, before the leaves appear, dense clusters of tiny, yellow flowers in\\nthe axils scent the air, attracting early-season insects.\\nEach tiny, radially symmetrical flower has cream-colored petals and protruding, yellow,\\npollen-bearing stigmas.\\nThe leafless spicebush is festooned with tiny yellow flowers in early spring.\\nThe spiciest parts are the hard, oval, stalked, scarlet berries, each with one large seed.\\nSpiceberries, Unripe and Ripe\\nFinely chopped, the ripe berries are a superb seasoning.\\nThey grow in clusters, from the leaf axils of the female bushes, in autumn.\\nLook for spicebushes in damp, partially shaded, rich woodlands, on mountains' lower slopes,\\nin thickets, and along stream banks, throughout the Eastern United States, except the\\nnorthernmost regions. Pioneers knew that this was good soil for farms, with moist, fertile\\nsoil.\\nThe berries, which taste a little like allspice, are an irreplaceable seasoning for me.\\nRinse them, pat them dry, and chop them in a blender or spice grinder. If you have neither,\\nput them under a towel and crush them with a hammer. Some people remove the seeds, but I\\ncrush them along with the rest of the berries.\\nSince spiceberries are ripe in apple season, they often find themselves in the same pot. I\\nlove compotes with sliced apples, walnuts, orange rind and spiceberries, simmered about 15\\nminutes. Spiceberries donít go quite so well with some other later autumn fruits, such as\\nautumn olives and persimmons. Wild raisins, on the other hand, get a much-needed zing from\\nspiceberries. The seasoning is also wonderful for main courses, and in pastries, like\\ncommercial allspice.\\nTo store long-range, donít dry the berries. Theyíre too oily, and may go rancid at room\\ntemperature. Spread the chopped berries out on a plate or cookie sheet and freeze them,\\nthen pack into a freezer container. This way, you can remove small amounts of herb as\\nneeded, and your seasoning doesnít stick together. I think 1/2 teaspoon is plenty for a\\nrecipe that serves six, but depends on your personal preference.\\nCollect the twigs year-round for teas, or use the leaves from mid spring to fall. In one\\ncup of water, steep either 1/2 cup of fresh leaves (dried leaves loose their flavor) or\\ntwigs, or two tablespoons of chopped berries.\\nPioneers called this plant fever bush because a strong bark decoction makes you sweat,\\nactivating the immune system and expelling toxins. They used it for typhoid and other\\nfevers, and to expel worms. I use a tincture of the leaves, along with wild ginger and\\nfield garlic, plus as vitamin C and zinc lozenges, at the first sign of a cold or sore\\nthroat, and it sometimes works.\\nThe Indians used a spiceberry infusion for coughs, colds, delayed menstruation, croup, and\\nmeasles. They used the oil from the berries, externally, for chronic arthritis. Itís also\\ngood for flatulence and colic. Spicebush leaf, bark, or berry tea compresses are also good\\nfor mild skin irritations, such as rashes, itching, and bruises.\\n \\nSow thistles (less commonly hare thistles or hare lettuces) are annual herbs in the genus\\nSonchus, after their Ancient Greek name. All are characterized by soft, somewhat\\nirregularly lobed leaves that clasp the stem and, at least initially, form a basal rosette.\\nThe stem contains a milky sap. Flower heads are yellow and range in size from half to one\\ninch in diameter; the florets are all of ray type. Sow thistles are common roadside plants,\\nand while native to Eurasia and tropical Africa, they are found almost worldwide in\\ntemperate regions. Like the true thistles, sow thistles are in the family Asteraceae.\\nMature sow thistle stems can range from 30 cm to 2 m (1 to 6 feet) tall, depending upon\\nspecies and growing conditions. Colouration ranges from green to purple in older plants.\\nSow thistles exude a milky latex when any part of the plant is cut or damaged, and it is\\nfrom this fact that the plants obtained the common name, \\\"sow thistle\\\", as they were fed to\\nlactating sows in the belief that milk production would increase. Sow thistles are known as\\n\\\"milk thistles\\\" in some regions, although true milk thistles belong to the genus Silybum.\\nSow thistles have been used as fodder, particularly for rabbits, hence the other common\\nnames of \\\"hare thistle\\\" or \\\"hare lettuce\\\". They are also edible to humans as a leaf\\nvegetable; old leaves and stalks can be bitter but young leaves have a flavour similar to\\nlettuce. Going by the name puha or rareke (raraki) it is frequently eaten in New Zealand as\\na vegetable, particularly by the native Māori. When cooked it tastes a little similar to\\nchard.\\nIn many areas sow thistles are considered noxious weeds,[2] as they grow quickly in a wide\\nrange of conditions and their wind-borne seeds allow them to spread rapidly. Sonchus\\narvensis, the perennial sow thistle, is considered the most economically detrimental, as it\\ncan crowd commercial crops, is a heavy consumer of nitrogen in soils, may deplete soil\\nwater of land left to fallow, and can regrow and sprout additional plants from its creeping\\nroots. However, sow thistles are easily uprooted by hand, and their soft stems present\\nlittle resistance to slashing or mowing. Most livestock will readily devour sow thistle in\\npreference to grass, and this lettuce-relative is edible and nutritious to humans -- in\\nfact this is the meaning of the second part of the Latin name, oleraceus.[1] Attempts at\\nweed control by herbicidal use, to the neglect of other methods, may have led to a\\nproliferation of this species in some environments.[2]\\nSonchus tenerrimus and Sonchus oleraceus infest many crops in Italy, especially in the\\nSouthern area of the peninsula. Here they are also considered good taste edible plants and\\nthey are cooked with spaghetti.\\nIn traditional medicine, the plant has medicinal qualities, having \\\"nearly the same\\nproperties as Dandelion and Succory\\\"[3].\\nSow thistles are common host plants for aphids. Gardeners may consider this a benefit or a\\ncurse; aphids may spread from sow thistle to other plants, but alternatively the sow\\nthistle can encourage the growth of beneficial predators such as hoverflies. In this regard\\nsow thistles make excellent sacrificial plants. Sonchus species are used as food plants by\\nthe larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Broad-barred White, Grey Chi, The Nutmeg,\\nThe Shark and the tortrix moth Celypha rufana.\\nEpazote\\nEpazote, Wormseed, Jesuit's Tea, Mexican Tea, Paico or Herba Sancti Mariæ (Dysphania\\nambrosioides, formerly Chenopodium ambrosioides) is an herb native to Central America,\\nSouth America, and southern Mexico.\\nContents\\nIt is an annual or short-lived perennial plant, growing to 1.2 m tall, irregularly\\nbranched, with oblong-lanceolate leaves up to 12 cm long. The flowers are small and green,\\nproduced in a branched panicle at the apex of the stem.\\nAs well as in its native areas, it is grown in warm temperate to subtropical areas of\\nEurope and the United States (Missouri, New England, Eastern United States),[1] sometimes\\nbecoming an invasive weed.\\nThe common Spanish name, epazote (sometimes spelled and pronounced ipasote or ypasote), is\\nderived from Nahuatl: epazōtl (pronounced [eˈpasoːtɬ]).\\n[edit] Usage\\n[edit] Culinary uses\\nEpazote is used as a leaf vegetable and herb for its pungent flavor. Raw, it has a\\nresinous, medicinal pungency, similar to anise, fennel, or even tarragon, but stronger.\\nEpazote's fragrance is strong, but difficult to describe. It has been compared to citrus,\\npetroleum, savory, mint and camphor.\\nAlthough it is traditionally used with black beans for flavor and its carminative\\nproperties, it is also sometimes used to flavor other traditional Mexican dishes as well:\\nit can be used to season quesadillas and sopes (especially those containing huitlacoche),\\nsoups, mole de olla, tamales with cheese and chile, chilaquiles, eggs and potatoes and\\nenchiladas.\\nEpazote is commonly believed to prevent flatulence caused by eating beans, and is therefore\\nused to season them. It is also used in the treatment of amenorrhea,[2] dysmenorrhea,\\nmalaria, chorea, hysteria, catarrh, and asthma.[3]\\nOil of chenopodium is derived from this plant. It is antihelminthic, that is, it kills\\nintestinal worms, and was once listed for this use in the US Pharmacopeia. It is also cited\\nas an antispasmodic and abortifacient.\\nEpazote essential oil contains ascaridole (up to 70%), limonene, p-cymene, and smaller\\namounts of numerous other monoterpenes and monoterpene derivatives (α-pinene, myrcene,\\nterpinene, thymol, camphor and trans-isocarveol). Ascaridole (1,4-peroxido-p-menth-2-ene)\\nis rather an uncommon constituent of spices; another plant owing much of its character to\\nthis monoterpene peroxide is boldo. Ascaridole is toxic and has a pungent, not very\\npleasant flavor; in pure form, it is an explosive sensitive to shock. Allegedly, ascaridole\\ncontent is lower in epazote from Mexico than in epazote grown in Europe or Asia.\\n[edit] Agricultural use\\nAn extract of epazote is the active ingredient of the pesticide Requiem.\\nGarlic mustard\\nGarlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a biennial flowering plant in the Mustard family,\\nBrassicaceae. It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, and northwestern Africa,\\nfrom Morocco, Iberia and the British Isles, north to northern Scandinavia, and east to\\nnorthern India and western China (Xinjiang).[1] In the first year of growth, plants form\\nattractive clumps of round shaped, slightly wrinkled leaves, that when crushed smell like\\ngarlic. The next year plants flower in spring, producing cross shaped white flowers in\\ndense clusters, as the flowering stems bloom they elongate into a spike-like shape. When\\nblooming is complete, plants produce upright fruits that release seeds in mid summer.\\nPlants are often found growing along the margins of hedgerows, giving rise to the old\\nBritish folk name of Jack-by-the-hedge. Other common names include Garlic Root, Hedge\\nGarlic, Sauce-alone, Jack-in-the-bush, Penny Hedge and Poor Man's Mustard. The genus name\\nAlliaria, \\\"resembling Allium\\\", refers to the garlic-like odour of the crushed foliage.\\nLawrence Newcomb gives the species name Alliaria officinalis for this plant.\\nDescription\\nIt is a herbaceous biennial plant (sometimes an annual plant) growing from a deeply\\ngrowing, thin, white taproot that is scented like a horse-radish. Plants grow from 30–100\\ncm (rarely to 130 cm) tall. The leaves are stalked, triangular to heart-shaped, 10–15 cm\\nlong (of which about half being the petiole) and 2–6 cm broad, with a coarsely toothed\\nmargin. In biennial specimens, first-year plants appear as a rosette of green leaves close\\nto the ground; these rosettes remain green through the winter and develop into mature\\nflowering plants the following spring. The flowers are produced in spring and summer in\\nbutton-like clusters. Each small flower has four white petals 4–8 mm long and 2–3 mm broad,\\narranged in a cross shape. The fruit is an erect, slender, four-sided pod 4 to 5.5 cm long\\n[3] , called a silique, green maturing pale grey-brown, containing two rows of small shiny\\nblack seeds which are released when the pod splits open. Some plants can flower and\\ncomplete their life-cycle in the first year. A single plant can produce hundreds of seeds,\\nwhich scatter as much as several meters from the parent plant. Depending upon conditions,\\ngarlic mustard flowers either self-fertilize or are cross-pollinated by a variety of\\ninsects. Self-fertilized seeds are genetically identical to the parent plant, enhancing its\\nability to colonize an area where that genotype is suited to thrive.[4]\\nClose-up of Garlic Mustard flowers\\nFruits and seeds\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nThe leaves, flowers and fruit are edible as food for humans, and are best when young. They\\nhave a mild flavour of both garlic and mustard, and are used in salads and pesto. They were\\nonce used as medicine.[5]\\nIn Europe as many as 69 species of insects and 7 species of fungi utilize Garlic Mustard as\\na food plant, including the larvae of some Lepidoptera species such as the Garden Carpet\\nmoth.\\n[edit] As an invasive species\\nGarlic mustard was introduced in North America as a culinary herb in the 1860s and is an\\ninvasive species in much of North America and is listed as a noxious or restricted plant as\\nof 2006 in the US states of Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire,\\nOregon, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington.[6] Like most invasive plants, once it has an\\nintroduction into a new location, it persists and spreads into undisturbed plant\\ncommunities. In many areas of its introduction in Eastern North America, it has become the\\ndominant under-story species in woodland and flood plain environments, where eradication is\\ndifficult.[7]\\nThe insects and fungi that feed on it in its native habitat are not present in North\\nAmerica, increasing its seed productivity and allowing it to out-compete native plants. It\\nis a possible threat to the West Virginia White Butterfly (Pieris virginiensis) and Mustard\\nWhite Butterfly (Pieris oleracea); adult butterflies of both species lay their eggs on\\nnative Dentaria or Toothwort plants, but they often confuse garlic mustard plants with\\nDentaria and lay their eggs on garlic mustard, because they have similar flowers. The eggs\\nand young butterflies cannot live on the garlic mustard, because it has chemicals that are\\ntoxic to the larvae and eggs.[8]\\nA study published in 2006 concluded that Garlic Mustard produces allelochemicals that harm\\nmycorrhizal fungi that many North American plants, including native forest trees, require\\nfor optimum growth.[9] Additionally, because White-tailed Deer rarely feed on Garlic\\nMustard, large deer populations may help to increase its population densities by consuming\\ncompeting native plants. Trampling by browsing deer encourages additional seed growth by\\ndisturbing the soil. A complication to the eradication of Garlic Mustard from an area is\\nthe longevity of viable seeds in the ground. Seeds contained in the soil can germinate up\\nto five years after being produced.[10] Garlic mustard has been classified as\\nMagnoliopsida.\\nGarlic mustard produces a variety of secondary compounds, including the flavonoid\\nisovitexin 6″-O-β-d-glucopyranoside as a feeding deterrent to Pieris napi oleracea[11],\\ndefense proteins, glycosides, and glucosinolates that reduce its palatability to\\nherbivores. [12][13] Research published in 2007 shows that, in Northeast Forests, garlic\\nmustard rosettes increased the rate of native leaf litter decomposition, increasing\\nnutrient availability and possibly creating conditions favorable to garlic mustard's own\\nspread.\\nGinkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese and Japanese 銀杏, pinyin romanization: yín xìng, Hepburn\\nromanization: ichō or ginnan), also spelled gingko and known as the Maidenhair Tree, is a\\nunique species of tree with no close living relatives. The tree is widely cultivated and\\nintroduced, since an early period in human history, and has various uses as a food and\\ntraditional medicine.\\nGinkgoes are very large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66–115 feet), with\\nsome specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet). The tree has an angular crown and long,\\nsomewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow\\ndamage. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched; the crown becomes\\nbroader as the tree ages. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall,\\nsometimes within a short space of time (1–15 days). A combination of resistance to disease,\\ninsect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos\\nlong-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old.\\nGinkgo is a relatively shade-intolerant species that (at least in cultivation) grows best\\nin environments that are well-watered and well-drained. The species shows a preference for\\ndisturbed sites; in the \\\"semi-wild\\\" stands at Tian Mu Shan, many specimens are found along\\nstream banks, rocky slopes, and cliff edges. Accordingly, Ginkgo retains a prodigious\\ncapacity for vegetative growth. It is capable of sprouting from embedded buds near the base\\nof the trunk (lignotubers, or basal chi chi) in response to disturbances, such as soil\\nerosion. Old individuals are also capable of producing aerial roots (chi chi) on the\\nundersides of large branches in response to disturbances such as crown damage; these roots\\ncan lead to successful clonal reproduction upon contacting the soil. These strategies are\\nevidently important in the persistence of Ginkgo; in a survey of the \\\"semi-wild\\\" stands\\nremaining in Tian Mu Shan, 40% of the Ginkgo specimens surveyed were multi-stemmed, and few\\nsaplings were present.[3]\\nTrunk bark\\n[edit] Stem\\nGinkgo branches grow in length by growth of shoots with regularly spaced leaves, as seen on\\nmost trees. From the axils of these leaves, \\\"spur shoots\\\" (also known as short shoots)\\ndevelop on second-year growth. Short shoots have very short internodes (so they may grow\\nonly one or two centimeters in several years) and their leaves are usually unlobed. They\\nare short and knobby, and are arranged regularly on the branches except on first-year\\ngrowth. Because of the short internodes, leaves appear to be clustered at the tips of short\\nshoots, and reproductive structures are formed only on them (see pictures below - seeds and\\nleaves are visible on short shoots). In Ginkgos, as in other plants that possess them,\\nshort shoots allow the formation of new leaves in the older parts of the crown. After a\\nnumber of years, a short shoot may change into a long (ordinary) shoot, or vice versa.\\n[edit] Leaves\\nThe leaves are unique among seed plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating out into the\\nleaf blade, sometimes bifurcating (splitting) but never anastomosing to form a network.[4]\\nTwo veins enter the leaf blade at the base and fork repeatedly in two; this is known as\\ndichotomous venation. The leaves are usually 5–10 cm (2-4 inches), but sometimes up to 15\\ncm (6 inches) long. The old popular name \\\"Maidenhair tree\\\" is because the leaves resemble\\nsome of the pinnae of the Maidenhair fern Adiantum capillus-veneris.\\nLeaves of long shoots are usually notched or lobed, but only from the outer surface,\\nbetween the veins. They are borne both on the more rapidly-growing branch tips, where they\\nare alternate and spaced out, and also on the short, stubby spur shoots, where they are\\nclustered at the tips.\\nGinkgos are dioecious, with separate sexes, some trees being female and others being male.\\nMale plants produce small pollen cones with sporophylls each bearing two microsporangia\\nspirally arranged around a central axis.\\nFemale plants do not produce cones. Two ovules are formed at the end of a stalk, and after\\npollination, one or both develop into seeds. The seed is 1.5–2 cm long. Its fleshy outer\\nlayer (the sarcotesta) is light yellow-brown, soft, and fruit-like. It is attractive in\\nappearance, but contains butanoic acid[5] (also known as butyric acid) and smells like\\nrancid butter (which contains the same chemical) or feces[6] when fallen. Beneath the\\nsarcotesta is the hard sclerotesta (what is normally known as the \\\"shell\\\" of the seed) and\\na papery endotesta, with the nucellus surrounding the female gametophyte at the center.[7]\\nThe fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs via motile sperm, as in cycads, ferns, mosses and\\nalgae. The sperm are large (about 250-300 micrometres) and are similar to the sperm of\\ncycads, which are slightly larger. Ginkgo sperm were first discovered by the Japanese\\nbotanist Sakugoro Hirase in 1896.[8] The sperm have a complex multi-layered structure,\\nwhich is a continuous belt of basal bodies that form the base of several thousand flagella\\nwhich actually have a cilia-like motion. The flagella/cilia apparatus pulls the body of the\\nsperm forwards. The sperm have only a tiny distance to travel to the archegonia, of which\\nthere are usually two or three. Two sperm are produced, one of which successfully\\nfertilizes the ovule. Although it is widely held that fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs\\njust before or after they fall in early autumn,[4][7] embryos ordinarily occur in seeds\\njust before and after they drop from the tree.[\\n \\nThe ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria) is a perennial plant in the carrot family\\n(Apiaceae) that grows in shady places. Its name is also sometimes spelled \\\"ground elder\\\",\\nthough this format invites confusion with elder (Sambucus), a very distantly related genus\\nwith visually similar leaves. Ground-elder is also known as herb gerard, bishop's weed,\\ngoutweed, and snow-in-the-mountain. It is the type species of the genus Aegopodium.\\n[edit] Uses as food and medicine\\nThe tender leaves have been used as a spring leaf vegetable, much as spinach was used. It\\nhas also been used to treat gout and arthritis. The plant is said to have been introduced\\ninto England by the Romans as a food plant and into Northern Europe by monks. It is also\\neaten by Chinese and Tibetan monks.\\nIt is best picked from when it appears (as early as February in the UK) to just before it\\nflowers (May to June). If it is picked after this point it takes on an unusual taste and a\\nlaxative effect. However it can be stopped from flowering by pinching out the flowers,\\nensuring that the plant remains edible if used more sparingly as a pot herb.[1]\\n[edit] Invasive habit\\nIn some areas, this plant is considered among the worst of weeds, as it readily spreads\\nover large areas of ground by underground rhizomes. It is extremely invasive, and crowds\\nout native species. The smallest piece of rhizome left in the ground will quickly form a\\nsturdy new plant, followed by many more.\\nIf a small plant finds its way into a perennial flower garden it will spread with vigor,\\nresist all attempts at eradication, and make continued ornamental gardening there very\\ndifficult.\\n[edit] Ornamental use\\nA variegated form is grown as an ornamental plant, though with the advice to keep it\\nisolated.\\n[edit] Importance to wildlife\\nIt is used as a food plant by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera including dot moth,\\ngrey dagger and grey pug.\\n \\nJapanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica) is a\\nlarge, herbaceous perennial plant, native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. In\\nNorth America and Europe the species is very successful and has been classified as an\\ninvasive species in several countries.\\nA member of the family Polygonaceae, Japanese knotweed has hollow stems with distinct\\nraised nodes that give it the appearance of bamboo, though it is not closely related. While\\nstems may reach a maximum height of 3–4 m each growing season, it is typical to see much\\nsmaller plants in places where they sprout through cracks in the pavement or are repeatedly\\ncut down. The leaves are broad oval with a truncated base, 7–14 cm long and 5–12 cm broad,\\nwith an entire margin. The flowers are small, cream or white, produced in erect racemes\\n6–15 cm long in late summer and early autumn.\\nClosely related species include giant knotweed (Fallopia sachalinensis, syn. Polygonum\\nsachalinense) and Russian vine (Fallopia baldschuanica, syn. Polygonum aubertii, Polygonum\\nbaldschuanicum).\\nOther English names for Japanese knotweed include fleeceflower, Himalayan fleece vine,\\nmonkeyweed, Huzhang (Chinese: 虎杖; pinyin: Hǔzhàng), Hancock's curse, elephant ears, pea\\nshooters, donkey rhubarb (although it is not a rhubarb), sally rhubarb, Japanese bamboo,\\nAmerican bamboo, and Mexican bamboo (though it is not a bamboo). There are also regional\\nnames, and it is sometimes confused with sorrel.\\nIn Japanese, the name is itadori (虎杖, イタドリ?).[1]\\nOld stems remain in place as new growth appears\\nA hedgerow made up of roses and Japanese knotweed in Caersws, Wales in 2010\\nErect inflorescence\\n[edit] Invasive species\\nIn the U.S. and Europe, Japanese knotweed is widely considered an invasive species or\\nweed.[2] It is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world's 100 worst\\ninvasive species.[3]\\nThe invasive root system and strong growth can damage foundations, buildings, flood\\ndefences, roads, paving, retaining walls and architectural sites. It can also reduce the\\ncapacity of channels in flood defences to carry water.[4]\\nIt is a frequent colonizer of temperate riparian ecosystems, roadsides and waste places. It\\nforms thick, dense colonies that completely crowd out any other herbaceous species and is\\nnow considered one of the worst invasive exotics in parts of the eastern United States. The\\nsuccess of the species has been partially attributed to its tolerance of a very wide range\\nof soil types, pH and salinity. Its rhizomes can survive temperatures of −35 °C (−31 °F)\\nand can extend 7 metres (23 ft) horizontally and 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, making removal by\\nexcavation extremely difficult. The plant is also resilient to cutting, vigorously\\nre-sprouting from the roots. The most effective method of control is by herbicide\\napplication close to the flowering stage in late summer or autumn. In some cases it is\\npossible to eradicate Japanese knotweed in one growing season using only herbicides. Trials\\nin the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) of British Columbia using sea water sprayed on\\nthe foliage have demonstrated promising results, which may prove to be a viable option for\\neradication where concerns over herbicide application are too great.[citation needed]\\nIt can be found in 39 of the 50 United States[5] and in six provinces in Canada. It is\\nlisted as an invasive weed in Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, New York, Alaska, Pennsylvania,\\nOregon and Washington state.[6] The species is also common in Europe. In the UK it was made\\nillegal to spread Japanese knotweed by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is also\\nclassed as \\\"controlled waste\\\" in Britain under part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act\\n1990. This requires disposal at licensed landfill sites.[7]\\nTwo biological pest control agents that show promise in the control of the plant are the\\npsyllid Aphalara itadori[8] and a leaf spot fungus from genus Mycosphaerella.[9]\\n[edit] Uses\\nJapanese knotweed flowers are valued by some beekeepers as an important source of nectar\\nfor honeybees, at a time of year when little else is flowering. Japanese knotweed yields a\\nmonofloral honey, usually called bamboo honey by northeastern U.S. beekeepers, like a\\nmild-flavored version of buckwheat honey (a related plant also in the Polygonaceae).\\nThe young stems are edible as a spring vegetable, with a flavor similar to mild rhubarb. In\\nsome locations, semi-cultivating Japanese knotweed for food has been used as a means of\\ncontrolling knotweed populations that invade sensitive wetland areas and drive out the\\nnative vegetation.[10] Some caution should be exercised when consuming this plant because\\nit contains oxalic acid, which may aggravate conditions such as rheumatism, arthritis,\\ngout, kidney stones or hyperacidity.[11]\\nBoth Japanese knotweed and giant knotweed are important concentrated sources of\\nresveratrol, replacing grape byproducts. Many large supplement sources of resveratrol now\\nuse Japanese knotweed and use its scientific name in the supplement labels. The plant is\\nuseful because of its year-round growth and robustness in different climates.[12]\\nJapanese knotweed is a concentrated source of emodin, used as a nutritional supplement to\\nregulate bowel motility. The roots of Japanese knotweed are used in traditional Chinese and\\nJapanese herbal medicines as a natural laxative. The active principle responsible for the\\nlaxative effect is emodin, present in its natural form as a complex of its analogs. Emodin\\nhas a mild laxative effect in doses of 20 to 50 mg per day.\\nMethanol extracts of the roots of Polygonum cuspidatum (Polygonaceae), traditionally used\\nin Korea to maintain oral health, were shown to reduce the viability of Streptococcus\\nmutans and Streptococcus sobrinus as well as inhibit sucrose-dependent adherence,\\nwater-insoluble glucan formation, glycolytic acid production and acid tolerance. The\\nauthors suggested that inhibitory effects may be mediated by the presence of alkaloids,\\nphenolics and sterol/terpenes in the extract.[13]\\nThis antique locomotive at Beekbergen, Netherlands is overgrown by knotweed. A few years\\nago, it was knotweed-free\\n[edit] Control\\nJapanese knotweed has a large underground network of roots (rhizomes). To eradicate the\\nplant the roots need to be killed. Picking the right herbicide is essential, as it must\\ntravel through the plant and into the root system below. Glyphosate is the best active\\ningredient in herbicide for use on Japanese knotweed as it is ’systemic’; it penetrates\\nthrough the whole plant and travels to the roots. Glyphosate is available under several\\ntrade names - all label the product as a \\\"weed and grass killer\\\". Commercial glyphosate\\nconcentrates contain approximately 20%-40% glyphosate; the balance is mostly water. Such\\nconcentrates need to be diluted in water.\\nThe most effective spraying solution contains about 5%-10% glyphosate in water. (To make a\\n5% solution from a 40% concentrate mix 1 part concentrate with 7 parts water.) Ready-to-use\\nsolutions that contain less than 5% glyphosate are too weak and do not work. A small amount\\nof liquid dish-washing detergent can be added to improve wetting of the leaves. If\\npossible, both sides of the leaves should be sprayed until they are completely wet. It\\ntakes about 3 weeks for most of the plants to die. After 3 weeks, all remaining plants\\nshould be sprayed again. This process needs to be repeated until all the plants die.\\nTypically this can take 3 years.\\nThe US federal government will come and spray Japanese knotweed for no charge in many areas\\nunder the Invasive Species Act. Local county extension agencies can be contacted for more\\ndetails.\\nDigging up the rhizomes is a common solution where the land is to be developed, as this is\\nquicker than the use of herbicides, but disposal of the plant material is difficult,\\ngoverned by law in the UK, where it is classed as controlled waste.\\nMore ecologically friendly means are being tested as an alternative to chemical treatments.\\nSoil steaming [14] involves injecting steam into contaminated soil in order to kill\\nsubterranean plant parts. Research has also been carried out on 'Mycosphaerella leafspot\\nfungus, which devastates knotweed in its native Japan. Research with Mycosphaerella has\\nbeen relatively slow, due to its complex life cycle.[15]\\nIn the UK, it is an offence under section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981 to\\n\\\"plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild\\\" any plant listed in Schedule nine, Part II\\nto the Act, which includes Japanese knotweed. Over £150m is spent annually on Japanese\\nknotweed control, and a decision was taken on 9 March 2010 in the UK to release into the\\nwild a Japanese psyllid insect, Aphalara itadori.[16] Its diet is highly specific to\\nJapanese knotweed and shows good potential for its control[\\nJuneberry, Shadbush, Serviceberry\\nAmelanchier (pronounced /æməˈlænʃɪər/ am-ə-LAN-sheer[2]), also known as shadbush,\\nserviceberry, sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, shadblow, shadwood, sugarplum, chuckley\\npear, and wild-plum, is a genus of about 20 species of shrubs and small deciduous trees in\\nthe Rosaceae (Rose family).\\nThe genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, growing primarily in\\nearly successional habitats. It is most diverse taxonomically in North America, especially\\nin the northern United States and in Canada, and is native to every state of the United\\nStates except Hawaii. Two species also occur in Asia, and one in Europe. These plants are\\nvalued horticulturally, and their fruits are important to wildlife. The systematics\\n(taxonomy) of shadbushes has long perplexed botanists, horticulturalists, and others, as\\nsuggested by the range in number of species recognized in the genus from 6 to 33 in two\\nrecent publications [3][4]. A major source of complexity comes from the occurrence of\\napomixis (asexual seed production), polyploidy, and hybridization.[5]\\nAmelanchier species grow to 0.2–20 m tall, arborecent or suckering and forming loose\\ncolonies or dense clumps to single-stemmed. The bark is gray or less often brown, smooth or\\nfissuring in older trees. The leaves are deciduous, cauline, alternate, simple, lanceolate\\nto elliptic to orbiculate, 0.5–10 x 0.5–5.5 cm, thin to coriaceous, with surfaces abaxially\\nglabrous or densely tomentose at flowering, abaxially glabrous or more or less hairy at\\nmaturity. The inflorescences are terminal, with 1–20 flowers, erect or drooping, either in\\nclusters of one to four flowers, or in racemes with 4–20 flowers. The flowers have five\\nwhite (rarely somewhat pink, yellow, or streaked with red), linear to orbiculate petals,\\n2.6–25 mm long, occasionally andropetalous (bearing apical microsporangia adaxially; only\\nknown in this genus in A. nantucketensis). The flowers appear in early spring, \\\"when the\\nshad run\\\" according to tradition (leading to names such as \\\"shadbush\\\"). The fruit is a\\nberry-like pome, red to purple to nearly black at maturity, 5–15 mm diameter, insipid to\\ndelectably sweet, maturing in summer.[5]\\nContents\\n[edit] Selected species\\nFor North American species, the taxonomy follows the forthcoming Flora of North\\nAmerica;[5][6] for Asian species the Flora of China;[7] and for European species the Flora\\nEuropaea.[8]\\n * Amelanchier alnifolia var. alnifolia - Saskatoon serviceberry, alder-leaved shadbush,\\nsaskatoon, saskatoon berry, amélanchier à feuilles d'aulne[9]\\n * Amelanchier amabilis - Lovely shadbush, amélanchier gracieux [10]\\n * Amelanchier arborea - Downy shadbush[11]\\n * Amelanchier bartramiana - Mountain shadbush, amélanchier de Bartram [12]\\n * Amelanchier canadensis var. canadensis - Eastern shadbush, amélanchier du Canada[13]\\n * Amelanchier humilis - Low shadbush, amélanchier bas[14]\\n * Amelanchier interior - Wiegand's shadbush, amélanchier de l'intérieur[15]\\n * Amelanchier laevis - Smooth shadbush, amélanchier glabre [16]\\n * Amelanchier nantucketensis - Nantucket serviceberry\\n * Amelanchier ovalis - Snowy Mespilus[17]\\n * Amelanchier sanguinea - Red-twigged shadbush, amélanchier sanguin[18]\\n * Amelanchier sinica - Chinese Serviceberry[19]\\n * Amelanchier spicata - Thicket shadbush, amélanchier en épis[20]\\n * Amelanchier utahensis - Utah serviceberry[21]\\nSeveral natural hybrids also exist.\\n[edit] Etymology\\nThe origin of the generic name Amelanchier is probably derived from amalenquièr,\\namelanchièr, the Provençal names of the European Amelanchier ovalis. The name serviceberry\\ncomes from the similarity of the fruit to the related European Sorbus. Juneberry refers to\\nthe fruits of certain species becoming ripe in June. The name saskatoon originated from a\\nCree Indian noun misâskwatômina (misāskwatōmina, misaaskwatoomina) for Amelanchier\\nalnifolia. The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is named after this plant.\\n[edit] Ecology\\nAmelanchier are preferred browse for deer and rabbits, and heavy browsing pressure can\\nsuppress natural regeneration. Caterpillars of Lepidoptera such as Brimstone Moth,\\nBrown-tail, Grey Dagger, Mottled Umber, Rough Prominent, The Satellite, Winter Moth,\\nLimenitis arthemis and other herbivorous insects also have a taste for serviceberry. Many\\ninsects and diseases that attack orchard trees also affect this genus, in particular trunk\\nborers and Gymnosporangium rust. In years when late flowers overlap those of wild roses and\\nbrambles, bees may spread bacterial fireblight.\\n[edit] Uses and cultivation\\nThe fruit of several species are excellent to eat raw, tasting somewhat like a blueberry,\\nstrongly accented by the almond-like flavour of the seeds. Fruit is harvested locally for\\npies and jams[22]. The saskatoon berry is harvested commercially. The Native American food\\npemmican was flavored by shadbush fruits in combination with fat and dried meats, and the\\nstems were made into arrow shafts.\\nSeveral species are very popular ornamental shrubs, grown for their flowers, bark, and fall\\ncolor. All need similar conditions to grow well, requiring good drainage, air circulation\\n(to discourage leaf diseases), watering during drought and acceptable soil. Note that\\nspecies names are often used interchangeably in the nursery trade. Many A. arborea plants\\nthat are offered for sale are actually hybrids, or entirely different species.\\nThe wood is brown, hard, close-grained, and heavy. The heartwood is reddish-brown, and the\\nsapwood is lighter in color. It can be used for tool handles and fishing rods.\\nPropagation is by seed, divisions and grafting. Serviceberries graft so readily that grafts\\nwith other genera, such as Crataegus and Sorbus, are often successful.\\nGeorge Washington planted specimens on the grounds of Mount Vernon.\\nA taxon commonly cited as Amelanchier \\\"lamarckii\\\" is very widely cultivated and naturalized\\nin Europe, where it was introduced in the 17th century; it is known to be of North American\\norigin, probably from eastern Canada. It is not currently known to occur in the wild, and\\nis probably of hybrid origin between A. laevis and either A. arborea or A. canadensis; it\\nis apomictic and breeds true from seed\\n \\nThe Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa or Benthamidia kousa), also known as the Japanese Flowering\\nDogwood (Yamaboushi (ヤマボウシ?)), is a small deciduous tree 8–12 m tall, native to eastern\\nAsia. Like most dogwoods, it has opposite, simple leaves, which are 4–10 cm long.\\nThe tree is extremely showy when in bloom, but what appear to be four petaled white flowers\\nare actually bracts spread open below the cluster of inconspicuous yellow-green flowers.\\nThe blossoms appear is in late spring, weeks after the tree leafs out.\\n[edit] Characteristics\\nThe kousa dogwood can be distinguished from the closely related Flowering Dogwood (Cornus\\nflorida) of eastern North America by its more upright habit, flowering about a month later,\\nand having pointed rather than rounded flower bracts.\\nThe fruit is a globose pink to red compound berry 2–3 cm diameter, though these berries\\ntend to grow larger towards the end of the season and some berry clusters that do not fall\\nfrom the tree surpass 4 cm. It is edible, a delicious addition to the tree's ornamental\\nvalue.\\n * Cornus kousa var. kousa. Leaves 4–7 cm; flower bracts 3–5 cm. Japan.\\n * Cornus kousa var. chinensis. Leaves 5–10 cm; flower bracts 4–6 cm. China.\\nIt is resistant to the dogwood anthracnose disease, caused by the fungus Discula\\ndestructiva, unlike Flowering Dogwood, which is very susceptible and commonly killed by it;\\nfor this reason, Kousa Dogwood is being widely planted as an ornamental tree in areas\\naffected by the disease. A number of hybrids between Kousa Dogwood and Flowering Dogwood\\nhave also been selected for their disease resistance and good flower appearance.\\nMulberries\\nMorus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous\\ntrees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries. They are native to warm temperate and\\nsubtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, with the majority of the\\nspecies native to Asia.\\nThe closely related genus Broussonetia is also commonly known as mulberry, notably the\\nPaper Mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera.\\nMulberries are swift-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely exceed\\n10–15 m (33–49 ft) tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, often lobed, more\\noften lobed on juvenile shoots than on mature trees, and serrated on the margin.\\nThe fruit is a multiple fruit, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) long. The fruits when immature are\\nwhite or green to pale yellow with pink edges. In most species the fruits are red when they\\nare ripening, turning dark purple to black and have a sweet flavor. The fruits of the\\nwhite-fruited cultivar of the white mulberry are green when young and white when ripe; the\\nfruit in this cultivar is also sweet but has a very mild flavor compared with the darker\\nvariety.\\nThe taxonomy of Morus is complex and disputed. Over 150 species names have been published,\\nand although differing sources may cite different selections of accepted names, only 10–16\\nare generally cited as being accepted by the vast majority of botanical authorities. Morus\\nclassification is even further complicated by widespread hybridisation, wherein the hybrids\\nare fertile.\\nThe following species are generally accepted:\\n * Morus alba L. – White Mulberry (E Asia)\\n * Morus australis Poir. – Chinese Mulberry (SE Asia)\\n * Morus celtidifolia Kunth (Mexico)\\n * Morus mesozygia Stapf – African Mulberry (S and C Africa)\\n \\n * Morus microphylla – Texas Mulberry (Mexico, Texas (USA))\\n * Morus nigra L. – Black Mulberry (SW Asia)\\n * Morus rubra L. – Red Mulberry (E N America)\\n \\nThe following, all from eastern and southern Asia, are additionally accepted by one or more\\ntaxonomic lists or studies; synonymy, as given by other lists or studies, is indicated in\\nsquare brackets:\\n * Morus serrata [M. alba var. serrata], Himalayan mulberry\\n * Morus tillaefolia\\n * Morus trilobata [M. australis var. trilobata]\\n * Morus wittiorum\\n \\n[edit] Uses and cultivation\\nThe ripe fruit is edible and is widely used in pies, tarts, wines, cordials and tea. The\\nfruit of the black mulberry, native to southwest Asia, and the red mulberry, native to\\neastern North America, have the strongest flavor. The fruit of the white mulberry, an east\\nAsian species which is extensively naturalized in urban regions of eastern North America,\\nhas a different flavor, sometimes characterized as insipid.[2] The mature plant contains\\nsignificant amounts of resveratrol, particularly in stem bark.[3] The fruit and leaves are\\nsold in various forms as nutritional supplements. Unripe fruit and green parts of the plant\\nhave a white sap that is intoxicating and mildly hallucinogenic.[4]\\nBlack, red, and white mulberry are widespread in Northern India, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Syria,\\nLebanon, Georgia, Armenia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan, where the tree and the\\nfruit are known by the Persian-derived names toot (mulberry) or shahtoot (King's or\\n\\\"superior\\\" mulberry). Jams and sherbets are often made from the fruit in this region. Black\\nmulberry was imported to Britain in the 17th century in the hope that it would be useful in\\nthe cultivation of silkworms. It was much used in folk medicine, especially in the\\ntreatment of ringworm. Mulberries are also widespread in Greece, particularly in the\\nPeloponnese, which in the Middle Ages was known as Morea (Greek: Μωριάς, Morias), deriving\\nfrom the Greek word for the tree (Greek: Μουριά, Μouria). Mulberry trees were used for silk\\nproduction, which was a major source of wealth for the region.\\nMulberry leaves, particularly those of the white mulberry, are ecologically important as\\nthe sole food source of the silkworm (Bombyx mori, named after the mulberry genus Morus),\\nthe pupa/cocoon of which is used to make silk. Other Lepidoptera larvae also sometimes feed\\non the plant including common emerald, lime hawk-moth, and the sycamore.\\nMulberries can be grown from seed, and this is often advised as seedling-grown trees are\\ngenerally of better shape and health. But they are most often planted from large cuttings\\nwhich root readily. The mulberry plants which are allowed to grow tall with a crown height\\nof 5 - 6 feet from the ground level having stem girth of 4 -5 inches or more is called tree\\nmulberry. They are specially raised with the help of well grown saplings of 8 - 10 months\\nold with any of the varieties recommended for rain fed areas like S-13 (for red loamy soil)\\nor S-34 (black cotton soil) which are tolerant to draught or soil moisture stress\\nconditions. Usually the plantation is raised as block plantation with a spacing of 6 feet x\\n6 feet or 8 feet x 8 feet as plant to plant and row to row distance. The plants are usually\\npruned once in a year during monsoon (July - August) at a height of 5 - 6 feet from the\\nground level and allowed to grow with maximum of 8 - 10 shoots at crown. The leaf is\\nharvested 3-4 times in a year by leaf picking method under rain fed or semi-arid conditions\\ndepending upon the monsoon. The tree branches pruned during the fall season (after the\\nleaves have fallen) are cut and used to make very durable baskets which are used in a lot\\nof village jobs related to agriculture and animal husbandry.\\n[edit] Anthocyanins from mulberry fruits\\nAnthocyanins are pigments which hold potential use as dietary modulators of mechanisms for\\nvarious diseases[5][6] and as natural food colorants. Due to increasing demand for natural\\nfood colorants, their significance in the food industry is increasing. Anthocyanins are\\nresponsible for the attractive colors of fresh plant foods, producing colors such as\\norange, red, purple, black, and blue. They are water-soluble and easily extractable.\\nA cheap and industrially feasible method to purify anthocyanins from mulberry fruit which\\ncould be used as a fabric tanning agent or food colorant of high color value (of above 100)\\nhas been established. Scientists found that out of 31 Chinese mulberry cultivars tested,\\nthe total anthocyanin yield varied from 148 mg to 2725 mg per liter of fruit juice.[7]\\nTotal sugars, total acids, and vitamins remained intact in the residual juice after removal\\nof anthocyanins and that the residual juice could be fermented to produce products such as\\njuice, wine, and sauce.\\nWorldwide, mulberry is grown for its fruit. In traditional and folk medicine, the fruit is\\nbelieved to have medicinal properties and is used for making jam, wine, and other food\\nproducts. As the genus Morus has been domesticated over thousands of years and constantly\\nbeen subjected to heterosis breeding (mainly for improving leaf yield), it is possible to\\nhybridize breeds suitable for berry production, thus offering possible industrial use of\\nmulberry as a source of anthocyanins for functional foods or food colorants which could\\nenhance the overall profitability of sericulture.\\nAnthocyanin content depends on climate, area of cultivation, and is particularly higher in\\nsunny climates.[8] This finding holds promise for tropical sericulture countries to profit\\nfrom industrial anthocyanin production from mulberry through anthocyanin recovery.\\nThis offers a challenging task to the mulberry germplasm resources for\\n * exploration and collection of fruit yielding mulberry species;\\n * their characterization, cataloging, and evaluation for anthocyanin content by using\\ntraditional as well as modern means and biotechnology tools;\\n * developing an information system about these cultivars or varieties;\\n * training and global coordination of genetic stocks;\\n * evolving suitable breeding strategies to improve the anthocyanin content in potential\\nbreeds by collaboration with various research stations in the field of sericulture, plant\\ngenetics, and breeding, biotechnology and pharmacology.\\n \\nArtemisia vulgaris (mugwort or common wormwood) is one of several species in the genus\\nArtemisia which have common names that include the word mugwort. This species is also\\noccasionally known as Felon Herb, Chrysanthemum Weed, Wild Wormwood, Old uncle Henry,\\nSailor's Tobacco, Naughty Man, Old Man or St. John's Plant (not to be confused with St\\nJohn's wort).\\nIt is native to temperate Europe, Asia, northern Africa and Alaska and is naturalized in\\nNorth America,[1] where some consider it an invasive weed. It is a very common plant\\ngrowing on nitrogenous soils, like weedy and uncultivated areas, such as waste places and\\nroadsides.\\nIt is a tall herbaceous perennial plant growing 1–2 m (rarely 2.5 m) tall, with a woody\\nroot. The leaves are 5–20 cm long, dark green, pinnate, with dense white tomentose hairs on\\nthe underside. The erect stem often has a red-purplish tinge. The rather small flowers (5\\nmm long) are radially symmetrical with many yellow or dark red petals. The narrow and\\nnumerous capitula (flower heads) spread out in racemose panicles. It flowers from July to\\nSeptember.\\nA number of species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) feed on the leaves and flowers;\\nsee List of Lepidoptera that feed on Artemisia for details.\\nContents\\nWiki letter w.svg This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.\\n[edit] List of the cultivars\\nWiki letter w.svg This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.\\n[edit] Etymology\\nMugwort is often said to derive from the word \\\"mug\\\" since it has been used in flavoring\\ndrinks at least since the early Iron Age.[2] However, this may be a folk etymology based on\\ncoincidental sounds. Other sources say Mugwort is derived from the old Norse muggi, meaning\\n\\\"marsh\\\", and Germanic \\\"wuertz\\\", meaning \\\"root\\\", which refers to its use since ancient times\\nto repel insects, especially moths.[3] The Old English word for mugwort is \\\"mucgwyrt\\\" where\\n\\\"mucg-\\\" could be a variation of the Old English word for midge \\\"mycg\\\". Wort comes from the\\nOld English \\\"wyrt\\\" (root/herb/plant) which is related to the Old High Germany \\\"wurz\\\" (root)\\nand the Old Norse \\\"urt\\\" (plant).[4] Mugwort is called chornobylnik in Ukrainian, and has\\ngiven its name to the abandoned city of Chernobyl (Chornobyl in Ukrainian). The name\\nchornobyl has an interesting history, meaning \\\"place where mugwort grows\\\" in the related\\nIndo-European languages.[citation needed]\\nThere are other species in the genus Artemisia called mugwort:\\n * Artemisia douglasiana – Douglas' Mugwort\\nMugwort contains thujone, which is toxic in large amounts or under prolonged intake.\\nThujone is also present in Thuja plicata (western red cedar), from which the name is\\nderived. Pregnant women, in particular, should avoid consuming large amounts of mugwort.\\nThe species has a number of recorded historic uses in food, herbal medicine, and as a\\nsmoking herb.\\n[edit] Middle ages\\nIn the Middle Ages, mugwort was used as a magical protective herb. Mugwort was used to\\nrepel insects, especially moths, from gardens. Mugwort has also been used from ancient\\ntimes as a remedy against fatigue and to protect travelers against evil spirits and wild\\nanimals. Roman soldiers put mugwort in their sandals to protect their feet against\\nfatigue.[5] Mugwort is one of the nine herbs invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs\\nCharm, recorded in the 10th century in the Lacnunga.[6]\\n[edit] Witchcraft\\nMuch used in witchcraft, mugwort is said to be useful in inducing lucid dreaming and astral\\ntravel/astral projection. Consumption of the plant, or a tincture thereof, prior to\\nsleeping is said to increase the intensity of dreams, the level of control, and to aid in\\nthe recall of dreams upon waking. One common method of ingestion is to smoke the plant.[7]\\n[edit] Food\\nThe leaves and buds, best picked shortly before the plant flowers in July to September,\\nwere used as a bitter flavoring agent to season fat, meat and fish.\\nIt has also been used to flavor beer before the introduction of or instead of hops.[8][2]\\n[edit] Medicinal\\nA mugwort leaf with the pointed leaves characteristic of a mature plant\\nThe mugwort plant contains essential oils (such as cineole, or wormwood oil, and thujone),\\nflavonoids, triterpenes, and coumarin derivatives. It was also used as an anthelminthic, so\\nit is sometimes confused with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). The plant, called nagadamni\\nin Sanskrit, is used in Ayurveda for cardiac complaints as well as feelings of unease,\\nunwellness and general malaise.[9]\\nThe British RCT yielded results that indicate that moxibustion of mugwort was indeed\\neffective at increasing the cephalic positioning of fetuses who were in a breech position\\nbefore the intervention[citation needed]. In contrast, a Cochrane review in 2005 found that\\nmoxibustion may be beneficial in reducing the need for ECV, but stressed a need for\\nwell-designed randomised controlled trials to evaluate this usage[10]. Since it also causes\\nuterine contractions, it has been used to cause abortion. It also plays a role in Asian\\ntraditional medicine as a method of correcting breech presentation. A study of 260 Chinese\\nwomen at 33 weeks of pregnancy demonstrated cephalic version within two weeks in 75% of\\nfetuses carried by patients who were treated with moxibustion, as opposed to 48% in the\\ncontrol group.[11] It has also been shown that acupuncture plus moxibustion slows fetal\\nheart rates while increasing fetal movement.[12] Two recent studies of Italian patients\\nproduced conflicting results. In the first, involving 226 patients, there was cephalic\\npresentation at delivery in 54% of women treated between 33 and 35 weeks with acupuncture\\nand moxibustion, vs. 37% in the control group.[13] The second was terminated prematurely\\nbecause of poor compliance with treatment, but found no difference between moxibustion and\\ncontrol groups.[14]\\nIn rats, Mugwort shows efficacy against trichinellosis.[15]\\n[edit] China\\nThere are several references to the Chinese using mugwort in cuisine. The famous Chinese\\npoet Su Shi (苏轼） in the 11th century mentioned it in one of his poems. There are even older\\npoems and songs that can be tracked back to 3 BC. Mainly it was called Lou Hao (蒌蒿） in\\nMandarin. Mugwort can be prepared as a cold dish or can be stir fried with fresh or smoked\\nmeat. The Hakka Taiwanese also use it to make chhú-khak-ké (鼠麹粿, 草仔粿).\\nMugwort is used in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in a pulverized and aged\\nform called moxa.\\n[edit] Germany\\nIn Germany, known as Beifuß, it is mainly used to season goose, especially the roast goose\\ntraditionally eaten for Christmas. From the German, ancient use of a sprig of mugwort\\ninserted into the goose cavity, comes the saying \\\"goosed\\\" or \\\"is goosed\\\".[citation needed]\\n[edit] Korea\\nMugwort or Sook is also used in Korea as a common ingredient in rice cakes, teas, soups,\\nand pancakes. Known as a blood cleanser, it is believed to have different medicinal\\nproperties depending on the region it is collected. In some regions, mugwort thins the\\nblood, while in another region, it is proposed to have hallucigenic properties, leading to\\nsome bonneted grandmothers passing out from direct skin contact (dermal absorption) with\\nthe active chemicals. For this reason, Koreans also wear a silk sleeve when picking mugwort\\nplants.\\n[edit] Japan\\nMugwort or yomogi is used in a number of Japanese dishes, including yōkan, a dessert, or\\nkusa mochi, also known as yomogi mochi.\\nMugwort rice cakes, or kusa mochi are used for Japanese sweets called Daifuku (which\\nliterally translated means 'great luck'). To make these take a small amount of mochi and\\nstuff it or wrap it round a filling of fruit or sweetened azuki (red bean) paste.\\nTraditional Daifuku can be pale green, white or pale pink and are covered in a fine layer\\nof potato starch to prevent sticking.\\nIngredients for kusa mochi[16]: Whole-grain sweet brown rice and Japanese mugwort (yomogi)\\nherb.\\nMugwort is a vital ingredient of kusa mochi (rice cake with mugwort) and hishi mochi\\n(lozenge rice cake) which is served at the Doll Festival in March. In addition, the fuzz on\\nthe underside of the mugwort leaves is gathered and used in moxibustion. In some regions in\\nJapan[17], there is an ancient custom of hanging yomogi and iris leaves together outside\\nhomes in order to keep evil spirits away. It is said that evil spirits dislike their smell.\\nThe juice is said to be effective at stopping bleeding, lowering fevers and purging the\\nstomach of impurities. It can also be boiled and taken to relieve colds and coughs.\\n[edit] Allergen\\nMugwort pollen is one of main sources of hay fever and allergic asthma, in North Europe,\\nNorth America and in parts of Asia.[18][19]. Mugwort pollen generally travels less than\\n2,000 meters[20]. The highest concentration of mugwort pollen is generally found between 9\\nand 11 am. The Finnish allergy association recommends tearing as method of eradicating\\nmugwort[20]. Tearing mugwort is known to lessen the effect of the allergy, since the pollen\\nflies only short distance[20]].\\nCooking is known to decrease the allergenicity of mugwort.\\nOstrich Fern\\nThe ostrich fern or shuttlecock fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is a crown-forming,\\ncolony-forming fern, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in eastern\\nand northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.\\nSpore-bearing fertile fronds in early spring\\nIt grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out\\nlateral stolons to form new crowns. It thus can form dense colonies resistant to\\ndestruction by floodwaters.\\nThe fronds are dimorphic, with the deciduous green sterile fronds being almost vertical,\\n100-170 cm tall and 20-35 cm broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the\\ntip, so that they resemble ostrich plumes, hence the name. The fertile fronds are shorter,\\n40-60 cm long, brown when ripe, with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled\\nover the sporangia; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the\\nspores in early spring.\\nMatteuccia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species\\nincluding Sthenopis auratus.\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nThe ostrich fern is a popular ornamental plant in gardens. While choosing a place of\\nplanting it should be taken into account that these ferns are very expansive and its leaves\\noften lose their beauty throughout the summer, especially if not protected from wind and\\nhail. The tightly wound immature fronds, called fiddleheads, are also used as a cooked\\nvegetable, and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of northeastern North\\nAmerica.\\nThe plants are also grown in Japan, where the sprouts (\\\"kogomi\\\" in Japanese) are a\\ndelicacy.\\nMatteuccia struthiopteris is the only species in the genus Matteuccia. Some sources include\\ntwo Asian species, M. orientalis and M. intermedia, but molecular data shows that M.\\nstruthiopteris is more closely related to Onocleopsis and Onoclea (sensitive fern) than it\\nis to M. orientalis and M. intermedia, and so the latter should be moved to a genus\\nPentarhizidium which contains those two species. [2] Formerly classified as a member of the\\nDryopteridaceae, Matteuccia has been reassigned to the new much smaller family Onocleaceae.\\n \\nAmerican Persimmon\\nA persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in\\nthe ebony wood family (Ebenaceae). The word Diospyros means \\\"the fruit of the gods\\\" in\\nancient Greek.[1] As a tree, it is a perennial plant. The word persimmon is derived from\\nputchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin, from Powhatan, an Algonquian language (related to\\nBlackfoot, Cree and Mohican) of the eastern United States, meaning \\\"a dry fruit\\\".[2]\\nPersimmons are generally light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in color, and depending on\\nthe species, vary in size from 1.5 to 9 cm (0.5 to 4 in) diameter, and may be spherical,\\nacorn-, or pumpkin-shaped.[3] The calyx often remains attached to the fruit after\\nharvesting, but becomes easier to remove as it ripens. They are high in glucose, with a\\nbalanced protein profile, and possess various medicinal and chemical uses.\\nLike the tomato, it is not considered a \\\"common berry\\\", but is in fact a \\\"true berry\\\" by\\ndefinition.\\nThe shizi (柿子 in Chinese), also known as Japanese Persimmon or kaki (柿) (Diospyros kaki),\\nis the most widely cultivated species. These are sweet, slightly tangy fruits with a soft\\nto occasionally fibrous texture. This species, native to China, is deciduous, with broad,\\nstiff leaves. Cultivation of the fruit extended first to other parts of east Asia, and was\\nlater introduced to California and southern Europe in the 1800s, to Brazil in the 1890s[4],\\nand numerous cultivars have been selected. It is edible in its crisp firm state, but has\\nits best flavor when allowed to rest and soften slightly after harvest. The Japanese\\ncultivar 'Hachiya' is a widely grown cultivar. The fruit has a high tannin content which\\nmakes the immature fruit astringent and bitter. The tannin levels are reduced as the fruit\\nmatures. Persimmons like 'Hachiya' must be completely ripened before consumption. When\\nripe, this fruit comprises thick pulpy jelly encased in a waxy thin skinned shell. \\\"Sharon\\nFruit\\\" (named originally after Sharon plain in Israel) is the trade name for D. kaki fruit\\nthat has been artificially ripened with chemicals.[5]\\nNanyo City, Yamagata, Japan. October 2005.\\nThe Date-plum (Diospyros lotus) is native to southwest Asia and southeast Europe. It was\\nknown to the ancient Greeks as \\\"the fruit of the gods\\\", or often referred to as \\\"nature's\\ncandy\\\" i.e. Dios pyros (lit. \\\"the wheat of Zeus\\\"), hence the scientific name of the genus.\\nIts English name probably derives from Persian Khormaloo خرمالو literally \\\"Date-Plum\\\",\\nreferring to the taste of this fruit which is reminiscent of both plums and dates. This\\nspecies is one candidate for the lotus mentioned in the Odyssey: it was so delicious that\\nthose who ate it forgot about returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus with the\\nlotus-eaters.[6] The fruit is also known as 'Amlok' or 'Japani Phal' in Pakistan.\\nThe American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is native to the eastern United States and is\\nhigher in nutrients like vitamin C and calcium than the Japanese Persimmon.[7]\\nThe Black Persimmon or Black Sapote (Diospyros digyna) is native to Mexico. Its fruit has\\ngreen skin and white flesh, which turns black when ripe.\\nThe Mabolo or Velvet-apple (Diospyros discolor) is native to the Philippines. It is bright\\nred when ripe. It is also native to China, where it is known as shizi. It is also known as\\nKorean Mango.\\nThere are many other species of Diospyros that are inedible to humans, and thus have little\\nor no commercial value for their fruit.\\n[edit] Fruit\\nA ripe hachiya persimmon fruit\\nCommercially, there are generally two types of persimmon fruit: astringent and\\nnon-astringent.\\nThe heart-shaped Hachiya is the most common variety of astringent persimmon. Astringent\\npersimmons contain very high levels of soluble tannins and are unpalatable (or \\\"furry\\\"\\ntasting) if eaten before softening. The astringency of tannins is removed through ripening\\nby exposure to light over several days, wrapping the fruit in paper (probably because this\\nincreases the ethylene concentration of the surrounding air), and/or artificially with\\nchemicals such as alcohol and carbon dioxide which change tannin into the insoluble form.\\nThis bletting process is sometimes jumpstarted by exposing the fruit to cold or frost which\\nhastens cellular wall breakdown. These astringent persimmons can also be prepared for\\ncommercial purposes by drying. Tanenashi fruit will occasionally contain a seed or two,\\nwhich can be planted and will yield a larger more vertical tree than when merely grafted\\nonto the D. virginiana rootstock most commonly used in the U.S. Such seedling trees may\\nproduce fruit that bears more seeds, usually 6 to 8 per fruit, and the fruit itself may\\nvary slightly from the parent tree. Seedlings are said to be more susceptible to root\\nnematodes. Those wanting to obtain native persimmon fruit and seeds might look at the\\nreststop on the west side of Interstate 26 about 6 miles south of Columbia, South Carolina\\nin the fall. There are several large D. virginiana trees near the exit from the rest stop\\nwhich yield abundant seed from which seedlings can be grown and used as rootstock.\\nThe non-astringent persimmon is squat like a tomato and is most commonly sold as fuyu.\\nNon-astringent persimmons are not actually free of tannins as the term suggests, but rather\\nare far less astringent before ripening, and lose more of their tannic quality sooner.\\nNon-astringent persimmons may be consumed when still very firm, and remain edible when very\\nsoft.\\nThere is a third type, less commonly available, the pollination-variant non-astringent\\npersimmons. When fully pollinated, the flesh of these fruit is brown inside -known as goma\\nin Japan, and the fruit can be eaten firm. These varieties are highly sought after and can\\nbe found at specialty markets or farmers markets only[citation needed]. Tsurunoko, sold as\\n\\\"Chocolate persimmon\\\" for its dark brown flesh, Maru, sold as \\\"Cinnamon persimmon\\\" for its\\nspicy flavor, and Hyakume, sold as \\\"Brown sugar\\\" are the three best known.\\nBefore ripening, persimmons usually have a \\\"chalky\\\" taste or bitter taste.\\nCulinary uses\\nPeeled, flattened, and dried persimmons (shibing;柿餅) in a Xi'an market\\nPersimmons are eaten fresh, dried, raw, or cooked. When eaten fresh, the skin is usually\\ncut/peeled off and the fruit is often cut into quarters or eaten whole like an apple. One\\nway to consume very ripe persimmons, which can have the texture of pudding, is to remove\\nthe top leaf with a paring knife and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. The flesh ranges\\nfrom firm to mushy and the texture is unique. The flesh is very sweet and when firm\\npossesses an apple-like crunch. American persimmons are completely inedible until they are\\nfully ripe. In China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam after harvesting, 'Hachiya' persimmons are\\nprepared using traditional hand-drying techniques, outdoors for two to three weeks. The\\nfruit is then further dried by exposure to heat over several days before being shipped to\\nmarket. In Japan the dried fruit is called hoshigaki (干し柿), in China it is known as\\n\\\"shi-bing\\\" (柿饼), in Korea it is known as gotgam (hangul: 곶감), and in Vietnam it is called\\nhồng khô. It is eaten as a snack or dessert and used for other culinary purposes.\\nKaki preserved in lime water\\nIn Korea, dried persimmon fruits are used to make the traditional Korean spicy punch,\\nsujeonggwa, while the matured, fermented fruit is used to make a persimmon vinegar called\\ngamsikcho (감식초), which is alleged to have a variety of health benefits. The hoshigaki\\ntradition traveled to California with Japanese American immigrants.\\nIn Taiwan, fruits of astringent varieties are sealed in jars filled with lime water to get\\nrid of bitterness. Slightly hardened in the process, they are sold under the name \\\"crisp\\npersimmon\\\" (cuishi 脆柿) or \\\"water persimmon\\\" (shuishizi 水柿子). Preparation time is dependent\\nupon temperature (5 to 7 days at 25–28°C). In some areas of Manchuria and Korea, the dried\\nleaves of the fruit are used for making tea. The Korean name for this tea is ghamnip cha (감\\n잎차).\\n干し柿 Hoshigaki, Japanese dried persimmon\\nIn the State of Indiana (USA), persimmons are harvested and used in a variety of dessert\\ndishes most notably pies. It can be used in cookies, cakes, puddings, salads, curries [2]\\nand as a topping for breakfast cereal. Persimmon pudding is a dessert using fresh\\npersimmons. An annual persimmon festival, featuring a persimmon pudding contest, is held\\nevery September in Mitchell, Indiana. Persimmon pudding is a baked pudding that has the\\nconsistency of pumpkin pie but resembles a brownie and is almost always topped with whipped\\ncream. Persimmons may be stored at room temperature (20°C) where they will continue to\\nripen. In northern China, unripe persimmons are frozen outside during winter to speed up\\nthe ripening process.\\nThe fruits of some persimmon varieties contain the tannins catechin and gallocatechin,[9]\\nas well as the candidate anti-tumor compounds betulinic acid and shibuol.[citation needed]\\nUnripened persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak\\nacid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum, a 'foodball' or phytobezoar,\\nthat can affix with other stomach matter.[10] These phytobezoars are often very hard and\\nalmost woody in consistency. More than 85% phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of\\nunripened persimmons.[11] Persimmon bezoars (diospyrobezoars) often occur in epidemics in\\nregions where the fruit is grown.[12][13][14]. Diospyrobezoars should not be of concern\\nwhen consuming moderate quantities of persimmons. One case in medical literature from 2004\\nrevealed a 51-year old patient who had eaten a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of unpeeled persimmons\\neach day for 40 years.[15][16] Cases have been rare and required surgical removal, but more\\nrecently chemical depolymerization by Coca-Cola has been used.[17]\\nHorses may develop a taste for the fruit growing on a tree in their pasture and overindulge\\nalso, making them quite ill. It is often advised that persimmons should not be eaten on an\\nempty stomach.[18]\\n[edit] Wood\\nAn example of persimmon wood furniture\\nThough persimmon trees belong to the same genus as ebony trees, persimmon tree wood has a\\nlimited use in the manufacture of objects requiring hard wood. It is hard, but cracks\\neasily and is somewhat difficult to process. Persimmon wood is used for paneling in\\ntraditional Korean and Japanese furniture.\\nIn North America, the lightly colored, fine-grained wood of D. virginiana is used to\\nmanufacture billiard cues and textile shuttles. It is also used in the percussion field as\\nthe shaft of the Tim Genis Signature Timpani Mallet Collection. Persimmon wood was also\\nheavily used in making the highest-quality heads of the golf clubs known as \\\"woods\\\" until\\nthe golf industry moved primarily to metal woods in the last years of the 20th century. In\\nfact, the first metal woods made by TaylorMade, an early pioneer of that club type, were\\nbranded as \\\"Pittsburgh Persimmons\\\". Persimmon woods are still made, but in far lower\\nnumbers than in past decades. Over the last few decades persimmon wood has become popular\\namong bow craftsmen, especially in the making of traditional longbows. Persimmon wood is\\nused in making a small number of wooden flutes and eating utensils such as wooden spoons\\nand cornbread knives (wooden knives that may cut through the bread without scarring the\\ndish).\\nLike some other plants of the genus Diospyros, older persimmon heartwood is black or dark\\nbrown in color, in stark contrast to the sapwood and younger heartwood, which is pale in\\ncolor.\\n[edit] Trees\\nPersimmon Tree\\nThe trees of all species have stiff, tumescent leaves, but the female of the D. virginiana\\ncan look less turgid than the male because the leaves droop when fruiting, perhaps because\\nof the heavier nutrient requirements. They grow swiftly, and are immune to the usual\\ndelicacy of trees planted in unpredictable climates. They are one of the last trees to leaf\\nout in the spring, and do not flower until well after the leaves have formed, bypassing the\\nthreat of blossom loss to frosts. The fruit hangs on the branches long into the winter.\\nBecause they grow swiftly and colonize off their root systems, they are ideal for helping\\nrecover habitat. A 1–2 year old persimmon tree will be mature enough to bear fruit within\\n7–8 years. They hold their own against flooding riverbanks quite well and are listed in\\nStormwater Journal's list of water-holding trees.[19]\\n \\nPineapple Weed\\nMatricaria discoidea, commonly known as pineapple weed and disc mayweed is an annual plant\\nnative to North America and Northeast Asia but which has become a cosmopolitan weed. It is\\nin the family Asteraceae. The flowers exude a chamomile/pineapple aroma when crushed. They\\nare edible and have been used in salads (although they may become bitter by the time the\\nplant blooms) and to make herbal tea. Pineapple weed has been used for medicinal purposes,\\nincluding for relief of gastrointestinal upset, infected sores, fevers, and postpartum\\nanemia.\\nThe pinnately dissected leaves are sweet-scented when crushed (Fir Island, Washington).\\nThe flower head is cone-shaped, composed of dense-packed yellowish-green corollas, and\\nlacking ray-florets. The leaves are pinnately dissected and sweet-scented when crushed. The\\nplant grows 2 to 16 inches (5.1 to 41 cm) high. Flowerheads are produced from May to\\nSeptember.\\nThe plant grows well in disturbed areas, especially those with poor, compacted soil. It can\\nbe seen blooming on footpaths, roadsides, and similar places in spring and early summer. In\\nthe USA, it can be found from central Alaska down to California and all the way to Nova\\nScotia.\\n[edit] Uses\\nPineapple weed flowers used to be gathered for food by children, although most find it too\\nbitter to consume raw. The plant, when bruised and rubbed on skin, provides an effective,\\nyet temporary insect repellent.\\n \\nSassafras\\nSassafras is a genus of three[1][2] extant and one extinct[3] species of deciduous trees in\\nthe family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.[2]\\nSassafras trees grow from 9.1–18 m (30–59 ft) tall and spreading 7.6–12 m (25–39 ft)[4] The\\ntrunk grows 70–150 cm (28–59 in) in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth,\\norange-brown bark. The branching is sympodial. The bark of the mature trunk is thick,\\nred-brown, and deeply furrowed. The wood is light, hard, and sometimes brittle. All parts\\nof the plants are very fragrant. The species are unusual in having three distinct leaf\\npatterns on the same plant, unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three\\npronged); rarely the leaves can be five-lobed.[5] They have smooth margins and grow 7–20 cm\\nlong by 5–10 cm broad. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous, and produce a\\ncitrus-like scent when crushed. The tiny, yellow flowers are five-petaled and bloom in the\\nspring; they are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. The fruit are\\nblue-black, egg-shaped, 1 cm long, produced on long, red-stalked cups, and mature in late\\nsummer.[1] The largest Sassafras tree in the United States is located in Owensboro,\\nKentucky, which measures over 100 feet high and 21 feet in circumference.[6][7]\\nThe name \\\"Sassafras,\\\" applied by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the sixteenth century, is\\nsaid to be a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage.\\nContents\\n * Sassafras albidum (Nuttall) Nees - Sassafras, White Sassafras, Red Sassafras or Silky\\nSassafras. Eastern North America, from southernmost Ontario, Canada through the eastern\\nUnited States south to central Florida, and west to southern Iowa and eastern Texas.\\n * †Sassafras hesperia (Berry) Wolfe & Wehr 1987 - From the Eocene Klondike Mountain\\nFormation of Washington and British Columbia[3]\\n * Sassafras tzumu (Hemsl.) Hemsl. - Chinese Sassafras or Tzumu. Central and\\nsouthwestern China. It differs from S. albidum in the leaves being more frequently\\nthree-lobed,[8] the lobes having a tapered acuminate apex (not rounded to weakly acute).\\n * Sassafras randaiense (Hayata) Rehd. - Taiwanese Sassafras. Taiwan. Treated by some\\nbotanists in a distinct genus as Yushunia randaiensis (Hayata) Kamikoti,[9] though this is\\nnot supported by recent genetic evidence which shows Sassafras to be monophyletic.[2]\\n[edit] Usage\\nS. albidum is a host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail\\nSteam distillation of dried root bark produces an essential oil consisting mostly of\\nsafrole that once was extensively used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food and for\\naromatherapy. The yield of this oil from American sassafras is quite low and great effort\\nis needed to produce useful amounts of the root bark.[citation needed] Sassafras extract\\nwas a primary ingredient in root beer. Commercial \\\"sassafras oil\\\" generally is a by-product\\nof camphor production in Asia or comes from related trees in Brazil. Safrole is a precursor\\nfor the clandestine manufacture of the drug MDMA (ecstasy), and as such, its transport is\\nmonitored internationally.\\n[edit] Importance to livestock and wildlife\\nSassafras leaves and twigs are consumed by white-tailed deer in both summer and winter. In\\nsome areas it is an important deer food.[10] Sassafras leaf browsers include groundhogs,\\nMarsh Rabbits, and American Black Bears.[10] Rabbits eat sassafras bark in winter.[10]\\nAmerican Beavers will cut sassafras stems.[10] Sassafras fruits are eaten by many species\\nof birds including Bobwhite Quail,[10] Eastern Kingbirds, Great Crested Flycatchers,\\nPhoebes, Wild Turkeys, Gray Catbirds, Northern Flickers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Downy\\nWoodpeckers, thrushes, vireos, and Northern Mockingbirds. Some small mammals also consume\\nsassafras fruits.[10]\\nFor most of the above mentioned animals, sassafras is not consumed in large enough\\nquantities to be important. Carey and Gill rate its value to wildlife as fair, their lowest\\nrating.[10]\\n[edit] Culinary uses\\nThe dried and ground leaves are used to make filé powder, a condiment served with some\\ntypes of gumbo.\\nThe roots of Sassafras can be steeped to make tea and were used in the flavoring of\\ntraditional root beer until being banned for mass production by the FDA. Laboratory animals\\nthat were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained large doses of\\nsafrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer. In humans liver damage\\ncan take years to develop and it may not have obvious signs. Along with commercially\\navailable sarsaparilla, sassafras remains an ingredient in use among hobby or microbrew\\nenthusiasts.\\nIn 1960, the FDA banned the use of sassafras oil and safrole in commercially mass produced\\nfoods and drugs based on the animal studies and human case reports.[11] Several years later\\nsassafras tea was banned,[11] a ban that lasted until the passage of the Dietary Supplement\\nHealth and Education Act in 1994.[12] Sassafras root extracts which do not contain safrole\\nor in which the safrole has been removed are permissible, and are still widely used\\ncommercially in teas and root beers.\\nSassafras tea can also be used as an anticoagulant.\\n[edit] Ethnobotanical history\\nDuring the establishment of the Virginia Colony, including Jamestown in the seventeenth\\ncentury, sassafras was a major export commodity to England. A medicinal root and a wood\\nprized for its beauty and durability, sassafras was popular from its first import by Sir\\nWalter Raleigh in 1602 until the eighteenth century.[13] There was a brief period of time\\nin the early seventeenth century in which sassafras was the second largest export from\\nAmerica behind tobacco.\\nSassafras was a commodity prized in Europe as a cure for gonorrhea[14] and syphilis.\\nWild Strawberry\\nDescription: This is a low, colony-forming native perennial plant. A plant typically\\nconsists of several trifoliate leaves with long hairy petioles that emerge directly from a\\ncentral taproot in the ground. Each leaflet is about 3\\\" long and 1½\\\" wide, pale green\\nunderneath, coarsely serrated, and obovate or oval in shape. The petioles of the compound\\nleaves are green or dull red and about 3\\\" long. While actively growing, Wild Strawberry\\nproduces long hairy runners up to 2' long, which re-root to form plantlets. These runners\\nare often dull red as well.\\nEach plant can produce one or more clusters of flowers in stalks about 3-4\\\" long, which\\nalso emerge directly from the ground. Each flower is about ¾\\\" across and consists of 5\\nwhite petals. Toward the center, there are about 25 yellow stamens surrounding a small\\nblunt cone. The blooming period occurs during late spring or early summer, and lasts about\\n1-2 months. There is no noticeable floral scent. Afterwards, small red drupes are produced\\nthat are about ½–¾\\\" long, and shaped like the familiar cultivated strawberry. They are\\nsweet and edible. Unlike Fragaria vesca (Hillside Strawberry), the yellow achenes occur in\\nsunken pits along the surface of the drupe.\\nCultivation: The preference is full or partial sun and moist to slightly dry conditions. A\\nrich loamy soil is preferred. Wild Strawberry is a cool-season plant that grows actively\\nduring the spring and fall, but becomes dormant after setting fruit during the hot summer\\nmonths. It is an easy plant to grow, which will spread to form a loose ground cover. It is\\nsubject to foliar disease to a lesser extent than most cultivated strawberries.\\nRange & Habitat: Wild Strawberry is occasional to locally common in most areas of Illinois,\\nbut it is uncommon or absent in parts of NW and southern Illinois (see Distribution Map).\\nHabitats include moist to mesic black soil prairies, openings and edges of woodlands\\n(including drier areas), savannas, limestone glades, and areas along railroads. Wild\\nStrawberry is able to tolerate [Close-Up of Flower] competition from taller plants because\\nit develops early in the spring, and is able to tolerate some shade later in the year. It\\noccurs in both degraded and high quality habitats, often not far from woodland areas.\\nFaunal Associations: The ecological value of Wild Strawberry to various insects, birds, and\\nanimals is high. The flowers attract long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, flies, small\\nbutterflies, and skippers. Among these, small bees are the most important pollinator of the\\nflowers; this includes such visitors as Little Carpenter bees, Nomadine Cuckoo bees, Mason\\nbees, Halictid bees, and Andrenine bees. The caterpillars of several species of moths feed\\non the foliage and flowers of Wild Strawberry (see Moth Table). Other insects that feed on\\nWild Strawberry include Chactosiphum fragraefolii (Strawberry Aphid), Aphis forbesi\\n(Strawberry Root Aphid), and Otiochynchus ovatus (Strawberry Root Weevil). Various upland\\ngamebirds, songbirds, and mammals eat the fruit or foliage (see Wildlife Table), including\\nsuch prairie-inhabiting species as Tympanuchus cupido (Greater Prairie Chicken) and\\nPhasianus colchicus (Ring-Necked Pheasant). These birds and animals help to distribute the\\nseeds far and wide. People also nibble on the fruits.\\nPhotographic Location: The upper photograph was taken along a roadside near Urbana,\\nIllinois, while the lower photograph was taken at Dave Monk's postage stamp prairie in\\nChampaign, Illinois.\\nComments: This is one of the parent plants for the cultivated hybrid strawberry (the other\\nplant being native to Chile). The root system forms a symbiotic relationship with\\nendomycorrhizal bacteria.\\nThis group of herbaceous (non-woody) plants has a bilaterally symmetrical (2-sided)\\n5-petaled flowers, often with bushy stamens forming a \\\"beard\\\" inside. Many have tasty,\\nedible flowers and leaves, although the yellow violet, which grows in wetlands, may cause\\ngastrointestinal distress. Don't eat African \\\"violets,\\\" which aren't true violets.\\nCommon Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)\\nThis is the most common species, with a sterile violet-colored flower that blooms in the\\nspring. There are no leaves on the flower stalk. The heart-shaped, shallow-toothed leaves\\narise separately from the ground. They're good to eat in springtime, but become tough and\\ncoarse in the summer.\\nPoisonous dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne) has a similar violet flower, but with a\\n\\\"spur\\\" behind the flower, and a different leaf. Monkshood (Aconitum uncinatum), also\\npoisonous, has a large, helmet-like upper sepal that covers 2 petals\\nViolets grow in partially shaded spots in moist woods, and in meadows and gardens. They\\nspread by underground rhizomes (which are toxic), creating dense stands of plants.\\nWhite Violet Flower\\nThe white violet's flowers and leaves are also edible. Note the \\\"beard\\\" of fuzzy stamens in\\nthe lower petals\\nThis hybrid between blue and white species is also quite beautiful and tasty.\\nWild Carrot\\nDaucus carota (common names include wild carrot, (UK) bird's nest, bishop's lace, and (US)\\nQueen Anne's lace) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions\\nof Europe, southwest Asia and naturalised to northeast North America and Australia;\\ndomesticated carrots are cultivars of a subspecies, Daucus carota subsp. sativus.\\nDaucus carota is a variable biennial plant, usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering\\nfrom June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then\\nbright white and rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon of\\nbracts beneath; finally, as they turn to seed, they contract and become concave like a\\nbird's nest. The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds.[1]\\nVery similar in appearance to the deadly Poison Hemlock, Daucus carota is distinguished by\\na mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that\\nsmells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in its center.\\nSee carrot for the modern cultivated forms of the species.\\nContents\\n[edit] Uses\\nLike the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes\\ntoo woody to consume. A teaspoon of crushed seeds has long been used as a form of birth\\ncontrol; its use for this purpose was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years\\nago.[citation needed] Research conducted on mice has offered a degree of confirmation for\\nthis use—it was found that wild carrot disrupts the implantation process, which reinforces\\nits reputation as a contraceptive.[2] Chinese studies have also indicated that the seeds\\nblock progesterone synthesis, which could explain this effect.[citation needed]\\nAs with all herbal remedies and wild food gathering, extra caution should be used,\\nespecially since the wild carrot bears close resemblance to a dangerous species Poison\\nHemlock. The leaves of the wild carrot can cause phytophotodermatitis, so caution should\\nalso be used when handling the plant.\\nThe wild carrot, when freshly cut, will draw or change color depending on the color of the\\nwater it is in. Note that this effect is only visible on the \\\"head\\\" or flower of the plant.\\nCarnation also exhibits this effect. This occurrence is a popular science experiment in\\nprimary grade school.\\n[edit] Beneficial weed\\nThis beneficial weed can be used as a companion plant to crops. Like most umbellifers it\\nattracts predatory wasps to its small flowers in its native land; however, where it has\\nbeen introduced it attracts only very few of such wasps . This species is also documented\\nto boost tomato plant production when kept nearby, and it can provide a microclimate of\\ncooler, moister air for lettuce, when intercropped with it.\\n[edit] Queen Anne's lace\\nWild carrot was introduced and naturalised in North America, where it is often known as\\n\\\"Queen Anne's lace\\\". It is so called because the flower resembles lace; the red flower in\\nthe center represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when\\nshe was making the lace. The function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is\\nto attract insects.\\nThe USDA has listed it as a noxious weed [3], and it is considered a serious pest in\\npastures. It persists in the soil seed bank for two to five years.\\n \\n Wineberry\\nA member of the Rubus genus (as are raspberries and blackberries, as well as a dozen or so\\nother species), the wineberry is native to China and Japan. It was brought to this country\\nby way of Europe and sold as an ornamental plant during the later part of the nineteenth\\ncentury.\\nSince wineberries (Rubusphoenicolasius) are relatively new to the U.S., they've established\\nthemselves in the wild only throughout most of the eastern states so far. [EDITOR'S\\nNOTE:Western folks can grow their own, though. In case you don't happen to live in an area\\nwhere wineberries flourish, you'll be glad to know that it's possible to purchase plants by\\nmail from seed companies. One firm that offers the wineberry is Burpee (Dept. TMEN, 300\\nPark Avenue, Warminster, Pennsylvania 18991). The folks there will sell you one plant for\\n$5.25,_ five for $8.95, and ten for $14.75 . . . plus a $1.00 handling charge per order.\\nBurpee advises that the bushes grow best in Zones 5 through 8.J\\nLike their raspberry cousins, wineberries produce new canes each year, which then bear\\nfruit the following summer. The brambles usually flower sometime between April and June\\n(depending upon climate), and their berries ripen approximately two months later.\\nWHAT TO LOOK FOR\\nFortunately, unlike many of their kin (which often seem to grow best where they're hardest\\nto find), R.phoenicolasius appear to possess an affinity for being devoured by hungry\\nberry-hunters .. . be cause their telltale eight- to ten-foot-long canes, which are covered\\n(all year long) with bright red bristles, are remarkably easy to 'spot. In fact, the\\ncolorful little hairs make it o possible for a forager to scout out wineberry patches well\\nin advance of harvest time . . . even in the dead of winter, and especially when there's\\nsnow on the ground.\\nThe foliage of the wineberry plant is distinctive, too. Its silky green leaves (with\\nsilvery white undersides) grow in clusters of three, one of which is always noticeably\\nlarger than the other two. White (or sometimes pink) blossoms appear in the spring, but\\nthey seem pale in comparison with the splendid array of color that develops as the berries\\nthemselves ripen.\\nGrowing, picking, preparation and cooking advice for these tasty berries, and recipes for\\nraspberry...\\nThe lowdown on the safest techniques for keeping Canning...\\nCanners Come Together\\nExperience the camaraderie of community canning....\\nGrowing Raspberries and Blackberries\\nGrowing raspberries and blackberries is fun and will help you save money on pricey fruits.\\nLearn ho...\\nOnce the calyx (which houses the tiny immature morsels) opens to expose the fruit to the\\nsun, the berries turn from green to yellow to orange, and finally to deep wine red when\\nthey're ready for sampling. (Besides having that characteristic coloration, mature berries\\nwill be slightly sticky to the touch.) At the height of the picking season, the richlooking\\nberries glistening amidst the lush green foliage and scarlet-furred branches make a\\nwineberry thicket both a dramatic and an unmistakable sight.\\nYOUR PICK\\nWhen you're ready to visit the briar patch, arm yourself with plenty of containers . . .\\nbecause wineberries tend to grow in abundance. And be sure to wear good thick socks and\\nhigh boots for protection against snakes and poison ivy . . . since the tangled clusters of\\ncanes are often home to both.\\nCarnelian Cherry\\nThe European Cornel (Cornus mas) is a species of dogwood native to southern Europe and\\nsouthwest Asia. In North America, the plant is known by the common name of Cornelian\\nCherry.\\nIt is a medium to large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5–12 m tall, with dark\\nbrown branches and greenish twigs. The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm broad,\\nwith an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin. The flowers are small (5–10 mm\\ndiameter), with four yellow petals, produced in clusters of 10–25 together in the late\\nwinter, well before the leaves appear. The fruit is an oblong red drupe 2 cm long and 1.5\\ncm in diameter, containing a single seed.\\nThe fruit is edible, but the unripe fruit is astringent. The fruit only fully ripens after\\nit falls from the tree. When ripe, the fruit is dark ruby red. It has an acidic flavour\\nwhich is best described as a mixture of cranberry and sour cherry; it is mainly used for\\nmaking jam, makes an excellent sauce similar to cranberry sauce when pitted and then boiled\\nwith sugar and orange, but also can be eaten dried. In Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fruit is\\nused for distilling vodka, while in Albania it is distilled into raki. In Turkey and Iran\\nit is eaten with salt as a snack in summer, and traditionally drunk in a cold drink called\\nkizilcik sherbeti. Cultivars selected for fruit production in Ukraine have fruit up to 4 cm\\nlong. The berries when ripe on the plant bear a resemblance to coffee berries, and ripen in\\nmid to late summer.\\n[edit] Flowers\\nEuropean Cornel flowering\\nThe species is also grown as an ornamental plant for its late winter flowers, which open\\nearlier than those of forsythia, and, while not as large and vibrant as those of the\\nforsythia, the entire plant can be used for a similar effect in the landscape.\\n[edit] Wood\\nThe wood of C. mas is extremely dense, and unlike the wood of most other woody plant\\nspecies, sinks in water. This density makes it valuable for crafting into tool handles,\\nparts for machines, etc.[1] Cornus mas was used from the seventh century B.C. onward by\\nGreek craftsman to construct spears, javelins and bows, the craftsmen considering it far\\nsuperior to any other wood.[2] The wood's association with weaponry was so well known that\\nthe Greek name for it was used as a synonym for \\\"spear\\\" in poetry during the fourth and\\nthird centuries B.C.[2]\\nThe red dye used to make fezzes was produced from its bark and tannin is produced from its\\nleaves.\\nRubus occidentalis is a species of Rubus native to eastern North America. Its common name\\nblack raspberry is shared with the closely related western American species Rubus\\nleucodermis. Other names occasionally used include wild black raspberry, black caps, black\\ncap raspberry, thimbleberry,[1][2] and scotch cap.[3]\\nRubus occidentalis is a deciduous shrub growing to 2–3 m tall, with prickly shoots. The\\nleaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves strong-growing stems in their first year,\\nand three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets. The flowers are distinct in having\\nlong, slender sepals 6–8 mm long, more than twice as long as the petals. The round-shaped\\nfruit is a 12–15 mm diameter aggregation of drupelets; it is edible, and has a high content\\nof anthocyanins and ellagic acid.[4][5]\\nBlack raspberries are high in anthocyanins. This has led to their being very useful as\\nnatural dyes and, since anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants, to a great deal of interest\\nin them for their potential nutraceutical value. Extensive work has been ongoing at Ohio\\nState University to evaluate their benefit for cancer treatment in mammalian test\\nsystems,[6] and the first clinical trials on patients with esophageal cancer.[7]\\nThe black raspberry is also closely related to the red raspberries Rubus idaeus and Rubus\\nstrigosus, sharing the distinctively white underside of the leaves and fruit that readily\\ndetaches from the carpel, but differing in the ripe fruit being black, and in the stems\\nbeing more prickly. The black fruit makes them look like blackberries, though this is only\\nsuperficial, with the taste being unique and not like either the red raspberry or the\\nblackberry. In much of the Mid-Atlantic United States, black raspberries are simply called\\nblackberries, even though they are not.\\nAs suggested by the common name, black raspberries usually have very dark purple-black\\nfruits, rich in anthocyanin pigments. However, due to occasional mutations in the genes\\ncontrolling anthocyanin production, yellow-fruited variants (yellow raspberries) sometimes\\noccur, and have been occasionally propagated, especially in home/farm gardens in the\\nmidwestern United States (e.g., Ohio). The yellow-fruited variants of the black raspberry\\nretain that species' distinctive flavor, different from the similar-appearing pale-fruited\\nvariants of cultivated red raspberries (generally the Eurasian Rubus idaeus, but with some\\nbeing the North American Rubus strigosus, and other cultivars representing hybrids between\\nthese two widespread species).\\n[edit] Commercial growing and processing\\nA basket of black raspberries\\nBlack raspberries (Rubus occidentalis L.) being grown commercially in Korea\\nThe center for black raspberry production is in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The main\\ncultivar, 'Munger', is grown on about 600 ha (1500 acres). Other cultivars include 'John\\nRobertson', 'Allen', 'Jewel', 'Blackhawk', 'Macblack', 'Plum Farmer', 'Dundee', 'Hanover',\\nand 'Huron'. The plants are summer tipped by hand, mechanically pruned in winter and then\\nmachine harvested. The yields are generally low per acre and this is why the fruits are\\noften expensive.\\nThe species has been used in the breeding of many Rubus hybrids; those between red and\\nblack raspberries are common under the name purple raspberries; 'Brandywine', 'Royalty' and\\n'Estate' are examples of purple raspberry cultivars.\\nThe berries are typically dried, frozen or made into purées and juices or processed as\\ncolorants. Two well known liqueurs predominantly based on black raspberry fruit include\\nFrance's Chambord Liqueur Royale de France and South Korea's various manufacturers of\\nBokbunja (see Korean alcoholic beverages).\\n \\nBlack Cherry\\nPrunus serotina, commonly called Black Cherry, Wild Black Cherry, Rum Cherry, or Mountain\\nBlack Cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. This cherry is native\\nto eastern North America: from Eastern Canada through southern Quebec and Ontario; south\\nthrough the Eastern United States to Texas and central Florida; with disjunct populations\\nin Arizona and New Mexico; and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala.[2][3]\\nImmature fruit\\n * 6 References\\n[edit] Description\\nThe Black Cherry is a species in the subgenus Padus with flowers in racemes, and is a\\ndeciduous tree growing to 15–30 m tall with a trunk diameter of up to 70–120 cm,\\noccasionally more. The leaves are simple, 6–14 cm long, with a serrated margin. The flowers\\nare small (10–15 mm diameter), with five white petals and about 20 stamens, and are\\nfragrant; there are around 40 flowers on each raceme. The fruit is a drupe, 1 cm diameter,\\ngreen to red at first, ripening black; it is usually astringent and bitter when eaten\\nfresh, but also somewhat sweet. The fruit is readily eaten by birds.[2][4]\\nCloseup of Bark\\nA mature Black Cherry can easily be identified in a forest by its very broken, dark grey to\\nblack bark, which has the appearance of very thick, burnt potato chips. However, for about\\nthe first decade or so of its life, the bark resembles that of a Birch, and is thin and\\nstriped. It can also quickly be identified by its long, shiny leaves resembling that of a\\nSourwood, and by an almond-like odor when a young twig is scratched and held close to the\\nnose.[5][6]\\nThere are two subspecies:[7]\\n * Prunus serotina subsp. serotina. Canada, United States.\\n * Prunus serotina subsp. capuli (Cav.) McVaugh. Mexico, Guatemala.\\nThe typical subsp. serotina is sometimes further divided into four varieties, var. serotina\\nin the east of the range, var. eximia in Texas, and vars. rufula and virens in Arizona, New\\nMexico and Texas.[3]\\nBlack Cherry is closely related to the Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), however Chokecherry\\nis classified as a shrub or small tree and has smaller and less glossy leaves.\\n[edit] Ecology\\nThe Black Cherry is a pioneer species. In the Midwest, it is seen growing mostly in old\\nfields with other sunlight loving species, such as Black Walnut, Black locust, and\\nHackberry. It is a moderately long-lived tree, with ages of up to 258 years known, though\\nit is prone to storm damage with branches breaking easily; any decay resulting however only\\nprogresses slowly.[2] It is well known to proliferate in the Allegheny National Forest\\nregion of northwest Pennsylvania.\\nThe Black Cherry is also a host of caterpillars of various Lepidoptera (see List of\\nLepidoptera which feed on Prunus). The Eastern tent caterpillar defoliates entire groves\\nsome springs.\\nBlack knot infection\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nThe fruit is suitable for making jam, cherry pies and has some use in flavoring liqueurs;\\nthey are also a popular flavoring for sodas and used in many ice creams. The black cherry\\nis commonly used instead of sweet cherries (Prunus avium) in order to achieve a sharper\\ntaste. It is also used in cakes which involve dark chocolate such as a Black Forest gateau\\nand as garnishes to drinks like cocktails.[citation needed]\\nThe timber is valuable, perhaps the premier cabinetry timber of the U.S., traded as\\n\\\"cherry\\\". It is known for its strong red color and high price. Its weight per cubic meter\\nwhen dried is around 580 kg.[8]\\nThe wood is also used for cooking and smoking foods, where it imparts a unique flavor.\\nThe foliage, particularly when wilted, contains cyanogenic glycosides which convert to\\nhydrogen cyanide if eaten by animals.[4] It is recommended that farmers remove any Black\\nCherry trees that fall in a field containing livestock, because the wilted leaves could\\npoison the animals. Removal is not always practical though, because Black Cherries often\\ngrow in very large numbers on farms, taking advantage of the light brought about by mowing\\nand grazing. Entire fencerows can be lined with this poisonous tree, making it difficult to\\nmonitor all the branches falling into the grazing area.\\nBlack Cherry is locally naturalized in parts of Europe, having escaped from cultivation as\\nan ornamental tree.[9]\\nP. serotina was widely introduced into Central Europe in the mid 20th century.[10][11] It\\nhas acted as an invasive species there, negatively impacting forest community diversity and\\nregeneration.[12]\\nLike apricots, the seeds of black cherries contain compounds that can be converted into\\ncyanide, such as amygdalin.[13][14] These compounds release hydrogen cyanide when the seed\\nis ground or minced, which releases enzymes that break down the compounds. These enzymes\\ninclude amygdalin beta-glucosidase, prunasin beta-glucosidase and mandelonitrile lyase.[15]\\nIn contrast, although the flesh of cherries also contain these compounds, they do not\\ncontain the enzymes needed to produce cyanide, so the flesh is safe to eat.\\nBlack Birch\\nBetula lenta (Sweet Birch, also known as Black Birch, Cherry Birch, Mahogany Birch, or\\nSpice Birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from southern Maine\\nwest to southernmost Ontario, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.\\n[edit] Characteristics and habitat\\nIt is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching 20 m tall with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter.\\nThe bark is (unlike most birches) rough, dark blackish-brown, cracking into irregular scaly\\nplates. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of oil of wintergreen. The leaves are\\nalternate, ovate, 5-10 cm long and 4-8 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers\\nare wind-pollinated catkins 3-6 cm long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins\\nerect. The fruit, maturing in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed\\nbetween the catkin bracts.\\nBetula lenta was used commercially in the past for production of oil of wintergreen before\\nmodern industrial synthesis; the tree's name reflects this scent of the shoots.\\nThe sap flows about a month later than maple sap, and much faster. The trees can be tapped\\nin a similar fashion, but must be gathered about three times more often. Birch sap can be\\nboiled the same as maple sap, but its syrup is stronger (like molasses).\\nBetula lenta's leaves serve as food for some lepidopteran caterpillars. See List of\\nLepidoptera that feed on birches.\\nGrowing in forests throughout eastern North America, this common native tree's cambium (the\\ngreen layer under the bark) contains the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory oil of\\nwintergreen, which you can smell if you scratch-and-sniff the twigs or bark.\\nChew on the delicious twigs like chewing gum (this also alleviates bad breath), or steep\\nthem for tea. A strong cup may be the equivalent of 1/4 to 1/2 an aspirin.\\nChewing on the twigs tastes great, and it reduces the pain of teething.\\nWild Blackberries\\nThe blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of\\nthe Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate\\nfruit, composed of small drupelets. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial\\nroots. Blackberries and raspberries are also called caneberries or brambles. It is a\\nwidespread, and well known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related\\napomictic microspecies native throughout the temperate northern hemisphere and South\\nAmerica.[1]\\n[edit] Growth and anatomical description\\nBlackberries are perennial plants which typically bear biennial stems (\\\"canes\\\") from the\\nperennial root system.[2]\\nIn its first year, a new stem, the primocane, grows vigorously to its full length of 3–6 m\\n(in some cases, up to 9 m), arching or trailing along the ground and bearing large\\npalmately compound leaves with five or seven leaflets; it does not produce any flowers. In\\nits second year, the cane becomes a floricane and the stem does not grow longer, but the\\nlateral buds break to produce flowering laterals (which have smaller leaves with three or\\nfive leaflets).[2] First and second year shoots usually have numerous short curved very\\nsharp prickles. Prickle-free cultivars have been developed. Recently the University of\\nArkansas has developed primocane fruiting blackberries that grow and flower on first year\\ngrowth much as the primocane-fruiting (also called fall bearing or everbearing) red\\nraspberries do.\\nUnmanaged mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems, the branches rooting from the\\nnode tip on many species when they reach the ground. Vigorous and growing rapidly in woods,\\nscrub, hillsides and hedgerows, blackberry shrubs tolerate poor soils, readily colonizing\\nwasteland, ditches and vacant lots.[1][3]\\nThe flowers are produced in late spring and early summer on short racemes on the tips of\\nthe flowering laterals.[2] Each flower is about 2–3 cm in diameter with five white or pale\\npink petals.[2]\\nThe drupelets only develop around ovules that are fertilized by the male gamete from a\\npollen grain. The most likely cause of undeveloped ovules is inadequate pollinator\\nvisits.[4] Even a small change in conditions, such as a rainy day or a day too hot for bees\\nto work after early morning, can reduce the number of bee visits to the flower, thus\\nreducing the quality of the fruit. Incomplete drupelet development can also be a symptom of\\nexhausted reserves in the plant's roots, or infection with a virus such as Raspberry bushy\\ndwarf virus.\\nIn botanical terminology, the fruit is not a berry, but an aggregate fruit of numerous\\ndrupelets.\\nBlackberry leaves are food for certain caterpillars; some grazing mammals, especially deer,\\nare also very fond of the leaves. Caterpillars of the concealer moth Alabonia geoffrella\\nhave been found feeding inside dead blackberry shoots.\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nPrimary cultivation takes place in the state of Oregon located in the United States of\\nAmerica. Recorded in 1995 and 2006: 6,180 acres (25.0 km2) to 6,900 acres (28 km2) of\\nblackberries, producing 42.6 to 41.5 million pounds, making Oregon the leading blackberry\\nproducer in the world.[5][6] While Oregon may lead the world in volume of fruit produced,\\nSerbia has tremendous acreage and Mexico has had dramatically increasing acreage and may\\nsoon lead the world.\\nThe soft fruit is popular for use in desserts, jams, seedless jellies and sometimes wine.\\nIt is often mixed with apples for pies and crumbles.\\nGood nectar producers, blackberry shrubs bearing flowers yield a medium to dark, fruity\\nhoney.\\nThe blackberry is known to contain polyphenol antioxidants, naturally occurring chemicals\\nthat can upregulate certain beneficial metabolic processes in mammals. The astringent\\nblackberry root is sometimes used in herbal medicine as a treatment for diarrhea and\\ndysentery.[7] The related but smaller dewberry can be distinguished by the white, waxy\\ncoating on the fruits, which also usually have fewer drupelets. (Rubus caesius) is in its\\nown section (Caesii) within the subgenus Rubus.\\nIn some parts of the world, such as in Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the Pacific\\nNorthwest region of North America, some blackberry species, particularly Rubus armeniacus\\n(syn. R. procerus, 'Himalaya') and Rubus laciniatus ('Evergreen') are naturalised and\\nconsidered an invasive species and a serious weed.[1]\\nAs there is forensic evidence from the Iron Age Haraldskær Woman that she consumed\\nblackberries some 2500 years ago, it is reasonable to conclude that blackberries have been\\neaten by humans over thousands of years.\\n[edit] Diseases and pests\\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\\nThe spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii is a serious pest of blackberries. Unlike\\nits vinegar fly relatives which are primarily attracted to rotting or fermented fruit, D.\\nsuzukii attacks fresh, ripe fruit by laying eggs under the soft skin. The larvae hatch and\\ngrow in the fruit, destroying the fruit's commercial value.\\n[edit] Commercial cultivars\\nNumerous cultivars have been selected for commercial and amateur cultivation in Europe[1]\\nand United States.[8] Since the many species form hybrids easily, there are numerous\\ncultivars with more than one species in their ancestry.\\n'Marion' (marketed as \\\"marionberry\\\") is an important cultivar that was selected from\\nseedlings from a cross between 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' (commonly called \\\"olallieberry\\\")\\nberries.[9] It is claimed to \\\"capture the best attributes of both berries and yields an\\naromatic bouquet and an intense blackberry flavor\\\". The marionberry was introduced by\\nGeorge F. Waldo of the USDA-ARS in Corvallis, Oregon in 1956. Adapted to Western Oregon,\\nthe marionberry is named after Marion County, Oregon, in which it was tested extensively.\\n'Olallie' in turn is a cross between loganberry and youngberry. 'Marion', 'Chehalem' and\\n'Olallie' are just three of many trailing blackberry cultivars developed by the United\\nStates Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) blackberry\\nbreeding program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.\\nThe most recent cultivars released from this program are the thornless cultivars 'Black\\nDiamond', 'Black Pearl' and 'Nightfall' as well as the very early ripening 'Obsidian' and\\n'Metolius'. 'Black Diamond' is now the leading cultivar being planted in the Pacific\\nNorthwest. Some of the other cultivars from this program are 'Waldo', 'Siskiyou', 'Black\\nButte', 'Kotata', 'Pacific' and 'Cascade'.[10]\\nTrailing blackberries are vigorous, crown forming, require a trellis for support, and are\\nless cold hardy than the erect or semi-erect blackberries. In addition to the U.S. Pacific\\nNorthwest, these types do well in similar climates such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand,\\nChile, and the Mediterranean countries.\\nSemi-erect, thornless blackberries were first developed at the John Innes Centre in\\nNorwich, UK, and subsequently by the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, Maryland. These are crown\\nforming, very vigorous, and need a trellis for support. Cultivars include 'Black Satin'\\n'Chester Thornless', 'Dirksen Thornless', 'Hull Thornless', 'Loch Ness', 'Loch Tay',\\n'Merton Thornless', 'Smoothstem' and 'Triple Crown'. Recently, the cultivar 'Cacanska\\nBestrna' (also called 'Cacak Thornless') has been developed in Serbia and has been planted\\non many thousands of hectares there.\\nThe University of Arkansas has developed cultivars of erect blackberries. These types are\\nless vigorous than the semi-erect types and produce new canes from root initials (therefore\\nthey spread underground like raspberries). There are thornless and thorny cultivars from\\nthis program, including 'Navaho', 'Ouachita', 'Cherokee', 'Apache', 'Arapaho' and 'Kiowa'.\\nThey are also responsible for developing the primocane fruiting blackberries such as\\n'Prime-Jan' and 'Prime-Jim'.\\nIn raspberries, these types are called primocane fruiting, fall fruiting, or everbearing.\\n'Prime-Jim' and 'Prime-Jan' were released in 2004 and are the first cultivars of primocane\\nfruiting blackberry.[citation needed] They grow much like the other erect cultivars\\ndescribed above, however the canes that emerge in the spring, will flower in mid-summer and\\nfruit in late summer or fall. The fall crop has its highest quality when it ripens in cool\\nmild climate such as in California or the Pacific Northwest.[citation needed]\\n'Illini Hardy' a semi-erect thorny cultivar introduced by the University of Illinois is\\ncane hardy in zone 5, where traditionally blackberry production has been problematic, since\\ncanes often failed to survive the winter.\\nThe blackberry tends to be red during its unripe (\\\"green\\\") phase, leading to an old\\nexpression that \\\"blackberries are red when they're green\\\".\\nIn various parts of the United States, wild blackberries are sometimes called \\\"Black-caps\\\",\\na term more commonly used for black raspberries, Rubus occidentalis.\\nBlackberry production in Mexico has expanded enormously in the past decade. While once\\nbased on the cultivar 'Brazos', an old erect blackberry cultivar developed in Texas in\\n1959, the Mexican industry is now dominated by the Brazilian 'Tupy' released in the 1990s.\\n'Tupy' has the erect blackberry 'Comanche' and a \\\"wild Uruguayan blackberry\\\" as\\nparents.[11] Since there are no native blackberries in Uruguay, the suspicion is that the\\nwidely grown 'Boysenberry' is the male parent. In order to produce these blackberries in\\nregions of Mexico where there is no winter chilling to stimulate flower bud development,\\nchemical defoliation and application of growth regulators are used to bring the plants into\\nbloom.\\n[edit] Nutrients and antioxidant qualities\\nBlackberries are notable for their high nutritional contents of dietary fiber, vitamin C,\\nvitamin K, folic acid - a B vitamin, and the essential mineral, manganese (table).\\nNutrients in raw blackberries[12] Nutrient Value per 100 grams % Daily Value\\nEnergy 43 kcal \\nFiber, total dietary 5.3 g 21%\\nSugars, total 4.9 g \\nCalcium, Ca 29 mg 3%\\nMagnesium, Mg 20 mg 5%\\nManganese, Mn 0.6 mg 32%\\nCopper, Cu 0.2 mg 8%\\nPotassium, K 162 mg 5%\\nSodium, Na 1 mg 0%\\nVitamin C, total ascorbic acid 21 mg 35%\\nVitamin A, IU 214 IU 4%\\nVitamin K, µg 20 µg 25%\\nFolic acid, µg 36 µg 9%\\nCarotene, beta 128 µg ne\\nLutein + zeaxanthin 118 µg ne\\nne: Daily Value not established\\nBlackberries rank highly among fruits for antioxidant strength, particularly due to their\\ndense contents of polyphenolic compounds, such as ellagic acid, tannins, ellagitannins,\\nquercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins and cyanidins.[13][14]\\nBlackberries have an ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of 5347 per 100 grams,\\nincluding them among the top-ranked ORAC fruits. Another report using a different assay for\\nassessing antioxidant strength placed blackberry at the top of more than 1000 antioxidant\\nfoods consumed in the United States.[15]\\n[edit] Nutrient content of seeds\\nBlackberries are exceptional among other Rubus berries for their numerous, large seeds not\\nalways preferred by consumers. They contain rich amounts of omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid)\\nand -6 fats (linoleic acid), protein, dietary fiber, carotenoids, ellagitannins and ellagic\\nacid.\\n \\nBeach Plum\\nPrunus maritima (Beach Plum) is a species of plum native to the Atlantic coast of North\\nAmerica, from Maine south to Maryland.[1][2] Although sometimes listed as extending to New\\nBrunswick, the species is not known from collections there, and does not appear in the most\\nauthoritative works on the flora of that Canadian province.[3]\\nIt is a deciduous shrub, in its natural sand dune habitat growing 1-2 m high, although it\\ncan grow larger, up to 4 m tall, when cultivated in gardens. The leaves are alternate,\\nelliptical, 3-7 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a sharply serrated margin. They are colored\\ngreen on top and pale below, becoming showy in the autumn. The flowers are 1-1.5 cm\\ndiameter, with five white petals and large yellow anthers. The fruit is an edible drupe\\n1.5-2 cm diameter in the wild plant.[4][5]\\nA plant with rounded leaves, of which only a single specimen has ever been found in the\\nwild, has been described as Prunus maritima var. gravesii (Small) G.J.Anderson,[6] though\\nits taxonomic status is questionable, and it may be better considered a cultivar Prunus\\nmaritima 'Gravesii'.[7] The original plant, found in Connecticut, died in about 2000, but\\nit is maintained in cultivation from rooted cuttings.[6]\\nThe plant is salt-tolerant and cold-hardy. It prefers the full sun and well-drained soil.\\nIt spreads roots by putting out suckers but in coarse soil puts down a tap root. In dunes\\nit is often partly buried in drifting sand. It blooms in mid-May and June. The fruit ripens\\nin August and early September.\\nThe species is endangered in Maine, where it is in serious decline due to commercial\\ndevelopment of its beach habitats.[4]\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nThe species is grown commercially for its fruit to a small extent, used to make jam.[8] It\\ncan be eaten out of hand and usually is a sweet snack although it is much smaller in size\\nwhen compared to the longer cultivated Asian varieties found in the supermarket. A number\\nof cultivars have been selected for larger and better flavored fruit, including 'Eastham',\\n'Oceanview', 'Hancock' and 'Squibnocket'\\n \\nPEACH AND NECTARINE\\nThe peach tree (Prunus persica) is a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible\\njuicy fruit called a peach. It is a deciduous tree growing to 4–10 m (13–33 ft) tall,\\nbelonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It is classified with the\\nalmond in the subgenus Amygdalus within the genus Prunus, distinguished from the other\\nsubgenera by the corrugated seed shell.\\nThe leaves are lanceolate, 7–16 cm (2.8–6.3 in) long, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) broad, pinnately\\nveined. The flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or\\npaired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals. The fruit has yellow or whitish flesh, a\\ndelicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in\\ndifferent cultivars. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but\\nis fairly firm in some commercial varieties, especially when green. The single, large seed\\nis red-brown, oval shaped, approximately 1.3–2 cm long, and is surrounded by a wood-like\\nhusk. Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes).\\nThe scientific name persica, along with the word \\\"peach\\\" itself and its cognates in many\\nEuropean languages, derives from an early European belief that peaches were native to\\nPersia (now Iran). The modern botanical consensus is that they originate in China, and were\\nintroduced to Persia and the Mediterranean region along the Silk Road before Christian\\ntimes.[1] Cultivated peaches are divided into clingstones and freestones, depending on\\nwhether the flesh sticks to the stone or not; both can have either white or yellow flesh.\\nPeaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little acidity, while yellow-fleshed\\npeaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies\\ngreatly. Both colours often have some red on their skin. Low-acid white-fleshed peaches are\\nthe most popular kinds in China, Japan, and neighbouring Asian countries, while Europeans\\nand North Americans have historically favoured the acidic, yellow-fleshed kinds.\\nContents\\nAlthough its botanical name Prunus persica suggests the peach is native to Persia, peaches\\nactually originated in China where they have been cultivated since the early days of\\nChinese culture. Peaches were mentioned in Chinese writings as far back as the 10th century\\nBC and were a favoured fruit of kings and emperors. Recently, the history of cultivation of\\npeaches in China has been extensively reviewed citing numerous original manuscripts dating\\nback to 1100 BC.[2]\\nIts English name derives originally from the Latin Prunus persica, then persica, then\\npessica, then pesca, then the French pêche, then peach in Middle English.[citation needed]\\nThe peach was brought to India and Western Asia in ancient times.[3] Alexander the Great\\nintroduced the fruit into Europe after he conquered the Persians.[3] Then it was brought to\\nthe Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and eventually made it to England and\\nFrance in the 17th century, where it was a prized, albeit rare, treat.[citation needed]\\nThe horticulturist George Minifie supposedly brought the first peaches from England to its\\nNorth American colonies in the early 17th century, planting them at his Estate of Buckland\\nin Virginia.[4]\\nVarious American Indian tribes are credited with spreading the peach tree across the United\\nStates, taking seeds along with them and planting as they roved the country.\\nAlthough Thomas Jefferson had peach trees at Monticello, United States farmers did not\\nbegin commercial production until the 19th century in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia and\\nfinally Virginia. California today grows 65% of peaches grown for commercial production in\\nthe United States,[5] but the states of Colorado, Michigan, and Washington also grow a\\nsignificant amount. Italy, China, India and Greece are major producers of peaches outside\\nof the United States.\\nIn 2010, a team of researchers at Clemson University, USA, announced they had sequenced the\\npeach tree genome (doubled haploid Lovell).[6][7]\\n[edit] Cultivation\\nWorldwide peach and nectarine output in 2005. The major producer, China, is in green;\\nsmaller producers are in yellow; the smallest producers are in red.\\nPeach plants grow very well in a fairly limited range, since they have a chilling\\nrequirement that tropical areas cannot satisfy, and they are not very cold-hardy. The trees\\nthemselves can usually tolerate temperatures to around -26 to -30 °C (-15 to -22 °F),\\nalthough the following season's flower buds are usually killed at these temperatures,\\nleading to no crop that summer. Flower bud kill begins to occur between -15 and -25 °C (5\\nand -13 °F) depending on the cultivar (some are more cold-tolerant than others) and the\\ntiming of the cold, with the buds becoming less cold tolerant in late winter.[8] Certain\\ncultivars are more tender and others can tolerate a few degrees colder. In addition, a lot\\nof summer heat is required to mature the crop, with mean temperatures of the hottest month\\nbetween 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F). Another problematic issue in many peach-growing areas\\nis spring frost. The trees tend to flower fairly early in spring. The blooms often can be\\ndamaged or killed by freezes; typically, if temperatures drop below about −4 °C (24.8 °F),\\nmost flowers will be killed. However, if the flowers are not fully open, they can tolerate\\na couple of degrees colder.[citation needed]\\nImportant historical peach-producing areas are China, Iran, France, and the Mediterranean\\ncountries like Italy, Spain and Greece. More recently, the United States (where the three\\nlargest-producing states are California, South Carolina,[9] and Georgia[10]), Canada\\n(British Columbia), and Australia (the Riverland region) have also become important; peach\\ngrowing in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, Canada, was formerly intensive but slowed\\nsubstantially in 2008 when the last fruit cannery in Canada was closed by the\\nproprietors.[11] Oceanic climate areas like the Pacific Northwest and coastline of North\\nWestern Europe are generally not satisfactory for peach-growing due to inadequate summer\\nheat, though they are sometimes grown trained against south-facing walls to catch extra\\nheat from the sun. Trees grown in a sheltered and south-facing position in the southeast of\\nEngland are capable of producing both flowers and a large crop of fruit. In Vietnam, the\\nmost famous variety of peach fruit product is grown in Mẫu Sơn commune, Lộc Bình district,\\nLạng Sơn province.\\nFor home gardeners, semi-dwarf (3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13 ft)) and dwarf (2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to\\n9 ft 10 in)) varieties have been developed by grafting desirable cultivars onto dwarfing\\nrootstock. Fruit size is not affected. Another mutation is flowering peaches, selected for\\nornamental display rather than fruit production.\\nDepending on climate and cultivar, peach harvest can occur from late May into August;\\nharvest from each tree lasts about a week.\\n[edit] Nectarines\\nWhite nectarines, whole and cut open\\nThe nectarine is a cultivar group of peach that has a smooth skin. Though fuzzy peaches and\\nnectarines are regarded commercially as different fruits, with nectarines often erroneously\\nbelieved to be a crossbreed between peaches and plums, or a \\\"peach with a plum skin\\\", they\\nbelong to the same species as peaches. Several genetic studies have concluded in fact that\\nnectarines are created due to a recessive gene, whereas a fuzzy peach skin is dominant.[12]\\nNectarines have arisen many times from peach trees, often as bud sports.\\nAs with peaches, nectarines can be white or yellow, and clingstone or freestone. On\\naverage, nectarines are slightly smaller and sweeter than peaches, but with much\\noverlap.[12] The lack of skin fuzz can make nectarine skins appear more reddish than those\\nof peaches, contributing to the fruit's plum-like appearance. The lack of down on\\nnectarines' skin also means their skin is more easily bruised than peaches.\\nThe history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention in English is from\\n1616,[13] but they had probably been grown much earlier within the native range of the\\npeach in central and eastern Asia. Nectarines were introduced into the United States by\\nDavid Fairchild of the Department of Agriculture in 1906.[14]\\n[edit] Diseases\\nMain article: List of peach and nectarine diseases\\nThe trees are prone to a disease called leaf curl, which usually does not directly affect\\nthe fruit but does reduce the crop yield by partially defoliating the tree. The fruit is\\nvery susceptible to brown rot, or a dark reddish spot.\\n[edit] Planting\\nThe developmental sequence of a nectarine over a 7 1⁄2-month period, from bud formation in\\nearly winter to fruit ripening in midsummer (see image page for further information)\\nMost peach trees sold by nurseries are named cultivars budded or grafted onto a suitable\\nrootstock. It is also possible to grow a tree from either a peach or nectarine seed, but\\nthe fruit quality of the resulting tree will be very unpredictable.\\nPeaches should be located in full sun, and with good air flow. This allows cold air to flow\\naway on frosty nights and keeps the area cool in summer. Peaches are best planted in early\\nwinter, as this allows time for the roots to establish and to sustain the new spring\\ngrowth. When planting in rows, plant north–south.\\nFor optimum growth, peach trees require a constant supply of water. This should be\\nincreased shortly before the harvest. The best tasting fruit is produced when the peach is\\nwatered throughout the season. Drip irrigation is ideal, with at least one dripper per\\ntree. Although it is better to use multiple drippers around the tree, this is not\\nnecessary. A quarter of the root being watered is sufficient.\\nPeaches have a high nutrient requirement, needing more nitrogen than most other fruit\\ntrees. An NPK fertilizer can be applied regularly, and an additional mulch of poultry\\nmanure in autumn soon after the harvest will benefit the tree. If the leaves of the peach\\nare yellow or small, the tree needs more nitrogen. Blood meal and bone meal, 3–5 kilograms\\n(6.6–11 lb) per mature tree, or calcium ammonium nitrate, 0.5–1 kilogram (1.1–2.2 lb), are\\nsuitable fertilizers. This also applies if the tree is putting forth little growth.\\nIf the full amount of peaches is left, they will be under-sized and lacking in sugar and\\nflavour. In dry conditions, extra watering is important. The fruit should be thinned when\\nthey have reached 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in diameter, usually about two months after\\nflowering. Fresh fruit are best consumed on the day of picking, and do not keep well. They\\nare best eaten when the fruit is slightly soft, having aroma, and heated by the sun.\\n[edit] Storage\\nPeaches should be stored at room temperature and refrigeration should be avoided as this\\ncan lessen the taste of the peach. Peaches do not ripen after being picked from the tree,\\nso storing for ripening is not necessary.[15]\\n[edit] Asian tradition\\n This section contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see\\nquestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.\\nThe Chinese flat peach, also called Paraguaya (Paraguayan)\\nPeaches are known in China, Japan, Korea, Laos, and Vietnam not only as a popular fruit but\\nfor the many folk tales and traditions associated with it.\\nIn China, the peach （Chinese: 桃; pinyin: táo) was said to be consumed by the immortals due\\nto its mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. The divinity Yu Huang,\\nalso called the Jade Emperor, and his mother Xi Wangmu, also known as Queen Mother of the\\nWest, ensured the gods' everlasting existence by feeding them the peaches of immortality.\\nThe immortals residing in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant\\nbanquet called the Pantao Hui or \\\"The Feast of Peaches\\\". The immortals waited six thousand\\nyears before gathering for this magnificent feast; the peach tree put forth leaves once\\nevery thousand years and it required another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen.\\nIvory statues depicting Xi Wangmu's attendants often held three peaches.\\nA Chinese Song Dynasty painting of a bird and peach blossom, by Emperor Huizong of Song,\\n11th century. The bird resembles and is most likely a type of pigeon. A favourite of many\\npigeons are leaves of the plum family (which includes peaches etc).\\n. The peach often plays an important part in Chinese tradition and is symbolic of long\\nlife. One example is in the peach-gathering story of Zhang Daoling, who some say is the\\ntrue founder of Taoism. Elder Zhang Guo, one of the Chinese Eight Immortals, is often\\ndepicted carrying a Peach of Immortality. Peach blossoms are highly prized in Chinese\\nculture and because they appear before a single leaf has sprouted, the ancient Chinese\\nbelieved the peach to possess more vitality than any other tree. When early rulers of China\\nvisited their territories they were preceded by sorcerers armed with peach rods to protect\\nthem from spectral evils. On the last day of the year local magistrates would cut peach\\nwood branches and place them over their doors to protect against evil influences.[16] Peach\\nkernels (桃仁 táo rén) are a common ingredient used in Traditional Chinese medicine to dispel\\nblood stasis, counter inflammation and reduce allergies.[17]\\nIt was in an orchard of flowering peach trees that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took an\\noath of brotherhood in the opening chapter of the classic Chinese novel Romance of the\\nThree Kingdoms.\\nMomotaro, one of Japan's most noble and semi-historical heroes, was born from within an\\nenormous peach floating down a stream. Momotaro or \\\"Peach Boy\\\" went on to fight evil oni\\nand face many adventures.\\nIn Korea, peaches have been cultivated from ancient times. According to Samguk Sagi, peach\\ntrees were planted during the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, and Sallim gyeongje also\\nmentions cultivation skills of peach trees. Peach is seen as the fruit of happiness,\\nriches, honours and longevity. It is one of the ten immortal plants and animals, so peach\\nappears in many minhwa (folk painting). It is believed that peach and peach trees chase\\naway spirits, so peach is not placed on the table for jesa (ancestor veneration) unlike\\nother fruits.[18][19]\\nA Vietnamese mythic history states that, in the spring of 1789, after marching to Ngọc Hồi\\nand then winning a great victory against invaders from the Qing Dynasty of China, the King\\nQuang Trung ordered a messenger to gallop to Phú Xuân citadel (Huế nowadays) and deliver a\\nflowering peach branch to the Princess Ngọc Hân. This took place on the fifth day of the\\nfirst lunar month, two days before the predicted end of the battle. The branch of peach\\nflowers that was sent from the North to the Centre of Vietnam was not only a message of\\nvictory from the King to his wife, but also the start of a new spring of peace and\\nhappiness for all the Vietnamese people. In addition to that, since the land of Nhật Tân\\nhad freely given that very branch of peach flowers to the King, it became the loyal garden\\nof his dynasty.\\nA peach tree is also the context in which Kim Trọng and Thuý Kiều fell in love in The Tale\\nof Kieu. And in Vietnam, the blossoming peach flower is the signal of spring. Finally,\\npeach bonsai trees are used as decoration during Vietnamese New Year (Tết) in Northern\\nVietnam.\\n[edit] Nutrition and health\\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\\nA medium peach 75 g (2.6 oz), has 30 Cal, 7 g of carbohydrate (6 g sugars and 1 g fibre), 1\\ng of protein, 140 mg of potassium, and 8% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin C.[20]\\nAs with many other members of the rose family, peach seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides,\\nincluding amygdalin (note the subgenus designation: Amygdalus). These substances are\\ncapable of decomposing into a sugar molecule and hydrogen cyanide gas. While peach seeds\\nare not the most toxic within the rose family, that dubious honour going to the bitter\\nalmond, large doses of these chemicals from any source are hazardous to human health.\\nPeach allergy or intolerance is a relatively common form of hypersensitivity to proteins\\ncontained in peaches and related fruit (almonds). Symptoms range from local symptoms (e.g.\\noral allergy syndrome, contact urticaria) to systemic symptoms including anaphylaxis (e.g.\\nurticaria, angioedema, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms).[21] Adverse reactions\\nare related to the \\\"freshness\\\" of the fruit: peeled or canned fruit may be tolerated.\\n \\nApples\\nThe apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose\\nfamily (Rosaceae). It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely\\nknown of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans.\\nThe tree originated in Western Asia, where its wild ancestor, the Alma, is still found\\ntoday. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting in a range of desired\\ncharacteristics. Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when\\ngrown on the same rootstock.[2]\\nAt least 55 million tonnes of apples were grown worldwide in 2005, with a value of about\\n$10 billion. China produced about 35% of this total.[3] The United States is the\\nsecond-leading producer, with more than 7.5% of world production. Iran is third, followed\\nby Turkey, Russia, Italy and India.\\nIn the wild, apples grow quite readily from seeds. However, like most perennial fruits,\\napples are ordinarily propagated asexually by grafting. This is because seedling apples are\\nan example of \\\"extreme heterozygotes\\\", in that rather than inheriting DNA from their\\nparents to create a new apple with those characteristics, they are instead different from\\ntheir parents, sometimes radically.[28] Triploids have an additional reproductive barrier\\nin that the 3 sets of chromosomes cannot be divided evenly during meiosis, yielding unequal\\nsegregation of the chromosomes (aneuploids). Even in the very unusual case when a triploid\\nplant can produce a seed (apples are an example), it happens infrequently, and seedlings\\nrarely survive.[29] Most new apple cultivars originate as seedlings, which either arise by\\nchance or are bred by deliberately crossing cultivars with promising characteristics.[30]\\nThe words 'seedling', 'pippin', and 'kernel' in the name of an apple cultivar suggest that\\nit originated as a seedling. Apples can also form bud sports (mutations on a single\\nbranch). Some bud sports turn out to be improved strains of the parent cultivar. Some\\ndiffer sufficiently from the parent tree to be considered new cultivars.[31]\\nBreeders can produce more rigid apples through crossing.[32] For example, the Excelsior\\nExperiment Station of the University of Minnesota has, since the 1930s, introduced a steady\\nprogression of important hardy apples that are widely grown, both commercially and by\\nbackyard orchardists, throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its most important introductions\\nhave included 'Haralson' (which is the most widely cultivated apple in Minnesota),\\n'Wealthy', 'Honeygold', and 'Honeycrisp'.\\nApples have been acclimatized in Ecuador at very high altitudes, where they provide crops\\ntwice per year because of constant temperate conditions in a whole year.[33]\\nApple rootstocks\\nRootstocks used to control tree size have been used in apple cultivation for over 2,000\\nyears. Dwarfing rootstocks were probably discovered by chance in Asia. Alexander the Great\\nsent samples of dwarf apple trees back to his teacher, Aristotle, in Greece. They were\\nmaintained at the Lyceum, a center of learning in Greece.\\nMost modern apple rootstocks were bred in the 20th century. Much research into the existing\\nrootstocks was begun at the East Malling Research Station in Kent, England. Following that\\nresearch, Malling worked with the John Innes Institute and Long Ashton to produce a series\\nof different rootstocks with disease resistance and a range of different sizes, which have\\nbeen used all over the world.\\nPollination\\nSee also: Fruit tree pollination\\nApple tree in flower\\nOrchard mason bee on apple bloom, British Columbia, Canada\\nApples are self-incompatible; they must cross-pollinate to develop fruit. During the\\nflowering each season, apple growers usually provide pollinators to carry the pollen. Honey\\nbees are most commonly used. Orchard mason bees are also used as supplemental pollinators\\nin commercial orchards. Bumblebee queens are sometimes present in orchards, but not usually\\nin enough quantity to be significant pollinators.[31]\\nThere are four to seven pollination groups in apples, depending on climate:\\n * Group A – Early flowering, May 1 to 3 in England (Gravenstein, Red Astrachan)\\n * Group B – May 4 to 7 (Idared, McIntosh)\\n * Group C – Mid-season flowering, May 8 to 11 (Granny Smith, Cox's Orange Pippin)\\n * Group D – Mid/late season flowering, May 12 to 15 (Golden Delicious, Calville blanc\\nd'hiver)\\n * Group E – Late flowering, May 16 to 18 (Braeburn, Reinette d'Orléans)\\n * Group F – May 19 to 23 (Suntan)\\n * Group H – May 24 to 28 (Court-Pendu Gris) (also called Court-Pendu plat)\\nOne cultivar can be pollinated by a compatible cultivar from the same group or close (A\\nwith A, or A with B, but not A with C or D).[34]\\nVarieties are sometimes classed as to the day of peak bloom in the average 30 day blossom\\nperiod, with pollinizers selected from varieties within a 6 day overlap period.\\nMaturation and harvest\\nSee also: Fruit picking and Fruit tree pruning\\nCultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the\\nsame rootstock. Some cultivars, if left unpruned, will grow very large, which allows them\\nto bear much more fruit, but makes harvesting very difficult. Mature trees typically bear\\n40–200 kilograms (88–440 lb) of apples each year, though productivity can be close to zero\\nin poor years. Apples are harvested using three-point ladders that are designed to fit\\namongst the branches. Dwarf trees will bear about 10–80 kilograms (22–180 lb) of fruit per\\nyear.[31]\\nCommercially, apples can be stored for some months in controlled-atmosphere chambers to\\ndelay ethylene-induced onset of ripening. The apples are commonly stored in chambers with\\nhigher concentrations of carbon dioxide with high air filtration. This prevents ethylene\\nconcentrations from rising to higher amounts and preventing ripening from moving too\\nquickly. Ripening continues when the fruit is removed.[35] For home storage, most varieties\\nof apple can be held for approximately two weeks when kept at the coolest part of the\\nrefrigerator (i.e. below 5°C). Some types, including the Granny Smith and Fuji, have a\\nlonger shelf life.[36]\\nLeaves with significant insect damage\\nMain article: List of apple diseases\\nSee also: List of Lepidoptera that feed on apple trees\\nThe trees are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial diseases and insect pests.\\nMany commercial orchards pursue an aggressive program of chemical sprays to maintain high\\nfruit quality, tree health, and high yields. A trend in orchard management is the use of\\norganic methods. These use a less aggressive and direct methods of conventional farming.\\nInstead of spraying potent chemicals, often shown to be potentially dangerous and\\nmaleficent to the tree in the long run, organic methods include encouraging or discouraging\\ncertain cycles and pests. To control a specific pest, organic growers might encourage the\\nprosperity of its natural predator instead of outright killing it, and with it the natural\\nbiochemistry around the tree. Organic apples generally have the same or greater taste than\\nconventionally grown apples, with reduced cosmetic appearances.[37]\\nA wide range of pests and diseases can affect the plant; three of the more common\\ndiseases/pests are mildew, aphids and apple scab.\\n * Mildew: which is characterized by light grey powdery patches appearing on the leaves,\\nshoots and flowers, normally in spring. The flowers will turn a creamy yellow colour and\\nwill not develop correctly. This can be treated in a manner not dissimilar from treating\\nBotrytis; eliminating the conditions which caused the disease in the first place and\\nburning the infected plants are among the recommended actions to take.[38][38]\\nFeeding aphids\\n * Aphids: There are five species of aphids commonly found on apples: apple grain aphid,\\nrosy apple aphid, apple aphid, spirea aphid and the woolly apple aphid. The aphid species\\ncan be identified by their colour, the time of year when they are present and by\\ndifferences in the cornicles, which are small paired projections from the rear of\\naphids.[38] Aphids feed on foliage using needle-like mouth parts to suck out plant juices.\\nWhen present in high numbers, certain species reduce tree growth and vigor.[39]\\n * Apple scab: Symptoms of scab are olive-green or brown blotches on the leaves.[40] The\\nblotches turn more brown as time progresses, then brown scabs form on the fruit.[38] The\\ndiseased leaves will fall early and the fruit will become increasingly covered in scabs -\\neventually the fruit skin will crack. Although there are chemicals to treat scab, their use\\nmight not be encouraged as they are quite often systematic, which means they are absorbed\\nby the tree, and spread throughout the fruit.[40]\\nAmong the most serious disease problems are fireblight, a bacterial disease; and\\nGymnosporangium rust, and black spot, two fungal diseases.[39]\\nYoung apple trees are also prone to mammal pests like mice and deer, which feed on the soft\\nbark of the trees, especially in winter.\\n \\nCeltis occidentalis, commonly known as the Common hackberry, is a medium-size deciduous\\ntree native to North America. It is also known as the nettletree, beaverwood, northern\\nhackberry, and American hackberry.[1] It is a moderately long-lived[1] hardwood[1] with a\\nlight-colored wood, yellowish gray to light brown with yellow streaks.[2]\\nThe Common Hackberry is easily distinguished from elms and some other hackberries by its\\ncork-like bark with wart-like protuberances. The leaves are distinctly asymmetrical and\\ncoarse-textured. It produces small berries that turn orange-red to dark purple in the\\nAutumn, often staying on the trees for several months. The Common Hackberry is easily\\nconfused with the sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) and is most easily distinguished by range\\nand habitat. The Common Hackberry also has wider leaves that are coarser above than the\\nsugarberry.\\n[edit] Description\\nBark\\nUsually the Common Hackberry forms a medium sized tree, thirty to fifty feet in height,[1]\\nwith a slender trunk; however, it can rise to the height of one hundred and thirty feet, in\\nthe best conditions in the southern Mississippi valley area. In the middle states of its\\nrange it seldom attains a height of more than sixty feet, and has a handsome round-topped\\nhead and pendulous branches. It prefers rich moist soil, but will grow on gravelly or rocky\\nhillsides. The roots are fibrous and it grows rapidly.[3] In the western part of its range\\nwith less rainfall and poorer soils it normally averages about thirty feet in height, but\\nat least one specimen was found at ninety five feet.[1] The maximum age attained by\\nhackberry is probably between 150 and 200 years in ideal conditions.[1]\\nThe bark is light brown or silvery gray, broken on the surface into thick appressed scales\\nand sometimes roughened with excrescenses; pattern is very distinctive. The branchlets are\\nslender, light green at first, finally red brown, at length become dark brown tinged with\\nred. The winter buds are axillary, ovate, acute, somewhat flattened, one-fourth of an inch\\nlong, light brown. Scales enlarge with the growing shoot, the innermost becoming stipules.\\nNo terminal bud is formed. The leaves are alternately arranged on stems, ovate to\\novate-lanceolate, more or less falcate, two and a half to four inches (102 mm) long, one to\\ntwo inches wide, very oblique at the base, serrate, except at the base which is mostly\\nentire, acute. Three-nerved, midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud\\nconduplicate with slightly involute margins, pale yellow green, downy; when full grown are\\nthin, bright green, rough above, paler green beneath. In autumn they turn to a light\\nyellow. Petioles slender, slightly grooved, hairy. Stipules varying in form, caducous.\\nLeaf\\nThe flowers appear in May, soon after the leaves. Polygamo-monœ cious, greenish. Of three\\nkinds—staminate, pistillate, perfect; born on slender drooping pedicels. The calyx is light\\nyellow green, five-lobed, divided nearly to the base; lobes linear, acute, more or less cut\\nat the apex, often tipped with hairs, imbricate in bud.\\n * Corolla: Wanting.\\nThere are five stamens, which are hypogynous; the filaments are white, smooth, slightly\\nflattened and gradually narrowed from base to apex; in the bud incurved, bringing the\\nanthers face to face, as flower opens they abruptly straighten; anthers extrorse, oblong,\\ntwo-celled; cells opening longitudinally.\\n * Pistil: ovary superior, one-celled; style two-lobed; ovules solitary.\\n * Fruit: Fleshy drupe, oblong, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, tipped with\\nremnants of style, dark purple. Borne on a slender stem; ripens in September and October.\\nRemains on branches during winter.[3]\\n[edit] Distribution and habitat\\nThe Common Hackberry is native to North America from southern Ontario and Quebec, through\\nparts of New England, south to North Carolina-(Appalachia), west to northern Oklahoma, and\\nnorth to South Dakota. Hackberry's range overlaps with the sugarberry (Celtis laevigata),\\nmaking it difficult to establish the exact range of either species in the South. Although\\nthere is little actual overlap, in the western part of its range the Common Hackberry is\\nsometimes confused with the smaller Netleaf Hackberry (Celtis reticulata), which has a\\nsimilar bark. Hackberry grows in many different habitats, although it prefers bottomlands\\nand soils high in limestone. Its shade tolerance is greatly dependent on conditions. In\\nfavorable conditions its seedlings will persist under a closed canopy, but in less\\nfavorable conditions it can be considered shade intolerant.\\n[edit] Ecology\\nFruits\\nHackberry is highly susceptible to fire damage. The leaves are eaten by four gall-producing\\ninsects of the Pachypsylla genus, which do not cause serious damage to the tree. A number\\nof insects and fungi cause rapid decay of dead branches or roots of the tree.\\nThe small berries, hackberries, are eaten by a number of birds and mammals. Most seeds are\\ndispersed by animals, but some seeds are also dispersed by water.\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nThe wood is light yellow; heavy, soft, coarse-grained, not strong. Used for fencing and\\ncheap furniture. Sp. gr., 0.7287; weight of cu. ft., 45.41 lb (20.60 kg).\\nHackberry's wood is soft and rots easily, making the wood undesirable commercially,\\nalthough it is occasionally used for furniture or other uses. The berries, although edible,\\nare small and out of reach, and are seldom eaten by humans. Hackberry is only occasionally\\nused as a street or landscape tree, although its tolerance for urban conditions make it\\nwell suited to this role. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is known for the extensive\\nuse of Hackberry as a street tree.\\n \\nThe Eastern Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a species of flowering tree in the hickory\\nfamily, Juglandaceae, that is native to eastern North America. It grows mostly in riparian\\nzones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern\\nFlorida and southwest to central Texas. Isolated wild trees in the Upper Ottawa Valley may\\nbe an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.\\nThe black walnut is a large deciduous tree attaining heights of 30–40 metres (98–130 ft).\\nUnder forest competition it develops a tall, clear bole; the open-grown form has a short\\nbole and broad crown. The bark is grey-black and deeply furrowed. The pith of the twigs\\ncontains air spaces. The leaves are alternate, 30–60 cm long, odd-pinnate with 15–23\\nleaflets, the largest leaflets located in the center, 7–10 cm long and 2–3 cm broad. The\\nmale flowers are in drooping catkins 8–10 cm long, the female flowers terminal, in clusters\\nof two to five, ripening during the autumn into a fruit (nut) with a brownish-green,\\nsemi-fleshy husk and a brown corrugated nut. The whole fruit, including the husk, falls in\\nOctober; the seed is relatively small and very hard. The tree tends to crop more heavily in\\nalternate years.\\nWhile its primary native region is the midwest and east central United States, the black\\nwalnut was introduced into Europe in 1629. It is cultivated there and in North America as a\\nforest tree for its high quality wood. Nuts are produced more by open-grown trees. Black\\nwalnut is more resistant to frost than the Persian walnut (also known as the English\\nwalnut), but thrives best in the warmer regions of fertile, lowland soils with a high water\\ntable. It is a light-demanding species. The wood is used to make furniture, flooring, and\\nrifle stocks, and oil is pressed from the seeds. Nuts are harvested by hand from wild\\ntrees. About 65% of the annual wild harvest comes from the U.S. state of Missouri and the\\nlargest processing plant is in Stockton, Missouri.[citation needed] The black walnut\\nnutmeats are used as an ingredient in food while the hard black walnut shell is used\\ncommercially in abrasive cleaning, cosmetics, and oil well drilling and water filtration.\\nWhere the range of J. nigra overlaps that of the Texas black walnut J. microcarpa, the two\\nspecies sometimes interbreed, producing populations with characteristics intermediate\\nbetween the two species.[1]\\nContents\\nPercentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.\\nSource: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/cgi-bin/list_nut_edit.pl\\nIn addition to its use as a shade tree, J. nigra can be used for the fruits it produces,\\nand for lumber.\\nBlack walnut nuts are shelled commercially in the United States. The nutmeats provide a\\nrobust, distinctive, natural flavor and crunch as a food ingredient. Popular uses include\\nice cream, bakery goods and confections. Consumers include black walnuts in traditional\\ntreats, such as cakes, cookies, fudge, and pies during the fall holiday season. The nut’s\\nstrong nutritional profile leads to uses in other foods such as salads, fish, pork,\\nchicken, vegetables and pasta dishes.\\nNutritionally similar to the milder-tasting English walnut, the black walnut kernel is high\\nin unsaturated fat and protein. An analysis of nut oil from five named J. nigra cultivars\\n(Ogden, Sparrow, Baugh, Carter and Thomas) showed that the most prevalent fatty acid in J.\\nnigra oil is linoleic acid (27.80–33.34 g/100g dry kernel), followed (in the same units) by\\noleic acid (14.52–24.40), linolenic acid (1.61–3.23), palmitic acid (1.61–2.15), and\\nstearic acid (1.07–1.69).[2] The oil from the cultivar Carter had the highest mol percent\\nof linoleate (61.6), linolenate (5.97%), and palmitate (3.98%); the oil from the cultivar\\nBaugh had the highest mol percent of oleate (42.7%); the oil from the cultivar Ogden has\\nthe highest mol percent of stearate (2.98%).\\nTapped in spring, the tree yields a sweet sap that can be drunk or concentrated into syrup\\nor sugar.[1]\\n[edit] Nut processing by hand\\nA woman's hands after removing the husks from 500 black walnuts\\nThe extraction of the kernel from the fruit of the black walnut is difficult. The thick\\nhard shell is tightly bound by tall ridges to a thick husk. The husk is best removed when\\ngreen as the nuts taste better if it is removed then.[citation needed] Rolling the nut\\nunderfoot on a hard surface such as a driveway is a common method; commercial huskers use a\\ncar tire rotating against a metal mesh. Some take a thick plywood board and drill a nut\\nsized hole in it (from one to two inches in diameter) and smash the nut through using a\\nhammer. The nut goes through and the husk remains behind.\\nWhile the flavor of the Juglans nigra kernel is prized, the difficulty in preparing it may\\naccount for the wider popularity and availability of the Persian walnut.\\n[edit] Dye\\nBlack walnut drupes contain juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone), plumbagin (yellow\\nquinone pigments), and tannin.[3] The brownish-black dye was used by early settlers to dye\\nhair.[4] Extracts of the outer soft part of the drupe are still used as a natural dye for\\nhandicrafts.[5] The tannins present in walnuts act as a mordant aiding in the dyeing\\nprocess;[6][7] usable as a dark ink or wood stain.[8]\\n[edit] Wood\\nBlack walnut is highly prized for its dark-colored true heartwood. It is heavy and strong,\\nyet easily split and worked. Walnut wood has historically been used for gunstocks,\\nfurniture, flooring, paddles, coffins, and a variety of other woodworking products. Due to\\nits value, forestry officials often are called on to track down walnut poachers; in 2004,\\nDNA testing was used to solve one such poaching case, involving a 55 foot (16m) tree worth\\nUS $2500. Black walnut has a density per cubic meter of 660kg (41.2 lb/cubic foot),[9]\\nwhich makes it lighter than oak.\\n[edit] Pests\\nMaggots (larvae of Rhagoletis completa and Rhagoletis suavis) in the husk are common,\\nthough more a nuisance than a serious problem for amateurs, who may simply remove the\\naffected husk as soon as infestation is noticed. The maggots develop entirely within the\\nhusk and thus the quality of the nutmeat is not affected.[10] However, infestations of\\nPersian walnuts are undesirable because they make the husk difficult to remove and are\\nunsightly. Maggots can be serious for commercial walnut growers, who tend to use chemical\\ntreatments to prevent damage to the crop.[11] Some organic controls also exist, such as\\nremoving and disposing of infested nuts.[12]\\nThe walnut curculio (Conotrachelus retentus) grows to 5 mm long as an adult. The adult\\nsucks plant juices through a snout. The eggs are laid in fruits in the spring and summer.\\nMany nuts are lost due to damage from the larvae, which burrow through the nut shell.[13]\\nThe codling moth (Cydia pomonella) larva eats walnut kernels, as well as apple and pear\\nseeds.[14]\\nA disease complex known as Thousand cankers disease has been threatening black walnut in\\nseveral western states.[15] This disease has recently been discovered in Tennessee and\\ncould potentially have devastating effects on the species in the eastern United States.[16]\\n[edit] Toxicity\\nThe roots, nut husks, and leaves secrete a substance into the soil called juglone that is a\\nrespiratory inhibitor to some plants. A number of other plants (most notably white birch)\\nare also poisoned by juglone, and should not be planted in close proximity to a black\\nwalnut. Horses are susceptible to laminitis from exposure to black walnut wood in bedding.[\\n \\n(Borago officinalis), also known as a starflower, is an annual herb originating in\\nSyria,[1] but naturalized throughout the Mediterranean region, as well as Asia Minor,\\nEurope, North Africa, and South America. It grows to a height of 60–100 cm (2.0–3.3 ft),\\nand is bristly or hairy all over the stems and leaves; the leaves are alternate, simple,\\nand 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in) long. The flowers are complete, perfect with five narrow,\\ntriangular-pointed petals. Flowers are most often blue in color, although pink flowers are\\nsometimes observed. White flowered types are also cultivated. The flowers arise along\\nscorpiod cymes to form large floral displays with multiple flowers blooming simultaneously,\\nsuggesting that borage has a high degree of geitonogamy. It has an indeterminate growth\\nhabit which may lead to prolific spreading. In milder climates, borage will bloom\\ncontinuously for most of the year.\\nContents\\nTraditionally borage was cultivated for culinary and medicinal uses, although today\\ncommercial cultivation is mainly as an oilseed. The seed oil is desired as source of\\ngamma-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3, cis 6,9,12-octadecatrienoic acid), for which borage is the\\nhighest known plant-based source (17-28%).[2] The seed oil content is between 26-38% and in\\naddition to GLA contains the fatty acids palmitic acid (10-11%), stearic acid (3.5-4.5%),\\noleic acid (16-20%), linoleic acid (35-38%), eicosenoic acid (3.5-5.5%), erucic acid\\n(1.5-3.5%), and nervonic acid (1.5%). The oil is often marketed as \\\"starflower oil\\\" or\\n\\\"borage oil\\\" for uses as a GLA supplement, although healthy adults will typically produce\\nample GLA through dietary linoleic acid.\\nBorage production does include use as either a fresh vegetable or a dried herb. As a fresh\\nvegetable, borage, with a cucumber like taste, is often used in salads or as a garnish.[3]\\nThe flower, which contains the non-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid thesinine,[citation needed]\\nhas a sweet honey-like taste and as one of the few truly blue-colored edible\\nthings,[citation needed] is often used to decorate dessert.[3] It is notable that the\\nleaves have been found to contain small amounts (10 ppm of dried herb) of the liver-toxic\\npyrrolizidine alkaloids: intermedine, lycopsamine, amabiline and supinine.[citation needed]\\nVegetable use of borage is common in Germany, in the Spanish regions of Aragón and Navarra,\\nin the Greek island of Crete and in the Italian northern region Liguria. Although often\\nused in soups, one of the better known German borage recipes is the Green Sauce (Grüne\\nSoße) made in Frankfurt. In Italian Liguria, borage is commonly used as filling of the\\ntraditional pasta ravioli and pansoti. The leaves and flowers were originally used in Pimms\\nbefore it was replaced by mint. It is used to flavour pickled gherkins in Poland.[citation\\nneeded]\\nNaturopathic practitioners use borage for regulation of metabolism and the hormonal system,\\nand consider it to be a good remedy for PMS and menopause symptoms, such as the hot\\nflash.[citation needed] Borage is sometimes indicated to alleviate and heal colds,\\nbronchitis, and respiratory infections, and in general for its anti-inflammatory and\\nbalsamic properties.[citation needed] The flowers can be prepared in infusion to take\\nadvantage of its medicinal properties. The oleic and palmitic acid of borage may also\\nconfer a hypocholesterolemic effect.[citation needed]\\nBorage is also traditionally used as a garnish in the Pimms Cup cocktail,[3] but is often\\nreplaced by cucumber if not available.[citation needed]\\n[edit] Companion plant\\nBorage is used in companion planting.[4] It is said to protect or nurse legumes, spinach,\\nbrassicas, and even strawberries.[5] It is also said to be a good companion plant to\\ntomatoes because it confuses the search image of the mother moths of tomato hornworms or\\nmanduca looking for a place to lay their eggs.[6] Claims that it improves tomato growth [7]\\nand makes them taste better [8] remain unsubstantiated.\\n \\nHoneysuckles (Lonicera, pronounced /lɒˈnɪsərə/;[1] syn. Caprifolium Mill.) are arching\\nshrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere.\\nThere are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe and North\\nAmerica have only about 20 native species each. Widely known species include Lonicera\\npericlymenum (European Honeysuckle or Woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle,\\nWhite Honeysuckle, or Chinese Honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens (Coral Honeysuckle,\\nTrumpet Honeysuckle, or Woodbine Honeysuckle). Hummingbirds are attracted to these plants.\\nThe leaves are opposite, simple oval, 1–10 cm long; most are deciduous but some are\\nevergreen. Many of the species have sweetly-scented, bell-shaped flowers that produce a\\nsweet, edible nectar. Breaking of the Honeysuckle's stem will release this powerful sweet\\nodor. The fruit is a red, blue or black berry containing several seeds; in most species the\\nberries are mildly poisonous, but a few (notably Lonicera caerulea) have edible berries.\\nThe plant is eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera that\\nfeed on honeysuckles.\\nThe name Lonicera stems from Adam Lonicer, a Renaissance botanist.\\nNasturtiums\\nNasturtium (pronounced /næˈstɜrʃⁱəm/)[1] literally \\\"nose-twister\\\" or \\\"nose-tweaker\\\"), as a\\ncommon name, refers to a genus of roughly 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous\\nflowering plants in the genus Tropaeolum (pronounced /trɵˈpiː.ələm/,[2] \\\"trophy\\\"), one of\\nthree genera in the family Tropaeolaceae. It should not be confused with the Watercresses\\nof the genus Nasturtium, of the Mustard family. The genus Tropaeolum, native to South and\\nCentral America, includes several very popular garden plants, the most commonly grown being\\nT. majus, T. peregrinum and T. speciosum. The hardiest species is T. polyphyllum from\\nChile, the perennial roots of which can survive underground when air temperatures drop as\\nlow as -15°C (5°F).\\nThey have showy, often intensely bright flowers (the intense color may pose problems in\\nmacrophotography)[citation needed], and rounded, peltate (shield-shaped) leaves with the\\npetiole in the center. The flowers have five petals (sometimes more), a three-carpelled\\novary, and a funnel-shaped nectar tube in the back.\\nTropaeolum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species\\nincluding Dot Moth and Garden Carpet. A very common \\\"pest\\\" found on Nasturtium in\\nparticular is the caterpillar of the Large White (Cabbage White) Butterfly.\\nThe Nasturtiums receive their name from the fact that they produce an oil that is similar\\nto that produced by Watercress (Nasturtium officinale), from the family Brassicaceae.\\nContents\\nIn cultivation, most varieties of nasturtiums prefer to be grown in direct or indirect\\nsunlight, with a few preferring partial shade.\\nThe most common use of the nasturtium plant in cultivation is as an ornamental flower. It\\ngrows easily and prolifically, and is a self-seeding annual.\\nThe flowers and leaves of the nasturtium plant.\\nAll parts of the plant are edible. The flower has most often been consumed, making for an\\nespecially ornamental salad ingredient; it has a slightly peppery taste reminiscent of\\nwatercress, and is also used in stir fry. The unripe seed pods can be harvested and pickled\\nwith hot vinegar, to produce a condiment and garnish, sometimes used in place of capers,\\nalthough the taste is strongly peppery. The mashua (T. tuberosum) produces an edible\\nunderground tuber that is a major food source in parts of the Andes.\\nNasturtiums are also considered widely useful companion plants. They repel a great many\\ncucurbit pests, like squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and several caterpillars. They have a\\nsimilar range of benefits for brassica plants, especially broccoli and cauliflower. They\\nalso attract black fly aphids, and are sometimes planted in the hope of saving crops\\nsusceptible to them (as a trap crop). They may also attract beneficial predatory insects.\\n[edit] Taxonomy\\nTropaeolum was previously placed in the family Tropaeolaceae along with two other genera,\\nMagallan and Tropaeastrum. In 2000, a molecular study found Tropaeolum to be paraphyletic\\nwith respect to the other two genera, so they were transferred into Tropaeolum.\\nTropaeolaceae was thus rendered monogeneric.[\\n \\nAcca sellowiana is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is\\nnative to the highlands of southern Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina.[1]\\nCommon names include Feijoa (pronounced /feɪˈʒoʊ.ə/, /feɪˈdʒoʊ.ə/,[2] or /feɪˈhoʊ.ə/[3])\\nPineapple Guava and Guavasteen. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1–7 metres (3.3–23\\nft) in height. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree and is a\\nperennial. The German botanist Otto Karl Berg named Feijoa after João da Silva Feijó, a\\nPortuguese botanist born in the colony of Brazil.[citation needed]\\nContents\\n * 8 External links\\n[edit] Fruit\\nThe fruit, maturing in autumn, is green, ellipsoid, and about the size of a chicken egg. It\\nhas a sweet, aromatic flavor. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear gelatinous\\nseed pulp and a firmer, slightly gritty, opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit drops when\\nripe and at its fullest flavor, but may be picked from the tree prior to the drop to\\nprevent bruising.\\nThe fruit pulp resembles the closely related guava, having a gritty texture. The Feijoa\\npulp is used in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. Feijoa fruit has a\\ndistinctive smell. The aroma is due to the ester methyl benzoate and related compounds that\\nexist in the fruit.\\nWhole and cut ripe Feijoas\\nIt is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that also will grow in the tropics, but\\nrequires some winter chilling to fruit and the plant is frost-tolerant.\\nIn the northern hemisphere this species has been cultivated as far north as western\\nScotland, but under such conditions it does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures\\nbelow approximately −9 °C (16 °F) kill the flower buds.\\n[edit] Seasonality\\nLarge quantities of the fruit are grown in New Zealand, where it is a popular garden tree\\nand the fruit commonly is available in season. The New Zealand season runs from March to\\nJune.\\nHarder varieties are grown for years in Russian region of Buriatia (city Ulan-Ude), with\\nwinters up to -40 C.\\n[edit] Consumption and uses\\nThe fruit usually is eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a\\nspoon.[4] The fruit has a juicy sweet seed pulp and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin.\\nThe flavour is aromatic and sweet. If the utensils needed to eat it this way are not\\navailable, the Feijoa may be torn or bitten in half, and the contents squeezed out and\\nconsumed. An alternative method is to bite the end off and then tear the fruit in half\\nlength ways, exposing a larger surface with less curvature and using one's teeth to scrape\\nthe pulp out closer to the skin. This method results in less waste of the fruit.\\nA Feijoa may be used as an interesting addition to a fruit smoothie, and may be used to\\nmake Feijoa wine or cider and feijoa infused vodka. It also is possible to buy Feijoa\\nyogurt, fruit drinks, jam, ice-cream, and such in New Zealand. The Feijoa also may be\\ncooked and used in dishes where one would use stewed fruit. It is a popular ingredient in\\nchutney.\\nCut over-mature fruit showing browning\\nFruit maturity is not always apparent visually as the fruits remain the same shade of green\\nuntil they are over-mature or rotting. One usually may sense ripeness, however, by giving\\nthe fruit a soft squeeze; a ripe Feijoa will give somewhat like a just-ripe banana.\\nGenerally, the fruit is at its optimum ripeness the day it drops from the tree. While still\\nhanging it may well prove bitter, however, once fallen, fruit very quickly becomes\\nover-ripe, so a daily collection of fallen fruit is advisable during the season.\\nWhen the fruits are immature the seed pulp is white and opaque. It becomes clear and\\ngelatinous when ripe. Fruits are at their optimum maturity when the seed pulp has turned\\ninto a clear jelly with no hint of browning. Once the seed pulp and surrounding flesh start\\nto brown, the fruit is over-mature, but still may be eaten. Over-mature but not rotten\\nfruits may be used to make a delicious juice very popular in places such as the Colombian\\nHighlands.[citation needed]\\nThe pink to white flower petals have a delightful flavor, being crisp, moist, and fleshy.\\nThey regularly are consumed by birds.\\n[edit] Sale and shipping\\nRipe fruit is very prone to bruising; maintaining the fruit in good condition for any\\nlength of time is not easy. This, along with the short period of optimum ripeness and full\\nfavor, probably explains why Feijoas, although delicious, frequently are not exported, and\\nwhere grown commercially, often only are sold close to the source of the crop.\\nBecause of the relatively short shelf-life, store keepers need to be careful to replace\\nolder Feijoas regularly to ensure high quality. In some countries, Feijoas also may be\\npurchased at roadside stalls, often at a lower price.\\nFeijoas may be cool-stored for approximately a month and still have a few days of shelf\\nlife at optimum eating maturity. They also may be frozen for up to one year without a loss\\nin quality.\\nFeijoa flower\\nSome grafted cultivars of Feijoa are self-fertile. Most are not, and require a pollinator.\\nSeedlings may or may not be of usable quality, and may or may not be self fertile.\\nIn New Zealand, the pollinators of this plant are bees, bumblebees, or medium-sized birds.\\nThe latter include such as the Silvereye in the cooler parts of the South Island, the\\nblackbird, or the Indian myna farther north, which feed on the sweet, fleshy petals of the\\nFeijoa flower.\\nIn California, robins, mockingbirds, hummingbirds, starlings, scrub jays, towhees, and grey\\nsquirrels feast on the petals and are presumed to be assisting with pollination.[citation\\nneeded] Honeybees also visit the flowers.\\nIn some areas where the species has been introduced, however, the trees have been\\nunproductive due to lack of pollinators. The shrub has very few insect pests.\\n \\nYucca\\nYucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the agave family, Agavaceae. Its 40-50\\nspecies are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large\\nterminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry (arid)\\nparts of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Early reports of\\nthe species were confused with the cassava (Manihot esculenta).[2] Consequently, Linnaeus\\nmistakenly derived the generic name from the Carib word for the latter, yuca.[3]\\nContents\\nDistribution of the capsular fruited species in southwest, midwest USA, Mexico's Baja\\nCalifornia and Canada. Overview\\nThe natural distribution range of the genus Yucca (49 species and 24 subspecies) covers a\\nvast area of North and Central America. From Baja California in the west, northwards into\\nthe southwestern United States, through the drier central states as far north as Alberta in\\nCanada (Yucca glauca ssp. albertana), and moving east along the Gulf of Mexico, and then\\nnorth again, through the Atlantic coastal and inland neighbouring states. To the south, the\\ngenus is represented throughout Mexico and extends into Guatemala (Yucca guatemalensis).\\nYuccas have adapted to an equally vast range of climatic and ecological conditions. They\\nare to be found in rocky deserts and badlands, in prairies and grassland, in mountainous\\nregions, in light woodland, in coastal sands (Yucca filamentosa), and even in subtropical\\nand semi-temperate zones, although these are nearly always arid to semi-arid.\\n[edit] Ecology\\nYuccas have a very specialized, mutualistic pollination system, being pollinated by yucca\\nmoths (family Prodoxidae); the insect purposefully transfers the pollen from the stamens of\\none plant to the stigma of another, and at the same time lays an egg in the flower; the\\nmoth larva then feeds on some of the developing seeds, always leaving enough seed to\\nperpetuate the species. Yucca species are the host plants for the caterpillars of the Yucca\\nGiant-Skipper (Megathymus yuccae),[4] Ursine Giant-Skipper (Megathymus ursus),[5] and\\nStrecker's Giant-Skipper (Megathymus streckeri).[6]\\n[edit] Uses\\nYuccas are widely grown as ornamental plants in gardens. Many species of yucca also bear\\nedible parts, including fruits, seeds, flowers, flowering stems,[7] and more rarely roots.\\nReferences to yucca root as food often stem from confusion with the similarly spelled but\\nbotanically unrelated yuca, also called cassava (Manihot esculenta). Roots of soaptree\\nyucca (Yucca elata) are high in saponins and are used as a shampoo in Native American\\nrituals. Dried yucca leaves and trunk fibers have a low ignition temperature, making the\\nplant desirable for use in starting fires via friction.[8]\\n[edit] Cultivation\\nYucca are widely planted in the western US as a landscape plant. Most species are generally\\nheat and cold tolerant, requiring little care and low water. They offer a dramatic accent\\nto a landscape design.\\nJoshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) are protected by law in some states and should not be wild\\ncollected without permit. As a landscape plant, they can be killed by excessive water\\nduring their summer dormant phase. For these two reasons they are avoided by landscape\\ncontractors.\\nThe gooseberry (pronounced /ˈɡʊzbəri/;[1] Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia) is a\\nspecies of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and southwestern Asia. It is one of\\nseveral similar species in the subgenus Grossularia; for the other related species (e.g.,\\nNorth American Gooseberry Ribes hirtellum), see the genus page Ribes.\\nAlthough usually placed as a subgenus within Ribes, a few taxonomists treat Grossularia as\\na separate genus, although hybrids between gooseberry and blackcurrant (e.g., the\\nJostaberry) are possible. The subgenus Grossularia differs somewhat from currants, chiefly\\nin their spiny stems, and in that their flowers grow one to three together on short stems,\\nnot in racemes.\\nGooseberry bushes produce an edible fruit and are grown on both a commercial and domestic\\nbasis.\\nGrowth habit and physical characteristics\\nThe gooseberry is a straggling bush growing to 1–3 metres (3–10 feet) tall, the branches\\nbeing thickly set with sharp spines, standing out singly or in diverging tufts of two or\\nthree from the bases of the short spurs or lateral leaf shoots. The bell-shaped flowers are\\nproduced, singly or in pairs, from the groups of rounded, deeply-crenated 3 or 5 lobed\\nleaves. The fruit of wild gooseberries is smaller than in the cultivated varieties, but is\\noften of good flavour; it is generally hairy, but in one variety smooth, constituting the\\nR. uva-crispa of writers; berries' colour is usually green, but there are red variants and\\noccasionally deep purple berries occur.\\n[edit] Range\\nThe gooseberry is indigenous in Europe and western Asia, growing naturally in alpine\\nthickets and rocky woods in the lower country, from France eastward, well into the\\nHimalayas and peninsular India.\\nCurrant and gooseberry output in 2005\\nIn Britain, gooseberry bushes are often found in copses and hedgerows and about old ruins,\\nbut the gooseberry has been cultivated for so long that it is difficult to distinguish wild\\nbushes from feral ones, or where the gooseberry fits into the native flora of the island.\\nCommon as it is now on some of the lower slopes of the Alps of Piedmont and Savoy, it is\\nuncertain whether the Romans were acquainted with the gooseberry, though it may possibly be\\nalluded to in a vague passage of Pliny the Elder's Natural History; the hot summers of\\nItaly, in ancient times as at present, would be unfavourable to its cultivation. Although\\ngooseberries are now abundant in Germany and France, it does not appear to have been much\\ngrown there in the Middle Ages, though the wild fruit was held in some esteem medicinally\\nfor the cooling properties of its acid juice in fevers; while the old English name,\\nFea-berry, still surviving in some provincial dialects, indicates that it was similarly\\nvalued in Britain, where it was planted in gardens at a comparatively early period.\\nWilliam Turner describes the gooseberry in his Herball, written about the middle of the\\n16th century, and a few years later it is mentioned in one of Thomas Tusser's quaint rhymes\\nas an ordinary object of garden culture. Improved varieties were probably first raised by\\nthe skilful gardeners of Holland, whose name for the fruit, Kruisbezie, may have been\\neasily corrupted into the present English vernacular word. Towards the end of the 18th\\ncentury the gooseberry became a favourite object of cottage-horticulture, especially in\\nLancashire, where the working cotton-spinners have raised numerous varieties from seed,\\ntheir efforts having been chiefly directed to increasing the size of the fruit.\\nRed gooseberries\\n[edit] Climate\\nOf the many hundred varieties enumerated in recent horticultural works, few perhaps equal\\nin flavour some of the older denizens of the fruit-garden, such as the old rough red and\\nhairy amber. The climate of the British Isles seems peculiarly adapted to bring the\\ngooseberry to perfection,[citation needed] and it may be grown successfully even in the\\nmost northern parts of Scotland where it is commonly known as a \\\"grozet\\\"; indeed, the\\nflavour of the fruit is said to improve with increasing latitude. In Norway (where it's\\nnamed \\\"stikkelsbær\\\" — or \\\"prickly berry\\\"), the bush flourishes in gardens on the west coast\\nnearly up to the Arctic circle, and it is found wild as far north as 63°. The dry summers\\nof the French and German plains are less suited to it, though it is grown in some hilly\\ndistricts with tolerable success. The gooseberry in the south of England will grow well in\\ncool situations, and may be sometimes seen in gardens near London flourishing under the\\npartial shade of apple trees; but in the north it needs full exposure to the sun to bring\\nthe fruit to perfection. It will succeed in almost any soil, but prefers a rich loam or\\nblack alluvium, and, though naturally a plant of rather dry places, will do well in moist\\nland, if drained.\\nIt is also widely found in villages throughout the former Czechoslovakia.\\nSectioned gooseberries showing seeds\\nThe easiest method of propagating gooseberries is by cuttings rather than raising from\\nseed;cuttings planted in the autumn will take root quickly and can begin to bear fruit\\nwithin a few years.\\nVigorous pruning may be necessary; fruit is produced on lateral spurs and the previous\\nyear's shoots, so the 19th-century custom was to trim side branches in the winter, and\\nperhaps trim leading shoots at that time or remove their tips in the summer.\\nLarge berries can be produced by heavy composting, especially if the majority of the fruit\\nis picked off while small to allow room for a few berries to continue to grow. Grafting of\\ngooseberry vines onto ornamental golden currants (Ribes aurum) or other Ribes species can\\nbe helpful for this purpose. Some 19th- and early 20th-century cultivators produced single\\ngooseberries near to two ounces in weight, but, as with many varieties of fruit, larger\\nsizes of gooseberry proved to have weaker flavor.\\nRibes uva-crispa[2]\\n[edit] Pests\\nGooseberry bushes are vulnerable to magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata) caterpillars. In\\ncultivation, the best method for removing them is to remove the larvae by hand soon after\\nthey hatch; its eggs are laid on fallen gooseberry leaves.\\nOther potential threats are V-moth (Macaria wauaria) and Gooseberry sawfly (Nematus\\nribesii). Nematus reibesii grubs will bury themselves in the ground to pupate; on hatching\\ninto adult form, they lay their eggs, which soon hatch into larvae, on the underside of\\ngooseberry leaves. 19th-century insecticides against these included tar water, weak\\nsolutions of carbolic acid, and powdered hellebore, which worked against magpie moths and\\nV-moths as well as gooseberry sawflies. (Foxglove and tobacco infusions were also sometimes\\nused.) Careful removal of fallen leaves and tilling of the ground around the plant will\\nalso destroy most eggs and chrysalises of these insects.\\nPotassium sulfide was known to be an effective treatment for blights and other parasitic\\ngrowths, such as American gooseberry mildew.\\nNote that like most Ribes, the gooseberry is a potential host for white pine blister rust,\\nwhich can cause serious damage to white pines; thus, gooseberry cultivation is illegal in\\nsome areas of the U.S.\\n[edit] Culinary uses\\nGooseberries for sale in Hainan, China\\nGooseberries are best known for their use in desserts such as pies, fools and crumbles.\\nGooseberries are commonly preserved by drying, storing in sugar syrup, or as jam or pickle.\\nGooseberries are used to flavoured drinks such as soda, water or even milk, and are used to\\nmake Fruit wine. In India some use gooseberry for acidity problem and stomach ache.\\n[edit] Etymology\\nThe \\\"goose\\\" in \\\"gooseberry\\\" has usually been seen as a corruption of either the Dutch word\\nKruisbezie or the allied German Krausbeere, or of the earlier forms of the French\\ngroseille. Alternatively the word has been connected to the Middle High German krus (curl,\\ncrisped), in Latin as grossularia. However, the Oxford English Dictionary takes the obvious\\nderivation from goose and berry as probable because \\\"the grounds on which plants and fruits\\nhave received names associating them with animals are so often inexplicable that the\\ninappropriateness in the meaning does not necessarily give good grounds for believing that\\nthe word is an etymological corruption.\\n \\nZiziphus zizyphus (from Greek ζίζυφον, zizyfon[1]), commonly called jujube, red date, or\\nChinese date, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily\\nfor its fruits. Common names in Arabic are nabq, dum, tsal, sadr, zufzuuf (in Morocco) and\\nsidr, the last of which also means Ziziphus lotus.[2] In Persian it is called anab or annab\\n, a name also used in Lebanon.\\nContents\\nIts precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation, but is thought\\nto be in southern Asia, between Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, northern India, Bangladesh, the\\nKorean peninsula, and southern and central China, and also southeastern Europe though more\\nlikely introduced there.[3]\\n[edit] Growth\\nIt is a small deciduous tree or shrub reaching a height of 5–10 m, usually with thorny\\nbranches. The leaves are shiny-green, ovate-acute, 2–7-cm wide and 1–3-cm broad, with three\\nconspicuous veins at the base, and a finely toothed margin. The flowers are small, 5-mm\\nwide, with five inconspicuous yellowish-green petals. The fruit is an edible oval drupe\\n1.5–3-cm deep; when immature it is smooth-green, with the consistency and taste of an\\napple, maturing brown to purplish-black and eventually wrinkled, looking like a small date.\\nThere is a single hard stone similar to an olive stone.[3]\\n[edit] Nomenclature\\nThe species has a curious nomenclatural history, due to a combination of botanical naming\\nregulations, and variations in spelling. It was first described scientifically by Carolus\\nLinnaeus as Rhamnus zizyphus, in Species Plantarum in 1753. Later, in 1768, Philip Miller\\nconcluded it was sufficiently distinct from Rhamnus to merit separation into a new genus,\\nin which he named it Ziziphus jujube, using Linnaeus' species name for the genus but with a\\nprobably accidental single letter spelling difference, 'i' for 'y'; for the species name he\\nused a different name, as tautonyms (repetition of exactly the same name in the genus and\\nspecies) are not permitted in botanical naming. However, because of Miller's slightly\\ndifferent spelling, the combination correctly using the earliest species name (from\\nLinnaeus) with the new genus, Ziziphus zizyphus, is not a tautonym, and therefore permitted\\nas a botanical name; this combination was made by Hermann Karsten in 1882.[3][4]\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nJujube was domesticated in the Indian subcontinent by 9000 BCE.[5] Over 400 cultivars have\\nbeen selected.\\nThe tree tolerates a wide range of temperatures and rainfall, though it requires hot\\nsummers and sufficient water for acceptable fruiting. Unlike most of the other species in\\nthe genus, it tolerates fairly cold winters, surviving temperatures down to about −15°C.\\nThis enables the jujube to grow in desert habitats, provided there is access to underground\\nwater through the summer. Virtually no temperature seems to be too high in summertime.\\n[edit] Medicinal use\\nThe fruits are used in Chinese and Korean traditional medicine, where they are believed to\\nalleviate stress.[citation needed] The jujube-based Australian drink 1-bil avoids making\\nspecific stress-related claims, but does suggest drinking 1-bil \\\"when you feel yourself\\nbecoming distressed\\\".[6]\\nZiziphin, a compound in the leaves of the jujube, suppresses the ability to perceive sweet\\ntaste in humans.[7] The fruit, being mucilaginous, is very soothing to the throat and\\ndecoctions of jujube have often been used in pharmacy to treat sore throats.\\nFresh jujube fruits.\\n[edit] Culinary use\\nDried jujube fruits, which naturally turn red upon drying.\\nThe freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or\\nwith tea. They are available in either red or black (called hóng zǎo or hēi zǎo,\\nrespectively, in Chinese), the latter being smoked to enhance their flavor.[8] In China and\\nKorea, a sweetened tea syrup containing jujube fruits is available in glass jars,[9] and\\ncanned jujube tea or jujube tea in the form of teabags is also available. Although not\\nwidely available, jujube juice[10] and jujube vinegar[11] (called 枣醋 or 红枣醋 in Chinese) are\\nalso produced; they are used for making pickles (কুলের আচার) in West Bengal and Bangladesh.\\nIn China, a wine made from jujubes, called hong zao jiu (红枣酒) is also produced.[12] Jujubes\\nare sometimes preserved by storing in a jar filled with baijiu (Chinese liquor), which\\nallows them to be kept fresh for a long time, especially through the winter. Such jujubes\\nare called jiu zao (酒枣; literally \\\"spirited jujube\\\"). These fruits, often stoned, are also\\na significant ingredient in a wide variety of Chinese delicacies. In Korea, jujubes are\\ncalled daechu (대추) and are used in teas and samgyetang. It is said to be helpful in aiding\\nthe common cold.\\nIn Lebanon, the fruit is eaten as snacks or alongside a dessert after a meal.\\nIn Persian cuisine, the dried drupes are known as annab, while in neighboring Azerbaijan it\\nis commonly eaten as a snack, and are known as innab. In Pakistan, the fruit is eaten both\\nfresh and dried, and is known as ber (a generic term for berry).\\nIn Tamil-speaking regions, the fruit is called ilanthai pazham (இலந்தை பழம்). In Kannada\\nthis fruit is called \\\"Yelchi Hannu\\\" and in Telugu it is called \\\"Regi pandu\\\". Traditionally,\\nthe fruits are dried in the sun and the hard nuts are removed. Then, it is pounded with\\ntamarind, red chillies, salt, and jaggery. Small dishes are made from this dough and again\\ndried in the sun, and are referred to as ilanthai vadai. In some parts of the Indian state\\nof Tamil Nadu, fresh whole ripe fruit is crushed with the above ingredients and dried under\\nthe sun to make delicious cakes called ilanthai vadai.[13]\\n[edit] Other uses\\nThe jujube's sweet smell is said to make teenagers fall in love, and as a result, in the\\nHimalaya and Karakoram regions, men take a stem of sweet-smelling jujube flowers with them\\nor put it on their hats to attract women.[citation needed]\\nIn the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, the jujube was often placed in the newlyweds'\\nbedroom as a good luck charm for fertility, along with peanuts, longan, and chestnuts,\\npunning on an invocation to \\\"have an honored child soon\\\".\\nIn Bhutan, the leaves are used as a potpourri to help keep the houses of the inhabitants\\nsmelling fresh and clean. It is also said to keep bugs and other insects out of the house\\nand free of infestation.\\nIn Japan, the natsume has given its name to a style of tea caddy used in the Japanese tea\\nceremony.\\nIn Korea, the wood is used to make the body of the taepyeongso, a double-reed wind\\ninstrument. The wood is also used to make Go bowls.\\nIn Vietnam, the jujube fruit is eaten freshly picked from the tree as a snack. It is also\\ndried and used in desserts, such as sâm bổ lượng, a cold beverage that includes the dried\\njujube, longan, fresh seaweed, barley, and lotus seeds.\\nA jujube honey is produced in the middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.\\n[edit] Pests and diseases\\nWitch's brooms, prevalent in China and Korea, is the main disease affecting jujubes, though\\nplantings in North America currently are not affected by any pests or diseases.\\n \\nCommon Names: Raisin Tree, Japanese Raisin Tree, Kenpo Nashi\\nDistant Affinity: Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), Indian Jujube (Z. mauritiana).\\nOrigin: The raisin tree is native to moist areas and mountains of China, although\\ncultivation spread long ago to Japan, Korea and India. The plant was introduced to the West\\nin about 1820.\\nAdaptation: The northern limits for winter survival and fruit ripening of the tree has not\\nbeen fully determined. It is cold-hardy to about -10° F, and fruits ripen in eastern North\\nAmerica at least as far north as southern New York. There is a 28-year old specimen in the\\nAsian section of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and another specimen at nearby Huntington\\nGardens. Raisin tree plants are not particularly suitable for container culture.\\nDESCRIPTION\\nGrowth Habit: The raisin tree is deciduous and can grow to a height of 70 feet or more, but\\ncultivated specimens typically reach a height of about 30 feet with a singular trunk and a\\nrounded head. The lower branches frequently drop off leaving a fairly high crotch. Growth\\nrate is moderate, perhaps a foot or two per year, more when young and less when old. Raisin\\ntrees are particularly handsome when planted in groups. The deeply fissured bark is\\ncounterpointed by gently undulating branches and overlapping leaves\\nFoliage: The cordate, glossy green leaves are borne alternately. They are a large (up to\\nsix inches in length), rather limp leaf which must be spread out to see its shape.\\nFlowers: Racemes of small self-fruitful flowers bloom in late spring. They are cream\\ncolored and compensate for their small size by being clustered together in great masses.\\nWhere summers are cool, bloom may be delayed even until the end of summer with the result\\nthat fruit does not form or ripen.\\nFruit: The edible \\\"raisins\\\" are not a fruit at all but a short, swollen mature flower stalk\\nor peduncle which supports the inedible seed pod. As the pod matures, the peduncle of stem\\nattaching it to the cluster swells, becomes knobby and turns a translucent reddish brown. A\\npear-like flavor develops as the sugars increase, and the peduncle is ready to eat when it\\nfalls to the ground. Although the edible portions are small, close to the size of a raisin,\\nthe crop is copious. The brown pod which is actually the fruit is not used.\\nCULTURE\\nLocation: Although native to partially shaded sites, full sun helps hasten flowering and\\nripening. When placed in a southwest corner, the tree provides summer shade and allows\\nwinter sun to pass through the bare limbs.\\nSoil: The raisin tree tolerates a wide range of soil conditions and thrives in sandy loam.\\nIrrigation: Although somewhat tolerant of drought, raisin trees do best with a regular\\nsupply of moisture.\\nFertilization: Little is known about the fertilization needs of the tree, but a light to\\nmoderate fertilizing in mid-spring is probably useful.\\nPruning: The tree tends to prune itself, dropping the lower branches as the tree grows.\\nPropagation: The seeds have an impermeable seed coat that severely inhibits germination.\\nSeveral methods have been employed to get around the problem. The seed coat can be\\nscarified by nicking it with a file, or soaking the seed in concentrated sulfuric acid for\\ntwo hours. Wash the seed thoroughly with water following the acid soak. The seed can also\\nbe soaked in hot tap water (approximately 140° F) for three consecutive days. Others have\\nhad some luck with freezing the seed. After treatment, the seed are planted in potting\\nsoil, covered with clear plastic wrap and placed in bright light. Seeds should germinate\\nwithin a week to a month or more. Plants grown from seed usually bear fruit within 7 - 10\\nyears, though bearing within 3 years is possible under good conditions\\nThe plant can also be propagated by softwood cuttings taken in late summer, and by root\\ncuttings. Little work has been done in the area of grafting.\\nPests and diseases: Raisin trees are apparently free of any significant pests and diseases.\\nDeer will probably browse the foliage, but the roots do not seem to be attractive to\\ngophers.\\nHarvest: Raisin tree peduncles do not become tasty until very late in the season. They are\\nexcellent to eat out of hand or may be used in anything where raisins are normally used.\\nThe bonus with raisin tree \\\"raisins\\\" is that they don't have to be dried. They are chopped\\nand added to fruitcake in Australia, and in China they are made into a beverage called\\n\\\"tree honey\\\" that is said to neutralize hangovers.\\n \\nCommon Names: Hardy Kiwi, Bower Vine, Dessert Kiwi, Cocktail Kiwi, Tara Vine, Yang-tao.\\nRelated Species: Chinese Egg Gooseberry (Actinidia coriacea), Kiwifruit (A. deliciosa),\\nSuper-hardy Kiwi (A. kolomikta), Red Kiwi (A. melanandra), Silver Vine (A. polygama),\\nPurple Kiwi (A. purpurea).\\nOrigin: The hardy kiwi is native to northern China, Korea, Siberia and possibly Japan.\\nAdaptation: The plants need a long growing season (about 150 frost-free days) which will\\nnot be hampered by late winter or early autumn freezes. When fully dormant, they can\\nwithstand temperatures to about -25° F (and perhaps a bit lower.) However they must\\nacclimate to cold slowly and any sudden plunge in temperature may cause trunk splitting and\\nsubsequent damage to the vine. All cultivars need a certain period of winter chilling and\\ntheir needs vary, dependent upon cultivar, however, the exact amounts needed has not yet\\nbeen established. To date, all cultivars that have been grown in both high chill and low\\nchill areas have produced equally well. Late winter freezing temperatures will kill any\\nexposed buds. The plants can be successfully grown in large containers.\\nDESCRIPTION\\nGrowth Habit: In the forests where it is native, it is a climbing vine (liana), sometimes\\nclimbing one hundred feet high into trees. In cultivation it is more well-behaved but must\\nbe supported by a trellising system. The plant has a more delicate appearance than regular\\nkiwifruit.\\nFoliage: Leaves are elongated and generally 2 to 5 inches long and attached to the stem on\\nred petioles. They are usually serrated and far less leathery and fuzzy than regular\\nkiwifruit.\\nFlowers: The flowers are about one-half inch in diameter, white to cream colored, somewhat\\nfragrant, and produced as singlets to triplets in the leaf axiles. Flowering period extends\\nover several weeks from early May to June, depending on climatic conditions. Plants are\\ndioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants, thus needing plants of both\\nsexes to produce crops. However, self-fruiting females are known to exist.\\nFruit: The fruit are generally green, fuzzless, and the size of grapes. Cut open, they look\\nmuch like regular kiwifruit with its small black seeds, emerald green color, and typical\\nrayed pattern. Although typically green in both the skin and flesh, some cultivars have\\nvarious amount of red, either in the skin, flesh or both. Hardy kiwifruits are generally\\nsweeter than regular kiwifruit. Sugar levels vary, ranging from 14% (as with kiwifruit) up\\nto 29%.\\nAdditional differences between cultivars can include perceived aroma of the fruit as well\\nas bitterness of the skin. Commercial cultivation has begun for this crop in many regions\\nof the United States due to the plants ability to grow in harsher climates than the\\nkiwifruit.\\nLocation: The vines will tolerate some shade but prefer a sunny location where they can\\nramble across some type of trellising system. They should have some protection from strong\\nwinds\\nSite Preparation: Hardy kiwi plants need a substantial trellis, patio cover, or other\\npermanent place to grow upon. For the trellis system, either a single wire or T-bar system\\ncan be installed. Both have a 4 inch by 4 inch redwood post of 8 feet. For the T-bar, a 2\\ninch by 6 inch crossarm about 4 feet long is bolted in place. Bury the post 2 feet into the\\nground and cement in if at all possible. At each end of the system, a cemented deadman\\nshould be in place. Run wires across the posts and anchor tautly to the deadman. When using\\na patio cover, no extra trellising needs to be in place. Simply run the plant up a corner\\npost to the top and allow the plant to then form a spoke work of shoots which would\\nresemble an umbrella.\\nSoils: Hardy kiwi prefer well-drained, somewhat acid (pH 5 - 6.5) soils. Neutral soils are\\nacceptable but the leaves may show nitrogen deficiency when the soils become too basic. The\\nplants will not tolerate salty soils.\\nIrrigation: Hardy kiwi plants need large volumes of water during the entire growing season\\nbut must also be in well-drained soils. Watering regularly in the heat of the summer is a\\nmust. Never allow a plant to undergo drought stress. Symptoms of drought stress are\\ndrooping leaves, browning of the leaves around the edges, and complete defoliation with\\nregrowth of new shoots when the stress is continuous. More plants probably die from water\\nrelated problems than any other reason.\\nFertilization: Based on work done on the regular kiwifruit, hardy kiwi plants are heavy\\nnitrogen feeders which should be applied in abundance during the first half of the growing\\nseason. Late season applications of nitrogen will enhance fruit size but are discouraged as\\nfruit then tends to store poorly. In basic soils, a citrus and avocado tree fertilizer\\nshould be broadcast about the vine and watered in well in early March. Follow up the\\ninitial fertilizing by supplemental additions to early summer. In other areas, use a high\\nnitrogen fertilizer which contains trace elements unless it is known that the particular\\nsoil is deficient in another nutrient. Mulching with manures and/or straws is very\\nbeneficial. However, do not put the mulch directly in contact with the vine as crown rot\\nwill occur.\\nPruning: For best fruit production, pruning in the winter is a must. All pruning techniques\\nare usually based on a \\\"cane replacement\\\" and differ only based on the trellising method\\nused. Kiwi vines need to be supported and this is usually done in one of three ways: single\\nwire, 3-5 wire on a T-bar system, or onto a patio cover. In all cases, one stem is trained\\nup to a wire at six feet and then allowed to grow along the wire. When growth ends in a\\n\\\"pig-tailing\\\" of the shoot, it is cut behind the entanglement and new a shoot allowed to\\ngrow from a leaf base. After two years multiple shoots will now emerge from the lateral\\nmainline. During the growing season, each lateral cane will send out a new shoot about 1/3\\nof the way from its own starting point. The next winter, prune off the older cane at the\\npoint that it connects with last summers new shoot. This process repeats itself every year.\\nPropagation: In areas where the regular kiwifruit will grow, scions of the hardy kiwi may\\nbe grafted directly onto kiwifruit rootstock. Otherwise, one must either root their own\\nfrom hardwood or greenwood cuttings or buy established plants.\\nPests and diseases: Plants are relatively free from problems, possibly due to their lack of\\nheavy planting into areas so that pests begin to take a liking to the leaves, trunk, or\\nroots. One odd problem is the fact that the trunks have a catnip-like aroma which cats love\\nto rub against. When plants are small, this can be a problem as they can rub off any new\\nshoots which emerge in the spring. Garden snails can also be a problem on younger\\nplantings. Other pests include deer that browse on the leaves and gophers that attack the\\nroots. Scale insects can damage if populations build up too extensively. Greenhouse thrips\\nmay also damage the fruit.\\nHarvest: Ripening depends both on the cultivar grown and local climatic conditions. The\\nCordifolia cultivar ripens first in early September while the Anna (Ananasnaja) may need to\\nwait until late October/early November before it sweetens to its best. Hardy kiwifruits\\ndrop or come off easily when they are ripe. Usually they are picked at the mature-ripe\\nstage and allowed to ripen off of the vine as is done with kiwifruit.\\nCULTIVARS\\nFemales\\nMany cultivars are known although no real attempt has been yet made to determine the best\\nfor specific climates or regions. The following is a partial listing of cultivars:\\n * Ananasnaja (Anna)\\n * Seedling selections by Professor Meader\\n * 74 Series\\nMales\\nVarious males are known but no extensive work has been done to determine pollen count or\\nviability, flowering times, or vigorousness. If available, pollen from the regular\\nkiwifruit works well but the seed resulting is usually sterile.\\n \\nPAWPAW\\nPawpaw (Asimina) is a genus of small clustered trees with large leaves and fruit, native to\\nNorth America. The genus includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent.\\nThey are understory trees found in well drained deep fertile bottom land and hilly upland\\nhabitat. Pawpaw is in the same family (Annonaceae) as the custard-apple, cherimoya,\\nsweetsop, ylang-ylang and soursop, and it is the only member of that family not confined to\\nthe tropics.\\nThe name, also spelled paw paw, paw-paw, and papaw, probably derives from the Spanish\\npapaya, perhaps because of the superficial similarity of their fruit. Pawpaw has numerous\\nother common names, often very local, such as prairie banana, Indiana (Hoosier) banana,\\nWest Virginia banana, Kansas banana, Kentucky banana, Michigan banana, Missouri Banana, the\\npoor man's banana, Ozark banana, and Banango.\\n[edit] Description\\nPawpaws are shrubs or small trees, reaching heights of 2–12 m tall. The northern,\\ncold-tolerant common pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is deciduous, while the southern species are\\noften evergreen.\\nThe leaves are alternate, obovate, entire, 20–35 cm long and 10–15 cm broad.\\nThe fetid flowers are produced singly or in clusters of up to eight together; they are\\nlarge, 4–6 cm across, perfect, with six sepals and petals (three large outer petals, three\\nsmaller inner petals). The petal color varies from white to purple or red-brown.\\nThe fruit is a large edible berry, 5–16 cm long and 3–7 cm broad, weighing from 20–500 g,\\nwith numerous seeds; it is green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown. It has a flavor\\nsomewhat similar to both banana and mango, varying significantly by cultivar, and has more\\nprotein than most fruits.\\nThe shelf life of the ripe fruit is almost non-existent; it ripens to the point of\\nfermentation soon after it is picked. Methods of preservation include dehydration, making\\nit into jams or jellies, or pressure canning by using the numerical values for bananas. In\\nsouthern West Virginia pawpaws are made into a native version of banana nut cake or fruit\\ncake, and baked inside canning jars, the lids heat-sealed to keep the food for at least a\\nyear.\\n * Bark: Light gray, sometimes blotched with lighter gray spots, sometimes covered with\\nsmall excrescences, divided by shallow fissures. Inner bark tough, fibrous. Branchlets\\nlight brown, tinged with red, marked by shallow grooves.\\n * Wood: Pale, greenish yellow, sapwood lighter; light, soft, coarse-grained and spongy.\\nSp. gr., 0.3969; weight of cu ft 24.74 lb.\\n * Winter buds: Small, brown, acuminate, hairy.\\n * Leaves: Alternate, simple, feather-veined, obovate-lanceolate, ten to twelve inches\\nlong, four to five broad, wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute at apex; midrib and primary\\nveins prominent. They come out of the bud conduplicate, green, covered with rusty tomentum\\nbeneath, hairy above; when full grown are smooth, dark green above, paler beneath. When\\ncrushed they have a scent similar to a green bell pepper. In autumn they are a rusty\\nyellow, which make spotting pawpaw groves possible from a long distance. Petioles short and\\nstout with a prominent adaxial groove. Stipules wanting.\\n * Flowers: April, with the leaves. Perfect, solitary, axillary, rich red purple, two\\ninches across, borne on stout, hairy peduncles. Ill smelling. The triloba refers to the\\nshape of the flower, which is not unlike a tricorner hat.\\n * Calyx: Sepals three, valvate in bud, ovate, acuminate, pale green, downy.\\n * Corolla: Petals six, in two rows, imbricate in the bud. Inner row acute, erect,\\nnectariferous. Outer row broadly ovate, reflexed at maturity. Petals at first are green,\\nthen brown, and finally become dull purple and conspicuously veiny.\\n * Stamens: Indefinite, densely packed on the globular receptacle. Filaments short;\\nanthers extrorse, two-celled, opening longitudinally.\\n * Pistils: Several, on the summit of the receptacle, projecting from the mass of\\nstamens. Ovary one-celled; stigma sessile; ovules many.\\n * Fruit: September, October.[1]\\nA red-purple, green, and white flower\\nAsimina reticulata\\n * Asimina angustifolia Raf. - Slimleaf Pawpaw. Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.\\n * Asimina incana (W. Bartram) Exell - Woolly Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\\n o Annona incana W. Bartram[2]\\n * Asimina obovata (Willd.) Nash - Bigflower Pawpaw. Florida.\\n o Annona obovata Willd.[3]\\n * Asimina parviflora (Michx.) Dunal - Smallflower Pawpaw. Southern states from Texas to\\nVirginia.\\n * Asimina pygmea (W. Bartram) Dunal - Dwarf Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\\n * Asimina reticulata Shuttlw. ex Chapman - Netted Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\\n * Asimina tetramera Small - Fourpetal Pawpaw. Florida (Endangered)\\n * Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal - Common Pawpaw. Extreme southern Ontario, Canada, and the\\neastern United States from New York west to southeast Nebraska, and south to northern\\nFlorida and eastern Texas.\\n o Annona triloba L.[4]\\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\\nAsimina triloba is often called prairie banana because of its banana-like creamy texture\\nand flavor.\\nThe pawpaw is native to shady, rich bottom lands, where it often forms a dense undergrowth\\nin the forest. Where it dominates a tract it appears as a thicket of small slender trees,\\nwhose great leaves are borne so close together at the ends of the branches, and which cover\\neach other so symmetrically, that the effect is to give a peculiar imbricated appearance to\\nthe tree.[1]\\nAlthough it is a delicious and nutritious fruit[citation needed], it has never been\\ncultivated on the scale of apples and peaches, primarily because only frozen fruit will\\nstore or ship well. It is also difficult to transplant because of fragile hairy root\\ntentacles that tend to break off unless a cluster of moist soil is retained on the root\\nmass. Cultivars are propagated by chip budding or whip grafting.\\nIn recent years the pawpaw has attracted renewed interest, particularly among organic\\ngrowers, as a native fruit which has few to no pests, and which therefore requires no\\npesticide use for cultivation. The shipping and storage problem has largely been addressed\\nby freezing. Among backyard gardeners it also is gaining in popularity because of the\\nappeal of fresh fruit and because it is relatively low maintenance once planted. The pulp\\nis used primarily in baked dessert recipes and for juicing fresh pawpaw drink or drink\\nmixtures (pawpaw, pineapple, banana, lime, lemon and orange tea mix). The pulp can also be\\nmade into a country wine. In many recipes calling for bananas, pawpaw can be used with\\nvolumetric equivalency.\\nThe commercial growing and harvesting of pawpaws is strong in southeast Ohio. The Ohio\\nPawpaw Growers' Association annually sponsors the Ohio Pawpaw Festival at Lake Snowden near\\nAlbany, Ohio.\\nPawpaw flowers are insect-pollinated, but fruit production is limited since few if any\\npollinators are attracted to the flower's faint, or sometimes non-existent scent. Those\\ninsects that are attracted are often scavenging fruit flies, carrion flies and beetles.\\nBecause of difficult pollination, some[who?] may believe the flowers are self-incompatible.\\nCross pollination of at least two different varieties of the plant is recommended. The\\nflowers produce an odor similar to that of rotting meat to attract blowflies or carrion\\nbeetles for cross pollination.[citation needed] Lack of pollination is the most common\\ncause of poor fruiting, and growers resort to hand pollination, spraying fish emulsion, or\\nto hanging chicken necks or other meat to attract pollinators. Several species of Asimina\\nare larval hosts for the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly.\\nThe leaves, twigs, and bark of the tree also contain natural insecticides known as\\nacetogenins, which can be used to make an organic pesticide.[5] Pawpaw fruit may be eaten\\nby foxes, opossums, squirrels and raccoons. However, pawpaw leaves and twigs are seldom\\nbothered by rabbits or deer.[6]\\nThis colonial tree has a strong tendency to form colonial thickets if left unchecked. It is\\nideal for creating a swift-growing habitat particularly in areas where frequent flooding\\ncan threaten erosion. The root systems are capable of holding streambanks steady, and grow\\nwell even in cold hollows with little exposure to winter sunlight.[citation needed]\\n[edit] History\\nThe earliest documentation of pawpaws is in the 1541 report of the de Soto expedition, who\\nfound Native Americans cultivating it east of the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark\\nExpedition sometimes subsisted on pawpaws during their travels. Chilled pawpaw fruit was a\\nfavorite dessert of George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson planted it at Monticello. The\\nOhio Pawpaw Growers' Association lobbied for the pawpaw to be the Ohio state native fruit\\nin 2006; this was made official in 2009.[\\n \\nCudrania tricuspidata Bur. ex Lavallee\\nMoraceae\\nCommon Names: Che, Chinese Che, Chinese Mulberry, Cudrang, Mandarin Melon Berry, Silkworm\\nThorn.\\nDistant Affinity: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), Jackfruit (A. heterophyllus), Fig (Ficus\\nspp.), Mulberry (Morus spp.), African Breadfruit (Treculis africana).\\nOrigin: The che is native to many parts of eastern Asia from the Shantung and Kiangson\\nProvinces of China to the Nepalese sub-Himalayas. It became naturalized in Japan many years\\nago. In China, the leaves of the che serve as a backup food for silkworms when mulberry\\nleaves are in short supply. The tree was introduced into England and other parts of Europe\\naround 1872, and into the U.S. around 1930.\\nAdaptation: The che requires minimal care and has a tolerance of drought and poor soils\\nsimilar to that of the related mulberry. It can be grown in most parts of California and\\nother parts of the country, withstanding temperatures of -20° F.\\nDESCRIPTION\\nGrowth Habit: The deciduous trees can eventually grow to about 25 ft. in height, but often\\nremains a broad, spreading bush or small tree if not otherwise trained when they are young.\\nImmature wood is thorny but loses its thorns as it matures. Female trees are larger and\\nmore robust than male trees.\\nFoliage: The alternate leaves resemble those of the mulberry, but are smaller and thinner\\nand pale yellowish-green in color. The typical form is distinctly trilobate, with the\\ncentral lobe sometimes twice as long as the lateral ones, but frequently unlobed leaves of\\nvaried outlines are also found on the same plant. As the plant grows, the tendency seems\\ntowards larger and entire leaves, with at the most indistinct or irregular lobing. The\\ngeneral form of the leaves comprise many variations between oblong and lanceolate. The che\\nleafs and blooms late in spring--after apples.\\nFlowers: The che is dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants. Appearing\\nin June, both types of flowers are green and pea-sized. The male flowers turn yellow as the\\npollen ripens and is released, while the wind-pollinated female flowers develop many small\\nstigmas over the surface of the immature fruit. Male plants occasionally have a few female\\nflowers which will set fruit.\\nFruit: Like the related mulberry, the che fruit is not a berry but a collective fruit, in\\nappearance somewhat like a round mulberry crossed with a lychee, 1 to 2 inches in diameter.\\nThe ripe fruits are an attractive red or maroon-red color with a juicy, rich red flesh\\ninside and 3 to 6 small brown seeds per fruit. The flavor is quite unlike the vinous\\nquality of better mulberries. While still firm they are almost tasteless, but when fully\\nsoft ripe they develop a watermelon-like flavor that can be quite delicious. The sugar\\ncontent is similar to that of a ripe fig. In colder areas with early leaf drop the bright\\nred fruit are an attractive sight dangling from smooth, leafless branches.\\nCULTURE\\nLocation: Ches need a warm, sunny location. They should not be planted near sidewalks since\\nthe fallen fruit will stain. Like the mulberry, the trees are quite wind-resistant. One\\nmethod of planting is to put a male and a female plant in a single site, about 1 ft. apart,\\nand prune to a combined volume of approximately 25% male and 75% female.\\nSoil: The trees are relatively undemanding, but perform best in a warm, well-drained soil,\\nideally a deep loam.\\nIrrigation: Although somewhat drought-resistant, ches need to be watered in dry seasons. In\\nsummer dry California a deep watering about every two weeks is recommended. If the roots\\nbecome too dry during drought, the plant may began to defoliate and the unripe fruit is\\nlikely to drop.\\nFertilization: An annual application of a balanced fertilizer such as 10:10:10 NPK in late\\nspring will maintain satisfactory growth. Nitrogen is the only element likely to be needed\\nin California.\\nPruning: The trees need regular pruning to control their shape. The branches formed the\\nprevious season should be pruned to half their length. The branchlets on the remaining part\\nof the branches should also be trimmed about 50%. A summer pruning of the male plant is\\nalso necessary when planted in a single site with the female. To grow as a tree, in\\naddition to pruning the lateral branches, the leading branch may also need to be staked to\\npoint it in a vertical direction. Trees grafted onto Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)\\nrootstock tend to be more robust and grow in a more upright fashion.\\nPropagation: The che is readily grown from seed, although the plants can take up to 10\\nyears to bear. Seeds should be sown as soon as extracted from the fruit. The plants are\\noften propagated from softwood cuttings taken in midsummer and treated with rooting\\nhormone. The che is also easily grafted to Osage orange rootstock using either a cleft or\\nwhip-and-tongue graft.\\nPests and Diseases: No pests or diseases have been noted. The ripe fruit is attractive to\\nbirds, and deer will browse on both the fruit and foliage.\\nHarvest: Ches begin to bear at an early age and mature trees can produce as much as 400\\npounds of fruit. The fruits ripen around November in California. Unlike mulberries, the\\nripe fruits do not separate easily from the tree and must be individually picked. It is\\nimportant that the fruits be thoroughly ripe to be at their best. A darker shade of red\\nwith some blackening of the skin is a good indication of full ripeness. The fruit will keep\\nfor several days in a refrigerator in a covered dish. The fruits can be eaten out of hand\\nor cooked in various ways. Cooking with other fruits that can contribute some tartness\\nimproves the taste. Mixing the ripe fruit in a blender and straining out the seeds yields a\\nbeautiful and delicious che \\\"nectar\\\".\\nCommercial Potential: In China and other parts of East Asia the fruit is sometimes found in\\nlocal markets, but is relatively unknown commercially elsewhere. The attractive color and\\nreasonable shelf life of the che seem to indicate that with a little effort, there could be\\na niche for it in farmer's markets and specialty stores. There also appears to be some\\ndemand for the fruit in Asian markets. Better selection should further increase the\\nmarketing potential of the che. A seedless fruit or one with with a bit of tartness would\\nbe a great improvement, as would earlier ripening cultivars that separate readily from the\\nbranches.\\nGOUMI (Eleagnus multiflora) This fast-growing shrub has many excellent qualities aside from\\nits small red fruit called goumi berries. Light, lilac-scented flowers appear in April or\\nMay, developing into small fruit that can be eaten raw or cooked. The fruit is astringent\\nuntil ripe, but can be made into pies and jams if picked a little early. Goumi berries are\\na rich source of vitamins A, C amd E and are under investigation as anti-cancer agents. The\\ndeciduous bush can grow in almost any well-drained soil (including by the seaside) and\\ntolerates drought and pollution. Fixes nitrogen and can increase fruit yields when\\ninterplanted in your orchard. Self fertile. Zones 7-9\\nSWEET SCARLET GOUMI (Eleagnus multiflora) Wouldn't you love to have a smallish (4-6ft.)\\nshrub that is self-fertile and produces fragrant creamy white flowers in May followed by\\ntasty (and nutritious) little red berries the size of small pie cherries? Goumi fruit is\\ndelicious fresh, dried, or in a pie or jam. Scarlet Sweet is a Ukrainian variety. This easy\\nlittle shrub adapts well to any well-drained site in at least a half-day of sun, and it's\\nnot bothered by pests or diseases. In addition, it's actually a nitrogen-fixing plant,\\nmeaning it requires little fertilizer and makes a beneficial companion to other nearby\\nfruiting plants. Bees love the flowers too! Goumi is also highly valued as a medicinal\\nplant for many purposes. Begins bearing young, at 2-3 years. Zones 4-7.\\n \\n Wolfberry, commercially called goji berry,\\nis the common name for the fruit of two very closely related species: Lycium barbarum\\n(Chinese: 寧夏枸杞; pinyin: Níngxià gǒuqǐ) and L. chinense (Chinese: 枸杞; pinyin: gǒuqǐ), two\\nspecies of boxthorn in the family Solanaceae (which also includes the potato, tomato,\\neggplant, deadly nightshade, chili pepper, and tobacco). It is native to southeastern\\nEurope and Asia.[1]\\nIt is also known as Chinese wolfberry, mede berry, barbary matrimony vine, bocksdorn, Duke\\nof Argyll's tea tree, Murali (in India),[2] red medlar, or matrimony vine.[3] Unrelated to\\nthe plant's geographic origin, the names Tibetan goji and Himalayan goji are in common use\\nin the health food market for products from this plant.\\nContents\\n This section does not cite any references or sources.\\nPlease help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced\\nmaterial may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)\\nLycium barbarum illustration from Flora von Deutschland, by Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé,\\nÖsterreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany.\\nWolfberry species are deciduous woody perennial plants, growing 1–3 m high. L. chinense is\\ngrown in the south of China and tends to be somewhat shorter, while L. barbarum is grown in\\nthe north, primarily in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and tends to be somewhat taller.\\n[edit] Leaves and flower\\nWolfberry leaves and flower\\nWolfberry leaves form on the shoot either in an alternating arrangement or in bundles of up\\nto three, each having a shape that is either lanceolate (shaped like a spearhead longer\\nthan it is wide) or ovate (egg-like). Leaf dimensions are 7-cm wide by 3.5-cm broad with\\nblunted or round tips.\\nThe flowers grow in groups of one to three in the leaf axils. The calyx (eventually\\nruptured by the growing berry) consists of bell-shaped or tubular sepals forming short,\\ntriangular lobes. The corolla are lavender or light purple, 9–14 mm wide with five or six\\nlobes shorter than the tube. The stamens are structured with filaments longer than the\\nanthers. The anthers are longitudinally dehiscent.\\nIn the northern hemisphere, flowering occurs from June through September and berry\\nmaturation from August to October, depending on the latitude, altitude, and climate.\\n[edit] Fruit\\nThese species produce a bright orange-red, ellipsoid berry 1–2-cm deep. The number of seeds\\nin each berry varies widely based on cultivar and fruit size, containing anywhere between\\n10–60 tiny yellow seeds that are compressed with a curved embryo. The berries ripen from\\nJuly to October in the northern hemisphere.\\n[edit] Etymology\\n\\\"Wolfberry\\\" is the most commonly used English name[citation needed], while gǒuqǐ (枸杞) is\\nthe Chinese name for the berry producing plant. In Chinese, the berries themselves are\\ncalled gǒuqǐzi (枸杞子), with zi meaning \\\"seed\\\" or specifically \\\"berry\\\". Other common names\\nare \\\"the Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree\\\"[3] and \\\"matrimony vine\\\".[3] Rarely, wolfberry is also\\nknown in pharmacological references as Lycii fructus, meaning \\\"Lycium fruit\\\" in Latin.\\nThe origin of the common name \\\"wolfberry\\\" is unknown, perhaps resulting from confusion over\\nthe genus name, which resembles \\\"lycos\\\", the Greek word for wolf. In the English-speaking\\nworld, \\\"goji berry\\\" has been used since the early 21st century as a synonym for\\n\\\"wolfberry\\\". The word \\\"goji\\\" is pronunciation of gǒuqǐ in Taiwanese Hokkien, the Mandarin\\nname of the plant, developed by those marketing wolfberry products in the West.\\nLycium, the genus name, is derived from the ancient southern Anatolian region of Lycia\\n(Λυκία).[4] L. chinense was first described by the Scottish botanist Philip Miller in the\\neighth edition of his The Gardener's Dictionary, published in 1768.\\nIn Japan the plant is known as kuko (クコ) and the fruits are called kuko no mi (クコ の 実) or\\nkuko no kajitsu (クコ の 果 実); in Korea the berries are known as gugija (hangul: 구기자; hanja: 枸\\n杞子)[13]; in Vietnam the fruit is called \\\"kỷ tử\\\" (杞子), \\\"cẩu kỷ\\\" (枸杞), \\\"cẩu kỷ tử\\\"(枸杞子) but\\nthe plant and its leaves are known more popularly as \\\"củ khởi\\\"; and in Thailand the plant\\nis called găo gèe (เก๋ากี้). In Tibetan the plant is called dretsherma\\n(Tibetwolfberryspelling.png), with dre meaning \\\"ghost\\\" and tsherma meaning \\\"thorn\\\"; and the\\nname of the fruit is dretshermǟ dräwu (Wolfberrytibetanname.png), with dräwu meaning\\n\\\"fruit\\\".[citation needed]\\nSince the early 21st century in the United States and other such developed countries, there\\nhas been rapidly growing attention for wolfberries for their nutrient value and antioxidant\\ncontent, leading to a profusion of consumer products. Such rapid commercial development\\nextends from wolfberry having a high ranking among superfruits[5] expected to be part of a\\nmulti-billion dollar market by 2011.[6][7]\\n[edit] Cultivation\\nThe majority of commercially produced wolfberries come from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous\\nRegion of north-central China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China,\\nwhere they are grown on plantations. In Zhongning County, Ningxia, wolfberry plantations\\ntypically range between 100 and 1000 acres (or 500–6000 mu) in area. As of 2005, over 10\\nmillion mu have been planted with wolfberries in Ningxia.[8]\\nCultivated along the fertile aggradational floodplains of the Yellow River for more than\\n600 years, Ningxia wolfberries have earned a reputation throughout Asia for premium quality\\nsometimes described commercially as \\\"red diamonds\\\".[9] Government releases of annual\\nwolfberry production, premium fruit grades, and export are based on yields from Ningxia,\\nthe region recognized with\\n * The largest annual harvest in China, accounting for 42% (13 million kg, 2001) of the\\nnation's total yield of wolfberries, estimated at approximately 33 million kg (72 million\\nlb) in 2001.\\n * Formation of an industrial association of growers, processors, marketers, and\\nscholars of wolfberry cultivation to promote the berry's commercial and export potential.\\n * The nation's only source of therapeutic grade (\\\"superior-grade\\\") wolfberries used by\\npractitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.[10]\\nIn addition, commercial volumes of wolfberries grow in the Chinese regions of Inner\\nMongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei. When ripe, the oblong, red berries\\nare tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the vine into trays to avoid\\nspoiling. The fruits are preserved by drying them in full sun on open trays or by\\nmechanical dehydration employing a progressively increasing series of heat exposure over 48\\nhours.\\nWolfberries are celebrated each August in Ningxia with an annual festival coinciding with\\nthe berry harvest.[8] Originally held in Ningxia's capital, Yinchuan, the festival has been\\nbased since 2000 in Zhongning County, an important center of wolfberry cultivation for the\\nregion.[8] As Ningxia's borders merge with three deserts, wolfberries are also planted to\\ncontrol erosion and reclaim irrigable soils from desertification.[11]\\nChina, the main supplier of wolfberry products in the world, had total exports generating\\nUS$120 million in 2004. This production derived from 82,000 hectares farmed nationwide,\\nyielding 95,000 tons of wolfberries.[9]\\n[edit] Pesticide and fungicide use\\nOrganochlorine pesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation to\\nmitigate destruction of the delicate berries by insects. Since the early 21st century, high\\nlevels of insecticide residues (including fenvalerate, cypermethrin, and acetamiprid) and\\nfungicide residues (such as triadimenol and isoprothiolane), have been detected by the\\nUnited States Food and Drug Administration in some imported wolfberries and wolfberry\\nproducts of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[12][13]\\nChina's Green Food Standard, administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's China\\nGreen Food Development Center, does permit some amount of pesticide and herbicide\\nuse.[14][15][16] Agriculture in the Tibetan plateau (where many \\\"Himalayan\\\" or\\n\\\"Tibetan\\\"-branded berries originate) conventionally uses fertilizers and pesticides, making\\norganic claims for berries originating here dubious.[17]\\n[edit] United Kingdom\\nThe Duke of Argyll introduced the plant into the United Kingdom in the 1730s where it is\\nknown as Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree. It was and still is used for hedging, especially in\\ncoastal districts. Its red berries are attractive to a wide variety of British birds.[18]\\nThe plant continues to grow wild in UK hedgerows. On 15 January 2003, the Department for\\nEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a project to improve the regulations\\nprotecting traditional countryside hedgerows, and specifically mentioned Duke of Argyll's\\nTea Tree as one of the species to be found growing in hedges located in Suffolk Sandlings,\\nHadleigh, Bawdsey, near Ipswich, and Walberswick.[19]\\nThe wolfberry has been naturalized as an ornamental and edible plant in the UK for nearly\\n300 years. On June 18, 2007, the FSA (UK Food Standards Agency) stated that there was a\\nsignificant history of the fruit being consumed in Europe before 1997, and has removed it\\nfrom the Novel Foods list.[20] It is now legal to sell the wolfberry in the UK as a food as\\nreported by the British Food Standards Agency.[21](also see discussion below, Marketing\\nclaims under scrutiny in Europe).\\n[edit] Importation of mature plants\\nImportation of wolfberry plants into the United Kingdom from most countries outside Europe\\nis illegal, due to the possibility that as an introduced species they could be vectors of\\ndiseases attacking Solanaceae crops, such as potato or tomato.[22]\\n[edit] Uses\\nDried wolfberries\\nWolfberries are almost never found in their fresh form outside of their production regions,\\nand are usually sold in open boxes and small packages in dried form. The amount of\\ndesiccation varies in wolfberries: some are soft and somewhat tacky in the manner of\\nraisins, while others may be very hard.\\n[edit] Culinary\\nAs a food, dried wolfberries are traditionally cooked before consumption. Dried wolfberries\\nare often added to rice congee and almond jelly, as well as used in Chinese tonic soups, in\\ncombination with chicken or pork, vegetables, and other herbs such as wild yam, Astragalus\\nmembranaceus, Codonopsis pilosula, and licorice root. The berries are also boiled as an\\nherbal tea, often along with chrysanthemum flowers and/or red jujubes, or with tea,\\nparticularly pu-erh tea,[citation needed] and packaged teas are also available.\\nVarious wines containing wolfberries (called gǒuqǐ jiǔ; 枸杞酒) are also produced,[23][24]\\nincluding some that are a blend of grape wine and wolfberries.\\nAt least one Chinese company also produces wolfberry beer, and New Belgium Brewery makes\\ntheir seasonal Springboard ale with wolfberries used as flavoring. Since the early 21st\\ncentury, an instant coffee product containing wolfberry extract has been produced in China.\\nYoung wolfberry shoots and leaves are also grown commercially as a leaf\\nvegetable.photorecipe\\nMarketing literature for wolfberry products including several \\\"goji juices\\\" suggest that\\nwolfberry polysaccharides have extensive biological effects and health benefits, although\\nnone of these claims have been supported by peer-reviewed research.\\nA May 2008 clinical study published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and\\nComplementary Medicine indicated that parametric data, including body weight, did not show\\nsignificant differences between subjects receiving Lycium barbarum berry juice and subjects\\nreceiving the placebo; the study concluded that subjective measures of health were improved\\nand suggested further research in humans was necessary.[25] This study, however, was\\nsubject to a variety of criticisms concerning its experimental design and\\ninterpretations.[26]\\nPublished studies have also reported possible medicinal benefits of Lycium barbarum,\\nespecially due to its antioxidant properties,[27] including potential benefits against\\ncardiovascular and inflammatory diseases,[28][29] vision-related diseases[30] (such as\\nage-related macular degeneration and glaucoma[31]), having neuroprotective properties[32]\\nor as an anticancer[33] and immunomodulatory agent.[34]\\nWolfberry leaves may be used to make tea,[35] together with Lycium root bark (called\\ndìgǔpí; 地 骨 皮 in Chinese), for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A glucopyranoside\\n(namely (+)-Lyoniresinol-3α-O-β-d-glucopyranoside) and phenolic amides\\n(dihydro-N-caffeoyltyramine, trans-N-feruloyloctopamine, trans-N-caffeoyltyramine and\\ncis-N-caffeoyltyramine) isolated from wolfberry root bark have inhibitory activity in vitro\\nagainst human pathogenic bacteria and fungi.[36][37]\\n[edit] Safety issues\\nTwo published case reports described elderly women who experienced increased bleeding,\\nexpressed as an elevated INR, after drinking quantities of wolfberry tea.[38][39] Further\\nin vitro testing revealed that the tea inhibited warfarin metabolism, providing evidence\\nfor possible interaction between warfarin and undefined wolfberry phytochemicals.[38]\\nAtropine, a toxic alkaloid found in other members of the Solanaceae family, occurs\\nnaturally in wolfberry fruit. The atropine concentrations of berries from China and\\nThailand are variable, with a maximum content of 19 ppb, below the likely toxic amount.[40]\\n[edit] Nutrient content\\nWolfberry contains significant percentages of a day's macronutrient needs – carbohydrates,\\nprotein, fat and dietary fiber. About 68% of the mass of dried wolfberries exists as\\ncarbohydrate, 12% as protein, and 10% each as fiber and fat, giving a total caloric value\\nin a 100 gram serving of 370 (kilo)calories.\\n[edit] Micronutrients and phytochemicals\\nWolfberries contain many nutrients and phytochemicals including\\n * 11 essential and 22 trace dietary minerals\\n * 18 amino acids\\n * 8 polysaccharides and 6 monosaccharides\\n * 5 unsaturated fatty acids, including the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and\\nalpha-linolenic acid\\n * 5 carotenoids, including beta-carotene and zeaxanthin (below), lutein, lycopene and\\ncryptoxanthin, a xanthophyll\\n * numerous phenolic pigments (phenols) associated with antioxidant properties\\nSelect examples given below are for 100 grams of dried berries.\\n * Calcium. Wolfberries contain 112 mg per 100 gram serving, providing about 8-10% of\\nthe Dietary Reference Intake (DRI).\\n * Potassium. Wolfberries contain 1,132 mg per 100 grams dried fruit, giving about 24%\\nof the DRI.\\n * Iron. Wolfberries have 9 mg iron per 100 grams (100% DRI).\\n * Zinc. 2 mg per 100 grams dried fruit (18% DRI).\\n * Selenium. 100 grams of dried wolfberries contain 50 micrograms (91% DRI)\\n * Riboflavin (vitamin B2). At 1.3 mg, 100 grams of dried wolfberries provide 100% of\\nDRI.\\n * Vitamin C. Vitamin C content in dried wolfberries has a wide range (from different\\nsources[citation needed]) from 29 mg per 100 grams to as high as 148 mg per 100 grams\\n(respectively, 32% and 163% DRI).\\nWolfberries also contain numerous phytochemicals for which there are no established DRI\\nvalues. Examples:\\n * Beta-carotene: 7 mg per 100 grams dried fruit.\\n * Zeaxanthin. Reported values for zeaxanthin content in dried wolfberries vary\\nconsiderably, from 2.4 mg per 100 grams [41] to 82.4 mg per 100 grams [42] to 200 mg per\\n100 grams.[43] The higher values would make wolfberry one of the richest edible plant\\nsources known for zeaxanthin content.[44] Up to 77% of total carotenoids present in\\nwolfberry exist as zeaxanthin.[45]\\n * Polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are a major constituent of wolfberries, representing\\nup to 31% of pulp weight.\\n[edit] Wolfberry polysaccharides\\nOne study[46] published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that:\\n * Endogenous lipid peroxidation, and decreased antioxidant activities, as assessed by\\nsuperoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total\\nantioxidant capacity (TAOC), and immune function were observed in aged mice and restored to\\nnormal levels in Lycium polysaccharide-treated groups. Antioxidant activities of Lycium\\nbarbarum polysaccharides were found to be comparable with normal antioxidant, vitamin C.\\nFurthemore, adding vitamin C to the polysaccharide treatment further increased in vivo\\nantioxidant activity of the polysaccharides.\",\n \"Spirits Glossary - Big Red Liquors\\nSpirits Glossary; Store Locator; ... Originally referring to wine, ... Liqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, ...\\n» Spirits Glossary\\nSpirits Glossary\\nThe Grape & Food\\nSpirits Glossary\\nFrom Amarula African Crème to Zaya Rum, you will find almost 1,500 varieties of spirits in Big Red locations. Regardless of whether you are seeking the ultimate $2,000 bottle of Cognac or need an inexpensive Vodka for the punch at a holiday party, you will find it at Big Red Liquors!\\nBecause of our enormous purchasing power and solid belief in providing our customers with reasonable prices, you will find many of our spirits priced from 10 to 25% below the competition. These are not just “sale” items, but Big Red’s everyday low prices. Many of our brands come from difficult to locate sources that are not in every corner store and Big Red’s size also allows us to be one of the first in bringing new and exciting brands to market in our area.\\nMany Big Red employees are specialists in one or more types of spirits and you will find managers with an incredible depth of knowledge in areas such as Scotch, Bourbon, Cognac, Vodka and others. We are happy to help – it is our passion!\\nAbsinthe: A once illegal anise based aperitif drink with an infusion of wormwood, considered by some to be hallucinogenic and dangerous. Brands now available are made without all of the dangerous ingredients.\\nAllspice: A ground spice made from an unripe berry with an aroma reminiscent of a cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg blend.\\nAmaretto: Almond flavored liqueur.\\nAmaretto di Saronno: Italian amaretto produced since 1525. Originally created by a widow as a gift to an artist of the Leonardo da Vinci School of Art.\\nAngostura Bitters: Aromatic bitters originating in Angostura, Venezuela; now produced in Trinidad.\\nAnisette: A licorice tasting liqueur made from the anise seed.\\nAperitif: Originally referring to wine, but now may mean any liquor taken to stimulate the appetite before a meal.\\nApricot Brandy: Apricot flavored brandy.\\nApplejack: North American name for apple brandy.\\nAquavit: Scandinavian grain spirit, usually flavored with caraway and anise.\\nArmagnac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the city of Condom, France.\\nBenedictine: An herb flavored liqueur produced by the Benedictine monks of France.\\nBitters: A non-alcoholic aromatic combination of herbs, fruits, roots, barks, seeds, and flowers steeped in an alcohol base and then aged. (See Peychauds and Angostura.)\\nBlack Raspberry Liqueur: A black raspberry flavored liqueur. (See Chambord.)\\nBlended straight whiskey: A blend consisting of only straight whiskeys.\\nBlended whiskey: A blending of straight whiskeys with either light-bodied whiskeys or with neutral alcohols.\\nBlue Curacao: Blue colored Dutch West Indian Curacao orange liqueur. Produced in Holland.\\nBottled-in-bond whiskey: At least a 100 proof straight bourbon whiskey that has aged two or more years in a bonded warehouse kept under federal lock and key. All bottled-in-bond whiskey bears a green government stamp.\\nBourbon Whiskey: American whiskey made by using at least 51% corn grain mash in a wheat, oats, rye, and barley combination.\\nBrandy: A product of the distillation of wine, or fruit in the case of flavored brandies such as peach or cherry. Cognac and Armagnac are special varieties made from grapes grown in specific areas of France.\\nCachaca: A Brazilian sugar cane based spirit similar to rum.\\nCalvados: French apple brandy from Normandy.\\nCampari: An Italian brand of bitter aperitif wine.\\nCanadian Whiskey: A light-bodied whiskey balanced so that no one particular mash ingredient is allowed to dominate the flavor.\\nChambord: A black raspberry flavored liqueur produced in Burgundy, France.\\nChartreuse: Yellow and green herbal liqueurs made only by the Carthusian monks of La Grande Chartreuse, France. Produced since 1605 from a secret recipe consisting of over 100 alpine herbs.\\nCoco Lopez: A sweet, syrupy, coconut based drink mixer. Non Alcoholic.\\nCoffee Liqueur: Coffee flavored liqueur.\\nCognac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the cities of Cognac and Jarnac.\\nCointreau: A French made, bitter-sweet orange flavored liqueur. Produced by the Cointreau family since 1849.\\nCordial: A strong, highly flavored and sweet liquor typically consumed after a meal.\\nCorn whiskey: A whiskey made from a mash of at least 80% corn. May or may not be aged.\\nCrème: A thick and concentrated infusion of fruit in neutral grain spirits. Commonly made from Cassis, Frambois, but can be from any fruit or nut source.\\nCrème de Banana: Banana flavored liqueur.\\nCrème de Cacao: A white or brown colored liqueur made from cocoa beans, vanilla and spices.\\nCrème de Cassis: A French liqueur made from black currants.\\nCrème de Menthe: A red, green, or white colored, peppermint flavored liqueur.\\nCrème de Framboise: Raspberry-flavored liqueur.\\nCrème de Violette: Violet-flavored liqueur.\\nCuracao: Orange-flavored liqueur, produced mainly in France and the Netherlands, but originating from the Caribbean; an orange flavored liqueur made from the peels of oranges grown on the island of Curacao, in the West Indies.\\nDigestif: A liquor consumed at or after a meal to aid in digestion.\\nDrambuie: A Scotch based, honey flavored liqueur first produced in Skye, Scotland in 1745, now produced in Edinburgh.\\nDry Vermouth: French made, herb flavored wine that is used in making drinks such as the Martini and Manhattan.\\nDubonnet: A French brand of aperitif wine made from aromatics.\\nEverclear: In the United States, Everclear is a brand of grain alcohol (ethanol), available at concentrations of 95% alcohol (190 proof) and 75.5% (151 proof).\\nEau de Vie: Eau-de-vie (plural eaux-de-vie) is a French term for a colorless brandy, derived from one or more fruits. Literally translated it means “water of life”.\\nFernet Branca: A bitter, aromatic spirit made from over 40 herbs and spices.\\nFlips: A combination of eggnog and fizz, made with liqueur, egg, sugar and shaved ice.\\nFrangelico: An Italian liqueur made with wild hazelnuts, berries and flowers.\\nFrappe: Any mixture of liqueurs over finely crushed ice.\\nGalliano: A yellow herb and spice liqueur made in Solaro, Italy.\\nGin: A neutral alcohol base flavored with the juniper berry.\\nGrain Neutral Spirits: Alcohol distilled from grain at 190 proof. Used in blended whiskeys and for making vodka, gin and other liquors.\\nGrand Marnier: A cognac brandy based liqueur flavored with orange.\\nGrappa: An Italian brandy distilled from the pulp of grapes used in winemaking.\\nGrenadine: A non-alcoholic cherry flavoring used in a variety of drinks such as the Sling or the Shirley Temple.\\nIrish whiskey: A whiskey whose flavor is obtained from the malted barley component of its mash, made in Ireland.\\nJigger: also called a shot, a small glass used to measure liquor.\\nJulep: Originally a sweet syrup, now a family of spirit-based cocktails, flavored and decorated with fresh mint.\\nKahlua: A coffee flavored liqueur made in sunny Mexico.\\nKirshwasser: Colorless, cherry-flavored eau-de-vie, mainly from France and Switzerland.\\nKummel: Colorless Dutch liqueur, flavored with caraway.\\nLillet: French herb-flavored liqueur, based on wine and Armagnac.\\nLimoncello: A distinctive, premium liqueur made with the juice of fresh lemons from Southern Italy.\\nLiqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, herbs, coffee, nuts, mint and chocolate.\\nLondon gin: The driest gin available.\\nMadeira: Fortified wine from the Portuguese island of the same name.\\nMandarin Napoleon: Belgian, brandy-based liqueur flavored with tangerines.\\nMaraschino: Italian, cherry-flavored liqueur – usually colorless, but may be red.\\nMelon liqueur: Spirit-based, melon-flavored liqueur, (See Midori).\\nMezcal: Spirit similar to tequila made from one of five permissible Agave plants. Most is made in the state of Oaxaca, but it can be produced elsewhere. The worm found in the bottom of the bottle in some brands originated in the 1940’s as a marketing ploy.\\nMidori: A green colored, melon flavored liqueur made in Japan.\\nMirabelle: Plum eau-de-vie, or colorless brandy.\\nMonte Alban: A Mezcal named after an Aztec mountain-top settlement in Oaxaca, Mexico where Mezcal has been produced since the mid 1500’s. True Oaxacan mezcal has an agave cactus worm in each bottle.\\nMuddle: To mash or crush ingredients with a spoon or muddler.\\nNeat: A term referring to liquor that is consumed undiluted by ice, water or mixers.\\nNocello Walnut: Nocello, from the Emeligia-Romagna region of Italy is a walnut flavored liqueur.\\nOuzo: An unsweetened anise-flavored liqueur made in Greece since 1888.\\nPastis: Anise based aperitif, turns cloudy with water, Often known by the brand names Pernod, Ricard or Mon Pastis.\\nPeter Heering Cherry Liqueur: A world renowned cherry flavored liqueur. Produced since 1818 in Copenhagen, Denmark.\\nPeychaud Bitters: Originally created in 1830 by Antoine Peychaud in Haiti, now produced in New Orleans by the Sazerac Company.\\nPimms: Pimm’s No. 1 is a gin-based liquor made in England from dry gin, liqueur, fruit juices and spices.\\nPisco: A Peruvian grape based brandy, often used to make a Pisco Sour.\\nPousse-Café: A drink poured in layers to float on top of one another, which gives its name to a narrow, straight-sided stemmed glass.\\nPrisonniere: Literally “prisoner”. When an apple or pear is grown inside a bottle which is then filled with either Calvados or Poire William.\\nProof: An American system for measuring alcohol content by volume. 80 proof equals 40% alcohol by volume (ABV).\\nRickey: A spirit-based cocktail including lemon or lime juice and soda water.\\nRoses: A sweetened West Indian lime juice produced in St. Albans, England. Non-Alcoholic.\\nRum: Spirit made from the fermentation and distillation of sugar cane. Light, medium, and heavy bodied flavor variations exist as do variations in color when not clear. Often flavored with spices or fruit flavors.\\nRye whiskey: Mainly American and Canadian whiskey which must be made from a mash containing at least 51 percent rye.\\nSake: Japanese rice wine, may be served warm or chilled.\\nSambuca: Italian, anise flavored liqueur often served flaming with coffee beans.\\nSchnapps: A peppermint flavored liqueur. Many flavored varieties of peppermint schnapps exist, such as root beer or peach; all have peppermint as the base flavoring.\\nScotch Whisky: Blends are a mixture of about 40 percent malt and 60 percent grain whiskey and single malts are 100% from a single distillery.\\nSlivovitz: A Croatian version of plum brandy.\\nSloe Gin: Liqueur made by steeping sloe berries in gin – previously homemade but now available commercially.\\nSour: A spirit-based cocktail containing sugar, and lemon or lime juice.\\nSour Mash Whiskey: A broad category of whiskey where a portion of old mash is mixed in with new to help advance the character and smoothness of the flavor.\\nStraight Whiskey: A whiskey that is distilled and then aged at least two years without blending.\\nStrega: Italian, herb-flavored liqueur made with over 50 botanicals and colored with saffron.\\nSugar syrup: A sweetener for cocktails, made by dissolving sugar in boiling water.\\nSweet Vermouth: An Italian made, herb flavored wine. Used in making drinks such as Rob Roy’s and Manhattans.\\nTequila: Mexican spirit distilled from the blue agave plant, a succulent. Tequila can only be made in the state of Jalisco. Generally available in three categories: Blanco (no wood aging), Reposado and Anejo.\\nTia Maria: Popular, Jamaican rum-based coffee liqueur.\\nTriple sec: Colorless, orange-flavored liqueur.\\nVermouth: Wine-based aperitif flavored with extracts of wormwood – both sweet and dry vermouths are widely used in cocktails.\\nVodka: Colorless, grain-based spirit, originally from Russia and Poland. Now made from virtually any grain, many fruits and potatoes as well and available in dozens of flavors.\\nWhiskey: Spirit distilled from grain in either Ireland or North America. Corn, rye and barley are all used.\\nWhisky: A spirit from Scotland traditionally distilled from grain in the lowlands and barley in the rest of the country. Also known as Scotch Whisky.\",\n \"Culinary Dictionary - A, Food Dictionary, Whats Cooking ...\\nToday the term means according to the menu and that which is written down as available on the menu. ... meaning they only have one shell, ... au poivre (pwa-vra) ...\\nCulinary Dictionary - A, Food Dictionary, Whats Cooking America\\nCulinary Dictionary\\nLinda’s Culinary Dictionary – A\\nA Dictionary of Cooking, Food, and Beverage Terms\\n \\nAn outstanding and large culinary dictionary and glossary that includes the definitions and history of cooking, food, and beverage terms.\\nPlease click on a letter below to alphabetically search the many food and cooking terms:\\n \\nA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U-Y Z\\n.\\na la (ah lah) – It is French for “in the manner of,” “in the style of,” and “according to” In cooking, this phrase designates the style of preparation or a particular garnish. There is no difference between dishes listed as “a la boulangere” and “boulangere.” Many menus drop the “a la” because it is implied.\\na la Anglaise (ah-la-an-glaz) – It is a French term for English. It refers to food which has been dipped in beaten egg, and then coated with bread crumbs and cooked in butter and oil.\\na la boulangere (boo-lan-jair) – Describes a simple dish of stock, potatoes, and onions. “Boulangere” is French for “baker.” In history in France, many homes did not have an oven, so anything to be baked was taken to a local baker to be cooked in his oven.\\na la Broche – Prepared on a skewer over a flame. Also called Brochettes.\\na la Carte (KART) – “Carte” was originally a French term for a piece of paper or cardboard and later a bill of fare or menu. Today the term means according to the menu and that which is written down as available on the menu. Refers to meal in which the diner selects individual items, paying for each, rather than taking a complete meal at a fixed price.\\na la Creole – Dishes prepared with tomatoes, green peppers and onions as the main ingredients.\\na la Diable (ah-la-dee-abla) – “Diable” is French for the devil or satan. The term means food served deviled or in the devil’s style, usually served with a very sharp and hot seasoning.\\na la King – Prepared with a Bechamel sauce containing mushrooms, green peppers, and red or pimento peppers.\\na la Lyonnaise (ah-la-lee-on-az) – In French the term means with onions or served with Lyonnaise sauce, which is made from onions, white wine, and a meat glaze.\\na la Maitre d’Hotel – Prepared with a sauce of lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and drawn butter.\\na la Marinera (ah-la-mah-ree-neh-rah) – Common style of cooking in Spanish cuisine, It says that the food is cooked with white wine, onions and sometimes tomatoes.\\na la mode (ah lah MODH) – A French word for “in the manner of” or “mode or according to fashion.” Desserts a la mode are served with ice cream. Meats cooked a la mode are braised with vegetables and served with gravy.\\na la Nage – A French term that literally means “in the swim” and refers to the fact that a some kind of seafood is “swimming” in a flavorful broth.\\na la Plancha (ah-la-plahn-chah) – A Spanish cooking term that refers to the method of cooking grilled on a metal plate or cast-iron skillet that is used for cooking by dry heat.\\na la Provencale (prov-on-sal) – Provence is a French maritime province that is famed for its wines and cuisine. The term is used to describe a dish, which uses products, which flourish, in the area of Provence, namely tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olives.\\na la Royale – Prepared in the royal style; typically a veloute sauce with truffles, served on poached fish or poultry.\\na la Russe – Prepared in the Russian style with sour cream or beetroot or both are added.\\n \\nababai – Ababai comes from the Caricacae family of fruits, which also contains the Mau Mau, and some forms of papaya. It is considered an exotic fruit in the United States. It is imported from Chile, as Chile is the only country in the world that exports this luscious fruit. Very few countries grow Ababai and then only for their local market. It is a protected fruit in Chile and was only recently available for export.\\nFresh off the tree, ababai has a thin skin and looks like a small papaya. It is never eaten fresh due to its high enzyme content. It is first cooked for several minutes and then jarred. Its pale yellow color turns to a brilliant gold after processing. It is one of the few fruits that will not dissolve when cooked. It is superb for sauteing with vegetables, broiling on fish, and grilling on the barbecue (shish kebob). The seeds look like small raisins. The male and female seeds of the fruit cannot be distinguished before planting, and there is also a hermaphrodite seed. Several seeds are planted with the prospect of growing one successful Ababai tree. Ababai trees grow for 7 1/2 to 8 years and only bear fruit for 5 years. The tree is then cut down, recycled, and must be replanted on virgin soil.\\n \\nabais – A French term that describes puff pastry that has been rolled very thin or sponge cake that has been cut very thin for dessert preparation.\\n \\nabalone – Abalone are shellfish of the univalve family, meaning they only have one shell, unlike bivalves such as clams that consist of two shells. This edible gastropod belongs to the same family as the sea slug and is related to the snail. Out of its shell, it resembles a large scallop. They are found in United States, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and Indo-Pacific Region. On the Pacific coast, they are found on rocky inter-tidal and sub-tidal areas from Baja California to Alaska, as each species prefers a particular habitat, which appears related to the local sea temperature. They are also called ear shells, or sea ears (as their shape resembles the human ear). Also called Awabi in Japanese cuisine and Loco in South American cuisine. Since the abalone has been over-harvested, it is very expensive when available.\\nHistory: Abalone has lived along the Pacific coast of North America for millions of years. Fossilized shells have been found in sediments that are approximately 100 million years old. In more recent times, abalone were important in the economy of all native American peoples who dwelled in California’s coastal areas. Native Americans were using abalone for food, implements, and decoration long before the arrival of Europeans in North America\\n \\nAbsinthe (AB-sinth) – An anise-flavored liqueur that is made by steeping wormwood and other aromatic herbs (hyssop, lemon balm, and angelica) in alcohol. The drink is distinguished by its dazzling blue-green clarity due to its chlorophyll content. It was traditionally served with water and a cube of sugar; the sugar cube was placed on an “absinthe spoon” and the liquor was drizzled over the sugar into the glass of water. The sugar helped take the bitter edge from the absinthe, and when poured into the water the liquor turned milky white. Absinthe was believed to raise the drinker’s consciousness, insights, and emotional experience to another level altogether. Unfortunately, it also caused terrible hallucinations, permanent neural damage, as seen in the dazed condition of dedicated drinkers, and even its own diseases, known as absinthism, recognized as early as the 1850s. Read my web page on Absinthe Drinks – Learn how to make and drink absinthe.\\nHistory: Dr. Pierre Ordinaire as an all-purpose remedy invented Absinthe in 1792. Used as a cure-all for epilepsy, gout, drunkenness, kidney stones, colic, headaches, and worms, it was nicknamed “La Fee Verte” meaning The Green Fairy. In 1797, the heirs of Dr. Ordinaire sold the recipe to Henri-Louis Pernod. Pernod opened the first absinthe distillery in Switzerland and then moved to a larger one in Pontarlier, France in 1805. After the Algerian War (1844-1847), the demand for absinthe rose dramatically. The soldiers had developed a taste for absinthe, as they were given rations of absinthe along with their drinking water as a bacterial deterrent, and began drinking it after the war.\\nAt the beginning of the 20th century, the drinking of absinthe was so popular that the cocktail hour in France was called “lheure verte,” meaning the “green hour.” Absinthe was exported to New Orleans and reached the same popularity in the United States. It was a drink considered ladylike and women freely enjoyed it in the coffee houses, where it was commonly served. In New Orleans, as well as in the rest of the United States, it became banned in 1912. Absinthe is still available in other areas of the world where it is not illegal.\\n \\nAcetomel – A mixture of honey and vinegar that produces sweet-sour syrup. Traditionally used to preserve fruits.\\nacidify – To add acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to a culinary preparation to made a dish slightly acid, sour, or piquant.\\n \\nacidulated water – It is a solution of 5 to 6 parts water to 1 part acid (typically the acid ingredient is lemon juice or vinegar). Since the flesh of certain fruits and vegetables, such as apples and pears, will darken when exposed to air unless used immediately after cutting, they are dropped into an acidulated water to stop this process.\\n \\naerate (ER-ayt) – Aerate means the same as “sift.” To pass dry ingredients through a fine-mesh sifter so large pieces can be removed. The process also incorporates air to make ingredients like flour, lighter.\\n \\nafter taste – Taste which returns to the mouth after ingestion of certain foods and beverages.\\n \\nagar-agar – processed seaweed, grayish white in color and comes in sticks, flakes, granules or powder. It is a vegetarian gelatin. After it is soaked in cold water, it becomes bouncy, resilient, and crisp . It is used mostly for cold oriental dishes that contain chicken, meat, and vegetables. In the old days, before the introduction of gelatin, agar-agar was also used as a thickening agent in making cold jellied dishes. Once soaked in boiling water, it melts into a gelatinous substance. The Chinese use this paste to make their famous delicacy called “bird’s nest soup.” Agar-agar is commonly referred to as Chinese gelatin.\\n \\nahi (AH-hee) – Ahi tuna is simply yellow fin tuna. It is a term used in Hawaii to describe this variety of tuna, which is distinguished from the other variety of tuna, known as blue fin.\\n \\naiguillette – Long, thin slices of poultry of fish.\\n \\naioli (eye-YO-lee) – (French) The French word for garlic is “ail.” Aioli is garlic-flavored mayonnaise made from pounded cloves of garlic, egg yolks, oil, and seasoning. Just before it is served, lemon juice and a little cold water are added. It is served as a sauce for a variety of garnishes and main courses. The Italian for aioli is “aglio,” the Spanish is “ajo” and “allioil.”\\nHistory: It is believed to have originated in Provence, France. See “mayonnaise.”\\n \\nakutaq – Also known as aqutuk, ackutuk, or Eskimo Ice Cream. Not the creamy ice cream as we know it, but a concoction made from reindeer fat or tallow, seal oil, freshly fallen snow or water, fresh berries, and sometimes ground fish. Air is whipped in by hand so that it slowly cools into foam. It is eaten as a desert, a meal, a snack, or a spread. Traditionally it was made for funerals, pot latches, celebrations of a boy’s first hunt, and any other celebration where food is brought. Today it is usually made with Crisco shortening instead of tallow and with raisins and sugar sometimes added\\nHistory: Alaska Natives have thrived on this delicacy for thousands of years. The region lived in usually determines what berry is used, and each family usually has their favorite recipe. It is said that your choice of berries used is a lifetime decision. If it okay to eat any flavor made by others, but if you are caught making more than one kind, you will lose all social standing. Learn more about the history and culture of Akuta or Eskimo Ice Cream .\\n \\nal dente (ahl-DEN-tay) – In Italian the phrase means “to the tooth” and is a term used to describe the correct degree of doneness when cooking pasta, risotto, and vegetables. The food should have a slight resistance (chewy) when biting into it, but should not be soft, overdone, or have a hard center.\\n \\nal forno (ahl FOHR-noh) – An Italian term to describe a dish that is “oven baked” or “oven roasted.”\\n \\nall-purpose flour – All-purpose flour is made from a blend of high-gluten hard wheat and low-gluten soft wheat. It is a fine-textured flour milled from the inner part of the wheat kernel and contains neither the germ (the sprouting section) nor the bran (the outer husk). By law, in the United States, all flours not containing wheat germ must have niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin added. Most all-purpose flours are labeled “enriched,” indicating that these nutrients have been\\nallspice – The dried, unripe berry of a small tree. It is available ground or in seed form. Allspice can be used in a variety of dishes such as pickles, casseroles, cakes, and puddings. Also known as Jamaica Pepper. It is the fruit of the evergreen pimiento tree. The flavor resembles a blend of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This spice is used in both sweet and savory cooking and can be purchased whole or ground.\\n \\nalmond (AH-mund, AM-und) – It is the kernel of the fruit of the almond tree that is native of the warmer parts of western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the same group of plants as the rose, plum, cherry, and peach. The seed is rounded at one end and pointed at the other, and covered with a thin brown coat. There are two types of almonds – sweet and bitter. Today, Americans give guests at weddings a bag of sugared almonds (representing children, happiness, romance, good health, and fortune). In Sweden, cinnamon-flavored rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is a Christmas custom (find it and good fortune is yours for a year).\\nHistory – Almonds were well know in Greece and Italy long before the Christian era. Explorers ate almonds while traveling the “Silk Road” between Asia and the Mediterranean. Before long, almond trees flourished in the Mediterranean (especially in Spain and Italy). Throughout history, almonds have maintained religious, ethnic, and social significance. The Bible’s “Book of Numbers” tells the story of Aaron’s rod that blossomed and bore almonds, giving the almond the symbolism of divine approval. The Romans showered newlyweds with almonds as a fertility charm. In the mid 1700s, the Franciscan Padres brought almond trees to California from Spain.\\nalmond extract – A solution of oil, bitter almonds, and alcohol (approximately 1%) that is used for a flavoring in baking.\\nalmond flour – Almond flour or meal is the residue left after almond oil has been extracted from the kernels. It is entirely free from starch and is used in making bread and biscuits for diabetics.\\nalmond paste – A mixture of sugar, almonds, and egg whites. Also called marzipan. It is widely used in dessert preparations. Almond paste and marzipan are both made from ground almonds. They differ mainly in their sugar content. Marzipan is made from almond paste and sugar and is used primarily in confections and decorations because it is more moldable and the almond flavor is less pronounced. Almond paste is used in pastries and other baked goods. They are not interchangeable in recipes.\\n \\namaranth – Amaranth is from the Greek for “never-fading flower” or “everlasting.” It is an annual herb, and therefore not a true grain. It has broad leaves and large flower heads that produce thousands of tiny, protein-rich seeds. There are hundreds of varieties of amaranth. It is grown for its leaves-some varieties are good in salad, some are delicious steamed or stir-fried-and its somewhat peppery seeds. Amaranth can be cooked as a cereal. The seeds are very tiny-looking, a bit like caviar when cooked, and their lack of substance makes them rather unsatisfactory as the base of pilaf-type dishes. Amaranth is most often ground into flour, which has a fairly strong malt-like vegetable taste and is beige in color. It is the only known food that contains between 75% and 87% of total human nutritional requirements.\\nAmaranth is used in several cultures in very interesting ways, In Mexico, it is popped and mixed with a sugar solution to make a candy called alegria and the roasted seed is used to create a traditional Mexican drink called atole. People from Peru use fermented amaranth seeds to make chichi (beer). During the carnival festival, women dancers often use the red amaranth flower as rouge, painting their cheeks, and then dancing while carrying bundles of amaranth on their backs.\\nHistory: There is evidence that it has been in Central and South America for nearly 8,000 years. Amaranth was a staple in the diet of pre-Columbian Aztecs. Aztec Indians in Mexico grew it alongside maize as the main ingredient in their diets. They thought that it gave them supernatural powers and incorporated it into their religious ceremonies. On religious holidays, Aztec women ground the seed, mixed it with honey or human blood, then shaped it into idols that were eaten ceremoniously, a practice that appalled the conquistadors. After conquering Montezuma in 1519, the Spanish missionaries forbade its use because of its association with human sacrifice.\\nIn ancient Greece, amaranth was considered sacred and was used to decorate tombs and images of gods as a symbol of immortality. The early Christian Church also adopted the amaranth as a symbol of immortality.\\nBy the middle the 20th century, the cultivation of this grain had declined to the point where it was grown only in small plots in Mexico, the Andean highlands, and in the Himalayan foothills of India and Nepal. It was used to make tortillas even before the cultivation of corn. It remained in obscurity until the 1950’s when its nutritional values were again recognized through scientific development.\\n \\namaretti (ah-mah-REHT-tee) – An Italian almond macaroon cookie. The Italian word “amaro” means “bitter,” and the literal translation of “amaretti” is “the little bitter ones.” They are called amaretti because they are flavored with bitter almonds.\\nHistory: Francesco Moriodo, pastry chef at the court of Savoy, created them in the mid-17th century.\\n \\namaretto (am-ah-REHT-toh) – An Italian almond flavored liqueur (or cordial) that is made from apricot pits and flavored with almonds and aromatic extracts.\\nHistory: It is named after the town of Saronno Italy. It has been produced commercially since the 19th century.\\n \\nambrosia (am-BROH-zhah) – (1) The name is sometimes applied to certain beverages. (2) A traditional Christmas dish in many Southern homes, where the dessert is served in the best cut-glass bowl from the sideboard. It usually consists of chilled fruit (usually oranges and bananas) mixed with coconut.\\nHistory: In Greek mythology, this was a balsamic juice, which served as the “food of the gods” and was said to preserve their immortality, and without this substance, they became weak. Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera, served the Gods Ambrosia and Nectar. One day she tripped and fell so Zeus dismissed her and in the shape of an eagle. A human being who took Ambrosia became strong and immortal, and received additional beauty, strength, and swiftness (becoming in some measure akin to the gods).\\n \\nAmerican Breakfast – It is an restaurant term that usually consists of eggs, juice, bacon or sausage, toast or hash browns.\\n \\namuse-bouche (ah-mewz-BOOSH) – Also known as amuse-gueule, amusee, petite amuse, and lagniappe are used interchangeably to describe these tasty morsels. A French term that literally means “mouth amusement.” These are tiny bites of food served before a meal to whet the palate and invigorate the appetite. They are more whimsical than hors d’oeuvres, and smaller than appetizers.\\nThe best restaurants offer a tiny serving of something interesting (also known as palate teasers) soon after you sit down, which ideally previews the cooking style of the restaurant. In some restaurants, it is also a way to present something luxurious to favored customers. In the United States we think of them as ‘hors-d’oeuvre’. Customers regard them as tokens of appreciation. In this age of frequently getting less than what is expected, gestures like this make diners feel welcome and can promote customer loyalty.\\nHistory: According to the 1992 edition of Dictionnaire Historique de la Langue Francais (Dictionary of the History of the French Language), the term originated in 1946.\\n \\namuse-gueule – See “amuse-bouche.”\\nAnadama Bread (ana-a-dam-a) – It is a specialty yeast bread of the New England States that is made with flour, cornmeal, and molasses.\\nHistory: This bread originated in New England. There are a variety of stories or legends on how this bread got its name. According to these many legends, a farmer, fisherman, miner, sailor, or Yankee (depending on what account you read), angry with his wife, Anna, for serving him nothing but cornmeal and molasses, one day adds flour and yeast to his porridge and eats the resulting bread while cursing, “Anna, damn her.”\\nAnaheim chile (An-uh-hime) – Mild, long green chile peppers that are named after the area near Los Angeles where they were first cultivated. Also known as Chile Verde (green), Chile Colorado (red) or the California Long Green, the Anaheim Chile is light green in color and slightly bent . It is the most commonly found variety in the United States. Mild, sweet, and slightly bitter in flavor, this chile pepper can be used fresh or roasted and is often available canned. If you buy them fresh, Anaheim Chile peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for one week. Learn all about Chile Peppers (Preparing Fresh Chile Peppers, Roasting Fresh Chile Peppers, Preparing Dried Chile Peppers), Science of Chile Peppers\\n \\nancho chile peppers (AHN-choh) – A dried deep reddish brown chile pepper about 3 inches wide and 4 inches long with a sweet hot flavor. When fresh they are referred to as poblanos. They look like small bell peppers. Anchos are flat, wrinkled, and heart shaped. They range in color from very dark red to almost black. Anchos are mild to moderately hot and often soaked and ground for use in sauces.\\n \\nancho powder – It is ground ancho (pablano) chile peppers. In other words, it is a chile powder. Ancho Chili is a dark Smokey chili with a deep rich flavor and mild to medium heat. Their flavor is somewhat sweet and a little raisin like. This pepper is the most commonly used in authentic Mexican cooking and is a staple in red chili and tamales. Ancho Powder is a terrific choice for those who are looking for a “milder” taste in their cooking. Use Ancho Powder just as you would salt or pepper. Sprinkle on pasta, baked potatoes, vegetables, soups, pizza, popcorn and more. Also try it to season chicken, stews, potatoes, vegetables and, of course, Mexican dishes.\\n \\nanchovy (AN-choh-vee) – Anchovies are tiny silver fish, about three inches long. They swim in large schools where the sea is temperate. In modern Italy, Spain, and Greece, salted anchovies are offered as appetizers. For the rest of the world, they are usually sold as flat or rolled fillets, salted, and packed in oil. The most popular and tasty are the ones in olive oil and salt.\\n \\nanchovy paste – A paste of pureed anchovies with oil and salt. Available in tubes at most supermarkets and specialty food stores. You can also make your own using a can of anchovy fillets. First wash them in cold water, then mash them with a fork, and add just enough olive oil to make a smooth paste.more\\nHistory: Check out Linda Stradley’s web page Anchovy and Anchovy Paste .\\nandouille (ahn-doo-ee) – (1) Traditionally, the andouilles from France were made from the large intestines and stomach of the pig (seasoned heavily and smoked). (2) Andouille is also the Cajun smoked sausage so famous nationally today. Made with pork butt, shank, and a small amount of pork fat. This sausage is seasoned with salt, cracked black pepper, and garlic. The andouille is then slowly smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane. True andouille is stuffed into the beef middle casing, which makes the sausage approximately one and a half inches in diameter. When smoked, it becomes very dark to almost black in color. It is not uncommon for the Cajuns to smoke andouille for seven to eight hours at approximately 175 degrees.\\nHistory: The finest andouilles in France reportedly come from the Brittany and Normandy areas. It is believed that over half of the Acadian exiles that came to Louisiana in 1755 were originally from these coastal regions. In parts of Germany, where some say andouille originated, the sausage was made with all remaining intestines and casings pulled through a larger casing, seasoned and smoked . It was served thinly sliced as a hors d’oeuvre.\\n \\nAngel Food Cake – Angel Food Cake is also known as foam-style cake. They are made with a large quantity of egg whites and no shortening or leavening. Angel Food or “angel cake” is thought to be a takeoff of the cornstarch cake and the sponge cake.\\nHistory: For a detailed history of the Angel Food Cake, check out Linda Stradley’s History of Cakes .\\nAngostura bitters – Named after a town in Venezuela and made in Trinidad from roots, bark, leaves, and alcohol. It is used in small amounts to lend an aromatic and slightly bitter element to mixed drinks. It is best known as the essential ingredient of the popular cocktail called the “Manhattan.”\\nHistory: In 1824, a German doctor living in Venezuela mixed this substance to create a tonic for his ailing wife. Legend says that this creation worked as a cure for malaria and other tropical diseases. Sailors swore that it cured seasickness (especially when mixed with rum).\\n \\nantipasto (ahn-tee-PAH-sto) – The term antipasto, usually translated as “appetizer” in English. It literally means “before the meal” and denotes a relatively light dish designed to stimulate the palate before the service of more substantial courses.\\nAntipasti are not essential to the Italian kitchen; a formal Italian dinner without antipasti would not betray the traditions of Italian gastronomy. Today, however, it is difficult to imagine a formal dinner that would not include some dishes classified as antipasto. In the regional Italian kitchen, antipasti are an important element, not on a daily basis, but certainly on holidays and special occasions. Many dishes, served as accompaniments to main courses, are today considered too rich for such use. So, through the years, many of these dishes have been adapted to serve as antipasto. Antipasto takes full advantage of all kinds of different foods not generally regarded as being substantial enough to be served as main courses. The ingredients may be varied, but generally they must all be eaten with a fork.\\n \\naperitif (ah-pear-uh-TEEF) – A French term for an alcoholic beverage served before a meal as an appetizer to stimulate the appetite. It can be a punch made to complement the meal, but it is usually a white wine, sherry, champagne, or a sparkling wine It can also be non-alcoholic.\\n \\nappetizer (apy-tizer) – It is a small portion of bite-size food which is served before a main meal as the first course in order to stimulate the appetite. If served before a meal it should be small. They may be hot or cold, plated, or served as finger food. If served at a cocktail party, it is usually called hors d’ oeuvres.\\n \\napple – Of nearly 8000 varieties known around the world, about 100 are grown in commercial quantity in the U.S., with the top 10 comprising over 90% of the crop. New varieties are still being discovered and cultivated, with the best eventually becoming household words like McIntosh, Delicious, Empire, Rome, Spartan, Cortland, Granny Smith, etc.\\nHistory: Check out History and Legend of Apples.\\n \\napple butter – Apple butter is a kind of jam made of tart apples, boiled in cider until reduced to a very thick smooth paste, to which is added a flavoring of allspice, while cooking. It is then placed in jars and covered tightly.\\nHistory: Apple butter was one of the favorite sweets during the colonial and pioneering historical eras of the United States.\\n \\nApple Charlotte – Apple Charlotte consists of layers of cake or breadcrumbs, sugar, butter, and apples.\\nHistory: For a detailed history of the Charlotte Russe, check out Linda Stradley’s History of Cakes .\\n \\napple cider – Most cider is made from fermented apple juice. Natural cider has nothing added and relies, for fermentation, upon the wild yeast present in the apples. For mass-produced ciders, a yeast culture is added in order to achieve consistency. Although much of today’s cider is produced from apple concentrate, many traditional cider-makers use only cider apples, cultivated specifically for the purpose.\\nHistory: When the Romans arrived in England in 55 B.C., they were reported to have found the local Kentish villagers drinking a delicious cider-like beverage made from apples. It has been recorded that the Romans and in particular their leader, Julius Caesar, embraced the pleasant pursuit with enthusiasm! How long the locals had been making this apple drink, prior to the arrival of the Romans, is anybody’s guess.\\nIn America, cider was an everyday drink up until the middle of the 19th century. Anytime was considered a good time for drinking in the New England Colonies, and upon rising in the morning, the downing of a mug of cider was considered customary. Most of the early apple crops were made into cider since the apples had not yet been perfected into the sweet, juicy, eating apples of today. By the 1670s, cider was the most abundant and least expensive drink in New England. It quickly took the place of water, which was considered unsafe. During the colonial period, hard cider was the most popular beverage in America and often the measure of a town’s wealth was measured by how many barrels of cider were stored for the winter.\\napple juice – It is the juice squeezed from apples. As long as apple juice (fresh cider) remains in its natural state and is not sweetened, preserved, clarified, or otherwise altered, it is apple juice. In sweet cider, fermentation is not permitted at all. See apple cider.\\n \\napplejack – A brandy made by distilling apple cider. The name is also given to a beverage produced by freezing hard cider.\\nHistory: As early as 1698, William Laird began it distill cider for himself and neighbors, producing apple brandy or applejack. Applejack, because of its power, was also know as “jersey Lighting.” In 1780, a descendant of laird began commercial production of applejack and the company still distills it today.\\n \\napricot – The apricot derives its name from the Latin world “praecox” meaning “precocious.”\\nHistory: The apricot has a long history of cultivation, starting in China some 4,000 years ago and traveling along the trade routes to the shores of the Mediterranean. In Iraq and Iran, apricots are served with lamb, and a regional specialty is “kamraddin” (a kind of apricot leather). A drink is made from it to mark the end of a period of religious fasting. The Spanish missionaries introduced the apricot trees to the Santa Clara Valley in California.\\n \\naquaculture – It is the cultivation of the sea. The term refers specifically to the intensive production of fish and shellfish in a controlled environment for human food. It is an ancient practice in Asia but it has only began approximately 20 years ago in the U.S., but in virtually no time has become one of the fastest growing segments of the United States economy.\\noffshore farming – It takes place in deep, navigable waters and involves the use of boats.\\nonshore farming – It is done in shallow waters where boats are not necessary.\\ntank culture – It is another form of onshore farming. Tanks, usually made of steel and reinforced cement, or fiberglass in a variety of shapes, are used to contain populations of fish in water.\\npond culture – It is the most widely used method of fish farming. All catfish farming is pond raised. The farming is done in man-made ponds that are drainable and often incorporate a system of dikes for harvesting.\\ntray culture – A tray culture involves the use of a permanent structure for mollusks to attach themselves to. Trays are set underwater in calm bays or estuaries to stimulate the growth of clams, oyster, and other shellfish. Sometimes ropes or strings are hung into the water for mussels and scallops to grow on.\\n \\narborio rice (ar-BOH-ree-oh) – An Italian short grain rice that was virtually synonymous with risotto for many years. It is the best known of the top-grade varieties of Italian rice. When purchasing arborio rice, the only precaution is to check the label to be sure it is not precooked.\\n \\nArchitectural Cuisine – Menu items that are stacked for height. Also called Vertical Cuisine.\\n \\narepas (ah-ray-pay-rah) – Similar to an English muffins but made from precooked corn flour, it is a cornmeal patty or pancake that is considered like bread in other countries. Arepas are popular throughout South America, but especially popular in Colombian and Venezuelan. It is considered the national dish of Venezuela (the local equivalent of an American hamburger). You can find arepas in small restaurants called Areperas. T he most famous arepa is La reina pepiada, made with chopped meat, avocado and cheese. The favorite way to serve them in Venezuela is to split them open, remove some of the steaming moist corn meal, and then stuff them with your favorite ingredients. The arepa is wrapped in a square of slick paper (like butcher paper), and handed to the purchaser to eat standing up. Very few people make arepas at home, choosing to buy them at the store or have them delivered directly to their homes. You can also find arepas all over Miami, Florida (the traditional arepa served in Miami has two cornmeal pancakes with a layer of cheese inside).\\nHistory: First made by the Indians of Columbia and Venezuela, an important part of their diet just like corn tortillas were to the Aztecs. For many centuries, it was considered a food for the poor. Today they are considered a comfort food for everyone.\\n \\naromatic – (1) A vegetable, herb, or spice used to enhance the flavor and fragrance of food and drinks. In classic cooking, a reference to “aromatics” most often means onions, carrot, and celery. (2) It also means spicy, pungent, or having a fragrant aroma.\\n \\narracheras – The Mexican term for fajitas or skirt steak.\\n \\narrack (Ah-RAK) – Also called arak. It is an anise-flavored liqueur, often homemade. It is a popular aperitif in the Middle East. It is a distilled from grapes, dates, and other fruits. In its countries of origin, it is included in cooking in some recipes for fish stews.\\n \\narrowroot – Also called arrowhead. A fine, dry white powdered starch made from a tropical root and exported from the British West Indies. It is named for its curative properties in treating arrow wounds. It makes exceptionally smooth sauces, and is a very good last minute thickener (it can be stirred into a sauce at the last minute without lumping). Arrowroot is slightly stronger in thickening power than cornstarch. However, if the sauce boils for more than a few seconds, the starch breaks down and its thickening power is lost.\\n \\narroz (AH-roz) – Spanish word for long-grain white rice. This is a main staple in Mexican cooking.\\n \\narroz con pollo (arros kon POH-yoh) – It is a popular chicken and rice Spanish and Mexican dish that is actually a paella without any shellfish or meat.\\n \\nartichoke – The artichoke is a perennial in the thistle group of the sunflower family that is native to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. A name shared by three unrelated plants: the globe artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, and Chinese (or Japanese) artichoke. In full growth, the plant spreads to cover an area about six feet in diameter and reaches a height of three to four feet. The part that we eat is actually the plant’s flower bud. If allowed to flower, the blossoms measure up to seven inches in diameter and are a beautiful violet-blue color. The size of the bud depends on where it is located on the plant. Larger artichokes are found on central stems towards the top of the plant, where they receive maximum sunshine. Smaller or “baby” artichokes are found lower down on the plant where they are shaded from the sun by the larger buds above.\\nHistory: Check out History of Artichokes .\\n \\narugula (ah-ROO-guh-lah) – It is also known as rocket, rulola, Italian cress, and roquette. It is a delicate salad green that is related to mustard. When the leaves are young, they are tender and nutty, with a subtle peppery flavor. The leaves look like radish leaves. The white blossoms are also edible. It is used as a salad green, as a garnish, and in combination with other ingredients in sandwiches.\\n \\n \\nasafetida (ah-sah-FEH-teh-dah) – This pungent resinous gum is used widely in Indian vegetarian cooking. Also called stinking gum and devil’s dung because of its unpleasant smell, this seasoning is obtained from the gum of a plant native to Afghanistan, Iran, and northern India. A perennial of the carrot family that grows wild to 12 feet high in natural forests. The whole plant exudes a characteristic smell, described by some as stink. The milky resin comes from both the thick stems and the root and it dries into asafoetida.\\nA popular ingredient in Indian vegetarian dishes, it imparts a subtle flavor if used sparingly (the odor does not transmit to cooked food). In the raw state, the resin or the powder has an unpleasant smell. This completely disappears when the spice is added to a variety of fish, vegetable pulse, and pickle ingredients. Also used in the curries and pickles of West and South India. The powdered version is easier to handle. Buy asafoetida in small quantities. The powder resin is usually mixed with flour to provide bulk and is sold in bright yellow plastic tubs.\\nHistory: Early record show that Alexander the Great carried this “Stink Finger” west in 4 BC. It was used as a flavoring in the kitchens of ancient Rome.\\n \\n \\nasiago cheese (ah-see-AH-go) – Asiago cheese is a semi-firm Cheese from Italy. Also known as “poor man’s Parmesan cheese.” It is made from whole or part-skim cow’s milk. It comes in small wheels with glossy rinds and is yellow inside with many small holes called “eyes.” Asiago is rich and nutty in flavor and used as a table cheese when young; when matured for 6 months or more it hardens and may be grated.\\nHistory: Originally, this cheese was made from ewe’s milk in the village of Asiago in the province of Vicenza.\\n \\n \\nasparagus – The name asparagus comes from the Greek language meaning “sprout” or “shoot,” and it is a member of the lily family. Plants in the lily family are also related to various grasses. In the dialects of 18th and 19th century cookbooks, asparagus was referred to as sparagrass or sparrowgrass. People throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States use fresh Asparagus in their favorite cuisine. In China, Asparagus spears are candied and served as special treats. It is widely popular today as a scrumptious, fresh, healthy vegetable. Learn more about A sparagus .\\nHistory: Asparagus cultivation began more than 2,000 years ago in the eastern Mediterranean Region. Greeks and Romans prized asparagus for its unique flavor, texture and, alleged medicinal qualities. They ate it fresh and dried the vegetable to use in winter. In the 16th Century, asparagus gained popularity in France and in England. Asparagus is often called the “Food of Kings.” King Louis XIV of France was so fond of this delicacy that he ordered special greenhouses build so he could enjoy asparagus all year round.\\n \\n \\nau bleu – The French term for the method of preparing fish the instant after it is killed. Used especially for trout, as in “truite au blue,” when the freshly killed fish is plunged into a boiling court bouillon, which turns the skin a metallic blue color.\\n \\n \\nAu (saw) – It is a French term that has the same meaning as “a la” meaning “in the manner of,” “in the style of,” and “according to” In cooking, this phrase designates the style of preparation or a particular garnish.\\nau beurre (bur) – Made with or in butter\\nau bleu (blo) – Means blue and describes the process where freshly killed fish is plunged into boiling water and poached until the skin of the fish has a bluish tinge.\\nau fromage (from-azh) – The term means cheese and means made with or in cheese.\\nau gratin (GRAH-tn) – To dress up vegetables, meats, and fish with a layer of bread crumbs and/or grated cheese on top. It is then broiled or baked until a thin brown crust forms.\\nau jus (joos) – (1) Is French and has the same meaning as a la and be translated as “in” or “with.” (2) It also describes meat served in its own natural juices, not with gravy.\\nAu lait – Contain milk.\\nau naturel (nat-tur-el) – Means natural or simple. It refers to foods which are served very simply or which are uncooked.\\nau poivre (pwa-vra) – Means pepper, and means cooked with pepper.\\n \\n \\navocado (a-voh-KAH-doh) – The avocado used to be called alligator pear. It is a tropical fruit native to Central America. Today, this fruit is grown in Southern California. Avocados do not ripen on the tree and are rarely found ripe in the markets.\",\n \"Spirits Lexicon | Food & Wine\\nSpirits Lexicon ... A grain-based liqueur first distilled in Holland in the late ... A clear brandy distilled from grapes in the wine-producing regions of Peru ...\\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\\nAbsinthe\\nAn anise-flavored spirit formerly banned in the United States. It’s flavored with such botanicals as wormwood, green anise and fennel seeds.\\nAgave nectar\\nA rich, sweet syrup made from the sap of the cactus-like agave plant.\\nAllspice dram\\nAlso known as pimento dram; a rum-based liqueur infused with Jamaican allspice berries. St. Elizabeth and The Bitter Truth are good brands.\\nAmaro\\nA bittersweet Italian herbal liqueur often served as an after-dinner drink.\\nAngostura bitters\\nA brand of concentrated aromatic bitters created in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1824 from a secret combination of herbs and spices.\\nAperol\\nA low-proof Italian aperitif flavored with bitter orange, rhubarb and gentian.\\nApfelkorn\\nA low-proof apple schnapps made by blending a wheat-based spirit with sugar and fresh apples.\\nApple brandy\\nA distilled fermented apple cider that is aged in oak barrels. Most of the brandy is bottled at 80 proof, but bonded apple brandy, which is preferable in cocktails because of its concentrated green-apple flavor, is 100 proof.\\nApplejack\\nAn American apple brandy that’s blended with neutral spirits.\\nApricot brandy\\nA sweet brandy-based amber liqueur flavored with apricots.\\nAquavit\\nA clear, grain- or potato-based Scandinavian spirit flavored with caraway seeds and other botanicals, such as fennel, anise and citrus peel.\\nAverna\\nA bitter Italian liqueur flavored with herbs and citrus peel.\\nBarolo Chinato\\nAn Italian digestif made from Nebbiolo-based wine (produced in Piedmont’s Barolo zone) and various herbs and spices, including cardamom, rhubarb and quinine (china).\\nBärenjäger\\nAn intensely honey-flavored proprietary German liqueur.\\nBatavia Arrack\\nA clear spirit from Java that is made from fermented sugarcane and red rice.\\nBecherovka\\nA bittersweet liqueur produced in the Czech Republic from the recipe that pharmacist Josef Becher used to formulate his apothecary bitters in 1807.\\nBelle de Brillet\\nA French liqueur made by infusing Cognac with macerated ripe Alsatian pears.\\nBénédictine\\nA brandy-based herbal liqueur derived from a recipe developed by a French monk in 1510.\\nBianco vermouth\\nAn aromatic, sweet Italian white vermouth traditionally served on the rocks as an aperitif.\\nBitters\\nA concentrated tincture of bitter and aromatic herbs, roots and spices that adds complexity to drinks. Varieties include orange, grapefruit, rhubarb and aromatic bitters, the best known of which is Angostura, created in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1824. Germany’s Bitter Truth makes bitters in traditional flavors as well as unusual ones like celery and chocolate. Fee Brothers bitters, which come in 12 flavors, have been made in Rochester, New York, for more than 60 years. Peychaud’s bitters have bright anise and cranberry flavors; the recipe dates to 19th-century New Orleans.\\nBonal Gentiane-Quina\\nA slightly bitter French aperitif wine infused with gentian root and cinchona bark, which contains quinine.\\nBonded Whiskey\\nA whiskey that’s been produced by a single distillery, distilled during a single season, aged a minimum of four years, bottled at 100 proof and stored in a \\\"bonded\\\" warehouse under U.S. government supervision.\\nCachaça\\nA potent Brazilian spirit distilled from sugarcane juice.\\nCalvados\\nA cask-aged brandy made in the Normandy region of France from apples and sometimes pears.\\nCampari\\nA potent, bright red Italian aperitif made from fruit, herbs and spices.\\nCane Syrup\\nA very sweet, thick syrup made by evaporating the water from sugarcane juice.\\nCarpano Antica Formula\\nA rich and complex crimson-colored sweet Italian vermouth.\\nChartreuse\\nA spicy French herbal liqueur made from more than 100 botanicals; green Chartreuse is more potent than the honey-sweetened yellow one.\\nCherry Heering\\nA Danish brandy-based cherry liqueur.\\nCherry Kijafa\\nA sweet Danish cherry wine that’s fortified with brandy.\\nCocchi Aperitivo Americano\\nA low-alcohol, wine-based aperitif infused with citrus, herbs such as gentian and quinine-rich cinchona bark.\\nCognac\\nAn oak-aged brandy made from grapes grown in France’s Charente region. VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) Cognac must be aged a minimum of four years in French oak barrels.\\nCointreau\\nA French triple sec that is made by macerating and distilling sun-dried sweet and bitter orange peels.\\nCrème de cassis\\nA sweet, black currant-flavored liqueur.\\nCrème de violette\\nA sweet, violet-flavored and -colored liqueur.\\nCréole Shrubb\\nA potent liqueur made by infusing a blend of Martinican rums with bitter orange peel and pulp and Caribbean spices.\\nCuraçao\\nA rum-based orange liqueur flavored with Creole spices and bitter orange peels.\\nCynar\\nA pleasantly bitter Italian liqueur made from 13 herbs and plants, including artichokes.\\nDimmi\\nA fruity and floral liqueur infused with licorice, vanilla, bitter orange and peach.\\nDrambuie\\nA whisky-based Scottish liqueur flavored with honey, herbs and spices.\\nDubonnet\\nA wine-based, quinine-enhanced aperitif that comes in two varieties. The rouge is full-bodied. The drier blanc is a good substitute for dry vermouth.\\nEau-de-vie\\nA clear, unaged fruit brandy. Classic varieties include framboise (raspberry), poire (pear), abricot (apricot), kirsch (cherry) and mirabelle (plum).\\nFernet-Branca\\nA potent, bitter Italian digestif made from 27 herbs.\\nFee Brothers bitters\\nA brand of bitters made in Rochester, New York, for more than 60 years. Classic flavors include orange and peach; grapefruit is a newer flavor.\\nGalliano\\nA yellow Italian liqueur made with up to 30 herbs, berries and flowers, including licorice, anise and vanilla.\\nGenever\\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\\nGenever\\nA clear, botanically rich, malted grain-based spirit from Holland. Oude refers to the maltier old-style; lighter, less malty versions are called jonge.\\nGrenadine\\nA sweet red syrup made from pomegranate juice and sugar (see the Homemade Grenadine recipe ).\\nGum Syrup\\nA simple syrup that’s been thickened with gum arabic, a natural gum made from the sap of acacia trees.\\nHerbsaint\\nAn anise-flavored absinthe substitute produced in New Orleans.\\nKirsch\\nShort for kirschwasser; an unaged brandy or eau-de-vie produced by pot-distilling crushed cherries and their pits.\\nKümmel\\nA grain-based liqueur first distilled in Holland in the late 1500s. It’s flavored with cumin, caraway and fennel.\\nLicor 43\\nA citrus-and-vanilla-flavored Spanish liqueur made from a combination of 43 herbs and spices.\\nLillet\\nA wine-based French aperitif flavored with orange peel and quinine. The lesser-known rouge variety is sweeter than the more widely available blanc.\\nLimoncello\\nAn intensely flavored Italian liqueur made from lemon peels soaked in neutral spirits, then sweetened with sugar.\\nMadeira\\nA fortified wine from the island of Madeira, usually named for one of four grape varieties: sercial (the driest), verdelho, bual or malmsey, which are progressively sweeter.\\nMaraschino liqueur\\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\\nMaraschino liqueur\\nA clear Italian liqueur, the best of which is distilled from sour marasca cherries and their pits, aged in ash barrels, then sweetened with sugar.\\nMarsala\\nA Sicilian fortified wine; styles include secco (dry), which is often served as an aperitif, and semisecco (semisweet) and dolce (sweet), which are commonly served as dessert wines.\\nMead\\nA fermented honey-based beverage that is often flavored with herbs, spices or flowers.\\nMetaxa\\nA greek brandy sweetened with Muscat wine; aged up to 30 years.\\nMezcal\\nAn agave-based spirit with a smoky flavor that comes from roasting the agave hearts in pits before fermentation. The best mezcal is made in Mexico’s Oaxaca region.\\nNavan\\nA Cognac infused with black Madagascar vanilla.\\nNocino\\nAn Italian or Swiss liqueur traditionally made from brandy or grappa, unripe walnuts, sugar and spices.\\nNoilly Prat rouge\\nA bittersweet red vermouth from the south of France made from a secret mixture of herbs and spices, including saffron, quinine and cloves.\\nOrange Bitters\\nA concentrated infusion of neutral alcohol, orange peel, herbs and spices such as cardamom\\nOrgeat\\nA sweet, nonalcoholic syrup made from almonds or almond extract, sugar and rose or orange flower water.\\nOverproof Rum\\nAlso known as 151-proof rum, a high-octane spirit that’s often used for flaming drinks.\\nParfait Amour\\nA purple French liqueur flavored with orange, violets and vanilla.\\nPastis\\nA licorice-flavored French spirit that turns cloudy when mixed with water. It’s similar to absinthe but sweeter and lower in alcohol.\\nPernod\\nA French producer of a liqueur made from the essential oils of star anise and fennel combined with herbs, spices, sugar and a neutral spirit. Pernod recently rereleased their absinthe, which, like all absinthes, had been banned in the United States since 1912.\\nPeychaud’s bitters\\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\\nPeychaud’s bitters\\nA brand of bitters with bright anise and cranberry flavors; the recipe dates to 19th-century New Orleans.\\nPimm’s No. 1\\nA gin-based English aperitif often served with ginger beer or lemonade.\\nPineau des Charentes\\nA low-proof French spirit made by combining unfermented grape juice and young Cognac, then briefly aging in oak.\\nPisco\\nA clear brandy distilled from grapes in the wine-producing regions of Peru and Chile\\nPoire Williams\\nA pear eau-de-vie, usually made in Switzerland or the Alsace region of France.\\nPommeau de Normandie\\nA French aperitif spirit made by adding fresh-pressed apple juice to young Calvados, then aging it in oak.\\nPort\\nA fortified wine from the Douro region of Portugal. Styles include fruity, young ruby port; richer, nuttier tawny; thick-textured, oak-aged late bottled vintage (LBV); and decadent vintage port, made from the best grapes in the best vintages. Dry white port is often served chilled, as an aperitif.\\nPunt e Mes\\nA spicy, orange-accented sweet Italian vermouth fortified with bitters.\\nRhum agricole\\nAn aromatic rum made in the French West Indies from sugarcane juice. When aged from one to six months, it is bottled as white rhum agricole, or rhum blanc; aged for a minimum of three years, it can be sold as aged rhum agricole, or rhum vieux.\\nRoot Liqueur\\nA sugarcane-distilled liqueur flavored with birch bark, smoked black tea, citrus peels, cloves and other spices. Art in the Age, in Philadelphia, is the main producer.\\nRye whiskey\\nA primarily rye-based distilled spirit, often blended with corn mash and barley. American straight rye whiskey is produced from a mash of at least 51 percent rye, aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years and diluted with nothing but water.\\nSherry\\nA fortified wine from Spain’s Jerez region. Varieties include dry styles like fino and manzanilla; nuttier, richer amontillado and oloroso; and viscous sweet Pedro Ximénez (PX) and cream sherry. East India sherry falls between an oloroso and a PX in style.\\nShochu\\nAn unaged or lightly aged, clear East Asian spirit distilled most commonly from rice, barley, buckwheat and/or a variety of sweet potato.\\nSloe gin\\nA bittersweet liqueur produced by infusing gin or a neutral spirit with sloe berries and sugar.\\nSt. Elizabeth Allspice Dram\\nAn Austrian rum-based liqueur infused with Jamaican allspice berries.\\nSt-Germain elderflower liqueur\\nA French liqueur made by blending macerated elderflower blossoms with eau-de-vie. It has hints of pear, peach and grapefruit zest.\\nStrega\\nAn Italian liqueur infused with about 70 herbs and spices, including saffron, which gives it a golden yellow color.\\nTriple sec\\nAn orange-flavored liqueur that is similar to curaçao but not as sweet. Cointreau, created in France in 1875, is the most famous.\\nTuaca\\nA brandy-based Italian liqueur flavored with vanilla and citrus.\\nVelvet Falernum\\nA low-alcohol, sugarcane-based liqueur from Barbados flavored with clove, almond and lime.\\nVermouth\\nAn aromatic fortified wine. The dry variety is used in martinis. sweet vermouth, which is usually red, is often used for Manhattans. Bianco, or blanc, vermouth is an aromatic, sweet white vermouth traditionally served on the rocks.\\nZwack\\nAn intense Hungarian herbal liqueur produced since 1790 from a secret blend of more than 40 herbs and spices.\\nAdvertisement\",\n \"Chicory.txt\\nChicory\\nCommon chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the dandelion family, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds), or roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock. It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and is now common in North America, China, and Australia, where it has become widely naturalized. [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id2&taxon_id\\n200023652 Flora of China, Cichorium intybus Linnaeus, 1753. 菊苣 ju ju ] \\n\\n\\\"Chicory\\\" is also the common name in the United States for curly endive (Cichorium endivia); these two closely related species are often confused. \\n\\nNames\\n\\nCommon chicory is also known as blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailors, blue weed, bunk, coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, ragged sailors, succory, wild bachelor's buttons, and wild endive. (Note: \\\"Cornflower\\\" is commonly applied to Centaurea cyanus.) Common names for varieties of var. foliosum include endive, radicchio, Belgian endive, French endive, red endive, sugarloaf, and witloof (or witlof).\\n\\nDescription\\n\\nWhen flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from tall. The leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed. The flower heads are wide, and usually bright blue, rarely white or pink. Of the two rows of involucral bracts, the inner is longer and erect, the outer is shorter and spreading. It flowers from July until October. The achenes have no pappus (feathery hairs), but do have toothed scales on top. \\n\\nLeaf chicory\\n\\nWild\\n\\nWild chicory leaves usually have a bitter taste. Their bitterness is appreciated in certain cuisines, such as in the Ligurian and Apulian regions of Italy and also in southern part of India along with coffee, in Catalonia, Greece, and Turkey. In Ligurian cuisine, wild chicory leaves are an ingredient of preboggion and in Greek cuisine of horta; in the Apulian region, wild chicory leaves are combined with fava bean puree in the traditional local dish fave e cicorie selvatiche.; in Albania, the leaves are used as a spinach substitute, mainly served simmered and marinated in olive oil, or as ingredient for fillings of byrek.\\n\\nBy cooking and discarding the water, the bitterness is reduced, after which the chicory leaves may be sautéed with garlic, anchovies, and other ingredients. In this form, the resulting greens might be combined with pasta or accompany meat dishes. \\n\\nCultivated\\n\\nChicory may be cultivated for its leaves, usually eaten raw as salad leaves. Cultivated chicory is generally divided into three types, of which there are many varieties: \\n\\n* Radicchio usually has variegated red or red and green leaves. Some only refer to the white-veined red-leaved type as radicchio, also known as red endive and red chicory. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. It can also be used to add color and zest to salads. It is largely used in Italy in different varieties, the most famous being the ones from Treviso (known as radicchio rosso di Treviso), from Verona (radicchio di Verona), and Chioggia (radicchio di Chioggia), which are classified as an IGP. It is also common in Greece.\\n*Sugarloaf looks rather like cos lettuce, with tightly packed leaves. \\n\\n*Belgian endive, known in Dutch as witloof or witlof (\\\"white leaf\\\"), endive or (very rarely) witloof in the United States, indivia in Italy, endivias in Spain, chicory in the UK, as witlof in Australia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France and in Wallonia. It has a small head of cream-coloured, bitter leaves. It is grown completely underground or indoors in the absence of sunlight in order to prevent the leaves from turning green and opening up (etiolation). The plant has to be kept just below the soil surface as it grows, only showing the very tip of the leaves. It is often sold wrapped in blue paper to protect it from light and so preserve its pale colour and delicate flavour. The smooth, creamy white leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or simply cut raw. The tender leaves are slightly bitter; the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste. The harder inner part of the stem at the bottom of the head should be cut out before cooking to prevent bitterness. Belgium exports chicon/witloof to over 40 different countries. The technique for growing blanched endives was accidentally discovered in the 1850s at the Botanical Garden of Brussels in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium. Today France is the largest producer of endive. \\n\\nThe Catalogna chicory (also known as puntarelle) includes a whole subfamily (some varieties from Belgian endive and some from radicchio) of chicory and used throughout Italy.\\n\\nAlthough leaf chicory is often called \\\"endive\\\", true endive (Cichorium endivia) is a different species in the genus and should not be confused with Belgian endive.\\n\\nRoot chicory\\n\\nRoot chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been cultivated in Europe as a coffee substitute. The roots are baked, roasted, ground, and used as an additive, especially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native). As a coffee additive, it is also mixed in Indian filter coffee, and in parts of Southeast Asia, South Africa, and southern United States, particularly in New Orleans. It has been more widely used during economic crises such as the Great Depression in the 1930s and during World War II in Continental Europe. Chicory, with sugar beet and rye, was used as an ingredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the \\\"East German coffee crisis\\\" of 1976-79.\\n\\nSome beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to stouts (commonly expected to have a coffee-like flavour). Others have added it to strong blond Belgian-style ales, to augment the hops, making a witlofbier, from the Dutch name for the plant.\\n\\nAround 1970, it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar to starch. Inulin is mainly found in the plant family Asteraceae as a storage carbohydrate (for example Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia, yacon, etc.). It is used as a sweetener in the food industry with a sweetening power that of sucrose and is sometimes added to yogurts as a prebiotic. Inulin is also gaining popularity as a source of soluble dietary fiber and functional food. \\n\\nChicory root extract is a dietary supplement or food additive produced by mixing dried, ground chicory root with water, and removing the insoluble fraction by filtration and centrifugation. Other methods may be used to remove pigments and sugars. It is used as a source of soluble fiber. Fresh chicory root typically contains, by dry weight, 68% inulin, 14% sucrose, 5% cellulose, 6% protein, 4% ash, and 3% other compounds. Dried chicory root extract contains, by weight, about 98% inulin and 2% other compounds. \\nFresh chicory root may contain between 13 and 23% inulin, by total weight. \\n\\nAgents responsible for bitterness \\n\\nThe bitter substances are primarily the two sesquiterpene lactones lactucin and lactucopicrin. Other ingredients are aesculetin, aesculin, cichoriin, umbelliferone, scopoletin, 6,7-dihydrocoumarin, and further sesquiterpene lactones and their glycosides. \\n\\nMedicinal use\\n\\nRoot chicory contains volatile oils similar to those found in plants in the related genus Tanacetum which includes Tansy, and is similarly effective at eliminating intestinal worms. All parts of the plant contain these volatile oils, with the majority of the toxic components concentrated in the plant's root. \\n\\nChicory is well known for its toxicity to internal parasites. Studies indicate that ingestion of chicory by farm animals results in reduction of worm burdens, which has prompted its widespread use as a forage supplement. Only a few major companies are active in research, development, and production of chicory varieties and selections, most in New Zealand.\\n\\nChicory (especially the flower), used as a folk medicine in Germany, is recorded in many books as an ancient German treatment for everyday ailments. It is variously used as a tonic and as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinus problems and cuts and bruises. (Howard M. 1987). Chicory contains inulin, which may help humans with weight loss, constipation, improving bowel function and general health. In rats, it may increase calcium absorption and bone mineral density. It also increases absorption of calcium and other minerals in humans. \\n\\nChicory has demonstrated antihepatotoxic potential in animal studies. \\n\\nAlternative medicine\\n\\nChicory has been listed as one of the 38 plants that are used to prepare Bach flower remedies, a kind of alternative medicine. However, according to Cancer Research UK, \\\"there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, cure or prevent any type of disease, including cancer\\\". \\n\\nNative American use\\n\\nThe Cherokee use an infusion of the root as a tonic for nerves. The Iroquois use a decoction of the roots as a wash and apply a poultice of it to chancres and fever sores. \\n\\nForage \\n\\nChicory is highly digestible for ruminants and has a low fiber concentration. Chicory roots are an \\\"excellent substitute for oats\\\" for horses due to their protein and fat content. Chicory contains a low quantity of reduced tannins that may increase protein utilization efficiency in ruminants. Some tannins reduce intestinal parasites. (Excessively large quantities of tannins, however, could bind with and precipitate proteins, resulting in low digestibility and nutrient reduction.)\\n \\nAlthough chicory might have originated in France, Italy, and India, much development of chicory for use with livestock has taken place in New Zealand. \\n\\nForage chicory varieties\\n\\n*Puna (Grasslands Puna)\\nDeveloped in New Zealand, Grasslands Puna is well adapted to different climates, being grown from Alberta, Canada, to New Mexico and Florida. It is resistant to bolting, which leads to high nutrient levels in the leaves in spring. It also has high resistance to grazing.\\n*Forage Feast\\nA variety from France used for human consumption and also for wildlife plots. It is very cold-hardy and, being lower in tannins than other forage varieties, is suitable for human consumption.\\n*Choice\\nChoice has been bred for high winter and early-spring growth activity, and lower amounts of lactucin and lactone, which are believed to taint milk. It is also use for seeding deer wildlife plots.\\n*Oasis\\nBred for increased lactone rates for the forage industry, and for higher resistance to fungal diseases like Sclerotinia.\\n*Puna II\\nMore winter-active than most other varieties, which leads to greater persistence and longevity.\\n*Grouse\\nA New Zealand variety used as a planting companion for forage brassicas. More prone to early flowering than other varieties, with higher crowns more susceptible to overbrowsing.\\n*Six Point\\nA United States variety, very similar to Puna.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nThe chicory plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: \\\"Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae\\\" (\\\"As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance\\\"). In 1766, Frederick the Great banned the importation of coffee into Prussia leading to the development of a coffee-substitute by Brunswick innkeeper Christian Gottlieb Förster (died 1801), who gained a concession in 1769/70 to manufacture it in Brunswick and Berlin. By 1795 there were 22 to 24 factories of this type in Brunswick. Lord Monboddo describes the plant in 1779 as the \\\"chicoree\\\", which the French cultivated as a pot herb. In Napoleonic Era France, chicory frequently appeared as either an adulterant in coffee, or as a coffee substitute. Chicory was also adopted as a coffee substitute by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, and has become common in the United States. It was also used in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, where Camp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence, has been on sale since 1885.\\n\\nThe cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval monks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that chicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.\\n\\nIn the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in prisons.(a) Delaney, John H. \\\"New York (State). Dept. of Efficiency and Economy Annual Report\\\". Albany New York, 1915, p. 673. Accessed via Google Books.(b) \\\"Prison Talk\\\" website; Kentucky section: http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-173368.html. By the 1840s, the port of New Orleans was the second largest importer of coffee (after New York). Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union naval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans, thereby creating a long-standing tradition.\\n\\nA common meal in Rome, puntarelle, is made with chicory sprouts. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that Chicory is a native plant of western Asia, North Africa and Europe.\\n\\nChicory is also mentioned in certain sericulture (silk-growing) texts. It is said that the primary caretaker of the silkworms, the \\\"silkworm mother\\\", should not eat or even touch it.\\n\\nThe chicory flower is often seen as inspiration for the Romantic concept of the Blue Flower (e. g. in German language 'Blauwarte' ≈ 'blue lookout by the wayside'). It could open locked doors, according to European folklore. \\n\\nInvasive\\n\\nCichorium intybus has been declared an invasive species in several states in the USA.\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124628,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"Name the Dick Francis mount that collapsed approaching the finishing line in the 1956 'Grand National'?"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Devon Loch"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Dick_Francis.txt\nDick Francis\nRichard Stanley \"Dick\" Francis CBE FRSL (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer, whose novels centre on horse racing in England. \n\nAfter wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winning over 350 races and becoming champion jockey of the British National Hunt. He came to further prominence in 1956 as jockey to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, riding her horse Devon Loch when it fell, for unexplained reasons, while close to winning the Grand National. He then retired from the turf and became a professional journalist and novelist.\n\nAll his novels deal with crime in the horse-racing world, some of the criminals being outwardly respectable figures. The stories are narrated by one of the key players, often a jockey, but sometimes a trainer, an owner, a bookie, or someone in a different profession, peripherally linked to racing. This person is always facing great obstacles, often including physical injury, from which he must fight back with determination. More than forty of these novels became international best-sellers.\n\nPersonal life \n\nFrancis was born in Coedcanlas, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Some sources report his birthplace as the inland town of Lawrenny, but at least two of his obituaries stated his birthplace as the coastal town of Tenby. His autobiography says that he was born at his maternal grandparents' farm at Coedcanlas on the estuary of the River Cleddau, roughly a mile north-west of Lawrenny. He was the son of a jockey and stable manager and he grew up in Berkshire, England. He left school at 15 without any qualifications, with the intention of becoming a jockey and became a trainer in 1938. \n\nDuring World War II, Francis volunteered, hoping to join the cavalry. Instead, he served in the Royal Air Force, working as ground crew and later piloting fighter and bomber aircraft, including the Spitfire and Hurricane. He said in an interview that he spent much of his six years in the Air Force in Africa.\n\nIn October 1945, he met Mary Margaret Brenchley (17 June 1924 – 30 September 2000) at a cousin's wedding. In most interviews, they say that it was love at first sight. (Francis has some of his characters fall similarly in love within moments of meeting, as in the novels Flying Finish, Knockdown, and The Edge.) Their families were not entirely happy with their engagement, but Dick and Mary were married in June 1947 in London. She had earned a degree in English and French from London University at the age of 19, was an assistant stage manager, and later worked as a publisher's reader. She also became a pilot, and her experience of flying contributed to many novels, including Flying Finish, Rat Race, and Second Wind. She contracted polio while pregnant with their first child, a plight dramatized to a greater extent in the novel Forfeit, which Francis called one of his favorites. They had two sons, Merrick and Felix (born 1953). \n\nIn the 1980s, Francis and his wife moved to Florida; in 1992, they moved to the Cayman Islands, where Mary died of a heart attack in 2000. In 2006, Francis had a heart bypass operation; in 2007 his right leg was amputated. He died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, survived by both sons. \n\nHorse racing career \n\nAfter leaving the RAF in 1946, Francis became a celebrity in the world of British National Hunt racing. He won over 350 races, becoming champion jockey in the 1953–54 season.\n\nShortly after becoming a professional, he was offered the prestige job of first jockey to Vivian Smith, Lord Bicester. \n\nFrom 1953 to 1957 he was jockey to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. His most famous moment as a jockey came while riding the Queen Mother's horse, Devon Loch, in the 1956 Grand National when the horse inexplicably fell when close to winning the race. Decades later, Francis considered losing that race his greatest regret and called it \"a disaster of massive proportions.\"\n\nFrancis suffered a number of racing injuries, and was hospitalized at the age of 12 when a pony fell on him and broke his jaw and nose. A career featuring broken bones and damaged organs found its way into many novels, whose narrators suffer a variety of damaged bodies. In 1957, after another serious fall, the Queen Mother's adviser, Lord Abergavenny, advised him that she wanted him to retire from racing for her.\n\nContributions to racing \n\nIn 1983, the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in England \"stood at the brink of extinction,\" according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. News reporter Don Clippinger wrote, \"Britain's Jockey Club negotiated a $14 million deal to buy the land and save the race forever. The only problem was that the Jockey Club did not have $14 million, so two prominent racing personalities—Lord Derby and novelist Dick Francis—were selected to raise the money in a worldwide campaign.\" Other philanthropists, including Charles C. Fenwick Jr., who rode Ben Nevis to victory in the 1980 Grand National, and Paul Mellon, a breeder and racing enthusiast, also contributed to save the race.\n\nWriting career \n\nFrancis wrote more than 40 international best-sellers. His first book was his autobiography The Sport of Queens (1957), for which he was offered the aid of a ghostwriter, which he spurned. The book's success led to his becoming the racing correspondent for London's Sunday Express newspaper, and he remained in the job for 16 years.\n\nIn 1962, he published his first thriller, Dead Cert, set in the world of racing. Subsequently he regularly produced a novel a year for the next 38 years, missing only 1998 (during which he published a short-story collection). Although all his books were set against a background of horse racing, his male heroes held a variety of jobs including artist (In the Frame and To the Hilt), private investigator (Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, Under Orders—all starring injured ex-jockey Sid Halley, one of only two heroes used more than once), investigator for the Jockey Club (The Edge), pilot (Rat Race and Flying Finish), wine merchant (Proof) and many others. (The other is Kit Fielding of Break In and Bolt.) All the novels are narrated by the hero, who in the course of the story discovers himself to be more resourceful, brave, tricky, than he had thought, and usually finds a certain salvation for himself as well as bestowing it on others. Details of other people's occupations fascinated Francis, and the reader finds himself or herself immersed in the mechanics of such things as photography, accountancy, the gemstone trade, restaurant service on transcontinental trains—but always in the interests of the plot. Dysfunctional families were a subject which he exploited particularly well (Reflex, a baleful grandmother; Hot Money, a multi-millionaire father and serial ex-husband; Decider, the related co-owners of a racecourse).\n\nA columnist for The Houston Chronicle said that Francis \"writes believable fairy tales for adults—ones in which the actors are better than we are but are believable enough to make us wonder if indeed we could not one day manage to emulate them.\" \n\nMany of Francis' books are featured in volumes of Reader's Digest Condensed Books.\n\nWriting routine \n\nFrancis described a typical year of research and writing to an interviewer in 1989:\n\nIn January, he sits down to write, staring down the barrel of a deadline. \"My publisher comes over in mid-May to collect the manuscript,\" he says, \"and it's got to be done.\"The book's publication takes place in England in September. American publication in past years has been in February, although his next book, Straight, is set to be published in November. Once the manuscript is out of his hands, he takes the summer off, while percolating the plot of his next book. Research on the next book begins in late summer and continues through the autumn, while he's gearing up for his promotional tour for the just-published book. Come January, he sits down to write again.He doesn't like book tours. He is not one for revelations, major life changes, and intimacies with strange interviewers, and he says he gets tired of answering the same questions again and again.He shuns the lecture circuit. He'd prefer to let his novels and his sales volume speak for themselves... And though he doesn't love the act of writing a 2287038nd [sic] [and] could easily retire, he finds himself planning his new book as each summer ends.He says, \"Each one, you think to yourself, 'This is the last one,' but then, by September, you're starting again. If you've got money, and you're just having fun, people think you're a useless character.\"Or, as independently wealthy Tor Kelsey says in The Edge, explaining why he works for a minuscule salary: \"I work... because I like it, I'm not all that bad at what I do, really, and it's useful, and I'm not terribly good at twiddling my thumbs.\"\n\nCollaboration\n\nFrancis collaborated extensively in his fiction with his wife, Mary, until her death, which came as a later surprise to some readers and reviewers. He credited her with being a great researcher for the novels. In 1981, Don Clippinger interviewed the Francises for The Philadelphia Inquirer and wrote, \"When Dick Francis sits down each January to begin writing another of his popular mystery-adventure novels, it is almost a certain bet that his wife, Mary, has developed a new avocation... For instance, in Rat Race, [the protagonist] operated an air-taxi service that specialized in carrying jockeys, trainers and owners to distant race courses. Before that book came out in 1970, Mrs. Francis obtained a pilot's licence and was operating an air-taxi service of her own. Francis' newest novel, Reflex, is built around photography, and sure enough, Mary Francis has become accomplished behind the camera and in the darkroom... And, in their condominium, they have set up the subject of his 20th novel [Twice Shy] - a computer. While he is touring the country, she is working on new computer programs.\" \n\nAccording to journalist Mary Amoroso, \"Mary does much of the research: She went so far as to learn to fly a plane for Flying Finish. She also edits his manuscripts, and serves as sounding board for plot line and character development. Says Francis, 'At least the research keeps her from going out shopping.'\" Francis told interviewers Jean Swanson and Dean James,\n\nFrancis's manager (and co-author of his later books) was his son Felix, who left his post as teacher of A-Level Physics at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire in order to work for his father. Felix was the inspiration behind a leading character, a marksman and physics teacher, in the novel Twice Shy. The older son, Merrick, was a racehorse trainer and later ran his own horse transport business, which inspired the novel Driving Force.\n\nFather and son collaborated on four novels; after Dick's death, Felix carried on to publish novels with his father's name in the title (Dick Francis's Gamble (2011), Dick Francis's Bloodline (2012), Dick Francis's Refusal (2013), Dick Francis's Damage (2014), Front Runner: A Dick Francis Novel (2015)).\n\nAdaptations\n\nHis first novel, Dead Cert, was filmed under the same title in 1974. Directed by Tony Richardson, it starred Scott Antony, Judi Dench and Michael Williams. It was adapted again as Favorit (a Soviet made-for-television movie) in 1976. \n\nFrancis's protagonist Sid Halley was featured in six TV movies made for the program The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing Game (1979-1980), starring Mike Gwilym as Halley and Mick Ford as his partner, Chico Barnes. One of the shows, Odds Against, used a Francis title; the others were created for the program.\n\nThree more TV films of 1989 were adaptations of Bloodsport, In the Frame, and Twice Shy, all starring Ian McShane and featuring protagonist David Cleveland, a name actually used only once by Francis, in the novel Slayride.\n\nHonours\n\nFrancis is the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come To Grief in 1996. Britain's Crime Writers Association awarded him its Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. he was granted another Lifetime Achievement Award . Tufts University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1991. In 1996 he was given the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, the highest honour bestowed by the MWA. In 2000, he was granted the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1983 and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. \n\nAmoroso wrote in 1989, \"And yet he has a keen sense of the evanescence of literary endeavors. 'Whole months of work can be gone in four hours,' he says ruefully. 'People say they can't put my books down, and so they read them in one sitting of four hours.' Francis has been long accustomed to celebrity as a British sports star, but today he is a worldwide phenomenon, having been published in 22 languages. In Australia, he is recognized in restaurants, from his book-jacket picture. He and Mary will see people reading the novels on planes and trains.\"\n\nFrancis was elected in 1999 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. \n\nBibliography","1956_Grand_National.txt\n1956 Grand National\nThe 1956 Grand National was the 110th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 24 March 1956.\n\nIt is probably best remembered for Devon Loch's sudden and inexplicable fall on the final straight, just 40 yards from a certain victory. The incident is almost always replayed during television build-up coverage on Grand National day.\n\nOwned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis, the well-fancied Devon Loch held a five-length lead over his nearest challenger, E.S.B., on the run-in to the finishing post, when he suddenly half-jumped into the air and landed in a bellyflop on his stomach, allowing E.S.B. to overtake and win. Although Francis tried to cajole the horse, it was unable to continue.\n\nFinishing order\n\nNon-finishers\n\n \n \n \n\nMedia Coverage and Aftermath\n\nE.S.B.'s jockey Dave Dick said of his unexpected win: \"Devon Loch had me stone cold. I was a terribly lucky winner.\" Devon Loch's owner Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother famously said of the incident: \"Oh, that's racing!\" For jockey Dick Francis, his mount's bizarre collapse on the run-in to victory in the world's most famous steeplechase remained a \"terrible memory, even after all these years.\" Devon Loch's was not the first time a horse had seemed to jump some form of ghost fence on the run in of the National. In 1901, Arthur Nightingall's race was well won on board Grudon when his mount also made to jump a fence that wasn't there. On that occasion the pair recovered and had sufficient time to continue and win the race"],"string":"[\n \"Dick_Francis.txt\\nDick Francis\\nRichard Stanley \\\"Dick\\\" Francis CBE FRSL (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer, whose novels centre on horse racing in England. \\n\\nAfter wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winning over 350 races and becoming champion jockey of the British National Hunt. He came to further prominence in 1956 as jockey to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, riding her horse Devon Loch when it fell, for unexplained reasons, while close to winning the Grand National. He then retired from the turf and became a professional journalist and novelist.\\n\\nAll his novels deal with crime in the horse-racing world, some of the criminals being outwardly respectable figures. The stories are narrated by one of the key players, often a jockey, but sometimes a trainer, an owner, a bookie, or someone in a different profession, peripherally linked to racing. This person is always facing great obstacles, often including physical injury, from which he must fight back with determination. More than forty of these novels became international best-sellers.\\n\\nPersonal life \\n\\nFrancis was born in Coedcanlas, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Some sources report his birthplace as the inland town of Lawrenny, but at least two of his obituaries stated his birthplace as the coastal town of Tenby. His autobiography says that he was born at his maternal grandparents' farm at Coedcanlas on the estuary of the River Cleddau, roughly a mile north-west of Lawrenny. He was the son of a jockey and stable manager and he grew up in Berkshire, England. He left school at 15 without any qualifications, with the intention of becoming a jockey and became a trainer in 1938. \\n\\nDuring World War II, Francis volunteered, hoping to join the cavalry. Instead, he served in the Royal Air Force, working as ground crew and later piloting fighter and bomber aircraft, including the Spitfire and Hurricane. He said in an interview that he spent much of his six years in the Air Force in Africa.\\n\\nIn October 1945, he met Mary Margaret Brenchley (17 June 1924 – 30 September 2000) at a cousin's wedding. In most interviews, they say that it was love at first sight. (Francis has some of his characters fall similarly in love within moments of meeting, as in the novels Flying Finish, Knockdown, and The Edge.) Their families were not entirely happy with their engagement, but Dick and Mary were married in June 1947 in London. She had earned a degree in English and French from London University at the age of 19, was an assistant stage manager, and later worked as a publisher's reader. She also became a pilot, and her experience of flying contributed to many novels, including Flying Finish, Rat Race, and Second Wind. She contracted polio while pregnant with their first child, a plight dramatized to a greater extent in the novel Forfeit, which Francis called one of his favorites. They had two sons, Merrick and Felix (born 1953). \\n\\nIn the 1980s, Francis and his wife moved to Florida; in 1992, they moved to the Cayman Islands, where Mary died of a heart attack in 2000. In 2006, Francis had a heart bypass operation; in 2007 his right leg was amputated. He died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, survived by both sons. \\n\\nHorse racing career \\n\\nAfter leaving the RAF in 1946, Francis became a celebrity in the world of British National Hunt racing. He won over 350 races, becoming champion jockey in the 1953–54 season.\\n\\nShortly after becoming a professional, he was offered the prestige job of first jockey to Vivian Smith, Lord Bicester. \\n\\nFrom 1953 to 1957 he was jockey to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. His most famous moment as a jockey came while riding the Queen Mother's horse, Devon Loch, in the 1956 Grand National when the horse inexplicably fell when close to winning the race. Decades later, Francis considered losing that race his greatest regret and called it \\\"a disaster of massive proportions.\\\"\\n\\nFrancis suffered a number of racing injuries, and was hospitalized at the age of 12 when a pony fell on him and broke his jaw and nose. A career featuring broken bones and damaged organs found its way into many novels, whose narrators suffer a variety of damaged bodies. In 1957, after another serious fall, the Queen Mother's adviser, Lord Abergavenny, advised him that she wanted him to retire from racing for her.\\n\\nContributions to racing \\n\\nIn 1983, the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in England \\\"stood at the brink of extinction,\\\" according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. News reporter Don Clippinger wrote, \\\"Britain's Jockey Club negotiated a $14 million deal to buy the land and save the race forever. The only problem was that the Jockey Club did not have $14 million, so two prominent racing personalities—Lord Derby and novelist Dick Francis—were selected to raise the money in a worldwide campaign.\\\" Other philanthropists, including Charles C. Fenwick Jr., who rode Ben Nevis to victory in the 1980 Grand National, and Paul Mellon, a breeder and racing enthusiast, also contributed to save the race.\\n\\nWriting career \\n\\nFrancis wrote more than 40 international best-sellers. His first book was his autobiography The Sport of Queens (1957), for which he was offered the aid of a ghostwriter, which he spurned. The book's success led to his becoming the racing correspondent for London's Sunday Express newspaper, and he remained in the job for 16 years.\\n\\nIn 1962, he published his first thriller, Dead Cert, set in the world of racing. Subsequently he regularly produced a novel a year for the next 38 years, missing only 1998 (during which he published a short-story collection). Although all his books were set against a background of horse racing, his male heroes held a variety of jobs including artist (In the Frame and To the Hilt), private investigator (Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, Under Orders—all starring injured ex-jockey Sid Halley, one of only two heroes used more than once), investigator for the Jockey Club (The Edge), pilot (Rat Race and Flying Finish), wine merchant (Proof) and many others. (The other is Kit Fielding of Break In and Bolt.) All the novels are narrated by the hero, who in the course of the story discovers himself to be more resourceful, brave, tricky, than he had thought, and usually finds a certain salvation for himself as well as bestowing it on others. Details of other people's occupations fascinated Francis, and the reader finds himself or herself immersed in the mechanics of such things as photography, accountancy, the gemstone trade, restaurant service on transcontinental trains—but always in the interests of the plot. Dysfunctional families were a subject which he exploited particularly well (Reflex, a baleful grandmother; Hot Money, a multi-millionaire father and serial ex-husband; Decider, the related co-owners of a racecourse).\\n\\nA columnist for The Houston Chronicle said that Francis \\\"writes believable fairy tales for adults—ones in which the actors are better than we are but are believable enough to make us wonder if indeed we could not one day manage to emulate them.\\\" \\n\\nMany of Francis' books are featured in volumes of Reader's Digest Condensed Books.\\n\\nWriting routine \\n\\nFrancis described a typical year of research and writing to an interviewer in 1989:\\n\\nIn January, he sits down to write, staring down the barrel of a deadline. \\\"My publisher comes over in mid-May to collect the manuscript,\\\" he says, \\\"and it's got to be done.\\\"The book's publication takes place in England in September. American publication in past years has been in February, although his next book, Straight, is set to be published in November. Once the manuscript is out of his hands, he takes the summer off, while percolating the plot of his next book. Research on the next book begins in late summer and continues through the autumn, while he's gearing up for his promotional tour for the just-published book. Come January, he sits down to write again.He doesn't like book tours. He is not one for revelations, major life changes, and intimacies with strange interviewers, and he says he gets tired of answering the same questions again and again.He shuns the lecture circuit. He'd prefer to let his novels and his sales volume speak for themselves... And though he doesn't love the act of writing a 2287038nd [sic] [and] could easily retire, he finds himself planning his new book as each summer ends.He says, \\\"Each one, you think to yourself, 'This is the last one,' but then, by September, you're starting again. If you've got money, and you're just having fun, people think you're a useless character.\\\"Or, as independently wealthy Tor Kelsey says in The Edge, explaining why he works for a minuscule salary: \\\"I work... because I like it, I'm not all that bad at what I do, really, and it's useful, and I'm not terribly good at twiddling my thumbs.\\\"\\n\\nCollaboration\\n\\nFrancis collaborated extensively in his fiction with his wife, Mary, until her death, which came as a later surprise to some readers and reviewers. He credited her with being a great researcher for the novels. In 1981, Don Clippinger interviewed the Francises for The Philadelphia Inquirer and wrote, \\\"When Dick Francis sits down each January to begin writing another of his popular mystery-adventure novels, it is almost a certain bet that his wife, Mary, has developed a new avocation... For instance, in Rat Race, [the protagonist] operated an air-taxi service that specialized in carrying jockeys, trainers and owners to distant race courses. Before that book came out in 1970, Mrs. Francis obtained a pilot's licence and was operating an air-taxi service of her own. Francis' newest novel, Reflex, is built around photography, and sure enough, Mary Francis has become accomplished behind the camera and in the darkroom... And, in their condominium, they have set up the subject of his 20th novel [Twice Shy] - a computer. While he is touring the country, she is working on new computer programs.\\\" \\n\\nAccording to journalist Mary Amoroso, \\\"Mary does much of the research: She went so far as to learn to fly a plane for Flying Finish. She also edits his manuscripts, and serves as sounding board for plot line and character development. Says Francis, 'At least the research keeps her from going out shopping.'\\\" Francis told interviewers Jean Swanson and Dean James,\\n\\nFrancis's manager (and co-author of his later books) was his son Felix, who left his post as teacher of A-Level Physics at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire in order to work for his father. Felix was the inspiration behind a leading character, a marksman and physics teacher, in the novel Twice Shy. The older son, Merrick, was a racehorse trainer and later ran his own horse transport business, which inspired the novel Driving Force.\\n\\nFather and son collaborated on four novels; after Dick's death, Felix carried on to publish novels with his father's name in the title (Dick Francis's Gamble (2011), Dick Francis's Bloodline (2012), Dick Francis's Refusal (2013), Dick Francis's Damage (2014), Front Runner: A Dick Francis Novel (2015)).\\n\\nAdaptations\\n\\nHis first novel, Dead Cert, was filmed under the same title in 1974. Directed by Tony Richardson, it starred Scott Antony, Judi Dench and Michael Williams. It was adapted again as Favorit (a Soviet made-for-television movie) in 1976. \\n\\nFrancis's protagonist Sid Halley was featured in six TV movies made for the program The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing Game (1979-1980), starring Mike Gwilym as Halley and Mick Ford as his partner, Chico Barnes. One of the shows, Odds Against, used a Francis title; the others were created for the program.\\n\\nThree more TV films of 1989 were adaptations of Bloodsport, In the Frame, and Twice Shy, all starring Ian McShane and featuring protagonist David Cleveland, a name actually used only once by Francis, in the novel Slayride.\\n\\nHonours\\n\\nFrancis is the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come To Grief in 1996. Britain's Crime Writers Association awarded him its Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. he was granted another Lifetime Achievement Award . Tufts University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1991. In 1996 he was given the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, the highest honour bestowed by the MWA. In 2000, he was granted the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1983 and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. \\n\\nAmoroso wrote in 1989, \\\"And yet he has a keen sense of the evanescence of literary endeavors. 'Whole months of work can be gone in four hours,' he says ruefully. 'People say they can't put my books down, and so they read them in one sitting of four hours.' Francis has been long accustomed to celebrity as a British sports star, but today he is a worldwide phenomenon, having been published in 22 languages. In Australia, he is recognized in restaurants, from his book-jacket picture. He and Mary will see people reading the novels on planes and trains.\\\"\\n\\nFrancis was elected in 1999 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. \\n\\nBibliography\",\n \"1956_Grand_National.txt\\n1956 Grand National\\nThe 1956 Grand National was the 110th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 24 March 1956.\\n\\nIt is probably best remembered for Devon Loch's sudden and inexplicable fall on the final straight, just 40 yards from a certain victory. The incident is almost always replayed during television build-up coverage on Grand National day.\\n\\nOwned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis, the well-fancied Devon Loch held a five-length lead over his nearest challenger, E.S.B., on the run-in to the finishing post, when he suddenly half-jumped into the air and landed in a bellyflop on his stomach, allowing E.S.B. to overtake and win. Although Francis tried to cajole the horse, it was unable to continue.\\n\\nFinishing order\\n\\nNon-finishers\\n\\n \\n \\n \\n\\nMedia Coverage and Aftermath\\n\\nE.S.B.'s jockey Dave Dick said of his unexpected win: \\\"Devon Loch had me stone cold. I was a terribly lucky winner.\\\" Devon Loch's owner Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother famously said of the incident: \\\"Oh, that's racing!\\\" For jockey Dick Francis, his mount's bizarre collapse on the run-in to victory in the world's most famous steeplechase remained a \\\"terrible memory, even after all these years.\\\" Devon Loch's was not the first time a horse had seemed to jump some form of ghost fence on the run in of the National. In 1901, Arthur Nightingall's race was well won on board Grudon when his mount also made to jump a fence that wasn't there. On that occasion the pair recovered and had sufficient time to continue and win the race\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2295"],"string":"[\n \"2295\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["The 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport | Sport | The ...\nDick Francis, later to become a ... Who, for example, remembers the winner of Devon Loch's Grand National in 1956? ... When Englishman Jim Peters collapsed moments ...\nThe 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport | Sport | The Observer\nThe 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport\nSunday 5 November 2000\nguardian.co.uk\n1 Devon Loch falls in the 1956 Grand National\nTwo of Devon Loch's most fancied rivals, Must, the favourite, and Early Mist, the winner three years earlier, fell at the first, and with every stride the Queen Mother's horse appeared more dominant. Dick Francis, later to become a best-selling novelist, but on this afternoon Devon Loch's partner, fought to restrain the horse from going on too quickly. As they cleared the last and Francis kicked for home, the cheers for a royal victory thundered around the stands.\n'Never had I felt such power in reserve,' Francis wrote later, 'such confidence in my mount, such calm in my mind.' Then, 55 yards from the line, disaster struck. The horse jumped slightly before collapsing on his stomach, legs thrust out in front and behind. The horse did manage to regain his feet but it was soon clear he could not carry on and ESB galloped past to win.\nNone of the dramatic stories that have secured the Grand National's place in sporting legend has matched the mystifying subsidence of Devon Loch, whose name has become synonymous with sudden and inexplicable falls. Theories abound. That the horse tried to jump a shadow, was distracted by the crowd, had a cramp attack, suffered a blood clot on his hind leg and even that he was destabilised by breaking wind violently after his girth was made too tight at the start. Whatever the truth, it was one of the most sensational moments in sporting history.\n2 Mary Decker trips over Zola Budd at the 1984 Olympics\nMary Decker, the outstanding female middle-distance runner of her generation, had hoped to run both the 1500 and 3,000 metres at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 but withdrew from the 1500 because the events overlapped. So her Olympic hopes were pinned on the longer race, in which her rivals included Zola Budd, the diminutive South African controversially granted British citizenship earlier in the year.\nDecker could have had no idea what a dramatic effect her presence in the 3,000 metre final would have. At the 1,700-metre mark, the two bumped twice in the space of a few strides and Decker, tracking Budd, tripped on the British runner's right leg, her spikes digging deeply into Budd's heel. A dispirited Budd ran on, eventually limping home seventh, but Decker pitched forward onto the infield, her race, and her only hope of a medal, over. Afterwards, a distraught Decker refused to accept Budd's apology.\n3 Nigel Mansell's tyre bursts at the 1986 Australian Grand Prix\nVirtually all Nigel Mansell had to do to win the drivers' championship was to keep going around the Adelaide street circuit. Entering the final race, he led Alain Prost by six points and Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet by seven. Well into the last third of the race, Mansell was second behind Keke Rosberg's McLaren, whose right rear tyre suddenly failed.\nGoodyear technicians tried desperately to inform the other Goodyear teams, including Williams, but as Mansell slipped into sixth gear and took off down the long Jack Brabham straight at close to 200mph his own left rear tire exploded, showering the track with yellow, molten sparks. Prost sped by to win the world title by two points, while Mansell discovered later that if he had crashed into the wall on the straight, rather than expertly manoeuvre his stricken car into the escape road, the race would have been stopped and he would have been world champion.\n4 Don Fox's missed goal kick at the 1968 rugby league Challenge Cup final\nHe had already been named man of the match and now all Don Fox had to do was complete a triumphant afternoon for himself and Wakefield Trinity by knocking over the simplest of goal kicks. It was right in front of the posts and the points would overturn Leeds's 11-10 lead in the game's dying moments. But the Wakefield loose forward toe-poked it wide and sunk to his knees on the sodden Wembley turf. He never played again, nor has he spoken about the incident.\nBut his older brother, Peter, the former Bradford, Featherstone and Great Britain coach, has explained: 'Although everyone else thought Wakefield had won the cup, I was worried because I could see our Don trying to wipe the ball on his jersey. But there wasn't a dry spot in the house. If I could I'd have gone on the field and let him wipe the ball on my shirt.'\n5 Oxford sink in the 1951 Boat Race\nCrews have sunk before and since in the Boat Race, but this was the most remarkable of the calamities because of how soon the Oxford boat slipped beneath the Thames's choppy surface. As it turned out, Oxford's decision to choose the Surrey bank on winning the toss proved disastrous, exposing the crew to the full force of a strong westerly wind while Cambridge made quickly for the cover of the Middlesex bank.\nWater broke over the bows of the Oxford boat in the very first strokes and after a minute, reported the Times, 'it was all too plain to see that they must sink'. They did manage to stay afloat for two and a half minutes, but because they foundered before the end of the Fulham wall, the umpire decreed the race should be re-rowed the following Monday. This time, on a still day, Oxford reached the finish without mishap - 12 lengths behind Cambridge.\n6 Willie Shoemaker finishes too soon at the 1957 Kentucky Derby\nThe most successful jockey in history won four Kentucky Derbies but it is the Derby he didn't win that is as well remembered as his triumphs. Shoemaker held Gallant Man back early on, but eased through the nine-horse field coming into the straight, seeming to have the race at his mercy as he hit the front. But he mistook a trackside pole for the finish, stood up in the stirrups and after Iron Liege swept past him was unable to get going again to peg back the winner, who took the race by a nose.\n'An error like that would have destroyed most men,' said Shoemaker's great rival, Eddie Arcaro, who finished fourth on Bold Ruler. 'Only a guy like Willie could have survived it. He's a tough sonofagun.'\n7 Jim Peters collapses during the 1954 Empire Games marathon\nBritish marathon runner Jim Peters set four world records between 1952 and 1954, lowering it from 2hr 25min 39sec to 2hr 17min 40sec. Victory in the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver seemed a formality, even more so when in the race itself he opened a lead of more than three miles and entered the stadium 20 minutes ahead of his closest rival. But, having run the entire race on a scorching day without drinking any water, he fell repeatedly and then started to crawl on the track.\nHis team-mates, including Roger Bannister, felt powerless to help him, remembering Dorando Pietri's disqualification in the 1908 Olympic marathon after being helped across the line. He was eventually rescued when it became clear he was not going to finish. In the medical centre, he asked if he had won. 'You did very well,' said a nurse.\n8 Jean Van de Velde's final hole disaster at the 1999 open\nJean Van de Velde looked invincible as he stood on the final tee at Carnoustie holding a three-shot lead. A few minutes later, the 33-year-old Frenchman was rolling up his trousers to wade in to Barry Burn where his ball lay under water. That was after his first shot landed on the 17th fairway and his second, having struck a stand and a rock, ended in heavy rough. His third plopped in to the burn, his fourth was a drop, his fifth disappeared in to a bunker, his sixth rolled on to the green and his seventh, a putt from seven feet, found the centre of the hole. Van de Velde then finished last in a three-way play-off for the title with winner Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard.\n9 US sprinters' no-show at the 1972 Olympics\nEddie Hart and Rey Robinson had both been timed at 9.9sec in the US trials and were regarded as the only men capable of beating the great Russian Valery Borzov. All three won their first-round heats in the morning, but there was no sign of Hart or Robinson as the 4.15pm start time approached for the second round.\nTheir coach, Stan Wright, working from an 18-month-old preliminary schedule, thought their races were at 7pm and Robinson was just leaving the village three-quarters of a mile from the track when he saw on an ABC-TV monitor the very heat in which he was supposed to be running. Only the third and least fancied American, Robert Taylor, arrived in time for his heat. He went on to finish second in the final behind Borzov, who won the gold in 10.14sec.\n10 Leeds goalkeeper Gary Sprake throws the ball into his own net\nIf the great Leeds United teams of the late Sixties and early Seventies had a weak leak it was their Welsh international goalkeeper, Gary Sprake, a custodian capable of making a breathtaking save one moment and a slapstick error the next. His attempt to save Peter Houseman's shot in the 1970 FA Cup final, which ended in the net when Sprake dived over the ball, was viewed by millions of television viewers, but the mistake that caused him the greatest embarrassment came in a League match against Liverpool at Anfield on a wet December afternoon in 1967.\nJust before half-time, and with Leeds trailing 1-0 to a Roger Hunt goal, Sprake safely gathered the ball as a Liverpool attack broke down. But as he went to throw the ball out, he seemed to change his mind, and in trying to check his action mid-throw he merely succeeded in releasing the ball behind him and into his own net. The DJ on duty at Anfield that day found the perfect record to play during the half-time interval, Des O'Connor's Careless Hands, a best-selling song at the time. In fact, they charitably played it every time Sprake came back.\nJustifying his selection:\nThis month's 10 were selected by Observer sports writer Jon Henderson. Here he explains his choices:\nFirst and most importantly, these are mishaps - not tragedies. There is no place here for Heysel, Hillsborough, Ayrton Senna's wretched fate or any of the other life-taking events that have cast a sombre shadow over sport. These are incidents that stand as the great counterpoints to sporting success, moments of failure on the grandest scale, where misfortune has intervened to remind us all that even in the truest run race victory cannot be assumed until the finishing post has been passed.\nThe modest compensation for many of these losers is that they have achieved greater fame than those who benefited from their calamities. Who, for example, remembers the winner of Devon Loch's Grand National in 1956? That year, the Queen Mother's horse, within strides of victory, took a dive on to the Aintree turf for a reason that remains a mystery. ESB galloped past to become one of the race's most anonymous winners.\nWhen Englishman Jim Peters collapsed moments from winning the 1954 Empire Games marathon in Vancouver, it was nearly 20 minutes before the next runner arrived in the stadium. He was Scotland's Joe McGhee, who hardly got a mention in the next day's newspapers. Peters, explaining why he kept picking himself up, said: 'I didn't want to disgrace my wife and kiddies.'\nThere have been greater upsets than the defeats of Devon Loch and Jim Peters, but the point of my list is that these are episodes where the possibility of victory - often the near certainty of victory - has been dashed by unforseen disaster. In Devon Loch's case we still don't know what caused it, in Peters' case it was because he had taken distance running to a new level but did not understand the importance of replenishing the body's supply of liquid. You will recall other mishaps not included here, but surely no one can dispute that my choices have all earned their inclusion.","Grand Canyon : Arizona : USA : Photo : Video : Info\nThe major geologic exposures in Grand Canyon range in age from the 2 billion year old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230 million year old ...\nGrand Canyon : Arizona : USA : Photo : Video : Info\nGrand Canyon\nSource\nThe Marble Canyon section of the Grand Canyon, from river-level.\nThe Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the United States state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park � one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.\n \nGrand Canyon Skywalk\nMovie Video Clip film\nLongstanding scientific consensus has been that the canyon was created by the Colorado River over a six million year period. The canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile (1.83 km)(6000 feet).[1] Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. The \"canyon started from the west, then another formed from the east, and the two broke through and met as a single majestic rent in the earth some six million years ago. [...] The merger apparently occurred where the river today, coming from the north, bends to the west, in the area known as the Kaibab Arch.\"[2]\nPrior to European emigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon (\"Ongtupqa\" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was Garc�a L�pez de C�rdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.[3] In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made the first recorded journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. Powell referred to the sedimentary rock units exposed in the canyon as \"leaves in a great story book\".\nThe landscape of the Grand Canyon\nGeography\nThe Grand Canyon is a massive rift in the Colorado Plateau that exposes uplifted Proterozoic and Paleozoic strata and is also one of the six distinct physiographic sections of the Colorado Plateau province. The Grand Canyon is unmatched throughout the world for the vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. It is not the deepest canyon in the world � Cotahuasi Canyon (11598 feet or 3535 m) and Colca Canyon (10499 feet or 3200 m), both in Arequipa, Peru, and Hell's Canyon (7,993 feet or2436 m) on the Oregon-Idaho border, are all Longstanding scientific consensus has been that the canyon was created by the Colorado River over a six million year period. The canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile(1.83 km)(6000 feet)[4]. Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. The \"canyon started from the west, then another formed from the east, and the two broke through and met as a single majestic rent in the earth some six million years ago. [...] The merger apparently occurred where the river today, coming from the north, bends to the west, in the area known as the Kaibab Arch.\"[2] l deeper � but Grand Canyon is known for its overwhelming size and its intricate and colourful landscape. Geologically it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geologic history of the North American continent.\nThe Incredible Human Journey By By Alice Roberts from Amazon.co.uk\n\"I am gripped by the central idea that only about 200 families originally emerged out of Africa and between them populated the whole world.\"\nUplift associated with mountain building events later moved these sediments thousands of feet upward and created the Colorado Plateau. The higher elevation has also resulted in greater precipitation in the Colorado River drainage area, but not enough to change the Grand Canyon area from being semi-arid. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau is uneven, and the north-south trending Kaibab Plateau that Grand Canyon bisects is over a thousand feet higher at the North Rim (about 1,000 ft/300 m) than at the South Rim. The fact that the Colorado River flows in a curve around the higher North Rim part of the Kaibab Plateau and closer to the South Rim part of the plateau is also explained by this asymmetry. Ivo Lucchitta of the U.S. Geological Survey first suggested that, as the Colorado River developed before significant erosion of the region, it naturally found its way across or around the Kaibab Uplift by following a \"racetrack\" path to the south of the highest part of the plateau. Almost all runoff from the North Rim (which also gets more rain and snow) flows toward the Grand Canyon, while much of the runoff on the plateau behind the South Rim flows away from the canyon (following the general tilt). The result is deeper and longer tributary washes and canyons on the north side and shorter and steeper side canyons on the south side.\nTemperatures on the North Rim are generally lower than the South Rim because of the greater elevation (averaging 8,000 ft/2,438 m above sea level).[5] Heavy rains are common on both rims during the summer months. Access to the North Rim via the primary route leading to the canyon (State Route 67) is limited during the winter season due to road closures. Views from the North Rim tend to give a better impression of the expanse of the canyon than those from the South Rim.\nGeology\nThe principal consensus among geologists is that the Colorado River basin (of which the Grand Canyon is a part) has developed in the past 40 million years. A recent study places the origins of the canyon beginning some 17 million years ago. Previous estimates had placed the age of the canyon at 5 to 6 million years. The study, which was published in 2008 in the journal Science utilized uranium-lead dating to analyze calcite deposits found on the walls of nine caves throughout the canyon. [6] There is a substantial amount of controversy because this research suggests a such substantial departure from prior widely supported scientific consensus.[7]\nThe result of all this erosion is one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet.\nThe major geologic exposures in Grand Canyon range in age from the 2 billion year old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230 million year old Kaibab Limestone on the Rim. Interestingly, there is a gap of about one billion years between the stratum that is about 500 million years old and the lower level, which is about 1.5 billion years old. That indicates a period of erosion between two periods of deposition.\nMany of the formations were deposited in warm shallow seas, near-shore environments (such as beaches), and swamps as the seashore repeatedly advanced and retreated over the edge of a proto-North America. Major exceptions include the Permian Coconino Sandstone, which most geologists interpret as an aeolian sand dune deposit and several parts of the Supai Group.\nThe great depth of the Grand Canyon and especially the height of its strata (most of which formed below sea level) can be attributed to 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1500 to 3000 m) of uplift of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 65 million years ago (during the Laramide Orogeny). This uplift has steepened the stream gradient of the Colorado River and its tributaries, which in turn has increased their speed and thus their ability to cut through rock (see the elevation summary of the Colorado River for present conditions).\nWeather conditions during the ice ages also increased the amount of water in the Colorado River drainage system. The ancestral Colorado River responded by cutting its channel faster and deeper.\nThe base level and course of the Colorado River (or its ancestral equivalent) changed 5.3 million years ago when the Gulf of California opened and lowered the river's base level (its lowest point). This increased the rate of erosion and cut nearly all of the Grand Canyon's current depth by 1.2 million years ago. The terraced walls of the canyon were created by differential erosion.[8]\nAbout one million years ago, volcanic activity (mostly near the western canyon area) deposited ash and lava over the area, which at times completely obstructed the river. These volcanic rocks are the youngest in the canyon.\nMore Photos soon\nThe Ancestral Puebloans (The Ancient Ones, or Anasazi)\nThe Basketmakers\nEuropean arrival and settlement\nThe Spanish explorers\nIn September 1540, under orders from the conquistador Francisco V�zquez de Coronado to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, along with Hopi guides and a small group of Spanish soldiers, traveled to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon between Desert View and Moran Point. Pablo de Melgrossa, Juan Galeras, and a third soldier descended some one third of the way into the Canyon until they were forced to return because of lack of water. In their report, they noted that some of the rocks in the Canyon were \"bigger than the great tower of Seville.\"[10] It is speculated that their Hopi guides must have been reluctant to lead them to the river, since they must have known routes to the canyon floor. Afterwards, no Europeans visited the Canyon for over two hundred years.\nFathers Francisco Atanasio Dom�nguez and Silvestre V�lez de Escalante were two Spanish Priests who, with a group of Spanish soldiers, explored southern Utah and traveled along the North Rim of the Canyon in Glen and Marble Canyons in search of a route from Santa Fe to California in 1776. They eventually found a crossing at present-day Lees Ferry.\nAlso in 1776, Fray Francisco Garces, a Franciscan missionary, spent a week near Havasupai, unsuccessfully attempting to convert a band of Native Americans. He described the Canyon as \"profound\".[10]\nAmerican exploration\nJames Ohio Pattie, along with a group of American trappers and mountain men, was probably the next European to reach the Canyon in 1826, although there is little documentation to support this.[11] Jacob Hamblin (a Mormon missionary) was sent by Brigham Young in the 1850s to locate easy river crossing sites in the Canyon. Building good relations with local Native Americans and white settlers, he discovered Hope Dog in 1858 and Pierce Ferry (later operated by, and named for, Harrison Pierce) - the only two sites suitable for ferry operation. He also acted as an advisor to John Wesley Powell before his second expedition to the Grand Canyon, acting as a diplomat between Powell and the local native tribes to ensure the safety of his party.\nMore Photos soon\nIn 1857 Edward Fitzgerald Beale superintendent of an expedition to survey a wagon road along the 35th parallel from Fort Defiance to the Colorado river led a small party of men in search of water on the Coconino plateau on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. On September 19th near present day National Canyon they came upon what May Humphreys Stacey described in his journal as \"...a wonderful canyon four thousand feet deep. Everyone (in the party) admitted that he never before saw anything to match or equal this astonishing natural curiosity.\"\nAlso in 1857, the U.S. War Department asked Lieutenant Joseph Ives to lead an expedition to assess the feasibility of an up-river navigation from the Gulf of California. Also in a stern wheeler steamboat \"Explorer\", after two months and 350 miles (560 km) of difficult navigation, his party reached Black Canyon some two months after George Johnson. The \"Explorer\" struck a rock and was abandoned. Ives led his party east into the Canyon � they were the first Europeans to travel the Diamond Creek drainage and traveled eastwards along the South Rim.\nIn 1858, John Strong Newberry became probably the first geologist to visit the Grand Canyon.\nIn 1869, Major John Wesley Powell led the first expedition down the Grand Canyon.\nThe Brown-Stanton River Expedition\nOther expeditions\nSettlers in and near the canyon\nMiners: \"Captain\" John Hance, William W. Bass, Louis Boucher \"The Hermit\", Seth Tanner, Charles Spencer, D. W. \"James\" Mooney\nLees Ferry: John Doyle Lee, Emma Lee French (17th of John Lee's 19 wives), J. S. Emmett, Charles Spencer\nPhantom Ranch: David Rust, Mary Colter\nGrand Canyon Village: Ralph H. Cameron\nFederal protection\nThe federal government administrators who manage park resources face many challenges. These include issues related to the recent reintroduction into the wild of the highly endangered California Condor, air tour overflight noise levels, water rights disputes with various tribal reservations that border the park, and forest fire management. The Grand Canyon National Park superintendent is Steve Martin. Martin was named superintendent on February 5, 2007 to replace retiring superintendent Joe Alston. Martin was previously the National Park Service Deputy Director and superintendent of several other national parks including Denali and Grand Teton.[12] Federal officials started a flood in the Grand Canyon in hopes of restoring its ecosystem on March 5, 2008. The canyon's ecosystem was permanently changed after the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963.[13]\nMore Photos soon\nSouth Rim buildings\nThere are several historical buildings located along the South Rim; most are in Grand Canyon Village.\nBuckey O'Neill Cabin was built during the 1890s by William Owen O'Neill. He built the cabin because of a copper deposit that was nearby. He had several occupations such as miner, judge, politician, author and tour guide. This cabin is the longest continually standing structure in the South Rim. It is currently used as a guest house; booking is required well in advance.\nKolb Studio was built in 1904 by brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb. They were photographers who made a living by photographing visitors walking down the Bright Angel Trail. In 1911, the Kolb brothers filmed their journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers. Emery Kolb showed this movie regularly in his studio until 1976, when he died at the age of 95. Today the building serves as an art gallery and exhibit.\nThe El Tovar Hotel was built in 1905 and is the most luxurious lodging on the South Rim. The hotel consists of 4 stories with a rustic chalet appearance. It was designed by Charles Whittlesley. A gift shop and restaurant are located inside the hotel.\nHopi House was built by Mary Jane Colter in 1905. It is based on structures that were built in an ancient Hopi settlement called Old Oraibi, located on the Third Mesa in eastern Arizona. It served as a residence for the Hopi Indians who sold arts and crafts to visitors in the South Rim.\nVerkamp's Curios was built by John Verkamp in 1905. He sold arts and crafts as well as souvenirs. It is currently run by his descendants and stands next to the Hopi House.\nGrand Canyon Railway Depot was built in 1909 and contains 2 levels. While it is commonly said that this depot building is one of only three log-cabin-style train stations currently standing out of fourteen supposedly ever built in the U.S., this claim has never been verified. This claim originated in a 1985 document written by Gordon Chappell entitled \"Statement on Architectural and Historic Significance\" and is currently repeated, without verification, by newspapers, magazines and on-line articles, including ones appearing on the National Park Service website. The depot is the northern terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway which begins in Williams, Arizona.\nLookout Studio was built in 1914 and is another structure that was designed by Mary Colter. Photography artwork, books, souvenirs, and rock and fossil specimens are sold here. A great view of Bright Angel Trail can be seen here.\nDesert View Watchtower was built in 1932 and is one of Mary Colter's best-known works. Situated at the far eastern end of the South Rim, 27 miles (43 km) from Grand Canyon Village, the tower sits on a 7,400 foot (2,256 m) promontory. It offers one of the few views of the bottom of the Canyon and the Colorado River. It is designed to mimic an Anasazi watchtower though it is larger than existing ones.[14]\nBright Angel Lodge was built of logs and stone in 1935. Mary Colter designed the lodge and it was built by Fred Harvey. Inside the lodge is a small museum honoring Fred Harvey, who played a major role in popularizing the Grand Canyon. In the history room is a fireplace that is made of stone from the South Rim that is layered in the same sequence as in the canyon.\nWeather\nWeather in the Grand Canyon varies according to elevation.\nThe forested rims are high enough to receive winter snowfall, but along the Colorado River in the Inner Gorge, temperatures are similar to those found in Tucson and other low elevation desert locations in Arizona. Conditions in the Grand Canyon region are generally dry, but substantial precipitation occurs twice annually, during seasonal pattern shifts in winter (when Pacific storms usually deliver widespread, moderate rain and high-elevation snow to the region from the west) and in late summer (a phenomenon known as the \"monsoon\", which delivers waves of moisture from the southeast, causing dramatic, localized thunderstorms fueled by the heat of the day).[15] Average annual precipitation on the South Rim is less than 16 inches (35 cm), with 60 inches (132 cm) of snow, the higher North Rim usually receives 27 inches (59 cm) of moisture, with a typical snowfall of 144 inches (317 cm), and Phantom Ranch, far below the Canyon's rims along the Colorado River at 2,500 feet (762 m) gets just 8 inches (17.6 cm) of rain, and snow is a rarity. The weather is different on the north rim and south rim.\nTemperatures vary wildly throughout the year, with summer highs within the Inner Gorge commonly exceeding 100 �F (37.8 �C) and winter minimum temperatures sometimes falling below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-17.8 �C) along the canyon's rims.[15] Visitors are often surprised by these potentially extreme conditions, and this, along with the high altitude of the canyon's rims, can lead to unpleasant side effects such as dehydration, sunburn, and hypothermia. Be prepared for a variety of potential weather conditions when visiting, and keep in mind the Grand Canyon is a rugged natural feature located in a remote area subject to a wide range of environmental hazards.\nWeather conditions can greatly affect hiking and canyon exploration, and visitors should obtain accurate forecasts because of hazards posed by exposure to extreme temperatures, winter storms and late summer monsoons. While the park service posts weather information at gates and visitor centers, this is a rough approximation only, and should not be relied upon for trip planning. For accurate weather in the Canyon, hikers should consult the National Weather Service's NOAA weather radio or the official NWS website.[16]\nMore Photos soon\nAir pollution\nThe Grand Canyon has suffered some problems with air pollution, attributed to the nearby Navajo Generating Station, a coal-burning power plant. In 1991 an agreement was reached with the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, to add air pollution control devices to their smokestacks.[17]\nGrand Canyon tourism\nGrand Canyon National Park is one of the world�s premier natural attractions, attracting about five million visitors per year. Overall, 83% were from the United States: California (12.2%), Arizona (8.9%), Texas (4.8%), Florida (3.4%) and New York (3.2%) represented the top domestic visitors. Seventeen percent of visitors were from outside the United States; the most prominently represented nations were the United Kingdom (3.8%), Canada (3.5%), Japan (2.1%), Germany (1.9%) and The Netherlands (1.2%).[18]\nActivities\nAside from casual sightseeing from the South Rim (averaging 7000 feet (2100 m) above sea level), whitewater rafting, hiking and running are especially popular. The floor of the valley is accessible by foot, muleback, or by boat or raft from upriver. Hiking down to the river and back up to the rim in one day is discouraged by park officials because of the distance, steep and rocky trails, change in elevation, and danger of heat exhaustion from the much higher temperatures at the bottom. Rescues are required annually of unsuccessful rim-to-river-to-rim travellers. Nevertheless, hundreds of fit and experienced hikers complete the trip every year.\nCamping on the North and South Rims is generally restricted to established campgrounds and reservations are highly recommended, especially at the busier South Rim. There is at large camping available along many parts of the North Rim managed by Kaibab National Forest. Keep in mind North Rim campsites are only open seasonally due to road closures from weather and winter snowpack. All overnight camping below the rim requires a backcountry permit from the Backcountry Country Office (BCO). Each year Grand Canyon National Park receives approximately 30,000 requests for backcountry permits. The park issues 13,000 permits, and close to 40,000 people camp overnight.[19] The earliest a permit application is accepted is the first of the month, four months prior to the proposed start month. Applying as soon as allowed will improve your chances of obtaining an overnight backcountry use permit for the dates of your choice. If you are unable to secure a permit from the Grand Canyon Backcountry Office, or you are not comfortable hiking the Canyon on your own you can go with a professional guide.\nThe Coconino Canyon Train is another option for those seeking to take in a more leisurely view of the canyon. It is a 90-minute ride that originates in Grand Canyon National Park at the old Grand Canyon Depot and travels 24 miles through the canyon landscapes. The train is made up of 1923 Pullman cars and runs on tracks built in the 1800s. [20]\nTourists wishing for a more vertical perspective can board helicopters and small airplanes in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (seven miles from the South Rim) for canyon flyovers. Scenic flights are no longer allowed to fly within 1500' of the rim within the national park because of a late 90s crash. The last aerial video footage from below the rim was filmed in 1984. However, some helicopter flights land on the Havasupai and Hualapai Indian Reservations within Grand Canyon (outside of the park boundaries). Recently, the Hualapai Tribe opened the glass-bottomed Grand Canyon Skywalk on their property, Grand Canyon West. The Skywalk has seen mixed reviews since the site is only accessible by driving down a 14-mile (23 km) dirt road, costs a minimum of $85 in total for reservation fees, a tour package and admission to the Skywalk itself and the fact that cameras are not permitted on the Skywalk at any time. The Skywalk is located 242 miles from the South Rim National Park. Many people mistake the west side of the park by Hermit's Rest as the location of the Skywalk.\nViewing the canyon\nLipan Point is a promontory located on the South Rim. This point is located to the east of the Grand Canyon Village along the Desert View Drive. There is a parking lot for visitors who care to drive along with the Canyon's bus service that routinely stops at the point. The trailhead to the Tanner Trail is located just before the parking lot. The view from Lipan Point shows a wide array of rock strata and the Unkar Creek area in the inner canyon.\nPerhaps the most heart-stopping view of the canyon is had from the Toroweap Overlook (Tuweep) situated 3000 vertical feet above the Colorado River, about 50 miles downriver from the South Rim and 70 upriver from the Grand Canyon Skywalk. This region � �One of the most remote in the United States� according to the National Park Service � is reached only by one of three lengthy dirt tracks, that start from St. George, Utah, Colorado City or near Pipe Spring National Monument (both in Arizona). These roads traverse wild, uninhabited land for 97, 62 and 64 miles respectively. A visit to this area can be challenging, but rewarding. The Park Service manages the area for its primitive values and, therefore, improvements and services are minimal.\nMore Photos soon\nGrand Canyon fatalities\nAbout 600 deaths have occurred in the Grand Canyon since the 1870s. Some of these deaths occurred as the result of overly zealous photographic endeavours, some were the result of airplane collisions within the canyon, and some visitors drowned in the Colorado River. Many hikers overestimate their fitness level, become dehydrated and confused, and must be rescued. The Park Service now posts a picture of an attractive and fit young man at several trailheads with the caption \"Every year we rescue hundreds of people from the Canyon. Most of them look like him\", in an attempt to discourage hikers from feats which are beyond their abilities.\nAccording to Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon, 50 fatalities have resulted from falls; 65 deaths were attributable to environmental causes, including heat stroke, cardiac arrest, dehydration, and hypothermia; 7 were caught in flash floods; 79 were drowned in the Colorado River; 242 perished in airplane and helicopter crashes (128 of them in the 1956 disaster mentioned below); 25 died in freak errors and accidents, including lightning strikes and rock falls; 47 committed suicide; and 23 were the victims of homicides.\n1956 air disaster\nIn 1956 the Grand Canyon was the site of the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in the United States at the time.\nOn the morning of June 30, 1956, a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation and a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 departed Los Angeles International Airport within three minutes of one another on eastbound transcontinental flights. Approximately 90 minutes later, the two propeller-driven airliners collided above the canyon while both were flying in unmonitored airspace.\nThe wreckage of both planes fell into the eastern portion of the canyon, on Temple and Chuar buttes, near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. The disaster killed all 128 passengers and crew members aboard both planes.\nThis accident led to the institution of high-altitude flight ways and positive control by en route ground controllers.\nEvacuation\nCanyon tourists and residents of Supai, a town located in the bottom of the canyon, were evacuated from the Supai area on 17 and August 18, 2008[21] due to a break in the earthen Redlands Dam, located upstream of Supai, after a night of heavy rainfall. Evacuees were taken to Peach Springs, Arizona.[22] More heavy rains were expected and a flash flood warning was put into effect, necessitating the evacuation, according to the Grand Canyon National Park Service.[23] The floods were significant enough to attract coverage from international media.[22]\nReferences and Notes","Mount_Everest.txt\nMount Everest\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur mountain range in Nepal and Tibet. Its peak is 8848 m above sea level. The international border between China (Tibet Autonomous Region) and Nepal runs across Everest's precise summit point. Its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse, 8516 m; Nuptse, 7855 m and Changtse, 7580 m.\n\nIn 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 29002 ft. The current official height of 8848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese survey in 1975. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, despite George Everest's objections. \n\nMount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes: one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet. While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness, weather, wind as well as significant objective hazards from avalanches and the Khumbu Icefall. As of 2016, there are well over 200 corpses still on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. \n\nThe first recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers. With Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. After the first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7000 m on the North Col, the 1922 expedition pushed the North ridge route up to 8320 m marking the first time a human had climbed above 8000 m. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. The 1924 expedition resulted in the greatest mystery on Everest to this day: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on 8 June but never returned, sparking debate as to whether they were the first to reach the top. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, until Mallory's body was found in 1999 at 8155 m on the North face. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition. The Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960.\n\nWestern discovery\n\nIn 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to determine the location and names of the world's highest mountains. Starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country because of suspicions of political aggression and possible annexation. Several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down.\n\nThe British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas. Conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health.\n\nNonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the Great Trigonometric survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km away. Weather restricted work to the last three months of the year. In November 1847, Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India made several observations from the Sawajpore station located in the eastern end of the Himalayas. Kangchenjunga was then considered the highest peak in the world, and with interest he noted a peak beyond it, about 230 km away. John Armstrong, one of Waugh's officials, also saw the peak from a location farther west and called it peak \"b\". Waugh would later write that the observations indicated that peak \"b\" was higher than Kangchenjunga, but given the great distance of the observations, closer observations were required for verification. The following year, Waugh sent a survey official back to Terai to make closer observations of peak \"b\", but clouds thwarted all attempts.\n\nIn 1849, Waugh dispatched James Nicolson to the area, who made two observations from Jirol, 190 km away. Nicolson then took the largest theodolite and headed east, obtaining over 30 observations from five different locations, with the closest being 174 km from the peak.\n\nNicolson retreated to Patna on the Ganges to perform the necessary calculations based on his observations. His raw data gave an average height of 9200 m for peak \"b\", but this did not consider light refraction, which distorts heights. However, the number clearly indicated that peak \"b\" was higher than Kangchenjunga. Then, Nicolson contracted malaria and was forced to return home without finishing his calculations. Michael Hennessy, one of Waugh's assistants, had begun designating peaks based on Roman numerals, with Kangchenjunga named Peak IX, while peak \"b\" now became known as Peak XV.\n\nIn 1852, stationed at the survey headquarters in Dehradun, Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal, was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak, using trigonometric calculations based on Nicolson's measurements. An official announcement that Peak XV was the highest was delayed for several years as the calculations were repeatedly verified. Waugh began work on Nicolson's data in 1854, and along with his staff spent almost two years working on the calculations, having to deal with the problems of light refraction, barometric pressure, and temperature over the vast distances of the observations. Finally, in March 1856 he announced his findings in a letter to his deputy in Calcutta. Kangchenjunga was declared to be 28156 ft, while Peak XV was given the height of 29002 ft. Waugh concluded that Peak XV was \"most probably the highest in the world\". Peak XV (measured in feet) was calculated to be exactly 29000 ft high, but was publicly declared to be 29002 ft in order to avoid the impression that an exact height of 29000 ft was nothing more than a rounded estimate. Waugh is therefore wittily credited with being \"the first person to put two feet on top of Mount Everest\".\n\nName\n\n \nWhile the survey wanted to preserve local names if possible (e.g. Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri), Waugh argued that he could not find any commonly used local name. Waugh's search for a local name was hampered by Nepal and Tibet's exclusion of foreigners. Many local names existed, including \"Deodungha\" (\"Holy Mountain\") in Darjeeling and the Tibetan \"Chomolungma\", which appeared on a 1733 map published in Paris by the French geographer D'Anville. In the late 19th century, many European cartographers incorrectly believed that a native name for the mountain was Gaurishankar, which is a mountain between Kathmandu and Everest. \n\nWaugh argued that because there were many local names, it would be difficult to favour one name over all others, so he decided that Peak XV should be named after Welsh surveyor Sir George Everest, his predecessor as Surveyor General of India. Everest himself opposed the name suggested by Waugh and told the Royal Geographical Society in 1857 that \"Everest\" could not be written in Hindi nor pronounced by \"the native of India\". Waugh's proposed name prevailed despite the objections, and in 1865, the Royal Geographical Society officially adopted Mount Everest as the name for the highest mountain in the world. The modern pronunciations of Everest ( and) are different from Sir George's pronunciation of his surname (, ). \n\nThe Tibetan name for Mount Everest is (, lit. \"Holy Mother\"), whose official Tibetan pinyin form is Qomolangma. It is also popularly romanised as Chomolungma and (in Wylie) as Jo-mo-glang-ma or Jomo Langma. The official Chinese transcription is whose pinyin form is Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng (\"Chomolungma Peak\"). It is also infrequently simply translated into Chinese as Shèngmǔ Fēng lit. \"Holy Mother Peak\"). In 2002, the Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article making a case against the use of \"Mount Everest\" in English, insisting that the mountain should be referred to as \"Mount Qomolangma\", based on the official form of the local Tibetan name. The article argued that British colonialists did not \"first discover\" the mountain, as it had been known to the Tibetans and mapped by the Chinese as \"Qomolangma\" since at least 1719. \n\nIn the early 1960s, the Nepalese government coined a Nepali name for Mount Everest, Sagarmāthā or Sagar-Matha (सागर-मथ्था), allegedly to supplant the Tibetan name among the locals, a usage which the Nepali government felt was \"not acceptable\".\n\nSurveys\n\nThe 8848 m height given is officially recognised by Nepal and China, although Nepal is planning a new survey. \n\nIn 1856, Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as 29002 ft high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by the Great Trigonometric Survey.\n\nThe elevation of 8848 m was first determined by an Indian survey in 1955, made closer to the mountain, also using theodolites. It was subsequently reaffirmed by a 1975 Chinese measurement of . In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured. In May 1999 an American Everest Expedition, directed by Bradford Washburn, anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of 8850 m, and a snow/ice elevation 1 m higher, were obtained via this device. Although it has not been officially recognised by Nepal, this figure is widely quoted. Geoid uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 surveys.\n\nA detailed photogrammetric map (at a scale of 1:50,000) of the Khumbu region, including the south side of Mount Everest, was made by Erwin Schneider as part of the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, which also attempted Lhotse. An even more detailed topographic map of the Everest area was made in the late 1980s under the direction of Bradford Washburn, using extensive aerial photography.\n\nOn 9 October 2005, after several months of measurement and calculation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announced the height of Everest as with accuracy of ±. They claimed it was the most accurate and precise measurement to date. This height is based on the actual highest point of rock and not on the snow and ice covering it. The Chinese team also measured a snow/ice depth of , which is in agreement with a net elevation of 8848 m. The snow and ice thickness varies over time, making a definitive height of the snow cap impossible to determine.\n\nIt is thought that the plate tectonics of the area are adding to the height and moving the summit northeastwards. Two accounts suggest the rates of change are 4 mm per year (upwards) and 3 to per year (northeastwards), but another account mentions more lateral movement (27 mm), \nand even shrinkage has been suggested. \n\nComparisons\n\nThe summit of Everest is the point at which Earth's surface reaches the greatest distance above sea level. Several other mountains are sometimes claimed as alternative \"tallest mountains on Earth\". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base; it rises over 10200 m when measured from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains 4205 m above sea level.\n\nBy the same measure of base to summit, Denali, in Alaska, formerly known as Mount McKinley, is also taller than Everest. Despite its height above sea level of only 6190 m, Denali sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from 300 to, yielding a height above base in the range of 5300 to; a commonly quoted figure is 5600 m. By comparison, reasonable base elevations for Everest range from 4200 m on the south side to 5200 m on the Tibetan Plateau, yielding a height above base in the range of 3650 to. \n\nThe summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2168 m farther from Earth's centre () than that of Everest (), because Earth bulges at the Equator. This is despite Chimborazo having a peak 6268 m above sea level versus Mount Everest's 8848 m.\n\nGeology\n\nGeologists have subdivided the rocks comprising Mount Everest into three units called formations. Each formation is separated from the other by low-angle faults, called detachments, along which they have been thrust southward over each other. From the summit of Mount Everest to its base these rock units are the Qomolangma Formation, the North Col Formation, and the Rongbuk Formation.\n\nThe Qomolangma Formation, also known as the Jolmo Lungama Formation or the Everest Formation, runs from the summit to the top of the Yellow Band, about above sea level. It consists of grayish to dark gray or white, parallel laminated and bedded, Ordovician limestone inter layered with subordinate beds of recrystallised dolomite with argillaceous laminae and siltstone. Gansser first reported finding microscopic fragments of crinoids in this limestone. Later petrographic analysis of samples of the limestone from near the summit revealed them to be composed of carbonate pellets and finely fragmented remains of trilobites, crinoids, and ostracods. Other samples were so badly sheared and recrystallised that their original constituents could not be determined. A thick, white-weathering thrombolite bed that is 60 m thick comprises the foot of the \"Third Step\", and base of the summit pyramid of Everest. This bed, which crops out starting about 70 m below the summit of Mount Everest, consists of sediments trapped, bound, and cemented by the biofilms of micro-organisms, especially cyanobacteria, in shallow marine waters. The Qomolangma Formation is broken up by several high-angle faults that terminate at the low angle normal fault, the Qomolangma Detachment. This detachment separates it from the underlying Yellow Band. The lower five meters of the Qomolangma Formation overlying this detachment are very highly deformed. \n\nThe bulk of Mount Everest, between , consists of the North Col Formation, of which the Yellow Band forms its upper part between . The Yellow Band consists of intercalated beds of Middle Cambrian diopside-epidote-bearing marble, which weathers a distinctive yellowish brown, and muscovite-biotite phyllite and semischist. Petrographic analysis of marble collected from about found it to consist as much as five percent of the ghosts of recrystallised crinoid ossicles. The upper five meters of the Yellow Band lying adjacent to the Qomolangma Detachment is badly deformed. A 5 – thick fault breccia separates it from the overlying Qomolangma Formation.\n\nThe remainder of the North Col Formation, exposed between on Mount Everest, consists of interlayered and deformed schist, phyllite, and minor marble. Between , the North Col Formation consists chiefly of biotite-quartz phyllite and chlorite-biotite phyllite intercalated with minor amounts of biotite-sericite-quartz schist. Between , the lower part of the North Col Formation consists of biotite-quartz schist intercalated with epidote-quartz schist, biotite-calcite-quartz schist, and thin layers of quartzose marble. These metamorphic rocks appear to be the result of the metamorphism of Middle to Early Cambrian deep sea flysch composed of interbedded, mudstone, shale, clayey sandstone, calcareous sandstone, graywacke, and sandy limestone. The base of the North Col Formation is a regional low-angle normal fault called the \"Lhotse detachment\".\n\nBelow 7,000 m (23,000 ft), the Rongbuk Formation underlies the North Col Formation and forms the base of Mount Everest. It consists of sillimanite-K-feldspar grade schist and gneiss intruded by numerous sills and dikes of leucogranite ranging in thickness from 1 cm to 1,500 m (0.4 in to 4,900 ft). These leucogranites are part of a belt of Late Oligocene–Miocene intrusive rocks known as the Higher Himalayan leucogranite. They formed as the result of partial melting of Paleoproterozoic to Ordovician high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the Higher Himalayan Sequence about 20 to 24 million years ago during the subduction of the Indian Plate. \n\nMount Everest consists of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that have been faulted southward over continental crust composed of Archean granulites of the Indian Plate during the Cenozoic collision of India with Asia.\n \n Current interpretations argue that the Qomolangma and North Col formations consist of marine sediments that accumulated within the continental shelf of the northern, passive continental margin of India prior to its collision with Asia. The Cenozoic collision of India with Asia subsequently deformed and metamorphosed these strata as it thrust them southward and upward. The Rongbuk Formation consists of a sequence of high-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks that were derived from the alteration of high-grade metasedimentary rocks. During the collision of India with Asia, these rocks were thrust downward and to the north as they were overridden by other strata; heated, metamorphosed, and partially melted at depths of over below sea level; and then forced upward to surface by thrusting towards the south between two major detachments. The Himalayas are rising by about 5 mm per year.\n\nFlora and fauna\n\nThere is very little native flora or fauna on Everest. There is a moss that grows at 6480 m on Mount Everest. It may be the highest altitude plant species. An alpine cushion plant called Arenaria is known to grow below in the region. \n\nEuophrys omnisuperstes, a minute black jumping spider, has been found at elevations as high as 6700 m, possibly making it the highest confirmed non-microscopic permanent resident on Earth. It lurks in crevices and may feed on frozen insects that have been blown there by the wind. It should be noted that there is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes. \nBirds, such as the bar-headed goose, have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain, while others, such as the chough, have been spotted as high as the South Col at 7920 m. Yellow-billed choughs have been seen as high as and the aforementioned bar-headed geese migrate over the Himalayas. As early as 1953, George Lowe on the famous expedition of Tenzing and Hillary noted seeing the geese fly over Mount Everest. \n\nYaks are often used to haul gear for Mount Everest climbs; they can haul 100 kg (220 pounds), and have thick fur and big lungs. One common piece of advice for those in the Everest region is to be on higher ground when around yaks and other animals, as they can knock people off the mountain if standing on the downhill edge of a trail. Other animals in the region include the Himalayan tahr which is sometimes eaten by the snow leopard. The Himalayan black bear can be found up to about and the red panda is also in the region. One science expedition found a surprising range of species in the region including a pika that eats its own faeces and ten new species of ants. \n\nEnvironment\n\nIn 2008, a new weather station at about 8000 m altitude (26,246 feet) went online. The station's first data in May 2008 were air temperature , relative humidity 41.3%, atmospheric pressure 382.1 hPa (38.21 kPa), wind direction 262.8°, wind speed 12.8 m/s (28.6 mph, 46.1 km/h), global solar radiation 711.9 watts/m2, solar UVA radiation 30.4 W/m2. The project was orchestrated by Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE), who also placed the Mount Everest webcam in 2011. The weather station is located on the South Col and is solar powered. \n\nOne of the issues facing climbers is the frequent presence of high-speed winds. The peak of Mount Everest extends into the upper troposphere and penetrates the stratosphere, which can expose it to the fast and freezing wind of the jet stream. In February 2004 a wind speed of 175 mph was recorded at the summit and winds over 100 mph are common. These winds can blow climbers off Everest. Climbers typically aim for the 7- to 10-day windows in the spring and fall when the Asian monsoon season is either starting up or ending and the winds are lighter. The air pressure at the summit is about one-third what it is at sea level, and by Bernoulli's principle, the winds can lower the pressure further, causing an additional 14% reduction in oxygen to climbers. The reduction in oxygen availability comes from the reduced overall pressure, not a reduction in the ratio of oxygen to other gases. \n\nIn the summer, the Indian monsoon brings warm wet air from the Indian ocean to Everest's south side. During the winter the West/South-West flowing jet stream shifts south and blows on the peak. \n\nHistory of expeditions\n\nBecause Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, it has attracted considerable attention and climbing attempts. A set of climbing routes has been established over several decades of climbing expeditions to the mountain. Whether the mountain was climbed in ancient times is unknown; it may have been climbed in 1924.\n\nOverview\n\nIt was finally known to have been summited by 1953, but it remained a difficult peak for decades. Despite the effort and attention poured into expeditions, it was only summited by about 200 people by 1987. Everest showed itself to be a difficult place for decades, even for serious attempts by professional climbers and large national expeditions, which were the norm until the commercial era picked up in the 1990s.\n\nBy March 2012, Everest had been climbed 5,656 times with 223 deaths. Although lower mountains can be longer or steeper climbs, Everest is so high the jet stream can hit it. Climbers can be faced with winds beyond 200 mph when the weather shifts. At certain times of the year the jet stream shifts north, providing periods of relative calm at the mountain. Other dangers include blizzards and avalanches.\n\nBy 2013, the Himalayan database recorded 6,871 summits by 4,042 different people. \n\nEarly attempts\n\nIn 1885, Clinton Thomas Dent, president of the Alpine Club, suggested that climbing Mount Everest was possible in his book Above the Snow Line. \n\nThe northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bullock on the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition. It was an exploratory expedition not equipped for a serious attempt to climb the mountain. With Mallory leading (and thus becoming the first European to set foot on Everest's flanks) they climbed the North Col to an altitude of 7005 m. From there, Mallory espied a route to the top, but the party was unprepared for the great task of climbing any further and descended.\n\nThe British returned for a 1922 expedition. George Finch (\"The other George\") climbed using oxygen for the first time. He ascended at a remarkable speed—290 m per hour, and reached an altitude of 8320 m, the first time a human reported to climb higher than 8,000 m. This feat was entirely lost on the British climbing establishment—except for its \"unsporting\" nature. Mallory and Col. Felix Norton made a second unsuccessful attempt. Mallory was faulted for leading a group down from the North Col which got caught in an avalanche. Mallory was pulled down too, but seven native porters were killed.\n\nThe next expedition was in 1924. The initial attempt by Mallory and Geoffrey Bruce was aborted when weather conditions precluded the establishment of Camp VI. The next attempt was that of Norton and Somervell, who climbed without oxygen and in perfect weather, traversing the North Face into the Great Couloir. Norton managed to reach 8550 m, though he ascended only 30 m or so in the last hour. Mallory rustled up oxygen equipment for a last-ditch effort. He chose young Andrew Irvine as his partner.\n\nOn 8 June 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made an attempt on the summit via the North Col/North Ridge/Northeast Ridge route from which they never returned. On 1 May 1999, the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition found Mallory's body on the North Face in a snow basin below and to the west of the traditional site of Camp VI. Controversy has raged in the mountaineering community whether one or both of them reached the summit 29 years before the confirmed ascent (and of course, safe descent) of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.\n\nIn 1933, Lady Houston, a British millionairess, funded the Houston Everest Flight of 1933, which saw a formation of aircraft led by the Marquess of Clydesdale fly over the summit in an effort to deploy the British Union Flag at the top. \n\nEarly expeditions—such as General Charles Bruce's in the 1920s and Hugh Ruttledge's two unsuccessful attempts in 1933 and 1936—tried to make an ascent of the mountain from Tibet, via the north face. Access was closed from the north to western expeditions in 1950, after China asserted control over Tibet. In 1950, Bill Tilman and a small party which included Charles Houston, Oscar Houston and Betsy Cowles undertook an exploratory expedition to Everest through Nepal along the route which has now become the standard approach to Everest from the south.\n\nThe Swiss expedition of 1952, led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, was granted permission to attempt a climb from Nepal. The expedition established a route through the Khumbu ice fall and ascended to the South Col at an elevation of 7986 m. No attempt at an ascent of Everest was ever under consideration in this case. Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about 8595 m on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record. Tenzing's experience was useful when he was hired to be part of the British expedition in 1953. \n\nFirst successful ascent by Tenzing and Hillary\n\nIn 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 100 m of the summit on 26 May 1953, but turned back after running into oxygen problems. As planned, their work in route finding and breaking trail and their caches of extra oxygen were of great aid to the following pair. Two days later, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its second climbing pair, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber from Darjeeling, India. They reached the summit at 11:30 am local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col Route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending.\n\nNews of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, 2 June. Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, Hunt (a Briton) and Hillary (a New Zealander) discovered that they had been promptly knighted in the Order of the British Empire for the ascent. Tenzing, a Nepali sherpa who was a citizen of India, was granted the George Medal by the UK. Hunt was ultimately made a life peer in Britain, while Hillary became a founding member of the Order of New Zealand. \nHillary and Tenzing are also nationally recognised in Nepal, where annual ceremonies in schools and offices celebrate their accomplishment. \n\nThe next successful ascent was on 23 May 1956 by Ernst Schmied and Juerg Marmet. This was followed by Dölf Reist and Hans-Rudolf von Gunten on 24 May 1957. Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960. The first American to climb Everest, Jim Whittaker, joined by Nawang Gombu, reached the summit on 1 May 1963. \n\n1970 disaster\n\nIn 1970 Japanese mountaineers conducted a major expedition, the centerpiece was a large \"siege\" style expedition working on finding a new route up the Southwest face lead by Saburo Matsukata, and another was an attempt to ski Mount Everest. Despite a staff of over one hundred people and a decade of planning work, the expeditions suffered 8 deaths and failed to summit via their planned route. However, Japanese expeditions did enjoy some successes, such as Yuichiro Miura's becoming the first man to ski down Everest from the South Col (he descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries), and an expedition that put four on the summit via the South col route. Miura's exploits became the subject of film, and he went on to become the oldest person to summit Mount Everest in 2003 at age 70 and again in 2013 at the age of 80. \n\nAlso, later in the 1970s the Japanese woman Junko Tabei became the first human female to summit Mount Everest.\n\n1996 disaster\n\nOn 11 May 1996 eight climbers died after several expeditions were caught in a blizzard high up on the mountain. During the entire 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest. These were the highest death tolls for a single event, and for a single season, until the sixteen deaths in the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche. The disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialization of climbing Mount Everest.\n\nJournalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from Outside magazine, was in one of the affected parties, and afterwards published the bestseller Into Thin Air, which related his experience. Anatoli Boukreev, a guide who felt impugned by Krakauer's book, co-authored a rebuttal book called The Climb. The dispute sparked a debate within the climbing community.\n\nIn May 2004, Kent Moore, a physicist, and John L. Semple, a surgeon, both researchers from the University of Toronto, told New Scientist magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on 11 May suggested that freak weather caused oxygen levels to plunge approximately 14%. \n\nOne of the survivors was Beck Weathers, an American client of New Zealand-based guide service Adventure Consultants. Weathers was left for dead about 275 meters (900 feet) from camp 4 at 7950 meters (26085 feet). After spending a night on the mountain, Weathers managed to find his way to camp 4 with massive frostbite and vision impaired due to snow blindness. When he arrived in camp 4, fellow climbers considered his condition terminal and left him in a tent to die overnight. \n\nBefore leaving camp 4 Jon Krakauer heard Weathers calling for help from his tent. Beck's condition had not improved and an immediate descent to a lower elevation was deemed essential. A helicopter rescue was considered but was out of the question; camp 4 was higher than the rated ceiling of any available helicopter and in any case would be extraordinarily dangerous. Eventually a rescue was organized thanks to a Lieutenant Colonel of the Nepal army who conducted the second-highest known helicopter medical evacuation up to that time.\n\nThe storm's impact on climbers on the North Ridge of Mount Everest, where several climbers also died, was detailed in a first-hand account by British filmmaker and writer Matt Dickinson in his book The Other Side of Everest. 16-year-old Mark Pfetzer was on the climb and wrote about it in his account, Within Reach: My Everest Story.\n\nThe 2015 feature film Everest, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, is based on the actual events of this disaster.\n\n2006 mountaineering season\n\nIn 2006 12 people died. One death in particular (see below) triggered an international debate and years of discussion about climbing ethics. The season was also remembered for the rescue of Lincoln Hall who had been left by his climbing team and declared dead, but was later discovered alive and survived being helped off the mountain.\n\nDavid Sharp ethics controversy\n\nThere was an international controversy about the death of a solo British climber David Sharp, who attempted to climb Mount Everest in 2006 but died in his attempt. The story broke out of the mountaineering community into popular media, with a snow-balling series of interviews, allegations, critiques, and peace-making. The question was whether climbers that season had left a man to die, and whether he could have been saved. It seemed to be clear that he had put himself in a very dangerous situationhe was said to have attempted to summit Mount Everest by himself with no Sherpa or guide and fewer oxygen bottles than considered normal. He went with a low-budget Nepali guide firm that only provides support up to Base Camp, after which climbers go as a \"loose group\", offering a high degree of independence. The manager at Sharp's guide support said Sharp did not take enough oxygen for his summit attempt and did not have a Sherpa guide. It is less clear who knew Sharp was in trouble, and if they did know, whether they were qualified or capable of helping him. Double-amputee climber Mark Inglis revealed in an interview with the press on 23 May 2006, that his climbing party, and many others, had passed Sharp, on 15 May, sheltering under a rock overhang 450 m below the summit, without attempting a rescue. Inglis had said 40 people had passed by Sharp, but he was not aware that Turkish climbers had tried to help him despite being in the process of helping an injured woman down (a Turkish woman named Burçak Poçan). There has also been some discussion about Himex in the commentary on Inglis and Sharp. In regards to the Inglis's initial comments, he later revised certain details because he had been interviewed while he was \"...physically and mentally exhausted, and in a lot of pain. He had suffered severe frostbite — he later had five fingertips amputated.\" When they went through Sharp's possession they found a receipt for $7,490USD, believed to be the whole financial cost. Comparatively, most expeditions are between $30 to $100,000USD plus an additional $20,000 in other expenses that range from gear to bonuses. It was estimated on 14 May that Sharp summitted Mount Everest and began his descent down, but 15 May he was in trouble but being passed by climbers on their way up and down. On 15 May 2006 it is believed he was suffering from hypoxia, and was about 1,000 feet from the summit on the North Side route.\n\nSome climbers who left him said that the rescue efforts would have been useless and only have caused more deaths. Beck Weathers of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster said that those who are dying are often left behind, and that he himself had been left for dead twice but was able to keep walking. The Tribune of India quoted someone who described what happened to Sharp as \"the most shameful act in the history of mountaineering\". In addition to David's death, at least nine other climbers perished that year, including multiple Sherpas working for various guiding companies. \n\nMuch of this controversy was captured by the Discovery Channel while filming the television program Everest: Beyond the Limit. A crucial decision affecting the fate of Sharp is shown in the program, where an early returning climber Lebanese adventurer Maxim Chaya is descending from the summit and radios to his base camp manager (Russell Brice) that he has found a frostbitten and unconscious climber in distress. Chaya is unable to identify Sharp, who had chosen to climb solo without any support and so did not identify himself to other climbers. The base camp manager assumes that Sharp is part of a group that has already calculated that they must abandon him, and informs his lone climber that there is no chance of him being able to help Sharp by himself. As Sharp's condition deteriorates through the day and other descending climbers pass him, his opportunities for rescue diminish: his legs and feet curl from frostbite, preventing him from walking; the later descending climbers are lower on oxygen and lack the strength to offer aid; time runs out for any Sherpas to return and rescue him. Most importantly, Sharp's decision to climb without support left him with no margin for recovery.\n\nDavid Sharp's body remained just below the summit on the Chinese side next to another corpse nicknamed \"Green Boots\"; they shared a space in a small rock cave that was an ad hoc tomb for them. Sharp's body was removed from the cave in 2007, according to the BBC, and since 2014, Green Boots has been missing, presumably removed or buried.\n\nLincoln Hall rescue\n\nAs the Sharp debate kicked off, on 26 May 2006 Australian climber Lincoln Hall was found alive, after being declared dead the day before. He was found by a party of four climbers (Dan Mazur, Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne and Jangbu Sherpa) who, giving up their own summit attempt, stayed with Hall and descended with him and a party of 11 Sherpas sent up to carry him down. Hall later fully recovered. Similar actions have been recorded since, including on 21 May 2007, when Canadian climber Meagan McGrath initiated the successful high-altitude rescue of Nepali Usha Bista. Recognizing her heroic rescue, Major Meagan McGrath was selected as a 2011 recipient of the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada Humanitarian Award, which recognises a Canadian who has personally or administratively contributed a significant service or act in the Himalayan Region of Nepal. \n\nAscent statistics up to 2010 season\n\nBy the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals, with 77% of these ascents being accomplished since 2000. The summit was achieved in 7 of the 22 years from 1953 to 1974, and was not missed between 1975 and 2014. In 2007, the record number of 633 ascents was recorded, by 350 climbers and 253 sherpas.\n\nA remarkable illustration of the explosion of popularity of Everest is provided by the numbers of daily ascents. Analysis of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster shows that part of the blame was on the bottleneck caused by the large number of climbers (33 to 36) attempting to summit on the same day; this was considered unusually high at the time. By comparison, on 23 May 2010, the summit of Mount Everest was reached by 169 climbers – more summits in a single day than in the cumulative 31 years from the first successful summit in 1953 through 1983.\n\nThere have been 219 fatalities recorded on Mount Everest from the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition through the end of 2010, a rate of 4.3 fatalities for every 100 summits (this is a general rate, and includes fatalities amongst support climbers, those who turned back before the peak, those who died en route to the peak and those who died while descending from the peak). Of the 219 fatalities, 58 (26.5%) were climbers who had summited but did not complete their descent. Though the rate of fatalities has decreased since the year 2000 (1.4 fatalities for every 100 summits, with 3938 summits since 2000), the significant increase in the total number of climbers still means 54 fatalities since 2000: 33 on the northeast ridge, 17 on the southeast ridge, 2 on southwest face, and 2 on north face.\n\nNearly all attempts at the summit are done using one of the two main routes. The traffic seen by each route varies from year to year. In 2005–07, more than half of all climbers elected to use the more challenging, but cheaper northeast route. In 2008, the northeast route was closed by the Chinese government for the entire climbing season, and the only people able to reach the summit from the north that year were athletes responsible for carrying the Olympic torch for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The route was closed to foreigners once again in 2009 in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile. These closures led to declining interest in the north route, and, in 2010, two-thirds of the climbers reached the summit from the south.\n\n2012 mountaineering season\n\nIn 2012 Montana State University conducted a scientific expedition to Everest. The Everest Education Expedition studied the geology of the Everest massif which includes Everest-Nuptse-Lhotse-Khumbutse, and advanced the state of mineralogy, strain, and predicted rock ages. Of interest was the fossil-bearing limestone that crowns Mount Everest, the nature and impact of ice in the region (such as the icefall), and the overall stratigraphy (including limestone, metamorphic rocks, pelites, and quartzites) \n\nIn 2012 the oldest woman to reach the summit up to that time was achieved by Tamae Watanabe at 73 years old She broke her own record from 2002, when she climbed it at the age of 63. The retired office worker lives at the base of Mount Fuji, and had also climbed many other peaks including Denali, the Eiger, and Lhotse. She climbed with a group of four, and beat a competing 72-year-old woman who was trying for the same record.\n\nThe death of Canadian climber Shriya Shah-Klorfine in 2012 made headlines and fed a debate about whether inexperienced climbers should be climbing Mount Everest. Although she did manage to summit, she did not survive the descent. Francys Arsentiev died on descent in 1998 despite the efforts of her husband and a team from Uzbekistan that ran low of bottled oxygen. In 1979, another woman named Hannelore Schmatz successfully summited, but like the other two, became exhausted and ran out of oxygen despite the efforts of her climbing group to save her. Ray Genet, in her climbing party died also, but the two Sherpas survived. In 1984 Yogendra Bahadur Thapa and Ang Dorje died trying retrieve her corpse. Schmatz remained frozen on the mountain, with her eyes frozen open and hair left to blow in the wind, to the emotional disturbance of later climbers in the 1980s and 1990s.\n\nBetween 1922 and 2012 it is recorded that at least 233 died climbing Mount Everest. With hundreds of climbers on the most popular route on the most popular days, deaths have become almost too routine as many climbers have accepted that some are just not going to make it, even though they are left with a lingering moral question of if they should have done more to save those in trouble.\n\nNational Geographic says that 547 people summited in 2012. Of those that attempted the summit, this was a 57 percent success rate and a higher rate than the year 2000's 24% success rate. The number of summiters has grown also, with National Geographic comparing the 72 summits in 1990, 145 summits in 2000, and the aforementioned 547 summits in 2012.\n\nThe Guinness Book of World Records states that 234 climbers summited in one day in 2012. However, it was one of the deadliest seasons since 1996, with 11 climbers dying on Everest in the spring. \n\n2013 mountaineering season\n\nIn 2013, about 340 permits to climb Everest were granted. Since Tenzing and Hillary climbed in the 1950s, about 4,000 people had climbed Everest in the years leading up to 2013. That year, three climbers were attacked by a mob of 100 Sherpas at 21,000 feet altitude. The event was noted as an aberration in the otherwise decades long spirit of teamwork and friendship on the mountain. Dangers other than the elements are not unknown to climbers; for example, in 2013 11 climbers were murdered by Taliban in their base camp in nearby Pakistan while at the 8000er Nanga Parbat. The brawl had various things said about it and one highlight was that Melissa Arnot helped diffusse the fight between three climbers and a mob of Sherpa's. Arnot was friends with both the climbers and the high-altitude workers, and when the brawl happened she managed to bring a halt to the fighting, then spend the better part of an hour negotiating a truce between the mountaineers. Sherpas are famous for going to extraordinary lengths for climbers, being friendly, and very generous in sharing Everest with visitors to Nepal. In this case a group of three climbers accidentally triggered some resentment that been building and this snow-balled into a full-out mob attack on them which was fortunately averted when cooler thinking prevailed. The Nepal authorities and police investigated and removed three ring-leaders and declared that they would try to protect climbers. In a situation vaugley similar to when Pocahontas saved John Smith, the 29-years young Arnot throw herself between the attackers and the climbers being beaten thus averting their possible murder. One fact worked in favor, was that she figured they would be less likely to strike a lady, and once the conversation could started it was possible resolve what the tangle of misunderstandings and emotions that come together to trigger the crisis. Mountaineers are well aware of the confusion and delirium high altitude can trigger, and the nuttiness of client request can wear on Sherpa's who also may not have had the most clear emotions and insight high on the Lhotse face. Once the conversations started, it was possible to resolve the situation. \n\nIn 2013 a group of Sherpas attacked one climber and attempted to murder him after he returned to camp. Events including swinging an ice pick at him as he climbed the Lhotse face, making physical contact with his climbing partner, verbal threats, the throwing of a knife which impacted but did not penetrate his skin, and other attacks. This was only preliminary, and one part of the attack was described by the climber as \"they told us, \"Now we kill you. Now we kill you.\" One of them threw a big stone into Ueli Steck's face, and he started to bleed. Then they were punching my face, and then kicks and punches and kicks and punches. And stones and so on.\" The climber was upset because he considered himself a friend of the Sherpa community, had built a school for nearly 400 Sherpa children, and also had funded free evacuations via helicopters for Sherpas. The Nepalese government said if climbers were attacked, actions would be taken against the aggressors. Indeed the Nepal tourism officals removed the three ringleaders of the attack from the Mountain and determined that it was misunderstanding that had sorted out, furthermore they pledge to try to insure the safety of climbers. Sherpas are famous for the most part for their climbing skill and good demeanor, with one Everest climber noting \"To a man everyone seems to be absolutely impressed with the Sherpas. Not just their strength on the mountain, which is legendary, but their personalities and their friendliness. They become your friends.” One positive thing to come out of the fight was increased conversations between all the people on the mountain, which help overcome come some of the cultural and language barriers that complicate an already difficult environment. In retrospect on of the main culprits was some ice that came down the mountain after the Sherpa's allowed the three climbers to go above them. On the mountains climbers \"life fast and die young\"; one Sherpa noted how he talked with Marty Schmidt about the situationMarty died with his son just a few months later in Avalanche on K2. The next year 16 Sherpas died when an ice serac fell on them in the Khumbu. \n\nIn 2013 Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person yet to reach the summit, at age 80. Also, a Eurocopter AS350 B3 flown by M. Folini achieved a record breaking rescue at 7800 m, by retrieving fallen climber Sudarshan Gautam between Camps III & IV in Everest's Yellow Band on the morning of 20 May 2013. Gautam has no arms or prosthetics but reached the summit on 20 May 2013.\n\nThe updated 2013 Himalayan database recorded 658 summits, which brought the total number of summits to 6,871 by 4,042 different people. In comparison, it took 41 years after Tenzing and Hillary to achieve the same number of climbs. This is also greater than 2007's 633 summiters. \n\n2014 avalanche and season\n\nOn 18 April 2014, an avalanche hit the area just below the Base Camp 2 at around 0100 UTC (0630 local time) and at an elevation of about 5,900 metres. Sixteen people were killed in the avalanche (all Nepalese guides) and nine more were injured. Sadly, this was not the only tragedy in the region with over 43 killed in the 2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster, and they were not even summiting but rather trekking the Annapurna Circuit.\n\nOne positive outcome of the season was a 13-year-old girl, Malavath Purna, reaching the summit, breaking the record for youngest female. Additionally, one team used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp 2 to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, then reached the Everest summit. This team had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Nepal turned Chinese reluctance into a success for the country, with the executive donating tens of thousands of dollars to local hospitals and achieving a new hybrid aviation/mountaneering stylethey awarded her the Nepalese International Mountaineer of the Year. \n\nOver 100 people summitted Everest from China (Tibet region), and six from Nepal in the 2014 season. This included 72-year old Bill Burke, the Indian teenage girl and a Chinese woman Jing Wang. Another teen girl summiter was Ming Kipa Sherpa who summited with her big sister Lhakpa Sherpa in 2003, and who achieved the most times for woman to the summit of Mount Everest at that time. (see also Santosh Yadav)\n\n2015 avalanche, earthquake, season\n\n2015 was set to be a record breaking season of climbs, with hundreds of permits issued in Nepal and many additional permits in Tibet (China); however, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on 25 April 2015 effectively shut down the Everest climbing season. 2015 was the first time since 1974 with no spring summits, as all climbing teams pulled out after the quakes and avalanche. \nOne of the reasons for this was the high probability (over 50% according to the USGS) of aftershocks. Indeed, just weeks after the first quake, the region was rattled by a 7.3 magnitude quake and there were also many considerable aftershocks. \n\nOn 25 April 2015, an earthquake measuring 7.8 Mw triggered an avalanche that hit Everest Base Camp. 18 bodies were recovered from Mount Everest by the Indian army mountaineering team. The avalanche began on Pumori, moved through the Khumbu Icefall on the southwest side of Mount Everest, and slammed into the South Base Camp. \n\nThe quakes trapped hundreds of climbers above the Khumbu icefall, and they had to be evacuated by helicopter as they ran low on supplies. The quake shifted the route through the icefall making it essentially unpassable to the climbers. Bad weather also made helicopter evacuation difficult. The Everest tragedy was small compared the impact overall on Nepal, with almost 9 thousand dead in Nepal and about 22 thousand injured. In Tibet (China) by 28 April it was identified that at least 25 had died and 117 were injured. By 29 April 2015, the Tibet Mountaineering Association (North/Chinese side) closed Everest and other peaks to climbing, stranding 25 teams and about 300 people on the north side of Everest. On the south side helicopters evacuated 180 people trapped at Camps 1 and 2. \n\nMountain re-opens in August 2015\n\nOn 24 August 2015 Nepal re-opened Everest to tourism including mountain climbers. The only climber permit for the autumn season was awarded to Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki, who had tried four times previously to summit Everest without success. He made his fifth attempt in October, but had to give up just 700 meters from the summit due to \"strong winds and deep snow\". Kurki noted the dangers of climbing Everest, having himself survived being stuck in a freezing snow-hole for two days near the top, which came at the cost of all his finger tips and his thumb, lost to frostbite, which added further difficulty to his climb.\n\nSome sections of the trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp (Nepal) were damaged in the earthquakes earlier in the year and needed repairs to handle trekkers. \n\n2016 season\n\nThe Nepal Department of Tourism said by June 2016 that about 456 people made it to summit of Mount Everest, including 45 women. They noted some good summit windows and on one day, 19 May 2016, 209 made it to the summit. By May 11, 2016 the lines were fixed on the south side of Everest after which several hundred climbers would make it up in the critical weather windows. \n\nOn 11 May 2016 nine Sherpas summited Mount Everest. The next day another six people reached the top. These were the first summitings since 2014, when 106 made it to the top. By 13 May, 42 climbers had reached the summit and by 22 May, good weather had allowed over 400 climbers to reach the summit. However, about 30 climbers developed frostbite or became sick and two climbers died from what was reported as possible altitude sickness. (see fatalities section for additional reports) Among those that had to turn back, was a science expedition attempting to study the link between hypoxia and cognitive decline. Although it did not run its course it did give some clues into the effects of high-altitude acclimatization on human blood.\n\nAdrian Ballinger and Cory Richards were sponsored by Eddie Bauer to do an Everest climb, and they relayed information from the Everest climb using the smartphone software application and service Snapchat. Mount Everest has had a 3G wireless data communication network since 2010. One of the things that was reported by them, was that bottled oxygen was stolen from them and there was some bad behavior up there. The bottled oxygen was there for emergency back-up if they ran into trouble. Cor Richards achieved summiting Mount Everest without oxygen and returned safely, and Adrian made it almost to the top also. Another famous mountaineer, British climber Kenton Cool achieved his 12th Everest summit (the second highest number of Everest summitings for a foreigner after Dave Hahn), and U.S. celebrity mountaineer Melissa Arnot, completed her sixth summit, and achieved her personal goal of climbing Everest without supplementary bottled oxygen. This also turned out to be the most summits for a foreign female (Not Nepali or Chinese), and one of the first U.S. woman to summit and survive without supplementary oxygen. In 1998 Francys Arsentiev had made it to the summit but died during the descent; she went on to become a famous corpse-landmark known as \"Sleeping Beauty\" until she was buried on Everest in 2007 by one of the people that had tried help her. Another woman from the Americas, the Ecuadorian woman Carla Perez also summited Mount Everest in 2016 without supplementary oxygen. Perez and Arnot became the 5 and 6 women to summit Everest without supplementary oxygen as reported by the The Guardian. There is something of an ongoing discussion about the use of extra bottled oxygen in mountaineering. Bottled oxygen is really just the start of slippery slope that goes beyond acclimatization. The elephant in the room is Dexamethasone, which is extremely valuable as a life-saver because it can reduce swelling in the brain if someone comes down with HACE but has nevertheless may have become popular. One climbing magazine called it \"Climbing's Little Helper\" and linked it to several high-altitude mountaineering medical crisis and even fatalities. When American Bill Burke was interviewed for his attempt, he noted how one of his team-members had overdosed on Dex causing a medical evacuation even as in his more recent expedition someone had 25 doses of dex. He also noted it was hard to argue against large supplies of dex, due its life-saving properties against some types of altitude sickness, especially cerebral edema (HACE). An example of a death in which dex was implicated was Dr. Eberhard Schaaf in 2012 on Everest. Schaaf died on descent at the south summit from altitude sickness. It has a good reputation as a life saver, and is commonly given to Everest climbers for its ability to intervene in last desperate moments when altitude sickness sets in. For example, in the 2016 season Robert Gropel said he gave dex to his wife (as reported by the Telegraph) in attempt to save her as they tried to descend Everest. Of course, Dex is just the tip of the iceberg, with the UIAA noting the aforementioned dexamethasone, but also acetazolamide (aka Diamox), amphetamine, and alcohol use; and another noted Diamox (acetazolamide) use among trekkers. Its not really a matter of some authorities being for or against medications, but awareness, as misuse can cause drug interactions and various side effects. In particular it was noted that supplementary oxygen significantly lowers death rate on ultra-high altitude mountain climbing, and is generally not regulated as a drug, whereas the safe use of medications is less understood or even acknowledged in many cases. (See also Effects of high altitude on humans)\n\nMexican-American David Liaño Gonzalez (aka David Liano) summited for the sixth time, promoting a charity and also bringing a Seattle Seahawks fan flag with him to the Everest summit. Another sports team represented at the Everest summit was the Denver Broncos, with their flag unfurled by Kim Hess of Colorado, USA (a state also known for its mountains, \"the Rockies\"). Rounding out U.S. mountaineering was news that a group of soldiers and veterans summited, including some that had been wounded in combat. A British wounded veteran (one-eyed) was also trying to summit but gave up his bid to help some Indian climbers.\n\nAlso the first climbers from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Tunisia reached the summit of Mount Everest. Only two other people from the North Africa region neighbouring Tunisia have summited Everest, one from Algeria and the other from Morocco. The youngest Australian woman to summit Mount Everest became Alyssa Azar, with her story widely reported in Australian and some international news. She returned to Australia safely, but a bittersweet victory for Australia after the loss of an another Australian woman that was also trying to summit that May with her husband. The youngest Japanese woman also summited (and returned alive) at the age of 19. Another woman record breaker in 2016 was the first woman from Thailand to summit Mount Everest, Napassaporn Chumnarnsit, who was even given a meeting with Prime Minister of Thailand for achievement upon her return. The first person with Cystic Fibrosis also summited Mount Everest on their third try. Also, a 61-year old summited with two artificial knees. He had been trying for several years and had lost his Nepali friend Sherpa Nawang Tenzing in the 2015 earthquakes. He was not alone in being grief-stricken, as many climbers connected with Everest mountaineering community lost climbing buddies in two years of disasters. One who narrowly survived the disasters himself climbed this year to bring attention to the disease Lewy Body Dementia which afflicted his dad whom he cared for.\n\nRescues and fatalities\n\nA one-eyed British war veteran rescued a woman from India who was in trouble on her descent. As reported by the BBC, the climber, Leslie Binns, successfully rescued her and tried to save another from her ill-fated eleven-person expedition which suffered three fatalties. About 500 meters from the summit, which he could see with his one eye, he heard a woman screaming for help so he gave up his summit bid to help her down. She had run out of bottled oxygen and was getting frostbitten.\n\nOn 11 May 2016 a Canadian doctor from Calgary died in Tibet, in the Chinese-side base camp. A 25-year old Nepali fixing lines near the Lhotse summit fell, named Phurba Sherpa (note: this name is shared by other well-known Sherpas). A guide company called Arnold Coster Expeditions suffered two fatalities, and third client had to be airlifted out. One was a man from the The Netherlands, and another was a South African born Australian woman. Her husband had tried to save her, but he also ran into trouble and had to be air-lifted out with medical complications. These deaths were very widely reported in international news and triggered some public discussion about Everest mountaineering and tourism.\n\nA Indian expedition from West Bengal suffered a great tragedy, with the single expedition suffering three fatalities and third, a mother of an 11-year old had to be rescued on her way down. At first it was reported one died and two were missing, but later the other two were located and had not survived. One British climber gave up his summit bid to help a Bengali woman that had fallen and was ailing on her descent. She was further evacuated by the Himalayan Rescue Association and airlifted to Kathmandu with bad frostbite injuries. They were part of an eleven-member expedition from India, and eight reached the summit including the woman\n\nThe death toll for Everest climbers rose to 5 in most reports by late May 2016, and with a death of a high-altitude worker on Lhotse face during the season (Everest summiters sometimes need to climb Lhotse face depending on the route), gives a total of 6 known deaths from the Everest massif by the time the season drew to a close. Although not widely reported during May, a climber in Tibet had died on 11 May 2016 which makes it possibly six for Mount Everest and seven for the Everest Massif. The Nepal ministry of tourism said five people died (for the Nepal side).\n\nClimbing\n\nPermits\n\nThere were 334 climbing permits issued in 2014, these were extended for free because of the tragedy that struck. In 2015 there was 357 permits to climb Everest, but the mountain was closed again because of the avalanche and earthquake. Nepal then extended the unused 2014/15 permits until 2019 (Nepali permits cost about 10,000 USD for foreigners). So people who bought a permit in 2014 or 2015 can still use it for an expedition to Everest until 2019 (normally they are only valid for one year). This was an example of hospitality that Nepali's have become famous for; an extension was especially requested by expedition firms (which in turn bring resources into the country due for mountaineering). Nepal is essentially a \"fourth world\" country, one of the poorest non-African countries and the 19th poorest country in the world. Despite this, Nepal has been very welcoming to tourists and a significant tourism industry has been established.\n\nRoutes\n\nMt. Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the north ridge from Tibet, as well as many other less frequently climbed routes. Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently used route. It was the route used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and the first recognised of fifteen routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design as the Chinese border was closed to the western world in the 1950s after the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet.\n\nMost attempts are made during May before the summer monsoon season. As the monsoon season approaches, a change in the jet stream at this time pushes it northward, thereby reducing the average wind speeds high on the mountain. While attempts are sometimes made after the monsoons in September and October, when the jet stream is again temporarily pushed northward, the additional snow deposited by the monsoons and the less stable weather patterns (tail end of the monsoon) makes climbing extremely difficult.\n\nSoutheast ridge\n\nThe ascent via the southeast ridge begins with a trek to Base Camp at 5380 m on the south side of Everest in Nepal. Expeditions usually fly into Lukla (2,860 m) from Kathmandu and pass through Namche Bazaar. Climbers then hike to Base Camp, which usually takes six to eight days, allowing for proper altitude acclimatization in order to prevent altitude sickness. Climbing equipment and supplies are carried by yaks, dzopkyos (yak-cow hybrids) and human porters to Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier. When Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest in 1953, the British expedition that they were part of (over 400 climbers, porters and sherpas at that point) started from the Kathmandu Valley, as there were no roads further east at that time.\n\nClimbers spend a couple of weeks in Base Camp, acclimatizing to the altitude. During that time, Sherpas and some expedition climbers set up ropes and ladders in the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. Seracs, crevasses and shifting blocks of ice make the icefall one of the most dangerous sections of the route. Many climbers and Sherpas have been killed in this section. To reduce the hazard, climbers usually begin their ascent well before dawn, when the freezing temperatures glue ice blocks in place. Above the icefall is Camp I at 6065 m.\n\nFrom Camp I, climbers make their way up the Western Cwm to the base of the Lhotse face, where Camp II or Advanced Base Camp (ABC) is established at 6500 m. The Western Cwm is a flat, gently rising glacial valley, marked by huge lateral crevasses in the centre, which prevent direct access to the upper reaches of the Cwm. Climbers are forced to cross on the far right near the base of Nuptse to a small passageway known as the \"Nuptse corner\". The Western Cwm is also called the \"Valley of Silence\" as the topography of the area generally cuts off wind from the climbing route. The high altitude and a clear, windless day can make the Western Cwm unbearably hot for climbers.\n\nFrom ABC, climbers ascend the Lhotse face on fixed ropes up to Camp III, located on a small ledge at 7470 m. From there, it is another 500 meters to Camp IV on the South Col at 7920 m. From Camp III to Camp IV, climbers are faced with two additional challenges: the Geneva Spur and the Yellow Band. The Geneva Spur is an anvil shaped rib of black rock named by the 1952 Swiss expedition. Fixed ropes assist climbers in scrambling over this snow-covered rock band. The Yellow Band is a section of interlayered marble, phyllite, and semischist, which also requires about 100 meters of rope for traversing it.\n\nOn the South Col, climbers enter the death zone. Climbers typically only have a maximum of two or three days that they can endure at this altitude for making summit bids. Clear weather and low winds are critical factors in deciding whether to make a summit attempt. If weather does not cooperate within these short few days, climbers are forced to descend, many all the way back down to Base Camp.\n\nFrom Camp IV, climbers begin their summit push around midnight with hopes of reaching the summit (still another 1,000 meters above) within 10 to 12 hours. Climbers first reach \"The Balcony\" at 8400 m, a small platform where they can rest and gaze at peaks to the south and east in the early light of dawn. Continuing up the ridge, climbers are then faced with a series of imposing rock steps which usually forces them to the east into waist-deep snow, a serious avalanche hazard. At 8750 m, a small table-sized dome of ice and snow marks the South Summit.\n\nFrom the South Summit, climbers follow the knife-edge southeast ridge along what is known as the \"Cornice traverse\", where snow clings to intermittent rock. This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one down the southwest face, while to the immediate right is the Kangshung Face. At the end of this traverse is an imposing 12 m rock wall, the Hillary Step at 8760 m.\n\nHillary and Tenzing were the first climbers to ascend this step and they did it with primitive ice climbing equipment and ropes. Nowadays, climbers ascend this step using fixed ropes previously set up by Sherpas. Once above the step, it is a comparatively easy climb to the top on moderately angled snow slopes—though the exposure on the ridge is extreme, especially while traversing large cornices of snow. With increasing numbers of people climbing the mountain in recent years, the Step has frequently become a bottleneck, with climbers forced to wait significant amounts of time for their turn on the ropes, leading to problems in getting climbers efficiently up and down the mountain. After the Hillary Step, climbers also must traverse a loose and rocky section that has a large entanglement of fixed ropes that can be troublesome in bad weather. Climbers typically spend less than half an hour at the summit to allow time to descend to Camp IV before darkness sets in, to avoid serious problems with afternoon weather, or because supplemental oxygen tanks run out.\n\nNorth ridge route\n\nThe north ridge route begins from the north side of Everest in Tibet. Expeditions trek to the Rongbuk Glacier, setting up base camp at 5180 m on a gravel plain just below the glacier. To reach Camp II, climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of Changtse at around 6100 m. Camp III (ABC—Advanced Base Camp) is situated below the North Col at . To reach Camp IV on the north col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at 7010 m. From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp V at around 7775 m. The route crosses the North Face in a diagonal climb to the base of the Yellow Band reaching the site of Camp VI at 8230 m. From Camp VI, climbers make their final summit push. Climbers face a treacherous traverse from the base of the First Step: ascending from 8501 to, to the crux of the climb, the Second Step: ascending from 8577 to. (The Second Step includes a climbing aid called the \"Chinese ladder\", a metal ladder placed semi-permanently in 1975 by a party of Chinese climbers. It has been almost continuously in place since, and ladders have been used by virtually all climbers on the route.) Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over: ascending from 8690 to. Once above these steps, the summit pyramid is climbed by a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge along which the top is reached.\n\nSummit\n\nThe routes usually share one spot in common, the summit itself. The summit of Everest has been described as \"the size of a dining room table\". The summit is capped with snow over ice over rock, and the layer of snow varies from year to year. The rock summit is made of Ordovician limestone and is a low-grade metamorphic rock according to Montana State University. (see survey section for more on its height and about the Everest rock summit)\n\nBelow the summit there is an area known as \"rainbow valley\", filled with dead bodies still wearing brightly coloured winter gear. Down to about 8000 meters is an area commonly called the \"death zone\", due to the high danger and low oxygen because of the low pressure.\n\nBelow the summit the mountain slopes downward to the three main sides, or faces, of Mount Everest: the North Face, the South-West Face, and the East/Kangshung Face. \n\nDeath zone\n\nAt the higher regions of Mount Everest, climbers seeking the summit typically spend substantial time within the death zone (altitudes higher than 8000 m), and face significant challenges to survival. Temperatures can dip to very low levels, resulting in frostbite of any body part exposed to the air. Since temperatures are so low, snow is well-frozen in certain areas and death or injury by slipping and falling can occur. High winds at these altitudes on Everest are also a potential threat to climbers.\n\nAnother significant threat to climbers is low atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Everest is about a third of sea level pressure or , resulting in the availability of only about a third as much oxygen to breathe. \n\nDebilitating effects of the death zone are so great that it takes most climbers up to 12 hours to walk the distance of from South Col to the summit. Achieving even this level of performance requires prolonged altitude acclimatization, which takes 40–60 days for a typical expedition. A sea-level dweller exposed to the atmospheric conditions at the altitude above 8500 m without acclimatization would likely lose consciousness within 2 to 3 minutes. \n\nIn May 2007, the Caudwell Xtreme Everest undertook a medical study of oxygen levels in human blood at extreme altitude. Over 200 volunteers climbed to Everest Base Camp where various medical tests were performed to examine blood oxygen levels. A small team also performed tests on the way to the summit. Even at base camp, the low partial pressure of oxygen had direct effect on blood oxygen saturation levels. At sea level, blood oxygen saturation is generally 98–99%. At base camp, blood saturation fell to between 85 and 87%. Blood samples taken at the summit indicated very low oxygen levels in the blood. A side effect of low blood oxygen is a vastly increased breathing rate, often 80–90 breaths per minute as opposed to a more typical 20–30. Exhaustion can occur merely attempting to breathe. \n\nLack of oxygen, exhaustion, extreme cold, and climbing hazards all contribute to the death toll. An injured person who cannot walk is in serious trouble, since rescue by helicopter is generally impractical and carrying the person off the mountain is very risky. People who die during the climb are typically left behind. As of 2006, about 150 bodies had never been recovered. It is not uncommon to find corpses near the standard climbing routes. \n\nA 2008 study noted that the \"death zone\" is indeed where most Everest deaths occur, but also noted that most deaths occur during descent from the summit. A 2014 article in the magazine The Atlantic about deaths on Everest noted that while falling is one of the greatest dangers the DZ presents for all 8000ers, avalanches are a more common cause of death at lower altitudes. However, Everest climbing is more deadly than Base jumping, although some have combined extreme sports and Everest including a beverage company that had someone base-jumping off Everest in a wingsuit (they did survive, though). \n\nDespite this, Everest is safer for climbers than a number of peaks by some measurements, but it depends on the period. Some examples are Kangchenjunga, K2, Annapurna, Nanga Parbat, and the Eiger (especially the nordwand). Mont Blanc has more deaths each year than Everest, with over one hundred dying in a typical year and over eight thousand killed since records were kept. Some factors that affect total mountain lethality include the level of popularity of the mountain, the skill of those climbing, and of course the difficulty of the climb.\n\nAnother health hazard is retinal haemorrhages, which can damage eyesight and cause blindness. Up to a quarter of Everest climbers can experience retinal haemorrhages, and although they usually heal within weeks of returning to lower altitudes, in one case a climber went blind and ended up dying in the death zone.\n\nThe team made a huge effort for the next 12 hours to try to get him down the mountain, but to no avail, as they were not successful getting him down the difficult sections. Even for the able, the Everest North-East ridge is a recognized as a challenge, which is why it is so hard to rescue someone who has become incapacitatedit is beyond their ability to save them in such a difficult spot. One way around this situation was pioneer by two Nepali men in 2013, who had intended to paraglide off the summit, had major problem in that they were forced to go through with the plan either way because they had run out of bottle oxygen and supplies. They successfully launched off the summit and para-glided down to Namche in just 42 minutes, without having to climb down the mountain.\n\nSupplemental oxygen\n\nMost expeditions use oxygen masks and tanks above 8000 m. Everest can be climbed without supplementary oxygen, but only by the most accomplished mountaineers and at increased risk. Humans do not think clearly with low oxygen, and the combination of extreme weather, low temperatures, and steep slopes often requires quick, accurate decisions. While about 95% of climbers who reach the summit use bottled oxygen in order to reach the top, about 5% of climbers have summitted Everest without supplemental oxygen. The death rate is double for those who attempt to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. Travelling above 8,000 feet altitude is a factor in cerebral hypoxia. This decrease of oxygen to the brain can cause dementia and brain damage, as well as a host of other symptoms. One study found that Mount Everest may be the highest an acclimatised human could go, but also found that climbers may suffer permanent neurological damage despite returning to lower altitudes.\n\nThe use of bottled oxygen to ascend Mount Everest has been controversial. It was first used on the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition by George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce who climbed up to 7800 m at a spectacular speed of 1000 vertical feet per hour (vf/h). Pinned down by a fierce storm, they escaped death by breathing oxygen from a jury-rigged set-up during the night. The next day they climbed to 8100 m at 900 vf/h—nearly three times as fast as non-oxygen users. Yet the use of oxygen was considered so unsportsmanlike that none of the rest of the Alpine world recognised this high ascent rate. George Mallory himself described the use of such oxygen as unsportsmanlike, but he later concluded that it would be impossible for him to summit without it and consequently used it on his final attempt in 1924. When Tenzing and Hillary made the first successful summit in 1953, they used bottled oxygen, with the expedition's physiologist Griffith Pugh referring to the oxygen debate as a \"futile controversy\", noting that oxygen \"greatly increases subjective appreciation of the surroundings, which after all is one of the chief reasons for climbing.\" For the next twenty-five years, bottled oxygen was considered standard for any successful summit.\n\nReinhold Messner was the first climber to break the bottled oxygen tradition and in 1978, with Peter Habeler, made the first successful climb without it. In 1980, Messner summited the mountain solo, without supplemental oxygen or any porters or climbing partners, on the more difficult northwest route. Once the climbing community was satisfied that the mountain could be climbed without supplemental oxygen, many purists then took the next logical step of insisting that is how it should be climbed. \n\nThe aftermath of the 1996 disaster further intensified the debate. Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air (1997) expressed the author's personal criticisms of the use of bottled oxygen. Krakauer wrote that the use of bottled oxygen allowed otherwise unqualified climbers to attempt to summit, leading to dangerous situations and more deaths. The disaster was partially caused by the sheer number of climbers (34 on that day) attempting to ascend, causing bottlenecks at the Hillary Step and delaying many climbers, most of whom summitted after the usual 2 pm turnaround time. He proposed banning bottled oxygen except for emergency cases, arguing that this would both decrease the growing pollution on Everest—many bottles have accumulated on its slopes—and keep marginally qualified climbers off the mountain.\n\nThe 1996 disaster also introduced the issue of the guide's role in using bottled oxygen. \nGuide Anatoli Boukreev's decision not to use bottled oxygen was sharply criticised by Jon Krakauer. Boukreev's supporters (who include G. Weston DeWalt, who co-wrote The Climb) state that using bottled oxygen gives a false sense of security. Krakauer and his supporters point out that, without bottled oxygen, Boukreev could not directly help his clients descend. They state that Boukreev said that he was going down with client Martin Adams, but just below the South Summit, Boukreev determined that Adams was doing fine on the descent and so descended at a faster pace, leaving Adams behind. Adams states in The Climb: \"For me, it was business as usual, Anatoli's going by, and I had no problems with that.\"\n\nThe low oxygen can cause a mental fog-like impairment of cognitive abilities described as \"delayed and lethargic thought process, clinically defined as bradypsychia\" even after returning to lower altitudes. In severe cases, climbers can experience hallucinations. Some studies have found that high-altitude climbers, including Everest climbers, experience altered brain structure. The effects of high altitude on the brain, particularly if it can cause permanent brain damage, continue to be studied.\n\nAutumn climbing\n\nAlthough generally less popular than spring, Mount Everest has also been climbed in the autumn (also called the \"post-monsoon season\"). For example, in 2010 Eric Larsen and five Nepali guides summited Everest in the autumn for the first time in ten years. The first mainland British ascent of Mount Everest (Hillary was from New Zealand), led by Chris Bonnington, was an autumn ascent in 1975. The autumn season, when the monsoon ends, is regarded as more dangerous because there is typically a lot of new snow which can be unstable. However, this increased snow can make it more popular with certain winter sports like skiing and snow boarding. Two Japanese summited in October 1973 also. Chris Chandler and Bob Cormack summited Everest in October 1976 as part of the American Bicentennial Everest Expedition that year, the first Americans to make an autumn ascent of Mt. Everest according to the Los Angeles Times. By the 21st century, summer and autumn can be more popular with skiing and snowboard attempts on Mount Everest. During the 1980s, climbing in autumn was actually more popular than in spring. The U.S. astronaut Karl Gordon Henize died in October 1993 on a fall (autumn) expedition conducting an experiment on radiation. The amount of background radiation increases with higher altitudes. \n\nThe mountain has also been climbed in the winter, but that is not popular because of the combination of cold high winds and shorter days. By January the peak is typically battered by 170 mph winds and the average temperature of the summit is around -33 °F (-36 °C).\n\nSelected climbing records\n\nBy the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals. Some notable \"firsts\" by climbers include: \n* 1922 – First climb to 8000 m, by George Finch and Captain Geoffrey Bruce \n* 1952 – First climb to South Col by 1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition\n* 1953 – First ascent, by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on 1953 British Mount Everest expedition\n* 1960 – First reported ascent from the North Ridge by Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China.\n* 1975 – First female ascent, by Junko Tabei (16 May).\n* 1975 - First female ascent from the North Ridge, by Phanthog, deputy head of the second Chinese Everest expedition that sent nine climbers to the summit (27 May). \n* 1978 – First ascent without supplemental oxygen by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler \n* 1980 – First solo ascent, by Reinhold Messner\n* 1980 – First winter ascent, by Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki\n* 1988 – First \"cross-over\" climb by Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese teams which ascended the peak simultaneously from both the North and South sides of the mountain and descended down the other side. The cross-over climb was also the first to be recorded on live broadcast television.\n* 1988 – First descent by paraglider, by Jean-Marc Boivin \n* 1988 – First female ascent without supplemental oxygen by Lydia Bradey \n* 1998 – Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), without supplemental oxygen, by Kazi Sherpa, in 20 hours and 24 minutes. \n* 2000 – First descent by ski by Davo Karničar \n* 2001 – First ascent by a blind climber, Erik Weihenmayer \n* 2001 - Lhakpa Sherpa becomes first Nepali woman to summit Everest and survive. \n* 2004 – Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), with supplemental oxygen, by Pemba Dorje, in 8 hours and 10 minutes. \n* 2006 - Lhakpa Sherpa summits for the 6th time, breaking her own record for most successful female Everest climber. \n* 2007 – Fastest to reach the summit via the northeast ridge, without supplemental oxygen, by Christian Stangl, in 16 hours, 42 minutes. \n* 2010 – Youngest to reach the summit, by Jordan Romero (13-year-old) \n* 2011 - Most times to reach the summit, Apa Sherpa (21 times; 10 May 1990 – 11 May 2011)\n*2013 – Apa Sherpa tied for most times to reach the summit by Phurba Tashi (21 times; 1999–2013)\n* 2013 - Melissa Arnot, American, summits for the 5th time breaking her own record for most successful summits by any non-Sherpa woman. \n\nSummiting with disabilities\n\nSummiting Everest with disabilities such as amputations and diseases has become popular in the 21st century, with stories like that of Sudarshan Gautam, a man with no arms who made it to the top in 2013. A teenager with Down's syndrome made it to Base camp, which has become a substitute for more extreme record-breaking because it carries many of the same thrills including the trip to the Himalayas and rustic scenery. Danger lurks even at base camp though, which was the site where dozens were killed in the 2015 Mount Everest avalanches. Others that have climbed Everest with amputations include Mark Inglis (no legs), Paul Hockey (1 arm only), and Arunima Sinha (1 leg).\n\nEverest and aviation\n\n1988: First climb and glide\n\nOn 26 September 1988, having climbed the mountain via the south-east ridge, Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest, in the process creating the record for the fastest descent of the mountain and the highest paraglider flight. Boivin said: \"I was tired when I reached the top because I had broken much of the trail, and to run at this altitude was quite hard.\" Boivin ran 60 ft from below the summit on 40-degree slopes to launch his paraglider, reaching Camp II at 19400 ft in 12 minutes (some sources say 11 minutes). Boivin would not repeat this feat, as he was killed two years later in 1990, base-jumping off Venezuela's Angel Falls. \n\n1991: Hot air balloon flyover\n\nIn 1991 four men in two balloons achieved the first hot-air balloon flight over Mount Everest. In one balloon was Andy Elson and Eric Jones (cameraman), and in the other balloon Chris Dewhirst and Leo Dickinson (cameraman). Leo went on to write a book about the adventure called Ballooning Over Everest. The hot-air balloons were modified to function at up to 40,000 feet altitude. Reinhold Messner called one of Leo's panoramic views of Everest, captured on the now discontinued Kodak Kodachrome film, the \"best snap on Earth\", according to UK newspaper The Telegraph. Dewhirst has offered to take passengers on a repeat of this feat for 2.6 million USD per passenger.\n\n2005: Pilot summits Everest with helicopter\n\nIn May 2005, pilot Didier Delsalle of France landed a Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest. He needed to land for two minutes to set the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) official record, but he stayed for about four minutes, twice. In this type of landing the rotors stay engaged, which avoids relying on the snow to fully support the aircraft. The flight set rotorcraft world records, for highest of both landing and take-off.\n\nSome press reports suggested that the report of the summit landing was a misunderstanding of a South Col landing, but he had also landed on South Col two days earlier, with this landing and the Everest records confirmed by the FAI. Delsalle also rescued two Japanese climbers at 16000 ft while he was there. One climber noted that the new record meant a better chance of rescue.\n\n2011 Paraglide off summit\n\nIn 2011 two Nepali paraglided from the Everest Summit to Namche in 42 minutes. They had run out of oxygen and supplies, so it was a very fast way off the Mountain. The duo won National Geographic Adventurers of the Year for 2012 for their exploits. After the paraglide they kayaked to the Indian Ocean, and they had made it to the Bay of Bengal by the end of June 2011. One had never climbed, and one had never para-glided, but together they accomplished a ground-breaking feat. By 2013 footage of the flight was shown on the television Nightline. (see also Kayaking for more on this style of activity)\n\n2014: Helicopter assisted ascent\n\nIn 2014 one team used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp 2 to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, then reached the Everest summit. This team had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Ultimately, Chinese reluctance may have been beneficial to Nepalese interests, allowing the government to showcase improved local hospitals and the opportunity for a new hybrid aviation/mountaneering stylewhich sparked conversations about helicopter use in the mountaineering world. Nepal ended up investigating Wang, and she denied the charge but admitted she did fly some support crew over the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 2 using a helicopter. National Geographic noted how a village festooned Wang with honors after she donated 30,000 USD to the town's hospital. Wang won International Mountaineer of the Year Award from the Nepal government in June 2014.\n\n2016: Helicopter business increases\n\nIn 2016 the increased use of helicopters was noted for increased efficiency and for hauling materiel over the deadly Khumbu icefall. In particular it was noted that flights saved icefall porters 80 trips but still increased commercial activity at Everest. After many Nepal died in the icefall in 2014, the government had wanted helicopters to handle more transportation to Camp 1 but this was not possible because of the 2015 deaths and earthquake closing the mountain, so the this was implemented in 2016 (helicopters did prove instrumental in rescuing many people in 2015 though). That summer Bell tested the 412EPI, which conducted a series of tests including hovering at 18,000 feet and flying as high as 20,000 feet altitude near Mount Everest. \n\nFinancial cost of guided climbs\n\nGoing with a \"celebrity guide\", usually a well-known mountaineer typically with decades of climbing experience and perhaps multiple Everest summits, can cost over £100,000 as of 2015. On the other hand, a limited support service, offering only some meals at base camp and bureaucratic overhead like a permit, can be as little as 7,000 USD. There are issues with the management of guiding firms in Nepal, and one Canadian woman was left begging for help when her guide firm, which she had paid perhaps 40,000 dollars to, couldn't stop her from dying in 2012. She ran out of bottled oxygen after climbing for 27 hours straight. Despite decades of concern over inexperienced climbers, neither she nor the guide firm had summited Everest before. The communist-controlled Tibetan/Chinese side does not offer much reprieve from the chaos, with it being described as \"out of control\" due to multiple reports of thefts, threats, etc. By 2015, Nepal was considering requiring that summiters have some experience and wanted to make the mountain safer, and especially increase revenue. One barrier to this is that low-budget firms make money not taking inexperienced climbers to the summit. Those turned away by western firms can often find another firm willing to take them for a pricethat they return home soon after arriving after base camp, or part way up the mountain. Whereas a western firm will convince those they deem incapable to turn back, other firms simply give people the freedom to choose. Mountain managers can be left with difficult choices, sometimes balancing greed with the safety of tourists; as one bureaucrat for the extremely popular Mont Blanc put it, \"Climbing the Mont Blanc is a matter for serious mountaineers. It isn't a trek or a playground to get a mention in the Guinness World Records\" Mount Blanc may be an indicator of how extreme Everest can go, a mountain that dwarfs Everest in popularity and fatalities, with tens of thousands, not hundreds summiting a commensurate increase in fatalities, with over a hundred dying each year. The battle for safety is a struggle there as in the Himalaya's, with another official jokingly noting they want to send Pamela Anderson to rescue tourists (perhaps a nod to her role as a life-guard on the U.S. television show Baywatch).\n\nCommercial climbing\n\nClimbing Mount Everest can be a relatively expensive undertaking for climbers. Climbing gear required to reach the summit may cost in excess of US$8,000, and most climbers also use bottled oxygen, which adds around US$3,000. The permit to enter the Everest area from the south via Nepal costs US$10,000 to US$25,000 per person, depending on the size of the team. The ascent typically starts in one of the two base camps near the mountain, both of which are approximately 100 km from Kathmandu and 300 km from Lhasa (the two nearest cities with major airports); transferring one's equipment from the airport to the base camp may add as much as US$2,000.\n\nBy 2016, most guiding services cost between 35 and almost 200 thousand dollars. However, the services offered vary widely and its \"buyer beware\" when doing deals in Nepal, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the World. Tourism is about 4% of Nepal's economy, but Everest is special in that an Everest porter can make nearly double the nations's average wage in a region in which other sources of income have been slow coming. \n\nBeyond this point, costs may vary widely. It is technically possible to reach the summit with minimal additional expenses, and there are \"budget\" travel agencies which offer logistical support for such trips. However, this is considered difficult and dangerous (as illustrated by the case of David Sharp). Many climbers hire \"full service\" guide companies, which provide a wide spectrum of services, including acquisition of permits, transportation to/from base camp, food, tents, fixed ropes, medical assistance while on the mountain, an experienced mountaineer guide, and even personal porters to carry one's backpack and cook one's meals. The cost of such a guide service may range from $40,000 to $80,000 per person. Since most equipment is moved by Sherpas, clients of full-service guide companies can often keep their backpack weights under 10 kg, or hire a Sherpa to carry their backpack for them. By contrast, climbers attempting less commercialised peaks, like Denali, are often expected to carry backpacks over 30 kg and, occasionally, to tow a sled with 35 kg of gear and food. \n\nAccording to Jon Krakauer, the era of commercialization of Everest started in 1985, when the summit was reached by a guided expedition led by David Breashears that included Richard Bass, a wealthy 55-year-old businessman and an amateur mountain climber with only four years of climbing experience. By the early 1990s, multiple companies were offering guided tours to the mountain. Rob Hall, one of the mountaineers who died in the 1996 disaster, had successfully guided 39 clients to the summit prior to that incident. \n\nThe degree of commercialization of Mount Everest is a frequent subject of criticism. Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, said in a 2003 interview that his late father would have been shocked to discover that rich thrill-seekers with no climbing experience were now routinely reaching the summit:\n\nReinhold Messner concurred in 2004:\n\nHowever, not all opinions on the subject among prominent mountaineers are strictly negative. For example, Edmund Hillary, who went on record saying that he has not liked \"the commercialization of mountaineering, particularly of Mt. Everest\" and claimed that \"Having people pay $65,000 and then be led up the mountain by a couple of experienced guides ... isn't really mountaineering at all\", nevertheless noted that he was pleased by the changes brought to Everest area by the Westerners:\n\nOne of the early guided summiters, Richard Bass (of Seven Summits fame) responded in an interview about Everest climbers and what it took to survive there:\n\nLaw and order struggles\n\nSome climbers have reported life-threatening thefts from supply caches. Vitor Negrete, the first Brazilian to climb Everest without oxygen and part of David Sharp's party, died during his descent, and theft from his high-altitude camp may have contributed. \n\nIn addition to theft, Michael Kodas describes in his book High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed (2008), unethical guides and Sherpas, prostitution and gambling at the Tibet Base Camp, fraud related to the sale of oxygen bottles, and climbers collecting donations under the pretense of removing trash from the mountain. \n\nThe Chinese side of the Everest in Tibet was called \"out of countrol\" after one Canadian had all his gear stolen and was abandoned by his Sherpa. Another sherpa helped him get off the mountain safely and gave him some spare gear. Other climbers have also noted missing oxygen bottles, which can be worth hundreds of dollars each. One of the problems is that there are hundreds of climbers passing by people's tents, although the weather can also damage or even blow people's equipment away.\n\n2014 Sherpa strike\n\nOn 18 April 2014, in one of the worst disasters to ever hit the Everest climbing community up to that time, 16 Sherpas died in Nepal due to the avalanche that swept them off Mount Everest. In response to the tragedy numerous Sherpa climbing guides walked off the job and most climbing companies pulled out in respect for the Sherpa people mourning the loss. Some still wanted to climb but there was really too much controversy to continue that year. One of the issues that was triggered was pre-existing resentment that had been building over unreasonable client requests during climbs. As bad as it was, the death toll was surpassed later that year by the 2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster.\n\nExtreme sports at Mount Everest\n\nMount Everest has been host to other winter sports and adventuring besides mountaineering, including snowboarding, skiing, paragliding, and BASE jumping.\n\nYuichiro Miura became the first man to ski down Everest in the 1970s (he descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries). Stefan Gatt and Marco Siffredi snowboarded Mount Everest in 2001. Other famous Everest skiers include Davo Karničar of Slovenia, who completed a top to south base camp descent in 2000, Hans Kammerlander of Italy in 1996 on the north side, and Kit DesLauriers of the United States in 2006. In 2006 Tomas Olsson planned to ski down the North face, but his anchor broke while he was rappelling down a cliff in the Norton couloir at about 8500 meters, resulting in his death from a two and a half kilometer fall. Also, Marco Siffredi died in 2002 on his second snow-boarding expedition.\n\nVarious types of gliding descents have slowly become more popular, and are noted for their rapid descents to lower camps. In 1986 Steve McKinney led an expedition to Mount Everest, during which he became the first person to fly a hang-glider off the mountain. Frenchman Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest in September 1988, descending in minutes from the south-east ridge to a lower camp. In 2011, two Nepalese made a gliding descent from the Everest summit down in 45 minutes. On 5 May 2013, the beverage company Red Bull sponsored Valery Rozov, who successfully BASE jumped off of the mountain while wearing a wingsuit, setting a record for world's highest BASE jump in the process. \n\nEverest and religion\n\nThe southern part of Mt. Everest is regarded as one of several \"hidden valleys\" of refuge designated by Padmasambhava, a ninth-century \"lotus-born\" Buddhist saint.\n\nNear the base of the north side of Mt. Everest lies Rongbuk Monastery, which has been called the \"sacred threshold to Mount Everest, with the most dramatic views of the world.\" For Sherpas living on the slopes of Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal, Rongbuk Monastery was an important pilgrimage site, accessed in a few days of travel across the Himalaya through Nangpa La. \n\nMiyolangsangma, a Tibetan Buddhist \"Goddess of Inexhaustible Giving\", is believed to have lived at the top of Mt. Everest. According to Sherpa Buddhist monks, Mt. Everest is Miyolangsangma's palace and playground, and all climbers are only partially welcome guests, having arrived without invitation.\n\nThe Sherpa people also believe that Mt. Everest and its flanks are blessed with spiritual energy, and one should show reverence when passing through this sacred landscape. Here, the karmic effects of one's actions are magnified, and impure thoughts are best avoided. \n\nDebris management\n\nFormer long-time Everest guide and climber Apa Sherpa noted the increased amount of items left by expeditions. Apa organised an expedition to remove of rubbish from the lower part of the mountain and another from higher areas. Removal of things from Everest can be quite dangerous, and in one mission two died trying to remove a single corpse, actually increasing the number of dead bodies on Everest.\n\nThe Mount Everest Biogas Project aims to make a bioreactor for converting compost material, especially faeces, into a gas maker. One of the challenges of getting a digester to work near Everest is the cold temperatures which have made it harder to work. The project would install a device at Everest that converts human waste into methane, which can then be used as fuel (for heating, etc.). \n\nNames\n\n*Peak XV (British Empire's Survey)\n*\"The Bastard\" (Hillary) \n*Romanised Tibetan name: \"Chomolongma\". \n*Romanised Chinese name: \"Mount Qomolangma\",\n*Romanised Nepalese name: \"Sagar-Matha\" (Usually Sagarmatha)\n*Old Darjeeling name: \"Deodungha\"\n*Mount Everest\n*Gauri Shankar, in modern times the name a different peak about 30 miles away, but until about 1900 was also sometimes used. \n\nMaps\n\nFile:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|center|thumb|600px|Southern and northern climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. (The names on the photo are links to corresponding pages.)\nrect 58 14 160 49 58 14 160 49 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzo\nrect 200 28 335 52 Makalu\nrect 378 24 566 45 Everest\nrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateau\nrect 250 406 340 427 Rong River\nrect 333 149 409 186 Changtse\nrect 550 284 677 303 Rongbuk Glacier\nrect 478 196 570 218 North Face (Everest)\nrect 237 231 346 267 East Rongbuk Glacier\nrect 314 290 536 309 North Col north ridge route\nrect 531 79 663 105 Lhotse\nrect 582 112 711 130 Nuptse\nrect 603 232 733 254 South Col route\nrect 716 165 839 206 Gyachung Kang\nrect 882 147 967 183 Cho Oyu\nrect 1 1 999 661 \n\ndesc bottom-left\n\nFrom China (Tibet region)\n\nFrom Gokyo Ri\n\nTerrain animation","Denali.txt\nDenali\nDenali (also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20310 ft above sea level. At some 18000 ft, the base-to-peak rise is the largest of any mountain situated entirely above sea level. With a topographic prominence of 20156 ft and a topographic isolation of 4629 mi, Denali is the third most prominent and third most isolated peak after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.\n\nThe Koyukon people who inhabit the area around the mountain have referred to the peak as \"Denali\" for centuries. In 1896, a gold prospector named it \"Mount McKinley\" in support of then-presidential candidate William McKinley; that name was the official name recognized by the United States government from 1917 until 2015. In August 2015, following the 1975 lead of the state of Alaska, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the change of the official name of the mountain to Denali. Prior to this, most Alaskans already referred to the mountain as Denali.\n\nIn 1903, James Wickersham recorded the first attempt at climbing Denali, which was unsuccessful. In 1906, Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent, which was later proven to be false. The first verifiable ascent to Denali's summit was achieved on June 7, 1913, by climbers Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum, who went by the South Summit. In 1951, Bradford Washburn pioneered the West Buttress route, considered to be the safest and easiest route, and therefore the most popular currently in use.\n\nOn September 2, 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that the mountain is 20310 ft high, not 20320 ft, as measured in 1952 using photogrammetry.\n\nGeology and features\n\nDenali is a granitic pluton lifted by tectonic pressure from the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate; at the same time, the sedimentary material above and around the mountain was stripped away by erosion. The forces that lifted Denali also cause many deep earthquakes in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Pacific Plate is seismically active beneath Denali, a tectonic region that is known as the \"McKinley cluster\". \n\nDenali has a summit elevation of 20310 ft above sea level, making it the highest peak in North America and the northernmost mountain above 6,000 meters elevation in the world. Measured from base to peak at some 18000 ft, it is also the largest of any mountain entirely above sea level. Denali rises from a sloping plain with elevations from 1000 to, for a base-to-peak height of 17000 to. By comparison, Mount Everest rises from the Tibetan Plateau at a much higher base elevation. Base elevations for Everest range from 13800 ft on the south side to 17100 ft on the Tibetan Plateau, for a base-to-peak height in the range of 12000 to. Denali's base-to-peak height is little more than half the 33500 ft of the volcano Mauna Kea, which lies mostly under water. \n\nLayout of the mountain\n\nDenali has two significant summits: the South Summit is the higher one, while the North Summit has an elevation of 19470 ft and a prominence of approximately 1270 ft. The North Summit is sometimes counted as a separate peak (see e.g., fourteener) and sometimes not; it is rarely climbed, except by those doing routes on the north side of the massif.\n\nFive large glaciers flow off the slopes of the mountain. The Peters Glacier lies on the northwest side of the massif, while the Muldrow Glacier falls from its northeast slopes. Just to the east of the Muldrow, and abutting the eastern side of the massif, is the Traleika Glacier. The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast of the mountain, and the Kahiltna Glacier leads up to the southwest side of the mountain. With a length of 44 mi, the Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range.\n\nNaming\n\nThe Koyukon Athabaskans who inhabit the area around the mountain have for centuries referred to the peak as Dinale or Denali. The name is based on a Koyukon word for \"high\" or \"tall\". During the Russian ownership of Alaska, the common name for the mountain was Bolshaya Gora (, bolshaya Russian for big; gora \n Russian for mountain), which is the Russian translation of Denali.. It was briefly called Densmore's Mountain in the late 1880s and early 1890s after Frank Densmore, an Alaskan prospector who was the first European to reach the base of the mountain. \n\nIn 1896, a gold prospector named it McKinley as political support for then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who became president the following year. The United States formally recognized the name Mount McKinley after President Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act of February 26, 1917. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson declared the north and south peaks of the mountain the \"Churchill Peaks\", in honor of British statesman Winston Churchill. The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975, which was how it is called locally. However, a request in 1975 from the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same at the federal level was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district included McKinley's hometown of Canton. \n\nOn August 30, 2015, just ahead of a presidential visit to Alaska, the Barack Obama administration announced the name Denali would be restored in line with the Alaska Geographic Board's designation. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell issued the order changing the name to Denali on August 28, 2015, effective immediately. Jewell said the change had been \"a long time coming\". The renaming of the mountain received praise from Alaska's senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski,Matthew Smith – [http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/08/31/murkowski-thanks-obama-for-restoring-denali-obama-directs-his-gaze-on-climate-change/ \"Murkowski thanks Obama for restoring Denali\", (video)] Alaska Public Radio, KNOM, Nome, August 31, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-01 who had previously introduced legislation to accomplish the name change,Michael A. Memoli – [http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alaska-mckinley-denali-20150830-story.html \"Mt. McKinley, America's Tallest Peak, is Getting Back its Original Name: Denali\",] Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-1 but it drew criticism from several Ohio politicians, such as Governor John Kasich, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, and Representative Bob Gibbs, who described Obama's action as \"constitutional overreach\" because he said an act of Congress is required to rename the mountain; The Alaska Dispatch News reported that the Secretary of the Interior has authority under federal law to change geographic names when the Board of Geographic Names does not act on a naming request within a \"reasonable\" period of time. Jewell told the Alaska Dispatch News that \"I think any of us would think that 40 years is an unreasonable amount of time.\"\n\nIndigenous names for Denali can be found in seven different Alaskan languages. The names fall into two categories. To the south of the Alaska Range in the Dena'ina and Ahtna languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as \"big mountain\". To the north of the Alaska Range in the Lower Tanana, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Holikachuk, and Deg Xinag languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as \"the high one\", \"the tall one\" (Koyukon, Lower and Middle Tanana, Upper Kuskokwim, Deg Xinag, and Holikachuk), or \"big mountain\" (Ahtna and Dena'ina). Asked about the importance of the mountain and its name, Will Mayo, former president of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, an organization that represents 42 Athabaskan tribes in the Alaskan interior, said “It’s not one homogeneous belief structure around the mountain, but we all agree that we’re all deeply gratified by the acknowledgment of the importance of Denali to Alaska’s people.\"\n\nThe following table lists the Alaskan Athabascan names for Denali.\n\nHistory\n\nThe Koyukon Athabaskans, living in the Yukon, Tanana and Kuskokwim basins, were the first Native Americans with access to the flanks of the mountain. A British naval captain and explorer, George Vancouver, is the first European on record to have sighted Denali, when he noted \"distant stupendous mountains\" while surveying the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet on May 6, 1794. The Russian explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin explored the Tanana and Kuskokwim rivers in 1843 and 1844, and was likely the first European to sight the mountain from the other side.\n\nWilliam Dickey, a New Hampshire-born resident of Seattle, Washington who had been digging for gold in the sands of the Susitna River, wrote, after his returning from Alaska, an account in the New York Sun that appeared on January 24, 1897. His report drew attention with the sentence \"We have no doubt that this peak is the highest in North America, and estimate that it is over 20000 ft high.\" Until then, Mount Logan in Canada's Yukon Territory was believed to be the continent’s highest point. Though later praised for his estimate, Dickey admitted that other prospector parties had also guessed the mountain to be over 20000 ft. \n\nOn November 5, 2012, the United States Mint released a twenty-five cent piece depicting Denali National Park. It is the fifteenth of the America the Beautiful Quarters series. The reverse features a Dall sheep with the peak of Denali in the background. \n\nClimbing history\n\nThe first recorded attempt to climb Denali was by Judge James Wickersham in 1903, via the Peters Glacier and the North Face, now known as the Wickersham Wall. Because of the route's history of avalanche danger, it was not successfully climbed until 1963.\n\nFamed explorer Dr. Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent of the mountain in 1906. His claim was regarded with some suspicion from the start, but was also widely believed. It was later proved false, with some crucial evidence provided by Bradford Washburn when he was sketched on a lower peak.\n\nIn 1910, four area locals – Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagall – known as the Sourdough Expedition, attempted to climb Denali despite a lack of climbing experience. The group spent approximately three months on the mountain. Their purported summit ascent day included carrying a bag of doughnuts each, a thermos of hot chocolate, and a 14-foot (4.2 m) spruce pole. Two of them reached the North Summit, the lower of the two, and erected the pole near the top. According to the group, the time they took to reach the summit was a total of 18 hours. Until the first ascent in 1913, their claims were disbelieved, in part due to false claims they had climbed both summits.\n\nIn 1912, the Parker-Browne expedition nearly reached the summit, turning back within just a few hundred yards of it due to harsh weather. Hours after their ascent, the Great Earthquake of 1912 shattered the glacier they had ascended. \n\nThe first ascent of the main summit of Denali came on June 7, 1913, by a party led by Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens. The first man to reach the summit was Walter Harper, an Alaska Native. Robert Tatum also made the summit. Using the mountain's contemporary name, Tatum later commented, \"The view from the top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!\" They ascended the Muldrow Glacier route pioneered by the earlier expeditions, which is still often climbed today. Stuck confirmed, via binoculars, the presence of a large pole near the North Summit; this report confirmed the Sourdough ascent, and today it is widely believed that the Sourdoughs did succeed on the North Summit. However, the pole was never seen before or since, so there is still some doubt. Stuck also discovered that the Parker-Browne party were only about 200 feet (61 m) of elevation short of the true summit when they turned back.\n\nThe mountain is regularly climbed today; in 2003, around 58% of climbers reached the top. But by 2003, the mountain had claimed the lives of nearly 100 mountaineers over time. The vast majority of climbers use the West Buttress Route, pioneered in 1951 by Bradford Washburn, after an extensive aerial photographic analysis of the mountain. Climbers typically take two to four weeks to ascend Denali.\n\nTimeline\n\n* 1896–1902: Surveys by Robert Muldrow, George Eldridge, Alfred Brooks. \n* 1913: First ascent, by Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum via the Muldrow Glacier route. \n* 1932: Second ascent, by Alfred Lindley, Harry , Grant Pearson, Erling Strom. (Both peaks were climbed.) \n* 1947: Barbara Washburn becomes the first woman to reach the summit while her husband Bradford Washburn becomes the first person to summit twice.\n* 1951: First ascent of the West Buttress Route, led by Bradford Washburn.\n* 1954: First ascent of the very long South Buttress Route.\n* 1959: First ascent of the West Rib, now a popular, mildly technical route to the summit.\n* 1961: First ascent of the Cassin Ridge, named for Riccardo Cassin and the best-known technical route on the mountain. The first ascent team members are: Riccardo Cassin, Luigi Airoldi, Luigi Alippi, Giancarlo Canali, Romano Perego, and Annibale Zucchi. \n\n* 1963: Two teams make first ascents of two different routes on the Wickersham Wall. \n* 1967: First winter ascent, via the West Buttress, by Dave Johnston, Art Davidson and Ray Genet. \n* 1967: Seven members of Joe Wilcox's twelve-man expedition perish, while stranded for ten days near the summit, in what has been described as the worst storm on record. Up to that time, this was the third worst disaster in mountaineering history in terms of lives lost. Before July 1967 only four men had ever perished on Denali. \n* 1970: First solo ascent by Naomi Uemura.\n* 1970: First ascent by an all-female team, led by Grace Hoeman and the later famous American high altitude mountaineer Arlene Blum together with Margaret Clark, Margaret Young, Faye Kerr and Dana Smith Isherwood.\n* 1972: Sylvain Saudan, \"Skier of the Impossible\", skis down the sheer southwest face, conquered for the first time by skier or climber.\n* 1976: First solo ascent of the Cassin Ridge by Charlie Porter, a climb \"ahead of its time\".\n* 1979: First ascent by dog team achieved by Susan Butcher, Ray Genet, Brian Okonek, Joe Redington, Sr., and Robert Stapleton. \n* 1984: Uemura returns to make the first winter solo ascent, but dies after summitting. Tono Križo, František Korl and Blažej Adam from the Slovak Mountaineering Association climb a very direct route to the summit, now known as the Slovak Route, on the south face of the mountain, to the right of the Cassin Ridge.\n* 1988: First successful winter solo ascent. Vern Tejas climbed the West Buttress alone in February and March, summitted successfully, and descended. \n* 1997: First successful ascent up the West Fork of Traleika Glacier up to Karstens Ridge beneath Browne Tower. This path was named the \"Butte Direct\" by the two climbers Jim Wilson and Jim Blow. \n* 2015: On June 24, a survey team led by Blaine Horner places two global positioning receivers on the summit to determine the precise position and elevation of the summit. The summit snow depth is measured at 4.5 meters. The United States National Geodetic Survey later determined the summit elevation to be .\n\nWeather station\n\nThe Japan Alpine Club installed a meteorological station on a ridge near the summit of Denali at an altitude of 18733 ft in 1990. In 1998, this weather station was donated to the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In June 2002, a weather station was placed at the 19000 ft level. This weather station was designed to transmit data in real-time for use by the climbing public and the science community. Since its establishment, annual upgrades to the equipment have been performed with instrumentation custom built for the extreme weather and altitude conditions. This weather station is the third-highest weather station in the world.\n\nThe weather station recorded a temperature of on December 1, 2003. On the previous day of November 30, 2003, a temperature of combined with a wind speed of to produce a North American record windchill of .\n\nEven in July, this weather station has recorded temperatures as low as and windchills as low as .\n\nHistorical record\n\nThe mountain is characterized by extremely cold weather. Temperatures as low as and wind chills as low as have been recorded by an automated weather station located at 18733 ft. According to the National Park Service, in 1932 the -Lindley expedition recovered a self-recording minimum thermometer left near Browne's Tower, at about 15000 ft, on Denali by the Stuck-Karstens party in 1913. The spirit thermometer was calibrated down to , and the lowest recorded temperature was below that point. Harry J. Lek took the thermometer back to Washington, D.C. where it was tested by the United States Weather Bureau and found to be accurate. The lowest temperature that it had recorded was found to be approximately . Another thermometer was placed at the 15000 ft level by the U.S. Army Natick Laboratory, and was there from 1950 to 1969. The coldest temperature recorded during that period was also . \n\nSubpeaks and nearby mountains\n\nBesides the North Summit mentioned above, other features on the massif which are sometimes included as separate peaks are:\n* South Buttress, 15885 ft; mean prominence: 335 ft\n* East Buttress high point, 14730 ft; mean prominence: 380 ft\n* East Buttress, most topographically prominent point, 14650 ft; mean prominence: 600 ft\n* Browne Tower, 14530 ft; mean prominence: 75 ft\n\nNearby peaks include:\n* Mount Foraker\n* Mount Silverthrone\n* Mount Hunter\n* Mount Huntington\n* Mount Dickey\n* The Moose's Tooth\n\nTaxonomic honors\n\n* denaliensis\n** Ceratozetella denaliensis (formerly Cyrtozetes denaliensis Behan-Pelletier, 1985) is a species of moss mite in the family Mycobatidae :sv:Ceratozetella denaliensis\n** Magnoavipes denaliensis Fiorillo et al., 2011 (literally “bird with large feet found in Denali”) is a Magnoavipes ichnospecies of bird footprint from the Upper Cretaceous of Alaska and was a large heron-like bird (as larger than a sandhill crane) with three toes and toe pads. :pt:Magnoavipes denaliensis\n* denali\n** Cosberella denali (Fjellberg, 1985) is a springtail. :sv:Cosberella denali\n** Proclossiana aphirape denali Klots, 1940 is a Boloria butterfly species of the Heliconiinae subfamily of Nymphalidae.\n** Symplecta denali (Alexander, 1955) is a species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. :sv:Symplecta denali\n** Tipula denali Alexander, 1969 is a species of crane fly in the family Tipulidae. :sv:Tipula denali\n* denalii\n** Erigeron denalii A. Nelson, 1945 or Denali fleabane is an Erigeron fleabane species.\n** Papaver denalii Gjaerevoll 1963 is an Papaver species and syn. of Papaver mcconnellii\n* mckinleyensis or mackinleyensis\n** Erebia mackinleyensis (Gunder, 1932) or Mt. McKinley alpine is a butterfly species of the Satyrinae subfamily of Nymphalidae. :fr:Erebia mackinleyensis\n** Oeneis mackinleyensis Dos Passos 1965 or Oeneis mckinleyensis Dos Passos 1949 is a butterfly species of the Satyrinae subfamily of Nymphalidae (syn. of Oeneis bore)\n** Uredo mckinleyensis Cummins 1952 or Uredo mackinleyensis Cummins 1952 is a rust fungus species.","Catskill_Mountains.txt\nCatskill Mountains\nThe Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a large area in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York. They are located approximately 100 mi north-northwest of New York City and 40 mi southwest of Albany, starting just west of the Hudson River. The Catskills occupy much or all of five counties (Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster), with some areas falling into the boundaries of southwestern Albany, eastern Broome, northwestern Orange, and southern Otsego counties. Foothills are also found in southeastern Chenango, southern Montgomery, northern Otsego, and western Schenectady counties. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a 700000 acre forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.\n\nGeologically, the Catskills are a mature dissected plateau, a once-flat region subsequently uplifted and eroded into sharp relief by watercourses. The Catskills form the northeastern end of, and highest-elevation portion of, the Allegheny Plateau (also known as the Appalachian Plateau). Although the Catskills are sometimes compared with the Adirondack Mountains further north, the two mountain ranges are not geologically related, as the Adirondacks are a continuation of the Canadian Shield. Similarly, the Shawangunk Ridge, which forms the southeastern edge of the Catskills, is part of the geologically distinct Ridge-and-Valley province, and is a continuation of the same ridge known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania.\n\nClimatically, the Catskills lie within the Allegheny Highlands forests ecoregion.\n\nThe Catskills are well known in American culture, both as the setting for many 19th-century Hudson River School paintings and as the favored destination for urban vacationers from New York City in the mid-20th century. The region's many large resorts gave countless young stand-up comedians an opportunity to hone their craft. In addition, the Catskills have long been a haven for artists, musicians, and writers, especially in and around the towns of Phoenicia and Woodstock, New York.\n\nName\n\nNicolaes Visscher I's 1656 map of New Netherland located the ' at the mouth of Catskill creek. The region to the south is identified as ' (High Lands of the Esopus), a reference to a local band northern Lenape Native Americans who inhabited the banks of the Hudson and hunted in the highlands along the Esopus Creek. \n\nWhile the meaning of the name (\"cat creek\" in Dutch) and the namer (early Dutch explorers) are settled matters, exactly how and why the area is named \"Catskills\" is a mystery. Mountain lions (catamounts) were known to have been in the area when the Dutch arrived in the 17th century.\n\nTheories:\n*The most common, and easiest, explanation is that bobcats were seen near Catskill creek and the present-day village of Catskill, and the name followed from there. However, there is no record of bobcats' ever having been seen in significant numbers on the banks of the Hudson, and the name Catskill does not appear on paper until 1655, more than four decades later.\n* A corruption of ', the Dutch sailors' term for the Indian stockades they saw on the riverbank. According to one Belgian authority, ' occurs in many place names throughout Flanders and has nothing to do with cats and everything to do with fortifications.\n* It was named for Dutch poet Jacob Cats, who was also known for his real estate prowess, profiting from speculation in lands reclaimed from the sea.\n* A ship named The Cat had gone up the Hudson shortly before the name was first used. In nautical slang of the era, cat could also mean a piece of equipment, or a particular type of small vessel, called a \"catboat\".\n* It has also been suggested that it refers to lacrosse, which Dutch visitors had seen the Iroquois natives play. Kat can also refer to a tennis racket, which a lacrosse stick resembles, and the first place the Dutch saw this, further down the river in the present-day Town of Saugerties, they gave the name Kaatsbaan, for \"tennis court\", which is still on maps today.\n* The Mohicans roamed the woods of New England during the 18th century. A Mohican tribe supposedly inhabited the area known as the Catskills today, led by a Mohican chief named Cat.\n\nThe confusion over the exact origins of the name led over the years to variant spellings such as Kaatskill and Kaaterskill, both of which are also still used: the former in the regional magazine Kaatskill Life, the latter as the name of a clove, creek, mountain, town, and waterfall. The supposed Indian name for the range, Onteora (\"land in the sky\"), was actually created by a white man in the mid-19th century to drum up business for a resort. It, too, persists today as the name of a school district and as the name of a Boy Scout summer camp (Onteora Scout Reservation).\n\nThe name Catskills did not come into wide popular use for the mountains until the mid-19th century – in fact, that name was disparaged by purists as too plebeian, too reminiscent of the area's Dutch colonial past, especially since it was used by the local farming population. It may also have been a continuation of the British practice, after taking possession of the colony in the late 17th century, of trying to replace most Dutch Knickerbocker toponyms in present-day New York with their English alternatives. The locals preferred to call the range the Blue Mountains, to harmonize with Vermont's Green Mountains and New Hampshire's White Mountains. It was only after Washington Irving's stories that Catskills won out over Blue Mountains and several other competitors.\n\nLand features\n\nGeography\n\nAt the eastern end of the range, the mountains begin quite dramatically with the Catskill Escarpment rising up suddenly from the Hudson Valley. The western boundary is far less certain, as the mountains gradually decline in height and grade into the rest of the Allegheny Plateau. Nor is there a consensus on where the Catskills end to the north or south, with it being certain only that by the time one reaches either I-88, the Delaware River, or the Shawangunk Ridge that one is no longer in the Catskills.\n\nIn these peripheral regions, whether or not one is in the Catskills seems to be a matter of personal preference, as an old saying in the region seems to suggest: \"When you have two rocks for every dirt, you are in the Catskills\".\n\nMany visitors, including owners of weekend or vacation homes in the region, seem to consider almost anything that is west of the Hudson and sufficiently rural, yet within a short drive of New York City, to be in the Catskills.\n\nThe Poconos, to the immediate southwest in Pennsylvania, are technically a continuation of the Catskills under a different name. The Catskills contain more than 30 peaks above and parts of six important rivers. The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club is an organization whose members have climbed all the peaks in the Catskills over . The highest mountain, Slide Mountain in Ulster County, has an elevation of 4180 ft.\n\nGeology\n\nThe history of the Catskill Mountains is a geologic story come full circle, from erosion, deposition and uplift, back to erosion. The Catskill Mountains are more of a dissected plateau than a series of mountain ranges. The sediments that make up the rocks in the Catskills were deposited when the ancient Acadian Mountains in the east were rising and subsequently eroding. The sediments traveled westward and formed a great delta into the sea that was in the area at that time.\n\nThe escarpment of the Catskill Mountains is near the former (landward) edge of this delta, as the sediments deposited in the northeastern areas along the escarpment were deposited above sea level by moving rivers, and the Acadian Mountains were located roughly where the Taconic Mountains are located today (though significantly larger). The further west one travels, the finer becomes the sediment that was deposited, and thus the rocks change from gravel conglomerates to sandstone and shale. Even further west, these fresh water deposits intermingle with shallow marine sandstone and shale until the end, in deeper water limestone.\n\nThe uplift and erosion of the Acadian Mountains was occurring during the Devonian and early Mississippian period (395 to 325 million years ago). Over that time, thousands of feet of these sediments built up, slowly moving the Devonian seashore further and further west. A meteor impact occurred in the shallow sea approximately 375 mya, creating a 10 km diameter crater. This crater eventually filled with sediments and became Panther Mountain through the process of uplift and erosion.\n\nBy the middle of the Mississippian period, the uplift stopped, and the Acadian Mountains had been eroded so much that sediments no longer flowed across the Catskill Delta.\n\nOver time the sediments were buried by more sediments from other areas, until the original Devonian and Mississippian sediments were deeply buried and slowly became solid rock. Then the entire area experienced uplift, which caused the sedimentary rocks to begin to erode. Today, those upper sedimentary rocks have been completely removed, exposing the Devonian and Mississippian rocks. Today’s Catskills are a result of the continued erosion of these rocks, both by streams and, in the recent past, by glaciers.\n\nSome traces of the most recent sedimentary layers remain for the discerning eye to discover, however. Even along the glacially-scoured eastern escarpment and in the upper Hudson Valley just below it—not to mention the glacial till-dumps and occasional terminal moraines of the southern-facing mountain slopes and valleys of the eastern and central Catskills—fragments of quartzite ranging from bright white, banded orange and tan, to deep red and dark gray are found. Many if not most of these are no more than 6 in thick, have two flat sides and are without inclusions of other native rock, e.g., gray or blue sandstone (\"bluestone\"), most likely indicating the presence of a shallow, wave-beaten sandy delta or beach area at the base of the Acadian ranges in the delta's final stages of sedimentation. That sand layer, mostly free of silt (hence less opaque than older layers formed with higher concentrations of silt and mud under deeper water at more remote reaches of the delta) formed one or more upper layers of the delta. With compression and time, thin layers of sandstone formed of which only the here-mentioned fragments of sandstone remain now though in comparative abundance, if one measures their frequency against those of glacial erratics of similar size and shape which are typically metamorphic in origin (e.g., marble, schist, slate), which most likely originated in the geologically complex region of the Adirondacks to the north. Such sandstones and erratics are frequently found collocated in cairns and other anomalous rock arrangements of the Eastern Catskills.\n\nIn successive Ice Ages, both valley and continental glaciers have widened the valleys and the notches of the Catskills and rounded the mountains. Grooves and scratches in exposed bedrock provides evidence of the great sheets of ice that once traversed through the region. Even today the erosion of the mountains continues, with the region’s rivers and streams deepening and widening the mountains’ valleys and cloves.\n\nRecreation\n\nAquatic sports and recreation\n\nEsopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River, starting at Winnisook Lake on Slide Mountain. It flows across Ulster County to the Hudson River at Saugerties. The Esopus is noted for making an almost 270-degree turn around Panther Mountain, following a buried 6 mi impact crater rim. It is famous for tubing, a sport of rafting down a river in an inner tube. Many tubers begin their trip at Phoenicia, New York and head down the creek towards the Ashokan Reservoir at Olive, New York.\n\nThe Ashokan Reservoir is part of the New York City water supply system, fishing is allowed under permit, but swimming and most other recreational uses are forbidden.\n\nRiver canoeing and kayaking are popular. There are 42 kayakable rapids ranging from class I to V+. \n\nThe Esopus Creek is also famous for its fly fishing, although in recent years it has been plagued by invasive plants. Another great place to fish is Roscoe, New York, also known as trout town USA. Every April 1 people flock there from all over to kick off the start of fly fishing season.\n\nBicycling\n\nRoad and mountain bicycling are popular in the range. Bicycle racing includes The Tour of the Catskills, a three-day road stage race held in Green and Ulster counties each summer, and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham. Other cycling resources include the Catskill Scenic Trail and the Headwaters Trails in Stamford. Several ski centers provide downhill mountain bicycling in the warmer months.\n\nCamping\n\nThe Catskill Mountains have one of the largest and most complex natural areas in the eastern half of the United States. There are about 600000 acre in the Catskill Park, which include many camping locations. Some notable spots to camp in the Catskills are Bear Spring Mountain, Little Pond, Mongaup Pond, and North-South Lake.\n\nHiking\n\nWithin the range is the Catskill Park, comprising over 700000 acre. Catskill Park is part of New York's Forest Preserve. Not all the land is publicly owned; about 60% remains in private hands, but new sections are added frequently. Most of the park and the preserve are within Ulster County, with a significant portion in Greene County, and parts in Sullivan and Delaware counties, too. Many of the trails in public areas are maintained and updated by the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference and the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club. Devil's Path in Greene County is one of the many trails open for hikers.\n\nSkiing\n\nThere are five main downhill ski and snowboard areas in the Catskills: Belleayre Mountain in Highmount, New York (run by the Olympic Regional Development Authority); Hunter Mountain in Hunter, New York (the first ski area to install snowmaking machines in New York); Holiday Mountain Ski and Fun in Monticello, New York; Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, New York; and Windham Mountain in Windham, New York (which, in addition to snow boarding and skiing, is the home of the Adaptive Sports Foundation, which provides the physical and intellectually disabled with lessons on how to ski, snow tube, snowboard, bike ride, and a various amount of other types of sports).\n\nJoppenbergh Mountain, in Rosendale Village, Ulster County, New York, hosted its first ski jumping competition in 1937. Ski jumping was continued on the mountain until February 7, 1971, when the last competition was held.\n\nThe Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center in Tannersville, New York has 22 mi of trails.\n\nStructures\n\nFire towers\n\nThe Catskill Mountains fire towers were constructed to facilitate forest fire prevention and control. 23 fire towers were built in the Catskill Mountains between 1908 and 1950. The fire towers fell out of use by the 1970s as fire spotting from airplanes had become more effective and efficient, so the fire towers were decommissioned; the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower was the last to be taken out of service in 1990. All but five of the towers were dismantled. The five remaining towers have been renovated and opened to the public as observation posts in the Catskill Mountains because of the extraordinary views they provide. The remaining towers are:\n\n*Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station – Town of Hardenburgh, New York – Elevation 3723 ft\n*Hunter Mountain Fire Tower – Town of Hunter, New York – Elevation 4042 ft\n*Overlook Mountain Tower – Town of Woodstock, New York – Elevation 3140 ft\n*Red Hill Fire Tower – Town of Denning, New York – Elevation 2990 ft\n*Tremper Mountain Fire Tower – Town of Shandaken, New York – Elevation 2740 ft\n\nNotable landmarks\n\nThe Catskill Mountain House, built in 1824, was a famous hotel near Palenville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains overlooking the Hudson River Valley. In its prime to the turn of the century, it was visited by United States Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as many other important personages.\n\nShortly after it was completed, the Mountain House became a favorite subject for Washington Irving and artists for the new Hudson River School, most notably artists Thomas Cole and William Henry Bartlett.\n\nTransportation\n\nFrom 1872, the Catskills were served by the Catskill Mountain Branch of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad which was absorbed into the New York Central railroad in 1932. Passenger rail service continued until 1954. Part of the line still exists but now serves only freight. The Delaware and Ulster Railroad is a heritage railroad, based in Arkville, New York, that still runs a scenic part of the track from Highmount to Hubbell Corners, New York for tourist use. The Catskill Mountain Railroad is also a heritage railroad in the Catskills, operating from Kingston, New York up to Highmount, New York.\n\nThe Catskills are accessible by automobile from the east along Interstate 87/New York State Thruway, which runs north-south through the Hudson Valley. To the south and southwest, the Catskills are accessible by a variety of highways, including New York State Route 55, U.S. Route 44, U.S. Route 209, and New York State Route 17 (also known as \"Future I-86\"). Access to the western Catskills is provided by New York State Route 30; and the vaguely defined far-western edge of the region is variously considered to be New York State Route 10 or Interstate 88, though this boundary remains a matter of local preference. New York State Routes 28 and 23A cut east-west through the heart of the Catskills, serving many of the most popular outdoor tourist destinations. New York State Route 23 runs east-west across the Catskills' far-northern section.\n\nThe closest major airports to the Catskill region are Albany International Airport to the north and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh to the south. Smaller airports in the region include the following:\n* Columbia County Airport in Hudson\n* Dutchess County Airport in Poughkeepsie\n* Joseph Y. Resnick Airport in Ellenville\n* Kingston-Ulster Airport\n* Kobelt Airport in Wallkill\n* Randall Airport in \n* Sullivan County International Airport in Monticello\n* Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport\n\nIn popular culture\n\nComics\n\n*In Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables, the animals and other fairy tale characters live on \"The Farm\", an imaginary haven in the NY Catskills.\n\nFilms\n\nThe Hudson Valley Film Commission maintains an updated list of films set in the Hudson Valley / Catskills Region, including: \n(Chronological)\n*WaterFall in the Catskills (1897), the Edison Studio\n*Rip Van Winkle (1921), silent film version of the classic story\n*Having Wonderful Time (1938), Red Skelton's first movie, set in a Catskills hotel\n*My Side of the Mountain (1969), film adaptation of Jean Craighead George's eponymous 1959 novel; a young boy tests his survival skills by living about two years in the Catskill Mountains\n*Woodstock (1970), a documentary about the Woodstock Festival of 1969, filmed at the festival in Bethel, New York\n*Magic (1978), a film starring Anthony Hopkins and set in the Catskills\n*Tootsie (1982), features scenes in the Hurley Mountain Inn located in Ulster County, New York\n*The Gig (1985), directed by Frank D. Gilroy; a character study of amateur musicians who get a gig\n*Dirty Dancing (1987), a hit film set in a Catskills resort in the summer of 1963 (though filmed at Mountain Lake in Virginia and at Lake Lure in North Carolina)\n*Sweet Lorraine (1987), the story of an aging Catskill resort in its last days, filmed at the former Heiden Hotel in South Fallsburg, New York\n*Casper Meets Wendy (1995), Wendy and her aunts run into Casper and his uncles at a resort in the Catskills\n*Heavy (1995), an independent film starring Liv Tyler, Debbie Harry, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Shelley Winters, and Joe Grifasi, filmed partially in the southern Catskills, in Barryville, New York and Highland Lake\n*Manny & Lo (1996)\n*Julian Po (1997), starring Christian Slater and filmed in Fleischmanns\n*A Walk on the Moon (1999), set in Sullivan County, New York, but filmed in Quebec, Canada\n*You Can Count on Me (2000), an award-winning independent film set in the village of Scottsville, in western New York near Rochester, but filmed in the Catskills, in and around Margaretville and Phoenicia\n*Kaaterskill Falls (2001), an award-winning independent film about a young urban couple who befriend a local hitchhiker; it's a mountain country version of Roman Polanski's Polish-language film Knife in the Water (1962), actually filmed in the Catskills\n*Wendigo (2001), filmed in the West Shokan and Phoenicia, New York area\n*The Catskill Chainsaw Redemption (2004), a horror movie\n* Parts of the movie Transamerica (2005), starring Felicity Huffman, were filmed in the town of Callicoon, New York, though in the movie it's referred to as Callicoon, Kentucky\n* The burning train and ferry scenes in War of the Worlds (2005) were filmed in the town of Athens, New York at the foot of the Catskills\n*Four Seasons Documentary (2006), follows the lives of Holocaust survivors in a Borscht Belt colony\n*Stagedoor (2006), a documentary on life at a teen camp\n*99 Geiger Road (2007), a documentary about a bungalow colony of Holocaust survivors \n*The Cake Eaters (2007)\n*Goyband (2008), a romantic comedy involving a musician performing at the opening of the first kosher casino in the Catskills\n*Taking Woodstock (2009), the story of how Elliot Tiber helped bring the Woodstock Festival to Bethel, New York\n*Mary Last Seen (2010), a short on the same theme as Martha Marcy May Marlene (available on the DVD)\n*Stake Land (2010), a vampire/zombie apocalypse film, partially set and filmed in the Catskills\n*Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), a critically acclaimed film about a young woman who escapes from a cult in the Catskills\n*New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (2013) \n*Studio360 (2013) \n\nLiterature\n\n*The Catskills and their inhabitants play an important role in Jean Craighead George's stories, such as My Side of the Mountain (1959)\n*John Gardner's novel Nickel Mountain: A Pastoral Novel (1973) takes place in the Catskill Mountains\n*Washington Irving wrote many famous stories, including \"Rip Van Winkle\" (1819), that take place in the Catskill Mountains\n*The Catskills and their inhabitants play an important role the H. P. Lovecraft stories: \"The Lurking Fear\" (1922) and \"Beyond the Wall of Sleep\" (1919)\n\nMusic\n\nConcerts\n\n*The town of Bethel, New York, located in the Catskills was home to the famous Woodstock Music festival in 1969. The music festival took place from August 15 to August 18, 1969. 32 music acts performed in front of over 500,000 concert-goers. The event was captured in the documentary movie Woodstock (1970).\n\nWorks\n\n*Mercury Rev's song \"Opus 40\", on their album Deserter's Songs (1998), contains the line \"Catskill mansions buried dreams/ I'm alive she cried but I don't know what it means\". The band and their studios are based in the Catskills, and the area is often referred to in interview.\n*Simple Minds filmed their video to \"Alive and Kicking\" (1985) here.\n*The Catskills are mentioned in The Band's song \"Time to Kill\". The Band was also photographed there for their first album, Music from Big Pink, The Band in the Catskills. \n* The Catskills are mentioned in the Kid Rock track \"Low Life\". Contains the line \" I've never hung out in The Catskills, but I been to jail in Nashville\".\n\nStand up comedy\n\n*The many hotels and vacation resorts located in the Catskills are notable in American cultural history for their role in the development of modern stand-up comedy. Comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield and Don Rickles and got their start performing in Catskill Hotel venues. \n\nTelevision\n\n*A Home Box Office miniseries is planned that will dramatize a New York Magazine article on natural gas drillers coming to the region. Richard Russo, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is writing a script for the project.","Grand_National.txt\nGrand National\nThe Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over 4 miles 514 yards (6.907 km) with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps.British Racing and Racecourses (ISBN 978-0950139722) by Marion Rose Halpenny – Page 167 It is the most valuable jump race in Europe, with a prize fund of £1 million in 2016.[http://www.aintree.co.uk/news/grand-national-weights/ Grand National Weights | 2011 Grand National | Aintree Racecourse]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.\n\nThe course over which the race is run features much larger fences than those found on conventional National Hunt tracks. Many of these, particularly Becher's Brook, The Chair and the Canal Turn, have become famous in their own right and, combined with the distance of the event, create what has been called \"the ultimate test of horse and rider\". \n\nThe Grand National has been broadcast live on free-to-air terrestrial television in the United Kingdom since 1960. From then until 2012 it was broadcast by the BBC. Between 2013 and 2016 it was shown by Channel 4; the UK broadcasting rights transfer to ITV from 2017. An estimated 500 to 600 million people watch the Grand National in over 140 countries. It has also been broadcast on radio since 1927; BBC Radio held exclusive rights until 2013, however, Talksport also now holds radio commentary rights. The race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year. \n\nThe most recent running of the race, in 2016, was won by Rule The World, ridden by jockey David Mullins for trainer Mouse Morris. The next Grand National is on 8 April 2017.\n\nHistory\n\nFounding and early Nationals (1829–1850)\n\nThe Grand National was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. [http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/history-of-the-grand-national/ History of the Grand National – The Worlds Greatest Jump Race]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829. There is much debate regarding the first official Grand National; most leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree. However, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860s. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \"national\". To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836–1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful. The Duke was ridden by Martin Becher. The fence Becher's Brook is named after him and is where he fell in the next year’s race. \n\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838, leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar. Secondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time. Finally, a committee was formed to better organise the event. These factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National. It was won by rider Jem Mason on the aptly named, Lottery Haywood, Linda. (4 April 2008) [http://www.popular-nostalgia.com/a-big-long-history-of-the-grand-national-258/ A Big Long History of the Grand National]. Popular Nostalgia. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.[http://www.grandnational.org.uk/facts-figures.php Facts & Figures]. Grandnational.org.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.\n\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\n\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart. \n\nWar National Steeplechase (1916–1918)\n\nFor three years during the First World War, while Aintree Racecourse was taken over by the War Office, an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse, a disused course on land now occupied by Gatwick Airport. The first of these races, in 1916, was called the Racecourse Association Steeplechase, and in 1917 and 1918 the race was called the War National Steeplechase. The races at Gatwick are not always recognised as \"Grand Nationals\" and their results are often omitted from winners' lists. \n\nTipperary Tim (1928)\n\nOn the day of the 1928 Grand National, before the race had begun, Tipperary Tim's jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!\" These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. This year's National was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey Tommy Cullinan managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at outside odds of 100/1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers. \n\nSecond World War and the 1950s\n\nAlthough the Grand National was run as normal in 1940 and most other major horse races around the world were able to be held throughout the war, the commandeering of Aintree Racecourse for defence use in 1941 meant no Grand National could be held from 1941 to 1945. \n\nDuring the 1950s the Grand National was dominated by Vincent O'Brien, who trained different winners of the race for three consecutive years between 1953 and 1955. Early Mist secured O'Brien's first victory in 1953; Royal Tan won in 1954, and Quare Times completed the Irish trainer's hat-trick in 1955. \n\nThe running of the 1956 Grand National witnessed one of the chase's most bizarre incidents. Devon Loch, owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, had cleared the final fence in leading position, five lengths clear of E.S.B. Forty yards from what seemed like certain victory, Devon Loch suddenly, and inexplicably, half-jumped into the air and collapsed in a belly-flop on the turf. Despite efforts by jockey Dick Francis, Devon Loch was unable to complete the race, leaving E.S.B. to cross the finishing line first. Responding to the commiserations of E.S.B.’s owner, the Queen Mother famously commented: \"Oh, that's racing!\" \n\nHad Devon Loch completed the race he may have set a new record for the fastest finishing time, which E.S.B. missed by only four-fifths of a second. Many explanations have been offered for Devon Loch's behaviour on the run-in, but the incident remains inexplicable. In modern language, the phrase \"to do a Devon Loch\" is sometimes used to describe a last-minute failure to achieve an expected victory. \n\nFoinavon (1967)\n\nIn the 1967 Grand National, most of the field were hampered or dismounted in a mêlée at the 23rd fence, allowing a rank-outsider, Foinavon, to become a surprise winner at odds of 100/1. A loose horse named Popham Down, who had unseated his rider at the first jump, suddenly veered across the leading group at the 23rd, causing them to either stop, refuse or unseat their riders. Racing journalist Lord Oaksey described the resulting pile-up by saying that Popham Down had \"cut down the leaders like a row of thistles\". Some horses even started running in the wrong direction, back the way they had come. Foinavon, whose owner had such little faith in him that he had travelled to Worcester that day instead, had been lagging some 100 yards behind the leading pack, giving his jockey, John Buckingham, time to steer his mount wide of the havoc and make a clean jump of the fence on the outside. Although 17 jockeys remounted and some made up considerable ground, particularly Josh Gifford on 15/2 favourite Honey End, none had time to catch Foinavon before he crossed the finishing line. The 7th/23rd fence was officially named the 'Foinavon fence' in 1984. \n\n1970s and Red Rum\n\nThe 1970s were mixed years for the Grand National. In 1973, eight years after Mrs. Mirabel Topham announced she was seeking a buyer, the racecourse was finally sold to property developer Bill Davies. Davies tripled the admission prices; consequently, the attendance at the 1975 race, won by L'Escargot, was the smallest in living memory. It was after this that bookmaker Ladbrokes made an offer, signing an agreement with Davies allowing them to manage the Grand National. \n\nDuring this period, Red Rum was breaking all records to become the most successful racehorse in Grand National history. Originally bought as a yearling in 1966 for 400 guineas (£420), he passed through various training yards before being bought for 6,000 guineas (£6,300) by Ginger McCain on behalf of Noel le Mare. Two days after the purchase while trotting the horse on Southport beach, McCain noticed that Red Rum appeared lame. The horse was suffering from pedal osteitis, an inflammatory bone disorder. McCain had witnessed many lame carthorses reconditioned by being galloped in sea-water. He successfully used this treatment on his newly acquired racehorse.\n\nRed Rum became, and remains, the only horse to have won the Grand National three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977. He also finished second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976. In 1973, he was in second place at the last fence, 15 lengths behind champion horse Crisp, who was carrying 23 lbs more. Red Rum made up the ground on the run-in and, two strides from the finishing post, he pipped the tiring Crisp to win by three-quarters of a length in what is arguably the most memorable Grand National of all time. Finishing in 9 minutes 1.9 seconds, Red Rum broke the record for fastest completion time of the National which had previously stood since 1934 by Golden Miller. His record was to stand for the next sixteen years.\n\nBob Champion's National (1981)\n\nTwo years before the 1981 Grand National, jockey Bob Champion had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and given only months to live by doctors. But by 1981 he had recovered and was passed fit to ride in the Grand National. He rode Aldaniti, a horse deprived in its youth and which had only recently recovered from chronic leg problems. Despite a poor start, the pair went on to win four-and-a-half lengths ahead of the much-fancied Spartan Missile, ridden by amateur jockey and 54-year-old grandfather John Thorne. Champion and Aldaniti were instantly propelled to celebrity status, and within two years, their story had been re-created in the film Champions, starring John Hurt. \n\nSeagram's sponsorship (1984–1991)\n\nFrom 1984 to 1991, Seagram sponsored the Grand National. The Canadian distiller provided a solid foundation on which the race's revival could be built, firstly enabling the course to be bought from Davies and to be run and managed by the Jockey Club. It is said that Ivan Straker, Seagram's UK chairman, became interested in the potential opportunity after reading a passionate newspaper article written by journalist Lord Oaksey, who, in his riding days, had come within three-quarters of a length of winning the 1963 National. The last Seagram-sponsored Grand National was in 1991. Coincidentally, the race was won by a horse named Seagram. Martell, then a Seagram subsidiary, took over sponsorship of the Aintree meeting for an initial seven years from 1992, in a £4 million deal.\n\nThe race that never was (1993)\n\nThe result of the 1993 Grand National was declared void after what commentator Peter O'Sullevan called \"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National.\" While under starter's orders a series of incidents occurred which resulted in one jockey being tangled in the starting tape which had failed to rise correctly. A false start was declared, but lack of communication between course officials meant that 30 out of the 39 jockeys did not realise and began to race. Course officials tried to stop the runners by waving red flags, but many jockeys thought that they were protesters (some had invaded the course earlier) and so continued to race. Peter Scudamore only stopped because he saw his trainer, Martin Pipe, waving frantically at him. Seven horses ran the course in its entirety, forcing a void result. The first past the post of the horses that completed was Esha Ness (in the second-fastest time ever), ridden by John White and trained by Jenny Pitman. \n\nThe Monday National (1997)\n\nThe 1997 Grand National was postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \"We'll fight them on the Becher's\", in reference to Winston Churchill's war-time speech.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/grand_national_2002/1795805.stm BBC Sport | Other Sports | Horse Racing | Grand National 2002 | Aintree grabs the headlines]. BBC News (28 March 2002). Retrieved on 11 March 2011. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. \n\nRecent history (2004–present)\n\nRed Rum's trainer Ginger McCain returned to the Grand National in 2004, 31 years after Red Rum's epic run-in defeat of Crisp to secure his first of three wins. McCain's Amberleigh House came home first, ridden by Graham Lee, overtaking Clan Royal on the final straight. Hedgehunter, who would go on to win in 2005, fell at the last while leading. McCain had equalled George Dockeray and Fred Rimell's record feat of training four Grand National winners. \n\nIn 2005 John Smith's took over from Martell as main sponsors of the Grand National and many of the other races at the three-day Aintree meeting for the first time. In 2006 John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\n\nIn 2009, Mon Mome became the longest-priced winner of the National for 42 years when he defied outside odds of 100/1 to win by 12 lengths. The victory was also the first for trainer Venetia Williams, the first female trainer to triumph since Jenny Pitman in 1995. The race was also the first National ride for Liam Treadwell. \n\nIn 2010 the National became the first horse race to be televised in high-definition in the UK. \n\nIn August 2013 Crabbie's was announced as the new sponsor of the Grand National. The three-year deal between the alcoholic ginger beer producer and Aintree saw the race run for a record purse of £1 million in 2014. \n\nIn March 2016 it was announced that Randox Health are to take over from Crabbie's as officials partners of Aintree's three-day festival, the highlight of which is the Grand National. The 2016 National was the last sponsored by Crabbie's.\n \n\nThe course\n\nThe Grand National is run over the National Course at Aintree and consists of two laps of 16 fences, the first 14 of which are jumped twice. Horses completing the race cover a distance of 4 mi, the longest of any National Hunt race in Britain. As part of a review of safety following the 2012 running of the event, from 2013 to 2015 the start was moved 90 yd forward away from the crowds and grandstands, reducing the race distance by 110 yd from the historical 4 mi. The course is also notable for having one of the longest run-ins from the final fence of any steeplechase, at 494 yd.\n\nThe Grand National was designed as a cross-country steeplechase when it was first officially run in 1839. The runners started at a lane on the edge of the racecourse and raced away from the course out over open countryside towards the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The gates, hedges and ditches that they met along the way were flagged to provide them with the obstacles to be jumped along the way with posts and rails erected at the two points where the runners jumped a brook. The runners returned towards the racecourse by running along the edge of the canal before re-entering the course at the opposite end. The runners then ran the length of the racecourse before embarking on a second circuit before finishing in front of the stands. The majority of the race therefore took place not on the actual Aintree Racecourse but instead in the adjoining countryside. That countryside was incorporated into the modern course but commentators still often refer to it as \"the country\".\n\nFences\n\nThere are 16 fences on the National Course topped with spruce from the Lake District. The cores of 12 fences were rebuilt in 2012 and they are now made of a flexible plastic material which is more forgiving compared to the traditional wooden cores. They are still topped with at least 14 in of spruce for the horses to knock off. Some of the jumps carry names from the history of the race. All 16 are jumped on the first lap, but on the final lap the runners bear to the right onto the run-in for home, avoiding The Chair and the Water Jump. The following is a summary of all 16 fences on the course:[http://www.grand-national-guide.co.uk/grand-national-info.php About The Grand National]. Grand-national-guide.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.[http://www.aintree-grand-national.net/grand-national-fences.php Grand National Fences – Beechers Brook – The Chair]. Aintree-grand-national.net. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.[http://grandnational.org.uk/fences.php Course and Fences]. Grandnational.org.uk. Retrieved on 2011-03-11. \n\n;Fence 1 & 17\nHeight: 4 ft\nOften met at great speed, which can lead to several falls, the highest being 12 runners in 1951. The drop on the landing side was reduced after the 2011 Grand National.\n;Fence 2 & 18\nHeight: 4 ft\nPrior to 1888 the first two fences were located approximately halfway between the first to second and second to third jumps. The second became known as The Fan, after a mare who refused the obstacle three years in succession. The name fell out of favour with the relocation of the fences.\n;Fence 3 & 19 – open ditch\nHeight: 4 ft; fronted by a 6 ft ditch \nThe first big test in the race as horses are still adapting to the obstacles.\n;Fence 4 & 20\nHeight: 4 ft\nA testing obstacle that often leads to falls and unseated riders. In 2011 the 20th became the first fence in Grand National history to be bypassed on the final lap, following an equine fatality.\n;Fence 5 & 21\nHeight: 5 ft \nA plain obstacle which precedes the most famous fence on the course. It was bypassed on the final lap for the first time in 2012 so that medics could treat a jockey who fell from his mount on the first lap and had broken a leg.\n;Fence 6 & 22 – Becher's Brook\nHeight: 5 ft, with the landing side 6 in to 10 in lower than the takeoff side \nThe drop at this fence often catches runners by surprise. Becher's has always been a popular vantage point as it can present one of the most spectacular displays of jumping when the horse and rider meet the fence right. Jockeys must sit back in their saddles and use their body weight as ballast to counter the steep drop. It takes its name from Captain Martin Becher who fell there in the first Grand National and took shelter in the small brook running along the landing side of the fence while the remainder of the field thundered over. It is said that Becher later reflected: \"Water tastes disgusting without the benefits of whisky.\" It was bypassed in 2011 along with fence 20 on the final lap, after an equine casualty.\n;Fence 7 & 23 – Foinavon\nHeight: 4 ft \nOne of the smallest on the course, it was named in 1984 after the 1967 winner who avoided a mêlée at the fence to go on and win the race at outside odds of 100/1.\n;Fence 8 & 24 – Canal Turn\nHeight: 5 ft\nNoted for its sharp 90-degree left turn immediately after landing. Before the First World War it was not uncommon for loose horses to continue straight ahead after the jump and end up in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal itself. There was once a ditch before the fence but this was filled in after a mêlée in the 1928 race. It was bypassed for the first time in 2015 on the final lap as vets arrived to treat a horse who fell on the first lap.\n;Fence 9 & 25 – Valentine's\nHeight: 5 ft with a 5 ft brook \nThe fence was originally known as the Second Brook but was renamed after a horse named Valentine was reputed to have jumped the fence hind legs first in 1840. A grandstand was erected alongside the fence in the early part of the 20th century but fell into decline after the Second World War and was torn down in the 1970s.\n;Fence 10 & 26\nHeight: 5 ft\nA plain obstacle that leads the runners alongside the canal towards two ditches.\n;Fence 11 & 27 – open ditch\nHeight: 5 ft, with a 6 ft ditch on the takeoff side\n;Fence 12 & 28 – ditch\nHeight: 5 ft, with a 5 ft ditch on the landing side\n\nThe runners then cross the Melling Road near to the Anchor Bridge, a popular vantage point since the earliest days of the race. This also marks the point where the runners are said to be re-entering the \"racecourse proper\". In the early days of the race it is thought there was an obstacle near this point known as the Table Jump, which may have resembled a bank similar to those still seen at Punchestown in Ireland. In the 1840s the Melling Road was also flanked by hedges and the runners had to jump into the road and then back out of it.\n\n;Fence 13 & 29\nHeight: 4 ft\nA plain obstacle that comes at a point when the runners are usually in a good rhythm and thus rarely causes problems.\n;Fence 14 & 30\nHeight: 4 ft\nThe last fence on the final lap and which has often seen very tired horses fall. Despite some tired runners falling at the 30th and appearing injured, no horse deaths have occurred at the 30th fence to date.\n\nOn the first lap of the race, runners continue around the course to negotiate two fences which are only jumped once:\n\n;Fence 15 – The Chair\nHeight: 5 ft, preceded by a 6 ft (1.83 m) wide ditch\nThis fence is the site of the accident that claimed the only human life in the National's history: in 1862, Joe Wynne fell here and died from his injuries, although a coroner's inquest revealed that the rider was in a gravely weakened condition through consumption. This brought about the ditch on the take-off side of the fence in an effort to slow the horses on approach. The fence was the location where a distance judge sat in the earliest days of the race. On the second circuit he would record the finishing order from his position and declare any horse that had not passed him before the previous runner passed the finishing post as \"distanced\", meaning a non-finisher. The practise was done away with in the 1850s but the monument where the chair stood is still there. The ground on the landing side is six inches higher than on the takeoff side, creating the opposite effect of the drop at Becher's. The fence was originally known as the Monument Jump but The Chair came into more regular use in the 1930s. Today it is one of the most popular jumps on the course for spectators.\n\n;Fence 16 – Water Jump\nHeight: 2 ft\nOriginally a stone wall in the very early Nationals. The Water Jump was one of the most popular jumps on the course, presenting a great jumping spectacle for those in the stands and was always a major feature in the newsreels' coverage of the race. As the newsreels made way for television in the 1960s, so in turn did the Water Jump fall under the shadow of its neighbour, The Chair, in popularity as an obstacle.\n\nOn the final lap, after the 30th fence the remaining runners bear right, avoiding The Chair and Water Jump, to head onto a \"run-in\" to the finishing post. The run-in is not perfectly straight: an \"elbow\" requires jockeys to make a slight right before finding themselves truly on the home straight. It is on this run-in — one of the longest in the United Kingdom at 494 yd— that many potential winners have had victory snatched away, such as Devon Loch in 1956, Crisp in 1973, What's Up Boys in 2002 and Sunnyhillboy in 2012.\n\nRecords\n\nLeading horse:\n* Red Rum – 3 wins (1973, 1974, 1977)\n----\nLeading jockey:\n* George Stevens – 5 wins (Freetrader, 1856; Emblem 1863; Emblematic, 1864; The Colonel, 1869, 1870)\n----\nLeading trainers:\n* George Dockeray – 4 wins (Lottery, 1839; Jerry, 1840; Gaylad, 1842; Miss Mowbray, 1852)\n* Fred Rimell – 4 wins (E.S.B., 1956; Nicolaus Silver, 1961; Gay Trip, 1970; Rag Trade, 1976)\n* Ginger McCain – 4 wins (Red Rum, 1973, 1974, 1977; Amberleigh House, 2004)\n----\nLeading owners:\n* James Octavius Machell – 3 wins (Disturbance, 1873; Reugny, 1874; Regal, 1876)\n* Noel Le Mare – 3 wins (Red Rum, 1973, 1974, 1977)\n* Trevor Hemmings - 3 wins (Hedgehunter, 2005; Ballabriggs, 2011, Many Clouds, 2015)\n----\n* Fastest winning time: Mr. Frisk (1990); 8 minutes 47.8 seconds \n* Oldest winning horse: Peter Simple (1853); aged 15\n* Youngest winning horse: Alcibiade (1865), Regal (1876), Austerlitz (1877), Empress (1880), Lutteur III (1909); all aged five\n* Oldest winning jockey: Dick Saunders (1982); aged 48\n* Youngest winning jockey: Bruce Hobbs (1938); aged 17\n* Longest odds winner: Tipperary Tim (1928), Gregalach (1929), Caughoo (1947), Foinavon (1967), Mon Mome (2009); all 100/1\n* Shortest odds winner: Poethlyn (1919); 11/4 \n* Largest field: 66 runners (1929)\n* Smallest field: 10 runners (1883)\n* Most horses to finish: 23 (1984)\n* Fewest horses to finish: 2 (1928)\n* Most rides in the race: 20 (A. P. McCoy, 1995-2015), (Richard Johnson, 1997-2016)\n* Most rides without winning: 20 (Richard Johnson, 1997-2016)\n\nWinners\n\nThe following table lists the winners of the last ten Grand Nationals:\n\nJockeys\n\nWhen the concept of the Grand National was first envisaged it was designed as a race for gentlemen riders, meaning men who were not paid to compete, and while this was written into the conditions of the early races many of the riders who weighed out for the 1839 race were professionals for hire. Throughout the Victorian era the line between the amateur and professional sportsman existed only in terms of the rider's status, and the engagement of an amateur to ride in the race was rarely considered a handicap to a contender's chances of winning. Many gentleman riders won the race prior to the First World War. \n\nAlthough the number of amateurs remained high between the wars their ability to match their professional counterparts gradually receded. After the Second World War it became rare for any more than four or five amateurs to take part in any given year. The last amateur rider to win the race is Marcus Armytage, who (as of 2016) set the still-standing course record of 8:47.8, when winning on Mr Frisk in 1990. By the 21st century however, openings for amateur riders had become very rare with some years passing with no amateur riders at all taking part. Those that do in the modern era are most usually talented young riders who are often close to turning professional. In the past, such amateur riders would have been joined by army officers, such as David Campbell who won in 1896, and sporting aristocrats, farmers or local huntsmen and point to point riders, who usually opted to ride their own mounts. But all these genres of rider have faded out in the last quarter of a century with no riders of military rank or aristocratic title having taken a mount since 1982.\n\nThe Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made it possible for female jockeys to enter the race. The first female jockey to enter the race was Charlotte Brew on the 200/1 outsider Barony Fort in the 1977 race. The first female jockey to complete the race was Geraldine Rees on Cheers in 1982. The 21st century has not seen a significant increase in female riders but it has seen them gain rides on mounts considered to have a genuine chance of winning. In 2005, Carrie Ford finished fifth on the 8/1 second-favourite Forest Gunner. In 2012, Katie Walsh achieved the best result yet for a female jockey, finishing third on the 8/1 joint-favourite Seabass. In 2015, Nina Carberry became the first female jockey to take a fifth ride in the Grand National, her best placing being seventh in 2010. \n\nProfessionals now hold dominance in the Grand National and better training, dietary habits and protective clothing has ensured that riders' careers last much longer and offer more opportunities to ride in the race. Of the 34 riders who have enjoyed 13 or more rides in the race, 19 had their first ride in the 20th century and 11 had careers that continued into or started in the 21st century. Despite that, the record of 19 rides in the race was set by Tom Olliver back in 1859 and was not equalled until 2014 by A. P. McCoy. Longevity is no guarantee of success, however, as 13 of the 34 never tasted the glory of winning the race. McCoy is the only rider to successfully remove himself from the list after winning at the 15th attempt in 2010. Richard Johnson set a record of 20 failed attempts to win the race from 1997-2016, having finished second twice, but is still competing. The other 12 riders who never won or have not as yet won, having had more than 12 rides in the race are:\n\n* David Casey (1997-2015): finished third once in 15 attempts\n* Jeff King (1964-1980): finished third once in 15 attempts\n* Tom Scudamore (2001-2016): never in first three in 15 attempts\n* Graham Bradley (1983-1999): finished second once in 14 attempts\n* Bill Parvin (1926–1939): finished second once in 14 attempts\n* Robert Thornton (1997–2011): never in first three in 14 attempts\n* Andrew Thornton (1996-2016): never in first three in 14 attempts\n* Chris Grant (1980–1994): finished second thrice in 13 attempts\n* Stan Mellor (1956–1971): finished second once in 13 attempts\n* George Waddington (1861–1882): finished second once in 13 attempts\n* Walter White (1854–1869): finished second once in 13 attempts\n* David Nicholson (1957-1973): never in first three in 13 attempts\n\nPeter Scudamore technically lined up for thirteen Grand Nationals without winning but the last of those was the void race of 1993, which meant that he officially competed in twelve Nationals. \n\nMany other well-known jockeys have failed to win the Grand National. These include champion jockeys such as Terry Biddlecombe, John Francome, Josh Gifford, Stan Mellor, Jonjo O'Neill (who never finished the race) and Fred Rimell. Three jockeys who led over the last fence in the National but lost the race on the run-in ended up as television commentators: Lord Oaksey (on Carrickbeg in 1963), Norman Williamson (on Mely Moss in 2000), and Richard Pitman (on Crisp in 1973). Pitman's son Mark also led over the last fence, only to be pipped at the post when riding Garrison Savannah in 1991.\n\nHorse welfare\n\nFor every 1,000 horses taking part in modern steeplechase races, the number of fatalities is just over four, according to the British Horseracing Authority; research by Anglia Ruskin University states the rate is six per 1,000 horses. However, deaths in the Grand National are higher than the average steeplechase, with six deaths per 439 horses between 2000 and 2010. Due to the high number of injuries and deaths suffered by participating horses, animal rights groups have campaigned to have the race modified or abolished. \n\nOver the years, Aintree officials have worked in conjunction with animal welfare organisations to reduce the severity of some fences and to improve veterinary facilities. In 2008, a new veterinary surgery was constructed in the stable yard which has two large treatment boxes, an X-ray unit, video endoscopy, equine solarium, and sandpit facilities. Further changes in set-up and procedure allow vets to treat horses more rapidly and in better surroundings. Those requiring more specialist care can be transported by specialist horse ambulances, under police escort, to the nearby Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital at the University of Liverpool at Leahurst. A mobile on-course X-ray machine assists in the prompt diagnosis of leg injuries when horses are pulled up, and oxygen and water are available by the final fence and finishing post.[http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/horse-welfare/ Horse Welfare]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011. Five vets remain mobile on the course during the running of the race and can initiate treatment of injured fallers at the fence. Additional vets are stationed at the pull-up area, finishing post, and in the surgery.\n\nSome of the National's most challenging fences have also been modified, while still preserving them as formidable obstacles. After the 1989 Grand National, in which two horses died in incidents at Becher's Brook, Aintree began the most significant of its modifications to the course. The brook on the landing side of Becher's was filled in and, after the 2011 race which also saw an equine fatality at the obstacle, the incline on the landing side was levelled out and the drop on was reduced by between 4 and 5 inches (10–13 cm) to slow the runners. Other fences have also been reduced in height over the years, and the entry requirements for the race have been made stricter. Screening at the Canal Turn now prevents horses being able to see the sharp left turn and encourages jockeys to spread out along the fence, rather than take the tight left-side route. Additionally, work has been carried out to smooth the core post infrastructure of the fences with protective padding to reduce impact upon contact, and the height of the toe-boards on all fences has been increased to 14 in. These orange-coloured boards are positioned at the base of each fence and provide a clear ground line to assist horses in determining the base of the fence.\n\nParts of the course were widened in 2009 to allow runners to bypass fences if required. This was utilised for the first time during the 2011 race as casualties at fences 4 and 6 (Becher's Brook) resulted in marshals diverting the remaining contenders around those fences on the final lap.\n\nWelfare groups have suggested a reduction in the size of the field (currently limited to a maximum of 40 horses) should be implemented. Opponents point to previous unhappy experience with smaller fields such as only 29 runners at the 1954 Grand National, only 31 runners in 1975, and a fatality each at the 1996 and 1999 Nationals despite smaller fields, and the possible ramifications in relation to the speed of such races in addition to recent course modifications (part of the \"speed kills\" argument).\n\nSome within the horseracing community, including those with notable achievements in the Grand National such as Ginger McCain and Bob Champion, have argued that the lowering of fences and the narrowing of ditches, primarily designed to increase horse safety, has had the adverse effect by encouraging the runners to race faster. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Grand National saw a total of 12 horses die (half of which were at Becher's Brook); in the next 20-year period from 1990 to 2010, when modifications to the course were most significant, there were 17 equine fatalities. The 2011 and 2012 races each yielded two deaths, including one each at Becher's Brook. In 2013, when further changes were made to introduce a more flexible fence structure, there were no fatalities in the race itself although two horses died in run-up races over the same course. There have been no equine fatalities in the main Grand National race since 2012, however the animal welfare charity League Against Cruel Sports counts the number of horse deaths over the three-day meeting from the year 2000 to 2013 at 40.\n\nGrand National Legends\n\nIn 2009, the race sponsors John Smith's launched a poll to determine five personalities to be inducted into the inaugural Grand National Legends initiative. The winners were announced on the day of the 2010 Grand National and inscribed on commemorative plaques at Aintree. They were:[http://www.grandnationallegends.com/grand_national_legends.php grandnationallegends.com]\n*Ginger McCain and his record three-time winning horse Red Rum;\n*John Buckingham and Foinavon, the unlikely winners in 1967;\n*Manifesto, who holds the record for most runs in the race, eight including two victories;\n*Jenny Pitman, the first woman to train the winner of the race in 1983; and\n*Sir Peter O'Sullevan, the commentator who called home the winners of fifty Grand Nationals on radio and television from 1947 to 1997.\n\nA panel of experts also selected three additional legends:\n*George Stevens, the record five-time winning rider between 1856–1870;\n*Captain Martin Becher, who played a major part in bringing the National to Liverpool, rode the winner of the first precursor to the National in 1836 and was the first rider to fall into the brook at the sixth fence, which forever took his name after 1839; and\n*Edward Topham, who was assigned the task of framing the weights for the handicap from 1847 and whose descendants played a major role in the race for the next 125 years.\n\nIn 2011, nine additional legends were added:\n*Bob Champion and Aldaniti, the winners of the 1981 Grand National;\n*West Tip, who ran in six consecutive Nationals and won once in 1986;\n*Richard Dunwoody, the jockey who rode West Tip and Miinnehoma to victory and who competed in 14 Grand Nationals, being placed in eight;\n*Brian Fletcher, a jockey who won the race three times (including Red Rum's first victory in 1973, and finished second once and third three times);\n*Vincent O'Brien, who trained three consecutive winners of the race in the 1950s;\n*Tom Olliver, who rode in nineteen Nationals, including seventeen consecutively, and won three times, as well as finishing second three times and third once;\n*Count Karl Kinsky, the first international winner of the race, and at his first attempt, on board the mare Zoedone in 1883;\n*Jack Anthony, three-time winning jockey in 1911, 1915 and 1920; and\n*Peter Bromley, the BBC radio commentator who covered 42 Nationals until his retirement.\n\nJohn Smith's also added five \"people's legends\" who were introduced on Liverpool Day, the first day of the Grand National meeting. The five were: \n*Arthur Ferrie, who worked as a groundsman during the 1970s and 1980s;\n*Edie Roche, a Melling Road resident, who opened her home to jockeys, spectators and members of the media when the course was evacuated following a bomb threat in 1997;\n*Ian Stewart, a fan who had travelled from Coventry every year to watch the race and was attending his fiftieth National in 2010;\n*Police Constable Ken Lawson, who was celebrating thirty-one years of service in the mounted section of Merseyside Police and was set to escort his third National winner in 2010; and\n*Tony Roberts, whose first visit to the National had been in 1948 and who had steadily spread the word to family and friends about the race, regularly bringing a party of up to thirty people to the course.\n\nA public vote announced at the 2012 Grand National saw five more additions to the Legends hall:\n*Fred Winter, who rode two National winners and trained two more;\n*Carl Llewellyn, jockey who won two Nationals including on Party Politics in 1992, and Earth Summit in 1998, the latter being the only horse to have won the Grand National and the Scottish and Welsh Nationals;\n*Fred Rimell, the trainer of four different National winning horses, including Nicolaus Silver, one of only three greys to have ever won the race;\n*Michael Scudamore, rider in sixteen consecutive Grand Nationals from 1951, finishing first in 1959 and also achieving a second and a third place;\n*Tommy Carberry, the jockey who stopped Red Rum's attempt at a third success in 1975 by winning on L'Escargot, also finished second and third before going on to train the winner in 1999.\nThe selection panel also inducted three more competitors:\n*Tommy Pickernell, who rode in seventeen Grand Nationals in the 19th century and won three. He allegedly turned down a substantial bribe during the 1860 race from the second-placed jockey and instead rode on to win;\n*Battleship, the only horse to have won both the Grand National and the American Grand National, and his jockey Bruce Hobbs, who remains the youngest jockey to win the Aintree race;\n*George Dockeray, who alongside Ginger McCain and Fred Rimell trained four National winners, starting with Lottery in the first official Grand National in 1839.[http://www.grandnationallegends.com/the_legends.php John Smith’s Grand National Legends - Age Check]\n\nNotes\n\nFavourites\n\nIn the 70 races of the post-war era (excluding the void race in 1993), the favourite or joint-favourite have only won the race nine times (in 1950, 1960, 1973, 1982, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2008 and 2010), and have failed to complete the course in 37 Nationals. \n\nMares\n\nSince its inception, 13 mares have won the race: \n* Charity (1841)\n* Miss Mowbray (1852)\n* Anatis (1860)\n* Jealousy (1861)\n* Emblem (1863)\n* Emblematic (1864)\n* Casse Tete (1872)\n* Empress (1880)\n* Zoedone (1883)\n* Frigate (1889)\n* Shannon Lass (1902)\n* Sheila's Cottage (1948)\n* Nickel Coin (1951)\n\nGreys\n\nThree greys have won:\n*The Lamb (1868, 1871)\n*Nicolaus Silver (1961)\n*Neptune Collonges (2012)\n\nFemale jockeys\n\nSince 1977, women have ridden in 20 Grand Nationals. Geraldine Rees became the first to complete the course, in 1982. In 2012 Katie Walsh became the first female jockey to earn a placed finish in the race, finishing third.\n\nInternational winners\n\n* Two French-trained horses have won the Grand National: Huntsman (1862) and Cortolvin (1867). Six other winners were bred in France — Alcibiade (1865), Reugny (1874), Lutteur III (1909), Mon Mome (2009), Neptune Collonges (2012), and Pineau De Re (2014).\n* In 1923, Sergeant Murphy became the first U.S.-bred horse to win the race. He is also the joint-second oldest horse to win, at age 13, alongside Why Not (1884). The U.S.-bred Battleship, son of the famous Man o' War, became the first (and so far only) horse to have won both the Grand National (in 1938) and the American Grand National (which he won four years earlier). Both Jay Trump (1965) and Ben Nevis II (1980) won the Maryland Hunt Cup before winning the Grand National.\n* Jockey William Watkinson recorded the first riding success for Australia in 1926. He was killed at Bogside, Scotland, less than three weeks after winning the National.\n* 1991 was the seventh and final year that the Grand National was sponsored by Seagram. Aptly, the race was won by a horse named Seagram, bred in New Zealand. 1997 saw another New Zealand-bred winner in Lord Gyllene.\n\nOther British winners\n\n* The only Welsh-trained horse to win was Kirkland in 1905.\n* Rubstic, trained by John Leadbetter in Roxburghshire, became the first Scottish-trained winner, with victory in 1979.\n\nIrish winners\n\n* Irish-trained horses have enjoyed by far the most success of international participants, with 16 winners since 1900, including six since 1999:\n\nFamous owners\n\nThe 1900 winner Ambush II was owned by HRH Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII. In 1950 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had her first runner in the race in Monaveen, who finished fifth. Six years later she would witness her Devon Loch collapse on the run-in, just yards from a certain victory.\n\nThe favourite for the 1968 race, Different Class, was owned by actor Gregory Peck.\n\nThe 1963 winner Ayala and the 1976 winner Rag Trade were both part-owned by celebrity hairdresser Raymond Bessone.\n\n1994 winner Miinnehoma was owned by comedian Freddie Starr.\n\nWhat A Friend ran in 2011 and 2013 when part-owned by Alex Ferguson, the former manager of Manchester United.","Mount Everest | mountain, Asia | Britannica.com\n... became the first person ever to climb Mount Everest ... The last of the great pioneering climbs of the decade was via a new route up the left side of the ...\nMount Everest | mountain, Asia | Britannica.com\nMount Everest\nAlternative Titles: Chomolungma, Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng, Peak XV, Qomolangma Feng, Sagarmatha, Zhumulangma Feng\nRelated Topics\nGerlinde Kaltenbrunner\nMount Everest, Sanskrit and Nepali Sagarmatha, Tibetan Chomolungma, Chinese (Pinyin) Zhumulangma Feng or (Wade-Giles romanization) Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng, also spelled Qomolangma Feng, mountain on the crest of the Great Himalayas of southern Asia that lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China , at 27°59′ N 86°56′ E. Reaching an elevation of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres), Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, the highest point on Earth.\nLike other high peaks in the region, Mount Everest has long been revered by local peoples. Its most common Tibetan name, Chomolungma, means “Goddess Mother of the World” or “Goddess of the Valley.” The Sanskrit name Sagarmatha means literally “Peak of Heaven.” Its identity as the highest point on the Earth’s surface was not recognized, however, until 1852, when the governmental Survey of India established that fact. In 1865 the mountain—previously referred to as Peak XV—was renamed for Sir George Everest , British surveyor general of India from 1830 to 1843.\nThe North Face of Mount Everest, as seen from Tibet (China).\nMaria Stenzel—National Geographic/Getty Images\nPhysical features\nGeology and relief\nThe Himalayan ranges were thrust upward by tectonic action as the Indian-Australian Plate moved northward from the south and was subducted (forced downward) under the Eurasian Plate following the collision of the two plates between about 40 and 50 million years ago. The Himalayas themselves started rising about 25 to 30 million years ago, and the Great Himalayas began to take their present form during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago). Everest and its surrounding peaks are part of a large mountain massif that forms a focal point, or knot, of this tectonic action in the Great Himalayas. Information from global positioning instruments in place on Everest since the late 1990s indicates that the mountain continues to move a few inches to the northeast and rise a fraction of an inch each year.\nThe Mount Everest massif, Himalayas, Nepal.\n© Marta/Fotolia\nMount Pinatubo\nEverest is composed of multiple layers of rock folded back on themselves (nappes). Rock on the lower elevations of the mountain consists of metamorphic schists and gneisses, topped by igneous granites. Higher up are found sedimentary rocks of marine origin (remnants of the ancient floor of the Tethys Sea that closed after the collision of the two plates). Notable is the Yellow Band, a limestone formation that is prominently visible just below the summit pyramid.\nThe barren Southeast, Northeast, and West ridges culminate in the Everest summit; a short distance away is the South Summit, a minor bump on the Southeast Ridge with an elevation of 28,700 feet (8,748 metres). The mountain can be seen directly from its northeastern side, where it rises about 12,000 feet (3,600 metres) above the Plateau of Tibet . The peak of Changtse (24,803 feet [7,560 metres]) rises to the north. Khumbutse (21,867 feet [6,665 metres]), Nuptse (25,791 feet [7,861 metres]), and Lhotse (27,940 feet [8,516 metres]) surround Everest’s base to the west and south.\nEverest is shaped like a three-sided pyramid . The three generally flat planes constituting the sides are called faces, and the line by which two faces join is known as a ridge. The North Face rises above Tibet and is bounded by the North Ridge (which meets the Northeast Ridge) and the West Ridge; key features of this side of the mountain include the Great and Hornbein couloirs (steep gullies) and the North Col at the start of the North Ridge. The Southwest Face rises above Nepal and is bounded by the West Ridge and the Southeast Ridge; notable features on this side include the South Col (at the start of the Southeast Ridge) and the Khumbu Icefall, the latter a jumble of large blocks of ice that has long been a daunting challenge for climbers. The East Face—or Kangshung (Kangxung) Face—also rises above Tibet and is bounded by the Southeast Ridge and the Northeast Ridge.\nMount Everest (left background) towering above the Khumbu Icefall at the mountain’s base, …\nLee Klopfer/Alamy\nBig Radio Burst from Tiny Galaxy\nThe summit of Everest itself is covered by rock-hard snow surmounted by a layer of softer snow that fluctuates annually by some 5–20 feet (1.5–6 metres); the snow level is highest in September, after the monsoon, and lowest in May after having been depleted by the strong northwesterly winter winds. The summit and upper slopes sit so high in the Earth’s atmosphere that the amount of breathable oxygen there is one-third what it is at sea level. Lack of oxygen, powerful winds, and extremely cold temperatures preclude the development of any plant or animal life there.\nDrainage and climate\nAll About Asia\nGlaciers cover the slopes of Everest to its base. Individual glaciers flanking the mountain are the Kangshung Glacier to the east; the East, Central, and West Rongbuk (Rongpu) glaciers to the north and northwest; the Pumori Glacier to the northwest; and the Khumbu Glacier to the west and south, which is fed by the glacier bed of the Western Cwm, an enclosed valley of ice between Everest and the Lhotse-Nuptse Ridge to the south. Glacial action has been the primary force behind the heavy and continuous erosion of Everest and the other high Himalayan peaks.\nFrozen pond on the Khumbu Glacier, near Mount Everest, Himalayas, Nepal.\n© Shawn McCullars\nThe mountain’s drainage pattern radiates to the southwest, north, and east. The Khumbu Glacier melts into the Lobujya (Lobuche) River of Nepal, which flows southward as the Imja River to its confluence with the Dudh Kosi River . In Tibet the Rong River originates from the Pumori and Rongbuk glaciers and the Kama River from the Kangshung Glacier: both flow into the Arun River, which cuts through the Himalayas into Nepal. The Rong, Dudh Kosi, and Kama river valleys form, respectively, the northern, southern, and eastern access routes to the summit.\nBuddhist prayer flags fluttering in front of the Mount Everest massif; in the foreground is the …\nAlan Kearney—Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images\nConnect with Britannica\nFacebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest\nThe climate of Everest is always hostile to living things. The warmest average daytime temperature (in July) is only about −2 °F (−19 °C) on the summit; in January , the coldest month, summit temperatures average −33 °F (−36 °C) and can drop as low as −76 °F (−60 °C). Storms can come up suddenly, and temperatures can plummet unexpectedly. The peak of Everest is so high that it reaches the lower limit of the jet stream , and it can be buffeted by sustained winds of more than 100 miles (160 km) per hour. Precipitation falls as snow during the summer monsoon (late May to mid-September). The risk of frostbite to climbers on Everest is extremely high.\nThe height of Everest\nControversy over the exact elevation of the summit developed because of variations in snow level, gravity deviation, and light refraction. The figure 29,028 feet (8,848 metres), plus or minus a fraction, was established by the Survey of India between 1952 and 1954 and became widely accepted. This value was used by most researchers, mapping agencies, and publishers until 1999.\nAttempts were subsequently made to remeasure the mountain’s height. A Chinese survey in 1975 obtained the figure of 29,029.24 feet (8,848.11 metres), and an Italian survey, using satellite surveying techniques, obtained a value of 29,108 feet (8,872 metres) in 1987, but questions arose about the methods used. In 1992 another Italian survey, using the Global Positioning System ( GPS ) and laser measurement technology, yielded the figure 29,023 feet (8,846 metres) by subtracting from the measured height 6.5 feet (2 metres) of ice and snow on the summit, but the methodology used was again called into question.\nIn 1999 an American survey, sponsored by the (U.S.) National Geographic Society and others, took precise measurements using GPS equipment. Their finding of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres), plus or minus 6.5 feet (2 metres), was accepted by the society and by various specialists in the fields of geodesy and cartography . The Chinese mounted another expedition in 2005 that utilized ice-penetrating radar in conjunction with GPS equipment. The result of this was what the Chinese called a “rock height” of 29,017.12 feet (8,844.43 metres), which, though widely reported in the media, was recognized only by China for the next several years. Nepal in particular disputed the Chinese figure, preferring what was termed the “snow height” of 29,028 feet. In April 2010 China and Nepal agreed to recognize the validity of both figures.\nHuman factors\nEditor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies\nHabitation\nEverest is so tall and its climate so severe that it is incapable of supporting sustained human occupation, but the valleys below the mountain are inhabited by Tibetan-speaking peoples. Notable among these are the Sherpa s, who live in villages at elevations up to about 14,000 feet (4,270 metres) in the Khumbu valley of Nepal and other locations. Traditionally an agricultural people with little cultivable land at their disposal, the Sherpas for years were traders and led a seminomadic lifestyle in their search for pastureland. In summer , livestock was grazed as high as 16,000 feet (4,880 metres), while winter refuge was taken at lower elevations on sheltered ledges and along riverbanks.\nA herders’ shelter in the Mount Everest region of the Himalayas; Lhotse I, just southeast of …\nTed Kerasote/Photo Researchers\nLiving in close proximity to the world’s highest mountains, the Sherpas traditionally treated the Himalayas as sacred—building Buddhist monasteries at their base, placing prayer flags on the slopes, and establishing sanctuaries for the wildlife of the valleys that included musk deer, monal pheasant, and Himalayan partridge. Gods and demons were believed to live in the high peaks, and the Yeti (the so-called Abominable Snowman ) was said to roam the lower slopes. For these reasons, the Sherpas traditionally did not climb the mountains.\nHowever, beginning with the British expeditions of the early 20th century, surveying and portering work became available. Eventually, the respect and pay earned in mountaineering made it attractive to the Sherpas, who, being so well adapted to the high altitudes, were capable of carrying large loads of cargo over long distances. Though Sherpas and other hill people (the name Sherpa came to be applied—erroneously—to all porters) tend to outperform their foreign clients, they typically have played a subordinate role in expeditions; rarely, for example, has one of their names been associated with a pioneering route on Everest. The influx of foreign climbers—and, in far greater numbers, trekkers—has dramatically changed Sherpa life, as their livelihood increasingly has come to depend on these climbing expeditions.\nIndustrial Revolution\nOn the Nepalese side of the international boundary, the mountain and its surrounding valleys lie within Sagarmatha National Park, a 480-square-mile (1,243-square-km) zone established in 1976. In 1979 the park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site . The valleys contain stands of rhododendron and forests of birch and pine, while above the tree line alpine vegetation extends to the feet of the glaciers. Over the years, carelessness and excessive consumption of resources by mountaineers, as well as overgrazing by livestock, have damaged the habitats of snow leopards , lesser pandas , Tibetan bears , and scores of bird species. To counteract past abuses, various reforestation programs have been carried out by local communities and the Nepalese government.\nExpeditions have removed supplies and equipment left by climbers on Everest’s slopes, including hundreds of oxygen containers. A large quantity of the litter of past climbers—tons of items such as tents , cans, crampons, and human waste—has been hauled down from the mountain and recycled or discarded. However, the bodies of most of the more than 280 climbers who have died on Everest (notably on its upper slopes) have not been removed, as they are unreachable or—for those that are accessible—their weight makes carrying them down extremely difficult. Notable in the cleanup endeavour have been the efforts of the Eco Everest Expeditions, the first of which was organized in 2008 to commemorate the death that January of Everest-climbing pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary . Those expeditions also have publicized ecological issues (in particular, concerns about the effects of climate change in the region through observations that the Khumbu Icefall has been melting).\nMountaineering on Everest\nThe human challenge\nMount Everest is difficult to get to and more difficult to climb, even with the great advances made in equipment, transportation , communications, and weather forecasting since the first major expeditions in the 1920s. The mountain itself lies in a highly isolated location. There are no roads in the region on the Nepalese side, and before the 1960s all goods and supplies had to be carried long distances by humans and pack animals. Since then, airstrips built in the Khumbu valley have greatly facilitated transport to the Everest vicinity, although the higher areas have remained accessible only via footpaths. In Tibet there is now a road to the north-side Base Camp.\nClimbers on the Nepali side of Mount Everest.\n© David Keaton/Corbis\nThere are only two brief time periods when the weather on Everest is the most hospitable for an ascent. The best one is in April and May, right before the monsoon . Once the monsoon comes, the snow is too soft and the likelihood of avalanche too great. For a few weeks in September, after the monsoon, weather conditions may also permit an attempt; by October, however, the winter storms begin and persist until March, making climbing then nearly impossible.\nIn addition to the challenges posed by Everest’s location and climate , the effects of high altitudes on the human body are extreme: the region in the Himalayas above about 25,000 feet (7,600 metres) is known as the “death zone.” Climbers at such high altitude have much more rapid breathing and pulse rates (as their bodies try to obtain more oxygen ). In addition, they are not able to digest food well (and often find eating unappealing), they sleep poorly, and they often find their thinking to be confused. These symptoms are manifestations of oxygen deprivation ( hypoxia ) in the body tissues, which makes any effort difficult and can lead to poor decisions being made in an already dangerous environment . Supplemental (bottled) oxygen breathed through a mask can partially alleviate the effects of hypoxia , but it can present an additional problem if a climber becomes used to the oxygen and then runs out while still at high altitude. (See also altitude sickness .)\nTwo other medical conditions can affect climbers at high elevations. High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) occurs when the body responds to the lack of oxygen by increasing blood flow to the brain ; the brain begins to swell, and coma and death may occur. High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a similar condition in which the body circulates additional blood to the lungs ; this blood begins to leak into the air sacs , and death is caused essentially by drowning . The most effective treatment for both conditions is to move the affected person to a lower elevation. It has been found that the drug dexamethasone is a useful emergency first-aid treatment when injected into stricken climbers, allowing them to regain movement (when they might otherwise be incapacitated) and thus descend.\nRoutes and techniques\nThe southern route via the Khumbu Icefall and the South Col is the one most commonly taken by climbers attempting to summit Everest. It is the route used by the 1953 British expedition when New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men known to have reached Everest’s summit. The northern route, attempted unsuccessfully by seven British expeditions in the 1920s and ’30s, is also climbed. It is now generally accepted that the first successful ascent via that approach was made by a Chinese expedition in 1960, with Wang Fuzhou, Qu Yinhua, Liu Lianman, and a Tibetan, Konbu, reaching the summit. The East Face, Everest’s biggest, is rarely climbed. An American team made the first ascent of it in 1983, and Carlos Buhler, Kim Momb, and Lou Reichardt reached the summit.\nMountaineer Apa Sherpa climbing through the Khumbu Icefall en route to his 20th ascent of the …\nPhoto courtesy of www.apasherpa.com\nPerhaps because most of the early climbers on Everest had military backgrounds, the traditional method of ascending it has been called “ siege” climbing. With this technique, a large team of climbers establishes a series of tented camps farther and farther up the mountain’s side. For instance, on the most frequently climbed southern route, the Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier is at an elevation of about 17,600 feet (5,400 metres). The theory is that the climbers ascend higher and higher to establish camps farther up the route, then come down to sleep at night at the camp below the one being established. (Mountain climbers express this in the phrase, “Climb high, sleep low.”) This practice allows climbers to acclimatize to the high altitude. Camps are established along the route about every 1,500 feet (450 metres) of vertical elevation and are given designations of Camp I, Camp II, and so on. Finally, a last camp is set up close enough to the summit (usually about 3,000 feet [900 metres] below) to allow a small group (called the “assault” team) to reach the peak. This was the way the British organized their expeditions; most of the large commercial expeditions continue to use it—except that all paying clients are now given a chance at the summit. Essential to the siege climbing style is the logistical support given to the climbers by the Sherpas.\nAmerican Robert Anderson, leader of the 1988 Everest expedition, follows a fixed rope up a steep …\n© Stephen Venables\nThere had been a feeling among some early 20th-century climbers that ascending with oxygen , support from Sherpas, and a large party was “unsporting” or that it missed the point of mountain climbing. British explorer Eric Shipton expressed the view that these large expeditions caused climbers to lose their sense of the aesthetic of mountain climbing and to focus instead on only achieving the summit. Top mountaineers, disenchanted with the ponderous and predictable nature of these siege climbs, began in the 1970s to bring a more traditional “ Alpine ” style of climbing to the world’s highest peaks; by the 1980s this included even Everest. In this approach, a small party of perhaps three or four climbers goes up and down the mountain as quickly as possible, carrying all needed gear and provisions. This lightweight approach precludes fixing miles of safety ropes and carrying heavy supplemental oxygen. Speed is of the essence. However, at least four weeks still must be spent at and around Base Camp acclimatizing to altitude before the party can consider a summit attempt.\nTents of the Mount Everest Base Camp dotting the background landscape behind a pony, Himalayas, …\n© Shawn McCullars\nEarly expeditions\nReconnaissance of 1921\nIn the 1890s British army officers Sir Francis Younghusband and Charles (C.G.) Bruce, who were stationed in India, met and began discussing the possibility of an expedition to Everest. The officers became involved with two British exploring organizations—the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and the Alpine Club—and these groups became instrumental in fostering interest in exploring the mountain. Bruce and Younghusband sought permission to mount an Everest expedition beginning in the early 1900s, but political tensions and bureaucratic difficulties made it impossible. Though Tibet was closed to Westerners, British officer John (J.B.L.) Noel disguised himself and entered it in 1913; he eventually got within 40 miles (65 km) of Everest and was able to see the summit. His lecture to the RGS in 1919 once again generated interest in Everest, permission to explore it was requested of Tibet, and this was granted in 1920. In 1921 the RGS and the Alpine Club formed the Mount Everest Committee, chaired by Younghusband, to organize and finance the expedition. A party under Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury set out to explore the whole Himalayan range and find a route up Everest. The other members were G.H. Bullock , A.M. Kellas, George Mallory , H. Raeburn, A.F.R. Wollaston, Majors H.T. Morshead and O.E. Wheeler (surveyors), and A.M. Heron (geologist).\nGeorge Mallory (seated, far left) and Guy Bullock (seated, third from the left), planners of the …\nThe Granger Collection, New York\nDuring the summer of 1921 the northern approaches to the mountain were thoroughly explored. On the approach to Everest, Kellas died of heart failure. Because Raeburn also fell ill, the high exploration devolved almost entirely upon Mallory and Bullock. Neither had Himalayan experience, and they were faced with the problem of acclimatization besides the difficulty of the terrain.\nThe first object was to explore the Rongbuk valley. The party ascended the Central Rongbuk Glacier, missing the narrower opening of the eastern branch and the possible line up Everest. They returned eastward for a rest at Kharta Shekar. From there they discovered a pass at 22,000 feet (6,700 metres), the Lhakpa (Lhagba), leading to the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. The saddle north of Everest, despite its forbidding appearance, was climbed on September 24 by Mallory, Bullock, and Wheeler and named the North Col. A bitter wind prevented them from going higher, but Mallory had from there traced a potential route to the summit.\nAttempt of 1922\nMembers of the expedition were Brigadier General C.G. Bruce (leader), Captain J.G. Bruce, C.G. Crawford, G.I. Finch, T.G. Longstaff, Mallory, Captain C.J. Morris, Major Morshead, Edward Norton , T.H. Somervell, Colonel E.I. Strutt, A.W. Wakefield, and John Noel. It was decided that the mountain must be attempted before the onset of the summer monsoon. In the spring, therefore, the baggage was carried by Sherpas across the high, windy Plateau of Tibet.\nSupplies were carried from Base Camp at 16,500 feet (5,030 metres) to an advanced base at Camp III. From there, on May 13, a camp was established on the North Col. With great difficulty a higher camp was set at 25,000 feet (7,620 metres) on the sheltered side of the North Ridge. On the next morning, May 21, Mallory, Norton, and Somervell left Morshead, who was suffering from frostbite, and pushed on through trying windy conditions to 27,000 feet (8,230 metres) near the crest of the Northeast Ridge. On May 25 Finch and Captain Bruce set out from Camp III using oxygen. Finch, a protagonist of oxygen, was justified by the results. The party, with the Gurkha Tejbir Bura, established Camp V at 25,500 feet (7,772 metres). There they were stormbound for a day and two nights, but the next morning Finch and Bruce reached 27,300 feet (8,320 metres) and returned the same day to Camp III. A third attempt during the early monsoon snow ended in disaster. On June 7 Mallory, Crawford, and Somervell, with 14 Sherpas, were crossing the North Col slopes. Nine Sherpas were swept by an avalanche over an ice cliff, and seven were killed. Mallory’s party was carried down 150 feet (45 metres) but not injured.\nAttempt of 1924\nMembers of the expedition were Brigadier General Bruce (leader), Bentley Beetham, Captain Bruce, J. de V. Hazard, Major R.W.G. Hingston, Andrew Irvine, Mallory, Norton, Noel Odell, E.O. Shebbeare (transport), Somervell, and Noel (photographer). Noel devised a novel publicity scheme for financing this trip by buying all film and lecture rights for the expedition, which covered the entire cost of the venture. To generate interest in the climb, he designed a commemorative postcard and stamp; sacks of postcards were then mailed from Base Camp, mostly to schoolchildren who had requested them. This was the first of many Everest public relations ventures.\nOn the climb itself, because of wintry conditions, Camp IV on the North Col was established only on May 22 by a new and steeper though safer route; the party was then forced to descend. General Bruce had to return because of illness, and under Norton Camp IV was reestablished on June 1. At 25,000 feet (7,620 metres), Mallory and Captain Bruce were stopped when the Sherpas became exhausted. On June 4 Norton and Somervell, with three Sherpas, pitched Camp VI at 26,800 feet (8,170 metres); the next day they reached 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). Norton went on to 28,100 feet (8,565 metres), a documented height unsurpassed until 1953. Mallory and Irvine , using oxygen, set out from the North Col on June 6. On June 8 they started for the summit. Odell, who had come up that morning, believed he saw them in early afternoon high up between the mists.\nInitially, Odell claimed to have seen them at what became known as the Second Step (more recently, some have claimed that Odell was describing the Third Step), though later he was less certain exactly where it had been. On the Northeast Ridge there are three “steps”—steep rock barriers—between the elevations of 27,890 and 28,870 feet (8,500 and 8,800 metres) that make the final approach to the summit difficult. The First Step is a limestone vertical barrier about 110 feet (34 metres) high. Above that is a ledge and the Second Step, which is about 160 feet (50 metres) high. (In 1975 a Chinese expedition from the north affixed an aluminum ladder to the step that now makes climbing it much easier.) The Third Step contains another sheer section of rock about 100 feet (30 metres) high that leads to a more gradual slope to the summit. If Odell actually saw Mallory and Irvine at the Third Step at about 12:50 pm, then they would have been some 500 feet (150 metres) below the summit at that point. However, there has long been great uncertainty and considerable debate about all this, especially whether the pair made it to the top that day and if they were ascending or descending the mountain when Odell spotted them. The next morning Odell went up to search and reached Camp VI on June 10, but he found no trace of either man.\nWhen Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he replied with the famous line, “Because it’s there.” The British public had come to admire the determined climber over the course of his three expeditions, and they were shocked by his disappearance. (The fate of Mallory remained a mystery for 75 years; see Finding Mallory and commemorating the historic ascents .)\nAttempt of 1933\nMembers of the expedition were Hugh Ruttledge (leader), Captain E. St. J. Birnie, Lieutenant Colonel H. Boustead, T.A. Brocklebank, Crawford, C.R. Greene, Percy Wyn-Harris, J.L. Longland, W.W. McLean, Shebbeare (transport), Eric Shipton, Francis S. Smythe, Lawrence R. Wager, G. Wood-Johnson, and Lieutenants W.R. Smyth-Windham and E.C. Thompson (wireless).\nHigh winds made it extremely difficult to establish Base Camp in the North Col, but it was finally done on May 1. Its occupants were cut off from the others for several days. On May 22, however, Camp V was placed at 25,700 feet (7,830 metres); again storms set in, retreat was ordered, and V was not reoccupied until the 28th. On the 29th Wyn-Harris, Wager, and Longland pitched Camp VI at 27,400 feet (8,350 metres). On the way down, Longland’s party, caught in a blizzard, had great difficulty.\nOn May 30, while Smythe and Shipton came up to Camp V, Wyn-Harris and Wager set off from Camp VI. A short distance below the crest of the Northeast Ridge, they found Irvine’s ice ax. They reckoned that the Second Step was impossible to ascend and were compelled to follow Norton’s 1924 traverse to the Great Couloir splitting the face below the summit. They crossed the gorge to a height about the same as Norton’s but then had to return. Smythe and Shipton made a final attempt on June 1. Shipton returned to Camp V. Smythe pushed on alone, crossed the couloir, and reached the same height as Wyn-Harris and Wager. On his return the monsoon ended operations.\nAlso in 1933 a series of airplane flights were conducted over Everest—the first occurring on April 3—which permitted the summit and surrounding landscape to be photographed. In 1934 Maurice Wilson, an inexperienced climber who was obsessed with the mountain, died above Camp III attempting to climb Everest alone.\nReconnaissance of 1935\nIn 1935 an expedition led by Shipton was sent to reconnoitre the mountain, explore the western approaches, and discover more about monsoon conditions. Other members were L.V. Bryant, E.G.H. Kempson, M. Spender (surveyor), H.W. Tilman, C. Warren, and E.H.L. Wigram. In late July the party succeeded in putting a camp on the North Col, but dangerous avalanche conditions kept them off the mountain. One more visit was paid to the North Col area in an attempt on Changtse (the north peak). During the reconnaissance Wilson’s body was found and buried; his diary was also recovered.\nAttempts of 1936 and 1938\nMembers of the 1936 expedition were Ruttledge (leader), J.M.L. Gavin, Wyn-Harris, G.N. Humphreys, Kempson, Morris (transport), P.R. Oliver, Shipton, Smyth-Windham (wireless), Smythe, Warren, and Wigram. This expedition had the misfortune of an unusually early monsoon. The route up to the North Col was finished on May 13, but the wind had dropped, and heavy snowfalls almost immediately after the camp was established put an end to climbing the upper part of the mountain. Several later attempts to regain the col failed.\nMembers of the 1938 expedition were Tilman (leader), P. Lloyd, Odell, Oliver, Shipton, Smythe, and Warren. Unlike the two previous parties, some members of this expedition used oxygen . The party arrived early, in view of the experience of 1936, but they were actually too early and had to withdraw, meeting again at Camp III on May 20. The North Col camp was pitched under snowy conditions on May 24. Shortly after, because of dangerous snow, the route was changed and a new one made up the west side of the col. On June 6 Camp V was established. On June 8, in deep snow, Shipton and Smythe with seven Sherpas pitched Camp VI, at 27,200 feet (8,290 metres), but the next day they were stopped above it by deep powder. The same fate befell Tilman and Lloyd, who made their attempt on the 11th. Lloyd benefited from an open-circuit oxygen apparatus that partly allowed him to breathe the outside air. Bad weather compelled a final retreat.\nGolden age of Everest climbs\nReconnaissance of 1951\nAfter 1938, expeditions to Everest were interrupted by World War II and the immediate postwar years. In addition, the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950 precluded using the northern approach. In 1951 permission was received from the Nepalese for a reconnaissance of the mountain from the south. Members of the expedition were Shipton (leader), T.D. Bourdillon, Edmund Hillary, W.H. Murray, H.E. Riddiford, and M.P. Ward. The party marched through the monsoon, reaching Namche Bazar, the chief village of Solu-Khumbu, on September 22. At Khumbu Glacier they found it possible to scale the great icefall seen by Mallory from the west. They were stopped at the top by a huge crevasse but traced a possible line up the Western Cwm (cirque, or valley) to the South Col, the high saddle between Lhotse and Everest.\nSpring attempt of 1952\nExpedition members were E. Wyss Dunant (leader), J.J. Asper, R. Aubert, G. Chevalley, R. Dittert (leader of climbing party), L. Flory, E. Hofstetter, P.C. Bonnant, R. Lambert, A. Roch, A. Lombard (geologist), and A. Zimmermann (botanist). This strong Swiss party first set foot on the Khumbu Icefall on April 26. After considerable difficulty with the route, they overcame the final crevasse by means of a rope bridge. The 4,000-foot (1,220-metre) face of Lhotse, which had to be climbed to reach the South Col, was attempted by a route running beside a long spur of rock christened the Éperon des Genevois. The first party, Lambert, Flory, Aubert, and Tenzing Norgay (sirdar, or leader of the porters), with five Sherpas, tried to reach the col in one day. They were compelled to bivouac quite a distance below it (May 25) and the next day reached the summit of the Éperon, at 26,300 feet (8,016 metres), whence they descended to the col and pitched camp. On May 27 the party (less the five Sherpas) climbed up the Southeast Ridge. They reached approximately 27,200 feet (8,290 metres), and there Lambert and Tenzing bivouacked. The next day they pushed on up the ridge and turned back at approximately 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). Also on May 28 Asper, Chevalley, Dittert, Hofstetter, and Roch reached the South Col, but they were prevented by wind conditions from going higher and descended to the base.\nAutumn attempt of 1952\nMembers of this second Swiss expedition were Chevalley (leader), J. Buzio, G. Gross, Lambert, E. Reiss, A. Spöhel, and Norman Dyhrenfurth (photographer). The party found the icefall easier to climb than in the spring and had brought poles to bridge the great crevasse. Camp IV was occupied on October 20. Higher up, however, they were constantly harassed by bitterly cold winds. On the ice slope below the Éperon one Sherpa was killed, and the party took to the glaciated face of Lhotse on the right. The South Col was reached on November 19, but the summit party climbed only 300 feet (90 metres) higher before being forced to withdraw.\nThe historic ascent of 1953\nMembers of the expedition, which was sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club, were Colonel John Hunt (leader; later Baron Hunt), G.C. Band, Bourdillon, R.C. Evans, A. Gregory, Edmund Hillary , W.G. Lowe, C.W.F. Noyce, M.P. Ward, M.H. Westmacott, Major C.G. Wylie (transport), T. Stobart (cinematographer), and L.G.C. Pugh (physiologist). After three weeks’ training on neighbouring mountains, a route was worked out up the Khumbu Icefall, and it was possible to start ferrying loads of supplies to the Western Cwm head. Two forms of oxygen apparatus, closed- and open-circuit types, were tried. As a result of a reconnaissance of Lhotse in early May, Hunt decided that Bourdillon and Evans, experts on closed-circuit, should make the first attempt from the South Col. Hillary with Tenzing Norgay as sirdar were to follow, using open-circuit and a higher camp.\nRoute of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the summit of Mount Everest, May 1953.\nBased on the map published by the Royal Geograhical Society\nLowe spent nine days, most of them with Ang Nyima Sherpa, working at the lower section of the Lhotse face. On May 17 a camp was pitched on it at 24,000 feet (7,315 metres). The route on the upper part of the face, over the top of the Éperon, was first made by Noyce and Annullu Sherpa on May 21. The next day 13 Sherpas led by Wylie, with Hillary and Tenzing ahead, reached the col and dumped loads. The fine weather continued from May 14 but with high winds. On May 24 the first summit party, with Hunt and two Sherpas in support, reached the col. On the 26th Evans and Bourdillon climbed to the South Summit of Everest, but by then it was too late in the day to go farther. Meanwhile Hunt and Da Namgyal Sherpa left loads for a ridge camp at 27,350 feet (8,335 metres).\nOn the 28th the ridge camp was established at 27,900 feet (8,500 metres) by Hillary, Tenzing, Lowe, Gregory, and Ang Nyima, and Hillary and Tenzing passed the night there. The two set out early on the morning of May 29, reaching the South Summit by 9:00 am. The first challenge on the final approach to the summit of Everest was a fairly level ridge of rock some 400 feet (120 metres) long flanked by an ice “cornice”; to the right was the East (Kangshung) Face, and to the left was the Southwest Face, both sheer drop-offs. The final obstacle, about halfway between the South Summit and the summit of Everest, was a steep spur of rock and ice—now called the Hillary Step. Though it is only about 55 feet (17 metres) high, the formation is difficult to climb because of its extreme pitch and because a mistake would be deadly. Climbers now use fixed ropes to ascend this section, but Hillary and Tenzing had only ice-climbing equipment. First Hillary and then Tenzing tackled the barrier much as one would climb a rock chimney—i.e., they inched up a little at a time with their backs against the rock wall and their feet wedged in a crack between the rock and ice.\nEdmund (later Sir Edmund) Hillary and Tenzing Norgay preparing to depart on their successful summit …\nThe Granger Collection, New York\nThey reached the summit of Everest at 11:30 am. Hillary turned to Tenzing, and the men shook hands; Tenzing then embraced Hillary in a hug. Hillary took photos, and the two searched for but did not find signs that Mallory and Irvine had been to the summit. Tenzing, a Buddhist, made an offering of food for the mountain; Hillary left a crucifix Hunt had given him. The two men ate some sweets and then headed down. They had spent about 15 minutes on the top of the world.\nThey were met on the slopes above the South Col that afternoon by Lowe and Noyce. Hillary is reputed to have said to Lowe, “Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.” By June 2 the whole expedition had reassembled at the Base Camp.\nA correspondent for The Times, James (later Jan) Morris, had hiked up to Camp IV to follow the story more closely and was on hand to cover the event. Worried that other papers might scoop him, Morris wired his story to the paper in code. It reached London in time to appear in the June 2 edition. A headline from another London paper published later that day, “All this, and Everest too!” referred to the fact that Elizabeth II was being crowned on the same day on which the news broke about the success on Everest. After years of privation during and after World War II and the subsequent loss of empire, the effect of the successful Everest ascent was a sensation for the British public. The feat was also celebrated worldwide, but nowhere like in Britain and the Commonwealth, whose climbers had been so closely associated with Everest for more than 30 years. As Walt Unsworth described it in Everest,\nAnd so, the British, as usual, had not only won the last battle but had timed victory in a masterly fashion. Even had it not been announced on Coronation Day it would have made world headlines, but in Britain the linking of the two events was regarded as almost an omen, ordained by the Almighty as a special blessing for the dawn of a New Elizabethan Age. It is doubtful whether any single adventure had ever before received such universal acclaim: Scott’s epic last journey, perhaps, or Stanley’s finding of Livingstone—it was of that order.\nTenzing Norgay (right) and Edmund Hillary showing the kit they wore to the top of Mount Everest, …\nAP\nThe expedition little expected the fanfare that awaited them on their return to Britain. Both Hillary and Hunt were knighted in July (Hunt was later made a life peer), and Tenzing was awarded the George Medal. All members of the expedition were feted at parties and banquets for months, but the spotlight fell mostly on Hillary and Tenzing as the men responsible for one of the defining events of the 20th century.\nEverest- Lhotse, 1956\nIn 1956 the Swiss performed the remarkable feat of getting two ropes up Everest and one up Lhotse , using oxygen. Members of the expedition were A. Eggler (leader), W. Diehl, H. Grimm, H.R. von Gunten, E. Leuthold, F. Luchsinger, J. Marmet, F. Müller, Reiss, A. Reist, and E. Schmied. They followed roughly the British route up the icefall and the Lhotse face. From their Camp VI Reiss and Luchsinger reached the summit of Lhotse on May 18. Camp VI was moved to the South Col, and the summit of Everest was reached from a camp at 27,500 feet (8,380 metres) by Marmet and Schmied (May 23) and Gunten and Reist (May 24).\nAttempts of 1960\nIn 1960 an Indian expedition with Sherpas, led by Brigadier Gyan Singh, attempted to scale Everest from the south. Camp IV was established in the Western Cwm on April 19. Bad weather followed, but a party using oxygen reached the South Col on May 9. On May 24 three members pitched a tent at 27,000 feet (8,230 metres) on the Southeast Ridge but were turned back by wind and weather at about 28,300 feet (8,625 metres). Continued bad weather prevented the second summit party’s leaving the South Col.\nAlso that spring it was reported that a Chinese expedition led by Shi Zhanzhun climbed Everest from the north. By their account they reached the North Col in April, and on May 24 Wang Fuzhou, Qu Yinhua, Liu Lianman, and a Tibetan mountaineer, Konbu, climbed the slab by a human ladder, reaching the top at 4:20 am to place the Chinese flag and a bust of Mao Zedong . The credibility of their account was doubted at the time but later was generally accepted (see below The north approach ).\n(Cuthbert) Wilfrid (Francis) Noyce (Henry Cecil) John Hunt Stephen Venables\nThe U.S. ascent of 1963\nThe first American expedition to Everest was led by the Swiss climber Norman Dyhrenfurth, who selected a team of 19 mountaineers and scientists from throughout the United States and 37 Sherpas. The purpose was twofold: to reach the summit and to carry out scientific research programs in physiology, psychology, glaciology, and meteorology . Of particular interest were the studies on how the climbers changed physiologically and psychologically under extreme stresses at high altitudes where oxygen deprivation was unavoidable. These studies were related to the U.S. space program, and among the 400 sponsors of the expedition were the National Geographic Society , the U.S. State Department , the National Science Foundation , the Office of Naval Research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, the Atomic Energy Commission , and the U.S. Air Force .\nOn February 20 the expedition left Kathmandu , Nepal, for Everest, 180 miles (290 km) away. More than 900 porters carried some 26 tons of food, clothing, equipment, and scientific instruments. Base Camp was established at 17,800 feet (5,425 metres) on Khumbu Glacier on March 20, one month earlier than on any previous expedition. For the next five weeks the team selected a route toward the summit and established and stocked a series of camps up the mountain via the traditional South Col route. They also explored the more difficult and untried West Ridge route. On May 1 James W. Whittaker and Nawang Gombu Sherpa, nephew of Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit despite high winds. On May 22 four other Americans reached the top. Two of them, William F. Unsoeld and Thomas F. Hornbein, made mountaineering history by ascending the West Ridge, which until then had been considered unclimbable. They descended the traditional way, along the Southeast Ridge toward the South Col, thus also accomplishing the first major mountain traverse in the Himalayas. On the descent, Unsoeld and Hornbein, along with Barry C. Bishop and Luther G. Jerstad (who had also reached the summit that day via the South Col), were forced to bivouac in the open at 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). All suffered frostbite, and Bishop and Unsoeld later lost their toes; the two had to be carried out of Base Camp on the backs of Sherpas. On July 8 Dyhrenfurth and all members of the expedition were presented the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal by President John F. Kennedy .\nThe Indian ascent of 1965\nIn 1965 a 21-man Indian expedition, led by Lieutenant Commander M.S. Kohli, succeeded in putting nine men on the summit of Everest. India thus became the fourth country to scale the world’s highest mountain. One of the group, Nawang Gombu, became the first person ever to climb Mount Everest twice, having first accomplished the feat on the U.S. expedition.\nThe 1970s\nThe Southwest Face\nFrom 1966 to 1969 the government of Nepal banned mountaineers from climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas. When the ranges were reopened in 1969, the world’s top mountaineers—following the American example of 1963—set their eyes on new routes to Everest’s summit. With Tibet still closed and only the southern approach available, the obvious challenge was the huge Southwest Face rising from the Western Cwm. The crux of the problem was the Rock Band—a vertical cliff 2,000 feet (600 metres) high starting at about 26,250 feet (8,000 metres). A Japanese reconnaissance expedition reached the foot of the Rock Band in the autumn of 1969 and returned in spring 1970 for a full-scale attempt led by Matsukata Saburō. Failing to make further progress on the Southwest Face, the expedition switched to the easier South Col route, getting the first Japanese climbers, including the renowned Japanese explorer Uemura Naomi, to the summit.\nMount Everest, Himalayas, from Nepal.\n© Michelle Eadie/Fotolia\nExpeditions continued to lay “siege” to the Southwest Face. The most publicized of these climbs was the 1971 International Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth; however, internationalist ideals were savaged by the stresses of high altitude, and the expedition degenerated into rancour between the British and non-British climbers. In the spring of 1972 a European expedition led by the German Karl Herrligkoffer was equally inharmonious.\nThe battle for the Southwest Face continued in a predictable pattern: large teams, supported by Sherpas acting as high-altitude porters, established a succession of camps in the broad, snow-covered couloir leading to the foot of the intractable Rock Band. Success finally came in the autumn of 1975 to a British expedition led by Chris (later Sir Chris) Bonington, who got the full team and its meticulously prepared equipment to Base Camp by the end of August and made the most of the mainly calm weather during the September time window.\nClimbing equipment had changed significantly since 1953. In the mid-1970s rigid box-shaped tents were bolted to aluminum alloy platforms dug into the 45° slope. Smooth-sheathed nylon ropes were affixed to the rock face to make a continuous safety line, which climbers could ascend and descend very efficiently. The 1975 expedition was a smooth operation that utilized a team of 33 Sherpas and was directed by some of the world’s best mountaineers. Unlike previous expeditions, this team explored a deep gully cutting through the left side of the Rock Band, with Paul Braithwaite and Nick Estcourt breaking through to establish Camp VI at about 27,000 feet (8,230 metres). From there Doug Scott and Dougal Haston made a long, bold traverse rightward, eventually gaining the South Summit and continuing over the Hillary Step to the Everest summit, which they reached at 6:00 pm. Rather than risk descending in the dark, they bivouacked in a snow cave close to the South Summit—at 28,750 feet (8,750 metres), this was the highest bivouac in climbing history until Babu Chiri Sherpa bivouacked on the summit itself in 1999. Their oxygen tanks were empty, and they had neither tent nor sleeping bags, but both men survived the ordeal unharmed and returned safely to Camp VI in the morning. Two days later Peter Boardman and Pertemba Sherpa reached the summit, followed by Mick Burke heading for the top in deteriorating weather. Burke never returned; he is presumed to have fallen to his death in the whiteout conditions.\nThe first ascent by a woman\nWhen Scott and Haston reached the summit of Everest in September 1975, they found a metal surveying tripod left the previous spring by a Chinese team—definitive proof of the first uncontested ascent from the north. The Chinese team included a Tibetan woman, Phantog, who reached the summit on May 27. The honours for the first woman to summit Everest, however, belong to the Japanese climber Tabei Junko, who reached the top from the South Col on May 16. She was climbing with the first all-women expedition to Everest (although male Sherpas supported the climb.)\nThe West Ridge direct ascent\nWith the Southwest Face climbed, the next obvious—and harder—challenge was the complete West Ridge direct ascent from Lho Pass (Lho La). Just getting to Lho Pass from Base Camp is a major climb. The West Ridge itself then rises 9,200 feet (2,800 metres) over a distance of 3.5 miles (5.5 km), much of it over difficult rock. In 1979 a Yugoslav team, led by Tone Skarja, made the first ascent, fixing ropes to Camp V at an elevation of about 26,750 feet (8,120 metres), with one rope fixed farther up a steep rock chimney (a crack or gorge large enough to permit a climber to enter). On May 13 Andrej Stremfelj and Jernej Zaplotnik set out from Camp V for the summit. Above the chimney there were two more hard pitches of rock climbing. With no spare rope to fix in place, the climbers realized that they would not be able to descend via these difficult sections. After reaching the summit in midafternoon, they descended by the Hornbein Couloir, bypassing the hardest part of the West Ridge to regain the safety of Camp IV late that evening.\nClimbing without supplemental oxygen\nBeginning in the 1920s and ’30s, the received wisdom had been that an Everest climb needed a team of at least 10 climbers supported by Sherpas and equipped with supplemental oxygen for the final stages. In 1978 that belief was shattered by the Italian (Tyrolean) climber Reinhold Messner and his Austrian climbing partner Peter Habeler . They had already demonstrated on other high Himalayan peaks the art of Alpine-style climbing—moving rapidly, carrying only the barest essentials, and sometimes not even roping together for safety—as opposed to the standard siege style. Another innovation was their use of plastic boots, which were much lighter than the leather equivalent. In 1978 Messner and Habeler attached themselves as a semiautonomous unit to a large German-Austrian expedition led by Oswald Ölz. At 5:30 am on May 8, the two men left their tent at the South Col and started up the summit ridge carrying nothing but ice axes, cameras , and a short rope. The only external assistance was from the Austrians at their top camp, above the South Col, where the two stopped briefly to melt snow for drinking water. (In those days it was still common practice to place a top camp higher than the South Col; nowadays virtually all parties start their final push from the col, some 3,100 feet [950 metres] below the summit). Maintaining a steady ascent rate of about 325 feet (100 metres) per hour, they reached the summit at 1:15 pm. Habeler was terrified of possibly suffering brain damage from the lack of oxygen and made a remarkable descent to the South Col in just one hour. Messner returned later that afternoon. Exhausted—and in Messner’s case snow-blind from having removed his goggles—the two were escorted back down to the Western Cwm the next morning by the Welsh climber Eric Jones.\nMountaineer Reinhold Messner, who pioneered climbing Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen and …\nJohn MacDougall—AFP/Getty Images\nMessner and Habeler had proved that human beings could climb to the top of the world without supplemental oxygen; the German Hans Engl and the Sherpas Ang Dorje and Ang Kami were among several climbers who duplicated this feat in the autumn of 1978. However, for Messner, climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen was not enough: he now wanted to reach the summit completely alone. To do that unroped over the treacherous crevasses of the Western Cwm was considered unthinkable, but it was possible on the less-crevassed northern approach through Tibet; by the late 1970s Tibet was again becoming an option.\nThe north approach\nAfter China occupied Tibet in 1950, permission was denied to any expeditions from noncommunist countries wishing to climb Everest. In 1960 the Chinese army built a road to the Rongbuk Base Camp, then claimed to have made the first ascent of Everest from the north, following the North Col–North Ridge–Northeast Ridge route earlier explored by prewar British expeditions. Many in the West doubted the Chinese assertion, mainly because the official account—which included the claim that Qu Yinhua had scaled the notorious vertical cliff of the Second Step barefoot and which also made constant references to party solidarity and the inspiration of Chairman Mao—was deemed so improbable. Not for the last time, Everest was used as a vehicle for propaganda .\nSince that time, however, people in the West have seen Qu’s feet, mutilated by frostbite, and experts have reexamined the 1960 photos and film—many now believe that Qu, Wang Fuzhou, Liu Lianman, and the Tibetan, Konbu, did indeed reach the summit on May 25, 1960. What none can doubt is the Chinese repeat ascent of 1975 by eight Tibetans (including Phantog) and one Chinese. On that climb the group bolted an aluminium ladder to the Second Step, which has remained there and greatly aided all subsequent ascents on what has become the standard route from the north.\nThe 1980s\nIn 1979 the Chinese authorities announced that noncommunist countries could again begin mounting Everest expeditions through Tibet. Japan was first to do so, with a joint Sino-Japanese expedition led by Watanabe Hyōrikō in the spring of 1980. Half of the 1980 team repeated the Chinese North Ridge–Northeast Ridge route, with Katō Yasuo reaching the summit alone—making him the first person to climb Everest from the south and north. Meanwhile, another team made the first complete ascent of the North Face from the Central Rongbuk Glacier. The upper face is split by the Great Couloir on the left and the Hornbein Couloir (first attained from the West Ridge in 1963) on the right. The 1980 team climbed a lower couloir (the Japanese Couloir) that led directly to the base of the Hornbein Couloir, which was then followed to the top. Shigehiro Tsuneo and Ozaki Takashi ran out of oxygen about four hours below the summit but continued without it, reaching the summit late and bivouacking on the way down. Once again, modern insulated clothing and modern psychological attitudes about what was possible on Everest had allowed climbers to push on in a manner unthinkable to the prewar pioneers.\nFirst solo climb\nReinhold Messner arrived at Rongbuk during the monsoon in July 1980. He spent a month acclimatizing, did one reconnaissance to the North Col to cache supplies there, then set off alone from Advance Base on the East Rongbuk Glacier before dawn on August 18. After a lucky escape from a concealed crevasse into which he had fallen, he reached the North Col, collected his gear, and continued to climb higher up the North Ridge. He then slanted diagonally right, as George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce had done in 1922, traversing a full 1.2 miles (2 km) before stopping to pitch his tent a second time, at 26,900 feet (8,200 metres). On the third day he entered the Great Couloir, continued up it, and achieved what had eluded Edward Norton, Lawrence Wager, Percy Wyn-Harris, and Francis Smythe by climbing rightward out of the couloir, onto the final terraces, and to the summit. Messner later recounted,\nI was in continual agony; I have never in my whole life been so tired as on the summit of Everest that day. I just sat and sat there, oblivious to everything.…I knew I was physically at the end of my tether.\nBack at his tent that night he was too weak even to eat or drink, and the next morning he jettisoned all his survival equipment, committing himself to descending all the way to Advance Base Camp in a single day.\nFurther exploration from Tibet\nMessner’s 1980 solo climb demonstrated just what could be done on the world’s highest mountain. With that same bold spirit, a four-man British team came to Rongbuk in 1982 to attempt the complete Northeast Ridge from Raphu Pass (Raphu La). While he was leading the climb of the first of the three prominent Pinnacles that start at about 26,900 feet (8,200 metres), Dick Renshaw suffered a mild stroke and was invalided home. The expedition leader, Chris Bonington, felt too tired to go back up, and thus it was left to Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker to attempt the final ascent. They were last seen alive between the First Pinnacle and the Second Pinnacle on May 17. Boardman’s body was found 10 years later, sitting in the snow near that point; Tasker has not been found.\nBase Camp for the 1988 ascent of Mount Everest via the East (Kangshung) Face, Tibet; prayer flags …\n© Stephen Venables\nIn 1981 a large American team made the first-ever attempt on Everest’s gigantic East Face from Kangshung Glacier. Avalanche risk thwarted the attempt, but the team returned in autumn of 1983 to attempt again the massive central buttress of the face. This produced some spectacularly hard climbing, led by George Lowe . Above the buttress, the route followed a broad spur of snow and ice to reach the Southeast Ridge just below the South Summit. Carlos Buhler, Lou Reichardt, and Kim Momb reached the Everest summit on October 8, followed the next day by Jay Cassell, Lowe, and Dan Reid.\nIn 1984 the first Australians to attempt Everest chose a new route up the North Face, climbing through the huge central snowfield, dubbed “White Limbo,” to gain the Great Couloir. Then, like Messner in 1980, the Australians cut out right, with Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer reaching the summit at sunset before making a difficult descent in the dark.\nThe most remarkable achievement of this era was the 1986 ascent by the Swiss climbers Jean Troillet and Erhard Loretan. Like Messner, they snatched a clear-weather window toward the end of the monsoon for a lightning dash up and down the mountain. Unlike Messner, they did not even carry a tent and sleeping bags. Climbing by night, resting during the comparative warmth of the day, they took just 41.5 hours to climb the Japanese and Hornbein couloirs up the North Face; then, sliding most of the way on their backsides, they descended in about 4.5 hours.\nDevelopments in Nepal\nWhile the most dazzling deeds were being done on the Tibetan side of Everest, there was still much activity in Nepal during the 1980s, with the boldest pioneering expeditions coming from eastern European countries. For dogged teamwork, nothing has surpassed the first winter ascent of Everest. Completed in 1980 by a team of phenomenally rugged Polish climbers, this ascent was led by Andrzej Zawada; expedition members Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki reached the summit on February 17. To crown this success, Zawada then led a spring expedition to make the first ascent of the South Pillar (left of the South Col), getting Andrzej Czok and Jerzy Kukuczka to the summit. Kukuczka, like Messner, would eventually climb all of the world’s 26,250-foot (8,000-metre) peaks, nearly all by difficult new routes.\nSeveral teams attempted to repeat the Yugoslav West Ridge direct route without success, until a Bulgarian team did so in 1984. The first Bulgarian to reach the summit, Christo Prodanov, climbed without supplemental oxygen, was forced to bivouac overnight during the descent, and died—one of four summiteers who climbed without oxygen in the 1980s and failed to return.\nThe first Soviet expedition to Everest, in 1982, climbed a new route up the left-hand buttress of the Southwest Face, involving harder climbing than the original 1975 route. Led by Evgeny Tamm, the expedition was highly successful, putting 11 Soviet climbers on the summit.\nThe end of an era\nThe last of the great pioneering climbs of the decade was via a new route up the left side of the East Face to the South Col. Led by American Robert Anderson, it included just four climbers who had no Sherpa support and used no supplemental oxygen. British climber Stephen Venables was the only member of this expedition to reach the summit, on May 12, 1988. After a harrowing descent, during which Venables was forced to bivouac overnight without a tent, all four members of the team made it back to the Base Camp.\nDuring the same period, more than 250 members of the “Asian Friendship Expedition” from China , Nepal, and Japan staged a simultaneous traverse of the mountain from north and south, which was recorded live on television. Also in 1988 the Sherpas Sungdare and Ang Rita both made their fifth summit of the mountain. That autumn the ace French climber, Marc Boivin, made the first paragliding descent from the summit; New Zealander Russell Brice and Briton Harry Taylor climbed the infamous Pinnacles on the Northeast Ridge; and four Czech climbers disappeared in a storm after making an Alpine-style climb of the Southwest Face without supplemental oxygen. The following year five Poles were lost in an avalanche on the West Ridge.\nThe increasing activity on Everest in 1988 foreshadowed what was to come. At the start of the spring season that year, fewer than 200 individuals had summited Everest. However, by the 2003 season, a half century after the historic climb by Hillary and Tenzing, that number exceeded 1,200, and more than 200 climbers had summited Everest two or more times. Both statistics grew dramatically in the succeeding decade, particularly the proportion of climbers with multiple ascents; by the end of the 2013 climbing season, the tally of successful ascents of the mountain was approaching 7,000, and some 2,750 had climbed it more than once.\nSince 1990\nCommercialism and tragedy\nIn the 1950s and ’60s the expense of mounting an expedition to Everest was so great and the number of climbers familiar with the Himalayas so few that there were many years in which no team attempted the mountain. By the 1970s expeditions had become more common, but Nepal was still issuing only two or three permits per year. In the 1980s permits became available for both the pre- and post- monsoon seasons and for routes via China as well as Nepal , and the total number of expeditions increased to about 10 per year. During the 1990s it became normal for there to be at least 10 expeditions per season on each side of the mountain, and those numbers continued to increase after 2000.\nAustralian climber Lincoln Hall on Mount Everest in May 1996, a survivor of the deadly events on …\nJamie McGuinness—Project-Himalaya.com/AP\nOne of the most successful operators, New Zealander Rob Hall, had led teams up the South Col route to the summit in 1990 and in 1992, ’93, and ’94. On May 10, 1996, his group and several other teams were caught at the summit in a bad afternoon storm. Hall and his American client, Doug Hansen, both died at the South Summit. An American guide from a separate commercial expedition, Scott Fischer, also died, along with several other climbers, including three Indians, on the Northeast Ridge. Although the deaths in the late 1980s had gone almost unnoticed, those from the 1996 storm were reported instantly over the Internet and generated massive press coverage and disaster literature. In all, 12 climbers died in that year’s pre-monsoon season, and an additional 3 died after the monsoon. The 1996 disaster may have caught the world’s attention, but it did nothing to decrease the lure of Everest. If anything, commercial traffic increased dramatically, despite the obvious message that no guide can guarantee a climber’s safety at such great heights. Indeed, after 2000 the number of climbers making it to the top of Everest continued to rise, reaching a peak of some 630 in 2007 and exceeding 650 in 2013.\nIt became increasingly common for several expeditions to be operating simultaneously on the mountain and for dozens of climbers to reach the summit on a single day; on May 23, 2001, nearly 90 accomplished the feat, and in succeeding years daily totals typically approached or exceeded that number during the peak of the May climbing season. An unprecedented 234 climbers made it to the top on May 19, 2012. Such large throngs of climbers inevitably created traffic jams in some of the narrower passages. One of the more notorious of those instances was on the record day, May 19, 2012, when the climbers became dangerously backed up at the Hillary Step. Four people died then, prompting expedition leaders to better coordinate their final ascent attempts with each other.\nSouthern (Hillary-Tenzing) summit route up Mount Everest showing the location of the April 18, …\nPhoto: Lee Klopfer/Alamy Art: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\nOver the years, considerable improvements in climbing gear and equipment, technology (including mobile wireless availability on the mountain), and expedition planning have improved the safety of those climbing Everest. However, the region remains a highly dangerous place where tragedy can strike at any time. Two notable examples occurred almost exactly a year apart. On April 18, 2014, an avalanche struck a group of Sherpas who were carrying supplies through the Khumbu Icefall. A total of 16 died (13 confirmed; 3 missing and presumed killed), making it the deadliest single day in Everest climbing history to that date. On April 25, 2015, however, a massive earthquake in central Nepal triggered avalanches on Everest, one of which swept through Base Camp, killing or injuring dozens of climbers and workers there. The known death toll on the mountain was 19—which included one climber who died after being evacuated to a hospital—surpassing the total from the previous year. In addition, the route through the Khumbu Icefall was severely damaged, stranding dozens of climbers at Camps I and II above the icefall, who then had to be rescued by helicopter.\nClimbers walking to a helicopter landing site prior to evacuation from Mount Everest Base Camp, …\nPhurba Tenjing Sherpa—Reuters/Landov\nThe 2014 disaster put an end to the Nepalese-side climbing season, after the Sherpas decided that they would not climb. One Chinese woman did reach the summit after being helicoptered to and from Camp II, and some 125 climbers made it to the top from the north (Chinese) side. Soon after the 2015 Nepalese-side avalanche, Chinese officials announced that the climbing season on the north side was canceled. For a time, there was some discussion of trying to repair the damaged route through the icefall, but it was deemed not possible, thus effectively ending climbing on the south side also for that year’s spring season. The icefall route was repaired during the summer, and the Nepalese government issued a climbing permit to a Japanese mountaineer. In September he made a solo summit attempt before turning back at an elevation of about 26,740 feet (8,150 metres). As a result, 2015 was the first year in more than four decades that not one person had reached the top of Everest.\nExtraordinary feats\nIn pure mountaineering terms, the big achievements of the 1990s were the first winter ascent of the Southwest Face in 1993 (by a Japanese team led by Yagihara Kuniaki), the first complete ascent of the Northeast Ridge in 1995 (by another Japanese team led by Kanzaki Tadao), and the first ascent of the North-Northeast Couloir in 1996 (by a Russian team led by Sergei Antipin). Most of the activity, however, became concentrated on the two “normal” routes via the South Col and North Col; there the majority of expeditions were commercial operations, with clients paying for (generally) efficient logistics , satellite weather forecasts, the use of a copious amount of fixed ropes, and an increasingly savvy Sherpa workforce.\nMeanwhile, a few individuals continued to achieve astounding new feats. In 1990 Tim Macartney-Snape traveled on foot all the way from sea level in the Bay of Bengal to the summit of Everest, without supplemental oxygen. Goran Kropp took this a step further in 1996 by bicycling all the way from his native Sweden before ascending Everest; he then cycled home. In 2001 the first blind person, American Erik Weihenmayer, summited Everest; he was an experienced climber who had already scaled peaks such as Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska and Kilimanjaro in eastern Africa before his climb of Everest.\nBlind American climber Erik Weihenmayer on his successful summit ascent of Mount Everest in 2001.\n© Didrik Johnck/Corbis\nFor sheer physiological prowess, however, few could match the Sherpas: in 1999 Babu Chiri climbed the southern route from Base Camp to summit in 16 hours 56 minutes. However, this accomplishment was surpassed by two Sherpas in 2003— Pemba Dorje and Lakpa Gelu, with Lakpa summiting in just 10 hours 56 minutes. Not to be outdone, Pemba returned the next year and reached the top in 8 hours 10 minutes. Perhaps as remarkable were the achievements of Apa Sherpa . In 2000 he reached the summit for a record 11th time, and he continued to break his own mark in succeeding years. Beginning in 2008, Apa’s summit climbs were undertaken as a member of the Eco Everest Expeditions; he recorded his 21st ascent on May 11, 2011. Apa’s total was matched by another Sherpa, Phurba Tashi, in 2013.\nMountaineer Apa Sherpa on the summit of Mount Everest, 2009.\nMingma Sherpa\nThe record for the youngest person to reach the summit has been set several times since the advent of commercial Everest climbs. For some time it remained at 16 years after Nepal banned climbing by those younger than that age. However, at the time, China imposed no such restrictions, and in 2003 Ming Kipa Sherpa, a 15-year-old Nepalese girl, reached the summit from the Tibetan side. Her record was eclipsed in 2010 when American Jordan Romero, 13, reached the top—again from the north side—on May 22. Romero’s accomplishment was made all the more notable because it was the sixth of the seven continental high points he had reached.\nBeginning in the early 2000s, the record for the oldest person to ascend Everest alternated between two men, Japanese Miura Yūichirō and Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherchan. Miura—a former extreme skier who gained notoriety for skiing down the South Col in 1970 (the subject of an Academy Award -winning 1975 documentary, The Man Who Skied Down Everest)—set the standard at age 70, when he reached the top on May 22, 2003. On May 26, 2008, when he was 75, he made a second successful ascent, but Sherchan, age 76 and a former soldier, had summited the day before, on May 25, to claim the record. Miura regained the honour on May 23, 2013, at the age of 80. The oldest woman to reach the summit was another Japanese climber, Watanabe Tamae, who set the record twice: first on May 16, 2002, at age 63, and again on May 19, 2012, at age 73.\nSome of the most-remarkable of the “stunts” attempted since 1990 have been unusual descents. In 1996 Italian Hans Kammerlander made a one-day ascent and descent of the north side, the latter partly accomplished on skis. In 1999 Pierre Tardivel managed to ski down from the South Summit. The first complete uninterrupted ski descent from the summit was by Slovenian Davo Karničar in 2000, upstaged a year later by the French extreme sportsman Marco Siffredi with his even more-challenging snowboard descent of the North Face.\nFinding Mallory and commemorating historic ascents\nTwo notable Everest events bracketed the turn of the 21st century. In the spring of 1999, 75 years after George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had disappeared climbing Everest, an expedition led by American Eric Simonson set out to learn their fate. On May 1 members of the team found Mallory’s body lying on a scree terrace below the Yellow Band at about 26,700 feet (8,140 metres). It was determined that Mallory had died during or immediately after a bad fall: he had skull and compound leg fractures, and bruising was still visible on the preserved torso—probably caused by a rope that was still tied around his waist. The team could not determine if the body was the same one found by a Chinese climber in 1975 or if that one had been the body of Irvine. It was clear, however, that both Mallory and Irvine had been involved in a serious fall that broke the rope which undoubtedly joined them. Personal effects found on Mallory included his goggles, altimeter , and a pocketknife, but not the camera he is thought to have taken with him when he left for the summit. It had been hoped that the film from it (if it could be developed) might have revealed more about the climb, especially if the pair had reached the summit.\nThe 50th anniversary of Tenzing and Hillary’s historic ascent was widely observed in 2003. Commemoration of the event had actually begun the previous May, when second-generation summiteers—Hillary’s son Peter and Barry Bishop ’s son Brent—scaled the peak (the younger Hillary speaking to his father in New Zealand from the top via satellite phone); Tenzing’s son, Jamling Norgay, also participated in the expedition but did not make the final summit climb. In the spring of 2003 scores of climbers were able to reach the top of Everest before the May 29 anniversary date. Celebrations were held in several locations worldwide on the day itself, including one in Kathmandu where hundreds of past summit climbers joined Hillary and other members of the 1953 expedition.\nSeveral milestone anniversaries were observed in 2013. A variety of events were tied to remembering the 60th anniversary of Tenzing and Hillary’s climb, including summiting of Everest by hundreds of climbers and treks by others on and around its lower slopes. The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) hosted a special lecture on May 29 that included Peter Hillary, Jamling Tenzing, and Jan Morris—the latter being the last surviving member of the 1953 expedition. In March the RGS also hosted a 25th-anniversary reunion of members from the 1988 East Face expedition. Several members of the first U.S. ascent (1963), including James Whittaker and Norman Dyhrenfurth, gathered in San Francisco in February for an observance of the 50th anniversary of that expedition. In addition, the 80th anniversary of the first airplane flight over the mountain was remembered during the year.","Nanga_Parbat.txt\nNanga Parbat\nNanga Parbat (literally, Naked Mountain ; Urdu: ) is the ninth highest mountain in the world at 8126 m above sea level. It is the western anchor of the Himalayas around which the Indus river skirts into the plains of Pakistan. It is located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan and is locally known as 'Deo Mir' ('देओ मीर')('Deo' meaning 'huge') ('mir' meaning 'mountain'). \n\nNanga Parbat is one of the eight-thousanders, with a summit elevation of 8126 m. An immense, dramatic peak rising far above its surrounding terrain, Nanga Parbat is also a notoriously difficult climb. Numerous mountaineering deaths in the mid and early 20th century lent it the nickname \"killer mountain\".\n\nLocation\n\nNanga Parbat forms the western anchor of the Himalayan Range and is the westernmost eight-thousander. It lies just south of the Indus River in the Diamer District of Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan. Not far to the north is the western end of the Karakoram range.\n\nNotable features\n\nNanga Parbat has tremendous vertical relief over local terrain in all directions.\n\nTo the south, Nanga Parbat boasts what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world: the Rupal Face rises 4600 m above its base. To the north, the complex, somewhat more gently sloped Rakhiot Flank rises 7000 m from the Indus River valley to the summit in just 25 km, one of the 10 greatest elevation gains in so short a distance on Earth.\n\nNanga Parbat is one of only two peaks on Earth that rank in the top twenty of both the highest mountains in the world, and the most prominent peaks in the world, ranking ninth and fourteenth respectively. The other is Mount Everest, which is first on both lists. It is also the second most prominent peak of the Himalayas, after Mount Everest. The key col for Nanga Parbat is Zoji La in Kashmir, which connects it to higher peaks in the remaining Himalaya-Karakoram range. \n\nNanga Parbat along with Namcha Barwa on the Tibetan Plateau mark the west and east ends of the Himalayas.\n\nLayout of the mountain\n\nThe core of Nanga Parbat is a long ridge trending southwest–northeast. The ridge is an enormous bulk of ice and rock. It has three faces, Diamir face, Rakhiot and Rupal. The southwestern portion of this main ridge is known as the Mazeno Wall, and has a number of subsidiary peaks. In the other direction, the main ridge arcs northeast at Rakhiot Peak (7,070 m / 23,196 ft). The south/southeast side of the mountain is dominated by the massive Rupal Face, noted above. The north/northwest side of the mountain, leading to the Indus, is more complex. It is split into the Diamir (west) face and the Rakhiot (north) face by a long ridge. There are a number of subsidiary summits, including North Peak (7,816 m / 25,643 ft) some 3 km north of the main summit. Near the base of the Rupal Face is a beautiful glacial lake called Latbo, above a seasonal shepherds' village of the same name.\n\nClimbing history\n\nEarly attempts\n\nClimbing attempts started very early on Nanga Parbat. In 1895 Albert F. Mummery led an expedition to the peak, and reached almost 6,100 m (20,000 ft) on the Diamir (West) Face, but Mummery and two Gurkha companions later died reconnoitering the Rakhiot Face.\n\nIn the 1930s, Nanga Parbat became the focus of German interest in the Himalayas. The German mountaineers were unable to attempt Mount Everest, as only the British had access to Tibet. Initially German efforts focused on Kanchenjunga, to which Paul Bauer led two expeditions in 1930 and 1931, but with its long ridges and steep faces Kanchenjunga was more difficult than Everest and neither expedition made much progress. K2 was known to be harder still, and its remoteness meant that even reaching its base would be a major undertaking. Nanga Parbat was therefore the highest mountain accessible to Germans and also deemed reasonably possible by climbers at the time. \n\nThe first German expedition to Nanga Parbat was led by Willy Merkl in 1932. It is sometimes referred to as a German-American expedition, as the eight climbers included Rand Herron, an American, and Fritz Wiessner, who would become an American citizen the following year. While the team were all strong climbers, none had Himalayan experience, and poor planning (particularly an inadequate number of porters), coupled with bad weather, prevented the team progressing far beyond the Rakhiot Peak northeast of the Nanga Parbat summit, reached by Peter Aschenbrenner and Herbert Kunigk, but they did establish the feasibility of a route via Rakhiot Peak and the main ridge. \n\nMerkl led another expedition in 1934, which was better prepared and financed with the full backing of the new Nazi government. Early in the expedition Alfred Drexel died, probably of high altitude pulmonary edema. The Tyrolean climbers Peter Aschenbrenner and Erwin Schneider reached an estimated height of (7,895 m / 25,900 ft) on July 6, but were forced to return because of worsening weather. On July 7 they and 14 others were trapped by a ferocious storm at 7,480 m (24,540 ft). During the desperate retreat that followed, three famous German mountaineers, Uli Wieland, Willo Welzenbach and Merkl himself, and six Sherpas died of exhaustion, exposure and altitude sickness, and several more suffered severe frostbite. The last survivor to reach safety, Ang Tsering, did so having spent seven days battling through the storm. It has been said that the disaster, \"for sheer protracted agony, has no parallel in climbing annals.\" \n\nIn 1937, Karl Wien led another expedition to the mountain, following the same route as Merkl's expeditions had done. Progress was made, but more slowly than before due to heavy snowfall. Some time around the 14th of June seven Germans and nine Sherpas, almost the entire team, were at Camp IV below Rakhiot Peak when it was overwhelmed by an avalanche. All sixteen men died instantly. \n\nThe Germans returned in 1938 led by Paul Bauer, but the expedition was plagued by bad weather, and Bauer, mindful of the previous disasters, ordered the party down before the Silver Saddle, halfway between Rakhiot Peak and Nanga Parbat summit, was reached. The following year a small four man expedition, including Heinrich Harrer, explored the Diamir Face with the aim of finding an easier route. They concluded that the face was a viable route, but the Second World War intervened and the four men were interned in Pakistan . Harrer's escape and subsequent travels became the subject of his book Seven Years in Tibet.\n\nFirst ascent\n\nNanga Parbat was first climbed, via the Rakhiot Flank (East Ridge), on July 3, 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl, a member of a German-Austrian team. The expedition was organized by the half-brother of Willy Merkl, Karl Herrligkoffer from Munich, while the expedition leader was Peter Aschenbrenner from Innsbruck, who had participated in the 1932 and 1934 attempts. By the time of this expedition, 31 people had already died on the mountain. \n\nThe final push for the summit was dramatic: Buhl continued alone for the final 1300 meters, after his companions had turned back. Under the influence of the drugs pervitin (based on the stimulant methamphetamine used by soldiers during World War II), padutin, and tea from coca leaves, he reached the summit dangerously late, at 7 p.m., the climbing harder and more time-consuming than he had anticipated. His descent was slowed when he lost a crampon. Caught by darkness, he was forced to bivouac standing upright on a narrow ledge, holding a small handhold with one hand. Exhausted, he dozed occasionally, but managed to maintain his balance. He was also very fortunate to have a calm night, so he was not subjected to wind chill. He finally reached his high camp at 7 p.m. the next day, 40 hours after setting out. The ascent was made without oxygen, and Buhl is the only man to have made the first ascent of an 8000 m peak alone.\n\nSubsequent attempts and ascents\n\nThe second ascent of Nanga Parbat was via the Diamir Face, in 1962, by Germans Toni Kinshofer, Siegfried \"Siegi\" Löw, and A. Mannhardt. The route is now the \"standard route\" on the mountain. The Kinshofer route does not ascend the middle of the Diamir Face, which is threatened by avalanches from massive hanging glaciers. Instead it climbs a buttress on the left side of the face.\n\nIn 1970 the brothers Günther and Reinhold Messner made the third ascent of the mountain and the first ascent of the Rupal Face. They were unable to descend by their original route, and instead descended by the Diamir Face, making the first traverse of the mountain. Unfortunately Günther was killed in an avalanche on the Diamir Face. (Messner's account of this incident has been disputed. In 2005 Günther's remains were found on the Diamir Face.)\n\nIn 1971 Ivan Fiala and Michael Orolin summited Nanga Parbat via Buhl's 1953 route while other expedition members climbed the SE peak (7,600 m / 24,925 ft) above the Silbersattel and the foresummit (7,850 m / 25,760 ft) above the Bazhin Gap.\n\nIn 1976 a team of four made the sixth summit via a new route on the Rupal Face (second ascent on this face), then named the Schell route after the Austrian team leader. The line had been plotted by Karl Herrligkoffer on a previous unsuccessful attempt.\n\nIn 1978 Reinhold Messner returned to the Diamir Face and achieved the first completely solo ascent (i.e. always solo above Base Camp) of an 8,000 m peak.\n\nIn 1984 the French climber Lilliane Barrard became the first woman to climb Nanga Parbat, along with her husband Maurice Barrard.\n\nIn 1985, Jerzy Kukuczka, Zygmunt Heinrich, Slawomir Lobodzinski (all Polish) and Carlos Carsolio (Mexico) climbed a bold line up the Southeast Pillar (or Polish Spur) on the right-hand side of the Rupal Face, reaching the summit July 13. It was Kukuczka's 9th 8000m summit. \n\nAlso in 1985, a Polish women's team climbed the peak via the 1962 German Diamir Face route. Wanda Rutkiewicz, Krystyna Palmowska and Anna Czerwinska reached the summit on July 15.\n\n\"Modern\" superalpinism was brought to Nanga Parbat in 1988 with an unsuccessful attempt or two on the Rupal Face by Barry Blanchard, Mark Twight, Ward Robinson and Kevin Doyle. \n\n2005 saw a resurgence of lightweight, alpine-style attempts on the Rupal Face:\n\n*In August 2005, Pakistani military helicopters rescued Slovenian mountaineer Tomaž Humar, who was stuck under a narrow ice ledge at 5,900 m (19,400 ft) for six days. It is believed to be one of the few successful rescues carried out at such high altitude. \n*In September 2005, Vince Anderson and Steve House did an extremely lightweight, fast ascent of a new, direct route on the face, earning high praise from the climbing community. \n\nOn July 17 or 18, 2006, José Antonio Delgado from Venezuela died a few days after reaching the summit, where he was caught by bad weather for six days and was unable to make his way down. He is the only Venezuelan climber, and one of few Latin Americans, to have reached the summit of five eight-thousanders.[http://www.nangaparbat2006.explorart.com/ NANGA PARBAT 2006] Part of the expedition and the rescue efforts at base camp were captured on video, as Delgado was the subject of a pilot for a mountaineering television series. Explorart Films, the production company, later developed the project into a feature documentary film called Beyond the Summit, which was scheduled to be released in South America in January 2008.[http://www.masalladelacumbre.com/ Mas Alla de la Cumbre - Beyond the Summit]\n\nOn July 15, 2008, Italian alpinist Karl Unterkircher fell into a crevasse during an attempt to open a new route to the top with Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer. Unterkircher died, but Kehrer and Nones were rescued by the Pakistani army. \n\nOn July 12, 2009, after reaching the summit, South Korean climber Go Mi-Young fell off a cliff on the descent in bad weather in her race to be the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. \n\nOn July 15, 2012 Scottish mountaineers Sandy Allan and Rick Allen made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat via the 10 km-long Mazeno Ridge, and in April 2013 were awarded the Piolet d'Or for their achievement. \n\nWinter climbing\n\nNanga Parbat was first successfully climbed in winter on 26 February 2016, by a team consisting of Ali Sadpara, Alex Txikon and Simone Moro. \n\nPrevious attempts:\n* 1988/89 - Polish 12-member expedition KW Zakopane under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka. They first attempted the Rupal Face and then the Diamir Face. On the Messner route, Maciej Berbeka, Piotr Konopka and Andrzej Osika reached an altitude of about 6500-6800m. \n* 1990/91 - Polish-English expedition under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka reached the height of 6600m on the Messner route, and then Andrzej Osika and John Tinker by the Schell route up the Rupal Face reached a height of 6600m. \n* 1991/92 - Polish expedition KW Zakopane under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka from the Rupal valley. This light, bold attack in alpine style on the Schell route reached the height of 7000m. \n* 1992/93 - French expedition Eric Monier and Monique Loscos - Schell route on the Rupal Face. They came to BC on December 20. Eric reached 6500m on January 9 and on January 13 the expedition was abandoned.\n* 1996/97 - two expeditions: \n** Polish expedition led by Andrzej Zawada from the Diamir valley, Kinshofer route. During the summit attempt by the team of Zbigniew Trzmiel and Krzysztof Pankiewicz, Trzmiel reached a height of 7800m. The assault was interrupted because of frostbite. After descending to the base camp, both climbers were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital.\n** British expedition led by Victor Saunders, taking the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face. Victor Saunders, Dane Rafael Jensen and Pakistani Ghulam Hassan reached the height of 6000m. \n* 1997/98 - Polish expedition led by Andrzej Zawada from the Diamir valley, Kinshofer route. Expedition reached the height of 6800 m, encountered an unusually heavy snowfall. A falling stone broke Ryszard Pawłowski's leg. \n* 2004/05 - Austrian expedition by brothers Wolfgang and Gerfried Göschl via the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face reached the height of 6500m. \n* 2006/07 - Polish HiMountain expedition on the Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition led by Krzysztof Wielicki, with Jan Szulc, Artur Hajzer, Dariusz Załuski, Jacek Jawień, Jacek Berbeka, Przemysław Łoziński, and Robert Szymczak reached a height of 7000m. \n* 2007/08 - Italian Simone La Terra started climbing solo at the beginning of December, reaching a height of 6000m.\n* 2008/09 - Polish expedition on the Diamir side. Jacek Teler (leader) and Jarosław Żurawski. Deep snow prevented them from hauling their equipment to the base of the Face, forcing the base camp to be placed five kilometres earlier. Camp I set at an altitude of 5400m. \n* 2010/11 - two expeditions:\n** Sergei Nikolayevich Cygankow in a solo expedition on the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face reached the 6000m. He contracted pulmonary edema and ended the expedition.\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz and Marek Klonowski - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Kinshofer route on the Diamir side reached 5100m. \n* 2011/12 - three expeditions:\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz, Marek Klonowski and \"Krzaq\" - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Kinshofer route on the Diamir side reached 5500m. \n** Denis Urubko and Simone Moro first Diamir side on the Kinshofer route, and then by Messner route in year 2000 reached a height of 6800m. \n* 2012/13 - four expeditions:\n** Frenchman Joël Wischnewski solo on the Rupal Face in an alpine style. He was lost in February and his body was found in September at an altitude of about 6100m. He went missing after February 6 and was probably hit by an avalanche. \n** Italy's Daniele Nardi and French Elisabeth Revol - Mummery Rib on the Diamir reached the height of 6450m. \n** Hungarian-American expedition: David Klein, Zoltan Acs and Ian Overton. Zoltan has suffered frostbite while reaching the base and did not participate in the further ascent. David and Ian reached the height of about 5400m on the Diamir Face.\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz and Marek Klonowski - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Schell route on the Rupal Face. Marek Klonowski reached a height of 6600m. February 7, 2013 Tomasz Mackiewicz in a lone attack reached a height of 7400m. \n* 2013/14 - four expeditions:\n** Italian Simone Moro, Germany David Göttler and Italy Emilio Previtali - Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition cooperated with Polish expedition. David Göttler, on February 28, set Camp IV at about 7000m. On March 1, together with Tomasz Mackiewicz reached an altitude of about 7200m. On the same day David and Simone decided to end the expedition. \n** Tomasz Mackiewicz, Marek Klonowski, Jacek Teler, Paweł Dunaj, Michał Obrycki, Michał Dzikowski - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition cooperated with Italian-German expedition. March 1, Tomasz Mackiewicz and David Göttler reached an altitude of about 7200m. On March 8, at a height of about 5000m, Paweł Dunaj and Michał Obrycki were hit by an avalanche. Both were roughed up and suffered fractures. The rescue operation was successful.\n** German Ralf Dujmovits on the Diamir Face, by Reinhold Messner route in 1978 (as a filmmaker this expedition Pole Dariusz Załuski - he had no plan of summit attack). December 30 both came at 5500m. On January 2, because of the serac threat, Dujmovits decided to abandon the expedition. \n** Italy's Daniele Nardi. Solo expedition from the Diamir side on Mummery Rib. Italy set Camp I at 4900 and reached an altitude of about 5450m. On March 1 he decided to end the expedition.\n* 2014/15 - five expeditions:\n** Pole Tomasz Mackiewicz and Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol - Nanga Parbat Winter Expedition 2014/2015. The north-west Diamir Face, unfinished route by Messner-Hanspeter 2000. They reached 7800m. \n** Italian Daniele Nardi planning the trip solo summit Mummery Rib on the Diamir Face, accompanied by Roberto Delle Monache (photographer) and Federico Santinii (filmmaker)\n** A 4-member Russian expedition - Nikolay Totmjanin, Sergei Kondraszkin, Valery Szamało, Victor Smith - Schell route on the Rupal Face. They reached 7150m. \n** A 3-person expedition Iran - Reza Bahador, Iraj Maani and Mahmoud Hashemi\n* 2015/16 - five expeditions:\n** Nanga Light 2015/16 with Tomasz, Elisabeth Revol and Arsalan Ahmed Ansari. On January 22, Mackiewicz and Revol reached 7500m, but they were forced to cancel their attempt for the summit due to excessive cold. \n** Nanga Stegu Revolution 2015/16 with Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech. After an accident Bielecki's injuries after a fall, forced the team down.\n** \"Nanga Dream - Justice for All\" - under the lead of Marek Klonowski with Paweł Dunaj, Paweł Witkowski, Tomasz Dziobkowski, Michał Dzikowski, Paweł Kudła, Piotr Tomza and Karim Hayat and Safdar Karim. As of 19.01.2016 still at around 7000m, trying to reach the summit.[http://off.sport.pl/off/1,111379,19497118,nanga-parbat-bielecki-i-czech-w-drodze-do-domu-mackiewicz.html#TRrelSST]\n** International team consisting of Alex Txikon, Daniele Nardi and Ali Sadpara.\n** Italian team consisting of Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger.\n** The two above mentioned teams (with the exception of Daniele Nardi) joined their efforts and on 26 February 2016 Simone Moro, Alex Txikon and Ali Sadpara reached the summit, marking the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, while Tamara Lunger stopped a short way under the summit due to nausea and extreme cold,giving an interview to Noor abbas Qureshi, she told that she tried her best, but her health didn't allowed her to touch the summit.\n\nTaliban attack\n\nOn June 23, 2013, about 15 extremist militants wearing Gilgit Scouts uniforms shot to death ten foreign climbers (one Lithuanian, three Ukrainians, two Slovakians, two Chinese, one Chinese-American and one Nepali) and one Pakistani guide at Base Camp. Another foreign victim was injured. The attack occurred at around 1AM and was claimed by a local branch of the Taliban. (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan). \n\nReferences in popular culture\n\nBooks \n\nIn the first chapter of Mistress of Mistresses, by E.R. Eddison, the narrator compares his now deceased compatriot, Lessingham, to Nanga Parbat in a descriptive passage:\n\n\"I remember, years later, his describing to me the effect of the sudden view you get of Nanga Parbat from one of those Kashmir valleys; you have been riding for hours among quiet richly wooded scenery, winding up along the side of some kind of gorge, with nothing very big to look at, just lush, leafy, pussy-cat country of steep hillsides and waterfalls; then suddenly you come round a corner where the view opens up the valley, and you are almost struck senseless by the blinding splendour of that vast face of ice-hung precipices and soaring ridges, sixteen thousand feet from top to toe, filling a whole quarter of the heavens at a distance of, I suppose, only a dozen miles. And now, whenever I call to mind my first sight of Lessingham in that little daleside church so many years ago, I think of Nanga Parbat.\" (Mistress of Mistresses, 1935, p.2-3)\n\nJonathan Neale wrote a book about the 1934 climbing season on Nanga Parbat called Tigers of the Snow. He interviewed many old Sherpas, including Ang Tsering, the last man off Nanga Parbat alive in 1934. The book attempts to narrate what went wrong on the expedition, set against mountaineering history of the early twentieth century, the background of German politics in the 1930s, and the hardship and passion of life in the Sherpa valleys. \n\nMovies \n\nNanga Parbat is a movie by Joseph Vilsmaier about the 1970 expedition of brothers Günther Messner and Reinhold Messner. the film was managed by the CEO of nanga parbat adventure:Mr Liver Khan ], \n\nDonald Shebib's 1986 film The Climb covers the story of Hermann Buhl making the first ascent. \nSeven Years in Tibet features Nanga parbat.\n\nHans Ertl's 1953 documentary Nanga Parbat. \n\nComics \n\nNanda Parbat is a fictional city in the DC Comics universe, patterned after the fictional Shangri-La and the real Nanga Parbat in Pakistan.\n\nNearby peaks\n\n* Rakhiot Peak\n* Chongra Peak\n* Mazeno Peak\n* Rupal Peak\n* Laila Peak (Rupal Valley)\n* Shaigiri","History - Grand National\nGrand National History. The Grand ... Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was ... RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put ...\nHistory\nHistory\nIt is illegal for anyone aged under 18 to gamble\nGrand National History\nThe Grand National at Aintree has been a British sporting institution since 1839, when a horse called Lottery won the inaugural running and Captain Becher parted company with his horse at a now world famous brook.\nIn those days, the horses had to jump a stone wall, cross a stretch of ploughed land and finish over two hurdles. The race was then known as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.\nThe course was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829.\nThere is actually much debate regarding the first official Grand National; some leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree.\nHowever, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \"national�. To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836�1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838 leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar.\nSecondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time.\nFinally, a committee was formed to better organise the event.\nThese factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National.\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart.\nThe Grand National has produced a colourful array of stories throughout its illustrious past. Here are our favourites, including some famous video clips:\nRed Rum\nIt was over 40 years ago now that Red Rum recorded the first of the three victories in the Grand National that earned him pride of place in the record books forever. He still remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times and, as that statistic suggests, the great horse was a phenomenon.\nBred to be a sprinter, Red Rum went on to win the gruelling four-and-a-half mile chase in 1973, 1974 and 1977, as well as finishing second on his other two starts, to become the greatest Grand National performer ever. All of this was achieved after overcoming the debilitating bone disease pedalosteitis, which should have rendered him unraceable. However, fate stepped in: Red Rum was at probably the only yard in the country where the training took place on a beach. The sea water, into which trainer Donald �Ginger� McCain banished Red Rum after viewing the hobbling horse, worked an amazing transformation.\nOn 31 March, 1973, he started 9/1 favourite for his first Grand National. However, by the time the runners had reached the Chair the giant Australian chaser, Crisp, who was shouldering top weight of 12st (a weight that is now forbidden in the National), had built up a massive lead and appeared unstoppable with four fences to go. But, conceding 23lb to Red Rum, his stamina started to wane and he slowly began to falter at the famous Elbow after being more than 15 lengths in front of his rival at the last. Red Rum gradually wore Crisp down, getting up on the line to beat him by three-quarters of a length in a then record time of 9 min 1.9 sec, knocking nearly 20 seconds off Golden Miller's previous best under 12st 2lb in 1934 - this new record would stand for the next 16 years. You can watch this incredible race and finish here:\nRed Rum was never better than in the 1973/74 season when he won four more races before collecting his second Grand National, this time carrying the maximum weight of 12st. Giving 1lb to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, L'Escargot, Red Rum started third favourite at 11/1, racing off a mark nearly two stone higher than for his 1973 victory. He was the first to achieve the double since Reynoldstown in 1936. Only three weeks later, Red Rum won the Scottish Grand National as the 11/8 favourite under 11st 13lb.\nIt was then presumed that, having reached a zenith, Red Rum's talent would gradually decline in keeping with the rolling years. Between the autumn of 1974 and the spring of 1976, he ran in 18 chases, winning twice and being placed seven times. But he also gallantly failed to resist first L'Escargot and then Rag Trade in the 1975 and 1976 Grand National's.\nThe 1976/77 season began dismally. After an initial small win at Carlisle, Red Rum appeared totally lacklustre in his next four races, and even McCain began to think that he might have \"gone\".\nA foul winter had waterlogged the Southport sands, making them useless for training purposes, but Red Rum finally showed something like his old sparkle in his prep race for the 1977 Grand National, the Greenall Whitley Chase at Haydock. Worries about the now 12-year-old gelding's unwonted bulk abated when, in his last gallop before Aintree, he dazzled McCain and assorted members of the press who had gathered to watch.\nRidden by Tommy Stack, as he had been in 1976, Red Rum tackled his fifth Grand National in 1977. In the lead from the eighth last, Red Rum appeared momentarily to have a challenger in Churchtown Boy, but the latter's mistake at the third last compared with Red Rum's foot-perfect agility soon settled things in Rummy�s favour. The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening as he led up the long run-in, winning by 25 lengths under 11st 8lb and you can watch the historic race below:\nIn 1976, Red Rum had given Eyecatcher 17lb and beat her by eight lengths; in 1977, he gave her 21lb and a 31-length beating, rating an improvement at the age of 12 of two stone. The treble, five years in the making, had been achieved.\nThe celebrations in Southport which received the three-time Grand National winner home were long and rapturous. But the greatest Aintree horse of all time was not yet finished. Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was being trained for a sixth attempt at the great race.\nHe had run well all season, amassing two seconds and a fourth under mighty weights in his five races. But, after his customary pre-National work-out on the day before the big race, Red Rum pulled up lame. The problem proved to be a hairline fracture and the horse had to be retired.\nRetired, that is, from the realm of racing. But Red Rum's career as a celebrity continued - a role to which he was as well-adapted as to tackling the Aintree fences. He thrived as the centre of attention, as anyone who saw the 1977 episode of Sports Personality of the Year Awards can testify. Hearing the voice of Tommy Stack, who was speaking from his hospital bed with a broken pelvis, Red Rum immediately pricked his ears, displaying the great intelligence and showmanship so evident in the horse throughout his life. He went on to lead the parade in many Grand Nationals.\nRed Rum died on Wednesday, October 18, 1995 and was buried by the winning post on Aintree's Grand National course. His grave is marked by an engraved stone listing his Grand National record, and a life-size bronze commemorates this legendary competitor, along with a race staged at the Grand National meeting, the Red Rum Chase, named in the great horse's memory.\nAldaniti\nThere was hardly a dry eye among the crowd when Aldaniti won the Grand National in 1981. It was a victory for both courage and determination in the face of adversity.\nIn late 1979, Bob Champion, the successful jockey, was told that he had cancer and only months to live, while Aldaniti had almost been retired because of leg trouble. Against all the odds, the gallant partnership held on to beat Spartan Missile, ridden by John Thorne, a 54-year-old grandfather and amateur rider.\nThe winner's true-life story inspired the 1983 film Champions, starring John Hurt. Aldaniti died at the age of 27 in March, 1997. Bob Champion made a full recovery and, with the help of Aldaniti, has raised millions of pounds for cancer research.\nAldaniti's name was a jumble from the names of four grandchildren of his breeder, Tommy Barron: ALastair and DAvid Cook plus NIcola and TImothy Barron.\nThe Pitmans\nThe Pitman family has a special association with the Grand National. In 1983, Jenny Pitman became the first woman to train a winner of the race when Corbiere beat Greasepaint. She followed up this victory in 1995 with Royal Athlete who succeeded at the long odds of 40/1, but experienced heartbreak when Esha Ness \"won\" the 1993 void race.\nMark, her son, must have gone through similar emotions when he was caught in the dying strides by Seagram whilst riding Garrison Savannah in 1991, also trained by his mother. Garrison Savannah was bidding for an historic double � and to emulate the great Golden Miller � having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier.\nYears earlier, Richard Pitman, then-husband to Jenny and Mark's father, was caught even closer to the winning post by Red Rum, the Aintree specialist, when he partnered the gallant top weight Crisp in 1973.\nMrs Pitman was awarded an OBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List and in the same year fought a successful battle against cancer. She has now retired from training as, for the time being, has her son Mark who carried on the family tradition for a while (he trained Smarty to finish second in 2001 when only four horses completed the course in terrible conditions, and sixth in 2004).\nJenny Pitman was also one of the first batch of inductees to the Grand National Legends (the Hall of Fame-style initiative that was established in 2010), along with Red Rum and his trainer, Ginger McCain.\nWatch Corbiere win the 1983 Grand National ahead of Greasepaint:\nDevon Loch\nThe 1956 National is remembered more for the defeat of Devon Loch than for the victory of ESB. Owned by Her Majesty The Queen Mother, Devon Loch had the race won when he inexplicably gave a half-leap just 50 yards from the finish, sprawling and almost unseating Dick Francis, the unfortunate jockey, and leaving the crowd stunned. Afterwards, The Queen Mother famously said \"That's racing\".\nDebate still rages as to why the incident happened - according to some reports, Devon Loch suffered a cramp in the hindquarters and this caused the collapse. However, other reports claim that a shadow thrown by the water jump (which horses only jump on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have confused Devon Loch into thinking another leap was required and - unsure as to whether he should or not - he half-jumped and collapsed. Reports that the horse had suffered a heart attack were dismissed, as Devon Loch recovered far too quickly for that to have been the case.\nWhatever the truth, the incident so puzzled Francis that he became a thriller writer, inventing mysteries himself and over the decades Francis learned to be as philosophical. As did his wife Mary who once said that had he won the Grand National there would have been no bestselling autobiography and no thrillers.\n\"As I said in my autobiography, an ambulance came by and the driver said, �Jump in the back!� I was never more pleased to get away from all the people who were rushing towards me. What happened? I�ve thought about it time and time again...I remember jumping the last fence and I could hear the crescendo of cheering building up in the stands. There were 500,000 people there that day. They were all cheering for the Queen Mother. She was there and the Queen was there and Princess Margaret was there.\" Francis is quoted as saying.\n\"I never thought about it at the time but I heard them cheering and I just rode to the finish. I was winning easily. I didn�t have to pick up my stick or anything like that. I�ve looked at the newsreel time and again and as the horse approaches the water jump � which this time round he didn�t need to cross � you can see him prick up his ears and gallop past it. As he pricked up its ears � Christ! � his hindquarters refused to act and down he went on to his belly. How I didn�t fall off him I don�t know.\"\nDevon Loch is a metaphor now used in modern day sports and otherwise to explain the sudden, last-minute failure of teams or a sportsman to complete an expected victory, e.g. \"United can only hope Arsenal do a Devon Loch.\"\nDick Francis died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, by which time he had written 40 international best-sellers.\nWatch Devon Loch sprawl on the run-in to the 1956 Grand National, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and allowing ESB to claim an unlikely success:\nDevon Loch spread-eagled on the run-in at the 1956 Grand National\nFoinavon\nFoinavon sensationally won the 1967 National in bizarre circumstances. At the smallest fence on the second circuit, the 23rd, the riderless Popham Down cut right across the course causing a pile-up that almost brought the entire field to a standstill. John Buckingham, Foinavon's jockey, was able to steer his mount wide of the melee and thus won on the 100/1 outsider.\nThe Aintree executive named the fence in honour of the horse - fence 7 or 23 (depending on the circuit), at 4ft 6in, one of the smallest jumps on the course, is situated between the more daunting Becher's Brook and the Canal Turn.\nFoinavon has sometimes been likened to a slow plodding carthorse, but records show that his 1967 winning time was one of the fastest in this gruelling race. Equally, this so called no-hoper had taken part in some top class races before attempting the Grand National and he had finished fourth in a King George and took part in a Gold Cup at Cheltenham, so perhaps his odds of 100/1 may have been a bit generous (although the Tote SP was 444/1). Nevertheless, his owner was so unenthusiastic about his chances that he was not even at Aintree for the great race.\nBuckingham said later that at the time he did not realise that they were the only pair to jump the fence at the first attempt but he just kept going. Although some 17 horses remounted and finished the race the distance Foinavon had \"stolen\" at the obstacle meant that he led over the final seven fences to go on to collect his prize, 15 lengths clear of the fast-closing favourite, Honey End, and Red Alligator, who went on to win in 1968.\nFoinavon did also run in the following year's Grand National but fell or was brought down at the water jump.\nFoinavon was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by the much superior Arkle - both were named after Scottish mountains. She also owned Last Suspect who won the 1985 Grand National.\nWatch the 1967 Grand National, courtesy of British Path� (scroll to around 1 minutes, 20 seconds to see all the drama unfold):\nThe commentary of Michael O'Hehir of the carnage at the 23rd fence ranks among the most famous in the history of BBC televised sport and is often shown when BBC Sport puts together nostalgic montages of great sporting moments. O'Hehir received particular respect from his peers for the speed and unflustered coolness with which he identified Foinavon as the horse emerging from the m�l�e. O'Hehir later said in an interview that it was precisely the unfamiliarity of Foinavon's colours that made him so instantly recognisable during the race. O'Hehir visited the weighing room before the race, as is the custom of many National commentators, to familiarise himself more clearly with the colours of the silks but found himself completely stumped when looking at the black with red and yellow braces being worn by John Buckingham. Eventually O'Hehir had to ask Buckingham who his mount was. A confused O'Hehir said that his racecard showed two-tone green quarters, as worn by the rider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier, but Buckingham explained that the owner felt green to be unlucky and so had registered new colours for the National.\nThe \"Iron\" Duke of Alburquerque\nBeltr�n Alfonso Osorio y D�ez de Rivera, known as the \"Iron\" Duke of Albuquerque (1918-1994), surely ranks as the worst jockey in horse-racing history. After receiving a film of the Grand National as a gift for his eighth birthday, the Duke became obsessed with it: \"I said then that I would win that race one day,\" he later recalled. He nearly died trying.\nThis magnificently barking mad Spanish aristocrat and amateur jockey entered the Grand National seven times with impressively consistent results. Generally he would start with the others, gallop briefly and then wake up in the Royal Liverpool Infirmary (where apparently he always booked a private room when he rode in the race). Each year, Sir Peter O'Sullevan would gravely intone: \"And the Duke of Albuquerque's gone\".\nOn his first attempt in 1952, he fell from his horse at the sixth fence, nearly broke his neck and woke up later in hospital with a cracked vertebra. His next try was in 1963, when he fell from his horse yet again, this time at the fourth fence. Undeterred, he returned in 1965 but again fell from his horse after it collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.\nHis ineptitude was so apparent that in 1963 bookies even offered odds of 66/1 - against him even finishing the race atop his horse!\nHe returned in 1973 when his stirrup broke, although he clung on for eight fences before being sent into inevitable orbit.\nIn 1974, after having sixteen screws removed from a leg he had broken after falling in another race, he also fell while training for the Grand National and broke his collarbone. Nevertheless, he then competed in a plaster cast, this time actually managing to finish the race for the only time in his splendid career, but only in eighth (and last) place aboard Nereo: \"I sat like a sack of potatoes and gave the horse no help\" he said after the race.\nOne anecdote from this race is that he barged into Ron Barry at the second Canal Turn; Barry said \"What the f*** are you doing?\" to which he replied: \"My dear chap I haven't a clue...I've never got this far before!\"\nIn 1976, he sustained his most serious injuries after being trampled in a race by several other horses. He suffered seven broken ribs, several fractured vertebrae, a broken wrist and thigh, and a major concussion, and was in a coma for two days. After recovering he announced, at the age of 57, that he planned to race yet again. Race organisers wisely revoked his license \"for his own safety\".\nThough the Iron Duke never won the Grand National, he certainly broke more bones than any other jockey in attempting to do so.\nNotable Dates In Grand National History\n1837: THE DUKE wins the first Great Liverpool Steeplechase at Maghull, some three miles from the present site of Aintree racecourse.\n1839: Aintree becomes the new home for the event, with LOTTERY carrying off the prize and Captain Martin Becher christening the now-famous brook as he crawls in for safety after a fall.\n1847: MATTHEW records the first Irish-trained victory on the day the race is officially named the Grand National.\n1887: GAMECOCK wins the National at 20-1 and follows up by winning the Champion Chase over the big fences the very next day.\n1897: MANIFESTO, the 6-1 favourite, records the first of his two wins in the race. He ran eight times up to the age of 16, also finishing third three times and fourth once.\n1907: Jockey Alf Newey brings EREMON home in front, despite riding without stirrups from the second fence.\n1927: Ted Leader rides SPRIG to a popular victory in the first Grand National to be covered by a BBC radio commentary.\n1928: On the day of the race, before it had begun, TIPPERARY TIM'S jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!�. These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. It was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey, Tommy Cullinan, managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at odds of 100-1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers.\n1934: The legendary GOLDEN MILLER becomes the only horse ever to win the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, carrying 12st 2lb to victory in record time.\nIn the 1934 Grand National, Golden Miller set a new course record of 9 min 20.4s. That win was in the middle of five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup victories\n1947: CAUGHOO beats 56 opponents at a mist-shrouded Aintree and is then accused of only going round once.\n1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, looking certain to give The Queen Mother victory when clear on the run-in, suddenly sprawl flat on the ground yards from the winning post, allowing ESB to win.\n1967: The year of the horrific pile-up at the 23rd. John Buckingham and complete outsider FOINAVON avoid the melee and gallop on to a 100-1 win.\n1974: Grand National character the Duke of Alburquerque completes the course for the one and only time in numerous attempts on NEREO, despite breaking his collarbone only a week before the race.\n1977: The incomparable RED RUM rewrites the record books with his historic third victory. 'Rummy' had five runs, with three wins and two seconds, from the age of eight to 12.\n1979: RUBSTIC makes history by becoming the first Scottish-trained winner. His homecoming party was heralded by a piper leading him back to the hamlet of Denholm, Roxburghshire.\n1981: ALDANITI, nursed back from career-threatening injury three times, wins a fairytale National ridden by Bob Champion, who fought, and beat, cancer.\n1982: Dick Saunders, at the age of 48, becomes the oldest winning jockey on GRITTAR. Geraldine Rees becomes the first woman to complete the course, riding the leg-weary CHEERS.\n1983: Years of doubt about the Grand National's future are ended when the Jockey Club, helped by public donations, buys the course. CORBIERE's victory ensures Jenny Pitman goes into the history books as the first woman to train the winner.\n1987: Jim Joel becomes the oldest winning owner at 92. He is on his way back from South Africa when MAORI VENTURE wins a thrilling race from The Tsarevich.\n1993: The darkest day in the history of the National. There is chaos after a second false start as 30 out of the 39 jockeys began the race despite a false start being called, leading to a void result for the seven horses who finished. John White passes the post first on the Jenny Pitman-trained ESHA NESS, only to discover the race has been declared void.\nThe 1993 Grand National - the race that never was. Racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan described it as \"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National\"\n1994: MIINNEHOMA, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, gives multiple champion trainer Martin Pipe his first National victory, and 51-year-old grandmother Rosemary Henderson completes the course on her own horse FIDDLERS PIKE, who finishes fifth.\n1995: Jenny Pitman, the first lady of Aintree, gains her second success - two years after her first - with ROYAL ATHLETE.\n1997: The National has to be postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the IRA. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \"We'll fight them on the Becher's\", in reference to Winston Churchill's famous war-time speech. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. The rearranged race was won in spectacular style by 14/1 shot LORD GYLLENE.\nA mass evacuation of Aintree racecourse took place on Saturday 5 April 1997\n1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey team Tommy and Paul Carberry combine to land a first Irish win for 24 years with BOBBYJO.\n2000: Ted and 20-year-old Ruby Walsh emulate the feat of their compatriots 12 months previously as PAPILLON lands a gamble, backed from a morning 33-1 into 10-1 before taking the prize.\n2001: RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put in clear rounds in a race run in atrocious conditions, though all horses return unscathed.\n2003: MONTY'S PASS lands a massive gamble, with owner Mike Fuller netting close to �1million from ante-post bets. The horse is backed from 40-1 into 16-1 and romps home.\n2004: Ginger McCain, veteran trainer of Red Rum, enjoys an emotional victory as 12-year-old AMBERLEIGH HOUSE lands the spoils, having been third in 2003.\n2005: HEDGEHUNTER becomes the first horse since Corbiere in 1983 to carry more than 11st to victory in the great race, romping clear in great style under Ruby Walsh to slam Royal Auclair by 14 lengths. John Smith�s take over from Martell as the main sponsor.\n2006: John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\n2008: COMPLY OR DIE allows David Pipe to join his legendary father, Martin, in the record books as a National-winning trainer in just his second season. The race also carries record prize money of �800,000.\n2009: MON MOME becomes the biggest-priced winner since Foinavon when powering home at 100-1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell, who was having his first ride in the race.\n2010: DON'T PUSH IT, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus, provides perennial champion jockey Tony McCoy with his first success at the 15th attempt. McCoy went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award that year � the first person from the world of horse racing to do so. The 2010 renewal was also the first horse race to be televised in HD in the UK.\n2011: Another emotional victory as BALLABRIGGS� success on a sweltering day at Aintree allows Donald McCain to join his legendary father, Ginger, who trained both Red Rum and Amberleigh House, in the Grand National record books.\n2012: One of the closest finishes in the race�s illustrious history sees NEPTUNE COLLOGNES beat Sunyhillboy by a nose, giving Paul Nicholls his first Grand National success. Katie Walsh achieves the highest finishing position by a lady jockey by claiming third place on Seabass, trained by her father Ted.\n2013: Legendary showjumper Harvey Smith and his wife Sue send out 66-1 AURORAS ENCORE to cause a shock in a race in which only two of the forty runners fell on the first circuit. Fellow trainer Evan Williams has to settle for a place for the fifth time in as many years.\n2014: Part time trainer, Dr Richard Newland, landed the first ever �1 million renewal of the race, courtesy of PINEAU DE RE. William�s amazing run continued with Alvarado fourth for the Welsh handler.\n2015: Incredibly, another place for Williams with Alvarado fourth again behind MANY CLOUDS, who made a mockery of the trends as an eight year old carrying 11st 9lbs to land another victory in the race for Trevor Hemmings.\n© Where To Bet Ltd 2004-16 (contact us: wheretobet@hotmail.com)","History - Grand National\nGrand National History. The Grand National at Aintree has been a British ... Notable Dates In Grand National ... 1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, ...\nHistory\nHistory\nIt is illegal for anyone aged under 18 to gamble\nGrand National History\nThe Grand National at Aintree has been a British sporting institution since 1839, when a horse called Lottery won the inaugural running and Captain Becher parted company with his horse at a now world famous brook.\nIn those days, the horses had to jump a stone wall, cross a stretch of ploughed land and finish over two hurdles. The race was then known as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.\nThe course was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829.\nThere is actually much debate regarding the first official Grand National; some leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree.\nHowever, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \"national�. To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836�1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838 leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar.\nSecondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time.\nFinally, a committee was formed to better organise the event.\nThese factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National.\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart.\nThe Grand National has produced a colourful array of stories throughout its illustrious past. Here are our favourites, including some famous video clips:\nRed Rum\nIt was over 40 years ago now that Red Rum recorded the first of the three victories in the Grand National that earned him pride of place in the record books forever. He still remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times and, as that statistic suggests, the great horse was a phenomenon.\nBred to be a sprinter, Red Rum went on to win the gruelling four-and-a-half mile chase in 1973, 1974 and 1977, as well as finishing second on his other two starts, to become the greatest Grand National performer ever. All of this was achieved after overcoming the debilitating bone disease pedalosteitis, which should have rendered him unraceable. However, fate stepped in: Red Rum was at probably the only yard in the country where the training took place on a beach. The sea water, into which trainer Donald �Ginger� McCain banished Red Rum after viewing the hobbling horse, worked an amazing transformation.\nOn 31 March, 1973, he started 9/1 favourite for his first Grand National. However, by the time the runners had reached the Chair the giant Australian chaser, Crisp, who was shouldering top weight of 12st (a weight that is now forbidden in the National), had built up a massive lead and appeared unstoppable with four fences to go. But, conceding 23lb to Red Rum, his stamina started to wane and he slowly began to falter at the famous Elbow after being more than 15 lengths in front of his rival at the last. Red Rum gradually wore Crisp down, getting up on the line to beat him by three-quarters of a length in a then record time of 9 min 1.9 sec, knocking nearly 20 seconds off Golden Miller's previous best under 12st 2lb in 1934 - this new record would stand for the next 16 years. You can watch this incredible race and finish here:\nRed Rum was never better than in the 1973/74 season when he won four more races before collecting his second Grand National, this time carrying the maximum weight of 12st. Giving 1lb to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, L'Escargot, Red Rum started third favourite at 11/1, racing off a mark nearly two stone higher than for his 1973 victory. He was the first to achieve the double since Reynoldstown in 1936. Only three weeks later, Red Rum won the Scottish Grand National as the 11/8 favourite under 11st 13lb.\nIt was then presumed that, having reached a zenith, Red Rum's talent would gradually decline in keeping with the rolling years. Between the autumn of 1974 and the spring of 1976, he ran in 18 chases, winning twice and being placed seven times. But he also gallantly failed to resist first L'Escargot and then Rag Trade in the 1975 and 1976 Grand National's.\nThe 1976/77 season began dismally. After an initial small win at Carlisle, Red Rum appeared totally lacklustre in his next four races, and even McCain began to think that he might have \"gone\".\nA foul winter had waterlogged the Southport sands, making them useless for training purposes, but Red Rum finally showed something like his old sparkle in his prep race for the 1977 Grand National, the Greenall Whitley Chase at Haydock. Worries about the now 12-year-old gelding's unwonted bulk abated when, in his last gallop before Aintree, he dazzled McCain and assorted members of the press who had gathered to watch.\nRidden by Tommy Stack, as he had been in 1976, Red Rum tackled his fifth Grand National in 1977. In the lead from the eighth last, Red Rum appeared momentarily to have a challenger in Churchtown Boy, but the latter's mistake at the third last compared with Red Rum's foot-perfect agility soon settled things in Rummy�s favour. The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening as he led up the long run-in, winning by 25 lengths under 11st 8lb and you can watch the historic race below:\nIn 1976, Red Rum had given Eyecatcher 17lb and beat her by eight lengths; in 1977, he gave her 21lb and a 31-length beating, rating an improvement at the age of 12 of two stone. The treble, five years in the making, had been achieved.\nThe celebrations in Southport which received the three-time Grand National winner home were long and rapturous. But the greatest Aintree horse of all time was not yet finished. Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was being trained for a sixth attempt at the great race.\nHe had run well all season, amassing two seconds and a fourth under mighty weights in his five races. But, after his customary pre-National work-out on the day before the big race, Red Rum pulled up lame. The problem proved to be a hairline fracture and the horse had to be retired.\nRetired, that is, from the realm of racing. But Red Rum's career as a celebrity continued - a role to which he was as well-adapted as to tackling the Aintree fences. He thrived as the centre of attention, as anyone who saw the 1977 episode of Sports Personality of the Year Awards can testify. Hearing the voice of Tommy Stack, who was speaking from his hospital bed with a broken pelvis, Red Rum immediately pricked his ears, displaying the great intelligence and showmanship so evident in the horse throughout his life. He went on to lead the parade in many Grand Nationals.\nRed Rum died on Wednesday, October 18, 1995 and was buried by the winning post on Aintree's Grand National course. His grave is marked by an engraved stone listing his Grand National record, and a life-size bronze commemorates this legendary competitor, along with a race staged at the Grand National meeting, the Red Rum Chase, named in the great horse's memory.\nAldaniti\nThere was hardly a dry eye among the crowd when Aldaniti won the Grand National in 1981. It was a victory for both courage and determination in the face of adversity.\nIn late 1979, Bob Champion, the successful jockey, was told that he had cancer and only months to live, while Aldaniti had almost been retired because of leg trouble. Against all the odds, the gallant partnership held on to beat Spartan Missile, ridden by John Thorne, a 54-year-old grandfather and amateur rider.\nThe winner's true-life story inspired the 1983 film Champions, starring John Hurt. Aldaniti died at the age of 27 in March, 1997. Bob Champion made a full recovery and, with the help of Aldaniti, has raised millions of pounds for cancer research.\nAldaniti's name was a jumble from the names of four grandchildren of his breeder, Tommy Barron: ALastair and DAvid Cook plus NIcola and TImothy Barron.\nThe Pitmans\nThe Pitman family has a special association with the Grand National. In 1983, Jenny Pitman became the first woman to train a winner of the race when Corbiere beat Greasepaint. She followed up this victory in 1995 with Royal Athlete who succeeded at the long odds of 40/1, but experienced heartbreak when Esha Ness \"won\" the 1993 void race.\nMark, her son, must have gone through similar emotions when he was caught in the dying strides by Seagram whilst riding Garrison Savannah in 1991, also trained by his mother. Garrison Savannah was bidding for an historic double � and to emulate the great Golden Miller � having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier.\nYears earlier, Richard Pitman, then-husband to Jenny and Mark's father, was caught even closer to the winning post by Red Rum, the Aintree specialist, when he partnered the gallant top weight Crisp in 1973.\nMrs Pitman was awarded an OBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List and in the same year fought a successful battle against cancer. She has now retired from training as, for the time being, has her son Mark who carried on the family tradition for a while (he trained Smarty to finish second in 2001 when only four horses completed the course in terrible conditions, and sixth in 2004).\nJenny Pitman was also one of the first batch of inductees to the Grand National Legends (the Hall of Fame-style initiative that was established in 2010), along with Red Rum and his trainer, Ginger McCain.\nWatch Corbiere win the 1983 Grand National ahead of Greasepaint:\nDevon Loch\nThe 1956 National is remembered more for the defeat of Devon Loch than for the victory of ESB. Owned by Her Majesty The Queen Mother, Devon Loch had the race won when he inexplicably gave a half-leap just 50 yards from the finish, sprawling and almost unseating Dick Francis, the unfortunate jockey, and leaving the crowd stunned. Afterwards, The Queen Mother famously said \"That's racing\".\nDebate still rages as to why the incident happened - according to some reports, Devon Loch suffered a cramp in the hindquarters and this caused the collapse. However, other reports claim that a shadow thrown by the water jump (which horses only jump on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have confused Devon Loch into thinking another leap was required and - unsure as to whether he should or not - he half-jumped and collapsed. Reports that the horse had suffered a heart attack were dismissed, as Devon Loch recovered far too quickly for that to have been the case.\nWhatever the truth, the incident so puzzled Francis that he became a thriller writer, inventing mysteries himself and over the decades Francis learned to be as philosophical. As did his wife Mary who once said that had he won the Grand National there would have been no bestselling autobiography and no thrillers.\n\"As I said in my autobiography, an ambulance came by and the driver said, �Jump in the back!� I was never more pleased to get away from all the people who were rushing towards me. What happened? I�ve thought about it time and time again...I remember jumping the last fence and I could hear the crescendo of cheering building up in the stands. There were 500,000 people there that day. They were all cheering for the Queen Mother. She was there and the Queen was there and Princess Margaret was there.\" Francis is quoted as saying.\n\"I never thought about it at the time but I heard them cheering and I just rode to the finish. I was winning easily. I didn�t have to pick up my stick or anything like that. I�ve looked at the newsreel time and again and as the horse approaches the water jump � which this time round he didn�t need to cross � you can see him prick up his ears and gallop past it. As he pricked up its ears � Christ! � his hindquarters refused to act and down he went on to his belly. How I didn�t fall off him I don�t know.\"\nDevon Loch is a metaphor now used in modern day sports and otherwise to explain the sudden, last-minute failure of teams or a sportsman to complete an expected victory, e.g. \"United can only hope Arsenal do a Devon Loch.\"\nDick Francis died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, by which time he had written 40 international best-sellers.\nWatch Devon Loch sprawl on the run-in to the 1956 Grand National, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and allowing ESB to claim an unlikely success:\nDevon Loch spread-eagled on the run-in at the 1956 Grand National\nFoinavon\nFoinavon sensationally won the 1967 National in bizarre circumstances. At the smallest fence on the second circuit, the 23rd, the riderless Popham Down cut right across the course causing a pile-up that almost brought the entire field to a standstill. John Buckingham, Foinavon's jockey, was able to steer his mount wide of the melee and thus won on the 100/1 outsider.\nThe Aintree executive named the fence in honour of the horse - fence 7 or 23 (depending on the circuit), at 4ft 6in, one of the smallest jumps on the course, is situated between the more daunting Becher's Brook and the Canal Turn.\nFoinavon has sometimes been likened to a slow plodding carthorse, but records show that his 1967 winning time was one of the fastest in this gruelling race. Equally, this so called no-hoper had taken part in some top class races before attempting the Grand National and he had finished fourth in a King George and took part in a Gold Cup at Cheltenham, so perhaps his odds of 100/1 may have been a bit generous (although the Tote SP was 444/1). Nevertheless, his owner was so unenthusiastic about his chances that he was not even at Aintree for the great race.\nBuckingham said later that at the time he did not realise that they were the only pair to jump the fence at the first attempt but he just kept going. Although some 17 horses remounted and finished the race the distance Foinavon had \"stolen\" at the obstacle meant that he led over the final seven fences to go on to collect his prize, 15 lengths clear of the fast-closing favourite, Honey End, and Red Alligator, who went on to win in 1968.\nFoinavon did also run in the following year's Grand National but fell or was brought down at the water jump.\nFoinavon was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by the much superior Arkle - both were named after Scottish mountains. She also owned Last Suspect who won the 1985 Grand National.\nWatch the 1967 Grand National, courtesy of British Path� (scroll to around 1 minutes, 20 seconds to see all the drama unfold):\nThe commentary of Michael O'Hehir of the carnage at the 23rd fence ranks among the most famous in the history of BBC televised sport and is often shown when BBC Sport puts together nostalgic montages of great sporting moments. O'Hehir received particular respect from his peers for the speed and unflustered coolness with which he identified Foinavon as the horse emerging from the m�l�e. O'Hehir later said in an interview that it was precisely the unfamiliarity of Foinavon's colours that made him so instantly recognisable during the race. O'Hehir visited the weighing room before the race, as is the custom of many National commentators, to familiarise himself more clearly with the colours of the silks but found himself completely stumped when looking at the black with red and yellow braces being worn by John Buckingham. Eventually O'Hehir had to ask Buckingham who his mount was. A confused O'Hehir said that his racecard showed two-tone green quarters, as worn by the rider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier, but Buckingham explained that the owner felt green to be unlucky and so had registered new colours for the National.\nThe \"Iron\" Duke of Alburquerque\nBeltr�n Alfonso Osorio y D�ez de Rivera, known as the \"Iron\" Duke of Albuquerque (1918-1994), surely ranks as the worst jockey in horse-racing history. After receiving a film of the Grand National as a gift for his eighth birthday, the Duke became obsessed with it: \"I said then that I would win that race one day,\" he later recalled. He nearly died trying.\nThis magnificently barking mad Spanish aristocrat and amateur jockey entered the Grand National seven times with impressively consistent results. Generally he would start with the others, gallop briefly and then wake up in the Royal Liverpool Infirmary (where apparently he always booked a private room when he rode in the race). Each year, Sir Peter O'Sullevan would gravely intone: \"And the Duke of Albuquerque's gone\".\nOn his first attempt in 1952, he fell from his horse at the sixth fence, nearly broke his neck and woke up later in hospital with a cracked vertebra. His next try was in 1963, when he fell from his horse yet again, this time at the fourth fence. Undeterred, he returned in 1965 but again fell from his horse after it collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.\nHis ineptitude was so apparent that in 1963 bookies even offered odds of 66/1 - against him even finishing the race atop his horse!\nHe returned in 1973 when his stirrup broke, although he clung on for eight fences before being sent into inevitable orbit.\nIn 1974, after having sixteen screws removed from a leg he had broken after falling in another race, he also fell while training for the Grand National and broke his collarbone. Nevertheless, he then competed in a plaster cast, this time actually managing to finish the race for the only time in his splendid career, but only in eighth (and last) place aboard Nereo: \"I sat like a sack of potatoes and gave the horse no help\" he said after the race.\nOne anecdote from this race is that he barged into Ron Barry at the second Canal Turn; Barry said \"What the f*** are you doing?\" to which he replied: \"My dear chap I haven't a clue...I've never got this far before!\"\nIn 1976, he sustained his most serious injuries after being trampled in a race by several other horses. He suffered seven broken ribs, several fractured vertebrae, a broken wrist and thigh, and a major concussion, and was in a coma for two days. After recovering he announced, at the age of 57, that he planned to race yet again. Race organisers wisely revoked his license \"for his own safety\".\nThough the Iron Duke never won the Grand National, he certainly broke more bones than any other jockey in attempting to do so.\nNotable Dates In Grand National History\n1837: THE DUKE wins the first Great Liverpool Steeplechase at Maghull, some three miles from the present site of Aintree racecourse.\n1839: Aintree becomes the new home for the event, with LOTTERY carrying off the prize and Captain Martin Becher christening the now-famous brook as he crawls in for safety after a fall.\n1847: MATTHEW records the first Irish-trained victory on the day the race is officially named the Grand National.\n1887: GAMECOCK wins the National at 20-1 and follows up by winning the Champion Chase over the big fences the very next day.\n1897: MANIFESTO, the 6-1 favourite, records the first of his two wins in the race. He ran eight times up to the age of 16, also finishing third three times and fourth once.\n1907: Jockey Alf Newey brings EREMON home in front, despite riding without stirrups from the second fence.\n1927: Ted Leader rides SPRIG to a popular victory in the first Grand National to be covered by a BBC radio commentary.\n1928: On the day of the race, before it had begun, TIPPERARY TIM'S jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!�. These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. It was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey, Tommy Cullinan, managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at odds of 100-1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers.\n1934: The legendary GOLDEN MILLER becomes the only horse ever to win the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, carrying 12st 2lb to victory in record time.\nIn the 1934 Grand National, Golden Miller set a new course record of 9 min 20.4s. That win was in the middle of five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup victories\n1947: CAUGHOO beats 56 opponents at a mist-shrouded Aintree and is then accused of only going round once.\n1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, looking certain to give The Queen Mother victory when clear on the run-in, suddenly sprawl flat on the ground yards from the winning post, allowing ESB to win.\n1967: The year of the horrific pile-up at the 23rd. John Buckingham and complete outsider FOINAVON avoid the melee and gallop on to a 100-1 win.\n1974: Grand National character the Duke of Alburquerque completes the course for the one and only time in numerous attempts on NEREO, despite breaking his collarbone only a week before the race.\n1977: The incomparable RED RUM rewrites the record books with his historic third victory. 'Rummy' had five runs, with three wins and two seconds, from the age of eight to 12.\n1979: RUBSTIC makes history by becoming the first Scottish-trained winner. His homecoming party was heralded by a piper leading him back to the hamlet of Denholm, Roxburghshire.\n1981: ALDANITI, nursed back from career-threatening injury three times, wins a fairytale National ridden by Bob Champion, who fought, and beat, cancer.\n1982: Dick Saunders, at the age of 48, becomes the oldest winning jockey on GRITTAR. Geraldine Rees becomes the first woman to complete the course, riding the leg-weary CHEERS.\n1983: Years of doubt about the Grand National's future are ended when the Jockey Club, helped by public donations, buys the course. CORBIERE's victory ensures Jenny Pitman goes into the history books as the first woman to train the winner.\n1987: Jim Joel becomes the oldest winning owner at 92. He is on his way back from South Africa when MAORI VENTURE wins a thrilling race from The Tsarevich.\n1993: The darkest day in the history of the National. There is chaos after a second false start as 30 out of the 39 jockeys began the race despite a false start being called, leading to a void result for the seven horses who finished. John White passes the post first on the Jenny Pitman-trained ESHA NESS, only to discover the race has been declared void.\nThe 1993 Grand National - the race that never was. Racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan described it as \"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National\"\n1994: MIINNEHOMA, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, gives multiple champion trainer Martin Pipe his first National victory, and 51-year-old grandmother Rosemary Henderson completes the course on her own horse FIDDLERS PIKE, who finishes fifth.\n1995: Jenny Pitman, the first lady of Aintree, gains her second success - two years after her first - with ROYAL ATHLETE.\n1997: The National has to be postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the IRA. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \"We'll fight them on the Becher's\", in reference to Winston Churchill's famous war-time speech. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. The rearranged race was won in spectacular style by 14/1 shot LORD GYLLENE.\nA mass evacuation of Aintree racecourse took place on Saturday 5 April 1997\n1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey team Tommy and Paul Carberry combine to land a first Irish win for 24 years with BOBBYJO.\n2000: Ted and 20-year-old Ruby Walsh emulate the feat of their compatriots 12 months previously as PAPILLON lands a gamble, backed from a morning 33-1 into 10-1 before taking the prize.\n2001: RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put in clear rounds in a race run in atrocious conditions, though all horses return unscathed.\n2003: MONTY'S PASS lands a massive gamble, with owner Mike Fuller netting close to �1million from ante-post bets. The horse is backed from 40-1 into 16-1 and romps home.\n2004: Ginger McCain, veteran trainer of Red Rum, enjoys an emotional victory as 12-year-old AMBERLEIGH HOUSE lands the spoils, having been third in 2003.\n2005: HEDGEHUNTER becomes the first horse since Corbiere in 1983 to carry more than 11st to victory in the great race, romping clear in great style under Ruby Walsh to slam Royal Auclair by 14 lengths. John Smith�s take over from Martell as the main sponsor.\n2006: John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\n2008: COMPLY OR DIE allows David Pipe to join his legendary father, Martin, in the record books as a National-winning trainer in just his second season. The race also carries record prize money of �800,000.\n2009: MON MOME becomes the biggest-priced winner since Foinavon when powering home at 100-1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell, who was having his first ride in the race.\n2010: DON'T PUSH IT, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus, provides perennial champion jockey Tony McCoy with his first success at the 15th attempt. McCoy went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award that year � the first person from the world of horse racing to do so. The 2010 renewal was also the first horse race to be televised in HD in the UK.\n2011: Another emotional victory as BALLABRIGGS� success on a sweltering day at Aintree allows Donald McCain to join his legendary father, Ginger, who trained both Red Rum and Amberleigh House, in the Grand National record books.\n2012: One of the closest finishes in the race�s illustrious history sees NEPTUNE COLLOGNES beat Sunyhillboy by a nose, giving Paul Nicholls his first Grand National success. Katie Walsh achieves the highest finishing position by a lady jockey by claiming third place on Seabass, trained by her father Ted.\n2013: Legendary showjumper Harvey Smith and his wife Sue send out 66-1 AURORAS ENCORE to cause a shock in a race in which only two of the forty runners fell on the first circuit. Fellow trainer Evan Williams has to settle for a place for the fifth time in as many years.\n2014: Part time trainer, Dr Richard Newland, landed the first ever �1 million renewal of the race, courtesy of PINEAU DE RE. William�s amazing run continued with Alvarado fourth for the Welsh handler.\n2015: Incredibly, another place for Williams with Alvarado fourth again behind MANY CLOUDS, who made a mockery of the trends as an eight year old carrying 11st 9lbs to land another victory in the race for Trevor Hemmings.\n© Where To Bet Ltd 2004-16 (contact us: wheretobet@hotmail.com)"],"string":"[\n \"The 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport | Sport | The ...\\nDick Francis, later to become a ... Who, for example, remembers the winner of Devon Loch's Grand National in 1956? ... When Englishman Jim Peters collapsed moments ...\\nThe 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport | Sport | The Observer\\nThe 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport\\nSunday 5 November 2000\\nguardian.co.uk\\n1 Devon Loch falls in the 1956 Grand National\\nTwo of Devon Loch's most fancied rivals, Must, the favourite, and Early Mist, the winner three years earlier, fell at the first, and with every stride the Queen Mother's horse appeared more dominant. Dick Francis, later to become a best-selling novelist, but on this afternoon Devon Loch's partner, fought to restrain the horse from going on too quickly. As they cleared the last and Francis kicked for home, the cheers for a royal victory thundered around the stands.\\n'Never had I felt such power in reserve,' Francis wrote later, 'such confidence in my mount, such calm in my mind.' Then, 55 yards from the line, disaster struck. The horse jumped slightly before collapsing on his stomach, legs thrust out in front and behind. The horse did manage to regain his feet but it was soon clear he could not carry on and ESB galloped past to win.\\nNone of the dramatic stories that have secured the Grand National's place in sporting legend has matched the mystifying subsidence of Devon Loch, whose name has become synonymous with sudden and inexplicable falls. Theories abound. That the horse tried to jump a shadow, was distracted by the crowd, had a cramp attack, suffered a blood clot on his hind leg and even that he was destabilised by breaking wind violently after his girth was made too tight at the start. Whatever the truth, it was one of the most sensational moments in sporting history.\\n2 Mary Decker trips over Zola Budd at the 1984 Olympics\\nMary Decker, the outstanding female middle-distance runner of her generation, had hoped to run both the 1500 and 3,000 metres at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 but withdrew from the 1500 because the events overlapped. So her Olympic hopes were pinned on the longer race, in which her rivals included Zola Budd, the diminutive South African controversially granted British citizenship earlier in the year.\\nDecker could have had no idea what a dramatic effect her presence in the 3,000 metre final would have. At the 1,700-metre mark, the two bumped twice in the space of a few strides and Decker, tracking Budd, tripped on the British runner's right leg, her spikes digging deeply into Budd's heel. A dispirited Budd ran on, eventually limping home seventh, but Decker pitched forward onto the infield, her race, and her only hope of a medal, over. Afterwards, a distraught Decker refused to accept Budd's apology.\\n3 Nigel Mansell's tyre bursts at the 1986 Australian Grand Prix\\nVirtually all Nigel Mansell had to do to win the drivers' championship was to keep going around the Adelaide street circuit. Entering the final race, he led Alain Prost by six points and Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet by seven. Well into the last third of the race, Mansell was second behind Keke Rosberg's McLaren, whose right rear tyre suddenly failed.\\nGoodyear technicians tried desperately to inform the other Goodyear teams, including Williams, but as Mansell slipped into sixth gear and took off down the long Jack Brabham straight at close to 200mph his own left rear tire exploded, showering the track with yellow, molten sparks. Prost sped by to win the world title by two points, while Mansell discovered later that if he had crashed into the wall on the straight, rather than expertly manoeuvre his stricken car into the escape road, the race would have been stopped and he would have been world champion.\\n4 Don Fox's missed goal kick at the 1968 rugby league Challenge Cup final\\nHe had already been named man of the match and now all Don Fox had to do was complete a triumphant afternoon for himself and Wakefield Trinity by knocking over the simplest of goal kicks. It was right in front of the posts and the points would overturn Leeds's 11-10 lead in the game's dying moments. But the Wakefield loose forward toe-poked it wide and sunk to his knees on the sodden Wembley turf. He never played again, nor has he spoken about the incident.\\nBut his older brother, Peter, the former Bradford, Featherstone and Great Britain coach, has explained: 'Although everyone else thought Wakefield had won the cup, I was worried because I could see our Don trying to wipe the ball on his jersey. But there wasn't a dry spot in the house. If I could I'd have gone on the field and let him wipe the ball on my shirt.'\\n5 Oxford sink in the 1951 Boat Race\\nCrews have sunk before and since in the Boat Race, but this was the most remarkable of the calamities because of how soon the Oxford boat slipped beneath the Thames's choppy surface. As it turned out, Oxford's decision to choose the Surrey bank on winning the toss proved disastrous, exposing the crew to the full force of a strong westerly wind while Cambridge made quickly for the cover of the Middlesex bank.\\nWater broke over the bows of the Oxford boat in the very first strokes and after a minute, reported the Times, 'it was all too plain to see that they must sink'. They did manage to stay afloat for two and a half minutes, but because they foundered before the end of the Fulham wall, the umpire decreed the race should be re-rowed the following Monday. This time, on a still day, Oxford reached the finish without mishap - 12 lengths behind Cambridge.\\n6 Willie Shoemaker finishes too soon at the 1957 Kentucky Derby\\nThe most successful jockey in history won four Kentucky Derbies but it is the Derby he didn't win that is as well remembered as his triumphs. Shoemaker held Gallant Man back early on, but eased through the nine-horse field coming into the straight, seeming to have the race at his mercy as he hit the front. But he mistook a trackside pole for the finish, stood up in the stirrups and after Iron Liege swept past him was unable to get going again to peg back the winner, who took the race by a nose.\\n'An error like that would have destroyed most men,' said Shoemaker's great rival, Eddie Arcaro, who finished fourth on Bold Ruler. 'Only a guy like Willie could have survived it. He's a tough sonofagun.'\\n7 Jim Peters collapses during the 1954 Empire Games marathon\\nBritish marathon runner Jim Peters set four world records between 1952 and 1954, lowering it from 2hr 25min 39sec to 2hr 17min 40sec. Victory in the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver seemed a formality, even more so when in the race itself he opened a lead of more than three miles and entered the stadium 20 minutes ahead of his closest rival. But, having run the entire race on a scorching day without drinking any water, he fell repeatedly and then started to crawl on the track.\\nHis team-mates, including Roger Bannister, felt powerless to help him, remembering Dorando Pietri's disqualification in the 1908 Olympic marathon after being helped across the line. He was eventually rescued when it became clear he was not going to finish. In the medical centre, he asked if he had won. 'You did very well,' said a nurse.\\n8 Jean Van de Velde's final hole disaster at the 1999 open\\nJean Van de Velde looked invincible as he stood on the final tee at Carnoustie holding a three-shot lead. A few minutes later, the 33-year-old Frenchman was rolling up his trousers to wade in to Barry Burn where his ball lay under water. That was after his first shot landed on the 17th fairway and his second, having struck a stand and a rock, ended in heavy rough. His third plopped in to the burn, his fourth was a drop, his fifth disappeared in to a bunker, his sixth rolled on to the green and his seventh, a putt from seven feet, found the centre of the hole. Van de Velde then finished last in a three-way play-off for the title with winner Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard.\\n9 US sprinters' no-show at the 1972 Olympics\\nEddie Hart and Rey Robinson had both been timed at 9.9sec in the US trials and were regarded as the only men capable of beating the great Russian Valery Borzov. All three won their first-round heats in the morning, but there was no sign of Hart or Robinson as the 4.15pm start time approached for the second round.\\nTheir coach, Stan Wright, working from an 18-month-old preliminary schedule, thought their races were at 7pm and Robinson was just leaving the village three-quarters of a mile from the track when he saw on an ABC-TV monitor the very heat in which he was supposed to be running. Only the third and least fancied American, Robert Taylor, arrived in time for his heat. He went on to finish second in the final behind Borzov, who won the gold in 10.14sec.\\n10 Leeds goalkeeper Gary Sprake throws the ball into his own net\\nIf the great Leeds United teams of the late Sixties and early Seventies had a weak leak it was their Welsh international goalkeeper, Gary Sprake, a custodian capable of making a breathtaking save one moment and a slapstick error the next. His attempt to save Peter Houseman's shot in the 1970 FA Cup final, which ended in the net when Sprake dived over the ball, was viewed by millions of television viewers, but the mistake that caused him the greatest embarrassment came in a League match against Liverpool at Anfield on a wet December afternoon in 1967.\\nJust before half-time, and with Leeds trailing 1-0 to a Roger Hunt goal, Sprake safely gathered the ball as a Liverpool attack broke down. But as he went to throw the ball out, he seemed to change his mind, and in trying to check his action mid-throw he merely succeeded in releasing the ball behind him and into his own net. The DJ on duty at Anfield that day found the perfect record to play during the half-time interval, Des O'Connor's Careless Hands, a best-selling song at the time. In fact, they charitably played it every time Sprake came back.\\nJustifying his selection:\\nThis month's 10 were selected by Observer sports writer Jon Henderson. Here he explains his choices:\\nFirst and most importantly, these are mishaps - not tragedies. There is no place here for Heysel, Hillsborough, Ayrton Senna's wretched fate or any of the other life-taking events that have cast a sombre shadow over sport. These are incidents that stand as the great counterpoints to sporting success, moments of failure on the grandest scale, where misfortune has intervened to remind us all that even in the truest run race victory cannot be assumed until the finishing post has been passed.\\nThe modest compensation for many of these losers is that they have achieved greater fame than those who benefited from their calamities. Who, for example, remembers the winner of Devon Loch's Grand National in 1956? That year, the Queen Mother's horse, within strides of victory, took a dive on to the Aintree turf for a reason that remains a mystery. ESB galloped past to become one of the race's most anonymous winners.\\nWhen Englishman Jim Peters collapsed moments from winning the 1954 Empire Games marathon in Vancouver, it was nearly 20 minutes before the next runner arrived in the stadium. He was Scotland's Joe McGhee, who hardly got a mention in the next day's newspapers. Peters, explaining why he kept picking himself up, said: 'I didn't want to disgrace my wife and kiddies.'\\nThere have been greater upsets than the defeats of Devon Loch and Jim Peters, but the point of my list is that these are episodes where the possibility of victory - often the near certainty of victory - has been dashed by unforseen disaster. In Devon Loch's case we still don't know what caused it, in Peters' case it was because he had taken distance running to a new level but did not understand the importance of replenishing the body's supply of liquid. You will recall other mishaps not included here, but surely no one can dispute that my choices have all earned their inclusion.\",\n \"Grand Canyon : Arizona : USA : Photo : Video : Info\\nThe major geologic exposures in Grand Canyon range in age from the 2 billion year old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230 million year old ...\\nGrand Canyon : Arizona : USA : Photo : Video : Info\\nGrand Canyon\\nSource\\nThe Marble Canyon section of the Grand Canyon, from river-level.\\nThe Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the United States state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park � one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.\\n \\nGrand Canyon Skywalk\\nMovie Video Clip film\\nLongstanding scientific consensus has been that the canyon was created by the Colorado River over a six million year period. The canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile (1.83 km)(6000 feet).[1] Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. The \\\"canyon started from the west, then another formed from the east, and the two broke through and met as a single majestic rent in the earth some six million years ago. [...] The merger apparently occurred where the river today, coming from the north, bends to the west, in the area known as the Kaibab Arch.\\\"[2]\\nPrior to European emigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon (\\\"Ongtupqa\\\" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was Garc�a L�pez de C�rdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.[3] In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made the first recorded journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. Powell referred to the sedimentary rock units exposed in the canyon as \\\"leaves in a great story book\\\".\\nThe landscape of the Grand Canyon\\nGeography\\nThe Grand Canyon is a massive rift in the Colorado Plateau that exposes uplifted Proterozoic and Paleozoic strata and is also one of the six distinct physiographic sections of the Colorado Plateau province. The Grand Canyon is unmatched throughout the world for the vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. It is not the deepest canyon in the world � Cotahuasi Canyon (11598 feet or 3535 m) and Colca Canyon (10499 feet or 3200 m), both in Arequipa, Peru, and Hell's Canyon (7,993 feet or2436 m) on the Oregon-Idaho border, are all Longstanding scientific consensus has been that the canyon was created by the Colorado River over a six million year period. The canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile(1.83 km)(6000 feet)[4]. Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. The \\\"canyon started from the west, then another formed from the east, and the two broke through and met as a single majestic rent in the earth some six million years ago. [...] The merger apparently occurred where the river today, coming from the north, bends to the west, in the area known as the Kaibab Arch.\\\"[2] l deeper � but Grand Canyon is known for its overwhelming size and its intricate and colourful landscape. Geologically it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geologic history of the North American continent.\\nThe Incredible Human Journey By By Alice Roberts from Amazon.co.uk\\n\\\"I am gripped by the central idea that only about 200 families originally emerged out of Africa and between them populated the whole world.\\\"\\nUplift associated with mountain building events later moved these sediments thousands of feet upward and created the Colorado Plateau. The higher elevation has also resulted in greater precipitation in the Colorado River drainage area, but not enough to change the Grand Canyon area from being semi-arid. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau is uneven, and the north-south trending Kaibab Plateau that Grand Canyon bisects is over a thousand feet higher at the North Rim (about 1,000 ft/300 m) than at the South Rim. The fact that the Colorado River flows in a curve around the higher North Rim part of the Kaibab Plateau and closer to the South Rim part of the plateau is also explained by this asymmetry. Ivo Lucchitta of the U.S. Geological Survey first suggested that, as the Colorado River developed before significant erosion of the region, it naturally found its way across or around the Kaibab Uplift by following a \\\"racetrack\\\" path to the south of the highest part of the plateau. Almost all runoff from the North Rim (which also gets more rain and snow) flows toward the Grand Canyon, while much of the runoff on the plateau behind the South Rim flows away from the canyon (following the general tilt). The result is deeper and longer tributary washes and canyons on the north side and shorter and steeper side canyons on the south side.\\nTemperatures on the North Rim are generally lower than the South Rim because of the greater elevation (averaging 8,000 ft/2,438 m above sea level).[5] Heavy rains are common on both rims during the summer months. Access to the North Rim via the primary route leading to the canyon (State Route 67) is limited during the winter season due to road closures. Views from the North Rim tend to give a better impression of the expanse of the canyon than those from the South Rim.\\nGeology\\nThe principal consensus among geologists is that the Colorado River basin (of which the Grand Canyon is a part) has developed in the past 40 million years. A recent study places the origins of the canyon beginning some 17 million years ago. Previous estimates had placed the age of the canyon at 5 to 6 million years. The study, which was published in 2008 in the journal Science utilized uranium-lead dating to analyze calcite deposits found on the walls of nine caves throughout the canyon. [6] There is a substantial amount of controversy because this research suggests a such substantial departure from prior widely supported scientific consensus.[7]\\nThe result of all this erosion is one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet.\\nThe major geologic exposures in Grand Canyon range in age from the 2 billion year old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230 million year old Kaibab Limestone on the Rim. Interestingly, there is a gap of about one billion years between the stratum that is about 500 million years old and the lower level, which is about 1.5 billion years old. That indicates a period of erosion between two periods of deposition.\\nMany of the formations were deposited in warm shallow seas, near-shore environments (such as beaches), and swamps as the seashore repeatedly advanced and retreated over the edge of a proto-North America. Major exceptions include the Permian Coconino Sandstone, which most geologists interpret as an aeolian sand dune deposit and several parts of the Supai Group.\\nThe great depth of the Grand Canyon and especially the height of its strata (most of which formed below sea level) can be attributed to 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1500 to 3000 m) of uplift of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 65 million years ago (during the Laramide Orogeny). This uplift has steepened the stream gradient of the Colorado River and its tributaries, which in turn has increased their speed and thus their ability to cut through rock (see the elevation summary of the Colorado River for present conditions).\\nWeather conditions during the ice ages also increased the amount of water in the Colorado River drainage system. The ancestral Colorado River responded by cutting its channel faster and deeper.\\nThe base level and course of the Colorado River (or its ancestral equivalent) changed 5.3 million years ago when the Gulf of California opened and lowered the river's base level (its lowest point). This increased the rate of erosion and cut nearly all of the Grand Canyon's current depth by 1.2 million years ago. The terraced walls of the canyon were created by differential erosion.[8]\\nAbout one million years ago, volcanic activity (mostly near the western canyon area) deposited ash and lava over the area, which at times completely obstructed the river. These volcanic rocks are the youngest in the canyon.\\nMore Photos soon\\nThe Ancestral Puebloans (The Ancient Ones, or Anasazi)\\nThe Basketmakers\\nEuropean arrival and settlement\\nThe Spanish explorers\\nIn September 1540, under orders from the conquistador Francisco V�zquez de Coronado to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, along with Hopi guides and a small group of Spanish soldiers, traveled to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon between Desert View and Moran Point. Pablo de Melgrossa, Juan Galeras, and a third soldier descended some one third of the way into the Canyon until they were forced to return because of lack of water. In their report, they noted that some of the rocks in the Canyon were \\\"bigger than the great tower of Seville.\\\"[10] It is speculated that their Hopi guides must have been reluctant to lead them to the river, since they must have known routes to the canyon floor. Afterwards, no Europeans visited the Canyon for over two hundred years.\\nFathers Francisco Atanasio Dom�nguez and Silvestre V�lez de Escalante were two Spanish Priests who, with a group of Spanish soldiers, explored southern Utah and traveled along the North Rim of the Canyon in Glen and Marble Canyons in search of a route from Santa Fe to California in 1776. They eventually found a crossing at present-day Lees Ferry.\\nAlso in 1776, Fray Francisco Garces, a Franciscan missionary, spent a week near Havasupai, unsuccessfully attempting to convert a band of Native Americans. He described the Canyon as \\\"profound\\\".[10]\\nAmerican exploration\\nJames Ohio Pattie, along with a group of American trappers and mountain men, was probably the next European to reach the Canyon in 1826, although there is little documentation to support this.[11] Jacob Hamblin (a Mormon missionary) was sent by Brigham Young in the 1850s to locate easy river crossing sites in the Canyon. Building good relations with local Native Americans and white settlers, he discovered Hope Dog in 1858 and Pierce Ferry (later operated by, and named for, Harrison Pierce) - the only two sites suitable for ferry operation. He also acted as an advisor to John Wesley Powell before his second expedition to the Grand Canyon, acting as a diplomat between Powell and the local native tribes to ensure the safety of his party.\\nMore Photos soon\\nIn 1857 Edward Fitzgerald Beale superintendent of an expedition to survey a wagon road along the 35th parallel from Fort Defiance to the Colorado river led a small party of men in search of water on the Coconino plateau on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. On September 19th near present day National Canyon they came upon what May Humphreys Stacey described in his journal as \\\"...a wonderful canyon four thousand feet deep. Everyone (in the party) admitted that he never before saw anything to match or equal this astonishing natural curiosity.\\\"\\nAlso in 1857, the U.S. War Department asked Lieutenant Joseph Ives to lead an expedition to assess the feasibility of an up-river navigation from the Gulf of California. Also in a stern wheeler steamboat \\\"Explorer\\\", after two months and 350 miles (560 km) of difficult navigation, his party reached Black Canyon some two months after George Johnson. The \\\"Explorer\\\" struck a rock and was abandoned. Ives led his party east into the Canyon � they were the first Europeans to travel the Diamond Creek drainage and traveled eastwards along the South Rim.\\nIn 1858, John Strong Newberry became probably the first geologist to visit the Grand Canyon.\\nIn 1869, Major John Wesley Powell led the first expedition down the Grand Canyon.\\nThe Brown-Stanton River Expedition\\nOther expeditions\\nSettlers in and near the canyon\\nMiners: \\\"Captain\\\" John Hance, William W. Bass, Louis Boucher \\\"The Hermit\\\", Seth Tanner, Charles Spencer, D. W. \\\"James\\\" Mooney\\nLees Ferry: John Doyle Lee, Emma Lee French (17th of John Lee's 19 wives), J. S. Emmett, Charles Spencer\\nPhantom Ranch: David Rust, Mary Colter\\nGrand Canyon Village: Ralph H. Cameron\\nFederal protection\\nThe federal government administrators who manage park resources face many challenges. These include issues related to the recent reintroduction into the wild of the highly endangered California Condor, air tour overflight noise levels, water rights disputes with various tribal reservations that border the park, and forest fire management. The Grand Canyon National Park superintendent is Steve Martin. Martin was named superintendent on February 5, 2007 to replace retiring superintendent Joe Alston. Martin was previously the National Park Service Deputy Director and superintendent of several other national parks including Denali and Grand Teton.[12] Federal officials started a flood in the Grand Canyon in hopes of restoring its ecosystem on March 5, 2008. The canyon's ecosystem was permanently changed after the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963.[13]\\nMore Photos soon\\nSouth Rim buildings\\nThere are several historical buildings located along the South Rim; most are in Grand Canyon Village.\\nBuckey O'Neill Cabin was built during the 1890s by William Owen O'Neill. He built the cabin because of a copper deposit that was nearby. He had several occupations such as miner, judge, politician, author and tour guide. This cabin is the longest continually standing structure in the South Rim. It is currently used as a guest house; booking is required well in advance.\\nKolb Studio was built in 1904 by brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb. They were photographers who made a living by photographing visitors walking down the Bright Angel Trail. In 1911, the Kolb brothers filmed their journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers. Emery Kolb showed this movie regularly in his studio until 1976, when he died at the age of 95. Today the building serves as an art gallery and exhibit.\\nThe El Tovar Hotel was built in 1905 and is the most luxurious lodging on the South Rim. The hotel consists of 4 stories with a rustic chalet appearance. It was designed by Charles Whittlesley. A gift shop and restaurant are located inside the hotel.\\nHopi House was built by Mary Jane Colter in 1905. It is based on structures that were built in an ancient Hopi settlement called Old Oraibi, located on the Third Mesa in eastern Arizona. It served as a residence for the Hopi Indians who sold arts and crafts to visitors in the South Rim.\\nVerkamp's Curios was built by John Verkamp in 1905. He sold arts and crafts as well as souvenirs. It is currently run by his descendants and stands next to the Hopi House.\\nGrand Canyon Railway Depot was built in 1909 and contains 2 levels. While it is commonly said that this depot building is one of only three log-cabin-style train stations currently standing out of fourteen supposedly ever built in the U.S., this claim has never been verified. This claim originated in a 1985 document written by Gordon Chappell entitled \\\"Statement on Architectural and Historic Significance\\\" and is currently repeated, without verification, by newspapers, magazines and on-line articles, including ones appearing on the National Park Service website. The depot is the northern terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway which begins in Williams, Arizona.\\nLookout Studio was built in 1914 and is another structure that was designed by Mary Colter. Photography artwork, books, souvenirs, and rock and fossil specimens are sold here. A great view of Bright Angel Trail can be seen here.\\nDesert View Watchtower was built in 1932 and is one of Mary Colter's best-known works. Situated at the far eastern end of the South Rim, 27 miles (43 km) from Grand Canyon Village, the tower sits on a 7,400 foot (2,256 m) promontory. It offers one of the few views of the bottom of the Canyon and the Colorado River. It is designed to mimic an Anasazi watchtower though it is larger than existing ones.[14]\\nBright Angel Lodge was built of logs and stone in 1935. Mary Colter designed the lodge and it was built by Fred Harvey. Inside the lodge is a small museum honoring Fred Harvey, who played a major role in popularizing the Grand Canyon. In the history room is a fireplace that is made of stone from the South Rim that is layered in the same sequence as in the canyon.\\nWeather\\nWeather in the Grand Canyon varies according to elevation.\\nThe forested rims are high enough to receive winter snowfall, but along the Colorado River in the Inner Gorge, temperatures are similar to those found in Tucson and other low elevation desert locations in Arizona. Conditions in the Grand Canyon region are generally dry, but substantial precipitation occurs twice annually, during seasonal pattern shifts in winter (when Pacific storms usually deliver widespread, moderate rain and high-elevation snow to the region from the west) and in late summer (a phenomenon known as the \\\"monsoon\\\", which delivers waves of moisture from the southeast, causing dramatic, localized thunderstorms fueled by the heat of the day).[15] Average annual precipitation on the South Rim is less than 16 inches (35 cm), with 60 inches (132 cm) of snow, the higher North Rim usually receives 27 inches (59 cm) of moisture, with a typical snowfall of 144 inches (317 cm), and Phantom Ranch, far below the Canyon's rims along the Colorado River at 2,500 feet (762 m) gets just 8 inches (17.6 cm) of rain, and snow is a rarity. The weather is different on the north rim and south rim.\\nTemperatures vary wildly throughout the year, with summer highs within the Inner Gorge commonly exceeding 100 �F (37.8 �C) and winter minimum temperatures sometimes falling below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-17.8 �C) along the canyon's rims.[15] Visitors are often surprised by these potentially extreme conditions, and this, along with the high altitude of the canyon's rims, can lead to unpleasant side effects such as dehydration, sunburn, and hypothermia. Be prepared for a variety of potential weather conditions when visiting, and keep in mind the Grand Canyon is a rugged natural feature located in a remote area subject to a wide range of environmental hazards.\\nWeather conditions can greatly affect hiking and canyon exploration, and visitors should obtain accurate forecasts because of hazards posed by exposure to extreme temperatures, winter storms and late summer monsoons. While the park service posts weather information at gates and visitor centers, this is a rough approximation only, and should not be relied upon for trip planning. For accurate weather in the Canyon, hikers should consult the National Weather Service's NOAA weather radio or the official NWS website.[16]\\nMore Photos soon\\nAir pollution\\nThe Grand Canyon has suffered some problems with air pollution, attributed to the nearby Navajo Generating Station, a coal-burning power plant. In 1991 an agreement was reached with the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, to add air pollution control devices to their smokestacks.[17]\\nGrand Canyon tourism\\nGrand Canyon National Park is one of the world�s premier natural attractions, attracting about five million visitors per year. Overall, 83% were from the United States: California (12.2%), Arizona (8.9%), Texas (4.8%), Florida (3.4%) and New York (3.2%) represented the top domestic visitors. Seventeen percent of visitors were from outside the United States; the most prominently represented nations were the United Kingdom (3.8%), Canada (3.5%), Japan (2.1%), Germany (1.9%) and The Netherlands (1.2%).[18]\\nActivities\\nAside from casual sightseeing from the South Rim (averaging 7000 feet (2100 m) above sea level), whitewater rafting, hiking and running are especially popular. The floor of the valley is accessible by foot, muleback, or by boat or raft from upriver. Hiking down to the river and back up to the rim in one day is discouraged by park officials because of the distance, steep and rocky trails, change in elevation, and danger of heat exhaustion from the much higher temperatures at the bottom. Rescues are required annually of unsuccessful rim-to-river-to-rim travellers. Nevertheless, hundreds of fit and experienced hikers complete the trip every year.\\nCamping on the North and South Rims is generally restricted to established campgrounds and reservations are highly recommended, especially at the busier South Rim. There is at large camping available along many parts of the North Rim managed by Kaibab National Forest. Keep in mind North Rim campsites are only open seasonally due to road closures from weather and winter snowpack. All overnight camping below the rim requires a backcountry permit from the Backcountry Country Office (BCO). Each year Grand Canyon National Park receives approximately 30,000 requests for backcountry permits. The park issues 13,000 permits, and close to 40,000 people camp overnight.[19] The earliest a permit application is accepted is the first of the month, four months prior to the proposed start month. Applying as soon as allowed will improve your chances of obtaining an overnight backcountry use permit for the dates of your choice. If you are unable to secure a permit from the Grand Canyon Backcountry Office, or you are not comfortable hiking the Canyon on your own you can go with a professional guide.\\nThe Coconino Canyon Train is another option for those seeking to take in a more leisurely view of the canyon. It is a 90-minute ride that originates in Grand Canyon National Park at the old Grand Canyon Depot and travels 24 miles through the canyon landscapes. The train is made up of 1923 Pullman cars and runs on tracks built in the 1800s. [20]\\nTourists wishing for a more vertical perspective can board helicopters and small airplanes in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (seven miles from the South Rim) for canyon flyovers. Scenic flights are no longer allowed to fly within 1500' of the rim within the national park because of a late 90s crash. The last aerial video footage from below the rim was filmed in 1984. However, some helicopter flights land on the Havasupai and Hualapai Indian Reservations within Grand Canyon (outside of the park boundaries). Recently, the Hualapai Tribe opened the glass-bottomed Grand Canyon Skywalk on their property, Grand Canyon West. The Skywalk has seen mixed reviews since the site is only accessible by driving down a 14-mile (23 km) dirt road, costs a minimum of $85 in total for reservation fees, a tour package and admission to the Skywalk itself and the fact that cameras are not permitted on the Skywalk at any time. The Skywalk is located 242 miles from the South Rim National Park. Many people mistake the west side of the park by Hermit's Rest as the location of the Skywalk.\\nViewing the canyon\\nLipan Point is a promontory located on the South Rim. This point is located to the east of the Grand Canyon Village along the Desert View Drive. There is a parking lot for visitors who care to drive along with the Canyon's bus service that routinely stops at the point. The trailhead to the Tanner Trail is located just before the parking lot. The view from Lipan Point shows a wide array of rock strata and the Unkar Creek area in the inner canyon.\\nPerhaps the most heart-stopping view of the canyon is had from the Toroweap Overlook (Tuweep) situated 3000 vertical feet above the Colorado River, about 50 miles downriver from the South Rim and 70 upriver from the Grand Canyon Skywalk. This region � �One of the most remote in the United States� according to the National Park Service � is reached only by one of three lengthy dirt tracks, that start from St. George, Utah, Colorado City or near Pipe Spring National Monument (both in Arizona). These roads traverse wild, uninhabited land for 97, 62 and 64 miles respectively. A visit to this area can be challenging, but rewarding. The Park Service manages the area for its primitive values and, therefore, improvements and services are minimal.\\nMore Photos soon\\nGrand Canyon fatalities\\nAbout 600 deaths have occurred in the Grand Canyon since the 1870s. Some of these deaths occurred as the result of overly zealous photographic endeavours, some were the result of airplane collisions within the canyon, and some visitors drowned in the Colorado River. Many hikers overestimate their fitness level, become dehydrated and confused, and must be rescued. The Park Service now posts a picture of an attractive and fit young man at several trailheads with the caption \\\"Every year we rescue hundreds of people from the Canyon. Most of them look like him\\\", in an attempt to discourage hikers from feats which are beyond their abilities.\\nAccording to Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon, 50 fatalities have resulted from falls; 65 deaths were attributable to environmental causes, including heat stroke, cardiac arrest, dehydration, and hypothermia; 7 were caught in flash floods; 79 were drowned in the Colorado River; 242 perished in airplane and helicopter crashes (128 of them in the 1956 disaster mentioned below); 25 died in freak errors and accidents, including lightning strikes and rock falls; 47 committed suicide; and 23 were the victims of homicides.\\n1956 air disaster\\nIn 1956 the Grand Canyon was the site of the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in the United States at the time.\\nOn the morning of June 30, 1956, a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation and a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 departed Los Angeles International Airport within three minutes of one another on eastbound transcontinental flights. Approximately 90 minutes later, the two propeller-driven airliners collided above the canyon while both were flying in unmonitored airspace.\\nThe wreckage of both planes fell into the eastern portion of the canyon, on Temple and Chuar buttes, near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. The disaster killed all 128 passengers and crew members aboard both planes.\\nThis accident led to the institution of high-altitude flight ways and positive control by en route ground controllers.\\nEvacuation\\nCanyon tourists and residents of Supai, a town located in the bottom of the canyon, were evacuated from the Supai area on 17 and August 18, 2008[21] due to a break in the earthen Redlands Dam, located upstream of Supai, after a night of heavy rainfall. Evacuees were taken to Peach Springs, Arizona.[22] More heavy rains were expected and a flash flood warning was put into effect, necessitating the evacuation, according to the Grand Canyon National Park Service.[23] The floods were significant enough to attract coverage from international media.[22]\\nReferences and Notes\",\n \"Mount_Everest.txt\\nMount Everest\\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur mountain range in Nepal and Tibet. Its peak is 8848 m above sea level. The international border between China (Tibet Autonomous Region) and Nepal runs across Everest's precise summit point. Its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse, 8516 m; Nuptse, 7855 m and Changtse, 7580 m.\\n\\nIn 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 29002 ft. The current official height of 8848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese survey in 1975. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, despite George Everest's objections. \\n\\nMount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes: one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet. While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness, weather, wind as well as significant objective hazards from avalanches and the Khumbu Icefall. As of 2016, there are well over 200 corpses still on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. \\n\\nThe first recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers. With Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. After the first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7000 m on the North Col, the 1922 expedition pushed the North ridge route up to 8320 m marking the first time a human had climbed above 8000 m. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. The 1924 expedition resulted in the greatest mystery on Everest to this day: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on 8 June but never returned, sparking debate as to whether they were the first to reach the top. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, until Mallory's body was found in 1999 at 8155 m on the North face. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition. The Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960.\\n\\nWestern discovery\\n\\nIn 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to determine the location and names of the world's highest mountains. Starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country because of suspicions of political aggression and possible annexation. Several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down.\\n\\nThe British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas. Conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health.\\n\\nNonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the Great Trigonometric survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km away. Weather restricted work to the last three months of the year. In November 1847, Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India made several observations from the Sawajpore station located in the eastern end of the Himalayas. Kangchenjunga was then considered the highest peak in the world, and with interest he noted a peak beyond it, about 230 km away. John Armstrong, one of Waugh's officials, also saw the peak from a location farther west and called it peak \\\"b\\\". Waugh would later write that the observations indicated that peak \\\"b\\\" was higher than Kangchenjunga, but given the great distance of the observations, closer observations were required for verification. The following year, Waugh sent a survey official back to Terai to make closer observations of peak \\\"b\\\", but clouds thwarted all attempts.\\n\\nIn 1849, Waugh dispatched James Nicolson to the area, who made two observations from Jirol, 190 km away. Nicolson then took the largest theodolite and headed east, obtaining over 30 observations from five different locations, with the closest being 174 km from the peak.\\n\\nNicolson retreated to Patna on the Ganges to perform the necessary calculations based on his observations. His raw data gave an average height of 9200 m for peak \\\"b\\\", but this did not consider light refraction, which distorts heights. However, the number clearly indicated that peak \\\"b\\\" was higher than Kangchenjunga. Then, Nicolson contracted malaria and was forced to return home without finishing his calculations. Michael Hennessy, one of Waugh's assistants, had begun designating peaks based on Roman numerals, with Kangchenjunga named Peak IX, while peak \\\"b\\\" now became known as Peak XV.\\n\\nIn 1852, stationed at the survey headquarters in Dehradun, Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal, was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak, using trigonometric calculations based on Nicolson's measurements. An official announcement that Peak XV was the highest was delayed for several years as the calculations were repeatedly verified. Waugh began work on Nicolson's data in 1854, and along with his staff spent almost two years working on the calculations, having to deal with the problems of light refraction, barometric pressure, and temperature over the vast distances of the observations. Finally, in March 1856 he announced his findings in a letter to his deputy in Calcutta. Kangchenjunga was declared to be 28156 ft, while Peak XV was given the height of 29002 ft. Waugh concluded that Peak XV was \\\"most probably the highest in the world\\\". Peak XV (measured in feet) was calculated to be exactly 29000 ft high, but was publicly declared to be 29002 ft in order to avoid the impression that an exact height of 29000 ft was nothing more than a rounded estimate. Waugh is therefore wittily credited with being \\\"the first person to put two feet on top of Mount Everest\\\".\\n\\nName\\n\\n \\nWhile the survey wanted to preserve local names if possible (e.g. Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri), Waugh argued that he could not find any commonly used local name. Waugh's search for a local name was hampered by Nepal and Tibet's exclusion of foreigners. Many local names existed, including \\\"Deodungha\\\" (\\\"Holy Mountain\\\") in Darjeeling and the Tibetan \\\"Chomolungma\\\", which appeared on a 1733 map published in Paris by the French geographer D'Anville. In the late 19th century, many European cartographers incorrectly believed that a native name for the mountain was Gaurishankar, which is a mountain between Kathmandu and Everest. \\n\\nWaugh argued that because there were many local names, it would be difficult to favour one name over all others, so he decided that Peak XV should be named after Welsh surveyor Sir George Everest, his predecessor as Surveyor General of India. Everest himself opposed the name suggested by Waugh and told the Royal Geographical Society in 1857 that \\\"Everest\\\" could not be written in Hindi nor pronounced by \\\"the native of India\\\". Waugh's proposed name prevailed despite the objections, and in 1865, the Royal Geographical Society officially adopted Mount Everest as the name for the highest mountain in the world. The modern pronunciations of Everest ( and) are different from Sir George's pronunciation of his surname (, ). \\n\\nThe Tibetan name for Mount Everest is (, lit. \\\"Holy Mother\\\"), whose official Tibetan pinyin form is Qomolangma. It is also popularly romanised as Chomolungma and (in Wylie) as Jo-mo-glang-ma or Jomo Langma. The official Chinese transcription is whose pinyin form is Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng (\\\"Chomolungma Peak\\\"). It is also infrequently simply translated into Chinese as Shèngmǔ Fēng lit. \\\"Holy Mother Peak\\\"). In 2002, the Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article making a case against the use of \\\"Mount Everest\\\" in English, insisting that the mountain should be referred to as \\\"Mount Qomolangma\\\", based on the official form of the local Tibetan name. The article argued that British colonialists did not \\\"first discover\\\" the mountain, as it had been known to the Tibetans and mapped by the Chinese as \\\"Qomolangma\\\" since at least 1719. \\n\\nIn the early 1960s, the Nepalese government coined a Nepali name for Mount Everest, Sagarmāthā or Sagar-Matha (सागर-मथ्था), allegedly to supplant the Tibetan name among the locals, a usage which the Nepali government felt was \\\"not acceptable\\\".\\n\\nSurveys\\n\\nThe 8848 m height given is officially recognised by Nepal and China, although Nepal is planning a new survey. \\n\\nIn 1856, Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as 29002 ft high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by the Great Trigonometric Survey.\\n\\nThe elevation of 8848 m was first determined by an Indian survey in 1955, made closer to the mountain, also using theodolites. It was subsequently reaffirmed by a 1975 Chinese measurement of . In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured. In May 1999 an American Everest Expedition, directed by Bradford Washburn, anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of 8850 m, and a snow/ice elevation 1 m higher, were obtained via this device. Although it has not been officially recognised by Nepal, this figure is widely quoted. Geoid uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 surveys.\\n\\nA detailed photogrammetric map (at a scale of 1:50,000) of the Khumbu region, including the south side of Mount Everest, was made by Erwin Schneider as part of the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, which also attempted Lhotse. An even more detailed topographic map of the Everest area was made in the late 1980s under the direction of Bradford Washburn, using extensive aerial photography.\\n\\nOn 9 October 2005, after several months of measurement and calculation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announced the height of Everest as with accuracy of ±. They claimed it was the most accurate and precise measurement to date. This height is based on the actual highest point of rock and not on the snow and ice covering it. The Chinese team also measured a snow/ice depth of , which is in agreement with a net elevation of 8848 m. The snow and ice thickness varies over time, making a definitive height of the snow cap impossible to determine.\\n\\nIt is thought that the plate tectonics of the area are adding to the height and moving the summit northeastwards. Two accounts suggest the rates of change are 4 mm per year (upwards) and 3 to per year (northeastwards), but another account mentions more lateral movement (27 mm), \\nand even shrinkage has been suggested. \\n\\nComparisons\\n\\nThe summit of Everest is the point at which Earth's surface reaches the greatest distance above sea level. Several other mountains are sometimes claimed as alternative \\\"tallest mountains on Earth\\\". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base; it rises over 10200 m when measured from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains 4205 m above sea level.\\n\\nBy the same measure of base to summit, Denali, in Alaska, formerly known as Mount McKinley, is also taller than Everest. Despite its height above sea level of only 6190 m, Denali sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from 300 to, yielding a height above base in the range of 5300 to; a commonly quoted figure is 5600 m. By comparison, reasonable base elevations for Everest range from 4200 m on the south side to 5200 m on the Tibetan Plateau, yielding a height above base in the range of 3650 to. \\n\\nThe summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2168 m farther from Earth's centre () than that of Everest (), because Earth bulges at the Equator. This is despite Chimborazo having a peak 6268 m above sea level versus Mount Everest's 8848 m.\\n\\nGeology\\n\\nGeologists have subdivided the rocks comprising Mount Everest into three units called formations. Each formation is separated from the other by low-angle faults, called detachments, along which they have been thrust southward over each other. From the summit of Mount Everest to its base these rock units are the Qomolangma Formation, the North Col Formation, and the Rongbuk Formation.\\n\\nThe Qomolangma Formation, also known as the Jolmo Lungama Formation or the Everest Formation, runs from the summit to the top of the Yellow Band, about above sea level. It consists of grayish to dark gray or white, parallel laminated and bedded, Ordovician limestone inter layered with subordinate beds of recrystallised dolomite with argillaceous laminae and siltstone. Gansser first reported finding microscopic fragments of crinoids in this limestone. Later petrographic analysis of samples of the limestone from near the summit revealed them to be composed of carbonate pellets and finely fragmented remains of trilobites, crinoids, and ostracods. Other samples were so badly sheared and recrystallised that their original constituents could not be determined. A thick, white-weathering thrombolite bed that is 60 m thick comprises the foot of the \\\"Third Step\\\", and base of the summit pyramid of Everest. This bed, which crops out starting about 70 m below the summit of Mount Everest, consists of sediments trapped, bound, and cemented by the biofilms of micro-organisms, especially cyanobacteria, in shallow marine waters. The Qomolangma Formation is broken up by several high-angle faults that terminate at the low angle normal fault, the Qomolangma Detachment. This detachment separates it from the underlying Yellow Band. The lower five meters of the Qomolangma Formation overlying this detachment are very highly deformed. \\n\\nThe bulk of Mount Everest, between , consists of the North Col Formation, of which the Yellow Band forms its upper part between . The Yellow Band consists of intercalated beds of Middle Cambrian diopside-epidote-bearing marble, which weathers a distinctive yellowish brown, and muscovite-biotite phyllite and semischist. Petrographic analysis of marble collected from about found it to consist as much as five percent of the ghosts of recrystallised crinoid ossicles. The upper five meters of the Yellow Band lying adjacent to the Qomolangma Detachment is badly deformed. A 5 – thick fault breccia separates it from the overlying Qomolangma Formation.\\n\\nThe remainder of the North Col Formation, exposed between on Mount Everest, consists of interlayered and deformed schist, phyllite, and minor marble. Between , the North Col Formation consists chiefly of biotite-quartz phyllite and chlorite-biotite phyllite intercalated with minor amounts of biotite-sericite-quartz schist. Between , the lower part of the North Col Formation consists of biotite-quartz schist intercalated with epidote-quartz schist, biotite-calcite-quartz schist, and thin layers of quartzose marble. These metamorphic rocks appear to be the result of the metamorphism of Middle to Early Cambrian deep sea flysch composed of interbedded, mudstone, shale, clayey sandstone, calcareous sandstone, graywacke, and sandy limestone. The base of the North Col Formation is a regional low-angle normal fault called the \\\"Lhotse detachment\\\".\\n\\nBelow 7,000 m (23,000 ft), the Rongbuk Formation underlies the North Col Formation and forms the base of Mount Everest. It consists of sillimanite-K-feldspar grade schist and gneiss intruded by numerous sills and dikes of leucogranite ranging in thickness from 1 cm to 1,500 m (0.4 in to 4,900 ft). These leucogranites are part of a belt of Late Oligocene–Miocene intrusive rocks known as the Higher Himalayan leucogranite. They formed as the result of partial melting of Paleoproterozoic to Ordovician high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the Higher Himalayan Sequence about 20 to 24 million years ago during the subduction of the Indian Plate. \\n\\nMount Everest consists of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that have been faulted southward over continental crust composed of Archean granulites of the Indian Plate during the Cenozoic collision of India with Asia.\\n \\n Current interpretations argue that the Qomolangma and North Col formations consist of marine sediments that accumulated within the continental shelf of the northern, passive continental margin of India prior to its collision with Asia. The Cenozoic collision of India with Asia subsequently deformed and metamorphosed these strata as it thrust them southward and upward. The Rongbuk Formation consists of a sequence of high-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks that were derived from the alteration of high-grade metasedimentary rocks. During the collision of India with Asia, these rocks were thrust downward and to the north as they were overridden by other strata; heated, metamorphosed, and partially melted at depths of over below sea level; and then forced upward to surface by thrusting towards the south between two major detachments. The Himalayas are rising by about 5 mm per year.\\n\\nFlora and fauna\\n\\nThere is very little native flora or fauna on Everest. There is a moss that grows at 6480 m on Mount Everest. It may be the highest altitude plant species. An alpine cushion plant called Arenaria is known to grow below in the region. \\n\\nEuophrys omnisuperstes, a minute black jumping spider, has been found at elevations as high as 6700 m, possibly making it the highest confirmed non-microscopic permanent resident on Earth. It lurks in crevices and may feed on frozen insects that have been blown there by the wind. It should be noted that there is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes. \\nBirds, such as the bar-headed goose, have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain, while others, such as the chough, have been spotted as high as the South Col at 7920 m. Yellow-billed choughs have been seen as high as and the aforementioned bar-headed geese migrate over the Himalayas. As early as 1953, George Lowe on the famous expedition of Tenzing and Hillary noted seeing the geese fly over Mount Everest. \\n\\nYaks are often used to haul gear for Mount Everest climbs; they can haul 100 kg (220 pounds), and have thick fur and big lungs. One common piece of advice for those in the Everest region is to be on higher ground when around yaks and other animals, as they can knock people off the mountain if standing on the downhill edge of a trail. Other animals in the region include the Himalayan tahr which is sometimes eaten by the snow leopard. The Himalayan black bear can be found up to about and the red panda is also in the region. One science expedition found a surprising range of species in the region including a pika that eats its own faeces and ten new species of ants. \\n\\nEnvironment\\n\\nIn 2008, a new weather station at about 8000 m altitude (26,246 feet) went online. The station's first data in May 2008 were air temperature , relative humidity 41.3%, atmospheric pressure 382.1 hPa (38.21 kPa), wind direction 262.8°, wind speed 12.8 m/s (28.6 mph, 46.1 km/h), global solar radiation 711.9 watts/m2, solar UVA radiation 30.4 W/m2. The project was orchestrated by Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE), who also placed the Mount Everest webcam in 2011. The weather station is located on the South Col and is solar powered. \\n\\nOne of the issues facing climbers is the frequent presence of high-speed winds. The peak of Mount Everest extends into the upper troposphere and penetrates the stratosphere, which can expose it to the fast and freezing wind of the jet stream. In February 2004 a wind speed of 175 mph was recorded at the summit and winds over 100 mph are common. These winds can blow climbers off Everest. Climbers typically aim for the 7- to 10-day windows in the spring and fall when the Asian monsoon season is either starting up or ending and the winds are lighter. The air pressure at the summit is about one-third what it is at sea level, and by Bernoulli's principle, the winds can lower the pressure further, causing an additional 14% reduction in oxygen to climbers. The reduction in oxygen availability comes from the reduced overall pressure, not a reduction in the ratio of oxygen to other gases. \\n\\nIn the summer, the Indian monsoon brings warm wet air from the Indian ocean to Everest's south side. During the winter the West/South-West flowing jet stream shifts south and blows on the peak. \\n\\nHistory of expeditions\\n\\nBecause Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, it has attracted considerable attention and climbing attempts. A set of climbing routes has been established over several decades of climbing expeditions to the mountain. Whether the mountain was climbed in ancient times is unknown; it may have been climbed in 1924.\\n\\nOverview\\n\\nIt was finally known to have been summited by 1953, but it remained a difficult peak for decades. Despite the effort and attention poured into expeditions, it was only summited by about 200 people by 1987. Everest showed itself to be a difficult place for decades, even for serious attempts by professional climbers and large national expeditions, which were the norm until the commercial era picked up in the 1990s.\\n\\nBy March 2012, Everest had been climbed 5,656 times with 223 deaths. Although lower mountains can be longer or steeper climbs, Everest is so high the jet stream can hit it. Climbers can be faced with winds beyond 200 mph when the weather shifts. At certain times of the year the jet stream shifts north, providing periods of relative calm at the mountain. Other dangers include blizzards and avalanches.\\n\\nBy 2013, the Himalayan database recorded 6,871 summits by 4,042 different people. \\n\\nEarly attempts\\n\\nIn 1885, Clinton Thomas Dent, president of the Alpine Club, suggested that climbing Mount Everest was possible in his book Above the Snow Line. \\n\\nThe northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bullock on the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition. It was an exploratory expedition not equipped for a serious attempt to climb the mountain. With Mallory leading (and thus becoming the first European to set foot on Everest's flanks) they climbed the North Col to an altitude of 7005 m. From there, Mallory espied a route to the top, but the party was unprepared for the great task of climbing any further and descended.\\n\\nThe British returned for a 1922 expedition. George Finch (\\\"The other George\\\") climbed using oxygen for the first time. He ascended at a remarkable speed—290 m per hour, and reached an altitude of 8320 m, the first time a human reported to climb higher than 8,000 m. This feat was entirely lost on the British climbing establishment—except for its \\\"unsporting\\\" nature. Mallory and Col. Felix Norton made a second unsuccessful attempt. Mallory was faulted for leading a group down from the North Col which got caught in an avalanche. Mallory was pulled down too, but seven native porters were killed.\\n\\nThe next expedition was in 1924. The initial attempt by Mallory and Geoffrey Bruce was aborted when weather conditions precluded the establishment of Camp VI. The next attempt was that of Norton and Somervell, who climbed without oxygen and in perfect weather, traversing the North Face into the Great Couloir. Norton managed to reach 8550 m, though he ascended only 30 m or so in the last hour. Mallory rustled up oxygen equipment for a last-ditch effort. He chose young Andrew Irvine as his partner.\\n\\nOn 8 June 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made an attempt on the summit via the North Col/North Ridge/Northeast Ridge route from which they never returned. On 1 May 1999, the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition found Mallory's body on the North Face in a snow basin below and to the west of the traditional site of Camp VI. Controversy has raged in the mountaineering community whether one or both of them reached the summit 29 years before the confirmed ascent (and of course, safe descent) of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.\\n\\nIn 1933, Lady Houston, a British millionairess, funded the Houston Everest Flight of 1933, which saw a formation of aircraft led by the Marquess of Clydesdale fly over the summit in an effort to deploy the British Union Flag at the top. \\n\\nEarly expeditions—such as General Charles Bruce's in the 1920s and Hugh Ruttledge's two unsuccessful attempts in 1933 and 1936—tried to make an ascent of the mountain from Tibet, via the north face. Access was closed from the north to western expeditions in 1950, after China asserted control over Tibet. In 1950, Bill Tilman and a small party which included Charles Houston, Oscar Houston and Betsy Cowles undertook an exploratory expedition to Everest through Nepal along the route which has now become the standard approach to Everest from the south.\\n\\nThe Swiss expedition of 1952, led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, was granted permission to attempt a climb from Nepal. The expedition established a route through the Khumbu ice fall and ascended to the South Col at an elevation of 7986 m. No attempt at an ascent of Everest was ever under consideration in this case. Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about 8595 m on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record. Tenzing's experience was useful when he was hired to be part of the British expedition in 1953. \\n\\nFirst successful ascent by Tenzing and Hillary\\n\\nIn 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 100 m of the summit on 26 May 1953, but turned back after running into oxygen problems. As planned, their work in route finding and breaking trail and their caches of extra oxygen were of great aid to the following pair. Two days later, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its second climbing pair, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber from Darjeeling, India. They reached the summit at 11:30 am local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col Route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending.\\n\\nNews of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, 2 June. Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, Hunt (a Briton) and Hillary (a New Zealander) discovered that they had been promptly knighted in the Order of the British Empire for the ascent. Tenzing, a Nepali sherpa who was a citizen of India, was granted the George Medal by the UK. Hunt was ultimately made a life peer in Britain, while Hillary became a founding member of the Order of New Zealand. \\nHillary and Tenzing are also nationally recognised in Nepal, where annual ceremonies in schools and offices celebrate their accomplishment. \\n\\nThe next successful ascent was on 23 May 1956 by Ernst Schmied and Juerg Marmet. This was followed by Dölf Reist and Hans-Rudolf von Gunten on 24 May 1957. Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960. The first American to climb Everest, Jim Whittaker, joined by Nawang Gombu, reached the summit on 1 May 1963. \\n\\n1970 disaster\\n\\nIn 1970 Japanese mountaineers conducted a major expedition, the centerpiece was a large \\\"siege\\\" style expedition working on finding a new route up the Southwest face lead by Saburo Matsukata, and another was an attempt to ski Mount Everest. Despite a staff of over one hundred people and a decade of planning work, the expeditions suffered 8 deaths and failed to summit via their planned route. However, Japanese expeditions did enjoy some successes, such as Yuichiro Miura's becoming the first man to ski down Everest from the South Col (he descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries), and an expedition that put four on the summit via the South col route. Miura's exploits became the subject of film, and he went on to become the oldest person to summit Mount Everest in 2003 at age 70 and again in 2013 at the age of 80. \\n\\nAlso, later in the 1970s the Japanese woman Junko Tabei became the first human female to summit Mount Everest.\\n\\n1996 disaster\\n\\nOn 11 May 1996 eight climbers died after several expeditions were caught in a blizzard high up on the mountain. During the entire 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest. These were the highest death tolls for a single event, and for a single season, until the sixteen deaths in the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche. The disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialization of climbing Mount Everest.\\n\\nJournalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from Outside magazine, was in one of the affected parties, and afterwards published the bestseller Into Thin Air, which related his experience. Anatoli Boukreev, a guide who felt impugned by Krakauer's book, co-authored a rebuttal book called The Climb. The dispute sparked a debate within the climbing community.\\n\\nIn May 2004, Kent Moore, a physicist, and John L. Semple, a surgeon, both researchers from the University of Toronto, told New Scientist magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on 11 May suggested that freak weather caused oxygen levels to plunge approximately 14%. \\n\\nOne of the survivors was Beck Weathers, an American client of New Zealand-based guide service Adventure Consultants. Weathers was left for dead about 275 meters (900 feet) from camp 4 at 7950 meters (26085 feet). After spending a night on the mountain, Weathers managed to find his way to camp 4 with massive frostbite and vision impaired due to snow blindness. When he arrived in camp 4, fellow climbers considered his condition terminal and left him in a tent to die overnight. \\n\\nBefore leaving camp 4 Jon Krakauer heard Weathers calling for help from his tent. Beck's condition had not improved and an immediate descent to a lower elevation was deemed essential. A helicopter rescue was considered but was out of the question; camp 4 was higher than the rated ceiling of any available helicopter and in any case would be extraordinarily dangerous. Eventually a rescue was organized thanks to a Lieutenant Colonel of the Nepal army who conducted the second-highest known helicopter medical evacuation up to that time.\\n\\nThe storm's impact on climbers on the North Ridge of Mount Everest, where several climbers also died, was detailed in a first-hand account by British filmmaker and writer Matt Dickinson in his book The Other Side of Everest. 16-year-old Mark Pfetzer was on the climb and wrote about it in his account, Within Reach: My Everest Story.\\n\\nThe 2015 feature film Everest, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, is based on the actual events of this disaster.\\n\\n2006 mountaineering season\\n\\nIn 2006 12 people died. One death in particular (see below) triggered an international debate and years of discussion about climbing ethics. The season was also remembered for the rescue of Lincoln Hall who had been left by his climbing team and declared dead, but was later discovered alive and survived being helped off the mountain.\\n\\nDavid Sharp ethics controversy\\n\\nThere was an international controversy about the death of a solo British climber David Sharp, who attempted to climb Mount Everest in 2006 but died in his attempt. The story broke out of the mountaineering community into popular media, with a snow-balling series of interviews, allegations, critiques, and peace-making. The question was whether climbers that season had left a man to die, and whether he could have been saved. It seemed to be clear that he had put himself in a very dangerous situationhe was said to have attempted to summit Mount Everest by himself with no Sherpa or guide and fewer oxygen bottles than considered normal. He went with a low-budget Nepali guide firm that only provides support up to Base Camp, after which climbers go as a \\\"loose group\\\", offering a high degree of independence. The manager at Sharp's guide support said Sharp did not take enough oxygen for his summit attempt and did not have a Sherpa guide. It is less clear who knew Sharp was in trouble, and if they did know, whether they were qualified or capable of helping him. Double-amputee climber Mark Inglis revealed in an interview with the press on 23 May 2006, that his climbing party, and many others, had passed Sharp, on 15 May, sheltering under a rock overhang 450 m below the summit, without attempting a rescue. Inglis had said 40 people had passed by Sharp, but he was not aware that Turkish climbers had tried to help him despite being in the process of helping an injured woman down (a Turkish woman named Burçak Poçan). There has also been some discussion about Himex in the commentary on Inglis and Sharp. In regards to the Inglis's initial comments, he later revised certain details because he had been interviewed while he was \\\"...physically and mentally exhausted, and in a lot of pain. He had suffered severe frostbite — he later had five fingertips amputated.\\\" When they went through Sharp's possession they found a receipt for $7,490USD, believed to be the whole financial cost. Comparatively, most expeditions are between $30 to $100,000USD plus an additional $20,000 in other expenses that range from gear to bonuses. It was estimated on 14 May that Sharp summitted Mount Everest and began his descent down, but 15 May he was in trouble but being passed by climbers on their way up and down. On 15 May 2006 it is believed he was suffering from hypoxia, and was about 1,000 feet from the summit on the North Side route.\\n\\nSome climbers who left him said that the rescue efforts would have been useless and only have caused more deaths. Beck Weathers of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster said that those who are dying are often left behind, and that he himself had been left for dead twice but was able to keep walking. The Tribune of India quoted someone who described what happened to Sharp as \\\"the most shameful act in the history of mountaineering\\\". In addition to David's death, at least nine other climbers perished that year, including multiple Sherpas working for various guiding companies. \\n\\nMuch of this controversy was captured by the Discovery Channel while filming the television program Everest: Beyond the Limit. A crucial decision affecting the fate of Sharp is shown in the program, where an early returning climber Lebanese adventurer Maxim Chaya is descending from the summit and radios to his base camp manager (Russell Brice) that he has found a frostbitten and unconscious climber in distress. Chaya is unable to identify Sharp, who had chosen to climb solo without any support and so did not identify himself to other climbers. The base camp manager assumes that Sharp is part of a group that has already calculated that they must abandon him, and informs his lone climber that there is no chance of him being able to help Sharp by himself. As Sharp's condition deteriorates through the day and other descending climbers pass him, his opportunities for rescue diminish: his legs and feet curl from frostbite, preventing him from walking; the later descending climbers are lower on oxygen and lack the strength to offer aid; time runs out for any Sherpas to return and rescue him. Most importantly, Sharp's decision to climb without support left him with no margin for recovery.\\n\\nDavid Sharp's body remained just below the summit on the Chinese side next to another corpse nicknamed \\\"Green Boots\\\"; they shared a space in a small rock cave that was an ad hoc tomb for them. Sharp's body was removed from the cave in 2007, according to the BBC, and since 2014, Green Boots has been missing, presumably removed or buried.\\n\\nLincoln Hall rescue\\n\\nAs the Sharp debate kicked off, on 26 May 2006 Australian climber Lincoln Hall was found alive, after being declared dead the day before. He was found by a party of four climbers (Dan Mazur, Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne and Jangbu Sherpa) who, giving up their own summit attempt, stayed with Hall and descended with him and a party of 11 Sherpas sent up to carry him down. Hall later fully recovered. Similar actions have been recorded since, including on 21 May 2007, when Canadian climber Meagan McGrath initiated the successful high-altitude rescue of Nepali Usha Bista. Recognizing her heroic rescue, Major Meagan McGrath was selected as a 2011 recipient of the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada Humanitarian Award, which recognises a Canadian who has personally or administratively contributed a significant service or act in the Himalayan Region of Nepal. \\n\\nAscent statistics up to 2010 season\\n\\nBy the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals, with 77% of these ascents being accomplished since 2000. The summit was achieved in 7 of the 22 years from 1953 to 1974, and was not missed between 1975 and 2014. In 2007, the record number of 633 ascents was recorded, by 350 climbers and 253 sherpas.\\n\\nA remarkable illustration of the explosion of popularity of Everest is provided by the numbers of daily ascents. Analysis of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster shows that part of the blame was on the bottleneck caused by the large number of climbers (33 to 36) attempting to summit on the same day; this was considered unusually high at the time. By comparison, on 23 May 2010, the summit of Mount Everest was reached by 169 climbers – more summits in a single day than in the cumulative 31 years from the first successful summit in 1953 through 1983.\\n\\nThere have been 219 fatalities recorded on Mount Everest from the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition through the end of 2010, a rate of 4.3 fatalities for every 100 summits (this is a general rate, and includes fatalities amongst support climbers, those who turned back before the peak, those who died en route to the peak and those who died while descending from the peak). Of the 219 fatalities, 58 (26.5%) were climbers who had summited but did not complete their descent. Though the rate of fatalities has decreased since the year 2000 (1.4 fatalities for every 100 summits, with 3938 summits since 2000), the significant increase in the total number of climbers still means 54 fatalities since 2000: 33 on the northeast ridge, 17 on the southeast ridge, 2 on southwest face, and 2 on north face.\\n\\nNearly all attempts at the summit are done using one of the two main routes. The traffic seen by each route varies from year to year. In 2005–07, more than half of all climbers elected to use the more challenging, but cheaper northeast route. In 2008, the northeast route was closed by the Chinese government for the entire climbing season, and the only people able to reach the summit from the north that year were athletes responsible for carrying the Olympic torch for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The route was closed to foreigners once again in 2009 in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile. These closures led to declining interest in the north route, and, in 2010, two-thirds of the climbers reached the summit from the south.\\n\\n2012 mountaineering season\\n\\nIn 2012 Montana State University conducted a scientific expedition to Everest. The Everest Education Expedition studied the geology of the Everest massif which includes Everest-Nuptse-Lhotse-Khumbutse, and advanced the state of mineralogy, strain, and predicted rock ages. Of interest was the fossil-bearing limestone that crowns Mount Everest, the nature and impact of ice in the region (such as the icefall), and the overall stratigraphy (including limestone, metamorphic rocks, pelites, and quartzites) \\n\\nIn 2012 the oldest woman to reach the summit up to that time was achieved by Tamae Watanabe at 73 years old She broke her own record from 2002, when she climbed it at the age of 63. The retired office worker lives at the base of Mount Fuji, and had also climbed many other peaks including Denali, the Eiger, and Lhotse. She climbed with a group of four, and beat a competing 72-year-old woman who was trying for the same record.\\n\\nThe death of Canadian climber Shriya Shah-Klorfine in 2012 made headlines and fed a debate about whether inexperienced climbers should be climbing Mount Everest. Although she did manage to summit, she did not survive the descent. Francys Arsentiev died on descent in 1998 despite the efforts of her husband and a team from Uzbekistan that ran low of bottled oxygen. In 1979, another woman named Hannelore Schmatz successfully summited, but like the other two, became exhausted and ran out of oxygen despite the efforts of her climbing group to save her. Ray Genet, in her climbing party died also, but the two Sherpas survived. In 1984 Yogendra Bahadur Thapa and Ang Dorje died trying retrieve her corpse. Schmatz remained frozen on the mountain, with her eyes frozen open and hair left to blow in the wind, to the emotional disturbance of later climbers in the 1980s and 1990s.\\n\\nBetween 1922 and 2012 it is recorded that at least 233 died climbing Mount Everest. With hundreds of climbers on the most popular route on the most popular days, deaths have become almost too routine as many climbers have accepted that some are just not going to make it, even though they are left with a lingering moral question of if they should have done more to save those in trouble.\\n\\nNational Geographic says that 547 people summited in 2012. Of those that attempted the summit, this was a 57 percent success rate and a higher rate than the year 2000's 24% success rate. The number of summiters has grown also, with National Geographic comparing the 72 summits in 1990, 145 summits in 2000, and the aforementioned 547 summits in 2012.\\n\\nThe Guinness Book of World Records states that 234 climbers summited in one day in 2012. However, it was one of the deadliest seasons since 1996, with 11 climbers dying on Everest in the spring. \\n\\n2013 mountaineering season\\n\\nIn 2013, about 340 permits to climb Everest were granted. Since Tenzing and Hillary climbed in the 1950s, about 4,000 people had climbed Everest in the years leading up to 2013. That year, three climbers were attacked by a mob of 100 Sherpas at 21,000 feet altitude. The event was noted as an aberration in the otherwise decades long spirit of teamwork and friendship on the mountain. Dangers other than the elements are not unknown to climbers; for example, in 2013 11 climbers were murdered by Taliban in their base camp in nearby Pakistan while at the 8000er Nanga Parbat. The brawl had various things said about it and one highlight was that Melissa Arnot helped diffusse the fight between three climbers and a mob of Sherpa's. Arnot was friends with both the climbers and the high-altitude workers, and when the brawl happened she managed to bring a halt to the fighting, then spend the better part of an hour negotiating a truce between the mountaineers. Sherpas are famous for going to extraordinary lengths for climbers, being friendly, and very generous in sharing Everest with visitors to Nepal. In this case a group of three climbers accidentally triggered some resentment that been building and this snow-balled into a full-out mob attack on them which was fortunately averted when cooler thinking prevailed. The Nepal authorities and police investigated and removed three ring-leaders and declared that they would try to protect climbers. In a situation vaugley similar to when Pocahontas saved John Smith, the 29-years young Arnot throw herself between the attackers and the climbers being beaten thus averting their possible murder. One fact worked in favor, was that she figured they would be less likely to strike a lady, and once the conversation could started it was possible resolve what the tangle of misunderstandings and emotions that come together to trigger the crisis. Mountaineers are well aware of the confusion and delirium high altitude can trigger, and the nuttiness of client request can wear on Sherpa's who also may not have had the most clear emotions and insight high on the Lhotse face. Once the conversations started, it was possible to resolve the situation. \\n\\nIn 2013 a group of Sherpas attacked one climber and attempted to murder him after he returned to camp. Events including swinging an ice pick at him as he climbed the Lhotse face, making physical contact with his climbing partner, verbal threats, the throwing of a knife which impacted but did not penetrate his skin, and other attacks. This was only preliminary, and one part of the attack was described by the climber as \\\"they told us, \\\"Now we kill you. Now we kill you.\\\" One of them threw a big stone into Ueli Steck's face, and he started to bleed. Then they were punching my face, and then kicks and punches and kicks and punches. And stones and so on.\\\" The climber was upset because he considered himself a friend of the Sherpa community, had built a school for nearly 400 Sherpa children, and also had funded free evacuations via helicopters for Sherpas. The Nepalese government said if climbers were attacked, actions would be taken against the aggressors. Indeed the Nepal tourism officals removed the three ringleaders of the attack from the Mountain and determined that it was misunderstanding that had sorted out, furthermore they pledge to try to insure the safety of climbers. Sherpas are famous for the most part for their climbing skill and good demeanor, with one Everest climber noting \\\"To a man everyone seems to be absolutely impressed with the Sherpas. Not just their strength on the mountain, which is legendary, but their personalities and their friendliness. They become your friends.” One positive thing to come out of the fight was increased conversations between all the people on the mountain, which help overcome come some of the cultural and language barriers that complicate an already difficult environment. In retrospect on of the main culprits was some ice that came down the mountain after the Sherpa's allowed the three climbers to go above them. On the mountains climbers \\\"life fast and die young\\\"; one Sherpa noted how he talked with Marty Schmidt about the situationMarty died with his son just a few months later in Avalanche on K2. The next year 16 Sherpas died when an ice serac fell on them in the Khumbu. \\n\\nIn 2013 Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person yet to reach the summit, at age 80. Also, a Eurocopter AS350 B3 flown by M. Folini achieved a record breaking rescue at 7800 m, by retrieving fallen climber Sudarshan Gautam between Camps III & IV in Everest's Yellow Band on the morning of 20 May 2013. Gautam has no arms or prosthetics but reached the summit on 20 May 2013.\\n\\nThe updated 2013 Himalayan database recorded 658 summits, which brought the total number of summits to 6,871 by 4,042 different people. In comparison, it took 41 years after Tenzing and Hillary to achieve the same number of climbs. This is also greater than 2007's 633 summiters. \\n\\n2014 avalanche and season\\n\\nOn 18 April 2014, an avalanche hit the area just below the Base Camp 2 at around 0100 UTC (0630 local time) and at an elevation of about 5,900 metres. Sixteen people were killed in the avalanche (all Nepalese guides) and nine more were injured. Sadly, this was not the only tragedy in the region with over 43 killed in the 2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster, and they were not even summiting but rather trekking the Annapurna Circuit.\\n\\nOne positive outcome of the season was a 13-year-old girl, Malavath Purna, reaching the summit, breaking the record for youngest female. Additionally, one team used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp 2 to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, then reached the Everest summit. This team had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Nepal turned Chinese reluctance into a success for the country, with the executive donating tens of thousands of dollars to local hospitals and achieving a new hybrid aviation/mountaneering stylethey awarded her the Nepalese International Mountaineer of the Year. \\n\\nOver 100 people summitted Everest from China (Tibet region), and six from Nepal in the 2014 season. This included 72-year old Bill Burke, the Indian teenage girl and a Chinese woman Jing Wang. Another teen girl summiter was Ming Kipa Sherpa who summited with her big sister Lhakpa Sherpa in 2003, and who achieved the most times for woman to the summit of Mount Everest at that time. (see also Santosh Yadav)\\n\\n2015 avalanche, earthquake, season\\n\\n2015 was set to be a record breaking season of climbs, with hundreds of permits issued in Nepal and many additional permits in Tibet (China); however, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on 25 April 2015 effectively shut down the Everest climbing season. 2015 was the first time since 1974 with no spring summits, as all climbing teams pulled out after the quakes and avalanche. \\nOne of the reasons for this was the high probability (over 50% according to the USGS) of aftershocks. Indeed, just weeks after the first quake, the region was rattled by a 7.3 magnitude quake and there were also many considerable aftershocks. \\n\\nOn 25 April 2015, an earthquake measuring 7.8 Mw triggered an avalanche that hit Everest Base Camp. 18 bodies were recovered from Mount Everest by the Indian army mountaineering team. The avalanche began on Pumori, moved through the Khumbu Icefall on the southwest side of Mount Everest, and slammed into the South Base Camp. \\n\\nThe quakes trapped hundreds of climbers above the Khumbu icefall, and they had to be evacuated by helicopter as they ran low on supplies. The quake shifted the route through the icefall making it essentially unpassable to the climbers. Bad weather also made helicopter evacuation difficult. The Everest tragedy was small compared the impact overall on Nepal, with almost 9 thousand dead in Nepal and about 22 thousand injured. In Tibet (China) by 28 April it was identified that at least 25 had died and 117 were injured. By 29 April 2015, the Tibet Mountaineering Association (North/Chinese side) closed Everest and other peaks to climbing, stranding 25 teams and about 300 people on the north side of Everest. On the south side helicopters evacuated 180 people trapped at Camps 1 and 2. \\n\\nMountain re-opens in August 2015\\n\\nOn 24 August 2015 Nepal re-opened Everest to tourism including mountain climbers. The only climber permit for the autumn season was awarded to Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki, who had tried four times previously to summit Everest without success. He made his fifth attempt in October, but had to give up just 700 meters from the summit due to \\\"strong winds and deep snow\\\". Kurki noted the dangers of climbing Everest, having himself survived being stuck in a freezing snow-hole for two days near the top, which came at the cost of all his finger tips and his thumb, lost to frostbite, which added further difficulty to his climb.\\n\\nSome sections of the trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp (Nepal) were damaged in the earthquakes earlier in the year and needed repairs to handle trekkers. \\n\\n2016 season\\n\\nThe Nepal Department of Tourism said by June 2016 that about 456 people made it to summit of Mount Everest, including 45 women. They noted some good summit windows and on one day, 19 May 2016, 209 made it to the summit. By May 11, 2016 the lines were fixed on the south side of Everest after which several hundred climbers would make it up in the critical weather windows. \\n\\nOn 11 May 2016 nine Sherpas summited Mount Everest. The next day another six people reached the top. These were the first summitings since 2014, when 106 made it to the top. By 13 May, 42 climbers had reached the summit and by 22 May, good weather had allowed over 400 climbers to reach the summit. However, about 30 climbers developed frostbite or became sick and two climbers died from what was reported as possible altitude sickness. (see fatalities section for additional reports) Among those that had to turn back, was a science expedition attempting to study the link between hypoxia and cognitive decline. Although it did not run its course it did give some clues into the effects of high-altitude acclimatization on human blood.\\n\\nAdrian Ballinger and Cory Richards were sponsored by Eddie Bauer to do an Everest climb, and they relayed information from the Everest climb using the smartphone software application and service Snapchat. Mount Everest has had a 3G wireless data communication network since 2010. One of the things that was reported by them, was that bottled oxygen was stolen from them and there was some bad behavior up there. The bottled oxygen was there for emergency back-up if they ran into trouble. Cor Richards achieved summiting Mount Everest without oxygen and returned safely, and Adrian made it almost to the top also. Another famous mountaineer, British climber Kenton Cool achieved his 12th Everest summit (the second highest number of Everest summitings for a foreigner after Dave Hahn), and U.S. celebrity mountaineer Melissa Arnot, completed her sixth summit, and achieved her personal goal of climbing Everest without supplementary bottled oxygen. This also turned out to be the most summits for a foreign female (Not Nepali or Chinese), and one of the first U.S. woman to summit and survive without supplementary oxygen. In 1998 Francys Arsentiev had made it to the summit but died during the descent; she went on to become a famous corpse-landmark known as \\\"Sleeping Beauty\\\" until she was buried on Everest in 2007 by one of the people that had tried help her. Another woman from the Americas, the Ecuadorian woman Carla Perez also summited Mount Everest in 2016 without supplementary oxygen. Perez and Arnot became the 5 and 6 women to summit Everest without supplementary oxygen as reported by the The Guardian. There is something of an ongoing discussion about the use of extra bottled oxygen in mountaineering. Bottled oxygen is really just the start of slippery slope that goes beyond acclimatization. The elephant in the room is Dexamethasone, which is extremely valuable as a life-saver because it can reduce swelling in the brain if someone comes down with HACE but has nevertheless may have become popular. One climbing magazine called it \\\"Climbing's Little Helper\\\" and linked it to several high-altitude mountaineering medical crisis and even fatalities. When American Bill Burke was interviewed for his attempt, he noted how one of his team-members had overdosed on Dex causing a medical evacuation even as in his more recent expedition someone had 25 doses of dex. He also noted it was hard to argue against large supplies of dex, due its life-saving properties against some types of altitude sickness, especially cerebral edema (HACE). An example of a death in which dex was implicated was Dr. Eberhard Schaaf in 2012 on Everest. Schaaf died on descent at the south summit from altitude sickness. It has a good reputation as a life saver, and is commonly given to Everest climbers for its ability to intervene in last desperate moments when altitude sickness sets in. For example, in the 2016 season Robert Gropel said he gave dex to his wife (as reported by the Telegraph) in attempt to save her as they tried to descend Everest. Of course, Dex is just the tip of the iceberg, with the UIAA noting the aforementioned dexamethasone, but also acetazolamide (aka Diamox), amphetamine, and alcohol use; and another noted Diamox (acetazolamide) use among trekkers. Its not really a matter of some authorities being for or against medications, but awareness, as misuse can cause drug interactions and various side effects. In particular it was noted that supplementary oxygen significantly lowers death rate on ultra-high altitude mountain climbing, and is generally not regulated as a drug, whereas the safe use of medications is less understood or even acknowledged in many cases. (See also Effects of high altitude on humans)\\n\\nMexican-American David Liaño Gonzalez (aka David Liano) summited for the sixth time, promoting a charity and also bringing a Seattle Seahawks fan flag with him to the Everest summit. Another sports team represented at the Everest summit was the Denver Broncos, with their flag unfurled by Kim Hess of Colorado, USA (a state also known for its mountains, \\\"the Rockies\\\"). Rounding out U.S. mountaineering was news that a group of soldiers and veterans summited, including some that had been wounded in combat. A British wounded veteran (one-eyed) was also trying to summit but gave up his bid to help some Indian climbers.\\n\\nAlso the first climbers from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Tunisia reached the summit of Mount Everest. Only two other people from the North Africa region neighbouring Tunisia have summited Everest, one from Algeria and the other from Morocco. The youngest Australian woman to summit Mount Everest became Alyssa Azar, with her story widely reported in Australian and some international news. She returned to Australia safely, but a bittersweet victory for Australia after the loss of an another Australian woman that was also trying to summit that May with her husband. The youngest Japanese woman also summited (and returned alive) at the age of 19. Another woman record breaker in 2016 was the first woman from Thailand to summit Mount Everest, Napassaporn Chumnarnsit, who was even given a meeting with Prime Minister of Thailand for achievement upon her return. The first person with Cystic Fibrosis also summited Mount Everest on their third try. Also, a 61-year old summited with two artificial knees. He had been trying for several years and had lost his Nepali friend Sherpa Nawang Tenzing in the 2015 earthquakes. He was not alone in being grief-stricken, as many climbers connected with Everest mountaineering community lost climbing buddies in two years of disasters. One who narrowly survived the disasters himself climbed this year to bring attention to the disease Lewy Body Dementia which afflicted his dad whom he cared for.\\n\\nRescues and fatalities\\n\\nA one-eyed British war veteran rescued a woman from India who was in trouble on her descent. As reported by the BBC, the climber, Leslie Binns, successfully rescued her and tried to save another from her ill-fated eleven-person expedition which suffered three fatalties. About 500 meters from the summit, which he could see with his one eye, he heard a woman screaming for help so he gave up his summit bid to help her down. She had run out of bottled oxygen and was getting frostbitten.\\n\\nOn 11 May 2016 a Canadian doctor from Calgary died in Tibet, in the Chinese-side base camp. A 25-year old Nepali fixing lines near the Lhotse summit fell, named Phurba Sherpa (note: this name is shared by other well-known Sherpas). A guide company called Arnold Coster Expeditions suffered two fatalities, and third client had to be airlifted out. One was a man from the The Netherlands, and another was a South African born Australian woman. Her husband had tried to save her, but he also ran into trouble and had to be air-lifted out with medical complications. These deaths were very widely reported in international news and triggered some public discussion about Everest mountaineering and tourism.\\n\\nA Indian expedition from West Bengal suffered a great tragedy, with the single expedition suffering three fatalities and third, a mother of an 11-year old had to be rescued on her way down. At first it was reported one died and two were missing, but later the other two were located and had not survived. One British climber gave up his summit bid to help a Bengali woman that had fallen and was ailing on her descent. She was further evacuated by the Himalayan Rescue Association and airlifted to Kathmandu with bad frostbite injuries. They were part of an eleven-member expedition from India, and eight reached the summit including the woman\\n\\nThe death toll for Everest climbers rose to 5 in most reports by late May 2016, and with a death of a high-altitude worker on Lhotse face during the season (Everest summiters sometimes need to climb Lhotse face depending on the route), gives a total of 6 known deaths from the Everest massif by the time the season drew to a close. Although not widely reported during May, a climber in Tibet had died on 11 May 2016 which makes it possibly six for Mount Everest and seven for the Everest Massif. The Nepal ministry of tourism said five people died (for the Nepal side).\\n\\nClimbing\\n\\nPermits\\n\\nThere were 334 climbing permits issued in 2014, these were extended for free because of the tragedy that struck. In 2015 there was 357 permits to climb Everest, but the mountain was closed again because of the avalanche and earthquake. Nepal then extended the unused 2014/15 permits until 2019 (Nepali permits cost about 10,000 USD for foreigners). So people who bought a permit in 2014 or 2015 can still use it for an expedition to Everest until 2019 (normally they are only valid for one year). This was an example of hospitality that Nepali's have become famous for; an extension was especially requested by expedition firms (which in turn bring resources into the country due for mountaineering). Nepal is essentially a \\\"fourth world\\\" country, one of the poorest non-African countries and the 19th poorest country in the world. Despite this, Nepal has been very welcoming to tourists and a significant tourism industry has been established.\\n\\nRoutes\\n\\nMt. Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the north ridge from Tibet, as well as many other less frequently climbed routes. Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently used route. It was the route used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and the first recognised of fifteen routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design as the Chinese border was closed to the western world in the 1950s after the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet.\\n\\nMost attempts are made during May before the summer monsoon season. As the monsoon season approaches, a change in the jet stream at this time pushes it northward, thereby reducing the average wind speeds high on the mountain. While attempts are sometimes made after the monsoons in September and October, when the jet stream is again temporarily pushed northward, the additional snow deposited by the monsoons and the less stable weather patterns (tail end of the monsoon) makes climbing extremely difficult.\\n\\nSoutheast ridge\\n\\nThe ascent via the southeast ridge begins with a trek to Base Camp at 5380 m on the south side of Everest in Nepal. Expeditions usually fly into Lukla (2,860 m) from Kathmandu and pass through Namche Bazaar. Climbers then hike to Base Camp, which usually takes six to eight days, allowing for proper altitude acclimatization in order to prevent altitude sickness. Climbing equipment and supplies are carried by yaks, dzopkyos (yak-cow hybrids) and human porters to Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier. When Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest in 1953, the British expedition that they were part of (over 400 climbers, porters and sherpas at that point) started from the Kathmandu Valley, as there were no roads further east at that time.\\n\\nClimbers spend a couple of weeks in Base Camp, acclimatizing to the altitude. During that time, Sherpas and some expedition climbers set up ropes and ladders in the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. Seracs, crevasses and shifting blocks of ice make the icefall one of the most dangerous sections of the route. Many climbers and Sherpas have been killed in this section. To reduce the hazard, climbers usually begin their ascent well before dawn, when the freezing temperatures glue ice blocks in place. Above the icefall is Camp I at 6065 m.\\n\\nFrom Camp I, climbers make their way up the Western Cwm to the base of the Lhotse face, where Camp II or Advanced Base Camp (ABC) is established at 6500 m. The Western Cwm is a flat, gently rising glacial valley, marked by huge lateral crevasses in the centre, which prevent direct access to the upper reaches of the Cwm. Climbers are forced to cross on the far right near the base of Nuptse to a small passageway known as the \\\"Nuptse corner\\\". The Western Cwm is also called the \\\"Valley of Silence\\\" as the topography of the area generally cuts off wind from the climbing route. The high altitude and a clear, windless day can make the Western Cwm unbearably hot for climbers.\\n\\nFrom ABC, climbers ascend the Lhotse face on fixed ropes up to Camp III, located on a small ledge at 7470 m. From there, it is another 500 meters to Camp IV on the South Col at 7920 m. From Camp III to Camp IV, climbers are faced with two additional challenges: the Geneva Spur and the Yellow Band. The Geneva Spur is an anvil shaped rib of black rock named by the 1952 Swiss expedition. Fixed ropes assist climbers in scrambling over this snow-covered rock band. The Yellow Band is a section of interlayered marble, phyllite, and semischist, which also requires about 100 meters of rope for traversing it.\\n\\nOn the South Col, climbers enter the death zone. Climbers typically only have a maximum of two or three days that they can endure at this altitude for making summit bids. Clear weather and low winds are critical factors in deciding whether to make a summit attempt. If weather does not cooperate within these short few days, climbers are forced to descend, many all the way back down to Base Camp.\\n\\nFrom Camp IV, climbers begin their summit push around midnight with hopes of reaching the summit (still another 1,000 meters above) within 10 to 12 hours. Climbers first reach \\\"The Balcony\\\" at 8400 m, a small platform where they can rest and gaze at peaks to the south and east in the early light of dawn. Continuing up the ridge, climbers are then faced with a series of imposing rock steps which usually forces them to the east into waist-deep snow, a serious avalanche hazard. At 8750 m, a small table-sized dome of ice and snow marks the South Summit.\\n\\nFrom the South Summit, climbers follow the knife-edge southeast ridge along what is known as the \\\"Cornice traverse\\\", where snow clings to intermittent rock. This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one down the southwest face, while to the immediate right is the Kangshung Face. At the end of this traverse is an imposing 12 m rock wall, the Hillary Step at 8760 m.\\n\\nHillary and Tenzing were the first climbers to ascend this step and they did it with primitive ice climbing equipment and ropes. Nowadays, climbers ascend this step using fixed ropes previously set up by Sherpas. Once above the step, it is a comparatively easy climb to the top on moderately angled snow slopes—though the exposure on the ridge is extreme, especially while traversing large cornices of snow. With increasing numbers of people climbing the mountain in recent years, the Step has frequently become a bottleneck, with climbers forced to wait significant amounts of time for their turn on the ropes, leading to problems in getting climbers efficiently up and down the mountain. After the Hillary Step, climbers also must traverse a loose and rocky section that has a large entanglement of fixed ropes that can be troublesome in bad weather. Climbers typically spend less than half an hour at the summit to allow time to descend to Camp IV before darkness sets in, to avoid serious problems with afternoon weather, or because supplemental oxygen tanks run out.\\n\\nNorth ridge route\\n\\nThe north ridge route begins from the north side of Everest in Tibet. Expeditions trek to the Rongbuk Glacier, setting up base camp at 5180 m on a gravel plain just below the glacier. To reach Camp II, climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of Changtse at around 6100 m. Camp III (ABC—Advanced Base Camp) is situated below the North Col at . To reach Camp IV on the north col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at 7010 m. From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp V at around 7775 m. The route crosses the North Face in a diagonal climb to the base of the Yellow Band reaching the site of Camp VI at 8230 m. From Camp VI, climbers make their final summit push. Climbers face a treacherous traverse from the base of the First Step: ascending from 8501 to, to the crux of the climb, the Second Step: ascending from 8577 to. (The Second Step includes a climbing aid called the \\\"Chinese ladder\\\", a metal ladder placed semi-permanently in 1975 by a party of Chinese climbers. It has been almost continuously in place since, and ladders have been used by virtually all climbers on the route.) Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over: ascending from 8690 to. Once above these steps, the summit pyramid is climbed by a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge along which the top is reached.\\n\\nSummit\\n\\nThe routes usually share one spot in common, the summit itself. The summit of Everest has been described as \\\"the size of a dining room table\\\". The summit is capped with snow over ice over rock, and the layer of snow varies from year to year. The rock summit is made of Ordovician limestone and is a low-grade metamorphic rock according to Montana State University. (see survey section for more on its height and about the Everest rock summit)\\n\\nBelow the summit there is an area known as \\\"rainbow valley\\\", filled with dead bodies still wearing brightly coloured winter gear. Down to about 8000 meters is an area commonly called the \\\"death zone\\\", due to the high danger and low oxygen because of the low pressure.\\n\\nBelow the summit the mountain slopes downward to the three main sides, or faces, of Mount Everest: the North Face, the South-West Face, and the East/Kangshung Face. \\n\\nDeath zone\\n\\nAt the higher regions of Mount Everest, climbers seeking the summit typically spend substantial time within the death zone (altitudes higher than 8000 m), and face significant challenges to survival. Temperatures can dip to very low levels, resulting in frostbite of any body part exposed to the air. Since temperatures are so low, snow is well-frozen in certain areas and death or injury by slipping and falling can occur. High winds at these altitudes on Everest are also a potential threat to climbers.\\n\\nAnother significant threat to climbers is low atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Everest is about a third of sea level pressure or , resulting in the availability of only about a third as much oxygen to breathe. \\n\\nDebilitating effects of the death zone are so great that it takes most climbers up to 12 hours to walk the distance of from South Col to the summit. Achieving even this level of performance requires prolonged altitude acclimatization, which takes 40–60 days for a typical expedition. A sea-level dweller exposed to the atmospheric conditions at the altitude above 8500 m without acclimatization would likely lose consciousness within 2 to 3 minutes. \\n\\nIn May 2007, the Caudwell Xtreme Everest undertook a medical study of oxygen levels in human blood at extreme altitude. Over 200 volunteers climbed to Everest Base Camp where various medical tests were performed to examine blood oxygen levels. A small team also performed tests on the way to the summit. Even at base camp, the low partial pressure of oxygen had direct effect on blood oxygen saturation levels. At sea level, blood oxygen saturation is generally 98–99%. At base camp, blood saturation fell to between 85 and 87%. Blood samples taken at the summit indicated very low oxygen levels in the blood. A side effect of low blood oxygen is a vastly increased breathing rate, often 80–90 breaths per minute as opposed to a more typical 20–30. Exhaustion can occur merely attempting to breathe. \\n\\nLack of oxygen, exhaustion, extreme cold, and climbing hazards all contribute to the death toll. An injured person who cannot walk is in serious trouble, since rescue by helicopter is generally impractical and carrying the person off the mountain is very risky. People who die during the climb are typically left behind. As of 2006, about 150 bodies had never been recovered. It is not uncommon to find corpses near the standard climbing routes. \\n\\nA 2008 study noted that the \\\"death zone\\\" is indeed where most Everest deaths occur, but also noted that most deaths occur during descent from the summit. A 2014 article in the magazine The Atlantic about deaths on Everest noted that while falling is one of the greatest dangers the DZ presents for all 8000ers, avalanches are a more common cause of death at lower altitudes. However, Everest climbing is more deadly than Base jumping, although some have combined extreme sports and Everest including a beverage company that had someone base-jumping off Everest in a wingsuit (they did survive, though). \\n\\nDespite this, Everest is safer for climbers than a number of peaks by some measurements, but it depends on the period. Some examples are Kangchenjunga, K2, Annapurna, Nanga Parbat, and the Eiger (especially the nordwand). Mont Blanc has more deaths each year than Everest, with over one hundred dying in a typical year and over eight thousand killed since records were kept. Some factors that affect total mountain lethality include the level of popularity of the mountain, the skill of those climbing, and of course the difficulty of the climb.\\n\\nAnother health hazard is retinal haemorrhages, which can damage eyesight and cause blindness. Up to a quarter of Everest climbers can experience retinal haemorrhages, and although they usually heal within weeks of returning to lower altitudes, in one case a climber went blind and ended up dying in the death zone.\\n\\nThe team made a huge effort for the next 12 hours to try to get him down the mountain, but to no avail, as they were not successful getting him down the difficult sections. Even for the able, the Everest North-East ridge is a recognized as a challenge, which is why it is so hard to rescue someone who has become incapacitatedit is beyond their ability to save them in such a difficult spot. One way around this situation was pioneer by two Nepali men in 2013, who had intended to paraglide off the summit, had major problem in that they were forced to go through with the plan either way because they had run out of bottle oxygen and supplies. They successfully launched off the summit and para-glided down to Namche in just 42 minutes, without having to climb down the mountain.\\n\\nSupplemental oxygen\\n\\nMost expeditions use oxygen masks and tanks above 8000 m. Everest can be climbed without supplementary oxygen, but only by the most accomplished mountaineers and at increased risk. Humans do not think clearly with low oxygen, and the combination of extreme weather, low temperatures, and steep slopes often requires quick, accurate decisions. While about 95% of climbers who reach the summit use bottled oxygen in order to reach the top, about 5% of climbers have summitted Everest without supplemental oxygen. The death rate is double for those who attempt to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. Travelling above 8,000 feet altitude is a factor in cerebral hypoxia. This decrease of oxygen to the brain can cause dementia and brain damage, as well as a host of other symptoms. One study found that Mount Everest may be the highest an acclimatised human could go, but also found that climbers may suffer permanent neurological damage despite returning to lower altitudes.\\n\\nThe use of bottled oxygen to ascend Mount Everest has been controversial. It was first used on the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition by George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce who climbed up to 7800 m at a spectacular speed of 1000 vertical feet per hour (vf/h). Pinned down by a fierce storm, they escaped death by breathing oxygen from a jury-rigged set-up during the night. The next day they climbed to 8100 m at 900 vf/h—nearly three times as fast as non-oxygen users. Yet the use of oxygen was considered so unsportsmanlike that none of the rest of the Alpine world recognised this high ascent rate. George Mallory himself described the use of such oxygen as unsportsmanlike, but he later concluded that it would be impossible for him to summit without it and consequently used it on his final attempt in 1924. When Tenzing and Hillary made the first successful summit in 1953, they used bottled oxygen, with the expedition's physiologist Griffith Pugh referring to the oxygen debate as a \\\"futile controversy\\\", noting that oxygen \\\"greatly increases subjective appreciation of the surroundings, which after all is one of the chief reasons for climbing.\\\" For the next twenty-five years, bottled oxygen was considered standard for any successful summit.\\n\\nReinhold Messner was the first climber to break the bottled oxygen tradition and in 1978, with Peter Habeler, made the first successful climb without it. In 1980, Messner summited the mountain solo, without supplemental oxygen or any porters or climbing partners, on the more difficult northwest route. Once the climbing community was satisfied that the mountain could be climbed without supplemental oxygen, many purists then took the next logical step of insisting that is how it should be climbed. \\n\\nThe aftermath of the 1996 disaster further intensified the debate. Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air (1997) expressed the author's personal criticisms of the use of bottled oxygen. Krakauer wrote that the use of bottled oxygen allowed otherwise unqualified climbers to attempt to summit, leading to dangerous situations and more deaths. The disaster was partially caused by the sheer number of climbers (34 on that day) attempting to ascend, causing bottlenecks at the Hillary Step and delaying many climbers, most of whom summitted after the usual 2 pm turnaround time. He proposed banning bottled oxygen except for emergency cases, arguing that this would both decrease the growing pollution on Everest—many bottles have accumulated on its slopes—and keep marginally qualified climbers off the mountain.\\n\\nThe 1996 disaster also introduced the issue of the guide's role in using bottled oxygen. \\nGuide Anatoli Boukreev's decision not to use bottled oxygen was sharply criticised by Jon Krakauer. Boukreev's supporters (who include G. Weston DeWalt, who co-wrote The Climb) state that using bottled oxygen gives a false sense of security. Krakauer and his supporters point out that, without bottled oxygen, Boukreev could not directly help his clients descend. They state that Boukreev said that he was going down with client Martin Adams, but just below the South Summit, Boukreev determined that Adams was doing fine on the descent and so descended at a faster pace, leaving Adams behind. Adams states in The Climb: \\\"For me, it was business as usual, Anatoli's going by, and I had no problems with that.\\\"\\n\\nThe low oxygen can cause a mental fog-like impairment of cognitive abilities described as \\\"delayed and lethargic thought process, clinically defined as bradypsychia\\\" even after returning to lower altitudes. In severe cases, climbers can experience hallucinations. Some studies have found that high-altitude climbers, including Everest climbers, experience altered brain structure. The effects of high altitude on the brain, particularly if it can cause permanent brain damage, continue to be studied.\\n\\nAutumn climbing\\n\\nAlthough generally less popular than spring, Mount Everest has also been climbed in the autumn (also called the \\\"post-monsoon season\\\"). For example, in 2010 Eric Larsen and five Nepali guides summited Everest in the autumn for the first time in ten years. The first mainland British ascent of Mount Everest (Hillary was from New Zealand), led by Chris Bonnington, was an autumn ascent in 1975. The autumn season, when the monsoon ends, is regarded as more dangerous because there is typically a lot of new snow which can be unstable. However, this increased snow can make it more popular with certain winter sports like skiing and snow boarding. Two Japanese summited in October 1973 also. Chris Chandler and Bob Cormack summited Everest in October 1976 as part of the American Bicentennial Everest Expedition that year, the first Americans to make an autumn ascent of Mt. Everest according to the Los Angeles Times. By the 21st century, summer and autumn can be more popular with skiing and snowboard attempts on Mount Everest. During the 1980s, climbing in autumn was actually more popular than in spring. The U.S. astronaut Karl Gordon Henize died in October 1993 on a fall (autumn) expedition conducting an experiment on radiation. The amount of background radiation increases with higher altitudes. \\n\\nThe mountain has also been climbed in the winter, but that is not popular because of the combination of cold high winds and shorter days. By January the peak is typically battered by 170 mph winds and the average temperature of the summit is around -33 °F (-36 °C).\\n\\nSelected climbing records\\n\\nBy the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals. Some notable \\\"firsts\\\" by climbers include: \\n* 1922 – First climb to 8000 m, by George Finch and Captain Geoffrey Bruce \\n* 1952 – First climb to South Col by 1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition\\n* 1953 – First ascent, by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on 1953 British Mount Everest expedition\\n* 1960 – First reported ascent from the North Ridge by Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China.\\n* 1975 – First female ascent, by Junko Tabei (16 May).\\n* 1975 - First female ascent from the North Ridge, by Phanthog, deputy head of the second Chinese Everest expedition that sent nine climbers to the summit (27 May). \\n* 1978 – First ascent without supplemental oxygen by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler \\n* 1980 – First solo ascent, by Reinhold Messner\\n* 1980 – First winter ascent, by Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki\\n* 1988 – First \\\"cross-over\\\" climb by Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese teams which ascended the peak simultaneously from both the North and South sides of the mountain and descended down the other side. The cross-over climb was also the first to be recorded on live broadcast television.\\n* 1988 – First descent by paraglider, by Jean-Marc Boivin \\n* 1988 – First female ascent without supplemental oxygen by Lydia Bradey \\n* 1998 – Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), without supplemental oxygen, by Kazi Sherpa, in 20 hours and 24 minutes. \\n* 2000 – First descent by ski by Davo Karničar \\n* 2001 – First ascent by a blind climber, Erik Weihenmayer \\n* 2001 - Lhakpa Sherpa becomes first Nepali woman to summit Everest and survive. \\n* 2004 – Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), with supplemental oxygen, by Pemba Dorje, in 8 hours and 10 minutes. \\n* 2006 - Lhakpa Sherpa summits for the 6th time, breaking her own record for most successful female Everest climber. \\n* 2007 – Fastest to reach the summit via the northeast ridge, without supplemental oxygen, by Christian Stangl, in 16 hours, 42 minutes. \\n* 2010 – Youngest to reach the summit, by Jordan Romero (13-year-old) \\n* 2011 - Most times to reach the summit, Apa Sherpa (21 times; 10 May 1990 – 11 May 2011)\\n*2013 – Apa Sherpa tied for most times to reach the summit by Phurba Tashi (21 times; 1999–2013)\\n* 2013 - Melissa Arnot, American, summits for the 5th time breaking her own record for most successful summits by any non-Sherpa woman. \\n\\nSummiting with disabilities\\n\\nSummiting Everest with disabilities such as amputations and diseases has become popular in the 21st century, with stories like that of Sudarshan Gautam, a man with no arms who made it to the top in 2013. A teenager with Down's syndrome made it to Base camp, which has become a substitute for more extreme record-breaking because it carries many of the same thrills including the trip to the Himalayas and rustic scenery. Danger lurks even at base camp though, which was the site where dozens were killed in the 2015 Mount Everest avalanches. Others that have climbed Everest with amputations include Mark Inglis (no legs), Paul Hockey (1 arm only), and Arunima Sinha (1 leg).\\n\\nEverest and aviation\\n\\n1988: First climb and glide\\n\\nOn 26 September 1988, having climbed the mountain via the south-east ridge, Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest, in the process creating the record for the fastest descent of the mountain and the highest paraglider flight. Boivin said: \\\"I was tired when I reached the top because I had broken much of the trail, and to run at this altitude was quite hard.\\\" Boivin ran 60 ft from below the summit on 40-degree slopes to launch his paraglider, reaching Camp II at 19400 ft in 12 minutes (some sources say 11 minutes). Boivin would not repeat this feat, as he was killed two years later in 1990, base-jumping off Venezuela's Angel Falls. \\n\\n1991: Hot air balloon flyover\\n\\nIn 1991 four men in two balloons achieved the first hot-air balloon flight over Mount Everest. In one balloon was Andy Elson and Eric Jones (cameraman), and in the other balloon Chris Dewhirst and Leo Dickinson (cameraman). Leo went on to write a book about the adventure called Ballooning Over Everest. The hot-air balloons were modified to function at up to 40,000 feet altitude. Reinhold Messner called one of Leo's panoramic views of Everest, captured on the now discontinued Kodak Kodachrome film, the \\\"best snap on Earth\\\", according to UK newspaper The Telegraph. Dewhirst has offered to take passengers on a repeat of this feat for 2.6 million USD per passenger.\\n\\n2005: Pilot summits Everest with helicopter\\n\\nIn May 2005, pilot Didier Delsalle of France landed a Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest. He needed to land for two minutes to set the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) official record, but he stayed for about four minutes, twice. In this type of landing the rotors stay engaged, which avoids relying on the snow to fully support the aircraft. The flight set rotorcraft world records, for highest of both landing and take-off.\\n\\nSome press reports suggested that the report of the summit landing was a misunderstanding of a South Col landing, but he had also landed on South Col two days earlier, with this landing and the Everest records confirmed by the FAI. Delsalle also rescued two Japanese climbers at 16000 ft while he was there. One climber noted that the new record meant a better chance of rescue.\\n\\n2011 Paraglide off summit\\n\\nIn 2011 two Nepali paraglided from the Everest Summit to Namche in 42 minutes. They had run out of oxygen and supplies, so it was a very fast way off the Mountain. The duo won National Geographic Adventurers of the Year for 2012 for their exploits. After the paraglide they kayaked to the Indian Ocean, and they had made it to the Bay of Bengal by the end of June 2011. One had never climbed, and one had never para-glided, but together they accomplished a ground-breaking feat. By 2013 footage of the flight was shown on the television Nightline. (see also Kayaking for more on this style of activity)\\n\\n2014: Helicopter assisted ascent\\n\\nIn 2014 one team used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp 2 to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, then reached the Everest summit. This team had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Ultimately, Chinese reluctance may have been beneficial to Nepalese interests, allowing the government to showcase improved local hospitals and the opportunity for a new hybrid aviation/mountaneering stylewhich sparked conversations about helicopter use in the mountaineering world. Nepal ended up investigating Wang, and she denied the charge but admitted she did fly some support crew over the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 2 using a helicopter. National Geographic noted how a village festooned Wang with honors after she donated 30,000 USD to the town's hospital. Wang won International Mountaineer of the Year Award from the Nepal government in June 2014.\\n\\n2016: Helicopter business increases\\n\\nIn 2016 the increased use of helicopters was noted for increased efficiency and for hauling materiel over the deadly Khumbu icefall. In particular it was noted that flights saved icefall porters 80 trips but still increased commercial activity at Everest. After many Nepal died in the icefall in 2014, the government had wanted helicopters to handle more transportation to Camp 1 but this was not possible because of the 2015 deaths and earthquake closing the mountain, so the this was implemented in 2016 (helicopters did prove instrumental in rescuing many people in 2015 though). That summer Bell tested the 412EPI, which conducted a series of tests including hovering at 18,000 feet and flying as high as 20,000 feet altitude near Mount Everest. \\n\\nFinancial cost of guided climbs\\n\\nGoing with a \\\"celebrity guide\\\", usually a well-known mountaineer typically with decades of climbing experience and perhaps multiple Everest summits, can cost over £100,000 as of 2015. On the other hand, a limited support service, offering only some meals at base camp and bureaucratic overhead like a permit, can be as little as 7,000 USD. There are issues with the management of guiding firms in Nepal, and one Canadian woman was left begging for help when her guide firm, which she had paid perhaps 40,000 dollars to, couldn't stop her from dying in 2012. She ran out of bottled oxygen after climbing for 27 hours straight. Despite decades of concern over inexperienced climbers, neither she nor the guide firm had summited Everest before. The communist-controlled Tibetan/Chinese side does not offer much reprieve from the chaos, with it being described as \\\"out of control\\\" due to multiple reports of thefts, threats, etc. By 2015, Nepal was considering requiring that summiters have some experience and wanted to make the mountain safer, and especially increase revenue. One barrier to this is that low-budget firms make money not taking inexperienced climbers to the summit. Those turned away by western firms can often find another firm willing to take them for a pricethat they return home soon after arriving after base camp, or part way up the mountain. Whereas a western firm will convince those they deem incapable to turn back, other firms simply give people the freedom to choose. Mountain managers can be left with difficult choices, sometimes balancing greed with the safety of tourists; as one bureaucrat for the extremely popular Mont Blanc put it, \\\"Climbing the Mont Blanc is a matter for serious mountaineers. It isn't a trek or a playground to get a mention in the Guinness World Records\\\" Mount Blanc may be an indicator of how extreme Everest can go, a mountain that dwarfs Everest in popularity and fatalities, with tens of thousands, not hundreds summiting a commensurate increase in fatalities, with over a hundred dying each year. The battle for safety is a struggle there as in the Himalaya's, with another official jokingly noting they want to send Pamela Anderson to rescue tourists (perhaps a nod to her role as a life-guard on the U.S. television show Baywatch).\\n\\nCommercial climbing\\n\\nClimbing Mount Everest can be a relatively expensive undertaking for climbers. Climbing gear required to reach the summit may cost in excess of US$8,000, and most climbers also use bottled oxygen, which adds around US$3,000. The permit to enter the Everest area from the south via Nepal costs US$10,000 to US$25,000 per person, depending on the size of the team. The ascent typically starts in one of the two base camps near the mountain, both of which are approximately 100 km from Kathmandu and 300 km from Lhasa (the two nearest cities with major airports); transferring one's equipment from the airport to the base camp may add as much as US$2,000.\\n\\nBy 2016, most guiding services cost between 35 and almost 200 thousand dollars. However, the services offered vary widely and its \\\"buyer beware\\\" when doing deals in Nepal, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the World. Tourism is about 4% of Nepal's economy, but Everest is special in that an Everest porter can make nearly double the nations's average wage in a region in which other sources of income have been slow coming. \\n\\nBeyond this point, costs may vary widely. It is technically possible to reach the summit with minimal additional expenses, and there are \\\"budget\\\" travel agencies which offer logistical support for such trips. However, this is considered difficult and dangerous (as illustrated by the case of David Sharp). Many climbers hire \\\"full service\\\" guide companies, which provide a wide spectrum of services, including acquisition of permits, transportation to/from base camp, food, tents, fixed ropes, medical assistance while on the mountain, an experienced mountaineer guide, and even personal porters to carry one's backpack and cook one's meals. The cost of such a guide service may range from $40,000 to $80,000 per person. Since most equipment is moved by Sherpas, clients of full-service guide companies can often keep their backpack weights under 10 kg, or hire a Sherpa to carry their backpack for them. By contrast, climbers attempting less commercialised peaks, like Denali, are often expected to carry backpacks over 30 kg and, occasionally, to tow a sled with 35 kg of gear and food. \\n\\nAccording to Jon Krakauer, the era of commercialization of Everest started in 1985, when the summit was reached by a guided expedition led by David Breashears that included Richard Bass, a wealthy 55-year-old businessman and an amateur mountain climber with only four years of climbing experience. By the early 1990s, multiple companies were offering guided tours to the mountain. Rob Hall, one of the mountaineers who died in the 1996 disaster, had successfully guided 39 clients to the summit prior to that incident. \\n\\nThe degree of commercialization of Mount Everest is a frequent subject of criticism. Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, said in a 2003 interview that his late father would have been shocked to discover that rich thrill-seekers with no climbing experience were now routinely reaching the summit:\\n\\nReinhold Messner concurred in 2004:\\n\\nHowever, not all opinions on the subject among prominent mountaineers are strictly negative. For example, Edmund Hillary, who went on record saying that he has not liked \\\"the commercialization of mountaineering, particularly of Mt. Everest\\\" and claimed that \\\"Having people pay $65,000 and then be led up the mountain by a couple of experienced guides ... isn't really mountaineering at all\\\", nevertheless noted that he was pleased by the changes brought to Everest area by the Westerners:\\n\\nOne of the early guided summiters, Richard Bass (of Seven Summits fame) responded in an interview about Everest climbers and what it took to survive there:\\n\\nLaw and order struggles\\n\\nSome climbers have reported life-threatening thefts from supply caches. Vitor Negrete, the first Brazilian to climb Everest without oxygen and part of David Sharp's party, died during his descent, and theft from his high-altitude camp may have contributed. \\n\\nIn addition to theft, Michael Kodas describes in his book High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed (2008), unethical guides and Sherpas, prostitution and gambling at the Tibet Base Camp, fraud related to the sale of oxygen bottles, and climbers collecting donations under the pretense of removing trash from the mountain. \\n\\nThe Chinese side of the Everest in Tibet was called \\\"out of countrol\\\" after one Canadian had all his gear stolen and was abandoned by his Sherpa. Another sherpa helped him get off the mountain safely and gave him some spare gear. Other climbers have also noted missing oxygen bottles, which can be worth hundreds of dollars each. One of the problems is that there are hundreds of climbers passing by people's tents, although the weather can also damage or even blow people's equipment away.\\n\\n2014 Sherpa strike\\n\\nOn 18 April 2014, in one of the worst disasters to ever hit the Everest climbing community up to that time, 16 Sherpas died in Nepal due to the avalanche that swept them off Mount Everest. In response to the tragedy numerous Sherpa climbing guides walked off the job and most climbing companies pulled out in respect for the Sherpa people mourning the loss. Some still wanted to climb but there was really too much controversy to continue that year. One of the issues that was triggered was pre-existing resentment that had been building over unreasonable client requests during climbs. As bad as it was, the death toll was surpassed later that year by the 2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster.\\n\\nExtreme sports at Mount Everest\\n\\nMount Everest has been host to other winter sports and adventuring besides mountaineering, including snowboarding, skiing, paragliding, and BASE jumping.\\n\\nYuichiro Miura became the first man to ski down Everest in the 1970s (he descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries). Stefan Gatt and Marco Siffredi snowboarded Mount Everest in 2001. Other famous Everest skiers include Davo Karničar of Slovenia, who completed a top to south base camp descent in 2000, Hans Kammerlander of Italy in 1996 on the north side, and Kit DesLauriers of the United States in 2006. In 2006 Tomas Olsson planned to ski down the North face, but his anchor broke while he was rappelling down a cliff in the Norton couloir at about 8500 meters, resulting in his death from a two and a half kilometer fall. Also, Marco Siffredi died in 2002 on his second snow-boarding expedition.\\n\\nVarious types of gliding descents have slowly become more popular, and are noted for their rapid descents to lower camps. In 1986 Steve McKinney led an expedition to Mount Everest, during which he became the first person to fly a hang-glider off the mountain. Frenchman Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest in September 1988, descending in minutes from the south-east ridge to a lower camp. In 2011, two Nepalese made a gliding descent from the Everest summit down in 45 minutes. On 5 May 2013, the beverage company Red Bull sponsored Valery Rozov, who successfully BASE jumped off of the mountain while wearing a wingsuit, setting a record for world's highest BASE jump in the process. \\n\\nEverest and religion\\n\\nThe southern part of Mt. Everest is regarded as one of several \\\"hidden valleys\\\" of refuge designated by Padmasambhava, a ninth-century \\\"lotus-born\\\" Buddhist saint.\\n\\nNear the base of the north side of Mt. Everest lies Rongbuk Monastery, which has been called the \\\"sacred threshold to Mount Everest, with the most dramatic views of the world.\\\" For Sherpas living on the slopes of Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal, Rongbuk Monastery was an important pilgrimage site, accessed in a few days of travel across the Himalaya through Nangpa La. \\n\\nMiyolangsangma, a Tibetan Buddhist \\\"Goddess of Inexhaustible Giving\\\", is believed to have lived at the top of Mt. Everest. According to Sherpa Buddhist monks, Mt. Everest is Miyolangsangma's palace and playground, and all climbers are only partially welcome guests, having arrived without invitation.\\n\\nThe Sherpa people also believe that Mt. Everest and its flanks are blessed with spiritual energy, and one should show reverence when passing through this sacred landscape. Here, the karmic effects of one's actions are magnified, and impure thoughts are best avoided. \\n\\nDebris management\\n\\nFormer long-time Everest guide and climber Apa Sherpa noted the increased amount of items left by expeditions. Apa organised an expedition to remove of rubbish from the lower part of the mountain and another from higher areas. Removal of things from Everest can be quite dangerous, and in one mission two died trying to remove a single corpse, actually increasing the number of dead bodies on Everest.\\n\\nThe Mount Everest Biogas Project aims to make a bioreactor for converting compost material, especially faeces, into a gas maker. One of the challenges of getting a digester to work near Everest is the cold temperatures which have made it harder to work. The project would install a device at Everest that converts human waste into methane, which can then be used as fuel (for heating, etc.). \\n\\nNames\\n\\n*Peak XV (British Empire's Survey)\\n*\\\"The Bastard\\\" (Hillary) \\n*Romanised Tibetan name: \\\"Chomolongma\\\". \\n*Romanised Chinese name: \\\"Mount Qomolangma\\\",\\n*Romanised Nepalese name: \\\"Sagar-Matha\\\" (Usually Sagarmatha)\\n*Old Darjeeling name: \\\"Deodungha\\\"\\n*Mount Everest\\n*Gauri Shankar, in modern times the name a different peak about 30 miles away, but until about 1900 was also sometimes used. \\n\\nMaps\\n\\nFile:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|center|thumb|600px|Southern and northern climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. (The names on the photo are links to corresponding pages.)\\nrect 58 14 160 49 58 14 160 49 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzo\\nrect 200 28 335 52 Makalu\\nrect 378 24 566 45 Everest\\nrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateau\\nrect 250 406 340 427 Rong River\\nrect 333 149 409 186 Changtse\\nrect 550 284 677 303 Rongbuk Glacier\\nrect 478 196 570 218 North Face (Everest)\\nrect 237 231 346 267 East Rongbuk Glacier\\nrect 314 290 536 309 North Col north ridge route\\nrect 531 79 663 105 Lhotse\\nrect 582 112 711 130 Nuptse\\nrect 603 232 733 254 South Col route\\nrect 716 165 839 206 Gyachung Kang\\nrect 882 147 967 183 Cho Oyu\\nrect 1 1 999 661 \\n\\ndesc bottom-left\\n\\nFrom China (Tibet region)\\n\\nFrom Gokyo Ri\\n\\nTerrain animation\",\n \"Denali.txt\\nDenali\\nDenali (also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20310 ft above sea level. At some 18000 ft, the base-to-peak rise is the largest of any mountain situated entirely above sea level. With a topographic prominence of 20156 ft and a topographic isolation of 4629 mi, Denali is the third most prominent and third most isolated peak after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.\\n\\nThe Koyukon people who inhabit the area around the mountain have referred to the peak as \\\"Denali\\\" for centuries. In 1896, a gold prospector named it \\\"Mount McKinley\\\" in support of then-presidential candidate William McKinley; that name was the official name recognized by the United States government from 1917 until 2015. In August 2015, following the 1975 lead of the state of Alaska, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the change of the official name of the mountain to Denali. Prior to this, most Alaskans already referred to the mountain as Denali.\\n\\nIn 1903, James Wickersham recorded the first attempt at climbing Denali, which was unsuccessful. In 1906, Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent, which was later proven to be false. The first verifiable ascent to Denali's summit was achieved on June 7, 1913, by climbers Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum, who went by the South Summit. In 1951, Bradford Washburn pioneered the West Buttress route, considered to be the safest and easiest route, and therefore the most popular currently in use.\\n\\nOn September 2, 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that the mountain is 20310 ft high, not 20320 ft, as measured in 1952 using photogrammetry.\\n\\nGeology and features\\n\\nDenali is a granitic pluton lifted by tectonic pressure from the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate; at the same time, the sedimentary material above and around the mountain was stripped away by erosion. The forces that lifted Denali also cause many deep earthquakes in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Pacific Plate is seismically active beneath Denali, a tectonic region that is known as the \\\"McKinley cluster\\\". \\n\\nDenali has a summit elevation of 20310 ft above sea level, making it the highest peak in North America and the northernmost mountain above 6,000 meters elevation in the world. Measured from base to peak at some 18000 ft, it is also the largest of any mountain entirely above sea level. Denali rises from a sloping plain with elevations from 1000 to, for a base-to-peak height of 17000 to. By comparison, Mount Everest rises from the Tibetan Plateau at a much higher base elevation. Base elevations for Everest range from 13800 ft on the south side to 17100 ft on the Tibetan Plateau, for a base-to-peak height in the range of 12000 to. Denali's base-to-peak height is little more than half the 33500 ft of the volcano Mauna Kea, which lies mostly under water. \\n\\nLayout of the mountain\\n\\nDenali has two significant summits: the South Summit is the higher one, while the North Summit has an elevation of 19470 ft and a prominence of approximately 1270 ft. The North Summit is sometimes counted as a separate peak (see e.g., fourteener) and sometimes not; it is rarely climbed, except by those doing routes on the north side of the massif.\\n\\nFive large glaciers flow off the slopes of the mountain. The Peters Glacier lies on the northwest side of the massif, while the Muldrow Glacier falls from its northeast slopes. Just to the east of the Muldrow, and abutting the eastern side of the massif, is the Traleika Glacier. The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast of the mountain, and the Kahiltna Glacier leads up to the southwest side of the mountain. With a length of 44 mi, the Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range.\\n\\nNaming\\n\\nThe Koyukon Athabaskans who inhabit the area around the mountain have for centuries referred to the peak as Dinale or Denali. The name is based on a Koyukon word for \\\"high\\\" or \\\"tall\\\". During the Russian ownership of Alaska, the common name for the mountain was Bolshaya Gora (, bolshaya Russian for big; gora \\n Russian for mountain), which is the Russian translation of Denali.. It was briefly called Densmore's Mountain in the late 1880s and early 1890s after Frank Densmore, an Alaskan prospector who was the first European to reach the base of the mountain. \\n\\nIn 1896, a gold prospector named it McKinley as political support for then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who became president the following year. The United States formally recognized the name Mount McKinley after President Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act of February 26, 1917. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson declared the north and south peaks of the mountain the \\\"Churchill Peaks\\\", in honor of British statesman Winston Churchill. The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975, which was how it is called locally. However, a request in 1975 from the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same at the federal level was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district included McKinley's hometown of Canton. \\n\\nOn August 30, 2015, just ahead of a presidential visit to Alaska, the Barack Obama administration announced the name Denali would be restored in line with the Alaska Geographic Board's designation. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell issued the order changing the name to Denali on August 28, 2015, effective immediately. Jewell said the change had been \\\"a long time coming\\\". The renaming of the mountain received praise from Alaska's senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski,Matthew Smith – [http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/08/31/murkowski-thanks-obama-for-restoring-denali-obama-directs-his-gaze-on-climate-change/ \\\"Murkowski thanks Obama for restoring Denali\\\", (video)] Alaska Public Radio, KNOM, Nome, August 31, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-01 who had previously introduced legislation to accomplish the name change,Michael A. Memoli – [http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alaska-mckinley-denali-20150830-story.html \\\"Mt. McKinley, America's Tallest Peak, is Getting Back its Original Name: Denali\\\",] Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-1 but it drew criticism from several Ohio politicians, such as Governor John Kasich, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, and Representative Bob Gibbs, who described Obama's action as \\\"constitutional overreach\\\" because he said an act of Congress is required to rename the mountain; The Alaska Dispatch News reported that the Secretary of the Interior has authority under federal law to change geographic names when the Board of Geographic Names does not act on a naming request within a \\\"reasonable\\\" period of time. Jewell told the Alaska Dispatch News that \\\"I think any of us would think that 40 years is an unreasonable amount of time.\\\"\\n\\nIndigenous names for Denali can be found in seven different Alaskan languages. The names fall into two categories. To the south of the Alaska Range in the Dena'ina and Ahtna languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as \\\"big mountain\\\". To the north of the Alaska Range in the Lower Tanana, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Holikachuk, and Deg Xinag languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as \\\"the high one\\\", \\\"the tall one\\\" (Koyukon, Lower and Middle Tanana, Upper Kuskokwim, Deg Xinag, and Holikachuk), or \\\"big mountain\\\" (Ahtna and Dena'ina). Asked about the importance of the mountain and its name, Will Mayo, former president of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, an organization that represents 42 Athabaskan tribes in the Alaskan interior, said “It’s not one homogeneous belief structure around the mountain, but we all agree that we’re all deeply gratified by the acknowledgment of the importance of Denali to Alaska’s people.\\\"\\n\\nThe following table lists the Alaskan Athabascan names for Denali.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nThe Koyukon Athabaskans, living in the Yukon, Tanana and Kuskokwim basins, were the first Native Americans with access to the flanks of the mountain. A British naval captain and explorer, George Vancouver, is the first European on record to have sighted Denali, when he noted \\\"distant stupendous mountains\\\" while surveying the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet on May 6, 1794. The Russian explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin explored the Tanana and Kuskokwim rivers in 1843 and 1844, and was likely the first European to sight the mountain from the other side.\\n\\nWilliam Dickey, a New Hampshire-born resident of Seattle, Washington who had been digging for gold in the sands of the Susitna River, wrote, after his returning from Alaska, an account in the New York Sun that appeared on January 24, 1897. His report drew attention with the sentence \\\"We have no doubt that this peak is the highest in North America, and estimate that it is over 20000 ft high.\\\" Until then, Mount Logan in Canada's Yukon Territory was believed to be the continent’s highest point. Though later praised for his estimate, Dickey admitted that other prospector parties had also guessed the mountain to be over 20000 ft. \\n\\nOn November 5, 2012, the United States Mint released a twenty-five cent piece depicting Denali National Park. It is the fifteenth of the America the Beautiful Quarters series. The reverse features a Dall sheep with the peak of Denali in the background. \\n\\nClimbing history\\n\\nThe first recorded attempt to climb Denali was by Judge James Wickersham in 1903, via the Peters Glacier and the North Face, now known as the Wickersham Wall. Because of the route's history of avalanche danger, it was not successfully climbed until 1963.\\n\\nFamed explorer Dr. Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent of the mountain in 1906. His claim was regarded with some suspicion from the start, but was also widely believed. It was later proved false, with some crucial evidence provided by Bradford Washburn when he was sketched on a lower peak.\\n\\nIn 1910, four area locals – Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagall – known as the Sourdough Expedition, attempted to climb Denali despite a lack of climbing experience. The group spent approximately three months on the mountain. Their purported summit ascent day included carrying a bag of doughnuts each, a thermos of hot chocolate, and a 14-foot (4.2 m) spruce pole. Two of them reached the North Summit, the lower of the two, and erected the pole near the top. According to the group, the time they took to reach the summit was a total of 18 hours. Until the first ascent in 1913, their claims were disbelieved, in part due to false claims they had climbed both summits.\\n\\nIn 1912, the Parker-Browne expedition nearly reached the summit, turning back within just a few hundred yards of it due to harsh weather. Hours after their ascent, the Great Earthquake of 1912 shattered the glacier they had ascended. \\n\\nThe first ascent of the main summit of Denali came on June 7, 1913, by a party led by Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens. The first man to reach the summit was Walter Harper, an Alaska Native. Robert Tatum also made the summit. Using the mountain's contemporary name, Tatum later commented, \\\"The view from the top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!\\\" They ascended the Muldrow Glacier route pioneered by the earlier expeditions, which is still often climbed today. Stuck confirmed, via binoculars, the presence of a large pole near the North Summit; this report confirmed the Sourdough ascent, and today it is widely believed that the Sourdoughs did succeed on the North Summit. However, the pole was never seen before or since, so there is still some doubt. Stuck also discovered that the Parker-Browne party were only about 200 feet (61 m) of elevation short of the true summit when they turned back.\\n\\nThe mountain is regularly climbed today; in 2003, around 58% of climbers reached the top. But by 2003, the mountain had claimed the lives of nearly 100 mountaineers over time. The vast majority of climbers use the West Buttress Route, pioneered in 1951 by Bradford Washburn, after an extensive aerial photographic analysis of the mountain. Climbers typically take two to four weeks to ascend Denali.\\n\\nTimeline\\n\\n* 1896–1902: Surveys by Robert Muldrow, George Eldridge, Alfred Brooks. \\n* 1913: First ascent, by Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum via the Muldrow Glacier route. \\n* 1932: Second ascent, by Alfred Lindley, Harry , Grant Pearson, Erling Strom. (Both peaks were climbed.) \\n* 1947: Barbara Washburn becomes the first woman to reach the summit while her husband Bradford Washburn becomes the first person to summit twice.\\n* 1951: First ascent of the West Buttress Route, led by Bradford Washburn.\\n* 1954: First ascent of the very long South Buttress Route.\\n* 1959: First ascent of the West Rib, now a popular, mildly technical route to the summit.\\n* 1961: First ascent of the Cassin Ridge, named for Riccardo Cassin and the best-known technical route on the mountain. The first ascent team members are: Riccardo Cassin, Luigi Airoldi, Luigi Alippi, Giancarlo Canali, Romano Perego, and Annibale Zucchi. \\n\\n* 1963: Two teams make first ascents of two different routes on the Wickersham Wall. \\n* 1967: First winter ascent, via the West Buttress, by Dave Johnston, Art Davidson and Ray Genet. \\n* 1967: Seven members of Joe Wilcox's twelve-man expedition perish, while stranded for ten days near the summit, in what has been described as the worst storm on record. Up to that time, this was the third worst disaster in mountaineering history in terms of lives lost. Before July 1967 only four men had ever perished on Denali. \\n* 1970: First solo ascent by Naomi Uemura.\\n* 1970: First ascent by an all-female team, led by Grace Hoeman and the later famous American high altitude mountaineer Arlene Blum together with Margaret Clark, Margaret Young, Faye Kerr and Dana Smith Isherwood.\\n* 1972: Sylvain Saudan, \\\"Skier of the Impossible\\\", skis down the sheer southwest face, conquered for the first time by skier or climber.\\n* 1976: First solo ascent of the Cassin Ridge by Charlie Porter, a climb \\\"ahead of its time\\\".\\n* 1979: First ascent by dog team achieved by Susan Butcher, Ray Genet, Brian Okonek, Joe Redington, Sr., and Robert Stapleton. \\n* 1984: Uemura returns to make the first winter solo ascent, but dies after summitting. Tono Križo, František Korl and Blažej Adam from the Slovak Mountaineering Association climb a very direct route to the summit, now known as the Slovak Route, on the south face of the mountain, to the right of the Cassin Ridge.\\n* 1988: First successful winter solo ascent. Vern Tejas climbed the West Buttress alone in February and March, summitted successfully, and descended. \\n* 1997: First successful ascent up the West Fork of Traleika Glacier up to Karstens Ridge beneath Browne Tower. This path was named the \\\"Butte Direct\\\" by the two climbers Jim Wilson and Jim Blow. \\n* 2015: On June 24, a survey team led by Blaine Horner places two global positioning receivers on the summit to determine the precise position and elevation of the summit. The summit snow depth is measured at 4.5 meters. The United States National Geodetic Survey later determined the summit elevation to be .\\n\\nWeather station\\n\\nThe Japan Alpine Club installed a meteorological station on a ridge near the summit of Denali at an altitude of 18733 ft in 1990. In 1998, this weather station was donated to the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In June 2002, a weather station was placed at the 19000 ft level. This weather station was designed to transmit data in real-time for use by the climbing public and the science community. Since its establishment, annual upgrades to the equipment have been performed with instrumentation custom built for the extreme weather and altitude conditions. This weather station is the third-highest weather station in the world.\\n\\nThe weather station recorded a temperature of on December 1, 2003. On the previous day of November 30, 2003, a temperature of combined with a wind speed of to produce a North American record windchill of .\\n\\nEven in July, this weather station has recorded temperatures as low as and windchills as low as .\\n\\nHistorical record\\n\\nThe mountain is characterized by extremely cold weather. Temperatures as low as and wind chills as low as have been recorded by an automated weather station located at 18733 ft. According to the National Park Service, in 1932 the -Lindley expedition recovered a self-recording minimum thermometer left near Browne's Tower, at about 15000 ft, on Denali by the Stuck-Karstens party in 1913. The spirit thermometer was calibrated down to , and the lowest recorded temperature was below that point. Harry J. Lek took the thermometer back to Washington, D.C. where it was tested by the United States Weather Bureau and found to be accurate. The lowest temperature that it had recorded was found to be approximately . Another thermometer was placed at the 15000 ft level by the U.S. Army Natick Laboratory, and was there from 1950 to 1969. The coldest temperature recorded during that period was also . \\n\\nSubpeaks and nearby mountains\\n\\nBesides the North Summit mentioned above, other features on the massif which are sometimes included as separate peaks are:\\n* South Buttress, 15885 ft; mean prominence: 335 ft\\n* East Buttress high point, 14730 ft; mean prominence: 380 ft\\n* East Buttress, most topographically prominent point, 14650 ft; mean prominence: 600 ft\\n* Browne Tower, 14530 ft; mean prominence: 75 ft\\n\\nNearby peaks include:\\n* Mount Foraker\\n* Mount Silverthrone\\n* Mount Hunter\\n* Mount Huntington\\n* Mount Dickey\\n* The Moose's Tooth\\n\\nTaxonomic honors\\n\\n* denaliensis\\n** Ceratozetella denaliensis (formerly Cyrtozetes denaliensis Behan-Pelletier, 1985) is a species of moss mite in the family Mycobatidae :sv:Ceratozetella denaliensis\\n** Magnoavipes denaliensis Fiorillo et al., 2011 (literally “bird with large feet found in Denali”) is a Magnoavipes ichnospecies of bird footprint from the Upper Cretaceous of Alaska and was a large heron-like bird (as larger than a sandhill crane) with three toes and toe pads. :pt:Magnoavipes denaliensis\\n* denali\\n** Cosberella denali (Fjellberg, 1985) is a springtail. :sv:Cosberella denali\\n** Proclossiana aphirape denali Klots, 1940 is a Boloria butterfly species of the Heliconiinae subfamily of Nymphalidae.\\n** Symplecta denali (Alexander, 1955) is a species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. :sv:Symplecta denali\\n** Tipula denali Alexander, 1969 is a species of crane fly in the family Tipulidae. :sv:Tipula denali\\n* denalii\\n** Erigeron denalii A. Nelson, 1945 or Denali fleabane is an Erigeron fleabane species.\\n** Papaver denalii Gjaerevoll 1963 is an Papaver species and syn. of Papaver mcconnellii\\n* mckinleyensis or mackinleyensis\\n** Erebia mackinleyensis (Gunder, 1932) or Mt. McKinley alpine is a butterfly species of the Satyrinae subfamily of Nymphalidae. :fr:Erebia mackinleyensis\\n** Oeneis mackinleyensis Dos Passos 1965 or Oeneis mckinleyensis Dos Passos 1949 is a butterfly species of the Satyrinae subfamily of Nymphalidae (syn. of Oeneis bore)\\n** Uredo mckinleyensis Cummins 1952 or Uredo mackinleyensis Cummins 1952 is a rust fungus species.\",\n \"Catskill_Mountains.txt\\nCatskill Mountains\\nThe Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a large area in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York. They are located approximately 100 mi north-northwest of New York City and 40 mi southwest of Albany, starting just west of the Hudson River. The Catskills occupy much or all of five counties (Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster), with some areas falling into the boundaries of southwestern Albany, eastern Broome, northwestern Orange, and southern Otsego counties. Foothills are also found in southeastern Chenango, southern Montgomery, northern Otsego, and western Schenectady counties. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a 700000 acre forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.\\n\\nGeologically, the Catskills are a mature dissected plateau, a once-flat region subsequently uplifted and eroded into sharp relief by watercourses. The Catskills form the northeastern end of, and highest-elevation portion of, the Allegheny Plateau (also known as the Appalachian Plateau). Although the Catskills are sometimes compared with the Adirondack Mountains further north, the two mountain ranges are not geologically related, as the Adirondacks are a continuation of the Canadian Shield. Similarly, the Shawangunk Ridge, which forms the southeastern edge of the Catskills, is part of the geologically distinct Ridge-and-Valley province, and is a continuation of the same ridge known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania.\\n\\nClimatically, the Catskills lie within the Allegheny Highlands forests ecoregion.\\n\\nThe Catskills are well known in American culture, both as the setting for many 19th-century Hudson River School paintings and as the favored destination for urban vacationers from New York City in the mid-20th century. The region's many large resorts gave countless young stand-up comedians an opportunity to hone their craft. In addition, the Catskills have long been a haven for artists, musicians, and writers, especially in and around the towns of Phoenicia and Woodstock, New York.\\n\\nName\\n\\nNicolaes Visscher I's 1656 map of New Netherland located the ' at the mouth of Catskill creek. The region to the south is identified as ' (High Lands of the Esopus), a reference to a local band northern Lenape Native Americans who inhabited the banks of the Hudson and hunted in the highlands along the Esopus Creek. \\n\\nWhile the meaning of the name (\\\"cat creek\\\" in Dutch) and the namer (early Dutch explorers) are settled matters, exactly how and why the area is named \\\"Catskills\\\" is a mystery. Mountain lions (catamounts) were known to have been in the area when the Dutch arrived in the 17th century.\\n\\nTheories:\\n*The most common, and easiest, explanation is that bobcats were seen near Catskill creek and the present-day village of Catskill, and the name followed from there. However, there is no record of bobcats' ever having been seen in significant numbers on the banks of the Hudson, and the name Catskill does not appear on paper until 1655, more than four decades later.\\n* A corruption of ', the Dutch sailors' term for the Indian stockades they saw on the riverbank. According to one Belgian authority, ' occurs in many place names throughout Flanders and has nothing to do with cats and everything to do with fortifications.\\n* It was named for Dutch poet Jacob Cats, who was also known for his real estate prowess, profiting from speculation in lands reclaimed from the sea.\\n* A ship named The Cat had gone up the Hudson shortly before the name was first used. In nautical slang of the era, cat could also mean a piece of equipment, or a particular type of small vessel, called a \\\"catboat\\\".\\n* It has also been suggested that it refers to lacrosse, which Dutch visitors had seen the Iroquois natives play. Kat can also refer to a tennis racket, which a lacrosse stick resembles, and the first place the Dutch saw this, further down the river in the present-day Town of Saugerties, they gave the name Kaatsbaan, for \\\"tennis court\\\", which is still on maps today.\\n* The Mohicans roamed the woods of New England during the 18th century. A Mohican tribe supposedly inhabited the area known as the Catskills today, led by a Mohican chief named Cat.\\n\\nThe confusion over the exact origins of the name led over the years to variant spellings such as Kaatskill and Kaaterskill, both of which are also still used: the former in the regional magazine Kaatskill Life, the latter as the name of a clove, creek, mountain, town, and waterfall. The supposed Indian name for the range, Onteora (\\\"land in the sky\\\"), was actually created by a white man in the mid-19th century to drum up business for a resort. It, too, persists today as the name of a school district and as the name of a Boy Scout summer camp (Onteora Scout Reservation).\\n\\nThe name Catskills did not come into wide popular use for the mountains until the mid-19th century – in fact, that name was disparaged by purists as too plebeian, too reminiscent of the area's Dutch colonial past, especially since it was used by the local farming population. It may also have been a continuation of the British practice, after taking possession of the colony in the late 17th century, of trying to replace most Dutch Knickerbocker toponyms in present-day New York with their English alternatives. The locals preferred to call the range the Blue Mountains, to harmonize with Vermont's Green Mountains and New Hampshire's White Mountains. It was only after Washington Irving's stories that Catskills won out over Blue Mountains and several other competitors.\\n\\nLand features\\n\\nGeography\\n\\nAt the eastern end of the range, the mountains begin quite dramatically with the Catskill Escarpment rising up suddenly from the Hudson Valley. The western boundary is far less certain, as the mountains gradually decline in height and grade into the rest of the Allegheny Plateau. Nor is there a consensus on where the Catskills end to the north or south, with it being certain only that by the time one reaches either I-88, the Delaware River, or the Shawangunk Ridge that one is no longer in the Catskills.\\n\\nIn these peripheral regions, whether or not one is in the Catskills seems to be a matter of personal preference, as an old saying in the region seems to suggest: \\\"When you have two rocks for every dirt, you are in the Catskills\\\".\\n\\nMany visitors, including owners of weekend or vacation homes in the region, seem to consider almost anything that is west of the Hudson and sufficiently rural, yet within a short drive of New York City, to be in the Catskills.\\n\\nThe Poconos, to the immediate southwest in Pennsylvania, are technically a continuation of the Catskills under a different name. The Catskills contain more than 30 peaks above and parts of six important rivers. The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club is an organization whose members have climbed all the peaks in the Catskills over . The highest mountain, Slide Mountain in Ulster County, has an elevation of 4180 ft.\\n\\nGeology\\n\\nThe history of the Catskill Mountains is a geologic story come full circle, from erosion, deposition and uplift, back to erosion. The Catskill Mountains are more of a dissected plateau than a series of mountain ranges. The sediments that make up the rocks in the Catskills were deposited when the ancient Acadian Mountains in the east were rising and subsequently eroding. The sediments traveled westward and formed a great delta into the sea that was in the area at that time.\\n\\nThe escarpment of the Catskill Mountains is near the former (landward) edge of this delta, as the sediments deposited in the northeastern areas along the escarpment were deposited above sea level by moving rivers, and the Acadian Mountains were located roughly where the Taconic Mountains are located today (though significantly larger). The further west one travels, the finer becomes the sediment that was deposited, and thus the rocks change from gravel conglomerates to sandstone and shale. Even further west, these fresh water deposits intermingle with shallow marine sandstone and shale until the end, in deeper water limestone.\\n\\nThe uplift and erosion of the Acadian Mountains was occurring during the Devonian and early Mississippian period (395 to 325 million years ago). Over that time, thousands of feet of these sediments built up, slowly moving the Devonian seashore further and further west. A meteor impact occurred in the shallow sea approximately 375 mya, creating a 10 km diameter crater. This crater eventually filled with sediments and became Panther Mountain through the process of uplift and erosion.\\n\\nBy the middle of the Mississippian period, the uplift stopped, and the Acadian Mountains had been eroded so much that sediments no longer flowed across the Catskill Delta.\\n\\nOver time the sediments were buried by more sediments from other areas, until the original Devonian and Mississippian sediments were deeply buried and slowly became solid rock. Then the entire area experienced uplift, which caused the sedimentary rocks to begin to erode. Today, those upper sedimentary rocks have been completely removed, exposing the Devonian and Mississippian rocks. Today’s Catskills are a result of the continued erosion of these rocks, both by streams and, in the recent past, by glaciers.\\n\\nSome traces of the most recent sedimentary layers remain for the discerning eye to discover, however. Even along the glacially-scoured eastern escarpment and in the upper Hudson Valley just below it—not to mention the glacial till-dumps and occasional terminal moraines of the southern-facing mountain slopes and valleys of the eastern and central Catskills—fragments of quartzite ranging from bright white, banded orange and tan, to deep red and dark gray are found. Many if not most of these are no more than 6 in thick, have two flat sides and are without inclusions of other native rock, e.g., gray or blue sandstone (\\\"bluestone\\\"), most likely indicating the presence of a shallow, wave-beaten sandy delta or beach area at the base of the Acadian ranges in the delta's final stages of sedimentation. That sand layer, mostly free of silt (hence less opaque than older layers formed with higher concentrations of silt and mud under deeper water at more remote reaches of the delta) formed one or more upper layers of the delta. With compression and time, thin layers of sandstone formed of which only the here-mentioned fragments of sandstone remain now though in comparative abundance, if one measures their frequency against those of glacial erratics of similar size and shape which are typically metamorphic in origin (e.g., marble, schist, slate), which most likely originated in the geologically complex region of the Adirondacks to the north. Such sandstones and erratics are frequently found collocated in cairns and other anomalous rock arrangements of the Eastern Catskills.\\n\\nIn successive Ice Ages, both valley and continental glaciers have widened the valleys and the notches of the Catskills and rounded the mountains. Grooves and scratches in exposed bedrock provides evidence of the great sheets of ice that once traversed through the region. Even today the erosion of the mountains continues, with the region’s rivers and streams deepening and widening the mountains’ valleys and cloves.\\n\\nRecreation\\n\\nAquatic sports and recreation\\n\\nEsopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River, starting at Winnisook Lake on Slide Mountain. It flows across Ulster County to the Hudson River at Saugerties. The Esopus is noted for making an almost 270-degree turn around Panther Mountain, following a buried 6 mi impact crater rim. It is famous for tubing, a sport of rafting down a river in an inner tube. Many tubers begin their trip at Phoenicia, New York and head down the creek towards the Ashokan Reservoir at Olive, New York.\\n\\nThe Ashokan Reservoir is part of the New York City water supply system, fishing is allowed under permit, but swimming and most other recreational uses are forbidden.\\n\\nRiver canoeing and kayaking are popular. There are 42 kayakable rapids ranging from class I to V+. \\n\\nThe Esopus Creek is also famous for its fly fishing, although in recent years it has been plagued by invasive plants. Another great place to fish is Roscoe, New York, also known as trout town USA. Every April 1 people flock there from all over to kick off the start of fly fishing season.\\n\\nBicycling\\n\\nRoad and mountain bicycling are popular in the range. Bicycle racing includes The Tour of the Catskills, a three-day road stage race held in Green and Ulster counties each summer, and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham. Other cycling resources include the Catskill Scenic Trail and the Headwaters Trails in Stamford. Several ski centers provide downhill mountain bicycling in the warmer months.\\n\\nCamping\\n\\nThe Catskill Mountains have one of the largest and most complex natural areas in the eastern half of the United States. There are about 600000 acre in the Catskill Park, which include many camping locations. Some notable spots to camp in the Catskills are Bear Spring Mountain, Little Pond, Mongaup Pond, and North-South Lake.\\n\\nHiking\\n\\nWithin the range is the Catskill Park, comprising over 700000 acre. Catskill Park is part of New York's Forest Preserve. Not all the land is publicly owned; about 60% remains in private hands, but new sections are added frequently. Most of the park and the preserve are within Ulster County, with a significant portion in Greene County, and parts in Sullivan and Delaware counties, too. Many of the trails in public areas are maintained and updated by the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference and the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club. Devil's Path in Greene County is one of the many trails open for hikers.\\n\\nSkiing\\n\\nThere are five main downhill ski and snowboard areas in the Catskills: Belleayre Mountain in Highmount, New York (run by the Olympic Regional Development Authority); Hunter Mountain in Hunter, New York (the first ski area to install snowmaking machines in New York); Holiday Mountain Ski and Fun in Monticello, New York; Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, New York; and Windham Mountain in Windham, New York (which, in addition to snow boarding and skiing, is the home of the Adaptive Sports Foundation, which provides the physical and intellectually disabled with lessons on how to ski, snow tube, snowboard, bike ride, and a various amount of other types of sports).\\n\\nJoppenbergh Mountain, in Rosendale Village, Ulster County, New York, hosted its first ski jumping competition in 1937. Ski jumping was continued on the mountain until February 7, 1971, when the last competition was held.\\n\\nThe Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center in Tannersville, New York has 22 mi of trails.\\n\\nStructures\\n\\nFire towers\\n\\nThe Catskill Mountains fire towers were constructed to facilitate forest fire prevention and control. 23 fire towers were built in the Catskill Mountains between 1908 and 1950. The fire towers fell out of use by the 1970s as fire spotting from airplanes had become more effective and efficient, so the fire towers were decommissioned; the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower was the last to be taken out of service in 1990. All but five of the towers were dismantled. The five remaining towers have been renovated and opened to the public as observation posts in the Catskill Mountains because of the extraordinary views they provide. The remaining towers are:\\n\\n*Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station – Town of Hardenburgh, New York – Elevation 3723 ft\\n*Hunter Mountain Fire Tower – Town of Hunter, New York – Elevation 4042 ft\\n*Overlook Mountain Tower – Town of Woodstock, New York – Elevation 3140 ft\\n*Red Hill Fire Tower – Town of Denning, New York – Elevation 2990 ft\\n*Tremper Mountain Fire Tower – Town of Shandaken, New York – Elevation 2740 ft\\n\\nNotable landmarks\\n\\nThe Catskill Mountain House, built in 1824, was a famous hotel near Palenville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains overlooking the Hudson River Valley. In its prime to the turn of the century, it was visited by United States Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as many other important personages.\\n\\nShortly after it was completed, the Mountain House became a favorite subject for Washington Irving and artists for the new Hudson River School, most notably artists Thomas Cole and William Henry Bartlett.\\n\\nTransportation\\n\\nFrom 1872, the Catskills were served by the Catskill Mountain Branch of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad which was absorbed into the New York Central railroad in 1932. Passenger rail service continued until 1954. Part of the line still exists but now serves only freight. The Delaware and Ulster Railroad is a heritage railroad, based in Arkville, New York, that still runs a scenic part of the track from Highmount to Hubbell Corners, New York for tourist use. The Catskill Mountain Railroad is also a heritage railroad in the Catskills, operating from Kingston, New York up to Highmount, New York.\\n\\nThe Catskills are accessible by automobile from the east along Interstate 87/New York State Thruway, which runs north-south through the Hudson Valley. To the south and southwest, the Catskills are accessible by a variety of highways, including New York State Route 55, U.S. Route 44, U.S. Route 209, and New York State Route 17 (also known as \\\"Future I-86\\\"). Access to the western Catskills is provided by New York State Route 30; and the vaguely defined far-western edge of the region is variously considered to be New York State Route 10 or Interstate 88, though this boundary remains a matter of local preference. New York State Routes 28 and 23A cut east-west through the heart of the Catskills, serving many of the most popular outdoor tourist destinations. New York State Route 23 runs east-west across the Catskills' far-northern section.\\n\\nThe closest major airports to the Catskill region are Albany International Airport to the north and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh to the south. Smaller airports in the region include the following:\\n* Columbia County Airport in Hudson\\n* Dutchess County Airport in Poughkeepsie\\n* Joseph Y. Resnick Airport in Ellenville\\n* Kingston-Ulster Airport\\n* Kobelt Airport in Wallkill\\n* Randall Airport in \\n* Sullivan County International Airport in Monticello\\n* Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport\\n\\nIn popular culture\\n\\nComics\\n\\n*In Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables, the animals and other fairy tale characters live on \\\"The Farm\\\", an imaginary haven in the NY Catskills.\\n\\nFilms\\n\\nThe Hudson Valley Film Commission maintains an updated list of films set in the Hudson Valley / Catskills Region, including: \\n(Chronological)\\n*WaterFall in the Catskills (1897), the Edison Studio\\n*Rip Van Winkle (1921), silent film version of the classic story\\n*Having Wonderful Time (1938), Red Skelton's first movie, set in a Catskills hotel\\n*My Side of the Mountain (1969), film adaptation of Jean Craighead George's eponymous 1959 novel; a young boy tests his survival skills by living about two years in the Catskill Mountains\\n*Woodstock (1970), a documentary about the Woodstock Festival of 1969, filmed at the festival in Bethel, New York\\n*Magic (1978), a film starring Anthony Hopkins and set in the Catskills\\n*Tootsie (1982), features scenes in the Hurley Mountain Inn located in Ulster County, New York\\n*The Gig (1985), directed by Frank D. Gilroy; a character study of amateur musicians who get a gig\\n*Dirty Dancing (1987), a hit film set in a Catskills resort in the summer of 1963 (though filmed at Mountain Lake in Virginia and at Lake Lure in North Carolina)\\n*Sweet Lorraine (1987), the story of an aging Catskill resort in its last days, filmed at the former Heiden Hotel in South Fallsburg, New York\\n*Casper Meets Wendy (1995), Wendy and her aunts run into Casper and his uncles at a resort in the Catskills\\n*Heavy (1995), an independent film starring Liv Tyler, Debbie Harry, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Shelley Winters, and Joe Grifasi, filmed partially in the southern Catskills, in Barryville, New York and Highland Lake\\n*Manny & Lo (1996)\\n*Julian Po (1997), starring Christian Slater and filmed in Fleischmanns\\n*A Walk on the Moon (1999), set in Sullivan County, New York, but filmed in Quebec, Canada\\n*You Can Count on Me (2000), an award-winning independent film set in the village of Scottsville, in western New York near Rochester, but filmed in the Catskills, in and around Margaretville and Phoenicia\\n*Kaaterskill Falls (2001), an award-winning independent film about a young urban couple who befriend a local hitchhiker; it's a mountain country version of Roman Polanski's Polish-language film Knife in the Water (1962), actually filmed in the Catskills\\n*Wendigo (2001), filmed in the West Shokan and Phoenicia, New York area\\n*The Catskill Chainsaw Redemption (2004), a horror movie\\n* Parts of the movie Transamerica (2005), starring Felicity Huffman, were filmed in the town of Callicoon, New York, though in the movie it's referred to as Callicoon, Kentucky\\n* The burning train and ferry scenes in War of the Worlds (2005) were filmed in the town of Athens, New York at the foot of the Catskills\\n*Four Seasons Documentary (2006), follows the lives of Holocaust survivors in a Borscht Belt colony\\n*Stagedoor (2006), a documentary on life at a teen camp\\n*99 Geiger Road (2007), a documentary about a bungalow colony of Holocaust survivors \\n*The Cake Eaters (2007)\\n*Goyband (2008), a romantic comedy involving a musician performing at the opening of the first kosher casino in the Catskills\\n*Taking Woodstock (2009), the story of how Elliot Tiber helped bring the Woodstock Festival to Bethel, New York\\n*Mary Last Seen (2010), a short on the same theme as Martha Marcy May Marlene (available on the DVD)\\n*Stake Land (2010), a vampire/zombie apocalypse film, partially set and filmed in the Catskills\\n*Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), a critically acclaimed film about a young woman who escapes from a cult in the Catskills\\n*New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (2013) \\n*Studio360 (2013) \\n\\nLiterature\\n\\n*The Catskills and their inhabitants play an important role in Jean Craighead George's stories, such as My Side of the Mountain (1959)\\n*John Gardner's novel Nickel Mountain: A Pastoral Novel (1973) takes place in the Catskill Mountains\\n*Washington Irving wrote many famous stories, including \\\"Rip Van Winkle\\\" (1819), that take place in the Catskill Mountains\\n*The Catskills and their inhabitants play an important role the H. P. Lovecraft stories: \\\"The Lurking Fear\\\" (1922) and \\\"Beyond the Wall of Sleep\\\" (1919)\\n\\nMusic\\n\\nConcerts\\n\\n*The town of Bethel, New York, located in the Catskills was home to the famous Woodstock Music festival in 1969. The music festival took place from August 15 to August 18, 1969. 32 music acts performed in front of over 500,000 concert-goers. The event was captured in the documentary movie Woodstock (1970).\\n\\nWorks\\n\\n*Mercury Rev's song \\\"Opus 40\\\", on their album Deserter's Songs (1998), contains the line \\\"Catskill mansions buried dreams/ I'm alive she cried but I don't know what it means\\\". The band and their studios are based in the Catskills, and the area is often referred to in interview.\\n*Simple Minds filmed their video to \\\"Alive and Kicking\\\" (1985) here.\\n*The Catskills are mentioned in The Band's song \\\"Time to Kill\\\". The Band was also photographed there for their first album, Music from Big Pink, The Band in the Catskills. \\n* The Catskills are mentioned in the Kid Rock track \\\"Low Life\\\". Contains the line \\\" I've never hung out in The Catskills, but I been to jail in Nashville\\\".\\n\\nStand up comedy\\n\\n*The many hotels and vacation resorts located in the Catskills are notable in American cultural history for their role in the development of modern stand-up comedy. Comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield and Don Rickles and got their start performing in Catskill Hotel venues. \\n\\nTelevision\\n\\n*A Home Box Office miniseries is planned that will dramatize a New York Magazine article on natural gas drillers coming to the region. Richard Russo, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is writing a script for the project.\",\n \"Grand_National.txt\\nGrand National\\nThe Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over 4 miles 514 yards (6.907 km) with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps.British Racing and Racecourses (ISBN 978-0950139722) by Marion Rose Halpenny – Page 167 It is the most valuable jump race in Europe, with a prize fund of £1 million in 2016.[http://www.aintree.co.uk/news/grand-national-weights/ Grand National Weights | 2011 Grand National | Aintree Racecourse]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.\\n\\nThe course over which the race is run features much larger fences than those found on conventional National Hunt tracks. Many of these, particularly Becher's Brook, The Chair and the Canal Turn, have become famous in their own right and, combined with the distance of the event, create what has been called \\\"the ultimate test of horse and rider\\\". \\n\\nThe Grand National has been broadcast live on free-to-air terrestrial television in the United Kingdom since 1960. From then until 2012 it was broadcast by the BBC. Between 2013 and 2016 it was shown by Channel 4; the UK broadcasting rights transfer to ITV from 2017. An estimated 500 to 600 million people watch the Grand National in over 140 countries. It has also been broadcast on radio since 1927; BBC Radio held exclusive rights until 2013, however, Talksport also now holds radio commentary rights. The race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year. \\n\\nThe most recent running of the race, in 2016, was won by Rule The World, ridden by jockey David Mullins for trainer Mouse Morris. The next Grand National is on 8 April 2017.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nFounding and early Nationals (1829–1850)\\n\\nThe Grand National was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. [http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/history-of-the-grand-national/ History of the Grand National – The Worlds Greatest Jump Race]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829. There is much debate regarding the first official Grand National; most leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree. However, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860s. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \\\"national\\\". To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836–1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful. The Duke was ridden by Martin Becher. The fence Becher's Brook is named after him and is where he fell in the next year’s race. \\n\\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838, leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar. Secondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time. Finally, a committee was formed to better organise the event. These factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National. It was won by rider Jem Mason on the aptly named, Lottery Haywood, Linda. (4 April 2008) [http://www.popular-nostalgia.com/a-big-long-history-of-the-grand-national-258/ A Big Long History of the Grand National]. Popular Nostalgia. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.[http://www.grandnational.org.uk/facts-figures.php Facts & Figures]. Grandnational.org.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.\\n\\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\\n\\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart. \\n\\nWar National Steeplechase (1916–1918)\\n\\nFor three years during the First World War, while Aintree Racecourse was taken over by the War Office, an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse, a disused course on land now occupied by Gatwick Airport. The first of these races, in 1916, was called the Racecourse Association Steeplechase, and in 1917 and 1918 the race was called the War National Steeplechase. The races at Gatwick are not always recognised as \\\"Grand Nationals\\\" and their results are often omitted from winners' lists. \\n\\nTipperary Tim (1928)\\n\\nOn the day of the 1928 Grand National, before the race had begun, Tipperary Tim's jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \\\"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!\\\" These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. This year's National was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey Tommy Cullinan managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at outside odds of 100/1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers. \\n\\nSecond World War and the 1950s\\n\\nAlthough the Grand National was run as normal in 1940 and most other major horse races around the world were able to be held throughout the war, the commandeering of Aintree Racecourse for defence use in 1941 meant no Grand National could be held from 1941 to 1945. \\n\\nDuring the 1950s the Grand National was dominated by Vincent O'Brien, who trained different winners of the race for three consecutive years between 1953 and 1955. Early Mist secured O'Brien's first victory in 1953; Royal Tan won in 1954, and Quare Times completed the Irish trainer's hat-trick in 1955. \\n\\nThe running of the 1956 Grand National witnessed one of the chase's most bizarre incidents. Devon Loch, owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, had cleared the final fence in leading position, five lengths clear of E.S.B. Forty yards from what seemed like certain victory, Devon Loch suddenly, and inexplicably, half-jumped into the air and collapsed in a belly-flop on the turf. Despite efforts by jockey Dick Francis, Devon Loch was unable to complete the race, leaving E.S.B. to cross the finishing line first. Responding to the commiserations of E.S.B.’s owner, the Queen Mother famously commented: \\\"Oh, that's racing!\\\" \\n\\nHad Devon Loch completed the race he may have set a new record for the fastest finishing time, which E.S.B. missed by only four-fifths of a second. Many explanations have been offered for Devon Loch's behaviour on the run-in, but the incident remains inexplicable. In modern language, the phrase \\\"to do a Devon Loch\\\" is sometimes used to describe a last-minute failure to achieve an expected victory. \\n\\nFoinavon (1967)\\n\\nIn the 1967 Grand National, most of the field were hampered or dismounted in a mêlée at the 23rd fence, allowing a rank-outsider, Foinavon, to become a surprise winner at odds of 100/1. A loose horse named Popham Down, who had unseated his rider at the first jump, suddenly veered across the leading group at the 23rd, causing them to either stop, refuse or unseat their riders. Racing journalist Lord Oaksey described the resulting pile-up by saying that Popham Down had \\\"cut down the leaders like a row of thistles\\\". Some horses even started running in the wrong direction, back the way they had come. Foinavon, whose owner had such little faith in him that he had travelled to Worcester that day instead, had been lagging some 100 yards behind the leading pack, giving his jockey, John Buckingham, time to steer his mount wide of the havoc and make a clean jump of the fence on the outside. Although 17 jockeys remounted and some made up considerable ground, particularly Josh Gifford on 15/2 favourite Honey End, none had time to catch Foinavon before he crossed the finishing line. The 7th/23rd fence was officially named the 'Foinavon fence' in 1984. \\n\\n1970s and Red Rum\\n\\nThe 1970s were mixed years for the Grand National. In 1973, eight years after Mrs. Mirabel Topham announced she was seeking a buyer, the racecourse was finally sold to property developer Bill Davies. Davies tripled the admission prices; consequently, the attendance at the 1975 race, won by L'Escargot, was the smallest in living memory. It was after this that bookmaker Ladbrokes made an offer, signing an agreement with Davies allowing them to manage the Grand National. \\n\\nDuring this period, Red Rum was breaking all records to become the most successful racehorse in Grand National history. Originally bought as a yearling in 1966 for 400 guineas (£420), he passed through various training yards before being bought for 6,000 guineas (£6,300) by Ginger McCain on behalf of Noel le Mare. Two days after the purchase while trotting the horse on Southport beach, McCain noticed that Red Rum appeared lame. The horse was suffering from pedal osteitis, an inflammatory bone disorder. McCain had witnessed many lame carthorses reconditioned by being galloped in sea-water. He successfully used this treatment on his newly acquired racehorse.\\n\\nRed Rum became, and remains, the only horse to have won the Grand National three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977. He also finished second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976. In 1973, he was in second place at the last fence, 15 lengths behind champion horse Crisp, who was carrying 23 lbs more. Red Rum made up the ground on the run-in and, two strides from the finishing post, he pipped the tiring Crisp to win by three-quarters of a length in what is arguably the most memorable Grand National of all time. Finishing in 9 minutes 1.9 seconds, Red Rum broke the record for fastest completion time of the National which had previously stood since 1934 by Golden Miller. His record was to stand for the next sixteen years.\\n\\nBob Champion's National (1981)\\n\\nTwo years before the 1981 Grand National, jockey Bob Champion had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and given only months to live by doctors. But by 1981 he had recovered and was passed fit to ride in the Grand National. He rode Aldaniti, a horse deprived in its youth and which had only recently recovered from chronic leg problems. Despite a poor start, the pair went on to win four-and-a-half lengths ahead of the much-fancied Spartan Missile, ridden by amateur jockey and 54-year-old grandfather John Thorne. Champion and Aldaniti were instantly propelled to celebrity status, and within two years, their story had been re-created in the film Champions, starring John Hurt. \\n\\nSeagram's sponsorship (1984–1991)\\n\\nFrom 1984 to 1991, Seagram sponsored the Grand National. The Canadian distiller provided a solid foundation on which the race's revival could be built, firstly enabling the course to be bought from Davies and to be run and managed by the Jockey Club. It is said that Ivan Straker, Seagram's UK chairman, became interested in the potential opportunity after reading a passionate newspaper article written by journalist Lord Oaksey, who, in his riding days, had come within three-quarters of a length of winning the 1963 National. The last Seagram-sponsored Grand National was in 1991. Coincidentally, the race was won by a horse named Seagram. Martell, then a Seagram subsidiary, took over sponsorship of the Aintree meeting for an initial seven years from 1992, in a £4 million deal.\\n\\nThe race that never was (1993)\\n\\nThe result of the 1993 Grand National was declared void after what commentator Peter O'Sullevan called \\\"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National.\\\" While under starter's orders a series of incidents occurred which resulted in one jockey being tangled in the starting tape which had failed to rise correctly. A false start was declared, but lack of communication between course officials meant that 30 out of the 39 jockeys did not realise and began to race. Course officials tried to stop the runners by waving red flags, but many jockeys thought that they were protesters (some had invaded the course earlier) and so continued to race. Peter Scudamore only stopped because he saw his trainer, Martin Pipe, waving frantically at him. Seven horses ran the course in its entirety, forcing a void result. The first past the post of the horses that completed was Esha Ness (in the second-fastest time ever), ridden by John White and trained by Jenny Pitman. \\n\\nThe Monday National (1997)\\n\\nThe 1997 Grand National was postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \\\"We'll fight them on the Becher's\\\", in reference to Winston Churchill's war-time speech.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/grand_national_2002/1795805.stm BBC Sport | Other Sports | Horse Racing | Grand National 2002 | Aintree grabs the headlines]. BBC News (28 March 2002). Retrieved on 11 March 2011. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. \\n\\nRecent history (2004–present)\\n\\nRed Rum's trainer Ginger McCain returned to the Grand National in 2004, 31 years after Red Rum's epic run-in defeat of Crisp to secure his first of three wins. McCain's Amberleigh House came home first, ridden by Graham Lee, overtaking Clan Royal on the final straight. Hedgehunter, who would go on to win in 2005, fell at the last while leading. McCain had equalled George Dockeray and Fred Rimell's record feat of training four Grand National winners. \\n\\nIn 2005 John Smith's took over from Martell as main sponsors of the Grand National and many of the other races at the three-day Aintree meeting for the first time. In 2006 John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\\n\\nIn 2009, Mon Mome became the longest-priced winner of the National for 42 years when he defied outside odds of 100/1 to win by 12 lengths. The victory was also the first for trainer Venetia Williams, the first female trainer to triumph since Jenny Pitman in 1995. The race was also the first National ride for Liam Treadwell. \\n\\nIn 2010 the National became the first horse race to be televised in high-definition in the UK. \\n\\nIn August 2013 Crabbie's was announced as the new sponsor of the Grand National. The three-year deal between the alcoholic ginger beer producer and Aintree saw the race run for a record purse of £1 million in 2014. \\n\\nIn March 2016 it was announced that Randox Health are to take over from Crabbie's as officials partners of Aintree's three-day festival, the highlight of which is the Grand National. The 2016 National was the last sponsored by Crabbie's.\\n \\n\\nThe course\\n\\nThe Grand National is run over the National Course at Aintree and consists of two laps of 16 fences, the first 14 of which are jumped twice. Horses completing the race cover a distance of 4 mi, the longest of any National Hunt race in Britain. As part of a review of safety following the 2012 running of the event, from 2013 to 2015 the start was moved 90 yd forward away from the crowds and grandstands, reducing the race distance by 110 yd from the historical 4 mi. The course is also notable for having one of the longest run-ins from the final fence of any steeplechase, at 494 yd.\\n\\nThe Grand National was designed as a cross-country steeplechase when it was first officially run in 1839. The runners started at a lane on the edge of the racecourse and raced away from the course out over open countryside towards the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The gates, hedges and ditches that they met along the way were flagged to provide them with the obstacles to be jumped along the way with posts and rails erected at the two points where the runners jumped a brook. The runners returned towards the racecourse by running along the edge of the canal before re-entering the course at the opposite end. The runners then ran the length of the racecourse before embarking on a second circuit before finishing in front of the stands. The majority of the race therefore took place not on the actual Aintree Racecourse but instead in the adjoining countryside. That countryside was incorporated into the modern course but commentators still often refer to it as \\\"the country\\\".\\n\\nFences\\n\\nThere are 16 fences on the National Course topped with spruce from the Lake District. The cores of 12 fences were rebuilt in 2012 and they are now made of a flexible plastic material which is more forgiving compared to the traditional wooden cores. They are still topped with at least 14 in of spruce for the horses to knock off. Some of the jumps carry names from the history of the race. All 16 are jumped on the first lap, but on the final lap the runners bear to the right onto the run-in for home, avoiding The Chair and the Water Jump. The following is a summary of all 16 fences on the course:[http://www.grand-national-guide.co.uk/grand-national-info.php About The Grand National]. Grand-national-guide.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.[http://www.aintree-grand-national.net/grand-national-fences.php Grand National Fences – Beechers Brook – The Chair]. Aintree-grand-national.net. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.[http://grandnational.org.uk/fences.php Course and Fences]. Grandnational.org.uk. Retrieved on 2011-03-11. \\n\\n;Fence 1 & 17\\nHeight: 4 ft\\nOften met at great speed, which can lead to several falls, the highest being 12 runners in 1951. The drop on the landing side was reduced after the 2011 Grand National.\\n;Fence 2 & 18\\nHeight: 4 ft\\nPrior to 1888 the first two fences were located approximately halfway between the first to second and second to third jumps. The second became known as The Fan, after a mare who refused the obstacle three years in succession. The name fell out of favour with the relocation of the fences.\\n;Fence 3 & 19 – open ditch\\nHeight: 4 ft; fronted by a 6 ft ditch \\nThe first big test in the race as horses are still adapting to the obstacles.\\n;Fence 4 & 20\\nHeight: 4 ft\\nA testing obstacle that often leads to falls and unseated riders. In 2011 the 20th became the first fence in Grand National history to be bypassed on the final lap, following an equine fatality.\\n;Fence 5 & 21\\nHeight: 5 ft \\nA plain obstacle which precedes the most famous fence on the course. It was bypassed on the final lap for the first time in 2012 so that medics could treat a jockey who fell from his mount on the first lap and had broken a leg.\\n;Fence 6 & 22 – Becher's Brook\\nHeight: 5 ft, with the landing side 6 in to 10 in lower than the takeoff side \\nThe drop at this fence often catches runners by surprise. Becher's has always been a popular vantage point as it can present one of the most spectacular displays of jumping when the horse and rider meet the fence right. Jockeys must sit back in their saddles and use their body weight as ballast to counter the steep drop. It takes its name from Captain Martin Becher who fell there in the first Grand National and took shelter in the small brook running along the landing side of the fence while the remainder of the field thundered over. It is said that Becher later reflected: \\\"Water tastes disgusting without the benefits of whisky.\\\" It was bypassed in 2011 along with fence 20 on the final lap, after an equine casualty.\\n;Fence 7 & 23 – Foinavon\\nHeight: 4 ft \\nOne of the smallest on the course, it was named in 1984 after the 1967 winner who avoided a mêlée at the fence to go on and win the race at outside odds of 100/1.\\n;Fence 8 & 24 – Canal Turn\\nHeight: 5 ft\\nNoted for its sharp 90-degree left turn immediately after landing. Before the First World War it was not uncommon for loose horses to continue straight ahead after the jump and end up in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal itself. There was once a ditch before the fence but this was filled in after a mêlée in the 1928 race. It was bypassed for the first time in 2015 on the final lap as vets arrived to treat a horse who fell on the first lap.\\n;Fence 9 & 25 – Valentine's\\nHeight: 5 ft with a 5 ft brook \\nThe fence was originally known as the Second Brook but was renamed after a horse named Valentine was reputed to have jumped the fence hind legs first in 1840. A grandstand was erected alongside the fence in the early part of the 20th century but fell into decline after the Second World War and was torn down in the 1970s.\\n;Fence 10 & 26\\nHeight: 5 ft\\nA plain obstacle that leads the runners alongside the canal towards two ditches.\\n;Fence 11 & 27 – open ditch\\nHeight: 5 ft, with a 6 ft ditch on the takeoff side\\n;Fence 12 & 28 – ditch\\nHeight: 5 ft, with a 5 ft ditch on the landing side\\n\\nThe runners then cross the Melling Road near to the Anchor Bridge, a popular vantage point since the earliest days of the race. This also marks the point where the runners are said to be re-entering the \\\"racecourse proper\\\". In the early days of the race it is thought there was an obstacle near this point known as the Table Jump, which may have resembled a bank similar to those still seen at Punchestown in Ireland. In the 1840s the Melling Road was also flanked by hedges and the runners had to jump into the road and then back out of it.\\n\\n;Fence 13 & 29\\nHeight: 4 ft\\nA plain obstacle that comes at a point when the runners are usually in a good rhythm and thus rarely causes problems.\\n;Fence 14 & 30\\nHeight: 4 ft\\nThe last fence on the final lap and which has often seen very tired horses fall. Despite some tired runners falling at the 30th and appearing injured, no horse deaths have occurred at the 30th fence to date.\\n\\nOn the first lap of the race, runners continue around the course to negotiate two fences which are only jumped once:\\n\\n;Fence 15 – The Chair\\nHeight: 5 ft, preceded by a 6 ft (1.83 m) wide ditch\\nThis fence is the site of the accident that claimed the only human life in the National's history: in 1862, Joe Wynne fell here and died from his injuries, although a coroner's inquest revealed that the rider was in a gravely weakened condition through consumption. This brought about the ditch on the take-off side of the fence in an effort to slow the horses on approach. The fence was the location where a distance judge sat in the earliest days of the race. On the second circuit he would record the finishing order from his position and declare any horse that had not passed him before the previous runner passed the finishing post as \\\"distanced\\\", meaning a non-finisher. The practise was done away with in the 1850s but the monument where the chair stood is still there. The ground on the landing side is six inches higher than on the takeoff side, creating the opposite effect of the drop at Becher's. The fence was originally known as the Monument Jump but The Chair came into more regular use in the 1930s. Today it is one of the most popular jumps on the course for spectators.\\n\\n;Fence 16 – Water Jump\\nHeight: 2 ft\\nOriginally a stone wall in the very early Nationals. The Water Jump was one of the most popular jumps on the course, presenting a great jumping spectacle for those in the stands and was always a major feature in the newsreels' coverage of the race. As the newsreels made way for television in the 1960s, so in turn did the Water Jump fall under the shadow of its neighbour, The Chair, in popularity as an obstacle.\\n\\nOn the final lap, after the 30th fence the remaining runners bear right, avoiding The Chair and Water Jump, to head onto a \\\"run-in\\\" to the finishing post. The run-in is not perfectly straight: an \\\"elbow\\\" requires jockeys to make a slight right before finding themselves truly on the home straight. It is on this run-in — one of the longest in the United Kingdom at 494 yd— that many potential winners have had victory snatched away, such as Devon Loch in 1956, Crisp in 1973, What's Up Boys in 2002 and Sunnyhillboy in 2012.\\n\\nRecords\\n\\nLeading horse:\\n* Red Rum – 3 wins (1973, 1974, 1977)\\n----\\nLeading jockey:\\n* George Stevens – 5 wins (Freetrader, 1856; Emblem 1863; Emblematic, 1864; The Colonel, 1869, 1870)\\n----\\nLeading trainers:\\n* George Dockeray – 4 wins (Lottery, 1839; Jerry, 1840; Gaylad, 1842; Miss Mowbray, 1852)\\n* Fred Rimell – 4 wins (E.S.B., 1956; Nicolaus Silver, 1961; Gay Trip, 1970; Rag Trade, 1976)\\n* Ginger McCain – 4 wins (Red Rum, 1973, 1974, 1977; Amberleigh House, 2004)\\n----\\nLeading owners:\\n* James Octavius Machell – 3 wins (Disturbance, 1873; Reugny, 1874; Regal, 1876)\\n* Noel Le Mare – 3 wins (Red Rum, 1973, 1974, 1977)\\n* Trevor Hemmings - 3 wins (Hedgehunter, 2005; Ballabriggs, 2011, Many Clouds, 2015)\\n----\\n* Fastest winning time: Mr. Frisk (1990); 8 minutes 47.8 seconds \\n* Oldest winning horse: Peter Simple (1853); aged 15\\n* Youngest winning horse: Alcibiade (1865), Regal (1876), Austerlitz (1877), Empress (1880), Lutteur III (1909); all aged five\\n* Oldest winning jockey: Dick Saunders (1982); aged 48\\n* Youngest winning jockey: Bruce Hobbs (1938); aged 17\\n* Longest odds winner: Tipperary Tim (1928), Gregalach (1929), Caughoo (1947), Foinavon (1967), Mon Mome (2009); all 100/1\\n* Shortest odds winner: Poethlyn (1919); 11/4 \\n* Largest field: 66 runners (1929)\\n* Smallest field: 10 runners (1883)\\n* Most horses to finish: 23 (1984)\\n* Fewest horses to finish: 2 (1928)\\n* Most rides in the race: 20 (A. P. McCoy, 1995-2015), (Richard Johnson, 1997-2016)\\n* Most rides without winning: 20 (Richard Johnson, 1997-2016)\\n\\nWinners\\n\\nThe following table lists the winners of the last ten Grand Nationals:\\n\\nJockeys\\n\\nWhen the concept of the Grand National was first envisaged it was designed as a race for gentlemen riders, meaning men who were not paid to compete, and while this was written into the conditions of the early races many of the riders who weighed out for the 1839 race were professionals for hire. Throughout the Victorian era the line between the amateur and professional sportsman existed only in terms of the rider's status, and the engagement of an amateur to ride in the race was rarely considered a handicap to a contender's chances of winning. Many gentleman riders won the race prior to the First World War. \\n\\nAlthough the number of amateurs remained high between the wars their ability to match their professional counterparts gradually receded. After the Second World War it became rare for any more than four or five amateurs to take part in any given year. The last amateur rider to win the race is Marcus Armytage, who (as of 2016) set the still-standing course record of 8:47.8, when winning on Mr Frisk in 1990. By the 21st century however, openings for amateur riders had become very rare with some years passing with no amateur riders at all taking part. Those that do in the modern era are most usually talented young riders who are often close to turning professional. In the past, such amateur riders would have been joined by army officers, such as David Campbell who won in 1896, and sporting aristocrats, farmers or local huntsmen and point to point riders, who usually opted to ride their own mounts. But all these genres of rider have faded out in the last quarter of a century with no riders of military rank or aristocratic title having taken a mount since 1982.\\n\\nThe Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made it possible for female jockeys to enter the race. The first female jockey to enter the race was Charlotte Brew on the 200/1 outsider Barony Fort in the 1977 race. The first female jockey to complete the race was Geraldine Rees on Cheers in 1982. The 21st century has not seen a significant increase in female riders but it has seen them gain rides on mounts considered to have a genuine chance of winning. In 2005, Carrie Ford finished fifth on the 8/1 second-favourite Forest Gunner. In 2012, Katie Walsh achieved the best result yet for a female jockey, finishing third on the 8/1 joint-favourite Seabass. In 2015, Nina Carberry became the first female jockey to take a fifth ride in the Grand National, her best placing being seventh in 2010. \\n\\nProfessionals now hold dominance in the Grand National and better training, dietary habits and protective clothing has ensured that riders' careers last much longer and offer more opportunities to ride in the race. Of the 34 riders who have enjoyed 13 or more rides in the race, 19 had their first ride in the 20th century and 11 had careers that continued into or started in the 21st century. Despite that, the record of 19 rides in the race was set by Tom Olliver back in 1859 and was not equalled until 2014 by A. P. McCoy. Longevity is no guarantee of success, however, as 13 of the 34 never tasted the glory of winning the race. McCoy is the only rider to successfully remove himself from the list after winning at the 15th attempt in 2010. Richard Johnson set a record of 20 failed attempts to win the race from 1997-2016, having finished second twice, but is still competing. The other 12 riders who never won or have not as yet won, having had more than 12 rides in the race are:\\n\\n* David Casey (1997-2015): finished third once in 15 attempts\\n* Jeff King (1964-1980): finished third once in 15 attempts\\n* Tom Scudamore (2001-2016): never in first three in 15 attempts\\n* Graham Bradley (1983-1999): finished second once in 14 attempts\\n* Bill Parvin (1926–1939): finished second once in 14 attempts\\n* Robert Thornton (1997–2011): never in first three in 14 attempts\\n* Andrew Thornton (1996-2016): never in first three in 14 attempts\\n* Chris Grant (1980–1994): finished second thrice in 13 attempts\\n* Stan Mellor (1956–1971): finished second once in 13 attempts\\n* George Waddington (1861–1882): finished second once in 13 attempts\\n* Walter White (1854–1869): finished second once in 13 attempts\\n* David Nicholson (1957-1973): never in first three in 13 attempts\\n\\nPeter Scudamore technically lined up for thirteen Grand Nationals without winning but the last of those was the void race of 1993, which meant that he officially competed in twelve Nationals. \\n\\nMany other well-known jockeys have failed to win the Grand National. These include champion jockeys such as Terry Biddlecombe, John Francome, Josh Gifford, Stan Mellor, Jonjo O'Neill (who never finished the race) and Fred Rimell. Three jockeys who led over the last fence in the National but lost the race on the run-in ended up as television commentators: Lord Oaksey (on Carrickbeg in 1963), Norman Williamson (on Mely Moss in 2000), and Richard Pitman (on Crisp in 1973). Pitman's son Mark also led over the last fence, only to be pipped at the post when riding Garrison Savannah in 1991.\\n\\nHorse welfare\\n\\nFor every 1,000 horses taking part in modern steeplechase races, the number of fatalities is just over four, according to the British Horseracing Authority; research by Anglia Ruskin University states the rate is six per 1,000 horses. However, deaths in the Grand National are higher than the average steeplechase, with six deaths per 439 horses between 2000 and 2010. Due to the high number of injuries and deaths suffered by participating horses, animal rights groups have campaigned to have the race modified or abolished. \\n\\nOver the years, Aintree officials have worked in conjunction with animal welfare organisations to reduce the severity of some fences and to improve veterinary facilities. In 2008, a new veterinary surgery was constructed in the stable yard which has two large treatment boxes, an X-ray unit, video endoscopy, equine solarium, and sandpit facilities. Further changes in set-up and procedure allow vets to treat horses more rapidly and in better surroundings. Those requiring more specialist care can be transported by specialist horse ambulances, under police escort, to the nearby Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital at the University of Liverpool at Leahurst. A mobile on-course X-ray machine assists in the prompt diagnosis of leg injuries when horses are pulled up, and oxygen and water are available by the final fence and finishing post.[http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/horse-welfare/ Horse Welfare]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011. Five vets remain mobile on the course during the running of the race and can initiate treatment of injured fallers at the fence. Additional vets are stationed at the pull-up area, finishing post, and in the surgery.\\n\\nSome of the National's most challenging fences have also been modified, while still preserving them as formidable obstacles. After the 1989 Grand National, in which two horses died in incidents at Becher's Brook, Aintree began the most significant of its modifications to the course. The brook on the landing side of Becher's was filled in and, after the 2011 race which also saw an equine fatality at the obstacle, the incline on the landing side was levelled out and the drop on was reduced by between 4 and 5 inches (10–13 cm) to slow the runners. Other fences have also been reduced in height over the years, and the entry requirements for the race have been made stricter. Screening at the Canal Turn now prevents horses being able to see the sharp left turn and encourages jockeys to spread out along the fence, rather than take the tight left-side route. Additionally, work has been carried out to smooth the core post infrastructure of the fences with protective padding to reduce impact upon contact, and the height of the toe-boards on all fences has been increased to 14 in. These orange-coloured boards are positioned at the base of each fence and provide a clear ground line to assist horses in determining the base of the fence.\\n\\nParts of the course were widened in 2009 to allow runners to bypass fences if required. This was utilised for the first time during the 2011 race as casualties at fences 4 and 6 (Becher's Brook) resulted in marshals diverting the remaining contenders around those fences on the final lap.\\n\\nWelfare groups have suggested a reduction in the size of the field (currently limited to a maximum of 40 horses) should be implemented. Opponents point to previous unhappy experience with smaller fields such as only 29 runners at the 1954 Grand National, only 31 runners in 1975, and a fatality each at the 1996 and 1999 Nationals despite smaller fields, and the possible ramifications in relation to the speed of such races in addition to recent course modifications (part of the \\\"speed kills\\\" argument).\\n\\nSome within the horseracing community, including those with notable achievements in the Grand National such as Ginger McCain and Bob Champion, have argued that the lowering of fences and the narrowing of ditches, primarily designed to increase horse safety, has had the adverse effect by encouraging the runners to race faster. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Grand National saw a total of 12 horses die (half of which were at Becher's Brook); in the next 20-year period from 1990 to 2010, when modifications to the course were most significant, there were 17 equine fatalities. The 2011 and 2012 races each yielded two deaths, including one each at Becher's Brook. In 2013, when further changes were made to introduce a more flexible fence structure, there were no fatalities in the race itself although two horses died in run-up races over the same course. There have been no equine fatalities in the main Grand National race since 2012, however the animal welfare charity League Against Cruel Sports counts the number of horse deaths over the three-day meeting from the year 2000 to 2013 at 40.\\n\\nGrand National Legends\\n\\nIn 2009, the race sponsors John Smith's launched a poll to determine five personalities to be inducted into the inaugural Grand National Legends initiative. The winners were announced on the day of the 2010 Grand National and inscribed on commemorative plaques at Aintree. They were:[http://www.grandnationallegends.com/grand_national_legends.php grandnationallegends.com]\\n*Ginger McCain and his record three-time winning horse Red Rum;\\n*John Buckingham and Foinavon, the unlikely winners in 1967;\\n*Manifesto, who holds the record for most runs in the race, eight including two victories;\\n*Jenny Pitman, the first woman to train the winner of the race in 1983; and\\n*Sir Peter O'Sullevan, the commentator who called home the winners of fifty Grand Nationals on radio and television from 1947 to 1997.\\n\\nA panel of experts also selected three additional legends:\\n*George Stevens, the record five-time winning rider between 1856–1870;\\n*Captain Martin Becher, who played a major part in bringing the National to Liverpool, rode the winner of the first precursor to the National in 1836 and was the first rider to fall into the brook at the sixth fence, which forever took his name after 1839; and\\n*Edward Topham, who was assigned the task of framing the weights for the handicap from 1847 and whose descendants played a major role in the race for the next 125 years.\\n\\nIn 2011, nine additional legends were added:\\n*Bob Champion and Aldaniti, the winners of the 1981 Grand National;\\n*West Tip, who ran in six consecutive Nationals and won once in 1986;\\n*Richard Dunwoody, the jockey who rode West Tip and Miinnehoma to victory and who competed in 14 Grand Nationals, being placed in eight;\\n*Brian Fletcher, a jockey who won the race three times (including Red Rum's first victory in 1973, and finished second once and third three times);\\n*Vincent O'Brien, who trained three consecutive winners of the race in the 1950s;\\n*Tom Olliver, who rode in nineteen Nationals, including seventeen consecutively, and won three times, as well as finishing second three times and third once;\\n*Count Karl Kinsky, the first international winner of the race, and at his first attempt, on board the mare Zoedone in 1883;\\n*Jack Anthony, three-time winning jockey in 1911, 1915 and 1920; and\\n*Peter Bromley, the BBC radio commentator who covered 42 Nationals until his retirement.\\n\\nJohn Smith's also added five \\\"people's legends\\\" who were introduced on Liverpool Day, the first day of the Grand National meeting. The five were: \\n*Arthur Ferrie, who worked as a groundsman during the 1970s and 1980s;\\n*Edie Roche, a Melling Road resident, who opened her home to jockeys, spectators and members of the media when the course was evacuated following a bomb threat in 1997;\\n*Ian Stewart, a fan who had travelled from Coventry every year to watch the race and was attending his fiftieth National in 2010;\\n*Police Constable Ken Lawson, who was celebrating thirty-one years of service in the mounted section of Merseyside Police and was set to escort his third National winner in 2010; and\\n*Tony Roberts, whose first visit to the National had been in 1948 and who had steadily spread the word to family and friends about the race, regularly bringing a party of up to thirty people to the course.\\n\\nA public vote announced at the 2012 Grand National saw five more additions to the Legends hall:\\n*Fred Winter, who rode two National winners and trained two more;\\n*Carl Llewellyn, jockey who won two Nationals including on Party Politics in 1992, and Earth Summit in 1998, the latter being the only horse to have won the Grand National and the Scottish and Welsh Nationals;\\n*Fred Rimell, the trainer of four different National winning horses, including Nicolaus Silver, one of only three greys to have ever won the race;\\n*Michael Scudamore, rider in sixteen consecutive Grand Nationals from 1951, finishing first in 1959 and also achieving a second and a third place;\\n*Tommy Carberry, the jockey who stopped Red Rum's attempt at a third success in 1975 by winning on L'Escargot, also finished second and third before going on to train the winner in 1999.\\nThe selection panel also inducted three more competitors:\\n*Tommy Pickernell, who rode in seventeen Grand Nationals in the 19th century and won three. He allegedly turned down a substantial bribe during the 1860 race from the second-placed jockey and instead rode on to win;\\n*Battleship, the only horse to have won both the Grand National and the American Grand National, and his jockey Bruce Hobbs, who remains the youngest jockey to win the Aintree race;\\n*George Dockeray, who alongside Ginger McCain and Fred Rimell trained four National winners, starting with Lottery in the first official Grand National in 1839.[http://www.grandnationallegends.com/the_legends.php John Smith’s Grand National Legends - Age Check]\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nFavourites\\n\\nIn the 70 races of the post-war era (excluding the void race in 1993), the favourite or joint-favourite have only won the race nine times (in 1950, 1960, 1973, 1982, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2008 and 2010), and have failed to complete the course in 37 Nationals. \\n\\nMares\\n\\nSince its inception, 13 mares have won the race: \\n* Charity (1841)\\n* Miss Mowbray (1852)\\n* Anatis (1860)\\n* Jealousy (1861)\\n* Emblem (1863)\\n* Emblematic (1864)\\n* Casse Tete (1872)\\n* Empress (1880)\\n* Zoedone (1883)\\n* Frigate (1889)\\n* Shannon Lass (1902)\\n* Sheila's Cottage (1948)\\n* Nickel Coin (1951)\\n\\nGreys\\n\\nThree greys have won:\\n*The Lamb (1868, 1871)\\n*Nicolaus Silver (1961)\\n*Neptune Collonges (2012)\\n\\nFemale jockeys\\n\\nSince 1977, women have ridden in 20 Grand Nationals. Geraldine Rees became the first to complete the course, in 1982. In 2012 Katie Walsh became the first female jockey to earn a placed finish in the race, finishing third.\\n\\nInternational winners\\n\\n* Two French-trained horses have won the Grand National: Huntsman (1862) and Cortolvin (1867). Six other winners were bred in France — Alcibiade (1865), Reugny (1874), Lutteur III (1909), Mon Mome (2009), Neptune Collonges (2012), and Pineau De Re (2014).\\n* In 1923, Sergeant Murphy became the first U.S.-bred horse to win the race. He is also the joint-second oldest horse to win, at age 13, alongside Why Not (1884). The U.S.-bred Battleship, son of the famous Man o' War, became the first (and so far only) horse to have won both the Grand National (in 1938) and the American Grand National (which he won four years earlier). Both Jay Trump (1965) and Ben Nevis II (1980) won the Maryland Hunt Cup before winning the Grand National.\\n* Jockey William Watkinson recorded the first riding success for Australia in 1926. He was killed at Bogside, Scotland, less than three weeks after winning the National.\\n* 1991 was the seventh and final year that the Grand National was sponsored by Seagram. Aptly, the race was won by a horse named Seagram, bred in New Zealand. 1997 saw another New Zealand-bred winner in Lord Gyllene.\\n\\nOther British winners\\n\\n* The only Welsh-trained horse to win was Kirkland in 1905.\\n* Rubstic, trained by John Leadbetter in Roxburghshire, became the first Scottish-trained winner, with victory in 1979.\\n\\nIrish winners\\n\\n* Irish-trained horses have enjoyed by far the most success of international participants, with 16 winners since 1900, including six since 1999:\\n\\nFamous owners\\n\\nThe 1900 winner Ambush II was owned by HRH Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII. In 1950 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had her first runner in the race in Monaveen, who finished fifth. Six years later she would witness her Devon Loch collapse on the run-in, just yards from a certain victory.\\n\\nThe favourite for the 1968 race, Different Class, was owned by actor Gregory Peck.\\n\\nThe 1963 winner Ayala and the 1976 winner Rag Trade were both part-owned by celebrity hairdresser Raymond Bessone.\\n\\n1994 winner Miinnehoma was owned by comedian Freddie Starr.\\n\\nWhat A Friend ran in 2011 and 2013 when part-owned by Alex Ferguson, the former manager of Manchester United.\",\n \"Mount Everest | mountain, Asia | Britannica.com\\n... became the first person ever to climb Mount Everest ... The last of the great pioneering climbs of the decade was via a new route up the left side of the ...\\nMount Everest | mountain, Asia | Britannica.com\\nMount Everest\\nAlternative Titles: Chomolungma, Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng, Peak XV, Qomolangma Feng, Sagarmatha, Zhumulangma Feng\\nRelated Topics\\nGerlinde Kaltenbrunner\\nMount Everest, Sanskrit and Nepali Sagarmatha, Tibetan Chomolungma, Chinese (Pinyin) Zhumulangma Feng or (Wade-Giles romanization) Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng, also spelled Qomolangma Feng, mountain on the crest of the Great Himalayas of southern Asia that lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China , at 27°59′ N 86°56′ E. Reaching an elevation of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres), Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, the highest point on Earth.\\nLike other high peaks in the region, Mount Everest has long been revered by local peoples. Its most common Tibetan name, Chomolungma, means “Goddess Mother of the World” or “Goddess of the Valley.” The Sanskrit name Sagarmatha means literally “Peak of Heaven.” Its identity as the highest point on the Earth’s surface was not recognized, however, until 1852, when the governmental Survey of India established that fact. In 1865 the mountain—previously referred to as Peak XV—was renamed for Sir George Everest , British surveyor general of India from 1830 to 1843.\\nThe North Face of Mount Everest, as seen from Tibet (China).\\nMaria Stenzel—National Geographic/Getty Images\\nPhysical features\\nGeology and relief\\nThe Himalayan ranges were thrust upward by tectonic action as the Indian-Australian Plate moved northward from the south and was subducted (forced downward) under the Eurasian Plate following the collision of the two plates between about 40 and 50 million years ago. The Himalayas themselves started rising about 25 to 30 million years ago, and the Great Himalayas began to take their present form during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago). Everest and its surrounding peaks are part of a large mountain massif that forms a focal point, or knot, of this tectonic action in the Great Himalayas. Information from global positioning instruments in place on Everest since the late 1990s indicates that the mountain continues to move a few inches to the northeast and rise a fraction of an inch each year.\\nThe Mount Everest massif, Himalayas, Nepal.\\n© Marta/Fotolia\\nMount Pinatubo\\nEverest is composed of multiple layers of rock folded back on themselves (nappes). Rock on the lower elevations of the mountain consists of metamorphic schists and gneisses, topped by igneous granites. Higher up are found sedimentary rocks of marine origin (remnants of the ancient floor of the Tethys Sea that closed after the collision of the two plates). Notable is the Yellow Band, a limestone formation that is prominently visible just below the summit pyramid.\\nThe barren Southeast, Northeast, and West ridges culminate in the Everest summit; a short distance away is the South Summit, a minor bump on the Southeast Ridge with an elevation of 28,700 feet (8,748 metres). The mountain can be seen directly from its northeastern side, where it rises about 12,000 feet (3,600 metres) above the Plateau of Tibet . The peak of Changtse (24,803 feet [7,560 metres]) rises to the north. Khumbutse (21,867 feet [6,665 metres]), Nuptse (25,791 feet [7,861 metres]), and Lhotse (27,940 feet [8,516 metres]) surround Everest’s base to the west and south.\\nEverest is shaped like a three-sided pyramid . The three generally flat planes constituting the sides are called faces, and the line by which two faces join is known as a ridge. The North Face rises above Tibet and is bounded by the North Ridge (which meets the Northeast Ridge) and the West Ridge; key features of this side of the mountain include the Great and Hornbein couloirs (steep gullies) and the North Col at the start of the North Ridge. The Southwest Face rises above Nepal and is bounded by the West Ridge and the Southeast Ridge; notable features on this side include the South Col (at the start of the Southeast Ridge) and the Khumbu Icefall, the latter a jumble of large blocks of ice that has long been a daunting challenge for climbers. The East Face—or Kangshung (Kangxung) Face—also rises above Tibet and is bounded by the Southeast Ridge and the Northeast Ridge.\\nMount Everest (left background) towering above the Khumbu Icefall at the mountain’s base, …\\nLee Klopfer/Alamy\\nBig Radio Burst from Tiny Galaxy\\nThe summit of Everest itself is covered by rock-hard snow surmounted by a layer of softer snow that fluctuates annually by some 5–20 feet (1.5–6 metres); the snow level is highest in September, after the monsoon, and lowest in May after having been depleted by the strong northwesterly winter winds. The summit and upper slopes sit so high in the Earth’s atmosphere that the amount of breathable oxygen there is one-third what it is at sea level. Lack of oxygen, powerful winds, and extremely cold temperatures preclude the development of any plant or animal life there.\\nDrainage and climate\\nAll About Asia\\nGlaciers cover the slopes of Everest to its base. Individual glaciers flanking the mountain are the Kangshung Glacier to the east; the East, Central, and West Rongbuk (Rongpu) glaciers to the north and northwest; the Pumori Glacier to the northwest; and the Khumbu Glacier to the west and south, which is fed by the glacier bed of the Western Cwm, an enclosed valley of ice between Everest and the Lhotse-Nuptse Ridge to the south. Glacial action has been the primary force behind the heavy and continuous erosion of Everest and the other high Himalayan peaks.\\nFrozen pond on the Khumbu Glacier, near Mount Everest, Himalayas, Nepal.\\n© Shawn McCullars\\nThe mountain’s drainage pattern radiates to the southwest, north, and east. The Khumbu Glacier melts into the Lobujya (Lobuche) River of Nepal, which flows southward as the Imja River to its confluence with the Dudh Kosi River . In Tibet the Rong River originates from the Pumori and Rongbuk glaciers and the Kama River from the Kangshung Glacier: both flow into the Arun River, which cuts through the Himalayas into Nepal. The Rong, Dudh Kosi, and Kama river valleys form, respectively, the northern, southern, and eastern access routes to the summit.\\nBuddhist prayer flags fluttering in front of the Mount Everest massif; in the foreground is the …\\nAlan Kearney—Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images\\nConnect with Britannica\\nFacebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest\\nThe climate of Everest is always hostile to living things. The warmest average daytime temperature (in July) is only about −2 °F (−19 °C) on the summit; in January , the coldest month, summit temperatures average −33 °F (−36 °C) and can drop as low as −76 °F (−60 °C). Storms can come up suddenly, and temperatures can plummet unexpectedly. The peak of Everest is so high that it reaches the lower limit of the jet stream , and it can be buffeted by sustained winds of more than 100 miles (160 km) per hour. Precipitation falls as snow during the summer monsoon (late May to mid-September). The risk of frostbite to climbers on Everest is extremely high.\\nThe height of Everest\\nControversy over the exact elevation of the summit developed because of variations in snow level, gravity deviation, and light refraction. The figure 29,028 feet (8,848 metres), plus or minus a fraction, was established by the Survey of India between 1952 and 1954 and became widely accepted. This value was used by most researchers, mapping agencies, and publishers until 1999.\\nAttempts were subsequently made to remeasure the mountain’s height. A Chinese survey in 1975 obtained the figure of 29,029.24 feet (8,848.11 metres), and an Italian survey, using satellite surveying techniques, obtained a value of 29,108 feet (8,872 metres) in 1987, but questions arose about the methods used. In 1992 another Italian survey, using the Global Positioning System ( GPS ) and laser measurement technology, yielded the figure 29,023 feet (8,846 metres) by subtracting from the measured height 6.5 feet (2 metres) of ice and snow on the summit, but the methodology used was again called into question.\\nIn 1999 an American survey, sponsored by the (U.S.) National Geographic Society and others, took precise measurements using GPS equipment. Their finding of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres), plus or minus 6.5 feet (2 metres), was accepted by the society and by various specialists in the fields of geodesy and cartography . The Chinese mounted another expedition in 2005 that utilized ice-penetrating radar in conjunction with GPS equipment. The result of this was what the Chinese called a “rock height” of 29,017.12 feet (8,844.43 metres), which, though widely reported in the media, was recognized only by China for the next several years. Nepal in particular disputed the Chinese figure, preferring what was termed the “snow height” of 29,028 feet. In April 2010 China and Nepal agreed to recognize the validity of both figures.\\nHuman factors\\nEditor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies\\nHabitation\\nEverest is so tall and its climate so severe that it is incapable of supporting sustained human occupation, but the valleys below the mountain are inhabited by Tibetan-speaking peoples. Notable among these are the Sherpa s, who live in villages at elevations up to about 14,000 feet (4,270 metres) in the Khumbu valley of Nepal and other locations. Traditionally an agricultural people with little cultivable land at their disposal, the Sherpas for years were traders and led a seminomadic lifestyle in their search for pastureland. In summer , livestock was grazed as high as 16,000 feet (4,880 metres), while winter refuge was taken at lower elevations on sheltered ledges and along riverbanks.\\nA herders’ shelter in the Mount Everest region of the Himalayas; Lhotse I, just southeast of …\\nTed Kerasote/Photo Researchers\\nLiving in close proximity to the world’s highest mountains, the Sherpas traditionally treated the Himalayas as sacred—building Buddhist monasteries at their base, placing prayer flags on the slopes, and establishing sanctuaries for the wildlife of the valleys that included musk deer, monal pheasant, and Himalayan partridge. Gods and demons were believed to live in the high peaks, and the Yeti (the so-called Abominable Snowman ) was said to roam the lower slopes. For these reasons, the Sherpas traditionally did not climb the mountains.\\nHowever, beginning with the British expeditions of the early 20th century, surveying and portering work became available. Eventually, the respect and pay earned in mountaineering made it attractive to the Sherpas, who, being so well adapted to the high altitudes, were capable of carrying large loads of cargo over long distances. Though Sherpas and other hill people (the name Sherpa came to be applied—erroneously—to all porters) tend to outperform their foreign clients, they typically have played a subordinate role in expeditions; rarely, for example, has one of their names been associated with a pioneering route on Everest. The influx of foreign climbers—and, in far greater numbers, trekkers—has dramatically changed Sherpa life, as their livelihood increasingly has come to depend on these climbing expeditions.\\nIndustrial Revolution\\nOn the Nepalese side of the international boundary, the mountain and its surrounding valleys lie within Sagarmatha National Park, a 480-square-mile (1,243-square-km) zone established in 1976. In 1979 the park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site . The valleys contain stands of rhododendron and forests of birch and pine, while above the tree line alpine vegetation extends to the feet of the glaciers. Over the years, carelessness and excessive consumption of resources by mountaineers, as well as overgrazing by livestock, have damaged the habitats of snow leopards , lesser pandas , Tibetan bears , and scores of bird species. To counteract past abuses, various reforestation programs have been carried out by local communities and the Nepalese government.\\nExpeditions have removed supplies and equipment left by climbers on Everest’s slopes, including hundreds of oxygen containers. A large quantity of the litter of past climbers—tons of items such as tents , cans, crampons, and human waste—has been hauled down from the mountain and recycled or discarded. However, the bodies of most of the more than 280 climbers who have died on Everest (notably on its upper slopes) have not been removed, as they are unreachable or—for those that are accessible—their weight makes carrying them down extremely difficult. Notable in the cleanup endeavour have been the efforts of the Eco Everest Expeditions, the first of which was organized in 2008 to commemorate the death that January of Everest-climbing pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary . Those expeditions also have publicized ecological issues (in particular, concerns about the effects of climate change in the region through observations that the Khumbu Icefall has been melting).\\nMountaineering on Everest\\nThe human challenge\\nMount Everest is difficult to get to and more difficult to climb, even with the great advances made in equipment, transportation , communications, and weather forecasting since the first major expeditions in the 1920s. The mountain itself lies in a highly isolated location. There are no roads in the region on the Nepalese side, and before the 1960s all goods and supplies had to be carried long distances by humans and pack animals. Since then, airstrips built in the Khumbu valley have greatly facilitated transport to the Everest vicinity, although the higher areas have remained accessible only via footpaths. In Tibet there is now a road to the north-side Base Camp.\\nClimbers on the Nepali side of Mount Everest.\\n© David Keaton/Corbis\\nThere are only two brief time periods when the weather on Everest is the most hospitable for an ascent. The best one is in April and May, right before the monsoon . Once the monsoon comes, the snow is too soft and the likelihood of avalanche too great. For a few weeks in September, after the monsoon, weather conditions may also permit an attempt; by October, however, the winter storms begin and persist until March, making climbing then nearly impossible.\\nIn addition to the challenges posed by Everest’s location and climate , the effects of high altitudes on the human body are extreme: the region in the Himalayas above about 25,000 feet (7,600 metres) is known as the “death zone.” Climbers at such high altitude have much more rapid breathing and pulse rates (as their bodies try to obtain more oxygen ). In addition, they are not able to digest food well (and often find eating unappealing), they sleep poorly, and they often find their thinking to be confused. These symptoms are manifestations of oxygen deprivation ( hypoxia ) in the body tissues, which makes any effort difficult and can lead to poor decisions being made in an already dangerous environment . Supplemental (bottled) oxygen breathed through a mask can partially alleviate the effects of hypoxia , but it can present an additional problem if a climber becomes used to the oxygen and then runs out while still at high altitude. (See also altitude sickness .)\\nTwo other medical conditions can affect climbers at high elevations. High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) occurs when the body responds to the lack of oxygen by increasing blood flow to the brain ; the brain begins to swell, and coma and death may occur. High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a similar condition in which the body circulates additional blood to the lungs ; this blood begins to leak into the air sacs , and death is caused essentially by drowning . The most effective treatment for both conditions is to move the affected person to a lower elevation. It has been found that the drug dexamethasone is a useful emergency first-aid treatment when injected into stricken climbers, allowing them to regain movement (when they might otherwise be incapacitated) and thus descend.\\nRoutes and techniques\\nThe southern route via the Khumbu Icefall and the South Col is the one most commonly taken by climbers attempting to summit Everest. It is the route used by the 1953 British expedition when New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men known to have reached Everest’s summit. The northern route, attempted unsuccessfully by seven British expeditions in the 1920s and ’30s, is also climbed. It is now generally accepted that the first successful ascent via that approach was made by a Chinese expedition in 1960, with Wang Fuzhou, Qu Yinhua, Liu Lianman, and a Tibetan, Konbu, reaching the summit. The East Face, Everest’s biggest, is rarely climbed. An American team made the first ascent of it in 1983, and Carlos Buhler, Kim Momb, and Lou Reichardt reached the summit.\\nMountaineer Apa Sherpa climbing through the Khumbu Icefall en route to his 20th ascent of the …\\nPhoto courtesy of www.apasherpa.com\\nPerhaps because most of the early climbers on Everest had military backgrounds, the traditional method of ascending it has been called “ siege” climbing. With this technique, a large team of climbers establishes a series of tented camps farther and farther up the mountain’s side. For instance, on the most frequently climbed southern route, the Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier is at an elevation of about 17,600 feet (5,400 metres). The theory is that the climbers ascend higher and higher to establish camps farther up the route, then come down to sleep at night at the camp below the one being established. (Mountain climbers express this in the phrase, “Climb high, sleep low.”) This practice allows climbers to acclimatize to the high altitude. Camps are established along the route about every 1,500 feet (450 metres) of vertical elevation and are given designations of Camp I, Camp II, and so on. Finally, a last camp is set up close enough to the summit (usually about 3,000 feet [900 metres] below) to allow a small group (called the “assault” team) to reach the peak. This was the way the British organized their expeditions; most of the large commercial expeditions continue to use it—except that all paying clients are now given a chance at the summit. Essential to the siege climbing style is the logistical support given to the climbers by the Sherpas.\\nAmerican Robert Anderson, leader of the 1988 Everest expedition, follows a fixed rope up a steep …\\n© Stephen Venables\\nThere had been a feeling among some early 20th-century climbers that ascending with oxygen , support from Sherpas, and a large party was “unsporting” or that it missed the point of mountain climbing. British explorer Eric Shipton expressed the view that these large expeditions caused climbers to lose their sense of the aesthetic of mountain climbing and to focus instead on only achieving the summit. Top mountaineers, disenchanted with the ponderous and predictable nature of these siege climbs, began in the 1970s to bring a more traditional “ Alpine ” style of climbing to the world’s highest peaks; by the 1980s this included even Everest. In this approach, a small party of perhaps three or four climbers goes up and down the mountain as quickly as possible, carrying all needed gear and provisions. This lightweight approach precludes fixing miles of safety ropes and carrying heavy supplemental oxygen. Speed is of the essence. However, at least four weeks still must be spent at and around Base Camp acclimatizing to altitude before the party can consider a summit attempt.\\nTents of the Mount Everest Base Camp dotting the background landscape behind a pony, Himalayas, …\\n© Shawn McCullars\\nEarly expeditions\\nReconnaissance of 1921\\nIn the 1890s British army officers Sir Francis Younghusband and Charles (C.G.) Bruce, who were stationed in India, met and began discussing the possibility of an expedition to Everest. The officers became involved with two British exploring organizations—the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and the Alpine Club—and these groups became instrumental in fostering interest in exploring the mountain. Bruce and Younghusband sought permission to mount an Everest expedition beginning in the early 1900s, but political tensions and bureaucratic difficulties made it impossible. Though Tibet was closed to Westerners, British officer John (J.B.L.) Noel disguised himself and entered it in 1913; he eventually got within 40 miles (65 km) of Everest and was able to see the summit. His lecture to the RGS in 1919 once again generated interest in Everest, permission to explore it was requested of Tibet, and this was granted in 1920. In 1921 the RGS and the Alpine Club formed the Mount Everest Committee, chaired by Younghusband, to organize and finance the expedition. A party under Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury set out to explore the whole Himalayan range and find a route up Everest. The other members were G.H. Bullock , A.M. Kellas, George Mallory , H. Raeburn, A.F.R. Wollaston, Majors H.T. Morshead and O.E. Wheeler (surveyors), and A.M. Heron (geologist).\\nGeorge Mallory (seated, far left) and Guy Bullock (seated, third from the left), planners of the …\\nThe Granger Collection, New York\\nDuring the summer of 1921 the northern approaches to the mountain were thoroughly explored. On the approach to Everest, Kellas died of heart failure. Because Raeburn also fell ill, the high exploration devolved almost entirely upon Mallory and Bullock. Neither had Himalayan experience, and they were faced with the problem of acclimatization besides the difficulty of the terrain.\\nThe first object was to explore the Rongbuk valley. The party ascended the Central Rongbuk Glacier, missing the narrower opening of the eastern branch and the possible line up Everest. They returned eastward for a rest at Kharta Shekar. From there they discovered a pass at 22,000 feet (6,700 metres), the Lhakpa (Lhagba), leading to the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. The saddle north of Everest, despite its forbidding appearance, was climbed on September 24 by Mallory, Bullock, and Wheeler and named the North Col. A bitter wind prevented them from going higher, but Mallory had from there traced a potential route to the summit.\\nAttempt of 1922\\nMembers of the expedition were Brigadier General C.G. Bruce (leader), Captain J.G. Bruce, C.G. Crawford, G.I. Finch, T.G. Longstaff, Mallory, Captain C.J. Morris, Major Morshead, Edward Norton , T.H. Somervell, Colonel E.I. Strutt, A.W. Wakefield, and John Noel. It was decided that the mountain must be attempted before the onset of the summer monsoon. In the spring, therefore, the baggage was carried by Sherpas across the high, windy Plateau of Tibet.\\nSupplies were carried from Base Camp at 16,500 feet (5,030 metres) to an advanced base at Camp III. From there, on May 13, a camp was established on the North Col. With great difficulty a higher camp was set at 25,000 feet (7,620 metres) on the sheltered side of the North Ridge. On the next morning, May 21, Mallory, Norton, and Somervell left Morshead, who was suffering from frostbite, and pushed on through trying windy conditions to 27,000 feet (8,230 metres) near the crest of the Northeast Ridge. On May 25 Finch and Captain Bruce set out from Camp III using oxygen. Finch, a protagonist of oxygen, was justified by the results. The party, with the Gurkha Tejbir Bura, established Camp V at 25,500 feet (7,772 metres). There they were stormbound for a day and two nights, but the next morning Finch and Bruce reached 27,300 feet (8,320 metres) and returned the same day to Camp III. A third attempt during the early monsoon snow ended in disaster. On June 7 Mallory, Crawford, and Somervell, with 14 Sherpas, were crossing the North Col slopes. Nine Sherpas were swept by an avalanche over an ice cliff, and seven were killed. Mallory’s party was carried down 150 feet (45 metres) but not injured.\\nAttempt of 1924\\nMembers of the expedition were Brigadier General Bruce (leader), Bentley Beetham, Captain Bruce, J. de V. Hazard, Major R.W.G. Hingston, Andrew Irvine, Mallory, Norton, Noel Odell, E.O. Shebbeare (transport), Somervell, and Noel (photographer). Noel devised a novel publicity scheme for financing this trip by buying all film and lecture rights for the expedition, which covered the entire cost of the venture. To generate interest in the climb, he designed a commemorative postcard and stamp; sacks of postcards were then mailed from Base Camp, mostly to schoolchildren who had requested them. This was the first of many Everest public relations ventures.\\nOn the climb itself, because of wintry conditions, Camp IV on the North Col was established only on May 22 by a new and steeper though safer route; the party was then forced to descend. General Bruce had to return because of illness, and under Norton Camp IV was reestablished on June 1. At 25,000 feet (7,620 metres), Mallory and Captain Bruce were stopped when the Sherpas became exhausted. On June 4 Norton and Somervell, with three Sherpas, pitched Camp VI at 26,800 feet (8,170 metres); the next day they reached 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). Norton went on to 28,100 feet (8,565 metres), a documented height unsurpassed until 1953. Mallory and Irvine , using oxygen, set out from the North Col on June 6. On June 8 they started for the summit. Odell, who had come up that morning, believed he saw them in early afternoon high up between the mists.\\nInitially, Odell claimed to have seen them at what became known as the Second Step (more recently, some have claimed that Odell was describing the Third Step), though later he was less certain exactly where it had been. On the Northeast Ridge there are three “steps”—steep rock barriers—between the elevations of 27,890 and 28,870 feet (8,500 and 8,800 metres) that make the final approach to the summit difficult. The First Step is a limestone vertical barrier about 110 feet (34 metres) high. Above that is a ledge and the Second Step, which is about 160 feet (50 metres) high. (In 1975 a Chinese expedition from the north affixed an aluminum ladder to the step that now makes climbing it much easier.) The Third Step contains another sheer section of rock about 100 feet (30 metres) high that leads to a more gradual slope to the summit. If Odell actually saw Mallory and Irvine at the Third Step at about 12:50 pm, then they would have been some 500 feet (150 metres) below the summit at that point. However, there has long been great uncertainty and considerable debate about all this, especially whether the pair made it to the top that day and if they were ascending or descending the mountain when Odell spotted them. The next morning Odell went up to search and reached Camp VI on June 10, but he found no trace of either man.\\nWhen Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he replied with the famous line, “Because it’s there.” The British public had come to admire the determined climber over the course of his three expeditions, and they were shocked by his disappearance. (The fate of Mallory remained a mystery for 75 years; see Finding Mallory and commemorating the historic ascents .)\\nAttempt of 1933\\nMembers of the expedition were Hugh Ruttledge (leader), Captain E. St. J. Birnie, Lieutenant Colonel H. Boustead, T.A. Brocklebank, Crawford, C.R. Greene, Percy Wyn-Harris, J.L. Longland, W.W. McLean, Shebbeare (transport), Eric Shipton, Francis S. Smythe, Lawrence R. Wager, G. Wood-Johnson, and Lieutenants W.R. Smyth-Windham and E.C. Thompson (wireless).\\nHigh winds made it extremely difficult to establish Base Camp in the North Col, but it was finally done on May 1. Its occupants were cut off from the others for several days. On May 22, however, Camp V was placed at 25,700 feet (7,830 metres); again storms set in, retreat was ordered, and V was not reoccupied until the 28th. On the 29th Wyn-Harris, Wager, and Longland pitched Camp VI at 27,400 feet (8,350 metres). On the way down, Longland’s party, caught in a blizzard, had great difficulty.\\nOn May 30, while Smythe and Shipton came up to Camp V, Wyn-Harris and Wager set off from Camp VI. A short distance below the crest of the Northeast Ridge, they found Irvine’s ice ax. They reckoned that the Second Step was impossible to ascend and were compelled to follow Norton’s 1924 traverse to the Great Couloir splitting the face below the summit. They crossed the gorge to a height about the same as Norton’s but then had to return. Smythe and Shipton made a final attempt on June 1. Shipton returned to Camp V. Smythe pushed on alone, crossed the couloir, and reached the same height as Wyn-Harris and Wager. On his return the monsoon ended operations.\\nAlso in 1933 a series of airplane flights were conducted over Everest—the first occurring on April 3—which permitted the summit and surrounding landscape to be photographed. In 1934 Maurice Wilson, an inexperienced climber who was obsessed with the mountain, died above Camp III attempting to climb Everest alone.\\nReconnaissance of 1935\\nIn 1935 an expedition led by Shipton was sent to reconnoitre the mountain, explore the western approaches, and discover more about monsoon conditions. Other members were L.V. Bryant, E.G.H. Kempson, M. Spender (surveyor), H.W. Tilman, C. Warren, and E.H.L. Wigram. In late July the party succeeded in putting a camp on the North Col, but dangerous avalanche conditions kept them off the mountain. One more visit was paid to the North Col area in an attempt on Changtse (the north peak). During the reconnaissance Wilson’s body was found and buried; his diary was also recovered.\\nAttempts of 1936 and 1938\\nMembers of the 1936 expedition were Ruttledge (leader), J.M.L. Gavin, Wyn-Harris, G.N. Humphreys, Kempson, Morris (transport), P.R. Oliver, Shipton, Smyth-Windham (wireless), Smythe, Warren, and Wigram. This expedition had the misfortune of an unusually early monsoon. The route up to the North Col was finished on May 13, but the wind had dropped, and heavy snowfalls almost immediately after the camp was established put an end to climbing the upper part of the mountain. Several later attempts to regain the col failed.\\nMembers of the 1938 expedition were Tilman (leader), P. Lloyd, Odell, Oliver, Shipton, Smythe, and Warren. Unlike the two previous parties, some members of this expedition used oxygen . The party arrived early, in view of the experience of 1936, but they were actually too early and had to withdraw, meeting again at Camp III on May 20. The North Col camp was pitched under snowy conditions on May 24. Shortly after, because of dangerous snow, the route was changed and a new one made up the west side of the col. On June 6 Camp V was established. On June 8, in deep snow, Shipton and Smythe with seven Sherpas pitched Camp VI, at 27,200 feet (8,290 metres), but the next day they were stopped above it by deep powder. The same fate befell Tilman and Lloyd, who made their attempt on the 11th. Lloyd benefited from an open-circuit oxygen apparatus that partly allowed him to breathe the outside air. Bad weather compelled a final retreat.\\nGolden age of Everest climbs\\nReconnaissance of 1951\\nAfter 1938, expeditions to Everest were interrupted by World War II and the immediate postwar years. In addition, the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950 precluded using the northern approach. In 1951 permission was received from the Nepalese for a reconnaissance of the mountain from the south. Members of the expedition were Shipton (leader), T.D. Bourdillon, Edmund Hillary, W.H. Murray, H.E. Riddiford, and M.P. Ward. The party marched through the monsoon, reaching Namche Bazar, the chief village of Solu-Khumbu, on September 22. At Khumbu Glacier they found it possible to scale the great icefall seen by Mallory from the west. They were stopped at the top by a huge crevasse but traced a possible line up the Western Cwm (cirque, or valley) to the South Col, the high saddle between Lhotse and Everest.\\nSpring attempt of 1952\\nExpedition members were E. Wyss Dunant (leader), J.J. Asper, R. Aubert, G. Chevalley, R. Dittert (leader of climbing party), L. Flory, E. Hofstetter, P.C. Bonnant, R. Lambert, A. Roch, A. Lombard (geologist), and A. Zimmermann (botanist). This strong Swiss party first set foot on the Khumbu Icefall on April 26. After considerable difficulty with the route, they overcame the final crevasse by means of a rope bridge. The 4,000-foot (1,220-metre) face of Lhotse, which had to be climbed to reach the South Col, was attempted by a route running beside a long spur of rock christened the Éperon des Genevois. The first party, Lambert, Flory, Aubert, and Tenzing Norgay (sirdar, or leader of the porters), with five Sherpas, tried to reach the col in one day. They were compelled to bivouac quite a distance below it (May 25) and the next day reached the summit of the Éperon, at 26,300 feet (8,016 metres), whence they descended to the col and pitched camp. On May 27 the party (less the five Sherpas) climbed up the Southeast Ridge. They reached approximately 27,200 feet (8,290 metres), and there Lambert and Tenzing bivouacked. The next day they pushed on up the ridge and turned back at approximately 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). Also on May 28 Asper, Chevalley, Dittert, Hofstetter, and Roch reached the South Col, but they were prevented by wind conditions from going higher and descended to the base.\\nAutumn attempt of 1952\\nMembers of this second Swiss expedition were Chevalley (leader), J. Buzio, G. Gross, Lambert, E. Reiss, A. Spöhel, and Norman Dyhrenfurth (photographer). The party found the icefall easier to climb than in the spring and had brought poles to bridge the great crevasse. Camp IV was occupied on October 20. Higher up, however, they were constantly harassed by bitterly cold winds. On the ice slope below the Éperon one Sherpa was killed, and the party took to the glaciated face of Lhotse on the right. The South Col was reached on November 19, but the summit party climbed only 300 feet (90 metres) higher before being forced to withdraw.\\nThe historic ascent of 1953\\nMembers of the expedition, which was sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club, were Colonel John Hunt (leader; later Baron Hunt), G.C. Band, Bourdillon, R.C. Evans, A. Gregory, Edmund Hillary , W.G. Lowe, C.W.F. Noyce, M.P. Ward, M.H. Westmacott, Major C.G. Wylie (transport), T. Stobart (cinematographer), and L.G.C. Pugh (physiologist). After three weeks’ training on neighbouring mountains, a route was worked out up the Khumbu Icefall, and it was possible to start ferrying loads of supplies to the Western Cwm head. Two forms of oxygen apparatus, closed- and open-circuit types, were tried. As a result of a reconnaissance of Lhotse in early May, Hunt decided that Bourdillon and Evans, experts on closed-circuit, should make the first attempt from the South Col. Hillary with Tenzing Norgay as sirdar were to follow, using open-circuit and a higher camp.\\nRoute of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the summit of Mount Everest, May 1953.\\nBased on the map published by the Royal Geograhical Society\\nLowe spent nine days, most of them with Ang Nyima Sherpa, working at the lower section of the Lhotse face. On May 17 a camp was pitched on it at 24,000 feet (7,315 metres). The route on the upper part of the face, over the top of the Éperon, was first made by Noyce and Annullu Sherpa on May 21. The next day 13 Sherpas led by Wylie, with Hillary and Tenzing ahead, reached the col and dumped loads. The fine weather continued from May 14 but with high winds. On May 24 the first summit party, with Hunt and two Sherpas in support, reached the col. On the 26th Evans and Bourdillon climbed to the South Summit of Everest, but by then it was too late in the day to go farther. Meanwhile Hunt and Da Namgyal Sherpa left loads for a ridge camp at 27,350 feet (8,335 metres).\\nOn the 28th the ridge camp was established at 27,900 feet (8,500 metres) by Hillary, Tenzing, Lowe, Gregory, and Ang Nyima, and Hillary and Tenzing passed the night there. The two set out early on the morning of May 29, reaching the South Summit by 9:00 am. The first challenge on the final approach to the summit of Everest was a fairly level ridge of rock some 400 feet (120 metres) long flanked by an ice “cornice”; to the right was the East (Kangshung) Face, and to the left was the Southwest Face, both sheer drop-offs. The final obstacle, about halfway between the South Summit and the summit of Everest, was a steep spur of rock and ice—now called the Hillary Step. Though it is only about 55 feet (17 metres) high, the formation is difficult to climb because of its extreme pitch and because a mistake would be deadly. Climbers now use fixed ropes to ascend this section, but Hillary and Tenzing had only ice-climbing equipment. First Hillary and then Tenzing tackled the barrier much as one would climb a rock chimney—i.e., they inched up a little at a time with their backs against the rock wall and their feet wedged in a crack between the rock and ice.\\nEdmund (later Sir Edmund) Hillary and Tenzing Norgay preparing to depart on their successful summit …\\nThe Granger Collection, New York\\nThey reached the summit of Everest at 11:30 am. Hillary turned to Tenzing, and the men shook hands; Tenzing then embraced Hillary in a hug. Hillary took photos, and the two searched for but did not find signs that Mallory and Irvine had been to the summit. Tenzing, a Buddhist, made an offering of food for the mountain; Hillary left a crucifix Hunt had given him. The two men ate some sweets and then headed down. They had spent about 15 minutes on the top of the world.\\nThey were met on the slopes above the South Col that afternoon by Lowe and Noyce. Hillary is reputed to have said to Lowe, “Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.” By June 2 the whole expedition had reassembled at the Base Camp.\\nA correspondent for The Times, James (later Jan) Morris, had hiked up to Camp IV to follow the story more closely and was on hand to cover the event. Worried that other papers might scoop him, Morris wired his story to the paper in code. It reached London in time to appear in the June 2 edition. A headline from another London paper published later that day, “All this, and Everest too!” referred to the fact that Elizabeth II was being crowned on the same day on which the news broke about the success on Everest. After years of privation during and after World War II and the subsequent loss of empire, the effect of the successful Everest ascent was a sensation for the British public. The feat was also celebrated worldwide, but nowhere like in Britain and the Commonwealth, whose climbers had been so closely associated with Everest for more than 30 years. As Walt Unsworth described it in Everest,\\nAnd so, the British, as usual, had not only won the last battle but had timed victory in a masterly fashion. Even had it not been announced on Coronation Day it would have made world headlines, but in Britain the linking of the two events was regarded as almost an omen, ordained by the Almighty as a special blessing for the dawn of a New Elizabethan Age. It is doubtful whether any single adventure had ever before received such universal acclaim: Scott’s epic last journey, perhaps, or Stanley’s finding of Livingstone—it was of that order.\\nTenzing Norgay (right) and Edmund Hillary showing the kit they wore to the top of Mount Everest, …\\nAP\\nThe expedition little expected the fanfare that awaited them on their return to Britain. Both Hillary and Hunt were knighted in July (Hunt was later made a life peer), and Tenzing was awarded the George Medal. All members of the expedition were feted at parties and banquets for months, but the spotlight fell mostly on Hillary and Tenzing as the men responsible for one of the defining events of the 20th century.\\nEverest- Lhotse, 1956\\nIn 1956 the Swiss performed the remarkable feat of getting two ropes up Everest and one up Lhotse , using oxygen. Members of the expedition were A. Eggler (leader), W. Diehl, H. Grimm, H.R. von Gunten, E. Leuthold, F. Luchsinger, J. Marmet, F. Müller, Reiss, A. Reist, and E. Schmied. They followed roughly the British route up the icefall and the Lhotse face. From their Camp VI Reiss and Luchsinger reached the summit of Lhotse on May 18. Camp VI was moved to the South Col, and the summit of Everest was reached from a camp at 27,500 feet (8,380 metres) by Marmet and Schmied (May 23) and Gunten and Reist (May 24).\\nAttempts of 1960\\nIn 1960 an Indian expedition with Sherpas, led by Brigadier Gyan Singh, attempted to scale Everest from the south. Camp IV was established in the Western Cwm on April 19. Bad weather followed, but a party using oxygen reached the South Col on May 9. On May 24 three members pitched a tent at 27,000 feet (8,230 metres) on the Southeast Ridge but were turned back by wind and weather at about 28,300 feet (8,625 metres). Continued bad weather prevented the second summit party’s leaving the South Col.\\nAlso that spring it was reported that a Chinese expedition led by Shi Zhanzhun climbed Everest from the north. By their account they reached the North Col in April, and on May 24 Wang Fuzhou, Qu Yinhua, Liu Lianman, and a Tibetan mountaineer, Konbu, climbed the slab by a human ladder, reaching the top at 4:20 am to place the Chinese flag and a bust of Mao Zedong . The credibility of their account was doubted at the time but later was generally accepted (see below The north approach ).\\n(Cuthbert) Wilfrid (Francis) Noyce (Henry Cecil) John Hunt Stephen Venables\\nThe U.S. ascent of 1963\\nThe first American expedition to Everest was led by the Swiss climber Norman Dyhrenfurth, who selected a team of 19 mountaineers and scientists from throughout the United States and 37 Sherpas. The purpose was twofold: to reach the summit and to carry out scientific research programs in physiology, psychology, glaciology, and meteorology . Of particular interest were the studies on how the climbers changed physiologically and psychologically under extreme stresses at high altitudes where oxygen deprivation was unavoidable. These studies were related to the U.S. space program, and among the 400 sponsors of the expedition were the National Geographic Society , the U.S. State Department , the National Science Foundation , the Office of Naval Research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, the Atomic Energy Commission , and the U.S. Air Force .\\nOn February 20 the expedition left Kathmandu , Nepal, for Everest, 180 miles (290 km) away. More than 900 porters carried some 26 tons of food, clothing, equipment, and scientific instruments. Base Camp was established at 17,800 feet (5,425 metres) on Khumbu Glacier on March 20, one month earlier than on any previous expedition. For the next five weeks the team selected a route toward the summit and established and stocked a series of camps up the mountain via the traditional South Col route. They also explored the more difficult and untried West Ridge route. On May 1 James W. Whittaker and Nawang Gombu Sherpa, nephew of Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit despite high winds. On May 22 four other Americans reached the top. Two of them, William F. Unsoeld and Thomas F. Hornbein, made mountaineering history by ascending the West Ridge, which until then had been considered unclimbable. They descended the traditional way, along the Southeast Ridge toward the South Col, thus also accomplishing the first major mountain traverse in the Himalayas. On the descent, Unsoeld and Hornbein, along with Barry C. Bishop and Luther G. Jerstad (who had also reached the summit that day via the South Col), were forced to bivouac in the open at 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). All suffered frostbite, and Bishop and Unsoeld later lost their toes; the two had to be carried out of Base Camp on the backs of Sherpas. On July 8 Dyhrenfurth and all members of the expedition were presented the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal by President John F. Kennedy .\\nThe Indian ascent of 1965\\nIn 1965 a 21-man Indian expedition, led by Lieutenant Commander M.S. Kohli, succeeded in putting nine men on the summit of Everest. India thus became the fourth country to scale the world’s highest mountain. One of the group, Nawang Gombu, became the first person ever to climb Mount Everest twice, having first accomplished the feat on the U.S. expedition.\\nThe 1970s\\nThe Southwest Face\\nFrom 1966 to 1969 the government of Nepal banned mountaineers from climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas. When the ranges were reopened in 1969, the world’s top mountaineers—following the American example of 1963—set their eyes on new routes to Everest’s summit. With Tibet still closed and only the southern approach available, the obvious challenge was the huge Southwest Face rising from the Western Cwm. The crux of the problem was the Rock Band—a vertical cliff 2,000 feet (600 metres) high starting at about 26,250 feet (8,000 metres). A Japanese reconnaissance expedition reached the foot of the Rock Band in the autumn of 1969 and returned in spring 1970 for a full-scale attempt led by Matsukata Saburō. Failing to make further progress on the Southwest Face, the expedition switched to the easier South Col route, getting the first Japanese climbers, including the renowned Japanese explorer Uemura Naomi, to the summit.\\nMount Everest, Himalayas, from Nepal.\\n© Michelle Eadie/Fotolia\\nExpeditions continued to lay “siege” to the Southwest Face. The most publicized of these climbs was the 1971 International Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth; however, internationalist ideals were savaged by the stresses of high altitude, and the expedition degenerated into rancour between the British and non-British climbers. In the spring of 1972 a European expedition led by the German Karl Herrligkoffer was equally inharmonious.\\nThe battle for the Southwest Face continued in a predictable pattern: large teams, supported by Sherpas acting as high-altitude porters, established a succession of camps in the broad, snow-covered couloir leading to the foot of the intractable Rock Band. Success finally came in the autumn of 1975 to a British expedition led by Chris (later Sir Chris) Bonington, who got the full team and its meticulously prepared equipment to Base Camp by the end of August and made the most of the mainly calm weather during the September time window.\\nClimbing equipment had changed significantly since 1953. In the mid-1970s rigid box-shaped tents were bolted to aluminum alloy platforms dug into the 45° slope. Smooth-sheathed nylon ropes were affixed to the rock face to make a continuous safety line, which climbers could ascend and descend very efficiently. The 1975 expedition was a smooth operation that utilized a team of 33 Sherpas and was directed by some of the world’s best mountaineers. Unlike previous expeditions, this team explored a deep gully cutting through the left side of the Rock Band, with Paul Braithwaite and Nick Estcourt breaking through to establish Camp VI at about 27,000 feet (8,230 metres). From there Doug Scott and Dougal Haston made a long, bold traverse rightward, eventually gaining the South Summit and continuing over the Hillary Step to the Everest summit, which they reached at 6:00 pm. Rather than risk descending in the dark, they bivouacked in a snow cave close to the South Summit—at 28,750 feet (8,750 metres), this was the highest bivouac in climbing history until Babu Chiri Sherpa bivouacked on the summit itself in 1999. Their oxygen tanks were empty, and they had neither tent nor sleeping bags, but both men survived the ordeal unharmed and returned safely to Camp VI in the morning. Two days later Peter Boardman and Pertemba Sherpa reached the summit, followed by Mick Burke heading for the top in deteriorating weather. Burke never returned; he is presumed to have fallen to his death in the whiteout conditions.\\nThe first ascent by a woman\\nWhen Scott and Haston reached the summit of Everest in September 1975, they found a metal surveying tripod left the previous spring by a Chinese team—definitive proof of the first uncontested ascent from the north. The Chinese team included a Tibetan woman, Phantog, who reached the summit on May 27. The honours for the first woman to summit Everest, however, belong to the Japanese climber Tabei Junko, who reached the top from the South Col on May 16. She was climbing with the first all-women expedition to Everest (although male Sherpas supported the climb.)\\nThe West Ridge direct ascent\\nWith the Southwest Face climbed, the next obvious—and harder—challenge was the complete West Ridge direct ascent from Lho Pass (Lho La). Just getting to Lho Pass from Base Camp is a major climb. The West Ridge itself then rises 9,200 feet (2,800 metres) over a distance of 3.5 miles (5.5 km), much of it over difficult rock. In 1979 a Yugoslav team, led by Tone Skarja, made the first ascent, fixing ropes to Camp V at an elevation of about 26,750 feet (8,120 metres), with one rope fixed farther up a steep rock chimney (a crack or gorge large enough to permit a climber to enter). On May 13 Andrej Stremfelj and Jernej Zaplotnik set out from Camp V for the summit. Above the chimney there were two more hard pitches of rock climbing. With no spare rope to fix in place, the climbers realized that they would not be able to descend via these difficult sections. After reaching the summit in midafternoon, they descended by the Hornbein Couloir, bypassing the hardest part of the West Ridge to regain the safety of Camp IV late that evening.\\nClimbing without supplemental oxygen\\nBeginning in the 1920s and ’30s, the received wisdom had been that an Everest climb needed a team of at least 10 climbers supported by Sherpas and equipped with supplemental oxygen for the final stages. In 1978 that belief was shattered by the Italian (Tyrolean) climber Reinhold Messner and his Austrian climbing partner Peter Habeler . They had already demonstrated on other high Himalayan peaks the art of Alpine-style climbing—moving rapidly, carrying only the barest essentials, and sometimes not even roping together for safety—as opposed to the standard siege style. Another innovation was their use of plastic boots, which were much lighter than the leather equivalent. In 1978 Messner and Habeler attached themselves as a semiautonomous unit to a large German-Austrian expedition led by Oswald Ölz. At 5:30 am on May 8, the two men left their tent at the South Col and started up the summit ridge carrying nothing but ice axes, cameras , and a short rope. The only external assistance was from the Austrians at their top camp, above the South Col, where the two stopped briefly to melt snow for drinking water. (In those days it was still common practice to place a top camp higher than the South Col; nowadays virtually all parties start their final push from the col, some 3,100 feet [950 metres] below the summit). Maintaining a steady ascent rate of about 325 feet (100 metres) per hour, they reached the summit at 1:15 pm. Habeler was terrified of possibly suffering brain damage from the lack of oxygen and made a remarkable descent to the South Col in just one hour. Messner returned later that afternoon. Exhausted—and in Messner’s case snow-blind from having removed his goggles—the two were escorted back down to the Western Cwm the next morning by the Welsh climber Eric Jones.\\nMountaineer Reinhold Messner, who pioneered climbing Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen and …\\nJohn MacDougall—AFP/Getty Images\\nMessner and Habeler had proved that human beings could climb to the top of the world without supplemental oxygen; the German Hans Engl and the Sherpas Ang Dorje and Ang Kami were among several climbers who duplicated this feat in the autumn of 1978. However, for Messner, climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen was not enough: he now wanted to reach the summit completely alone. To do that unroped over the treacherous crevasses of the Western Cwm was considered unthinkable, but it was possible on the less-crevassed northern approach through Tibet; by the late 1970s Tibet was again becoming an option.\\nThe north approach\\nAfter China occupied Tibet in 1950, permission was denied to any expeditions from noncommunist countries wishing to climb Everest. In 1960 the Chinese army built a road to the Rongbuk Base Camp, then claimed to have made the first ascent of Everest from the north, following the North Col–North Ridge–Northeast Ridge route earlier explored by prewar British expeditions. Many in the West doubted the Chinese assertion, mainly because the official account—which included the claim that Qu Yinhua had scaled the notorious vertical cliff of the Second Step barefoot and which also made constant references to party solidarity and the inspiration of Chairman Mao—was deemed so improbable. Not for the last time, Everest was used as a vehicle for propaganda .\\nSince that time, however, people in the West have seen Qu’s feet, mutilated by frostbite, and experts have reexamined the 1960 photos and film—many now believe that Qu, Wang Fuzhou, Liu Lianman, and the Tibetan, Konbu, did indeed reach the summit on May 25, 1960. What none can doubt is the Chinese repeat ascent of 1975 by eight Tibetans (including Phantog) and one Chinese. On that climb the group bolted an aluminium ladder to the Second Step, which has remained there and greatly aided all subsequent ascents on what has become the standard route from the north.\\nThe 1980s\\nIn 1979 the Chinese authorities announced that noncommunist countries could again begin mounting Everest expeditions through Tibet. Japan was first to do so, with a joint Sino-Japanese expedition led by Watanabe Hyōrikō in the spring of 1980. Half of the 1980 team repeated the Chinese North Ridge–Northeast Ridge route, with Katō Yasuo reaching the summit alone—making him the first person to climb Everest from the south and north. Meanwhile, another team made the first complete ascent of the North Face from the Central Rongbuk Glacier. The upper face is split by the Great Couloir on the left and the Hornbein Couloir (first attained from the West Ridge in 1963) on the right. The 1980 team climbed a lower couloir (the Japanese Couloir) that led directly to the base of the Hornbein Couloir, which was then followed to the top. Shigehiro Tsuneo and Ozaki Takashi ran out of oxygen about four hours below the summit but continued without it, reaching the summit late and bivouacking on the way down. Once again, modern insulated clothing and modern psychological attitudes about what was possible on Everest had allowed climbers to push on in a manner unthinkable to the prewar pioneers.\\nFirst solo climb\\nReinhold Messner arrived at Rongbuk during the monsoon in July 1980. He spent a month acclimatizing, did one reconnaissance to the North Col to cache supplies there, then set off alone from Advance Base on the East Rongbuk Glacier before dawn on August 18. After a lucky escape from a concealed crevasse into which he had fallen, he reached the North Col, collected his gear, and continued to climb higher up the North Ridge. He then slanted diagonally right, as George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce had done in 1922, traversing a full 1.2 miles (2 km) before stopping to pitch his tent a second time, at 26,900 feet (8,200 metres). On the third day he entered the Great Couloir, continued up it, and achieved what had eluded Edward Norton, Lawrence Wager, Percy Wyn-Harris, and Francis Smythe by climbing rightward out of the couloir, onto the final terraces, and to the summit. Messner later recounted,\\nI was in continual agony; I have never in my whole life been so tired as on the summit of Everest that day. I just sat and sat there, oblivious to everything.…I knew I was physically at the end of my tether.\\nBack at his tent that night he was too weak even to eat or drink, and the next morning he jettisoned all his survival equipment, committing himself to descending all the way to Advance Base Camp in a single day.\\nFurther exploration from Tibet\\nMessner’s 1980 solo climb demonstrated just what could be done on the world’s highest mountain. With that same bold spirit, a four-man British team came to Rongbuk in 1982 to attempt the complete Northeast Ridge from Raphu Pass (Raphu La). While he was leading the climb of the first of the three prominent Pinnacles that start at about 26,900 feet (8,200 metres), Dick Renshaw suffered a mild stroke and was invalided home. The expedition leader, Chris Bonington, felt too tired to go back up, and thus it was left to Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker to attempt the final ascent. They were last seen alive between the First Pinnacle and the Second Pinnacle on May 17. Boardman’s body was found 10 years later, sitting in the snow near that point; Tasker has not been found.\\nBase Camp for the 1988 ascent of Mount Everest via the East (Kangshung) Face, Tibet; prayer flags …\\n© Stephen Venables\\nIn 1981 a large American team made the first-ever attempt on Everest’s gigantic East Face from Kangshung Glacier. Avalanche risk thwarted the attempt, but the team returned in autumn of 1983 to attempt again the massive central buttress of the face. This produced some spectacularly hard climbing, led by George Lowe . Above the buttress, the route followed a broad spur of snow and ice to reach the Southeast Ridge just below the South Summit. Carlos Buhler, Lou Reichardt, and Kim Momb reached the Everest summit on October 8, followed the next day by Jay Cassell, Lowe, and Dan Reid.\\nIn 1984 the first Australians to attempt Everest chose a new route up the North Face, climbing through the huge central snowfield, dubbed “White Limbo,” to gain the Great Couloir. Then, like Messner in 1980, the Australians cut out right, with Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer reaching the summit at sunset before making a difficult descent in the dark.\\nThe most remarkable achievement of this era was the 1986 ascent by the Swiss climbers Jean Troillet and Erhard Loretan. Like Messner, they snatched a clear-weather window toward the end of the monsoon for a lightning dash up and down the mountain. Unlike Messner, they did not even carry a tent and sleeping bags. Climbing by night, resting during the comparative warmth of the day, they took just 41.5 hours to climb the Japanese and Hornbein couloirs up the North Face; then, sliding most of the way on their backsides, they descended in about 4.5 hours.\\nDevelopments in Nepal\\nWhile the most dazzling deeds were being done on the Tibetan side of Everest, there was still much activity in Nepal during the 1980s, with the boldest pioneering expeditions coming from eastern European countries. For dogged teamwork, nothing has surpassed the first winter ascent of Everest. Completed in 1980 by a team of phenomenally rugged Polish climbers, this ascent was led by Andrzej Zawada; expedition members Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki reached the summit on February 17. To crown this success, Zawada then led a spring expedition to make the first ascent of the South Pillar (left of the South Col), getting Andrzej Czok and Jerzy Kukuczka to the summit. Kukuczka, like Messner, would eventually climb all of the world’s 26,250-foot (8,000-metre) peaks, nearly all by difficult new routes.\\nSeveral teams attempted to repeat the Yugoslav West Ridge direct route without success, until a Bulgarian team did so in 1984. The first Bulgarian to reach the summit, Christo Prodanov, climbed without supplemental oxygen, was forced to bivouac overnight during the descent, and died—one of four summiteers who climbed without oxygen in the 1980s and failed to return.\\nThe first Soviet expedition to Everest, in 1982, climbed a new route up the left-hand buttress of the Southwest Face, involving harder climbing than the original 1975 route. Led by Evgeny Tamm, the expedition was highly successful, putting 11 Soviet climbers on the summit.\\nThe end of an era\\nThe last of the great pioneering climbs of the decade was via a new route up the left side of the East Face to the South Col. Led by American Robert Anderson, it included just four climbers who had no Sherpa support and used no supplemental oxygen. British climber Stephen Venables was the only member of this expedition to reach the summit, on May 12, 1988. After a harrowing descent, during which Venables was forced to bivouac overnight without a tent, all four members of the team made it back to the Base Camp.\\nDuring the same period, more than 250 members of the “Asian Friendship Expedition” from China , Nepal, and Japan staged a simultaneous traverse of the mountain from north and south, which was recorded live on television. Also in 1988 the Sherpas Sungdare and Ang Rita both made their fifth summit of the mountain. That autumn the ace French climber, Marc Boivin, made the first paragliding descent from the summit; New Zealander Russell Brice and Briton Harry Taylor climbed the infamous Pinnacles on the Northeast Ridge; and four Czech climbers disappeared in a storm after making an Alpine-style climb of the Southwest Face without supplemental oxygen. The following year five Poles were lost in an avalanche on the West Ridge.\\nThe increasing activity on Everest in 1988 foreshadowed what was to come. At the start of the spring season that year, fewer than 200 individuals had summited Everest. However, by the 2003 season, a half century after the historic climb by Hillary and Tenzing, that number exceeded 1,200, and more than 200 climbers had summited Everest two or more times. Both statistics grew dramatically in the succeeding decade, particularly the proportion of climbers with multiple ascents; by the end of the 2013 climbing season, the tally of successful ascents of the mountain was approaching 7,000, and some 2,750 had climbed it more than once.\\nSince 1990\\nCommercialism and tragedy\\nIn the 1950s and ’60s the expense of mounting an expedition to Everest was so great and the number of climbers familiar with the Himalayas so few that there were many years in which no team attempted the mountain. By the 1970s expeditions had become more common, but Nepal was still issuing only two or three permits per year. In the 1980s permits became available for both the pre- and post- monsoon seasons and for routes via China as well as Nepal , and the total number of expeditions increased to about 10 per year. During the 1990s it became normal for there to be at least 10 expeditions per season on each side of the mountain, and those numbers continued to increase after 2000.\\nAustralian climber Lincoln Hall on Mount Everest in May 1996, a survivor of the deadly events on …\\nJamie McGuinness—Project-Himalaya.com/AP\\nOne of the most successful operators, New Zealander Rob Hall, had led teams up the South Col route to the summit in 1990 and in 1992, ’93, and ’94. On May 10, 1996, his group and several other teams were caught at the summit in a bad afternoon storm. Hall and his American client, Doug Hansen, both died at the South Summit. An American guide from a separate commercial expedition, Scott Fischer, also died, along with several other climbers, including three Indians, on the Northeast Ridge. Although the deaths in the late 1980s had gone almost unnoticed, those from the 1996 storm were reported instantly over the Internet and generated massive press coverage and disaster literature. In all, 12 climbers died in that year’s pre-monsoon season, and an additional 3 died after the monsoon. The 1996 disaster may have caught the world’s attention, but it did nothing to decrease the lure of Everest. If anything, commercial traffic increased dramatically, despite the obvious message that no guide can guarantee a climber’s safety at such great heights. Indeed, after 2000 the number of climbers making it to the top of Everest continued to rise, reaching a peak of some 630 in 2007 and exceeding 650 in 2013.\\nIt became increasingly common for several expeditions to be operating simultaneously on the mountain and for dozens of climbers to reach the summit on a single day; on May 23, 2001, nearly 90 accomplished the feat, and in succeeding years daily totals typically approached or exceeded that number during the peak of the May climbing season. An unprecedented 234 climbers made it to the top on May 19, 2012. Such large throngs of climbers inevitably created traffic jams in some of the narrower passages. One of the more notorious of those instances was on the record day, May 19, 2012, when the climbers became dangerously backed up at the Hillary Step. Four people died then, prompting expedition leaders to better coordinate their final ascent attempts with each other.\\nSouthern (Hillary-Tenzing) summit route up Mount Everest showing the location of the April 18, …\\nPhoto: Lee Klopfer/Alamy Art: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\\nOver the years, considerable improvements in climbing gear and equipment, technology (including mobile wireless availability on the mountain), and expedition planning have improved the safety of those climbing Everest. However, the region remains a highly dangerous place where tragedy can strike at any time. Two notable examples occurred almost exactly a year apart. On April 18, 2014, an avalanche struck a group of Sherpas who were carrying supplies through the Khumbu Icefall. A total of 16 died (13 confirmed; 3 missing and presumed killed), making it the deadliest single day in Everest climbing history to that date. On April 25, 2015, however, a massive earthquake in central Nepal triggered avalanches on Everest, one of which swept through Base Camp, killing or injuring dozens of climbers and workers there. The known death toll on the mountain was 19—which included one climber who died after being evacuated to a hospital—surpassing the total from the previous year. In addition, the route through the Khumbu Icefall was severely damaged, stranding dozens of climbers at Camps I and II above the icefall, who then had to be rescued by helicopter.\\nClimbers walking to a helicopter landing site prior to evacuation from Mount Everest Base Camp, …\\nPhurba Tenjing Sherpa—Reuters/Landov\\nThe 2014 disaster put an end to the Nepalese-side climbing season, after the Sherpas decided that they would not climb. One Chinese woman did reach the summit after being helicoptered to and from Camp II, and some 125 climbers made it to the top from the north (Chinese) side. Soon after the 2015 Nepalese-side avalanche, Chinese officials announced that the climbing season on the north side was canceled. For a time, there was some discussion of trying to repair the damaged route through the icefall, but it was deemed not possible, thus effectively ending climbing on the south side also for that year’s spring season. The icefall route was repaired during the summer, and the Nepalese government issued a climbing permit to a Japanese mountaineer. In September he made a solo summit attempt before turning back at an elevation of about 26,740 feet (8,150 metres). As a result, 2015 was the first year in more than four decades that not one person had reached the top of Everest.\\nExtraordinary feats\\nIn pure mountaineering terms, the big achievements of the 1990s were the first winter ascent of the Southwest Face in 1993 (by a Japanese team led by Yagihara Kuniaki), the first complete ascent of the Northeast Ridge in 1995 (by another Japanese team led by Kanzaki Tadao), and the first ascent of the North-Northeast Couloir in 1996 (by a Russian team led by Sergei Antipin). Most of the activity, however, became concentrated on the two “normal” routes via the South Col and North Col; there the majority of expeditions were commercial operations, with clients paying for (generally) efficient logistics , satellite weather forecasts, the use of a copious amount of fixed ropes, and an increasingly savvy Sherpa workforce.\\nMeanwhile, a few individuals continued to achieve astounding new feats. In 1990 Tim Macartney-Snape traveled on foot all the way from sea level in the Bay of Bengal to the summit of Everest, without supplemental oxygen. Goran Kropp took this a step further in 1996 by bicycling all the way from his native Sweden before ascending Everest; he then cycled home. In 2001 the first blind person, American Erik Weihenmayer, summited Everest; he was an experienced climber who had already scaled peaks such as Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska and Kilimanjaro in eastern Africa before his climb of Everest.\\nBlind American climber Erik Weihenmayer on his successful summit ascent of Mount Everest in 2001.\\n© Didrik Johnck/Corbis\\nFor sheer physiological prowess, however, few could match the Sherpas: in 1999 Babu Chiri climbed the southern route from Base Camp to summit in 16 hours 56 minutes. However, this accomplishment was surpassed by two Sherpas in 2003— Pemba Dorje and Lakpa Gelu, with Lakpa summiting in just 10 hours 56 minutes. Not to be outdone, Pemba returned the next year and reached the top in 8 hours 10 minutes. Perhaps as remarkable were the achievements of Apa Sherpa . In 2000 he reached the summit for a record 11th time, and he continued to break his own mark in succeeding years. Beginning in 2008, Apa’s summit climbs were undertaken as a member of the Eco Everest Expeditions; he recorded his 21st ascent on May 11, 2011. Apa’s total was matched by another Sherpa, Phurba Tashi, in 2013.\\nMountaineer Apa Sherpa on the summit of Mount Everest, 2009.\\nMingma Sherpa\\nThe record for the youngest person to reach the summit has been set several times since the advent of commercial Everest climbs. For some time it remained at 16 years after Nepal banned climbing by those younger than that age. However, at the time, China imposed no such restrictions, and in 2003 Ming Kipa Sherpa, a 15-year-old Nepalese girl, reached the summit from the Tibetan side. Her record was eclipsed in 2010 when American Jordan Romero, 13, reached the top—again from the north side—on May 22. Romero’s accomplishment was made all the more notable because it was the sixth of the seven continental high points he had reached.\\nBeginning in the early 2000s, the record for the oldest person to ascend Everest alternated between two men, Japanese Miura Yūichirō and Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherchan. Miura—a former extreme skier who gained notoriety for skiing down the South Col in 1970 (the subject of an Academy Award -winning 1975 documentary, The Man Who Skied Down Everest)—set the standard at age 70, when he reached the top on May 22, 2003. On May 26, 2008, when he was 75, he made a second successful ascent, but Sherchan, age 76 and a former soldier, had summited the day before, on May 25, to claim the record. Miura regained the honour on May 23, 2013, at the age of 80. The oldest woman to reach the summit was another Japanese climber, Watanabe Tamae, who set the record twice: first on May 16, 2002, at age 63, and again on May 19, 2012, at age 73.\\nSome of the most-remarkable of the “stunts” attempted since 1990 have been unusual descents. In 1996 Italian Hans Kammerlander made a one-day ascent and descent of the north side, the latter partly accomplished on skis. In 1999 Pierre Tardivel managed to ski down from the South Summit. The first complete uninterrupted ski descent from the summit was by Slovenian Davo Karničar in 2000, upstaged a year later by the French extreme sportsman Marco Siffredi with his even more-challenging snowboard descent of the North Face.\\nFinding Mallory and commemorating historic ascents\\nTwo notable Everest events bracketed the turn of the 21st century. In the spring of 1999, 75 years after George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had disappeared climbing Everest, an expedition led by American Eric Simonson set out to learn their fate. On May 1 members of the team found Mallory’s body lying on a scree terrace below the Yellow Band at about 26,700 feet (8,140 metres). It was determined that Mallory had died during or immediately after a bad fall: he had skull and compound leg fractures, and bruising was still visible on the preserved torso—probably caused by a rope that was still tied around his waist. The team could not determine if the body was the same one found by a Chinese climber in 1975 or if that one had been the body of Irvine. It was clear, however, that both Mallory and Irvine had been involved in a serious fall that broke the rope which undoubtedly joined them. Personal effects found on Mallory included his goggles, altimeter , and a pocketknife, but not the camera he is thought to have taken with him when he left for the summit. It had been hoped that the film from it (if it could be developed) might have revealed more about the climb, especially if the pair had reached the summit.\\nThe 50th anniversary of Tenzing and Hillary’s historic ascent was widely observed in 2003. Commemoration of the event had actually begun the previous May, when second-generation summiteers—Hillary’s son Peter and Barry Bishop ’s son Brent—scaled the peak (the younger Hillary speaking to his father in New Zealand from the top via satellite phone); Tenzing’s son, Jamling Norgay, also participated in the expedition but did not make the final summit climb. In the spring of 2003 scores of climbers were able to reach the top of Everest before the May 29 anniversary date. Celebrations were held in several locations worldwide on the day itself, including one in Kathmandu where hundreds of past summit climbers joined Hillary and other members of the 1953 expedition.\\nSeveral milestone anniversaries were observed in 2013. A variety of events were tied to remembering the 60th anniversary of Tenzing and Hillary’s climb, including summiting of Everest by hundreds of climbers and treks by others on and around its lower slopes. The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) hosted a special lecture on May 29 that included Peter Hillary, Jamling Tenzing, and Jan Morris—the latter being the last surviving member of the 1953 expedition. In March the RGS also hosted a 25th-anniversary reunion of members from the 1988 East Face expedition. Several members of the first U.S. ascent (1963), including James Whittaker and Norman Dyhrenfurth, gathered in San Francisco in February for an observance of the 50th anniversary of that expedition. In addition, the 80th anniversary of the first airplane flight over the mountain was remembered during the year.\",\n \"Nanga_Parbat.txt\\nNanga Parbat\\nNanga Parbat (literally, Naked Mountain ; Urdu: ) is the ninth highest mountain in the world at 8126 m above sea level. It is the western anchor of the Himalayas around which the Indus river skirts into the plains of Pakistan. It is located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan and is locally known as 'Deo Mir' ('देओ मीर')('Deo' meaning 'huge') ('mir' meaning 'mountain'). \\n\\nNanga Parbat is one of the eight-thousanders, with a summit elevation of 8126 m. An immense, dramatic peak rising far above its surrounding terrain, Nanga Parbat is also a notoriously difficult climb. Numerous mountaineering deaths in the mid and early 20th century lent it the nickname \\\"killer mountain\\\".\\n\\nLocation\\n\\nNanga Parbat forms the western anchor of the Himalayan Range and is the westernmost eight-thousander. It lies just south of the Indus River in the Diamer District of Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan. Not far to the north is the western end of the Karakoram range.\\n\\nNotable features\\n\\nNanga Parbat has tremendous vertical relief over local terrain in all directions.\\n\\nTo the south, Nanga Parbat boasts what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world: the Rupal Face rises 4600 m above its base. To the north, the complex, somewhat more gently sloped Rakhiot Flank rises 7000 m from the Indus River valley to the summit in just 25 km, one of the 10 greatest elevation gains in so short a distance on Earth.\\n\\nNanga Parbat is one of only two peaks on Earth that rank in the top twenty of both the highest mountains in the world, and the most prominent peaks in the world, ranking ninth and fourteenth respectively. The other is Mount Everest, which is first on both lists. It is also the second most prominent peak of the Himalayas, after Mount Everest. The key col for Nanga Parbat is Zoji La in Kashmir, which connects it to higher peaks in the remaining Himalaya-Karakoram range. \\n\\nNanga Parbat along with Namcha Barwa on the Tibetan Plateau mark the west and east ends of the Himalayas.\\n\\nLayout of the mountain\\n\\nThe core of Nanga Parbat is a long ridge trending southwest–northeast. The ridge is an enormous bulk of ice and rock. It has three faces, Diamir face, Rakhiot and Rupal. The southwestern portion of this main ridge is known as the Mazeno Wall, and has a number of subsidiary peaks. In the other direction, the main ridge arcs northeast at Rakhiot Peak (7,070 m / 23,196 ft). The south/southeast side of the mountain is dominated by the massive Rupal Face, noted above. The north/northwest side of the mountain, leading to the Indus, is more complex. It is split into the Diamir (west) face and the Rakhiot (north) face by a long ridge. There are a number of subsidiary summits, including North Peak (7,816 m / 25,643 ft) some 3 km north of the main summit. Near the base of the Rupal Face is a beautiful glacial lake called Latbo, above a seasonal shepherds' village of the same name.\\n\\nClimbing history\\n\\nEarly attempts\\n\\nClimbing attempts started very early on Nanga Parbat. In 1895 Albert F. Mummery led an expedition to the peak, and reached almost 6,100 m (20,000 ft) on the Diamir (West) Face, but Mummery and two Gurkha companions later died reconnoitering the Rakhiot Face.\\n\\nIn the 1930s, Nanga Parbat became the focus of German interest in the Himalayas. The German mountaineers were unable to attempt Mount Everest, as only the British had access to Tibet. Initially German efforts focused on Kanchenjunga, to which Paul Bauer led two expeditions in 1930 and 1931, but with its long ridges and steep faces Kanchenjunga was more difficult than Everest and neither expedition made much progress. K2 was known to be harder still, and its remoteness meant that even reaching its base would be a major undertaking. Nanga Parbat was therefore the highest mountain accessible to Germans and also deemed reasonably possible by climbers at the time. \\n\\nThe first German expedition to Nanga Parbat was led by Willy Merkl in 1932. It is sometimes referred to as a German-American expedition, as the eight climbers included Rand Herron, an American, and Fritz Wiessner, who would become an American citizen the following year. While the team were all strong climbers, none had Himalayan experience, and poor planning (particularly an inadequate number of porters), coupled with bad weather, prevented the team progressing far beyond the Rakhiot Peak northeast of the Nanga Parbat summit, reached by Peter Aschenbrenner and Herbert Kunigk, but they did establish the feasibility of a route via Rakhiot Peak and the main ridge. \\n\\nMerkl led another expedition in 1934, which was better prepared and financed with the full backing of the new Nazi government. Early in the expedition Alfred Drexel died, probably of high altitude pulmonary edema. The Tyrolean climbers Peter Aschenbrenner and Erwin Schneider reached an estimated height of (7,895 m / 25,900 ft) on July 6, but were forced to return because of worsening weather. On July 7 they and 14 others were trapped by a ferocious storm at 7,480 m (24,540 ft). During the desperate retreat that followed, three famous German mountaineers, Uli Wieland, Willo Welzenbach and Merkl himself, and six Sherpas died of exhaustion, exposure and altitude sickness, and several more suffered severe frostbite. The last survivor to reach safety, Ang Tsering, did so having spent seven days battling through the storm. It has been said that the disaster, \\\"for sheer protracted agony, has no parallel in climbing annals.\\\" \\n\\nIn 1937, Karl Wien led another expedition to the mountain, following the same route as Merkl's expeditions had done. Progress was made, but more slowly than before due to heavy snowfall. Some time around the 14th of June seven Germans and nine Sherpas, almost the entire team, were at Camp IV below Rakhiot Peak when it was overwhelmed by an avalanche. All sixteen men died instantly. \\n\\nThe Germans returned in 1938 led by Paul Bauer, but the expedition was plagued by bad weather, and Bauer, mindful of the previous disasters, ordered the party down before the Silver Saddle, halfway between Rakhiot Peak and Nanga Parbat summit, was reached. The following year a small four man expedition, including Heinrich Harrer, explored the Diamir Face with the aim of finding an easier route. They concluded that the face was a viable route, but the Second World War intervened and the four men were interned in Pakistan . Harrer's escape and subsequent travels became the subject of his book Seven Years in Tibet.\\n\\nFirst ascent\\n\\nNanga Parbat was first climbed, via the Rakhiot Flank (East Ridge), on July 3, 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl, a member of a German-Austrian team. The expedition was organized by the half-brother of Willy Merkl, Karl Herrligkoffer from Munich, while the expedition leader was Peter Aschenbrenner from Innsbruck, who had participated in the 1932 and 1934 attempts. By the time of this expedition, 31 people had already died on the mountain. \\n\\nThe final push for the summit was dramatic: Buhl continued alone for the final 1300 meters, after his companions had turned back. Under the influence of the drugs pervitin (based on the stimulant methamphetamine used by soldiers during World War II), padutin, and tea from coca leaves, he reached the summit dangerously late, at 7 p.m., the climbing harder and more time-consuming than he had anticipated. His descent was slowed when he lost a crampon. Caught by darkness, he was forced to bivouac standing upright on a narrow ledge, holding a small handhold with one hand. Exhausted, he dozed occasionally, but managed to maintain his balance. He was also very fortunate to have a calm night, so he was not subjected to wind chill. He finally reached his high camp at 7 p.m. the next day, 40 hours after setting out. The ascent was made without oxygen, and Buhl is the only man to have made the first ascent of an 8000 m peak alone.\\n\\nSubsequent attempts and ascents\\n\\nThe second ascent of Nanga Parbat was via the Diamir Face, in 1962, by Germans Toni Kinshofer, Siegfried \\\"Siegi\\\" Löw, and A. Mannhardt. The route is now the \\\"standard route\\\" on the mountain. The Kinshofer route does not ascend the middle of the Diamir Face, which is threatened by avalanches from massive hanging glaciers. Instead it climbs a buttress on the left side of the face.\\n\\nIn 1970 the brothers Günther and Reinhold Messner made the third ascent of the mountain and the first ascent of the Rupal Face. They were unable to descend by their original route, and instead descended by the Diamir Face, making the first traverse of the mountain. Unfortunately Günther was killed in an avalanche on the Diamir Face. (Messner's account of this incident has been disputed. In 2005 Günther's remains were found on the Diamir Face.)\\n\\nIn 1971 Ivan Fiala and Michael Orolin summited Nanga Parbat via Buhl's 1953 route while other expedition members climbed the SE peak (7,600 m / 24,925 ft) above the Silbersattel and the foresummit (7,850 m / 25,760 ft) above the Bazhin Gap.\\n\\nIn 1976 a team of four made the sixth summit via a new route on the Rupal Face (second ascent on this face), then named the Schell route after the Austrian team leader. The line had been plotted by Karl Herrligkoffer on a previous unsuccessful attempt.\\n\\nIn 1978 Reinhold Messner returned to the Diamir Face and achieved the first completely solo ascent (i.e. always solo above Base Camp) of an 8,000 m peak.\\n\\nIn 1984 the French climber Lilliane Barrard became the first woman to climb Nanga Parbat, along with her husband Maurice Barrard.\\n\\nIn 1985, Jerzy Kukuczka, Zygmunt Heinrich, Slawomir Lobodzinski (all Polish) and Carlos Carsolio (Mexico) climbed a bold line up the Southeast Pillar (or Polish Spur) on the right-hand side of the Rupal Face, reaching the summit July 13. It was Kukuczka's 9th 8000m summit. \\n\\nAlso in 1985, a Polish women's team climbed the peak via the 1962 German Diamir Face route. Wanda Rutkiewicz, Krystyna Palmowska and Anna Czerwinska reached the summit on July 15.\\n\\n\\\"Modern\\\" superalpinism was brought to Nanga Parbat in 1988 with an unsuccessful attempt or two on the Rupal Face by Barry Blanchard, Mark Twight, Ward Robinson and Kevin Doyle. \\n\\n2005 saw a resurgence of lightweight, alpine-style attempts on the Rupal Face:\\n\\n*In August 2005, Pakistani military helicopters rescued Slovenian mountaineer Tomaž Humar, who was stuck under a narrow ice ledge at 5,900 m (19,400 ft) for six days. It is believed to be one of the few successful rescues carried out at such high altitude. \\n*In September 2005, Vince Anderson and Steve House did an extremely lightweight, fast ascent of a new, direct route on the face, earning high praise from the climbing community. \\n\\nOn July 17 or 18, 2006, José Antonio Delgado from Venezuela died a few days after reaching the summit, where he was caught by bad weather for six days and was unable to make his way down. He is the only Venezuelan climber, and one of few Latin Americans, to have reached the summit of five eight-thousanders.[http://www.nangaparbat2006.explorart.com/ NANGA PARBAT 2006] Part of the expedition and the rescue efforts at base camp were captured on video, as Delgado was the subject of a pilot for a mountaineering television series. Explorart Films, the production company, later developed the project into a feature documentary film called Beyond the Summit, which was scheduled to be released in South America in January 2008.[http://www.masalladelacumbre.com/ Mas Alla de la Cumbre - Beyond the Summit]\\n\\nOn July 15, 2008, Italian alpinist Karl Unterkircher fell into a crevasse during an attempt to open a new route to the top with Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer. Unterkircher died, but Kehrer and Nones were rescued by the Pakistani army. \\n\\nOn July 12, 2009, after reaching the summit, South Korean climber Go Mi-Young fell off a cliff on the descent in bad weather in her race to be the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. \\n\\nOn July 15, 2012 Scottish mountaineers Sandy Allan and Rick Allen made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat via the 10 km-long Mazeno Ridge, and in April 2013 were awarded the Piolet d'Or for their achievement. \\n\\nWinter climbing\\n\\nNanga Parbat was first successfully climbed in winter on 26 February 2016, by a team consisting of Ali Sadpara, Alex Txikon and Simone Moro. \\n\\nPrevious attempts:\\n* 1988/89 - Polish 12-member expedition KW Zakopane under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka. They first attempted the Rupal Face and then the Diamir Face. On the Messner route, Maciej Berbeka, Piotr Konopka and Andrzej Osika reached an altitude of about 6500-6800m. \\n* 1990/91 - Polish-English expedition under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka reached the height of 6600m on the Messner route, and then Andrzej Osika and John Tinker by the Schell route up the Rupal Face reached a height of 6600m. \\n* 1991/92 - Polish expedition KW Zakopane under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka from the Rupal valley. This light, bold attack in alpine style on the Schell route reached the height of 7000m. \\n* 1992/93 - French expedition Eric Monier and Monique Loscos - Schell route on the Rupal Face. They came to BC on December 20. Eric reached 6500m on January 9 and on January 13 the expedition was abandoned.\\n* 1996/97 - two expeditions: \\n** Polish expedition led by Andrzej Zawada from the Diamir valley, Kinshofer route. During the summit attempt by the team of Zbigniew Trzmiel and Krzysztof Pankiewicz, Trzmiel reached a height of 7800m. The assault was interrupted because of frostbite. After descending to the base camp, both climbers were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital.\\n** British expedition led by Victor Saunders, taking the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face. Victor Saunders, Dane Rafael Jensen and Pakistani Ghulam Hassan reached the height of 6000m. \\n* 1997/98 - Polish expedition led by Andrzej Zawada from the Diamir valley, Kinshofer route. Expedition reached the height of 6800 m, encountered an unusually heavy snowfall. A falling stone broke Ryszard Pawłowski's leg. \\n* 2004/05 - Austrian expedition by brothers Wolfgang and Gerfried Göschl via the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face reached the height of 6500m. \\n* 2006/07 - Polish HiMountain expedition on the Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition led by Krzysztof Wielicki, with Jan Szulc, Artur Hajzer, Dariusz Załuski, Jacek Jawień, Jacek Berbeka, Przemysław Łoziński, and Robert Szymczak reached a height of 7000m. \\n* 2007/08 - Italian Simone La Terra started climbing solo at the beginning of December, reaching a height of 6000m.\\n* 2008/09 - Polish expedition on the Diamir side. Jacek Teler (leader) and Jarosław Żurawski. Deep snow prevented them from hauling their equipment to the base of the Face, forcing the base camp to be placed five kilometres earlier. Camp I set at an altitude of 5400m. \\n* 2010/11 - two expeditions:\\n** Sergei Nikolayevich Cygankow in a solo expedition on the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face reached the 6000m. He contracted pulmonary edema and ended the expedition.\\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz and Marek Klonowski - Polish expedition \\\"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\\\" by Kinshofer route on the Diamir side reached 5100m. \\n* 2011/12 - three expeditions:\\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz, Marek Klonowski and \\\"Krzaq\\\" - Polish expedition \\\"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\\\" by Kinshofer route on the Diamir side reached 5500m. \\n** Denis Urubko and Simone Moro first Diamir side on the Kinshofer route, and then by Messner route in year 2000 reached a height of 6800m. \\n* 2012/13 - four expeditions:\\n** Frenchman Joël Wischnewski solo on the Rupal Face in an alpine style. He was lost in February and his body was found in September at an altitude of about 6100m. He went missing after February 6 and was probably hit by an avalanche. \\n** Italy's Daniele Nardi and French Elisabeth Revol - Mummery Rib on the Diamir reached the height of 6450m. \\n** Hungarian-American expedition: David Klein, Zoltan Acs and Ian Overton. Zoltan has suffered frostbite while reaching the base and did not participate in the further ascent. David and Ian reached the height of about 5400m on the Diamir Face.\\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz and Marek Klonowski - Polish expedition \\\"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\\\" by Schell route on the Rupal Face. Marek Klonowski reached a height of 6600m. February 7, 2013 Tomasz Mackiewicz in a lone attack reached a height of 7400m. \\n* 2013/14 - four expeditions:\\n** Italian Simone Moro, Germany David Göttler and Italy Emilio Previtali - Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition cooperated with Polish expedition. David Göttler, on February 28, set Camp IV at about 7000m. On March 1, together with Tomasz Mackiewicz reached an altitude of about 7200m. On the same day David and Simone decided to end the expedition. \\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz, Marek Klonowski, Jacek Teler, Paweł Dunaj, Michał Obrycki, Michał Dzikowski - Polish expedition \\\"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\\\" by Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition cooperated with Italian-German expedition. March 1, Tomasz Mackiewicz and David Göttler reached an altitude of about 7200m. On March 8, at a height of about 5000m, Paweł Dunaj and Michał Obrycki were hit by an avalanche. Both were roughed up and suffered fractures. The rescue operation was successful.\\n** German Ralf Dujmovits on the Diamir Face, by Reinhold Messner route in 1978 (as a filmmaker this expedition Pole Dariusz Załuski - he had no plan of summit attack). December 30 both came at 5500m. On January 2, because of the serac threat, Dujmovits decided to abandon the expedition. \\n** Italy's Daniele Nardi. Solo expedition from the Diamir side on Mummery Rib. Italy set Camp I at 4900 and reached an altitude of about 5450m. On March 1 he decided to end the expedition.\\n* 2014/15 - five expeditions:\\n** Pole Tomasz Mackiewicz and Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol - Nanga Parbat Winter Expedition 2014/2015. The north-west Diamir Face, unfinished route by Messner-Hanspeter 2000. They reached 7800m. \\n** Italian Daniele Nardi planning the trip solo summit Mummery Rib on the Diamir Face, accompanied by Roberto Delle Monache (photographer) and Federico Santinii (filmmaker)\\n** A 4-member Russian expedition - Nikolay Totmjanin, Sergei Kondraszkin, Valery Szamało, Victor Smith - Schell route on the Rupal Face. They reached 7150m. \\n** A 3-person expedition Iran - Reza Bahador, Iraj Maani and Mahmoud Hashemi\\n* 2015/16 - five expeditions:\\n** Nanga Light 2015/16 with Tomasz, Elisabeth Revol and Arsalan Ahmed Ansari. On January 22, Mackiewicz and Revol reached 7500m, but they were forced to cancel their attempt for the summit due to excessive cold. \\n** Nanga Stegu Revolution 2015/16 with Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech. After an accident Bielecki's injuries after a fall, forced the team down.\\n** \\\"Nanga Dream - Justice for All\\\" - under the lead of Marek Klonowski with Paweł Dunaj, Paweł Witkowski, Tomasz Dziobkowski, Michał Dzikowski, Paweł Kudła, Piotr Tomza and Karim Hayat and Safdar Karim. As of 19.01.2016 still at around 7000m, trying to reach the summit.[http://off.sport.pl/off/1,111379,19497118,nanga-parbat-bielecki-i-czech-w-drodze-do-domu-mackiewicz.html#TRrelSST]\\n** International team consisting of Alex Txikon, Daniele Nardi and Ali Sadpara.\\n** Italian team consisting of Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger.\\n** The two above mentioned teams (with the exception of Daniele Nardi) joined their efforts and on 26 February 2016 Simone Moro, Alex Txikon and Ali Sadpara reached the summit, marking the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, while Tamara Lunger stopped a short way under the summit due to nausea and extreme cold,giving an interview to Noor abbas Qureshi, she told that she tried her best, but her health didn't allowed her to touch the summit.\\n\\nTaliban attack\\n\\nOn June 23, 2013, about 15 extremist militants wearing Gilgit Scouts uniforms shot to death ten foreign climbers (one Lithuanian, three Ukrainians, two Slovakians, two Chinese, one Chinese-American and one Nepali) and one Pakistani guide at Base Camp. Another foreign victim was injured. The attack occurred at around 1AM and was claimed by a local branch of the Taliban. (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan). \\n\\nReferences in popular culture\\n\\nBooks \\n\\nIn the first chapter of Mistress of Mistresses, by E.R. Eddison, the narrator compares his now deceased compatriot, Lessingham, to Nanga Parbat in a descriptive passage:\\n\\n\\\"I remember, years later, his describing to me the effect of the sudden view you get of Nanga Parbat from one of those Kashmir valleys; you have been riding for hours among quiet richly wooded scenery, winding up along the side of some kind of gorge, with nothing very big to look at, just lush, leafy, pussy-cat country of steep hillsides and waterfalls; then suddenly you come round a corner where the view opens up the valley, and you are almost struck senseless by the blinding splendour of that vast face of ice-hung precipices and soaring ridges, sixteen thousand feet from top to toe, filling a whole quarter of the heavens at a distance of, I suppose, only a dozen miles. And now, whenever I call to mind my first sight of Lessingham in that little daleside church so many years ago, I think of Nanga Parbat.\\\" (Mistress of Mistresses, 1935, p.2-3)\\n\\nJonathan Neale wrote a book about the 1934 climbing season on Nanga Parbat called Tigers of the Snow. He interviewed many old Sherpas, including Ang Tsering, the last man off Nanga Parbat alive in 1934. The book attempts to narrate what went wrong on the expedition, set against mountaineering history of the early twentieth century, the background of German politics in the 1930s, and the hardship and passion of life in the Sherpa valleys. \\n\\nMovies \\n\\nNanga Parbat is a movie by Joseph Vilsmaier about the 1970 expedition of brothers Günther Messner and Reinhold Messner. the film was managed by the CEO of nanga parbat adventure:Mr Liver Khan ], \\n\\nDonald Shebib's 1986 film The Climb covers the story of Hermann Buhl making the first ascent. \\nSeven Years in Tibet features Nanga parbat.\\n\\nHans Ertl's 1953 documentary Nanga Parbat. \\n\\nComics \\n\\nNanda Parbat is a fictional city in the DC Comics universe, patterned after the fictional Shangri-La and the real Nanga Parbat in Pakistan.\\n\\nNearby peaks\\n\\n* Rakhiot Peak\\n* Chongra Peak\\n* Mazeno Peak\\n* Rupal Peak\\n* Laila Peak (Rupal Valley)\\n* Shaigiri\",\n \"History - Grand National\\nGrand National History. The Grand ... Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was ... RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put ...\\nHistory\\nHistory\\nIt is illegal for anyone aged under 18 to gamble\\nGrand National History\\nThe Grand National at Aintree has been a British sporting institution since 1839, when a horse called Lottery won the inaugural running and Captain Becher parted company with his horse at a now world famous brook.\\nIn those days, the horses had to jump a stone wall, cross a stretch of ploughed land and finish over two hurdles. The race was then known as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.\\nThe course was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829.\\nThere is actually much debate regarding the first official Grand National; some leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree.\\nHowever, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \\\"national�. To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836�1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.\\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838 leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar.\\nSecondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time.\\nFinally, a committee was formed to better organise the event.\\nThese factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National.\\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart.\\nThe Grand National has produced a colourful array of stories throughout its illustrious past. Here are our favourites, including some famous video clips:\\nRed Rum\\nIt was over 40 years ago now that Red Rum recorded the first of the three victories in the Grand National that earned him pride of place in the record books forever. He still remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times and, as that statistic suggests, the great horse was a phenomenon.\\nBred to be a sprinter, Red Rum went on to win the gruelling four-and-a-half mile chase in 1973, 1974 and 1977, as well as finishing second on his other two starts, to become the greatest Grand National performer ever. All of this was achieved after overcoming the debilitating bone disease pedalosteitis, which should have rendered him unraceable. However, fate stepped in: Red Rum was at probably the only yard in the country where the training took place on a beach. The sea water, into which trainer Donald �Ginger� McCain banished Red Rum after viewing the hobbling horse, worked an amazing transformation.\\nOn 31 March, 1973, he started 9/1 favourite for his first Grand National. However, by the time the runners had reached the Chair the giant Australian chaser, Crisp, who was shouldering top weight of 12st (a weight that is now forbidden in the National), had built up a massive lead and appeared unstoppable with four fences to go. But, conceding 23lb to Red Rum, his stamina started to wane and he slowly began to falter at the famous Elbow after being more than 15 lengths in front of his rival at the last. Red Rum gradually wore Crisp down, getting up on the line to beat him by three-quarters of a length in a then record time of 9 min 1.9 sec, knocking nearly 20 seconds off Golden Miller's previous best under 12st 2lb in 1934 - this new record would stand for the next 16 years. You can watch this incredible race and finish here:\\nRed Rum was never better than in the 1973/74 season when he won four more races before collecting his second Grand National, this time carrying the maximum weight of 12st. Giving 1lb to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, L'Escargot, Red Rum started third favourite at 11/1, racing off a mark nearly two stone higher than for his 1973 victory. He was the first to achieve the double since Reynoldstown in 1936. Only three weeks later, Red Rum won the Scottish Grand National as the 11/8 favourite under 11st 13lb.\\nIt was then presumed that, having reached a zenith, Red Rum's talent would gradually decline in keeping with the rolling years. Between the autumn of 1974 and the spring of 1976, he ran in 18 chases, winning twice and being placed seven times. But he also gallantly failed to resist first L'Escargot and then Rag Trade in the 1975 and 1976 Grand National's.\\nThe 1976/77 season began dismally. After an initial small win at Carlisle, Red Rum appeared totally lacklustre in his next four races, and even McCain began to think that he might have \\\"gone\\\".\\nA foul winter had waterlogged the Southport sands, making them useless for training purposes, but Red Rum finally showed something like his old sparkle in his prep race for the 1977 Grand National, the Greenall Whitley Chase at Haydock. Worries about the now 12-year-old gelding's unwonted bulk abated when, in his last gallop before Aintree, he dazzled McCain and assorted members of the press who had gathered to watch.\\nRidden by Tommy Stack, as he had been in 1976, Red Rum tackled his fifth Grand National in 1977. In the lead from the eighth last, Red Rum appeared momentarily to have a challenger in Churchtown Boy, but the latter's mistake at the third last compared with Red Rum's foot-perfect agility soon settled things in Rummy�s favour. The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening as he led up the long run-in, winning by 25 lengths under 11st 8lb and you can watch the historic race below:\\nIn 1976, Red Rum had given Eyecatcher 17lb and beat her by eight lengths; in 1977, he gave her 21lb and a 31-length beating, rating an improvement at the age of 12 of two stone. The treble, five years in the making, had been achieved.\\nThe celebrations in Southport which received the three-time Grand National winner home were long and rapturous. But the greatest Aintree horse of all time was not yet finished. Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was being trained for a sixth attempt at the great race.\\nHe had run well all season, amassing two seconds and a fourth under mighty weights in his five races. But, after his customary pre-National work-out on the day before the big race, Red Rum pulled up lame. The problem proved to be a hairline fracture and the horse had to be retired.\\nRetired, that is, from the realm of racing. But Red Rum's career as a celebrity continued - a role to which he was as well-adapted as to tackling the Aintree fences. He thrived as the centre of attention, as anyone who saw the 1977 episode of Sports Personality of the Year Awards can testify. Hearing the voice of Tommy Stack, who was speaking from his hospital bed with a broken pelvis, Red Rum immediately pricked his ears, displaying the great intelligence and showmanship so evident in the horse throughout his life. He went on to lead the parade in many Grand Nationals.\\nRed Rum died on Wednesday, October 18, 1995 and was buried by the winning post on Aintree's Grand National course. His grave is marked by an engraved stone listing his Grand National record, and a life-size bronze commemorates this legendary competitor, along with a race staged at the Grand National meeting, the Red Rum Chase, named in the great horse's memory.\\nAldaniti\\nThere was hardly a dry eye among the crowd when Aldaniti won the Grand National in 1981. It was a victory for both courage and determination in the face of adversity.\\nIn late 1979, Bob Champion, the successful jockey, was told that he had cancer and only months to live, while Aldaniti had almost been retired because of leg trouble. Against all the odds, the gallant partnership held on to beat Spartan Missile, ridden by John Thorne, a 54-year-old grandfather and amateur rider.\\nThe winner's true-life story inspired the 1983 film Champions, starring John Hurt. Aldaniti died at the age of 27 in March, 1997. Bob Champion made a full recovery and, with the help of Aldaniti, has raised millions of pounds for cancer research.\\nAldaniti's name was a jumble from the names of four grandchildren of his breeder, Tommy Barron: ALastair and DAvid Cook plus NIcola and TImothy Barron.\\nThe Pitmans\\nThe Pitman family has a special association with the Grand National. In 1983, Jenny Pitman became the first woman to train a winner of the race when Corbiere beat Greasepaint. She followed up this victory in 1995 with Royal Athlete who succeeded at the long odds of 40/1, but experienced heartbreak when Esha Ness \\\"won\\\" the 1993 void race.\\nMark, her son, must have gone through similar emotions when he was caught in the dying strides by Seagram whilst riding Garrison Savannah in 1991, also trained by his mother. Garrison Savannah was bidding for an historic double � and to emulate the great Golden Miller � having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier.\\nYears earlier, Richard Pitman, then-husband to Jenny and Mark's father, was caught even closer to the winning post by Red Rum, the Aintree specialist, when he partnered the gallant top weight Crisp in 1973.\\nMrs Pitman was awarded an OBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List and in the same year fought a successful battle against cancer. She has now retired from training as, for the time being, has her son Mark who carried on the family tradition for a while (he trained Smarty to finish second in 2001 when only four horses completed the course in terrible conditions, and sixth in 2004).\\nJenny Pitman was also one of the first batch of inductees to the Grand National Legends (the Hall of Fame-style initiative that was established in 2010), along with Red Rum and his trainer, Ginger McCain.\\nWatch Corbiere win the 1983 Grand National ahead of Greasepaint:\\nDevon Loch\\nThe 1956 National is remembered more for the defeat of Devon Loch than for the victory of ESB. Owned by Her Majesty The Queen Mother, Devon Loch had the race won when he inexplicably gave a half-leap just 50 yards from the finish, sprawling and almost unseating Dick Francis, the unfortunate jockey, and leaving the crowd stunned. Afterwards, The Queen Mother famously said \\\"That's racing\\\".\\nDebate still rages as to why the incident happened - according to some reports, Devon Loch suffered a cramp in the hindquarters and this caused the collapse. However, other reports claim that a shadow thrown by the water jump (which horses only jump on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have confused Devon Loch into thinking another leap was required and - unsure as to whether he should or not - he half-jumped and collapsed. Reports that the horse had suffered a heart attack were dismissed, as Devon Loch recovered far too quickly for that to have been the case.\\nWhatever the truth, the incident so puzzled Francis that he became a thriller writer, inventing mysteries himself and over the decades Francis learned to be as philosophical. As did his wife Mary who once said that had he won the Grand National there would have been no bestselling autobiography and no thrillers.\\n\\\"As I said in my autobiography, an ambulance came by and the driver said, �Jump in the back!� I was never more pleased to get away from all the people who were rushing towards me. What happened? I�ve thought about it time and time again...I remember jumping the last fence and I could hear the crescendo of cheering building up in the stands. There were 500,000 people there that day. They were all cheering for the Queen Mother. She was there and the Queen was there and Princess Margaret was there.\\\" Francis is quoted as saying.\\n\\\"I never thought about it at the time but I heard them cheering and I just rode to the finish. I was winning easily. I didn�t have to pick up my stick or anything like that. I�ve looked at the newsreel time and again and as the horse approaches the water jump � which this time round he didn�t need to cross � you can see him prick up his ears and gallop past it. As he pricked up its ears � Christ! � his hindquarters refused to act and down he went on to his belly. How I didn�t fall off him I don�t know.\\\"\\nDevon Loch is a metaphor now used in modern day sports and otherwise to explain the sudden, last-minute failure of teams or a sportsman to complete an expected victory, e.g. \\\"United can only hope Arsenal do a Devon Loch.\\\"\\nDick Francis died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, by which time he had written 40 international best-sellers.\\nWatch Devon Loch sprawl on the run-in to the 1956 Grand National, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and allowing ESB to claim an unlikely success:\\nDevon Loch spread-eagled on the run-in at the 1956 Grand National\\nFoinavon\\nFoinavon sensationally won the 1967 National in bizarre circumstances. At the smallest fence on the second circuit, the 23rd, the riderless Popham Down cut right across the course causing a pile-up that almost brought the entire field to a standstill. John Buckingham, Foinavon's jockey, was able to steer his mount wide of the melee and thus won on the 100/1 outsider.\\nThe Aintree executive named the fence in honour of the horse - fence 7 or 23 (depending on the circuit), at 4ft 6in, one of the smallest jumps on the course, is situated between the more daunting Becher's Brook and the Canal Turn.\\nFoinavon has sometimes been likened to a slow plodding carthorse, but records show that his 1967 winning time was one of the fastest in this gruelling race. Equally, this so called no-hoper had taken part in some top class races before attempting the Grand National and he had finished fourth in a King George and took part in a Gold Cup at Cheltenham, so perhaps his odds of 100/1 may have been a bit generous (although the Tote SP was 444/1). Nevertheless, his owner was so unenthusiastic about his chances that he was not even at Aintree for the great race.\\nBuckingham said later that at the time he did not realise that they were the only pair to jump the fence at the first attempt but he just kept going. Although some 17 horses remounted and finished the race the distance Foinavon had \\\"stolen\\\" at the obstacle meant that he led over the final seven fences to go on to collect his prize, 15 lengths clear of the fast-closing favourite, Honey End, and Red Alligator, who went on to win in 1968.\\nFoinavon did also run in the following year's Grand National but fell or was brought down at the water jump.\\nFoinavon was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by the much superior Arkle - both were named after Scottish mountains. She also owned Last Suspect who won the 1985 Grand National.\\nWatch the 1967 Grand National, courtesy of British Path� (scroll to around 1 minutes, 20 seconds to see all the drama unfold):\\nThe commentary of Michael O'Hehir of the carnage at the 23rd fence ranks among the most famous in the history of BBC televised sport and is often shown when BBC Sport puts together nostalgic montages of great sporting moments. O'Hehir received particular respect from his peers for the speed and unflustered coolness with which he identified Foinavon as the horse emerging from the m�l�e. O'Hehir later said in an interview that it was precisely the unfamiliarity of Foinavon's colours that made him so instantly recognisable during the race. O'Hehir visited the weighing room before the race, as is the custom of many National commentators, to familiarise himself more clearly with the colours of the silks but found himself completely stumped when looking at the black with red and yellow braces being worn by John Buckingham. Eventually O'Hehir had to ask Buckingham who his mount was. A confused O'Hehir said that his racecard showed two-tone green quarters, as worn by the rider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier, but Buckingham explained that the owner felt green to be unlucky and so had registered new colours for the National.\\nThe \\\"Iron\\\" Duke of Alburquerque\\nBeltr�n Alfonso Osorio y D�ez de Rivera, known as the \\\"Iron\\\" Duke of Albuquerque (1918-1994), surely ranks as the worst jockey in horse-racing history. After receiving a film of the Grand National as a gift for his eighth birthday, the Duke became obsessed with it: \\\"I said then that I would win that race one day,\\\" he later recalled. He nearly died trying.\\nThis magnificently barking mad Spanish aristocrat and amateur jockey entered the Grand National seven times with impressively consistent results. Generally he would start with the others, gallop briefly and then wake up in the Royal Liverpool Infirmary (where apparently he always booked a private room when he rode in the race). Each year, Sir Peter O'Sullevan would gravely intone: \\\"And the Duke of Albuquerque's gone\\\".\\nOn his first attempt in 1952, he fell from his horse at the sixth fence, nearly broke his neck and woke up later in hospital with a cracked vertebra. His next try was in 1963, when he fell from his horse yet again, this time at the fourth fence. Undeterred, he returned in 1965 but again fell from his horse after it collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.\\nHis ineptitude was so apparent that in 1963 bookies even offered odds of 66/1 - against him even finishing the race atop his horse!\\nHe returned in 1973 when his stirrup broke, although he clung on for eight fences before being sent into inevitable orbit.\\nIn 1974, after having sixteen screws removed from a leg he had broken after falling in another race, he also fell while training for the Grand National and broke his collarbone. Nevertheless, he then competed in a plaster cast, this time actually managing to finish the race for the only time in his splendid career, but only in eighth (and last) place aboard Nereo: \\\"I sat like a sack of potatoes and gave the horse no help\\\" he said after the race.\\nOne anecdote from this race is that he barged into Ron Barry at the second Canal Turn; Barry said \\\"What the f*** are you doing?\\\" to which he replied: \\\"My dear chap I haven't a clue...I've never got this far before!\\\"\\nIn 1976, he sustained his most serious injuries after being trampled in a race by several other horses. He suffered seven broken ribs, several fractured vertebrae, a broken wrist and thigh, and a major concussion, and was in a coma for two days. After recovering he announced, at the age of 57, that he planned to race yet again. Race organisers wisely revoked his license \\\"for his own safety\\\".\\nThough the Iron Duke never won the Grand National, he certainly broke more bones than any other jockey in attempting to do so.\\nNotable Dates In Grand National History\\n1837: THE DUKE wins the first Great Liverpool Steeplechase at Maghull, some three miles from the present site of Aintree racecourse.\\n1839: Aintree becomes the new home for the event, with LOTTERY carrying off the prize and Captain Martin Becher christening the now-famous brook as he crawls in for safety after a fall.\\n1847: MATTHEW records the first Irish-trained victory on the day the race is officially named the Grand National.\\n1887: GAMECOCK wins the National at 20-1 and follows up by winning the Champion Chase over the big fences the very next day.\\n1897: MANIFESTO, the 6-1 favourite, records the first of his two wins in the race. He ran eight times up to the age of 16, also finishing third three times and fourth once.\\n1907: Jockey Alf Newey brings EREMON home in front, despite riding without stirrups from the second fence.\\n1927: Ted Leader rides SPRIG to a popular victory in the first Grand National to be covered by a BBC radio commentary.\\n1928: On the day of the race, before it had begun, TIPPERARY TIM'S jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \\\"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!�. These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. It was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey, Tommy Cullinan, managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at odds of 100-1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers.\\n1934: The legendary GOLDEN MILLER becomes the only horse ever to win the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, carrying 12st 2lb to victory in record time.\\nIn the 1934 Grand National, Golden Miller set a new course record of 9 min 20.4s. That win was in the middle of five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup victories\\n1947: CAUGHOO beats 56 opponents at a mist-shrouded Aintree and is then accused of only going round once.\\n1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, looking certain to give The Queen Mother victory when clear on the run-in, suddenly sprawl flat on the ground yards from the winning post, allowing ESB to win.\\n1967: The year of the horrific pile-up at the 23rd. John Buckingham and complete outsider FOINAVON avoid the melee and gallop on to a 100-1 win.\\n1974: Grand National character the Duke of Alburquerque completes the course for the one and only time in numerous attempts on NEREO, despite breaking his collarbone only a week before the race.\\n1977: The incomparable RED RUM rewrites the record books with his historic third victory. 'Rummy' had five runs, with three wins and two seconds, from the age of eight to 12.\\n1979: RUBSTIC makes history by becoming the first Scottish-trained winner. His homecoming party was heralded by a piper leading him back to the hamlet of Denholm, Roxburghshire.\\n1981: ALDANITI, nursed back from career-threatening injury three times, wins a fairytale National ridden by Bob Champion, who fought, and beat, cancer.\\n1982: Dick Saunders, at the age of 48, becomes the oldest winning jockey on GRITTAR. Geraldine Rees becomes the first woman to complete the course, riding the leg-weary CHEERS.\\n1983: Years of doubt about the Grand National's future are ended when the Jockey Club, helped by public donations, buys the course. CORBIERE's victory ensures Jenny Pitman goes into the history books as the first woman to train the winner.\\n1987: Jim Joel becomes the oldest winning owner at 92. He is on his way back from South Africa when MAORI VENTURE wins a thrilling race from The Tsarevich.\\n1993: The darkest day in the history of the National. There is chaos after a second false start as 30 out of the 39 jockeys began the race despite a false start being called, leading to a void result for the seven horses who finished. John White passes the post first on the Jenny Pitman-trained ESHA NESS, only to discover the race has been declared void.\\nThe 1993 Grand National - the race that never was. Racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan described it as \\\"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National\\\"\\n1994: MIINNEHOMA, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, gives multiple champion trainer Martin Pipe his first National victory, and 51-year-old grandmother Rosemary Henderson completes the course on her own horse FIDDLERS PIKE, who finishes fifth.\\n1995: Jenny Pitman, the first lady of Aintree, gains her second success - two years after her first - with ROYAL ATHLETE.\\n1997: The National has to be postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the IRA. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \\\"We'll fight them on the Becher's\\\", in reference to Winston Churchill's famous war-time speech. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. The rearranged race was won in spectacular style by 14/1 shot LORD GYLLENE.\\nA mass evacuation of Aintree racecourse took place on Saturday 5 April 1997\\n1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey team Tommy and Paul Carberry combine to land a first Irish win for 24 years with BOBBYJO.\\n2000: Ted and 20-year-old Ruby Walsh emulate the feat of their compatriots 12 months previously as PAPILLON lands a gamble, backed from a morning 33-1 into 10-1 before taking the prize.\\n2001: RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put in clear rounds in a race run in atrocious conditions, though all horses return unscathed.\\n2003: MONTY'S PASS lands a massive gamble, with owner Mike Fuller netting close to �1million from ante-post bets. The horse is backed from 40-1 into 16-1 and romps home.\\n2004: Ginger McCain, veteran trainer of Red Rum, enjoys an emotional victory as 12-year-old AMBERLEIGH HOUSE lands the spoils, having been third in 2003.\\n2005: HEDGEHUNTER becomes the first horse since Corbiere in 1983 to carry more than 11st to victory in the great race, romping clear in great style under Ruby Walsh to slam Royal Auclair by 14 lengths. John Smith�s take over from Martell as the main sponsor.\\n2006: John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\\n2008: COMPLY OR DIE allows David Pipe to join his legendary father, Martin, in the record books as a National-winning trainer in just his second season. The race also carries record prize money of �800,000.\\n2009: MON MOME becomes the biggest-priced winner since Foinavon when powering home at 100-1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell, who was having his first ride in the race.\\n2010: DON'T PUSH IT, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus, provides perennial champion jockey Tony McCoy with his first success at the 15th attempt. McCoy went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award that year � the first person from the world of horse racing to do so. The 2010 renewal was also the first horse race to be televised in HD in the UK.\\n2011: Another emotional victory as BALLABRIGGS� success on a sweltering day at Aintree allows Donald McCain to join his legendary father, Ginger, who trained both Red Rum and Amberleigh House, in the Grand National record books.\\n2012: One of the closest finishes in the race�s illustrious history sees NEPTUNE COLLOGNES beat Sunyhillboy by a nose, giving Paul Nicholls his first Grand National success. Katie Walsh achieves the highest finishing position by a lady jockey by claiming third place on Seabass, trained by her father Ted.\\n2013: Legendary showjumper Harvey Smith and his wife Sue send out 66-1 AURORAS ENCORE to cause a shock in a race in which only two of the forty runners fell on the first circuit. Fellow trainer Evan Williams has to settle for a place for the fifth time in as many years.\\n2014: Part time trainer, Dr Richard Newland, landed the first ever �1 million renewal of the race, courtesy of PINEAU DE RE. William�s amazing run continued with Alvarado fourth for the Welsh handler.\\n2015: Incredibly, another place for Williams with Alvarado fourth again behind MANY CLOUDS, who made a mockery of the trends as an eight year old carrying 11st 9lbs to land another victory in the race for Trevor Hemmings.\\n© Where To Bet Ltd 2004-16 (contact us: wheretobet@hotmail.com)\",\n \"History - Grand National\\nGrand National History. The Grand National at Aintree has been a British ... Notable Dates In Grand National ... 1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, ...\\nHistory\\nHistory\\nIt is illegal for anyone aged under 18 to gamble\\nGrand National History\\nThe Grand National at Aintree has been a British sporting institution since 1839, when a horse called Lottery won the inaugural running and Captain Becher parted company with his horse at a now world famous brook.\\nIn those days, the horses had to jump a stone wall, cross a stretch of ploughed land and finish over two hurdles. The race was then known as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.\\nThe course was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829.\\nThere is actually much debate regarding the first official Grand National; some leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree.\\nHowever, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \\\"national�. To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836�1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.\\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838 leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar.\\nSecondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time.\\nFinally, a committee was formed to better organise the event.\\nThese factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National.\\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart.\\nThe Grand National has produced a colourful array of stories throughout its illustrious past. Here are our favourites, including some famous video clips:\\nRed Rum\\nIt was over 40 years ago now that Red Rum recorded the first of the three victories in the Grand National that earned him pride of place in the record books forever. He still remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times and, as that statistic suggests, the great horse was a phenomenon.\\nBred to be a sprinter, Red Rum went on to win the gruelling four-and-a-half mile chase in 1973, 1974 and 1977, as well as finishing second on his other two starts, to become the greatest Grand National performer ever. All of this was achieved after overcoming the debilitating bone disease pedalosteitis, which should have rendered him unraceable. However, fate stepped in: Red Rum was at probably the only yard in the country where the training took place on a beach. The sea water, into which trainer Donald �Ginger� McCain banished Red Rum after viewing the hobbling horse, worked an amazing transformation.\\nOn 31 March, 1973, he started 9/1 favourite for his first Grand National. However, by the time the runners had reached the Chair the giant Australian chaser, Crisp, who was shouldering top weight of 12st (a weight that is now forbidden in the National), had built up a massive lead and appeared unstoppable with four fences to go. But, conceding 23lb to Red Rum, his stamina started to wane and he slowly began to falter at the famous Elbow after being more than 15 lengths in front of his rival at the last. Red Rum gradually wore Crisp down, getting up on the line to beat him by three-quarters of a length in a then record time of 9 min 1.9 sec, knocking nearly 20 seconds off Golden Miller's previous best under 12st 2lb in 1934 - this new record would stand for the next 16 years. You can watch this incredible race and finish here:\\nRed Rum was never better than in the 1973/74 season when he won four more races before collecting his second Grand National, this time carrying the maximum weight of 12st. Giving 1lb to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, L'Escargot, Red Rum started third favourite at 11/1, racing off a mark nearly two stone higher than for his 1973 victory. He was the first to achieve the double since Reynoldstown in 1936. Only three weeks later, Red Rum won the Scottish Grand National as the 11/8 favourite under 11st 13lb.\\nIt was then presumed that, having reached a zenith, Red Rum's talent would gradually decline in keeping with the rolling years. Between the autumn of 1974 and the spring of 1976, he ran in 18 chases, winning twice and being placed seven times. But he also gallantly failed to resist first L'Escargot and then Rag Trade in the 1975 and 1976 Grand National's.\\nThe 1976/77 season began dismally. After an initial small win at Carlisle, Red Rum appeared totally lacklustre in his next four races, and even McCain began to think that he might have \\\"gone\\\".\\nA foul winter had waterlogged the Southport sands, making them useless for training purposes, but Red Rum finally showed something like his old sparkle in his prep race for the 1977 Grand National, the Greenall Whitley Chase at Haydock. Worries about the now 12-year-old gelding's unwonted bulk abated when, in his last gallop before Aintree, he dazzled McCain and assorted members of the press who had gathered to watch.\\nRidden by Tommy Stack, as he had been in 1976, Red Rum tackled his fifth Grand National in 1977. In the lead from the eighth last, Red Rum appeared momentarily to have a challenger in Churchtown Boy, but the latter's mistake at the third last compared with Red Rum's foot-perfect agility soon settled things in Rummy�s favour. The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening as he led up the long run-in, winning by 25 lengths under 11st 8lb and you can watch the historic race below:\\nIn 1976, Red Rum had given Eyecatcher 17lb and beat her by eight lengths; in 1977, he gave her 21lb and a 31-length beating, rating an improvement at the age of 12 of two stone. The treble, five years in the making, had been achieved.\\nThe celebrations in Southport which received the three-time Grand National winner home were long and rapturous. But the greatest Aintree horse of all time was not yet finished. Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was being trained for a sixth attempt at the great race.\\nHe had run well all season, amassing two seconds and a fourth under mighty weights in his five races. But, after his customary pre-National work-out on the day before the big race, Red Rum pulled up lame. The problem proved to be a hairline fracture and the horse had to be retired.\\nRetired, that is, from the realm of racing. But Red Rum's career as a celebrity continued - a role to which he was as well-adapted as to tackling the Aintree fences. He thrived as the centre of attention, as anyone who saw the 1977 episode of Sports Personality of the Year Awards can testify. Hearing the voice of Tommy Stack, who was speaking from his hospital bed with a broken pelvis, Red Rum immediately pricked his ears, displaying the great intelligence and showmanship so evident in the horse throughout his life. He went on to lead the parade in many Grand Nationals.\\nRed Rum died on Wednesday, October 18, 1995 and was buried by the winning post on Aintree's Grand National course. His grave is marked by an engraved stone listing his Grand National record, and a life-size bronze commemorates this legendary competitor, along with a race staged at the Grand National meeting, the Red Rum Chase, named in the great horse's memory.\\nAldaniti\\nThere was hardly a dry eye among the crowd when Aldaniti won the Grand National in 1981. It was a victory for both courage and determination in the face of adversity.\\nIn late 1979, Bob Champion, the successful jockey, was told that he had cancer and only months to live, while Aldaniti had almost been retired because of leg trouble. Against all the odds, the gallant partnership held on to beat Spartan Missile, ridden by John Thorne, a 54-year-old grandfather and amateur rider.\\nThe winner's true-life story inspired the 1983 film Champions, starring John Hurt. Aldaniti died at the age of 27 in March, 1997. Bob Champion made a full recovery and, with the help of Aldaniti, has raised millions of pounds for cancer research.\\nAldaniti's name was a jumble from the names of four grandchildren of his breeder, Tommy Barron: ALastair and DAvid Cook plus NIcola and TImothy Barron.\\nThe Pitmans\\nThe Pitman family has a special association with the Grand National. In 1983, Jenny Pitman became the first woman to train a winner of the race when Corbiere beat Greasepaint. She followed up this victory in 1995 with Royal Athlete who succeeded at the long odds of 40/1, but experienced heartbreak when Esha Ness \\\"won\\\" the 1993 void race.\\nMark, her son, must have gone through similar emotions when he was caught in the dying strides by Seagram whilst riding Garrison Savannah in 1991, also trained by his mother. Garrison Savannah was bidding for an historic double � and to emulate the great Golden Miller � having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier.\\nYears earlier, Richard Pitman, then-husband to Jenny and Mark's father, was caught even closer to the winning post by Red Rum, the Aintree specialist, when he partnered the gallant top weight Crisp in 1973.\\nMrs Pitman was awarded an OBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List and in the same year fought a successful battle against cancer. She has now retired from training as, for the time being, has her son Mark who carried on the family tradition for a while (he trained Smarty to finish second in 2001 when only four horses completed the course in terrible conditions, and sixth in 2004).\\nJenny Pitman was also one of the first batch of inductees to the Grand National Legends (the Hall of Fame-style initiative that was established in 2010), along with Red Rum and his trainer, Ginger McCain.\\nWatch Corbiere win the 1983 Grand National ahead of Greasepaint:\\nDevon Loch\\nThe 1956 National is remembered more for the defeat of Devon Loch than for the victory of ESB. Owned by Her Majesty The Queen Mother, Devon Loch had the race won when he inexplicably gave a half-leap just 50 yards from the finish, sprawling and almost unseating Dick Francis, the unfortunate jockey, and leaving the crowd stunned. Afterwards, The Queen Mother famously said \\\"That's racing\\\".\\nDebate still rages as to why the incident happened - according to some reports, Devon Loch suffered a cramp in the hindquarters and this caused the collapse. However, other reports claim that a shadow thrown by the water jump (which horses only jump on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have confused Devon Loch into thinking another leap was required and - unsure as to whether he should or not - he half-jumped and collapsed. Reports that the horse had suffered a heart attack were dismissed, as Devon Loch recovered far too quickly for that to have been the case.\\nWhatever the truth, the incident so puzzled Francis that he became a thriller writer, inventing mysteries himself and over the decades Francis learned to be as philosophical. As did his wife Mary who once said that had he won the Grand National there would have been no bestselling autobiography and no thrillers.\\n\\\"As I said in my autobiography, an ambulance came by and the driver said, �Jump in the back!� I was never more pleased to get away from all the people who were rushing towards me. What happened? I�ve thought about it time and time again...I remember jumping the last fence and I could hear the crescendo of cheering building up in the stands. There were 500,000 people there that day. They were all cheering for the Queen Mother. She was there and the Queen was there and Princess Margaret was there.\\\" Francis is quoted as saying.\\n\\\"I never thought about it at the time but I heard them cheering and I just rode to the finish. I was winning easily. I didn�t have to pick up my stick or anything like that. I�ve looked at the newsreel time and again and as the horse approaches the water jump � which this time round he didn�t need to cross � you can see him prick up his ears and gallop past it. As he pricked up its ears � Christ! � his hindquarters refused to act and down he went on to his belly. How I didn�t fall off him I don�t know.\\\"\\nDevon Loch is a metaphor now used in modern day sports and otherwise to explain the sudden, last-minute failure of teams or a sportsman to complete an expected victory, e.g. \\\"United can only hope Arsenal do a Devon Loch.\\\"\\nDick Francis died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, by which time he had written 40 international best-sellers.\\nWatch Devon Loch sprawl on the run-in to the 1956 Grand National, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and allowing ESB to claim an unlikely success:\\nDevon Loch spread-eagled on the run-in at the 1956 Grand National\\nFoinavon\\nFoinavon sensationally won the 1967 National in bizarre circumstances. At the smallest fence on the second circuit, the 23rd, the riderless Popham Down cut right across the course causing a pile-up that almost brought the entire field to a standstill. John Buckingham, Foinavon's jockey, was able to steer his mount wide of the melee and thus won on the 100/1 outsider.\\nThe Aintree executive named the fence in honour of the horse - fence 7 or 23 (depending on the circuit), at 4ft 6in, one of the smallest jumps on the course, is situated between the more daunting Becher's Brook and the Canal Turn.\\nFoinavon has sometimes been likened to a slow plodding carthorse, but records show that his 1967 winning time was one of the fastest in this gruelling race. Equally, this so called no-hoper had taken part in some top class races before attempting the Grand National and he had finished fourth in a King George and took part in a Gold Cup at Cheltenham, so perhaps his odds of 100/1 may have been a bit generous (although the Tote SP was 444/1). Nevertheless, his owner was so unenthusiastic about his chances that he was not even at Aintree for the great race.\\nBuckingham said later that at the time he did not realise that they were the only pair to jump the fence at the first attempt but he just kept going. Although some 17 horses remounted and finished the race the distance Foinavon had \\\"stolen\\\" at the obstacle meant that he led over the final seven fences to go on to collect his prize, 15 lengths clear of the fast-closing favourite, Honey End, and Red Alligator, who went on to win in 1968.\\nFoinavon did also run in the following year's Grand National but fell or was brought down at the water jump.\\nFoinavon was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by the much superior Arkle - both were named after Scottish mountains. She also owned Last Suspect who won the 1985 Grand National.\\nWatch the 1967 Grand National, courtesy of British Path� (scroll to around 1 minutes, 20 seconds to see all the drama unfold):\\nThe commentary of Michael O'Hehir of the carnage at the 23rd fence ranks among the most famous in the history of BBC televised sport and is often shown when BBC Sport puts together nostalgic montages of great sporting moments. O'Hehir received particular respect from his peers for the speed and unflustered coolness with which he identified Foinavon as the horse emerging from the m�l�e. O'Hehir later said in an interview that it was precisely the unfamiliarity of Foinavon's colours that made him so instantly recognisable during the race. O'Hehir visited the weighing room before the race, as is the custom of many National commentators, to familiarise himself more clearly with the colours of the silks but found himself completely stumped when looking at the black with red and yellow braces being worn by John Buckingham. Eventually O'Hehir had to ask Buckingham who his mount was. A confused O'Hehir said that his racecard showed two-tone green quarters, as worn by the rider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier, but Buckingham explained that the owner felt green to be unlucky and so had registered new colours for the National.\\nThe \\\"Iron\\\" Duke of Alburquerque\\nBeltr�n Alfonso Osorio y D�ez de Rivera, known as the \\\"Iron\\\" Duke of Albuquerque (1918-1994), surely ranks as the worst jockey in horse-racing history. After receiving a film of the Grand National as a gift for his eighth birthday, the Duke became obsessed with it: \\\"I said then that I would win that race one day,\\\" he later recalled. He nearly died trying.\\nThis magnificently barking mad Spanish aristocrat and amateur jockey entered the Grand National seven times with impressively consistent results. Generally he would start with the others, gallop briefly and then wake up in the Royal Liverpool Infirmary (where apparently he always booked a private room when he rode in the race). Each year, Sir Peter O'Sullevan would gravely intone: \\\"And the Duke of Albuquerque's gone\\\".\\nOn his first attempt in 1952, he fell from his horse at the sixth fence, nearly broke his neck and woke up later in hospital with a cracked vertebra. His next try was in 1963, when he fell from his horse yet again, this time at the fourth fence. Undeterred, he returned in 1965 but again fell from his horse after it collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.\\nHis ineptitude was so apparent that in 1963 bookies even offered odds of 66/1 - against him even finishing the race atop his horse!\\nHe returned in 1973 when his stirrup broke, although he clung on for eight fences before being sent into inevitable orbit.\\nIn 1974, after having sixteen screws removed from a leg he had broken after falling in another race, he also fell while training for the Grand National and broke his collarbone. Nevertheless, he then competed in a plaster cast, this time actually managing to finish the race for the only time in his splendid career, but only in eighth (and last) place aboard Nereo: \\\"I sat like a sack of potatoes and gave the horse no help\\\" he said after the race.\\nOne anecdote from this race is that he barged into Ron Barry at the second Canal Turn; Barry said \\\"What the f*** are you doing?\\\" to which he replied: \\\"My dear chap I haven't a clue...I've never got this far before!\\\"\\nIn 1976, he sustained his most serious injuries after being trampled in a race by several other horses. He suffered seven broken ribs, several fractured vertebrae, a broken wrist and thigh, and a major concussion, and was in a coma for two days. After recovering he announced, at the age of 57, that he planned to race yet again. Race organisers wisely revoked his license \\\"for his own safety\\\".\\nThough the Iron Duke never won the Grand National, he certainly broke more bones than any other jockey in attempting to do so.\\nNotable Dates In Grand National History\\n1837: THE DUKE wins the first Great Liverpool Steeplechase at Maghull, some three miles from the present site of Aintree racecourse.\\n1839: Aintree becomes the new home for the event, with LOTTERY carrying off the prize and Captain Martin Becher christening the now-famous brook as he crawls in for safety after a fall.\\n1847: MATTHEW records the first Irish-trained victory on the day the race is officially named the Grand National.\\n1887: GAMECOCK wins the National at 20-1 and follows up by winning the Champion Chase over the big fences the very next day.\\n1897: MANIFESTO, the 6-1 favourite, records the first of his two wins in the race. He ran eight times up to the age of 16, also finishing third three times and fourth once.\\n1907: Jockey Alf Newey brings EREMON home in front, despite riding without stirrups from the second fence.\\n1927: Ted Leader rides SPRIG to a popular victory in the first Grand National to be covered by a BBC radio commentary.\\n1928: On the day of the race, before it had begun, TIPPERARY TIM'S jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \\\"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!�. These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. It was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey, Tommy Cullinan, managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at odds of 100-1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers.\\n1934: The legendary GOLDEN MILLER becomes the only horse ever to win the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, carrying 12st 2lb to victory in record time.\\nIn the 1934 Grand National, Golden Miller set a new course record of 9 min 20.4s. That win was in the middle of five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup victories\\n1947: CAUGHOO beats 56 opponents at a mist-shrouded Aintree and is then accused of only going round once.\\n1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, looking certain to give The Queen Mother victory when clear on the run-in, suddenly sprawl flat on the ground yards from the winning post, allowing ESB to win.\\n1967: The year of the horrific pile-up at the 23rd. John Buckingham and complete outsider FOINAVON avoid the melee and gallop on to a 100-1 win.\\n1974: Grand National character the Duke of Alburquerque completes the course for the one and only time in numerous attempts on NEREO, despite breaking his collarbone only a week before the race.\\n1977: The incomparable RED RUM rewrites the record books with his historic third victory. 'Rummy' had five runs, with three wins and two seconds, from the age of eight to 12.\\n1979: RUBSTIC makes history by becoming the first Scottish-trained winner. His homecoming party was heralded by a piper leading him back to the hamlet of Denholm, Roxburghshire.\\n1981: ALDANITI, nursed back from career-threatening injury three times, wins a fairytale National ridden by Bob Champion, who fought, and beat, cancer.\\n1982: Dick Saunders, at the age of 48, becomes the oldest winning jockey on GRITTAR. Geraldine Rees becomes the first woman to complete the course, riding the leg-weary CHEERS.\\n1983: Years of doubt about the Grand National's future are ended when the Jockey Club, helped by public donations, buys the course. CORBIERE's victory ensures Jenny Pitman goes into the history books as the first woman to train the winner.\\n1987: Jim Joel becomes the oldest winning owner at 92. He is on his way back from South Africa when MAORI VENTURE wins a thrilling race from The Tsarevich.\\n1993: The darkest day in the history of the National. There is chaos after a second false start as 30 out of the 39 jockeys began the race despite a false start being called, leading to a void result for the seven horses who finished. John White passes the post first on the Jenny Pitman-trained ESHA NESS, only to discover the race has been declared void.\\nThe 1993 Grand National - the race that never was. Racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan described it as \\\"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National\\\"\\n1994: MIINNEHOMA, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, gives multiple champion trainer Martin Pipe his first National victory, and 51-year-old grandmother Rosemary Henderson completes the course on her own horse FIDDLERS PIKE, who finishes fifth.\\n1995: Jenny Pitman, the first lady of Aintree, gains her second success - two years after her first - with ROYAL ATHLETE.\\n1997: The National has to be postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the IRA. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \\\"We'll fight them on the Becher's\\\", in reference to Winston Churchill's famous war-time speech. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. The rearranged race was won in spectacular style by 14/1 shot LORD GYLLENE.\\nA mass evacuation of Aintree racecourse took place on Saturday 5 April 1997\\n1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey team Tommy and Paul Carberry combine to land a first Irish win for 24 years with BOBBYJO.\\n2000: Ted and 20-year-old Ruby Walsh emulate the feat of their compatriots 12 months previously as PAPILLON lands a gamble, backed from a morning 33-1 into 10-1 before taking the prize.\\n2001: RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put in clear rounds in a race run in atrocious conditions, though all horses return unscathed.\\n2003: MONTY'S PASS lands a massive gamble, with owner Mike Fuller netting close to �1million from ante-post bets. The horse is backed from 40-1 into 16-1 and romps home.\\n2004: Ginger McCain, veteran trainer of Red Rum, enjoys an emotional victory as 12-year-old AMBERLEIGH HOUSE lands the spoils, having been third in 2003.\\n2005: HEDGEHUNTER becomes the first horse since Corbiere in 1983 to carry more than 11st to victory in the great race, romping clear in great style under Ruby Walsh to slam Royal Auclair by 14 lengths. John Smith�s take over from Martell as the main sponsor.\\n2006: John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\\n2008: COMPLY OR DIE allows David Pipe to join his legendary father, Martin, in the record books as a National-winning trainer in just his second season. The race also carries record prize money of �800,000.\\n2009: MON MOME becomes the biggest-priced winner since Foinavon when powering home at 100-1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell, who was having his first ride in the race.\\n2010: DON'T PUSH IT, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus, provides perennial champion jockey Tony McCoy with his first success at the 15th attempt. McCoy went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award that year � the first person from the world of horse racing to do so. The 2010 renewal was also the first horse race to be televised in HD in the UK.\\n2011: Another emotional victory as BALLABRIGGS� success on a sweltering day at Aintree allows Donald McCain to join his legendary father, Ginger, who trained both Red Rum and Amberleigh House, in the Grand National record books.\\n2012: One of the closest finishes in the race�s illustrious history sees NEPTUNE COLLOGNES beat Sunyhillboy by a nose, giving Paul Nicholls his first Grand National success. Katie Walsh achieves the highest finishing position by a lady jockey by claiming third place on Seabass, trained by her father Ted.\\n2013: Legendary showjumper Harvey Smith and his wife Sue send out 66-1 AURORAS ENCORE to cause a shock in a race in which only two of the forty runners fell on the first circuit. Fellow trainer Evan Williams has to settle for a place for the fifth time in as many years.\\n2014: Part time trainer, Dr Richard Newland, landed the first ever �1 million renewal of the race, courtesy of PINEAU DE RE. William�s amazing run continued with Alvarado fourth for the Welsh handler.\\n2015: Incredibly, another place for Williams with Alvarado fourth again behind MANY CLOUDS, who made a mockery of the trends as an eight year old carrying 11st 9lbs to land another victory in the race for Trevor Hemmings.\\n© Where To Bet Ltd 2004-16 (contact us: wheretobet@hotmail.com)\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":124629,"cells":{"question":{"kind":"string","value":"\"Articles described as \"\"Treen\"\" are made from which material?\""},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Wood"},"positives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Hardwood.txt\nHardwood\nHardwood is wood from dicot angiosperm trees. The term may also be used for the trees from which the wood is derived; these are usually broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood contrasts with softwood (which is from gymnosperm trees). \n\nHardwood should not be confused with the term \"heartwood\", which can be from hardwood or softwood.\n\nCharacteristics\n\nHardwoods are produced by angiosperm trees that reproduce by flowers, and have broad leaves. Many species are deciduous. Those of temperate regions lose their leaves every autumn as temperatures fall and are dormant in the winter, but those of tropical regions may shed their leaves in response to seasonal or sporadic periods of drought. Hardwood from deciduous species, such as oak, normally shows annual growth rings, but these may be absent in some tropical hardwoods.\n\nHardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods and are often much slower growing as a result. The dominant feature separating \"hardwoods\" from softwoods is the presence of pores, or vessels. The vessels may show considerable variation in size, shape of perforation plates (simple, scalariform, reticulate, foraminate), and structure of cell wall, such as spiral thickenings.\n\nAs the name suggests, the wood from these trees is generally harder than that of softwoods, but there are significant exceptions. In both groups there is an enormous variation in actual wood hardness, with the range in density in hardwoods completely including that of softwoods; some hardwoods (e.g., balsa) are softer than most softwoods, while yew is an example of a \"hard\" softwood.\n\nApplications\n\nHardwoods are employed in a large range of applications, including fuel, tools, construction, boat building, furniture making, musical instruments, flooring, cooking, barrels, and manufacture of charcoal. Solid hardwood joinery tends to be expensive compared to softwood. In the past, tropical hardwoods were easily available, but the supply of some species, such as Burma teak and mahogany, is now becoming scarce due to over-exploitation. Cheaper \"hardwood\" doors, for instance, now consist of a thin veneer bonded to a core of softwood, plywood or medium-density fibreboard (MDF). Hardwoods may be used in a variety of objects, but are most frequently seen in furniture or musical instruments because of their density which adds to durability, appearance, and performance. Different species of hardwood lend themselves to different end uses or construction processes. This is due to the variety of characteristics apparent in different timbers, including density, grain, pore size, growth and fibre pattern, flexibility and ability to be steam bent. For example, the interlocked grain of elm wood (Ulmus spp.) makes it suitable for the making of chair seats where the driving in of legs and other components can cause splitting in other woods.\n\nCooking \n\nThere is a correlation between density and calories/volume. This makes the denser hardwoods like oak, cherry, and apple more suited for camp fires, cooking fires, and smoking meat, as they tend to burn hotter and longer than softwoods like pine or cedar whose low-density construction and highly-flammable sap make them burn quickly and without producing quite as much heat."],"string":"[\n \"Hardwood.txt\\nHardwood\\nHardwood is wood from dicot angiosperm trees. The term may also be used for the trees from which the wood is derived; these are usually broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood contrasts with softwood (which is from gymnosperm trees). \\n\\nHardwood should not be confused with the term \\\"heartwood\\\", which can be from hardwood or softwood.\\n\\nCharacteristics\\n\\nHardwoods are produced by angiosperm trees that reproduce by flowers, and have broad leaves. Many species are deciduous. Those of temperate regions lose their leaves every autumn as temperatures fall and are dormant in the winter, but those of tropical regions may shed their leaves in response to seasonal or sporadic periods of drought. Hardwood from deciduous species, such as oak, normally shows annual growth rings, but these may be absent in some tropical hardwoods.\\n\\nHardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods and are often much slower growing as a result. The dominant feature separating \\\"hardwoods\\\" from softwoods is the presence of pores, or vessels. The vessels may show considerable variation in size, shape of perforation plates (simple, scalariform, reticulate, foraminate), and structure of cell wall, such as spiral thickenings.\\n\\nAs the name suggests, the wood from these trees is generally harder than that of softwoods, but there are significant exceptions. In both groups there is an enormous variation in actual wood hardness, with the range in density in hardwoods completely including that of softwoods; some hardwoods (e.g., balsa) are softer than most softwoods, while yew is an example of a \\\"hard\\\" softwood.\\n\\nApplications\\n\\nHardwoods are employed in a large range of applications, including fuel, tools, construction, boat building, furniture making, musical instruments, flooring, cooking, barrels, and manufacture of charcoal. Solid hardwood joinery tends to be expensive compared to softwood. In the past, tropical hardwoods were easily available, but the supply of some species, such as Burma teak and mahogany, is now becoming scarce due to over-exploitation. Cheaper \\\"hardwood\\\" doors, for instance, now consist of a thin veneer bonded to a core of softwood, plywood or medium-density fibreboard (MDF). Hardwoods may be used in a variety of objects, but are most frequently seen in furniture or musical instruments because of their density which adds to durability, appearance, and performance. Different species of hardwood lend themselves to different end uses or construction processes. This is due to the variety of characteristics apparent in different timbers, including density, grain, pore size, growth and fibre pattern, flexibility and ability to be steam bent. For example, the interlocked grain of elm wood (Ulmus spp.) makes it suitable for the making of chair seats where the driving in of legs and other components can cause splitting in other woods.\\n\\nCooking \\n\\nThere is a correlation between density and calories/volume. This makes the denser hardwoods like oak, cherry, and apple more suited for camp fires, cooking fires, and smoking meat, as they tend to burn hotter and longer than softwoods like pine or cedar whose low-density construction and highly-flammable sap make them burn quickly and without producing quite as much heat.\"\n]"},"dataset_name":{"kind":"string","value":"trivia_qa"},"language":{"kind":"string","value":"en"},"added_neg":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"doc_id":{"kind":"list like","value":["2296"],"string":"[\n \"2296\"\n]"},"added_doc_id":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"negatives":{"kind":"list like","value":["Unobtainium - TV Tropes\n... the Trope Namer is the mineral sought by the mining company in Avatar. ... in the film, the unobtainium functions as a Mineral ... The Star Trek 2009 movie has ...\nUnobtainium - TV Tropes\nUnobtainium\nYou need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account\nShare\nThe Spice must flow... damn, wrong franchise .\n\"Is Unobtainium very hard to obtain?\"\n— Peter Griffin, Family Guy\nUnobtainium is the exotic material that is needed to make the Applied Phlebotinum of a story work. Without it, all your nifty machines and plot-enabling gadgets quit functioning.\nSome forms of unobtainium are based on real physics, but beyond the current scope of human engineering, such as room-temperature superconductors\n; they would revolutionize just about every form of technology, but they are not in and of themselves dangerous or based on some exotic physics-bending principle. Unobtainium is engineering jargon for, \"a material that would be perfect for our purposes, if we could get it, which we can't.\" Sometimes an object that actually exists, or existed at one time, becomes unobtainium because it's unavailable now.\nOthers are more fantastic \"high-grade\" unobtainium, such as antimatter , which would be a revolutionary way of storing huge amounts of energy, if it didn't violentlynote as in, 1*10^-9 grams = tactical nuclear weapon yield undergo mutual annihilation with any conventional matter it comes into contact with, including air molecules and the walls of whatever you're trying to store the damn stuff in.\nThe most common varieties of unobtainium in fiction sit somewhere in the middle, like materials so resistant to heat and/or damage as to be Nigh Invulnerable compared to other, similar substances. Materials such as mithril , adamantium, and orichalcum (and all variant spellings thereof) are the fantasy version . Thunderbolt Iron is especially popular in fiction (and has some basis in reality � until furnaces were invented, it was the best source of refined iron).\nMuch mad science uses unobtainium, such as chemicals with impossible properties , universal solvents that can dissolve anything in the blink of an eye, super-explosives that make nitroglycerin look like a weak cough, and plenty of other funny-colored solutions . Following this would be medical and/or chemical wish-fulfillers; Classical real-world alchemy casually referred to carmot, the base substance of the Philosopher's Stone, and Azoth, either the \"universal medicine\" or \"universal solvent\". The ancient Greek writer Plato referred to \"orichalcum\" (Greek for \"mountain bronze\") in his description of Atlantis .\nIn Science Fiction , it will usually take one of three flavors: whatever stuff makes Faster-Than-Light Travel possible, closely followed by the stuff that can mess with gravity (if they're not one and the same ), and finally, the stuff they make Humongous Mecha and Alien spacecraft out of, which is why they tend to be effectively immune from earthly weapons or environmental damage.\nFor Willing Suspension of Disbelief , authors may pick out something actively being researched within the scientific community at the time of writing and run with it . Naturally, this risks dating the work when Science Marches On and today's \"super technology\" buzzword becomes the next generation's comic-book junk science . The current favorite in hard sci-fi is Helium-3\n� believed by many to be the fuel of choice for those nifty fusion reactors that should be perfected any time now . Theoretically, it's a safe large-scale energy source with few environmental side effects . But more importantly, though, there's extremely little of it on Earth; on the Moon, it's Not Rare Over There — which would provide a good reason to go there .\nThough a long time after the Trope Maker , the Trope Namer is the mineral sought by the mining company in Avatar note The term \"Unobtanium\" has been in use by engineers for far longer to describe any hypothetical material with currently- or then-impossible properties..\nSee Also: Minovsky Physics when the Unobtainium has well-thought-out properties that are strictly adhered to, and its opposite, Green Rocks , when it can do anything and everything the plot demands.\n open/close all folders \n Anime & Manga \nIn Neon Genesis Evangelion they have a special liquid called LCL which has several useful properties. One is its ability to conduct electrical signals, useful for electrically conducting nerve impulses between an Evangelion pilot and his/her Evangelion. But more amazing is its property that it can hold vast amounts of dissolved oxygen at concentrations high enough that once it has filled the lungs, a human can directly breath the oxygen present in it (handy thing when you have to fill a bio-mecha cockpit with this stuff and have the pilot be completely submerged in it). It's actually the blood of the Angel Lilith, which adds all sorts of retroactive squick when you realize they've been \"breathing\" it the whole time.\nOrichalcum (or a variant spelling) is a metal with magical properties that makes appearances in several anime, including Slayers .\nDigimon as a whole has the Chrome Digizoid metal ( also spelled ChronDigizoid). It's characterized as a highly sought after super-metal (with a silly name) of any colour which is very strong and cannot be damaged, except by other samples of it; in addition to being mined in some Digimon canons, a small number of Digimon species are either made of/plated in it (e.g. MetalEtemon) or wield weapons made of it (e.g. Zudomon, who killed the aforementioned MetalEtemon in Digimon Adventure ). The only time it's been referenced in the anime itself was briefly in the aforementioned Digimon Adventure incident between Zudomon and MetalEtemon, and then only mentioned offhand to give Zudomon, a lower-level Digimon, a way to revenge-kill MetalEtemon; as such, most mentions of the substance occur in the broader source material . According to said source material, there exist several varieties with different properties denoted by specific colours: Blue, which provides high speed (as seen on UlforceV-dramon ); Red, which provides even higher defence (e.g. Sleipmon ); Gold, which increases a Digimon's offensive power (e.g. Shoutmon DX ); and the vaguely described Black (e.g. Craniummon ) and Obsidian (e.g. KaiserLeomon ).\nThe entire Gundam franchise uses unobtanium to various degrees.\nIt is played straight and subverted in the very first series of all, Mobile Suit Gundam . Early on the Lunar Titanium Alloy used by the RX-78 Gundam is effectively indestructible to conventional fire, the oversized machineguns and bazookas used by mobile suits shaking it, but otherwise causing very little damage. This changed near the end of the series, when Zeon mobile suits gain beam weaponry technology, and we discover that beam weaponry trumps EVERYTHING in terms of armor. For the entire Universal Century timeline afterwords, combat becomes based around avoiding getting hit, since any significant hit at all is instantly fatal, regardless of armor. Even the large shields mobile suits carry generally only suffer one impact before getting blown away completely. Unless the shield in question has anti-beam coating, which itself is quite rare and still doesn't provide complete protection.\nMobile Suit Gundam Wing plays the trope straight, and has the alloy Gundanium, which is incredibly tough, nearly immutable, heat-resistant, electrically neutral, and a natural radar damper. The \"rare, hard-to-find\" part comes from the fact that it can only be manufactured in space and the fact that at the start of the show, only six people in the world know how to make it. You might be surprised to learn that this has some basis in real-world science , as the crystalline structures that form as liquid metal solidifies can be very different in microgravity. The odds of creating an alloy with all the aforementioned properties remain fairly small, however.\nThe Cosmic Era Expanded Universe has its own unobtainium in the form of the beam-resistant alloy the Gerbera Straight was forged out of. Only one person in the entire Earth Sphere knows its composition and how to forge it.\nMazinger Z :\nThe show took the \"ridiculously high strength/density ratio\" thing to a whole new level when Japanium is alloyed into Super Alloy Z. The titular robot, built from the stuff, stands 18 meters tall, yet weighs a meager 20 tons. In one episode, Dr. Hell managed to steal a supply of the stuff and build his own robot with Super Alloy Z armor, but he wasn't able to completely cover it with the stuff. Eventually, the heroes found out which part of it wasn't made of it, and was able to Attack Its Weak Point to destroy it. Great Mazinger and Venus A are built from the same stuff. And Mazinkaiser.\nUFO Robo Grendizer gives two examples: Gren, an alien metal Grendizer itself is built with. Since it can not be found on Earth, when Grendizer gets damaged, Alloy Z is used to repair it; and Vegatron, a highly radioactive material only can be mined from planet Vega. The Vegans used it to create powerful weapons, but its overexploitation led to the planet becoming highly unstable.\nSuper Alloy Z Alpha from the Mazinkaiser OVAs is several orders of magnitude more strong; it takes whithout a scratch the impact of two weapons of the original Mazinger and even is able to withstand swimming in hot lava.\nLevistone from Kyouran Kazoku Nikki , a material which makes things hover when electricity runs through it.\nCode Geass has Sakuradite, previously found and said to be the \"Philosopher's Stone\" in medieval times, and found in large amounts in Japan. It's now valued as a superconductor, being liquid in room temperature. It also explodes rather easily...\nVarious evolution-inducing stones aside, in one episode of Pok�mon Team Rocket had a mecha composed of \"polished unobtainium\", which made it immune to Psychic attacks.\nDone with a twist in Castle in the Sky where the Levistone (a Grade A Unobtainium ) is a well-known mineral (and the name of the material is Etherium instead of Levistone), commonly found in rocks — however, it rapidly decays when exposed to air and thus serves no practical purpose. The movie's Precursors knew how to refine it and fashion it into durable crystals, with many amazing properties. This technology has been lost and the world's nations will now stop at nothing to lay their hands on the few remaining samples.\nThe Vision of Escaflowne has 2 of these.\nOne of them is actually called Levistone here. It is heated to decrease its levitation (allowing one to control the height of an airship).\nThe other (and more often referred to) is Drag Energist. It gives life to dragons and sits in their chest cavity where their heart would normally be. It is mined from places where there's lots of dead dragons or from a dragon that is hunted and killed. This mineral is usually pink and it directly creates electrical energy (just makes electricity out of thin air, no input required) needed to power mechs and other machinery. It also undergoes \"resonance\" (what seems to more accurately be nuclear fission) if too many are placed together in the same area. In one of the last episodes, an atomic bomb is built using this same principle with this material.\nSeastone, apparently \"a solidified form of the sea\". Contact with it will weaken Devil Fruit users, and drain them of their abilities . It's also apparently harder than diamond.\nAdam, a super-strong type of wood.\nDon Krieg's armour was made of Wootz steel, a real-world type of unobtanium (see below).\nVizorium is both the Unobtainium that makes warp-drive possible, and the central plot driver of the Dirty Pair Movie Project Eden.\nGEMs in Mai-Otome give Otome their robes (and thus, most of their powers). The Coral and Pearl GEMs used by students are artificially created, but the knowledge of how to create Meister GEMs was lost, making them extremely valuable.\nOutlaw Star has dragonite, used for Faster-Than-Light Travel (and accidental Pok�mon references ).\nLupin III has used several different examples of this trope.\nGoemon Ishikawa XIII has a katana with a blade made either from a meteor (the manga series) or from a rare alloy that only his clan knows the secrets to making ( Lupin III: Dragon of Doom , Lupin III: Episode 0: First Contact ).\nLupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine has Alexanderite. A gemstone that changes from red to blue, depending on the light.\nThe crossover special, Lupin III vs. Detective Conan , features a brand new mineral discovered in Vespania that allows a brief moment of stealth.\nIn Claymore swords are made from a rare ore which makes them indestructible. The near-impossibility of getting said ore and the ease at which the Claymore's organization is able to get the ore to make new swords becomes a big supporting evidence of a major plot point quite far into the story.\nIn Dragon Ball Z , Supreme Kai summons a block of \"Kachin\", the hardest metal in the universe, to show just how awesome the Z Sword is. It consequently breaks to release Supreme Kai's predecessor from 15 generations ago and the metal is never heard of again.\n Comic Books \nMarvel Universe :\nNaturally, the setting has adamantium (in multiple flavors; see below), but it also has other \"magic metals\" like vibranium (of which there are two varieties, Wakandan [which absorbs kinetic energy/sound/vibrations] and Antarctic [atypically emits vibrations that cause other metals near it to liquefy]), Uru (an enchantable material, the same metal of which from Thor's hammer was forged), promethium (a magical metal found only in Otherplace/Limbo, which can be used as an energy source, despite it being a real chemical element with real properties), and netheranium (the material of Damien Hellstrom's trident). The best example, though, would have to be the infamous \"unstable molecules\" used to make so many heroes' and villains' costumes.\nAnd Captain America 's unobtainable unobtainium shield — completely indestructible, but also a handwavy one-off item. A number of stories suggest that Cap's shield is an otherwise impossible vibrainium/adamantium alloy reinforced by American righteousness (as opposed to ''self''-righteousness ). Since the guy making it fell asleep during the forging process, we'll never know. The \"vibranium/adamantium alloy\" thing is due to a misprint in one of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe issues. His shield was made from a unique alloy of iron, Wakandan vibranium, and some unknown contaminant. When the metallurgist who had made it tried recreating the alloy (while Cap was frozen), the closest he could come up with is what's known as (true) adamantium, which is slightly weaker than the alloy in Cap's shield!\nSpeaking of, adamantium comes in a few flavors. True Adamantium is the nearly-indestructible metal alloy that's bonded to the bones and claws of Wolverine . There's also Secondary Adamantium, which is a lot cheaper to make but is still quite strong. Carbonadium (the stuff covering Omega Red's tentacles ) is what the Soviets came up with when they tried to create true adamantium ; it's about as strong as secondary adamantium, but is more malleable... and radioactive. Also, in the Ultimate Marvel universe, adamantium can block telepathy.\nA metal native to the Breakworld in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run adversely affected Kitty Pryde when she phased through it, to the point where she ended up stranded inside a ten-mile long bullet of the stuff when she phased it through the Earth , and wasn't able to control her powers after Magneto rescued her.\nIn an early Marvel/DC crossover featuring the X-Men and the New Teen Titans, the villain Darkseid keeps both teams shackled, and states that Kitty Pryde's shackles are made of a rare metal with molecules so tightly packed, not even she can phase through them.\nThe DCU has its own varieties of unobtainium:\nIn the Silver Age DCU, Krypton became a gold mine of unobtainium. Any item, living or not, that originated there would become indestructible under a yellow sun. Kryptonite was also formed by the explosion of Krypton (with various varieties in the Silver and Bronze Ages).\nPromethium is the DCU's equivalent of adamantium, a super hard metal that superstrong superheroes have a tough time damaging (it was used to create Cyborg 's body), and Nth Metal, or \"transuranic iron ore,\" was the key to Thanagarian technology (as seen frequently in Justice League ). Irritatingly , promethium is a real metal (element 61), one with no stable isotopes and no special structural properties. DC's promethium comes in two flavors. \"Raw\" promethium can be used as an energy source or a mutagen . When alloyed with titanium and vanadium, it forms a near-invulnerable metal.\nIn the video game Batman: Vengeance , there's a substance called \"prometheum,\" which shares its name with DC's metal, but it's a chemical formula that's used for keeping people cryogenically preserved, but bursts into flame very easily .\nThe first version of the Legion of Super-Heroes used \"inertron\" for this purpose, an invulnerable metal.\nThe pre- Crisis DCU also featured the invulnerable metals \"Supermanium\" (a metal once created by Superman) and \"Amazonium\" (the metal Wonder Woman 's bracelets were made from), both invulnerable metals akin to inertron.\nRadion is incredibly rare. It's also very special because it is the Kryptonite Factor of the New Gods . Even Darkseid can be truly and permanently killed by Radion poisoning and a Radion bullet — fired by Batman of all people — to the shoulder is the first part of Darkseid's Rasputinian Death in Final Crisis .\nStellarium is a very rare and special mineral that has the incredible ability to stabilize planets, prolonging their inevitable destruction. Green Lantern Tomar-Re tried to use a bit of stellarium to save Krypton, but was delayed. In Omega Men , the conflict over the Vega system is due to Vega being one of the only places where stellarium can be mined.\nTintin :\nThe adventure Tintin The Shooting Star revolves around a mission to retrieve a sample of unobtainium (dubbed \"Phostlite\") from a fallen meteorite. The only obvious property of the stuff is making mushrooms grow really fast. And other plants. And animals, like butterflies and spiders. Fortunately, germs don't seem to be included.\nIn Tintin Destination Moon , Professor Calculus has invented a new substance — calculon — which can \"resist even the highest temperatures\", with which to make the nuclear fission motor for the rocket.\nEpiphyte in The Metabarons , the original source of the Castaka family wealth. It is an oil with anti-gravity properties.\nChaos Emeralds in Sonic the Hedgehog went from Kryptonite Is Everywhere to Unobtainium during the \"Order From Chaos\" storyline. Prior to the story, Mobius had hundreds of Chaos Emeralds and if the story needed one, poof, there ya go. However, when A.D.A.M. drew every Chaos Emerald in the solar system to Mobius, Turbo Tails and Super Shadow (the ones who were forced to bring them there) realize how dangerous that was and shove them all into the Zone of Silence. Feist, the being remaining there, became a god when he harnessed their power to remake the Zone and condensed all of those emeralds into only seven. Like their video game counterparts, they're used for either Super Mode activation or powering up super weapons. Like rewriting your reality.\nBombastium from the Disney Duck Comics Universe is believed by a Brutopian secret agent (hinted to actually be his country's prime minister, since he is a caricature of Nikolas Khrouchtchev and seems to be able to command the Brutopian navy) to be an all-mighty unobtainium. It is a pink substance that's so rare that the world's whole quantity of bombastium looks like an ice cream ball. (Literally. The world's whole reserves of bombastium are a pink ball stuck inside a big ice cube.) Since Scrooge was pushed into buying the thing, the Brutopian dignitary chases him all around the world, trying to buy and later to steal the bombastium. When he finally gets hold on the ball, it is discovered that its only power is to make ice cream: one tiny bit of bombastic in a barrel of water transforms into a barrel of ice cream, each time of a different savor, and the Brutopian � who doesn't like ice cream � angrily gives the ball back to Scrooge.\n Films � Animation \nQuantonium in Monsters vs. Aliens . The Big Bad needs it to power his cloning machine so he can execute the Alien Invasion . The only known supply is absorbed into the body of Susan Murphy, who then suffers from some interesting side effects .\n Films � Live-Action \nCentral to the plot of Black Lighting (Chernaya Molniya) is a mystery space element that powers the flying car. The Corrupt Corporate Executive spends the entire movie trying to get his hands on it.\nAvatar refers to it by name . The movie features a mineral called unobtainium, although, in the film, the unobtainium functions as a Mineral MacGuffin ; it's described as a room temperature superconductor\nthat makes space travel more affordable, but never really expanded on apart from that. On the website wiki\nsome of the other uses make it apply to this trope better. According to the guide , it's called \"unobtainium\" because this is a tongue-in-cheek designation for all high-temperature superconductor materials, called so by Earth scientists when they gave up on reliably synthesizing them. Cartoon Network's Mad series lampoon of Avatar lampshades and mocks the name by calling it \"Stupidnameium\".\nThe Core lampshaded this, calling their Unobtainium Unobtainium (\"Its real name is thirty-seven syllables long \") which turned heat and pressure into electrical energy. Perfect for a journey through the Earth's molten core. Extremely practical, as all you had to do was to randomly cut supply wires and casually weld them to the substance in question, and you had an energy source that rivaled a nuclear reactor.note There are actually Real Life substances that turn pressure into electricity, known as Piezoelectric substances, although they wouldn't work on such a large scale. One example is quartz crystals (including the one that goes \"tick\" in your wristwatch). Piezoelectric materials work by flexing, seeing as how the energy has to come from somewhere. This means your core-ship would generate lots of lovely electricity in the process of crumpling into a ball. If a Real Life metallurgist with a sense of humor actually managed to make something that worked as in the movie, they might be sorely tempted to call it \"unobtainium\" or \"impossibilium\" or something like that.\nMetallic tritium serves this function in Spider-Man 2 . Doctor Octopus has to make a Deal with the Devil (requiring him to beat the protagonist) in order to get some. Strangely enough, the way he's going to use the tritium is a scaled-down version of one way physicists are trying to develop fusion power called \"inertial confinement\". The idea is the same, vaporize an amount of an element with lasers in an attempt to create a miniature sun, only the scale and elements used are different. For more information, this writer's original reference is \"Kaku, Michio PhD. Physics of the Impossible. Doubleday Publishing, 2008. Pages 43-45.\"\nParodied in the fifties B-movie homage The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra with Atmosphereum, a super-powerful and poorly-defined element capable of operating spacecraft, resurrecting evil skeletons, and delivering actual advances in the field of science.\nFluid Karma in Southland Tales . A compound found by drilling in the ocean that apparently can be used to generate electric power. Also, acts as a drug working somewhat like a Green Rock .\nStar Trek :\nThe Star Trek 2009 movie has red matter, which can make black holes on cue.\nStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home also has an unobtainium in the form of Transparent Aluminum, which allows Scotty to create a giant aquarium in the shuttle to transport a breeding pair of whales back to 24th century Earth. Significantly, the material is known to Scotty, :who then helped the inventor create it in an ethically challenging time loop. It should be noted that recent advances in materials science actually have created a form of transparent steel, at least in the lab.note Transparent aluminium oxide is a real-world material starting to see commercial use, primarily as an alternative to Gorilla Glass called Sapphire Glass (sapphires are aluminium oxide crystals with trace amounts of, usually, iron, giving them a blue color).\nIn Outlander , after establishing that Viking swords aren't strong enough to injure the Moorwen, Kainan salvages some hull metal from his crashed starship, and gives this to the local blacksmith to forge some stronger swords.\nTurbinium from the original Total Recall (1990) , which is being mined on Mars against the local rebels' wishes and keeps Cohaagen's regime running, as his superiors on Earth give him carte blanche as long as their supply remains constant.\nIn District 9 , the unnamed nanofluid is found in prawn technology in extremely small amounts, and is apparently quite precious. It has the power to activate the aliens' ship as well as transform a human into a prawn.\nIn Iron Man 2 , the element which powers Stark's Arc Reactor is palladium (which is a real element, and not this trope) before he synthesizes a better substitute (which is).\nIn 21 Jump Street , there is also a substance called Unobtainium, which apparently \"has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor — carry the �2′ — changing its atomic isotoner into a radioactive spider.\" Or, you know, this thing doesn't exist and the character speaking was just stoned out of his mind.\nThe spaceship in Galaxy Quest runs on beryllium, a natural but rare element. When the only beryllium sphere on board breaks under stress, the crew sets out to obtain a replacement sphere from a nearby planet. They eventually succeed but the distraction caused by this side quest enables the Big Bad to seize their ship.\nAdamantium in X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes from meteors. Specifically, sacred African meteors, making it this continuity's answer to Vibranium. Thus completing the transformation begun in the Ultimate Avengers films.\n Literature \nCavorite from H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon .\nPlattnerite from Stephen Baxter 's The Time Machine sequel, The Time Ships, is an indeterminate, glowing green mineral that allows time travel. It's name and description are a Shout-Out to a character and material found in other Wells stories.\nWells also had a previously undiscovered element present in the titular comet in The Day of the Comet.\nTom Swift had Tomasite. A super plastic, a 1 inch layer of it was better than a foot of lead at shielding a nuclear reactor.\nHarry Harrison 's 1973 Golden Age SF spoof novel, Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers features Cheddite (a fuel created from cheese). In another scene the heroes' 747 jet is turned into a spacecraft by means of windows armored with armolite, vacuum insulation with insulite, fuel tanks filled with combustite, guns firing pellets of destructite, batteries replaced with capacitite and a space-warp drive powered by warpite.\nIn the Spaceforce universe, ships' hyperdrives are powered by a crystal called garrium which is found on only a few planets in the known galaxy. It is so valuable that entire planetary economies are based on scooping up tiny fragments of it in tonnes of dust.\nMelange, also called spice, in the Dune novels, extends life and grants limited prescience, allowing Faster-Than-Light Travel . And it tastes like cinnamon . Oh, and there are other uses. If it seems like something that would be extremely valuable and important, that's because it is. It's generally thought to be an Alternate Company Equivalent to oil in the way that it drives the greater economy and is controlled by warlike tribes.\nThe German SF/pulp series Perry Rhodan has over the course of its history collected a fair bit of unobtainium in various forms.\nClassic examples are Ynkelonium, a metallic element that does not react with antimatter and can to an extent prevent such reactions from occurring in its immediate vicinity, and Luurs-Metal, which always maintains a constant temperature of about 3.4 degrees Celsius. Both materials occur naturally in the universe and cannot be synthesized.\nThat's only two of the many examples, the series frequently introducing new and exotic materials, practically whenever a new alien species is encountered. The wiki for the series alone consists of at least 150 entries for exotic materials and is by no means complete.\nLarry Niven 's Ringworld has a few examples:\nScrith, the material used to make the titular megastructure. It is nearly frictionless, blocks almost all radiation (including 40% of neutrinos, which would take about a light-year thickness of lead) and has a tensile strength on the same order of magnitude as the strong nuclear force.\nThe unnamed substance the Puppeteers make General Products hulls out of. They're actually massive molecules big enough to live in.\nand durasteel\n(which itself is an alloy of carvanium, lommite, carbon, meleenium, neutronium, and zersium)... Well, let's say there are lots of interesting materials and substances in the Star Wars EU. Special mention goes to cortosis\n, which is lightsaber-resistant. Or in its purest form actually causes lightsabers to short out. Cortosis doesn't have a monopoly on the lightsaber-resisting properties: phrik, beskar(Mandalorian Iron), ultrachrome, and songsteel also boast that property, Mandalorian Iron and phrik are said to be even stronger to near Adamantium-like degrees, with a container made of phrik actually managing to stay intact after being on Alderaan when the planet was destroyed. Cortosis's ability to short out a lightsaber blade on contact, however, is unique to it alone.\nThe Uplift Series by David Brin has a material of the name unobtainium.\nThe hyperdrive of Kevin J. Anderson's The Saga of Seven Suns is fuelled by \"ekti,\" described as \"an allotropic isotope of hydrogen.\"\nAtium and Lerasium from the Mistborn books, atium is only mined in one place, it's extremely rare, and incredibly powerful, because it allows an allomancer to see a few moments into the future, effectively making them nearly invincible in combat. While only a few nuggets of Lerasium appear to exist and anyone who ingests Lerasium will instantaneously become a mistborn. All of the properties of Atium and Lerasium are ultimately justified by them being made from the bodies of gods.\nIn Wax And Wayne , Atium and Lerasium are no more due to some shuffling in the godly domain, but on the other hand, there's aluminum, which is allomantically neutral, thus providing justification for wearing a Tinfoil Hat , and is rare enough that it's worth more than gold. (See the Real Life folder. Despite being one of the most common metals in the earth's crust, before refining processes were perfected it was immensely valuable)\nJohn Ringo 's Looking Glass series is so named for the instantaneous transmission portals which were created by what were originally thought to be Higgs bosons. That identification was later corrected, and they were renamed Looking Glass Bosons . The looking glasses of the first book take a secondary role however, after the series takes off into space in a ship powered by a Black Box of alien origin, and when the ship is destroyed in the third book, it is entirely remade by an alien race the ship just saved. This leads to the fourth book where the captain of the ship discovers he is missing a large number of alien made spare parts and lampshades all of this saying, \"And now I have to call SpaceCom and explain to them that we're non-mission-capable until a couple of tons of Unobtainium parts and tools get found!\"\nJohn Ringo 's Legacy of the Aldenata series has an alien race able to produce materials with physical properties that the Earth scientists consider flatly impossible. It turns out that they do this by mentally altering the probability of chemical reactions, such that extremely unlikely reactions occur consistently enough to form new compounds that the Earth scientists and engineers cannot replicate.\nPractically every book in the old Danny Dunn children's sci-fi series starts out with the discovery of a new form of Unobtainium. Usually because Danny or a friend of his spilled something in the lab.\nTanglestone from the Elizabeth Bear book, Undertow, was only found on the planet named Greene's World, and allowed instant data and material transportation across many light years from the colonies to Earth.\nIn Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series, there's living metal, which can only be gotten by one character, because it grows on her hand due to an accident involving fire and a staff with a metal top. Later she can make it faster by putting some in a jar and adding some of her blood to it, but she is still the only person who can make it, and thus the only one with consistent access to it.\nRudyard Kipling 's story The Night Mail has airships lifted by \"Fleury's gas\" energized by \"Fleury's ray.\" The lifting power of the gas can apparently be rapidly adjusted, and is so great that airships are made rigid enough to achieve speeds of two hundred miles per hour without straining the hull or engines. (No real-world airshipnote a lighter-than-air vessel, as distinct from an airplane, many of which have stall speeds above 100 mph has ever reached one hundred.)\nIn Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged , industrialist Henry Rearden is introduced as a protagonist by way of his invention of \"Rearden Metal,\" a somewhat vaguely-described alloy of steel and copper which is much stronger and cheaper to produce than industrial-grade steel.\nIt even started out the same way Unobtainium usually starts: as an engineers joke. Rearden was originally trying to design fantastic bridges; once he discovered that it was impossible with regular metal, he set out to make his own .\nNeal Stephenson 's The Baroque Cycle gives us the Solomonic gold, and Stephenson also goes into a long digression on wootz steel, which is actually real and pretty damn awesome to boot.\nNeal Stephenson 's Anathem has a material called New Matter that has drastically different properties than regular matter. It is explicitly stated that it is an alternative chemistry created by rearranging subatomic particles. This is based on Real Life physics with Exotic Matter.\nE. E. �Doc� Smith 's Skylark Series features several nonexistent wonder-metals, including Arenak\nfor super-tough armor, and Metal X which can convert matter completely into energy when exposed to X-rays.\nHumanity's escape from the doomed planet earth in When Worlds Collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer is finally made possible when tides from the approaching planet tear open the earth, revealing the previously hypothetical wonder-metal needed for nuclear-powered space travel.\nWil McCarthy's Queendom of Sol series has quantum dots, which can imitate the properties of ordinary matter as well as manifesting exotic attributes like perfect reflectivity and frictionlessness. He also wrote a non-fiction novel called Hacking Matter that talks about the real-world possibility of using them. So, unobtainium today, but maybe not tomorrow.\nDiscworld subverts this trope with octiron, a fantastic metal that's really only useful as a substitute for spherical worlds' compass magnets (it points to the Hub). Played straight with sapient pearwood, which is to blame for the Luggage's animation and magical properties.\nNeal Asher's The Polity series has Chainglass, a material made from silicon chain molecules that can be made near-indestructible and sharp enough to slice through steel with ease. Chainglass is used instead of metal and plastic in most applications. It also made the inventor the richest man in the galaxy.\nUrim in L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero's Daughter trilogy. Warrior angels wear it. It can hold the Water of Life. A gauntlet made of Urim allows the wielding of the Staff of Decay without harm.\nThe Sten series has Anti-Matter Two, the only energy source capable of generating enough power to run hyperspace engines and make interstellar travel feasible. In all the Universe there is only a single source of AM2, and only the Eternal Emperor knows where it is.\nIn Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Heaven , common coal have rare \"slow\" and \"fast\" coal that slow or speed up time inside it. The Big Bad had hundreds of young girl slaves move hands over small pieces of coal and pick out those specific coal pieces.\nAnimorphs made a brief mention of ramonite, the metal that makes up most spacecraft and gives it its properties of stretching open doorways and opaquing/clearing the viewports.\nIn Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler, the US hatches a military plan requiring ultra-rare byzanium. The only known deposit, on a remote Russian Arctic island, had been mined out in the early 20th century, and the entire output shipped out on an ocean liner to the United States. Guess which one.\nPhlogiston in The Extraordinaires . It is a semi-magical substance that allows Time Machines and other Steam Punk -ish gadgets beyond the realm of Edwardian science to function. Control of the supply of phlogiston is a powerful bargaining chip.\nValyrian steel in A Song of Ice and Fire , which is possibly an Expy of Damascus steel. It is a magical alloy created in old Valyria, and Valyrian steel weapons are far superior to weapons made of ordinary steel. The secret of creating Valyrian steel was lost when Valyria fell, but especially skilled blacksmiths can reforge swords from existing Valyrian steel.\nA few Robert Heinlein stories reference \"Shipstones\". These are, basically, very very very good batteries. They're not actually unobtainable, as the Shipstone Corporation will be happy to lease (not sell) you one, but good luck getting one from any other source since their method of construction is secret and disassembling one to see how it works either gets you a non-working mess (if you're lucky) or dead (they tend to explode if taken apart).\nIn H.P. Lovecraft 's \"In the Walls of Eryx,\" the \"crystals\" on Venus are super high-energy sources for humans, though they have some strange psychic/religious value to the native Venusians.\nPeter and the Starcatchers reimagined pixie dust as \"starstuff\", a mysterious substance that falls to earth every so often like a meteorite, and can be used to grant people the power of flight as well as heal and stop the aging process. A secret society known as the Starcatchers exists to guard its power from those who would seek to use it towards selfish ends. In the first book, a large quantity of it is accidentally released on an uncharted island, turning fish into mermaids, a bird into Tinker Bell, and the title character into a boy who can fly indefinitely and will never age.\n Live-Action TV \nDoctor Who :\nDalek cases are made of Dalekanium, which makes them Immune to Bullets , although recent episodes showed that they now use a Deflector Shields variant to vaporize bullets before they even reach the case. Dalekanium is often called \"bonded polycarbide\" when they want it to sound less silly. Which basically means plastic, specifically Kevlar.\nVarious episodes have featured a group of people in a confined space looking for Unobtainium when suddenly they get attacked by the alien of the week . Dark Matter has been used as the unobtainium more than once and has several different uses and effects depending on what episode you see, from use as transport between dimensions to regular spaceship fuel to turning people into bloodthirsty monsters.\nStargate-verse :\nIn Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis , naquahdah is material the Gate is made of. Also, naquadah-enhanced nukes are used to Blow Stuff Up. This is demonstrated magnificently in the season 3 finale of Stargate Atlantis . Naquadah is also a powerful source of energy (naquadah reactors).\nIts evil twin is naquadriah, which can also be used to Blow Stuff Up, but is radioactive, \"unstable\" and has a track record of blowing up its users. Naquadriah also indirectly plays the Unobtainium role in Stargate Universe as the only known power source that can support a wormhole between the Milky Way and Destiny. Only problem is that it takes a planet full of the stuff to do it, and that planet tends to blow up in the process.\nThe iris on Earth's Stargate is made of a trinium-titanium alloy.\nHuman-form Replicators apparently need neutronium (which is a real thing\n, but a bit exotic in that it can only have stable existence in a neutron star).\nAlso ZPMs could be seen as a sort of unobtainium given that no-one knows how to make them and they're needed to run all the Ancient technology in the series (as well as providing a convenient bit of Tim Taylor Technology to the human ships).\nThe whole of Star Trek is liberally sprinkled with various types and grades of unobtainium.\nThe original (and most frequently recurring) example is dilithium, used in the reactor core of warp drives as a control medium because lithium's properties were well-known , but there are many others.\nCorbomite, which doesn't actually exist; it was an Ass Pull by James T. Kirk to bluff an enemy — which means that Trek pulled a Lampshade Hanging on their own tendency to invent vaguely-magical substances in one of its earliest episodes.\nNeutronium. Essentially this is used any time something's made of a material that the crew's weapons won't be able to penetrate. This is a real substance: a type of \"degenerate matter\" composed entirely of neutrons, thought to be what neutron stars are made of — but since even a thimbleful would weigh millions of tons, its usefulness as a material is rather limited. Astrophysicists rarely if ever use the word \"neutronium\" for this stuff, preferring terms like neutron-degenerate matter, and that that neutron star matter would not be stable without the extreme pressures of a neutron star in the first place anyway, i.e. it would instantly explode producing extremely intense neutron radiation.\nDuranium, Tritanium, Baakonite\nLatinum, a valuable liquid metal, used as a form of hard currency due to its rarity and the fact that replicator technology cannot recreate it.\nTrilithium, less stable than dilithium, but equally magical.\nKeiyurium, a Shout-Out to the original Dirty Pair .\nVerterium Cortenide, a compound of two non-existent substances, used in the warp coils themselves.\nArcherite, another Ass Pull, this time by the Andorian Shran when explaining to another alien commander what he was doing in their territory.\nTransparent aluminum exists now. See here\nAluminum Oxynitride is a ceramic, however. Transparent aluminum metal remains unobtainium.\nCortenide, which comprises Data's skull with duranium, as he describes to a Klingon warrior who almost knocked himself out headbutting him.\nTrellium-D formed a major Mineral MacGuffin for the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise , which has the ability to negate the random anomalies that existed in the Expanse. Interestingly, there appeared to be a sub-science developed around the item, with a method of synthesizing the stuff.\nAt one point in Star Trek: Voyager when aliens try to kidnap Paris for the weapons research that has been implanted in his brain, Janeway mentions that they packed the shuttle he was captured in with fulmorite explosives.\nBoth versions of Battlestar Galactica relied on a fictional element called \"tylium\" to power their FTL drives.\nPower Rangers :\nIn Power Rangers Time Force , Trizirium Crystals are an very powerful energy source that originally won't be discovered about 200 years from 2001, because of the battles between the Time Force Rangers and Ransik, as well as Bio-Lab trying to reverse-engineer the future tech the early discovery nearly sucked the world into time vortices in the \"End of Time\" three-part finale.\nPower Rangers RPM has flux overthrusters needed to handle advanced zord control stuff. The first one was lost in the wastelands after the plane it was installed in was shot down. The second...well, it's lucky that that's when the bad guys sent a bot capable of Power Copying .\nThe jumpgates and jumpdrives of Babylon 5 relied on an exotic and extremely rare mineral called Quantium-40 to function.\nIn Knight Rider (the original series), KITT was built out of a material called either Tri-Helical MBS (commonly referred to as a \"Molecular-Bonded Shell\") or Plasteel 1000, which rendered the car almost indestructible.\nIn the TV series of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids , it's revealed that an element Wayne named \"Szalinskium\" is at the core of all his impossible inventions. In another episode it's revealed that he obtained it from the space alien Arnox.\nIn a two-part episode of the Lynda Carter TV adaptation of Wonder Woman , we learn that her indestructable bullet-deflecting bracelets are made of \"Feminum.\" (This is in contrast with the Comic Book canon, which at the time held that her bracelets were made of \"Amazonium.\")\nIn The Amazing Extraordinary Friends , the X insignia is specifically stated to be made of unobtanium, which is how it bestows all manner of superpowers on Captain X.\n Myths & Religion \nThe oldest example would be Orichalcum (Orichalc, orichalcos) which is part of the Atlantis myth - Plato describes it as somewhat reddish, shiny, and hard, and usable both as armor and art. Conspiracy buffs identify it with an alloy of gold and copper from South America that does, in fact, have these properties.\nAdamant, which has a legendary hardness dating back centuries, being an older name for diamond. Unfortunately, it also shares a name with an adjective, and so tends to be saddled with suffixes. Look for Adamantine, or for that Sci-Fi twist, Adamantium.\nThe entire premise of ancient and medieval Alchemy was based on the pseudo-scientific search for Unobtainium (\"philosopher's stone\" or \"quintessence\"), usually described as a material which would catalyze the manufacture of gold from base metals.\n Newspaper Comics \nDilbert , comic, Dogbert claims to have discovered one he calls Dogbertium, with \"mysterious\" properties, including only existing when nobody asks him any questions.\n Pinballs \nThe Red Matter in Stern Pinball 's Star Trek ; getting enough of it creates a Black Hole, which awards a mystery prize.\nUnobtainium is one of the playfield targets in Avatar .\n Tabletop Games \nShadowrun , true to its fantasy-scifi-blend form, borrows from myths for its Unobtainium , such as orichalcum, an alloy of copper, gold, silver, and mercury that couldn't even begin to exist if there wasn't magic in the world.\nWarhammer 40,000 :\nAlmost every race has a form of this, from the psychic wraith bone to the ubiquitous armour plate the humans use on tanks, adamantium. Adamantium's properties are never really explained, though, in the books, it seems to suffer from a mineral variation of The Worf Effect (\"How could they cut through X many feet of adamantium that easily?!\"). The technology levels in the setting also cause some rather strange applications for the unobtainium, such as adamantium bayonets fitted to the lasguns of the Imperial Guard .\nAdamantium when it first appeared in Warhammer 40,000 , could only be created in orbital plasma refineries and once set it was essentially indestructible. Plasteel was what Terminators were mostly made out of (Dreadnoughts had significant amounts of Adamantium, but most vehicles weren't made of the stuff - heck no real mention of what material they were made out of at all. Even the Land Raiders were mostly titanium-bonded ceramite when it was first discussed what they were made out of). Once Adamantium became ubiquitous through the Imperium, that's when the stuff got Worfed.\nAnother Worf Effect example is the material used in Space Marine power armour, Ceramite (often such examples involve either cutting blades, or melta/heat weapons as ceramite is reckoned to be extremely resistant to heat). This also happens a lot with human building materials in that universe, all of which have odd but recognizable names and are supposedly better than what we have now, but which can be reduced to rubble in the first bombardment.\nPromethium is some kind of super fuel (or a generic term for any fuel), which is used in everything from their warmachines and flamethrowers, and can be harvested from gas planets, some kinds of ice, and in mineral form.\nIn Warhammer (fantasy setting of 40000), glowing green \"warpstone\" is used to create mutations, enhance magical powers, bring the dead to life, and as an energy source for powerful technology. In the Skaven rat-men society, it is even used as currency. Warpstone is considered rare, and is mined and collected by nearly all factions in the Warhammer setting. The Warhammer world also has a moon composed entirely of warpstone, Morrslieb, which rains warpstone meteor showers on occasion.\nIn it's sequel Warhammer: Age of Sigmar we have Sigmarite, a metal ore mined at great cost from Mallus, the Old World's core. It's mainly used in the weapons, armor and equipment of the Stormcast Eternals and it's rumored that Ghal Maraz, Sigmar's hammer, it's made of it. This reinforces the fan theory that Sigmarite it's just gromril, also called meteoric iron. A metal used extensively by the dwarves and the Empire in their magic weapons and heavy armors.\nDungeons & Dragons :\nThe game mithril, adamantine, orichalchum, AND the Philosopher's Stone. Unobtainium overload... and that's the tip of the iceberg.\nEberron has Dragonshards, Khyber Dragonshards, Siberys Dragonshards, Star Metal, Baatorian Steel, Residuum, Arcanite, Byeshk, Ironwood, Bronzewood, Densewood, Soarwood & Riedran Crysteel. Unobtainium overload indeed.\nRed steel, cinnabril, and related substances from the \"Red Steel\" region of Mystara .\nBloodsilver from the Birthright setting.\nExalted\nThe five magical materials, Orichalcum, Moonsilver, Starmetal, some variants of Jade and Soulsteel. All of these are extremely difficult to obtain and work: Orichalcum only forms when gold touches magma and has to be worked in a lava flow while sunlight streams onto the forge, Moonsilver only forms in the Wyld, where reality is breaking down, Starmetal is made from dead gods and, while working it is theoretically as simple as iron, Fate conspires to make the manufacturing process go wrong in ten thousand little ways, Soulsteel is made from ore from the Labyrinth (under the Underworld) and ghosts, Jade requires hazardous chemicals to work and is used as a currency, admittedly an extremely high-value one . There is even an Unobtainium version of Jade - in rare and unrepeatable alchemical accidents Jade (most normally a mixture of white and green Jade) can be turned into Yellow Jade which is possibly the most coveted magical material out there.\nWith the release of the Alchemical sourcebook, there now exists a sixth basic magical material as well: Adamant. It is extremely rare in the main world of Creation, and only slightly more commonly found in the machine-body world of the Primordial Autochthon. To quote the sourcebook, \"Adamant is composed of super-dense, electric-blue diamonds that form in yard-long rod-like masses with smaller crystals growing off larger ones. They can be found in areas that are under enormous pressure and are scorchingly hot. Mining for adamant is impossible without protective gear, even for Exalts, and special tools must be used to cut the crystalline rods free so that they can be taken back to a city and refined into useable forms.\" Though it is a crystal, rather than a metal or stone like the other materials, it is used in the forging of magic weapons and armor in an identical way to the others.\nSolars. One of the reasons that Solar technology is unsustainable by anybody else is due to their Wyld Shaping powers. When Solars need a material with properties relevant to the artifact or Magitek they are building, they just go out into the Wyld and conjure it up, regardless of how impossible its existence would otherwise be.\nMage: The Awakening :\nThe \"Perfected Metals\". They have numerous extremely useful properties (perfected iron, for example, is practically indestructible, capable of cutting through diamond when properly sharpened, and can bend like rubber before returning to its original shape, with absolutely no metal fatigue), and can be used to create all manner of useful alloys (such as the anti-magic \"thaumium\"). There are only seven of them (only alchemical metals can be perfected), and it takes powerful magic to perfect them and alloy them. Perfecting is also a very expensive process, since it requires only naturally formed samples of metal (rather than transmuted or conjured) and only 10% of the mass yields perfected metal, with the rest being completely lost (hence, you perfect 100 grams of metal and only get 10 grams of perfected metal, with the remainder destroyed).\nApeiron, a material that can only be produced by some archmasters and appears to be some sort of Platonic ideal: it has whatever physical properties are best for the situation at hand. This is actually an example of an author being extremely informed; in a philosophical debate in ancient Greece philosophers argued over which Element was the foundation of all existence. The winner of the debate proposed 'Apeiron' over any of the traditional four elements, describing it as 'undifferentiated stuff' that could concentrate into different configurations to form anything.\nAs well as the lanthanum used in jump drive technology, Traveller features so many varieties of unobtainium that the latest edition lampshades it by including \"unobtainium\" as a trade good.\nGhost Rock, which burns twice as long and twice as hot as coal, is used for all the weird high tech stuff from Deadlands and somehow stopped the collapse of the Confederacy. Oh, and it looks like coal that has had tortured human faces into it, and it moans faintly when burned.\nThe various essential elements from GURPS : Magic as well as orichalcum and adamantium in Fantasy and hyperdense matter in Ultra-Tech.\nAlthough it's a tabletop war game rather than a tabletop RPG, Steve Jackson Games' OGRE features combat units protected by Biphase Carbide armor. This makes them tough enough to withstand anything short of a direct hit from a nuclear weapon.\nTalislanta has a number of forms of Unobtainium, some based on historical alchemy and others made up for the setting, and fairly thorough rules for crafting and utilizing them.\nIn the boardgame Nexus Ops (originally by Avalon Hill, recently re-released by Fantasy Flight Games), the corporations fight for control of a mineral called Rubium. Nothing more is known about it from the manual, but it seems that some indigenous species on the planet it is mined on are linked to the mineral in some way as there is a creature called the \"Rubium Dragon\" which is also the most powerful unit in the game.\n Toys \nThe Transformers franchise is a pretty good place to mine for Unobtainium.\nEnergon being the most frequent and the best example: Transformers need it to live, but too much unstable Energon radiation can cause shorting out. It's also highly volatile when stored in most environments (and likely to explode if dropped or fired upon), and other properties too bizarre and diverse to list. Other Unobtainium-like materials include...\nElectrum — a real substance, actually, but given fictional properties.\nFurmanite — Obscure, used only in one Botcon-exclusive comic.\nNucleon (Though used as an Energon substitute, it causes bizarre reactions in a Transformer's \"biology\", most notably the loss of transformation ability.)\nCybertonium (Never thoroughly explained, though it breaks down more rapidly in Earth's atmosphere than other Cybertronian minerals. Loss of this substance is serious for Transformers built on Cybertron. Like Energon, it can also be processed and stored in cubes.)\nDestronium\nBIONICLE 's Matoran world has protodermis (often shortened to just \"proto\" by the fans), which admittedly isn't really rare because it makes up everything in that world: the water is made of liquid proto, rocks and metal ore are solid proto, and proto even makes up the organic tissues of living beings. Truer examples of Unobtainium that really are hard to obtain include a super-hard variant of metal protodermis called \"protosteel\" and \"energized protodermis\": an un-synthesizable liquid that either unpredictably transforms anything it touches or destroys it. Oh, and it turns out energized proto is alive, too.\nAnother world, Bara Magna, has its own Unobtainium called Exsidian, though unlike protodermis it doesn't have any special properties beyond better resistance to wear and tear.\n Video Games \nDragon Rage has Zeenium which is some sort of magical element.\nEVE Online has a player economy built around mining for a rather long list of made up materials. And the rarer types are very hard to get. Bonus points for using \"Tritanium\", which is the most sought after element in high security space. However, most of the asteroids that refined minerals come from are made up of either real-world minerals (such as veldspar and gneiss) or slightly renamed versions of real minerals (like hemorphite and hedbergite).\nIt's implied that the mined and refined materials actually are all real-world elements and minerals. Civilization has fallen and re-built itself, so they've picked up new names and places in the technology tree. Salvaged wormhole materials are a straight example, though.\nExcelsior Phase One Lysandia : Many powerful weapons and armor are forged from Eramel, which, oddly, is only mined in a tower.\nMultiple kinds of unobtainium are mentioned in the background information of the Halo series:\nAn \"unknown alloy\" (read as: the writers couldn't think of a cool name) used to make the shields of the Hunters and the armor plating of Covenant warships.\nThe impressively resistant construction material used to make the Halos and other non- Hard Light Forerunner structures, described as being incredibly dense and accurately carved to the molecule. The author of this article from Gamasutra\n, a PhD., goes to the trouble of calculating just how much unobtainium would be needed to build the Halo , plus other stats you never knew you wanted to know.\nBlamite, the explosive crystalline material used primarily to make Needler ammunition, which can only be found on one moon orbiting the Elite homeworld.\nThe ammo for the Covenant Carbine is an unnamed toxic and radioactive compound mined from several locations within Covenant space.\nCity of Heroes :\nVarious one-off missions in the MMORPG have the player retrieve various Mac Guffins , including one actually called Inobtainium. Fittingly enough, it's an alloy of Yeahritium and Nosuchium.\nPlayed more straight in the game is Impervium, a metal found as a rare form of salvage (Enchanted Impervium is one of the most valuable drops), which the Vanguard soldiers are said in their profiles to be armored with.\nOrichalcum shows up too, also as a salvage material for crafting.\nMega Man :\nA recurring element in the series is a metal called \"Ceratanium\" (in the original Japanese, simply \"Ceramic Titanium\"). Its exact properties are unknown, but it seems to be involved in making all the Mega Mans' armor, and in Mega Man Zero 4, where you can collect parts and get the engineer to make body armor out of them, the Ceratanium is found once in a fixed spot each stage and goes exactly once into each piece of body armor you can make.\nThere's also officially \"Bassnium,\" the power supply Wily says he used to make Bass, which is a bit silly. In the Japanese version, it has the much less silly-sounding name \"Fortenium\". However, since Wily himself discovered the element while designing Bass/Forte, it's not out of character for him to give it a silly name just to match his robot.\nAs well as the metal given the Fan Nickname \"Mettanium\", used to make the Met/Mettaurs/Methats that are so iconic in the series. One fan explanation for it not being used in every robot Wily makes is the fact that it's Unobtainium — or at least rare enough that only small objects can be created with it at a time.\nOrichalcum, seen elsewhere in this article, also turned up in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis as a power source for the machines of Atlantis and potentially other machines as well. Which is why Indy had to stop the Nazis from getting to it first.\nOrichalcum also shows up in these various titles (usually used to make gift jewelry).\nThey also feature Mystrle and Mythic Ore — used to give tools semi-magical properties.\nAnd plain ol' Mythril in Harvest Moon's spin-off titled Rune Factory.\nCommand & Conquer and its sequels feature Tiberium , a plant-like but crystalline xenoforming agent (in growth patterns and behaviour — it leeches various elements out of anything it touches, and makes more of itself) but which is actually a crystalline substance of extraterrestrial origin, as a harvestable resource and Global Currency - it often leeches the most valuable minerals out of an area, making them far easier to mine than would be economically feasible. Its name derives from where it was first encountered — the impact site of the meteor that carried it to Earth at the Tiber River — ergo, it was called Tiberium.note The Brotherhood of Nod would like you to note that the quoted name origin was part of a faked discovery story created for anti-Nod propaganda. The true discoverer of Tiberium, the Benevolent and Mighty Kane, named the substance in honour of Tiberius Caesar, but GDI propagandists insisted on altering every detail of the story. It's also terribly, terribly toxic, potentially radioactive (depending on what it leeches or assimilates), never stops growing (by the time of the second game, non-hovering watercraft are completely unusable because waterways are universally choked with Tiberium) and generally so dangerous that it explodes violently if processed improperly or stored in large enough quantities. Certain materials are more resistant to being turned into it, but all of them degrade eventually. With flesh, crystallization happens almost instantly. Nevermind the fact there's blue (canonical) and red/orange (semi-canonical) variants that are Made of Explodium — as if the green stuff didn't explode enough to begin with. With a bit of SCIENCE, you can turn tiberium (or tiberium-related substances, such as tiberium veins) into a chemical weapon that puts some of the deadliest stuff today to shame, or an explosive that makes a heavy-duty fuel air bomb look like a firecracker. Makes a lot more fictional sense if you know that C&C was itself based on the RTS game Dune II , which had you harvesting spice out of the ground.\nCleria, Emelas, etc. in the Ys series.\nStarCraft , likewise, had \"minerals\" of an unspecified type and \"Vespene Gas\" (which you require more of , by the way), which each of the playable races uses in a different way to produce its various units and buildings. Neosteel, the material of Terran construction, is another example. Also, the Khaydarin Crystals.\nXCOM :\nThe first two games of the series ( UFO and TFTD ) have Elerium, an element that formed in yellow crystals and had an atomic number of 115. By the third game , Elerium could be mined on Mars and extrasolar colonies. Elerium's in-game role was probably inspired by claims\nmade about element-115 in the 1980s by a UFO enthusiast with the splendidly appropriate name of Bob Lazar. Sadly, when someone eventually got around to synthesising the stuff they called it Ununpentium\ninstead, and it also appears that Lazar was talking through his hat.\nThe second game reveals that Elerium-115 becomes inert if submerged in salt-water for too long, and since the second game is subtitled Terror from the Deep, that's a bit of a problem. The new source of power is Zrbite - apparently, an artificial material created through molecular manipulation. Following the victory in TFTD, however, the aliens' Molecular Manipulation network collapses, and all remaining Zrbite becomes inert. It maintains its Unobtainium status, however, and Inert Zrbite is later used to build FTL-drive engines (with Elerium-115 as fuel).\nXCOM: Enemy Unknown also features Elerium, again used as a power source. Unfortunately, you can't synthesize it, and the only way to get it is looting it off the aliens. In-game, the heads of your R&D and engineering teams state that with a few years of focused research they could make both the Alien Alloys and the Elerium Generator commercially viable, but that there is no time for that big a project before the aliens are defeated.\nIn Xenonauts , just like in X-Com, you can salvage the alien fuel source, Alenium, which cannot be reproduced terrestrially. Incidentally, even before attempting to use it as .a power source, Xenonaut scientists decided they made for even better missile warheads, giving your interceptors an early shot in the arm in terms of firepower.\nKingdom Hearts :\nThe first game requires the player to collect various exotic metals and crystals such as mythril, orichalcum, lightning stones, power crystals, and serenity gems in order to create items, eventually including the most powerful weapon in the game.\nExtra points goes to Orichalcum+ in Kingdom Hearts 2 , which not only is like Orichalcum but better, but is in so few quantities that you just barely have enough to craft the only item which requires it: Ultima Weapon .\nMinecraft :\nRedstone, a nice little powder that can conduct electricity and can be used to open doors, power minecarts, make music, ect. Although it actually is very common when mining deep enough. The unminable bedrock is sometimes referred to as Unobtanium. This is probably the most accurate use of the name, since, without the use of cheats, you cannot obtain it.\nEmeralds. Although they can be traded for with villagers, trying to mine them isn't as easy. They rarely spawn and are only found in mountain biomes, scattered in random single block veins. Good luck. However, there are more emerald veins per chunk than diamond veins and occur at much higher levels, making them much more common in caves.\nWorld of Warcraft has frightening amounts of Unobtainium.\nStarting out around the time the player starts mining Mithril ore, proceeding through Truesilver, Arcanite, Fel Iron, Adamantium and finally Khorium and Eternium. To quote a recent Penny Arcade post on the subject, \"What's next? Awesomite?\"\nThere's also the equally-mundane Titanium, its enchanted cousin Titansteel, and the more fantastic Saronite. This contains or possibly is entirely the blood of the Eldritch Abomination Yog-Saron, God of Death, drives people who mine it mad, and naturally forms into the shape of skulls when smelted. And which for some inexplicable reason, people decided to make armor out of and wear. Yeah, sticking that on your head couldn't possibly go bad.\nWorld of Warcraft is also littered with mundanely-named minerals that possess properties far greater than their real-life counterparts .\nEngineers, Jewelcrafers, and Blacksmiths use Thorium (a radioactive metal used in some reactors as a replacement for uranium and of which powdered form has been known to spontaneously combust in the air... dust which would be prolific around any thorium mining, smelting or forging site... and causing liver damage if absorbed in the body pre-combustion) and later on Cobalt (which gives off toxic, arsenic containing fumes when smelted, is an active nutrient for bacteria, is the third highest rated metal for causing contact dermatitis, and can lead to cardiomyopathy or cobalt poisoning if too much is absorbed into the body from breathing or consuming cobalt dust or powder... which would be produced, as with thorium, by the mining, smelting, and forging process). And while these are real elements, the apparent ease and safety with which they can be mined, smelted, and forged adds an Unobtanium aspect to them. And we won't even start on mercury being as harmless as water in the Deepholm zone, with one quest even requiring you swim in a lake of it. Considering the average character's Power Level is way Over Nine Thousand by the time they get to Deepholm, plain old mercury shouldn't be a problem.\nAll of that aside, a plot version exists called Kaja'mite. A rare mineral only found on two islands that we know of, its presence gave the goblins super-intelligence. When supplies ran out, their intellects gradually went into decline and they spread out across the world as traders in hopes of finding new sources.\nFurther expansions added obsidium, elementium, truegold, ghost iron, kyparite, trillium, living steel and lightning steel.\nMass Effect :\nElement Zero or \"eezo\" is responsible for all of the technology in-game, as it has the ability to manipulate mass , which makes it valuable for propulsion systems, projectile weapons, kinetic force fields, artificial gravity, and a powerful, convenient method of Faster-Than-Light Travel . Indeed, \"eezo\" is a key element of virtually every advanced galactic technology.\n\" Biotics \" are individuals who were exposed to Element Zero in utero and manifested biotic abilities (the power to manipulate dark energy) as a result. Those who don't manifest are often born normally with few complications, but unfortunately there also exist some who develop fatal cancers and rarely make it to term. Other problems faced by Human biotics is that because they are still part of the first generation, many were wired with older models of Biotic amps before humanity really knew what they were doing. While the L3 amps are stable, those wired with the L2 models experience some serious side effects , everything from nosebleeds , to occasional migraine headaches, to full-on insanity.\nAnother use for Element Zero, commonly used by criminals is to refine it into a drug called \"Red Sand\", so named after the first drugs were developed from Eezo found on Mars. It's like cocaine, but it gives you limited biotic powers. Oh, and it's highly addictive, and addicts who can't pay for their habit are sometimes sold into slavery.\nThe Final Fantasy series is also known to have various forms of Unobtainium, such as orichalcum or adamantite. In fact, every RPG ever made by Square Enix has something like that, often in the same relation as the Kingdom Hearts example.\nFinal Fantasy Tactics A2 lives this trope to the full! Not only has it scores of metallic unobtainium, but also plenty of both osseous (bones) and dendritious (wood).\nThe Crusader games has two.\nDi-corellium, a mineral that is apparently better for use in nuclear reactors than plutonium—to the point that it almost became a metaphor for petroleum, and at the very least for energy crises in general, what with the increasing scarcity of it and power shortages on Earth because of it—and of which vast quantities, about half of all known reserves, are on the moon.\nPolonium — yes, '' that\n' polonium — an element than in real life is unstable, highly radioactive, and extremely toxic, is used as... body armor.\nMetroid Prime :\nThe games feature Phazon, which is a highly-mutagenic, violently unstable, sentient mineral. Being a bit more specific, there is an incredibly resistant metal made from it known as Phazite.\nIn addition, visor scans can identify the chemical properties of certain structures. When you see names such as \"Talloric Alloy\" and \"Bendenzium\" in the description of a destructible obstacle, it is usually an indication as to which weapon you will need to use to proceed.\nDwarf Fortress has a rather extensive simulation of real-world geology and metallurgy, including creating simple alloys such as bronze and electrum.\nIt also has Adamantine, an incredibly rare ore that can be processed into various forms that allow it to be used in almost any type of construction imaginable — weapons, armour, tools, clothing, furniture, building material... about the only things you can't make out of it (well, without modding ) are beds and food. It also happens to be both as light as styrofoam, be more resistant than any steel manageable, and being sharpenable enough that you can drop a knife on a stone floor and it'll be embedded to the hilt. Naturally, you can buy out a whole caravan with just one implement made from it. Be careful, though - if the vein is hollow, you're going to get a visit from the Circus .\nThere's also slade\n, which can't be dug out. Even if you could, it's horrendously heavy (we're talking core of the sun heavy), so the potential uses for it are very limited — not that it matters, as the game won't let you use it even if you somehow get some out of the wallsnote Makes for terrific catapult ammo, at least. You're not thinking about this, though, because if you've even seen slade, you've got other problems to worry about .\nNow the developer is planning for game worlds to each have their own unique unobtainium with each one making some rare materials with randomly generated properties. When he first tried it out, he expected metals but ended up getting cursed mist.\nThe Myst series has the artificial stones nara and deretheni. There is also a tawny stone found on Riven , used for ornamental purposes.\nThe X-Universe has Nividiumnote popularly thought to be a pun on Nvidia, but Word of God states otherwise, a rare material found in asteroids. Mining it seems to cause the ire of the hostile Kha'ak , whose ships use small amounts of nividium in their hull. Otherwise, it doesn't have many uses and its main value seems to come entirely from its rarity. However, X Rebirth states that Nividium is merely the Teladi's name for Platinum, and goes on to describe its usage as a catalyst in chemical reactions and as a heirloom for Teladi.\nSpice in Spore , as a reference to Dune . It can be used for anything - it's a food, dietary supplement, fuel source, cleaning product, narcotic...\nRatchet & Clank 's Raritanium\nzig-zags this a bit. In the first game , there's only one piece of it in the entire game, but then you can mine for it in Going Commando or get it by shooting enemies down in space. Then Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked have no important appearance of it (some wrench upgrades are stated to contain Raritanium in the latter). Then Tools of Destruction and Into the Nexus have it and it's used to upgrade your weapons, but it's... well, rare, and you won't be upgrading too much... until Challenge Mode , where you'll probably be drowning in the stuff. A Crack in Time only mentions the ore in the Argorian Battleplex's \"Raritanium Cup\" tournament. In the meantime, All 4 One , Full Frontal Assault , Into the Nexus, and R&C 2016 all have the Warmonger, a rocket launcher whose rockets are stated to be tipped with Raritanium.\nThe Null Fragments in zOMG! , when in use, were like this. These little purple gems could be used to make anything you could think of, from tattoos, to figurines, to feather boas, to the armor of an alien species, to... you get the idea.\nThe browser game Skyrates includes Unobtainium (in fact, portrayed as Green Rocks ) as a trade good, and is also used in role play and player discussion as a reasoning for hard to explain occurrences, jokingly or otherwise.\nA little-known RTS called Submarine Titans has \"Corium-296\"... which appears to suggest that it is an extremely heavy element. Corium is very important to achieving the advanced technologies in the game, but is not naturally found on Earth: the enormous comet that forced humanity under the seas was made of the stuff, and small deposits (fragments of the comet) are found all over the place. note \"Corium\" is actually a nuclear industry moniker for the molten goop that forms when the entire reactor core melts and its materials mix together and start interacting with the surrounding materials\nIn The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass , you need the three pure metals (each corresponding to one of the creator godesses) to create a blade that turns the titular hourglass into the Phantom Sword. It's required by the plot, since the Phantom sword is the only thing that can hurt Bellum . The names of the Pure Metals are derived from their color: Crimsonine, Azurine, and Aquanine.\nPsitanium from Psychonauts . High grade unobtainium — a meteorite that grants anything alive psychic powers and is the plot device for any number of absurd things in the game.\nIn Golden Sun , there are nine forgeable materials: in increasing order of power, Tear Stone, Star Dust, Sylph Feather, Dragon Skin, Salamander Tail, Golem Core, Mythril Silver, Dark Matter and Orihalcon.\nMaster of Orion :\nMaster of Orion 2 has Xentronium. It cannot be invented by the player and must instead be plundered from the Antarans, either by capturing and reverse engineering one of their warships or by defeating the Orion Guardian (both very difficult to pull off, and each only gives you a ~30% chance of acquiring the technology). If you're successful, you're rewarded with the best armor plating in existence (Xentronium edges out the best player-researchable armor by a 5:4 factor).\nThe MOO series also contains many other substances such as Tritanium, Zortrium, Uridium and Adamantium. Due to the way research works, any of these can be Unobtainium in a given game.\nSnoopy vs. The Red Baron for the Playstation Portable does this bald-facedly. In order to make a superweapon called the Doodlebug, the Red Baron needs, what else? \"Unobtainium.\" Subtle.\nHalf-Life series\nHalf-Life 's Xenium: if you focus a particle beam on a pure crystal, it can rip through dimensions. And it can't be found on Earth but is an essential component to human-made teleporters.\nHalf-Life 2 Or that blue-ish metal Combine tech is made of. Whatever it is, it can't be scratched by anti-tank rocket impacts and reflects tau particle beams. Also, dark energy\nwas the universe's scientific Unobtainium just like in real life — until the Combine came; the Citadel's central reactor is an inexhaustible supply of the stuff. It is used to generate plasma made of exotic matter which is the basis of all Combine tech.\nThe instruction manual for Supreme Commander 2 explicitly mentions that the humongous mecha King Kriptor is unobtainium-armored .\nRuneScape features many odd metals, including Mithril and Adamantite. It also features \"Runite\" as a metal. Then there's the \"Dragon\" metal, which unlike the others, cannot be mined anywhere, nor can it be forged. Weapons made of Dragon metal can be obtained through drops, but not made.\nIn Original War a recently discovered material known as Siberite, or Alaskite, depending on timeline, is an efficient energy source, can be used as a nuclear weapon and can power up a time machine.\nAustralium in the backstory of Team Fortress 2 , a material so powerful and versatile that it has granted the rather dim-witted Australians global technological supremacy. Shipped in bars marked with a picture of a man fighting a kangaroo. It also has the side effect of causing Testosterone Poisoning to those who handle it, turning anyone using into ridiculously manly Boisterous Bruisers with Badass Mustaches and Carpets Of Virility . Even the women. It's also usable as rocket fuel. Disclaimer: we didn't say it was good rocket fuel. The Life Extenders used by certain characters also run on the stuff.\nThe Phantasy Star series has laconia, a metal similar to silver in appearance that is found on the planet Dezoris; it is often refined and crafted into some of the best gear available in the series.\nSam & Max approach a mine tunnel in Beyond the Alley of the Dolls: \"Maybe there's gold down this tunnel! Or rare deposits of Cantgetium!\"\nADAM from BioShock is produced only by a specific variety of deep sea slugs and has the power to rewrite a human's entire genome in minutes, and even transfer memories from one individual to another to some extent.\nThe Perils of Akumos offers us naxonite and peryolitium, which are particularly hard to find considering that you're supposed to be near mines of them.\nIn The Elder Scrolls , various types of unobtainium are used for armor and weapons.\nAs seen in Morrowind , the confusingly named ebony and glass are volcanic minerals. Daedric armor is forged from magicked ebony.\nIn the Shivering Isles expansion to Oblivion the smiths in New Sheoth can forge armor and weapons from amber and madness ore. (Lord only knows what the latter comes from.)\nSkyrim reveals that orcish and elven armor are partially forged from orichalcum and quicksilver, respectively.\nDwarven metal is an interesting case, as it's unobtainium In-Universe : in-game books in Skyrim reveal that mages, smiths, and scholars have tried for years to imitate its properties, with no success. Apparently the Dwemer were just that advanced in metallurgy. The only reliable source is recycled scrap metal from Dwemer ruins.\nSkyrim allows elite smiths to forge armor from dragon scales and bones. The modding community has seen fit to add dragonbone weapons as well. And Bethesda themselves later added dragonbone weapons when they released the Dawnguard DLC.\nThe first 2009 episode of The Colbert Report 's Show Within a Show Tek Jansen has the Big Bad enslaving some tiny doughboy aliens to mine Scarcerarium .\nDuck Dodgers in the 24�th Century : Duck Dodgers went to Planet X to find Illudium Phosdex, the Shaving Cream Atom, in his classic '50s adventure.\nSpiral Zone has Neutron-90, the rare material that the Zone Riders' uniforms are made from; it protects the soldiers from the Spiral Zone's Mind Control effect. At the beginning of the series, there's only enough of it to make five suits. Later, enough Neutron-90 is discovered to make two additional uniforms, and so Sixth Rangers Ned Tucker and Ben Davis are able to join the team.\nPhineas and Ferb :\nIn \"Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo\", Phineas and Ferb need a wood and steel fusing tool, which apparently won't be invented for 20 years.\nIn \"Vanessassary Roughness\", the element \"Pizzazium Infinionite\" is described as (maybe) having wondrous properties that could be used in the future to power generically-futuristic technology.\nIn Teen Titans , the thief Red X used a suit that was powered by Xenothium, which was only described as being unstable and crazy dangerous, but was capable of insane things, such as creating explosive projectiles, shields, metallic bands and all kinds of crazy shizz. (Apparently, the stuff is so dangerous that even respectable superheroes like Robin aren't allowed to buy it; he had to get it from the black market.)\nChlorine trifluoride\nis the real-world stuff. Derek Lowe has a nightmarish description at his blog.\nFrom that article: \"It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic (combusts spontaneously) with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, and asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively.\"\nThere is a pure Nightmare Fuel -level rumor that the Germans produced as much as 30 tons of the stuff to use as an incendiary weapon and rocket fuel during the World War II , but put it into the storage after it became clear that the war is going nowhere � and then it simply disappeared somewhere...\nPandemonium was in fact an early name for the transuranic metal americium, which is highly radioactive. It was called such because it was extremely difficult to separate from the element curium which was originally called delirium.\nGreek Fire - Accounts say it was a combination of volatile chemicals in liquid form that, when launched, would burn on and be ignited by water. There are several possible candidates for its original formula, or possibly formulae, but the exact details are lost to history.\nCarbon nanotubes have immensely useful electronic, optical, and mechanical properties, including a strength-to-weight ratio vastly superior to any building material currently in use. Sadly, as of 2010, even poor grade nanotubes go for about $100/gram. Guess that space elevator will have to wait a few more years. The biggest problem with them at the moment is to avoid cumulative weakening, as at the moment the more nanotubes you stock together, the more the nanoscopic faults accumulate, until their strength is all but gone. Still, many scientists are confident that they'll have long and durable nanotube strings in a couple of years.\nMountain biker slang for a bike made of a rare or expensive material is also 'unobtainium'.\nIn the late 70's Silicon Valley, there were two popular materials for solving otherwise intractable engineering problems, very specifically: Unobtainium-12 and Expensium-6. Neither was in the Grainger's or Thomas catalog.","Forests Are for Kids: Stuff We Get From Trees!\nWe get a lot more from trees ... Did you know that trees provide us with more than 5,000 products that people use every day? ... Turpentine is the most widely used ...\nForests Are for Kids: Stuff We Get From Trees!\nWe get a lot more from trees\nthan wood and paper!\nDid you know that trees provide us with more than 5,000 products that people use every day? It's true! From photographic film to paints and from toothpaste to tires, tree-based chemicals and other wood by-products are all around us.\nResin:\nWood resin is one of many tree-based chemicals. In nature, resin is the goop that forms a protective coating around a plant wound. It creates a hard coating that microorganisms and insects can't penetrate. People gather the resin of pine trees and use it in many ways. We've even classified resin into three categories: hard resins, oleoresins, and gum resins.\nRosin is the most important of the hard resins. It is used in paint, varnishes, and in soapmaking. Rosin also is used to make the bows of stringed instruments sticky so they produce more beautiful music. And rosin is used by ballplayers to give them a better grip on balls and bats.\nTurpentine is the most widely used oleoresin. It is a solvent -- meaning that it dissolves other substances -- that is used in paint, varnish, waterproofing, and shoe polish.\nGum Resins are used to make other chemical products.\nWaiter! There's a tree in my Twinkie®!\nThere are tree-based chemicals in many of our food and beverage products! Some of these chemicals are used as flavorings, while others keep the ingredients in food from separating. There's even a tree-based chemical that makes bubble gum chewier!\nCellulose, the material that makes up the walls of tree cells, is used as a food thickener in such tasty treats as snack food, milk shakes, ice cream, cake frosting, and pancake syrup!\nCellulose also is an important ingredient in non-edible products such as eyeglass frames, steering wheels, hairbrush handles, cellophane, and photographic film!\nYou're surrounded!\nThat's right! You're surrounded by stuff that comes from trees. How many different tree products can you see from where you're sitting right now? WOOD You Believe thousands? Click here to find more!","Giz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\nNot the hardest, or the most resistant to deformation. Just.. ... What's the Strongest Material Known to Man? John Herrman. 10/26/10 2:40pm. Filed to: ...\nGiz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\nGiz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\nAdamantite! Rearden Metal! Uru! Durasteel! Dalekanium! Unobtanium! Thousands of fictional characters have fought and died for these equally fictional super-materials. So what is the real-life strongest substance on our puny, sun-warmed planet?\nAdvertisement\nMankind's pursuit of the \"strongest\" material hasn't exctly been a concerted, organized effort, but it figures into history in incredibly profound ways. Hell, anyone who's played Age of Empires or Civilization—or read a book—knows that historians name entire eras after materials. The Iron (and steel) Age followed the Bronze Age, which followed the Copper Age. Materials got stronger, and humanity advanced. The two were hugely correlated.\nIt's been a while since we've had a good ol' material-based epoch. Too long! So let's find the next one. Goodbye Age of Computers, hello Age of ________.\nTo say that a material is \"strong\" describes so many different things that it can end up meaning nothing. A piece of chalk is stronger than a piece of string cheese in one way, but not another. Spiderweb may be stronger than steel in a particular test, but it's still a bendy, silky mess. So what do we mean when we talk about strength?\nMark Hersam, Professor of Materials Science (and Chemistry) at Northwestern University, has an answer. Well, a few answers: \"Typically when people talk about strength, they're talking about the amount of stress that needs to be applied before fracture. It's possible they could also be referring to how quickly it deforms.\" It's also possible that they could be talking about compressive strength, which is a measure of how easy it is for a material to get crushed. You could even be referring to impact strength, which is a material's ability to sustain a sudden smack. Arg! Make up your minds, people!\nAdvertisement\nFortunately, the 20/20 hindsight of history can guide us forward. Remember our ages? Iron, steel, copper, bronze—these are materials that we make things out of, be they structures or instruments. Hard things. Tough things: swords or trucks or skyscrapers or bridges. We're looking for hardness, yield strength—that's resistance to deformation, like denting or stretching—and tensile strength, which basically refers to bending. A material of world champion strength would be an optimum hybrid of these two qualities.\nTungsten carbide is phenomenally hard and has great yield strength, but is worryingly brittle when smashed or bent. Osmium alloys follow that same trend: extremely hard, but shatterable and lacking in true tensile strength. Diamonds are harder than either, but nearly impossible to work with or use in practical products and very, very rare. (Ever heard of a molded diamond? A diamond fighter jet? Right.)\nTitanium alloys can be flexible and boast high tensile strength, but aren't as hard as steel alloys. Amorphous alloys like Liquidmetal, Apple's new squeeze, are among the strongest materials all-around, with respectable hardness, huge tensile strength and resistance to fatigue—though it's not superlative in any way. Every metal has its weaknesses, is what I'm saying.\nThe real super-materials, well, they don't quite exist yet. But we're getting closer. You've probably heard a lot about graphene in the last few weeks , after a couple of scientists won Nobel Prizes for their work with the material. You've probably heard that it's hard. (200x harder than steel.) That it's flexible. That it conducts electricity, and happens to be transparent. What you've probably heard, in a nutshell, is that it's awesome. It has immediate and obvious applications in electronics, and Andre Geim, one of the recipients of the prize, went so far as to tell the AP, \"[Graphene] has all the potential to change your life in the same way that plastics did.\"\nGraphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the Hell Is It? Graphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the Hell Is It? Graphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the…\nToday, two professors won the Nobel prize for physics \"for groundbreaking experiments… Read more Read more\nThe test that two years ago led to the declaration of graphene as the world's strongest material was a test of a one-atom-thick sheet of the stuff. Had the experiment taken place on a (theoretical) larger scale, the numbers would scale up favorably. An inch-thick block of material with graphene's properties would be virtually indestructible. Thing is, such a sheet can't exist.\nAdvertisement\nSponsored\n\"The property [of strength] is nominally independent of the geometry, but the problem is that the application definitely depends on the geometry,\" says Hersam. And what he means, in English, is that while graphene in amazingly strong, this strength can't easily be adapted to real, useful applications. Graphene is by definition a sheet of carbon atoms, bonded in a particular way, but always one atom thick. If you try to stack these sheets together, they can bond, but not well. Stacked graphene is called flake graphite—pencil lead, basically. And you can't build a bridge or a gun or a satellite out of pencil lead.\nBut wait! All is not lost for graphene. Not nearly. \"Graphene has to be incorporated into some matrix—a polymer, or a metal,\" says Hersamin. Basically, in order for it to be used in the real world, the stuff needs to become a component of something else. The trick will be maintaining its outstanding mechanical properties while it's dispersed inside another material.\nAdvertisement\nThis, he says, is an open question. Everybody's excited about graphene, but nobody's building graphene smartphones—yet. \"If you can stitch the graphene into a plastic or into a metal in such a way that the load of the plastic or metal would transfer to the graphene, so that the graphene in reenforcing the bulk of the material,\" then you'd might have yourself a super-material.\nCarbon nanotubes have long been held to have similar potential, but progress hasn't been great. You'll see carbon-nanotube gear at the top echelons of some sports, but it's a luxury, and its benefits—particularly when it comes to strength—aren't exactly huge. In order to get the nanotubes to bond with other materials, the bonding within the nanotubes themselves has to be compromised somewhat. It's a bit of a Catch-22, and graphene is every bit as vulnerable to the same fate; because nanotubes, to put it crudely, are just rolled-up sheets of graphene.\nSome worry that graphene will suffer this same fate: a lonely material unable to find a suitable matrix-mate for years, the promise of its youth spread thin over time as enthusiasm for its charms wanes... But for now, the mood is optimistic. Some researchers, Hersam says, already believe they've come up with a way to stitch the graphene into a matrix without drastically changing its mechanical properties, but their thesis is new, and so far untested. It does seem to be the case, though, that the two-dimensionally arranged carbon atoms in graphene will be more forgiving than nanotubes, as far as material scientists are concerned.\nAdvertisement\nThe take-away is that graphene gear will never be possible, but something that is approximately like graphene may one day be used to build all kinds of things. And even then, it'll be difficult to say that it's the strongest material in the world. Its carbon-cousin, diamonds, may still be harder; certain metals may have slightly higher tensile strength. It might not claim a single record, or make for a great title for an era (The Graphene Composite 1.0 Age?), but it'll be strong. Not the hardest, or the most resistant to deformation. Just.. really strong.\nGear from Kinja Deals","Tine_(structural).txt\nTine (structural)\nTines or prongs or teeth are parallel or branching spikes forming parts of a tool or natural object. They are used to spear, hook, move or otherwise act on other objects. They may be made of metal, wood, bone or other hard, strong material.\n\nThe number of tines (also written tynes) on tools varies widely – a pitchfork may have just two, a garden fork may have four, and a rake or harrow many. Tines may be blunt, such as those on a fork used as an eating utensil; or sharp, as on a pitchfork; or even barbed, as on a trident. The terms \"tine\" and \"prong\" are mostly interchangeable. A tooth of a comb is a tine.\n\nTines and prongs occur in nature—for example, forming the branched bony antlers of deer or the forked horns of pronghorn antelopes. The term \"tine\" is also used for mountains, such as the fictional Silvertine in The Lord of the Rings.\n\nIn chaos theory (physics, non-linear dynamics), the branches of a bifurcation diagram are called tines and subtines.","Railroad_tie.txt\nRailroad tie\nA railroad tie/railway tie/crosstie (North America) or railway sleeper (British Isles and Australasia) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge.\n\nRailroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but pre-stressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. \n\nUp to 3,000 ties are used per mile of railroad track in the US, 2,640 per mile (30 per 60 ft rail) on main lines in the UK. Rails in the US may be fastened to the tie by a railroad spike; iron/steel baseplates screwed to the tie and secured to the rail by a proprietary fastening system such as a Vossloh or Pandrol are commonly used in Europe.\n\nTypes\n\nStone block\n\nThe type of railroad tie used on the predecessors of the first true railway (Liverpool and Manchester Railway) consisted of a pair of stone blocks laid into the ground, with the chairs holding the rails fixed to those blocks. One advantage of this method of construction was that it allowed horses to tread the middle path without the risk of tripping. In railway use with ever heavier locomotives, it was found that it was hard to maintain the correct gauge. The stone blocks were in any case unsuitable on soft ground, such as at Chat Moss, where timber ties had to be used. Bi-block ties with a tie rod are somewhat similar.\n\nWooden\n\nHistorically wooden rail ties were made by hewing with an axe, called axe ties or sawn to achieve at least two flat sides.\nA variety of softwood and hardwoods timbers are used as ties, oak, jarrah and karri being popular hardwoods, although increasingly difficult to obtain, especially from sustainable sources. Some lines use softwoods, including Douglas fir; while they have the advantage of accepting treatment more readily, they are more susceptible to wear but are cheaper, lighter (and therefore easier to handle) and more readily available. Softwood is treated, while creosote is the most common preservative for railway ties, but more effective preservatives are also sometimes used such as pentachlorophenol, chromated copper arsenate and a few other preservatives. Sometimes non-toxic preservatives are used, such as copper azole or micronized copper. New boron-based wood preserving technology is being employed by major US railroads in a dual treatment process in order to extend the life of wood ties in wet areas. Some timbers (such as sal, mora, jarrah or azobé) are durable enough that they can be used untreated. \n\nProblems with wooden ties include rot, splitting, insect infestation, plate-cutting, also known as chair shuffle in the UK (abrasive damage to the tie caused by lateral motion of the tie plate) and spike-pull (where the spike is gradually loosened from the tie). For more information on wooden ties the Railway Tie Association maintains a comprehensive website devoted to wood tie research and statistics.\n\nWooden ties can, of course, catch fire; as they age they develop cracks that allow sparks to lodge so that they catch fire more easily.\n\nConcrete\n\nConcrete ties are cheaper and easier to obtain than timber and better able to carry higher axle-weights and sustain higher speeds. Their greater weight ensures improved retention of track geometry, especially when installed with continuous-welded rail. Concrete ties have a longer service life and require less maintenance than timber due to their greater weight, which helps them remain in the correct position longer. Concrete ties need to be installed on a well-prepared subgrade with an adequate depth on free-draining ballast to perform well. Concrete ties amplify wheel noise, so wooden ties are often used in densely populated areas.\n\nOn the highest categories of line in the UK (those with the highest speeds and tonnages), pre-stressed concrete ties are the only ones permitted by Network Rail standards.\n\nMost European railways also now use concrete bearers in switches and crossing layouts due to the longer life and lower cost of concrete bearers compared to timber, which is increasingly difficult and expensive to source in sufficient quantities and quality.\n\nSteel\n\nSteel ties are formed from pressed steel and are trough-shaped in section. The ends of the tie are shaped to form a \"spade\" which increases the lateral resistance of the tie. Housings to accommodate the fastening system are welded to the upper surface of the tie. Steel ties are now in widespread use on secondary or lower-speed lines in the UK where they have been found to be economical to install due their ability to be installed on the existing ballast bed. Steel ties are lighter in weight than concrete and able to stack in compact bundles unlike timber. Steel ties can be installed onto the existing ballast, unlike concrete ties which require a full depth of new ballast. Steel ties are 100% recyclable and require up to 60% less ballast than concrete ties and up to 45% less than wood ties.\n\nHistorically, steel ties have suffered from poor design and increased traffic loads over their normally long service life. These aged and often obsolete designs limited load and speed capacity but can still be found in many locations globally and performing adequately despite decades of service. There are great numbers of steel ties with over 50 years of service and in some cases they can and have been rehabilitated and continue to perform well. Steel ties were also used in specialty situations, such as the Hejaz Railway in the Arabian Peninsula, which had an ongoing problem with Bedouins who would steal wooden ties for campfires. \n\nModern steel ties handle heavy loads, have a proven record of performance in signalized track, and handle adverse track conditions. Of high importance to railroad companies is the fact that steel ties are more economical to install in new construction than creosote-treated wood ties and concrete ties. Steel ties are utilized in nearly all sectors of the worldwide railroad systems including heavy-haul, class 1s, regional, shortlines, mining, electrified passenger lines (OHLE) and all manner of industries. Notably, steel ties (bearers) have proven themselves over the last few decades to be advantageous in turnouts (switches) and provide the solution to the ever-growing problem of long timber ties for such use.\n\nWhen insulated to prevent conduction through the ties, steel ties may be used with track circuit based train detection and track integrity systems. Without insulation, steel ties may only be used on lines without block signaling and level crossings or on lines that use other forms of train detection such as axle counters.\n\nHybrid plastics/Composite plastics\n\nIn more recent times, a number of companies are selling composite railroad ties manufactured from recycled plastic resins, and recycled rubber. Manufacturers claim a service life longer than wooden ties with an expected lifetime in the range of 30–80 years, that the ties are impervious to rot and insect attack, and that they can be modified with a special relief on the bottom to provide additional lateral stability. In some main track applications the hybrid plastic tie has a recessed design to be completely surrounded by ballast.\n\nAside from the environmental benefits of using recycled material, plastic ties usually replace timber ties soaked in creosote, the latter being a toxic chemical, and are themselves recyclable. Hybrid plastic railroad ties and composite ties are used in other rail applications such as underground mining operations, industrial zones, humid environments and densely populated areas. Hybrid railroad ties are also used to be partly exchanged with rotten wooden ties, which will result in continuous track stiffness. Hybrid plastic ties and composite ties also offer benefits on bridges and viaducts, because they lead to better distribution of forces and reduction of vibrations into respectively bridge girders or the ballast. This is due to better damping properties of hybrid plastic ties and composite ties, which will decrease the intensity of vibrations as well as the sound production. \n\nIn 2009, Network Rail announced that they were to begin replacing wooden ties with recycled plastic ones made by I-Plas ltd of Halifax, West Yorkshire; but then I-Plas went into insolvency in October 2012. \n\nThe Cable TV series Factory Made has a segment on the manufacture of plastic ties. \n\nIn 2012, New Zealand ordered a trial batch of \"EcoTrax\" brand recycled composite ties from Axion for use on turnouts and bridges, but then Axion filed for bankruptcy in December 2015. These ties are developed by Dr. Nosker at Rutgers University. \n\nIn 2014 the KLP Hybrid Plastic Tie, by Lankhorst Engineered Products of Sneek, Netherlands, won the Privatbahn Magazin Innovation Award in the category Track and Infrastructure. \n \n\nFiberglass \n\nTies may also be made from fiberglass. \n\nNon-conventional tie forms\n\nY-shaped ties\n\nAn unusual form of tie is the Y-shaped tie, first developed in 1983. Compared to conventional ties the volume of ballast required is reduced due to the load-spreading characteristics of the Y-tie. Noise levels are high but the resistance to track movement is very good. For curves the three-point contact of a Y steel tie means that an exact geometric fit cannot be observed with a fixed attachment point.\n\nThe cross section of the ties is an I-beam. \n\nAs of 2006 less than 1,000 km of Y-tie track had been built, of which approximately 90-percent is in Germany. \n\nTwin ties\n\nThe ZSX Twin tie is manufactured by Leonhard Moll Betonwerke GmbH & Co KG and is a pair of two pre-stressed concrete ties longitudinally connected by four steel rods. The design is said to be suitable for track with sharp curves, track subject to temperature stress such as that operated by trains with eddy brakes, bridges and as transition track between traditional track and slab track or bridges. \n\nWide ties\n\nConcrete monoblock ties have also been produced in a wider form (e.g. 57 cm) such that there is no ballast between the ties; this wide tie increases lateral resistance and reduces ballast pressure. The system has been used in Germany where wide ties have also been used in conjunction with the GETRAC A3 ballastless track systems. \n\nBi-block ties\n\nBi-block (or twinblock) ties consist of two concrete rail supports joined by a steel bar. Advantages include increased lateral resistance and lower weight than monobloc concrete ties, as well as elimination of damage from torsional forces on the ties center due the more flexible steel connections. This tie type is in common use in France, and are used on the high-speed TGV lines. Bi-block ties are also used in ballastless track systems.\n\nFrame ties\n\nFrame ties (German: Rahmenschwelle) comprise both lateral and longitudinal members in a single monolithic concrete casting. This system is in use in Austria; in the Austrian system the track is fastened at the four corners of the frame, and is also supported midway along the frame. Adjacent frame ties are butted close to each other. Advantages of this system over conventional cross increased support of track. In addition, construction methods used for this type of track are similar to those used for conventional track. \n\nLadder track\n\nIn ladder track the ties are laid parallel to the rails and are several meters long. The structure is similar to Brunel's baulk track; these longitudinal ties can be used with ballast, or with elastomer supports on a solid non-ballasted support.\n\nFastening rails to railroad ties\n\nVarious methods exist for fixing the rail to the railroad ties. Historically spikes gave way to cast iron chairs fixed to the tie, more recently springs (such as Pandrol clips) are used to fix the rail to the tie chair.\n\nOther uses\n\nIn recent years, wooden railroad ties have also become popular for gardening and landscaping, both in creating retaining walls and raised-bed gardens, and sometimes for building steps as well. Traditionally, the ties sold for this purpose are decommissioned ties taken from rail lines when replaced with new ties, and their lifespan is often limited due to rot. Some entrepreneurs sell new ties. Due to the presence of wood preservatives such as coal tar, creosote or salts of heavy metals, railroad ties introduce an extra element of soil pollution into gardens and are avoided by many property owners. In the UK, new oak beams of the same size as standard railroad ties, but not treated with dangerous chemicals, are now available specifically for garden construction. They are about twice the price of the recycled product. In some places, railroad ties have been used in the construction of homes, particularly among those with lower incomes, especially near railroad tracks, including railroad employees. They are also used as cribbing for docks and boathouses.\n\nThe Spanish artist Agustín Ibarrola has used recycled ties from Renfe in several projects.\n\nIn Germany, use of wooden railroad ties as building material (namely in gardens, houses and in all places where regular contact to human skin would be likely, in all areas frequented by children and in all areas associated with the production or handling of food in any way) has been prohibited by law since 1991 because they pose a significant risk to health and environment. From 1991 to 2002, this was regulated by the Teerölverordnung (Carbolineum By-law), and since 2002 has been regulated by the Chemikalien-Verbotsverordnung (Chemicals Prohibition By-law), §1 and Annex, Parts 10 and 17. \n\nBallastless track\n\nBallastless track is designed such that no underlying ballast is required. The first such tracks were mountain railways (like Pilatus Railway, built in 1889) with rails attached directly to the mountain rock. From the late 1960s onwards, German, British, Swiss and Japanese railways experimented with alternatives to the traditional railroad tie in search of solutions with higher accuracy and longevity, and lowered maintenance costs. \n\nThis gave rise to the ballastless railway track, especially in tunnels, high-speed railway lines and on lines with high train frequency, which have high stress imposed on trackage. Paved concrete track has the rail fastened directly to a concrete slab, about half a meter thick, without ties. A similar but less expensive alternative is to accurately position concrete ties and then pour a concrete slab between and around them; this method is called \"cast-in precast sleeper track\". \n\nThese systems offer the advantage of superior stability and almost complete absence of deformation. Ballastless track systems incur significantly lower maintenance costs compared to ballasted track. Due to the absence of any ballast, damage by flying ballast is eliminated, something that occurs at speeds in excess of 250 km/h (150 mph). It is also useful for existing railroad tunnels; as slab track is of shallower construction than ballasted track, it may provide the extra overhead clearances necessary for converting a line to overhead electrification, or for the passage of larger trains. \n\nBuilding a slab track is more expensive than building traditional ballasted track, which has slowed its introduction outside of high-speed rail lines. These layouts are not easy to modify after they are installed, and the curing time of the concrete makes it difficult to convert an existing, busy railway line to a ballastless setup.\n\nSlab track can also be significantly louder and cause more vibration than traditional ballasted track. While this is in some part attributable to slab track's decreased sound absorption qualities, a more significant factor is that slab track typically uses softer rail fasteners to provide vertical compliance similar to ballasted track; these can lead to more noise, as they permit the rail to vibrate over a greater length.\n\nWhere it is critical to reduce noise and vibration, the concrete slab can be supported upon soft resilient bearings. This configuration, called \"floating slab track\", is expensive and requires more depth or height, but can reduce noise and vibration by around 80%. Alternatively, the rail can be supported along its length by an elastic material; when combined with a smaller rail section, this can provide a significant noise reduction over traditional ballasted track.","The Victorian Armchair - The Arts and Crafts Home\nSheraton illustrated and listed many types common in the late 18th Century including ... BERGERE. An armchair with cane ... Cotton cloth of varying grades first made ...\nThe Arts & Crafts Home\nVery large and fine easy library armchair, by Howard and Sons\nHeight 0.870, Width 0.870, Depth 1.030\nPrice SOLD (VA4)\nFine easy library armchair, by Howard & Sons\nHeight 0.830, Width 0.670, Depth 0.970\nPrice SOLD (VA3)\nFine and large Edwardian wing library armchair, with Mahogany legs.\nHeight 1.180, Width 0.840, Depth 0.840\nPrice £1150.00 (VA2)\nFine and large Victorian easy chair, by Howard and Sons.\nHeight 0.810, width 0.820, Depth 1.020\nPrice £1450.00 (VA1)\nPRICING\nThe price for an original Victorian armchair, fully renovated and re-upholstered starts at £850.00 (includes VAT and excludes fabric 7m and delivery).\nThe price for an orginal Victorian sofa, fully renovated and re-upholstered starts at £1400.00 (includes VAR and excludes fabric 13m and delivery).\nWe can replicate any arm-chair or sofa you have, and can upholster in any of our extensive range of fabrics , or we can use your own choice of fabric. Please email for prices.\n \nRANGE OF REPLICA VICTORIAN ARMCHAIRS AND SOFAS\nEach sofa and armchair are made to order, and the sizes listed can be adapted for clients specifications. We can adapt the height width and depth of any of our armchairs and sofas, and we are able to match any existing armchair or sofa you may wish to copy.\nWe can email larger images and further details upon request email .\n \n(HOW TO UPHOLSTER, RECOVER & REPAIR TRADITIONAL AND MODERN CHAIRS, SOFAS, OTTOMANS & STOOLS)\nTOOLS\nMagnetic tacking hammer\nThis is the most basic of all upholstery tools. There are two main types.\n1 A hammer with a plain 12 mm diameter head at one end, and an 8 mm diameter magnetized cabriole head at the other. The cabriole head is smaller and is used in places which are difficult to locate with the larger head. The un-magnetized head is also useful for nailing.\n2 A hammer with a magnetized head at one end and a tack removing claw at the other end. Care should be taken not to damage the fabric when using this claw.\nTacks are still traditionally held in the mouth for convenience. The beginner may be put off by the danger of swallowing one, but this risk is minimized if only about six are held at one time and they are stored beneath the tongue, to be brought forward as required. Each tack can be withdrawn directly from the mouth on to the magnetized end of the hammer provided the tack is turned by the tongue so that the head faces outwards from the mouth. Accuracy in placing comes with practice.\nStaple gun\nThis is used by manufacturers for speeding up production. It is not necessary for the home upholsterer. Guns are obtainable either air powered from a compressor, or they can be plugged in to the normal electricity mains.\nTape\nA flexible 2 m metal tape is required for general upholstery work. One which is graduated in both metric and imperial units will be useful in helping the reader to convert from one system to the other. The reader should accustom himself to think directly in metric rather than convert continuously between the scales. A straight wooden rule is more convenient for cutting fabric on a flat table.\nPincers\nA pair of pincers is required for extracting nails and staples when stripping a frame.\nShears\nA pair of shears is necessary to cut out fabric and for general upholstery work. Heavy duty shears for cutting fabric are usually 300 mm long but a pair 250 mm is suitable for both operations. It is worth investing in a pair with a good brand name.\nBench or trestles\nA bench, or a pair of trestles, is required to support the work at a height suitable for easy working, usually about 700 from the ground. The bench size should be about 750 mm square, and the trestles about 750 mm by 200 mm. A padded roll is often tacked round the perimeter of the trestles to prevent damaging the work.\nMallet and ripping chisel\nThe ripping chisel is used for extracting tacks. Although there arc many types available, an ordinary screwdriver with a plastic or wooden flat-topped handle will serve the purpose adequately. A mallet should always be used with the chisel to prevent damaging the handle. Hold the blade on the edge of the tack head and hit the chisel handle with the mallet. A few blows may be required before the tack is lifted. The tack should be ripped out in the direction of the grain to avoid splitting the timber.\nStaple extractor\nBecause of the ease with which staples can be put into a frame, there are usually more of them to extract than if tacks had been used. There arc many tools available for extracting staples. The one illustrated is one of the more successful types. It works by prizing the staple up with one of the end points. A final twist pulls the staple free.\nWebbing stretcher\nThis is used for stretching webbing tightly on a scat or back. There are several types available. If the stretcher is needed infrequently, a plain block of wood can be used. The webbing is wound around the block which is then levered against the frame to strain the webbing. Other specially made stretchers have grooved edges which fit against the rail to prevent the stretcher from slipping. One type uses a metal lever to hold the webbing, while the bat type has a slot through which the webbing is held by means of a peg. Another type has a series of spikes at one end by which the webbing is held. The disadvantage of the latter is that webbing is wasted due to the damage caused by the spikes.\nNeedles\nThere are four basic types of needle required by the upholsterer.\n1 Regulator. This is used to even stuffing. It should not be used over a fabric because holes may result. Skewers are safer for this purpose as they produce smaller holes, but care needs to be taken. The flattened end of the regulator can be used for moving stuffing beneath a fabric where a hand can not reach. The needles come in different lengths, but one 250 mm long should be adequate.\n2 Skewers. These are not only used for regulating, but also for temporarily holding material in position before slip stitching. They are also used when making a spring edge for attaching the scrim to the edge wire prior to sewing.\n3 Straight stitching needle. This is used for stitching edges, and for threading buttons through the upholstery. Both ends of the needle are pointed.\nA bayonet needle is similar, but is triangular in section down one third of its length. The purpose of this needle is to cut through stuffing which a stitching needle cannot penetrate. It can be obtained in different lengths, but one stitching needle about 300 mm long is satisfactory for most purposes.\n4 Circular needle. This is semi-circular and is used when the stitching needle is not practical, such as for sewing hessian around a spring unit. This needle is about 100 mm long, but smaller ones used for slip stitching are about 50 mm long.\nA spring needle is bayonet pointed, and is used, as its name implies, for sewing hour glass springs to webbing. This, too, is used for sewing through stuffing which an ordinary circular needle cannot penetrate.\nButton making machine\nThis machine converts a two-piece metal mould and a disc of fabric into a button. The top half of the mould forms the shape of the button and the lower half contains the fixing. This may be by a metal loop, a cloth tuft or a spike.\nA peddle operated machine can be used more efficiently than a hand machine. The object of both types is to bring the moulds together, trapping the fabric between them. Automatic electric machines are being used increasingly in factories.\nButtons can be obtained in different sizes, ranging from small ones suitable for deep buttoning work, to the larger ones of which very few arc needed for each job.\nLoose seat machine\nThis is used in mass production to simplify the upholstering of dining chair type loose seats. The machine consists essentially of a jig to hold the frame, and a rain to compress the stuffing.\nThe cover is placed upside down in the machine, followed by the stuffing, and then the base which, if necessary, has been previously covered with webbing and hessian. The ram, which usually works by compressed air, is brought down. This presses the frame on to the stuffing. All that is now required is to tack or staple the overhanging cover to the frame.\nCushion filling machine\nThis machine was common when spring interior cushions were used. Now the use of dacron in cushions has created again a demand for the machine. It can be worked manually by handles or it can be air or electrically powered. The cushion is placed in the machine and the lid is closed. The sides of the cushion are compressed by the machine and the cover is slipped over the mouth of the machine. A ram then forces the cushion forward into the cover. The filling of the cushion is completed by hand.\nElectrical cutters\nSpecial cutters can be obtained to cut anything from flexible foams to layers of fabrics. There are two main types of electrical cutter.\n1 The straight knife which operates by the oscillation of a vertical blade, and can cut greater thicknesses than the round knife but is slightly slower.\n2 The round knife which cuts by the rotation of a circular cutting wheel, is usually fitted with an automatic knife sharpener.\nMATERIALS\nTacks\nThere arc two types of tack: 1 improved and 2 fine. Improved tacks are stouter, and are used where greater holding power is necessary, such as for tacking webbing and hessian. Fine tacks are used mainly on fabric.\nBoth types of tack can be obtained in a variety of sizes, from 6 mm which are used on thin plywood facings, to 15 mm which are used on webbing, and where many thicknesses of material are to be penetrated. Rail thickness should be taken into account when choosing tack sizes, because too large a tack may split a narrow rail.\nGimp pins\nThese are obtainable in different colours to match a fabric. They arc 12 mm long and are cut with a small head to be inconspicuous in use. They are used for fixing cover along the edge of a show wood frame, such as may be found at the top of a chair leg. They arc also used for fixing gimp in place.\nNails\n1 No-sag nails These are used for fixing serpentine spring clips to the frame. They are 21 mm long and are serrated down their length to prevent them loosening in use.\n2 Clout nails These are 25 mm long and are much thicker than no-sag nails. They are blue, have serrations down their length and are used mainly for fixing spring units to the frame.\nTwines\nThese are made mainly from flax and hemp, but synthetic twines are gaining popularity for certain purposes where a greater strength is needed such as for fixing buttons.\n1 Stitching twine was originally used for stitching roll edges but it can be used wherever a thin but strong twine is required such as for fixing buttons.\n2 Spring twine is thicker and stronger than stitching twine. Its original use was for sewing loose springs to webbing but is now used more widely.\n3 Laid cord is not frequently used. It is a thick cord for lashing springs together to form an integral unit. It is made by laying the fibres side by side to prevent the cord from stretching.\n4 Piping cord is used in making upholstery with self-piped seams. The cord is attached to strips of the fabric, which is then sewn to the main fabric panel. See CHAPTER 7 page 48. Piping cord is made from synthetic fibres, cotton and compressed paper, in different diameters and with different stiffness ratios for different types of fabric.\nWebbing\nThis is used as a platform to support hour glass springs and other fillings. It is not being used as widely as in the past owing to new springing systems which are available.\nThere are two main types of webbing.\n1 Brown webbing which is made from jute in a plain weave and can be obtained in rolls of different widths.\n2 Black and white webbing which is more expensive but is of better quality. It is made from flax, woven with a twill weave.\nHessian\nThis is a loosely woven jute cloth used for covering springs, loose stuffings and webbing. It is also used for making flies (which are extension pieces, sewn to a fabric, and are hidden inside the upholstery, therefore saving material). Hessians are available in different weights, the heavier hessians being known as tarpaulins.\nWhen fitting hessian, keep warp and weft lines straight, as with a fabric. Hessian can be cut in a straight line by withdrawing a thread and cutting along this line. All hessian edges should be turned over for tacking, unless neatness is of more importance than strength, in which case they should be folded in.\nScrim\nThis is also made from jute. It is similar to hessian except that it has a more open weave and the threads are flat in cross section as opposed to the hessian's round threads. It is generally lighter than hessian. It is used for covering the first stuffing through which a stitched edge is sewn. Keeping the lines straight on the scrim aids the stitching of a straight edge because one thread can be followed as a guide for the line of stitching.\nCalico\nThis is a light, bleached cotton fabric. Strips of calico are used for attaching foam to a frame and as a base cover for upholstery. It is also used for covering upholstery prior to fitting the fabric, as described under Sewing a spring edge.\nRubber webbing\nThis is a form of springing, as opposed to the webbing previously mentioned. It consists of a core of rubber sandwiched between two layers of rayon cord which have been cut on the bias (diagonally). When the webbing is stretched, the cords control the amount of elongation in the webbing and, as the cords draw closer together, the webbing retains its strength. By varying the internal arrangements of cords, rubber and the angle of cut, it is possible to alter the characteristics of webbing.\nAll-rubber webbings are also available but, as they have no woven reinforcement, they do not retain their strength when stretched. They give a greater deflection of the cushion than reinforced webbing.\nDifferent webbings have different characteristics. By selecting the appropriate type, the required degree of resilience can be obtained. The depth of spring can be determined by:\n(a) controlling the initial tension on the webbing\n(b) using a specified width of webbing\n(c) adapting the spacing of the webbing to conform with the loading on specific points.\nThe type and thickness of the cushion should conform with the characteristics of the base.\nFitting rubber webbing\nThere is wide scope for individual ingenuity when applying webbing to produce seats and backs which can be adapted anthropometrically to the user. Webbing which is applied from front to back on a seat has the advantage that the width, and therefore the weight of the sitter, is distributed across all the straps by the cushion. The cushion is also free to rise and fall between the sides of the frame without being tilted inwards around the sitter.\nDisadvantages of this method are that a soft front edge can not be obtained, and the support given by the webbing is no greater at the points of maximum load than in less loaded areas.\nWebbing stretched from side to side can be given a soft front edge; and as the zone of heaviest load occupies the rear half of the seat, increased support can be incorporated in this area, by giving the straps greater initial tension or by using wider or more closely spaced straps. Where additional support is needed the straps can be run in both directions.\nFitting straps on the back can be treated in a similar manner. Loads encountered here are less than on a seat. When the webbing is placed from side to side it is possible to provide firmness for the lumbar region and the head rest while retaining greater softness in other parts of the back. Concave backs can be made by using cross webs in low tension, pulled into shape by verticals under higher tension.\nWebbing can be obtained in a continuous roll and can be applied by direct tacking or stapling. It should not be turned over at the ends. There are many types of clips available for attaching webbing to both wooden and metal frames. These clips are responsible, to a greater extent, for the successful introduction of the webbing because they simplify its application. The neatest and most popular clip is the one which fits into a grooved rail and ensures equal tension on all straps.\nRubber platforms\nThese area variation to rubber webbing. They are made from a synthetic rubber, and provide the newest form of springing system. They can be obtained in different sizes, and are attached to the frame at four points. The platform is fitted under a tension of between 8 to 15% in order to function correctly. This percentage has to be worked out when calculating the size of platform required.\nSpring systems\n1 Loose hour-glass springs. This is a traditional type of spring which was used in all sprung upholstery before 1920. Its use is associated with traditional hand stitched work which is very expensive in labour. The springs are double cone in form and are made from\ncopper-plated wire. The springs arc coiled and knotted at both ends by machine.\n2 Patent spring units. These arc assembled units, available for seats, backs and arms. They have a flexible wire mesh surface into which conical springs are threaded. The mesh may have a framing of rigid wire. The single cone springs arc riveted to steel laths at the base of the spring. Some units arc fitted with tension springs which arc fixed at intervals between the cone springs and arc attached to steel strips between the laths. Tension springs provide added comfort to the unit.\nDouble spring units arc not very popular, but they give added luxury to a seat. The base layer of springs is similar to the single spring unit, but the upper layer contains hour glass springs which may or may not be covered in calico or hessian pockets to muffle any spring noise.\n3 Tension springs. These are suitable for seats and backs where the design does not allow for a full spring unit. Although rubber webbing is a strong competitor to tension springs, they are still being widely used. The plain metal spring is used where they are to be covered by upholstery, but when they arc exposed or in contact with a cushion, they can be obtained with a PVC or woven fabric covering. They arc supplied in 1-22 to 2-03 mm SWG (14 to 18 gauge) wire, and in a variety of lengths. They are fitted under slight tension, usually between 35 mm to 50 mm and 45 mm length. The tension on these springs has an opposite mechanical action to the compression which coil springs undergo. Tension springs are fitted by direct nailing, hooking around nails, fixing to metal plates and by nailing them into a groove.\n4 Serpentine or 'o-sag' springs Serpentine springs can be supplied cut to length, in a continuous roll or made up into units. A thicker gauge spring should be used on the seat than on a back. They do not exist as a spring until they arc uncoiled and fixed to the frame. They are constantly trying to return to their original circular form which gives them a permanent arc.\nFive springs fixed from front to back or bottom to top, are normally used in chair seats and backs. They arc fixed to the frame by means of special clips of which there is a variety for different applications. Connecting links can be used to join the springs together so that they perform as a single unit. If connecting links are not available, the springs should be tied together with a thick twine across the centre of the springs.\n5 Pullmalex suspension unit This is another recent springing system which is suitable for seats and backs. It consists of a Hexolator, a wire platform cross gridded with twisted kraft paper centre ropes, which is fastened to the frame by tension springs. They are quick and easy to fix by means of anchors which are attached to the tension springs. Only thin upholstering is required over this spring.\nFlexible foams\nThe manufacture of latex foam\nNatural latex, containing the rubber molecule polyisoprene, is obtained from the rubber tree, and once was the only source of rubber. Today, synthetic rubber, styrene butadiene latex, is usually blended with natural latex to extract the best properties of both types of foam.\nNatural latex is obtained as a juice from the hevea brasiliensis, the rubber tree which is cultivated in Malaysia, Indonesia, Ceylon, West Africa and Brazil. After extracting the latex by tapping the tree, ammonia is added to the latex to prevent it from drying. The latex is concentrated by extracting water, which accounts for about 65% of the liquid tapped from the tree. The latex is shipped to the site where it is to be manufactured. Ammonia is extracted by blowing air through the latex. There arc two main processes of manufacture.\nThe first process mechanically foams the latex before its poured into the moulds. Various chemicals are dispersed in water and are then mixed with the latex. The most important of these chemicals is sulphur, a yellow solid, which, later in the process with the action of heat, brings about the change known as vulcanization or curing. The sulphur causes the latex molecules to crosslink, which prevents the latex from becoming soft and loosing its shape during hot weather, and going hard in cold weather. Other chemicals mixed in are soap which helps with the foaming, and anti-oxidants which protect against oxygen in the air. The mixture is then allowed to mature under controlled time_and temperature.\nAfter maturing, foaming takes place. Foaming is continuous, by passing the mixture with air through a mixing head. The action through the rotor causes the air to be uniformly mixed with the foam. Various degrees of firmness can be produced at this stage. The foam passes through a hose to where an operator fills the moulds. Gelling or solidification of the foam in the mould is brought about by two additives, zinc oxide and sodium silicofluoride, which are added after frothing the foam. It is during gelling that the air bubbles are interconnected.\nThe moulds pass through a steam chamber for 25 minutes, which causes the sulphur to vulcanize the rubber. The foam cushion is extracted from the mould, washed, dried and inspected.\nAn alternative method of foaming is by chemical means. The latex compound is foamed by oxygen which is extracted from the chemical hydrogen peroxide. A calculated quantity of hydrogen peroxide and a catalyst (a substance which helps the chemical reaction to occur without undergoing change itself) are stirred into the latex compound, and this is immediately poured into a mould. Decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide with subsequent foaming of the latex compound takes place after the mould is closed. Freezing, gelling by carbon dioxide gas, and vulcanization are carried out as before.\nCavity design in latexfoam\nLatex foam can be obtained either plain or with cavities. Solid foam contains much rubber which serves no useful purpose. Large communicating cavities are included to increase the comfort of a cushion. This is because when sitting on a solid sheet of latex, air is driven out and it eventually feels hard. In cavity cushion, the weight is taken by the walls of the cavities, causing them to flex slightly. Cavities are made by building plugs into the lid of the mould. The design and layout of cavities control the hardness of the foam, and it is possible to provide different hardnesses in different parts of a foam block.\nTypes of latex foam\nThere are five main types of moulding, each group of which covers a range of standard products. Special mouldings can be produced when the quantity ordered justifies the making of a mould. When this is uneconomic handbuilding is used.\n1 Non-reversible units These have a smooth surface with the underside showing the cavities. There is a wide range of mouldings which are used for fixed upholstery work.\n2 Reversible units Made from two non-reversible units which are bonded together with the cavities on the inside. They are used for loose cushions. A wide range of standard mouldings are available.\n3 Cavity sheet Made in sheets up to 1800 mm by 1400 mm and from 25 mm to 100 mm in thickness. They are available with various degrees of firmness and are used mainly for handbuilding.\n4 Plain sheet in sheet sizes up to 1800 mm by 1400 mm and from 12 mm to 30 mm in thickness. They are available in various degrees of firmness, and are used for covering arm pads, dining chairs, bar seating and handbuilding.\nPolyether foams\nThese are open cell flexible polyurethane ether foams as opposed to the polyurethane ester foams which are not used in similar flexible form in upholstery. Polyether is cheaper in price than latex foam, and is available in various thicknesses and densities, including densities lower than can be obtained in latex. It is therefore possible to choose a suitable foam for almost any requirement. The density is controlled by the chemicals which are mixed when making the foam. Fire retardent grades of foam are also available.\nThe main defect of polyether is that it offers a high initial resistance to deformation, although once a certain load has been reached this property disappears. This is known as hysteresis, and can be described as giving a sudden sinking feeling. These foams have been modified to such a degree that this property is no longer so noticeable. The chemicals carbon dioxide and urethane polymer are reacted together no further vulcanizing is then needed as with latex, because after foaming, the polyether sets into its final form. There are two ways by which polyether can be made:\n1 Prepolymer The ingredients react together before foaming begins. This allows greater control to be kept over the process, which ensures that the polyether will contain the required properties.\n2 One-shot In this case, mixing and foaming take place simultaneously.\nBonded chip foam\nThis is made from reprocessed waste polyether foam which is cut into small granules. The polyether chips are mixed in a preditermined ratio with a precatalysed polyurethane resin in an extruding machine. The resin crosslinks under pressure and sometimes heat, and the chipfoam emerges the same shape as the die at the head of the extruder.\nChipfoam is available from 2 mm in thickness. The thinner layers are rotary cut from a cylinder of chipfoam, in which the cylinder is peeled to give a continuous length of chipfoam. It is available in many grades, giving densities up to ten times greater than is possible in polyether foam.\nChipfoam is used in better quality upholstery as a base layer, over which a softer padding material is fitted. It can be used to advantage, together with a moulded rubber edge profile, over a seat spring.\nRubber profiles\nThese are made from latex and chipfoam and are available with different shaped cross sections for every possible roll and edge application. They can be glued to foam or tacked directly to a frame.\nFibre\nLoose fibre is not used much now in upholstery owing to the time and skill involved in its correct use. Different types are available, each being characterised by colour. Coir fibre, also known as ginger fibre, is obtained from the coconut husk, and is the most resilient type. It is shipped from Ceylon in bales which are broken open, and the fibre is teased to separate the fibres. A dust extraction system removes any remaining husk and the shorter fibres which add to the bulk but not to the quality of the fibre.\nAlgerian grass, often called black and green fibre, is obtained from the Algerian palm tree and is the next best quality of fibre.\nFibre pads are more convenient to use than loose fibre. These are made by needling a predetermined quantity on to a hessian backing.\nCurled hair\nThis is used as little as fibre for the reasons stated above. It is more resilient than fibre and is much softer to the touch. Hair is usually obtained as a mixture of horse, cattle and hog hair, the proportions depending on price. Horse hair is obtained from the mane and tail and is of better quality than cattle hair which, in turn, is better than hog hair.\nThe hair is first washed, and a proportion is dyed black. After mixing, the hair is spun into rope, and a curl is set in by steaming or boiling the rope. Heating also sterilizes the hair. After drying, the ropes are stored to allow them to mature. When required, the rope is untwisted and teased, or it is needled on to hessian to make hair pads.\nRubberized hair\nThis is obtained in sheets of varying densities. It is made by bonding curled hair with rubber latex which is then compressed to the required thickness and density.\nFelt\nBest quality felt is made from cotton linters which are obtained from the waste of the cotton plant after the cotton fibres have been extracted. These linters are pressed into an even layer. Felts can also be made out of rag flock made from processed rags, but this product is not as resilient as cotton felt. To conform to British Standards, the rags need to contain So to 60% wool. Felt is used over fibre and hair to prevent fibres from working through the covering fabric.\nPolyester fibrefill\nThis is a recently developed cushion filling material, made in terylene and dacron, which has contributed enormously to the comfort of seating. It is available as a bonded batting, in which the sheets are lightly bonded with acrylic resin on each side, making the material more compact and easier to handle. Unbonded batting is also available, in which the fibrefill is carded and folded into layers, which are then sandwiched between a loosely woven cheese-cloth.\nThe fibre has good bulking power, and cushions filled with the material are characterised by a full appearance. The fibre is very soft and recovers well from compression. This is due to a new three dimensional spiral crimp, or a saw-tooth type crimp, which is given to each fibre.\nFibrefill can be used by itself in a cushion or in combination with any type offoam which will blend with the fibre. When a core of foam is being used, cut the foam about the same size as the cushion cover, and wrap the required number of layers around the cushion. If unbonded batting is being used, stitch the cheese-cloth together along three sides for a neater appearance of the cushion. Keep the unsewn edge to the front of the cushion. Bonded batting can be lightly glued to the foam. If a 100% fibrefill cushion is required, use the unbonded batting and fold it to about 25%, longer and wider than the cushion size. Use about 370 gm/m2 (4.4 oz per sq ft) in a seat cushion, and 1220 gm/m2 (4 oz per sq ft) in a back cushion.\nKapok\nThis is a vegetable filling material obtained from the seed pods of the kapok tree. It is used in cushions as a cheap substitute for feathers and down. The fibre comes from Java and the Dutch East Indies where it is washed, graded, and compressed into bales for shipping. When it arrives in this country, it is reprocessed by drawing by suction through a hopper, in which the kapok is beaten by arms revolving on an axis. This separates seeds and sand, and expands the kapok into its fluffy and light form. Kapok is extremely light because of the porous nature of the fibre, but in spite of this, water does not penetrate it very easily. Because of this property it is used as a filling for upholstery in ships, and lifesaving equipment.\nFeathers and down\nThese are still used extensively in the more expensive traditional upholstery. Down obtained from the cider duck is more expensive than feathers but is rarely used by itself. Feathers are normally mixed m to give extra weight and to lower the cost. Down contains no large quills and has a much greater filling capacity than feathers.\nFeathers arc obtained mainly from poultry, much of which is imported from China. Cheaper grades of feathers arc chopped to prevent there being felt through the fabric.\nFeathers and down arc weighed, and then filled by vacuum through a hose into waxed calico cases which prevent the quills from penetrating the fabric. The cases are often divided into three or four separate pockets to spread the filling equally throughout the cushion. The case should be slightly larger than the cushion cover into which it is to fit.\nCastors\nThese are a necessary fitting for upholstery, and much scientific experiment has gone into perfecting different types. The ball type is very popular because its patented design ensures almost frictionless and silent mobility.\nCastors can be provided with different wheels for various floor surfaces, and there are different methods of fixing them to metal and wood frames. There are two main methods. The first is by a screw plate, and the second is with a socket fixing, where the socket fits into a drilled hole in the frame, and the peg of the castor can be pushed into the socket.\nGlides can be fitted to light furniture which does not need wheeling about. They can be fitted by hammering on directly, or by means of a socket.\nUPHOLSTERY FABRICS\nTraditionally, the upholstery fabric market has been predominantly based on a number of fabric types, including moquettes, velvets, tapestries and brocades. Recently there has been a strong move towards the woollen Scandinavian boucle type of fabric. Acrylic velvets are also being exploited, due to their brightness and the clarity of colouration that they can be given, also to their warmth, softness to touch, durability and easy cleaning properties. The trend has particularly moved away from moquettes.\nThe choice of fabric is a major factor influencing the success or failure of any job. A well chosen cover can transform a mediocre design into something attractive, but a badly chosen cover can make even a well upholstered chair appear drab. Certain covers which may suit certain styles of upholstery may be unsuitable if used on other designs. A cover should be chosen which fits in with surrounding materials, considering texture, pattern and colour. The amount of wear that is likely to take place must also be taken into account when buying the fabric.\nWoven fabrics\n1Bedford cord A fabric with ribs running in the direction of the warp. It is made in a plain or twill weave, and can only be obtained in single colours.\n2 Brocade A finely woven jacquard fabric with a mufti-colour pattern. Originally it was a heavy silk fabric with elaborate pattern, made with silver or gold thread. It is made by floating extra coloured threads on the back of a plainly woven ground cloth, which are brought to the surface when required. Brocades are made from cotton, wool, silk and manmade fibres, and have a firm and smooth hard wearing surface.\n3 Brocatelle This is similar to brocade, but the heavily figured pattern is raised above the weft backing.\n4 Corduroy A cut pile fabric with ribs running in the warp direction. The weft yarns float on the surface at intervals which are then cut, brushed, and singed to form the pile. It is a hard wearing fabric, made from cotton and man-made fibres, and is in the medium to high price range.\nS Chintz A closely woven printed cotton fabric in a plain weave and with a glazed surface.\n6 Crash A heavy, rough textured, plain woven fabric made from jute, flax, hemp and cotton.\n7 Cretonne Similar to chintz but without the glazing.\n8 Damask Similar to brocade, but it is flatter and is reversible. It was originally made in Damascus from where it takes its name.\n9 Denim A hard wearing coarse cotton twill fabric of low cost.\n10 Genoa velvet A heavy velvet with a multi-coloured figured pile on a smooth ground. It is a very expensive fabric.\n11 Moquette A fabric having a pile which is cut, uncut or in a combination of both.\nCut moquettes are made by weaving two fabrics face to face, the pile being formed between, by interlacing both fabrics simultaneously with warp threads. The pile is then cut by a knife which travels between the fabrics. Another method of weaving is by lifting the warp threads over wires which are inserted in place of the weft. The pile is cut by the wires as it is withdrawn. Uncut moquettes are made with two warps, one of which forms the pile. Wires are inserted in place of the weft, but unlike those used above, they have no cutting edge. After weaving, the wires are withdrawn, leaving a pile in the form of loops. Moquettes having a combination of cut and uncut pile use cutting blade wires and plain wires. They are extremely hard wearing, can be obtained in many designs in both man-made and natural fibres but are generally very expensive.\n12 Plush A fabric having a longer but less dense pile than velvet. It is in the medium to high price range.\n13 Repp A plain woven fabric with ribs in the direction of the weft. It is a very hard wearing fabric, in the medium price range.\n14 Sateen A fabric in which the weft float over the surface of the warp forming a smooth surface. It can be made without twill lines. The weave is also known as welt satin, and is in the medium price range.\n15 Satin A fabric in which the warp float over the surface of the weft, forming a smooth surface. This weave is also known as warp sateen.\n16 Tapestry A jacquard figured fabric made from part or all wool, with coarse yarns which can be made\nin a variety of weaves. It can be obtained in many colours and is very expensive.\n17 Terry velvet An uncut loop pile velvet which is woven over wires similar to the uncut moquette. It is very highly priced.\n18 Ti-need A simple twill weave fabric with a smooth, hard-wearing surface. It is usually made from all wool, but other fibres are also used. Due to its simple weave, the fabric is reasonably priced.\n19 Velour A warp pile fabric with a very short pile.\n20 Velvet Produced with a double warp, one of which forms the pile. The ground warp is woven with weft yarns through which the pile is woven. A wire with a cutting blade is inserted between the pile warp to form loops, which are cut as the wire is extracted. Velvets are also made in a similar way to cut moquettes, by weaving two fabrics face to face with the pile between, which is sliced through the middle to separate them. It is very highly priced.\n21 Velveteen A weft pile fabric. It is woven with floating weft yarns which are cut after applying a paste to the back of the fabric to fix the yarns, so they do not move during cutting.\nKnitted fabrics\nThese arc used in woven fabric applications. They arc also for covering plastics chair shells because their stretch properties are well suited to fitting around the double curvature shapes associated with these types of chair.\nThey are liable to damage by loop pulling and laddering, which do not occur so frequently with woven covers. Damage is usually caused during sewing and fitting of the cover. Laddering can be caused by piercing the fabric with sewing needle, tacks and staples. The fabric can also be damaged if too rigid a seam is used for sewing, in which case the fabric might be torn by the thread when it is being stretched during upholstering or use. Foam or rubber backing a fabric lessens the chance of laddering.\n1 Warp knitted fabrics These can be woven to give an appearance of either ordinary woven cloth or weft knits which are described below. They can be produced faster than woven fabrics, and are used in competition with them. They can be made with raised or unraised loops and can be made ladder resistant (a disadvantage associated with weft knits). They are woven mainly from continuous filament yarns, and different types of surface texture can be produced with either an open or closed structure. Knitting styles vary with different machines, the difference between machines being based on the number of needles and the thickness of yarn which is used. Warp knits are so called because threads run along the length of the fabric.\n2 Weft knitted fabrics These fabrics have more stretch than warp knitted fabrics. The fabric is made up of interlocking loops of yarn. The loops are formed across the fabric with a single thread. There are three basic types of weft knitted fabrics used in upholstery: single jersey, double jersey and interlock, all of which can be knitted with variations. The former is a plain knitted fabric, and is very prone to laddering. Double jersey has a rib structure, and is so called because the stitches which lie in two planes tend to come together to form a double fabric. Interlock is also a double rib fabric, but it has interlocking cross yarns which prevent the fabric from damaging easily.\nCoated fabrics\nRexine made from nitrocellulose was the first plastic coated fabric to be used, but has now been superseded by other plastics.\nPolyvinyl chloride PVC fabrics have good abrasion resistance and are easily cleaned. This makes them suitable for both contract and domestic upholstery.\nThe properties of a coated fabric depend on the backing fabric, the type, content and thickness of the coating material, the adhesion between and the method of application of the coating to the fabric, and the decoration of the surface. Many types of backing fabric are used for strengthening the coating surface. The cheapest fabrics have no backing, and tear more easily than backed fabrics. Vynide has a woven backing fabric having good abrasion and flexing properties. Other PVC materials have knitted fabric backings to give the fabrics greater stretch properties, making upholstering easier. Expanded and unexpanded PVC are used in making coatings. Ambla and Cirrus are expanded fabrics which are softer and warmer than plain PVC fabrics. They are made by incorporating a blowing agent which expands the mixture to give a thin layer of foam with an integral skin of solid PVC. A plasticiser is added to PVC to give the fabric certain properties. The type and quantity used affects abrasion resistance and general flexibility.\nPVC fabrics can be obtained in many colours. The amount and type of pigment used affects the light stability of the fabric. There are two methods of making the coated fabric, both of which use PVC as a plastisol (paste). The doctor knife method is the process usually used, in which the paste is spread on the fabric by means of a roller and a doctor knife, which control the thickness deposited as the fabric moves between them on a conveyor. The fabric then passes through a heated oven at i6o to i7o°C to gell the coating. An embossing roller imprints the pattern on the surface, and the fabric is rolled.\nA second method, dip coating, involves passing the base fabric through an impregnating bath containing the paste. Excess paste is removed by rollers. Heating and embossing is carried out as above.\nPolyurethane\nThese fabrics are more like leather than other synthetics. They are usually applied in a thinner coating than PVC. Like PVC, they are air permeable, have good stain and abrasion resistance, and are easy to clean and upholster with. They can be finished with a matt or gloss `wet look'. Glossy fabrics usually contain a two-component finish, and the fabrics are tested to ensure that they will not delaminate through bad adhesion of the two dissimilar coatings. Certain of these fabrics also tend to be sticky.\nFabrics are divided into two groups governed by the method of coating.\n1 Direct coating involves spreading the polyurethane as a viscous liquid directly on the base fabric by means of rollers. A thicker and less stretchy fabric is formed by this method.\n2 Transfer coating is more suitable for lighter coatings, and is applied to knitted fabrics. The coating is applied to a release paper, and is partially dried. The film is then transferred and bonded to the backing. The release paper is usually made from a strong kraft paper, which is coated with release agent to release readily the coating from the paper, and also a resin (polyurethane in this case). The paper can be plain or embossed, depending on the surface requirements for the fabric. The paper acts as a carrier to transport the resin coating on to the fabric backing, after which it is peeled off and can be used again. The general fabric properties depend on the effectiveness of the coating process, and the adhesion and thickness of the coating. This process is also used with PVC.\nWelding of PVC\nThe sewing of PVC can be avoided in mass production by using a radio frequency heating welding machine. This machine can form quilting patterns if suitable jigs are made, and it can make a seam much faster than a sewing machine. Power output, welding time and depth of sink of the welding blades are the machine's variables, which need to be carefully regulated according to the fabric in order to produce good welds.\nThe average weld strength of backed PVC is 42% of the fabric strength. Thoughtful designing is needed to ensure that the seam will not be highly stressed.\nHides\nAfter a long absence from modern domestic upholstery, leather is once again in demand as a covering material.\nCow hides of about 3.3 sq in (45 sq ft) arc obtained in irregular shapes. They can be squared for easier planning of cutting, but this raises the price of the hide Hides arc bought as whole or half hides. The outer side is called the grain side, and the inner side is the flesh side. Leather crushes easily, so it should be rolled neatly with the grain on the outside to prevent this.\nJoins can be made on hides by skiving pieces together. This is done by cutting the pieces to be joined at an angle so that there is greater surface contact, and then gluing them together.\nThe warble fly is the major cause of imperfections on a hide, but barbed wire and bramble scratches also cause surface markings. The holes heal on the animal to form scars which do not affect the strength of the leather. Certain blemishes add to the natural effect, while others need to be buffed out.\nHides are first washed, then left to soak in pits containing lime and sodium sulphide. This aids removal of hair. The hides are split into layers, the top layer being used for best upholstery leather, and the bottom or flesh split being used for suede leather. The leather is dc-limed, and is passed to the currier in the rough tanned condition. The rough hides are sorted into groups, based on their ultimate use. They are then soaked in water and allowed to equalise in moisture content with the surroundings.\nSkiving leather\nThe hides are shaved on the underside to give them a level substance (thickness) before they enter the drum house where tanning is continued by introducing oil into the leather in the form of an emulsion. The hides pass from drum to drum, alternating between cleaning and re-tanning by specially prepared warm liquors. Chemicals are added to guard against rotting.\nThe hides enter the setting-out machine, which contains rubber rollers between which the hides pass, extracting most of the moisture from the hides. They are transferred to the stretching shop, where they arc stretched to facilitate drying. It is not the aim of stretching to make them larger in area. They are dried under controlled relative humidity and temperature to ensure uniform drying throughout their substance.\nThe hides are now in the russet state. Those for use in upholstery are re-sorted before staining. Those selected as buffed antique hides are sent to the buffing shop, those for printing to the printing shop, and those for natural fall gain hides arc left unfinished.\nStained hides are sprayed with aniline dyes. The colour is rubbed into the grain, the surplus is wiped off, and the hides arc dried in an oven. Hides which are unsuitable for a natural grain finish, owing to blemishes, are embossed with an artificial grain. They are then placed in a revolving drum for several hours to produce a crushed effect.\nThe full grain hide has an undisturbed surface, all natural grain and blemishes being left intact.\nA buffed antique finish is given to hides which are unsuitable for other finishing treatments, owing to bad surface markings. The blemishes are removed from the surface of the hide by a machine containing cylinders which arc covered with carborundum paper. The hide is then embossed and finished in a similar way to the full grain hide. This type of hide is the cheapest upholstery hide produced.\nTrimmings\nSelf-piping or ruche is often used as an alternative to having plain seams along cushion borders, etc.\n1 Self piping consists of piping made from the same material as the covering fabric.\n2 Ruche can be obtained in shades to match most covers. One edge of the ruche is suitable for sewing into the seams of the fabric. There are three main types of ruche.\n(i) Cut ruche consisting of a continuous closely woven thread, with a cut pile surface.\n(ii) Loop ruche which is similar, but its pile is not cut.\n(iii) Rope ruche which is made in the form of rope, with decorative threads on the surface.\n3 Braid and gimp is a decorative band of material which is glued or gimp pinned along the edge of upholstery, particularly where the cover finishes against a show-wood frame.\n4 Upholstery nails are used as an alternative to slip stitching to finish a job. They are hammered in to the frame at regular intervals, after folding in the raw edge of the material. They are commonly used on plastics coated fabrics which are difficult to sew by hand. Nails can be obtained with a brass or antique finish, or in colours to match a fabric.\n5 Fringe is gimp-pinned or sewn around the perimeter of upholstered furniture as an added decoration. It consists of loose, twisted threads which hang from a length of braid. It can also be obtained with tassels.\nCare and cleaning of fabrics\nAll upholstery should be cleaned regularly with a vacuum cleaner or a soft brush to prevent dust from settling in the fabric.\nWhen fixed upholstery covers require cleaning, which should not be too infrequently, a special dry foam upholstery cleaner can be bought, which cleans the fabric without damaging the underneath padding.\nMost loose fabrics can be taken off and washed by hand or in a washing machine. Fabrics react differently to washing and heat, so the recommended washing and ironing instructions should be followed. If no washing instructions have been given with the fabric, it is safer to consult a dry-cleaner. Plastics coated fabrics need only to be wiped over with a damp, soapy cloth, followed by a dry duster, in order to keep them looking like new. Polishes should not be used on these fabrics.\nMan-made fibres\nThese are being used in an ever-increasing quantity for upholstery fabrics. Although wool is still one of the better fibres, its high price is restricting its use, and man-made fibres are necessary to provide wool equivalents at lower cost. Man-made fibres also offer properties which are not available in natural fibres. Each fibre has its own characteristics, and by blending natural and man-made fibres, many desirable properties can be incorporated into a fabric. For instance, the addition of a coarse denier, long staple rayon to wool will increase its strength and abrasion resistance.\nYarns made from man-made fibres can be produced with a lustrous or matt finish, and with different forms of texture, giving different grades of strength and abrasion resistance.\nAll man-made fibres are produced by taking a fibre-forming substance (a polymer), converting it into liquid form, forcing the liquid through a `spinneret' having very fine holes, and causing the streams of liquid to solidify as fibres. This process is carried out in different ways, depending on the chemical nature of the fibre.\nMan-made fibres are available in two forms: continuous filament and staple filament yarn. Continuous filament yarn contains from one to one hundred or more individual filaments. The thickness of the yarn is indicated by the denier. Continuous filament yarns are produced from is denier to 2000 denim.\nStaple fibre is obtained by cutting a thick rope of filaments (a tour) into fibres of the required length. 25 mm to 200 mm (1 in. to 8 in.) fibres can be made depending on the spinning system to be employed.\nTEXTILE TERMS\n1 Boucle yarn A decorative yarn having loops or knots at regular intervals, and made from two or more threads which are twisted together.\n2 Bulked yarn A textured yarn, consisting of a crimped or folded yarn which gives bulk, softness and warmth to a fabric. It is made from man-made fibres to resemble wool. Bulking changes the original Fibre properties.\n3 Catalyst A substance which is added to speed up a chemical reaction, without taking part in the reaction itself.\n4 Crimp The waviness of a fibre. It is found naturally in wool, but it can be inserted permanently into man-made fibres by heat setting. It is used in textured yarns to give bulk.\n5 Denier The term applied to filament man-made fibres and silk, and is the measure of thickness of a yarn. The denier is the weight in grammes of 9000 metres of yarn.\n6 End, The term given to individual warp threads.\n7 Filament A continuous fibre, obtained after melt spinning a man-made fibre mixture. Filaments arc naturally obtained in silk.\n8 Picks The term given to individual weft threads. The number of picks per centimetre (inch) depends on the yarn count and the closeness of the weave.\n9 Plain weave The simplest but closest method of weaving.\n10 Selvedge Provided along the edges of a fabric to give a firm and strong edge. The selvedge is made by including extra end warp yarns which are either of the same or different but stronger material.\n11 Staple Short fibres. A man-made fibre filament can be cut into short lengths to form staple fibres. Natural fibres are obtained in staple form.\n12 Stretch yarn A textured yarn which is made to give a fabric elasticity. It is similar to a bulked yarn but has more stretch.\n13 Tex A metric system of yarn numbering which, it is hoped, will supersede and rationalise all other methods. It measures the weight in grammes of zooo metres of fibres and natural or man-made yarns. Different units are used within the system militex = milligrammes per kilometre kilotex = kilogrammes per kilometre decitex = decigrammes per kilometre.\n14 Twill weave This weave produces diagonal lines across the surface of a fabric.\n15 Warp The threads which run along the length of a fabric.\n16 Weft These threads run across the fabric at right angles to the warp.\n17 Yarn count A measure of yarn thickness. It is calculated by an indirect method of measurement, usually based on the pound unit. This method measures length per unit weight as opposed to the direct method which measures weight per unit length. In the indirect method, the coarser yarns have lower numbers, but by the direct method, the coarser the yarn, the higher is the number. The denier and tex systems work by the direct method.\nWeaving\nAll woven fabrics are produced on a loom. The basic principle of weaving involves holding the warp yarns under tension, and interlacing with weft yarns. The weft yarns are held in shuttles which are sent across the warp threads as required, after raising the chosen warp ends.\nJacquard loom\nThis loom allows complex repeat patterns to be woven. The pattern of the fabric is transferred to rectangular cards by means of punched holes. Each line of picks uses one card. There are as many cards as there are picks in each repeat pattern. The cards are laced together and fitted in a belt on the loom. Needles are fitted to the loom which come into contact with the cards. Where holes have been punched in the cards, the needles enter, which causes the associated warp threads to be raised. After the weft yarn has been inserted, the needles withdraw and the next card comes into place to restart the cycle. Another type of loom uses a long strip of thick paper instead of individual cards.\nThe martindale abrasion machine\nThis is considered to be the most reliable machine for determining the abrasion resistance of the majority of woven fabrics. Fabrics having certain textured yarns and those with long piles are unsuitable for testing. This test is understood by the average consumer, and salesmen often talk about fabrics having a particular number of rubs.\nTests need to be carried out under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity, and an average is found from the results of a number of tests. A figure of 3S,ooo rubs is considered to be the minimum acceptable number for domestic upholstery fabrics, but results of over 40,000 rubs arc necessary for hard wearing fabrics suitable for contract use.\nSpecimens arc cut into 36 mm diameter discs, and are clamped into the abrading head over 3 mm thickness of foam. Four specimens are simultaneously. Specimens should be examined at certain stages to note any change, which can be assessed as follows:\n1 The partial exposure of backing structure.\n2 Removal of pile from a pile fabric, exposing the backing.\n3 Breaking of the threads.\n4 Removal of nap from the surface.\n5 Rate ofweight loss. Specimens should be weighed every 1000 rubs.\n6 Pilling This is the forming of small balls of fluff on the surface.\n7 Testing to destruction. This is not as useful a test as when the fabric is tested for earlier deterioration.\nSTRIPPING AND REPAIRING THE FRAME\nThe cover and materials should be stripped in reverse order to the upholstering. The usual sequence is to remove the base cover, followed by the outside back, outside arms, seat, inside back, and inside arms. It is important to remember the order in which the frame was upholstered, and also where trimmings have been used on the cover. The piece of furniture being stripped should always be in a suitable position for working.\nThese positions should be used for upholstering as well as stripping. If certain parts arc not being recovered, or the cover is to be replaced after repair to the frame, it is important not to damage the fabric. This can be prevented by resting the covered frame on some cloth or padding, placed on the floor and on the bench.\nIf the inside springing and padding are in good condition, it might be possible to leave them on the job, if the upholsterer is sure that by doing so, it does not impede the fixing of the new cover. If the padding has been flattened, a layer of felt placed over the old padding will help to build up its resilience again.\nThe old cover should be saved so that the pieces can be used as patterns for cutting the new cover. Extra cover should be allowed in places where it can be seen that cover has been trimmed from the original piece. Hessian flies should also be fitted where they are thought to be necessary.\nThe frame can be altered for modernisation of the design. If this is done, the old cover must not be used for patterns, but new measurements need to be taken around the frame after fitting the padding.\nTools required for frame repairs\n1 Brace and bit This is used for drilling out broken dowels, and for drilling new dowel holes. It is also used for drilling castor holes. The brace can be used with screwdriver bits.\n2 Hand drill Required for drilling screw pilot holes. These prevent splitting the timber, and also make screwing easier. A countersink bit is also required.\n3 Screwdrivers These are required if screwdriver bits for the brace are not available.\n4 Tenon saw This s used for cutting rails to length, for cutting corner blocks, and for cutting off old dowels before re-drilling the holes.\n5 Sash crams At least two are necessary to ensure correct setting of a glued joint. If none is available, a length of joined wire can be used with which to improvise. The cramp action of tightening a joint will occur when, with the aid of a lever, thee wire is twisted.\n6 Rasp This is used to chamfer the sharp edge of a rail where there is a danger that the edge will cut through the padding, and make a hole in the fabric. It is necessary to round the inside of rails where rubber webbing is to be fitted, and the edge over which a roll is to be stitched.\n7 Bevel This tool is useful for measuring angles, such as when marking out corner blocks.\nMaterials\n1 Timber This should be straight and close grained, with a medium degree of hardness, and free from knots which reduce its strength. The timber should be able to retain tacks, but it should not be too hard to make their insertion difficult. Timber which is too hard also stands a greater chance of being split by tacks.\nBeech is usually quoted as being the most suitable for frame construction, but choice depends on availability. Birch, maple and poplar are only three of the many that are available.\n2 Dowels These can be obtained in a number of different diameter sizes, in either continuous or cut lengths. Dowels, 38 mm long with a 9 mm diameter arc a convenient size to use.\n3 Screws Countersunk head wood screws are used in the construction of frames, as they arc not needed to give a decorative effect. Oversize screws might split a rail, so the size should be carefully chosen. 35 mm to 60 mm screws in an 8 gauge arc those most frequently used.\n4 Nails These arc often used as a substitute for screws. They should not be used in place of screws or joints, but should only be used in positions where they will not be stressed, such as for the fixing of plywood.\n5 Glue There arc many types of glue on the market for wood joints. Animal glue is very flexible and is a good gap filler, which arc the main reasons for its continued use in frames. It is bought in cakes and is used hot, but it should not be allowed to boil. The glue sets on cooling.\nPVA (polyvinyl acetate) is gaining ground as a glue for chair frames, but it does not match the properties of animal glue.\nBostik and Evo-stick are synthetic glues which are more easily applied. The manufacturer's instructions for application must be followed.\nRepairing the frame\n1 Repairing and making new dowel joints Dowelling is the most suitable joint for chair construction. The joint stands up well to the battering and flexing to which chair frames are prone.\nThe number of dowels needed for each joint varies from between one and three, depending on the size of the joint, and the amount of stress it is to take.\nOld dowels firstly need to be extracted. If the glue bond has broken, it is easy to pull them out. Otherwise, they will have to be drilled out. The brace, fitted with a bit of the same diameter as that of the dowel, will prepare a new hole at the same time as it extracts the dowel. The hole should be drilled slightly deeper than half the length of the dowel to allow for excess glue. Glue should be applied to the dowel hole only. On cramping, the glue will run up the side of the dowel to the joint surface. The dowel should be either grooved all round, or a saw cut should be made down one side of the dowel, to allow an escape route for excess glue. This avoids pressure being set up at the bottom of the hole when the glue is compressed by the dowel, and thus avoids the chance of splitting the timber.\nAfter gluing one set of dowel holes, locate the dowel pins into the holes. Now add glue to the other half of the joint, and connect and cramp the complete joint until the glue sets.\n2 Fitting new corner blocks New corner blocks should be fitted in the seat if the existing ones are in a poor condition. Nailed blocks should be reinforced with screws.\nCut the blocks with a tenon saw, making slight adjustments to the angles, to ensure a close fit. Drill the screw pilot holes perpendicular to the sawn edge. If castors are to be fitted into the blocks, drill holes to hold the sockets.\nCorner blocks can also be fitted to a chair back if the design permits, and if their addition will be beneficial to the back's strength.\n3 Curing other loose joints A loose joint can be simply repaired by re-gluing and cramping. A few extra screws inserted through the joint at an angle will give the joint extra strength. Drilled and countersunk pilot holes are necessary to insert the screw at the correct angle, and to ensure that the angled screw heads do not remain above the surface of the rail.\nScrews should not be inserted into the end grain of timber because screws do not grip very well from this direction.\n4 Fitting new rails A broken or weakened rail needs to be replaced by a new one. The timber need not be the same as the rest of the frame. Cut the rail to the size of the old rail, and accurately mark out the dowel holes to correspond with their pairing holes. To fit the rail, it might be necessary to loosen some of the other joints, which will have to be re-glued and cramped at the same time as the new rail is being cramped.\n5 Frame not symetrical This is found on new frames which have not been assembled correctly. A small amount of unevenness can be hidden by the upholstery, but a frame which is significantly out of square will need to be re-glued and cramped at the necessary joints.\nSIMPLE UPHOLSTERY REPAIRS\nThere are various reasons for having to carry out repairs. Below are mentioned a few of the causes, with the required action to be taken.\nBroken seat webbing\nThis occurs on chairs which have been upholstered with hour-glass springs on a webbing base. It is characterised by a sagging seat, which is often thought to have been caused by broken springs.\nIf it has occurred in the seat, which is the most likely place, invert the chair and remove the base cover. Rip out the broken webbing, after cutting the knots holding them to the springs. Stretch new webbing over the positions of the old webbing, and re-sew the springs to the webbing. For greater detail of the correct methods of fitting webbing and sewing in springs.\nWebbing does not need to be broken before new webbing is fitted. New webbing can also be fitted when the old webbing has gone slack, which also causes the seat to sag. In this case, the old webbing need not be ripped out but should be supported by the new webbing. The springs should be re-sewn to the webbing as before.\nChanging castors\nThis only needs the simple operation of extracting the old castor and replacing it with a new one. Some castors have different size sockets, so it might be necessary to re-drill the hole to make it larger, or a smaller hole might have to be drilled by the side of the existing one. Do not drill into a screw holding a corner block to the frame. Castors can also be changed from socket to plate fixing, and vice versa. If the corner blocks upon which the castors are mounted are in bad condition.\nDamaged fabric\nFabric is easily damaged. Whether it is done by the family's pet dog or by a dropped cigarette, the requirement is still the same: a new fabric panel is usually needed.\nSometimes, with certain stretchy fabrics, depending where the damage is, it might be possible to stretch the fabric until the mark is hidden. With other fabrics such as moquettes, where threads have pulled, new threads can be carefully sewn in with a slipping needle, the thread being obtained from a piece of fabric in an inconspicuous place such as from underneath the base cover. This latter repair should only be used when a new fabric panel is not obtainable.\nTo match the fabric, send a pattern to the original manufacturers of the upholstery or the fabric supplier. If the cloth is obsolete, the repair can either be matched with a near shade or pattern, or the upholstery will have to be recovered completely in another cover.\nIf the fabric can be obtained, it can be fitted directly over the old cover, but it is better to remove the old cover before re-fitting. There is less work involved if the outside back is damaged than if the inside arm is damaged. Fitting inside covers becomes more complicated because other parts of the upholstery need to be loosened to allow for correct fitting. Take off the old cover and use it as a pattern for cutting new cover\nMARKING OUT AND CUTTING THE COVER\nCover is the costliest material used in upholstery, and thoughtful planning of parts is essential to keep the cost as low as possible.\n1 Collecting the roll of cover from the stores and laying it on the table.\n2 Marking with the aid of patterns.\n3Sorting and bundling the cover in preparation for sewing.\nOne cutter can be used to perform all the operations, or the job can be split so that two or more operatives of differing labour value work on different sections of the process. Cover can be cut either singly or in layers. Shears can be used for cutting up to about five layers of cover, but electrical cutter knives arc needed for greater thicknesses.\nBecause the home handyman does no repetitive cutting, he needs to measure each piece of cover either directly from the job, or from pieces being stripped for recovering. If possible, an economical cutting plan should be worked out on paper before starting to cut.The cutting table should be the stage where all the damages in the fabric are noticed. If they are missed at this point, there is a danger that the damaged fabric will go unnoticed until at the final inspection stage of the upholstery when it will be more costly to repair. To prevent this from happening, it is important that the cutting table should be provided with good overhead lighting.\nFabrics having no pile but with ribs running in one direction, can be cut to display the ribs running either down and forwards, or across the job. Lines running downwards tend to make a job appear higher, while those running across make the job appear wider. The latter method usually gives the better effect.\nIf there is a pile to the cover, cut it so that the pile will run downwards or forwards on the upholstery. Cut a patterned fabric so that the pattern will be displayed to its best advantage. This is usually achieved by centralising the pattern in a panel. Mark out with white or blue tailor's chalk, using a pattern or template. Cut all the large pieces first. Allow a 9 mm (8 in.) sewing seam where necessary. Slight allowances in size may also need to be made if the fabric is expected to stretch during upholstering.\nWhen cutting settees, joinings will probably have to be made in the length of the back and seat. Cut two equal joining pieces, and sew them to each side of the panel, so that they are equally spaced on the upholstery. Joinings can also be made in piping, borders, etc. Cut strips of cover about 35 mm wide for piping.\nAdvantages and disadvantages of cutting singly and in layers\n1 Most manufacturers sell many different designs in a wide range of covers. With this policy there is no scope for cutting in layers. Only if a company can sell a limited number of designs in a set number of fabrics, can bulk cutting be used to advantage.\n2 There is not much difference in the time taken to cut one layer and many layers. Therefore labour costs can be reduced by cutting in bulk.\n3 It is more difficult to correct damages in fabrics when cutting in layers.\n4 Stripes and patterns cannot be used to their best advantage when cutting in layers.\nUSING THE SEWING MACHINE\nSewing the cut cover in preparation for upholstering is the next stage after cutting.\nStitch type\nThe usual type of machine stitch used in upholstery is the lock stitch. This is formed using a needle thread and a bobbin thread. The thread from the bobbin, which is fitted beneath the throat plate, passes through a loop formed by the needle thread. The amount of thread on the bobbin limits the time when sewing can be continued, before the bobbin needs to be re-wound. The tension on the machine needs to be accurately controlled, so that the two threads meet in the middle of the fabric. If the tension is incorrect, the intersection will occur on the surface of the cover, which is a main cause of fault in sewing.\nKnitted fabrics\nThe chain stitch and the overlock stitch are used on knitted stretch fabrics because these stitches contain strongly looped threads which are flexible to expand and contract with the cover. The two types of stitch can also be incorporated into one stitch, which is known as stitch type 512.\nThese seams require closer stitching than the lock stitch seam, and they use more thread which is put into use during stretching of the cover. Knitted stretch fabrics usually need to be overlocked along the edges to prevent the cover from laddering. Overlocking can also be used on normal woven fabrics, to prevent fraying of the edges. Overlocking is an edge binding stitch which provides a neat finish to an edge, and also trims the edge. Weft knitted fabrics should be overlocked, but this is not always necessary with warp knitted fabrics which do not stretch as much as the former.\nOverlock and chain stitches can unravel if one of the threads are broken, which does not occur with the lock stitch. Both types of stitch should be sewn using finer needles than those used for the lock stitch. Synthetic thread should be used as this stretches more than the normal cotton thread.\nMachine needles\nHeavy industrial machines are used in an upholstery factory machine room, but most types of machine can be used if they are fitted with a needle of correct size, to sew the usually heavy-weight covers. A machine needle size between 16 and i9 should be used on most materials. Plastics coated fabrics, however, are easily cut by a sewing machine needle, so a finer needle between 9 and 11 should be used on these.\nMachine adjustments\nThe stitch length should be adjusted to the weight of the cover. 6 to 12 stitches per 25 mm should be used, the larger stitches being used on plastics coated fabrics and the thinner covers. The tension of the machine should be regulated for sewing different weights of cover and for different types of machine thread. Less tension is needed when using a synthetic thread than when using cotton thread.\nSewing components of a machine\nTwin needle machines\nDouble seams are becoming popular as a decoration. Twin needle machines are available in conventional form and as a post type, in which the throat plate is raised on a column about 250 mm above the working table.\nCorners are sewn on the machine by stopping the machine as soon as the inside needle reaches the corner. The inside needle is raised out of the way, and the other needle sews around the corner. Once around the corner, the inside needle is lowered into operation again.\nSynthetic machine thread\nSynthetic thread is more expensive than plain cotton thread, but it is finer, tougher, and more economical in use.\nBecause it is finer, more thread can be wound on a bobbin, so less time is spent in changing and rewinding it. Also, because of its fineness, less thread is used in stitching. Synthetic thread has better elastic properties which are necessary for knitted fabrics.\nSewing piping\nPiping can be used on most seams as an alternative to plain seams. A piping foot attachment should be fitted to the machine to simplify sewing. The piping foot enables a seam to be made close to the piping cord.\nGeneral hints on sewing\n1When sewing around a corner, cut darts into the seam to make sewing simpler.\n2 When sewing joinings, shade the cover, making sure that the pile runs in one direction.\n3 When joining two cover panels, notch the centre of each and machine from the centre marks, to ensure that the panels are centralised equally.\n4 When sewing hessian flies, turn the edge of the hessian over so that the seam runs through a double thickness of hessian.\n5 The sewing of cushions is where most accuracy is needed. Make sure that all corners of the cushion are sewn correctly.\nGENERAL UPHOLSTERING TECHNIQUES\nConversion with foam\nLatex is often moulded to manufacturers' requirements when the quantity ordered is large enough to justify the outlay for making special moulds. When the number of products is not large enough to warrant this, the shapes are made up by hand cutting and joining pieces together from a moulded block or from sheet. This process is known as conversion, but is also called handbuilding in relation to latex foam. Cavity, plain and pin core foams are used successfully for conversion and both latex and polyether foams are made in blocks specially for this purpose.\nFoams can be marked out with either pen or chalk. When shaped work is being produced, a thin\nHandbuilding a cushion\nA cardboard pattern should be made, around which the shape can be marked. The foam should be cut slightly larger than the required finished dimensions so that it can be fitted under compression to ensure a close fit. An extra 6 mm to 12 mm should be allowed on every 250 mm which is cut.\nUse a pair of shears or a sharp knife for cutting foams if electric cutters are not available.\nRubber adhesives for bonding the foam should be recommended by the foam manufacturer. Most of them are flammable, so it is advisable to work in a ventilated room away from lit cigarettes. Apply the adhesive to both surfaces to be joined. Leave the adhesive for a few minutes to become tacky, during\nwhich time the solvent in the adhesive evaporates. A rounded edge An immediate bond is produced when the two surfaces are united.\nReversible cushions can be built up from two pieces of cavity latex foam. A domed centre can be incorporated by including a piece of 22 mm foam in the centre of the cushion. This should be 75 mm smaller all round than the main cushion. Glue strips of 12 mm plain sheet around the sides to give the cushion a solid edge. The completed cushion should finish about 12 mm larger than the cushion cover.\nCushions can also be made with a rounded front A square edge by tapering the ends of the two pieces of foam, gluing the two sheets together, and finally gluing the two tapered ends together. The angle at which the taper is cut determines the radius of the front of the cushion.\nWhen a zip is being fitted to the back of the cushion, it is advisable to use a cotton cover between the zip and the cushion. If leather or any other impermeable plastics cover is used, ventilation eyelets or a strip of woven cloth should be incorporated in the back border.\nFoam should be attached to a frame by means of 3 Cut a strip of cardboard 12 mm (z in.) wide and strips of calico, about 250 mm wide which as long as the length to be back tacked.\nBack tacking\nThis is 1 method of fixing the cover to the frame to produce a clean line without any tacks being visible. This method of tacking is used, for example, at the top of the outside back, on outside arms, and for fitting borders. Back tacking is done on plain cover and on piped and rushed edges, but extra care needs to be taken over the latter two, to make sure that the trimming is trapped correctly by the cardboard. Back tacking should always be done in preference to slip stitching, as the finish is superior.\nThe operation is carried out as follows:\nI Place the cover in position, making sure that it is centralised, and about 12 mm of fabric is folded in. Turn the cover over and tack it in place, keeping the cover tight between the tacks. Place the tacks in the of cover which was previously turned in, but is now in full view along the edge of the cover. It is along this scam that the back tacking is to be done.\nTying a slip knot\nThis is the most used knot in upholstery, and it is necessary to learn to tic one. The knot is used for fixing buttons and for starting any type of sewing.\nSlip stitching\nThis is a method of hand sewing the fabric to finish off the upholstery. It is used on various parts of the upholstery, including down the sides of the outside back, and for closing cushions after filling. Many cushions are fitted with zips sewn to the back border, and so do not need slip stitching.\nThe fabric is temporarily held in place by tacks or skewers before slip stitching. Special slipping needles are required. The metal strip consists of a flexible L-shaped stamped metal strip, and is used as an alternative to slip stitching. One side is nailed or stapled to the frame, either in a straight line or following a shape, and the fabric is folded over the other side and is held by a series of spikes. The strip is then carefully hammered together to form the edge.\nAnother type of metal strip involving the principal of back tacking is called tack trim. This is manufactured from a straight, thin, continuous strip of metal. The points on the strip arc cut from the strip and folded outwards. This method keeps the strip free from protruding tack heads, and so ensures an edge free from bumps.\nButtoning\nButtons can be inserted into either a fixed back or scat. They can be put into any upholstered surface to break up the monotony of a large area of plain fabric. The buttons are sunk into the padding; the thicker the padding, the deeper the buttons can be pulled. Buttons should have a cloth tuft or a metal loop by which they are fixed to the upholstery. Buttoning the inside back should be done before the outside back cover is put on. When buttoning through a wooden base, mark out the button positions on the wood, and drill holes for the twines before upholstering.\n1 Measure for the positioning of the buttons, and mark with chalk or skewers.\n2 Thread the button through a length of stitching twine or similar thread.\n3 Thread the two ends of the twine through the eye of a stitching needle.\n4 Push the needle through the cover to the inside of the upholstery. The twine should conic through with the needle.\n5 Join the two pieces of twine with a slip knot.\n6 Insert a tuft of cloth or felt between the knot and the inside stuffing to prevent the knot from pulling through, when the slip knot is tightened.\n7 Tighten the slip knot by pulling one of the ends of the twine. Pull the buttons as deep as required. Keep all the buttons at the same depth.\n8 Tic off with a reef knot to prevent the slip knot from loosening.\n9 Cut off the ends of the twine for neatness.\nReversible cushions can be buttoned on both sides in a similar manner. Mark the cushions out on both sides. Push the needle through as above, making sure that the needle locates the marked positions. Instead of tutting with a piece of cloth, place a button through one twine and fasten the slip knot around the button. When the slip knot is tightened, both buttons will he pulled in. Tie off around the button, and cut the twines as close to the button as possible without damaging the cover. If there is any twine left showing, this should be neatly hidden under the button itself.\nDeep buttoning\nThis was much used in Victorian chairs, and is used today in upholstering chesterfields and modern designs which incorporate deep buttoning. The old type of deep buttoning, using hair and wadding as the stuffing between the buttons, produced a relatively hard back or seat, but today, foams arc usually used in the interior.\nThe method of deep buttoning with hair and wadding is as follows:\n1 Mark out the position of the buttons on the base before stuffing. A diamond pattern us usually used.\n2 Mark out the cover, allowing about 36 mm extra between the buttons for pleating.\n3 Start buttoning from the middle of the panel, stuffing each pocket separately before continuing on the adjacent buttons. Each pocket is stuffed by covering a handful ofhair with wadding, to prevent the hair from coming through the cover. Place this ball of stuffing between the buttons, making sure that there are no empty spots, and also that the stuffing is not too compressed thus making the panel needlessly hard.\nPleat the loose cover so that they face downwards or across in one direction only. This prevents the collection of dust inside the pleats. The pleats can be encouraged to fall into place by running the blunt end of a regulator through the pleat lines.\n4 Finish the edges of the panel by pleating directly between the end buttons and the outside edge.\nDeep buttoning can also be done in latex and polyether foams, as follows:\n1 Mark out the buttons on the foam sheet. Punch holes into the foam where the buttons are marked. This helps the buttons to sink into the foam.\n2 Mark the cover out in a similar way to (2) above. Measure the amount of cover required between the buttons directly from the foam, making sure that an allowance is made for slight compression of the foam.\n3 Pull the buttons in either from the centre or in rows, pleating as progress is made in the panel.\nTo simplify deep buttoning, instead of pleating the cover, the amount of excess cover between the pleats can be pre-calculated, and this can be sewn together by machine in order to lose the pleats.\nFluting\nThis is another type of decoration which is used mainly on the inside back over a spring base. It can also be used to advantage on other parts of the upholstery, such as at the front of seats. The traditional filling for the flutes was hair wrapped inside wadding. Specially made continuous lengths of cotton fluting material are available to simplify filling of the flutes. Polyether and latex foams arc also used inside flutes. Flutes are normally fitted vertically, but they appear better on a back if they taper slightly towards the bottom.\n1 Mark out the positioning of flutes on hessian. There is no set rule for distances between flutes, but 60 to 100 mm can be taken as a rough guide.\n2 Mark out the flutes on the fabric. Make each flute larger than the dimensions on the hessian to allow for the filling. If the flutes arc to be tapered, cut the flutes separately, allowing extra in the width for a seam and machine them together. Allow enough fabric around the edges for tacking.\n3 Sew the cover to the hessian along the flute lines. Pockets will be formed in the cover.\n4 Fill the flutes with one of the materials described above. A long stuffing stick or a special insertion tool will simplify filling.\n5 Temporarily tack the cover to the frame at the bottom and the top of the flutes, placing a tack in the stitching of each flute. Centralize the flutes accurately. Flutes which arc even slightly out of centre are very noticeable. Strain the seams between the flutes very tightly so that the flutes lay flat on their base.\n6 Tack off the fabric at the top and bottom of the flutes. Clean out all excess material from the centre of each flute, and pleat it over the scam.\n7 Pleats can be encouraged to remain in place by inserting buttons through them. This can be used effectively on an inside back.\n8 Tack the sides of the panel\nFitting facings\nFacings are upholstered plywood shapes which arc fixed to the frame at the front of the arm. A common example is the scroll arm type. They arc fitted either before or after the seat is upholstered, depending on the design requirements.\nThere are different methods of attaching facings. One method is to fit them by means of nuts and bolts. Another method is to use dowels which are glued to the main frame. A further method is to nail the facings to the frame before padding them.\nMost facings are tacked to the side of the outside arm, and the outside arm cover is then back tacked over the side of the facing. Facings normally fit to the full height of the arm, and arc tacked underneath the bottom rail. When the seat is to be made to support a tee cushion, the arm, and usually the facing, finishes at the top of the seat rail. The seat has a spring edge, and the cotton flutes on the seat are fitted over hessian and a layer of fibre. A bottom border has been back-tacked below the flutes\nWebbing a base\nBacks and scats which are being hand sprung need to be initially fitted with webbing. Webbing is also applied as a base over other open frames. Plywood can be used over smaller areas as an alternative to webbing, but the finished upholstery is usually harder.\n1 Fix the webbing to one end of the rail. Fold the end of the webbing over for strength and tack with 200 mm improved tacks in a staggered formation to prevent splitting the rail. If the rail is relatively thin, use 12 mm improved tacks.\n2 Strain the webbing to the other side of the rail, using a webbing stretcher to give the correct tension. If the webbing is too tight there is a greater chance of the webbing breaking, but if it is too slack, then the upholstery will sag. Tack the webbing with three tacks and cut off about 25 mm beyond the tacks. Fold the extra piece of webbing over and tack it with a further two tacks.\n3 After fitting the webbing in one direction, fit cross webbings, tacking down as above, and interlacing to give overall support.\nSewing a spring edge\nA spring edge can be built on a seat, a back, or upon any base where a soft sprung edge is preferred to the hard edge described in the next section. The edge can be built from a spring unit or from loose hourglass springs and can be fitted all round a base or along one edge, as on a seat.\nFibre\nWhen hour-glass springs are used, sew them to the webbing base using a bayonet needle and spring twine. Secure them with four knots to every spring. Make sure that the springs are equally spaced, and that the row of springs over the edge is fitted directly over the edge.\nObtain a length of spring edge wire, and bend it to the shape of the outside of the frame, leaving extra wire for overlapping where two ends of the wire are to join- The wire can be obtained in straight lengths but a spare spring knocked out of shape will serve the same purpose. Sewing hour glass springs to webbing. Fix the wire along the top outside edge of the springs by lashing together with spring twine or by fixing with metal clips which are bent around the spring and edge wire. Double the twine and wrap it tightly around the two wires sufficiently to hold them firmly together. Knot the twine to prevent it loosening. Do not forget to lash the joining of the wire.\n4 Pull the edge springs slightly forward by tolling a length of webbing over the middle coil of each spring, and tacking them down under slight tension. This pulls the spring edge wire directly over the front of the rail.\n5 Bring the cord to the top of the edge spring, tie a half hitch at one end and knot the other side of the spring. Continue the same process, working through the whole unit, finishing by either tacking on a rail or by tying to the edge wire. Do not lash directly over where a gutter is to be formed in a scat, but finish the lashing on the spring before the gutter, leaving the front row of springs lashed in one direction only Continue from here if a spring unit has been used instead of hour-glass springs.\n6 Cover the springs with hessian, taking all slackness from the hessian before tacking down. Do not pull the springs down too much over the edge. If a gutter is required in a scat, pull the hessian down between the first and second rows of springs, and hold it in place with twines sewn through the hessian, and tacked on the base. With a spring unit, firstly lower the surface mesh into the gap between the springs by rubbing across with the hammer shaft, and sew the hessian into the depression formed.\n7 Sew the springs and the edge wire to the hessian with a circular needle and spring twine. Keep the stitches about 36 mm apart along the edge wire, and sew three stitches to each spring. This prevents the spring from making holes in the hessian.\n8 Sew loops into the hessian to hold the first stuffing. Do not pull the twines too tightly.\n9 Coir fibre is usually used as the first or scrim stuffing. Tease it by hand to make sure that there are no lumps in it. Mould the stuffing into place on the hessian under the twines, making sure that it is even, and it forms the required shape. Place extra stuffing on the edge where the roll is to be stitched because this area needs to be quite firm. If a scat has a gutter, pack this with fibre.\n10 Cover the fibre with scrim, temporary tacking it to the rail where the edge is not being sewn, but fixing it with skewers where the edge is being stitched. If scrim is not available, hessian can be used.\n11 With a stitching needle, sew running through or bridle stitches through the fibre to hold the scrim in place.\n12 Re-tack the scrim and re-skewer the edge, folding the scrim under and fixing it to the hessian justbelow the edge wire. Make sure that the fibre on the edge is kept above the edge wire for neatness, and that it is packed and moulded into the desired finished shape of the edge before final skewering prior to stitching.\n13 Stitching is done with a stitching needle and a long length of stitching twine. Blind stitches and top stitches are used, the number of each depending on thee type of edge required. One blind stitch and one top stitch is usually sufficient. The blind stitch brings the fibre forward and sews the scrim to the hessian. The top stitch forms the roll.\n14 To sew the blind stitch, start at the left hand side (or work anti-clockwise), and insert the needle at a 45 angle from underneath the wire so that it just catches the scrim. Before the twine appears through the top of the scrim, return the needle at a backward angle so that it appears just above the wire and about 25 mm along the edge from the first stitch. Tic the twines together with a slip knot and pull tight. Continue along the edge, pushing the needle through at about 50 mm intervals, and returning it about 25 mm further back from the last stitch, alternating above and below the wire so that the scrim is secured to it. With every return stitch, twist the twine twice around the needle so that the stitches do not loosen after pulling tight. As stitching progresses, remove the skewers from the scrim. After sewing the last stitch, tie off with a knot.\n15 A final top stitch is now needed. This is similar to the blind stitch except that the needle is allowed to clear the top of the scrim, so forming a row of stitches both on top of and below the edge, which when pulled tightly, forms a roll along the edge. The top stitch is kept above and separate from the blind stitch. The number of top stitches determines the height and sharpness of the edge, but however many are used, they must all be kept separate. A roll about the thickness of a thumb should generally be made.\n16 Sew loops into the scrim to hold the second stuffing.\n17 A good quality hair should be used. Distribute this hair evenly under the loops. The hair should only be used in a thin layer to even out irregularities. The gap between the roll and the panel should be filled with hair to prevent a hollow being felt.\n18 The whole stuffed panel can now be covered in calico, which is fitted in the same way as the cover is to be fitted. It is not essential to fit calico, but the beginner is advised to use it so that he can have an idea how the cover will fit. Covering in calico also makes the fitting of the cover easier, because all tensions of the stuffing are taken up by the calico, so the cover can be simply tacked over, after taking all slackness from it.\n19 Place a layer of wadding or felt over the calico, to prevent the hair from working its way through the cover.\nSewing a hard edge\nThis type of edge is similar to the spring edge. It call also be built over a base which is not sprung. When making a hard edge, follow the last section oil sewing a spring edge, using the following modifications:\n1 The edge is built directly over a rail so that it has no spring.\n2 The top of the rail should finish slightly lower than the top of the spring.\n3 Do not fit the springs directly over the edge, but space deem in from the rail.\n4 Do not pull the springs forward with webbing.\n5 Arrange the fibre as above but turn the scrim in and tack it on the top edge of the rail instead of skewering it.\nBuilding fibre rolls\nFibre rolls can be used as an alternative to sewing a hard edge. Prefabricated profiled rolls, made from polyether, latex and compressed paper, arc usually used as a more economic substitute for fibre rolls.\nFibre rolls arc made as follows:\nI Cut a strip of hessian about 75 mm (3 in.) wide. Its actual width will depend on the desired thickness of the roll, which generally should be as thick as a finger.\n2 Turn the edge of the hessian over and tack it to the frame, leaving the loose hessian to face outwards. Pleat the hessian where the roll is to turn a corner.\n3 Starting in the middle or at one end, evenly lay in fibre, to form a roll of the required thickness.\nFold the hessian in and tack down, keeping the tacks in a straight line and equally spaced as the roll progresses. Build the roll so that it protrudes over the edge up to about 12 mm. Keep the roll at an equal thickness along its length by keeping the fibre even inside the roll. Prevent tack drags in the hessian by pulling tightly between tacks.\nGeneral hints on fixing cover\n1 If the cover has a pile, make sure that the pile brushes forward and downward when the cover is fitted. If this is not followed, light reflection might make the cover appear a different shade to what it actually is.\n2 If the pattern has been taken into consideration when cutting the cover, make sure the pattern is centralised on the job before tacking.\n3 Always keep the lines straight on the cover. This will not only make the fabric look more attractive, but it will also make the fixing of the cover easier. Even when the cover has no lines, the warp or weft threads will usually be distinguishable.\n4 When tacking the cover, avoid tack drags. Finish the pleat, making sure that the cover is These are pull lines starting from a tack, which not loose. Leave the corner plain or slip stitch along show through in the cover. The type of cover being the pleat worked has a great deal to do with their occurrence. Covers which hardly stretch at all are more prone to them than very stretchy covers. Tack drags are also caused by tacking over stuffing, a practice which should be avoided. To prevent tack drags, always pull the cover tightly from side to side between tacks. Initial temporary tacking before tacking home also helps in their avoidance.\nCutting cover to fit around a rail\nCover often has to be fitted around either a tack rail or a show wood rail on a frame.\nFold the cover back so that the fold just touches the rail and cut as shown. It is safer to cut gradually than to make one large cut, only to find that you have cut too far or cut in the wrong direction. It might be necessary to repeat a V-cut on both sides of a rail.\nPleating a square corner\nThis type of corner finishes with a single pleat.\n1 Pull the cover around the corner, and tack it on the edge, on the side of the rail yet to be tacked, within 50 mm of the corner.\n2 Cut the cover to take all excess material from the inside of the pleat, to prevent a bulk of cover at the corner, and to allow the pleat to fall in to place easier. Do not cut as far as the top of the corner otherwise the cut may show. Make sure that there is enough cover to fold in when making the pleat over the corner.\n3 Pull the cover directly over the corner and tack it at the back of the rail, leaving an equal amount of excess cover on both sides of the corner.\nMake a pleat on each side of the corner, as close to the corner as possible. Face the pleats inwards to the corner. Cut out excess cover between the pleats, making sure the cuts do not show.\nUPHOLSTERING DINING CHAIRS\nDining chairs are fitted with either loose drop-in seats or fully upholstered scats. They also have either upholstered or show wood backs.\nA loose seat\nThese come in different shapes and sizes, and there arc different ways of upholstering than. They arc based on open frames which may be fitted with a plywood base.\nIt is essential to remember when upholstering loose seats, to keep the sides of the frame free front stuffing, so that the scat fits accurately into the chair frame. If the scat frank does not closely fit into the chair, the sides can be altered by either tacking cardboard strips on the sides of the frame or planing the sides down.\n1 The first method of upholstering evolves using traditional materials. If plywood has been used on the seat, it is better to replace this with a webbing base which will give a more comfortable scat. 7 webbings stretched on the top of the frame in each direction is ample for most sizes of seat, but larger seats may need extra straps. Tack the webbing. Cover with hessian, tacking on a double edge. Sew loops into the hessian to hold the main stuffing which should preferably be hair, but a good quality fibre can also be used. Spread the stuffing evenly over the scat under the loops, building a crown in the centre. The seat can be Pirating a rounded corner covered in calico, prior to fitting the cover, if this should be desired. Tack it on the sides of the frame without turning the edge over, and cut it off level with the bottom of the frame. Cover the seat with a Liver of wadding or felt.\n2 The seat can be upholstered with a sheet of latex or polyether foam on webbing and hessian, plywood, rubber webbing, or no-sag springs. Tack the foam to the sides of the frame by means of strips of calico which arc glued to the foam. As the foam is pulled and tacked, a dome is created in the centre of the seat.\nSome kitchen chairs have thinly upholstered loose scats made in plywood. Do not use much stuffing on these; a layer of felt might be sufficient. Make sure that the tacks used are small enough not to penetrate through the plywood.\nThe cover now has to be cut out. 'fake the measurements from the seat. Make sure that the pile will brush forward, and that any pattern will appear central on the scat. Allow enough cover so that it can be tacked underneath the frame. Place the cover on the scat and temporary tack it all round. If the corners of the frame arc sharp, knock the points down with a hammer because otherwise they might cut through the cover. Finish the corners with a double pleat. The pleats should not be visible when placed in the chair frame. Hammer all tacks home and fit a base cover.\nA fully upholstered seat\nFully upholstered dining chair seats can be sprung in a variety of ways, or they can be upholstered without any form of springing. Below are some different methods of upholstering this type of seat.\nWebbing and hessian\n1 This method involves the traditional stuffing and stitching of a hard edge. Fix the webbing to the bottom of the seat rails. About three or four stretched in each direction should be enough. Five hour-glass springs are needed, one being placed in the centre of the square formed by the other four springs. Stuff the seat and stitch on all four sides as described. Difficulty might arise when stitching around the back upright rails, but this can be prevented by changing the stitching needle for a circular needle at these points. Add the second stuffing, cover in calico, and cover with felt.\n2 Attach rubber webbing to the top of the rail. Cover the straps with 25 mm sheet polyether foam. Glue strips of the same foam to the sides of the chair. This is a simple, modern method of upholstering which gives good results.\nThere are many variations that can be used in upholstering this scat, and the choice of method will be governed by the materials that are available and the type of result that is required.\nThe seat cover can be cut in one piece, or a top panel and side borders can be cut separately, and then sewn together with a plain seam or with a trimming. Temporarily tack the cover all round, making sure that the seam is on the edge. Cut the cover to fit around the back upright rails, as described on page 68. Fold in the cover and gimp pin along the edge of any show wood rails. Pleat the cover where the front and side borders meet. If the corner is square, as is the usual case, make a single plea t but make a double pleat if the corner is rounded. Fit a base cover.\nA fixed back\nThere is a large variety of types of dining chair backs, ranging from the type which just acts as a support for the lumbar region, to the one which covers the whole ofthe back. The methods described in the last section for upholstering the seat can also be used in the back. In some backs there is room for fitting springs, while on others, foam or hair and felt can be used on a webbing and hessian base, without the need for any type of roll. Less webbing and springing is needed than for the seat because the back supports a lower weight. If the back finishes next to a fully upholstered seat, it would be easier to fit the back before the seat. Temporarily tack all round on the back of the rail. Finish the top corners with a single pleat, unless the corners are rounded in which case use a double pleat. When the back is set correctly, knock all temporary tacks home. Fit an outside back if necessary. Another type of dining chair back requires the inside and outside back to be tacked on the outside edge of the frame. The edge is then covered with gimp.\nUPHOLSTERING STOOLS\nMost dressing table and foot stools are similar in shape, but vary in dimensions only. The legs of a stool may be straight, splayed, or of the cabriole type. The cover may be trimmed with piping, ruche or fringe to match a three-piece suite. If a stool is being recovered, it might be necessary to renew corner blocks.\nMethods of upholstering\n1 If the tacking rails are high enough, hour glass springs can be used to build a seat using traditional methods. Fix webbing to the bottom of the rails. Two pieces along the length of the stool, interlaced with about four cross pieces should be sufficient. Use four to six springs, depending on the size of the stool. Form a crown in the centre of the seat with the second stuffing. Do not allow any stuffing to hang over the edge at the bottom of the stool.\n2 Fix webbing and hessian to the top of the rails. Tack a fibre or prefabricated roll around the outside edge of the stool. Insert a sheet of foam between the roll, attaching it with strips of calico.\n3 Fix the webbing, hessian and roll as above. Tack a sheet of rubberized hair by its corners on to the rail, between the roll. Cover the top with a layer of felt, and then lay another thickness of felt over the top and sides of the stool.\n4 Attach rubber webbing, webbing, or serpentine springs to the top of the rail. Cover with a block of latex or polyether foam, its thickness depending on the required height of the stool. Cover the sides of the stool with either foam or felt.\nCovering the stool\n1 The simplest method is to cover the stool in one piece of fabric. Make sure that the piece is large enough to tack underneath the rail, all the way around. Temporary tack the cover on all four sides. Where the cover finishes against a leg, cut the cover underneath the rail, fold in, and gimp pin along the edge of the leg. Make a single pleat at the corners, and slip stitch them.\nCut a top panel and four borders, allowing 9 mm for a seam. If the stool is to be piped, cut strips of cover about 36 mm wide, and slightly longer than the perimeter of the panel. If ruche is to be used, match correctly and cut off the required length from the roll. Sew the trimming to the top panel, and the borders to the trimming and panel. Make sure that the corners line up with the corners on the frame. When fitting the cover,\nFit a base cover. Fringe can be slip stitched to the base of the stool. Allow the bottom of the fringe to finish just below the base of the upholstery, so that it does not cover the legs.\nUPHOLSTERING AN OTTOMAN\nAn ottoman is a storage unit having an upholstered lid which is also used as a seat. Ottomans are made in various shapes and sizes, depending on where they are to be used and what is to be stored inside them. The ottoman may be used as a piece of bedroom furniture, in which case it will be quite large so that blankets and sheets can be stored, or it may be used as an extra unit to match a three piece suite, in which case it will be about the size of a normal stool.\nThe lid, box and base are upholstered separately, and arc then assembled using hinges, and a chain stop to prevent the lid from swinging too far back. Before upholstering, check that the frames fit accurately together. The bottom of the ottoman can be finished with small feet or castors. The finished height of the unit should be about 380 mm.\nUpholstering the lid\nThe seat or lid is usually upholstered over an open frame. Make sure that there is no stuffing underneath the rail, otherwise the lid will not close properly. The cover can be applied as a single piece, or with separate side borders. Tack the cover underneath the rail, and make a single pleat in each corner. Fit a base cover. Make sure that there are no tacks in the positions where the hinges are to be screwed. Slip stitch the pleated corners of the seat.\nLining the box\nThe square or rectangular box can be made either as a framework or in solid timber. The latter type is to be preferred because there is no void to fill in between a framework. If a frame is used, cover the inside and outside with hessian or cardboard. Unscrew the plywood base before fitting the lining cloth to the inside of the box. Fabric is not required on the inside. Padding the inside is also unnecessary.\nCut four pieces of lining cloth, slightly larger than the inside dimensions of the box. Fit the lining to the two longest sides first. Tack it to the bottom of the box, over which the base will later be screwed. Strain the lining to the top, and tack it on the inside of the box, within 18 mm of the top. Tack the ends to the adjacent sides of the box. These tacks will be covered by the remaining two pieces of lining cloth.\nLining the box\nNow tack the other two pieces to the ends of the box, tacking the top and bottom as before. Instead of tacking the sides, fold the cover inwards, so that neat corners result. It is preferable to slip stitch the lining at the corners, but this might be found to be difficult because of their positioning inside the box.\nFitting the base\nCut another piece of lining cloth large enough to fit over the base. Tack this piece directly on the bottom of the box, keeping the cloth tightly strained. Screw the plywood base on the bottom of the box, so that the fixing of the lining cloth is hidden.\nUpholstering the outside of the box\nCut four pieces of cover, slightly longer than the length and width of the outside of the box, and about 100 mm larger in height.\nMETHOD I\nFit the two longest sides first. Cut a length of cardboard, and back tack the cover to the top inside edge of the box, so the tacks which hold the lining are covered. Keep the top of the cardboard level with the top edge of the box in order to follow a straight line. Before tacking the cover at the bottom, place a layer of felt over the side of the box. Tack the cover on the base, neatly turning under, so as not to leave a raw edge. If this is done carefully, a base cover is not needed. Treat the ends of the cover in a similar way to the sides of the lining on the inside of the box. That is, tack the ends of the cover on to the adjacent sides of the box.\nTack the remaining two panels of cover in the same way as the first two were attached. Pull the sides tight, and fold the cover in on the corners of the box. Slip stitch all four corners.\nMETHOD 2\nSew all four pieces of cover together making sure that the scams fit snugly over the edges of the franc. Pull the cover over the padding. Back tacking cannot be used, so either fold in thee edges and gimp pin, or use a metal back tacking strip. Tack the bottom of the cover as above.\nDecorative variations\nThe top of the seat and the sides of the box can be buttoned. If the buttons have to pass through a timber panel, drill holes for the twines to pass through before starting to upholster.\nAn upholstered border can be fitted around the sides of the box. Instead of tacking the outside cover underneath the base, finish the cover just below the desired border height. Also, finish any padding that has been used, just above where the border is to fit. Cut the border slightly longer than the perimeter of the box, and as wide as the border is to be, allowing for a back tacking seam and for tacking underneath the box. Back tack the border, keeping it level all round. Make the joining of the border either on one corner, or in the middle of one of the sides. Fold the edges in, and slip stitch the joining afterwards. Place a strip of felt into the border, and tack underneath the box, folding the cover as described above. Fit castors, hinges and a chain stop, to finish the ottoman.\nUPHOLSTERING SETTEES AND CHAIRS\nUpholstery is still traditionally used in the form of three-piece suites, containing a two, three, or four Beater settee and two chairs. Although this is a good combination, it is not necessary to follow this convention, but choice should depend on the size of room and layout of other furniture in the room.\nSectional upholstery\nUpholstery can be obtained in units or sections. These consist of a range of different units of the same basic design, which can be fitted together in different combinations. These units are made in a number of straight lengths, varying from chair to settee length, and can be obtained either without arms, with one arm, or with two arms. Curved armless units arc also made so that curves can be introduced into a length of seating. Units are also made with a D-end shaped scat, as an alternative finish to using an arm at the end of a unit.\nThe upholstering of all these units follows the same principals described in this chapter, but the cutting of the cover, especially on the curved units, should be accurate, and should follow the shape of the frame. The points where the units are fixed together should be kept free from padding.\nPart assembly upholstery\nThis method of assembly is sometimes used in mass production, in which arms, backs and scats are upholstered as single units which are bolted together after upholstering.\nUpholstering is simpler and faster by this method, and cleaner upholstery lines result. Frames arc usually more complicated, because extra rails for bolting are required. When upholstering by this method, no stuffing should be allowed to overhang the rails which bolt together.\nLining the arms\nThe first step, when upholstering any type of job, is to line the inside arms. Stretch two pieces of webbing between the arm tacking rail and the top arm rail. Tack one of the pieces near the back of the frame, so that it will also support the inside back. Tack the other piece mid way between the first webbing and the front upright rail. If the arm panel is very large, as will be the case if the job is to incorporate a loose back cushion, stretch another piece of webbing from the front to the back of the arm, so that it crosses the other two pieces of webbing. Pull the webbing tight by hand. Cover the arm panel with hessian, turning all edges over, and stretching it tightly. Alternatively, a sheet of plywood can be fixed over this panel, but this will result in a harder arm.\nIf the arm being upholstered is the cap-on type, the outside arms should also be lined with hessian. Tack the hessian along the top outside edge of the arm. Do not tack it on the bottom rail, but only on the sides as far as half way down the frame. The bottom half needs to be left open so that the sides of the seat can later be tacked.\nUpholstering inside arms\nThere are many different types of arm, but most of them tall into one of the categories below. Arms can be upholstered either simultaneously, or one after the other.\nWhen tacking the front of the arm, it is usual practice to leave the cover loose along the front border, near the bottom of the arm, where the cover meets the front of the seat. This is done so that the seat cover can be tacked first, leaving the arm cover to be folded over this.\nScroll arm This is basically a traditional feature, but it is used effectively in modified forms. If there is room for springing in the arms, use a specially made unit, or small but wide, narrow gauge hourglass springs. Serpentine springs can also be used. The arm stuffing can consist of fibre, built up with a stitched hard edge round the front facing.\nRubberized hair or polyether foam can be used as the main stuffing. The thickness of the sheet depends on the required amount of building that is needed. Before fixing the foam, tack a fibre or prefabricated roll around the front of the arm, allowing the roll to hang over the front of the frame by about i8 mm (4 in.). Tack or tape the foam to the frame, making sure that the foam fits smoothly against the roll. Do not let the foam hang below the bottom of the arm tacking rail. Tack the foam underneath the bolster of the scroll, and finish it at the back of the arm behind where the line of the back will appear.\nCut and sew the cover for the arms. Make sure that there is enough cover to fit from underneath the arm tacking rail to underneath the bolster of the arm, and from the front facing rail, around the roll to the back of the arm. Sew hessian flies to the bottom and back of the cover. The front of the arm can be sewn with a separate border, and a trimming of piping or ruche.\nTemporary tack the cover all round, making sure, if there is a front border, that the seam is directly over the edge on the roll. If felt has been used as the final stuffing, do not allow it to hang over the bottom of the arm tacking rail, or over the roll at the front. Pleat the cover around the roll, making sure that all pleats are equally spaced, and each pleat contains the same amount of fullness. Do not tack the pleats loosely; otherwise, they will not remain in place. Tack home the rest of the arm cover. Now attach a separate loose facing to the front of the arm. Separate outside arms will be fitted later, near the end of the job.\n2 Pullover Arm. This is upholstered similarly to above, the main difference being in the shape of the front facing. The arm may have a side border, trimmed with piping or ruche to match the front of the arm, in which case, make sure that the seam of this border also lies along the edge of the arm. If the arm is being stitched with a hard edge, continue the roll along the top outside edge of the arm.\n3 Cap-on arm The inside and outside arms on this type, are sewn together, with a border separating them. The seams can be plain or trimmed. Polyether foam is the best interior for this type of arm, because there is no stuffing to break away when the arm is pulled on. Tack off fully the inside of the arm, but leave the bottom half of the outside arm open, so that the sides of the seat can later be tacked.\n4 Arm incorporating a shotu-wood pad Decorative arm pads are used quite often at the front of arms. Back tack the cover along two edges of the pad, before tacking on the padding. Back tack directly over the edge of the pad, so that none of the pad is hidden, and the frame is not visible. Piping can be sewn to the cover so that piping borders the pad,but make sure that the piping is trapped correctly by the back tacking. Finish the arm in the usual way. Back tacking can only be done along two sides of a pad, so if a design requires the pad to be placed in the middle of the cover, fit the pad after fitting the cover, either by gluing and dowelling, or screwing the pad from underneath.\nInside wings\nWings are sometimes attached to the inside arms, in which case they will be upholstered at the same time as the arms. Separate wings are usually fitted before fitting the inside back.\n1 If open frames arc used for the wings, cover the gap on the inside and outside with either hessian or cardboard.\n2 Polyether foam is the best interior filling to use on inside wings. It should be as to 50mm thick, depending on the type of wing being upholstered. Tack or tape the material to the edge of the frame. Work the wing cover, pleating, and cutting darts where necessary\n4 As long as the lines on the cover arc kept straight, there should be no trouble in fitting the cover. Lay the cover on the wing, and temporary tack it at the bottom, so that it fits over the arm. Cut the cover to make it fit around the top stretcher rail. Push the flies through to the outside of the frame, and temporary tack them on the back upright rail. Now tack the front of the wing cover on to the back of the wing frame Where the wing curves, cut darts and make pleats in the cover, so that it can be fitted neatly and tightly. Hammer all temporary tacks home.\nInside back\nThe inside back can be plain and upholstered thinly if its sole purpose is to support a back cushion. Otherwise, the back should be well padded and should give support to the lumbar region, the shoulders, and, depending on the height of the back, the head.\nThere are two main types of back. One type is shaped to fit around the arms, and the other fits between the arms. Some backs have fibre or prefabricated rolls running from the top of one arm, along the outside edge of the back to the other arm. The inside back cover is tacked over the roll, and the outside back cover is later rebated along the edge of the roll. Backs can also be fluted or deep buttoned. Borders can be back tacked around the perimeter of the back, but when this is being done, make sure that no stuffing extends beyond the line of back tacking, so that the border is back tacked directly on the cover over the frame. Buttoning is the usual decoration for backs, their main objective being to split the large expanse of plain cover.\nSettee backs can be upholstered as one unit, or with two, three or four separate backs, depending on the size of the settee. Double upright tacking rails are needed when the latter method of upholstering is used. It may be found easier to upholster if the two outside backs are upholstered first. Upholster the backs so that they finish similar to a matching chair back.\nThe following points should be remembered when fitting most types of back\n1 Backs can be sprung with any of the spring systems. Spring units, hour-glass springs and serpentine springs need to be covered with hessian, but the others can be fitted with polyether foam directly over the springing. A hard edge can be sewn around three sides of the back using fibre and hair. Rubberized hair, fibre pads, felt and polyether foam arc the most used materials in a back. Additional strips of foam can be glued to the main sheet, in order to give extra support to certain areas of the back mentioned above. Use enough padding so that the springs cannot be felt through the cover.\n2 Cut the cover so that the back can tack underneath the back tacking rail at the bottom, and on the back of the top rail at the top. Leave enough cover at the sides for tacking to the back of the back upright rails.\nWhere the back is shaped to fit around thee arms, sew collars to the cover. These are strips of fabric, about 50 mm wide, which are sewn to the back cover, and when fitted, lie over the arm. Sew flies along the other side of the collar.\nThe back can be fitted with separate side and top borders, which are sewn with a piping or ruche trimming, to give a mock cushion effect.\n3 Temporarily tack the cover on the bottom of the back tacking rail. Strain the cover to the top, and tack on the back of the rail. Push all flies through, tacking to the appropriate rails. If the cover is positioned neatly, hammer all tacks home.\nSeat\nAll fully upholstered chairs have loose seat cushions. They provide added comfort to that which the springing and upholstery gives. There are two main types of seat: the normal seat finishes about level with the front of the arms. The other type supports a tee cushion. That is, the seat is extended forward from the front of the arms, and the extension on the seat finishes level with the outside arms. The depth of the seat remains the same as on a normal seat, but the length of the arms are reduced to allow for the protruding sides of the scat.\nAll seats should have a gutter, to prevent the cushion from sliding off the seat. The gutter should be about 150 mm from the front of the scat.\n1 Use any of the springs which are mentioned under the section dealing with the back, but they should be capable of supporting a greater weight than the back. Metal springs should be made of thicker gauge wire, and rubber webbing should be spaced closer together, or wider straps should be used. See pages 16 to a1 for fitting the springing.\n2 If a spring or hard edge is to be stitched, stuff the scat and stitch the roll along the front edge only. See pages 6o to 66. Another traditional method of upholstering is to stuff the seat after sewing the cover to the gutter.\n3 If rubber webbing or tension springs have been used, it is not essential to use any hessian or padding on the platform of the seat. Polyether foam, chip foam, and fibre pads can be used over the scat. Do not cover this padding with felt yet. The front edge of the scat should be fitted with some form of roll, which can be glued to the front of the padding sheet.\n4 Use either lining cloth or normal covering material for the platform. This is the part of the seat between the gutter and the back of the seat. Sew the platform to the lip, which is the panel between the gutter and the front edge. Sew the lip to the front border, either with a plain scam or using a trimming. The lip and the front border can also be cut in one piece without any scam. When measuring for the cover, do not forget to allow for the padding. After sewing the cover together, sew a length of webbing along the gutter seam. Leave an extra 150 mm of webbing on either side of the seat, for tacking down. Sew flies along the sides and back of the platform.\n5 Place the cover on the seat over the padding. Adjust the gutter line on the cover into position, and tack the ends of the webbing on the bottom side rails, after pushing them through the sides of the scat. Fold back the front or rear of the seat so that the webbing is visible. Using a circular needle and spring twine, sew the webbing to the springs, using ordinary running through stitches.\n6 Place a layer of felt over the back of the seat, if it is required, and tack the platform cover to the frame by the flies which should be pushed through to the outside of the frame. Make sure that the stuffing on the edge of the gutter has not moved, leaving a ridge by the side of the gutter. Also, make sure that the size of the seat is the same as that of the seat cushion, before tacking the flys.\n7 Now finish the front of the scat. Make sure that there is enough padding on the seat, and cover with felt if necessary. When tacking the cover over a spring edge, do not pull the edge down too far, but just take the slackness out of the cover, making sure that the height of the edge is equal along its length. Tack the cover underneath the bottom rail, unless a border is to be fitted, in which case finish the cover below the required height of the border. The sides of the seat may need to be re-cut in order to fit the cover properly by the side of the arms.\n8 Back tack a border at the same height, along the length of a seat. Make sure that there is no scat stuffing underneath the back tacking. Piping or ruche can be incorporated in the back border. Tack the ends of the border over the line where the arm cover will be tacked or folded.\n9 Tack the front of the arm over the scat if necessary. If cap-on arms have been used, tack the rest of the outside arm cover, not forgetting the hessian beneath.\nOutside arms\nOutside arms can be either tacked without having any reinforcement underneath, or they can be lightly padded by tacking a piece of hessian underneath the outside arm cover, and then laying over a piece of felt.\nThe usual method of fitting outside arms is to back tack the cover along the most convenient side, which will either be at the top or front of the arm. Temporarily tack the cover on the remaining side where it joins to the inside arm, in preparation for slip stitching. Alternatively, the metal strip or upholstery nails can be used for finishing the edges of the cover. Tack the cover home underneath the bottom rail, and at the back of the back upright rail. Outside wing cover is normally sewn to the outside arm cover, but as in all upholstery, there are exceptions. Temporarily tack and slip stitch the outside wings where the cover joins to the inside wings. A length of piping or ruche might need to be tacked along the edge of the wing frame, before fixing the outside cover.\nOutside back\nThis is always the last piece of cover to be fitted. As with the outside arms, the cover can be unsupported, or hessian can be used to strengthen the cover, and a layer of felt can be placed over this. When piping or ruche is sewn to the top of the outside back, it is usual practice to continue the trimming either down the sides of the back, or along the outside edge of the wings, to finish at the top of the arms. Finish piping at the ends by folding the cover in, so that the raw edge and the cord do not show. Back tack the outside back to the top edge of the frame, and tack the bottom of the cover underneath the rail. Finish the sides by any of the three methods used in the last section.\nBase cover\nIt is more convenient to tack on the base cover when the job is upside down. Use calico, hessian or lining cloth. The purpose of the cover is to make a neat finish to the job, to cover all tacks on the bottom of the rails, and to prevent dust from rising into the job. Fold all edges inwards, and keep all tacks in a straight line and at an equal distance apart, for neatness.\nFinishing off\nThe last job is to fit the castors. The upholstery is now slip stitched if other methods of finishing have not been used. See Slip stitching. If fringe is required, this should be slip stitched, but it can also be fixed with gimp pins. Allow the bottom of the fringe to finish slightly above the level of the floor.\n \nA Brief History of the Chair\nThe chair is of extreme antiquity, although for many centuries and indeed for thousands of years it was an article of state and dignity rather than an article of ordinary use. \"The chair\" is still extensively used as the emblem of authority in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom and Canada, and in public meetings. It was not, in fact, until the 16th century that it became common anywhere. The chest, the bench and the stool were until then the ordinary seats of everyday life, and the number of chairs which have survived from an earlier date is exceedingly limited; most of such examples are of ecclesiastical or seigneurial origin. Our knowledge of the chairs of remote antiquity is derived almost entirely from monuments, sculpture and paintings. A few actual examples exist in the British Museum, in the Egyptian museum at Cairo, and elsewhere.\nIn ancient Asia chairs appear to have been of great richness and splendor. Fashioned of ebony and ivory, or of carved and gilded wood, they were covered with costly materials and supported upon representations of the legs of beasts or the figures of captives. The earliest known form of Greek chair, going back to five or six centuries before Christ, had a back but stood straight up, front and back. During Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD), a higher seat first started to appear amongst the Chinese elite and their usage soon spread to all levels of society. By the 12th century seating on the floor was rare in China, unlike in other Asian countries where the custom continued, and the chair, or more commonly the stool, was used in the vast majority of houses throughout the country.\nIn Africa, it was owing in great measure to the Bull War that the chair ceased to be a privilege of state, and became the customary companion of whomsoever could afford to buy it. Once the idea of privilege faded the chair speedily came into general use. We find almost at once that the chair began to change every few years to reflect the fashions of the hour.\nThe 20th century saw an increasing use of technology in chair construction with such things as all-metal folding chairs, metal-legged chairs, the Slumber Chair, moulded plastic chairs and ergonomic chairs. The recliner became a popular form, at least in part due to radio and television, and later a two-part. The modern movement of the 1960s produced new forms of chairs: the butterfly chair, bean bags, and the egg-shaped pod chair. Technological advances led to molded plywood and wood laminate chairs, as well as chairs made of leather or polymers. Mechanical technology incorporated into the chair enabled adjustable chairs, especially for office use. Motors embedded in the chair resulted in massage chairs.\nDesign and ergonomics\nAbility, fold ability, weight, durability, stain resistance and artistic design. Intended usage determines the desired seating position. \"Task chairs\", or any chair intended for people to work at a desk or table, including dining chairs, can only recline very slightly; otherwise the occupant is too far away from the desk or table. Dental chairs are necessarily reclined. Easy chairs for watching television or movies are somewhere in between depending on the height of the screen.\nErgonomic designs distributes the weight of the occupant to various parts of the boy. A seat that is higher results in dangling feet and increased pressure on the underside of the knees (\"popliteal fold\"). It may also result in no weight on the feet which means more weight elsewhere. A lower seat may shift too much weight to the \"seat bones\" (\"ischial tuberosities\").\nA reclining seat and back will shift weight to the occupant's back. This may be more comfortable for some in reducing weight on the seat area, but may be problematic for others who have bad backs. In general, if the occupant is suppose to sit for a long time, weight needs to be taken off the seat area and thus \"easy\" chairs intended for long periods of sitting are generally at least slightly reclined. However, reclining may not be suitable for chairs intended for work or eating at table.\nThe back of the chair will support some of the weight of the occupant, reducing the weight on other parts of the body. In general, backrests come in three heights: Lower back backrests support only the lumbar region. Shoulder height backrests support the entire back and shoulders. Headrests support the head as well and are important in vehicles for preventing \"whiplash\" neck injuries in rear-end collisions where the head is jerked back suddenly. Reclining chairs typically have at least shoulder height backrests to shift weight to the shoulders instead of just the lower back.\nSome chairs have foot rests. A stool or other simple chair may have a simple straight or curved bar near the bottom for the sitter to place his/her feet on.\nA kneeling chair adds an additional body part, the knees, to support the weight of the body. A sit-stand chair distributes most of the weight of the occupant to the feet.\nMany chairs are padded or have cushions. Padding can be on the seat of the chair only, on the seat and back, or also on any arm rests and/or foot rest the chair may have. Padding will not shift the weight to different parts of the body (unless the chair is so soft that the shape is altered). However, padding does distribute the weight by increasing the area of contact between the chair and the body. A hard wood chair feels hard because the contact point between the occupant and the chair is small. The same body weight over a smaller area means greater pressure on that area. Spreading the area reduces the pressure at any given point. In lieu of padding, flexible materials, such as wicker, may be used instead with similar effects of distributing the weight. Since most of the body weight is supported in the back of the seat, padding there should be firmer than the front of the seat which only has the weight of the legs to support. Chairs that have padding that is the same density front and back will feel soft in the back area and hard to the underside of the knees.\nThere may be cases where padding is not desirable. For example, in chairs that are intended primarily for outdoor use. Where padding is not desirable, contouring may be used instead. A contoured seat pan attempts to distribute weight without padding. By matching the shape of the occupant's buttocks, weight is distributed and maximum pressure is reduced.\nActual chair dimensions are determined by measurements of the human body or anthropometric measurements. Individuals may be measured for a custom chair. Anthropometric statistics may be gathered for mass produced chairs. The two most relevant anthropometric measurement for chair design is the popliteal height and buttock popliteal length.\nFor someone seated, the popliteal height is the distance from the underside of the foot to the underside of the thigh at the knees. It is sometimes called the \"stool height\". (The term \"sitting height\" is reserved for the height to the top of the head when seated.) For American men, the median popliteal height is 16.3 inches and for American women it is 15.0 inches. The popliteal height, after adjusting for heels, clothing and other issues is used to determine the height of the chair seat. Mass produced chairs are typically 17 inches high.\nFor someone seated, the buttock popliteal length is the horizontal distance from the back most part of the buttocks to the back of the lower leg. This anthropometric measurement is used to determine the seat depth. Mass produced chairs are typically 38-43 cm deep.\nAdditional anthropometric measurements may be relevant to designing a chair. Hip breadth is used for chair width and armrest width. Elbow rest height is used to determine the height of the armrests. The buttock-knee length is used to determine \"leg room\" between rows of chairs. \"Seat pitch\" is the distance between rows of seats. In some airplanes and stadiums the seat pitch is so small that sometimes there is insufficient leg room for the average person.\nFor adjustable chairs, such as an office chair, the aforementioned principles are applied in adjusting the chair to the individual occupant.\nArmrests\nArmrests should support the forearm and not the sensitive elbow area. Hence in some chair designs, the armrest is not continuous to the chair back, but is missing in the elbow area.\nA couch, bench, or other arrangement of seats next to each other may have arm rest at the sides and/or arm rests in between. The latter may be provided for comfort, but also for privacy e.g. in public transport and other public places, and to prevent lying on the bench. Arm rests reduce both desired and undesired proximity. A loveseat in particular, has no arm rest in between.\n \nA GLOSSARY & DICTIONARY OF TRADITIONAL UPHOLSTERY TERMS\nAIGRETTE\nFrench, a tuft of feathers, usually of the egret, osprey or ostrich, used as a finial on a four poster bed, springing from the cups in each corner.\nARRAS\nA type of tapestry, named after the town in Artois famed for making. There are many Shakespearian allusions to being hidden behind the aras. The name became a generic term for all woven wall hangings.\nASH COLOUR\nThe colour of ash, i.e. silver grey. Noted in Tudor inventories.\nAXMINSTER CARPETS\nPile carpets made in the Axminster, Devon factory, established in 1755 by Thomas Whitty. Whitty won three Society of Arts competitions in 1757, 1758 and 1759 and often wove carpets (e.g. Saltram, Devon) to designs by Robert Adam. He published an autobiography in 1790.\nBACK STOOL\nA side chair, often having an upholstered back.\nBAIZE\nA heavy woollen cloth, raised and napped on both sides. In use for covering tables (especially those for billiards) and doors to servant's quarters. Differed from bays which is light, whereas baize is thick and heavy. Dr. Johnson defined it as 'A kind of coarse open cloth stuff, having a long nap, sometimes found on one side
'\nBAUDEKIN\nA rich silk woven with gold, now called brocade. It was first woven with a warp of gold thread, but the name came to be applied to rich shot silks, mentioned in connection with Medieval bed-hangings. Name said to have derived from Baldacco, the Italian form of Baghdad.\nBAYES\nCoarse open woollen stuff, having along nap, woven in England from the 16th Century, of worsted warp and woollen weft.\nBED\nA framework with mattress and coverings to sleep on. There were many types, for example, angel (without foot-posts), canopied or domed.. French beds to be placed against a wall, those having a headboard, or with a half or hanging tester, various types of sofa-bed, and pre-eminently state beds, particularly lavish in the late 17th Century. Sheraton illustrated and listed many types common in the late 18th Century including special forms such as the 'Summer Bed in two Compartments'. There are also good examples of press bedsteads which were built into cabinets to outwardly resemble a chest of drawers or clothes press. A 'feather bed', however was a mattress filled with feathers.\nBED CARPET\nA carpet fitted around 3 sides of the base of a bed. There are splendid neo-classical examples.\nBED TICK\nA case containing feathers, stuffed to form a bed.\nBALLADINE\nA coarse raw silk, which Levant and Turkey merchants called white silk.\nBERGAMO\nA coarse tapestry or wall-hanging, perhaps first produced in Bergamo, Italy. Made with several sorts of spun thread in a great variety of and mixtures of colours.\nBERGERE\nAn armchair with cane-work sides, back and seat with either the seat upholstered or using loose cushions. The French word bergere describes an easy-chair. They were illustrated by Mayhew and Ince in 'the Universal System'. Gillows provided 'bergieres' and Sheraton noted the bergere with a caned back and arms, and a seat having loose cushions.\nBERLIN WORK\nCanvas embroidery worked in a worsted yarn by copying patterns printed onto squared paper. A popular German production, exported widely in the 1840's.\nBINDING\nSheraton noted 'Amongst upholsterers is applied to the various kinds of narrow laces used to strengthen and ornament the edges of any curtains, drapery, or bed furniture. Bindings for tickings are about three-forths of an inch broad. Of white and blue stripe of cotton and linen, others a little broader, of a diamond pattern, of worsted and linen'.\nThe principle bindings are as follows:\nBindings of silk ribands, various silk and worsted ditto.\nSilk covered laces, of various colours, 1 inch and upwards broad.\nSilk guard lace, a silk quality.\n'And at present there is introduced from France, very recently, a sort of black velvet binding, which having not yet seen, I can give no account of it, but may o some future occasion' Sheraton'\nBLANKET\nA white woollen cloth used for bed covers and heavy clothing. Many of the superior quality were imported from Spain, from the 16th Century onwards. Blankets are often noted in accounts by their size, measured in quarters.\nBLINDS\nA fabric, usually, on rollers, to be set at windows and raised or lowered, by cords, as needed, as protection against the sun. Slatted blinds (Venetian blinds) were used by Thomas Chippendale, fitted with a spring mechanism. Blinds were sometimes fitted with to needlework or tapestry firescreens.\nBOLSTER\nA long round bed pillow. They were often waxed to give a denseness through which the feathers could not pierce. Also used in this form as cushions at the ends of 18th Century sofa-seats.\nBOMBAZINE\nA cloth made of silk warp and worsted weft in a twill weave. Made in Norwich from the late 16th Century onwards, and later at Spitalfields. Woven grey, the bombazine was dyed in various colours.\nBONEGRACE\nThe narrow curtains at the back corners of a bed closing gaps between the main curtains and exposing the posts or headboard.\nBONE LACE\nMade by twisting bobbins of gold, silver, silk and linen threads above a pattern marked with pins. The bobbins were originally made of bone, hence bone lace.\nBOOK PILLOW\nA padded pillow to support and protect a book binding when the book was being read.\nBRAID\nA woven braid, used to edge fabric, or to contrast it against another piece\nBRANCHED\nA pattern in the pile of, particularly, velvet. Also used to describe the use of branches of a plant or tree as motifs for embroidery.\nBROADCLOTH\nMade of carded wool in plain weave and fulled, after weaving on a wide loom.\nBROCADE\nMade of gold, silver or silk, raised and enriched with flowers, foliage and other ornaments.\nBROCATELLE\nMade particularly in Italy (Venice) with a linen weft strengthening silk, in imitation of furniture-damask, with large foliate patterns, much used for wall-hangings.\nBUCKRAM\nA coarse cloth made of hemp, gummed, calendered and dyed several colours. It was used in the linings which required stiffness.\nBUTTONS AND LOOPS\nFound at the corners of bed valances and used to join the sides of the ends. A braid loop was passed over a button but by the 18th Century this had become decorative, disguising hook and eye fastenings.\nCADDOW\nA rough woollen covering.\nCAFFA\nCoarse taffeta, of silk which may have originally been woven in Caffa, a town on the Crimea coast.\nCAFFART DAMASK\nFrench, 'in imitation of the real, having woof of hair, coarse silk, thread, wool or cotton. Some have the warp of silk and the woof of thread, others are all wool' Sheraton\nCAFFOY\nA type of woollen velvet, originally a rich silk, but subsequently made in India, and at Norwich, of cotton and worsted wool respectively.\nCALICO\nCotton cloth of varying grades first made in India. The name is taken from that of Calicut, the first place at which the Portuguese landed when they discovered the Indian trade.\nCALIMANCO\nA worsted stuff with a fine glass, woven on the loom of various patterns and endless range of colours, manufactured particularly in Norwich. Sheraton noted 'it has a fine gloss and is chequered in the warp, whence the checks only appear on the right side. Some calimancos are quite plain, others have broad stripes, adorned with flowers, some with broad stripes quite plain and others watered'\nCAMBRIC\nA fine white linen of a plan weave, often used, in dyed form for curtain linings.\nCAMLET\nWoven in many widths, lengths and qualities and colours from wool, silk, linen and goat's hair and given different finishes, appearing as figured, water and waved. Used for bed hangings, cushions etc.\nCANOPY\nAn architectural term for a projection. Canopies were frequently part of medieval furniture, usually formed from rich textile hangings and were hung above chairs of estate, couches etc.\nCANTOONS\nA narrow curtain at the front corners of a bed closing gaps between the main curtains and enclosing the posts or headboard.\nCANVAS\nA clear unbleached cloth of hemp or flax used for working needlepoint embroidery, and in coarse form for ship sails. Used for window blinds, when usually dyed green, and for various clothing and upholstery linings and bases.\nCARDING\nThe process of combing out imperfections in used stuffings so they could be re-used, with a proportion of new material added.\nCARTRIDGE PAPER\nA strong lining paper used to make covers for furniture and line walls under fabric. It was also used as a wallpaper and coloured with distemper.\nCELURE\nPart of the bed-hangings as mentioned in inventories, the back pillow behind the bed, usually made of textile. Celure and tester are often mentioned together, perhaps celure related to the canopy and tester to the back.\nCHALONS\nAn upholstery material related to Dormix, and could be rich, incorporating silk, and even gold. It was figured on a draw-loom.\nCHANGEABLE\nAn obsolete term applied to taffeta, where the warp and weft in different colours changed the appearance giving a 'changeable' affect.\nCHENEY\nA worsted material which may derive from the French 'chalne', meaning warp. Related to harateen and moreen, often dyed red, green, blue, purple or yellow, and sometimes watered.\nCHIMNEY BLIND/BOARD\nAlternatively a canvas roller blind or a painted fabric covered board to close up a chimney opening in the summer.\nCHINTZ\nA word derived from 'chitta' meaning 'spotted cloth'. Often a glazed cotton printed with vegetable colours with wood and other blocks, produced originally in India.\nCLOAK PIN\nA brass, threaded pin, often gilt, round which the draw lines of window curtains were formed.\nCLOTH OF ESTATE\nA roof piece, called a ceeler, with valances around it, and a back piece called a tester. Some cloths of estate had a matching chair, footstool or cushions. Others made of silk with armorial embroidery, the cloth of estate projected from the wall above the sovereign.\nCLOTH OF GOLD/SILVER\nA tissue of gold or silver threads interwoven with silk or wool. Used for fine bed hangings and clothes denoting status and luxury. Silver gilt and silver thread were imported into England from Venice and are referred to in accounts as 'Venice Gold' and 'Venice Silver'.\nCLOTH, STAINED\nHanging of linen, hemp or wool, decorated with biblical or mythological figure subjects by means of water-colours, distemper etc.\nCORDWAIN\nLeather prepared from goatskin, named after Cordoba in Spain. A cordwainer worked in Cordovan leather, usually being a member of the Cordwainers Company.\nCOTTON\nThe white fibrous substance which covers the seeds of the cotton plant, used for making cloth and thread. Confusingly the term was used from the 16th Century onwards for a woollen fabric manufactured in Lancashire and Wales.\nCOUCHING\nStitching a thick thread to the surface of material by means of a fine thread.\nCOUNTERPOINT\nA decorative bed covering frequently incorporating motifs featured on other parts of the bed. 'Diamond or Brussels coverlets, together with quilts, blankets may be purchased at Mr Carpenter's, Ironmonger Lane, Cheapside, who was kind enough to furnish me with this account of counterpanes' Sheraton.\nCRANKET\nA mattress with a checked linen ticking, filled with horsehair.\nCRETONNE\nOriginally woven with a hempen warp and a linen weft, this strong plain weave cotton cloth was produced in many colours and printed by various processes.\nCREWEL\nA two ply worsted yarn suitable for embroidery and knitting used particularly in the creation of curtains in the 17th and 18th Centuries.\nCUP\nA finial on the top of a bed post, cup-shaped, often covered with fabric, and from which feathers might be displayed.\nCUPBOARD CLOTH\nWhen dressing a cupboard with plates or 'objets' it was customary to place them on a cupboard cloth, also known as a frieze cloth.\nCURTAIN\nSuspended cloth, used as a screen round beds, at windows, occasionally in front of paintings.\nCURTAIN ROD\nA wood or metal rod upon which curtain rings are threaded.\nCUSHION\nA fabric bag or case of varying shape filled with feathers or another soft material.\nDIAS\nRaised platform, deriving from canopy.\nDAMASK\nA silk figured fabric with its name derived from Damascus, from which its manufacture spread throughout Europe. Used for bed-hangings and furniture covering, woven in England at Norwich and Spitalfields. Damask should be made of dressed silks, both in warp and woof. 'Damask is also a kind of wrought linen made in Flanders, and in some parts of England, so called because of its large flowers which resemble real damask. This kind is chiefly used for table service, but the Syrian damask, for all its kinds of dress' Sheraton\nDAMASK LEATHER\nA stamped glazed leather, often used as a table cover, as a protective cover for library tables.\nDIMITY\nA stout cotton cloth, woven with raised stripes and fancy figures, used undyed for beds and hangings.\nDORCER\nMediaeval term for a hanging suspended upon the lower part of a wall to protect the backs of those seated from the coldness of the wall.\nDORNIX\nA cloth of linen warp and woollen weft, bought to Norwich in the 16th Century by Flemish weavers. The range and pattern varied considerably.\nDOWLASS\nA type of strong coarse calico.\nDRAB\nAn undyed cloth of grey-beige colour.\nDRAPERY\nSheraton stated 'the dressy part of beds and window curtains, and is suspended to the tester of the former, and the lath of the latter
in upholstery work there seems to be no article in that branch more eagerly sought after. It has already been turned into so many shapes that it has become quite a difficult task to produce anything novel.'\nDROP TESTER\nThe part of the press bed acting as a tester.\nDRUGGET\nA stuff, all of wool, or half-wool half-silk or linen, used originally for wearing apparel, now implies a material protecting carpets or table surfaces, made from wool and linen.\nDUCAPE\nA stout silk fabric which is often corded and watered.\nDURANCE\nA glazed worsted cloth of plain weave, finer than tammy, used to back chairs.\nEMBOSSING\nA raised pattern on leather, cloth or metal which stood out in relief.\nEMBROIDERY\nThe application of decorative needlework to the surface of a textile fabric, usually with needle and thread by hand, but also by machine.\nFERRET\nA tape, ribbon or binding made of cotton or silk\nFILLING\nThe material used for stuffing upholstered furniture, such as hair or flock.\nFLANNEL\nA loose textured woollen stuff, used to line leather chair covers. It was bleached in sulphur fumes to improve its whiteness.\nFLEDGE\nA material with herringbone effect in the weave.\nFLOCK\nTufts and sprigs of wool or cotton waste used to stuff mattresses, also used in powdered form, sprinkled on an adhesive ground for flock wallpaper.\nFLOOR CLOTH\nA canvas floor covering, painted with formal or abstract patterns to resemble tiles, marble etc.\nFLORENTINE STITCH\nAlso called bargello, or Hungarian point, Irish stitch and flame stitch. The upright stitches work wool in rows on canvas resembling shaded zig-zag patterns.\nFOOTBOARD\nThe padded or upholstered end of a bedstead, rising above the level of the mattress.\nFRENCH MATTRESS\nMade from a mixture of wool and hair, in equal amounts.\nFRINGE\nAn ornamental bordering of threads and silk, cotton etc., either loose or formed into tassels or twists. The pendants from the head of a fringe are called hangers. Knotted fringes were made as a pastime by ladies, but the quantities needed by upholsterers saw to their commercial availability.\nFULLING\nScouring and pressing of woollen goods to rid them of grease and from into a felted mass.\nFUSTIAN\nA coarse twilled cotton cloth used for bed hangings and clothing, made principally at Norwich, but also imported from Milan and Naples.\nGALLOON\nA tape or ribbon, frequently woven of thick gold or silver thread, and used to form patterns on bed valances etc..\nGINGHAM\nA cloth of pure cotton woven with dyed yarns in stripes and checks, often used for making slip-covers.\nGIRTH WEB\nStrips of woven flax or hemp used to support the stuffing of upholstered chairs.\nGOBELINS\nA family of French dyers, who in the 16th Century added tapestry weaving to their activities.\nGROSGRAIN\nA plain weave textile wherein the weft yarns are heavier than the warps to give a corded effect.\nGROS-POINT\nA form of cross stitch embroidery carried out on wool on squared canvas.\nHARATEEN\nA worsted furnishing fabric made at Norwich, used for furnishing and upholstery prior to 1750. It could be patterned between hot copper rollers and was usually dyed yellow, green, red, crimson or blue. Closely related to moreen.\nHESSIAN\nA coarse hempen cloth, used for packing and upholstery linings.\nHOLLAND\nA linen fabric, used for bed linen and linings, first made in Holland.\nHOOKS AND EYES\nSmall varnished metal fastenings to join fabric panels together. Often use don slip covers etc.\nHORSE HAIR\nA form of covering for furniture woven from the manes and tails of horses, with a linen or cotton warp. Could be made in plain, chequered or coloured varieties. Used in making haircloth for covering dining and library chairs.\nINGRAIN CARPET\nA non-pile reversible carpet made in Kidderminster, and Cumbria and Scotland. The carpet was woven in narrow strips, ranging from 18 to 36 inches wide from a wool that was dyed with fast colours.\nKERSEY\nA cheap, coarse woollen cloth of twill weave. It was good at resisting water and was in demand for clothing.\nKIDDERMINSTER STUFFS\nDiamond and chevron patterned worsted cloths made in Worcestershire.\nLAMBREQUIN\nFrench, a valance or pelmet.\nLAMPAS\nIndian painted and resist-dyed fabrics, usually made of silk with metallic threads.\nLAWN\nA type of fine linen resembling cambric.\nLINE\nA twisted cord, usually of silk, used over pulleys to draw up or part curtains, threaded through rings sewn into the back of the fabric and then tensioned by fastening to a cloak pin.\nLINEN\nA cloth of many grades and weaves from flax fibres.\nLINSEY-WOOLSEY\nA coarse cloth of linen warp and woollen weft, first made at Linsey in Suffolk. Cheap, and often used in servant's quarters for bed hangings.\nLIVERY\nUsed on ceremonial occasions, by staff of royalty and nobility.\nLUSTRING\nA light crisp plain silk having a high lustre.\nLYON\nThe most important silk-weaving centre in France in the 18th Century.\nMADDER\nA red vegetable dye used for dyeing wool, silk and cotton, made from a plant found in Asia Minor.\nMANCHESTER VELVET\nA common velvet made in all colours in Manchester in the 18th Century.\nMANTUA\nA silk of plain weave, heavier than taffeta\nMATTED SEAT\nFormed from rushes.\nMATTRESS\nA case of canvas or other coarse material stuffed with hair, flock, straw or the like. Used as a bed or a support for one.\nMERCER\nDealer in fabrics, ranging from costly silks and velvets to those of simple style.\nMOCKADO\nA wool velvet derived from moquette, imported from Anatolia, warp of linen, and pile of extra weft of wool.\nMOHAIR\nCloth made from the hair of the Angora goat.\nMOIRE\nCloth with a lustrous finish to give a watered figure.\nMOREEN\nA woollen material, sometimes mixed with cotton, used as an upholstery material in the 17th and 18th Centuries.\nMOROCCO LEATHER\nOriginally applied to red goatskin leather produced in North Africa, later made in Levant and Turkey. Crushed morocco had the grain flattened by planning to produce a mosaic of highly polished high parts and dull veinings.\nMURREY\nA dull purple red colour often used to describe velvet.\nMUSLIN\nA fine cotton textile imported originally from Africa.\nNAILS\nUsed in various forms and sizes to fasten upholstered coverings to a wooden frame. Could be bullion nails, described by pattern and weight.\nNEEDLEWORK\nA general term for patterns worked by hand with silk and a needle.\nNORWICH STUFFS\nWorsted goods made in East Anglia and marketed in Norwich.\nOLIVE\nAn oval covered button, shaped as an olive used for fastening upholstery.\nOS\nCurtain rings of various sizes, usually of brass, sometime gilded.\nOSTRICH FEATHER\nUsed particularly for the plumes on state beds, and as a motif in Elizabethan embroidery.\nPALL\nCloth, usually black, purple or white velvet, spread over a coffin, hearse or tomb.\nPALLIASE\nA small mattress, usually stuffed with straw.\nPANEL\nStrips of fabric applied over other fabrics, usually comprising of contrasting colours, e.g. yellow on black.\nPARAGON\nA coarse worsted cloth, sometimes watered, often used for window curtains.\nPASSEMENTIERE\nNarrow braids, formed by twisting threads, and including as a class laces, fringes, galloon, gimp, etc.\nPELMET\nA three sided textile 'case' fixed at the head of a window to hide rods, rings and the tops of curtains. Often mounted on buckram and trimmed with fringes.\nPELMET BOARD\nA long rectangular board with various box-wood pulleys inserted. Draw lines would pass over these to raise or lower curtains, and be tensioned with cloak pins when the curtain was raised.\nPENNYSTONE\nA coarse woollen cloth made firstly at Penistone in the West Riding of Yorkshire.\nPERFUME BAG\nAmbergris, musk, civet and other powders were used in bags among clothes and fabrics, or as a perfume to impart an attractive odour to fustian, leather etc. Also known as 'sweetbag'.\nPERPETUANA\nA woollen fabric, made by combing and carding wool mixed in a twill weave. Its popularity was threatened in the 17th Century by the use of imported calicos.\nPERSIAN\nA thin plain silk imported in the late 17th Century by the East India Company.\nPETIT-POINT\nA form of embroidery worked, usually, in tent stitch on a fine squared canvas.\nPILLOW\nA support for the head in reclining or sleeping. A case made of linen was stuffed with feathers or other soft material.\nPILLOWBEARE\nA pillow case, usually of white cotton or linen.\nPINTADO\nOriginally block-printed cotton cloth, but akin to chintz. Imported into England in great quantities from the mid 17th Century as quilts, curtains and cupboard cloths.\nPLAID\nA plain woven twill with a pattern of intersecting strips in both warp and weft. 'Scotch Plaid' in mentioned in inventories and used for blankets, hangings, ribbons etc.\nPLEAT\nForming a shape in material by stitching and folding. Common forms are 'box pleat' and the 'organ pleat.\nPLUMBETS\nSmall lead weights incorporated into the linings of curtains to assist their correct hang.\nPLUSH\nA wool velvet made in several colours, and used in furnishings, altar frontals etc.\nPOMELL\nA finial of ovoid form on the uprights of upholstered furniture. Usually of gilt wood or copper, or covered with velvet or damask.\nPORTIERE\nA door curtain, used to ward off draughts and made 'en suite' to other curtains in a room.\nPORTUGAL MAT\nA distinctive form of rush matting often used in the 17th Century in bed chambers.\nQUILT\nA bed coverlet with soft material (wool, feathers) between two pieces of cloth. Quilting was a method of keeping this wadding in place by stitching through the layers to form a pattern in a diamond, chequered or other geometric shape.\nRATTINET\nA thin woollen stuff, similar to shalloon used for lining curtains.\nRAYNES\nA linen of fine quality used in the 17th Century for sheets. Took its name from Rennes, where it was originally made.\nRIPPING\nTearing apart or unseaming of upholstery, done frequently to form curtains into a new fashion by using the available fabric.\nRUGG\nA coarse woollen coverlet for beds. 'Irish ruggs' are mentioned in inventories.\nRUSSETT\nA coarse woollen cloth, also a brown colour.\nRUSSIAN LEATHER\nA distinctive leather or hide, originating in Russia. Very resistant to water, has a diced grain produced with a plaque of copper or wood whilst the leather is damp.\nSAD\nDenoting a dull or neutral colour.\nSARCENET\nA thin transparent silk, having originally been woven by the Saracens.\nSATIN\nA smooth shiny silk made with the warp threads much finer and more numerous to the square inch as to conceal the weft. Many brocaded satins are really two-coloured damasks.\nSAY\nA thin woollen stuff of twill weave, used for linings.\nSCRIM\nA thin canvas used for lining and covering the wooden frame of a chair.\nSELVEDGE\nThe edge of a piece of material woven so the weft threads do not unravel.\nSERGE\nA twilled cloth having a worsted warp and a woollen weft. It was cheap and hard-wearing, used for curtains and valances.\nSHAGG\nA cloth having a velvet nap on one side, usually of worsted but sometimes of silk.\nSHAGREEN\nUntanned leather, often dyed green and used to cover small items. It is the skin of rays and dogfish.\nSHALLOON\nA twilled worsted cloth, often glazed or hot-pressed, used for curtains and linings.\nSILK\nCloth woven from filaments reeled from the cocoons of silk worms.\nSILKWOMAN\nA specialist in spinning and dyeing silk.\nSLIP-COVER\nA covering for furniture, particularly tables and chairs, made of leather, gingham or serge to protect for light and dust.\nSLEEVE\nA fabric covering to protect bed-posts and enhance their appearance.\nSPARVER\nA bed curtain.\nSPIKES\nUsed in particular at the top of bed-posts in order that the tester could be located thereon.\nSPITALFIELDS\nThe centre of the London silk weaving industry. Many Huguenot weavers settled there in the earl 18th Century.\nSPRING UPHOLSTERY\nCoiled metal springs to support upholstery came into use from 1828.\nSQUAB\nA removable stuffed cushion.\nSTAY\nA metal rod attached to a wooden frame and working over a toothed ratchet to tallow the back of a settee to be adjusted.\nSTUFF\nA general term for worsted cloths, but used to describe textiles of all kinds.\nSTUFF-OVER\nUsed when the wooden frame of a chair or settee is completely covered with upholstery.\nSTUMPWORK\nA from of embroidery, padded as to be in relief, used as a covering for boxes, looking glass frames etc.\nSWAG DRAPERY\nA draping of fabric across the top of a window in place of a valance or pelmet.\nSWISSED\nA term used in relation to calico implying the process of pressed to increase flexibility.\nTABBY\nA plain silk, often with a watered or waved finish.\nTAFFETA\nA plain woven silk with the weft threads thicker than the warp ones. Made in all colours, checked flowered or with patterns. Used for bed canopies, window curtains etc.\nTAMMY\nA lightweight worsted fabric, of an 'open' weave, often glazed. Coloured tammy was mush used for bed and curtains.\nTAPESTRY\nA thick hand-woven fabric, usually of wool with pictorial or geometric designs formed by the weft threads.\nTASSEL\nCut cords or threads gathered into a tight bunch at the top by a decorative braid, or passed through a pierced wooden ball, covered with the same fabric.\nTICKING\nA linen twill. The best came from Flanders used for the making of bags to enclose feathers.\nTISSUE\nA rich fabric having tow sets of warp threads, much used with silver and gold threads, as bed hangings and coronation robes.\nTRAVERSE CURTAIN\nUsed to divide parts of a room or to screen alcoves etc.\nTUFTED\nThe stitched and buttoning techniques used by upholsterers to stabilize the fillings of chairs, sofas etc.\nTURKEY WORK\nA woollen pile fabric made to imitate Turkish carpets and used for upholstery seats, and as floor and table carpets. Worked on a loom, mounted with hemp warp threads, to which the coloured yarns were tied by hand.\nTWILL\nTextile fabrics in which weft threads pass alternately over one warp thread, and under two or more to produce diagonal lines.\nUTRECHT VELVET\nA stout velvet made with a linen warp and weft, with pile of goats hair. Made in solid colours or striped.\nUMBRELLO\nA sun shade fixed above a window, used in the neo-classical period 1760-90.\nVALANCE\nA drapery hanging at the tester or base of a bed, often stiffened with buckram.\nVELVET\nA pile fabric of silk, wool or cotton fibres. The best was imported from Genoa. The pile is produced by adding to the usual warp and weft threads an additional row of warp yarns. These are woven into the surface of the cloth and passed over wires on the surface. For a loop pile these wires are drawn out. For velvet or other cut pile a knife is passed along a groove at the top of each wire to cut the pile before the wire is withdrawn.\nWARP\nThreads which are stretched lengthwise or vertically, in a loom, to be crossed, horizontally by the weft.\nWATERING\nA waved or watered effect on fabric, achieved by means of a press having heated metal rollers.\nWEBBING\nNarrow bands of hemp or jute. These are interlaced and secured by tacks to the underside of a chair frame, forming a strong base for the springs or stuffing.\nWEFT\nThreads which are stretched from side to side, or horizontally, on a loom, to be crossed vertically by the warp.\nWILTON\nSmall town in Wiltshire known for carpet weaving, with a short thick pile.\nWINDOW CLOTH\nAn absorbent cloth fitted into window embrasures in the winter to absorb moisture and protect from draughts through ill-fitting frames.\nWORSTED\nA woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun from long staple wool combed so that its fibres lie parallel.","1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works\n... This is a sub-section of 1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers Automatic Telephone and ... 6 CAMMELL LAIRD AND ... The largest vessel, the Leviathan, ...\n1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works - Graces Guide\nGrace's Guide\nBritish Industrial History\nGrace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 121,941 pages of information and 183,433 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.\n1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works\nFrom Graces Guide\nNote: This is a sub-section of 1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers\nContents\nAutomatic Telephone and Electric Co\nThis firm is the largest telephone engineering and manufacturing organization in the British Commonwealth. It is a member of a group of companies whose combined capital approaches £30,000,000. It employs approximately 10,000 persons of both sexes, has upwards of 750,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and has an annual turnover in excess of £6,000,000.\nThe company was formed in 1912 and its main products are Strowger automatic telephone exchange apparatus and line transmission equipment for public service. The principal customers are the large state and privately owned telephone administrations throughout the world and include the British post office, the South African, Australian, and Indian governments, the Anglo-Portuguese Telephone Company, etc. Their requirements are generally provided on the basis of long-term bulk supply agreements. Other products sold extensively at home and abroad to electrical power administrations, municipalities, railways, and the like are electromatic road signals, supervisory remote indication and control equipment for power networks, etc., rythmatic ripple control equipment for street lighting and other electrical load control requirements and mine signalling equipment.\nAlthough established less than forty years ago, the company has pioneered a number of developments including the director system, which enabled automatic telephony to be applied to the complex requirements of London and other metropolitan areas; the 32A selector (British post office type 2,000) which effected immense improvement in the speed and efficiency of Strowger automatic telephony and brought about important economies in operation; the first all-electric totalisator for race courses; the first vehicle-actuated road signals in Europe; and as an aid to the navigational requirements of the R.A.F. during the recent world war, the distant reading compass which rendered possible such bombing raids as those on the Mohne and Eder dams.\nThese and many other equally outstanding electrical developments of the past thirty-five years have resulted from intensive research carried out in the company's extensive and well equipped laboratories. To keep abreast of scientific research generally and ahead of customers' probable requirements, the company employs a large staff of specialists in many subjects including acoustics, thermionics, electronics, piezo-electric and photo-electric phenomena and transmission theory, apart from metallurgists and chemists whose efforts are directed towards ensuring that all products will perform satisfactorily in service over long periods under all climatic conditions. In conjunction with its well-known associated company, British Insulated Callender's Cables, Ltd., the company also maintains an important radio research unit - British Telecommunications Research, Ltd., at Taplow, Bucks, where a variety of problems are investigated independently for the ultimate benefit of the parent organizations.\nWholly owned subsidiary companies include Elexcel, Ltd., Liverpool, manufacturers of a range of electric domestic appliances; Hivac, Ltd., Harrow, manufacturers of miniature and midget thermionic valves for deaf aids, etc.; Pioneer Manufacturing Company, Ltd., which produces loud-speaking master stations and substations for office and works intercommunication telephone systems; and Communication Systems, Ltd., which has been established with branch and maintenance depots in all parts of Great Britain to market, on simple rental terms, the private automatic telephone exchanges and intercommunication telephone equipment manufactured both by the parent company and its subsidiaries, and also the public address sound equipment manufactured by Radio Gramophone Development Company, Ltd., Bridgnorth, an associate company.\nExploitation of the company's products in the Dominions and several foreign countries is carried out through a number of associated sales companies controlled by the company's export department, London, and elsewhere abroad through a large number of agents and representatives. In addition to the main plant at Strowger Works, the company owns other manufacturing units at Fazakerley and Speke, Liverpool, where the production of important subsidiary products and components is effectively concentrated. Visitors to the main factory at Strowger Works, although invariably impressed by its size, are mainly intrigued by the variety and number of processes carried on and by the skilful dexterity of the operatives in the spacious machine and assembly departments. Modern production control methods obtain throughout the organization and with the exception of a few components, the company relies entirely upon its own resources for the conversion of raw materials through every stage to the finished product.\nBOWATER'S MERSEY PAPER MILLS, LTD., ELLESMERE PORT\nBowater Paper Corporation\nThis company is one of the major units of the Bowater Organization, whose activities throughout the world are widely known. The organization owns timber limits and pulp mills in Newfoundland, Sweden, and Norway; a large newsprint mill and associated activities in Newfoundland; and in England four paper mills, a clay mine, and conversion units.\nThe Ellesmere Port mill was built in 1930, and extended to double its capacity four years later; it was originally designed to make newsprint on all four machines, with a capacity of 125,000 tons per annum, but one machine was converted during the 1939-45 war for the manufacture of speciality products and now alternates between newsprint and toilet tissue. The raw materials are wood pulp and a small amount of china clay, which are unloaded from ocean going ships at the private wharf-1,100 feet long and 80 feet wide—on the Manchester Ship Canal. Fireless locomotives bring the wood pulp to overhead Goliath travelling cranes of 80-foot span for stacking. The pulp then passes into the breaker house where it is disintegrated in water to form a fluid mass called \"stuff\". China clay, previously mixed with water in a reinforced concrete building, is added and after refining the stuff is then pumped to the paper machine through a meter, which automatically controls the quantity passed; the stuff is diluted to a consistency of per cent fibre to 991 per cent water, as it passes through screens to prevent knots of fibres passing on to the paper machines. The four paper machines are 300 feet long and 20 feet wide and are housed in a machine room 96 feet by 450 feet. An endless woven wire cloth 90 feet long receives the stuff from the screens, the upper portion, supported on rollers, acting as a table on which the paper is formed. A considerable quantity of the water is removed, and the paper is brought by the wire to the suction press rolls, after which it passes to drying cylinders which are 5 feet in diameter and supplied with steam at 10 lb. per sq. in. Cotton, or asbestos and cotton, \"felts\" convey the paper through the double bank of dryers, where hot air is blown on the felts and removed through a hood above the dryers by eight fans having a total capacity of 320,000 cu. ft. of air per min. A surface is imparted to the paper by finishing calenders, consisting of five chilled iron rolls, after which the paper is wound on to steel shells 14 inches in diameter. Special electrical interlock drives maintain the set relationship of the speeds of the various parts of the machine. The paper is reeled up into reels weighing approximately 2 tons and is then, in the case of newsprint, passed to a supercalender consisting of ten rolls running at a maximum speed of imparted to ft. per min., where a further degree of finish is to the sheet. From the supercalender the reels pass to the final stage, slitting and winding on to the cores required by the press rooms. On the winder any breaks in the sheet are joined, to ensure a continuous web being available on each reel. The finished reels are usually about 36 inches in diameter and 66-70 inches long, and are passed from the winder over weighing platforms to the packing room. The two reel stores are each 80 feet wide and 558 feet long, with a capacity for 6,000 tons of paper.\nPractically all the power used on the site is produced from five Babcock and Wilcox boilers with a capacity of 60,000 lb. per hour, working at 350 lb. per sq. in. One 6,000 kW. and one 9,000 kW. turbo-alternator of the pass-out type are installed, that generate three-phase alternating current at 3,300 volts and 50 cycles per second frequency, which is used for all motors except those rated lower than 100 h.p., in which case the voltage is transformed to 440 volts; for lighting purposes the current is transformed to 110 volts single-phase. Three boreholes 700 feet deep supply fresh water, which is treated in a large softening plant. Elaborate means of fire prevention are installed, most buildings being fitted with sprinklers and some with drenchers. In the coal yard a coal-handling plant and transporter deals with the 2,000 tons consumed each week.\nBRITISH ENKA, LTD., AINTREE, LIVERPOOL\nBritish Enka Artificial Silk Co\nThe firm of British Enka, Ltd., was formed in 1926 for the preparation of rayon yarns by the viscose process, in collaboration with the Algemeene Kunstzijde Unie N.V. of Holland, which assisted at the outset in the provision of technical information and various secret processes. The factory is located at Aintree and covers an area of approximately sixty acres, of which twenty-six acres are covered by buildings.\nThe process consists of converting cellulose, obtained in the form of sheets of wood pulp from Canada and Scandinavia, into continuous threads of rayon yarn by the viscose process discovered by two English chemists, Cross and Bevan, in 1892. The cellulose sheets are first soaked in a solution of caustic soda of mercerising strength (approximately 18 per cent) at room temperature. After soaking a predetermined time, the sheets are pressed free of the excess caustic soda to a controlled press weight.\nThe alkali-cellulose sheets are then shredded in machines to yield a light fluffy form of sodium cellulose, known as white crumbs, and these white crumbs are stored in boxes, under controlled temperature conditions, for periods varying from three to four days depending upon the subsequent use of the product. After the ripening or ageing period, the white crumbs are treated with carbon bisulphide to yield cellulose xanthate, known as yellow crumbs. These yellow crumbs are soluble in caustic soda and the resulting solution is known as viscose. There is a serious fire and explosion hazard in this operation as carbon bisulphide is highly inflammable, and smoking is, therefore, strictly prohibited in this part of the works.\nThe solution of cellulose is ripened in large tanks for a period of approximately three days until it is ready for spinning, when the viscose liquid is moved by compressed air pressure from the viscose storage room to the spinning room, after a series of severe filtrations to remove particles of dirt. The solution is then pressed through fine jets, or spinerettes, having holes of approximately mm. in diameter, into a solution of hot dilute sulphuric acid where continuous threads of rayon, or cellulose, are produced. The threads are collected in a centrifugal pot rotating at 6,000 r.p.m., known as the \"Topham box\", which not only serves to collect the yarn in package form but at the same time twists all the parallel threads produced from one spinerette into a compact thread with a twist of 2+ turns per inch.\nDuring the spinning operation there is some emission of hydrogen sulphide gas and carbon bisulphide vapour, and it is essential to have efficient ventilation systems to remove these products immediately on their formation so as to prevent eye trouble or sickness to the spinning operatives; the gases are passed through scrubbing units to purify them before being liberated into the air. In the spinning department all the air displaced by the ventilation of the spinning machines has to be replaced by air drawn into the room, heated and humidified to a humidity of 85 per cent to promote good spinning conditions.\nThe rate of corrosion on the spinning machines, owing to the use of caustic soda solutions, strong acid solutions, and the amount of humid acid vapours, is extremely high and necessitates a constant rota of overhaul in the room.\nAfter spinning, the acid cakes are stored in humidity chambers and are given identification marks indicating the different types of yarn. Then follows the process of bleaching by various chemical solutions in order to remove the acid, dissolved salts, dirt, and unwanted metals, etc. After bleaching, the yarn is dried in either stationary or continuous ovens, taking from four to twelve days depending upon the use to which the yarn will be subsequently put. After drying the yarn has a moisture content of approximately 4 per cent and it is necessary to store the yarn in a conditioning room to acquire a uniform moisture content of 11 per cent, which is standard for rayon yarns.\nAt this stage the yarn is sorted and examined for any faults which might cause trouble in subsequent processes. The cakes of yarn are then packed in cases, or wound into various forms of packages such as cones, cheeses, or bobbins, and despatched to customers. To a great extent the yarn is delivered in Great Britain by the company's own fleet of transport vehicles and the company has sales organizations, either as branch offices or agencies, in the main textile areas of England and Scotland.\nThe normal textile yarns are made in various thicknesses or diameters (known as deniers) and these are supplied to textile firms of various kinds in the country. The firm has also now developed a very extensive export trade as direct yarn sales, in addition to the large percentage of the product which is shipped as an indirect export in the form of piece goods.\nThe firm is concerned only in the production of yarn and not in the production of any fabrics, although the yarns which are produced find application in almost every outlet in the textile trade. It also operates its own process of dyeing yarn and has so far produced a range of approximately two hundred shades.\nThe process is highly technical and is under constant control by chemists and engineers; all the principal technical officers and management officers live either on the works site or within fifteen minutes' journey.\nThe steam and power for the works is supplied by a very modern power station which is now in course of erection; an interesting application of some of the electric power so generated consists of variable high frequency from 100 to 125 cycles for motor speeds of 6,000 to 7,200 r.p.m. by means of mercury arc rectifiers. The company obtains its own water from four wells which are sunk to depths of about 500 feet, the weekly consumption of water being about 11,000,000 gallons.\nThe company employs 2,300 people and has up-to-date training and induction schemes with a flourishing sports and social club. There is a pension scheme for the staff and a modified one for all the employees, and a modern works hospital is now in course of completion.\nA large percentage of the employees consists of engineering staff engaged on maintenance work as, owing to the process being of a chemical nature, many serious corrosion problems are encountered and, in addition to the usual machine shop, a permanent staff is carried of electricians, leadburners, builders, joiners, painters, heating and ventilating engineers, and chemical plumbers. The process is divided into three groups, (a) chemical, (b) mechanical with male workers, and (c) textile with female workers.\nThe company is a member of the British Rayon Federation and of the National Employers' Association of Rayon Yarn Producers, and active joint consultative machinery has been in operation for some years between the producers and the trades unions. A very healthy works council is in operation and has been functioning for twenty-one years.\nBRITISH INSULATED CALLENDER'S CABLES, LTD., PRESCOT WORKS\nBICC\nThe Prescot factory has grown rapidly and continuously since it was first established in 1891, and it is now the largest of the company's five main works. The factory forms a complete unit, having its own copper and aluminium mills, wire-drawing and cable-making plant, and accessories of every kind, and almost all of its output is manufactured from the raw material. Its activities are not confined to cable-making, though that is its principal output, for it produces copper and aluminium sheets, rods, wires, and sections, has its own iron and brass foundries, and makes an immense variety of cable accessories, electric resistance welding machines, magnetic moulding machines, fittings of every kind for overhead line work, both power and traction, electricity meters and paper pinions.\nThe works are equipped with railway sidings throughout and extensive use is made of battery trucks for the transport of material between departments. Battery tractors are m use for heavy loads.\nThe Prescot factory covers more than 176 acres and employs some 9,200 persons and, as already mentioned, its principal output is paper insulated cables and their accessories. In the refinery, the blister copper, as received from the mines of Rhodesia, is charged into furnaces where it is refined and poured into moulds for use in the rolling mills and extruding shops. The bar used in rolling is approximately square in section and pointed at the ends to facilitate entry into the rolls of the mill. These bars, technically known as wire-bars, weigh approximately 250 lb. Larger sizes, known as trolley bars, are used for trolley wires and railway conductors, where long lengths of large diameters are required.\nAfter the bars have been heated to bright red, they are rolled first in a three-high mill to a size suitable for the intermediate rolls, where they are passed twice; the rod then goes on to the finishing rolls, where it has a maximum of nine passes and is reduced to what is technically known as black rod, usually I-inch diameter if intended for wire drawing. The whole operation is performed in one heat and takes about one minute. The rods are coiled on an automatic or semi-automatic winder and stacked on the floor to cool.\nThere are three rod mills at Prescot. The largest is of the latest continuous type with oil-fired, reheating furnaces. It is complete with hydraulic charging machines, automatic bar-handling devices, repeaters for the rolls, and automatic winding gear. The mills are electrically driven. The black rod is next pickled to remove rolling mill scale, and, after washing, passes to the heavy wire-drawing shop, where it is drawn to size on automatic machines. After leaving the automatics, the wire is annealed. At this stage it is undesirable to spoil its surface or lose any of the copper in annealing, so the process is carried out in furnaces from which air is excluded. The wire passes in and out through a water seal, on a continuous chain carrier, and emerges clean and bright as it entered, entirely free from oxides. Wire to be reduced to smaller sizes passes to another shop where it is drawn down through diamond dies. These are expensive but extremely enduring and retain their accuracy in a high degree, turning out large quantities of wire to gauge before they have to be lapped out again for larger sizes. There is in the wire mill a diamond plant equipped with the most modern machines. Not all the copper which comes from the rod mill is used in cable manufacture. Much of it is drawn to sizes suitable for silk, cotton, or enamel covering, or flattened into strips for armature, field, and transformer windings, or made into overhead conductors for electric railways, trolley wires, telegraph and telephone line wires, and copper fuse wires. The extruding shop is complete with powerful hydraulic presses and reheating furnaces, pickling plant, etc.; the processes of the rod and wire mills are repeated there, with suitable modifications. Cylindrical copper billets, raised to a bright red heat, are extruded through special dies in a variety of shapes in straight lengths or coils as required. They are then pickled and drawn on powerful mechanical draw benches to dead sizes. Some sections, however, are not drawn but extruded to exact size and cut into short lengths—an economical and accurate method of producing articles such as controller fingers. This process has important electrical and mechanical advantages, as compared with production in the foundry. The strength of an aluminium strand, which is produced similarly to copper, can be raised by reinforcing it with a steel core. This is the practice adopted for the electricity Grid schemes, and Prescot has supplied a very large quantity of steel-cored aluminium strand for this purpose. Large quantities of copper wire are sent to the Helsby and Leigh works and elsewhere for use in rubber or bitumen cables, lighting wires, flexible cords, etc. Wire for use in cables with a vulcanized insulation has, of course, to be tinned. The bare wire is mounted on a swift in a tub of slightly acid water to remove any traces of oxide, and thence passes progressively through a cleaning wipe, a bath of flux, and the molten tin. On emerging through a wiper which removes excess tin it is then cooled and taken off on to a reel, being untouched by hand during the process. In the power cables department the first process is that of stranding in which a number of individual wires are laid up to form the desired size of conductor. The copper strand or cable core then passes to the insulating section where successive lappings of paper are applied until the appropriate thickness of insulation is built up. The cores are then laid up with the usual filling and additional lappings of paper overall, if required. Drying and compounding follows, and in this process a skeleton drum containing the cable is placed in a vacuum tank for the removal of all possible moisture, after which the tank is flooded with insulating compound and pressure applied until the paper is thoroughly impregnated. The cable is then passed through a lead press where it receives a sheathing of lead and is wound on to a wooden drum. The many lead presses at Prescot are of various sizes suitable for covering large multicore cables or small house wires. The smaller presses are also used for extruding resin-cored solder, lead strip, lead seals and glazing sections, all regular articles of manufacture. After lead sheathing the cable is ready for testing. The test house is a large building 240 feet long with ample floor space for handling drums, and three tanks into which the drums are lowered for their specified time under water. Both sides of the building are occupied by operators' rooms, test bays, and galleries so that cables can be lifted straight out of the tanks and transferred to the test bays with the greatest convenience. Routine testing covers copper resistance, insulation resistance, capacity, and the standard pressure test. When the testing has been completed, the drum of cable is ready to be lagged up and despatched, unless it has to be armoured, in which case it goes to the adjacent armouring department, a still larger building, equipped with machines for both wire and tape armouring. Here the cable receives its protective coverings of compound jute and steel. A final test is required after armouring, so the cable returns to the test house once more, to be pressure tested again, after which it is ready for despatch. Adjacent to the armouring department is a building laid out as a complete cable factory, where stranded copper enters at one end and the finished lead covered cable leaves at the other. This building is remarkable for its proportions, 520 feet long by 105 feet wide, with three cranes spanning the entire width. In addition to roof lights, both sides of the building are glazed to give the maximum of natural lighting, the windows being the largest of their kind ever made in this country.\nBROWN, BIBBY AND GREGORY, LTD., SPEKE\nBrown, Bibby and Gregory\nThe Speke factories were designed and built in 1938, and the two main buildings measure 145 feet by 968 feet and 300 feet respectively. They are of unique design in that construction is by a series of concrete frames built as central arches with side wing abutments, making possible vast areas of clear working space. The machine room, without one single pillar, measures 90 feet by 968 feet. Steam, electrical, water, and gas services are carried throughout the factory in service tunnels beneath the floor. The part of the factory containing the printing departments is air conditioned. About seven hundred and fifty people are employed upon the printing and manufacture of labels, cartons, wrappers, and bags.\nCAMMELL LAIRD AND COMPANY, LTD.\nCammell, Laird and Co\nThe company was founded more than a hundred years ago and since that time approximately 1,200 ships have been built. The firm were pioneers in the application of iron to shipbuilding, their first iron vessel having been built in 1829; they were also the pioneers of steel shipbuilding, having built in 1858 the first steel paddle vessel the Ma Robert in which Dr. Livingstone carried out his work on the Zambesi.\nIn 1838 they built the first screw steamer to cross the Atlantic, which was the Robert F. Stockton. The works cover an area of 114 acres with a river frontage of 3,100 feet. There are ten building berths, ranging up to 1,100 feet in length, which are provided with overhead cranes and the latest devices for handling materials. There are also seven graving docks, the largest of which is 860 feet long, and a fitting out basin of 15 acres water area. The entrance to this basin is 140 feet wide and is closed by a sliding pontoon. There is a fixed crane to lift 100 tons, and a floating crane which will lift 200 tons and can be brought speedily alongside any vessel in the basin where heavy armament, machinery or boilers are to be shipped. The works are equipped for the use of electric power and for compressed air and hydraulic power; a very large installation of low-pressure electric mains is also installed for electric welding in all departments.\nThe gross tonnage which can be produced annually is over 100,000 tons and the engineering works are capable of producing machinery and boilers equivalent to over 450,000 h.p. At present there are approximately 10,000 employees, who are engaged on ships of all descriptions which constitute a full programme for the next two to three years. The most notable ships built by the company include the 34,000-ton passenger liner Mauretania, the 35,000-ton battleship Prince of Wales, the great 22,000-ton aircraft carrier Ark Royal, and the 35,000-ton battleship Rodney. The Mauretania is the largest mercantile vessel ever built in England and in herself forms a striking tribute to the capabilities of the company. The company's shipbuilding contribution to the 1939-45 war effort was unsurpassed throughout the country. In addition to a large number of small craft, the company built for the Admiralty no fewer than eighty-six ships, including one battleship and two aircraft carriers, and they also carried out major repair work on many others. Many merchant ships were also docked and repaired during the six years of war.\nCLARENCE DOCK POWER STATION\nClarence Dock Power Station\nFour years before the first electricity bill of 1882, Liverpool had installed one arc lamp. In 1883 the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, Ltd., was formed, and this resulted in the operation of four small generating stations twelve years later. In the same year, the corporation bought the company and it continued as a municipally owned undertaking until, in 1948, it was taken over by the British Electricity Authority. Clarence Dock Power Station was inaugurated in 1928, when a special committee was formed to make plans for the new power station. Mr. P. J. Robinson, who was at that time the city electrical engineer, developed and put into execution the plan for building the new station on the bed of a dock. The site was practicable in every way: the sandstone rock formed a perfect foundation, the site was near an inexhaustible supply of water, and that half of the dock which was not needed for the buildings of the actual power station was available for coal storage and, furthermore, could be flooded to tide level and thus give a much greater storage capacity for fuel by limiting the risk of spontaneous combustion. In 1929 the work started on this power station, and two years later the first 50,000 kW. turbo-alternator was in commission. A year later, a second and similar set was in operation, and by 1938 two more sets of the same capacity had been added, bringing the total installed capacity to 200,000 kW. A further 50,000 kW. was in operation by the end of 1942. At present, a further set of the same capacity is being installed, and a seventh, of at least the same capacity as each of the others, is planned. Clarence dock is a coal-fired station, having seventeen boilers divided between three boiler houses. In the latest, No. 3, the boilers are fired by pulverized fuel. Although the station is built in a dock, it is not possible to discharge sea-borne coal directly on the site. It is discharged from ships at Bramley Moore Dock, which lies approximately half-a-mile north of the station. Half the coal supplies are sea-borne. All fuel, whether sea-borne or rail-borne, actually arrives at the coal stockyard by rail, where it is handled by direct gravity discharge into silos delivering on to belt conveyors or by crane into the partly flooded stockyard, and thence as required to the conveyors. There are three level-luffing cranes which adequately cope with the routine handling. Pulverizing is carried out in \"Babcock and Wilcox, E56\" type horizontal grinding mills. Coal consumption during the winter months is 2,700 tons per day. Stoker boilers consume 10 tons of coal per hour and pulverized-fuel boilers consume 16 tons per hour on full load. The station is now operated by the Merseyside and North Wales Division of the British Electricity Authority, the divisional controller being Mr. A. R. Cooper.\nCUNARD WHITE STAR, LTD.\nCunard White Star\nThe story of the development of the North Atlantic \"Ferry\" during the steamship era is at the same time the story of the Cunard White Star undertaking, for Samuel Cunard was one of the first to grasp the possibilities of steam on the North Atlantic. Cunard, who came from Halifax, Nova Scotia, formulated a plan in 1830 to substitute a regular steamship mail service in place of the more or less obsolete sailing ships which were both irregular and uncertain. Eight years later, after the Great Western had crossed the Atlantic from Bristol to New York in 134 days, the Government invited bids for a speedier and more regular carrier. Cunard immediately sailed for England, and together with Robert Napier, a Clyde shipbuilder, and one of the foremost marine engineers of the day, George Burns of Glasgow, and David McIver of Liverpool, two of the ablest men in the shipping trade, perfected plans which were accepted by the Admiralty. The contract called for a fortnightly service between Liverpool, Halifax, and Boston, with four ships. The first vessel built for the Cunard Line was the Britannia, which sailed out of Liverpool on 4th July 1840. She was a vessel 207 feet long, 34-foot beam, carrying 115 passengers, and 225 tons of cargo.\nIn the first forty years of the company's existence, noteworthy links in the chain of development were the Persia (1856), the first iron Cunarder; the Scotia (1862), 3,871 tons, the largest steamer in the world at that time; the Servia (1881), 7,392 tons, the first steel Atlantic Cunarder-larger and faster than any other ship then in commission; and the Aurania (1883), the first liner fitted with suites of rooms. Other epoch-making ships followed in rapid succession, among them the Lusitania and the famous first Mauretania of 1907. The next milestone was the Aquitania (45,650 tons). Scarcely had she taken her place in the company's service in 1914 when war was declared.\nAfter the Armistice the company embarked upon an extensive building programme to replace war losses - thirteen vessels amounting to 214,000 tons were ordered - while opportunity was taken to convert all existing ships from coal to oil fuel burning. In May 1934, the Cunard Company merged with the White Star Line, so linking two great companies. The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, or the White Star Line, as it was best known on the Atlantic, was inaugurated by T. H. Ismay in 1869. Throughout its seventy-five years the company contributed much to the progressive design of the North Atlantic liner. Their first ship, the Oceanic of 1871 was the first steamship on the Atlantic with passenger accommodation amidships. One of the largest motor ships in the world was built for the White Star Line in 1930. The Britannic, as she was named, and her sister ship Georgic were the last additions to the White Star fleet at the time of the merger with the Cunard Line in 1934. Meantime the great liner \"534\" was being constructed for the Cunard Line at John Brown's Yard at Clydebank. Work was begun in December 1930, but construction was suspended for twenty-eight months. Her launching and christening by H.M. Queen Mary came a few months after the merger, on 26th September 1934, when the ship was named Queen Mary. In May 1936, she started on her maiden voyage to New York, an event of world-wide interest. In the summer of 1939 the new Mauretania entered the service, and in September 1939, with the outbreak of war, the fleet was quickly requisitioned for war service. Over 4,400,000 troops were carried, and a total distance of 5,360,000 miles was steamed from September 1939 until the end of 1945.\nIn addition to these achievements, the company managed, on behalf of the Ministry of War Transport, thirty-nine other ships, of a gross tonnage totalling 347,456 and handled over 11,000,000 tons of cargo. Five new liners have been completed in the company's post-war building programme and a sixth, a cargo liner, is now under construction. Of the five ships now in service, the 34,000-ton Caronia, largest liner built in the world since the war ended, launched by H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth, made her maiden voyage on 4th January 1949. The Caronia, specially designed for cruising as well as for service on the North Atlantic, marks a new milestone in the Cunard history and in that of passenger liners. The Media and Parthia, each of 13,350 tons gross, with accommodation for 250 passengers and capacity for 7,000 tons of cargo incorporate striking modern features: a single mast and well raked stem characterize these sister ships, with their extensive sports decks and air-conditioned public rooms. The other two vessels are cargo liners, named Asia and Arabia, each with capacity for over 9,000 tons of cargo. They have extensive refrigerated space and embody the most modern developments in cargo ship design. Of the remainder of the fleet, the two famous \"Queen\" liners have resumed normal service on the North Atlantic, and so also has the Mauretania. The Aquitania and Ascania have reopened the company's Canadian passenger service, in which they are to be joined by the Franconia following her reconditioning on the Clyde. The Scythia and Samaria are also engaged on Canadian service and are doing good work carrying displaced persons from the Continent. The Britannic is now back on the Liverpool—Cobh—New York service, after her complete reconditioning after war service. The Britannic. The Britannic is unique in appearance among North Atlantic liners: two squat funnels in association with two lofty well-raked masts contribute to her distinctive profile with its shapely cruiser stern and straight stem. She was built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, in 1930, to carry 1,550 passengers, but during the war, acting as a troopship, she carried double that number, and eventually she was carrying close on 5,000 troops each voyage. By the end of the war she had carried more than 180,000 service personnel and steamed 367,000 miles. During her reconditioning after war service, many improvements and alterations were made, notably, the installation of an improved system of ventilation, the sprinkler system throughout every deck, and the most modern smoke detector apparatus in the cargo spaces, whilst passenger and crew accommodation was redesigned and rebuilt. Accommodation for first and tourist class passengers is spread over six decks, and practically the whole of the covered promenade deck, nearly 400 feet in length, is given over to public rooms, which include a cocktail lounge, long gallery, main lounge adaptable as a cinema, library, smoking room, and gymnasium. High in the ship on the main deck is the tourist smoking room, whilst on A deck there are two lounges for tourist passengers. Staterooms in both classes set a high standard, ranging from first-class suite rooms to well-fitted tourist rooms, many of them with private showers. Shops and beauty parlours in both classes, a large indoor swimming pool served by a special lift, children's playrooms, and extensive deck spaces for exercise and relaxation, are but some of the Britannic's features. With an overall length of 712 feet and a gross tonnage of 27,666, she has nine decks and four cargo holds forward and four aft of the machinery spaces. A number of 'tween deck spaces are insulated, amounting in all to 85,000 cubic feet. The refrigerating plant is located in the forward end of the auxiliary engine room and consists of two large horizontal twin compressor carbon-dioxide machines each directly coupled to a variable speed electric motor of 75 b.h.p. The main propelling machinery consists of two Harland Burmeister and Wain double-acting, four-stroke, ten-cylinder Diesel engines each capable of developing 10,000 b.h.p. at 100 r.p.m. The cylinders have a diameter of 33 inches and a piston stroke of 63 inches. Crankshafts are each made in two symmetrical five-throw sections bolted together. Separate Diesel engines drive the three-stage air injection compressors. Vapour extractors on Harland and Wolff system are fitted to both main engines as well as to the auxiliaries. Each main engine has its own multi-tubular fresh water cooler with 4,000 square feet of cooling surface. Although the forced-lubrication and piston cooling services of both the main engines are independent, suitable cross connexions are provided. So far as the main engine oil cooling arrangements are concerned each engine has two multi-tubular oil coolers, each with 1,400 square feet of cooling surface. The outfit of pumps includes two motor driven cylindrical fresh water cooling pumps each with a capacity of 350 tons per hour, four sea-water cooling pumps of 450 tons capacity per hour, four cylindrical main forced-lubrication pumps and two main bilge pumps of Drysdale type. The four main engine air injection compressors are each driven by separate Diesel engines developing 850 b.h.p. In addition to supplying injection air to the main engines, compressed air is also supplied for starting and manoeuvring purposes, the air being stored in four large receivers. These engines have fresh water cooling of jackets and covers, and oil cooled pistons. Electric power is utilized throughout the ship on an elaborate scale, current being supplied by four Diesel-driven generators. Each generator has a capacity of 500 kW. at 160 r.p.m., the Diesel engines all having six cylinders 500 mm. in diameter by 750 mm. stroke. The engines are four-stroke, air-injection, trunk piston type. Steam for hotel services is supplied by an auxiliary boiler installation consisting of two single-ended Scotch boilers, designed for a working pressure of 150 lb. per sq. in., burning oil under natural draught.\nTHE DISTILLERS COMPANY (BIOCHEMICALS), LTD., SPEKE\nDistillers Co (Biochemicals)\nThe identification and naming of penicillin by Fleming in 1929 and its subsequent development by Florey and his co-workers are landmarks in the medical history of our times. Perhaps no less interesting, particularly to those associated with large-scale manufacturing processes, is the development of an entirely new industry, the manufacture of antibiotics, a class of therapeutic substances of which penicillin is an important member. The works and laboratories of The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd., at Speke, known locally as \"the penicillin factory\", contain plant and apparatus specially designed to encourage and control the growth of the common mould penicillium which, in the course of its natural processes, forms penicillin. The staff required to deal with this process includes engineers, mechanical and electrical; chemists; bacteriologists; physiologists; mycologists; botanists; pharmacists; in addition to the tradesmen and technicians engaged in maintenance) servicing, and development work.\nThe factory now covers an area of seventeen acres and comprises twenty-two major blocks of buildings. A modern boiler house contains five boilers capable of steaming at 50,000 lb. per hour and supplying superheated steam. at 150 lb. per sq. in. pressure. Steam is provided for the sterilization of the fermentation plant, including the preparation of many thousands of gallons of sterile broth per week, for the operation of distillation and recovery units in the purification of penicillin; and for general factory heating, hot water supplies, and canteen services. The fermentation block contains all the large-scale fermentation vessels and broth sterilization plant; the technical offices; and an extensive group of laboratories giving facilities not only for plant control, but also for development and research. Eight bacteriological laboratories are assigned to the preparation of cultures, the maintenance of plant sterility, and the assay of penicillin at all stages of manufacture. Seven analytical laboratories control the use of raw materials and reagents. A technical library and reference room is also included in this section.\nThe recovery block contains the whole of the extraction plant including:— (a) rotary filters for the filtration of fermented broth, and mycelium disposal plant; (b) the continuous broth extraction unit where penicillin is extracted from the broth by organic solvents in stainless steel equipment; (c) distillation units, both batch and continuous, suitable for the recovery and purification of a wide range of solvents; (d) evaporation and concentration plant, including centrifuges and extractors, together with a large variety of stainless steel and glass-lined reaction vessels.\nAnother block includes filling and drying equipment, including the sterile area; a cold store capable of hoding several hundred thousand million units of penicillin; bottle-washing department; and cloakrooms for employees. A large central compressor households four air compressors capable of delivering over half-a-million cubic feet of free air per hour to the fermentation process; two large refrigeration plants, each comprising several individual units, to provide refrigeration for chilled water services throughout the factory, and for the unique high vacuum units installed in the compressor house. All these machines are fully equipped with automatic controls.\nThe animal house is completely isolated from the rest of the buildings, and the animals are protected as though in an isolation hospital. This department contains breeding rooms and testing rooms. Sterilized air at controlled temperature and humidity is circulated throughout the building. The selection of test strains of animals is of major importance and all the animals are descendants of twenty-two rabbits and one hundred and twenty mice which were flown from Montreal. These animals are used to test the purity of every batch of penicillin before it is passed for human administration. The drug is given to the animals in exactly the same way as to human beings; if they show any evidence of toxic effect or rise in temperature the whole batch of penicillin is rejected.\nA well-equipped physiological laboratory is attached to the animal house and all the tests are carried out by qualified physiologists approved by the Medical Research Council and licensed by the Home Office. In addition to the process buildings described above, the factory is equipped with a large engineering workshop where major repairs may be carried out and plant, designed by the company's development staff, fabricated.\nA modern welfare building and gatehouse is situated at the east entrance, with first-aid and rest rooms. In recent months the company has acquired additional commodious premises adjoining the original factory. These premises already house the packing and despatch departments and will eventually be fully employed in coping with the company's expanding activities. These extensions also include a large canteen in which many of the company's staff social functions are held. The deep fermentation process for the manufacture of penicillin at Speke is divided into several stages: submerged fermentation, removal of mycelium and extraction of penicillin from the broth, solvent purification and formation of the salts of penicillin, freezing and high vacuum drying, crystallization, filling, packing, testing, and storage. Fermentation is carried out in a battery of large mild-steel fermenters. Broth for fermentation is prepared from corn steep liquor and added substances, diluted to the correct strength with water and carefully adjusted to optimum acidity.\nCorn steep liquor is a by-product of the starch industry, it is rich in soluble organic nutrients and is a powerful stimulant to the growth of the mould. The prepared broth is sterilized by superheated steam under high pressure and, after cooling in a totally enclosed cooler, is charged to the fermenters. The fermenters and all connecting pipes are previously sterilized by steam. Many forms of bacterial infection can completely destroy the power of the mould to produce penicillin or can destroy the penicillin in the liquid broth after it has been formed there by the mould. Scrupulous care must, therefore, be taken to ensure that only a pure culture of the mould comes into contact with the broth up to the time when the penicillin is extracted. The mould in present use is a form of the original mould treated with X-rays to produce a mutant giving a high yield of penicillin. The culture is first grown in a test tube under the most carefully controlled bacteriological conditions, and is allowed to multiply in larger and larger glass containers in special incubators, until it is finally transferred from the laboratory to seed tanks where the plant culture is grown. When the sterilized broth is transferred to the fermenter, the seed culture is also transferred and fermentation commences. Moulds of this type usually grow on the surface of damp decaying organic matter, indicating their need for the presence of air to maintain their metabolism, and, in order to carry out successful fermentation in a deep fermenter filled with thousands of gallons of broth, immense quantities of air must be passed through the liquid. The sterilization of air in such quantities is a major problem, and most elaborate equipment is installed to scrub the air and treat it with suitable reagents before use. The fermentation cycle lasts several days, and during this time the temperature of the broth must be carefully controlled by circulating cooling water in the fermenter jacket. Carbon dioxide is formed as a by-product during fermentation, and must be continuously exhausted from the system to maintain the proper conditions in the vessel. Precise technical control is needed to follow the course of fermentation hour by hour, and to determine when the maximum concentration of penicillin has been reached. At the end of fermentation, the fermenter contains liquid broth, in which is floating a large quantity of spongy mycelium, and dissolved in this large quantity of broth is a comparatively small amount of penicillin. The broth is then pumped to a novel type of rotary filter from which the mycelium is removed as a continuous felt. The rough-filtered broth is pre-treated with a filter aid at controlled conditions of temperature and acidity, after which it is filtered through a filter press to give a clear broth. It is then fed continuously to a high-speed mixing tank where organic solvent and more acid are added.\nFrom this tank the mixed liquids are run to a decanter where the spent broth separates and is discharged. The solution of penicillin in organic solvent is then clarified. The next stage is the conversion of the penicillin to a crude salt by agitation with aqueous alkali. After separation the aqueous salt solution is passed forward for further treatment while the organic solvent is sent to recovery stills for distillation and purification. The crude salt solution passes forward through a series of solvent-solvent extractions, the first of which is performed in a high-speed centrifugal separator. The fraction containing the penicillin is next passed through a series of alkali extractors where the solution of the salt of penicillin is obtained. This solution is subjected to further purification treatment and concentration until the required potency is produced.\nIt is then ready for passage through a \"Seitz\" type biological plate-and-frame filter of stainless steel construction which removes any bacteria and pyrogens (fever producing substances) that may be present in the solution. The final filtration is carried out in a sterile area, and the filtrate is received in a sterilized stainless steel container known as the \"final bulk container\".\nAt this stage, the solution is ready to be dehydrated before being filled, in powder or crystalline form, into the final sales container. All operations from this point onwards, until the penicillin powder is sealed in vials, are carried out in a sterile area. This sterile area consists of a group of rooms which are totally enclosed, the only entrance being through a surgical dressing room. No person is allowed to enter the sterile area without taking all the precautions normally practised before entering a hospital operating theatre, including washing with antiseptic soap and the donning of sterilized shoes, clothing, hoods, and surgical gloves. The whole of the ceilings and walls are glass-lined, and the floors are finished in impervious terrazzo. The area is fed with sterilized air, exactly controlled with regard to temperature and humidity, and a slight positive pressure is maintained in order that no contaminated air can enter through the lock which admits the operators.\nIn every room numerous high-powered, ultra-violet lights are arranged in the ceilings so that all the surfaces of rooms and equipment are continuously subjected to ultra-violet sterilization. In solution penicillin is so unstable to heat that dehydration must be accomplished in the freezing state. The solution of penicillin is, therefore, frozen and the ice evaporated directly without going through the liquid phase. This is accomplished by the use of high vacuum diffusion pumps. The drying equipment consists of two batteries of vacuum chambers. After the trays of frozen penicillin solution are placed in the chambers, the system is evacuated down to about three hundred microns within five minutes by means of single-stage mechanical pumps of the oil-sealed rotary type. These \"roughing\" mechanical vacuum pumps are tied in by a common manifold to all the dryers. After this rough evacuation, the drying chambers are connected to the high-vacuum manifold serving the diffusion pumps. These, designed to reduce the pressure further until dehydration is accomplished, exert a pull of about 10 tons on the dryer doors. Each dryer is equipped with a \"McLeod\" gauge to measure the extremely low vacua which are obtained. Vapours leaving the high-vacuum manifold go through a pair of cold traps or low-temperature condensers in parallel. These are jacketed steel cylindrical chambers set at an angle, provided with revolving scrapers and refrigerated with ammonia to about —80 to —90 deg. F. Ice that collects on the walls is scraped off and falls into an ice receiver at the same temperature. These cold condensers relieve the strain on the diffusion pumps. Eleven sets of diffusion pumps take care of the two batteries of dryers. The diffusion pumps consist of 4-inch diameter units of a multi-jet design and built of welded steel. Chlorinated hydrocarbons, having a lower vapour pressure than mercury, are used as the pumping fluid, and are condensed on the walls of the pumps and re-used. These diffusion pumps discharge to oil-sealed, rotary high-vacuum pumps which compress the exhausted gas to atmospheric pressure and discharge it, thus enabling the diffusion pumps to take hold. An important feature of the backing-up pumps is the oil purification system that continuously recirculates all sealing oil to remove condensed water and other contamination. Otherwise, these would flash back into the system and raise the fore-pressure to a point where the diffusion pumps could not operate. The penicillin salt is allowed to remain in the vacuum chambers until the moisture has been reduced to the specified content. This is readily accomplished in a few hours, after which the trays of dehydrated penicillin are removed. The penicillin is then passed through ball mills which reduce it to a fine powder. This is then placed in automatic filling machines which fill it in accurately, measured amounts into the final sales container. Sterilized vacuum-dried rubber stoppers are then inserted as quickly as possible in another room of the sterile area. An aluminium cover is machine-seamed over the rubber stopper, and the bottles are then ready for normal handling. The process described produces amorphous penicillin. This material is very hygroscopic and loses its activity on heating to even moderate temperatures. The crystalline form of penicillin has the advantage of being far less hygroscopic and it will withstand heating to boiling point for considerable periods.\nAt Speke, amorphous penicillin is converted to the crystalline form by precipitation from an organic solvent. Amorphous penicillin is dissolved in the solvent and its solubility reduced by other solvent additions. At a critical point almost colourless crystals of penicillin form in the liquor and are filtered off, washed, and dried. All this work is done in the sterile area under stringent aseptic conditions. The bulk material, either amorphous or crystalline, is sampled and has to undergo stringent laboratory tests for purity, sterility, absence of toxic material, and any other tests before it is filled into its final containers. Most of the material is dispensed into small glass vials by a battery of filling machines. The amounts delivered into these vials range from about 60 milligrammes for the smaller sizes of crystalline penicillin to 600 milligrammes for a 1,000,000-unit dose of amorphous penicillin. For the final testing, sample bottles are withdrawn from every tray, and the remaining bottles are placed in metal strong boxes which are sealed and placed in cold store. The first and most important test is the determination of the quantity of penicillin in each bottle. A further important test is the determination of sterility to ensure that no contaminating bacteria or other microorganisms are present in the material. In addition, two very significant physiological tests must be carried out. To ensure that the purification as carried out is satisfactory, known quantities of the penicillin are injected into rabbits and mice. In the case of the rabbits, a given dose is injected into the marginal vein of the ear, and the rabbit's temperature is carefully recorded over a period of several hours. A rise in temperature of more than 0.6 deg. C. is sufficient to reject the material as unsuitable for human injection. A corresponding dose is injected into the tails of a specified number of mice. All the mice should remain unaffected if the penicillin is free from toxic substances. Penicillin is used exclusively by physicians, veterinarians, and dentists, in hospitals and in general practice. The avenue for the distribution of penicillin is, therefore, through the drug trade - Seven well-known British drug manufacturers, specializing in the manufacture and marketing of products for the use of the medical and allied professions, have been appointed as the distributors of the penicillin manufactured by The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd. All these firms are engaged in the home and export trade and are thus able to make penicillin available in the world's markets. By this rationalization of distribution The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd., is able to concentrate its activities on the production of penicillin. The various pharmaceutical forms (lozenges, ointments, suspensions for injection, etc.) in which penicillin is prepared for various uses in medicine are manufactured by the initial distributors using the penicillin manufactured at Speke as an ingredient.\nDUNLOP RUBBER COMPANY, LTD., SPEKE\nDunlop Rubber Co\nThe Speke factory of the Dunlop Rubber Company is situated nine miles southwards from the centre of Liverpool, in close proximity to the Speke Airport, and was built in 1937-38 for the manufacture of aircraft under the government pre-war scheme of shadow factories. From 1938 to 1945 Blenheim and Halifax aircraft were assembled under the direction of Rootes Securities, Ltd., who operated the factory on behalf of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. At the end of 1944, the government departments concerned decided to discontinue the production of Halifax bombers, and the Dunlop Rubber Company was invited to survey the premises with a view to taking over. This they did in relation to the existing demands for its war-time products and the probable post-war expansion of its normal trade. The premises were officially taken over on the 1st August 1945 and so the Speke aircraft factory became the first of the great government factories to be transferred to private enterprise. The site, which is one hundred and one acres in extent, with buildings covering an area of 1,400,000 sq. ft., immediately became the centre of considerable engineering activity, as the plans for the conversion to the manufacture of rubber products on a large scale required the complete conversion of the existing services, while certain services such as steam, high-pressure air, and hydraulic power, were virtually non-existent. Considerable work was also put in hand for the preparation of the installation of rubber manufacturing plant for which orders were being placed in the meantime.\nThe boiler house, which was erected for hot water space-heating, was converted and an additional boiler installed to give a total of 150,000 lb. of steam. per hour at 200 lb. per sq. in. pressure. Forty-four thousand feet of piping from 6 to 12 inches in diameter had to be installed to distribute the steam to process plant. Hydraulic services have been installed to give 1,500 gallons per minute at 350 lb. per sq. in., 240 gallons per minute at 1,100 lb. per sq. in., and 300 gallons at 2,240 lb. per sq. in. The low-pressure air supply has been increased from an existing 3,750 cu. ft. per min, installation to 6,350 cu. ft. per min. High-pressure air compressors have been installed to give 1,560 cu. ft. per min. at 325 ib. per sq. in.\nThe electric supply system had to be completely rearranged and increased in capacity from a maximum installed transformer capacity of 8,400 kVA. at 400 volts to a maximum installed capacity of 16,900 kVA., which includes 4,500 kVA. supply at 5,000 volts and 2,000 kW. D.C. at 500 volts with a 250-volt balancer system incorporated. In all, motors totalling 28,000 h.p. have been connected to the system. The water supply to the factory has been augmented to give 75,000 gal. per hr. by the sinking of a bore-well 36 inches in diameter and 400 feet deep. Circulating pumps are provided in the pump house for distributing water to all parts of the factory. For the installation of production plant which weighed over 5,000 tons, approximately 30,000 cubic yards of soil have been removed and 10,000 cubic yards of concrete used for machine foundations, etc. The main building is 1,440 feet long and 600 feet wide and is arranged for straight line production of giant tyres, passenger car tyres, and cycle tyres, with inner tubes for each type. The production of rubber footwear, and golf and tennis balls is also carried on in this building; conveyor and transmission belting is manufactured in a separate building with 80,000 sq. ft. of floor space. A further building is devoted to the manufacture of precision rubber mouldings. This factory provides an excellent example of the conversion of a war-time plant into a modern rubber producing unit employing approximately six thousand five hundred people.\nELDER DEMPSTER LINES, LTD., (SHIPOWNERS), LIVERPOOL\nElder Dempster Lines\nThe history of the company goes back ninety-six years, to 1852, when Macgregor Laird formed the African Steam Ship Company, which was incorporated by Royal Charter in that year, and had offices in Mincing Lane, London. The fleet consisted of five vessels with sail and steam propulsion, and they ranged from 250 tons to 1,000 tons deadweight. All had some accommodation for first-class passengers, and their names were indicative of Laird's belief in, and hopes for, the trade, namely, Forerunner, Northern Lights, Faith, Hope, and Charity. The Liverpool agents for the company were Messrs. W. and H. Laird, the partners being William Laird and Hamilton Laird, brothers of Macgregor Laird. Among the staff were two young Scots—Alexander Elder and John Dempster. In 1875, Liverpool became the company's permanent home port. Alexander Elder had been appointed superintendent engineer of the African Steam Ship Company, resigning from the company in 1866.\nAt the end of 1868 some Glasgow businessmen asked John Dempster to act as Liverpool agent for a new shipping company, which they were forming to trade to West Africa. Dempster agreed and invited Alexander Elder to come into partnership with him, and they formed the firm of Elder Dempster and Company to be the Liverpool representatives of the new Glasgow shipping company called the British and African Steam Navigation Company. Three ships Bonny, Roquelle, and Congo, each of about 1,300 gross tons, were built to maintain a monthly service between Glasgow, Liverpool, London, and West Africa. The two companies flourished.\nIn 1875 a young man - Alfred Lewis Jones (afterwards Sir Alfred Jones) - set up a shipping and insurance broking office and chartering some small sailing vessels he began trading with West Africa and was so successful that the already established companies became alarmed and induced him to become a junior partner.\nIn 1880 Alexander Elder and John Dempster retired from Elder Dempster and Company, but both continued as directors of the British and African Steam Navigation Company (of which Elder and Company were now managers) until 1900.\nIn 1884 Jones, now the controlling partner of Elder Dempster and Company, introduced the banana to the British man in the street, and he did everything possible to popularize the fruit and make a market for it.\nIn 1889 the first ship's refrigerator in the West African trade was installed, and in addition Jones was mainly responsible for the development of the Canary and West Indian banana trades. Alfred Jones turned his attention to other routes and took over the Dominion Line's trade between the Bristol Channel and Canada. Another company also taken over was the Canadian Beaver Line in 1898, then in financial straits.\nIn 1903 Elder's Canadian fleet was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. In 1898 he formed the Elder Dempster Shipping Company, Ltd., and opened up a trade between England and the Gulf of Mexico, one of the ships put on this service being the cargo and cattle steamer Monmouth, 7,900 gross tons. By the end of the nineteenth century, Jones had acquired control of the African Steam Ship Company, which Elder Dempster and Company had managed since 1890. In 1900 he purchased the British and African Steam Navigation Company, which Elder Dempster and Company had managed almost since its inception in 1869.\nIn 1901 he was created Sir Alfred Jones, K.C.M.G., for his services to the Colonial Empire. At the beginning of the present century Elder Dempster and Company were in a very strong financial position and held a virtual monopoly of the West African trade and their other interests were widespread. The policy of building new and better ships was followed and in 1903 the company inaugurated their \"express service\" to the Gold Coast for the fortune hunters in the gold-mining boom. Sir Alfred Jones died in 1909. When he joined Elder Dempster and Company in 1879, the firm controlled twenty-one ships of which the largest was 2,000 tons; at the time of his death the company was controlling a fleet of one hundred and nine vessels.\nOn Sir Alfred's death, the Elder Dempster interests were bought by Sir Owen Phillips (afterwards Lord Kylsant) and Lord Pirrie, and the concern was converted into a limited liability company under the title of Elder Dempster and Company, Ltd.\nWhen the 1914-18 war broke out, the fleets controlled by the company comprised one hundred and one steamers, but by the time hostilities ceased only fifty-eight remained afloat. Many of the company's finest and best-known ships were sunk and a great number of the firm's seamen lost their lives.\nAt the end of the war replacement of lost tonnage was under way, the first post-war mail ship being the twin-screw motorship Aba, 7,937 gross tons, completed in 1918, built for the Glen Line and purchased by Elder Dempster in 1920. The Aba was converted into a hospital ship during the 1939-45 war and although she suffered from enemy action, she came through and was sold in 1947. Elder Dempster and Company was one of the first firms to adopt the motorship, the Aba being the first large passenger motor liner in the world to be placed in commission. Three other twin-screw mail motorships followed in the 'twenties - Adda, Accra, and Apapa - and were lost in the 1939-45 war.\nAfter the slump and various vicissitudes, the firm Elder Dempster Lines, Ltd., was incorporated and registered in August 1932. In 1937 the twin-screw mail motorship Abosso was put into service and was lost in the 1939-45 war with great loss of life.\nIn 1939, the fleet comprised forty-four steamers and motorships apart from three smaller river motorships and a host of small craft owned by subsidiary companies in West Africa. Twenty-five of these vessels were lost, including the four mail boats, during the war. During its history, Elder Dempster Lines, Ltd., has seen the abolition of the slave trade (which Macgregor Laird worked hard to achieve) and the development of West Africa from the \"White Man's Grave\" into an area with a large flourishing trade and industry. Since the end of the war, the company has added to the fleet six motor cargo vessels with small passenger accommodation, and two motor passenger liners—Accra and Apapa, also a number of small craft for service on the West Coast of Africa.\nENGLISH ELECTRIC COMPANY, LTD., AND D. NAPIER AND SON, LTD.\nEnglish Electric Co\nThe English Electric Company was formed in 1918 by the amalgamation of several old-established engineering firms which were pioneers in their respective spheres and whose activities were associated with the earliest days of electrical engineering. These firms included Dick Kerr and Company, Preston, with long and varied experience in electric traction work of all kinds, including the earliest tramway and railway electrifications. Before electric traction was introduced, this company specialized in the laying and equipment of tramways. It built steam locomotives for hauling street tramcars and constructed the first section of the endless-cable tramway system in Edinburgh.\nIn 1887 Dick Kerr and Company built the first electric conduit tramway line in the world, from Gravesend to Northfleet, and in 1902 carried out the first main line railway electrification in this country, between Liverpool and Southport on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, including the provision of all power-house and substation plant.\nSiemens Brothers Dynamo Works, Ltd., Stafford, whose manufactures covered a wide range of general electrical machinery of high repute throughout the world. Willans and Robinson, Ltd., Rugby, whose business originated in the manufacture of high-speed reciprocating steam engines for marine propulsion and later for electric power generation and developed to embrace steam turbines and Diesel engines. The Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company, Bradford, which specialized in the smaller classes of rotating electrical machines, with particular reference to the requirements of the textile industry.\nIn 1942 the English Electric Company acquired D. Napier and Son, Ltd., famous for its automobile and aeronautical engineering, with its works at Acton and Liverpool. Since the war the English Electric Company have occupied about three-quarters of the Liverpool works as it became available from D. Napier and Son owing to the scaling down of production of aero-engines.\nIn 1946 the company purchased Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd., with its subsidiaries the Marconi International Code Company, Ltd., Marconi Instruments, Ltd., and the Marconi International Marine Communication Company, Ltd. The Marconi works are at Chelmsford and St. Albans.\nThe manufacturing scope of all these works has been steadily developed to cover a wide field of engineering activities, and the \"English Electric\" group of companies, employing 35,000 people, can now provide:— Complete large-scale electricity supply systems with generators driven by steam turbines, water turbines, or Diesel engines; the equipment for complete railway electrification schemes including rectifier substations, electric and Diesel-electric locomotives and motor-coach stock; traction motors and control equipment for tramcars and trolley-buses; steam-turbine, Diesel-engine, and gas-turbine equipments for ship propulsion, Diesel-electric and turbo-electric generating sets and motors for ships' auxiliaries; aircraft, gas-turbine aero-engines, aeronautical research and testing plant, and aircraft electrical equipment; all classes of industrial electrical equipment; domestic and allied electrical appliances; radio, radar, and television equipment; high-voltage mercury-arc rectifiers for supplying radio transmitters; electronic apparatus and testing instruments for aiding marine navigation and for medical and industrial applications.\nThe Nelson research laboratories, at Stafford, with separate sections devoted to high power, high voltage, chemistry, insulation, general physics, vacuum physics, electrical phenomena, radiology, electronics, and metallurgy, serve the whole organization. Further laboratories on a separate site near Stafford specialize in the construction and investigation of machines used in nuclear physics research.\nThe Marconi company has extensive research laboratories of its own near Chelmsford and the Napier company conducts its own research on gas turbines and other engines in the laboratories at the Acton works. The Liverpool works of over 1,000,000 sq. ft. was built in 1940-41 for the production of the Napier \"Sabre\" engine which had been developed at the Acton works. At the end of the war, when aero-engine production was scaled down, the English Electric Company expanded its activities on standardized high-production lines of manufacture to occupy about three-quarters of the total area which became available from D. Napier and Son, whilst the Napier company continued to operate the remainder. This visit will have particular interest when it is borne in mind that none of the work now being done at the Liverpool works by either D. Napier and Son or the English Electric Company was carried out in Liverpool before or during the war and that over 6,000 people now are employed at these works.\nNapier Works, Liverpool. During the course of the visit to the works the Napier products that will be seen will include the following:— (a) A sectioned \"Sabre\" engine. The \"Sabre\" is a twenty-four-cylinder, sleeve-valve, liquid-cooled aero-engine, first produced in 1937. The engine was manufactured in large quantities during the 1939-45 war and took an important and distinguished part in the fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force, particularly in the defence of London against the V.1 flying bomb. The \"Sabre VA\" continues to give excellent service in the Royal Air Force. The \"Sabre VII\" is the latest of the series and possesses performance features hitherto unsurpassed by any piston engine. The total cylinder capacity of 2,238 cu. in. (36 litres) gives a maximum of 3,055 b.h.p.; the engine weight is 2,540 lb. Thus the figures, 0.83 lb. per b.h.p. weight/power ratio, and 84 b.h.p. per litre, are factors in the performance of one of the most advanced piston engines in the world. The maximum power of the engine in combat conditions is obtained at a boost of 174 lb. per sq. in. at 3,850 r.p.m. Water methanol injection is employed for this high duty. The two-speed supercharger gives maximum power altitudes of 3,250 feet and 13,000 feet, and at 30,000 feet the output is 1,400 b.h.p. (b) A sectioned Napier gas-turbine \"Naiad\" aero-engine. The \"Naiad\" was the first gas-turbine aero-engine to be designed by the Napier company. The b.h.p. of the engine is 1,500 and, with a jet thrust of 240 lb., gives the e.b.h.p. of 1,590. The frontal area of 4.27 sq. ft. is notably small, and a distinctive feature of the design layout is the use of the ducted propeller spinner. This arrangement gives the straight-through airflow through the engine and reduces the interference of the propeller blades to a minimum. Important features of the design are the twelve-stage axial compressor, the two-stage turbine, and the propeller reduction gear layout. Other particulars of the engine are: maximum diameter, 28 inches; length, 8 ft. 6 in.; weight, 1,095 lb.; and r.p.m., 18,250. (c) Exhaust turbo-supercharger for Diesel engines. The Napier turbo-blower has been introduced in response to a growing demand from Diesel engine manufacturers and users for a greater power from a given engine size. The blower is a turbine-driven, centrifugal air-compressor designed for pressure-charging traction, marine, and stationary Diesel engines. By correct matching to the Diesel engine, a power increase of 50 per cent of the naturally aspirated output, accompanied by an improvement in specific fuel consumption of 3 to 5 per cent, can readily be obtained with a boost pressure of 5 lb. per sq. in., where engine design provides for the higher mean effective pressure resulting from a higher boost pressure. With the addition of an air cooler a power increase of 100 per cent or more can be obtained. For this condition, the existing blower is capable of operation at pressure ratios up to 2 (15 lb. per sq. in.).\nEnglish Electric Works, Liverpool. The English Electric Works at Liverpool has been laid out as a group of five self-contained units, consisting of the switchgear, transformer, domestic, small motor, and fuse gear works. At the switchgear works, 400 and 3,300 volt air-break type switchgear for power station auxiliary and industrial use, 11 kV. vertical isolation type switchgear, mining type explosion proof oil immersed switchgear, 3,300 volts, will be seen. Amongst the important switchgear contracts in hand are those for the power stations at Clarence Dock, West Ham, Age Croft, St. Helens, Ipswich, Delhi, Pretoria, and Cape Town; for a new fertilizer factory for the Indian Government; and for use in the production of oils, etc., from ground nuts. Some of the features which were incorporated in the company's switchgear for use on mine-sweepers, and are therefore of proved reliability, are embodied in the post-war equipment. Provision has been made at Liverpool for testing switchgear up to 100,000 volts on pressure test and up to 20,000 amps for overload calibration test, but type testing for short-circuit capacity is carried out at the Nelson Research Laboratories, Stafford.\nThe transformer works manufacture transformers up to 250 kVA., which are used generally for outdoor distribution purposes all over the world. In providing modern facilities for testing, particular care has been taken with precautions for safety and also for speed of handling. Some of the important contracts in hand cover small transformers for X-ray equipment, distribution transformers for the British Electricity Authority in all areas, and for Australia, South Africa, India, and Iraq. The welding and fabrication of the tanks and details for transformers and for switchgear are carried out in the adjoining fabrication works. The domestic works' present products include refrigerators, cookers, and washing machines. The refrigerator unit fitted to all \"English Electric\" refrigerators is of the hermetically sealed type, there being no screwed fittings and bolted flanges. All joints are made by seam and arc welding and brazing or, in the case of the motor terminals, by specially designed synthetic rubber glands. The refrigerant used is \"Freon-12\", and a supply of this and of special refrigerator oil are sealed within the unit. The compressor is of the reciprocating type, directly coupled to a * h.p. split-phase, induction motor and spring suspended. The plant for the manufacture of refrigerators is highly specialized; the processes of pressing and welding the cabinet and the food compartment; pickling, degreasing, bonderizing, and enamelling on continuous conveyors; and dehydrating and testing the sealed unit are of particular interest. The small motor works are laid out for the production of fractional horse-power motors of a standard type. The motors embody die-cast stators, rotors, and end plates, which are all made in the Napier die-casting works. The fuse gear works are a self-contained works entirely devoted to the manufacture of high rupturing capacity cartridge fuses and associated equipment. The English Electric Company were pioneers in the development of high rupturing capacity fuses which are today used on all types of electrical circuits, in power stations, for collieries, and down to the domestic sphere.\nThe works were transferred from Stafford during the early months of 1947 and have been in full production for nearly two years. Examples of complete equipment from the wide range manufactured will be seen during the tour of the works. English Electric Works, Preston.\nIn 1938 the Preston works were making rolling stock for electric railways and tramways, vehicles for road passenger transport, and domestic electrical appliances. On the threat of war, they were organized for the production of aircraft, and in the same year the first contract was received from the Air Ministry for the manufacture of \"Hampden\" bombers. Later contracts were placed for making \"Halifax\" four-engined bombers and \"Vampire\" jet-propelled fighters. During the war over 3,000 bombers, mostly \"Halifaxes\", were built at Preston. In order to provide this output of aircraft, the works area was greatly increased, resulting in a total of nearly 2,000,000 sq. ft., including the final assembly and flight sheds at Samlesbury. The manufacture of essential domestic appliances, such as electric cooking equipment for canteens, also continued during the war.\nAt the end of the war, Preston works resumed its traction and domestic appliance activities, while continuing to make aircraft on a peace-time basis. The products now include electric and Diesel-electric locomotives for all services; electric and Diesel-electric motor-coach stock; Diesel-electric railcars; traction motors and control equipment for railways, tramways, and trolley-buses; Diesel engines for traction, marine, and industrial use; aircraft; and domestic electrical appliances. The manufacture within the one works of the rolling stock, electrical traction equipment, and Diesel engines, facilitates the co-ordination in design and construction of all the components concerned in the production of complete units for electric and Diesel-electric traction.\nHOWARD FORD AND COMPANY, LTD.\nHoward Ford and Co\nThe hosiery industry has long been established in the British Isles, its centres being the Midlands and Scotland. By 1919, the fine-gauge section, devoted to women's stockings, was meeting strong competition from circular knit imports from America and fully-fashioned from the Continent. Howard Ford and Company, Ltd., was founded by the late Mr. Howard Ford in 1922 as hosiery factors, to buy from home and overseas suppliers and distribute direct to retailers from warehouses in Liverpool and London. By 1924 \"Bear Brand\" was established as a leading make. The Churchill silk duties of 1925 led to the building of the first factory in Woolton in 1926, devoted to the manufacture of \"Bear Brand\" circular knit stockings. In 1929 the space was doubled and a large plant of 42-gauge fully-fashioned machines was installed. In July 1931 the present main building, consisting of four long floors 400 feet by 60 feet, was built to house an entirely new plant of 45-gauge machines. By this time \"Bear Brand\" was established as the largest production unit for fine-gauge hose in Britain. The combined output of circular and fully-fashioned hose was approximately 20,000 dozens per week made up of pure silk and rayon styles. The ever-increasing popularity of the fashioned stocking called for still further equipment, and in 1935 the present No. 3 knitting room was added, together with four finishing floors. At this time also, Howard Ford and Company, Ltd., introduced the first 54-gauge stockings.\nBefore all the new machinery required could be installed war broke out, and stocking production, which was regarded as a luxury, was very severely restricted, only a small portion of the plant remaining in production and only rayon being available.\nFrom 1939 to 1945, all available space was turned over to war production and large quantities of R.A.F. dinghies, Mae West life jackets, and various items of clothing were manufactured. In addition, some of the larger rooms were used for the manufacture and testing of anti-aircraft balloons. At the conclusion of hostilities, the original 42-gauge fully-fashioned plant was replaced by new 51-gauge machines, and the first 54-gauge machines were replaced by new models. To house the new 51-gauge machines, additional width had to be added to what will be No. 4 knitting room. The first five of the English built \"Bentley Cotton\" 51-gauge machines are already installed and working up to production, and first deliveries of \"Reading\" machines have been made and these are now being erected. In addition, delivery is expected very shortly of \"Leiberknecht\" machines. When the 51-gauge fully-fashioned plant is completed, it will be the finest post-war textile unit in the United Kingdom. The post-war machines are considerably more efficient and advanced than the pre-war type of machine as considerable developments have taken place in America; these machines are specially designed to produce nylon, particularly of fine deniers. The new 54-gauge \"Wildman Machines\" are already in use. This new equipment programme is designed to take care of an ever-growing export trade. The flow of production, methods of finishing, and ancillary processes have been replatmed. Part of the finishing operations are done in the firm's two additional factories at Corwen, North Wales, and the Head Office Building, School Lane, Liverpool.\nThe firm was the first in the fine-gauge trade to take export seriously, and by June 1946 they had commenced shipping pure silk hose, and they were the first to send British nylons overseas. There is a demand for these nylons in all parts of the world, and the production for many months ahead is booked up. The prospects for 54-gauge and 51-gauge hose are good and will be satisfied as soon as the new equipment is in steady production. The Woolton plant, although one of the largest and newest mills in the country, is, so far as possible, always kept up to date. Electric power for the mill is available either from the main supply or Diesel plant. Steam for the dye house and processing is supplied by Lancashire boilers arranged for fuel-oil or coal, according to the fuel supply position.\nFORSTER'S GLASS COMPANY, LTD., ATLAS WORKS, ST. HELENS\nForsters Glass Co\nThe firm was founded as a private business in the year 1900 by the late Alderman John Forster, O.B.E., J.P., incorporated as a private limited company in 1905, and converted into a public company under its present style in 1919, under the joint managing directorship of Mr. Walter Forster and the late Mr. W. A. Forster. The undertaking has now grown into one of the largest glass bottle manufacturing concerns in the kingdom. During the forty-nine years of the firm's existence, the technique of bottle manufacture has been revolutionized, the old hand-blown or semi-automatic methods of production having been replaced by fully automatic machine production.\nIn 1900 one small glass tank furnace sufficed for the firm's needs, but today many large tank furnaces are available, each capable of supplying some 60 tons of glass per day, and the manufacturing capacity of the works runs to hundreds of millions of bottles and jars per annum. The production is continuous for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with output only ceasing for three days at Christmas. To enable this, shift employees work a five-day week, on the \"four shift\" system. The glass tank furnaces are of the \"cross flame\" regenerative type, and are fired by producer gas. Each furnace is provided with subsidiary oil firing which can be put into operation during periods when the producer gas flues are being cleaned, thus catering for continuous working at the machines.\nProducer gas for the furnaces is supplied from a bank of \"Morgan\" producers assisted by a number of \"Chapman\" producers. Steam for the gas producers is supplied by an installation of five boilers of the Lancashire type.\nTwo types of glass are melted in the tank furnaces, namely, \"amber\" and \"colourless\". The raw materials for these (mainly, sand, limestone, and soda ash) are mixed in large \"Smith\" type mixers, and then transported to the various furnaces by hoppers which are conveyed by an electrically operated overhead runway equipped with four electric travelling cranes. Many tons of \"batch\" has to be weighed, mixed, and transported each day. The \"batch\" is fed into the furnaces by automatic filling device of various types or by hand shovelling. A glass tank furnace is in two parts: the larger or \"melting end\" where the batch mixture is converted into molten glass and a smaller or \"refining\" end where the molten glass is cooled somewhat and conditioned. The molten glass passes from the refining end, down channels from 6 feet to 14 feet in length, known as \"feeders\", and is extruded and supplied to the automatic machines to be transformed into bottles or jars. The \"feeders\" are fired by town gas. The bottle machines are of various types, mainly two-table \"O'Neill\" machines carrying six or eight moulds, and one-table \"Mitchell\" machines also carrying six or eight moulds. Each machine is capable of producing from 30,000 to 60,000 bottles or jars per day according to the size of the ware being produced. The hot bottles after production are cooled down slowly and evenly to eradicate strain in specially constructed \"lehrs\" fired by town gas and provided with slow moving wire mesh conveyor belts. The bottles emerge from the lehrs cold and free from strain and are then sorted, subjected to various tests and packed for delivery. Bottle machines are operated either by electric motor or compressed air, and all blowing is performed by compressed air. A department complete with air compressors of the most modern type copes with this demand. Large engineering shops provide for the production of the multifarious types and sizes of moulds required, and for the repair and reconditioning of bottle machines, whilst all mould castings are made in a small foundry on the premises.\nWM. P. HARTLEY, LTD.\nHartley's\nThis jam preserving business was started by Wm. P. Hartley in Colne. He moved to Bootle in 1874, and in 1886 the factory at Aintree was built. The business was extended to London in 1900 and during the last war a factory was opened in Hereford. Side by side with the construction of the Aintree works, Sir William Hartley erected a model village for his work people; this was, in many respects, the beginning of the garden village movement which was later developed at Port Sunlight and Bournville. Sir William also was one of the pioneers of profit sharing, and in 1892 he commenced the distribution of an annual bonus to the work people, the practice being continued up to the present day. The firm became a public limited company in 1936, and the high quality of the product and the welfare of the employees have been maintained in the tradition established by the founder. The company's constant aim has been to maintain the confidence of the public by manufacturing the best possible article and selling it at a fair price. The original formulae of the founder still represent jam at its best, but the years have seen progressive improvements in processing methods, machinery, and management technique. The company believes strongly that a first-class quality product is best produced by constant attention to the modernization of plant, by continual efforts to improve organization and technique -and by a happy, keen, and contented staff.\nIn addition to jams and marmalade, fruit jellies, bottled fruit, candied peel, and canned vegetables are also produced, canned peas being a speciality. The pea canning section was opened by Lord Derby in June 1933. The majority of the peas used are grown under contract in the Ormskirk and outlying districts of Lancashire. The growers make successive sowings so that a regular supply of ripe peas is available throughout the season. The peas are canned within two hours of harvesting. The continuous process commences with the pod, and the peas emerge canned and cooked without having been touched by hand. During the season two hundred and fifty thousand cans a day are handled. The company at present employs approximately two thousand people at its factories, and this is increased to about three thousand during the fruit seasons.\nALFRED HOLT AND COMPANY\nAlfred Holt and Co\nThe founder of the company was an engineer, trained at the Edge Hill Works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 1852 Alfred Holt purchased the Dumbarton Youth with the intention of proving that a cargo-carrying steamship was a practicable proposition. This ship was a three masted sailing ship, fitted with two direct-acting engines with a total of 44 h.p. On taking her over, a part of the bargain was found to be a quantity of blue paint, which was applied with great effect to the lofty smoke-stack amidships. Such was the accidental beginning of the name \"Blue Funnel\". The unusual names of later ships, taken from Greek mythology, are difficult to pronounce, and this has no doubt led to the Blue Funnel ships being less well-known individually.\nIn 1854 Mr. Holt started building the first of a number of ships, but in 1864 all but one were sold to the West Indian and Pacific Steamship Company. In 1865 Alfred Holt, and his brother formed the Ocean Steam Ship Company for the China trade. Alfred Holt used the experience he had gained with the earlier ships to design a ship which he considered would carry sufficient coal to China and back via Mauritius, and yet have space remaining for a profitable cargo. His confidence was fully justified, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 made possible a further improvement in the cargo space available. The fleet continued to expand in response to the growing Far Eastern trade and strong connexions were built up in China, Malaya, Java and Australia.\nIn 1902 a limited company was formed but no other change was made in its constitution or methods of management. In 1902 control was acquired of the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company, which brought the combined fleet to fifty-five ships with a gross tonnage of 259,002.\nIn 1915 the Indra Line was purchased, thereby obtaining an entry into the New York— Far Eastern trade, and in 1917 four ships were added as a result of the purchase of the Knight Line.\nIn 1935 the Glen Line was acquired but this line has retained its individual characteristics including the red funnels. At the outbreak of the 1939-45 war, the combined fleets consisted of fifty-five steamships and thirty-three motor-ships with a gross registered tonnage of 709,408. Of these, forty-four vessels were lost by enemy action and two vessels were sold to the government.\nSince the war, replacements have been made by the purchase of three standard-type ships from the government, six \"Victory\" ships from the U.S. Government, and eight \"Sams\", already operating under Holt's management. The post-war building programme consists of twenty-two vessels grouped in three classes:— \"Anchises\" Class consisting of fourteen single-screw motorvessels of 8,300 gross registered tons, capable of sixteen knots, and carrying twelve passengers. Of these ten have been delivered, and a further two launched. \"Peleus\" Class consisting of four single-screw turbine, oil fired, of 10,250 gross registered tons, capable of eighteen knots, and carrying twenty-nine passengers. Of these one has been delivered, and a further one launched. \"Helenus\" Class consisting of four vessels similar to the \"Peleus\" class but with considerable refrigerated space for the Australian trade. Of these one has been launched. From its inception in 1852 to the present day, the company has been in the forefront of all development in ship construction and ship propulsion. The standard of construction has been independent of that demanded by the classification societies and, in the whole history of the company, no vessel has ever been lost by stress of weather.\nBetween 1925 and 1948 all new construction consisted of motor-vessels apart from two ships fitted with Scott-Still engines. The \"Peleus\" and \"Helenus\" classes, however, are steamers and have the largest horse-power ever developed on a single screw. The Clytoneus, which members of the Institution will have the opportunity of visiting, was built at Dundee by the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and was launched on 9th April 1948 by the Lady Provost of Dundee. It was delivered in August 1948 and was the seventh vessel of the \"Anchises\" class to come into service. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 7th September 1948. The Diesel engines are of the two-stroke, double-acting, coverless type, built by Messrs. John G. Kincaid and Company, Ltd., of Greenock, and develop 6,800 b.h.p. at 116 r.p.m., with a maximum of 7,300 b.h.p. This is the second ship to bear the name Clytoneus; her predecessor, a motor-vessel of 6,600 gross registered tons, was built in 1930 by Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., of Greenock, and was burnt out in 1941, after an aerial attack north-west of Ireland when she was homeward bound, unescorted, from the Netherlands East Indies.\nIMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD., GENERAL CHEMICALS DIVISION, MERSEYSIDE WORKS\nICI\nThe main works and research laboratories of the General Chemicals Division of I.C.I., Ltd., are located on Merseyside, some in Widnes on the north bank of the River Mersey, and others in Runcorn on the south bank. A number of the works in Widnes were built in the early part of the nineteenth century, and in 1890 were merged into the United Alkali Company, Ltd.\nOn the formation of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., in 1927, the works of the United Alkali Company in Widnes, and the Castner-Kellner Alkali Company in Runcorn, which at that time was a subsidiary company of Messrs. Brunner Mond and Company, Ltd., of Northwich, became the Merseyside works of the General Chemicals Division of I.C.I., Ltd. The works of the Chemical and Metallurgical Corporation, Ltd., on the Runcorn side of the river, were acquired at a later date.\nA large variety of chemicals are manufactured in these various works, the majority of which are derived from the three primary products, namely, sulphuric acid, caustic soda, and chlorine. Associated with these works are power stations for the production of the electricity required for electrolytic manufacturing processes, and for general works purposes. Only limited sections of the works can be inspected in detail during the course of a one-day visit, and a selection has been made of those sections likely to prove of the greatest interest to mechanical engineers.\nOn the Runcorn side of the river a visit will be paid to the carbide plant in the Castner-Kellner works. Carbide, which is manufactured from lime and coke, is required for the production of acetylene for use in the manufacture of chlorinated solvents and other chemicals. The present furnace is supplied with 6,000 kW. of electrical energy obtained from the power station in the Castner-Kellner works. In the same works a large extension to the power station is of considerable interest. Heavy piling for the new boiler house has been carried out in close proximity to the existing operating power station. The extension involves the installation of powdered-fuel fired boilers working at 625 lb. per sq. in., each having a capacity of 200,000 lb. per hr. of steam, and of 22,000 kW. turbo-generators.\nA visit will also be paid to the Wigg West works to inspect a modern, sulphur-burning, contact, sulphuric acid plant, which was built during the war period. On the Widnes side of the river a visit to the research laboratories should be of considerable interest, where there is ample evidence of the service given by the engineer and physicist to chemical research. Well-equipped workshops, for all principal crafts, are available for the fabrication of laboratory and semi-technical scale plant and equipment. The metallurgical laboratory is equipped with modern tensile and compression testing machines and also a \"Talysurf\" surface measuring meter. There is also a 30 kVA. high-frequency induction furnace operating at 500,000 cycles per second. The research department is well served in all branches of modern spectrometry with instruments covering the visible, ultra-violet, infra-red, and X-ray ranges.\nThe equipment of the physics laboratory includes an electron microscope and mass spectrometer, the second of which was constructed entirely on the premises. Time will also be available for a visit to the West Bank power station, where there is an interesting installation of La Mont boilers, working at 625 lb. per sq. in., and each producing 75,000 lb. per hr. of steam.\nW. AND R. JACOB AND COMPANY (LIVERPOOL), LTD.\nW. and R. Jacob and Co\nThe company was founded in 1851 in Waterford, Ireland, and shortly afterwards moved to the present factory in Dublin. As the English trade expanded towards the end of the last century the need for a second factory in England became apparent, and the present premises at Aintree were opened in 1914. When the Irish Free State was formed in 1921 the organization was split up into two separate companies. The Aintree factory, which originally consisted of one block, was gradually expanded and now comprises three main manufacturing blocks and an office block, comprising 30 acres, and 400,000 square feet of roof. Approximately 1,500 employees are engaged in manufacturing alone; 75 per cent of whom are women. With one or two exceptions the manufacturing and packing processes are all carried out on the ground floor, raw materials entering the factory at one end and finished goods leaving at the other. In addition the company has various stock depots situated over the country, which are supplied with goods direct from the factory by the company's own long-distance motor fleet. Biscuit manufacturing plant has progressed considerably since the hand processing and peat ovens of the last century, and at Aintree the latest continuous cutting machines coupled to band-plant gas ovens can be seen. The factory is still in the course of being re-equipped and interesting comparisons can be made between some of the older plants and the latest ovens.\nIn addition to baking equipment, there is a considerable range of sandwiching and chocolate machinery to be seen. The factory has its own engineering shop and the majority of its staff are engaged in normal routine maintenance work which includes the maintenance of buildings. The shop is, however, capable of tackling major repair work as well as carrying out innovations and improvements to existing plant. The company manufactures all types of biscuits, both sweet and plain, in addition to cakes, but it is most renowned for its plain lines, particularly the famous cream cracker biscuit which was first introduced by Jacob and Company. At the present time a high percentage of output is reserved for the export market, although the company has, for a number of years, possessed a steady export trade.\nLEVER BROTHERS, PORT SUNLIGHT, LTD.\nLever Brothers\nPort Sunlight factory and village were founded in 1888 by Mr. William Lever (later Lord Leverhulme), and the factory is now the largest soap manufacturing unit in the Unilever organization.\nIn addition to the Port Sunlight factory, which covers an area of 156 acres, the adjacent Bromborough Port Industrial Estate includes the Bromborough Dock - the largest privately owned dock in the country - the Stork Margarine Works, and Price's, Ltd. - which are two Unilever companies—the hardening plant for treatment of oils, and several third party concerns such as Brotherton's, Fawcett Preston, Commercial Solvents, and more recently arrived companies such as Latham and Company and Cantie Switches. In addition, the estate includes a 16,000 kW. power station operating in parallel with the national grid. Plant is already on order for the establishment of a new oil mill adjacent to the Bromborough Dock and work on the erection will commence shortly.\nThe main Port Sunlight factory includes in its activities soap-making, oil-milling, cattle food manufacture, glycerine refining, and printing.\nOil Mills. Raw material for the oil mills is received at the Bromborough dock, where extensive handling and storage equipment is installed. This material is taken to the Port Sunlight mills on the company's internal rail system. Two independent plants are installed at the seed crushing mill:— (a) an \"Albion\", or cage-press, system which is used normally to process palm kernels, and (b) a two-stage system comprising \"Krupp\" low-pressure expellers followed by \"Rose, Downs and Thompson\" high-pressure, duplex expellers. The filtered oil is pumped to tanks in the factory or despatched to the Stork Margarine Works (or elsewhere) by tank wagon.\nBatches of material such as oil cake, grain, vitamins, etc., are mixed in the compound mill, ground and then either packed as meals or formed into nuts or other shapes. The mechanical handling and storage equipment and the travelling scales are features of interest in this department.\nSoap-making. The selection of a suitable blend of fatty materials is important in the production of good quality soap. The fats to be used are mixed, treated if necessary with bleaching earth, and pumped to the pan-rooms with approximately the correct amount of alkaline solution for complete saponification, which is completed by boiling with steam. Processes known as graining, washing, and fitting then follow and the \"neat\" soap, containing about 63 per cent of fatty matter, is obtained. This is then cooled, cut and stamped in the production of household bar and similar soaps, or used for the manufacture of other soap products.\nSoap Flakes. Soap is fed to the chilling rolls of driers, and converted into ribbons which are fed into the warm-air zones of the continuous-band driers. After storage in silos, the soap ribbons are fed to multiple-roll mills, cutters on the last roll of which are arranged so as to produce diamond shape flakes.\nToilet Soap. The soap is dried as described for soap flakes and, after storage, is weighed automatically into mixers where perfume, etc., is added. The mixture is then homogenized and extruded into bars which are cut into billets, cooled, stamped, and packed.\nSoap Powder. Soap base and other ingredients are charged into pressure vessels, agitated mechanically and heated to a temperature above atmospheric boiling point. The mixture is forced by compressed air into nozzles where it atomizes at the point of release. The process is essentially spray cooling, the net evaporation being small. The powder falls on to a travelling band and is fed to a pneumatic conveying, grading, and weathering system. Unduly coarse powder is rejected and the remainder is collected in a cyclone and passes to the packing machines.\nScouring Powders. Quartzite obtained from the company's North Wales quarry is calcined in continuous producer-gas fired furnaces, reduced by a jaw-crusher and tube mill, and then screened to remove oversize particles. The resultant material is mixed with soap powder and conveyed to the section where it is packed by a pneumatic system. The manufacture and filling of canisters can be seen in this section.\nLiquid Soapless Detergents. This is a recently added department where solutions of the ingredients are mixed, filtered, and run to the bottle packing sections. Semi-automatic vacuum fillers are used, the capping and labelling being done by hand.\nCrude Glycerine Recovery. The spent lyes received from the soaperies are purified by a precipitation treatment and then evaporated. This evaporation is in two stages, first to about 40 per cent glycerol in quadruple effect, and then to about 83 per cent in single effect. A double effect plant is available as stand-by.\nGlycerine Refining. Crude glycerine is distilled in \"Van Ruymbeke\" stills under vacuum, and the vapours are fractionally condensed, the bulk of the glycerine being separated as product in the series of air condensers, and practically all the rest in the stripping towers.\nPrinting. The printing department covers approximately five acres, and it prints the cartons, wrappers, invoices, etc., required for Port Sunlight and other Unilever companies.\nResearch Laboratories. Research work is carried out at Port Sunlight for the whole of the Unilever organization and employs about one hundred and forty qualified personnel.\nEngineering Organization. The engineering side of the firm is an important section and, in view of the wide field to be covered, is organized into mechanical, power, and civil engineering departments.\nPort Sunlight Village. The garden village consists of about eight-hundred and sixty houses, all owned by the company. Particular reference may be made to the Lady Lever art gallery which contains a large collection of painting, furniture, and ceramics of all periods, but concentrates on the British schools.\nLEYLAND MOTORS, LTD., LEYLAND\nLeyland Motors\nLeyland Motors, Ltd., was founded in 1896 and can be looked upon as one of the pioneers of the commercial motor transport industry. The company's earliest activities were connected with the production of steam-propelled lawn mowers, and its introduction to commercial transport was through the medium of steam-propelled vehicles; the manufacture of these was so successful that in 1897 the firm was awarded the first prize in the Crewe trials. The site of the present works is related to the earliest building in which the company was founded. Rapid expansion took place, particularly with the introduction of the internal combustion engine, and by the year 1906 the company was well established in the field of commercial vehicle transport, and it now ranks as the largest commercial vehicle manufacturing concern in this country and probably the second largest in the world in its particular class. Not only has the company concentrated on the production of chassis to meet varied requirements, but it has been for some considerable time responsible for making vehicles complete with bodywork. Further, it has extensive foundries, both ferrous and non-ferrous, within the Leyland group of factories and at Leeds. Both the 1914-18 and the 1939-45 wars saw the whole of the productive activity concentrated on military equipment. In 1914-18 the principal product was the 3-ton military load-carrying vehicle, particularly for the R.A.F., and in 1939-45, owing to the extensive facilities then available, armoured fighting vehicles became of primary importance; components were manufactured for practically every production form of armoured fighting vehicle; complete vehicles were assembled of the \"Covenanter\", \"Churchill\", and \"Cromwell\" types and, finally, the company was responsible for the design and group production requirements of the famous \"Comet\". Research and development have always been to the fore; since 1930 considerable work has been done on the compression ignition engine, and since 1931 on hydraulic torque converters of the fully automatic type. At all times the company has sponsored a fresh approach to the problem of commercial transport and has developed many special vehicles, particularly for use on projects overseas.\nOne of the subsidiary works, at Chorley, some five miles from the Leyland headquarters, is devoted entirely to the manufacture of spare parts for the many designs of vehicles delivered in the course of years.\nOverseas requirements have resulted in the build-up of a net-work of main depots and agencies in all the principal cities in the Commonwealth. In Canada, where there are extensive premises, a Canadian company has been registered for the handling and part manufacture of its products.\nAt the present time the company has an issued capital of £2,300,000, and its total assets are approximately £7,500,000; employees total upwards of 9,000 and its properties extend to over 300 acres.\nSince the cessation of hostilities, engines with an output approximating to a total of 11 million horse-power have been turned out from the main engine shop.\nThe size of commercial vehicles manufactured ranges from 7-tons up to 15-tons payload capacity for home use, and there is a modified range, based on these vehicles, for use in overseas territories. On the passenger side, the double-deck bus, 56-seater capacity, with all-metal body, accounts for most of the output, although chassis are produced for carrying single-deck bodies. Active development work has been sponsored in connexion with chassisless vehicles of the stressed-skin type, and these are now about to go into production. Additionally, engines are modified for use as industrial units and marine engines; representative examples of the full range of products will be on exhibition outside the assembly hall during the course of the visit.\nTHE LIVERPOOL OBSERVATORY AND TIDAL INSTITUTE\nLiverpool Observatory\nThe supply of reliable tidal predictions and the accumulation of knowledge of the tides is a matter of far-reaching importance to all interested in shipping. Elementary methods of prediction in vogue a hundred years ago are not sufficient for modern conditions of navigation, and continuous research in the problems of analysis and prediction is necessary. It was this need which led to the founding of the Tidal Institute at the University of Liverpool in the year 1919, by Mr. Charles Booth and Sir Alfred Booth, with Professor Proudman as Director, and Dr. A. T. Doodson as Secretary (now Director). Since that time the subject has been revolutionized, and the accuracy of predictions has been greatly increased. The value of the work of the Tidal Institute is recognized throughout the world and its methods have been freely adopted. As a research institution it is unique. In other countries tidal work is done by government departments, and research on the subject takes a second place to routine activities. The Tidal Institute is primarily a research institute, but it provides tidal predictions as a means of income, and in those predictions it embodies all that has been discovered. It has very close relations with the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, with great benefit to the subject, for in that way practical problems are brought to its notice and its research finds practical outlets. The Institute possesses two tide-predicting machines and it has devoted much time to the study of the design and performance of such machines. These have interesting mechanical features and the problems of design are exceptional. Gear ratios of very great accuracy have to be used and the computation of these has been reduced to a fine art. Throughout its existence it has been brought into consultation by manufacturers and has supervised the design and construction on behalf of foreign governments. Its knowledge and experience are thus unrivalled and as a continuous interest is taken in improving the designs it is not surprising that the services of the Institute are required for every machine purchased by foreign governments. (The only machines not made in this country are two in number, one in the United States, and the other in Germany.) The Institute also designs and constructs apparatus for deep-sea experiments required for fundamental research.\nAt the present time the Tidal Institute is responsible for most of the tidal predictions for ports in the British Commonwealth; Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Colonies all send their problems for investigation and are provided with predictions.\nIn recent years the Institute has also been interested in hydraulic problems, such as those associated with the effects of barrages and harbour improvements on the tides. These problems are of increasing importance. The theory of tides, of course, is regarded as a mystery by most people. Abstruse mathematical problems have been studied in relation to tides in simple basins and oceans, all with a view to understanding the processes by which tides are propagated, and some of the results have been embodied in the Admiralty \"Manual of Tides\", which may claim to be the most comprehensive treatise on the subject within the limitations of the elementary mathematics utilized. It also deals briefly with the subject of the effects of wind on the sea. The last-named subject is one of increasing importance, and the Institute has been outstanding in research on it. Quite recently a large memoir has been prepared on storm-surges in the Thames estuary, and remarkable success has been obtained in calculating the observed effects from the meteorological data. Many years of work are embodied in that report, but the Institute has continually in view the possibility of issuing daily forecasts of such effects for all the important ports in the country. This would be a great boon to all concerned.\nMANESTY MACHINES, LTD., SPEKE\nManesty Machines\nThe firm of Manesty Machines, Ltd., are makers of tablet compressing machines, mixers, granulators, coating pans, drug mills, rouge compact presses, and automatic water stills.\nThe business was originated in 1905 by Alderman Edwin Thompson, J.P. (a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool), as a division of Thompson and Capper Wholesale, Ltd., Manufacturing Chemists. At that time there were very few tablet machines in this country, but the business gradually developed and, in 1935, it was found necessary to separate the pharmaceutical machinery side from that of the manufacturing chemists, and a new company, known as Manesty Machines, Ltd., was formed. In 1937 new works were opened at Speke, Liverpool. In 1946 Messrs. John Holroyd and Company, Ltd., machine tool makers and gear specialists, of Milnrow, near Rochdale, obtained a controlling interest in the company; in 1948 Alderman Edwin Thompson disposed of his interests and the company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Messrs. John Holroyd and Company, Ltd.\nLarger premises at Evans Road, Speke, were occupied in January 1949. Most of the tablet machines are now made at Milnrow, but a few models are made at Speke, where punches and dies for all types of tablet machines, and a large range of automatic water stills are also made. The works are not very large - about one acre in extent - but over 50 per cent of the output at present is being exported. Both the tablet machines and automatic water stills have found their way into almost every industry; the tablet machines are used for foundry chemicals, powder metallurgy, self-lubricating bearings, ceramics, plastics, confectionery, catalysts and fertilizers, in addition to medicinal tablets. The automatic water stills are used wherever high quality distilled water is required, and one at least is usually found in most works laboratories; they are included in anodizing plant, for electrolysis, for use with electric batteries, in addition to very extensive use in the pharmaceutical, veterinary, and cosmetic fields. In addition to machining, hardening, and assembly shops the company has an experimental department, under the control of a chemist, where customers' materials are processed and tested on compressing machines. In this department it will be possible for visitors to see the entire process of tablet making, from the mixing of the powders to the final tablet.\nMECCANO, LTD.\nMeccano\nThe business now carried on by Meccano, Ltd., was originally started in 1901 in a small room equipped with a few hand presses, a lathe or two, and a small gas engine. The present factory, which dates from 1913, consists of spacious well-lighted workshops covering nearly five acres, with every department except one on the ground floor. Nearly three thousand hands are employed in the production of \"Meccano\" outfits, \"Hornby\" clockwork and electric trains, \"Dinky\" toys, and \"Dinky\" builder outfits. Of special interest is the rail-making plant in the press department, where standard sheets of tinplate are transformed into rails by passing them through rotary guillotines and quadruple action presses, which, in a single operation, produce rails of Vignoles section at the rate of forty to fifty per minute, while a moving belt carried the rails clear of the presses for the purpose of curving, then to assembling and packing. Other interesting units are the Wright high-speed dieing machines, which are used particularly for blanking operations. With a double tool, these machines can produce two hundred thousand 54-inch strips in an eight-and-a-half-hour day, a striking contrast to the output of one thousand two hundred strips from a hand-fed power press working at normal speed. Using a multiple tool, the machine can produce as many as one million washers per day. The making of sprocket chain can be seen in the machine department. The chain-making machines work with a coil of fine steel wire which is rolled straight as it enters the machine. Short lengths of wire are sheared off, shaped into links, and connected up with the preceding links at a speed of one hundred and sixty per minute. Much of the material from the press department is transferred to the barrelling department, where it is \"tumbled\" in suitable media for the removal of burrs, and partial cleaning. Final cleaning is carried out by modern methods, utilizing vaporized trichlorethylene in specially constructed tanks. The parts are then enamelled by the latest type of paint spraying apparatus. They are spring clipped on to frames drawn by endless chains through two spraying booths, are then transferred to carriers which travel through the drying oven, and finally are delivered at the starting point after being subjected for two hours to a temperature of 180 deg. F. There are also three automatic multi-spindle spraying machines which, after being hand-fed, automatically spins the part within the range of three or four \"pistols\", where they receive an even and complete coating of colour. An average of about one hundred and twenty thousand pieces are sprayed every day in this department. The die-casting section is noteworthy for the production of Dinky toys and parts for Hornby-Dublo trains, and consists of Madison Kipp, Riwo, E.M.B., and M.55A machines of Diecast Machines, Ltd. The casting speeds vary from two hundred shots per hour on the E.M.B. to six hundred per hour on the M.55A machines.\nIt is interesting to note the introduction of the roto-finish method of deburring the castings. The parts are loaded into the compartments and tumbled at a speed of twenty-five revolutions per minute for periods up to four hours thus eliminating the necessity for hand trimming.\nA feature of the electrical department, where transformers and locomotive motors are wound and assembled, is the equipment provided for the routine testing of transformers for both standard and non-standard supplies. The test gear includes apparatus for flash testing up to 5,000 volts; a performance test panel, where any likely combination of circuit arrangements can be preselected; and a frequency changer for providing a single-phase supply of any voltage up to 250 at any frequency between 25 and 100 cycles per second. A point of interest is the inclusion of radio suppression devices on all electric locomotives.\nPractically the whole of the operations in the factory are carried out on line assembly methods, and conveyors are used for every possible purpose. An extensive system of overhead monorail conveyers facilitates \"feeding\" the various departments and carries away the finished products. Rapid internal transport is attained by the use of electric trucks.\nMERSEY DOCKS AND HARBOUR BOARD\nMersey Docks and Harbour Board\nDredging. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board control and administer the Dock Estate at Liverpool and Birkenhead, which has a total area of 2,108 acres, exclusive of foreshore. The water area of the enclosed docks is over 650 acres and the lineal quayage slightly over 38 miles. The Board are also responsible for the dredging work in the sea channels in Liverpool Bay, forming the approaches to the River Mersey. Improvement and maintenance work in connexion with these channels is under the control of the engineer's department and is carried out by self-propelled, twin-screw, hopper, sand-pump dredgers. Four vessels are at present engaged on this work, having a total aggregate hopper capacity of 20,500 tons of sand. These vessels work at various sites in the sea channels and also in the River Mersey on Pluckington Bank, adjacent to the Brunswick Dock entrance. The quantity of material dealt with varies, but is in the order of eight to ten million tons per annum. The largest vessel, the Leviathan, has a hopper capacity of 10,000 tons, the other vessels have a hopper capacity of 3,500 tons and both load themselves in about one hour through side suction pipes, from a maximum depth of about 65 feet below the water line. In addition to the sand-pump dredgers, nine self-propelled grab hopper dredgers are employed upon the removal of the silt which accumulates in the enclosed docks system. The latest additions to this fleet comprise two vessels having a hopper capacity of 1,350 tons of silt, each equipped with three grab cranes, whilst a smaller vessel for special work has a hopper capacity of 330 tons of silt and is equipped with one grab crane. These three vessels are of interest in that they are powered by Diesel-electric machinery—the circuit being on the controlled constant current system—which is available for either or both propelling and deck machinery. Four bucket ladder dredgers with their attendant self-propelled steam hopper barges for carrying the spoil are also employed on work at the various dock entrances and for new constructional work. Seven self-propelled floating cranes are available for work of general cargo handling and other work in connexion with the dock estate. These cranes vary in capacity from 200 to 25 tons.\nGladstone Dock. The Gladstone System of Docks comprises (a) A river entrance lock 1,070 feet long and 130 feet wide, divided into two compartments having sills 20 feet below bay datum, which will enable the largest ships to go in and out on every single tide of the year, while ordinary sized ships, having a draught of, say, 28 feet, can enter and leave at any time, except for a very small number of hours each side of low water on spring tides. (b) A connecting lock, 645 feet long and 90 feet wide, divided into two compartments between the adjoining dock systems and the Gladstone docks. This lock was very badly damaged by enemy action during the War and has now been repaired at a cost of about L195,000. (c) A vestibule or turning dock called the Gladstone Dock, having a water area of about twenty-five acres, entered from the river by the entrance lock, and from the adjoining dock systems by the connecting lock, and having single-storey sheds on the north and west quays. (d) A branch dock called the Gladstone Branch Dock No. 1, 400 feet wide, with quays 1,491 feet and 1,217 feet long, opening out of the vestibule dock and having treble storey reinforced concrete sheds on the north and south sides. (e) A branch dock called the Gladstone Branch Dock No. 2, 400 feet wide, with quays 1,264 feet and 1,233 feet long, also opening out of the vestibule dock and having treble storey reinforced concrete sheds on the north and south sides. The sheds and quays of the docks are equipped with electric cranes and other appliances for the rapid handling of goods. (f) A dry dock called the Gladstone Graving Dock, 1,050 ft. 4 in. long with an entrance 120 feet wide. Vessels using the graving dock are supported on keel blocks which extend over the full length of the floor and bilge blocks operated by mechanical means. In order that the graving dock may be rapidly cleared of water, powerful pumping machinery has been installed, consisting of five sets of centrifugal pumps with discharge pipes 54 inches in diameter, each pump being driven direct by a vertical four-cylinder, two-cycle, Diesel oil-engine, running ordinarily at 180 r.p.m., and capable of developing 1,000 h.p., the total power thus being 5,000 h.p. These pumps can empty the whole contents of the dock, about 44 million gallons with the level of 28 feet in the body of the dock, in two and a half hours, or at the rate of 1,300 tons per minute. The graving dock was opened in 1913 and the remainder of the system in 1927. Amongst the vessels regularly using these docks are those of the Canadian Pacific Steamships, Ltd., trading to Canada, United States Lines to U.S.A., and Alfred Holt and Company, from the Far East and to Australia and New Zealand.\nPort Radar Station. An aerial of some 15 feet aperture and weighing 3 tons is provided at the top of an 80-foot ferro-concrete tower. This aerial, continuously rotating at 10 r.p.m., provides a narrow beam of 0.7 deg. The aerial has been designed to withstand wind velocities of up to 100 m.p.h. and large changes of temperature without distortion. The turning gear is mounted in a completely closed room at the top of the tower so that routine inspection and maintenance may be carried out without difficulty. A three-centimetre transmitter and receiver unit is mounted in the radar room in the building adjacent to the foot of the tower and the frame-work containing these also contains all the master timing circuits and control gear. In the same room is housed the display console containing six plan-position indicators. One of these displays shows a small general view of the whole of Liverpool Bay and four more show large-scale true plan views of particular sectors of the approach channels, so that a large-scale mosaic is built up. The sixth also shows a large-scale plan display but the region which it covers can be varied at the will of the operator to cover any desired part of the Liverpool Bay. In all cases the large-scale displays are to the same scale to facilitate cross-reference. They are all true plan shape to aid recognition, and each has in front of it a reproduction of the chart by means of which the positions of buoys may be checked, and it also shows a standard grid superimposed on it so that the position of any echo may be read off directly as a grid reference. The display console also contains a set of controls by means of which the whole installation can be switched on and off and operated. Throughout the equipment, high-grade components, run well within their rating, have been employed so as to achieve the highest possible standard of reliability. Considerable thought has also been given to maintenance facilities. Each major unit contains a built-in meter which can be plugged in to any of the sub-units and switched on. This allows the meter to be connected rapidly to a large number of check points within the circuit. If the unit is working correctly, the meter should show a standard indication of 100 per cent; in this way a faulty unit is very rapidly located. A complete set of spare sub-units is carried at the radar station so that, in the event of a failure, the faulty unit can be rapidly withdrawn, a new unit plugged in in its place and the equipment put back into operation immediately; the faulty unit is then serviced at leisure. In the case of the display console, each one of the six displays is mounted in a frame-work which wheels into the console on rail guides and a complete spare display unit is carried at the station, so that this can be wheeled in complete if a replacement is necessary.\nThe performance characteristics are set forth below:—\nWave length . 3 centimetres\nHorizontal beam width . 0.7 deg.\nVertical beam width . 5 deg.\nSide lobes in horizontal plane . 24 db down\nRepetition rate . 1,000 cycles per sec.\nLarge-scale display scale . 2 inches to 1 nautical mile\nSmall-scale display scale . 1 inch to 1 nautical mile\nDisplay accuracy . 1 per cent in range by 4 deg. in bearing\nRange of scan . 20 miles\nLiverpool was the first port in the world to utilize radar on a full-scale basis for the purpose of assisting vessels in and out of the port, and a radar of extremely high discrimination is required to provide supervision of its approaches. The length and narrowness of the channel demands a high bearing discrimination, and also a very large display scale, and the ability to handle large volumes of traffic also means that the equipment must be easy to use; if a reliable service is to be provided every precaution must be taken to achieve the maximum freedom from breakdown.\nSince radar rays penetrate both dark and fog, the installation is unaffected by conditions of visibility and greatly assists the smooth running of the port, enabling it to remain open under conditions which might otherwise necessitate a shut-down.\nFor example, in foggy weather in November 1948, among the ships which were given information by radio-telephony from the port radar station was the 13,500-ton Cunard White Star liner Parthia, which, after leaving for New York the previous day, had been fog-bound overnight in the Crosby Channel. In addition, four inward-bound ships, the Northumberland from Brisbane with 7,500 tons of cargo, the Cetus from Archangel, the Southern Island from Skutskar, and the Fort Buffalo from Swansea, proceeded up-river with radar assistance, while the Isle of Man steamers King Orry, outward-bound, and the Mona's Queen, inward from Douglas, were also given guidance.\nMILNERS SAFE COMPANY, LTD., PHOENIX WORKS, SPEKE\nMilners Safe Co\nThe firm of Thomas Milner dates back to 1830. In the year 1874, a public company was formed which took over the old factory building at Smithdown Lane, Liverpool, and opened further branches in Manchester and London.\nLord Ritchie of Dundee was the first chairman and, upon becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer, his cousin, Sir James Ritchie, who in 1903 became Lord Mayor of London, succeeded him as chairman. His grandson, Sir James E. T. Ritchie, Bart., is the present chairman.\nFor nearly three-quarters of a century the activities of the company were confined to the manufacture of steel safes, strong rooms, strong-room doors, and safe deposits; the company has installed security equipment of this kind in banks of national and international renown.\nIn the early part of the century, the company extended its activities into the field of light steel works and office equipment, and these products, including small cash boxes, vertical filing cabinets, office desks, and double floor steel shelving for works stores, together with steel safes, are being exported to all parts of the world.\nIn 1937, the Liverpool corporation took over the old works under the housing development scheme, and a completely new factory, the Phoenix works, covering fifteen acres, was built on the Liverpool corporation new trading estate at Speke.\nThe present factory was completed in 1939, and its activities were immediately turned to day and night production and the testing of many thousands of armoured fighting vehicles. The reconversion to normal production has been undertaken in conjunction with the redesign and development of all the firm's products. The actual factory area is nine acres. The main factory building has seven main shops, four of which are serviced with overhead cranes, the capacity of which ranges from 71 to 25 tons. The annex buildings comprise a well-equipped tool room, a heat treatment and testing department, and a foundry equipped for iron and non-ferrous castings. The welfare of all employees is considered, canteen welfare, sports and social facilities being available for all workers. In 1944, the company bought over and absorbed the old-established firm of Whitfield Safe Company, Birmingham, and thus added a lighter type of fire-resisting safe to its already extensive range of products.\nNATIONAL COAL BOARD, NORTH-WESTERN DIVISION, SUTTON MANOR COLLIERY\nSutton Manor Colliery\nSutton Manor Colliery is one of the seventy-three collieries of the north-western division of the National Coal Board, which at present produce some 14,000,000 tons of coal per annum. It is situated in a pleasant stretch of country in south-west Lancashire, a few miles south of St. Helens and due east of Liverpool. This area is a developing one as far as the north-western coalfield is concerned and, as the older collieries to the north, in the direction of Wigan, eventually die out, it is the intention of the board to develop the large reserves of coal available in the district south of St. Helens. These reserves are deep and will involve the sinking of some new shafts, one of which is planned for the neighbouring Bold colliery, which is to be entirely reorganized and developed for an ultimate output rising to 6,000 tons per day, employing \"horizon mining\" methods as practised on the continent, including Koepe winding. This project is being carried out in close collaboration with the British Electricity Authority's proposed new St. Helens power station on an adjacent site for the direct conveyance of fuel from the colliery to the boiler house. The present Sutton Manor Colliery which, pre-vesting date, was closely associated with the Richard Evans group, is a fairly old one and it is hoped to reorganize and develop it on more modern lines although not perhaps on the same scale as the future Bold colliery. This will involve deepening the existing shafts and driving underground tunnels for locomotive haulage. It employs more than 1,300 men underground and on the surface, and produces round about 7,000 tons of coal a week, contributing its full quota to the tonnage raised in the No. 3 (St. Helens) area, which comprises ten collieries. It has a full meals canteen and pithead baths, and there is a colliery institute providing the usual recreational amenities. There are two pits, each with a pair of steam-driven compound horizontal winding engines. On the surface there are two screening plants, one for each of the two main winding shafts, where coal is cleaned and prepared in various sizes at the rate of 350 tons an hour. Slack is sent on a travelling belt to an adjacent washery where the dirt is cleaned from the coal and the fuel is sized into commercial products. The discard from the washery and screening plant is taken away by an aerial ropeway. Steam and electrical power is at present generated at the colliery using low-grade fuel, and an electrical connexion exists with the Area Electricity Board's network. Both electricity and compressed air are used underground, the surface compressor units and also the 600,000 cu. ft. per min. mine ventilating fan being steam driven. An area testing station for colliery winding ropes, and also for compressed-air-driven coal cutter and conveyor turbines is situated on the colliery premises. In order to prove that the seams of coal available in the area south of St. Helens exist at workable depths a programme of deep boring is being undertaken and samples of the underlying strata are brought to the surface for examination and depths recorded. One of these boreholes is situated at Tan House Lane, Burtonwood. This borehole was drilled by the percussive method by a mobile machine to a depth of 823 feet, the diameter being 9.68 inches to 409 feet and 7.87 inches to 823 feet. This percussive method, which gives chippings, was adopted because the stratum was already known to a depth of 1,800 feet. After the percussive drilling, the present rig was built and rotary drilling with a diamond bit was done to a depth to date of 3,230 feet, the diameter being reduced by stages until this is now 4.57 inches giving a 3.5-inch core. The bit cuts out the core, which is held by a spring in a core barrel about 10 feet long. The hole is cased with steel casing as and when required to prevent the sides from collapsing, and after each length of casing has been inserted it becomes necessary to reduce the diameter of the hole. To act as a protection to the walls of the hole below the casing, mud is circulated through the hole via the drilling rods and the core barrel, up the hole back to the surface on the outside of the rods. The mud, which is Bentonite, a proprietary product consisting mostly of \"fuller's earth\" forms a wall on the uncased sides of the hole.\nWILLIAM NEILL AND SON (ST. HELENS), LTD.\nWilliam Neill and Son\nThe business was first started on the present site by William Neill in 1872 and for a period of some twenty-five or thirty years it held an important place in the production of iron castings and the manufacture of plant for the chemical and coal industries, which were then rapidly developing in the south-west Lancashire area.\nThe business passed out of the Neill family and became a private company in 1907, and in 1933 it was reconstructed and taken over by the present management. During the last sixteen years it has been quadrupled in size and it now covers an area of approximately seven acres.\nThe works are divided into two sections, one for plate fabrication, tank and chemical plant manufacture, and the other for the fabrication of structural steel framed buildings, bridge work, etc. The plate shop comprises two bays, each 580 feet long, and two subsidiary bays 130 feet long, with template shop, stores buildings, canteens, etc. The structural shop comprises two bays, one 310 feet long and the other 190 feet long, with template shop and machine shop.\nAll the buildings are equipped with overhead electric cranes varying in lifting capacity from 2 tons to 30 tons, there being fourteen in all, and the stock yards are controlled by six electrically operated derrick cranes, with jibs varying from 75 feet to 110 feet long. The shops are equipped with modern machines for the manufacture of storage tanks, chemical plant, and structural work, and two machines of special interest (just installed) may be mentioned: —\n(a) The special gas burning equipment for plate edge preparation capable of performing simultaneously nine burning operations; and,\n(b) The \"Fusarc\" automatic electric welding machine capable of welding (at one setting) vessels 34 feet long and varying in diameter from 2 feet to 14 feet.\nThe company's products cover a very wide range and include general chemical plant comprising electrically welded and riveted vessels of all types, petroleum refining plant including fractionating towers, heat exchangers, condensers, bulk oil-storage tanks up to 150 feet in diameter, coal preparation plant including washer boxes, flotation machines, screens, filters, etc., vegetable oil refining plant such as deodorizers, bleachers, etc., underground battery driven locomotives of 7-ton and 10-ton capacity, chemical lead work, structural steelwork and bridge work.\nThe 1938 defence programme saw the company in the forefront with its patented design of electrically welded underground petroleum storage tanks. Hundreds of these tanks, each of more than one million gallons capacity, were erected, both in this country and the Middle East.\nPrefabricated units of small ships, barges, pontoons for the Mulberry harbour, lift platforms for aircraft carriers, and a host of diverse war materials have taken shape in the assembly shops.\nAnother product turned out in vast quantities was an ingenious design of bolted petroleum storage tank made from light gauge material; this design of tank was used extensively on the second front, and was so successful that it is still in demand by oil companies for field use abroad.\nPILKINGTON BROTHERS, LTD., ST. HELENS\nPilkington\nThe firm of Pilkington Brothers, Ltd., was established in 1826 at St. Helens for the manufacture of crown glass; the site was chosen because of the availability of indigenous raw materials, and the proximity to a canal and a coastal port.\nAfter the establishment of the crown glass industry, developments included the cylinder blown and cylinder drawn processes, which finally gave place to the modern flat drawn method, in which a ribbon of flat glass is drawn vertically upward from a bath of molten glass.\nConcurrently with these developments, the manufacture of rolled, cathedral and figured rolled, and wired glasses, previously made by the ladle process gave place to the continuous rolled method of manufacture.\nThis gradual, but constant, development, notable since the beginning of the present century, but particularly so during the last twenty-five years, covers now almost wholly mechanized methods of manufacture.\nThe industry calls not only for the necessary production plant and administrative staff, but also for many ancillary activities. These include service and maintenance departments and a self-contained timber yard, in addition to a completely equipped research laboratory, and personnel and welfare departments. The internal works transport system uses twenty works locomotives running over fifty miles of single line siding which deal with an incoming traffic alone amounting to nearly 1,000,000 tons per year. The amount of material despatched - almost wholly glass - averages over 320,000 tons a year, in which a modern fleet of over one hundred and thirty road vehicles plays an important part.\nOver twenty-five thousand different commodities have to be provided for the production of the glass and the maintenance of the works. These range from materials arriving in train loads to small registered postal packets containing industrial diamonds and platinum-rhodium thermocouple wires. The electricity generated and purchased in a year is equal to that consumed for lighting by the households in a city the size of Nottingham, and the yearly consumption of coal is equal to the total domestic rations of 200,000 households. The amount of timber consumed annually for packing cases is equivalent to 80,000 trees of the size normally felled in Eastern Canada or Sweden.\nThe comprehensive welfare arrangements of the firm include the recreation club, which covers full winter and summer pastimes and sports on the social and recreational side; a pension and staff superannuation scheme; a holidays with pay scheme; and completely equipped works canteens.\nA full-time education officer, who is in close touch with the local education authorities, operates a staff training scheme.\nSafety officers, accident prevention committees, and protective clothing assist in keeping down the hazards of the industry. A full-time medical officer has charge of a complete surgical unit which includes an operating theatre, a dispensary, an X-ray outfit, and a twenty-four hour nursing service. A radiography unit was installed in 1941 and a rehabilitation centre includes a gymnasium and physiotherapy room. Further necessary treatment, in the form of light work of a restorative character, is carried out in a well-equipped workshop.\nGlass melting tanks are the method adopted for the continuous melting of the raw materials—chiefly sand, soda-ash, limestone, and dolomite. Such tanks can be as large as 120 feet long by 30 feet wide and 5 feet deep, and may contain up to 1,200 tons of molten glass. The raw materials are mixed in the right proportions and fed into one end of the tank; after melting, the resulting molten glass is refined, cooled, and drawn off at the other end.\nFor modern constructional glasses, drawing and rolling are the chief processes employed—drawing for the production of flat drawn sheet glass, and rolling for the production of rough cast plate, wired, plain, and patterned glasses, such as cathedral and figured rolled glasses.\nThe processes to be seen cover the manufacture of polished plate glass, which, in the first instance, is rolled in the form of a ribbon, both surfaces of which are subsequently ground and polished. This process will be seen during the visit.\nPlate glass was first introduced into this country in 1615, being made by the \"blown\" process. It was not until 1773, when the British Cast Plate Glass Company came into being at Ravenhead, St. Helens, that plate glass was made in England by the process of rolling. By 1789 mechanical methods began to appear for the grinding and polishing of the surfaces of the glass. In 1901 the firm purchased the Ravenhead Plate Glass Company, where the manufacture of polished plate glass was continued until 1917, when the factory was turned over to the manufacture of other types of glass.\nAn entirely new polished plate glass works was erected in St. Helens in 1876, and it was there that, in 1902, the first mechanically operated lehr for the annealing of plate glass was developed.\nThe original method consisted of pouring the contents of a special clay pot on to a cast-iron casting table and then rolling out like pastry. After annealing, the sheets of glass were ground, smoothed, and then polished on circular tables 22 feet in diameter (later displaced by 36-foot tables), the abrasives for grinding and smoothing being sand in water, and for polishing wet rouge under felt-covered pads.\nA radical departure from this method consisted of pouring the contents of the clay pot between two rollers from which the molten glass issued in the form of a ribbon; this process is still in operation for the manufacture of polished plate glass of special thicknesses and sizes, the grinding and polishing being carried out by the table method.\nThese methods continued until early 1923 when a continuous method of grinding and polishing, which superseded the disk method for standard thicknesses and widths of glass, was perfected. These machines were approximately 650 feet long.\nThe production of polished plate glass was then made direct from the melting tank. The ribbon of rough rolled glass is passed between twin sets of grinding and smoothing heads, both surfaces being machined simultaneously.\nPolished plate glass can be made in a variety of thicknesses from 2.6 mm. up to 14 inches thick, the thinner substances being required for special purposes, and for the manufacture of laminated glasses for motor-cars, the thicker substances being used for ships' port holes, etc.\nThe uses of polished plate glass are not wholly constructional. By means of tinting or surface treatment, such as silvering, embossing, stippling, sandblasting, brilliant cutting, or by a combination of some of these methods, a wide range of decorative effects can be obtained. By additional thermal treatments, glass, plain or decorated, can be \"toughened\" to acquire the properties of strength and harmless fragmentation, characteristic of safety glass and \"armourplate\".\n\"SHELL\" REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, LTD.\nShell\nThornton Research Centre. The Thornton Research Centre is a recent addition to the research facilities of the world-wide \"Shell\" group. An aero-engine laboratory was built in 1940 and, during the war, was operated as the Ministry of Aircraft Production fuel and oil research laboratory. Since those days, there has been a steady expansion both in buildings and in the scope of the work carried out, and there have evolved laboratories of almost 750,000 square feet of floor space, integrated and controlled as one unit and manned by a staff of about nine hundred. The centre has the Stanlow refineries and oil docks on the north-west, with the new \"Shell\" Chemical Plant and the first units of the large Middle East Crude Refinery on the west.\nThe research carried out at the centre is largely applicational and covers a wide range of petroleum products. It can be divided into two main groups: the first group comprises the engine testing and mechanical rig work, together with the physical chemistry necessarily associated with applicational research on fuels and lubricants. The second consists of purely chemical research concerned with the development and utilization of new chemicals and by-products from the refinery processes.\nThornton Research Centre is particularly well equipped for the former type of work, having a wide range of modern engine types at its disposal. There are, in fact, about eighty engines installed, ranging from small two-stroke, motor-cycle engines, to large medium-speed, marine Diesels. Numerous rigs, large and small, are also used for studying gear and bearing lubrication, cylinder wear, gas-turbine combustion, fuel spray characteristics, oil and fuel inflammability, the behaviour of fuels and lubricants at extremes of temperature and pressure, as well as the functioning of lubricants in some of the many industrial applications.\nIt is often remarked that burning coal and oil fuel is wasteful of valuable chemicals. In this connexion, the production of chemicals in the form of detergents, surface coatings, solvents, agricultural chemicals, and plasticizers is a comparatively new, but rapidly expanding, industry. Thornton is actively engaged in synthesizing some of these materials from petroleum—in some cases from those products which would otherwise be burnt as fuel. An extensive pilot plant section is used for the production of experimental quantities on a technical scale.\nA number of sections specializing in analysis, photography, X-ray examination, and spectroscopy are used by chemists and engineers alike. There is also a metallurgical section which deals with many \"field\" problems arising from the use of petroleum; in certain instances, alloys highly resistant to attack have been developed. There is a large central workshop and two smaller ones.\nThe devising of suitable instrumentation for the many branches of science covered by the research programme is in the hands of an applied physics section. Controlling instruments for pilot plants and for long duration tests, and electronic equipment for studying the combustion process in internal combustion engines, all come within the scope of this section.\nStanlow Refinery. The Stanlow refinery of the \"Shell\" Refining and Marketing Company, Ltd., is situated adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal, some four miles from its entrance. Its location provides easy access for ocean-going and coastal tankers, while convenient rail and road facilities are available for distribution of the products of the refinery.\nMotor spirit, aviation spirit, kerosene, Diesel and fuel oils, bitumen and lubricating oils are manufactured or blended and distributed direct to customers, or to the depots of Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., in bulk or package. Export and coastal deliveries can be made via the Manchester Ship Canal, or by road or rail transhipment from Ellesmere Port, Birkenhead, or Liverpool.\nThe construction of the refinery and the associated installation for the storage, blending, and distribution of products was commenced in 1923. The original site of fifty acres was extended in 1938 and 1940, and the refinery now covers an area of approximately twelve hundred acres, divided into two main sections.\nIn the northern section, fronting the ship canal, are plants for the manufacture and refining of bitumen, special benzine distillates, high-grade lubricating oils, aviation benzine, and synthetic detergents. In the southern section a series of plants for the production of petroleum chemicals has recently been completed by \"Shell\" Chemical Manufacturing Company, Ltd., and the construction of a large modern refinery has been commenced by \"Shell\" Refining and Marketing Company, Ltd. This latter refinery will process imported crude petroleum, primarily for the manufacture of motor spirits, Diesel oils and fuel oils.\nThe various feedstocks and products are stored in vertical cylindrical tanks of steel construction and of capacities up to two-and-a-half million gallons. Total storage capacity amounts to nearly two hundred million gallons.\nModern water-tube boilers provide the large quantity of steam required. Oil and gas fuels, electricity, cooling and process water, compressed air, and chemicals are also used in large quantities.\nThe plants are specially designed, and constructed mainly of steel. Direct-fired tubular heaters and tubular heat exchangers, condensers, and coolers are used together with a wide variety of electrically and steam operated pumps. Temperatures, pressures, flows, etc., are in general controlled by automatic instruments of various kinds.\nLarge laboratories control the quality of products, and a special department carries out technological investigation and development of operating processes.\nSupervision of refinery operations is carried out by plant chemists, and operatives receive special training in process work.\nA large engineering force is required for constructional, maintenance, and repair work, and the engineering workshops are well equipped with modern machines. Much of the material handled consists of steel pipe and valves of large diameter.\nService departments include materials stores, and transport. Canteens and medical and welfare services are provided. There are special sections for training staff and operatives. Special precautions are taken against fire risks. The company has its own fire brigade and special fire-fighting equipment is provided in all parts of the refinery.\nApproximately 3,700 people, including clerical and laboratory staffs, are employed. Sports grounds are provided by the company and there are facilities for recreational and social activities.\nPetroleum products of all kinds play an important part in Britain's recovery programme and the Stanlow refinery is operated to maximum capacity. In this connexion, the reduction of non-operation time by efficient engineering maintenance and well-planned and rapid repair and overhaul of plant is a vital necessity.\nJOHN SUMMERS AND SONS, LTD., HAWARDEN BRIDGE STEELWORKS, SHOTTON\nJohn Summers and Sons\nThe firm of John Summers and Sons, Ltd., was founded in Stalybridge in 1851 for the manufacture of clog irons; the following year a nail making machine was acquired to produce nails for fastening the clog irons to the clogs, and in 1860 puddling furnaces, a steam hammer, and the first sheet rolling mill were installed for the production of the necessary raw materials. A galvanizing plant was installed for making galvanized-steel corrugated roofing sheets, the first galvanized sheet being produced in 1894. In 1895, the site at Shotton was acquired, and one year later the new plant, which comprised six sheet mills driven by a steam engine, with galvanizing and finishing equipment, started work.\nThe rapid development continued, and at present the Hawarden Bridge steelworks cover two-hundred and fifty acres, with a further seven-hundred and fifty acres available for development. There are nearly six thousand employees at this works alone, and more than 8,000 tons of steel sheets leave the works each week. There are two steelworks, No. 1 having nine 50-ton furnaces, and No. 2, eight 70-ton furnaces. The slabbing mill, installed in 1939 is driven by a three-cylinder simple steam engine, and the hot strip mill, installed in the same year, has eight stands of rolls, each driven by an electric motor of about 3,000 h.p. The cold tandem mill reduces the thickness of the steel still further, after it has left the hot strip mill; its output is supplemented by the reversing mill - the latest to be installed at Hawarden Bridge and capable of rolling strip 72 inches wide - which is driven by a 2,500 h.p. electric motor.\nFor many years sheets have been manufactured in this country from sheet bars; the bar is cut to the required width of sheet, and rolled out to the ordered length and thickness by passing the sheared steel, piled in thicknesses, through a number of individual hand mills. Before the advent of the strip mill, certain improvements were made at Shotton to reduce the manual labour, and at the same time to increase the output and improve the quality of the product. Finally, a three-high mill (a mill having three rolls instead of the usual two) was installed, which, by its greater precision and more robust construction, improved the quality of the product.\nStrip rolling has entirely revolutionized the manufacture of steel sheets, by making it possible to produce in one length of strip the desired finished gauge. To make this possible, the quality and weight of the raw material, and the size and design of the mills have undergone a radical change; instead of a sheet bar, a slab is produced in thicknesses varying from 34 to 6 inches, and in length, from 51- to 15+ feet. The slabs are then heated in continuous furnaces, prior to rolling on the hot strip mill which consists of a series of mills in tandem, each mill containing four rolls. The thinnest gauge obtainable on the average hot strip mill is sixteen gauge, and for finer gauges it is necessary to put the strip through a further, cold-rolling, process. For ease in handling, the strip is coiled after leaving the hot mill, and, before proceeding to the second rolling, it is subjected to a continuous pickling operation so as to remove the oxide coating which is present when the strip leaves the hot mill.\nAfter the cold reduction process, the strip is trimmed and cut to size, and then transferred to the annealing department, where it receives heat treatment to remove the stresses set up by the cold reduction process, and to obtain the correct structure in the steel to meet the various uses demanded by respective customers. The strips are then passed to the final processes, such as cold rolling, levelling, etc., as required. They are then inspected, coated with oil to prevent rust and deterioration, and packed ready for dispatch. The best grades of steel are delivered, as far as possible, by the company's own fleet of lorries to ensure that they are received in good condition.\nThe uses to which steel sheets can be put have greatly increased during past years. The motor-car industry has been responsible for much of this development, but apart from that particular market, large quantities of sheets are used for the manufacture of a diversity of products ranging from steel toys to steel houses, and including all manner of household equipment. During the 1939-45 war, there was a further expansion in the use of steel sheets: the continuous strip mill contributed two million tons of sheet steel to the war effort, that was utilized in products ranging from \"Anderson\" shelters to bomb fins.\nVAN DEN BERGHS AND JURGENS, LTD., STORK MARGARINE WORKS, BROMBOROUGH PORT\nVan den Berghs\nThe Stork Margarine Works at Bromborough, the largest margarine-producing unit in the world, was erected in 1918 by Lever Brothers, Ltd., and produced margarine under the name of Planters Foods, Ltd. It occupies a site of about twenty-two acres close to the River Mersey, and is connected by a private railway system with the Port Sunlight works.\nIn 1930, following the amalgamation of Lever Brothers, Ltd., with the Margarine Union, the \"Planters\" installation was completely scrapped and replaced by a modern up-to-date margarine plant including a new oil refinery for treating edible oils.\nAdditional plant and equipment was installed up to the outbreak of war in 1939, to enable production to keep pace with increasing demand, and since the cessation of hostilities a policy of gradual but steady replacement of plant by more modern machines has been followed, particularly in the packing department.\nJust over a year ago, an additional plant came into production for the manufacture and packing of domestic cooking fat on the most modern lines.\nA development department is actively engaged at Bromborough, and new methods of production and new machines evolved here are being introduced into Unilever margarine factories in all parts of the world.\nPower Services. The boiler plant comprises eight, 8 ft. 6 in. diameter by 30 feet Lancashire boilers fitted with Hodgkinson coking stokers and downtake superheaters. The installation includes a 448 feet by 9 feet tube \"Green's\" economizer, and motor-driven induced-draught fans.\nFeed water is softened by the high-temperature soda-ash process, and de-aerated on a \"Hick Hargreaves\" plant. Approximately 6,000,000 lb. of steam at 150 lb. per sq. in. and 585 deg. F. are generated per week.\nAs refrigeration plays an important part in the manufacture of margarine, four \"Atlas\" ammonia compressor units are prominent in the separate building housing the power plant. These each comprise twin-opposed, double-acting, ammonia compressors driven by a horizontal, tandem, compound-condensing steam engine. Steam is passed out at 20 lb. per sq. in. between the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders for factory water-heating and space-heating purposes. Final exhaust is condensed in jet condenser \"Edwards\" air pump units with natural draught cooling.\nThe compressors, two large and two smaller, have an installed refrigerating capacity of 1,200 tons under standard (5-86 deg. F.) conditions.\nTwo similar ammonia condensers of the atmospheric interlaced coil type are installed, having a total cooling surface of 16,500 sq. ft.\nElectricity is purchased from Lever Brothers' central power station and received at 6,600 volts. Normal consumption for all purposes is about 125,000 kW.-hr. per week at 400 volts, 3 phase, 50 cycles, A.C.\nThe main source of water supply is an artesian well. A 14-inch diameter bore-hole, 376 feet deep, yields about 30,000 gallons per hour of a total hardness of 40 grains per gallon. Water is purchased from the local water board for drinking and direct process.\nOil Refinery. Crude oil is received in 10-ton rail and road tank-wagons, and pumped to storage tanks aggregating 700 tons capacity.\nThe refinery equipment comprises 30-ton neutralizer bleachers and \"Johnson\" filter presses of the plate-and-frame type with hydraulic tightening gear. Twenty-two-ton deodorizers are installed, each complete with fat separator and splash-plate type, counter-current, barometric condenser. Vacuum is maintained by air ejector equipment.\nRefined oil storage capacity aggregates approximately 900 tons, all tanks being fitted with \"Gravimeter\" contents gauges.\nDairy. Reconstituted milk is pasteurized on the high-temperature, short-time principle, thermostatically controlled, using a stainless steel paraflow apparatus. The pasteurized milk is inoculated and soured in 650-gallon ripening tanks having pendulum grid heating-cooling coils. As the dairy is situated on the top floor, the treated milk can be run by gravity to the churns to be blended with the refined edible oils.\nMargarine Process. The refined oils are blended in 30 cwt.capacity, jacketed, weigh-tanks and pumped to attemperating tanks for gravity flow to ten belt-driven churns. In these an emulsion is churned from the oil and milk phases, and pumped to four direct-expansion, 7.87 feet diameter, ammonia cooling drums each of 44 tons per hour capacity.\nThe flake margarine, which is formed on the drums and scraped off, is then triple-rolled on three \"Multiplex\" machines fitted with porphyry rollers. Each machine discharges on to alternate stainless steel clad kneading tables rotating at approximately 1-I r.p.m., with beaters revolving at 60 r.p.m. The product is transported between the various sets of rollers and the kneading tables on odourless white rubber belts, and between machines in aluminium containers of 3 tons capacity which are moved by battery driven electric elevating trucks. The aluminium containers are discharged into hoppers by specially designed electric elevating and tipping hoists, each of 5 tons capacity.\nAfter a resting period, the semi-finished margarine is kneaded under vacuum in direct-driven mixing machines of the \"Werner Pfleiderer\" type, each having a capacity of about 8 tons per hour. The product is then tipped into small containers and stored in a cool store in readiness for detail packing.\nBulk packing is done in three \"Johnson\" bulk extruding machines producing 28 lb. or 56 lb. blocks at a rate of about 4 tons per hour each.\nDetail Packing. Over 85 per cent of the margarine produced at Bromborough is wrapped in the familiar 1/2 lb. packet, and for this duty thirty-four moulding, weighing, and wrapping machines are installed. Twenty-six of these modern, British-made, \"Forgrove\" units are capable of producing ninety-two ready wrapped packets per minute.\nA machine recently devised at Bromborough packs the wrapped 1/2 lb. pieces into fiberite cases. It is hoped to take a farther step towards the complete mechanization of this department by installing additional machines in accordance with the prototype.\nAuxiliary Departments. These include can ice-making plant by Lightfoot Refrigeration Company (capacity 20 cwt. per hour); wagon-washing plant, including special tipper and sterilizing cabinets for both large and small aluminium containers; box-making department for assembling and repairing both wood and fiberite cases; control and research laboratories; special moisture testing and salt-testing laboratories.\nWelfare. Modern well-equipped surgeries for males and females are provided, with a fully qualified nurse constantly on duty, while a medical officer is in attendance all day.\nOveralls and clogs are provided for all workers, and the overalls are laundered on the premises. Changing rooms with auxiliary drying rooms and shower-baths are available, also a large airy canteen where meals are served at very low prices.\nWell laid-out playing fields with a good pavilion are adjacent to the factory, and they cater for both outdoor and indoor recreation.\nTHE VULCAN FOUNDRY, LTD., NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS\nVulcan Foundry\nThe Vulcan Foundry, builders of all types of locomotives, was founded in 1830 by Robert Stephenson in collaboration with Charles Tayleur, a Liverpool engineer. At that time Robert Stephenson was already managing a locomotive works in Newcastle upon Tyne but, finding it difficult to transport locomotives from his Newcastle factory to Lancashire for use on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, he decided to go into partnership with Charles Tayleur with a view to building engines on the spot.\nThe first locomotive to be built at Vulcan was produced for the North Union Railway and was named \"Tayleur\"; it was followed shortly afterwards by three more for the Warrington and Newton Railway which was opened in 1931.\nIn 1847 the Vulcan Foundry acquired the Bank Quay Foundry in Warrington; this resulted in interesting subsidiary activities including the manufacture of components for the Conway Bridge and Menai Straits Tubular Bridge, and the construction of the first iron sea-going vessel.\nA long standing connexion with India commenced in 1852 when eight 2-4-0 passenger locomotives were exported for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway; these inaugurated the service on the first public railway in India from Bombay to Thana.\nIn 1871 the first locomotive to run in Japan was built at Vulcan, and locomotives of every description have been produced for railways all over the world, including engines and tenders weighing as much as 200 tons in working order.\nDuring both world wars, the Vulcan Works were fully engaged on armament work and during the 1939-45 war the main items of production were tanks, torpedoes, gun mechanisms, etc. In 1943, however, production reverted to locomotives and 390 \"Austerity\" 2-8-0 type engines and tenders were built for the War Department. Since then the \"Liberation\" locomotive has been designed and built for the continent together with many other locomotives for home and overseas railways.\nThe works at Newton-le-Willows occupy an area of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, fourteen of which are covered by buildings. All the main shops, with the exception of the iron and non-ferrous foundries, the pattern and woodworking shops, and the Diesel erecting shop, are under one roof.\nThe boiler shop has a floor area of over 78,000 square feet and is served by sixteen overhead travelling cranes of varying capacities. The locomotive erecting shop covers 29,500 square feet and has two lines of erecting pits which can accommodate eighteen sets of engine frames.\nThe Diesel section has recently been greatly expanded and a complete new Diesel erecting shop has been constructed since 1946. Both industrial Diesel mechanical shunting locomotives and mechanical parts for the most powerful electric and Diesel electric motive power are produced in this department.\nResearch activities are centralized in a modern laboratory which contains sections for chemical analysis, mechanical testing, sand testing, radiography, and metallurgy.\nThe works at Newton-le-Willows employ up to 3,500 operatives and have capacity for the production of four large locomotive engines and tenders per week. In addition the company have, as subsidiaries, the locomotive building firm of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, Ltd., with works at Darlington and Newcastle upon Tyne.\nSee Also","Iron and steel - Introduction to their science, properties ...\nWhich countries produce the world's ... process developed by Sir Henry Bessemer in the 1850s. Open-hearth process (also called the regenerative open hearth): ...\nIron and steel - Introduction to their science, properties, uses\nIron and steel\nTweet\nby Chris Woodford . Last updated: July 14, 2016.\nThink of the greatest structures of the 19th century—the Eiffel Tower, the Capitol, the Statue of Liberty—and you'll be thinking of iron. The fourth most common element in Earth's crust, iron has been in widespread use now for about 6000 years. Hugely versatile, and one of the strongest and cheapest metals , it became an important building block of the Industrial Revolution, but it's also an essential element in plant and animal life. Combined with varying (but tiny) amounts of carbon, iron makes a much stronger material called steel, used in a huge range of human-made objects, from cutlery to warships , skyscrapers, and space rockets. Let's take a closer look at these two superb materials and find out what makes them so popular!\nPhoto: The world's first cast-iron bridge, after which the village of Ironbridge in Shropshire, England was named. It was built across the River Severn by Abraham Darby III in 1779 using some 384 tons of iron. You can read more about its history and construction on the official Ironbridge website. Photo by Jason Smith courtesy of Wikimedia Commons .\nWhat is iron like?\nPhoto: A sample of iron from a meteorite (next to a pen for scale). From the mineral collection of Brigham Young University Department of Geology, Provo, Utah. Photograph by Andrew Silver courtesy of US Geological Survey Photographic Library .\nYou might think of iron as a hard, strong metal tough enough to support bridges and buildings , but that's not pure iron. What you're thinking of is alloys of iron combined with carbon and other elements. Pure iron is a different matter altogether. Consider its physical properties (how it behaves by itself) and its chemical properties (how it combines and reacts with other elements and compounds).\nPhysical properties\nPure iron is a silvery-white metal that's easy to work and shape and it's just soft enough to cut through (with quite a bit of difficulty) using a knife. You can hammer iron into sheets and draw it into wires. Like most metals, iron conducts electricity and heat very well and it's very easy to magnetize .\nChemical properties\nThe reason we so rarely see pure iron is that it combines readily with oxygen. Indeed, iron's major drawback as a construction material is that it reacts with moist air (in a process called corrosion) to form the flaky, reddish-brown oxide we call rust. Iron reacts in lots of other ways too—with elements ranging from carbon, sulfur, and silicon to halogens such as chlorine.\nBroadly, iron's compounds can be divided into two groups known as ferrous and ferric (the old names) or iron (II) and iron (III); you can always substitute \"iron(II)\" for \"ferrous\" and \"iron(III)\" for \"ferric\" in compound names.\nIn iron (II) compounds, iron has a valency (chemical combining ability) of +2. Examples include iron(II) oxide (FeO), a pigment (coloring chemical); iron (II) chloride (FeCl2), used in medicine as \"tincture of iron\"; and an important dyeing chemical called iron (II) sulfate (FeSO4).\nIn iron (III) compounds, iron's valency is +3. Examples include iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3), used as the magnetic material in things like cassette tapes and computer hard drives and also as a paint pigment; and iron (III) chloride (FeCl3), used to manufacture many industrial chemicals.\nSometimes iron (II) and iron (III) are present in the same compound. A paint pigment called Prussian blue is actually a complex compound of iron (II), iron (III), and cyanide with the chemical formula Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3.\nPhoto: Iron in action: Chances are you're using magnetic iron (III) oxide right this minute in your computer's hard drive.\nWhere does iron come from?\nPhoto: Iron is essential for a healthy diet. That's why it's packed into many breakfast cereals. A 100g portion of these cornflakes provides 14.0mg of iron—enough to meet a typical person's needs for one day. This amount of iron is called your recommended daily average or RDA. Here's a great little experiment from Scientific American to extract the iron from your cornflakes .\nIron is the second most common metal in Earth's crust, after aluminum , but because it reacts so readily with oxygen it's never mined in its pure form (though meteorites are occasionally discovered that contain samples of pure iron). Like aluminum, most iron \"locked\" inside Earth exists in the form of oxides (compounds of iron and oxygen). Iron oxides exist in seven main ores (raw, rocky minerals mined from Earth):\nHematite (the most plentiful)\nSiderite\nTaconite (a combination of hematite and magnetite).\nDifferent ores contain different amounts of iron. Hematite and magnetite have about 70 percent iron, limonite has about 60 percent, pyrite and siderite have 50 percent, while taconite has only 30 percent. Using a combination of both deep mining (under the ground) and opencast mining (on the surface), the world produces approximately 1000 million tons of iron ore each year, with China responsible for just over half of it.\nWhich countries produce the world's iron? Chart shows estimated figures for pig iron for 2015. In the United States, four companies currently produce pig iron in 11 different locations. Source: US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016.\nTypes of iron\nPure iron is too soft and reactive to be of much real use, so most of the \"iron\" we tend to use for everyday purposes is actually in the form of iron alloys : iron mixed with other elements (especially carbon) to make stronger, more resilient forms of the metal including steel. Broadly speaking, steel is an alloy of iron that contains up to about 2 percent carbon, while other forms of iron contain about 2–4 percent carbon. In fact, there are thousands of different kinds of iron and steel, all containing slightly different amounts of other alloying elements.\nPig iron\nBasic raw iron is called pig iron because it's produced in the form of chunky molded blocks known as pigs. Pig iron is made by heating an iron ore (rich in iron oxide) in a blast furnace: an enormous industrial fireplace, shaped like a cylinder, into which huge drafts of hot air are introduced in regular \"blasts\". Blast furnaces are often spectacularly huge: some are 30–60m (100–200ft) high, hold dozens of trucks worth of raw materials, and often operate continuously for years at a time without being switched off or cooled down. Inside the furnace, the iron ore reacts chemically with coke (a carbon-rich form of coal) and limestone. The coke \"steals\" the oxygen from the iron oxide (in a chemical process called reduction), leaving behind a relatively pure liquid iron, while the limestone helps to remove the other parts of the rocky ore (including clay, sand, and small stones), which form a waste slurry known as slag. The iron made in a blast furnace is an alloy containing about 90–95 percent iron, 3–4 percent carbon, and traces of other elements such as silicon, manganese, and phosphorus, depending on the ore used. Pig iron is much harder than 100 percent pure iron, but still too weak for most everyday purposes.\nCast iron\nCast iron is simply liquid iron that has been cast: poured into a mold and allowed to cool and harden to form a finished structural shape, such as a pipe, a gear , or a big girder for an iron bridge . Pig iron is actually a very basic form of cast iron, but it's molded only very crudely because it's typically melted down to make steel. The high carbon content of cast iron (the same as pig iron—roughly 3–4 percent) makes it extremely hard and brittle: large crystals of carbon embedded in cast iron stop the crystals of iron from moving about. Cast iron has two big drawbacks: first, because it's hard and brittle, it's virtually impossible to shape, even when heated; second, it rusts relatively easily. It's worth noting that there are actually several different types of cast iron, including white and gray cast irons (named for the coloring of the finished product caused by the way the carbon inside it behaves).\nPhoto: One of the world's most famous iron buildings, the Capitol in Washington, DC has a dome made of 8,909,200 pounds of cast iron! Photo by courtesy of The Architect of the Capitol .\nWrought iron\nCast iron assumes its finished shape the moment the liquid iron alloy cools down in the mold. Wrought iron is a very different material made by mixing liquid iron with some slag. The result is an iron alloy with a much lower carbon content. Wrought iron is softer than cast iron and much less tough, so you can heat it up to shape it relatively easily, and it's also much less prone to rusting. However, relatively little wrought iron is now produced commercially, since most of the objects originally produced from it are now made from steel, which is both cheaper and generally of more consistent quality. Wrought iron is what people used to use before they really mastered making steel in large quantities in the mid-19th century.\nTypes of steel\nStrictly speaking, steel is just another type of iron alloy, but it has a much lower carbon content than cast and wrought iron and other metals are often added to give it extra properties. Steel is such an amazingly useful material that we tend to talk about it as though it were a metal in its own right—a kind of sleeker, more modern \"son of iron\" that's taken over the family firm! It's important to remember two things, however. First, steel is still essentially (and overwhelmingly) made from iron. Second, there are literally thousands of different types of steel, many of them precisely designed by materials scientists to perform a particular job under very exacting conditions. When we talk about \"steel\", we usually mean \"steels\"; broadly speaking, steels fall into four groups: carbon steels, alloy steels, tool steels, and stainless steels. These names can be confusing, because all alloy steels contain carbon (as do all other steels), all carbon steels are also alloys, and both tool steels and stainless steels are alloys too.\nCarbon steels\nThe vast majority of steel produced each day (around 80–90 percent) is what we call carbon steel, though it contains only a tiny amount of carbon—sometimes much less than 1 percent. In other words, carbon steel is just basic, ordinary steel. Steels with about 1–2 percent carbon are called (not surprisingly) high-carbon steels and, like cast-iron, they tend to be hard and brittle; steels with less than 1 percent carbon are known as low-carbon steels and like wrought iron, are softer and easier to shape. A huge range of different everyday items are made carbon steels, from car bodies and warship hulls to steel cans and engine parts.\nAlloy steels\nAs well as iron and carbon, alloy steels contain one or more other elements, such as chromium , copper , manganese, nickel , silicon, or vanadium. In alloy steels, it's these extra elements that make the difference and provide some important additional feature or improved property compared to ordinary carbon steels. Alloy steels are generally stronger, harder, tougher, and more durable than carbon steels.\nTool steels\nTool steels are especially hard alloy steels used to make tools, dies, and machine parts. They're made from iron and carbon with added elements such as nickel, molybdenum, or tungsten to give extra hardness and resistance to wear. Tool steels are also toughened up by a process called tempering, in which steel is first heated to a high temperature, then cooled very quickly, then heated again to a lower temperature.\nStainless steels\nThe steel you probably see most often is stainless steel—used in household cutlery, scissors, and medical instruments. Stainless steels contain a high proportion of chromium and nickel , are very resistant to corrosion and other chemical reactions, and are easy to clean, polish, and sterilize.\nMaking steel\nThere are three main stages involved in making a steel product. First, you make the steel from iron. Second, you treat the steel to improve its properties (perhaps by tempering it or plating it with another metal). Finally, you roll or otherwise shape the steel into the finished product.\nMaking steel from iron\nMost steel is made from pig iron (remember: that's an iron alloy containing up to 4 percent carbon) by one of several different processes designed to remove some of the carbon and (optionally) substitute one or more other elements. The three main steelmaking processes are:\nBasic oxygen process (BOP): The steel is made in a giant egg-shaped container, open at the top, called a basic oxygen furnace, which is similar to an ordinary blast furnace, only it can rotate to one side to pour off the finished metal. The air draft used in a blast furnace is replaced with an injection of pure oxygen through a pipe called a lance. The basic idea is based on the Bessemer process developed by Sir Henry Bessemer in the 1850s.\nOpen-hearth process (also called the regenerative open hearth): A bit like a giant fireplace in which pig iron, scrap steel, and iron ore are burned with limestone until they fuse together. More pig iron is added, the unwanted carbon combines with oxygen, the impurities are removed as slag and the iron turns to molten steel. Skilled workers sample the steel and continue the process until the iron has exactly the right carbon content to make a particular type of steel.\nElectric-furnace process: You don't cook your dinner with an open fire, so why make steel in such a primitive way? That's the thinking behind the electric furnace, which uses electric arcs (effectively giant sparks) to melt pig iron or scrap steel. Since they're much more controllable, electric furnaces are generally used to make higher-specification alloy, carbon, and tool steels.\nPhoto: Making steel for weaponry with the three-ton electric arc furnace at Rock Island Arsenal. Photo by Tony Lopez courtesy of Defense Imagery.\nWhich countries produce the world's raw steel? Approximately 1.65 billion metric tons of steel are made worldwide each year. This chart shows estimated worldwide raw steel production figures for 2015. In the United States, there were 110 \"minimill\" steel plants in operation at the start of 2016 (down from 113 a year earlier) making a total of about 110 million tons of steel (slightly down from 114 million tons in 2015). Indiana (27 percent), Ohio (13 percent), Michigan (6 percent), and Pennsylvania (5 percent) together produce about half of all US steel. Source: US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016.\nMaking steel products\nLiquid steel made by one of these processes is cast into huge bars called ingots, each of which weighs anything from a couple of tons (in typical steel plants) to hundreds of tons (in really big plants making giant steel objects). The ingots are rolled and pressed to make three types of basic steel \"building blocks\" known as blooms (giant bars with square ends), slabs (blooms with rectangular ends), and billets (longer than blooms but with smaller square ends).\nThese blocks are then shaped and worked to make all kinds of final steel products. The basic shaping process usually involves hot rolling (for example, reheating blooms and then rolling them over and over again to make them thinner). Girders are made by rolling steel then forcing it through dies or milling machines to make such things as beams for buildings and railroad tracks. Rollers that are very close together can be used to squeeze steel into extremely thin sheets. Pipes are made by wrapping sheets round into circles then forcing the two edges together so they fuse under pressure where they join.\nShaped steel can be further treated in all kinds of ways. For example, \"tins\" for food containers (which are mostly steel) are made by electroplating steel sheets with molten tin using the process of electrolysis (the reverse of the electro-chemical process that happens in batteries ). Steel that needs to be especially resistant to weathering can be galvanized (dipped into a hot bath of molten zinc so it acquires an overall protective coating).\nWhy is one type of iron and steel harder or softer than another?\nIn all this discussion of iron and steel, you'll have noticed that different types behave almost like completely different materials under different conditions. What makes one form of iron or steel different from another? Why are some very hard and brittle while others are relatively soft and malleable (easy to work)? Peer at the internal structure of iron or steel under an electron microscope and you'll see that the answer largely boils down to how much carbon the iron contains and how it's distributed. Iron and steel consist of grains made of different kinds of iron and carbon, some of which are hard, while others are soft. When the harder kinds predominate, you get a hard and brittle material; when there are more softer kinds in between, the material can bend and flex so you can work and shape it more easily.\n?\nThe compounds inside iron and steel include some or all of the following:\nFerrite: Relatively pure iron with tiny amounts of carbon that is soft and easy to shape. Gives iron its magnetic property.\nCementite (iron carbide): Iron with much more carbon (and sometimes other elements) that is very hard and brittle. Essentially behaves like a ceramic material.\nGraphite: Pure carbon crystals, which make iron alloys hard and brittle.\nPearlite: A mixture made of alternate layers of ferrite and cementite that looks like mother of pearl under a microscope (hence the name \"pearlite\").\nAustenite: An alloy of iron and carbon present in steel heated to high temperatures.\nMartensite: Similar to ferrite but much harder.\nDifferent types of iron and steel contain different amounts of these ingredients arranged in varying crystalline structures. Making iron alloys or steel by one method or another will change the relative amounts of the ingredients, altering its properties. Treating steel in different ways after it's made changes its physical properties by altering its internal crystalline structure. For example, heat-treating steel changes austenite inside it into martensite, making its internal structure very much harder. Hammering and rolling steel breaks up crystals of graphite and other impurities lurking inside it, closes up any gaps that could lead to weaknesses, and generally produces a more regular crystalline structure.\nWhat is steel used for?\nSteel is one of the most versatile materials, used in everything from jet engines to surgical instruments and from table knives to machine tools. Major consumers of steel include the automobile and shipbuilding industries, the construction industry, producers of food cans, and manufacturers of electrical appliances.\nPhoto: The inner steel skeleton of a building under construction. Many buildings are \"quietly\" supported by a secret inner structure like this that becomes invisible once they're complete.\nA brief history of iron and steel\n4000 BCE: Iron is first used for ornaments and decoration, probably in the Middle East.\n2500 BCE: Iron is used on a large scale for the first time by the Hittites, in a region now occupied by Turkey and Syria.\n1200 BCE: Wrought iron (similar to steel) is developed.\n1000 BCE: Iron Age begins: iron is widely used for making tools and weapons in many parts of the world.\n200 BCE: Cast-iron objects are produced in China.\n300BCE–400CE: First steel furnaces used in Africa, India, and China.\n500–1000 CE: Blacksmiths make many important iron goods including weapons, plows, and horseshoes.\n700: An efficient iron-making furnace called the Catalan forge is developed in Spain.\n1200–1500: Blast furnaces powered by waterwheels become popular.\n1709: Abraham Darby first uses coke (a type of coal) to make pig iron in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire in England's Midlands. His grandson, Abraham Darby III, uses cast iron to make a famous iron bridge at a place now called \"Ironbridge,\" widely considered the heart of the English Industrial Revolution.\n1856: Henry Bessemer announces his invention of the Bessemer converter, a basic oxygen furnace that can convert iron to steel in very large, commercial quantities.\n1861: The brothers William and Frederick Siemens develop the open-hearth furnace\n1879: William Siemens invents the electric furnace.\n1954: Modern basic oxygen process is invented.\nMetals\nOn other websites\nUSGS Minerals Information: Iron and steel : Current statistics and other information about US and worldwide iron and steel production.\nAmerican Iron and Steel Institute : Leading US trade organization. Website contains some simple background information about how we use steel today.\nAssociation for Iron & Steel Technology : Quite detailed background, though some sections of the site are for members only.\nBooks\nGeneral books for older readers\nDreams of Iron and Steel by Deborah Cadbury. HarperCollins, 2004. Surveys seven \"wonders of the modern world\" made possible by iron and steel technology, including the Panama Canal, the London sewers, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Hoover Dam.\nStuff Matters by Mark Miodownik. Penguin, 2014. A friendly introduction to essential everyday materials. Steel is covering in Chapter 1, \"Indomitable.\"","Beer Stein Article – “Metal Arts Glossary”\n... white metallic element used chiefly in alloys such as Britannia Metal. ... Britannia Metal — A silver-white alloy composed largely of tin ... mainly found on ...\nBeer Stein Article � �Metal Arts Glossary�\nMetal Arts Glossary*\nCompiled by Stephen L. Smith\nAcanthus � An herbaceous plant whose stylized leaves have been a common ornamental motif in eastern European decorative arts.\nAjoure � Areas of silver in which the background or designs have been entirely cut out of the metal, creating openwork decoration. Also called �pierced� work.\nAlloy � A substance composed of two or more metals intimately united, usually intermixed when molten.\nAlpacca � German silver or nickel silver, synonymous trade names; an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc.\nAnnealing � Reheating silver to keep it malleable while it is being worked.\nAntimony � A natural metal; a brittle, lustrous, white metallic element used chiefly in alloys such as Britannia Metal.\nApocryphal � Classical term for a fake piece.\nArmorial(s) � Coat(s) of Arms engraved on the vessel. The direction of the line or pattern of the engraving indicates the color in the original Arms.\nAssayer � The person who determines and verifies the amount of gold or silver in an alloyed vessel. All Russian drinking vessels normally have an assay mark stamped on them in addition to other required marks.\nAssay Mark � The mark stamped into the vessel indicating the assay test was performed and approved.\nBaluster � A shape (e.g., of old measures) in which the curved outline broadens above the foot and narrows towards the neck.\nBase Metal � An alloy or metal of comparatively low value to which a coating or plating is normally applied.\nBiedermeier � A style fashionable c. 1820-1850 in Austria and Germany.\nBismuth � A brittle natural metal used in alloys to strengthen a softer metal.\nBleeding � The technical term applied to pieces of silver-plate where the copper base is exposed, especially Old Sheffield, Plate.\nBodenrosette (Pewter) � A quality mark usually found on the base of a holloware vessel in Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, Eastern France and Germany.\nBrass � An alloy of copper and zinc.\nBright-cut Engraving � A form of engraving popular towards the end of the 18th century, which burnishes one side of the cut while picking out the silver with a beveled edge on the other side.\nBritannia Metal � A silver-white alloy composed largely of tin hardened with copper and antimony. Closely akin to pewter, but differing in the higher proportion of tin. The addition of antimony and the omission of lead results in a more silvery appearance than pewter. It often also contains a small quantity of zinc and bismuth. A common proportion is 140 parts of tin, three of copper and ten of antimony. Popular as a base for silver-plating.\nBritannia Standard � Silver of this standard is 95.8 percent pure, with 4.2 percent alloy. The Britannia standard replaced the sterling standard in England in 1697 and remained in mandatory use there until 1720.\nBronze � An alloy consisting chiefly of copper and tin.\nBurin � A pointed steel cutting tool used in engraving or in cutting stone.\nButler�s Finish � Satin finish produced by a revolving wheel of wire which makes many tiny scratches, giving the article a dull appearance.\nBurnishing � Essentially a polishing process in which the rounded edges and point of a metal blade set in a wooden handle are used to compact and smooth the surface of a formed silver object, or to brighten the dull surface of cast silver.\nCaryatid � Female figure used as a support, as in architecture, or in a handle.\nCasting � A method of shaping an object by melting the metal and pouring it into a specially prepared mold. On cooling, the metal retains the shape of the mold.\nCast Chasing � An ancient method of producing small parts, such as feet, handles or finials. An exact model of the required part is made in a soft material, from which an impression is taken in two halves, forming a mold when clamped together, into which molten silver can be poured.\nChasing � The decoration of silver by the use of punches, removing no silver in the process.\nChinoiserie � Decoration in the Chinese style, popular throughout Europe, particularly France: (1) Embossing with Chinese figures in the Dutch style; (2) Linear decoration in flat chasing, exclusive to England, c. 1680-1690 (referred to as Chinoiserie throughout, all else being �in the Chinese style�); (3) Repousse Rococo decoration using Chinese motifs, mainly found on objects concerned with tea, c. 1750.\nCloissone � Enameling by melting the frit into areas defined by wire soldered to the surface being decorated.\nCoin � By 1830, COIN, PURE COIN, DOLLAR, STANDARD, PREMIUM or the letters C or D were used to indicate 900/1000 parts of silver. (Some lesser amounts such as .800 were also considered coin).\nCopper � One of the true metals, mostly used in an alloy for vessels, but sometimes found lined with tin.\nC-scroll � Usually applied to the shape of a handle in the form of the letter C; also called �single scroll�.\nCut Card Work � Flat sections of very thin silver, cut out to a simple pattern such as foliage, and soldered on to the surface of the object to be decorated. Brass cut card work is sometimes found on pewter steins.\nDate � The date included in the maker�s mark in many countries either indicates the date of the legislation under which the piece was marked, or it records the date of the master�s entry into a guild. Sometimes, however, succeeding generations of a family continued to use the earlier dates of their ancestor�s admission, as if to say �Established since...�. The date does not show the year in which the piece was made. Pewter was generally not marked with date letters in the same way as silver pieces were marked (Scandinavia is an exception).\nDolphin � The sea dolphin used as a sculptured or carved motif. Very popular in Flanders (Belgium) and Denmark.\nDouble-scroll � A sinuous line of S-shape, or composed of reverse curves, used frequently in the design of handles.\nDrum � The section of the vessel between the lid and the base; the main body of a vessel.\nEdelzinn � Display pewter cast in relief; used since the 19th century to describe German and French relief pewter of the 16th and 17th centuries.\nElectroplating � The application of a pure silver coating to otherwise finished articles, by the process of electrolysis. Perfected by Elkington Co., c. 1840.\nElectrotype � A copy of an art object produced by electroplating a wax impression. Used in the nineteenth century to reproduce antique objects.\nEmbossing � Similar to repousse in appearance, but used mainly to create relief designs achieved in one action, such as those impressed by a shaped metal die.\nEnglisch Zinn (Pewter) � Metal purified to English standards, or using English tin. See also �Feinzinn�.\nEngraving � Line decoration cut by hand into the surface from the front. Used since primitive times, skill and delicacy of touch are of extreme importance. Now often mistakenly called �etching�.\nEPC � Electroplate on copper.\nEPBM � Electroplate on Britannia metal.\nEPNS � Electroplate on nickel silver.\nEPWM � Electroplate on white metal.\nEtching � Surface decoration bitten-in with acid, producing a different type bite than engraving.\nCopper stein, 1700s; pewter stein, early 1700s; silver plated pass cup with bone handles, late 1800s.\nFaux � Literally false, or fake as in �faux-cut card work around the base.� See also �Apocryphal�.\nFeinzinn � High quality pewter.\nFiligree � Fine silver, gold or silver-gilt wires twisted and built up in curvilinear designs kept in place with solder applied at points of contact.\nFinial � Topmost feature of a piece, or centering the lid of a measure or flagon. Usually cast and often figural.\nFlat Chasing � Chasing in very low relief worked from the front, pushing the metal aside in line drawing, giving a less sharply defined, but much more positive, outline than engraving. Always visible from the back.\nFluting � A surface decoration composed of a series of parallel, usually vertical, concave channels. Derived from classical architecture, fluting was used to ornament the shafts of columns and pilasters.\nFrit � A mixture of previously made glass ground into a powder and mixed with oxides and oil to give enamel its glass base. Used in a paste form in Cloissone.\nFusion � An act or operation of melting, as in the fusion of metals. Usually accomplished by the application of intense heat.\nGadrooning � A surface decoration composed of a series of parallel, smooth, rounded ridges juxtaposed vertically, or sometimes set diagonally or in a swirling pattern. In appearance, gadrooning is the opposite of fluting.\nGerman Silver � A silver-white alloy consisting principally of copper, zinc and nickel. During World War I, this name was dropped by many in favor of the term nickel silver.\nGilding � The application of a gold color to silver either: (1) by melting gold with mercury and painting it onto the surface with a brush, before removing the mercury by evaporation under heat, causing the two metals to fuse; (2) by soaking a linen rag in a solution of chloride of gold, burning it and rubbing the ashes onto the silver, which adhere; or (3) by modem electrolysis.\nGold Plating � The covering of an article with gold by electrolysis.\nGrotesques � Fanciful and intricate designs loosely incorporating human figures, sphinxes, animals, foliage, etc., derived in the 16th century from Roman originals.\nHallmark � Used for both silver and pewter vessels. See �Maker�s Mark�.\nHolloware � A general term for articles in the form of hollow vessels, such as mugs, steins, flagons, ewers, teapots, coffeepots, bowls and pitchers.\nHousemark � On pewter, a non-heraldic device stamped or engraved to signify ownership.\nKnop � An abrupt widening in the middle of the stem of a chalice or cup, usually global or egg-shaped.\nLimoges � Enamel painted on metal, covering the surface.\nMartele � The French term for �hammered�, used to describe the decorative effect of the honeycomb-patterned facets left on an object by the planishing hammer. This surface was favored in the second half of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries by silversmiths who wanted to emphasize the impression of handwork.\nMaker�s Mark � The maker�s touchmark that acknowledges responsibility for his work. Usually in the form of a cartouche bearing initials or name. In English-speaking countries, it is called a Hallmark. See also �Date�.\nMatting � A decorative effect created by impressing the surface of the silver article with the point of a tool cut with one of a variety of hatched designs or a series of fine dots. The technique is used to break up the shiny surface of an object by providing contrasting matted areas.\nNickel Silver � An alloy of nickel, copper and zinc.\nNiello � A black alloy of silver, copper, lead and sulphur used to fill in engraving, giving an inlaid effect after being fired and polished. Used from early times, especially with Russian vessels.\nN.S. � Nickel silver.\nO.E.W.S. � Old English Wine Standard; pre-Imperial capacity, pre-1826.\nOrmolu � Literally, �ground gold�. Ground gold leaf used as a gilt pigment. Also, brass made to look like gold.\nParcel Gilt � An object that has been partially gilded.\nPatina � Soft luster caused by tiny scratches and oxidation that come with daily use and age.\nPewter � An alloy of tin and copper or any alloy of the low-melting-point metals, including tin, lead, bismuth and antimony. The higher the tin content and the lower the lead content, the better the pewter.\nPierced Work � see �Ajoure�.\nPit Marks � Minute holes usually found on pewter, lead or other soft metal borders (edges).\nPlanishing � The use of a hammer with a smooth, slightly convex head to remove the marks left on an object by the raising process. This is a finishing, not a shaping, technique.\nPlate � Used in England and on the Continent when referring to articles made of precious metals. Used in the United States to mean electro-silverplate.\nPique-a-jour � Translucent enamel without a metal backing, enclosed within metal frames, giving a stained glass or jewel-like effect.\nPricking � Tiny dots struck in the surface of a vessel to give detail to an engraved pattern or to render dates, initials and occasionally coats of arms and longer inscriptions.\nPseudo Hallmarks � Devices used to suggest English hallmarks, but never registered.\nQuality Marks (Pewter) � Several of the marks which indicated the quality of the pewter in the vessel. These included the Rose and Crown, the Angel Mark, an X sometimes crowned, and others, depending on the country (see �Bodenrosette�) and the decade. All quite confusing but an interesting field of study.\nRepousse � A method of making patterns or pictures in relief by pushing out the surface of the metal from behind.\nRolled Plate (R.P.) � See �Sheffield Plate�.\nSheffield Plate � True Sheffield Plate was produced by fusing, with intense heat, a thin sheet of silver to one or both sides of a thick sheet of copper. The composite metal was then rolled down to the proper thickness for fabrication. Invented by Thomas Boulsover about 1743, it was rampant by the 1760s throughout England and Europe. Most frequently called Old �Sheffield Plate� to distinguish it from electroplate.\nSilverplate � A base metal, usually either Britannia, nickel silver or copper, coated with a layer of pure silver by electroplating.\nSkirt Base � Chiefly on flagons and tankards, flaring outward to raise the body from table level.\nSoldering � The method by which separately-made silver parts are joined together, using an alloy that will melt at a lower temperature than silver, thereby melting when applied to hot silver during soldering. A hard alloy of silver and zinc is now generally used.\nSpinning � The production of hollow wares on a spinning lathe by means of forcing a disc of rotating silver, Britannia or other metal up around a previously hand-turned hardwood head, with a long-handled steel-headed tool, until it has taken its likeness. Known since ancient times, but popular since the early 19th century. Used in later Old Sheffield Plate vessels which are seamless.\nStamping � The mechanical production (since c. 1820) of ready-made parts in quantity, complete with their decoration, by the use of hard steel dies cut in reverse to the required pattern. Stamped borders, strapwork, etc., used from the 16th century, were hand-hammered from the back, also using hand-cut dies.\nSterling Silver � 925/1000 fine, with 75/1000 of added metal, usually copper, to give it strength and stiffness. This is the standard set by the United States Government in the Stamping Act of 1906, and any article stamped �sterling� is supposed to be of assured quality.\nTouchmark � an impressed mark; see �Maker�s Mark�.\nTown Mark � The mark assigned to a city and applied as a quasi-hallmark to denote the location of manufacture, usually a coat of arms, devise or seal of the city.\nTulip-shape � Baluster-shaped; usually applied to the shape of English mugs and tankards of the 1700s and 1800s.\nVerification Marks (Pewter) � Found on both British and French vessels. The stamped marks indicate the vessel(s) so stamped hold(s) the amount of liquid marked on the vessel; e.g., �pint�.\nVermeil � Gold-plating process developed in France in the mid-1700s. France banned production of vermeil early in the 19th century because the process involved the use of mercury. Present-day vermeil is produced by a safe electrolytic process.\nWhite Metal � An alloy usually containing two or more of the following elements: tin, copper, lead, antimony and bismuth. The color depends on whether lead or tin predominates. The more tin the whiter the color.\nWrigglework � Zigzag engraving, achieved by moving the burin in a rocking movement; or a roulette, or wheel, with a finely-crimped edge. Popular in the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, especially on pewter.\n__________","Tire.txt\nTire\nA tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped vehicle component that covers the wheel's rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, provide traction between the vehicle and the road while providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock.\n\nThe materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, the first versions of tires were simply bands of metal fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Early rubber tires were solid (not pneumatic). Today, the majority of tires are pneumatic inflatable structures, comprising a doughnut-shaped body of cords and wires encased in rubber and generally filled with compressed air to form an inflatable cushion. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are still used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber (or other polymer) tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers, and wheelbarrows.\n\nEtymology and spelling\n\nHistorically, the spelling was \"tire\" and is of French origin, which comes from the word tirer, to pull. The reason for this naming is that originally \"tire\" referred to iron hoops or thick wires bound to carriage wheels. In French blacksmithing the word for a drawn iron rod is a tirer, or pull. The same word was often used for any metal drawing or rolling process. In an article in the London Magazine/Intelligencer of 1853 \"The Utility of Broad Wheels,\" the author explains that the common practice was to bend two rods, called \"tires\", into hoops and bind them to the wheel, but it is preferable to use an iron band, called a \"broad wheel\" rather than the rods, because as the rods wear they bite into the wheel. Another early mention of a tire in English is in The Scots Magazine, Volume 15 By James Boswell (1753).\n\nAnother etymology of \"tire\" is provided by Online Etymology Dictionary, essentially that the word is a short form of \"attire,\" and that a wheel with a tire is a dressed wheel. Some other etymologists may share this view.\n\nThe spelling tyre does not appear until the 1840s when the English began shrink fitting railway car wheels with malleable iron. Nevertheless, traditional publishers continued using tire. The Times newspaper in Britain was still using tire as late as 1905. The spelling tyre, however, began to be commonly used in the 19th century for pneumatic tires in the UK. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica states that \"[t]he spelling 'tyre' is not now accepted by the best English authorities, and is unrecognized in the US\", while Fowler's Modern English Usage of 1926 says that \"there is nothing to be said for 'tyre', which is etymologically wrong, as well as needlessly divergent from our own [sc. British] older & the present American usage\". However, over the course of the 20th century tyre became established as the standard British spelling.\n\nHistory\n\nThe earliest tires were bands of leather, then iron, (later steel), placed on wooden wheels, used on carts and wagons. The tire would be heated in a forge fire, placed over the wheel and quenched, causing the metal to contract and fit tightly on the wheel. A skilled worker, known as a wheelwright, carried out this work. The outer ring served to \"tie\" the wheel segments together for use, providing also a wear-resistant surface to the perimeter of the wheel. The word \"tire\" thus emerged as a variant spelling to refer to the metal bands used to tie wheels.\n\nThe first patent for what appears to be a standard pneumatic tire appeared in 1847 lodged by the Scots inventor Robert William Thomson. However, this never went into production. The first practical pneumatic tire was made in 1888Dunlop believed he first thought of the pneumatic tire about October 1887 for his son Johnnie's tricycle, in May Street, Belfast by Scots-born John Boyd Dunlop, proprietor of one of Ireland's most prosperous veterinary practices. It was an effort to prevent the headaches his 10-year-old son was given by jarring while riding on rough pavements. His doctor, John, later Sir John Fagan, had prescribed cycling as an exercise for the boy and, a regular visitor, Fagan participated in the development of the first pneumatic schemes. In Dunlop's tire patent specification dated 31 October 1888 his interest is only in its use in cycles and light vehicles. In September 1890 he was made aware of an earlier development but the company kept the information to itself.Sir Arthur Du Cros, Bt, Wheels of Fortune, a salute to pioneers, Chapman & Hall, London 1938\n\nIn 1892 Dunlop's patent was declared invalid because of prior art by forgotten fellow Scot Robert William Thomson of London (patents London 1845, France 1846, USA 1847), although Dunlop is credited with \"realizing rubber could withstand the wear and tear of being a tire while retaining its resilience\". John Boyd Dunlop and Harvey du Cros together worked through the ensuing considerable difficulties. They employed inventor Charles Kingston Welch and also acquired other rights and patents which allowed them some limited protection of their Pneumatic Tyre business's position. Pneumatic Tyre would become Dunlop Rubber and Dunlop Tyres. The development of this technology hinged on myriad engineering advances.\n\nThe vulcanization of natural rubber which he patented in 1844 is credited to Charles Goodyear and Robert William Thomson.\n\nSynthetic rubbers were invented in the laboratories of Bayer in the 1920s.\n\nIn 1946, Michelin developed the radial tire method of construction. Michelin had bought the bankrupt Citroën automobile company in 1934, so it was able to fit this new technology immediately. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this technology quickly spread throughout Europe and Asia. In the U.S., the outdated bias-ply tire construction persisted, with market share of 87% as late as 1967. Delay was caused by tire and automobile manufacturers in America \"concerned about transition costs.\" In 1968, Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine, acknowledged the superiority of radial construction, setting off a rapid decline in Michelin's competitor technology. Even in the U.S., the radial tire now has a market share of 100%.\n\nToday, over 1 billion tires are produced annually in over 400 tire factories, see List of tire companies.\n\nWheel support\n\nThere are two aspects to how pneumatic tires support the rim of the wheel on which they are mounted. First, tension in the cords pull on the bead uniformly around the wheel, except where it is reduced above the contact patch. Second, the bead transfers that net force to the rim.\n\nAir pressure, via the ply cords, exerts tensile force on the entire bead surrounding the wheel rim on which the tire is mounted, pulling outward in a 360 degree pattern. Thus the bead must have high tensile strength. With no force applied to the outer tread, the bead is pulled equally in all directions, thus no additional net force is applied to the tire bead and wheel rim. However, when the tread is pushed inward on one side, this releases some pressure on the corresponding sidewall ply pulling on the bead. Yet the sidewall ply on the other side continues to pull the bead in the opposite direction. Thus the still fully tensioned sidewall ply pulls the tire bead and wheel rim in the direction opposite to the tread displacement and matching the total force applied to push the tread inward.\n\nThis sidewall ply to bead tension support was a big reason for older cross-ply cord tire construction using the materials available in the early 19th century. The cross-ply cord arrangement orients the cords to more directly support the bead & wheel rim (like a sling: bead to cord and around below the tread back to the opposite bead, both ways, thus crossing plies of cords). \nHowever, with improved combinations of cord, bead, rim materials and manufacturing techniques, combined with ongoing focus and research on tire efficiency and durability, it became both feasible and desirable to manufacture radial-ply cord tires, which, for many applications (despite higher costs), outperform and more than outlast (reliable-usual-service-life/cost ratio) similar cross-ply cord tire designs by (a) facilitating a flatter contact pattern with more evenly distributed pressure on the momentarily stationary area of contact between tread & ground and (b) lower operating costs over time: due to reduced tire temperature, decreased rolling resistance, lower puncture rates, greater longevity, etc. \n\nManufacturing\n\nPneumatic tires are manufactured in about 450 tire factories around the world. Over one billion tires are manufactured annually, making the tire industry a major consumer of natural rubber. It is estimated that by 2015, 1.72 billion tires are expected to be sold globally.[http://www.prweb.com/releases/tires_OEM/replacement_tire/prweb4545704.htm Global Tire Shipments to Reach 1.7 Billion Units by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc] Tire production starts with bulk raw materials such as rubber, carbon black, and chemicals and produces numerous specialized components that are assembled and cured. Many kinds of rubber are used, the most common being styrene-butadiene copolymer. The article Tire manufacturing describes the components assembled to make a tire, the various materials used, the manufacturing processes and machinery, and the overall business model.\n\nIn 2004, $80 billion of tires were sold worldwide,[http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-295707/Global-tire-industry-hits-80.html Global tire industry hits $80 billion. | Goliath Business News] in 2010 it was $140 billion (approximately 34% growth adjusting for inflation).\n\nThe top five tire manufacturing companies by revenue are Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, and Pirelli.[http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Market-Report/research-report-on-worlds-top-50-tire-enterprises,-2010-2011-454329.asp Research Report on World's Top 50 Tire Enterprises, 2010-2011 Market Research Report - 02 December 2010]\n\nMaterials\n\nThe materials of modern pneumatic tires can be divided into two groups, the cords that make up the ply and the elastomer which encases them.\n\nCords\n\nThe cords, which form the ply and bead and provide the tensile strength necessary to contain the inflation pressure, can be composed of steel, natural fibers such as cotton or silk, or synthetic fibers such as nylon or kevlar.\n\nElastomer\n\nThe elastomer, which forms the tread and encases the cords to protect them from abrasion and hold them in place, is\na key component of pneumatic tire design. It can be composed of various\ncomposites of rubber material – the most common being styrene-butadiene\ncopolymer - with other chemical compound such as silica and carbon black.\n\nRolling Resistance \n\nOptimizing rolling resistance in the elastomer material is a key challenge for reducing fuel consumption in the transportation sector. It is estimated that passenger vehicles consume approximately 5~15% of its fuel to overcome rolling resistance, while the estimate is understood to be higher for heavy trucks. However, there is a trade-off between rolling resistance and wet traction and grip: while low rolling resistance can be achieved by reducing the viscoelastic properties of the rubber compound (low tangent (δ)), it comes at the cost of wet traction and grip, which requires hysteresis and energy dissipation (high tangent (δ)). A low tangent (δ) value at 60 °C is used as an indicator of low rolling resistance, while a high tangent (δ) value at 0 °C is used as an indicator of high wet traction. Designing an elastomer material that can achieve both high wet traction and low rolling resistance is key in achieving safety and fuel efficiency in the transportation sector.\n\nThe most common elastomer material used today is a styrene-butadiene copolymer. It combines butadiene, which is a highly rubbery polymer (Tg -100 °C) that has low hysteresis and thus offers good rolling resistance, with styrene, which is a highly glass polymer (Tg \n 100 °C) that has high hysteresis and thus offers good wet grip properties in addition to wear resistance. Therefore, the ratio the two polymers in the styrene-butadiene\ncopolymer is considered key in determining the glass transition temperature of the material, which is correlated to its grip and resistance properties. \n\nMaterials science research efforts are underway to improve such properties of elastomers. For instance, this involves modifying the microstructure of the copolymer (for instance, using solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) to control the addition of vinyl butadiene units) as well as the macrostructure of the polymer (such as the width of molecular weight distribution (MWD)). Current investigation also involves looking at the functionalization of the elastomer through the addition of filler materials such as silica and carbon black, as well as testing other nano-fillers such as nanocellulose crystals, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. \n\nTrialkoxymercaptoalkyl-silanes are a particularly interesting class of silane bonding agents because of the advantages they afford in reducing both rolling resistance and the emission of volatile substances. \n\nComponents\n\nA tire carcass is composed of several parts: the tread, bead, sidewall, shoulder, and ply.\n\nTread\n\nThe tread is the part of the tire that comes in contact with the road surface. The portion that is in contact with the road at a given instant in time is the contact patch. The tread is a thick rubber, or rubber/composite compound formulated to provide an appropriate level of traction that does not wear away too quickly. The tread pattern is characterized by the geometrical shape of the grooves, lugs, voids and sipes. Grooves run circumferentially around the tire, and are needed to channel away water. Lugs are that portion of the tread design that contacts the road surface. Voids are spaces between lugs that allow the lugs to flex and evacuate water. Tread patterns feature non-symmetrical (or non-uniform) lug sizes circumferentially to minimize noise levels at discrete frequencies. Sipes are valleys cut across the tire, usually perpendicular to the grooves, which allow the water from the grooves to escape to the sides in an effort to prevent hydroplaning.\n\nTreads are often designed to meet specific product marketing positions. High performance tires have small void ratios to provide more rubber in contact with the road for higher traction, but may be compounded with softer rubber that provides better traction, but wears quickly. Mud and snow (M&S) tires are designed with higher void ratios to channel away rain and mud, while providing better gripping performance.\n\nTread lug\n\nTread lugs provide the contact surface necessary to provide traction. As the tread lug enters the road contact area, or footprint, it is compressed. As it rotates through the footprint it is deformed circumferentially. As it exits the footprint, it recovers to its original shape. During the deformation and recovery cycle the tire exerts variable forces into the vehicle. These forces are described as Force Variation. \n\nTread void\n\nTread voids provide space for the lug to flex and deform as it enters and exits the footprint. Voids also provide channels for rainwater, mud, and snow to be channeled away from the footprint. The void ratio is the void area of the tire divided by the entire tread area. Low void areas have high contact area and therefore higher traction on clean, dry pavement.\n\nRain groove\n\nThe rain groove is a design element of the tread pattern specifically arranged to channel water away from the footprint. Rain grooves are circumferential in most truck tires. Many high performance passenger tires feature rain grooves that are angled from the center toward the sides of the tire. Some tire manufacturers claim that their tread pattern is designed to actively pump water out from under the tire by the action of the tread flexing. This results in a smoother ride in different types of weather.\n\nSipe\n\nTread lugs often feature small narrow voids, or sipes, that improve the flexibility of the lug to deform as it traverses the footprint area. This reduces shear stress in the lug and reduces heat build up. Testing of identical siped and unsiped tires showed measurable improvements in snow traction and ice braking performance, however diminishing and extending braking distances on wet and dry pavement by a few feet on siped tires. Off-road tire enthusiasts have been siping tires for years for greater traction, as many manufacturers now offer already siped off-road-tires.\n\nWear bar\n\nWear bars (or wear indicators) are raised features located at the bottom of the tread grooves that indicate the tire has reached its wear limit. When the tread lugs are worn to the point that the wear bars connect across the lugs, the tires are fully worn and should be taken out of service. Most wear bars indicate a remaining tread depth of and are deemed \"worn out\" at that point. \n\nBead\n\nThe bead is the part of the tire that contacts the rim on the wheel. The bead is typically reinforced with steel wire and compounded of high strength, low flexibility rubber. The bead seats tightly against the two rims on the wheel to ensure that a tubeless tire holds air without leakage. The bead fit is tight to ensure the tire does not shift circumferentially as the wheel rotates. The width of the rim in relationship to the tire is a factor in the handling characteristics of an automobile, because the rim supports the tire's profile.\n\nSidewall\n\nThe sidewall is that part of the tire that bridges between the tread and bead. The sidewall is largely rubber but reinforced with fabric or steel cords that provide for tensile strength and flexibility. The sidewall contains air pressure and transmits the torque applied by the drive axle to the tread to create traction but supports little of the weight of the vehicle, as is clear from the total collapse of the tire when punctured. Sidewalls are molded with manufacturer-specific detail, government mandated warning labels, and other consumer information, and sometimes decorative ornamentation, like whitewalls.\n\nShoulder\n\nThe shoulder is that part of the tire at the edge of the tread as it makes transition to the sidewall.\n\nPly\n\nPlies are layers of relatively inextensible cords embedded in the rubber to hold its shape by preventing the rubber from stretching in response to the internal pressure. The orientations of the plies play a large role in the performance of the tire and is one of the main ways that tires are categorized.\n\nAssociated components\n\nSeveral additional components may be required in addition to just the tire to form a functional wheel.\n\nWheel\n\nTires are mounted onto wheels that most often have integral rims on their outer edges to hold the tire. Automotive wheels are typically made from pressed and welded steel, or a composite of lightweight metal alloys, such as aluminum or magnesium. These alloy wheels may be either cast or forged. The mounted tire and wheel assembly is then bolted to the vehicle's hub. A decorative hubcap and trim ring may be placed over the wheel.\n\nRim\n\nThe beads of the tire are held on the rim, or the \"outer edge\" of a wheel. These outer edges are shaped to obtain a proper shape on each side, having a radially cylindrical inclined inner wall on which the tire can be mounted. The wheel's rim must be of the proper design and type to hold the bead of the appropriately sized tire. Tires are mounted on the wheel by forcing its beads into the channel formed by the wheel's inner and outer rims. \n\nInner tube\n\nMost bicycle tires, many motorcycle tires, and many tires for large vehicles such as buses, heavy trucks, and tractors are designed for use with inner tubes. Inner tubes are torus-shaped balloons made from an impermeable material, such as soft, elastic synthetic rubber, to prevent air leakage. The inner tubes are inserted into the tire and inflated to retain air pressure.\n\nLarge inner tubes, which are large inflatable toruses, can be re-used for other purposes, such as swimming and rafting (see swim ring), tubing (recreation), sledding, and skitching. Purpose-built inflatable toruses are also manufactured for these uses, offering choice of colors, fabric covering, handles, decks, and other accessories, and eliminating the protruding valve stem.\n\nValve stem\n\nThe valve stem is a tube made of metal or rubber, through which the tire is inflated, with a check valve, typically a Schrader valve on automobiles and most bicycle tires, or a Presta valve on high-performance bicycles. Valve stems usually protrude through the wheel for easy access. They mount directly to the rim, in the case of tubeless tires, or are an integral part of the inner tube. The rubber in valve stems eventually degrades, and, in the case of tubeless tires, replacement of the valve stem at regular intervals or with tire replacement reduces the chance of failure. Some may notice that their valve stem is all metal with a nut retaining it (as opposed to the typical rubber stem with brass threads). Most modern passenger vehicles are now required to have a tire pressure monitoring system which usually consists of a valve stem attached to an electronic module. The module is hidden inside and is only visible when the tire has been removed from the wheel.\n\nConstruction types\n\nBias\n\nBias tire (or cross ply) construction utilizes body ply cords that extend diagonally from bead to bead, usually at angles in the range of 30 to 40 degrees, with successive plies laid at opposing angles forming a crisscross pattern to which the tread is applied. The design allows the entire tire body to flex easily, providing the main advantage of this construction, a smooth ride on rough surfaces. This cushioning characteristic also causes the major disadvantages of a bias tire: increased rolling resistance and less control and traction at higher speeds. This outdated technology is still made in limited quantities to supply collector vehicles. It is possible to fit older cars with modern tires, if historical authenticity is not paramount.\n\nBelted bias\n\nA belted bias tire starts with two or more bias-plies to which stabilizer belts are bonded directly beneath the tread. This construction provides smoother ride that is similar to the bias tire, while lessening rolling resistance because the belts increase tread stiffness. The design was introduced by Armstrong, while Goodyear made it popular with the \"Polyglas\" trademark tire featuring a polyester carcass with belts of fiberglass. The \"belted\" tire starts two main plies of polyester, rayon, or nylon annealed as in conventional tires, and then placed on top are circumferential belts at different angles that improve performance compared to non-belted bias tires. The belts may be fiberglass or steel. \nThis technology was a temporary, not invented here stop-gap, introduced by U.S. manufacturers to forestall the radial tire.\n\nRadial\n\nRadial tire construction utilizes body ply cords extending from the beads and across the tread so that the cords are laid at approximately right angles to the centerline of the tread, and parallel to each other, as well as stabilizer belts directly beneath the tread. The belts may be cord or steel. The advantages of this construction include longer tread life, better steering control, and lower rolling resistance. Disadvantages of the radial tire include a harder ride at low speeds on rough roads and in the context of off-roading, decreased \"self-cleaning\" ability and lower grip ability at low speeds. Following the 1968 Consumer Reports announcement of their superiority, radials began an inexorable climb in new car market share, reaching 100% in the 1980s.\n\nSolid\n\nMany tires used in industrial and commercial applications are non-pneumatic, and are manufactured from solid rubber and plastic compounds via molding operations. Solid tires include those used for lawn mowers, skateboards, golf carts, scooters, and many types of light industrial vehicles, carts, and trailers. One of the most common applications for solid tires is for material handling equipment (forklifts). Such tires are installed by means of a hydraulic tire press.\n\nMetal\n\nSemi-pneumatic\n\nSemi-pneumatic tires have a hollow center, but they are not pressurized. They are light-weight, low-cost, puncture proof, and provide cushioning. These tires often come as a complete assembly with the wheel and even integral ball bearings. They are used on lawn mowers, wheelchairs, and wheelbarrows. They can also be rugged, typically used in industrial applications, and are designed to not pull off their rim under use.\n\nTires that are hollow but are not pressurized have also been designed for automotive use, such as the Tweel (a portmanteau of tire and wheel), which is an experimental tire design being developed at Michelin. The outer casing is rubber as in ordinary radial tires, but the interior has special compressible polyurethane springs to contribute to a comfortable ride. Besides the impossibility of going flat, the tires are intended to combine the comfort offered by higher-profile tires (with tall sidewalls) with the resistance to cornering forces offered by low profile tires. They have not yet been delivered for broad market use.\n\nAirless\n\nSpecifications\n\nTire pressure monitoring system\n\nTire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are electronic systems that monitor the tire pressures on individual wheels on a vehicle, and alert the driver when the pressure goes below a warning limit. There are several types of designs to monitor tire pressure. Some actually measure the air pressure, and some make indirect measurements, such as gauging when the relative size of the tire changes due to lower air pressure.\n\nInflation pressure\n\nTires are specified by the vehicle manufacturer with a recommended inflation pressure, which permits safe operation within the specified load rating and vehicle loading. Most tires are stamped with a maximum pressure rating. For passenger vehicles and light trucks, the tires should be inflated to what the vehicle manufacturer recommends, which is usually located on a decal just inside the driver's door or in the vehicle owners handbook. Tires should not generally be inflated to the pressure on the sidewall; this is the maximum pressure, rather than the recommended pressure. \n\nInflated tires naturally lose pressure over time. Not all tire-to-rim seals, valve-stem-to-rim seals, and valve seals themselves are perfect. Furthermore, tires are not completely impermeable to air, and so lose pressure over time naturally due to diffusion of molecules through the rubber. Some drivers and stores inflate tires with nitrogen (typically at 95% purity), instead of atmospheric air, which is already 78% nitrogen, in an attempt to keep the tires at the proper inflation pressure longer. The effectiveness of the use of nitrogen vs. air as a means to reduce the rate of pressure loss is baseless, and has been shown to be a bogus marketing gimmick. One study noted a difference (from an initial pressure of 30 psi) for air-filled vs. nitrogen-filled tires. The test showed an average loss of 2.2 for the nitrogen filled tires compared to 3.5 for the air filled tires. However, the statistical significance of the test was not given as no t-test nor p values were reported. And they do note that the loss in both the nitrogen filled tires and the air filled tires mean that tire pressures should be checked regularly.\n\nThe tire contact patch is readily changed by both over-and-under inflation. Over-inflation may increase the wear on the center contact patch, and under-inflation will cause a concave tread, resulting in less center contact, though the overall contact patch will still be larger. Most modern tires will wear evenly at high tire pressures, but will degrade prematurely if underinflated. An increased tire pressure may decrease rolling resistance, and may also result in shorter stopping distances If tire pressure is too low, the tire contact patch is greatly increased. This increases rolling resistance, tire flexing, and friction between the road and tire. Under-inflation can lead to tire overheating, premature tread wear, and tread separation in severe cases. \n\nLoad rating\n\nTires are specified by the manufacturer with a maximum load rating. Loads exceeding the rating can result in unsafe conditions that can lead to steering instability and even rupture. For a table of load ratings, see tire code.\n\nSpeed rating\n\nThe speed rating denotes the maximum speed at which a tire is designed to be operated. For passenger vehicles these ratings range from 160 to. For a table of speed ratings, see tire code.\n\nService rating\n\nTires (especially in the U.S.) are often given service ratings, mainly used on bus and truck tires. Some ratings are for long haul, and some for stop-start multi-drop type work. Tires designed to run 500 mi or more per day carrying heavy loads require special specifications.\n\nTreadwear rating\n\nThe treadwear rating or treadwear grade is how long the tire manufacturers expect the tire to last. A Course Monitoring Tire (the standard tire that a test tire will be compared to) has a rating of \"100\". If a manufacturer assigns a treadwear rating of 200 to a new tire, they are indicating that they expect the new tire to have a useful lifespan that is 200% of the life of a Course Monitoring Tire. The \"test tires\" are all manufacturer-dependent. Brand A's rating of 500 is not necessarily going to offer drivers the same mileage rating as Brand B's tire of the same rating. The testing is non-regulated and can vary greatly. Treadwear ratings are only useful for comparing Brand A's entire lineup against itself.\nTread wear, also known as tire wear, is caused by friction between the tire and the road surface. Government legal standards prescribe the minimum allowable tread depth for safe operation.\n\nRotation\n\nTires may exhibit irregular wear patterns once installed on a vehicle and partially worn. Front-wheel drive vehicles tend to wear the front tires at a greater rate compared to the rear tires. Tire rotation is moving the tires to different car positions, such as front-to-rear, in order to even out the wear, with the objective of extending the life of the tire.\n\nWheel alignment\n\nWhen mounted on the vehicle, the wheel and tire may not be perfectly aligned to the direction of travel, and therefore may exhibit irregular wear. If the discrepancy in alignment is large, then the irregular wear will become substantial if left uncorrected.\n\nWheel alignment is the procedure for checking and correcting this condition through adjustment of camber, caster and toe angles. The adjustment of the angles should be done as per the OEM specifications.\n\nRetread\n\nTires that are fully worn can be re-manufactured to replace the worn tread. This is known as retreading or recapping, a process of buffing away the worn tread and applying a new tread. Retreading is economical for truck tires because the cost of replacing the tread is less than the price of a new tire. Retreading passenger tires is less economical because the cost of retreading is high compared to the price of new cheap tires, but favorable compared to high-end brands.\n\nWorn tires can be retreaded by two methods, the mold or hot cure method and the pre-cure or cold one. The mold cure method involves the application of raw rubber on the previously buffed and prepared casing, which is later cured in matrices. During the curing period, vulcanization takes place and the raw rubber bonds to the casing, taking the tread shape of the matrix. On the other hand, the pre-cure method involves the application of a ready-made tread band on the buffed and prepared casing, which later is cured in an autoclave so that vulcanization can occur.\n\nDuring the retreading process, retread technicians must ensure the casing is in the best condition possible to minimize the possibility of a casing failure. Casings with problems such as capped tread, tread separation, irreparable cuts, corroded belts or sidewall damage, or any run-flat or skidded tires, will be rejected.\n\nIn most situations, retread tires can be driven under the same conditions and at the same speeds as new tires with no loss in safety or comfort. The percentage of retread failures should be about the same as for new tire failures, but many drivers, including truckers, are guilty of not maintaining proper air pressure on a regular basis, and, if a tire is abused (overloaded, under inflated, or mismatched to the other tire on a set of duals), then that tire (new or recapped) will fail. \n\nMany commercial trucking companies put retreads only on trailers, using only new tires on their steering and drive wheels. This procedure increases the driver's chance of maintaining control in case of problems with a retreaded tire.\n\nPerformance characteristics\n\nThe interaction of a tire with the pavement is a very complex phenomenon. Many of the details are modeled in Pacejka's Magic Formula. Some are explained below.\n\nBalance\n\nWhen a wheel and tire rotate, they exert a centrifugal force on the axle that depends on the location of their center of mass and the orientation of their moment of inertia. This is referred to as balance, imbalance, or unbalance. Tires are checked at the point of manufacture for excessive static imbalance and dynamic imbalance using automatic tire balance machines. Tires are checked again in the auto assembly plant or tire retail shop after mounting the tire to the wheel. Assemblies that exhibit excessive imbalance are corrected by applying balance weights to the wheels to counteract the tire/wheel imbalance.\n\nTo facilitate proper balancing, most high performance tire manufacturers place red and yellow marks on the sidewalls to enable the best possible match-mounting of the tire/wheel assembly. There are two methods of match-mounting high performance tire to wheel assemblies using these red (uniformity) or yellow (weight) marks.[http://www.yokohamatire.com/utmatch.asp Yokohama]\n\nCamber thrust\n\nCamber thrust and camber force are the force generated perpendicular to the direction of travel of a rolling tire due to its camber angle and finite contact patch.\n\nCentrifugal growth\n\nA tire rotating at higher speeds tends to develop a larger diameter, due to centrifugal forces that force the tread rubber away from the axis of rotation. This may cause speedometer error. As the tire diameter grows, the tire width decreases. This centrifugal growth can cause rubbing of the tire against the vehicle at high speeds. Motorcycle tires are often designed with reinforcements aimed at minimizing centrifugal growth.\n\nCircle of forces\n\nThe circle of forces, traction circle, friction circle, or friction ellipse is a useful way to think about the dynamic interaction between a vehicle's tire and the road surface.\n\nContact patch\n\nThe contact patch, or footprint, of the tire, is the area of the tread that is in contact with the road surface. This area transmits forces between the tire and the road via friction. The length-to-width ratio of the contact patch affects steering and cornering behavior.\n\nCornering force\n\nCornering force or side force is the lateral (i.e. parallel to the road surface) force produced by a vehicle tire during cornering.\n\nDry traction\n\nDry traction is measure of the tire's ability to deliver traction, or grip, under dry conditions. Dry traction is a function of the tackiness of the rubber compound.\n\nForce variation\n\nThe tire tread and sidewall elements undergo deformation and recovery as they enter and exit the footprint. Since the rubber is elastomeric, it is deformed during this cycle. As the rubber deforms and recovers, it imparts cyclical forces into the vehicle. These variations are collectively referred to as tire uniformity. Tire uniformity is characterized by radial force variation (RFV), lateral force variation (LFV) and tangential force variation. Radial and lateral force variation is measured on a force variation machine at the end of the manufacturing process. Tires outside the specified limits for RFV and LFV are rejected. Geometric parameters, including radial runout, lateral runout, and sidewall bulge, are measured using a tire uniformity machine at the tire factory at the end of the manufacturing process as a quality check. In the late 1990s, Hunter Engineering introduced the GSP9700 Road Force balancer, which is equipped with a load roller similar to the force variation machine used at the factory to grade tire uniformity. This machine can find the best position for the tire on a given wheel so that the over-all assembly is as round as possible.\n\nLoad sensitivity\n\nLoad sensitivity is the behaviour of tires under load. Conventional pneumatic tires do not behave as classical friction theory would suggest. Namely, the load sensitivity of most real tires in their typical operating range is such that the coefficient of friction decreases as the vertical load, Fz, increases.\n\nPneumatic trail\n\nPneumatic trail of a tire is the trail-like effect generated by compliant tires rolling on a hard surface and subject to side loads, as in a turn. More technically, it is the distance that the resultant force of side-slip occurs behind the geometric center of the contact patch.\n\nRelaxation length\n\nRelaxation length is the delay between when a slip angle is introduced and when the cornering force reaches its steady-state value.\n\nRolling resistance\n\nRolling resistance is the resistance to rolling caused by deformation of the tire in contact with the road surface. As the tire rolls, tread enters the contact area and is deformed flat to conform to the roadway. The energy required to make the deformation depends on the inflation pressure, rotating speed, and numerous physical properties of the tire structure, such as spring force and stiffness. Tire makers seek lower rolling resistance tire constructions to improve fuel economy in cars and especially trucks, where rolling resistance accounts for a high proportion of fuel consumption.\n\nPneumatic tires also have a much lower rolling resistance than solid tires. Because the internal air pressure acts in all directions, a pneumatic tire is able to \"absorb\" bumps in the road as it rolls over them without experiencing a reaction force opposite to the direction of travel, as is the case with a solid (or foam-filled) tire. The difference between the rolling resistance of a pneumatic and solid tire is easily felt when propelling wheelchairs or baby buggies fitted with either type so long as the terrain has a significant roughness in relation to the wheel diameter.\n\nSelf aligning torque\n\nSelf-aligning torque, also known as the aligning torque, SAT or Mz, is the torque that a tire creates as it rolls along that tends to steer it, i.e. rotate it around its vertical axis.\n\nSlip angle\n\nSlip angle or sideslip angle is the angle between a rolling wheel's actual direction of travel and the direction towards which it is pointing (i.e., the angle of the vector sum of wheel translational velocity v_x and sideslip velocity v_y).\n\nSpring rate\n\nVertical stiffness, or spring rate, is the ratio of vertical force to vertical deflection of the tire, and it contributes to the overall suspension performance of the vehicle. In general, spring rate increases with inflation pressure. \n\nStopping distance\n\nPerformance-oriented tires have a tread pattern and rubber compounds designed to grip the road surface, and so usually have a slightly shorter stopping distance. However, specific braking tests are necessary for data beyond generalizations.\n\nWork load\n\nThe work load of a tire is monitored so that it is not put under undue stress, which may lead to its premature failure. Work load is measured in Ton Kilometer Per Hour (TKPH). The measurement's appellation and units are the same. The recent shortage and increasing cost of tires for heavy equipment has made TKPH an important parameter in tire selection and equipment maintenance for the mining industry. For this reason, manufacturers of tires for large earth-moving and mining vehicles assign TKPH ratings to their tires based on their size, construction, tread type, and rubber compound. The rating is based on the weight and speed that the tire can handle without overheating and causing it to deteriorate prematurely. The equivalent measure used in the United States is Ton Mile Per Hour (TMPH).\n\nTread wear\n\nThere are several types of abnormal tread wear. Poor wheel alignment can cause excessive wear of the innermost or outermost ribs. Gravel roads, rocky terrain, and other rough terrain causes accelerated wear. Over-inflation above the sidewall maximum can cause excessive wear to the center of the tread. Modern tires have steel belts built in to prevent this. Under-inflation causes excessive wear to the outer ribs. Unbalanced wheels can cause uneven tire wear, as the rotation may not be perfectly circular. Tire manufacturers and car companies have mutually established standards for tread wear testing that include measurement parameters for tread loss profile, lug count, and heel-toe wear. See also Work load above.\n\nWet traction\n\nWet traction is the tire's traction, or grip, under wet conditions. Wet traction is improved by the tread design's ability to channel water out of the tire footprint and reduce hydroplaning. However, tires with a circular cross-section, such as those found on racing bicycles, when properly inflated have a sufficiently small footprint to not be susceptible to hydroplaning. For such tires, it is observed that fully slick tires will give superior traction on both wet and dry pavement. \n\nMarkings\n\nDOT code\n\nIn the United States, the DOT Code is an alphanumeric character sequence molded into the sidewall of the tire for purposes of tire identification. The DOT Code is mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. \nThe DOT Code is useful in identifying tires in a product recall.\n\nThe DOT Code begins with the letters \"DOT\" followed by a plant code (two numbers or letters) that identifies where it was manufactured. The last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. A three-digit code was used for tires manufactured before 2000. For example, 178 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 8th year of the decade. In this case it means 1988. For tires manufactured in the 1990s, the same code holds true, but there is a little triangle (Δ) after the DOT code. Thus, a tire manufactured in the 17th week of 1998 would have the code 178Δ. In 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code. Same rules apply, so for example, 3003 means the tire was manufactured in the 30th week of 2003.\n\nOther numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion.\n\nE-mark\n\nAll tires sold for road use in Europe after July 1997 must carry an E-mark. The mark itself is either an upper case \"E\" or lower case \"e\" – followed by a number in a circle or rectangle, followed by a further number. An (upper case) \"E\" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of ECE regulation 30. A (lower case) \"e\" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of Directive 92/23/EEC. The number in the circle or rectangle denotes the country code of the government that granted the type approval. The last number outside the circle or rectangle is the number of the type approval certificate issued for that particular tire size and type.\n\nMold serial number\n\nTire manufacturers usually embed a mold serial number into the sidewall area of the mold, so that the tire, once molded, can be traced back to the mold of original manufacturer.\n\nSize Codes\n\nAutomobile tires are described by an alphanumeric code, which is generally molded into the sidewall of the tire. This code specifies the dimensions of the tire, and some of its key limitations, such as load-bearing ability, and maximum speed. Sometimes the inner sidewall contains information not included on the outer sidewall, and vice versa.\n\nThe code has grown in complexity over the years, as is evident from the mix of metric and English units, and ad-hoc extensions to lettering and numbering schemes. New automotive tires frequently have ratings for traction, treadwear, and temperature resistance (collectively known as The Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) ratings).\n\nMost tires sizes are given using the ISO Metric sizing system. However, some pickup trucks and SUVs use the Light Truck Numeric or Light Truck High Flotation system.\n\nVehicle applications\n\nTires are classified into several standard types, based on the type of vehicle they serve. Since the manufacturing process, raw materials, and equipment vary according to the tire type, it is common for tire factories to specialize in one or more tire types. In most markets, factories that manufacture passenger and light truck radial tires are separate and distinct from those that make aircraft or off-the-road (OTR) tires.\n\nPassenger vehicles and light truck\n\nHigh performance\n\nHigh performance tires are designed for use at higher speeds, and more often, a more \"sporty\" driving style. They feature a softer rubber compound for improved traction, especially on high speed cornering. The trade off of this softer rubber is shorter tread life.\n\nHigh performance street tires sometimes sacrifice wet weather handling by having shallower water channels to provide more actual rubber tread surface area for dry weather performance. The ability to provide a high level of performance on both wet and dry pavement varies widely among manufacturers, and even among tire models of the same manufacturer. This is an area of active research and development, as well as marketing.\n\nMud and snow\n\nMud and Snow, (or M+S, or M&S), is a designation applied rather arbitrarily by manufacturers for all-season and winter tires designed to provide improved performance under low temperature conditions, compared to summer tires. The tread compound is usually softer than that used in tires for summer conditions, thus providing better grip on ice and snow, but wears more quickly at higher temperatures. Tires may have well above average numbers of sipes in the tread pattern to grip the ice. There are no traction performance requirements which such a tire has to meet; M&S relates to the percentage of tread void area.\n\nDedicated winter tires will bear the \"Mountain/Snowflake Pictograph\" if designated as a winter/snow tire by the American Society for Testing & Materials. Winter tires will typically also carry the designation MS, M&S, or the words MUD AND SNOW (but see All-season tires, below).\n\nSome winter tires are fabricated to allow the optional insertion of metal studs (consisting of a tungsten carbide or other hard material pin embedded in a base of a softer metal) for additional traction on icy roads. \n\nThe use of studs is restricted in some countries due to the increased road wear that they cause, with the notable exception of most Nordic and North American jurisdictions, where they are commonly used in colder areas during the winter season. Norway has implemented fees for using studded tires in some urban areas, and there are a few streets in some of the major cities in Sweden where studs are not allowed. In America, studs are typically never used on heavier vehicles (except for some emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks.), but stud tires for heavy vehicles are commonplace in Scandinavia. \nIce resurfacers also use studded tires.\nThe upper tier classes of ice racing and rallying mandates the vehicles be equipped with studded tires.\n\nOther winter tires rely on factors other than studding for traction on ice, e.g. highly porous or hydrophilic rubber that adheres to the wet film on the ice surface. The best stud-less winter tires offer grip close to that of studded tires during most winter conditions, with the notable exception of blank or polished ice, where they cannot match the performance of studded tires. The reason for this is that stud-less winter tires rely on unevenness in the ice surface for their sipes to grab, while studs cut into even the most polished ice surface (and in the process also make it uneven).\n\nStudded tires are also used on bicycles, and the grip advantage on ice is similar to that from using traction sand, with the difference that there is no risk of blank spots when using studded tires. Quality tire manufacturers use studs with hard center pins also for bicycle tires, and just like their automobile counterparts, those studs will continue to protrude from the tire even after many years of usage on bare pavement. There are also low-quality studded bicycle tires being sold that have studs that lack the hard-metal center pin (there is still a center pin, but it is not made of hard metal). Such studs can wear out within a few weeks of cycling on dry pavement.\n\nSome jurisdictions may require snow tires or tire chains on vehicles driven in certain areas during extreme weather conditions.\n\nMud tires are specialty tires with large, chunky tread patterns designed to bite into muddy surfaces. The large, open design also allows mud to clear quickly from between the lugs. Mud terrain tires also tend to be wider than other tires, to spread the weight of the vehicle over a greater area to prevent the vehicle from sinking too deeply into the mud. However, in reasonable amounts of mud and snow, tires should be thinner. Being thinner, the tire will have more pressure on the road surface, thus allowing the tires to penetrate the snow layer and grip harder snow or road surface beneath. This does not compensate when the snow is too deep for such penetration, where the vehicle will sink into the snow and plough the snow in front and eventually pack it beneath it until the wheels no longer have traction. In this case, wider tires are preferred, as they have a larger contact patch and are better able to 'float' on top of the mud or snow.\n\nAll season\n\nThe All Season tire classification is a compromise between one developed for use on dry and wet roads during summer and one developed for use under winter conditions. The type of rubber and the tread pattern best suited for use under summer conditions cannot, for technical reasons, give good performance on snow and ice. The all-season tire is a compromise, and is neither an excellent summer tire nor an excellent winter tire. They have, however, become ubiquitous as original and replacement equipment on automobiles marketed in the United States, due to their convenience and their adequate performance in most situations. Even so, in other parts of the world, like Germany, it is common to have a designated tire set for winter and summer. All-Season tires are also marked for mud and snow the same as winter tires but rarely with a snowflake. Owing to the compromise with performance during summer, winter performance is usually poorer than a winter tire.\n\nAll-terrain\n\nAll-terrain tires are typically used on SUVs and light trucks. These tires often have stiffer sidewalls for greater resistance against puncture when traveling off-road, the tread pattern offers wider spacing than all-season tires to remove mud from the tread. Many tires in the all-terrain category are designed primarily for on-road use, particularly all-terrain tires that are originally sold with the vehicle.\n\nSpare\n\nSome vehicles carry a spare tire, already mounted on a wheel, to be used in the event of flat tire or blowout. Minispare, or \"space-saver spare\" tires are smaller than normal tires to save on trunk/boot space, gas mileage, weight, and cost. Minispares have a short life expectancy and a low speed rating, often below 60 mph.\n\nLight trailer\n\nDomestic Trailers (including camping trailers) for use on public highways often have different tires than those seen on cars. Often they are bias ply rather than radial tires, and they often don't have as aggressive a tread pattern as standard road tires. They are not built for high traction in most cases, because in most cases it is not vital that trailer tires have as good a traction as that of the vehicle towing the trailer.\n\nRun-flat\n\nSeveral innovative designs have been introduced that permit tires to run safely with no air for a limited range at a limited speed. These tires typically feature strong, load-supporting sidewalls. An infamous example of an alternate run-flat technology has plastic load-bearing inserts attached to the rim instead of the reinforced sidewalls.\n\nA disadvantage is that many run-flat tires cannot be repaired if a puncture occurs. This is due to manufacturer's informing the automotive industry that the state in which the sidewall is in cannot be determined due to the compacted sidewall of rubber. Some brands may permit one repair to a run flat tire, while others do not allow any.\n\nHeavy duty truck\n\nHeavy duty tires are also referred to as Truck/Bus tires. These are the tire sizes used on vehicles such as commercial freight trucks, dump trucks, and passenger buses. Truck tires are sub-categorized into specialties according to vehicle position such as steering, drive axle, and trailer. Each type is designed with the reinforcements, material compounds, and tread patterns that best optimize the tire performance. A relatively new concept is the use of \"Super Singles\" or Wide Singles. Generally in a dual configuration, there are 2 tires per position, each between 275 mm-295 mm wide. The Super Single replaces these with a single tire, usually 455 mm wide. This allows for less tread to be contacting the ground and also eliminates 2 sidewalls per position. Along with the weight savings of about 200 lb per axle, this enables vehicles using these to improve fuel economy.\n\nOff-the-road\n\nOff-the-road (OTR) tires include all tires not running on the common roads, such as fitted on construction vehicles(wheel loaders, backhoes, graders, trenchers), on airplanes, on mining vehicles, on forestry machinery. OTR tires can be of either bias or radial construction although the industry is trending toward increasing use of radial. Bias OTR tires are built with a large number of reinforcing plies to withstand severe service conditions and high loads.\n\nDramatically increasing commodity prices has led to shortages of new tires. As a consequence, multimillion-dollar trucks can be idled for lack of tires, costing mines millions of dollars in lost productivity. This has led to a stronger effort to recycle old OTR tires. As of 2008, a new OTR tire can cost up to $50,000; retread tires are sold at half the price of new tires, and last 80% as long. Retreading an OTR tire is labor-intensive. First, the retreading technician must place the old tire in a buffing machine to remove what remains of the old tread; \"skiving\" follows this, which is the removal, by hand, of material the buffing misses. Next, the technician must inspect the tire, repairing defects. Lastly, the technician fills holes in the tire with rubber, applies a cement gum adhesive, and places the tire on a machine that will apply a new tread. \n\nAgricultural and off-road flotation tires\n\nThe agricultural tire classification includes tires used on farm vehicles, typically tractors and specialty vehicles like harvesters. Driven wheels have very deep, widely spaced lugs to allow the tire to grip soil easily.\n\nFor off-road driving in a passenger vehicle, such as in mud, sand, or deep snow, high flotation tires are typically used. Flotation tires are not the same as M+S tires, as they are designed for low speeds and full-time off road use rather than muddy and snow-covered roads. Flotation tires also help traction in swampy environments and where soil compaction is a concern, featuring large footprints at low inflation pressures to spread out the area where the rubber meets the ground. Knobby tires are particularly useful where the ground consists of loose particles that can be displaced by the knobs. Although the low pressure improves traction in many types of terrain, adjustments may need to be made for hard surfaces like paved and unpaved roads. Vehicles that use flotation tires for rock climbing are susceptible to flat tires in which the tire pops off the rim, breaking the \"bead.\"\n\nRacing\n\nRacing tires are highly specialized according to vehicle and race track conditions. This classification includes tires for drag racing, Auto-x, drifting, Time Attack, Road Racing – as well as the large-market race tires for Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, V8 Supercars, WRC, MotoGP and the like. Tires are specially engineered for specific race tracks according to surface conditions, cornering loads, and track temperature. Racing tires often are engineered to minimum weight targets, so tires for a 500 mi race may run only 100 mi before a tire change. Some tire makers invest heavily in race tire development as part of the company's marketing strategy and a means of advertising to attract customers.\nRacing tires used on tarmac stages are called slick. When the road is wet a driver will use intermediary slicks and when the road is dry the soft slicks are used. \nRacing tires often are not legal for normal highway use.\n\nIndustrial\n\nThe Industrial tire classification is a bit of a catch-all category and includes pneumatic and non-pneumatic tires for specialty industrial and construction equipment such as skid loaders and fork lift trucks.\n\nBicycle\n\nThis classification includes all forms of bicycle tires, including road racing tires, mountain bike tires, snow tires, and tubular tires, used also with other human-powered vehicles (see :Category:Human-powered vehicles).\n\nAircraft\n\nAircraft tires are designed to withstand extremely heavy loads for short durations. The number of tires required for aircraft increases with the weight of the plane (because the weight of the airplane has to be distributed better). Aircraft tire tread patterns are designed to facilitate stability in high crosswind conditions, to channel water away to prevent hydroplaning, and for braking effect.\n\nAircraft tires are usually inflated with nitrogen to minimize expansion and contraction from extreme changes in ambient temperature and pressure experienced during flight. Dry nitrogen expands at the same rate as other dry atmospheric gases (normal air is about 80% nitrogen), but common compressed air sources may contain moisture, which increases the expansion rate with temperature. Aircraft tires generally operate at high pressures, up to 200 psi for airliners, and even higher for business jets. Tests of airline aircraft tires have shown that they are able to sustain pressures of maximum 800 psi before bursting. During the test the tires have to be filled with water, instead of helium or nitrogen, which is the common content of aircraft tires, to prevent the test room being blown apart by the energy when the tire bursts.\n\nAircraft tires also include fusible plugs (which are assembled on the inside of the wheels), designed to melt at a certain temperature. Tires often overheat if maximum braking is applied during an aborted takeoff or an emergency landing. The fuses provide a safer failure mode that prevents tire explosions by deflating in a controlled manner, thus minimizing damage to aircraft and objects in the surrounding environment.\n\nThe requirement that an inert gas, such as nitrogen, be used instead of air for inflation of tires on certain transport category airplanes was prompted by at least three cases in which the oxygen in air-filled tires combined with volatile gases given off by a severely overheated tire and exploded upon reaching autoignition temperature. The use of an inert gas for tire inflation will eliminate the possibility of a tire explosion. \n\nMotorcycle\n\nThere are many different types of motorcycle tires:\nSport Touring – these tires are generally not used for high cornering loads, but for long straights, good for riding across the country.\n\nSport Street – these tires are for aggressive street riders that spend most of their time carving corners on public roadways. These tires do not have a long life, but in turn have better traction in high speed cornering. Street and sport street tires have good traction even when cold, but when warmed too much, can actually lose traction as their internal temperature increases.\n\nTrack or Slick – these tires are for track days or races. They have more of a triangular form, which in turn gives a larger contact patch while leaned over. These tires are not recommended for the street by manufacturers, and are known to have a shorter life on the street. Due to the triangulation of the tire, there will be less contact patch in the center, causing the tire to develop a flat spot quicker when used to ride on straightaways for long periods of time and have no tread so they lose almost all grip in wet conditions. Racing slicks are also made of a harder rubber compound and do not provide as much traction as street tires until warmed to a higher internal temperature than street tires normally operate at. Most street riding will not put a sufficient amount of friction on the tire to maintain the optimal tire temperature, especially in colder climates and in spring and fall.\n\nSound and vibration characteristics\n\nThe design of treads and the interaction of specific tire types with the roadway surface type produces considerable effect upon sound levels or noise pollution emanating from moving vehicles. These sound intensities increase with higher vehicle speeds. The acoustic intensity produced varies considerably depending on the tire tread design and the road surface type. There is a study \"under development\" that aims predict the interior noise due to the vibrations of a rolling tire structurally transmitted to the hub of a vehicle\". \n\nRegulatory bodies\n\nDOT\n\nThe United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is the U.S. governmental body authorized by the U.S. Congress to establish and regulate transportation safety in the United States of America.\n\nNHTSA\n\nThe National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a U.S. government body within the Department of Transportation tasked with regulating automotive safety in the United States.\n\nUTQG\n\nThe Uniform Tire Quality Grading System (UTQG), is a system for comparing the performance of tires, established by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration according to the Code of Federal Regulations 49 CFR 575.104. The UTQG regulation requires labeling of tires for tread wear, traction, and temperature.\n\nT&RA\n\nThe Tire and Rim Association (T&RA) is a voluntary U.S. standards organization to promote the interchangeability of tires and rim and allied parts. Of particular interest, they published key tire dimension standards, key rim contour dimension standards, key tire valve dimension standards, and load / inflation standards.\n\nETRTO\n\nThe European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) is the European standards organisation \"to establish engineering dimensions, load/pressure characteristics and operating guidelines\" . \nfor tires, rims and valves. It is analogous to T&RA.\n\nJATMA\n\nThe Japanese Automobile Tire Manufacturers Association (JATMA) is the Japanese standards organization for tires, rims and valves. It is analogous to T&RA and ETRTO.\n\nTREAD Act\n\nThe Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act (TREAD Act) is a United States federal law that sets standards for testing and the reporting of information related to products involved with transportation such as cars and tires.\n\nRFID tags\n\nRadio Frequency IDentification tags (RFID) are passive transponders affixed to the inside of the tire for purposes of automatic identification. Tags are encoded with various types of manufacturing data, including the manufacturer's name, location of manufacture, tire type, manufacturing date, and in some cases test data. RFID transponders can remotely read this data automatically. RFID tags are used by auto assemblers to identify tires at the point of assembly to the vehicle. Fleet operators utilize RFID as part of tire maintenance operations.\n\nCCC (China Compulsory Certification) is a mandatory certification system concerning product safety in China that went into effect in August 2002. Before CCC, there were two certification systems in China: CCIB and CCEE. With China's entrance into the WTO, these two systems were unified into the CCC certification system. After the termination of a one-year grace period in August 2003, the system became compulsory.The CCC certification system is operated by the State General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA).\n\nSafety\n\nProper vehicle safety requires specific attention to inflation pressure, tread depth, and general condition of the tires. Over-inflated tires run the risk of explosive decompression (they may pop). On the other hand, under-inflated tires have a higher rolling resistance and suffer from overheating and rapid tread wear particularly on the edges of the tread. As tire tread decreases, there is more traction between the tire and the road resulting in better grip. However, there is an increased risk of hydroplaning, so as the tire wears the performance in the dry generally improves, but gets worse in the wet. Tires worn down past their safety margins and into the casing run the very real risk of rupturing. Also, certain combinations of cross ply and radial tires on different wheels of the same vehicle can lead to vehicle instability, and may also be illegal. Vehicle and tire manufacturers provide owners' manuals with instructions on how to check and maintain tires.\n\nA controversy began in 2000 regarding unusually high tire failures on some Ford vehicles. This resulted in the recall of the tires in question.\n\nFlat\n\nA flat tire occurs when a tire deflates. This can occur as a result of normal wear-and-tear, a leak, or more serious damage. A tire that has lost sufficient pressure will impair the stability of the vehicle and may damage the tire further if it is driven in this condition. The tire should be changed and/or repaired before it becomes completely flat. Continuing to drive a vehicle with a flat tire will damage the tire beyond repair, possibly damage the rim and vehicle, and put the occupants and other vehicles in danger. A flat tire or low-pressure tire should be considered an emergency situation, requiring immediate attention. Some tires, known as \"run-flat tires\", have either extremely stiff sidewalls or a resilient filler to allow driving a limited distance while flat, usually at reduced speed, without permanent damage or hazard.\n\nA modern radial tire may not be visibly distorted even with dangerously low inflation pressure. (This is especially true of tires with a low aspect ratio, sometimes known as \"low profile\" tires.) Thus maintenance of adequate tire pressure can have important safety implications despite the fact that most car owners neglect it. Tire designers have tried to make new tires fail-safe so that the failure of the operator to maintain the tire pressure won't cause a major safety concern, but there are limitations on this.\n\nBubble\n\nTire bubbles, also referred to as bulges / bumps / protrusions / carbuncles, occur when the sidewall of the tire has failed, resulting in a protrusion. Causes of bubbles include having an impact at high speed, over inflation, or poor tire construction/manufacturing. It is generally recommended to replace the tire since the probability of tire failure has increased. They can occur on the inner or outer sidewall.\n\nHydroplaning (or aquaplaning)\n\nHydroplaning, also known as aquaplaning, is the condition where a layer of water builds up between the tire and road surface. Hydroplaning occurs when the tread pattern cannot channel away enough water at an adequate rate to ensure a semi-dry footprint area. When hydroplaning occurs, the tire effectively \"floats\" above the road surface on a cushion of water – and loses traction, braking and steering, creating a very unsafe driving condition. When hydroplaning occurs, there is considerably less responsiveness of the steering wheel. The correction of this unsafe condition is to gradually reduce speed, by merely lifting off the accelerator/gas pedal.\n\nHydroplaning becomes more prevalent with wider tires (because of the lower weight per contact area) and especially at higher speeds; it is of virtually no concern to bicycle tires under normal riding conditions largely because of the lower speeds. The chance of car hydroplaning is also minimal at bicycle speeds as the weight per contact area of car tires is not much lower if any than bicycle tires.\n\nDangers of aged tires\n\nResearch and tests show that as tires age, they begin to dry out and become potentially dangerous, even if unused. Aged tires may appear to have similar properties to newly manufactured tires, but rubber degrades over time, and once the vehicle is traveling at high speeds (i.e. on a freeway) the tread could peel off, leading to severe loss of control. In tropical climates, tires degrade sooner than in temperate climates, and more care should be taken in these climates to ensure that tires do not fail. Also, tires on seldom-used trailers are at the greatest risk of age-failure, but some tires are built to withstand idleness, usually with nylon reinforcement.\n\nMany automakers recommend replacing tires after six years, and several tire manufacturers (Bridgestone, Michelin) have called for tires to be removed from service 10 years after the date of manufacture. However, an investigative report by Brian Ross on ABC's 20/20 news magazine found that many major retailers such as Goodyear, Wal-Mart, and Sears were selling tires that had been produced six or more years ago. Currently, no law for aged tires exists in the United States. \n\nScrap tires and environmental issues\n\nOnce tires are discarded, they are considered scrap tires. Scrap tires are often re-used for things from bumper car barriers to weights to hold down tarps. Some facilities are permitted to recycle scrap tires through chipping, and processing into new products, or selling the material to licensed power plants for fuel. Some tires may also be retreaded for re-use. One group did \"a study to evaluate the possibility of using scrap tires as a crash cushion system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the material properties of used tires and recycled tire-derived materials for use in low-cost, reusable crash cushions\". \n\nAn interesting use, developed over 30 years back but not yet universally used, is to process scrap tires as raw material for roads. The process is removing the metal, granulating the rubber and then a chemical process where it is mixed with other usual materials for macadamised roads. The resulting roads have proved to have better waterproofing, more resilent resulting in a smoother ride and also longer tire life. Several countries (for example, South Korea) have regulations requiring its use, but most do not.\n\nAmericans generate about 285 million scrap tires per year. Many states have regulations as to the number of scrap tires that can be held on site, due to concerns with dumping, fire hazards, and mosquitoes. In the past, millions of tires have been discarded into open fields. This creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes, since the tires often hold water inside and remain warm enough for mosquito breeding. Mosquitoes create a nuisance and may increase the likelihood of spreading disease. It also creates a fire danger, since such a large tire pile is a lot of fuel. Some tire fires have burned for months, since water does not adequately penetrate or cool the burning tires. Tires have been known to liquefy, releasing hydrocarbons and other contaminants to the ground and even ground water, under extreme heat and temperatures from a fire. The black smoke from a tire fire causes air pollution and is a hazard to down wind properties.\n\nThe use of scrap tire chips for landscaping has become controversial, due to the leaching of metals and other contaminants from the tire pieces. Zinc is concentrated (up to 2% by weight) to levels high enough to be highly toxic to aquatic life and plants. Of particular concern is evidence that some of the compounds that leach from tires into water, contain hormone disruptors and cause liver lesions. \n\nAsymmetric tire\n\nAn asymmetric tire is a kind of specific stabilization method used in cars.\n\nTire tread\n\nAn asymmetric tire may refer to a tire whose tread pattern does not form in line symmetry or point symmetry vis-à-vis its central line, thus having a distinct inside and outside edge. They may be mounted on either side of the vehicle. Since the tread pattern of many ordinary tires do not form symmetry in relation to design or pattern noise, the method of mounting tires is specially prescribed. This type of tires is used in many cases to promote tire performance, braking performance, and turning performance, since tread contact changes according to the change in alignment during travel.\n\nTires may also be directional, where the tread pattern favors operation in one direction. This usually takes the form of v-shaped grooves that help to disperse water from the center to the edge of the tread. Symmetric directional tires can be used on both sides, but once mounted on a rim cannot be moved to the other side, since the tread pattern will be in the wrong direction. This restricts tire rotation. Some directional tires are also asymmetric, in which case there will be specific left and right-handed versions.\n\nStabilizing belts\n\nAn asymmetric tire may refer to a passenger car radial tire in which asymmetric structure stabilizing belts are built. Generally the stabilizing belts give a self-aligning torque when a motor vehicle is running straight ahead as well as when it is cornering. However, the sidewalls of the radial tire are so flexible that there will be a delay in the lateral reaction between the tread of the tire and the rim of its wheel as the vehicle is being steered positively. The lateral force will be transmitted from the front wheel to the rear of the vehicle, which will tend to be steered off course. Whereas the asymmetric belts bring a gradual change in the lateral displacement of the tire tread corresponding to the rim while the cornering load grows. The progressive change will harden the sidewalls to produce an immediate response to steering, which results in safer driving.\n\nOther uses\n\nTires are not desired at landfills, due to their large volumes and 75% void space, which quickly consumes valuable space. Because of this, people have found other uses for old tires.\n\nRubber tires are likely to contain some traces of heavy metals or other serious pollutants, but these are tightly bonded within the actual rubber compound they are unlikely to be hazardous unless the tire structure is seriously damaged by fire or strong chemicals.\n\nBuilding elements\n\nTires filled with earth have been used as garden containers house foundations, bullet-proof walls and to prevent soil erosion in flood plains \n\nTire swing\n\nOld tires are sometimes converted into a swing for play. The innovative use allows for an easy way to find a purpose for an existing old tire not suitable for road use. \n\nExercise equipment\n\nUsed tires are employed as exercise equipment for athletic programs such as American football. One classic conditioning drill that hones players' speed and agility is the \"Tire Run\" where tires are laid out side by side, with each tire on the left a few inches ahead of the tire on the right in a zigzag pattern. Athletes then run through the tire pattern by stepping in the center of each tire. The drill forces athletes to lift their feet above the ground higher than normal to avoid tripping. \n\nRecycling\n\nTires can be recycled into, among other things, the hot melt asphalt, typically as crumb rubber modifier—recycled asphalt pavement (CRM—RAP), and as an aggregate in portland cement concrete Tires can also be recycled into other tires. Tires have also been cut up and used in garden beds as rubber mulch to hold in the water and to prevent weeds from growing. There are some \"green\" buildings that are being made both private and public buildings that are made from old tires.\n\nTire Pyrolysis\n\nThe tire pyrolysis method for recycling used tires is a technique which heats whole or shredded tires in a reactor vessel containing an oxygen-free atmosphere and a heat source. In the reactor the rubber is softened after which the rubber polymers continuously break down into smaller molecules."],"string":"[\n \"Unobtainium - TV Tropes\\n... the Trope Namer is the mineral sought by the mining company in Avatar. ... in the film, the unobtainium functions as a Mineral ... The Star Trek 2009 movie has ...\\nUnobtainium - TV Tropes\\nUnobtainium\\nYou need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account\\nShare\\nThe Spice must flow... damn, wrong franchise .\\n\\\"Is Unobtainium very hard to obtain?\\\"\\n— Peter Griffin, Family Guy\\nUnobtainium is the exotic material that is needed to make the Applied Phlebotinum of a story work. Without it, all your nifty machines and plot-enabling gadgets quit functioning.\\nSome forms of unobtainium are based on real physics, but beyond the current scope of human engineering, such as room-temperature superconductors\\n; they would revolutionize just about every form of technology, but they are not in and of themselves dangerous or based on some exotic physics-bending principle. Unobtainium is engineering jargon for, \\\"a material that would be perfect for our purposes, if we could get it, which we can't.\\\" Sometimes an object that actually exists, or existed at one time, becomes unobtainium because it's unavailable now.\\nOthers are more fantastic \\\"high-grade\\\" unobtainium, such as antimatter , which would be a revolutionary way of storing huge amounts of energy, if it didn't violentlynote as in, 1*10^-9 grams = tactical nuclear weapon yield undergo mutual annihilation with any conventional matter it comes into contact with, including air molecules and the walls of whatever you're trying to store the damn stuff in.\\nThe most common varieties of unobtainium in fiction sit somewhere in the middle, like materials so resistant to heat and/or damage as to be Nigh Invulnerable compared to other, similar substances. Materials such as mithril , adamantium, and orichalcum (and all variant spellings thereof) are the fantasy version . Thunderbolt Iron is especially popular in fiction (and has some basis in reality � until furnaces were invented, it was the best source of refined iron).\\nMuch mad science uses unobtainium, such as chemicals with impossible properties , universal solvents that can dissolve anything in the blink of an eye, super-explosives that make nitroglycerin look like a weak cough, and plenty of other funny-colored solutions . Following this would be medical and/or chemical wish-fulfillers; Classical real-world alchemy casually referred to carmot, the base substance of the Philosopher's Stone, and Azoth, either the \\\"universal medicine\\\" or \\\"universal solvent\\\". The ancient Greek writer Plato referred to \\\"orichalcum\\\" (Greek for \\\"mountain bronze\\\") in his description of Atlantis .\\nIn Science Fiction , it will usually take one of three flavors: whatever stuff makes Faster-Than-Light Travel possible, closely followed by the stuff that can mess with gravity (if they're not one and the same ), and finally, the stuff they make Humongous Mecha and Alien spacecraft out of, which is why they tend to be effectively immune from earthly weapons or environmental damage.\\nFor Willing Suspension of Disbelief , authors may pick out something actively being researched within the scientific community at the time of writing and run with it . Naturally, this risks dating the work when Science Marches On and today's \\\"super technology\\\" buzzword becomes the next generation's comic-book junk science . The current favorite in hard sci-fi is Helium-3\\n� believed by many to be the fuel of choice for those nifty fusion reactors that should be perfected any time now . Theoretically, it's a safe large-scale energy source with few environmental side effects . But more importantly, though, there's extremely little of it on Earth; on the Moon, it's Not Rare Over There — which would provide a good reason to go there .\\nThough a long time after the Trope Maker , the Trope Namer is the mineral sought by the mining company in Avatar note The term \\\"Unobtanium\\\" has been in use by engineers for far longer to describe any hypothetical material with currently- or then-impossible properties..\\nSee Also: Minovsky Physics when the Unobtainium has well-thought-out properties that are strictly adhered to, and its opposite, Green Rocks , when it can do anything and everything the plot demands.\\n open/close all folders \\n Anime & Manga \\nIn Neon Genesis Evangelion they have a special liquid called LCL which has several useful properties. One is its ability to conduct electrical signals, useful for electrically conducting nerve impulses between an Evangelion pilot and his/her Evangelion. But more amazing is its property that it can hold vast amounts of dissolved oxygen at concentrations high enough that once it has filled the lungs, a human can directly breath the oxygen present in it (handy thing when you have to fill a bio-mecha cockpit with this stuff and have the pilot be completely submerged in it). It's actually the blood of the Angel Lilith, which adds all sorts of retroactive squick when you realize they've been \\\"breathing\\\" it the whole time.\\nOrichalcum (or a variant spelling) is a metal with magical properties that makes appearances in several anime, including Slayers .\\nDigimon as a whole has the Chrome Digizoid metal ( also spelled ChronDigizoid). It's characterized as a highly sought after super-metal (with a silly name) of any colour which is very strong and cannot be damaged, except by other samples of it; in addition to being mined in some Digimon canons, a small number of Digimon species are either made of/plated in it (e.g. MetalEtemon) or wield weapons made of it (e.g. Zudomon, who killed the aforementioned MetalEtemon in Digimon Adventure ). The only time it's been referenced in the anime itself was briefly in the aforementioned Digimon Adventure incident between Zudomon and MetalEtemon, and then only mentioned offhand to give Zudomon, a lower-level Digimon, a way to revenge-kill MetalEtemon; as such, most mentions of the substance occur in the broader source material . According to said source material, there exist several varieties with different properties denoted by specific colours: Blue, which provides high speed (as seen on UlforceV-dramon ); Red, which provides even higher defence (e.g. Sleipmon ); Gold, which increases a Digimon's offensive power (e.g. Shoutmon DX ); and the vaguely described Black (e.g. Craniummon ) and Obsidian (e.g. KaiserLeomon ).\\nThe entire Gundam franchise uses unobtanium to various degrees.\\nIt is played straight and subverted in the very first series of all, Mobile Suit Gundam . Early on the Lunar Titanium Alloy used by the RX-78 Gundam is effectively indestructible to conventional fire, the oversized machineguns and bazookas used by mobile suits shaking it, but otherwise causing very little damage. This changed near the end of the series, when Zeon mobile suits gain beam weaponry technology, and we discover that beam weaponry trumps EVERYTHING in terms of armor. For the entire Universal Century timeline afterwords, combat becomes based around avoiding getting hit, since any significant hit at all is instantly fatal, regardless of armor. Even the large shields mobile suits carry generally only suffer one impact before getting blown away completely. Unless the shield in question has anti-beam coating, which itself is quite rare and still doesn't provide complete protection.\\nMobile Suit Gundam Wing plays the trope straight, and has the alloy Gundanium, which is incredibly tough, nearly immutable, heat-resistant, electrically neutral, and a natural radar damper. The \\\"rare, hard-to-find\\\" part comes from the fact that it can only be manufactured in space and the fact that at the start of the show, only six people in the world know how to make it. You might be surprised to learn that this has some basis in real-world science , as the crystalline structures that form as liquid metal solidifies can be very different in microgravity. The odds of creating an alloy with all the aforementioned properties remain fairly small, however.\\nThe Cosmic Era Expanded Universe has its own unobtainium in the form of the beam-resistant alloy the Gerbera Straight was forged out of. Only one person in the entire Earth Sphere knows its composition and how to forge it.\\nMazinger Z :\\nThe show took the \\\"ridiculously high strength/density ratio\\\" thing to a whole new level when Japanium is alloyed into Super Alloy Z. The titular robot, built from the stuff, stands 18 meters tall, yet weighs a meager 20 tons. In one episode, Dr. Hell managed to steal a supply of the stuff and build his own robot with Super Alloy Z armor, but he wasn't able to completely cover it with the stuff. Eventually, the heroes found out which part of it wasn't made of it, and was able to Attack Its Weak Point to destroy it. Great Mazinger and Venus A are built from the same stuff. And Mazinkaiser.\\nUFO Robo Grendizer gives two examples: Gren, an alien metal Grendizer itself is built with. Since it can not be found on Earth, when Grendizer gets damaged, Alloy Z is used to repair it; and Vegatron, a highly radioactive material only can be mined from planet Vega. The Vegans used it to create powerful weapons, but its overexploitation led to the planet becoming highly unstable.\\nSuper Alloy Z Alpha from the Mazinkaiser OVAs is several orders of magnitude more strong; it takes whithout a scratch the impact of two weapons of the original Mazinger and even is able to withstand swimming in hot lava.\\nLevistone from Kyouran Kazoku Nikki , a material which makes things hover when electricity runs through it.\\nCode Geass has Sakuradite, previously found and said to be the \\\"Philosopher's Stone\\\" in medieval times, and found in large amounts in Japan. It's now valued as a superconductor, being liquid in room temperature. It also explodes rather easily...\\nVarious evolution-inducing stones aside, in one episode of Pok�mon Team Rocket had a mecha composed of \\\"polished unobtainium\\\", which made it immune to Psychic attacks.\\nDone with a twist in Castle in the Sky where the Levistone (a Grade A Unobtainium ) is a well-known mineral (and the name of the material is Etherium instead of Levistone), commonly found in rocks — however, it rapidly decays when exposed to air and thus serves no practical purpose. The movie's Precursors knew how to refine it and fashion it into durable crystals, with many amazing properties. This technology has been lost and the world's nations will now stop at nothing to lay their hands on the few remaining samples.\\nThe Vision of Escaflowne has 2 of these.\\nOne of them is actually called Levistone here. It is heated to decrease its levitation (allowing one to control the height of an airship).\\nThe other (and more often referred to) is Drag Energist. It gives life to dragons and sits in their chest cavity where their heart would normally be. It is mined from places where there's lots of dead dragons or from a dragon that is hunted and killed. This mineral is usually pink and it directly creates electrical energy (just makes electricity out of thin air, no input required) needed to power mechs and other machinery. It also undergoes \\\"resonance\\\" (what seems to more accurately be nuclear fission) if too many are placed together in the same area. In one of the last episodes, an atomic bomb is built using this same principle with this material.\\nSeastone, apparently \\\"a solidified form of the sea\\\". Contact with it will weaken Devil Fruit users, and drain them of their abilities . It's also apparently harder than diamond.\\nAdam, a super-strong type of wood.\\nDon Krieg's armour was made of Wootz steel, a real-world type of unobtanium (see below).\\nVizorium is both the Unobtainium that makes warp-drive possible, and the central plot driver of the Dirty Pair Movie Project Eden.\\nGEMs in Mai-Otome give Otome their robes (and thus, most of their powers). The Coral and Pearl GEMs used by students are artificially created, but the knowledge of how to create Meister GEMs was lost, making them extremely valuable.\\nOutlaw Star has dragonite, used for Faster-Than-Light Travel (and accidental Pok�mon references ).\\nLupin III has used several different examples of this trope.\\nGoemon Ishikawa XIII has a katana with a blade made either from a meteor (the manga series) or from a rare alloy that only his clan knows the secrets to making ( Lupin III: Dragon of Doom , Lupin III: Episode 0: First Contact ).\\nLupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine has Alexanderite. A gemstone that changes from red to blue, depending on the light.\\nThe crossover special, Lupin III vs. Detective Conan , features a brand new mineral discovered in Vespania that allows a brief moment of stealth.\\nIn Claymore swords are made from a rare ore which makes them indestructible. The near-impossibility of getting said ore and the ease at which the Claymore's organization is able to get the ore to make new swords becomes a big supporting evidence of a major plot point quite far into the story.\\nIn Dragon Ball Z , Supreme Kai summons a block of \\\"Kachin\\\", the hardest metal in the universe, to show just how awesome the Z Sword is. It consequently breaks to release Supreme Kai's predecessor from 15 generations ago and the metal is never heard of again.\\n Comic Books \\nMarvel Universe :\\nNaturally, the setting has adamantium (in multiple flavors; see below), but it also has other \\\"magic metals\\\" like vibranium (of which there are two varieties, Wakandan [which absorbs kinetic energy/sound/vibrations] and Antarctic [atypically emits vibrations that cause other metals near it to liquefy]), Uru (an enchantable material, the same metal of which from Thor's hammer was forged), promethium (a magical metal found only in Otherplace/Limbo, which can be used as an energy source, despite it being a real chemical element with real properties), and netheranium (the material of Damien Hellstrom's trident). The best example, though, would have to be the infamous \\\"unstable molecules\\\" used to make so many heroes' and villains' costumes.\\nAnd Captain America 's unobtainable unobtainium shield — completely indestructible, but also a handwavy one-off item. A number of stories suggest that Cap's shield is an otherwise impossible vibrainium/adamantium alloy reinforced by American righteousness (as opposed to ''self''-righteousness ). Since the guy making it fell asleep during the forging process, we'll never know. The \\\"vibranium/adamantium alloy\\\" thing is due to a misprint in one of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe issues. His shield was made from a unique alloy of iron, Wakandan vibranium, and some unknown contaminant. When the metallurgist who had made it tried recreating the alloy (while Cap was frozen), the closest he could come up with is what's known as (true) adamantium, which is slightly weaker than the alloy in Cap's shield!\\nSpeaking of, adamantium comes in a few flavors. True Adamantium is the nearly-indestructible metal alloy that's bonded to the bones and claws of Wolverine . There's also Secondary Adamantium, which is a lot cheaper to make but is still quite strong. Carbonadium (the stuff covering Omega Red's tentacles ) is what the Soviets came up with when they tried to create true adamantium ; it's about as strong as secondary adamantium, but is more malleable... and radioactive. Also, in the Ultimate Marvel universe, adamantium can block telepathy.\\nA metal native to the Breakworld in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run adversely affected Kitty Pryde when she phased through it, to the point where she ended up stranded inside a ten-mile long bullet of the stuff when she phased it through the Earth , and wasn't able to control her powers after Magneto rescued her.\\nIn an early Marvel/DC crossover featuring the X-Men and the New Teen Titans, the villain Darkseid keeps both teams shackled, and states that Kitty Pryde's shackles are made of a rare metal with molecules so tightly packed, not even she can phase through them.\\nThe DCU has its own varieties of unobtainium:\\nIn the Silver Age DCU, Krypton became a gold mine of unobtainium. Any item, living or not, that originated there would become indestructible under a yellow sun. Kryptonite was also formed by the explosion of Krypton (with various varieties in the Silver and Bronze Ages).\\nPromethium is the DCU's equivalent of adamantium, a super hard metal that superstrong superheroes have a tough time damaging (it was used to create Cyborg 's body), and Nth Metal, or \\\"transuranic iron ore,\\\" was the key to Thanagarian technology (as seen frequently in Justice League ). Irritatingly , promethium is a real metal (element 61), one with no stable isotopes and no special structural properties. DC's promethium comes in two flavors. \\\"Raw\\\" promethium can be used as an energy source or a mutagen . When alloyed with titanium and vanadium, it forms a near-invulnerable metal.\\nIn the video game Batman: Vengeance , there's a substance called \\\"prometheum,\\\" which shares its name with DC's metal, but it's a chemical formula that's used for keeping people cryogenically preserved, but bursts into flame very easily .\\nThe first version of the Legion of Super-Heroes used \\\"inertron\\\" for this purpose, an invulnerable metal.\\nThe pre- Crisis DCU also featured the invulnerable metals \\\"Supermanium\\\" (a metal once created by Superman) and \\\"Amazonium\\\" (the metal Wonder Woman 's bracelets were made from), both invulnerable metals akin to inertron.\\nRadion is incredibly rare. It's also very special because it is the Kryptonite Factor of the New Gods . Even Darkseid can be truly and permanently killed by Radion poisoning and a Radion bullet — fired by Batman of all people — to the shoulder is the first part of Darkseid's Rasputinian Death in Final Crisis .\\nStellarium is a very rare and special mineral that has the incredible ability to stabilize planets, prolonging their inevitable destruction. Green Lantern Tomar-Re tried to use a bit of stellarium to save Krypton, but was delayed. In Omega Men , the conflict over the Vega system is due to Vega being one of the only places where stellarium can be mined.\\nTintin :\\nThe adventure Tintin The Shooting Star revolves around a mission to retrieve a sample of unobtainium (dubbed \\\"Phostlite\\\") from a fallen meteorite. The only obvious property of the stuff is making mushrooms grow really fast. And other plants. And animals, like butterflies and spiders. Fortunately, germs don't seem to be included.\\nIn Tintin Destination Moon , Professor Calculus has invented a new substance — calculon — which can \\\"resist even the highest temperatures\\\", with which to make the nuclear fission motor for the rocket.\\nEpiphyte in The Metabarons , the original source of the Castaka family wealth. It is an oil with anti-gravity properties.\\nChaos Emeralds in Sonic the Hedgehog went from Kryptonite Is Everywhere to Unobtainium during the \\\"Order From Chaos\\\" storyline. Prior to the story, Mobius had hundreds of Chaos Emeralds and if the story needed one, poof, there ya go. However, when A.D.A.M. drew every Chaos Emerald in the solar system to Mobius, Turbo Tails and Super Shadow (the ones who were forced to bring them there) realize how dangerous that was and shove them all into the Zone of Silence. Feist, the being remaining there, became a god when he harnessed their power to remake the Zone and condensed all of those emeralds into only seven. Like their video game counterparts, they're used for either Super Mode activation or powering up super weapons. Like rewriting your reality.\\nBombastium from the Disney Duck Comics Universe is believed by a Brutopian secret agent (hinted to actually be his country's prime minister, since he is a caricature of Nikolas Khrouchtchev and seems to be able to command the Brutopian navy) to be an all-mighty unobtainium. It is a pink substance that's so rare that the world's whole quantity of bombastium looks like an ice cream ball. (Literally. The world's whole reserves of bombastium are a pink ball stuck inside a big ice cube.) Since Scrooge was pushed into buying the thing, the Brutopian dignitary chases him all around the world, trying to buy and later to steal the bombastium. When he finally gets hold on the ball, it is discovered that its only power is to make ice cream: one tiny bit of bombastic in a barrel of water transforms into a barrel of ice cream, each time of a different savor, and the Brutopian � who doesn't like ice cream � angrily gives the ball back to Scrooge.\\n Films � Animation \\nQuantonium in Monsters vs. Aliens . The Big Bad needs it to power his cloning machine so he can execute the Alien Invasion . The only known supply is absorbed into the body of Susan Murphy, who then suffers from some interesting side effects .\\n Films � Live-Action \\nCentral to the plot of Black Lighting (Chernaya Molniya) is a mystery space element that powers the flying car. The Corrupt Corporate Executive spends the entire movie trying to get his hands on it.\\nAvatar refers to it by name . The movie features a mineral called unobtainium, although, in the film, the unobtainium functions as a Mineral MacGuffin ; it's described as a room temperature superconductor\\nthat makes space travel more affordable, but never really expanded on apart from that. On the website wiki\\nsome of the other uses make it apply to this trope better. According to the guide , it's called \\\"unobtainium\\\" because this is a tongue-in-cheek designation for all high-temperature superconductor materials, called so by Earth scientists when they gave up on reliably synthesizing them. Cartoon Network's Mad series lampoon of Avatar lampshades and mocks the name by calling it \\\"Stupidnameium\\\".\\nThe Core lampshaded this, calling their Unobtainium Unobtainium (\\\"Its real name is thirty-seven syllables long \\\") which turned heat and pressure into electrical energy. Perfect for a journey through the Earth's molten core. Extremely practical, as all you had to do was to randomly cut supply wires and casually weld them to the substance in question, and you had an energy source that rivaled a nuclear reactor.note There are actually Real Life substances that turn pressure into electricity, known as Piezoelectric substances, although they wouldn't work on such a large scale. One example is quartz crystals (including the one that goes \\\"tick\\\" in your wristwatch). Piezoelectric materials work by flexing, seeing as how the energy has to come from somewhere. This means your core-ship would generate lots of lovely electricity in the process of crumpling into a ball. If a Real Life metallurgist with a sense of humor actually managed to make something that worked as in the movie, they might be sorely tempted to call it \\\"unobtainium\\\" or \\\"impossibilium\\\" or something like that.\\nMetallic tritium serves this function in Spider-Man 2 . Doctor Octopus has to make a Deal with the Devil (requiring him to beat the protagonist) in order to get some. Strangely enough, the way he's going to use the tritium is a scaled-down version of one way physicists are trying to develop fusion power called \\\"inertial confinement\\\". The idea is the same, vaporize an amount of an element with lasers in an attempt to create a miniature sun, only the scale and elements used are different. For more information, this writer's original reference is \\\"Kaku, Michio PhD. Physics of the Impossible. Doubleday Publishing, 2008. Pages 43-45.\\\"\\nParodied in the fifties B-movie homage The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra with Atmosphereum, a super-powerful and poorly-defined element capable of operating spacecraft, resurrecting evil skeletons, and delivering actual advances in the field of science.\\nFluid Karma in Southland Tales . A compound found by drilling in the ocean that apparently can be used to generate electric power. Also, acts as a drug working somewhat like a Green Rock .\\nStar Trek :\\nThe Star Trek 2009 movie has red matter, which can make black holes on cue.\\nStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home also has an unobtainium in the form of Transparent Aluminum, which allows Scotty to create a giant aquarium in the shuttle to transport a breeding pair of whales back to 24th century Earth. Significantly, the material is known to Scotty, :who then helped the inventor create it in an ethically challenging time loop. It should be noted that recent advances in materials science actually have created a form of transparent steel, at least in the lab.note Transparent aluminium oxide is a real-world material starting to see commercial use, primarily as an alternative to Gorilla Glass called Sapphire Glass (sapphires are aluminium oxide crystals with trace amounts of, usually, iron, giving them a blue color).\\nIn Outlander , after establishing that Viking swords aren't strong enough to injure the Moorwen, Kainan salvages some hull metal from his crashed starship, and gives this to the local blacksmith to forge some stronger swords.\\nTurbinium from the original Total Recall (1990) , which is being mined on Mars against the local rebels' wishes and keeps Cohaagen's regime running, as his superiors on Earth give him carte blanche as long as their supply remains constant.\\nIn District 9 , the unnamed nanofluid is found in prawn technology in extremely small amounts, and is apparently quite precious. It has the power to activate the aliens' ship as well as transform a human into a prawn.\\nIn Iron Man 2 , the element which powers Stark's Arc Reactor is palladium (which is a real element, and not this trope) before he synthesizes a better substitute (which is).\\nIn 21 Jump Street , there is also a substance called Unobtainium, which apparently \\\"has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor — carry the �2′ — changing its atomic isotoner into a radioactive spider.\\\" Or, you know, this thing doesn't exist and the character speaking was just stoned out of his mind.\\nThe spaceship in Galaxy Quest runs on beryllium, a natural but rare element. When the only beryllium sphere on board breaks under stress, the crew sets out to obtain a replacement sphere from a nearby planet. They eventually succeed but the distraction caused by this side quest enables the Big Bad to seize their ship.\\nAdamantium in X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes from meteors. Specifically, sacred African meteors, making it this continuity's answer to Vibranium. Thus completing the transformation begun in the Ultimate Avengers films.\\n Literature \\nCavorite from H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon .\\nPlattnerite from Stephen Baxter 's The Time Machine sequel, The Time Ships, is an indeterminate, glowing green mineral that allows time travel. It's name and description are a Shout-Out to a character and material found in other Wells stories.\\nWells also had a previously undiscovered element present in the titular comet in The Day of the Comet.\\nTom Swift had Tomasite. A super plastic, a 1 inch layer of it was better than a foot of lead at shielding a nuclear reactor.\\nHarry Harrison 's 1973 Golden Age SF spoof novel, Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers features Cheddite (a fuel created from cheese). In another scene the heroes' 747 jet is turned into a spacecraft by means of windows armored with armolite, vacuum insulation with insulite, fuel tanks filled with combustite, guns firing pellets of destructite, batteries replaced with capacitite and a space-warp drive powered by warpite.\\nIn the Spaceforce universe, ships' hyperdrives are powered by a crystal called garrium which is found on only a few planets in the known galaxy. It is so valuable that entire planetary economies are based on scooping up tiny fragments of it in tonnes of dust.\\nMelange, also called spice, in the Dune novels, extends life and grants limited prescience, allowing Faster-Than-Light Travel . And it tastes like cinnamon . Oh, and there are other uses. If it seems like something that would be extremely valuable and important, that's because it is. It's generally thought to be an Alternate Company Equivalent to oil in the way that it drives the greater economy and is controlled by warlike tribes.\\nThe German SF/pulp series Perry Rhodan has over the course of its history collected a fair bit of unobtainium in various forms.\\nClassic examples are Ynkelonium, a metallic element that does not react with antimatter and can to an extent prevent such reactions from occurring in its immediate vicinity, and Luurs-Metal, which always maintains a constant temperature of about 3.4 degrees Celsius. Both materials occur naturally in the universe and cannot be synthesized.\\nThat's only two of the many examples, the series frequently introducing new and exotic materials, practically whenever a new alien species is encountered. The wiki for the series alone consists of at least 150 entries for exotic materials and is by no means complete.\\nLarry Niven 's Ringworld has a few examples:\\nScrith, the material used to make the titular megastructure. It is nearly frictionless, blocks almost all radiation (including 40% of neutrinos, which would take about a light-year thickness of lead) and has a tensile strength on the same order of magnitude as the strong nuclear force.\\nThe unnamed substance the Puppeteers make General Products hulls out of. They're actually massive molecules big enough to live in.\\nand durasteel\\n(which itself is an alloy of carvanium, lommite, carbon, meleenium, neutronium, and zersium)... Well, let's say there are lots of interesting materials and substances in the Star Wars EU. Special mention goes to cortosis\\n, which is lightsaber-resistant. Or in its purest form actually causes lightsabers to short out. Cortosis doesn't have a monopoly on the lightsaber-resisting properties: phrik, beskar(Mandalorian Iron), ultrachrome, and songsteel also boast that property, Mandalorian Iron and phrik are said to be even stronger to near Adamantium-like degrees, with a container made of phrik actually managing to stay intact after being on Alderaan when the planet was destroyed. Cortosis's ability to short out a lightsaber blade on contact, however, is unique to it alone.\\nThe Uplift Series by David Brin has a material of the name unobtainium.\\nThe hyperdrive of Kevin J. Anderson's The Saga of Seven Suns is fuelled by \\\"ekti,\\\" described as \\\"an allotropic isotope of hydrogen.\\\"\\nAtium and Lerasium from the Mistborn books, atium is only mined in one place, it's extremely rare, and incredibly powerful, because it allows an allomancer to see a few moments into the future, effectively making them nearly invincible in combat. While only a few nuggets of Lerasium appear to exist and anyone who ingests Lerasium will instantaneously become a mistborn. All of the properties of Atium and Lerasium are ultimately justified by them being made from the bodies of gods.\\nIn Wax And Wayne , Atium and Lerasium are no more due to some shuffling in the godly domain, but on the other hand, there's aluminum, which is allomantically neutral, thus providing justification for wearing a Tinfoil Hat , and is rare enough that it's worth more than gold. (See the Real Life folder. Despite being one of the most common metals in the earth's crust, before refining processes were perfected it was immensely valuable)\\nJohn Ringo 's Looking Glass series is so named for the instantaneous transmission portals which were created by what were originally thought to be Higgs bosons. That identification was later corrected, and they were renamed Looking Glass Bosons . The looking glasses of the first book take a secondary role however, after the series takes off into space in a ship powered by a Black Box of alien origin, and when the ship is destroyed in the third book, it is entirely remade by an alien race the ship just saved. This leads to the fourth book where the captain of the ship discovers he is missing a large number of alien made spare parts and lampshades all of this saying, \\\"And now I have to call SpaceCom and explain to them that we're non-mission-capable until a couple of tons of Unobtainium parts and tools get found!\\\"\\nJohn Ringo 's Legacy of the Aldenata series has an alien race able to produce materials with physical properties that the Earth scientists consider flatly impossible. It turns out that they do this by mentally altering the probability of chemical reactions, such that extremely unlikely reactions occur consistently enough to form new compounds that the Earth scientists and engineers cannot replicate.\\nPractically every book in the old Danny Dunn children's sci-fi series starts out with the discovery of a new form of Unobtainium. Usually because Danny or a friend of his spilled something in the lab.\\nTanglestone from the Elizabeth Bear book, Undertow, was only found on the planet named Greene's World, and allowed instant data and material transportation across many light years from the colonies to Earth.\\nIn Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series, there's living metal, which can only be gotten by one character, because it grows on her hand due to an accident involving fire and a staff with a metal top. Later she can make it faster by putting some in a jar and adding some of her blood to it, but she is still the only person who can make it, and thus the only one with consistent access to it.\\nRudyard Kipling 's story The Night Mail has airships lifted by \\\"Fleury's gas\\\" energized by \\\"Fleury's ray.\\\" The lifting power of the gas can apparently be rapidly adjusted, and is so great that airships are made rigid enough to achieve speeds of two hundred miles per hour without straining the hull or engines. (No real-world airshipnote a lighter-than-air vessel, as distinct from an airplane, many of which have stall speeds above 100 mph has ever reached one hundred.)\\nIn Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged , industrialist Henry Rearden is introduced as a protagonist by way of his invention of \\\"Rearden Metal,\\\" a somewhat vaguely-described alloy of steel and copper which is much stronger and cheaper to produce than industrial-grade steel.\\nIt even started out the same way Unobtainium usually starts: as an engineers joke. Rearden was originally trying to design fantastic bridges; once he discovered that it was impossible with regular metal, he set out to make his own .\\nNeal Stephenson 's The Baroque Cycle gives us the Solomonic gold, and Stephenson also goes into a long digression on wootz steel, which is actually real and pretty damn awesome to boot.\\nNeal Stephenson 's Anathem has a material called New Matter that has drastically different properties than regular matter. It is explicitly stated that it is an alternative chemistry created by rearranging subatomic particles. This is based on Real Life physics with Exotic Matter.\\nE. E. �Doc� Smith 's Skylark Series features several nonexistent wonder-metals, including Arenak\\nfor super-tough armor, and Metal X which can convert matter completely into energy when exposed to X-rays.\\nHumanity's escape from the doomed planet earth in When Worlds Collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer is finally made possible when tides from the approaching planet tear open the earth, revealing the previously hypothetical wonder-metal needed for nuclear-powered space travel.\\nWil McCarthy's Queendom of Sol series has quantum dots, which can imitate the properties of ordinary matter as well as manifesting exotic attributes like perfect reflectivity and frictionlessness. He also wrote a non-fiction novel called Hacking Matter that talks about the real-world possibility of using them. So, unobtainium today, but maybe not tomorrow.\\nDiscworld subverts this trope with octiron, a fantastic metal that's really only useful as a substitute for spherical worlds' compass magnets (it points to the Hub). Played straight with sapient pearwood, which is to blame for the Luggage's animation and magical properties.\\nNeal Asher's The Polity series has Chainglass, a material made from silicon chain molecules that can be made near-indestructible and sharp enough to slice through steel with ease. Chainglass is used instead of metal and plastic in most applications. It also made the inventor the richest man in the galaxy.\\nUrim in L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero's Daughter trilogy. Warrior angels wear it. It can hold the Water of Life. A gauntlet made of Urim allows the wielding of the Staff of Decay without harm.\\nThe Sten series has Anti-Matter Two, the only energy source capable of generating enough power to run hyperspace engines and make interstellar travel feasible. In all the Universe there is only a single source of AM2, and only the Eternal Emperor knows where it is.\\nIn Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Heaven , common coal have rare \\\"slow\\\" and \\\"fast\\\" coal that slow or speed up time inside it. The Big Bad had hundreds of young girl slaves move hands over small pieces of coal and pick out those specific coal pieces.\\nAnimorphs made a brief mention of ramonite, the metal that makes up most spacecraft and gives it its properties of stretching open doorways and opaquing/clearing the viewports.\\nIn Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler, the US hatches a military plan requiring ultra-rare byzanium. The only known deposit, on a remote Russian Arctic island, had been mined out in the early 20th century, and the entire output shipped out on an ocean liner to the United States. Guess which one.\\nPhlogiston in The Extraordinaires . It is a semi-magical substance that allows Time Machines and other Steam Punk -ish gadgets beyond the realm of Edwardian science to function. Control of the supply of phlogiston is a powerful bargaining chip.\\nValyrian steel in A Song of Ice and Fire , which is possibly an Expy of Damascus steel. It is a magical alloy created in old Valyria, and Valyrian steel weapons are far superior to weapons made of ordinary steel. The secret of creating Valyrian steel was lost when Valyria fell, but especially skilled blacksmiths can reforge swords from existing Valyrian steel.\\nA few Robert Heinlein stories reference \\\"Shipstones\\\". These are, basically, very very very good batteries. They're not actually unobtainable, as the Shipstone Corporation will be happy to lease (not sell) you one, but good luck getting one from any other source since their method of construction is secret and disassembling one to see how it works either gets you a non-working mess (if you're lucky) or dead (they tend to explode if taken apart).\\nIn H.P. Lovecraft 's \\\"In the Walls of Eryx,\\\" the \\\"crystals\\\" on Venus are super high-energy sources for humans, though they have some strange psychic/religious value to the native Venusians.\\nPeter and the Starcatchers reimagined pixie dust as \\\"starstuff\\\", a mysterious substance that falls to earth every so often like a meteorite, and can be used to grant people the power of flight as well as heal and stop the aging process. A secret society known as the Starcatchers exists to guard its power from those who would seek to use it towards selfish ends. In the first book, a large quantity of it is accidentally released on an uncharted island, turning fish into mermaids, a bird into Tinker Bell, and the title character into a boy who can fly indefinitely and will never age.\\n Live-Action TV \\nDoctor Who :\\nDalek cases are made of Dalekanium, which makes them Immune to Bullets , although recent episodes showed that they now use a Deflector Shields variant to vaporize bullets before they even reach the case. Dalekanium is often called \\\"bonded polycarbide\\\" when they want it to sound less silly. Which basically means plastic, specifically Kevlar.\\nVarious episodes have featured a group of people in a confined space looking for Unobtainium when suddenly they get attacked by the alien of the week . Dark Matter has been used as the unobtainium more than once and has several different uses and effects depending on what episode you see, from use as transport between dimensions to regular spaceship fuel to turning people into bloodthirsty monsters.\\nStargate-verse :\\nIn Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis , naquahdah is material the Gate is made of. Also, naquadah-enhanced nukes are used to Blow Stuff Up. This is demonstrated magnificently in the season 3 finale of Stargate Atlantis . Naquadah is also a powerful source of energy (naquadah reactors).\\nIts evil twin is naquadriah, which can also be used to Blow Stuff Up, but is radioactive, \\\"unstable\\\" and has a track record of blowing up its users. Naquadriah also indirectly plays the Unobtainium role in Stargate Universe as the only known power source that can support a wormhole between the Milky Way and Destiny. Only problem is that it takes a planet full of the stuff to do it, and that planet tends to blow up in the process.\\nThe iris on Earth's Stargate is made of a trinium-titanium alloy.\\nHuman-form Replicators apparently need neutronium (which is a real thing\\n, but a bit exotic in that it can only have stable existence in a neutron star).\\nAlso ZPMs could be seen as a sort of unobtainium given that no-one knows how to make them and they're needed to run all the Ancient technology in the series (as well as providing a convenient bit of Tim Taylor Technology to the human ships).\\nThe whole of Star Trek is liberally sprinkled with various types and grades of unobtainium.\\nThe original (and most frequently recurring) example is dilithium, used in the reactor core of warp drives as a control medium because lithium's properties were well-known , but there are many others.\\nCorbomite, which doesn't actually exist; it was an Ass Pull by James T. Kirk to bluff an enemy — which means that Trek pulled a Lampshade Hanging on their own tendency to invent vaguely-magical substances in one of its earliest episodes.\\nNeutronium. Essentially this is used any time something's made of a material that the crew's weapons won't be able to penetrate. This is a real substance: a type of \\\"degenerate matter\\\" composed entirely of neutrons, thought to be what neutron stars are made of — but since even a thimbleful would weigh millions of tons, its usefulness as a material is rather limited. Astrophysicists rarely if ever use the word \\\"neutronium\\\" for this stuff, preferring terms like neutron-degenerate matter, and that that neutron star matter would not be stable without the extreme pressures of a neutron star in the first place anyway, i.e. it would instantly explode producing extremely intense neutron radiation.\\nDuranium, Tritanium, Baakonite\\nLatinum, a valuable liquid metal, used as a form of hard currency due to its rarity and the fact that replicator technology cannot recreate it.\\nTrilithium, less stable than dilithium, but equally magical.\\nKeiyurium, a Shout-Out to the original Dirty Pair .\\nVerterium Cortenide, a compound of two non-existent substances, used in the warp coils themselves.\\nArcherite, another Ass Pull, this time by the Andorian Shran when explaining to another alien commander what he was doing in their territory.\\nTransparent aluminum exists now. See here\\nAluminum Oxynitride is a ceramic, however. Transparent aluminum metal remains unobtainium.\\nCortenide, which comprises Data's skull with duranium, as he describes to a Klingon warrior who almost knocked himself out headbutting him.\\nTrellium-D formed a major Mineral MacGuffin for the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise , which has the ability to negate the random anomalies that existed in the Expanse. Interestingly, there appeared to be a sub-science developed around the item, with a method of synthesizing the stuff.\\nAt one point in Star Trek: Voyager when aliens try to kidnap Paris for the weapons research that has been implanted in his brain, Janeway mentions that they packed the shuttle he was captured in with fulmorite explosives.\\nBoth versions of Battlestar Galactica relied on a fictional element called \\\"tylium\\\" to power their FTL drives.\\nPower Rangers :\\nIn Power Rangers Time Force , Trizirium Crystals are an very powerful energy source that originally won't be discovered about 200 years from 2001, because of the battles between the Time Force Rangers and Ransik, as well as Bio-Lab trying to reverse-engineer the future tech the early discovery nearly sucked the world into time vortices in the \\\"End of Time\\\" three-part finale.\\nPower Rangers RPM has flux overthrusters needed to handle advanced zord control stuff. The first one was lost in the wastelands after the plane it was installed in was shot down. The second...well, it's lucky that that's when the bad guys sent a bot capable of Power Copying .\\nThe jumpgates and jumpdrives of Babylon 5 relied on an exotic and extremely rare mineral called Quantium-40 to function.\\nIn Knight Rider (the original series), KITT was built out of a material called either Tri-Helical MBS (commonly referred to as a \\\"Molecular-Bonded Shell\\\") or Plasteel 1000, which rendered the car almost indestructible.\\nIn the TV series of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids , it's revealed that an element Wayne named \\\"Szalinskium\\\" is at the core of all his impossible inventions. In another episode it's revealed that he obtained it from the space alien Arnox.\\nIn a two-part episode of the Lynda Carter TV adaptation of Wonder Woman , we learn that her indestructable bullet-deflecting bracelets are made of \\\"Feminum.\\\" (This is in contrast with the Comic Book canon, which at the time held that her bracelets were made of \\\"Amazonium.\\\")\\nIn The Amazing Extraordinary Friends , the X insignia is specifically stated to be made of unobtanium, which is how it bestows all manner of superpowers on Captain X.\\n Myths & Religion \\nThe oldest example would be Orichalcum (Orichalc, orichalcos) which is part of the Atlantis myth - Plato describes it as somewhat reddish, shiny, and hard, and usable both as armor and art. Conspiracy buffs identify it with an alloy of gold and copper from South America that does, in fact, have these properties.\\nAdamant, which has a legendary hardness dating back centuries, being an older name for diamond. Unfortunately, it also shares a name with an adjective, and so tends to be saddled with suffixes. Look for Adamantine, or for that Sci-Fi twist, Adamantium.\\nThe entire premise of ancient and medieval Alchemy was based on the pseudo-scientific search for Unobtainium (\\\"philosopher's stone\\\" or \\\"quintessence\\\"), usually described as a material which would catalyze the manufacture of gold from base metals.\\n Newspaper Comics \\nDilbert , comic, Dogbert claims to have discovered one he calls Dogbertium, with \\\"mysterious\\\" properties, including only existing when nobody asks him any questions.\\n Pinballs \\nThe Red Matter in Stern Pinball 's Star Trek ; getting enough of it creates a Black Hole, which awards a mystery prize.\\nUnobtainium is one of the playfield targets in Avatar .\\n Tabletop Games \\nShadowrun , true to its fantasy-scifi-blend form, borrows from myths for its Unobtainium , such as orichalcum, an alloy of copper, gold, silver, and mercury that couldn't even begin to exist if there wasn't magic in the world.\\nWarhammer 40,000 :\\nAlmost every race has a form of this, from the psychic wraith bone to the ubiquitous armour plate the humans use on tanks, adamantium. Adamantium's properties are never really explained, though, in the books, it seems to suffer from a mineral variation of The Worf Effect (\\\"How could they cut through X many feet of adamantium that easily?!\\\"). The technology levels in the setting also cause some rather strange applications for the unobtainium, such as adamantium bayonets fitted to the lasguns of the Imperial Guard .\\nAdamantium when it first appeared in Warhammer 40,000 , could only be created in orbital plasma refineries and once set it was essentially indestructible. Plasteel was what Terminators were mostly made out of (Dreadnoughts had significant amounts of Adamantium, but most vehicles weren't made of the stuff - heck no real mention of what material they were made out of at all. Even the Land Raiders were mostly titanium-bonded ceramite when it was first discussed what they were made out of). Once Adamantium became ubiquitous through the Imperium, that's when the stuff got Worfed.\\nAnother Worf Effect example is the material used in Space Marine power armour, Ceramite (often such examples involve either cutting blades, or melta/heat weapons as ceramite is reckoned to be extremely resistant to heat). This also happens a lot with human building materials in that universe, all of which have odd but recognizable names and are supposedly better than what we have now, but which can be reduced to rubble in the first bombardment.\\nPromethium is some kind of super fuel (or a generic term for any fuel), which is used in everything from their warmachines and flamethrowers, and can be harvested from gas planets, some kinds of ice, and in mineral form.\\nIn Warhammer (fantasy setting of 40000), glowing green \\\"warpstone\\\" is used to create mutations, enhance magical powers, bring the dead to life, and as an energy source for powerful technology. In the Skaven rat-men society, it is even used as currency. Warpstone is considered rare, and is mined and collected by nearly all factions in the Warhammer setting. The Warhammer world also has a moon composed entirely of warpstone, Morrslieb, which rains warpstone meteor showers on occasion.\\nIn it's sequel Warhammer: Age of Sigmar we have Sigmarite, a metal ore mined at great cost from Mallus, the Old World's core. It's mainly used in the weapons, armor and equipment of the Stormcast Eternals and it's rumored that Ghal Maraz, Sigmar's hammer, it's made of it. This reinforces the fan theory that Sigmarite it's just gromril, also called meteoric iron. A metal used extensively by the dwarves and the Empire in their magic weapons and heavy armors.\\nDungeons & Dragons :\\nThe game mithril, adamantine, orichalchum, AND the Philosopher's Stone. Unobtainium overload... and that's the tip of the iceberg.\\nEberron has Dragonshards, Khyber Dragonshards, Siberys Dragonshards, Star Metal, Baatorian Steel, Residuum, Arcanite, Byeshk, Ironwood, Bronzewood, Densewood, Soarwood & Riedran Crysteel. Unobtainium overload indeed.\\nRed steel, cinnabril, and related substances from the \\\"Red Steel\\\" region of Mystara .\\nBloodsilver from the Birthright setting.\\nExalted\\nThe five magical materials, Orichalcum, Moonsilver, Starmetal, some variants of Jade and Soulsteel. All of these are extremely difficult to obtain and work: Orichalcum only forms when gold touches magma and has to be worked in a lava flow while sunlight streams onto the forge, Moonsilver only forms in the Wyld, where reality is breaking down, Starmetal is made from dead gods and, while working it is theoretically as simple as iron, Fate conspires to make the manufacturing process go wrong in ten thousand little ways, Soulsteel is made from ore from the Labyrinth (under the Underworld) and ghosts, Jade requires hazardous chemicals to work and is used as a currency, admittedly an extremely high-value one . There is even an Unobtainium version of Jade - in rare and unrepeatable alchemical accidents Jade (most normally a mixture of white and green Jade) can be turned into Yellow Jade which is possibly the most coveted magical material out there.\\nWith the release of the Alchemical sourcebook, there now exists a sixth basic magical material as well: Adamant. It is extremely rare in the main world of Creation, and only slightly more commonly found in the machine-body world of the Primordial Autochthon. To quote the sourcebook, \\\"Adamant is composed of super-dense, electric-blue diamonds that form in yard-long rod-like masses with smaller crystals growing off larger ones. They can be found in areas that are under enormous pressure and are scorchingly hot. Mining for adamant is impossible without protective gear, even for Exalts, and special tools must be used to cut the crystalline rods free so that they can be taken back to a city and refined into useable forms.\\\" Though it is a crystal, rather than a metal or stone like the other materials, it is used in the forging of magic weapons and armor in an identical way to the others.\\nSolars. One of the reasons that Solar technology is unsustainable by anybody else is due to their Wyld Shaping powers. When Solars need a material with properties relevant to the artifact or Magitek they are building, they just go out into the Wyld and conjure it up, regardless of how impossible its existence would otherwise be.\\nMage: The Awakening :\\nThe \\\"Perfected Metals\\\". They have numerous extremely useful properties (perfected iron, for example, is practically indestructible, capable of cutting through diamond when properly sharpened, and can bend like rubber before returning to its original shape, with absolutely no metal fatigue), and can be used to create all manner of useful alloys (such as the anti-magic \\\"thaumium\\\"). There are only seven of them (only alchemical metals can be perfected), and it takes powerful magic to perfect them and alloy them. Perfecting is also a very expensive process, since it requires only naturally formed samples of metal (rather than transmuted or conjured) and only 10% of the mass yields perfected metal, with the rest being completely lost (hence, you perfect 100 grams of metal and only get 10 grams of perfected metal, with the remainder destroyed).\\nApeiron, a material that can only be produced by some archmasters and appears to be some sort of Platonic ideal: it has whatever physical properties are best for the situation at hand. This is actually an example of an author being extremely informed; in a philosophical debate in ancient Greece philosophers argued over which Element was the foundation of all existence. The winner of the debate proposed 'Apeiron' over any of the traditional four elements, describing it as 'undifferentiated stuff' that could concentrate into different configurations to form anything.\\nAs well as the lanthanum used in jump drive technology, Traveller features so many varieties of unobtainium that the latest edition lampshades it by including \\\"unobtainium\\\" as a trade good.\\nGhost Rock, which burns twice as long and twice as hot as coal, is used for all the weird high tech stuff from Deadlands and somehow stopped the collapse of the Confederacy. Oh, and it looks like coal that has had tortured human faces into it, and it moans faintly when burned.\\nThe various essential elements from GURPS : Magic as well as orichalcum and adamantium in Fantasy and hyperdense matter in Ultra-Tech.\\nAlthough it's a tabletop war game rather than a tabletop RPG, Steve Jackson Games' OGRE features combat units protected by Biphase Carbide armor. This makes them tough enough to withstand anything short of a direct hit from a nuclear weapon.\\nTalislanta has a number of forms of Unobtainium, some based on historical alchemy and others made up for the setting, and fairly thorough rules for crafting and utilizing them.\\nIn the boardgame Nexus Ops (originally by Avalon Hill, recently re-released by Fantasy Flight Games), the corporations fight for control of a mineral called Rubium. Nothing more is known about it from the manual, but it seems that some indigenous species on the planet it is mined on are linked to the mineral in some way as there is a creature called the \\\"Rubium Dragon\\\" which is also the most powerful unit in the game.\\n Toys \\nThe Transformers franchise is a pretty good place to mine for Unobtainium.\\nEnergon being the most frequent and the best example: Transformers need it to live, but too much unstable Energon radiation can cause shorting out. It's also highly volatile when stored in most environments (and likely to explode if dropped or fired upon), and other properties too bizarre and diverse to list. Other Unobtainium-like materials include...\\nElectrum — a real substance, actually, but given fictional properties.\\nFurmanite — Obscure, used only in one Botcon-exclusive comic.\\nNucleon (Though used as an Energon substitute, it causes bizarre reactions in a Transformer's \\\"biology\\\", most notably the loss of transformation ability.)\\nCybertonium (Never thoroughly explained, though it breaks down more rapidly in Earth's atmosphere than other Cybertronian minerals. Loss of this substance is serious for Transformers built on Cybertron. Like Energon, it can also be processed and stored in cubes.)\\nDestronium\\nBIONICLE 's Matoran world has protodermis (often shortened to just \\\"proto\\\" by the fans), which admittedly isn't really rare because it makes up everything in that world: the water is made of liquid proto, rocks and metal ore are solid proto, and proto even makes up the organic tissues of living beings. Truer examples of Unobtainium that really are hard to obtain include a super-hard variant of metal protodermis called \\\"protosteel\\\" and \\\"energized protodermis\\\": an un-synthesizable liquid that either unpredictably transforms anything it touches or destroys it. Oh, and it turns out energized proto is alive, too.\\nAnother world, Bara Magna, has its own Unobtainium called Exsidian, though unlike protodermis it doesn't have any special properties beyond better resistance to wear and tear.\\n Video Games \\nDragon Rage has Zeenium which is some sort of magical element.\\nEVE Online has a player economy built around mining for a rather long list of made up materials. And the rarer types are very hard to get. Bonus points for using \\\"Tritanium\\\", which is the most sought after element in high security space. However, most of the asteroids that refined minerals come from are made up of either real-world minerals (such as veldspar and gneiss) or slightly renamed versions of real minerals (like hemorphite and hedbergite).\\nIt's implied that the mined and refined materials actually are all real-world elements and minerals. Civilization has fallen and re-built itself, so they've picked up new names and places in the technology tree. Salvaged wormhole materials are a straight example, though.\\nExcelsior Phase One Lysandia : Many powerful weapons and armor are forged from Eramel, which, oddly, is only mined in a tower.\\nMultiple kinds of unobtainium are mentioned in the background information of the Halo series:\\nAn \\\"unknown alloy\\\" (read as: the writers couldn't think of a cool name) used to make the shields of the Hunters and the armor plating of Covenant warships.\\nThe impressively resistant construction material used to make the Halos and other non- Hard Light Forerunner structures, described as being incredibly dense and accurately carved to the molecule. The author of this article from Gamasutra\\n, a PhD., goes to the trouble of calculating just how much unobtainium would be needed to build the Halo , plus other stats you never knew you wanted to know.\\nBlamite, the explosive crystalline material used primarily to make Needler ammunition, which can only be found on one moon orbiting the Elite homeworld.\\nThe ammo for the Covenant Carbine is an unnamed toxic and radioactive compound mined from several locations within Covenant space.\\nCity of Heroes :\\nVarious one-off missions in the MMORPG have the player retrieve various Mac Guffins , including one actually called Inobtainium. Fittingly enough, it's an alloy of Yeahritium and Nosuchium.\\nPlayed more straight in the game is Impervium, a metal found as a rare form of salvage (Enchanted Impervium is one of the most valuable drops), which the Vanguard soldiers are said in their profiles to be armored with.\\nOrichalcum shows up too, also as a salvage material for crafting.\\nMega Man :\\nA recurring element in the series is a metal called \\\"Ceratanium\\\" (in the original Japanese, simply \\\"Ceramic Titanium\\\"). Its exact properties are unknown, but it seems to be involved in making all the Mega Mans' armor, and in Mega Man Zero 4, where you can collect parts and get the engineer to make body armor out of them, the Ceratanium is found once in a fixed spot each stage and goes exactly once into each piece of body armor you can make.\\nThere's also officially \\\"Bassnium,\\\" the power supply Wily says he used to make Bass, which is a bit silly. In the Japanese version, it has the much less silly-sounding name \\\"Fortenium\\\". However, since Wily himself discovered the element while designing Bass/Forte, it's not out of character for him to give it a silly name just to match his robot.\\nAs well as the metal given the Fan Nickname \\\"Mettanium\\\", used to make the Met/Mettaurs/Methats that are so iconic in the series. One fan explanation for it not being used in every robot Wily makes is the fact that it's Unobtainium — or at least rare enough that only small objects can be created with it at a time.\\nOrichalcum, seen elsewhere in this article, also turned up in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis as a power source for the machines of Atlantis and potentially other machines as well. Which is why Indy had to stop the Nazis from getting to it first.\\nOrichalcum also shows up in these various titles (usually used to make gift jewelry).\\nThey also feature Mystrle and Mythic Ore — used to give tools semi-magical properties.\\nAnd plain ol' Mythril in Harvest Moon's spin-off titled Rune Factory.\\nCommand & Conquer and its sequels feature Tiberium , a plant-like but crystalline xenoforming agent (in growth patterns and behaviour — it leeches various elements out of anything it touches, and makes more of itself) but which is actually a crystalline substance of extraterrestrial origin, as a harvestable resource and Global Currency - it often leeches the most valuable minerals out of an area, making them far easier to mine than would be economically feasible. Its name derives from where it was first encountered — the impact site of the meteor that carried it to Earth at the Tiber River — ergo, it was called Tiberium.note The Brotherhood of Nod would like you to note that the quoted name origin was part of a faked discovery story created for anti-Nod propaganda. The true discoverer of Tiberium, the Benevolent and Mighty Kane, named the substance in honour of Tiberius Caesar, but GDI propagandists insisted on altering every detail of the story. It's also terribly, terribly toxic, potentially radioactive (depending on what it leeches or assimilates), never stops growing (by the time of the second game, non-hovering watercraft are completely unusable because waterways are universally choked with Tiberium) and generally so dangerous that it explodes violently if processed improperly or stored in large enough quantities. Certain materials are more resistant to being turned into it, but all of them degrade eventually. With flesh, crystallization happens almost instantly. Nevermind the fact there's blue (canonical) and red/orange (semi-canonical) variants that are Made of Explodium — as if the green stuff didn't explode enough to begin with. With a bit of SCIENCE, you can turn tiberium (or tiberium-related substances, such as tiberium veins) into a chemical weapon that puts some of the deadliest stuff today to shame, or an explosive that makes a heavy-duty fuel air bomb look like a firecracker. Makes a lot more fictional sense if you know that C&C was itself based on the RTS game Dune II , which had you harvesting spice out of the ground.\\nCleria, Emelas, etc. in the Ys series.\\nStarCraft , likewise, had \\\"minerals\\\" of an unspecified type and \\\"Vespene Gas\\\" (which you require more of , by the way), which each of the playable races uses in a different way to produce its various units and buildings. Neosteel, the material of Terran construction, is another example. Also, the Khaydarin Crystals.\\nXCOM :\\nThe first two games of the series ( UFO and TFTD ) have Elerium, an element that formed in yellow crystals and had an atomic number of 115. By the third game , Elerium could be mined on Mars and extrasolar colonies. Elerium's in-game role was probably inspired by claims\\nmade about element-115 in the 1980s by a UFO enthusiast with the splendidly appropriate name of Bob Lazar. Sadly, when someone eventually got around to synthesising the stuff they called it Ununpentium\\ninstead, and it also appears that Lazar was talking through his hat.\\nThe second game reveals that Elerium-115 becomes inert if submerged in salt-water for too long, and since the second game is subtitled Terror from the Deep, that's a bit of a problem. The new source of power is Zrbite - apparently, an artificial material created through molecular manipulation. Following the victory in TFTD, however, the aliens' Molecular Manipulation network collapses, and all remaining Zrbite becomes inert. It maintains its Unobtainium status, however, and Inert Zrbite is later used to build FTL-drive engines (with Elerium-115 as fuel).\\nXCOM: Enemy Unknown also features Elerium, again used as a power source. Unfortunately, you can't synthesize it, and the only way to get it is looting it off the aliens. In-game, the heads of your R&D and engineering teams state that with a few years of focused research they could make both the Alien Alloys and the Elerium Generator commercially viable, but that there is no time for that big a project before the aliens are defeated.\\nIn Xenonauts , just like in X-Com, you can salvage the alien fuel source, Alenium, which cannot be reproduced terrestrially. Incidentally, even before attempting to use it as .a power source, Xenonaut scientists decided they made for even better missile warheads, giving your interceptors an early shot in the arm in terms of firepower.\\nKingdom Hearts :\\nThe first game requires the player to collect various exotic metals and crystals such as mythril, orichalcum, lightning stones, power crystals, and serenity gems in order to create items, eventually including the most powerful weapon in the game.\\nExtra points goes to Orichalcum+ in Kingdom Hearts 2 , which not only is like Orichalcum but better, but is in so few quantities that you just barely have enough to craft the only item which requires it: Ultima Weapon .\\nMinecraft :\\nRedstone, a nice little powder that can conduct electricity and can be used to open doors, power minecarts, make music, ect. Although it actually is very common when mining deep enough. The unminable bedrock is sometimes referred to as Unobtanium. This is probably the most accurate use of the name, since, without the use of cheats, you cannot obtain it.\\nEmeralds. Although they can be traded for with villagers, trying to mine them isn't as easy. They rarely spawn and are only found in mountain biomes, scattered in random single block veins. Good luck. However, there are more emerald veins per chunk than diamond veins and occur at much higher levels, making them much more common in caves.\\nWorld of Warcraft has frightening amounts of Unobtainium.\\nStarting out around the time the player starts mining Mithril ore, proceeding through Truesilver, Arcanite, Fel Iron, Adamantium and finally Khorium and Eternium. To quote a recent Penny Arcade post on the subject, \\\"What's next? Awesomite?\\\"\\nThere's also the equally-mundane Titanium, its enchanted cousin Titansteel, and the more fantastic Saronite. This contains or possibly is entirely the blood of the Eldritch Abomination Yog-Saron, God of Death, drives people who mine it mad, and naturally forms into the shape of skulls when smelted. And which for some inexplicable reason, people decided to make armor out of and wear. Yeah, sticking that on your head couldn't possibly go bad.\\nWorld of Warcraft is also littered with mundanely-named minerals that possess properties far greater than their real-life counterparts .\\nEngineers, Jewelcrafers, and Blacksmiths use Thorium (a radioactive metal used in some reactors as a replacement for uranium and of which powdered form has been known to spontaneously combust in the air... dust which would be prolific around any thorium mining, smelting or forging site... and causing liver damage if absorbed in the body pre-combustion) and later on Cobalt (which gives off toxic, arsenic containing fumes when smelted, is an active nutrient for bacteria, is the third highest rated metal for causing contact dermatitis, and can lead to cardiomyopathy or cobalt poisoning if too much is absorbed into the body from breathing or consuming cobalt dust or powder... which would be produced, as with thorium, by the mining, smelting, and forging process). And while these are real elements, the apparent ease and safety with which they can be mined, smelted, and forged adds an Unobtanium aspect to them. And we won't even start on mercury being as harmless as water in the Deepholm zone, with one quest even requiring you swim in a lake of it. Considering the average character's Power Level is way Over Nine Thousand by the time they get to Deepholm, plain old mercury shouldn't be a problem.\\nAll of that aside, a plot version exists called Kaja'mite. A rare mineral only found on two islands that we know of, its presence gave the goblins super-intelligence. When supplies ran out, their intellects gradually went into decline and they spread out across the world as traders in hopes of finding new sources.\\nFurther expansions added obsidium, elementium, truegold, ghost iron, kyparite, trillium, living steel and lightning steel.\\nMass Effect :\\nElement Zero or \\\"eezo\\\" is responsible for all of the technology in-game, as it has the ability to manipulate mass , which makes it valuable for propulsion systems, projectile weapons, kinetic force fields, artificial gravity, and a powerful, convenient method of Faster-Than-Light Travel . Indeed, \\\"eezo\\\" is a key element of virtually every advanced galactic technology.\\n\\\" Biotics \\\" are individuals who were exposed to Element Zero in utero and manifested biotic abilities (the power to manipulate dark energy) as a result. Those who don't manifest are often born normally with few complications, but unfortunately there also exist some who develop fatal cancers and rarely make it to term. Other problems faced by Human biotics is that because they are still part of the first generation, many were wired with older models of Biotic amps before humanity really knew what they were doing. While the L3 amps are stable, those wired with the L2 models experience some serious side effects , everything from nosebleeds , to occasional migraine headaches, to full-on insanity.\\nAnother use for Element Zero, commonly used by criminals is to refine it into a drug called \\\"Red Sand\\\", so named after the first drugs were developed from Eezo found on Mars. It's like cocaine, but it gives you limited biotic powers. Oh, and it's highly addictive, and addicts who can't pay for their habit are sometimes sold into slavery.\\nThe Final Fantasy series is also known to have various forms of Unobtainium, such as orichalcum or adamantite. In fact, every RPG ever made by Square Enix has something like that, often in the same relation as the Kingdom Hearts example.\\nFinal Fantasy Tactics A2 lives this trope to the full! Not only has it scores of metallic unobtainium, but also plenty of both osseous (bones) and dendritious (wood).\\nThe Crusader games has two.\\nDi-corellium, a mineral that is apparently better for use in nuclear reactors than plutonium—to the point that it almost became a metaphor for petroleum, and at the very least for energy crises in general, what with the increasing scarcity of it and power shortages on Earth because of it—and of which vast quantities, about half of all known reserves, are on the moon.\\nPolonium — yes, '' that\\n' polonium — an element than in real life is unstable, highly radioactive, and extremely toxic, is used as... body armor.\\nMetroid Prime :\\nThe games feature Phazon, which is a highly-mutagenic, violently unstable, sentient mineral. Being a bit more specific, there is an incredibly resistant metal made from it known as Phazite.\\nIn addition, visor scans can identify the chemical properties of certain structures. When you see names such as \\\"Talloric Alloy\\\" and \\\"Bendenzium\\\" in the description of a destructible obstacle, it is usually an indication as to which weapon you will need to use to proceed.\\nDwarf Fortress has a rather extensive simulation of real-world geology and metallurgy, including creating simple alloys such as bronze and electrum.\\nIt also has Adamantine, an incredibly rare ore that can be processed into various forms that allow it to be used in almost any type of construction imaginable — weapons, armour, tools, clothing, furniture, building material... about the only things you can't make out of it (well, without modding ) are beds and food. It also happens to be both as light as styrofoam, be more resistant than any steel manageable, and being sharpenable enough that you can drop a knife on a stone floor and it'll be embedded to the hilt. Naturally, you can buy out a whole caravan with just one implement made from it. Be careful, though - if the vein is hollow, you're going to get a visit from the Circus .\\nThere's also slade\\n, which can't be dug out. Even if you could, it's horrendously heavy (we're talking core of the sun heavy), so the potential uses for it are very limited — not that it matters, as the game won't let you use it even if you somehow get some out of the wallsnote Makes for terrific catapult ammo, at least. You're not thinking about this, though, because if you've even seen slade, you've got other problems to worry about .\\nNow the developer is planning for game worlds to each have their own unique unobtainium with each one making some rare materials with randomly generated properties. When he first tried it out, he expected metals but ended up getting cursed mist.\\nThe Myst series has the artificial stones nara and deretheni. There is also a tawny stone found on Riven , used for ornamental purposes.\\nThe X-Universe has Nividiumnote popularly thought to be a pun on Nvidia, but Word of God states otherwise, a rare material found in asteroids. Mining it seems to cause the ire of the hostile Kha'ak , whose ships use small amounts of nividium in their hull. Otherwise, it doesn't have many uses and its main value seems to come entirely from its rarity. However, X Rebirth states that Nividium is merely the Teladi's name for Platinum, and goes on to describe its usage as a catalyst in chemical reactions and as a heirloom for Teladi.\\nSpice in Spore , as a reference to Dune . It can be used for anything - it's a food, dietary supplement, fuel source, cleaning product, narcotic...\\nRatchet & Clank 's Raritanium\\nzig-zags this a bit. In the first game , there's only one piece of it in the entire game, but then you can mine for it in Going Commando or get it by shooting enemies down in space. Then Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked have no important appearance of it (some wrench upgrades are stated to contain Raritanium in the latter). Then Tools of Destruction and Into the Nexus have it and it's used to upgrade your weapons, but it's... well, rare, and you won't be upgrading too much... until Challenge Mode , where you'll probably be drowning in the stuff. A Crack in Time only mentions the ore in the Argorian Battleplex's \\\"Raritanium Cup\\\" tournament. In the meantime, All 4 One , Full Frontal Assault , Into the Nexus, and R&C 2016 all have the Warmonger, a rocket launcher whose rockets are stated to be tipped with Raritanium.\\nThe Null Fragments in zOMG! , when in use, were like this. These little purple gems could be used to make anything you could think of, from tattoos, to figurines, to feather boas, to the armor of an alien species, to... you get the idea.\\nThe browser game Skyrates includes Unobtainium (in fact, portrayed as Green Rocks ) as a trade good, and is also used in role play and player discussion as a reasoning for hard to explain occurrences, jokingly or otherwise.\\nA little-known RTS called Submarine Titans has \\\"Corium-296\\\"... which appears to suggest that it is an extremely heavy element. Corium is very important to achieving the advanced technologies in the game, but is not naturally found on Earth: the enormous comet that forced humanity under the seas was made of the stuff, and small deposits (fragments of the comet) are found all over the place. note \\\"Corium\\\" is actually a nuclear industry moniker for the molten goop that forms when the entire reactor core melts and its materials mix together and start interacting with the surrounding materials\\nIn The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass , you need the three pure metals (each corresponding to one of the creator godesses) to create a blade that turns the titular hourglass into the Phantom Sword. It's required by the plot, since the Phantom sword is the only thing that can hurt Bellum . The names of the Pure Metals are derived from their color: Crimsonine, Azurine, and Aquanine.\\nPsitanium from Psychonauts . High grade unobtainium — a meteorite that grants anything alive psychic powers and is the plot device for any number of absurd things in the game.\\nIn Golden Sun , there are nine forgeable materials: in increasing order of power, Tear Stone, Star Dust, Sylph Feather, Dragon Skin, Salamander Tail, Golem Core, Mythril Silver, Dark Matter and Orihalcon.\\nMaster of Orion :\\nMaster of Orion 2 has Xentronium. It cannot be invented by the player and must instead be plundered from the Antarans, either by capturing and reverse engineering one of their warships or by defeating the Orion Guardian (both very difficult to pull off, and each only gives you a ~30% chance of acquiring the technology). If you're successful, you're rewarded with the best armor plating in existence (Xentronium edges out the best player-researchable armor by a 5:4 factor).\\nThe MOO series also contains many other substances such as Tritanium, Zortrium, Uridium and Adamantium. Due to the way research works, any of these can be Unobtainium in a given game.\\nSnoopy vs. The Red Baron for the Playstation Portable does this bald-facedly. In order to make a superweapon called the Doodlebug, the Red Baron needs, what else? \\\"Unobtainium.\\\" Subtle.\\nHalf-Life series\\nHalf-Life 's Xenium: if you focus a particle beam on a pure crystal, it can rip through dimensions. And it can't be found on Earth but is an essential component to human-made teleporters.\\nHalf-Life 2 Or that blue-ish metal Combine tech is made of. Whatever it is, it can't be scratched by anti-tank rocket impacts and reflects tau particle beams. Also, dark energy\\nwas the universe's scientific Unobtainium just like in real life — until the Combine came; the Citadel's central reactor is an inexhaustible supply of the stuff. It is used to generate plasma made of exotic matter which is the basis of all Combine tech.\\nThe instruction manual for Supreme Commander 2 explicitly mentions that the humongous mecha King Kriptor is unobtainium-armored .\\nRuneScape features many odd metals, including Mithril and Adamantite. It also features \\\"Runite\\\" as a metal. Then there's the \\\"Dragon\\\" metal, which unlike the others, cannot be mined anywhere, nor can it be forged. Weapons made of Dragon metal can be obtained through drops, but not made.\\nIn Original War a recently discovered material known as Siberite, or Alaskite, depending on timeline, is an efficient energy source, can be used as a nuclear weapon and can power up a time machine.\\nAustralium in the backstory of Team Fortress 2 , a material so powerful and versatile that it has granted the rather dim-witted Australians global technological supremacy. Shipped in bars marked with a picture of a man fighting a kangaroo. It also has the side effect of causing Testosterone Poisoning to those who handle it, turning anyone using into ridiculously manly Boisterous Bruisers with Badass Mustaches and Carpets Of Virility . Even the women. It's also usable as rocket fuel. Disclaimer: we didn't say it was good rocket fuel. The Life Extenders used by certain characters also run on the stuff.\\nThe Phantasy Star series has laconia, a metal similar to silver in appearance that is found on the planet Dezoris; it is often refined and crafted into some of the best gear available in the series.\\nSam & Max approach a mine tunnel in Beyond the Alley of the Dolls: \\\"Maybe there's gold down this tunnel! Or rare deposits of Cantgetium!\\\"\\nADAM from BioShock is produced only by a specific variety of deep sea slugs and has the power to rewrite a human's entire genome in minutes, and even transfer memories from one individual to another to some extent.\\nThe Perils of Akumos offers us naxonite and peryolitium, which are particularly hard to find considering that you're supposed to be near mines of them.\\nIn The Elder Scrolls , various types of unobtainium are used for armor and weapons.\\nAs seen in Morrowind , the confusingly named ebony and glass are volcanic minerals. Daedric armor is forged from magicked ebony.\\nIn the Shivering Isles expansion to Oblivion the smiths in New Sheoth can forge armor and weapons from amber and madness ore. (Lord only knows what the latter comes from.)\\nSkyrim reveals that orcish and elven armor are partially forged from orichalcum and quicksilver, respectively.\\nDwarven metal is an interesting case, as it's unobtainium In-Universe : in-game books in Skyrim reveal that mages, smiths, and scholars have tried for years to imitate its properties, with no success. Apparently the Dwemer were just that advanced in metallurgy. The only reliable source is recycled scrap metal from Dwemer ruins.\\nSkyrim allows elite smiths to forge armor from dragon scales and bones. The modding community has seen fit to add dragonbone weapons as well. And Bethesda themselves later added dragonbone weapons when they released the Dawnguard DLC.\\nThe first 2009 episode of The Colbert Report 's Show Within a Show Tek Jansen has the Big Bad enslaving some tiny doughboy aliens to mine Scarcerarium .\\nDuck Dodgers in the 24�th Century : Duck Dodgers went to Planet X to find Illudium Phosdex, the Shaving Cream Atom, in his classic '50s adventure.\\nSpiral Zone has Neutron-90, the rare material that the Zone Riders' uniforms are made from; it protects the soldiers from the Spiral Zone's Mind Control effect. At the beginning of the series, there's only enough of it to make five suits. Later, enough Neutron-90 is discovered to make two additional uniforms, and so Sixth Rangers Ned Tucker and Ben Davis are able to join the team.\\nPhineas and Ferb :\\nIn \\\"Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo\\\", Phineas and Ferb need a wood and steel fusing tool, which apparently won't be invented for 20 years.\\nIn \\\"Vanessassary Roughness\\\", the element \\\"Pizzazium Infinionite\\\" is described as (maybe) having wondrous properties that could be used in the future to power generically-futuristic technology.\\nIn Teen Titans , the thief Red X used a suit that was powered by Xenothium, which was only described as being unstable and crazy dangerous, but was capable of insane things, such as creating explosive projectiles, shields, metallic bands and all kinds of crazy shizz. (Apparently, the stuff is so dangerous that even respectable superheroes like Robin aren't allowed to buy it; he had to get it from the black market.)\\nChlorine trifluoride\\nis the real-world stuff. Derek Lowe has a nightmarish description at his blog.\\nFrom that article: \\\"It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic (combusts spontaneously) with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, and asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively.\\\"\\nThere is a pure Nightmare Fuel -level rumor that the Germans produced as much as 30 tons of the stuff to use as an incendiary weapon and rocket fuel during the World War II , but put it into the storage after it became clear that the war is going nowhere � and then it simply disappeared somewhere...\\nPandemonium was in fact an early name for the transuranic metal americium, which is highly radioactive. It was called such because it was extremely difficult to separate from the element curium which was originally called delirium.\\nGreek Fire - Accounts say it was a combination of volatile chemicals in liquid form that, when launched, would burn on and be ignited by water. There are several possible candidates for its original formula, or possibly formulae, but the exact details are lost to history.\\nCarbon nanotubes have immensely useful electronic, optical, and mechanical properties, including a strength-to-weight ratio vastly superior to any building material currently in use. Sadly, as of 2010, even poor grade nanotubes go for about $100/gram. Guess that space elevator will have to wait a few more years. The biggest problem with them at the moment is to avoid cumulative weakening, as at the moment the more nanotubes you stock together, the more the nanoscopic faults accumulate, until their strength is all but gone. Still, many scientists are confident that they'll have long and durable nanotube strings in a couple of years.\\nMountain biker slang for a bike made of a rare or expensive material is also 'unobtainium'.\\nIn the late 70's Silicon Valley, there were two popular materials for solving otherwise intractable engineering problems, very specifically: Unobtainium-12 and Expensium-6. Neither was in the Grainger's or Thomas catalog.\",\n \"Forests Are for Kids: Stuff We Get From Trees!\\nWe get a lot more from trees ... Did you know that trees provide us with more than 5,000 products that people use every day? ... Turpentine is the most widely used ...\\nForests Are for Kids: Stuff We Get From Trees!\\nWe get a lot more from trees\\nthan wood and paper!\\nDid you know that trees provide us with more than 5,000 products that people use every day? It's true! From photographic film to paints and from toothpaste to tires, tree-based chemicals and other wood by-products are all around us.\\nResin:\\nWood resin is one of many tree-based chemicals. In nature, resin is the goop that forms a protective coating around a plant wound. It creates a hard coating that microorganisms and insects can't penetrate. People gather the resin of pine trees and use it in many ways. We've even classified resin into three categories: hard resins, oleoresins, and gum resins.\\nRosin is the most important of the hard resins. It is used in paint, varnishes, and in soapmaking. Rosin also is used to make the bows of stringed instruments sticky so they produce more beautiful music. And rosin is used by ballplayers to give them a better grip on balls and bats.\\nTurpentine is the most widely used oleoresin. It is a solvent -- meaning that it dissolves other substances -- that is used in paint, varnish, waterproofing, and shoe polish.\\nGum Resins are used to make other chemical products.\\nWaiter! There's a tree in my Twinkie®!\\nThere are tree-based chemicals in many of our food and beverage products! Some of these chemicals are used as flavorings, while others keep the ingredients in food from separating. There's even a tree-based chemical that makes bubble gum chewier!\\nCellulose, the material that makes up the walls of tree cells, is used as a food thickener in such tasty treats as snack food, milk shakes, ice cream, cake frosting, and pancake syrup!\\nCellulose also is an important ingredient in non-edible products such as eyeglass frames, steering wheels, hairbrush handles, cellophane, and photographic film!\\nYou're surrounded!\\nThat's right! You're surrounded by stuff that comes from trees. How many different tree products can you see from where you're sitting right now? WOOD You Believe thousands? Click here to find more!\",\n \"Giz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\\nNot the hardest, or the most resistant to deformation. Just.. ... What's the Strongest Material Known to Man? John Herrman. 10/26/10 2:40pm. Filed to: ...\\nGiz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\\nGiz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\\nAdamantite! Rearden Metal! Uru! Durasteel! Dalekanium! Unobtanium! Thousands of fictional characters have fought and died for these equally fictional super-materials. So what is the real-life strongest substance on our puny, sun-warmed planet?\\nAdvertisement\\nMankind's pursuit of the \\\"strongest\\\" material hasn't exctly been a concerted, organized effort, but it figures into history in incredibly profound ways. Hell, anyone who's played Age of Empires or Civilization—or read a book—knows that historians name entire eras after materials. The Iron (and steel) Age followed the Bronze Age, which followed the Copper Age. Materials got stronger, and humanity advanced. The two were hugely correlated.\\nIt's been a while since we've had a good ol' material-based epoch. Too long! So let's find the next one. Goodbye Age of Computers, hello Age of ________.\\nTo say that a material is \\\"strong\\\" describes so many different things that it can end up meaning nothing. A piece of chalk is stronger than a piece of string cheese in one way, but not another. Spiderweb may be stronger than steel in a particular test, but it's still a bendy, silky mess. So what do we mean when we talk about strength?\\nMark Hersam, Professor of Materials Science (and Chemistry) at Northwestern University, has an answer. Well, a few answers: \\\"Typically when people talk about strength, they're talking about the amount of stress that needs to be applied before fracture. It's possible they could also be referring to how quickly it deforms.\\\" It's also possible that they could be talking about compressive strength, which is a measure of how easy it is for a material to get crushed. You could even be referring to impact strength, which is a material's ability to sustain a sudden smack. Arg! Make up your minds, people!\\nAdvertisement\\nFortunately, the 20/20 hindsight of history can guide us forward. Remember our ages? Iron, steel, copper, bronze—these are materials that we make things out of, be they structures or instruments. Hard things. Tough things: swords or trucks or skyscrapers or bridges. We're looking for hardness, yield strength—that's resistance to deformation, like denting or stretching—and tensile strength, which basically refers to bending. A material of world champion strength would be an optimum hybrid of these two qualities.\\nTungsten carbide is phenomenally hard and has great yield strength, but is worryingly brittle when smashed or bent. Osmium alloys follow that same trend: extremely hard, but shatterable and lacking in true tensile strength. Diamonds are harder than either, but nearly impossible to work with or use in practical products and very, very rare. (Ever heard of a molded diamond? A diamond fighter jet? Right.)\\nTitanium alloys can be flexible and boast high tensile strength, but aren't as hard as steel alloys. Amorphous alloys like Liquidmetal, Apple's new squeeze, are among the strongest materials all-around, with respectable hardness, huge tensile strength and resistance to fatigue—though it's not superlative in any way. Every metal has its weaknesses, is what I'm saying.\\nThe real super-materials, well, they don't quite exist yet. But we're getting closer. You've probably heard a lot about graphene in the last few weeks , after a couple of scientists won Nobel Prizes for their work with the material. You've probably heard that it's hard. (200x harder than steel.) That it's flexible. That it conducts electricity, and happens to be transparent. What you've probably heard, in a nutshell, is that it's awesome. It has immediate and obvious applications in electronics, and Andre Geim, one of the recipients of the prize, went so far as to tell the AP, \\\"[Graphene] has all the potential to change your life in the same way that plastics did.\\\"\\nGraphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the Hell Is It? Graphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the Hell Is It? Graphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the…\\nToday, two professors won the Nobel prize for physics \\\"for groundbreaking experiments… Read more Read more\\nThe test that two years ago led to the declaration of graphene as the world's strongest material was a test of a one-atom-thick sheet of the stuff. Had the experiment taken place on a (theoretical) larger scale, the numbers would scale up favorably. An inch-thick block of material with graphene's properties would be virtually indestructible. Thing is, such a sheet can't exist.\\nAdvertisement\\nSponsored\\n\\\"The property [of strength] is nominally independent of the geometry, but the problem is that the application definitely depends on the geometry,\\\" says Hersam. And what he means, in English, is that while graphene in amazingly strong, this strength can't easily be adapted to real, useful applications. Graphene is by definition a sheet of carbon atoms, bonded in a particular way, but always one atom thick. If you try to stack these sheets together, they can bond, but not well. Stacked graphene is called flake graphite—pencil lead, basically. And you can't build a bridge or a gun or a satellite out of pencil lead.\\nBut wait! All is not lost for graphene. Not nearly. \\\"Graphene has to be incorporated into some matrix—a polymer, or a metal,\\\" says Hersamin. Basically, in order for it to be used in the real world, the stuff needs to become a component of something else. The trick will be maintaining its outstanding mechanical properties while it's dispersed inside another material.\\nAdvertisement\\nThis, he says, is an open question. Everybody's excited about graphene, but nobody's building graphene smartphones—yet. \\\"If you can stitch the graphene into a plastic or into a metal in such a way that the load of the plastic or metal would transfer to the graphene, so that the graphene in reenforcing the bulk of the material,\\\" then you'd might have yourself a super-material.\\nCarbon nanotubes have long been held to have similar potential, but progress hasn't been great. You'll see carbon-nanotube gear at the top echelons of some sports, but it's a luxury, and its benefits—particularly when it comes to strength—aren't exactly huge. In order to get the nanotubes to bond with other materials, the bonding within the nanotubes themselves has to be compromised somewhat. It's a bit of a Catch-22, and graphene is every bit as vulnerable to the same fate; because nanotubes, to put it crudely, are just rolled-up sheets of graphene.\\nSome worry that graphene will suffer this same fate: a lonely material unable to find a suitable matrix-mate for years, the promise of its youth spread thin over time as enthusiasm for its charms wanes... But for now, the mood is optimistic. Some researchers, Hersam says, already believe they've come up with a way to stitch the graphene into a matrix without drastically changing its mechanical properties, but their thesis is new, and so far untested. It does seem to be the case, though, that the two-dimensionally arranged carbon atoms in graphene will be more forgiving than nanotubes, as far as material scientists are concerned.\\nAdvertisement\\nThe take-away is that graphene gear will never be possible, but something that is approximately like graphene may one day be used to build all kinds of things. And even then, it'll be difficult to say that it's the strongest material in the world. Its carbon-cousin, diamonds, may still be harder; certain metals may have slightly higher tensile strength. It might not claim a single record, or make for a great title for an era (The Graphene Composite 1.0 Age?), but it'll be strong. Not the hardest, or the most resistant to deformation. Just.. really strong.\\nGear from Kinja Deals\",\n \"Tine_(structural).txt\\nTine (structural)\\nTines or prongs or teeth are parallel or branching spikes forming parts of a tool or natural object. They are used to spear, hook, move or otherwise act on other objects. They may be made of metal, wood, bone or other hard, strong material.\\n\\nThe number of tines (also written tynes) on tools varies widely – a pitchfork may have just two, a garden fork may have four, and a rake or harrow many. Tines may be blunt, such as those on a fork used as an eating utensil; or sharp, as on a pitchfork; or even barbed, as on a trident. The terms \\\"tine\\\" and \\\"prong\\\" are mostly interchangeable. A tooth of a comb is a tine.\\n\\nTines and prongs occur in nature—for example, forming the branched bony antlers of deer or the forked horns of pronghorn antelopes. The term \\\"tine\\\" is also used for mountains, such as the fictional Silvertine in The Lord of the Rings.\\n\\nIn chaos theory (physics, non-linear dynamics), the branches of a bifurcation diagram are called tines and subtines.\",\n \"Railroad_tie.txt\\nRailroad tie\\nA railroad tie/railway tie/crosstie (North America) or railway sleeper (British Isles and Australasia) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge.\\n\\nRailroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but pre-stressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. \\n\\nUp to 3,000 ties are used per mile of railroad track in the US, 2,640 per mile (30 per 60 ft rail) on main lines in the UK. Rails in the US may be fastened to the tie by a railroad spike; iron/steel baseplates screwed to the tie and secured to the rail by a proprietary fastening system such as a Vossloh or Pandrol are commonly used in Europe.\\n\\nTypes\\n\\nStone block\\n\\nThe type of railroad tie used on the predecessors of the first true railway (Liverpool and Manchester Railway) consisted of a pair of stone blocks laid into the ground, with the chairs holding the rails fixed to those blocks. One advantage of this method of construction was that it allowed horses to tread the middle path without the risk of tripping. In railway use with ever heavier locomotives, it was found that it was hard to maintain the correct gauge. The stone blocks were in any case unsuitable on soft ground, such as at Chat Moss, where timber ties had to be used. Bi-block ties with a tie rod are somewhat similar.\\n\\nWooden\\n\\nHistorically wooden rail ties were made by hewing with an axe, called axe ties or sawn to achieve at least two flat sides.\\nA variety of softwood and hardwoods timbers are used as ties, oak, jarrah and karri being popular hardwoods, although increasingly difficult to obtain, especially from sustainable sources. Some lines use softwoods, including Douglas fir; while they have the advantage of accepting treatment more readily, they are more susceptible to wear but are cheaper, lighter (and therefore easier to handle) and more readily available. Softwood is treated, while creosote is the most common preservative for railway ties, but more effective preservatives are also sometimes used such as pentachlorophenol, chromated copper arsenate and a few other preservatives. Sometimes non-toxic preservatives are used, such as copper azole or micronized copper. New boron-based wood preserving technology is being employed by major US railroads in a dual treatment process in order to extend the life of wood ties in wet areas. Some timbers (such as sal, mora, jarrah or azobé) are durable enough that they can be used untreated. \\n\\nProblems with wooden ties include rot, splitting, insect infestation, plate-cutting, also known as chair shuffle in the UK (abrasive damage to the tie caused by lateral motion of the tie plate) and spike-pull (where the spike is gradually loosened from the tie). For more information on wooden ties the Railway Tie Association maintains a comprehensive website devoted to wood tie research and statistics.\\n\\nWooden ties can, of course, catch fire; as they age they develop cracks that allow sparks to lodge so that they catch fire more easily.\\n\\nConcrete\\n\\nConcrete ties are cheaper and easier to obtain than timber and better able to carry higher axle-weights and sustain higher speeds. Their greater weight ensures improved retention of track geometry, especially when installed with continuous-welded rail. Concrete ties have a longer service life and require less maintenance than timber due to their greater weight, which helps them remain in the correct position longer. Concrete ties need to be installed on a well-prepared subgrade with an adequate depth on free-draining ballast to perform well. Concrete ties amplify wheel noise, so wooden ties are often used in densely populated areas.\\n\\nOn the highest categories of line in the UK (those with the highest speeds and tonnages), pre-stressed concrete ties are the only ones permitted by Network Rail standards.\\n\\nMost European railways also now use concrete bearers in switches and crossing layouts due to the longer life and lower cost of concrete bearers compared to timber, which is increasingly difficult and expensive to source in sufficient quantities and quality.\\n\\nSteel\\n\\nSteel ties are formed from pressed steel and are trough-shaped in section. The ends of the tie are shaped to form a \\\"spade\\\" which increases the lateral resistance of the tie. Housings to accommodate the fastening system are welded to the upper surface of the tie. Steel ties are now in widespread use on secondary or lower-speed lines in the UK where they have been found to be economical to install due their ability to be installed on the existing ballast bed. Steel ties are lighter in weight than concrete and able to stack in compact bundles unlike timber. Steel ties can be installed onto the existing ballast, unlike concrete ties which require a full depth of new ballast. Steel ties are 100% recyclable and require up to 60% less ballast than concrete ties and up to 45% less than wood ties.\\n\\nHistorically, steel ties have suffered from poor design and increased traffic loads over their normally long service life. These aged and often obsolete designs limited load and speed capacity but can still be found in many locations globally and performing adequately despite decades of service. There are great numbers of steel ties with over 50 years of service and in some cases they can and have been rehabilitated and continue to perform well. Steel ties were also used in specialty situations, such as the Hejaz Railway in the Arabian Peninsula, which had an ongoing problem with Bedouins who would steal wooden ties for campfires. \\n\\nModern steel ties handle heavy loads, have a proven record of performance in signalized track, and handle adverse track conditions. Of high importance to railroad companies is the fact that steel ties are more economical to install in new construction than creosote-treated wood ties and concrete ties. Steel ties are utilized in nearly all sectors of the worldwide railroad systems including heavy-haul, class 1s, regional, shortlines, mining, electrified passenger lines (OHLE) and all manner of industries. Notably, steel ties (bearers) have proven themselves over the last few decades to be advantageous in turnouts (switches) and provide the solution to the ever-growing problem of long timber ties for such use.\\n\\nWhen insulated to prevent conduction through the ties, steel ties may be used with track circuit based train detection and track integrity systems. Without insulation, steel ties may only be used on lines without block signaling and level crossings or on lines that use other forms of train detection such as axle counters.\\n\\nHybrid plastics/Composite plastics\\n\\nIn more recent times, a number of companies are selling composite railroad ties manufactured from recycled plastic resins, and recycled rubber. Manufacturers claim a service life longer than wooden ties with an expected lifetime in the range of 30–80 years, that the ties are impervious to rot and insect attack, and that they can be modified with a special relief on the bottom to provide additional lateral stability. In some main track applications the hybrid plastic tie has a recessed design to be completely surrounded by ballast.\\n\\nAside from the environmental benefits of using recycled material, plastic ties usually replace timber ties soaked in creosote, the latter being a toxic chemical, and are themselves recyclable. Hybrid plastic railroad ties and composite ties are used in other rail applications such as underground mining operations, industrial zones, humid environments and densely populated areas. Hybrid railroad ties are also used to be partly exchanged with rotten wooden ties, which will result in continuous track stiffness. Hybrid plastic ties and composite ties also offer benefits on bridges and viaducts, because they lead to better distribution of forces and reduction of vibrations into respectively bridge girders or the ballast. This is due to better damping properties of hybrid plastic ties and composite ties, which will decrease the intensity of vibrations as well as the sound production. \\n\\nIn 2009, Network Rail announced that they were to begin replacing wooden ties with recycled plastic ones made by I-Plas ltd of Halifax, West Yorkshire; but then I-Plas went into insolvency in October 2012. \\n\\nThe Cable TV series Factory Made has a segment on the manufacture of plastic ties. \\n\\nIn 2012, New Zealand ordered a trial batch of \\\"EcoTrax\\\" brand recycled composite ties from Axion for use on turnouts and bridges, but then Axion filed for bankruptcy in December 2015. These ties are developed by Dr. Nosker at Rutgers University. \\n\\nIn 2014 the KLP Hybrid Plastic Tie, by Lankhorst Engineered Products of Sneek, Netherlands, won the Privatbahn Magazin Innovation Award in the category Track and Infrastructure. \\n \\n\\nFiberglass \\n\\nTies may also be made from fiberglass. \\n\\nNon-conventional tie forms\\n\\nY-shaped ties\\n\\nAn unusual form of tie is the Y-shaped tie, first developed in 1983. Compared to conventional ties the volume of ballast required is reduced due to the load-spreading characteristics of the Y-tie. Noise levels are high but the resistance to track movement is very good. For curves the three-point contact of a Y steel tie means that an exact geometric fit cannot be observed with a fixed attachment point.\\n\\nThe cross section of the ties is an I-beam. \\n\\nAs of 2006 less than 1,000 km of Y-tie track had been built, of which approximately 90-percent is in Germany. \\n\\nTwin ties\\n\\nThe ZSX Twin tie is manufactured by Leonhard Moll Betonwerke GmbH & Co KG and is a pair of two pre-stressed concrete ties longitudinally connected by four steel rods. The design is said to be suitable for track with sharp curves, track subject to temperature stress such as that operated by trains with eddy brakes, bridges and as transition track between traditional track and slab track or bridges. \\n\\nWide ties\\n\\nConcrete monoblock ties have also been produced in a wider form (e.g. 57 cm) such that there is no ballast between the ties; this wide tie increases lateral resistance and reduces ballast pressure. The system has been used in Germany where wide ties have also been used in conjunction with the GETRAC A3 ballastless track systems. \\n\\nBi-block ties\\n\\nBi-block (or twinblock) ties consist of two concrete rail supports joined by a steel bar. Advantages include increased lateral resistance and lower weight than monobloc concrete ties, as well as elimination of damage from torsional forces on the ties center due the more flexible steel connections. This tie type is in common use in France, and are used on the high-speed TGV lines. Bi-block ties are also used in ballastless track systems.\\n\\nFrame ties\\n\\nFrame ties (German: Rahmenschwelle) comprise both lateral and longitudinal members in a single monolithic concrete casting. This system is in use in Austria; in the Austrian system the track is fastened at the four corners of the frame, and is also supported midway along the frame. Adjacent frame ties are butted close to each other. Advantages of this system over conventional cross increased support of track. In addition, construction methods used for this type of track are similar to those used for conventional track. \\n\\nLadder track\\n\\nIn ladder track the ties are laid parallel to the rails and are several meters long. The structure is similar to Brunel's baulk track; these longitudinal ties can be used with ballast, or with elastomer supports on a solid non-ballasted support.\\n\\nFastening rails to railroad ties\\n\\nVarious methods exist for fixing the rail to the railroad ties. Historically spikes gave way to cast iron chairs fixed to the tie, more recently springs (such as Pandrol clips) are used to fix the rail to the tie chair.\\n\\nOther uses\\n\\nIn recent years, wooden railroad ties have also become popular for gardening and landscaping, both in creating retaining walls and raised-bed gardens, and sometimes for building steps as well. Traditionally, the ties sold for this purpose are decommissioned ties taken from rail lines when replaced with new ties, and their lifespan is often limited due to rot. Some entrepreneurs sell new ties. Due to the presence of wood preservatives such as coal tar, creosote or salts of heavy metals, railroad ties introduce an extra element of soil pollution into gardens and are avoided by many property owners. In the UK, new oak beams of the same size as standard railroad ties, but not treated with dangerous chemicals, are now available specifically for garden construction. They are about twice the price of the recycled product. In some places, railroad ties have been used in the construction of homes, particularly among those with lower incomes, especially near railroad tracks, including railroad employees. They are also used as cribbing for docks and boathouses.\\n\\nThe Spanish artist Agustín Ibarrola has used recycled ties from Renfe in several projects.\\n\\nIn Germany, use of wooden railroad ties as building material (namely in gardens, houses and in all places where regular contact to human skin would be likely, in all areas frequented by children and in all areas associated with the production or handling of food in any way) has been prohibited by law since 1991 because they pose a significant risk to health and environment. From 1991 to 2002, this was regulated by the Teerölverordnung (Carbolineum By-law), and since 2002 has been regulated by the Chemikalien-Verbotsverordnung (Chemicals Prohibition By-law), §1 and Annex, Parts 10 and 17. \\n\\nBallastless track\\n\\nBallastless track is designed such that no underlying ballast is required. The first such tracks were mountain railways (like Pilatus Railway, built in 1889) with rails attached directly to the mountain rock. From the late 1960s onwards, German, British, Swiss and Japanese railways experimented with alternatives to the traditional railroad tie in search of solutions with higher accuracy and longevity, and lowered maintenance costs. \\n\\nThis gave rise to the ballastless railway track, especially in tunnels, high-speed railway lines and on lines with high train frequency, which have high stress imposed on trackage. Paved concrete track has the rail fastened directly to a concrete slab, about half a meter thick, without ties. A similar but less expensive alternative is to accurately position concrete ties and then pour a concrete slab between and around them; this method is called \\\"cast-in precast sleeper track\\\". \\n\\nThese systems offer the advantage of superior stability and almost complete absence of deformation. Ballastless track systems incur significantly lower maintenance costs compared to ballasted track. Due to the absence of any ballast, damage by flying ballast is eliminated, something that occurs at speeds in excess of 250 km/h (150 mph). It is also useful for existing railroad tunnels; as slab track is of shallower construction than ballasted track, it may provide the extra overhead clearances necessary for converting a line to overhead electrification, or for the passage of larger trains. \\n\\nBuilding a slab track is more expensive than building traditional ballasted track, which has slowed its introduction outside of high-speed rail lines. These layouts are not easy to modify after they are installed, and the curing time of the concrete makes it difficult to convert an existing, busy railway line to a ballastless setup.\\n\\nSlab track can also be significantly louder and cause more vibration than traditional ballasted track. While this is in some part attributable to slab track's decreased sound absorption qualities, a more significant factor is that slab track typically uses softer rail fasteners to provide vertical compliance similar to ballasted track; these can lead to more noise, as they permit the rail to vibrate over a greater length.\\n\\nWhere it is critical to reduce noise and vibration, the concrete slab can be supported upon soft resilient bearings. This configuration, called \\\"floating slab track\\\", is expensive and requires more depth or height, but can reduce noise and vibration by around 80%. Alternatively, the rail can be supported along its length by an elastic material; when combined with a smaller rail section, this can provide a significant noise reduction over traditional ballasted track.\",\n \"The Victorian Armchair - The Arts and Crafts Home\\nSheraton illustrated and listed many types common in the late 18th Century including ... BERGERE. An armchair with cane ... Cotton cloth of varying grades first made ...\\nThe Arts & Crafts Home\\nVery large and fine easy library armchair, by Howard and Sons\\nHeight 0.870, Width 0.870, Depth 1.030\\nPrice SOLD (VA4)\\nFine easy library armchair, by Howard & Sons\\nHeight 0.830, Width 0.670, Depth 0.970\\nPrice SOLD (VA3)\\nFine and large Edwardian wing library armchair, with Mahogany legs.\\nHeight 1.180, Width 0.840, Depth 0.840\\nPrice £1150.00 (VA2)\\nFine and large Victorian easy chair, by Howard and Sons.\\nHeight 0.810, width 0.820, Depth 1.020\\nPrice £1450.00 (VA1)\\nPRICING\\nThe price for an original Victorian armchair, fully renovated and re-upholstered starts at £850.00 (includes VAT and excludes fabric 7m and delivery).\\nThe price for an orginal Victorian sofa, fully renovated and re-upholstered starts at £1400.00 (includes VAR and excludes fabric 13m and delivery).\\nWe can replicate any arm-chair or sofa you have, and can upholster in any of our extensive range of fabrics , or we can use your own choice of fabric. Please email for prices.\\n \\nRANGE OF REPLICA VICTORIAN ARMCHAIRS AND SOFAS\\nEach sofa and armchair are made to order, and the sizes listed can be adapted for clients specifications. We can adapt the height width and depth of any of our armchairs and sofas, and we are able to match any existing armchair or sofa you may wish to copy.\\nWe can email larger images and further details upon request email .\\n \\n(HOW TO UPHOLSTER, RECOVER & REPAIR TRADITIONAL AND MODERN CHAIRS, SOFAS, OTTOMANS & STOOLS)\\nTOOLS\\nMagnetic tacking hammer\\nThis is the most basic of all upholstery tools. There are two main types.\\n1 A hammer with a plain 12 mm diameter head at one end, and an 8 mm diameter magnetized cabriole head at the other. The cabriole head is smaller and is used in places which are difficult to locate with the larger head. The un-magnetized head is also useful for nailing.\\n2 A hammer with a magnetized head at one end and a tack removing claw at the other end. Care should be taken not to damage the fabric when using this claw.\\nTacks are still traditionally held in the mouth for convenience. The beginner may be put off by the danger of swallowing one, but this risk is minimized if only about six are held at one time and they are stored beneath the tongue, to be brought forward as required. Each tack can be withdrawn directly from the mouth on to the magnetized end of the hammer provided the tack is turned by the tongue so that the head faces outwards from the mouth. Accuracy in placing comes with practice.\\nStaple gun\\nThis is used by manufacturers for speeding up production. It is not necessary for the home upholsterer. Guns are obtainable either air powered from a compressor, or they can be plugged in to the normal electricity mains.\\nTape\\nA flexible 2 m metal tape is required for general upholstery work. One which is graduated in both metric and imperial units will be useful in helping the reader to convert from one system to the other. The reader should accustom himself to think directly in metric rather than convert continuously between the scales. A straight wooden rule is more convenient for cutting fabric on a flat table.\\nPincers\\nA pair of pincers is required for extracting nails and staples when stripping a frame.\\nShears\\nA pair of shears is necessary to cut out fabric and for general upholstery work. Heavy duty shears for cutting fabric are usually 300 mm long but a pair 250 mm is suitable for both operations. It is worth investing in a pair with a good brand name.\\nBench or trestles\\nA bench, or a pair of trestles, is required to support the work at a height suitable for easy working, usually about 700 from the ground. The bench size should be about 750 mm square, and the trestles about 750 mm by 200 mm. A padded roll is often tacked round the perimeter of the trestles to prevent damaging the work.\\nMallet and ripping chisel\\nThe ripping chisel is used for extracting tacks. Although there arc many types available, an ordinary screwdriver with a plastic or wooden flat-topped handle will serve the purpose adequately. A mallet should always be used with the chisel to prevent damaging the handle. Hold the blade on the edge of the tack head and hit the chisel handle with the mallet. A few blows may be required before the tack is lifted. The tack should be ripped out in the direction of the grain to avoid splitting the timber.\\nStaple extractor\\nBecause of the ease with which staples can be put into a frame, there are usually more of them to extract than if tacks had been used. There arc many tools available for extracting staples. The one illustrated is one of the more successful types. It works by prizing the staple up with one of the end points. A final twist pulls the staple free.\\nWebbing stretcher\\nThis is used for stretching webbing tightly on a scat or back. There are several types available. If the stretcher is needed infrequently, a plain block of wood can be used. The webbing is wound around the block which is then levered against the frame to strain the webbing. Other specially made stretchers have grooved edges which fit against the rail to prevent the stretcher from slipping. One type uses a metal lever to hold the webbing, while the bat type has a slot through which the webbing is held by means of a peg. Another type has a series of spikes at one end by which the webbing is held. The disadvantage of the latter is that webbing is wasted due to the damage caused by the spikes.\\nNeedles\\nThere are four basic types of needle required by the upholsterer.\\n1 Regulator. This is used to even stuffing. It should not be used over a fabric because holes may result. Skewers are safer for this purpose as they produce smaller holes, but care needs to be taken. The flattened end of the regulator can be used for moving stuffing beneath a fabric where a hand can not reach. The needles come in different lengths, but one 250 mm long should be adequate.\\n2 Skewers. These are not only used for regulating, but also for temporarily holding material in position before slip stitching. They are also used when making a spring edge for attaching the scrim to the edge wire prior to sewing.\\n3 Straight stitching needle. This is used for stitching edges, and for threading buttons through the upholstery. Both ends of the needle are pointed.\\nA bayonet needle is similar, but is triangular in section down one third of its length. The purpose of this needle is to cut through stuffing which a stitching needle cannot penetrate. It can be obtained in different lengths, but one stitching needle about 300 mm long is satisfactory for most purposes.\\n4 Circular needle. This is semi-circular and is used when the stitching needle is not practical, such as for sewing hessian around a spring unit. This needle is about 100 mm long, but smaller ones used for slip stitching are about 50 mm long.\\nA spring needle is bayonet pointed, and is used, as its name implies, for sewing hour glass springs to webbing. This, too, is used for sewing through stuffing which an ordinary circular needle cannot penetrate.\\nButton making machine\\nThis machine converts a two-piece metal mould and a disc of fabric into a button. The top half of the mould forms the shape of the button and the lower half contains the fixing. This may be by a metal loop, a cloth tuft or a spike.\\nA peddle operated machine can be used more efficiently than a hand machine. The object of both types is to bring the moulds together, trapping the fabric between them. Automatic electric machines are being used increasingly in factories.\\nButtons can be obtained in different sizes, ranging from small ones suitable for deep buttoning work, to the larger ones of which very few arc needed for each job.\\nLoose seat machine\\nThis is used in mass production to simplify the upholstering of dining chair type loose seats. The machine consists essentially of a jig to hold the frame, and a rain to compress the stuffing.\\nThe cover is placed upside down in the machine, followed by the stuffing, and then the base which, if necessary, has been previously covered with webbing and hessian. The ram, which usually works by compressed air, is brought down. This presses the frame on to the stuffing. All that is now required is to tack or staple the overhanging cover to the frame.\\nCushion filling machine\\nThis machine was common when spring interior cushions were used. Now the use of dacron in cushions has created again a demand for the machine. It can be worked manually by handles or it can be air or electrically powered. The cushion is placed in the machine and the lid is closed. The sides of the cushion are compressed by the machine and the cover is slipped over the mouth of the machine. A ram then forces the cushion forward into the cover. The filling of the cushion is completed by hand.\\nElectrical cutters\\nSpecial cutters can be obtained to cut anything from flexible foams to layers of fabrics. There are two main types of electrical cutter.\\n1 The straight knife which operates by the oscillation of a vertical blade, and can cut greater thicknesses than the round knife but is slightly slower.\\n2 The round knife which cuts by the rotation of a circular cutting wheel, is usually fitted with an automatic knife sharpener.\\nMATERIALS\\nTacks\\nThere arc two types of tack: 1 improved and 2 fine. Improved tacks are stouter, and are used where greater holding power is necessary, such as for tacking webbing and hessian. Fine tacks are used mainly on fabric.\\nBoth types of tack can be obtained in a variety of sizes, from 6 mm which are used on thin plywood facings, to 15 mm which are used on webbing, and where many thicknesses of material are to be penetrated. Rail thickness should be taken into account when choosing tack sizes, because too large a tack may split a narrow rail.\\nGimp pins\\nThese are obtainable in different colours to match a fabric. They arc 12 mm long and are cut with a small head to be inconspicuous in use. They are used for fixing cover along the edge of a show wood frame, such as may be found at the top of a chair leg. They arc also used for fixing gimp in place.\\nNails\\n1 No-sag nails These are used for fixing serpentine spring clips to the frame. They are 21 mm long and are serrated down their length to prevent them loosening in use.\\n2 Clout nails These are 25 mm long and are much thicker than no-sag nails. They are blue, have serrations down their length and are used mainly for fixing spring units to the frame.\\nTwines\\nThese are made mainly from flax and hemp, but synthetic twines are gaining popularity for certain purposes where a greater strength is needed such as for fixing buttons.\\n1 Stitching twine was originally used for stitching roll edges but it can be used wherever a thin but strong twine is required such as for fixing buttons.\\n2 Spring twine is thicker and stronger than stitching twine. Its original use was for sewing loose springs to webbing but is now used more widely.\\n3 Laid cord is not frequently used. It is a thick cord for lashing springs together to form an integral unit. It is made by laying the fibres side by side to prevent the cord from stretching.\\n4 Piping cord is used in making upholstery with self-piped seams. The cord is attached to strips of the fabric, which is then sewn to the main fabric panel. See CHAPTER 7 page 48. Piping cord is made from synthetic fibres, cotton and compressed paper, in different diameters and with different stiffness ratios for different types of fabric.\\nWebbing\\nThis is used as a platform to support hour glass springs and other fillings. It is not being used as widely as in the past owing to new springing systems which are available.\\nThere are two main types of webbing.\\n1 Brown webbing which is made from jute in a plain weave and can be obtained in rolls of different widths.\\n2 Black and white webbing which is more expensive but is of better quality. It is made from flax, woven with a twill weave.\\nHessian\\nThis is a loosely woven jute cloth used for covering springs, loose stuffings and webbing. It is also used for making flies (which are extension pieces, sewn to a fabric, and are hidden inside the upholstery, therefore saving material). Hessians are available in different weights, the heavier hessians being known as tarpaulins.\\nWhen fitting hessian, keep warp and weft lines straight, as with a fabric. Hessian can be cut in a straight line by withdrawing a thread and cutting along this line. All hessian edges should be turned over for tacking, unless neatness is of more importance than strength, in which case they should be folded in.\\nScrim\\nThis is also made from jute. It is similar to hessian except that it has a more open weave and the threads are flat in cross section as opposed to the hessian's round threads. It is generally lighter than hessian. It is used for covering the first stuffing through which a stitched edge is sewn. Keeping the lines straight on the scrim aids the stitching of a straight edge because one thread can be followed as a guide for the line of stitching.\\nCalico\\nThis is a light, bleached cotton fabric. Strips of calico are used for attaching foam to a frame and as a base cover for upholstery. It is also used for covering upholstery prior to fitting the fabric, as described under Sewing a spring edge.\\nRubber webbing\\nThis is a form of springing, as opposed to the webbing previously mentioned. It consists of a core of rubber sandwiched between two layers of rayon cord which have been cut on the bias (diagonally). When the webbing is stretched, the cords control the amount of elongation in the webbing and, as the cords draw closer together, the webbing retains its strength. By varying the internal arrangements of cords, rubber and the angle of cut, it is possible to alter the characteristics of webbing.\\nAll-rubber webbings are also available but, as they have no woven reinforcement, they do not retain their strength when stretched. They give a greater deflection of the cushion than reinforced webbing.\\nDifferent webbings have different characteristics. By selecting the appropriate type, the required degree of resilience can be obtained. The depth of spring can be determined by:\\n(a) controlling the initial tension on the webbing\\n(b) using a specified width of webbing\\n(c) adapting the spacing of the webbing to conform with the loading on specific points.\\nThe type and thickness of the cushion should conform with the characteristics of the base.\\nFitting rubber webbing\\nThere is wide scope for individual ingenuity when applying webbing to produce seats and backs which can be adapted anthropometrically to the user. Webbing which is applied from front to back on a seat has the advantage that the width, and therefore the weight of the sitter, is distributed across all the straps by the cushion. The cushion is also free to rise and fall between the sides of the frame without being tilted inwards around the sitter.\\nDisadvantages of this method are that a soft front edge can not be obtained, and the support given by the webbing is no greater at the points of maximum load than in less loaded areas.\\nWebbing stretched from side to side can be given a soft front edge; and as the zone of heaviest load occupies the rear half of the seat, increased support can be incorporated in this area, by giving the straps greater initial tension or by using wider or more closely spaced straps. Where additional support is needed the straps can be run in both directions.\\nFitting straps on the back can be treated in a similar manner. Loads encountered here are less than on a seat. When the webbing is placed from side to side it is possible to provide firmness for the lumbar region and the head rest while retaining greater softness in other parts of the back. Concave backs can be made by using cross webs in low tension, pulled into shape by verticals under higher tension.\\nWebbing can be obtained in a continuous roll and can be applied by direct tacking or stapling. It should not be turned over at the ends. There are many types of clips available for attaching webbing to both wooden and metal frames. These clips are responsible, to a greater extent, for the successful introduction of the webbing because they simplify its application. The neatest and most popular clip is the one which fits into a grooved rail and ensures equal tension on all straps.\\nRubber platforms\\nThese area variation to rubber webbing. They are made from a synthetic rubber, and provide the newest form of springing system. They can be obtained in different sizes, and are attached to the frame at four points. The platform is fitted under a tension of between 8 to 15% in order to function correctly. This percentage has to be worked out when calculating the size of platform required.\\nSpring systems\\n1 Loose hour-glass springs. This is a traditional type of spring which was used in all sprung upholstery before 1920. Its use is associated with traditional hand stitched work which is very expensive in labour. The springs are double cone in form and are made from\\ncopper-plated wire. The springs arc coiled and knotted at both ends by machine.\\n2 Patent spring units. These arc assembled units, available for seats, backs and arms. They have a flexible wire mesh surface into which conical springs are threaded. The mesh may have a framing of rigid wire. The single cone springs arc riveted to steel laths at the base of the spring. Some units arc fitted with tension springs which arc fixed at intervals between the cone springs and arc attached to steel strips between the laths. Tension springs provide added comfort to the unit.\\nDouble spring units arc not very popular, but they give added luxury to a seat. The base layer of springs is similar to the single spring unit, but the upper layer contains hour glass springs which may or may not be covered in calico or hessian pockets to muffle any spring noise.\\n3 Tension springs. These are suitable for seats and backs where the design does not allow for a full spring unit. Although rubber webbing is a strong competitor to tension springs, they are still being widely used. The plain metal spring is used where they are to be covered by upholstery, but when they arc exposed or in contact with a cushion, they can be obtained with a PVC or woven fabric covering. They arc supplied in 1-22 to 2-03 mm SWG (14 to 18 gauge) wire, and in a variety of lengths. They are fitted under slight tension, usually between 35 mm to 50 mm and 45 mm length. The tension on these springs has an opposite mechanical action to the compression which coil springs undergo. Tension springs are fitted by direct nailing, hooking around nails, fixing to metal plates and by nailing them into a groove.\\n4 Serpentine or 'o-sag' springs Serpentine springs can be supplied cut to length, in a continuous roll or made up into units. A thicker gauge spring should be used on the seat than on a back. They do not exist as a spring until they arc uncoiled and fixed to the frame. They are constantly trying to return to their original circular form which gives them a permanent arc.\\nFive springs fixed from front to back or bottom to top, are normally used in chair seats and backs. They arc fixed to the frame by means of special clips of which there is a variety for different applications. Connecting links can be used to join the springs together so that they perform as a single unit. If connecting links are not available, the springs should be tied together with a thick twine across the centre of the springs.\\n5 Pullmalex suspension unit This is another recent springing system which is suitable for seats and backs. It consists of a Hexolator, a wire platform cross gridded with twisted kraft paper centre ropes, which is fastened to the frame by tension springs. They are quick and easy to fix by means of anchors which are attached to the tension springs. Only thin upholstering is required over this spring.\\nFlexible foams\\nThe manufacture of latex foam\\nNatural latex, containing the rubber molecule polyisoprene, is obtained from the rubber tree, and once was the only source of rubber. Today, synthetic rubber, styrene butadiene latex, is usually blended with natural latex to extract the best properties of both types of foam.\\nNatural latex is obtained as a juice from the hevea brasiliensis, the rubber tree which is cultivated in Malaysia, Indonesia, Ceylon, West Africa and Brazil. After extracting the latex by tapping the tree, ammonia is added to the latex to prevent it from drying. The latex is concentrated by extracting water, which accounts for about 65% of the liquid tapped from the tree. The latex is shipped to the site where it is to be manufactured. Ammonia is extracted by blowing air through the latex. There arc two main processes of manufacture.\\nThe first process mechanically foams the latex before its poured into the moulds. Various chemicals are dispersed in water and are then mixed with the latex. The most important of these chemicals is sulphur, a yellow solid, which, later in the process with the action of heat, brings about the change known as vulcanization or curing. The sulphur causes the latex molecules to crosslink, which prevents the latex from becoming soft and loosing its shape during hot weather, and going hard in cold weather. Other chemicals mixed in are soap which helps with the foaming, and anti-oxidants which protect against oxygen in the air. The mixture is then allowed to mature under controlled time_and temperature.\\nAfter maturing, foaming takes place. Foaming is continuous, by passing the mixture with air through a mixing head. The action through the rotor causes the air to be uniformly mixed with the foam. Various degrees of firmness can be produced at this stage. The foam passes through a hose to where an operator fills the moulds. Gelling or solidification of the foam in the mould is brought about by two additives, zinc oxide and sodium silicofluoride, which are added after frothing the foam. It is during gelling that the air bubbles are interconnected.\\nThe moulds pass through a steam chamber for 25 minutes, which causes the sulphur to vulcanize the rubber. The foam cushion is extracted from the mould, washed, dried and inspected.\\nAn alternative method of foaming is by chemical means. The latex compound is foamed by oxygen which is extracted from the chemical hydrogen peroxide. A calculated quantity of hydrogen peroxide and a catalyst (a substance which helps the chemical reaction to occur without undergoing change itself) are stirred into the latex compound, and this is immediately poured into a mould. Decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide with subsequent foaming of the latex compound takes place after the mould is closed. Freezing, gelling by carbon dioxide gas, and vulcanization are carried out as before.\\nCavity design in latexfoam\\nLatex foam can be obtained either plain or with cavities. Solid foam contains much rubber which serves no useful purpose. Large communicating cavities are included to increase the comfort of a cushion. This is because when sitting on a solid sheet of latex, air is driven out and it eventually feels hard. In cavity cushion, the weight is taken by the walls of the cavities, causing them to flex slightly. Cavities are made by building plugs into the lid of the mould. The design and layout of cavities control the hardness of the foam, and it is possible to provide different hardnesses in different parts of a foam block.\\nTypes of latex foam\\nThere are five main types of moulding, each group of which covers a range of standard products. Special mouldings can be produced when the quantity ordered justifies the making of a mould. When this is uneconomic handbuilding is used.\\n1 Non-reversible units These have a smooth surface with the underside showing the cavities. There is a wide range of mouldings which are used for fixed upholstery work.\\n2 Reversible units Made from two non-reversible units which are bonded together with the cavities on the inside. They are used for loose cushions. A wide range of standard mouldings are available.\\n3 Cavity sheet Made in sheets up to 1800 mm by 1400 mm and from 25 mm to 100 mm in thickness. They are available with various degrees of firmness and are used mainly for handbuilding.\\n4 Plain sheet in sheet sizes up to 1800 mm by 1400 mm and from 12 mm to 30 mm in thickness. They are available in various degrees of firmness, and are used for covering arm pads, dining chairs, bar seating and handbuilding.\\nPolyether foams\\nThese are open cell flexible polyurethane ether foams as opposed to the polyurethane ester foams which are not used in similar flexible form in upholstery. Polyether is cheaper in price than latex foam, and is available in various thicknesses and densities, including densities lower than can be obtained in latex. It is therefore possible to choose a suitable foam for almost any requirement. The density is controlled by the chemicals which are mixed when making the foam. Fire retardent grades of foam are also available.\\nThe main defect of polyether is that it offers a high initial resistance to deformation, although once a certain load has been reached this property disappears. This is known as hysteresis, and can be described as giving a sudden sinking feeling. These foams have been modified to such a degree that this property is no longer so noticeable. The chemicals carbon dioxide and urethane polymer are reacted together no further vulcanizing is then needed as with latex, because after foaming, the polyether sets into its final form. There are two ways by which polyether can be made:\\n1 Prepolymer The ingredients react together before foaming begins. This allows greater control to be kept over the process, which ensures that the polyether will contain the required properties.\\n2 One-shot In this case, mixing and foaming take place simultaneously.\\nBonded chip foam\\nThis is made from reprocessed waste polyether foam which is cut into small granules. The polyether chips are mixed in a preditermined ratio with a precatalysed polyurethane resin in an extruding machine. The resin crosslinks under pressure and sometimes heat, and the chipfoam emerges the same shape as the die at the head of the extruder.\\nChipfoam is available from 2 mm in thickness. The thinner layers are rotary cut from a cylinder of chipfoam, in which the cylinder is peeled to give a continuous length of chipfoam. It is available in many grades, giving densities up to ten times greater than is possible in polyether foam.\\nChipfoam is used in better quality upholstery as a base layer, over which a softer padding material is fitted. It can be used to advantage, together with a moulded rubber edge profile, over a seat spring.\\nRubber profiles\\nThese are made from latex and chipfoam and are available with different shaped cross sections for every possible roll and edge application. They can be glued to foam or tacked directly to a frame.\\nFibre\\nLoose fibre is not used much now in upholstery owing to the time and skill involved in its correct use. Different types are available, each being characterised by colour. Coir fibre, also known as ginger fibre, is obtained from the coconut husk, and is the most resilient type. It is shipped from Ceylon in bales which are broken open, and the fibre is teased to separate the fibres. A dust extraction system removes any remaining husk and the shorter fibres which add to the bulk but not to the quality of the fibre.\\nAlgerian grass, often called black and green fibre, is obtained from the Algerian palm tree and is the next best quality of fibre.\\nFibre pads are more convenient to use than loose fibre. These are made by needling a predetermined quantity on to a hessian backing.\\nCurled hair\\nThis is used as little as fibre for the reasons stated above. It is more resilient than fibre and is much softer to the touch. Hair is usually obtained as a mixture of horse, cattle and hog hair, the proportions depending on price. Horse hair is obtained from the mane and tail and is of better quality than cattle hair which, in turn, is better than hog hair.\\nThe hair is first washed, and a proportion is dyed black. After mixing, the hair is spun into rope, and a curl is set in by steaming or boiling the rope. Heating also sterilizes the hair. After drying, the ropes are stored to allow them to mature. When required, the rope is untwisted and teased, or it is needled on to hessian to make hair pads.\\nRubberized hair\\nThis is obtained in sheets of varying densities. It is made by bonding curled hair with rubber latex which is then compressed to the required thickness and density.\\nFelt\\nBest quality felt is made from cotton linters which are obtained from the waste of the cotton plant after the cotton fibres have been extracted. These linters are pressed into an even layer. Felts can also be made out of rag flock made from processed rags, but this product is not as resilient as cotton felt. To conform to British Standards, the rags need to contain So to 60% wool. Felt is used over fibre and hair to prevent fibres from working through the covering fabric.\\nPolyester fibrefill\\nThis is a recently developed cushion filling material, made in terylene and dacron, which has contributed enormously to the comfort of seating. It is available as a bonded batting, in which the sheets are lightly bonded with acrylic resin on each side, making the material more compact and easier to handle. Unbonded batting is also available, in which the fibrefill is carded and folded into layers, which are then sandwiched between a loosely woven cheese-cloth.\\nThe fibre has good bulking power, and cushions filled with the material are characterised by a full appearance. The fibre is very soft and recovers well from compression. This is due to a new three dimensional spiral crimp, or a saw-tooth type crimp, which is given to each fibre.\\nFibrefill can be used by itself in a cushion or in combination with any type offoam which will blend with the fibre. When a core of foam is being used, cut the foam about the same size as the cushion cover, and wrap the required number of layers around the cushion. If unbonded batting is being used, stitch the cheese-cloth together along three sides for a neater appearance of the cushion. Keep the unsewn edge to the front of the cushion. Bonded batting can be lightly glued to the foam. If a 100% fibrefill cushion is required, use the unbonded batting and fold it to about 25%, longer and wider than the cushion size. Use about 370 gm/m2 (4.4 oz per sq ft) in a seat cushion, and 1220 gm/m2 (4 oz per sq ft) in a back cushion.\\nKapok\\nThis is a vegetable filling material obtained from the seed pods of the kapok tree. It is used in cushions as a cheap substitute for feathers and down. The fibre comes from Java and the Dutch East Indies where it is washed, graded, and compressed into bales for shipping. When it arrives in this country, it is reprocessed by drawing by suction through a hopper, in which the kapok is beaten by arms revolving on an axis. This separates seeds and sand, and expands the kapok into its fluffy and light form. Kapok is extremely light because of the porous nature of the fibre, but in spite of this, water does not penetrate it very easily. Because of this property it is used as a filling for upholstery in ships, and lifesaving equipment.\\nFeathers and down\\nThese are still used extensively in the more expensive traditional upholstery. Down obtained from the cider duck is more expensive than feathers but is rarely used by itself. Feathers are normally mixed m to give extra weight and to lower the cost. Down contains no large quills and has a much greater filling capacity than feathers.\\nFeathers arc obtained mainly from poultry, much of which is imported from China. Cheaper grades of feathers arc chopped to prevent there being felt through the fabric.\\nFeathers and down arc weighed, and then filled by vacuum through a hose into waxed calico cases which prevent the quills from penetrating the fabric. The cases are often divided into three or four separate pockets to spread the filling equally throughout the cushion. The case should be slightly larger than the cushion cover into which it is to fit.\\nCastors\\nThese are a necessary fitting for upholstery, and much scientific experiment has gone into perfecting different types. The ball type is very popular because its patented design ensures almost frictionless and silent mobility.\\nCastors can be provided with different wheels for various floor surfaces, and there are different methods of fixing them to metal and wood frames. There are two main methods. The first is by a screw plate, and the second is with a socket fixing, where the socket fits into a drilled hole in the frame, and the peg of the castor can be pushed into the socket.\\nGlides can be fitted to light furniture which does not need wheeling about. They can be fitted by hammering on directly, or by means of a socket.\\nUPHOLSTERY FABRICS\\nTraditionally, the upholstery fabric market has been predominantly based on a number of fabric types, including moquettes, velvets, tapestries and brocades. Recently there has been a strong move towards the woollen Scandinavian boucle type of fabric. Acrylic velvets are also being exploited, due to their brightness and the clarity of colouration that they can be given, also to their warmth, softness to touch, durability and easy cleaning properties. The trend has particularly moved away from moquettes.\\nThe choice of fabric is a major factor influencing the success or failure of any job. A well chosen cover can transform a mediocre design into something attractive, but a badly chosen cover can make even a well upholstered chair appear drab. Certain covers which may suit certain styles of upholstery may be unsuitable if used on other designs. A cover should be chosen which fits in with surrounding materials, considering texture, pattern and colour. The amount of wear that is likely to take place must also be taken into account when buying the fabric.\\nWoven fabrics\\n1Bedford cord A fabric with ribs running in the direction of the warp. It is made in a plain or twill weave, and can only be obtained in single colours.\\n2 Brocade A finely woven jacquard fabric with a mufti-colour pattern. Originally it was a heavy silk fabric with elaborate pattern, made with silver or gold thread. It is made by floating extra coloured threads on the back of a plainly woven ground cloth, which are brought to the surface when required. Brocades are made from cotton, wool, silk and manmade fibres, and have a firm and smooth hard wearing surface.\\n3 Brocatelle This is similar to brocade, but the heavily figured pattern is raised above the weft backing.\\n4 Corduroy A cut pile fabric with ribs running in the warp direction. The weft yarns float on the surface at intervals which are then cut, brushed, and singed to form the pile. It is a hard wearing fabric, made from cotton and man-made fibres, and is in the medium to high price range.\\nS Chintz A closely woven printed cotton fabric in a plain weave and with a glazed surface.\\n6 Crash A heavy, rough textured, plain woven fabric made from jute, flax, hemp and cotton.\\n7 Cretonne Similar to chintz but without the glazing.\\n8 Damask Similar to brocade, but it is flatter and is reversible. It was originally made in Damascus from where it takes its name.\\n9 Denim A hard wearing coarse cotton twill fabric of low cost.\\n10 Genoa velvet A heavy velvet with a multi-coloured figured pile on a smooth ground. It is a very expensive fabric.\\n11 Moquette A fabric having a pile which is cut, uncut or in a combination of both.\\nCut moquettes are made by weaving two fabrics face to face, the pile being formed between, by interlacing both fabrics simultaneously with warp threads. The pile is then cut by a knife which travels between the fabrics. Another method of weaving is by lifting the warp threads over wires which are inserted in place of the weft. The pile is cut by the wires as it is withdrawn. Uncut moquettes are made with two warps, one of which forms the pile. Wires are inserted in place of the weft, but unlike those used above, they have no cutting edge. After weaving, the wires are withdrawn, leaving a pile in the form of loops. Moquettes having a combination of cut and uncut pile use cutting blade wires and plain wires. They are extremely hard wearing, can be obtained in many designs in both man-made and natural fibres but are generally very expensive.\\n12 Plush A fabric having a longer but less dense pile than velvet. It is in the medium to high price range.\\n13 Repp A plain woven fabric with ribs in the direction of the weft. It is a very hard wearing fabric, in the medium price range.\\n14 Sateen A fabric in which the weft float over the surface of the warp forming a smooth surface. It can be made without twill lines. The weave is also known as welt satin, and is in the medium price range.\\n15 Satin A fabric in which the warp float over the surface of the weft, forming a smooth surface. This weave is also known as warp sateen.\\n16 Tapestry A jacquard figured fabric made from part or all wool, with coarse yarns which can be made\\nin a variety of weaves. It can be obtained in many colours and is very expensive.\\n17 Terry velvet An uncut loop pile velvet which is woven over wires similar to the uncut moquette. It is very highly priced.\\n18 Ti-need A simple twill weave fabric with a smooth, hard-wearing surface. It is usually made from all wool, but other fibres are also used. Due to its simple weave, the fabric is reasonably priced.\\n19 Velour A warp pile fabric with a very short pile.\\n20 Velvet Produced with a double warp, one of which forms the pile. The ground warp is woven with weft yarns through which the pile is woven. A wire with a cutting blade is inserted between the pile warp to form loops, which are cut as the wire is extracted. Velvets are also made in a similar way to cut moquettes, by weaving two fabrics face to face with the pile between, which is sliced through the middle to separate them. It is very highly priced.\\n21 Velveteen A weft pile fabric. It is woven with floating weft yarns which are cut after applying a paste to the back of the fabric to fix the yarns, so they do not move during cutting.\\nKnitted fabrics\\nThese arc used in woven fabric applications. They arc also for covering plastics chair shells because their stretch properties are well suited to fitting around the double curvature shapes associated with these types of chair.\\nThey are liable to damage by loop pulling and laddering, which do not occur so frequently with woven covers. Damage is usually caused during sewing and fitting of the cover. Laddering can be caused by piercing the fabric with sewing needle, tacks and staples. The fabric can also be damaged if too rigid a seam is used for sewing, in which case the fabric might be torn by the thread when it is being stretched during upholstering or use. Foam or rubber backing a fabric lessens the chance of laddering.\\n1 Warp knitted fabrics These can be woven to give an appearance of either ordinary woven cloth or weft knits which are described below. They can be produced faster than woven fabrics, and are used in competition with them. They can be made with raised or unraised loops and can be made ladder resistant (a disadvantage associated with weft knits). They are woven mainly from continuous filament yarns, and different types of surface texture can be produced with either an open or closed structure. Knitting styles vary with different machines, the difference between machines being based on the number of needles and the thickness of yarn which is used. Warp knits are so called because threads run along the length of the fabric.\\n2 Weft knitted fabrics These fabrics have more stretch than warp knitted fabrics. The fabric is made up of interlocking loops of yarn. The loops are formed across the fabric with a single thread. There are three basic types of weft knitted fabrics used in upholstery: single jersey, double jersey and interlock, all of which can be knitted with variations. The former is a plain knitted fabric, and is very prone to laddering. Double jersey has a rib structure, and is so called because the stitches which lie in two planes tend to come together to form a double fabric. Interlock is also a double rib fabric, but it has interlocking cross yarns which prevent the fabric from damaging easily.\\nCoated fabrics\\nRexine made from nitrocellulose was the first plastic coated fabric to be used, but has now been superseded by other plastics.\\nPolyvinyl chloride PVC fabrics have good abrasion resistance and are easily cleaned. This makes them suitable for both contract and domestic upholstery.\\nThe properties of a coated fabric depend on the backing fabric, the type, content and thickness of the coating material, the adhesion between and the method of application of the coating to the fabric, and the decoration of the surface. Many types of backing fabric are used for strengthening the coating surface. The cheapest fabrics have no backing, and tear more easily than backed fabrics. Vynide has a woven backing fabric having good abrasion and flexing properties. Other PVC materials have knitted fabric backings to give the fabrics greater stretch properties, making upholstering easier. Expanded and unexpanded PVC are used in making coatings. Ambla and Cirrus are expanded fabrics which are softer and warmer than plain PVC fabrics. They are made by incorporating a blowing agent which expands the mixture to give a thin layer of foam with an integral skin of solid PVC. A plasticiser is added to PVC to give the fabric certain properties. The type and quantity used affects abrasion resistance and general flexibility.\\nPVC fabrics can be obtained in many colours. The amount and type of pigment used affects the light stability of the fabric. There are two methods of making the coated fabric, both of which use PVC as a plastisol (paste). The doctor knife method is the process usually used, in which the paste is spread on the fabric by means of a roller and a doctor knife, which control the thickness deposited as the fabric moves between them on a conveyor. The fabric then passes through a heated oven at i6o to i7o°C to gell the coating. An embossing roller imprints the pattern on the surface, and the fabric is rolled.\\nA second method, dip coating, involves passing the base fabric through an impregnating bath containing the paste. Excess paste is removed by rollers. Heating and embossing is carried out as above.\\nPolyurethane\\nThese fabrics are more like leather than other synthetics. They are usually applied in a thinner coating than PVC. Like PVC, they are air permeable, have good stain and abrasion resistance, and are easy to clean and upholster with. They can be finished with a matt or gloss `wet look'. Glossy fabrics usually contain a two-component finish, and the fabrics are tested to ensure that they will not delaminate through bad adhesion of the two dissimilar coatings. Certain of these fabrics also tend to be sticky.\\nFabrics are divided into two groups governed by the method of coating.\\n1 Direct coating involves spreading the polyurethane as a viscous liquid directly on the base fabric by means of rollers. A thicker and less stretchy fabric is formed by this method.\\n2 Transfer coating is more suitable for lighter coatings, and is applied to knitted fabrics. The coating is applied to a release paper, and is partially dried. The film is then transferred and bonded to the backing. The release paper is usually made from a strong kraft paper, which is coated with release agent to release readily the coating from the paper, and also a resin (polyurethane in this case). The paper can be plain or embossed, depending on the surface requirements for the fabric. The paper acts as a carrier to transport the resin coating on to the fabric backing, after which it is peeled off and can be used again. The general fabric properties depend on the effectiveness of the coating process, and the adhesion and thickness of the coating. This process is also used with PVC.\\nWelding of PVC\\nThe sewing of PVC can be avoided in mass production by using a radio frequency heating welding machine. This machine can form quilting patterns if suitable jigs are made, and it can make a seam much faster than a sewing machine. Power output, welding time and depth of sink of the welding blades are the machine's variables, which need to be carefully regulated according to the fabric in order to produce good welds.\\nThe average weld strength of backed PVC is 42% of the fabric strength. Thoughtful designing is needed to ensure that the seam will not be highly stressed.\\nHides\\nAfter a long absence from modern domestic upholstery, leather is once again in demand as a covering material.\\nCow hides of about 3.3 sq in (45 sq ft) arc obtained in irregular shapes. They can be squared for easier planning of cutting, but this raises the price of the hide Hides arc bought as whole or half hides. The outer side is called the grain side, and the inner side is the flesh side. Leather crushes easily, so it should be rolled neatly with the grain on the outside to prevent this.\\nJoins can be made on hides by skiving pieces together. This is done by cutting the pieces to be joined at an angle so that there is greater surface contact, and then gluing them together.\\nThe warble fly is the major cause of imperfections on a hide, but barbed wire and bramble scratches also cause surface markings. The holes heal on the animal to form scars which do not affect the strength of the leather. Certain blemishes add to the natural effect, while others need to be buffed out.\\nHides are first washed, then left to soak in pits containing lime and sodium sulphide. This aids removal of hair. The hides are split into layers, the top layer being used for best upholstery leather, and the bottom or flesh split being used for suede leather. The leather is dc-limed, and is passed to the currier in the rough tanned condition. The rough hides are sorted into groups, based on their ultimate use. They are then soaked in water and allowed to equalise in moisture content with the surroundings.\\nSkiving leather\\nThe hides are shaved on the underside to give them a level substance (thickness) before they enter the drum house where tanning is continued by introducing oil into the leather in the form of an emulsion. The hides pass from drum to drum, alternating between cleaning and re-tanning by specially prepared warm liquors. Chemicals are added to guard against rotting.\\nThe hides enter the setting-out machine, which contains rubber rollers between which the hides pass, extracting most of the moisture from the hides. They are transferred to the stretching shop, where they arc stretched to facilitate drying. It is not the aim of stretching to make them larger in area. They are dried under controlled relative humidity and temperature to ensure uniform drying throughout their substance.\\nThe hides are now in the russet state. Those for use in upholstery are re-sorted before staining. Those selected as buffed antique hides are sent to the buffing shop, those for printing to the printing shop, and those for natural fall gain hides arc left unfinished.\\nStained hides are sprayed with aniline dyes. The colour is rubbed into the grain, the surplus is wiped off, and the hides arc dried in an oven. Hides which are unsuitable for a natural grain finish, owing to blemishes, are embossed with an artificial grain. They are then placed in a revolving drum for several hours to produce a crushed effect.\\nThe full grain hide has an undisturbed surface, all natural grain and blemishes being left intact.\\nA buffed antique finish is given to hides which are unsuitable for other finishing treatments, owing to bad surface markings. The blemishes are removed from the surface of the hide by a machine containing cylinders which arc covered with carborundum paper. The hide is then embossed and finished in a similar way to the full grain hide. This type of hide is the cheapest upholstery hide produced.\\nTrimmings\\nSelf-piping or ruche is often used as an alternative to having plain seams along cushion borders, etc.\\n1 Self piping consists of piping made from the same material as the covering fabric.\\n2 Ruche can be obtained in shades to match most covers. One edge of the ruche is suitable for sewing into the seams of the fabric. There are three main types of ruche.\\n(i) Cut ruche consisting of a continuous closely woven thread, with a cut pile surface.\\n(ii) Loop ruche which is similar, but its pile is not cut.\\n(iii) Rope ruche which is made in the form of rope, with decorative threads on the surface.\\n3 Braid and gimp is a decorative band of material which is glued or gimp pinned along the edge of upholstery, particularly where the cover finishes against a show-wood frame.\\n4 Upholstery nails are used as an alternative to slip stitching to finish a job. They are hammered in to the frame at regular intervals, after folding in the raw edge of the material. They are commonly used on plastics coated fabrics which are difficult to sew by hand. Nails can be obtained with a brass or antique finish, or in colours to match a fabric.\\n5 Fringe is gimp-pinned or sewn around the perimeter of upholstered furniture as an added decoration. It consists of loose, twisted threads which hang from a length of braid. It can also be obtained with tassels.\\nCare and cleaning of fabrics\\nAll upholstery should be cleaned regularly with a vacuum cleaner or a soft brush to prevent dust from settling in the fabric.\\nWhen fixed upholstery covers require cleaning, which should not be too infrequently, a special dry foam upholstery cleaner can be bought, which cleans the fabric without damaging the underneath padding.\\nMost loose fabrics can be taken off and washed by hand or in a washing machine. Fabrics react differently to washing and heat, so the recommended washing and ironing instructions should be followed. If no washing instructions have been given with the fabric, it is safer to consult a dry-cleaner. Plastics coated fabrics need only to be wiped over with a damp, soapy cloth, followed by a dry duster, in order to keep them looking like new. Polishes should not be used on these fabrics.\\nMan-made fibres\\nThese are being used in an ever-increasing quantity for upholstery fabrics. Although wool is still one of the better fibres, its high price is restricting its use, and man-made fibres are necessary to provide wool equivalents at lower cost. Man-made fibres also offer properties which are not available in natural fibres. Each fibre has its own characteristics, and by blending natural and man-made fibres, many desirable properties can be incorporated into a fabric. For instance, the addition of a coarse denier, long staple rayon to wool will increase its strength and abrasion resistance.\\nYarns made from man-made fibres can be produced with a lustrous or matt finish, and with different forms of texture, giving different grades of strength and abrasion resistance.\\nAll man-made fibres are produced by taking a fibre-forming substance (a polymer), converting it into liquid form, forcing the liquid through a `spinneret' having very fine holes, and causing the streams of liquid to solidify as fibres. This process is carried out in different ways, depending on the chemical nature of the fibre.\\nMan-made fibres are available in two forms: continuous filament and staple filament yarn. Continuous filament yarn contains from one to one hundred or more individual filaments. The thickness of the yarn is indicated by the denier. Continuous filament yarns are produced from is denier to 2000 denim.\\nStaple fibre is obtained by cutting a thick rope of filaments (a tour) into fibres of the required length. 25 mm to 200 mm (1 in. to 8 in.) fibres can be made depending on the spinning system to be employed.\\nTEXTILE TERMS\\n1 Boucle yarn A decorative yarn having loops or knots at regular intervals, and made from two or more threads which are twisted together.\\n2 Bulked yarn A textured yarn, consisting of a crimped or folded yarn which gives bulk, softness and warmth to a fabric. It is made from man-made fibres to resemble wool. Bulking changes the original Fibre properties.\\n3 Catalyst A substance which is added to speed up a chemical reaction, without taking part in the reaction itself.\\n4 Crimp The waviness of a fibre. It is found naturally in wool, but it can be inserted permanently into man-made fibres by heat setting. It is used in textured yarns to give bulk.\\n5 Denier The term applied to filament man-made fibres and silk, and is the measure of thickness of a yarn. The denier is the weight in grammes of 9000 metres of yarn.\\n6 End, The term given to individual warp threads.\\n7 Filament A continuous fibre, obtained after melt spinning a man-made fibre mixture. Filaments arc naturally obtained in silk.\\n8 Picks The term given to individual weft threads. The number of picks per centimetre (inch) depends on the yarn count and the closeness of the weave.\\n9 Plain weave The simplest but closest method of weaving.\\n10 Selvedge Provided along the edges of a fabric to give a firm and strong edge. The selvedge is made by including extra end warp yarns which are either of the same or different but stronger material.\\n11 Staple Short fibres. A man-made fibre filament can be cut into short lengths to form staple fibres. Natural fibres are obtained in staple form.\\n12 Stretch yarn A textured yarn which is made to give a fabric elasticity. It is similar to a bulked yarn but has more stretch.\\n13 Tex A metric system of yarn numbering which, it is hoped, will supersede and rationalise all other methods. It measures the weight in grammes of zooo metres of fibres and natural or man-made yarns. Different units are used within the system militex = milligrammes per kilometre kilotex = kilogrammes per kilometre decitex = decigrammes per kilometre.\\n14 Twill weave This weave produces diagonal lines across the surface of a fabric.\\n15 Warp The threads which run along the length of a fabric.\\n16 Weft These threads run across the fabric at right angles to the warp.\\n17 Yarn count A measure of yarn thickness. It is calculated by an indirect method of measurement, usually based on the pound unit. This method measures length per unit weight as opposed to the direct method which measures weight per unit length. In the indirect method, the coarser yarns have lower numbers, but by the direct method, the coarser the yarn, the higher is the number. The denier and tex systems work by the direct method.\\nWeaving\\nAll woven fabrics are produced on a loom. The basic principle of weaving involves holding the warp yarns under tension, and interlacing with weft yarns. The weft yarns are held in shuttles which are sent across the warp threads as required, after raising the chosen warp ends.\\nJacquard loom\\nThis loom allows complex repeat patterns to be woven. The pattern of the fabric is transferred to rectangular cards by means of punched holes. Each line of picks uses one card. There are as many cards as there are picks in each repeat pattern. The cards are laced together and fitted in a belt on the loom. Needles are fitted to the loom which come into contact with the cards. Where holes have been punched in the cards, the needles enter, which causes the associated warp threads to be raised. After the weft yarn has been inserted, the needles withdraw and the next card comes into place to restart the cycle. Another type of loom uses a long strip of thick paper instead of individual cards.\\nThe martindale abrasion machine\\nThis is considered to be the most reliable machine for determining the abrasion resistance of the majority of woven fabrics. Fabrics having certain textured yarns and those with long piles are unsuitable for testing. This test is understood by the average consumer, and salesmen often talk about fabrics having a particular number of rubs.\\nTests need to be carried out under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity, and an average is found from the results of a number of tests. A figure of 3S,ooo rubs is considered to be the minimum acceptable number for domestic upholstery fabrics, but results of over 40,000 rubs arc necessary for hard wearing fabrics suitable for contract use.\\nSpecimens arc cut into 36 mm diameter discs, and are clamped into the abrading head over 3 mm thickness of foam. Four specimens are simultaneously. Specimens should be examined at certain stages to note any change, which can be assessed as follows:\\n1 The partial exposure of backing structure.\\n2 Removal of pile from a pile fabric, exposing the backing.\\n3 Breaking of the threads.\\n4 Removal of nap from the surface.\\n5 Rate ofweight loss. Specimens should be weighed every 1000 rubs.\\n6 Pilling This is the forming of small balls of fluff on the surface.\\n7 Testing to destruction. This is not as useful a test as when the fabric is tested for earlier deterioration.\\nSTRIPPING AND REPAIRING THE FRAME\\nThe cover and materials should be stripped in reverse order to the upholstering. The usual sequence is to remove the base cover, followed by the outside back, outside arms, seat, inside back, and inside arms. It is important to remember the order in which the frame was upholstered, and also where trimmings have been used on the cover. The piece of furniture being stripped should always be in a suitable position for working.\\nThese positions should be used for upholstering as well as stripping. If certain parts arc not being recovered, or the cover is to be replaced after repair to the frame, it is important not to damage the fabric. This can be prevented by resting the covered frame on some cloth or padding, placed on the floor and on the bench.\\nIf the inside springing and padding are in good condition, it might be possible to leave them on the job, if the upholsterer is sure that by doing so, it does not impede the fixing of the new cover. If the padding has been flattened, a layer of felt placed over the old padding will help to build up its resilience again.\\nThe old cover should be saved so that the pieces can be used as patterns for cutting the new cover. Extra cover should be allowed in places where it can be seen that cover has been trimmed from the original piece. Hessian flies should also be fitted where they are thought to be necessary.\\nThe frame can be altered for modernisation of the design. If this is done, the old cover must not be used for patterns, but new measurements need to be taken around the frame after fitting the padding.\\nTools required for frame repairs\\n1 Brace and bit This is used for drilling out broken dowels, and for drilling new dowel holes. It is also used for drilling castor holes. The brace can be used with screwdriver bits.\\n2 Hand drill Required for drilling screw pilot holes. These prevent splitting the timber, and also make screwing easier. A countersink bit is also required.\\n3 Screwdrivers These are required if screwdriver bits for the brace are not available.\\n4 Tenon saw This s used for cutting rails to length, for cutting corner blocks, and for cutting off old dowels before re-drilling the holes.\\n5 Sash crams At least two are necessary to ensure correct setting of a glued joint. If none is available, a length of joined wire can be used with which to improvise. The cramp action of tightening a joint will occur when, with the aid of a lever, thee wire is twisted.\\n6 Rasp This is used to chamfer the sharp edge of a rail where there is a danger that the edge will cut through the padding, and make a hole in the fabric. It is necessary to round the inside of rails where rubber webbing is to be fitted, and the edge over which a roll is to be stitched.\\n7 Bevel This tool is useful for measuring angles, such as when marking out corner blocks.\\nMaterials\\n1 Timber This should be straight and close grained, with a medium degree of hardness, and free from knots which reduce its strength. The timber should be able to retain tacks, but it should not be too hard to make their insertion difficult. Timber which is too hard also stands a greater chance of being split by tacks.\\nBeech is usually quoted as being the most suitable for frame construction, but choice depends on availability. Birch, maple and poplar are only three of the many that are available.\\n2 Dowels These can be obtained in a number of different diameter sizes, in either continuous or cut lengths. Dowels, 38 mm long with a 9 mm diameter arc a convenient size to use.\\n3 Screws Countersunk head wood screws are used in the construction of frames, as they arc not needed to give a decorative effect. Oversize screws might split a rail, so the size should be carefully chosen. 35 mm to 60 mm screws in an 8 gauge arc those most frequently used.\\n4 Nails These arc often used as a substitute for screws. They should not be used in place of screws or joints, but should only be used in positions where they will not be stressed, such as for the fixing of plywood.\\n5 Glue There arc many types of glue on the market for wood joints. Animal glue is very flexible and is a good gap filler, which arc the main reasons for its continued use in frames. It is bought in cakes and is used hot, but it should not be allowed to boil. The glue sets on cooling.\\nPVA (polyvinyl acetate) is gaining ground as a glue for chair frames, but it does not match the properties of animal glue.\\nBostik and Evo-stick are synthetic glues which are more easily applied. The manufacturer's instructions for application must be followed.\\nRepairing the frame\\n1 Repairing and making new dowel joints Dowelling is the most suitable joint for chair construction. The joint stands up well to the battering and flexing to which chair frames are prone.\\nThe number of dowels needed for each joint varies from between one and three, depending on the size of the joint, and the amount of stress it is to take.\\nOld dowels firstly need to be extracted. If the glue bond has broken, it is easy to pull them out. Otherwise, they will have to be drilled out. The brace, fitted with a bit of the same diameter as that of the dowel, will prepare a new hole at the same time as it extracts the dowel. The hole should be drilled slightly deeper than half the length of the dowel to allow for excess glue. Glue should be applied to the dowel hole only. On cramping, the glue will run up the side of the dowel to the joint surface. The dowel should be either grooved all round, or a saw cut should be made down one side of the dowel, to allow an escape route for excess glue. This avoids pressure being set up at the bottom of the hole when the glue is compressed by the dowel, and thus avoids the chance of splitting the timber.\\nAfter gluing one set of dowel holes, locate the dowel pins into the holes. Now add glue to the other half of the joint, and connect and cramp the complete joint until the glue sets.\\n2 Fitting new corner blocks New corner blocks should be fitted in the seat if the existing ones are in a poor condition. Nailed blocks should be reinforced with screws.\\nCut the blocks with a tenon saw, making slight adjustments to the angles, to ensure a close fit. Drill the screw pilot holes perpendicular to the sawn edge. If castors are to be fitted into the blocks, drill holes to hold the sockets.\\nCorner blocks can also be fitted to a chair back if the design permits, and if their addition will be beneficial to the back's strength.\\n3 Curing other loose joints A loose joint can be simply repaired by re-gluing and cramping. A few extra screws inserted through the joint at an angle will give the joint extra strength. Drilled and countersunk pilot holes are necessary to insert the screw at the correct angle, and to ensure that the angled screw heads do not remain above the surface of the rail.\\nScrews should not be inserted into the end grain of timber because screws do not grip very well from this direction.\\n4 Fitting new rails A broken or weakened rail needs to be replaced by a new one. The timber need not be the same as the rest of the frame. Cut the rail to the size of the old rail, and accurately mark out the dowel holes to correspond with their pairing holes. To fit the rail, it might be necessary to loosen some of the other joints, which will have to be re-glued and cramped at the same time as the new rail is being cramped.\\n5 Frame not symetrical This is found on new frames which have not been assembled correctly. A small amount of unevenness can be hidden by the upholstery, but a frame which is significantly out of square will need to be re-glued and cramped at the necessary joints.\\nSIMPLE UPHOLSTERY REPAIRS\\nThere are various reasons for having to carry out repairs. Below are mentioned a few of the causes, with the required action to be taken.\\nBroken seat webbing\\nThis occurs on chairs which have been upholstered with hour-glass springs on a webbing base. It is characterised by a sagging seat, which is often thought to have been caused by broken springs.\\nIf it has occurred in the seat, which is the most likely place, invert the chair and remove the base cover. Rip out the broken webbing, after cutting the knots holding them to the springs. Stretch new webbing over the positions of the old webbing, and re-sew the springs to the webbing. For greater detail of the correct methods of fitting webbing and sewing in springs.\\nWebbing does not need to be broken before new webbing is fitted. New webbing can also be fitted when the old webbing has gone slack, which also causes the seat to sag. In this case, the old webbing need not be ripped out but should be supported by the new webbing. The springs should be re-sewn to the webbing as before.\\nChanging castors\\nThis only needs the simple operation of extracting the old castor and replacing it with a new one. Some castors have different size sockets, so it might be necessary to re-drill the hole to make it larger, or a smaller hole might have to be drilled by the side of the existing one. Do not drill into a screw holding a corner block to the frame. Castors can also be changed from socket to plate fixing, and vice versa. If the corner blocks upon which the castors are mounted are in bad condition.\\nDamaged fabric\\nFabric is easily damaged. Whether it is done by the family's pet dog or by a dropped cigarette, the requirement is still the same: a new fabric panel is usually needed.\\nSometimes, with certain stretchy fabrics, depending where the damage is, it might be possible to stretch the fabric until the mark is hidden. With other fabrics such as moquettes, where threads have pulled, new threads can be carefully sewn in with a slipping needle, the thread being obtained from a piece of fabric in an inconspicuous place such as from underneath the base cover. This latter repair should only be used when a new fabric panel is not obtainable.\\nTo match the fabric, send a pattern to the original manufacturers of the upholstery or the fabric supplier. If the cloth is obsolete, the repair can either be matched with a near shade or pattern, or the upholstery will have to be recovered completely in another cover.\\nIf the fabric can be obtained, it can be fitted directly over the old cover, but it is better to remove the old cover before re-fitting. There is less work involved if the outside back is damaged than if the inside arm is damaged. Fitting inside covers becomes more complicated because other parts of the upholstery need to be loosened to allow for correct fitting. Take off the old cover and use it as a pattern for cutting new cover\\nMARKING OUT AND CUTTING THE COVER\\nCover is the costliest material used in upholstery, and thoughtful planning of parts is essential to keep the cost as low as possible.\\n1 Collecting the roll of cover from the stores and laying it on the table.\\n2 Marking with the aid of patterns.\\n3Sorting and bundling the cover in preparation for sewing.\\nOne cutter can be used to perform all the operations, or the job can be split so that two or more operatives of differing labour value work on different sections of the process. Cover can be cut either singly or in layers. Shears can be used for cutting up to about five layers of cover, but electrical cutter knives arc needed for greater thicknesses.\\nBecause the home handyman does no repetitive cutting, he needs to measure each piece of cover either directly from the job, or from pieces being stripped for recovering. If possible, an economical cutting plan should be worked out on paper before starting to cut.The cutting table should be the stage where all the damages in the fabric are noticed. If they are missed at this point, there is a danger that the damaged fabric will go unnoticed until at the final inspection stage of the upholstery when it will be more costly to repair. To prevent this from happening, it is important that the cutting table should be provided with good overhead lighting.\\nFabrics having no pile but with ribs running in one direction, can be cut to display the ribs running either down and forwards, or across the job. Lines running downwards tend to make a job appear higher, while those running across make the job appear wider. The latter method usually gives the better effect.\\nIf there is a pile to the cover, cut it so that the pile will run downwards or forwards on the upholstery. Cut a patterned fabric so that the pattern will be displayed to its best advantage. This is usually achieved by centralising the pattern in a panel. Mark out with white or blue tailor's chalk, using a pattern or template. Cut all the large pieces first. Allow a 9 mm (8 in.) sewing seam where necessary. Slight allowances in size may also need to be made if the fabric is expected to stretch during upholstering.\\nWhen cutting settees, joinings will probably have to be made in the length of the back and seat. Cut two equal joining pieces, and sew them to each side of the panel, so that they are equally spaced on the upholstery. Joinings can also be made in piping, borders, etc. Cut strips of cover about 35 mm wide for piping.\\nAdvantages and disadvantages of cutting singly and in layers\\n1 Most manufacturers sell many different designs in a wide range of covers. With this policy there is no scope for cutting in layers. Only if a company can sell a limited number of designs in a set number of fabrics, can bulk cutting be used to advantage.\\n2 There is not much difference in the time taken to cut one layer and many layers. Therefore labour costs can be reduced by cutting in bulk.\\n3 It is more difficult to correct damages in fabrics when cutting in layers.\\n4 Stripes and patterns cannot be used to their best advantage when cutting in layers.\\nUSING THE SEWING MACHINE\\nSewing the cut cover in preparation for upholstering is the next stage after cutting.\\nStitch type\\nThe usual type of machine stitch used in upholstery is the lock stitch. This is formed using a needle thread and a bobbin thread. The thread from the bobbin, which is fitted beneath the throat plate, passes through a loop formed by the needle thread. The amount of thread on the bobbin limits the time when sewing can be continued, before the bobbin needs to be re-wound. The tension on the machine needs to be accurately controlled, so that the two threads meet in the middle of the fabric. If the tension is incorrect, the intersection will occur on the surface of the cover, which is a main cause of fault in sewing.\\nKnitted fabrics\\nThe chain stitch and the overlock stitch are used on knitted stretch fabrics because these stitches contain strongly looped threads which are flexible to expand and contract with the cover. The two types of stitch can also be incorporated into one stitch, which is known as stitch type 512.\\nThese seams require closer stitching than the lock stitch seam, and they use more thread which is put into use during stretching of the cover. Knitted stretch fabrics usually need to be overlocked along the edges to prevent the cover from laddering. Overlocking can also be used on normal woven fabrics, to prevent fraying of the edges. Overlocking is an edge binding stitch which provides a neat finish to an edge, and also trims the edge. Weft knitted fabrics should be overlocked, but this is not always necessary with warp knitted fabrics which do not stretch as much as the former.\\nOverlock and chain stitches can unravel if one of the threads are broken, which does not occur with the lock stitch. Both types of stitch should be sewn using finer needles than those used for the lock stitch. Synthetic thread should be used as this stretches more than the normal cotton thread.\\nMachine needles\\nHeavy industrial machines are used in an upholstery factory machine room, but most types of machine can be used if they are fitted with a needle of correct size, to sew the usually heavy-weight covers. A machine needle size between 16 and i9 should be used on most materials. Plastics coated fabrics, however, are easily cut by a sewing machine needle, so a finer needle between 9 and 11 should be used on these.\\nMachine adjustments\\nThe stitch length should be adjusted to the weight of the cover. 6 to 12 stitches per 25 mm should be used, the larger stitches being used on plastics coated fabrics and the thinner covers. The tension of the machine should be regulated for sewing different weights of cover and for different types of machine thread. Less tension is needed when using a synthetic thread than when using cotton thread.\\nSewing components of a machine\\nTwin needle machines\\nDouble seams are becoming popular as a decoration. Twin needle machines are available in conventional form and as a post type, in which the throat plate is raised on a column about 250 mm above the working table.\\nCorners are sewn on the machine by stopping the machine as soon as the inside needle reaches the corner. The inside needle is raised out of the way, and the other needle sews around the corner. Once around the corner, the inside needle is lowered into operation again.\\nSynthetic machine thread\\nSynthetic thread is more expensive than plain cotton thread, but it is finer, tougher, and more economical in use.\\nBecause it is finer, more thread can be wound on a bobbin, so less time is spent in changing and rewinding it. Also, because of its fineness, less thread is used in stitching. Synthetic thread has better elastic properties which are necessary for knitted fabrics.\\nSewing piping\\nPiping can be used on most seams as an alternative to plain seams. A piping foot attachment should be fitted to the machine to simplify sewing. The piping foot enables a seam to be made close to the piping cord.\\nGeneral hints on sewing\\n1When sewing around a corner, cut darts into the seam to make sewing simpler.\\n2 When sewing joinings, shade the cover, making sure that the pile runs in one direction.\\n3 When joining two cover panels, notch the centre of each and machine from the centre marks, to ensure that the panels are centralised equally.\\n4 When sewing hessian flies, turn the edge of the hessian over so that the seam runs through a double thickness of hessian.\\n5 The sewing of cushions is where most accuracy is needed. Make sure that all corners of the cushion are sewn correctly.\\nGENERAL UPHOLSTERING TECHNIQUES\\nConversion with foam\\nLatex is often moulded to manufacturers' requirements when the quantity ordered is large enough to justify the outlay for making special moulds. When the number of products is not large enough to warrant this, the shapes are made up by hand cutting and joining pieces together from a moulded block or from sheet. This process is known as conversion, but is also called handbuilding in relation to latex foam. Cavity, plain and pin core foams are used successfully for conversion and both latex and polyether foams are made in blocks specially for this purpose.\\nFoams can be marked out with either pen or chalk. When shaped work is being produced, a thin\\nHandbuilding a cushion\\nA cardboard pattern should be made, around which the shape can be marked. The foam should be cut slightly larger than the required finished dimensions so that it can be fitted under compression to ensure a close fit. An extra 6 mm to 12 mm should be allowed on every 250 mm which is cut.\\nUse a pair of shears or a sharp knife for cutting foams if electric cutters are not available.\\nRubber adhesives for bonding the foam should be recommended by the foam manufacturer. Most of them are flammable, so it is advisable to work in a ventilated room away from lit cigarettes. Apply the adhesive to both surfaces to be joined. Leave the adhesive for a few minutes to become tacky, during\\nwhich time the solvent in the adhesive evaporates. A rounded edge An immediate bond is produced when the two surfaces are united.\\nReversible cushions can be built up from two pieces of cavity latex foam. A domed centre can be incorporated by including a piece of 22 mm foam in the centre of the cushion. This should be 75 mm smaller all round than the main cushion. Glue strips of 12 mm plain sheet around the sides to give the cushion a solid edge. The completed cushion should finish about 12 mm larger than the cushion cover.\\nCushions can also be made with a rounded front A square edge by tapering the ends of the two pieces of foam, gluing the two sheets together, and finally gluing the two tapered ends together. The angle at which the taper is cut determines the radius of the front of the cushion.\\nWhen a zip is being fitted to the back of the cushion, it is advisable to use a cotton cover between the zip and the cushion. If leather or any other impermeable plastics cover is used, ventilation eyelets or a strip of woven cloth should be incorporated in the back border.\\nFoam should be attached to a frame by means of 3 Cut a strip of cardboard 12 mm (z in.) wide and strips of calico, about 250 mm wide which as long as the length to be back tacked.\\nBack tacking\\nThis is 1 method of fixing the cover to the frame to produce a clean line without any tacks being visible. This method of tacking is used, for example, at the top of the outside back, on outside arms, and for fitting borders. Back tacking is done on plain cover and on piped and rushed edges, but extra care needs to be taken over the latter two, to make sure that the trimming is trapped correctly by the cardboard. Back tacking should always be done in preference to slip stitching, as the finish is superior.\\nThe operation is carried out as follows:\\nI Place the cover in position, making sure that it is centralised, and about 12 mm of fabric is folded in. Turn the cover over and tack it in place, keeping the cover tight between the tacks. Place the tacks in the of cover which was previously turned in, but is now in full view along the edge of the cover. It is along this scam that the back tacking is to be done.\\nTying a slip knot\\nThis is the most used knot in upholstery, and it is necessary to learn to tic one. The knot is used for fixing buttons and for starting any type of sewing.\\nSlip stitching\\nThis is a method of hand sewing the fabric to finish off the upholstery. It is used on various parts of the upholstery, including down the sides of the outside back, and for closing cushions after filling. Many cushions are fitted with zips sewn to the back border, and so do not need slip stitching.\\nThe fabric is temporarily held in place by tacks or skewers before slip stitching. Special slipping needles are required. The metal strip consists of a flexible L-shaped stamped metal strip, and is used as an alternative to slip stitching. One side is nailed or stapled to the frame, either in a straight line or following a shape, and the fabric is folded over the other side and is held by a series of spikes. The strip is then carefully hammered together to form the edge.\\nAnother type of metal strip involving the principal of back tacking is called tack trim. This is manufactured from a straight, thin, continuous strip of metal. The points on the strip arc cut from the strip and folded outwards. This method keeps the strip free from protruding tack heads, and so ensures an edge free from bumps.\\nButtoning\\nButtons can be inserted into either a fixed back or scat. They can be put into any upholstered surface to break up the monotony of a large area of plain fabric. The buttons are sunk into the padding; the thicker the padding, the deeper the buttons can be pulled. Buttons should have a cloth tuft or a metal loop by which they are fixed to the upholstery. Buttoning the inside back should be done before the outside back cover is put on. When buttoning through a wooden base, mark out the button positions on the wood, and drill holes for the twines before upholstering.\\n1 Measure for the positioning of the buttons, and mark with chalk or skewers.\\n2 Thread the button through a length of stitching twine or similar thread.\\n3 Thread the two ends of the twine through the eye of a stitching needle.\\n4 Push the needle through the cover to the inside of the upholstery. The twine should conic through with the needle.\\n5 Join the two pieces of twine with a slip knot.\\n6 Insert a tuft of cloth or felt between the knot and the inside stuffing to prevent the knot from pulling through, when the slip knot is tightened.\\n7 Tighten the slip knot by pulling one of the ends of the twine. Pull the buttons as deep as required. Keep all the buttons at the same depth.\\n8 Tic off with a reef knot to prevent the slip knot from loosening.\\n9 Cut off the ends of the twine for neatness.\\nReversible cushions can be buttoned on both sides in a similar manner. Mark the cushions out on both sides. Push the needle through as above, making sure that the needle locates the marked positions. Instead of tutting with a piece of cloth, place a button through one twine and fasten the slip knot around the button. When the slip knot is tightened, both buttons will he pulled in. Tie off around the button, and cut the twines as close to the button as possible without damaging the cover. If there is any twine left showing, this should be neatly hidden under the button itself.\\nDeep buttoning\\nThis was much used in Victorian chairs, and is used today in upholstering chesterfields and modern designs which incorporate deep buttoning. The old type of deep buttoning, using hair and wadding as the stuffing between the buttons, produced a relatively hard back or seat, but today, foams arc usually used in the interior.\\nThe method of deep buttoning with hair and wadding is as follows:\\n1 Mark out the position of the buttons on the base before stuffing. A diamond pattern us usually used.\\n2 Mark out the cover, allowing about 36 mm extra between the buttons for pleating.\\n3 Start buttoning from the middle of the panel, stuffing each pocket separately before continuing on the adjacent buttons. Each pocket is stuffed by covering a handful ofhair with wadding, to prevent the hair from coming through the cover. Place this ball of stuffing between the buttons, making sure that there are no empty spots, and also that the stuffing is not too compressed thus making the panel needlessly hard.\\nPleat the loose cover so that they face downwards or across in one direction only. This prevents the collection of dust inside the pleats. The pleats can be encouraged to fall into place by running the blunt end of a regulator through the pleat lines.\\n4 Finish the edges of the panel by pleating directly between the end buttons and the outside edge.\\nDeep buttoning can also be done in latex and polyether foams, as follows:\\n1 Mark out the buttons on the foam sheet. Punch holes into the foam where the buttons are marked. This helps the buttons to sink into the foam.\\n2 Mark the cover out in a similar way to (2) above. Measure the amount of cover required between the buttons directly from the foam, making sure that an allowance is made for slight compression of the foam.\\n3 Pull the buttons in either from the centre or in rows, pleating as progress is made in the panel.\\nTo simplify deep buttoning, instead of pleating the cover, the amount of excess cover between the pleats can be pre-calculated, and this can be sewn together by machine in order to lose the pleats.\\nFluting\\nThis is another type of decoration which is used mainly on the inside back over a spring base. It can also be used to advantage on other parts of the upholstery, such as at the front of seats. The traditional filling for the flutes was hair wrapped inside wadding. Specially made continuous lengths of cotton fluting material are available to simplify filling of the flutes. Polyether and latex foams arc also used inside flutes. Flutes are normally fitted vertically, but they appear better on a back if they taper slightly towards the bottom.\\n1 Mark out the positioning of flutes on hessian. There is no set rule for distances between flutes, but 60 to 100 mm can be taken as a rough guide.\\n2 Mark out the flutes on the fabric. Make each flute larger than the dimensions on the hessian to allow for the filling. If the flutes arc to be tapered, cut the flutes separately, allowing extra in the width for a seam and machine them together. Allow enough fabric around the edges for tacking.\\n3 Sew the cover to the hessian along the flute lines. Pockets will be formed in the cover.\\n4 Fill the flutes with one of the materials described above. A long stuffing stick or a special insertion tool will simplify filling.\\n5 Temporarily tack the cover to the frame at the bottom and the top of the flutes, placing a tack in the stitching of each flute. Centralize the flutes accurately. Flutes which arc even slightly out of centre are very noticeable. Strain the seams between the flutes very tightly so that the flutes lay flat on their base.\\n6 Tack off the fabric at the top and bottom of the flutes. Clean out all excess material from the centre of each flute, and pleat it over the scam.\\n7 Pleats can be encouraged to remain in place by inserting buttons through them. This can be used effectively on an inside back.\\n8 Tack the sides of the panel\\nFitting facings\\nFacings are upholstered plywood shapes which arc fixed to the frame at the front of the arm. A common example is the scroll arm type. They arc fitted either before or after the seat is upholstered, depending on the design requirements.\\nThere are different methods of attaching facings. One method is to fit them by means of nuts and bolts. Another method is to use dowels which are glued to the main frame. A further method is to nail the facings to the frame before padding them.\\nMost facings are tacked to the side of the outside arm, and the outside arm cover is then back tacked over the side of the facing. Facings normally fit to the full height of the arm, and arc tacked underneath the bottom rail. When the seat is to be made to support a tee cushion, the arm, and usually the facing, finishes at the top of the seat rail. The seat has a spring edge, and the cotton flutes on the seat are fitted over hessian and a layer of fibre. A bottom border has been back-tacked below the flutes\\nWebbing a base\\nBacks and scats which are being hand sprung need to be initially fitted with webbing. Webbing is also applied as a base over other open frames. Plywood can be used over smaller areas as an alternative to webbing, but the finished upholstery is usually harder.\\n1 Fix the webbing to one end of the rail. Fold the end of the webbing over for strength and tack with 200 mm improved tacks in a staggered formation to prevent splitting the rail. If the rail is relatively thin, use 12 mm improved tacks.\\n2 Strain the webbing to the other side of the rail, using a webbing stretcher to give the correct tension. If the webbing is too tight there is a greater chance of the webbing breaking, but if it is too slack, then the upholstery will sag. Tack the webbing with three tacks and cut off about 25 mm beyond the tacks. Fold the extra piece of webbing over and tack it with a further two tacks.\\n3 After fitting the webbing in one direction, fit cross webbings, tacking down as above, and interlacing to give overall support.\\nSewing a spring edge\\nA spring edge can be built on a seat, a back, or upon any base where a soft sprung edge is preferred to the hard edge described in the next section. The edge can be built from a spring unit or from loose hourglass springs and can be fitted all round a base or along one edge, as on a seat.\\nFibre\\nWhen hour-glass springs are used, sew them to the webbing base using a bayonet needle and spring twine. Secure them with four knots to every spring. Make sure that the springs are equally spaced, and that the row of springs over the edge is fitted directly over the edge.\\nObtain a length of spring edge wire, and bend it to the shape of the outside of the frame, leaving extra wire for overlapping where two ends of the wire are to join- The wire can be obtained in straight lengths but a spare spring knocked out of shape will serve the same purpose. Sewing hour glass springs to webbing. Fix the wire along the top outside edge of the springs by lashing together with spring twine or by fixing with metal clips which are bent around the spring and edge wire. Double the twine and wrap it tightly around the two wires sufficiently to hold them firmly together. Knot the twine to prevent it loosening. Do not forget to lash the joining of the wire.\\n4 Pull the edge springs slightly forward by tolling a length of webbing over the middle coil of each spring, and tacking them down under slight tension. This pulls the spring edge wire directly over the front of the rail.\\n5 Bring the cord to the top of the edge spring, tie a half hitch at one end and knot the other side of the spring. Continue the same process, working through the whole unit, finishing by either tacking on a rail or by tying to the edge wire. Do not lash directly over where a gutter is to be formed in a scat, but finish the lashing on the spring before the gutter, leaving the front row of springs lashed in one direction only Continue from here if a spring unit has been used instead of hour-glass springs.\\n6 Cover the springs with hessian, taking all slackness from the hessian before tacking down. Do not pull the springs down too much over the edge. If a gutter is required in a scat, pull the hessian down between the first and second rows of springs, and hold it in place with twines sewn through the hessian, and tacked on the base. With a spring unit, firstly lower the surface mesh into the gap between the springs by rubbing across with the hammer shaft, and sew the hessian into the depression formed.\\n7 Sew the springs and the edge wire to the hessian with a circular needle and spring twine. Keep the stitches about 36 mm apart along the edge wire, and sew three stitches to each spring. This prevents the spring from making holes in the hessian.\\n8 Sew loops into the hessian to hold the first stuffing. Do not pull the twines too tightly.\\n9 Coir fibre is usually used as the first or scrim stuffing. Tease it by hand to make sure that there are no lumps in it. Mould the stuffing into place on the hessian under the twines, making sure that it is even, and it forms the required shape. Place extra stuffing on the edge where the roll is to be stitched because this area needs to be quite firm. If a scat has a gutter, pack this with fibre.\\n10 Cover the fibre with scrim, temporary tacking it to the rail where the edge is not being sewn, but fixing it with skewers where the edge is being stitched. If scrim is not available, hessian can be used.\\n11 With a stitching needle, sew running through or bridle stitches through the fibre to hold the scrim in place.\\n12 Re-tack the scrim and re-skewer the edge, folding the scrim under and fixing it to the hessian justbelow the edge wire. Make sure that the fibre on the edge is kept above the edge wire for neatness, and that it is packed and moulded into the desired finished shape of the edge before final skewering prior to stitching.\\n13 Stitching is done with a stitching needle and a long length of stitching twine. Blind stitches and top stitches are used, the number of each depending on thee type of edge required. One blind stitch and one top stitch is usually sufficient. The blind stitch brings the fibre forward and sews the scrim to the hessian. The top stitch forms the roll.\\n14 To sew the blind stitch, start at the left hand side (or work anti-clockwise), and insert the needle at a 45 angle from underneath the wire so that it just catches the scrim. Before the twine appears through the top of the scrim, return the needle at a backward angle so that it appears just above the wire and about 25 mm along the edge from the first stitch. Tic the twines together with a slip knot and pull tight. Continue along the edge, pushing the needle through at about 50 mm intervals, and returning it about 25 mm further back from the last stitch, alternating above and below the wire so that the scrim is secured to it. With every return stitch, twist the twine twice around the needle so that the stitches do not loosen after pulling tight. As stitching progresses, remove the skewers from the scrim. After sewing the last stitch, tie off with a knot.\\n15 A final top stitch is now needed. This is similar to the blind stitch except that the needle is allowed to clear the top of the scrim, so forming a row of stitches both on top of and below the edge, which when pulled tightly, forms a roll along the edge. The top stitch is kept above and separate from the blind stitch. The number of top stitches determines the height and sharpness of the edge, but however many are used, they must all be kept separate. A roll about the thickness of a thumb should generally be made.\\n16 Sew loops into the scrim to hold the second stuffing.\\n17 A good quality hair should be used. Distribute this hair evenly under the loops. The hair should only be used in a thin layer to even out irregularities. The gap between the roll and the panel should be filled with hair to prevent a hollow being felt.\\n18 The whole stuffed panel can now be covered in calico, which is fitted in the same way as the cover is to be fitted. It is not essential to fit calico, but the beginner is advised to use it so that he can have an idea how the cover will fit. Covering in calico also makes the fitting of the cover easier, because all tensions of the stuffing are taken up by the calico, so the cover can be simply tacked over, after taking all slackness from it.\\n19 Place a layer of wadding or felt over the calico, to prevent the hair from working its way through the cover.\\nSewing a hard edge\\nThis type of edge is similar to the spring edge. It call also be built over a base which is not sprung. When making a hard edge, follow the last section oil sewing a spring edge, using the following modifications:\\n1 The edge is built directly over a rail so that it has no spring.\\n2 The top of the rail should finish slightly lower than the top of the spring.\\n3 Do not fit the springs directly over the edge, but space deem in from the rail.\\n4 Do not pull the springs forward with webbing.\\n5 Arrange the fibre as above but turn the scrim in and tack it on the top edge of the rail instead of skewering it.\\nBuilding fibre rolls\\nFibre rolls can be used as an alternative to sewing a hard edge. Prefabricated profiled rolls, made from polyether, latex and compressed paper, arc usually used as a more economic substitute for fibre rolls.\\nFibre rolls arc made as follows:\\nI Cut a strip of hessian about 75 mm (3 in.) wide. Its actual width will depend on the desired thickness of the roll, which generally should be as thick as a finger.\\n2 Turn the edge of the hessian over and tack it to the frame, leaving the loose hessian to face outwards. Pleat the hessian where the roll is to turn a corner.\\n3 Starting in the middle or at one end, evenly lay in fibre, to form a roll of the required thickness.\\nFold the hessian in and tack down, keeping the tacks in a straight line and equally spaced as the roll progresses. Build the roll so that it protrudes over the edge up to about 12 mm. Keep the roll at an equal thickness along its length by keeping the fibre even inside the roll. Prevent tack drags in the hessian by pulling tightly between tacks.\\nGeneral hints on fixing cover\\n1 If the cover has a pile, make sure that the pile brushes forward and downward when the cover is fitted. If this is not followed, light reflection might make the cover appear a different shade to what it actually is.\\n2 If the pattern has been taken into consideration when cutting the cover, make sure the pattern is centralised on the job before tacking.\\n3 Always keep the lines straight on the cover. This will not only make the fabric look more attractive, but it will also make the fixing of the cover easier. Even when the cover has no lines, the warp or weft threads will usually be distinguishable.\\n4 When tacking the cover, avoid tack drags. Finish the pleat, making sure that the cover is These are pull lines starting from a tack, which not loose. Leave the corner plain or slip stitch along show through in the cover. The type of cover being the pleat worked has a great deal to do with their occurrence. Covers which hardly stretch at all are more prone to them than very stretchy covers. Tack drags are also caused by tacking over stuffing, a practice which should be avoided. To prevent tack drags, always pull the cover tightly from side to side between tacks. Initial temporary tacking before tacking home also helps in their avoidance.\\nCutting cover to fit around a rail\\nCover often has to be fitted around either a tack rail or a show wood rail on a frame.\\nFold the cover back so that the fold just touches the rail and cut as shown. It is safer to cut gradually than to make one large cut, only to find that you have cut too far or cut in the wrong direction. It might be necessary to repeat a V-cut on both sides of a rail.\\nPleating a square corner\\nThis type of corner finishes with a single pleat.\\n1 Pull the cover around the corner, and tack it on the edge, on the side of the rail yet to be tacked, within 50 mm of the corner.\\n2 Cut the cover to take all excess material from the inside of the pleat, to prevent a bulk of cover at the corner, and to allow the pleat to fall in to place easier. Do not cut as far as the top of the corner otherwise the cut may show. Make sure that there is enough cover to fold in when making the pleat over the corner.\\n3 Pull the cover directly over the corner and tack it at the back of the rail, leaving an equal amount of excess cover on both sides of the corner.\\nMake a pleat on each side of the corner, as close to the corner as possible. Face the pleats inwards to the corner. Cut out excess cover between the pleats, making sure the cuts do not show.\\nUPHOLSTERING DINING CHAIRS\\nDining chairs are fitted with either loose drop-in seats or fully upholstered scats. They also have either upholstered or show wood backs.\\nA loose seat\\nThese come in different shapes and sizes, and there arc different ways of upholstering than. They arc based on open frames which may be fitted with a plywood base.\\nIt is essential to remember when upholstering loose seats, to keep the sides of the frame free front stuffing, so that the scat fits accurately into the chair frame. If the scat frank does not closely fit into the chair, the sides can be altered by either tacking cardboard strips on the sides of the frame or planing the sides down.\\n1 The first method of upholstering evolves using traditional materials. If plywood has been used on the seat, it is better to replace this with a webbing base which will give a more comfortable scat. 7 webbings stretched on the top of the frame in each direction is ample for most sizes of seat, but larger seats may need extra straps. Tack the webbing. Cover with hessian, tacking on a double edge. Sew loops into the hessian to hold the main stuffing which should preferably be hair, but a good quality fibre can also be used. Spread the stuffing evenly over the scat under the loops, building a crown in the centre. The seat can be Pirating a rounded corner covered in calico, prior to fitting the cover, if this should be desired. Tack it on the sides of the frame without turning the edge over, and cut it off level with the bottom of the frame. Cover the seat with a Liver of wadding or felt.\\n2 The seat can be upholstered with a sheet of latex or polyether foam on webbing and hessian, plywood, rubber webbing, or no-sag springs. Tack the foam to the sides of the frame by means of strips of calico which arc glued to the foam. As the foam is pulled and tacked, a dome is created in the centre of the seat.\\nSome kitchen chairs have thinly upholstered loose scats made in plywood. Do not use much stuffing on these; a layer of felt might be sufficient. Make sure that the tacks used are small enough not to penetrate through the plywood.\\nThe cover now has to be cut out. 'fake the measurements from the seat. Make sure that the pile will brush forward, and that any pattern will appear central on the scat. Allow enough cover so that it can be tacked underneath the frame. Place the cover on the scat and temporary tack it all round. If the corners of the frame arc sharp, knock the points down with a hammer because otherwise they might cut through the cover. Finish the corners with a double pleat. The pleats should not be visible when placed in the chair frame. Hammer all tacks home and fit a base cover.\\nA fully upholstered seat\\nFully upholstered dining chair seats can be sprung in a variety of ways, or they can be upholstered without any form of springing. Below are some different methods of upholstering this type of seat.\\nWebbing and hessian\\n1 This method involves the traditional stuffing and stitching of a hard edge. Fix the webbing to the bottom of the seat rails. About three or four stretched in each direction should be enough. Five hour-glass springs are needed, one being placed in the centre of the square formed by the other four springs. Stuff the seat and stitch on all four sides as described. Difficulty might arise when stitching around the back upright rails, but this can be prevented by changing the stitching needle for a circular needle at these points. Add the second stuffing, cover in calico, and cover with felt.\\n2 Attach rubber webbing to the top of the rail. Cover the straps with 25 mm sheet polyether foam. Glue strips of the same foam to the sides of the chair. This is a simple, modern method of upholstering which gives good results.\\nThere are many variations that can be used in upholstering this scat, and the choice of method will be governed by the materials that are available and the type of result that is required.\\nThe seat cover can be cut in one piece, or a top panel and side borders can be cut separately, and then sewn together with a plain seam or with a trimming. Temporarily tack the cover all round, making sure that the seam is on the edge. Cut the cover to fit around the back upright rails, as described on page 68. Fold in the cover and gimp pin along the edge of any show wood rails. Pleat the cover where the front and side borders meet. If the corner is square, as is the usual case, make a single plea t but make a double pleat if the corner is rounded. Fit a base cover.\\nA fixed back\\nThere is a large variety of types of dining chair backs, ranging from the type which just acts as a support for the lumbar region, to the one which covers the whole ofthe back. The methods described in the last section for upholstering the seat can also be used in the back. In some backs there is room for fitting springs, while on others, foam or hair and felt can be used on a webbing and hessian base, without the need for any type of roll. Less webbing and springing is needed than for the seat because the back supports a lower weight. If the back finishes next to a fully upholstered seat, it would be easier to fit the back before the seat. Temporarily tack all round on the back of the rail. Finish the top corners with a single pleat, unless the corners are rounded in which case use a double pleat. When the back is set correctly, knock all temporary tacks home. Fit an outside back if necessary. Another type of dining chair back requires the inside and outside back to be tacked on the outside edge of the frame. The edge is then covered with gimp.\\nUPHOLSTERING STOOLS\\nMost dressing table and foot stools are similar in shape, but vary in dimensions only. The legs of a stool may be straight, splayed, or of the cabriole type. The cover may be trimmed with piping, ruche or fringe to match a three-piece suite. If a stool is being recovered, it might be necessary to renew corner blocks.\\nMethods of upholstering\\n1 If the tacking rails are high enough, hour glass springs can be used to build a seat using traditional methods. Fix webbing to the bottom of the rails. Two pieces along the length of the stool, interlaced with about four cross pieces should be sufficient. Use four to six springs, depending on the size of the stool. Form a crown in the centre of the seat with the second stuffing. Do not allow any stuffing to hang over the edge at the bottom of the stool.\\n2 Fix webbing and hessian to the top of the rails. Tack a fibre or prefabricated roll around the outside edge of the stool. Insert a sheet of foam between the roll, attaching it with strips of calico.\\n3 Fix the webbing, hessian and roll as above. Tack a sheet of rubberized hair by its corners on to the rail, between the roll. Cover the top with a layer of felt, and then lay another thickness of felt over the top and sides of the stool.\\n4 Attach rubber webbing, webbing, or serpentine springs to the top of the rail. Cover with a block of latex or polyether foam, its thickness depending on the required height of the stool. Cover the sides of the stool with either foam or felt.\\nCovering the stool\\n1 The simplest method is to cover the stool in one piece of fabric. Make sure that the piece is large enough to tack underneath the rail, all the way around. Temporary tack the cover on all four sides. Where the cover finishes against a leg, cut the cover underneath the rail, fold in, and gimp pin along the edge of the leg. Make a single pleat at the corners, and slip stitch them.\\nCut a top panel and four borders, allowing 9 mm for a seam. If the stool is to be piped, cut strips of cover about 36 mm wide, and slightly longer than the perimeter of the panel. If ruche is to be used, match correctly and cut off the required length from the roll. Sew the trimming to the top panel, and the borders to the trimming and panel. Make sure that the corners line up with the corners on the frame. When fitting the cover,\\nFit a base cover. Fringe can be slip stitched to the base of the stool. Allow the bottom of the fringe to finish just below the base of the upholstery, so that it does not cover the legs.\\nUPHOLSTERING AN OTTOMAN\\nAn ottoman is a storage unit having an upholstered lid which is also used as a seat. Ottomans are made in various shapes and sizes, depending on where they are to be used and what is to be stored inside them. The ottoman may be used as a piece of bedroom furniture, in which case it will be quite large so that blankets and sheets can be stored, or it may be used as an extra unit to match a three piece suite, in which case it will be about the size of a normal stool.\\nThe lid, box and base are upholstered separately, and arc then assembled using hinges, and a chain stop to prevent the lid from swinging too far back. Before upholstering, check that the frames fit accurately together. The bottom of the ottoman can be finished with small feet or castors. The finished height of the unit should be about 380 mm.\\nUpholstering the lid\\nThe seat or lid is usually upholstered over an open frame. Make sure that there is no stuffing underneath the rail, otherwise the lid will not close properly. The cover can be applied as a single piece, or with separate side borders. Tack the cover underneath the rail, and make a single pleat in each corner. Fit a base cover. Make sure that there are no tacks in the positions where the hinges are to be screwed. Slip stitch the pleated corners of the seat.\\nLining the box\\nThe square or rectangular box can be made either as a framework or in solid timber. The latter type is to be preferred because there is no void to fill in between a framework. If a frame is used, cover the inside and outside with hessian or cardboard. Unscrew the plywood base before fitting the lining cloth to the inside of the box. Fabric is not required on the inside. Padding the inside is also unnecessary.\\nCut four pieces of lining cloth, slightly larger than the inside dimensions of the box. Fit the lining to the two longest sides first. Tack it to the bottom of the box, over which the base will later be screwed. Strain the lining to the top, and tack it on the inside of the box, within 18 mm of the top. Tack the ends to the adjacent sides of the box. These tacks will be covered by the remaining two pieces of lining cloth.\\nLining the box\\nNow tack the other two pieces to the ends of the box, tacking the top and bottom as before. Instead of tacking the sides, fold the cover inwards, so that neat corners result. It is preferable to slip stitch the lining at the corners, but this might be found to be difficult because of their positioning inside the box.\\nFitting the base\\nCut another piece of lining cloth large enough to fit over the base. Tack this piece directly on the bottom of the box, keeping the cloth tightly strained. Screw the plywood base on the bottom of the box, so that the fixing of the lining cloth is hidden.\\nUpholstering the outside of the box\\nCut four pieces of cover, slightly longer than the length and width of the outside of the box, and about 100 mm larger in height.\\nMETHOD I\\nFit the two longest sides first. Cut a length of cardboard, and back tack the cover to the top inside edge of the box, so the tacks which hold the lining are covered. Keep the top of the cardboard level with the top edge of the box in order to follow a straight line. Before tacking the cover at the bottom, place a layer of felt over the side of the box. Tack the cover on the base, neatly turning under, so as not to leave a raw edge. If this is done carefully, a base cover is not needed. Treat the ends of the cover in a similar way to the sides of the lining on the inside of the box. That is, tack the ends of the cover on to the adjacent sides of the box.\\nTack the remaining two panels of cover in the same way as the first two were attached. Pull the sides tight, and fold the cover in on the corners of the box. Slip stitch all four corners.\\nMETHOD 2\\nSew all four pieces of cover together making sure that the scams fit snugly over the edges of the franc. Pull the cover over the padding. Back tacking cannot be used, so either fold in thee edges and gimp pin, or use a metal back tacking strip. Tack the bottom of the cover as above.\\nDecorative variations\\nThe top of the seat and the sides of the box can be buttoned. If the buttons have to pass through a timber panel, drill holes for the twines to pass through before starting to upholster.\\nAn upholstered border can be fitted around the sides of the box. Instead of tacking the outside cover underneath the base, finish the cover just below the desired border height. Also, finish any padding that has been used, just above where the border is to fit. Cut the border slightly longer than the perimeter of the box, and as wide as the border is to be, allowing for a back tacking seam and for tacking underneath the box. Back tack the border, keeping it level all round. Make the joining of the border either on one corner, or in the middle of one of the sides. Fold the edges in, and slip stitch the joining afterwards. Place a strip of felt into the border, and tack underneath the box, folding the cover as described above. Fit castors, hinges and a chain stop, to finish the ottoman.\\nUPHOLSTERING SETTEES AND CHAIRS\\nUpholstery is still traditionally used in the form of three-piece suites, containing a two, three, or four Beater settee and two chairs. Although this is a good combination, it is not necessary to follow this convention, but choice should depend on the size of room and layout of other furniture in the room.\\nSectional upholstery\\nUpholstery can be obtained in units or sections. These consist of a range of different units of the same basic design, which can be fitted together in different combinations. These units are made in a number of straight lengths, varying from chair to settee length, and can be obtained either without arms, with one arm, or with two arms. Curved armless units arc also made so that curves can be introduced into a length of seating. Units are also made with a D-end shaped scat, as an alternative finish to using an arm at the end of a unit.\\nThe upholstering of all these units follows the same principals described in this chapter, but the cutting of the cover, especially on the curved units, should be accurate, and should follow the shape of the frame. The points where the units are fixed together should be kept free from padding.\\nPart assembly upholstery\\nThis method of assembly is sometimes used in mass production, in which arms, backs and scats are upholstered as single units which are bolted together after upholstering.\\nUpholstering is simpler and faster by this method, and cleaner upholstery lines result. Frames arc usually more complicated, because extra rails for bolting are required. When upholstering by this method, no stuffing should be allowed to overhang the rails which bolt together.\\nLining the arms\\nThe first step, when upholstering any type of job, is to line the inside arms. Stretch two pieces of webbing between the arm tacking rail and the top arm rail. Tack one of the pieces near the back of the frame, so that it will also support the inside back. Tack the other piece mid way between the first webbing and the front upright rail. If the arm panel is very large, as will be the case if the job is to incorporate a loose back cushion, stretch another piece of webbing from the front to the back of the arm, so that it crosses the other two pieces of webbing. Pull the webbing tight by hand. Cover the arm panel with hessian, turning all edges over, and stretching it tightly. Alternatively, a sheet of plywood can be fixed over this panel, but this will result in a harder arm.\\nIf the arm being upholstered is the cap-on type, the outside arms should also be lined with hessian. Tack the hessian along the top outside edge of the arm. Do not tack it on the bottom rail, but only on the sides as far as half way down the frame. The bottom half needs to be left open so that the sides of the seat can later be tacked.\\nUpholstering inside arms\\nThere are many different types of arm, but most of them tall into one of the categories below. Arms can be upholstered either simultaneously, or one after the other.\\nWhen tacking the front of the arm, it is usual practice to leave the cover loose along the front border, near the bottom of the arm, where the cover meets the front of the seat. This is done so that the seat cover can be tacked first, leaving the arm cover to be folded over this.\\nScroll arm This is basically a traditional feature, but it is used effectively in modified forms. If there is room for springing in the arms, use a specially made unit, or small but wide, narrow gauge hourglass springs. Serpentine springs can also be used. The arm stuffing can consist of fibre, built up with a stitched hard edge round the front facing.\\nRubberized hair or polyether foam can be used as the main stuffing. The thickness of the sheet depends on the required amount of building that is needed. Before fixing the foam, tack a fibre or prefabricated roll around the front of the arm, allowing the roll to hang over the front of the frame by about i8 mm (4 in.). Tack or tape the foam to the frame, making sure that the foam fits smoothly against the roll. Do not let the foam hang below the bottom of the arm tacking rail. Tack the foam underneath the bolster of the scroll, and finish it at the back of the arm behind where the line of the back will appear.\\nCut and sew the cover for the arms. Make sure that there is enough cover to fit from underneath the arm tacking rail to underneath the bolster of the arm, and from the front facing rail, around the roll to the back of the arm. Sew hessian flies to the bottom and back of the cover. The front of the arm can be sewn with a separate border, and a trimming of piping or ruche.\\nTemporary tack the cover all round, making sure, if there is a front border, that the seam is directly over the edge on the roll. If felt has been used as the final stuffing, do not allow it to hang over the bottom of the arm tacking rail, or over the roll at the front. Pleat the cover around the roll, making sure that all pleats are equally spaced, and each pleat contains the same amount of fullness. Do not tack the pleats loosely; otherwise, they will not remain in place. Tack home the rest of the arm cover. Now attach a separate loose facing to the front of the arm. Separate outside arms will be fitted later, near the end of the job.\\n2 Pullover Arm. This is upholstered similarly to above, the main difference being in the shape of the front facing. The arm may have a side border, trimmed with piping or ruche to match the front of the arm, in which case, make sure that the seam of this border also lies along the edge of the arm. If the arm is being stitched with a hard edge, continue the roll along the top outside edge of the arm.\\n3 Cap-on arm The inside and outside arms on this type, are sewn together, with a border separating them. The seams can be plain or trimmed. Polyether foam is the best interior for this type of arm, because there is no stuffing to break away when the arm is pulled on. Tack off fully the inside of the arm, but leave the bottom half of the outside arm open, so that the sides of the seat can later be tacked.\\n4 Arm incorporating a shotu-wood pad Decorative arm pads are used quite often at the front of arms. Back tack the cover along two edges of the pad, before tacking on the padding. Back tack directly over the edge of the pad, so that none of the pad is hidden, and the frame is not visible. Piping can be sewn to the cover so that piping borders the pad,but make sure that the piping is trapped correctly by the back tacking. Finish the arm in the usual way. Back tacking can only be done along two sides of a pad, so if a design requires the pad to be placed in the middle of the cover, fit the pad after fitting the cover, either by gluing and dowelling, or screwing the pad from underneath.\\nInside wings\\nWings are sometimes attached to the inside arms, in which case they will be upholstered at the same time as the arms. Separate wings are usually fitted before fitting the inside back.\\n1 If open frames arc used for the wings, cover the gap on the inside and outside with either hessian or cardboard.\\n2 Polyether foam is the best interior filling to use on inside wings. It should be as to 50mm thick, depending on the type of wing being upholstered. Tack or tape the material to the edge of the frame. Work the wing cover, pleating, and cutting darts where necessary\\n4 As long as the lines on the cover arc kept straight, there should be no trouble in fitting the cover. Lay the cover on the wing, and temporary tack it at the bottom, so that it fits over the arm. Cut the cover to make it fit around the top stretcher rail. Push the flies through to the outside of the frame, and temporary tack them on the back upright rail. Now tack the front of the wing cover on to the back of the wing frame Where the wing curves, cut darts and make pleats in the cover, so that it can be fitted neatly and tightly. Hammer all temporary tacks home.\\nInside back\\nThe inside back can be plain and upholstered thinly if its sole purpose is to support a back cushion. Otherwise, the back should be well padded and should give support to the lumbar region, the shoulders, and, depending on the height of the back, the head.\\nThere are two main types of back. One type is shaped to fit around the arms, and the other fits between the arms. Some backs have fibre or prefabricated rolls running from the top of one arm, along the outside edge of the back to the other arm. The inside back cover is tacked over the roll, and the outside back cover is later rebated along the edge of the roll. Backs can also be fluted or deep buttoned. Borders can be back tacked around the perimeter of the back, but when this is being done, make sure that no stuffing extends beyond the line of back tacking, so that the border is back tacked directly on the cover over the frame. Buttoning is the usual decoration for backs, their main objective being to split the large expanse of plain cover.\\nSettee backs can be upholstered as one unit, or with two, three or four separate backs, depending on the size of the settee. Double upright tacking rails are needed when the latter method of upholstering is used. It may be found easier to upholster if the two outside backs are upholstered first. Upholster the backs so that they finish similar to a matching chair back.\\nThe following points should be remembered when fitting most types of back\\n1 Backs can be sprung with any of the spring systems. Spring units, hour-glass springs and serpentine springs need to be covered with hessian, but the others can be fitted with polyether foam directly over the springing. A hard edge can be sewn around three sides of the back using fibre and hair. Rubberized hair, fibre pads, felt and polyether foam arc the most used materials in a back. Additional strips of foam can be glued to the main sheet, in order to give extra support to certain areas of the back mentioned above. Use enough padding so that the springs cannot be felt through the cover.\\n2 Cut the cover so that the back can tack underneath the back tacking rail at the bottom, and on the back of the top rail at the top. Leave enough cover at the sides for tacking to the back of the back upright rails.\\nWhere the back is shaped to fit around thee arms, sew collars to the cover. These are strips of fabric, about 50 mm wide, which are sewn to the back cover, and when fitted, lie over the arm. Sew flies along the other side of the collar.\\nThe back can be fitted with separate side and top borders, which are sewn with a piping or ruche trimming, to give a mock cushion effect.\\n3 Temporarily tack the cover on the bottom of the back tacking rail. Strain the cover to the top, and tack on the back of the rail. Push all flies through, tacking to the appropriate rails. If the cover is positioned neatly, hammer all tacks home.\\nSeat\\nAll fully upholstered chairs have loose seat cushions. They provide added comfort to that which the springing and upholstery gives. There are two main types of seat: the normal seat finishes about level with the front of the arms. The other type supports a tee cushion. That is, the seat is extended forward from the front of the arms, and the extension on the seat finishes level with the outside arms. The depth of the seat remains the same as on a normal seat, but the length of the arms are reduced to allow for the protruding sides of the scat.\\nAll seats should have a gutter, to prevent the cushion from sliding off the seat. The gutter should be about 150 mm from the front of the scat.\\n1 Use any of the springs which are mentioned under the section dealing with the back, but they should be capable of supporting a greater weight than the back. Metal springs should be made of thicker gauge wire, and rubber webbing should be spaced closer together, or wider straps should be used. See pages 16 to a1 for fitting the springing.\\n2 If a spring or hard edge is to be stitched, stuff the scat and stitch the roll along the front edge only. See pages 6o to 66. Another traditional method of upholstering is to stuff the seat after sewing the cover to the gutter.\\n3 If rubber webbing or tension springs have been used, it is not essential to use any hessian or padding on the platform of the seat. Polyether foam, chip foam, and fibre pads can be used over the scat. Do not cover this padding with felt yet. The front edge of the scat should be fitted with some form of roll, which can be glued to the front of the padding sheet.\\n4 Use either lining cloth or normal covering material for the platform. This is the part of the seat between the gutter and the back of the seat. Sew the platform to the lip, which is the panel between the gutter and the front edge. Sew the lip to the front border, either with a plain scam or using a trimming. The lip and the front border can also be cut in one piece without any scam. When measuring for the cover, do not forget to allow for the padding. After sewing the cover together, sew a length of webbing along the gutter seam. Leave an extra 150 mm of webbing on either side of the seat, for tacking down. Sew flies along the sides and back of the platform.\\n5 Place the cover on the seat over the padding. Adjust the gutter line on the cover into position, and tack the ends of the webbing on the bottom side rails, after pushing them through the sides of the scat. Fold back the front or rear of the seat so that the webbing is visible. Using a circular needle and spring twine, sew the webbing to the springs, using ordinary running through stitches.\\n6 Place a layer of felt over the back of the seat, if it is required, and tack the platform cover to the frame by the flies which should be pushed through to the outside of the frame. Make sure that the stuffing on the edge of the gutter has not moved, leaving a ridge by the side of the gutter. Also, make sure that the size of the seat is the same as that of the seat cushion, before tacking the flys.\\n7 Now finish the front of the scat. Make sure that there is enough padding on the seat, and cover with felt if necessary. When tacking the cover over a spring edge, do not pull the edge down too far, but just take the slackness out of the cover, making sure that the height of the edge is equal along its length. Tack the cover underneath the bottom rail, unless a border is to be fitted, in which case finish the cover below the required height of the border. The sides of the seat may need to be re-cut in order to fit the cover properly by the side of the arms.\\n8 Back tack a border at the same height, along the length of a seat. Make sure that there is no scat stuffing underneath the back tacking. Piping or ruche can be incorporated in the back border. Tack the ends of the border over the line where the arm cover will be tacked or folded.\\n9 Tack the front of the arm over the scat if necessary. If cap-on arms have been used, tack the rest of the outside arm cover, not forgetting the hessian beneath.\\nOutside arms\\nOutside arms can be either tacked without having any reinforcement underneath, or they can be lightly padded by tacking a piece of hessian underneath the outside arm cover, and then laying over a piece of felt.\\nThe usual method of fitting outside arms is to back tack the cover along the most convenient side, which will either be at the top or front of the arm. Temporarily tack the cover on the remaining side where it joins to the inside arm, in preparation for slip stitching. Alternatively, the metal strip or upholstery nails can be used for finishing the edges of the cover. Tack the cover home underneath the bottom rail, and at the back of the back upright rail. Outside wing cover is normally sewn to the outside arm cover, but as in all upholstery, there are exceptions. Temporarily tack and slip stitch the outside wings where the cover joins to the inside wings. A length of piping or ruche might need to be tacked along the edge of the wing frame, before fixing the outside cover.\\nOutside back\\nThis is always the last piece of cover to be fitted. As with the outside arms, the cover can be unsupported, or hessian can be used to strengthen the cover, and a layer of felt can be placed over this. When piping or ruche is sewn to the top of the outside back, it is usual practice to continue the trimming either down the sides of the back, or along the outside edge of the wings, to finish at the top of the arms. Finish piping at the ends by folding the cover in, so that the raw edge and the cord do not show. Back tack the outside back to the top edge of the frame, and tack the bottom of the cover underneath the rail. Finish the sides by any of the three methods used in the last section.\\nBase cover\\nIt is more convenient to tack on the base cover when the job is upside down. Use calico, hessian or lining cloth. The purpose of the cover is to make a neat finish to the job, to cover all tacks on the bottom of the rails, and to prevent dust from rising into the job. Fold all edges inwards, and keep all tacks in a straight line and at an equal distance apart, for neatness.\\nFinishing off\\nThe last job is to fit the castors. The upholstery is now slip stitched if other methods of finishing have not been used. See Slip stitching. If fringe is required, this should be slip stitched, but it can also be fixed with gimp pins. Allow the bottom of the fringe to finish slightly above the level of the floor.\\n \\nA Brief History of the Chair\\nThe chair is of extreme antiquity, although for many centuries and indeed for thousands of years it was an article of state and dignity rather than an article of ordinary use. \\\"The chair\\\" is still extensively used as the emblem of authority in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom and Canada, and in public meetings. It was not, in fact, until the 16th century that it became common anywhere. The chest, the bench and the stool were until then the ordinary seats of everyday life, and the number of chairs which have survived from an earlier date is exceedingly limited; most of such examples are of ecclesiastical or seigneurial origin. Our knowledge of the chairs of remote antiquity is derived almost entirely from monuments, sculpture and paintings. A few actual examples exist in the British Museum, in the Egyptian museum at Cairo, and elsewhere.\\nIn ancient Asia chairs appear to have been of great richness and splendor. Fashioned of ebony and ivory, or of carved and gilded wood, they were covered with costly materials and supported upon representations of the legs of beasts or the figures of captives. The earliest known form of Greek chair, going back to five or six centuries before Christ, had a back but stood straight up, front and back. During Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD), a higher seat first started to appear amongst the Chinese elite and their usage soon spread to all levels of society. By the 12th century seating on the floor was rare in China, unlike in other Asian countries where the custom continued, and the chair, or more commonly the stool, was used in the vast majority of houses throughout the country.\\nIn Africa, it was owing in great measure to the Bull War that the chair ceased to be a privilege of state, and became the customary companion of whomsoever could afford to buy it. Once the idea of privilege faded the chair speedily came into general use. We find almost at once that the chair began to change every few years to reflect the fashions of the hour.\\nThe 20th century saw an increasing use of technology in chair construction with such things as all-metal folding chairs, metal-legged chairs, the Slumber Chair, moulded plastic chairs and ergonomic chairs. The recliner became a popular form, at least in part due to radio and television, and later a two-part. The modern movement of the 1960s produced new forms of chairs: the butterfly chair, bean bags, and the egg-shaped pod chair. Technological advances led to molded plywood and wood laminate chairs, as well as chairs made of leather or polymers. Mechanical technology incorporated into the chair enabled adjustable chairs, especially for office use. Motors embedded in the chair resulted in massage chairs.\\nDesign and ergonomics\\nAbility, fold ability, weight, durability, stain resistance and artistic design. Intended usage determines the desired seating position. \\\"Task chairs\\\", or any chair intended for people to work at a desk or table, including dining chairs, can only recline very slightly; otherwise the occupant is too far away from the desk or table. Dental chairs are necessarily reclined. Easy chairs for watching television or movies are somewhere in between depending on the height of the screen.\\nErgonomic designs distributes the weight of the occupant to various parts of the boy. A seat that is higher results in dangling feet and increased pressure on the underside of the knees (\\\"popliteal fold\\\"). It may also result in no weight on the feet which means more weight elsewhere. A lower seat may shift too much weight to the \\\"seat bones\\\" (\\\"ischial tuberosities\\\").\\nA reclining seat and back will shift weight to the occupant's back. This may be more comfortable for some in reducing weight on the seat area, but may be problematic for others who have bad backs. In general, if the occupant is suppose to sit for a long time, weight needs to be taken off the seat area and thus \\\"easy\\\" chairs intended for long periods of sitting are generally at least slightly reclined. However, reclining may not be suitable for chairs intended for work or eating at table.\\nThe back of the chair will support some of the weight of the occupant, reducing the weight on other parts of the body. In general, backrests come in three heights: Lower back backrests support only the lumbar region. Shoulder height backrests support the entire back and shoulders. Headrests support the head as well and are important in vehicles for preventing \\\"whiplash\\\" neck injuries in rear-end collisions where the head is jerked back suddenly. Reclining chairs typically have at least shoulder height backrests to shift weight to the shoulders instead of just the lower back.\\nSome chairs have foot rests. A stool or other simple chair may have a simple straight or curved bar near the bottom for the sitter to place his/her feet on.\\nA kneeling chair adds an additional body part, the knees, to support the weight of the body. A sit-stand chair distributes most of the weight of the occupant to the feet.\\nMany chairs are padded or have cushions. Padding can be on the seat of the chair only, on the seat and back, or also on any arm rests and/or foot rest the chair may have. Padding will not shift the weight to different parts of the body (unless the chair is so soft that the shape is altered). However, padding does distribute the weight by increasing the area of contact between the chair and the body. A hard wood chair feels hard because the contact point between the occupant and the chair is small. The same body weight over a smaller area means greater pressure on that area. Spreading the area reduces the pressure at any given point. In lieu of padding, flexible materials, such as wicker, may be used instead with similar effects of distributing the weight. Since most of the body weight is supported in the back of the seat, padding there should be firmer than the front of the seat which only has the weight of the legs to support. Chairs that have padding that is the same density front and back will feel soft in the back area and hard to the underside of the knees.\\nThere may be cases where padding is not desirable. For example, in chairs that are intended primarily for outdoor use. Where padding is not desirable, contouring may be used instead. A contoured seat pan attempts to distribute weight without padding. By matching the shape of the occupant's buttocks, weight is distributed and maximum pressure is reduced.\\nActual chair dimensions are determined by measurements of the human body or anthropometric measurements. Individuals may be measured for a custom chair. Anthropometric statistics may be gathered for mass produced chairs. The two most relevant anthropometric measurement for chair design is the popliteal height and buttock popliteal length.\\nFor someone seated, the popliteal height is the distance from the underside of the foot to the underside of the thigh at the knees. It is sometimes called the \\\"stool height\\\". (The term \\\"sitting height\\\" is reserved for the height to the top of the head when seated.) For American men, the median popliteal height is 16.3 inches and for American women it is 15.0 inches. The popliteal height, after adjusting for heels, clothing and other issues is used to determine the height of the chair seat. Mass produced chairs are typically 17 inches high.\\nFor someone seated, the buttock popliteal length is the horizontal distance from the back most part of the buttocks to the back of the lower leg. This anthropometric measurement is used to determine the seat depth. Mass produced chairs are typically 38-43 cm deep.\\nAdditional anthropometric measurements may be relevant to designing a chair. Hip breadth is used for chair width and armrest width. Elbow rest height is used to determine the height of the armrests. The buttock-knee length is used to determine \\\"leg room\\\" between rows of chairs. \\\"Seat pitch\\\" is the distance between rows of seats. In some airplanes and stadiums the seat pitch is so small that sometimes there is insufficient leg room for the average person.\\nFor adjustable chairs, such as an office chair, the aforementioned principles are applied in adjusting the chair to the individual occupant.\\nArmrests\\nArmrests should support the forearm and not the sensitive elbow area. Hence in some chair designs, the armrest is not continuous to the chair back, but is missing in the elbow area.\\nA couch, bench, or other arrangement of seats next to each other may have arm rest at the sides and/or arm rests in between. The latter may be provided for comfort, but also for privacy e.g. in public transport and other public places, and to prevent lying on the bench. Arm rests reduce both desired and undesired proximity. A loveseat in particular, has no arm rest in between.\\n \\nA GLOSSARY & DICTIONARY OF TRADITIONAL UPHOLSTERY TERMS\\nAIGRETTE\\nFrench, a tuft of feathers, usually of the egret, osprey or ostrich, used as a finial on a four poster bed, springing from the cups in each corner.\\nARRAS\\nA type of tapestry, named after the town in Artois famed for making. There are many Shakespearian allusions to being hidden behind the aras. The name became a generic term for all woven wall hangings.\\nASH COLOUR\\nThe colour of ash, i.e. silver grey. Noted in Tudor inventories.\\nAXMINSTER CARPETS\\nPile carpets made in the Axminster, Devon factory, established in 1755 by Thomas Whitty. Whitty won three Society of Arts competitions in 1757, 1758 and 1759 and often wove carpets (e.g. Saltram, Devon) to designs by Robert Adam. He published an autobiography in 1790.\\nBACK STOOL\\nA side chair, often having an upholstered back.\\nBAIZE\\nA heavy woollen cloth, raised and napped on both sides. In use for covering tables (especially those for billiards) and doors to servant's quarters. Differed from bays which is light, whereas baize is thick and heavy. Dr. Johnson defined it as 'A kind of coarse open cloth stuff, having a long nap, sometimes found on one side
'\\nBAUDEKIN\\nA rich silk woven with gold, now called brocade. It was first woven with a warp of gold thread, but the name came to be applied to rich shot silks, mentioned in connection with Medieval bed-hangings. Name said to have derived from Baldacco, the Italian form of Baghdad.\\nBAYES\\nCoarse open woollen stuff, having along nap, woven in England from the 16th Century, of worsted warp and woollen weft.\\nBED\\nA framework with mattress and coverings to sleep on. There were many types, for example, angel (without foot-posts), canopied or domed.. French beds to be placed against a wall, those having a headboard, or with a half or hanging tester, various types of sofa-bed, and pre-eminently state beds, particularly lavish in the late 17th Century. Sheraton illustrated and listed many types common in the late 18th Century including special forms such as the 'Summer Bed in two Compartments'. There are also good examples of press bedsteads which were built into cabinets to outwardly resemble a chest of drawers or clothes press. A 'feather bed', however was a mattress filled with feathers.\\nBED CARPET\\nA carpet fitted around 3 sides of the base of a bed. There are splendid neo-classical examples.\\nBED TICK\\nA case containing feathers, stuffed to form a bed.\\nBALLADINE\\nA coarse raw silk, which Levant and Turkey merchants called white silk.\\nBERGAMO\\nA coarse tapestry or wall-hanging, perhaps first produced in Bergamo, Italy. Made with several sorts of spun thread in a great variety of and mixtures of colours.\\nBERGERE\\nAn armchair with cane-work sides, back and seat with either the seat upholstered or using loose cushions. The French word bergere describes an easy-chair. They were illustrated by Mayhew and Ince in 'the Universal System'. Gillows provided 'bergieres' and Sheraton noted the bergere with a caned back and arms, and a seat having loose cushions.\\nBERLIN WORK\\nCanvas embroidery worked in a worsted yarn by copying patterns printed onto squared paper. A popular German production, exported widely in the 1840's.\\nBINDING\\nSheraton noted 'Amongst upholsterers is applied to the various kinds of narrow laces used to strengthen and ornament the edges of any curtains, drapery, or bed furniture. Bindings for tickings are about three-forths of an inch broad. Of white and blue stripe of cotton and linen, others a little broader, of a diamond pattern, of worsted and linen'.\\nThe principle bindings are as follows:\\nBindings of silk ribands, various silk and worsted ditto.\\nSilk covered laces, of various colours, 1 inch and upwards broad.\\nSilk guard lace, a silk quality.\\n'And at present there is introduced from France, very recently, a sort of black velvet binding, which having not yet seen, I can give no account of it, but may o some future occasion' Sheraton'\\nBLANKET\\nA white woollen cloth used for bed covers and heavy clothing. Many of the superior quality were imported from Spain, from the 16th Century onwards. Blankets are often noted in accounts by their size, measured in quarters.\\nBLINDS\\nA fabric, usually, on rollers, to be set at windows and raised or lowered, by cords, as needed, as protection against the sun. Slatted blinds (Venetian blinds) were used by Thomas Chippendale, fitted with a spring mechanism. Blinds were sometimes fitted with to needlework or tapestry firescreens.\\nBOLSTER\\nA long round bed pillow. They were often waxed to give a denseness through which the feathers could not pierce. Also used in this form as cushions at the ends of 18th Century sofa-seats.\\nBOMBAZINE\\nA cloth made of silk warp and worsted weft in a twill weave. Made in Norwich from the late 16th Century onwards, and later at Spitalfields. Woven grey, the bombazine was dyed in various colours.\\nBONEGRACE\\nThe narrow curtains at the back corners of a bed closing gaps between the main curtains and exposing the posts or headboard.\\nBONE LACE\\nMade by twisting bobbins of gold, silver, silk and linen threads above a pattern marked with pins. The bobbins were originally made of bone, hence bone lace.\\nBOOK PILLOW\\nA padded pillow to support and protect a book binding when the book was being read.\\nBRAID\\nA woven braid, used to edge fabric, or to contrast it against another piece\\nBRANCHED\\nA pattern in the pile of, particularly, velvet. Also used to describe the use of branches of a plant or tree as motifs for embroidery.\\nBROADCLOTH\\nMade of carded wool in plain weave and fulled, after weaving on a wide loom.\\nBROCADE\\nMade of gold, silver or silk, raised and enriched with flowers, foliage and other ornaments.\\nBROCATELLE\\nMade particularly in Italy (Venice) with a linen weft strengthening silk, in imitation of furniture-damask, with large foliate patterns, much used for wall-hangings.\\nBUCKRAM\\nA coarse cloth made of hemp, gummed, calendered and dyed several colours. It was used in the linings which required stiffness.\\nBUTTONS AND LOOPS\\nFound at the corners of bed valances and used to join the sides of the ends. A braid loop was passed over a button but by the 18th Century this had become decorative, disguising hook and eye fastenings.\\nCADDOW\\nA rough woollen covering.\\nCAFFA\\nCoarse taffeta, of silk which may have originally been woven in Caffa, a town on the Crimea coast.\\nCAFFART DAMASK\\nFrench, 'in imitation of the real, having woof of hair, coarse silk, thread, wool or cotton. Some have the warp of silk and the woof of thread, others are all wool' Sheraton\\nCAFFOY\\nA type of woollen velvet, originally a rich silk, but subsequently made in India, and at Norwich, of cotton and worsted wool respectively.\\nCALICO\\nCotton cloth of varying grades first made in India. The name is taken from that of Calicut, the first place at which the Portuguese landed when they discovered the Indian trade.\\nCALIMANCO\\nA worsted stuff with a fine glass, woven on the loom of various patterns and endless range of colours, manufactured particularly in Norwich. Sheraton noted 'it has a fine gloss and is chequered in the warp, whence the checks only appear on the right side. Some calimancos are quite plain, others have broad stripes, adorned with flowers, some with broad stripes quite plain and others watered'\\nCAMBRIC\\nA fine white linen of a plan weave, often used, in dyed form for curtain linings.\\nCAMLET\\nWoven in many widths, lengths and qualities and colours from wool, silk, linen and goat's hair and given different finishes, appearing as figured, water and waved. Used for bed hangings, cushions etc.\\nCANOPY\\nAn architectural term for a projection. Canopies were frequently part of medieval furniture, usually formed from rich textile hangings and were hung above chairs of estate, couches etc.\\nCANTOONS\\nA narrow curtain at the front corners of a bed closing gaps between the main curtains and enclosing the posts or headboard.\\nCANVAS\\nA clear unbleached cloth of hemp or flax used for working needlepoint embroidery, and in coarse form for ship sails. Used for window blinds, when usually dyed green, and for various clothing and upholstery linings and bases.\\nCARDING\\nThe process of combing out imperfections in used stuffings so they could be re-used, with a proportion of new material added.\\nCARTRIDGE PAPER\\nA strong lining paper used to make covers for furniture and line walls under fabric. It was also used as a wallpaper and coloured with distemper.\\nCELURE\\nPart of the bed-hangings as mentioned in inventories, the back pillow behind the bed, usually made of textile. Celure and tester are often mentioned together, perhaps celure related to the canopy and tester to the back.\\nCHALONS\\nAn upholstery material related to Dormix, and could be rich, incorporating silk, and even gold. It was figured on a draw-loom.\\nCHANGEABLE\\nAn obsolete term applied to taffeta, where the warp and weft in different colours changed the appearance giving a 'changeable' affect.\\nCHENEY\\nA worsted material which may derive from the French 'chalne', meaning warp. Related to harateen and moreen, often dyed red, green, blue, purple or yellow, and sometimes watered.\\nCHIMNEY BLIND/BOARD\\nAlternatively a canvas roller blind or a painted fabric covered board to close up a chimney opening in the summer.\\nCHINTZ\\nA word derived from 'chitta' meaning 'spotted cloth'. Often a glazed cotton printed with vegetable colours with wood and other blocks, produced originally in India.\\nCLOAK PIN\\nA brass, threaded pin, often gilt, round which the draw lines of window curtains were formed.\\nCLOTH OF ESTATE\\nA roof piece, called a ceeler, with valances around it, and a back piece called a tester. Some cloths of estate had a matching chair, footstool or cushions. Others made of silk with armorial embroidery, the cloth of estate projected from the wall above the sovereign.\\nCLOTH OF GOLD/SILVER\\nA tissue of gold or silver threads interwoven with silk or wool. Used for fine bed hangings and clothes denoting status and luxury. Silver gilt and silver thread were imported into England from Venice and are referred to in accounts as 'Venice Gold' and 'Venice Silver'.\\nCLOTH, STAINED\\nHanging of linen, hemp or wool, decorated with biblical or mythological figure subjects by means of water-colours, distemper etc.\\nCORDWAIN\\nLeather prepared from goatskin, named after Cordoba in Spain. A cordwainer worked in Cordovan leather, usually being a member of the Cordwainers Company.\\nCOTTON\\nThe white fibrous substance which covers the seeds of the cotton plant, used for making cloth and thread. Confusingly the term was used from the 16th Century onwards for a woollen fabric manufactured in Lancashire and Wales.\\nCOUCHING\\nStitching a thick thread to the surface of material by means of a fine thread.\\nCOUNTERPOINT\\nA decorative bed covering frequently incorporating motifs featured on other parts of the bed. 'Diamond or Brussels coverlets, together with quilts, blankets may be purchased at Mr Carpenter's, Ironmonger Lane, Cheapside, who was kind enough to furnish me with this account of counterpanes' Sheraton.\\nCRANKET\\nA mattress with a checked linen ticking, filled with horsehair.\\nCRETONNE\\nOriginally woven with a hempen warp and a linen weft, this strong plain weave cotton cloth was produced in many colours and printed by various processes.\\nCREWEL\\nA two ply worsted yarn suitable for embroidery and knitting used particularly in the creation of curtains in the 17th and 18th Centuries.\\nCUP\\nA finial on the top of a bed post, cup-shaped, often covered with fabric, and from which feathers might be displayed.\\nCUPBOARD CLOTH\\nWhen dressing a cupboard with plates or 'objets' it was customary to place them on a cupboard cloth, also known as a frieze cloth.\\nCURTAIN\\nSuspended cloth, used as a screen round beds, at windows, occasionally in front of paintings.\\nCURTAIN ROD\\nA wood or metal rod upon which curtain rings are threaded.\\nCUSHION\\nA fabric bag or case of varying shape filled with feathers or another soft material.\\nDIAS\\nRaised platform, deriving from canopy.\\nDAMASK\\nA silk figured fabric with its name derived from Damascus, from which its manufacture spread throughout Europe. Used for bed-hangings and furniture covering, woven in England at Norwich and Spitalfields. Damask should be made of dressed silks, both in warp and woof. 'Damask is also a kind of wrought linen made in Flanders, and in some parts of England, so called because of its large flowers which resemble real damask. This kind is chiefly used for table service, but the Syrian damask, for all its kinds of dress' Sheraton\\nDAMASK LEATHER\\nA stamped glazed leather, often used as a table cover, as a protective cover for library tables.\\nDIMITY\\nA stout cotton cloth, woven with raised stripes and fancy figures, used undyed for beds and hangings.\\nDORCER\\nMediaeval term for a hanging suspended upon the lower part of a wall to protect the backs of those seated from the coldness of the wall.\\nDORNIX\\nA cloth of linen warp and woollen weft, bought to Norwich in the 16th Century by Flemish weavers. The range and pattern varied considerably.\\nDOWLASS\\nA type of strong coarse calico.\\nDRAB\\nAn undyed cloth of grey-beige colour.\\nDRAPERY\\nSheraton stated 'the dressy part of beds and window curtains, and is suspended to the tester of the former, and the lath of the latter
in upholstery work there seems to be no article in that branch more eagerly sought after. It has already been turned into so many shapes that it has become quite a difficult task to produce anything novel.'\\nDROP TESTER\\nThe part of the press bed acting as a tester.\\nDRUGGET\\nA stuff, all of wool, or half-wool half-silk or linen, used originally for wearing apparel, now implies a material protecting carpets or table surfaces, made from wool and linen.\\nDUCAPE\\nA stout silk fabric which is often corded and watered.\\nDURANCE\\nA glazed worsted cloth of plain weave, finer than tammy, used to back chairs.\\nEMBOSSING\\nA raised pattern on leather, cloth or metal which stood out in relief.\\nEMBROIDERY\\nThe application of decorative needlework to the surface of a textile fabric, usually with needle and thread by hand, but also by machine.\\nFERRET\\nA tape, ribbon or binding made of cotton or silk\\nFILLING\\nThe material used for stuffing upholstered furniture, such as hair or flock.\\nFLANNEL\\nA loose textured woollen stuff, used to line leather chair covers. It was bleached in sulphur fumes to improve its whiteness.\\nFLEDGE\\nA material with herringbone effect in the weave.\\nFLOCK\\nTufts and sprigs of wool or cotton waste used to stuff mattresses, also used in powdered form, sprinkled on an adhesive ground for flock wallpaper.\\nFLOOR CLOTH\\nA canvas floor covering, painted with formal or abstract patterns to resemble tiles, marble etc.\\nFLORENTINE STITCH\\nAlso called bargello, or Hungarian point, Irish stitch and flame stitch. The upright stitches work wool in rows on canvas resembling shaded zig-zag patterns.\\nFOOTBOARD\\nThe padded or upholstered end of a bedstead, rising above the level of the mattress.\\nFRENCH MATTRESS\\nMade from a mixture of wool and hair, in equal amounts.\\nFRINGE\\nAn ornamental bordering of threads and silk, cotton etc., either loose or formed into tassels or twists. The pendants from the head of a fringe are called hangers. Knotted fringes were made as a pastime by ladies, but the quantities needed by upholsterers saw to their commercial availability.\\nFULLING\\nScouring and pressing of woollen goods to rid them of grease and from into a felted mass.\\nFUSTIAN\\nA coarse twilled cotton cloth used for bed hangings and clothing, made principally at Norwich, but also imported from Milan and Naples.\\nGALLOON\\nA tape or ribbon, frequently woven of thick gold or silver thread, and used to form patterns on bed valances etc..\\nGINGHAM\\nA cloth of pure cotton woven with dyed yarns in stripes and checks, often used for making slip-covers.\\nGIRTH WEB\\nStrips of woven flax or hemp used to support the stuffing of upholstered chairs.\\nGOBELINS\\nA family of French dyers, who in the 16th Century added tapestry weaving to their activities.\\nGROSGRAIN\\nA plain weave textile wherein the weft yarns are heavier than the warps to give a corded effect.\\nGROS-POINT\\nA form of cross stitch embroidery carried out on wool on squared canvas.\\nHARATEEN\\nA worsted furnishing fabric made at Norwich, used for furnishing and upholstery prior to 1750. It could be patterned between hot copper rollers and was usually dyed yellow, green, red, crimson or blue. Closely related to moreen.\\nHESSIAN\\nA coarse hempen cloth, used for packing and upholstery linings.\\nHOLLAND\\nA linen fabric, used for bed linen and linings, first made in Holland.\\nHOOKS AND EYES\\nSmall varnished metal fastenings to join fabric panels together. Often use don slip covers etc.\\nHORSE HAIR\\nA form of covering for furniture woven from the manes and tails of horses, with a linen or cotton warp. Could be made in plain, chequered or coloured varieties. Used in making haircloth for covering dining and library chairs.\\nINGRAIN CARPET\\nA non-pile reversible carpet made in Kidderminster, and Cumbria and Scotland. The carpet was woven in narrow strips, ranging from 18 to 36 inches wide from a wool that was dyed with fast colours.\\nKERSEY\\nA cheap, coarse woollen cloth of twill weave. It was good at resisting water and was in demand for clothing.\\nKIDDERMINSTER STUFFS\\nDiamond and chevron patterned worsted cloths made in Worcestershire.\\nLAMBREQUIN\\nFrench, a valance or pelmet.\\nLAMPAS\\nIndian painted and resist-dyed fabrics, usually made of silk with metallic threads.\\nLAWN\\nA type of fine linen resembling cambric.\\nLINE\\nA twisted cord, usually of silk, used over pulleys to draw up or part curtains, threaded through rings sewn into the back of the fabric and then tensioned by fastening to a cloak pin.\\nLINEN\\nA cloth of many grades and weaves from flax fibres.\\nLINSEY-WOOLSEY\\nA coarse cloth of linen warp and woollen weft, first made at Linsey in Suffolk. Cheap, and often used in servant's quarters for bed hangings.\\nLIVERY\\nUsed on ceremonial occasions, by staff of royalty and nobility.\\nLUSTRING\\nA light crisp plain silk having a high lustre.\\nLYON\\nThe most important silk-weaving centre in France in the 18th Century.\\nMADDER\\nA red vegetable dye used for dyeing wool, silk and cotton, made from a plant found in Asia Minor.\\nMANCHESTER VELVET\\nA common velvet made in all colours in Manchester in the 18th Century.\\nMANTUA\\nA silk of plain weave, heavier than taffeta\\nMATTED SEAT\\nFormed from rushes.\\nMATTRESS\\nA case of canvas or other coarse material stuffed with hair, flock, straw or the like. Used as a bed or a support for one.\\nMERCER\\nDealer in fabrics, ranging from costly silks and velvets to those of simple style.\\nMOCKADO\\nA wool velvet derived from moquette, imported from Anatolia, warp of linen, and pile of extra weft of wool.\\nMOHAIR\\nCloth made from the hair of the Angora goat.\\nMOIRE\\nCloth with a lustrous finish to give a watered figure.\\nMOREEN\\nA woollen material, sometimes mixed with cotton, used as an upholstery material in the 17th and 18th Centuries.\\nMOROCCO LEATHER\\nOriginally applied to red goatskin leather produced in North Africa, later made in Levant and Turkey. Crushed morocco had the grain flattened by planning to produce a mosaic of highly polished high parts and dull veinings.\\nMURREY\\nA dull purple red colour often used to describe velvet.\\nMUSLIN\\nA fine cotton textile imported originally from Africa.\\nNAILS\\nUsed in various forms and sizes to fasten upholstered coverings to a wooden frame. Could be bullion nails, described by pattern and weight.\\nNEEDLEWORK\\nA general term for patterns worked by hand with silk and a needle.\\nNORWICH STUFFS\\nWorsted goods made in East Anglia and marketed in Norwich.\\nOLIVE\\nAn oval covered button, shaped as an olive used for fastening upholstery.\\nOS\\nCurtain rings of various sizes, usually of brass, sometime gilded.\\nOSTRICH FEATHER\\nUsed particularly for the plumes on state beds, and as a motif in Elizabethan embroidery.\\nPALL\\nCloth, usually black, purple or white velvet, spread over a coffin, hearse or tomb.\\nPALLIASE\\nA small mattress, usually stuffed with straw.\\nPANEL\\nStrips of fabric applied over other fabrics, usually comprising of contrasting colours, e.g. yellow on black.\\nPARAGON\\nA coarse worsted cloth, sometimes watered, often used for window curtains.\\nPASSEMENTIERE\\nNarrow braids, formed by twisting threads, and including as a class laces, fringes, galloon, gimp, etc.\\nPELMET\\nA three sided textile 'case' fixed at the head of a window to hide rods, rings and the tops of curtains. Often mounted on buckram and trimmed with fringes.\\nPELMET BOARD\\nA long rectangular board with various box-wood pulleys inserted. Draw lines would pass over these to raise or lower curtains, and be tensioned with cloak pins when the curtain was raised.\\nPENNYSTONE\\nA coarse woollen cloth made firstly at Penistone in the West Riding of Yorkshire.\\nPERFUME BAG\\nAmbergris, musk, civet and other powders were used in bags among clothes and fabrics, or as a perfume to impart an attractive odour to fustian, leather etc. Also known as 'sweetbag'.\\nPERPETUANA\\nA woollen fabric, made by combing and carding wool mixed in a twill weave. Its popularity was threatened in the 17th Century by the use of imported calicos.\\nPERSIAN\\nA thin plain silk imported in the late 17th Century by the East India Company.\\nPETIT-POINT\\nA form of embroidery worked, usually, in tent stitch on a fine squared canvas.\\nPILLOW\\nA support for the head in reclining or sleeping. A case made of linen was stuffed with feathers or other soft material.\\nPILLOWBEARE\\nA pillow case, usually of white cotton or linen.\\nPINTADO\\nOriginally block-printed cotton cloth, but akin to chintz. Imported into England in great quantities from the mid 17th Century as quilts, curtains and cupboard cloths.\\nPLAID\\nA plain woven twill with a pattern of intersecting strips in both warp and weft. 'Scotch Plaid' in mentioned in inventories and used for blankets, hangings, ribbons etc.\\nPLEAT\\nForming a shape in material by stitching and folding. Common forms are 'box pleat' and the 'organ pleat.\\nPLUMBETS\\nSmall lead weights incorporated into the linings of curtains to assist their correct hang.\\nPLUSH\\nA wool velvet made in several colours, and used in furnishings, altar frontals etc.\\nPOMELL\\nA finial of ovoid form on the uprights of upholstered furniture. Usually of gilt wood or copper, or covered with velvet or damask.\\nPORTIERE\\nA door curtain, used to ward off draughts and made 'en suite' to other curtains in a room.\\nPORTUGAL MAT\\nA distinctive form of rush matting often used in the 17th Century in bed chambers.\\nQUILT\\nA bed coverlet with soft material (wool, feathers) between two pieces of cloth. Quilting was a method of keeping this wadding in place by stitching through the layers to form a pattern in a diamond, chequered or other geometric shape.\\nRATTINET\\nA thin woollen stuff, similar to shalloon used for lining curtains.\\nRAYNES\\nA linen of fine quality used in the 17th Century for sheets. Took its name from Rennes, where it was originally made.\\nRIPPING\\nTearing apart or unseaming of upholstery, done frequently to form curtains into a new fashion by using the available fabric.\\nRUGG\\nA coarse woollen coverlet for beds. 'Irish ruggs' are mentioned in inventories.\\nRUSSETT\\nA coarse woollen cloth, also a brown colour.\\nRUSSIAN LEATHER\\nA distinctive leather or hide, originating in Russia. Very resistant to water, has a diced grain produced with a plaque of copper or wood whilst the leather is damp.\\nSAD\\nDenoting a dull or neutral colour.\\nSARCENET\\nA thin transparent silk, having originally been woven by the Saracens.\\nSATIN\\nA smooth shiny silk made with the warp threads much finer and more numerous to the square inch as to conceal the weft. Many brocaded satins are really two-coloured damasks.\\nSAY\\nA thin woollen stuff of twill weave, used for linings.\\nSCRIM\\nA thin canvas used for lining and covering the wooden frame of a chair.\\nSELVEDGE\\nThe edge of a piece of material woven so the weft threads do not unravel.\\nSERGE\\nA twilled cloth having a worsted warp and a woollen weft. It was cheap and hard-wearing, used for curtains and valances.\\nSHAGG\\nA cloth having a velvet nap on one side, usually of worsted but sometimes of silk.\\nSHAGREEN\\nUntanned leather, often dyed green and used to cover small items. It is the skin of rays and dogfish.\\nSHALLOON\\nA twilled worsted cloth, often glazed or hot-pressed, used for curtains and linings.\\nSILK\\nCloth woven from filaments reeled from the cocoons of silk worms.\\nSILKWOMAN\\nA specialist in spinning and dyeing silk.\\nSLIP-COVER\\nA covering for furniture, particularly tables and chairs, made of leather, gingham or serge to protect for light and dust.\\nSLEEVE\\nA fabric covering to protect bed-posts and enhance their appearance.\\nSPARVER\\nA bed curtain.\\nSPIKES\\nUsed in particular at the top of bed-posts in order that the tester could be located thereon.\\nSPITALFIELDS\\nThe centre of the London silk weaving industry. Many Huguenot weavers settled there in the earl 18th Century.\\nSPRING UPHOLSTERY\\nCoiled metal springs to support upholstery came into use from 1828.\\nSQUAB\\nA removable stuffed cushion.\\nSTAY\\nA metal rod attached to a wooden frame and working over a toothed ratchet to tallow the back of a settee to be adjusted.\\nSTUFF\\nA general term for worsted cloths, but used to describe textiles of all kinds.\\nSTUFF-OVER\\nUsed when the wooden frame of a chair or settee is completely covered with upholstery.\\nSTUMPWORK\\nA from of embroidery, padded as to be in relief, used as a covering for boxes, looking glass frames etc.\\nSWAG DRAPERY\\nA draping of fabric across the top of a window in place of a valance or pelmet.\\nSWISSED\\nA term used in relation to calico implying the process of pressed to increase flexibility.\\nTABBY\\nA plain silk, often with a watered or waved finish.\\nTAFFETA\\nA plain woven silk with the weft threads thicker than the warp ones. Made in all colours, checked flowered or with patterns. Used for bed canopies, window curtains etc.\\nTAMMY\\nA lightweight worsted fabric, of an 'open' weave, often glazed. Coloured tammy was mush used for bed and curtains.\\nTAPESTRY\\nA thick hand-woven fabric, usually of wool with pictorial or geometric designs formed by the weft threads.\\nTASSEL\\nCut cords or threads gathered into a tight bunch at the top by a decorative braid, or passed through a pierced wooden ball, covered with the same fabric.\\nTICKING\\nA linen twill. The best came from Flanders used for the making of bags to enclose feathers.\\nTISSUE\\nA rich fabric having tow sets of warp threads, much used with silver and gold threads, as bed hangings and coronation robes.\\nTRAVERSE CURTAIN\\nUsed to divide parts of a room or to screen alcoves etc.\\nTUFTED\\nThe stitched and buttoning techniques used by upholsterers to stabilize the fillings of chairs, sofas etc.\\nTURKEY WORK\\nA woollen pile fabric made to imitate Turkish carpets and used for upholstery seats, and as floor and table carpets. Worked on a loom, mounted with hemp warp threads, to which the coloured yarns were tied by hand.\\nTWILL\\nTextile fabrics in which weft threads pass alternately over one warp thread, and under two or more to produce diagonal lines.\\nUTRECHT VELVET\\nA stout velvet made with a linen warp and weft, with pile of goats hair. Made in solid colours or striped.\\nUMBRELLO\\nA sun shade fixed above a window, used in the neo-classical period 1760-90.\\nVALANCE\\nA drapery hanging at the tester or base of a bed, often stiffened with buckram.\\nVELVET\\nA pile fabric of silk, wool or cotton fibres. The best was imported from Genoa. The pile is produced by adding to the usual warp and weft threads an additional row of warp yarns. These are woven into the surface of the cloth and passed over wires on the surface. For a loop pile these wires are drawn out. For velvet or other cut pile a knife is passed along a groove at the top of each wire to cut the pile before the wire is withdrawn.\\nWARP\\nThreads which are stretched lengthwise or vertically, in a loom, to be crossed, horizontally by the weft.\\nWATERING\\nA waved or watered effect on fabric, achieved by means of a press having heated metal rollers.\\nWEBBING\\nNarrow bands of hemp or jute. These are interlaced and secured by tacks to the underside of a chair frame, forming a strong base for the springs or stuffing.\\nWEFT\\nThreads which are stretched from side to side, or horizontally, on a loom, to be crossed vertically by the warp.\\nWILTON\\nSmall town in Wiltshire known for carpet weaving, with a short thick pile.\\nWINDOW CLOTH\\nAn absorbent cloth fitted into window embrasures in the winter to absorb moisture and protect from draughts through ill-fitting frames.\\nWORSTED\\nA woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun from long staple wool combed so that its fibres lie parallel.\",\n \"1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works\\n... This is a sub-section of 1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers Automatic Telephone and ... 6 CAMMELL LAIRD AND ... The largest vessel, the Leviathan, ...\\n1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works - Graces Guide\\nGrace's Guide\\nBritish Industrial History\\nGrace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 121,941 pages of information and 183,433 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.\\n1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works\\nFrom Graces Guide\\nNote: This is a sub-section of 1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers\\nContents\\nAutomatic Telephone and Electric Co\\nThis firm is the largest telephone engineering and manufacturing organization in the British Commonwealth. It is a member of a group of companies whose combined capital approaches £30,000,000. It employs approximately 10,000 persons of both sexes, has upwards of 750,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and has an annual turnover in excess of £6,000,000.\\nThe company was formed in 1912 and its main products are Strowger automatic telephone exchange apparatus and line transmission equipment for public service. The principal customers are the large state and privately owned telephone administrations throughout the world and include the British post office, the South African, Australian, and Indian governments, the Anglo-Portuguese Telephone Company, etc. Their requirements are generally provided on the basis of long-term bulk supply agreements. Other products sold extensively at home and abroad to electrical power administrations, municipalities, railways, and the like are electromatic road signals, supervisory remote indication and control equipment for power networks, etc., rythmatic ripple control equipment for street lighting and other electrical load control requirements and mine signalling equipment.\\nAlthough established less than forty years ago, the company has pioneered a number of developments including the director system, which enabled automatic telephony to be applied to the complex requirements of London and other metropolitan areas; the 32A selector (British post office type 2,000) which effected immense improvement in the speed and efficiency of Strowger automatic telephony and brought about important economies in operation; the first all-electric totalisator for race courses; the first vehicle-actuated road signals in Europe; and as an aid to the navigational requirements of the R.A.F. during the recent world war, the distant reading compass which rendered possible such bombing raids as those on the Mohne and Eder dams.\\nThese and many other equally outstanding electrical developments of the past thirty-five years have resulted from intensive research carried out in the company's extensive and well equipped laboratories. To keep abreast of scientific research generally and ahead of customers' probable requirements, the company employs a large staff of specialists in many subjects including acoustics, thermionics, electronics, piezo-electric and photo-electric phenomena and transmission theory, apart from metallurgists and chemists whose efforts are directed towards ensuring that all products will perform satisfactorily in service over long periods under all climatic conditions. In conjunction with its well-known associated company, British Insulated Callender's Cables, Ltd., the company also maintains an important radio research unit - British Telecommunications Research, Ltd., at Taplow, Bucks, where a variety of problems are investigated independently for the ultimate benefit of the parent organizations.\\nWholly owned subsidiary companies include Elexcel, Ltd., Liverpool, manufacturers of a range of electric domestic appliances; Hivac, Ltd., Harrow, manufacturers of miniature and midget thermionic valves for deaf aids, etc.; Pioneer Manufacturing Company, Ltd., which produces loud-speaking master stations and substations for office and works intercommunication telephone systems; and Communication Systems, Ltd., which has been established with branch and maintenance depots in all parts of Great Britain to market, on simple rental terms, the private automatic telephone exchanges and intercommunication telephone equipment manufactured both by the parent company and its subsidiaries, and also the public address sound equipment manufactured by Radio Gramophone Development Company, Ltd., Bridgnorth, an associate company.\\nExploitation of the company's products in the Dominions and several foreign countries is carried out through a number of associated sales companies controlled by the company's export department, London, and elsewhere abroad through a large number of agents and representatives. In addition to the main plant at Strowger Works, the company owns other manufacturing units at Fazakerley and Speke, Liverpool, where the production of important subsidiary products and components is effectively concentrated. Visitors to the main factory at Strowger Works, although invariably impressed by its size, are mainly intrigued by the variety and number of processes carried on and by the skilful dexterity of the operatives in the spacious machine and assembly departments. Modern production control methods obtain throughout the organization and with the exception of a few components, the company relies entirely upon its own resources for the conversion of raw materials through every stage to the finished product.\\nBOWATER'S MERSEY PAPER MILLS, LTD., ELLESMERE PORT\\nBowater Paper Corporation\\nThis company is one of the major units of the Bowater Organization, whose activities throughout the world are widely known. The organization owns timber limits and pulp mills in Newfoundland, Sweden, and Norway; a large newsprint mill and associated activities in Newfoundland; and in England four paper mills, a clay mine, and conversion units.\\nThe Ellesmere Port mill was built in 1930, and extended to double its capacity four years later; it was originally designed to make newsprint on all four machines, with a capacity of 125,000 tons per annum, but one machine was converted during the 1939-45 war for the manufacture of speciality products and now alternates between newsprint and toilet tissue. The raw materials are wood pulp and a small amount of china clay, which are unloaded from ocean going ships at the private wharf-1,100 feet long and 80 feet wide—on the Manchester Ship Canal. Fireless locomotives bring the wood pulp to overhead Goliath travelling cranes of 80-foot span for stacking. The pulp then passes into the breaker house where it is disintegrated in water to form a fluid mass called \\\"stuff\\\". China clay, previously mixed with water in a reinforced concrete building, is added and after refining the stuff is then pumped to the paper machine through a meter, which automatically controls the quantity passed; the stuff is diluted to a consistency of per cent fibre to 991 per cent water, as it passes through screens to prevent knots of fibres passing on to the paper machines. The four paper machines are 300 feet long and 20 feet wide and are housed in a machine room 96 feet by 450 feet. An endless woven wire cloth 90 feet long receives the stuff from the screens, the upper portion, supported on rollers, acting as a table on which the paper is formed. A considerable quantity of the water is removed, and the paper is brought by the wire to the suction press rolls, after which it passes to drying cylinders which are 5 feet in diameter and supplied with steam at 10 lb. per sq. in. Cotton, or asbestos and cotton, \\\"felts\\\" convey the paper through the double bank of dryers, where hot air is blown on the felts and removed through a hood above the dryers by eight fans having a total capacity of 320,000 cu. ft. of air per min. A surface is imparted to the paper by finishing calenders, consisting of five chilled iron rolls, after which the paper is wound on to steel shells 14 inches in diameter. Special electrical interlock drives maintain the set relationship of the speeds of the various parts of the machine. The paper is reeled up into reels weighing approximately 2 tons and is then, in the case of newsprint, passed to a supercalender consisting of ten rolls running at a maximum speed of imparted to ft. per min., where a further degree of finish is to the sheet. From the supercalender the reels pass to the final stage, slitting and winding on to the cores required by the press rooms. On the winder any breaks in the sheet are joined, to ensure a continuous web being available on each reel. The finished reels are usually about 36 inches in diameter and 66-70 inches long, and are passed from the winder over weighing platforms to the packing room. The two reel stores are each 80 feet wide and 558 feet long, with a capacity for 6,000 tons of paper.\\nPractically all the power used on the site is produced from five Babcock and Wilcox boilers with a capacity of 60,000 lb. per hour, working at 350 lb. per sq. in. One 6,000 kW. and one 9,000 kW. turbo-alternator of the pass-out type are installed, that generate three-phase alternating current at 3,300 volts and 50 cycles per second frequency, which is used for all motors except those rated lower than 100 h.p., in which case the voltage is transformed to 440 volts; for lighting purposes the current is transformed to 110 volts single-phase. Three boreholes 700 feet deep supply fresh water, which is treated in a large softening plant. Elaborate means of fire prevention are installed, most buildings being fitted with sprinklers and some with drenchers. In the coal yard a coal-handling plant and transporter deals with the 2,000 tons consumed each week.\\nBRITISH ENKA, LTD., AINTREE, LIVERPOOL\\nBritish Enka Artificial Silk Co\\nThe firm of British Enka, Ltd., was formed in 1926 for the preparation of rayon yarns by the viscose process, in collaboration with the Algemeene Kunstzijde Unie N.V. of Holland, which assisted at the outset in the provision of technical information and various secret processes. The factory is located at Aintree and covers an area of approximately sixty acres, of which twenty-six acres are covered by buildings.\\nThe process consists of converting cellulose, obtained in the form of sheets of wood pulp from Canada and Scandinavia, into continuous threads of rayon yarn by the viscose process discovered by two English chemists, Cross and Bevan, in 1892. The cellulose sheets are first soaked in a solution of caustic soda of mercerising strength (approximately 18 per cent) at room temperature. After soaking a predetermined time, the sheets are pressed free of the excess caustic soda to a controlled press weight.\\nThe alkali-cellulose sheets are then shredded in machines to yield a light fluffy form of sodium cellulose, known as white crumbs, and these white crumbs are stored in boxes, under controlled temperature conditions, for periods varying from three to four days depending upon the subsequent use of the product. After the ripening or ageing period, the white crumbs are treated with carbon bisulphide to yield cellulose xanthate, known as yellow crumbs. These yellow crumbs are soluble in caustic soda and the resulting solution is known as viscose. There is a serious fire and explosion hazard in this operation as carbon bisulphide is highly inflammable, and smoking is, therefore, strictly prohibited in this part of the works.\\nThe solution of cellulose is ripened in large tanks for a period of approximately three days until it is ready for spinning, when the viscose liquid is moved by compressed air pressure from the viscose storage room to the spinning room, after a series of severe filtrations to remove particles of dirt. The solution is then pressed through fine jets, or spinerettes, having holes of approximately mm. in diameter, into a solution of hot dilute sulphuric acid where continuous threads of rayon, or cellulose, are produced. The threads are collected in a centrifugal pot rotating at 6,000 r.p.m., known as the \\\"Topham box\\\", which not only serves to collect the yarn in package form but at the same time twists all the parallel threads produced from one spinerette into a compact thread with a twist of 2+ turns per inch.\\nDuring the spinning operation there is some emission of hydrogen sulphide gas and carbon bisulphide vapour, and it is essential to have efficient ventilation systems to remove these products immediately on their formation so as to prevent eye trouble or sickness to the spinning operatives; the gases are passed through scrubbing units to purify them before being liberated into the air. In the spinning department all the air displaced by the ventilation of the spinning machines has to be replaced by air drawn into the room, heated and humidified to a humidity of 85 per cent to promote good spinning conditions.\\nThe rate of corrosion on the spinning machines, owing to the use of caustic soda solutions, strong acid solutions, and the amount of humid acid vapours, is extremely high and necessitates a constant rota of overhaul in the room.\\nAfter spinning, the acid cakes are stored in humidity chambers and are given identification marks indicating the different types of yarn. Then follows the process of bleaching by various chemical solutions in order to remove the acid, dissolved salts, dirt, and unwanted metals, etc. After bleaching, the yarn is dried in either stationary or continuous ovens, taking from four to twelve days depending upon the use to which the yarn will be subsequently put. After drying the yarn has a moisture content of approximately 4 per cent and it is necessary to store the yarn in a conditioning room to acquire a uniform moisture content of 11 per cent, which is standard for rayon yarns.\\nAt this stage the yarn is sorted and examined for any faults which might cause trouble in subsequent processes. The cakes of yarn are then packed in cases, or wound into various forms of packages such as cones, cheeses, or bobbins, and despatched to customers. To a great extent the yarn is delivered in Great Britain by the company's own fleet of transport vehicles and the company has sales organizations, either as branch offices or agencies, in the main textile areas of England and Scotland.\\nThe normal textile yarns are made in various thicknesses or diameters (known as deniers) and these are supplied to textile firms of various kinds in the country. The firm has also now developed a very extensive export trade as direct yarn sales, in addition to the large percentage of the product which is shipped as an indirect export in the form of piece goods.\\nThe firm is concerned only in the production of yarn and not in the production of any fabrics, although the yarns which are produced find application in almost every outlet in the textile trade. It also operates its own process of dyeing yarn and has so far produced a range of approximately two hundred shades.\\nThe process is highly technical and is under constant control by chemists and engineers; all the principal technical officers and management officers live either on the works site or within fifteen minutes' journey.\\nThe steam and power for the works is supplied by a very modern power station which is now in course of erection; an interesting application of some of the electric power so generated consists of variable high frequency from 100 to 125 cycles for motor speeds of 6,000 to 7,200 r.p.m. by means of mercury arc rectifiers. The company obtains its own water from four wells which are sunk to depths of about 500 feet, the weekly consumption of water being about 11,000,000 gallons.\\nThe company employs 2,300 people and has up-to-date training and induction schemes with a flourishing sports and social club. There is a pension scheme for the staff and a modified one for all the employees, and a modern works hospital is now in course of completion.\\nA large percentage of the employees consists of engineering staff engaged on maintenance work as, owing to the process being of a chemical nature, many serious corrosion problems are encountered and, in addition to the usual machine shop, a permanent staff is carried of electricians, leadburners, builders, joiners, painters, heating and ventilating engineers, and chemical plumbers. The process is divided into three groups, (a) chemical, (b) mechanical with male workers, and (c) textile with female workers.\\nThe company is a member of the British Rayon Federation and of the National Employers' Association of Rayon Yarn Producers, and active joint consultative machinery has been in operation for some years between the producers and the trades unions. A very healthy works council is in operation and has been functioning for twenty-one years.\\nBRITISH INSULATED CALLENDER'S CABLES, LTD., PRESCOT WORKS\\nBICC\\nThe Prescot factory has grown rapidly and continuously since it was first established in 1891, and it is now the largest of the company's five main works. The factory forms a complete unit, having its own copper and aluminium mills, wire-drawing and cable-making plant, and accessories of every kind, and almost all of its output is manufactured from the raw material. Its activities are not confined to cable-making, though that is its principal output, for it produces copper and aluminium sheets, rods, wires, and sections, has its own iron and brass foundries, and makes an immense variety of cable accessories, electric resistance welding machines, magnetic moulding machines, fittings of every kind for overhead line work, both power and traction, electricity meters and paper pinions.\\nThe works are equipped with railway sidings throughout and extensive use is made of battery trucks for the transport of material between departments. Battery tractors are m use for heavy loads.\\nThe Prescot factory covers more than 176 acres and employs some 9,200 persons and, as already mentioned, its principal output is paper insulated cables and their accessories. In the refinery, the blister copper, as received from the mines of Rhodesia, is charged into furnaces where it is refined and poured into moulds for use in the rolling mills and extruding shops. The bar used in rolling is approximately square in section and pointed at the ends to facilitate entry into the rolls of the mill. These bars, technically known as wire-bars, weigh approximately 250 lb. Larger sizes, known as trolley bars, are used for trolley wires and railway conductors, where long lengths of large diameters are required.\\nAfter the bars have been heated to bright red, they are rolled first in a three-high mill to a size suitable for the intermediate rolls, where they are passed twice; the rod then goes on to the finishing rolls, where it has a maximum of nine passes and is reduced to what is technically known as black rod, usually I-inch diameter if intended for wire drawing. The whole operation is performed in one heat and takes about one minute. The rods are coiled on an automatic or semi-automatic winder and stacked on the floor to cool.\\nThere are three rod mills at Prescot. The largest is of the latest continuous type with oil-fired, reheating furnaces. It is complete with hydraulic charging machines, automatic bar-handling devices, repeaters for the rolls, and automatic winding gear. The mills are electrically driven. The black rod is next pickled to remove rolling mill scale, and, after washing, passes to the heavy wire-drawing shop, where it is drawn to size on automatic machines. After leaving the automatics, the wire is annealed. At this stage it is undesirable to spoil its surface or lose any of the copper in annealing, so the process is carried out in furnaces from which air is excluded. The wire passes in and out through a water seal, on a continuous chain carrier, and emerges clean and bright as it entered, entirely free from oxides. Wire to be reduced to smaller sizes passes to another shop where it is drawn down through diamond dies. These are expensive but extremely enduring and retain their accuracy in a high degree, turning out large quantities of wire to gauge before they have to be lapped out again for larger sizes. There is in the wire mill a diamond plant equipped with the most modern machines. Not all the copper which comes from the rod mill is used in cable manufacture. Much of it is drawn to sizes suitable for silk, cotton, or enamel covering, or flattened into strips for armature, field, and transformer windings, or made into overhead conductors for electric railways, trolley wires, telegraph and telephone line wires, and copper fuse wires. The extruding shop is complete with powerful hydraulic presses and reheating furnaces, pickling plant, etc.; the processes of the rod and wire mills are repeated there, with suitable modifications. Cylindrical copper billets, raised to a bright red heat, are extruded through special dies in a variety of shapes in straight lengths or coils as required. They are then pickled and drawn on powerful mechanical draw benches to dead sizes. Some sections, however, are not drawn but extruded to exact size and cut into short lengths—an economical and accurate method of producing articles such as controller fingers. This process has important electrical and mechanical advantages, as compared with production in the foundry. The strength of an aluminium strand, which is produced similarly to copper, can be raised by reinforcing it with a steel core. This is the practice adopted for the electricity Grid schemes, and Prescot has supplied a very large quantity of steel-cored aluminium strand for this purpose. Large quantities of copper wire are sent to the Helsby and Leigh works and elsewhere for use in rubber or bitumen cables, lighting wires, flexible cords, etc. Wire for use in cables with a vulcanized insulation has, of course, to be tinned. The bare wire is mounted on a swift in a tub of slightly acid water to remove any traces of oxide, and thence passes progressively through a cleaning wipe, a bath of flux, and the molten tin. On emerging through a wiper which removes excess tin it is then cooled and taken off on to a reel, being untouched by hand during the process. In the power cables department the first process is that of stranding in which a number of individual wires are laid up to form the desired size of conductor. The copper strand or cable core then passes to the insulating section where successive lappings of paper are applied until the appropriate thickness of insulation is built up. The cores are then laid up with the usual filling and additional lappings of paper overall, if required. Drying and compounding follows, and in this process a skeleton drum containing the cable is placed in a vacuum tank for the removal of all possible moisture, after which the tank is flooded with insulating compound and pressure applied until the paper is thoroughly impregnated. The cable is then passed through a lead press where it receives a sheathing of lead and is wound on to a wooden drum. The many lead presses at Prescot are of various sizes suitable for covering large multicore cables or small house wires. The smaller presses are also used for extruding resin-cored solder, lead strip, lead seals and glazing sections, all regular articles of manufacture. After lead sheathing the cable is ready for testing. The test house is a large building 240 feet long with ample floor space for handling drums, and three tanks into which the drums are lowered for their specified time under water. Both sides of the building are occupied by operators' rooms, test bays, and galleries so that cables can be lifted straight out of the tanks and transferred to the test bays with the greatest convenience. Routine testing covers copper resistance, insulation resistance, capacity, and the standard pressure test. When the testing has been completed, the drum of cable is ready to be lagged up and despatched, unless it has to be armoured, in which case it goes to the adjacent armouring department, a still larger building, equipped with machines for both wire and tape armouring. Here the cable receives its protective coverings of compound jute and steel. A final test is required after armouring, so the cable returns to the test house once more, to be pressure tested again, after which it is ready for despatch. Adjacent to the armouring department is a building laid out as a complete cable factory, where stranded copper enters at one end and the finished lead covered cable leaves at the other. This building is remarkable for its proportions, 520 feet long by 105 feet wide, with three cranes spanning the entire width. In addition to roof lights, both sides of the building are glazed to give the maximum of natural lighting, the windows being the largest of their kind ever made in this country.\\nBROWN, BIBBY AND GREGORY, LTD., SPEKE\\nBrown, Bibby and Gregory\\nThe Speke factories were designed and built in 1938, and the two main buildings measure 145 feet by 968 feet and 300 feet respectively. They are of unique design in that construction is by a series of concrete frames built as central arches with side wing abutments, making possible vast areas of clear working space. The machine room, without one single pillar, measures 90 feet by 968 feet. Steam, electrical, water, and gas services are carried throughout the factory in service tunnels beneath the floor. The part of the factory containing the printing departments is air conditioned. About seven hundred and fifty people are employed upon the printing and manufacture of labels, cartons, wrappers, and bags.\\nCAMMELL LAIRD AND COMPANY, LTD.\\nCammell, Laird and Co\\nThe company was founded more than a hundred years ago and since that time approximately 1,200 ships have been built. The firm were pioneers in the application of iron to shipbuilding, their first iron vessel having been built in 1829; they were also the pioneers of steel shipbuilding, having built in 1858 the first steel paddle vessel the Ma Robert in which Dr. Livingstone carried out his work on the Zambesi.\\nIn 1838 they built the first screw steamer to cross the Atlantic, which was the Robert F. Stockton. The works cover an area of 114 acres with a river frontage of 3,100 feet. There are ten building berths, ranging up to 1,100 feet in length, which are provided with overhead cranes and the latest devices for handling materials. There are also seven graving docks, the largest of which is 860 feet long, and a fitting out basin of 15 acres water area. The entrance to this basin is 140 feet wide and is closed by a sliding pontoon. There is a fixed crane to lift 100 tons, and a floating crane which will lift 200 tons and can be brought speedily alongside any vessel in the basin where heavy armament, machinery or boilers are to be shipped. The works are equipped for the use of electric power and for compressed air and hydraulic power; a very large installation of low-pressure electric mains is also installed for electric welding in all departments.\\nThe gross tonnage which can be produced annually is over 100,000 tons and the engineering works are capable of producing machinery and boilers equivalent to over 450,000 h.p. At present there are approximately 10,000 employees, who are engaged on ships of all descriptions which constitute a full programme for the next two to three years. The most notable ships built by the company include the 34,000-ton passenger liner Mauretania, the 35,000-ton battleship Prince of Wales, the great 22,000-ton aircraft carrier Ark Royal, and the 35,000-ton battleship Rodney. The Mauretania is the largest mercantile vessel ever built in England and in herself forms a striking tribute to the capabilities of the company. The company's shipbuilding contribution to the 1939-45 war effort was unsurpassed throughout the country. In addition to a large number of small craft, the company built for the Admiralty no fewer than eighty-six ships, including one battleship and two aircraft carriers, and they also carried out major repair work on many others. Many merchant ships were also docked and repaired during the six years of war.\\nCLARENCE DOCK POWER STATION\\nClarence Dock Power Station\\nFour years before the first electricity bill of 1882, Liverpool had installed one arc lamp. In 1883 the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, Ltd., was formed, and this resulted in the operation of four small generating stations twelve years later. In the same year, the corporation bought the company and it continued as a municipally owned undertaking until, in 1948, it was taken over by the British Electricity Authority. Clarence Dock Power Station was inaugurated in 1928, when a special committee was formed to make plans for the new power station. Mr. P. J. Robinson, who was at that time the city electrical engineer, developed and put into execution the plan for building the new station on the bed of a dock. The site was practicable in every way: the sandstone rock formed a perfect foundation, the site was near an inexhaustible supply of water, and that half of the dock which was not needed for the buildings of the actual power station was available for coal storage and, furthermore, could be flooded to tide level and thus give a much greater storage capacity for fuel by limiting the risk of spontaneous combustion. In 1929 the work started on this power station, and two years later the first 50,000 kW. turbo-alternator was in commission. A year later, a second and similar set was in operation, and by 1938 two more sets of the same capacity had been added, bringing the total installed capacity to 200,000 kW. A further 50,000 kW. was in operation by the end of 1942. At present, a further set of the same capacity is being installed, and a seventh, of at least the same capacity as each of the others, is planned. Clarence dock is a coal-fired station, having seventeen boilers divided between three boiler houses. In the latest, No. 3, the boilers are fired by pulverized fuel. Although the station is built in a dock, it is not possible to discharge sea-borne coal directly on the site. It is discharged from ships at Bramley Moore Dock, which lies approximately half-a-mile north of the station. Half the coal supplies are sea-borne. All fuel, whether sea-borne or rail-borne, actually arrives at the coal stockyard by rail, where it is handled by direct gravity discharge into silos delivering on to belt conveyors or by crane into the partly flooded stockyard, and thence as required to the conveyors. There are three level-luffing cranes which adequately cope with the routine handling. Pulverizing is carried out in \\\"Babcock and Wilcox, E56\\\" type horizontal grinding mills. Coal consumption during the winter months is 2,700 tons per day. Stoker boilers consume 10 tons of coal per hour and pulverized-fuel boilers consume 16 tons per hour on full load. The station is now operated by the Merseyside and North Wales Division of the British Electricity Authority, the divisional controller being Mr. A. R. Cooper.\\nCUNARD WHITE STAR, LTD.\\nCunard White Star\\nThe story of the development of the North Atlantic \\\"Ferry\\\" during the steamship era is at the same time the story of the Cunard White Star undertaking, for Samuel Cunard was one of the first to grasp the possibilities of steam on the North Atlantic. Cunard, who came from Halifax, Nova Scotia, formulated a plan in 1830 to substitute a regular steamship mail service in place of the more or less obsolete sailing ships which were both irregular and uncertain. Eight years later, after the Great Western had crossed the Atlantic from Bristol to New York in 134 days, the Government invited bids for a speedier and more regular carrier. Cunard immediately sailed for England, and together with Robert Napier, a Clyde shipbuilder, and one of the foremost marine engineers of the day, George Burns of Glasgow, and David McIver of Liverpool, two of the ablest men in the shipping trade, perfected plans which were accepted by the Admiralty. The contract called for a fortnightly service between Liverpool, Halifax, and Boston, with four ships. The first vessel built for the Cunard Line was the Britannia, which sailed out of Liverpool on 4th July 1840. She was a vessel 207 feet long, 34-foot beam, carrying 115 passengers, and 225 tons of cargo.\\nIn the first forty years of the company's existence, noteworthy links in the chain of development were the Persia (1856), the first iron Cunarder; the Scotia (1862), 3,871 tons, the largest steamer in the world at that time; the Servia (1881), 7,392 tons, the first steel Atlantic Cunarder-larger and faster than any other ship then in commission; and the Aurania (1883), the first liner fitted with suites of rooms. Other epoch-making ships followed in rapid succession, among them the Lusitania and the famous first Mauretania of 1907. The next milestone was the Aquitania (45,650 tons). Scarcely had she taken her place in the company's service in 1914 when war was declared.\\nAfter the Armistice the company embarked upon an extensive building programme to replace war losses - thirteen vessels amounting to 214,000 tons were ordered - while opportunity was taken to convert all existing ships from coal to oil fuel burning. In May 1934, the Cunard Company merged with the White Star Line, so linking two great companies. The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, or the White Star Line, as it was best known on the Atlantic, was inaugurated by T. H. Ismay in 1869. Throughout its seventy-five years the company contributed much to the progressive design of the North Atlantic liner. Their first ship, the Oceanic of 1871 was the first steamship on the Atlantic with passenger accommodation amidships. One of the largest motor ships in the world was built for the White Star Line in 1930. The Britannic, as she was named, and her sister ship Georgic were the last additions to the White Star fleet at the time of the merger with the Cunard Line in 1934. Meantime the great liner \\\"534\\\" was being constructed for the Cunard Line at John Brown's Yard at Clydebank. Work was begun in December 1930, but construction was suspended for twenty-eight months. Her launching and christening by H.M. Queen Mary came a few months after the merger, on 26th September 1934, when the ship was named Queen Mary. In May 1936, she started on her maiden voyage to New York, an event of world-wide interest. In the summer of 1939 the new Mauretania entered the service, and in September 1939, with the outbreak of war, the fleet was quickly requisitioned for war service. Over 4,400,000 troops were carried, and a total distance of 5,360,000 miles was steamed from September 1939 until the end of 1945.\\nIn addition to these achievements, the company managed, on behalf of the Ministry of War Transport, thirty-nine other ships, of a gross tonnage totalling 347,456 and handled over 11,000,000 tons of cargo. Five new liners have been completed in the company's post-war building programme and a sixth, a cargo liner, is now under construction. Of the five ships now in service, the 34,000-ton Caronia, largest liner built in the world since the war ended, launched by H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth, made her maiden voyage on 4th January 1949. The Caronia, specially designed for cruising as well as for service on the North Atlantic, marks a new milestone in the Cunard history and in that of passenger liners. The Media and Parthia, each of 13,350 tons gross, with accommodation for 250 passengers and capacity for 7,000 tons of cargo incorporate striking modern features: a single mast and well raked stem characterize these sister ships, with their extensive sports decks and air-conditioned public rooms. The other two vessels are cargo liners, named Asia and Arabia, each with capacity for over 9,000 tons of cargo. They have extensive refrigerated space and embody the most modern developments in cargo ship design. Of the remainder of the fleet, the two famous \\\"Queen\\\" liners have resumed normal service on the North Atlantic, and so also has the Mauretania. The Aquitania and Ascania have reopened the company's Canadian passenger service, in which they are to be joined by the Franconia following her reconditioning on the Clyde. The Scythia and Samaria are also engaged on Canadian service and are doing good work carrying displaced persons from the Continent. The Britannic is now back on the Liverpool—Cobh—New York service, after her complete reconditioning after war service. The Britannic. The Britannic is unique in appearance among North Atlantic liners: two squat funnels in association with two lofty well-raked masts contribute to her distinctive profile with its shapely cruiser stern and straight stem. She was built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, in 1930, to carry 1,550 passengers, but during the war, acting as a troopship, she carried double that number, and eventually she was carrying close on 5,000 troops each voyage. By the end of the war she had carried more than 180,000 service personnel and steamed 367,000 miles. During her reconditioning after war service, many improvements and alterations were made, notably, the installation of an improved system of ventilation, the sprinkler system throughout every deck, and the most modern smoke detector apparatus in the cargo spaces, whilst passenger and crew accommodation was redesigned and rebuilt. Accommodation for first and tourist class passengers is spread over six decks, and practically the whole of the covered promenade deck, nearly 400 feet in length, is given over to public rooms, which include a cocktail lounge, long gallery, main lounge adaptable as a cinema, library, smoking room, and gymnasium. High in the ship on the main deck is the tourist smoking room, whilst on A deck there are two lounges for tourist passengers. Staterooms in both classes set a high standard, ranging from first-class suite rooms to well-fitted tourist rooms, many of them with private showers. Shops and beauty parlours in both classes, a large indoor swimming pool served by a special lift, children's playrooms, and extensive deck spaces for exercise and relaxation, are but some of the Britannic's features. With an overall length of 712 feet and a gross tonnage of 27,666, she has nine decks and four cargo holds forward and four aft of the machinery spaces. A number of 'tween deck spaces are insulated, amounting in all to 85,000 cubic feet. The refrigerating plant is located in the forward end of the auxiliary engine room and consists of two large horizontal twin compressor carbon-dioxide machines each directly coupled to a variable speed electric motor of 75 b.h.p. The main propelling machinery consists of two Harland Burmeister and Wain double-acting, four-stroke, ten-cylinder Diesel engines each capable of developing 10,000 b.h.p. at 100 r.p.m. The cylinders have a diameter of 33 inches and a piston stroke of 63 inches. Crankshafts are each made in two symmetrical five-throw sections bolted together. Separate Diesel engines drive the three-stage air injection compressors. Vapour extractors on Harland and Wolff system are fitted to both main engines as well as to the auxiliaries. Each main engine has its own multi-tubular fresh water cooler with 4,000 square feet of cooling surface. Although the forced-lubrication and piston cooling services of both the main engines are independent, suitable cross connexions are provided. So far as the main engine oil cooling arrangements are concerned each engine has two multi-tubular oil coolers, each with 1,400 square feet of cooling surface. The outfit of pumps includes two motor driven cylindrical fresh water cooling pumps each with a capacity of 350 tons per hour, four sea-water cooling pumps of 450 tons capacity per hour, four cylindrical main forced-lubrication pumps and two main bilge pumps of Drysdale type. The four main engine air injection compressors are each driven by separate Diesel engines developing 850 b.h.p. In addition to supplying injection air to the main engines, compressed air is also supplied for starting and manoeuvring purposes, the air being stored in four large receivers. These engines have fresh water cooling of jackets and covers, and oil cooled pistons. Electric power is utilized throughout the ship on an elaborate scale, current being supplied by four Diesel-driven generators. Each generator has a capacity of 500 kW. at 160 r.p.m., the Diesel engines all having six cylinders 500 mm. in diameter by 750 mm. stroke. The engines are four-stroke, air-injection, trunk piston type. Steam for hotel services is supplied by an auxiliary boiler installation consisting of two single-ended Scotch boilers, designed for a working pressure of 150 lb. per sq. in., burning oil under natural draught.\\nTHE DISTILLERS COMPANY (BIOCHEMICALS), LTD., SPEKE\\nDistillers Co (Biochemicals)\\nThe identification and naming of penicillin by Fleming in 1929 and its subsequent development by Florey and his co-workers are landmarks in the medical history of our times. Perhaps no less interesting, particularly to those associated with large-scale manufacturing processes, is the development of an entirely new industry, the manufacture of antibiotics, a class of therapeutic substances of which penicillin is an important member. The works and laboratories of The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd., at Speke, known locally as \\\"the penicillin factory\\\", contain plant and apparatus specially designed to encourage and control the growth of the common mould penicillium which, in the course of its natural processes, forms penicillin. The staff required to deal with this process includes engineers, mechanical and electrical; chemists; bacteriologists; physiologists; mycologists; botanists; pharmacists; in addition to the tradesmen and technicians engaged in maintenance) servicing, and development work.\\nThe factory now covers an area of seventeen acres and comprises twenty-two major blocks of buildings. A modern boiler house contains five boilers capable of steaming at 50,000 lb. per hour and supplying superheated steam. at 150 lb. per sq. in. pressure. Steam is provided for the sterilization of the fermentation plant, including the preparation of many thousands of gallons of sterile broth per week, for the operation of distillation and recovery units in the purification of penicillin; and for general factory heating, hot water supplies, and canteen services. The fermentation block contains all the large-scale fermentation vessels and broth sterilization plant; the technical offices; and an extensive group of laboratories giving facilities not only for plant control, but also for development and research. Eight bacteriological laboratories are assigned to the preparation of cultures, the maintenance of plant sterility, and the assay of penicillin at all stages of manufacture. Seven analytical laboratories control the use of raw materials and reagents. A technical library and reference room is also included in this section.\\nThe recovery block contains the whole of the extraction plant including:— (a) rotary filters for the filtration of fermented broth, and mycelium disposal plant; (b) the continuous broth extraction unit where penicillin is extracted from the broth by organic solvents in stainless steel equipment; (c) distillation units, both batch and continuous, suitable for the recovery and purification of a wide range of solvents; (d) evaporation and concentration plant, including centrifuges and extractors, together with a large variety of stainless steel and glass-lined reaction vessels.\\nAnother block includes filling and drying equipment, including the sterile area; a cold store capable of hoding several hundred thousand million units of penicillin; bottle-washing department; and cloakrooms for employees. A large central compressor households four air compressors capable of delivering over half-a-million cubic feet of free air per hour to the fermentation process; two large refrigeration plants, each comprising several individual units, to provide refrigeration for chilled water services throughout the factory, and for the unique high vacuum units installed in the compressor house. All these machines are fully equipped with automatic controls.\\nThe animal house is completely isolated from the rest of the buildings, and the animals are protected as though in an isolation hospital. This department contains breeding rooms and testing rooms. Sterilized air at controlled temperature and humidity is circulated throughout the building. The selection of test strains of animals is of major importance and all the animals are descendants of twenty-two rabbits and one hundred and twenty mice which were flown from Montreal. These animals are used to test the purity of every batch of penicillin before it is passed for human administration. The drug is given to the animals in exactly the same way as to human beings; if they show any evidence of toxic effect or rise in temperature the whole batch of penicillin is rejected.\\nA well-equipped physiological laboratory is attached to the animal house and all the tests are carried out by qualified physiologists approved by the Medical Research Council and licensed by the Home Office. In addition to the process buildings described above, the factory is equipped with a large engineering workshop where major repairs may be carried out and plant, designed by the company's development staff, fabricated.\\nA modern welfare building and gatehouse is situated at the east entrance, with first-aid and rest rooms. In recent months the company has acquired additional commodious premises adjoining the original factory. These premises already house the packing and despatch departments and will eventually be fully employed in coping with the company's expanding activities. These extensions also include a large canteen in which many of the company's staff social functions are held. The deep fermentation process for the manufacture of penicillin at Speke is divided into several stages: submerged fermentation, removal of mycelium and extraction of penicillin from the broth, solvent purification and formation of the salts of penicillin, freezing and high vacuum drying, crystallization, filling, packing, testing, and storage. Fermentation is carried out in a battery of large mild-steel fermenters. Broth for fermentation is prepared from corn steep liquor and added substances, diluted to the correct strength with water and carefully adjusted to optimum acidity.\\nCorn steep liquor is a by-product of the starch industry, it is rich in soluble organic nutrients and is a powerful stimulant to the growth of the mould. The prepared broth is sterilized by superheated steam under high pressure and, after cooling in a totally enclosed cooler, is charged to the fermenters. The fermenters and all connecting pipes are previously sterilized by steam. Many forms of bacterial infection can completely destroy the power of the mould to produce penicillin or can destroy the penicillin in the liquid broth after it has been formed there by the mould. Scrupulous care must, therefore, be taken to ensure that only a pure culture of the mould comes into contact with the broth up to the time when the penicillin is extracted. The mould in present use is a form of the original mould treated with X-rays to produce a mutant giving a high yield of penicillin. The culture is first grown in a test tube under the most carefully controlled bacteriological conditions, and is allowed to multiply in larger and larger glass containers in special incubators, until it is finally transferred from the laboratory to seed tanks where the plant culture is grown. When the sterilized broth is transferred to the fermenter, the seed culture is also transferred and fermentation commences. Moulds of this type usually grow on the surface of damp decaying organic matter, indicating their need for the presence of air to maintain their metabolism, and, in order to carry out successful fermentation in a deep fermenter filled with thousands of gallons of broth, immense quantities of air must be passed through the liquid. The sterilization of air in such quantities is a major problem, and most elaborate equipment is installed to scrub the air and treat it with suitable reagents before use. The fermentation cycle lasts several days, and during this time the temperature of the broth must be carefully controlled by circulating cooling water in the fermenter jacket. Carbon dioxide is formed as a by-product during fermentation, and must be continuously exhausted from the system to maintain the proper conditions in the vessel. Precise technical control is needed to follow the course of fermentation hour by hour, and to determine when the maximum concentration of penicillin has been reached. At the end of fermentation, the fermenter contains liquid broth, in which is floating a large quantity of spongy mycelium, and dissolved in this large quantity of broth is a comparatively small amount of penicillin. The broth is then pumped to a novel type of rotary filter from which the mycelium is removed as a continuous felt. The rough-filtered broth is pre-treated with a filter aid at controlled conditions of temperature and acidity, after which it is filtered through a filter press to give a clear broth. It is then fed continuously to a high-speed mixing tank where organic solvent and more acid are added.\\nFrom this tank the mixed liquids are run to a decanter where the spent broth separates and is discharged. The solution of penicillin in organic solvent is then clarified. The next stage is the conversion of the penicillin to a crude salt by agitation with aqueous alkali. After separation the aqueous salt solution is passed forward for further treatment while the organic solvent is sent to recovery stills for distillation and purification. The crude salt solution passes forward through a series of solvent-solvent extractions, the first of which is performed in a high-speed centrifugal separator. The fraction containing the penicillin is next passed through a series of alkali extractors where the solution of the salt of penicillin is obtained. This solution is subjected to further purification treatment and concentration until the required potency is produced.\\nIt is then ready for passage through a \\\"Seitz\\\" type biological plate-and-frame filter of stainless steel construction which removes any bacteria and pyrogens (fever producing substances) that may be present in the solution. The final filtration is carried out in a sterile area, and the filtrate is received in a sterilized stainless steel container known as the \\\"final bulk container\\\".\\nAt this stage, the solution is ready to be dehydrated before being filled, in powder or crystalline form, into the final sales container. All operations from this point onwards, until the penicillin powder is sealed in vials, are carried out in a sterile area. This sterile area consists of a group of rooms which are totally enclosed, the only entrance being through a surgical dressing room. No person is allowed to enter the sterile area without taking all the precautions normally practised before entering a hospital operating theatre, including washing with antiseptic soap and the donning of sterilized shoes, clothing, hoods, and surgical gloves. The whole of the ceilings and walls are glass-lined, and the floors are finished in impervious terrazzo. The area is fed with sterilized air, exactly controlled with regard to temperature and humidity, and a slight positive pressure is maintained in order that no contaminated air can enter through the lock which admits the operators.\\nIn every room numerous high-powered, ultra-violet lights are arranged in the ceilings so that all the surfaces of rooms and equipment are continuously subjected to ultra-violet sterilization. In solution penicillin is so unstable to heat that dehydration must be accomplished in the freezing state. The solution of penicillin is, therefore, frozen and the ice evaporated directly without going through the liquid phase. This is accomplished by the use of high vacuum diffusion pumps. The drying equipment consists of two batteries of vacuum chambers. After the trays of frozen penicillin solution are placed in the chambers, the system is evacuated down to about three hundred microns within five minutes by means of single-stage mechanical pumps of the oil-sealed rotary type. These \\\"roughing\\\" mechanical vacuum pumps are tied in by a common manifold to all the dryers. After this rough evacuation, the drying chambers are connected to the high-vacuum manifold serving the diffusion pumps. These, designed to reduce the pressure further until dehydration is accomplished, exert a pull of about 10 tons on the dryer doors. Each dryer is equipped with a \\\"McLeod\\\" gauge to measure the extremely low vacua which are obtained. Vapours leaving the high-vacuum manifold go through a pair of cold traps or low-temperature condensers in parallel. These are jacketed steel cylindrical chambers set at an angle, provided with revolving scrapers and refrigerated with ammonia to about —80 to —90 deg. F. Ice that collects on the walls is scraped off and falls into an ice receiver at the same temperature. These cold condensers relieve the strain on the diffusion pumps. Eleven sets of diffusion pumps take care of the two batteries of dryers. The diffusion pumps consist of 4-inch diameter units of a multi-jet design and built of welded steel. Chlorinated hydrocarbons, having a lower vapour pressure than mercury, are used as the pumping fluid, and are condensed on the walls of the pumps and re-used. These diffusion pumps discharge to oil-sealed, rotary high-vacuum pumps which compress the exhausted gas to atmospheric pressure and discharge it, thus enabling the diffusion pumps to take hold. An important feature of the backing-up pumps is the oil purification system that continuously recirculates all sealing oil to remove condensed water and other contamination. Otherwise, these would flash back into the system and raise the fore-pressure to a point where the diffusion pumps could not operate. The penicillin salt is allowed to remain in the vacuum chambers until the moisture has been reduced to the specified content. This is readily accomplished in a few hours, after which the trays of dehydrated penicillin are removed. The penicillin is then passed through ball mills which reduce it to a fine powder. This is then placed in automatic filling machines which fill it in accurately, measured amounts into the final sales container. Sterilized vacuum-dried rubber stoppers are then inserted as quickly as possible in another room of the sterile area. An aluminium cover is machine-seamed over the rubber stopper, and the bottles are then ready for normal handling. The process described produces amorphous penicillin. This material is very hygroscopic and loses its activity on heating to even moderate temperatures. The crystalline form of penicillin has the advantage of being far less hygroscopic and it will withstand heating to boiling point for considerable periods.\\nAt Speke, amorphous penicillin is converted to the crystalline form by precipitation from an organic solvent. Amorphous penicillin is dissolved in the solvent and its solubility reduced by other solvent additions. At a critical point almost colourless crystals of penicillin form in the liquor and are filtered off, washed, and dried. All this work is done in the sterile area under stringent aseptic conditions. The bulk material, either amorphous or crystalline, is sampled and has to undergo stringent laboratory tests for purity, sterility, absence of toxic material, and any other tests before it is filled into its final containers. Most of the material is dispensed into small glass vials by a battery of filling machines. The amounts delivered into these vials range from about 60 milligrammes for the smaller sizes of crystalline penicillin to 600 milligrammes for a 1,000,000-unit dose of amorphous penicillin. For the final testing, sample bottles are withdrawn from every tray, and the remaining bottles are placed in metal strong boxes which are sealed and placed in cold store. The first and most important test is the determination of the quantity of penicillin in each bottle. A further important test is the determination of sterility to ensure that no contaminating bacteria or other microorganisms are present in the material. In addition, two very significant physiological tests must be carried out. To ensure that the purification as carried out is satisfactory, known quantities of the penicillin are injected into rabbits and mice. In the case of the rabbits, a given dose is injected into the marginal vein of the ear, and the rabbit's temperature is carefully recorded over a period of several hours. A rise in temperature of more than 0.6 deg. C. is sufficient to reject the material as unsuitable for human injection. A corresponding dose is injected into the tails of a specified number of mice. All the mice should remain unaffected if the penicillin is free from toxic substances. Penicillin is used exclusively by physicians, veterinarians, and dentists, in hospitals and in general practice. The avenue for the distribution of penicillin is, therefore, through the drug trade - Seven well-known British drug manufacturers, specializing in the manufacture and marketing of products for the use of the medical and allied professions, have been appointed as the distributors of the penicillin manufactured by The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd. All these firms are engaged in the home and export trade and are thus able to make penicillin available in the world's markets. By this rationalization of distribution The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd., is able to concentrate its activities on the production of penicillin. The various pharmaceutical forms (lozenges, ointments, suspensions for injection, etc.) in which penicillin is prepared for various uses in medicine are manufactured by the initial distributors using the penicillin manufactured at Speke as an ingredient.\\nDUNLOP RUBBER COMPANY, LTD., SPEKE\\nDunlop Rubber Co\\nThe Speke factory of the Dunlop Rubber Company is situated nine miles southwards from the centre of Liverpool, in close proximity to the Speke Airport, and was built in 1937-38 for the manufacture of aircraft under the government pre-war scheme of shadow factories. From 1938 to 1945 Blenheim and Halifax aircraft were assembled under the direction of Rootes Securities, Ltd., who operated the factory on behalf of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. At the end of 1944, the government departments concerned decided to discontinue the production of Halifax bombers, and the Dunlop Rubber Company was invited to survey the premises with a view to taking over. This they did in relation to the existing demands for its war-time products and the probable post-war expansion of its normal trade. The premises were officially taken over on the 1st August 1945 and so the Speke aircraft factory became the first of the great government factories to be transferred to private enterprise. The site, which is one hundred and one acres in extent, with buildings covering an area of 1,400,000 sq. ft., immediately became the centre of considerable engineering activity, as the plans for the conversion to the manufacture of rubber products on a large scale required the complete conversion of the existing services, while certain services such as steam, high-pressure air, and hydraulic power, were virtually non-existent. Considerable work was also put in hand for the preparation of the installation of rubber manufacturing plant for which orders were being placed in the meantime.\\nThe boiler house, which was erected for hot water space-heating, was converted and an additional boiler installed to give a total of 150,000 lb. of steam. per hour at 200 lb. per sq. in. pressure. Forty-four thousand feet of piping from 6 to 12 inches in diameter had to be installed to distribute the steam to process plant. Hydraulic services have been installed to give 1,500 gallons per minute at 350 lb. per sq. in., 240 gallons per minute at 1,100 lb. per sq. in., and 300 gallons at 2,240 lb. per sq. in. The low-pressure air supply has been increased from an existing 3,750 cu. ft. per min, installation to 6,350 cu. ft. per min. High-pressure air compressors have been installed to give 1,560 cu. ft. per min. at 325 ib. per sq. in.\\nThe electric supply system had to be completely rearranged and increased in capacity from a maximum installed transformer capacity of 8,400 kVA. at 400 volts to a maximum installed capacity of 16,900 kVA., which includes 4,500 kVA. supply at 5,000 volts and 2,000 kW. D.C. at 500 volts with a 250-volt balancer system incorporated. In all, motors totalling 28,000 h.p. have been connected to the system. The water supply to the factory has been augmented to give 75,000 gal. per hr. by the sinking of a bore-well 36 inches in diameter and 400 feet deep. Circulating pumps are provided in the pump house for distributing water to all parts of the factory. For the installation of production plant which weighed over 5,000 tons, approximately 30,000 cubic yards of soil have been removed and 10,000 cubic yards of concrete used for machine foundations, etc. The main building is 1,440 feet long and 600 feet wide and is arranged for straight line production of giant tyres, passenger car tyres, and cycle tyres, with inner tubes for each type. The production of rubber footwear, and golf and tennis balls is also carried on in this building; conveyor and transmission belting is manufactured in a separate building with 80,000 sq. ft. of floor space. A further building is devoted to the manufacture of precision rubber mouldings. This factory provides an excellent example of the conversion of a war-time plant into a modern rubber producing unit employing approximately six thousand five hundred people.\\nELDER DEMPSTER LINES, LTD., (SHIPOWNERS), LIVERPOOL\\nElder Dempster Lines\\nThe history of the company goes back ninety-six years, to 1852, when Macgregor Laird formed the African Steam Ship Company, which was incorporated by Royal Charter in that year, and had offices in Mincing Lane, London. The fleet consisted of five vessels with sail and steam propulsion, and they ranged from 250 tons to 1,000 tons deadweight. All had some accommodation for first-class passengers, and their names were indicative of Laird's belief in, and hopes for, the trade, namely, Forerunner, Northern Lights, Faith, Hope, and Charity. The Liverpool agents for the company were Messrs. W. and H. Laird, the partners being William Laird and Hamilton Laird, brothers of Macgregor Laird. Among the staff were two young Scots—Alexander Elder and John Dempster. In 1875, Liverpool became the company's permanent home port. Alexander Elder had been appointed superintendent engineer of the African Steam Ship Company, resigning from the company in 1866.\\nAt the end of 1868 some Glasgow businessmen asked John Dempster to act as Liverpool agent for a new shipping company, which they were forming to trade to West Africa. Dempster agreed and invited Alexander Elder to come into partnership with him, and they formed the firm of Elder Dempster and Company to be the Liverpool representatives of the new Glasgow shipping company called the British and African Steam Navigation Company. Three ships Bonny, Roquelle, and Congo, each of about 1,300 gross tons, were built to maintain a monthly service between Glasgow, Liverpool, London, and West Africa. The two companies flourished.\\nIn 1875 a young man - Alfred Lewis Jones (afterwards Sir Alfred Jones) - set up a shipping and insurance broking office and chartering some small sailing vessels he began trading with West Africa and was so successful that the already established companies became alarmed and induced him to become a junior partner.\\nIn 1880 Alexander Elder and John Dempster retired from Elder Dempster and Company, but both continued as directors of the British and African Steam Navigation Company (of which Elder and Company were now managers) until 1900.\\nIn 1884 Jones, now the controlling partner of Elder Dempster and Company, introduced the banana to the British man in the street, and he did everything possible to popularize the fruit and make a market for it.\\nIn 1889 the first ship's refrigerator in the West African trade was installed, and in addition Jones was mainly responsible for the development of the Canary and West Indian banana trades. Alfred Jones turned his attention to other routes and took over the Dominion Line's trade between the Bristol Channel and Canada. Another company also taken over was the Canadian Beaver Line in 1898, then in financial straits.\\nIn 1903 Elder's Canadian fleet was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. In 1898 he formed the Elder Dempster Shipping Company, Ltd., and opened up a trade between England and the Gulf of Mexico, one of the ships put on this service being the cargo and cattle steamer Monmouth, 7,900 gross tons. By the end of the nineteenth century, Jones had acquired control of the African Steam Ship Company, which Elder Dempster and Company had managed since 1890. In 1900 he purchased the British and African Steam Navigation Company, which Elder Dempster and Company had managed almost since its inception in 1869.\\nIn 1901 he was created Sir Alfred Jones, K.C.M.G., for his services to the Colonial Empire. At the beginning of the present century Elder Dempster and Company were in a very strong financial position and held a virtual monopoly of the West African trade and their other interests were widespread. The policy of building new and better ships was followed and in 1903 the company inaugurated their \\\"express service\\\" to the Gold Coast for the fortune hunters in the gold-mining boom. Sir Alfred Jones died in 1909. When he joined Elder Dempster and Company in 1879, the firm controlled twenty-one ships of which the largest was 2,000 tons; at the time of his death the company was controlling a fleet of one hundred and nine vessels.\\nOn Sir Alfred's death, the Elder Dempster interests were bought by Sir Owen Phillips (afterwards Lord Kylsant) and Lord Pirrie, and the concern was converted into a limited liability company under the title of Elder Dempster and Company, Ltd.\\nWhen the 1914-18 war broke out, the fleets controlled by the company comprised one hundred and one steamers, but by the time hostilities ceased only fifty-eight remained afloat. Many of the company's finest and best-known ships were sunk and a great number of the firm's seamen lost their lives.\\nAt the end of the war replacement of lost tonnage was under way, the first post-war mail ship being the twin-screw motorship Aba, 7,937 gross tons, completed in 1918, built for the Glen Line and purchased by Elder Dempster in 1920. The Aba was converted into a hospital ship during the 1939-45 war and although she suffered from enemy action, she came through and was sold in 1947. Elder Dempster and Company was one of the first firms to adopt the motorship, the Aba being the first large passenger motor liner in the world to be placed in commission. Three other twin-screw mail motorships followed in the 'twenties - Adda, Accra, and Apapa - and were lost in the 1939-45 war.\\nAfter the slump and various vicissitudes, the firm Elder Dempster Lines, Ltd., was incorporated and registered in August 1932. In 1937 the twin-screw mail motorship Abosso was put into service and was lost in the 1939-45 war with great loss of life.\\nIn 1939, the fleet comprised forty-four steamers and motorships apart from three smaller river motorships and a host of small craft owned by subsidiary companies in West Africa. Twenty-five of these vessels were lost, including the four mail boats, during the war. During its history, Elder Dempster Lines, Ltd., has seen the abolition of the slave trade (which Macgregor Laird worked hard to achieve) and the development of West Africa from the \\\"White Man's Grave\\\" into an area with a large flourishing trade and industry. Since the end of the war, the company has added to the fleet six motor cargo vessels with small passenger accommodation, and two motor passenger liners—Accra and Apapa, also a number of small craft for service on the West Coast of Africa.\\nENGLISH ELECTRIC COMPANY, LTD., AND D. NAPIER AND SON, LTD.\\nEnglish Electric Co\\nThe English Electric Company was formed in 1918 by the amalgamation of several old-established engineering firms which were pioneers in their respective spheres and whose activities were associated with the earliest days of electrical engineering. These firms included Dick Kerr and Company, Preston, with long and varied experience in electric traction work of all kinds, including the earliest tramway and railway electrifications. Before electric traction was introduced, this company specialized in the laying and equipment of tramways. It built steam locomotives for hauling street tramcars and constructed the first section of the endless-cable tramway system in Edinburgh.\\nIn 1887 Dick Kerr and Company built the first electric conduit tramway line in the world, from Gravesend to Northfleet, and in 1902 carried out the first main line railway electrification in this country, between Liverpool and Southport on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, including the provision of all power-house and substation plant.\\nSiemens Brothers Dynamo Works, Ltd., Stafford, whose manufactures covered a wide range of general electrical machinery of high repute throughout the world. Willans and Robinson, Ltd., Rugby, whose business originated in the manufacture of high-speed reciprocating steam engines for marine propulsion and later for electric power generation and developed to embrace steam turbines and Diesel engines. The Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company, Bradford, which specialized in the smaller classes of rotating electrical machines, with particular reference to the requirements of the textile industry.\\nIn 1942 the English Electric Company acquired D. Napier and Son, Ltd., famous for its automobile and aeronautical engineering, with its works at Acton and Liverpool. Since the war the English Electric Company have occupied about three-quarters of the Liverpool works as it became available from D. Napier and Son owing to the scaling down of production of aero-engines.\\nIn 1946 the company purchased Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd., with its subsidiaries the Marconi International Code Company, Ltd., Marconi Instruments, Ltd., and the Marconi International Marine Communication Company, Ltd. The Marconi works are at Chelmsford and St. Albans.\\nThe manufacturing scope of all these works has been steadily developed to cover a wide field of engineering activities, and the \\\"English Electric\\\" group of companies, employing 35,000 people, can now provide:— Complete large-scale electricity supply systems with generators driven by steam turbines, water turbines, or Diesel engines; the equipment for complete railway electrification schemes including rectifier substations, electric and Diesel-electric locomotives and motor-coach stock; traction motors and control equipment for tramcars and trolley-buses; steam-turbine, Diesel-engine, and gas-turbine equipments for ship propulsion, Diesel-electric and turbo-electric generating sets and motors for ships' auxiliaries; aircraft, gas-turbine aero-engines, aeronautical research and testing plant, and aircraft electrical equipment; all classes of industrial electrical equipment; domestic and allied electrical appliances; radio, radar, and television equipment; high-voltage mercury-arc rectifiers for supplying radio transmitters; electronic apparatus and testing instruments for aiding marine navigation and for medical and industrial applications.\\nThe Nelson research laboratories, at Stafford, with separate sections devoted to high power, high voltage, chemistry, insulation, general physics, vacuum physics, electrical phenomena, radiology, electronics, and metallurgy, serve the whole organization. Further laboratories on a separate site near Stafford specialize in the construction and investigation of machines used in nuclear physics research.\\nThe Marconi company has extensive research laboratories of its own near Chelmsford and the Napier company conducts its own research on gas turbines and other engines in the laboratories at the Acton works. The Liverpool works of over 1,000,000 sq. ft. was built in 1940-41 for the production of the Napier \\\"Sabre\\\" engine which had been developed at the Acton works. At the end of the war, when aero-engine production was scaled down, the English Electric Company expanded its activities on standardized high-production lines of manufacture to occupy about three-quarters of the total area which became available from D. Napier and Son, whilst the Napier company continued to operate the remainder. This visit will have particular interest when it is borne in mind that none of the work now being done at the Liverpool works by either D. Napier and Son or the English Electric Company was carried out in Liverpool before or during the war and that over 6,000 people now are employed at these works.\\nNapier Works, Liverpool. During the course of the visit to the works the Napier products that will be seen will include the following:— (a) A sectioned \\\"Sabre\\\" engine. The \\\"Sabre\\\" is a twenty-four-cylinder, sleeve-valve, liquid-cooled aero-engine, first produced in 1937. The engine was manufactured in large quantities during the 1939-45 war and took an important and distinguished part in the fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force, particularly in the defence of London against the V.1 flying bomb. The \\\"Sabre VA\\\" continues to give excellent service in the Royal Air Force. The \\\"Sabre VII\\\" is the latest of the series and possesses performance features hitherto unsurpassed by any piston engine. The total cylinder capacity of 2,238 cu. in. (36 litres) gives a maximum of 3,055 b.h.p.; the engine weight is 2,540 lb. Thus the figures, 0.83 lb. per b.h.p. weight/power ratio, and 84 b.h.p. per litre, are factors in the performance of one of the most advanced piston engines in the world. The maximum power of the engine in combat conditions is obtained at a boost of 174 lb. per sq. in. at 3,850 r.p.m. Water methanol injection is employed for this high duty. The two-speed supercharger gives maximum power altitudes of 3,250 feet and 13,000 feet, and at 30,000 feet the output is 1,400 b.h.p. (b) A sectioned Napier gas-turbine \\\"Naiad\\\" aero-engine. The \\\"Naiad\\\" was the first gas-turbine aero-engine to be designed by the Napier company. The b.h.p. of the engine is 1,500 and, with a jet thrust of 240 lb., gives the e.b.h.p. of 1,590. The frontal area of 4.27 sq. ft. is notably small, and a distinctive feature of the design layout is the use of the ducted propeller spinner. This arrangement gives the straight-through airflow through the engine and reduces the interference of the propeller blades to a minimum. Important features of the design are the twelve-stage axial compressor, the two-stage turbine, and the propeller reduction gear layout. Other particulars of the engine are: maximum diameter, 28 inches; length, 8 ft. 6 in.; weight, 1,095 lb.; and r.p.m., 18,250. (c) Exhaust turbo-supercharger for Diesel engines. The Napier turbo-blower has been introduced in response to a growing demand from Diesel engine manufacturers and users for a greater power from a given engine size. The blower is a turbine-driven, centrifugal air-compressor designed for pressure-charging traction, marine, and stationary Diesel engines. By correct matching to the Diesel engine, a power increase of 50 per cent of the naturally aspirated output, accompanied by an improvement in specific fuel consumption of 3 to 5 per cent, can readily be obtained with a boost pressure of 5 lb. per sq. in., where engine design provides for the higher mean effective pressure resulting from a higher boost pressure. With the addition of an air cooler a power increase of 100 per cent or more can be obtained. For this condition, the existing blower is capable of operation at pressure ratios up to 2 (15 lb. per sq. in.).\\nEnglish Electric Works, Liverpool. The English Electric Works at Liverpool has been laid out as a group of five self-contained units, consisting of the switchgear, transformer, domestic, small motor, and fuse gear works. At the switchgear works, 400 and 3,300 volt air-break type switchgear for power station auxiliary and industrial use, 11 kV. vertical isolation type switchgear, mining type explosion proof oil immersed switchgear, 3,300 volts, will be seen. Amongst the important switchgear contracts in hand are those for the power stations at Clarence Dock, West Ham, Age Croft, St. Helens, Ipswich, Delhi, Pretoria, and Cape Town; for a new fertilizer factory for the Indian Government; and for use in the production of oils, etc., from ground nuts. Some of the features which were incorporated in the company's switchgear for use on mine-sweepers, and are therefore of proved reliability, are embodied in the post-war equipment. Provision has been made at Liverpool for testing switchgear up to 100,000 volts on pressure test and up to 20,000 amps for overload calibration test, but type testing for short-circuit capacity is carried out at the Nelson Research Laboratories, Stafford.\\nThe transformer works manufacture transformers up to 250 kVA., which are used generally for outdoor distribution purposes all over the world. In providing modern facilities for testing, particular care has been taken with precautions for safety and also for speed of handling. Some of the important contracts in hand cover small transformers for X-ray equipment, distribution transformers for the British Electricity Authority in all areas, and for Australia, South Africa, India, and Iraq. The welding and fabrication of the tanks and details for transformers and for switchgear are carried out in the adjoining fabrication works. The domestic works' present products include refrigerators, cookers, and washing machines. The refrigerator unit fitted to all \\\"English Electric\\\" refrigerators is of the hermetically sealed type, there being no screwed fittings and bolted flanges. All joints are made by seam and arc welding and brazing or, in the case of the motor terminals, by specially designed synthetic rubber glands. The refrigerant used is \\\"Freon-12\\\", and a supply of this and of special refrigerator oil are sealed within the unit. The compressor is of the reciprocating type, directly coupled to a * h.p. split-phase, induction motor and spring suspended. The plant for the manufacture of refrigerators is highly specialized; the processes of pressing and welding the cabinet and the food compartment; pickling, degreasing, bonderizing, and enamelling on continuous conveyors; and dehydrating and testing the sealed unit are of particular interest. The small motor works are laid out for the production of fractional horse-power motors of a standard type. The motors embody die-cast stators, rotors, and end plates, which are all made in the Napier die-casting works. The fuse gear works are a self-contained works entirely devoted to the manufacture of high rupturing capacity cartridge fuses and associated equipment. The English Electric Company were pioneers in the development of high rupturing capacity fuses which are today used on all types of electrical circuits, in power stations, for collieries, and down to the domestic sphere.\\nThe works were transferred from Stafford during the early months of 1947 and have been in full production for nearly two years. Examples of complete equipment from the wide range manufactured will be seen during the tour of the works. English Electric Works, Preston.\\nIn 1938 the Preston works were making rolling stock for electric railways and tramways, vehicles for road passenger transport, and domestic electrical appliances. On the threat of war, they were organized for the production of aircraft, and in the same year the first contract was received from the Air Ministry for the manufacture of \\\"Hampden\\\" bombers. Later contracts were placed for making \\\"Halifax\\\" four-engined bombers and \\\"Vampire\\\" jet-propelled fighters. During the war over 3,000 bombers, mostly \\\"Halifaxes\\\", were built at Preston. In order to provide this output of aircraft, the works area was greatly increased, resulting in a total of nearly 2,000,000 sq. ft., including the final assembly and flight sheds at Samlesbury. The manufacture of essential domestic appliances, such as electric cooking equipment for canteens, also continued during the war.\\nAt the end of the war, Preston works resumed its traction and domestic appliance activities, while continuing to make aircraft on a peace-time basis. The products now include electric and Diesel-electric locomotives for all services; electric and Diesel-electric motor-coach stock; Diesel-electric railcars; traction motors and control equipment for railways, tramways, and trolley-buses; Diesel engines for traction, marine, and industrial use; aircraft; and domestic electrical appliances. The manufacture within the one works of the rolling stock, electrical traction equipment, and Diesel engines, facilitates the co-ordination in design and construction of all the components concerned in the production of complete units for electric and Diesel-electric traction.\\nHOWARD FORD AND COMPANY, LTD.\\nHoward Ford and Co\\nThe hosiery industry has long been established in the British Isles, its centres being the Midlands and Scotland. By 1919, the fine-gauge section, devoted to women's stockings, was meeting strong competition from circular knit imports from America and fully-fashioned from the Continent. Howard Ford and Company, Ltd., was founded by the late Mr. Howard Ford in 1922 as hosiery factors, to buy from home and overseas suppliers and distribute direct to retailers from warehouses in Liverpool and London. By 1924 \\\"Bear Brand\\\" was established as a leading make. The Churchill silk duties of 1925 led to the building of the first factory in Woolton in 1926, devoted to the manufacture of \\\"Bear Brand\\\" circular knit stockings. In 1929 the space was doubled and a large plant of 42-gauge fully-fashioned machines was installed. In July 1931 the present main building, consisting of four long floors 400 feet by 60 feet, was built to house an entirely new plant of 45-gauge machines. By this time \\\"Bear Brand\\\" was established as the largest production unit for fine-gauge hose in Britain. The combined output of circular and fully-fashioned hose was approximately 20,000 dozens per week made up of pure silk and rayon styles. The ever-increasing popularity of the fashioned stocking called for still further equipment, and in 1935 the present No. 3 knitting room was added, together with four finishing floors. At this time also, Howard Ford and Company, Ltd., introduced the first 54-gauge stockings.\\nBefore all the new machinery required could be installed war broke out, and stocking production, which was regarded as a luxury, was very severely restricted, only a small portion of the plant remaining in production and only rayon being available.\\nFrom 1939 to 1945, all available space was turned over to war production and large quantities of R.A.F. dinghies, Mae West life jackets, and various items of clothing were manufactured. In addition, some of the larger rooms were used for the manufacture and testing of anti-aircraft balloons. At the conclusion of hostilities, the original 42-gauge fully-fashioned plant was replaced by new 51-gauge machines, and the first 54-gauge machines were replaced by new models. To house the new 51-gauge machines, additional width had to be added to what will be No. 4 knitting room. The first five of the English built \\\"Bentley Cotton\\\" 51-gauge machines are already installed and working up to production, and first deliveries of \\\"Reading\\\" machines have been made and these are now being erected. In addition, delivery is expected very shortly of \\\"Leiberknecht\\\" machines. When the 51-gauge fully-fashioned plant is completed, it will be the finest post-war textile unit in the United Kingdom. The post-war machines are considerably more efficient and advanced than the pre-war type of machine as considerable developments have taken place in America; these machines are specially designed to produce nylon, particularly of fine deniers. The new 54-gauge \\\"Wildman Machines\\\" are already in use. This new equipment programme is designed to take care of an ever-growing export trade. The flow of production, methods of finishing, and ancillary processes have been replatmed. Part of the finishing operations are done in the firm's two additional factories at Corwen, North Wales, and the Head Office Building, School Lane, Liverpool.\\nThe firm was the first in the fine-gauge trade to take export seriously, and by June 1946 they had commenced shipping pure silk hose, and they were the first to send British nylons overseas. There is a demand for these nylons in all parts of the world, and the production for many months ahead is booked up. The prospects for 54-gauge and 51-gauge hose are good and will be satisfied as soon as the new equipment is in steady production. The Woolton plant, although one of the largest and newest mills in the country, is, so far as possible, always kept up to date. Electric power for the mill is available either from the main supply or Diesel plant. Steam for the dye house and processing is supplied by Lancashire boilers arranged for fuel-oil or coal, according to the fuel supply position.\\nFORSTER'S GLASS COMPANY, LTD., ATLAS WORKS, ST. HELENS\\nForsters Glass Co\\nThe firm was founded as a private business in the year 1900 by the late Alderman John Forster, O.B.E., J.P., incorporated as a private limited company in 1905, and converted into a public company under its present style in 1919, under the joint managing directorship of Mr. Walter Forster and the late Mr. W. A. Forster. The undertaking has now grown into one of the largest glass bottle manufacturing concerns in the kingdom. During the forty-nine years of the firm's existence, the technique of bottle manufacture has been revolutionized, the old hand-blown or semi-automatic methods of production having been replaced by fully automatic machine production.\\nIn 1900 one small glass tank furnace sufficed for the firm's needs, but today many large tank furnaces are available, each capable of supplying some 60 tons of glass per day, and the manufacturing capacity of the works runs to hundreds of millions of bottles and jars per annum. The production is continuous for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with output only ceasing for three days at Christmas. To enable this, shift employees work a five-day week, on the \\\"four shift\\\" system. The glass tank furnaces are of the \\\"cross flame\\\" regenerative type, and are fired by producer gas. Each furnace is provided with subsidiary oil firing which can be put into operation during periods when the producer gas flues are being cleaned, thus catering for continuous working at the machines.\\nProducer gas for the furnaces is supplied from a bank of \\\"Morgan\\\" producers assisted by a number of \\\"Chapman\\\" producers. Steam for the gas producers is supplied by an installation of five boilers of the Lancashire type.\\nTwo types of glass are melted in the tank furnaces, namely, \\\"amber\\\" and \\\"colourless\\\". The raw materials for these (mainly, sand, limestone, and soda ash) are mixed in large \\\"Smith\\\" type mixers, and then transported to the various furnaces by hoppers which are conveyed by an electrically operated overhead runway equipped with four electric travelling cranes. Many tons of \\\"batch\\\" has to be weighed, mixed, and transported each day. The \\\"batch\\\" is fed into the furnaces by automatic filling device of various types or by hand shovelling. A glass tank furnace is in two parts: the larger or \\\"melting end\\\" where the batch mixture is converted into molten glass and a smaller or \\\"refining\\\" end where the molten glass is cooled somewhat and conditioned. The molten glass passes from the refining end, down channels from 6 feet to 14 feet in length, known as \\\"feeders\\\", and is extruded and supplied to the automatic machines to be transformed into bottles or jars. The \\\"feeders\\\" are fired by town gas. The bottle machines are of various types, mainly two-table \\\"O'Neill\\\" machines carrying six or eight moulds, and one-table \\\"Mitchell\\\" machines also carrying six or eight moulds. Each machine is capable of producing from 30,000 to 60,000 bottles or jars per day according to the size of the ware being produced. The hot bottles after production are cooled down slowly and evenly to eradicate strain in specially constructed \\\"lehrs\\\" fired by town gas and provided with slow moving wire mesh conveyor belts. The bottles emerge from the lehrs cold and free from strain and are then sorted, subjected to various tests and packed for delivery. Bottle machines are operated either by electric motor or compressed air, and all blowing is performed by compressed air. A department complete with air compressors of the most modern type copes with this demand. Large engineering shops provide for the production of the multifarious types and sizes of moulds required, and for the repair and reconditioning of bottle machines, whilst all mould castings are made in a small foundry on the premises.\\nWM. P. HARTLEY, LTD.\\nHartley's\\nThis jam preserving business was started by Wm. P. Hartley in Colne. He moved to Bootle in 1874, and in 1886 the factory at Aintree was built. The business was extended to London in 1900 and during the last war a factory was opened in Hereford. Side by side with the construction of the Aintree works, Sir William Hartley erected a model village for his work people; this was, in many respects, the beginning of the garden village movement which was later developed at Port Sunlight and Bournville. Sir William also was one of the pioneers of profit sharing, and in 1892 he commenced the distribution of an annual bonus to the work people, the practice being continued up to the present day. The firm became a public limited company in 1936, and the high quality of the product and the welfare of the employees have been maintained in the tradition established by the founder. The company's constant aim has been to maintain the confidence of the public by manufacturing the best possible article and selling it at a fair price. The original formulae of the founder still represent jam at its best, but the years have seen progressive improvements in processing methods, machinery, and management technique. The company believes strongly that a first-class quality product is best produced by constant attention to the modernization of plant, by continual efforts to improve organization and technique -and by a happy, keen, and contented staff.\\nIn addition to jams and marmalade, fruit jellies, bottled fruit, candied peel, and canned vegetables are also produced, canned peas being a speciality. The pea canning section was opened by Lord Derby in June 1933. The majority of the peas used are grown under contract in the Ormskirk and outlying districts of Lancashire. The growers make successive sowings so that a regular supply of ripe peas is available throughout the season. The peas are canned within two hours of harvesting. The continuous process commences with the pod, and the peas emerge canned and cooked without having been touched by hand. During the season two hundred and fifty thousand cans a day are handled. The company at present employs approximately two thousand people at its factories, and this is increased to about three thousand during the fruit seasons.\\nALFRED HOLT AND COMPANY\\nAlfred Holt and Co\\nThe founder of the company was an engineer, trained at the Edge Hill Works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 1852 Alfred Holt purchased the Dumbarton Youth with the intention of proving that a cargo-carrying steamship was a practicable proposition. This ship was a three masted sailing ship, fitted with two direct-acting engines with a total of 44 h.p. On taking her over, a part of the bargain was found to be a quantity of blue paint, which was applied with great effect to the lofty smoke-stack amidships. Such was the accidental beginning of the name \\\"Blue Funnel\\\". The unusual names of later ships, taken from Greek mythology, are difficult to pronounce, and this has no doubt led to the Blue Funnel ships being less well-known individually.\\nIn 1854 Mr. Holt started building the first of a number of ships, but in 1864 all but one were sold to the West Indian and Pacific Steamship Company. In 1865 Alfred Holt, and his brother formed the Ocean Steam Ship Company for the China trade. Alfred Holt used the experience he had gained with the earlier ships to design a ship which he considered would carry sufficient coal to China and back via Mauritius, and yet have space remaining for a profitable cargo. His confidence was fully justified, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 made possible a further improvement in the cargo space available. The fleet continued to expand in response to the growing Far Eastern trade and strong connexions were built up in China, Malaya, Java and Australia.\\nIn 1902 a limited company was formed but no other change was made in its constitution or methods of management. In 1902 control was acquired of the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company, which brought the combined fleet to fifty-five ships with a gross tonnage of 259,002.\\nIn 1915 the Indra Line was purchased, thereby obtaining an entry into the New York— Far Eastern trade, and in 1917 four ships were added as a result of the purchase of the Knight Line.\\nIn 1935 the Glen Line was acquired but this line has retained its individual characteristics including the red funnels. At the outbreak of the 1939-45 war, the combined fleets consisted of fifty-five steamships and thirty-three motor-ships with a gross registered tonnage of 709,408. Of these, forty-four vessels were lost by enemy action and two vessels were sold to the government.\\nSince the war, replacements have been made by the purchase of three standard-type ships from the government, six \\\"Victory\\\" ships from the U.S. Government, and eight \\\"Sams\\\", already operating under Holt's management. The post-war building programme consists of twenty-two vessels grouped in three classes:— \\\"Anchises\\\" Class consisting of fourteen single-screw motorvessels of 8,300 gross registered tons, capable of sixteen knots, and carrying twelve passengers. Of these ten have been delivered, and a further two launched. \\\"Peleus\\\" Class consisting of four single-screw turbine, oil fired, of 10,250 gross registered tons, capable of eighteen knots, and carrying twenty-nine passengers. Of these one has been delivered, and a further one launched. \\\"Helenus\\\" Class consisting of four vessels similar to the \\\"Peleus\\\" class but with considerable refrigerated space for the Australian trade. Of these one has been launched. From its inception in 1852 to the present day, the company has been in the forefront of all development in ship construction and ship propulsion. The standard of construction has been independent of that demanded by the classification societies and, in the whole history of the company, no vessel has ever been lost by stress of weather.\\nBetween 1925 and 1948 all new construction consisted of motor-vessels apart from two ships fitted with Scott-Still engines. The \\\"Peleus\\\" and \\\"Helenus\\\" classes, however, are steamers and have the largest horse-power ever developed on a single screw. The Clytoneus, which members of the Institution will have the opportunity of visiting, was built at Dundee by the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and was launched on 9th April 1948 by the Lady Provost of Dundee. It was delivered in August 1948 and was the seventh vessel of the \\\"Anchises\\\" class to come into service. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 7th September 1948. The Diesel engines are of the two-stroke, double-acting, coverless type, built by Messrs. John G. Kincaid and Company, Ltd., of Greenock, and develop 6,800 b.h.p. at 116 r.p.m., with a maximum of 7,300 b.h.p. This is the second ship to bear the name Clytoneus; her predecessor, a motor-vessel of 6,600 gross registered tons, was built in 1930 by Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., of Greenock, and was burnt out in 1941, after an aerial attack north-west of Ireland when she was homeward bound, unescorted, from the Netherlands East Indies.\\nIMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD., GENERAL CHEMICALS DIVISION, MERSEYSIDE WORKS\\nICI\\nThe main works and research laboratories of the General Chemicals Division of I.C.I., Ltd., are located on Merseyside, some in Widnes on the north bank of the River Mersey, and others in Runcorn on the south bank. A number of the works in Widnes were built in the early part of the nineteenth century, and in 1890 were merged into the United Alkali Company, Ltd.\\nOn the formation of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., in 1927, the works of the United Alkali Company in Widnes, and the Castner-Kellner Alkali Company in Runcorn, which at that time was a subsidiary company of Messrs. Brunner Mond and Company, Ltd., of Northwich, became the Merseyside works of the General Chemicals Division of I.C.I., Ltd. The works of the Chemical and Metallurgical Corporation, Ltd., on the Runcorn side of the river, were acquired at a later date.\\nA large variety of chemicals are manufactured in these various works, the majority of which are derived from the three primary products, namely, sulphuric acid, caustic soda, and chlorine. Associated with these works are power stations for the production of the electricity required for electrolytic manufacturing processes, and for general works purposes. Only limited sections of the works can be inspected in detail during the course of a one-day visit, and a selection has been made of those sections likely to prove of the greatest interest to mechanical engineers.\\nOn the Runcorn side of the river a visit will be paid to the carbide plant in the Castner-Kellner works. Carbide, which is manufactured from lime and coke, is required for the production of acetylene for use in the manufacture of chlorinated solvents and other chemicals. The present furnace is supplied with 6,000 kW. of electrical energy obtained from the power station in the Castner-Kellner works. In the same works a large extension to the power station is of considerable interest. Heavy piling for the new boiler house has been carried out in close proximity to the existing operating power station. The extension involves the installation of powdered-fuel fired boilers working at 625 lb. per sq. in., each having a capacity of 200,000 lb. per hr. of steam, and of 22,000 kW. turbo-generators.\\nA visit will also be paid to the Wigg West works to inspect a modern, sulphur-burning, contact, sulphuric acid plant, which was built during the war period. On the Widnes side of the river a visit to the research laboratories should be of considerable interest, where there is ample evidence of the service given by the engineer and physicist to chemical research. Well-equipped workshops, for all principal crafts, are available for the fabrication of laboratory and semi-technical scale plant and equipment. The metallurgical laboratory is equipped with modern tensile and compression testing machines and also a \\\"Talysurf\\\" surface measuring meter. There is also a 30 kVA. high-frequency induction furnace operating at 500,000 cycles per second. The research department is well served in all branches of modern spectrometry with instruments covering the visible, ultra-violet, infra-red, and X-ray ranges.\\nThe equipment of the physics laboratory includes an electron microscope and mass spectrometer, the second of which was constructed entirely on the premises. Time will also be available for a visit to the West Bank power station, where there is an interesting installation of La Mont boilers, working at 625 lb. per sq. in., and each producing 75,000 lb. per hr. of steam.\\nW. AND R. JACOB AND COMPANY (LIVERPOOL), LTD.\\nW. and R. Jacob and Co\\nThe company was founded in 1851 in Waterford, Ireland, and shortly afterwards moved to the present factory in Dublin. As the English trade expanded towards the end of the last century the need for a second factory in England became apparent, and the present premises at Aintree were opened in 1914. When the Irish Free State was formed in 1921 the organization was split up into two separate companies. The Aintree factory, which originally consisted of one block, was gradually expanded and now comprises three main manufacturing blocks and an office block, comprising 30 acres, and 400,000 square feet of roof. Approximately 1,500 employees are engaged in manufacturing alone; 75 per cent of whom are women. With one or two exceptions the manufacturing and packing processes are all carried out on the ground floor, raw materials entering the factory at one end and finished goods leaving at the other. In addition the company has various stock depots situated over the country, which are supplied with goods direct from the factory by the company's own long-distance motor fleet. Biscuit manufacturing plant has progressed considerably since the hand processing and peat ovens of the last century, and at Aintree the latest continuous cutting machines coupled to band-plant gas ovens can be seen. The factory is still in the course of being re-equipped and interesting comparisons can be made between some of the older plants and the latest ovens.\\nIn addition to baking equipment, there is a considerable range of sandwiching and chocolate machinery to be seen. The factory has its own engineering shop and the majority of its staff are engaged in normal routine maintenance work which includes the maintenance of buildings. The shop is, however, capable of tackling major repair work as well as carrying out innovations and improvements to existing plant. The company manufactures all types of biscuits, both sweet and plain, in addition to cakes, but it is most renowned for its plain lines, particularly the famous cream cracker biscuit which was first introduced by Jacob and Company. At the present time a high percentage of output is reserved for the export market, although the company has, for a number of years, possessed a steady export trade.\\nLEVER BROTHERS, PORT SUNLIGHT, LTD.\\nLever Brothers\\nPort Sunlight factory and village were founded in 1888 by Mr. William Lever (later Lord Leverhulme), and the factory is now the largest soap manufacturing unit in the Unilever organization.\\nIn addition to the Port Sunlight factory, which covers an area of 156 acres, the adjacent Bromborough Port Industrial Estate includes the Bromborough Dock - the largest privately owned dock in the country - the Stork Margarine Works, and Price's, Ltd. - which are two Unilever companies—the hardening plant for treatment of oils, and several third party concerns such as Brotherton's, Fawcett Preston, Commercial Solvents, and more recently arrived companies such as Latham and Company and Cantie Switches. In addition, the estate includes a 16,000 kW. power station operating in parallel with the national grid. Plant is already on order for the establishment of a new oil mill adjacent to the Bromborough Dock and work on the erection will commence shortly.\\nThe main Port Sunlight factory includes in its activities soap-making, oil-milling, cattle food manufacture, glycerine refining, and printing.\\nOil Mills. Raw material for the oil mills is received at the Bromborough dock, where extensive handling and storage equipment is installed. This material is taken to the Port Sunlight mills on the company's internal rail system. Two independent plants are installed at the seed crushing mill:— (a) an \\\"Albion\\\", or cage-press, system which is used normally to process palm kernels, and (b) a two-stage system comprising \\\"Krupp\\\" low-pressure expellers followed by \\\"Rose, Downs and Thompson\\\" high-pressure, duplex expellers. The filtered oil is pumped to tanks in the factory or despatched to the Stork Margarine Works (or elsewhere) by tank wagon.\\nBatches of material such as oil cake, grain, vitamins, etc., are mixed in the compound mill, ground and then either packed as meals or formed into nuts or other shapes. The mechanical handling and storage equipment and the travelling scales are features of interest in this department.\\nSoap-making. The selection of a suitable blend of fatty materials is important in the production of good quality soap. The fats to be used are mixed, treated if necessary with bleaching earth, and pumped to the pan-rooms with approximately the correct amount of alkaline solution for complete saponification, which is completed by boiling with steam. Processes known as graining, washing, and fitting then follow and the \\\"neat\\\" soap, containing about 63 per cent of fatty matter, is obtained. This is then cooled, cut and stamped in the production of household bar and similar soaps, or used for the manufacture of other soap products.\\nSoap Flakes. Soap is fed to the chilling rolls of driers, and converted into ribbons which are fed into the warm-air zones of the continuous-band driers. After storage in silos, the soap ribbons are fed to multiple-roll mills, cutters on the last roll of which are arranged so as to produce diamond shape flakes.\\nToilet Soap. The soap is dried as described for soap flakes and, after storage, is weighed automatically into mixers where perfume, etc., is added. The mixture is then homogenized and extruded into bars which are cut into billets, cooled, stamped, and packed.\\nSoap Powder. Soap base and other ingredients are charged into pressure vessels, agitated mechanically and heated to a temperature above atmospheric boiling point. The mixture is forced by compressed air into nozzles where it atomizes at the point of release. The process is essentially spray cooling, the net evaporation being small. The powder falls on to a travelling band and is fed to a pneumatic conveying, grading, and weathering system. Unduly coarse powder is rejected and the remainder is collected in a cyclone and passes to the packing machines.\\nScouring Powders. Quartzite obtained from the company's North Wales quarry is calcined in continuous producer-gas fired furnaces, reduced by a jaw-crusher and tube mill, and then screened to remove oversize particles. The resultant material is mixed with soap powder and conveyed to the section where it is packed by a pneumatic system. The manufacture and filling of canisters can be seen in this section.\\nLiquid Soapless Detergents. This is a recently added department where solutions of the ingredients are mixed, filtered, and run to the bottle packing sections. Semi-automatic vacuum fillers are used, the capping and labelling being done by hand.\\nCrude Glycerine Recovery. The spent lyes received from the soaperies are purified by a precipitation treatment and then evaporated. This evaporation is in two stages, first to about 40 per cent glycerol in quadruple effect, and then to about 83 per cent in single effect. A double effect plant is available as stand-by.\\nGlycerine Refining. Crude glycerine is distilled in \\\"Van Ruymbeke\\\" stills under vacuum, and the vapours are fractionally condensed, the bulk of the glycerine being separated as product in the series of air condensers, and practically all the rest in the stripping towers.\\nPrinting. The printing department covers approximately five acres, and it prints the cartons, wrappers, invoices, etc., required for Port Sunlight and other Unilever companies.\\nResearch Laboratories. Research work is carried out at Port Sunlight for the whole of the Unilever organization and employs about one hundred and forty qualified personnel.\\nEngineering Organization. The engineering side of the firm is an important section and, in view of the wide field to be covered, is organized into mechanical, power, and civil engineering departments.\\nPort Sunlight Village. The garden village consists of about eight-hundred and sixty houses, all owned by the company. Particular reference may be made to the Lady Lever art gallery which contains a large collection of painting, furniture, and ceramics of all periods, but concentrates on the British schools.\\nLEYLAND MOTORS, LTD., LEYLAND\\nLeyland Motors\\nLeyland Motors, Ltd., was founded in 1896 and can be looked upon as one of the pioneers of the commercial motor transport industry. The company's earliest activities were connected with the production of steam-propelled lawn mowers, and its introduction to commercial transport was through the medium of steam-propelled vehicles; the manufacture of these was so successful that in 1897 the firm was awarded the first prize in the Crewe trials. The site of the present works is related to the earliest building in which the company was founded. Rapid expansion took place, particularly with the introduction of the internal combustion engine, and by the year 1906 the company was well established in the field of commercial vehicle transport, and it now ranks as the largest commercial vehicle manufacturing concern in this country and probably the second largest in the world in its particular class. Not only has the company concentrated on the production of chassis to meet varied requirements, but it has been for some considerable time responsible for making vehicles complete with bodywork. Further, it has extensive foundries, both ferrous and non-ferrous, within the Leyland group of factories and at Leeds. Both the 1914-18 and the 1939-45 wars saw the whole of the productive activity concentrated on military equipment. In 1914-18 the principal product was the 3-ton military load-carrying vehicle, particularly for the R.A.F., and in 1939-45, owing to the extensive facilities then available, armoured fighting vehicles became of primary importance; components were manufactured for practically every production form of armoured fighting vehicle; complete vehicles were assembled of the \\\"Covenanter\\\", \\\"Churchill\\\", and \\\"Cromwell\\\" types and, finally, the company was responsible for the design and group production requirements of the famous \\\"Comet\\\". Research and development have always been to the fore; since 1930 considerable work has been done on the compression ignition engine, and since 1931 on hydraulic torque converters of the fully automatic type. At all times the company has sponsored a fresh approach to the problem of commercial transport and has developed many special vehicles, particularly for use on projects overseas.\\nOne of the subsidiary works, at Chorley, some five miles from the Leyland headquarters, is devoted entirely to the manufacture of spare parts for the many designs of vehicles delivered in the course of years.\\nOverseas requirements have resulted in the build-up of a net-work of main depots and agencies in all the principal cities in the Commonwealth. In Canada, where there are extensive premises, a Canadian company has been registered for the handling and part manufacture of its products.\\nAt the present time the company has an issued capital of £2,300,000, and its total assets are approximately £7,500,000; employees total upwards of 9,000 and its properties extend to over 300 acres.\\nSince the cessation of hostilities, engines with an output approximating to a total of 11 million horse-power have been turned out from the main engine shop.\\nThe size of commercial vehicles manufactured ranges from 7-tons up to 15-tons payload capacity for home use, and there is a modified range, based on these vehicles, for use in overseas territories. On the passenger side, the double-deck bus, 56-seater capacity, with all-metal body, accounts for most of the output, although chassis are produced for carrying single-deck bodies. Active development work has been sponsored in connexion with chassisless vehicles of the stressed-skin type, and these are now about to go into production. Additionally, engines are modified for use as industrial units and marine engines; representative examples of the full range of products will be on exhibition outside the assembly hall during the course of the visit.\\nTHE LIVERPOOL OBSERVATORY AND TIDAL INSTITUTE\\nLiverpool Observatory\\nThe supply of reliable tidal predictions and the accumulation of knowledge of the tides is a matter of far-reaching importance to all interested in shipping. Elementary methods of prediction in vogue a hundred years ago are not sufficient for modern conditions of navigation, and continuous research in the problems of analysis and prediction is necessary. It was this need which led to the founding of the Tidal Institute at the University of Liverpool in the year 1919, by Mr. Charles Booth and Sir Alfred Booth, with Professor Proudman as Director, and Dr. A. T. Doodson as Secretary (now Director). Since that time the subject has been revolutionized, and the accuracy of predictions has been greatly increased. The value of the work of the Tidal Institute is recognized throughout the world and its methods have been freely adopted. As a research institution it is unique. In other countries tidal work is done by government departments, and research on the subject takes a second place to routine activities. The Tidal Institute is primarily a research institute, but it provides tidal predictions as a means of income, and in those predictions it embodies all that has been discovered. It has very close relations with the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, with great benefit to the subject, for in that way practical problems are brought to its notice and its research finds practical outlets. The Institute possesses two tide-predicting machines and it has devoted much time to the study of the design and performance of such machines. These have interesting mechanical features and the problems of design are exceptional. Gear ratios of very great accuracy have to be used and the computation of these has been reduced to a fine art. Throughout its existence it has been brought into consultation by manufacturers and has supervised the design and construction on behalf of foreign governments. Its knowledge and experience are thus unrivalled and as a continuous interest is taken in improving the designs it is not surprising that the services of the Institute are required for every machine purchased by foreign governments. (The only machines not made in this country are two in number, one in the United States, and the other in Germany.) The Institute also designs and constructs apparatus for deep-sea experiments required for fundamental research.\\nAt the present time the Tidal Institute is responsible for most of the tidal predictions for ports in the British Commonwealth; Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Colonies all send their problems for investigation and are provided with predictions.\\nIn recent years the Institute has also been interested in hydraulic problems, such as those associated with the effects of barrages and harbour improvements on the tides. These problems are of increasing importance. The theory of tides, of course, is regarded as a mystery by most people. Abstruse mathematical problems have been studied in relation to tides in simple basins and oceans, all with a view to understanding the processes by which tides are propagated, and some of the results have been embodied in the Admiralty \\\"Manual of Tides\\\", which may claim to be the most comprehensive treatise on the subject within the limitations of the elementary mathematics utilized. It also deals briefly with the subject of the effects of wind on the sea. The last-named subject is one of increasing importance, and the Institute has been outstanding in research on it. Quite recently a large memoir has been prepared on storm-surges in the Thames estuary, and remarkable success has been obtained in calculating the observed effects from the meteorological data. Many years of work are embodied in that report, but the Institute has continually in view the possibility of issuing daily forecasts of such effects for all the important ports in the country. This would be a great boon to all concerned.\\nMANESTY MACHINES, LTD., SPEKE\\nManesty Machines\\nThe firm of Manesty Machines, Ltd., are makers of tablet compressing machines, mixers, granulators, coating pans, drug mills, rouge compact presses, and automatic water stills.\\nThe business was originated in 1905 by Alderman Edwin Thompson, J.P. (a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool), as a division of Thompson and Capper Wholesale, Ltd., Manufacturing Chemists. At that time there were very few tablet machines in this country, but the business gradually developed and, in 1935, it was found necessary to separate the pharmaceutical machinery side from that of the manufacturing chemists, and a new company, known as Manesty Machines, Ltd., was formed. In 1937 new works were opened at Speke, Liverpool. In 1946 Messrs. John Holroyd and Company, Ltd., machine tool makers and gear specialists, of Milnrow, near Rochdale, obtained a controlling interest in the company; in 1948 Alderman Edwin Thompson disposed of his interests and the company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Messrs. John Holroyd and Company, Ltd.\\nLarger premises at Evans Road, Speke, were occupied in January 1949. Most of the tablet machines are now made at Milnrow, but a few models are made at Speke, where punches and dies for all types of tablet machines, and a large range of automatic water stills are also made. The works are not very large - about one acre in extent - but over 50 per cent of the output at present is being exported. Both the tablet machines and automatic water stills have found their way into almost every industry; the tablet machines are used for foundry chemicals, powder metallurgy, self-lubricating bearings, ceramics, plastics, confectionery, catalysts and fertilizers, in addition to medicinal tablets. The automatic water stills are used wherever high quality distilled water is required, and one at least is usually found in most works laboratories; they are included in anodizing plant, for electrolysis, for use with electric batteries, in addition to very extensive use in the pharmaceutical, veterinary, and cosmetic fields. In addition to machining, hardening, and assembly shops the company has an experimental department, under the control of a chemist, where customers' materials are processed and tested on compressing machines. In this department it will be possible for visitors to see the entire process of tablet making, from the mixing of the powders to the final tablet.\\nMECCANO, LTD.\\nMeccano\\nThe business now carried on by Meccano, Ltd., was originally started in 1901 in a small room equipped with a few hand presses, a lathe or two, and a small gas engine. The present factory, which dates from 1913, consists of spacious well-lighted workshops covering nearly five acres, with every department except one on the ground floor. Nearly three thousand hands are employed in the production of \\\"Meccano\\\" outfits, \\\"Hornby\\\" clockwork and electric trains, \\\"Dinky\\\" toys, and \\\"Dinky\\\" builder outfits. Of special interest is the rail-making plant in the press department, where standard sheets of tinplate are transformed into rails by passing them through rotary guillotines and quadruple action presses, which, in a single operation, produce rails of Vignoles section at the rate of forty to fifty per minute, while a moving belt carried the rails clear of the presses for the purpose of curving, then to assembling and packing. Other interesting units are the Wright high-speed dieing machines, which are used particularly for blanking operations. With a double tool, these machines can produce two hundred thousand 54-inch strips in an eight-and-a-half-hour day, a striking contrast to the output of one thousand two hundred strips from a hand-fed power press working at normal speed. Using a multiple tool, the machine can produce as many as one million washers per day. The making of sprocket chain can be seen in the machine department. The chain-making machines work with a coil of fine steel wire which is rolled straight as it enters the machine. Short lengths of wire are sheared off, shaped into links, and connected up with the preceding links at a speed of one hundred and sixty per minute. Much of the material from the press department is transferred to the barrelling department, where it is \\\"tumbled\\\" in suitable media for the removal of burrs, and partial cleaning. Final cleaning is carried out by modern methods, utilizing vaporized trichlorethylene in specially constructed tanks. The parts are then enamelled by the latest type of paint spraying apparatus. They are spring clipped on to frames drawn by endless chains through two spraying booths, are then transferred to carriers which travel through the drying oven, and finally are delivered at the starting point after being subjected for two hours to a temperature of 180 deg. F. There are also three automatic multi-spindle spraying machines which, after being hand-fed, automatically spins the part within the range of three or four \\\"pistols\\\", where they receive an even and complete coating of colour. An average of about one hundred and twenty thousand pieces are sprayed every day in this department. The die-casting section is noteworthy for the production of Dinky toys and parts for Hornby-Dublo trains, and consists of Madison Kipp, Riwo, E.M.B., and M.55A machines of Diecast Machines, Ltd. The casting speeds vary from two hundred shots per hour on the E.M.B. to six hundred per hour on the M.55A machines.\\nIt is interesting to note the introduction of the roto-finish method of deburring the castings. The parts are loaded into the compartments and tumbled at a speed of twenty-five revolutions per minute for periods up to four hours thus eliminating the necessity for hand trimming.\\nA feature of the electrical department, where transformers and locomotive motors are wound and assembled, is the equipment provided for the routine testing of transformers for both standard and non-standard supplies. The test gear includes apparatus for flash testing up to 5,000 volts; a performance test panel, where any likely combination of circuit arrangements can be preselected; and a frequency changer for providing a single-phase supply of any voltage up to 250 at any frequency between 25 and 100 cycles per second. A point of interest is the inclusion of radio suppression devices on all electric locomotives.\\nPractically the whole of the operations in the factory are carried out on line assembly methods, and conveyors are used for every possible purpose. An extensive system of overhead monorail conveyers facilitates \\\"feeding\\\" the various departments and carries away the finished products. Rapid internal transport is attained by the use of electric trucks.\\nMERSEY DOCKS AND HARBOUR BOARD\\nMersey Docks and Harbour Board\\nDredging. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board control and administer the Dock Estate at Liverpool and Birkenhead, which has a total area of 2,108 acres, exclusive of foreshore. The water area of the enclosed docks is over 650 acres and the lineal quayage slightly over 38 miles. The Board are also responsible for the dredging work in the sea channels in Liverpool Bay, forming the approaches to the River Mersey. Improvement and maintenance work in connexion with these channels is under the control of the engineer's department and is carried out by self-propelled, twin-screw, hopper, sand-pump dredgers. Four vessels are at present engaged on this work, having a total aggregate hopper capacity of 20,500 tons of sand. These vessels work at various sites in the sea channels and also in the River Mersey on Pluckington Bank, adjacent to the Brunswick Dock entrance. The quantity of material dealt with varies, but is in the order of eight to ten million tons per annum. The largest vessel, the Leviathan, has a hopper capacity of 10,000 tons, the other vessels have a hopper capacity of 3,500 tons and both load themselves in about one hour through side suction pipes, from a maximum depth of about 65 feet below the water line. In addition to the sand-pump dredgers, nine self-propelled grab hopper dredgers are employed upon the removal of the silt which accumulates in the enclosed docks system. The latest additions to this fleet comprise two vessels having a hopper capacity of 1,350 tons of silt, each equipped with three grab cranes, whilst a smaller vessel for special work has a hopper capacity of 330 tons of silt and is equipped with one grab crane. These three vessels are of interest in that they are powered by Diesel-electric machinery—the circuit being on the controlled constant current system—which is available for either or both propelling and deck machinery. Four bucket ladder dredgers with their attendant self-propelled steam hopper barges for carrying the spoil are also employed on work at the various dock entrances and for new constructional work. Seven self-propelled floating cranes are available for work of general cargo handling and other work in connexion with the dock estate. These cranes vary in capacity from 200 to 25 tons.\\nGladstone Dock. The Gladstone System of Docks comprises (a) A river entrance lock 1,070 feet long and 130 feet wide, divided into two compartments having sills 20 feet below bay datum, which will enable the largest ships to go in and out on every single tide of the year, while ordinary sized ships, having a draught of, say, 28 feet, can enter and leave at any time, except for a very small number of hours each side of low water on spring tides. (b) A connecting lock, 645 feet long and 90 feet wide, divided into two compartments between the adjoining dock systems and the Gladstone docks. This lock was very badly damaged by enemy action during the War and has now been repaired at a cost of about L195,000. (c) A vestibule or turning dock called the Gladstone Dock, having a water area of about twenty-five acres, entered from the river by the entrance lock, and from the adjoining dock systems by the connecting lock, and having single-storey sheds on the north and west quays. (d) A branch dock called the Gladstone Branch Dock No. 1, 400 feet wide, with quays 1,491 feet and 1,217 feet long, opening out of the vestibule dock and having treble storey reinforced concrete sheds on the north and south sides. (e) A branch dock called the Gladstone Branch Dock No. 2, 400 feet wide, with quays 1,264 feet and 1,233 feet long, also opening out of the vestibule dock and having treble storey reinforced concrete sheds on the north and south sides. The sheds and quays of the docks are equipped with electric cranes and other appliances for the rapid handling of goods. (f) A dry dock called the Gladstone Graving Dock, 1,050 ft. 4 in. long with an entrance 120 feet wide. Vessels using the graving dock are supported on keel blocks which extend over the full length of the floor and bilge blocks operated by mechanical means. In order that the graving dock may be rapidly cleared of water, powerful pumping machinery has been installed, consisting of five sets of centrifugal pumps with discharge pipes 54 inches in diameter, each pump being driven direct by a vertical four-cylinder, two-cycle, Diesel oil-engine, running ordinarily at 180 r.p.m., and capable of developing 1,000 h.p., the total power thus being 5,000 h.p. These pumps can empty the whole contents of the dock, about 44 million gallons with the level of 28 feet in the body of the dock, in two and a half hours, or at the rate of 1,300 tons per minute. The graving dock was opened in 1913 and the remainder of the system in 1927. Amongst the vessels regularly using these docks are those of the Canadian Pacific Steamships, Ltd., trading to Canada, United States Lines to U.S.A., and Alfred Holt and Company, from the Far East and to Australia and New Zealand.\\nPort Radar Station. An aerial of some 15 feet aperture and weighing 3 tons is provided at the top of an 80-foot ferro-concrete tower. This aerial, continuously rotating at 10 r.p.m., provides a narrow beam of 0.7 deg. The aerial has been designed to withstand wind velocities of up to 100 m.p.h. and large changes of temperature without distortion. The turning gear is mounted in a completely closed room at the top of the tower so that routine inspection and maintenance may be carried out without difficulty. A three-centimetre transmitter and receiver unit is mounted in the radar room in the building adjacent to the foot of the tower and the frame-work containing these also contains all the master timing circuits and control gear. In the same room is housed the display console containing six plan-position indicators. One of these displays shows a small general view of the whole of Liverpool Bay and four more show large-scale true plan views of particular sectors of the approach channels, so that a large-scale mosaic is built up. The sixth also shows a large-scale plan display but the region which it covers can be varied at the will of the operator to cover any desired part of the Liverpool Bay. In all cases the large-scale displays are to the same scale to facilitate cross-reference. They are all true plan shape to aid recognition, and each has in front of it a reproduction of the chart by means of which the positions of buoys may be checked, and it also shows a standard grid superimposed on it so that the position of any echo may be read off directly as a grid reference. The display console also contains a set of controls by means of which the whole installation can be switched on and off and operated. Throughout the equipment, high-grade components, run well within their rating, have been employed so as to achieve the highest possible standard of reliability. Considerable thought has also been given to maintenance facilities. Each major unit contains a built-in meter which can be plugged in to any of the sub-units and switched on. This allows the meter to be connected rapidly to a large number of check points within the circuit. If the unit is working correctly, the meter should show a standard indication of 100 per cent; in this way a faulty unit is very rapidly located. A complete set of spare sub-units is carried at the radar station so that, in the event of a failure, the faulty unit can be rapidly withdrawn, a new unit plugged in in its place and the equipment put back into operation immediately; the faulty unit is then serviced at leisure. In the case of the display console, each one of the six displays is mounted in a frame-work which wheels into the console on rail guides and a complete spare display unit is carried at the station, so that this can be wheeled in complete if a replacement is necessary.\\nThe performance characteristics are set forth below:—\\nWave length . 3 centimetres\\nHorizontal beam width . 0.7 deg.\\nVertical beam width . 5 deg.\\nSide lobes in horizontal plane . 24 db down\\nRepetition rate . 1,000 cycles per sec.\\nLarge-scale display scale . 2 inches to 1 nautical mile\\nSmall-scale display scale . 1 inch to 1 nautical mile\\nDisplay accuracy . 1 per cent in range by 4 deg. in bearing\\nRange of scan . 20 miles\\nLiverpool was the first port in the world to utilize radar on a full-scale basis for the purpose of assisting vessels in and out of the port, and a radar of extremely high discrimination is required to provide supervision of its approaches. The length and narrowness of the channel demands a high bearing discrimination, and also a very large display scale, and the ability to handle large volumes of traffic also means that the equipment must be easy to use; if a reliable service is to be provided every precaution must be taken to achieve the maximum freedom from breakdown.\\nSince radar rays penetrate both dark and fog, the installation is unaffected by conditions of visibility and greatly assists the smooth running of the port, enabling it to remain open under conditions which might otherwise necessitate a shut-down.\\nFor example, in foggy weather in November 1948, among the ships which were given information by radio-telephony from the port radar station was the 13,500-ton Cunard White Star liner Parthia, which, after leaving for New York the previous day, had been fog-bound overnight in the Crosby Channel. In addition, four inward-bound ships, the Northumberland from Brisbane with 7,500 tons of cargo, the Cetus from Archangel, the Southern Island from Skutskar, and the Fort Buffalo from Swansea, proceeded up-river with radar assistance, while the Isle of Man steamers King Orry, outward-bound, and the Mona's Queen, inward from Douglas, were also given guidance.\\nMILNERS SAFE COMPANY, LTD., PHOENIX WORKS, SPEKE\\nMilners Safe Co\\nThe firm of Thomas Milner dates back to 1830. In the year 1874, a public company was formed which took over the old factory building at Smithdown Lane, Liverpool, and opened further branches in Manchester and London.\\nLord Ritchie of Dundee was the first chairman and, upon becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer, his cousin, Sir James Ritchie, who in 1903 became Lord Mayor of London, succeeded him as chairman. His grandson, Sir James E. T. Ritchie, Bart., is the present chairman.\\nFor nearly three-quarters of a century the activities of the company were confined to the manufacture of steel safes, strong rooms, strong-room doors, and safe deposits; the company has installed security equipment of this kind in banks of national and international renown.\\nIn the early part of the century, the company extended its activities into the field of light steel works and office equipment, and these products, including small cash boxes, vertical filing cabinets, office desks, and double floor steel shelving for works stores, together with steel safes, are being exported to all parts of the world.\\nIn 1937, the Liverpool corporation took over the old works under the housing development scheme, and a completely new factory, the Phoenix works, covering fifteen acres, was built on the Liverpool corporation new trading estate at Speke.\\nThe present factory was completed in 1939, and its activities were immediately turned to day and night production and the testing of many thousands of armoured fighting vehicles. The reconversion to normal production has been undertaken in conjunction with the redesign and development of all the firm's products. The actual factory area is nine acres. The main factory building has seven main shops, four of which are serviced with overhead cranes, the capacity of which ranges from 71 to 25 tons. The annex buildings comprise a well-equipped tool room, a heat treatment and testing department, and a foundry equipped for iron and non-ferrous castings. The welfare of all employees is considered, canteen welfare, sports and social facilities being available for all workers. In 1944, the company bought over and absorbed the old-established firm of Whitfield Safe Company, Birmingham, and thus added a lighter type of fire-resisting safe to its already extensive range of products.\\nNATIONAL COAL BOARD, NORTH-WESTERN DIVISION, SUTTON MANOR COLLIERY\\nSutton Manor Colliery\\nSutton Manor Colliery is one of the seventy-three collieries of the north-western division of the National Coal Board, which at present produce some 14,000,000 tons of coal per annum. It is situated in a pleasant stretch of country in south-west Lancashire, a few miles south of St. Helens and due east of Liverpool. This area is a developing one as far as the north-western coalfield is concerned and, as the older collieries to the north, in the direction of Wigan, eventually die out, it is the intention of the board to develop the large reserves of coal available in the district south of St. Helens. These reserves are deep and will involve the sinking of some new shafts, one of which is planned for the neighbouring Bold colliery, which is to be entirely reorganized and developed for an ultimate output rising to 6,000 tons per day, employing \\\"horizon mining\\\" methods as practised on the continent, including Koepe winding. This project is being carried out in close collaboration with the British Electricity Authority's proposed new St. Helens power station on an adjacent site for the direct conveyance of fuel from the colliery to the boiler house. The present Sutton Manor Colliery which, pre-vesting date, was closely associated with the Richard Evans group, is a fairly old one and it is hoped to reorganize and develop it on more modern lines although not perhaps on the same scale as the future Bold colliery. This will involve deepening the existing shafts and driving underground tunnels for locomotive haulage. It employs more than 1,300 men underground and on the surface, and produces round about 7,000 tons of coal a week, contributing its full quota to the tonnage raised in the No. 3 (St. Helens) area, which comprises ten collieries. It has a full meals canteen and pithead baths, and there is a colliery institute providing the usual recreational amenities. There are two pits, each with a pair of steam-driven compound horizontal winding engines. On the surface there are two screening plants, one for each of the two main winding shafts, where coal is cleaned and prepared in various sizes at the rate of 350 tons an hour. Slack is sent on a travelling belt to an adjacent washery where the dirt is cleaned from the coal and the fuel is sized into commercial products. The discard from the washery and screening plant is taken away by an aerial ropeway. Steam and electrical power is at present generated at the colliery using low-grade fuel, and an electrical connexion exists with the Area Electricity Board's network. Both electricity and compressed air are used underground, the surface compressor units and also the 600,000 cu. ft. per min. mine ventilating fan being steam driven. An area testing station for colliery winding ropes, and also for compressed-air-driven coal cutter and conveyor turbines is situated on the colliery premises. In order to prove that the seams of coal available in the area south of St. Helens exist at workable depths a programme of deep boring is being undertaken and samples of the underlying strata are brought to the surface for examination and depths recorded. One of these boreholes is situated at Tan House Lane, Burtonwood. This borehole was drilled by the percussive method by a mobile machine to a depth of 823 feet, the diameter being 9.68 inches to 409 feet and 7.87 inches to 823 feet. This percussive method, which gives chippings, was adopted because the stratum was already known to a depth of 1,800 feet. After the percussive drilling, the present rig was built and rotary drilling with a diamond bit was done to a depth to date of 3,230 feet, the diameter being reduced by stages until this is now 4.57 inches giving a 3.5-inch core. The bit cuts out the core, which is held by a spring in a core barrel about 10 feet long. The hole is cased with steel casing as and when required to prevent the sides from collapsing, and after each length of casing has been inserted it becomes necessary to reduce the diameter of the hole. To act as a protection to the walls of the hole below the casing, mud is circulated through the hole via the drilling rods and the core barrel, up the hole back to the surface on the outside of the rods. The mud, which is Bentonite, a proprietary product consisting mostly of \\\"fuller's earth\\\" forms a wall on the uncased sides of the hole.\\nWILLIAM NEILL AND SON (ST. HELENS), LTD.\\nWilliam Neill and Son\\nThe business was first started on the present site by William Neill in 1872 and for a period of some twenty-five or thirty years it held an important place in the production of iron castings and the manufacture of plant for the chemical and coal industries, which were then rapidly developing in the south-west Lancashire area.\\nThe business passed out of the Neill family and became a private company in 1907, and in 1933 it was reconstructed and taken over by the present management. During the last sixteen years it has been quadrupled in size and it now covers an area of approximately seven acres.\\nThe works are divided into two sections, one for plate fabrication, tank and chemical plant manufacture, and the other for the fabrication of structural steel framed buildings, bridge work, etc. The plate shop comprises two bays, each 580 feet long, and two subsidiary bays 130 feet long, with template shop, stores buildings, canteens, etc. The structural shop comprises two bays, one 310 feet long and the other 190 feet long, with template shop and machine shop.\\nAll the buildings are equipped with overhead electric cranes varying in lifting capacity from 2 tons to 30 tons, there being fourteen in all, and the stock yards are controlled by six electrically operated derrick cranes, with jibs varying from 75 feet to 110 feet long. The shops are equipped with modern machines for the manufacture of storage tanks, chemical plant, and structural work, and two machines of special interest (just installed) may be mentioned: —\\n(a) The special gas burning equipment for plate edge preparation capable of performing simultaneously nine burning operations; and,\\n(b) The \\\"Fusarc\\\" automatic electric welding machine capable of welding (at one setting) vessels 34 feet long and varying in diameter from 2 feet to 14 feet.\\nThe company's products cover a very wide range and include general chemical plant comprising electrically welded and riveted vessels of all types, petroleum refining plant including fractionating towers, heat exchangers, condensers, bulk oil-storage tanks up to 150 feet in diameter, coal preparation plant including washer boxes, flotation machines, screens, filters, etc., vegetable oil refining plant such as deodorizers, bleachers, etc., underground battery driven locomotives of 7-ton and 10-ton capacity, chemical lead work, structural steelwork and bridge work.\\nThe 1938 defence programme saw the company in the forefront with its patented design of electrically welded underground petroleum storage tanks. Hundreds of these tanks, each of more than one million gallons capacity, were erected, both in this country and the Middle East.\\nPrefabricated units of small ships, barges, pontoons for the Mulberry harbour, lift platforms for aircraft carriers, and a host of diverse war materials have taken shape in the assembly shops.\\nAnother product turned out in vast quantities was an ingenious design of bolted petroleum storage tank made from light gauge material; this design of tank was used extensively on the second front, and was so successful that it is still in demand by oil companies for field use abroad.\\nPILKINGTON BROTHERS, LTD., ST. HELENS\\nPilkington\\nThe firm of Pilkington Brothers, Ltd., was established in 1826 at St. Helens for the manufacture of crown glass; the site was chosen because of the availability of indigenous raw materials, and the proximity to a canal and a coastal port.\\nAfter the establishment of the crown glass industry, developments included the cylinder blown and cylinder drawn processes, which finally gave place to the modern flat drawn method, in which a ribbon of flat glass is drawn vertically upward from a bath of molten glass.\\nConcurrently with these developments, the manufacture of rolled, cathedral and figured rolled, and wired glasses, previously made by the ladle process gave place to the continuous rolled method of manufacture.\\nThis gradual, but constant, development, notable since the beginning of the present century, but particularly so during the last twenty-five years, covers now almost wholly mechanized methods of manufacture.\\nThe industry calls not only for the necessary production plant and administrative staff, but also for many ancillary activities. These include service and maintenance departments and a self-contained timber yard, in addition to a completely equipped research laboratory, and personnel and welfare departments. The internal works transport system uses twenty works locomotives running over fifty miles of single line siding which deal with an incoming traffic alone amounting to nearly 1,000,000 tons per year. The amount of material despatched - almost wholly glass - averages over 320,000 tons a year, in which a modern fleet of over one hundred and thirty road vehicles plays an important part.\\nOver twenty-five thousand different commodities have to be provided for the production of the glass and the maintenance of the works. These range from materials arriving in train loads to small registered postal packets containing industrial diamonds and platinum-rhodium thermocouple wires. The electricity generated and purchased in a year is equal to that consumed for lighting by the households in a city the size of Nottingham, and the yearly consumption of coal is equal to the total domestic rations of 200,000 households. The amount of timber consumed annually for packing cases is equivalent to 80,000 trees of the size normally felled in Eastern Canada or Sweden.\\nThe comprehensive welfare arrangements of the firm include the recreation club, which covers full winter and summer pastimes and sports on the social and recreational side; a pension and staff superannuation scheme; a holidays with pay scheme; and completely equipped works canteens.\\nA full-time education officer, who is in close touch with the local education authorities, operates a staff training scheme.\\nSafety officers, accident prevention committees, and protective clothing assist in keeping down the hazards of the industry. A full-time medical officer has charge of a complete surgical unit which includes an operating theatre, a dispensary, an X-ray outfit, and a twenty-four hour nursing service. A radiography unit was installed in 1941 and a rehabilitation centre includes a gymnasium and physiotherapy room. Further necessary treatment, in the form of light work of a restorative character, is carried out in a well-equipped workshop.\\nGlass melting tanks are the method adopted for the continuous melting of the raw materials—chiefly sand, soda-ash, limestone, and dolomite. Such tanks can be as large as 120 feet long by 30 feet wide and 5 feet deep, and may contain up to 1,200 tons of molten glass. The raw materials are mixed in the right proportions and fed into one end of the tank; after melting, the resulting molten glass is refined, cooled, and drawn off at the other end.\\nFor modern constructional glasses, drawing and rolling are the chief processes employed—drawing for the production of flat drawn sheet glass, and rolling for the production of rough cast plate, wired, plain, and patterned glasses, such as cathedral and figured rolled glasses.\\nThe processes to be seen cover the manufacture of polished plate glass, which, in the first instance, is rolled in the form of a ribbon, both surfaces of which are subsequently ground and polished. This process will be seen during the visit.\\nPlate glass was first introduced into this country in 1615, being made by the \\\"blown\\\" process. It was not until 1773, when the British Cast Plate Glass Company came into being at Ravenhead, St. Helens, that plate glass was made in England by the process of rolling. By 1789 mechanical methods began to appear for the grinding and polishing of the surfaces of the glass. In 1901 the firm purchased the Ravenhead Plate Glass Company, where the manufacture of polished plate glass was continued until 1917, when the factory was turned over to the manufacture of other types of glass.\\nAn entirely new polished plate glass works was erected in St. Helens in 1876, and it was there that, in 1902, the first mechanically operated lehr for the annealing of plate glass was developed.\\nThe original method consisted of pouring the contents of a special clay pot on to a cast-iron casting table and then rolling out like pastry. After annealing, the sheets of glass were ground, smoothed, and then polished on circular tables 22 feet in diameter (later displaced by 36-foot tables), the abrasives for grinding and smoothing being sand in water, and for polishing wet rouge under felt-covered pads.\\nA radical departure from this method consisted of pouring the contents of the clay pot between two rollers from which the molten glass issued in the form of a ribbon; this process is still in operation for the manufacture of polished plate glass of special thicknesses and sizes, the grinding and polishing being carried out by the table method.\\nThese methods continued until early 1923 when a continuous method of grinding and polishing, which superseded the disk method for standard thicknesses and widths of glass, was perfected. These machines were approximately 650 feet long.\\nThe production of polished plate glass was then made direct from the melting tank. The ribbon of rough rolled glass is passed between twin sets of grinding and smoothing heads, both surfaces being machined simultaneously.\\nPolished plate glass can be made in a variety of thicknesses from 2.6 mm. up to 14 inches thick, the thinner substances being required for special purposes, and for the manufacture of laminated glasses for motor-cars, the thicker substances being used for ships' port holes, etc.\\nThe uses of polished plate glass are not wholly constructional. By means of tinting or surface treatment, such as silvering, embossing, stippling, sandblasting, brilliant cutting, or by a combination of some of these methods, a wide range of decorative effects can be obtained. By additional thermal treatments, glass, plain or decorated, can be \\\"toughened\\\" to acquire the properties of strength and harmless fragmentation, characteristic of safety glass and \\\"armourplate\\\".\\n\\\"SHELL\\\" REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, LTD.\\nShell\\nThornton Research Centre. The Thornton Research Centre is a recent addition to the research facilities of the world-wide \\\"Shell\\\" group. An aero-engine laboratory was built in 1940 and, during the war, was operated as the Ministry of Aircraft Production fuel and oil research laboratory. Since those days, there has been a steady expansion both in buildings and in the scope of the work carried out, and there have evolved laboratories of almost 750,000 square feet of floor space, integrated and controlled as one unit and manned by a staff of about nine hundred. The centre has the Stanlow refineries and oil docks on the north-west, with the new \\\"Shell\\\" Chemical Plant and the first units of the large Middle East Crude Refinery on the west.\\nThe research carried out at the centre is largely applicational and covers a wide range of petroleum products. It can be divided into two main groups: the first group comprises the engine testing and mechanical rig work, together with the physical chemistry necessarily associated with applicational research on fuels and lubricants. The second consists of purely chemical research concerned with the development and utilization of new chemicals and by-products from the refinery processes.\\nThornton Research Centre is particularly well equipped for the former type of work, having a wide range of modern engine types at its disposal. There are, in fact, about eighty engines installed, ranging from small two-stroke, motor-cycle engines, to large medium-speed, marine Diesels. Numerous rigs, large and small, are also used for studying gear and bearing lubrication, cylinder wear, gas-turbine combustion, fuel spray characteristics, oil and fuel inflammability, the behaviour of fuels and lubricants at extremes of temperature and pressure, as well as the functioning of lubricants in some of the many industrial applications.\\nIt is often remarked that burning coal and oil fuel is wasteful of valuable chemicals. In this connexion, the production of chemicals in the form of detergents, surface coatings, solvents, agricultural chemicals, and plasticizers is a comparatively new, but rapidly expanding, industry. Thornton is actively engaged in synthesizing some of these materials from petroleum—in some cases from those products which would otherwise be burnt as fuel. An extensive pilot plant section is used for the production of experimental quantities on a technical scale.\\nA number of sections specializing in analysis, photography, X-ray examination, and spectroscopy are used by chemists and engineers alike. There is also a metallurgical section which deals with many \\\"field\\\" problems arising from the use of petroleum; in certain instances, alloys highly resistant to attack have been developed. There is a large central workshop and two smaller ones.\\nThe devising of suitable instrumentation for the many branches of science covered by the research programme is in the hands of an applied physics section. Controlling instruments for pilot plants and for long duration tests, and electronic equipment for studying the combustion process in internal combustion engines, all come within the scope of this section.\\nStanlow Refinery. The Stanlow refinery of the \\\"Shell\\\" Refining and Marketing Company, Ltd., is situated adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal, some four miles from its entrance. Its location provides easy access for ocean-going and coastal tankers, while convenient rail and road facilities are available for distribution of the products of the refinery.\\nMotor spirit, aviation spirit, kerosene, Diesel and fuel oils, bitumen and lubricating oils are manufactured or blended and distributed direct to customers, or to the depots of Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., in bulk or package. Export and coastal deliveries can be made via the Manchester Ship Canal, or by road or rail transhipment from Ellesmere Port, Birkenhead, or Liverpool.\\nThe construction of the refinery and the associated installation for the storage, blending, and distribution of products was commenced in 1923. The original site of fifty acres was extended in 1938 and 1940, and the refinery now covers an area of approximately twelve hundred acres, divided into two main sections.\\nIn the northern section, fronting the ship canal, are plants for the manufacture and refining of bitumen, special benzine distillates, high-grade lubricating oils, aviation benzine, and synthetic detergents. In the southern section a series of plants for the production of petroleum chemicals has recently been completed by \\\"Shell\\\" Chemical Manufacturing Company, Ltd., and the construction of a large modern refinery has been commenced by \\\"Shell\\\" Refining and Marketing Company, Ltd. This latter refinery will process imported crude petroleum, primarily for the manufacture of motor spirits, Diesel oils and fuel oils.\\nThe various feedstocks and products are stored in vertical cylindrical tanks of steel construction and of capacities up to two-and-a-half million gallons. Total storage capacity amounts to nearly two hundred million gallons.\\nModern water-tube boilers provide the large quantity of steam required. Oil and gas fuels, electricity, cooling and process water, compressed air, and chemicals are also used in large quantities.\\nThe plants are specially designed, and constructed mainly of steel. Direct-fired tubular heaters and tubular heat exchangers, condensers, and coolers are used together with a wide variety of electrically and steam operated pumps. Temperatures, pressures, flows, etc., are in general controlled by automatic instruments of various kinds.\\nLarge laboratories control the quality of products, and a special department carries out technological investigation and development of operating processes.\\nSupervision of refinery operations is carried out by plant chemists, and operatives receive special training in process work.\\nA large engineering force is required for constructional, maintenance, and repair work, and the engineering workshops are well equipped with modern machines. Much of the material handled consists of steel pipe and valves of large diameter.\\nService departments include materials stores, and transport. Canteens and medical and welfare services are provided. There are special sections for training staff and operatives. Special precautions are taken against fire risks. The company has its own fire brigade and special fire-fighting equipment is provided in all parts of the refinery.\\nApproximately 3,700 people, including clerical and laboratory staffs, are employed. Sports grounds are provided by the company and there are facilities for recreational and social activities.\\nPetroleum products of all kinds play an important part in Britain's recovery programme and the Stanlow refinery is operated to maximum capacity. In this connexion, the reduction of non-operation time by efficient engineering maintenance and well-planned and rapid repair and overhaul of plant is a vital necessity.\\nJOHN SUMMERS AND SONS, LTD., HAWARDEN BRIDGE STEELWORKS, SHOTTON\\nJohn Summers and Sons\\nThe firm of John Summers and Sons, Ltd., was founded in Stalybridge in 1851 for the manufacture of clog irons; the following year a nail making machine was acquired to produce nails for fastening the clog irons to the clogs, and in 1860 puddling furnaces, a steam hammer, and the first sheet rolling mill were installed for the production of the necessary raw materials. A galvanizing plant was installed for making galvanized-steel corrugated roofing sheets, the first galvanized sheet being produced in 1894. In 1895, the site at Shotton was acquired, and one year later the new plant, which comprised six sheet mills driven by a steam engine, with galvanizing and finishing equipment, started work.\\nThe rapid development continued, and at present the Hawarden Bridge steelworks cover two-hundred and fifty acres, with a further seven-hundred and fifty acres available for development. There are nearly six thousand employees at this works alone, and more than 8,000 tons of steel sheets leave the works each week. There are two steelworks, No. 1 having nine 50-ton furnaces, and No. 2, eight 70-ton furnaces. The slabbing mill, installed in 1939 is driven by a three-cylinder simple steam engine, and the hot strip mill, installed in the same year, has eight stands of rolls, each driven by an electric motor of about 3,000 h.p. The cold tandem mill reduces the thickness of the steel still further, after it has left the hot strip mill; its output is supplemented by the reversing mill - the latest to be installed at Hawarden Bridge and capable of rolling strip 72 inches wide - which is driven by a 2,500 h.p. electric motor.\\nFor many years sheets have been manufactured in this country from sheet bars; the bar is cut to the required width of sheet, and rolled out to the ordered length and thickness by passing the sheared steel, piled in thicknesses, through a number of individual hand mills. Before the advent of the strip mill, certain improvements were made at Shotton to reduce the manual labour, and at the same time to increase the output and improve the quality of the product. Finally, a three-high mill (a mill having three rolls instead of the usual two) was installed, which, by its greater precision and more robust construction, improved the quality of the product.\\nStrip rolling has entirely revolutionized the manufacture of steel sheets, by making it possible to produce in one length of strip the desired finished gauge. To make this possible, the quality and weight of the raw material, and the size and design of the mills have undergone a radical change; instead of a sheet bar, a slab is produced in thicknesses varying from 34 to 6 inches, and in length, from 51- to 15+ feet. The slabs are then heated in continuous furnaces, prior to rolling on the hot strip mill which consists of a series of mills in tandem, each mill containing four rolls. The thinnest gauge obtainable on the average hot strip mill is sixteen gauge, and for finer gauges it is necessary to put the strip through a further, cold-rolling, process. For ease in handling, the strip is coiled after leaving the hot mill, and, before proceeding to the second rolling, it is subjected to a continuous pickling operation so as to remove the oxide coating which is present when the strip leaves the hot mill.\\nAfter the cold reduction process, the strip is trimmed and cut to size, and then transferred to the annealing department, where it receives heat treatment to remove the stresses set up by the cold reduction process, and to obtain the correct structure in the steel to meet the various uses demanded by respective customers. The strips are then passed to the final processes, such as cold rolling, levelling, etc., as required. They are then inspected, coated with oil to prevent rust and deterioration, and packed ready for dispatch. The best grades of steel are delivered, as far as possible, by the company's own fleet of lorries to ensure that they are received in good condition.\\nThe uses to which steel sheets can be put have greatly increased during past years. The motor-car industry has been responsible for much of this development, but apart from that particular market, large quantities of sheets are used for the manufacture of a diversity of products ranging from steel toys to steel houses, and including all manner of household equipment. During the 1939-45 war, there was a further expansion in the use of steel sheets: the continuous strip mill contributed two million tons of sheet steel to the war effort, that was utilized in products ranging from \\\"Anderson\\\" shelters to bomb fins.\\nVAN DEN BERGHS AND JURGENS, LTD., STORK MARGARINE WORKS, BROMBOROUGH PORT\\nVan den Berghs\\nThe Stork Margarine Works at Bromborough, the largest margarine-producing unit in the world, was erected in 1918 by Lever Brothers, Ltd., and produced margarine under the name of Planters Foods, Ltd. It occupies a site of about twenty-two acres close to the River Mersey, and is connected by a private railway system with the Port Sunlight works.\\nIn 1930, following the amalgamation of Lever Brothers, Ltd., with the Margarine Union, the \\\"Planters\\\" installation was completely scrapped and replaced by a modern up-to-date margarine plant including a new oil refinery for treating edible oils.\\nAdditional plant and equipment was installed up to the outbreak of war in 1939, to enable production to keep pace with increasing demand, and since the cessation of hostilities a policy of gradual but steady replacement of plant by more modern machines has been followed, particularly in the packing department.\\nJust over a year ago, an additional plant came into production for the manufacture and packing of domestic cooking fat on the most modern lines.\\nA development department is actively engaged at Bromborough, and new methods of production and new machines evolved here are being introduced into Unilever margarine factories in all parts of the world.\\nPower Services. The boiler plant comprises eight, 8 ft. 6 in. diameter by 30 feet Lancashire boilers fitted with Hodgkinson coking stokers and downtake superheaters. The installation includes a 448 feet by 9 feet tube \\\"Green's\\\" economizer, and motor-driven induced-draught fans.\\nFeed water is softened by the high-temperature soda-ash process, and de-aerated on a \\\"Hick Hargreaves\\\" plant. Approximately 6,000,000 lb. of steam at 150 lb. per sq. in. and 585 deg. F. are generated per week.\\nAs refrigeration plays an important part in the manufacture of margarine, four \\\"Atlas\\\" ammonia compressor units are prominent in the separate building housing the power plant. These each comprise twin-opposed, double-acting, ammonia compressors driven by a horizontal, tandem, compound-condensing steam engine. Steam is passed out at 20 lb. per sq. in. between the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders for factory water-heating and space-heating purposes. Final exhaust is condensed in jet condenser \\\"Edwards\\\" air pump units with natural draught cooling.\\nThe compressors, two large and two smaller, have an installed refrigerating capacity of 1,200 tons under standard (5-86 deg. F.) conditions.\\nTwo similar ammonia condensers of the atmospheric interlaced coil type are installed, having a total cooling surface of 16,500 sq. ft.\\nElectricity is purchased from Lever Brothers' central power station and received at 6,600 volts. Normal consumption for all purposes is about 125,000 kW.-hr. per week at 400 volts, 3 phase, 50 cycles, A.C.\\nThe main source of water supply is an artesian well. A 14-inch diameter bore-hole, 376 feet deep, yields about 30,000 gallons per hour of a total hardness of 40 grains per gallon. Water is purchased from the local water board for drinking and direct process.\\nOil Refinery. Crude oil is received in 10-ton rail and road tank-wagons, and pumped to storage tanks aggregating 700 tons capacity.\\nThe refinery equipment comprises 30-ton neutralizer bleachers and \\\"Johnson\\\" filter presses of the plate-and-frame type with hydraulic tightening gear. Twenty-two-ton deodorizers are installed, each complete with fat separator and splash-plate type, counter-current, barometric condenser. Vacuum is maintained by air ejector equipment.\\nRefined oil storage capacity aggregates approximately 900 tons, all tanks being fitted with \\\"Gravimeter\\\" contents gauges.\\nDairy. Reconstituted milk is pasteurized on the high-temperature, short-time principle, thermostatically controlled, using a stainless steel paraflow apparatus. The pasteurized milk is inoculated and soured in 650-gallon ripening tanks having pendulum grid heating-cooling coils. As the dairy is situated on the top floor, the treated milk can be run by gravity to the churns to be blended with the refined edible oils.\\nMargarine Process. The refined oils are blended in 30 cwt.capacity, jacketed, weigh-tanks and pumped to attemperating tanks for gravity flow to ten belt-driven churns. In these an emulsion is churned from the oil and milk phases, and pumped to four direct-expansion, 7.87 feet diameter, ammonia cooling drums each of 44 tons per hour capacity.\\nThe flake margarine, which is formed on the drums and scraped off, is then triple-rolled on three \\\"Multiplex\\\" machines fitted with porphyry rollers. Each machine discharges on to alternate stainless steel clad kneading tables rotating at approximately 1-I r.p.m., with beaters revolving at 60 r.p.m. The product is transported between the various sets of rollers and the kneading tables on odourless white rubber belts, and between machines in aluminium containers of 3 tons capacity which are moved by battery driven electric elevating trucks. The aluminium containers are discharged into hoppers by specially designed electric elevating and tipping hoists, each of 5 tons capacity.\\nAfter a resting period, the semi-finished margarine is kneaded under vacuum in direct-driven mixing machines of the \\\"Werner Pfleiderer\\\" type, each having a capacity of about 8 tons per hour. The product is then tipped into small containers and stored in a cool store in readiness for detail packing.\\nBulk packing is done in three \\\"Johnson\\\" bulk extruding machines producing 28 lb. or 56 lb. blocks at a rate of about 4 tons per hour each.\\nDetail Packing. Over 85 per cent of the margarine produced at Bromborough is wrapped in the familiar 1/2 lb. packet, and for this duty thirty-four moulding, weighing, and wrapping machines are installed. Twenty-six of these modern, British-made, \\\"Forgrove\\\" units are capable of producing ninety-two ready wrapped packets per minute.\\nA machine recently devised at Bromborough packs the wrapped 1/2 lb. pieces into fiberite cases. It is hoped to take a farther step towards the complete mechanization of this department by installing additional machines in accordance with the prototype.\\nAuxiliary Departments. These include can ice-making plant by Lightfoot Refrigeration Company (capacity 20 cwt. per hour); wagon-washing plant, including special tipper and sterilizing cabinets for both large and small aluminium containers; box-making department for assembling and repairing both wood and fiberite cases; control and research laboratories; special moisture testing and salt-testing laboratories.\\nWelfare. Modern well-equipped surgeries for males and females are provided, with a fully qualified nurse constantly on duty, while a medical officer is in attendance all day.\\nOveralls and clogs are provided for all workers, and the overalls are laundered on the premises. Changing rooms with auxiliary drying rooms and shower-baths are available, also a large airy canteen where meals are served at very low prices.\\nWell laid-out playing fields with a good pavilion are adjacent to the factory, and they cater for both outdoor and indoor recreation.\\nTHE VULCAN FOUNDRY, LTD., NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS\\nVulcan Foundry\\nThe Vulcan Foundry, builders of all types of locomotives, was founded in 1830 by Robert Stephenson in collaboration with Charles Tayleur, a Liverpool engineer. At that time Robert Stephenson was already managing a locomotive works in Newcastle upon Tyne but, finding it difficult to transport locomotives from his Newcastle factory to Lancashire for use on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, he decided to go into partnership with Charles Tayleur with a view to building engines on the spot.\\nThe first locomotive to be built at Vulcan was produced for the North Union Railway and was named \\\"Tayleur\\\"; it was followed shortly afterwards by three more for the Warrington and Newton Railway which was opened in 1931.\\nIn 1847 the Vulcan Foundry acquired the Bank Quay Foundry in Warrington; this resulted in interesting subsidiary activities including the manufacture of components for the Conway Bridge and Menai Straits Tubular Bridge, and the construction of the first iron sea-going vessel.\\nA long standing connexion with India commenced in 1852 when eight 2-4-0 passenger locomotives were exported for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway; these inaugurated the service on the first public railway in India from Bombay to Thana.\\nIn 1871 the first locomotive to run in Japan was built at Vulcan, and locomotives of every description have been produced for railways all over the world, including engines and tenders weighing as much as 200 tons in working order.\\nDuring both world wars, the Vulcan Works were fully engaged on armament work and during the 1939-45 war the main items of production were tanks, torpedoes, gun mechanisms, etc. In 1943, however, production reverted to locomotives and 390 \\\"Austerity\\\" 2-8-0 type engines and tenders were built for the War Department. Since then the \\\"Liberation\\\" locomotive has been designed and built for the continent together with many other locomotives for home and overseas railways.\\nThe works at Newton-le-Willows occupy an area of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, fourteen of which are covered by buildings. All the main shops, with the exception of the iron and non-ferrous foundries, the pattern and woodworking shops, and the Diesel erecting shop, are under one roof.\\nThe boiler shop has a floor area of over 78,000 square feet and is served by sixteen overhead travelling cranes of varying capacities. The locomotive erecting shop covers 29,500 square feet and has two lines of erecting pits which can accommodate eighteen sets of engine frames.\\nThe Diesel section has recently been greatly expanded and a complete new Diesel erecting shop has been constructed since 1946. Both industrial Diesel mechanical shunting locomotives and mechanical parts for the most powerful electric and Diesel electric motive power are produced in this department.\\nResearch activities are centralized in a modern laboratory which contains sections for chemical analysis, mechanical testing, sand testing, radiography, and metallurgy.\\nThe works at Newton-le-Willows employ up to 3,500 operatives and have capacity for the production of four large locomotive engines and tenders per week. In addition the company have, as subsidiaries, the locomotive building firm of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, Ltd., with works at Darlington and Newcastle upon Tyne.\\nSee Also\",\n \"Iron and steel - Introduction to their science, properties ...\\nWhich countries produce the world's ... process developed by Sir Henry Bessemer in the 1850s. Open-hearth process (also called the regenerative open hearth): ...\\nIron and steel - Introduction to their science, properties, uses\\nIron and steel\\nTweet\\nby Chris Woodford . Last updated: July 14, 2016.\\nThink of the greatest structures of the 19th century—the Eiffel Tower, the Capitol, the Statue of Liberty—and you'll be thinking of iron. The fourth most common element in Earth's crust, iron has been in widespread use now for about 6000 years. Hugely versatile, and one of the strongest and cheapest metals , it became an important building block of the Industrial Revolution, but it's also an essential element in plant and animal life. Combined with varying (but tiny) amounts of carbon, iron makes a much stronger material called steel, used in a huge range of human-made objects, from cutlery to warships , skyscrapers, and space rockets. Let's take a closer look at these two superb materials and find out what makes them so popular!\\nPhoto: The world's first cast-iron bridge, after which the village of Ironbridge in Shropshire, England was named. It was built across the River Severn by Abraham Darby III in 1779 using some 384 tons of iron. You can read more about its history and construction on the official Ironbridge website. Photo by Jason Smith courtesy of Wikimedia Commons .\\nWhat is iron like?\\nPhoto: A sample of iron from a meteorite (next to a pen for scale). From the mineral collection of Brigham Young University Department of Geology, Provo, Utah. Photograph by Andrew Silver courtesy of US Geological Survey Photographic Library .\\nYou might think of iron as a hard, strong metal tough enough to support bridges and buildings , but that's not pure iron. What you're thinking of is alloys of iron combined with carbon and other elements. Pure iron is a different matter altogether. Consider its physical properties (how it behaves by itself) and its chemical properties (how it combines and reacts with other elements and compounds).\\nPhysical properties\\nPure iron is a silvery-white metal that's easy to work and shape and it's just soft enough to cut through (with quite a bit of difficulty) using a knife. You can hammer iron into sheets and draw it into wires. Like most metals, iron conducts electricity and heat very well and it's very easy to magnetize .\\nChemical properties\\nThe reason we so rarely see pure iron is that it combines readily with oxygen. Indeed, iron's major drawback as a construction material is that it reacts with moist air (in a process called corrosion) to form the flaky, reddish-brown oxide we call rust. Iron reacts in lots of other ways too—with elements ranging from carbon, sulfur, and silicon to halogens such as chlorine.\\nBroadly, iron's compounds can be divided into two groups known as ferrous and ferric (the old names) or iron (II) and iron (III); you can always substitute \\\"iron(II)\\\" for \\\"ferrous\\\" and \\\"iron(III)\\\" for \\\"ferric\\\" in compound names.\\nIn iron (II) compounds, iron has a valency (chemical combining ability) of +2. Examples include iron(II) oxide (FeO), a pigment (coloring chemical); iron (II) chloride (FeCl2), used in medicine as \\\"tincture of iron\\\"; and an important dyeing chemical called iron (II) sulfate (FeSO4).\\nIn iron (III) compounds, iron's valency is +3. Examples include iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3), used as the magnetic material in things like cassette tapes and computer hard drives and also as a paint pigment; and iron (III) chloride (FeCl3), used to manufacture many industrial chemicals.\\nSometimes iron (II) and iron (III) are present in the same compound. A paint pigment called Prussian blue is actually a complex compound of iron (II), iron (III), and cyanide with the chemical formula Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3.\\nPhoto: Iron in action: Chances are you're using magnetic iron (III) oxide right this minute in your computer's hard drive.\\nWhere does iron come from?\\nPhoto: Iron is essential for a healthy diet. That's why it's packed into many breakfast cereals. A 100g portion of these cornflakes provides 14.0mg of iron—enough to meet a typical person's needs for one day. This amount of iron is called your recommended daily average or RDA. Here's a great little experiment from Scientific American to extract the iron from your cornflakes .\\nIron is the second most common metal in Earth's crust, after aluminum , but because it reacts so readily with oxygen it's never mined in its pure form (though meteorites are occasionally discovered that contain samples of pure iron). Like aluminum, most iron \\\"locked\\\" inside Earth exists in the form of oxides (compounds of iron and oxygen). Iron oxides exist in seven main ores (raw, rocky minerals mined from Earth):\\nHematite (the most plentiful)\\nSiderite\\nTaconite (a combination of hematite and magnetite).\\nDifferent ores contain different amounts of iron. Hematite and magnetite have about 70 percent iron, limonite has about 60 percent, pyrite and siderite have 50 percent, while taconite has only 30 percent. Using a combination of both deep mining (under the ground) and opencast mining (on the surface), the world produces approximately 1000 million tons of iron ore each year, with China responsible for just over half of it.\\nWhich countries produce the world's iron? Chart shows estimated figures for pig iron for 2015. In the United States, four companies currently produce pig iron in 11 different locations. Source: US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016.\\nTypes of iron\\nPure iron is too soft and reactive to be of much real use, so most of the \\\"iron\\\" we tend to use for everyday purposes is actually in the form of iron alloys : iron mixed with other elements (especially carbon) to make stronger, more resilient forms of the metal including steel. Broadly speaking, steel is an alloy of iron that contains up to about 2 percent carbon, while other forms of iron contain about 2–4 percent carbon. In fact, there are thousands of different kinds of iron and steel, all containing slightly different amounts of other alloying elements.\\nPig iron\\nBasic raw iron is called pig iron because it's produced in the form of chunky molded blocks known as pigs. Pig iron is made by heating an iron ore (rich in iron oxide) in a blast furnace: an enormous industrial fireplace, shaped like a cylinder, into which huge drafts of hot air are introduced in regular \\\"blasts\\\". Blast furnaces are often spectacularly huge: some are 30–60m (100–200ft) high, hold dozens of trucks worth of raw materials, and often operate continuously for years at a time without being switched off or cooled down. Inside the furnace, the iron ore reacts chemically with coke (a carbon-rich form of coal) and limestone. The coke \\\"steals\\\" the oxygen from the iron oxide (in a chemical process called reduction), leaving behind a relatively pure liquid iron, while the limestone helps to remove the other parts of the rocky ore (including clay, sand, and small stones), which form a waste slurry known as slag. The iron made in a blast furnace is an alloy containing about 90–95 percent iron, 3–4 percent carbon, and traces of other elements such as silicon, manganese, and phosphorus, depending on the ore used. Pig iron is much harder than 100 percent pure iron, but still too weak for most everyday purposes.\\nCast iron\\nCast iron is simply liquid iron that has been cast: poured into a mold and allowed to cool and harden to form a finished structural shape, such as a pipe, a gear , or a big girder for an iron bridge . Pig iron is actually a very basic form of cast iron, but it's molded only very crudely because it's typically melted down to make steel. The high carbon content of cast iron (the same as pig iron—roughly 3–4 percent) makes it extremely hard and brittle: large crystals of carbon embedded in cast iron stop the crystals of iron from moving about. Cast iron has two big drawbacks: first, because it's hard and brittle, it's virtually impossible to shape, even when heated; second, it rusts relatively easily. It's worth noting that there are actually several different types of cast iron, including white and gray cast irons (named for the coloring of the finished product caused by the way the carbon inside it behaves).\\nPhoto: One of the world's most famous iron buildings, the Capitol in Washington, DC has a dome made of 8,909,200 pounds of cast iron! Photo by courtesy of The Architect of the Capitol .\\nWrought iron\\nCast iron assumes its finished shape the moment the liquid iron alloy cools down in the mold. Wrought iron is a very different material made by mixing liquid iron with some slag. The result is an iron alloy with a much lower carbon content. Wrought iron is softer than cast iron and much less tough, so you can heat it up to shape it relatively easily, and it's also much less prone to rusting. However, relatively little wrought iron is now produced commercially, since most of the objects originally produced from it are now made from steel, which is both cheaper and generally of more consistent quality. Wrought iron is what people used to use before they really mastered making steel in large quantities in the mid-19th century.\\nTypes of steel\\nStrictly speaking, steel is just another type of iron alloy, but it has a much lower carbon content than cast and wrought iron and other metals are often added to give it extra properties. Steel is such an amazingly useful material that we tend to talk about it as though it were a metal in its own right—a kind of sleeker, more modern \\\"son of iron\\\" that's taken over the family firm! It's important to remember two things, however. First, steel is still essentially (and overwhelmingly) made from iron. Second, there are literally thousands of different types of steel, many of them precisely designed by materials scientists to perform a particular job under very exacting conditions. When we talk about \\\"steel\\\", we usually mean \\\"steels\\\"; broadly speaking, steels fall into four groups: carbon steels, alloy steels, tool steels, and stainless steels. These names can be confusing, because all alloy steels contain carbon (as do all other steels), all carbon steels are also alloys, and both tool steels and stainless steels are alloys too.\\nCarbon steels\\nThe vast majority of steel produced each day (around 80–90 percent) is what we call carbon steel, though it contains only a tiny amount of carbon—sometimes much less than 1 percent. In other words, carbon steel is just basic, ordinary steel. Steels with about 1–2 percent carbon are called (not surprisingly) high-carbon steels and, like cast-iron, they tend to be hard and brittle; steels with less than 1 percent carbon are known as low-carbon steels and like wrought iron, are softer and easier to shape. A huge range of different everyday items are made carbon steels, from car bodies and warship hulls to steel cans and engine parts.\\nAlloy steels\\nAs well as iron and carbon, alloy steels contain one or more other elements, such as chromium , copper , manganese, nickel , silicon, or vanadium. In alloy steels, it's these extra elements that make the difference and provide some important additional feature or improved property compared to ordinary carbon steels. Alloy steels are generally stronger, harder, tougher, and more durable than carbon steels.\\nTool steels\\nTool steels are especially hard alloy steels used to make tools, dies, and machine parts. They're made from iron and carbon with added elements such as nickel, molybdenum, or tungsten to give extra hardness and resistance to wear. Tool steels are also toughened up by a process called tempering, in which steel is first heated to a high temperature, then cooled very quickly, then heated again to a lower temperature.\\nStainless steels\\nThe steel you probably see most often is stainless steel—used in household cutlery, scissors, and medical instruments. Stainless steels contain a high proportion of chromium and nickel , are very resistant to corrosion and other chemical reactions, and are easy to clean, polish, and sterilize.\\nMaking steel\\nThere are three main stages involved in making a steel product. First, you make the steel from iron. Second, you treat the steel to improve its properties (perhaps by tempering it or plating it with another metal). Finally, you roll or otherwise shape the steel into the finished product.\\nMaking steel from iron\\nMost steel is made from pig iron (remember: that's an iron alloy containing up to 4 percent carbon) by one of several different processes designed to remove some of the carbon and (optionally) substitute one or more other elements. The three main steelmaking processes are:\\nBasic oxygen process (BOP): The steel is made in a giant egg-shaped container, open at the top, called a basic oxygen furnace, which is similar to an ordinary blast furnace, only it can rotate to one side to pour off the finished metal. The air draft used in a blast furnace is replaced with an injection of pure oxygen through a pipe called a lance. The basic idea is based on the Bessemer process developed by Sir Henry Bessemer in the 1850s.\\nOpen-hearth process (also called the regenerative open hearth): A bit like a giant fireplace in which pig iron, scrap steel, and iron ore are burned with limestone until they fuse together. More pig iron is added, the unwanted carbon combines with oxygen, the impurities are removed as slag and the iron turns to molten steel. Skilled workers sample the steel and continue the process until the iron has exactly the right carbon content to make a particular type of steel.\\nElectric-furnace process: You don't cook your dinner with an open fire, so why make steel in such a primitive way? That's the thinking behind the electric furnace, which uses electric arcs (effectively giant sparks) to melt pig iron or scrap steel. Since they're much more controllable, electric furnaces are generally used to make higher-specification alloy, carbon, and tool steels.\\nPhoto: Making steel for weaponry with the three-ton electric arc furnace at Rock Island Arsenal. Photo by Tony Lopez courtesy of Defense Imagery.\\nWhich countries produce the world's raw steel? Approximately 1.65 billion metric tons of steel are made worldwide each year. This chart shows estimated worldwide raw steel production figures for 2015. In the United States, there were 110 \\\"minimill\\\" steel plants in operation at the start of 2016 (down from 113 a year earlier) making a total of about 110 million tons of steel (slightly down from 114 million tons in 2015). Indiana (27 percent), Ohio (13 percent), Michigan (6 percent), and Pennsylvania (5 percent) together produce about half of all US steel. Source: US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016.\\nMaking steel products\\nLiquid steel made by one of these processes is cast into huge bars called ingots, each of which weighs anything from a couple of tons (in typical steel plants) to hundreds of tons (in really big plants making giant steel objects). The ingots are rolled and pressed to make three types of basic steel \\\"building blocks\\\" known as blooms (giant bars with square ends), slabs (blooms with rectangular ends), and billets (longer than blooms but with smaller square ends).\\nThese blocks are then shaped and worked to make all kinds of final steel products. The basic shaping process usually involves hot rolling (for example, reheating blooms and then rolling them over and over again to make them thinner). Girders are made by rolling steel then forcing it through dies or milling machines to make such things as beams for buildings and railroad tracks. Rollers that are very close together can be used to squeeze steel into extremely thin sheets. Pipes are made by wrapping sheets round into circles then forcing the two edges together so they fuse under pressure where they join.\\nShaped steel can be further treated in all kinds of ways. For example, \\\"tins\\\" for food containers (which are mostly steel) are made by electroplating steel sheets with molten tin using the process of electrolysis (the reverse of the electro-chemical process that happens in batteries ). Steel that needs to be especially resistant to weathering can be galvanized (dipped into a hot bath of molten zinc so it acquires an overall protective coating).\\nWhy is one type of iron and steel harder or softer than another?\\nIn all this discussion of iron and steel, you'll have noticed that different types behave almost like completely different materials under different conditions. What makes one form of iron or steel different from another? Why are some very hard and brittle while others are relatively soft and malleable (easy to work)? Peer at the internal structure of iron or steel under an electron microscope and you'll see that the answer largely boils down to how much carbon the iron contains and how it's distributed. Iron and steel consist of grains made of different kinds of iron and carbon, some of which are hard, while others are soft. When the harder kinds predominate, you get a hard and brittle material; when there are more softer kinds in between, the material can bend and flex so you can work and shape it more easily.\\n?\\nThe compounds inside iron and steel include some or all of the following:\\nFerrite: Relatively pure iron with tiny amounts of carbon that is soft and easy to shape. Gives iron its magnetic property.\\nCementite (iron carbide): Iron with much more carbon (and sometimes other elements) that is very hard and brittle. Essentially behaves like a ceramic material.\\nGraphite: Pure carbon crystals, which make iron alloys hard and brittle.\\nPearlite: A mixture made of alternate layers of ferrite and cementite that looks like mother of pearl under a microscope (hence the name \\\"pearlite\\\").\\nAustenite: An alloy of iron and carbon present in steel heated to high temperatures.\\nMartensite: Similar to ferrite but much harder.\\nDifferent types of iron and steel contain different amounts of these ingredients arranged in varying crystalline structures. Making iron alloys or steel by one method or another will change the relative amounts of the ingredients, altering its properties. Treating steel in different ways after it's made changes its physical properties by altering its internal crystalline structure. For example, heat-treating steel changes austenite inside it into martensite, making its internal structure very much harder. Hammering and rolling steel breaks up crystals of graphite and other impurities lurking inside it, closes up any gaps that could lead to weaknesses, and generally produces a more regular crystalline structure.\\nWhat is steel used for?\\nSteel is one of the most versatile materials, used in everything from jet engines to surgical instruments and from table knives to machine tools. Major consumers of steel include the automobile and shipbuilding industries, the construction industry, producers of food cans, and manufacturers of electrical appliances.\\nPhoto: The inner steel skeleton of a building under construction. Many buildings are \\\"quietly\\\" supported by a secret inner structure like this that becomes invisible once they're complete.\\nA brief history of iron and steel\\n4000 BCE: Iron is first used for ornaments and decoration, probably in the Middle East.\\n2500 BCE: Iron is used on a large scale for the first time by the Hittites, in a region now occupied by Turkey and Syria.\\n1200 BCE: Wrought iron (similar to steel) is developed.\\n1000 BCE: Iron Age begins: iron is widely used for making tools and weapons in many parts of the world.\\n200 BCE: Cast-iron objects are produced in China.\\n300BCE–400CE: First steel furnaces used in Africa, India, and China.\\n500–1000 CE: Blacksmiths make many important iron goods including weapons, plows, and horseshoes.\\n700: An efficient iron-making furnace called the Catalan forge is developed in Spain.\\n1200–1500: Blast furnaces powered by waterwheels become popular.\\n1709: Abraham Darby first uses coke (a type of coal) to make pig iron in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire in England's Midlands. His grandson, Abraham Darby III, uses cast iron to make a famous iron bridge at a place now called \\\"Ironbridge,\\\" widely considered the heart of the English Industrial Revolution.\\n1856: Henry Bessemer announces his invention of the Bessemer converter, a basic oxygen furnace that can convert iron to steel in very large, commercial quantities.\\n1861: The brothers William and Frederick Siemens develop the open-hearth furnace\\n1879: William Siemens invents the electric furnace.\\n1954: Modern basic oxygen process is invented.\\nMetals\\nOn other websites\\nUSGS Minerals Information: Iron and steel : Current statistics and other information about US and worldwide iron and steel production.\\nAmerican Iron and Steel Institute : Leading US trade organization. Website contains some simple background information about how we use steel today.\\nAssociation for Iron & Steel Technology : Quite detailed background, though some sections of the site are for members only.\\nBooks\\nGeneral books for older readers\\nDreams of Iron and Steel by Deborah Cadbury. HarperCollins, 2004. Surveys seven \\\"wonders of the modern world\\\" made possible by iron and steel technology, including the Panama Canal, the London sewers, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Hoover Dam.\\nStuff Matters by Mark Miodownik. Penguin, 2014. A friendly introduction to essential everyday materials. Steel is covering in Chapter 1, \\\"Indomitable.\\\"\",\n \"Beer Stein Article – “Metal Arts Glossary”\\n... white metallic element used chiefly in alloys such as Britannia Metal. ... Britannia Metal — A silver-white alloy composed largely of tin ... mainly found on ...\\nBeer Stein Article � �Metal Arts Glossary�\\nMetal Arts Glossary*\\nCompiled by Stephen L. Smith\\nAcanthus � An herbaceous plant whose stylized leaves have been a common ornamental motif in eastern European decorative arts.\\nAjoure � Areas of silver in which the background or designs have been entirely cut out of the metal, creating openwork decoration. Also called �pierced� work.\\nAlloy � A substance composed of two or more metals intimately united, usually intermixed when molten.\\nAlpacca � German silver or nickel silver, synonymous trade names; an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc.\\nAnnealing � Reheating silver to keep it malleable while it is being worked.\\nAntimony � A natural metal; a brittle, lustrous, white metallic element used chiefly in alloys such as Britannia Metal.\\nApocryphal � Classical term for a fake piece.\\nArmorial(s) � Coat(s) of Arms engraved on the vessel. The direction of the line or pattern of the engraving indicates the color in the original Arms.\\nAssayer � The person who determines and verifies the amount of gold or silver in an alloyed vessel. All Russian drinking vessels normally have an assay mark stamped on them in addition to other required marks.\\nAssay Mark � The mark stamped into the vessel indicating the assay test was performed and approved.\\nBaluster � A shape (e.g., of old measures) in which the curved outline broadens above the foot and narrows towards the neck.\\nBase Metal � An alloy or metal of comparatively low value to which a coating or plating is normally applied.\\nBiedermeier � A style fashionable c. 1820-1850 in Austria and Germany.\\nBismuth � A brittle natural metal used in alloys to strengthen a softer metal.\\nBleeding � The technical term applied to pieces of silver-plate where the copper base is exposed, especially Old Sheffield, Plate.\\nBodenrosette (Pewter) � A quality mark usually found on the base of a holloware vessel in Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, Eastern France and Germany.\\nBrass � An alloy of copper and zinc.\\nBright-cut Engraving � A form of engraving popular towards the end of the 18th century, which burnishes one side of the cut while picking out the silver with a beveled edge on the other side.\\nBritannia Metal � A silver-white alloy composed largely of tin hardened with copper and antimony. Closely akin to pewter, but differing in the higher proportion of tin. The addition of antimony and the omission of lead results in a more silvery appearance than pewter. It often also contains a small quantity of zinc and bismuth. A common proportion is 140 parts of tin, three of copper and ten of antimony. Popular as a base for silver-plating.\\nBritannia Standard � Silver of this standard is 95.8 percent pure, with 4.2 percent alloy. The Britannia standard replaced the sterling standard in England in 1697 and remained in mandatory use there until 1720.\\nBronze � An alloy consisting chiefly of copper and tin.\\nBurin � A pointed steel cutting tool used in engraving or in cutting stone.\\nButler�s Finish � Satin finish produced by a revolving wheel of wire which makes many tiny scratches, giving the article a dull appearance.\\nBurnishing � Essentially a polishing process in which the rounded edges and point of a metal blade set in a wooden handle are used to compact and smooth the surface of a formed silver object, or to brighten the dull surface of cast silver.\\nCaryatid � Female figure used as a support, as in architecture, or in a handle.\\nCasting � A method of shaping an object by melting the metal and pouring it into a specially prepared mold. On cooling, the metal retains the shape of the mold.\\nCast Chasing � An ancient method of producing small parts, such as feet, handles or finials. An exact model of the required part is made in a soft material, from which an impression is taken in two halves, forming a mold when clamped together, into which molten silver can be poured.\\nChasing � The decoration of silver by the use of punches, removing no silver in the process.\\nChinoiserie � Decoration in the Chinese style, popular throughout Europe, particularly France: (1) Embossing with Chinese figures in the Dutch style; (2) Linear decoration in flat chasing, exclusive to England, c. 1680-1690 (referred to as Chinoiserie throughout, all else being �in the Chinese style�); (3) Repousse Rococo decoration using Chinese motifs, mainly found on objects concerned with tea, c. 1750.\\nCloissone � Enameling by melting the frit into areas defined by wire soldered to the surface being decorated.\\nCoin � By 1830, COIN, PURE COIN, DOLLAR, STANDARD, PREMIUM or the letters C or D were used to indicate 900/1000 parts of silver. (Some lesser amounts such as .800 were also considered coin).\\nCopper � One of the true metals, mostly used in an alloy for vessels, but sometimes found lined with tin.\\nC-scroll � Usually applied to the shape of a handle in the form of the letter C; also called �single scroll�.\\nCut Card Work � Flat sections of very thin silver, cut out to a simple pattern such as foliage, and soldered on to the surface of the object to be decorated. Brass cut card work is sometimes found on pewter steins.\\nDate � The date included in the maker�s mark in many countries either indicates the date of the legislation under which the piece was marked, or it records the date of the master�s entry into a guild. Sometimes, however, succeeding generations of a family continued to use the earlier dates of their ancestor�s admission, as if to say �Established since...�. The date does not show the year in which the piece was made. Pewter was generally not marked with date letters in the same way as silver pieces were marked (Scandinavia is an exception).\\nDolphin � The sea dolphin used as a sculptured or carved motif. Very popular in Flanders (Belgium) and Denmark.\\nDouble-scroll � A sinuous line of S-shape, or composed of reverse curves, used frequently in the design of handles.\\nDrum � The section of the vessel between the lid and the base; the main body of a vessel.\\nEdelzinn � Display pewter cast in relief; used since the 19th century to describe German and French relief pewter of the 16th and 17th centuries.\\nElectroplating � The application of a pure silver coating to otherwise finished articles, by the process of electrolysis. Perfected by Elkington Co., c. 1840.\\nElectrotype � A copy of an art object produced by electroplating a wax impression. Used in the nineteenth century to reproduce antique objects.\\nEmbossing � Similar to repousse in appearance, but used mainly to create relief designs achieved in one action, such as those impressed by a shaped metal die.\\nEnglisch Zinn (Pewter) � Metal purified to English standards, or using English tin. See also �Feinzinn�.\\nEngraving � Line decoration cut by hand into the surface from the front. Used since primitive times, skill and delicacy of touch are of extreme importance. Now often mistakenly called �etching�.\\nEPC � Electroplate on copper.\\nEPBM � Electroplate on Britannia metal.\\nEPNS � Electroplate on nickel silver.\\nEPWM � Electroplate on white metal.\\nEtching � Surface decoration bitten-in with acid, producing a different type bite than engraving.\\nCopper stein, 1700s; pewter stein, early 1700s; silver plated pass cup with bone handles, late 1800s.\\nFaux � Literally false, or fake as in �faux-cut card work around the base.� See also �Apocryphal�.\\nFeinzinn � High quality pewter.\\nFiligree � Fine silver, gold or silver-gilt wires twisted and built up in curvilinear designs kept in place with solder applied at points of contact.\\nFinial � Topmost feature of a piece, or centering the lid of a measure or flagon. Usually cast and often figural.\\nFlat Chasing � Chasing in very low relief worked from the front, pushing the metal aside in line drawing, giving a less sharply defined, but much more positive, outline than engraving. Always visible from the back.\\nFluting � A surface decoration composed of a series of parallel, usually vertical, concave channels. Derived from classical architecture, fluting was used to ornament the shafts of columns and pilasters.\\nFrit � A mixture of previously made glass ground into a powder and mixed with oxides and oil to give enamel its glass base. Used in a paste form in Cloissone.\\nFusion � An act or operation of melting, as in the fusion of metals. Usually accomplished by the application of intense heat.\\nGadrooning � A surface decoration composed of a series of parallel, smooth, rounded ridges juxtaposed vertically, or sometimes set diagonally or in a swirling pattern. In appearance, gadrooning is the opposite of fluting.\\nGerman Silver � A silver-white alloy consisting principally of copper, zinc and nickel. During World War I, this name was dropped by many in favor of the term nickel silver.\\nGilding � The application of a gold color to silver either: (1) by melting gold with mercury and painting it onto the surface with a brush, before removing the mercury by evaporation under heat, causing the two metals to fuse; (2) by soaking a linen rag in a solution of chloride of gold, burning it and rubbing the ashes onto the silver, which adhere; or (3) by modem electrolysis.\\nGold Plating � The covering of an article with gold by electrolysis.\\nGrotesques � Fanciful and intricate designs loosely incorporating human figures, sphinxes, animals, foliage, etc., derived in the 16th century from Roman originals.\\nHallmark � Used for both silver and pewter vessels. See �Maker�s Mark�.\\nHolloware � A general term for articles in the form of hollow vessels, such as mugs, steins, flagons, ewers, teapots, coffeepots, bowls and pitchers.\\nHousemark � On pewter, a non-heraldic device stamped or engraved to signify ownership.\\nKnop � An abrupt widening in the middle of the stem of a chalice or cup, usually global or egg-shaped.\\nLimoges � Enamel painted on metal, covering the surface.\\nMartele � The French term for �hammered�, used to describe the decorative effect of the honeycomb-patterned facets left on an object by the planishing hammer. This surface was favored in the second half of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries by silversmiths who wanted to emphasize the impression of handwork.\\nMaker�s Mark � The maker�s touchmark that acknowledges responsibility for his work. Usually in the form of a cartouche bearing initials or name. In English-speaking countries, it is called a Hallmark. See also �Date�.\\nMatting � A decorative effect created by impressing the surface of the silver article with the point of a tool cut with one of a variety of hatched designs or a series of fine dots. The technique is used to break up the shiny surface of an object by providing contrasting matted areas.\\nNickel Silver � An alloy of nickel, copper and zinc.\\nNiello � A black alloy of silver, copper, lead and sulphur used to fill in engraving, giving an inlaid effect after being fired and polished. Used from early times, especially with Russian vessels.\\nN.S. � Nickel silver.\\nO.E.W.S. � Old English Wine Standard; pre-Imperial capacity, pre-1826.\\nOrmolu � Literally, �ground gold�. Ground gold leaf used as a gilt pigment. Also, brass made to look like gold.\\nParcel Gilt � An object that has been partially gilded.\\nPatina � Soft luster caused by tiny scratches and oxidation that come with daily use and age.\\nPewter � An alloy of tin and copper or any alloy of the low-melting-point metals, including tin, lead, bismuth and antimony. The higher the tin content and the lower the lead content, the better the pewter.\\nPierced Work � see �Ajoure�.\\nPit Marks � Minute holes usually found on pewter, lead or other soft metal borders (edges).\\nPlanishing � The use of a hammer with a smooth, slightly convex head to remove the marks left on an object by the raising process. This is a finishing, not a shaping, technique.\\nPlate � Used in England and on the Continent when referring to articles made of precious metals. Used in the United States to mean electro-silverplate.\\nPique-a-jour � Translucent enamel without a metal backing, enclosed within metal frames, giving a stained glass or jewel-like effect.\\nPricking � Tiny dots struck in the surface of a vessel to give detail to an engraved pattern or to render dates, initials and occasionally coats of arms and longer inscriptions.\\nPseudo Hallmarks � Devices used to suggest English hallmarks, but never registered.\\nQuality Marks (Pewter) � Several of the marks which indicated the quality of the pewter in the vessel. These included the Rose and Crown, the Angel Mark, an X sometimes crowned, and others, depending on the country (see �Bodenrosette�) and the decade. All quite confusing but an interesting field of study.\\nRepousse � A method of making patterns or pictures in relief by pushing out the surface of the metal from behind.\\nRolled Plate (R.P.) � See �Sheffield Plate�.\\nSheffield Plate � True Sheffield Plate was produced by fusing, with intense heat, a thin sheet of silver to one or both sides of a thick sheet of copper. The composite metal was then rolled down to the proper thickness for fabrication. Invented by Thomas Boulsover about 1743, it was rampant by the 1760s throughout England and Europe. Most frequently called Old �Sheffield Plate� to distinguish it from electroplate.\\nSilverplate � A base metal, usually either Britannia, nickel silver or copper, coated with a layer of pure silver by electroplating.\\nSkirt Base � Chiefly on flagons and tankards, flaring outward to raise the body from table level.\\nSoldering � The method by which separately-made silver parts are joined together, using an alloy that will melt at a lower temperature than silver, thereby melting when applied to hot silver during soldering. A hard alloy of silver and zinc is now generally used.\\nSpinning � The production of hollow wares on a spinning lathe by means of forcing a disc of rotating silver, Britannia or other metal up around a previously hand-turned hardwood head, with a long-handled steel-headed tool, until it has taken its likeness. Known since ancient times, but popular since the early 19th century. Used in later Old Sheffield Plate vessels which are seamless.\\nStamping � The mechanical production (since c. 1820) of ready-made parts in quantity, complete with their decoration, by the use of hard steel dies cut in reverse to the required pattern. Stamped borders, strapwork, etc., used from the 16th century, were hand-hammered from the back, also using hand-cut dies.\\nSterling Silver � 925/1000 fine, with 75/1000 of added metal, usually copper, to give it strength and stiffness. This is the standard set by the United States Government in the Stamping Act of 1906, and any article stamped �sterling� is supposed to be of assured quality.\\nTouchmark � an impressed mark; see �Maker�s Mark�.\\nTown Mark � The mark assigned to a city and applied as a quasi-hallmark to denote the location of manufacture, usually a coat of arms, devise or seal of the city.\\nTulip-shape � Baluster-shaped; usually applied to the shape of English mugs and tankards of the 1700s and 1800s.\\nVerification Marks (Pewter) � Found on both British and French vessels. The stamped marks indicate the vessel(s) so stamped hold(s) the amount of liquid marked on the vessel; e.g., �pint�.\\nVermeil � Gold-plating process developed in France in the mid-1700s. France banned production of vermeil early in the 19th century because the process involved the use of mercury. Present-day vermeil is produced by a safe electrolytic process.\\nWhite Metal � An alloy usually containing two or more of the following elements: tin, copper, lead, antimony and bismuth. The color depends on whether lead or tin predominates. The more tin the whiter the color.\\nWrigglework � Zigzag engraving, achieved by moving the burin in a rocking movement; or a roulette, or wheel, with a finely-crimped edge. Popular in the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, especially on pewter.\\n__________\",\n \"Tire.txt\\nTire\\nA tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped vehicle component that covers the wheel's rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, provide traction between the vehicle and the road while providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock.\\n\\nThe materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, the first versions of tires were simply bands of metal fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Early rubber tires were solid (not pneumatic). Today, the majority of tires are pneumatic inflatable structures, comprising a doughnut-shaped body of cords and wires encased in rubber and generally filled with compressed air to form an inflatable cushion. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are still used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber (or other polymer) tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers, and wheelbarrows.\\n\\nEtymology and spelling\\n\\nHistorically, the spelling was \\\"tire\\\" and is of French origin, which comes from the word tirer, to pull. The reason for this naming is that originally \\\"tire\\\" referred to iron hoops or thick wires bound to carriage wheels. In French blacksmithing the word for a drawn iron rod is a tirer, or pull. The same word was often used for any metal drawing or rolling process. In an article in the London Magazine/Intelligencer of 1853 \\\"The Utility of Broad Wheels,\\\" the author explains that the common practice was to bend two rods, called \\\"tires\\\", into hoops and bind them to the wheel, but it is preferable to use an iron band, called a \\\"broad wheel\\\" rather than the rods, because as the rods wear they bite into the wheel. Another early mention of a tire in English is in The Scots Magazine, Volume 15 By James Boswell (1753).\\n\\nAnother etymology of \\\"tire\\\" is provided by Online Etymology Dictionary, essentially that the word is a short form of \\\"attire,\\\" and that a wheel with a tire is a dressed wheel. Some other etymologists may share this view.\\n\\nThe spelling tyre does not appear until the 1840s when the English began shrink fitting railway car wheels with malleable iron. Nevertheless, traditional publishers continued using tire. The Times newspaper in Britain was still using tire as late as 1905. The spelling tyre, however, began to be commonly used in the 19th century for pneumatic tires in the UK. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica states that \\\"[t]he spelling 'tyre' is not now accepted by the best English authorities, and is unrecognized in the US\\\", while Fowler's Modern English Usage of 1926 says that \\\"there is nothing to be said for 'tyre', which is etymologically wrong, as well as needlessly divergent from our own [sc. British] older & the present American usage\\\". However, over the course of the 20th century tyre became established as the standard British spelling.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nThe earliest tires were bands of leather, then iron, (later steel), placed on wooden wheels, used on carts and wagons. The tire would be heated in a forge fire, placed over the wheel and quenched, causing the metal to contract and fit tightly on the wheel. A skilled worker, known as a wheelwright, carried out this work. The outer ring served to \\\"tie\\\" the wheel segments together for use, providing also a wear-resistant surface to the perimeter of the wheel. The word \\\"tire\\\" thus emerged as a variant spelling to refer to the metal bands used to tie wheels.\\n\\nThe first patent for what appears to be a standard pneumatic tire appeared in 1847 lodged by the Scots inventor Robert William Thomson. However, this never went into production. The first practical pneumatic tire was made in 1888Dunlop believed he first thought of the pneumatic tire about October 1887 for his son Johnnie's tricycle, in May Street, Belfast by Scots-born John Boyd Dunlop, proprietor of one of Ireland's most prosperous veterinary practices. It was an effort to prevent the headaches his 10-year-old son was given by jarring while riding on rough pavements. His doctor, John, later Sir John Fagan, had prescribed cycling as an exercise for the boy and, a regular visitor, Fagan participated in the development of the first pneumatic schemes. In Dunlop's tire patent specification dated 31 October 1888 his interest is only in its use in cycles and light vehicles. In September 1890 he was made aware of an earlier development but the company kept the information to itself.Sir Arthur Du Cros, Bt, Wheels of Fortune, a salute to pioneers, Chapman & Hall, London 1938\\n\\nIn 1892 Dunlop's patent was declared invalid because of prior art by forgotten fellow Scot Robert William Thomson of London (patents London 1845, France 1846, USA 1847), although Dunlop is credited with \\\"realizing rubber could withstand the wear and tear of being a tire while retaining its resilience\\\". John Boyd Dunlop and Harvey du Cros together worked through the ensuing considerable difficulties. They employed inventor Charles Kingston Welch and also acquired other rights and patents which allowed them some limited protection of their Pneumatic Tyre business's position. Pneumatic Tyre would become Dunlop Rubber and Dunlop Tyres. The development of this technology hinged on myriad engineering advances.\\n\\nThe vulcanization of natural rubber which he patented in 1844 is credited to Charles Goodyear and Robert William Thomson.\\n\\nSynthetic rubbers were invented in the laboratories of Bayer in the 1920s.\\n\\nIn 1946, Michelin developed the radial tire method of construction. Michelin had bought the bankrupt Citroën automobile company in 1934, so it was able to fit this new technology immediately. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this technology quickly spread throughout Europe and Asia. In the U.S., the outdated bias-ply tire construction persisted, with market share of 87% as late as 1967. Delay was caused by tire and automobile manufacturers in America \\\"concerned about transition costs.\\\" In 1968, Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine, acknowledged the superiority of radial construction, setting off a rapid decline in Michelin's competitor technology. Even in the U.S., the radial tire now has a market share of 100%.\\n\\nToday, over 1 billion tires are produced annually in over 400 tire factories, see List of tire companies.\\n\\nWheel support\\n\\nThere are two aspects to how pneumatic tires support the rim of the wheel on which they are mounted. First, tension in the cords pull on the bead uniformly around the wheel, except where it is reduced above the contact patch. Second, the bead transfers that net force to the rim.\\n\\nAir pressure, via the ply cords, exerts tensile force on the entire bead surrounding the wheel rim on which the tire is mounted, pulling outward in a 360 degree pattern. Thus the bead must have high tensile strength. With no force applied to the outer tread, the bead is pulled equally in all directions, thus no additional net force is applied to the tire bead and wheel rim. However, when the tread is pushed inward on one side, this releases some pressure on the corresponding sidewall ply pulling on the bead. Yet the sidewall ply on the other side continues to pull the bead in the opposite direction. Thus the still fully tensioned sidewall ply pulls the tire bead and wheel rim in the direction opposite to the tread displacement and matching the total force applied to push the tread inward.\\n\\nThis sidewall ply to bead tension support was a big reason for older cross-ply cord tire construction using the materials available in the early 19th century. The cross-ply cord arrangement orients the cords to more directly support the bead & wheel rim (like a sling: bead to cord and around below the tread back to the opposite bead, both ways, thus crossing plies of cords). \\nHowever, with improved combinations of cord, bead, rim materials and manufacturing techniques, combined with ongoing focus and research on tire efficiency and durability, it became both feasible and desirable to manufacture radial-ply cord tires, which, for many applications (despite higher costs), outperform and more than outlast (reliable-usual-service-life/cost ratio) similar cross-ply cord tire designs by (a) facilitating a flatter contact pattern with more evenly distributed pressure on the momentarily stationary area of contact between tread & ground and (b) lower operating costs over time: due to reduced tire temperature, decreased rolling resistance, lower puncture rates, greater longevity, etc. \\n\\nManufacturing\\n\\nPneumatic tires are manufactured in about 450 tire factories around the world. Over one billion tires are manufactured annually, making the tire industry a major consumer of natural rubber. It is estimated that by 2015, 1.72 billion tires are expected to be sold globally.[http://www.prweb.com/releases/tires_OEM/replacement_tire/prweb4545704.htm Global Tire Shipments to Reach 1.7 Billion Units by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc] Tire production starts with bulk raw materials such as rubber, carbon black, and chemicals and produces numerous specialized components that are assembled and cured. Many kinds of rubber are used, the most common being styrene-butadiene copolymer. The article Tire manufacturing describes the components assembled to make a tire, the various materials used, the manufacturing processes and machinery, and the overall business model.\\n\\nIn 2004, $80 billion of tires were sold worldwide,[http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-295707/Global-tire-industry-hits-80.html Global tire industry hits $80 billion. | Goliath Business News] in 2010 it was $140 billion (approximately 34% growth adjusting for inflation).\\n\\nThe top five tire manufacturing companies by revenue are Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, and Pirelli.[http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Market-Report/research-report-on-worlds-top-50-tire-enterprises,-2010-2011-454329.asp Research Report on World's Top 50 Tire Enterprises, 2010-2011 Market Research Report - 02 December 2010]\\n\\nMaterials\\n\\nThe materials of modern pneumatic tires can be divided into two groups, the cords that make up the ply and the elastomer which encases them.\\n\\nCords\\n\\nThe cords, which form the ply and bead and provide the tensile strength necessary to contain the inflation pressure, can be composed of steel, natural fibers such as cotton or silk, or synthetic fibers such as nylon or kevlar.\\n\\nElastomer\\n\\nThe elastomer, which forms the tread and encases the cords to protect them from abrasion and hold them in place, is\\na key component of pneumatic tire design. It can be composed of various\\ncomposites of rubber material – the most common being styrene-butadiene\\ncopolymer - with other chemical compound such as silica and carbon black.\\n\\nRolling Resistance \\n\\nOptimizing rolling resistance in the elastomer material is a key challenge for reducing fuel consumption in the transportation sector. It is estimated that passenger vehicles consume approximately 5~15% of its fuel to overcome rolling resistance, while the estimate is understood to be higher for heavy trucks. However, there is a trade-off between rolling resistance and wet traction and grip: while low rolling resistance can be achieved by reducing the viscoelastic properties of the rubber compound (low tangent (δ)), it comes at the cost of wet traction and grip, which requires hysteresis and energy dissipation (high tangent (δ)). A low tangent (δ) value at 60 °C is used as an indicator of low rolling resistance, while a high tangent (δ) value at 0 °C is used as an indicator of high wet traction. Designing an elastomer material that can achieve both high wet traction and low rolling resistance is key in achieving safety and fuel efficiency in the transportation sector.\\n\\nThe most common elastomer material used today is a styrene-butadiene copolymer. It combines butadiene, which is a highly rubbery polymer (Tg -100 °C) that has low hysteresis and thus offers good rolling resistance, with styrene, which is a highly glass polymer (Tg \\n 100 °C) that has high hysteresis and thus offers good wet grip properties in addition to wear resistance. Therefore, the ratio the two polymers in the styrene-butadiene\\ncopolymer is considered key in determining the glass transition temperature of the material, which is correlated to its grip and resistance properties. \\n\\nMaterials science research efforts are underway to improve such properties of elastomers. For instance, this involves modifying the microstructure of the copolymer (for instance, using solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) to control the addition of vinyl butadiene units) as well as the macrostructure of the polymer (such as the width of molecular weight distribution (MWD)). Current investigation also involves looking at the functionalization of the elastomer through the addition of filler materials such as silica and carbon black, as well as testing other nano-fillers such as nanocellulose crystals, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. \\n\\nTrialkoxymercaptoalkyl-silanes are a particularly interesting class of silane bonding agents because of the advantages they afford in reducing both rolling resistance and the emission of volatile substances. \\n\\nComponents\\n\\nA tire carcass is composed of several parts: the tread, bead, sidewall, shoulder, and ply.\\n\\nTread\\n\\nThe tread is the part of the tire that comes in contact with the road surface. The portion that is in contact with the road at a given instant in time is the contact patch. The tread is a thick rubber, or rubber/composite compound formulated to provide an appropriate level of traction that does not wear away too quickly. The tread pattern is characterized by the geometrical shape of the grooves, lugs, voids and sipes. Grooves run circumferentially around the tire, and are needed to channel away water. Lugs are that portion of the tread design that contacts the road surface. Voids are spaces between lugs that allow the lugs to flex and evacuate water. Tread patterns feature non-symmetrical (or non-uniform) lug sizes circumferentially to minimize noise levels at discrete frequencies. Sipes are valleys cut across the tire, usually perpendicular to the grooves, which allow the water from the grooves to escape to the sides in an effort to prevent hydroplaning.\\n\\nTreads are often designed to meet specific product marketing positions. High performance tires have small void ratios to provide more rubber in contact with the road for higher traction, but may be compounded with softer rubber that provides better traction, but wears quickly. Mud and snow (M&S) tires are designed with higher void ratios to channel away rain and mud, while providing better gripping performance.\\n\\nTread lug\\n\\nTread lugs provide the contact surface necessary to provide traction. As the tread lug enters the road contact area, or footprint, it is compressed. As it rotates through the footprint it is deformed circumferentially. As it exits the footprint, it recovers to its original shape. During the deformation and recovery cycle the tire exerts variable forces into the vehicle. These forces are described as Force Variation. \\n\\nTread void\\n\\nTread voids provide space for the lug to flex and deform as it enters and exits the footprint. Voids also provide channels for rainwater, mud, and snow to be channeled away from the footprint. The void ratio is the void area of the tire divided by the entire tread area. Low void areas have high contact area and therefore higher traction on clean, dry pavement.\\n\\nRain groove\\n\\nThe rain groove is a design element of the tread pattern specifically arranged to channel water away from the footprint. Rain grooves are circumferential in most truck tires. Many high performance passenger tires feature rain grooves that are angled from the center toward the sides of the tire. Some tire manufacturers claim that their tread pattern is designed to actively pump water out from under the tire by the action of the tread flexing. This results in a smoother ride in different types of weather.\\n\\nSipe\\n\\nTread lugs often feature small narrow voids, or sipes, that improve the flexibility of the lug to deform as it traverses the footprint area. This reduces shear stress in the lug and reduces heat build up. Testing of identical siped and unsiped tires showed measurable improvements in snow traction and ice braking performance, however diminishing and extending braking distances on wet and dry pavement by a few feet on siped tires. Off-road tire enthusiasts have been siping tires for years for greater traction, as many manufacturers now offer already siped off-road-tires.\\n\\nWear bar\\n\\nWear bars (or wear indicators) are raised features located at the bottom of the tread grooves that indicate the tire has reached its wear limit. When the tread lugs are worn to the point that the wear bars connect across the lugs, the tires are fully worn and should be taken out of service. Most wear bars indicate a remaining tread depth of and are deemed \\\"worn out\\\" at that point. \\n\\nBead\\n\\nThe bead is the part of the tire that contacts the rim on the wheel. The bead is typically reinforced with steel wire and compounded of high strength, low flexibility rubber. The bead seats tightly against the two rims on the wheel to ensure that a tubeless tire holds air without leakage. The bead fit is tight to ensure the tire does not shift circumferentially as the wheel rotates. The width of the rim in relationship to the tire is a factor in the handling characteristics of an automobile, because the rim supports the tire's profile.\\n\\nSidewall\\n\\nThe sidewall is that part of the tire that bridges between the tread and bead. The sidewall is largely rubber but reinforced with fabric or steel cords that provide for tensile strength and flexibility. The sidewall contains air pressure and transmits the torque applied by the drive axle to the tread to create traction but supports little of the weight of the vehicle, as is clear from the total collapse of the tire when punctured. Sidewalls are molded with manufacturer-specific detail, government mandated warning labels, and other consumer information, and sometimes decorative ornamentation, like whitewalls.\\n\\nShoulder\\n\\nThe shoulder is that part of the tire at the edge of the tread as it makes transition to the sidewall.\\n\\nPly\\n\\nPlies are layers of relatively inextensible cords embedded in the rubber to hold its shape by preventing the rubber from stretching in response to the internal pressure. The orientations of the plies play a large role in the performance of the tire and is one of the main ways that tires are categorized.\\n\\nAssociated components\\n\\nSeveral additional components may be required in addition to just the tire to form a functional wheel.\\n\\nWheel\\n\\nTires are mounted onto wheels that most often have integral rims on their outer edges to hold the tire. Automotive wheels are typically made from pressed and welded steel, or a composite of lightweight metal alloys, such as aluminum or magnesium. These alloy wheels may be either cast or forged. The mounted tire and wheel assembly is then bolted to the vehicle's hub. A decorative hubcap and trim ring may be placed over the wheel.\\n\\nRim\\n\\nThe beads of the tire are held on the rim, or the \\\"outer edge\\\" of a wheel. These outer edges are shaped to obtain a proper shape on each side, having a radially cylindrical inclined inner wall on which the tire can be mounted. The wheel's rim must be of the proper design and type to hold the bead of the appropriately sized tire. Tires are mounted on the wheel by forcing its beads into the channel formed by the wheel's inner and outer rims. \\n\\nInner tube\\n\\nMost bicycle tires, many motorcycle tires, and many tires for large vehicles such as buses, heavy trucks, and tractors are designed for use with inner tubes. Inner tubes are torus-shaped balloons made from an impermeable material, such as soft, elastic synthetic rubber, to prevent air leakage. The inner tubes are inserted into the tire and inflated to retain air pressure.\\n\\nLarge inner tubes, which are large inflatable toruses, can be re-used for other purposes, such as swimming and rafting (see swim ring), tubing (recreation), sledding, and skitching. Purpose-built inflatable toruses are also manufactured for these uses, offering choice of colors, fabric covering, handles, decks, and other accessories, and eliminating the protruding valve stem.\\n\\nValve stem\\n\\nThe valve stem is a tube made of metal or rubber, through which the tire is inflated, with a check valve, typically a Schrader valve on automobiles and most bicycle tires, or a Presta valve on high-performance bicycles. Valve stems usually protrude through the wheel for easy access. They mount directly to the rim, in the case of tubeless tires, or are an integral part of the inner tube. The rubber in valve stems eventually degrades, and, in the case of tubeless tires, replacement of the valve stem at regular intervals or with tire replacement reduces the chance of failure. Some may notice that their valve stem is all metal with a nut retaining it (as opposed to the typical rubber stem with brass threads). Most modern passenger vehicles are now required to have a tire pressure monitoring system which usually consists of a valve stem attached to an electronic module. The module is hidden inside and is only visible when the tire has been removed from the wheel.\\n\\nConstruction types\\n\\nBias\\n\\nBias tire (or cross ply) construction utilizes body ply cords that extend diagonally from bead to bead, usually at angles in the range of 30 to 40 degrees, with successive plies laid at opposing angles forming a crisscross pattern to which the tread is applied. The design allows the entire tire body to flex easily, providing the main advantage of this construction, a smooth ride on rough surfaces. This cushioning characteristic also causes the major disadvantages of a bias tire: increased rolling resistance and less control and traction at higher speeds. This outdated technology is still made in limited quantities to supply collector vehicles. It is possible to fit older cars with modern tires, if historical authenticity is not paramount.\\n\\nBelted bias\\n\\nA belted bias tire starts with two or more bias-plies to which stabilizer belts are bonded directly beneath the tread. This construction provides smoother ride that is similar to the bias tire, while lessening rolling resistance because the belts increase tread stiffness. The design was introduced by Armstrong, while Goodyear made it popular with the \\\"Polyglas\\\" trademark tire featuring a polyester carcass with belts of fiberglass. The \\\"belted\\\" tire starts two main plies of polyester, rayon, or nylon annealed as in conventional tires, and then placed on top are circumferential belts at different angles that improve performance compared to non-belted bias tires. The belts may be fiberglass or steel. \\nThis technology was a temporary, not invented here stop-gap, introduced by U.S. manufacturers to forestall the radial tire.\\n\\nRadial\\n\\nRadial tire construction utilizes body ply cords extending from the beads and across the tread so that the cords are laid at approximately right angles to the centerline of the tread, and parallel to each other, as well as stabilizer belts directly beneath the tread. The belts may be cord or steel. The advantages of this construction include longer tread life, better steering control, and lower rolling resistance. Disadvantages of the radial tire include a harder ride at low speeds on rough roads and in the context of off-roading, decreased \\\"self-cleaning\\\" ability and lower grip ability at low speeds. Following the 1968 Consumer Reports announcement of their superiority, radials began an inexorable climb in new car market share, reaching 100% in the 1980s.\\n\\nSolid\\n\\nMany tires used in industrial and commercial applications are non-pneumatic, and are manufactured from solid rubber and plastic compounds via molding operations. Solid tires include those used for lawn mowers, skateboards, golf carts, scooters, and many types of light industrial vehicles, carts, and trailers. One of the most common applications for solid tires is for material handling equipment (forklifts). Such tires are installed by means of a hydraulic tire press.\\n\\nMetal\\n\\nSemi-pneumatic\\n\\nSemi-pneumatic tires have a hollow center, but they are not pressurized. They are light-weight, low-cost, puncture proof, and provide cushioning. These tires often come as a complete assembly with the wheel and even integral ball bearings. They are used on lawn mowers, wheelchairs, and wheelbarrows. They can also be rugged, typically used in industrial applications, and are designed to not pull off their rim under use.\\n\\nTires that are hollow but are not pressurized have also been designed for automotive use, such as the Tweel (a portmanteau of tire and wheel), which is an experimental tire design being developed at Michelin. The outer casing is rubber as in ordinary radial tires, but the interior has special compressible polyurethane springs to contribute to a comfortable ride. Besides the impossibility of going flat, the tires are intended to combine the comfort offered by higher-profile tires (with tall sidewalls) with the resistance to cornering forces offered by low profile tires. They have not yet been delivered for broad market use.\\n\\nAirless\\n\\nSpecifications\\n\\nTire pressure monitoring system\\n\\nTire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are electronic systems that monitor the tire pressures on individual wheels on a vehicle, and alert the driver when the pressure goes below a warning limit. There are several types of designs to monitor tire pressure. Some actually measure the air pressure, and some make indirect measurements, such as gauging when the relative size of the tire changes due to lower air pressure.\\n\\nInflation pressure\\n\\nTires are specified by the vehicle manufacturer with a recommended inflation pressure, which permits safe operation within the specified load rating and vehicle loading. Most tires are stamped with a maximum pressure rating. For passenger vehicles and light trucks, the tires should be inflated to what the vehicle manufacturer recommends, which is usually located on a decal just inside the driver's door or in the vehicle owners handbook. Tires should not generally be inflated to the pressure on the sidewall; this is the maximum pressure, rather than the recommended pressure. \\n\\nInflated tires naturally lose pressure over time. Not all tire-to-rim seals, valve-stem-to-rim seals, and valve seals themselves are perfect. Furthermore, tires are not completely impermeable to air, and so lose pressure over time naturally due to diffusion of molecules through the rubber. Some drivers and stores inflate tires with nitrogen (typically at 95% purity), instead of atmospheric air, which is already 78% nitrogen, in an attempt to keep the tires at the proper inflation pressure longer. The effectiveness of the use of nitrogen vs. air as a means to reduce the rate of pressure loss is baseless, and has been shown to be a bogus marketing gimmick. One study noted a difference (from an initial pressure of 30 psi) for air-filled vs. nitrogen-filled tires. The test showed an average loss of 2.2 for the nitrogen filled tires compared to 3.5 for the air filled tires. However, the statistical significance of the test was not given as no t-test nor p values were reported. And they do note that the loss in both the nitrogen filled tires and the air filled tires mean that tire pressures should be checked regularly.\\n\\nThe tire contact patch is readily changed by both over-and-under inflation. Over-inflation may increase the wear on the center contact patch, and under-inflation will cause a concave tread, resulting in less center contact, though the overall contact patch will still be larger. Most modern tires will wear evenly at high tire pressures, but will degrade prematurely if underinflated. An increased tire pressure may decrease rolling resistance, and may also result in shorter stopping distances If tire pressure is too low, the tire contact patch is greatly increased. This increases rolling resistance, tire flexing, and friction between the road and tire. Under-inflation can lead to tire overheating, premature tread wear, and tread separation in severe cases. \\n\\nLoad rating\\n\\nTires are specified by the manufacturer with a maximum load rating. Loads exceeding the rating can result in unsafe conditions that can lead to steering instability and even rupture. For a table of load ratings, see tire code.\\n\\nSpeed rating\\n\\nThe speed rating denotes the maximum speed at which a tire is designed to be operated. For passenger vehicles these ratings range from 160 to. For a table of speed ratings, see tire code.\\n\\nService rating\\n\\nTires (especially in the U.S.) are often given service ratings, mainly used on bus and truck tires. Some ratings are for long haul, and some for stop-start multi-drop type work. Tires designed to run 500 mi or more per day carrying heavy loads require special specifications.\\n\\nTreadwear rating\\n\\nThe treadwear rating or treadwear grade is how long the tire manufacturers expect the tire to last. A Course Monitoring Tire (the standard tire that a test tire will be compared to) has a rating of \\\"100\\\". If a manufacturer assigns a treadwear rating of 200 to a new tire, they are indicating that they expect the new tire to have a useful lifespan that is 200% of the life of a Course Monitoring Tire. The \\\"test tires\\\" are all manufacturer-dependent. Brand A's rating of 500 is not necessarily going to offer drivers the same mileage rating as Brand B's tire of the same rating. The testing is non-regulated and can vary greatly. Treadwear ratings are only useful for comparing Brand A's entire lineup against itself.\\nTread wear, also known as tire wear, is caused by friction between the tire and the road surface. Government legal standards prescribe the minimum allowable tread depth for safe operation.\\n\\nRotation\\n\\nTires may exhibit irregular wear patterns once installed on a vehicle and partially worn. Front-wheel drive vehicles tend to wear the front tires at a greater rate compared to the rear tires. Tire rotation is moving the tires to different car positions, such as front-to-rear, in order to even out the wear, with the objective of extending the life of the tire.\\n\\nWheel alignment\\n\\nWhen mounted on the vehicle, the wheel and tire may not be perfectly aligned to the direction of travel, and therefore may exhibit irregular wear. If the discrepancy in alignment is large, then the irregular wear will become substantial if left uncorrected.\\n\\nWheel alignment is the procedure for checking and correcting this condition through adjustment of camber, caster and toe angles. The adjustment of the angles should be done as per the OEM specifications.\\n\\nRetread\\n\\nTires that are fully worn can be re-manufactured to replace the worn tread. This is known as retreading or recapping, a process of buffing away the worn tread and applying a new tread. Retreading is economical for truck tires because the cost of replacing the tread is less than the price of a new tire. Retreading passenger tires is less economical because the cost of retreading is high compared to the price of new cheap tires, but favorable compared to high-end brands.\\n\\nWorn tires can be retreaded by two methods, the mold or hot cure method and the pre-cure or cold one. The mold cure method involves the application of raw rubber on the previously buffed and prepared casing, which is later cured in matrices. During the curing period, vulcanization takes place and the raw rubber bonds to the casing, taking the tread shape of the matrix. On the other hand, the pre-cure method involves the application of a ready-made tread band on the buffed and prepared casing, which later is cured in an autoclave so that vulcanization can occur.\\n\\nDuring the retreading process, retread technicians must ensure the casing is in the best condition possible to minimize the possibility of a casing failure. Casings with problems such as capped tread, tread separation, irreparable cuts, corroded belts or sidewall damage, or any run-flat or skidded tires, will be rejected.\\n\\nIn most situations, retread tires can be driven under the same conditions and at the same speeds as new tires with no loss in safety or comfort. The percentage of retread failures should be about the same as for new tire failures, but many drivers, including truckers, are guilty of not maintaining proper air pressure on a regular basis, and, if a tire is abused (overloaded, under inflated, or mismatched to the other tire on a set of duals), then that tire (new or recapped) will fail. \\n\\nMany commercial trucking companies put retreads only on trailers, using only new tires on their steering and drive wheels. This procedure increases the driver's chance of maintaining control in case of problems with a retreaded tire.\\n\\nPerformance characteristics\\n\\nThe interaction of a tire with the pavement is a very complex phenomenon. Many of the details are modeled in Pacejka's Magic Formula. Some are explained below.\\n\\nBalance\\n\\nWhen a wheel and tire rotate, they exert a centrifugal force on the axle that depends on the location of their center of mass and the orientation of their moment of inertia. This is referred to as balance, imbalance, or unbalance. Tires are checked at the point of manufacture for excessive static imbalance and dynamic imbalance using automatic tire balance machines. Tires are checked again in the auto assembly plant or tire retail shop after mounting the tire to the wheel. Assemblies that exhibit excessive imbalance are corrected by applying balance weights to the wheels to counteract the tire/wheel imbalance.\\n\\nTo facilitate proper balancing, most high performance tire manufacturers place red and yellow marks on the sidewalls to enable the best possible match-mounting of the tire/wheel assembly. There are two methods of match-mounting high performance tire to wheel assemblies using these red (uniformity) or yellow (weight) marks.[http://www.yokohamatire.com/utmatch.asp Yokohama]\\n\\nCamber thrust\\n\\nCamber thrust and camber force are the force generated perpendicular to the direction of travel of a rolling tire due to its camber angle and finite contact patch.\\n\\nCentrifugal growth\\n\\nA tire rotating at higher speeds tends to develop a larger diameter, due to centrifugal forces that force the tread rubber away from the axis of rotation. This may cause speedometer error. As the tire diameter grows, the tire width decreases. This centrifugal growth can cause rubbing of the tire against the vehicle at high speeds. Motorcycle tires are often designed with reinforcements aimed at minimizing centrifugal growth.\\n\\nCircle of forces\\n\\nThe circle of forces, traction circle, friction circle, or friction ellipse is a useful way to think about the dynamic interaction between a vehicle's tire and the road surface.\\n\\nContact patch\\n\\nThe contact patch, or footprint, of the tire, is the area of the tread that is in contact with the road surface. This area transmits forces between the tire and the road via friction. The length-to-width ratio of the contact patch affects steering and cornering behavior.\\n\\nCornering force\\n\\nCornering force or side force is the lateral (i.e. parallel to the road surface) force produced by a vehicle tire during cornering.\\n\\nDry traction\\n\\nDry traction is measure of the tire's ability to deliver traction, or grip, under dry conditions. Dry traction is a function of the tackiness of the rubber compound.\\n\\nForce variation\\n\\nThe tire tread and sidewall elements undergo deformation and recovery as they enter and exit the footprint. Since the rubber is elastomeric, it is deformed during this cycle. As the rubber deforms and recovers, it imparts cyclical forces into the vehicle. These variations are collectively referred to as tire uniformity. Tire uniformity is characterized by radial force variation (RFV), lateral force variation (LFV) and tangential force variation. Radial and lateral force variation is measured on a force variation machine at the end of the manufacturing process. Tires outside the specified limits for RFV and LFV are rejected. Geometric parameters, including radial runout, lateral runout, and sidewall bulge, are measured using a tire uniformity machine at the tire factory at the end of the manufacturing process as a quality check. In the late 1990s, Hunter Engineering introduced the GSP9700 Road Force balancer, which is equipped with a load roller similar to the force variation machine used at the factory to grade tire uniformity. This machine can find the best position for the tire on a given wheel so that the over-all assembly is as round as possible.\\n\\nLoad sensitivity\\n\\nLoad sensitivity is the behaviour of tires under load. Conventional pneumatic tires do not behave as classical friction theory would suggest. Namely, the load sensitivity of most real tires in their typical operating range is such that the coefficient of friction decreases as the vertical load, Fz, increases.\\n\\nPneumatic trail\\n\\nPneumatic trail of a tire is the trail-like effect generated by compliant tires rolling on a hard surface and subject to side loads, as in a turn. More technically, it is the distance that the resultant force of side-slip occurs behind the geometric center of the contact patch.\\n\\nRelaxation length\\n\\nRelaxation length is the delay between when a slip angle is introduced and when the cornering force reaches its steady-state value.\\n\\nRolling resistance\\n\\nRolling resistance is the resistance to rolling caused by deformation of the tire in contact with the road surface. As the tire rolls, tread enters the contact area and is deformed flat to conform to the roadway. The energy required to make the deformation depends on the inflation pressure, rotating speed, and numerous physical properties of the tire structure, such as spring force and stiffness. Tire makers seek lower rolling resistance tire constructions to improve fuel economy in cars and especially trucks, where rolling resistance accounts for a high proportion of fuel consumption.\\n\\nPneumatic tires also have a much lower rolling resistance than solid tires. Because the internal air pressure acts in all directions, a pneumatic tire is able to \\\"absorb\\\" bumps in the road as it rolls over them without experiencing a reaction force opposite to the direction of travel, as is the case with a solid (or foam-filled) tire. The difference between the rolling resistance of a pneumatic and solid tire is easily felt when propelling wheelchairs or baby buggies fitted with either type so long as the terrain has a significant roughness in relation to the wheel diameter.\\n\\nSelf aligning torque\\n\\nSelf-aligning torque, also known as the aligning torque, SAT or Mz, is the torque that a tire creates as it rolls along that tends to steer it, i.e. rotate it around its vertical axis.\\n\\nSlip angle\\n\\nSlip angle or sideslip angle is the angle between a rolling wheel's actual direction of travel and the direction towards which it is pointing (i.e., the angle of the vector sum of wheel translational velocity v_x and sideslip velocity v_y).\\n\\nSpring rate\\n\\nVertical stiffness, or spring rate, is the ratio of vertical force to vertical deflection of the tire, and it contributes to the overall suspension performance of the vehicle. In general, spring rate increases with inflation pressure. \\n\\nStopping distance\\n\\nPerformance-oriented tires have a tread pattern and rubber compounds designed to grip the road surface, and so usually have a slightly shorter stopping distance. However, specific braking tests are necessary for data beyond generalizations.\\n\\nWork load\\n\\nThe work load of a tire is monitored so that it is not put under undue stress, which may lead to its premature failure. Work load is measured in Ton Kilometer Per Hour (TKPH). The measurement's appellation and units are the same. The recent shortage and increasing cost of tires for heavy equipment has made TKPH an important parameter in tire selection and equipment maintenance for the mining industry. For this reason, manufacturers of tires for large earth-moving and mining vehicles assign TKPH ratings to their tires based on their size, construction, tread type, and rubber compound. The rating is based on the weight and speed that the tire can handle without overheating and causing it to deteriorate prematurely. The equivalent measure used in the United States is Ton Mile Per Hour (TMPH).\\n\\nTread wear\\n\\nThere are several types of abnormal tread wear. Poor wheel alignment can cause excessive wear of the innermost or outermost ribs. Gravel roads, rocky terrain, and other rough terrain causes accelerated wear. Over-inflation above the sidewall maximum can cause excessive wear to the center of the tread. Modern tires have steel belts built in to prevent this. Under-inflation causes excessive wear to the outer ribs. Unbalanced wheels can cause uneven tire wear, as the rotation may not be perfectly circular. Tire manufacturers and car companies have mutually established standards for tread wear testing that include measurement parameters for tread loss profile, lug count, and heel-toe wear. See also Work load above.\\n\\nWet traction\\n\\nWet traction is the tire's traction, or grip, under wet conditions. Wet traction is improved by the tread design's ability to channel water out of the tire footprint and reduce hydroplaning. However, tires with a circular cross-section, such as those found on racing bicycles, when properly inflated have a sufficiently small footprint to not be susceptible to hydroplaning. For such tires, it is observed that fully slick tires will give superior traction on both wet and dry pavement. \\n\\nMarkings\\n\\nDOT code\\n\\nIn the United States, the DOT Code is an alphanumeric character sequence molded into the sidewall of the tire for purposes of tire identification. The DOT Code is mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. \\nThe DOT Code is useful in identifying tires in a product recall.\\n\\nThe DOT Code begins with the letters \\\"DOT\\\" followed by a plant code (two numbers or letters) that identifies where it was manufactured. The last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. A three-digit code was used for tires manufactured before 2000. For example, 178 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 8th year of the decade. In this case it means 1988. For tires manufactured in the 1990s, the same code holds true, but there is a little triangle (Δ) after the DOT code. Thus, a tire manufactured in the 17th week of 1998 would have the code 178Δ. In 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code. Same rules apply, so for example, 3003 means the tire was manufactured in the 30th week of 2003.\\n\\nOther numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion.\\n\\nE-mark\\n\\nAll tires sold for road use in Europe after July 1997 must carry an E-mark. The mark itself is either an upper case \\\"E\\\" or lower case \\\"e\\\" – followed by a number in a circle or rectangle, followed by a further number. An (upper case) \\\"E\\\" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of ECE regulation 30. A (lower case) \\\"e\\\" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of Directive 92/23/EEC. The number in the circle or rectangle denotes the country code of the government that granted the type approval. The last number outside the circle or rectangle is the number of the type approval certificate issued for that particular tire size and type.\\n\\nMold serial number\\n\\nTire manufacturers usually embed a mold serial number into the sidewall area of the mold, so that the tire, once molded, can be traced back to the mold of original manufacturer.\\n\\nSize Codes\\n\\nAutomobile tires are described by an alphanumeric code, which is generally molded into the sidewall of the tire. This code specifies the dimensions of the tire, and some of its key limitations, such as load-bearing ability, and maximum speed. Sometimes the inner sidewall contains information not included on the outer sidewall, and vice versa.\\n\\nThe code has grown in complexity over the years, as is evident from the mix of metric and English units, and ad-hoc extensions to lettering and numbering schemes. New automotive tires frequently have ratings for traction, treadwear, and temperature resistance (collectively known as The Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) ratings).\\n\\nMost tires sizes are given using the ISO Metric sizing system. However, some pickup trucks and SUVs use the Light Truck Numeric or Light Truck High Flotation system.\\n\\nVehicle applications\\n\\nTires are classified into several standard types, based on the type of vehicle they serve. Since the manufacturing process, raw materials, and equipment vary according to the tire type, it is common for tire factories to specialize in one or more tire types. In most markets, factories that manufacture passenger and light truck radial tires are separate and distinct from those that make aircraft or off-the-road (OTR) tires.\\n\\nPassenger vehicles and light truck\\n\\nHigh performance\\n\\nHigh performance tires are designed for use at higher speeds, and more often, a more \\\"sporty\\\" driving style. They feature a softer rubber compound for improved traction, especially on high speed cornering. The trade off of this softer rubber is shorter tread life.\\n\\nHigh performance street tires sometimes sacrifice wet weather handling by having shallower water channels to provide more actual rubber tread surface area for dry weather performance. The ability to provide a high level of performance on both wet and dry pavement varies widely among manufacturers, and even among tire models of the same manufacturer. This is an area of active research and development, as well as marketing.\\n\\nMud and snow\\n\\nMud and Snow, (or M+S, or M&S), is a designation applied rather arbitrarily by manufacturers for all-season and winter tires designed to provide improved performance under low temperature conditions, compared to summer tires. The tread compound is usually softer than that used in tires for summer conditions, thus providing better grip on ice and snow, but wears more quickly at higher temperatures. Tires may have well above average numbers of sipes in the tread pattern to grip the ice. There are no traction performance requirements which such a tire has to meet; M&S relates to the percentage of tread void area.\\n\\nDedicated winter tires will bear the \\\"Mountain/Snowflake Pictograph\\\" if designated as a winter/snow tire by the American Society for Testing & Materials. Winter tires will typically also carry the designation MS, M&S, or the words MUD AND SNOW (but see All-season tires, below).\\n\\nSome winter tires are fabricated to allow the optional insertion of metal studs (consisting of a tungsten carbide or other hard material pin embedded in a base of a softer metal) for additional traction on icy roads. \\n\\nThe use of studs is restricted in some countries due to the increased road wear that they cause, with the notable exception of most Nordic and North American jurisdictions, where they are commonly used in colder areas during the winter season. Norway has implemented fees for using studded tires in some urban areas, and there are a few streets in some of the major cities in Sweden where studs are not allowed. In America, studs are typically never used on heavier vehicles (except for some emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks.), but stud tires for heavy vehicles are commonplace in Scandinavia. \\nIce resurfacers also use studded tires.\\nThe upper tier classes of ice racing and rallying mandates the vehicles be equipped with studded tires.\\n\\nOther winter tires rely on factors other than studding for traction on ice, e.g. highly porous or hydrophilic rubber that adheres to the wet film on the ice surface. The best stud-less winter tires offer grip close to that of studded tires during most winter conditions, with the notable exception of blank or polished ice, where they cannot match the performance of studded tires. The reason for this is that stud-less winter tires rely on unevenness in the ice surface for their sipes to grab, while studs cut into even the most polished ice surface (and in the process also make it uneven).\\n\\nStudded tires are also used on bicycles, and the grip advantage on ice is similar to that from using traction sand, with the difference that there is no risk of blank spots when using studded tires. Quality tire manufacturers use studs with hard center pins also for bicycle tires, and just like their automobile counterparts, those studs will continue to protrude from the tire even after many years of usage on bare pavement. There are also low-quality studded bicycle tires being sold that have studs that lack the hard-metal center pin (there is still a center pin, but it is not made of hard metal). Such studs can wear out within a few weeks of cycling on dry pavement.\\n\\nSome jurisdictions may require snow tires or tire chains on vehicles driven in certain areas during extreme weather conditions.\\n\\nMud tires are specialty tires with large, chunky tread patterns designed to bite into muddy surfaces. The large, open design also allows mud to clear quickly from between the lugs. Mud terrain tires also tend to be wider than other tires, to spread the weight of the vehicle over a greater area to prevent the vehicle from sinking too deeply into the mud. However, in reasonable amounts of mud and snow, tires should be thinner. Being thinner, the tire will have more pressure on the road surface, thus allowing the tires to penetrate the snow layer and grip harder snow or road surface beneath. This does not compensate when the snow is too deep for such penetration, where the vehicle will sink into the snow and plough the snow in front and eventually pack it beneath it until the wheels no longer have traction. In this case, wider tires are preferred, as they have a larger contact patch and are better able to 'float' on top of the mud or snow.\\n\\nAll season\\n\\nThe All Season tire classification is a compromise between one developed for use on dry and wet roads during summer and one developed for use under winter conditions. The type of rubber and the tread pattern best suited for use under summer conditions cannot, for technical reasons, give good performance on snow and ice. The all-season tire is a compromise, and is neither an excellent summer tire nor an excellent winter tire. They have, however, become ubiquitous as original and replacement equipment on automobiles marketed in the United States, due to their convenience and their adequate performance in most situations. Even so, in other parts of the world, like Germany, it is common to have a designated tire set for winter and summer. All-Season tires are also marked for mud and snow the same as winter tires but rarely with a snowflake. Owing to the compromise with performance during summer, winter performance is usually poorer than a winter tire.\\n\\nAll-terrain\\n\\nAll-terrain tires are typically used on SUVs and light trucks. These tires often have stiffer sidewalls for greater resistance against puncture when traveling off-road, the tread pattern offers wider spacing than all-season tires to remove mud from the tread. Many tires in the all-terrain category are designed primarily for on-road use, particularly all-terrain tires that are originally sold with the vehicle.\\n\\nSpare\\n\\nSome vehicles carry a spare tire, already mounted on a wheel, to be used in the event of flat tire or blowout. Minispare, or \\\"space-saver spare\\\" tires are smaller than normal tires to save on trunk/boot space, gas mileage, weight, and cost. Minispares have a short life expectancy and a low speed rating, often below 60 mph.\\n\\nLight trailer\\n\\nDomestic Trailers (including camping trailers) for use on public highways often have different tires than those seen on cars. Often they are bias ply rather than radial tires, and they often don't have as aggressive a tread pattern as standard road tires. They are not built for high traction in most cases, because in most cases it is not vital that trailer tires have as good a traction as that of the vehicle towing the trailer.\\n\\nRun-flat\\n\\nSeveral innovative designs have been introduced that permit tires to run safely with no air for a limited range at a limited speed. These tires typically feature strong, load-supporting sidewalls. An infamous example of an alternate run-flat technology has plastic load-bearing inserts attached to the rim instead of the reinforced sidewalls.\\n\\nA disadvantage is that many run-flat tires cannot be repaired if a puncture occurs. This is due to manufacturer's informing the automotive industry that the state in which the sidewall is in cannot be determined due to the compacted sidewall of rubber. Some brands may permit one repair to a run flat tire, while others do not allow any.\\n\\nHeavy duty truck\\n\\nHeavy duty tires are also referred to as Truck/Bus tires. These are the tire sizes used on vehicles such as commercial freight trucks, dump trucks, and passenger buses. Truck tires are sub-categorized into specialties according to vehicle position such as steering, drive axle, and trailer. Each type is designed with the reinforcements, material compounds, and tread patterns that best optimize the tire performance. A relatively new concept is the use of \\\"Super Singles\\\" or Wide Singles. Generally in a dual configuration, there are 2 tires per position, each between 275 mm-295 mm wide. The Super Single replaces these with a single tire, usually 455 mm wide. This allows for less tread to be contacting the ground and also eliminates 2 sidewalls per position. Along with the weight savings of about 200 lb per axle, this enables vehicles using these to improve fuel economy.\\n\\nOff-the-road\\n\\nOff-the-road (OTR) tires include all tires not running on the common roads, such as fitted on construction vehicles(wheel loaders, backhoes, graders, trenchers), on airplanes, on mining vehicles, on forestry machinery. OTR tires can be of either bias or radial construction although the industry is trending toward increasing use of radial. Bias OTR tires are built with a large number of reinforcing plies to withstand severe service conditions and high loads.\\n\\nDramatically increasing commodity prices has led to shortages of new tires. As a consequence, multimillion-dollar trucks can be idled for lack of tires, costing mines millions of dollars in lost productivity. This has led to a stronger effort to recycle old OTR tires. As of 2008, a new OTR tire can cost up to $50,000; retread tires are sold at half the price of new tires, and last 80% as long. Retreading an OTR tire is labor-intensive. First, the retreading technician must place the old tire in a buffing machine to remove what remains of the old tread; \\\"skiving\\\" follows this, which is the removal, by hand, of material the buffing misses. Next, the technician must inspect the tire, repairing defects. Lastly, the technician fills holes in the tire with rubber, applies a cement gum adhesive, and places the tire on a machine that will apply a new tread. \\n\\nAgricultural and off-road flotation tires\\n\\nThe agricultural tire classification includes tires used on farm vehicles, typically tractors and specialty vehicles like harvesters. Driven wheels have very deep, widely spaced lugs to allow the tire to grip soil easily.\\n\\nFor off-road driving in a passenger vehicle, such as in mud, sand, or deep snow, high flotation tires are typically used. Flotation tires are not the same as M+S tires, as they are designed for low speeds and full-time off road use rather than muddy and snow-covered roads. Flotation tires also help traction in swampy environments and where soil compaction is a concern, featuring large footprints at low inflation pressures to spread out the area where the rubber meets the ground. Knobby tires are particularly useful where the ground consists of loose particles that can be displaced by the knobs. Although the low pressure improves traction in many types of terrain, adjustments may need to be made for hard surfaces like paved and unpaved roads. Vehicles that use flotation tires for rock climbing are susceptible to flat tires in which the tire pops off the rim, breaking the \\\"bead.\\\"\\n\\nRacing\\n\\nRacing tires are highly specialized according to vehicle and race track conditions. This classification includes tires for drag racing, Auto-x, drifting, Time Attack, Road Racing – as well as the large-market race tires for Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, V8 Supercars, WRC, MotoGP and the like. Tires are specially engineered for specific race tracks according to surface conditions, cornering loads, and track temperature. Racing tires often are engineered to minimum weight targets, so tires for a 500 mi race may run only 100 mi before a tire change. Some tire makers invest heavily in race tire development as part of the company's marketing strategy and a means of advertising to attract customers.\\nRacing tires used on tarmac stages are called slick. When the road is wet a driver will use intermediary slicks and when the road is dry the soft slicks are used. \\nRacing tires often are not legal for normal highway use.\\n\\nIndustrial\\n\\nThe Industrial tire classification is a bit of a catch-all category and includes pneumatic and non-pneumatic tires for specialty industrial and construction equipment such as skid loaders and fork lift trucks.\\n\\nBicycle\\n\\nThis classification includes all forms of bicycle tires, including road racing tires, mountain bike tires, snow tires, and tubular tires, used also with other human-powered vehicles (see :Category:Human-powered vehicles).\\n\\nAircraft\\n\\nAircraft tires are designed to withstand extremely heavy loads for short durations. The number of tires required for aircraft increases with the weight of the plane (because the weight of the airplane has to be distributed better). Aircraft tire tread patterns are designed to facilitate stability in high crosswind conditions, to channel water away to prevent hydroplaning, and for braking effect.\\n\\nAircraft tires are usually inflated with nitrogen to minimize expansion and contraction from extreme changes in ambient temperature and pressure experienced during flight. Dry nitrogen expands at the same rate as other dry atmospheric gases (normal air is about 80% nitrogen), but common compressed air sources may contain moisture, which increases the expansion rate with temperature. Aircraft tires generally operate at high pressures, up to 200 psi for airliners, and even higher for business jets. Tests of airline aircraft tires have shown that they are able to sustain pressures of maximum 800 psi before bursting. During the test the tires have to be filled with water, instead of helium or nitrogen, which is the common content of aircraft tires, to prevent the test room being blown apart by the energy when the tire bursts.\\n\\nAircraft tires also include fusible plugs (which are assembled on the inside of the wheels), designed to melt at a certain temperature. Tires often overheat if maximum braking is applied during an aborted takeoff or an emergency landing. The fuses provide a safer failure mode that prevents tire explosions by deflating in a controlled manner, thus minimizing damage to aircraft and objects in the surrounding environment.\\n\\nThe requirement that an inert gas, such as nitrogen, be used instead of air for inflation of tires on certain transport category airplanes was prompted by at least three cases in which the oxygen in air-filled tires combined with volatile gases given off by a severely overheated tire and exploded upon reaching autoignition temperature. The use of an inert gas for tire inflation will eliminate the possibility of a tire explosion. \\n\\nMotorcycle\\n\\nThere are many different types of motorcycle tires:\\nSport Touring – these tires are generally not used for high cornering loads, but for long straights, good for riding across the country.\\n\\nSport Street – these tires are for aggressive street riders that spend most of their time carving corners on public roadways. These tires do not have a long life, but in turn have better traction in high speed cornering. Street and sport street tires have good traction even when cold, but when warmed too much, can actually lose traction as their internal temperature increases.\\n\\nTrack or Slick – these tires are for track days or races. They have more of a triangular form, which in turn gives a larger contact patch while leaned over. These tires are not recommended for the street by manufacturers, and are known to have a shorter life on the street. Due to the triangulation of the tire, there will be less contact patch in the center, causing the tire to develop a flat spot quicker when used to ride on straightaways for long periods of time and have no tread so they lose almost all grip in wet conditions. Racing slicks are also made of a harder rubber compound and do not provide as much traction as street tires until warmed to a higher internal temperature than street tires normally operate at. Most street riding will not put a sufficient amount of friction on the tire to maintain the optimal tire temperature, especially in colder climates and in spring and fall.\\n\\nSound and vibration characteristics\\n\\nThe design of treads and the interaction of specific tire types with the roadway surface type produces considerable effect upon sound levels or noise pollution emanating from moving vehicles. These sound intensities increase with higher vehicle speeds. The acoustic intensity produced varies considerably depending on the tire tread design and the road surface type. There is a study \\\"under development\\\" that aims predict the interior noise due to the vibrations of a rolling tire structurally transmitted to the hub of a vehicle\\\". \\n\\nRegulatory bodies\\n\\nDOT\\n\\nThe United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is the U.S. governmental body authorized by the U.S. Congress to establish and regulate transportation safety in the United States of America.\\n\\nNHTSA\\n\\nThe National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a U.S. government body within the Department of Transportation tasked with regulating automotive safety in the United States.\\n\\nUTQG\\n\\nThe Uniform Tire Quality Grading System (UTQG), is a system for comparing the performance of tires, established by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration according to the Code of Federal Regulations 49 CFR 575.104. The UTQG regulation requires labeling of tires for tread wear, traction, and temperature.\\n\\nT&RA\\n\\nThe Tire and Rim Association (T&RA) is a voluntary U.S. standards organization to promote the interchangeability of tires and rim and allied parts. Of particular interest, they published key tire dimension standards, key rim contour dimension standards, key tire valve dimension standards, and load / inflation standards.\\n\\nETRTO\\n\\nThe European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) is the European standards organisation \\\"to establish engineering dimensions, load/pressure characteristics and operating guidelines\\\" . \\nfor tires, rims and valves. It is analogous to T&RA.\\n\\nJATMA\\n\\nThe Japanese Automobile Tire Manufacturers Association (JATMA) is the Japanese standards organization for tires, rims and valves. It is analogous to T&RA and ETRTO.\\n\\nTREAD Act\\n\\nThe Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act (TREAD Act) is a United States federal law that sets standards for testing and the reporting of information related to products involved with transportation such as cars and tires.\\n\\nRFID tags\\n\\nRadio Frequency IDentification tags (RFID) are passive transponders affixed to the inside of the tire for purposes of automatic identification. Tags are encoded with various types of manufacturing data, including the manufacturer's name, location of manufacture, tire type, manufacturing date, and in some cases test data. RFID transponders can remotely read this data automatically. RFID tags are used by auto assemblers to identify tires at the point of assembly to the vehicle. Fleet operators utilize RFID as part of tire maintenance operations.\\n\\nCCC (China Compulsory Certification) is a mandatory certification system concerning product safety in China that went into effect in August 2002. Before CCC, there were two certification systems in China: CCIB and CCEE. With China's entrance into the WTO, these two systems were unified into the CCC certification system. After the termination of a one-year grace period in August 2003, the system became compulsory.The CCC certification system is operated by the State General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA).\\n\\nSafety\\n\\nProper vehicle safety requires specific attention to inflation pressure, tread depth, and general condition of the tires. Over-inflated tires run the risk of explosive decompression (they may pop). On the other hand, under-inflated tires have a higher rolling resistance and suffer from overheating and rapid tread wear particularly on the edges of the tread. As tire tread decreases, there is more traction between the tire and the road resulting in better grip. However, there is an increased risk of hydroplaning, so as the tire wears the performance in the dry generally improves, but gets worse in the wet. Tires worn down past their safety margins and into the casing run the very real risk of rupturing. Also, certain combinations of cross ply and radial tires on different wheels of the same vehicle can lead to vehicle instability, and may also be illegal. Vehicle and tire manufacturers provide owners' manuals with instructions on how to check and maintain tires.\\n\\nA controversy began in 2000 regarding unusually high tire failures on some Ford vehicles. This resulted in the recall of the tires in question.\\n\\nFlat\\n\\nA flat tire occurs when a tire deflates. This can occur as a result of normal wear-and-tear, a leak, or more serious damage. A tire that has lost sufficient pressure will impair the stability of the vehicle and may damage the tire further if it is driven in this condition. The tire should be changed and/or repaired before it becomes completely flat. Continuing to drive a vehicle with a flat tire will damage the tire beyond repair, possibly damage the rim and vehicle, and put the occupants and other vehicles in danger. A flat tire or low-pressure tire should be considered an emergency situation, requiring immediate attention. Some tires, known as \\\"run-flat tires\\\", have either extremely stiff sidewalls or a resilient filler to allow driving a limited distance while flat, usually at reduced speed, without permanent damage or hazard.\\n\\nA modern radial tire may not be visibly distorted even with dangerously low inflation pressure. (This is especially true of tires with a low aspect ratio, sometimes known as \\\"low profile\\\" tires.) Thus maintenance of adequate tire pressure can have important safety implications despite the fact that most car owners neglect it. Tire designers have tried to make new tires fail-safe so that the failure of the operator to maintain the tire pressure won't cause a major safety concern, but there are limitations on this.\\n\\nBubble\\n\\nTire bubbles, also referred to as bulges / bumps / protrusions / carbuncles, occur when the sidewall of the tire has failed, resulting in a protrusion. Causes of bubbles include having an impact at high speed, over inflation, or poor tire construction/manufacturing. It is generally recommended to replace the tire since the probability of tire failure has increased. They can occur on the inner or outer sidewall.\\n\\nHydroplaning (or aquaplaning)\\n\\nHydroplaning, also known as aquaplaning, is the condition where a layer of water builds up between the tire and road surface. Hydroplaning occurs when the tread pattern cannot channel away enough water at an adequate rate to ensure a semi-dry footprint area. When hydroplaning occurs, the tire effectively \\\"floats\\\" above the road surface on a cushion of water – and loses traction, braking and steering, creating a very unsafe driving condition. When hydroplaning occurs, there is considerably less responsiveness of the steering wheel. The correction of this unsafe condition is to gradually reduce speed, by merely lifting off the accelerator/gas pedal.\\n\\nHydroplaning becomes more prevalent with wider tires (because of the lower weight per contact area) and especially at higher speeds; it is of virtually no concern to bicycle tires under normal riding conditions largely because of the lower speeds. The chance of car hydroplaning is also minimal at bicycle speeds as the weight per contact area of car tires is not much lower if any than bicycle tires.\\n\\nDangers of aged tires\\n\\nResearch and tests show that as tires age, they begin to dry out and become potentially dangerous, even if unused. Aged tires may appear to have similar properties to newly manufactured tires, but rubber degrades over time, and once the vehicle is traveling at high speeds (i.e. on a freeway) the tread could peel off, leading to severe loss of control. In tropical climates, tires degrade sooner than in temperate climates, and more care should be taken in these climates to ensure that tires do not fail. Also, tires on seldom-used trailers are at the greatest risk of age-failure, but some tires are built to withstand idleness, usually with nylon reinforcement.\\n\\nMany automakers recommend replacing tires after six years, and several tire manufacturers (Bridgestone, Michelin) have called for tires to be removed from service 10 years after the date of manufacture. However, an investigative report by Brian Ross on ABC's 20/20 news magazine found that many major retailers such as Goodyear, Wal-Mart, and Sears were selling tires that had been produced six or more years ago. Currently, no law for aged tires exists in the United States. \\n\\nScrap tires and environmental issues\\n\\nOnce tires are discarded, they are considered scrap tires. Scrap tires are often re-used for things from bumper car barriers to weights to hold down tarps. Some facilities are permitted to recycle scrap tires through chipping, and processing into new products, or selling the material to licensed power plants for fuel. Some tires may also be retreaded for re-use. One group did \\\"a study to evaluate the possibility of using scrap tires as a crash cushion system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the material properties of used tires and recycled tire-derived materials for use in low-cost, reusable crash cushions\\\". \\n\\nAn interesting use, developed over 30 years back but not yet universally used, is to process scrap tires as raw material for roads. The process is removing the metal, granulating the rubber and then a chemical process where it is mixed with other usual materials for macadamised roads. The resulting roads have proved to have better waterproofing, more resilent resulting in a smoother ride and also longer tire life. Several countries (for example, South Korea) have regulations requiring its use, but most do not.\\n\\nAmericans generate about 285 million scrap tires per year. Many states have regulations as to the number of scrap tires that can be held on site, due to concerns with dumping, fire hazards, and mosquitoes. In the past, millions of tires have been discarded into open fields. This creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes, since the tires often hold water inside and remain warm enough for mosquito breeding. Mosquitoes create a nuisance and may increase the likelihood of spreading disease. It also creates a fire danger, since such a large tire pile is a lot of fuel. Some tire fires have burned for months, since water does not adequately penetrate or cool the burning tires. Tires have been known to liquefy, releasing hydrocarbons and other contaminants to the ground and even ground water, under extreme heat and temperatures from a fire. The black smoke from a tire fire causes air pollution and is a hazard to down wind properties.\\n\\nThe use of scrap tire chips for landscaping has become controversial, due to the leaching of metals and other contaminants from the tire pieces. Zinc is concentrated (up to 2% by weight) to levels high enough to be highly toxic to aquatic life and plants. Of particular concern is evidence that some of the compounds that leach from tires into water, contain hormone disruptors and cause liver lesions. \\n\\nAsymmetric tire\\n\\nAn asymmetric tire is a kind of specific stabilization method used in cars.\\n\\nTire tread\\n\\nAn asymmetric tire may refer to a tire whose tread pattern does not form in line symmetry or point symmetry vis-à-vis its central line, thus having a distinct inside and outside edge. They may be mounted on either side of the vehicle. Since the tread pattern of many ordinary tires do not form symmetry in relation to design or pattern noise, the method of mounting tires is specially prescribed. This type of tires is used in many cases to promote tire performance, braking performance, and turning performance, since tread contact changes according to the change in alignment during travel.\\n\\nTires may also be directional, where the tread pattern favors operation in one direction. This usually takes the form of v-shaped grooves that help to disperse water from the center to the edge of the tread. Symmetric directional tires can be used on both sides, but once mounted on a rim cannot be moved to the other side, since the tread pattern will be in the wrong direction. This restricts tire rotation. Some directional tires are also asymmetric, in which case there will be specific left and right-handed versions.\\n\\nStabilizing belts\\n\\nAn asymmetric tire may refer to a passenger car radial tire in which asymmetric structure stabilizing belts are built. Generally the stabilizing belts give a self-aligning torque when a motor vehicle is running straight ahead as well as when it is cornering. However, the sidewalls of the radial tire are so flexible that there will be a delay in the lateral reaction between the tread of the tire and the rim of its wheel as the vehicle is being steered positively. The lateral force will be transmitted from the front wheel to the rear of the vehicle, which will tend to be steered off course. Whereas the asymmetric belts bring a gradual change in the lateral displacement of the tire tread corresponding to the rim while the cornering load grows. The progressive change will harden the sidewalls to produce an immediate response to steering, which results in safer driving.\\n\\nOther uses\\n\\nTires are not desired at landfills, due to their large volumes and 75% void space, which quickly consumes valuable space. Because of this, people have found other uses for old tires.\\n\\nRubber tires are likely to contain some traces of heavy metals or other serious pollutants, but these are tightly bonded within the actual rubber compound they are unlikely to be hazardous unless the tire structure is seriously damaged by fire or strong chemicals.\\n\\nBuilding elements\\n\\nTires filled with earth have been used as garden containers house foundations, bullet-proof walls and to prevent soil erosion in flood plains \\n\\nTire swing\\n\\nOld tires are sometimes converted into a swing for play. The innovative use allows for an easy way to find a purpose for an existing old tire not suitable for road use. \\n\\nExercise equipment\\n\\nUsed tires are employed as exercise equipment for athletic programs such as American football. One classic conditioning drill that hones players' speed and agility is the \\\"Tire Run\\\" where tires are laid out side by side, with each tire on the left a few inches ahead of the tire on the right in a zigzag pattern. Athletes then run through the tire pattern by stepping in the center of each tire. The drill forces athletes to lift their feet above the ground higher than normal to avoid tripping. \\n\\nRecycling\\n\\nTires can be recycled into, among other things, the hot melt asphalt, typically as crumb rubber modifier—recycled asphalt pavement (CRM—RAP), and as an aggregate in portland cement concrete Tires can also be recycled into other tires. Tires have also been cut up and used in garden beds as rubber mulch to hold in the water and to prevent weeds from growing. There are some \\\"green\\\" buildings that are being made both private and public buildings that are made from old tires.\\n\\nTire Pyrolysis\\n\\nThe tire pyrolysis method for recycling used tires is a technique which heats whole or shredded tires in a reactor vessel containing an oxygen-free atmosphere and a heat source. 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What important discovery was made in 1964 by radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson? | Cosmic microwave background radiation | [
"Radio_astronomy.txt\nRadio astronomy\nRadio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The initial detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was made in the 1930s, when Karl Jansky observed radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identified a number of different sources of radio emission. These include stars and galaxies, as well as entirely new classes of objects, such as radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, and masers. The discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation, regarded as evidence for the Big Bang theory, was made through radio astronomy.\n\nRadio astronomy is conducted using large radio antennas referred to as radio telescopes, that are either used singularly, or with multiple linked telescopes utilizing the techniques of radio interferometry and aperture synthesis. The use of interferometry allows radio astronomy to achieve high angular resolution, as the resolving power of an interferometer is set by the distance between its components, rather than the size of its components.\n\nHistory \n\nBefore Jansky observed the Milky Way in the 1930s, physicists speculated that radio waves could be observed from astronomical sources. In the 1860s, James Clerk Maxwell's equations had shown that electromagnetic radiation is associated with electricity and magnetism, and could exist at any wavelength. Several attempts were made to detect radio emission from the Sun including an experiment by German astrophysicists Johannes Wilsing and Julius Scheiner in 1896 and a centimeter wave radiation apparatus set up by Oliver Lodge between 1897-1900. These attempts were unable to detect any emission due to technical limitations of the instruments. The discovery of the radio reflecting ionosphere in 1902, led physicists to conclude that the layer would bounce any astronomical radio transmission back into space, making them undetectable. \n\nKarl Jansky made the discovery of the first astronomical radio source serendipitously in the early 1930s. As an engineer with Bell Telephone Laboratories, he was investigating static that interfered with short wave transatlantic voice transmissions. Using a large directional antenna, Jansky noticed that his analog pen-and-paper recording system kept recording a repeating signal of unknown origin. Since the signal peaked about every 24 hours, Jansky originally suspected the source of the interference was the Sun crossing the view of his directional antenna. Continued analysis showed that the source was not following the 24-hour daily cycle of the Sun exactly, but instead repeating on a cycle of 23 hours and 56 minutes. Jansky discussed the puzzling phenomena with his friend, astrophysicist and teacher Albert Melvin Skellett, who pointed out that the time between the signal peaks was the exact length of a sidereal day, the timing found if the source was astronomical, \"fixed\" in relationship to the stars and passing in front of the antenna once every Earth rotation. By comparing his observations with optical astronomical maps, Jansky eventually concluded that the radiation source peaked when his antenna was aimed at the densest part of the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius. He concluded that since the Sun (and therefore other stars) were not large emitters of radio noise, the strange radio interference may be generated by interstellar gas and dust in the galaxy. (Jansky's peak radio source, one of the brightest in the sky, was designated Sagittarius A in the 1950s and, instead of being galactic \"gas and dust\", has since be found to be emitted by electrons in a strong magnetic field from the complex of objects found in that area). \n\nJansky announced his discovery in 1933. He wanted to investigate the radio waves from the Milky Way in further detail, but Bell Labs reassigned him to another project, so he did no further work in the field of astronomy. His pioneering efforts in the field of radio astronomy have been recognized by the naming of the fundamental unit of flux density, the jansky (Jy), after him.\n\nGrote Reber was inspired by Jansky's work, and built a parabolic radio telescope 9m in diameter in his backyard in 1937. He began by repeating Jansky's observations, and then conducted the first sky survey in the radio frequencies. On February 27, 1942, James Stanley Hey, a British Army research officer, made the first detection of radio waves emitted by the Sun. Later that year George Clark Southworth, at Bell Labs like Jansky, also detected radiowaves from the sun. Both researchers were bound by wartime security surrounding radar, so Reber, who was not, published his 1944 findings first. Several other people independently discovered solar radiowaves, including E. Schott in Denmark and Elizabeth Alexander working on Norfolk Island. \n\nAt Cambridge University, where ionospheric research had taken place during World War II, J.A. Ratcliffe along with other members of the Telecommunications Research Establishment that had carried out wartime research into radar, created a radiophysics group at the university where radio wave emissions from the Sun were observed and studied.\nThis early research soon branched out into the observation of other celestial radio sources and interferometry techniques were pioneered to isolate the angular source of the detected emissions. Martin Ryle and Antony Hewish at the Cavendish Astrophysics Group developed the technique of Earth-rotation aperture synthesis. The radio astronomy group in Cambridge went on to found the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory near Cambridge in the 1950s. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, as computers (such as the Titan) became capable of handling the computationally intensive Fourier transform inversions required, they used aperture synthesis to create a 'One-Mile' and later a '5 km' effective aperture using the One-Mile and Ryle telescopes, respectively. They used the Cambridge Interferometer to map the radio sky, producing the famous 2C and 3C surveys of radio sources. \n\nTechniques\n\nRadio astronomers use different techniques to observe objects in the radio spectrum. Instruments may simply be pointed at an energetic radio source to analyze its emission. To “image” a region of the sky in more detail, multiple overlapping scans can be recorded and pieced together in a mosaic image. The type of instrument used depends on the strength of the signal and the amount of detail needed.\n\nObservations from the Earth's surface are limited to wavelengths that can pass through the atmosphere. At low frequencies, or long wavelengths, transmission is limited by the ionosphere, which reflects waves with frequencies less than its characteristic plasma frequency. Water vapor interferes with radio astronomy at higher frequencies, which has led to building radio observatories that conduct observations at millimeter wavelengths at very high and dry sites, in order to minimize the water vapor content in the line of sight. Finally, transmitting devices on earth may cause radio-frequency interference. Because of this, many radio observatories are built at remote places.\n\nRadio telescopes\n\nRadio telescopes may need to be extremely large in order to receive signals with high signal-to-noise ratio. Also since angular resolution is a function of the diameter of the \"objective\" in proportion to the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation being observed, radio telescopes have to be much larger in comparison to their optical counterparts. For example, a 1-meter diameter optical telescope is two million times bigger than the wavelength of light observed giving it a resolution of roughly 0.3 arc seconds, whereas a radio telescope \"dish\" many times that size may, depending on the wavelength observed, only be able to resolve an object the size of the full moon (30 minutes of arc).\n\nRadio interferometry\n\nThe difficulty in achieving high resolutions with single radio telescopes led to radio interferometry, developed by British radio astronomer Martin Ryle and Australian engineer, radiophysicist, and radio astronomer Joseph Lade Pawsey and Ruby Payne-Scott in 1946. Surprisingly the first use of a radio interferometer for an astronomical observation was carried out by Payne-Scott, Pawsey and Lindsay McCready on 26 January 1946 using a SINGLE converted radar antenna (broadside array) at 200 MHz near Sydney, Australia. This group used the principle of a sea-cliff interferometer in which the antenna (formerly a World War II radar) observed the sun at sunrise with interference arising from the direct radiation from the sun and the reflected radiation from the sea. With this baseline of almost 200 meters, the authors determined that the solar radiation during the burst phase was much smaller than the solar disk and arose from a region associated with a large sunspot group. The Australia group laid out the principles of aperture synthesis in their ground-breaking paper submitted in mid-1946 and published in 1947. The use of a sea-cliff interferometer had been demonstrated by numerous groups in Australia, Iran and the UK during World War II, who had observed interference fringes (the direct radar return radiation and the reflected signal from the sea) from incoming aircraft.\n \nThe Cambridge group of Ryle and Vonberg observed the sun at 175 MHz for the first time in mid July 1946 with a Michelson interferometer consisting of two radio antennas with spacings of some tens of meters up to 240 meters. They showed that the radio radiation was smaller than 10 arc minutes in size and also detected circular polarization in the Type I bursts. Two other groups had also detected circular polarization at about the same time (David Martyn in Australia and Edward Appleton with James Stanley Hey in the UK).\n\nModern Radio interferometers consist of widely separated radio telescopes observing the same object that are connected together using coaxial cable, waveguide, optical fiber, or other type of transmission line. This not only increases the total signal collected, it can also be used in a process called Aperture synthesis to vastly increase resolution. This technique works by superposing (\"interfering\") the signal waves from the different telescopes on the principle that waves that coincide with the same phase will add to each other while two waves that have opposite phases will cancel each other out. This creates a combined telescope that is the size of the antennas furthest apart in the array. In order to produce a high quality image, a large number of different separations between different telescopes are required (the projected separation between any two telescopes as seen from the radio source is called a \"baseline\") - as many different baselines as possible are required in order to get a good quality image. For example, the Very Large Array has 27 telescopes giving 351 independent baselines at once.\n\nVery Long Baseline Interferometry\n\nBeginning in the 1970s, improvements in the stability of radio telescope receivers permitted telescopes from all over the world (and even in Earth orbit) to be combined to perform Very Long Baseline Interferometry. Instead of physically connecting the antennas, data received at each antenna is paired with timing information, usually from a local atomic clock, and then stored for later analysis on magnetic tape or hard disk. At that later time, the data is correlated with data from other antennas similarly recorded, to produce the resulting image. Using this method it is possible to synthesise an antenna that is effectively the size of the Earth. The large distances between the telescopes enable very high angular resolutions to be achieved, much greater in fact than in any other field of astronomy. At the highest frequencies, synthesised beams less than 1 milliarcsecond are possible.\n\nThe pre-eminent VLBI arrays operating today are the Very Long Baseline Array (with telescopes located across North America) and the European VLBI Network (telescopes in Europe, China, South Africa and Puerto Rico). Each array usually operates separately, but occasional projects are observed together producing increased sensitivity. This is referred to as Global VLBI. There are also a VLBI networks, operating in Australia and New Zealand called the LBA (Long Baseline Array), and arrays in Japan, China and South Korea which observe together to form the East-Asian VLBI Network (EAVN). \n\nSince its inception, recording data onto hard media was the only way to bring the data recorded at each telescope together for later correlation. However, the availability today of worldwide, high-bandwidth networks makes it possible to do VLBI in real time. This technique (referred to as e-VLBI) was originally pioneered in Japan, and more recently adopted in Australia and in Europe by the EVN (European VLBI Network) who perform an increasing number of scientific e-VLBI projects per year.[http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/physics_astronomy/report-25117.html A technological breakthrough for radio astronomy - Astronomical observations via high-speed data link]\n\nAstronomical sources\n\n \n\nRadio astronomy has led to substantial increases in astronomical knowledge, particularly with the discovery of several classes of new objects, including pulsars, quasars and radio galaxies. This is because radio astronomy allows us to see things that are not detectable in optical astronomy. Such objects represent some of the most extreme and energetic physical processes in the universe.\n\nThe cosmic microwave background radiation was also first detected using radio telescopes. However, radio telescopes have also been used to investigate objects much closer to home, including observations of the Sun and solar activity, and radar mapping of the planets.\n\nOther sources include:\n* Sun\n* Jupiter\n* Sagittarius A, the galactic center of the Milky Way, with one portion Sagittarius A* thought to be a radio wave emitting supermassive black hole\n* Active galactic nuclei and pulsars have jets of charged particles which emit synchrotron radiation\n* Merging galaxy clusters often show diffuse radio emission \n* Supernova remnants can also show diffuse radio emission; pulsars are a type of supernova remant that shows highly synchronous emission.\n* The cosmic microwave background is blackbody radio/microwave emission",
"Arno_Allan_Penzias.txt\nArno Allan Penzias\nArno Allan Penzias (born 26 April 1933) is an American physicist, radio astronomer and Nobel laureate in physics who is co-discoverer of the cosmic microwave background radiation, which helped establish the Big Bang theory of cosmology.\n\nEarly life and education\n\nPenzias was born in Munich, Germany, the son of Justine (née Eisenreich) and Karl Penzias, who ran a leather business. At age six, he was among the Jewish children evacuated to Britain as part of the Kindertransport rescue operation. Some time later, his parents also fled Nazi Germany for the U.S., and the family settled in the Garment District of New York City in 1940. In 1946, Penzias became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1951 and after enrolling to study chemistry at the City College of New York, he changed majors and graduated 1954 with a degree in physics, ranked near the top of his class.\n\nFollowing graduation, Penzias served for two years as a radar officer in the U.S Army Signal Corps. This led to a research assistantship in the Columbia University Radiation Laboratory, which was then heavily involved in microwave physics. Penzias worked under Charles Townes, who later invented the maser. \n\nNext, Penzias enrolled as a graduate student at Columbia in 1956. He was awarded a Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University in 1962. \n\nCareer\n\nHe went on to work at Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey, where, with Robert Woodrow Wilson, he worked on ultra-sensitive cryogenic microwave receivers, intended for radio astronomy observations. In 1964, on building their most sensitive antenna/receiver system, the pair encountered radio noise which they could not explain. It was far less energetic than the radiation given off by the Milky Way, and it was isotropic, so they assumed their instrument was subject to interference by terrestrial sources. They tried, and then rejected, the hypothesis that the radio noise emanated from New York City. An examination of the microwave horn antenna showed it was full of bat and dove droppings (which Penzias described as \"white dielectric material\"). After the pair removed the dung buildup, and the pigeons were shot (each physicist says the other ordered the deed), the noise remained. Having rejected all sources of interference, Penzias contacted Robert Dicke, who suggested it might be the background radiation predicted by some cosmological theories. The pair agreed with Dicke to publish side-by-side letters in the Astrophysical Journal, with Penzias and Wilson describing their observations and Dicke suggesting the interpretation as the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the radio remnant of the Big Bang. This allowed astronomers to confirm the Big Bang, and to correct many of their previous assumptions about it.\n\nHe was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1975. Penzias and Wilson received the 1978 Nobel Prize, sharing it with Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (Kapitsa's work was unrelated to Penzias and Wilson's). In 1977, the two had received the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. Penzias is also the recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence. In 1998, he was awarded the IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute.\n\nPenzias has been a resident of Highland Park, New Jersey. He has a son, David, and two daughters, Mindy Penzias Dirks, PhD, and Rabbi Shifra (Laurie) Weiss-Penzias. He currently serves as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates. \n\nWorks\n\n*\n*\n*\n*",
"Robert_Woodrow_Wilson.txt\nRobert Woodrow Wilson\nFor the American president, see Woodrow Wilson.\n\nRobert Woodrow Wilson (born January 10, 1936) is an American astronomer, 1978 Nobel laureate in physics, who with Arno Allan Penzias discovered in 1964 the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). The award purse was also shared with a third scientist, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, for unrelated work.\n\nWhile working on a new type of antenna at Bell Labs in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, they found a source of noise in the atmosphere that they could not explain. After removing all potential sources of noise, including pigeon droppings on the antenna, the noise was finally identified as CMB, which served as important corroboration of the Big Bang theory.\n\nLife and work\n\nRobert Woodrow Wilson was born on January 10, 1936, in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Lamar High School in River Oaks, in Houston, and studied as an undergraduate at Rice University, also in Houston, where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa society. His graduate work was done at California Institute of Technology.\n\nWilson and Penzias also won the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences in 1977.\n\nWilson remained at Bell Laboratories until 1994, when he was named a senior scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he remains today. \n\nWilson has been a resident of Holmdel Township, New Jersey. \n\nWilson married Elizabeth Rhoads Sawin in 1958. \n\nNotes",
"Discovery_of_cosmic_microwave_background_radiation.txt\nDiscovery of cosmic microwave background radiation\nThe accidental discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation in 1964 is a major development in modern physical cosmology. Although predicted by earlier theoretical work around 1950, it was first discovered accidentally by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson as they experimented with the Holmdel Horn Antenna. The discovery was important evidence for a hot early Universe (big bang theory) and was evidence against the rival steady state theory. In 1978, Penzias and Wilson were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their joint discovery.\n\nHistory\n\nBy the middle of the 20th century, cosmologists had developed two different theories to explain the creation of the universe. Some supported the steady-state theory, which states that the universe has always existed and will continue to survive without noticeable change. Others believed in the Big Bang theory, which states that the universe was created in a massive explosion-like event billions of years ago (later to be determined as 13.72 billion)(13 720 million).\n\nThe first published recognition of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation as a detectable phenomenon appeared in a brief paper by Soviet astrophysicists A. G. Doroshkevich and Igor Novikov, entitled \"Mean Density of Radiation in the Metagalaxy and Certain Problems in Relativistic Cosmology\", in the spring of 1964. \n\nWorking at Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey, in 1964, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were experimenting with a supersensitive, 6 meter (20 ft) horn antenna originally built to detect radio waves bounced off Echo balloon satellites. To measure these faint radio waves, they had to eliminate all recognizable interference from their receiver. They removed the effects of radar and radio broadcasting, and suppressed interference from the heat in the receiver itself by cooling it with liquid helium to −269 °C, only 4 K above absolute zero.\n\nWhen Penzias and Wilson reduced their data they found a low, steady, mysterious noise that persisted in their receiver. This residual noise was 100 times more intense than they had expected, was evenly spread over the sky, and was present day and night. They were certain that the radiation they detected on a wavelength of 7.35 centimeters did not come from the Earth, the Sun, or our galaxy. After thoroughly checking their equipment, removing some pigeons nesting in the antenna and cleaning out the accumulated droppings, the noise remained. Both concluded that this noise was coming from outside our own galaxy—although they were not aware of any radio source that would account for it.\n\nAt that same time, Robert H. Dicke, Jim Peebles, and David Wilkinson, astrophysicists at Princeton University just 60 km away, were preparing to search for microwave radiation in this region of the spectrum. Dicke and his colleagues reasoned that the Big Bang must have scattered not only the matter that condensed into galaxies but also must have released a tremendous blast of radiation. With the proper instrumentation, this radiation should be detectable, albeit as microwaves, due to a massive redshift.\n\nWhen a friend (Bernard F. Burke, Prof. of Physics at MIT) told Penzias about a preprint paper he had seen by Jim Peebles on the possibility of finding radiation left over from an explosion that filled the universe at the beginning of its existence, Penzias and Wilson began to realize the significance of their discovery. The characteristics of the radiation detected by Penzias and Wilson fit exactly the radiation predicted by Robert H. Dicke and his colleagues at Princeton University. Penzias called Dicke at Princeton, who immediately sent him a copy of the still-unpublished Peebles paper. Penzias read the paper and called Dicke again and invited him to Bell Labs to look at the horn antenna and listen to the background noise. Dicke, Peebles, Wilkinson and P. G. Roll interpreted this radiation as a signature of the Big Bang.\n\nTo avoid potential conflict, they decided to publish their results jointly. Two notes were rushed to the Astrophysical Journal Letters. In the first, Dicke and his associates outlined the importance of cosmic background radiation as substantiation of the Big Bang Theory. In a second note, jointly signed by Penzias and Wilson titled, \"A Measurement of Excess Antenna Temperature at 4080 Megacycles per Second,\" they noted the existence of the residual background noise and attributed a possible explanation to that given by Dicke in his companion letter.\n\nIn 1978, Penzias and Wilson were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their joint discovery. They shared the prize with Pyotr Kapitsa, who won it for unrelated work.\n\nBibliography \n\n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n* \n\nExternal links and references\n\nCitations \n\nGeneral \n\n* \"[http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/butowsky5/astro4k.htm Astronomy and Astrophysics Horn Antenna.]\". National Park Service, Department of the Interior.",
"Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson - Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ\nArno Penzias and Robert Wilson ... Bell Labs radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were ... People and Discoveries: Penzias and Wilson discover cosmic ...\nArno Penzias and Robert Wilson - Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ\nArno Penzias and Robert Wilson\nBell Labs, Holmdel, NJ\nMore\nThe Large Horn Antenna and the Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation\nAs part of the APS historic sites initiative, on December 9, 2008, APS Vice-President Curtis Callan presented a plaque to Bell Labs to commemorate the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB) that provided evidence for the Big Bang. Bell Labs radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were using a large horn antenna in 1964 and 1965 to map signals from the Milky Way, when they serendipitously discovered the CMB. As written in the citation, \"This unexpected discovery, offering strong evidence that the universe began with the Big Bang, ushered in experimental cosmology.\" Penzias and Wilson shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978 in honor of their findings.\nThe CMB is \"noise\" leftover from the creation of the Universe. The microwave radiation is only 3 degrees above Absolute Zero or -270 degrees C, 1 and is uniformly perceptible from all directions. Its presence demonstrates that that our universe began in an extremely hot and violent explosion, called the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago.\nIn 1960, Bell Labs built a 20-foot horn-shaped antenna in Holmdel, NJ to be used with an early satellite system called Echo. The intention was to collect and amplify radio signals to send them across long distances, but within a few years, another satellite was launched and Echo became obsolete. 2\nWith the antenna no longer tied to commercial applications, it was now free for research. Penzias and Wilson jumped at the chance to use it to analyze radio signals from the spaces between galaxies. 3 But when they began to employ it, they encountered a persistent \"noise\" of microwaves that came from every direction. If they were to conduct experiments with the antenna, they would have to find a way to remove the static.\nPenzias and Wilson tested everything they could think of to rule out the source of the radiation racket. They knew it wasn’t radiation from the Milky Way or extraterrestrial radio sources. They pointed the antenna towards New York City to rule out \"urban interference\", and did analysis to dismiss possible military testing from their list. 4\nThen they found droppings of pigeons nesting in the antenna. They cleaned out the mess and tried removing the birds and discouraging them from roosting, but they kept flying back. \"To get rid of them, we finally found the most humane thing was to get a shot gun…and at very close range [we] just killed them instantly. It’s not something I’m happy about, but that seemed like the only way out of our dilemma,\" said Penzias. 5 \"And so the pigeons left with a smaller bang, but the noise remained, coming from every direction.\" 6\nAt the same time, the two astronomers learned that Princeton University physicist Robert Dicke had predicted that if the Big Bang had occurred, there would be low level radiation found throughout the universe. Dicke was about to design an experiment to test this hypothesis when he was contacted by Penzias. Upon hearing of Penzias’ and Wilson’s discovery, Dicke turned to his laboratory colleagues and said \"well boys, we’ve been scooped.\" 7\nAlthough both groups published their results in Astrophysical Journal Letters, only Penzias and Wilson received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the CMB.\nThe horn antenna was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. Its significance in fostering a new appreciation for the field of cosmology and a better understanding of our origins can be summed up by the following: \"Scientists have labeled the discovery [of the CMB] the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th century.\" 8\n©2009, Alaina G. Levine",
"BBC - Universe - Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson (pictures ...\nThe astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson ... American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow ... discovery was important ...\nBBC - Universe - Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson (pictures, video, facts & news)\nArno Penzias and Robert Wilson\nArno Penzias and Robert Wilson\nArno Penzias and Robert Wilson\nIn the mid-1960s, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detected leftover, cooled down radiation from early in the Universe's history by carefully scanning the sky with a device called the Holmdel Horn Antenna . Their discovery was of huge importance to cosmology and won them the Nobel prize.\nThis cosmic microwave background radiation was later mapped in greater detail by NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission in the early 1990s and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), launched in 2001.\nImage: Arno Penzias (left) and Robert Wilson in 1978 outside the Holmdel horn antenna (credit: Physics Today Collection/AIP/SPL)\nWatch and listen to clips from past programmes TV clips [2]\nCosmic microwave background radiation discovered\nScientists map the early Universe.\nThe astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation by chance in the mid-1960s while using the Holmdel Horn Antenna in New Jersey to map the sky. The CMB was later mapped with satellites, including the WMAP probe.\nThe Holmdel Horn Antenna\nArno Penzias talks about detecting ancient cosmic radiation.\nArno Penzias describes observations (made with Robert Wilson) using the Holmdel Horn Antenna. These observations would later be identified as the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB).\nAbout Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson\nThe accidental discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation in 1964 is a major development in modern physical cosmology. Although predicted by earlier theoretical work around 1950, it was first discovered accidentally by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson as they experimented with the Holmdel Horn Antenna. The discovery was important evidence for a hot early Universe (big bang theory) and was evidence against the rival steady state theory. In 1978, Penzias and Wilson were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their joint discovery.",
"A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Penzias and ...\nPenzias and Wilson discover cosmic microwave radiation ... of their radio noise. When he and Penzias jointly ... Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson received ...\nA Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Penzias and Wilson discover cosmic microwave radiation\nPenzias and Wilson discover cosmic microwave radiation\n1965\nPhoto: Holmdel satellite antenna\nBell Labs built a giant antenna in Holmdel, New Jersey, in 1960. It was part of a very early satellite transmission system called Echo. By collecting and amplifying weak radio signals bounced off large metallic balloons high in the atmosphere, it could send signals across long distances. Within a few years, the Telstar satellite was launched. It had built-in transponders and made the Echo system obsolete.\nMeanwhile, two employees of Bell Labs had had their eye on the antenna. Arno Penzias (b. 1933), a German-born radio astronomer, joined Bell Labs in 1958. He had done his PhD on using masers (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) to amplify and measure radio signals from the spaces between galaxies. He knew the Holmdel antenna would also make a great radio telescope and was dying to use it to continue his observations, but he pursued other research while the antenna was booked for commercial use. Another radio astronomer came to Bell Labs in 1962 with the same idea. Robert Wilson (b. 1936) had also used masers to amplify weak signals in mapping radio signals from the Milky Way. The launch of Telstar in 1962 gave both researchers what they wanted: the Holmdel antenna was freed up for pure research.\nWhen they began to use it as a telescope they found there was a background \"noise\" (like static in a radio). This annoyance was a uniform signal in the microwave range, seeming to come from all directions. Everyone assumed it came from the telescope itself, which was not unusual. It hadn't interfered with the Echo system but Penzias and Wilson had to get rid of it to make the observations they planned. They checked everything to rule out the source of the excess radiation. They pointed the antenna right at New York City -- it wasn't urban interference. It wasn't radiation from our galaxy or extraterrestrial radio sources. It wasn't even the pigeons living in the big, horn-shaped antenna. Penzias and Wilson kicked them out and swept out all their droppings. The source remained the same through four seasons, so it couldn't have come from the solar system or even from a 1962 above-ground nuclear test, because in a year that fallout would have shown a decrease. They had to conclude it was not the machine and it was not random noise causing the radiation.\nPenzias and Wilson began looking for theoretical explanations. Around the same time, Robert Dicke (1916�1997) at nearby Princeton University had been pursuing theories about the big bang. He had elaborated on existing theory to suggest that if there had been a big bang , the residue of the explosion should by now take the form of a low-level background radiation throughout the universe. Dicke was looking for evidence of this theory when Penzias and Wilson got in touch with his lab. He shared his theoretical work with them, even as he resignedly said to his fellow-researchers, \"We've been scooped.\"\nIronically, Robert Wilson had been trained in steady state theory (which suggested the universe was without beginning or end, unlike big bang theory), and he felt uncomfortable with the big bang explanation of their radio noise. When he and Penzias jointly published their research with Dicke, the Bell Lab researchers stuck to \"just the facts\" -- simply reporting their recorded observations.\nIt is ironic, too, that many researchers -- both theoretical and experimental -- had stumbled on this phenomenon before, but either discounted it or never put it all together. This was partly because, as Steven Weinberg wrote, \"in the 1950s, the study of the early universe was widely regarded as not the sort of thing to which a respectable scientist would devote his time.\" Since Penzias, Wilson, and Dicke's work, all that has changed. The measurement of cosmic background radiation (as the Holmdel telescope's noise is now called), combined with Edwin Hubble 's much earlier finding that the galaxies are rushing away, makes a strong case for the big bang. By the mid 1970s, astronomers called it \"the standard model.\" Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1978.",
"Why Cosmic Background Radiation Demonstrates the Universe ...\n... Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, made an important discovery. ... radio astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert ... Cosmic Background Radiation Demonstrates the ...\nWhy Cosmic Background Radiation Demonstrates the Universe Had a Beginning | Cold Case Christianity\nWhy Cosmic Background Radiation Demonstrates the Universe Had a Beginning\nPDF\nIn 1964, two American physicists and radio astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, made an important discovery. They were unable to eliminate the radio signal “noise” from their large antenna at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey, regardless of where in the universe they tried to point their instrument. They consulted with colleagues to determine the cause of this noise. Another physicist suggested the noise might not be coming from the antenna at all. Instead they might be detecting the residual background radiation caused when the universe first came into being. Penzias and Wilson proved this to be correct, winning a Nobel Prize for their discovery in 1978.\nNumerous additional experiments and observations have since established the existence of cosmic background radiation, including data from the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite launched in 1989, and the Planck space observatory launched in 2009. For many scientists, this discovery solidified their belief the universe had a beginning .\nAn illustration may be helpful. I served for three years on our SWAT unit, and during that time, we were repeatedly asked to flush out barricaded suspects. We employed a “flashbang” grenade in nearly all these SWAT entries. These are designed, of course, to “flash” and “bang”; they make a lot of noise, light and heat. We typically threw a grenade in the room where the suspect was barricaded (usually through a window). When the grenade hit the ground, it exploded violently, lighting the room, deafening the suspect, and filling the space with debris and heat. In that instant, as the suspect was distracted, our team came in from the opposite corner. Flashbangs are excellent distraction devices because they leave a lingering impact in the space where they are deployed.\nIllustrations from God’s Crime Scene\nIn a similar way, if the universe leapt into existence, expanding from a state of tremendous heat, density and expansion, we should expect find evidence of lingering impact. The cosmic background radiation is the residual evidence of this cosmic “flashbang.” The pervasive radiation testifies to the extreme environment at the earliest moments of the universe.\nOf course the Cosmic Background radiation, in and of itself, doesn’t demonstrate conclusively the universe had a beginning. But when this single piece of evidence is assembled with other important pieces of evidence I’ve described in God’s Crime Scene , the cumulative case is overwhelming:",
"Why Cosmic Background Radiation Demonstrates the Universe ...\n... version Why Cosmic Background Radiation Demonstrates the ... and radio astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert ... Robert Wilson, made an important discovery.\nWhy Cosmic Background Radiation Demonstrates the Universe Had a Beginning\nby J Warner Wallace\nIn 1964, two American physicists and radio astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, made an important discovery. They were unable to eliminate the radio signal “noise” from their large antenna at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey, regardless of where in the universe they tried to point their instrument. They consulted with colleagues to determine the cause of this noise. Another physicist suggested the noise might not be coming from the antenna at all. Instead they might be detecting the residual background radiation caused when the universe first came into being. Penzias and Wilson proved this to be correct, winning a Nobel Prize for their discovery in 1978.\nNumerous additional experiments and observations have since established the existence of cosmic background radiation, including data from the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite launched in 1989, and the Planck space observatory launched in 2009. For many scientists, this discovery solidified their belief the universe had a beginning .\nAn illustration may be helpful. I served for three years on our SWAT unit, and during that time, we were repeatedly asked to flush out barricaded suspects. We employed a “flashbang” grenade in nearly all these SWAT entries. These are designed, of course, to “flash” and “bang”; they make a lot of noise, light and heat. We typically threw a grenade in the room where the suspect was barricaded (usually through a window). When the grenade hit the ground, it exploded violently, lighting the room, deafening the suspect, and filling the space with debris and heat. In that instant, as the suspect was distracted, our team came in from the opposite corner. Flashbangs are excellent distraction devices because they leave a lingering impact in the space where they are deployed.\nIn a similar way, if the universe leapt into existence, expanding from a state of tremendous heat, density and expansion, we should expect find evidence of lingering impact. The cosmic background radiation is the residual evidence of this cosmic “flashbang.” The pervasive radiation testifies to the extreme environment at the earliest moments of the universe…\nFOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>>",
"National Park Service: Astronomy and Astrophysics (Horn ...\nAstronomy and Astrophysics. ... Penzias and Wilson had made the most important discovery in modern ... in 1964 Dr. Arno Penzias and Dr. Robert Wilson were ...\nNational Park Service: Astronomy and Astrophysics (Horn Antenna)\nAstronomy and Astrophysics\nHorn Antenna Holmdel, New Jersey.\nHorn Antenna, circa 1960.\nHorn Antenna (Horn Reflector Antenna)\nLocation:\nNational Register: science, NHL: science, Subtheme: physical science, Facet: astronomy\nBuilder:\nMr. A. B. Crawford\nDESCRIPTION\nThe Horn Antenna at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, was constructed in 1959 to support Project Echo--the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's passive communications satellite project. [ 1 ]\nThe antenna is 50 feet in length with a radiating aperture of 20 x 20 feet and is made of aluminum. The antenna's elevation wheel is 30 feet in diameter and supports the weight of the structure by means of rollers mounted on a base frame. All axial or thrust loads are taken by a large ball bearing at the apex end of the horn. The horn continues through this bearing into the equipment cab. The ability to locate receiver equipment at the apex of the horn, thus eliminating the noise contribution of a connecting line, is an important feature of the antenna. A radiometer for measuring the intensity of radiant energy is found in the equipment cab.\nThe triangular base frame of the antenna is made from structural steel. It rotates on wheels about a center pintle ball bearing on a track 30 feet in diameter. The track consists of stress-relieved, planed steel plates which are individually adjusted to produce a track flat to about 1/64 inch. The faces of the wheels are cone-shaped to minimize sliding friction. A tangential force of 100 pounds is sufficient to start the antenna in motion.\nTo permit the antenna beam to be directed to any part of the sky, the antenna is mounted with the axis of the horn horizontal. Rotation about this axis affords tracking in elevation while the entire assembly is rotated about a vertical axis for tracking in the azimuth.\nWith the exception of the steel base frame, which was made by a local steel company, the antenna was fabricated and assembled by the Holmdel Laboratory shops under the direction of Mr. H. W. Anderson, who also collaborated on the design. Assistance in the design was also given by Messrs. R. O'Regan and S. A. Darby. Construction of the antenna was completed under the direction of Mr. A. B. Crawford from Freehold, New Jersey.\nWhen not in use, the antenna azimuth sprocket drive is disengaged, thus permitting the structure to \"weathervane\" and seek a position of minimum wind resistance. The antenna was designed to withstand winds of 100 miles per hour and the entire structure weighs 18 tons.\nThe Horn Antenna combines several ideal characteristics it is extremely broad-band, has calculable aperture efficiency, and the back and sidelobes are so minimal that scarcely any thermal energy is picked up from the ground. Consequently it is an ideal radio telescope for accurate measurements of low levels of weak background radiation.\nA plastic clapboarded utility shed 10 x 20 feet, with two windows, a double door and a sheet metal roof, is found next to the Horn Antenna. This structure houses equipment and controls for the Horn Antenna and is included in this nomination.\nSUMMARY\nThe Horn Antenna, at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, is significant because of its association with the research work of two radio astronomers, Dr. Arno A. Penzias and Dr. Robert A. Wilson. In 1965 while using the Horn Antenna, Penzias and Wilson stumbled on the microwave background radiation that permeates the universe. Cosmologists quickly realized that Penzias and Wilson had made the most important discovery in modern astronomy since Edwin Hubble demonstrated in the 1920s that the universe was expanding. This discovery provided the evidence that confirmed George Gamow's and Abbe Georges Lemaitre's \"Big Bang\" theory of the creation of the universe and forever changed the science of cosmology--the study of the history of the universe--from a field for unlimited theoretical speculation into a subject disciplined by direct observation. In 1978 Penzias and Wilson received the Nobel Prize for Physics for their momentous discovery. [ 2 ]\nHISTORY\n\"We live in an ocean of whispers left over from our eruptive creation, physicist George Gamow and his colleagues had said. Nobody was listening.\" [ 3 ]\nBy the middle of the 20th century cosmologists concerned with the creation of the universe had evolved two leading theories to explain their views. Some astronomers supported the steady-state theory of creation, which stated that the universe has always existed and will continue to survive without noticeable change. Others believed in the \"Big Bang\" theory of creation which taught that the universe is the glowing debris of a huge fireball that was created in a massive explosion about 16 billion years ago. No one knew for sure which theory was correct.\nAt Holmdel, New Jersey, in 1964 Dr. Arno Penzias and Dr. Robert Wilson were experimenting with a supersensitive, 20-foot horn-shaped antenna originally built to detect radio waves bounced off Echo balloon satellites. To measure faint radio waves from the Telstar communications satellite, they had to eliminate all recognizable interference from their receiver. They removed the effects of radar and radio broadcasting, and suppressed interference from the heart in the receiver itself by cooling it with liquid helium to -269°C, only 4° above absolute zero--the temperature at which all motion in atoms and molecules stops. [ 4 ]\nWhen Penzias and Wilson reduced their data they found a low, steady, mysterious noise that persisted in their receiver. This residual noise was 100 times more intense than they had expected, was evenly spread over the sky, and was present day and night. They were certain that the radiation they detected on a wavelength of 7.35 centimeters did not come from the Earth, the Sun, or our Galaxy. After thoroughly checking their equipment, the noise remained. Both men concluded that this noise was coming from outside our own galaxy--although they were not aware of any radio source that would account for it.\nAt that same time, Robert H. Dicke, Jim Peebles, and David Wilkenson, astrophysicists at Princeton University, just 40 miles away, were preparing to search for microwave radiation in this region of the spectrum. Dicke and his colleagues reasoned that the \"Big Bang\" must have scattered not only the matter that condensed into galaxies but also must have released a tremendous blast of radiation. With the proper instrumentation, this radiation should be detectable.\nWhen a friend told Penzias about a preprint paper he had seen by Jim Peebles on the possibility of finding radiation left over from a fireball that filled the universe at the beginning of its existence, Penzias and Wilson began to realize the significance of their discovery. The characteristics of the radiation detected by Penzias and Wilson fit exactly the radiation predicted by Robert H. Dicke and his colleagues at Princeton University. Penzias called Dicke at Princeton, who immediately sent him a copy of the still-unpublished Peebles paper. Penzias read the paper and called Dicke again and invited him to Bell Labs to look at the Horn Antenna and listen to the background noise. Dicke, Penzias, and Wilson visited the antenna and immediately recognized the significance of their discovery--they had stumbled on to the \"embers\" of creation predicted by their Princeton colleagues.\nTo avoid potential conflict, they decided to publish their results jointly. Two notes were rushed to the Astrophysical Journal Letters. In the first, Dicke and his associates outlined the importance of cosmic background radiation as substantiation of the Big Bang Theory. In a second note, jointly signed by Penzias and Wilson titled, \"A Measurement of Excess Antenna Temperature at 4080 Megacycles per Second,\" they noted the existence of the residual background noise and attributed a possible explanation to that given by Dicke in his companion letter.\nHarvard physicist Edward Purcell read this announcement and concluded that \"It just may be the most important thing anybody has ever seen.\" [ 5 ]\nAstronomer Robert Jastrow echoed this conclusion by stating that Penzias and Wilson \". . . made one of the greatest discoveries in 500 years of modern astronomy.\" [ 6 ]\nIn 1978, Dr. Arno Penzias and Dr. Robert Wilson were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their joint discovery.\nFOOTNOTES\n1. The descriptive material for this section was taken from the following sources:\nJ.S. Hey, The Evolution of Radio Astronomy (New York: Neale Watson Academic Publications, Inc., 1973), pp. 98-99.\nA.B. Crawford, D. C. Hogg, and L. E. Hunt, \"Project Echo: A Horn Antenna for Space Communication,\" Bell System Technical Journal (July 1961), pp. 1095-1099.\n2. Marcus Chown, \"A cosmic relic in three degrees,\" New Scientist, September 29, 1988, pp. 51-52.\nRichard Learner, Astronomy Through the Telescope (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1981), p. 154.\n3. Timothy Ferris, The Red Limit: The Search for the Edge of the Universe, (New York: Quill Press, 1983), p. 141.\n4. Herbert Friedman, The Amazing Universe (Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1975), p 166-167.\n5. Ferris, op. cit., 151.\n6. Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1978), p. 20.\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\nAaronson, Steve. \"The Light of Creation: An Interview with Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson.\" Bell Laboratories Record. January 1979, pp. 12-18.\nAbell, George O. Exploration of the Universe. 4th ed., Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing, 1982.\nAsimov, Isaac. Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 2nd ed., New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1982.\nBernstein, Jeremy. Three Degree Above Zero: Bell Labs in the Information Age. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1984.\nChown, Marcus. \"A cosmic relic in three degrees,\" New Scientist, September 29, 1988, pp. 51-55.\nCrawford, A.B. , D.C. Hogg and L.E. Hunt. \"Project Echo: A Horn-Reflector Antenna for Space Communication,\" The Bell System Technical Journal, July 961, pp. 1095-1099.\nDisney, Michael. The Hidden Universe. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984.\nFerris, Timothy. The Red Limit: The Search for the Edge of the Universe. 2nd ed., New York: Quill Press, 1978.\nFriedman, Herbert. The Amazing Universe. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1975.\nHey, J.S. The Evolution of Radio Astronomy. New York: Neale Watson Academic Publications, Inc., 1973.\nJastrow, Robert. God and the Astronomers. New York : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1978.\nKirby-Smith, H.T. U.S. Observatories: A Directory and Travel. Guide. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976.\nLearner, Richard. Astronomy Through the Telescope. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1981.\nPenzias, A.A., and R. W. Wilson. \"A Measurement of the Flux Density of CAS A At 4080 Mc/s,\" Astrophysical Journal Letters, May 1965, pp. 1149-1154.\nPHOTOGRAPHS\n(click on the above photographs for a more detailed view)\nNEXT",
"The Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background\nAn accidental discovery by Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias in 1964 changed the entire ... In 1964 two American radio astronomers, Robert Wilson ... made up of stars ...\nThe Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background\nThe Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background\nSponsored by The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Inc. Aug 18 2014\nImage Credit: Igor Zh/Shutterstock.com\nAn accidental discovery by Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias in 1964 changed the entire landscape of cosmology and established the concept of a big bang as a keystone in our understanding of how the universe came into existence. \nSteady State vs Big Bang\nThroughout the 1940s and 1950s, cosmologists had been involved in a debate regarding the origin of the universe. By the start of the 1960s, the two most popular cosmological models in this scientific field were the Steady State theory and the Big Bang theory.\nThe Steady State model, which was championed by the English astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle, postulated that the universe obeyed the perfect cosmological principle. This meant that the universe was both homogeneous and isotropic in space and time when observed on sufficiently large enough scales. This theory also hypothesised that the universe had always existed and would continue to do so without much change.\nIn stark contrast, the Big Bang theory suggested that the universe had been formed fractions of a second after a huge explosion which happened billions of years ago. The concept of the ‘primeval atom’, which was used as the basis of the big bang theory as we know it, was first proposed by the Belgian astronomer and physicist, Georges Lemaître. This concept was then advocated and developed into a fully formed theory, in part by the Russian cosmologist George Gamow.\nImage Credit: Designua/Shutterstock.com\nThe Big Bang’s Smoking Gun\nIn 1964 two American radio astronomers, Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias, were working at the Bell Labs in Holmdel, using the Horn Antenna to map signals across the Milky Way. The Holmdel Horn Antenna was a highly sensitive instrument originally built to detect faint radio waves, which had been deflected off of satellites. In order for the antenna to work properly, all “noisey” interference, such as radio waves, radar and heat, had to be completely eliminated.\nHowever, after removing the obvious sources of interference, the researchers still noticed a faint, persistent and ever-present noise emanating from every direction. It was not coming from a planet, the sun, or anywhere else in the Milky Way. As a result, the Wilson and Penzias could only logically conclude that the noise was originating from outside of our galaxy.\nMeanwhile at nearby Princeton, the astrophysicists Jim Peebles, Robert Dicke and David Wilkinson were trying to detect microwave radiation. They predicted that the Big Bang explosion would have strewn both matter and radiation out across the newly formed universe and were ready to build an experiment to try test their hypothesis.\nThe radiation detected by Wilson and Penzias perfectly matched with the predictions made by Peebles, Dicke and Wilkinson. The cosmic microwave background radiation was dubbed a signature of the Big Bang event or its “smoking gun”.\nA Bigger Bang\nThe discovery of the cosmic microwave background gave Penzias and Wilson the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978 and is regarded as a hallmark moment in modern physical cosmology, validating the efficacy of the Big Bang Theory. Since its discovery, the cosmic microwave background has been a basic pillar of the cosmological model and continues to provide insights into the makeup of the universe.\nThe observable universe, made up of stars, planets and galaxies, comprises of less than 5% of the universe's total mass. The universe is believed to be mostly comprised of dark energy, a mysterious force driving the expansion of our universe at an ever-increasing rate. The next largest component is dark matter, which is believed to account for a large amount of the invisible mass in the universe.\nAlthough dark energy and dark matter are still not fully understood, cosmic microwave background observations have become powerful tools for cosmologists to study the mysterious forces which are at work in the universe.\nReferences and Further Reading",
"Cosmic Anniversary: 'Big Bang Echo' Discovered 50 Years ...\n... American radio astronomers Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias discovered ... The two radio astronomers won the 1978 ... Such discoveries continue to impress Wilson.\nCosmic Anniversary: 'Big Bang Echo' Discovered 50 Years Ago Today\nCosmic Anniversary: 'Big Bang Echo' Discovered 50 Years Ago Today\nBy Mike Wall, Senior Writer |\nMay 20, 2014 07:08am ET\nMORE\nTwo Cosmic Microwave Background anomalies hinted at by the Planck observatory's predecessor, NASA's WMAP, are confirmed in new high-precision data revealed on March 21, 2013. In this image, the two anomalous regions have been enhanced with red and blue shading to make them more clearly visible.\nCredit: ESA and the Planck Collaboration\nHumanity's understanding of the universe took a giant leap forward 50 years ago today.\nOn May 20, 1964, American radio astronomers Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the ancient light that began saturating the universe 380,000 years after its creation. And they did so pretty much by accident.\nBell Labs' Holmdale Horn Antenna in New Jersey picked up an odd buzzing sound that came from all parts of the sky at all times. The noise puzzled Wilson and Penzias, who did their best to eliminate all possible sources of interference, even removing some pigeons that were nesting in the antenna. [ CMB: Big Bang Relic Explained (Infographic) ]\n\"When we first heard that inexplicable 'hum,' we didn’t understand its significance, and we never dreamed it would be connected to the origins of the universe ,\" Penzias said in a statement. \"It wasn’t until we exhausted every possible explanation for the sound's origin that we realized we had stumbled upon something big.\"\nAnd it was indeed big. Penzias and Wilson had spotted the CMB, the predicted thermal echo of the universe's explosive birth. The landmark find put the Big Bang theory on solid ground, suggesting that the cosmos did indeed grow from a tiny seed — a single point — about 13.8 billion years ago.\nThe two radio astronomers won the 1978 Nobel Prize in physics for their work, sharing the award with Soviet scientist Pyotr Kapitsa.\nThe Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation tells us the age and composition of the universe and raises new questions that must be answered. See how the Cosmic Microwave Background works and can be detected here .\nCredit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist\nAncient light\nThe CMB is the oldest light in the universe , dating from the first epoch in which photons could travel freely. Shortly after the Big Bang, the cosmos was a seething-hot, opaque fog of plasma and energy; things changed about 380,000 years later, when temperatures dropped enough for electrically neutral atoms to form, and the universe became transparent.\nThe CMB is markedly uniform, lending support to the theory of cosmic inflation, which posits that the universe expanded much faster than the speed of light just a few tiny fractions of a second after the Big Bang.\n\"Why the cosmic microwave background temperature is the same at different spots in the sky would be a mystery if it was not for inflation saying, well, our whole sky came from this tiny region,\" Charles Bennett of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore told Space.com last year. Bennett is principal investigator of NASA's CMB-mapping Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which launched in 2001 and stopped gathering data in 2010.\nBut the CMB also contains tiny temperature variations, which signify areas of different densities. These density fluctuations were the seeds that eventually gave rise to stars, galaxies and all the other structure that we observe in the universe today, researchers say.\nScientists have extracted a great deal of information from the CMB over the years. In March, for example, a team of astronomers announced that they had found evidence of primordial gravitational waves in the CMB — a discovery that, if confirmed, provides a long-sought \"smoking gun\" for the theory of cosmic inflation.\nSuch discoveries continue to impress Wilson.\n\"It's amazing to me that people can dig something out that's a tenth of a part per million of the cosmic background, especially given a lot of foreground that might get in the way,\" he told Space.com in March.\n\"And I guess my real thought is how much has come out of what can be seen in the cosmic background radiation,\" he added. \"The real signature we saw was that it was absolutely constant, and now the tiny variations in it have turned out to hold a wealth of information.\" [ Cosmic Inflation and Gravitational Waves: Complete Coverage ]\nCelebrating the discovery\nBell Labs is hosting a 50th anniversary celebration today at its Holmdale facility, which Penzias and Wilson — who are now 81 and 78 years old, respectively — will attend, as will Bell Labs president and CTO Marcus Weldon.\nDuring the event, Bell Labs — the research arm of Paris-based company Alcatel-Lucent — will also announce the Bell Labs Prize, a competition that gives scientists around the globe the chance to introduce to the world their ideas in the fields of information and communications technology.\nThe challenge offers a grand prize of $100,000; second prize is worth $50,000 and third $25,000. Winners may also get the chance to develop their ideas at Bell Labs, company representatives said.\n\"I think it is fitting that today, as we honor and celebrate this incredible, Nobel Prize-winning achievement by Arno and Bob, we are launching a program intended to inspire world-changing discoveries and innovations by young researchers that may one day walk in their footsteps,\" Weldon said.\n\"The Bell Labs Prize is intended to recognize innovators with the ability and vision to challenge the common assumptions, and find ways to revolutionize the way we live, work, communicate, collaborate and connect with each other and our digital world,\" he added.\nThe deadline to enter the Bell Labs Prize is July 15. You can learn more about the competition here: www.bell-labs.com/prize\nFollow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+ . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook or Google+ . Originally published on Space.com .\nEditor's Recommendations",
"Cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) - BBC\nCosmic microwave background radiation (CMB ... The astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson ... CMB in 1964 by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias ...\nBBC - Universe - Cosmic microwave background radiation CMB (pictures, video, facts & news)\nCosmic microwave background radiation discovered\nScientists map the early Universe.\nThe astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation by chance in the mid-1960s while using the Holmdel Horn Antenna in New Jersey to map the sky. The CMB was later mapped with satellites, including the WMAP probe.\nAbout Cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB)\nThe cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the thermal radiation left over from the time of recombination in Big Bang cosmology. In older literature, the CMB is also variously known as cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) or \"relic radiation\". The CMB is a cosmic background radiation that is fundamental to observational cosmology because it is the oldest light in the universe, dating to the epoch of recombination. With a traditional optical telescope, the space between stars and galaxies (the background) is completely dark. However, a sufficiently sensitive radio telescope shows a faint background glow, almost isotropic, that is not associated with any star, galaxy, or other object. This glow is strongest in the microwave region of the radio spectrum. The accidental discovery of the CMB in 1964 by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson was the culmination of work initiated in the 1940s, and earned the discoverers the 1978 Nobel Prize.\nThe CMB is well explained as radiation left over from an early stage in the development of the universe, and its discovery is considered a landmark test of the Big Bang model of the universe. When the universe was young, before the formation of stars and planets, it was denser, much hotter, and filled with a uniform glow from a white-hot fog of hydrogen plasma. As the universe expanded, both the plasma and the radiation filling it grew cooler. When the universe cooled enough, protons and electrons combined to form neutral hydrogen atoms. These atoms could no longer absorb the thermal radiation, and so the universe became transparent instead of being an opaque fog.Cosmologists refer to the time period when neutral atoms first formed as the recombination epoch, and the event shortly afterwards when photons started to travel freely through space rather than constantly being scattered by electrons and protons in plasma is referred to as photon decoupling. The photons that existed at the time of photon decoupling have been propagating ever since, though growing fainter and less energetic, since the expansion of space causes their wavelength to increase over time (and wavelength is inversely proportional to energy according to Planck's relation). This is the source of the alternative term relic radiation. The surface of last scattering refers to the set of points in space at the right distance from us so that we are now receiving photons originally emitted from those points at the time of photon decoupling.\nPrecise measurements of the CMB are critical to cosmology, since any proposed model of the universe must explain this radiation. The CMB has a thermal black body spectrum at a temperature of 7000272548000000000♠2.72548±0.00057 K. The spectral radiance dEν/dν peaks at 160.23 GHz, in the microwave range of frequencies. (Alternatively, if spectral radiance is defined as dEλ/dλ, then the peak wavelength is 1.063 mm.) The glow is very nearly uniform in all directions, but the tiny residual variations show a very specific pattern, the same as that expected of a fairly uniformly distributed hot gas that has expanded to the current size of the universe. In particular, the spectral radiance at different angles of observation in the sky contains small anisotropies, or irregularities, which vary with the size of the region examined. They have been measured in detail, and match what would be expected if small thermal variations, generated by quantum fluctuations of matter in a very tiny space, had expanded to the size of the observable universe we see today. This is a very active field of study, with scientists seeking both better data (for example, the Planck spacecraft) and better interpretations of the initial conditions of expansion. Although many different processes might produce the general form of a black body spectrum, no model other than the Big Bang has yet explained the fluctuations. As a result, most cosmologists consider the Big Bang model of the universe to be the best explanation for the CMB.\nThe high degree of uniformity throughout the observable universe and its faint but measured anisotropy lend strong support for the Big Bang model in general and the ΛCDM (\"Lambda Cold Dark Matter\") model in particular. Moreover, the fluctuations are coherent on angular scales that are larger than the apparent cosmological horizon at recombination. Either such coherence is acausally fine-tuned, or cosmic inflation occurred.",
"This Month in Physics History - American Physical Society\nThis Month in Physics History. ... Take the case of Bell Labs physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, ... Their momentous discovery made it possible to obtain ...\nThis Month in Physics History\nThis Month in Physics History\nMore\nJune 1963: Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background\nSometimes the most stunning scientific discoveries are the least expected, and occur more by serendipity than by intent. Take the case of Bell Labs physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who set out to map radio signals from the Milky Way and wound up being the first to measure the cosmic background radiation (CMB). Their momentous discovery made it possible to obtain information about cosmic processes that took place about 16 million years ago, and forever changed the science of cosmology, transforming it from a specialty of a select few astronomers to a \"respectable\" branch of physics almost overnight.\nIn the 1950s there were essentially two theories about the origin of the universe. One was the Steady State Theory, which held that the universe was homogenous in space and time and would remain so forever . The more controversial theory sought to incorporate Edwin Hubble's discovery in 1929 that galaxies are moving away from one another at remarkable speeds. A handful of physicists led by George Gamow argued that the separation between galaxies must have been smaller in the past, which meant that at some point the universe had once been infinitely dense. Everything in the universe had emerged from this incredibly dense and hot state in a cataclysmic explosion called \"the Big Bang.\"\nBell Labs had built a giant, 20-foot horn-shaped antenna in Holmdel, NJ in 1960 as part of a very early satellite transmission system called Echo, but the launch of the Teslar satellite a few years later made the Echo system obsolete for its intended commercial application. Penzias and Wilson seized the opportunity to use the antenna as a radio telescope to amplify and measure radio signals from the spaces between galaxies. To do so, they had to eliminate all recognizable interference from their receiver, removing the effects of radar and radio broadcasting and suppressing interference from the heart of the receiver itself by cooling it with liquid helium.\nHowever, when Penzias and Wilson reduced their data, they found an annoying background \"noise\", like static in a radio, that interfered with their observations. The noise was a uniform signal in the microwave range (with a wavelength of 7.35 centimeters), and seemed to come from all directions. Penzias and Wilson checked everything they could think of to rule out the source of the excess radiation. They pointed the antenna at New York City and found it wasn't due to urban interference. Nor was it radiation from our galaxy or extraterrestrial radio sources.\nFinally, they decided the problem might be due to the droppings from pigeons roosting in the horn-shaped antenna, contrived a pigeon trap to oust the birds, and spent hours removing pigeon dung from the contraption. [Ivan Kaminow, a colleague of Penzias during the latter's early days at Bell Labs, once joked that Penzias and Wilson \"looked for dung but found gold, which is just opposite of the experience of most of us.\"] Yet still the background radiation remained.\nSo Penzias and Wilson began looking for theoretical explanations. Around the same time, Princeton University physicist Robert Dicke theorized that if the universe was created according to the Big Bang theory, a low-level background radiation at around 3 degrees Kelvin would exist throughout the universe. Dicke had begun looking for evidence to support his theory when Penzias and Wilson got in touch with his laboratory. He visited Bell Labs and confirmed that the mysterious radio signal was indeed the cosmic background radiation — proof of the Big Bang. Dicke shared his theoretical work with the Bell Labs researchers, even as he resignedly admitted to his Princeton colleagues, \"We've been scooped.\"\nThe two groups published their results at the same time in Astrophysical Journal Letters. Penzias and Wilson received the Nobel prize in physics in 1978 for their serendipitous discovery of the CMB. More than three decades later, NASA sent the Cosmic Microwave Background Explorer (COBE) satellite into orbit to investigate the CMB in great detail, producing the first detailed map analyzing the small irregularities, or \"ripples\", in the microwave background.\nThe giant radio antenna at Holmdel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. Even the lowly pigeon trap has found its way into posterity. It is now one of the key artifacts on permanent display in Washington, DC, part of a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute's National Air & Space Museum that debuted in September 2001, entitled, \"Exploring the Universe.\" And Penzias and Wilson went down in scientific history for a momentous discovery that opened a window into the early universe, enabling astronomers and physicists to see the initial conditions from which the beauty of the present-day cosmos emerged.\n©1995 - 2017, AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY\nAPS encourages the redistribution of the materials included in this newspaper provided that attribution to the source is noted and the materials are not truncated or changed.\nEditor: Alan Chodos"
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"Famous Astronomers - Art de Ciel.com\nFamous Astronomers : ArtDeCiel.com: Home: Books: Showcase: ... Johann Gottfried Galle: ... 19th July 1846; Boston, Massachusetts, ...\nFamous Astronomers\nFamous Astronomers\n \n \nMany Astronomers have contributed to our understanding of the Universe in which we live. A list of some of the most famous is given below (apologies for missing someone out!): Classical Period Claudius Ptolemy (90-168); Greek; compiled the Almagest a treatise on Astronomy, in it he defined 48 Constellations of the 88 in use today. Nicolaus Copernicus 1473-1543; Polish; developed a simple heliocentric model of the solar system that explained planetary retrograde motion and overturned Greek astronomy. Tycho Brahe 1546-1601; Danish; observed a supernova now known as ``Tycho's supernova''; made the most precise observations of stellar and planetary positions then known. Galileo Galilei 1564-1642; Italian; performed fundamental observations, experiments, and mathematical analyses in astronomy and physics; discovered mountains and craters on the moon, the phases of Venus, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. Johannes Kepler 1571-1630; German; established the most exact astronomical tables then known; established the three laws of planetary motion. John Babtist Riccioli 1598-1671; Italian; made telescopic lunar studies and published detailed lunar maps in which he introduced much nomenclature for lunar objects; discovered the first double star (Mizar). Giovanni Cassini 1625-1712; Italian-born French; measured rotational periods of Jupiter and Mars; discovered four satellites of Saturn and the gap in Saturn's rings now known as ``Cassini's division'' Christiaan Huygens 1629-1695; Dutch; discovered Saturn's first satellite, Titan, and the true shape of Saturn's rings Sir Isaac Newton 1642-1727; English; developed theories of gravitation and mechanics, and invented differential calculus. Edmund Halley 1656-1742; English; used his theory of cometary orbits to predict that the comet of 1682 (later named ``Halley's comet'') was periodic Charles Messier 1730-1817; French; discovered 19 comets, 13 being original and 6 independent co-discoveries; compiled a famous catalogue of deep-sky objects. Joseph-Louis Lagrange 1736-1813; French; developed new methods of analytical mechanics; made many theoretical contributions to astronomy, improving our understanding of lunar motion and the perturbing effects of planets on cometary orbits; found solution to 3-body problem showing there could be two points (now called Lagrange points) in orbit of Jupiter where minor planets could stay almost indefinitely - the Trojan group of asteroids were later discovered at these positions. William Herschel 1738-1822; England; discovered Uranus and its two brightest moons, Titania and Oberon; discovered Saturn's moons, Mimas and Enceladus; discovered the ice caps of Mars, several asteroids and binary stars; catalogued 2,500 deep sky objects Giuseppe Piazzi 1746-1826; Italian; discovered the largest asteroid, Ceres; accurately measured positions of many stars, resulting in a star catalogue Johann Bode 1747-1826; German; popularized a relationship giving planetary distances from the Sun, which became known as ``Bode's law''; predicted an undiscovered planet between Mars and Jupiter, where the asteroids were later found. Pierre-Simon Laplace 1749-1827; French; made important mathematical contributions to differential equations; promoted the solar nebula hypothesis for the origin of the solar system. Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers 1758-1840; German; invented first successful method for calculating cometary orbits; discovered several comets, including the comet of 1815, now called Olber's comet; discovered the asteroids Pallas and Vesta; posed the famous Olber's paradox: ``Why is the night sky dark?''. Friedrich Bessel 1784-1846; Prussian; first to measure distance to the star 61 Cygni; proposed that Sirius has an unseen companion; worked out the mathematical analysis of what are now known as Bessel functions. Joseph von Fraunhofer 1787-1826; German; made detailed wavelength measurements of hundreds of lines in the solar spectrum; designed an achromatic objective lens. Johann Franz Encke 1791-1865; German; discovered the first short-period comet, now called Encke's comet . Friedrich von Struve 1793-1864; German-born Russian; founded the study of double stars; published catalogue of over 3000 binary stars; first to measure distance to the star Vega. Wilhelm Beer 1797-1850; German; prepared and published maps of the Moon and Mars Thomas Henderson 1798-1844; Scottish; first to measure distance to a star (Alpha Centauri) William Lassell 1799-1880; English; discovered Triton, the largest satellite of Neptune Sir George Airy 1801-1892; English; improved orbital theory of Venus and the Moon; studied interference fringes in optics; made a mathematical study of the rainbow. Urbain Le Verrier 1811-1877; French; accurately predicted the position of Neptune, which led to its discovery. Johann Gottfried Galle 1812-1910; German; first person to observe Neptune, based on calculations by French mathematician, Urbain Le Verrier; however, Neptune's discovery is usually credited to Le Verrier and English astronomer, John Crouch Adams, who first predicted its position. Anders Ångström 1814-1874; Swedish; discovered hydrogen in the solar spectrum; source of the Angstrom unit . Daniel Kirkwood 1814-1895; American; discovered the ``Kirkwood gaps'' in the orbits of the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter; explained the gaps in Saturn's rings William Huggins 1824-1910; England; first to show that some nebulae, including the great nebula in Orion, have pure emission spectra and thus must be gaseous Sir Joseph Lockyer 1836-1920; English; discovered in the solar spectrum a previously unknown element that he named helium Henry Draper 1837-1882; American made first photograph of a stellar spectrum (that of Vega); later photographed spectra of over a hundred stars and published them in a catalogue; studied spectrum of Orion Nebula, which he showed was a dust cloud Edward Charles Pickering 1846-1919; American; discovered the first spectroscopic binary star, Mizar Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn 1851-1922; Dutch; discovered that the proper motions of stars were not random, but stars could be divided into two streams moving in opposite directions, representing the rotation of our galaxy Edward Barnard 1857-1923; American; discovered fourteen comets and co-discovered two others; as well as Almathea, the fifth moon of Jupiter; also discovered star with largest proper motion, now called Barnard's star. Nobel Laureates Hannes Alvén 1908-1995; Swedish; developed the theory of magnetohydrodynamics Subramanyan Chandrasekhar 1910-1995; Indian-born American; made important theoretical contributions concerning the structure and evolution of stars, especially white dwarfs. William Fowler 1911-1995; American; carried out extensive experimental studies of nuclear reactions of astrophysical significance; developed, with others, a complete theory of the formation of chemical elements in the universe. Antony Hewish 1924; English; led the research group that discovered the first pulsar. Arno A. Penzias 1933-; German-born American; co-discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation. Robert W. Wilson 1936 -; American; co-discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. 1941- ; American; co-discovered the first binary pulsar. Russell Alan Hulse 1950- ;American; co-discovered the first binary pulsar. Others Annie Jump Cannon 1863-1941; American; classified spectra of many thousands of stars; published catalogues of variable stars (including 300 she discovered). Maximilian Wolf 1863-1932; German; discovered hundreds of asteroids using photography George E. Hale 1868-1938; American; revolutionized spectral observations by inventing and using the spectroheliograph; discovered magnetic fields in sunspots; first astronomer to be officially called an astrophysicist; founded the Yerkes, Mt. Wilson, and Palomar Observatories Henrietta Swan Levitt 1868-1921; American; discovered the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variables Willem de Sitter 1872-1934; Dutch; studied the astronomical consequences of Einstein's theory of general relativity; deduced that a near-empty universe would expand. Ejnar Hertzsprung 1873-1967; Danish; invented the colour-magnitude diagram; by studying star clusters, independently discovered the relationship between absolute magnitude and spectral types of stars; a plot of this relationship is now called a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (or H-R diagram); determined distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud Karl Schwarzschild 1873-1916; German; first to give an exact solution of Einstein's equations of general relativity, giving an understanding of the geometry of space near a point mass; also made the first study of black holes Vesto M. Slipher 1875-1969; American; first to measure the radial velocity of the Andromeda Galaxy Walter Sydney Adams 1876-1956; American; identified Sirius B as the first white dwarf star known. Henry Norris Russell 1877-1957; American; used photographic methods to measure stellar parallaxes, leading to the discovery of the relationship between absolute magnitude and spectral types of stars; a plot of this relationship is now called a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (or H-R diagram) Bernhard Schmidt 1879-1935; Swedish-Estonian; invented and constructed the first Schmidt reflecting telescope using a corrector plate he devised to eliminate aberration of the image. Arthur S. Eddington 1882-1944; English; first to confirm Einstein's prediction that light will bend near a star; discovered the mass-luminosity relation for stars; theoretically explained the pulsation of Cepheid variables. Harlow Shapley 1885-1972; American; discovered the size of our galaxy and the direction of its center by studying the distribution of globular clusters; determined the orbits of many eclipsing binary stars. Edwin Hubble 1889-1953; American; first to measure distance to the Andromeda nebula, establishing it to be a separate galaxy; later measured distances to other galaxies and discovered that they recede at a rate proportional to their distance (Hubble's law). Walter Baade 1893-1960; German-born American; discovered the asteroids Hidalgo and Icarus; established two different stellar classes: the younger, hotter ``Population I'' and the older, cooler ``Population II''. Georges-Henri Lemaitre 1894-1966; Belgian; advanced idea that the Universe originated as a small, dense ``cosmic egg'' that exploded and set its expansion into motion Rudolph Minkowski 1895-1976; German; divided supernovae into Types I and II; optically identified many of the early radio sources. Bernard-Ferdinand Lyot 1897-1952; French; invented the coronagraph. Otto Struve 1897-1963; Russian-born American; made detailed spectroscopic studies of close binary stars; discovered interstellar matter (H II regions). Fritz Zwicky 1898-1974; Swiss-born American; observed Coma cluster of galaxies and determined that most of the cluster must be ``dark matter''; proposed existence of and then observed dwarf galaxies; proposed existence of supernovas (a term he coined) and that their collapse might lead to neutron stars; anticipated discovery of quasars by proposing that compact blue galaxies might be mistaken for stars; anticipated that dark matter could be studied by observing galaxies that acted as gravitational lenses. Jan Hendrik Oort 1900-1992; Dutch; calculated distance to center of galaxy; determined period for sun to complete one revolution of Milky Way; calculated the mass of the Milky Way; proposed existence of huge spherical cloud of icy comets (the Oort cloud) left behind from formation of the solar system George Gamow 1904-1968; Russian-born American; first suggested hydrogen fusion as source of solar energy. Karl G. Jansky 1905-1950; American; discovered radio waves from space, thereby pioneering the birth of radio astronomy. Gerard P. Kuiper 1905-1973; Dutch-born American; discovered Miranda, the fifth satellite of Uranus; discovered Nereid, the second satellite of Neptune; discovered the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest satellite; his spectroscopic studies of Uranus and Neptune led to discovery of comet-like debris at the edge of the solar system, now called ``Kuiper's belt''. Bruno B. Rossi 1905-1993-; Italian; pioneer of x-ray astronomy and space plasma physics; participated in discovery of the first known x-ray source outside the solar system (Scorpius X-1). Bart Jan Bok 1906-1983; Dutch; suggested that small dark globules of interstellar gas and dusk (now called Bok globules) are collapsing to form new stars Clyde Tombaugh 1906-1997; American; discovered the dwarf planet Pluto. Fred Whipple 1906-2004; American; proposed the ``dirty snowball'' model of cometary structure. Grote Reber 1911-2002; American; built the first radio telescope (a parabolic reflector 31 feet in diameter), thereby becoming the first radio astronomer. Carl K. Seyfert 1911-1960; American; discovered the first active galaxy, part of a group now called Seyfert Galaxies. John A. Wheeler 1911-2008; American; made theoretical contributions to understanding of quantum gravity; coined the term ``black hole''; introduced the concept of ``spacetime foam'' Karl F. von Weizsäcker 1912-2007; German; contributed to the development of the model nebular theory for the formation of the solar system; proposed (with Hans Bethe) the proton-proton reaction as the thermonuclear energy source for the sun. James A. Van Allen 1914-2006; American; a space scientist best known for discovering the Earth's magnetosphere. Sir Fred Hoyle 1915-2001; English; proponent of the steady-state model of the universe; well-known author of science fiction; proposed that earliest forms of life were carried through space on comets and that these primitive forms of life found their way to Earth; derisively coined the term ``Big Bang'' for a cosmic theory with which he did not and does not agree. Robert H. Dicke 1916-1997; American; proposed that radiation near 1-cm wavelength is left over from the hot Big Bang; invented the microwave radiometer, used to detect this radiation. George H. Herbig 1920-; American; independently discovered the Herbig-Haro objects, which are gas clouds associated with young stars. E. Margaret Burbidge 1919; English; performed observational research on the spectra of quasars and other peculiar galaxies; contributed to understanding of stellar nucleosynthesis. Allan R. Sandage 1926-; American; identified the first quasar, and discovered many more; determined ages of many globular clusters. Vera Rubin 1928-; American; measured rotation curves for distant galaxies and ultimately concluded that 90% or more of the universe is made of invisible dark matter. Riccardo Giacconi 1931-; Italian; pioneer of x-ray astronomy; participated in discovery of the first known x-ray source outside the solar system (Scorpius X-1). John N. Bahcall 1934-2005; American; made important theoretical contributions to understanding solar neutrinos and quasars. Carl Sagan 1934-1996; American was a leader in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence; contributed to most of the space missions to explore Mars and the outer planets; warned that all-out nuclear war could lead to a ``nuclear winter''. James W. Christy 1938-; American; discovered Pluto's satellite, Charon. William K. Hartmann 1939-; American; well-known painter of astronomical themes; co-developed the most widely accepted theory of the formation of the Moon (from the collision of a giant planetismal with the Earth at the close of the planet-forming period of the solar system). Kip S. Thorne 1940-; American; contributed to the theoretical understanding of black holes and gravitational radiation; co-founded the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory Project (LIGO). Stephen W. Hawking 1942-; English; combined general relativity with quantum theory to predict that black holes should emit radiation and evaporate Sir Roger Penrose 1931-; English; contributed to the development of general relativity by showing the necessity for cosmological singularities; elucidated the physics of black holes. Jocelyn Burnham-Bell 1943-Irish; co-discovered the first pulsar. Charles Thomas Bolton 1943-; Canadian identified Cygnus X-1 as the first black hole.\nJohann Gottfried Galle",
"Famous Astronomers - StarTeach Astronomy Education\n... was a mathematician who put forward the idea that ... of the Earth's axis, ... but several other astronomers such as Brahe and Galileo helped to ...\nStarTeach Astronomy Education\nyou are here > Famous Astronomers\nGreat Astronomers\nThales (624-547 B.C., Ionian) was a Greek philosopher who traveled widely in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and brought astronomical records from these cultures back to Greece. He believed that the Earth is a disk floating on an endless ocean. Legend has it that he correctly predicted a solar eclipse in the year 585 B.C.\nAnaximander (611-547 B.C., Ionian) was a Greek philosopher who made the first detailed maps of the Earth and the sky. He knew that the Earth was round, and believed that it was free-floating and unsupported. He measured its circumference, and was the first to put forward the idea that celestial bodies make full circles in their orbits. One of his greatest contributions was the fact that he was the first to conceptualize space as having depth.\nPythagoras (569-475 B.C., Ionian) was a mathematician who put forward the idea that the universe is made of crystal spheres that encircle the Earth. According to him, the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars travel in separate spheres. When the spheres touch each other, a 'music of the spheres' can be heard.\nAristotle (384-322 B.C., Greek), the great philosopher, proved that the Earth is spherical, and believed that it was at the center of the universe. His reason for believing this was actually quite scientific: he knew that if the Earth revolved around the Sun, then we should see the stars shift position throughout the year. Since he did not have the technology to detect this shift, as we do today, he concluded that Earth must rest at the center of the universe. According to him, the Sun, planets, and stars were located in spheres that revolved around the Earth.\nAristarchus (310-230 B.C., Greek) was the first to put forward the idea that the Sun was actually in the center of the universe. His theory was considered far too radical. Unfortunately, history tends to forget that he came to this conclusion about 1,750 years before Copernicus did! He also attempted to measure the relative distances between the Earth and the Sun and the Earth and the Moon. Even though he used a reasonable method, his results were not very accurate, because he lacked the technological equipment to make a precise measurement.\nHipparchus (190-120 B.C., Greek) is widely considered to be the greatest astronomer of ancient times. He compiled the first known star catalog to organize astronomical objects, and also came up with a scale to define the brightnesses of stars. A version of this magnitude system is still used today. He measured the distance from the Earth to the Moon to be 29.5 Earth diameters (we know today that the real value is 30 Earth diameters). Perhaps his greatest discovery was the precession, or wobble, of the Earth's axis, which is caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon.\nClaudius Ptolemy (85-165 A.D., Greek) was an astronomer who used Hipparchus' extensive observations to develop a model that predicted the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. His model, called the Ptolemaic system, visualized an Earth-centered universe and assumed that all astronomical objects move at constant speeds in circular orbits. The circle was considered by the ancients to be the perfect shape, and regardless of the evidence against circular orbits, Ptolemy built his model to fit this idea. The Ptolemaic model is one of the longest upheld scientific theories in history: it was the cornerstone of astronomy for 1,500 years.\nal-Khwarizmi (780-850, Islamic) was the inventor of algebra. He developed this mathematical device completely in words, not mathematical expressions, but based the system on the Indian numbers borrowed by the Arabs (what we today call Arabic numerals). His work was translated into Latin hundreds of years later, and served as the European introduction to the Indian number system, complete with its concept of zero. Al-Khwarizmi performed detailed calculations of the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and did a number of eclipse calculations. He constructed a table of the latitudes and longitudes of 2,402 cities and landmarks, forming the basis of an early world map.\nOmar Khayyam (1048-1131, Persian) was a great scientist, philosopher, and poet. He compiled many astronomical tables and performed a reformation of the calendar which was more accurate than the Julian and came close to the Gregorian. An amazing feat was his calculation of the year to be 365.24219858156 days long, which is accurate to the sixth decimal place!\nNicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543, Polish) began a new era of astronomy when he concluded that the Sun was the center of the universe instead of the Earth. Copernicus felt that the Ptolemaic system was contrived, but in his revisions of that model, he kept the orbits circular. The revolutionary idea was not popular with the Church, but several other astronomers such as Brahe and Galileo helped to eventually prove that this model of the universe more accurately portrayed reality.\nTycho Brahe (1546-1601, Danish) built an observatory from which he made the most accurate astronomical observations up to that time. His observatory contained sophisticated equipment for mapping star positions, and for more than 20 years he made detailed records of his findings. He believed that the universe was a blend of the Ptolemaic and Copernican models, and created his own model in which the planets orbit the Sun and the Sun orbits the Earth.\nGalileo Galilei (1564-1642, Italian) is the father of observational astronomy. In 1609, he heard about the Dutch invention of the telescope, and built one for himself. Even though his telescope was not very powerful compared to the amateur equipment available today, he was able to make a number of stunning discoveries which changed the face of astronomy. He saw the craters, mountains, and valleys of the Moon, noticed the huge number of stars making up the Milky Way, kept precise records of sunspot activity and the phases of Venus, and discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter. These moons are still called the Galilean Moons today, in honor of the earth-shattering scientific effects of the discovery. During a time when the Earth was still considered to be at the center of the universe, he publicized the fact that other astronomical bodies, such as Jupiter's moons, were clearly revolving around something other than the Earth. Galileo's support of the Copernican model of the universe frightened the Church, which put Galileo on trial in 1633. He was forced to renounce his Copernican views and was held under house arrest for the rest of his life.\nJohannes Kepler (1571-1630, German) was Tycho Brahe's assistant and student. He inherited his teacher's extensive collection of astronomical records, and used them to develop three laws of planetary motion. He believed in the Copernican model of the universe, although he found it difficult to fit Tycho's observations of Mars into the model with a circular orbit. He therefore used the idea of elliptical orbits to describe the motions of the planets, which became known as Kepler's first law. His second law states that a line from the Sun to a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal amounts of time. The third law was a masterpiece of simplicity: the square of the number of years of a planet's orbital period is equal to the cube of that planet's average distance from the Sun.\nGiovanni Cassini (1625-1712, Italian) was the astronomer who first discovered the division in the rings of Saturn, today known as the Cassini division. He also found four moons orbiting Saturn, and measured the periods of rotation of Mars and Jupiter. The Cassini space mission currently on its way to Saturn was named after him.\nIsaac Newton (1643-1727, British) was a mathematician who developed extensive mathematics to describe the astronomical models of Copernicus and Kepler. His Theory of Universal Gravitation was the foundation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion, but it also went further: Newton showed that the laws governing astronomical bodies were the same laws governing motion on the surface of the Earth. Newton's scientific ideas are so complete that they still offer an accurate description of physics today, except for certain cases in which 20th century physics must be used.\nEdmond Halley (1656-1742, British) became famous for predicting the 1682 appearance of a comet called Halley's Comet. He proved that the orbit of comets is periodic.\nCharles Messier (1730-1817, French) was a comet-hunter who published a list of 110 astronomical objects that should not be mistaken for comets. This list includes some of the most intriguing sights visible through small telescopes, including galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. The M objects, as they are now called, are used today to identify the most brilliant objects in the sky.\nWilliam Herschel (1738-1822, British) was the discover of Uranus and two of its moons. He also discovered two more moons of Saturn and several asteroids, and made a catalog of 2,500 astronomical objects. He found the polar ice caps on Mars, which are today being studied by several satellites in the hopes of shedding light on the existence of water on Mars.\nJohann Bode (1747-1826, German) published a law now known as Bode's Law, which predicts mathematically the distances of the planets from the Sun. Using his law, he was able to determine that there should mathematically be another planet between Mars and Jupiter; this is where the asteroid belt is located.\nJoseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826, German) discovered dark lines in the spectrum coming from the Sun. He carefully measured the positions of over 300 of these lines, creating a wavelength standard that is still in use today.\nJoseph Lockyer (1836-1920, British) was the astronomer who first discovered the element Helium when he was studying the Sun's atmosphere. He made detailed records of sunspot activity and also studied solar flares and prominences. He conducted several tours to places where solar eclipses would be visible. He was also one of the first archaeoastronomers: he wrote a wonderful book called 'The Dawn of Astronomy', which investigates the astronomy of ancient cultures, in particular Egypt.\nAnnie Jump Cannon (1863-1941, American) was a member of the famous group of Harvard astronomers called 'Pickering's Women'. The director of the Harvard College Observatory, Edward Pickering, hired a number of women to sort through and organize mounds of data on the stellar classification of stars. The stars were classified by their spectra, and Annie Cannon was the most prolific and careful of the workers. She single-handedly classified 400,000 stars into the scheme we use today (O B A F G K M), and discovered 300 variable stars. She paved the way for women entering the astronomical field.\nGeorge Hale (1868-1938, American) discovered that sunspots have localized magnetic fields, which helped to explain an important phenomenon present in the Sun. Perhaps his greatest legacy was to found three important observatories: Yerkes, Mt. Wilson, and Palomar.\nHenrietta Swan Levitt (1868-1921, American) was also a member of 'Pickering's Women' (see Annie Jump Cannon above). She discovered that a particular type of variable star known as a Cepheid could be used as a distance marker, making it possible to determine astronomical distances to objects.\nEjnar Hertzsprung (1873-1967, Danish) was one of the inventors of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, which shows the relationship between the absolute magnitude and the spectral type of stars. He also made the contribution of finding the distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy visible from Earth's southern hemisphere.\nKarl Schwarzschild (1873-1916, German) was the first to study the theory of black holes. The Schwarzschild radius is the distance from a black hole at which bodies would have an escape velocity exceeding the speed of light and therefore would be invisible. He also wrote extensively on the curvature of space, based on Einstein's Theory of Relativity.\nHenry Russell (1877-1957, American) was the one inventor of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram describing the spectral types of stars. He measured the parallax of the stars photographically, allowing them to be properly placed on the H-R diagram.\nAlbert Einstein (1879-1955, German) was probably the greatest mind of the twentieth century. His Special Theory of Relativity, proposed in 1905, extended Newtonian Mechanics to very large speeds close to the speed of light. It describes the changes in measurements of physical phenomena when viewed by observers who are in motion relative to the phenomena. In 1915, Einstein extended this further in the General Theory of Relativity, which includes the effects of gravitation. According to this theory, mass and energy determine the geometry of spacetime, and curvatures of spacetime manifest themselves in gravitational forces.\nArthur Eddington (1882-1944, British) proved observationally that Einstein's prediction of light bending near the extreme mass of a star is scientifically accurate. He also explained the behavior of Cepheid variables, and discovered the relationship between the mass of a star and its luminosity.\nEdwin Hubble (1889-1953, American) made an incredible contribution to astronomy and cosmology when he discovered that faraway galaxies are moving away from us. Known as Hubble's Law, the theory states that galaxies recede from each other at a rate proportional to their distance from each other. This concept is a cornerstone of the Big Bang model of the universe.\nJan Oort (1900-1992, Dutch) first measured the distance between our solar system and the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and calculated the mass of the Milky Way. An enormous contribution of his was the proposal of a large number of icy comets left over from the formation of the solar system, now known as the Oort Cloud.\nGeorge Gamow (1904-1968, Russian-born American) was the first to put forward the idea that solar energy comes from the process of nuclear fusion.\nKarl Jansky (1905-1950, American) discovered that radio waves are emanating from space, which led to the science of radio astronomy.\nGerard Kuiper (1905-1973, Dutch-born American) discovered a large number of comets at the edge of the solar system beyond Pluto's orbit, known as the Kuiper belt. He also discovered several moons in the outer solar system and the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.\nClyde Tombaugh (1906-1997, American) was the discoverer of the final planet in our solar system, Pluto. He found it photographically in 1930, using the telescope at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona.\nSubramanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995, Indian-born American) made important contributions to the theory of stellar evolution. He found that the limit, now called the Chandrasekhar limit, to the stability of white dwarf stars is 1.4 solar masses: any star larger than this cannot be stable as a white dwarf.\nJames Van Allen (1914-, American) discovered the magnetosphere of the Earth. The belts of radiation surrounding the planet are called the Van Allen belts, and moderate the amount of solar radiation hitting Earth.\nFred Hoyle (1915-2001, British) was a believer in the steady-state model of the universe, and thus did not believe in the Big Bang Theory. He was, however, the one who coined the term 'Big Bang'. He also believed that early life forms are transported by comets, and that the interaction of a comet with the Earth is how life appeared on our planet.\nRobert Dicke (1916-1997, American) believed that it was possible to detect radiation left over from the Big Bang. He invented the microwave radiometer to detect this radiation, which has a wavelength of one centimeter.\nAlan Sandage (1926-, American) calculated the ages of many globular clusters, and discovered the first quasar.\nRoger Penrose (1931-, British) expanded the physics of black holes by showing that singularities in space were responsible for their existence.\nArno Penzias (1933-, German-born American) was a co-discoverer of the cosmic microwave background radiation, which is radiation left over from the Big Bang.\nCarl Sagan (1934-1996, American) could be called 'the astronomer of the people'. He popularized the science of astronomy with the general public, and revolutionized science fiction by believing that we are not alone in the universe. He championed the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, which continues today with a number of missions to Mars to search for signs of life on that planet.\nRobert Wilson (1936-, American) was a co-discoverer of cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang.\nKip Thorne (1940-, American) contributed to the understanding of black holes.\nStephen Hawking (1942-, British) is another brilliant mind of the twentieth century. He combined the theory of general relativity and quantum theory in order to prove that black holes emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Despite being completely immobile as a result of Lou Gehrig's disease, he has written numerous books to bring astronomy, physics, math, and cosmology to the general public.\nAlan Guth (1940-, American) developed a new theory called the inflationary universe as an addition to the Big Bang Model. Inflation theory predicts that the universe is flat and infinite.\n \nFamous Astronomers and Astrophysicists. http://cnr2.kent.edu/~manley/astronomers.html\nMacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/\nRobert Burnham, Alan Dyer, and Jeff Kanipe, Astronomy: The Definitive Guide, Barnes and Noble Books, 2003.",
"ASTRONOMY - space.universe.com\nRadio astronomy studies radiation with wavelengths greater than approximately one ... radiation (wavelengths longer than ... One branch of amateur astronomy, ...\nASTRONOMY - space.universe.com\nspace.universe.com\nHome > \nASTRONOMY\nThe astronomer's job is to observe, describe and explain objects in space. Astronomy is a scientific study of objects in space. \nThere comes time for everything like when you ask your self how did science,astronomy,and math get Started. You may go to google or yahoo to find your answer and you will get \nList of Arab scientists and scholars\nThis is a list of scientists and scholars from the Muslim World and Spain (Al-Andalus) who lived from antiquity up until the beginning of the modern age, consisting primarily of scholars during the Middle Ages. In some cases, their exact ancestry is unclear.\nAl - the\nibn, bin, banu - son of\nabu - father of, the one with\nTo maintain consistency and keep the list easy to navigate, \nAhmad al-Qalqashandi (1355 or 1356, Nile Delta, Egypt – 1418)\nAbd el-Latif el-Baghdadi (1162, Baghdad, Iraq – 1231) physician, historian and Egyptologist\nAhmad Bilal Yousaf ( April 18 , 1721 – January 21 , 1782)\nAlsayed Ali Ahmad Alshaykh (1759, Alexandria, Egypt – 1848)\nAverroes - See Ibn Rushd\nAvempace - See Ibn Bajjah\nAbulcasis - See Al-Zahrawi\nAhmad ibn Fadlan (10th century, Baghdad,Iraq) writer and traveler; member of an embassy of the Caliph of Baghdad to the Volga Bulgars\nAhmad ibn Majid (1432, Ras al-Khaimah, UAE - 1500,?) navigator and poet\nAhmed ibn Yusuf (835, Baghdad - 912, Egypt) - mathematician\nAli Ben Isa (9th century)\nAli ibn Ridwan (c. 988, Giza, Egypt - 1061) astronomer and geometer with Khalid Ben Abdulmelik\nAl-Asma'i (739, Basra, Iraq - 831, Basra, Iraq) pioneer of zoology, botany and animal husbandry\nAbubacer - See Ibn Tufail\nAhmed Zewail - See Ahmed Zewail\nIbn Tahir al-Baghdadi (980, Baghdad, Iraq - 1037, ?) arithmetic\nAl-Baqillani (?, Basra, Iraq - 1013, Basra, Iraq) theologian, scholar, and Maliki lawyer\nAl-Battani (850, Harran, Turkey - 929, Qasr al-Jiss, Iraq) astronomer and mathematician\nIbn Duraid (837, Basra, Iraq - 934, Baghdad, Iraq) geographer, genealogist, poet, and philologist\nGamal Hemdan (February 2, 1928 - April 17, 1993) geographer\nHaly Abenragel (Abû l-Hasan 'Alî ibn Abî l-Rijâl) (? - 1037, Kairouan, Tunisia) astrologer, best known for his Kitāb al-bāri' fi akhām an-nujūm\nIbn Hawqal (943, Baghdad,Iraq - 969,? ) writer, geographer, and chronicler\nHassan Hanafi (born 1935 in Cairo, Egypt) professor and chair of philosophy at Cairo University\nAl-Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Matar (786 – 833) mathematician\nJabir ibn Hayyan 722 - 804 chemist\nAbū Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdānī (893, Yemen - 945, Sanaa, Yemen) geographer, historian and astronomer\nIbn Hubal (1122, Baghdad, Iraq - 1213) physician, scientist and author of a medical compendium\nIkhwan al-Safa اخوان الصفا وخلان الوفا (The Brethren of Purity) (Basra, Iraq), a group of neo-Platonic Arabic philosophers of the 10th century\nAl-Idrisi (1099, Ceuta, Maghreb - 1166 CE, Sicily) geographer and cartographer\nIbn Abi Ishaq (died AD 735) the earliest known grammarian of the Arabic language\nJabir ibn Aflah (1100, Seville, Spain - 1160, ? ) influential astronomer and mathematician\nAl-Jayyani (989, Cordoba, Spain - 1079, Jaen, Spain) mathematician and author\nIbn Al-Jazzar (10th century, Qairwan, Tunis) influential 10th century physician and author\nAl-Jahiz (776, Basra, Iraq - 869, Basra, Iraq) historian, biologist and author\nAl-Jawhari, Abu Alabbas (ca. 800-860) mathematician\nIbn Jubayr (1145, Valencia, Spain - 1217, Egypt) geographer, traveller and poet, known for his detailed travel journals\nAl-Khalili (1320, Damascus, Syria - 1380, Damascus, Syria) an astronomer who compiled extensive tables for astronomical use\nKhalil ibn Ahmad (c. 718, Oman – c. 791) writer and philologist, compiled the first dictionary of the Arabic language, the Kitab al-Ayn\nAl-Kindi (c. 801, Kufa, Iraq – 873, Bahgdad, Iraq) Arab philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, physician and geographer\nIbn Khaldun ( May 27 , 1332, Tunis - March 19 , 1406, Cairo, Egypt)\nLabīd ibn rabi'a (c. 560 – c. 661) Arabian poet.\nIbn al-Nafis (1213, Damascus, Syria - 1288, Cairo, Egypt) physician and author, the first to describe pulmonary circulation, compiled a medical encyclopedia and wrote numerous works on \nNur ad-Din al-Betrugi (Alpetragius)[1](?, Morocco - 1204, Seville, Spain) astronomer and philosopher\nOmar M. Yaghi (1965, Amman, Jordan - Present) Chemist Professor at the University of California, Berkeley\nSameera Moussa March 3, 1917 - August 5, 1952\nIbn al-Shatir (1304,Damascus - 1375, Syria, Damascus) astronomer, mathematician, engineer and inventor, worked at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, developed an original astronomical model\nIbn Al-Thahabi (?, Suhar, Oman - 1033 CE, Valencia, Spain) physician and author of an encyclopedia of medicine\nAl-Uqlidisi (920, Damascus, Syria - 980, Damascus, Syria) wrote two works on arithmetic, may have anticipated the invention of decimals\nUsamah ibn Munqidh (1095–1188, Damascus, Syria), Arab historian, politician, and diplomat\nIbn Abi Usaibia (1203–1270, Damascus, Syria) physician and historian, wrote Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba (Lives of the Physicians)\nAl-Umawi (1400, Spain - 1489, Damascus, Syria) mathematician, wrote works on mensuration and arithmetic\nWaddah al-Yaman (Yemen,? - Syria,Damscus,709) poet, famous for his erotic and romantic poems\nYusuf al-Mutamin mathematician, wrote Kitab al-Istikmal (Book of Perfection) in Mathematica\nAl-Zahrawi (936, Cordoba, Spain - 1013, Cordoba, Spain) Islam's greatest medieval surgeon, wrote comprehensive medical texts combining Middle-Eastern, Indian and Greco-Roman classical teachings, shaped European surgical procedures until the Renaissance, considered the \"father Of surgery\", wrote Al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume collection of medical practice\nAl-Zarqali (1028,Spain - 1087,? CE) mathematician, influential astronomer, and instrument maker, contributed to the famous Tables of Toledo\nIbn Zuhr (1091, Seville, Spain - 1161, Seville, Spain) prominent physician of the Medieval Islamic \nAll of these people are likely Muslims that created Knowledge today. When Muslims come Knowledge come to these people. Without Muslims the world is not knowledgeable place. \nMohammed AlSaidi\n Astronomy\nAstronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as moons , planets , stars , nebulae , and galaxies ); the physics, chemistry, and evolution of such objects; and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth (such as supernovae explosions , gamma ray bursts , and cosmic background radiation ). A related but distinct subject, cosmology , is concerned with studying the universe as a whole. [1] Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Prehistoric cultures left behind astronomical artifacts such as the Egyptian monuments and Nubian monuments , and early civilizations such as the Babylonians , Greeks , Chinese , Indians , Iranians and Maya performed methodical observations of the night sky . However, the invention of the telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry , celestial navigation , observational astronomy, and the making of calendars , but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics . [2] During the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of astronomical objects, which is then analyzed using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results, and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.\\ Amateur astronomers have contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, and astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of transient phenomena .Astronomy is not to be confused with astrology , the belief system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects. Although the two fields share a common origin they are now entirely distinct. [3]\n \nLexicology\nThe word astronomy (from the Greek words astron ( ἄστρον ), \"star\" and -nomy from nomos ( νόμος ), \"law\" or \"culture\") literally means \"law of the stars\" (or \"culture of the stars\" depending on the translation).\n[ edit ] Use of terms \"astronomy\" and \"astrophysics\"\nGenerally, either the term \"astronomy\" or \"astrophysics\" may be used to refer to this subject. [4] [5] [6] Based on strict dictionary definitions, \"astronomy\" refers to \"the study of objects and matter outside the Earth's atmosphere and of their physical and chemical properties\" [7] and \"astrophysics\" refers to the branch of astronomy dealing with \"the behavior, physical properties, and dynamic processes of celestial objects and phenomena\". [8] In some cases, as in the introduction of the introductory textbook The Physical Universe by Frank Shu , \"astronomy\" may be used to describe the qualitative study of the subject, whereas \"astrophysics\" is used to describe the physics-oriented version of the subject. [9] However, since most modern astronomical research deals with subjects related to physics, modern astronomy could actually be called astrophysics. [4] Few fields, such as astrometry, are purely astronomy rather than also astrophysics. Various departments in which scientists carry out research on this subject may use \"astronomy\" and \"astrophysics,\" partly depending on whether the department is historically affiliated with a physics department, [5] and many professional astronomers have physics rather than astronomy degrees. [6] One of the leading scientific journals in the field is the European journal named Astronomy and Astrophysics . The leading American journals are The Astrophysical Journal and The Astronomical Journal .\nFurther information: Archaeoastronomy and List of astronomers\nA celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit .\nIn early times, astronomy only comprised the observation and predictions of the motions of objects visible to the naked eye. In some locations, such as Stonehenge , early cultures assembled massive artifacts that possibly had some astronomical purpose. In addition to their ceremonial uses, these observatories could be employed to determine the seasons, an important factor in knowing when to plant crops, as well as in understanding the length of the year. [10]\nBefore tools such as the telescope were invented, early study of the stars had to be conducted from the only vantage points available, namely tall buildings and high ground using the naked eye. As civilizations developed, most notably in Mesopotamia , China , Egypt , Greece , India , and Central America , astronomical observatories were assembled, and ideas on the nature of the universe began to be explored. Most of early astronomy actually consisted of mapping the positions of the stars and planets, a science now referred to as astrometry . From these observations, early ideas about the motions of the planets were formed, and the nature of the Sun, Moon and the Earth in the universe were explored philosophically. The Earth was believed to be the center of the universe with the Sun, the Moon and the stars rotating around it. This is known as the geocentric model of the universe, or the Ptolemaic system , named after Ptolemy . [11]\nA particularly important early development was the beginning of mathematical and scientific astronomy, which began among the Babylonians , who laid the foundations for the later astronomical traditions that developed in many other civilizations. [12] The Babylonians discovered that lunar eclipses recurred in a repeating cycle known as a saros . [13]\nGreek equatorial sun dial , Alexandria on the Oxus , present-day Afghanistan 3rd–2nd century BCE.\nFollowing the Babylonians, significant advances in astronomy were made in ancient Greece and the Hellenistic world. Greek astronomy is characterized from the start by seeking a rational, physical explanation for celestial phenomena. [14] In the 3rd century BC, Aristarchus of Samos calculated the size of the Earth, and measured the size and distance of the Moon and Sun , and was the first to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system. In the 2nd century BC, Hipparchus discovered precession , calculated the size and distance of the Moon and invented the earliest known astronomical devices such as the astrolabe . [15] Hipparchus also created a comprehensive catalog of 1020 stars, and most of the constellations of the northern hemisphere derive from Greek astronomy. [16] The Antikythera mechanism (c. 150–80 BC) was an early analog computer designed to calculate the location of the Sun , Moon , and planets for a given date. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe . [17]\nDuring the Middle Ages, astronomy was mostly stagnant in medieval Europe, at least until the 13th century. However, astronomy flourished in the Islamic world and other parts of the world. This led to the emergence of the first astronomical observatories in the Muslim world by the early 9th century. [18] [19] [20] In 964, the Andromeda Galaxy , the largest galaxy in the Local Group , containing the Milky Way , was discovered by the Persian astronomer Azophi and first described in his Book of Fixed Stars . [21] The SN 1006 supernova , the brightest apparent magnitude stellar event in recorded history, was observed by the Egyptian Arabic astronomer Ali ibn Ridwan and the Chinese astronomers in 1006. Some of the prominent Islamic (mostly Persian and Arab) astronomers who made significant contributions to the science include Al-Battani , Thebit , Azophi , Albumasar , Biruni , Arzachel , Al-Birjandi , and the astronomers of the Maragheh and Samarkand observatories. Astronomers during that time introduced many Arabic names now used for individual stars . [22] [23] It is also believed that the ruins at Great Zimbabwe and Timbuktu [24] may have housed an astronomical observatory. [25] Europeans had previously believed that there had been no astronomical observation in pre-colonial Middle Ages sub-Saharan Africa but modern discoveries show otherwise. [26] [27] [28] [29]\n[ edit ] Scientific revolution\nGalileo 's sketches and observations of the Moon revealed that the surface was mountainous.\nDuring the Renaissance , Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a heliocentric model of the solar system . His work was defended, expanded upon, and corrected by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler . Galileo innovated by using telescopes to enhance his observations. [30]\nKepler was the first to devise a system that described correctly the details of the motion of the planets with the Sun at the center. However, Kepler did not succeed in formulating a theory behind the laws he wrote down. [31] It was left to Newton's invention of celestial dynamics and his law of gravitation to finally explain the motions of the planets. Newton also developed the reflecting telescope . [30]\nFurther discoveries paralleled the improvements in the size and quality of the telescope. More extensive star catalogues were produced by Lacaille . The astronomer William Herschel made a detailed catalog of nebulosity and clusters, and in 1781 discovered the planet Uranus , the first new planet found. [32] The distance to a star was first announced in 1838 when the parallax of 61 Cygni was measured by Friedrich Bessel . [33]\nDuring the 18–19th centuries, attention to the three body problem by Euler , Clairaut , and D'Alembert led to more accurate predictions about the motions of the Moon and planets. This work was further refined by Lagrange and Laplace , allowing the masses of the planets and moons to be estimated from their perturbations. [34]\nSignificant advances in astronomy came about with the introduction of new technology, including the spectroscope and photography . Fraunhofer discovered about 600 bands in the spectrum of the Sun in 1814–15, which, in 1859, Kirchhoff ascribed to the presence of different elements. Stars were proven to be similar to the Earth's own Sun, but with a wide range of temperatures , masses , and sizes. [22]\nThe existence of the Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way , as a separate group of stars, was only proved in the 20th century, along with the existence of \"external\" galaxies, and soon after, the expansion of the Universe , seen in the recession of most galaxies from us. [35] Modern astronomy has also discovered many exotic objects such as quasars , pulsars , blazars , and radio galaxies , and has used these observations to develop physical theories which describe some of these objects in terms of equally exotic objects such as black holes and neutron stars . Physical cosmology made huge advances during the 20th century, with the model of the Big Bang heavily supported by the evidence provided by astronomy and physics, such as the cosmic microwave background radiation , Hubble's law , and cosmological abundances of elements . Space telescopes have enabled measurements in parts of the electromagnetic spectrum normally blocked or blurred by the atmosphere.\nMain article: Observational astronomy\nIn astronomy, the main source of information about celestial bodies and other objects is the visible light or more generally electromagnetic radiation . [36] Observational astronomy may be divided according to the observed region of the electromagnetic spectrum . Some parts of the spectrum can be observed from the Earth 's surface, while other parts are only observable from either high altitudes or space. Specific information on these subfields is given below.\nMain article: Radio astronomy\nRadio astronomy studies radiation with wavelengths greater than approximately one millimeter. [37] Radio astronomy is different from most other forms of observational astronomy in that the observed radio waves can be treated as waves rather than as discrete photons . Hence, it is relatively easier to measure both the amplitude and phase of radio waves, whereas this is not as easily done at shorter wavelengths. [37]\nAlthough some radio waves are produced by astronomical objects in the form of thermal emission , most of the radio emission that is observed from Earth is seen in the form of synchrotron radiation , which is produced when electrons oscillate around magnetic fields . [37] Additionally, a number of spectral lines produced by interstellar gas , notably the hydrogen spectral line at 21 cm, are observable at radio wavelengths. [9] [37]\nMain article: Infrared astronomy\nInfrared astronomy deals with the detection and analysis of infrared radiation (wavelengths longer than red light). Except at wavelengths close to visible light, infrared radiation is heavily absorbed by the atmosphere, and the atmosphere produces significant infrared emission. Consequently, infrared observatories have to be located in high, dry places or in space. The infrared spectrum is useful for studying objects that are too cold to radiate visible light, such as planets and circumstellar disks . Longer infrared wavelengths can also penetrate clouds of dust that block visible light, allowing observation of young stars in molecular clouds and the cores of galaxies. [38] Some molecules radiate strongly in the infrared. This can be used to study chemistry in space; more specifically it can detect water in comets. [39]\n[ edit ] Optical astronomy\nThe Subaru Telescope (left) and Keck Observatory (center) on Mauna Kea , both examples of an observatory that operates at near-infrared and visible wavelengths. The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (right) is an example of a telescope that operates only at near-infrared wavelengths.\nMain article: Optical astronomy\nHistorically, optical astronomy, also called visible light astronomy, is the oldest form of astronomy. [40] Optical images were originally drawn by hand. In the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, images were made using photographic equipment. Modern images are made using digital detectors, particularly detectors using charge-coupled devices (CCDs). Although visible light itself extends from approximately 4000 Å to 7000 Å (400 nm to 700 nm), [40] the same equipment used at these wavelengths is also used to observe some near-ultraviolet and near-infrared radiation.\nMain article: Ultraviolet astronomy\nUltraviolet astronomy is generally used to refer to observations at ultraviolet wavelengths between approximately 100 and 3200 Å (10 to 320 nm). [37] Light at these wavelengths is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so observations at these wavelengths must be performed from the upper atmosphere or from space. Ultraviolet astronomy is best suited to the study of thermal radiation and spectral emission lines from hot blue stars ( OB stars ) that are very bright in this wave band. This includes the blue stars in other galaxies, which have been the targets of several ultraviolet surveys. Other objects commonly observed in ultraviolet light include planetary nebulae , supernova remnants , and active galactic nuclei. [37] However, as ultraviolet light is easily absorbed by interstellar dust , an appropriate adjustment of ultraviolet measurements is necessary. [37]\nX-ray astronomy is the study of astronomical objects at X-ray wavelengths . Typically, objects emit X-ray radiation as synchrotron emission (produced by electrons oscillating around magnetic field lines), thermal emission from thin gases above 107 (10 million) kelvins , and thermal emission from thick gases above 107 Kelvin. [37] Since X-rays are absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere , all X-ray observations must be performed from high-altitude balloons , rockets , or spacecraft . Notable X-ray sources include X-ray binaries , pulsars , supernova remnants , elliptical galaxies , clusters of galaxies , and active galactic nuclei . [37]\nAccording to NASA's official website, X-rays were first observed and documented in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen , a German scientist who found them quite by accident when experimenting with vacuum tubes. Through a series of experiments, including the infamous X-ray photograph he took of his wife's hand with a wedding ring on it, Röntgen was able to discover the beginning elements of radiation. The \"X\", in fact, holds its own significance, as it represents Röntgen's inability to identify exactly what type of radiation it was.\nMain article: Gamma ray astronomy\nGamma ray astronomy is the study of astronomical objects at the shortest wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma rays may be observed directly by satellites such as the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory or by specialized telescopes called atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes . [37] The Cherenkov telescopes do not actually detect the gamma rays directly but instead detect the flashes of visible light produced when gamma rays are absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere. [41]\nMost gamma-ray emitting sources are actually gamma-ray bursts , objects which only produce gamma radiation for a few milliseconds to thousands of seconds before fading away. Only 10% of gamma-ray sources are non-transient sources. These steady gamma-ray emitters include pulsars, neutron stars , and black hole candidates such as active galactic nuclei. [37]\n[ edit ] Fields not based on the electromagnetic spectrum\nIn addition to electromagnetic radiation, a few other events originating from great distances may be observed from the Earth.\nIn neutrino astronomy , astronomers use special underground facilities such as SAGE , GALLEX , and Kamioka II/III for detecting neutrinos . These neutrinos originate primarily from the Sun but also from supernovae . [37] Cosmic rays , which consist of very high energy particles that can decay or be absorbed when they enter the Earth's atmosphere, result in a cascade of particles which can be detected by current observatories. [42] Additionally, some future neutrino detectors may also be sensitive to the particles produced when cosmic rays hit the Earth's atmosphere. [37] Gravitational wave astronomy is an emerging new field of astronomy which aims to use gravitational wave detectors to collect observational data about compact objects. A few observatories have been constructed, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory LIGO , but gravitational waves are extremely difficult to detect. [43]\nPlanetary astronomers have directly observed many of these phenomena through spacecraft and sample return missions. These observations include fly-by missions with remote sensors, landing vehicles that can perform experiments on the surface materials, impactors that allow remote sensing of buried material, and sample return missions that allow direct laboratory examination.\nGamma ray's or Gamma ray bursts can be or have been detected coming from pulsars.\n[ edit ] Astrometry and celestial mechanics\nMain articles: Astrometry and Celestial mechanics\nOne of the oldest fields in astronomy, and in all of science, is the measurement of the positions of celestial objects. Historically, accurate knowledge of the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars has been essential in celestial navigation and in the making of calendars .\nCareful measurement of the positions of the planets has led to a solid understanding of gravitational perturbations , and an ability to determine past and future positions of the planets with great accuracy, a field known as celestial mechanics . More recently the tracking of near-Earth objects will allow for predictions of close encounters, and potential collisions, with the Earth. [44]\nThe measurement of stellar parallax of nearby stars provides a fundamental baseline in the cosmic distance ladder that is used to measure the scale of the universe. Parallax measurements of nearby stars provide an absolute baseline for the properties of more distant stars, because their properties can be compared. Measurements of radial velocity and proper motion show the kinematics of these systems through the Milky Way galaxy. Astrometric results are also used to measure the distribution of dark matter in the galaxy. [45]",
"Pulsar.txt\nPulsar\nA pulsar (short for pulsating radio star) is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be observed only when the beam of emission is pointing toward Earth (much the way a lighthouse can be seen only when the light is pointed in the direction of an observer), and is responsible for the pulsed appearance of emission. Neutron stars are very dense, and have short, regular rotational periods. This produces a very precise interval between pulses that range roughly from milliseconds to seconds for an individual pulsar. Pulsars are believed to be one of the candidates of high and ultra-high energy astroparticles (see also Centrifugal mechanism of acceleration).\n\nThe precise periods of pulsars make them very useful tools. Observations of a pulsar in a binary neutron star system were used to indirectly confirm the existence of gravitational radiation. The first extrasolar planets were discovered around a pulsar, PSR B1257+12. Certain types of pulsars rival atomic clocks in their accuracy in keeping time.\n\nHistory of observation\n\nDiscovery\n\nThe first pulsar was observed on November 28, 1967, by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish. They observed pulses separated by 1.33 seconds that originated from the same location on the sky, and kept to sidereal time. In looking for explanations for the pulses, the short period of the pulses eliminated most astrophysical sources of radiation, such as stars, and since the pulses followed sidereal time, it could not be man-made radio frequency interference. When observations with another telescope confirmed the emission, it eliminated any sort of instrumental effects. At this point, Burnell notes of herself and Hewish that \"we did not really believe that we had picked up signals from another civilization, but obviously the idea had crossed our minds and we had no proof that it was an entirely natural radio emission. It is an interesting problem—if one thinks one may have detected life elsewhere in the universe, how does one announce the results responsibly?\" Even so, they nicknamed the signal LGM-1, for \"little green men\" (a playful name for intelligent beings of extraterrestrial origin). It was not until a second pulsating source was discovered in a different part of the sky that the \"LGM hypothesis\" was entirely abandoned. Their pulsar was later dubbed CP 1919, and is now known by a number of designators including PSR 1919+21, PSR B1919+21 and PSR J1921+2153. Although CP 1919 emits in radio wavelengths, pulsars have, subsequently, been found to emit in visible light, X-ray, and/or gamma ray wavelengths. \n\nThe word \"pulsar\" is a portmanteau of \"pulsating star\", and first appeared in print in 1968:\n\nThe existence of neutron stars was first proposed by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky in 1934, when they argued that a small, dense star consisting primarily of neutrons would result from a supernova. In 1967, shortly before the discovery of pulsars, Franco Pacini suggested that a rotating neutron star with a magnetic field would emit radiation, and even noted that such energy could be pumped into a supernova remnant around a neutron star, such as the Crab Nebula. After the discovery of the first pulsar, Thomas Gold independently suggested a rotating neutron star model similar to that of Pacini, and explicitly argued that this model could explain the pulsed radiation observed by Bell Burnell and Hewish. The discovery of the Crab pulsar later in 1968 seemed to provide confirmation of the rotating neutron star model of pulsars. The Crab pulsar has a 33-millisecond pulse period, which was too short to be consistent with other proposed models for pulsar emission. A rotation speed of 1,980 revolutions per minute was considered perfectly acceptable. Moreover, the Crab pulsar is so named because it is located at the center of the Crab Nebula, consistent with the 1933 prediction of Baade and Zwicky. \n\nIn 1974, Antony Hewish and Martin Ryle became the first astronomers to be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noting that Hewish played a \"decisive role in the discovery of pulsars\". Considerable controversy is associated with the fact that Professor Hewish was awarded the prize while Bell, who made the initial discovery while she was his Ph.D student, was not. Bell claims no bitterness upon this point, supporting the decision of the Nobel prize committee. \n\nMilestones \n\nIn 1974, Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. and Russell Hulse discovered for the first time a pulsar in a binary system, PSR B1913+16. This pulsar orbits another neutron star with an orbital period of just eight hours. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that this system should emit strong gravitational radiation, causing the orbit to continually contract as it loses orbital energy. Observations of the pulsar soon confirmed this prediction, providing the first ever evidence of the existence of gravitational waves. As of 2010, observations of this pulsar continue to agree with general relativity. In 1993, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Taylor and Hulse for the discovery of this pulsar. \n\nIn 1982, Don Backer led a group which discovered PSR B1937+21, a pulsar with a rotation period of just 1.6 milliseconds (38,500 rpm). Observations soon revealed that its magnetic field was much weaker than ordinary pulsars, while further discoveries cemented the idea that a new class of object, the \"millisecond pulsars\" (MSPs) had been found. MSPs are believed to be the end product of X-ray binaries. Owing to their extraordinarily rapid and stable rotation, MSPs can be used by astronomers as clocks rivaling the stability of the best atomic clocks on Earth. Factors affecting the arrival time of pulses at Earth by more than a few hundred nanoseconds can be easily detected and used to make precise measurements. Physical parameters accessible through pulsar timing include the 3D position of the pulsar, its proper motion, the electron content of the interstellar medium along the propagation path, the orbital parameters of any binary companion, the pulsar rotation period and its evolution with time. (These are computed from the raw timing data by Tempo, a computer program specialized for this task.) After these factors have been taken into account, deviations between the observed arrival times and predictions made using these parameters can be found and attributed to one of three possibilities: intrinsic variations in the spin period of the pulsar, errors in the realization of Terrestrial Time against which arrival times were measured, or the presence of background gravitational waves. Scientists are currently attempting to resolve these possibilities by comparing the deviations seen between several different pulsars, forming what is known as a pulsar timing array. The goal of these efforts is to develop a pulsar-based time standard precise enough to make the first ever direct detection of gravitational waves.\nIn June 2006, the astronomer John Middleditch and his team at LANL announced the first prediction of pulsar glitches with observational data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. They used observations of the pulsar PSR J0537-6910.\n\nIn 1992, Aleksander Wolszczan discovered the first extrasolar planets around PSR B1257+12. This discovery presented important evidence concerning the widespread existence of planets outside the Solar System, although it is very unlikely that any life form could survive in the environment of intense radiation near a pulsar.\n\nNomenclature\n\nInitially pulsars were named with letters of the discovering observatory followed by their right ascension (e.g. CP 1919). As more pulsars were discovered, the letter code became unwieldy, and so the convention then arose of using the letters PSR (Pulsating Source of Radio) followed by the pulsar's right ascension and degrees of declination (e.g. PSR 0531+21) and sometimes declination to a tenth of a degree (e.g. PSR 1913+167). Pulsars appearing very close together sometimes have letters appended (e.g. PSR 0021-72C and PSR 0021-72D).\n\nThe modern convention prefixes the older numbers with a B (e.g. PSR B1919+21), with the B meaning the coordinates are for the 1950.0 epoch. All new pulsars have a J indicating 2000.0 coordinates and also have declination including minutes (e.g. PSR J1921+2153). Pulsars that were discovered before 1993 tend to retain their B names rather than use their J names (e.g. PSR J1921+2153 is more commonly known as PSR B1919+21). Recently discovered pulsars only have a J name (e.g. PSR J0437-4715). All pulsars have a J name that provides more precise coordinates of its location in the sky. \n\nFormation, mechanism, turn off\n\nThe events leading to the formation of a pulsar begin when the core of a massive star is compressed during a supernova, which collapses into a neutron star. The neutron star retains most of its angular momentum, and since it has only a tiny fraction of its progenitor's radius (and therefore its moment of inertia is sharply reduced), it is formed with very high rotation speed. A beam of radiation is emitted along the magnetic axis of the pulsar, which spins along with the rotation of the neutron star. The magnetic axis of the pulsar determines the direction of the electromagnetic beam, with the magnetic axis not necessarily being the same as its rotational axis. This misalignment causes the beam to be seen once for every rotation of the neutron star, which leads to the \"pulsed\" nature of its appearance. The beam originates from the rotational energy of the neutron star, which generates an electrical field from the movement of the very strong magnetic field, resulting in the acceleration of protons and electrons on the star surface and the creation of an electromagnetic beam emanating from the poles of the magnetic field. This rotation slows down over time as electromagnetic power is emitted. When a pulsar's spin period slows down sufficiently, the radio pulsar mechanism is believed to turn off (the so-called \"death line\"). This turn-off seems to take place after about 10–100 million years, which means of all the neutron stars born in the 13.6 billion year age of the universe, around 99% no longer pulsate. \n\nThough the general picture of pulsars as rapidly rotating neutron stars is widely accepted, Werner Becker of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics said in 2006, \"The theory of how pulsars emit their radiation is still in its infancy, even after nearly forty years of work.\" \n\nCategories\n\nThree distinct classes of pulsars are currently known to astronomers, according to the source of the power of the electromagnetic radiation:\n\n*Rotation-powered pulsars, where the loss of rotational energy of the star provides the power (as described in the previous section),\n*Accretion-powered pulsars (accounting for most but not all X-ray pulsars), where the gravitational potential energy of accreted matter is the power source (producing X-rays that are observable from the Earth).\n*Magnetars, where the decay of an extremely strong magnetic field provides the electromagnetic power.\n\nThe Fermi Space Telescope has uncovered a subclass of rotationally-powered pulsars that emit only gamma rays.Atkinson, Nancy. \"[http://www.universetoday.com/2008/10/17/fermi-telescope-makes-first-big-discovery-gamma-ray-pulsar/ Fermi Telescope Makes First Big Discovery: Gamma Ray Pulsar].\" Universe Today, 17 October 2008. There have been only about one hundred gamma-ray pulsars identified out of about 1800 known pulsars. \n\nAlthough all three classes of objects are neutron stars, their observable behavior and the underlying physics are quite different. There are, however, connections. For example, X-ray pulsars are probably old rotationally-powered pulsars that have already lost most of their power, and have only become visible again after their binary companions had expanded and began transferring matter on to the neutron star. The process of accretion can in turn transfer enough angular momentum to the neutron star to \"recycle\" it as a rotation-powered millisecond pulsar. As this matter lands on the neutron star, it is thought to \"bury\" the magnetic field of the neutron star (although the details are unclear), leaving millisecond pulsars with magnetic fields 1000-10,000 times weaker than average pulsars. This low magnetic field is less effective at slowing the pulsar's rotation, so millisecond pulsars live for billions of years, making them the oldest known pulsars. Millisecond pulsars are seen in globular clusters, which stopped forming neutron stars billions of years ago.\n\nOf interest to the study of the state of the matter in a neutron\nstar are the glitches observed in the rotation velocity\nof the neutron star. This velocity is decreasing slowly but steadily, except by sudden variations. One model put forward to explain these glitches is that they are the result of \"starquakes\" that adjust the crust of the neutron star. Models where the glitch is due to a decoupling of the possibly superconducting interior of the star have also been advanced. In both cases, the star's moment of inertia changes, but its angular momentum does not, resulting in a change in rotation rate.\n\nDisrupted recycled pulsar\n\nWhen two massive stars are born close together from the same cloud of gas, they can form a binary system and orbit each other from birth. If those two stars are at least a few times as massive as our sun, their lives will both end in supernova explosions. The more massive star explodes first, leaving behind a neutron star. If the explosion does not kick the second star away, the binary system survives. The neutron star can now be visible as a radio pulsar, and it slowly loses energy and spins down. Later, the second star can swell up, allowing the neutron star to suck up its matter. The matter falling onto the neutron star spins it up and reduces its magnetic field. This is called \"recycling\" because it returns the neutron star to a quickly-spinning state. Finally, the second star also explodes in a supernova, producing another neutron star. If this second explosion also fails to disrupt the binary, a double neutron star binary is formed. Otherwise, the spun-up neutron star is left with no companion and becomes a \"disrupted recycled pulsar\", spinning between a few and 50 times per second. \n\nApplications\n\nThe discovery of pulsars allowed astronomers to study an object never observed before, the neutron star. This kind of object is the only place where the behavior of matter at nuclear density can be observed (though not directly). Also, millisecond pulsars have allowed a test of general relativity in conditions of an intense gravitational field.\n\nMaps\n\nPulsar maps have been included on the two Pioneer Plaques as well as the Voyager Golden Record. They show the position of the Sun, relative to 14 pulsars, which are identified by the unique timing of their electromagnetic pulses, so that our position both in space and in time can be calculated by potential extraterrestrial intelligences. Because pulsars are emitting very regular pulses of radio waves, its radio transmissions do not require daily corrections. Moreover, pulsar positioning could create a spacecraft navigation system independently, or be used in conjunction with satellite navigation. \n\nPrecise clocks\n\nGenerally, the regularity of pulsar emission does not rival the stability of atomic clocks. However, for some millisecond pulsars, the regularity of pulsation is even more precise than an atomic clock.\nThis stability allows millisecond pulsars to be used in establishing ephemeris time \nor in building pulsar clocks. \n\nTiming noise is the name for rotational irregularities observed in all pulsars. This timing noise is observable as random wandering in the pulse frequency or phase.[http://www.saao.ac.za/~wgssa/as4/urama.html African Skies 4 – Radio Pulsar Glitch Studies] It is unknown whether timing noise is related to pulsar glitches.\n\nProbes of the interstellar medium\n\nThe radiation from pulsars passes through the interstellar medium (ISM) before reaching Earth. Free electrons in the warm (8000 K), ionized component of the ISM and H II regions affect the radiation in two primary ways. The resulting changes to the pulsar's radiation provide an important probe of the ISM itself.\n\nBecause of the dispersive nature of the interstellar plasma, lower-frequency radio waves travel through the medium slower than higher-frequency radio waves. The resulting delay in the arrival of pulses at a range of frequencies is directly measurable as the dispersion measure of the pulsar. The dispersion measure is the total column density of free electrons between the observer and the pulsar,\n\n\\mathrm{DM} = \\int_0^D n_e(s) ds,\n\nwhere D is the distance from the pulsar to the observer and n_e is the electron density of the ISM. The dispersion measure is used to construct models of the free electron distribution in the Milky Way.\n\nAdditionally, turbulence in the interstellar gas causes density inhomogeneities in the ISM which cause scattering of the radio waves from the pulsar. The resulting scintillation of the radio waves—the same effect as the twinkling of a star in visible light due to density variations in the Earth's atmosphere—can be used to reconstruct information about the small scale variations in the ISM. Due to the high velocity (up to several hundred km/s) of many pulsars, a single pulsar scans the ISM rapidly, which results in changing scintillation patterns over timescales of a few minutes. \n\nProbes of space-time\n\nPulsars orbiting within the curved space-time around Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, could serve as probes of gravity in the strong-field regime. Arrival times of the pulses would be affected by special- and general-relativistic Doppler shifts and by the complicated paths that the radio waves would travel through the strongly curved space-time around the black hole. In order for the effects of general relativity to be measurable with current instruments, pulsars with orbital periods less than about 10 years would need to be discovered; such pulsars would orbit at distances inside 0.01 pc from Sgr A*. Searches are currently underway; at present, five pulsars are known to lie within 100 pc from Sgr A*. \n\nGravitational waves detectors\n\nThere are 3 consortia around the world which use pulsars to search for gravitational waves. In Europe, there is the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA); there is the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) in Australia; and there is the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) in Canada and the US. Together, the consortia form the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). The pulses from Millisecond Pulsars (MSPs) are used as a system of Galactic clocks. Disturbances in the clocks will be measurable at Earth. A disturbance from a passing gravitational wave will have a particular signature across the ensemble of pulsars, and will be thus detected.\n\nSignificant pulsars\n\nThe pulsars listed here were either the first discovered of its type, or represent an extreme of some type among the known pulsar population, such as having the shortest measured period.\n*The first radio pulsar \"CP 1919\" (now known as PSR B1919+21), with a pulse period of 1.337 seconds and a pulse width of 0.04 second, was discovered in 1967. \n*The first binary pulsar, PSR 1913+16, whose orbit is decaying at the exact rate predicted due to the emission of gravitational radiation by general relativity\n*The first millisecond pulsar, PSR B1937+21\n*The brightest millisecond pulsar, PSR J0437-4715\n*The first X-ray pulsar, Cen X-3\n*The first accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar, SAX J1808.4-3658\n*The first pulsar with planets, PSR B1257+12\n*The first pulsar observed to have been affected by asteroids: PSR J0738-4042\n*The first double pulsar binary system, PSR J0737−3039\n*The longest period pulsar, PSR J2144-3933, with a period of 8.51 seconds. \n*PSR J1748-2446ad, at 716 Hz, the pulsar with the shortest period.\n*The most stable pulsar in period, PSR J0437-4715\n*The first millisecond pulsar with 2 stellar mass companions, PSR J0337+1715\n*PSR B1931+24 \"... appears as a normal pulsar for about a week and then 'switches off' for about one month before emitting pulses again. [..] this pulsar slows down more rapidly when the pulsar is on than when it is off. [.. the] braking mechanism must be related to the radio emission and the processes creating it and the additional slow-down can be explained by the pulsar wind leaving the pulsar's magnetosphere and carrying away rotational energy.\" \n*PSR J1903+0327, a ~2.15 ms pulsar discovered to be in a highly eccentric binary star system with a Sun-like star. \n* A pulsar in the CTA 1 supernova remnant (4U 0000+72, in Cassiopeia) was found by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to emit pulsations only in gamma ray radiation, the first recorded of its kind.\n*PSR J2007+2722, a 40.8-hertz 'recycled' isolated pulsar was the first pulsar found by volunteers on data taken in February 2007 and analyzed by distributed computing project Einstein@Home. \n*PSR J1311–3430, the first millisecond pulsar discovered via gamma-ray pulsations and part of a binary system with the shortest orbital period. \n\nGallery\n\nImage:Crab Lucky video2.gif|Video - Crab Pulsar - bright pulse & interpulse.\nImage:Vela Pulsar jet seen by Chandra Observatory.ogv|Video - Vela pulsar - X-ray light.",
"astronomy Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com ...\n... could precise measurements be made of celestial ... angular positions of celestial bodies. ... bodies. astrognosy the branch of astronomy that ...\nastronomy facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about astronomy\nEurope, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World\nCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc.\nASTRONOMY\nASTRONOMY. The movement of the stars and planets has fascinated humans for thousands of years. For the vast majority of ancient astronomers, the stars seemed to be equally distant from Earth in what was an Earth-centered (or \"geocentric\") cosmos. The ancient Greeks observed that the stars revolved westward around the north celestial pole every twenty-three hours and fifty-six minutes, thus constituting a kind of objective clock. Most envisaged these revolving stars to be located on a sphere, composing an incorruptible, celestial orb that could easily be contrasted with the world of change, generation, and corruption on Earth (to which irregular meteorological phenomena such as comets were also understood to belong). Against the backdrop of this outer sphere, the Sun was seen to move along a path termed the ecliptic, while the planets moved within eight degrees of this path. These usually moved eastward, though occasionally they moved in the opposite direction, thus exhibiting retrograde motion. Many Greek astronomers suggested that the Sun could be placed on the equator of an inner sphere that revolved once a year, hence constituting a second sphere in addition to the stellar orb. Following the theories of the fourth-century-b.c.e. scholar Eudoxus, astronomers and natural philosophers became increasingly committed to the idea that the motions of each planet could be accounted for by means of their own specific, homocentric spheres.\nDEFENDING AN EARTH -CENTERED UNIVERSE\nThe retrograde motion of the planets offended against the apparent simplicity of heavenly motions, as well as the dictum that their orbits were circular. From the third century b.c.e., astronomers began to conceive of planets rotating in small circles (epicycles) around a point that moved on a carrier orbit (or deferent). This accounted for the apparent motions of the planets, including their retrograde motion, although others followed Aristotle in positing the existence of homocentric spheres. After Ptolemy 's composition of the Almagest in the second century c.e., the movements of the planets could be accurately represented by means of techniques involving the use of epicycles, deferents, eccentrics (whereby planetary motion is conceived as circular with respect to a point displaced from Earth), and equants (a device that posits a constant angular rate of rotation with respect to a point displaced from Earth). These approaches, and arguments over the reality of the celestial orbs, continued to be refined in the following centuries by first Muslim and then Christian astronomers. The geocentric cosmos was readily appropriated by Christians , many of whom believed that God existed outside the stellar sphere and (as evidenced by Dante's fourteenth-century poem Divine Comedy ) that angels turned the epicycles and spheres in the intervening spaces.\nAstronomy had a primarily practical function, and by the thirteenth century it played a central role in determining the dates of religious festivals. Ptolemy's mathematically sophisticated Almagest, with various commentaries, formed the basis for advanced astronomy in university curricula from this period onward. In the late fifteenth century, the arrival of the printing press coincided with the transmission to western Europe of a number of important Greek mathematical and astronomical manuscripts. These became a new focal point for doing astronomy, as ancient texts could be seen and assessed in their original form (as opposed to being translated into Latin from Syriac or Arabic). Georg von Peuerbach (1423–1461) and his pupil Regiomontanus produced important works that formed the basis of astronomical training for the next century.\nAstronomy was equally significant for providing data from which astrological predictions could be made (judicial astrology). The effects that heavenly actions had on earthly events, and the manner in which they were carried out, constituted a problem for most human societies. Astrology was a major part of both daily life and intellectual culture, and was deeply implicated in politics, medicine, and agriculture. However, its use was increasingly questioned by elites in the late sixteenth century; both Catholics and Protestants argued that the notion that the relations between stars and planets influenced or governed human behavior detracted from the primary Christian belief in free will. Nevertheless, this argument was often expressed as a condemnation of bad astrology, the implication being that astrology was a credible art or science that could be reformed. However, although it was still taken seriously by Johannes Kepler at the beginning of the seventeenth century, it was almost universally despised by social elites a hundred years later.\nIn Aristotle's De Caelo, heavenly bodies were treated as physical objects and thus as a branch of natural philosophy, or physics. Astronomy thus enjoyed a somewhat bifurcated position within the university system, taught partly in tandem with medicine and astrology, and partly as a higher-level, more technically difficult mathematical enterprise. This mirrored the scholarly distinction between the treatment of the physical reality of the supposedly \"crystalline\" spheres and such ideas as the epicycles, the actual existence of which was debatable. When Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) published his heliocentric (Sun-centered) De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the revolutions of the heavenly orbs) of 1543, a number of astronomers believed that his system could be treated as another convenient set of devices for explaining the celestial phenomena without any commitment to the reality of the general cosmology and physics that was prominent in the first part of the book. Indeed, the Lutheran theologian Andreas Osiander (1498–1552) reassured readers in an anonymous preface to the work that Copernicus had merely devised \"hypotheses\" that facilitated the calculation of celestial positions.\nTHE COPERNICAN REVOLUTION\nHowever, Copernicus had indeed upset the standard disciplinary division in universities, and he implied that a mathematical astronomer was entitled to speak about the physical nature of things—the traditional preserve of the more prestigious role of the natural philosopher. Not only did he offer the first modern heliocentric system (although he appealed to the authority of ancient heliocentric systems such as that of Pythagoras ), but he asserted that the demonstrations in his work could only be understood by mathematically competent astronomers. He condemned the uncertainty of the calendar, and also of the inability of astronomers to determine the precise motions of the heavenly bodies. He lambasted the inconsistent use of homocentric circles and epicycles, and argued that the systems produced by recent astronomers lacked aesthetic credibility. Instead, with all the different techniques and philosophies in play, they had produced a sort of astronomical \"monster.\"\nAlthough he retained epicycles, Copernicus dispensed with the equant and showed that retrograde motion could be explained by means of a heliocentric system. Indeed, contra Osiander, he could hardly have been more assertive about the truth of his Sun-centered cosmos. He proffered tentative physical explanations of why objects on a revolving earth would not be ejected into the heavens, and argued that the stellar sphere had to be an enormous distance further away than that accepted by traditional astronomers. This meant that his inability to detect stellar parallax (the feature by which the apparent position of a star would vary depending on the time of year, since an observer on Earth would view it from a different position) would not be an argument against his system. Ominously, he also suggested that biblical passages that appeared to support geocentricity were the result of the author \"accommodating\" his discourse to the capacities of ordinary people. Momentous as it now seems, Copernicus's system had only a handful of adherents in the sixteenth century, although Erasmus Reinhold's Prutenic Tables of 1551, which were based on methods pioneered by Copernicus, were used to produce the Gregorian calendar (decreed by Pope Gregory XIII) in 1582.\nIn the last three decades of the sixteenth century, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) was single-handedly responsible for two major initiatives in astronomy. First, he devised a \"geoheliocentric\" system that, for the half-century before Copenicus's system was broadly accepted, provided the major alternative to a geocentric cosmos. In this, the Sun again revolved around the Earth, with the five planets (not including the Moon) revolving around the Sun; since the Martian and solar orbits intersected, this system could not accommodate the reality of the spheres. Tycho rejected a heliocentric system, partly because he could not abide the massive distances required by Copernicus's system, partly because he could not find stellar parallax, and partly because he was strongly opposed to heliocentrism on scriptural grounds.\nMost important, Tycho made a series of naked-eye observations, conducted from 1574 as part of a monumental observation program at his observatory (Uraniborg) on the island of Hven. He designed and made new instruments that were as much as ten times more accurate than those of his predecessors. He also conceived of a means of using each of his devices to cross-check results obtained from other instruments in his collection. His instruments were less cumbersome than previous examples and he introduced new techniques for more precisely dividing them into minutes and seconds of a degree. He turned himself and his workplace—which had its own printing press—into the hub of an extensive network of correspondents, and he used this and personal contacts to train a number of the best astronomers of the next generation. Two of his measurements, linked to exceptional celestial events in the 1570s, demonstrated the precision of his observations. First, he determined the extreme distance from Earth of the terrifying supernova of 1572, and second, he showed for the first time that the comet of 1577 existed beyond the lunar sphere and hence was technically part of the heavens. Independent of any implications of De Revolutionibus, both seemed to suggest that the celestial sphere could no longer be considered immutable.\nAs Tycho's work came to a close, Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) burst on to the stage with his heliocentric Mysterium Cosmographicum (The secret of the universe) of 1596. Kepler was trained at Tübingen by the pro-Copernican Michael Mästlin (1550–1631), and throughout his adult life remained committed to a heliocentric system. In the Mysterium he famously attempted to show that the distances between the planets could be represented by nested regular solids, although this ultimately failed to fit the astronomical data produced by Tycho and his colleagues. At the end of 1600 Kepler traveled to Prague to work with Tycho, who had only recently been appointed imperial mathematician to Rudolf II. When Tycho died within the year, Kepler gained access to his data concerning the orbit of Mars. Tycho had observed the Martian orbit with astonishing accuracy, finding a discrepancy between the observed orbit and an ideal circular trajectory of eight feet that could not be explained by instrument error, and Kepler sought strenuously over the next few years to provide a harmonious and geometrically satisfying orbit to fit these observations. After many different shapes had been tried, he decided that Mars and the other planets traveled in ellipses, one of whose foci was the Sun, and that each planet swept out equal areas in equal times (considering the area to be drawn out by a line linking the planet to the Sun).\nKepler published his first two laws of planetary motion in his Astronomia Nova (New astronomy) of 1609, although they are merely a handful of many mathematical relations that he posed for planetary orbits. In this work he also appealed to the magnetic philosophy devised by the English physicist William Gilbert in his De Magnete (On the magnet) of 1600, in order to explain the physical causes of heavenly motion. He suggested that the planets, which all traveled in the same direction and (virtually) in the same plane, were controlled by a motive force emanating from the Sun. His third and final law, first enunciated in his Harmonice Mundi (Harmony of the world) of 1619, is more complicated and states that the square of the mean orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of its mean distance from the Sun. Kepler combined a Platonic-Pythagorean concern for the reality of harmonies and ratios with a magnetic physics, but from a disciplinary point of view he was explicitly asserting the right of an astronomer such as himself to produce a \"celestial physics\" that gave the true (non-Aristotelian) causes of heavenly motion. In a work on astrology of 1601, he also attempted to uncover the physical causes underlying the influence that planetary conjunctions had on earthly activities.\nTHE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION\nIn 1609, the same year that Kepler published his first two laws, Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) used a combination of lenses to look at the heavens, having heard of a similar invention that had been introduced the year before. Within weeks, he had deduced that the Moon had mountains and valleys (and was thus not perfectly smooth), had noted that the Milky Way was actually composed of numerous stars, and proposed that Jupiter possessed four satellites that revolved around it as the Moon revolved around Earth. For his extraordinary discoveries, which appeared in Sidereus Nuncius (Starry messenger) of 1610, he was rewarded with the position of court philosopher to his onetime pupil, Cosimo de' Medici (Cosimo II), grand duke of Tuscany . Galileo was now a court intellectual to rival Johannes Kepler, who had succeeded Tycho Brahe as imperial mathematician to Rudolf II. Given the courtly locations of both Kepler and Galileo, twentieth- and twenty-first-century historians have pointed to the prevalence of nonuniversity locations as the most important settings for innovative astronomy. Kepler's friendly stance toward Galileo (he wrote a book praising Galileo's discoveries within months of the work appearing) ensured that there was minimal animosity between them, although this may have been helped by Galileo's apparent complete ignorance of Kepler's own discoveries.\nIn the next two and a half decades, adherence to the Copernican system met with determined opposition and, notoriously, René Descartes felt obliged to suppress his not sufficiently anti-Copernican Le monde (The world) in 1633 soon after Galileo's pro-Copernican Dialogue had been condemned by the Roman Inquisition in July. However, the vast majority of astronomers and natural philosophers were avowed Copernicans by the middle of the seventeenth century, and even those, such as the Jesuits, who were slow to accept the Copernican worldview, made substantial contributions to astronomy. Indeed, Galileo's successes can be overstated as contributions to the demise of the notion of a perfect celestial sphere, for previous events and observations had begun to shake confidence in heavenly incorrigibility. Of all his discoveries, only his sightings of the phases of Venus provided overt support for Copernicus's system, although Tycho's system could also account for them. Nevertheless, Galileo's visually striking discoveries—and their implications—were easily understood by a new audience of scholars and gentlemen, and they had a dramatic impact on writers and poets such as John Donne (1572–1631).\nIt is important to note, as Allan Chapman has properly argued, that the great theoretical advances in cosmology achieved by Kepler, Isaac Newton , and others were facilitated and indeed made possible by improvements in angular astronomical measurement and not by superior visual acuity. Tycho's advances in instrument design and observational accuracy were made possible by the cadre of excellent craftsmen he had at his disposal, and similarly, John Flamsteed, the first British astronomer royal, whose observations were to prove crucial for Newton's enunciation of universal gravitation, had innovative and highly skilled instrument makers working with him. Only with patient astronomy of this sort could precise measurements be made of celestial magnitudes such as distance and size.\nIn the 1660s telescopic sights were added to quadrants and a zenith sector in the attempt by the French to measure the length of a degree of meridian in France . In Restoration England a number of episodes occurred that acted as a spur to creating an alliance between accurate measurement and theoretical innovation. The Royal Society of London was founded in 1660, followed by the Royal Greenwich Observatory—founded to aid navigation and the determination of longitude by improving astronomy—in 1675. The Observatory was badly stocked with instruments at first, but gradually, with some private support and with the help of occasionally brilliant suggestions from Robert Hooke (1635–1703) for automating observations, Flamsteed was able to build up a stock of the best instruments then available. By the 1690s he had a degree clock that allowed star positions to be measured with extraordinary accuracy, and the ten-to-twelveseconds error of his mural arc (that is, a large quadrant set on a wall) was a sixfold improvement on the accuracy of Tycho's instruments. Flamsteed used telescopic sights on his instruments but also a filar micrometer, that is, a system of thin wires, minutely movable by means of a carefully graduated screw, that could be placed inside a telescope to finesse its accuracy.\nIsaac Newton (1642–1727) developed an early interest in astronomy and became famous initially because of his development of a reflecting telescope in the late 1660s. Flamsteed's data was crucial for Newton in the winter of 1684–1685, when the latter was trying to determine what mutual influence Jupiter and Saturn might have on each other, and again in late 1685, when Newton wanted three items of data (accurate to a minute) on the path of the Great Comet of 1680–1681. This data would constitute crucial evidence for the cosmological system that Newton published in his momentous Principia Mathematica (The mathematical principles of natural philosophy) of 1687, for he could now analyze observed deviations from perfect elliptical orbits by means of his concept of universal gravitation. Perhaps of equal significance were the observations Flamsteed put his way in 1694–1695 when Newton had another go at the Moon. This ultimately unprofitable endeavor was part of an effort to solve the (insoluble) three-body problem of the mutual interactions of Sun, Moon, and Earth, all of which Newton later described as the most difficult science he ever did. The pair fell out irreconcilably soon after this, and Newton behaved abominably toward the astronomer royal, practically stealing Flamsteed's laboriously crafted star catalog by claiming it as the property of the state. Not the least of Newton's actions was to downgrade and even efface (in his Principia ) the contributions made by Flamsteed, who had generously provided the observations that allowed Newton to corroborate and then rework his supreme theory. Whatever his personal dealings with others, Newton's theory provided the basic theory of the heavens that we now take to be true, and his achievements included the recognition that some comets travel in periodic elliptical orbits.\nBy the early eighteenth century, the London instrument-making trade was widely held to produce the highest quality instruments; Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698–1759), for example, took a zenith sector and clock constructed by the outstanding London instrument maker George Graham (1673–1751) to Lapland in 1736–1737. It was this expedition that went furthest in determining the shape of Earth, confirming Newton's calculation that it was an oblate spheroid (flattened at the poles). In England, Graham and others made instruments for the astronomers royal who followed Flamsteed, namely Edmond Halley (in 1720) and James Bradley (in 1742). Bradley, who discovered stellar aberration in 1727 and who confirmed Newton's analysis of the extent of the nutation of Earth's axis in the 1740s, combined access to the best instruments of the day with an obsession for accuracy. By the middle of the eighteenth century, measurements were confined to the meridian, and, among other activities, experiments were being undertaken to better ascertain longitude and latitude—an activity seen by the British, the French, and many other naval powers as essential for improving navigation. With massively expensive instrumentation that only large institutions could afford, astronomy had changed beyond all recognition from the medieval period. Religious and other value systems no longer placed barriers on believing in and publishing particular accounts of the cosmos, and all serious intellectuals were heliocentrists.\nSee also Aristotelianism ; Astrology ; Brahe, Tycho ; Calendar ; Copernicus, Nicolaus ; Cosmology ; Descartes, René ; Galileo Galilei ; Kepler, Johannes ; Newton, Isaac ; Scientific Instruments ; Scientific Revolution .\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\nPrimary Sources\nCopernicus, Nicolaus. On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. Translated by A. M. Duncan. Newton Abbott, U.K., and New York , 1976.\nDescartes, René. The World and Other Writings. Translated and edited by Stephen Gaukroger. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1998.\nGalilei, Galileo. Sidereus Nuncius; or, The Sidereal Messenger. Translated by Albert Van Helden. Chicago and London, 1989.\nKepler, Johannes. Mysterium Cosmographicum: The Secret of the Universe. Translated by A. M. Duncan. New York, 1981.\n——. New Astronomy. Translated by William H. Donahue. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1992.\nSecondary Sources\nChapman, Allan. Dividing the Circle: The Development of Critical Angular Measurement in Astronomy, 1500–1850. 2nd ed. Chichester, U.K., and New York, 1995.\nDonahue, William H. The Dissolution of the Celestial Spheres. New York, 1981.\nDreyer, J. L. E. A History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler. Rev. ed., with foreword by W. H. Stahl. New York, 1953.\nJardine, Nicholas. The Birth of History and Philosophy of Science: Kepler's A Defence of Tycho against Ursus, with Essays on its Provenance and Significance. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1984.\nKing, Henry C. The History of the Telescope. New York, 1979.\nKuhn, Thomas S. The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought. Cambridge, Mass., and London, 1957.\nNewman, William R., and Anthony Grafton, eds. Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, Mass., and London, 2001.\nSchechner Genuth, Sara. Comets, Popular Culture, and the Birth of Modern Cosmology. Princeton, 1997.\nStephenson, Bruce. Kepler's Physical Astronomy. Princeton, 1994.\nThoren, Victor E., with contributions by John R. Christianson. The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1990.\nRob Iliffe\nPick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.\nMLA\nCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc.\nASTRONOMY\nASTRONOMY. Colonial Americans lacked instruments and libraries. They had difficulty communicating with each other and often relied on English correspondents for news of other colonialists. During the seventeenth century, European astronomy was focused on extending Isaac Newton's mathematical description of the solar system, and a few Americans contributed their observations to the Royal Society of London. American observations served European theories.\nWhen Venus passed in front of the sun in 1761 and 1769, transits revealed the distance of the earth from the sun. John Winthrop, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard, organized an expedition to Newfoundland to observe the first transit. The Massachusetts Assembly assigned a ship to transport Winthrop's group and Harvard permitted him to take college instruments, provided they were insured against loss or damage. The observations were sent to Europe for analysis.\nWinthrop lectured his students that determination of the distance of the earth from the sun would result in a deeper insight into God's wonderful works. Enlightenment faith in the discernable regularity of the universe also encouraged the study of astronomy in early American colleges. In its appeal to the Pennsylvania Assembly for funds to observe the 1769 transit, the American Philosophical Society, founded in Philadelphia in 1743, cited a more utilitarian goal, \"the Promotion of Astronomy and Navigation, and consequently of Trade and Commerce.\" In a period of increasing cultural nationalism, the society also wanted to win recognition for American achievements.\nMany of America's astronomers were surveyors. The self-taught American astronomer David Rittenhouse made his living as a clockmaker, but he was also a surveyor. In 1767, he constructed in Philadelphia his famous orrery, or mechanical planetarium, which represented with great precision the motions of the planets around the sun. The Pennsylvania assembly paid for it. The onset of the Revolutionary War suspended hope to build an observatory.\nWith political independence came a desire for cultural independence. However, little public patronage was forthcoming for astronomy in the early national period. In 1825, President John Quincy Adams pointed out that Europe had 130 \"lighthouses of the skies\" but the United States none. Yet his request for funds for a national observatory was denied.\nThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded in Boston in 1780 by John Adams, published astronomical observations by Nathaniel Bowditch, a self-educated Salem seaman. His The New American Practical Navigator (1800) became the most widely used nautical guide, and in 1811, he observed a solar eclipse to improve the determination of the longitude of Cambridge. The European scientific community applauded Bowditch's translation and commentary on Pierre Laplace's Mécanique céleste. The American Academy offered to pay for publication, but Bowditch waited until he could afford to publish it himself.\nThrough much of the nineteenth century, the United States was a nation in development. While some of their European brethren made observations and contributed to the advance of knowledge, American astronomers often struggled with more mundane problems, including writing textbooks, acquiring books and journals for libraries, and building, equipping, and financing observatories. Elias Loomis, a professor at Western Reserve College in Ohio, at the University of the City of New York, and at Yale University, published An Introduction to Practical Astronomy in 1855 and a A Treatise on Astronomy in 1876, both of which went through numerous editions. At both New York and Yale, Loomis arranged to receive publications from European observatories on an exchange basis. His will left funds to pay observers and publish their results.\nCollege observatories consisted of a small building and telescope intended for the education of undergraduate students, but they could not pay researchers or provide funds for publication. The University of North Carolina built an observatory in 1831, which lasted several years. Observatories were constructed at Yale (1830s), at Williams College (1838), at Western Reserve College (1838), at the Philadelphia High School (1838), at West Point (1839), and at Georgetown (1843). In 1839, Harvard lured William Cranch Bond from his private observatory to supply his own instruments and work for no salary. The great comet of 1843 aroused public interest, which manifested itself in public support to construct and endow the Harvard College Observatory. Harvard ordered from the German firm Merz and Mahler a twin to the Russian Pulkova Observatory's fifteen-inch (lens diameter) telescope, then the largest in the world.\nThere were also public observatories: the Cincinnati Observatory, whose cornerstone John Quincy Adams laid in 1843, and the Dudley Observatory in Albany, built between 1852–1856. The tribulations of the Cincinnati Observatory illustrate the obstacles to practicing astronomy in mid-nineteenth-century America. Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, a West Point graduate, moved to Cincinnati and became professor of mathematics, civil engineering, mechanics, and machinery at Cincinnati College. His public lectures on astronomy led to the founding of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society and the municipal Cincinnati Observatory, funded by public subscription. After five hours of teaching, Mitchel would supervise construction of the observatory in the afternoons. Cincinnati purchased an 11.25-inch telescope from Merz and Mahler, but Mitchel spent much of his time displaying the heavens to subscribers, from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. daily. He tried publishing a journal to raise money for auxiliary instruments and for his salary, the observatory having no endowment for operating expenses, and did make money from a book on popular astronomy and from surveying a railroad route. His observations of singular phenomena, a kind of natural history of the heavens, fell short of a new professional emphasis on measurement and theory, requiring considerable mathematical competence. Economic forces discouraged sustained, structured research.\nA few would-be professional astronomers received training and employment with the Coast Survey, established in 1807 in response to commercial interests of seaboard states. In legislation for the Coast Survey in 1832, Congress explicitly declared that it did not authorize construction or maintenance of a permanent astronomical observatory. A decade later, the Naval Observatory was created surreptitiously, as part of the Depot of Charts and Instruments. Not until 1866, however, would the observatory begin a program of fundamental research in astronomy. Meanwhile, the Nautical Almanac, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was established under the Naval Observatory budget in 1849. It reported directly to the secretary of the navy, provided training and employment for a few astronomers, and improved navigation and raised America's scientific standing with an annual astronomical almanac more accurate and theoretically advanced than the British Nautical Almanac. Simon New-comb, one of America's best-known scientists at the end of the century, got his start at the Nautical Almanac, and also worked at the Naval Observatory. He analyzed the motions of the moon and planets.\nThere were also a few private observatories in America. Lewis Rutherfurd, a wealthy New Yorker and trustee of Columbia College, had a nine-inch diameter telescope, and also a small transit instrument belonging to Columbia College at his observatory at Second Avenue and Eleventh Street. The Coast Survey used this observatory in 1848 to determine the longitude of New York. Rutherfurd was a pioneer in astronomical photography. Not until late in the century, though, would individual American fortunes fund the establishment and sustenance of large observatories with systematic programs of scientific investigation carried on by full-time, paid employees.\nThe second half of the nineteenth century saw advances in telescope production, especially by the Boston firm of Alvan Clark & Sons. Their metal tubes were stiffer yet lighter than wooden telescopes. Larger pieces of optical glass were now available, and the Clarks figured the lens for the world's largest refracting telescope on five occasions: an 18.5-inch lens for the University of Mississippi in 1860, a 26-inch lens for the Naval Observatory in 1873 (with which Asaph Hall discovered Mars's moons in 1877), a 30-inch lens for the Pulkova Observatory in 1883, a 36-inch lens for the Lick Observatory of the University of California in 1887, and a 40-inch lens for the Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago in 1897. James Lick, a California land speculator during the gold rush, and Charles Yerkes, a Chicago street car magnate, put up the funds for their eponymous observatories, under university auspices, and Boston investor Percival Lowell directed his own observatory. All three observatories were far removed from cities, and Lick's and Lowell's were on mountain peaks. With the largest telescopes in the best locations, American observatories now surpassed all others.\nGrowing interest in astrophysics and in distant stars and nebulae encouraged the development of new observatories with large steerable reflecting (light focused by a curved mirror) telescopes suitable for photography and auxiliary instruments for the analysis of starlight. George Ellery Hale founded the Astrophysical Journal in 1895, the American Astronomical and Astrophysical Society in 1899, the Mount Wilson Observatory in 1904, and the International Astronomical Union in 1918. Hale was an early prototype of the high-pressure, heavy-hardware, big-spending, team-organized scientific entrepreneur. In 1902, Andrew Carnegie, rich from innovations in the American steel industry, created the Carnegie Institution of Washington to encourage investigation, research, and discovery in biology, astronomy, and the earth sciences. Its ten million dollars were more than the total of endowed funds for research in all American universities combined. Hale left the Yerkes Observatory to build, with Carnegie money, the Mount Wilson Observatory on a mountain above Los Angeles. There George Willis Ritchey, who accompanied Hale from Yerkes, made the photographic reflecting telescope the basic instrument of astronomical research, constructing a 60-inch telescope in 1908 and a 100-inch telescope in 1919. They were the largest telescopes in the world and revolutionized the study of astronomy. Harlow Shapley found that the system of stars is a hundred times larger than previous estimates and that the sun is far from the center. Edwin Hubble showed that spiral nebulae are independent island universes beyond our galaxy and that the universe is expanding. Cosmology, previously limited to philosophical speculations, joined mainstream astronomy.\nThe Mount Wilson Observatory depended on its relationship with physicists at the nearby California Institute of Technology for its dominance of astrophysics during the first half of the twentieth century. A scientific education was fast becoming necessary for professional astronomers, as astrophysics came to predominate, and the concerns of professionals and amateurs diverged. As late as the 1870s and 1880s, the self-educated American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard, an observaholic with indefatigable energy and ocular acuteness, could earn positions at the Lick and Yerkes observatories with visual observations of planetary details and discoveries of comets and moons. Already, however, he was an exception and an anachronism. Soon an advanced academic degree and considerable theoretical understanding were required of professional astronomers in America.\nSupposedly, only men could withstand the rigors of observing the heavens all night in unheated telescope domes. Women were first employed to examine photo-graphs of stellar spectra and to catalog the spectra. Edward Pickering, director of the Harvard College Observatory in 1881 and an advocate of advanced study for women, was so exasperated with his male assistant's inefficiency that he declared even his cook could do a better job of copying and computing. Pickering hired her and she did do a better job, as did some twenty more females over the next several decades, recruited for their steadiness, adaptability, acuteness of vision, and willingness to work for low wages. In 1925, Cecilia Payne, a graduate student, determined the relative abundances of eighteen chemical elements found in stellar atmospheres. Her Ph.D. thesis has been lauded as the most brilliant written in astronomy. Her degree, however, was from Radcliffe College, before Harvard granted degrees to women, and in subsequent employment at Harvard she was initially budgeted as \"equipment.\"\nRadio astronomy began in America in 1933. Karl Jansky, a radio engineer with the Bell Telephone Company, detected electrical emissions from the center of our galaxy while studying sources of radio noise. Optical astronomers were not interested, nor were Jansky's practical-minded supervisors. Grote Reber, an ardent radio amateur obsessed with distance communication, was interested, and built for a few thousand dollars a 31.4-foot-diameter pointable radio antenna in his backyard in Wheaton, Illinois. In 1940, he reported the intensity of radio sources at different positions in the sky. Fundamental knowledge underlying radio astronomy techniques increased during World War II, especially with research on radar.\nAdvances in nuclear physics during the war made possible quantitative calculations of the formation of elements in a supposed primeval fireball. The Russian-American physicist George Gamow sought to explain the cosmic abundance of elements as the result of thermo-nuclear reactions in an early hot phase of an expanding universe, consisting of high-energy radiation. In 1963, unaware of Gamow's work, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson at the Bell Telephone Laboratories detected radiation of cosmic origin. Meanwhile, Robert Dicke at Princeton University had independently thought of the cosmic background radiation and set a colleague to work calculating its strength. When Dicke learned in 1965 of Penzias and Wilson's measurement, he correctly interpreted it as Gamow's predicted radiation. A Nobel Prize went to Penzias and Wilson. Their discovery won general acceptance of the big bang theory and refuted the rival steady state theory.\nWorld War II changed the relationship between science and the state. Radar, missiles, and the atomic bomb established state-sponsored and state-directed research and development. Furthermore, groups of scientists brought together in wartime proved effective. After the war, engineers and physicists with their instruments, techniques, training, and ways of operating moved into astronomy. Then came Sputnik in 1957, the world's first satellite. This Soviet triumph challenged American supremacy in military might and world opinion.\nAfter Sputnik, the National Science Foundation supplied many millions of dollars for construction of the Kitt Peak National Observatory on a mountain near Tucson, Arizona. It is the largest collection of big telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere. Seventeen universities came together in AURA, the Association of Universities for Re-search in Astronomy, to manage the observatory.\nAnother response to Sputnik was the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Among its accomplishments are automated observatories launched into space, including the Hubble Space Telescope. Its primary mirror is eight feet in diameter. Including recording instruments and guidance system, the telescope weighs twelve tons. It has been called the eighth wonder of the world, and critics say it should be, given its cost of 1.5 billion dollars! The telescope is as much a political and managerial achievement as a technological one. Approval for a large space telescope was won in a political struggle lasting from 1974 to 1977, but not until 1990 were a plethora of problems finally overcome and the telescope launched into space, only to discover that an error had occurred in the shaping of the primary mirror. One newspaper reported \"Pix Nixed as Hubble Sees Double.\" The addition of a corrective mirror solved the problem.\nNASA also funds X-ray astronomy. Captured German rockets provided the first proof of X-rays from the sun. Astronomers did not expect to find X-ray sources and were skeptical that brief and expensive rocket-borne experiments were worthwhile. NASA, however, had more money than there were imaginative scientists to spend it, and the military, even more. One imaginative and eager scientist was the Italian-born Riccardo Giacconi, who in 1960, funded by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, discovered a cosmic X-ray source, and in 1963, detected a second. NASA adjudicates questions of scientific priority and supplies money for space observatories; industry helps build them; universities or consortiums of universities design and operate them and analyze the data. NASA then funded a rocket survey program and a small satellite for X-ray astronomy and in 1978 the Einstein X-ray telescope. Unlike the relatively quiescent universe seen by earth-bound astronomers, the universe revealed to engineers and physicists observing from satellites is violently energetic.\nMajor changes have occurred in both the size and scope of American astronomy over the centuries, but never more rapidly nor more dramatically than at the beginning of the Space Age. There were some five hundred American astronomers in 1962 and three times that many a decade later. Only four worked on X-rays in 1962 compared to over forty times that many in 1972. Over eighty percent of them were migrants from experimental physics, with expertise in designing and building instruments to detect high-energy particles.\nAstronomers now realize that important cosmological features can be explained as consequences of new theories of particle physics, and particle physics increasingly drives cosmology. Conversely, particle physicists, having exhausted the limits of particle accelerators and public funding for yet larger instruments, turn to cosmology for information regarding the behavior of matter under extreme conditions, such as those prevailing in the early universe.\nThe spectacular rise of American astronomy roughly parallels the remarkable evolution of the nation, itself, from British colonies to world super power. Once limited to visual observations and determining positions, astronomy now includes cosmology, the study of the structure and evolution of the universe, and analysis of the physical and chemical composition of the universe and its components. Once peripheral, now American astronomers, men and women, formally educated in a variety of fields, working in large teams, on systematic long-term projects, and enjoying government patronage, lead world advances in instrumentation, observation, and theory.\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\nThe Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.\nCopyright The Columbia University Press\nastronomy, branch of science that studies the motions and natures of celestial bodies, such as planets , stars , and galaxies ; more generally, the study of matter and energy in the universe at large.\nAncient Astronomy\nAstronomy is the oldest of the physical sciences. In many early civilizations the regularity of celestial motions was recognized, and attempts were made to keep records and predict future events. The first practical function of astronomy was to provide a basis for the calendar , the units of month and year being determined by astronomical observations. Later, astronomy served in navigation and timekeeping. The Chinese had a working calendar as early as the 13th cent. BC About 350 BC, Shih Shen prepared the earliest known star catalog, containing 800 entries. Ancient Chinese astronomy is best known today for its observations of comets and supernovas . The Babylonians, Assyrians, and Egyptians were also active in astronomy. The earliest astronomers were priests, and no attempt was made to separate astronomy from astrology . In fact, an early motivation for the detailed study of planetary positions was the preparation of horoscopes.\nGreek Innovations\nThe highest development of astronomy in the ancient world came with the Greeks in the period from 600 BC to AD 400. The methods employed by the Greek astronomers were quite distinct from those of earlier civilizations, such as the Babylonian. The Babylonian approach was numerological and best suited for studying the complex lunar motions that were of overwhelming interest to the Mesopotamian peoples. The Greek approach, on the contrary, was geometric and schematic, best suited for complete cosmological models. Thales, an Ionian philosopher of the 6th cent. BC, is credited with introducing geometrical ideas into astronomy. Pythagoras, about a hundred years later, imagined the universe as a series of concentric spheres in which each of the seven \"wanderers\" (the sun, the moon, and the five known planets) were embedded. Euxodus developed the idea of rotating spheres by introducing extra spheres for each of the planets to account for the observed complexities of their motions. This was the beginning of the Greek aim of providing a theory that would account for all observed phenomena. Aristotle (384–322 BC) summarized much of the Greek work before him and remained an absolute authority until late in the Middle Ages. Although his belief that the earth does not move retarded astronomical progress, he gave the correct explanation of lunar eclipses and a sound argument for the spherical shape of the earth.\nThe Alexandrian School and the Ptolemaic System\nThe apex of Greek astronomy was reached in the Hellenistic period by the Alexandrian school. Aristarchus (c.310–c.230 BC) determined the sizes and distances of the moon and sun relative to the earth and advocated a heliocentric (sun-centered) cosmology. Although there were errors in his assumptions, his approach was truly scientific; his work was the first serious attempt to make a scale model of the universe. The first accurate measurement of the actual (as opposed to relative) size of the earth was made by Eratosthenes (284–192 BC). His method was based on the angular difference in the sun's position at the high noon of the summer solstice in two cities whose distance apart was known.\nThe greatest astronomer of antiquity was Hipparchus (190–120 BC). He developed trigonometry and used it to determine astronomical distances from the observed angular positions of celestial bodies. He recognized that astronomy requires accurate and systematic observations extended over long time periods. He therefore made great use of old observations, comparing them to his own. Many of his observations, particularly of the planets, were intended for future astronomers. He devised a geocentric system of cycles and epicycles (a compounding of circular motions) to account for the movements of the sun and moon.\nPtolemy (AD 85–165) applied the scheme of epicycles to the planets as well. The resulting Ptolemaic system was a geometrical representation of the solar system that predicted the motions of the planets with considerable accuracy. Among his other achievements was an accurate measurement of the distance to the moon by a parallax technique. His 13-volume treatise, the Almagest, summarized much of ancient astronomical knowledge and, in many translations, was the definitive authority for the next 14 centuries.\nDevelopment of Modern Astronomy\nThe Copernican Revolution\nAfter the fall of Rome, European astronomy was largely dormant, but significant work was carried out by the Muslims and the Hindus. It was by way of Arabic translations that Greek astronomy reached medieval Europe. One of the great landmarks of the revival of learning in Europe was the publication (1543) by Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) of his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). According to the Copernican system , the earth rotates on its axis and, with all the other planets, revolves around the sun. The assertion that the earth is not the center of the universe was to have profound philosophical and religious consequences. Copernicus's principal claim for his new system was that it made calculations easier. He retained the uniform circular motion of the Ptolemaic system, but by placing the sun at the center, he was able to reduce the number of epicycles. Copernicus also determined the sidereal periods (time for one revolution around the sun) of the planets and their distance from the sun relative to the sun-earth distance (see astronomical unit ).\nBrahe and Kepler\nThe great astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) was principally an observer; a conservative in matters of theory, he rejected the notion that the earth moves. Under the patronage of King Frederick II, Tycho established Uraniborg, a superb observatory on the Danish island of Hveen. Over a period of 20 years (1576–97), he and his assistants compiled the most accurate and complete astronomical observations to that time. At his death his records passed to Johannes Kepler (1571–1630), who had been his last assistant. Kepler spent nearly a decade trying to fit Tycho's observations, particularly of Mars, into an improved system of heliocentric circular motion. At last, he conceived the idea that the orbit of Mars was an ellipse with the sun at one focus. This led him to the three laws of planetary motion that bear his name (see Kepler's laws ).\nGalileo's Telescope\nGalileo Galilei (1564–1642) made fundamental discoveries in both astronomy and physics; he is perhaps best described as the founder of modern science. Galileo was the first to make astronomical use of the telescope . His discoveries of the four largest moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus were persuasive evidence for the Copernican cosmology. His discoveries of craters on the moon and blemishes on the sun ( sunspots ) discredited the ancient belief in the perfection of the heavens. These findings were announced in The Sidereal Messenger, a small book published in 1610. Galileo's Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World (1632) was an eloquent argument for the Copernican system over the Ptolemaic. However, Galileo was called before the Inquisition and forced to renounce publicly all doctrines considered contrary to Scripture.\nAstrophysical Discoveries\nIsaac Newton (1642–1727), possibly the greatest scientific genius of all time, succeeded in uniting the sciences of astronomy and physics . His laws of motion and theory of universal gravitation provided a physical, dynamic basis for the merely descriptive laws of Kepler. Until well into the 19th cent., all progress in astronomy was essentially an extension of Newton's work. Edmond Halley 's prediction that the comet of 1682 would return in 1758 was refined by A. C. Clairault, who included the perturbing effects of Jupiter and Saturn on the orbit to calculate the nearly exact date of the return of the comet. In 1781, William Herschel accidentally discovered a new planet, eventually named Uranus. Discrepancies between the observed and theoretical orbits of Uranus indicated the existence of a still more distant planet that was affecting Uranus's motion. J. C. Adams and U. J. J. Leverrier independently calculated the position where the new planet, Neptune, was actually discovered (1846). Similar calculations for a large \"Planet X\" led in 1930 to the discovery of Pluto, now classed as a dwarf planet .\nBy the early 19th cent., the science of celestial mechanics had reached a highly developed state at the hands of Leonhard Euler, J. L. Lagrange, P. S. Laplace, and others. Powerful new mathematical techniques allowed solution of most of the remaining problems in classical gravitational theory as applied to the solar system. In 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres, the first of many asteroids . When Ceres was lost to view, C. F. Gauss applied the advanced gravitational techniques to compute the position where the asteroid was subsequently rediscovered. In 1838, F. W. Bessel made the first measurement of the distance to a star; using the method of parallax with the earth's orbit as a baseline, he determined the distance of the star 61 Cygni to be 60 trillion mi (about 10 light-years ), a figure later shown to be 40% too large.\nModern Techniques, Discoveries, and Theories\nAstronomy was revolutionized in the second half of the 19th cent. by the introduction of techniques based on photography and spectroscopy. Interest shifted from determining the positions and distances of stars to studying their physical composition (see stellar structure and stellar evolution ). The dark lines in the solar spectrum that had been observed by W. H. Wollaston and Joseph von Fraunhofer were interpreted in an elementary fashion by G. R. Kirchhoff on the basis of classical physics, although a complete explanation came only with the quantum theory . Between 1911 and 1913, Ejnar Hertzsprung and H. N. Russell studied the relation between the colors and luminosities of typical stars (see Hertzsprung-Russell diagram ). With the construction of ever more powerful telescopes (see observatory ), the boundaries of the known universe constantly increased. E. P. Hubble's study of the distant galaxies led him to conclude that the universe is expanding (see Hubble's law ). Using Cepheid variables as distance indicators, Harlow Shapley determined the size and shape of our galaxy, the Milky Way . During World War II Walter Baade defined two \"populations\" of stars, and suggested that an examination of these different types might trace the spiral shape of our own galaxy (see stellar populations ). In 1951 a Yerkes Observatory group led by William W. Morgan detected evidence of two spiral arms in the Milky Way galaxy.\nVarious rival theories of the origin and overall structure of the universe, e.g., the big bang and steady state theories, have been formulated (see cosmology ). Albert Einstein's theory of relativity plays a central role in all modern cosmological theories. In 1963, the moon passed in front of the radio source 3C-273, allowing Cyril Hazard to calculate the exact position of the source. With this information, Maarten Schmidt photographed the object's spectrum using the 200-in. (5-m) reflector on Palomar Mt., then the world's largest telescope. He interpreted the result as coming from an object, now known as a quasar , at an extreme distance and receding from us at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. In 1967 Antony Hewish and Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered a radio source a few hundred light years away featuring regular pulses at intervals of about 1 second with an accuracy of repetition of one-millionth of a second. This was the first discovered pulsar , a rapidly spinning neutron star emitting lighthouse-type beams of energy, the end result of the death of a star in a supernova explosion.\nThe discovery by Karl Jansky in 1931 that radio signals were emitted by celestial bodies initiated the science of radio astronomy . Most recently, the frontiers of astronomy have been expanded by space exploration . Perturbations and interference from the earth's atmosphere make space-based observations necessary for infrared , ultraviolet , gamma-ray , and X-ray astronomy . The Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft of the late 1960s and early 1970s helped launch the new field of astrogeology. A series of interplanetary probes, such as Mariner 2 (1962) and 5 (1967) to Venus, Mariner 4 (1965) and 6 (1969) to Mars, and Voyager 1 (1979) and 2 (1979), provided a wealth of data about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; more recently, the Magellan probe to Venus (1990) and the Galileo probe to Jupiter (1995) have continued this line of research (see satellite, artificial ; space probe ). The Hubble Space Telescope , launched in 1990, has made possible visual observations of a quality far exceeding those of earthbound instruments.\nBibliography\nSee A. Berry, Short History of Astronomy (1961); J. L. Dreyer, History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler (2d ed. 1953); A. Koyré, The Astronomical Revolution (1973); P. Maffei, Beyond the Moon (1978); P. Moore, ed. The International Encyclopedia of Astronomy (1987); S. Maran, ed., The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia (1991); C. Peterson and J. C. Brandt, Astronomy with the Hubble Space Telescope (1995).\nCite this article\nCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group, Inc.\nAstronomy\nAstronomy, the oldest of all the sciences, seeks to describe the structure, movements, and processes of celestial bodies.\nSome ancient ruins provide evidence that the most remote ancestors observed and attempted to understand the workings of the Cosmos. Although not always fully understood, these ancient ruins demonstrate that early man attempted to mark the progression of the seasons as related to the changing positions of the Sun , stars, planets, and Moon on the celestial sphere. Archaeologists speculate that such observation made more reliable the determination of times for planting and harvest in developing agrarian communities and cultures.\nThe regularity of the heavens also profoundly affected the development of indigenous religious beliefs and cultural practices. For example, according to Aristotle (384-322 b.c.), Earth occupied the center of the Cosmos, and the Sun and planets orbited Earth in perfectly circular orbits at an unvarying rate of speed. The word astronomy is a Greek term for star arrangement. Although heliocentric (Sun centered) theories were also advanced among ancient Greek and Roman scientists, the embodiment of the geocentric theory conformed to prevailing religious beliefs and, in the form of the Ptolemaic model subsequently embraced by the growing Christian church, dominated Western thought until the rise of empirical science and the use of the telescope during the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.\nIn the East, Chinese astronomers carefully charted the night sky, noting the appearance of \"guest stars\" (comets , novae, etc.). As early as 240 b.c., the records of Chinese astronomers record the passage of a \"guest star\" known now as Comet Halley, and in a.d. 1054, the records indicate that one star became bright enough to be seen in daylight. Archaeoastronmers argue that this transient brightness was a supernova explosion, the remnants of which now constitute the Crab Nebula. The appearance of the supernova was also recorded by the Anasazi Indians of the American Southwest.\nObservations were not limited to spectacular celestial events. After decades of patient observation, the Mayan peoples of Central America were able to accurately predict the movements of the Sun, Moon, and stars. This civilization also devised a calendar that accurately predicted the length of a year, to what would now be measured to be within six seconds.\nEarly in the sixteenth century, Polish astronomer Nicolas Copernicus (1473–1543) reasserted the heliocentric theory abandoned by the Greeks and Romans. Although sparking a revolution in astronomy, Copernicus' system was deeply flawed by an insistence on circular orbits. Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's (1546–1601) precise observations of the celestial movements allowed German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) to formulate his laws of planetary motion that correctly described the elliptical orbits of the planets.\nItalian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) was the first scientist to utilize a newly invented telescope to make recorded observations of celestial objects. In a prolific career, Galileo 's discoveries, including phases of Venus and moons orbiting Jupiter, dealt a death blow to geocentric theory.\nIn the seventeenth century, English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton 's (1642–1727) development of the laws of motion and gravitation marked the beginning of Newtonian physics and modern astrophysics. In addition to developing calculus, Newton made tremendous advances in the understanding of light and optics critical to the development of astronomy. Newton's seminal 1687 work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical principles of natural philosophy) dominated the Western intellectual landscape for more than two centuries and proved the impetus for the advancement of celestial dynamics.\nTheories surrounding celestial mechanics during the eighteenth century were profoundly shaped by important contributions by French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–1813), French mathematician Pierre Simon de Laplace (1749–1827), and Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) that explained small discrepancies between Newton's predicted and the observed orbits of the planets. These explanations contributed to the concept of a clockwork-like mechanistic universe that operated according to knowable physical laws.\nJust as primitive astronomy influenced early religious concepts, during the eighteenth century, advancements in astronomy caused significant changes in Western scientific and theological concepts based upon an unchanging, immutable God who ruled a static universe. During the course of the eighteenth century, there developed a growing scientific disregard for understanding based upon divine revelation and a growing acceptance of an understanding of Nature based upon the development and application of scientific laws. Whether God intervened to operate the mechanisms of the universe through miracles or signs (such as comets) became a topic of lively philosophical and theological debate. Concepts of the divine became increasingly identified with the assumed eternity or infinity of the Cosmos. Theologians argued that the assumed immutability of a static universe, a concept shaken by the discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, offered proof of the existence of God. The clockwork universe viewed as confirmation of the existence of God of infinite power who was the \"prime mover\" or creator of the universe. For many scientists and astronomers, however, the revelations of a mechanistic universe left no place for the influence of the Divine, and they discarded their religious views. These philosophical shifts sent sweeping changes across the political and social landscape.\nIn contrast to the theological viewpoint, astronomers increasingly sought to explain \"miracles\" in terms of natural phenomena. Accordingly, by the nineteenth century, the appearances of comets were no longer viewed as direct signs from God but rather a natural, explainable and predictable result of a deterministic universe. Explanations for catastrophic events (e.g., comet impacts, extinctions, etc.) increasingly came to be viewed as the inevitable results of time and statistical probability.\nThe need for greater accuracy and precision in astronomical measurements, particularly those used in navigation, spurred development of improved telescopes and pendulum driven clocks that greatly increased the pace of astronomical discovery. In 1781, improved mathematical techniques, combined with technological improvements, along with the proper application of Newtonian laws, allowed English astronomer William Herschel to discover the planet Uranus.\nUntil the twentieth century, astronomy essentially remained concerned with the accurate description of the movements of planets and stars. Developments in electromagnetic theories of light and the formulation of quantum and relativity theories, however, allowed astronomers to probe the inner workings of the celestial objects. Influenced by German-American physicist Albert Einstein 's (1879–1955) theories of relativity and the emergence of quantum theory , Indian-born American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995) first articulated the evolution of stars into supernova, white dwarfs, neutron stars and accurately predicted the conditions required for the formation of black holes subsequently found in the later half of the twentieth century. The articulation of the stellar evolutionary cycle allowed rapid advancements in cosmological theories regarding the creation of the universe. In particular, American astronomer Edwin Hubble's (1889–1953) discovery of red shifted spectra from stars provided evidence of an expanding universe that, along with increased understanding of stellar evolution , ultimately led to the abandonment of static models of the universe and the formulation of big bang based cosmological models.\nIn 1932, American engineer Karl Jansky (1905–1945) discovered existence of radio waves of emanating from beyond the earth . Janskey's discovery led to the birth of radio astronomy that ultimately became one of the most productive means of astronomical observation and spurred continuing studies of the Cosmos across all regions of the electromagnetic spectrum .\nProfound questions regarding the birth and death of stars led to the stunning realization that, in a real sense, because the heavier atoms of which he was comprised were derived from nucleosynthesis in dying stars, man too was a product of stellar evolution. After millennia of observing the Cosmos, by the dawn of the twenty-first century, advances in astronomy allowed humans to gaze into the night sky and realize that they were looking at the light from stars distant in space and time, and that they, also, were made from the very dust of stars.\nCite this article\nCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc.\nAstronomy\nAstronomy is the scientific study of the universe as a whole and of objects that exist naturally in space, such as the Moon, planets, stars, and galaxies. The Sun is a rather typical star moving around the center of the Milky Way at a distance of 20,000 light years. This Milky Way, our galaxy, is made of hundreds of millions of stars with vast empty regions and diffuse gas in between all held together by gravity. There are at least another hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe.\nEvery day and night astronomers collect data on these objects in all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum of light. From radio waves through X-rays, small and large telescopes on the ground and in space record immense amounts of data. Analyzing these data is one of the major challenges of modern astronomy. Sophisticated time-dependent, three-dimensional models of astronomical objects and the universe as a whole are now routinely constructed to help astronomers interpret their observations.\nIn 1823 the president of the Royal Astronomical Society presented the society's gold medal to British mathematician Charles Babbage (1791–1871) for the invention of the first digital calculating machine. The president remarked: \"In no department of science or of the arts does this discovery promise to be so eminently useful as in that of astronomy… The practical astronomer is interrupted in his pursuit, is diverted from his task of observation, by the irksome labour of computation;…\" Before the first electronic computers became available to astronomers, many observatories employed humans referred to as computers for this \"irksome labour of computation.\"\nIn the 1950s theoretical astronomers began tapping the potential of programmable computing systems. Their first programs derived the solution of the restricted three-body problem (the gravitational interaction of three massive bodies) and also the solution to the equations of stellar structure. Model stellar atmospheres were also constructed from atomic data to be compared with observations of stellar spectra. The first practical applications were computations of precise apparent star positions and analysis routines transforming photoelectric observational data into meaningful scientific quantities.\nBy the 1960s computers had become an integral part of research in astronomy. In particular, progress in the theoretical understanding of stellar structure and evolution was driven largely by results of numerical investigations.\nAstronomical research stimulates new advances in computing. A prime example is SETI@home, a project that uses the computing power of idle home and office computers. SETI, which stands for Search for ExtraTerrestial Intelligence, involves the analysis of the many gigabytes of data collected daily at radio telescopes . A freely distributed screensaver connects to a central data server and collects a small part of these data. When the home computer is otherwise idle, its processing power is used to look for extraterrestial signals. Upon completion of the analysis, the results of the computation are relayed back to the central server. Although no alien life has been found to date, millions of SETI@home users are contributing to this scientific endeavor.\nThe rapid growth in computing technologies also enables new areas of astronomical research. The data obtained at telescopes are now all stored in large databases that can be accessed by astronomers around the globe. These archived data repositories act as virtual observatories. Scientist can retrieve (observe) data on the same astronomical objects in many different wave-bands in a very short time without even having access to a telescope. Any relevant scientific studies are cross-referenced with the observed objects and are readily accessible on the Internet worldwide.\nSupercomputers play an important role in astronomy today. Perhaps one of the most important uses of supercomputers is the physical modeling of the origin and evolution of astrophysical objects. Computational astrophyics has become a mature science in the past decades, driven not only by the ever-increasing power of computers but especially by new algorithmic breakthroughs. Novel techniques allow scientists to capture the vast space and time scales that astronomical objects span. It has become possible to study in detail such difficult problems as the collision of black holes; the formation of planets, stars, and galaxies; and the large-scale structure of the universe.\nIn detailed three-dimensional models, computational astrophysicists follow the time evolution of magnetic fields, radiation, gas dynamics, chemistry, gravitational interactions, cosmic ray interactions, and many more physical processes. Physicists can experiment in laboratories to test their theories. Only numerical experiments allow the astronomers and astrophysicists to test their theories in the quest to understand the nature of astronomical objects.\nRapidly evolving computing technologies and their uses in astronomical research will continue to lead to profound new insights into the nature, origin, and evolution of the cosmos and the complex structures within.\nsee also Navigation; Physics; Weather Forecasting.\nTom Abel\nCOPYRIGHT 2008 Greenhaven\nastronomy\nAstronomy of the Middle Ages was grounded in the work of Ptolemy , a scientist of ancient Alexandria, whose work The Almagest set out the Ptolemaic system of an earth-centered universe. The Ptolemaic view was accepted by philosophers and sanctioned by the church, and his work was the foundation of studies and commentaries by the medieval scholars Georg von Peuerbach, Johann Müller (known as Regiomontanus), and Georg Joachim Rheticus. To verify their observations astronomers drew on the Alfonsine Tables that were set down in Toledo, Spain , in 1252, and that were based on the Ptolemaic system. The earth was the center of the universe around which the sun, planets, and stars revolved; the heavens were permanent and unchanging; a perfect harmony and balance existed in which, according to astrologers, celestial phenomena had their effect on events and people on the terrestrial globe.\nAs the skill of observers improved, however, the Ptolemaic system came under question. The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, while using the Alfonsine Tables in 1504 in observing a conjunction of Mars and Saturn, found them inaccurate. Trusting in his own calculations, Copernicus began questioning the Ptolemaic system and concluded that a heliocentric (sun-centered) structure accounted more accurately for the motions of the planets. This theory was revolutionary and, in Copernicus's view, dangerous, as it questioned the accepted wisdom supported by the church for centuries. He did not allow his theory to circulate in print until the end of his life, although heliocentrism became a common topic of debate among clergy and scientists in the early sixteenth century. The Alfonsine Tables would be replaced by the Prutenic Tables of Erasmus Reinhold, which were based on the Copernican heliocentric universe.\nIn 1572, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe discovered a new star and, in 1577, a comet. Through these observations Brahe showed that the heavens were ever-changing, producing new objects and phenomena that were not accounted for in traditional astronomy. The invention of the telescope in the early seventeenth century allowed astronomers more accurate observations that led to improvements in the Copernican system. Using a telescope and colored lenses, in 1611 Christoph Scheiner observed sunspots—dark spots that appear at times on the sun—proving that the sun was a mutable body, and not a perfect sphere of fire or light. In studying the motion of Mars, Johannes Kepler concluded that the circular orbits of traditional astronomy were a mirage. Instead, according to Kepler, the planets moved in elliptical orbits, with the sun lying at one focus of the ellipse. According to Kepler's harmonic law, the orbital period of a planet varied with the distance of the planet from the sun. Astronomers would later use this law to calculate the dimensions of the solar system.\nThe complex equations theorized by Kepler and others replaced the fixed and unchanging doctrines of the past. Sir Isaac Newton introduced the law of universal gravitation, which explained the relationship between orbit and velocity. The Rudolphine Tables created by Tycho Brahe and Kepler in 1627 replaced the Prutenic Tables. Astronomy became a science, carried out through accurate observation. Renaissance astronomers dared to question traditional wisdom, even at the risk of losing their reputations and their lives. The Italian scientist Galileo Galilei, using a telescope, discovered the moons of Jupiter and the mountains and craters of the moon. For his theories on the nature of the solar system; and his discovery of worlds previously unknown, he was threatened by the Inquisition of the Catholic Church—a tribunal that punished heresy—and his works were censored. Nevertheless, the work of Galileo and others placed the traditional view of the heavens through a transformation, explaining the universe was a skill passing out of the hands of philosophers and the church and to a class of scientific specialists who rejected medieval traditions of astrology and religious doctrine altogether.\nSee Also: astrology; Copernicus, Nicolaus; Galilei, Galileo; Kepler, Johannes\nCite this article\nWorld Encyclopedia\n© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005.\nastronomy Branch of science studied since ancient times and concerned with the universe and its components in terms of the relative motions of celestial bodies, their positions on the celestial sphere, physical and chemical structure, evolution and the phenomena occurring on them. It includes celestial mechanics, astrophysics , cosmology , and astrometry. Waves in all regions of the electromagnetic spectrum can now be studied either with ground-based instruments or by observations and measurements made from satellites, space probes and rockets.\nHistory\nAstronomy was first used practically to develop a calendar, the units of which were determined by observing the heavens. The Chinese had a calendar in the 14th century bc. The Greeks developed the science between 600 bc and ad 200. Thales introduced geometrical ideas and Pythagoras saw the universe as a series of concentric spheres. Aristotle believed the Earth to be stationary but he explained lunar eclipses correctly. Aristarchus put forward a heliocentric theory. Hipparchus used trigonometry to determine astronomical distances. The system devised by Ptolemy was a geometrical representation of the Solar System that predicted the motions of the planets with great accuracy. From then on astronomy remained dormant until the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, when Copernicus stated his theory that the Earth rotates on its axis and, with all the other planets, revolves round the Sun . This had a profound effect upon contemporary religion and philosophy. Kepler and his laws of planetary motion refined the theory of heliocentric motion, and his contemporary, Galileo , made use of the telescope and discovered the moons of Jupiter . Isaac Newton combined the sciences of astronomy and physics. His laws of motion and universal theory of gravitation provided a physical basis for Kepler's laws and enabled the later prediction of Halley's comet and the discovery of the planets Uranus , Neptune , and Pluto . by the early 19th century the science of celestial mechanics (the study of the motions of bodies in space as they move under the influence of their mutual gravitation) had become highly advanced and new mathematical techniques permitted the solution of the remaining problems of classical gravitation theory as applied to the Solar System . In the second half of the 19th century astronomy was revolutionized by the introduction of techniques based on photography and spectroscopy . These encouraged investigation into the physical composition of stars. Ejnar Hertzsprung and H. N. Russell studied the relationship between the colour of a star and its luminosity. by this time larger telescopes were being constructed, which extended the limits of the universe known to man. Harlow Shapley determined the shape and size of our galaxy and E. P. Hubble's study of distant galaxies led to his theory of an expanding universe. The Big Bang and steady-state theory of the origins of the universe were formulated. In recent years, space exploration and observation in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum have contributed to the discovery and postulation of such phenomena as the quasar , pulsar , and black hole . There are various branches of modern astronomy. Optical astronomy studies sources of light in space. Light rays can penetrate the atmosphere but, because of disturbances, many observations are now made from above the atmosphere. Gamma-ray, infrared, ultraviolet, and X-ray astronomy study the emission of radiation (at all wavelengths) from astronomical objects. Higher wavelengths can be studied from the ground, while lower wavelengths require the use of satellites and balloons. Other branches within astronomy include radar astronomy and radio astronomy .\nCite this article\nEncyclopedia of Science and Religion\nCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc.\nAstronomy\nAstronomy is the scientific study of the objects visible in the night sky by means of telescopes and associated instruments that analyze the radiation received from these objects. Using such instruments, astronomers determine their positions, apparent motions, distances, sizes, and total radiation emitted. From their spectra (the decomposition of light received from them into wavelengths) astronomers determine their chemical composition and radial motion. Astronomy distinguishes planets from stars, and identifies the way stars are spatially associated in star clusters, galaxies, and clusters of galaxies. Astronomy has ancient roots arising from peoples' attempts to relate the annual change of seasons to positions of stars in the sky. Astronomy is to be distinguished from astrology, which purports to relate the events in human lives to positions of the planets at the time of one's birth.\nSee also Cosmology, Physical Aspects\ngeorge f. r. ellis\nAllusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary\nCOPYRIGHT 1986 Gale\n44. Astronomy\nAristarchus of Samos (fl. c. 270 B.C.) Greek astronomer; first to maintain that Earth rotates and revolves around Sun . [Gk. Hist.: EB, I: 514]\nCopernicus, Nicholas (1453–1543) Polish astronomer; author of the Copernican theory that planets orbit the sun . [Polish Hist.: NCE, 652]\nGalileo (1564–1642) Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. [Ital. Hist.: EB, IV: 388]\nHalley, Edmond (1656–1742) British mathematician and astronomer; calculated orbit of comet named after him. [Br. Hist.: EB, IV: 860]\nHipparchus (fl. 146–127 B.C.) astronomer who calculated the year and discovered the precession of the equinoxes. [Turkish Hist.: EB, V: 55]\nPtolemy (85–165) eminent Greek astronomer. [Gk. Hist.: Hall, 255]\nUrania muse of astronomy. [Gk. Myth.: Jobes, 374]\nCite this article",
"chapter 2 - NASA History - NASA\nAs we saw in Chapter One, initial radar astronomy targets ... and a name (the Nuffield Radio Astronomy ... Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories ...\nchapter 2\nFrom the Rad Lab to Millstone Hill\n \nScientists and engineers at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory attempted to reach Venus by radar in 1958, because they had access to a radar of unprecedented capability. The radar existed because MIT, as it had since the days of the Radiation Laboratory, conducted military electronics research. Lincoln Laboratory did not emerge directly from the Radiation Laboratory but through its direct descendant, the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE).\nThe RLE, a joint laboratory of the Physics and Electrical Engineering Departments, continued much of the fundamental electronic research of the Radiation Laboratory. The Signal Corps, Air Force, and the Office of Naval Research jointly funded the new laboratory, with the Signal Corps overseeing the arrangement. Former Radiation Laboratory employees filled research positions at the RLE, which occupied a temporary structure on the MIT campus erected earlier for the Radiation Laboratory. The two leaders of the Lincoln Laboratory Venus radar experiment, Robert Price and Paul E. Green, Jr., were both student employees of the RLE. Price also had an Industrial Fellowship in Electronics from Sperry. Among the other early RLE fellowship sponsors were the General Radio Company, RCA, IT&T, and the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company.\nIn September 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear bomb; within months civil war exploded in Korea. The need for a United States air defense capable of coping with a nuclear attack was urgent. Project Charles, a group of military and civilian experts, studied the problems of air defense. Its findings led directly to the creation of Lincoln Laboratory in the Autumn of 1951.1\nMIT was, in the words of Hoyt S. Vandenberg, U.S. Air Force chief of staff, \"uniquely qualified to serve as contractor to the Air Force for the establishment of the proposed [Lincoln] laboratory. Its experience in managing the Radiation Laboratory of World War II, the participation in the work of ADSEC [Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee] by Professor [George E.] Valley and other members of the MIT staff, its proximity to AFCRL [Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories], and its demonstrated competence in this sort of activity have convinced us that we should be fortunate to secure the services of MIT in the present connection.\"2\nLincoln Laboratory was to design and develop what became known as SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), a digital, integrated computerized North-American network of air defense. SAGE involved a diversity of applied research in digital computing and data processing, long-range radar, and digital communications. The Army, Navy and Air Force jointly underwrote Lincoln Laboratory through an Air Force prime contract. The Air Force provided nearly 90 percent of the funding. In 1954, Lincoln Laboratory moved out of its Radiation Laboratory buildings on the MIT campus and into a newly constructed facility at Hanscom Field, in Lexington, Massachusetts, next to the Air Force Cambridge Research Center.\n[29] Lincoln Laboratory quickly began work on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line in the arctic region of North America. The first experimental DEW-line radar units were in place near Barter Island, Alaska, by the end of 1953. The radar antennas were enclosed by a special structure called a radome, which protected them from arctic winds and cold.\nInterContinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) challenged the DEW Line and the North American coordinated defense network, which had been designed to warn against airplane attacks. ICBMs could carry nuclear warheads above the ionosphere, higher than any pilot could fly; existing warning radars were useless. In order to detect and track ICBMs, radars would have to recognize targets smaller than airplanes at altitudes several hundred kilometers above the Earth and at ranges of several thousand kilometers. The new radars would have to distinguish between targets and auroras, meteors, and other ionospheric disturbances, which experience already had shown were capable of crippling military communications and radars.3\nIn 1954, Lincoln Laboratory began initial studies of Anti-InterContinental Ballistic Missile (AICBM) systems and the creation of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS). By the spring of 1956, the construction of an experimental prototype BMEWS radar was underway. Its location, atop Millstone Hill in Westford, Massachusetts, was well away from air routes and television transmitters and close to MIT and Lincoln Laboratory. The Air Force owned and financed the radar, while Lincoln Laboratory managed it under Air Force contract through the adjacent Air Force Cambridge Research Center.\nHerbert G. Weiss was in charge of designing and building Millstone. After graduating from MIT in 1936 with a BS in electrical engineering, Weiss conducted microwave research for the Civil Aviation Authority in Indianapolis and worked in the MIT Radiation Laboratory. After the war, Weiss worked at Los Alamos, then at Raytheon, before returning to MIT to work on the DEW radars.\nMillstone embodied a new generation of radars capable of detecting smaller objects at farther ranges. Thanks to specially designed, 3-meter-tall (11-feet-tall) klystron tubes, Millstone was intended to have an unprecedented amount of peak transmitting power, 1.25 megawatts from each klystron (2.5 megawatts total). Its frequency was 440 MHz (68 cm). The antenna, a steerable parabolic dish 26 meters (84 feet) from rim to rim, stood on a 27-meter-high (88-foot-high) tower of concrete and steel. Millstone began operating in October 1957, just in time to skin track the first Sputnik.\n \n[30]\nFigure 4. The Lincoln Laboratory Millstone Hill Radar Observatory, ca. 1958. (Courtesy of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Massachusetts, photo no. P489-128.)\n \nMillstone furnished valuable scientific and technological information to the military, while advancing ionospheric and lunar radar research. In addition to testing and evaluating new defense radar techniques and components, its scientific missions included measuring the ionosphere and its influence on radar signals (such as Faraday rotation), observing satellites and missiles, and performing radar studies of auroras, meteors, and the Moon, all of which were potential sources of false alarm for BMEWS radars.4\n \nVenus or Bust\n \nKingston's maser was installed at Millstone Hill just in time for the inferior conjunction of Venus. However, a klystron failure left only 265 kilowatts of transmitter power available for the experiment. On 10 and 12 February 1958, the radar was pointed to detect Venus, then some 45 million kilometers (28 million miles) away. The radar signals took about five minutes to travel the round-trip distance. In contrast, John DeWitt's signals went to the Moon and back to Fort Monmouth, NJ, in only about 2.5 seconds.\nOf the five runs made, only four of the digital recordings had few enough tape blemishes that they could be easily edited and run through the computer. Two of the four runs, one from each day, showed no evidence of radar returns. The others had one peak each. Price recalled, \"When we saw the peaks, we felt very blessed.\"11 It was not absolutely clear, however, that the two peaks were really echoes.\nGreen explained: \"We looked into our soul about whether we dared to go public with this news. Bob was the only guy who really stayed with it to the end. He had convinced himself that he had seen it, and he had convinced me that he had seen it. Management asked us to have a consultant look at our results, and we did.\" Thomas Gold of Cornell University looked at the peaks and said \"Yes, I think you should publish this.\" Green and Price then published their findings in the 20 March 1959 issue of Science, the journal of [33] the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 13 months after their observations in February 1958.12\nBy then, despite the unsuccessful Lunik I Moon shot, the Soviet Union had achieved a number of successful satellite launches. The United States space effort still was marked by repeated failures. All of the four Pioneer Moon launches of 1958 ended in failure. There was a desperate need for good news; the Lincoln Laboratory publicity department gave the Venus radar experiment full treatment. In addition to a press conference, Green and Price quickly found themselves on national television and on the front page of the New York Times. President Eisenhower sent a special congratulatory telegram calling the experiment a \"notable achievement in our peaceful ventures into outer space.\"13\nOnce Price and Green accepted the validity of the two peaks, the next step was to determine the distance the radar waves travelled to Venus and to calculate a value for the astronomical unit. They estimated a value of 149,467,000 kilometers and concluded, moreover, that it did not differ enough from those found in the astronomical literature to warrant a re-evaluation of the astronomical unit.14\nThe Lincoln Laboratory 1958 Venus experiment launched planetary radar astronomy; Millstone Hill was the prototype planetary radar. Its digital electronics, recording of data on magnetic tape for subsequent analysis, use of a maser (or other low-noise microwave amplifier) and a digital computer, and long-period integration all became standard equipment and practice. As with any experiment, scientists must be able to duplicate results. The next inferior conjunction provided an opportunity for scientists at Jodrell Bank to attempt Venus, too.\nJodrell Bank had a new, 76-meter (250-foot) radio telescope, the largest of its type in the world. Although planned as early as 1951, the telescope did not detect its first radio waves until 1957 as a consequence of a long, nightmarish struggle with financial and construction difficulties. The civilian Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Nuffield Foundation underwrote its design and construction. Success in detecting Soviet and American rocket launches brought visits from Prince Philip and Princess Margaret and fame. Fame in turn brought solvency and a name (the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, Jodrell Bank).\nAlthough the design and construction of the large dish was unquestionably an enterprise carried out with civilian funding, radar research at Jodrell Bank owed a debt to the United States armed forces; however, that military research was limited to meteor studies carried out with the smaller antennas, not the 76-meter (250-foot) dish. The U.S. Air Force and the Office of Naval Research supplied additional money for tracking rocket launches, while the European Office of the U.S. Air Force Research and Development Command (EOARDC) funded general electronics research at a modest level. During the Cuban missile crisis, the 76-meter (250-foot) radio telescope served to detect missiles that might be launched from the Soviet Union. From intelligence sources, the locations of such missiles directed against London were known, and the telescope was aimed accordingly. No U.S. equipment or funding were engaged in this effort, though.15\n \n[34]\nFigure 5. The Jodrell Bank 250-foot (76-meter) telescope in June 1961. The control room is partially visible bottom left. The 1962 and 1964 Jodrell Bank Venus radar experiments were carried out using a U.S.-supplied continuous-wave radar mounted on this telescope. (Courtesy of the Director of the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, Jodrell Bank.)\n \nPreparation for the 1959 Venus experiment began in 1957, as the dish was reaching completion. The telescope, however, was not yet ready for radar work. John Evans recognized that its transmitter power and operating frequency would have to be raised in order to achieve critical extra gain for the Venus experiment. The 100-MHz (3-meter), 10-kilowatt Moon radar was not powerful enough. The University of Manchester Physics Department had developed a 400-MHz (75 cm), 100-kilowatt klystron. \"It was a real kludge,\" Evans later recalled, \"because it was basically a Physics Department experiment. It was continuously pumped; it sat on top of vacuum pumps, which required liquid nitrogen for cooling.\"16\nLovell had the General Electric Company of Britain supply a modulator for the klystron. Evans was responsible for designing and building the rest of the equipment. As the 1958 Venus inferior conjunction approached, \"we simply were not ready, and Lovell was quite upset,\" Evans explained. Out of desperation, Evans employed the 100-MHz Moon radar enhanced with a computer integration scheme, but the equipment failed to detect echoes. When Lincoln Laboratory announced its success, Evans recalled, \"We shrugged and felt we were beaten to the punch.\"\nThe 1958 Jodrell Bank failure put all that much more pressure on Evans to produce results during the next inferior conjunction of September 1959. The transmitter was more [35] or less ready. The klystron was mounted in one of the telescope towers. \"It was a royal pain,\" Evans remembered, \"because we had to take liquid nitrogen up the elevator and then a vertical ladder to get to this darn thing.\" As if that were not enough, a water pump burned up, and the connectors on the coaxial cable carrying power to the dish burned out every ten or fifteen minutes. While still struggling with the connector problem, Evans made several runs on Venus.\nEvans was a junior scientist, having just received his Ph.D. in 1957. He felt he was under great pressure to produce positive results. Lovell was anxious to know if they had found an echo; the Duke of Edinburgh was about to visit. Evans looked at his data, taken from the first few minutes of each run, when he thought the apparatus was working. He had what looked like a return, but it could have been noise. Evans decided, \"Well, I think we have an echo.\" The Venus detection was announced in the 31 October 1959 issue of Nature. The Duke of Edinburgh visited Jodrell Bank on 11 November 1959; he received an explanation and a demonstration of the technique, using the Moon as a target.\nDespite the patchwork equipment, the 50-kilowatt, 408-MHz (74-cm) radar obtained a total of fifty-eight and three quarters hours of useful operating data, before Venus passed beyond its range. As expected, none of the echoes were stronger than the receiver noise level; integration techniques increased the strength of the echoes. The Jodrell Bank signal processing equipment was rather limited in its ability to search. Without accurate range or Doppler correction information, Evans had to make assumptions; he chose the Lincoln Laboratory 1958 published value. Not surprisingly, the value Jodrell Bank derived for the astronomical unit agreed with that determined at Lincoln Laboratory.17 The Jodrell Bank confirmation of the Lincoln Laboratory results placed them on solid scientific ground, that is, until Lincoln Laboratory repeated the experiment.\n \nThe Rotation of Venus\n \nThe establishment of a highly accurate value for the astronomical unit and its adoption by the IAU was but one way that planetary radar demonstrated its value as a problem-solving scientific activity. The distance from Earth to Venus as measured by JPL radar also proved essential in keeping the 1962 Mariner 2 Venus probe on target. Early in its flight, Mariner 2 went off course. The Pioneer and Echo antennas sent midcourse commands, and a 34-minute maneuver put Mariner 2 on course. Had Rabe's value for the astronomical unit been used in place of the radar value, Mariner 2 would have passed Venus without acquiring any useful data.61\nValuable insight into the rotation of Venus further demonstrated the problem-solving scientific merit of planetary radar. Optical and spectrographic methods failed to reveal the planet's period or direction of rotation, because Venus' thick, opaque cloud layer hid all evidence of its motion. Astronomers could only infer and imagine. Radar waves, on the other hand, were quite capable of penetrating the Venusian atmosphere; yet determining the planet's rotation by radar was still not easy. The key was methodical and meticulous attention to the shape of the echo spectra. Although JPL, Lincoln Laboratory, Jodrell Bank, and the Soviet Yevpatoriya facility calculated rotational rates for Venus, only JPL and Lincoln Laboratory found its \"locked\" orbit and retrograde motion.62\nEvans and Taylor at Jodrell Bank published the first estimate of the planet's rotational period, about 20 days, using their erroneous 1959 data. In 1964, John Thomson reckoned a slow rotational rate, \"probably\" somewhere between 225 days and a similar retrograde period. After seeming to be on the brink of discovery, Thomson pulled back, concluding, \"Future observations of the change of spectral width with time should enable the rotation rate and rotation axis to be determined.\" \"Retrograde rotation,\" he held, was \"physically unlikely.\"63\n[50] As close as Jodrell Bank came to discovering Venus' retrograde motion, the Soviets were that far away. Looking at frequency shifts in their 1961 data, Kotelnikov's group persistently estimated the planet's rotational period as 11 days, if not 9 or 10 days. They entirely missed the planet's retrograde motion. The Soviet error arose from their finding that the spectrum had a wide base, at least 400 hertz wide, indicating rapid motion. All British and United States workers agreed that the spectrum was far narrower. Lincoln Laboratory, for example, found a narrow spectrum of only 0.6 hertz. After their 1962 radar study of Venus, Kotelnikov and his colleagues re-evaluated their data and concluded a retrograde rotational period of 200 to 300 days.64\nBy then, though, JPL and Lincoln Laboratory already had discovered Venus' retrograde motion. Finding it was not easy. Along the way, both laboratories concluded that the Venusian day was as long as its year, about 225 days. Venus was \"locked\" in its orbit, turning one face always toward the Earth at the moment of inferior conjunction. However, these initial reports failed to note the planet's retrograde motion.65\nThe investigators who found it did not follow the same path of discovery. Just as the availability of technology had made planetary radar astronomy possible, the limits of that technology shaped the paths of discovery. JPL harvested the benefits of a powerful, low-noise continuous-wave radar in their 1962 and 1964 Venus experiment, while Lincoln Laboratory reaped the rewards of their computer and signal processing skills.\nThe Goldstone radar permitted Roland L. Carpenter to find the retrograde motion of Venus in a rather novel fashion. Carpenter actually had a BA in psychology from California State University at Los Angeles, but he had been interested in astronomy since childhood, and he had worked at Griffith Observatory as a guide. Finding very little work available in psychology, Carpenter found a job at Collins Radio as an electrician thanks to his friend, astronomer George Abell (known for Abell's clusters of galaxies), who had a summer job there. Carpenter gradually worked his way up to electronics engineer, simply through his work experience at Collins Radio. Then, when JPL began hiring people with experience in radio communications for the Deep Space Network, Carpenter jumped at the opportunity. Carpenter worked with Dewey Muhleman in Walt Victor's group and took advantage of JPL's employee benefits program by pursuing an advanced degree in astronomy at UCLA, while working full-time at JPL. His doctoral dissertation, \"The Study of Venus by CW Radar,\" written under Lawrence Aller and completed in 1966, used data from the 1964 JPL Venus radar experiment.66 By then, however, Carpenter already had published his discovery of the retrograde rotation of Venus.\n[51] His first announcement of the planet's retrograde motion appeared in a JPL internal report dated 1 May 1962 and was based on the 1961 Venus experiment. Carpenter suggested a retrograde rotational period of about 150 days, but backed off from insisting on his discovery. \"Unfortunately,\" Carpenter concluded, \"a definitive answer cannot be given for the rotation period of Venus based on the present data.\"67\nCarpenter hesitated until he had the results of the Goldstone 1962 Venus experiment. Between 1 October and 17 December 1962, when Venus was closest to Earth, Goldstone made nearly daily radar observations of the planet with a 13-kilowatt continuous-wave transmitter operating at 2388 MHz (12.6 cm). Equipped with a maser and a parametric amplifier, the system's total noise temperature was only 40 K, better than the 64 K achieved in 1961.68\nThe Goldstone radar was sufficiently powerful and sensitive that a large feature on the planet's surface showed up as an irregularity or \"detail\" on the power spectrum. The surface feature scattered back to the radar antenna more energy than the surrounding area. Normally, most spectral irregularities resulted from random fluctuations produced by noise. The power and sensitivity of the Goldstone radar made all the difference.\n\"On close examination,\" Carpenter wrote, \"one irregularity was found to persist from day to day and to change its position slowly....The relative permanence of the detail strongly suggests that it was caused by an actual physiographic feature on the surface of Venus and that its motion was the result of the planet's rotation. The true nature of the feature can only be guessed at; however, it is not unreasonable to assume that it is a particularly rough region of rather large extent.\"\n \nFigure 8. Lower portion of the spectra obtained by Roland Carpenter during the week prior to the 1962 conjunction of Venus. Note the persistent detail on the left side of each spectrum. Carpenter followed that detail to determine the retrograde motion of Venus. (Courtesy of Jet Propulsion Laboratory.)\n \n[52] Carpenter then followed the movement of this \"detail\" in order to deduce the planet's rotational period. He calculated that Venus had either a forward period of about 1200 days or a retrograde period of 230 days from one conjunction to the other. Next, he measured the bandwidth of the lower portion of the spectra; their widths were incompatible with a 1200-day forward rotation. The base bandwidth measurements, however, did \"strongly suggest that the sidereal rotation period of Venus is not synchronous, but rather 250 ± 40 days retrograde.\"69\nMillstone lacked the power and sensitivity of Goldstone. The discovery of Venus' retrograde motion at Lincoln Laboratory by William B. Smith relied instead on his computer and signal analyzing skills. Although Smith preceded Carpenter in announcing the retrograde motion of Venus in a publication, he did not achieve recognition as its discoverer.\nSmith looked at the spectral bandwidths of radar returns on 11 separate days between 2 April and 8 June 1961. Like Carpenter, he failed to verify a synchronous rotation; however, Smith came to realize that the way the signal bandwidth changed over time could be explained only by retrograde motion. He wrote up his findings and submitted them to his supervisor, Paul Green, for approval. Smith wanted to feature the planet's retrograde motion in his paper, but Green remembered an earlier episode, when \"we had been badly burned.\" That was the embarrassment of 1958.\nGreen hesitated. Uranus was the only planet then known to have a retrograde period, \"but that one is way the hell out, and who would have thought that the next planet to the Earth would have had that kind of anomalous behavior?\" Green admitted, \"I guess I was working more on psychological factors than on anything else. So I had Bill tone it down.\" The published article's abstract read: \"The (relatively weak) result implies a very slow or possibly retrograde rotation of the planet.\" The article itself contained no statement of the planet's retrograde motion.70\nThe watered down version made all the difference. Carpenter published his explicit and unequivocal results jointly with fellow JPL radar astronomer Dick Goldstein in the 8 March 1963 issue of Science, while the February 1963 issue of The Astronomical Journal carried Smith's suggestive abstract.71\nGreen regretted his decision. \"Bill Smith is the man who discovered that Venus has retrograde spin, and he should go down in the history books. Due to me he didn't, because his paper didn't feature it the way it should have. If I hadn't sat on it, it would have featured it, but as it came out, it didn't. The people that look at the fine print realize that he had that message, that that was what his data showed, but it didn't make the big splash and give him the career achievement that he deserved.\"72 Fellow Lincoln Laboratory radar astronomer Irwin Shapiro concurred: \"I felt he [Smith] got a raw deal, because he made a major discovery for which he never got credit.\"73\nThe detection of Venus, the measurement of the size of the astronomical unit, and the determination of the rotational period and direction of Venus formed the foundation on which planetary radar astronomy was laid. Planetary radar advanced by solving problems left unresolved or at best unsatisfactorily resolved by optical methods. Deliberately or not, the problems solved supported the NASA mission to explore the solar system. Driving the new scientific activity was the availability of a new generation of radars built for military defense (at Lincoln Laboratory) and for space exploration (at JPL). The limits of that technology shaped the paths of discovery.\n[53] Without technology and without funding, planetary radar astronomy was impossible. The emergence of planetary radar coincided with the creation of a national, civilian space agency, NASA, a national, civilian agency to fund scientific research, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and a national, military space research agency, ARPA. It also paralleled the rise of American radio astronomy and the age of the Big Dish. Standing at the intersection of civilian and military research into space, the ionosphere, the Moon, and the Sun, planetary radar offered much to potential patrons. It was a wonderful and unique time to organize a new scientific activity.\n \nNotes\n1. \"President's Report Issue,\" MIT Bulletin vol. 82, no. 1 (1946): 133-136; ibid., vol. 83, no. 1 (1947): 154-157; ibid., vol. 86, no. 1 (1950): 209; \"Government Supported Research at MIT: An Historical Survey Beginning with World War II: The Origins of the Instrumentation and Lincoln Laboratories,\" May, 1969, typed manuscript, pp. 15-19 & 30-31, MITA; George E. Valley, Jr., rough draft, untitled 4-page manuscript, 13 October 1953, 6/135/AC 4, and MIT Review Panel on Special Laboratories, \"Final Report,\" pp. 132-133, MITA. James R. Killian, Jr., The Education of a College President: A Memoir (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1985), pp. 71-76, recounts the founding of Lincoln Laboratory, too.\n2. Vandenberg to James R. Killian, Jr., 15 December 1950, 3/136/AC 4, MITA. A portion of the quote also appears in Killian, p. 71.\n3. Valley; \"Final Report,\" pp. 133-137; \"Government Supported,\" p. 33; C. L. Strong, Information Department, Western Electric Company, press release, 1 October 1953, 6/135/AC 4, MITA; Carl F. J. Overhage to Lt. Gen. Roscoe C. Wilson, 15 October 1959, and brochure, \"Haystack Family Day, 10 October 1964,\" 1/24/AC 134, MITA; F. W. Loomis to Killian, 17 April 1952, 4/135/AC 4, MITA; various documents in 2/136/AC 4 and 7/135/AC 4, MITA; Overhage, \"Reaching into Space with Radar,\" paper read at MIT Club of Rochester, 25 February 1960, pp. 6-7, LLLA. For a popular introduction to the DEW Line, see Richard Morenus, Dew Line: Distant Early Warning, The Miracle of America's First Line of Defense (New York: Rand McNally, 1957).\n4. Weiss 29/9/93; \"Final Report,\" pp. 136 & 138; Overhage, \"Reaching into Space,\" p. 2; Overhage to Wilson, 30 June 1961, 1/24/AC 134, MITA; Allen S. Richmond, \"Background Information on Millstone Hill Radar of MIT Lincoln Laboratory,\" 5 November 1958, typed manuscript, LLLA; Weiss, Space Radar Trackers and Radar Astronomy Systems, JA-1740-22 (Lexington: Lincoln Laboratory, June 1961), pp. 21-23, 29, 44 & 64; Price, \"The Venus Radar Experiment,\" in E. D. Johann, ed., Data Handling Seminar, Aachen, Germany, September 21, 1959 (London: Pergamon Press, 1960), p. 81; Price, P. Green, Thomas J. Goblick, Jr., Robert H. Kingston, Leon G. Kraft, Jr., Gordon H. Pettengill, Roland Silver, William B. Smith, \"Radar Echoes from Venus,\" Science 129 (1959): 753; \"Missile Radar Probes Arctic,\" Electronics 30 (1957): 19; Pettengill 28/9/93.\n5. William W. Ward, \"The NOMAC and Rake Systems,\" The Lincoln Laboratory Journal vol. 5, no. 3 (1992): 351-365; Green 20/9/93; Price 27/9/93. Green and Price acknowledged each other in their dissertations. Green, \"Correlation Detection using Stored Signals\" D.Sc. diss., MIT, 1953, and Price, \"Statistical Theory Applied to Communication through Multipath Disturbances,\" D.Sc. diss., MIT, 1953.\nA history of the subject, R. A. Scholtz, \"The Origins of Spread-Spectrum Communications,\" IEEE Transactions on Communications COM-30 (1982): 822-854, is reproduced in Marvin K. Simon, Jim K. Omura, Scholtz, and Barry K. Levitt, eds., Spread Spectrum Communications (Rockville, Md.: Computer Science Press, Inc., 1985), Volume 1, Chapter 2, \"The Historical Origins of Spread-Spectrum Communications,\" pp. 39-134. Price, \"Further Notes and Anecdotes on Spread-Spectrum Origins,\" IEEE Transactions on Communications COM-31 (January 1983): 85-97, provides an absorbing anecdotal sequel to Scholtz.\n6. Pawsey and Bracewell, Radio Astronomy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955); Green 20/9/93; Price 27/9/93.\n7. Green 20/9/93; Pettengill 28/9/93. For a description of the maser, see Kingston, A UHF Solid State Maser, Group Report M35-79 (Lexington: Lincoln Laboratory, 1957); and Kingston, A UHF Solid State Maser, Group Report M35-84A (Lexington: Lincoln Laboratory, 1958).\n8. J. V. Jelley, \"The Potentialities and Present Status of Masers and Parametric Amplifiers in Radio Astronomy,\" Proceedings of the IEEE 51 (1963): 31 & 36, esp. 30; J. W. Meyer, The Solid State Maser - Principles, Applications, and Potential, Technical Report ESD-TR-68-261 (Lexington: Lincoln Laboratory, 1960), pp. 14-16; Jelley, pp. 31 & 36; J. A. Giordmaine, L. E. Alsop, C. H. Mayer, and C. H. Townes, \"A Maser Amplifier for Radio Astronomy at X-band,\" Proceedings of the IRE 47 (1959): 1062-1070; Pettengill and Price, \"Radar Echoes from Venus and a New Determination of the Solar Parallax,\" Planetary and Space Science 5 (1961): 73. For Townes and the invention of the maser, see Paul Forman, \"Inventing the Maser in Postwar America,\" Osiris ser. 2, vol. 7 (1992): 105-134.\n9. Price, p. 70; Price et al, p. 751. Later, Price acknowledged the pioneering integration work of Zoltán Bay in 1946. Price, p. 73. Kerr, \"On the Possibility of Obtaining Radar Echoes from the Sun and Planets,\" Proceedings of the IRE 40 (1952): 660-666, specifically recommended long-period integration for radar observation of Venus.\n10. Smith graduated MIT in 1955 with a master's degree in electrical engineering and worked with Price and Green on the F9C in Davenport's group. Smith 29/9/93; Green 20/9/93; Price 27/9/93; Price, p. 72; Price et al, p. 751; Scholtz, p. 838; Weiss, Space Radar Trackers, pp. 53, 59, 61 & 63-64; \"Biographical data, MIT Lincoln Laboratory,\" 18 March 1959, LLLA.\n11. Price 27/9/93; Weiss, Space Radar Trackers, pp. 29 & 44; Price, pp. 71 & 76; Price et al, p. 751.\n12. Green 20/9/93; Gold 14/12/93; Price et al, pp. 751-753.\n13. Green 20/9/93; Price 27/9/93; Pettengill 28/9/93; Overhage to Wilson, 24 March 1959, 1/24/AC 134, MITA; \"Venus is Reached by Radar Signals,\" New York Times, vol. 108 (20 March 1959), pp. 1 & 11.\n14. For their calculation of the astronomical unit, see Pettengill and Price, \"Radar Echoes from Venus and a New Determination of the Solar Parallax,\" Planetary and Space Science 5 (1961): 71-74.\n15. Lovell, 11/1/94; Lovell, Jodrell Bank, passim, but especially pp. 220-222, 224, 242, 225. On the Foundation, see Ronald William Clark, A Biography of the Nuffield Foundation (London: Longman, 1972). Created in 1962, EOARDC was essentially a military operation headquartered in Brussels. It underwrote a wide range of European scientific research, though more money went into electronics research than any other field. Howard J. Lewis, \"How our Air Force Supports Basic Research in Europe,\" Science 131 (1960): 15-20. From August 1957, when Jodrell Bank began preliminary calibration measurements to August 1970, the telescope gathered results for 68,538 hours. Of those, 4,877 hours (7.1% of operational time) represented \"miscellaneous use.\" Of that \"miscellaneous use,\" 2,498 hours (3.6% of operational time) were directly concerned with the space programs of the United States and the Soviet Union. Lovell, Out of the Zenith: Jodrell Bank, 1957-1970 (New York: Harper & Row, 1973), p. 2.\n16. Evans 9/9/93.\n17. Evans 9/9/93; Jodrell Bank, Moon and Venus Radar Passive Satellite Observations: Technical (Final) Report, October 1958 - December 1960, AFCRL Report 1129 (Macclesfield: Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, 1961), p. 22; Evans and G. N. Taylor, \"Radio Echo Observations of Venus,\" Nature 184 (1959): 1358-1359; Lovell, Out of the Zenith, p. 193. The noise figure was 4.6 db. The frequency of the lunar radar was lowered from 120 MHz to 100 MHz, when it was found to interfere with operations at nearby Manchester Airport.\n18. Pettengill and Price, p. 73.\n19. Pettengill and Price, p. 73; Green and Pettengill, \"Exploring the Solar System by Radar,\" Sky and Telescope 20 (1960): 12-13; Jelley, pp. 30 & 35. During the 1959 Lincoln Laboratory Venus experiment, over 150 runs were made, yet no echoes as strong as those of 1958 were observed. Overall system noise temperature rose from 170 Kelvins in 1958 to 185 Kelvins with the parametric amplifier. For a discussion of parametric amplifiers, see Karl Heinz Locherer, Parametric Electronics: An Introduction (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1981), pp. 276-286.\n20. Green and Pettengill, p. 13.\n21. JPL, Research Summary No. 36-7, Volume 1, for the period December 1, 1960 to February 1, 1961 (Pasadena: JPL, 1961), pp. 68 & 70.\n22. \"Jet\" was a broader term than rocket and avoided any stigma still attached to that word. Clayton R. Koppes, JPL and the American Space Program: A History of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982), pp. ix, 4-5, 10-17, 20, 38, 45 & 65.\n23. Rechtin, telephone conversation with author, 13 September 1993; Stevens 14/9/93; Nicholas A. Renzetti, ed., A History of the Deep Space Network from Inception to January 1, 1969, vol. 1, Technical Report 32-1533 (Pasadena: JPL, 1 September 1971), pp. 6-7 & 11; William R. Corliss, A History of the Deep Space Network, CR-151915 (Washington: NASA, 1976), pp. 3-4 & 16; Craig B. Waff, \"The Road to the Deep Space Network,\" IEEE Spectrum (April 1993): 53; Scholtz, pp. 841-843; additional background material supplied from oral history collection, JPLA.\n24. Dish diameters have been expressed in meters only recently. Initially, they were measured in feet. For the sake of consistency, diameters are given in both feet and meters throughout the text. Victor, \"General System Description,\" p. 6 in Victor, Stevens, and Solomon W. Golomb, eds., Radar Exploration of Venus: Goldstone Observatory Report for March-May 1961, Technical Report No. 32-132 (Pasadena: JPL, 1961); Corliss, Deep Space Network, pp. 16-17 & 20-25.\n25. Victor, \"General System Description,\" in Victor, Stevens, and Golomb, p. 6; Corliss, Deep Space Network, pp. 25-27; Donald C. Elder, III, \"Out From Behind the Eight Ball: Echo I and the Emergence of the American Space Program, 1957-1960,\" Ph.D. diss., University of California at San Diego, 1989, passim. For a history of ARPA, see Richard J. Barber Associates, Inc., The Advanced Research Projects Agency, 1958-1974 (Washington, D.C.: National Technical Information Service, 1975). For the story of JPL and Project Echo, see Stevens and Victor, eds., The Goldstone Station Communications and Tracking System for Project Echo, Technical Report 32-59 (Pasadena: JPL, 1960); Victor and Stevens, \"The Role of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Project Echo,\" IRE Transactions on Space Electronics and Telemetry SET-7 (1961): 20-28.\n26. Golomb, \"The First Touch of Venus,\" paper presented at the Symposium Celebrating the Thirtieth Anniversary of Planetary Radar Astronomy, Pasadena, October 1991, Renzetti materials; Goldstein 7/4/93; Goldstein 14/9/93; Goldstein 19/9/91; Stevens 14/9/93; biographical material and JPL Press Release, 23 May 1961, 3-15, Historical File, JPLA.\n27. Rechtin, \"Informal Remarks on the Venus Radar Experiment,\" in Armin J. Deutsch and Wolfgang B. Klemperer, eds., Space Age Astronomy (New York: Academic Press, 1962), p. 365; Golomb, \"Introduction,\" in Victor, Stevens, and Golomb, pp. 1-2; Rechtin, telephone conversation, 13 September 1993; Goldstein 19/9/91.\n28. Golomb, \"Introduction,\" p. 1; JPL, Research Summary No. 36-7, p. 70; Rechtin, telephone conversation, 13 September 1993; Waff, \"A History of the Deep Space Network,\" manuscript furnished to author, ch. 6, pp. 22 & 24. Because the manuscript is not paginated sequentially, both chapter and page references are provided.\n29. Rechtin, p. 366; Victor, \"General System Description,\" pp. 6-7; Stevens and Victor, \"Summary and Conclusions,\" p. 95; Victor and Stevens, \"The 1961 JPL Venus Radar Experiment,\" IRE Transactions on Space Electronics and Telemetry SET-8 (1962): 85-90; Charles T. Stelzried, \"System Capability and Critical Components: System Temperature Results,\" in Victor, Stevens, and Golomb, pp. 28-29. For a general description of the radar system, see M. H. Brockman, Leonard R. Malling, and H. R. Buchanan, \"Venus Radar Experiment,\" in JPL, Research Summary No. 36-8, Volume 1, for the period February 1, 1961 to April 1, 1961 (Pasadena: JPL, 1961), pp. 65-73; Victor and Stevens, \"Exploration of Venus by Radar,\" Science 134 (1961): 46. The Jodrell Bank transmitter had a peak power of 50 kilowatts; Millstone's peak power was 265 kilowatts in 1958 and 500 kilowatts in 1959. However, comparing the peak power ratings of pulse and continuous-wave radars is the electronic equivalent of comparing apples and oranges. One must compare their average power outputs.\n30. Stevens and Victor, \"Summary and Conclusions,\" p. 95; Sato, \"System Capability and Critical Components: Maser Amplifier,\" in Victor, Stevens, and Golomb, p. 17; Stelzried, \"System Capability and Critical Components: System Temperature Results,\" pp. 28-29; H. R. Buchanan, \"System Capability and Critical Components: Parametric Amplifier,\" in Victor, Stevens, and Golomb, pp. 22-25; Walter H. Higa, A Maser System for Radar Astronomy, Technical Report 32-103 (Pasadena: JPL, 1961); Higa, \"A Maser System for Radar Astronomy,\" in K. Endresen, Low Noise Electronics (New York: Pergamon Press, 1962), pp. 296-304.\n31. Muhleman 8/4/93; Muhleman 19/5/94; Muhleman 27/5/94; Goldstein 19/9/91; Stevens 14/9/93; Golomb, \"Introduction,\" p. 3; Stevens, \"Additional Experiments: Resume,\" in Victor, Stevens, and Golomb, p. 70. Muhleman's dissertation was \"Radar Investigations of Venus,\" Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1963.\n32. Goldstein 7/4/93; Goldstein 19/9/91; Goldstein 14/9/93.\n33. JPL Press Release, 23 May 1961, 3-15, Historical File, JPLA; Malling and Golomb, \"Radar Measurements of the Planet Venus,\" Journal of the British Institution of Radio Engineers 22 (1961): 298; Victor and Stevens, \"The 1961 JPL Venus Radar Experiment,\" IRE Transactions on Space Electronics and Telemetry SET-8 (1962): 90-91. Goldstein's dissertation was \"Radar Exploration of Venus,\" Ph.D. diss., California Institute of Technology, 1962.\n34. 3-15, Historical File, JPLA.\n35. Victor and Stevens, \"1961 JPL Venus Radar Experiment,\" p. 91.\n36. Pettengill, Briscoe, Evans, Gehrels, Hyde, Kraft, Price, and Smith, \"A Radar Investigation of Venus,\" The Astronomical Journal 67 (1962): 186.\n37. Green 20/9/93.\n38. Price 27/9/93.\n39. Smith 29/9/93; Smith, \"Radar Observations of Venus, 1961 and 1959,\" The Astronomical Journal 68 (1963): 17; Pettengill et al, \"A Radar Investigation of Venus,\" p. 183.\n40. Rechtin, p. 367; Victor, \"General System Description,\" p. 7; Victor and Stevens, \"1961 JPL Venus Radar Experiment,\" p. 88; Victor and Stevens, \"Exploration of Venus by Radar,\" p. 46.\n41. Lovell, Out of the Zenith, pp. 192 & 195; Evans 9/9/93; Green 20/9/93; Smith 29/9/93; Pettengill 28/9/93.\n42. The Staff, Millstone Radar Observatory, Lincoln Laboratory, \"The Scale of the Solar System,\" Nature 190 (1961): 592; Pettengill et al, \"A Radar Investigation of Venus,\" pp. 182-183; Pettengill and Price, p. 73; Pettengill, \"Radar Measurements of Venus,\" in Wolfgang Priester, ed., Space Research III, Proceedings of the Third International Space Science Symposium (New York: Interscience Publishers Division, John Wiley and Sons, 1963), p. 874; Overhage to Wilson, 22 May 1961, 1/24/AC 134, MITA.\n43. Ponsonby 11/1/94; I. C. Browne and T. R. Kaiser, \"The Radio Echo from the Head of Meteor Trails,\" Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics 4 (1953): 1-4.\n44. Evans 9/9/93; Lovell, Out of the Zenith, pp. 198-199; Thomson, Ponsonby, Taylor, and Roger, \"A New Determination of the Solar Parallax by Means of Radar Echoes from Venus,\" Nature 190 (1961): 519-520. The Jodrell Bank experiment was funded by Air Force contract no. AF61(052)-172. John Evans, then of Lincoln Laboratory, privately had communicated the laboratory's results to Thomson at Jodrell Bank.\n45. I have calculated this value from the information provided in Thomson, Ponsonby, Taylor, and Roger, pp. 519-520. While the authors concern themselves with the solar parallax, they also provide a figure for the light-time of the astronomical unit, 499,011 ±0.017 seconds, which represents the time taken by radar waves to travel the distance of one astronomical unit, and another for the speed of light, 299,792.5 kilometers per second, which is the same as the speed of electromagnetic waves. By multiplying the two figures, I obtained a product of 149,599,750 kilometers.\nThe first published value of the astronomical unit I have found was in the comments given by Thomson following a presentation by Malling and Golomb at a convention in Oxford that took place 5-8 July 1961. The date of publication was October 1961. Malling and Golomb, p. 302.\n46. W. O. Mehuron, \"Passive Radar Measurements at C-Band using the Sun as a Noise Source,\" The Microwave Journal 5 (April, 1962): 87-94; David K. Barton, \"The Future of Pulse Radar for Missile and Space Range Instrumentation,\" IRE Transactions on Military Electronics MIL-5, no. 4 (October, 1961): 330-351; Irving Maron, George Luchak, and William Blitzstein, \"Radar Observation of Venus,\" Science 134 (1961): 1419-1420.\n47. B. I. Kuznetsov and I. V. Lishin, \"Radar Investigations of the Solar System Planets,\" in Air Force Systems Command, Radio Seventy Years (Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Air Force Systems Command, 1967), pp. 187-188, 190 & 201; Vladimir A. Kotelnikov, \"Radar Contact with Venus,\" Journal of the British Institution of Radio Engineers 22 (1961): 293; Kotelnikov, L. V. Apraksin, V. O. Voytov, M. G. Golubtsov, V. M. Dubrovin, N. M. Zaytsev, E. B. Korenberg, V. P. Minashin, V. A. Morozov, N. I. Nikitskiy, G. M. Petrov, O. N. Rzhiga, and A. M. Shakhovskoy, \"Radar System Employed during Radar Contact with Venus in 1961,\" Radio Engineering and Electronic Physics 11 (1962): 1715-1716. For a brief history of the IREE, see Y. V. Gulyaev, \"40 Years of the Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics of Russian Academy of Sciences,\" Radiotekhnika Elektronika vol. 38, no. 10 (October 1993): 1729-1733. Soviet investigators performed radar studies of meteors in 1946 and of the Moon in 1954-1957, according to A. E. Solomonovich, \"The First Steps of Soviet Radio Astronomy,\" pp. 284-285 in Sullivan. Although radar astronomers recently have used the arrayed dishes of the Very Large Array in bistatic experiments, dish arrays have not been used as transmitting antennas.\n48. Kotelnikov et al, \"Radar System,\" pp. 1715 & 1721; Kotelnikov, \"Radar Contact,\" p. 294; Malling and Golomb, p. 300; Kotelnikov, \"Radar Observations of the Planet Venus in the Soviet Union in April, 1961,\" typed manuscript, 27 February 1963, anonymous translation of a technical report of the Soviet Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, DTIC report number AD-401137, pp. 41-42, Renzetti materials. The Soviet publication venue and aberrant astronomical unit value raise serious doubts about the veracity of their announcement.\n49. Kotelnikov et al, \"Radar System,\" p. 1721; Kuznetsov and Lishin, p. 188; Kotelnikov, \"Radar Observations,\" p. 2; Kotelnikov, Dubrovin, Morozov, Petrov, Rzhiga, Z. G. Trunova, and Shakhovoskoy, \"Results of Radar Contact with Venus in 1961,\" Radio Engineering and Electronics Physics 11 (1962): 1722 & 1725. For a discussion of the integration technique, see V. I. Bunimovich and Morozov, \"Small-Signal Reception by the Method of Binary Integration,\" ibid., pp. 1734-1740.\n50. Jean Kovalevsky, ed., The System of Astronomical Constants (Paris: Gauthier-Villars & Cie., 1965), p. 1; Walter Fricke, \"Arguments in Favor of the Revision of the Conventional System of Astronomical Constants,\" in J. C. Pecker, ed., Proceedings of the Twelfth General Assembly (New York: Academic Press, 1966), p. 604.\n51. Spencer Jones, \"The Solar Parallax and the Mass of the Moon from Observations of Eros at the Opposition of 1931,\" Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society 66 (1938-1941): 11-66; Rabe, \"Derivation of Fundamental Astronomical Constants from the Observations of Eros during 1926-1945,\" The Astronomical Journal 55 (1950): 112-126; Fricke, \"Inaugural Address Delivered at the IAU-Symposium No. 21,\" in Kovalevsky, pp. 12-13.\n52. Fricke, \"Inaugural Address,\" p. 13; James B. McGuire, Eugene R. Spangler, and Lem Wong, \"The Size of the Solar System,\" Scientific American vol. 204, no. 4 (1961): 64-72. The value given in the article is 92,925,100 ±8,500 miles, which I have converted into kilometers for consistency.\n53. Rechtin, p. 368; Muhleman, D. Holdridge, and N. Block, \"Determination of the Astronomical Unit from Velocity, Range and Integrated Velocity Data, and the Venus-Earth Ephemeris,\" in Victor, Stevens, and Golomb, pp. 83-92. Kovalevsky, p. 1, provides a list of their names.\n54. Muhleman 8/4/93; Muhleman 19/5/94; Shapiro 30/9/93; Evans 9/9/93.\n55. Kovalevsky, p. 3; Fricke, \"Inaugural Address,\" pp. 12-13; Fricke, \"Arguments in Favor of the Revision of the Conventional System of Astronomical Constants,\" in Pecker, p. 606; Marsden, \"An Attempt to Reconcile the Dynamical and Radar Determinations of the Astronomical Unit,\" in Kovalevsky, pp. 225-236; Rabe, \"On the compatibility of the Recent Solar Parallax Results from radar Echoes of Venus with the Motion of Eros,\" in Kovalevsky, pp. 219-223.\n56. Shapiro, \"Radar Determination of the Astronomical Unit,\" in Kovalevsky, pp. 177-215, and Muhleman, \"Relationship between the System of Astronomical Constants and the Radar Determinations of the Astronomical Unit,\" in ibid., pp. 153-175; Kovalevsky, pp. 298 & 311.\n57. Kovalevsky, pp. 314 & 323; \"Joint Discussion on the Report of the Working Group on the IAU System of Astronomical Constants,\" in Pecker, p. 600.\n58. \"Joint Discussion,\" pp. 591, 599 & 602-603; Shapiro, \"Radar Determinations,\" in Pecker, pp. 615-623.\n59. \"Joint Discussion,\" p. 606.\n60. Ibid., p. 606; \"Report to the Executive Committee of the Working Group on the System of Astronomical Constants,\" in Pecker, p. 594.\n61. Renzetti 17/4/92; Renzetti, A History, pp. 20 & 31; Renzetti, Tracking and Data Acquisition Support for the Mariner Venus 1962 Mission, Technical Memorandum 33-212 (Pasadena: JPL, 1 July 1965), pp. 9, 17 & 75-76.\n62. RCA did not hesitate a guess on the rotation rate or direction. Maron, Luchak, and Blitzstein, pp. 1419-1421.\n63. Evans and Taylor, p. 1359; Ponsonby, Thomson, and Imrie, \"Radar Observations of Venus and a Determination of the Astronomical Unit,\" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 128 (1964): 14-16.\n64. Kuznetsov and Lishin, pp. 199-201; Kotelnikov, \"Radar Contact with Venus,\" Journal of the British Institution of Radio Engineers 22 (1961): 295; Kotelnikov et al, \"Results of Radar Contact,\" p. 1732; Kotelnikov, Dubrovin, M. D. Kislik, Korenberg, Minashin, Morozov, Nikitskiy, Petrov, Rzhiga, and Shakhovskoy, \"Radar Observations of the Planet Venus,\" Soviet Physics - Doklady 7 (1963): 728-731; Kotelnikov, Dubrovin, V. A. Dubinskii, Kislik, Kusnetsov, Lishin, Morozov, Petrov, Rzhiga, G. A. Sytsko, and Shakhovskoy, \"Radar Observations of Venus in the Soviet Union in 1962,\" Soviet Physics -Doklady 8 (1964): 644; Smith, p. 15. Rzhiga, \"Radar Observations of Venus in the Soviet Union in 1962,\" in M. Florkin and A. Dollfus, eds. Life Sciences and Space Research II (New York: Interscience Publishers, 1964), pp. 178-189, states 300 days but still misses the retrograde motion.\n65. Pettengill et al, \"A Radar Investigation of Venus,\" pp. 189-190; Pettengill, \"Radar Measurement of Venus,\" in Priester, pp. 880-883. The range given was between 115 to 500 days, that is, 225 (+275, -110) days. The first JPL external announcement of that finding was made in a paper read by Solomon Golomb and Leonard R. Malling at a convention on radio techniques and space research held at Oxford in July 1961. Malling and Golomb, pp. 297-303. The paper was not published until October 1961 and was preceded in print by the internal report, Victor and Stevens, \"Summary and Conclusions,\" pp. 94-95. See also Victor and Stevens, \"Exploration of Venus by Radar,\" pp. 46-47; Muhleman, \"Early Results of the 1961 JPL Venus Radar Experiment,\" The Astronomical Journal 66 (1961): 292; Victor and Stevens, \"The 1961 JPL Venus Radar Experiment,\" p. 94.\n66. Carpenter, telephone conversation, 14 September 1993.\n67. Carpenter, \"An Analysis of the Narrow-Band Spectra of Venus,\" in JPL Research Summary No. 36-14 for the Period February 1, 1962 to April 1, 1962 (Pasadena: JPL, 1 May 1962), pp. 56-59.\n68. Carpenter, telephone conversation, 14 September 1993; Goldstein and Carpenter, \"Rotation of Venus: Period Estimated from Radar Measurements,\" Science 139 (1963): 910; Carpenter, \"Study of Venus by CW Radar,\" The Astronomical Journal 69 (1964): 2. Details of the 1962 JPL Venus radar experiment are given in Goldstein, Stevens, and Victor, eds., Radar Exploration of Venus: Goldstone Observatory Report for October-December 1962, Technical Report 32-396 (Pasadena: JPL, 1 March 1965).\n69. Carpenter, \"Study of Venus by CW Radar,\" pp. 4-6; Carpenter, telephone conversation, 14 September 1993.\n70. Green 20/9/93; Smith 29/9/93; Smith, pp. 15-21.\n71. Goldstein and Carpenter, pp. 910-911; Smith, pp. 15-21. Internal evidence indicates that Science received the paper on 15 January 1963.\n72. Green 20/9/93.",
"Important days in history of universe - CNN.com\nImportant days in history of universe ... an object so bright it could be seen in the ... (for the second time) German astronomer Johann Galle first ...\nImportant days in history of universe - CNN.com\nImportant days in history of universe\nStory Highlights\nTen days of remarkable discoveries about the universe\nIn 1992 \"dark energy\" determined to keep universe flat\nMay 13,1965 was the day scientist heard the \"Big Bang\"\nNeptune \"officially\" discovered in 1846\nBy Lawrence M. Krauss\n(Mental Floss) -- 1. July 4, 1054 -- Day the sky Got brighter\nThis 2005 NASA's Hubble Space Telescope image of Crab Nebula shows the remnant of star's supernova explosion.\nJuly 4th was a significant day long before America started celebrating it. It also marks the first time on record that a new object appeared in the constellation Taurus -- an object so bright it could be seen in the daytime sky.\nNot surprisingly, people around the world couldn't help but take notice. Chinese astronomers labeled it a \"guest star\" and noted that, at night, it shone almost four times brighter than Venus. They soon began speculating that its appearance heralded the Emperor at the time, Jen Tsung.\nMeanwhile, on the other side of the globe, the Anasazi Indians of western North America may also have noticed the star. Archeologists believe images carved into Arizona rocks from that era depict the same mysterious phenomenon.\nBut one group of people left no record of having witnessed the \"guest star\" -- the Europeans. It's speculated they considered it heretical to suggest that anything in the night sky was not eternal.\nThe Chinese astronomers were right about the object being a star. More specifically, however, it was a star in the process of exploding, otherwise known as a supernova. When stars burst, they are momentarily as bright as a billion stars, so even though the phenomenon had occurred so far away from Earth, its brightness was still immense.\nNow known as the Crab Nebula, this supernova remnant is hardly a distant memory. Today, it consists of an expanding shell of gas that's 10 light years across and is moving outward at about 700 miles per second. At its center is a dense remnant called a neutron star, which is about the size of Manhattan in radius and rotates roughly 30 times per second.\nAs a result, the Crab Nebula sends out pulses of radiation that reach the Earth at that same rate. Scientists wondered about the source of this mysterious pulsing when it was first detected in 1968, but they quickly pinned it on the ancient Crab and not, say, alien civilizations trying to contact us.\nDon't Miss\nMental Floss: 5 ways radioactivity lights up your life\nMental Floss: World's best and worst memories\nMental Floss: Memorable moments from TV debates\nMental Floss: Gore, Moore and other divinity school dropouts\nMental Floss: Dictators with infamous sweet tooths\n2. November 11, 1572 -- Day that launched Tycho Brahe's career\nIt's safe to say that Danish nobleman and amateur astronomer Tycho Brahe was familiar with the night sky. So it's no small deal that, on this date, he noticed \"a new and unusual star, surpassing the other stars in brilliancy ... shining almost directly above [his] head.\"\nWhat Brahe was observing was a supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia, about 10,000 light years from Earth. Brahe's discovery catapulted him to astronomy fame. King Frederick II of Denmark was so impressed that he donated the entire island of Hven to Brahe, in order for Brahe to build an observatory.\nThere, using carefully calibrated instruments (telescopes had yet to be invented), Brahe spent years observing the positions of the planets in the sky. Eventually, however, Brahe lost his privileged position on Hven and had to move to Prague when a new king took the throne. (Brahe spent so much time with his head in the skies that he ended up being a crummy feudal lord, and his peasants were vocally unhappy.)\nHis legacy hasn't suffered, though. Brahe's data provided the groundwork for the research of his assistant, Johannes Kepler, who used it to formulate his famous three laws of planetary motion -- which, in turn, allowed Isaac Newton to derive his Universal Law of Gravity.\nWe should consider ourselves lucky for that new arrival in the sky on November 11, 1572. If it hadn't shown up, Brahe might have gotten bored and switched hobbies.\n3. March 12, 1610: Day Galileo revealed all his secrets\nMarch 12, 1610, marks the date that Galileo Galilei published his famous book, The Starry Messenger, in which he recounted the discoveries he'd made with his newly built telescope. (He hadn't built the first one, but he did significantly improve on the original.)\nAmong the book's most notable revelations: The discovery of Jupiter's four largest satellites, which provided evidence that not all objects in the heavens orbited the Earth. Because of this, Galileo's book later proved to be one of Newton's best friends.\nGalileo's data allowed Newton to confirm that Kepler's laws of planetary motion also applied to the moons orbiting Jupiter, thus demonstrating that the force that produced these orbits was the same force that kept the planets orbiting the Sun and the Moon orbiting the Earth. In other words, it put Newton's Universal Law of Gravity on firm empirical footing.\n4. September 23, 1846 --Day Neptune was discovered (for the second time)\nGerman astronomer Johann Galle first observed the planet Neptune on this September evening. That might not sound too remarkable, but it was the first time an object in the solar system had been discovered using the law of gravity.\nYears earlier, astronomers noticed that Uranus had an irregular orbit and hypothesized that a new planet was causing Uranus to veer off its otherwise expected path.\nUsing predictions from other astronomers regarding where the orbit would hit its \"roadblock,\" and thus where the planet was positioned, British astronomer James Challis beat Galle to the punch, discovering Neptune in August of 1846.\nThe problem? Challis' sky charts were so shoddy that he didn't realize what he was looking at. So when Galle began his search a month later (using a better star chart), he found Neptune within one degree of its predicted position. By the next evening, the object had moved, confirming that it was indeed a planet, not a star.\nIt was fortunate that both Challis and Galle observed the planet when they did, because within 30 years, Neptune was far away from where the original calculations had placed it.\nOf course, today we can accurately predict where Neptune will be. Five years from now, on August 10, 2011, the planet will have finally returned to the position at which it was first discovered, having made a complete revolution around the Sun.\n5. October 27, 1859 -- Day we discovered we were just like everything else\nEver since Isaac Newton first used a prism to separate sunlight into its various colors, scientists have studied the nature of the solar spectrum.\nIn 1814, for example, German optician Josef von Fraunhofer observed mysterious dark lines interrupting the otherwise continuous spectrum of light from the Sun.\nA few decades later, German physicist Gustav Kirchoff and chemist Robert Bunsen (of Bunsen burner fame) demonstrated that metals heated up in the laboratory produce their own unique light spectra when burned, meaning that the lines von Fraunhofer had observed were evidence of the same earthy substances burning up in the sun.\nIn other words, the Earth is made up of the same stuff as the rest of the universe.\nKirchoff and Bunsen announced their revolutionary findings on October 27, 1859. Soon after, in 1868, Sir Norman Lockyer added fuel to the fire when he observed strong yellow lines in the solar spectrum that hadn't been seen before and attributed them to a new element called \"helium.\"\nThus, a study of the stars not only demonstrated that the elements that make up the Earth and the stars are the same, but it led to the discovery of elements that would later be discovered to exist on Earth.\n6. December 30, 1924 -- Day we expanded our universe\nWhen the Hooker Telescope was installed at the Mt. Wilson Observatory in California's San Gabriel Mountains in 1917, it set the stage for astronomer Edwin Hubble to make two monumental discoveries.\nThe first, put technically, related to his measurements of two Cepheids in a distant nebula. More simply, Cepheids are a type of star that were used to calculate the distances between objects in space (based on how bright the star was and how its brightness varied over time).\nSo when Hubble discovered two Cepheids in one particular far-away nebula, he was able to measure the nebula's placement as being outside the Milky Way (in what we now know as the Andromeda galaxy).\nUp to that point, astronomers only knew about one galaxy in the universe -- our own. Thanks to Hubble, we now know that there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe.\nAfter announcing his discovery at the end of 1924, Hubble kept observing Cepheids in other galaxies, and five years later, they yielded a second stunning discovery: Galaxies are, on average, moving away from us. What's more, their speed is proportional to their distance.\nIn short, Hubble had discovered that the universe is expanding, a fact that verified earlier theories that the universe started with a Big Bang.\nSince Hubble's discovery more than 80 years ago, both the expansion of the universe and the existence of a Big Bang have become well-established facets of observational cosmology.\nScientists have tweaked Hubble's observations a bit, though. For instance, he got the universe's expansion rate wrong by almost a factor of 10. His initial results suggested the universe was less than 2 billion years old; we now know it's about 14 billion years old.\n7. May 13, 1965 -- Day we \"heard\" the Big Bang\nBy the second half of the 20th century, the Big Bang concept was alive and well, but it got a considerable boost in 1965, when two young radio astronomers stumbled across its afterglow.\nIn that year, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, of Bell Laboratories, discovered a source of irremovable static in a sensitive microwave antenna in Holmdel, New Jersey. Try as they might to get rid of possible sources of the noise -- and going so far as to scrape off the droppings from a nearby set of roosting pigeons -- it persisted from season to season.\nMeanwhile, Robert Dicke and David Wilkinson at nearby Princeton University were haplessly trying to build an antenna to detect this very noise.\nFinally, the four minds met, and Dicke and his group told an astonished Penzias and Wilson what the noise was: the microwave background of radiation that exists as a remnant of the Big Bang.\nOn May 13, Penzias and Wilson submitted their findings to the Astrophysical Journal and, though they didn't speculate much about the source of the noise in their paper, they were awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery 13 years later.\nSince then, the Cosmic Microwave Background, as it has become known, has been measured with great precision. In fact, you've probably observed it -- albeit unwittingly. The static \"snow\" that used to show up on TV screens after stations went off the air in the pre-cable era was made up of microwave background photons, some of which had their origin in the Big Bang.\n8. February 23, 1987 -- Day we gave radiation a second glance\nOn the early morning of February 24, 1987, astronomer Ian Shelton was tooling about at the Las Campanas observatory in Chile when he noticed something strange in an image he'd taken of the Large Magellanic Cloud. He went outside and looked up, and there it was -- the brightest observable supernova since the one Kepler had witnessed in 1604.\nThis alone would not have made the date especially significant. However, later that week, two large underground particle detectors analyzed data from the sky and discovered that on February 23, there were 19 different spikes of energy, all within the same 10-second interval.\nThis meant that the particles in the detector had been bombarded with other, more ephemeral particles called neutrinos, which had zoomed through the detector after being spat out by the supernova.\nIt had long been predicted that when a star exploded, the vast majority of its radiation was emitted in the form of neutrinos, instead of light. But Shelton's discovery alerted scientists to look for this signal in their data.\nAs a result, astronomers began to study neutrinos more closely, learning a tremendous amount about astrophysical systems such as supernovae and our own Sun, as well as studying the properties of neutrinos themselves.\n9. April 23, 1992 -- Day history of the universe was revealed\nAfter the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in 1965 [see entry No. 7], astronomers set about trying to map it. The hope was to find out more about the nature of the universe at the time the radiation was emitted, which was just 300,000 years after the Big Bang.\nEnter the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, which launched in 1989. By 1992, the COBE collaboration announced it had discovered small, odd variations in the temperature of the CMB, which averages just a few degrees above absolute zero. The early universe, it turned out, was lumpy. Its highest-density areas eventually collapsed to form the universe's large-scale structures, such as galaxies and clusters of galaxies.\nSince the COBE's discoveries, many other experiments have observed these fluctuations in finer detail, and the results have been remarkable.\nFrom these observations, we now know that the universe is flat, that more than 90 percent of matter in the universe is \"dark\" (it's not visible to telescopes because it doesn't emit light), and that -- apparently -- those temperature differences in density go back a long, long way.\nIn fact, they were probably produced by quantum mechanical effects when the universe was less than one millionth of one billionth of a second old.\n10. January 8, 1998 -- Day facts of matter were turned upside down\nHaving discovered decades earlier that the universe was expanding, the next question for astronomers became: how fast?\nTwo groups of astronomers -- one from the United States and one from Australia -- looked to a certain type of supernova for the answer.\nThe first group announced their findings on January 8, 1998, revealing that the universe was expanding at an increasingly fast pace. That wasn't the answer scientists were expecting. Most astronomers had assumed the dominant source of energy in the universe was either matter or radiation, meaning the universe's expansion rate would have been decreasing, not increasing.\nThe only explanation for the pedal-to-the-metal state of affairs these two teams uncovered in 1998 seems to be that the dominant energy source in the universe resided somewhere else -- namely, in empty space. This \"dark energy,\" as it has become known, is the reason the universe has enough energy today to be flat, and that's just about everything scientists know about it.\nWe therefore find ourselves living in a universe where the dominant source of matter is invisible to telescopes and the dominant source of energy is thus far totally unexplained -- a universe stranger than we ever imagined. E-mail to a friend\nFor more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com\nEntire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved.",
"radio telescope - Important radio telescopes - britannica.com\n... operated by the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories at ... The first radio astronomy satellite was ... then enter the article name or term you'd like ...\nradio telescope - Important radio telescopes | astronomical instrument | Britannica.com\nImportant radio telescopes\nphysical science\nFilled-aperture telescopes\nThe largest single radio telescope in the world is the 305-metre (1,000-foot) fixed spherical reflector operated by Cornell University at the Arecibo Observatory near Arecibo , Puerto Rico . The antenna has an enormous collecting area, but the beam can be moved through only a limited angle of about 20° from the zenith . It is used for planetary radar astronomy, as well as for studying pulsars and other galactic and extragalactic phenomena.\nThe 305-metre (1,000-foot) radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory near Arecibo, P.R.\n© Israel Pabon/Shutterstock.com\nAn even larger telescope, the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), located in a natural depression in Guizhou province in China, was completed in 2016. FAST was designed to observe objects within 40° from the zenith.\nThe Russian RATAN-600 telescope (RATAN stands for Radio Astronomical Telescope of the Academy of Sciences), located near Zelenchukskaya in the Caucasus Mountains , has 895 reflecting panels, each 7.4 metres (24.3 feet) high, arranged in a ring 576 metres (1,890 feet) in diameter. Using long parabolic cylinders, standing reflectors, or dipole elements, researchers in Australia, France , India , Italy , Russia , and Ukraine have also built antennas with very large collecting areas.\nThe largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world is the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) located in Green Bank, W.Va. This 110-by-100-metre (360-by-330-foot) off-axis radio telescope was completed in 2000 and operates at wavelengths as short as a few millimetres. The moving structure, which weighs 7.3 million kg (16 million pounds), points to any direction in the sky with an accuracy of only a few arc seconds. The secondary reflector is held by an off-axis support structure to minimize radiation from the ground and unwanted reflections from support legs. Each of the 2,004 surface panels that make up the parabolic surface is held in place by computer-controlled actuators that keep the surface accurate to a few tenths of a millimetre. The GBT is located in the National Radio Quiet Zone , which offers unique protection for radio telescopes from local sources of man-made interference.\nThe Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope located in Green Bank, W.Va.\nNational Radio Astronomy Observatory\nseeing\nOther large, fully steerable, filled-aperture radio telescopes include the Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie 100-metre- (330-foot-) diameter antenna near Effelsberg, Ger.; the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) 64-metre (210-foot) dish near Parkes ; and the 76-metre (250-foot) Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in England . These filled-aperture radio telescopes are used for atomic and molecular spectroscopy over a wide range of frequency and for other galactic and extragalactic studies.\nThe 100-metre (330-foot) radio telescope at Effelsberg, near Bonn, Ger.\nMax Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy\nSeveral smaller, more precise radio telescopes for observing at millimetre wavelength have been installed high atop mountains or other high elevations, where clear skies and high altitudes minimize absorption and distortion of the incoming signals by the terrestrial atmosphere. A 45-metre (148-foot) radio dish near Nobeyama, Japan, is used for observations at wavelengths as short as 3 mm (0.12 inch). The French-Spanish Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimetrique ( IRAM) in Grenoble, France, operates a 30-metre (100-foot) antenna at an altitude of 2,850 metres (9,350 feet) on Pico Veleta in the Spanish Sierra Nevada for observations at wavelengths as short as 1 mm (0.04 inch). Several radio telescopes that operate at submillimetre wavelengths are located near the summit of Mauna Kea , Hawaii, at elevations above 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) and on Mount Graham near Tucson, Ariz. The largest of these, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory , has a diameter of 15 metres (49 feet).\nThe James Clerk Maxwell Telescope located near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii.\nNational Radio Astronomy Observatory\nTelescopes: Fact or Fiction?\nThe world’s most powerful radio telescope, in its combination of sensitivity, resolution, and versatility, is the Very Large Array (VLA) located on the plains of San Agustin near Socorro , in central New Mexico, U.S. The VLA consists of 27 parabolic antennas, each measuring 25 metres (82 feet) in diameter. The total collecting area is equivalent to a single 130-metre (430-foot) antenna. However, the angular resolution is equivalent to a single antenna 36 km (22 miles) in diameter. Each element of the VLA can be moved by a transporter along a Y-shaped railroad track; it is possible to change the length of the arms between 600 metres (2,000 feet) and 21 km (13 miles) to vary the resolution. Each antenna is equipped with receivers that operate in eight different wavelength bands from approximately 7 mm (0.3 inch) to 4 metres (13 feet). When used at the shorter wavelength in the largest antenna configuration, the angular resolution of the VLA is better than one-tenth of an arc second, or about the same as the Hubble Space Telescope at optical wavelengths. The VLA is operated by the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory as a facility of the National Science Foundation and is used by nearly 1,500 astronomers each year for a wide variety of research programs devoted to the study of the solar system , the Milky Way Galaxy , radio stars , pulsars , atomic and molecular gas in the Milky Way Galaxy and in other galaxies , radio galaxies, quasars , and the radio afterglow of gamma-ray bursts .\nThe Very Large Array (VLA) near Socorro, N.M.\nNational Radio Astronomy Observatory/Associated Universities, Inc./Dave Finley\nThe Crab Nebula as seen in a radio image taken with the Very Large Array (VLA).\nVLA/NRAO\nDinosaur Eggs May Have Taken Six Months or More to Hatch\nIn Europe the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy operates the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, which is an east-west array of 14 antennas, each 25 metres (82 feet) in diameter and extending over 2.7 km (1.7 miles). In Australia the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization maintains the six-element Australian Telescope Compact Array at Narrabri, N.S.W., for studies of the southern skies, including in particular the nearby Magellanic Clouds .\nIndian radio astronomers built the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), located near Pune , India. The GMRT contains 30 antennas extending some 25 km (16 miles) in diameter. Each antenna element is 45 metres (148 feet) in diameter and is constructed using a novel, inexpensive system of wire trusses to replace the conventional steel beam backup structure of the parabolic surface. The GMRT operates at relatively long wavelengths between 20 cm (8 inches) and 6 metres (20 feet).\nConnect with Britannica\nFacebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest\nThe Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN), operated by the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories at Jodrell Bank, is being upgraded to use fibre-optic, instead of microwave radio, links to connect seven antennas separated by up to 217 km (135 miles) in the southern part of England. It is used primarily to study compact radio sources associated with quasars, AGN, and cosmic masers with a resolution of a few hundredths of an arc second.\nKnockin Radio Telescope, one of the telescopes in the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer …\nOosoom\nThe Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) consists of ten 25-metre (82-foot) dishes spread across the United States from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii. The VLBA operates at wavelengths from 3 mm (0.1 inch) to 1 metre (3 feet) and is used to study quasars, galactic nuclei, cosmic masers, pulsars, and radio stars with a resolution as good as 0.0001 arc second, or more than 100 times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. The 10 individual antenna elements of the VLBA do not have any direct connection; instead, signals are recorded on high-density computer disk drives that are then shipped to a special processing centre in New Mexico where they are replayed and the signals analyzed to form images. Precise timing between the elements is maintained by a hydrogen maser atomic clock located at each antenna site. The control and analysis centre for the VLBA is located in central New Mexico along with the VLA Operations centre, and the two instruments are sometimes used together to obtain increased sensitivity and angular resolution.\nIn 1997 Japanese radio astronomers working at the Institute for Space Science near Tokyo launched an 8-metre (26-foot) dish, known as the VLBI Space Observatory Program (VSOP), in Earth orbit. Working with the VLBA and other ground-based radio telescopes, VSOP gave interferometer baselines up to 33,000 km (21,000 miles). (VSOP was also known as the Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communication and Astronomy [HALCA].) In 2003 the VSOP lost its ability to point accurately, and the program ended.\nBritannica Lists & Quizzes\nEditor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies\nInterferometers and arrays are also used at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths, where they are used to study the formation of stars and galaxies with resolution better than can be obtained with simple filled-aperture antennas. The operation of arrays at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths is very difficult and requires that the instrument be at very high and dry locations to minimize the phase distortions of signals as they propagate through the atmosphere. Some prominent millimetre interferometers and arrays are the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) near Big Pine, Calif., the IRAM Plateau de Bure facility in France, and the Japanese Nobeyama Radio Observatory. In 2003 the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , in collaboration with the Academia Sinica of Taiwan, completed the Submillimeter Array (SMA), located near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii , at an elevation of 4,080 metres (13,385 feet). This is an eight-element array of 6-metre (20-foot) dishes designed to work at wavelengths as short as 0.3 mm (0.01 inch). A major new international facility—under construction by the United States, Canada , Europe, and Japan in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile , at an elevation of more than 5,000 metres (16,000 feet)—is expected to be completed by 2012. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is planned to consist of fifty 12-metre (39-foot) dishes operating at wavelengths as short as 0.3 mm (0.01 inch), as well as a more compact array of four 12-metre (40-foot) and sixteen 7-metre (23-foot) dishes.\nEarth-orbiting radio telescopes\nMost radio waves pass relatively undistorted through Earth ’s atmosphere , and so there is little need to place radio telescopes in space. The exceptions are for observations at very long wavelengths that are distorted by Earth’s ionosphere , for observations at very short wavelengths that are affected by water vapour and oxygen in the atmosphere, and for precision observations at all wavelengths that might be affected by thermal radiation from the ground. The first radio astronomy satellite was the U.S.-British Ariel 2, launched in 1964, which studied long-wavelength radio noise from Earth’s ionosphere and the Milky Way Galaxy . Ariel 2 was followed by two more satellites in the Ariel series and by the U.S. satellites Radio Astronomy Explorers 1 and 2, launched in 1968 and 1973, respectively.\nThe British Ariel 4 (U.K. 4), shown suspended with its solar panels deployed in flight …\nNASA\nUnited States presidential election of 1860\nSubsequent radio astronomy satellites performed observations that were difficult to make from the ground or were enhanced by being made from space (such as VSOP). The U.S. Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) and the Swedish-Canadian-French-Finnish Odin , launched in 1998 and 2001, respectively, observed at very short, submillimetre wavelengths. By observing the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the big bang, the U.S. satellites Cosmic Background Explorer (launched in 1989) and Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe (launched in 2001) detected very small fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation corresponding to the early structures from which galaxies would be formed and were able to accurately determine the age and composition of the universe .\nThe Cosmic Background Explorer.",
"Astronomy\nRadio astronomy studies radiation with wavelengths greater than approximately one ... radiation (wavelengths longer than ... One branch of amateur astronomy, ...\nAstronomy\nAstronomy\nAstronomy is a natural science that is the study of celestial objects (such as moons , planets , stars , nebulae , and galaxies ), the physics , chemistry , mathematics , and evolution of such objects, and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth , including supernovae explosions , gamma ray bursts , and cosmic background radiation . A related but distinct subject, cosmology , is concerned with studying the universe as a whole. [1]\nAstronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Prehistoric cultures left behind astronomical artifacts such as the Egyptian monuments and Nubian monuments , and early civilizations such as the Babylonians , Greeks , Chinese , Indians , Iranians and Maya performed methodical observations of the night sky . However, the invention of the telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry , celestial navigation , observational astronomy, and the making of calendars , but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics . [2]\nDuring the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of astronomical objects, which is then analyzed using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented toward the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.\nAmateur astronomers have contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, and astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of transient phenomena .\nAstronomy is not to be confused with astrology , the belief system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects. Although the two fields share a common origin they are now entirely distinct. [3]\nLexicology\nThe word astronomy (from the Greek words astron ( ἄστρον ), \"star\" and -nomy from nomos ( νόμος ), \"law\" or \"culture\") literally means \"law of the stars\" (or \"culture of the stars\" depending on the translation).\nUse of terms \"astronomy\" and \"astrophysics\"\nGenerally, either the term \"astronomy\" or \"astrophysics\" may be used to refer to this subject. [4] [5] [6] Based on strict dictionary definitions, \"astronomy\" refers to \"the study of objects and matter outside the Earth's atmosphere and of their physical and chemical properties\" [7] and \"astrophysics\" refers to the branch of astronomy dealing with \"the behavior, physical properties, and dynamic processes of celestial objects and phenomena\". [8] In some cases, as in the introduction of the introductory textbook The Physical Universe by Frank Shu , \"astronomy\" may be used to describe the qualitative study of the subject, whereas \"astrophysics\" is used to describe the physics-oriented version of the subject. [9] However, since most modern astronomical research deals with subjects related to physics, modern astronomy could actually be called astrophysics. [4] Few fields, such as astrometry, are purely astronomy rather than also astrophysics. Various departments in which scientists carry out research on this subject may use \"astronomy\" and \"astrophysics,\" partly depending on whether the department is historically affiliated with a physics department, [5] and many professional astronomers have physics rather than astronomy degrees. [6] One of the leading scientific journals in the field is the European journal named Astronomy and Astrophysics . The leading American journals are The Astrophysical Journal and The Astronomical Journal .\nHistory\nFurther information: Archaeoastronomy and List of astronomers\nA celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit .\nIn early times, astronomy only comprised the observation and predictions of the motions of objects visible to the naked eye. In some locations, such as Stonehenge , early cultures assembled massive artifacts that possibly had some astronomical purpose. In addition to their ceremonial uses, these observatories could be employed to determine the seasons, an important factor in knowing when to plant crops, as well as in understanding the length of the year. [10]\nBefore tools such as the telescope were invented, early study of the stars had to be conducted from the only vantage points available, namely tall buildings and high ground using the naked eye. As civilizations developed, most notably in Mesopotamia , China , Egypt , Greece , India , and Central America , astronomical observatories were assembled, and ideas on the nature of the universe began to be explored. Most of early astronomy actually consisted of mapping the positions of the stars and planets, a science now referred to as astrometry . From these observations, early ideas about the motions of the planets were formed, and the nature of the Sun, Moon and the Earth in the universe were explored philosophically. The Earth was believed to be the center of the universe with the Sun, the Moon and the stars rotating around it. This is known as the geocentric model of the universe, or the Ptolemaic system , named after Ptolemy . [11]\nA particularly important early development was the beginning of mathematical and scientific astronomy, which began among the Babylonians , who laid the foundations for the later astronomical traditions that developed in many other civilizations. [12] The Babylonians discovered that lunar eclipses recurred in a repeating cycle known as a saros . [13]\nGreek equatorial sun dial , Alexandria on the Oxus , present-day Afghanistan 3rd–2nd century BCE.\nFollowing the Babylonians, significant advances in astronomy were made in ancient Greece and the Hellenistic world. Greek astronomy is characterized from the start by seeking a rational, physical explanation for celestial phenomena. [14] In the 3rd century BC, Aristarchus of Samos estimated the size and distance of the Moon and Sun , and was the first to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system. [15] In the 2nd century BC, Hipparchus discovered precession , calculated the size and distance of the Moon and invented the earliest known astronomical devices such as the astrolabe . [16] Hipparchus also created a comprehensive catalog of 1020 stars, and most of the constellations of the northern hemisphere derive from Greek astronomy. [17] The Antikythera mechanism (c. 150–80 BC) was an early analog computer designed to calculate the location of the Sun , Moon , and planets for a given date. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe . [18]\nDuring the Middle Ages, astronomy was mostly stagnant in medieval Europe, at least until the 13th century. However, astronomy flourished in the Islamic world and other parts of the world. This led to the emergence of the first astronomical observatories in the Muslim world by the early 9th century. [19] [20] [21] In 964, the Andromeda Galaxy , the largest galaxy in the Local Group , was discovered by the Persian astronomer Azophi and first described in his Book of Fixed Stars . [22] The SN 1006 supernova , the brightest apparent magnitude stellar event in recorded history, was observed by the Egyptian Arabic astronomer Ali ibn Ridwan and the Chinese astronomers in 1006. Some of the prominent Islamic (mostly Persian and Arab) astronomers who made significant contributions to the science include Al-Battani , Thebit , Azophi , Albumasar , Biruni , Arzachel , Al-Birjandi , and the astronomers of the Maragheh and Samarkand observatories. Astronomers during that time introduced many Arabic names now used for individual stars . [23] [24] It is also believed that the ruins at Great Zimbabwe and Timbuktu [25] may have housed an astronomical observatory. [26] Europeans had previously believed that there had been no astronomical observation in pre-colonial Middle Ages sub-Saharan Africa but modern discoveries show otherwise. [27] [28] [29] [30]\nScientific revolution\nGalileo 's sketches and observations of the Moon revealed that the surface was mountainous.\nDuring the Renaissance , Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a heliocentric model of the solar system . His work was defended, expanded upon, and corrected by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler . Galileo innovated by using telescopes to enhance his observations. [31]\nKepler was the first to devise a system that described correctly the details of the motion of the planets with the Sun at the center. However, Kepler did not succeed in formulating a theory behind the laws he wrote down. [32] It was left to Newton's invention of celestial dynamics and his law of gravitation to finally explain the motions of the planets. Newton also developed the reflecting telescope . [31]\nFurther discoveries paralleled the improvements in the size and quality of the telescope. More extensive star catalogues were produced by Lacaille . The astronomer William Herschel made a detailed catalog of nebulosity and clusters, and in 1781 discovered the planet Uranus , the first new planet found. [33] The distance to a star was first announced in 1838 when the parallax of 61 Cygni was measured by Friedrich Bessel . [34]\nDuring the 18–19th centuries, attention to the three body problem by Euler , Clairaut , and D'Alembert led to more accurate predictions about the motions of the Moon and planets. This work was further refined by Lagrange and Laplace , allowing the masses of the planets and moons to be estimated from their perturbations. [35]\nSignificant advances in astronomy came about with the introduction of new technology, including the spectroscope and photography . Fraunhofer discovered about 600 bands in the spectrum of the Sun in 1814–15, which, in 1859, Kirchhoff ascribed to the presence of different elements. Stars were proven to be similar to the Earth's own Sun, but with a wide range of temperatures , masses , and sizes. [23]\nThe existence of the Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way , as a separate group of stars, was only proved in the 20th century, along with the existence of \"external\" galaxies, and soon after, the expansion of the Universe , seen in the recession of most galaxies from us. [36] Modern astronomy has also discovered many exotic objects such as quasars , pulsars , blazars , and radio galaxies , and has used these observations to develop physical theories which describe some of these objects in terms of equally exotic objects such as black holes and neutron stars . Physical cosmology made huge advances during the 20th century, with the model of the Big Bang heavily supported by the evidence provided by astronomy and physics, such as the cosmic microwave background radiation , Hubble's law , and cosmological abundances of elements . Space telescopes have enabled measurements in parts of the electromagnetic spectrum normally blocked or blurred by the atmosphere.\nObservational astronomy\nMain article: Observational astronomy\nIn astronomy, the main source of information about celestial bodies and other objects is the visible light or more generally electromagnetic radiation . [37] Observational astronomy may be divided according to the observed region of the electromagnetic spectrum . Some parts of the spectrum can be observed from the Earth 's surface, while other parts are only observable from either high altitudes or space. Specific information on these subfields is given below.\nRadio astronomy\nMain article: Radio astronomy\nRadio astronomy studies radiation with wavelengths greater than approximately one millimeter. [38] Radio astronomy is different from most other forms of observational astronomy in that the observed radio waves can be treated as waves rather than as discrete photons . Hence, it is relatively easier to measure both the amplitude and phase of radio waves, whereas this is not as easily done at shorter wavelengths. [38]\nAlthough some radio waves are produced by astronomical objects in the form of thermal emission , most of the radio emission that is observed from Earth is seen in the form of synchrotron radiation , which is produced when electrons oscillate around magnetic fields . [38] Additionally, a number of spectral lines produced by interstellar gas , notably the hydrogen spectral line at 21 cm, are observable at radio wavelengths. [9] [38]\nA wide variety of objects are observable at radio wavelengths, including supernovae , interstellar gas, pulsars , and active galactic nuclei . [9] [38]\nInfrared astronomy\nMain article: Infrared astronomy\nInfrared astronomy deals with the detection and analysis of infrared radiation (wavelengths longer than red light). Except at wavelengths close to visible light, infrared radiation is heavily absorbed by the atmosphere, and the atmosphere produces significant infrared emission. Consequently, infrared observatories have to be located in high, dry places or in space. The infrared spectrum is useful for studying objects that are too cold to radiate visible light, such as planets and circumstellar disks . Longer infrared wavelengths can also penetrate clouds of dust that block visible light, allowing observation of young stars in molecular clouds and the cores of galaxies. [39] Some molecules radiate strongly in the infrared. This can be used to study chemistry in space; more specifically it can detect water in comets. [40]\nOptical astronomy\nThe Subaru Telescope (left) and Keck Observatory (center) on Mauna Kea , both examples of an observatory that operates at near-infrared and visible wavelengths. The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (right) is an example of a telescope that operates only at near-infrared wavelengths.\nMain article: Optical astronomy\nHistorically, optical astronomy, also called visible light astronomy, is the oldest form of astronomy. [41] Optical images were originally drawn by hand. In the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, images were made using photographic equipment. Modern images are made using digital detectors, particularly detectors using charge-coupled devices (CCDs). Although visible light itself extends from approximately 4000 Å to 7000 Å (400 nm to 700 nm), [41] the same equipment used at these wavelengths is also used to observe some near-ultraviolet and near-infrared radiation.\nUltraviolet astronomy\nMain article: Ultraviolet astronomy\nUltraviolet astronomy is generally used to refer to observations at ultraviolet wavelengths between approximately 100 and 3200 Å (10 to 320 nm). [38] Light at these wavelengths is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so observations at these wavelengths must be performed from the upper atmosphere or from space. Ultraviolet astronomy is best suited to the study of thermal radiation and spectral emission lines from hot blue stars ( OB stars ) that are very bright in this wave band. This includes the blue stars in other galaxies, which have been the targets of several ultraviolet surveys. Other objects commonly observed in ultraviolet light include planetary nebulae , supernova remnants , and active galactic nuclei. [38] However, as ultraviolet light is easily absorbed by interstellar dust , an appropriate adjustment of ultraviolet measurements is necessary. [38]\nX-ray astronomy\nX-ray astronomy is the study of astronomical objects at X-ray wavelengths . Typically, objects emit X-ray radiation as synchrotron emission (produced by electrons oscillating around magnetic field lines), thermal emission from thin gases above 107 (10 million) kelvins , and thermal emission from thick gases above 107 Kelvin. [38] Since X-rays are absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere , all X-ray observations must be performed from high-altitude balloons , rockets , or spacecraft . Notable X-ray sources include X-ray binaries , pulsars , supernova remnants , elliptical galaxies , clusters of galaxies , and active galactic nuclei . [38]\nAccording to NASA's official website, X-rays were first observed and documented in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen , a German scientist who found them quite by accident when experimenting with vacuum tubes . Through a series of experiments, including the infamous X-ray photograph he took of his wife's hand with a wedding ring on it, Röntgen was able to discover the beginning elements of radiation. The \"X\", in fact, holds its own significance, as it represents Röntgen's inability to identify exactly what type of radiation it was.\nGamma-ray astronomy\nMain article: Gamma ray astronomy\nGamma ray astronomy is the study of astronomical objects at the shortest wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma rays may be observed directly by satellites such as the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory or by specialized telescopes called atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes . [38] The Cherenkov telescopes do not actually detect the gamma rays directly but instead detect the flashes of visible light produced when gamma rays are absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere. [42]\nMost gamma-ray emitting sources are actually gamma-ray bursts , objects which only produce gamma radiation for a few milliseconds to thousands of seconds before fading away. Only 10% of gamma-ray sources are non-transient sources. These steady gamma-ray emitters include pulsars, neutron stars , and black hole candidates such as active galactic nuclei. [38]\nFields not based on the electromagnetic spectrum\nIn addition to electromagnetic radiation, a few other events originating from great distances may be observed from the Earth.\nIn neutrino astronomy , astronomers use special underground facilities such as SAGE , GALLEX , and Kamioka II/III for detecting neutrinos . These neutrinos originate overwhelmingly from the Sun , but 24 neutrinos were also detected from supernova 1987A . [38] Cosmic rays , which consist of very high energy particles that can decay or be absorbed when they enter the Earth's atmosphere, result in a cascade of particles which can be detected by current observatories. [43] Additionally, some future neutrino detectors may also be sensitive to the particles produced when cosmic rays hit the Earth's atmosphere. [38] Gravitational wave astronomy is an emerging new field of astronomy which aims to use gravitational wave detectors to collect observational data about compact objects. A few observatories have been constructed, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory LIGO , but gravitational waves are extremely difficult to detect. [44]\nPlanetary astronomers have directly observed many of these phenomena through spacecraft and sample return missions. These observations include fly-by missions with remote sensors, landing vehicles that can perform experiments on the surface materials, impactors that allow remote sensing of buried material, and sample return missions that allow direct laboratory examination.\nAstrometry and celestial mechanics\nMain articles: Astrometry and Celestial mechanics\nOne of the oldest fields in astronomy, and in all of science, is the measurement of the positions of celestial objects. Historically, accurate knowledge of the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars has been essential in celestial navigation and in the making of calendars .\nCareful measurement of the positions of the planets has led to a solid understanding of gravitational perturbations , and an ability to determine past and future positions of the planets with great accuracy, a field known as celestial mechanics . More recently the tracking of near-Earth objects will allow for predictions of close encounters, and potential collisions, with the Earth. [45]\nThe measurement of stellar parallax of nearby stars provides a fundamental baseline in the cosmic distance ladder that is used to measure the scale of the universe. Parallax measurements of nearby stars provide an absolute baseline for the properties of more distant stars, because their properties can be compared. Measurements of radial velocity and proper motion show the kinematics of these systems through the Milky Way galaxy. Astrometric results are also used to measure the distribution of dark matter in the galaxy. [46]\nDuring the 1990s, the astrometric technique of measuring the stellar wobble was used to detect large extrasolar planets orbiting nearby stars. [47]\nTheoretical astronomy\nMain article: Theoretical astronomy\nTheoretical astronomers use a wide variety of tools which include analytical models (for example, polytropes to approximate the behaviors of a star ) and computational numerical simulations . Each has some advantages. Analytical models of a process are generally better for giving insight into the heart of what is going on. Numerical models can reveal the existence of phenomena and effects that would otherwise not be seen. [48] [49]\nTheorists in astronomy endeavor to create theoretical models and figure out the observational consequences of those models. This helps observers look for data that can refute a model or help in choosing between several alternate or conflicting models.\nTheorists also try to generate or modify models to take into account new data. In the case of an inconsistency, the general tendency is to try to make minimal modifications to the model to fit the data. In some cases, a large amount of inconsistent data over time may lead to total abandonment of a model.\nTopics studied by theoretical astronomers include: stellar dynamics and evolution ; galaxy formation ; large-scale structure of matter in the Universe ; origin of cosmic rays ; general relativity and physical cosmology , including string cosmology and astroparticle physics . Astrophysical relativity serves as a tool to gauge the properties of large scale structures for which gravitation plays a significant role in physical phenomena investigated and as the basis for black hole (astro) physics and the study of gravitational waves .\nSome widely accepted and studied theories and models in astronomy, now included in the Lambda-CDM model are the Big Bang , Cosmic inflation , dark matter , and fundamental theories of physics .\nA few examples of this process:\nPhysical process\nSee also: Solar telescope\nAt a distance of about eight light-minutes, the most frequently studied star is the Sun, a typical main-sequence dwarf star of stellar class G2 V, and about 4.6 Gyr old. The Sun is not considered a variable star , but it does undergo periodic changes in activity known as the sunspot cycle . This is an 11-year fluctuation in sunspot numbers. Sunspots are regions of lower-than- average temperatures that are associated with intense magnetic activity. [51]\nThe Sun has steadily increased in luminosity over the course of its life, increasing by 40% since it first became a main-sequence star. The Sun has also undergone periodic changes in luminosity that can have a significant impact on the Earth. [52] The Maunder minimum , for example, is believed to have caused the Little Ice Age phenomenon during the Middle Ages . [53]\nThe visible outer surface of the Sun is called the photosphere . Above this layer is a thin region known as the chromosphere . This is surrounded by a transition region of rapidly increasing temperatures, then by the super-heated corona .\nAt the center of the Sun is the core region, a volume of sufficient temperature and pressure for nuclear fusion to occur. Above the core is the radiation zone , where the plasma conveys the energy flux by means of radiation. The outer layers form a convection zone where the gas material transports energy primarily through physical displacement of the gas. It is believed that this convection zone creates the magnetic activity that generates sun spots. [51]\nA solar wind of plasma particles constantly streams outward from the Sun until it reaches the heliopause . This solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere of the Earth to create the Van Allen radiation belts , as well as the aurora where the lines of the Earth's magnetic field descend into the atmosphere . [54]\nPlanetary science\nMain articles: Planetary science and Planetary geology\nThis astronomical field examines the assemblage of planets , moons , dwarf planets , comets , asteroids , and other bodies orbiting the Sun, as well as extrasolar planets. The Solar System has been relatively well-studied, initially through telescopes and then later by spacecraft. This has provided a good overall understanding of the formation and evolution of this planetary system, although many new discoveries are still being made. [55]\nThe black spot at the top is a dust devil climbing a crater wall on Mars . This moving, swirling column of Martian atmosphere (comparable to a terrestrial tornado ) created the long, dark streak. NASA image.\nThe Solar System is subdivided into the inner planets, the asteroid belt , and the outer planets. The inner terrestrial planets consist of Mercury , Venus , Earth , and Mars . The outer gas giant planets are Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus , and Neptune . [56] Beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt , and finally the Oort Cloud , which may extend as far as a light-year.\nThe planets were formed in the protoplanetary disk that surrounded the early Sun. Through a process that included gravitational attraction, collision, and accretion, the disk formed clumps of matter that, with time, became protoplanets. The radiation pressure of the solar wind then expelled most of the unaccreted matter, and only those planets with sufficient mass retained their gaseous atmosphere. The planets continued to sweep up, or eject, the remaining matter during a period of intense bombardment, evidenced by the many impact craters on the Moon. During this period, some of the protoplanets may have collided, the leading hypothesis for how the Moon was formed. [57]\nOnce a planet reaches sufficient mass, the materials with different densities segregate within, during planetary differentiation . This process can form a stony or metallic core, surrounded by a mantle and an outer surface. The core may include solid and liquid regions, and some planetary cores generate their own magnetic field , which can protect their atmospheres from solar wind stripping. [58]\nA planet or moon's interior heat is produced from the collisions that created the body, radioactive materials (e.g. uranium , thorium , and 26Al ), or tidal heating . Some planets and moons accumulate enough heat to drive geologic processes such as volcanism and tectonics. Those that accumulate or retain an atmosphere can also undergo surface erosion from wind or water. Smaller bodies, without tidal heating, cool more quickly; and their geological activity ceases with the exception of impact cratering. [59]\nStellar astronomy\nThe Ant planetary nebula . Ejecting gas from the dying central star shows symmetrical patterns unlike the chaotic patterns of ordinary explosions.\nMain article: Star\nThe study of stars and stellar evolution is fundamental to our understanding of the universe. The astrophysics of stars has been determined through observation and theoretical understanding; and from computer simulations of the interior. [60]\nStar formation occurs in dense regions of dust and gas, known as giant molecular clouds . When destabilized, cloud fragments can collapse under the influence of gravity, to form a protostar . A sufficiently dense, and hot, core region will trigger nuclear fusion , thus creating a main-sequence star . [61]\nAlmost all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were created inside the cores of stars. [60]\nThe characteristics of the resulting star depend primarily upon its starting mass. The more massive the star, the greater its luminosity, and the more rapidly it expends the hydrogen fuel in its core. Over time, this hydrogen fuel is completely converted into helium, and the star begins to evolve . The fusion of helium requires a higher core temperature, so that the star both expands in size, and increases in core density. The resulting red giant enjoys a brief life span, before the helium fuel is in turn consumed. Very massive stars can also undergo a series of decreasing evolutionary phases, as they fuse increasingly heavier elements. [62]\nThe final fate of the star depends on its mass, with stars of mass greater than about eight times the Sun becoming core collapse supernovae ; [63] while smaller stars form planetary nebulae , and evolve into white dwarfs . [64] The remnant of a supernova is a dense neutron star , or, if the stellar mass was at least three times that of the Sun, a black hole . [65] Close binary stars can follow more complex evolutionary paths, such as mass transfer onto a white dwarf companion that can potentially cause a supernova. [66] Planetary nebulae and supernovae are necessary for the distribution of metals to the interstellar medium; without them, all new stars (and their planetary systems) would be formed from hydrogen and helium alone. [67]\nMain article: Galactic astronomy\nOur solar system orbits within the Milky Way , a barred spiral galaxy that is a prominent member of the Local Group of galaxies. It is a rotating mass of gas, dust, stars and other objects, held together by mutual gravitational attraction. As the Earth is located within the dusty outer arms, there are large portions of the Milky Way that are obscured from view.\nIn the center of the Milky Way is the core, a bar-shaped bulge with what is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center. This is surrounded by four primary arms that spiral from the core. This is a region of active star formation that contains many younger, population I stars. The disk is surrounded by a spheroid halo of older, population II stars, as well as relatively dense concentrations of stars known as globular clusters . [68]\nBetween the stars lies the interstellar medium , a region of sparse matter. In the densest regions, molecular clouds of molecular hydrogen and other elements create star-forming regions. These begin as a compact pre-stellar core or dark nebulae , which concentrate and collapse (in volumes determined by the Jeans length ) to form compact protostars. [61]\nAs the more massive stars appear, they transform the cloud into an H II region of glowing gas and plasma. The stellar wind and supernova explosions from these stars eventually serve to disperse the cloud, often leaving behind one or more young open clusters of stars. These clusters gradually disperse, and the stars join the population of the Milky Way. [69]\nKinematic studies of matter in the Milky Way and other galaxies have demonstrated that there is more mass than can be accounted for by visible matter. A dark matter halo appears to dominate the mass, although the nature of this dark matter remains undetermined. [70]\nExtragalactic astronomy\nThis image shows several blue, loop-shaped objects that are multiple images of the same galaxy, duplicated by the gravitational lens effect of the cluster of yellow galaxies near the middle of the photograph. The lens is produced by the cluster's gravitational field that bends light to magnify and distort the image of a more distant object.\nThe study of objects outside our galaxy is a branch of astronomy concerned with the formation and evolution of Galaxies ; their morphology and classification ; and the examination of active galaxies , and the groups and clusters of galaxies . The latter is important for the understanding of the large-scale structure of the cosmos .\nMost galaxies are organized into distinct shapes that allow for classification schemes. They are commonly divided into spiral , elliptical and Irregular galaxies. [71]\nAs the name suggests, an elliptical galaxy has the cross-sectional shape of an ellipse . The stars move along random orbits with no preferred direction. These galaxies contain little or no interstellar dust; few star-forming regions; and generally older stars. Elliptical galaxies are more commonly found at the core of galactic clusters, and may be formed through mergers of large galaxies.\nA spiral galaxy is organized into a flat, rotating disk, usually with a prominent bulge or bar at the center, and trailing bright arms that spiral outward. The arms are dusty regions of star formation where massive young stars produce a blue tint. Spiral galaxies are typically surrounded by a halo of older stars. Both the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy are spiral galaxies.\nIrregular galaxies are chaotic in appearance, and are neither spiral nor elliptical. About a quarter of all galaxies are irregular, and the peculiar shapes of such galaxies may be the result of gravitational interaction.\nAn active galaxy is a formation that is emitting a significant amount of its energy from a source other than stars, dust and gas; and is powered by a compact region at the core, usually thought to be a super-massive black hole that is emitting radiation from in-falling material.\nA radio galaxy is an active galaxy that is very luminous in the radio portion of the spectrum, and is emitting immense plumes or lobes of gas. Active galaxies that emit high-energy radiation include Seyfert galaxies , Quasars , and Blazars . Quasars are believed to be the most consistently luminous objects in the known universe. [72]\nThe large-scale structure of the cosmos is represented by groups and clusters of galaxies. This structure is organized in a hierarchy of groupings, with the largest being the superclusters . The collective matter is formed into filaments and walls, leaving large voids in between. [73]\nCosmology\nHubble Extreme Deep Field .\nCosmology (from the Greek κόσμος \"world, universe\" and λόγος \"word, study\") could be considered the study of the universe as a whole.\nObservations of the large-scale structure of the universe , a branch known as physical cosmology , have provided a deep understanding of the formation and evolution of the cosmos. Fundamental to modern cosmology is the well-accepted theory of the big bang , wherein our universe began at a single point in time, and thereafter expanded over the course of 13.8 Gyr [74] to its present condition. [75] The concept of the big bang can be traced back to the discovery of the microwave background radiation in 1965. [75]\nIn the course of this expansion, the universe underwent several evolutionary stages. In the very early moments, it is theorized that the universe experienced a very rapid cosmic inflation , which homogenized the starting conditions. Thereafter, nucleosynthesis produced the elemental abundance of the early universe. [75] (See also nucleocosmochronology .)\nWhen the first neutral atoms formed from a sea of primordial ions, space became transparent to radiation, releasing the energy viewed today as the microwave background radiation. The expanding universe then underwent a Dark Age due to the lack of stellar energy sources. [76]\nA hierarchical structure of matter began to form from minute variations in the mass density. Matter accumulated in the densest regions, forming clouds of gas and the earliest stars . These massive stars triggered the reionization process and are believed to have created many of the heavy elements in the early universe, which, through nuclear decay, create lighter elements, allowing the cycle of nucleosynthesis to continue longer. [77]\nGravitational aggregations clustered into filaments, leaving voids in the gaps. Gradually, organizations of gas and dust merged to form the first primitive galaxies. Over time, these pulled in more matter, and were often organized into groups and clusters of galaxies, then into larger-scale superclusters. [78]\nFundamental to the structure of the universe is the existence of dark matter and dark energy . These are now thought to be its dominant components, forming 96% of the mass of the universe. For this reason, much effort is expended in trying to understand the physics of these components. [79]\nInterdisciplinary studies\nAstronomy and astrophysics have developed significant interdisciplinary links with other major scientific fields. Archaeoastronomy is the study of ancient or traditional astronomies in their cultural context, utilizing archaeological and anthropological evidence. Astrobiology is the study of the advent and evolution of biological systems in the universe, with particular emphasis on the possibility of non-terrestrial life.\nThe study of chemicals found in space, including their formation, interaction and destruction, is called astrochemistry . These substances are usually found in molecular clouds , although they may also appear in low temperature stars, brown dwarfs and planets. Cosmochemistry is the study of the chemicals found within the Solar System , including the origins of the elements and variations in the isotope ratios. Both of these fields represent an overlap of the disciplines of astronomy and chemistry. As \" forensic astronomy \", finally, methods from astronomy have been used to solve problems of law and history.\nAmateur astronomy\nAmateur astronomers can build their own equipment, and can hold star parties and gatherings, such as Stellafane .\nMain article: Amateur astronomy\nAstronomy is one of the sciences to which amateurs can contribute the most. [80]\nCollectively, amateur astronomers observe a variety of celestial objects and phenomena sometimes with equipment that they build themselves . Common targets of amateur astronomers include the Moon, planets, stars, comets, meteor showers, and a variety of deep-sky objects such as star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. One branch of amateur astronomy, amateur astrophotography , involves the taking of photos of the night sky. Many amateurs like to specialize in the observation of particular objects, types of objects, or types of events which interest them. [81] [82]\nMost amateurs work at visible wavelengths, but a small minority experiment with wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. This includes the use of infrared filters on conventional telescopes, and also the use of radio telescopes. The pioneer of amateur radio astronomy was Karl Jansky , who started observing the sky at radio wavelengths in the 1930s. A number of amateur astronomers use either homemade telescopes or use radio telescopes which were originally built for astronomy research but which are now available to amateurs (e.g. the One-Mile Telescope ). [83] [84]\nAmateur astronomers continue to make scientific contributions to the field of astronomy. Indeed, it is one of the few scientific disciplines where amateurs can still make significant contributions. Amateurs can make occultation measurements that are used to refine the orbits of minor planets. They can also discover comets, and perform regular observations of variable stars. Improvements in digital technology have allowed amateurs to make impressive advances in the field of astrophotography. [85] [86] [87]\nUnsolved problems in astronomy\nSee also: Unsolved problems in physics\nAlthough the scientific discipline of astronomy has made tremendous strides in understanding the nature of the universe and its contents, there remain some important unanswered questions. Answers to these may require the construction of new ground- and space-based instruments, and possibly new developments in theoretical and experimental physics.\nWhat is the origin of the stellar mass spectrum? That is, why do astronomers observe the same distribution of stellar masses – the initial mass function – apparently regardless of the initial conditions? [88] A deeper understanding of the formation of stars and planets is needed.\nIs there other life in the Universe ? Especially, is there other intelligent life? If so, what is the explanation for the Fermi paradox ? The existence of life elsewhere has important scientific and philosophical implications. [89] [90] Is the Solar System normal or atypical?\nWhat caused the Universe to form? Is the premise of the Fine-tuned universe hypothesis correct? If so, could this be the result of cosmological natural selection ? What caused the cosmic inflation that produced our homogeneous universe? Why is there a baryon asymmetry ?\nWhat is the nature of dark matter and dark energy ? These dominate the evolution and fate of the cosmos, yet their true nature remains unknown. [91] What will be the ultimate fate of the universe ? [92]\nHow did the first galaxies form? How did supermassive black holes form?",
"Famous Inventions | Indian Child\nFamous Inventions. Some well-known Inventions & Discoveries. ... Carpet sweeper: Melville R. Bissell, U.S., 1876. Car radio: William Lear, Elmer Wavering, U.S., ...\nFamous Inventions | Indian Child\nFamous Inventions\nAdrenaline: (isolation of) John Jacob Abel, U.S., 1897.\nAerosol can: Erik Rotheim, Norway, 1926.\nAir brake: George Westinghouse, U.S., 1868.\nAir conditioning: Willis Carrier, U.S., 1911.\nAirship: (non-rigid) Henri Giffard, France, 1852; (rigid) Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Germany, 1900.\nAluminum manufacture: (by electrolytic action) Charles M. Hall, U.S., 1866.\nAnatomy, human: (De fabrica corporis humani, an illustrated systematic study of the human body) Andreas Vesalius, Belgium, 1543; (comparative: parts of an organism are correlated to the functioning whole) Georges Cuvier, France, 1799–1805.\nAnesthetic: (first use of anesthetic—ether—on humans) Crawford W. Long, U.S., 1842.\nAntibiotics: (first demonstration of antibiotic effect) Louis Pasteur, Jules-François Joubert, France, 1887; (discovery of penicillin, first modern antibiotic) Alexander Fleming, England, 1928; (penicillin’s infection-fighting properties) Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, England, 1940.\nAntiseptic: (surgery) Joseph Lister, England, 1867.\nAntitoxin, diphtheria: Emil von Behring, Germany, 1890.\nAppliances, electric: (fan) Schuyler Wheeler, U.S., 1882; (flatiron) Henry W. Seely, U.S., 1882; (stove) Hadaway, U.S., 1896; (washing machine) Alva Fisher, U.S., 1906.\nAqualung: Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Emile Gagnan, France, 1943.\nAspirin: Dr. Felix Hoffman, Germany, 1899.\nAstronomical calculator: The Antikythera device, first century B.C., Greece. Found off island of Antikythera in 1900.\nAtom: (nuclear model of) Ernest Rutherford, England, 1911.\nAtomic theory: (ancient) Leucippus, Democritus, Greece, c. 500 B.C.; Lucretius, Rome c.100 B.C.; (modern) John Dalton, England, 1808.\nAtomic structure: (formulated nuclear model of atom, Rutherford model) Ernest Rutherford, England, 1911; (proposed current concept of atomic structure, the Bohr model) Niels Bohr, Denmark, 1913.\nAutomobile: (first with internal combustion engine, 250 rpm) Karl Benz, Germany, 1885; (first with practical high-speed internal combustion engine, 900 rpm) Gottlieb Daimler, Germany, 1885; (first true automobile, not carriage with motor) René Panhard, Emile Lavassor, France, 1891; (carburetor, spray) Charles E. Duryea, U.S., 1892.\nAutopilot: (for aircraft) Elmer A. Sperry, U.S., c.1910, first successful test, 1912, in a Curtiss flying boat.\nAvogadro’s law: (equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal number of molecules) Amedeo Avogadro, Italy, 1811.\nBacteria: Anton van Leeuwenhoek, The Netherlands, 1683.\nBalloon, hot-air: Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier, France, 1783.\nBarbed wire: (most popular) Joseph E. Glidden, U.S., 1873.\nBar codes: (computer-scanned binary signal code):\n(retail trade use) Monarch Marking, U.S. 1970; (industrial use) Plessey Telecommunications, England, 1970.\nBarometer: Evangelista Torricelli, Italy, 1643.\nBicycle: Karl D. von Sauerbronn, Germany, 1816; (first modern model) James Starley, England, 1884.\nBig Bang theory: (the universe originated with a huge explosion) George LeMaitre, Belgium, 1927; (modified LeMaitre theory labeled “Big Bang”) George A. Gamow, U.S., 1948; (cosmic microwave background radiation discovered, confirms theory) Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson, U.S., 1965.\nBlood, circulation of: William Harvey, England, 1628.\nBoyle’s law: (relation between pressure and volume in gases) Robert Boyle, Ireland, 1662.\nBraille: Louis Braille, France, 1829.\nBridges: (suspension, iron chains) James Finley, Pa., 1800; (wire suspension) Marc Seguin, Lyons, 1825; (truss) Ithiel Town, U.S., 1820.\nBullet: (conical) Claude Minié, France, 1849.\nCalculating machine: (logarithms: made multiplying easier and thus calculators practical) John Napier, Scotland, 1614; (slide rule) William Oughtred, England, 1632; (digital calculator) Blaise Pascal, 1642; (multiplication machine) Gottfried Leibniz, Germany, 1671; (important 19th-century contributors to modern machine) Frank S. Baldwin, Jay R. Monroe, Dorr E. Felt, W. T. Ohdner, William Burroughs, all U.S.; (“analytical engine” design, included concepts of programming, taping) Charles Babbage, England, 1835.\nCalculus: Isaac Newton, England, 1669; (differential calculus) Gottfried Leibniz, Germany, 1684.\nCamera: (hand-held) George Eastman, U.S., 1888; (Polaroid Land) Edwin Land, U.S., 1948.\n“Canals” of Mars: Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italy, 1877.\nCarpet sweeper: Melville R. Bissell, U.S., 1876.\nCar radio: William Lear, Elmer Wavering, U.S., 1929, manufactured by Galvin Manufacturing Co., “Motorola.”\nCells: (word used to describe microscopic examination of cork) Robert Hooke, England, 1665; (theory: cells are common structural and functional unit of all living organisms) Theodor Schwann, Matthias Schleiden, 1838–1839.\nCement, Portland: Joseph Aspdin, England, 1824.\nChewing gum: (spruce-based) John Curtis, U.S., 1848; (chicle-based) Thomas Adams, U.S., 1870.\nCholera bacterium: Robert Koch, Germany, 1883.\nCircuit, integrated: (theoretical) G.W.A. Dummer, England, 1952; (phase-shift oscillator) Jack S. Kilby, Texas Instruments, U.S., 1959.\nClassification of plants: (first modern, based on comparative study of forms) Andrea Cesalpino, Italy, 1583; (classification of plants and animals by genera and species) Carolus Linnaeus, Sweden, 1737–1753.\nClock, pendulum: Christian Huygens, The Netherlands, 1656.\nCoca-Cola: John Pemberton, U.S., 1886.\nCombustion: (nature of) Antoine Lavoisier, France, 1777.\nCompact disk: RCA, U.S., 1972.\nComputers: (first design of analytical engine) Charles Babbage, 1830s; (ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator, first all-electronic, completed) 1945; (dedicated at University of Pennsylvania) 1946; (UNIVAC, Universal Automatic Computer, handled both numeric and alphabetic data) 1951.\nConcrete: (reinforced) Joseph Monier, France, 1877.\nCondensed milk: Gail Borden, U.S., 1853.\nConditioned reflex: Ivan Pavlov, Russia, c.1910.\nConservation of electric charge: (the total electric charge of the universe or any closed system is constant) Benjamin Franklin, U.S., 1751–1754.\nContagion theory: (infectious diseases caused by living agent transmitted from person to person) Girolamo Fracastoro, Italy, 1546.\nContinental drift theory: (geographer who pieced together continents into a single landmass on maps) Antonio Snider-Pellegrini, France, 1858; (first proposed in lecture) Frank Taylor, U.S.; (first comprehensive detailed theory) Alfred Wegener, Germany, 1912.\nContraceptive, oral: Gregory Pincus, Min Chuch Chang, John Rock, Carl Djerassi, U.S., 1951.\nConverter, Bessemer: William Kelly, U.S., 1851.\nCosmetics: Egypt, c. 4000 B.C.\nCosamic string theory: (first postulated) Thomas Kibble, 1976.\nCotton gin: Eli Whitney, U.S., 1793.\nCrossbow: China, c. 300 B.C.\nCyclotron: Ernest O. Lawrence, U.S., 1931.\nDeuterium: (heavy hydrogen) Harold Urey, U.S., 1931.\nDisease: (chemicals in treatment of) crusaded by Philippus Paracelsus, 1527–1541; (germ theory) Louis Pasteur, France, 1862–1877.\nDNA: (deoxyribonucleic acid) Friedrich Meischer, Germany, 1869; (determination of double-helical structure) Rosalind Elsie Franklin, F. H. Crick, England, James D. Watson, U.S., 1953.\nDye: (aniline, start of synthetic dye industry) William H. Perkin, England, 1856.\nDynamite: Alfred Nobel, Sweden, 1867.\nElectric cooking utensil: (first) patented by St. George Lane-Fox, England, 1874.\nElectric generator (dynamo): (laboratory model) Michael Faraday, England, 1832; Joseph Henry, U.S., c.1832; (hand-driven model) Hippolyte Pixii, France, 1833; (alternating-current generator) Nikola Tesla, U.S., 1892.\nElectric lamp: (arc lamp) Sir Humphrey Davy, England, 1801; (fluorescent lamp) A.E. Becquerel, France, 1867; (incandescent lamp) Sir Joseph Swann, England, Thomas A. Edison, U.S., contemporaneously, 1870s; (carbon arc street lamp) Charles F. Brush, U.S., 1879; (first widely marketed incandescent lamp) Thomas A. Edison, U.S., 1879; (mercury vapor lamp) Peter Cooper Hewitt, U.S., 1903; (neon lamp) Georges Claude, France, 1911; (tungsten filament) Irving Langmuir, U.S., 1915.\nElectrocardiography: Demonstrated by Augustus Waller, 1887; (first practical device for recording activity of heart) Willem Einthoven, 1903, Dutch physiologist.\nElectromagnet: William Sturgeon, England, 1823.\nElectron: Sir Joseph J. Thompson, England, 1897.\nElevator, passenger: (safety device permitting use by passengers) Elisha G. Otis, U.S., 1852; (elevator utilizing safety device) 1857.\nE = mc2: (equivalence of mass and energy) Albert Einstein, Switzerland, 1907.\nEngine, internal combustion: No single inventor. Fundamental theory established by Sadi Carnot, France, 1824; (two-stroke) Etienne Lenoir, France, 1860; (ideal operating cycle for four-stroke) Alphonse Beau de Roche, France, 1862; (operating four-stroke) Nikolaus Otto, Germany, 1876; (diesel) Rudolf Diesel, Germany, 1892; (rotary) Felix Wankel, Germany, 1956.\nEvolution: (organic) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, France, 1809; (by natural selection) Charles Darwin, England, 1859.\nExclusion principle: (no two electrons in an atom can occupy the same energy level) Wolfgang Pauli, Germany, 1925.\nExpanding universe theory: (first proposed) George LeMaitre, Belgium, 1927; (discovered first direct evidence that the universe is expanding) Edwin P. Hubble, U.S., 1929; (Hubble constant: a measure of the rate at which the universe is expanding) Edwin P. Hubble, U.S., 1929.\nFalling bodies, law of: Galileo Galilei, Italy, 1590.\nFermentation: (microorganisms as cause of) Louis Pasteur, France, c.1860.\nFiber optics: Narinder Kapany, England, 1955.\nFibers, man-made: (nitrocellulose fibers treated to change flammable nitrocellulose to harmless cellulose, precursor of rayon) Sir Joseph Swann, England, 1883; (rayon) Count Hilaire de Chardonnet, France, 1889; (Celanese) Henry and Camille Dreyfuss, U.S., England, 1921; (research on polyesters and polyamides, basis for modern man-made fibers) U.S., England, Germany, 1930s; (nylon) Wallace H. Carothers, U.S., 1935.\nFrozen food: Clarence Birdseye, U.S., 1924.\nGene transfer: (human) Steven Rosenberg, R. Michael Blaese, W. French Anderson, U.S., 1989.\nGeometry, elements of: Euclid, Alexandria, Egypt, c. 300 B.C.; (analytic) René Descartes, France; and Pierre de Fermat, Switzerland, 1637.\nGravitation, law of: Sir Isaac Newton, England, c.1665 (published 1687).\nGunpowder: China, c.700.\nGyrocompass: Elmer A. Sperry, U.S., 1905.\nGyroscope: Léon Foucault, France, 1852.\nHalley’s Comet: Edmund Halley, England, 1705.\nHeart implanted in human, permanent artificial:Dr. Robert Jarvik, U.S., 1982.\nHeart, temporary artificial: Willem Kolft, 1957.\nHelicopter: (double rotor) Heinrich Focke, Germany, 1936; (single rotor) Igor Sikorsky, U.S., 1939.\nHelium first observed on sun: Sir Joseph Lockyer, England, 1868.\nHeredity, laws of: Gregor Mendel, Austria, 1865.\nHolograph: Dennis Gabor, England, 1947.\nHome videotape systems (VCR): (Betamax) Sony, Japan, 1975; (VHS) Matsushita, Japan, 1975.\nIce age theory: Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American, 1840.\nInduction, electric: Joseph Henry, U.S., 1828.\nInsulin: (first isolated) Sir Frederick G. Banting and Charles H. Best, Canada, 1921; (discovery first published) Banting and Best, 1922; (Nobel Prize awarded for purification for use in humans) John Macleod and Banting, 1923; (first synthesized), China, 1966.\nIntelligence testing: Alfred Binet, Theodore Simon, France, 1905.\nInterferon: Alick Isaacs, Jean Lindemann, England, Switzerland, 1957.\nIsotopes: (concept of) Frederick Soddy, England, 1912; (stable isotopes) J. J. Thompson, England, 1913; (existence demonstrated by mass spectrography) Francis W. Ashton, 1919.\nJet propulsion: (engine) Sir Frank Whittle, England, Hans von Ohain, Germany, 1936; (aircraft) Heinkel He 178, 1939.\nKinetic theory of gases: (molecules of a gas are in a state of rapid motion) Daniel Bernoulli, Switzerland, 1738.\nLaser: (theoretical work on) Charles H. Townes, Arthur L. Schawlow, U.S., N. Basov, A. Prokhorov, U.S.S.R., 1958; (first working model) T. H. Maiman, U.S., 1960.\nLawn mower: Edwin Budding, John Ferrabee, England, 1830–1831.\nLCD (liquid crystal display): Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland, 1970.\nLens, bifocal: Benjamin Franklin, U.S., c.1760.\nLeyden jar: (prototype electrical condenser) Canon E. G. von Kleist of Kamin, Pomerania, 1745; independently evolved by Cunaeus and P. van Musschenbroek, University of Leyden, Holland, 1746, from where name originated.\nLight, nature of: (wave theory) Christian Huygens, The Netherlands, 1678; (electromagnetic theory) James Clerk Maxwell, England, 1873.\nLight, speed of: (theory that light has finite velocity) Olaus Roemer, Denmark, 1675.\nLightning rod: Benjamin Franklin, U.S., 1752.\nLocomotive: (steam powered) Richard Trevithick, England, 1804; (first practical, due to multiple-fire-tube boiler) George Stephenson, England, 1829; (largest steam-powered) Union Pacific’s “Big Boy,” U.S., 1941.\nLock, cylinder: Linus Yale, U.S., 1851.\nLoom: (horizontal, two-beamed) Egypt, c. 4400 B.C.; (Jacquard drawloom, pattern controlled by punch cards) Jacques de Vaucanson, France, 1745, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, 1801; (flying shuttle) John Kay, England, 1733; (power-driven loom) Edmund Cartwright, England, 1785.\nMachine gun: (hand-cranked multibarrel) Richard J. Gatling, U.S., 1862; (practical single barrel, belt-fed) Hiram S. Maxim, Anglo-American, 1884.\nMagnet, Earth is: William Gilbert, England, 1600.\nMatch: (phosphorus) François Derosne, France, 1816; (friction) Charles Sauria, France, 1831; (safety) J. E. Lundstrom, Sweden, 1855.\nMeasles vaccine: John F. Enders, Thomas Peebles, U.S., 1953.\nMetric system: revolutionary government of France, 1790–1801.\nMicrophone: Charles Wheatstone, England, 1827.\nMicroscope: (compound) Zacharias Janssen, The Netherlands, 1590; (electron) Vladimir Zworykin et al., U.S., Canada, Germany, 1932–1939.\nMicrowave oven: Percy Spencer, U.S., 1947.\nMotion, laws of: Isaac Newton, England, 1687.\nMotion pictures: Thomas A. Edison, U.S., 1893.\nMotion pictures, sound: Product of various inventions. First picture with synchronized musical score: Don Juan, 1926; with spoken dialogue: The Jazz Singer, 1927; both Warner Bros.\nMotor, electric: Michael Faraday, England, 1822; (alternating-current) Nikola Tesla, U.S., 1892.\nMotorcycle: (motor tricycle) Edward Butler, England, 1884; (gasoline-engine motorcycle) Gottlieb Daimler, Germany, 1885.\nMoving assembly line: Henry Ford, U.S., 1913.\nNeptune: (discovery of) Johann Galle, Germany, 1846.\nNeptunium: (first transuranic element, synthesis of) Edward M. McMillan, Philip H. Abelson, U.S., 1940.\nNeutron: James Chadwick, England, 1932.\nNeutron-induced radiation: Enrico Fermi et al., Italy, 1934.\nNitroglycerin: Ascanio Sobrero, Italy, 1846.\nNuclear fission: Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, Germany, 1938.\nNuclear reactor: Enrico Fermi, Italy, et al., 1942.\nOhm’s law: (relationship between strength of electric current, electromotive force, and circuit resistance) Georg S. Ohm, Germany, 1827.\nOil well: Edwin L. Drake, U.S., 1859.\nOxygen: (isolation of) Joseph Priestley, 1774; Carl Scheele, 1773.\nOzone: Christian Schönbein, Germany, 1839.\nPacemaker: (internal) Clarence W. Lillehie, Earl Bakk, U.S., 1957.\nPaper China, c.100 A.D.\nParachute: Louis S. Lenormand, France, 1783.\nPen: (fountain) Lewis E. Waterman, U.S., 1884; (ball-point, for marking on rough surfaces) John H. Loud, U.S., 1888; (ball-point, for handwriting) Lazlo Biro, Argentina, 1944.\nPeriodic law: (that properties of elements are functions of their atomic weights) Dmitri Mendeleev, Russia, 1869.\nPeriodic table: (arrangement of chemical elements based on periodic law) Dmitri Mendeleev, Russia, 1869.\nPhonograph: Thomas A. Edison, U.S., 1877.\nPhotography: (first paper negative, first photograph, on metal) Joseph Nicéphore Niepce, France, 1816–1827; (discovery of fixative powers of hyposulfite of soda) Sir John Herschel, England, 1819; (first direct positive image on silver plate, the daguerreotype) Louis Daguerre, based on work with Niepce, France, 1839; (first paper negative from which a number of positive prints could be made) William Talbot, England, 1841. Work of these four men, taken together, forms basis for all modern photography. (First color images) Alexandre Becquerel, Claude Niepce de Saint-Victor, France, 1848–1860; (commercial color film with three emulsion layers, Kodachrome) U.S., 1935.\nPhotovoltaic effect: (light falling on certain materials can produce electricity) Edmund Becquerel, France, 1839.\nPiano: (Hammerklavier) Bartolommeo Cristofori, Italy, 1709; (pianoforte with sustaining and damper pedals) John Broadwood, England, 1873.\nPlanetary motion, laws of: Johannes Kepler, Germany, 1609, 1619.\nPlant respiration and photosynthesis: Jan Ingenhousz, Holland, 1779.\nPlastics: (first material, nitrocellulose softened by vegetable oil, camphor, precursor to Celluloid) Alexander Parkes, England, 1855; (Celluloid, involving recognition of vital effect of camphor) John W. Hyatt, U.S., 1869; (Bakelite, first completely synthetic plastic) Leo H. Baekeland, U.S., 1910; (theoretical background of macromolecules and process of polymerization on which modern plastics industry rests) Hermann Staudinger, Germany, 1922.\nPlate tectonics: Alfred Wegener, Germany, 1912–1915.\nPlow, forked: Mesopotamia, before 3000 B.C.\nPlutonium, synthesis of: Glenn T. Seaborg, Edwin M. McMillan, Arthur C. Wahl, Joseph W. Kennedy, U.S., 1941.\nPolio, vaccine: (experimentally safe dead-virus vaccine) Jonas E. Salk, U.S., 1952; (effective large-scale field trials) 1954; (officially approved) 1955; (safe oral live-virus vaccine developed) Albert B. Sabin, U.S., 1954; (available in the U.S.) 1960.\nPositron: Carl D. Anderson, U.S., 1932.\nPressure cooker: (early version) Denis Papin, France, 1679.\nPrinting: (block) Japan, c.700; (movable type) Korea, c.1400; Johann Gutenberg, Germany, c.1450 (lithography, offset) Aloys Senefelder, Germany, 1796; (rotary press) Richard Hoe, U.S., 1844; (linotype) Ottmar Mergenthaler, U.S., 1884.\nProbability theory: René Descartes, France; and Pierre de Fermat, Switzerland, 1654.\nProton: Ernest Rutherford, England, 1919.\nProzac: (antidepressant fluoxetine) Bryan B. Malloy, Scotland, and Klaus K. Schmiegel, U.S., 1972; (released for use in U.S.) Eli Lilly & Company, 1987.\nPsychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud, Austria, c.1904.\nPulsars: Antony Hewish and Jocelyn Bell Burnel, England, 1967.\nQuantum theory: (general) Max Planck, Germany, 1900; (sub-atomic) Niels Bohr, Denmark, 1913; (quantum mechanics) Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Germany, 1925.\nQuarks: Jerome Friedman, Henry Kendall, Richard Taylor, U.S., 1967.\nQuasars: Marten Schmidt, U.S., 1963.\nRabies immunization: Louis Pasteur, France, 1885.\nRadar: (limited to one-mile range) Christian Hulsmeyer, Germany, 1904; (pulse modulation, used for measuring height of ionosphere) Gregory Breit, Merle Tuve, U.S., 1925; (first practical radar—radio detection and ranging) Sir Robert Watson-Watt, England, 1934–1935.\nRadio: (electromagnetism, theory of) James Clerk Maxwell, England, 1873; (spark coil, generator of electromagnetic waves) Heinrich Hertz, Germany, 1886; (first practical system of wireless telegraphy) Guglielmo Marconi, Italy, 1895; (first long-distance telegraphic radio signal sent across the Atlantic) Marconi, 1901; (vacuum electron tube, basis for radio telephony) Sir John Fleming, England, 1904; (triode amplifying tube) Lee de Forest, U.S., 1906; (regenerative circuit, allowing long-distance sound reception) Edwin H. Armstrong, U.S., 1912; (frequency modulation—FM) Edwin H. Armstrong, U.S., 1933.\nRadioactivity: (X-rays) Wilhelm K. Roentgen, Germany, 1895; (radioactivity of uranium) Henri Becquerel, France, 1896; (radioactive elements, radium and polonium in uranium ore) Marie Sklodowska-Curie, Pierre Curie, France, 1898; (classification of alpha and beta particle radiation) Pierre Curie, France, 1900; (gamma radiation) Paul-Ulrich Villard, France, 1900.\nRadiocarbon dating, carbon-14 method: (discovered) 1947, Willard F. Libby, U.S.; (first demonstrated) U.S., 1950.\nRadio signals, extraterrestrial: first known radio noise signals were received by U.S. engineer, Karl Jansky, originating from the Galactic Center, 1931.\nRadio waves: (cosmic sources, led to radio astronomy) Karl Jansky, U.S., 1932.\nRazor: (safety, successfully marketed) King Gillette, U.S., 1901; (electric) Jacob Schick, U.S., 1928, 1931.\nReaper: Cyrus McCormick, U.S., 1834.\nRefrigerator: Alexander Twining, U.S., James Harrison, Australia, 1850; (first with a compressor device) the Domelse, Chicago, U.S., 1913.\nRefrigerator ship: (first) the Frigorifique, cooling unit designed by Charles Teller, France, 1877.\nRelativity: (special and general theories of) Albert Einstein, Switzerland, Germany, U.S., 1905–1953.\nRevolver: Samuel Colt, U.S., 1835.\nRichter scale: Charles F. Richter, U.S., 1935.\nRifle: (muzzle-loaded) Italy, Germany, c.1475; (breech-loaded) England, France, Germany, U.S., c.1866; (bolt-action) Paul von Mauser, Germany, 1889; (automatic) John Browning, U.S., 1918.\nRocket: (liquid-fueled) Robert Goddard, U.S., 1926.\nRoller bearing: (wooden for cartwheel) Germany or France, c.100 B.C.\nRotation of Earth: Jean Bernard Foucault, France, 1851.\nRoyal Observatory, Greenwich: established in 1675 by Charles II of England; John Flamsteed first Astronomer Royal.\nRubber: (vulcanization process) Charles Goodyear, U.S., 1839.\nSaccharin: Constantine Fuhlberg, Ira Remsen, U.S., 1879.\nSafety pin: Walter Hunt, U.S., 1849.\nSaturn, ring around: Christian Huygens, The Netherlands, 1659.\n“Scotch” tape: Richard Drew, U.S., 1929.\nScrew propeller: Sir Francis P. Smith, England, 1836; John Ericsson, England, worked independently of and simultaneously with Smith, 1837.\nSeismograph: (first accurate) John Milne, England, 1880.\nSewing machine: Elias Howe, U.S., 1846; (continuous stitch) Isaac Singer, U.S., 1851.\nSolar energy: First realistic application of solar energy using parabolic solar reflector to drive caloric engine on steam boiler, John Ericsson, U.S., 1860s.\nSolar system, universe: (Sun-centered universe) Nicolaus Copernicus, Warsaw, 1543; (establishment of planetary orbits as elliptical) Johannes Kepler, Germany, 1609; (infinity of universe) Giordano Bruno, Italian monk, 1584.\nSpectrum: (heterogeneity of light) Sir Isaac Newton, England, 1665–1666.\nSpectrum analysis: Gustav Kirchhoff, Robert Bunsen, Germany, 1859.\nSpermatozoa: Anton van Leeuwenhoek, The Netherlands, 1683.\nSpinning: (spinning wheel) India, introduced to Europe in Middle Ages; (Saxony wheel, continuous spinning of wool or cotton yarn) England, c.1500–1600; (spinning jenny) James Hargreaves, England, 1764; (spinning frame) Sir Richard Arkwright, England, 1769; (spinning mule, completed mechanization of spinning, permitting production of yarn to keep up with demands of modern looms) Samuel Crompton, England, 1779.\nStar catalog: (first modern) Tycho Brahe, Denmark, 1572.\nSteam engine: (first commercial version based on principles of French physicist Denis Papin) Thomas Savery, England, 1639; (atmospheric steam engine) Thomas Newcomen, England, 1705; (steam engine for pumping water from collieries) Savery, Newcomen, 1725; (modern condensing, double acting) James Watt, England, 1782.\nSteamship: Claude de Jouffroy d’Abbans, France, 1783; James Rumsey, U.S., 1787; John Fitch, U.S., 1790. All preceded Robert Fulton, U.S., 1807, credited with launching first commercially successful steamship.\nStethoscope: René Laënnec, France, 1819.\nSulfa drugs: (parent compound, para-aminobenzenesulfanomide) Paul Gelmo, Austria, 1908; (antibacterial activity) Gerhard Domagk, Germany, 1935.\nSuperconductivity: (theory) Bardeen, Cooper, Scheiffer, U.S., 1957.\nSymbolic logic: George Boule, 1854; (modern) Bertrand Russell, Alfred North Whitehead, England, 1910–1913.\nTank, military: Sir Ernest Swinton, England, 1914.\nTape recorder: (magnetic steel tape) Valdemar Poulsen, Denmark, 1899.\nTeflon: DuPont, U.S., 1943.\nTelegraph: Samuel F. B. Morse, U.S., 1837.\nTelephone: Alexander Graham Bell, U.S., 1876.\nTelescope: Hans Lippershey, The Netherlands, 1608; (astronomical) Galileo Galilei, Italy, 1609; (reflecting) Isaac Newton, England, 1668.\nTelevision: (Iconoscope–T.V. camera table), Vladimir Zworkin, U.S., 1923, and also kinescope (cathode ray tube), 1928; (mechanical disk-scanning method) successfully demonstrated by J.K. Baird, England, C.F. Jenkins, U.S., 1926; (first all-electric television image), 1927, Philo T. Farnsworth, U.S; (color, mechanical disk) Baird, 1928; (color, compatible with black and white) George Valensi, France, 1938; (color, sequential rotating filter) Peter Goldmark, U.S., first introduced, 1951; (color, compatible with black and white) commercially introduced in U.S., National Television Systems Committee, 1953.\nThermodynamics: (first law: energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another) Julius von Mayer, Germany, 1842; James Joule, England, 1843; (second law: heat cannot of itself pass from a colder to a warmer body) Rudolph Clausius, Germany, 1850; (third law: the entropy of ordered solids reaches zero at the absolute zero of temperature) Walter Nernst, Germany, 1918.\nThermometer: (open-column) Galileo Galilei, c.1593; (clinical) Santorio Santorio, Padua, c.1615; (mercury, also Fahrenheit scale) Gabriel D. Fahrenheit, Germany, 1714; (centigrade scale) Anders Celsius, Sweden, 1742; (absolute-temperature, or Kelvin, scale) William Thompson, Lord Kelvin, England, 1848.\nTire, pneumatic: Robert W. Thompson, England, 1845; (bicycle tire) John B. Dunlop, Northern Ireland, 1888.\nToilet, flush: Product of Minoan civilization, Crete, c. 2000 B.C. Alleged invention by “Thomas Crapper” is untrue.\nTractor: Benjamin Holt, U.S., 1900.\nTransformer, electric: William Stanley, U.S., 1885.\nTransistor: John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, William B. Shockley, U.S., 1947.\nTuberculosis bacterium: Robert Koch, Germany, 1882.\nTypewriter: Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, U.S., 1867.\nUncertainty principle: (that position and velocity of an object cannot both be measured exactly, at the same time) Werner Heisenberg, Germany, 1927.\nUranus: (first planet discovered in recorded history) William Herschel, England, 1781.\nVaccination: Edward Jenner, England, 1796.\nVacuum cleaner: (manually operated) Ives W. McGaffey, 1869; (electric) Hubert C. Booth, England, 1901; (upright) J. Murray Spangler, U.S., 1907.\nVan Allen (radiation) Belt: (around Earth) James Van Allen, U.S., 1958.\nVideo disk: Philips Co., The Netherlands, 1972.\nVitamins: (hypothesis of disease deficiency) Sir F. G. Hopkins, Casimir Funk, England, 1912; (vitamin A) Elmer V. McCollum, M. Davis, U.S., 1912–1914; (vitamin B) McCollum, U.S., 1915–1916; (thiamin, B1) Casimir Funk, England, 1912; (riboflavin, B2) D. T. Smith, E. G. Hendrick, U.S., 1926; (niacin) Conrad Elvehjem, U.S., 1937; (B6) Paul Gyorgy, U.S., 1934; (vitamin C) C. A. Hoist, T. Froelich, Norway, 1912; (vitamin D) McCollum, U.S., 1922; (folic acid) Lucy Wills, England, 1933.\nVoltaic pile: (forerunner of modern battery, first source of continuous electric current) Alessandro Volta, Italy, 1800.\nWallpaper: Europe, 16th and 17th century.\nWassermann test: (for syphilis) August von Wassermann, Germany, 1906.\nWheel: (cart, solid wood) Mesopotamia, c.3800–3600 B.C.\nWindmill: Persia, c.600.\nWorld Wide Web: (developed while working at CERN) Tim Berners-Lee, England, 1989; (development of Mosaic browser makes WWW available for general use) Marc Andreeson, U.S., 1993.\nXerography: Chester Carlson, U.S., 1938.\nZero: India, c.600; (absolute zero temperature, cessation of all molecular energy) William Thompson, Lord Kelvin, England, 1848.\nZipper: W. L. Judson, U.S., 1891."
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Within one year either way, in what year did the Channel Tunnel first open for business to fee-paying passengers? | 1994 | [
"Channel_Tunnel.txt\nChannel Tunnel\nThe Channel Tunnel (; also nicknamed and shortened to Chunnel) is a rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent, in the United Kingdom, with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, near Calais in northern France, beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is 75 m deep. At , the tunnel has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world, although the Seikan Tunnel in Japan is both longer overall at and deeper at 240 m below sea level. The speed limit in the tunnel is 160 km/h. \n\nThe tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, the Eurotunnel Shuttle for road vehicles—the largest such transport in the world—and international freight trains. The tunnel connects end-to-end with the LGV Nord and High Speed 1 high-speed railway lines.\n\nIdeas for a cross-Channel fixed link appeared as early as 1802, but British political and press pressure over the compromising of national security stalled attempts to construct a tunnel. An early attempt at building a Channel Tunnel was made in the late 19th century, on the English side \"in the hope of forcing the hand of the English Government\". The eventual successful project, organised by Eurotunnel, began construction in 1988 and opened in 1994. At £4.65 billion, the project came in 80% over its predicted budget. Since its construction, the tunnel has faced several problems. Both fires and cold weather have disrupted its operation. Illegal immigrants have attempted to use the tunnel to enter the UK, causing a minor diplomatic disagreement over the siting of the refugee camp at Sangatte, which was eventually closed in 2002. \n\nOrigins \n\nEarlier proposals \n\nIn 1802, Albert Mathieu, a French mining engineer, put forward a proposal to tunnel under the English Channel, with illumination from oil lamps, horse-drawn coaches, and an artificial island mid-Channel for changing horses. \n\nIn the 1830s, Aimé Thomé de Gamond, a Frenchman, performed the first geological and hydrographical surveys on the Channel, between Calais and Dover. Thomé de Gamond explored several schemes and, in 1856, he presented a proposal to Napoleon III for a mined railway tunnel from Cap Gris-Nez to Eastwater Point with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank at a cost of 170 million francs, or less than £7 million. \n\nIn 1865, a deputation led by George Ward Hunt proposed the idea of a tunnel to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day, William Ewart Gladstone. \n\nAround 1866, William Low and Sir John Hawkshaw promoted ideas, but apart from preliminary geological studies none were implemented. An official Anglo-French protocol was established in 1876 for a cross-Channel railway tunnel. In 1881, the British railway entrepreneur Sir Edward Watkin and Alexandre Lavalley, a French Suez Canal contractor, were in the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company that conducted exploratory work on both sides of the Channel. On the English side a diameter Beaumont-English boring machine dug a 1893 m pilot tunnel from Shakespeare Cliff. On the French side, a similar machine dug 1669 m from Sangatte. The project was abandoned in May 1882, owing to British political and press campaigns asserting that a tunnel would compromise Britain's national defences. These early works were encountered more than a century later during the TML project.\n\nIn 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference, the British prime minister, David Lloyd George, repeatedly brought up the idea of a Channel tunnel as a way of reassuring France about British willingness to defend against another German attack. The French did not take the idea seriously and nothing came of Lloyd George's proposal. \n\nIn 1929 there was another proposal but nothing came of this discussion and the idea was shelved. Proponents estimated construction to be about US$150 million. The engineers had addressed the concerns of both nations' military leaders by designing two sumps—one near the coast of each country—that could be flooded at will to block the tunnel. This design feature did not override the concerns of both nations' military leaders, and other concerns about hordes of undesirable tourists who would disrupt English habits of living. Military fears continued during World War II. After the fall of France, as Britain prepared for an expected German invasion, a Royal Navy officer in the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development calculated that Hitler could use slave labour to build two Channel tunnels in 18 months. The estimate caused rumours that Germany had already begun digging. \n\nIn 1955, defence arguments were accepted to be irrelevant because of the dominance of air power, and both the British and French governments supported technical and geological surveys. In 1958 the 1881 workings were cleared in preparation for a £100,000 geological survey by the Channel Tunnel Study Group. 30% of the funding came from the Channel Tunnel Co Ltd, the largest shareholder of which was the British Transport Commission, as successor to the South Eastern Railway. A detailed geological survey was carried out in 1964–65. \n\nAlthough the two countries agreed to build a tunnel in 1964, the phase 1 initial studies and signing of a second agreement to cover phase 2 took until 1973. Construction work of this government-funded project to create two tunnels designed to accommodate car shuttle wagons on either side of a service tunnel started on both sides of the Channel in 1974.\n\nOn 20 January 1975, to the dismay of their French partners, the now governing Labour Party in Britain cancelled the project due to uncertainty about EEC membership, doubling cost estimates and the general economic crisis at the time. By this time the British tunnel boring machine was ready and the Ministry of Transport was able to do a 300 m experimental drive. This short tunnel was reused as the starting and access point for tunnelling operations from the British side. The cancellation costs were estimated to be £17 million.\n\nInitiation of project \n\nIn 1979, the \"Mouse-hole Project\" was suggested when the Conservatives came to power in Britain. The concept was a single-track rail tunnel with a service tunnel, but without shuttle terminals. The British government took no interest in funding the project, but Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister, said she had no objection to a privately funded project. In 1981 Thatcher and François Mitterrand, the French president, agreed to set up a working group to look into a privately funded project, and in June 1982 the Franco-British study group favoured a twin tunnel to take conventional trains and a vehicle shuttle service. In April 1985 promoters were formally invited to submit scheme proposals. Four submissions were shortlisted:\n\n* a rail proposal based on the 1975 scheme presented by Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M),\n* Eurobridge: a span suspension bridge with a roadway in an enclosed tube\n* Euroroute: a 21 km tunnel between artificial islands approached by bridges, and\n* Channel Expressway: large diameter road tunnels with mid-channel ventilation towers.\n\nThe cross-Channel ferry industry protested under the name \"Flexilink\". In 1975 there was no campaign protesting against a fixed link, with one of the largest ferry operators (Sealink) being state-owned. Flexilink continued rousing opposition throughout 1986 and 1987. Public opinion strongly favoured a drive-through tunnel, but ventilation issues, concerns about accident management, and fear of driver mesmerisation led to the only shortlisted rail submission, CTG/F-M, being awarded the project in January 1986. Among reasons given for the selection was that it caused least disruption to shipping in the Channel, least environmental disruption, was the best protected against terrorism, and was the most likely to attract sufficient private finance.\n\nArrangement \n\nThe British Channel Tunnel Group consisted of two banks and five construction companies, while their French counterparts, France–Manche, consisted of three banks and five construction companies. The role of the banks was to advise on financing and secure loan commitments. On 2 July 1985, the groups formed Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M). Their submission to the British and French governments was drawn from the 1975 project, including 11 volumes and a substantial environmental impact statement.\n\nThe design and construction was done by the ten construction companies in the CTG/F-M group. The French terminal and boring from Sangatte was undertaken by the five French construction companies in the joint venture group GIE Transmanche Construction. The English Terminal and boring from Shakespeare Cliff was undertaken by the five British construction companies in the Translink Joint Venture. The two partnerships were linked by TransManche Link (TML), a bi-national project organisation. The Maître d'Oeuvre was a supervisory engineering body employed by Eurotunnel under the terms of the concession that monitored project activity and reported back to the governments and banks. \n\nIn France, with its long tradition of infrastructure investment, the project garnered widespread approval. In April the French National Assembly gave unanimous support and, in June 1987, after a public inquiry, the Senate gave unanimous support. In Britain, select committees examined the proposal, making history by holding hearings away from Westminster, in Kent. In February 1987, the third reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill took place in the House of Commons, and was carried by 94 votes to 22. The Channel Tunnel Act gained Royal assent and passed into law in July. Parliamentary support for the project came partly from provincial members of Parliament on the basis of promises of regional Eurostar through train services that never materialised; the promises were repeated in 1996 when the contract for construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was awarded. \n\nThe tunnel is a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) project with a concession. TML would design and build the tunnel, but financing was through a separate legal entity, Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel absorbed CTG/F-M and signed a construction contract with TML, but the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions, now in the hands of the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority. The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55-year operating concession (from 1987; extended by 10 years to 65 years in 1993) to repay loans and pay dividends. A Railway Usage Agreement was signed between Eurotunnel, British Rail and SNCF guaranteeing future revenue in exchange for the railways obtaining half of the tunnel's capacity.\n\nPrivate funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. An initial equity of £45 million was raised by CTG/F-M, increased by £206 million private institutional placement, £770 million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements, a syndicated bank loan and letter of credit arranged £5 billion. Privately financed, the total investment costs at 1985 prices were £2600 million. At the 1994 completion actual costs were, in 1985 prices, £4650 million: an 80% cost overrun. The cost overrun was partly due to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands. Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast. \n\nConstruction \n\nWorking from both the English side and the French side of the Channel, eleven tunnel boring machines or TBMs cut through chalk marl to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. The vehicle shuttle terminals are at Cheriton (part of Folkestone) and Coquelles, and are connected to the English M20 and French A16 motorways respectively.\n\nTunnelling commenced in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994. In 1985 prices, the total construction cost was £4.650 billion (equivalent to £ billion today), an 80% cost overrun. At the peak of construction 15,000 people were employed with daily expenditure over £3 million. Ten workers, eight of them British, were killed during construction between 1987 and 1993, most in the first few months of boring. \n\nCompletion \n\nA two-inch (50-mm) diameter pilot hole allowed the service tunnel to break through without ceremony on 30 October 1990. On 1 December 1990, Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette broke through the service tunnel with the media watching. Eurotunnel completed the tunnel on time, and it was officially opened, one year later than originally planned, by Queen Elizabeth II and the French president, François Mitterrand, in a ceremony held in Calais on 6 May 1994. The Queen travelled through the tunnel to Calais on a Eurostar train, which stopped nose to nose with the train that carried President Mitterrand from Paris. Following the ceremony President Mitterrand and the Queen travelled on Le Shuttle to a similar ceremony in Folkestone. A full public service did not start for several months.\n\nThe Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called High Speed 1, runs 69 mi from St Pancras railway station in London to the tunnel portal at Folkestone in Kent. It cost £5.8 billion. On 16 September 2003 the prime minister, Tony Blair, opened the first section of High Speed 1, from Folkestone to north Kent. On 6 November 2007 the Queen officially opened High Speed 1 and St Pancras International station, replacing the original slower link to Waterloo International railway station. High Speed 1 trains travel at up to 300 km/h, the journey from London to Paris taking 2 hours 15 minutes, to Brussels 1 hour 51 minutes. \n\nIn 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers elected the tunnel as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World. In 1995, the American magazine Popular Mechanics published the results.\n\nEngineering \n\nSurveying undertaken in the 20 years before construction confirmed earlier speculations that a tunnel could be bored through a chalk marl stratum. The chalk marl was conducive to tunnelling, with impermeability, ease of excavation and strength. On the English side the chalk marl ran along the entire length of the tunnel, but on the French a length of 5 km had variable and difficult geology. The tunnel consists of three bores: two diameter rail tunnels, 30 m apart, 50 km in length with a diameter service tunnel in between. There are also cross-passages and piston relief ducts. The service tunnel was used as a pilot tunnel, boring ahead of the main tunnels to determine the conditions. English access was provided at Shakespeare Cliff, French access from a shaft at Sangatte. The French side used five tunnel boring machines (TBMs), the English side six. The service tunnel uses Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) and Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS). Fire safety was a critical design issue.\n\nBetween the portals at Beussingue and Castle Hill the tunnel is long, with under land on the French side and on the UK side, and under sea. It is the third-longest rail tunnel in the world, behind the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland and the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, but with the longest under-sea section. The average depth is 45 m below the seabed. On the UK side, of the expected 5 e6m3 of spoil approximately 1 e6m3 was used for fill at the terminal site, and the remainder was deposited at Lower Shakespeare Cliff behind a seawall, reclaiming 74 acre of land. This land was then made into the Samphire Hoe Country Park. Environmental impact assessment did not identify any major risks for the project, and further studies into safety, noise, and air pollution were overall positive. However, environmental objections were raised over a high-speed link to London. \n\nGeology \n\nSuccessful tunnelling required a sound understanding of the topography and geology and the selection of the best rock strata through which to dig. The geology of this site generally consists of northeasterly dipping Cretaceous strata, part of the northern limb of the Wealden-Boulonnais dome. Characteristics include:\n\n* Continuous chalk on the cliffs on either side of the Channel containing no major faulting, as observed by Verstegan in 1698.\n* Four geological strata, marine sediments laid down 90–100 million years ago; pervious upper and middle chalk above slightly pervious lower chalk and finally impermeable Gault Clay. A sandy stratum, glauconitic marl (tortia), is in between the chalk marl and gault clay.\n* A 25 – layer of chalk marl (French: craie bleue) in the lower third of the lower chalk appeared to present the best tunnelling medium. The chalk has a clay content of 30–40% providing impermeability to groundwater yet relatively easy excavation with strength allowing minimal support. Ideally the tunnel would be bored in the bottom 15 m of the chalk marl, allowing water inflow from fractures and joints to be minimised, but above the gault clay that would increase stress on the tunnel lining and swell and soften when wet. \n\nOn the English side, the stratum dip is less than 5°; on the French side this increases to 20°. Jointing and faulting are present on both sides. On the English side, only minor faults of displacement less than 2 m exist; on the French side, displacements of up to 15 m are present owing to the Quenocs anticlinal fold. The faults are of limited width, filled with calcite, pyrite and remoulded clay. The increased dip and faulting restricted the selection of route on the French side. To avoid confusion, microfossil assemblages were used to classify the chalk marl. On the French side, particularly near the coast, the chalk was harder, more brittle and more fractured than on the English side. This led to the adoption of different tunnelling techniques on the two sides.\n\nThe Quaternary undersea valley Fosse Dangaered, and Castle Hill landslip at the English portal, caused concerns. Identified by the 1964–65 geophysical survey, the Fosse Dangaered is an infilled valley system extending 80 m below the seabed, 500 m south of the tunnel route in mid-channel. A 1986 survey showed that a tributary crossed the path of the tunnel, and so the tunnel route was made as far north and deep as possible. The English terminal had to be located in the Castle Hill landslip, which consists of displaced and tipping blocks of lower chalk, glauconitic marl and gault debris. Thus the area was stabilised by buttressing and inserting drainage adits. The service tunnel acted as a pilot preceding the main ones, so that the geology, areas of crushed rock, and zones of high water inflow could be predicted. Exploratory probing took place in the service tunnel, in the form of extensive forward probing, vertical downward probes and sideways probing. \n\nSurveying \n\nMarine soundings and samplings by Thomé de Gamond were carried out during 1833–67, establishing the seabed depth at a maximum of 55 m and the continuity of geological strata (layers). Surveying continued over many years, with 166 marine and 70 land-deep boreholes being drilled and over 4,000-line-kilometres of marine geophysical survey completed. Surveys were undertaken in 1958–1959, 1964–1965, 1972–1974 and 1986–1988.\n\nThe surveying in 1958–59 catered for immersed tube and bridge designs as well as a bored tunnel, and thus a wide area was investigated. At this time, marine geophysics surveying for engineering projects was in its infancy, with poor positioning and resolution from seismic profiling. The 1964–65 surveys concentrated on a northerly route that left the English coast at Dover harbour; using 70 boreholes, an area of deeply weathered rock with high permeability was located just south of Dover harbour.\n\nGiven the previous survey results and access constraints, a more southerly route was investigated in the 1972–73 survey, and the route was confirmed to be feasible. Information for the tunnelling project also came from work before the 1975 cancellation. On the French side at Sangatte, a deep shaft with adits was made. On the English side at Shakespeare Cliff, the government allowed 250 m of diameter tunnel to be driven. The actual tunnel alignment, method of excavation and support were essentially the same as the 1975 attempt. In the 1986–87 survey, previous findings were reinforced, and the characteristics of the gault clay and the tunnelling medium (chalk marl that made up 85% of the route) were investigated. Geophysical techniques from the oil industry were employed. \n\nTunnelling \n\nTunnelling was a major engineering challenge, with the only precedent being the undersea Seikan Tunnel in Japan. A serious risk with underwater tunnels is major water inflow due to the pressure from the sea above, under weak ground conditions. The tunnel also had the challenge of time: being privately funded, early financial return was paramount.\n\nThe objective was to construct two rail tunnels, 30 m apart, 50 km in length; a service tunnel between the two main ones; pairs of cross-passages linking the rail tunnels to the service one at 375 m spacing; piston relief ducts 2 m in diameter connecting the rail tunnels 250 m apart; two undersea crossover caverns to connect the rail tunnels, with the service tunnel always preceding the main ones by at least 1 km to ascertain the ground conditions. There was plenty of experience with excavating through chalk in the mining industry, while the undersea crossover caverns were a complex engineering problem. The French one was based on the Mount Baker Ridge freeway tunnel in Seattle; the UK cavern was dug from the service tunnel ahead of the main ones, to avoid delay.\n\nPrecast segmental linings in the main TBM drives were used, but two different solutions were used. On the French side, neoprene and grout sealed bolted linings made of cast iron or high-strength reinforced concrete were used; on the English side, the main requirement was for speed so bolting of cast-iron lining segments was only carried out in areas of poor geology. In the UK rail tunnels, eight lining segments plus a key segment were used; in the French side, five segments plus a key. On the French side, a 55 m diameter 75 m deep grout-curtained shaft at Sangatte was used for access. On the English side, a marshalling area was 140 m below the top of Shakespeare Cliff, the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM) was first applied in the chalk marl here. On the English side, the land tunnels were driven from Shakespeare Cliff - same place as the marine tunnels - not from Folkestone. The platform at the base of the cliff was not large enough for all of the drives and, despite environmental objections, tunnel spoil was placed behind a reinforced concrete seawall, on condition of placing the chalk in an enclosed lagoon, to avoid wide dispersal of chalk fines. Owing to limited space, the precast lining factory was on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary, which used Scottish granite aggregate delivered by ship from the Foster Yeoman coastal super quarry at Glensanda in Loch Linnhe on the west coast of Scotland.\n\nOn the French side, owing to the greater permeability to water, earth pressure balance TBMs with open and closed modes were used. The TBMs were of a closed nature during the initial 5 km, but then operated as open, boring through the chalk marl stratum. This minimised the impact to the ground, allowed high water pressures to be withstood and it also alleviated the need to grout ahead of the tunnel. The French effort required five TBMs: two main marine machines, one main land machine (the short land drives of 3 km allowed one TBM to complete the first drive then reverse direction and complete the other), and two service tunnel machines. On the English side, the simpler geology allowed faster open-faced TBMs. Six machines were used, all commenced digging from Shakespeare Cliff, three marine-bound and three for the land tunnels. Towards the completion of the undersea drives, the UK TBMs were driven steeply downwards and buried clear of the tunnel. These buried TBMs were then used to provide an electrical earth. The French TBMs then completed the tunnel and were dismantled. A 900 mm gauge railway was used on the English side during construction. \n\nIn contrast to the English machines, which were given alphanumeric names, the French tunnelling machines were all named after women: Brigitte, Europa, Catherine, Virginie, Pascaline, Séverine. \n\nRailway design \n\nCommunications \n\nThere are three communication systems: concession radio (CR) for mobile vehicles and personnel within Eurotunnel's Concession (terminals, tunnels, coastal shafts); track-to-train radio (TTR) for secure speech and data between trains and the railway control centre; Shuttle internal radio (SIR) for communication between shuttle crew and to passengers over car radios. This service was discontinued within one year of opening because of drivers' difficulty setting their radios to the correct frequency (88.8 MHz).\n\nPower supply \n\nPower is delivered to the locomotives via an overhead line (catenary) at 25 kV AC railway electrification|. All tunnel services run on electricity, shared equally from English and French sources. There are two sub-stations fed at 400 kV at each terminal, but in an emergency the tunnel's lighting (about 20,000 light fittings) and plant can be powered solely from either England or France.\n\nThe traditional railway south of London uses a 750 V DC third rail to deliver electricity, but since the opening of High Speed 1 there is no longer any need for tunnel trains to use the third rail system. High Speed 1, the tunnel and the LGV Nord all have power provided via overhead catenary at 25 kV 50 Hz. The railways on \"classic\" lines in Belgium are also electrified by overhead wires, but at 3000 V DC.\n\nSignalling \n\nA cab signalling system gives information directly to train drivers on a display. There is a train protection system that stops the train if the speed exceeds that indicated on the in-cab display. TVM430, as used on LGV Nord and High Speed 1, is used in the tunnel. The TVM signalling is interconnected with the signalling on the high-speed lines either side, allowing trains to enter and exit the tunnel system without stopping. The maximum speed is . \n\nSignalling in the tunnel is coordinated from two control centres: The main control centre at the Folkestone terminal, and a backup at the Calais terminal, which is staffed at all times and can take over all operations in the event of a breakdown or emergency.\n\nTrack system \n\nConventional ballasted tunnel-track was ruled out owing to the difficulty of maintenance and lack of stability and precision. The Sonneville International Corporation's track system was chosen based on reliability and cost-effectiveness based on good performance in Swiss tunnels and worldwide. The type of track used is known as Low Vibration Track (LVT). Like ballasted track the LVT is of the free floating type, held in place by gravity and friction. Reinforced concrete blocks of 100 kg support the rails every 60 cm and are held by 12 mm thick closed cell polymer foam pads placed at the bottom of rubber boots. The latter separate the blocks' mass movements from the lean encasement concrete. Ballastless track provides extra overhead clearance necessary for the passage of larger trains. The corrugated rubber walls of the boots add a degree of isolation of horizontal wheel-rail vibrations, and are insulators of the track signal circuit in the humid tunnel environment. UIC60 (60 kg/m) rails of 900A grade rest on 6 mm rail pads, which fit the RN/Sonneville bolted dual leaf-springs. The rails, LVT-blocks and their boots with pads were assembled outside the tunnel, in a fully automated process developed by the LVT inventor, Mr. Roger Sonneville. About 334,000 Sonneville blocks were made on the Sangatte site.\n\nMaintenance activities are less than projected. Initially the rails were ground on a yearly basis or after approximately 100MGT of traffic. Ride quality continues to be noticeably smooth and of low noise. Maintenance is facilitated by the existence of two tunnel junctions or crossover facilities, allowing for two-way operation in each of the six tunnel segments thereby created, and thus providing safe access for maintenance of one isolated tunnel segment at a time. The two crossovers are the largest artificial undersea caverns ever built; 150 m long, 10 m high and 18 m wide. The English crossover is 8 km from Shakespeare Cliff, and the French crossover is 12 km from Sangatte.\n\nVentilation, cooling and drainage \n\nThe ventilation system maintains the air pressure in the service tunnel higher than in the rail tunnels, so that in the event of a fire, smoke does not enter the service tunnel from the rail tunnels. Two cooling water pipes in each rail tunnel circulate chilled water to remove heat generated by the rail traffic. Pumping stations remove water in the tunnels from rain, seepage, and so on.\n\nRolling stock \n\nEurotunnel Shuttle \n\nInitially 38 Le Shuttle locomotives were commissioned, with one at each end of a shuttle train. The shuttles have two separate halves: single and double deck. Each half has two loading/unloading wagons and 12 carrier wagons. Eurotunnel's original order was for nine tourist shuttles.\n\nHGV (Heavy goods vehicle) shuttles also have two halves, with each half containing one loading wagon, one unloading wagon and 14 carrier wagons. There is a club car behind the leading locomotive. Eurotunnel originally ordered six HGV shuttle rakes.\n\nFreight locomotives \n\nForty-six Class 92 locomotives for hauling freight trains and overnight passenger trains (the Nightstar project, which was abandoned) were commissioned, running on both overhead AC and third-rail DC power. However, RFF does not let these run on French railways, so there are plans to certify Alstom Prima II locomotives for use in the tunnel. \n\nInternational passenger \n\nThirty-one Eurostar trains, based on the French TGV, built to UK loading gauge with many modifications for safety within the tunnel, were commissioned, with ownership split between British Rail, French national railways (SNCF) and Belgian national railways (SNCB). British Rail ordered seven more for services north of London. Around 2010, Eurostar ordered ten trains from Siemens based on its Velaro product.\n\nDeutsche Bahn (DB) has since around 2005 tried to get permission to run train services to London. At the end of 2009, extensive fire-proofing requirements were dropped and DB received permission to run German Intercity-Express (ICE) test trains through the tunnel. In June 2013 DB was granted access to the tunnel. In June 2014 the plans were shelved, because there are special safety rules that requires custom made trains (DB calls them Class 407). Another problem was passengers would have to leave the train in Lille, go through passport and security checks and go back on board, because of British rules (the British Border Force refuses to do passport check on board).\n\nService locomotives \n\nDiesel locomotives for rescue and shunting work are Eurotunnel Class 0001 and Eurotunnel Class 0031.\n\nOperation \n\nThe following chart presents the estimated number of passengers and tonnes of freight, respectively, annually transported through the Channel Tunnel since 1994, in millions:\n\nUsage and services \n\nServices offered by the tunnel are as follows:\n\n* Eurotunnel Le Shuttle roll-on roll-off shuttle service for road vehicles,\n* Eurostar passenger trains,\n* through freight trains. \n\nBoth the freight and passenger traffic forecasts that led to the construction of the tunnel were overestimated; in particular, Eurotunnel's commissioned forecasts were over-predictions. Although the captured share of Channel crossings was forecast correctly, high competition (especially from budget airlines which expanded rapidly in the 1990s and 2000s) and reduced tariffs led to low revenue. Overall cross-Channel traffic was overestimated. \n\nWith the EU's liberalisation of international rail services, the tunnel and High Speed 1 have been open to competition since 2010. There have been a number of operators interested in running trains through the tunnel and along High Speed 1 to London. In June 2013, after several years, DB obtained a license to operate Frankfurt – London trains, not expected to run before 2016 because of delivery delays of the custom-made trains. \n\nPassenger traffic volumes \n\nCross-tunnel passenger traffic volumes peaked at 18.4 million in 1998, dropped to 14.9 million in 2003, then rose to 21.0 million in 2014.\n\nAt the time of the decision about building the tunnel, 15.9 million passengers were predicted for Eurostar trains in the opening year. In 1995, the first full year, actual numbers were a little over 2.9 million, growing to 7.1 million in 2000, then dropping to 6.3 million in 2003. Eurostar was limited by the lack of a high-speed connection on the British side. After the completion of High Speed 1 in two stages in 2003 and 2007, traffic increased. In 2008, Eurostar carried 9,113,371 passengers, a 10% increase over the previous year, despite traffic limitations due to the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire. Eurostar passenger numbers continued to increase, reaching 10,397,894 in 2014. \n\nFreight traffic volumes \n\nFreight volumes have been erratic, with a decrease during 1997 due to a closure caused by a fire in a freight shuttle. Freight crossings increased over the period, indicating the substitutability of the tunnel by sea crossings. The tunnel has achieved a market share close to or above Eurotunnel's 1980s predictions but Eurotunnel's 1990 and 1994 predictions were overestimates.\n\nFor through freight trains, the first year prediction was 7.2 million gross tonnes; the actual 1995 figure was 1.3M gross tonnes. Through freight volumes peaked in 1998 at 3.1M tonnes. This fell back to 1.21M tonnes in 2007, increasing slightly to 1.24M tonnes in 2008. Together with that carried on freight shuttles, freight growth has occurred since opening, with 6.4M tonnes carried in 1995, 18.4M tonnes recorded in 2003 and 19.6M tonnes in 2007. Numbers fell back in the wake of the 2008 fire.\n\nEurotunnel's freight subsidiary is Europorte 2. In September 2006 EWS, the UK's largest rail freight operator, announced that owing to cessation of UK-French government subsidies of £52 million per annum to cover the tunnel \"Minimum User Charge\" (a subsidy of around £13,000 per train, at a traffic level of 4,000 trains per annum), freight trains would stop running after 30 November. \n\nEconomic performance \n\nShares in Eurotunnel were issued at £3.50 per share on 9 December 1987. By mid-1989 the price had risen to £11.00. Delays and cost overruns led to the price dropping; during demonstration runs in October 1994 it reached an all-time low. Eurotunnel suspended payment on its debt in September 1995 to avoid bankruptcy. In December 1997 the British and French governments extended Eurotunnel's operating concession by 34 years, to 2086. Financial restructuring of Eurotunnel occurred in mid-1998, reducing debt and financial charges. Despite the restructuring, The Economist reported in 1998 that to break even Eurotunnel would have to increase fares, traffic and market share for sustainability. A cost benefit analysis of the tunnel indicated that there were few impacts on the wider economy and few developments associated with the project, and that the British economy would have been better off if it had not been constructed. \n\nUnder the terms of the Concession, Eurotunnel was obliged to investigate a cross-Channel road tunnel. In December 1999 road and rail tunnel proposals were presented to the British and French governments, but it was stressed that there was not enough demand for a second tunnel. A three-way treaty between the United Kingdom, France and Belgium governs border controls, with the establishment of control zones wherein the officers of the other nation may exercise limited customs and law enforcement powers. For most purposes these are at either end of the tunnel, with the French border controls on the UK side of the tunnel and vice versa. For some city-to-city trains, the train is a control zone. A binational emergency plan coordinates UK and French emergency activities. \n\nIn 1999 Eurostar posted its first net profit, having made a loss of £925m in 1995. In 2005 Eurotunnel was described as being in a serious situation. In 2013, operating profits rose 4 per cent from 2012, to £54 million. \n\nSecurity \n\nThere is a need for full passport controls, since this is the border between the Schengen Area and the Common Travel Area. There are juxtaposed controls, meaning that passports are checked before boarding first by officials belonging to departing country and then officials of the destination country. These are only placed at the main Eurostar stations - (London, Ebbsfleet, Ashford, Calais, Lille, Brussels and Paris). There are security checks before boarding as well. For the shuttle road-vehicle trains, there are juxtaposed passport controls before boarding the trains.\n\nFor Eurostar trains travelling from places south of Paris, there is no passport and security check before departure, and those trains must stop in Lille at least 30 minutes to allow all passengers to be checked. No checks are done on board. There have been plans for services from Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Cologne to London, but a major reason to cancel them was the need for a stop in Lille.\n\nThe reason for juxtaposed controls is a wish to prevent illegal immigration before reaching British soil, and because a check of all passengers on a train can take 30 minutes, which creates long queues if done at arrival.\n\nTerminals \n\nThe terminals' sites are at Cheriton (near Folkestone in the United Kingdom) and Coquelles (near Calais in France). The terminals are designed to transfer vehicles from the motorway onto trains at a rate of 700 cars and 113 heavy vehicles per hour. The UK site uses the M20 motorway for access. The terminals are organised with the frontier controls juxtaposed with the entry to the system to allow travellers to go onto the motorway at the destination country immediately after leaving the shuttle. The area of the UK site was severely constrained and the design was challenging. The French layout was achieved more easily. To achieve design output, the shuttles accept cars on double-deck wagons; for flexibility, ramps were placed inside the shuttles to provide access to the top decks. At Folkestone there are 20 km of main-line track, 45 turnouts and eight platforms. At Calais there are 30 km of track and 44 turnouts. At the terminals the shuttle trains traverse a figure eight to reduce uneven wear on the wheels. There is a freight marshalling yard west of Cheriton at Dollands Moor Freight Yard.\n\nRegional impact \n\nA 1996 report from the European Commission predicted that Kent and Nord-Pas de Calais had to face increased traffic volumes due to general growth of cross-Channel traffic and traffic attracted by the tunnel. In Kent, a high-speed rail line to London would transfer traffic from road to rail. Kent's regional development would benefit from the tunnel, but being so close to London restricts the benefits. Gains are in the traditional industries and are largely dependent on the development of Ashford International passenger station, without which Kent would be totally dependent on London's expansion. Nord-Pas-de-Calais enjoys a strong internal symbolic effect of the Tunnel which results in significant gains in manufacturing. \n\nThe removal of a bottleneck by means like the tunnel does not necessarily induce economic gains in all adjacent regions. The image of a region being connected to the European high-speed transport and active political response are more important for regional economic development. Some small-medium enterprises located in the immediate vicinity of the terminal have used the opportunity to re-brand the profile of their business with positive effect, such as The New Inn at Etchinghill which was able to commercially exploit its unique selling point as being 'the closest pub to the Channel Tunnel'. Tunnel-induced regional development is small compared to general economic growth. The South East of England is likely to benefit developmentally and socially from faster and cheaper transport to continental Europe, but the benefits are unlikely to be equally distributed throughout the region. The overall environmental impact is almost certainly negative. \n\nSince the opening of the tunnel, small positive impacts on the wider economy have been felt, but it is difficult to identify major economic successes directly attributed to the tunnel.Flyvbjerg et al. p. 68–69 The Eurotunnel does operate profitably, offering an alternative transportation mode unaffected by poor weather. High costs of construction did delay profitability, however, and companies involved in the tunnel's construction and operation early in operation relied on government aid to deal with debts amounted. \n\nIncidents \n\nFires \n\nThere have been three fires in the tunnel, all on the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) shuttles, that were significant enough to close the tunnel, as well as other more minor incidents.\n\nDuring an \"invitation only\" testing phase on 9 December 1994, a fire broke out in a Ford Escort car whilst its owner was loading it on to the upper deck of a tourist shuttle. The fire started at about 10:00 with the shuttle train stationary in the Folkestone terminal and was put out about 40 minutes later with no passenger injuries. \n\nOn 18 November 1996, a fire broke out on an HGV shuttle wagon in the tunnel but nobody was seriously hurt. The exact cause is unknown, although it was not a Eurotunnel equipment or rolling stock problem; it may have been due to arson of a heavy goods vehicle. It is estimated that the heart of the fire reached 1000 °C, with the tunnel severely damaged over 46 m, with some 500 m affected to some extent. Full operation recommenced six months after the fire. \n\nThe tunnel was closed for several hours on 21 August 2006, when a truck on an HGV shuttle train caught fire. \n\nOn 11 September 2008, a fire occurred in the Channel Tunnel at 13:57 GMT. The incident started on an HGV shuttle train travelling towards France. The event occurred 11 km from the French entrance to the tunnel. No one was killed but several people were taken to hospitals suffering from smoke inhalation, and minor cuts and bruises. The tunnel was closed to all traffic, with the undamaged South Tunnel reopening for limited services two days later. Full service resumed on 9 February 2009 after repairs costing €60 million.\n\nThe tunnel was closed for several hours on 29 November 2012 after a truck on an HGV shuttle caught fire. \n\nBoth tunnels were closed on 17 January 2015 following a lorry fire which filled the midsection of Running Tunnel North with smoke. Eurostar cancelled all services. The shuttle train had been heading from Folkestone to Coquelles and stopped adjacent to cross-passage CP 4418 just before 12:30 UTC. Thirty-eight passengers and four members of Eurotunnel staff were evacuated into the service tunnel, and then transported to France using special STTS road vehicles in the Service Tunnel. The passengers and crew were taken to the Eurotunnel Fire/Emergency Management Centre close to the French portal. \n\nTrain failures \n\nOn the night of 19/20 February 1996, about 1,000 passengers became trapped in the Channel Tunnel when Eurostar trains from London broke down owing to failures of electronic circuits caused by snow and ice being deposited and then melting on the circuit boards. \n\nOn 3 August 2007, an electrical failure lasting six hours caused passengers to be trapped in the tunnel on a shuttle. \n\nOn the evening of 18 December 2009, during the December 2009 European snowfall, five London-bound Eurostar trains failed inside the tunnel, trapping 2,000 passengers for approximately 16 hours, during the coldest temperatures in eight years. A Eurotunnel spokesperson explained that snow had evaded the train's winterisation shields, and that the transition from cold air outside to the tunnel's warm atmosphere had melted the snow, resulting in electrical failures. One train was turned back before reaching the tunnel; two trains were hauled out of the tunnel by Eurotunnel Class 0001 diesel locomotives. The blocking of the tunnel led to the implementation of Operation Stack, the transformation of the M20 motorway into a linear car park. \n\nThe occasion was the first time that a Eurostar train was evacuated inside the tunnel; the failing of four at once was described as \"unprecedented\". The Channel Tunnel reopened the following morning. Nirj Deva, Member of the European Parliament for South East England, had called for Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown to resign over the incidents. An independent report by Christopher Garnett (former CEO of Great North Eastern Railway) and Claude Gressier (a French transport expert) on the 18/19 December 2009 incidents was issued in February 2010, making 21 recommendations. \n\nA Brussels–London Eurostar broke down in the tunnel on 7 January 2010. The train had 236 passengers on board and was towed to Ashford; other trains that had not yet reached the tunnel were turned back. \n\nAsylum and immigration \n\nSee also: Migrants around Calais and Calais jungle\nIllegal Immigrants and would-be asylum seekers have used the tunnel to attempt to enter Britain. By 1997 the problem had attracted international press attention, and the French Red Cross opened a refugee centre at Sangatte in 1999, using a warehouse once used for tunnel construction; by 2002 it housed up to 1,500 people at a time, most of them trying to get to the UK. In 2001, most came from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, but African and Eastern European countries were also represented. \n\nMost illegal immigrants and would-be asylum seekers who got into Britain found some way to ride a freight train, but others used Eurostar. They would usually get onboard trucks, which would then get onto the freight trains. In a few instances, groups of men claiming to be refugees were able to sneak into a tanker truck carrying liquid chocolate and managed to survive, though they did not enter the UK in one attempt. Although the facilities were fenced, airtight security was deemed impossible; refugees would even jump from bridges onto moving trains. In several incidents people were injured during the crossing; others tampered with railway equipment, causing delays and requiring repairs. Eurotunnel said it was losing £5m per month because of the problem. A dozen refugees/illegal immigrants have died in crossing attempts.\n\nIn 2001 and 2002, several riots broke out at Sangatte and groups of refugees (up to 550 in a December 2001 incident) stormed the fences and attempted to enter en masse. Immigrants have also arrived as legitimate Eurostar passengers without proper entry papers. \n\nLocal authorities in both France and the UK called for the closure of Sangatte, and Eurotunnel twice sought an injunction against the centre. The United Kingdom blamed France for allowing Sangatte to open, and France blamed the UK for its lax asylum rules and the EU for not having a uniform immigration policy. The cause célèbre nature of the problem even included journalists detained as they followed refugees onto railway property. \n\nIn 2002, after the European Commission told France that it was in breach of European Union rules on the free transfer of goods because of the delays and closures as a result of its poor security, a double fence was built at a cost of £5 million, reducing the numbers of refugees detected each week reaching Britain on goods trains from 250 to almost none. Other measures included CCTV cameras and increased police patrols. At the end of 2002, the Sangatte centre was closed after the UK agreed to take some of its refugees. \n\nOn 23 & 30 June 2015 striking workers associated with MyFerryLink damaged the sections of track by burning car tires, leading to all trains being cancelled and a backlog of vehicles. Hundreds seeking to reach Britain made use of the situation to attempt to stowaway inside and underneath transport trucks destined for the United Kingdom. Extra security measures including: £2-million upgrade of detection technology; £1 million extra for dog searches; £12 million (over three years) towards a joint fund with France for security surrounding the Port of Calais. The UK Home Office stated that approximately 19,000 attempts to cross the Channel during the first half of 2015 had been detected and prevented.\n\nOn 6 July 2015 a migrant died while attempting to climb onto a freight train while trying to reach Britain from the French side of the Channel. The previous month an Eritrean man was killed under similar circumstances. \n\nEurotunnel, the company that operates the crossing, said that it has intercepted more than 37,000 migrants since January 2015. During the night of 28 July 2015, one person aged 25–30, was found dead, after a night in which 1,500–2,000 refugees had attempted to enter the Eurotunnel terminal. According to the last official count in July 2015, about 3,000 migrants, mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan, were living in the makeshift camps in Calais. It is estimated that about 5,000 refugees are waiting in the harbour town Calais to find a chance to get to England. Ten migrants have died near the Channel tunnel terminal since June 2015. \n\nOn 4 August 2015, a Sudanese migrant walked nearly the entire length of one of the tunnels. He was arrested close to the British side, after having walked about 30 mi through the tunnel. \n\nSafety \n\nThe Channel Tunnel Safety Authority is responsible for some aspects of safety regulation in the tunnel; it reports to the IGC. \n\nThe service tunnel is used for access to technical equipment in cross-passages and equipment rooms, to provide fresh-air ventilation and for emergency evacuation. The Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) allows fast access to all areas of the tunnel. The service vehicles are rubber-tyred with a buried wire guidance system. The 24 STTS vehicles are used mainly for maintenance but also for firefighting and in emergencies. \"Pods\" with different purposes, up to a payload of , are inserted into the side of the vehicles. The vehicles cannot turn around within the tunnel, and are driven from either end. The maximum speed is 80 km/h when the steering is locked. A fleet of 15 Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS) was introduced to supplement the STTSs. The LADOGS have a short wheelbase with a turning circle, allowing two-point turns within the service tunnel. Steering cannot be locked like the STTS vehicles, and maximum speed is 50 km/h. Pods up to 1 tonne can be loaded onto the rear of the vehicles. Drivers in the tunnel sit on the right, and the vehicles drive on the left. Owing to the risk of French personnel driving on their native right side of the road, sensors in the vehicles alert the driver if the vehicle strays to the right side. \n\nThe three tunnels contain 6000 tonne of air that needs to be conditioned for comfort and safety. Air is supplied from ventilation buildings at Shakespeare Cliff and Sangatte, with each building capable of providing 100% standby capacity. Supplementary ventilation also exists on either side of the tunnel. In the event of a fire, ventilation is used to keep smoke out of the service tunnel and move smoke in one direction in the main tunnel to give passengers clean air. The tunnel was the first main-line railway tunnel to have special cooling equipment. Heat is generated from traction equipment and drag. The design limit was set at 30 C, using a mechanical cooling system with refrigeration plants on both sides that run chilled water circulating in pipes within the tunnel.\n\nTrains travelling at high speed create piston-effect pressure changes that can affect passenger comfort, ventilation systems, tunnel doors, fans and the structure of the trains, and drag on the trains. Piston relief ducts of 2 m diameter were chosen to solve the problem, with 4 ducts per kilometre to give close to optimum results. Unfortunately this design led to unacceptable lateral forces on the trains so a reduction in train speed was required and restrictors were installed in the ducts. \n\nThe safety issue of a possible fire on a passenger-vehicle shuttle garnered much attention, with Eurotunnel noting that fire was the risk attracting the most attention in a 1994 safety case for three reasons: the opposition of ferry companies to passengers being allowed to remain with their cars; Home Office statistics indicating that car fires had doubled in ten years; and the long length of the tunnel. Eurotunnel commissioned the UK Fire Research Station - now part of the Building Research Establishment - to give reports of vehicle fires, and liaised with Kent Fire Brigade to gather vehicle fire statistics over one year. Fire tests took place at the French Mines Research Establishment with a mock wagon used to investigate how cars burned. The wagon door systems are designed to withstand fire inside the wagon for 30 minutes, longer than the transit time of 27 minutes. Wagon air conditioning units help to purge dangerous fumes from inside the wagon before travel. Each wagon has a fire detection and extinguishing system, with sensing of ions or ultraviolet radiation, smoke and gases that can trigger halon gas to quench a fire. Since the HGV wagons are not covered, fire sensors are located on the loading wagon and in the tunnel. A 10 in water main in the service tunnel provides water to the main tunnels at 125 m intervals. The ventilation system can control smoke movement. Special arrival sidings accept a train that is on fire, as the train is not allowed to stop whilst on fire in the tunnel, unless continuing its journey would lead to a worse outcome. Eurotunnel has banned a wide range of hazardous goods from travelling in the tunnel. Two STTS (Service Tunnel Transportation System) vehicles with firefighting pods are on duty at all times, with a maximum delay of 10 minutes before they reach a burning train.\n\nUnusual traffic \n\nIn 2009, former F1 racing champion John Surtees drove a Ginetta G50 EV electronic sports car prototype from England to France, using the service tunnel, as part of a charity event. He was required to keep to the 50 kph speed limit. To celebrate the Tour de France moving from Britain to France in July 2014, Chris Froome of Team Sky rode a bicycle through the service tunnel, becoming the first solo rider to do so. The Crossing took under an hour, reaching speeds of 40 mph–faster than most cross-channel ferries. \n\nMobile network coverage\n\nSince 2012, French operators Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR have covered Running Tunnel South, the tunnel bore normally used for travel from France to Britain.\n\nIn January 2014, UK operators EE and Vodafone signed ten-year contracts with Eurotunnel for Running Tunnel North. The agreements will enable both operators' subscribers to use 2G and 3G services. Both EE and Vodafone plan to offer LTE services on the route; EE said it expected to cover the route with LTE connectivity by summer 2014. EE and Vodafone will offer Channel Tunnel network coverage for travellers from the UK to France. Eurotunnel said it also held talks with Three UK but has yet to reach an agreement with the operator. \n\nOn 6 May 2014, Eurotunnel announced that they had installed equipment from Alcatel-Lucent to cover Running Tunnel North and simultaneously to provide mobile service (GSM 900/1800 MHz and UMTS 2100 MHz) by EE, O2 and Vodafone. The service of EE and Vodafone commenced on the same date as the announcement. O2 service was expected to be available soon afterwards. \n\nOn 21 November 2014, EE announced that it had previously switched on LTE earlier in September 2014. O2 turned on 2G, 3G and 4G services in November 2014. Whilst Vodafone's 4G was due to go live later.",
"Hovercraft.txt\nHovercraft\nA hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is a craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud or ice and other surfaces. Hovercraft are hybrid vessels operated by a pilot as an aircraft rather than a captain as a marine vessel.\n\nHovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the running surface. For stability reasons, the air is typically blown through slots or holes around the outside of a disk- or oval-shaped platform, giving most hovercraft a characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. Typically this cushion is contained within a flexible \"skirt\", which allows the vehicle to travel over small obstructions without damage.\n\nThe first practical design for hovercraft derived from a British invention in the 1950s to 1960s. They are now used throughout the world as specialised transports in disaster relief, coastguard, military and survey applications as well as for sport or passenger service. Very large versions have been used to transport hundreds of people and vehicles across the English Channel, whilst others have military applications used to transport tanks, soldiers and large equipment in hostile environments and terrain.\n\nAlthough now a generic term for the type of craft, the name Hovercraft itself was a trademark owned by Saunders-Roe (later British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC), then Westland), hence other manufacturers' use of alternative names to describe the vehicles.\n\nHistory\n\nEarly efforts\n\nThere have been many attempts to understand the principles of high air pressure below hulls and wings. To a great extent, the majority of these can be termed \"ground effect\" or \"water effect\" vehicles rather than hovercraft. The principal difference is that a hovercraft can lift itself while still, whereas the majority of other designs require forward motion to create lift. These active-motion \"surface effect vehicles\" are known in specific cases as ekranoplan and hydrofoils.\n\nThe first mention in the historical record of the concepts behind surface-effect vehicles that used the term hovering was by Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg in 1716. \n\nThe shipbuilder Sir John Isaac Thornycroft patented an early design for an air cushion ship / hovercraft in the 1870s, but suitable, powerful, engines were not available until the 20th century. \n\nIn 1915, the Austrian Dagobert Müller (1880–1956) built the world's first \"air cushion\" boat (Luftkissengleitboot). Shaped like a section of a large aerofoil (this creates a low pressure area above the wing much like an aircraft), the craft was propelled by four aero engines driving two submerged marine propellers, with a fifth engine that blew air under the front of the craft to increase the air pressure under it. Only when in motion could the craft trap air under the front, increasing lift. The vessel also required a depth of water to operate and could not transition to land or other surfaces. Designed as a fast torpedo boat, the ' had a top speed over 32 kn. It was thoroughly tested and even armed with torpedoes and machine guns for operation in the Adriatic. It never saw actual combat, however, and as the war progressed it was eventually scrapped due to the lack of interest and perceived need, and its engines returned to the Air Force. \n\nThe theoretical grounds for motion over an air layer were constructed by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii in 1926 and 1927. \"[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1962/1962%20-%200515.html Russia and the Ground-effect Vehicle ]\" Flight International, 5 April 1962\n\nIn 1929, Andrew Kucher of Ford began experimenting with the \"Levapad\" concept, metal disks with pressurized air blown through a hole in the center. Levapads do not offer stability on their own. Several must be used together to support a load above them. Lacking a skirt, the pads had to remain very close to the running surface. He initially imagined these being used in place of casters and wheels in factories and warehouses, where the concrete floors offered the smoothness required for operation. By the 1950s, Ford showed a number of toy models of cars using the system, but mainly proposed its use as a replacement for wheels on trains, with the Levapads running close to the surface of existing rails. \n\nIn 1931, Finnish aero engineer Toivo J. Kaario began designing a developed version of a vessel using an air cushion and built a prototype ' (Surface Soarer), in 1937. Kaario's design included the modern features of a lift engine blowing air into a flexible envelope for lift. Kaario never received funding to build his design, however. Kaario's efforts were followed closely in the Soviet Union by Vladimir Levkov, who returned to the solid-sided design of the '. Levkov designed and built a number of similar craft during the 1930s, and his L-5 fast-attack boat reached 70 kn in testing. However, the start of World War II put an end to Levkov's development work. \n\nDuring World War II, an engineer in the United States of America, Charles Fletcher, invented a walled air cushion vehicle, the Glidemobile. Because the project was classified by the U.S. government, Fletcher could not file a patent. \n\nChristopher Cockerell\n\nThe idea of the modern hovercraft is most often associated with a British mechanical engineer Sir Christopher Cockerell. Cockerell's group was the first to develop the use of an annular ring of air for maintaining the cushion, the first to develop a successful skirt, and the first to demonstrate a practical vehicle in continued use.\n\nCockerell came across the key concept in his design when studying the ring of airflow when high-pressure air was blown into the annular area between two concentric tin cans, one coffee and the other from cat food and a hair dryer. This produced a ring of airflow, as expected, but he noticed an unexpected benefit as well; the sheet of fast moving air presented a sort of physical barrier to the air on either side of it. This effect, which he called the \"momentum curtain\", could be used to trap high-pressure air in the area inside the curtain, producing a high-pressure plenum that earlier examples had to build up with considerably more airflow. In theory, only a small amount of active airflow would be needed to create lift and much less than a design that relied only on the momentum of the air to provide lift, like a helicopter. In terms of power, a hovercraft would only need between one quarter to one half of the power required by a helicopter.\n\nCockerell built several models of his hovercraft design in the early 1950s, featuring an engine mounted to blow from the front of the craft into a space below it, combining both lift and propulsion. He demonstrated the model flying over many Whitehall carpets in front of various government experts and ministers, and the design was subsequently put on the secret list. In spite of tireless efforts to arrange funding, no branch of the military was interested, as he later joked, \"the navy said it was a plane not a boat; the air force said it was a boat not a plane; and the army was 'plain not interested.'\" \n\nSR.N1\n\nThis lack of military interest meant that there was no reason to keep the concept secret, and it was declassified. Cockerell was finally able to convince the National Research Development Corporation to fund development of a full-scale model. In 1958, the NRDC placed a contract with Saunders-Roe for the development of what would become the SR.N1, short for \"Saunders-Roe, Nautical 1\".\n\nThe SR.N1 was powered by a 450 hp Alvis Leonides engine powering a vertical fan in the middle of the craft. In addition to providing the lift air, a portion of the airflow was bled off into two channels on either side of the craft, which could be directed to provide thrust. In normal operation this extra airflow was directed rearward for forward thrust, and blew over two large vertical rudders that provided directional control. For low-speed manoeuvrability, the extra thrust could be directed fore or aft, differentially for rotation.\n\nThe SR.N1 made its first hover on 11 June 1959, and made its famed successful crossing of the English Channel on 25 July 1959. In December 1959, the Duke of Edinburgh visited Saunders-Roe at East Cowes and persuaded the chief test-pilot, Commander Peter Lamb, to allow him to take over the SR.N1's controls. He flew the SR.N1 so fast that he was asked to slow down a little. On examination of the craft afterwards, it was found that she had been dished in the bow due to excessive speed, damage that was never allowed to be repaired, and was from then on affectionately referred to as the 'Royal Dent'. \n\nSkirts and other improvements\n\nTesting quickly demonstrated that the idea of using a single engine to provide air for both the lift curtain and forward flight required too many trade-offs. A Blackburn Marboré for forward thrust and two large vertical rudders for directional control were added, producing the SR.N1 Mk II. A further upgrade with the Armstrong Siddeley Viper produced the Mk III. Further modifications, especially the addition of pointed nose and stern areas, produced the Mk IV.\n\nAlthough the SR.N1 was successful as a testbed, the design hovered too close to the surface to be practical; at 9 in even small waves would hit the bow. The solution was offered by Cecil Latimer-Needham, following a suggestion made by his business partner Arthur Ord-Hume. In 1958, he suggested the use of two rings of rubber to produce a double-walled extension of the vents in the lower fuselage. When air was blown into the space between the sheets it exited the bottom of the skirt in the same way it formerly exited the bottom of the fuselage, re-creating the same momentum curtain, but this time at some distance from the bottom of the craft.\n\nLatimer-Needham and Cockerell devised a 4 ft high skirt design, which was fitted to the SR.N1 to produce the Mk V, displaying hugely improved performance, with the ability to climb over obstacles almost as high as the skirt. In October 1961, Latimer-Needham sold his skirt patents to Westland, who had recently taken over Saunders Roe's interest in the hovercraft. Experiments with the skirt design demonstrated a problem; it was originally expected that pressure applied to the outside of the skirt would bend it inward, and the now-displaced airflow would cause it to pop back out. What actually happened is that the slight narrowing of the distance between the walls resulted in less airflow, which in turn led to more air loss under that section of the skirt. The fuselage above this area would drop due to the loss of lift at that point, and this led to further pressure on the skirt.\n\nAfter considerable experimentation, Denys Bliss at Hovercraft Development Ltd. found the solution to this problem. Instead of using two separate rubber sheets to form the skirt, a single sheet of rubber was bent into a U shape to provide both sides, with slots cut into the bottom of the U forming the annular vent. When deforming pressure was applied to the outside of this design, air pressure in the rest of the skirt forced the inner wall to move in as well, keeping the channel open. Although there was some deformation of the curtain, the airflow within the skirt was maintained and the lift remained relatively steady. Over time, this design evolved into individual extensions over the bottom of the slots in the skirt, known as \"fingers\".\n\nCommercialization\n\nThrough these improvements, the hovercraft became an effective transport system for high-speed service on water and land, leading to widespread developments for military vehicles, search and rescue, and commercial operations. By 1962, many UK aviation and ship building firms were working on hovercraft designs, including Saunders Roe/Westland, Vickers-Armstrong, William Denny, Britten-Norman and Folland. Small-scale ferry service started as early as 1962 with the launch of the Vickers-Armstrong VA-3. With the introduction of the 254 passenger and 30 car carrying SR.N4 cross-channel ferry by Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed in 1968, hovercraft had developed into useful commercial craft.\n\nAnother major pioneering effort of the early hovercraft era was carried out by Jean Bertin's firm in France. Bertin was an advocate of the \"multi-skirt\" approach, which used a number of smaller cylindrical skirts instead of one large one in order to avoid the problems noted above. During the early 1960s he developed a series of prototype designs, which he called \"terraplanes\" if they were aimed for land use, and \"naviplanes\" for water. The best known of these designs was the N500 Naviplane, built for Seaspeed by the Société d'Etude et de Développement des Aéroglisseurs Marins (SEDAM). The N500 could carry 400 passengers, 55 cars and five buses. It set a speed record between Boulogne and Dover of 74 kn. It was rejected by its operators, who claimed that it was unreliable. \n\nAnother discovery was that the total amount of air needed to lift the craft was a function of the roughness of the surface it traveled over. On flat surfaces, like pavement, the needed air pressure was so low that hovercraft were able to compete in energy terms with conventional systems like steel wheels. However, as the hovercraft lift system acted as both a lift and very effective suspension, it naturally lent itself to high-speed use where conventional suspension systems were considered too complex. This led to a variety of \"hovertrain\" proposals during the 1960s, including England's Tracked Hovercraft and France's Aérotrain. In the U.S., Rohr Inc. and Garrett both took out licenses to develop local versions of the Aérotrain. These designs competed with maglev systems in the high-speed arena, where their primary advantage was the very \"low tech\" tracks they needed. On the downside, the air blowing dirt and trash out from under the trains presented a unique problem in stations, and interest in them waned in the 1970s.\n\nBy the early 1970s, the basic concept had been well developed, and the hovercraft had found a number of niche roles where its combination of features were advantageous. Today, they are found primarily in military use for amphibious operations, search and rescue vehicles in shallow water, and sporting vehicles.\n\nDesign\n\nHovercraft can be powered by one or more engines. Small craft, such as the SR.N6, usually have one engine with the drive split through a gearbox. On vehicles with several engines, one usually drives the fan (or impeller), which is responsible for lifting the vehicle by forcing high pressure air under the craft. The air inflates the \"skirt\" under the vehicle, causing it to rise above the surface. Additional engines provide thrust in order to propel the craft. Some hovercraft use ducting to allow one engine to perform both tasks by directing some of the air to the skirt, the rest of the air passing out of the back to push the craft forward.\n\nUses\n\nCommercial\n\nThe British aircraft and marine engineering company Saunders-Roe built the first practical man-carrying hovercraft for the National Research Development Corporation, the SR.N1, which carried out several test programmes in 1959 to 1961 (the first public demonstration was in 1959), including a cross-channel test run in July 1959, piloted by Peter \"Sheepy\" Lamb, an ex-naval test pilot and the chief test pilot at Saunders Roe. Christopher Cockerell was on board, and the flight took place on the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot's first aerial crossing. \n\nThe SR.N1 was powered by a single piston engine, driven by expelled air. Demonstrated at the Farnborough Airshow in 1960, it was shown that this simple craft could carry a load of up to 12 marines with their equipment as well as the pilot and co-pilot with only a slight reduction in hover height proportional to the load carried. The SR.N1 did not have any skirt, using instead the peripheral air principle that Christopher had patented. It was later found that the craft's hover height was improved by the addition of a skirt of flexible fabric or rubber around the hovering surface to contain the air. The skirt was an independent invention made by a Royal Navy officer, C.H. Latimer-Needham, who sold his idea to Westland (by then the parent of Saunders-Roe's helicopter and hovercraft interests), and who worked with Christopher to develop the idea further.\n\nThe first passenger-carrying hovercraft to enter service was the Vickers VA-3, which, in the summer of 1962, carried passengers regularly along the north Wales coast from Moreton, Merseyside, to Rhyl. It was powered by two turboprop aero-engines and driven by propellers. \n\nDuring the 1960s, Saunders-Roe developed several larger designs that could carry passengers, including the SR.N2, which operated across the Solent, in 1962, and later the SR.N6, which operated across the Solent from Southsea to Ryde on the Isle of Wight for many years. In 1963 the, SR.N2 was used in experimental service between Weston-super-Mare and Penarth under the aegis of P & A Campbell, the paddle steamer operators.\n\nOperations by Hovertravel commenced on July 24, 1965, using the SR.N6, which carried 38 passengers. Two 98 seat AP1-88 hovercraft were introduced on this route in 1983, and in 2007, these were joined by the first 130-seat BHT130 craft. The AP1-88 and the BHT130 were notable as they were largely built by Hoverwork using shipbuilding techniques and materials (i.e. welded aluminium structure and diesel engines) rather than the aircraft techniques used to build the earlier craft built by Saunders-Roe-British Hovercraft Corporation. Over 20 million passengers had used the service as of 2004 – the service is still operating (2015) and is by far the longest, continuously operated hovercraft service.\n\nIn 1966, two cross-channel passenger hovercraft services were inaugurated using SR.N6 hovercraft. Hoverlloyd ran services from Ramsgate Harbour, England, to Calais, France, and Townsend Ferries also started a service to Calais from Dover, which was soon superseded by that of Seaspeed.\n\nAs well as Saunders-Roe and Vickers (which combined in 1966 to form the British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC)), other commercial craft were developed during the 1960s in the UK by Cushioncraft (part of the Britten-Norman Group) and Hovermarine based at Woolston (the latter being sidewall hovercraft, where the sides of the hull projected down into the water to trap the cushion of air with normal hovercraft skirts at the bow and stern). One of these models, the HM-2, was used by Red Funnel between Southampton (near the Woolston Floating Bridge) and Cowes. \n\nThe world's first car-carrying hovercraft was made in 1968, the BHC Mountbatten class (SR.N4) models, each powered by four Bristol Proteus turboshaft engines. These were both used by rival operators Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed (joined to form Hoverspeed in 1981) to operate regular car and passenger carrying services across the English Channel. Hoverlloyd operated from Ramsgate, where a special hoverport had been built at Pegwell Bay, to Calais. Seaspeed operated from Dover, England, to Calais and Boulogne in France. The first SR.N4 had a capacity of 254 passengers and 30 cars, and a top speed of 83 kn. The channel crossing took around 30 minutes and was run like an airline with flight numbers. The later SR.N4 Mk.III had a capacity of 418 passengers and 60 cars to the Isle of Wight. These were later joined by the French-built SEDAM N500 Naviplane with a capacity of 385 passengers and 45 cars; only one entered service and was used intermittently for a few years on the cross-channel service until returned to SNCF in 1983. The service ceased in 2000 after 32 years, due to competition with traditional ferries, catamaran, the disappearance of duty-free shopping within the EU, the advancing age of the SR.N4 hovercraft and the opening of the Channel Tunnel.\n\nThe commercial success of hovercraft suffered from rapid rises in fuel prices during the late 1960s and 1970s, following conflict in the Middle East. Alternative over-water vehicles, such as wave-piercing catamarans (marketed as the SeaCat in the UK until 2005), use less fuel and can perform most of the hovercraft's marine tasks. Although developed elsewhere in the world for both civil and military purposes, except for the Solent Ryde to Southsea crossing, hovercraft disappeared from the coastline of Britain until a range of Griffon Hovercraft were bought by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.\n\nHovercraft used to ply between the Gateway of India in Mumbai and CBD Belapur and Vashi in Navi Mumbai between 1994 and 1999, but the services were subsequently stopped due to the lack of sufficient water transport infrastructure. \n\nCivilian non-commercial\n\nIn Finland, small hovercraft are widely used in maritime rescue and during the rasputitsa (\"mud season\") as archipelago liaison vehicles. In England, hovercraft of the Burnham-on-Sea Area Rescue Boat (BARB) are used to rescue people from thick mud in Bridgwater Bay. Avon Fire and Rescue Service became the first Local Authority fire service in the UK to operate a hovercraft. It is used to rescue people from thick mud in the Weston-super-Mare area and during times of inland flooding. A Griffon rescue Hovercraft has been in use for a number of years with the Airport Fire Service at Dundee Airport in Scotland. It is used in the event of an aircraft ditching in the Tay estuary. Numerous fire departments around the U.S./Canadian Great Lakes operate hovercraft for water and ice rescues, often of ice fisherman stranded when ice breaks off from shore. The Canadian Coast Guard uses hovercraft to break light ice. \n\nIn October 2008, The Red Cross commenced a flood-rescue service hovercraft based in Inverness, Scotland. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service received two flood-rescue hovercraft donated by Severn Trent Water following the 2007 UK floods. \n\nSince 2006, hovercraft have been used in aid in Madagascar by HoverAid, an international NGO who use the hovercraft to reach the most remote places on the island. \nThe Scandinavian airline SAS used to charter an AP1-88 hovercraft for regular passengers between Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, and the SAS Hovercraft Terminal in Malmö, Sweden.\n\nIn 1998, the US Postal Service began using the British built Hoverwork AP1-88 to haul mail, freight, and passengers from Bethel, Alaska, to and from eight small villages along the Kuskokwim River. Bethel is far removed from the Alaska road system, thus making the hovercraft an attractive alternative to the air based delivery methods used prior to introduction of the hovercraft service. Hovercraft service is suspended for several weeks each year while the river is beginning to freeze to minimize damage to the river ice surface. The hovercraft is able to operate during the freeze-up period; however, this could potentially break the ice and create hazards for villagers using their snowmobiles along the river during the early winter.\n\nIn 2006, Kvichak Marine Industries of Seattle USA built, under license, a cargo/passenger version of the Hoverwork BHT130. Designated 'Suna-X', it is used as a high speed ferry for up to 47 passengers and 47,500 pounds of freight serving the remote Alaskan villages of King Cove and Cold Bay.\n\nAn experimental service was operated in Scotland across the Firth of Forth (between Kirkcaldy and Portobello, Edinburgh), from 16 to 28 July 2007. Marketed as Forthfast, the service used a craft chartered from Hovertravel and achieved an 85% passenger load factor. , the possibility of establishing a permanent service is still under consideration. \n\nSince the channel routes abandoned hovercraft, and pending any reintroduction on the Scottish route, the United Kingdom's only public hovercraft service is that operated by Hovertravel between Southsea (Portsmouth) and Ryde on the Isle of Wight.\n\nFrom the 1960s, several commercial lines were operated in Japan, without much success. In Japan the last commercial line had linked Ōita Airport and central Ōita but was shut down in October 2009.\n\nHovercraft are still manufactured in the UK, near to where they were first conceived and tested, and the Isle Of Wight. They can also be chartered for a wide variety of uses including inspections of shallow bed offshore wind farms and VIP or passenger use. A typical vessel would be a Tiger IV or a Griffon. They are light, fast, road transportable and very adaptable with the unique feature of minimising damage to environments.\n\nMilitary\n\nFirst applications of the hovercraft in military use was with the SR.N1 through SR.N6 craft built by Saunders-Roe in the Isle of Wight in the UK and used by the UK joint forces. To test the use of the hovercraft in military applications the UK set up the Interservice Hovercraft Trials Unit (IHTU) base at Lee-on-the-Solent (now the site of the Hovercraft Museum). This unit carried out trials on the SR.N1 from Mk1 through Mk5 as well as testing the SR.N2, SR.N3, SR.N5 and SR.N6 craft. Currently, the Royal Marines use the Griffonhoverwork 2400TD hovercraft, the replacement for the Griffon 2000 TDX Class ACV as a tactical craft. The 2000 was deployed by the UK in Iraq.\n\nThe hovercraft's inventor, Sir Christopher Cockerell, claimed late in his life that the Falklands War could have been won far more easily had the British military shown more interest in hovercraft. \n\nIn the US, during the 1960s, Bell licensed and sold the Saunders-Roe SR.N5 as the Bell SK-5. They were deployed on trial to the Vietnam War by the United States Navy as PACV patrol craft in the Mekong Delta where their mobility and speed was unique. This was used in both the UK SR.N5 curved deck configuration and later with modified flat deck, gun turret and grenade launcher designated the 9255 PACV. The United States Army also experimented with the use of SR.N5 hovercraft in Vietnam. Three hovercraft with the flat deck configuration were deployed to Đồng Tâm in the Mekong Delta region and later to Ben Luc. They saw action primarily in the Plain of Reeds. One was destroyed in early 1970 and another in August of that same year, after which the unit was disbanded. The only remaining U.S. Army SR.N5 hovercraft is currently on display in the Army Transport Museum in Virginia. Experience led to the proposed Bell SK-10, which was the basis for the LCAC-class air-cushioned landing craft now deployed by the U.S. and Japanese Navy. Developed and tested in the mid-1970s, the LACV-30 was used by the US Army to transport military cargo in logistics-over-the-shore operations from the early 1980s thru the mid 1990s. \n \n\nThe Soviet Union was the world's largest developer of military hovercraft. Their designs range from the small Czilim class ACV, comparable to the SR.N6, to the monstrous Zubr class LCAC, the world's largest hovercraft. The Soviet Union was also one of the first nations to use a hovercraft, the Bora, as a guided missile corvette, though this craft possessed rigid, non-inflatable sides. With the fall of the Soviet Union, most Soviet military hovercraft fell into disuse and disrepair. Only recently has the modern Russian Navy begun building new classes of military hovercraft.\n\nThe Iranian Navy operates multiple British made and some Iranian produced hovercraft. The Tondar or Thunderbolt comes in varieties designed for combat and transportation. Iran has equipped the Tondar with mid-range missiles, machine guns and retrievable reconnaissance drones. Currently they are used for water patrols and combat against drug smugglers.\n\nThe Finnish Navy designed an experimental missile attack hovercraft class, Tuuli class hovercraft, in the late 1990s. The prototype of the class, Tuuli, was commissioned in 2000. It proved an extremely successful design for a littoral fast attack craft, but due to fiscal reasons and doctrinal change in the Navy, the hovercraft was soon withdrawn.\n\nThe People's Army Navy of China operates the Jingsah II class LCAC. This troop and equipment carrying hovercraft is roughly the Chinese equivalent of the U.S. Navy LCAC.\n\nRecreational/sport\n\nSmall commercially manufactured, kit or plan-built hovercraft are increasingly being used for recreational purposes, such as inland racing and cruising on inland lakes and rivers, marshy areas, estuaries and inshore coastal waters. \n\nThe Hovercraft Cruising Club supports the use of hovercraft for cruising in coastal and inland waterways, lakes and lochs.\n\nThe Hovercraft Club of Great Britain, founded in 1966, regularly organizes inland and coastal hovercraft race events at various venues across the United Kingdom. \n\nIn August 2010, the Hovercraft Club of Great Britain hosted the World Hovercraft Championships at Towcester Racecourse \nThe World Hovercraft Championships are run under the auspices of the World Hovercraft Federation. Similar events are also held in Europe and the US. \n\nApart from the craft designed as \"racing hovercraft\", which are often only suitable for racing, there is another form of small personal hovercraft for leisure use, often referred to as cruising hovercraft, capable of carrying up to four people. Just like their full size counterparts, the ability of these small personal hovercraft to safely cross all types of terrain, (e.g. water, sandbanks, swamps, ice, etc.) and reach places often inaccessible by any other type of craft, makes them suitable for a number of roles, such as survey work and patrol and rescue duties in addition to personal leisure use. Increasingly, these craft are being used as yacht tenders, enabling yacht owners and guests to travel from a waiting yacht to, for example, a secluded beach. In this role, small hovercraft can offer a more entertaining alternative to the usual small boat and can be a rival for the jet-ski. The excitement of a personal hovercraft can now be enjoyed at \"experience days\", which are popular with families, friends and those in business, who often see them as team building exercises. This level of interest has naturally led to a hovercraft rental sector and numerous manufacturers of small, ready built designs of personal hovercraft to serve the need. \n\nOther uses\n\nHoverbarge\n\nA real benefit of air cushion vehicles in moving heavy loads over difficult terrain, such as swamps, was overlooked by the excitement of the British Government funding to develop high-speed hovercraft. It was not until the early 1970s that the technology was used for moving a modular marine barge with a dragline on board for use over soft reclaimed land.\n\nMackace (Mackley Air Cushion Equipment), now known as Hovertrans, produced a number of successful Hoverbarges, such as the 250 ton payload \"Sea Pearl\", which operated in Abu Dhabi, and the twin 160 ton payload \"Yukon Princesses\", which ferried trucks across the Yukon River to aid the pipeline build. Hoverbarges are still in operation today. In 2006, Hovertrans (formed by the original managers of Mackace) launched a 330 ton payload drilling barge in the swamps of Suriname. \n\nThe Hoverbarge technology is somewhat different from high-speed hovercraft, which has traditionally been constructed using aircraft technology. The initial concept of the air cushion barge has always been to provide a low-tech amphibious solution for accessing construction sites using typical equipment found in this area, such as diesel engines, ventilating fans, winches and marine equipment. The load to move a 200 ton payload ACV barge at 5 kn would only be 5 tons. The skirt and air distribution design on high-speed craft again is more complex, as they have to cope with the air cushion being washed out by a wave and wave impact. The slow speed and large mono chamber of the hover barge actually helps reduce the effect of wave action, giving a very smooth ride.\n\nThe low pull force enabled a Boeing 107 helicopter to pull a hoverbarge across snow, ice and water in 1982. \n\nHovertrains\n\nSeveral attempts have been made to adopt air cushion technology for use in fixed track systems, in order to utilize the lower frictional forces for delivering high speeds. The most advanced example of this was the Aérotrain, an experimental high speed hovertrain built and operated in France between 1965 and 1977. The project was abandoned in 1977 due to lack of funding, the death of its lead engineer and the adoption of the TGV by the French government as its high-speed ground transport solution.\n\nA test track for a tracked hovercraft system was built at Earith near Cambridge, England. It ran southwest from Sutton Gault, sandwiched between the Old Bedford River and the smaller Counter Drain to the west. Careful examination of the site will still reveal traces of the concrete piers used to support the structure. The actual vehicle, RTV31, is preserved at Railworld in Peterborough and can be seen from trains, just south west of Peterborough railway station. The vehicle achieved 104 mph on 7 February 1973 but the project was cancelled a week later. The project was managed by Tracked Hovercraft Ltd., with Denys Bliss as Director in the early 1970s, then axed by the Aerospace Minister, Michael Heseltine. Records of this project are available from the correspondence and papers of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke, MP at Leeds University Library. Heseltine was accused by Airey Neave and others of misleading the House of Commons when he stated that the government was still considering giving financial support to the Hovertrain, when the decision to pull the plug had already been taken by the Cabinet.\n\nAfter the Cambridge project was abandoned due to financial constraints, parts of the project were picked up by the engineering firm Alfred McAlpine, and abandoned in the mid-1980s. The Tracked Hovercraft project and Professor Laithwaite's Maglev train system were contemporaneous, and there was intense competition between the two prospective British systems for funding and credibility.\n\nAt the other end of the speed spectrum, the Dorfbahn Serfaus has been in continuous operation since 1985. This is an unusual underground air cushion funicular rapid transit system, situated in the Austrian ski resort of Serfaus. Only 1280 m long, the line reaches a maximum speed of 25 mph. A similar system also exists in Narita International Airport near Tokyo, Japan.\n\nIn the late 1960s and early 1970s, the U.S. Department of Transport's Urban Mass Transit Administration funded several hovertrain projects, which were known as Tracked Air Cushion Vehicles or TACVs. They were also known as Aerotrains since one of the builders had a licence from Bertin's Aerotrain company. Three separate projects were funded. Research and development was carried out by Rohr, Inc., Garrett AiResearch and Grumman. The UMTA built an extensive test site in Pueblo, Colorado, with different types of tracks for the different technologies used by the prototype contractors. They managed to build prototypes and do a few test runs before the funding was cut.\n\nNon-transportation\n\nThe Hoover Constellation was a spherical canister-type vacuum cleaner notable for its lack of wheels. Floating on a cushion of air, it was a domestic hovercraft. They were not especially good as vacuum cleaners as the air escaping from under the cushion blew uncollected dust in all directions, nor as hovercraft as their lack of a skirt meant that they only hovered effectively over a smooth surface. Despite this, original Constellations are sought-after collectibles today.\n\nThe Flymo is an air-cushion lawn mower that uses a fan on the cutter blade to provide lift. This allows it to be moved in any direction, and provides double-duty as a mulcher.\n\nThe Marylebone Cricket Club owns a 'hover cover' that it uses regularly to cover the pitch at Lord's Cricket Ground. This device is easy and quick to move, and has no pressure points, making damage to the pitch less likely. The system is quite popular at major pitches in the UK.\n\nPreservation\n\nLee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, England, is the home of the Hovercraft Museum, which houses the world's largest collection of hovercraft designs, including some of the earliest and largest. Much of the collection is housed within two retired SR.N4 hovercraft, and many hovercraft in the collection are operational.\n\nHovercraft are still in use between Ryde on the Isle of Wight and Southsea on the mainland. The service, operated by Hovertravel, schedules up to three crossings each hour, and is the fastest way of getting on or off the island. Large passenger hovercraft are still manufactured on the Isle of Wight.\n\nRecords\n\n* World's Largest Civil Hovercraft - The BHC SR.N4 Mk.III, at 56.4 m (185 ft) length and 310 metric tons (305 long tons) weight, can accommodate 418 passengers and 60 cars.\n* World's largest military hovercraft - The Russian Zubr class LCAC at 57.6 meters (188 feet) length and a maximum displacement of 535 tons. This hovercraft can transport three T-80 main battle tanks (MBT), 140 fully equipped troops, or up to 130 tons of cargo. Four have been purchased by the Greek Navy.\n* English Channel crossing - 22 minutes by Princess Anne MCH SR.N4 Mk.III on September 14, 1995\n* World Hovercraft Speed Record - 137.4 km/h (85.38 mph or 74.19 knots). Bob Windt (USA) at World Hovercraft Championships, Rio Douro River, Peso de Regua, Portugal on September 18, 1995.\n* Hovercraft land speed record - 56.25 mph (90.53 km/h or 48.88 knots). John Alford (USA) at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA on 21 September 1998.\n* Longest continuous use - The original prototype SR.N6 Mk.I (009) was in service for over 20 years, and logged a remarkable 22,000 hours of use. It is currently on display at the Hovercraft Museum in Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, England.",
"England.txt\nEngland\nEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers much of the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic; and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight.\n\nThe area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law – the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world – developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. \n\nEngland's terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north (for example, the mountainous Lake District, Pennines, and Yorkshire Dales) and in the south west (for example, Dartmoor and the Cotswolds). The capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union.According to the European Statistical Agency, London is the largest Larger Urban Zone in the EU, a measure of metropolitan area which comprises a city's urban core as well as its surrounding commuting zone. London's municipal population is also the largest in the EU. England's population of over 53 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century.[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_270487.pdf 2011 Census – Population and household estimates for England and Wales, March 2011]. Accessed 31 May 2013.\n\nThe Kingdom of England—which after 1535 included Wales—ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.\n\nToponymy\n\nThe name \"England\" is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means \"land of the Angles\". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages. The Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as \"Engla londe\", is in the late ninth century translation into Old English of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The term was then used in a different sense to the modern one, meaning \"the land inhabited by the English\", and it included English people in what is now south-east Scotland but was then part of the English kingdom of Northumbria. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Domesday Book of 1086 covered the whole of England, meaning the English kingdom, but a few years later the Chronicle stated that King Malcolm III went \"out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland\", thus using it in the more ancient sense. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its modern spelling was first used in 1538. \n\nThe earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, in which the Latin word Anglii is used. The etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars; it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. How and why a term derived from the name of a tribe that was less significant than others, such as the Saxons, came to be used for the entire country and its people is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling the Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons. In Scottish Gaelic, another language which developed on the island of Great Britain, the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England (Sasunn); similarly, the Welsh name for the English language is \"Saesneg\".\n\nAn alternative name for England is Albion. The name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo: \"Beyond the Pillars of Hercules is the ocean that flows round the earth. In it are two very large islands called Britannia; these are Albion and Ierne\". But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, i.e. it was written later in the Graeco-Roman period or afterwards. The word Albion (Ἀλβίων) or insula Albionum has two possible origins. It either derives from a cognate of the Latin albus meaning white, a reference to the white cliffs of Dover, the only part of Britain visible from the European Continent, or from the phrase the \"island of the Albiones\" in the now lost Massaliote Periplus, that is attested through Avienus' Ora Maritima to which the former presumably served as a source. Albion is now applied to England in a more poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend.\n\nHistory\n\nPrehistory and antiquity\n\nThe earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago. Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years. \nAfter the last ice age only large mammals such as mammoths, bison and woolly rhinoceros remained. Roughly 11,000 years ago, when the ice sheets began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The sea level was lower than now and Britain was connected by land bridge to Ireland and Eurasia. \nAs the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000 years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later.\n\nThe Beaker culture arrived around 2,500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores. It was during this time that major Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge and Avebury were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, which were in abundance in the area, the Beaker culture people made bronze, and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron smelting allowed the construction of better ploughs, advancing agriculture (for instance, with Celtic fields), as well as the production of more effective weapons. \n\nDuring the Iron Age, Celtic culture, deriving from the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures, arrived from Central Europe. Brythonic was the spoken language during this time. Society was tribal; according to Ptolemy's Geographia there were around 20 tribes in the area. Earlier divisions are unknown because the Britons were not literate. Like other regions on the edge of the Empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans. Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic attempted to invade twice in 55 BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a client king from the Trinovantes.\n\nThe Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius, subsequently conquering much of Britain, and the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as Britannia province. The best-known of the native tribes who attempted to resist were the Catuvellauni led by Caratacus. Later, an uprising led by Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, ended with Boudica's suicide following her defeat at the Battle of Watling Street. This era saw a Greco-Roman culture prevail with the introduction of Roman law, Roman architecture, aqueducts, sewers, many agricultural items and silk. In the 3rd century, Emperor Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (now York), where Constantine was subsequently proclaimed emperor. \n\nThere is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, probably much earlier. According to Bede, missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in 180 AD, to settle differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials, which were disturbing the church. There are traditions linked to Glastonbury claiming an introduction through Joseph of Arimathea, while others claim through Lucius of Britain. By 410, during the Decline of the Roman Empire, Britain was left exposed by the end of Roman rule in Britain and the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars. Celtic Christian monastic and missionary movements flourished: Patrick (5th-century Ireland) and in the 6th century Brendan (Clonfert), Comgall (Bangor), David (Wales), Aiden (Lindisfarne) and Columba (Iona). This period of Christianity was influenced by ancient Celtic culture in its sensibilities, polity, practices and theology. Local \"congregations\" were centred in the monastic community and monastic leaders were more like chieftains, as peers, rather than in the more hierarchical system of the Roman-dominated church. \n\nMiddle Ages\n\nRoman military withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who had long raided the coasts of the Roman province and began to settle, initially in the eastern part of the country. Their advance was contained for some decades after the Britons' victory at the Battle of Mount Badon, but subsequently resumed, over-running the fertile lowlands of Britain and reducing the area under Brythonic control to a series of separate enclaves in the more rugged country to the west by the end of the 6th century. Contemporary texts describing this period are extremely scarce, giving rise to its description as a Dark Age. The nature and progression of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is consequently subject to considerable disagreement. Roman-dominated Christianity had in general disappeared from the conquered territories, but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by Augustine from 597 onwards. Disputes between the Roman- and Celtic-dominated forms of Christianity ended in victory for the Roman tradition at the Council of Whitby (664), which was ostensibly about haircuts and the date of Easter, but more significantly, about the differences in Roman and Celtic forms of authority, theology, and practice (Lehane).\n\nDuring the settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex. Over the following centuries this process of political consolidation continued. The 7th century saw a struggle for hegemony between Northumbria and Mercia, which in the 8th century gave way to Mercian preeminence. In the early 9th century Mercia was displaced as the foremost kingdom by Wessex. Later in that century escalating attacks by the Danes culminated in the conquest of the north and east of England, overthrowing the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. Wessex under Alfred the Great was left as the only surviving English kingdom, and under his successors it steadily expanded at the expense of the kingdoms of the Danelaw. This brought about the political unification of England, first accomplished under Æthelstan in 927 and definitively established after further conflicts by Eadred in 953. A fresh wave of Scandinavian attacks from the late 10th century ended with the conquest of this united kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013 and again by his son Cnut in 1016, turning it into the centre of a short-lived North Sea Empire that also included Denmark and Norway. However the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of Edward the Confessor in 1042.\n\nA dispute over the succession to Edward led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy. The Normans themselves originated from Scandinavia and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had a profound and permanent effect on the English language. \n\nSubsequently the House of Plantagenet from Anjou inherited the English throne under Henry II, adding England to the budding Angevin Empire of fiefs the family had inherited in France including Aquitaine. They reigned for three centuries, some noted monarchs being Richard I, Edward I, Edward III and Henry V. The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including the signing of the Magna Carta, an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic monasticism flourished, providing philosophers, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The Principality of Wales became a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century and the Lordship of Ireland was given to the English monarchy by the Pope.\n\nDuring the 14th century, the Plantagenets and the House of Valois both claimed to be legitimate claimants to the House of Capet and with it France; the two powers clashed in the Hundred Years' War. The Black Death epidemic hit England; starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's inhabitants. From 1453 to 1487 civil war occurred between two branches of the royal family—the Yorkists and Lancastrians—known as the Wars of the Roses. Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the Tudors, a branch of the Lancastrians headed by Henry Tudor who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field where the Yorkist king Richard III was killed. \n\nEarly Modern\n\nDuring the Tudor period, the Renaissance reached England through Italian courtiers, who reintroduced artistic, educational and scholarly debate from classical antiquity. England began to develop naval skills, and exploration to the West intensified. \n\nHenry VIII broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to his divorce, under the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the Church of England. In contrast with much of European Protestantism, the roots of the split were more political than theological. He also legally incorporated his ancestral land Wales into the Kingdom of England with the 1535–1542 acts. There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again, forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism.\n\nCompeting with Spain, the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke. The Roanoke colony failed and is known as the lost colony, after it was found abandoned on the return of the late-arriving supply ship. With the East India Company, England also competed with the Dutch and French in the East. In 1588, during the Elizabethan period, an English fleet under Francis Drake defeated an invading Spanish Armada. The political structure of the island changed in 1603, when the King of Scots, James VI, a kingdom which was a longtime rival to English interests, inherited the throne of England as James I — creating a personal union. He styled himself King of Great Britain, although this had no basis in English law. Under the auspices of King James VI and I the Authorised King James Version of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It has not only been ranked with Shakespeare's works as the greatest masterpiece of literature in the English language but also was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years, until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century.\n\nBased on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the English Civil War was fought between the supporters of Parliament and those of King Charles I, known colloquially as Roundheads and Cavaliers respectively. This was an interwoven part of the wider multifaceted Wars of the Three Kingdoms, involving Scotland and Ireland. The Parliamentarians were victorious, Charles I was executed and the kingdom replaced by the Commonwealth. Leader of the Parliament forces, Oliver Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector in 1653; a period of personal rule followed. After Cromwell's death and the resignation of his son Richard as Lord Protector, Charles II was invited to return as monarch in 1660, in a move called the Restoration. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, it was constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Among the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior approval of Parliament. Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch. With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged.\n\nIn 1666 the Great Fire of London gutted the City of London but it was rebuilt shortly afterwards with many significant buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren. In Parliament two factions had emerged — the Tories and Whigs. Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king James II, some of them, along with the Whigs, deposed him in the Revolution of 1688 and invited Dutch prince William of Orange to become William III. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed, the two countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate. \n\nLate Modern and contemporary\n\nUnder the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth in British overseas trade protected by the Royal Navy paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire. Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution, a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development. The opening of Northwest England's Bridgewater Canal in 1761 ushered in the canal age in Britain. In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway—the Stockton and Darlington Railway—opened to the public.\n\nDuring the Industrial Revolution, many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at Manchester and Birmingham, dubbed \"Warehouse City\" and \"Workshop of the World\" respectively. England maintained relative stability throughout the French Revolution; William Pitt the Younger was British Prime Minister for the reign of George III. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon planned to invade from the south-east. However this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British at sea by Lord Nelson and on land by the Duke of Wellington. The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of Britishness and a united national British people, shared with the Scots and Welsh. \n\nLondon became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era, and trade within the British Empire—as well as the standing of the British military and navy—was prestigious. Political agitation at home from radicals such as the Chartists and the suffragettes enabled legislative reform and universal suffrage. Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for the United Kingdom as part of the Allies. Two decades later, in World War II, the United Kingdom was again one of the Allies. At the end of the Phoney War, Winston Churchill became the wartime Prime Minister. Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during the Blitz. Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid decolonisation, and there was a speeding up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and Frank Whittle's development of the jet engine led to wider air travel. Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. The UK's NHS provided publicly funded health care to all UK permanent residents free at the point of need, being paid for from general taxation. Combined, these changes prompted the reform of local government in England in the mid-20th century. \n\nSince the 20th century there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of the British Isles, but also from the Commonwealth, particularly the Indian subcontinent. Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the service industry. As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a common market initiative called the European Economic Community which became the European Union. Since the late 20th century the administration of the United Kingdom has moved towards devolved governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism. There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by referendum.\n\nGovernance\n\nPolitics\n\nAs part of the United Kingdom, the basic political system in England is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system. There has not been a government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707, putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union, joined England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Before the union England was ruled by its monarch and the Parliament of England. Today England is governed directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, although other countries of the United Kingdom have devolved governments. In the House of Commons which is the lower house of the British Parliament based at the Palace of Westminster, there are 532 Members of Parliament (MPs) for constituencies in England, out of the 650 total. \n\nIn the United Kingdom general election, 2015, the Conservative Party won an absolute majority in the 650 contested seats with 10 seats more than all other parties combined (the Speaker of the House not being counted as a Conservative). The Conservative party, headed by the prime minister David Cameron, won 98 more seats than the Labour Party, whose leader Ed Miliband subsequently stood down. The Scottish National Party (Scotland only) won 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons replacing the Liberal Democrats as the third largest party overall in the UK. \n\nAs the United Kingdom is a member of the European Union, there are elections held regionally in England to decide who is sent as Members of the European Parliament. The 2014 European Parliament election saw the regions of England elect the following MEPs: 22 UK Independence Party (UKIP), 17 Conservatives, 17 Labour, 3 Greens, and one Liberal Democrat.\n\nSince devolution, in which other countries of the United Kingdom—Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—each have their own devolved parliament or assemblies for local issues, there has been debate about how to counterbalance this in England. Originally it was planned that various regions of England would be devolved, but following the proposal's rejection by the North East in a referendum, this has not been carried out.\n\nOne major issue is the West Lothian question, in which MPs from Scotland and Wales are able to vote on legislation affecting only England, while English MPs have no equivalent right to legislate on devolved matters. This when placed in the context of England being the only country of the United Kingdom not to have free cancer treatment, prescriptions, residential care for the elderly and free top-up university fees, has led to a steady rise in English nationalism. Some have suggested the creation of a devolved English parliament, while others have proposed simply limiting voting on legislation which only affects England to English MPs. \n\nLaw\n\nThe English law legal system, developed over the centuries, is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States (except Louisiana). Despite now being part of the United Kingdom, the legal system of the Courts of England and Wales continued, under the Treaty of Union, as a separate legal system from the one used in Scotland. The general essence of English law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent—stare decisis—to the facts before them. \n\nThe court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice for civil cases, and the Crown Court for criminal cases. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court for criminal and civil cases in England and Wales. It was created in 2009 after constitutional changes, taking over the judicial functions of the House of Lords. A decision of the Supreme Court is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, which must follow its directions. \n\nCrime increased between 1981 and 1995, but fell by 42% in the period 1995–2006. The prison population doubled over the same period, giving it the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000. Her Majesty's Prison Service, reporting to the Ministry of Justice, manages most prisons, housing over 85,000 convicts. \n\nRegions, counties, and districts\n\nThe subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government. The highest tier of local government were the nine regions of England: North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East, South East, South West, and London. These were created in 1994 as Government Offices, used by the UK government to deliver a wide range of policies and programmes regionally, but there are no elected bodies at this level, except in London, and in 2011 the regional government offices were abolished. The same boundaries remain in use for electing Members of the European Parliament on a regional basis.\n\nAfter devolution began to take place in other parts of the United Kingdom it was planned that referendums for the regions of England would take place for their own elected regional assemblies as a counterweight. London accepted in 1998: the London Assembly was created two years later. However, when the proposal was rejected by the northern England devolution referendums, 2004 in the North East, further referendums were cancelled. The regional assemblies outside London were abolished in 2010, and their functions transferred to respective Regional Development Agencies and a new system of local authority leaders' boards. \n\nBelow the regional level, all of England is divided into 48 ceremonial counties. These are used primarily as a geographical frame of reference and have developed gradually since the Middle Ages, with some established as recently as 1974. Each has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff; these posts are used to represent the British monarch locally. Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly, England is also divided into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties; these correspond to areas used for the purposes of local government and may consist of a single district or be divided into several.\n\nThere are six metropolitan counties based on the most heavily urbanised areas, which do not have county councils. In these areas the principal authorities are the councils of the subdivisions, the metropolitan boroughs. Elsewhere, 27 non-metropolitan \"shire\" counties have a county council and are divided into districts, each with a district council. They are typically, though not always, found in more rural areas. The remaining non-metropolitan counties are of a single district and usually correspond to large towns or sparsely populated counties; they are known as unitary authorities. Greater London has a different system for local government, with 32 London boroughs, plus the City of London covering a small area at the core governed by the City of London Corporation. At the most localised level, much of England is divided into civil parishes with councils; they do not exist in Greater London. \n\nGeography\n\nLandscape and rivers\n\nGeographically England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly. It is bordered by two other countries of the United Kingdom—to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. England is closer to the European continent than any other part of mainland Britain. It is separated from France by a 21 mi sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone. England also has shores on the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.\n\nThe ports of London, Liverpool, and Newcastle lie on the tidal rivers Thames, Mersey and Tyne respectively. At 220 mi, the Severn is the longest river flowing through England. It empties into the Bristol Channel and is notable for its Severn Bore tidal waves, which can reach 2 m in height. However, the longest river entirely in England is the Thames, which is 215 mi in length. There are many lakes in England; the largest is Windermere, within the aptly named Lake District. \n\nIn geological terms, the Pennines, known as the \"backbone of England\", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, originating from the end of the Paleozoic Era around 300 million years ago. Their geological composition includes, among others, sandstone and limestone, and also coal. There are karst landscapes in calcite areas such as parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The Pennine landscape is high moorland in upland areas, indented by fertile valleys of the region's rivers. They contain three national parks, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland, and the Peak District. The highest point in England, at 978 m, is Scafell Pike in Cumbria. Straddling the border between England and Scotland are the Cheviot Hills.\n\nThe English Lowlands are to the south of the Pennines, consisting of green rolling hills, including the Cotswold Hills, Chiltern Hills, North and South Downs—where they meet the sea they form white rock exposures such as the cliffs of Dover. The granite Southwest Peninsula in the West Country includes upland moorland, such as Dartmoor and Exmoor, and enjoys a mild climate; both are national parks. \n\nClimate\n\nEngland has a temperate maritime climate: it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0 °C in winter and not much higher than 32 °C in summer. The weather is damp relatively frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are May, June, September and October. Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year.\n\nImportant influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, its northern latitude and the warming of the sea by the Gulf Stream. Rainfall is higher in the west, and parts of the Lake District receive more rain than anywhere else in the country. Since weather records began, the highest temperature recorded was on 10 August 2003 at Brogdale in Kent, while the lowest was on 10 January 1982 in Edgmond, Shropshire. \n\nMajor conurbations\n\nThe Greater London Urban Area is by far the largest urban area in England and one of the busiest cities in the world. It is considered a global city and has a population larger than other countries in the United Kingdom besides England itself. Other urban areas of considerable size and influence tend to be in northern England or the English Midlands. There are fifty settlements which have been designated city status in England, while the wider United Kingdom has sixty-six.\n\nWhile many cities in England are quite large in size, such as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Bradford, Nottingham and others, a large population is not necessarily a prerequisite for a settlement to be afforded city status. Traditionally the status was afforded to towns with diocesan cathedrals and so there are smaller cities like Wells, Ely, Ripon, Truro and Chichester. According to the Office for National Statistics the ten largest, continuous built-up urban areas are:\n\nEconomy\n\nEngland's economy is one of the largest in the world, with an average GDP per capita of £22,907. Usually regarded as a mixed market economy, it has adopted many free market principles, yet maintains an advanced social welfare infrastructure. The official currency in England is the pound sterling, whose ISO 4217 code is GBP. Taxation in England is quite competitive when compared to much of the rest of Europe – the basic rate of personal tax is 20% on taxable income up to £31,865 above the personal tax-free allowance (normally £10,000), and 40% on any additional earnings above that amount. \n\nThe economy of England is the largest part of the UK's economy, which has the 18th highest GDP PPP per capita in the world. England is a leader in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries, particularly aerospace, the arms industry, and the manufacturing side of the software industry. London, home to the London Stock Exchange, the United Kingdom's main stock exchange and the largest in Europe, is England's financial centre—100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations are based in London. London is the largest financial centre in Europe, and is the second largest in the world. \n\nThe Bank of England, founded in 1694 by Scottish banker William Paterson, is the United Kingdom's central bank. Originally established as private banker to the government of England, since 1946 it has been a state-owned institution. The bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, although not in other parts of the United Kingdom. The government has devolved responsibility to the bank's Monetary Policy Committee for managing the monetary policy of the country and setting interest rates. \n\nEngland is highly industrialised, but since the 1970s there has been a decline in traditional heavy and manufacturing industries, and an increasing emphasis on a more service industry oriented economy. Tourism has become a significant industry, attracting millions of visitors to England each year. The export part of the economy is dominated by pharmaceuticals, cars (although many English marques are now foreign-owned, such as Land Rover, Lotus, Jaguar and Bentley), crude oil and petroleum from the English parts of North Sea oil along with Wytch Farm, aircraft engines and alcoholic beverages. \n\nMost of the UK's £25 billion aerospace industry is primarily based in England. The wings for the Airbus A380 and the Airbus A350 XWB are designed and manufactured at Airbus UK's world-leading facility in Broughton. GKN Aerospace – an expert in metallic and composite aerostructures is involved in almost every civil and military fixed and rotary wing aircraft in production is based in Redditch. \n\nBAE Systems makes large sections of the Typhoon Eurofighter at its sub-assembly plant in Salmesbury and assembles the aircraft for the RAF at its Warton plant, near Preston. It is also a principal subcontractor on the F35 Joint Strike Fighter – the world's largest single defence project – for which it designs and manufactures a range of components including the aft fuselage, vertical and horizontal tail and wing tips and fuel system. As well as this it manufactures the Hawk, the world's most successful jet training aircraft.\n\nRolls-Royce PLC is the world's second-largest aero-engine manufacturer. Its engines power more than 30 types of commercial aircraft, and it has more 30,000 engines currently in service across both the civil and defence sectors. With a workforce of over 12,000 people, Derby has the largest concentration of Rolls-Royce employees in the UK. Rolls-Royce also produces low-emission power systems for ships; makes critical equipment and safety systems for the nuclear industry and powers offshore platforms and major pipelines for the oil and gas industry. \n\nMuch of the UK's space industry is centred on EADS Astrium, based in Stevenage and Portsmouth. The company builds the buses – the underlying structure onto which the payload and propulsion systems are built – for most of the European Space Agency's spacecraft, as well as commercial satellites. The world leader in compact satellite systems, Surrey Satellites, is also part of Astrium. Reaction Engines Limited, the company planning to build Skylon, a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane using their SABRE rocket engine, a combined-cycle, air-breathing rocket propulsion system is based Culham.\n\nAgriculture is intensive and highly mechanised, producing 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force. Two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, the other to arable crops. \n\nScience and technology\n\nProminent English figures from the field of science and mathematics include Sir Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Joseph Priestley, J. J. Thomson, Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Christopher Wren, Alan Turing, Francis Crick, Joseph Lister, Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Dirac, Andrew Wiles and Richard Dawkins. Some experts claim that the earliest concept of a metric system was invented by John Wilkins, the first secretary of the Royal Society, in 1668. \n\nAs the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, England was home to many significant inventors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Famous English engineers include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges, hence revolutionising public transport and modern-day engineering. Thomas Newcomen's steam engine helped spawn the Industrial Revolution. The Father of Railways, George Stephenson, built the first public inter-city railway line in the world, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. With his role in the marketing and manufacturing of the steam engine, and invention of modern coinage, Matthew Boulton (business partner of James Watt) is regarded as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in history. The physician Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine is said to have \"saved more lives ... than were lost in all the wars of mankind since the beginning of recorded history.\" \n\nInventions and discoveries of the English include: the jet engine, the first industrial spinning machine, the first computer and the first modern computer, the World Wide Web along with HTML, the first successful human blood transfusion, the motorised vacuum cleaner, the lawn mower, the seat belt, the hovercraft, the electric motor, steam engines, and theories such as the Darwinian theory of evolution and atomic theory. Newton developed the ideas of universal gravitation, Newtonian mechanics, and calculus, and Robert Hooke his eponymously named law of elasticity. Other inventions include the iron plate railway, the thermosiphon, tarmac, the rubber band, the mousetrap, \"cat's eye\" road marker, joint development of the light bulb, steam locomotives, the modern seed drill and many modern techniques and technologies used in precision engineering. \n\nTransport\n\nThe Department for Transport is the government body responsible for overseeing transport in England. There are many motorways in England, and many other trunk roads, such as the A1 Great North Road, which runs through eastern England from London to Newcastle (much of this section is motorway) and onward to the Scottish border. The longest motorway in England is the M6, from Rugby through the North West up to the Anglo-Scottish border, a distance of 232 mi. Other major routes include: the M1 from London to Leeds, the M25 which encircles London, the M60 which encircles Manchester, the M4 from London to South Wales, the M62 from Liverpool via Manchester to East Yorkshire, and the M5 from Birmingham to Bristol and the South West.\n\nBus transport across the country is widespread; major companies include National Express, Arriva and Go-Ahead Group. The red double-decker buses in London have become a symbol of England. There is a rapid rail network in two English cities: the London Underground; and the Tyne and Wear Metro in Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland. There are several tram networks, such as the Blackpool tramway, Manchester Metrolink, Sheffield Supertram and Midland Metro, and the Tramlink system centred on Croydon in South London.\n\nRail transport in England is the oldest in the world: passenger railways originated in England in 1825. Much of Britain's 10000 mi of rail network lies in England, covering the country fairly extensively, although a high proportion of railway lines were closed in the second half of the 20th century. There are plans to reopen lines such as the Varsity Line between Oxford and Cambridge. These lines are mostly standard gauge (single, double or quadruple track) though there are also a few narrow gauge lines. There is rail transport access to France and Belgium through an undersea rail link, the Channel Tunnel, which was completed in 1994.\n\nEngland has extensive domestic and international aviation links. The largest airport is London Heathrow, which is the world's busiest airport measured by number of international passengers. Other large airports include Manchester Airport, London Stansted Airport, Luton Airport and Birmingham Airport. By sea there is ferry transport, both local and international, including to Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium. There are around 4400 mi of navigable waterways in England, half of which is owned by the Canal and River Trust, however water transport is very limited. The Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at the Port of Tilbury in the Thames Estuary, one of the United Kingdom's three major ports.\n\nHealthcare\n\nThe National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England responsible for providing the majority of healthcare in the country. The NHS began on 5 July 1948, putting into effect the provisions of the National Health Service Act 1946. It was based on the findings of the Beveridge Report, prepared by economist and social reformer William Beveridge. The NHS is largely funded from general taxation including National Insurance payments, and it provides most of its services free at the point of use, although there are charges for some people for eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of personal care. \n\nThe government department responsible for the NHS is the Department of Health, headed by the Secretary of State for Health, who sits in the British Cabinet. Most of the expenditure of the Department of Health is spent on the NHS—£98.6 billion was spent in 2008–2009. In recent years the private sector has been increasingly used to provide more NHS services despite opposition by doctors and trade unions. The average life expectancy of people in England is 77.5 years for males and 81.7 years for females, the highest of the four countries of the United Kingdom.\n\nDemography\n\nPopulation\n\nWith over 53 million inhabitants, England is by far the most populous country of the United Kingdom, accounting for 84% of the combined total. England taken as a unit and measured against international states has the fourth largest population in the European Union and would be the 25th largest country by population in the world. With a density of 407 people per square kilometre, it would be the second most densely populated country in the European Union after Malta. \n\nThe English people are a British people. Some genetic evidence suggests that 75–95% descend in the paternal line from prehistoric settlers who originally came from the Iberian Peninsula, as well as a 5% contribution from Angles and Saxons, and a significant Scandinavian (Viking) element. However, other geneticists place the Germanic estimate up to half. Over time, various cultures have been influential: Prehistoric, Brythonic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking (North Germanic), Gaelic cultures, as well as a large influence from Normans. There is an English diaspora in former parts of the British Empire; especially the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Since the late 1990s, many English people have migrated to Spain. \n\nIn 1086, when the Domesday Book was compiled, England had a population of two million. About ten per cent lived in urban areas. By 1801 the population had grown to 8.3 million, and by 1901 had grown to 30.5 million. Due in particular to the economic prosperity of South East England, it has received many economic migrants from the other parts of the United Kingdom. There has been significant Irish migration. The proportion of ethnically European residents totals at 87.50%, including Germans and Poles.\n\nOther people from much further afield in the former British colonies have arrived since the 1950s: in particular, 6% of people living in England have family origins in the Indian subcontinent, mostly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 2.90% of the population are black, from both the Caribbean and countries in Africa itself, especially former British colonies. There is a significant number of Chinese and British Chinese. In 2007, 22% of primary school children in England were from ethnic minority families, and in 2011 that figure was 26.5%. About half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to immigration. Debate over immigration is politically prominent; according to a 2009 Home Office poll, 80% of people want to cap it. The ONS has projected that the population will grow by six million between 2004 and 2029. \n\nLanguage\n\nAs its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue spoken by 98% of the population.[http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/QS205EW/view/2092957699?cols\nmeasures QS205EW – Proficiency in English], ONS 2011 census. Out of the 51,005,610 residents of England over the age of three, 50,161,765 (98%) can speak English \"well\" or \"very well\". Retrieved 20 July 2015. It is an Indo-European language in the Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family. After the Norman conquest, the Old English language was displaced and confined to the lower social classes as Norman French and Latin were used by the aristocracy.\n\nBy the 15th century, English was back in fashion among all classes, though much changed; the Middle English form showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the English Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins. Modern English has extended this custom of flexibility, when it comes to incorporating words from different languages. Thanks in large part to the British Empire, the English language is the world's unofficial lingua franca. \n\nEnglish language learning and teaching is an important economic activity, and includes language schooling, tourism spending, and publishing. There is no legislation mandating an official language for England, but English is the only language used for official business. Despite the country's relatively small size, there are many distinct regional accents, and individuals with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood everywhere in the country.\n\nAs well as English, England has two other indigenous languages, Cornish and Welsh. Cornish died out as a community language in the 18th century but is being revived, and is now protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is spoken by 0.1% of people in Cornwall, and is taught to some degree in several primary and secondary schools. \n\nWhen the modern border between Wales and England was established by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, many Welsh-speaking communities found themselves on the English side of the border. Welsh was spoken in Archenfield in Herefordshire into the nineteenth century. Welsh was spoken by natives of parts of western Shropshire until the middle of the twentieth century if not later. \n\nState schools teach students a second language, usually French, German or Spanish. Due to immigration, it was reported in 2007 that around 800,000 school students spoke a foreign language at home, the most common being Punjabi and Urdu. However, following the 2011 census data released by the Office for National Statistics, figures now show that Polish is the main language spoken in England after English. \n\nReligion\n\nAccording to the 2011 census, 59.4% of the population is Christian, 24.7% non-religious, 5% is Muslim while 3.7% of the population belongs to other religions and 7.2 did not give an answer. Christianity is the most widely practised religion in England, as it has been since the Early Middle Ages, although it was first introduced much earlier in Gaelic and Roman times. This Celtic Church was gradually joined to the Catholic hierarchy following the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by St Augustine. The established church of England is Church of England, which left communion with Rome in the 1530s when Henry VIII was unable to annul his divorce to the aunt of the king of Spain. The religion regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed.\n\nThere are High Church and Low Church traditions, and some Anglicans regard themselves as Anglo-Catholics, following the Tractarian movement. The monarch of the United Kingdom is the Supreme Governor of the church, which has around 26 million baptised members (of whom the vast majority are not regular churchgoers). It forms part of the Anglican Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as its symbolic worldwide head. Many cathedrals and parish churches are historic buildings of significant architectural importance, such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral, and Salisbury Cathedral.\n\nThe 2nd-largest Christian practice is the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Since its reintroduction after the Catholic Emancipation, the Church has organised ecclesiastically on an England and Wales basis where there are 4.5 million members (most of whom are English). There has been one Pope from England to date, Adrian IV; while saints Bede and Anselm are regarded as Doctors of the Church.\n\nA form of Protestantism known as Methodism is the third largest Christian practice and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley. It gained popularity in the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and amongst tin miners in Cornwall. There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Unitarians and The Salvation Army. \n\nThe patron saint of England is Saint George; his symbolic cross is included in the flag of England, as well as in the Union Flag as part of a combination. There are many other English and associated saints; some of the best-known are: Cuthbert, Edmund, Alban, Wilfrid, Aidan, Edward the Confessor, John Fisher, Thomas More, Petroc, Piran, Margaret Clitherow and Thomas Becket. There are non-Christian religions practised. Jews have a history of a small minority on the island since 1070. They were expelled from England in 1290 following the Edict of Expulsion, only to be allowed back in 1656.\n\nEspecially since the 1950s, religions from the former British colonies have grown in numbers, due to immigration. Islam is the most common of these, now accounting for around 5% of the population in England. Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are next in number, adding up to 2.8% combined, introduced from India and South East Asia.\n\nA small minority of the population practice ancient Pagan religions. Neopaganism in the United Kingdom is primarily represented by Wicca and Witchcraft religions, Druidry, and Heathenry. According to the 2011 UK Census, there are roughly 53,172 people who identify as Pagan in England, and 3,448 in Wales, including 11,026 Wiccans in England and 740 in Wales.\n\nEducation\n\nThe Department for Education is the government department responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including education. State-run and state-funded schools are attended by approximately 93% of English schoolchildren. Of these, a minority are faith schools (primarily Church of England or Roman Catholic schools). Children who are between the ages of 3 and 5 attend nursery or an Early Years Foundation Stage reception unit within a primary school. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 attend primary school, and secondary school is attended by those aged between 11 and 16. After finishing compulsory education, students take GCSE examinations. Students may then opt to continue into further education for two years. Further education colleges (particularly sixth form colleges) often form part of a secondary school site. A-level examinations are sat by a large number of further education students, and often form the basis of an application to university.\n\nAlthough most English secondary schools are comprehensive, in some areas there are selective intake grammar schools, to which entrance is subject to passing the Eleven-Plus exam. Around 7.2% of English schoolchildren attend private schools, which are funded by private sources. Standards in state schools are monitored by the Office for Standards in Education, and in private schools by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. \n\nHigher education students normally attend university from age 18 onwards, where they study for an academic degree. There are over 90 universities in England, all but one of which are public institutions. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is the government department responsible for higher education in England. Students are generally entitled to student loans to cover the cost of tuition fees and living costs. The first degree offered to undergraduates is the Bachelor's degree, which usually takes three years to complete. Students are then able to work towards a postgraduate degree, which usually takes one year, or towards a doctorate, which takes three or more years.\n\nEngland's universities include some of the highest-ranked universities in the world; Cambridge University, Imperial College London, Oxford University, University College London and King's College London are all ranked in the global top 20 in the 2014–2015 QS World University Rankings. The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research. The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2010 its MBA programme was ranked best in the world by the Financial Times. Academic degrees in England are usually split into classes: first class (1st), upper second class (2:1), lower second class (2:2), third (3rd), and unclassified.\n\nThe King's School, Canterbury and King's School, Rochester are the oldest schools in the English-speaking world. Many of England's most well-known schools, such as Winchester College, Eton, St Paul's School, Harrow School and Rugby School are fee-paying institutions. \n\nCulture\n\nArchitecture\n\nMany ancient standing stone monuments were erected during the prehistoric period, amongst the best-known are Stonehenge, Devil's Arrows, Rudston Monolith and Castlerigg. With the introduction of Ancient Roman architecture there was a development of basilicas, baths, amphitheaters, triumphal arches, villas, Roman temples, Roman roads, Roman forts, stockades and aqueducts. It was the Romans who founded the first cities and towns such as London, Bath, York, Chester and St Albans. Perhaps the best-known example is Hadrian's Wall stretching right across northern England. Another well-preserved example is the Roman Baths at Bath, Somerset.\n\nEarly Medieval architecture's secular buildings were simple constructions mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. Ecclesiastical architecture ranged from a synthesis of Hiberno—Saxon monasticism, to Early Christian basilica and architecture characterised by pilaster-strips, blank arcading, baluster shafts and triangular headed openings. After the Norman conquest in 1066 various Castles in England were created so law lords could uphold their authority and in the north to protect from invasion. Some of the best-known medieval castles are the Tower of London, Warwick Castle, Durham Castle and Windsor Castle.\n\nThroughout the Plantagenet era an English Gothic architecture flourished—the medieval cathedrals such as Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and York Minster are prime examples. Expanding on the Norman base there was also castles, palaces, great houses, universities and parish churches. Medieval architecture was completed with the 16th-century Tudor style; the four-centred arch, now known as the Tudor arch, was a defining feature as were wattle and daub houses domestically. In the aftermath of the Renaissance a form of architecture echoing classical antiquity, synthesised with Christianity appeared—the English Baroque style, architect Christopher Wren was particularly championed. \n\nGeorgian architecture followed in a more refined style, evoking a simple Palladian form; the Royal Crescent at Bath is one of the best examples of this. With the emergence of romanticism during Victorian period, a Gothic Revival was launched—in addition to this around the same time the Industrial Revolution paved the way for buildings such as The Crystal Palace. Since the 1930s various modernist forms have appeared whose reception is often controversial, though traditionalist resistance movements continue with support in influential places.\n\nFolklore\n\nEnglish folklore developed over many centuries. Some of the characters and stories are present across England, but most belong to specific regions. Common folkloric beings include pixies, giants, elves, bogeymen, trolls, goblins and dwarves. While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, for instance the tales featuring Offa of Angel and Wayland the Smith, others date from after the Norman invasion; Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham being, perhaps, the best known. \n\nDuring the High Middle Ages tales originating from Brythonic traditions entered English folklore—the Arthurian myth. These were derived from Anglo-Norman, Welsh and French sources, featuring King Arthur, Camelot, Excalibur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table such as Lancelot. These stories are most centrally brought together within Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain). Another early figure from British tradition, King Cole, may have been based on a real figure from Sub-Roman Britain. Many of the tales and pseudo-histories make up part of the wider Matter of Britain, a collection of shared British folklore.\n\nSome folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries; Lady Godiva for instance was said to have ridden naked on horseback through Coventry, Hereward the Wake was a heroic English figure resisting the Norman invasion, Herne the Hunter is an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park and Mother Shipton is the archetypal witch. On 5 November people make bonfires, set off fireworks and eat toffee apples in commemoration of the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot centred on Guy Fawkes. The chivalrous bandit, such as Dick Turpin, is a recurring character, while Blackbeard is the archetypal pirate. There are various national and regional folk activities, participated in to this day, such as Morris dancing, Maypole dancing, Rapper sword in the North East, Long Sword dance in Yorkshire, Mummers Plays, bottle-kicking in Leicestershire, and cheese-rolling at Cooper's Hill. There is no official national costume, but a few are well established such as the Pearly Kings and Queens associated with cockneys, the Royal Guard, the Morris costume and Beefeaters. \n\nCuisine\n\nSince the early modern period the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce. During the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance period, English cuisine enjoyed an excellent reputation, though a decline began during the Industrial Revolution with the move away from the land and increasing urbanisation of the populace. The cuisine of England has, however, recently undergone a revival, which has been recognised by the food critics with some good ratings in Restaurants best restaurant in the world charts. An early book of English recipes is the Forme of Cury from the royal court of Richard II. \n\nTraditional examples of English food include the Sunday roast, featuring a roasted joint (usually beef, lamb, chicken or pork) served with assorted vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy. Other prominent meals include fish and chips and the full English breakfast (generally consisting of bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms, and eggs). Various meat pies are consumed such as steak and kidney pie, steak and ale pie, cottage pie, pork pie (the latter usually eaten cold) and the Cornish Pasty.\n\nSausages are commonly eaten, either as bangers and mash or toad in the hole. Lancashire hotpot is a well known stew in the northwest. Some of the more popular cheeses are Cheddar, Red Leicester and Wensleydale together with Blue Stilton. Many Anglo-Indian hybrid dishes, curries, have been created such as chicken tikka masala and balti. Traditional English dessert dishes include apple pie or other fruit pies; spotted dick – all generally served with custard; and, more recently, sticky toffee pudding. Sweet pastries include scones (either plain or containing dried fruit) served with jam and/or cream, dried fruit loaves, Eccles cakes and mince pies as well as a wide range of sweet or spiced biscuits. Common drinks include tea, whose popularity was increased by Catherine of Braganza, whilst frequently consumed alcoholic drinks include wines, ciders and English beers, such as bitter, mild, stout, and brown ale. \n\nVisual arts\n\nThe earliest known examples are the prehistoric rock and cave art pieces, most prominent in North Yorkshire, Northumberland and Cumbria, but also feature further south, for example at Creswell Crags. With the arrival of Roman culture in the 1st century, various forms of art utilising statues, busts, glasswork and mosaics were the norm. There are numerous surviving artefacts, such as those at Lullingstone and Aldborough. During the Early Middle Ages the style favoured sculpted crosses and ivories, manuscript painting, gold and enamel jewellery, demonstrating a love of intricate, interwoven designs such as in the Staffordshire Hoard discovered in 2009. Some of these blended Gaelic and Anglian styles, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and Vespasian Psalter. Later Gothic art was popular at Winchester and Canterbury, examples survive such as Benedictional of St. Æthelwold and Luttrell Psalter.\n\nThe Tudor era saw prominent artists as part of their court, portrait painting which would remain an enduring part of English art, was boosted by German Hans Holbein, natives such as Nicholas Hilliard built on this. Under the Stuarts, Continental artists were influential especially the Flemish, examples from the period include—Anthony van Dyck, Peter Lely, Godfrey Kneller and William Dobson. The 18th century was a time of significance with the founding of the Royal Academy, a classicism based on the High Renaissance prevailed—Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds became two of England's most treasured artists.\n\nThe Norwich School continued the landscape tradition, while the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with their vivid and detailed style revived the Early Renaissance style—Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais were leaders. Prominent amongst 20th-century artists was Henry Moore, regarded as the voice of British sculpture, and of British modernism in general. Contemporary painters include Lucian Freud, whose work Benefits Supervisor Sleeping in 2008 set a world record for sale value of a painting by a living artist. \n\nLiterature, poetry and philosophy\n\nEarly authors such as Bede and Alcuin wrote in Latin. The period of Old English literature provided the epic poem Beowulf and the secular prose of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, along with Christian writings such as Judith, Cædmon's Hymn and hagiographies. Following the Norman conquest Latin continued amongst the educated classes, as well as an Anglo-Norman literature.\n\nMiddle English literature emerged with Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, along with Gower, the Pearl Poet and Langland. William of Ockham and Roger Bacon, who were Franciscans, were major philosophers of the Middle Ages. Julian of Norwich, who wrote Revelations of Divine Love, was a prominent Christian mystic. With the English Renaissance literature in the Early Modern English style appeared. William Shakespeare, whose works include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, remains one of the most championed authors in English literature. \n\nChristopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sydney, Thomas Kyd, John Donne, and Ben Jonson are other established authors of the Elizabethan age. Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes wrote on empiricism and materialism, including scientific method and social contract. Filmer wrote on the Divine Right of Kings. Marvell was the best-known poet of the Commonwealth, while John Milton authored Paradise Lost during the Restoration.\n\nSome of the most prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Samuel Johnson and Jeremy Bentham. More radical elements were later countered by Edmund Burke who is regarded as the founder of conservatism. The poet Alexander Pope with his satirical verse became well regarded. The English played a significant role in romanticism: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Blake and William Wordsworth were major figures. \n\nIn response to the Industrial Revolution, agrarian writers sought a way between liberty and tradition; William Cobbett, G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc were main exponents, while the founder of guild socialism, Arthur Penty, and cooperative movement advocate G. D. H. Cole are somewhat related. Empiricism continued through John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell, while Bernard Williams was involved in analytics. Authors from around the Victorian era include Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells and Lewis Carroll. Since then England has continued to produce novelists such as George Orwell, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, C. S. Lewis, Enid Blyton, Aldous Huxley, Agatha Christie, Terry Pratchett, J. R. R. Tolkien, and J. K. Rowling. \n\nPerforming arts\n\nThe traditional folk music of England is centuries old and has contributed to several genres prominently; mostly sea shanties, jigs, hornpipes and dance music. It has its own distinct variations and regional peculiarities. Wynkyn de Worde printed ballads of Robin Hood from the 16th century are an important artefact, as are John Playford's The Dancing Master and Robert Harley's Roxburghe Ballads collections. Some of the best-known songs are Greensleeves, Pastime with Good Company, Maggie May and Spanish Ladies amongst others. Many nursery rhymes are of English origin such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Roses are red, Jack and Jill, London Bridge Is Falling Down, The Grand Old Duke of York, Hey Diddle Diddle and Humpty Dumpty. Traditional English Christmas carols include \"We Wish You a Merry Christmas\", \"The First Noel\" and \"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen\". \n\nEarly English composers in classical music include Renaissance artists Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, followed up by Henry Purcell from the Baroque period. German-born George Frideric Handel became a British subject and spent most of his composing life in London, creating some of the most well-known works of classical music, The Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. One of his four Coronation Anthems, Zadok the Priest, composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British coronation, traditionally during the sovereign's anointing. There was a revival in the profile of composers from England in the 20th century led by Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and others. Present-day composers from England include Michael Nyman, best known for The Piano, and Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose musicals have achieved enormous success in the West End and worldwide. \n\nIn the field of popular music, many English bands and solo artists have been cited as the most influential and best-selling musicians of all time. Acts such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones are among the highest selling recording artists in the world. Many musical genres have origins in (or strong associations with) England, such as British invasion, progressive rock, hard rock, Mod, glam rock, heavy metal, Britpop, indie rock, gothic rock, shoegazing, acid house, garage, trip hop, drum and bass and dubstep. \n\nLarge outdoor music festivals in the summer and autumn are popular, such as Glastonbury, V Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The most prominent opera house in England is the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. The Proms – a season of orchestral classical concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall in London – is a major cultural event in the English calendar, and takes place yearly. The Royal Ballet is one of the world's foremost classical ballet companies, its reputation built on two prominent figures of 20th-century dance, prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn and choreographer Frederick Ashton.\n\nCinema\n\nEngland (and the UK as a whole) has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema, producing some of the greatest actors, directors and motion pictures of all time, including Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, David Lean, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, Peter Sellers, Julie Andrews, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet and Daniel Day-Lewis. Hitchcock and Lean are among the most critically acclaimed of all-time. Hitchcock's first thriller, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1926), helped shape the thriller genre in film, while his 1929 film, Blackmail, is often regarded as the first British sound feature film. \n\nMajor film studios in England include Pinewood, Elstree and Shepperton. Some of the most commercially successful films of all time have been produced in England, including two of the highest-grossing film franchises (Harry Potter and James Bond). Ealing Studios in London has a claim to being the oldest continuously working film studio in the world. Famous for recording many motion picture film scores, the London Symphony Orchestra first performed film music in 1935. \n\nThe BFI Top 100 British films includes Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), a film regularly voted the funniest of all time by the UK public. English producers are also active in international co-productions and English actors, directors and crew feature regularly in American films. The UK film council ranked David Yates, Christopher Nolan, Mike Newell, Ridley Scott and Paul Greengrass the five most commercially successful English directors since 2001. Other contemporary English directors include Sam Mendes, Guy Ritchie and Steve McQueen. Current actors include Tom Hardy, Daniel Craig, Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Watson. Acclaimed for his motion capture work, Andy Serkis opened The Imaginarium Studios in London in 2011. The visual effects company Framestore in London has produced some of the most critically acclaimed special effects in modern film. Many successful Hollywood films have been based on English people, stories or events. The 'English Cycle' of Disney animated films include Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh. \n\nMuseums, libraries, and galleries\n\nEnglish Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The charity National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty holds a contrasting role. 17 of the 25 United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England. Some of the best-known of these are: Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, Tower of London, Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Studley Royal Park and various others. \n\nThere are many museums in England, but perhaps the most notable is London's British Museum. Its collection of more than seven million objects is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world, sourced from every continent, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; including around 25 million books. The most senior art gallery is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the famously controversial Turner Prize. \n\nSports\n\nEngland has a strong sporting heritage, and during the 19th century codified many sports that are now played around the world. Sports originating in England include association football, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, tennis, boxing, badminton, squash, rounders, hockey, snooker, billiards, darts, table tennis, bowls, netball, thoroughbred horseracing, greyhound racing and fox hunting. It has helped the development of golf, sailing and Formula One.\n\nFootball is the most popular of these sports. The England national football team, whose home venue is Wembley Stadium, played Scotland in the first ever international football match in 1872. Referred to as the \"home of football\" by FIFA, England hosted the 1966 FIFA World Cup, and won the tournament by defeating West Germany 4–2 in the final, with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick. With a British television audience peak of 32.30 million viewers, the final is the most watched television event ever in the UK. \n\nAt club level England is recognised by FIFA as the birthplace of club football, due to Sheffield F.C. founded in 1857 being the world's oldest club. The Football Association is the oldest governing body in the sport, with the rules of football first drafted in 1863 by Ebenezer Cobb Morley. The FA Cup and The Football League were the first cup and league competitions respectively. In the modern day the Premier League is the world's most-watched football league, most lucrative, and amongst the elite. \n\nAs is the case throughout the UK, football in England is renowned for the intense rivalries between clubs and the passion of the supporters, which includes a tradition of football chants, such as, \"You're Not Singing Any More\" (or its variant \"We Can See You Sneaking Out!\"), sung by jubilant fans towards the opposition fans who have gone silent (or left early). The European Cup (now UEFA Champions League) has been won by Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Chelsea, while Arsenal, and Leeds United have reached the final. Other English clubs have enjoyed success, Tottenham Hotspur, Ipswich Town, Chelsea, and Liverpool have won the UEFA Cup, renamed UEFA Europa League.\n\nCricket is generally thought to have been developed in the early medieval period among the farming and metalworking communities of the Weald. The England cricket team is a composite England and Wales team. One of the game's top rivalries is The Ashes series between England and Australia, contested since 1882. The climax of the 2005 Ashes was viewed by 7.4 million as it was available on terrestrial television. England has hosted four Cricket World Cups (1975, 1979, 1983, 1999) and will host the 2019 edition, but never won the tournament, reaching the final 3 times. However they have hosted the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009, winning this format in 2010 beating rivals Australia in the final. In the domestic competition, the County Championship, Yorkshire are by far the most successful club having won the competition 31 times. Lord's Cricket Ground situated in London is sometimes referred to as the \"Mecca of Cricket\". \n\nWilliam Penny Brookes was prominent in organising the format for the modern Olympic Games. In 1994, then President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, laid a wreath on Brooke's grave, and said, \"I came to pay homage and tribute to Dr Brookes, who really was the founder of the modern Olympic Games\". London has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times, in 1908, 1948, and 2012. England competes in the Commonwealth Games, held every four years. Sport England is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in England.\n\nRugby union originated in Rugby School, Warwickshire in the early 19th century. The England rugby union team won the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the country was one of the host nations of the competition in the 1991 Rugby World Cup and is set to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The top level of club participation is the English Premiership. Leicester Tigers, London Wasps, Bath Rugby and Northampton Saints have had success in the Europe-wide Heineken Cup.\n\nRugby league was born in Huddersfield in 1895. Since 2008, the England national rugby league team has been a full test nation in lieu of the Great Britain national rugby league team, which won three World Cups but is now retired. Club sides play in Super League, the present-day embodiment of the Rugby Football League Championship. Rugby League is most popular among towns in the northern English counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria. All eleven English clubs in Super League are based in the north of England. Some of the most successful clubs include Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants; the former three have all won the World Club Challenge previously.\n\nGolf has been prominent in England; due in part to its cultural and geographical ties to Scotland, the home of Golf. There are both professional tours for men and women, in two main tours: the PGA and the European Tour. England has produced grand slam winners: Cyril Walker, Tony Jacklin, Nick Faldo, and Justin Rose in the men's and Laura Davies, Alison Nicholas, and Karen Stupples in the women's. The world's oldest golf tournament, and golf's first major, is The Open Championship, played both in England and Scotland. The biennial golf competition, the Ryder Cup, is named after English businessman Samuel Ryder who sponsored the event and donated the trophy. Nick Faldo is the most successful Ryder Cup player ever, having won the most points (25) of any player on either the European or U.S. teams. \n\nTennis was created in Birmingham, England in the late 19th century, and the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and widely considered the most prestigious. Fred Perry was the last Englishman to win Wimbledon in 1936. He was the first player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles and helped lead the Great Britain team to victory over France in the Davis Cup in 1933. English women who have won Wimbledon include: Ann Haydon Jones won in 1969 and Virginia Wade in 1977.\n\nIn boxing, under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, England has produced many world champions across the weight divisions internationally recognised by the governing bodies. World champions include Bob Fitzsimmons, Ted \"Kid\" Lewis, Randolph Turpin, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis, Ricky Hatton, Naseem Hamed, Amir Khan, Carl Froch, and David Haye. In women's boxing, Nicola Adams became the world's first woman to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.\n\nThe 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created Formula One World Championship. Since then, England has produced some of the greatest drivers in the sport, including; John Surtees, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill (only driver to have won the Triple Crown), Nigel Mansell (only man to hold F1 and IndyCar titles at the same time), Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. It has manufactured some of the most technically advanced racing cars, and many of today's racing companies choose England as their base of operations for its engineering knowledge and organisation. McLaren Automotive, Williams F1, Team Lotus, Honda, Brawn GP, Benetton, Renault, and Red Bull Racing are all, or have been, located in the south of England. England also has a rich heritage in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the premier championship of motorcycle road racing, and produced several World Champions across all the various class of motorcycle: Mike Hailwood, John Surtees, Phil Read, Geoff Duke, and Barry Sheene.\n\nDarts is a widely popular sport in England; a professional competitive sport, darts is a traditional pub game. The sport is governed by the World Darts Federation, one of its member organisations is the BDO, which annually stages the Lakeside World Professional Championship, the other being the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which runs its own world championship at Alexandra Palace in London. Phil Taylor is widely regarded as the best darts player of all time, having won 187 professional tournaments, and a record 16 World Championships. Trina Gulliver is the ten-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the British Darts Organisation. Another popular sport commonly associated with pub games is Snooker, and England has produced several world champions, including Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan.\n\nThe English are keen sailors and enjoy competitive sailing; founding and winning some of the worlds most famous and respected international competitive tournaments across the various race formats, including the match race, a regatta, and the America's Cup. England has produced some of the world's greatest sailors, including, Francis Chichester, Herbert Hasler, John Ridgway, Robin Knox-Johnston, Ellen MacArthur, Mike Golding, Paul Goodison, and the most successful Olympic sailor ever Ben Ainslie. \n\nNational symbols\n\nThe St George's Cross has been the national flag of England since the 13th century. Originally the flag was used by the maritime Republic of Genoa. The English monarch paid a tribute to the Doge of Genoa from 1190 onwards, so that English ships could fly the flag as a means of protection when entering the Mediterranean.\nA red cross was a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with Saint George, along with countries and cities, which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. Since 1606 the St George's Cross has formed part of the design of the Union Flag, a Pan-British flag designed by King James I.\n\nThere are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and unofficial, including the Tudor rose, the nation's floral emblem, and the Three Lions featured on the Royal Arms of England. The Tudor rose was adopted as a national emblem of England around the time of the Wars of the Roses as a symbol of peace. It is a syncretic symbol in that it merged the white rose of the Yorkists and the red rose of the Lancastrians—cadet branches of the Plantagenets who went to war over control of the nation. It is also known as the Rose of England. The oak tree is a symbol of England, representing strength and endurance. The Royal Oak symbol and Oak Apple Day commemorate the escape of King Charles II from the grasp of the parliamentarians after his father's execution: he hid in an oak tree to avoid detection before safely reaching exile.\n\nThe Royal Arms of England, a national coat of arms featuring three lions, originated with its adoption by Richard the Lionheart in 1198. It is blazoned as gules, three lions passant guardant or and it provides one of the most prominent symbols of England; it is similar to the traditional arms of Normandy. England does not have an official designated national anthem, as the United Kingdom as a whole has God Save the Queen. However, the following are often considered unofficial English national anthems:\nJerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory (used for England during the 2002 Commonwealth Games), and I Vow to Thee, My Country. England's National Day is 23 April which is St George's Day: St George is the patron saint of England.",
"The Channel Tunnel - JRTR\nThe Channel Tunnel is already one of the ... It is also a very satisfying business because it is year-round ... The road tunnel was based on two one-way two-lane ...\nThe Channel Tunnel\nJapan Railway & Transport Review No. 26 (pp.38–45)\nFeature: Trends in Rail Freight\nThe Channel Tunnel\nJohn Noulton\nA 250-year Dream\nAlthough the Channel Tunnel between England and France only opened for business in 1994, the story of the project is far, far longer. As much as 250 years ago, people in France, at least, were trying to think of a better way than boat of crossing the Channel.\nIn 1751, the Academy of Amiens launched a competition on how to cross the Channel and history records that the winner was Nicolas Desmarets, who suggested construction of a tunnel. In those days, cross-Channel travel was not dominated by the leisure business as it is today. Other than military action, the main reasons were to do with trade.\nFor the next 100 years, a succession of mainly French proposals emerged with increasingly sophisticated ideas for the new link. Since this was before the development of railways, these tunnels were inevitably road tunnels.\nOne proposal by Hector Thoreau involved two artificial islands where stagecoaches using the gas-lit tunnel would come above ground to change the horses.\nAlthough Desmarets is the first documented proponent of a fixed link, the generally acknowledged ‘Father of the Tunnel’ was the 19th century French engineer Thomé de Gamond whose investigation of the seabed—at great personal risk—was the groundwork for the eventual Eurotunnel project.\nPhoto: One of runnning tunnels\n(Eurotunnel)\nPhoto: Breakthrough of service tunnel on 1 December 1990\n(Eurotunnel)\nWhy Not a Bridge?\nDe Gamond showed that the chalk measures underlying Kent and Nord/Pas de Calais also lay beneath the seabed. Subsequent geological studies revealed that at an average depth of about 40 m below the seabed, the chalk merged with clay to form an almost uniform stratum of chalk marl, probably the best tunnelling medium in the world. This accident of geology was one of the two reasons why the fixed link is a tunnel and not a bridge.\nThe other reason is that the Channel is the busiest seaway in the world, with over 600 shipping movements each day. Any bridge or other structure in the Channel would almost certainly be rammed by a ship in due course. If anything, the risks of such an accident would have been even greater during construction than during subsequent operation.\nPrevious Tunnel Attempts\nDespite the French enthusiasm for a tunnel, actual excavation did not start until the latter 19th century. The British viewed their continental neighbours with considerable suspicion, particularly after the Napoleonic campaigns earlier in the century, and were reluctant to end their ‘splendid isolation.’ Lord Palmerston, the Tory Prime Minister, greeted one proposal with the words, ‘You surely do not expect me to agree to shorten a distance I already consider short enough?’\nMany people did not share Palmerston's distaste for things French. Even during Anglo-French hostilities, there was still a ready market in Britain for French wines and brandy and cross-Channel trade continued without interruption, much of it by smuggling. The south coast of England closest to France has many relics of the illegal trade, and the 18th- century smugglers have now been succeeded by a much less romantic breed of villain who take advantage of the sharp differences in excise duty between Britain and its neighbours. It is estimated that 20% of the bottled or canned beer consumed in Britain is bought in France. Much of it is British beer that has been exported to France only to be reimported by British shoppers or ‘bootleggers.’\nIn the 1880s, it did begin to seem as though the dream of a tunnel would be realized. Colonel Beaumont, a British military engineer, led a construction team that bored nearly 2 km of undersea tunnel from Dover. A French team of engineers began work on a similar tunnel from Sangatte. But it was not to be. Senior members of the British defence establishment were still obsessed by the fear of invasion and persuaded the government to stop the project.\nOddly enough, it was not until after the two World Wars that the British defence objection to a Channel tunnel was finally dropped. In 1957, it seemed the last obstacle to construction of a tunnel had disappeared and by 1973, work had re-started in a blaze of optimism. The engineers were encouraged when they opened up the Beaumont tunnel of 1880 to find that it was still intact, despite the fact that it had never been lined. But within 2 years, the optimism had vanished and the project was cancelled by the British government again, although for a more complex set of political motives. In particular, the trade-union supporters of the then Labour government were fiercely opposed to the tunnel, because they were concerned that members' jobs in road haulage and stevedoring would be lost with the massive shift of international freight from road and ship to rail.\nPrivate Finance\nThe fears of the UK government about public expenditure was another reason for the cancellation of the 1973 project. By 1979, when the possibility of a tunnel was being considered again, the government's view had hardened. The government would not stand in the way of a fixed link provided it was funded wholly by the private sector; there would be no public funding and no guarantees of a financial or commercial nature. Although the French government had no qualms about committing public funds to the link, they accepted the British insistence on private funding, and in 1985, an ‘Invitation to Promoters' was issued calling for bids for a privately funded project.\nFour valid proposals were received by the October deadline—three road schemes and the rail-based tunnel promoted by Eurotunnel. After a detailed assessment of the four bids, the Eurotunnel proposal was selected. The private-sector promoters were awarded a concession of 55 years (later extended to 99 years) in which time they were ‘to finance, develop, design, construct and operate the tunnel entirely at their own risk without recourse to government funds.’\nBy the time of the successful share offer in 1987, the concessionaires had finally answered Lenin's scornful challenge of 1913 in which he said, ‘The richest, the most civilized, and the freest countries in the world are now discussing, in fear and trepidation, the difficult question of whether a tunnel can be built under the English Channel. On all sides, at every step, one comes across problems that man is quite capable of solving immediately, but capitalism is in the way.’\nNot Just a Tunnel\nThe winning scheme was a system consisting of three 50-km tunnels: two running tunnels of 7.5 m in diameter, and a service tunnel of 4.8 m in diameter. Each running tunnel is unidirectional with a structure gauge for the huge vehicle-carrying shuttles of the Eurotunnel transportation system as well as the more conventional international freight and passenger trains. The service tunnel is a road tunnel used by purpose-built, narrow, diesel vehicles for maintenance and emergency access.\nAlthough the tunnel is not the longest in the world—at 50 km it is nearly 4 km shorter than the Seikan Tunnel linking Honshu and Hokkaido—the 39-km undersea section between Dover and Sangatte is the longest in the world.\nThe tunnels themselves are only part of the civil engineering story. The running tunnels are linked to the central service tunnel by cross-passages every 375 m for emergency access and egress. During normal operations, where it meets the running tunnel, each end of each cross-passage is sealed by a heavy door. The running tunnels themselves are linked directly by pressure relief ducts to reduce the air pressure that builds up in front of moving trains. This in turn reduces the power required for traction and cooling.\nAbout 15 km from each tunnel portal, trains pass through large crossover caverns. As the name implies, their purpose is to permit trains to pass from one tunnel to the other. Tunnel sections can be bypassed during regular maintenance or in an emergency using these crossover caverns. Single-line working is required at such times.\nThe shuttle trains require extensive terminal facilities at each end; the Folkestone terminal covers 130 ha and extends to a length of 2 km. However, this huge facility is dwarfed by the French terminal, covering nearly 700 ha—the size of a major international airport like Heathrow. At the time, the French terminal was the largest construction site in Europe.\nPhoto: Folkestone Terminal\n(Eurotunnel)\nAnglo-French differences\nQuite apart from the differences in attitude towards the tunnel between Britain and France, there were also technical differences to overcome, not least for the international freight and passenger trains that operate beyond the boundaries of the Eurotunnel system. The British network is built mostly to a much more restricted structure gauge. Rolling stock from mainland Europe cannot operate in Britain, so trains for the tunnel either had to be built specially or limited to the UK gauge.\nThe rail system in the part of southern England served by Channel Tunnel trains is 750 V dc, whereas the French network is 25 kV ac. A further complication is that the British system delivers power through a third rail, while France has a standard overhead catenary.\nTunnel Mechanical Systems\nThe tunnel contains four main mechanical systems—ventilation, cooling, drainage, and fire-fighting. The design of each of these systems was strongly influenced by the unique characteristics of the tunnel itself, particularly its long length and limited surface access.\nThe normal ventilation system operates at all times. Large fans at each coast blow fresh air into the service tunnel. The air reaches the running tunnels through non-return air distribution units in selected cross-passage doors. There are air locks at each portal of the service tunnel to ensure that the air pressure in the tunnel is always higher than in the running tunnels—a vital feature in the event of smoke from a fire. A second, supplementary ventilation system blows air directly into the running tunnels in certain emergencies. The supplementary system only operates after trains have been slowed to very low speeds.\nThe Channel Tunnel is already one of the busiest railways in the world and when it reaches its ultimate capacity it will handle 30 train movements per hour in each direction. The power required to run the 2400-tonne shuttle trains and the aerodynamic resistance of the tunnels (despite the pressure relief ducts) creates waste heat ranging from about 60 MW at present to about 100 MW at full capacity. The amount of heat that can be lost at the portals is limited to about 1.8 MW and the heat dissipated by water seepage is very slight. Therefore, the tunnel needs a cooling system.\nTunnel engineers will tell you that the French half of the tunnel was designed to be watertight while the British half was always intended to leak. This oversimplification reflects the fact that the ground conditions in the British half of the tunnel are much more favourable than those in French territory, particularly near the French coast where the very fractured ground necessitated a lining method involving segments that were bolted temporarily together pending grouting and watertight neoprene gaskets between each lining segment. No such precautions were considered necessary for the British tunnel drives and the drainage design assumes constant groundwater seepage. Water is collected by gravity drainage lines in the tunnel floor and is directed to holding sumps prior to discharge to the surface treatment plant via one of three pumping stations. The original tunnel design called for five pumping stations and five chambers were excavated, but the actual seepage is so much less than predicted that only three stations were equipped.\nThe tunnel system has a wide range of fire detection and protection devices. To fight a major fire, a single 273-mm diameter fire main runs the entire length of the service tunnel. Water tanks and pumping stations are provided at four locations: the two portals and where the tunnels cross the two coasts.\nControl and communications\nOverall control of both engineering and rail operations is carried out from the main control centre in the Folkestone terminal. A standby control centre at the Coquelles terminal would take over instantly if the Folkestone centre was put out of action for any reason.\nThe tunnel has a variety of telephone and radio systems for voice and data communication. In addition to the administrative telephone network, there are operational and emergency telephones, linked to the control centre, in a multitude of locations above and below ground. The underground emergency telephone lines are protected against fire.\nThe signalling system incorporates full automatic train protection (ATP). When there is a stationary train ahead, the permitted speeds are gradually reduced so that a driver following the proper braking procedure slows down smoothly and comes to a halt a full block section before the stopped train. A shuttle train travelling at the normal 140 km/h needs 1500 m—three block sections—to make a normal service stop. If the driver disregarded the instructions to brake, the ATP system would take over and bring the train to a halt.\nPhoto: Railway control centre at Folkestone\n(Eurotunnel)\nPhoto: Terminal traffic control centre at Folkestone\n(Eurotunnel)\nPower Supply\nThe tunnel has a high demand for electrical power. Traction accounts for about 80% of total consumption with remainder used for auxiliary facilities such as ventilation, cooling and lighting. Unusually, the power comes simultaneously from the British and French national grids. In the event of a total power failure on one side, it is possible for tunnel services to be kept running with power from one side.\nCapacity/Services\nThe capacity is measured in standard paths, meaning the capacity required for a shuttle train travelling at the normal operating speed of 140 km/h. Trains travelling at speeds greater than 140 km/h use more capacity.\nThe presently available number of standard paths in each direction is 20 per hour, and about two-thirds of this capacity is already being used. Improved operating techniques will stretch the available capacity to about 24 standard paths per hour. The ultimate capacity, which would require moving block signalling, is 30 standard paths per hour. Under a usage contract signed by Britain and France, up to 50% of tunnel capacity is available for international passenger and freight trains.\nNational Trains\nThe opening of the Channel Tunnel connected Britain's 16,000-km railway network to more than 150,000 km of standard-gauge tracks in continental Europe. Before the Tunnel opening, international rail freight between Britain and France was limited to some 2 million tonnes per year, all of which had to cross the Channel on train ferries. Due to the restricted loading gauge in Britain, most continental freight wagons cannot use the Tunnel and most freight traffic consists of intermodal containers that are transferred from rail to road for final delivery. To carry these containers, it was necessary for the operators to purchase a new fleet of wagons with low-level decks.\nTo haul freight trains through the Tunnel, completely new Class 92 electric locomotives were built. These locomotives can operate on both 750 V dc third-rail and 25 kV ac catenary systems. They have a maximum output of 5 MW (6700 hp) and normally operate in pairs, but are designed to a full train plus a ‘dead’ locomotive up the 1:90 (11 per mill) grade to the Folkestone portal at 30 km/h. The Class 92s have Tunnel-compatible TVM430 in-cab signalling.\nFreight volumes have grown slowly but steadily since freight services began in 1994 and more than 3 million tonnes will be carried through the Tunnel this year.\nLike the Class 92s, the Eurostar high-speed passenger trains were built specially. They can operate on three separate systems (Britain, France and Belgium), and, unlike the French TGVs (on which they are based) are able to operate on the British network.\nThere are about 30 Eurostar services each way each day between London and Paris or Brussels. Each train is operated by a single driver, working from one capital to the other. The Eurostar trains also have TVM430 in-cab signalling system used in the tunnel as well as the conventional in-cab warning systems used on the three national rail networks. In the tunnel, the Eurostar trains run at speeds of 160 km/h, but when they reach the high-speed lines in Belgium and France, they accelerate to 300 km/h. Because the higher-speed Eurostars are relatively wasteful of tunnel capacity, the Brussels and Paris services pass through in ‘flighted’ pairs with 4- minutes headway.\nJourney times are 3 hours from London to Paris and 2 hours and 25 minutes from London to Brussels, making them very competitive with air in terms of city centre to city centre journey times. As a result, the Eurostar services have captured a 60% share of these markets with over 6 million people travelling by Eurostar each year.\nHigh-speed lines have been constructed on the French and Belgian sections of the Eurostar routes and work has started on a new 112-km high-speed line in Britain to connect the tunnel to St. Pancras Station in London. When this section is fully opened in 2007, Eurostar journey times will be cut by a further 30 minutes.\nShuttle Services\nUnlike the roll-on/roll-off ferries crossing the Channel, passenger and freight customers of Eurotunnel's shuttle services are conveyed separately by dedicated shuttles and separate terminals.\nThe passenger shuttles are 776-m long and their vehicles are the largest in the railway world. Each shuttle comprises two rakes—12 double-deck wagons for cars, and twelve single-deck wagons for coaches caravans and other high-sided vehicles. Customers drive their vehicles into special loader wagons at the rear of each rake and continue through the body of the train until told to stop by a member of the crew. During transit through the tunnel, fire-resistant doors between the wagons are closed. Passengers stay in their vehicles during the 35-minute journey to the other terminal. A unique feature of the shuttle system is that British outward and French inward border controls are carried out in Folkestone (the reverse occurs on the return journey). This means that on arrival at the other terminal, customers can drive directly onto the motorway with no further controls. The shuttle locomotives, which are used for both passenger and freight services, are among the most powerful in the world. They produce 5.6 MW (7500 hp) and can each pull a 2400-tonne train through the tunnel, although they are invariably used in pairs, one at each end of a train.\nEurotunnel operates two to three passenger shuttles per hour in each direction, rising to four at peak times. As originally conceived, passenger shuttles were to have operated on a ‘turn up and go’ basis, with no pre-booking. When capacity was restricted following the 1996 fire, a booking system was introduced and this proved so popular with customers and provided such operational benefits, that it was made a permanent feature even after full capacity was restored. It is still possible to simply ‘turn up and go’ but booking ahead is advisable at times of high demand.\nThe major business of the passenger shuttles is leisure travel and the biggest flows are in the summer holiday period. The short-break business is also flourishing, but the end of duty free sales in Europe in June 1999 saw a dramatic fall in traditional day-trip traffic. Over 3 million cars used the passenger shuttles in 1999 as did 82,000 coaches..\nUnlike the passenger shuttles, the freight shuttle wagons are semi-open. Truck drivers do not stay with their vehicles but travel instead in a ‘club’ car at the front of the train where they are served a meal. Originally 28-wagons long, the freight shuttles have been extended to 32 wagons because of rapidly rising demand. Up to four trains run each hour in each direction and carried 839,000 trucks in 1999.\nThe cross-Channel road freight market uses both driver-accompanied trucks and unaccompanied trailers. Eurotunnel's shuttles only cater for accompanied vehicles, although the system does accept vehicles weighing up to 44 tonnes—the maximum permitted in Europe on international journeys.\nPhoto: Loading passenger shuttle at Folkestone and Coquelles (right)\n(Eurotunnel)\nFire!\nThe very serious fire in November 1996 was on one of the freight shuttles. Late in the evening, two security guards in the Beussingue Cutting, close to the French tunnel portal noticed smoke coming from a wagon towards the back of a freight shuttle that was about to enter the tunnel. They reported the smoke and the rail control centre in Folkestone advised the driver. By this time, the train was in the tunnel and the control centre had begun to receive indications from the underground smoke and fire alarms.\nIn accordance with the standard operating practice, the driver was instructed to continue his transit and a route was set for the train to enter the emergency siding at the Folkestone terminal.\nJust after passing the French crossover, the driver received a cab warning of a possible trailing jack (jacks are used during loading to steady the train). As he still had to pass the English crossover, the trailing jack could have caused derailment. In discussion with the control centre, the driver brought the train to a controlled halt, with the ‘club’ car alongside a cross-passage. Anxious minutes passed as the front of the train became enveloped in smoke. Fortunately, the control centre was able to identify and open the cross-passage door. The inflow of ventilation air from the service tunnel cleared the smoke and the train captain was able to evacuate the truck drivers to the safe haven of the service tunnel. Meanwhile, rescue teams had arrived on the scene and the evacuated passengers and crew were loaded onto a shuttle that had been stopped in the other tunnel and taken back to Coquelles.\nThe fire burned all night before it was finally brought under control and the extensive damage closed the affected tunnel for 7 months while repairs were carried out. During that period, a restricted passenger shuttle service operated together with national trains. The freight shuttle service was suspended until both tunnels were open.\nA police investigation showed that the fire was arson but no one has been charged so far.\nAncillary businesses\nAs well as running trains and managing the Tunnel infrastructure, Eurotunnel has become involved in other business activities. Before the end of duty-free sales in Europe, Eurotunnel was a very successful retailer with income from its duty-free shops rising to £170 million a year. It is also in the telecommunications business and has laid several telecommunications cables through the tunnel for major telephone companies.\nFuture developments\nBecause of the very strong growth in the cross-Channel road freight market, following its recovery from the 1996 fire, Eurotunnel decided to double its fleet of 8 freight shuttles. This expansion of its freight business was the key ingredient in Eurotunnel's strategy to replace the lost £170 million in annual revenues from duty-free sales. The current fleet of freight shuttles numbers 11 and further trains are being manufactured. This expansion of capacity enabled Eurotunnel to carry 42% more trucks in the first half of 2000 compared to the same period in 1999.\nThe freight shuttle is the most successful of Eurotunnel's businesses. It is also a very satisfying business because it is year-round and not seasonal like the passenger business. Freight peaks in the early morning, late evening and mid-week occur conveniently at times of low passenger-shuttle demand. However, this success is not without its problems.\nSince the opening of the Tunnel there has been a concentration of road freight traffic on the Channel Tunnel and Dover ferry routes, at the expense of the longer ferry routes in the North Sea and the western Channel. This means that if there is disruption of either the ferries or Tunnel, queues build up rapidly on the approach motorways. The volume of trucks likely to be held up in this way is so huge that the police have introduced ‘Operation Stack’ in which the motorway is closed to all other traffic and is used as a lorry park. Apart from technical difficulties, disruption has been caused recently by bad weather in the Channel, strikes by seamen and port operators, and blockades in France by farmers, fishermen and hauliers. The Tunnel was even blocked on one occasion by people protesting the end of duty-free sales.\nThe new trains are not identical to those in the original fleet. Experience of operating the existing vehicles has led Eurotunnel to develop a simpler design more suited to the intensive shuttle-based system.\nExpansion of the freight shuttle business is not simply a matter of buying more trains. Substantial modification of the terminals will also be necessary, such as doubling the number of platforms from 8 to 16. Fortunately, space for such an expansion was provided in the original designs.\nOne direct result of the fire was the decision to develop an on-train fire suppression system for freight shuttles. The existing safety systems proved that they could save the lives of passengers and crew, but the Tunnel itself was not protected. A prototype system is now undergoing in-service trials.\nNext—A Road Tunnel?\nFigure: Cross Section of Channel Tunnel Structure\nPhoto: View of tunnel system showing shuttle train, Eurostar and service tunnel vehicle (Eurotunnel)\nWhen the governments awarded Eurotunnel its concession in 1986, there was some disappointment in both countries that the chosen scheme was a rail tunnel. Competing ‘drive through’ projects had been judged impractical but the promoters of those schemes attracted considerable public and political support.\nThe governments therefore imposed an obligation on Eurotunnel to develop proposals for a ‘drive through’ link by last year. The company does not have to build such a link unless it is technically and financially feasible and, even then, there is no binding obligation to go ahead with the project. However, the governments would be free to invite other promoters to build such a link that would enter service no earlier than 2020.\nTo comply with this requirement, Eurotunnel submitted a feasibility study for a second tunnel to the British and French governments in December 1999. Because of changes in public attitudes towards pollution and the motor car, the study looked at both ‘drive through’ schemes and at the possibility of a second rail tunnel. It identified two possible options, one rail and one road. Both were large single tunnels of about 15 m in external diameter, within which, it is believed, all the safety features of the present three tunnels could be combined.\nThe road tunnel was based on two one-way two-lane carriageways on separate levels for cars and light vehicles only. Heavy vehicles would continue to use the freight shuttle as now.\nThe rail option would have two unidirectional tracks side-by-side, but separated by a fire wall. It would cater to Eurostar passenger trains and international freight trains, leaving the whole capacity of the present tunnel for the Eurotunnel shuttles.\nParadoxically, the road option would not inhibit transfer of road freight to rail, because a road tunnel would free capacity in the existing tunnel for the passage of 51 million tonnes of rail freight each year, or 13 times the volume expected to be carried this year. The rail option would permit carriage of up to 73 million tonnes per annum, 20 times the current level.\nBoth schemes appeared to be technically feasible, but the viability of the rail option depends very much on the evolution of the cross-Channel freight business.\nChanging Public Attitude\nOne reasons why the feasibility study encompassed both road and rail options was the perceived change in public attitudes to roads since the Eurotunnel concession was awarded. European governments have repeatedly said that they want to encourage a massive shift of traffic, particularly freight traffic, from road to rail. The 10-year transport plan recently published by the UK government has suggested a target of 80% growth in rail freight within the next 10 years. This would translate to an increase in rail's market share from the present 6% to 10% over the same period. International rail freight, which can operate over the distances at which rail competes effectively with road, clearly has an important part to play if these targets are to be met.\nThere is growing resistance in the so-called ‘transit’ countries of Europe (Switzerland, Austria, Hungary) to the flood of heavy vehicles using their roads. Switzerland has imposed a maximum weight limit of 28 tonnes on trucks passing through its territory and is developing new rail-based tunnels through the Alps for the carriage of goods vehicles. Germany has its rolling motorways, with heavy freight vehicles carried ‘piggyback’ on rail wagons. Consequently, the omens for rail freight look good.\nUnfortunately, as things stand, rail freight is anything but competitive with road since the European road haulage market has been fully liberalized. Less than 20 years ago, road hauliers needed a permit for every international journey, but today there is complete freedom of access to most roads in Europe. Hauliers also have the right to practice cabotage and, if necessary, can set up in business in another member state with little difficulty. Liberalization, in turn, has caused strong competition and consolidation in the market, leading to a marked fall in freight rates. The completion of the European single market has seen double-digit annual growth in international road freight.\nBy contrast, rail freight has been in the doldrums and it is not just market share that has been lost. Freight volumes carried on EU railway networks fell 14% from a peak of 283 billion tonne-km in 1970 to 241 billion tonne-km by 1998. In the same period, the volume of road freight grew by 50% to 1255 billion tonne-km and the growth is quickening. It is no coincidence that the length of motorways in the EU tripled from 16,000 to 49,000 km between 1970 and 1998, while the length of railway lines fell from 170,000 to 153,000 km in the same period.\nEurotunnel has until 2010 to decide whether it wants to pursue a second tunnel. After that date, the British and French governments can invite others to prepare proposals if they wish. The financial restructuring prospectus published in 1997 shows that the present system will not reach saturation until at least 2023, suggesting that the long story of the Channel Tunnel still has several unwritten chapters.\nJohn Noulton\nMr Noulton is Eurotunnel Director of Public Affairs. Prior to this, he was Director of Administration at Transmanche-Link, the Channel Tunnel contractors. He has also held a number of other public posts including Director of International Transport at the British Department of Transport and in the British Civil Service. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport and a Companion of the Institution of Civil Engineers.",
"Channel Tunnel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nYear Passengers transported... by ... The STTS vehicles cannot turn around within the tunnel, and are driven from either ... The Channel Tunnel was the first mainline ...\nChannel Tunnel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nChannel Tunnel\nMap of the Channel Tunnel\nInfo\nThrough-rail passenger and freight. Vehicle shuttle.\nTechnical\nstandard: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)\nElectrified\n25 kV AC OHLE\nThe Channel Tunnel ( French : Le tunnel sous la Manche), also known by the portmanteau Chunnel, [1] is a 50.5-kilometre (31.4 mi) [2] undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone , Kent in England with Coquelles near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover . At its lowest point it is 75 m (250 ft) deep. [3] The Channel Tunnel has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world although the Seikan Tunnel in Japan is both longer overall, at 53.85 kilometres (33.5 mi) and deeper, at 240 metres (790 ft).\nThe tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel ro-ro vehicle transport that are the largest in the world and international rail freight trains . [4] In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World . [5]\nIdeas for a cross-Channel fixed link existed as early as 1802 [6] but the eventual successful project, organised by Eurotunnel , began construction in 1988 and opened in 1994. The cost overran predictions by 80%, [7] and concessionaire Eurotunnel overestimated tunnel traffic and has met financial difficulty. Fires have disrupted operation of the tunnel. Illegal immigrants and asylum seekers have used the tunnel to enter Britain, causing a minor diplomatic row over the siting of the Sangatte refugee camp , which was eventually closed in 2002.\nEleven tunnel boring machines working from both the UK and France cut through chalk marl to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. The vehicle shuttle terminals are at Cheriton (part of Folkestone ) and Coquelles, and are connected to the British and French motorways.\nContents\nHigh Speed 1 , linking London to the tunnel, opened.\nSeptember 2008\nAnother fire in a lorry shuttle severely damaged the tunnel\nProposals for a fixed link across the English Channel go back to Albert Mathieu's 1802 plan involving horse-drawn carts and an artificial mid-Channel island. For over 150 years, British political and press pressure over compromised national security stalled attempts to construct a tunnel. In 1974, French and UK government-funded construction commenced on both sides of the Channel, but the project was cancelled by the UK government over financial concerns. In 1985, the UK and French governments invited submissions for a fixed link. Eurotunnel, a group of ten construction companies and five banks, was awarded the project, a triple-bore railway tunnel based on the 1974 attempt. Tunnelling commenced in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994. In 1985 prices, the total construction cost was £ 4650 million (£10,153 million inflation-adjusted to 2007) [9] , an 80% cost overrun. At the peak of construction 15,000 people were employed with daily expenditure over £3 million. [10] Ten workers, eight of them British, were killed during construction between 1987 and 1993, most in the first few months of boring. [11] [12] [13]\nThree services use the tunnel: Eurotunnel Shuttle (formerly Le Shuttle), a roll-on roll-off shuttle service for road vehicles including lorries; Eurostar passenger trains; and freight trains. Eurotunnel's traffic predictions for the tunnel were overestimated and the group has been challenged financially. In 1996 and again in 2006 and 2008, heavy goods vehicle shuttle wagon fires caused damage and restricted use of the tunnel, although nobody was seriously hurt in any of the incidents. Five years after the opening of the tunnel there were few and small impacts on the wider economy, and it was difficult to identify major developments associated with the tunnel. [14] In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers, with Popular Mechanics , selected the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. [5]\n[ edit ] Proposals and attempts\nThomé de Gamond's 1856 plan for a cross-Channel link, with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank mid-Channel.\nIn 1802 French mining engineer Albert Mathieu put forward a proposal to tunnel under the English Channel, with illumination from oil lamps, horse drawn coaches, and an artificial island mid-Channel for changing horses. [6] In the 1830s Frenchman Aimé Thomé de Gamond performed the first geological and hydrographical surveys on the Channel, between Calais and Dover. Thomé de Gamond explored several schemes, and in 1856 he presented a proposal to Napoleon III for a mined railway tunnel from Cap Gris-Nez to Eastwater Point with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank [15] at a cost of 170 million francs , or less than 7 million pounds sterling . [16]\nIn 1865, a deputation led by George Ward Hunt proposed the idea of a tunnel to the Chancellor of the Exchequer , William Ewart Gladstone . [17] After 1867, William Low and Sir John Clarke Hawkshaw promoted ideas, but none were implemented. An official Anglo-French protocol was established in 1876 for a cross-Channel railway tunnel. In 1881, British railway entrepreneur Sir William Watkin and French Suez Canal contractor Alexandre Lavalley were in the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company that conducted exploratory work on both sides of the Channel. On the English side a 2.13-metre (6.99 ft) diameter Beumont-English boring machine dug a 1,893-metre (6,211 ft) pilot tunnel from Shakespeare Cliff. On the French side a similar machine dug 1,669 metres (5,476 ft) from Sangatte. The project was abandoned in May 1882 owing to British political and press campaigns arguing that a tunnel would compromise Britain's national defences. [18] These early works were encountered more than a century later during the TML project.\nIn 1955 defence arguments were accepted to be irrelevant because of the dominance of air power. The British and French governments supported technical and geological surveys. Construction work commenced on both sides of the Channel in 1974, a government-funded project using twin tunnels on either side of a service tunnel, with capability for car shuttle wagons. In January 1975, to the dismay of the French partners, the British government cancelled the project. The government had changed to the Labour Party and there was uncertainty about EC membership, cost estimates had ballooned to 200% and the national economy was troubled. By this time the British Priestly TBM was ready and the Ministry of Transport was able to do a 300 m experimental drive. [18] This short tunnel would however be reused as the starting and access point for tunnelling operations from the British side.\nIn 1979 the \"Mouse-hole Project\" was suggested when the Conservatives came to power in Britain. The concept was a single-track rail tunnel with a service tunnel, but without shuttle terminals. The British government took no interest in funding the project but Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said she had no objection to a privately funded project. In 1981 British and French leaders Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand agreed to set up a working group to look into a privately funded project, and in April 1985 promoters were formally invited to submit scheme proposals. Four submissions were shortlisted:\na rail proposal based on the 1975 scheme presented by Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M),\nEurobridge – a 4.5 km span suspension bridge with a roadway in an enclosed tube\nEuroroute – a 21 km tunnel between artificial islands approached by bridges, and\nChannel Expressway – large diameter road tunnels with mid-channel ventilation towers. [18]\nThe cross-Channel ferry industry protested under the name \"Flexilink\". In 1975 there was no campaign protesting against a fixed link, with one of the largest ferry operators (Sealink) being state owned. Flexilink continued rousing opposition throughout 1986 and 1987. [18] Public opinion strongly favoured a drive-through tunnel, but ventilation issues, concerns about accident management, and fear of driver mesmerisation led to the only shortlisted rail submission, CTG/F-M, being awarded the project. [18]\n[ edit ] Organisation\nA block diagram describing the organisation structure used on the project. Eurotunnel is the central organisation for construction and operation (via a concession) of the tunnel.\nThe Channel Tunnel Group consisted of two banks and five construction companies and the French equivalent, France–Manche, consisted of three banks and five construction companies. The role of the banks was to advise on financing and secure loan commitments. On 2 July 1985 the groups formed Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M). Their submission to the British and French governments was drawn from the 1975 project, including 11 volumes and a substantial environmental impact statement. [18]\nThe design and construction was done by the ten construction companies in the CTG/F-M group. The French terminal and boring from Sangatte was undertaken by the five French construction companies in the joint venture group GIE Transmanche Construction. The English Terminal and boring from Shakespeare Cliff was undertaken by five English construction companies in the Trankslink Joint Venture. The two partnerships were linked by TransManche Link (TML), a binational project organisation. [18] The Maître d'Oeuvre was a supervisory engineering body employed by Eurotunnel under the terms of the concession that monitored project activity and reported back to the governments and banks. [19]\nIn France, with its long tradition of infrastructure investment, the project garnered widespread approval and in April 1987 the French National Assembly gave unanimous support and after a public inquiry the Senate gave unanimous support in June 1987. In Britain, select committees examined the proposal, making history by holding hearings outside of Westminster, in Kent. In February 1987 the third reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill occurred in the House of Commons, and was carried by 94 votes to 22. The Channel Tunnel Act passed into British law in July. [18]\nThe Channel Tunnel is a build-own-operate-transfer ( BOOT ) project with a concession. [20] TML would design and build the tunnel, but financing was through a separate legal entity: Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel absorbed CTG/F-M and signed a construction contract with TML; however, the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions. The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55- (later 65-) year operating concession to repay loans and pay dividends. A Railway Usage Agreement was signed between Eurotunnel, British Rail and the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français guaranteeing future revenue in exchange for the railways obtaining half of the tunnel's capacity.\nPrivate funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. An initial equity of £45 million was raised by CTG/F-M, increased by £206 million private institutional placement, £770 million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements, a syndicated bank loan and letter of credit arranged £5 billion. [18] Privately financed, the total investment costs at 1985 prices were £2600 million. At the 1994 completion actual costs were, in 1985 prices, £4650 million: an 80% cost overrun. [7] The cost overrun was partly due to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands. [20] Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast. [21]\n[ edit ] Progress\nThe Channel Tunnel was opened in Calais on 6 May 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand .\nA small two-inch (50-mm) diameter pilot hole allowed the service tunnel to break through without ceremony on 30 October 1990. [22] On 1 December 1990 Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette broke through the service tunnel with the media watching. [23] Eurotunnel completed the tunnel on time, [20] and the tunnel was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand in a ceremony held in Calais on 6 May 1994. The Queen travelled through the tunnel to Calais on a Eurostar train, which stopped nose to nose with the train that carried President Mitterrand from Paris. [24] Following the ceremony President Mitterrand and the Queen travelled on Le Shuttle to a similar ceremony in Folkestone . [24]\nThe Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called High Speed 1 , runs 69 miles (111 km) from St Pancras railway station in London to the Channel Tunnel portal at Folkestone in Kent. It cost £5.8 billion. On 16 September 2003 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the first section of High Speed 1, from Folkestone to north Kent. On 6 November 2007 the Queen officially opened High Speed 1 and St Pancras International station [25] , replacing the original slower link to Waterloo International railway station . On High Speed 1 trains travel at speeds up to 300 km/h (186 mph), the journey from London to Paris taking 2 hours 15 minutes and London to Brussels taking 1 hour 51 minutes. [26]\n[ edit ] Usage and operation\nA Channel Tunnel traffic graph showing the number of passengers and tonnes of freight. Freight vehicle shuttle numbers dropped in 1996/7 owing to closure of the service after the November 1996 fire.\nThe British terminal at Cheriton in west Folkestone. The terminal services shuttle trains that carry vehicles, and is linked to the M20 motorway .\nThe Folkestone White Horse is last view of England for most passengers embarking at the Cheriton terminal\nServices offered by the tunnel are:\nEurotunnel Shuttle (formerly Le Shuttle) roll-on roll-off shuttle service for road vehicles,\nEurostar passenger trains,\nthrough freight trains. [4]\nBoth the freight and passenger traffic forecasts that led to the construction of the tunnel were largely and universally overestimated. Particularly, Eurotunnel's commissioned forecasts were over-predictions. [27] Although the captured share of Channel crossings (competing with air and sea) was forecast correctly, high competition and reduced tariffs has led to low revenue. Overall cross-Channel traffic was overestimated. [28]\n[ edit ] Passenger traffic volumes\nTotal cross-tunnel passenger traffic volumes peaked at 18.4 million in 1998, then dropped to 14.9 million in 2003, from then rising again to 16.1 million in 2008.\nAt the time of deciding to build the tunnel, 15.9 million passengers were predicted for Eurostar trains in the opening year. In 1995, the first full year, actual numbers were a little over 2.9 million, growing to 7.1 million in 2000, then dropping again to 6.3 million in 2003. However, Eurostar was also limited by the lack of a high-speed connection on the British side. After the completion of High Speed 1 (formerly CTRL) to London in two stages in 2003 and 2007, traffic increased. In 2008, Eurostar carried 9,113,371 passengers in cross-Channel-Tunnel traffic, a 10% increase over the previous year, despite traffic limitations due to the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire . [29]\n Year \n only passengers taking Eurostar to cross the Channel\n[ edit ] Freight traffic volumes\nCross-tunnel freight traffic volumes have been erratic, with a decrease during 1997 due to a closure caused by a fire in a freight shuttle. The total freight crossings increased over the period, indicating the substitutability of the tunnel by sea crossings. The tunnel has achieved a cross-Channel freight traffic market share close to or above Eurotunnel's 1980s predictions but Eurotunnel's 1990 and 1994 predictions were overestimates.\nFor freight transported on through freight trains, the first year freight prediction was 7.2 million gross tonnes, however, the 1995 figure was 1.3 million gross tonnes. [27] Through freight volumes peaked in 1998 at 3.1 million tonnes. However, with continuing problems, this figure fell back to 1.21 million tonnes in 2007, increasing again slightly to 1.24 million tonnes in 2008. [29]\nHowever, together with that carried on freight shuttles, freight traffic growth has occurred since opening, with 6.4 million tonnes carried in 1995, 18.4 million tonnes recorded in 2003 [28] and 19.6 million tonnes in 2007. [30]\n Year \nB\n From October 2007, Eurotunnel invoices through railfreight by trains rather than tonne. [34]\nEurotunnel's freight subsidiary is Europorte 2 . [35] In September 2006 EWS, the UK's largest rail freight operator, announced that owing to cessation of UK-French government subsidies of £52 million per annum to cover the Channel Tunnel \"Minimum User Charge\" (a subsidy of around £13,000 per train, at a traffic level of 4,000 trains per annum), freight trains would stop running after 30 November. [36]\n[ edit ] Economic performance\nShares in Eurotunnel were issued at £3.50 per share on 9 December 1987. By mid-1989 the price had risen to £11.00. Delays and cost overruns led to the share price dropping; during demonstration runs in October 1994 the share price reached an all-time low value. Eurotunnel suspended payment on its debt in September 1995 to avoid bankruptcy. [37] In December 1997 the British and French governments extended Eurotunnel's operating concession by 34 years to 2086. Financial restructuring of Eurotunnel occurred in mid-1998, reducing debt and financial charges. Despite the restructuring The Economist reported in 1998 that to break even Eurotunnel would have to increase fares, traffic and market share for sustainability. [38] A cost benefit analysis of the Channel Tunnel indicated that the British economy would have been better off if the Tunnel had not been constructed. [28]\nUnder the terms of the Concession Eurotunnel was obliged to investigate a cross-Channel road tunnel. In December 1999 road and rail tunnel proposals were presented to the British and French governments, but it was stressed that there was not enough demand for a second tunnel. [39] A three-way treaty between the United Kingdom, France and Belgium governs border controls, with the establishment of control zones wherein the officers of the other nation may exercise limited customs and law enforcement powers. For most purposes these are at either end of the tunnel, with the French border controls on the UK side of the tunnel and vice versa. For certain city-to-city trains the train itself represents a control zone. [40] A binational emergency plan coordinates UK and French emergency activities. [41]\n[ edit ] Fires\nThere have been three fires in the Channel Tunnel that were significant enough to close the tunnel, all on the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) shuttles.\nMain article: 1996 Channel Tunnel fire\nOn 18 November 1996 a fire broke out on a heavy goods vehicle shuttle wagon in the tunnel but nobody was seriously hurt. The exact cause is unknown, although it was not a Eurotunnel equipment or rolling stock problem; it may have been due to arson of a heavy goods vehicle. It is estimated that the heart of the fire reached 1,000 °C (1,800 °F), with the tunnel severely damaged over 46 metres (151 ft), with some 500 metres (1,640 ft) affected to some extent. Full operation recommenced six months after the fire. [42]\n[ edit ] 2006\nThe tunnel was closed for several hours on 21 August 2006, when a lorry on a shuttle train caught fire. [43]\nMain article: 2008 Channel Tunnel fire\nOn 11 September 2008 a fire occurred in the Channel Tunnel at 13:57 GMT. The incident started on a freight-carrying vehicle train travelling towards France. The event occurred 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the French entrance to the tunnel. No one was killed but several people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, and minor cuts and bruises. The tunnel was closed to all traffic, with the undamaged South Tunnel reopening for limited services two days later. [44] Full service resumed on 9 February 2009 [45] after repairs costing €60 million.\n[ edit ] Regional impact\nA 1996 report from the European Commission predicted that Kent and Nord-Pas de Calais had to face increased traffic volumes due to general growth of cross-Channel traffic and traffic attracted by the tunnel. In Kent, a high-speed rail line to London would transfer traffic from road to rail. [46] Kent's regional development would benefit from the tunnel, but being so close to London restricts the benefits. Gains are in the traditional industries and are largely dependent on the development of Ashford International passenger station, without which Kent would be totally dependent on London's expansion. Nord-Pas-de-Calais enjoys a strong internal symbolic effect of the Tunnel which results in significant gains in manufacturing. [47]\nThe removal of a bottleneck by means like the Channel Tunnel does not necessarily induce economic gains in all adjacent regions, the image of a region being connected to the European high-speed transport and active political response are more important for regional economic development. Tunnel-induced regional development is small compared to general economic growth. [48] The South East of England is likely to benefit developmentally and socially from faster and cheaper transport to continental Europe, but the benefits are unlikely to be equally distributed throughout the region. The overall environmental impact is almost certainly negative. [49]\nFive years after the opening of the tunnel there were few and small impacts on the wider economy, and it was difficult to identify major developments associated with the tunnel. [14]\n[ edit ] Asylum and immigration\nIllegal immigrants and would-be asylum seekers have been known to use the tunnel to attempt to enter Britain. By 1997, the problem had already attracted international press attention, and the French Red Cross opened a refugee centre at Sangatte in 1999, using a warehouse once used for tunnel construction; by 2002 it housed up to 1500 persons at a time, most of them trying to get to the UK. [50] At one point, large numbers came from Afghanistan , Iraq and Iran , but African and Eastern European countries are also represented. [51] Most migrants who got into Britain found some way to ride a freight train, but others used Eurostar. Though the facilities were fenced, airtight security was deemed impossible; refugees would even jump from bridges onto moving trains. In several incidents people were injured during the crossing; others tampered with railway equipment, causing delays and requiring repairs. [52] Eurotunnel said it was losing £5m per month because of the problem. [53] A dozen refugees have died in crossing attempts. [50] In 2001 and 2002, several riots broke out at Sangatte and groups of refugees (up to 550 in a December 2001 incident) stormed the fences and attempted to enter en masse. [54] Immigrants have also arrived as legitimate Eurostar passengers without proper entry papers. [55]\nLocal authorities in both France and the UK called for the closure of Sangatte, and Eurotunnel twice sought an injunction against the centre. [50] The United Kingdom blamed France for allowing Sangatte to open, and France blamed the UK for its lax asylum rules and the EU for not having a uniform immigration policy. [53] The cause célèbre nature of the problem even included journalists detained as they followed refugees onto railway property. [56] In 2002, after the European Commission told France that it was in breach of European Union rules on the free transfer of goods, because of the delays and closures as a result of its poor security, a double fence was built at a cost of £5 million, reducing the numbers of refugees detected each week reaching Britain on goods trains from 250 to almost none. [57] Other measures included CCTV cameras and increased police patrols. [58] At the end of 2002, the Sangatte centre was closed after the UK agreed to take some of its refugees. [59]\n[ edit ] Engineering\nThe Channel Tunnel exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York , England, showing the circular cross section of the tunnel with the overhead line powering a Eurostar train. Also visible is the segmented tunnel lining.\nSurveying undertaken in the 20 years before tunnel construction confirmed earlier speculations that a tunnel route could be bored through a chalk marl stratum. The chalk marl was conducive to tunnelling, with impermeability, ease of excavation and strength. While on the English side the chalk marl ran along the entire length of the tunnel, on the French side a length of 5 kilometres (3 mi) had variable and difficult geology. The Channel Tunnel consists of three bores: two 7.6-metre (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels, 30 metres (98 ft) apart, 50 kilometres (31 mi) in length with a 4.8-metre (16 ft) diameter service tunnel in between. There are also cross-passages and piston relief ducts. The service tunnel was used as a pilot tunnel, boring ahead of the main tunnels to determine the conditions. English access was provided at Shakespeare Cliff, while French access came from a shaft at Sangatte. The French side used five tunnel boring machines (TBMs), the English side used six. The service tunnel uses Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) and Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS). Fire safety was a critical design issue.\nBetween the portals at Beussingue and Castle Hill the tunnel is 50.5 kilometres (31 mi) long, with 3.3 kilometres (2 mi) under land on the French side, 9.3 kilometres (6 mi) under land on the UK side and 37.9 kilometres (24 mi) under sea. [2] This makes the Channel Tunnel the second longest rail tunnel in the world, behind the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, but with the longest under-sea section. [60] The average depth is 45 metres (148 ft) below the seabed. [61] On the UK side, of the expected 5 million cubic metres (6.5×10\n^\n6 cu yd ) of spoil approximately 1 million cubic metres (1.3×10\n^\n6 cu yd) was used for fill at the terminal site, and the remainder was deposited at Lower Shakespeare Cliff behind a seawall, reclaiming 74 acres (30 ha) [10] of land. [62] This land was then made into the Samphire Hoe Country Park . Environmental impact assessment did not identify any major risks for the project, and further studies into safety, noise, and air pollution were overall positive. However, environmental objections were raised over a high-speed link to London. [63]\n[ edit ] Surveying\nMarine soundings and samplings by Thomé de Gamond were carried out during 1833–67, establishing the seabed depth at a maximum of 55 metres (180 ft) and the continuity of geological strata (layers). Surveying continued over many years, with 166 marine and 70 land-deep boreholes being drilled and over 4000 line kilometres of marine geophysical survey completed. [64] Surveys were undertaken in 1958–59, 1964–65, 1972–74 and 1986–88.\nThe surveying in 1958–59 catered for immersed tube and bridge designs as well as a bored tunnel, and thus a wide area was investigated. At this time marine geophysics surveying for engineering projects was in its infancy, with poor positioning and resolution from seismic profiling. The 1964-65 surveys concentrated on a northerly route that left the English coast at Dover harbour, using 70 boreholes an area of deeply weathered rock with high permeability was located just south of Dover harbour. [64]\nGiven the previous survey results and access constraints a more southerly route was investigated in the 1972–73 survey and the route was confirmed to be feasible. Information for the tunnelling project also came from work before the 1975 cancellation. On the French side at Sangatte a deep shaft with adits was made. On the English side at Shakespeare Cliff the government allowed 250 metres (820 ft) of 4.5 metres (15 ft) diameter tunnel to be driven. The actual tunnel alignment, method of excavation and support were essentially the same as the 1975 attempt. In the 1986–97 survey, previous findings were reinforced and the nature of the gault clay and tunnelling medium, chalk marl that made up 85% of the route, were investigated. Geophysical techniques from the oil industry were employed. [64]\n[ edit ] Geology\nGeological profile along the tunnel as constructed. For the majority of its length the tunnel bores through a chalk marl stratum (layer).\nSuccessful tunnelling under the channel required a sound understanding of the topography and geology and the selection of the best rock strata to tunnel through. The geology generally consists of northeasterly dipping Cretaceous strata, part of the northern limb of the Wealden-Boulonnais dome. Characteristics include:\nas observed by Verstegan in 1698, the chalk of the cliffs on either side of the Channel is continuous, and contains no major faulting\nthe cliffs consist of four geological strata , marine sediments laid down 90–100 million years ago; pervious upper and middle chalk above slightly pervious lower chalk and finally impermeable Gault Clay . A sandy stratum, glauconitic marl (tortia), is in between the chalk marl and gault clay\na 25–30 metre (82–98 ft) layer of chalk marl (French: craie bleue) [65] in the lower third of the lower chalk appeared to present the best tunnelling medium. The chalk has a clay content of 30–40% providing impermeability to groundwater yet relatively easy excavation with strength allowing minimal support. Ideally the tunnel would be bored in the bottom 15 metres (49 ft) of the chalk marl, allowing water inflow from fractures and joints to be minimised, but above the gault clay that would increase stress on the tunnel lining and swell and soften when wet.\nOn the English side of the channel the strata dip less than 5°, however on the French side this increases to 20°. Jointing and faulting is present on both the English and French sides. On the English side only minor faults of displacement less than 2 metres (7 ft) exist. On the French side displacements of up to 15 metres (49 ft) are present owing to the Quenocs anticlinal fold . The faults are of limited width, filled with calcite, pyrite and remoulded clay. The increased dip and faulting restricted the selection of route on the French side. To avoid confusion microfossil assemblages were used to classify the chalk marl. On the French side, particularly near the coast, the chalk was harder and brittler and more fractured than on the English side. This led to the adoption of different tunnelling techniques on the French and English sides. [66]\nNo major geological hazards were identified, however the Quaternary undersea valley Fosse Dangaered, and Castle Hill landslip located at the English portal were concerning. Identified by the 1964–65 geophysical survey the Fosse Dangaered is an infilled valley system extending 80 metres (262 ft) below the seabed, 500 metres (1,640 ft) south of the tunnel route, located mid-channel. A 1986 survey showed that a tributary crossed the path of the tunnel and so the tunnel route was made as far north and deep as possible. The English terminal had to be located in the Castle Hill landslip, which consists of displaced and tipping blocks of lower chalk, glauconitic marl and gault debris. Thus the area was stabilised by buttressing and inserting drainage adits. [66] The service tunnels were pilot tunnels preceding the main tunnels so that the geology, areas of crushed rock and zones of high water inflow could be predicted. Exploratory probing took place in the service tunnels in the form of extensive forward probing, vertical downward probes and sideways probing. [66]\n[ edit ] Tunnelling\nTypical tunnel cross section, with a service tunnel in between twin rail tunnels. Shown linking the rail tunnels is a piston relief duct, necessary to manage pressure changes due to the movement of trains.\nTunnelling between England and France was a major engineering challenge with the only precedent being the undersea Seikan Tunnel in Japan. A serious risk with underwater tunnels is major water inflow due to the water pressure from the sea above under weak ground conditions. The Channel Tunnel also had the challenge of time - being privately funded, early financial return was paramount.\nThe objective was to construct: two 7.6-metre (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels, 30 metres (98 ft) apart, 50 kilometres (31 mi) in length; a 4.8-metre (16 ft) diameter service tunnel between the two main tunnels; pairs of 3.3-metre (11 ft) diameter cross-passages linking the rail tunnels to the service tunnel at 375-metre (1,230 ft) spacing; piston relief ducts 2-metre (7 ft) diameter connecting the rail tunnels at 250-metre (820 ft) spacing; two undersea crossover caverns to connect the rail tunnels. [67] The service tunnel always preceded the main tunnels by at least 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) to ascertain the ground conditions, experience with tunnelling through chalk had occurred in the mining industry. The undersea crossover caverns were a complex engineering problem. The French cavern was based on the Mount Baker Ridge freeway tunnel in the USA. The UK cavern was dug from the service tunnel ahead of the main tunnels to avoid delay.\nPrecast segmental linings in the main TBM drives were used, but different solutions were used on the English and French sides. On the French side neoprene and grout sealed bolted linings made of cast iron or high-strength reinforced concrete were used. On the English side the main requirement was for speed, and bolting of cast-iron lining segments was only carried out in areas of poor geology. In the UK rail tunnels eight lining segments plus a key segment were used, on the French side five segments plus a key segment. [68] On the French side a 55-metre (180 ft) diameter 75-metre (246 ft) deep grout-curtained shaft at Sangatte was used for access. On the English side a marshalling area was 140 metres (459 ft) below the top of Shakespeare Cliff, and the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM) was first applied in the chalk marl here. On the English side the land tunnels were driven from Shakespeare Cliff, the same place as the marine tunnels, not from Folkestone. The platform at the base of the cliff was not large enough for all of the drives, and despite environmental objections tunnel spoil was placed behind a reinforced concrete seawall, on condition of placing the chalk in an enclosed lagoon to avoid wide dispersal of chalk fines. Owing to limited space the precast lining factory was on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary. [67]\nOn the French side, owing to the greater permeability of water, earth pressure balance TBMs with open and closed modes were used. The TBMs were of a closed nature during the initial 5 kilometres (3 mi) but then operated as open, boring through the chalk marl stratum. [67] This minimised the impact to the ground and allowed high water pressures to be withstood, and it also alleviated the need to grout ahead of the tunnel. The French effort required five TBMs: two main marine machines, one main land machine (the short land drives of 3 km allowed one TBM to complete the first drive then reverse direction and complete the other), and two service tunnel machines. On the English side the simpler geology allowed faster open-faced TBMs. [69] Six machines were used, all commencing digging from Shakespeare Cliff, three marine bound and three for the land tunnels. [67] Towards the completion of the undersea drives the UK TBMs were driven steeply downwards and buried clear of the tunnel. The French TBMs then completed the tunnel and were dismantled. [70] A 900 mm gauge railway was used on the English side during construction. [71]\nIn contrast to the English machines, which were simply given alphanumeric names, the French tunneling machines were all named after women: Brigitte, Europa, Catherine, Virginie, Pascaline, Séverine. [72]\n[ edit ] Railway design and rolling stock\nInterior of Eurotunnel Shuttle , a vehicle shuttle train. The largest railway wagons in the world, [10] the shuttle trains transport vehicles between terminals on either side of the tunnel.\nThere are three communication systems in the tunnel: concession radio (CR) for mobile vehicles and personnel within Eurotunnel's Concession (terminals, tunnels, coastal shafts); track-to-train radio (TTR) for secure speech and data between trains and the railway control centre; Shuttle internal radio (SIR) for communication between shuttle crew and to passengers over car radios. [73] All tunnel services run on electricity, shared equally from English and French sources. Power is delivered to the locomotives via an overhead line (catenary). [74] A cab signalling system is used that gives information directly to train drivers on a display. There is automatic train protection (ATP) that stops the train if the speed differs from that indicated on the in-cab display. TVM430, as used on TGV Nord, is used in the tunnel. [75] The American Sonneville International Corporation track system was used in the tunnel, ballasted track was ruled out owing to maintenance constraints and a need for geometric stability. The Sonneville system has UIC60 rails on 900A grade resting on microcellular EVA pads, bolted into concrete. [76]\nInitially 38 Le Shuttle locomotives were commissioned, working in pairs with one at each end of a shuttle train. The shuttles have two separate halves: single and double deck. Each half has two loading/unloading wagons and 12 carrier wagons. Eurotunnel's original order was for 9 shuttles. 46 Class 92 locomotives for hauling freight and overnight passenger trains were commissioned, which can run on both overhead AC and third-rail DC power. Freight shuttles also have two halves, with each half containing one loading wagon, one unloading wagon and 14 carrier wagons. There is a club car behind the leading locomotive. Eurotunnel originally ordered 6 freight shuttles. 31 Eurostar trains, based on the French TGV with many modifications for safety within the tunnel, were commissioned, with split ownership between British Rail, French National Railway Company and National Railway Company of Belgium . British Rail ordered seven more for services north of London. [77]\n[ edit ] Services\nThe service tunnel is used for access to technical equipment in cross-passages and equipment rooms, to provide fresh-air ventilation, and for emergency evacuation. The Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) allows fast access to all areas of the tunnel. The service vehicles are rubber-tyred with a buried guidance wire system. 24 STTS vehicles were made, and are used mainly for maintenance but also for firefighting and in emergencies. \"Pods\" with different purposes, up to a payload of 2.5–5 tonnes, are inserted into the side of the vehicles. The STTS vehicles cannot turn around within the tunnel, and are driven from either end. The maximum speed is 80 km/h (50 mph) when the steering is locked. A smaller fleet of 15 Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS) were introduced to supplement the STTSs. The LADOGS have a short wheelbase with a 3.4 m turning circle allowing two-point turns within the service tunnel. Steering cannot be locked like the STTS vehicles, and maximum speed is 50 km/h (31 mph). Pods up to 1 tonne can be loaded onto the rear of the vehicles. Drivers in the tunnel sit on the right, and the vehicles drive on the left. Owing to the risk of French personnel driving on their native right side of the road, sensors in the road vehicles alert the driver if the vehicle strays to the right side of the tunnel. [78]\nThe three tunnels contain 6000 tonnes of air that needs to be conditioned for comfort and safety. Air is supplied from ventilation buildings at Shakespeare Cliff and Sangatte, with each building capable of full duty providing 100% standby capacity. Supplementary ventilation also exists on either side of the tunnel. In the event of a fire, ventilation is used to keep smoke out of the service tunnel and move smoke in one direction in the main tunnel to give passengers clean air. The Channel Tunnel was the first mainline railway tunnel to have special cooling equipment. Heat is generated from traction equipment and drag. The design limit was set at 30 °C (90 °F), using a mechanical cooling system with refrigeration plants on both the English and French sides that run chilled water circulating in pipes within the tunnel. [79]\nTrains travelling at high speed create piston-effect pressure changes that can affect passenger comfort, ventilation systems, tunnel doors, fans and the structure of the trains, and drag on the trains. [79] Piston relief ducts of 2-metre (7 ft) diameter were chosen to solve the problem, with 4 ducts per kilometre to give close to optimum results. Unfortunately this design led to unacceptable lateral forces on the trains so a reduction in train speed was required and restrictors were installed in the ducts. [80]\nThe safety issue of a fire on a passenger-vehicle shuttle garnered much attention, with Eurotunnel itself noting that fire was the risk gathering the most attention in a 1994 Safety Case for three reasons: ferry companies opposed to passengers being allowed to remain with their cars; Home Office statistics indicating that car fires had doubled in ten years; and the long length of the tunnel. Eurotunnel commissioned the UK Fire Research Station to give reports of vehicle fires, as well as liaising with Kent Fire Brigade to gather vehicle fire statistics over one year. Fire tests took place at the French Mines Research Establishment with a mock wagon used to investigate how cars burned. [81] The wagon door systems are designed to withstand fire inside the wagon for 30 minutes, longer than the transit time of 27 minutes. Wagon air conditioning units help to purge dangerous fumes from inside the wagon before travel. Each wagon has a fire detection and extinguishing system, with sensing of ions or ultraviolet radiation, smoke and gases that can trigger halon gas to quench a fire. Since the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) wagons are not covered, fire sensors are located on the loading wagon and in the tunnel itself. A 10-inch (254-mm) [82] water main in the service tunnel provides water to the main tunnels at 125-metre (410 ft) intervals. The ventilation system can control smoke movement. Special arrival sidings exist to accept a train that is on fire, as the train is not allowed to stop whilst on fire in the tunnel. Eurotunnel has banned a wide range of hazardous goods from travelling in the tunnel. Two STTS vehicles with firefighting pods are on duty at all times, with a maximum delay of 10 minutes before they reach a burning train. [42]\n[ edit ] Terminals\nA vehicle entering a shuttle wagon at the French terminal at Coquelles near Calais in northern France.\nThe terminals sites are at Cheriton (Folkestone in the United Kingdom) and Coquelles (Calais in France). The terminals are unique facilities designed to transfer vehicles from the motorway onto trains at a rate of 700 cars and 113 heavy vehicles per hour. The UK site uses the M20 motorway . The terminals are organised with the frontier controls juxtaposed with the entry to the system to allow travellers to go onto the motorway at the destination country immediately after leaving the shuttle. The area of the UK site was severely constrained and the design was challenging. The French layout was achieved more easily. To achieve design output, the shuttles accept cars on double-decks; for flexibility, ramps were placed inside the shuttles to provide access to the top decks. [83] At Folkestone there is 20 kilometres (12 mi) of mainline track and 45 turnouts with eight platforms. At Calais there is 30 kilometres (19 mi) of track with 44 turnouts. At the terminals the shuttle trains traverse a figure eight to reduce uneven wear on the wheels. [76]\n[ edit ] In popular culture\nThe tunnel was featured in the explosive climax of the 1996 blockbuster film Mission: Impossible , where a helicopter entered the tunnel. [84] The tunnel mouth, the inside of the tunnel, the TGV train and the helicopter in the film were all computer generated imagery , with the entrance to the tunnel shot against scenes of a railway line in Scotland. [85] This was necessary because of significant deviations from reality: the tunnel in the film had two tracks in a single tube (to allow space for the helicopter and to have passing trains), and there was no overhead line (to allow descent from the helicopter). The type of train seen computer animated in the film, TGV Réseau , (which, unlike the Eurostars, can only be powered from overhead wire) does not run through the tunnel. Other inaccuracies included the train changing from one side of the track to another in various shots.\nAn episode of the popular sitcom Seinfeld featured a fictional action movie named Chunnel , the premise of which included the daughter of the President of the United States being trapped in the Channel Tunnel.\nIn Oceans 13 the TBMs used to construct the tunnel were used in an attempt to create an earthquake in Las Vegas in order to get revenge on the casino owner.",
"Join Russia and USA by Rail Tunnels under the Bering ...\nNext year, Russia’s railroad czar will open one big leg ... the tunnels under the Bering Strait would ... within a year. A tunnel below the 8 ...\nJoin Russia and USA by Rail Tunnels under the Bering Strait? « Russia Watch\nBy rail, from New York to Moscow, and on to London! Only a 10,000 kilometer gap to fill in this bird's eye view of a trans Bering rail link. Map: Victor Razbegin\nRussia’s Urals oil has been over $100 a barrel for a year now.\nThe country’s budgets are balanced. Debt is low. Savings are piling up. Russians are getting their pre-recession mojo back.\nOn the consumer end, sales of foreign cars made in Russia jumped 90 percent during the first quarter of 2012 over last year.\nIn the Kremlin, leaders are thinking big again.\nIn rapid succession, the government leaked a plan to create a “super agency” to develop the Russian Far East; President-elect Vladimir Putin vowed to spend $17 billion a year for new and improved railroads, and Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways, promoted a think big plan — a rail and tunnel link connecting Russia and the United States.\n“It is not a dream,” Yakunin, a close ally of Mr. Putin, told reporters last week. “I am convinced that Russia needs the development of areas of the Far East, Kamchatka. I think that the decision to build must be made within the next three-five years.”\nNext year, Russia’s railroad czar will open one big leg on the trip toward the Bering Strait – an 800 kilometer rail line to Yakutsk, capital of Sakha Republic, a mineral rich area larger than Argentina.\nMoscow-born Fyodor Soloview lives in Anchorage, Alaska, where he lobbies for uniting his two homelands, Russia and the United States, with rail tunnels under the Bering Strait. Photo: Soloview\nBut the 270,000 residents of Yakutsk do not want to live at the dead end of a spur line. They dream of five kilometer long freight trains rolling past their city, carrying Chinese goods to North America, and North American coal and manufactured products to Russia and China.\nFrom their city, 450 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, passenger tickets could be sold west to London, and east to New York.\nWith the West’s swelling population of aging affluent retirees, what better gift for Mom and Dad than a one-month train trip, rolling across the International Dateline, traveling by rail three quarters of the way around the world? A TransBering rail voyage would make the TransSiberian and the TransCanada look like short hops.\nTo push thinking along, Yakutsk hosted a trans Bering rail conference last August. Engineers showed charts indicating that the tunnels under the Bering Strait would be 103 kilometers long, about twice the length of the tunnel under the English Channel. Unlike Europe’s “Chunnel,” there are two islands along the Bering route – geographical factors that would ease construction and allow for ventilation and emergency access.\nFor now, the only trains in Alaska run from Seward on the coast 760 kilometers into the interior, carrying tourists to Denali National Park and freight to two military bases. Photo: Fyodor Soloview\nA trans Bering rail link was first seriously proposed by Czar Nicholas II in 1905. One century later, with the rise of China and the explosion of Asian manufacturing, some Russian economists believe that the day is near when a rail link to North America up would be economically viable.\nThe current price tag for the missing 10,000 kilometers, tunnel included: $100 billion. Freight fees are estimated at $11 billion a year.\nRussian Railways estimates that a Bering Strait tunnel could eventually handle 3 percent of the world’s freight cargo. Yakunin says that China is interested in the project. At a railway meeting in Moscow Thursday, Mr. Putin said that freight traffic on a main Siberian line, the Baikal-Amur Mainline, is expected to nearly triple by 2020.\nTo critics who worry about harsh winter weather, Russian Railways notes that since 1915, the company has been running passenger and freight trains year round to Murmansk, located 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The proposed route for a tunnel under the Bering Strait would pass 50 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.\nTrans Bering rail promoters envisage building feeder lines to connect 'stranded' mineral deposits and to allow shipment of freight between North American and Russia, China, Japan and the Korean peninsula. Map: InterBering\nFor a tunnel linking two continents, support has to be generated on the North American side. In Alaska, Fyodor Soloview, a native of Moscow, recently formed InterBering, a private group to lobby for rail construction to the Bering Strait.\n“We can ship cargo between two the continents by rail,” Soloview said by telephone Thursday from his office in Anchorage. “Once the Bering tunnel is built, it will convert the entire world to different thinking.”\nYakunin estimates that the Russian side of a trans Bering railroad would take 10 to 15 years to build. That could fit into the political calendar of his friend Mr. Putin. On May 7, Mr. Putin will be inaugurated for a new six year term. He has left open the possibility of running in 2018 for another six year term.\nSo Russian Railways may have the political cover for another 12 years.\nThe question is whether oil prices will stay high enough to build a tunnel linking America and Asia.\nIf so, Washington’s diplomatic reset with Moscow could be welded in steel.\nTo reconnect Asia and North America -- after a 15,000-year separation -- engineers would dig two 103-kilometer long tunnels, each about twice as long as the rail tunnels opened under the English Channel in 1994. Diagrams: Victor Razbegin\nOn the North American side, almost 5,000 kilometer to track would have to be laid to connect with the existing North American freight network: east from the Bering Strait to Fairbanks, Alaska, and then southeast to Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. Map: InterBering",
"Channel Tunnel | OpenBuildings\n... British Prime Minister David Lloyd George repeatedly brought up the idea of a Channel tunnel as a way of ... within one year of ... Channel Tunnel was the first ...\nChannel Tunnel | OpenBuildings\nChannel Tunnel\nOur community will take a vow of silence in your honor.\nReferences\nWikipedia , licensed under the GFDL\nSuggestions\nView original size Report\nThe Channel Tunnel (French: Le tunnel sous la Manche), (also referred to as the Chunnel) is a 50.5-kilometre (31.4 mi) undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is 75 metres (250 ft) deep. At 37.9 kilometres (23.5 mi), the Channel Tunnel possesses the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world, although the Seikan Tunnel in Japan is both longer overall at 53.85 kilometres (33.46 mi), and deeper at 240 metres (790 ft) below sea level.\nThe tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-on/roll-off vehicle transport—the largest in the world—and international rail freight trains. The tunnel connects end-to-end with the LGV Nord and High Speed 1 high-speed railway lines. In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.\nIdeas for a cross-Channel fixed link appeared as early as 1802, but British political and press pressure over compromised national security stalled attempts to construct a tunnel. However, the eventual successful project, organised by Eurotunnel, began construction in 1988 and opened in 1994. The project came in 80% over its predicted budget. Since its construction, the tunnel has faced several problems. Fires have disrupted operation of the tunnel. Illegal immigrants and asylum seekers have attempted to use the tunnel to enter England, causing a minor diplomatic disagreement over the siting of the Sangatte refugee camp, which was eventually closed in 2002.\nOrigins\nProposals and attempts\nIn 1802, French mining engineer Albert Mathieu put forward a proposal to tunnel under the English Channel, with illumination from oil lamps, horse-drawn coaches, and an artificial island mid-Channel for changing horses.\nIn the 1830s, Frenchman Aimé Thomé de Gamond performed the first geological and hydrographical surveys on the Channel, between Calais and Dover. Thomé de Gamond explored several schemes and, in 1856, he presented a proposal to Napoleon III for a mined railway tunnel from Cap Gris-Nez to Eastwater Point with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank at a cost of 170 million francs, or less than £7 million.\nIn 1865, a deputation led by George Ward Hunt proposed the idea of a tunnel to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day, William Ewart Gladstone.\nAfter 1867, William Low and Sir John Clarke Hawkshaw promoted ideas, but none were implemented. An official Anglo-French protocol was established in 1876 for a cross-Channel railway tunnel. In 1881, British railway entrepreneur Sir William Watkin and French Suez Canal contractor Alexandre Lavalley were in the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company that conducted exploratory work on both sides of the Channel. On the English side a 2.13-metre (7 ft) diameter Beaumont-English boring machine dug a 1,893-metre (6,211 ft) pilot tunnel from Shakespeare Cliff. On the French side, a similar machine dug 1,669 m (5,476 ft) from Sangatte. The project was abandoned in May 1882, owing to British political and press campaigns advocating that a tunnel would compromise Britain's national defences. These early works were encountered more than a century later during the TML project.\nIn 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George repeatedly brought up the idea of a Channel tunnel as a way of reassuring France about British willingness to defend against another German attack. The French did not take the idea seriously and nothing came of Lloyd George's proposal.\nIn 1955, defence arguments were accepted to be irrelevant because of the dominance of air power; thus, both the British and French governments supported technical and geological surveys. A detailed geological survey was carried out in 1964–65. Construction work commenced on both sides of the Channel in 1974, a government-funded project using twin tunnels on either side of a service tunnel, with capability for car shuttle wagons. In January 1975, to the dismay of the French partners, the British government cancelled the project. The government had changed to the Labour Party and there was uncertainty about EEC membership, cost estimates had ballooned to 200% and the national economy was troubled. By this time the British Priestly tunnel boring machine was ready and the Ministry of Transport was able to do a 300 m (980 ft) experimental drive. This short tunnel would however be reused as the starting and access point for tunnelling operations from the British side.\nIn 1979, the \"Mouse-hole Project\" was suggested when the Conservatives came to power in Britain. The concept was a single-track rail tunnel with a service tunnel, but without shuttle terminals. The British government took no interest in funding the project, but Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said she had no objection to a privately funded project. In 1981 British and French leaders Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand agreed to set up a working group to look into a privately funded project, and in April 1985 promoters were formally invited to submit scheme proposals. Four submissions were shortlisted:\na rail proposal based on the 1975 scheme presented by Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M),\nEurobridge: a 4.5 km (2.8 mi) span suspension bridge with a roadway in an enclosed tube\nEuroroute: a 21 km (13 mi) tunnel between artificial islands approached by bridges, and\nChannel Expressway: large diameter road tunnels with mid-channel ventilation towers.\nThe cross-Channel ferry industry protested under the name \"Flexilink\". In 1975 there was no campaign protesting against a fixed link, with one of the largest ferry operators (Sealink) being state-owned. Flexilink continued rousing opposition throughout 1986 and 1987. Public opinion strongly favoured a drive-through tunnel, but ventilation issues, concerns about accident management, and fear of driver mesmerisation led to the only shortlisted rail submission, CTG/F-M, being awarded the project.\nArrangement\nThe British Channel Tunnel Group consisted of two banks and five construction companies, while their French counterparts, France–Manche, consisted of three banks and five construction companies. The role of the banks was to advise on financing and secure loan commitments. On 2 July 1985, the groups formed Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M). Their submission to the British and French governments was drawn from the 1975 project, including 11 volumes and a substantial environmental impact statement.\nThe design and construction was done by the ten construction companies in the CTG/F-M group. The French terminal and boring from Sangatte was undertaken by the five French construction companies in the joint venture group GIE Transmanche Construction. The English Terminal and boring from Shakespeare Cliff was undertaken by the five British construction companies in the Trankslink Joint Venture. The two partnerships were linked by TransManche Link (TML), a bi-national project organisation. The Maître d'Oeuvre was a supervisory engineering body employed by Eurotunnel under the terms of the concession that monitored project activity and reported back to the governments and banks.\nIn France, with its long tradition of infrastructure investment, the project garnered widespread approval and in April the French National Assembly gave unanimous support and, in June 1987, after a public inquiry, the Senate gave unanimous support. In Britain, select committees examined the proposal, making history by holding hearings outside of Westminster, in Kent. In February 1987, the third reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill took place in the House of Commons, and was carried by 94 votes to 22. The Channel Tunnel Act gained Royal assent and passed into English law in July of that year. Parliamentary support for the project came partly from provincial members of Parliament on the basis of promises of regional Eurostar through train services that have never materialised; the promises were repeated in 1996 when the contract for construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was awarded.\nThe Channel Tunnel is a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) project with a concession. TML would design and build the tunnel, but financing was through a separate legal entity: Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel absorbed CTG/F-M and signed a construction contract with TML; however, the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions, which are now in the hands of the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority. The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55- (later 65-) year operating concession to repay loans and pay dividends. A Railway Usage Agreement was signed between Eurotunnel, British Rail and the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français guaranteeing future revenue in exchange for the railways obtaining half of the tunnel's capacity.\nPrivate funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. An initial equity of £45 million was raised by CTG/F-M, increased by £206 million private institutional placement, £770 million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements, a syndicated bank loan and letter of credit arranged £5 billion. Privately financed, the total investment costs at 1985 prices were £2600 million. At the 1994 completion actual costs were, in 1985 prices, £4650 million: an 80% cost overrun. The cost overrun was partly due to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands. Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast.\nConstruction\nEleven tunnel boring machines, working from both sides (England to France) of the Channel, cut through chalk marl to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. The vehicle shuttle terminals are at Cheriton (part of Folkestone) and Coquelles, and are connected to the English and French motorways (M20 and A16 respectively).\nTunnelling commenced in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994. In 1985 prices, the total construction cost was £4.650 billion (equivalent to £11 billion today), an 80% cost overrun. At the peak of construction 15,000 people were employed with daily expenditure over £3 million. Ten workers, eight of them British, were killed during construction between 1987 and 1993, most in the first few months of boring.\nCompletion\nA small, two-inch (50-mm) diameter pilot hole allowed the service tunnel to break through without ceremony on 30 October 1990. On 1 December 1990, Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette broke through the service tunnel with the media watching. Eurotunnel completed the tunnel on time, and the tunnel was officially opened one year later than originally planned by British Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand in a ceremony held in Calais on 6 May 1994. The Queen travelled through the tunnel to Calais on a Eurostar train, which stopped nose to nose with the train that carried President Mitterrand from Paris. Following the ceremony President Mitterrand and the Queen travelled on Le Shuttle to a similar ceremony in Folkestone. A full public service did not start for several months.\nThe Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called High Speed 1, runs 69 miles (111 km) from St Pancras railway station in London to the Channel Tunnel portal at Folkestone in Kent. It cost £5.8 billion. On 16 September 2003 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the first section of High Speed 1, from Folkestone to north Kent. On 6 November 2007 the Queen officially opened High Speed 1 and St Pancras International station, replacing the original slower link to Waterloo International railway station. On High Speed 1 trains travelling at speeds up to 300 km/h (186 mph), the journey from London to Paris takes 2 hours 15 minutes and London to Brussels takes 1 hour 51 minutes.\nIn 1996, the American Society of Civil Engineers, with Popular Mechanics, selected the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.\nEngineering\nSurveying undertaken in the twenty years before tunnel construction confirmed earlier speculations that a tunnel route could be bored through a chalk marl stratum. The chalk marl was conducive to tunnelling, with impermeability, ease of excavation and strength. While on the English side the chalk marl ran along the entire length of the tunnel, on the French side a length of 5 kilometres (3 mi) had variable and difficult geology. The Channel Tunnel consists of three bores: two 7.6-metre (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels, 30 metres (98 ft) apart, 50 kilometres (31 mi) in length with a 4.8-metre (16 ft) diameter service tunnel in between. There are also cross-passages and piston relief ducts. The service tunnel was used as a pilot tunnel, boring ahead of the main tunnels to determine the conditions. English access was provided at Shakespeare Cliff, while French access came from a shaft at Sangatte. The French side used five tunnel boring machines (TBMs), the English side used six. The service tunnel uses Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) and Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS). Fire safety was a critical design issue.\nBetween the portals at Beussingue and Castle Hill the tunnel is 50.5 kilometres (31 mi) long, with 3.3 kilometres (2 mi) under land on the French side, 9.3 kilometres (6 mi) under land on the UK side and 37.9 kilometres (24 mi) under sea. This makes the Channel Tunnel the second longest rail tunnel in the world, behind the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, but with the longest under-sea section. The average depth is 45 metres (148 ft) below the seabed. On the UK side, of the expected 5 million cubic metres (6.5×10^6 cu yd) of spoil approximately 1 million cubic metres (1.3×10^6 cu yd) was used for fill at the terminal site, and the remainder was deposited at Lower Shakespeare Cliff behind a seawall, reclaiming 74 acres (30 ha) of land. This land was then made into the Samphire Hoe Country Park. Environmental impact assessment did not identify any major risks for the project, and further studies into safety, noise, and air pollution were overall positive. However, environmental objections were raised over a high-speed link to London.\nGeology\nSuccessful tunnelling under the channel required a sound understanding of the topography and geology and the selection of the best rock strata through which to tunnel. The geology generally consists of northeasterly dipping Cretaceous strata, part of the northern limb of the Wealden-Boulonnais dome. Characteristics include:\nContinuous chalk on the cliffs on either side of the Channel containing no major faulting, as observed by Verstegan in 1698\nFour geological strata, marine sediments laid down 90–100 million years ago; pervious upper and middle chalk above slightly pervious lower chalk and finally impermeable Gault Clay. A sandy stratum, glauconitic marl (tortia), is in between the chalk marl and gault clay\nA 25–30-metre (82–98 ft) layer of chalk marl (French: craie bleue) in the lower third of the lower chalk appeared to present the best tunnelling medium. The chalk has a clay content of 30–40% providing impermeability to groundwater yet relatively easy excavation with strength allowing minimal support. Ideally the tunnel would be bored in the bottom 15 metres (49 ft) of the chalk marl, allowing water inflow from fractures and joints to be minimised, but above the gault clay that would increase stress on the tunnel lining and swell and soften when wet.\nOn the English side of the channel, the strata dip less than 5°, however, on the French side, this increases to 20°. Jointing and faulting is present on both the English and French sides. On the English side, only minor faults of displacement less than 2 metres (7 ft) exist. On the French side, displacements of up to 15 metres (49 ft) are present owing to the Quenocs anticlinal fold. The faults are of limited width, filled with calcite, pyrite and remoulded clay. The increased dip and faulting restricted the selection of route on the French side. To avoid confusion, microfossil assemblages were used to classify the chalk marl. On the French side, particularly near the coast, the chalk was harder, and more brittle, and more fractured than on the English side. This led to the adoption of different tunnelling techniques on the French and English sides.\nThe Quaternary undersea valley Fosse Dangaered, and Castle Hill landslip, located at the English portal, caused concerns. Identified by the 1964–65 geophysical survey, the Fosse Dangaered is an infilled valley system extending 80 metres (262 ft) below the seabed, 500 metres (1,640 ft) south of the tunnel route, located mid-channel. A 1986 survey showed that a tributary crossed the path of the tunnel, and so the tunnel route was made as far north and deep as possible. The English terminal had to be located in the Castle Hill landslip, which consists of displaced and tipping blocks of lower chalk, glauconitic marl and gault debris. Thus the area was stabilised by buttressing and inserting drainage adits. The service tunnels were pilot tunnels preceding the main tunnels, so that the geology, areas of crushed rock, and zones of high water inflow could be predicted. Exploratory probing took place in the service tunnels, in the form of extensive forward probing, vertical downward probes and sideways probing.\nSurveying\nMarine soundings and samplings by Thomé de Gamond were carried out during 1833–1867, establishing the seabed depth at a maximum of 55 metres (180 ft) and the continuity of geological strata (layers). Surveying continued over many years, with 166 marine and 70 land-deep boreholes being drilled and over 4,000-line-kilometres of marine geophysical survey completed. Surveys were undertaken in 1958–1959, 1964–1965, 1972–1974 and 1986–1988.\nThe surveying in 1958–1959 catered for immersed tube and bridge designs as well as a bored tunnel, and thus a wide area was investigated. At this time marine geophysics surveying for engineering projects was in its infancy, with poor positioning and resolution from seismic profiling. The 1964–1965 surveys concentrated on a northerly route that left the English coast at Dover harbour; using 70 boreholes, an area of deeply weathered rock with high permeability was located just south of Dover harbour.\nGiven the previous survey results and access constraints, a more southerly route was investigated in the 1972–1973 survey and the route was confirmed to be feasible. Information for the tunnelling project also came from work before the 1975 cancellation. On the French side at Sangatte a deep shaft with adits was made. On the English side at Shakespeare Cliff, the government allowed 250 metres (820 ft) of 4.5-metre (15 ft) diameter tunnel to be driven. The actual tunnel alignment, method of excavation and support were essentially the same as the 1975 attempt. In the 1986–1997 survey, previous findings were reinforced and the nature of the gault clay and the tunnelling medium (chalk marl that made up 85% of the route) were investigated. Geophysical techniques from the oil industry were employed.\nTunnelling\nTunnelling between England and France was a major engineering challenge, with the only precedent being the undersea Seikan Tunnel in Japan. A serious risk with underwater tunnels is major water inflow due to the water pressure from the sea above under weak ground conditions. The Channel Tunnel also had the challenge of time—being privately funded, early financial return was paramount.\nThe objective was to construct: two 7.6-metre (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels, 30 metres (98 ft) apart, 50 kilometres (31 mi) in length; a 4.8-metre (16 ft) diameter service tunnel between the two main tunnels; pairs of 3.3-metre (11 ft) diameter cross-passages linking the rail tunnels to the service tunnel at 375-metre (1,230 ft) spacing; piston relief ducts 2-metre (7 ft) diameter connecting the rail tunnels at 250-metre (820 ft) spacing; two undersea crossover caverns to connect the rail tunnels. The service tunnel always preceded the main tunnels by at least 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) to ascertain the ground conditions. There was plenty of experience with tunnelling through chalk in the mining industry. The undersea crossover caverns were a complex engineering problem. The French cavern was based on the Mount Baker Ridge freeway tunnel in the USA. The UK cavern was dug from the service tunnel ahead of the main tunnels to avoid delay.\nPrecast segmental linings in the main TBM drives were used, but different solutions were used on the English and French sides. On the French side, neoprene and grout sealed bolted linings made of cast iron or high-strength reinforced concrete were used. On the English side, the main requirement was for speed and bolting of cast-iron lining segments was only carried out in areas of poor geology. In the UK rail tunnels, eight lining segments plus a key segment were used; on the French side, five segments plus a key segment. On the French side, a 55-metre (180 ft) diameter 75-metre (246 ft) deep grout-curtained shaft at Sangatte was used for access. On the English side, a marshalling area was 140 metres (459 ft) below the top of Shakespeare Cliff, and the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM) was first applied in the chalk marl here. On the English side, the land tunnels were driven from Shakespeare Cliff, the same place as the marine tunnels, not from Folkestone. The platform at the base of the cliff was not large enough for all of the drives and, despite environmental objections, tunnel spoil was placed behind a reinforced concrete seawall, on condition of placing the chalk in an enclosed lagoon to avoid wide dispersal of chalk fines. Owing to limited space, the precast lining factory was on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary.\nOn the French side, owing to the greater permeability to water, earth pressure balance TBMs with open and closed modes were used. The TBMs were of a closed nature during the initial 5 kilometres (3 mi), but then operated as open, boring through the chalk marl stratum. This minimised the impact to the ground and allowed high water pressures to be withstood, and it also alleviated the need to grout ahead of the tunnel. The French effort required five TBMs: two main marine machines, one main land machine (the short land drives of 3 km allowed one TBM to complete the first drive then reverse direction and complete the other), and two service tunnel machines. On the English side, the simpler geology allowed faster open-faced TBMs. Six machines were used, all commenced digging from Shakespeare Cliff, three marine-bound and three for the land tunnels. Towards the completion of the undersea drives, the UK TBMs were driven steeply downwards and buried clear of the tunnel. The French TBMs then completed the tunnel and were dismantled. A 900 mm gauge railway was used on the English side during construction.\nIn contrast to the English machines, which were simply given alphanumeric names, the French tunnelling machines were all named after women: Brigitte, Europa, Catherine, Virginie, Pascaline, Séverine.\nRailway design\nThere are three communication systems in the tunnel: concession radio (CR) for mobile vehicles and personnel within Eurotunnel's Concession (terminals, tunnels, coastal shafts); track-to-train radio (TTR) for secure speech and data between trains and the railway control centre; Shuttle internal radio (SIR) for communication between shuttle crew and to passengers over car radios. This service was discontinued within one year of opening because of drivers difficulty setting their radios to the correct frequency (88.8 MHz).\nAll tunnel services run on electricity, shared equally from English and French sources. Power is delivered to the locomotives via an overhead line (catenary) at 25 kV 50 Hz.\nA large proportion of the railway south of London uses a 750 V DC third rail to deliver electrical power; however since the opening of High Speed 1 there is no need to use the third rail system for any part of the Eurostar journey. High Speed 1, the tunnel itself and the route to Paris has power provided via overhead catenary at 25 kV 50 Hz. The railways on \"classic\" lines in Belgium are also electrified by overhead catenaries, but at 3000 V DC.\nA cab signalling system is used that gives information directly to train drivers on a display. There is Automatic Train Protection (ATP) that stops the train if the speed differs from that indicated on the in-cab display. TVM430, as used on LGV Nord, is used in the tunnel. The maximum allowed speed is 160 km/h.\nThe American Sonneville International Corporation track system consisting of UIC60 rails on 900A grade resting on microcellular EVA pads, bolted into concrete was chosen. The larger European GB+ loading gauge was used rather than one of the smaller UK alternatives; this gauge is maintained on High Speed 1 as far as Barking in east London. Ballasted track was ruled out owing to maintenance constraints and a need for geometric stability.\nRolling stock\nInitially 38 Le Shuttle locomotives were commissioned, working in pairs with one at each end of a shuttle train. The shuttles have two separate halves: single and double deck. Each half has two loading/unloading wagons and twelve carrier wagons. Eurotunnel's original order was for nine tourist shuttles.\nHGV shuttles also have two halves, with each half containing one loading wagon, one unloading wagon and 14 carrier wagons. There is a club car behind the leading locomotive. Eurotunnel originally ordered six HGV shuttles rakes.\nForty-six Class 92 locomotives for hauling freight trains and overnight passenger trains (the Nightstar project, which was abandoned) were commissioned, which can run on both overhead AC and third-rail DC power.\nThirty-one Eurostar trains—based on the French TGV—built to UK loading gauge, and with many modifications for safety within the tunnel, were commissioned, with split ownership between British Rail, French National Railway Company and National Railway Company of Belgium. British Rail ordered seven more for services north of London.\nAt the end of 2009, extensive fire-proofing requirements were dropped and Deutsche Bahn received permission to run German Intercity-Express (ICE) trains through the Channel Tunnel in the future. On 19 October 2010 Deutsche Bahn ran the first ICE train through the Channel Tunnel arriving in St. Pancras after evacuation tests in the tunnel were a success.\nDiesel locomotives for rescue and shunting work are Eurotunnel Class 0001 and Eurotunnel Class 0031.\nOperation\nServices offered by the tunnel are:\nEurotunnel Shuttle (formerly Le Shuttle) roll-on roll-off shuttle service for road vehicles,\nEurostar passenger trains,\nthrough freight trains.\nBoth the freight and passenger traffic forecasts that led to the construction of the tunnel were largely and universally overestimated. Particularly, Eurotunnel's commissioned forecasts were over-predictions. Although the captured share of Channel crossings (competing with air and sea) was forecast correctly, high competition and reduced tariffs has led to low revenue. Overall cross-Channel traffic was overestimated.\nHowever with the EU's liberalisation of international rail services, the tunnel and High Speed 1 have been open to competition since 2010. There have been a number of operators interested in running services including Deutsche Bahn, through the tunnel and along High Speed 1 to London.\nTotal cross-tunnel passenger traffic volumes peaked at 18.4 million in 1998, then dropped to 14.9 million in 2003, from then rising again to 17.0 million in 2010.\nAt the time of the decision about building the tunnel, 15.9 million passengers were predicted for Eurostar trains in the opening year. In 1995, the first full year, actual numbers were a little over 2.9 million, growing to 7.1 million in 2000, then dropping again to 6.3 million in 2003. However, Eurostar was also limited by the lack of a high-speed connection on the British side. After the completion of High Speed 1 (formerly CTRL) to London in two stages in 2003 and 2007, traffic increased. In 2008, Eurostar carried 9,113,371 passengers in cross-Channel-Tunnel traffic, a 10% increase over the previous year, despite traffic limitations due to the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire. Eurostar passenger numbers continued to increase, reaching 9,528,558 in 2010.\nCross-tunnel freight traffic volumes have been erratic, with a decrease during 1997 due to a closure caused by a fire in a freight shuttle. The total freight crossings increased over the period, indicating the substitutability of the tunnel by sea crossings. The tunnel has achieved a cross-Channel freight traffic market share close to or above Eurotunnel's 1980s predictions but Eurotunnel's 1990 and 1994 predictions were overestimates.\nFor freight transported on through freight trains, the first year freight prediction was 7.2 million gross tonnes, however, the actual 1995 figure was 1.3 million gross tonnes. Through freight volumes peaked in 1998 at 3.1 million tonnes. However, with continuing problems, this figure fell back to 1.21 million tonnes in 2007, increasing again slightly to 1.24 million tonnes in 2008. Together with that carried on freight shuttles, freight traffic growth has occurred since opening, with 6.4 million tonnes carried in 1995, 18.4 million tonnes recorded in 2003 and 19.6 million tonnes in 2007. Numbers fell back in the wake of the 2008 fire.\nEurotunnel's freight subsidiary is Europorte 2. In September 2006 EWS, the UK's largest rail freight operator, announced that owing to cessation of UK-French government subsidies of £52 million per annum to cover the Channel Tunnel \"Minimum User Charge\" (a subsidy of around £13,000 per train, at a traffic level of 4,000 trains per annum), freight trains would stop running after 30 November.\nShares in Eurotunnel were issued at £3.50 per share on 9 December 1987. By mid-1989 the price had risen to £11.00. Delays and cost overruns led to the share price dropping; during demonstration runs in October 1994 the share price reached an all-time low value. Eurotunnel suspended payment on its debt in September 1995 to avoid bankruptcy. In December 1997 the British and French governments extended Eurotunnel's operating concession by 34 years to 2086. Financial restructuring of Eurotunnel occurred in mid-1998, reducing debt and financial charges. Despite the restructuring The Economist reported in 1998 that to break even Eurotunnel would have to increase fares, traffic and market share for sustainability. A cost benefit analysis of the Channel Tunnel indicated that there were few impacts on the wider economy and few developments associated with the project, and that the British economy would have been better off if the tunnel had not been constructed.\nUnder the terms of the Concession, Eurotunnel was obliged to investigate a cross-Channel road tunnel. In December 1999 road and rail tunnel proposals were presented to the British and French governments, but it was stressed that there was not enough demand for a second tunnel. A three-way treaty between the United Kingdom, France and Belgium governs border controls, with the establishment of control zones wherein the officers of the other nation may exercise limited customs and law enforcement powers. For most purposes these are at either end of the tunnel, with the French border controls on the UK side of the tunnel and vice versa. For certain city-to-city trains, the train itself represents a control zone. A binational emergency plan coordinates UK and French emergency activities.\nIn 1999 Eurostar posted its first ever net profits, having previously made a loss of £925m in 1995.\nTerminals\nThe terminals sites are at Cheriton (Folkestone in the United Kingdom) and Coquelles (Calais in France). The terminals are unique facilities designed to transfer vehicles from the motorway onto trains at a rate of 700 cars and 113 heavy vehicles per hour. The UK site uses the M20 motorway. The terminals are organised with the frontier controls juxtaposed with the entry to the system to allow travellers to go onto the motorway at the destination country immediately after leaving the shuttle. The area of the UK site was severely constrained and the design was challenging. The French layout was achieved more easily. To achieve design output, the shuttles accept cars on double-decks; for flexibility, ramps were placed inside the shuttles to provide access to the top decks. At Folkestone there are 20 kilometres (12 mi) of mainline track and 45 turnouts with eight platforms. At Calais there are 30 kilometres (19 mi) of track with 44 turnouts. At the terminals the shuttle trains traverse a figure eight to reduce uneven wear on the wheels. There is a freight marshalling yard west of Cheriton at Dollands Moor Freight Yard.\nRegional impact\nA 1996 report from the European Commission predicted that Kent and Nord-Pas de Calais had to face increased traffic volumes due to general growth of cross-Channel traffic and traffic attracted by the tunnel. In Kent, a high-speed rail line to London would transfer traffic from road to rail. Kent's regional development would benefit from the tunnel, but being so close to London restricts the benefits. Gains are in the traditional industries and are largely dependent on the development of Ashford International passenger station, without which Kent would be totally dependent on London's expansion. Nord-Pas-de-Calais enjoys a strong internal symbolic effect of the Tunnel which results in significant gains in manufacturing.\nThe removal of a bottleneck by means like the Channel Tunnel does not necessarily induce economic gains in all adjacent regions, the image of a region being connected to the European high-speed transport and active political response are more important for regional economic development. However, some small-medium enterprises located in the immediate vicinity of the terminal have used the opportunity to re-brand the profile of their business with positive effect, such as The New Inn at Etchinghill which was able to commercially exploit its unique selling point as being 'the closest pub to the Channel Tunnel'. Tunnel-induced regional development is small compared to general economic growth. The South East of England is likely to benefit developmentally and socially from faster and cheaper transport to continental Europe, but the benefits are unlikely to be equally distributed throughout the region. The overall environmental impact is almost certainly negative.\nSince the opening of the tunnel, small positive impacts on the wider economy have been felt, however, it is difficult to identify major economic successes directly attributed to the tunnel. The Eurotunnel does operate profitably, offering an alternative transportation mode unaffected by poor weather. both Eurotunnel and Eurostar. High costs of construction did delay profitability, however, and companies involved in the Channel Tunnel's construction and operation early in operation relied on government aid to deal with debts amounted. Eurotunnel has been described as being in a serious situation.\nIncidents\nFires\nThere have been three fires in the Channel Tunnel that were significant enough to close the tunnel—all on the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) shuttles—and other more minor incidents.\nDuring an \"invitation only\" testing phase on 9 December 1994, a fire broke out in a Ford Escort car whilst its owner had been loading it on to the upper deck of a tourist shuttle. The fire started at approximately 10:00 with the shuttle train stationary in the Folkestone terminal and was extinguished around 40 minutes later with no passenger injuries.\nOn 18 November 1996, a fire broke out on a heavy goods vehicle shuttle wagon in the tunnel but nobody was seriously hurt. The exact cause is unknown, although it was not a Eurotunnel equipment or rolling stock problem; it may have been due to arson of a heavy goods vehicle. It is estimated that the heart of the fire reached 1,000 °C (1,800 °F), with the tunnel severely damaged over 46 metres (151 ft), with some 500 metres (1,640 ft) affected to some extent. Full operation recommenced six months after the fire.\nThe tunnel was closed for several hours on 21 August 2006, when a truck on an HGV shuttle train caught fire. On 11 September 2008, a fire occurred in the Channel Tunnel at 13:57 GMT. The incident started on a freight-carrying vehicle train travelling towards France. The event occurred 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the French entrance to the tunnel. No one was killed but several people were taken to hospitals suffering from smoke inhalation, and minor cuts and bruises. The tunnel was closed to all traffic, with the undamaged South Tunnel reopening for limited services two days later. Full service resumed on 9 February 2009 after repairs costing €60 million.\nTrain failures\nOn the night of 19/20 February 1996, approximately 1,000 passengers became trapped in the Channel Tunnel when two British Rail Class 373 trains on continent-bound Eurostar service broke down owing to failures of electronic circuits caused by snow and ice being deposited and then melting on the circuit boards.\nOn 3 August 2007, an electrical failure lasting six hours caused passengers to be trapped in the tunnel on a Eurotunnel shuttle crossing.\nOn the evening of 18 December 2009, during the December 2009 European snowfall, five London-bound trains operating Eurostar services failed inside the tunnel, trapping 2,000 passengers in the tunnel overnight. Five Class 373 trains had departed from Brussels and Paris and encountered cold temperatures in Northern France, the coldest for eight years. A Eurotunnel spokesperson explained that the problem had arisen because of 'fluffy snow' in France, which had evaded the 'winterisation' shields designed to stop snow getting into the electrics. Electrical failure was then caused by the transition from the cold air in France to the warm atmosphere inside the tunnel. One train from Brussels had been turned back before reaching the tunnel; two trains were hauled out of the tunnel using diesel-powered Eurotunnel Class 0001. The blocking of the Channel Tunnel led to the implementation of Operation Stack, the transformation of the M20 motorway into a linear car park.\nSnow that had built up on the trains then melted in the heat of the tunnel, the water causing electrical faults. The occasion was the first time during the fifteen years that a Eurostar train had to be evacuated inside the tunnel itself; the failing of four at once being described as \"unprecedented\". The Channel Tunnel reopened the following morning.Nirj Deva, Member of the European Parliament for South East England, had called for Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown to resign over the incidents. An independent report by Christopher Garnett (former CEO of Great North Eastern Railway) and Claude Gressier (a French transport expert) on the 18/19 December 2009 incidents was issued in February 2010, making 21 recommendations.\nA further Class 373 unit on Brussels–London service broke down in the tunnel on 7 January 2010. The train had 236 passengers on board and was towed to Ashford; other trains that had not yet reached the tunnel were turned back.\nAsylum and immigration\nImmigrants and would-be asylum seekers have been known to use the tunnel to attempt to enter Britain. By 1997, the problem had already attracted international press attention, and the French Red Cross opened a refugee centre at Sangatte in 1999, using a warehouse once used for tunnel construction; by 2002 it housed up to 1500 persons at a time, most of them trying to get to the UK. In 2001, most came from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, but African and Eastern European countries are also represented.\nMost migrants who got into Britain found some way to ride a freight train, but others used Eurostar. Though the facilities were fenced, airtight security was deemed impossible; refugees would even jump from bridges onto moving trains. In several incidents people were injured during the crossing; others tampered with railway equipment, causing delays and requiring repairs. Eurotunnel said it was losing £5m per month because of the problem. A dozen refugees have died in crossing attempts.\nIn 2001 and 2002, several riots broke out at Sangatte and groups of refugees (up to 550 in a December 2001 incident) stormed the fences and attempted to enter en masse. Immigrants have also arrived as legitimate Eurostar passengers without proper entry papers.\nLocal authorities in both France and the UK called for the closure of Sangatte, and Eurotunnel twice sought an injunction against the centre. The United Kingdom blamed France for allowing Sangatte to open, and France blamed the UK for its lax asylum rules and the EU for not having a uniform immigration policy. The cause célèbre nature of the problem even included journalists detained as they followed refugees onto railway property.\nIn 2002, after the European Commission told France that it was in breach of European Union rules on the free transfer of goods, because of the delays and closures as a result of its poor security, a double fence was built at a cost of £5 million, reducing the numbers of refugees detected each week reaching Britain on goods trains from 250 to almost none. Other measures included CCTV cameras and increased police patrols. At the end of 2002, the Sangatte centre was closed after the UK agreed to take some of its refugees.\nSafety\nThe Channel Tunnel Safety Authority is responsible for some aspects of safety regulation in the tunnel; it reports to the IGC.\nThe service tunnel is used for access to technical equipment in cross-passages and equipment rooms, to provide fresh-air ventilation, and for emergency evacuation. The Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) allows fast access to all areas of the tunnel. The service vehicles are rubber-tyred with a buried guidance wire system. Twenty-four STTS vehicles were made, and are used mainly for maintenance but also for firefighting and in emergencies. \"Pods\" with different purposes, up to a payload of 2.5–5 t (2.8–5.5 tons), are inserted into the side of the vehicles. The STTS vehicles cannot turn around within the tunnel, and are driven from either end. The maximum speed is 80 km/h (50 mph) when the steering is locked. A smaller fleet of fifteen Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS) were introduced to supplement the STTSs. The LADOGS have a short wheelbase with a 3.4 m (11 ft) turning circle allowing two-point turns within the service tunnel. Steering cannot be locked like the STTS vehicles, and maximum speed is 50 km/h (31 mph). Pods up to 1 tonne can be loaded onto the rear of the vehicles. Drivers in the tunnel sit on the right, and the vehicles drive on the left. Owing to the risk of French personnel driving on their native right side of the road, sensors in the road vehicles alert the driver if the vehicle strays to the right side of the tunnel.\nThe three tunnels contain 6,000 tonnes (6,600 tons) of air that needs to be conditioned for comfort and safety. Air is supplied from ventilation buildings at Shakespeare Cliff and Sangatte, with each building capable of full duty providing 100% standby capacity. Supplementary ventilation also exists on either side of the tunnel. In the event of a fire, ventilation is used to keep smoke out of the service tunnel and move smoke in one direction in the main tunnel to give passengers clean air. The Channel Tunnel was the first mainline railway tunnel to have special cooling equipment. Heat is generated from traction equipment and drag. The design limit was set at 30 °C (86 °F), using a mechanical cooling system with refrigeration plants on both the English and French sides that run chilled water circulating in pipes within the tunnel.\nTrains travelling at high speed create piston-effect pressure changes that can affect passenger comfort, ventilation systems, tunnel doors, fans and the structure of the trains, and drag on the trains. Piston relief ducts of 2-metre (7 ft) diameter were chosen to solve the problem, with 4 ducts per kilometre to give close to optimum results. Unfortunately this design led to unacceptable lateral forces on the trains so a reduction in train speed was required and restrictors were installed in the ducts.\nThe safety issue of a fire on a passenger-vehicle shuttle garnered much attention, with Eurotunnel itself noting that fire was the risk gathering the most attention in a 1994 Safety Case for three reasons: ferry companies opposed to passengers being allowed to remain with their cars; Home Office statistics indicating that car fires had doubled in ten years; and the long length of the tunnel. Eurotunnel commissioned the UK Fire Research Station to give reports of vehicle fires, as well as liaising with Kent Fire Brigade to gather vehicle fire statistics over one year. Fire tests took place at the French Mines Research Establishment with a mock wagon used to investigate how cars burned. The wagon door systems are designed to withstand fire inside the wagon for 30 minutes, longer than the transit time of 27 minutes. Wagon air conditioning units help to purge dangerous fumes from inside the wagon before travel. Each wagon has a fire detection and extinguishing system, with sensing of ions or ultraviolet radiation, smoke and gases that can trigger halon gas to quench a fire. Since the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) wagons are not covered, fire sensors are located on the loading wagon and in the tunnel itself. A 10-inch (250 mm) water main in the service tunnel provides water to the main tunnels at 125-metre (410 ft) intervals. The ventilation system can control smoke movement. Special arrival sidings exist to accept a train that is on fire, as the train is not allowed to stop whilst on fire in the tunnel. Eurotunnel has banned a wide range of hazardous goods from travelling in the tunnel. Two STTS vehicles with firefighting pods are on duty at all times, with a maximum delay of 10 minutes before they reach a burning train.",
"Eurostar is expanding to Marseille and ... - CityMetric\nThe Channel Tunnel is one of the great ... by 2004, it’d be carrying 21m passengers a year through the tunnel. ... One is that it's the first with new co ...\nEurostar is expanding to Marseille and Amsterdam. But why has it taken 20 years? | CityMetric\nEurostar is expanding to Marseille and Amsterdam. But why has it taken 20 years?\nBy Paul Prentice\nEurostar's new e320 train can reach speeds of up to 200mph, cutting journey times by 15 minutes. Image: Getty.\nThe Channel Tunnel is one of the great engineering achievements of the 20th century. It revolutionised trans-manche travel when it opened in 1994, making it possible to travel from the centre of London to the centre of Paris or Brussels in just a couple of hours.\nThe new tunnel, in fact, was used by two different train services, serving two different markets. Le Shuttle (invariably with the French prefix) was a roll-on, roll-off service, which carries cars under the Channel itself. It looks after a sizeable chunk of the car, truck and coach markets for day trippers and holidaymakers; and, barring the occasional incident, it’s been an enormous success, and in the past few years, has celebrated record passenger levels.\nEurostar, meanwhile, was dedicated to the international, intercity passenger market: business travellers, weekend breakers, families headed for the then new EuroDisney.\nThere, though, growth has been slower. Its owners predicted that, by 2004, it’d be carrying 21m passengers a year through the tunnel. In the event, the figure was 7m. Was there ever enough potential in the basic London-Paris/Brussels network? And, if not, why has it taken so long for the network's regular services to expand, beyond those three cities and occasional holiday services beyond?\nNorthern flights\nBack in the early 1990s, when Britain's railways were still under the monopoly control of British Rail, there were ambitious plans for through high speed passenger services, branded Regional Eurostar and NightStar. These would run from major UK cities to a variety of continental European destinations, making the most of the new infrastructure and plugging the UK into the European high speed network. New trains were ordered to complement the main Eurostar fleet; these included specialised overnight sleeper rolling stock, built specially for new services linking Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield with the continent.\nThe problem was, there were no genuine high speed lines in Britain for the trains to run on. There were only the East and West Coast Main Lines, with a relatively snail-like top speed of 125mph. As a result, journey times on the UK side could not match the genuine high speed networks on mainland Europe, and while British Rail did begin running a shadow service of regional trains connecting with Eurostar at Waterloo in 1995, these trains ran almost empty. They’d ended completely by 1997.\nIn any case, a nine-hour rail journey time between Glasgow and London simply couldn’t compete with pioneering budget airlines. These were then in their infancy, but were soon staking their claims on a growing and lucrative short-haul European market. So, the dedicated train fleets were dispersed far and wide; some were sold for considerably less than their true value, in some cases not even completed by the factory.\nSouthern dreams\nFast forward 15 years, and Eurostar is now owned by a mix of European state railways, Canadian pension funds and a UK infrastructure specialist. And, at long last, it’s going some way towards expanding the choice of destinations served – although only on its own terms, and without the threat of competition from another operator to keep it on its toes.\nFor the past two decades, the vast majority of Eurostar trains have run from London to Paris or Brussels. (A few seasonal have gone beyond to holiday destinations, such as Avignon or the French Alps.) But next month, Marseille (via Lyon and Avignon) will at long last be added to the list of destinations; Amsterdam will follow next year. The new services will compete with both the airlines and the ferry route from Harwich that connects both London and the Dutch capital through the rail networks on either side.\nBy the end of the year, a new 17-strong fleet of trains will begin to enter service, too. A £1bn combination of Italian design and German engineering, each of the new trains will carry nearly 900 passengers – about a fifth more than the trains in the original fleet.\nYet today, almost 21 years after the Channel Tunnel opened, Eurostar remains the only international rail operator serving the UK – and while it is possible to make connecting high speed train journeys across Europe, the direct journey opportunities remain limited. Rail's carbon footprint is low compared to air travel, but the comparative lack of flexibility of rail often makes the latter appear more attractive by default. Fares are generally more expensive, too; looking ahead three months for a long weekend, a British Airways flight from Gatwick to Paris Charles de Gaulle at £110 return compares unfavourably with Eurostar's £159 (although the city centre connectivity of the latter could be said to be a considerable advantage).\nUncompetitive tensions\nIn 2010, it looked as if a challenger to Eurostar's dominance would be up and running within a few years. German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn proposed London-Cologne-Frankfurt trains, and even brought one to St Pancras to demonstrate the concept.\nAs of 2013, though, these plans were on ice. Technical and regulatory barriers have prevented progress being made on services between the UK and Germany, mainly relating to the design of the trains. The originally proposed fleet was not considered sufficiently fireproof for the Channel Tunnel, despite the vast majority of fires in the tunnel since it opened being caused by lorries on freight shuttle trains. A revised design with the necessary fireproofing was ordered, but two years on, there is still no prospect of the DB plans being put into place.\nAside from how to get trains through the tunnel, there are also questions over the lack of capacity on the rail network in northern France. High Speed 1, the line between the Channel Tunnel and St Pancras International, is only about half full, which allows for excellent reliability on the British side – but what happens when high speed trains meet congestion at the other end? Without French investment in their equivalent infrastructure, LGV Nord, the “paths” do not exist, and the delays might stack up.\nProblems remain on this side of the Channel, too. HS1 will remain physically isolated from the future High Speed 2 line to the Midlands and the North of England – despite the London terminus of the latter being tantalisingly close by at Euston. And when HS2 Chairman Sir David Higgins reported his initial review of the project in March 2014, he recommended that the controversial HS1-HS2 link be cut from the plans, saving the best part of £1bn. And the government agreed.\nSo, Londoners will soon have access to direct trains to the Netherlands and the South of France. But for most of the UK, rail connections to the rest of Europe remains a pipe dream.\nPaul Prentice is Assistant News Editor at RAIL magazine."
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"1994: President and Queen open Chunnel - BBC News\nThe Queen and France's President Francois Mitterrand formally open the Channel Tunnel during two ... President and Queen open ... ceremonies in France and Britain ...\nBBC ON THIS DAY | 6 | 1994: President and Queen open Chunnel\nAbout This Site | Text Only\n1994: President and Queen open Chunnel\nThe Queen and France's President Francois Mitterrand have formally opened the Channel Tunnel during two elaborate ceremonies in France and Britain.\nAfter travelling through the tunnel, which took eight years and billions of pounds to build, the Queen said it was one of the world's great technological achievements.\nThe tunnel is the first land link between Britain and Europe since the last Ice Age about 8,000 years ago.\nThe first leg of the Queen's journey took her from London's Waterloo station through the tunnel by high-speed Eurostar passenger train.\nShe arrived at Calais at the same time as the President Mitterrand's train which had travelled from Paris' Gard du Nord via Lille.\nNose to nose encounter\nThe two locomotives met nose to nose - a computer that prevents two trains travelling on the same track was switched off for the occasion.\nThe two heads of state cut red, white and blue ribbons simultaneously to the sound of their respective national anthems played by the band of the French Republican Guard.\nThey were accompanied by their Prime Ministers John Major and Edouard Balladur and other government ministers to the Eurotunnel terminus.\nPassengers must wait\nEurostar will not start carrying passengers until July at the earliest and private cars will have to wait until October.\nAfter lunch, the Queen and President Mitterrand took the royal Rolls-Royce on Le Shuttle for the 35-minute trip to Folkestone.\nThere was a similar ribbon-cutting ceremony on English soil. Among those present were joint Eurotunnel chairmen Sir Alastair Morton and Andr� B�nard as well as Frenchman Philippe Cozette, who drilled the hole that first joined the two ends of the tunnel in December 1990.\nBehind today's celebrations lies the reality that the tunnel has run up huge debts. It cost �10bn to build, more than double the original forecast in 1987 - and there are serious doubts about its long-term financial viability.\nThe two opening ceremonies\nIn Context\nAt first the Channel Tunnel looked like it was going to be a financial disaster. A year after the official opening, the tunnel operator Eurotunnel announced a loss of �925m, one of the biggest in UK corporate history at the time.\nTo add to its woes, freight traffic was suspended for six months in 1996 after a fire broke out on a lorry in the tunnel.\nA scheme in which banks agreed to swap billions of pounds worth of loans for shares saved the tunnel from going under and in 1999, Eurotunnel was able to announce its first net profit - �64m.\nIt still has huge debts - to the tune of �6.4bn in 2004. But it has become an accepted and popular mode of transport, not least among illegal immigrants trying to get into Britain from Europe.\nTunnel facts",
"Channel Tunnel\nThe channel tunnel; History; History. ... interconnection between Great Britain and France, ... the scenes of the Channel Tunnel during the European Heritage ...\n2016\n1802\nIn 1802, French mining engineer Albert Mathieu-Favier put forward the first ever design for a cross-Channel fixed link based on the principle of a bored two-level tunnel: the top one, paved and lit by oil lamps, to be used by horse-drawn stagecoaches; the bottom one would be used for groundwater flows.\n1803\nIn 1803, the Englishman Henry Mottray unveils another project for a cross-Channel fixed link: a submerged tunnel made of prefabricated iron sections.\n1834\nFrom 1830, the advent of steam trains and the construction of the rail network in Britain led to the first proposals for a rail tunnel. By the mid 19th century, French mining engineer, Aimé Thomé de Gamond, spent 30 years working on seven different designs.\n1855\n25 August\nDuring the state visit to France in Versailles, Queen Victoria and Napoléon III approve the proposed undersea tunnel designed by Thomé de Gamond, which was later on presented in the Exposition Universelle of Paris in 1867.\n1880\nThe first attempt of a tunnel excavation began in 1880 when the « Beaumont & English » tunnel boring machine began digging undersea on both sides of the Channel.\n1909\n25 July\nLouis Blériot was the first to fly an aeroplane across the Strait of Dover and in 37 minutes.\n1955\nFebruary\nHarold Macmillan, British Defence Minister, announced that he no longer opposed a fixed link on military ground.\n1957\nLouis Armand formed the Channel Tunnel Study Group (GETM).\n1960\nJuly\nThe Channel Tunnel Study Group presents to the governments a proposal of railway tunnel, bored of submerged, comprising a twin rail tunnel with a service tunnel.\n1973\n17 November\nThe project of the construction and the operations of a railway tunnel under the Channel is finally launched in 1973 at Chequers by Edward Heath, British Prime Minister, and Georges Pompidou, French President, when a Franco-British Channel Tunnel Treaty was signed.\n1975\n20 January\nHarold Wilson, British Minister, announced that the project is stopped and withdrawn for financial reasons and in particular due to the oil crisis.\n1984\n30 November\nThe British and French Governments reached an agreement on a consultation process with private promoters for the construction and operation of a cross-Channel fixed link, without public funding.\n1985\nThe British and French governments issued an Invitation to submit schemes.\n1985\nFour proposals corresponding to the specifications are received for consideration by the Franco-British assessment Committee.\nThe Eurotunnel project:\nA proposal based on the 1972-1975 scheme: 2 one-way rail tunnels for Shuttle trains (carrying cars and trucks) and high speed trains, with a third service tunnel connected at regular intervals to the main tunnels.\nThe 3 other proposals include the following projects: Eurobridge (a suspension bridge – see image), Euroroute (a set of artificial islands, bridges and a tunnel) and Channel Expressway (rail and road tunnels).\n1986\n20 January\nMargaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand announced in Lille that the Eurotunnel bid presented by a Franco-British Consortium « France-Manche-Channel Tunnel Group », has been selected.\n12 February\nIn the Canterbury cathedral and in the presence of the British Prime Minister and the French President, the Foreign Affairs Ministers of both countries signed the Franco-British Treaty of Canterbury, which prepared the Concession for the construction and operation of a cross-Channel Fixed Link by private companies. This Treaty set up the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) responsible for monitoring all matters associated with the construction and operation of the Tunnel on behalf of both governments, together with a Safety Authority to advise the IGC.\n14 March\nThe Concession Agreement for the construction, the financing and operation of the Channel Tunnel was awarded to the Franco-British Consortium « France- Manche SA / The Channel Tunnel Group Ltd» for a period of 55 years.\n19 May\nLaunch of the Eurotunnel logo, representing the holding company comprising the Concessionaires « France-Manche » and « The Channel Tunnel Group Limited ».\n13 August\nFormation of the Eurotunnel group’s companies and signature of the construction contract between Eurotunnel and TransManche Link (TML).\n1987\n29 July\nIn Paris, Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand ratified the Treaty of Canterbury, paving the way for the Channel Tunnel to become a reality.\n1987\nBoring of the service tunnel starts on the UK side.\n1988\nStart of the service tunnel boring on the French side.\n1990\n1st December at 12:12 CET\nBritish and French teams achieved the first historic breakthrough under the Channel, in the service tunnel at 22.3 km from the UK and 15.6 from France.\n1991\n22 May at 12:00 CET\nBreakthrough in the North rail tunnel.\n28 June at 12:50 CET\nBreakthrough in the South rail tunnel.\n1993\nSystem handed over to Eurotunnel by TML.\n1994\nEquipment installation, completion work and testing on the whole Concession (tunnels, terminals, etc).\n1994\nOfficial opening by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand.\n1st June\nFirst international freight train in commercial service through the Channel Tunnel.\n25 July\nStart of the commercial Eurotunnel Truck Shuttle service.\n14 November\nStart of the commercial Eurostar service through the Channel Tunnel.\n22 December\nStart of the commercial Eurotunnel Passenger Shuttle service for cars.\n1995\nOpening ceremony of the commercial centre Cité-Europe, next to the Coquelles Terminal.\n26 June\nStart of the commercial Eurotunnel Shuttle service for coaches.\n31 August\nStart of the commercial Eurotunnel Shuttle service for motorcycles.\n29 September\nStart of the commercial Eurotunnel Shuttle service for camper vans and caravans.\n1997\n17 July\nOpening to the public of Samphire Hoe, a nature reserve created by Eurotunnel at the foot of Shakespeare Cliff (Between Folkestone and Dover) during the construction of the Tunnel.\n19 December\nOfficial agreement from governments to extend the Concession to 2086, consequence of the first financial restructuring.\n1998\n15 June\nOpening ceremony of the F46 building, the longest railway workshop in the world, on the Coquelles Terminal (828 m).\n1999\nCommercial launch of the first new Arbel Truck Shuttle.\n23 March\nEurotunnel is named Top Construction Achievement of the 20th century for the Channel Tunnel.\n1st July\nEnd of duty free within the European Union.\n30 December\nEurotunnel presents a road tunnel project to the two governments, as required by the Concession Agreement.\n2000\nStart of the Pet Travel Scheme for cats and dogs.\n2002\n21 October\nNew platforms and tracks are put into service on the Folkestone and Coquelles Terminals, to increase capacity for the Truck Shuttle service.\nDecember\nImplementation of a registration plate recognition system at the Truck Shuttle check-ins, in order to improve the truck tracking system on sites already in place since 1999.\n2003\nOpening of the first section of the high speed rail link in the UK.\n2004\n13 February\nEurotunnel is the first private company to be granted a rail operator’s licence valid across Europe, following the liberalisation of rail freight.\n7 April\nA group of shareholders renewed the entire Board of directors during the General Meeting.\n2005\nConclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding, a framework agreement outlining the proposed financial restructuring.\n24 May\nA binding preliminary restructuring agreement on the financial restructuring is signed.\n12 July\nFiling a safeguard procedure to place the company under the protection of the Paris Commercial court.\n2007\n15 January\nThe Paris Commercial court approves the Safeguard Plan put forward by Eurotunnel, which sets out to reduce the debt by half, from 9.2 down to €4bn.\n28 June\nImplementation of the financial restructuring and settlement of the Groupe Eurotunnel SA Exchange Tender Offer on Eurotunnel SA and Eurotunnel PLC, which will be renamed TNU SA and TNU PLC.\n2006\n19 April\nOpening of automatic check-in lanes on Eurotunnel freight Terminals, which allowed a reduction in transit time for trucks.\n27 June\nTransport of the 100 millionth customer on Eurotunnel Passenger Shuttle.\nSeptember\nEurotunnel carries out its first carbon footprint, which highlights its commitment to protecting the environment.\n2007\nThe Tour de France teams travel through the Channel Tunnel.\nOctober\nThe power supply for the catenary (25,000 Volts) can now use only French electricity, which allows to reduce operating costs and to further improve the company’s carbon footprint.\n23 October\nImplementation of a new simplified pricing system and reform of the access conditions to the Tunnel, to boost rail freight.\n14 November\nCommercial opening of High Speed 1 and inauguration, by the Queen,of St Pancras International, the new station for Eurostar trains in London.\n26 November\nEuroporte 2, the rail freight subsidiary of Eurotunnel, takes over the ground operations at Frethun (Pas-de-Calais) for all cross-Channel rail freight traffic and traction of goods trains between Dollands Moor (Kent) and Frethun via the Tunnel.\n2008\n11 September\nIn interval 6 of the North Tunnel, a fire broke out on a truck carried on board a Eurotunnel Shuttle.\n2009\n9 February\nEnd of renovation work and reopening of interval 6 to commercial operations, following the end 2008 fire.\n14 May\nEurotunnel is certified by the Carbon Trust Standard for its environmental policy, its efforts to manage and reduce its carbon footprint.\nJune\nImplementation of the IRIS system using automated registration plate recognition, in order to further improve traffic flow and speed up the Passenger Shuttles loading process.\n30 November\nAcquisition by Groupe Eurotunnel of 4 subsidiaries of Veolia Cargo in France, specialised in rail freight and logistics services. Creation of the Europorte entity including Europorte France, Europorte Proximité, Europorte Channel (ex Europorte 2) and Socorail subsidiaries.\n16 December\n50 million vehicles have crossed the Channel on board Eurotunnel Shuttles since 1994.\n2010\nCrossing of the 15 millionth truck on board one of the Eurotunnel Truck Shuttles.\n10 February\nInclusion of Groupe Eurotunnel SA share in the MSCI Global Standard and MSCI Growth indices.\n1st March\n500,000 dogs and cats have crossed the Channel on board Eurotunnel Passenger Shuttles, since 2000.\n20 April\nInauguration of the Coquelles wind farm, comprising 3 turbines of 2.4MW total capacity, which confirms Eurotunnel’s commitment to renewable energies.\n27 April\nOpening of a new commercial service for domestic equidae on board Eurotunnel Passenger Shuttles.\n28 May\nAcquisition by Groupe Eurotunnel of GB Railfreight, 3rd largest rail freight operator in the UK, completing the Europorte entity.\n21 June\nInclusion of Groupe Eurotunnel SA share in the « CAC Next 20 » indice.\n21 July\n250 million people have already travelled through the Channel Tunnel, a landmark figure and proof of the commercial and operational success of the Fixed Link between the United Kingdom and continental Europe.\nFrom 12 to 19 October\nCrossing of an ICE 3 high-speed train from Deutsche Bahn in the Channel Tunnel and success of the technical and evacuation tests prior to the opening of regular services by the German operator via the Tunnel.\n14 December\nGroupe Eurotunnel is the first cross-Channel operator to launch on its website a carbon counter which enables its Truck Shuttle customers to measure the environmental impact and to compare greenhouse gas emissions for the different means of cross-Channel transport available.\n21 December\nSubsidiary of the Eurotunnel group, Europorte Services takes charge, as contracted infrastructure manager (a first in France), of the operation and maintenance of the rail network at the port of Dunkirk.\n2011\n1st January\nThe majority of the Truck Shuttles expand to 32 carrying wagons (instead of 30 previously), which leads to an increase in transport capacity at a virtually unchanged operating cost.\n10 May\nRailenium, the future European Institute for Technological research in rail Infrastructure based near Valenciennes (Northern France), of which Eurotunnel is a founding member of the consortium, is allocated funds by the French government as an « investment programme for the future ».\n26 May\nGroupe Eurotunnel establishes with Star Capital Partners ElecLink, a joint venture to develop a 500MW electricity interconnection between Great Britain and France, through the service tunnel.\n12 July\nGroupe Eurotunnel as a global organisation is certified by the independent British agency Carbon Trust Standard for its policy and achievements in carbon footprint reduction. Eurotunnel has reduced its carbon footprint by 44% between 2006 and 2008 and by a further 20% from 2009 to 2010, i.e. a cumulative reduction of 55% since 2006.\n16 September\nGroupe Eurotunnel is listed on the FTSE All-World and FTSE Medium Cap indices, in recognition of the company's performance and its ability to meet the highest standards in the financial sector.\n13 November\n4 SAFE fire-fighting stations build in the middle of rail tunnels became operational. These stations, accessible within a few minutes by Shuttles, automatically disperse a mist of pressurised micro droplets onto the site of a hotspot which would have been detected. This system, which is unique in the world, contributes to protect the structure of the Channel Tunnel and to guarantee its availability.\n2012\n2 February\nGroupe Eurotunnel officially opened the International railway training Centre in Coquelles (CIFFCO), manifesting its desire to contribute to the creation of qualified staff, to play a driving role in developing the rail industry and to continue supporting the economic development of the Calais region.\n3 February\nThe Channel Tunnel, outstanding engineering feat and symbol of the Anglo-French partnership, is recognised as one the 4 more important mile stones during the rein of the House of Windsor. It has been selected as one of the Royal Mail commemorative stamps set as part of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee (June 2012).\n21 March\nFirst crossing in the Channel Tunnel of a high-speed freight Euro Carex train which connected Lyon airport to London, via Paris-Roissy airport, demonstrating the efficiency, speed and environmental benefits of an intermodal transportation system combining air containers and high-speed rail network.\n11 June\nGroupe Eurotunnel becomes ship owner via its EuroTransmanche subsidiary who leases 3 ferries at market price to an independent operating company (My Ferry Link).\n18 July\nThe Olympic Torch travels through the Channel Tunnel and visits the Eurotunnel nature reserve at Samphire Hoe on its relay route to the London Games.\n19 July\nFirst day of trading for GET share on NYSE Euronext London: Groupe Eurotunnel is the first company to be admitted on this market.\n25 July\nSuccessful launch of mobile telephone and internet services in the Channel Tunnel (south rail tunnel) with the French mobile telephone operators.\n20 August\nStart of commercial operations for MyFerryLink between the ports of Dover and Calais.\n17 September\nOfficial opening of the new Eurotunnel Passenger Terminal building in Folkestone, newly refurbished to the highest international airport standards and christened Victor Hugo Terminal to clearly identify it as the gateway to France.\n18 October\nEurotunnel celebrates the 300th millionth person to travel through the Channel Tunnel since1994, the equivalent to almost 5 times the population of the United Kingdom.\n6 November\nEuroporte and Ceravia (the agricultural cooperative) create a Local Railway Operator: Bourgogne Fret Services.\n15 November\nEuroporte has won the tender process launched by the Grand port Maritime of La Rochelle to take over the management, operation and maintenance of its railway network.\n2013\nNinth Passenger Shuttle brought back into commercial service.\n10 June\nLong- term partnership signed between Eurotunnel Group and the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, a top French engineering school: creation of a special science chair for railway transport.\n11 September\n1,100 visitors discovered the behind the scenes of the Channel Tunnel during the European Heritage Days and in particular for the first time, the Eurotunnel terminal and the railway Control Centre (RCC) in Folkestone.\n18 September\nThe Channel Tunnel wins the Global engineering century award as the most significant majord building project in the last 100 years, a prize given by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).\n28 October\n\"Best CSR policy for a major group\" award received at the first \"Nuit de l'Entreprise Responsable et Solidaire\" in recognition of all the initiatives undertaken in terms of sustainable development.\nOctober\nBroadcast of the Anglo-French detective series \"The Tunnel\" by Sky Atlantic and Canal+ in which the Channel Tunnel, the Shuttles and the maintenance workshops are at the centre of the plot.\nDecember\n20 years after its official opening, the Channel Tunnel, which is part of the national and world heritage, is symbolically on display panels installed close by on the A16 motorway in France.\n2014\n25 March\nCrossing of the 20 millionth truck on board one of the Eurotunnel Truck Shuttle between Coquelles and Folkestone.\n4 April\nThe Eurotunnel Group, listed in compartment A of the NYSE Euronext, confirms its eligibility for the PEA-PME approach for ETI quoted on Euronext.\n6 May\nEurotunnel celebrates 20 years of operating success for the Channel Tunnel with many various events organised throughout the year.\n5 June\nTo celebrate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Channel Tunnel and the launch of international high-speed rail services between the UK and mainland Europe, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveils a plaque at St Pancras International before attending the 70th anniversary commemorations of the Normandy Landings.\nJune\nThanks to a collaboration between Eurotunnel, Team Sky et Jaguar, Chris Froome, winner of the Tour de France, cycled across the Channel at an average speed of 55km/h through the service tunnel, 100 metres under the sea, the first time a cyclist has ever done this!\n7 July\nThe Terminal 2015 project is launched when the first stone is laid on the Eurotunnel truck terminal in Coquelles. Eurotunnel is investing to provide new services and unbeatable frequency of departure for its ever increasing numbers of customers. This project will allow to increase capacity of the Truck Shuttle service and further improve the management of traffic flows to ensure speed, ease and competitive advantage.\nSeptember\nEurotunnel’s 4th participation in the European Heritage Days met a huge success : more than 1,200 visitors gathered in Folkestone on 13 September and in Coquelles on 20 September to find out more about the behind-the-scenes activities of the cross-Channel Fixed Link, rail operations know-how and the expertise of the teams that manage the Tunnel every day.\n24 November\nListed on NYSE Euronext Paris and NYSE Euronext London, Eurotunnel Group is now included in the FTSE4Good index which measures and rewards the performance of companies with remarkable CSR initiatives.\n12 December\nIn cooperation with its telecommunications operator partners in France and in the UK, Eurotunnel is investing and innovating by introducing 4G mobile services in the Channel Tunnel, thus offering ultra high speed mobile communications to all passengers travelling through the Tunnel.\n26 December\nAs approved during the Combined General Meeting on the 29 April 2014, the Eurotunnel Group becomes a European company which its legal framework is adaptated to the Group’s binational features.\n2015\n13 January\nOrder for 3 new Truck Shuttles to enable Eurotunnel to transport 2 million trucks per year by 2020. With the new fleet of Shuttles, Eurotunnel will increase its capacity by 20% and be able to run up to 8 Truck Shuttles departures per hour in each direction at peak times, instead of 6 today.\n1st April\nStart of operations for the traction of the Caledonian Sleeper, the fast overnight train between London and Scotland by GB Railfreight (the UK rail freight subsidiary of the Group), as part of the 15-year contract with Serco.\n28 May\nParticipation of the Group in the “Jeunes d’Avenir” (Young people of the Future) exhibition in Lille to showcase different jobs available in the railway sector to over 6,000 young people seeking employment or training, which further enhance the Group’s commitment to develop employability.\n15 June\nEurotunnel and the Railway Networks (including Eurostar) sign a new agreement to implement the Railway Usage Contract (RUC) for a further 5 years (2015-2019), thus extending the contributions to the operating, maintenance and renewal costs of the Fixed Link railway infrastructure. The RUC sets out the conditions for access to the railway network and in particular the pricing framework.\n20 August\nVisit to the Eurotunnel site in Coquelles of the French Interior Minister and the British Home Secretary Theresa May, in order to review the extend of the security measures achieved both by the Eurotunnel Group and the two governments since the first attempted intrusions by migrants.\n31 August\nVisit to the Coquelles Terminal of the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, confirming the full support of the French and British governments towards security and the vital importance of the Fixed Link in terms of international cooperation.\nSeptember\nEuroporte, the UK rail freight subsidiary of Eurotunnel Group, celebrates 10-year of partnership with Lhoist company: traction of freight trains to deliver lime to the steel furnaces in Saarland (Germany).\nOctober\n16 Tesla superchargers and universal charging stations in total are made available on the terminals in Coquelles (30 June) and in Folkestone (8 October) to Eurotunnel’s customers for recharging their electric vehicles, a free complimentary service.\n20 October\nInauguration of the new Terminal 2015 in Coquelles, which includes a new buffer zone for 150 trucks, two additional toll lanes and an increase in the number of lanes dedicated to trucks inspections: more security, more fluidity for our customers, hauliers and truck drivers.\n1st December\nCelebrations marking the 25th anniversary since the junction the service tunnel under the Channel while the Eurotunnel Group joins the “Low Carbon 100 Europe” index, measuring the performance of the 100 largest European companies emitting the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions.\n2016\n11 January\nOpening of the first Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) “On the right track to employment”, a free online training dedicated to the rail business created by CIFFCO, a Eurotunnel Group’s subsidiary. It enable users to plunge into the daily life of train drivers and ground staff through a “serious game” interface, videos, quizzes, 3D locomotive driving simulations, and exchanges with the community: more than 5,000 people registered, 1,000 training attestations and 800 certificates of achievement delivered to participants.\n12 February\nCompletion of the Terminal 2015 project with the inauguration of the new Freight Terminal for trucks in Folkestone: 5 new access lanes, a new check-in control building and 5 check-in booth plaza solely dedicated to trucks, enabling traffic flow fluidity around the Eurotunnel site and the full separation of trucks and cars flows at the UK site.\nSpring\nBroadcast of the 2nd season of the Anglo-French series “The Tunnel” featuring the cross-Channel Fixed Link, in April on Sky Atlantic in the UK and in March on Canal+ in France. The detective duo, DCI Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane) and Commander Elise Wassermann (Clémence Poesy) reunite beneath the waves to investigate an abduction and the crash of an airliner into the English Channel.\n20 May\nSigning of a conditional agreement between the Eurotunnel Group and Star Capital Partners for the purchase by Groupe Eurotunnel of Star Capital’s 51% share of the joint venture ElecLink, the project of building a 1,000MW electrical interconnection between the United Kingdom and France via the Channel Tunnel.",
"How the Channel Tunnel Was Built and Designed\nWhat Is the Channel Tunnel? The Channel Tunnel, often called the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that lies underneath the water of the English Channel and ...\nHow the Channel Tunnel Was Built and Designed\nUpdated December 04, 2015.\nWhat Is the Channel Tunnel?\nThe Channel Tunnel, often called the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that lies underneath the water of the English Channel and connects the island of Great Britain with mainland France. The Channel Tunnel , completed in 1994, is considered one of the most amazing engineering feats of the 20th century.\nDates: Officially opened on May 6, 1994\nAlso Known As: The Chunnel, the Euro Tunnel\nOverview of the Channel Tunnel:\nFor centuries, crossing the English Channel via boat or ferry had been considered a miserable task. The often inclement weather and choppy water could make even the most seasoned traveler seasick. It is perhaps not surprising then that as early as 1802 plans were being made for an alternate route across the English Channel.\nEarly Plans\nThis first plan, made by French engineer Albert Mathieu Favier, called for a tunnel to be dug under the water of the English Channel. This tunnel was to be large enough for horse-drawn carriages to travel through.\ncontinue reading below our video\n10 Best Universities in the United States\nAlthough Favier was able to get the backing of French leader Napoleon Bonaparte , the British rejected Favier's plan. (The British feared, perhaps correctly, that Napoleon wanted to build the tunnel in order to invade England.)\nOver the next two centuries, others created plans to connect Great Britain with France. Despite progress made on a number of these plans, including actual drilling, they all eventually fell through. Sometimes the reason was political discord, other times is was financial problems. Still other times it was Britain's fear of invasion. All of these factors had to be solved before the Channel Tunnel could be built.\nA Contest\nIn 1984, French president Francois Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher jointly agreed that a link across the English Channel would be mutually beneficial. However, both governments realized that although the project would create much needed jobs, neither country's government could fund such a massive project. Thus, they decided to hold a contest.\nThis contest invited companies to submit their plans to create a link across the English Channel. As part of the contest's requirements, the submitting company was to provide a plan to raise the needed funds to build the project, have the ability to operate the proposed Channel link once the project was completed, and the proposed link must be able to endure for at least 120 years.\nTen proposals were submitted, including various tunnels and bridges. Some of the proposals were so outlandish in design that they were easily dismissed; others would be so expensive that they were unlikely to ever be completed. The proposal that was accepted was the plan for the Channel Tunnel, submitted by the Balfour Beatty Construction Company (this later became Transmanche Link).\nThe Design for the Channel Tunnels\nThe Channel Tunnel was to be made up of two, parallel railway tunnels that would be dug under the English Channel. Between these two railway tunnels would run a third, smaller tunnel that would be used for maintenance, including drainage pipes, communication cables, drainage pipes, etc.\nEach of the trains that would run through the Chunnel would be able to hold cars and trucks. This would enable personal vehicles to go through the Channel Tunnel without having individual drivers face such a long, underground drive.\nThe plan was expected to cost $3.6 billion.\nGetting Started\nJust getting started on the Channel Tunnel was a monumental task. Funds had to be raised (over 50 large banks gave loans), experienced engineers had to be found, 13,000 skilled and unskilled workers had to be hired and housed, and special tunnel boring machines had to be designed and built.\nAs these things were getting done, the designers had to determine exactly where the tunnel was to be dug. Specifically, the geology of the bottom of the English Channel had to be carefully examined. It was determined that although the bottom was made of a thick layer of chalk, the Lower Chalk layer, made up of chalk marl, would be the easiest to bore through.\nBuilding the Channel Tunnel\nThe digging of the Channel Tunnel began simultaneously from the British and the French coasts, with the finished tunnel meeting in the middle. On the British side, the digging began near Shakespeare Cliff outside of Dover; the French side began near the village of Sangatte.\nThe digging was done by huge tunnel boring machines, known as TBMs, which cut through the chalk, collected the debris, and transported the debris behind it using conveyor belts. Then this debris, known as spoil, would be would be hauled up to the surface via railroad wagons (British side) or mixed with water and pumped out through a pipeline (French side).\nAs the TBMs bore through the chalk, the sides of the newly dug tunnel had to be lined with concrete. This concrete lining was to help the tunnel withstand the intense pressure from above as well as to help waterproof the tunnel.\nConnecting the Tunnels\nOne of the most difficult tasks on the Channel Tunnel project was making sure that both the British side of the tunnel and the French side actually met up in the middle. Special lasers and surveying equipment was used; however, with such a large project, no one was sure it would actually work.\nSince the service tunnel was the first to be dug, it was the joining of the two sides of this tunnel that caused the most fanfare. On December 1, 1990, the meeting of the two sides was officially celebrated. Two workers, one British (Graham Fagg) and one French (Philippe Cozette), were chosen by lottery to be the first to shake hands through the opening. After them, hundreds of workers crossed to the other side in celebration of this amazing achievement. For the first time in history, Great Britain and France were connected.\nFinishing the Channel Tunnel\nAlthough the meeting of the two sides of the service tunnel was a cause of great celebration, it certainly wasn't the end of the Channel Tunnel building project.\nBoth the British and the French kept digging. The two sides met in the northern running tunnel on May 22, 1991 and then only a month later, the two sides met in the middle of the southern running tunnel on June 28, 1991.\nThat too wasn't the end of the Chunnel construction . Crossover tunnels, land tunnels from the coast to the terminals, piston relief ducts, electrical systems, fireproof doors, the ventilation system, and train tracks all had to be added. Also, large train terminals had to be built at Folkestone in Great Britain and Coquelles in France.\nThe Channel Tunnel Opens\nOn December 10, 1993, the first test run was completed through the entire Channel Tunnel. After additional fine tuning, the Channel Tunnel officially opened on May 6, 1994.\nAfter six years of construction and $15 billion spent (some sources say upwards of $21 billion), the Channel Tunnel was finally complete.",
"8.The Channel Tunnel, which connects England and France ...\n... geologist during Channel Tunnel ... for more than 137 years. Britain and France were the world ... between the Channel Tunnel ...\nchtunfacts\n \nIntroduction\n \"Linking France and England will meet one of the present-day needs of civilization,\" wrote French writer, Louis Figuier, in 1888. He was only restating a conviction that had been expressed from time to time by many of his compatriots for more than 137 years. Britain and France were the world's leading maritime and commercial powers, and they were a mere 34 kilometers apart. Yet, trade between them was an extremely hazardous affair. The shortest route - across the Pas de Calais or Straits of Dover - was also the most difficult. Travelers making the current- and storm- besieged crossing could, with a fair wind and a skillful captain, be at their destination in six or seven hours. They could equally be delayed days or weeks and be extremely seasick by the time they reached the opposite shore. So, early on, quality-of-life issues spurred on engineering imagination.\nThe often-considered idea of constructing a tunnel under the English Channel was revived in 1986 by the United Kingdom and France. A rail tunnel was chosen over proposals for a very long suspension bridge, a bridge-and-tunnel link, and a combined rail-and-road link. Digging began on both sides of the Strait of Dover in 1987-88 and was completed in 1991. The tunnel was officially opened in May 1994.\nIt was constructed by an Anglo-French consortium of construction companies called Trans Manche Link, or TML for short, for their client EUROTUNNEL. Eurotunnel now own and operate the rail tunnel between England and France that runs beneath the English Channel. It consists of three tunnels: two for rail traffic and a central tunnel for services and security. The tunnel runs between Folkestone, England, and Sangatte (near Calais), France, and is used for both freight and passenger traffic. Passengers can travel either by ordinary rail coach or within their own motor vehicles, which are loaded onto special rail cars. Trains can travel through the tunnel at speeds as high as 100 miles (160 km) per hour; the trip takes about 35 minutes.\n The next stage of this rail project, the fast rail link between the Channel Tunnel and London, the CTRL (Channel Tunnel Rail Link), is currently under construction . Photographs for this project can be viewed .\nThe author of this page was consultant geologist to TML, the builder's of the Channel Tunnel and as such has made available articles on the geology of the Channel Tunnel, the geology of Kent and the Boulonnais, and a new detailed sequence stratigraphy of the Chalk Marl, the main tunnelling horizon (links at top of this page).\nChannel Tunnel Construction Facts\nThe Channel Tunnel is regarded by many people as one of the most remarkable construction achievements ever; indeed some might say as one of the wonders of the world. However, as much of it is underground, with only the two terminals at either end being obviously connected to the project, it is now difficult to visualise the scale of the project.\nIn the final analysis of the construction program and despite some early difficulties and setbacks in tunnelling due to poor ground conditions. the entire civil engineering construction component of the project were completed to an extremely high standard and ahead of schedule; an achievement which even today has not been widely appreciated or acknowledged. Indeed, many construction records were broken in the process including the speed of advance of the TBM's (tunnel boring machines) and the size of the undersea Crossovers. All the contributors to the project can be justly proud.\nThe following are some of the more important construction facts:\nIn designing the tunnel lining, a total of 18 design development studies were carried out to ensure that no aspect of the system's operation was overlooked. In addition, the lining was also designed for a 120 year life, which meant that no significant deterioration in performance could occur over a period of 120 years.\n13,000 engineers, technicians and workers help construct the tunnels.\nThe Channel Tunnel comprises 3 tunnels; two Running Tunnels and a smaller Service Tunnel (Figure) .\nThe undersea tunnels are an average of 50m below the seabed (Figure) .\nThe tunnels were mainly constructed in the Chalk Marl, which is the basal unit of the Chalk. It is a marine deposit that is mainly comprised of small fossils which because of its high clay content is relatively impervious to water, unlike the bulk of the Chalk (Figure) . 85% of the tunnels were constructed in the Chalk Marl.\nThe Chalk is of Cretaceous age. The Chalk Marl is about 100 million years old. Dinosaurs were still wandering the landmasses when the Chalk Marl was deposited.\nBetween the two terminals at Folkestone and Coquelles, near Calais, the tunnels are 51 Km in length, of which 37.5 Km is undersea.\n84Km of tunnels were constructed on the English side and 69Km on the French side.\nThe Running Tunnels have a 8.2m outer, and 7.6m inner diameter while the Service Tunnel has a 5.0m inner diameter.\nThe two main tunnels are 30m apart.\n6 tunnel boring machines were used on the English side and 5 on the French side. The English machines were 'open face' while the French were 'earth pressure balance' machines.\nThe TBM's were typically 200m long and telescopic, allowing he construction of the concrete segmental lining.\nThe French undersea tunnels were lined with a water-tight bolted and gasketed segmental concrete lining.\nThe English tunnel lining was a concrete expanded segmental lining. The voids behind the lining were grouted to control water ingress.\nThe tunnel lining rings are 1.5m (1.4m, 1.5m and 1.6m) in length. The average build time for each ring cycle was 50 mins.\nOn the English side an average of 150m/week tunnel progress was achieved while in France the weekly average was about 110m/week. This difference was due to the different TBM design due to more adverse tunnelling conditions.\nBest week for a single TBM in the UK saw 426m of tunnel constructed while in France it was 322m.\nThe two Running Tunnels each carry a single track railway and these are connected to the Service Tunnel by Cross Passages every 375m (Figure) .\nPressure relief ducts connect the Running Tunnels at 250m intervals.\nTwo caverns were excavated undersea to allow trains to change tunnels if required. These are known as the English and French Crossovers.\nThe tunnel system is kept dry by five pumping stations and sumps, three built under the sea and one on each shore. An unusual feature in the rail tunnels is the installation of a cooling system designed to counteract the buildup of heat produced by fast-moving trains. Chilled water is pumped through cooling pipes so that the tunnel air is maintained at a comfortable temperature.\nThe service tunnel started on 1st december 1987 and broke through in December 1990. The northern rail tunnel broke through on the 22nd May 1991 and the southern tunnel on the 28th June 1991.\nAlmost 4 million cubic metres of chalk were excavated on the English side.\nThe UK has increased in size by 90 acres due to the tunnel spoil being deposited in the undercliff area at Shakespeare Cliff in a number of lagoons. This area now known as Samphire Hoe has been landscaped and is a popular venue for walks, picnics and fishing.\n \nHistory of the Channel Tunnel\n The Channel Tunnel project had one of the longest gestation periods in history - its ideas, plans, and efforts span well over two centuries. And, it may be the best example and most complex one where technology issues were integrated with those related to quality of life. Its challenges included overcoming the technological issues, gaining consensus among the politicians, overcoming the concerns of the British military, and obtaining finance.\n The following is a brief summary of this history:\n1751\nConcept of a first, all weather Channel crossing first suggested, when the Amiens Academy held a competition to find a new means of crossing the Channel.\n1752\nA tunnel for horse-drawn traffic was proposed by Albert Mathieu, a mining engineer in the Department du Nord following the signing of the Treaty of Amiens.\n1833\nThe first systematic geological and hydrographic survey of the Channel was undertaken by Thome du Gamond.\n1833-1856\nDu Gamond produced 8 major tube, bridge and tunnel designs.\n1866\nDu Gamond's last scheme for a tunnel.\n1867\nW.Low and J. Brunlees proposed a scheme for twin tunnels linked by cross-passages.\n1868\nLow and Du Gamond worked on a revised scheme which was submitted before a British Channel Tunnel Committee.\n1869\nThe committee gave the go-ahead for two pilot tunnels.\n1872\nThe English Channel Tunnel Company was formed to promote a scheme designed by J.C. Hawkshaw. It was only at this time that the schemes began to be designed considering the available technology of the time.\n1876\nAn Anglo-French commission signed a protocol on the Channel Tunnel.\n1881\nE.W. Watkin promoted Low's scheme and work began at Abbot's Cliff with the excavation of a 7 foot diameter tunnel under the direction of F. Brady, using an early (Beaumont) tunnelling machine, which completed 840 yards. It was the moved to Shakespeare Cliff where it completed a tunnel of 2020 yards under the sea towards Dover harbour.\n1882\nMilitary opposition in England to the construction of the Channel Tunnel became very vocal and construction stopped in 1883.\n1890\nThe first mineable coal in Kent was proven from the Shakespeare cliff site.\n1906\nThe Channel Tunnel Company and l'Association du Chemin le Fer Sous-Marin entre La France et l'Angleterre proposed a new scheme consisting of two 20 foot diameter tunnels for electrical rail traffic following Brady's tunnel alignment.\n1919\nThe Channel Tunnel Company published a new report on the geology and propose that a pilot tunnel be driven. Under the supervision of P. C. Tempest a new experimental heading using a 12 foot diameter Whitaker tunnelling machine drove a 490 foot long trial heading in the Folkestone Warren.\n1929\nA British Royal commission was set up to study the matter. Two tunnel schemes from the Channel Tunnel Company and a rival bid from the London and Paris Railway were discussed. The latter included a new rail route from London to Paris via the Channel tunnel. The Channel Tunnel Company proposed a smaller pilot tunnel and two 18 foot 6 inch, 36 mile long tunnels, of which 24 miles would be beneath the sea. Half would be constructed by British and half by French companies, taking an estimated 6.5 years.\n1930\nThe Imperial Defence Committee declared against the project.\n1955-56\nAll of the previous schemes had essentially been halted by British military opposition, however, by 1956 military opposition to the tunnel was minimal.\n1956\nThe Channel Tunnel Study Group was formed.\n1958-59\nThe first comprehensive geological site investigation was undertaken.\n1963\nA White Paper was published which supported a scheme with twin rail tunnels.\n1964-65\nFurther marine surveys were carried out.\n1972-74\nA further site investigation was undertaken.\n1974\nThe Channel Tunnel project began at the Shakespeare Cliff site with the excavation of two inclined headings and an erection chamber for a Priestley tunnelling machine. A 250m test section was completed.\n1975\nThe project was again cancelled.\n1984\nMargaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand announced their support for the project.\n1987\nA Channel Tunnel Bill was given Royal Assent.\n1986-88\nFurther marine and land site investigations were undertaken.\n1987\nThe first tunnelling machine in the marine Service Tunnel began excavation in December and this broke through to the equivalent French tunnel on December 1st 1990.\n1991\nBreakthrough of the two Running Tunnels.\n1994\n \nPhotograph 1\nThe Folkstone terminal showing a loading ramp in the foreground with lorries waiting to board a shuttle. Taken from the top of the N. Downs escarpment.",
"How the Channel Tunnel Was Built and Designed\n... water of the English Channel and connects the island of Great Britain with mainland France. The Channel Tunnel, ... connect Great Britain with France.\nHow the Channel Tunnel Was Built and Designed\nUpdated December 04, 2015.\nWhat Is the Channel Tunnel?\nThe Channel Tunnel, often called the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that lies underneath the water of the English Channel and connects the island of Great Britain with mainland France. The Channel Tunnel , completed in 1994, is considered one of the most amazing engineering feats of the 20th century.\nDates: Officially opened on May 6, 1994\nAlso Known As: The Chunnel, the Euro Tunnel\nOverview of the Channel Tunnel:\nFor centuries, crossing the English Channel via boat or ferry had been considered a miserable task. The often inclement weather and choppy water could make even the most seasoned traveler seasick. It is perhaps not surprising then that as early as 1802 plans were being made for an alternate route across the English Channel.\nEarly Plans\nThis first plan, made by French engineer Albert Mathieu Favier, called for a tunnel to be dug under the water of the English Channel. This tunnel was to be large enough for horse-drawn carriages to travel through.\ncontinue reading below our video\n10 Best Universities in the United States\nAlthough Favier was able to get the backing of French leader Napoleon Bonaparte , the British rejected Favier's plan. (The British feared, perhaps correctly, that Napoleon wanted to build the tunnel in order to invade England.)\nOver the next two centuries, others created plans to connect Great Britain with France. Despite progress made on a number of these plans, including actual drilling, they all eventually fell through. Sometimes the reason was political discord, other times is was financial problems. Still other times it was Britain's fear of invasion. All of these factors had to be solved before the Channel Tunnel could be built.\nA Contest\nIn 1984, French president Francois Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher jointly agreed that a link across the English Channel would be mutually beneficial. However, both governments realized that although the project would create much needed jobs, neither country's government could fund such a massive project. Thus, they decided to hold a contest.\nThis contest invited companies to submit their plans to create a link across the English Channel. As part of the contest's requirements, the submitting company was to provide a plan to raise the needed funds to build the project, have the ability to operate the proposed Channel link once the project was completed, and the proposed link must be able to endure for at least 120 years.\nTen proposals were submitted, including various tunnels and bridges. Some of the proposals were so outlandish in design that they were easily dismissed; others would be so expensive that they were unlikely to ever be completed. The proposal that was accepted was the plan for the Channel Tunnel, submitted by the Balfour Beatty Construction Company (this later became Transmanche Link).\nThe Design for the Channel Tunnels\nThe Channel Tunnel was to be made up of two, parallel railway tunnels that would be dug under the English Channel. Between these two railway tunnels would run a third, smaller tunnel that would be used for maintenance, including drainage pipes, communication cables, drainage pipes, etc.\nEach of the trains that would run through the Chunnel would be able to hold cars and trucks. This would enable personal vehicles to go through the Channel Tunnel without having individual drivers face such a long, underground drive.\nThe plan was expected to cost $3.6 billion.\nGetting Started\nJust getting started on the Channel Tunnel was a monumental task. Funds had to be raised (over 50 large banks gave loans), experienced engineers had to be found, 13,000 skilled and unskilled workers had to be hired and housed, and special tunnel boring machines had to be designed and built.\nAs these things were getting done, the designers had to determine exactly where the tunnel was to be dug. Specifically, the geology of the bottom of the English Channel had to be carefully examined. It was determined that although the bottom was made of a thick layer of chalk, the Lower Chalk layer, made up of chalk marl, would be the easiest to bore through.\nBuilding the Channel Tunnel\nThe digging of the Channel Tunnel began simultaneously from the British and the French coasts, with the finished tunnel meeting in the middle. On the British side, the digging began near Shakespeare Cliff outside of Dover; the French side began near the village of Sangatte.\nThe digging was done by huge tunnel boring machines, known as TBMs, which cut through the chalk, collected the debris, and transported the debris behind it using conveyor belts. Then this debris, known as spoil, would be would be hauled up to the surface via railroad wagons (British side) or mixed with water and pumped out through a pipeline (French side).\nAs the TBMs bore through the chalk, the sides of the newly dug tunnel had to be lined with concrete. This concrete lining was to help the tunnel withstand the intense pressure from above as well as to help waterproof the tunnel.\nConnecting the Tunnels\nOne of the most difficult tasks on the Channel Tunnel project was making sure that both the British side of the tunnel and the French side actually met up in the middle. Special lasers and surveying equipment was used; however, with such a large project, no one was sure it would actually work.\nSince the service tunnel was the first to be dug, it was the joining of the two sides of this tunnel that caused the most fanfare. On December 1, 1990, the meeting of the two sides was officially celebrated. Two workers, one British (Graham Fagg) and one French (Philippe Cozette), were chosen by lottery to be the first to shake hands through the opening. After them, hundreds of workers crossed to the other side in celebration of this amazing achievement. For the first time in history, Great Britain and France were connected.\nFinishing the Channel Tunnel\nAlthough the meeting of the two sides of the service tunnel was a cause of great celebration, it certainly wasn't the end of the Channel Tunnel building project.\nBoth the British and the French kept digging. The two sides met in the northern running tunnel on May 22, 1991 and then only a month later, the two sides met in the middle of the southern running tunnel on June 28, 1991.\nThat too wasn't the end of the Chunnel construction . Crossover tunnels, land tunnels from the coast to the terminals, piston relief ducts, electrical systems, fireproof doors, the ventilation system, and train tracks all had to be added. Also, large train terminals had to be built at Folkestone in Great Britain and Coquelles in France.\nThe Channel Tunnel Opens\nOn December 10, 1993, the first test run was completed through the entire Channel Tunnel. After additional fine tuning, the Channel Tunnel officially opened on May 6, 1994.\nAfter six years of construction and $15 billion spent (some sources say upwards of $21 billion), the Channel Tunnel was finally complete.",
"The Channel Tunnel - Train Link Between Great Britain and ...\nThe Channel Tunnel, ... A Train Link Between Great Britain and France . ... about 15 million people have travelled through the tunnel every year.\nThe Channel Tunnel - Train Link Between Great Britain and France\nThe Channel Tunnel - A Train Link Between Great Britain and France\n \nThe Channel Tunnel, also known as the Chunnel, is a 50 km long undersea rail tunnel that connects south-eastern England with northern France. At its lowest point it lies 75 metres under the ocean floor. The tunnel is operated by the Eurotunnel Group, a British – French company.\nThree types of trains travel through the tunnel.\nShuttle trains travel from Folkestone to Calais in about half an hour. Cars , trucks and buses can be loaded onto them.\nThe Eurostar high-speed passenger trains bring people from Paris to London in 2 hours and 15 minutes and passengers from Brussels to London in 1 hour and 50 minutes.\nfreight trains\n \nAlthough the first plans to dig an undersea tunnel between Britain and the Continent came up at the beginning of the 19 th century construction didn’t begin until 1988. The tunnel was finished and officially opened in 1994. Since its opening there have been some problems. Fires broke out and illegal immigrants have used the tunnel to get to Great Britain.\nThe tunnel consists of two rail tunnels and a smaller service tunnel that lies between them. It is used an escape route and for repairs. It also supplies the two train tunnels with fresh air. Emergency vehicles can get to the scene of an accident quickly.\n \nBuilding the tunnel was a difficult engineering task. During the construction period teams from both sides used special machines to bore through the mostly chalky rock. Some were as long as football fields and could cut through 80 metres of rock a day. At times, almost 15,000 workers were employed by Eurotunnel. As construction progressed Eurotunnel realized that overall costs would explode. The project, which was financed with private money, cost almost 15 billion Euros, more than twice as much as projected.\n \nSince its official opening in 1994, about 15 million people have travelled through the tunnel every year. Even though it is a real alternative to air travel, Channel Tunnel trains have not carried as many passengers as its operator, Eurotunnel, expected. The company lost millions of Euros over the years.\nAlthough safety is a top priority for Eurotunnel there have been three big fires that forced the tunnel to close down. The last one occurred in 2008 and lasted for 16 hours. Nobody was killed but many people had to be taken to hospitals.\nIn December 2009 over 2000 passengers were trapped in the tunnel because electricity failed in the cold weather .\n \nEurostar train arriving in London - Oxyman\n \nchalk = soft grey rock formed a long time ago from the shells of sea animals\nconnect = link\nconsist of = is made up of\nconstruction = the building of\nemergency vehicle = cars or trucks that are used when an accident or another disaster happens\nemploy = to work for someone\nescape = to get away from a dangerous place\nexplode = here: to get much to big\nfail = to stop working\nforce = to make something happen\nfreight = goods, products, not people\nhigh-speed = very, very fast\nillegal = against the law\nimmigrant = a person who leaves their home country and goes to another country to live or work their\nlow = deep\noverall = in general, for everything\npriority = the thing that you think about and care for most\nprogress =to go on\nsafety = security, to be protected form\nscene of an accident = place where an accident happens\nservice = here: checks and repairs\nshuttle = a train that makes short trips between two places\nsupply = provide, give",
"Tunnel.txt\nTunnel\nA tunnel is an underground or underwater passageway, dug through the surrounding soil/earth/rock and enclosed except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods.\n\nA tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. The central portions of a rapid transit network are usually in tunnel. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers. Utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings for convenient passage of people and equipment.\n\nSecret tunnels are built for military purposes, or by civilians for smuggling of weapons, contraband, or people. Special tunnels, such as wildlife crossings, are built to allow wildlife to cross human-made barriers safely.\n\nTerminology \n\nA tunnel is relatively long and narrow; the length is often much greater than twice the diameter, although similar shorter excavations can be constructed, such as cross passages between tunnels.\n\nThe definition of what constitutes a tunnel can vary widely from source to source. For example, the definition of a road tunnel in the United Kingdom is defined as \"a subsurface highway structure enclosed for a length of 150 m or more.\" In the United States, the NFPA definition of a tunnel is \"An underground structure with a design length greater than 23 m and a diameter greater than 1800 mm.\" \n\nIn the UK, a pedestrian, cycle or animal tunnel beneath a road or railway is called a subway, while an underground railway system is differently named in different cities, the \"Underground\" or the \"Tube\" in London, the \"Subway\" in Glasgow, and the \"Metro\" in Newcastle. The place where a road, railway, canal or watercourse passes under a footpath, cycleway, or another road or railway is most commonly called a bridge or, if passing under a canal, an aqueduct. Where it is important to stress that it is passing underneath, it may be called an underpass, though the official term when passing under a railway is an underbridge. A longer underpass containing a road, canal or railway is normally called a \"tunnel\", whether or not it passes under another item of infrastructure. An underpass of any length under a river is also usually called a \"tunnel\", whatever mode of transport it is for.\n\nIn the US, the term \"subway\" means an underground rapid transit system, and the term pedestrian underpass is used for a passage beneath a barrier. Rail station platforms may be connected by pedestrian tunnels or footbridges.\n\nHistory \n\nMuch of the early technology of tunneling evolved from mining and military engineering. The etymology of the terms \"mining\" (for mineral extraction or for siege attacks), \"military engineering\", and \"civil engineering\" reveals these deep historic connections.\n\nGeotechnical investigation and design \n\nA major tunnel project must start with a comprehensive investigation of ground conditions by collecting samples from boreholes and by other geophysical techniques. An informed choice can then be made of machinery and methods for excavation and ground support, which will reduce the risk of encountering unforeseen ground conditions. In planning the route, the horizontal and vertical alignments can be selected to make use of the best ground and water conditions. It is common practice to locate a tunnel deeper than otherwise would be required, in order to excavate through solid rock or other material that is easier to support during construction.\n\nConventional desk and preliminary site studies may yield insufficient information to assess such factors as the blocky nature of rocks, the exact location of fault zones, or the stand-up times of softer ground. This may be a particular concern in large-diameter tunnels. To give more information, a pilot tunnel (or \"drift tunnel\") may be driven ahead of the main excavation. This smaller tunnel is less likely to collapse catastrophically should unexpected conditions be met, and it can be incorporated into the final tunnel or used as a backup or emergency escape passage. Alternatively, horizontal boreholes may sometimes be drilled ahead of the advancing tunnel face.\n\nOther key geotechnical factors:\n* \"Stand-up time\" is the amount of time a newly excavated cavity can support itself without any added structures. Knowing this parameter allows the engineers to determine how far an excavation can proceed before support is needed, which in turn affects the speed, efficiency, and cost of construction. Generally, certain configurations of rock and clay will have the greatest stand-up time, while sand and fine soils will have a much lower stand-up time. \n* Groundwater control is very important in tunnel construction. Water leaking into a tunnel or vertical shaft will greatly decrease stand-up time, causing the excavation to become unstable and risking collapse. The most common way to control groundwater is to install dewatering pipes into the ground and to simply pump the water out. A very effective but expensive technology is ground freezing, using pipes which are inserted into the ground surrounding the excavation, which are then cooled with special refrigerant fluids. This freezes the ground around each pipe until the whole space is surrounded with frozen soil, keeping water out until a permanent structure can be built.\n* Tunnel cross-sectional shape is also very important in determining stand-up time. If a tunnel excavation is wider than it is high, it will have a harder time supporting itself, decreasing its stand-up time. A square or rectangular excavation is more difficult to make self-supporting, because of a concentration of stress at the corners.\n\nChoice of tunnels vs. bridges \n\nFor water crossings, a tunnel is generally more costly to construct than a bridge. However, navigational considerations may limit the use of high bridges or drawbridge spans intersecting with shipping channels, necessitating a tunnel.\n\nBridges usually require a larger footprint on each shore than tunnels. In areas with expensive real estate, such as Manhattan and urban Hong Kong, this is a strong factor in favor of a tunnel. Boston's Big Dig project replaced elevated roadways with a tunnel system to increase traffic capacity, hide traffic, reclaim land, redecorate, and reunite the city with the waterfront.\n\nThe 1934 Queensway Tunnel under the River Mersey at Liverpool was chosen over a massively high bridge for defense reasons; it was feared that aircraft could destroy a bridge in times of war. Maintenance costs of a massive bridge to allow the world's largest ships to navigate under were considered higher than for a tunnel. Similar conclusions were reached for the 1971 Kingsway Tunnel under the Mersey. In Hampton Roads, Virginia, tunnels were chosen over bridges for strategic considerations; in the event of damage, bridges would prevent US Navy vessels from leaving Naval Station Norfolk.\n\nWater-crossing tunnels built instead of bridges include the Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City; the Queens-Midtown Tunnel between Manhattan and the borough of Queens on Long Island; the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel between Michigan and Ontario; and the Elizabeth River tunnels between Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia; the 1934 River Mersey road Queensway Tunnel; the Western Scheldt Tunnel, Zeeland, Netherlands; and the North Shore Connector tunnel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.\n\nOther reasons for choosing a tunnel instead of a bridge include avoiding difficulties with tides, weather, and shipping during construction (as in the Channel Tunnel), aesthetic reasons (preserving the above-ground view, landscape, and scenery), and also for weight capacity reasons (it may be more feasible to build a tunnel than a sufficiently strong bridge).\n\nSome water crossings are a mixture of bridges and tunnels, such as the Denmark to Sweden link and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia.\n\nThere are particular hazards with tunnels, especially from vehicle fires when combustion gases can asphyxiate users, as happened at the Gotthard Road Tunnel in Switzerland in 2001. One of the worst railway disasters ever, the Balvano train disaster, was caused by a train stalling in the Armi tunnel in Italy in 1944, killing 426 passengers. Designers try to reduce these risks by installing emergency ventilation systems or isolated emergency escape tunnels parallel to the main passage.\n\nProject planning and cost estimates \n\nGovernment funds are often required for the creation of tunnels. When a tunnel is being planned or constructed, economics and politics play a large factor in the decision making process. Civil engineers usually use project management techniques for developing a major structure. Understanding the amount of time the project requires, and the amount of labor and materials needed is a crucial part of project planning. The project duration must be identified using a work breakdown structure (WBS) and critical path method (CPM). Also, the land needed for excavation and construction staging, and the proper machinery must be selected. Large infrastructure projects require millions or even billions of dollars, involving long-term financing, usually through issuance of bonds.\n\nThe costs and benefits for an infrastructure such as a tunnel must be identified. Political disputes can occur, as in 2005 when the US House of Representatives approved a $100 million federal grant to build a tunnel under New York Harbor. However, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was not aware of this bill and had not asked for a grant for such a project. Increased taxes to finance a large project may cause opposition. \n\nConstruction \n\nTunnels are dug in types of materials varying from soft clay to hard rock. The method of tunnel construction depends on such factors as the ground conditions, the ground water conditions, the length and diameter of the tunnel drive, the depth of the tunnel, the logistics of supporting the tunnel excavation, the final use and shape of the tunnel and appropriate risk management.\n\nThere are three basic types of tunnel construction in common use:\n* Cut-and-cover tunnel, constructed in a shallow trench and then covered over.\n* Bored tunnel, constructed in situ, without removing the ground above. They are usually of circular or horseshoe cross-section.\n* Immersed tube tunnel, sunk into a body of water and laid on or buried just under its bed.\n\nCut-and-cover \n\nCut-and-cover is a simple method of construction for shallow tunnels where a trench is excavated and roofed over with an overhead support system strong enough to carry the load of what is to be built above the tunnel.\nTwo basic forms of cut-and-cover tunnelling are available:\n* Bottom-up method: A trench is excavated, with ground support as necessary, and the tunnel is constructed in it. The tunnel may be of in situ concrete, precast concrete, precast arches, or corrugated steel arches; in early days brickwork was used. The trench is then carefully back-filled and the surface is reinstated.\n* Top-down method: Side support walls and capping beams are constructed from ground level by such methods as slurry walling or contiguous bored piling. Then a shallow excavation allows making the tunnel roof of precast beams or in situ concrete. The surface is then reinstated except for access openings. This allows early reinstatement of roadways, services and other surface features. Excavation then takes place under the permanent tunnel roof, and the base slab is constructed.\n\nShallow tunnels are often of the cut-and-cover type (if under water, of the immersed-tube type), while deep tunnels are excavated, often using a tunnelling shield. For intermediate levels, both methods are possible.\n\nLarge cut-and-cover boxes are often used for underground metro stations, such as Canary Wharf tube station in London. This construction form generally has two levels, which allows economical arrangements for ticket hall, station platforms, passenger access and emergency egress, ventilation and smoke control, staff rooms, and equipment rooms. The interior of Canary Wharf station has been likened to an underground cathedral, owing to the sheer size of the excavation. This contrasts with many traditional stations on London Underground, where bored tunnels were used for stations and passenger access. Nevertheless, the original parts of the London Underground network, the Metropolitan and District Railways, were constructed using cut-and-cover. These lines pre-dated electric traction and the proximity to the surface was useful to ventilate the inevitable smoke and steam.\n\nA major disadvantage of cut-and-cover is the widespread disruption generated at the surface level during construction. This, and the availability of electric traction, brought about London Underground's switch to bored tunnels at a deeper level towards the end of the 19th century.\n\nBoring machines \n\nTunnel boring machines (TBMs) and associated back-up systems are used to highly automate the entire tunnelling process, reducing tunnelling costs. In certain predominantly urban applications, tunnel boring is viewed as quick and cost effective alternative to laying surface rails and roads. Expensive compulsory purchase of buildings and land, with potentially lengthy planning inquiries, is eliminated. Disadvantages of TBMs arise from their usually large size - the difficulty of transporting the large TBM to the site of tunnel construction, or (alternatively) the high cost of assembling the TBM on-site, often within the confines of the tunnel being constructed.\n\nThere are a variety of TBM designs that can operate in a variety of conditions, from hard rock to soft water-bearing ground. Some types of TBMs, the bentonite slurry and earth-pressure balance machines, have pressurised compartments at the front end, allowing them to be used in difficult conditions below the water table. This pressurizes the ground ahead of the TBM cutter head to balance the water pressure. The operators work in normal air pressure behind the pressurised compartment, but may occasionally have to enter that compartment to renew or repair the cutters. This requires special precautions, such as local ground treatment or halting the TBM at a position free from water. Despite these difficulties, TBMs are now preferred over the older method of tunnelling in compressed air, with an air lock/decompression chamber some way back from the TBM, which required operators to work in high pressure and go through decompression procedures at the end of their shifts, much like deep-sea divers.\n\nIn February 2010, Aker Wirth delivered a TBM to Switzerland, for the expansion of the Linth–Limmern Power Stations located south of Linthal in the canton of Glarus. The borehole has a diameter of . The four TBMs used for excavating the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel, in Switzerland, had a diameter of about 9 m. A larger TBM was built to bore the Green Heart Tunnel (Dutch: Tunnel Groene Hart) as part of the HSL-Zuid in the Netherlands, with a diameter of . This in turn was superseded by the Madrid M30 ringroad, Spain, and the Chong Ming tunnels in Shanghai, China. All of these machines were built at least partly by Herrenknecht. , the world's largest TBM is \"Big Bertha\", a diameter machine built by Hitachi Zosen Corporation, which is digging the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel in Seattle, Washington (US). \n\nClay-kicking \n\nClay-kicking is a specialised method developed in the United Kingdom of digging tunnels in strong clay-based soil structures. Unlike previous manual methods of using mattocks which relied on the soil structure to be hard, clay-kicking was relatively silent and hence did not harm soft clay based structures. The clay-kicker lies on a plank at a 45-degree angle away from the working face and inserts a tool with a cup-like rounded end with the feet. Turning the tool manually, the kicker extracts a section of soil, which is then placed on the waste extract.\n\nUsed in Victorian civil engineering, the method found favour in the renewal of Britain's ancient sewerage systems, by not having to remove all property or infrastructure to create a small tunnel system. During the First World War, the system was used by Royal Engineer tunnelling companies to put mines beneath the German Empire lines. The method was virtually silent and so not susceptible to listening methods of detection. \n\nShafts \n\nA temporary access shaft is sometimes necessary during the excavation of a tunnel. They are usually circular and go straight down until they reach the level at which the tunnel is going to be built. A shaft normally has concrete walls and is usually built to be permanent. Once the access shafts are complete, TBMs are lowered to the bottom and excavation can start. Shafts are the main entrance in and out of the tunnel until the project is completed. If a tunnel is going to be long, multiple shafts at various locations may be bored so that entrance to the tunnel is closer to the unexcavated area. \n\nOnce construction is complete, construction access shafts are often used as ventilation shafts, and may also be used as emergency exits.\n\nSprayed concrete techniques \n\nThe New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) was developed in the 1960s and is the best known of a number of engineering practices that use calculated and empirical measurements to provide safe support to the tunnel lining. The main idea of this method is to use the geological stress of the surrounding rock mass to stabilize the tunnel, by allowing a measured relaxation and stress reassignment into the surrounding rock to prevent full loads becoming imposed on the supports. Based on geotechnical measurements, an optimal cross section is computed. The excavation is protected by a layer of sprayed concrete, commonly referred to as shotcrete. Other support measures can include steel arches, rockbolts and mesh. Technological developments in sprayed concrete technology have resulted in steel and polypropylene fibres being added to the concrete mix to improve lining strength. This creates a natural load-bearing ring, which minimizes the rock's deformation.\n\nBy special monitoring the NATM method is flexible, even at surprising changes of the geomechanical rock consistency during the tunneling work. The measured rock properties lead to appropriate tools for tunnel strengthening. In the last decades also soft ground excavations up to 10 km became usual.\n\nPipe jacking \n\nIn pipe jacking, hydraulic jacks are used to push specially-made pipes through the ground behind a TBM or shield. This method is commonly used to create tunnels under existing structures, such as roads or railways. Tunnels constructed by pipe jacking are normally small diameter bores with a maximum size of around .\n\nBox jacking \n\nBox jacking is similar to pipe jacking, but instead of jacking tubes, a box-shaped tunnel is used. Jacked boxes can be a much larger span than a pipe jack, with the span of some box jacks in excess of 20 m. A cutting head is normally used at the front of the box being jacked, and spoil removal is normally by excavator from within the box.\n\nUnderwater tunnels \n\nThere are also several approaches to underwater tunnels, the two most common being bored tunnels or immersed tubes, examples are Bjørvika Tunnel and Marmaray. Submerged floating tunnels are a novel approach under consideration; however, no such tunnels have been constructed to date.\n\nTemporary way \n\nDuring construction of a tunnel it is often convenient to install a temporary railway, particularly to remove excavated spoil, often narrow gauge so that it can be double track to allow the operation of empty and loaded trains at the same time. The temporary way is replaced by the permanent way at completion, thus explaining the term \"Perway\".\n\nEnlargement \n\nThe vehicles or traffic using a tunnel can outgrow it, requiring replacement or enlargement:\n* The original single line Gib Tunnel near Mittagong was replaced with a double-track tunnel, with the original tunnel used for growing mushrooms. \n* The 1832 double-track mile-long tunnel from Edge Hill to Lime Street in Liverpool was near totally removed, apart from a 50-metre section at Edge Hill and a section nearer to Lime Street, as four tracks were required. The tunnel was dug out into a very deep four-track cutting, with short tunnels in places along the cutting. Train services were not interrupted as the work progressed. There are other occurrences of tunnels being replaced by open cuts, for example, the Auburn Tunnel.\n* The Farnworth Tunnel in England was enlarged using a tunnel boring machine (TBM) in 2015. The Rhyndaston Tunnel was enlarged using a borrowed TBM so as to be able to take ISO containers.\n* Tunnels can also be enlarged by lowering the floor.\n\nOpen building pit \n\nAn open building pit consists of a horizontal and a vertical boundary that keeps groundwater and soil out of the pit. There are several potential alternatives and combinations for (horizontal and vertical) building pit boundaries. The most important difference with cut-and-cover is that the open building pit is muted after tunnel construction; no roof is placed.\n\nOther construction methods \n\n* Drilling and blasting\n* Hydraulic splitter\n* Slurry-shield machine\n* Wall-cover construction method.\n\nVariant tunnel types \n\nDouble-deck and multipurpose tunnels \n\nSome tunnels are double-deck, for example the two major segments of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (completed in 1936) are linked by a double-deck tunnel through Yerba Buena Island, the largest-diameter bored tunnel in the world. At construction this was a combination bidirectional rail and truck pathway on the lower deck with automobiles above, now converted to one-way road vehicle traffic on each deck.\n\nIn the Netherlands, a two-stack road tunnel is being constructed in the city of Maastricht. The two lower tubes of the tunnel will carry the A2 motorway, which originates in Amsterdam, through the city, and the two upper tubes will take the N2 regional highway for local traffic. \nIn the UK, the 1934 Queensway Tunnel under the River Mersey between Liverpool and Birkenhead was originally to have road vehicles running on the upper deck and trams on the lower. During construction the tram usage was cancelled. The lower section is only used for cables, pipes and emergency accident refuge enclosures.\n\nIn Hong Kong, the Lion Rock Tunnel, built in the mid 1960s connecting New Kowloon and Sha Tin, carries a motorway and an aqueduct.\n\nA recent double-deck tunnel with both decks for motor vehicles is the Fuxing Road Tunnel in Shanghai, China. Cars travel on the two-lane upper deck, and heavier vehicles on the single-lane lower level.\n\nMultipurpose tunnels exist that have more than one purpose. The SMART Tunnel in Malaysia is the first multipurpose flood control tunnel in the world, used both to convey traffic and occasional flood waters in Kuala Lumpur.\n\nCommon utility ducts or utility tunnels are carry two or more utility lines. Through co-location of different utilities in one tunnel, organizations are able to reduce the costs of building and maintaining utilities.\n\nCovered passageways \n\nOver-bridges can sometimes be built by covering a road or river or railway with brick or steel arches, and then leveling the surface with earth. In railway parlance, a surface-level track which has been built or covered over is normally called a \"covered way\".\n\nSnow sheds are a kind of artificial tunnel built to protect a railway from avalanches of snow. Similarly the Stanwell Park, New South Wales \"steel tunnel\", on the South Coast Line, protects the line from rockfalls.\n\nSafety and security \n\nOwing to the enclosed space of a tunnel, fires can have very serious effects on users. The main dangers are gas and smoke production, with even low concentrations of carbon monoxide being highly toxic. Fires killed 11 people in the Gotthard tunnel fire of 2001 for example, all of the victims succumbing to smoke and gas inhalation. Over 400 passengers died in the Balvano train disaster in Italy in 1944, when the locomotive halted in a long tunnel. Carbon monoxide poisoning was the main cause of death. In the Caldecott Tunnel fire of 1982, the majority of fatalities were caused by toxic smoke, rather than by the initial crash.\n\nMotor vehicle tunnels usually require ventilation shafts and powered fans to remove toxic exhaust gases during routine operation. \n\nRail tunnels usually require fewer air changes per hour, but still may require forced-air ventilation. Both types of tunnels often have provisions to increase ventilation under emergency conditions, such as a fire. Although there is a risk of increasing the rate of combustion through increased airflow, the primary focus is on providing breathable air to persons trapped in the tunnel, as well as firefighters.\n\nWhen there is a parallel, separate tunnel available, airtight but unlocked emergency doors are usually provided which allow trapped personnel to escape from a smoke-filled tunnel to the parallel tube. \n\nLarger, heavily-used tunnels, such as the Big Dig tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, may have a dedicated 24-hour manned operations center which monitors and reports on traffic conditions, and responds to emergencies. Video surveillance equipment is often used, and real-time pictures of traffic conditions for some highways may be viewable by the general public via the Internet.\n\nExamples of tunnels \n\nIn history \n\nThe history of ancient tunnels and tunneling in the world is reviewed in various sources which include many examples of these structures that were built for different purposes. Some well known ancient and modern tunnels are briefly introduced below:\n* The qanat or kareez of Persia are water management systems used to provide a reliable supply of water to human settlements or for irrigation in hot, arid and semi-arid climates. The deepest known qanat is in the Iranian city of Gonabad, which after 2700 years, still provides drinking and agricultural water to nearly 40,000 people. Its main well depth is more than 360 m, and its length is 45 km. \n* The Siloam Tunnel was built before 701 BCE for a reliable supply of water, to withstand siege attacks.\n* The Eupalinian aqueduct on the island of Samos (North Aegean, Greece) was built in 520 BCE by the ancient Greek engineer Eupalinos of Megara under a contract with the local community. Eupalinos organised the work so that the tunnel was begun from both sides of Mount Kastro. The two teams advanced simultaneously and met in the middle with excellent accuracy, something that was extremely difficult in that time. The aqueduct was of utmost defensive importance, since it ran underground, and it was not easily found by an enemy who could otherwise cut off the water supply to Pythagoreion, the ancient capital of Samos. The tunnel's existence was recorded by Herodotus (as was the mole and harbour, and the third wonder of the island, the great temple to Hera, thought by many to be the largest in the Greek world). The precise location of the tunnel was only re-established in the 19th century by German archaeologists. The tunnel proper is 1030 m and visitors can still enter it [http://homepages.cwi.nl/~aeb/math/samos/ Eupalinos tunnel].\n* One of the first known drainage and sewage networks in form of tunnels was constructed at Persepolis in Iran at the same time as the construction of its foundation in 518 BCE. In most places the network was dug in the sound rock of the mountain and then covered by large pieces of rock and stone followed by earth and rubbles to level the ground. During investigations and surveys, long sections of similar rock tunnels extending beneath the palace area were traced by Herzfeld and later by Schmidt and their archeological teams. \n* The Via Flaminia, an important Roman road, penetrated the Furlo pass in the Apennines through a tunnel which emperor Vespasian had ordered built in 76-77 CE. A modern road, the SS 3 Flaminia, still uses this tunnel, which had a precursor dating back to the 3rd century BCE; remnants of this earlier tunnel (one of the first road tunnels) are also still visible.\n* The world's oldest underwater tunnel is claimed to be the Terelek kaya tüneli under Kızıl River, a little south of the towns of Boyabat and Durağan in Turkey, just downstream from where Kizil River joins its tributary Gökırmak. The tunnel is presently under a narrow part of a lake formed by a dam some kilometers further downstream. Estimated to have been built more than 2000 years ago, possibly by the same civilization that also built the royal tombs in a rock face nearby, it is assumed to have had a defensive purpose. \n* Sapperton Canal Tunnel on the Thames and Severn Canal in England, dug through hills, which opened in 1789, was long and allowed boat transport of coal and other goods. Above it the Sapperton Long Tunnel was constructed which carries the \"Golden Valley\" railway line between Swindon and Gloucester.\n* The 1791 Dudley canal tunnel is on the Dudley Canal, in Dudley, England. The tunnel is long. Closed in 1962 the tunnel was reopened in 1973. The series of tunnels was extended in 1984 and 1989.[http://www.dudleycanaltrust.org.uk/interactive-tour-map/ Map of Dudley Canals | Discover Black Country Canals]\n* Fritchley Tunnel, constructed in 1793 in Derbyshire by the Butterley Company to transport limestone to its ironworks factory. The Butterley company engineered and built its own railway a victim of the depression the company closed after 219 years in 2009. The tunnel is the world's oldest railway tunnel traversed by rail wagons using gravity and horse haulage. The railway was converted to steam locomotion in 1813 using a Steam Horse locomotive engineered and built by the Butterley company, however reverted to horses. Steam trains used the tunnel continuously from the 1840s when the railway was converted to a narrow gauge. The line closed in 1933. In the Second World War, the tunnel was used as an air raid shelter. Sealed up in 1977 it was rediscovered in 2013 and inspected. The tunnel was resealed to preserved the construction as it was designated an ancient monument.\n* The 1794 Butterley canal tunnel canal tunnel is 3,083 yards (2,819m) in length on the Cromford Canal in Ripley, Derbyshire, England. The tunnel was built simultaneously with the 1773 Fritchley railway tunnel. The tunnel partially collapsed in 1900 splitting the Cromford Canal, and has not been used since. The Friends of Cromford Canal, a group of volunteers, are working at fully restoring the Cromford Canal and the Butterley Tunnel.[http://www.cromfordcanal.info Friends of the Cromford Canal - HOME]\n* The 1796 Stoddart Tunnel in Chapel-en-le-Frith in Derbyshire is reputed to be the oldest rail tunnel in the world. The rail wagons were originally horse-drawn.\n* Derby Tunnels in Salem, Massachusetts were built in 1801 to smuggle imports affected by President Thomas Jefferson new customs duties. Jefferson had ordered local militias to help the Custom House in each port collect these dues, but the smugglers, led by Elias Derby, hired the Salem militia to dig the tunnels and hide the spoil. The tunnels ran 3 miles connecting the wharfs in town to an underground train station. Along the way they connected prominent businessmen and politicians homes to their stores, bank, and museums. Members of the Salem Commons Fund hid the tunnels behind a project to fill in the ponds and grade the local common. Tunnel dirt was hidden in those ponds and was used to fill in rivers to create new wharfs to connect the tunnels to. Many politicians were involved including a Superior Court Justice, a Secretary of the Navy, and many Senators in the Federalist Party.\n* A tunnel was created for the first true steam locomotive, from Penydarren to Abercynon. The Penydarren locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick. The locomotive made the historic journey from Penydarren to Abercynon in 1804. Part of this tunnel can still be seen at Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. This is arguably the oldest railway tunnel in the world, dedicated only to self-propelled steam engines on rails.\n* The Montgomery Bell Tunnel in Tennessee, an 88 m water diversion tunnel, , to power a water wheel, was built by slave labour in 1819, being the first full-scale tunnel in North America.\n* Bourne's Tunnel, Rainhill, near Liverpool, England. long. Built in the late 1820s, the exact date is unknown, however probably built in 1828 or 1829. This is the first tunnel in the world constructed under a railway line. The construction of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway ran over a horse-drawn tramway from the Sutton collieries to the Liverpool-Warrington turnpike road. A tunnel was bored under the railway for the tramway. As the railway was being constructed the tunnel was made operational, opening prior to the Liverpool tunnels on the Liverpool to Manchester line. The tunnel was made redundant in 1844 when the tramway was dismantled. \n* Crown Street Station, Liverpool, England, 1829. Built by George Stephenson, a single track railway tunnel 266 m, was bored from Edge Hill to Crown Street to serve the world's first intercity passenger railway terminus station. The station was abandoned in 1836 being too far from Liverpool city centre, with the area converted for freight use. Closed down in 1972, the tunnel is disused. However it is the oldest passenger rail tunnel running under streets in the world. \n* The 1829 Wapping Tunnel in Liverpool, England at long on a twin track railway, was the first rail tunnel bored under a metropolis. The tunnel's path is from Edge Hill in the east of the city to Wapping Dock in the south end Liverpool docks. The tunnel was used only for freight terminating at the Park Lane goods terminal. Currently disused since 1972, the tunnel was to be a part of the Merseyrail metro network, with work started and abandoned because of costs. The tunnel is in excellent condition and is still being considered for reuse by Merseyrail, maybe with an underground station cut into the tunnel for Liverpool university. The river portal is opposite the new King's Dock Liverpool Arena being an ideal location for a serving station. If reused the tunnel will be the oldest used underground rail tunnel in the world and oldest section of any underground metro system. \n* 1832, Lime Street Railway station tunnel, Liverpool. A two track rail tunnel, long was bored under the metropolis from Edge Hill in the east of the city to Lime Street in Liverpool's city centre. The tunnel was in use from 1832 being used to transport building materials to the new Lime St station while under construction. The station and tunnel was opened to passengers in 1836. In the 1880s the tunnel was converted to a deep cutting, open to the atmosphere, being four tracks wide. This is the only occurrence of a major tunnel being removed. Two short sections of the original tunnel still exist at Edge Hill station and further towards Lime Street, giving the two tunnels the distinction of being the oldest rail tunnels in the world still in use, and the oldest in use under streets.[http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/incline/lls.htm Liverpool Lime St] Over time a 525 m section of the deep cutting has been converted back into tunnel due to sections having buildings built over. \n* Box Tunnel in England, which opened in 1841, was the longest railway tunnel in the world at the time of construction. It was dug by hand, and has a length of .\n* The 1842 Prince of Wales Tunnel, in Shildon near Darlington, England, is the oldest sizeable tunnel in the world still in use under a settlement.\n* The Thames Tunnel, built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel opened in 1843, was the first underwater tunnel and the first to be built using a tunnelling shield. Originally used as a foot-tunnel, the tunnel was converted to a railway tunnel in 1869 and was a part of the East London Line of the London Underground until 2007. It was the oldest section of the network, although not the oldest purpose built rail section. From 2010 the tunnel became a part of the London Overground network.\n* The Victoria Tunnel/Waterloo Tunnel in Liverpool, England, was bored under a metropolis opening in 1848. The tunnel was initially used only for rail freight serving the Waterloo Freight terminal, and later freight and passengers serving the Liverpool ship liner terminal. The tunnel's path is from Edge Hill in the east of the city to the north end Liverpool docks at Waterloo Dock. The tunnel is split into two tunnels with a short open air cutting linking the two. The cutting is where the cable hauled trains from Edge Hill were hitched and unhitched. The two tunnels are effectively one on the same centre line and are regarded as one. However, as initially the 2375 m long Victoria section was originally cable hauled and the shorter 862 m Waterloo section was locomotive hauled, two separate names were given, the short section was named the Waterloo Tunnel. In 1895 the two tunnels were converted to locomotive haulage. Used until 1972, the tunnel is still in excellent condition. A short section of the Victoria tunnel at Edge Hill is still used for shunting trains. The tunnel is being considered for reuse by the Merseyrail network. Stations cut into the tunnel are being considered and also reuse by a monorail system from the proposed Liverpool Waters redevelopment of Liverpool's Central Docks has been proposed. \n* The vertex tunnel of the Semmering railway, the first Alpine tunnel, was opened in 1848 and was long. It connected rail traffic between Vienna, the capital of Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Trieste, its port.\n* The Giovi Rail Tunnel through the Appennini Mounts opened in 1854, linking the capital city of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Turin, to its port, Genoa. The tunnel was long.\n* The oldest underground sections of the London Underground were built using the cut-and-cover method in the 1860s, and opened in January 1863. What are now the Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines were the first to prove the success of a metro or subway system.\n*On June 18, 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad's 1,659-foot (506 m) [http://cprr.org/Museum/Sierra_Grade_8-2003/Donner_Pass-Summit_Tunnel/index.html Summit Tunnel] (Tunnel #6) at Donner Pass in the California Sierra Nevada mountains was opened permitting the establishment of the commercial mass transportation of passengers and freight over the Sierras for the first time. It remained in daily use until 1993 when the Southern Pacific Railroad closed it and transferred all rail traffic through the 10,322-foot (3,146 m) long Tunnel #41 (aka [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collIdpphhphoto&fileName\nca/ca2400/ca2413/photos/browse.db&actionbrowse&recNum\n0&title2Central%20Pacific%20Transcontinental%20Railroad,%20Tunnel%20No.%2041,%20Milepost%20193.3,%20Donner,%20Placer%20County,%20CA&displayType\n1&itemLink=r?pp/hh:@field(NUMBER+@band(ca2413)) \"The Big Hole\"]) built a mile to the south in 1925.\n* In 1870, after fourteen years of works, the Fréjus Rail Tunnel was completed between France and Italy, being the second oldest Alpine tunnel, long. At that time it was the longest in the world.\n* The third Alpine tunnel, the Gotthard Rail Tunnel opened in 1882 and was the longest rail tunnel in the world, measuring 15 km.\n* The 1882 Col de Tende Road Tunnel, at long, was one of the first long road tunnels under a pass, running between France and Italy.\n* The Mersey Railway tunnel opened in 1886 running from Liverpool to Birkenhead under the River Mersey. The Mersey Railway was the world's first deep-level underground railway. By 1892 the extensions on land from Birkenhead Park station to Liverpool Central Low level station gave a tunnel in length. The under river section is in length, and was the longest underwater tunnel in world in January 1886. [http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=1151 Engineering Timelines - Mersey Railway]\n* The rail Severn Tunnel was opened in late 1886, at long, although only of the tunnel is actually under the River Severn. The tunnel replaced the Mersey Railway tunnel's longest under water record, which was held for less than a year.\n* James Greathead, in constructing the City & South London Railway tunnel beneath the Thames, opened in 1890, brought together three key elements of tunnel construction under water: 1) shield method of excavation; 2) permanent cast iron tunnel lining; 3) construction in a compressed air environment to inhibit water flowing through soft ground material into the tunnel heading.\n* Built in sections between 1890 and 1939, the section of London Underground's Northern line from Morden to East Finchley via Bank was the longest railway tunnel in the world at in length.\n* St. Clair Tunnel, also opened later in 1890, linked the elements of the Greathead tunnels on a larger scale.\n* In 1906 the fourth Alpine tunnel opened, the Simplon Tunnel, linking Paris to Milan. It is long, and was the longest tunnel in the world until 1982.\n* The 1927 Holland Tunnel was the first underwater tunnel designed for automobiles. The construction required a novel ventilation system.\n* In 1945 the Delaware Aqueduct tunnel was completed, supplying water to New York City in the US. At 137 km it is the second longest tunnel in the world.\n* In 1988 the long Seikan Tunnel in Japan was completed under the Tsugaru Strait, linking the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. It was longest railway tunnel in the world at that time.\n\nLongest \n\n* The Thirlmere Aqueduct in North West England, United Kingdom is sometimes considered the longest tunnel, of any type, in the world at 154 km, though the aqueduct's tunnel section is not continuous.\n* The Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest rail tunnel in the world at 57 km and carries trains under the Swiss Alps. It was completed in 2016.\n* The Seikan Tunnel in Japan is , of which is under the sea.\n* The Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom under the English Channel has a total length of 50 km, of which 39 km is under the sea. The tunnel is the longest in the world under a stretch of water.\n* The Lötschberg Base Tunnel opened in June 2007 in Switzerland was the longest land rail tunnel, with a total of .\n* The Lærdal Tunnel in Norway from Lærdal to Aurland is the world's longest road tunnel, intended for cars and similar vehicles, at .\n* The Zhongnanshan Tunnel in People's Republic of China opened in January 2007 is the world's second longest highway tunnel and the longest mountain road tunnel in Asia, at 18 km.\n\n* The longest canal tunnel is the Rove Tunnel in France, over long.\n\nNotable \n\n* Williamson's tunnels in Liverpool, from 1804 and completed around 1840 by a wealthy eccentric, are probably the largest underground folly in the world. The tunnels were built with no functional purpose. \n* Moffat Tunnel, opened in 1928 in Colorado, straddles the Continental Divide. The tunnel is long and at 2816 m above sea level is the highest active railroad tunnel in the US (the Tennessee Pass Line, currently inactive, and Alpine Tunnel are higher).\n* The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940 with seven tunnels, most of which were bored as part of the stillborn South Pennsylvania Railroad and giving the highway the nickname \"Tunnel Highway\". Four of the tunnels (Allegheny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, and Blue Mountain) remain in active use, while the other three (Laurel Hill, Rays Hill, and Sideling Hill) were bypassed in the 1960s; the latter two tunnels are on a bypassed section of the Turnpike now commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike.\n* The Fredhälls road tunnel was opened in 1966, in Stockholm, Sweden, and the New Elbe road tunnel opened in 1975 in Hamburg, Germany. Both tunnels handle around 150,000 vehicles a day, making them two of the most trafficked tunnels in the world.\n* The Honningsvåg Tunnel ( long) opened in 1999 on European route E69 in Norway as the world's northernmost road tunnel, except for mines (which exist on Svalbard).\n* The Central Artery road tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, is a part of the larger Big Dig completed around 2007, and carries approximately 200,000 vehicles/day under the city along Interstate 93, US Route 1, and Massachusetts Route 3, which share a concurrency through the tunnels. The Big Dig replaced Boston's old badly deteriorated I-93 elevated highway.\n* The Stormwater Management And Road Tunnel or SMART Tunnel, is a combined storm drainage and road structure opened in 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The tunnel is the longest stormwater tunnel in South East Asia and second longest in Asia. The facility can be operated as a simultaneous traffic and stormwater passage, or dedicated exclusively to stormwater when necessary.\n* The Eiksund Tunnel on national road Rv 653 in Norway is the world's deepest subsea road tunnel, measuring long, with deepest point at below the sea level, opened in February 2008.\n* Gerrards Cross railway tunnel, in England, opened in 2010, is notable in that it was built in a railway cutting, that was first opened around 1906. This arguably is the longest ever tunnel in construction taking 104 years. The tunnel was built using the cut-and-cover method with prefabricated forms in order to keep the busy railway operating. A branch of the Tesco supermarket chain occupies the space above the railway tunnel with an adjacent railway station. During construction, a portion of the tunnel collapsed when the soil cover was added. The prefabricated forms were covered with a layer of reinforced concrete after the collapse. \n* The Fenghuoshan tunnel (date of completion unknown) on Qinghai-Tibet railway is the world's highest railway tunnel, about above sea level.\n* The La Linea Tunnel in Colombia, will be (2016) the longest, , mountain tunnel in South America. It crosses beneath a mountain at 2500 m above sea level with six traffic lanes, and it has a parallel emergency tunnel. The tunnel is subject to serious groundwater pressure. The tunnel will link Bogotá and its urban area with the coffee-growing region, and with the main port on the Colombian Pacific coast.\n* The Chicago Deep Tunnel Project is a network of 175 km of tunnels designed to reduce flooding in the Chicago area. Started in the mid-1970s, the project is due to be completed in 2019.\n* New York City Water Tunnel No. 3, started in 1970, has an expected completion date of 2020, and will measure more than 97 km. \n\nMining \n\nThe use of tunnels for mining is called drift mining.\n\nMilitary use \n\nSome tunnels are not for transport at all but rather, are fortifications, for example Mittelwerk and Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Excavation techniques, as well as the construction of underground bunkers and other habitable areas, are often associated with military use during armed conflict, or civilian responses to threat of attack. One of the strangest uses of a tunnel was for the storage of chemical weapons [http://bluemountains.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/author-lifts-lid-on-chemical-wartime-history/307763.aspx Author lifts lid on chemical wartime history - Local News - News - General - Blue Mountains Gazette] [http://www.mustardgas.org/].\n\nSecret tunnels \n\nSecret tunnels have given entrance to or escape from an area, such as the Cu Chi Tunnels or the smuggling tunnels in the Gaza Strip which connect it to Egypt. Although the Underground Railroad network used to transport escaped slaves was \"underground\" mostly in the sense of secrecy, hidden tunnels were occasionally used. Secret tunnels were also used during the Cold War, under the Berlin Wall and elsewhere, to smuggle refugees, and for espionage.\n\nSmugglers use secret tunnels to transport or store contraband, such as illegal drugs and weapons. Elaborately engineered 1000 ft tunnels built to smuggle drugs across the Mexico-US border were estimated to require up to 9 months to complete, and an expenditure of up to $1 million. Some of these tunnels were equipped with lighting, ventilation, telephones, drainage pumps, hydraulic elevators, and in at least one instance, an electrified rail transport system. Secret tunnels have also been used by thieves to break into bank vaults and retail stores after hours.\n\nThe actual usage of erdstall tunnels is unknown but theories connect it to a rebirth ritual.\n\nNatural tunnels \n\n* Lava tubes are partially empty, cave-like conduits underground, formed during volcanic eruptions by flowing and cooling lava.\n* Natural Tunnel State Park (Virginia, US) features an 850 ft natural tunnel, really a limestone cave, that has been used as a railroad tunnel since 1890.\n* Punarjani Guha in Kerala, India. Hindus believe that crawling through the tunnel (which they believe was created by a Hindu god) from one end to the other will wash away all of one’s sins and thus allow one to attain rebirth. Only men are permitted to crawl through the tunnel.\n* Torghatten, a Norwegian island with a hat-shaped silhouette, has a tunnel in the middle of the hat, letting light come through. The 160 m long, 35 m wide, and 20 m high tunnel is said to be the hole made by an arrow of the troll Hestmannen, the hill being the hat of the troll-king of Sømna trying to save the beautiful Lekamøya. The tunnel is thought actually to be the work of ice. The sun shines through the tunnel during two short periods every year. \n* Small \"snow tunnels\" are created by voles, chipmunks and other rodents for protection and access to food sources. For more information regarding tunnels built by animals, see Burrow.\n\nMajor accidents \n\n* Clayton Tunnel rail crash (1861) – confusion about block signals\n* Welwyn Tunnel rail crash (1866) – train failed in tunnel, guard did not protect train\n* Balvano train disaster (1944) –\n* Caldecott Tunnel fire (1982) – major motor vehicle tunnel crash and fire\n* 1996 Channel Tunnel fire (1996) –",
"Canal.txt\nCanal\nCanals and navigations are human-made channels for water. In the vernacular both are referred to as 'canals'. The main difference between them is that a navigation parallels a river and shares its drainage basin, while a canal cuts across a drainage divide. Canals deliver water where there is lack of water.\n\nTypes of artificial waterways \n\nA navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river. A vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height.\n\nA true canal is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide, making a navigable channel connecting two different drainage basins.\n\nMost commercially important canals of the first half of the 19th-century were a little of each, using rivers in long stretches, and divide crossing canals in others. This is true for many canals still in use.\n\nStructures used in artificial waterways\n\nBoth navigations and canals use engineered structures to improve navigation:\n* weirs and dams to raise river water levels to usable depths;\n* looping descents to create a longer and gentler channel around a stretch of rapids or falls;\n* locks to allow ships and barges to ascend/descend.\n\nSince they cut across drainage divides, canals are more difficult to construct and often need additional improvements, like viaducts and aqueducts to bridge waters over streams and roads, and ways to keep water in the channel.\n\nTypes of canals\n\nThere are two broad types of canal:\n* Waterways: canals and navigations used for carrying vessels transporting goods and people. These can be subdivided into two kinds:\n* Those connecting existing lakes, rivers, other canals or seas and oceans.\n* Those connected in a city network: such as the Canal Grande and others of Venice Italy; the gracht of Amsterdam, and the waterways of Bangkok.\n* Aqueducts: water supply canals that are used for the conveyance and delivery of potable water for human consumption, municipal uses, hydro power canals and agriculture irrigation.\n\nImportance\n\nHistorically canals were of immense importance to commerce and the development, growth and vitality of a civilization. Modern canals are a mere remnant of the numbers that once fueled 17th–20th century industries and economies. The surviving canals today primarily service only bulk cargo and large ship transportation industries, whereas the once critical inland boat and barge canals have largely been supplanted, initially by faster and cheaper to maintain railways, later by using the flexibility and slope climbing capability of lorries.\n\nConstruction\n\nCanals are built in one of three ways, or a combination of the three, depending on available water and available path:\n;Human made streams\n* A canal can be created where no stream presently exists. Either the body of the canal is dug or the sides of the canal are created by making dykes or levees by piling dirt, stone, concrete or other building materials. The water for the canal must be provided from an external source, like streams or reservoirs. Where the new waterway must change elevation engineering works like locks, lifts or elevators are constructed to raise and lower vessels. Examples include canals that connect valleys over a higher body of land, like Canal du Midi, Canal de Briare and the Panama Canal.\n* A canal can be constructed by dredging a channel in the bottom of an existing lake. When the channel is complete, the lake is drained and the channel becomes a new canal, serving both drainage of the surrounding polder and provinding transport there. Examples include the . One can also build two parallel dikes in an existing lake, forming the new canal in between, and then drain the remaining parts of the lake. The eastern and central parts of the North Sea Canal were constructed in this way. In both cases pumping stations are required to keep the land surrounding the canal dry, either pumping water from the canal into surrounding waters, or pumping it from the land into the canal.\n;Canalization and navigations\n\n* A stream can be canalized to make its navigable path more predictable and easier to maneuver. Canalization modifies the stream to carry traffic more safely by controlling the flow of the stream by dredging, damming and modifying its path. This frequently includes the incorporation of locks and spillways, that make the river a navigation. Examples include the Lehigh Canal in Northeastern Pennsylvania's coal Region, Basse Saône, Canal de Mines de Fer de la Moselle, and Aisne River. Riparian zone restoration may be required.\n\n;Lateral canals\n* When a stream is too difficult to modify with canalization, a second stream can be created next to or at least near the existing stream. This is called a lateral canal, and may meander in a large horshoe bend or series of curves some distance from the source waters stream bed lengthening the effective length in order to lower the ratio of rise over run (slope or pitch). The existing stream usually acts as the water source and the landscape around its banks provide a path for the new body. Examples include the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Canal latéral à la Loire, Garonne Lateral Canal and Juliana Canal.\n\nSmaller transportation canals can carry barges or narrowboats, while ship canals allow seagoing ships to travel to an inland port (e.g., Manchester Ship Canal), or from one sea or ocean to another (e.g., Caledonian Canal, Panama Canal).\n\nFeatures\n\nAt their simplest, canals consist of a trench filled with water. Depending on the stratum the canal passes through, it may be necessary to line the cut with some form of watertight material such as clay or concrete. When this is done with clay, it is known as puddling.\n\nCanals need to be level, and while small irregularities in the lie of the land can be dealt with through cuttings and embankments, for larger deviations other approaches have been adopted. The most common is the pound lock, which consists of a chamber within which the water level can be raised or lowered connecting either two pieces of canal at a different level or the canal with a river or the sea. When there is a hill to be climbed, flights of many locks in short succession may be used.\n\nPrior to the development of the pound lock in 984 AD in China by Chhaio Wei-Yo and later in Europe in the 15th century, either flash locks consisting of a single gate were used or ramps, sometimes equipped with rollers, were used to change the level. Flash locks were only practical where there was plenty of water available.\n\nLocks use a lot of water, so builders have adopted other approaches for situations where little water is available. These include boat lifts, such as the Falkirk Wheel, which use a caisson of water in which boats float while being moved between two levels; and inclined planes where a caisson is hauled up a steep railway.\n\nTo cross a stream, road or valley (where the delay caused by a flight of locks at either side would be unacceptable) the valley can be spanned by a navigable aqueduct - a famous example in Wales is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site) across the valley of the River Dee.\n\nAnother option for dealing with hills is to tunnel through them. An example of this approach is the Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Tunnels are only practical for smaller canals.\n\nSome canals attempted to keep changes in level down to a minimum. These canals known as contour canals would take longer, winding routes, along which the land was a uniform altitude. Other, generally later, canals took more direct routes requiring the use of various methods to deal with the change in level.\n\nCanals have various features to tackle the problem of water supply. In cases, like the Suez Canal, the canal is simply open to the sea. Where the canal is not at sea level, a number of approaches have been adopted. Taking water from existing rivers or springs was an option in some cases, sometimes supplemented by other methods to deal with seasonal variations in flow. Where such sources were unavailable, reservoirs—either separate from the canal or built into its course—and back pumping were used to provide the required water. In other cases, water pumped from mines was used to feed the canal. In certain cases, extensive \"feeder canals\" were built to bring water from sources located far from the canal.\n\nWhere large amounts of goods are loaded or unloaded such as at the end of a canal, a canal basin may be built. This would normally be a section of water wider than the general canal. In some cases, the canal basins contain wharfs and cranes to assist with movement of goods.\n\nWhen a section of the canal needs to be sealed off so it can be drained for maintenance stop planks are frequently used. These consist of planks of wood placed across the canal to form a dam. They are generally placed in pre-existing grooves in the canal bank. On more modern canals, \"guard locks\" or gates were sometimes placed to allow a section of the canal to be quickly closed off, either for maintenance, or to prevent a major loss of water due to a canal breach.\n\nHistory\n\nThe transport capacity of pack animals and carts is limited. A mule can carry an eighth-ton [250 lb] maximum load over a journey measured in days and weeks, though much more for shorter distances and periods with appropriate rest. Besides carts need roads. Transport over water is much more efficient and cost-effective for large cargoes. It goes back to the earliest days of recorded history.\n\nAncient canals\n\nThe oldest known canals were irrigation canals, built in Mesopotamia circa 4000 BC, in what is now Iraq and Syria. The Indus Valley Civilization, Ancient India, (circa 2600 BC) had sophisticated irrigation and storage systems developed, including the reservoirs built at Girnar in 3000 BC. In Egypt, canals date back at least to the time of Pepi I Meryre (reigned 2332–2283 BC), who ordered a canal built to bypass the cataract on the Nile near Aswan. \n\nIn ancient China, large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Warring States period (481–221 BC), the longest one of that period being the Hong Gou (Canal of the Wild Geese), which according to the ancient historian Sima Qian connected the old states of Song, Zhang, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei. By far the longest canal was the Grand Canal of China, still the longest canal in the world today, and the oldest extant one. It is 1794 km long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou. The project began in 605 and was completed in 609, although much of the work combined older canals, the oldest section of the canal existing since at least 486 BC. Even in its narrowest urban sections it is rarely less than 30 m wide.\n\nGreek engineers were the first to use canal locks, by which they regulated the water flow in the Ancient Suez Canal as early as the 3rd century BC. \n\nMiddle Ages\n\nIn the Middle Ages, water transport was several times cheaper and faster than transport overland. Overland transport by animal drawn conveyances was used around settled areas, but unimproved roads required pack animal trains, usually of mules to carry any degree of mass, and while a mule could carry an eighth ton, it also needed teamsters to tend it and one man could only tend perhaps five mules, meaning overland bulk transport was also expensive, as men expect compensation in the form of wages, room and board. This was because long-haul roads were unpaved, more often than not too narrow for carts, much less wagons, and in poor condition, wending their way through forests, marshy or muddy quagmires as often as unimproved but dry footing. In that era, as today, greater cargoes, especially bulk goods and raw materials, could be transported by ship far more economically than by land; in the pre-railroad days of the industrial revolution, water transport was the gold standard of fast transportation. The first artificial canal in Western Europe was the Fossa Carolina built at the end of the 8th century under personal supervision of Charlemagne.\n\nIn Britain, the Glastonbury Canal is believed to be the first post-Roman canal and was built in the middle of the 10th century to link the River Brue at Northover with Glastonbury Abbey, a distance of about . Its initial purpose is believed to be the transport of building stone for the abbey, but later it was used for delivering produce, including grain, wine and fish, from the abbey's outlying properties. It remained in use until at least the 14th century, but possibly as late as the mid-16th century. More lasting and of more economic impact were canals like the Naviglio Grande built between 1127 and 1257 to connect Milan with the Ticino River. The Naviglio Grande is the most important of the lombard “navigli” and the oldest functioning canal in Europe.Later, canals were built in the Netherlands and Flanders to drain the polders and assist transportation of goods and people.\n\nCanal building was revived in this age because of commercial expansion from the 12th century. River navigations were improved progressively by the use of single, or flash locks. Taking boats through these used large amounts of water leading to conflicts with watermill owners and to correct this, the pound or chamber lock first appeared, in the 10th century in China and in Europe in 1373 in Vreeswijk, Netherlands. Another important development was the mitre gate, which was, it is presumed, introduced in Italy by Bertola da Novate in the 16th century. This allowed wider gates and also removed the height restriction of guillotine locks.\n\nTo break out of the limitations caused by river valleys, the first summit level canals were developed with the Grand Canal of China in 581–617 AD whilst in Europe the first, also using single locks, was the Stecknitz Canal in Germany in 1398.\n\nEarly modern period\n\nc. 1500–1800def lede: Early modern period\nThe first canal to use pound locks was the Briare Canal connecting the Loire and Seine (1642), followed by the more ambitious Canal du Midi (1683) connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This included a staircase of 8 locks at Béziers, a 157 m tunnel and three major aqueducts.\n\nCanal building progressed steadily in Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries with three great rivers, the Elbe, Oder and Weser being linked by canals. In post-Roman Britain, the first early modern period canal built appears to have been the Exeter Canal, which was surveyed in 1563, and open in 1566.Exeter history by www.exeter.gov.uk, .pdf file [http://www.exeter.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id7972&p\n0 Exeter Ship Canal, The First Four Hundred Years], accessdate=13 September 2013\n\nThe oldest canal, technically a mill race built for industrial purposes in North America is Mother Brook, also known as mill brook, in between the two Boston, Massachusetts neighborhoods of Dedham and Hyde Park connecting the higher waters of the Charles River and the mouth of the Neponset River and the sea. It was constructed in 1639 to provide water power for mills.\n\nIn Russia, the Volga–Baltic Waterway, a nationwide canal system connecting the Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea via the Neva and Volga rivers, was opened in 1718.\n\nIndustrial Revolution\n\n* See also: History of the British canal system\n* See also: History of turnpikes and canals in the United States\n\nThe modern canal system was mainly a product of the 18th century and early 19th century. It came into being because the Industrial Revolution (which began in Britain during the mid-18th century) demanded an economic and reliable way to transport goods and commodities in large quantities.\n\nBy the early 18th century, river navigations such as the Aire and Calder Navigation were becoming quite sophisticated, with pound locks and longer and longer \"cuts\" (some with intermediate locks) to avoid circuitous or difficult stretches of river. Eventually, the experience of building long multi-level cuts with their own locks gave rise to the idea of building a \"pure\" canal, a waterway designed on the basis of where goods needed to go, not where a river happened to be.\n\nThe claim for the first pure canal in Great Britain is debated between \"Sankey\" and \"Bridgewater\" supporters.Burton, (1995). Chapter 3: Building the Canals The first true canal in what is now the United Kingdom was the Newry Canal in Northern Ireland constructed by Thomas Steers in 1741.\n\nThe Sankey Brook Navigation, which connected St Helens with the River Mersey, is often claimed as the first modern \"purely artificial\" canal because although originally a scheme to make the Sankey Brook navigable, it included an entirely new artificial channel that was effectively a canal along the Sankey Brook valley.Rolt, Inland Waterways However, \"Bridgewater\" supporters point out that the last quarter-mile of the navigation is indeed a canalised stretch of the Brook, and that it was the Bridgewater Canal (less obviously associated with an existing river) that captured the popular imagination and inspired further canals.\n\nIn the mid-eighteenth century the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, who owned a number of coal mines in northern England, wanted a reliable way to transport his coal to the rapidly industrialising city of Manchester. He commissioned the engineer James Brindley to build a canal for that purpose. Brindley's design included an aqueduct carrying the canal over the River Irwell. This was an engineering wonder which immediately attracted tourists. The construction of this canal was funded entirely by the Duke and was called the Bridgewater Canal. It opened in 1761 and was the first major British canal. \n\nThe new canals proved highly successful. The boats on the canal were horse-drawn with a towpath alongside the canal for the horse to walk along. This horse-drawn system proved to be highly economical and became standard across the British canal network. Commercial horse-drawn canal boats could be seen on the UK's canals until as late as the 1950s, although by then diesel-powered boats, often towing a second unpowered boat, had become standard.\n\nThe canal boats could carry thirty tons at a time with only one horse pulling - more than ten times the amount of cargo per horse that was possible with a cart. Because of this huge increase in supply, the Bridgewater canal reduced the price of coal in Manchester by nearly two-thirds within just a year of its opening. The Bridgewater was also a huge financial success, with it earning what had been spent on its construction within just a few years.\n\nThis success proved the viability of canal transport, and soon industrialists in many other parts of the country wanted canals. After the Bridgewater canal, early canals were built by groups of private individuals with an interest in improving communications. In Staffordshire the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood saw an opportunity to bring bulky cargoes of clay to his factory doors and to transport his fragile finished goods to market in Manchester, Birmingham or further away, by water, minimising breakages. Within just a few years of the Bridgewater's opening, an embryonic national canal network came into being, with the construction of canals such as the Oxford Canal and the Trent & Mersey Canal.\n\nThe new canal system was both cause and effect of the rapid industrialisation of The Midlands and the north. The period between the 1770s and the 1830s is often referred to as the \"Golden Age\" of British canals.\n\nFor each canal, an Act of Parliament was necessary to authorise construction, and as people saw the high incomes achieved from canal tolls, canal proposals came to be put forward by investors interested in profiting from dividends, at least as much as by people whose businesses would profit from cheaper transport of raw materials and finished goods.\n\nIn a further development, there was often out-and-out speculation, where people would try to buy shares in a newly floated company simply to sell them on for an immediate profit, regardless of whether the canal was ever profitable, or even built. During this period of \"canal mania\", huge sums were invested in canal building, and although many schemes came to nothing, the canal system rapidly expanded to nearly 4,000 miles (over 6,400 kilometres) in length.\n\nMany rival canal companies were formed and competition was rampant. Perhaps the best example was Worcester Bar in Birmingham, a point where the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line were only seven feet apart. For many years, a dispute about tolls meant that goods travelling through Birmingham had to be portaged from boats in one canal to boats in the other.\n\nCanal companies were initially chartered by individual states in the United States. These early canals were constructed, owned, and operated by private joint-stock companies. Three were completed when the War of 1812 broke out; these were the Santee Canal (opened 1800) in South Carolina, the Middlesex Canal (opened 1802) in Massachusetts and the Dismal Swamp Canal (opened 1805) in Virginia. The Erie Canal (opened 1825) was chartered and owned by the state of New York and financed by bonds bought by private investors. The Erie canal runs about 363 mi from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie. The Hudson River connects Albany to the Atlantic port of New York City and the Erie Canal completed a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of around 565 ft. (169 m). The Erie Canal with its easy connections to most of the U.S. mid-west and New York City soon quickly paid back all its invested capital (US$7 million) and started turning a profit. By cutting transportation costs in half or more it became a large profit center for Albany and New York City as it allowed the cheap transportation of many of the agricultural products grown in the mid west of the United States to the rest of the world. From New York City these agricultural products could easily be shipped to other U.S. states or overseas. Assured of a market for their farm products the settlement of the U.S. mid-west was greatly accelerated by the Erie Canal. The profits generated by the Erie Canal project started a canal building boom in the United States that lasted until about 1850 when railroads started becoming seriously competitive in price and convenience. The Blackstone Canal (finished in 1828) in Massachusetts and Rhode Island fulfilled a similar role in the early industrial revolution between 1828 and 1848. The Blackstone Valley was a major contributor of the American Industrial Revolution where Samuel Slater built his first textile mill.\n\nPower canals\n\n* See also: Power canal\nA power canal refers to a canal used for hydraulic power generation, rather than for transport. Nowadays power canals are built almost exclusively as parts of hydroelectric power stations. Parts of the United States, particularly in the Northeast, had enough fast-flowing rivers that water power was the primary means of powering factories (usually textile mills) until after the American Civil War. For example, Lowell, Massachusetts, considered to be \"The Cradle of the American Industrial Revolution,\" has 6 mi of canals, built from around 1790 to 1850, that provided water power and a means of transportation for the city. The output of the system is estimated at 10,000 horsepower. Other cities with extensive power canal systems include Lawrence, Massachusetts, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Augusta, Georgia. The most notable power canal was built in 1862 for the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company.\n\n19th century\n\nCompetition, from railways from the 1830s and roads in the 20th century, made the smaller canals obsolete for most commercial transport, and many of the British canals fell into decay. Only the Manchester Ship Canal and the Aire and Calder Canal bucked this trend. Yet in other countries canals grew in size as construction techniques improved. During the 19th century in the US, the length of canals grew from 100 mi to over 4,000, with a complex network making the Great Lakes navigable, in conjunction with Canada, although some canals were later drained and used as railroad rights-of-way.\n\nIn the United States, navigable canals reached into isolated areas and brought them in touch with the world beyond. By 1825 the Erie Canal, 363 mi long with 82 locks, opened up a connection from the populated Northeast to the Great Lakes. Settlers flooded into regions serviced by such canals, since access to markets was available. The Erie Canal (as well as other canals) was instrumental in lowering the differences in commodity prices between these various markets across America. The canals caused price convergence between different regions because of their reduction in transportation costs, which allowed Americans to ship and buy goods from farther distances much cheaper. Ohio built many miles of canal, Indiana had working canals for a few decades, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River system until replaced by a channelized river waterway.\n\nThree major canals with very different purposes were built in what is now Canada. The first Welland Canal, which opened in 1829 between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, bypassing Niagara Falls and the Lachine Canal (1825), which allowed ships to skirt the nearly impassable rapids on the St. Lawrence River at Montreal, were built for commerce. The Rideau Canal, completed in 1832, connects Ottawa on the Ottawa River to Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The Rideau Canal was built as a result of the War of 1812 to provide military transportation between the British colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada as an alternative to part of the St. Lawrence River, which was susceptible to blockade by the United States.\n\nIn France, a steady linking of all the river systems — Rhine, Rhône, Saône and Seine — and the North Sea was boosted in 1879 by the establishment of the Freycinet gauge, which specified the minimum size of locks. Canal traffic doubled in the first decades of the 20th century. \n\nMany notable sea canals were completed in this period, starting with the Suez Canal (1869) - which carries tonnage many times that of most other canals - and the Kiel Canal (1897), though the Panama Canal was not opened until 1914.\n\nIn the 19th century, a number of canals were built in Japan including the Biwako canal and the Tone canal. These canals were partially built with the help of engineers from the Netherlands and other countries. \n\nModern uses\n\nLarge-scale ship canals such as the Panama Canal and Suez Canal continue to operate for cargo transportation, as do European barge canals. Due to globalization, they are becoming increasingly important, resulting in expansion projects such as the Panama Canal expansion project. The expanded canal began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new set of locks allow transit of larger, Post-Panamax and New Panamax ships.\n\nThe narrow early industrial canals, however, have ceased to carry significant amounts of trade and many have been abandoned to navigation, but may still be used as a system for transportation of untreated water. In some cases railways have been built along the canal route, an example being the Croydon Canal.\n\nA movement that began in Britain and France to use the early industrial canals for pleasure boats, such as hotel barges, has spurred rehabilitation of stretches of historic canals. In some cases, abandoned canals such as the Kennet and Avon Canal have been restored and are now used by pleasure boaters. In Britain, canalside housing has also proven popular in recent years.\n\nThe Seine–Nord Europe Canal is being developed into a major transportation waterway, linking France with Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.\n\nCanals have found another use in the 21st century, as easements for the installation of fibre optic telecommunications network cabling, avoiding having them buried in roadways while facilitating access and reducing the hazard of being damaged from digging equipment.\n\nCanals are still used to provide water for agriculture. An extensive canal system exists within the Imperial Valley in the Southern California desert to provide irrigation to agriculture within the area.\n\nCities on water\n\nCanals are so deeply identified with Venice that many canal cities have been nicknamed \"the Venice of…\". The city is built on marshy islands, with wooden piles supporting the buildings, so that the land is man-made rather than the waterways. The islands have a long history of settlement; by the 12th century, Venice was a powerful city state.\n\nAmsterdam was built in a similar way, with buildings on wooden piles. It became a city around 1300. Many Amsterdam canals were built as part of fortifications. They became grachten when the city was enlarged and houses were built alongside the water.\n\nOther cities with extensive canal networks include: Alkmaar, Amersfoort, Bolsward, Brielle, Delft, Den Bosch, Dokkum, Dordrecht, Enkhuizen, Franeker, Gouda, Haarlem, Harlingen, Leeuwarden, Leiden, Sneek and Utrecht in the Netherlands; Brugge and Gent in Flanders, Belgium; Birmingham in England; Saint Petersburg in Russia; Aveiro in Portugal; Hamburg and Berlin in Germany; Fort Lauderdale and Cape Coral in Florida, United States and Lahore in Pakistan.\n\nLiverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site near the centre of Liverpool, England, where a system of intertwining waterways and docks is now being developed for mainly residential and leisure use.\n\nCanal Estates (commonly known as bayous) are a form of subdivision popular in cities like Miami, Florida, Texas City, Texas and the Gold Coast, Queensland; the Gold Coast has over 700 km of residential canals. Wetlands are difficult areas upon which to build housing estates, so dredging part of the wetland down to a navigable channel provides fill to build up another part of the wetland above the flood level for houses. Land is built up in a finger pattern that provides a suburban street layout of waterfront housing blocks.\n\nBoats\n\nInland canals have often had boats specifically built for them. An example of this is the British narrowboat, which is up to 72 ft long and 7 ft wide and was primarily built for British Midland canals. In this case the limiting factor was the size of the locks. This is also the limiting factor on the Panama canal where Panamax ships are limited to a length of and a beam of . For the lockless Suez Canal the limiting factor for Suezmax ships is generally draft, which is limited to 16 m. At the other end of the scale, tub-boat canals such as the Bude Canal were limited to boats of under 10 tons for much of their length due to the capacity of their inclined planes or boat lifts. Most canals have a limit on height imposed either by bridges or by tunnels.\n\nLists of canals\n\n* Europe\n** Canals of France\n** Canals of Amsterdam\n** Canals of Germany\n** Canals of Ireland\n** Canals of Russia\n** Canals of the United Kingdom\n** Great Bačka Canal (Serbia)\n* North America\n** Canals of Canada\n** Canals of the United States",
"BBC ON THIS DAY | 1 | 1990: Tunnel links UK and Europe\nBritain and France are joined for the first time in thousands of years as the ... of the Channel Tunnel and link Britain to France. ... Tunnel links UK and Europe.\nBBC ON THIS DAY | 1 | 1990: Tunnel links UK and Europe\nAbout This Site | Text Only\n1990: Tunnel links UK and Europe\nConstruction workers have drilled through the final wall of rock to join the two halves of the Channel Tunnel and link Britain to France.\nThe momentous breakthrough links the UK to Europe for the first time since the Ice Age, about 8,000 years ago.\nTo a throng of cheers, construction workers celebrated with champagne - the only time alcohol has been allowed underground on the work site.\nFrench worker, Philippe Cozette, and his British counterpart, Graham Fagg, waved flags and shook hands as the first men able to walk between the two countries.\nPassports stamped\nOnly moments earlier at 1100 GMT, a half-metre wall of rock separated Britain from mainland Europe.\nThe men continued drilling until a hole was created big enough to allow vehicles through.\nThe first Britons walked through the tunnel to have their passports stamped in France.\nThere were similar scenes on the other side as a French party which drove into Folkestone, Kent, headed straight over to customs and immigration officers.\nTributes\nTransport secretary Malcolm Rifkind was among the first through.\nSpeaking to the BBC, he said: \"The physical contact that has been achieved between Britain and France today is symptomatic of many changes that we have been experiencing in the last 20 years.\n\"It is all happening and it is continuing to happen at an accelerating pace.\"\nDowning Street called the event a \"tribute to private enterprise\".\nThe Channel Tunnel venture is expected to lead to the construction of a high speed train link across Kent, to match one France has already built.\nWork on the Channel Tunnel began in 1986 and it is due to be completed by 1993.\nIn Context\nThe Channel Tunnel was first formally proposed in 1963 although the concept had long been under discussion.\nIts cost ballooned to �12bn - more than double original estimates and construction finished a year late in 1994.\nOriginal expectations of public enthusiasm for the project proved over-optimistic and Eurotunnel, the tunnel operator, unveiled a loss of �925m in 1995 - one of the biggest in UK corporate history.\nA fire in the tunnel which lead to freight traffic being suspended for more than six months in 1996 added to its woes.\nIt eventually caught on as a mode of transport and Eurotunnel announced its first net profits in 1999.\nI was there\nI was editor of a construction magazine, Contract Journal, and invited to be part of the group that went through from the British side.\nI stood watching Graham Fagg drilling the last few inches of rock that separated us from French engineers and was able to shake hands through the gap that opened up.\nI was in the first batch, I think about fifth through, and recall thinking what a wonderful moment in history it was. Being pulled through by friendly Frenchmen put in proper perspective all the francophobic comments so many Conservative politicians regularly trotted out over the EU and related matters.\nThe construction teams had done brilliantly - to drill so precisely from both ends and meet exactly where they had planned to years before was impressive and exciting.\nAndrew Pring, UK",
"Channel Tunnel, England and France | Building the World\nChannel Tunnel, England and France. ... WHY FRANCE AND ENGLAND? With the Channel Tunnel’s opening in ... And chic cuisine served on Eurostar during its 2 hour, ...\nChannel Tunnel, England and France | Building the World\nChannel Tunnel, England and France\nChannel Tunnel, England and France\nPath of the Channel Tunnel, from Chunneltrain.org.\nWHY FRANCE AND ENGLAND?\nWith the Channel Tunnel’s opening in 1994, the environment of La Manche/The English Channel improved greatly. In May 2009, Eurotunnel was awarded the Carbon Trust Standard for commitment to managing and reducing its carbon footprint. Greenhouse gas emissions improved by 45% over a two-year period. Pollution from ferries and airplanes has eased. Passengers ride between city centers of London and Paris, often transferring to Tube or Metro instead of taking a taxi. Commerce increased on both sides of the channel – 10 million tons of freight transit annually. And chic cuisine served on Eurostar during its 2 hour, 20 minute crossing draws passengers to this convenient, pleasant mode of transport. \nNAPOLEON’S DREAM\nOne of the earliest mentions of a tunnel linking France and England was by Napoleon Bonaparte who is said to have discussed the idea with Charles James Fox, an English statesman who came to Paris for a meeting. Napoleon envisioned an artificial island mid-channel “to rest and breathe the horses.” (Building the World, p. 761)\nLa Manche, as it is known in French, is just a bit more than 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point – the Strait of Dover, or Pas de Calais. The idea of a tunnel may have begun with a proposal presented to Napoleon when he was first consul. But Napoleon was not the only one. In 1803, Hector Horeau designed an “immersed tube,” a pipeline that could be laid in a dredged trench. Thomé de Gamond proposed a tunnel and alternate plans for a bridge.\nSubsequent flowering of railway technology gave further impetus to a tunnel. Both the French and the British parliaments authorized preliminary work as early as 1875. In 1876, the goals and agreements were part of the Draft Anglo-French Treaty. Work went as far as sinking shafts on both coasts. But the British War office stopped the project.\nVIRGO INTACTA\nThe British were skittish about a fixed link. As Lord Palmerston said in 1858, “What! You pretend to ask us to contribute to a work the object of which is to shorten a distance which we already find too short!” And it was Lord Randolph Churchill who, in his 1889 speech before the House of Commons, famously proclaimed: “The reputation of England has hitherto depended upon her being, as it were, virgo intacta.”\nLUNCH AT LUCHOW’S\nAdventure Underground, by Joseph Gies\nIn the prologue to his 1962 book Adventure Underground, Joseph Gies reported on “Lunch at Luchow’s,” a seemingly incidental event that would have major ramifications on the channel tunnel project. It was November 1956 when Cyril C. Means Jr., then arbitration director of the New York Stock Exchange and later a professor of international law, came for lunch with a friend, Frank P. Davidson. In the course of lunch, the subject of a channel tunnel came up. Because both young men were heavily committed to legal work, they decided to employ a research specialist of their acquaintance, Joan Reiter, to prepare a concise history of efforts to date to build a channel tunnel. When completed, this document was handed to Dean Jay at the 23 Wall Street offices of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York. Jay introduced the document, and its bearer, Frank Davidson, to Thomas S. Lamont, vice chairman and a leading shareholder of the bank. When Lamont took a personal and constructive interest in the project, what had once seemed a nearly impossible dream became a vision.\nFIRST FORM A STUDY GROUP\nThe Submarine Tunnel Study Group formed in 1957 included five participants:\nChannel Tunnel Company, Ltd; Société Concessionnaire du Chemn de Fer Sous-Marin entre la France et l’Angleterre; International Road Federation (Paris office); Suez Canal Company; and Technical Studies, Inc.\nThe papers of Technical Studies may be found at the archives of Baker Library, Harvard Business School, where further American involvement in the English/French project is detailed. On August 29, 1958, the United States became the first nation to approve support for the project. A presidential determination was signed by the International Cooperation Administration authorizing W.O. Smith of the U.S. Geological Survey to join British and French colleagues in observation and analysis of the channel seabed.\n– Building the World, p. 763.\nGO/STOP/GO\nA treaty for construction of the tunnel with a joint operating British-French authority, and building permissions for four companies (two each), was approved in November 1973. Construction started. A mile of tunnel from the English coast was built and is still in use today. But in 1975 Britain again backed away due to economics. When talks of construction revived a few years later, it was with the understanding that the project must be privately financed.\nBut what to build? There were proposals for bridges, roads, rail options with tunnel and even a bridge/tunnel combo. But the final choice was the design, rendered in 1957-9, by a team headed by Charles Dunn, president of International Engineering Company, a division of Morrison-Knudsen, and supported by Technical Studies. The rail tunnel would consist of three bored, interconnected concrete-lined tubes: two outer tubes, each with a single-track rail line, and a narrower middle tube for use as a service tunnel. Motor vehicles would not drive through but be transported on rail cars thus improving safety. In an additional safety precaution, the service tunnel could be employed as an emergence escape route. This precaution later proved wise.\nSchematics of the “Chunnel”, from bbc.co.uk.\nIn February 1986, British Prime Minister Thatcher and French president Mitterrand signed the Treaty of Canterbury. Five French and five British construction companies supported by three French and two British banks formed the core team. But the cost of building continued to rise and by 1989 it had shot up 40% — requiring more banks. Finally there were more than 200 banks in the syndication. And because construction decisions had to be approved by 90% of the syndicate, there were delays even once construction got started. The Chunnel (a term coined by Frank Davidson) officially opened in May 1994. Trains began transporting people in September, and vehicles were allowed by March. It was an immediate success: 28 million people and 12 million tons of freight were carried in the first five years.\nLESSONS LEARNED – THE COST OF DELAY\nIf construction of the Channel Tunnel had begun in 1959 when Charles Dunn completed the design later built in 1993 after years of political bickering and delays, the project would have cost US$100 million. But when finally built, the Channel Tunnel cost US$15 billion. Are there ways to prevent cost escalations in great works requiring political debate?\nLESSONS LEARNED – DIPLOMACY\nDiplomacy was critical to the success of the process. Sir Ivone Augustine Kirkpatrick of England and Ambassador René Massigli of France were co-presidents of the Channel Tunnel Study Group, and helped attract support of leaders of both countries. In present day multi-country projects involving shared resources and infrastructure, should diplomacy play a stronger role?\nDocument of Authorization\nNo. 25792\nFrance and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.\nTreaty concerning the construction and operation by private concessionaires of a channel fixed link. Signed at Canterbury on 12 February 1986.\nAuthentic texts: French and English\nRegistered by France on March 16 1988.\nFrance et Royaume-Uni de Grande Bretagne et D’Irlande du Nord\nTraité concernant la construction et l’exploitation par des sociétés privées concessionaires d’une liaison fixe transmanche. Signé a Cantorbéry le 12 février 1986.\nTextes authentique: français et anglais.\nEnregistré par la France le 16 mars 1988.\nConfident that a Channel fixed link will greatly improve communications between the United Kingdom and France and give fresh impetus to relations between the two countries.\nDesiring to contribute to the development of relations and exchanges between the Member States of the European Communities and more generally between the European States.\nDesiring also to permit the construction and operation of a Channel fixed link by private enterprise in accordance with the criteria laid down by the Government of the United Kingdom and the French Government…\nPour le Président de la Republique française:\nFor the President of the French Republic:\nPour Sa Majesté britannique: \n – See Building the World, pp 771-804.\nVOICES OF THE FUTURE: Discussion and Implications\nTwo/Deux: Even down to the detail of “authentic texts” of agreements, how do multi-country, multi-lingual projects give full access to all stakeholders? Economic development, financing, investment and profit-sharing, natural and human resourcing, job training, local business stimulation, environmental considerations, and other aspects affect all parties, but how can all parties be equally included?\nEducation and Innovation: The Channel Tunnel has set an example worth following. China is building maglev trains in partially-vacuumed tubes. France has long been a leader in TGV. Japan opened a new era with Shinkansen . Should the world consider an International Rail Institute Service Corps where engineers, designers, and chefs, could cooperate to produce the fastest – and most entertaining – rail transport of the future?\nRESOURCES\nTo read the complete chapter, members of the University of Massachusetts Boston may access the e-book through Healey Library Catalog and ABC-CLIO here. Alternatively the volumes can be accessed at WorldCat , or at Amazon for purchase. Further resources are available onsite at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Healey Library , including some of following:\n (* indicates printed in Notebook series)\nAbel, Deryck. Channel Underground: A New Survey of the Channel Tunnel Question. London: Pall Mall Press, 1961.\nBechtel Corporation, Brown & Root, Inc., and Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc. The Channel Tunnel: Design and Construction of a Channel Tunnel Recommended by Three Engineer-Constructors. November 1959. A copy of this is available in the Channel Tunnel archives at the Historical Collections, Baker Library, School of Business Administration, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA.\nBenard, Andre. “Financial Engineering of Eurotunnel.” In Macro-Engineering: MIT Brunel Lectures on Global Infrastructure, edited by Frank P. Davidson, Ernst G. Frankel, and C. Lawrence Meador. Horwood Series in Engineering Science. Chichester, England: Horwood Publishing, 1997.\nBonnaud, Laurent. Le Tunnel sous la Manche: Deux Siècles de Passions. New York: Hachette, 1994.\nDavidson, Frank P. “An Express of the (Near) Future.” Air and Space, December 1995/January 1996, pp. 22-24. Further information on the 1910 invention by Robert Goddard.\nFetherston, Drew. Chunnel: The Amazing Story of the Undersea Crossing of the English Channel. New York: Random House, 1997.\nGies, Joseph. Adventure Underground: The Story of the World’s Greatest Tunnels. New York: Doubleday, 1962.\nHarding, Sir Harold. Tunneling History and My Own Involvement. Toronto: Golder Associates, 1981.\nHunt, Donald. The Tunnel: The Story of the Channel Tunnel, 1802-1994. Malvern, England: Images Publishing, 1994.\nLemoine, Bertrand. Le Tunnel sous La Manche. Paris: Le Moniteur, 1994.\nLitwin, George H., John J. Bray, and Kathleen Lusk Brooke. Mobilizing the Organization: Bringing Strategy to Life. London: Prentice Hall, 1996. See chapter, “Eurotunnel,” pages 106-128.\nMacaulay, David. Building Big. New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 2000.\nSlater, Humphrey, and Correlli Barnett, in collaboration with R.H. Geneau. The Channel Tunnel. London: Allan Wingate, 1957.\nWhiteside, Thomas. The Tunnel under the Channel. London: Rupert Hart-David, 1962.\nInternet\nFor Eurotunnel’s environmental aspects:\nhttp://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/sustainable-development/\nFor a summary of the Channel Tunnel, visit\nhttp:/www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/channel.html.\nFor records relating to planning done in the 1950s and 1960s, see Technical Studies, Inc. Records from 1957-1994, Historical Collections, Baker Library, School of Business Administration, Harvard University:\nhttp://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/additions/tsi.shtml .\nFor the American Society of Civil Engineers list of the wonders of the modern world including the Channel Tunnel, see http://www.asce.org/history/7_wonders.cfm .\nBuilding the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License .\nLeave a Reply"
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Which planet has a year of 687 days, a day of 24 hours 37 minutes, a diameter twice that of the moon and a mass one tenth of the earth? | Mars | [
"Planet.txt\nPlanet\nA planet is an astronomical object orbiting a star or stellar remnant that\n* is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity,\n* is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and\n* has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.This definition is drawn from two separate IAU declarations; a formal definition agreed by the IAU in 2006, and an informal working definition established by the IAU in 2001/2003 for objects outside of the Solar System. The official 2006 definition applies only to the Solar System, whereas the 2003 definition applies to planets around other stars. The extrasolar planet issue was deemed too complex to resolve at the 2006 IAU conference. \nThe term planet is ancient, with ties to history, astrology, science, mythology, and religion. Several planets in the Solar System can be seen with the naked eye. These were regarded by many early cultures as divine, or as emissaries of deities. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception of the planets changed, incorporating a number of disparate objects. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition is controversial because it excludes many objects of planetary mass based on where or what they orbit. Although eight of the planetary bodies discovered before 1950 remain \"planets\" under the modern definition, some celestial bodies, such as Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta (each an object in the solar asteroid belt), and Pluto (the first trans-Neptunian object discovered), that were once considered planets by the scientific community, are no longer viewed as such.\n\nThe planets were thought by Ptolemy to orbit Earth in deferent and epicycle motions. Although the idea that the planets orbited the Sun had been suggested many times, it was not until the 17th century that this view was supported by evidence from the first telescopic astronomical observations, performed by Galileo Galilei. By careful analysis of the observation data, Johannes Kepler found the planets' orbits were not circular but elliptical. As observational tools improved, astronomers saw that, like Earth, the planets rotated around tilted axes, and some shared such features as ice caps and seasons. Since the dawn of the Space Age, close observation by space probes has found that Earth and the other planets share characteristics such as volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics, and even hydrology.\n\nPlanets are generally divided into two main types: large low-density giant planets, and smaller rocky terrestrials. Under IAU definitions, there are eight planets in the Solar System. In order of increasing distance from the Sun, they are the four terrestrials, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, then the four giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the planets are orbited by one or more natural satellites.\n\nMore than two thousand planets around other stars (\"extrasolar planets\" or \"exoplanets\") have been discovered in the Milky Way. As of , known extrasolar planets in planetary systems (including multiple planetary systems), ranging in size from just above the size of the Moon to gas giants about twice as large as Jupiter have been discovered, out of which more than 100 planets are the same size as Earth, nine of which are at the same relative distance from their star as Earth from the Sun, i.e. in the habitable zone. On December 20, 2011, the Kepler Space Telescope team reported the discovery of the first Earth-sized extrasolar planets, Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, orbiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-20. A 2012 study, analyzing gravitational microlensing data, estimates an average of at least 1.6 bound planets for every star in the Milky Way. \nAround one in five Sun-like stars is thought to have an Earth-sized planet in its habitable zone.\n\nHistory \n\nThe word \"planet\" derives from the Ancient Greek ἀστήρ πλανήτης astēr planētēs, or πλάνης ἀστήρ plánēs astēr, which means \"wandering star,\" and originally referred to those objects in the night sky that moved relative to one another, as opposed to the \"fixed stars\", which maintained a constant relative position in the sky. \n\nThe idea of planets has evolved over its history, from the divine lights of antiquity to the earthly objects of the scientific age. The concept has expanded to include worlds not only in the Solar System, but in hundreds of other extrasolar systems. The ambiguities inherent in defining planets have led to much scientific controversy.\n\nThe five classical planets, being visible to the naked eye, have been known since ancient times and have had a significant impact on mythology, religious cosmology, and ancient astronomy. In ancient times, astronomers noted how certain lights moved across the sky in relation to the other stars. Ancient Greeks called these lights (, \"wandering stars\") or simply (, \"wanderers\"), from which today's word \"planet\" was derived. In ancient Greece, China, Babylon, and indeed all pre-modern civilizations, it was almost universally believed that Earth was the center of the Universe and that all the \"planets\" circled Earth. The reasons for this perception were that stars and planets appeared to revolve around Earth each day and the apparently common-sense perceptions that Earth was solid and stable and that it was not moving but at rest.\n\nBabylon \n\nThe first civilization known to have a functional theory of the planets were the Babylonians, who lived in Mesopotamia in the first and second millennia BC. The oldest surviving planetary astronomical text is the Babylonian Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa, a 7th-century BC copy of a list of observations of the motions of the planet Venus, that probably dates as early as the second millennium BC. The MUL.APIN is a pair of cuneiform tablets dating from the 7th century BC that lays out the motions of the Sun, Moon and planets over the course of the year. The Babylonian astrologers also laid the foundations of what would eventually become Western astrology. The Enuma anu enlil, written during the Neo-Assyrian period in the 7th century BC, comprises a list of omens and their relationships with various celestial phenomena including the motions of the planets. Venus, Mercury and the outer planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were all identified by Babylonian astronomers. These would remain the only known planets until the invention of the telescope in early modern times. \n\nGreco-Roman astronomy \n\nThe ancient Greeks initially did not attach as much significance to the planets as the Babylonians. The Pythagoreans, in the 6th and 5th centuries BC appear to have developed their own independent planetary theory, which consisted of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and planets revolving around a \"Central Fire\" at the center of the Universe. Pythagoras or Parmenides is said to have been the first to identify the evening star (Hesperos) and morning star (Phosphoros) as one and the same (Aphrodite, Greek corresponding to Latin Venus). In the 3rd century BC, Aristarchus of Samos proposed a heliocentric system, according to which Earth and the planets revolved around the Sun. The geocentric system remained dominant until the Scientific Revolution.\n\nBy the 1st century BC, during the Hellenistic period, the Greeks had begun to develop their own mathematical schemes for predicting the positions of the planets. These schemes, which were based on geometry rather than the arithmetic of the Babylonians, would eventually eclipse the Babylonians' theories in complexity and comprehensiveness, and account for most of the astronomical movements observed from Earth with the naked eye. These theories would reach their fullest expression in the Almagest written by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. So complete was the domination of Ptolemy's model that it superseded all previous works on astronomy and remained the definitive astronomical text in the Western world for 13 centuries. To the Greeks and Romans there were seven known planets, each presumed to be circling Earth according to the complex laws laid out by Ptolemy. They were, in increasing order from Earth (in Ptolemy's order): the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. \n\nIndia \n\nIn 499 CE, the Indian astronomer Aryabhata propounded a planetary model that explicitly incorporated Earth's rotation about its axis, which he explains as the cause of what appears to be an apparent westward motion of the stars. He also believed that the orbits of planets are elliptical. \nAryabhata's followers were particularly strong in South India, where his principles of the diurnal rotation of Earth, among others, were followed and a number of secondary works were based on them. \n\nIn 1500, Nilakantha Somayaji of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics, in his Tantrasangraha, revised Aryabhata's model. In his Aryabhatiyabhasya, a commentary on Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya, he developed a planetary model where Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn orbit the Sun, which in turn orbits Earth, similar to the Tychonic system later proposed by Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century. Most astronomers of the Kerala school who followed him accepted his planetary model. \n\nMedieval Muslim astronomy \n\nIn the 11th century, the transit of Venus was observed by Avicenna, who established that Venus was, at least sometimes, below the Sun. In the 12th century, Ibn Bajjah observed \"two planets as black spots on the face of the Sun\", which was later identified as a transit of Mercury and Venus by the Maragha astronomer Qotb al-Din Shirazi in the 13th century. Ibn Bajjah could not have observed a transit of Venus, because none occurred in his lifetime. \n\nEuropean Renaissance \n\nWith the advent of the Scientific Revolution, use of the term \"planet\" changed from something that moved across the sky (in relation to the star field); to a body that orbited Earth (or that were believed to do so at the time); and by the 18th century to something that directly orbited the Sun when the heliocentric model of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler gained sway.\n\nThus, Earth became included in the list of planets, whereas the Sun and Moon were excluded. At first, when the first satellites of Jupiter and Saturn were discovered in the 17th century, the terms \"planet\" and \"satellite\" were used interchangeably – although the latter would gradually become more prevalent in the following century. Until the mid-19th century, the number of \"planets\" rose rapidly because any newly discovered object directly orbiting the Sun was listed as a planet by the scientific community.\n\n19th century \n\nIn the 19th century astronomers began to realize that recently discovered bodies that had been classified as planets for almost half a century (such as Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta) were very different from the traditional ones. These bodies shared the same region of space between Mars and Jupiter (the asteroid belt), and had a much smaller mass; as a result they were reclassified as \"asteroids\". In the absence of any formal definition, a \"planet\" came to be understood as any \"large\" body that orbited the Sun. Because there was a dramatic size gap between the asteroids and the planets, and the spate of new discoveries seemed to have ended after the discovery of Neptune in 1846, there was no apparent need to have a formal definition. \n\n20th century \n\nIn the 20th century, Pluto was discovered. After initial observations led to the belief it was larger than Earth, the object was immediately accepted as the ninth planet. Further monitoring found the body was actually much smaller: in 1936, Raymond Lyttleton suggested that Pluto may be an escaped satellite of Neptune, and Fred Whipple suggested in 1964 that Pluto may be a comet. As it was still larger than all known asteroids and seemingly did not exist within a larger population, it kept its status until 2006.\n\nIn 1992, astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of planets around a pulsar, PSR B1257+12. This discovery is generally considered to be the first definitive detection of a planetary system around another star. Then, on October 6, 1995, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the Geneva Observatory announced the first definitive detection of an exoplanet orbiting an ordinary main-sequence star (51 Pegasi). \n\nThe discovery of extrasolar planets led to another ambiguity in defining a planet: the point at which a planet becomes a star. Many known extrasolar planets are many times the mass of Jupiter, approaching that of stellar objects known as brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are generally considered stars due to their ability to fuse deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen. Although objects more massive than 75 times that of Jupiter fuse hydrogen, objects of only 13 Jupiter masses can fuse deuterium. Deuterium is quite rare, and most brown dwarfs would have ceased fusing deuterium long before their discovery, making them effectively indistinguishable from supermassive planets. \n\n21st century \n\nWith the discovery during the latter half of the 20th century of more objects within the Solar System and large objects around other stars, disputes arose over what should constitute a planet. There were particular disagreements over whether an object should be considered a planet if it was part of a distinct population such as a belt, or if it was large enough to generate energy by the thermonuclear fusion of deuterium.\n\nA growing number of astronomers argued for Pluto to be declassified as a planet, because many similar objects approaching its size had been found in the same region of the Solar System (the Kuiper belt) during the 1990s and early 2000s. Pluto was found to be just one small body in a population of thousands.\n\nSome of them, such as Quaoar, Sedna, and Eris, were heralded in the popular press as the tenth planet, failing to receive widespread scientific recognition. The announcement of Eris in 2005, an object then thought of as 27% more massive than Pluto, created the necessity and public desire for an official definition of a planet.\n\nAcknowledging the problem, the IAU set about creating the definition of planet, and produced one in August 2006. The number of planets dropped to the eight significantly larger bodies that had cleared their orbit (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), and a new class of dwarf planets was created, initially containing three objects (Ceres, Pluto and Eris). \n\nExtrasolar planets \n\nThere is no official definition of extrasolar planets. In 2003, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group on Extrasolar Planets issued a position statement, but this position statement was never proposed as an official IAU resolution and was never voted on by IAU members. The positions statement incorporates the following guidelines, mostly focused upon the boundary between planets and brown dwarfs:\n# Objects with true masses below the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium (currently calculated to be 13 times the mass of Jupiter for objects with the same isotopic abundance as the Sun ) that orbit stars or stellar remnants are \"planets\" (no matter how they formed). The minimum mass and size required for an extrasolar object to be considered a planet should be the same as that used in the Solar System.\n# Substellar objects with true masses above the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium are \"brown dwarfs\", no matter how they formed or where they are located.\n# Free-floating objects in young star clusters with masses below the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium are not \"planets\", but are \"sub-brown dwarfs\" (or whatever name is most appropriate).\n\nThis working definition has since been widely used by astronomers when publishing discoveries of exoplanets in academic journals. Although temporary, it remains an effective working definition until a more permanent one is formally adopted. It does not address the dispute over the lower mass limit, and so it steered clear of the controversy regarding objects within the Solar System. This definition also makes no comment on the planetary status of objects orbiting brown dwarfs, such as 2M1207b.\n\nOne definition of a sub-brown dwarf is a planet-mass object that formed through cloud collapse rather than accretion. This formation distinction between a sub-brown dwarf and a planet is not universally agreed upon; astronomers are divided into two camps as whether to consider the formation process of a planet as part of its division in classification. One reason for the dissent is that often it may not be possible to determine the formation process. For example, a planet formed by accretion around a star may get ejected from the system to become free-floating, and likewise a sub-brown dwarf that formed on its own in a star cluster through cloud collapse may get captured into orbit around a star.\n\nThe 13 Jupiter-mass cutoff represents an average mass rather than a precise threshold value. Large objects will fuse most of their deuterium and smaller ones will fuse only a little, and the 13 value is somewhere in between. In fact, calculations show that an object fuses 50% of its initial deuterium content when the total mass ranges between 12 and 14 . The amount of deuterium fused depends not only on mass but also on the composition of the object, on the amount of helium and deuterium present. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia includes objects up to 25 Jupiter masses, saying, \"The fact that there is no special feature around 13 in the observed mass spectrum reinforces the choice to forget this mass limit.\" The Exoplanet Data Explorer includes objects up to 24 Jupiter masses with the advisory: \"The 13 Jupiter-mass distinction by the IAU Working Group is physically unmotivated for planets with rocky cores, and observationally problematic due to the sin i ambiguity.\"\nThe NASA Exoplanet Archive includes objects with a mass (or minimum mass) equal to or less than 30 Jupiter masses. \n\nAnother criterion for separating planets and brown dwarfs, rather than deuterium fusion, formation process or location, is whether the core pressure is dominated by coulomb pressure or electron degeneracy pressure. \n\n2006 IAU definition of planet \n\nThe matter of the lower limit was addressed during the 2006 meeting of the IAU's General Assembly. After much debate and one failed proposal, 232 members of the 10,000 member assembly, who nevertheless constituted a large majority of those remaining at the meeting, voted to pass a resolution. The 2006 resolution defines planets within the Solar System as follows:\n\nUnder this definition, the Solar System is considered to have eight planets. Bodies that fulfill the first two conditions but not the third (such as Ceres, Pluto, and Eris) are classified as dwarf planets, provided they are not also natural satellites of other planets. Originally an IAU committee had proposed a definition that would have included a much larger number of planets as it did not include (c) as a criterion. After much discussion, it was decided via a vote that those bodies should instead be classified as dwarf planets. \n\nThis definition is based in theories of planetary formation, in which planetary embryos initially clear their orbital neighborhood of other smaller objects. As described by astronomer Steven Soter: \n\n\"The end product of secondary disk accretion is a small number of relatively large bodies (planets) in either non-intersecting or resonant orbits, which prevent collisions between them. Minor planets and comets, including KBOs [Kuiper belt objects], differ from planets in that they can collide with each other and with planets.\"\n\nThe 2006 IAU definition presents some challenges for exoplanets because the language is specific to the Solar System and because the criteria of roundness and orbital zone clearance are not presently observable. Astronomer Jean-Luc Margot proposed a mathematical criterion that determines whether an object can clear its orbit during the lifetime of its host star, based on the mass of the planet, its semimajor axis, and the mass of its host star. This formula produces a value π that is greater than 1 for planets. The eight known planets and all known exoplanets have π values above 100, while Ceres, Pluto, and Eris have π values of 0.1 or less. Objects with π values of 1 or more are also expected to be approximately spherical, so that objects that fulfill the orbital zone clearance requirement automatically fulfill the roundness requirement.\n\nObjects formerly considered planets \n\nThe table below lists Solar System bodies once considered to be planets.\n\nBeyond the scientific community, Pluto still holds cultural significance for many in the general public due to its historical classification as a planet from 1930 to 2006. A few astronomers, such as Alan Stern, consider dwarf planets and the larger moons to be planets, based on a purely geophysical definition of planet.\n\nMythology and naming \n\nThe names for the planets in the Western world are derived from the naming practices of the Romans, which ultimately derive from those of the Greeks and the Babylonians. In ancient Greece, the two great luminaries the Sun and the Moon were called Helios and Selene; the farthest planet (Saturn) was called Phainon, the shiner; followed by Phaethon (Jupiter), \"bright\"; the red planet (Mars) was known as Pyroeis, the \"fiery\"; the brightest (Venus) was known as Phosphoros, the light bringer; and the fleeting final planet (Mercury) was called Stilbon, the gleamer. The Greeks also made each planet sacred to one among their pantheon of gods, the Olympians: Helios and Selene were the names of both planets and gods; Phainon was sacred to Cronus, the Titan who fathered the Olympians; Phaethon was sacred to Zeus, Cronus's son who deposed him as king; Pyroeis was given to Ares, son of Zeus and god of war; Phosphoros was ruled by Aphrodite, the goddess of love; and Hermes, messenger of the gods and god of learning and wit, ruled over Stilbon. \n\nThe Greek practice of grafting of their gods' names onto the planets was almost certainly borrowed from the Babylonians. The Babylonians named Phosphoros after their goddess of love, Ishtar; Pyroeis after their god of war, Nergal, Stilbon after their god of wisdom Nabu, and Phaethon after their chief god, Marduk. There are too many concordances between Greek and Babylonian naming conventions for them to have arisen separately. The translation was not perfect. For instance, the Babylonian Nergal was a god of war, and thus the Greeks identified him with Ares. Unlike Ares, Nergal was also god of pestilence and the underworld. \n \nToday, most people in the western world know the planets by names derived from the Olympian pantheon of gods. Although modern Greeks still use their ancient names for the planets, other European languages, because of the influence of the Roman Empire and, later, the Catholic Church, use the Roman (Latin) names rather than the Greek ones. The Romans, who, like the Greeks, were Indo-Europeans, shared with them a common pantheon under different names but lacked the rich narrative traditions that Greek poetic culture had given their gods. During the later period of the Roman Republic, Roman writers borrowed much of the Greek narratives and applied them to their own pantheon, to the point where they became virtually indistinguishable. When the Romans studied Greek astronomy, they gave the planets their own gods' names: Mercurius (for Hermes), Venus (Aphrodite), Mars (Ares), Iuppiter (Zeus) and Saturnus (Cronus). When subsequent planets were discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, the naming practice was retained with Neptūnus (Poseidon). Uranus is unique in that it is named for a Greek deity rather than his Roman counterpart.\n\nSome Romans, following a belief possibly originating in Mesopotamia but developed in Hellenistic Egypt, believed that the seven gods after whom the planets were named took hourly shifts in looking after affairs on Earth. The order of shifts went Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon (from the farthest to the closest planet). Therefore, the first day was started by Saturn (1st hour), second day by Sun (25th hour), followed by Moon (49th hour), Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. Because each day was named by the god that started it, this is also the order of the days of the week in the Roman calendar after the Nundinal cycle was rejected – and still preserved in many modern languages. In English, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are straightforward translations of these Roman names. The other days were renamed after Tiw (Tuesday), Wóden (Wednesday), Thunor (Thursday), and Fríge (Friday), the Anglo-Saxon gods considered similar or equivalent to Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus, respectively.\n\nEarth is the only planet whose name in English is not derived from Greco-Roman mythology. Because it was only generally accepted as a planet in the 17th century, there is no tradition of naming it after a god. (The same is true, in English at least, of the Sun and the Moon, though they are no longer generally considered planets.) The name originates from the 8th century Anglo-Saxon word erda, which means ground or soil and was first used in writing as the name of the sphere of Earth perhaps around 1300. As with its equivalents in the other Germanic languages, it derives ultimately from the Proto-Germanic word ertho, \"ground\", as can be seen in the English earth, the German Erde, the Dutch aarde, and the Scandinavian jord. Many of the Romance languages retain the old Roman word terra (or some variation of it) that was used with the meaning of \"dry land\" as opposed to \"sea\". The non-Romance languages use their own native words. The Greeks retain their original name, Γή (Ge).\n\nNon-European cultures use other planetary-naming systems. India uses a system based on the Navagraha, which incorporates the seven traditional planets (Surya for the Sun, Chandra for the Moon, and Budha, Shukra, Mangala, Bṛhaspati| and Shani for Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) and the ascending and descending lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu. China and the countries of eastern Asia historically subject to Chinese cultural influence (such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam) use a naming system based on the five Chinese elements: water (Mercury), metal (Venus), fire (Mars), wood (Jupiter) and earth (Saturn). In traditional Hebrew astronomy, the seven traditional planets have (for the most part) descriptive names - the Sun is חמה Ḥammah or \"the hot one,\" the Moon is לבנה Levanah or \"the white one,\" Venus is כוכב נוגה Kokhav Nogah or \"the bright planet,\" Mercury is כוכב Kokhav or \"the planet\" (given its lack of distinguishing features), Mars is מאדים Ma'adim or \"the red one,\" and Saturn is שבתאי Shabbatai or \"the resting one\" (in reference to its slow movement compared to the other visible planets). The odd one out is Jupiter, called צדק Tzedeq or \"justice.\" Steiglitz suggests that this may be a euphemism for the original name of כוכב בעל Kokhav Ba'al or \"Baal's planet,\" seen as idolatrous and euphemized in a similar manner to Ishbosheth from II Samuel \n\nFormation \n\nIt is not known with certainty how planets are formed. The prevailing theory is that they are formed during the collapse of a nebula into a thin disk of gas and dust. A protostar forms at the core, surrounded by a rotating protoplanetary disk. Through accretion (a process of sticky collision) dust particles in the disk steadily accumulate mass to form ever-larger bodies. Local concentrations of mass known as planetesimals form, and these accelerate the accretion process by drawing in additional material by their gravitational attraction. These concentrations become ever denser until they collapse inward under gravity to form protoplanets. After a planet reaches a mass somewhat larger than Mars' mass, it begins to accumulate an extended atmosphere, greatly increasing the capture rate of the planetesimals by means of atmospheric drag. Depending on the accretion history of solids and gas, a giant planet, an ice giant, or a terrestrial planet may result. \n\nWhen the protostar has grown such that it ignites to form a star, the surviving disk is removed from the inside outward by photoevaporation, the solar wind, Poynting–Robertson drag and other effects. Thereafter there still may be many protoplanets orbiting the star or each other, but over time many will collide, either to form a single larger planet or release material for other larger protoplanets or planets to absorb. Those objects that have become massive enough will capture most matter in their orbital neighbourhoods to become planets. Protoplanets that have avoided collisions may become natural satellites of planets through a process of gravitational capture, or remain in belts of other objects to become either dwarf planets or small bodies.\n\nThe energetic impacts of the smaller planetesimals (as well as radioactive decay) will heat up the growing planet, causing it to at least partially melt. The interior of the planet begins to differentiate by mass, developing a denser core. Smaller terrestrial planets lose most of their atmospheres because of this accretion, but the lost gases can be replaced by outgassing from the mantle and from the subsequent impact of comets. (Smaller planets will lose any atmosphere they gain through various escape mechanisms.)\n\nWith the discovery and observation of planetary systems around stars other than the Sun, it is becoming possible to elaborate, revise or even replace this account. The level of metallicity—an astronomical term describing the abundance of chemical elements with an atomic number greater than 2 (helium)—is now thought to determine the likelihood that a star will have planets. Hence, it is thought that a metal-rich population I star will likely have a more substantial planetary system than a metal-poor, population II star.\n\nSolar System \n\nThere are eight planets in the Solar System, which are in increasing distance from the Sun:\n\n# Mercury\n# Venus\n# Earth\n# Mars\n# Jupiter\n# Saturn\n# Uranus\n# Neptune\n\nJupiter is the largest, at 318 Earth masses, whereas Mercury is the smallest, at 0.055 Earth masses.\n\nThe planets of the Solar System can be divided into categories based on their composition:\n* Terrestrials: Planets that are similar to Earth, with bodies largely composed of rock: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. At 0.055 Earth masses, Mercury is the smallest terrestrial planet (and smallest planet) in the Solar System. Earth is the largest terrestrial planet.\n* Giant planets (Jovians): Massive planets significantly more massive than the terrestrials: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.\n** Gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, are giant planets primarily composed of hydrogen and helium and are the most massive planets in the Solar System. Jupiter, at 318 Earth masses, is the largest planet in the Solar System, and Saturn is one third as massive, at 95 Earth masses.\n** Ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, are primarily composed of low-boiling-point materials such as water, methane, and ammonia, with thick atmospheres of hydrogen and helium. They have a significantly lower mass than the gas giants (only 14 and 17 Earth masses).\n\nPlanetary attributes \n\nExoplanets \n\nAn exoplanet (extrasolar planet) is a planet outside the Solar System. More than 2000 such planets have been discovered \n( planets in planetary systems including multiple planetary systems as of ).\n\nIn early 1992, radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12. This discovery was confirmed, and is generally considered to be the first definitive detection of exoplanets. These pulsar planets are believed to have formed from the unusual remnants of the supernova that produced the pulsar, in a second round of planet formation, or else to be the remaining rocky cores of giant planets that survived the supernova and then decayed into their current orbits.\n\nThe first confirmed discovery of an extrasolar planet orbiting an ordinary main-sequence star occurred on 6 October 1995, when Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the University of Geneva announced the detection of an exoplanet around 51 Pegasi. From then until the Kepler mission most known extrasolar planets were gas giants comparable in mass to Jupiter or larger as they were more easily detected. The catalog of Kepler candidate planets consists mostly of planets the size of Neptune and smaller, down to smaller than Mercury.\n\nThere are types of planets that do not exist in the Solar System: super-Earths and mini-Neptunes, which could be rocky like Earth or a mixture of volatiles and gas like Neptune—a radius of 1.75 times that of Earth is a possible dividing line between the two types of planet. There are hot Jupiters that orbit very close to their star and may evaporate to become chthonian planets, which are the leftover cores. Another possible type of planet is carbon planets, which form in systems with a higher proportion of carbon than in the Solar System.\n\nA 2012 study, analyzing gravitational microlensing data, estimates an average of at least 1.6 bound planets for every star in the Milky Way.\n\nOn December 20, 2011, the Kepler Space Telescope team reported the discovery of the first Earth-size exoplanets, Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, orbiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-20.\n\nAround 1 in 5 Sun-likeFor the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, \"Sun-like\" means G-type star. Data for Sun-like stars wasn't available so this statistic is an extrapolation from data about K-type stars stars have an \"Earth-sized\"For the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, Earth-sized means 1–2 Earth radii planet in the habitableFor the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, \"habitable zone\" means the region with 0.25 to 4 times Earth's stellar flux (corresponding to 0.5–2 AU for the Sun). zone, so the nearest would be expected to be within 12 light-years distance from Earth.\n \nThe frequency of occurrence of such terrestrial planets is one of the variables in the Drake equation, which estimates the number of intelligent, communicating civilizations that exist in the Milky Way. \n\nThere are exoplanets that are much closer to their parent star than any planet in the Solar System is to the Sun, and there are also exoplanets that are much farther from their star. Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun at 0.4 AU, takes 88-days for an orbit, but the shortest known orbits for exoplanets take only a few hours, e.g. Kepler-70b. The Kepler-11 system has five of its planets in shorter orbits than Mercury's, all of them much more massive than Mercury. Neptune is 30 AU from the Sun and takes 165 years to orbit, but there are exoplanets that are hundreds of AU from their star and take more than a thousand years to orbit, e.g. 1RXS1609 b.\n\nThe next few space telescopes to study exoplanets are expected to be Gaia launched in December 2013, CHEOPS in 2017, TESS in 2017, and the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018.\n\nPlanetary-mass objects \n\nA planetary-mass object (PMO), planemo , or planetary body is a celestial object with a mass that falls within the range of the definition of a planet: massive enough to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium (to be rounded under its own gravity), but not enough to sustain core fusion like a star. By definition, all planets are planetary-mass objects, but the purpose of this term is to refer to objects that do not conform to typical expectations for a planet. These include dwarf planets, which are rounded by their own gravity but not massive enough to clear their own orbit, the larger moons, and free-floating planemos, which may have been ejected from a system (rogue planets) or formed through cloud-collapse rather than accretion (sometimes called sub-brown dwarfs).\n\nRogue planets \n\nSeveral computer simulations of stellar and planetary system formation have suggested that some objects of planetary mass would be ejected into interstellar space. Some scientists have argued that such objects found roaming in deep space should be classed as \"planets\", although others have suggested that they should be called low-mass brown dwarfs. \n\nSub-brown dwarfs \n\nStars form via the gravitational collapse of gas clouds, but smaller objects can also form via cloud-collapse. Planetary-mass objects formed this way are sometimes called sub-brown dwarfs. Sub-brown dwarfs may be free-floating such as Cha 110913-773444 and OTS 44, or orbiting a larger object such as 2MASS J04414489+2301513.\n\nBinary systems of sub-brown dwarfs are theoretically possible; Oph 162225-240515 was initially thought to be a binary system of a brown dwarf of 14 Jupiter masses and a sub-brown dwarf of 7 Jupiter masses, but further observations revised the estimated masses upwards to greater than 13 Jupiter masses, making them brown dwarfs according to the IAU working definitions. \n\nFormer stars \n\nIn close binary star systems one of the stars can lose mass to a heavier companion. Accretion-powered pulsars may drive mass loss. The shrinking star can then become a planetary-mass object. An example is a Jupiter-mass object orbiting the pulsar PSR J1719-1438. These shrunken white dwarfs may become a helium planet or carbon planet.\n\nSatellite planets and belt planets \n\nSome large satellites are of similar size or larger than the planet Mercury, e.g. Jupiter's Galilean moons and Titan. Alan Stern has argued that location should not matter and that only geophysical attributes should be taken into account in the definition of a planet, and proposes the term satellite planet for a planet-sized satellite. Likewise, dwarf planets in the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt should be considered planets according to Stern. \n\nCaptured planets \n\nFree-floating planets in stellar clusters have similar velocities to the stars and so can be recaptured. They are typically captured into wide orbits between 100 and 105 AU. The capture efficiency decreases with increasing cluster volume, and for a given cluster size it increases with the host/primary mass. It is almost independent of the planetary mass. Single and multiple planets could be captured into arbitrary unaligned orbits, non-coplanar with each other or with the stellar host spin, or pre-existing planetary system. \n\nAttributes \n\nAlthough each planet has unique physical characteristics, a number of broad commonalities do exist among them. Some of these characteristics, such as rings or natural satellites, have only as yet been observed in planets in the Solar System, whereas others are also commonly observed in extrasolar planets.\n\nDynamic characteristics \n\nOrbit \n\nAccording to current definitions, all planets must revolve around stars; thus, any potential \"rogue planets\" are excluded. In the Solar System, all the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction as the Sun rotates (counter-clockwise as seen from above the Sun's north pole). At least one extrasolar planet, WASP-17b, has been found to orbit in the opposite direction to its star's rotation. The period of one revolution of a planet's orbit is known as its sidereal period or year. A planet's year depends on its distance from its star; the farther a planet is from its star, not only the longer the distance it must travel, but also the slower its speed, because it is less affected by its star's gravity. No planet's orbit is perfectly circular, and hence the distance of each varies over the course of its year. The closest approach to its star is called its periastron (perihelion in the Solar System), whereas its farthest separation from the star is called its apastron (aphelion). As a planet approaches periastron, its speed increases as it trades gravitational potential energy for kinetic energy, just as a falling object on Earth accelerates as it falls; as the planet reaches apastron, its speed decreases, just as an object thrown upwards on Earth slows down as it reaches the apex of its trajectory. \n\nEach planet's orbit is delineated by a set of elements:\n* The eccentricity of an orbit describes how elongated a planet's orbit is. Planets with low eccentricities have more circular orbits, whereas planets with high eccentricities have more elliptical orbits. The planets in the Solar System have very low eccentricities, and thus nearly circular orbits. Comets and Kuiper belt objects (as well as several extrasolar planets) have very high eccentricities, and thus exceedingly elliptical orbits. \n* The semi-major axis is the distance from a planet to the half-way point along the longest diameter of its elliptical orbit (see image). This distance is not the same as its apastron, because no planet's orbit has its star at its exact centre.\n* The inclination of a planet tells how far above or below an established reference plane its orbit lies. In the Solar System, the reference plane is the plane of Earth's orbit, called the ecliptic. For extrasolar planets, the plane, known as the sky plane or plane of the sky, is the plane perpendicular to the observer's line of sight from Earth. The eight planets of the Solar System all lie very close to the ecliptic; comets and Kuiper belt objects like Pluto are at far more extreme angles to it. The points at which a planet crosses above and below its reference plane are called its ascending and descending nodes. The longitude of the ascending node is the angle between the reference plane's 0 longitude and the planet's ascending node. The argument of periapsis (or perihelion in the Solar System) is the angle between a planet's ascending node and its closest approach to its star.\n\nAxial tilt \n\nPlanets also have varying degrees of axial tilt; they lie at an angle to the plane of their stars' equators. This causes the amount of light received by each hemisphere to vary over the course of its year; when the northern hemisphere points away from its star, the southern hemisphere points towards it, and vice versa. Each planet therefore has seasons, changes to the climate over the course of its year. The time at which each hemisphere points farthest or nearest from its star is known as its solstice. Each planet has two in the course of its orbit; when one hemisphere has its summer solstice, when its day is longest, the other has its winter solstice, when its day is shortest. The varying amount of light and heat received by each hemisphere creates annual changes in weather patterns for each half of the planet. Jupiter's axial tilt is very small, so its seasonal variation is minimal; Uranus, on the other hand, has an axial tilt so extreme it is virtually on its side, which means that its hemispheres are either perpetually in sunlight or perpetually in darkness around the time of its solstices. Among extrasolar planets, axial tilts are not known for certain, though most hot Jupiters are believed to have negligible to no axial tilt as a result of their proximity to their stars. \n\nRotation \n\nThe planets rotate around invisible axes through their centres. A planet's rotation period is known as a stellar day. Most of the planets in the Solar System rotate in the same direction as they orbit the Sun, which is counter-clockwise as seen from above the Sun's north pole, the exceptions being Venus and Uranus, which rotate clockwise, though Uranus's extreme axial tilt means there are differing conventions on which of its poles is \"north\", and therefore whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise. Regardless of which convention is used, Uranus has a retrograde rotation relative to its orbit.\n\nThe rotation of a planet can be induced by several factors during formation. A net angular momentum can be induced by the individual angular momentum contributions of accreted objects. The accretion of gas by the giant planets can also contribute to the angular momentum. Finally, during the last stages of planet building, a stochastic process of protoplanetary accretion can randomly alter the spin axis of the planet. There is great variation in the length of day between the planets, with Venus taking 243 days to rotate, and the giant planets only a few hours. The rotational periods of extrasolar planets are not known. However, for \"hot\" Jupiters, their proximity to their stars means that they are tidally locked (i.e., their orbits are in sync with their rotations). This means, they always show one face to their stars, with one side in perpetual day, the other in perpetual night. \n\nOrbital clearing \n\nThe defining dynamic characteristic of a planet is that it has cleared its neighborhood. A planet that has cleared its neighborhood has accumulated enough mass to gather up or sweep away all the planetesimals in its orbit. In effect, it orbits its star in isolation, as opposed to sharing its orbit with a multitude of similar-sized objects. This characteristic was mandated as part of the IAU's official definition of a planet in August, 2006. This criterion excludes such planetary bodies as Pluto, Eris and Ceres from full-fledged planethood, making them instead dwarf planets. Although to date this criterion only applies to the Solar System, a number of young extrasolar systems have been found in which evidence suggests orbital clearing is taking place within their circumstellar discs. \n\nPhysical characteristics \n\nMass \n\nA planet's defining physical characteristic is that it is massive enough for the force of its own gravity to dominate over the electromagnetic forces binding its physical structure, leading to a state of hydrostatic equilibrium. This effectively means that all planets are spherical or spheroidal. Up to a certain mass, an object can be irregular in shape, but beyond that point, which varies depending on the chemical makeup of the object, gravity begins to pull an object towards its own centre of mass until the object collapses into a sphere. \n\nMass is also the prime attribute by which planets are distinguished from stars. The upper mass limit for planethood is roughly 13 times Jupiter's mass for objects with solar-type isotopic abundance, beyond which it achieves conditions suitable for nuclear fusion. Other than the Sun, no objects of such mass exist in the Solar System; but there are exoplanets of this size. The 13-Jupiter-mass limit is not universally agreed upon and the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia includes objects up to 20 Jupiter masses, and the Exoplanet Data Explorer up to 24 Jupiter masses. \n\nThe smallest known planet is PSR B1257+12A, one of the first extrasolar planets discovered, which was found in 1992 in orbit around a pulsar. Its mass is roughly half that of the planet Mercury. The smallest known planet orbiting a main-sequence star other than the Sun is Kepler-37b, with a mass (and radius) slightly higher than that of the Moon.\n\nInternal differentiation \n\nEvery planet began its existence in an entirely fluid state; in early formation, the denser, heavier materials sank to the centre, leaving the lighter materials near the surface. Each therefore has a differentiated interior consisting of a dense planetary core surrounded by a mantle that either is or was a fluid. The terrestrial planets are sealed within hard crusts, but in the giant planets the mantle simply blends into the upper cloud layers. The terrestrial planets have cores of elements such as iron and nickel, and mantles of silicates. Jupiter and Saturn are believed to have cores of rock and metal surrounded by mantles of metallic hydrogen. Uranus and Neptune, which are smaller, have rocky cores surrounded by mantles of water, ammonia, methane and other ices. The fluid action within these planets' cores creates a geodynamo that generates a magnetic field.\n\nAtmosphere \n\nAll of the Solar System planets except Mercury have substantial atmospheres because their gravity is strong enough to keep gases close to the surface. The larger giant planets are massive enough to keep large amounts of the light gases hydrogen and helium, whereas the smaller planets lose these gases into space. The composition of Earth's atmosphere is different from the other planets because the various life processes that have transpired on the planet have introduced free molecular oxygen. \n\nPlanetary atmospheres are affected by the varying insolation or internal energy, leading to the formation of dynamic weather systems such as hurricanes, (on Earth), planet-wide dust storms (on Mars), a greater-than-Earth-sized anticyclone on Jupiter (called the Great Red Spot), and holes in the atmosphere (on Neptune). At least one extrasolar planet, HD 189733 b, has been claimed to have such a weather system, similar to the Great Red Spot but twice as large. \n\nHot Jupiters, due to their extreme proximities to their host stars, have been shown to be losing their atmospheres into space due to stellar radiation, much like the tails of comets. These planets may have vast differences in temperature between their day and night sides that produce supersonic winds, although the day and night sides of HD 189733 b appear to have very similar temperatures, indicating that that planet's atmosphere effectively redistributes the star's energy around the planet.\n\nMagnetosphere \n\nOne important characteristic of the planets is their intrinsic magnetic moments, which in turn give rise to magnetospheres. The presence of a magnetic field indicates that the planet is still geologically alive. In other words, magnetized planets have flows of electrically conducting material in their interiors, which generate their magnetic fields. These fields significantly change the interaction of the planet and solar wind. A magnetized planet creates a cavity in the solar wind around itself called the magnetosphere, which the wind cannot penetrate. The magnetosphere can be much larger than the planet itself. In contrast, non-magnetized planets have only small magnetospheres induced by interaction of the ionosphere with the solar wind, which cannot effectively protect the planet.\n\nOf the eight planets in the Solar System, only Venus and Mars lack such a magnetic field. In addition, the moon of Jupiter Ganymede also has one. Of the magnetized planets the magnetic field of Mercury is the weakest, and is barely able to deflect the solar wind. Ganymede's magnetic field is several times larger, and Jupiter's is the strongest in the Solar System (so strong in fact that it poses a serious health risk to future manned missions to its moons). The magnetic fields of the other giant planets are roughly similar in strength to that of Earth, but their magnetic moments are significantly larger. The magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune are strongly tilted relative the rotational axis and displaced from the centre of the planet. \n\nIn 2004, a team of astronomers in Hawaii observed an extrasolar planet around the star HD 179949, which appeared to be creating a sunspot on the surface of its parent star. The team hypothesized that the planet's magnetosphere was transferring energy onto the star's surface, increasing its already high 7,760 °C temperature by an additional 400 °C. \n\nSecondary characteristics \n\nSeveral planets or dwarf planets in the Solar System (such as Neptune and Pluto) have orbital periods that are in resonance with each other or with smaller bodies (this is also common in satellite systems). All except Mercury and Venus have natural satellites, often called \"moons\". Earth has one, Mars has two, and the giant planets have numerous moons in complex planetary-type systems. Many moons of the giant planets have features similar to those on the terrestrial planets and dwarf planets, and some have been studied as possible abodes of life (especially Europa). \n\nThe four giant planets are also orbited by planetary rings of varying size and complexity. The rings are composed primarily of dust or particulate matter, but can host tiny 'moonlets' whose gravity shapes and maintains their structure. Although the origins of planetary rings is not precisely known, they are believed to be the result of natural satellites that fell below their parent planet's Roche limit and were torn apart by tidal forces. \n\nNo secondary characteristics have been observed around extrasolar planets. The sub-brown dwarf Cha 110913-773444, which has been described as a rogue planet, is believed to be orbited by a tiny protoplanetary disc and the sub-brown dwarf OTS 44 was shown to be surrounded by a substantial protoplanetary disk of at least 10 Earth masses.",
"Day.txt\nDay\nA day is a unit of time. In common usage, it is either an interval equal to 24 hours or daytime, the consecutive period of time during which the Sun is above the horizon. The period of time during which the Earth completes one rotation with respect to the Sun is called a solar day. Several definitions of this universal human concept are used according to context, need and convenience. In 1960, the second was redefined in terms of the orbital motion of the Earth, and was designated the SI base unit of time. The unit of measurement \"day\", redefined in 1960 as 86 400 SI seconds and symbolized d, is not an SI unit, but is accepted for use with SI. A civil day is usually 86 400 seconds, plus or minus a possible leap second in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and occasionally plus or minus an hour in those locations that change from or to daylight saving time. The word day may also refer to a day of the week or to a calendar date, as in answer to the question \"On which day?\" The life patterns of humans and many other species are related to Earth's solar day and the day-night cycle (see circadian rhythms).\n\nIn recent decades the average length of a solar day on Earth has been about 86 400.002 seconds (24.000 000 6 hours) and there are about 365.242 2 solar days in one mean tropical year. Because celestial orbits are not perfectly circular, and thus objects travel at different speeds at various positions in their orbit, a solar day is not the same length of time throughout the orbital year. A day, understood as the span of time it takes for the Earth to make one entire rotation \nwith respect to the celestial background or a distant star (assumed to be fixed), is called a stellar day. This period of rotation is about 4 minutes less than 24 hours (23 hours 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds) and there are about 366.242 2 stellar days in one mean tropical year (one stellar day more than the number of solar days). Mainly due to tidal effects, the Earth's rotational period is not constant, resulting in further minor variations for both solar days and stellar \"days\". Other planets and moons have stellar and solar days of different lengths to Earth's.\n\nIntroduction \n\nBesides the day of 24 hours (86 400 seconds), the word day is used for several different spans of time based on the rotation of the Earth around its axis. An important one is the solar day, defined as the time it takes for the Sun to return to its culmination point (its highest point in the sky). Because the Earth orbits the Sun elliptically as the Earth spins on an inclined axis, this period can be up to 7.9 seconds more than (or less than) 24 hours. On average over the year this day is equivalent to 24 hours (86 400 seconds).\n\nA day, in the sense of daytime that is distinguished from night-time, is commonly defined as the period during which sunlight directly reaches the ground, assuming that there are no local obstacles. The length of daytime averages slightly more than half of the 24-hour day. Two effects make daytime on average longer than nights. The Sun is not a point, but has an apparent size of about 32 minutes of arc. Additionally, the atmosphere refracts sunlight in such a way that some of it reaches the ground even when the Sun is below the horizon by about 34 minutes of arc. So the first light reaches the ground when the centre of the Sun is still below the horizon by about 50 minutes of arc. The difference in time depends on the angle at which the Sun rises and sets (itself a function of latitude), but can amount to around seven minutes.\n\nAncient custom has a new day start at either the rising or setting of the Sun on the local horizon (Italian reckoning, for example). The exact moment of, and the interval between, two sunrises or sunsets depends on the geographical position (longitude as well as latitude), and the time of year (as indicated by ancient hemispherical sundials).\n\nA more constant day can be defined by the Sun passing through the local meridian, which happens at local noon (upper culmination) or midnight (lower culmination). The exact moment is dependent on the geographical longitude, and to a lesser extent on the time of the year. The length of such a day is nearly constant (24 hours ± 30 seconds). This is the time as indicated by modern sundials.\n\nA further improvement defines a fictitious mean Sun that moves with constant speed along the celestial equator; the speed is the same as the average speed of the real Sun, but this removes the variation over a year as the Earth moves along its orbit around the Sun (due to both its velocity and its axial tilt).\n\nThe Earth's day has increased in length over time. This phenomenon is due to tides raised by the Moon which slow Earth's rotation. Because of the way the second is defined, the mean length of a day is now about 86 400.002 seconds, and is increasing by about 1.7 milliseconds per century (an average over the last 2 700 years). (See tidal acceleration for details.) The length of a day circa 620 million years ago has been estimated from rhythmites (alternating layers in sandstone) as having been about 21.9 hours. The length of day for the Earth before the moon was created is still unknown.\n\nEtymology \n\nThe term comes from the Old English dæg, with its cognates such as dagur in Icelandic, Tag in German, and dag in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Dutch. All of them from the Indo-European root dyau which explains the similarity with Latin dies though the word is known to come from the Germanic branch. As of October 17, 2015, day is the 205th most common word in US English, and the 210th most common in UK English.\n\nInternational System of Units (SI) \n\nA day, symbol d, is defined as 86 400 seconds. The Second is the base unit of time in SI units.\n\nA day according to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) can include a negative or positive leap second, and can therefore have a length of either 86 399 or 86 401 seconds.\n\nIn 1967–68, during the 13th CGPM (Resolution 1), the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) redefined a second as … the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom. \nThis makes the SI-based day last exactly 794 243 384 928 000 of those periods.\n\nDecimal and metric time \n\nIn the 19th century, an idea circulated to make a decimal fraction ( or ) of an astronomical day the base unit of time. This was an afterglow of the short-lived movement toward a decimalisation of timekeeping and the calendar, which had been given up already due to its difficulty in transitioning from traditional, more familiar units. The most successful alternative is the centiday, equal to 14.4 minutes (864 seconds), being not only a shorter multiple of an hour (0.24 vs 2.4) but also closer to the SI multiple kilosecond (1 000 seconds) and equal to the traditional Chinese unit, ke.\n\nColloquial \n\nThe word refers to various similarly defined ideas, such as:\n* 24 hours (exactly)\n* The period of light when the Sun is above the local horizon (that is, the time period from sunrise to sunset)\n* The full day covering both the dark and light periods, beginning from the start of the dark period or from a point near the middle of the dark period\n* A full dark and light period, sometimes called a nychthemeron in English, from the Greek for night-day\n* The time period from 06:00–18:00 (6:00 am – 6:00 pm) or 21:00 (9:00 pm) or another fixed clock period overlapping or offset from other time periods such as \"morning\", \"evening\", or \"night\".\n* The time period from first-light \"dawn\" to last-light \"twilight\".\n\nCivil day \n\nFor civil purposes, a common clock time is typically defined for an entire region based on the local mean solar time at a central meridian. Such time zones began to be adopted about the middle of the 19th century when railroads with regularly occurring schedules came into use, with most major countries having adopted them by 1929. As of 2015, throughout the world, 40 such zones are now in use: the central zone, from which all others are defined as offsets, is known as UTC±00, which uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).\n\nThe most common convention starts the civil day at midnight: this is near the time of the lower culmination of the Sun on the central meridian of the time zone. Such a day may be referred to as a calendar day.\n \nA day is commonly divided into 24 hours of 60 minutes, with each minute composed of 60 seconds.\n\nLeap seconds \n\nIn order to keep the civil day aligned with the apparent movement of the Sun, positive or negative leap seconds may be inserted from time to time. Therefore, although typically 86 400 SI seconds in duration, a civil day can be either 86 401 or 86 399 SI seconds long on such a day.\n\nLeap seconds are announced in advance by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), which measures the Earth's rotation and determines whether a leap second is necessary. Leap seconds occur only at the end of a UTC-calculated month, and have only ever been inserted at the end of June 30 or December 31.\n\nBoundaries \n\nFor most diurnal animals, the day naturally begins at dawn and ends at sunset. Humans, with their cultural norms and scientific knowledge, have employed several different conceptions of the day's boundaries. The Jewish day begins at either sunset or nightfall (when three second-magnitude stars appear). Medieval Europe also followed this tradition, known as Florentine reckoning: in this system, a reference like \"two hours into the day\" meant two hours after sunset and thus times during the evening need to be shifted back one calendar day in modern reckoning. Days such as Christmas Eve, Halloween, and the Eve of Saint Agnes are remnants of the older pattern when holidays began during the prior evening. Common convention in modern times is for the civil day to begin at midnight, i.e. 00:00, and last a full 24 hours until 24:00 (i.e. 00:00 of the next day). Prior to 1926, Turkey had two time systems: Turkish (counting the hours from sunset) and French (counting the hours from midnight).\n\nIn ancient Egypt, the day was reckoned from sunrise to sunrise. Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset each day during the month of Ramadan. The \"Damascus Document\", copies of which were also found among the Dead Sea scrolls, states regarding the observance of the Sabbath that \"No one is to do any work on Friday from the moment that the Sun's disk stands distant from the horizon by the length of its own diameter,\" presumably indicating that the monastic community responsible for producing this work counted the day as ending shortly before the Sun had begun to set. \n\nIn many cultures, nights are named after the previous day. For example,\"Friday night\" usually means the entire night between Friday and Saturday. This difference from the civil day often leads to confusion. Events starting at midnight are often announced as occurring the day before. TV-guides tend to list nightly programs at the previous day, although programming a VCR requires the strict logic of starting the new day at 00:00 (to further confuse the issue, VCRs set to the 12-hour clock notation will label this \"12:00 AM\"). Expressions like \"today\", \"yesterday\" and \"tomorrow\" become ambiguous during the night. Because Jews and Muslims begin their days at nightfall, \"Saturday\" (Arabic word) night, for example, is what most people would call Friday night.\n\nValidity of tickets, passes, etc., for a day or a number of days may end at midnight, or closing time, when that is earlier. However, if a service (e.g., public transport) operates from for example, 6:00 to 1:00 the next day (which may be noted as 25:00), the last hour may well count as being part of the previous day. For services depending on the day (\"closed on Sundays\", \"does not run on Fridays\", and so on) there is a risk of ambiguity. For example, a day ticket on the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) is valid for 28 hours, from 0:00 to 28:00 (that is, 4:00 the next day); the validity of a pass on Transport for London (TfL) services is until the end of the \"transport day\"—that is to say, until 4:30 am on the day after the \"expiry\" date stamped on the pass.\n\n24 hours vs daytime \n\nTo distinguish between a full day and daytime, the word nychthemeron (from Greek for a night and a day) may be used in English for the former, or more colloquially the term . In other languages, the latter is also often used. Other languages also have a separate word for a full day, such as vuorokausi in Finnish, ööpäev in Estonian, dygn in Swedish, døgn in Danish, døgn in Norwegian, sólarhringur in Icelandic, etmaal in Dutch, doba in Polish, сутки (sutki) in Russian, суткі (sutki) in Belarusian, доба́ (doba) in Ukrainian, денонощие in Bulgarian and יממה in Hebrew. In Italian, giorno is used to indicate a full day, while dì means daytime. In ancient India, Ahoratra is used to represent a full day. In Spanish, singladura is used, but only as a marine unit of length, being the distance covered in 24 hours.",
"Moon.txt\nMoon\nThe Moon is Earth's only permanent natural satellite. It is one of the largest natural satellites in the Solar System, and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits (its primary). It is the second-densest satellite among those whose densities are known (after Jupiter's satellite Io).\n\nThe Moon is thought to have formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, not long after Earth. There are several hypotheses for its origin; the most widely accepted explanation is that the Moon formed from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia.\n\nThe Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face, with its near side marked by dark volcanic maria that fill the spaces between the bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters. It is the second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earth's sky after the Sun, as measured by illuminance on Earth's surface. Its surface is actually dark (although it can appear a very bright white) with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt. Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have made the Moon an important cultural influence since ancient times on language, calendars, art, and mythology.\n\nThe Moon's gravitational influence produces the ocean tides, body tides, and the slight lengthening of the day. The Moon's current orbital distance is about thirty times the diameter of Earth, with its apparent size in the sky almost the same as that of the Sun, resulting in the Moon covering the Sun nearly precisely in total solar eclipse. This matching of apparent visual size will not continue in the far future. The Moon's linear distance from Earth is currently increasing at a rate of per year, but this rate is not constant.\n\nThe Soviet Union's Luna programme was the first to reach the Moon with unmanned spacecraft in 1959; the United States' NASA Apollo program achieved the only manned missions to date, beginning with the first manned lunar orbiting mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972, with the first being Apollo 11. These missions returned over 380 kg of lunar rocks, which have been used to develop a geological understanding of the Moon's origin, the formation of its internal structure, and its subsequent history. After the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the Moon has been visited only by unmanned spacecraft.\n\nName and etymology \n\nThe usual English proper name for Earth's natural satellite is \"the Moon\". The noun moon is derived from moone (around 1380), which developed from mone (1135), which is derived from Old English mōna (dating from before 725), which ultimately stems from Proto-Germanic *mǣnōn, like all Germanic language cognates. Occasionally, the name \"Luna\" is used, in poetry for a personified Moon, or in science fiction to distinguish it from other moons. \n\nThe principal modern English adjective pertaining to the Moon is lunar, derived from the Latin Luna. A less common adjective is selenic, derived from the Ancient Greek Selene (), from which is derived the prefix \"seleno-\" (as in selenography). Both the Greek Selene and the Roman goddess Diana were alternatively called Cynthia. The names Luna, Cynthia, and Selene are reflected in terminology for lunar orbits in words such as apolune, pericynthion, and selenocentric. The name Diana is connected to dies meaning 'day'.\n\nFormation \n\nSeveral mechanisms have been proposed for the Moon's formation years ago, some 30–50 million years after the origin of the Solar System. Recent research presented by Rick Carlson indicates a slightly lower age of between 4.40 and 4.45 billion years. \n These mechanisms included the fission of the Moon from Earth's crust through centrifugal force (which would require too great an initial spin of Earth), the gravitational capture of a pre-formed Moon (which would require an unfeasibly extended atmosphere of Earth to dissipate the energy of the passing Moon), and the co-formation of Earth and the Moon together in the primordial accretion disk (which does not explain the depletion of metals in the Moon). These hypotheses also cannot account for the high angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system. \n\nThe prevailing hypothesis today is that the Earth–Moon system formed as a result of a giant impact, where a Mars-sized body (named Theia) collided with the newly formed proto-Earth, blasting material into orbit around it that accreted to form the Moon. \n\nThis hypothesis perhaps best explains the evidence, although not perfectly. Eighteen months prior to an October 1984 conference on lunar origins, Bill Hartmann, Roger Phillips, and Jeff Taylor challenged fellow lunar scientists: \"You have eighteen months. Go back to your Apollo data, go back to your computer, do whatever you have to, but make up your mind. Don't come to our conference unless you have something to say about the Moon's birth.\" At the 1984 conference at Kona, Hawaii, the giant impact hypothesis emerged as the most popular. Before the conference, there were partisans of the three \"traditional\" theories, plus a few people who were starting to take the giant impact seriously, and there was a huge apathetic middle who didn’t think the debate would ever be resolved. Afterward there were essentially only two groups: the giant impact camp and the agnostics.\n\nGiant impacts are thought to have been common in the early Solar System. Computer simulations modelling a giant impact are consistent with measurements of the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system and the small size of the lunar core. These simulations also show that most of the Moon came from the impactor, not from the proto-Earth. However, more-recent tests suggest more of the Moon coalesced from Earth and not the impactor. Meteorites show that other inner Solar System bodies such as Mars and Vesta have very different oxygen and tungsten isotopic compositions to Earth, whereas Earth and the Moon have nearly identical isotopic compositions. Post-impact mixing of the vaporized material between the forming Earth and Moon could have equalized their isotopic compositions, although this is debated. \n\nThe large amount of energy released in the giant impact event and the subsequent re-accretion of material in Earth orbit would have melted the outer shell of Earth, forming a magma ocean. The newly formed Moon would also have had its own lunar magma ocean; estimates for its depth range from about to the entire radius of the Moon ().\n\nDespite its accuracy in explaining many lines of evidence, there are still some difficulties that are not fully explained by the giant impact hypothesis, most of them involving the Moon's composition. \n\nIn 2001, a team at the Carnegie Institute of Washington reported the most precise measurement of the isotopic signatures of lunar rocks. To their surprise, the team found that the rocks from the Apollo program carried an isotopic signature that was identical with rocks from Earth, and were different from almost all other bodies in the Solar System. Because most of the material that went into orbit to form the Moon was thought to come from Theia, this observation was unexpected. In 2007, researchers from the California Institute of Technology announced that there was less than a 1% chance that Theia and Earth had identical isotopic signatures. Published in 2012, an analysis of titanium isotopes in Apollo lunar samples showed that the Moon has the same composition as Earth, which conflicts with what is expected if the Moon formed far from Earth's orbit or from Theia. Variations on the giant impact hypothesis may explain this data.\n\nPhysical characteristics \n\nInternal structure \n\nThe Moon is a differentiated body: it has a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and core. The Moon has a solid iron-rich inner core with a radius of and a fluid outer core primarily made of liquid iron with a radius of roughly . Around the core is a partially molten boundary layer with a radius of about . This structure is thought to have developed through the fractional crystallization of a global magma ocean shortly after the Moon's formation 4.5 billion years ago. \nCrystallization of this magma ocean would have created a mafic mantle from the precipitation and sinking of the minerals olivine, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene; after about three-quarters of the magma ocean had crystallised, lower-density plagioclase minerals could form and float into a crust on top. The final liquids to crystallise would have been initially sandwiched between the crust and mantle, with a high abundance of incompatible and heat-producing elements.\nConsistent with this, geochemical mapping from orbit shows the crust is mostly anorthosite, and moon rock samples of the flood lavas erupted on the surface from partial melting in the mantle confirm the mafic mantle composition, which is more iron rich than that of Earth.\nGeophysical techniques suggest that the crust is on average circa thick.\n\nThe Moon is the second densest satellite in the Solar System after Io. However, the inner core of the Moon is small, with a radius of about or less, around 20% of the radius of the Moon. Its composition is not well constrained, but it is probably metallic iron alloyed with a small amount of sulfur and nickel; analyses of the Moon's time-variable rotation indicate that it is at least partly molten. \n\nSurface geology \n\nThe topography of the Moon has been measured with laser altimetry and stereo image analysis. The most visible topographic feature is the giant far-side South Pole–Aitken basin, some in diameter, the largest crater on the Moon and the second-largest confirmed impact crater in the Solar System. At deep, its floor is the lowest point on the surface of the Moon. The highest elevations on the surface of the Moon are located directly to the northeast, and it has been suggested that this area might have been thickened by the oblique formation impact of the South Pole–Aitken basin. Other large impact basins, such as Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Smythii, and Orientale, also possess regionally low elevations and elevated rims. The lunar far side is on average about higher than the near side.\n\nVolcanic features \n\nThe dark and relatively featureless lunar plains that can clearly be seen with the naked eye are called maria (Latin for \"seas\"; singular mare), because they were believed by ancient astronomers to be filled with water. They are now known to be vast solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. Although similar to terrestrial basalts, lunar basalts have more iron and no minerals altered by water. The majority of these lavas erupted or flowed into the depressions associated with impact basins. Several geologic provinces containing shield volcanoes and volcanic domes are found within the near side maria. \n\nAlmost all maria are on the near side of the Moon, covering 31% of the surface on the near side, compared with a few scattered patches on the far side covering only 2%. This is thought to be due to a concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side, seen on geochemical maps obtained by Lunar Prospectors gamma-ray spectrometer, which would have caused the underlying mantle to heat up, partially melt, rise to the surface and erupt. Most of the Moon's mare basalts erupted during the Imbrian period, 3.0–3.5 billion years ago, although some radiometrically dated samples are as old as 4.2 billion years. Until recently, the youngest eruptions, dated by crater counting, appeared to have been only 1.2 billion years ago. In 2006, a study of Ina, a tiny depression in Lacus Felicitatis, found jagged, relatively dust-free features that, due to the lack of erosion by infalling debris, appeared to be only 2 million years old. Moonquakes and releases of gas also indicate some continued lunar activity. In 2014 NASA announced \"widespread evidence of young lunar volcanism\" at 70 irregular mare patches identified by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, some less than 50 million years old. This raises the possibility of a much warmer lunar mantle than previously believed, at least on the near side where the deep crust is substantially warmer due to the greater concentration of radioactive elements. Just prior to this, evidence has been presented for 2–10 million years younger basaltic volcanism inside Lowell crater, Orientale basin, located in the transition zone between the near and far sides of the Moon. An initially hotter mantle and/or local enrichment of heat-producing elements in the mantle could be responsible for prolonged activities also on the far side in the Orientale basin. \n\nThe lighter-coloured regions of the Moon are called terrae, or more commonly highlands, because they are higher than most maria. They have been radiometrically dated to having formed 4.4 billion years ago, and may represent plagioclase cumulates of the lunar magma ocean. In contrast to Earth, no major lunar mountains are believed to have formed as a result of tectonic events. \n\nThe concentration of maria on the Near Side likely reflects the substantially thicker crust of the highlands of the Far Side, which may have formed in a slow-velocity impact of a second moon of Earth a few tens of millions of years after their formation. \n\nImpact craters \n\nThe other major geologic process that has affected the Moon's surface is impact cratering, with craters formed when asteroids and comets collide with the lunar surface. There are estimated to be roughly 300,000 craters wider than on the Moon's near side alone. Some of these are named for scholars, scientists, artists and explorers. The lunar geologic timescale is based on the most prominent impact events, including Nectaris, Imbrium, and Orientale, structures characterized by multiple rings of uplifted material, typically hundreds to thousands of kilometres in diameter and associated with a broad apron of ejecta deposits that form a regional stratigraphic horizon. The lack of an atmosphere, weather and recent geological processes mean that many of these craters are well-preserved. Although only a few multi-ring basins have been definitively dated, they are useful for assigning relative ages. Because impact craters accumulate at a nearly constant rate, counting the number of craters per unit area can be used to estimate the age of the surface. The radiometric ages of impact-melted rocks collected during the Apollo missions cluster between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years old: this has been used to propose a Late Heavy Bombardment of impacts.\n\nBlanketed on top of the Moon's crust is a highly comminuted (broken into ever smaller particles) and impact gardened surface layer called regolith, formed by impact processes. The finer regolith, the lunar soil of silicon dioxide glass, has a texture resembling snow and a scent resembling spent gunpowder. The regolith of older surfaces is generally thicker than for younger surfaces: it varies in thickness from in the highlands and in the maria. \nBeneath the finely comminuted regolith layer is the megaregolith, a layer of highly fractured bedrock many kilometres thick. \n\nLunar swirls \n\nLunar swirls are enigmatic features found across the Moon’s surface, which are characterized by having a high albedo, appearing optically immature (i.e. having the optical characteristics of a relatively young regolith), and (often) having a sinuous shape. Their curvilinear shape is often accentuated by low albedo regions that wind between the bright swirls.\n\nPresence of water \n\nLiquid water cannot persist on the lunar surface. When exposed to solar radiation, water quickly decomposes through a process known as photodissociation and is lost to space. However, since the 1960s, scientists have hypothesized that water ice may be deposited by impacting comets or possibly produced by the reaction of oxygen-rich lunar rocks, and hydrogen from solar wind, leaving traces of water which could possibly survive in cold, permanently shadowed craters at either pole on the Moon. Computer simulations suggest that up to of the surface may be in permanent shadow. The presence of usable quantities of water on the Moon is an important factor in rendering lunar habitation as a cost-effective plan; the alternative of transporting water from Earth would be prohibitively expensive.\n\nIn years since, signatures of water have been found to exist on the lunar surface. In 1994, the bistatic radar experiment located on the Clementine spacecraft, indicated the existence of small, frozen pockets of water close to the surface. However, later radar observations by Arecibo, suggest these findings may rather be rocks ejected from young impact craters. In 1998, the neutron spectrometer located on the Lunar Prospector spacecraft, indicated that high concentrations of hydrogen are present in the first meter of depth in the regolith near the polar regions. In 2008, an analysis of volcanic lava beads, brought back to Earth aboard Apollo 15, showed small amounts of water to exist in the interior of the beads.\n\nThe 2008 Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has since confirmed the existence of surface water ice, using the on-board Moon Mineralogy Mapper. The spectrometer observed absorption lines common to hydroxyl, in reflected sunlight, providing evidence of large quantities of water ice, on the lunar surface. The spacecraft showed that concentrations may possibly be as high as 1,000 ppm. In 2009, LCROSS sent a impactor into a permanently shadowed polar crater, and detected at least of water in a plume of ejected material. Another examination of the LCROSS data showed the amount of detected water to be closer to .\n\nIn May 2011, Erik Hauri et al. reported 615–1410 ppm water in melt inclusions in lunar sample 74220, the famous high-titanium \"orange glass soil\" of volcanic origin collected during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The inclusions were formed during explosive eruptions on the Moon approximately 3.7 billion years ago. This concentration is comparable with that of magma in Earth's upper mantle. Although of considerable selenological interest, Hauri's announcement affords little comfort to would-be lunar colonists—the sample originated many kilometers below the surface, and the inclusions are so difficult to access that it took 39 years to find them with a state-of-the-art ion microprobe instrument.\n\nGravitational field \n\nThe gravitational field of the Moon has been measured through tracking the Doppler shift of radio signals emitted by orbiting spacecraft. The main lunar gravity features are mascons, large positive gravitational anomalies associated with some of the giant impact basins, partly caused by the dense mare basaltic lava flows that fill these basins. These anomalies greatly influence the orbit of spacecraft about the Moon. There are some puzzles: lava flows by themselves cannot explain all of the gravitational signature, and some mascons exist that are not linked to mare volcanism. \n\nMagnetic field\n\nThe Moon has an external magnetic field of about 1–100 nanoteslas, less than one-hundredth that of Earth. It does not currently have a global dipolar magnetic field and only has crustal magnetization, probably acquired early in lunar history when a dynamo was still operating. Alternatively, some of the remnant magnetization may be from transient magnetic fields generated during large impact events, through the expansion of an impact-generated plasma cloud in the presence of an ambient magnetic field—this is supported by the apparent location of the largest crustal magnetizations near the antipodes of the giant impact basins. \n\nAtmosphere \n\nThe Moon has an atmosphere so tenuous as to be nearly vacuum, with a total mass of less than . The surface pressure of this small mass is around 3 × 10−15 atm (0.3 nPa); it varies with the lunar day. Its sources include outgassing and sputtering, the release of atoms from the bombardment of lunar soil by solar wind ions. Elements that have been detected include sodium and potassium, produced by sputtering, which are also found in the atmospheres of Mercury and Io; helium-4 and neon from the solar wind; and argon-40, radon-222, and polonium-210, outgassed after their creation by radioactive decay within the crust and mantle. The absence of such neutral species (atoms or molecules) as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and magnesium, which are present in the regolith, is not understood. Water vapour has been detected by Chandrayaan-1 and found to vary with latitude, with a maximum at ~60–70 degrees; it is possibly generated from the sublimation of water ice in the regolith. These gases can either return into the regolith due to the Moon's gravity or be lost to space, either through solar radiation pressure or, if they are ionized, by being swept away by the solar wind's magnetic field.\n\nDust \n\nA permanent asymmetric moon dust cloud exists around the Moon, created by small particles from comets. Estimates are 5 tons of comet particles strike the Moon's surface each 24 hours. The particles strike the Moon's surface ejecting moon dust above the Moon. The dust stays above the Moon approximately 10 minutes, taking 5 minutes to rise, and 5 minutes to fall. On average, 120 kilograms of dust are present above the Moon, rising to 100 kilometers above the surface. The dust measurements were made by LADEE's Lunar Dust EXperiment (LDEX), between 20 and 100 kilometers above the surface, during a six-month period. LDEX detected an average of one 0.3 micrometer moon dust particle each minute. Dust particle counts peaked during the Geminid, Quadrantid, Northern Taurid, and Omicron Centaurid meteor showers, when the Earth, and Moon, pass through comet debris. The cloud is asymmetric, more dense near the boundary between the Moon's dayside and nightside. \n\nSeasons \n\nThe Moon's axial tilt with respect to the ecliptic is only 1.5424°, much less than the 23.44° of Earth. Because of this, the Moon's solar illumination varies much less with season, and topographical details play a crucial role in seasonal effects. From images taken by Clementine in 1994, it appears that four mountainous regions on the rim of Peary Crater at the Moon's north pole may remain illuminated for the entire lunar day, creating peaks of eternal light. No such regions exist at the south pole. Similarly, there are places that remain in permanent shadow at the bottoms of many polar craters, and these dark craters are extremely cold: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter measured the lowest summer temperatures in craters at the southern pole at and just close to the winter solstice in north polar Hermite Crater. This is the coldest temperature in the Solar System ever measured by a spacecraft, colder even than the surface of Pluto. Average temperatures of the Moon's surface are reported, but temperatures of different areas will vary greatly depending upon whether a spot is in sunlight or in shadow. \n\n Relationship to Earth \n\nOrbit \n\nThe Moon makes a complete orbit around Earth with respect to the fixed stars about once every 27.3 days (its sidereal period). However, because Earth is moving in its orbit around the Sun at the same time, it takes slightly longer for the Moon to show the same phase to Earth, which is about 29.5 days (its synodic period). Unlike most satellites of other planets, the Moon orbits closer to the ecliptic plane than to the planet's equatorial plane. The Moon's orbit is subtly perturbed by the Sun and Earth in many small, complex and interacting ways. For example, the plane of the Moon's orbital motion gradually rotates, which affects other aspects of lunar motion. These follow-on effects are mathematically described by Cassini's laws.\n\nRelative size \n\nThe Moon is exceptionally large relative to Earth: a quarter its diameter and 1/81 its mass. It is the largest moon in the Solar System relative to the size of its planet, though Charon is larger relative to the dwarf planet Pluto, at 1/9 Pluto's mass. Earth and the Moon are nevertheless still considered a planet–satellite system, rather than a double planet, because their barycentre, the common centre of mass, is located (about a quarter of Earth's radius) beneath Earth's surface. \n\n Appearance from Earth \n\nThe Moon is in synchronous rotation: it rotates about its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit Earth. This results in it nearly always keeping the same face turned towards Earth. The Moon used to rotate at a faster rate, but early in its history, its rotation slowed and became tidally locked in this orientation as a result of frictional effects associated with tidal deformations caused by Earth. The side of the Moon that faces Earth is called the near side, and the opposite side the far side. The far side is often inaccurately called the \"dark side\", but in fact, it is illuminated as often as the near side: once per lunar day, during the new moon phase we observe on Earth when the near side is dark. In 2016, planetary scientists, using data collected on the much earlier Nasa Lunar Prospector mission, found two hydrogen-rich areas on opposite sides of the Moon, probably in the form of water ice. It is speculated that these patches were the poles of the Moon billions of years ago, before it was tidally locked to Earth. \n\nThe Moon has an exceptionally low albedo, giving it a reflectance that is slightly brighter than that of worn asphalt. Despite this, it is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun. This is partly due to the brightness enhancement of the opposition effect; at quarter phase, the Moon is only one-tenth as bright, rather than half as bright, as at full moon.\n\nAdditionally, colour constancy in the visual system recalibrates the relations between the colours of an object and its surroundings, and because the surrounding sky is comparatively dark, the sunlit Moon is perceived as a bright object. The edges of the full moon seem as bright as the centre, with no limb darkening, due to the reflective properties of lunar soil, which reflects more light back towards the Sun than in other directions. The Moon does appear larger when close to the horizon, but this is a purely psychological effect, known as the Moon illusion, first described in the 7th century BC. The full moon subtends an arc of about 0.52° (on average) in the sky, roughly the same apparent size as the Sun (see ).\n\nThe highest altitude of the Moon in the sky varies with the lunar phase and the season of the year. The full moon is highest during winter. The 18.6-year nodes cycle also has an influence: when the ascending node of the lunar orbit is in the vernal equinox, the lunar declination can go as far as 28° each month. This means the Moon can go overhead at latitudes up to 28° from the equator, instead of only 18°. The orientation of the Moon's crescent also depends on the latitude of the observation site: close to the equator, an observer can see a smile-shaped crescent moon. \n\nThe moon is visible for two weeks every 27.3 days at the North and South Pole. The moon's light is used by zooplankton in the Arctic when the sun is below the horizon for months on end. \n\nThe distance between the Moon and Earth varies from around to at perigees (closest) and apogees (farthest), respectively. On 19 March 2011, it was closer to Earth when at full phase than it has been since 1993, 14% closer than its farthest position in apogee. Reported as a \"super moon\", this closest point coincides within an hour of a full moon, and it was 30% more luminous than when at its greatest distance due to its angular diameter being 14% greater, because \\scriptstyle1.14^2\\approx1.30. At lower levels, the human perception of reduced brightness as a percentage is provided by the following formula: \n\n\\text{perceived reduction}\\% = 100 \\times \\sqrt{\\text{actual reduction}\\% \\over 100}\n\nWhen the actual reduction is 1.00 / 1.30, or about 0.770, the perceived reduction is about 0.877, or 1.00 / 1.14. This gives a maximum perceived increase of 14% between apogee and perigee moons of the same phase. \n\nThere has been historical controversy over whether features on the Moon's surface change over time. Today, many of these claims are thought to be illusory, resulting from observation under different lighting conditions, poor astronomical seeing, or inadequate drawings. However, outgassing does occasionally occur, and could be responsible for a minor percentage of the reported lunar transient phenomena. Recently, it has been suggested that a roughly diameter region of the lunar surface was modified by a gas release event about a million years ago. The Moon's appearance, like that of the Sun, can be affected by Earth's atmosphere: common effects are a 22° halo ring formed when the Moon's light is refracted through the ice crystals of high cirrostratus cloud, and smaller coronal rings when the Moon is seen through thin clouds. \n\nThe illuminated area of the visible sphere (degree of illumination) is given by \\frac{1}{2}(1-\\cos e), where e is the elongation (i.e. the angle between Moon, the observer (on Earth) and the Sun).\n\nTidal effects \n\nThe tides on Earth are mostly generated by the gradient in intensity of the Moon's gravitational pull from one side of Earth to the other, the tidal forces. This forms two tidal bulges on Earth, which are most clearly seen in elevated sea level as ocean tides. Because Earth spins about 27 times faster than the Moon moves around it, the bulges are dragged along with Earth's surface faster than the Moon moves, rotating around Earth once a day as it spins on its axis. The ocean tides are magnified by other effects: frictional coupling of water to Earth's rotation through the ocean floors, the inertia of water's movement, ocean basins that get shallower near land, and oscillations between different ocean basins. The tidal effect of the Sun on Earth's oceans is almost half that of the Moon, and their gravitational interplay is responsible for spring and neap tides.\n\nGravitational coupling between the Moon and the bulge nearest the Moon acts as a torque on Earth's rotation, draining angular momentum and rotational kinetic energy from Earth's spin. In turn, angular momentum is added to the Moon's orbit in a process confusingly known as tidal acceleration, which lifts the Moon into a higher orbit with a lower orbital speed and a longer period. Thus the distance between Earth and Moon is increasing, and Earth's spin is slowing down. Measurements from lunar ranging experiments with laser reflectors left during the Apollo missions have found that the Moon's distance to Earth increases by per year (roughly the rate at which human fingernails grow). \nAtomic clocks also show that Earth's day lengthens by about 15 microseconds every year, slowly increasing the rate at which UTC is adjusted by leap seconds.\nLeft to run its course, this tidal drag would continue until the spin of Earth and the orbital period of the Moon matched, creating mutual tidal locking between the two, as is already currently the case with Pluto and its moon Charon. However, the Sun will become a red giant long before that, engulfing Earth. \n\nThe lunar surface also experiences tides of around amplitude over 27 days, with two components: a fixed one due to Earth, because they are in synchronous rotation, and a varying component from the Sun. The Earth-induced component arises from libration, a result of the Moon's orbital eccentricity; if the Moon's orbit were perfectly circular, there would only be solar tides. Libration also changes the angle from which the Moon is seen, allowing about 59% of its surface to be seen from Earth (but only half at any instant). The cumulative effects of stress built up by these tidal forces produces moonquakes. Moonquakes are much less common and weaker than earthquakes, although they can last for up to an hour—a significantly longer time than terrestrial earthquakes—because of the absence of water to damp out the seismic vibrations. The existence of moonquakes was an unexpected discovery from seismometers placed on the Moon by Apollo astronauts from 1969 through 1972. \n\nEclipses \n\nEclipses can only occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are all in a straight line (termed \"syzygy\"). Solar eclipses occur at new moon, when the Moon is between the Sun and Earth. In contrast, lunar eclipses occur at full moon, when Earth is between the Sun and Moon. The apparent size of the Moon is roughly the same as that of the Sun, with both being viewed at close to one-half a degree wide. The Sun is much larger than the Moon but it is the precise vastly greater distance that gives it the same apparent size as the much closer and much smaller Moon from the perspective of Earth. The variations in apparent size, due to the non-circular orbits, are nearly the same as well, though occurring in different cycles. This makes possible both total (with the Moon appearing larger than the Sun) and annular (with the Moon appearing smaller than the Sun) solar eclipses. In a total eclipse, the Moon completely covers the disc of the Sun and the solar corona becomes visible to the naked eye. Because the distance between the Moon and Earth is very slowly increasing over time, the angular diameter of the Moon is decreasing. Also, as it evolves toward becoming a red giant, the size of the Sun, and its apparent diameter in the sky, are slowly increasing. The combination of these two changes means that hundreds of millions of years ago, the Moon would always completely cover the Sun on solar eclipses, and no annular eclipses were possible. Likewise, hundreds of millions of years in the future, the Moon will no longer cover the Sun completely, and total solar eclipses will not occur.\n\nBecause the Moon's orbit around Earth is inclined by about 5° to the orbit of Earth around the Sun, eclipses do not occur at every full and new moon. For an eclipse to occur, the Moon must be near the intersection of the two orbital planes. The periodicity and recurrence of eclipses of the Sun by the Moon, and of the Moon by Earth, is described by the saros, which has a period of approximately 18 years. \n\nBecause the Moon is continuously blocking our view of a half-degree-wide circular area of the sky, the related phenomenon of occultation occurs when a bright star or planet passes behind the Moon and is occulted: hidden from view. In this way, a solar eclipse is an occultation of the Sun. Because the Moon is comparatively close to Earth, occultations of individual stars are not visible everywhere on the planet, nor at the same time. Because of the precession of the lunar orbit, each year different stars are occulted. \n\n Observation and exploration \n\nAncient and medieval studies \n\nUnderstanding of the Moon's cycles was an early development of astronomy: by the , Babylonian astronomers had recorded the 18-year Saros cycle of lunar eclipses, and Indian astronomers had described the Moon's monthly elongation. The Chinese astronomer Shi Shen gave instructions for predicting solar and lunar eclipses.\nLater, the physical form of the Moon and the cause of moonlight became understood. The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras reasoned that the Sun and Moon were both giant spherical rocks, and that the latter reflected the light of the former. Although the Chinese of the Han Dynasty believed the Moon to be energy equated to qi, their 'radiating influence' theory also recognized that the light of the Moon was merely a reflection of the Sun, and Jing Fang (78–37 BC) noted the sphericity of the Moon. In the 2nd century AD Lucian wrote a novel where the heroes travel to the Moon, which is inhabited. In 499 AD, the Indian astronomer Aryabhata mentioned in his Aryabhatiya that reflected sunlight is the cause of the shining of the Moon. The astronomer and physicist Alhazen (965–1039) found that sunlight was not reflected from the Moon like a mirror, but that light was emitted from every part of the Moon's sunlit surface in all directions. Shen Kuo (1031–1095) of the Song dynasty created an allegory equating the waxing and waning of the Moon to a round ball of reflective silver that, when doused with white powder and viewed from the side, would appear to be a crescent.\n\nIn Aristotle's (384–322 BC) description of the universe, the Moon marked the boundary between the spheres of the mutable elements (earth, water, air and fire), and the imperishable stars of aether, an influential philosophy that would dominate for centuries. However, in the , Seleucus of Seleucia correctly theorized that tides were due to the attraction of the Moon, and that their height depends on the Moon's position relative to the Sun. In the same century, Aristarchus computed the size and distance of the Moon from Earth, obtaining a value of about twenty times the radius of Earth for the distance. These figures were greatly improved by Ptolemy (90–168 AD): his values of a mean distance of 59 times Earth's radius and a diameter of 0.292 Earth diameters were close to the correct values of about 60 and 0.273 respectively. Archimedes (287–212 BC) designed a planetarium that could calculate the motions of the Moon and other objects in the Solar System. \n\nDuring the Middle Ages, before the invention of the telescope, the Moon was increasingly recognised as a sphere, though many believed that it was \"perfectly smooth\". \n\nIn 1609, Galileo Galilei drew one of the first telescopic drawings of the Moon in his book and noted that it was not smooth but had mountains and craters. Telescopic mapping of the Moon followed: later in the 17th century, the efforts of Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Francesco Maria Grimaldi led to the system of naming of lunar features in use today. The more exact 1834–36 of Wilhelm Beer and Johann Heinrich Mädler, and their associated 1837 book , the first trigonometrically accurate study of lunar features, included the heights of more than a thousand mountains, and introduced the study of the Moon at accuracies possible in earthly geography. Lunar craters, first noted by Galileo, were thought to be volcanic until the 1870s proposal of Richard Proctor that they were formed by collisions. This view gained support in 1892 from the experimentation of geologist Grove Karl Gilbert, and from comparative studies from 1920 to the 1940s, leading to the development of lunar stratigraphy, which by the 1950s was becoming a new and growing branch of astrogeology.\n\nBy spacecraft \n\n20th century \n\nSoviet missions \n\nThe Cold War-inspired Space Race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. led to an acceleration of interest in exploration of the Moon. Once launchers had the necessary capabilities, these nations sent unmanned probes on both flyby and impact/lander missions. Spacecraft from the Soviet Union's Luna program were the first to accomplish a number of goals: following three unnamed, failed missions in 1958, the first human-made object to escape Earth's gravity and pass near the Moon was Luna 1; the first human-made object to impact the lunar surface was Luna 2, and the first photographs of the normally occluded far side of the Moon were made by Luna 3, all in 1959.\n\nThe first spacecraft to perform a successful lunar soft landing was Luna 9 and the first unmanned vehicle to orbit the Moon was Luna 10, both in 1966. Rock and soil samples were brought back to Earth by three Luna sample return missions (Luna 16 in 1970, Luna 20 in 1972, and Luna 24 in 1976), which returned 0.3 kg total. Two pioneering robotic rovers landed on the Moon in 1970 and 1973 as a part of Soviet Lunokhod programme.\n\nUnited States missions \n\nThe United States launched unmanned probes to develop an understanding of the lunar surface for an eventual manned landing: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Ranger program produced the first close-up pictures; the Lunar Orbiter program produced maps of the entire Moon; the Surveyor program landed its first spacecraft four months after Luna 9. NASA's manned Apollo program was developed in parallel; after a series of unmanned and manned tests of the Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit, and spurred on by a potential Soviet lunar flight, in 1968 Apollo 8 made the first crewed mission to lunar orbit. The subsequent landing of the first humans on the Moon in 1969 is seen by many as the culmination of the Space Race.\n\nNeil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon as the commander of the American mission Apollo 11 by first setting foot on the Moon at 02:56 UTC on 21 July 1969. An estimated 500 million people worldwide watched the transmission by the Apollo TV camera, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time. The Apollo missions 11 to 17 (except Apollo 13, which aborted its planned lunar landing) returned of lunar rock and soil in 2,196 separate samples. The American Moon landing and return was enabled by considerable technological advances in the early 1960s, in domains such as ablation chemistry, software engineering and atmospheric re-entry technology, and by highly competent management of the enormous technical undertaking. \n\nScientific instrument packages were installed on the lunar surface during all the Apollo landings. Long-lived instrument stations, including heat flow probes, seismometers, and magnetometers, were installed at the Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 landing sites. Direct transmission of data to Earth concluded in late 1977 due to budgetary considerations, but as the stations' lunar laser ranging corner-cube retroreflector arrays are passive instruments, they are still being used. Ranging to the stations is routinely performed from Earth-based stations with an accuracy of a few centimetres, and data from this experiment are being used to place constraints on the size of the lunar core. \n\n1980s–2000 \n\nAfter the first moon race there were years of near quietude but starting in the 1990s, many more countries have become involved in direct exploration of the Moon. In 1990, Japan became the third country to place a spacecraft into lunar orbit with its Hiten spacecraft. The spacecraft released a smaller probe, Hagoromo, in lunar orbit, but the transmitter failed, preventing further scientific use of the mission. In 1994, the U.S. sent the joint Defense Department/NASA spacecraft Clementine to lunar orbit. This mission obtained the first near-global topographic map of the Moon, and the first global multispectral images of the lunar surface. This was followed in 1998 by the Lunar Prospector mission, whose instruments indicated the presence of excess hydrogen at the lunar poles, which is likely to have been caused by the presence of water ice in the upper few meters of the regolith within permanently shadowed craters. \n\nIndia, Japan, China, the United States, and the European Space Agency each sent lunar orbiters, especially ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 has contributed to confirming the discovery of lunar water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles and bound into the lunar regolith. The post-Apollo era has also seen two rover missions: the final Soviet Lunokhod mission in 1973, and China's ongoing Chang'e 3 mission, which deployed its Yutu rover on 14 December 2013. The Moon remains, under the Outer Space Treaty, free to all nations to explore for peaceful purposes.\n\n21st century \n\nThe European spacecraft SMART-1, the second ion-propelled spacecraft, was in lunar orbit from 15 November 2004 until its lunar impact on 3 September 2006, and made the first detailed survey of chemical elements on the lunar surface. \n\nChina has pursued an ambitious program of lunar exploration, beginning with Chang'e 1, which successfully orbited the Moon from 5 November 2007 until its controlled lunar impact on 1 March 2009. In its sixteen-month mission, it obtained a full image map of the Moon. China followed up this success with Chang'e 2 beginning in October 2010, which reached the Moon over twice as fast as Chang'e 1, mapped the Moon at a higher resolution over an eight-month period, then left lunar orbit in favor of an extended stay at the Earth–Sun L2 Lagrangian point, before finally performing a flyby of asteroid 4179 Toutatis on 13 December 2012, and then heading off into deep space. On 14 December 2013, Chang'e 3 improved upon its orbital mission predecessors by landing a lunar lander onto the Moon's surface, which in turn deployed a lunar rover, named Yutu (Chinese: 玉兔; literally \"Jade Rabbit\"). In so doing, Chang'e 3 made the first lunar soft landing since Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar rover mission since Lunokhod 2 in 1973. China intends to launch another rover mission (Chang'e 4) before 2020, followed by a sample return mission (Chang'e 5) soon after. \n\nBetween 4 October 2007 and 10 June 2009, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kaguya (Selene) mission, a lunar orbiter fitted with a high-definition video camera, and two small radio-transmitter satellites, obtained lunar geophysics data and took the first high-definition movies from beyond Earth orbit. \nIndia's first lunar mission, Chandrayaan I, orbited from 8 November 2008 until loss of contact on 27 August 2009, creating a high resolution chemical, mineralogical and photo-geological map of the lunar surface, and confirming the presence of water molecules in lunar soil. The Indian Space Research Organisation planned to launch Chandrayaan II in 2013, which would have included a Russian robotic lunar rover. However, the failure of Russia's Fobos-Grunt mission has delayed this project.\n\nThe U.S. co-launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the LCROSS impactor and follow-up observation orbiter on 18 June 2009; LCROSS completed its mission by making a planned and widely observed impact in the crater Cabeus on 9 October 2009, whereas LRO is currently in operation, obtaining precise lunar altimetry and high-resolution imagery. In November 2011, the LRO passed over the Aristarchus crater, which spans and sinks more than deep. The crater is one of the most visible ones from Earth. \"The Aristarchus plateau is one of the most geologically diverse places on the Moon: a mysterious raised flat plateau, a giant rille carved by enormous outpourings of lava, fields of explosive volcanic ash, and all surrounded by massive flood basalts\", said Mark Robinson, principal investigator of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera at Arizona State University. NASA released photos of the crater on 25 December 2011. \n\nTwo NASA GRAIL spacecraft began orbiting the Moon around 1 January 2012, on a mission to learn more about the Moon's internal structure. NASA's LADEE probe, designed to study the lunar exosphere, achieved orbit on 6 October 2013.\n\nUpcoming lunar missions include Russia's Luna-Glob: an unmanned lander with a set of seismometers, and an orbiter based on its failed Martian Fobos-Grunt mission. \nPrivately funded lunar exploration has been promoted by the Google Lunar X Prize, announced 13 September 2007, which offers US$20 million to anyone who can land a robotic rover on the Moon and meet other specified criteria. Shackleton Energy Company is building a program to establish operations on the south pole of the Moon to harvest water and supply their Propellant Depots. \n \nNASA began to plan to resume manned missions following the call by U.S. President George W. Bush on 14 January 2004 for a manned mission to the Moon by 2019 and the construction of a lunar base by 2024. The Constellation program was funded and construction and testing begun on a manned spacecraft and launch vehicle, and design studies for a lunar base. However, that program has been cancelled in favor of a manned asteroid landing by 2025 and a manned Mars orbit by 2035. India has also expressed its hope to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2020. \n\nAstronomy from the Moon \n\nFor many years, the Moon has been recognized as an excellent site for telescopes. It is relatively nearby; astronomical seeing is not a concern; certain craters near the poles are permanently dark and cold, and thus especially useful for infrared telescopes; and radio telescopes on the far side would be shielded from the radio chatter of Earth. The lunar soil, although it poses a problem for any moving parts of telescopes, can be mixed with carbon nanotubes and epoxies in the construction of mirrors up to 50 meters in diameter. A lunar zenith telescope can be made cheaply with ionic liquid. \n\nIn April 1972, the Apollo 16 mission recorded various astronomical photos and spectra in ultraviolet with the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. \n\nLegal status \n\nDuring the Cold War, the United States Army conducted a classified feasibility study in the late 1950s called Project Horizon, to construct a manned military outpost on the Moon, which would have been home to a bombing system targeted at rivals on Earth. The study included the possibility of conducting a lunar-based nuclear test. The Air Force, which at the time was in competition with the Army for a leading role in the space program, developed its own, similar plan called Lunex. However, both these proposals were ultimately passed over as the space program was largely transferred from the military to the civilian agency NASA.\n\nAlthough Luna landers scattered pennants of the Soviet Union on the Moon, and U.S. flags were symbolically planted at their landing sites by the Apollo astronauts, no nation claims ownership of any part of the Moon's surface. Russia and the U.S. are party to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which defines the Moon and all outer space as the \"province of all mankind\". This treaty also restricts the use of the Moon to peaceful purposes, explicitly banning military installations and weapons of mass destruction.\nThe 1979 Moon Agreement was created to restrict the exploitation of the Moon's resources by any single nation, but as of 2014, it has been signed and ratified by only 16 nations, none of which engages in self-launched human space exploration or has plans to do so. Although several individuals have made claims to the Moon in whole or in part, none of these are considered credible.\n\nIn culture \n\nThe Moon's regular phases make it a very convenient timepiece, and the periods of its waxing and waning form the basis of many of the oldest calendars. Tally sticks, notched bones dating as far back as 20–30,000 years ago, are believed by some to mark the phases of the Moon. \nThe ~30-day month is an approximation of the lunar cycle. The English noun month and its cognates in other Germanic languages stem from Proto-Germanic *mǣnṓth-, which is connected to the above-mentioned Proto-Germanic *mǣnōn, indicating the usage of a lunar calendar among the Germanic peoples (Germanic calendar) prior to the adoption of a solar calendar. The PIE root of moon, *méh1nōt, derives from the PIE verbal root *meh1-, \"to measure\", \"indicat[ing] a functional conception of the moon, i.e. marker of the month\" (cf. the English words measure and menstrual), and echoing the Moon's importance to many ancient cultures in measuring time (see Latin and Ancient Greek (meis) or (mēn), meaning \"month\"). \n\nThe Moon has been the subject of many works of art and literature and the inspiration for countless others. It is a motif in the visual arts, the performing arts, poetry, prose and music. A 5,000-year-old rock carving at Knowth, Ireland, may represent the Moon, which would be the earliest depiction discovered. The contrast between the brighter highlands and the darker maria creates the patterns seen by different cultures as the Man in the Moon, the rabbit and the buffalo, among others. In many prehistoric and ancient cultures, the Moon was personified as a deity or other supernatural phenomenon, and astrological views of the Moon continue to be propagated today.\n\nThe Moon plays an important role in Islam; the Islamic calendar is strictly lunar, and in many Muslim countries the months are determined by the visual sighting of the hilal, or earliest crescent moon, over the horizon. The splitting of the moon () was a miracle attributed to Muhammad. \n\nThe Moon has long been associated with insanity and irrationality; the words lunacy and lunatic (popular shortening loony) are derived from the Latin name for the Moon, Luna. Philosophers Aristotle and Pliny the Elder argued that the full moon induced insanity in susceptible individuals, believing that the brain, which is mostly water, must be affected by the Moon and its power over the tides, but the Moon's gravity is too slight to affect any single person. Even today, people who believe in a lunar effect claim that admissions to psychiatric hospitals, traffic accidents, homicides or suicides increase during a full moon, but dozens of studies invalidate these claims.",
"Mass.txt\nMass\nIn physics, mass is a property of a physical body. It is a measure of an object's resistance to acceleration (a change in its state of motion) when a force is applied. It also determines the strength of its mutual gravitational attraction to other bodies. In the theory of relativity a related concept is the mass–energy content of a system. The SI unit of mass is the kilogram (kg).\n\nMass is not the same as weight, even though we often calculate an object's mass by measuring its weight with a spring scale, rather than comparing it directly with known masses. An object on the Moon would weigh less than it does on Earth because of the lower gravity, but it would still have the same mass. This is because weight is a force, while mass is the property that (along with gravity) determines the strength of this force.\n\nIn Newtonian physics, mass can be generalized as the amount of matter in an object. However, at very high speeds, special relativity postulates that energy is an additional source of mass. Thus, any stationary body having mass has an equivalent amount of energy, and all forms of energy resist acceleration by a force and have gravitational attraction. In addition, \"matter\" is a loosely defined term in science, and thus cannot be precisely measured.\n\nThere are several distinct phenomena which can be used to measure mass. Although some theorists have speculated that some of these phenomena could be independent of each other, current experiments have found no difference in results, whatever way is used to measure mass:\n\n* Inertial mass measures an object's resistance to being accelerated by a force (represented by the relationship ).\n* Active gravitational mass measures the gravitational force exerted by an object.\n* Passive gravitational mass measures the gravitational force exerted on an object in a known gravitational field.\n* Mass–energy measures the total amount of energy contained within a body, using .\n\nThe mass of an object determines its acceleration in the presence of an applied force. The inverse relationship between mass and acceleration is called inertia. According to Newton's second law of motion, if a body of fixed mass m is subjected to a single force F, its acceleration a is given by F/m. A body's mass also determines the degree to which it generates or is affected by a gravitational field. If a first body of mass mA is placed at a distance r (center of mass to center of mass) from a second body of mass mB, each body is subject to an attractive force , where is the \"universal gravitational constant\". This is sometimes referred to as gravitational mass.When a distinction is necessary, M is used to denote the active gravitational mass and m the passive gravitational mass. Repeated experiments since the 17th century have demonstrated that inertial and gravitational mass are identical; since 1915, this observation has been entailed a priori in the equivalence principle of general relativity.\n\nUnits of mass \n\nThe standard International System of Units (SI) unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). The kilogram is 1000 grams (g), first defined in 1795 as one cubic decimeter of water at the melting point of ice. Then in 1889, the kilogram was redefined as the mass of the international prototype kilogram, and as such is independent of the meter, or the properties of water. As of January 2013, there are several proposals for redefining the kilogram yet again, including a proposal for defining it in terms of the Planck constant. \n\nOther units are accepted for use in SI:\n* the tonne (t) (or \"metric ton\") is equal to 1000 kg.\n* the electronvolt (eV) is a unit of energy, but because of the mass–energy equivalence it can easily be converted to a unit of mass, and is often used like one. In this context, the mass has units of eV/c2 (where c is the speed of light). The electronvolt and its multiples, such as the MeV (megaelectronvolt), are commonly used in particle physics.\n* the atomic mass unit (u) is 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, approximately .Since the Avogadro constant NA is defined as the number of atoms in 12 g of carbon-12, it follows that 1 u is exactly 1/(103NA) kg. The atomic mass unit is convenient for expressing the masses of atoms and molecules.\n\nOutside the SI system, other units of mass include:\n* the slug (sl) is an Imperial unit of mass (about 14.6 kg).\n* the pound (lb) is a unit of both mass and force, used mainly in the United States (about 0.45 kg or 4.5 N). In scientific contexts where pound (force) and pound (mass) need to be distinguished, SI units are usually used instead.\n* the Planck mass (mP) is the maximum mass of point particles (about ). It is used in particle physics.\n* the solar mass () is defined as the mass of the Sun. It is primarily used in astronomy to compare large masses such as stars or galaxies (≈).\n* the mass of a very small particle may be identified by its inverse Compton wavelength ().\n* the mass of a very large star or black hole may be identified with its Schwarzschild radius ().\n\nDefinitions of mass \n\nIn physical science, one may distinguish conceptually between at least seven different aspects of mass, or seven physical notions that involve the concept of mass: Every experiment to date has shown these seven values to be proportional, and in some cases equal, and this proportionality gives rise to the abstract concept of mass.\n\n* The amount of matter in certain types of samples can be precisely determined by electrodeposition or other atom-counting approaches. The mass of a sample is made up in part by the number and type of atoms or molecules it contains, and in part by the energy involved in binding it together (which contributes a negative \"missing mass\", or mass deficit).\n* Inertial mass is a measure of an object's resistance to acceleration when a force is applied. It is determined by applying a force to an object and measuring the acceleration that results from that force. An object with small inertial mass will accelerate more than an object with large inertial mass when acted upon by the same force. One says the body of greater mass has greater inertia.\n* Active gravitational massThe distinction between \"active\" and \"passive\" gravitational mass does not exist in the Newtonian view of gravity as found in classical mechanics, and can safely be ignored for many purposes. In most practical applications, Newtonian gravity is assumed because it is usually sufficiently accurate, and is simpler than General Relativity; for example, NASA uses primarily Newtonian gravity to design space missions, although \"accuracies are routinely enhanced by accounting for tiny relativistic effects\". The distinction between \"active\" and \"passive\" is very abstract, and applies to post-graduate level applications of General Relativity to certain problems in cosmology, and is otherwise not used. There is, nevertheless, an important conceptual distinction in Newtonian physics between \"inertial mass\" and \"gravitational mass\", although these quantities are identical; the conceptual distinction between these two fundamental definitions of mass is maintained for teaching purposes because they involve two distinct methods of measurement. It was long considered anomalous that the two distinct measurements of mass (inertial and gravitational) gave an identical result. The property, observed by Galileo, that objects of different mass fall with the same rate of acceleration (ignoring air resistance), shows that inertial and gravitational mass are the same. is a measure of the strength of an object's gravitational flux (gravitational flux is equal to the surface integral of gravitational field over an enclosing surface). Gravitational field can be measured by allowing a small \"test object\" to fall freely and measuring its free-fall acceleration. For example, an object in free fall near the Moon is subject to a smaller gravitational field, and hence accelerates more slowly, than the same object would if it were in free fall near the Earth. The gravitational field near the Moon is weaker because the Moon has less active gravitational mass.\n* Passive gravitational mass is a measure of the strength of an object's interaction with a gravitational field. Passive gravitational mass is determined by dividing an object's weight by its free-fall acceleration. Two objects within the same gravitational field will experience the same acceleration; however, the object with a smaller passive gravitational mass will experience a smaller force (less weight) than the object with a larger passive gravitational mass.\n* Energy also has mass according to the principle of mass–energy equivalence. This equivalence is exemplified in a large number of physical processes including pair production, nuclear fusion, and the gravitational bending of light. Pair production and nuclear fusion are processes in which measurable amounts of mass are converted to energy, or vice versa. In the gravitational bending of light, photons of pure energy are shown to exhibit a behavior similar to passive gravitational mass.\n* Curvature of spacetime is a relativistic manifestation of the existence of mass. Such curvature is extremely weak and difficult to measure. For this reason, curvature was not discovered until after it was predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity. Extremely precise atomic clocks on the surface of the Earth, for example, are found to measure less time (run slower) when compared to similar clocks in space. This difference in elapsed time is a form of curvature called gravitational time dilation. Other forms of curvature have been measured using the Gravity Probe B satellite.\n* Quantum mass manifests itself as a difference between an object's quantum frequency and its wave number. The quantum mass of an electron, the Compton wavelength, can be determined through various forms of spectroscopy and is closely related to the Rydberg constant, the Bohr radius, and the classical electron radius. The quantum mass of larger objects can be directly measured using a Watt balance. In relativistic quantum mechanics, mass is one of the irreducible representation labels of the Poincaré group.\n\nWeight vs. mass\n\nIn everyday usage, mass and \"weight\" are often used interchangeably. For instance, a person's weight may be stated as 75 kg. In a constant gravitational field, the weight of an object is proportional to its mass, and it is unproblematic to use the same unit for both concepts. But because of slight differences in the strength of the Earth's gravitational field at different places, the distinction becomes important for measurements with a precision better than a few percent, and for places far from the surface of the Earth, such as in space or on other planets. Conceptually, \"mass\" (measured in kilograms) refers to an intrinsic property of an object, whereas \"weight\" (measured in newtons) measures an object's resistance to deviating from its natural course of free fall, which can be influenced by the nearby gravitational field. No matter how strong the gravitational field, objects in free fall are weightless, though they still have mass. \n\nThe force known as \"weight\" is proportional to mass and acceleration in all situations where the mass is accelerated away from free fall. For example, when a body is at rest in a gravitational field (rather than in free fall), it must be accelerated by a force from a scale or the surface of a planetary body such as the Earth or the Moon. This force keeps the object from going into free fall. Weight is the opposing force in such circumstances, and is thus determined by the acceleration of free fall. On the surface of the Earth, for example, an object with a mass of 50 kilograms weighs 491 newtons, which means that 491 newtons is being applied to keep the object from going into free fall. By contrast, on the surface of the Moon, the same object still has a mass of 50 kilograms but weighs only 81.5 newtons, because only 81.5 newtons is required to keep this object from going into a free fall on the moon. Restated in mathematical terms, on the surface of the Earth, the weight W of an object is related to its mass m by , where is the acceleration due to Earth's gravitational field, (expressed as the acceleration experienced by a free-falling object).\n\nFor other situations, such as when objects are subjected to mechanical accelerations from forces other than the resistance of a planetary surface, the weight force is proportional to the mass of an object multiplied by the total acceleration away from free fall, which is called the proper acceleration. Through such mechanisms, objects in elevators, vehicles, centrifuges, and the like, may experience weight forces many times those caused by resistance to the effects of gravity on objects, resulting from planetary surfaces. In such cases, the generalized equation for weight W of an object is related to its mass m by the equation , where a is the proper acceleration of the object caused by all influences other than gravity. (Again, if gravity is the only influence, such as occurs when an object falls freely, its weight will be zero).\n\nMacroscopically, mass is associated with matter, although matter is not, ultimately, as clearly defined a concept as mass. On the subatomic scale, not only fermions, the particles often associated with matter, but also some bosons, the particles that act as force carriers, have rest mass. Another problem for easy definition is that much of the rest mass of ordinary matter derives from the invariant mass contributed to matter by particles and kinetic energies which have no rest mass themselves (only 1% of the rest mass of matter is accounted for by the rest mass of its fermionic quarks and electrons). From a fundamental physics perspective, mass is the number describing under which the representation of the little group of the Poincaré group a particle transforms. In the Standard Model of particle physics, this symmetry is described as arising as a consequence of a coupling of particles with rest mass to a postulated additional field, known as the Higgs field.\n\nThe total mass of the observable universe is estimated at between 1052 kg and 1053 kg, corresponding to the rest mass of between 1079 and 1080 protons.\n\nInertial vs. gravitational mass\n\nAlthough inertial mass, passive gravitational mass and active gravitational mass are conceptually distinct, no experiment has ever unambiguously demonstrated any difference between them. In classical mechanics, Newton's third law implies that active and passive gravitational mass must always be identical (or at least proportional), but the classical theory offers no compelling reason why the gravitational mass has to equal the inertial mass. That it does is merely an empirical fact.\n\nAlbert Einstein developed his general theory of relativity starting from the assumption that this correspondence between inertial and (passive) gravitational mass is not accidental: that no experiment will ever detect a difference between them (the weak version of the equivalence principle). However, in the resulting theory, gravitation is not a force and thus not subject to Newton's third law, so \"the equality of inertial and active gravitational mass [...] remains as puzzling as ever\". \n\nThe equivalence of inertial and gravitational masses is sometimes referred to as the \"Galilean equivalence principle\" or the \"weak equivalence principle\". The most important consequence of this equivalence principle applies to freely falling objects. Suppose we have an object with inertial and gravitational masses m and M, respectively. If the only force acting on the object comes from a gravitational field g, combining Newton's second law and the gravitational law yields the acceleration\n\na=\\frac{M}{m}g.\n\nThis says that the ratio of gravitational to inertial mass of any object is equal to some constant K if and only if all objects fall at the same rate in a given gravitational field. This phenomenon is referred to as the \"universality of free-fall\". (In addition, the constant K can be taken to be 1 by defining our units appropriately.)\n\nThe first experiments demonstrating the universality of free-fall were conducted by Galileo. It is commonly stated that Galileo obtained his results by dropping objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but this is most likely apocryphal; actually, he performed his experiments with balls rolling down nearly frictionless inclined planes to slow the motion and increase the timing accuracy. Increasingly precise experiments have been performed, such as those performed by Loránd Eötvös, using the torsion balance pendulum, in 1889. , no deviation from universality, and thus from Galilean equivalence, has ever been found, at least to the precision 10−12. More precise experimental efforts are still being carried out.\n\nThe universality of free-fall only applies to systems in which gravity is the only acting force. All other forces, especially friction and air resistance, must be absent or at least negligible. For example, if a hammer and a feather are dropped from the same height through the air on Earth, the feather will take much longer to reach the ground; the feather is not really in free-fall because the force of air resistance upwards against the feather is comparable to the downward force of gravity. On the other hand, if the experiment is performed in a vacuum, in which there is no air resistance, the hammer and the feather should hit the ground at exactly the same time (assuming the acceleration of both objects towards each other, and of the ground towards both objects, for its own part, is negligible). This can easily be done in a high school laboratory by dropping the objects in transparent tubes that have the air removed with a vacuum pump. It is even more dramatic when done in an environment that naturally has a vacuum, as David Scott did on the surface of the Moon during Apollo 15.\n\nA stronger version of the equivalence principle, known as the Einstein equivalence principle or the strong equivalence principle, lies at the heart of the general theory of relativity. Einstein's equivalence principle states that within sufficiently small regions of space-time, it is impossible to distinguish between a uniform acceleration and a uniform gravitational field. Thus, the theory postulates that the force acting on a massive object caused by a gravitational field is a result of the object's tendency to move in a straight line (in other words its inertia) and should therefore be a function of its inertial mass and the strength of the gravitational field.\n\nOrigin of mass\n\nIn theoretical physics, a mass generation mechanism is a theory which attempts to explain the origin of mass from the most fundamental laws of physics. To date, a number of different models have been proposed which advocate different views of the origin of mass. The problem is complicated by the fact that the notion of mass is strongly related to the gravitational interaction but a theory of the latter has not been yet reconciled with the currently popular model of particle physics, known as the Standard Model.\n\nPre-Newtonian concepts \n\nWeight as an amount\n\nThe concept of amount is very old and predates recorded history. Humans, at some early era, realized that the weight of a collection of similar objects was directly proportional to the number of objects in the collection:\n\nW_n \\propto n,\n\nwhere W is the weight of the collection of similar objects and n is the number of objects in the collection. Proportionality, by definition, implies that two values have a constant ratio:\n\n\\frac{W_n}{n} \\frac{W_m}{m}, or equivalently \\frac{W_n}{W_m} \n \\frac{n}{m}.\n\nAn early use of this relationship is a balance scale, which balances the force of one object's weight against the force of another object's weight. The two sides of a balance scale are close enough that the objects experience similar gravitational fields. Hence, if they have similar masses then their weights will also be similar. This allows the scale, by comparing weights, to also compare masses.\n\nConsequently, historical weight standards were often defined in terms of amounts. The Romans, for example, used the carob seed (carat or siliqua) as a measurement standard. If an object's weight was equivalent to [http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n3138.pdf 1728 carob seeds], then the object was said to weigh one Roman pound. If, on the other hand, the object's weight was equivalent to 144 carob seeds then the object was said to weigh one Roman ounce (uncia). The Roman pound and ounce were both defined in terms of different sized collections of the same common mass standard, the carob seed. The ratio of a Roman ounce (144 carob seeds) to a Roman pound (1728 carob seeds) was:\n\n\\frac{\\mathrm{ounce}}{\\mathrm{pound}} \\frac{W_{144}}{W_{1728}} \n \\frac{144}{1728} = \\frac{1}{12}.\n\nPlanetary motion\n\nIn 1600 AD, Johannes Kepler sought employment with Tycho Brahe, who had some of the most precise astronomical data available. Using Brahe's precise observations of the planet Mars, Kepler spent the next five years developing his own method for characterizing planetary motion. In 1609, Johannes Kepler published his three laws of planetary motion, explaining how the planets orbit the Sun. In Kepler's final planetary model, he described planetary orbits as following elliptical paths with the Sun at a focal point of the ellipse. Kepler discovered that the square of the orbital period of each planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit, or equivalently, that the ratio of these two values is constant for all planets in the Solar System.This constant ratio was later shown to be a direct measure of the Sun's active gravitational mass; it has units of distance cubed per time squared, and is known as the standard gravitational parameter:\n\n\\mu=4\\pi^2\\frac{\\text{distance}^3}{\\text{time}^2}\\propto\\text{gravitational mass}\n\nOn 25 August 1609, Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to a group of Venetian merchants, and in early January of 1610, Galileo observed four dim objects near Jupiter, which he mistook for stars. However, after a few days of observation, Galileo realized that these \"stars\" were in fact orbiting Jupiter. These four objects (later named the Galilean moons in honor of their discoverer) were the first celestial bodies observed to orbit something other than the Earth or Sun. Galileo continued to observe these moons over the next eighteen months, and by the middle of 1611 he had obtained remarkably accurate estimates for their periods.\n\nGalilean free fall\n\nSometime prior to 1638, Galileo turned his attention to the phenomenon of objects in free fall, attempting to characterize these motions. Galileo was not the first to investigate Earth's gravitational field, nor was he the first to accurately describe its fundamental characteristics. However, Galileo's reliance on scientific experimentation to establish physical principles would have a profound effect on future generations of scientists. It is unclear if these were just hypothetical experiments used to illustrate a concept, or if they were real experiments performed by Galileo, but the results obtained from these experiments were both realistic and compelling. A biography by Galileo's pupil Vincenzo Viviani stated that Galileo had dropped balls of the same material, but different masses, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that their time of descent was independent of their mass.At the time when Viviani asserts that the experiment took place, Galileo had not yet formulated the final version of his law of free fall. He had, however, formulated an earlier version which predicted that bodies of the same material falling through the same medium would fall at the same speed. See In support of this conclusion, Galileo had advanced the following theoretical argument: He asked if two bodies of different masses and different rates of fall are tied by a string, does the combined system fall faster because it is now more massive, or does the lighter body in its slower fall hold back the heavier body? The only convincing resolution to this question is that all bodies must fall at the same rate. \n\nA later experiment was described in Galileo's Two New Sciences published in 1638. One of Galileo's fictional characters, Salviati, describes an experiment using a bronze ball and a wooden ramp. The wooden ramp was \"12 cubits long, half a cubit wide and three finger-breadths thick\" with a straight, smooth, polished groove. The groove was lined with \"parchment, also smooth and polished as possible\". And into this groove was placed \"a hard, smooth and very round bronze ball\". The ramp was inclined at various angles to slow the acceleration enough so that the elapsed time could be measured. The ball was allowed to roll a known distance down the ramp, and the time taken for the ball to move the known distance was measured. The time was measured using a water clock described as follows:\n\"a large vessel of water placed in an elevated position; to the bottom of this vessel was soldered a pipe of small diameter giving a thin jet of water, which we collected in a small glass during the time of each descent, whether for the whole length of the channel or for a part of its length; the water thus collected was weighed, after each descent, on a very accurate balance; the differences and ratios of these weights gave us the differences and ratios of the times, and this with such accuracy that although the operation was repeated many, many times, there was no appreciable discrepancy in the results.\" \n\nGalileo found that for an object in free fall, the distance that the object has fallen is always proportional to the square of the elapsed time:\n\n{\\text{Distance}} \\propto {\\text{Time}^2}\n\nGalileo had shown that objects in free fall under the influence of the Earth’s gravitational field have a constant acceleration, and Galileo’s contemporary, Johannes Kepler, had shown that the planets follow elliptical paths under the influence of the Sun’s gravitational mass. However, Galileo’s free fall motions and Kepler’s planetary motions remained distinct during Galileo’s lifetime.\n\nNewtonian mass \n\nRobert Hooke had published his concept of gravitational forces in 1674, stating that all celestial bodies have an attraction or gravitating power towards their own centers, and also attract all the other celestial bodies that are within the sphere of their activity. He further stated that gravitational attraction increases by how much nearer the body wrought upon is to their own center. In correspondence with Isaac Newton from 1679 and 1680, Hooke conjectures that gravitational forces might decrease according to the double of the distance between the two bodies. Hooke urged Newton, who was a pioneer in the development of calculus, to work through the mathematical details of Keplerian orbits to determine if Hooke's hypothesis was correct. Newton's own investigations verified that Hooke was correct, but due to personal differences between the two men, Newton chose not to reveal this to Hooke. Isaac Newton kept quiet about his discoveries until 1684, at which time he told a friend, Edmond Halley, that he had solved the problem of gravitational orbits, but had misplaced the solution in his office. After being encouraged by Halley, Newton decided to develop his ideas about gravity and publish all of his findings. In November 1684, Isaac Newton sent a document to Edmund Halley, now lost but presumed to have been titled De motu corporum in gyrum (Latin for \"On the motion of bodies in an orbit\"). Halley presented Newton's findings to the Royal Society of London, with a promise that a fuller presentation would follow. Newton later recorded his ideas in a three book set, entitled Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin: \"Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy\"). The first was received by the Royal Society on 28 April 1685–6; the second on 2 March 1686–7; and the third on 6 April 1686–7. The Royal Society published Newton’s entire collection at their own expense in May 1686–7. \n\nIsaac Newton had bridged the gap between Kepler’s gravitational mass and Galileo’s gravitational acceleration, resulting in the discovery of the following relationship which governed both of these:\n\n\\mathbf{g}=-\\mu\\frac{\\hat{\\mathbf{R}}}",
"Earth.txt\nEarth\nEarth (otherwise known as the world, in Gaia, or in Latin: Terra ) is the third planet from the Sun, the densest planet in the Solar System, the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets, and the only astronomical object known to harbor life.\n\nAccording to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago. Earth gravitationally interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon. During one orbit around the Sun, Earth rotates about its own axis 366.26 times, creating 365.26 solar days or one sidereal year. Earth's axis of rotation is tilted 23.4° away from the perpendicular of its orbital plane, producing seasonal variations on the planet's surface within a period of one tropical year (365.24 solar days). The Moon, Earth's only permanent natural satellite, by its gravitational relationship with Earth, causes ocean tides, stabilizes the orientation of Earth's rotational axis, and gradually slows Earth's rotational rate.\n\nEarth's lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. 71% of Earth's surface is covered with water. The remaining 29% is land mass—consisting of continents and islands—that together has many lakes, rivers, and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earth's polar regions are covered in ice, including the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of the Arctic ice pack. Earth's interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earth's magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics.\n\nWithin its first billion years, life appeared in Earth's oceans, and began to affect the atmosphere and surface, leading to the proliferation of aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Since then, the combination of Earth's distance from the Sun, physical properties, and geological history have allowed life to evolve and today thrive. The earliest undisputed life on Earth arose at least 3.5 billion years ago. Earlier physical evidence of life includes biogenic graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks discovered in southwestern Greenland, as well as \"remains of biotic life\" found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. Except when interrupted by mass extinction events, Earth's biodiversity has continually expanded. Although scholars estimate that over 99% of all species of life (over five billion) that ever lived on Earth are today extinct, there are an estimated 10–14 million species still in existence, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms living on Earth. Over 7.3 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival. Earth's human population is divided among about 200 sovereign states that interact through diplomacy, conflict, travel, trade, and communication media.\n\nName and etymology\n\nThe modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms, which derived from an Old English noun most often spelled '.Oxford English Dictionary, \"earth, n.¹\" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2010. It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their proto-Germanic root has been reconstructed as *erþō. In its earliest appearances, eorðe was already being used to translate the many senses of Latin ' and Greek (gē): the ground, its soil, dry land, the human world, the surface of the world (including the sea), and the globe itself. As with Terra and Gaia, Earth was a personified goddess in Germanic paganism: the Angles were listed by Tacitus as among the devotees of Nerthus, and later Norse mythology included Jörð, a giantess often given as the mother of Thor. \n\nOriginally, earth was written in lowercase, and from early Middle English, its definite sense as \"the globe\" was expressed as the earth. By early Modern English, many nouns were capitalized, and the earth became (and often remained) the Earth, particularly when referenced along with other heavenly bodies. More recently, the name is sometimes simply given as Earth, by analogy with the names of the other planets. House styles now vary: Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, with the capitalized form an acceptable variant. Another convention capitalizes \"Earth\" when appearing as a name (e.g. \"Earth's atmosphere\") but writes it in lowercase when preceded by the (e.g. \"the atmosphere of the earth\"). It almost always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as \"what on earth are you doing?\" \n\nChronology\n\nFormation\n\nThe earliest material found in the Solar System is dated to (Gya). By the primordial Earth had formed. The formation and evolution of the Solar System bodies occurred along with those of the Sun. In theory, a solar nebula partitions a volume out of a molecular cloud by gravitational collapse, which begins to spin and flatten into a circumstellar disk, and then the planets grow out of that disk along with the Sun. A nebula contains gas, ice grains, and dust (including primordial nuclides). In nebular theory, planetesimals form by accretion. The assembly of the primordial Earth proceeded for 10–.\n\nThe process that led to the formation of the Moon approximately 4.53 billion years ago is the subject of ongoing research. The working hypothesis is that it formed by accretion from material loosed from Earth after a Mars-sized object, named Theia, impacted Earth. In this scenario, the mass of Theia was approximately 10% of that of Earth, it impacted Earth with a glancing blow, and some of its mass merged with Earth. Between approximately 4.1 and , numerous asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment caused significant changes to the greater surface environment of the Moon, and by inference, to that of Earth.\n\nGeological history\n\nEarth's atmosphere and oceans formed by volcanic activity and outgassing that included water vapor. The origin of the world's oceans was condensation augmented by water and ice delivered by asteroids, protoplanets, and comets. In this model, atmospheric \"greenhouse gases\" kept the oceans from freezing when the newly forming Sun had only 70% of its current luminosity. By , Earth's magnetic field was established, which helped prevent the atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind.\n\nA crust formed when the molten outer layer of Earth cooled to form a solid as the accumulated water vapor began to act in the atmosphere. The two models that explain land mass propose either a steady growth to the present-day forms or, more likely, a rapid growth early in Earth history followed by a long-term steady continental area. Continents formed by plate tectonics, a process ultimately driven by the continuous loss of heat from Earth's interior. On time scales lasting hundreds of millions of years, the supercontinents have formed and broken up three times. Roughly (million years ago), one of the earliest known supercontinents, Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia, 600–, then finally Pangaea, which also broke apart .\n\nThe present pattern of ice ages began about and then intensified during the Pleistocene about . High-latitude regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and thaw, repeating every 40–. The last continental glaciation ended 10,000 years ago.\n\nEvolution of life\n\nHighly energetic chemical reactions are thought to have produced self–replicating molecules around four billion years ago. This was followed a half billion years later by the last common ancestor of all life. The development of photosynthesis allowed the Sun's energy to be harvested directly by life forms; the resultant molecular oxygen (O2) accumulated in the atmosphere and due to interaction with ultraviolet solar radiation, formed a protective ozone layer (O3) in the upper atmosphere. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of complex cells called eukaryotes. True multicellular organisms formed as cells within colonies became increasingly specialized. Aided by the absorption of harmful ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer, life colonized Earth's surface. The earliest fossil evidence for life is microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone in Western Australia, biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks in Western Greenland, as well as, remains of biotic material found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia.\n\nSince the 1960s, it has been hypothesized that severe glacial action between 750 and , during the Neoproterozoic, covered much of Earth in ice. This hypothesis has been termed \"Snowball Earth\", and it is of particular interest because it preceded the Cambrian explosion, when multicellular life forms began to proliferate. Following the Cambrian explosion, about , there have been five major mass extinctions. The most recent such event was , when an asteroid impact triggered the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared some small animals such as mammals, which then resembled shrews. Over the past , mammalian life has diversified, and several million years ago an African ape-like animal such as Orrorin tugenensis gained the ability to stand upright. This facilitated tool use and encouraged communication that provided the nutrition and stimulation needed for a larger brain, which allowed the evolution of the human race. The development of agriculture, and then civilization, led to humans having an influence on Earth and the nature and quantity of other life forms as no other species ever has.\n\nPredicted future\n\nEstimates on how much longer Earth will be able to continue to support life range from , to as long as . Earth's long-term future is closely tied to that of the Sun. As a result of the steady accumulation of helium at the Sun's core, the Sun's total luminosity will slowly increase. The luminosity of the Sun will grow by 10% over the next and by 40% over the next . Climate models indicate that the rise in radiation reaching Earth is likely to have dire consequences, including the loss of the oceans.\n\nEarth's increasing surface temperature will accelerate the inorganic CO2 cycle, reducing its concentration to levels lethally low for plants ( for C4 photosynthesis) in approximately 500–. The lack of vegetation will result in the loss of oxygen in the atmosphere, so animal life will become extinct within several million more years. After another billion years all surface water will have disappeared and the mean global temperature will reach (). Earth is expected to be effectively habitable for about another from that point, although this may be extended up to if the nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere. Even if the Sun were eternal and stable, 27% of the water in the modern oceans will descend to the mantle in one billion years, due to reduced steam venting from mid-ocean ridges.\n\nThe Sun will evolve to become a red giant in about . Models predict that the Sun will expand to roughly 1 AU, which is about 250 times its present radius. Earth's fate is less clear. As a red giant, the Sun will lose roughly 30% of its mass, so, without tidal effects, Earth will move to an orbit from the Sun when it reaches its maximum radius. Earth was, therefore, once expected to escape envelopment by the expanded Sun's outer atmosphere, though most, if not all, remaining life would have been destroyed by the Sun's increased luminosity (peaking at about 5,000 times its present level). A 2008 simulation indicates that Earth's orbit will decay due to tidal effects and drag, causing it to enter the red giant Sun's atmosphere and be vaporized.\n\nPhysical characteristics\n\nShape\n\nThe shape of Earth approximates an oblate spheroid, a sphere flattened along the axis from pole to pole such that there is a bulge around the equator. This bulge results from the rotation of Earth, and causes the diameter at the equator to be 43 km larger than the pole-to-pole diameter. Thus the point on the surface farthest from Earth's center of mass is the summit of the equatorial Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador. The average diameter of the reference spheroid is about 12742 km, which is approximately (40,000 km)/pi|, because the meter was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the equator to the North Pole through Paris, France.\n\nLocal topography deviates from this idealized spheroid, although on a global scale these deviations are small compared to Earth's radius: The maximum deviation of only 0.17% is at the Mariana Trench (10911 m below local sea level), whereas Mount Everest (8848 m above local sea level) represents a deviation of 0.14%. If Earth were shrunk to the size of a billiard ball, some areas of Earth such as large mountain ranges and oceanic trenches would feel like tiny imperfections, whereas much of the planet, including the Great Plains and the abyssal plains, would feel smoother. \n\nChemical composition\n\nEarth's mass is approximately (5,970 Yg). It is composed mostly of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%), with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements. Due to mass segregation, the core region is estimated to be primarily composed of iron (88.8%), with smaller amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements.\n\nThe geochemist F. W. Clarke calculated that a little more than 47% of Earth's crust consists of oxygen. The more common rock constituents of the crust are nearly all oxides: chlorine, sulfur and fluorine are the important exceptions to this and their total amount in any rock is usually much less than 1%. The principal oxides are silica, alumina, iron oxides, lime, magnesia, potash and soda. The silica functions principally as an acid, forming silicates, and all the most common minerals of igneous rocks are of this nature. From a computation based on 1,672 analyses of all kinds of rocks, Clarke deduced that 99.22% was composed of 11 oxides (see the table at right), with the other constituents occurring in minute quantities. \n\nInternal structure\n\nEarth's interior, like that of the other terrestrial planets, is divided into layers by their chemical or physical (rheological) properties, but unlike the other terrestrial planets, it has a distinct outer and inner core. The outer layer is a chemically distinct silicate solid crust, which is underlain by a highly viscous solid mantle. The crust is separated from the mantle by the Mohorovičić discontinuity, and the thickness of the crust varies: averaging (kilometers) under the oceans and 30–50 km on the continents. The crust and the cold, rigid, top of the upper mantle are collectively known as the lithosphere, and it is of the lithosphere that the tectonic plates are composed. Beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere, a relatively low-viscosity layer on which the lithosphere rides. Important changes in crystal structure within the mantle occur at 410 and below the surface, spanning a transition zone that separates the upper and lower mantle. Beneath the mantle, an extremely low viscosity liquid outer core lies above a solid inner core. The inner core may rotate at a slightly higher angular velocity than the remainder of the planet, advancing by 0.1–0.5° per year. The radius of the inner core is about one fifth of that of Earth.\n\nHeat\n\nEarth's internal heat comes from a combination of residual heat from planetary accretion (about 20%) and heat produced through radioactive decay (80%). The major heat-producing isotopes within Earth are potassium-40, uranium-238, uranium-235, and thorium-232. At the center, the temperature may be up to 6000 Celsius, and the pressure could reach 360 GPa. Because much of the heat is provided by radioactive decay, scientists postulate that early in Earth's history, before isotopes with short half-lives had been depleted, Earth's heat production would have been much higher. This extra heat production, twice present-day at approximately , would have increased temperature gradients with radius, increasing the rates of mantle convection and plate tectonics, and allowing the production of uncommon igneous rocks such as komatiites that are rarely formed today.\n\nThe mean heat loss from Earth is , for a global heat loss of . A portion of the core's thermal energy is transported toward the crust by mantle plumes; a form of convection consisting of upwellings of higher-temperature rock. These plumes can produce hotspots and flood basalts. More of the heat in Earth is lost through plate tectonics, by mantle upwelling associated with mid-ocean ridges. The final major mode of heat loss is through conduction through the lithosphere, the majority of which occurs under the oceans because the crust there is much thinner than that of the continents.\n\nTectonic plates\n\nThe mechanically rigid outer layer of Earth, the lithosphere, is broken into pieces called tectonic plates. These plates are rigid segments that move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent boundaries, at which two plates come together, divergent boundaries, at which two plates are pulled apart, and transform boundaries, in which two plates slide past one another laterally. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation can occur along these plate boundaries. The tectonic plates ride on top of the asthenosphere, the solid but less-viscous part of the upper mantle that can flow and move along with the plates.\n\nAs the tectonic plates migrate, the ocean floor is subducted under the leading edges of the plates at convergent boundaries. At the same time, the upwelling of mantle material at divergent boundaries creates mid-ocean ridges. The combination of these processes continually recycles the oceanic crust back into the mantle. Due to this recycling, most of the ocean floor is less than old in age. The oldest oceanic crust is located in the Western Pacific, and has an estimated age of about . By comparison, the oldest dated continental crust is .\n\nThe seven major plates are the Pacific, North American, Eurasian, African, Antarctic, Indo-Australian, and South American. Other notable plates include the Arabian Plate, the Caribbean Plate, the Nazca Plate off the west coast of South America and the Scotia Plate in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The Australian Plate fused with the Indian Plate between 50 and . The fastest-moving plates are the oceanic plates, with the Cocos Plate advancing at a rate of 75 mm/year and the Pacific Plate moving 52–69 mm/year. At the other extreme, the slowest-moving plate is the Eurasian Plate, progressing at a typical rate of about 21 mm/year.\n\nSurface\n\nEarth has a total surface area of about (197 million sq mi). About 70.8% of the surface is covered by water, with much of the continental shelf below sea level. This equates to (139.43 million sq mi). The submerged surface has mountainous features, including a globe-spanning mid-ocean ridge system, as well as undersea volcanoes, oceanic trenches, submarine canyons, oceanic plateaus and abyssal plains. The remaining 29.2% (, or 57.51 million sq mi) not covered by water has terrain that varies greatly from place to place and consists of mountains, deserts, plains, plateaus, and other landforms.\n\nEarth's surface undergoes reshaping over geological time periods due to tectonics and erosion. The surface features built up or deformed through plate tectonics are subject to steady weathering and erosion from precipitation, thermal cycles, and chemical effects. Glaciation, coastal erosion, the build-up of coral reefs, and large meteorite impacts also act to reshape the landscape.\n\nThe continental crust consists of lower density material such as the igneous rocks granite and andesite. Less common is basalt, a denser volcanic rock that is the primary constituent of the ocean floors. Sedimentary rock is formed from the accumulation of sediment that becomes buried and compacted together. Nearly 75% of the continental surfaces are covered by sedimentary rocks, although they form about 5% of the crust. The third form of rock material found on Earth is metamorphic rock, which is created from the transformation of pre-existing rock types through high pressures, high temperatures, or both. The most abundant silicate minerals on Earth's surface include quartz, feldspars, amphibole, mica, pyroxene and olivine. Common carbonate minerals include calcite (found in limestone) and dolomite.\n\nThe pedosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's continental surface and is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. The total arable land is 10.9% of the land surface, with 1.3% being permanent cropland. Close to 40% of Earth's land surface is used for cropland and pasture, or an estimated 1.3 km2 of cropland and 3.4 km2 of pastureland.\n\nThe elevation of the land surface varies from the low point of −418 m at the Dead Sea, to a 2005-estimated maximum altitude of 8,848 m at the top of Mount Everest. The mean height of land above sea level is 840 m.\n\nBesides being described in terms of Northern and Southern hemispheres centered on the poles, Earth is also often described in terms of Eastern and Western hemispheres. Earth's surface is traditionally divided into seven continents and various seas.\n\nHydrosphere\n\nThe abundance of water on Earth's surface is a unique feature that distinguishes the \"Blue Planet\" from other planets in the Solar System. Earth's hydrosphere consists chiefly of the oceans, but technically includes all water surfaces in the world, including inland seas, lakes, rivers, and underground waters down to a depth of 2,000 m. The deepest underwater location is Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean with a depth of 10,911.4 m.\n\nThe mass of the oceans is approximately 1.35 metric tons, or about 1/4400 of Earth's total mass. The oceans cover an area of with a mean depth of , resulting in an estimated volume of . If all of Earth's crustal surface was at the same elevation as a smooth sphere, the depth of the resulting world ocean would be 2.7 to 2.8 km. \n\nAbout 97.5% of the water is saline; the remaining 2.5% is fresh water. Most fresh water, about 68.7%, is present as ice in ice caps and glaciers. \n\nThe average salinity of Earth's oceans is about 35 grams of salt per kilogram of sea water (3.5% salt). Most of this salt was released from volcanic activity or extracted from cool igneous rocks. The oceans are also a reservoir of dissolved atmospheric gases, which are essential for the survival of many aquatic life forms. Sea water has an important influence on the world's climate, with the oceans acting as a large heat reservoir. Shifts in the oceanic temperature distribution can cause significant weather shifts, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.\n\nAtmosphere\n\nThe atmospheric pressure on Earth's surface averages 101.325 kPa, with a scale height of about 8.5 km. It has a composition of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with trace amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gaseous molecules. The height of the troposphere varies with latitude, ranging between 8 km at the poles to 17 km at the equator, with some variation resulting from weather and seasonal factors.\n\nEarth's biosphere has significantly altered its atmosphere. Oxygenic photosynthesis evolved , forming the primarily nitrogen–oxygen atmosphere of today. This change enabled the proliferation of aerobic organisms and, indirectly, the formation of the ozone layer due to the subsequent conversion of atmospheric O2 into O3. The ozone layer blocks ultraviolet solar radiation, permitting life on land. Other atmospheric functions important to life include transporting water vapor, providing useful gases, causing small meteors to burn up before they strike the surface, and moderating temperature. This last phenomenon is known as the greenhouse effect: trace molecules within the atmosphere serve to capture thermal energy emitted from the ground, thereby raising the average temperature. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone are the primary greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Without this heat-retention effect, the average surface temperature would be −18 °C, in contrast to the current +15 °C, and life would likely not exist.\n\nWeather and climate\n\nEarth's atmosphere has no definite boundary, slowly becoming thinner and fading into outer space. Three-quarters of the atmosphere's mass is contained within the first 11 km of the surface. This lowest layer is called the troposphere. Energy from the Sun heats this layer, and the surface below, causing expansion of the air. This lower-density air then rises, and is replaced by cooler, higher-density air. The result is atmospheric circulation that drives the weather and climate through redistribution of thermal energy.\n\nThe primary atmospheric circulation bands consist of the trade winds in the equatorial region below 30° latitude and the westerlies in the mid-latitudes between 30° and 60°. Ocean currents are also important factors in determining climate, particularly the thermohaline circulation that distributes thermal energy from the equatorial oceans to the polar regions.\n\nWater vapor generated through surface evaporation is transported by circulatory patterns in the atmosphere. When atmospheric conditions permit an uplift of warm, humid air, this water condenses and falls to the surface as precipitation. Most of the water is then transported to lower elevations by river systems and usually returned to the oceans or deposited into lakes. This water cycle is a vital mechanism for supporting life on land, and is a primary factor in the erosion of surface features over geological periods. Precipitation patterns vary widely, ranging from several meters of water per year to less than a millimeter. Atmospheric circulation, topographic features and temperature differences determine the average precipitation that falls in each region.\n\nThe amount of solar energy reaching Earth's surface decreases with increasing latitude. At higher latitudes the sunlight reaches the surface at lower angles and it must pass through thicker columns of the atmosphere. As a result, the mean annual air temperature at sea level decreases by about per degree of latitude from the equator. Earth's surface can be subdivided into specific latitudinal belts of approximately homogeneous climate. Ranging from the equator to the polar regions, these are the tropical (or equatorial), subtropical, temperate and polar climates. Climate can also be classified based on the temperature and precipitation, with the climate regions characterized by fairly uniform air masses. The commonly used Köppen climate classification system (as modified by Wladimir Köppen's student Rudolph Geiger) has five broad groups (humid tropics, arid, humid middle latitudes, continental and cold polar), which are further divided into more specific subtypes.\n\nClimate on Earth has latitudinal anomalies, namely the habitability of the Scandinavian peninsula very far north in sharp contrast to the polar climates of northern Canada as well as the cool summers expected at low latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere (for example on the west coast of South America). Another anomaly is the impact of landmass on temperature, manifested by the fact that Earth is much warmer at aphelion, where the planet is at a more distant position from the Sun. When the Northern hemisphere is turned towards the sunlight even the increased distance to it does not hinder temperatures to be warmer than at perihelion—when the marine southern hemisphere is turned towards the Sun.\n\nAt high latitudes, the western sides of continents tend to be milder than the eastern sides—for example seen in North America and Western Europe where rough continental climates appear on the east coast on parallels with mild climates on the other side of the ocean. \n\nThe highest air temperature ever measured on Earth was in Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley, in 1913. The lowest air temperature ever directly measured on Earth was at Vostok Station in 1983, but satellites have used remote sensing to measure temperatures as low as in East Antarctica. These temperature records are only measurements made with modern instruments from the 20th century onwards and likely do not reflect the full range of temperature on Earth.\n\nUpper atmosphere\n\nAbove the troposphere, the atmosphere is usually divided into the stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. Each layer has a different lapse rate, defining the rate of change in temperature with height. Beyond these, the exosphere thins out into the magnetosphere, where the geomagnetic fields interact with the solar wind. Within the stratosphere is the ozone layer, a component that partially shields the surface from ultraviolet light and thus is important for life on Earth. The Kármán line, defined as 100 km above Earth's surface, is a working definition for the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space.\n\nThermal energy causes some of the molecules at the outer edge of the atmosphere to increase their velocity to the point where they can escape from Earth's gravity. This causes a slow but steady leakage of the atmosphere into space. Because unfixed hydrogen has a low molecular mass, it can achieve escape velocity more readily and it leaks into outer space at a greater rate than other gases. The leakage of hydrogen into space contributes to the shifting of Earth's atmosphere and surface from an initially reducing state to its current oxidizing one. Photosynthesis provided a source of free oxygen, but the loss of reducing agents such as hydrogen is thought to have been a necessary precondition for the widespread accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere. Hence the ability of hydrogen to escape from the atmosphere may have influenced the nature of life that developed on Earth. In the current, oxygen-rich atmosphere most hydrogen is converted into water before it has an opportunity to escape. Instead, most of the hydrogen loss comes from the destruction of methane in the upper atmosphere.\n\nMagnetic field\n\nThe main part of Earth's magnetic field is generated in the core, the site of a dynamo process that converts kinetic energy of fluid convective motion into electrical and magnetic field energy. The field extends outwards from the core, through the mantle, and up to Earth's surface, where it is, to rough approximation, a dipole. The poles of the dipole are located close to Earth's geographic poles. At the equator of the magnetic field, the magnetic-field strength at the surface is , with global magnetic dipole moment of . The convection movements in the core are chaotic; the magnetic poles drift and periodically change alignment. This causes field reversals at irregular intervals averaging a few times every million years. The most recent reversal occurred approximately 700,000 years ago.\n\nMagnetosphere\n\nThe extent of Earth's magnetic field in space defines the magnetosphere. Ions and electrons of the solar wind are deflected by the magnetosphere; solar wind pressure compresses the dayside of the magnetosphere, to about 10 Earth radii, and extends the nightside magnetosphere into a long tail. Because the velocity of the solar wind is greater than the speed at which wave propagate through the solar wind, a supersonic bowshock precedes the dayside magnetosphere within the solar wind. Charged particles are contained within the magnetosphere; the plasmasphere is defined by low-energy particles that essentially follow magnetic field lines as Earth rotates; the ring current is defined by medium-energy particles that drift relative to the geomagnetic field, but with paths that are still dominated by the magnetic field, and the Van Allen radiation belt are formed by high-energy particles whose motion is essentially random, but otherwise contained by the magnetosphere.\n\nDuring a magnetic storm, charged particles can be deflected from the outer magnetosphere, directed along field lines into Earth's ionosphere, where atmospheric atoms can be excited and ionized, causing the aurora.\n\nOrbit and rotation\n\nRotation\n\nEarth's rotation period relative to the Sun—its mean solar day—is 86,400 seconds of mean solar time (86,400.0025 SI seconds). Because Earth's solar day is now slightly longer than it was during the 19th century due to tidal deceleration, each day varies between 0 and 2 SI ms longer. \n\nEarth's rotation period relative to the fixed stars, called its stellar day by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), is of mean solar time (UT1), or Earth's rotation period relative to the precessing or moving mean vernal equinox, misnamed its sidereal day, is of mean solar time (UT1) . Thus the sidereal day is shorter than the stellar day by about 8.4 ms. The length of the mean solar day in SI seconds is available from the IERS for the periods 1623–2005 and 1962–2005.\n\nApart from meteors within the atmosphere and low-orbiting satellites, the main apparent motion of celestial bodies in Earth's sky is to the west at a rate of 15°/h 15'/min. For bodies near the celestial equator, this is equivalent to an apparent diameter of the Sun or the Moon every two minutes; from Earth's surface, the apparent sizes of the Sun and the Moon are approximately the same.\n\nOrbit\n\nEarth orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 150 e6km every 365.2564 mean solar days, or one sidereal year. This gives an apparent movement of the Sun eastward with respect to the stars at a rate of about 1°/day, which is one apparent Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours. Due to this motion, on average it takes 24 hours—a solar day—for Earth to complete a full rotation about its axis so that the Sun returns to the meridian. The orbital speed of Earth averages about , which is fast enough to travel a distance equal to Earth's diameter, about 12742 km, in seven minutes, and the distance to the Moon, 384000 km, in about 3.5 hours.\n\nThe Moon and Earth orbit a common barycenter every 27.32 days relative to the background stars. When combined with the Earth–Moon system's common orbit around the Sun, the period of the synodic month, from new moon to new moon, is 29.53 days. Viewed from the celestial north pole, the motion of Earth, the Moon, and their axial rotations are all counterclockwise. Viewed from a vantage point above the north poles of both the Sun and Earth, Earth orbits in a counterclockwise direction about the Sun. The orbital and axial planes are not precisely aligned: Earth's axis is tilted some 23.4 degrees from the perpendicular to the Earth–Sun plane (the ecliptic), and the Earth–Moon plane is tilted up to ±5.1 degrees against the Earth–Sun plane. Without this tilt, there would be an eclipse every two weeks, alternating between lunar eclipses and solar eclipses.\n\nThe Hill sphere, or gravitational sphere of influence, of Earth is about in radius. This is the maximum distance at which the Earth's gravitational influence is stronger than the more distant Sun and planets. Objects must orbit Earth within this radius, or they can become unbound by the gravitational perturbation of the Sun.\n\nEarth, along with the Solar System, is situated in the Milky Way and orbits about 28,000 light-years from its center. It is about 20 light-years above the galactic plane in the Orion Arm.\n\nAxial tilt and seasons\n\nThe axial tilt of the Earth is approximately 23.439281°. Due to Earth's axial tilt, the amount of sunlight reaching any given point on the surface varies over the course of the year. This causes seasonal change in climate, with summer in the northern hemisphere occurring when the North Pole is pointing toward the Sun, and winter taking place when the pole is pointed away. During the summer, the day lasts longer and the Sun climbs higher in the sky. In winter, the climate becomes generally cooler and the days shorter. In northern temperate latitudes, the Sun rises north of true east during the summer solstice, and sets north of true west, reversing in the winter. The Sun rises south of true east in the summer for the southern temperate zone, and sets south of true west.\n\nAbove the Arctic Circle, an extreme case is reached where there is no daylight at all for part of the year, up to six months at the North Pole itself, a polar night. In the southern hemisphere the situation is exactly reversed, with the South Pole oriented opposite the direction of the North Pole. Six months later, this pole will experience a midnight sun, a day of 24 hours, again reversing with the South Pole.\n\nBy astronomical convention, the four seasons can be determined by the solstices — the points in the orbit of maximum axial tilt toward or away from the Sun — and the equinoxes, when the direction of the tilt and the direction to the Sun are perpendicular. In the northern hemisphere, winter solstice currently occurs around 21 December, summer solstice is near 21 June, spring equinox is around 20 March and autumnal equinox is about 22 or 23 September. In the southern hemisphere, the situation is reversed, with the summer and winter solstices exchanged and the spring and autumnal equinox dates swapped.\n\nThe angle of Earth's axial tilt is relatively stable over long periods of time. Its axial tilt does undergo nutation; a slight, irregular motion with a main period of 18.6 years. The orientation (rather than the angle) of Earth's axis also changes over time, precessing around in a complete circle over each 25,800 year cycle; this precession is the reason for the difference between a sidereal year and a tropical year. Both of these motions are caused by the varying attraction of the Sun and the Moon on Earth's equatorial bulge. The poles also migrate a few meters across Earth's surface. This polar motion has multiple, cyclical components, which collectively are termed quasiperiodic motion. In addition to an annual component to this motion, there is a 14-month cycle called the Chandler wobble. Earth's rotational velocity also varies in a phenomenon known as length-of-day variation.\n\nIn modern times, Earth's perihelion occurs around 3 January, and its aphelion around 4 July. These dates change over time due to precession and other orbital factors, which follow cyclical patterns known as Milankovitch cycles. The changing Earth–Sun distance causes an increase of about 6.9% in solar energy reaching Earth at perihelion relative to aphelion. Because the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun at about the same time that Earth reaches the closest approach to the Sun, the southern hemisphere receives slightly more energy from the Sun than does the northern over the course of a year. This effect is much less significant than the total energy change due to the axial tilt, and most of the excess energy is absorbed by the higher proportion of water in the southern hemisphere.\n\nHabitability\n\nA planet that can sustain life is termed habitable, even if life did not originate there. Earth provides liquid water—an environment where complex organic molecules can assemble and interact, and sufficient energy to sustain metabolism. The distance of Earth from the Sun, as well as its orbital eccentricity, rate of rotation, axial tilt, geological history, sustaining atmosphere and protective magnetic field all contribute to the current climatic conditions at the surface.\n\nBiosphere\n\nA planet's life forms inhabit ecosystems, whose total is sometimes said to form a \"biosphere\". Earth's biosphere is thought to have begun evolving about . The biosphere is divided into a number of biomes, inhabited by broadly similar plants and animals. On land, biomes are separated primarily by differences in latitude, height above sea level and humidity. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic or Antarctic Circles, at high altitudes or in extremely arid areas are relatively barren of plant and animal life; species diversity reaches a peak in humid lowlands at equatorial latitudes.\n\nNatural resources and land use\n\nEarth has resources that have been exploited by humans. Those termed non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels, only renew over geological timescales.\n\nLarge deposits of fossil fuels are obtained from Earth's crust, consisting of coal, petroleum, and natural gas. These deposits are used by humans both for energy production and as feedstock for chemical production. Mineral ore bodies have also been formed within the crust through a process of ore genesis, resulting from actions of magmatism, erosion and plate tectonics. These bodies form concentrated sources for many metals and other useful elements.\n\nEarth's biosphere produces many useful biological products for humans, including food, wood, pharmaceuticals, oxygen, and the recycling of many organic wastes. The land-based ecosystem depends upon topsoil and fresh water, and the oceanic ecosystem depends upon dissolved nutrients washed down from the land. In 1980, 5,053 Mha (50.53 million km2) of Earth's land surface consisted of forest and woodlands, 6,788 Mha (67.88 million km2) was grasslands and pasture, and 1,501 Mha (15.01 million km2) was cultivated as croplands. The estimated amount of irrigated land in 1993 was 2481250 km2. Humans also live on the land by using building materials to construct shelters.\n\nNatural and environmental hazards\n\nLarge areas of Earth's surface are subject to extreme weather such as tropical cyclones, hurricanes, or typhoons that dominate life in those areas. From 1980 to 2000, these events caused an average of 11,800 human deaths per year. Many places are subject to earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, sinkholes, blizzards, floods, droughts, wildfires, and other calamities and disasters.\n\nMany localized areas are subject to human-made pollution of the air and water, acid rain and toxic substances, loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, species extinction, soil degradation, soil depletion and erosion.\n\nAccording to the United Nations, a scientific consensus exists linking human activities to global warming due to industrial carbon dioxide emissions. This is predicted to produce changes such as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, more extreme temperature ranges, significant changes in weather and a global rise in average sea levels.\n\nHuman geography\n\nCartography, the study and practice of map-making, and geography, the study of the lands, features, inhabitants and phenomena on Earth, have historically been the disciplines devoted to depicting Earth. Surveying, the determination of locations and distances, and to a lesser extent navigation, the determination of position and direction, have developed alongside cartography and geography, providing and suitably quantifying the requisite information.\n\nEarth's human population reached approximately seven billion on 31 October 2011. Projections indicate that the world's human population will reach 9.2 billion in 2050. Most of the growth is expected to take place in developing nations. Human population density varies widely around the world, but a majority live in Asia. By 2020, 60% of the world's population is expected to be living in urban, rather than rural, areas.\n\nIt is estimated that one-eighth of Earth's surface is suitable for humans to live on – three-quarters of Earth's surface is covered by oceans, leaving one quarter as land. Half of that land area is desert (14%), high mountains (27%), or other unsuitable terrain. The northernmost permanent settlement in the world is Alert, on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. (82°28′N) The southernmost is the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, in Antarctica, almost exactly at the South Pole. (90°S)\n\nIndependent sovereign nations claim the planet's entire land surface, except for some parts of Antarctica, a few land parcels along the Danube river's western bank, and the odd unclaimed area of Bir Tawil between Egypt and Sudan. , there are 193 sovereign states that are member states of the United Nations, plus two observer states and 72 dependent territories and states with limited recognition. Historically, Earth has never had a sovereign government with authority over the entire globe although a number of nation-states have striven for world domination and failed.\n\nThe United Nations is a worldwide intergovernmental organization that was created with the goal of intervening in the disputes between nations, thereby avoiding armed conflict. The U.N. serves primarily as a forum for international diplomacy and international law. When the consensus of the membership permits, it provides a mechanism for armed intervention.\n\nThe first human to orbit Earth was Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961. In total, about 487 people have visited outer space and reached orbit , and, of these, twelve have walked on the Moon. Normally, the only humans in space are those on the International Space Station. The station's crew, made up of six people, is usually replaced every six months. The farthest that humans have travelled from Earth is 400,171 km, achieved during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.\n\nMoon\n\nThe Moon is a relatively large, terrestrial, planet-like natural satellite, with a diameter about one-quarter of Earth's. It is the largest moon in the Solar System relative to the size of its planet, although Charon is larger relative to the dwarf planet Pluto. The natural satellites of other planets are also referred to as \"moons\", after Earth's.\n\nThe gravitational attraction between Earth and the Moon causes tides on Earth. The same effect on the Moon has led to its tidal locking: its rotation period is the same as the time it takes to orbit Earth. As a result, it always presents the same face to the planet. As the Moon orbits Earth, different parts of its face are illuminated by the Sun, leading to the lunar phases; the dark part of the face is separated from the light part by the solar terminator.\n\nDue to their tidal interaction, the Moon recedes from Earth at the rate of approximately 38 mm/yr. Over millions of years, these tiny modifications—and the lengthening of Earth's day by about 23 µs/yr—add up to significant changes. During the Devonian period, for example, (approximately ) there were 400 days in a year, with each day lasting 21.8 hours.\n\nThe Moon may have dramatically affected the development of life by moderating the planet's climate. Paleontological evidence and computer simulations show that Earth's axial tilt is stabilized by tidal interactions with the Moon. Some theorists think that without this stabilization against the torques applied by the Sun and planets to Earth's equatorial bulge, the rotational axis might be chaotically unstable, exhibiting chaotic changes over millions of years, as appears to be the case for Mars.\n\nViewed from Earth, the Moon is just far enough away to have almost the same apparent-sized disk as the Sun. The angular size (or solid angle) of these two bodies match because, although the Sun's diameter is about 400 times as large as the Moon's, it is also 400 times more distant. This allows total and annular solar eclipses to occur on Earth.\n\nThe most widely accepted theory of the Moon's origin, the giant impact theory, states that it formed from the collision of a Mars-size protoplanet called Theia with the early Earth. This hypothesis explains (among other things) the Moon's relative lack of iron and volatile elements, and the fact that its composition is nearly identical to that of Earth's crust.\n\nAsteroids and artificial satellites\n\nEarth has at least five co-orbital asteroids, including 3753 Cruithne and . A trojan asteroid companion, , is librating around the leading Lagrange triangular point, L4, in the Earth's orbit around the Sun.\n\nThe tiny near-Earth asteroid makes close approaches to the Earth–Moon system roughly every twenty years. During these approaches, it can orbit Earth for brief periods of time. \n\n, there were 1,305 operational, human-made satellites orbiting Earth. There are also inoperative satellites, including Vanguard 1, the oldest satellite currently in orbit, and over 300,000 pieces of space debris. Earth's largest artificial satellite is the International Space Station.\n\nCultural and historical viewpoint\n\nThe standard astronomical symbol of Earth consists of a cross circumscribed by a circle, , representing the four quadrants of the world.\n\nHuman cultures have developed many views of the planet. Earth is sometimes personified as a deity. In many cultures it is a mother goddess that is also the primary fertility deity, and by the mid-20th century the Gaia Principle compared Earth's environments and life as a single self-regulating organism leading to broad stabilization of the conditions of habitability. Creation myths in many religions involve the creation of Earth by a supernatural deity or deities.\n\nScientific investigation has resulted in several culturally transformative shifts in our view of the planet. In the West, belief in a flat Earth was displaced by the idea of spherical Earth, credited to Pythagoras in the 6th century BC. Earth was further believed to be the center of the universe until the 16th century, when scientists first theorized that it was a moving object, comparable to the other planets in the Solar System. Due to the efforts of influential Christian scholars and clerics such as James Ussher, who sought to determine the age of Earth through analysis of genealogies in Scripture, Westerners prior to the 19th century generally believed Earth to be a few thousand years old at most. It was only during the 19th century that geologists realized Earth's age was at least many millions of years. Lord Kelvin used thermodynamics to estimate the age of Earth to be between 20 million and 400 million years in 1864, sparking a vigorous debate on the subject; it was only when radioactivity and radioactive dating were discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that a reliable mechanism for determining Earth's age was established, proving the planet to be billions of years old. The perception of Earth shifted again in the 20th century when humans first viewed it from orbit, and especially with photographs of Earth returned by the Apollo program.",
"Order Of the Planets From The Sun - Universe Today\n... (0.815 Earth mass) Length of Year (Orbit): 225 days; ... Earth has one moon. ... 687 Earth days. Length of day: 24 hours 37 minutes.\nOrder Of the Planets From The Sun - Universe Today\n Universe Today\nOrder Of the Planets From The Sun\nArticle Updated: 31 Jan , 2016\nby Nancy Atkinson\nFirst the quick facts: Our Solar System has eight “official” planets which orbit the Sun. Here are the planets listed in order of their distance from the Sun:\nMercury , Venus , Earth , Mars , Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus , and Neptune . An easy mnemonic for remembering the order is “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles.”\nIf you add in the dwarf planets, Ceres is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, while the remaining dwarf planets are in the outer Solar System and in order from the Sun are Pluto , Haumea , Makemake , and Eris . There is, as yet, a bit of indecision about the Trans-Neptunian Objects known as Orcus , Quaoar , 2007 O10 , and Sedna and their inclusion in the dwarf planet category.\nA mnemonic for this list would be “My Very Educated Mother Could Just Serve Us Noodles, Pie, Ham, Muffins, and Eggs” (and Steak, if Sedna is included.) You can find more tricks for remembering the order of the planets at our detailed article here.\nNow, let’s look at a few details including the definition of a planet and a dwarf planet, as well as details about each of the planets in our Solar System.\nArtistic impression of the Solar System, with all known terrestrial planets, as giants, and dwarf planets. Credit: NASA\nWhat is a planet?\nIn 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided on the definition of a planet. The definition states that in our Solar System, a planet is a celestial body which:\nis in orbit around the Sun,\nhas sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape),\nhas “cleared the neighborhood” around its orbit.\nis not a moon.\nThis means that Pluto, which was considered to be the farthest planet since its discovery in 1930, now is classified as a dwarf planet. The change in the definition came after the discovery three bodies that were all similar to Pluto in terms of size and orbit, (Quaoar in 2002, Sedna in 2003, and Eris in 2005).\nWith advances in equipment and techniques, astronomers knew that more objects like Pluto would very likely be discovered, and so the number of planets in our Solar System would start growing quickly. It soon became clear that either they all had to be called planets or Pluto and bodies like it would have to be reclassified.\nWith much controversy then and since, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. This also reclassified the asteroid Ceres as a dwarf planet, too, and so the first five recognized dwarf planets are Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake and Haumea. Scientists believe there may be dozens more dwarf planets awaiting discovery.\nLater, in 2008, the IAU announced the subcategory of dwarf planets with trans-Neptunian orbits would be known as “plutoids.” Said the IAU, “Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighborhood around their orbit.”\nThis subcategory includes Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.\nThe Planets in our Solar System:\nHaving covered the basics of definition and classification, let’s get talking about those celestial bodies in our Solar System that are still classified as planets (sorry Pluto!). Here is a brief look at the eight planets in our Solar System. Included are quick facts and links so you can find out more about each planet.\nMercury:\nMercury is the closest planet to our Sun, at just 58 million km (36 million miles) or 0.39 Astronomical Unit (AU) out. But despite its reputation for being sun-baked and molten, it is not the hottest planet in our Solar System (scroll down to find out who that dubious honor goes go!)\nMercury, as imaged by the MESSENGER spacecraft, revealing parts of the never seen by human eyes. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington\nMercury is also the smallest planet in our Solar System, and is also smaller than its largest moon (Ganymede, which orbits Jupiter). And being equivalent in size to 0.38 Earths, it is just slightly larger than the Earth’s own Moon. But this may have something to do with its incredible density, being composed primarily of rock and iron ore. Here are the planetary facts:\nDiameter: 4,879 km (3,032 miles)\nMass: 3.3011 x 1023 kg (0.055 Earths)\nLength of Year (Orbit): 87.97 Earth days\nLength of Day: 59 Earth days.\nMercury is a rocky planet, one of the four “terrestrial planets” in our Solar System. Mercury has a solid, cratered surface, and looks much like Earth’s moon.\nIf you weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) on Earth, you would weigh 17 kg (38 pounds) on Mercury.\nMercury does not have any moons.\nTemperatures on Mercury range between -173 to 427 degrees Celcius (-279 to 801 degrees Fahrenheit)\nJust two spacecraft have visited Mercury: Mariner 10 in 1974-75 and MESSENGER, which flew past Mercury three times before going into orbit around Mercury in 2011 and ended its mission by impacting the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015. MESSENGER has changed our understanding of this planet, and scientists are still studying the data.\nFind more details about Mercury at this article on Universe Today, and this page from NASA.\nVenus:\nVenus is the second closest planet to our Sun, orbiting at an average distance of 108 million km (67 million miles) or 0.72 AU. Venus is often called Earth’s “sister planet,” as it is just a little smaller than Earth. Venus is 81.5% as massive as Earth, and has 90% of its surface area and 86.6% of its volume. The surface gravity, which is 8.87 m/s², is equivalent to 0.904 g – roughly 90% of the Earth standard.\nA radar view of Venus taken by the Magellan spacecraft, with some gaps filled in by the Pioneer Venus orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL\nAnd due to its thick atmosphere and proximity to the Sun, it is the Solar Systems hottest planet, with temperatures reaching up to a scorching 735 K (462 °C). To put that in perspective, that’s over four and a half times the amount of heat needed to evaporate water, and about twice as much needed to turn tin into molten metal (231.9 °C)!\nDiameter: 7,521 miles (12,104 km)\nMass: 4.867 x 1024 kg (0.815 Earth mass)\nLength of Year (Orbit): 225 days\nLength of day: 243 Earth days\nSurface temperature: 462 degrees C (864 degrees F)\nVenus’ thick and toxic atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2), with clouds of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) droplets.\nVenus has no moons.\nVenus spins backwards (retrograde rotation), compared to the other planets. This means that the sun rises in the west and sets in the east on Venus.\nIf you weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) on Earth, you would weigh 41 kg (91 pounds) on Venus.\nVenus is also known and the “morning star” or “evening star” because it is often brighter than any other object in the sky and is usually seen either at dawn or at dusk. Since it is so bright, it has often been mistaken for a UFO!\nMore than 40 spacecraft have explored Venus. The Magellan mission in the early 1990s mapped 98 percent of the planet’s surface. Find out more about all the missions here.\nFind out more about Venus on this article from Universe Today , and this page from NASA.\nEarth:\nOur home, and the only planet in our Solar System (that we know of) that actively supports life. Our planet is the third from the our Sun, orbiting it at an average distance of 150 million km (93 million miles) from the Sun, or one AU. Given the fact that Earth is where we originated, and has all the necessary prerequisites for supporting life, it should come as no surprise that it is the metric on which all others planets are judged.\nEarth, pictured by the crew of the Apollo 17 mission. Credit: NASA\nWhether it is gravity (g), distance (measured in AUs), diameter, mass, density or volume, the units are either expressed in terms of Earth’s own values (with Earth having a value of 1) or in terms of equivalencies – i.e. 0.89 times the size of Earth. Here’s a rundown of the kinds of\nDiameter: 12,760 km (7,926 miles)\nMass: 5.97 x 1024 kg\nLength of Year (Orbit): 365 days\nLength of day: 24 hours (more precisely, 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds.)\nSurface temperature: Average is about 14 C, (57 F), with ranges from -88 to 58 (min/max) C (-126 to 136 F).\nEarth is another terrestrial planet with an ever-changing surface, and 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered in oceans.\nEarth has one moon.\nEarth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% various other gases.\nEarth is the only world known to harbor life.\nFind out more about Earth at a series of articles found here on Universe Today , and on this webpage from NASA.\nMars:\nMars is the fourth planet from the sun at a distance of about 228 million km (142 million miles) or 1.52 AU. It is also known as “the Red Planet” because of its reddish hue, which is due to the prevalence of iron oxide on its surface. In many ways, Mars is similar to Earth, which can be seen from its similar rotational period and tilt, which in turn produce seasonal cycles that are comparable to our own.\nGlobal image of the planet Mars. Credit: NASA\nThe same holds true for surface features. Like Earth, Mars has many familiar surface features, which include volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps. But beyond these, Mars and Earth have little in common. The Martian atmosphere is too thin and the planet too far from our Sun to sustain warm temperatures, which average 210 K (-63 ºC) and fluctuate considerably.\nDiameter: 6,787 km, (4,217 miles)\nMass: 6.4171 x 1023 kg (0.107 Earths)\nLength of Year (Orbit): 687 Earth days.\nLength of day: 24 hours 37 minutes.\nSurface temperature: Average is about -55 C (-67 F), with ranges of -153 to +20 °C (-225 to +70 °F)\nMars is the fourth terrestrial planet in our Solar System. Its rocky surface has been altered by volcanoes, impacts, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms.\nMars has a thin atmosphere made up mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2) and argon (Ar).If you weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) on Earth, you would weigh 17 kg (38 pounds) on Mars.\nMars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos.\nMars is known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil to look red.\nMore than 40 spacecraft have been launched to Mars. You can find out more about missions to Mars here. Find out more about Mars at this series of articles on Universe Today , and at this NASA webpage.\nJupiter:\nJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, at a distance of about 778 million km (484 million miles) or 5.2 AU. Jupiter is also the most massive planet in our Solar System, being 317 times the mass of Earth, and two and half times larger than all the other planets combined. It is a gas giant, meaning that it is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, with swirling clouds and other trace gases.\nIo and Jupiter as seen by New Horizons during its 2008 flyby. (Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University APL/SWRI).\nJupiter’s atmosphere is the most intense in the Solar System. In fact, the combination of incredibly high pressure and coriolis forces produces the most violent storms ever witnessed. Wind speeds of 100 m/s (360 km/h) are common and can reach as high as 620 km/h (385 mph). In addition, Jupiter experiences auroras that are both more intense than Earth’s, and which never stop.\nDiameter: 428,400 km (88,730 miles)\nMass: 1.8986 × 1027 kg (317.8 Earths)\nLength of Year (Orbit): 11.9 Earth years\nLength of day: 9.8 Earth hours\nTemperature: -148 C, (-234 F)\nJupiter has 67 known moons, with an additional 17 moons awaiting confirmation of their discovery – for a total of 67 moons. Jupiter is almost like a mini solar system!\nJupiter has a faint ring system, discovered in 1979 by the Voyager 1 mission.\nIf you weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) on Earth, you would weigh 115 kg (253) pounds on Jupiter.\nJupiter’s Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm (bigger than Earth) that has been raging for hundreds of years. However, it appears to be shrinking in recent years.\nMany missions have visited Jupiter and its system of moons, with the latest being the Juno mission will arrive at Jupiter in 2016. You can find out more about missions to Jupiter here.\nSaturn’s relatively thin main rings are about 250,000 km (156,000 miles) in diameter. (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/J. Major)\nSaturn:\nSaturn is the sixth planet from the Sun at a distance of about 1.4 billion km (886 million miles) or 9.5 AU. Like Jupiter, it is a gas giant, with layers of gaseous material surrounding a solid core. Saturn is most famous and most easily recognized for its spectacular ring system, which is made of seven rings with several gaps and divisions between them.\nDiameter: 120,500 km (74,900 miles)\nMass: 5.6836 x 1026 kg (95.159 Earths)\nLength of Year (Orbit): 29.5 Earth years\nLength of day: 10.7 Earth hours\nTemperature: -178 C (-288 F)\nSaturn’s atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He).\nIf you weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) on Earth, you would weigh about 48 kg (107 pounds) on Saturn\nSaturn has 53 known moons with an additional 9 moons awaiting confirmation.\nFive missions have gone to Saturn. Since 2004, Cassini has been exploring Saturn, its moons and rings. You can out more about missions to Saturn here.\nFind out more about Saturn at this series of articles on Universe Today and at this webpage from NASA.\nUranus:\nUranus is the seventh planet from the sun at a distance of about 2.9 billion km (1.8 billion miles) or 19.19 AU. Though it is classified as a “gas giant”, it is often referred to as an “ice giant” as well, owing to the presence of ammonia, methane, water and hydrocarbons in ice form. The presence of methane ice is also what gives it its bluish appearance.\nUranus as seen by NASA’s Voyager 2 space probe. Credit: NASA/JPL\nUranus is also the coldest planet in our Solar System, making the term “ice” seem very appropriate! What’s more, its system of moons experience a very odd seasonal cycle, owing to the fact that they orbit Neptune’s equator, and Neptune orbits with its north pole facing directly towards the Sun. This causes all of its moons to experience 42 year periods of day and night.\nDiameter: 51,120 km (31,763 miles)\nMass:\nYou can find out more about Uranus at this series of articles on Universe Today and this webpage from NASA .\nNeptune:\nNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun, at a distance of about 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion miles) or 30.07 AU. Like Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, it is technically a gas giant, though it is more properly classified as an “ice giant” with Uranus.\nNeptune photographed by the Voyager 2 space probe. Credit: NASA/JPL\nDue to its extreme distance from our Sun, Neptune cannot be seen with the naked eye, and only one mission has ever flown close enough to get detailed images of it. Nevertheless, what we know about it indicates that it is similar in many respects to Uranus, consisting of gases, ices, methane ice (which gives its color), and has a series of moons and faint rings.\nDiameter: 49,530 km (30,775 miles)\nMass: 1.0243 x 1026 kg (17 Earths)\nLength of Year (Orbit): 165 Earth years\nLength of day: 16 Earth hours\nTemperature: -214 C (-353 F)\nNeptune is mostly made of a very thick, very hot combination of water (H2O), ammonia (NH3), and methane (CH4) over a possible heavier, approximately Earth-sized, solid core.\nNeptune’s atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2), helium (He) and methane (CH4).\nNeptune has 13 confirmed moons and 1 more awaiting official confirmation.\nNeptune has six rings.\nIf you weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) on Earth, you would weigh 52 kg (114 pounds) on Neptune.\nNeptune was the first planet to be predicted to exist by using math.\nVoyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Neptune. You can find out more about this mission here.\nFind out more about Neptune at this series of articles on Universe Today and this NASA webpage. We have written many articles about the planets for Universe Today. Here are some facts about planets , and here’s an article about the names of the planets .If you’d like more info on the Solar System planets, dwarf planets, asteroids and more, check out NASA’s Solar System exploration page , and here’s a link to NASA’s Solar System Simulator .We’ve also recorded a series of episodes of Astronomy Cast about every planet in the Solar System. Start here, Episode 49: Mercury .Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and it is the hottest planet in the Solar System due to its thick, toxic atmosphere which has been described as having a “runaway greenhouse effect” on the planet.\nNow you know! And if you find yourself unable to remember all the planets in their proper order, just repeat the words, “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles.” Of course, the Pie, Ham, Muffins and Eggs are optional, as are any additional courses that might be added in the coming years!\nAstronomy Cast also has some cool episodes about the Solar System. Here’s Episode 68: Pluto and the Icy Outer Planets , Episode 306: Accretion Discs , and Episode 159: Planet X .",
"Orbit & Rotation of Mars: Planet Mars’ Year, Day, Spin ...\nMars distance from the Sun is 230 million km and its orbital period is equal to 687 Earth days. For this planet, ... Earth’s day which is 24 hours, 39 minutes ...\nOrbit & Rotation of Mars: Planet Mars’ Year, Day, Spin & Revolution – PlanetFacts.org\nThe Moon\nOrbit and Rotation of Mars\nMars distance from the Sun is 230 million km and its orbital period is equal to 687 Earth days. For this planet, the solar day is only a bit longer than that of the Earth’s day which is 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35.244 seconds. An entire Martian year would equal 1.8809 in Earth years.\nMars’ axial tilt is 25.19 degrees, which is quite similar to that of our own planet and in this way, seasons in Mars are very much like the seasons that we have here on Earth. However, on Mars, they are almost twice as long because of the fact that the planet has significantly longer years compared to us. At the moment, the orientation of Mars’ North Pole is close to Deneb.\nThe planet has passed its perihelion in April 2009 and its aphelion in May 2007. It would reach its next perihelion in May 2011. Mars has a rather pronounced orbital eccentricity, which is about 0.09, compared to the other planets in the Solar System. The only other planet that shows greater eccentricity would be Mercury. For the last 35,000 years, Mars’ orbit has grown even more eccentric due to the gravitation effects that the other planets have on it. In fact, the closest distance between our planet and Mars would continuously decrease for the next 25,000 years.\nAs for its moons, Mars has two tiny natural ones. Phobos and Deimos orbit quite close to the planets. Currently, from what scientists know of their composition, it is believed that both moons were captured asteroids but this has never been completely ascertained nor confirmed.\nMore about the Planet Mars\nOkello – Ajasi\nI can fly to Mars.\nShishcobob\nGives mee all the details\nmobie",
"ERBzine 1630: Time on Mars by Ekman & Gangale\n... , where the Martian year is said to be \"687 days\" ... day is a trifle over 24 hours 37 minutes duration (Earth ... one hour is 1/24th of an Earth day, ...\nERBzine 1630: Time on Mars by Ekman & Gangale\nSumming up, our four options for length of ord are:\nScientific year, as measured by astronomers (668.59 padans).\nScientific year, as may have been approximated by Burroughs (668.62).\nCalendar year, as implied by Burroughs (670).\nIncorrect year, as quoted by Burroughs (687).\nWe do not say that any one alternative is the only one, or even the best. Unfortunately, this is one of many inconsistencies in Burroughs' fantasy world, an inconsistency that can only be resolved by denying one or more facts as they are presented by Burroughs.\n \nCounting the Months and Weeks\nIn his personal notes, as mentioned above, Burroughs specified the teean as 67 padans and the ord as ten teeans. But these figures were not mentioned in the novels. In fact, there is an indication in a different direction, as John Carter apparently equates \"six long Martian months\" with one half ord (WM/1). This, then, would seem to indicate a total of twelve teeans to the ord.\nRoy suggests, and we agree, that this can be disregarded. We see it as an extreme and misplaced (not to mention incorrect) example of Burroughs' oft-expressed aim to simplify terminology by using Earth terms at most times, so \"six months\" should read as \"half a year\" (Martian in this case).\nTeean length is also in question due to the distribution of the monthly rites of Issus. Judging from Ekman's article \" A Chronology for the Princess of Mars Trilogy \" there are 370 padans between the rite where John Carter participated (GM/11) and the one that was held on the padan before the battle of Omean (GM/20). This is not evenly divisible by anything even near 67. Nine 74-padan teeans would come quite close to solving the equation for a 669-padan ord, as would thirteen 53-padan teeans for a 687-padan ord.\nThis, too, can be disregarded. It is unlikely that Burroughs, always more interested in telling a good story than paying attention to every detail, calculated the exact dates for each rite. Possible assumptions for circumventing the inconsistency are that either the rites are not always held on the same date, or the First Born use a different calendar. Nine teeans would not be unreasonable in such a calendar. Nine, the number of facets on the jewels worn by Holy Therns, may have some significance in the Issus cult.\nThere is but a single passage in the books themselves where Burroughs specifies the length of the teean, stating that it \"is equivalent to about seventy days of Earth time\" (LG-3/3). The figure is not entirely correct (686.97/10≈68.7). Even so, this is the canonical confirmation that the ord does in fact have ten teeans, since no other number of teeans results in approximately seventy Earth days (the closest is 686.97/9≈76.3). Our guess is that Burroughs calculated correctly, then rounded to the nearest multiple of ten. As an interesting aside, the nearest solution to the equation comes from assuming a 687-padan year and a sidereal day (687*1.026/10≈70.49; see below for an explanation of the sidereal day).\nWhat we do not know is whether all teeans are of equal length or not. For an ord with 670 days they could be, but for other lengths of the ord they would have to be different, so that for instance some teeans would be 66 padans and others would be 67.\nThe Barsoomian Week\nAnother unknown of Barsoomian time reckoning is whether they have a unit corresponding to our week. The word \"week\" is frequent in the texts. But does it refer to a Barsoomian week of unknown length, or is it just a hybrid use of the Earth \"week\" to represent seven padans? The latter is probable, even in those books where the narrator is a native Barsoomian. In one such book, Burroughs (in the role of editor of the story) makes the following reflection: \"Certain Martian words and idioms which are untranslatable, measures of time and of distance will be usually in my own words\" (SMM/1).\nBut this does not preclude the existence of a Barsoomian week. The inhabitants of Kamtol hold their Lesser Games \"about once a week\" (LG-2/7), suggesting a \"week\" unit. Roy argues that a Barsoomian week (if there is one) would probably be either seven or ten days long. Both these alternatives do find some weak support in the texts. Ten-day periods that could be indicative of a week are the Great Games in Warhoon (PM/19) and the period before the intended wedding between Salensus Oll and Dejah Thoris (WM/11). A seven-day period precedes another intended wedding, namely that between O-Tar and Tara (CM/20).\nOne clue that strongly supports the existence of a week is the very terms padan and teean. Semantically, these appear to match another set of words, namely padwar (lieutenant), dwar (captain) and teedwar (colonel). Is it then not likely that there should also be an an term inserted into the padan and teean sequence to complete that set? If so, then we have our week.\nThe literal meaning of dwar seems to be \"officer\", and the prefixes \"pa[d]-\" and \"tee-\" could have meanings such as \"minor\" and \"major\". But the word tee also means \"ten\" and Roy's conclusion that that a teedwar commands ten times as many men as a dwar suggests this as a more likely semantic option. Analogously, we suggest that one teean is ten times one an, and one tenth of 67 is approximately 7. It therefore seems possible that the an is seven padans (which also matches Roy's analysis).\nThere is one thing we cannot guess: Are some ans shorter in order to make an even ten ans in a teean, or are weeks and months independent of each other as in the Gregorian calendar?\nHappy New Ord\nKnowing the lengths of Barsoomian ans and teeans may provide a clue to when the Barsoomian new ord (new year) is. The key here is the gigantic calendar called The Temple of the Sun (described in GM/20 and GM/22). The chambers of the temple, one for each padan, are placed in column below one another. Each opens only one padan every ord to the outer world. For ease of reference, it seems most probable that the chambers are organized so that the uppermost one opens on the first padan of the ord, the next on the second padan, and so on. The sloping tunnel that leads to the chambers is divided into \"tiers of galleries\" (GM/22), and it is likely that each gallery represents either one an or one teean.\nJohn Carter and Xodar passed half a dozen galleries before they reached the one that opened on that padan. If each gallery represented a teean they would have had to pass miles of galleries, and since Xodar seems to indicate that they could reach the surface in five minutes the six galleries passed probably correspond to six ans, or 42 padans. The seventh gallery (which was apparently entered but not passed) would end on the 49th door. Therefore, the first padan of the new ord should be between 42 and 48 padans before this event. In Ekman's chronology he has estimated Dejah's imprisonment to occur on March 23, 1887. The Barsoomian new ord could thus be in early February of that year (42*1.027≈43, 48*1.027≈49; the exact date is therefore between February 2 and February 8).\nDuring the flight from Omean, some 320 or 330 padans before this presumed new year (again according to Ekman's article), it was summer (GM/13). It therefore seems possible that the Barsoomian new year falls on the winter solstice (summer solstice on the northern hemisphere). However, if early February, 1887 was summer solstice on the northern hemisphere, then that is a clear indication that Mars and Barsoom are not the same planet. On the real Mars, February 16 of that year was actually winter solstice.\n \nCounting the Days\nPerhaps the most confusing inconsistency in the Martian books is the length of the padan. There are at least six different alternatives, depending on what source is used and how it is interpreted. Before we describe the various options at our disposal, it is important to understand that from an astronomical point of view there are different ways to measure the length of one day.\nIn normal daily life, of course, one day is the time from one noon to the next noon, or in other words the time it takes for the planet to rotate once around its own axis, relative to the sun. Astronomers call this the solar day.\nHowever, physical scientists normally express measurements in terms of a single inertial reference system. Astronomers standing on a rotating, revolving reference point (Earth) measure the rotational period of other rotating, revolving objects such as Mars and the other planets. It makes sense to them to reference all of these various motions to the so-called \"fixed\" stars. A rotational period expressed in such a fixed inertial reference system is known as a sidereal day. The sidereal day of Earth is approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes.\nThe illustration shown here is taken from the book Popular Astronomy (1894) by Camille Flammarion. Burroughs probably did not consult this particular book, but we will quote Flammarion's very clear description of the difference between solar and sidereal day:\n Let us consider the terrestrial globe at any moment. It revolves round the sun from left to right (fig.5) in a length of orbit which takes it a year to pass over, and at the same time turns upon itself every day in the direction indicated by the arrow. At noon the point A (left-hand position) is exactly in front of the sun; when the earth has accomplished a complete revolution, the next day, it will have been carried to the right-hand position, and the meridian A will be found exactly as it was the day before. But the transfer of the earth towards the right will cause the sun, by perspective, to move back towards the left, and in order that the point A may again return in front of the sun, and there may be noon again, it is necessary that the earth should still turn for 3 minutes 56 seconds; and this on every day of the year. It is this which makes the solar or civil day longer than the diurnal rotation of the globe (also termed the sidereal day).\n(p. 17)\nMars takes nearly twice as long to orbit the sun, so the daily change in its angle to the sun is only about half that of Earth. This makes the difference between the sidereal day and the solar day about two minutes. For both planets, this angular discrepancy between the sidereal day and the solar day accumulates in the course of one revolution around the sun, so that there is exactly one more sidereal day in a year than there are solar days. The math is easy, but the underlying logic needs to be understood:\nFor planets like Earth and Mars with relatively short days and long years, the difference between sidereal and solar day is small. Yet it is significant in calculations. The correct value to use for a local observer (such as John Carter) should always be the solar day, but in astronomical tables it is more common to find the sidereal day cited.\nNow we can go on to look at the various options for the length of the padan.\nSolar Day\nA couple of books that Burroughs may have consulted specified the Martian solar day, as well as the sidereal day. On Page 160 of Mars and Its Canals (1906) Percival Lowell states: \"Mars turns on its axis in 24 h. 37 m. 22.65 s. with reference to the stars, and in 24 h. 39 m. 35.0 s. (as a mean) with regard to the Sun.\" Thus, Burroughs could have had access to this information. Whether he would have understood its proper application is another matter.\nIf we believe that Burroughs' Barsoom is the same as Mars in our real universe, then we must assume the scientifically correct solar day of about 24.6597 hours, or approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds.\nApproximate Solar Day\nBurroughs nowhere cites the solar day in the texts. But, an error in one of his calculations may provide a clue to how he used it. John Carter says: \"The ten Earth years I had spent upon Barsoom had encompassed but five years and ninety-six days of Martian time\" (GM/20). In reality, ten Earth years would be approximately 5 ords and 212 padans. So where did Burroughs go wrong?\nLet us assume that he first calculated how many Earth days John Carter was on Mars (3653, or 3650 if he forgot to consider leap years). The solar day of Mars can be expressed as approximately 1.027 Earth days long, so next, he may have calculated how many padans 3653 days would be on Mars (3653/1.027≈3557.0) and divided that with the length of one ord (3557.0/669≈5.3169). The result so far is correct. Burroughs now knew that John Carter was on Mars for over five ords.\nWhat he should have done next is to take the remainder of the division 3557.0/669 to arrive at 212 padans.\nWhat he possibly did was to subtract the number of padans from the number of Earth days (3653-3557=96). A simple sanity check proves that this is not correct. If 3557 padans is equal to 5 ords, 96 padans, then you would expect 96 subtracted from 3557 (3557-96=3461) to be exactly equal to five ords (669*5=3345), which is not the case.\nHow, then, can we know for certain that Burroughs used this method? Well, we cannot. We have, however, tried many different approaches for arriving at the incorrect result 5 years, 96 days. Only this, using the exact value 1.027, works. Using the more precise value 1.0275 gives 98, while the lower precision value 1.03 gives 102. Using another ratio, such as the ratio between Mars' sidereal day and Earth's sidereal day, or between Mars' sidereal day and Earth's solar day (incorrect but possible), also gives a different result. The more obvious computational and arithmetic mistakes also yield other figures. Incidentally, using 1.027 for length of day results in 96 regardless of whether the three leap days are considered or not.\nThis little game may seem to be a gloating over the mistakes of an author who is no longer alive to defend himself. However, by examining this error we have also learned that there is a possibility that Burroughs used exactly 1.027 Earth days for the length of the padan, or approximately 24 hours, 38 minutes, 53 seconds. This, then, would be the length to use if we want to stay close to the scientific truth, while using the values that Burroughs possibly used in his own calculations.\nSidereal Day\nAs has already been pointed out, it is incorrect to use the sidereal day from John Carter's perspective. Nevertheless, it was the most accessible figure in Burroughs' day and most of the sources he would be likely to use mention it in one form or another. Percival Lowell's Mars (1895) gives it as 24 hours, 37 minutes, 22.7 seconds, Flammarion, in Astronomy for Amateurs (1904), cites 24 hours, 37 minutes, 23.65 seconds and the 1910/11 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica says 24 hours, 37 minutes, 22.66 seconds.\nApproximate Sidereal Day\nThe sidereal day was one of two lengths of day that Burroughs actually cited, although he used an approximation, writing that \"the Martian day is a trifle over 24 hours 37 minutes duration (Earth time)\" (GM/16). Therefore, a case could be made for using that approximation, or for using the scientifically correct sidereal day (see above), which was his source.\nAnother reason to use either of these two alternatives is that both match the statement that \"a zode [is] 2.462 earth hours\" (FMM/2). That is not true for any other length of padan discussed in this article.\nIf the fictional Barsoom is assumed to be the same planet as the real Mars, then the sidereal day must be disregarded as a mistake. But if Barsoom is a fantasy world similar to Mars but not the same, then Burroughs' quote could take precedence over any other scientific or calculated lengths.\nErroneously Calculated Day\nAs mentioned above, Burroughs cited two different lengths in the novels. The second one claims that Barsoom's \"days are forty-one minutes longer than ours\" (GM/20). In other words, a padan of 24 hours, 41 minutes. So where does this figure come from?\nOne possibility is that he had access to an astronomical table citing the sidereal day of Earth (23 hours, 56 minutes) and that of Mars (24 hours, 37 minutes). The difference is 41 minutes, so the quote actually reflects the truth, although not in a sense that would be useful to John Carter. But it is also possible that the statement is based on a quote from Percival Lowell's Mars and Its Canals, stating that a Martian day \"very closely counterparts in duration our own, being only one thirty-fifth the longer of the two\" (p. 34). 1/35 is actually highly accurate when applied on the sidereal day, although Lowell did not go into the specifics at this point in his text. It would be understandable if Burroughs incorrectly applied it on the solar Earth day of 24 hours, which gives approximately 41 minutes, 9 seconds.\nAt any rate, the 41 minutes citation is apparently another reflection of the sidereal day and we suggest that it can be disregarded as a mistake. Nevertheless, it is part of the canon and therefore deserves mention.\n\"Five Years and Ninety-Six Days\"\nWe have already shown that the quote of \"five years and ninety-six days\" is based on an error. Yet, it is part of the canon, and unless we prefer to ignore it for the error it is, there are two ways in which we can make it fit in with at least some other facts. Either we can assume that John Carter was not quite ten years on Barsoom (it is nowhere stated on what date he returned) or we can assume a longer padan than any of the previous alternatives.\nThe exact length here depends on other factors, especially the length of the ord. Assuming Burroughs' quoted 687 padans gives a padan of approximately 24 hours, 49 minutes, 45 seconds. As with the \"erroneously calculated day\" our opinion is that this should not be used at all. We discuss it only because Ekman mentioned it in the first version of his chronology for the Princess of Mars trilogy .\nChoosing a Day\nJust like the length of the ord, the length of the padan can only be set by ignoring some statements made by Burroughs. It must also be remembered that the length of the padan will affect the length of the ord, since for most alternatives we measured the ord in number of Martian solar days (which by definition is identical with padans). Therefore, the choice of ord should also govern the choice of padan.\nThe scientific figures naturally belong together, as do the approximations that Burroughs may have used in his calculations. The calendar year appears based on correct scientific assumptions, so belongs with either of the solar day alternatives. Finally, the values cited in the novels, even though incorrect, also belong together. These connections are summarised in the following table:\nChoice of ord (padans)\n687*1.02569≈704.65\nCounting the Moments\nThroughout his first book, Burroughs uses the terms \"hour,\" \"minute\" and \"second\" for smaller units of time. It seems that he thereby means the Earth units, so that one hour is 1/24th of an Earth day, not a subdivision of the padan. This nomenclature is used throughout the rest of the series in parallel with the Barsoomian terms, which causes a certain amount of confusion.\nThe second book in the series contains an oft-cited footnote explaining the native terminology: \"Martians divide [the day] into ten equal parts, commencing the day at about 6 A.M. Earth time. The zodes are divided into fifty shorter periods [xats], each of which in turn is composed of 200 brief periods of time [tals], about equivalent to the earthly second\" (GM/16). Burroughs also writes that \"at the 1st zode\" it is \"about 8:40 A.M. Earth time\" (Ibid.), which seems to support this (although 16 minutes too late), and which would make \"6 A.M.\" into zode 0. This is also consistent with the statement that the 8th zode is \"About 1:00 A.M. Earth time\" (CM/21).\nHowever, other quotes give a different picture. Noon is said to be \"25 xats past the 3rd zode\" (LG-1/7) and midnight is \"the middle of the eighth zode\" (SM/1 and LG-2/11). Others yet give the 4th zode as \"about one P.M. Earth time\" (LG-2/1), the 7th zode as \"About 8:30 P.M. Earth time\" (CM/20), the 8th zode as \"10:48 P.M. Earth time\" (LG-4/10) and finally the 9th zode as \"1:12 A.M. E.T.\" (LG-3/10). All these \"Earth times\" are about a zode early compared with the original premise.\nSo even though the sources are inconsistent, there seems to exist more canonical evidence that 6 A.M. is actually the first zode, which does make sense with the quote that the padan begins at that time. Zode 0, then, does not exist at all.\nThe table below gives the zodes of the padan and the corresponding time of padan as if it was divided as the Earth day into 24 hours with 60 minutes (slightly stretched to fit the longer Martian day).\nZode\n0.888s\n0.894s\nIt is easy to see that for the smaller units of time, the differences are insignificant. For our purposes, it is normally only when working with ords, or even larger units, that the choice of padan length becomes important.\nTo begin the day halfway between midnight and midday seems somewhat impractical, since neither noon nor midnight falls on an even zode. It may be a leftover from an older, now abandoned, time-keeping system that was used before the current decimal system.\nMysterious, Magic Moons of Mars\nBurroughs was apparently very fascinated with the concept of twin moons and their paths across the heavens. In some of his most poetic passages he describes their wild chase across the skies, and how even the Barsoomians themselves can never become used to this. On occasion, the Barsoomians use the moons as a natural chronometer. One such rare example is when Dejah Thoris proclaims that she may be dead \"ere the further moon has encircled Barsoom another twelve times\" (PM/13). Such statements, of course, are of little value unless we know the duration of the moons' respective orbits.\nThuria (Phobos) would seem to be the less problematic case. Burroughs claims that it \"makes a complete revolution around the planet in a little over seven and one-half hours\" (PM/5) and in that time it moves \"from horizon to horizon in less than four hours\" (LG-3/1), following which it would be out of sight \"for about three and three quarters Earth hours\" (MMM/5) or for \"more than three and a half hours\" (CM/3). In spite of the minor deviances, it seems obvious that Burroughs simply used the scientifically correct sidereal orbit (7.65 hours) and divided by two to arrive at the rounded figures for its passage from horizon to horizon (3.83 hours).\nA number of problems are connected with these figures. To begin with, just as an observer standing on the planet would have no use for the sidereal day (see above), the same goes for the sidereal period of either of the moons. The planet's own orbit and rotation must also be taken into the equation, which gives the mean time from moonrise to moonrise of 11.10 hours (0.45 padans) for Phobos. Furthermore, Phobos is so close to the planet that it would not be visible for exactly half its orbital period. The visible arc of Mars beneath it is only 137.8 degrees instead of a full 180. Therefore it is above the horizon for only 4.25 hours at the equator. The farther one is from the equator, the less time Phobos remains above the horizon. Because it is so close to Mars, it is never visible above 70.4 degrees latitude (either north or south).\nThe other moon, Deimos, has a sidereal orbit of 30.30 hours and a mean time from moonrise to moonrise of no less than 5 days, 12.50 hours (5.37 padans). Because of its proximity to Mars (it is, however, farther away than Phobos) it is visible for 2 days, 15.56 hours (2.58 padans) from the equator. Deimos is never visible above 82.7 degrees latitude.\nBurroughs, again quoting the sidereal orbit, claimed that Cluros (Deimos) \"revolves about Mars in something over thirty and one-quarter hours\" (PM/5). But he also writes that it travels across the sky in eight zodes, or \"a trifle over nineteen and a half Earth hours\" (CM/3), which implies an orbit of sixteen zodes (~39.5 hours). This is probably an arithmetic error, since half the sidereal orbit of Deimos would be a little more than six zodes (15.15 hours).\nThis leaves us with the following options for the orbits of the Barsoomian moons, assuming a zode of 2.462 hours:\n \n--\n39.39 hours (16 zodes)\nIt may seem unnecessary to include the erroneous orbit of Cluros in the table, since it must be a mistake. However, a detailed study of all references to that moon throughout The Master Mind of Mars reveals that it is the only working option (Ekman, \"Chronology\", forthcoming revised version). All the other options fail to explain Ulysses Paxton's many observations of Cluros. This may be because Burroughs continued using the incorrect figures from The Chessmen of Mars, or it may be a coincidence if Burroughs randomly inserted moon observations into the text.\nIn addition to the other incorrect statements Burroughs made regarding the Martian moons, they are in fact very small and dark. Deimos only appears the size and brightness of a star. Phobos is larger but only appears about one-fifth the diameter of our own moon. There would be no \"gorgeous Martian night beneath the hurtling moons and the million stars\" (TMM/3) as Burroughs envisioned.\nBut if we accept Burroughs' words, then Thuria in particular would be very useful for time measurement, neatly dividing the padan into six parts, rising thrice and setting thrice. It is strange that Burroughs' Barsoomians did not use this amazing natural clock more frequently, but perhaps the ancient Barsoomians did, before deciding to move to a possibly more practical decimal system.\n \nA Suggested Calendar\nBased on what has been written above, we would like to lay out a suggestion for a possible Barsoomian calendar. The reader is hereby asked to understand that this is not meant for use in literary discussion of Burroughs' books, since it is based on a very shaky foundation. It is meant mostly as an example of how the concepts in this article can be combined. For more practical purposes it could be used, for example, in long role-playing campaigns set on Barsoom, where the players and the game master need to have a common reference of time.\nThe Barsoomian calendar is based on the following assumptions:\nThe Barsoomian era is divided into cycles of 532 ords each. (See discussion below.)\nThe epoch (ord 1) is different for each Barsoomian state. Helium's epoch is based on the founding of Helium, 49,657 ords before John Carter's arrival. (This figure has no support in the canon and is an invention of our own.)\nDates are written as o O c HE, where o represents the current ord and c the current cycle of the Helium Era, e.g. \"160 O 93 HE.\"\nThe new ord starts (on average) on the winter solstice. In 1887 this occurred on February 5. (This date is not in compliance with scientific facts.)\nThe astronomical ord is approximately 668.5921 padans long. This is the scientifically correct figure, which makes for more fun when fiddling with the skip ords.\nThe standard calendar ord is 670 padans.\nTo correct the difference between the calendar ord and the astronomical ord, seven padans are skipped every five ords at the end of the ord and seven more padans are skipped at the end of the first ord of every cycle. (See discussion below.)\nThe teeans are named First Teean (Ay Teean) through Tenth Teean (Tee Teean).\nThe week (an) is seven padans long. Its padans are named First Padan (Ay Padan) through Seventh Padan (Ov Padan).\nTeeans and ans are independent of each other, but the ord always starts on the first padan of the an. Therefore the final an of the ord is only five padans long.\nBarsoom has nothing that corresponds to our Sunday, but First Padan is generally set aside for various regular transactions and revisions, wherefore some institutions are closed on that day. Festivities can occur on any day of the an.\nThe padan is approximately 24.6597 Earth hours. If we use the scientifically correct ord, we must also use the scientifically correct padan.\nThe really delicate problem here is the skip padans. The simple solution would have been to just skip one entire an every ord that is evenly divisible by five. That would mean an average calendar ord of 668.6 padans. Very close to our chosen 668.5921. But not close enough. It would mean that the calendar would be more than one padan ahead after only 127 ords.\nSo we could have a rule that skips an extra padan every 127th ord, except that such a rule would be impossible to remember. Easier to remember, and almost as accurate, would be to use a combination of an extra skip padan every 100 ords, but not every 500 ords. This is a practical solution that has been suggested for some Martian calendar designs, but a drawback from our perspective is that it would be inelegant to mix skip padans and skip ans. Also, we need near-perfect accuracy because of the high life expectancy, and consequently long eras, of the Barsoomians.\nThe remaining error in our calendar with the skip an is 0.0079 (668.6-668.5921) padans too long in a year. If we want to use that with an improved skip an design we must find out when the error has grown to one whole an. This number can be found by dividing seven by our error, which leads to 886 (7/0.0079≈886.08). So we could have another skip ord every 886 ords, but then we are back to a rule that is very difficult to remember.\nRecall, on the other hand, that the Barsoomians may have used a system of cycles in the past. Such a system would be convenient here, too. It would both simplify skip ord remembrance, and shorten the long dates of the Barsoomian eras (\"Our current jeddak ascended in the ord forty-nine-thousand-four-hundred-and-eighty-seven.\"). For convenience, we will term the five-ord skip ord cycles \"primary cycles,\" and the longer cycles then become \"secondary cycles.\"\nBut we cannot use secondary cycles that are 886 ords long, because 886 is one ord after a skip ord and since the new cycle starts anew on one, with skip ords still falling on every ord evenly divisible by 5, this would carry an inaccuracy of 1.4 padans (1/5th of the seven-padan skip an) into the next cycle. Therefore we must take one step back to 885, which is itself a multiple of 5, with a marginal loss in accuracy.\nAlternatively, it is possible to take advantage of the inherent inaccuracy (1.4 padans) of the extra ord past the last complete primary cycle. So instead of going back one ord to 885, we can go back 175 ords (1.4/0.0079≈177.2 and round to the nearest multiple of five) to 711 ords (886-175=711). In fact, each extra ord past the latest complete primary cycle will, likewise, shorten the secondary cycle inversely proportionally. This is because the incorrectness of each extra calendar ord (which, as you will remember, is longer than the tropical ord) past the latest complete primary cycle will increase the error to be corrected by the secondary cycle, and correction must therefore be more frequent. This may seem like a shortcoming, but it is actually a feature. We are now allowed the luxury of choosing one alternative out of five:\nExtra ords\n179 (175+4)\n668.592179\nThe 179-ord alternative is slightly too inaccurate to be useful, but the others are extremely close to the real astronomical ord. So what length of secondary cycle would the Barsoomians most likely use?\nOne figure that is repeatedly mentioned throughout the novels is the expected life span of 1000 years (e.g. PM/4). We have assumed that this means 1000 Earth years, based on the statement that Barsoomian women \"will still be desirable in the eyes of men after forty generations of Earth folk have returned to dust\" (CM/2), supposing that this is meant to indicate that they are beautiful until the end of their days and that a generation in this context is 25 years (25*40=1000). Burroughs possibly intended 1000 Earth years to correspond to 500 ords, which is a nice and round figure. But, inverting the reasoning, this poses a potential problem. 500 ords does not round off well to 1000 years. It is closer to 900. So why would Carter say 1000 years in his manuscripts?\nOne solution could be to assume that the secondary cycles were originally 500 ords long, but when the calendar needed revision to correct the drift from the astronomical year, 532 was chosen because it was closest to the original value. At length it came to represent not only the calendar cycle, but also the maximum life expectancy. By an amazing coincidence, this would explain Carter's quoted 1000 years extremely well. The ord is about 1.881 Earth years, so 1000 years is almost exactly 532 ords (1000/1.881≈531.6).\nWe are aware that this is not what Burroughs intended, but it works both within the context of the novels and for our calendar design.\nOur cycle system has an extremely high degree of long-term accuracy, with a theoretical error of only a single padan in 200,000 ords. Furthermore, being a three-digit number, 532 is easy to learn, especially since 5=3+2. The drawback is that while the average accuracy is high, the precision for a single ord can be almost a full an off. We have chosen to go with this system anyway, mostly because it allows us to retain Burroughs' implied 670-padan ord while staying true to science.\nIn practice, however, the length of the Martian year varies slightly over time. Therefore, even this high accuracy may not be enough over a period of 50,000 ords. A higher accuracy cannot be achieved with our current knowledge of how the solar system works. And, even though it is possible that the Barsoomian scientists have come further in this respect, it is not very likely that they bothered to give their calendar better accuracy since that would complicate a system such as presented here. It is more likely that skip ords would be added or deleted as needed. This could be decreed by a global community of scientists (such a community, formal or informal, probably exists since there is \"a common scientific language understood by the savants of all nations\" (SMM/6)), allowing many nations to use the same basic calendar even though they have different epochs.\nSuch added or deleted skip ords would only have occurred a few times during the past 50,000 ords, wherefore we have chosen to not consider them in our own calculations.\nBelow you can see the Barsoomian ord. Skip an is shown in red. Solstices and equinoxes (average) are shown in blue.\nTeean\n \n \nBelow are the Barsoomian dates for some interesting events, as close as it has been possible to calculate them. Earth dates for most Barsoomian events are based on a revised version of Ekman's chronology for The Princess of Mars trilogy.\nFirst Teean 1, 1 O 1 HE: Assumed founding of Helium; July 25th, 92880 B.C.\nThird Teean 23, 31 O 92 HE: Beginning of the Christian Era; January 1st, AD 1.\nNinth Teean 47, 490 O 93 HE: John Carter's first advent upon Barsoom (PM/3); March 5th, 1866.\nFirst Teean 60, 491 O 93 HE: John Carter's marriage with Dejah Thoris (PM/27); July 26th, 1866.\nTenth Teean 11, 495 O 93 HE: Edgar Rice Burroughs is born on Earth; September 1st, 1875.\nSecond Teean 65, 496 O 93 HE: John Carter returns to Earth (PM/28); March 5th, 1876.\nSixth Teean 7, 501 O 93 HE: John Carter's second advent upon Barsoom (GM/1); March 4th, 1886.\nFirst Teean 46, 502 O 93 HE: Dejah Thoris imprisoned in the Temple of the Sun (GM/22); March 23rd, 1887.\nSeventh Teean 63, 502 O 93 HE: John Carter becomes Warlord (WM/16); May 26th, 1888.\nFourth Teean 56, 522 O 93 HE: Ulysses Paxton writes a letter to Burroughs (MMM/Letter); June 8th, 1925.\nSixth Teean 41, 3 O 94 HE: Edgar Rice Burroughs dies on Earth; March 19th, 1950.\nSixth Teean 45, 17 O 94 HE: Viking 1 lands on Mars; July 20th, 1976.\nFirst Teean 19, 30 O 94 HE: January 1st, 2000.\nAnd below are some annually recurring events, again based on Ekman's chronology.\nSecond Teean 65: John Carter padan, in memory of his \"death\" by the atmosphere factory (GM/14).\nNinth Teean 48: The incubator ceremony of the Thark, every five ords (PM/7).\nNinth Teean 60: The incubator ceremony of the Warhoon, every five ords (PM/14).\nTenth Teean 30: The Great Games in Warhoon, approximate starting date (PM/18).\nFinal Words\nTime-keeping on Barsoom is a subject that can never be fully resolved. Do we want to use the figures quoted by Burroughs in the novels? Or the ones from his personal notes? Or the ones he may have used in his calculations? Or the scientifically correct ones as we know them today?\nIn our calendar design we have made a choice to go with a combination of the scientific figures and the personal notes. But that does not have to be the right thing to do. We would love to see a calendar based on the figures from the novels, using the sidereal day for padan, the 687-padan ord and ten, twelve or thirteen teeans. But we leave that to be figured out by someone else.\nSources\nQuotes have been taken from the following books in the Martian series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. References are given using the same standard as in J. F. Roy's A Guide to Barsoom, with abbreviation of the title and number of the chapter where the quote is taken from.",
"a few facts about Mars - Easy Science For Kids\nFun Facts All about Mars for Kids. Mars is 141,633,260 miles from the Sun. A year lasts 687 days, almost twice as long as a year on Earth. One day on Mars is 24 hours ...\nMars Facts for Kids\nFun Facts All about Mars for Kids\nMars is 141,633,260 miles from the Sun .\nA year lasts 687 days, almost twice as long as a year on Earth.\nOne day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes, almost the same length as an Earth day.\nThe temperature on Mars ranges from -125 degrees to a balmy 23 degrees. Brrr!\nHuge dust storms occur on Mars. These dust storms carve the land.\nOne huge canyon on Mars stretches a distance that is the same as the distance from New York to Los Angeles.\nThe surface of Mars is covered with rock and red dust made from iron.\nMars Vocabulary\nMars was named for the Roman god of war because of its red color.\nCheck out this video all about Mars:\nAn animated video explaining about Mars.\nMars Q&A\nQuestion 1: Does Mars have any moons ?\nAnswer 1: Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos.\nQuestion 2: How did Mars get its name?\nAnswer 2: Mars was named for the Roman god of war because of its red color.\n \nQuestion 3: Is there life on Mars?\nAnswer 3: People have asked this question for a long time. To date we have found no life on Mars or signs of life in the past. However NASA has lots of exploring still to do and who knows what might show up in the future.\n \nQuestion 4: Is Mars larger than Earth?\nAnswer 4:  No, Our planet Earth is larger than Mars. Mars is only 53% the size of Earth.\n \nQuestion 5: Can you live on Mars?\nAnswer 5: Mars is not suited for mankind to live on. Mars has an average temperature of minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit…..far too cold for my liking. Earth has a protective global magnetic field to protect us all from intense radiation, Mars has not got this protection so we would be exposed to high volumes of radiation and we would need spacesuits at all times when venturing outdoors.\n \nQuestion 6: How long does it take to get to Mars from Earth?\nAnswer 6: Currently it takes Spacecraft 6 to 8 months to travel from Earth to Mars. I’m sure in time NASA will develop spacecraft to cover the trip in a much shorter time.",
"How Long is a Year on Mars? - Universe Today\nCompared to Earth, a Martian year is almost twice ... For starters, Mars takes 24 hours 37 minutes ... Given the differences in seasons and day length, one ...\nHow Long is a Year on Mars? - Universe Today\n Universe Today\nHow Long is a Year on Mars?\nArticle Updated: 28 May , 2016\nby Matt Williams\nMars and Earth have quite a few things in common. Both are terrestrial planets , both are located within the Sun’s habitable zone , both have polar ice caps , similarly tilted axes , and similar variations in temperature . And according to some of the latest scientific data obtained by rovers and atmospheric probes, it is now known that Mars once had a dense atmosphere and was covered with warm, flowing water .\nBut when it comes to things like the length of a year, and the length of seasons, Mars and Earth are quite different. Compared to Earth, a year on Mars lasts almost twice as long – 686.98 Earth days. This is due to the fact that Mars is significantly farther from the Sun and its orbital period (the time it takes to orbit the Sun) is significantly greater than that of Earth’s.\nOrbital Period:\nMars average distance (semi-major axis) from the Sun is 227,939,200 km (141,634,852.46 mi) which is roughly one and half times the distance between the Earth and the Sun (1.52 AU). Compared to Earth, its orbit is also rather eccentric (0.0934 vs. 0.0167), ranging from 206.7 million km (128,437,425.435 mi; 1.3814 AU) at perihelion to 249.2 million km (154,845,701 mi; 1.666 AU) at aphelion. At this distance, and with an orbital speed of 24.077 km/s, Mars takes 686.971 Earth days, the equivalent of 1.88 Earth years, to complete a orbit around the Sun.\nThe eccentricity in Mars’ orbit means that it is . Credit: NASA\nThis eccentricity is one of the most pronounced in the Solar System, with only Mercury having a greater one (0.205). However, this wasn’t always the case. Roughly 1.35 million years ago, Mars had an eccentricity of just 0.002, making its orbit nearly circular. It reached a minimum eccentricity of 0.079 some 19,000 years ago, and will peak at about 0.105 in about 24,000 years from now.\nBut for the last 35,000 years, the orbit of Mars has been getting slightly more eccentric because of the gravitational effects of the other planets. The closest distance between Earth and Mars will continue to mildly decrease for the next 25,000 years. And in about 1,000,000 years from now, its eccentricity will once again be close to what it is now – with an estimated eccentricity of 0.01.\nEarth Days vs. Martian “Sols”:\nWhereas a year on Mars is significantly longer than a year on Earth, the difference between an day on Earth and a Martian day (aka. “Sol”) is not significant. For starters, Mars takes 24 hours 37 minutes and 22 seconds to complete a single rotation on its axis (aka. a sidereal day), where Earth takes just slightly less (23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds).\nOn the other hand, it takes 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds for the Sun to appear in the same spot in the sky above Mars (aka. a solar day), compared to the 24 hour solar day we experience here on Earth. This means that, based on the length of a Martian day, a Martian year works out to 668.5991 Sols.\nThe Opportunity rover captured this analemma showing the Sun’s movements over one Martian year. Images taken every third sol (Martian day) between July, 16, 2006 and June 2, 2008. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU/TAMU\nSeasonal Variations:\nMars also has a seasonal cycle that is similar to that of Earth’s. This is due in part to the fact that Mars also has a tilted axis, which is inclined 25.19° to its orbital plane (compared to Earth’s axial tilt of approx. 23.44°). It’s also due to Mars orbital eccentricity, which means it will periodically receive less in the way of the Sun’s radiance during at one time of the year than another. This change in distance causes significant variations in temperature.\nWhile the planet’s average temperature is -46 °C (51 °F), this ranges from a low of -143 °C (-225.4 °F) during the winter at the poles to a high of 35 °C (95 °F) during summer and midday at the equator. This works out to a variation in average surface temperature that is quite similar to Earth’s – a difference of 178 °C (320.4 °F) versus 145.9 °C (262.5 °F). This high in temperatures is also what allows for liquid water to still flow (albeit intermittently) on the surface of Mars.\nIn addition, Mars’ eccentricity means that it travels more slowly in its orbit when it is further from the Sun, and more quickly when it is closer (as stated in Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary Motion ). Mars’ aphelion coincides with Spring in its northern hemisphere, which makes it the longest season on the planet – lasting roughly 7 Earth months. Summer is second longest, lasting six months, while Fall and Winter last 5.3 and just over 4 months, respectively.\nArtist’s impression of the seasons on Mars. Credit: britannica.com\nIn the south, the length of the seasons is only slightly different. Mars is near perihelion when it is summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in the north, and near aphelion when it is winter in the southern hemisphere and summer in the north. As a result, the seasons in the southern hemisphere are more extreme and the seasons in the northern are milder. The summer temperatures in the south can be up to 30 K (30 °C; 54 °F) warmer than the equivalent summer temperatures in the north.\nWeather Patterns:\nThese seasonal variations allow Mars to experience some extremes in weather. Most notably, Mars has the largest dust storms in the Solar System. These can vary from a storm over a small area to gigantic storms (thousands of km in diameter) that cover the entire planet and obscure the surface from view. They tend to occur when Mars is closest to the Sun, and have been shown to increase the global temperature.\nThe first mission to notice this was the Mariner 9 orbiter, which was the first spacecraft to orbit Mars in 1971, it sent pictures back to Earth of a world consumed in haze. The entire planet was covered by a dust storm so massive that only Olympus Mons, the giant Martian volcano that measures 24 km high, could be seen above the clouds. This storm lasted for a full month, and delayed Mariner 9‘s attempts to photograph the planet in detail.\nAnd then on June 9th, 2001 , the Hubble Space Telescope spotted a dust storm in the Hellas Basin on Mars. By July, the storm had died down, but then grew again to become the largest storm in 25 years. So big was the storm that amateur astronomers using small telescopes were able to see it from Earth. And the cloud raised the temperature of the frigid Martian atmosphere by a stunning 30° Celsius.\nThese storms tend to occur when Mars is closest to the Sun, and are the result of temperatures rising and triggering changes in the air and soil. As the soil dries, it becomes more easily picked up by air currents, which are caused by pressure changes due to increased heat. The dust storms cause temperatures to rise even further, leading to Mars’ experiencing its own greenhouse effect.\nGiven the differences in seasons and day length, one is left to wonder if a standard Martian calendar could ever be developed. In truth, it could, but it would be a bit of a challenge. For one, a Martian calendar would have to account for Mars’ peculiar astronomical cycles, and our own non-astronomical cycles like the 7-day week work with them.\nAnother consideration in designing a calendar is accounting for the fractional number of days in a year. Earth’s year is 365.24219 days long, and so calendar years contain either 365 or 366 days accordingly. Such a formula would need to be developed to account for the 668.5921-sol Martian year. All of this will certainly become an issue as human beings become more and more committed to exploring (and perhaps colonizing) the Red Planet.\nWe have written many interesting articles about Mars here at Universe Today. and How Long is a Year on Other Planets? , How Long is a Day on Mars? , How Long Does it Take Mars to Orbit the Sun? , Mars Compared to Earth , and Does Mars Have Seasons?\nFor more information, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration page on Mars .\nAstronomy Cast also has several interesting episodes on the subject. Like Episode 52: Mars , and Episode 91: The Search for Water on Mars .\nShare this:",
"Mars/Earth Comparison Table - Phoenix Mars Mission\nMars/Earth Comparison Table. ... 24 hours, 37 minutes. Just slightly under 24 hours. Length of Year ... 687 Earth days. 365 days. Polar Caps.\nPhoenix Mars Mission - Education - Mars 101 - Mars/Earth Comparison Table\nKeyword Search:\nMars/Earth Comparison Table\nMars is only about one-half the diameter of Earth, but both planets have roughly the same amount of dry land surface area. This is because over two-thirds of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans, whereas the present surface of Mars has no liquid water.\nMars and Earth are very different planets when it comes to temperature, size, and atmosphere, but geologic processes on the two planets are surprisingly similar. On Mars, we see volcanoes, canyons, and impact basins much like the ones we see on Earth.\nMany of the same physical land features we see on Earth also exist on Mars. But the sheer size of some landforms on Mars dwarfs that of similar features on Earth. The table below compares many of Mars' conditions, specifications and features with those on Earth.",
"Print Detailed Mars Facts - NASA's Mars Exploration Program\nabout 687 Earth days . Earth: 365.25 Days. ... Mars' year is almost twice as long as Earth's so its seasons are longer too. ... 24 hours, 37 minutes\nPrint Detailed Mars Facts - NASA's Mars Exploration Program\nVariations in the angle of tilt\nThe tilt of Mars changes more dramatically over time\nUnlike Earth, substantial changes in the obliquity (or tilt) of Mars occur on timescales of hundreds of thousands to millions of years and result in long-term climate change\nSeasons\nChanges in the amount of sunlight reaching different latitudes due to the varying orientation of the axial tilt as the planet orbits the Sun\nMars' year is almost twice as long as Earth's so its seasons are longer too\n4 seasons, roughly twice as long as those on Earth, but with more variation given Mars' eccentric orbit and the fact its orbital speed varies more as result (fastest when at perihelion; slowest at aphelion)\nSeason (Northern Hemisphere)",
"Difference Between Earth and Mars\nThe length of a day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes. It takes 687 earth days ... day of a planet. A day on Earth is 24 hours. ... Difference Between Earth and Moon ;\nDifference Between Earth and Mars\nHome / Science & Nature / Nature / Universe / Difference Between Earth and Mars\nDifference Between Earth and Mars\nPosted on\nby koshal Last updated on: February 11, 2015\nEarth vs Mars\n \nDifference between Earth and Mars is a very hot topic as currently humans are exploring Mars to see whether it can support life. Earth and Mars are terrestrial planets that form part of our solar system. They are two different planets that show differences between them in terms of their characteristics and properties. The Earth is a planet that supports life better than Mars. This is due to the favorable living conditions it offers to the living beings by virtue of its acceptable distance from the sun. From among the planets in our solar system, Mars is the planet that resembles Earth the most though there are differences. That is why scientists are experimenting in creating colonies in Mars for humans to live. Mars is considered to be the Earth’s closest neighbor planet in the space.\nMore about Earth\nEarth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is situated at a distance of 149, 597, 891 kilometers (92, 955, 820 miles) from the Sun. The Earth spins or rotates on its axis from west to east. This rotation causes day and night . The Earth completes one rotation every 24 hours. As the earth rotates on its axis, it also revolves or moves around the Sun. The earth completes one revolution around the sun in about 365 days. This period of time is called as a year. The axis of Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees. The Earth experiences different seasons because the axis of the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees. As a result, when it goes around the Sun, the seasons change.The Earth has the moon as its natural satellite.\nMore about Mars\nMars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the red planet because of its colour, which is due to the rusty dust. With regard to the distance, the planet of Mars is situated at a distance of 227, 936, 637 kilometers (142, 633, 260 miles) from the Sun. The factor of light is also not conducive to life in the planet of Mars. The length of a day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes. It takes 687 earth days for the planet of Mars to orbit the Sun. The axis of Mars is also slightly titled. It is tilted 25 degrees. Mars has two natural satellites or moons. They are Phobos and Deimos. The atmosphere of Mars contains Carbon Dioxide , Nitrogen , Argon, Oxygen , Water Vapor , and Nitric Oxide . About 95% is Carbon Dioxide. Oxygen is only about 0.13%, which is very low.\nWhat is the difference between Earth and Mars?\n• Earth is the third planet from the Sun whereas Mars is the fourth planet from the sun.\n• Earth is situated 149, 597, 891 kilometers (92, 955, 820 miles) from theSun. Mars is situated at a distance of 227, 936, 637 kilometers (142, 633, 260 miles) from the Sun.\n• However, when it comes to size, Earth is almost twice the diameter of Mars. In other words, Earth is bigger than Mars. The diameter of the earth is 12, 742 km while that of mars is 6, 779 km.\n• Earth takes 365 days to go around the Sun. Mars takes 687 earth days to go around the Sun. In other words, the period Mars takes to go round the Sun is greater than the period Earth takes to go round the Sun.\n• As a result of Mars being situated further away from the Sun than the Earth, Mars is considered to be cooler than the Earth.\n• The time a planet takes to make a full rotation on its axis is known as the length of day of a planet. A day on Earth is 24 hours. A day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes.\n• The axis of Earth is titled 23.5 degrees while the axis of Mars is titled 25 degrees.\n• Earth has water on its surface. Mars, however, does not have liquid water.\n• Both planets have moons or natural satellites. However, Earth has only one when Mars has two. The names of Martian moons are Phobos and Deimos.\n• The atmosphere of Earth contains Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon and Carbon Dioxide. Nitrogen is in the highest amount and then oxygen. The atmosphere of Mars contains Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Argon, Oxygen, Water Vapor and Nitric Oxide. About 95% is Carbon Dioxide. Oxygen is only about 0.13% which is very low.\n• The gravity on Mars is about one third of the gravity on Earth.\n \nImages Courtesy: Earth and Mars via Wikicommons (Public Domain)\nRelated posts:"
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"Earth Facts - Planet Earth - Earth For Kids\nIt is the only planet in the solar system that has life. ... The Earth is not an exact sphere; the diameter going round the North and South ... the planets closest to ...\nEarth Facts - Planet Earth - Earth For Kids\nIt is the only planet in the solar system that has life.\n \nThe Earth is the only inner planet ( Mercury , Venus , Earth and Mars ) to have one large satellite, the Moon . Mars has two very tiny moons. Mercury and Venus have none.\n \nThe Earth is fragile. Its surface is split into plates (tectonic plates) which float on a rocky mantle – the layer between the surface of the earth, its crust, and its hot liquid core. The inside of the Earth is active and earthquakes , volcanoes and mountain building takes place along the boundaries of the tectonic plates.\n \nAs a result of the Earth’s geological activity (the volcanoes and earthquakes) the surface of the Earth has far fewer craters than the surface of planets such as Mars, Venus and Mercury or the surface of the Moon. The craters have sunk down or been worn away by wind and rain over millions of years.\n \nWhen viewed from outer space much of the Earth’s surface cannot be seen because of clouds of water vapour. The water vapour makes the Earth, when seen from outside, into a brilliant shining orb, as you can see in Figure 1.\nFigure 1. Earth taken from the Apollo 17 spacecraft in 1972\n \nThe Earth is the third planet from the Sun and comes between the planet Venus and the planet Mars.\n \nFigure 2. The planets of the Solar System.\nThe Earth takes 365¼ days to complete its orbit round the Sun. The Earth’s year is therefore 365 days long but the ¼ days are added up and every fourth year has one extra day, on the 29th of February. This fourth year is called a Leap Year (366 days) and is always a year which can be divided exactly by 4 – 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016.\n \nThe planets closer to the Sun, Mercury and Venus, have shorter years than the Earth. The planets further away from the Sun have longer years; Pluto takes 249 of our years to make one orbit of the Sun.\n \nAs the Earth orbits round the Sun it turns on its axis, rotating right round in 24 hours. The side of the Earth that faces the Sun has daytime and the side of the Earth that is turned away from the Sun has night-time. When it is daytime in Britain, it is night-time on the opposite side of the Earth in New Zealand.\n \nAs the Earth orbits round the Sun it tilts very slightly and so gives us the seasons. When the Earth has tilted so that the northern half of the Earth is a little away from the Sun, the northern hemisphere (meaning half of the Earth’s sphere) has winter. \n \nAt this time the southern hemisphere is tilted very slightly towards the Sun and the southern hemisphere has summer. Winter in Britain means summer in New Zealand. Closer to the Equator there is much less difference between summer and winter.\n \nThe Earth is 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometres from the Sun.\n \nWe can also say that the Earth is 1 AU from the Sun. Astronomers (people who study the planets and stars) use a measurement called an Astronomical Unit, AU. Earth’s measurements are taken as the standard for this system, so Earth is 1 AU from the Sun, Venus is 0.72 AU from the Sun and Mars is 1.52 AU from the Sun. Pluto, furthest out, is 39.5 AU from the Sun. How many million miles from the Sun is Pluto?\n \nThe Earth’s diameter, the distance round its middle at the Equator, is 7928 miles, or 12760 kilometres.\n \nThe Earth is not an exact sphere; the diameter going round the North and South Poles is slightly less than the diameter round the Equator. The Polar diameter is 7891 miles, or 12700 kilometres. (Try measuring the different diameters of an orange and you will see how they can differ).\n \nThe Earth is larger than Mercury, Venus and Mars, the planets closest to it. On astronomy maps it often looks smaller than Venus because Venus is shown with a thick layer of sulphuric acid which lies 40 miles above the\n \nThe Earth differs from all the other planets because it has such a wide diversity of life and intelligent beings. This has only been possible because of the Earth’s atmosphere which has protected the Earth and allowed life to flourish. \nUseful Websites",
"Exploring the Planets | National Air and Space Museum\nLength of year: 687 days Rotation ... 1.52 x Earth Diameter: ... Yet it shares common features and processes with Mars. Both planets have polar ice caps, ...\nExploring the Planets | National Air and Space Museum\nNumber of observed satellites: 2\nComparisons with Earth\nAverage distance from Sun: 1.52 x Earth\nDiameter: 0.532 x Earth\nDensity: 0.7 x Earth\nWorld of Change\nMars has always intrigued us, but only in recent decades have we come to know our smaller neighbor as a world of great complexity. Telescopic views suggested to early observers that its climate changed seasonally. But we now know that even greater changes have occurred over billions of years. Great volcanoes have risen. Floodwaters have raced across the surface. Giant impacts have altered the landscape.\nToday, wind is the only major force of change, but the rocks and soil and landscape still hold clues to the planet's past. Why has Mars changed so much over time? Did life evolve there when conditions were more favorable? Mars continues to challenge each new generation of explorers, and understanding Mars may help us discover our own future in the solar system.\n \nEarth and Mars\nTeeming with complex life and covered by vast oceans, Earth is unique among the planets of our solar system. Yet it shares common features and processes with Mars. Both planets have polar ice caps, their axes of rotation tilt at similar angles, and their days are almost the same length. The surfaces of both planets have been shaped by water, wind, and volcanism.",
"The Planets - FreeServers\n... I have listed the planets in order from the Sun, ... so a year on Mercury is only 88 Earth days. ... 1 Mercury day is equal to 59 Earth days, ...\nThe Planets\nClose\nYou should all know that the Solar System consists of 9 planets, which all orbit around the Sun!\nBelow, I have listed the planets in order from the Sun, and have got some information about each of them.\nMercury\nMercury is a very hot planet, mostly because it is the closest planet to the Sun orbiting at around 60 million kms away from the Sun. The temperatures on Mercury can reach up to 430�C in the daytime. (800�F) That is over four times as hot as boiling water! But at night, it is very different, the temperature can sometimes drop to -180�C! (-300�F)\nMercury is a very rocky, cratered planet as well.\nMercury is a small planet in relation to some of the others in our Solar System, it is the second smallest planet in the Solar System, only 4,800km (3000 miles) in diameter.\nMercury takes 88 days to do a complete orbit around the Sun, so a year on Mercury is only 88 Earth days.\nMercury's days are very long though because it has a very slow rotation. 1 Mercury day is equal to 59 Earth days, which means there are less than two days in Mercury's year!\nVenus\nEven though Venus orbits the Sun at a distance of around 110 million kms, about 50 million kms further away than Mercury, Venus actually hotter than Mercury! Why? Because Venus has a very thick atmosphere and cloud cover over itself, and most of the heat gets reflected away from the planet. But what heat does end up getting through Venus' thick clouds, gets trapped in there and can't get out, so it gets very hot in there!\nOn the surface of Venus, temperatures can reach up to about 480�C! (around 900�F) This is what makes it the hottest planet in the Solar System. Mercury has no atmosphere or cloud cover etc to keep any heat in, so even though it is the closest planet to the Sun, it still isn't the hottest planet!\nVenus is also a very rocky planet, a bit like a desert.\nVenus takes longer to rotate, than it does to orbit the Sun. So a day on Venus, is actually longer than the year!\nVenus also rotates in the opposite direction to the other planets! Venus is 12,100km in diameter.\nEarth\nWell, you should know enough about this planet, you live on it!\nEarth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun, and it takes 24 hours to complete a rotation. Now I bet you never knew any of that!\nEarth is only a little bit bigger than Venus, 12,700km in diameter, and orbits the Sun from a distance of around 150 million km. (around 93 million miles)\nMars\nMars orbits the Sun at a distance of about 225 million km (140 million miles).\nMars take nearly 687 days to orbit the Sun. So 2 years on Earth, is roughly only 1 year on Mars. Mars is also only about half the size of planet Earth, about 6,500 km in diameter.\nMars' surface has lots of rocks scattered all over it, and it is also very red. But why? Because Mars' surface has lots of iron in it, which has rusted away over millions of years, and rusty iron is obviously red!\nScientists also think that Mars could support life on it. They hope to have people on Mars by the year 2015. A rover called Sojourner has already been on Mars. It was a little 6 wheeled buggy, powered by solar panels, and was remote-controlled from here on Earth by scientists. It has been on the surface of Mars since 1997. Scientists have lost contact with the rover now though.\nMars also has the largest volcano in the Solar System on it's surface, Olympus Mons. It rises 24km above the surface, and is 550 km across. The biggest volcano on Earth, Mauna Loa, in Hawaii is only 9 km high, and 120 km across. Although this volcano is big for here on Earth, it is pretty small in comparison with Olympus Mons!\nMars also has some big canyons on it's surface. Some of them are as wide, as the Grand Canyon is long!\nJupiter\nJupiter, the king of the planets, orbits the Sun at a distance of 778 million km (483 million miles), and is 142,800 km in diameter, making it the biggest planet in our Solar System. Thats so big that more than 1000 planets the size of Earth could fit inside it!\nJupiter is the first of the Gas Giant planets. (Gas Giants are four of the outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that are made up mostly of gas.) This means that you couldn't really land on Jupiter, you would just fall straight through it, because there is no solid land to land on! Jupiter has a very strong gravitational pull, and small objects (i.e. asteroids, meteoroids etc) that go too near it, get sucked into it.\nJupiter also has a big storm raging across it's surface. This storm is commonly known as The Great Red Spot, because it looks just like a red spot on Jupiter's surface! The Great Red Spot is about 8 km (5 miles) high, around 40,000 km (25,000 miles) long, and about 14,000 km (8,700 miles) wide, and it's winds blow at about 500 km per hour (310 miles per hour). As it moves across the surface of Jupiter, it swallows up other smaller storms. But even though it does this, it is still shrinking. Now, it is only about half of the size it was 100 hundred years ago.\nJupiter also has a ring around it, like Saturn. It is very small though, in comparison to Saturn's, which you can easily see from Earth. These rings cannot be seen from Earth, they were discovered by one of the Voyager probes.\n>Saturn\nSaturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System, about 119,300 km (74,100 miles) across. Saturn orbits the Sun at a distance of around 1,425 million km (890 million miles)!\nSaturn rotates very quickly, taking just 10 hours to complete a rotation. Because of this, some of the gases that Saturn is made up of are flung towards it's equator.\nThis make Saturn \"bulge\", making it fatter in the middle of the planet.\nSaturn is also a Gas Giant, like Jupiter. The planet itself is made up mostly of hydrogen. The atmosphere of Saturn is made up of lots of helium though, so Saturn is a very light planet in relation to the others. It is so light in fact, that if there was ever an ocean big enough that Saturn could fit in, it would float.\nSaturn also has a big ring system. Saturn's rings are much bigger than Jupiter's though, and they are easily visible from Earth through a telescope.\nThey are made up from lots of rocks, ranging in size from about 1 foot across to some the size of a car.\nUranus\nNow we're getting a bit further out into the Solar System!\nUranus is the third gas giant in the Solar System and is about 2,900 million km (1,800 million miles) away from the Sun. It is 50,800 km in diameter, and takes just over 84 years to do a complete orbit around the Sun.\nThe atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen. It does have some helium and small amounts of other gases in it as well.\nUranus has a strange spin, it rotates on it's side.\nThis could have been caused by a collision with another large, planet-sized object millions of years ago, which tipped it over.\nUranus spins a bit slower than Earth, it takes 18 hours to do a complete rotation. (And of course Earth takes 24 hours!)\nUranus moves through space at about 7 km (4 � miles) per second. In comparison, Earth moves at nearly 30 km (19 miles) a second.\nUranus also has a ring system, but not as big and easily visible as Saturn's. They were discovered from Earth in 1977, then the Voyager probe gathered more information on them in 1986. The rings are made up mostly from dust.\nNeptune\nNeptune is the fourth and last Gas Giant in the Solar System.\nNeptune is over 4,500 million km (more than 2,800 million miles) away from the Sun, and takes nearly 165 years to do a complete orbit around the Sun. Neptune takes 16 hours to do a complete rotation, so a day on Neptune is 8 hours shorter than here on Earth.\nAstronomers thought that Neptune would be pretty plain, and dull looking because they hadn't seen much of it, mostly because it was to hard to see much of, because of its distance from Earth. The space probe Voyager 2 proved them wrong though - Neptune is just like the other Gas Giant planets.\nNeptune has storms raging across it's surface, ones similar to the Great Red spot on Jupiter. Astronomers have seen a few dark spots on Neptune. The largest spot on Neptune, called the Great Dark Spot, is about the same size as the Earth. It is probably a huge storm like the Great Red Spot.\nThis Great Dark Spot was seen by the Voyager 2 probe in 1989, but when astronomers searched for it using the Hubble Space Telescope in the 1990s, they could not find it! No one is certain as to why the spot disappeared, and no one can say if it will re-appear.\nNeptune is blue in colour because of the methane gas in it's atmosphere, which obviously is blue! In Neptunes atmosphere, there is also some hydrogen, helium, and water.\nBig clouds race around Neptune as well. They are pushed around by the fastest winds that have been found on any planet in the Solar System. Near the Great Dark Spot, winds blew at speeds of up to 2000 km per hour (1,200 miles per hour)! One of the clouds on Neptune goes around the planet every 16 hours! Astronomers have nicknamed this cloud Scooter, because of the speed it goes around Neptune at.\nPluto\nNow we've got to the last planet of the Solar System: Pluto.\nPluto is very far away from the Sun. It's distance from the Sun changes a lot though, due to the difference in it's orbit .\nAt it's closest to the Sun, Pluto is 4,425 million km, and at its furthest, it is 7,375 million km away!\nAt times Pluto is the 8th planet from the Sun, and other times it is the 9th planet from the Sun. (See this image for an illustration of why this happens) Because of Pluto's great distance from the Sun, it takes a very long time to orbit the Sun. (The further a planet is away from the Sun, the slower it orbits the Sun) Pluto takes 249 years to orbit the Sun!\nPluto takes 6 days to complete a rotation. Pluto's diameter is only around 2,300 km (1,429 miles, which makes it the smallest planet in the Solar System.\nPluto is also a very cold planet, because of its distance from the Sun. This is the only planet that a space probe hasn't visited yet. Scientists are working on sending one to Pluto sometime though, called the Pluto/Kupier Express, but even if it does go, it will be quite a while before it gets launched. I have heard that they have put the idea off all together, so they might not even send one there at all!\nSome astronomers think that Pluto may not even be a planet, because it is so far away from the Sun, and because it is so small.\nClick here to learn about other things in the Solar System, like comets and asteroids.",
"How Long Is A Year On The Other Planets? - Universe Today\n... 687 (Earth) days to complete a single orbit around the Sun, which works out to to 1.8809 Earth years, or 1 year, 320 days, ... Universe Today. Here’s ...\nHow Long Is A Year On The Other Planets? - Universe Today\n Universe Today\nHow Long Is A Year On The Other Planets?\nArticle Updated: 29 Jan , 2016\nby Matt Williams\nHere on Earth, we to end to not give our measurements of time much thought. Unless we’re griping about Time Zones, enjoying the extra day of a Leap Year, or contemplating the rationality of Daylight Savings Time, we tend to take it all for granted. But when you consider the fact that increments like a year are entirely relative, dependent on a specific space and place, you begin to see how time really works.\nHere on Earth, we consider a year to be 365 days. Unless of course it’s a Leap Year, which takes place every four years (in which it is 366). But the actual definition of a year is the time it takes our planet to complete a single orbit around the Sun. So if you were to put yourself in another frame of reference – say, another planet – a year would work out to something else. Let’s see just how long a year is on the other planets, shall we?\nA Year On Mercury:\nTo put it simply, Mercury has an orbital period of 88 days (87.969 to be exact), which means a single year is 88 Earth days – or the equivalent of about 0.241 Earth years. But here’s the thing. Because of Mercury’s slow rotation (once every 58.646 days) and its rapid orbital speed (47.362 km/s), one day on Mercury actually works out to 175.96 Earth days.\nMESSENGER maps of Mercury – a monochrome map at 250 m/pixel and an eight-color (left), 1-km/pixel color map. Small gaps will be filled in during the next solar day (right). Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University APL/Carnegie Institution of Washington\nSo basically, a single year on Mercury is half as long as a Mercurian (aka. Hermian) day. This is due to Mercury being the closest planet to the Sun, ranging from 46,001,200 km at perihelion to 69,816,900 km at aphelion. At that distance, the planet shoots around the Sun faster than any other in our Solar System and has the shortest year.\nIn the course of a year, Mercury experiences intense variations in surface temperature – ranging from 80 °K (-193.15 °C;-315.67 °F) to 700 °K (426.85 °C; 800.33 °F). However, this is due to the planet’s varying distance from the Sun and its spin, which subjects one side to extended periods of extremely hot temperatures and one side to extended periods of night. Mercury’s low axial tilt (0.034°) and its rapid orbital period means that there really is no seasonal variation on Mercury. Basically, one part of the year is as hellishly hot, or horribly cold, as any other.\nA Year On Venus:\nThe second closest planet to our Sun, Venus completes a single orbit once ever 224.7 days. This means that a single year on Venus works out to about 0.6152 Earth years. But, once again, things are complicated by the fact that Venus has an unusual rotation period. In fact, Venus takes 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis – the slowest rotation of any planet – and its rotation is retrograde to its orbital path.\nThe planet Venus, as imagined by the Magellan 10 mission. Credit: NASA/JPL\nCombined with its orbital period, this means that a single solar day on Venus (the time between one sunup to the next) is 117 Earth days. So basically, a single year on Venus is lasts 1.92 Venusian (aka. Cytherean) days. Again, this would make for some confusing time-cycles for any humans trying to make a go of it on Venus!\nAlso, Venus has a very small axial tilt – 3° compared to Earth’s 23.5° – and its proximity to the Sun makes for a much shorter seasonal cycle – 55-58 days compared to Earth’s 90-93 days. Add to that its unusual day-night cycle, variations are very slight. In fact, the temperate on Venus is almost always a brutal 736 K (463 °C ; 865 degrees °F), which is hot enough to melt lead!\nA Year On Earth:\nComparatively speaking, a year on Earth is pretty predictable, which is probably one of the reasons why life is able to thrive here. In short, our planet takes 365.2564 solar days to complete a single orbit of the Sun, which is why we add an extra day to the calendar every four years (i.e. a Leap Year, which 2016 happens to be).\nBut because our axis is tilted, there is considerable variation in the seasons during the course of a year. During the winter, when one hemisphere is pointed away from the Sun, the Sun’s distance from the equator changes by up to 23.5°. As a result, between the summer and winter, the length of days and nights, temperatures, and seasons will go through significant changes.\nAbove the Arctic Circle, an extreme case is reached where there is no daylight at all for part of the year – up to six months at the North Pole itself, in what is known as a “polar night”. In the southern hemisphere the situation is exactly reversed, with the South Pole experiencing a midnight sun, a day of 24 hours, again reversing with the South Pole. Every six months, the order of this is reversed.\nA Year On Mars:\nMars has one of the highest eccentricities of any planet in the Solar System, ranging from 206,700,000 km at perihelion and 249,200,000 km at aphelion. This large variation and its greater distance from the Sun, leads to a rather long year. Basically, Mars takes the equivalent of 687 (Earth) days to complete a single orbit around the Sun, which works out to to 1.8809 Earth years, or 1 year, 320 days, and 18.2 hours.\nOn the other hand, Mars has a rotation period that is very similar to Earth’s – 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. So while the days on Mars are only slightly longer, the seasons are generally twice as long. But this is mitigated by the fact that seasonal changes are far greater on Mars, owing to its eccentricity and greater axial tilt (25.19°).\nDuring the winter, the global atmospheric pressure on Mars is 25% lower than during summer. This is due to temperature variations and the complex exchange of carbon dioxide between the Martian dry-ice polar caps and its CO2 atmosphere. As a result, Martian seasons vary greatly in duration than those on Earth, change roughly every six months, and do not start on the same Earth day every Martian year.\nMars 2001 Global Dust Storm, as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/J. Bell (Cornell)/M. Wolff (SSI)/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)\nA Year On Jupiter:\nJupiter is another interesting case. Whereas the gas giant only takes 9 hours 55 minutes and 30 seconds to rotate once on its axis, it also takes alson 11.8618 Earth years to complete an orbit around the Sun. This means that a year on Jupiter is not only the equivalent of 4,332.59 Earth days, but 10,475.8 Jovian days. That’s a lot of sunrises!\nMuch like Venus, Jupiter has an axial tilt of only 3 degrees, so there is literally no seasonal variation between the hemispheres. In addition, temperature variations are due to chemical compositions and depths rather than seasonal cycles. So while it does have “seasons”, which change very slowly due to its distance from the Sun – each season lasts 3 years – they are not similar to what terrestrial planets experience.\nA Year On Saturn:\nMuch like its fellow gas giant Jupiter, Saturn takes it time completing a single orbit of the Sun, but rotates on its axis very rapidly. All told, a year on the planet lasts the equivalent of 10,759 Earth days (or about 29 1?2 years). But since it only takes 10 hours, and 33 minutes to complete a single rotation on its axis, a year on Saturn works out to 24,491.07 Saturnian (aka. Cronian) days.\nThis portrait looking down on Saturn and its rings was created from images obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 10, 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic\nDue to its axial tilt of almost 27 degrees (slightly more than Mars), Saturn experiences some rather long seasonal changes. But due to it being a gas giant, this does not result in variations in temperature. Combined with its distance from the Sun (at an average distance of 1,429.39 million km or 9.5 AU), a single season lasts more than seven years.\nA Year On Uranus:\nUranus has some of the strangest annual and seasonal variations of any planet in the Solar System. For one, the gas/ice giant takes about 84 Earth years (or 30,688.5 Earth days) to rotate once around the Sun. But since the planet takes 17 hours, 14 minutes and 24 seconds to complete a single rotation on its axis, a year on Uranus lasts 42,718 Uranian days.\nHowever, this is confounded due to Uranus’ axial tilt, which is inclined at 97.77° towards the Sun. This results in seasonal changes that are quite extreme, and unique to Uranus. In short, when one hemisphere is pointed towards the Sun (i.e. in summer), it will experience 42 years of continuous light. In winter, the situation is reversed, with this same hemisphere experiencing 42 years of continuous darkness.\nA Year On Neptune:\nGiven its distance from the Sun, Neptune has the longest orbital period of any planet in the Solar System. As such, a year on Neptune is the longest of any planet, lasting the equivalent of 164.8 years (or 60,182 Earth days). But since Neptune also takes comparatively little time to rotate once on its axis (16 hours, 6 minutes and 36 seconds), a single year lasts a staggering 89,666 Neptunian days.\nReconstruction of Voyager 2 images showing the Great Black spot (top left), Scooter (middle), and the Small Black Spot (lower right). Credit: NASA/JPL\nWhat’s more, with an axial tilt close to Earth and Mars’ (28.5 degrees), there is some seasonal variation on the planet. Essentially, a single season lasts more than 40 years. But like all gas/ice giants, this does not result in noticeable temperature variations.",
"How Long Is A Year On The Other Planets? - Universe Today\nBut on the other planets in our Solar ... of 164.8 years (or 60,182 Earth ... Solar System here at Universe Today. Here’s How Long Is A Year on ...\nHow Long Is A Year On The Other Planets? - Universe Today\n Universe Today\nHow Long Is A Year On The Other Planets?\nArticle Updated: 29 Jan , 2016\nby Matt Williams\nHere on Earth, we to end to not give our measurements of time much thought. Unless we’re griping about Time Zones, enjoying the extra day of a Leap Year, or contemplating the rationality of Daylight Savings Time, we tend to take it all for granted. But when you consider the fact that increments like a year are entirely relative, dependent on a specific space and place, you begin to see how time really works.\nHere on Earth, we consider a year to be 365 days. Unless of course it’s a Leap Year, which takes place every four years (in which it is 366). But the actual definition of a year is the time it takes our planet to complete a single orbit around the Sun. So if you were to put yourself in another frame of reference – say, another planet – a year would work out to something else. Let’s see just how long a year is on the other planets, shall we?\nA Year On Mercury:\nTo put it simply, Mercury has an orbital period of 88 days (87.969 to be exact), which means a single year is 88 Earth days – or the equivalent of about 0.241 Earth years. But here’s the thing. Because of Mercury’s slow rotation (once every 58.646 days) and its rapid orbital speed (47.362 km/s), one day on Mercury actually works out to 175.96 Earth days.\nMESSENGER maps of Mercury – a monochrome map at 250 m/pixel and an eight-color (left), 1-km/pixel color map. Small gaps will be filled in during the next solar day (right). Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University APL/Carnegie Institution of Washington\nSo basically, a single year on Mercury is half as long as a Mercurian (aka. Hermian) day. This is due to Mercury being the closest planet to the Sun, ranging from 46,001,200 km at perihelion to 69,816,900 km at aphelion. At that distance, the planet shoots around the Sun faster than any other in our Solar System and has the shortest year.\nIn the course of a year, Mercury experiences intense variations in surface temperature – ranging from 80 °K (-193.15 °C;-315.67 °F) to 700 °K (426.85 °C; 800.33 °F). However, this is due to the planet’s varying distance from the Sun and its spin, which subjects one side to extended periods of extremely hot temperatures and one side to extended periods of night. Mercury’s low axial tilt (0.034°) and its rapid orbital period means that there really is no seasonal variation on Mercury. Basically, one part of the year is as hellishly hot, or horribly cold, as any other.\nA Year On Venus:\nThe second closest planet to our Sun, Venus completes a single orbit once ever 224.7 days. This means that a single year on Venus works out to about 0.6152 Earth years. But, once again, things are complicated by the fact that Venus has an unusual rotation period. In fact, Venus takes 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis – the slowest rotation of any planet – and its rotation is retrograde to its orbital path.\nThe planet Venus, as imagined by the Magellan 10 mission. Credit: NASA/JPL\nCombined with its orbital period, this means that a single solar day on Venus (the time between one sunup to the next) is 117 Earth days. So basically, a single year on Venus is lasts 1.92 Venusian (aka. Cytherean) days. Again, this would make for some confusing time-cycles for any humans trying to make a go of it on Venus!\nAlso, Venus has a very small axial tilt – 3° compared to Earth’s 23.5° – and its proximity to the Sun makes for a much shorter seasonal cycle – 55-58 days compared to Earth’s 90-93 days. Add to that its unusual day-night cycle, variations are very slight. In fact, the temperate on Venus is almost always a brutal 736 K (463 °C ; 865 degrees °F), which is hot enough to melt lead!\nA Year On Earth:\nComparatively speaking, a year on Earth is pretty predictable, which is probably one of the reasons why life is able to thrive here. In short, our planet takes 365.2564 solar days to complete a single orbit of the Sun, which is why we add an extra day to the calendar every four years (i.e. a Leap Year, which 2016 happens to be).\nBut because our axis is tilted, there is considerable variation in the seasons during the course of a year. During the winter, when one hemisphere is pointed away from the Sun, the Sun’s distance from the equator changes by up to 23.5°. As a result, between the summer and winter, the length of days and nights, temperatures, and seasons will go through significant changes.\nAbove the Arctic Circle, an extreme case is reached where there is no daylight at all for part of the year – up to six months at the North Pole itself, in what is known as a “polar night”. In the southern hemisphere the situation is exactly reversed, with the South Pole experiencing a midnight sun, a day of 24 hours, again reversing with the South Pole. Every six months, the order of this is reversed.\nA Year On Mars:\nMars has one of the highest eccentricities of any planet in the Solar System, ranging from 206,700,000 km at perihelion and 249,200,000 km at aphelion. This large variation and its greater distance from the Sun, leads to a rather long year. Basically, Mars takes the equivalent of 687 (Earth) days to complete a single orbit around the Sun, which works out to to 1.8809 Earth years, or 1 year, 320 days, and 18.2 hours.\nOn the other hand, Mars has a rotation period that is very similar to Earth’s – 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. So while the days on Mars are only slightly longer, the seasons are generally twice as long. But this is mitigated by the fact that seasonal changes are far greater on Mars, owing to its eccentricity and greater axial tilt (25.19°).\nDuring the winter, the global atmospheric pressure on Mars is 25% lower than during summer. This is due to temperature variations and the complex exchange of carbon dioxide between the Martian dry-ice polar caps and its CO2 atmosphere. As a result, Martian seasons vary greatly in duration than those on Earth, change roughly every six months, and do not start on the same Earth day every Martian year.\nMars 2001 Global Dust Storm, as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/J. Bell (Cornell)/M. Wolff (SSI)/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)\nA Year On Jupiter:\nJupiter is another interesting case. Whereas the gas giant only takes 9 hours 55 minutes and 30 seconds to rotate once on its axis, it also takes alson 11.8618 Earth years to complete an orbit around the Sun. This means that a year on Jupiter is not only the equivalent of 4,332.59 Earth days, but 10,475.8 Jovian days. That’s a lot of sunrises!\nMuch like Venus, Jupiter has an axial tilt of only 3 degrees, so there is literally no seasonal variation between the hemispheres. In addition, temperature variations are due to chemical compositions and depths rather than seasonal cycles. So while it does have “seasons”, which change very slowly due to its distance from the Sun – each season lasts 3 years – they are not similar to what terrestrial planets experience.\nA Year On Saturn:\nMuch like its fellow gas giant Jupiter, Saturn takes it time completing a single orbit of the Sun, but rotates on its axis very rapidly. All told, a year on the planet lasts the equivalent of 10,759 Earth days (or about 29 1?2 years). But since it only takes 10 hours, and 33 minutes to complete a single rotation on its axis, a year on Saturn works out to 24,491.07 Saturnian (aka. Cronian) days.\nThis portrait looking down on Saturn and its rings was created from images obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 10, 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic\nDue to its axial tilt of almost 27 degrees (slightly more than Mars), Saturn experiences some rather long seasonal changes. But due to it being a gas giant, this does not result in variations in temperature. Combined with its distance from the Sun (at an average distance of 1,429.39 million km or 9.5 AU), a single season lasts more than seven years.\nA Year On Uranus:\nUranus has some of the strangest annual and seasonal variations of any planet in the Solar System. For one, the gas/ice giant takes about 84 Earth years (or 30,688.5 Earth days) to rotate once around the Sun. But since the planet takes 17 hours, 14 minutes and 24 seconds to complete a single rotation on its axis, a year on Uranus lasts 42,718 Uranian days.\nHowever, this is confounded due to Uranus’ axial tilt, which is inclined at 97.77° towards the Sun. This results in seasonal changes that are quite extreme, and unique to Uranus. In short, when one hemisphere is pointed towards the Sun (i.e. in summer), it will experience 42 years of continuous light. In winter, the situation is reversed, with this same hemisphere experiencing 42 years of continuous darkness.\nA Year On Neptune:\nGiven its distance from the Sun, Neptune has the longest orbital period of any planet in the Solar System. As such, a year on Neptune is the longest of any planet, lasting the equivalent of 164.8 years (or 60,182 Earth days). But since Neptune also takes comparatively little time to rotate once on its axis (16 hours, 6 minutes and 36 seconds), a single year lasts a staggering 89,666 Neptunian days.\nReconstruction of Voyager 2 images showing the Great Black spot (top left), Scooter (middle), and the Small Black Spot (lower right). Credit: NASA/JPL\nWhat’s more, with an axial tilt close to Earth and Mars’ (28.5 degrees), there is some seasonal variation on the planet. Essentially, a single season lasts more than 40 years. But like all gas/ice giants, this does not result in noticeable temperature variations.",
"Planets - Zoom Astronomy - Enchanted Learning\nAll about the planets in our Solar System. The planets that ... (A day on Venus is longer than its year; a year on Venus takes only 224.7 Earth ... 164.81 Earth years:\nPlanets - Zoom Astronomy\nYour age on the Planets\nThe Planets (plus the Dwarf Planet Pluto)\nOur solar system consists of the sun, eight planets, moons, many dwarf planets (or plutoids), an asteroid belt, comets, meteors, and others. The sun is the center of our solar system ; the planets, their moons, a belt of asteroids , comets , and other rocks and gas orbit the sun.\nThe eight planets that orbit the sun are (in order from the sun): Mercury , Venus , Earth , Mars , Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus , Neptune . Another large body is Pluto , now classified as a dwarf planet or plutoid. A belt of asteroids (minor planets made of rock and metal) lies between Mars and Jupiter. These objects all orbit the sun in roughly circular orbits that lie in the same plane, the ecliptic (Pluto is an exception; it has an elliptical orbit tilted over 17° from the ecliptic).\nEasy ways to remember the order of the planets (plus Pluto) are the mnemonics: \"My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas\" and \"My Very Easy Method Just Simplifies Us Naming Planets\" The first letter of each of these words represents a planet - in the correct order.\nThe largest planet is Jupiter. It is followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and finally, tiny Pluto (the largest of the dwarf planets). Jupiter is so big that all the other planets could fit inside it.\nThe Inner Planets vs. the Outer Planets\nThe inner planets (those planets that orbit close to the sun) are quite different from the outer planets (those planets that orbit far from the sun).\nThe inner planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are relatively small, composed mostly of rock, and have few or no moons.\nThe outer planets include: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (a dwarf planet). They are mostly huge, mostly gaseous, ringed, and have many moons (again, the exception is Pluto, the dwarf planet, which is small, rocky, and has four moons).\nTemperatures on the Planets\nGenerally, the farther from the Sun, the cooler the planet. Differences occur when the greenhouse effect warms a planet (like Venus) surrounded by a thick atmosphere.\nDensity of the Planets\nThe outer, gaseous planets are much less dense than the inner, rocky planets.\nThe Earth is the densest planet. Saturn is the least dense planet; it would float on water.\nThe Mass of the Planets\nJupiter is by far the most massive planet; Saturn trails it. Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Pluto are orders of magnitude less massive.\nGravitational Forces on the Planets\nThe planet with the strongest gravitational attraction at its surface is Jupiter. Although Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are also very massive planets, their gravitational forces are about the same as Earth. This is because the gravitational force a planet exerts upon an object at the planet's surface is proportional to its mass and to the inverse of the planet's radius squared.\nA Day on Each of the Planets\nA day is the length of time that it takes a planet to rotate on its axis (360°). A day on Earth takes almost 24 hours.\nThe planet with the longest day is Venus ; a day on Venus takes 243 Earth days. (A day on Venus is longer than its year; a year on Venus takes only 224.7 Earth days).\nThe planet with the shortest day is Jupiter ; a day on Jupiter only takes 9.8 Earth hours! When you observe Jupiter from Earth, you can see some of its features change.\nThe Average Orbital Speed of the Planets\nAs the planets orbit the Sun , they travel at different speeds. Each planet speeds up when it is nearer the Sun and travels more slowly when it is far from the Sun (this is Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion ).\nThe Planets in Our Solar System\nPlanet (or Dwarf Planet)\nIn 2005, a large object beyond Pluto was observed in the Kuiper belt.\nA few astronomers think that there might be another planet or companion star orbiting the Sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto. This distant planet/companion star may or may not exist. The hypothesized origin of this hypothetical object is that a celestial object, perhaps a hard-to-detect cool, brown dwarf star (called Nemesis ), was captured by the Sun's gravitational field. This planet is hypothesized to exist because of the unexplained clumping of some long-period comet's orbits. The orbits of these far-reaching comets seem to be affected by the gravitational pull of a distant, Sun-orbiting object.\nPlanet Activities and Quizzes",
"Orbit & Rotation of Mars: Planet Mars’ Year, Day, Spin ...\nFor this planet, the solar day is only a ... km and its orbital period is equal to 687 Earth days. For this planet, ... Martian year would equal 1.8809 in Earth ...\nOrbit & Rotation of Mars: Planet Mars’ Year, Day, Spin & Revolution – PlanetFacts.org\nThe Moon\nOrbit and Rotation of Mars\nMars distance from the Sun is 230 million km and its orbital period is equal to 687 Earth days. For this planet, the solar day is only a bit longer than that of the Earth’s day which is 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35.244 seconds. An entire Martian year would equal 1.8809 in Earth years.\nMars’ axial tilt is 25.19 degrees, which is quite similar to that of our own planet and in this way, seasons in Mars are very much like the seasons that we have here on Earth. However, on Mars, they are almost twice as long because of the fact that the planet has significantly longer years compared to us. At the moment, the orientation of Mars’ North Pole is close to Deneb.\nThe planet has passed its perihelion in April 2009 and its aphelion in May 2007. It would reach its next perihelion in May 2011. Mars has a rather pronounced orbital eccentricity, which is about 0.09, compared to the other planets in the Solar System. The only other planet that shows greater eccentricity would be Mercury. For the last 35,000 years, Mars’ orbit has grown even more eccentric due to the gravitation effects that the other planets have on it. In fact, the closest distance between our planet and Mars would continuously decrease for the next 25,000 years.\nAs for its moons, Mars has two tiny natural ones. Phobos and Deimos orbit quite close to the planets. Currently, from what scientists know of their composition, it is believed that both moons were captured asteroids but this has never been completely ascertained nor confirmed.\nMore about the Planet Mars\nOkello – Ajasi\nI can fly to Mars.\nShishcobob\nGives mee all the details\nmobie",
"What does Neptune look like? | Reference.com\nAs the furthest orbiting planet in the Solar System, Neptune has the longest year, taking 164.8 Earth years to ... Pluto was the planet with the longest year, equal ...\nWhat does Neptune look like? | Reference.com\nWhat does Neptune look like?\nA:\nQuick Answer\nNeptune is an ice giant planet that is blue in color and is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System. When looking at Neptune with smaller detail, an observer will see the planet's blueness as largely smooth and uniform. When looking with more detail, however, the striations on the planet's surface that are caused by storms in Neptune's atmosphere are more apparent.\nFull Answer\nWhile many planets in the Solar System have variations of color and texture on their surfaces, Neptune looks a lot like a smooth blue marble, though some images, such as those from NASA's Voyager spacecraft, show that the planet's blue surface is marked by white and light blue cloud systems, creating round, striped shapes.\nIn addition to being defined by its blueness, Neptune also has a few characteristic physical features, including what NASA refers to as the Great Dark Spot, which is a storm that creates a darker blue-gray spot on the planet's surface.\nNeptune does have rings, but those rings are not typically visible because they're so small. This eighth planet from the Sun also has 13 known moons that accompany it in its orbit. Sometimes described as Uranus' twin, Neptune is the furthest planet from the Sun. It secured this spot after Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.",
"ORBIT AND ROTATION ON PLANET MARS - Mars Home\nPlanet Mars' average distance from the Sun is ... and its orbital period is 687 (Earth) days. ... A Martian year is equal to 1.8809 Earth years, or 1 year, 320 days, ...\nOrbit And Rotation\nOrbit And Rotation\nORBIT AND ROTATION ON PLANET MARS\nMars' average distance from the Sun is roughly 230 million km (1.5 AU) and its orbital period is 687 (Earth) days. The solar day (or sol) on Mars is only slightly longer than an Earth day: 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. A Martian year is equal to 1.8809 Earth years, or 1 year, 320 days, and 18.2 hours.\nMars's axial tilt is 25.19 degrees, which is similar to the axial tilt of the Earth. As a result, Mars has seasons like the Earth, though on Mars they are about twice as long given its longer year. Mars passed its perihelion in June 2007 and its aphelion in May 2008.\nMars has a relatively pronounced orbital eccentricity of about 0.09; of the seven other planets in the Solar System, only Mercury shows greater eccentricity. However, it is known that in the past Mars has had a much more circular orbit than it does currently. At one point 1.35 million Earth years ago, Mars had an eccentricity of roughly 0.002, much less than that of Earth today. The Mars cycle of eccentricity is 96,000 Earth years compared to the Earth's cycle of 100,000 years. However, Mars also has a much longer cycle of eccentricity with a period of 2.2 million Earth years, and this overshadows the 96,000 year cycle in the eccentricity graphs. For the last 35,000 years Mars' orbit has been getting slightly more eccentric because of the gravitational effects of the other planets. The closest distance between the Earth and Mars will continue to mildly decrease for the next 25,000 years.",
"How Long Is A Day On The Other Planets Of The Solar System ...\nBut how long is a day on the other planets of our Solar ... year being about two Earth years ... Other Planets?, Which Planet Has the Longest ...\nHow Long Is A Day On The Other Planets Of The Solar System? - Universe Today\n Universe Today\nHow Long Is A Day On The Other Planets Of The Solar System?\nArticle Updated: 24 Jan , 2016\nby Matt Williams\nHere on Earth, we tend to take time for granted, never suspected that the increments with which we measure it are actually quite relative. The ways in which we measure our days and years, for example, are actually the result of our planet’s distance from the Sun, the time it takes to orbit, and the time it takes to rotate on its axis. The same is true for the other planets in our Solar System.\nWhile we Earthlings count on a day being about 24 hours from sunup to sunup, the length of a single day on another planet is quite different. In some cases, they are very short, while in others, they can last longer than years – sometimes considerably! Let’s go over how time works on other planets and see just how long their days can be, shall we?\nA Day On Mercury:\nMercury is the closest planet to our Sun, ranging from 46,001,200 km at perihelion (closest to the Sun) to 69,816,900 km at aphelion (farthest). Since it takes 58.646 Earth days for Mercury to rotate once on its axis – aka. its sidereal rotation period – this means that it takes just over 58 Earth days for Mercury to experience a single day.\nHowever, this is not to say that Mercury experiences two sunrises in just over 58 days. Due to its proximity to the Sun and rapid speed with which it circles it, it takes the equivalent of 175.97 Earth days for the Sun to reappear in the same place in the sky. Hence, while the planet rotates once every 58 Earth days, it is roughly 176 days from one sunrise to the next on Mercury.\nImages of Mercury’s northern polar region, provided by MESSENGER. Credit: NASA/JPL\nWhat’s more, it only takes Mercury 87.969 Earth days to complete a single orbit of the Sun (aka. its orbital period). This means a year on Mercury is the equivalent of about 88 Earth days, which in turn means that a single Mercurian (or Hermian) year lasts just half as long as a Mercurian day.\nWhat’s more, Mercury’s northern polar regions are constantly in the shade. This is due to it’s axis being tilted at a mere 0.034° (compared to Earth’s 23.4°), which means that it does not experience extreme seasonal variations where days and nights can last for months depending on the season. On the poles of Mercury, it is always dark and shady. So you could say the poles are in a constant state of twilight.\nA Day On Venus:\nAlso known as “Earth’s Twin”, Venus is the second closest planet to our Sun – ranging from 107,477,000 km at perihelion to 108,939,000 km at aphelion. Unfortunately, Venus is also the slowest moving planet, a fact which is made evident by looking at its poles. Whereas every other planet in the Solar System has experienced flattening at their poles due to the speed of their spin, Venus has experienced no such flattening.\nVenus has a rotational velocity of just 6.5 km/h (4.0 mph) – compared to Earth’s rational velocity of 1,670 km/h (1,040 mph) – which leads to a sidereal rotation period of 243.025 days. Technically, it is -243.025 days, since Venus’ rotation is retrograde. This means that Venus. rotates in the direction opposite to its orbital path around the Sun.\nThe planet Venus, as imagined by the Magellan 10 mission. Credit: NASA/JPL\nSo if you were above Venus’ north pole and watched it circle around the Sun, you would see it is moving clockwise, whereas its rotation is counter-clockwise. Nevertheless, this still means that Venus takes over 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis, which means that many, many days pass between one sunrise and the next.\nThis may seem odd, until you consider that a single Venusian (or Cytherean) year works out to 224.701 Earth days. Yes, Venus takes a little more than 224 days to complete a single orbital period, but over 243 days to experience a single day and night cycle. So basically, a single Venusian day is longer than a Venusian year! Good thing Venus has other things in common With Earth, because it is sure isn’t its diurnal cycle!\nA Day On Earth:\nWhen we think of a day on Earth, we tend to think of it as a simple 24 hour interval. In truth, it takes the Earth exactly 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds to rotate once on its axis. Meanwhile, on average, a solar day on Earth is 24 hours long, which means it takes that amount of time for the Sun to appear in the same place in the sky. Between these two values, we say a single day and night cycle lasts an even 24.\nAt the same time, there are variations in the length of a single day on the planet based on seasonal cycles. Due to Earth’s axial tilt, the amount of sunlight experienced in certain hemispheres will vary. The most extreme case of this occurs at the poles, where day and night can last for days or months depending on the season.\nAt the North and South Poles during the winter, a single night can last up to six months, which is known as a “polar night”. During the summer, the poles will experience what is called a “midnight sun”, where a day lasts a full 24 hours. So really, days are not as simple as we like to imagine. But compared to the other planets in the Solar System, time management is still easier here on Earth.\nA Day On Mars:\nIn many respects, Mars can also be called “Earth’s Twin”. In addition to having polar ice caps, seasonal variations , and water (albeit frozen) on its surface, a day on Mars is pretty close to what a day on Earth is. Essentially, Mars takes 24 hours 37 minutes and 22 seconds to complete a single rotation on its axis. This means that a day on Mars is equivalent to 1.025957 days.\nThe seasonal cycles on Mars, which are due to it having an axial tilt similar to Earth’s (25.19° compared to Earth’s 23.4°), are more similar to those we experience on Earth than on any other planet. As a result, Martian days experience similar variations, with the Sun rising sooner and setting later in the summer and then experiencing the reverse in the winter.\nHowever, seasonal variations last twice as long on Mars, thanks to Mars’ being at a greater distance from the Sun. This leads to the Martian year being about two Earth years long – 686.971 Earth days to be exact, which works out to 668.5991 Martian days (or Sols). As a result, longer days and longer nights can be expected last much longer on the Red Planet. Something for future colonists to consider!\nSunrise at Gale Crater on Mars. Gale is at center top with the mound in the middle, called Mt. Sharp (Aeolis Mons.)\nA Day On Jupiter:\nGiven the fact that it is the largest planet in the Solar System, one would expect that a day on Jupiter would last a long time. But as it turns out, a Jovian day is officially only 9 hours, 55 minutes and 30 seconds long, which means a single day is less than a third the length of an Earth day. This is due to the gas giant having a very rapid rotational speed, which is 12.6 km/s (45,300 km/h, or 28148.115 mph) at the equator. This rapid rotational speed is also one of the reasons the planet has such violent storms.\nNote the use of the word officially. Since Jupiter is not a solid body, its upper atmosphere undergoes a different rate of rotation compared to its equator. Basically, the rotation of Jupiter’s polar atmosphere is about 5 minutes longer than that of the equatorial atmosphere. Because of this, astronomers use three systems as frames of reference.\nSystem I applies from the latitudes 10° N to 10° S, where its rotational period is the planet’s shortest, at 9 hours, 50 minutes, and 30 seconds. System II applies at all latitudes north and south of these; its period is 9 hours, 55 minutes, and 40.6 seconds. System III corresponds to the rotation of the planet’s magnetosphere, and it’s period is used by the IAU and IAG to define Jupiter’s official rotation (i.e. 9 hours 44 minutes and 30 seconds)\nJupiter and Io capturing the Sun. Image Credit: NASA/JPL\nSo if you could, theoretically, stand on the cloud tops of Jupiter (or possibly on a floating platform in geosynchronous orbit), you would witness the sun rising an setting in the space of less than 10 hours from any latitude. And in the space of a single Jovian year, the sun would rise and set a total of about 10,476 times.\nA Day On Saturn:\nSaturn’s situation is very similar to that of Jupiter’s. Despite its massive size, the planet has an estimated rotational velocity of 9.87 km/s (35,500 km/h, or 22058.677 mph). As such Saturn takes about 10 hours and 33 minutes to complete a single sidereal rotation, making a single day on Saturn less than half of what it is here on Earth. Here too, this rapid movement of the atmosphere leads to some super storms , not to mention the hexagonal pattern around the planet’s north pole and a vortex storm around its south pole.\nAnd, also like Jupiter, Saturn takes its time orbiting the Sun. With an orbital period that is the equivalent of 10,759.22 Earth days (or 29.4571 Earth years), a single Saturnian (or Cronian) year lasts roughly 24,491 Saturnian days. However, like Jupiter, Saturn’s atmosphere rotates at different speed depending on latitude, which requires that astronomers use three systems with different frames of reference.\nSystem I encompasses the Equatorial Zone, the South Equatorial Belt and the North Equatorial Belt, and has a period of 10 hours and 14 minutes. System II covers all other Saturnian latitudes, excluding the north and south poles, and have been assigned a rotation period of 10 hr 38 min 25.4 sec. System III uses radio emissions to measure Saturn’s internal rotation rate, which yielded a rotation period of 10 hr 39 min 22.4 sec.\nThis portrait looking down on Saturn and its rings was created from images obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 10, 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic\nUsing these various systems, scientists have obtained different data from Saturn over the years. For instance, data obtained during the 1980’s by the Voyager 1 and 2 missions indicated that a day on Saturn was 10 hours 39 minutes and 24 seconds long. In 2004, data provided by the Cassini-Huygens space probe measured the planet’s gravitational field, which yielded an estimate of 10 hours, 45 minutes, and 45 seconds (± 36 sec).\nIn 2007, this was revised by researches at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UCLA, which resulted in the current estimate of 10 hours and 33 minutes. Much like with Jupiter, the problem of obtaining accurate measurements arises from the fact that, as a gas giant, parts of Saturn rotate faster than others.\nA Day On Uranus:\nWhen we come to Uranus, the question of how long a day is becomes a bit complicated. One the one hand, the planet has a sidereal rotation period of 17 hours 14 minutes and 24 seconds, which is the equivalent of 0.71833 Earth days. So you could say a day on Uranus lasts almost as long as a day on Earth. It would be true, were it not for the extreme axial tilt this gas/ice giant has going on.\nWith an axial tilt of 97.77°, Uranus essentially orbits the Sun on its side. This means that either its north or south pole is pointed almost directly at the Sun at different times in its orbital period. When one pole is going through “summer” on Uranus, it will experience 42 years of continuous sunlight. When that same pole is pointed away from the Sun (i.e. a Uranian “winter”), it will experience 42 years of continuous darkness.\nUranus as seen by NASA’s Voyager 2. Credit: NASA/JPL\nHence, you might say that a single day – from one sunrise to the next – lasts a full 84 years on Uranus! In other words, a single Uranian day is the same amount of time as a single Uranian year (84.0205 Earth years).\nIn addition, as with the other gas/ice giants, Uranus rotates faster at certain latitudes. Ergo, while the planet’s rotation is 17 hours and 14.5 minutes at the equator, at about 60° south, visible features of the atmosphere move much faster, making a full rotation in as little as 14 hours.\nA Day On Neptune:\nLast, but not least, we have Neptune. Here too, measuring a single day is somewhat complicated. For instance, Neptune’s sidereal rotation period is roughly 16 hours, 6 minutes and 36 seconds (the equivalent of 0.6713 Earth days). But due to it being a gas/ice giant, the poles of the planet rotate faster than the equator.\nWhereas the planet’s magnetic field has a rotational speed of 16.1 hours, the wide equatorial zone rotates with a period of about 18 hour. Meanwhile, the polar regions rotate the fastest, at a period of 12 hours. This differential rotation is the most pronounced of any planet in the Solar System, and it results in strong latitudinal wind shear.\nReconstruction of Voyager 2 images showing the Great Black spot (top left), Scooter (middle), and the Small Black Spot (lower right). Credit: NASA/JPL\nIn addition, the planet’s axial tilt of 28.32° results in seasonal variations that are similar to those on Earth and Mars. The long orbital period of Neptune means that the seasons last for forty Earth years. But because its axial tilt is comparable to Earth’s, the variation in the length of its day over the course of its long year is not any more extreme.\nAs you can see from this little rundown of the different planets in our Solar System, what constitutes a day depends entirely on your frame of reference. In addition to it varying depending on the planet in question, you also have to take into account seasonal cycles and where on the planet the measurements are being taken from.\nAs Einstein summarized, time is relative to the observer. Based on your inertial reference frame, its passage will differ. And when you are standing on a planet other than Earth, your concept of day and night, which is set to Earth time (and a specific time zone) is likely to get pretty confused!\nWe have written many interesting articles about how time is measured on other planets here at Universe Today. For example, here’s How Long Is A Year On The Other Planets? , Which Planet Has the Longest Day? , The Rotation of Venus , How Long Is A Day on Mars? and How Long Is A Day On Jupiter? .\nIf you are looking for more information, check out Our Solar System at Space.com\nAstronomy Cast has episodes on all the planets, including Episode 49: Mercury , and Episode 95: Humans to Mars, Part 2 – Colonists\nShare this:\n“Since it takes 58.646 Earth days for Mercury to rotate once on its axis – aka. its sidereal rotation period – this means that it takes just over 58 Earth days for Mercury to experience a single sunrise and sunset.”\nSorry, Matt, but this is precisely incorrect, and I stopped reading at this point.\n1) Sideral = stars; solar = Sol/The Sun. Mercury’s sidereal day/rotation period is indeed 58.646 Earth days. This means that it takes 58.646 Earth days for background stars (NOT the Sun) to rise, set, and then rise again.\n2) “Days” are measured from sunrise to sunrise, not sunrise to sunset as you’ve indicated; if you think about the 24hrs of a Terran solar day you will see instantly that this is true.\n3) Mercury’s solar day is heavily influenced by the Mercury’s speedy orbit around the sun; while Mercury rotates, it also revolves, leading to a Nabooan solar day of ~176 Earth days. This same effect of rotation + revolution is why sidereal and solar days are different in the first place — Earth’s solar day is ~24hrs, while its sidereal day is ~4min shorter — and is why the stars visible in our night sky locally change from season to season.\n4) Finally, the effect of revolution + Mercury’s noticeably elliptical orbit + rotation leads to some bizarre timing when it comes local sunrise, sunset, noon, and midnight in various places on the planet as well. In some places, one ends up with Sol crossing overhead three separate times between local sunrise & sunset; in others “Sunrise” is spread out over weeks (Earth reckoning) as Sol rises above the horizon, then sets completely, then rises again to cross the sky, only to perform the same dance in reverse upon “Sunset” (set, rise again, set again).\nThought we maybe discussed this once before, somewhere…."
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Who played the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel? | Ewan McGregor | [
"Obi-Wan_Kenobi.txt\nObi-Wan Kenobi\nObi-Wan \"Ben\" Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, played by Sir Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor. In the original trilogy, he is a mentor to Luke Skywalker, to whom he introduces the ways of the Jedi. In the prequel trilogy, he is a master and friend to Anakin Skywalker. In the sequel trilogy, he appears to Rey as a voice in a dream-like-flashback in Maz Kanata's castle. He is frequently featured as a main character in various other Star Wars media.\n\nLucas borrowed liberally from the films of Akira Kurosawa. Kenob is the name, incidentally, of the son of Tokuemon's mistress in Yojimbo.\n\nAppearances\n\nOriginal trilogy \n\nObi-Wan Kenobi is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope living as the hermit \"Ben Kenobi\" on the planet Tatooine. When Luke Skywalker and the droid C-3PO wander off in search of the lost droid R2-D2, Ben rescues them from a band of native Tusken Raiders. At his home, R2-D2 plays Ben a recording of Princess Leia Organa which explains that R2-D2 contains the battle plans for the Death Star, the evil Galactic Empire's superweapon. Leia asks him to deliver the droid and the plans safely to the planet Alderaan in order to help the Rebel Alliance. Ben reveals to Luke that his real name is Obi-Wan and that he is a Jedi Master, member of an ancient group of warriors that were hunted down by his apprentice Darth Vader, the apparent killer of Luke's father. He gives Luke his father's lightsaber and asks Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and take up Jedi training. Luke declines, but promises to take Obi-Wan as far as Anchorhead Station. After Luke finds his uncle and aunt killed by Imperial troops, however, he agrees to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan and train as a Jedi.\n\nIn the spaceport city Mos Eisley, Obi-Wan uses the Force to trick Imperial troops into letting them through a military checkpoint. They enter a local cantina and make a deal with two smugglers, Han Solo and Chewbacca, to fly them to Alderaan in their ship, the Millennium Falcon. During the journey, Obi-Wan begins instructing Luke in lightsaber training. He suddenly becomes weak and tells Luke of \"a great disturbance in the Force\". Emerging from hyperspace, the party finds that Alderaan has been destroyed, and the Falcon is attacked by an Imperial TIE Fighter. Obi-Wan advises Han to fly away, but Han ignores him and is caught in the Death Star's tractor beam. On board the Death Star, Obi-Wan shuts down the tractor beam, but Darth Vader confronts him and they engage in a lightsaber duel. Obi-Wan uses the duel to distract Vader as Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca escape to the Falcon. Although Vader strikes Obi-Wan down, his body mysteriously vanishes the moment he dies. At the climax of the film during the Rebel attack on the Death Star, Obi-Wan speaks to Luke through the Force to help him destroy the Imperial station.\n\nIn Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears several times as a spirit, having survived death through the Force. On the planet Hoth, he appears to instruct Luke to go to the planet Dagobah to find the exiled Jedi Master Yoda. Despite Yoda's skepticism, Obi-Wan convinces his old master to continue Luke's training. He appears later to beseech Luke not to leave Dagobah to try to rescue his friends on Cloud City, although Luke ignores this advice. \n\nIn Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to Luke again after Yoda's death on Dagobah. Obi-Wan acknowledges that Darth Vader is indeed Luke's father - revealed by Vader in the previous film, and confirmed by Yoda on his deathbed - and also reveals that Leia is Luke's twin sister. After the second Death Star is destroyed and the Empire defeated, Obi-Wan appears at the celebration in the Ewok village, alongside the spirits of Yoda and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. \n\nPrequel trilogy \n\nIn Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears as the Jedi Padawan (or student) of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He accompanies his master in negotiations with the Trade Federation, which is blockading the planet Naboo with a fleet of spaceships. After they are attacked by battle droids and forced to retreat to Naboo, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rescue Queen Padmé Amidala through the help of native Gungan Jar Jar Binks and escape in a spaceship toward Coruscant, the Republic capital. Their ship is damaged in the escape, however, and they are forced to land on Tatooine, where they discover a young Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon senses Anakin's extraordinarily strong link to the Force and brings the boy to Coruscant to begin Jedi training, although Obi-Wan expresses concerns.\n\nWhen Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan return to Naboo to defeat the Trade Federation, they are met by Sith Lord Darth Maul. When Maul mortally wounds Qui-Gon in the ensuing duel, Obi-Wan rushes to fight the Sith lord, who nearly kills him. However, Obi-Wan manages to turn the tables and defeat Maul, slicing him in half and sending him plunging down a vast reactor shaft. He promises to fulfill Qui-Gon's dying wish of training Anakin in the ways of the Jedi. Yoda proclaims Obi-Wan a Jedi and reluctantly allows him to take Anakin on as his own Padawan. \n\nIn Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, set 10 years later, Obi-Wan Kenobi is now a respected Jedi Knight and the master of Anakin Skywalker. The two have formed a close friendship, although Anakin is arrogant and believes his master is \"holding him back\". After they save Senator Padmé Amidala from an assassination attempt, Obi-Wan goes on a solo mission and traces the bounty hunters involved to the planet Kamino. There, he learns of a massive clone army that the planet's inhabitants are building for the Republic. He is introduced to bounty hunter Jango Fett, the clones' template, and the two fight after Obi-Wan deduces that Fett must be behind the attempted assassination. Fett escapes to the planet Geonosis with his clone son while Obi-Wan is in pursuit.\n\nOn Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers that a conspiracy of star systems bent on secession from the Republic is led by Sith Lord Count Dooku, Qui-Gon's old master. After sending a message to Anakin, Obi-Wan is captured, interrogated and sentenced to death by Dooku. A cadre of Jedi arrive with the Kaminoan clone army just in time to prevent the executions. Obi-Wan and Anakin confront Dooku during the ensuing battle, but are defeated in a lightsaber duel. Yoda intervenes and saves their lives, at the cost of Dooku's escape. \n\nIn Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, set three years later, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master, a member of the Jedi Council and a General in the Army of the Republic. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker remains Obi-Wan's partner and the two have become war heroes and best friends. The film opens with the two on a rescue mission to save the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from Separatist commander General Grievous onboard his starship. Count Dooku discovers the attempt and fights the Jedi, knocking Obi-Wan unconscious; while Obi-Wan is out cold, Dooku is defeated by Anakin, who then executes the Sith Lord in cold blood on Palpatine's orders. The mission succeeds and soon after returning to Coruscant, Obi-Wan is called away to the planet Utapau to track down the escaped Grievous.\n\nAfter finding the Separatist encampment, Obi-Wan fights Grievous and eventually kills the cyborg with a blaster after failing to overcome him in hand-to-hand combat. When Palpatine — who is secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious — issues Order 66 to have the clone troopers turn on the Jedi, Obi-Wan survives the attempt on his life and escapes, rendezvousing with Yoda and Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan aboard Organa's ship Tantive IV. Returning to Coruscant, he and Yoda discover that every Jedi in the Jedi Temple has been murdered. After sending a beacon to all surviving Jedi to scatter across the galaxy and remain in hiding, a heartbroken Obi-Wan watches security footage revealing that it was Anakin — who is now Sidious' Sith apprentice Darth Vader — who led the slaughter. Yoda charges Obi-Wan with hunting down Vader while Yoda fights Sidious. Obi-Wan is loath to fight his best friend, but reluctantly accepts.\n\nObi-Wan visits Padmé to learn of Vader's whereabouts and after noticing Padme's pregnancy realizes that Vader is the baby's father. When Padmé sets out to the volcanic planet Mustafar to confront her husband herself, Obi-Wan secretly stows away in the ship. After they arrive on Mustafar, Obi-Wan reveals himself and confronts Vader. After a long and ferocious lightsaber duel, Obi-Wan defeats Vader by severing his legs and left arm; he then takes his former friend's lightsaber and returns to Padmé's ship, leaving Vader to die beside a molten lava river. Unknown to Obi-Wan, the horribly injured Vader is rescued by Sidious and reconstructed into a cyborg.\n\nObi-Wan takes a heartbroken Padmé to a remote asteroid belt, where she dies after giving birth to twins, Luke and Leia. Afterwards, Yoda instructs Obi-Wan to give Luke to his uncle and aunt on Tatooine, but also reveals that the spirit of his old master Qui-Gon has returned from the Force to continue Obi-Wan's training. Obi-Wan hands Luke off to his family and goes into exile on Tatooine.\n\nSequel trilogy \n\nIn Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, set 30 years after Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan's voice is heard by the young scavenger Rey upon touching the lightsaber that previously belonged to Luke. Obi-Wan calls out to Rey, before saying the words of encouragement he gave to Luke during his training on the Millennium Falcon. Han Solo and Leia Organa also honoured Obi-Wan by naming their son Ben, a name he abandoned when he became the dark warrior Kylo Ren.\n\nEwan McGregor recorded new dialogue for Obi-Wan, and archival audio of Sir Alec Guinness is also used. \n\nTelevision\n\nObi-Wan Kenobi is a main character in the animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars and the CGI animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. In both series, he is a general in the Clone Wars, and he and Anakin have many adventures fighting the Separatists. The latter series highlights his numerous confrontations with General Grievous, his adversarial relationship with Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, his romance with Duchess Satine Kryze, and the return of his old enemy Darth Maul.\n\nThe character appears as a hologram in Star Wars Rebels.\n\nLegends\n\nWith the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014. \n\nObi-Wan Kenobi appears extensively in the Star Wars expanded universe of comic books and novels.\n\nNovels\n\nObi-Wan's life prior to The Phantom Menace is portrayed mostly in Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest series. The Jedi Apprentice books follow his adventures as Qui-Gon's Padawan. Notable events in the series include battling the Dark Jedi Xanatos and going on his first independent mission. The Jedi Quest books detail his adventures with Anakin in the years leading up to Attack of the Clones.\n\nHis heroism just before and during the Clone Wars is portrayed in novels such as Outbound Flight, The Approaching Storm, and The Cestus Deception.\n\nObi-Wan's life between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is portrayed mostly in Jude Watson's The Last of the Jedi series. Set roughly a year after the fall of the Republic, the series follows Obi-Wan as he seeks out possible survivors of the Great Jedi Purge, most notably Anakin's former rival Ferus Olin. The books also portray Obi-Wan adjusting to life as a hermit on Tatooine, and quietly watching over Luke. He also discovers that Vader is still alive after seeing him on the Holonet, the galaxy's official news source.\n\nObi-Wan appears in the final chapter of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, set just after the events in Revenge of the Sith. He is also the protagonist in John Jackson Miller's novel Star Wars: Kenobi, which takes place during his exile on Tatooine.\n\nObi-Wan appears in spirit form in many novels set after Return of the Jedi. In The Truce at Bakura, he appears to Luke to warn him about the threat presented by the Ssi-ruuk; in The Lost City of the Jedi, he guides Luke to the titular city on Yavin IV; in Heir to the Empire, meanwhile, he bids farewell to Luke, explaining that he must abandon his spiritual form to \"move on\" to a new, higher plane of consciousness. Before parting, Luke tells him that Obi-Wan was like a father to him, to which Obi-Wan replies that he loved Luke like a son.\n\nVideo games\n\nObi-Wan Kenobi appears in several video games. He is a playable character in all four Lego Star Wars video games, as well as Battlefront II and Renegade Squadron. He is also the lead character in Star Wars: Obi-Wan. The older version is only playable in Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and Star Wars: The Complete Saga, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith multiplayer mode and Death Star bonus mission Star Wars: Renegade Squadron, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in multiplayer mode and the droid PROXY disguises as him. He also appears in Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance, Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles and Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels as a playable character.He is also playable in the strategy game Star Wars: Empire at War. He will be a playable character in Disney Infinity 3.0.\n\nComic books\n\nIn the comic book series Star Wars: Republic, Obi-Wan Kenobi faces many grave threats while fighting against the Separatists. Among other notable storylines, he is kidnapped and tortured by Asajj Ventress before being rescued by Anakin (\"Hate & Fear\"), and apprehends corrupted Jedi Master Quinlan Vos (\"The Dreadnaughts of Rendili\"). Throughout the series, he grows increasingly wary of Palpatine's designs on the Republic and his influence on Anakin.\n\nIn the non-canon story \"Old Wounds\", set a few years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan confronts Darth Maul on Tatooine to protect Luke. The duel ends when Owen Lars shoots and kills Maul; he then warns Obi-Wan to stay away from his nephew. Through the Force, Obi-Wan reassures Luke that he will be there for him when needed.\n\nCultural impact\n\nThe character is loosely inspired by General Makabe Rokurōta, a character from Akira Kurasawa's film The Hidden Fortress, played by Toshiro Mifune (whom series creator George Lucas also considered casting as Obi-Wan). Mad magazine parodied the original film under the title Star Roars and included a character named 'Oldie Von Moldie', a grizzled 97-year-old whose lightsaber runs on an extension cord. The Shanghai nightclub shown in the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is called \"Club Obi-Wan\" (Lucas wrote both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series). A real bar/club by this name existed in the Xihai district of Beijing, China but closed in the summer of 2010. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode \"Star Koopa\" (a spoof of Star Wars) also had its own parody of Obi-Wan called 'Obi-Wan Toadi', and the live-action segment \"Zenned Out Mario\" featured a parody called \"Obi-Wan Cannoli\". The 1998 Animaniacs episode \"Star Warners\" (which spoofed Star Wars) featured Slappy Squirrel portraying a parody of Obi-Wan as 'Slappy Wanna Nappy'. In the Family Guy episode \"Blue Harvest\", Obi-Wan Kenobi is parodied by the character Herbert. In the short film Thumb Wars, Obi-Wan is parodied as the character \"Oobedoob Benubi\". In the film, his full name is 'Oobedoob Scooby-Doobi Benubi, the silliest name in the galaxy.' In the 1977 Star Wars parody Hardware Wars, Obi-Wan is parodied by the character \"Augie Ben Doggie\".\n\nTV Tropes uses Obi-Wan's name for the archetype mentor figure.\n\nIn 2003, the American Film Institute selected Obi-Wan Kenobi as the 37th greatest movie hero of all time. He was also listed as IGN's third greatest Star Wars character, as well as one of UGO Networks's favorite heroes of all time. \n\nIn 2004, the Council of the Commune Lubicz in Poland passed a resolution giving the name \"Obi-Wan Kenobi\" to one of the streets in Grabowiec, a small village near Toruń. The street was named in 2005. The spelling of the street name, Obi-Wana Kenobiego is the genitive form of the noun in the Polish language: (the street) of Obi-Wan Kenobi. \n\nGuardian cartoonist Steve Bell portrays Jeremy Corbyn (leader of the British Labour Party) as Obi-Wan Kenobi.",
"Ewan McGregor is still interested in an Obi-Wan Kenobi ...\n... who played young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars ... played young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel ... Entertainment Weekly ...\nEwan McGregor is still interested in an Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off – EW.com\nPinterest\nILM/Lucasfilm, Ltd.\nSpeaking at the Edinburgh Film Festival , Ewan McGregor, who played young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, said that he’s definitely be up for another trip to the galaxy far, far away. And he has a very specific idea about how it could come about. \n“I’d be happy to do the story from episodes three where I finish up and Alec Guinness starts,” McGregor said, referring to the era between the two trilogies, when Obi-Wan is camped out in the deserts of Tatooine. McGregor has been consistent in this view. We know this because it’s the same movie he’s been pitching since early 2013, when he shared the same idea with MTV . \nWhile McGregor’s idea for a spin-off seems like a good one, Lucasfilm’s slate is looking a little full at the moment. After The Force Awakens in December and Rogue One in 2016, the plan is to finish off the new trilogy in 2017 and 2019, with a Boba Fett spin-off in between and a Han Solo movie likely coming afterward. That could mean we wouldn’t see an Obi-Wan movie until 2021 at the earliest. Maybe that would give McGregor some time to go more gray. \nOn top of sharing his thoughts on a potential future for Obi-Wan, McGregor also took time to throw some shade Kylo Ren’s way. “I’m not sure about the hilt on the lightsaber,” referring to the weapons wielded by Adam Driver’s character. “If you fight with a lightsaber properly you don’t need one.”\nCome on, Ewan. Everyone knows that Stephen Colbert put the crossguard debate to bed.",
"Stop Asking Ewan McGregor to do Another Star Wars Film\nThe man who played young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel ... has portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in not only the Star Wars prequels — but ... about a young Han ...\nStop Asking Ewan McGregor to do Another Star Wars Film\nStop Asking Ewan McGregor to do Another Star Wars Film\nThe man who played young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Ewan McGregor, is getting rather tired of being the standard bearer for an Obi-Wan Star Wars film…\nGet the Dork Side of the Force App\nSpeaking with Parade Magazine , the actor, who as you know, has portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in not only the Star Wars prequels — but also helped to bring Obi-Wan’s voice back to the big-screen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in Rey’s Force dream — talked about the stress of constantly being pushed into the role of fans wanting him to champion the cause of his own Star Wars film, with Disney/Lucasfilm.\n“I like the films that I made with George Lucas and I’m happy to be part of the legend of it all, but that’s it with me. I don’t really understand the fanaticism about it.”\nParade made sure to point out that McGregor said he enjoyed the films he made with George Lucas. In fact, Parade bolded Lucas’ name, but I wouldn’t read anything into that, as McGregor and J.J. Abrams have a great relationship , and the actor loved the film.\n“I’m asked by everybody all the time, “Would you do another one?” and I’ve said, “Yeah, I’d be happy to,” because I think there’s a film between Episode 3 and Episode 4, which is when Alec Guinness is in the desert.”\nThis is the film that Star Wars fans want, and I am surprised that Kathleen Kennedy hasn’t already begun pre-production on this film already. I wonder if a test audience was polled about a young Han Solo film against anything else.\nDon’t get me wrong, I’m as excited as anyone else to see the origins of the smuggler with a heart of gold, but wouldn’t seeing the life of Obi-Wan Kenboi, as he lives on the harsh desert of Tatooine, watching over the baby of his former best friend and brother Anakin Skywalker, be better? I could even see an Obi-Wan film have flashbacks to him as a youngling, being recruited into the Jedi Order, taken as a Padawan by Master Qui-Gon Jinn.\nMcGregor continued:\n“But I’ve been asked about it so much now that I’m being criticized for trying to persuade Disney to make this movie. I only responded to people asking me about it, and now it looks like I’m sort of looking for work, which is humiliating. I couldn’t care less if it happens, but when Star Wars people ask me if I would do it, the answer is yes, so that’s how I feel about it.”\nNext: Rogue One: Entertainment Weekly Reveals More Photos\nThis I understand. Ewan McGregor doesn’t need the work, and he’s never started any sort of campaign on social media for Disney or Lucasfilm to give him his own Star Wars film, but if he’s getting criticism from industry insiders, and if that’s hurting his reputation, then it needs to stop.\nAlthough, this could all be over if Disney and Lucasfilm would just pull their collective heads out of their butts and realize that the majority of the Star Wars fan base would kill to see an Obi-Wan standalone film with Ewan McGregor as the lead. The ball, as they say, is in your court, Disney.\nTop Stories",
"Obi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars Character Profile - Sci-Fi and ...\nObi-Wan Kenobi is Luke Skywalker's mentor in the Star Wars Original Trilogy and Anakin Skywalker's master in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. As a Jedi, he embodies the ...\nObi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars Character Profile\nObi-Wan Kenobi\nSign Up for Our Free Newsletters\nThanks, You're in!\nThere was an error. Please try again.\nPlease select a newsletter.\nPlease enter a valid email address.\nDid you mean ?\nThe Star Wars Universe - News and articles on the Star Wars franchise.\nEwan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode II. Lucasfilm Ltd. Photo by George Lucas.\nObi-Wan Kenobi is Luke Skywalker's mentor in the Star Wars Original Trilogy and Anakin Skywalker 's master in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. As a Jedi, he embodies the ideals of the Prequel-era Jedi Order: cautious, focused, and very traditional. These aspects of his personality often put him in conflict with his unorthodox master, Qui-Gon Jinn , and his rebellious apprentice.\nObi-Wan Kenobi Before the Star Wars Films\nObi-Wan Kenobi was born on an unknown planet in 57 BBY .\nLike most Jedi, he was taken from his family at a very young age and brought to the Jedi Temple for training. For a while, however, it seemed that his chances of becoming a Jedi were slim; at the age of 13, he was sent to the Agricultural Corps , the destination for Force-sensitives who weren't chosen as Padawans.\ncontinue reading below our video\nOverview of Star Wars Movies\nOn his way to the AgriCorps, however, Obi-Wan found a mentor in Qui-Gon Jinn. Because Qui-Gon's former apprentice, Xanatos, had turned to the dark side, the Jedi Master was at first hesitant to take Obi-Wan as a Padawan ; but he soon realized Obi-Wan's Force potential and helped him develop into a powerful Jedi.\nObi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars Prequels\nEpisode I: The Phantom Menace\nObi-Wan avenged Qui-Gon's death after he was killed in a duel with Darth Maul ; the fight earned him the rank of Jedi Knight . Although he did not share his master's opinion that Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One of Jedi Prophecy, Obi-Wan wanted to honor Qui-Gon's wishes to train the boy. Despite the Jedi Council's disapproval, Obi-Wan accepted Anakin as his Padawan.\nEpisode II: Attack of the Clones\nTen years later, Obi-Wan's investigation of an assassination attempt on Padmé Amidala led him to Kamino, where cloners had created a vast army at the secret request of a Jedi Master. Obi-Wan's discovery occurred just in time for the clones to assist the Republic in fighting the Separatists, led by the Sith Lord Count Dooku .\nIn the subsequent Clone Wars, the Jedi became leaders of the Clone Army. Obi-Wan became General Kenobi and earned the rank of Jedi Master , as well as a seat on the Jedi Council.\nEpisode III: Revenge of the Sith\nThe Clone Wars led to dark times for the Jedi. While Obi-Wan hunted down General Grievous, the cyborg Separatist leader, his former Padawan Anakin turned to the Dark Side. Chancellor Palpatine, who was secretly a Sith Lord , ordered the clones to turn on their Jedi leaders with Order 66 ; Obi-Wan and Yoda were among the few Jedi who escaped. When he realized what had happened, and that Anakin had set a trap for the remaining Jedi, he attempted to warn them away with a beacon.\nObi-Wan faced Anakin in a duel, but could not kill him. Palpatine rescued Anakin, who was missing several limbs and badly burned. Surviving within the confines of a protective suit, Anakin became the Sith Lord Darth Vader. With the help of Yoda and Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, Obi-Wan hid the newborn twin children of Anakin and his wife, Padmé. Organa adopted Leia , while Obi-Wan took Luke to Tatooine, Anakin's homeworld, and gave him to Anakin's stepbrother Owen to raise.\nObi-Wan During the Dark Times\nDuring the Dark Times -- the time of the Empire, when the remaining few Jedi were being hunted down -- Obi-Wan hid on Tatooine and watched over Luke. He created a new identity for himself: the strange old hermit, Ben Kenobi. During this time, he received guidance from the ghost of his former master, Qui-Gon Jinn.\nFor a time, Obi-Wan believed that he and Yoda were the only survivors of Order 66. After a year in exile, however, he learned that Ferus Olin, a former Padawan who had left the Jedi Order, was still alive. While training Ferus, Obi-Wan was surprised to discover that even more Jedi had survived.\nPrev",
"BBC News | FILM | Ewan 'disappointed' by Phantom Menace\nActor Ewan McGregor says he was disappointed by the \"flat\" Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace. CATEGORIES: TV ... McGregor (r) plays the young Obi Wan Kenobi.\nBBC News | FILM | Ewan 'disappointed' by Phantom Menace\nSunday, 7 April, 2002, 10:39 GMT 11:39 UK\nEwan 'disappointed' by Phantom Menace\nMcGregor (r) plays the young Obi Wan Kenobi\nActor Ewan McGregor has said he was disappointed by the Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace, which he described as \"flat\".\nIn the past, McGregor has said he found filming for meticulous director George Lucas \"boring\", but this is the first time he has publicly criticised the film.\nThe star played the part of Obi Wan Kenobi - the sage played by the late Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars film - in Episode One: The Phantom Menace in 1999.\nThe Phantom Menace was the third most commercially successful film in history.\nThe critics, however, failed to warm to it.\nI think there's much more humour and there's much more colour in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.\nEwan McGregor\nMcGregor's comments came in a yet-to-be-published interview with the FilmFour website, which is running a series of the actor's films in April.\nThe star said the next film in the space saga, Episode II: Attack of the Clones, was an improvement on the first.\n\"One of the things about Episode One I was slightly disappointed by was, I thought it was very kind of flat,\" he told the website.\n\"I think there's much more humour and there's much more colour in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.\n\"I think it's more reminiscent of the original three Star Wars films than Episode I was.\"\nThe new Star Wars opens in the UK with a series of midnight screenings on 16 May.\nBecause of the transatlantic time difference, UK Star Wars fans will get the chance to see Attack of the Clones several hours ahead of US devotees.\nFilmFour is screening a series of Ewan McGregor's biggest film hits, including Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and Velvet Goldmine.",
"Obi-Wan Kenobi-led Star Wars Anthology movie - Screen Rant\n... Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in an upcoming 'Star Wars ... Lucasfilm and Ewan McGregor – who played the younger version of Obi-Wan featured in the Star Wars prequel ...\n‘Star Wars’ Rumor: Ewan McGregor In Talks For Obi-Wan Kenobi Film\n‘Star Wars’ Rumor: Ewan McGregor In Talks For Obi-Wan Kenobi Film\nShare\nComment\nWalt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm currently have three Star Wars movies with official release dates First on the docket is co-writer/director J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the next episodic installment (due to arrive December 2015). Director Gareth Edwards’ Anthology (re: spinoff) film Star Wars: Rogue One is set to arrive one year after Force Awakens. Finally, Star Wars: Episode VIII (official subtitle TBD) from writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper) will open in theaters around mid-02017.\nWhat comes after that (besides Episode IX, that is)? Well, the same rumors continue to persist about what the next two Anthology movies could be. Namely, that the second Anthology installment (after Rogue One) is going to center around the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett – while the third Star Wars spinoff project will focus on Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (originally brought to life as an older man by Alec Guinness in 1977).\nSchmoes Know reported last night (at the time of writing this) that Han Solo will appear in the Boba Fett movie – now on the lookout for a new director, as former helmsman Josh Trank (the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot) has stepped down. The site’s sources are also claiming that “conversations” are currently underway between Disney/Lucasfilm and Ewan McGregor – who played the younger version of Obi-Wan featured in the Star Wars prequel movie trilogy (Episodes I-III) – and that the talks involve an “unknown” project, rather than the aforementioned Boba Fett film.\nIt’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time rumors about an Obi-Wan spinoff have popped up online. Rumors that the character would appear as a Force Ghost in Force Awakens (then known as Episode VII) began to circulate back in Summer 2013, along with a report that asserted McGregor was pushing for Obi-Wan to get his own standalone feature. Then, in 2014, a separate (but related) story emerged, claiming that Lucasfilm has been actively developing an Obi-Wan movie for McGregor to headline.\nMind you, neither of those stories (or the latest “update) claimed a Star Wars Anthology film about Obi-Wan Kenobi is a done deal – just that it’s an idea that IS, in fact, being explored by Lucasfilm. Obi-Wan is also bit like Boba Fett, in that he’s a popular character who played a key role in the first two Star Wars live-action movie trilogies, as well as the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series (which is still part of the Star Wars franchise’s official canon) and various other Star Wars media (novels, comic books, video games, etc.). That lends more credibility to the rumor him getting his own spinoff.\nIndeed, Obi-Wan – more so than Boba Fett – is a member of the Star Wars universe whose life story has been pretty thoroughly examined and detailed in previously-released Star Wars projects. It’s for this reason that many dedicated Star Wars fans have already made it clear that they would rather a different person in a galaxy far, far away get to stand in the spotlight instead – by getting to being the star in a future Anthology film, that is.\nStill, an Obi-Warn spinoff does make sense for Lucasfilm in a number of ways, including:\nEwan McGregor’s performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi has long been cited as one of the Star Wars prequel movie trilogy’s bright spots – and there are many fans who would like to see him get his own film.\nMcGregor is perfect capable of carrying his own movie, plus his involvement would only help to better sell an upcoming Star Wars Anthology film.\nAn Obi-Wan Kenobi film could take on various forms – such as, an adventure where Obi-Wan leads a team of warriors on an important mission (see the old rumor about Zack Snyder making a Seven Samurai-inspired Jedi movie ). That is, it might offer something new and fresh for both hardcore Star Wars buffs and more casual moviegoers alike.\nStar Wars: Rogue One will be a war story about how the Rebel Alliance stole the first Death Star’s plans, while a Boba Fett movie would (presumably) examine the crime underworld of the Star Wars universe – meaning, an Obi-Wan spinoff could stand well apart from the other planned or rumored Anthology films (and help to insure that each one feels unique and explores different genres).\n–\nAgain, keep in mind that none of this means an Obi-Wan spinoff is, for sure, going to become a real thing. Nonetheless, until further notice, it’s definitely an idea that shouldn’t be dismissed as being too implausible – and it’s an idea that’s worthy of further discussion, too.\nNEXT: Star Wars: Rogue One Casting & Plot Details\nStar Wars: The Force Awakens opens in U.S. theaters on December 18th, 2015. Star Wars: Rogue One arrives a year later on December 16th, 2016, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII (official subtitle TBA) on May 26th, 2017. The second Star Wars Anthology film (Boba Fett movie?) doesn’t have an official release date yet.",
"Obi-Wan Kenobi - Uncyclopedia - Wikia\nObi-Wan Kenobi (also referred to as ... now played by Ewan McGregor, is seen as a young Jedi ... Obi-Wan Kenobi. Star Wars: OB-GYN - Obi-Wan briefly sets ...\nObi-Wan Kenobi | Uncyclopedia | Fandom powered by Wikia\nOriginal Trilogy\nWhat more could a Jedi want?\nAs per George Lucas' request, Uncyclopedia shall begin this article biography towards the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi's life, rather than just following it in chronological order like any normal article would. The reasoning for this is generally not questioned by anyone who likes this article and the series of information it presents.\nA New Hope\nObi-Wan Kenobi is first introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) (originally released simply as Star Wars when George Lucas did not expect movie-going audiences to enjoy his low-budget Space Opera B-movie). He is played by prominent British actor Alec Guinness . He is first seen in a daring and complex rescue plan to save Luke Skywalker from a group of Tusken Raiders, who ambush him during a search for R2-D2, a missing droid struck with a computer virus that mirrors the human disorder of Autism . After cunningly convincing the cannibalistic raiders that he was a grue , they instantly fled in terror. He then took Luke and his new companions back to his sand-igloo for a British cup of tea, or at least the equivalent on Tatooine.\nObi-Wan reveals that he knew Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker , and served with him in the Clone Wars as a Jedi Knight . He does not mention to Luke that Anakin is also an evil Sith Lord in control of the Empire; a vast totalitarian regime that seeks to enslave the entire galaxy. The omission of this fact can be seen either as Obi-Wan trying to protect Luke's feelings from the truth, or alternatively Obi-Wan has grown so old that he can no longer keep track of the convoluted plot-lines that comprise the Star Wars saga, and has simply forgotten. The behaviour of the elderly Obi-Wan can be interpreted by many as supporting this theory, with some of his actions indicating the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, as well as old-age dementia.\nLuke is given Anakin's lightsaber, and is told:\nObi-Wan: a young Jedi named Darth Vader... [long pause to remember what he saying]... betrayed and murdered your father.\nObi-Wan offers to instruct Luke in the ways of the Force, but Luke initially refuses, fearing that Obi-Wan may be a paedophile planning to ensnare him. He changes his mind after his aunt and uncle are murdered and he realises that he has no idea how to run a moisture farm, or what one is. It is then, that Obi-Wan takes him along to deliver the coveted \"How to: Destroy a Death Star\" guide to Alderaan.\nObi-Wan and Luke buy passage to Alderaan on the Millennium Falcon, a spaceship piloted by Han Solo , a space pirate, and his space-first mate, Chewbacca . At first Obi-Wan expresses doubt over the pirate's capabilities, stating:\nObi-Wan: You are without a doubt, one of the worst pirates I have ever heard of.\nHan Solo: But you have heard of me...\nYoung Obi-Wan after having used too much force.\nThe two eventually set aside their differences, even when Han Solo has the arrogance to call the Jedi religion a myth, effectively dishonouring the deaths of thousands of Obi-Wan's Jedi brethren who were mercilessly slaughtered whilst defending the freedom that Han Solo enjoys as a space pirate.\nDue to Han Solo taking his sweet time navigating, and getting lost every time he tried to use the hyperdrive engine to take a shortcut, Alderaan had already been destroyed by the Death Star. Han Solo's ineptness as a space pirate further gets them into trouble when the Millennium Falcon is captured by the enormous space station's tractor beam. After their capture, Obi-Wan actually does something useful unlike the rest of the crew who languish about fighting garbage-monsters, and sneaks into the core of the Death Star, disabling the tractor beam so that the Falcon can escape. Obi-Wan then confronts Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel. The two have a sparring of wits as well as lightsabers, which unfortunately means the elderly Obi-Wan cannot keep up. He tells Vader just before being struck down:\nObi-Wan: Strike me down, and I shall become more powerful than you could ever imagine...\nDarth Vader: The Empire does NOT negotiate with Terrorists!\nThis could be interpreted merely as trash-talk with little meaning, or alternatively that Obi-Wan's wits have let him down once again, as the only indication of Obi-Wan getting any more powerful is the fact that he does not leave a bloody-mess behind after Vader kills him, (although Star Wars enthusiasts will tell you that Lightsabers actually cauterise any wounds, but the fact that his body disappears is still an admirable feat in itself).\nHe speaks to Luke via the Force (usual rate -0.50p per minute) in the film's climactic battle scene, telling him to use the Force to destroy the Death Star. Luke, being someone who likes taking dangerous and unnecessary risks because a familiar voice in his head tells him to, turns off his X-Wing fighter's targeting computer, and, trusting in the Force, he fires his proton torpedoes and destroys the battle station. Luke then hears Obi-Wan's voice telling him:\nObi-Wan: The Force will be with you, always. Watching you. Even when you think you're completely alone, and it's safe enough to look at those magazines you bought from Watto. And by the way, you may want to stop having those thoughts about Leia. No reason, it's just probably for the best...\nThe Empire Strikes Back\nYou don't want to vandalise this article...\nYou want to correct any spelling mistakes and vote it for highlight...\nMove along...\nIn Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), set three years after A New Hope (although it could just as easily have been 3 days), Obi-Wan appears as a hallucinatory voice inside Luke's head, and instructs him to go to the Dagobah system for further training with Jedi Master Yoda , who was forced into hiding like Obi-Wan when the Republic collapsed. Because Yoda has more physical similarities with a retarded bull-frog than he does with a human being, Obi-Wan got to live in the sand igloo to watch over Luke, while Yoda had to settle for a swamp with other small, green, bas-ackward speaking creatures like him. After Luke has been further trained in the teachings of the Jedi, Obi-Wan once again appears in the Dagobah swamp to try and dissuade him from going to Cloud City, where Vader holds Han and Leia hostage. After Luke insists on facing Vader, Obi-Wan warns him that he cannot be bothered regenerating to fight Vader just to get killed again as a distraction for Luke and his friends to escape. Luke would have to grow a pair and face him alone.\nReturn of the Jedi\nIn Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), set one year after The Empire Strikes Back, a dying Yoda whispers, using normal, unbroken English to emphasize the importance of what he is going to say, \"there is another Skywalker\". Unfortunately, Yoda passes away from old-age, as he just wasn't the Jedi he used to be when he was 800 years old. The plot demands that Obi-Wan appear as a Force ghost to explain to a heartbroken Luke why he did not tell him the truth about his father, and Luke finds out that Leia is his sister, bringing to question some serious domestic issues . Obi-Wan admits that his own pride had been partly to blame for Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace:\nObi-Wan: \"I thought I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong. No-one can teach like Yoda. If Yoda went to an inner-city high school with gangs and teenagers mixed up in crime, pregnancy and illiteracy, they would all have 4.0 GPA's by the end of the month.\"\nHe then tries to explain to Luke that killing Vader is the only way to destroy the Empire and save the galaxy in an epic cliff hanger. At the end of the film, Obi-Wan's ghost appears alongside the ghosts of Yoda and a redeemed Anakin Skywalker on the forest moon of Endor, watching over Luke and his teddy-bear comrades as they celebrate the destruction of the second Death Star and the collapse of the Empire.\nPrequel Trilogy\nA younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, portrayed by the somewhat less expressive Ewan McGregor.\nThe younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi is characterised as having superior lightsaber choreography, a terrible sense of humour and some of the worst hairstyles ever seen in the entire Star Wars saga.\nThe Phantom Menace\nIn Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), set 32 years before A New Hope (which makes the Alec Guinness version of Obi-Wan less than 60. I don't think so...), Obi-Wan, now played by Ewan McGregor , is seen as a young Jedi Padawan. At the start of the film, Obi-Wan accompanies his master Qui-Gon Jinn on a mission to Naboo\nb\nto discuss negotiations with the Chinese Trade Federation, who are blockading Naboo, ruled by Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman). Qui-Gon Jinn notes that the Viceroys of the Chinese Trade Federation are cowards, and that the negotiations should be short. However, upon their arrival on the Federation flagship, they are attacked by battle droids and are forced to retreat down to the planet. Obi-Wan makes a joke that does not go down well:\nQui-Gon: We'll split up and board separate ships, and meet up again when we're on Naboo.\nObi-Wan: You were right about one thing, Master. The negotiations were short...\n[An awkward silence]\nIn the swampy forests of Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan meet a\nRastafarian stereotype\nblatant child commercialisation\nclumsy Gungan named Jar Jar Binks , who assists the Jedi in reaching the Queen. After making an unscheduled landing on Tatooine, Qui-Gon meets Anakin Skywalker, a young slave who shows such tremendous potential in the Force that Qui-Gon believes him to be the \"Chosen One\" of Jedi prophecy, destined to bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith.\nObi-Wan still has difficulty aiming his force push.\nObi-Wan initially believes the boy is too old and has too many emotional attachments to become a Jedi, and could become dangerous if he were trained. The Jedi Council unanimously forbids Anakin's training, sensing that the boy's future is clouded by the fear he exhibits.\nDuring the film's climactic battle scene, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle the Sith Lord Darth Maul . Qui-Gon is proven to be an even worse Jedi than Obi-Wan when he is killed by Darth Maul. Obi-Wan, a lowly and unskilled Padawan with little experience especially when compared to any other Jedi Master, attempts to vanquish Maul by himself. After being disarmed and nearly falling to his death, Obi-Wan uses the Force to pull his Master's abandoned lightsaber into his hand and cuts Maul in half. Obi-Wan then runs to his Master's side, and the dying Qui-Gon pleads with him to train Anakin in the ways of the Jedi. Obi-Wan promises that he will, effectively dooming the entire Galaxy into slavery for the next 30 years and causing everyone to forget all about about those treasury funds that went missing with Qui-Gon.\nFor his heroics in defeating a Sith (making him the first Jedi in 1,000 years to do so), Yoda personally bestows to him the rank of Jedi Knight, even though he is technically the most hardcore Jedi alive at the time, and therefore should be a higher rank than anyone. Obi-Wan then states that he will train Anakin with or without the Council's permission. Yoda reluctantly agrees but warns Obi-Wan to be careful with the troubled boy, the Jedi church didn't need another sex abuse scandal.\nAttack of the Clones\nHold on a second. I thought C-3PO was supposed to be the one based on gay stereotypes.\nIn Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), set 10 years after The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan has become an experienced Jedi Knight and facial hair grower. However, his relationship with his Padawan, Anakin is strained; the Chosen One has grown powerful but arrogant and believes that Obi-Wan is trying to hold him back. In reality, Anakin is in need of a good slap, or at least some acting lessons and a better screenwriter.\nHe and Anakin are tasked with protecting Padmé, now an older yet even hotter Senator than she was in The Phantom Menace, after an attempt is made on her life. Obi-Wan is commissioned to track down the mysterious Assassin with No Name. Well, he's actually named Jango Fett , but Lucas wanted to base him on Clint Eastwood's famous Western character, The Man with No Name. He appears to have failed on a very fundamental level... Anyway, Obi-Wan tracks him down to the planet Kamino , and learns about a massive Mexican clone army that the planet's inhabitants are building for the Galactic Republic. He then meets with the bounty hunter Jango Fett, the template for the clones, and through sophisticated detective work and deductive reasoning sub par even for Nancy Drew , finds out that he is the one responsible for the assassination attempts.\nObi-Wan: Hey! You're wearing the same armour as the assassin I'm trying to locate somewhere on this planet... What store did you buy it from?\nObi-Wan attempts to apprehend Fett, who escapes to Geonosis with his unaltered clone Boba . Obi-Wan follows them by placing a homing beacon on Fett's ship, Love-Slave I.\nOn Geonosis, Obi-Wan learns of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatists, a conspiracy of star systems that want to secede from the Republic and completely bore movie-going audiences with misplaced subplots about politics. The renegades are led by former Jedi, Count\nDooku, who was once Qui-Gon's master, but could not turn him to the\nvampire\ndark side of the force. Obi-Wan is captured shortly after sending a message to Anakin, who ungratefully ignores it and marks it as spam in his email box. While Obi-Wan is in captivity, Dooku reveals that the Galactic Senate is under the control of a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious , who's identity is Chancellor Palpatine completely unknown to people watching the film.\nAfter much nagging by Padme, she and Anakin eventually arrive on Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan. They are themselves captured due to not actually bothering to come up with a rescue plan, and all three are sentenced to death by the Geonosians. Whilst chained to pillars awaiting certain death, it appears Obi-Wan finally cracks the art of humour, as he utilises sarcasm in the correct manner.\nObi-Wan: What are you two doing here?\nAnakin: We were sent here to rescue you, Master.\n[Obi-Wan looks round at the thousands of armed, blood-thirsty creatures that have gathered to watch them be mutilated by several giant space-monsters]\nObi-Wan: Good job...\nThe executions are prevented by the timely arrival of Jedi and clone reinforcements, led by Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda . Obi-Wan and Anakin confront Dooku and they engage in a lightsaber duel. Anakin once again proves he is in need of child disciplining when he ignores Obi-Wan's orders to take Dooku together, and he is attacked with the easily blockable Force lightning move. Obi-Wan is forced to take Dooku on his own, and he outmanoeuvres Obi-Wan, wounding him on both his left arm and leg. Dooku is about to deliver a killing blow when Anakin, waiting for a dramatic point to return to the fight, recovers from the lightning and blocks Dooku's attack. Obi-Wan gives Anakin his lightsaber to help him in the duel, which is almost immediately broken. Dooku and Anakin fight a short duel, and Dooku cuts off Anakin's right lower arm when he tries ripping out Dooku's heart yelling \" Kali Ma Shakti de\". Finally, Yoda arrives to cut through all the bullshit and straighten Dooku's crooked light saber out. However, the Sith Lord takes advantage of Obi-Wan and Anakin's laziness, and causes a pillar to collapse onto them. With both Jedi too tired to bother moving out of the way, Yoda must save them, creating a distraction while Dooku escapes. Yoda saves their lives, dooming us to a sequel. Anakin doesn't bother to try and reattach or patch his arm using clone meat and secretly marries Padme; making him the only person in the clone war\ns\nwith anyone to write back to.\nRevenge of the Sith\nNot the only thing they do back to back...\nIn Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), set three years after Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan is now a Jedi Master on the High Jedi Council and a general in the Army of the Republic, with his record of using awful puns forgotten. Anakin Skywalker , now a full-fledged Jedi Knight, has become less of an irritant than he was in Attack of the Clones. Possibly sometime in between Attack of the Clones Revenge of the Sith and a couple seasons of animated warfare, Obi-Wan gave him that long overdue slap. He remains his partner, and the two have become war heroes and best friends.\nObi-Wan and Anakin are sent on a mission to rescue Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who has been kidnapped very easily (George Lucas would recommend you pick up on this subtle red herring) by Dooku and Separatist leader/portable dialysis machine, General Grievous . When they find the captive Palpatine, Count Dooku challenges them both to a duel, allowing Obi-Wan another chance to make an awful joke.\nPalpatine: Get help! You're no match for him. He's a Sith Lord.\nObi-Wan: Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our specialty...\n[Palpatine glares at Obi-Wan]\nAfter cracking that Gem, Obi-Wan is immediately knocked unconscious by Dooku, but Anakin defeats the Sith Lord by slicing off both his hands, and then his head. Obi-Wan could not be awakened, so Anakin carries him out, against Palpatine's wishes.\nPalpatine: Leave him, or we'll never make it.\nAnakin: He's not heavy, he's my master...\n[Anakin smirks slightly. Palpatine shakes his head in disbelief at what he has just heard.]\nAnakin: Maybe I shouldn't let Obi-Wan teach me any more jokes...\nContrary to popular belief, this is NOT Obi-Wan Kenobi.\nSoon after returning to Coruscant Obi-Wan is called away to Utapau to confront General Grievous. After finding the Separatist encampment, Obi-Wan engages the asthmatic General Grievous in battle, eventually killing him with an ordinary blaster, out of all the different weapons in the entire galaxy. At the same time, Palpatine issues Order 66, directing clone troopers to turn on their Jedi generals. Obi-Wan, being one of the few Jedi with any resourcefulness or initiative, survives the attempt on his life and escapes by stealing Grievous' star fighter and meeting with Senator Bail Organa and Yoda aboard Organa's ship, the Tantive IV.\nObi-Wan returns to Coruscant where he and Yoda discover that every Jedi in the Jedi Temple has been murdered, even the younglings. Obi-Wan sends a beacon to all surviving Jedi, instructing them to scatter across the galaxy and remain in hiding. A heartbroken Obi-Wan then watches a security video revealing Anakin as the assassin and child-killing SOB.\n[Obi-Wan watches the video in horror. Tears well up in his eyes.]\nObi-Wan: I can't watch any more.\n[Obi-Wan begins to cry. Yoda picks up a stool and stands on top of it so he can put his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. He silently comforts him for a moment.]\nYoda: Told you so, I did. Hmmmmmm... Going to train him, with or without my permission, you said...\nObi-Wan: Okay, okay, that's enough. I get the point.\nYoda: Sorry I am... Sorry I am... Too busy making stupid jokes rather than keeping an eye on our apprentice, we were. Hmmmmm...\nSubsequently, Obi-Wan and Yoda split up to confront the two Sith Lords: Obi-Wan to fight Darth Vader and Yoda to battle Darth Sidious in a classic\nsamurai\nJedi stand-off. Obi-Wan wishes to fight Sidious to avoid having to kill his best friend, but Yoda says that not even one of Obi-Wan's worst jokes could kill Sidious. He would have to accept that Anakin had been \"consumed by Darth Vader.\" like a star wars breakfast cereal, and reminds Obi-Wan of all the times Anakin bitched at him about how he wasn't treated like a grown-up.\nUnaware of his former Padawan's location, Obi-Wan visits Padmé and explains to her what Anakin has done. Padmé, being naturally blonde with dyed brown hair, refuses to believe him, and will not reveal Anakin's whereabouts, knowing that Obi-Wan will attempt to kill him. Before departing, Obi-Wan tells Padmé that he knows Anakin is the father of her unborn child, and criticises both of them for not using a condom in this technological age. Padmé sets out to the Mustafar system to confront Anakin herself, and Obi-Wan secretly stows away in her ship.\nGet high with me many times, Obi-Wan did... Hmmmmmmm\nArriving on Mustafar Padmé confronts Anakin and realizes with horror that Obi-Wan had been telling the truth - condoms really are easily available. When Obi-Wan emerges from Padmé's ship, an enraged Vader immediately suspects that Padmé has betrayed him and uses the dark side to choke her into unconsciousness.\nObiwan then reveals himself from the ship. After a few long mins of Obi-wan trying to talk to Anakin and Anakin being the whiney little princess. The two Jedi both ignite their light sabers and have a ferocious light saber duel, where Anakin could have killed Obi-wan whithin the fist ten seconds due to Obi-wan spinning around like a ballerina.\nAnakin: You underestimate my power!\n[Anakin, jumps down from the cliff in an attack. Obi-Wan slices Anakin's legs and left arm off before he has touched the ground]\nObi-Wan: Pwned!\nObi-Wan then retrieves Anakin's lightsaber, reciting a Jedi mantra of compassion over Anakins tortured screams and finally returns to the shuttle. Vader, meanwhile, slides down the volcanic ash, coming too close to the lava, ignites and practically burns to death.\nObi-Wan watches helplessly as Padmé dies after bearing twins. Her robo-doc says that her \" will to live \" has run out, somehow causing her to die rather than just becoming depressed like any normal person. Obi-Wan is skeptical, but decides not to confront the robo-doc about it, fearing he will have to pay the medical bill, which is very large, partly due to recent introduction of the Empire's Galactic Healthcare System . Luke is put on Tatooine with Owen Lars, Anakin's step-brother, and Obi-Wan agrees to look after him in secret; Luke's twin sister Leia , meanwhile, is adopted by Bail Organa of Alderaan. Yoda, unsuccessful in his confrontation with Sidious, then tells Obi-Wan that he has more training for him: Qui-Gon's spirit would teach him how to retain his identity through the Force and commune with the living after death, as well as possibly set up cameos for the next trilogy. The film ends as Obi-Wan gives the infant Luke to Lars and his wife Beru, and disappears into the distance, presumably to live the rest of his life drinking heavily in a sand-igloo.\nExpanded Universe\nObi-Wan in his first Hardboiled Detective novel.\nObi-Wan Kenobi appears extensively in the Star Wars \"Expanded Universe\" of comic books, novels, and video games. This material portrays the events in the character's life outside of the six films. Several spin-offs have also been made, based upon the lives of his many, many distant cousins, some from a galaxy far, far away (See Earth ).\nObi-Wan Kenobi\nStar Wars: OB-GYN - Obi-Wan briefly sets up his own female fertility clinic on Tatooine.\nStar Wars: Obi +One Kenobi - Obi Wan is invited to the grand opening of the Mos Eisley Cantina, and must find a date to be his +1.\nStar Wars: Obi-Wanker Nobi - Obi-Wan does not manage to find a date to be his +1, and goes home alone.\nStar Wars: The Clone Wars - A generally not very well received addition to the franchise. Obi-Wan must travel to his homeworld, England, to battle a corrupt Intergalactic Banking Clan who have given themselves too many bonuses, causing the economy to collapse, and recession and joblessness to skyrocket.\nDistant Relations of Obi-Wan Kenobi\nObi-Ron Kenobi - A ginger Wizard (The equivalent of a Jedi in Great Britain).\nObi-Trice Kenobi - A Jedi with mediocre Rapping skills.\nObi-Back Kenobi - A Jedi Terminator who must protect the future leader of Mankind from an evil Sith Terminator, whilst spouting many memorable catchphrases.\nObama-Wan Kenobi - The president of a ridiculous planet far, far away.\nObi-Juan Kenobi His Mexican cousin.\nFeatured Article",
"'Star Wars' Spin-Off Appeals to Ewan McGregor - Rolling Stone\n... The actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: ... 'Star Wars' Spin-Off Appeals to Ewan McGregor. Obi-Wan Kenobi actor ... keeping watch over young ...\n'Star Wars' Spin-Off Appeals to Ewan McGregor - Rolling Stone\n'Star Wars' Spin-Off Appeals to Ewan McGregor\n'Star Wars' Spin-Off Appeals to Ewan McGregor\nObi-Wan Kenobi actor eyes stand-alone film in series\nAll Stories\nThe Force is strong with Ewan McGregor: The actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I - III has expressed interest in a new stand-alone spin-off film about the Jedi master, MTV reports. McGregor, who played a younger Kenobi in the prequel trilogy, called the possible spin-off \"a good idea\" and even suggested a possible plot line.\nMore News\n'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back': Rolling Stone's 1980 Cover Story\n\"The only bit that I could get away with doing is after the last one I made, Episode III, before Alec Guinness, there's that period where he's in the desert,\" said McGregor, referring to the actor who played Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. During that time in the story, Kenobi becomes a recluse on the desert planet Tatooine, keeping watch over young Luke Skywalker, whom he later trains as a Jedi.\nKenobi's adventures on Tatooine before the start of the original trilogy could be an entry point for a new spin-off. \"That might be my window, there, to tell that story,\" McGregor said. \"I don't know what he did in the desert. We could make up some stuff.\"\nRegardless of storyline, McGregor said, \"I'd be up for it.\" J.J. Abrams has been tapped to direct the next Star Wars film, Episode VII, set for release in 2015. Disney, which acquired Lucasfilm last October, is also planning stand-alone Star Wars spinoffs , and early reports and rumors suggest films centering around Han Solo, Yoda or the bounty hunter Boba Fett.",
"Obi-Wan Kenobi - 必应 - bing.com\nObi-Wan Kenobi (later known as Ben ... is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, played by Sir Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor. ... In the prequel trilogy, ...\nObi-Wan Kenobi - 必应\nSign in\nObi-Wan Kenobi\nObi-Wan Kenobi (later known as Ben Kenobi) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, played by Sir Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor. In the original trilogy, he is a mentor to the protagonist Luke Skywalker to whom he teaches the ways of the Jedi. In the prequel trilogy, he is a master and friend to Anakin Skywalker. In the sequel trilogy, he appears to Rey as a voice in a dream-like-flashback in Maz Kanata's castle. He is frequently featured as a main character in various other Star Wars media.\nOriginal trilogy\nObi-Wan Kenobi is introduced in Star Wars living as the hermit \"Ben Kenobi\" on the planet Tatooine. When Luke Skywalker and the droid C-3PO wander off in search of the lost droid R2-D2, Ben rescues them from a band of native Tusken Raiders. At his home, R2-D2 plays Ben a recording of Princess Leia Organa which explains that R2-D2 has the battle plans for a super weapon of the evil Galactic Empire within the robot. Leia asks Ben to deliver the droid and the plans safely to the planet Alderaan.\nBen reveals to Luke that his real name is Obi-Wan and that he is a Jedi Master, member of an ancient group of warriors that were hunted down by his apprentice Darth Vader, the apparent killer of Luke's father. He gives Luke his father's lightsaber and asks Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and take up Jedi training. Luke initially only promises to take Obi-Wan as far as Anchorhead Station. After Luke finds his uncle and aunt killed by Imperial troops, he takes Obi-Wan full up on the offer to go with him to Alderaan to meet Senator Organa and Princess Leia.\nIn the spaceport city Mos Eisley, Obi-Wan uses the Force to trick Imperial troops into letting them through a military checkpoint. They enter a local cantina and make a deal with two smugglers, Han Solo and Chewbacca, to fly them to Alderaan in their Millennium Falcon ship. During the journey, Obi-Wan begins instructing Luke in lightsaber training. While instructing, he suddenly becomes weak and tells Luke of \"a great disturbance in the Force\". Emerging from hyperspace, the party finds that Alderaan has been destroyed and the Falcon is attacked by an Imperial TIE Fighter. Against Obi-Wan's advice, Han is caught in the Death Star's tractor beam.\nOn board the Death Star, Obi-Wan shuts down the tractor beam but Darth Vader confronts Obi-Wan and they engage in a lightsaber duel. Obi-Wan uses the duel to distract Vader as Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca escape to the Falcon. Although Vader strikes Obi-Wan down, his body mysteriously vanishes the moment he dies. At the climax of the film during the Rebel attack on the Death Star, Obi-Wan speaks to Luke through the Force to help destroy the Imperial station.\nIn The Empire Strikes Back, Ben Kenobi appears several times as a spirit, having survived death through the Force. On the planet Hoth, he appears to instruct Luke Skywalker to go to the planet Dagobah to find the exiled Jedi Master Yoda. Despite Yoda's skepticism, Ben convinces his old master to continue Luke's training. Ben appears later to convince Luke not to leave Dagobah to try to rescue his friends on Cloud City, although Luke ignores this advice.\nIn Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to Luke Skywalker again after Yoda's death on Dagobah. Obi-Wan acknowledges that Darth Vader is indeed Luke's father and also reveals that Princess Leia Organa is Luke's twin sister. After the second Death Star is destroyed and the Empire defeated, Obi-Wan appears at the celebration in the Ewok village, alongside the spirits of Yoda and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker.\nPrequel trilogy\nIn Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears as the Jedi Padawan (or student) of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He accompanies his master in negotiations with the Trade Federation, which is blockading the planet Naboo with a fleet of spaceships. After they are attacked by battle droids and forced to retreat to Naboo, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rescue Queen Padmé Amidala through the help of native Gungan Jar Jar Binks and escape in a spaceship toward Coruscant, the Republic capital. Their ship is damaged in the escape, however, and they are forced to land on Tatooine, where they discover a young Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon senses Anakin's extraordinarily strong link to the Force and brings the boy to Coruscant to begin Jedi training, although Obi-Wan expresses concerns.\nWhen Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan return to Naboo to defeat the Trade Federation, they are met by Sith Lord Darth Maul. Obi-Wan is nearly killed alongside Qui-Gon in the ensuing duel, although he manages to turn the tables and defeat Maul, sending him plunging down a vast reactor shaft to his supposed death. Though doubtful, he promises to fulfill Qui-Gon's dying wish of training Anakin in the ways of the Jedi. Yoda proclaims Obi-Wan a knight and reluctantly allows him to take Anakin on as his own Padawan.\nIn Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, set ten years later, Obi-Wan Kenobi is now a Jedi Knight while training his Padawan Anakin Skywalker. The two have formed a close friendship, although Anakin is arrogant and believes his master is \"holding him back\". After they save Senator Padmé Amidala in an assassination attempt, Obi-Wan goes on a solo mission and traces the bounty hunters involved to the planet Kamino. There, he learns of a massive clone army that the planet's inhabitants are building for the Republic. He is introduced to bounty hunter Jango Fett, the clones' template, and the two fight after Obi-Wan deduces that Fett must be behind the attempted assassination. Fett escapes to the planet Geonosis with his clone son while Obi-Wan is in pursuit.\nOn Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers that a conspiracy of star systems bent on secession from the Republic is led by Sith Lord Count Dooku, Qui-Gon's old master. After sending a message to Anakin, Obi-Wan is captured, interrogated and sentenced to death by Dooku. A large force of Jedi arrive with the Kaminoan clone army just in time to prevent the executions. Obi-Wan and Anakin confront Dooku during the ensuing battle, but are defeated in a lightsaber duel. Yoda intervenes and saves their lives, at the cost of Dooku's escape.\nIn Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, set three years later, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master on the Jedi Council and a General in the Army of the Republic. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker remains Obi-Wan's partner and the two have become war heroes and best friends. The film opens with the two on a rescue mission to save the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from Separatist leader General Grievous onboard his starship. Count Dooku discovers the attempt and fights the Jedi, knocking Obi-Wan unconscious; while Obi-Wan is out cold, Dooku is brutally murdered by Anakin. The mission succeeds and soon after returning to Coruscant, Obi-Wan is called away to the planet Utapau to track down the escaped Grievous.\nAfter finding the Separatist encampment, Obi-Wan engages Grievous and eventually kills the cyborg with a blaster gun. When Palpatine — who is secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious — issues Order 66 to have the clone troopers turn on the Jedi, Obi-Wan survives the attempt on his life and escapes, rendezvousing with Yoda and Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan aboard Organa's ship Tantive IV. Returning to Coruscant, he and Yoda discover that every Jedi in the Jedi Temple has been murdered. After sending a beacon to all surviving Jedi to scatter across the galaxy and remain in hiding, Obi-Wan watches security footage revealing that it was Anakin who led the slaughter. Yoda charges Obi-Wan with confronting Anakin while Yoda fights Sidious. Obi-Wan is loath to fight his best friend, but reluctantly accepts.\nObi-Wan visits Padmé to learn of Anakin's whereabouts and realizes that Anakin is the father of Padmé's unborn child. When Padmé sets out to the planet Mustafar to find Anakin, Obi-Wan secretly stows away in the ship. After they arrive on Mustafar, Obi-Wan reveals himself and confronts Anakin. After a long and ferocious lightsaber duel, Obi-Wan dismembers Anakin and remorsefully leaves him for dead beside a lava flow. Obi-Wan then retrieves his former friend's lightsaber and returns to Padmé's ship.\nObi-Wan takes Padmé to a remote asteroid belt, where Padmé dies after giving birth to the twins (Luke and Leia) while his fallen friend is reconstructed into a cyborg. Yoda instructs Obi-Wan to give Luke to his uncle and aunt on Tatooine, but also reveals that his old master Qui-Gon has returned from the Force to continue Obi-Wan's training. Obi-Wan hands Luke off to his family in the epilogue and goes into exile on Tatooine.\nObi-Wan Kenobi Cultural impact\nThe character is loosely inspired by General Makabe Rokurōta, a character from The Hidden Fortress, played by Toshiro Mifune (whom series creator George Lucas also considered casting as Obi-Wan Kenobi). Mad magazine parodied the original film under the title Star Roars and included a character named 'Oldie Von Moldie'; a grizzled 97-year-old whose lightsaber runs on an extension cord. The Shanghai nightclub shown in the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is called \"Club Obi-Wan\" as George Lucas wrote both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. A real bar/club by this name existed in the Xihai district of Beijing, China but closed in the summer of 2010. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode \"Star Koopa\" (being a spoof of Star Wars) also had its own parody of Obi-Wan called 'Obi-Wan Toadi', and the live-action segment \"Zenned Out Mario\" featured a parody called \"Obi-Wan Cannoli\". The 1998 Animaniacs episode \"Star Warners\" (which spoofed Star Wars) featured Slappy Squirrel portraying a parody of Obi-Wan as 'Slappy Wanna Nappy'. In the Family Guy episode \"Blue Harvest\", Obi-Wan Kenobi is parodied by the character Herbert. In the short film Thumb Wars, Obi-Wan is parodied as the character 'Oobedoob Benubi'. In the film, his full name is 'Oobedoob Scooby-Doobi Benubi, the silliest name in the galaxy.' In the 1977 Star Wars parody Hardware Wars, Obi-Wan is parodied by the character 'Augie Ben Doggie'.\nIn French Internet subculture, \"Obi-Wan Kenobi\" became an expression meaning \"your question does not make sense\",[citation needed] and is said when one does not know what to answer but wants to respond in an amusing way. It was popularised by Les Guignols de l'info,[citation needed] which made a parody of the French version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?[when?] in which for every question, the fourth choice was invariably \"Obi-Wan Kenobi\" (and the question invariably nonsense). Humorous multiple choice questionnaires[example needed] made on the internet since often featured an \"Obi-Wan Kenobi\" option.[citation needed]\nTV Tropes uses Obi-Wan's name for the archetype mentor figure.\nIn 2003, the American Film Institute selected Obi-Wan Kenobi as the 37th greatest movie hero of all time. He was also listed as IGN's third greatest Star Wars character, as well as one of UGO Networks's favorite heroes of all time.\nIn 2004, the Council of the Commune Lubicz in Poland passed a resolution giving the name \"Obi-Wan Kenobi\" to one of the streets in Grabowiec, a small village near Toruń. The street was named in 2005. The spelling of the street name, Obi-Wana Kenobiego is the genitive form of the noun in the Polish language: (the street) of Obi-Wan Kenobi.\nGuardian cartoonist Steve Bell portrays Jeremy Corbyn (leader of the British Labour Party) as Obi-Wan Kenobi.\n^ \"Star Wars: Q: Where's Obi-Wan's home ...\". Official Star Wars Twitter. Twitter. August 14, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-20.\n^ \"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Script at IMSDb\". Imsdb.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.\n^ \"Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Script at IMSDb\". Imsdb.com. 1981-12-01. Retrieved 2013-09-18.\n^ \"The Phantom Menace Script\". Retrieved 2008-10-05.\n^ Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Novelization, 1st edition paperback, 1999. Terry Brooks, George Lucas, ISBN 0-345-43411-0\n^ Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Novelization, 2003. R. A. Salvatore\n^ Breznican, Anthony (December 20, 2015). \"Obi-Wan and Yoda are secretly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens\". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 20, 2015.\n^ Enk, Bryan (2013-01-14). \"'Seven Samurai' star Toshiro Mifune: The would-be face of Darth Vader?\". Yahoo. Retrieved 2015-12-24.\n^ \"The Obi Wan - Television Tropes & Idioms\". Tvtropes.org. Retrieved 2010-12-27.\n^ \"AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains\" (PDF). afi.com. Retrieved 2010-05-21.\n^ \"Obi-Wan Kenobi is #3.\". IGN. Retrieved 6 December 2010.\n^ UGO Team (January 21, 2010). \"Best Heroes of All Time\". UGO Networks. Retrieved April 3, 2011.\n^ \"Gerald Home and Lucasfilm's letter to BFSW\". YouTube. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2015-12-24.\n^ \"An interview with Leszek Budkiewicz, who lives on the street, and who (being the Council member himself) managed to convince the Council to name the street after Obi-Wan Kenobi\". Starwars.pl. Retrieved 2013-09-18.\n^ Bell, Steve (2015-09-29). \"Steve Bell's If... Labour's Obi-Wan Kenobi Corbyn gives a dire warning\". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-12-24.\nObi-Wan Kenobi Sources\nThe New Essential Guide to Characters, revised edition, 2002. Daniel Wallace, Michael Sutfin, ISBN 0-345-44900-2\nStar Wars Episode I Who's Who: A Pocket Guide to Characters of the Phantom Menace, hardcover, 1999. Ryder Windham, ISBN 0-7624-0519-8\nStar Wars: Power of Myth, 1st edition paperback, 2000. DK Publishing, ISBN 0-7894-5591-9\nStar Wars: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 1998. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-7894-3481-4\nStar Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 1999. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-7894-4701-0\nStar Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2002. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-7894-8588-5\nStar Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2005. James Luceno, ISBN 0-7566-1128-8\nRevised Core Rulebook (Star Wars Roleplaying Game), 1st edition, 2002. Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, J.D. Wiker, Steve Sansweet, ISBN 0-7869-2876-X\nStar Wars Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, 1st edition, 2000. Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, ISBN 0-7869-1793-8"
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"Star Wars - Wookieepedia - Wikia\n... since the original movie was released in 1977. Although these novels are ... an upcoming star in that movie: ... for his last Star Wars film ...\nStar Wars | Wookieepedia | Fandom powered by Wikia\n―Ebert & Roeper [src]\nThe Star Wars story has been presented in a series of American films , which have spawned a large quantity of books and other media, which have formed the Expanded Universe . The Star Wars mythos is also the basis of many toys and games of varying types. The films and novels employ common science fiction motifs.\nWhereas Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek , a science fantasy franchise that has enjoyed long-lasting popularity in American popular culture , is portrayed by its makers to appear as a rational and progressive approach to storytelling, Star Wars has a strong mythic quality alongside its political and scientific elements.\nUnlike the heroes of earlier space set sci-fi/fantasy film and TV series such as Flash Gordon , the heroes of Star Wars are not militaristic types but romantic individualists. College literature professors have remarked that the Star Wars saga, with its struggle between good and evil, democracy and empire , can be considered a national epic for the United States . The film has many visual and narrative similarities to John Ford's \"The Searchers\" that also provides a clue to the relationship between Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker .\nThe strong appeal of the Star Wars story probably accounts for its enduring popularity; it has also been postulated that this popularity is based on nostalgia. Many Star Wars fans first saw the films as children, and the revolutionary (for the time) special effects and simple, Manichean story made a profound impact.\nThe Star Wars films show considerable similarity to Japanese Jidaigeki films, as well as Roman mythology. Lucas has stated that his intention was to create in Star Wars a modern mythology, based on the studies of his friend and mentor Joseph Campbell . He has also called the first movie's similarity to the film The Hidden Fortress ( Akira Kurosawa ) an \"homage\".\nThe Star Wars films portray a world full of grime and technology that looks like it has been used for years, unlike the sleek, futuristic world typical of earlier science fiction films. In interviews, Lucas tells of rubbing the new props with dirt to make them look weatherworn. Lucas may have been inspired by the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western films of the 1960s , which performed a similar function on the Western many years earlier. It is tempting to speculate that this break from traditional science fiction film influenced the cyberpunk genre that emerged around 1984 .\nOfficially-licensed Star Wars novels have been published since the original movie was released in 1977 . Although these novels are licensed by Lucas (meaning he shares in the royalties), he retains ultimate creative control over the Star Wars universe, forcing Lucas Licensing to devote considerable ongoing effort to ensuring continuity between different authors' works and Lucas' films. Occasionally, elements from these novels are adopted into the highest tier of Star Wars canon , the movies. Books, games, and stories that are not directly derived from the six movies of Star Wars are known as the Extended or Expanded Universe (EU for short). Lucas has said that he does not deeply involve himself in the EU, choosing instead to concentrate mainly on his movies instead of \"…the licensing world of the books, games and comic books.\"\nThe original (1977) Star Wars ( A New Hope ) has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry .\nIn 1978 , Lucas sued the creators of Battlestar Galactica for its similarity to Star Wars, although the case was dismissed as having no merit in 1980 by a U.S. Federal judge .\nHistory\nBefore Star Wars\nAlthough George Lucas had made a name for himself among some industry insiders for his work at USC, it was not until the release of American Graffiti in August of 1973 that he reached stardom. The film grossed over $115 million at the box office and was dollar-for-dollar the most profitable film in the history of Hollywood at the time. Lucas' profit participation in Graffiti earned him over $7 million. Lucas was now a millionaire and one of the most sought after young directors in the world.\nAlan Ladd, Jr. , then the head of Twentieth Century Fox , saw a smuggled print of American Graffiti before it was released in theaters and was determined that Fox was going to be the next studio to profit from Lucas' genius.\nLucas would later profit from an upcoming star in that movie: Harrison Ford . Star Wars would further place Ford higher into stardom.\nConception\nPoster art for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope\nMany different influences have been suggested for the Star Wars films by fans, critics, and George Lucas himself. Lucas acknowledges that the plot and characters in the 1958 Japanese film The Hidden Fortress, directed by Akira Kurosawa, was a major inspiration. Lucas has said that the movie influenced him to tell the story of Star Wars from the viewpoint of the humble droids, rather than a major player. It also played a role in the conception of Darth Vader , whose trademark black helmet intentionally resembles a samurai helmet.\nGeorge Lucas has often said that his original idea for the project that evolved into Star Wars was to remake the Flash Gordon movie serials from the 1930s (a \"serial\" is a movie shown in weekly installments of about 10-20 minutes each). The license wasn't available, so Lucas moved on to other ideas, beginning with Akira Kurosawa's film The Hidden Fortress and then Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces . Despite the plot changes the Star Wars films are still bursting with influences from the Flash Gordon movie serials, including the Rebels vs. the Imperial Forces, Cloud City and even the famous \"roll up\" which begins the movie.\nThe second major direction for Star Wars (used in the 1973 synopsis) was to use the Flash Gordon \"vocabulary\" to create an outer-space version of the Samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, primarily Kakushi toride no san akunin (The Hidden Fortress, 1958), Tsubaki Sanjūrō (Sanjuro, 1962) and Yojimbo (1961). Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces eventually gave Lucas a third and final major story direction, but many elements from Kurosawa's work remain, including the two bickering peasants (who evolved into the droids), and the queen who often switches places with her handmaiden. The Darth Vader-like evil general who has a change of heart at the end wears a kamon (a Japanese family crest) that looks very similar to the Japanese Imperial Crest.\nLucas had already written two drafts of Star Wars when he rediscovered Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces in 1975 (having read it years before in college). This blueprint for \"The Hero's Journey\" gave Lucas the focus he needed to draw his sprawling imaginary universe into a single story. Campbell demonstrates in his book that all stories are expressions of the same story-pattern, which he named the Hero's Journey or the monomyth.\nLucas has often cited The Lord of the Rings series as a major influence on Star Wars. Lucas learned from Tolkien how to handle the delicate stuff of myth. Tolkien wrote that myth and fairytale seem to be the best way to communicate morality - hints for choosing between right and wrong - and in fact that may be their primary purpose. Lucas has also acknowledged in interviews that the Gandalf and the Witch-king characters in the Lord of the Rings influenced the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader characters respectively.\nThe screenplays for the original trilogy\nThere are many myths surrounding the writing of Star Wars, many perpetuated by Lucasfilm and George Lucas himself. Author Michael Kaminski tried to set the record straight in his book The Secret History of Star Wars, as did Jonathan Rinzler in The Making of Star Wars , both released in 2007 .\nLucas' original concept was a swashbuckling space adventure movie. He says \"the film was a good concept in search of a story.\" He first tried to have a child buy the rights to remake Flash Gordon, but was unsuccessful.\nIn 1971, United Artists agreed to make American Graffiti and Star Wars in a two-picture contract, though they would reject Star Wars in its early concept stages. Graffiti was made first and when it was completed in 1973, Lucas set to work on making his space adventure movie. In early 1973, Lucas wrote a short summary called \"The Journal of the Whills\", which told the tale of the training of apprentice C.J. Thorpe as a \"Jedi-Bendu\" space commando by the legendary Mace Windy.\nFrustrated that his story was too hard to understand, Lucas then wrote a 13-page treatment called The Star Wars, which was a loose remake of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. By 1974, he had expanded the treatment into a rough draft screenplay, which added elements such as the Sith, the Death Star, and once more had the protagonist as a young boy, named Anakin Starkiller. For the second draft, Lucas made heavy simplifications, and also introduced the young hero on a farm, with his name now Luke rather than Anakin. Luke/Anakin's father is still an active character in the story at this point, a wise Jedi knight, and \"the Force\" now became a supernatural power. The next draft removed the father character and replaced him with a substitute named Ben Kenobi, and in 1976 a fourth draft had been prepared for principal photography. The film was titled \"Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars.\" During production, Lucas changed Luke's name to Skywalker and altered the title to just \"The Star Wars\" and finally \"Star Wars\".\nAt this point, Lucas was thinking of the film as the only entry that would be made — the fourth draft underwent subtle changes that made it more satisfying as a self-contained film that ended with the destruction of the Empire itself, as the Death Star was said to achieve; possibly this was a result of the frustrating difficulties Lucas had encountered in pre-production during that period. However, in previous times Lucas had conceived of the film as the first in a series of adventures. The second draft contained a teaser for a never-made sequel about \"The Princess of Ondos\", and by the time of the third draft some months later Lucas had negotiated a contract that gave him rights to make two sequels. Not long after, Lucas met with author Alan Dean Foster , and hired him to write these two sequels — as novels. The intention was that if Star Wars was successful — and if Lucas felt like it — the novels could be adapted into screenplays. He had also by this point developed a fairly elaborate backstory — though this was not designed or intended for filming; it was merely backstory. \"The backstory wasn't meant to be a movie,\" Lucas has said.\nWhen Star Wars was successful, and not just successful but the biggest hit ever made at that time, Lucas decided to use the film as a springboard for an elaborate serial, although he considered walking away from the series altogether. However, Lucas wanted to create an independent filmmaking center — what would become Skywalker Ranch — and saw an opportunity to use the series as a financing agent for him. Alan Dean Foster had already begun writing the sequel as a novel, but Lucas decided to disregard that for filming and create more elaborate film sequels; the book was released as Splinter of the Mind's Eye the next year. At first Lucas envisioned an unlimited number of sequels, much like the James Bond series, and in an interview with Rolling Stone in August of 1977 said that he wanted his friends to take a try directing them and giving unique interpretations on the series. He also said that the backstory where Darth Vader turns to the dark side, kills Luke's father and fights Ben Kenobi on a volcano as the Republic falls would make an excellent sequel. Later that year, Lucas hired sci-fi author Leigh Brackett to write \"Star Wars II\" with him. They held story conferences together and in late November of 1977 Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called \"The Empire Strikes Back.\" The story is very similar to the final film except Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that Leigh Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke.\nDuring this period, Lucas had now had time to attach a numeric figure to the amount of sequels — he revealed to Time magazine in March 1978 that there will be twelve films altogether. This was then revealed in the official Star Wars fanclub newsletter, Bantha Tracks . The figure of 12 was likely selected due to its tradition in serial episodes.\nBrackett finished her first draft of Empire Strikes Back in early 1978; Lucas has said he was disappointed with it, but before he could discuss it with her she had died from cancer. With no writer available, Lucas had to write his second draft himself. Here Lucas finally made use of the \"Episode\" listing in the film — Empire Strikes Back was Episode II. As Michael Kaminski argues in The Secret History of Star Wars, the disappointment with the first draft probably made Lucas consider different directions to take the story in. Here he made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader says he is Luke's father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the year-long struggles of the first film, and quickly wrote two more drafts in the same month — April of 1978 — which both retained the new Vader-as-father plot. He also took this darker ending farther by imprisoning Han Solo in carbonite and leaving him in limbo.\nThis new storyline where Vader was Luke's father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that this was a plot point that had ever seriously been considered before 1978, or even thought of before then, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was separate from Luke's father; there is not a single reference to the Vader-as-father plot point before 1978. After the second and third drafts of Empire Strikes Back where Lucas first introduced this point, he reviewed the new backstory he had now created: Annikin Skywalker is Ben Kenobi's brilliant student, has a child (Luke) but is swayed to the dark-side by the Emperor (who was now a Sith and not just a politician), battles Ben Kenobi on the site of a volcano and is wounded but resurrected as Darth Vader; meanwhile Kenobi hides Luke on Tatooine while the Republic becomes the Empire and Vader has hunted down the Jedi knights. With this new backstory, Lucas decided to film this as a trilogy — moving Empire Strikes Back from Episode II to Episode V in the next draft. Lawrence Kasdan, who had just completed writing Raiders of the Lost Ark, was then hired to write the next drafts, and was helped by additional input from director Irvin Kershner. Kasdan, Kershner, and producer Gary Kurtz saw the film as a more serious and adult film, which was helped by the new, darker storyline, and brought the series far away from the light adventure roots it had existed as only a year earlier.\nLucas had also around this time developed a third trilogy as well, which took place twenty years after Episode VI.\nBy the time of writing Episode VI — Revenge of the Jedi, as it was then known — in 1981, much had changed. Making Empire Strikes Back was a stressful and costly work, and Lucas' personal life was disintegrating. Burnt-out and not wanting to make any more Star Wars films, he vowed to be done with the series, as he makes explicit in a May 1983 interview with Time magazine. Lucas' 1981 rough drafts of Revenge of the Jedi had Darth Vader competing with the Emperor for possession of Luke — and in the second script, the \"revised rough draft\", Vader was turned into a sympathetic character. Lawrence Kasdan was hired to take over once again, and in these final drafts Vader was explicitly redeemed, and finally unmasked. This change in character would provide a springboard for the \"Tragedy of Darth Vader\" storyline in the prequels.\nThe cast and crew of Star Wars\nAnthony Daniels reflects (literally) on his portrayal of C-3PO\nSince most major motion picture companies no longer had special effects teams or they thought the American public was no longer interested in non-realistic films, George Lucas had to create one from scratch. He eventually put together a team of model makers and special effects people to create Industrial Light & Magic . The team worked in a run down part of Sana Modesta in a cramped work space which no one ever liked.\nMeanwhile, George Lucas was looking for actors for Star Wars. Lucas had decided to go with a group of unknowns and went against his friend Francis Ford Coppola who had picked famous stage and screen actors for The Godfather . Hundreds of actors and actresses tried out for the three main roles, Luke Skywalker , Princess Leia and Han Solo . Actors like Burt Reynolds and actresses like Jodie Foster tried out for the parts but Lucas eventually chose 25-year old Mark Hamill (who had only worked on television) as Luke Skywalker and 19-year old Carrie Fisher , daughter of couple Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, as Princess Leia. Initially, Harrison Ford was not eligible for the role of Han Solo due to fact he had worked with Lucas on American Graffiti but eventually swayed Lucas over after helping the other actors and actresses with their lines and got the part.\nAfter casting the initial group, Lucas had to find actors for two of the films droids, C-3PO and R2-D2 . ILM had made some quaint remote controlled robots but these parts would require living actors. In came 3-foot comedian, Kenny Baker . Due to his shortness and the fact kids could not control this heavy machine, he got the part of R2. Anthony Daniels however originally did not want to do the part of C-3PO until he saw a drawing of C-3PO by McQuarrie and he instantly wanted the part and got it. Lucas eventually found Australia native Peter Mayhew who was over 7 feet tall making him the perfect size for Han Solo's furry Wookiee counterpart Chewbacca . After casting all the characters, Lucas began production on Star Wars in mid-1976.\nStar Wars comes to life\nThe cast and crew of Star Wars began filming in Tunisia, North Africa where mid-morning temperatures reached 105 degrees. Many crew members and cast workers thought the movie was a joke and between problems on props and machinery, during filming Tunisia had their largest rainstorm in many years. Through it all Alec Guinness , the Academy Award winning actor who was cast as the wise mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi , kept up a positive attitude and was inspiration for the cast. The only silver lining was that after Africa, the team would be filming at a more controlled area, Elstree Studios in London.\nAfter finishing up filming in Africa, The entire cast and crew of Star Wars finally came together to film the action sequences on the Death Star battle station. While this was happening, problems at ILM were far worse than the filming ones. Lucas eventually had to supervise every day at ILM causing him to nearly have a heart attack. Meanwhile, Fox studios had had enough of George Lucas and his \"kid's movie\" and asked Alan Ladd, Jr. to terminate the project. Instead, Alan told Lucas he had only a few weeks to finish filming or have his movie fail. The last few climactic scenes were finished quickly with Lucas bike-pedaling from soundstage to soundstage. Eventually, the film was finished and the process to edit and fix his film began.\nProblems Star Wars faced\nWhen Lucas saw the first cut of his film, he was horrified. To make matters worse, he had to fire his editor. Luckily, his replacements (including his then wife Marcia) greatly improved the film, but Lucas still insisted on reshooting some scenes. This, among other reasons, forced Fox to move the release date from Christmas 1976 to Summer 1977 . After showing the film without its music score to some of his friends, only Steven Spielberg , who had recently become an A-list director with the release of Jaws , liked it. However, when Fox executives saw it they loved it. With his film cut and most of the sounds for the film completed (and with the help of Ben Burtt ), Lucas started to think about his film's score. It was Spielberg who recommended John Williams (who had just scored Jaws). This was considered a gutsy move because thematic scores were out of style at the time, but Lucas went ahead with it.\nThe pre-release of Star Wars\nAfter the score was completed, Lucas began to start marketing his picture. However, many people thought it would be a flop, so not many people went with him. One company that did however was the toy company Kenner Products who decided to make a few figures for the release. Eventually, Lucas's film was released on May 25, 1977. It would be a day they would never forget.\nThe success of Star Wars\nWhen Star Wars opened, it initially opened at a few theaters. A month after its release Star Wars played at almost every theater in the country and hundreds worldwide. People, especially children, flocked to see the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia again and again and again. Lines stretched for miles. Kenner, caught up in a vortex, ran out of toys by early fall of the film's release. So, the infamous \"Empty Box\" scheme was formed. Fox's stock rocketed up. Merchandise flew off the shelves by the thousands and Lucas became very rich. Star Wars' run eventually ended by early 1978 with over 260 million dollars making it the most successful film in history at that time. It would be re-released over the next 20 years adding 220 million to its overall total. Currently, it is the second-highest American grossing film of all time (in inflation-adjusted dollars), second only to Gone with the Wind .\nStar Wars was nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture and won 6 of them. But just being nominated for it showed Fox and Lucas, who knew all along, that this was not a \"kids' film.\"\nThe sequels begin\nThe Empire Strikes Back\nIn 1978, with George Lucas a millionaire, he began taking his screenplays for Episodes V and VI and turning them into films. In early 1978 , Lucas began working on Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back . Star Wars was also later retitled, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope . However, this time Lucas left the Director's Guild and Irvin Kershner was the new director with Lucas as the producer. Filming began in mid to late 1978 with the snowy planet of Hoth scenes being filmed in Norway. However, during filming, as if a curse, Norway suffered their worst snow storm in many years. Mark Hamill, who was still recovering from his car accident injuries, filmed in a scene in the snow while the crew stayed in their hotel rooms. After the filming there concluded, the next part of the filming process turned to Elstree Studios.\nSince Lucas wanted this movie to be bigger and more spectacular than Star Wars, more sets were made and new characters were introduced which included the first black Star Wars character, Lando Calrissian , played by Billy Dee Williams and a 2-foot puppet named Yoda voiced by Frank Oz . It was also the first time that Han Solo and Princess Leia kissed. But the biggest surprise was Darth Vader's revelation to Luke. A few minutes before shooting that scene, Kershner told Hamill that Vader was his father. However, they did not tell David Prowse , the man in the Vader suit, so when they recorded Vader's dialogue with James Earl Jones the line was \"No. I am your father\" \n( help · info )\ninstead of \"No, Obi-Wan killed your father.\" This line would later spark the lightsaber duel in Episode VI and all the Prequels adventures.\nMany people believed that the sequel would not be as good as Star Wars but audiences didn't think so. The Empire Strikes Back took in 6.4 million dollars of the weekend of May 21, 1980 . It was also considered the darkest Star Wars movie ever until Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith was released. However, its gross in the U.S. ended at 290 million dollars making it the lowest grossing Star Wars movie ever.\nReturn of the Jedi\nBefore beginning the production of Episode VI, Lucas, using the profits from Star Wars and Empire, made Skywalker Ranch , a place where friends of Lucas could hang out and work on movies, mostly Star Wars related things. It would be used greater during the making of the prequel trilogy .\nIn early 1982 , Lucas still out of the Director's chair, Richard Marquand began shooting Revenge of the Jedi. Some of the new things in the films included a Speeder Bike chase, a second Death Star and one of the most controversial groups of characters in Star Wars history, the Ewoks . Also, to keep the title of Episode VI from leaking out, the title, Blue Harvest: Horror Beyond Imagination, was the new \"title\" of the movie. After filming for Jedi completed, a few months before the film's release, Lucas changed the title to Return of the Jedi, stating \"revenge was not a quality of the Jedi\", although some industry insiders attribute the title's change because Star Trek II : Wrath of Khan was also to be released around the same time and Fox, and possibly Lucas, did not want audience's confused between the similar titles. The \"Revenge\" title would eventually be used for Episode III.\nAfter Jedi broke single and opening day box office records on May 25, 1983, six years after the original Star Wars opening, George Lucas's wife divorced him, leaving him to raise his children. Afterwards, Lucas established several Lucasfilm companies including THX Sound and Picture, the Pixar Animation Studios (which would later be sold to Disney), and several others. In May 1987 , ten years after the first movie's release, Lucas announced a second trilogy and hinted at a third. In mid- 1996 , with all the technology necessary, Lucas began working on the Star Wars movies the way he wanted them adding new scenes and changes along with THX Sound and excellent picture quality.\nThe Expanded Universe\nBeginning with Splinter of the Mind's Eye , the Star Wars Expanded Universe was populated by a slow trickle of novels, comic strips and television specials.\nAlmost a decade after the release of Return of the Jedi, Star Wars merchandising sales had ground to a halt. In an effort to revitalize interest and capitalize on the success of other franchises in books, Bantam Spectra and Lucas Licensing planned a four year publication run that would include several Star Wars novels.\nHeir to the Empire re-ignited the Expanded Universe in 1991.\nIt was 1991 's Heir to the Empire that sparked the success of the first run of new novels and signaled a renaissance in Star Wars publishing. The Thrawn Trilogy by Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn would become one of the most popular science fiction series to date, and introduced some of the Expanded Universe's best known characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn , Mara Jade and Gilad Pellaeon . Bantam would continue to publish dozens of books across a number of eras, leading to the use of era markers after Bantam was sold to Del Rey .\nBut books were just the beginning. In the same year as Zahn's success, Dark Horse Comics released Dark Empire , the first serious Star Wars graphic novel. It too would be followed by dozens of comic series.\nStar Wars video and computer games also contributed to the Expanded Universe, but 1996's Shadows of the Empire multimedia campaign marked a turning point. The simultaneous release of a novel, video game, comics, soundtrack, toys and other promotional tie-ins set the standard that would later be followed for the merchandising efforts of the prequel trilogy and expanded upon for the Clone Wars .\nThe Special Editions\nThe Special Edition logo\nIn the 1990s George Lucas realized he could change his Star Wars films and began altering them. Some new scenes included a dramatically altered Mos Eisley sequence from Episode IV among other things. New scenes in Episode V and VI were also added.\nFrom early to mid- 1997 , Lucas released The Special Edition versions of Star Wars into cinemas, adding more money to their overall totals. Some changes caused uproars in the fan community ( Greedo shoots at Han first in Episode IV), while others caused a cheer (Improved Mos Eisley and Bespin sequences). However, this was not the last of Star Wars movie changes.\nThe prequels begin\nDevelopment\nAfter getting a divorce in 1983 and losing much of his fortune, Lucas had no desire to return to Star Wars, and had unofficially cancelled his Sequel Trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi. However, the prequels, which were quite developed, remained fascinating to him. After Star Wars became popular once again, following in the wake of Dark Horse's comic line and Timothy Zahn 's Thrawn Trilogy novels, Lucas saw that there was still a large audience. His children had begun to grow older, and with the explosion of CG technology he was now considering returning to directing. By 1993 it was announced, in Variety among other sources, that he would be making the prequels. He began outlining the story, now offering that Anakin Skywalker would be the protagonist rather than Ben Kenobi and that the series would be a tragic one examining his transformation to evil. He also began to change how the prequels would exist relative to the originals — at first they were supposed to be a \"filling-in\" of history, backstory, existing parallel or tangential to the originals, but now he began to see that they could form the beginning of one long story: beginning with Anakin's childhood and ending with Anakin's death. This was the final step towards turning the franchise into a \"Saga\".\nIn 1994, Lucas began writing the first screenplay, titled Episode I: The Beginning. At first it was planned to write and then film all three prequels at once, but this was changed, possibly because the writing process took much longer than first thought. Although Lucas initially planned on having others write and direct, he kept writing on his own, and eventually decided to direct the film as well. In 1999, Lucas announced he would be directing the next two films as well, and began working on Episode II at that time. The first draft of this was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer from the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, to polish up his draft. Unsure of a title, Lucas had jokingly called the film \"Jar Jar's Big Adventure.\" By now the backstory had undergone large changes — Ben Kenobi had discovered Anakin as an adult in Episode I's first draft, but he was changed to be a young student, and Anakin a child, and in Episode II the Clone Wars were decided to be a personal manipulation of Palpatine's. At the time of the original trilogy, Lucas had many ideas for this war: in Empire Strikes Back it was decided that Lando was a clone and came from a planet of clones that caused a war, but later a different version was decided wherein \"Shocktroopers\", including Boba Fett waged war against the Republic from a distant galaxy but were then repelled by the Jedi knights.\nLucas began working on Episode III even before Attack of the Clones was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles. As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot. Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and Dooku killed by Anakin as a first act towards the dark side. Lucas' first draft was written in 2003, and is largely similar to the film, though much simplified. After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side — he would now turn out of a quest to save Padmé from dying, rather than the previous version where that was one of many reasons and genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished through editing and many new and revised scenes filmed in additional pick-ups in 2004.\nGeorge Lucas has often exaggerated the amount of material he had written for the series, most of these exaggerations stemming from the post-1978 period where the film grew into a true phenomenon. Lucasfilm often indicated that he had written twelve stories to be filmed, and Lucas was quick to tell how Star Wars was always Episode IV that was meant as a middle-chapter. Lucas also began to claim that Darth Vader's parentage of Luke and redemption was always a major part of his plan from early on, and even that this was his very first script or treatment. As Jonathan Rinzler and Michael Kaminski show, this is demonstrably false. Kaminski rationalizes that these exaggerations are part publicity device and part security measure — with the series and story radically changing throughout the years, Lucas would emphasize that its current embodiment was the original intention; with the series previously existing as different and often contradictory forms, this makes audiences view the material only from the perspective that Lucas' wishes them to view the material, and it also may protect against outrage that such a popular storyline was being changed post-release after being cherished by so many.\nInformation on the screenplays comes from many sources. Most of the drafts of Star Wars were leaked to the public in 1977 and have circulated since then. 1987's Annotated Screenplays thoroughly documented the early drafts of the trilogy, and Rinzler's Making of Star Wars supplemented this info with even more detail, including drafts which had not yet been publicly leaked, as well as Lucas' personal notes. Information on the prequel scripts is comparatively more scarce, but a number of making-of books give insight into the writing process and early drafts. The prequels' drafts are largely similar to the final films due to Lucas exploring ideas in the art department rather than on paper.\nThe Phantom Menace\nPoster art for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace .\nIn 1994, George Lucas began writing his Prequel Trilogy which was to be made in the coming years. In 1997, production for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace went underway. Lucas would revisit Tunisia, Africa and have more problems there as his Star Wars past came to haunt him. However, this time Lucas filmed all non-location photography in Leavesden Studios , England.\nAfter wrapping up filming, Lucas started finishing up the special effects and other small things. This would eventually be his last film filmed on regular film. Meanwhile, while Lucas was wrapping up his film the first ever Star Wars: Celebration which celebrated the release of Episode I and would be done again for Episodes II and III.\nAfter his film was released on May 19, 1999 , Lucas soon started writing Episode II while Phantom Menace broke box-office records and grossed more than 900 million dollars worldwide, despite poor reviews and reaction to the acting and general appearance of characters, in particular the much maligned Jar Jar Binks .\nAttack of the Clones\nPoster art for Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones .\nFilming for Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones started at Fox Studios, Sydney, Australia with new actors like Hayden Christensen and the return of the now famous Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman along with a fully digitized Yoda .\nHowever, when the film was released, many people criticized Lucas's many love scenes and Hayden's portrayal of a whiny Anakin. The film was grossed less than Spider-Man and was the # 2 film of the year grossing only 311 million dollars and becoming the second lowest grossing Star Wars film of all time.\nRevenge of the Sith\nPoster art for Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith .\nIn late 2002, Lucas began writing the screenplay for his last Star Wars film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith , what would be the darkest Star Wars film. Anakin turns to the dark side, the Jedi Order is destroyed and Palpatine becomes Emperor. It would be a heart-felt moment when the last scene was finished and the cast left on their separate ways foreseeable the premiere in May 2005.\nThe film not only received the praise of the critics as well as fans. Revenge of the Sith broke midnight, opening, 3-day and 5-day records and becoming the fastest film to reach $100 million and $300 million. It has so far grossed $848 million and became the second highest grossing film of 2005 in a year of let downs at the box office.\nThe future of Star Wars\nThe logo for Celebration IV\nA Sequel trilogy which will be Episode VIII and IX have been announced. Episode VII, The Force Awakens , was released on December 18, 2015.\nMeanwhile, in the works are several Lucasfilm projects, including the anticipated Star Wars live-action TV series , and the continuing animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars .\nIn 2007, Lucas originally planned to release all six of the Star Wars films in 3D, along with a possible \"Saga boxset\". Test scenes were rendered in 3D, including the Coruscant speeder chase; Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace was released to theaters in 3D on February 10, 2012, and the entire saga on Blu-ray was released September 16, 2011.\nDisney-Lucasfilm trilogy\nMain article: Sequel trilogy\nOn October 30, 2012, it was announced that The Walt Disney Company would acquire Lucasfilm for US$4.05 billion, half in cash and half in shares of Disney. Privately-held Lucasfilm would become a unit of Disney, like Marvel Entertainment and Pixar. As part of the announcement, Disney announced that Star Wars Episode VII would be released in 2015; additional Star Wars films would then be released every two or three years apart. Lucasfilm already had Episode VII in early-stage development. Disney chief executive and chairman Bob Iger told the Financial Times that the deal would slightly reduce returns to shareholders over the next two years, but that it would become profitable for them in 2015, once Episode VII is released.\nThe actual title of the film was later revealed to be Star Wars: The Force Awakens . [2]\nStar Wars Legends and canon\nMain articles: Star Wars Legends and Canon\nOn April 25, 2014, Disney announced Star Wars Legends . Effective immediately, the only Star Wars information considered canon was material from the six original films, the the Clone Wars film , the The Clone Wars television series , certain material from the official Star Wars website, and material released after that date, with certain noted exceptions, generally products that continued stories that had begun in the Expanded Universe, but had not yet finished. Writers of future titles would be able to draw upon material from the Expanded Universe for their stories, but this material would only be considered canon within its new context. The Lucasfilm Story Group was created to ensure that for the first time all material released would fit together as part of an official canon, rather than the previous system of material released outside of the films containing obvious contradictions. A large slate of new releases was announced, including various new novels and games. [3]\nSetting",
"Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace - Wookieepedia\n... Episode I The Phantom Menace is a 1999 Star Wars film written ... Star Wars movie in 16 years, many Star Wars fans were ... most swashbuckling kind\".\nStar Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace | Wookieepedia | Fandom powered by Wikia\nStar Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace\n133,461pages on\n(DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and Digital HD)\nBudget\n\"Every saga has a beginning.\"\n―Tagline[src]\nStar Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace is a 1999 Star Wars film written and directed by George Lucas . It was the fourth live-action film to be released in theaters and the first film of the prequel trilogy. It was also the first Star Wars film to be re-released in 3D. The film was produced by Rick McCallum and stars Liam Neeson , Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Jake Lloyd , and Ian McDiarmid as the primary characters.\nThe film takes place thirty-two years before Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope , the first film released in the saga, and begins as two Jedi attempt to resolve a trade dispute and eventual invasion of the planet Naboo by the Trade Federation . Unknown to the Jedi is that the situation is being manipulated by Sheev Palpatine , the Senator of Naboo and secretly a Dark Lord of the Sith called Darth Sidious. The Sith , the ancient enemies of the Jedi, reveal themselves to the Jedi after a thousand years in hiding; while the Jedi discover a young Tatooine slave named Anakin Skywalker , the Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force —and who will grow up to become Darth Vader. Meanwhile, Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo fights to save her people from the invasion.\nThe Phantom Menace was released in theaters on May 19 , 1999, becoming the first Star Wars film since Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi sixteen years earlier. The release was accompanied by extensive media coverage and great fan anticipation. Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans, the film grossed $924.3 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing Star Wars film when unadjusted for inflation. The film was re-released on Blu-ray in September 2011 , and was re-released in theaters in 3D on February 10 , 2012 .\nThe film was the first major story in the prequel era and began fifteen years of canon Star Wars storytelling that would primarily take place around the time of the prequel storyline. The success of the film allowed for the next two chapters of the prequel trilogy, as well as the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and television series . Numerous Star Wars Legends stories were also told in or influenced by The Phantom Menace and the prequels.\nContents\nEpisode I\nTHE PHANTOM MENACE\nTurmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict....\nSynopsis\n\"I have a bad feeling about this.\"\n\"I don't sense anything.\"\n\"It's not about the mission, Master. It's something…elsewhere…elusive.\"\n―Obi-Wan Kenobi to Qui-Gon Jinn[src]\nQui-Gon and Obi-Wan prepare to fight their way out of the Trade Federation flagship.\nThere is trade dispute between the Trade Federation and the outlying systems of the Galactic Republic , which has led to a blockade of the small planet of Naboo . Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum , leader of the Galactic Senate , has secretly dispatched two Jedi , Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan , Obi-Wan Kenobi , to serve as \"the ambassadors\" to the Federation flagship , in order to meet with Viceroy Nute Gunray and resolve the dispute. Unknown to them, the Trade Federation is in league with the mysterious Darth Sidious , Dark Lord of the Sith , who secretly orders Gunray to invade Naboo (as well as implying that he would ensure that their invasion was made legal when asked if it was illegal by Gunray) and kill the two Jedi upon their arrival. Using poison gas, the Viceroy attempts to poison the two Jedi knights as an assassination attempt, but fails. After having to battle their way through squads of battle droids, Jinn and Kenobi make their way to the command deck where Gunray is located, shielding himself behind blast doors. The Jedi are forced to flee upon the arrival of two Destroyer Droids, but with their ship, Radiant VII , now destroyed, the two Jedi stow themselves aboard two separate Federation landing craft leaving for the surface of Naboo to begin the invasion. Queen Amidala then contacts Gunray expressing her disapproval of their blockade of Naboo, with Gunray explaining that they wouldn't have done it without the approval of the senate. After questioning Gunray regarding the arrival of ambassadors sent by the Chancellor, Gunray claims that they have been greeted by no such ambassadors, leaving Amidala startled. Gunray, after ending communications with her, informs his aide that they should disable all communications on the planet in case she suspected an invasion. Meanwhile, Amidala is conversing with Senator Sheev Palpatine regarding the recent attempt at negotiations and how Gunray claimed that they did not receive any ambassadors. Surprised, Palpatine states that he had assurances from the Chancellor that his ambassadors did arrive. However, Palpatine is unable to finish his sentence and his hologram begins to short out. Naboo Governor, Sio Bibble , suspects that the shorting out of communications is a sign that an invasion from the Trade Federation is imminent.\nThe Jedi liberate the Queen and her guards from the battle droid invasion.\nOn the planet's surface, Qui-Gon saves local native outcast Jar Jar Binks from being crushed by an MTT . Later, STAPs attack but are destroyed by Qui-Gon. Jar Jar Binks shows the two Jedi the way to an underwater Gungan settlement, Otoh Gunga , escaping the Trade Federation army. Meanwhile, the Trade Federation invades Naboo and captures Queen Amidala. The Jedi meet the Gungan leader, Boss Nass , and ask him to help the people of Naboo, but Nass refuses and sends them off in a bongo submarine . They are attacked by an opee sea killer and a colo claw fish but both fish are eaten by a sando aqua monster . The Jedi, with Binks in tow, reach Theed , the capital city of Naboo, and rescue Queen Amidala from the Trade Defense Force . They depart for Coruscant , the Galactic Republic's capital planet, to ask for help from the Senate. An astromech droid named R2-D2 manages to repair the Queen's starship and they narrowly escape an attack from Federation battleships .\nDue to the damage the ship's hyperdrive sustained in the attack, the Queen's party is forced to land on the desert planet of Tatooine for repairs. While searching for a new hyperdrive generator, they befriend young Anakin Skywalker , a slave boy, whose master is Watto , a Toydarian junk dealer. Watto has the required parts in stock, but Qui-Gon is unable to purchase them, as Republic credits are worthless on Tatooine.\nAnakin races ahead of Sebulba during the Boonta Eve Podrace.\nAnakin is gifted with piloting and mechanical abilities, and has built an almost-complete droid named C-3PO . Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force in Anakin, and feels that he may be the Chosen One – the one who will fulfill a prophecy by bringing balance to the Force. By entering Anakin into a podrace , Qui-Gon orchestrates a gamble in which the boy (alone, since Qui-Gon was unable to include the youth's mother in the bargain) will be released from slavery while also acquiring the parts needed for their ship. The night before the race, Qui-Gon does a blood test on Anakin and discovers that the boy's midi-chlorian reading is off the chart. Anakin wins the race and joins the team as they head for Coruscant, where Qui-Gon plans to seek permission from the Jedi High Council to train Anakin to be a Jedi. Meanwhile, Darth Sidious sends his apprentice, Darth Maul , to kill the two Jedi and capture the Queen. Maul appears just as the group is leaving the planet, and duels with Qui-Gon. The fight is cut short when Qui-Gon manages to escape his black-robed assailant by jumping onboard the Naboo Royal Starship as it takes off.\nAmidala and Palpatine plead before the Senate to intervene with Naboo's crisis.\nOn Coruscant, Qui-Gon informs the Jedi Council of the mysterious attacker he encountered on Tatooine. Because of that being's obvious mastery of the Jedi arts, the Council becomes concerned that this development may indicate the reappearance of the Sith , a religious order who were followers of the dark side of the force and thought to be long gone. Qui-Gon also informs the Council about Anakin, hoping that he can be trained as a Jedi. After testing the boy and deliberating with one another, the Council refuses, deeming him too old for training according to the Jedi Code . They are also concerned due to their sensing of a seemingly clouded future and a strong presence of fear in the boy. Meanwhile, Senator Palpatine, warning of the corruption in the Senate, advises Queen Amidala to call for a Vote of No Confidence in Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum. Seeing no alternative, the Queen takes this advice when she addresses the Senate. Palpatine is among the candidates to replace the Supreme Chancellor, and the Queen later announces to Palpatine that she herself will return to their home planet to repel the invasion of her people. She is frustrated by the Senate's deliberation and lack of action, and feels that even if Palpatine is elected Chancellor, it will be too late. The Jedi Council sends the two Jedi to accompany the Queen back to Naboo, hoping to shed light on any Sith involvement.\nBoss Nass at the Gungan Sacred Place.\nQueen Amidala, back on Naboo, attempts to locate the Gungans at Otoh Gunga, but Jar-Jar, after searching Otoh Gunga, informs them that it was abandoned. He then leads them to a sacred area which he was certain they were at. Upon arriving at the Gungan Sacred Place , Amidala negotiates with Boss Nass to form an alliance and unite in battle against the Trade Federation. Captain Panaka and several other security forces were also dispatched to rescue anyone imprisoned in the Trade Federation's prison camps, although they were only able to successfully extract a handful. Next, Amidala informs Qui-Gon and Nass of her battle strategy: with the Grand Gungan Army acting as a distraction to the bulk of the main Trade Federation forces, the Naboo resistance led by Amidala, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan will infiltrate Theed via a secret entrance located inside one of the waterfalls. Nute Gunray, taking the bait regarding the Gungan Army, informs Darth Sidious about the Grand Army, the latter then promptly ordering Gunray to wipe out the Gungans and the Naboo as the Trade Federation prepares for battle. Captain Roos Tarpals orders the Gungan Grand Army to start up their shield , to protect them from ranged attack. OOM-9 has his tanks fire first, but seeing them fail to penetrate the powerful shield, orders them to cease fire. Daultay Dofine gives the command to activate the battle droids. These droids march through the shield, and its generator is destroyed. After much fighting against the Federation's droid army, defeat for the alliance seems imminent.\nHowever, victory comes when young Anakin Skywalker accidentally takes control of a starfighter and goes on to destroy the Federation's Droid Control Ship from the inside, killing Daultay Dofine and rendering the droid army useless. Meanwhile, Amidala and her force fight their way back into the royal palace and capture Nute Gunray.\nQui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight against Darth Maul during the Battle of Naboo.\nAt the same time, in a Theed hangar bay , Darth Maul (an apprentice of the Darth Sidious) engages in combat with the two Jedi, using a double-bladed lightsaber . The battle moves from the hangar, across a series of catwalks, to the Theed Generator Complex. During the fight, Obi-Wan is separated from his master when he is kicked off of a catwalk and falls. He grabs the edge of another catwalk below and jumps back up to where Qui-Gon and Maul continue to fight. By this time, Qui-Gon and Maul have become separated by a force field in the entrance to the Generator Room. Obi-Wan catches up to them, but is divided from his master by four force fields. When the force fields deactivates, Jinn and Maul continue their battle while Kenobi remains divided from the battle by one force field when they all reactivate. After a lengthy duel, Maul suddenly hits Qui-Gon on the chin with his lightsaber handle, stunning him, then rams his lightsaber straight into Qui-Gon's chest, mortally wounding him. Devastated, Obi-Wan redoubles his assault upon Maul and chops the Sith's lightsaber in half, but Maul eventually overpowers and nearly kills Kenobi when he Force pushes him over the edge of a seemingly endless reactor shaft. Obi-Wan saves himself from falling when he manages to grab onto a pipe protruding from the wall of the shaft. Maul then kicks the Jedi's lightsaber into the pit and prepares to finish him off. After Obi-Wan calms himself, he uses the Force to jump out of the shaft and summons his fallen master's lightsaber to his hand. Within an instant, he lands behind the surprised Maul and cuts him in half; Maul's upper and lower body falls into the shaft.\nObi-Wan reaches Qui-Gon moments before he dies, as Qui-Gon instructs Obi-Wan to train Anakin to become a Jedi, reiterating that Anakin is the Chosen One. Obi-Wan gives his word that he will. The newly-elected Chancellor Palpatine arrives to congratulate Queen Amidala on her victory, as Nute Gunray is sent to stand trial for his crimes.\nThe Gungans and the Naboo celebrate their victory.\nAfter the battle, the Jedi Council names Obi-Wan a Jedi Knight. Kenobi conveys his master's wish regarding Anakin Skywalker to Yoda , who reluctantly allows him to become Obi-Wan's apprentice. Qui-Gon's body is cremated, and Mace Windu and Yoda agree that the Sith are definitely to blame for the tragedy. Being that there are only ever two Sith at any given time (a Master and an apprentice), both Masters believe that one must still remain.\nThe Naboo and Gungans organize a great victory celebration on the streets of Theed, in front on the palace. Obi-Wan and Anakin are present, the younger now wearing formal Jedi attire, and in his hair is a special braid : the mark of a Jedi Padawan . Queen Amidala presents a gift of appreciation and friendship to Boss Nass and the Gungan people.\nDevelopment\nEdit\nAlong the lines of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, all three prequel films were originally intended to be written and shot as one large production, and released back-to-back. [2]\nThe role of director was offered to Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Robert Zemeckis. According to Howard, Lucas didn't necessarily want to direct Episode I. He further commented that all three directors turned down the position as the film was Lucas's \"baby.\" [3] Many fans began waiting outside cinema theaters as early as a month in advance of ticket sales. [4]\nThe budget of Menace was estimated $115 million. Shooting took place from June 26 to September 30 , 1997 . As with Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope , Episode I's main exterior filming locations were in Tunisia . The podrace was filmed in a canyon near Sidi Bouhlel and Oung Jmel . A set was built near Oung Jmel to represent Mos Espa on Tatooine. The Slave Quarters Row were filmed in ksour's near Tataouine and Ksar Medenine . Small parts were filmed in Royal Caserta Palace in Italy and Whippendell Woods in the United Kingdom , but Hever Castle was later cut. Studio work was mainly done at Leavesden Studios in the United Kingdom.\nUnlike the latter two films in the series which were shot on digital video , most of this film was shot in 35 mm, with a few scenes shot in digital video.\nThis episode was also the first of the Saga to be referred to primarily by its number (Episode One) by media and fans, to contrast it with the classical saga the public already knew. This reference also gave finally some sense to the riddling numbers IV-VI of the previous movies.\nRelease\nEdit\nOne of the most popular marketing posters for the film\nThe Phantom Menace received enormous media-created hype, which made Lucasfilm's $20 million advertising campaign – with the distinctive artwork of Star Wars series artist Drew Struzan gracing the movie poster and other advertising – seem modest and almost unnecessary because of the unprecedented interest amongst both fans and the wider audience in the return of the franchise. Few film studios released films during the same week as the release of The Phantom Menace; among the more courageous were DreamWorks and Universal Studios , with the releases of The Love Letter and Notting Hill respectively. The Love Letter resulted in a box-office flop, whereas Notting Hill fared rather well and followed The Phantom Menace closely in second place. [5] Challenger, Gray & Christmas of Chicago, a work-issues consulting firm, estimated that 2.2 million full-time employees did not appear for work to attend the film, resulting in $293 million in lost productivity. The Wall Street Journal reported that such a large number of workers announced plans to view premiere screenings that many companies shut down on the premiere day. [6] Many fans began waiting outside cinema theaters as early as a month in advance of ticket sales. [7]\nMore theater lines appeared when it was announced that cinemas were not allowed to sell tickets in advance until two weeks into the release. This was done out of fear that family theater-goers would either be unable to receive tickets or would be forced to pay higher prices. Tickets were instead to be sold on a traditional first-come-first-serve basis. [8] However, after meetings with the National Association of Theatre Owners , Lucasfilm agreed to allow advance ticket sales on May 12 , 1999 , provided that there be a 12-ticket limit per customer. [9] As a result, however, some advance tickets were sold by \" scalpers \" as high as $100 apiece, which a distribution chief called \"horrible\", stating it was exactly what they wanted to avoid. [10] Daily Variety reported that theater owners received strict instructions from Lucasfilm that the film could only play in the cinema's largest auditorium for the first 8–12 weeks; no honor passes were allowed for the first eight weeks, and they were obligated to send their payments to distributor 20th Century Fox within seven days. [11] Servers at the film's official website became gridlocked soon after the release of the first teaser trailer , [12] and many fans of the series paid full admission to see Meet Joe Black only to leave after the trailer had run. The same tradition followed months later when the theatrical trailer was featured in front of Wing Commander . [13] The theatrical trailer caused even more notable media hype, because it not only premiered in theaters, but screened at the ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas , and was aired on television on Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood . [14] An unusual marketing scheme was pursued across the United Kingdom , where the teaser trailer was released on December 2 , 1998 and then pulled from theaters six weeks later. [15]\nDespite worries about whether the film would be finished in time, two weeks prior to its debut Lucasfilm pushed the release date up from May 21 , 1999 to May 19 , 1999 . At the ShoWest Convention, Lucas stated that the change was to give the fans a \"head start\" by allowing them to view it over the week and allowing families the chance to view on the weekends. In a nod toward his future with digital technology, Lucas stated that the film would be released on four digital projectors on June 18 , 1999 . [16] Eleven charity premieres were staged across the United States on May 16 , 1999 ; receivings from the Los Angeles event were given to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation with corporate packages available for $5,000-$25,000. [17] Other charity premieres included the Dallas premiere for Children's Medical Center , the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at the Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, the Big Brother/Sister Assn. of the Philadelphia premiere, and the Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C. A statement said that tickets were sold at $500 apiece and that certain sections were set aside for disadvantaged children. [18]\nReception",
"Star_Wars:_Episode_I_–_The_Phantom_Menace.txt\nStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace\nStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the first installment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August and Frank Oz.\n\nThe film is set thirty-two years before the original film, and follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they protect Queen Amidala, in hopes of securing a peaceful end to a large-scale interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by Anakin Skywalker—a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force—they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith.\n\nLucas began production of this film after he determined that film special effects had advanced to the level he wanted for the fourth film in the saga. Filming started on June 26, 1997, at locations including Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert. Its visual effects included extensive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI); many of its characters and settings were completely computerized. The film was Lucas's first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following Star Wars in 1977.\n\nThe Phantom Menace was released to theaters on May 19, 1999, sixteen years after the premiere of the previous Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi. The film's premiere was extensively covered by media and was greatly anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated. Despite mixed reviews from critics, who tended to praise the visuals, action sequences, John Williams' musical score, and the performances of Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Pernilla August, Ray Park, and Ian McDiarmid, but criticize the writing, characterization and the majority of the acting (particularly from Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd), it grossed more than worldwide during its initial theatrical run, making it the second-highest-grossing film worldwide at the timebehind Titanic. It became the highest-grossing film of 1999, the highest-grossing Star Wars film (until the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015), and is currently the seventeenth-highest-grossing film in North America unadjusted for inflation. A 3D reissue, which has earned an additional at the box office and brought the film's overall worldwide takings to over , was released in February 2012. The film was followed by two sequels, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005.\n\nPlot\n\nSupreme Chancellor Valorum, leader of the Galactic Republic, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with the Trade Federation leadership to end a blockade of battleships around the planet Naboo. Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation's secret adviser, orders Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to kill the Jedi and invade Naboo with an army of battle droids. The Jedi escape and flee to Naboo, where Qui-Gon saves a Gungan outcast, Jar Jar Binks, from being killed during the invasion. Indebted to the Jedi, Jar Jar leads them to an underwater Gungan city. The Jedi unsuccessfully try to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, into helping the people of Naboo, though they are able to obtain transportation to Theed, the capital city on the surface. They rescue Queen Amidala, the ruler of the Naboo people, and escape the planet on her royal starship, which is damaged as they pass the Federation blockade.\n\nAmidala's ship is unable to sustain its hyperdrive and lands for repairs on the desert planet Tatooine. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Amidala (in disguise as Padmé, her handmaiden) visit the settlement of Mos Espa to buy new parts at a junk shop. They meet the shop's owner Watto and his nine-year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker, who is a gifted pilot and engineer and has created a protocol droid called C-3PO. Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin and is convinced that he is the \"chosen one\" of Jedi prophecy who will bring balance to the Force. Qui-Gon wagers Anakin's freedom with Watto in a Podrace, which Anakin wins. Anakin joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, leaving his mother, Shmi, behind. En route to their starship, Qui-Gon briefly duels with Darth Maul, Darth Sidious's apprentice, who was sent to capture Amidala.\n\nThe Jedi escort Amidala to the Republic capital planet, Coruscant, so she can plead her people's case to Chancellor Valorum and the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon asks the Jedi Council for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council, concerned that Anakin is vulnerable to the dark side, refuse. Undaunted, Qui-Gon vows to train Anakin anyway. Meanwhile, Naboo's Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to make a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable chancellor to resolve the crisis on Naboo. Though she pushes for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate and decides to return to Naboo with the Jedi.\n\nOn Naboo, Padmé reveals herself to the Gungans as Queen Amidala and persuades them into an alliance against the Trade Federation. Jar Jar leads his people in a battle against the droid army while Padmé leads the hunt for Gunray in Theed. In a starship hangar, Anakin enters a vacant starfighter and inadvertently triggers its autopilot, joining the battle against the Federation droid control ship in space. Anakin ventures into the ship and destroys it from within, deactivating the droid army. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul, who mortally wounds Qui-Gon before being bisected by Obi-Wan. As he dies, Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin. Subsequently, Palpatine is elected as the new Supreme Chancellor and Gunray is arrested. The Jedi Council promotes Obi-Wan to the rank of Jedi Knight and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan's apprentice. At a festive ceremony, Padmé presents a gift of appreciation and friendship to the Gungans.\n\nCast\n\n* Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master and mentor to Obi-Wan. When he discovers Anakin he insists that the boy be trained as a Jedi despite the Jedi Council's protests. Lucas originally wanted to cast an American actor in the role, but cast Irishman Neeson because he considered that Neeson had great skills and presence. Lucas said Neeson was a \"master actor, who the other actors will look up to, who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands\".\n* Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon's young Jedi apprentice. He holds Qui-Gon in high regard but questions his motives at times. McGregor was cast from a shortlist of fifty actors, all of whom had to be compared to pictures of young Alec Guinness, who portrayed the elderly Obi-Wan, to make a believable younger version. McGregor had a vocal coach to help his voice sound closer to Guinness'. He also studied several of Guinness' performances, from his early work and the Star Wars movies.\n* Natalie Portman as Queen Padmé Amidala: Amidala, the 14-year-old Queen of Naboo, hopes to protect her planet from a blockade by the Trade Federation. Over 200 actors auditioned for the role. The Production notes stated; \"The role required a young woman who could be believable as the ruler of that planet, but at the same time be vulnerable and open\". Portman was chosen especially for her performances in Léon: The Professional (1994) and Beautiful Girls (1996), which impressed Lucas. He stated, \"I was looking for someone who was young, strong, along the lines of Leia [and] Natalie embodied all those traits and more\". Portman was unfamiliar with Star Wars before being cast, but was enthusiastic about being cast as a character she expected to become a role model. Portman said, \"It was wonderful playing a young queen with so much power. I think it will be good for young women to see a strong woman of action who is also smart and a leader.\" \n* Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker, a 9-year-old slave boy and a skilled pilot who dreams of becoming a Jedi. Hundreds of actors were tested before the producers settled on Lloyd who Lucas considered met his requirements of \"a good actor, enthusiastic and very energetic\". Producer Rick McCallum said that Lloyd was \"smart, mischievous and loves anything mechanicaljust like Anakin.\"\n* Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine / Darth Sidious, a Senator of Naboo who is eventually elected Chancellor of the Republic. McDiarmid was surprised when Lucas approached him 16 years after Return of the Jedi to reprise the role of Palpatine because he had assumed that a younger actor would play the part in the prequel films. \n* Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother who is concerned for her son's future and allows him leave with the Jedi. August, a veteran of Swedish cinema, was chosen after auditioning with Liam Neeson. She was afraid of being rejected because of her accent. \n* Frank Oz voices Yoda, the centuries-old leader of the Jedi Council who is apprehensive about allowing Anakin to be trained. Yoda was mostly portrayed as a puppet designed by Nick Dudman based on Stuart Freeborn's original design. Oz controlled the puppet's mouth and other parts were controlled by puppeteers using remote controls. Lucas fitted Yoda's filming around Oz's schedule as he finished and promoted In & Out. A computer-generated Yoda is featured in two distant shots. Warwick Davis portrays him in the scene in which Obi-Wan becomes a Jedi Knight. Lucas said he originally wanted to use a full-time digital Yoda, but the attempts did not work well enough. On the Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, which was also used for the 3D reissue, a CG Yoda similar to the one from the other prequels is used instead. \n* Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble, the governor of Naboo.\n* Hugh Quarshie as Captain Panaka, Queen Amidala's chief of security at Theed Palace.\n* Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, a clumsy Gungan exiled from his home and taken in by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Best was hired after Gurland saw him on a Stomp performance in San Francisco. Best was originally intended to provide motion capture data but his offer to voice the character was accepted. On the set, to provide references for the actors, Best was clothed in a suit made of foam and latex and a headpiece. Best's filmed performance was later replaced with the computer-generated character. Best frequently improvised movements to make Jar Jar look as clumsy and comedic as possible.\n* Anthony Daniels voices C-3PO, a protocol droid built by Anakin. He lacks a metal covering in this film; R2-D2 refers to it as being \"naked\". A puppeteer dressed in a color closely matching the backgroundin a manner similar to the Japanese puppet theater Bunrakumanipulated a skeletal C-3PO figure attached to his front while Daniels read his lines off-camera. The puppeteer was erased from the film during post-production. \n* Kenny Baker as R2-D2, an astromech droid that saves Queen Amidala's ship when other droids fail. Before the film's production started, fans campaigned on the Internet to retain Baker as R2-D2; Lucas replied that the actor would remain. Baker is used for scenes where R2-D2 bends forwards and backwards and wobbles from side to side. Robots and a digital model were used in other shots. \n* Terence Stamp as Supreme Chancellor Valorum, the current Chancellor who commissions Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to negotiate with the Trade Federation Viceroy. Lucas described the character as a \"good man but he's beleaguereda bit like Bill Clinton|[Bill] Clinton\". \nAdditionally, Samuel L. Jackson appears as Mace Windu, a high-ranking member of the Jedi Council who also opposes the training of Anakin. Ray Park portrays Darth Maul, a Zabrak warrior and Darth Sidious' Sith apprentice who uses a double-bladed lightsaber, while Peter Serafinowicz provides Maul's voice. Keira Knightley plays Sabé, one of Queen Amidala's handmaidens who serves as her decoy throughout the majority of the film. Silas Carson portrays Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation who leads Naboo's invasion and tries to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty to legitimize the occupation. Carson also portrays three minor characters: Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, Trade Federation Senator Lott Dod, and an ill-fated pilot (the role for which Carson originally auditioned). Brian Blessed, Andy Secombe, and Lewis MacLeod voice, respectively, Boss Nass, the leader of the Gungan tribe who allies with the Naboo, Watto, a junk dealer on Tatooine who owns Anakin and his mother as slaves, and Sebulba, an aggressive, scheming podracer who is Anakin's rival. In addition, Greg Proops and Scott Capurro voice Fode and Beed, the two-headed announcer of the Boonta Eve Race. Dominic West plays a Naboo guard. Also, Sofia Coppola appears as Saché, one of Amidala's handmaidens, and Ralph Brown appears as Ric Olié, the Queen's starship pilot. Christian Simpson appears as Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes. \n\nProduction\n\nDevelopment\n\nWhile writing the original Star Wars, Lucas realized the story was too vast in scope to be covered in one film. The original film was written to introduce a wider story arc that could be told in sequels on the chance that it became successful, so Star Wars evolved from the first film in the series to the first episode of the saga's second trilogy. Lucas eventually negotiated a contract that allowed him to make two sequels, and over time had created an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process. While writing The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas considered directions in which to take the story. In the original trilogy, Darth Vader was revealed to have been Anakin Skywalker, a once-powerful Jedi Knight, and the traitor to the Jedi Legion. With this backstory in place, Lucas decided the movies would work best as a trilogy. In the final act of the trilogy's final episode, Return of the Jedi, Vader is ultimately redeemed through an act of sacrifice for Luke. This was in 1983, more than six years since the release of Star Wars. Lucas admitted to being \"burned out\" and announced he would take a break from working on the saga. \n\nThroughout the 80s, George Lucas remarked he had no desire to return to Star Wars and had unofficially canceled his sequel trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi. Because Lucas had developed most of the backstory, the idea of prequels continued to fascinate him. In the early 1990s, Star Wars saw a resurgence in popularity in the wake of Dark Horse's comic line and Timothy Zahn's trilogy of novels. Lucas saw there was still a large audience for his idea of a prequel trilogy and with the development of special effects generated with computer-generated imagery (CGI), Lucas considered returning to his saga and directing the film. In 1993, it was announced in Variety and other sources that he would be making the prequels. Lucas began outlining the story; Anakin Skywalker rather than Obi-Wan Kenobi would be the main protagonist and the series would be a tragedy examining Darth Vader's origins. Lucas also began to change the prequels' timeline relative to the original series, \"filling-in\" the history, backstory, existing parallel or tangential to the originals and beginning a long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step toward turning the franchise into a saga. \n\nGeorge Lucas began writing the new Star Wars trilogy on November 1, 1994. The screenplay of Star Wars was adapted from Lucas' 15-page outline that was written in 1976, which he designed to help him keep track of the characters' backstories and events that occurred before the original trilogy. Anakin was first written as a twelve-year-old, but Lucas reduced his age to nine because he felt the lower age would better fit the plot point of Anakin being affected by his mother's separation from him. Eventually, Anakin's younger age led Lucas to rewrite his participation in the movie's major scenes. The film's working title was The Beginning; Lucas later revealed that its true title was The Phantom Menace; a reference to Palpatine hiding his true identity as an evil Sith Lord behind the facade of a well-intentioned public servant. \n\nThe larger budget and possibilities opened up by the use of digital effects made Lucas \"think about a much grander, more epic scale\"which is what I wanted Star Wars to be\". The story ended with five simultaneous, ongoing plots, one leading to another. The central plot is Palpatine's intent to become Chancellor, which leads to the Trade Federation's attack on Naboo, the Jedi being sent there, Anakin being met along the way, and the rise of the Sith Lords. As with the original trilogy, Lucas intended The Phantom Menace to illustrate several themes throughout the narrative. Duality is a frequent theme; Amidala is a queen who passes as a handmaiden, Palpatine plays on both sides of the war, among others. \"Balance\" is frequently suggested; Anakin is supposedly \"the one\" chosen to bring balance to the ForceLucas said, \"Anakin needed to have a mother, Obi-Wan needed a Master, Darth Sidious needed an apprentice\" as without interaction and dialogue \"you wouldn't have drama\".\n\nIn November 2015, Ron Howard confirmed that he, Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg were approached by Lucas to direct the film. \n\nPre-production and design\n\nBefore Lucas had started writing, his producing partner Rick McCallum was preparing for the film. McCallum stated that his experience with The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles led to many of his decisions on The Phantom Menace, such as long-term deals with actors and soundstages, the employment of recent graduates with no film experience, and the creation of sets and landscapes with digital technology. In April 1994, McCallum started searching for artists in art, architecture and design schools, and in mid-year he began location scouting with production designer Gavin Bocquet. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) art director Doug Chiang impressed McCallum the most and was hired as the design director. \n\nWithin three to four months of Lucas beginning the writing process, Chiang and his design team started a two-year process of reviewing thousands of designs for the film. Chiang stated that Lucas intended Episode I to be stylistically different from the other Star Wars films; it would be \"richer and more like a period piece, since it was the history leading up to A New Hope\". The three planets on which the story takes placesome with varied environments such as the human and Gungan cities of Naboo and three buildings in Coruscant. With the exception of the Gungan city, which had an art nouveau-inspired visual, these locations would be given distinctive looks with some basis in the real world. The concept drawings of Ralph McQuarrie for the original trilogy served as the basis for Mos Espawhich was also inspired by old Tunisian hotels and buildings and had touches such as a market place to differentiate it from A New Hopes Mos Eisleyand Coruscant, in particular a metropolis design which became the basis for the Senate. Bocquet would later develop the work of Chiang's team and design the interiors, translating the concepts into construction blueprints with environments and architectural styles that had some basis in reality \"to give the audience something to key into\". Some elements were directly inspired by the original trilogy; Lucas described the battle droids as predecessors to the Stormtroopers. Chiang uses that orientation to base the droids on the Imperial soldiers, only in the same style of stylized and elongated features seen in tribal African art.\n\nTerryl Whitlatch, who had a background on zoology and anatomy, was in charge of creature design. Many of the aliens are hybrids, combining features of real animals. At times entire food chains were developed even though only a small percentage of them would appear in the film. Whitlatch also designed detailed skeletons for the major characters and facial muscles on Jar Jar Binks as a reference for ILM's animators. Each creature would reflect its environment; those on Naboo were more beautiful because the planet is \"lush and more animal-friendly\", Tatooine has rough-looking creatures \"with weather-beaten leathery skin to protect them from the harsh desert elements\", and Coruscant has bipedal, human-looking aliens.\n\nStunt coordinator Nick Gillard was recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the prequel trilogy. Gillard likened the lightsaber battles to a chess game \"with every move being a check\". Because of their short-range weapons, Gillard thought the Jedi would have had to develop a fighting style that merged every swordfighting style, such as kendo and other kenjutsu styles, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis swings and tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard wrote a sequence which lasted around 60 seconds and intended to be around five or six sequences per fight. Lucas later referred to the Jedi as \"negotiators\" rather than high-casualty soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was intended to give a spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi. Because Gillard thought the stunt jumps with the actors and stuntmen dangling from wires did not look realistic, air rams were used to propel them into the air instead.\n\nLucas decided to make elaborate costumes because the film's society was more sophisticated than the one depicted in the original trilogy. Designer Trisha Biggar and her team created over 1,000 costumes that were inspired by various cultures. Biggar worked closely with concept designer Iain McCaig to create a color palette for the inhabitants of each world: Tatooine followed A New Hope with sun-bleached sand colors, Coruscant had grays, browns and blacks, and Naboo had green and gold for humans while Gungans wore \"a leathery look, like their skin\". The Jedi costumes followed the tradition from the original film; Obi-Wan's costume was inspired by the costume that was worn by Guinness. Lucas said he and Biggar would look at the conceptual art to \"translat[e] all of these designs into cloth and fabric and materials that would actually work and not look silly\". Biggar also consulted Gillard to ensure the costumes would accommodate action scenes, and consulted the creature department to find which fabrics \"wouldn't wear too heavily\" on the alien skins. A huge wardrobe department was set up at Leavesden Film Studios to create over 250 costumes for the main actors and 5,000 for the background ones.\n\nNute Gunray's Thai accent was chosen after Lucas and McCallum listened to various languages to decide how the Neimodians would speak. The character design of Watto was an amalgam of rejected ideas; his expressions were based on video footage of Secombe's voice acting, photographs of animation supervisor Rob Coleman imitating the character, and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto's lines to a mirror. Lucas described Sebulba's design as \"a spider crossed with an orangutan crossed with a sloth\", with a camel-like face, and clothing inspired by medieval armor. \n\nCasting \n\nAfter Samuel L. Jackson expressed interest in appearing in a Star Wars film, he was approached by casting director Robin Gurland to play Windu. Ray Park, a martial arts champion with experience in gymnastics and sword fighting, was originally a member of the stunt crew. Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard filmed Park to demonstrate his conception of the lightsaber battles. Lucas and McCallum were so impressed with the test tape that they gave Park the role of Maul. His voice was considered \"too squeaky\" and was dubbed over in post-production by Peter Serafinowicz. Keira Knightley's parents tried to convince her not to audition, but the teenage actress still sought a role given she was a Star Wars fan. The casting was influenced by Knightley's remarkable similarity to Natalie Portman, with the actress admitting their mothers could not tell each other apart. Knightley reported to have \"cried every single day\" due to finding the wardrobe uncomfortable. \n\nSilas Carson was cast as Nute Gunray because another actor was uncomfortable with the costumes used by the Trade Federation characters, which were hot, exerted a lot of pressure on the bearer, and took about 15 minutes to apply. Hugh Quarshie considered the part of Panaka as \"a good career move\" and a production that would be fun to make. Brian Blessed originally auditioned for the role of Sio Bibble, the Governor of Naboo, for which he was considered \"too loud\". Casting director Robin Gurland approached him to play Nass because it was a \"bigger than life\" character with \"a kind of bravado\". Blessed described Nass as a \"reluctant hero\", and a fun role to play. Sofia Coppola, daughter of Lucas' long-time friend and creative partner Francis Ford Coppola, considers Lucas as \"like an uncle to me\". As she prepared the script for her directorial debut The Virgin Suicides, Sofia heard Lucas would make a new Star Wars film and asked him if she could accompany him during filming. Lucas offered Coppola a role in the royal entourage, which she accepted because it \"seemed like a good vantage point to watch without getting in the way\". \n\nFilming\n\nFilming began on June 26, 1997, and ended on September 30 of that year, primarily taking place at Leavesden Film Studios in England. Leavesden was leased for a two and a half years so the production company could leave the sets intact and return after principal photography had been completed. The forest scenes on Naboo were filmed at Cassiobury Park in Watford, Hertfordshire. Pick-ups were shot between August 1998 and February 1999 after Lucas screened a rough cut of the film for friends and colleagues in May 1998. Most of the action and stunts were filmed by Roger Christian's second unit, which worked alongside the main unit instead of afterwards because of the high number of shots to be completed daily.\n\nThe Tunisian desert was again used for the Tatooine scenes; Mos Espa was built outside the city of Tozeur. On the night following the third day of shooting in Tozeur, an unexpected sandstorm destroyed many of the sets and props. The production was quickly rescheduled to allow for repairs and was able to leave Tunisia on the date originally planned. The Italian Caserta Palace was used as the interior of the Theed City Naboo Palace; it was used as a location for four days after it had been closed to visitors. Scenes with explosions were filmed on replica sets in Leavesden.\n\nA binder with the film's storyboards served as a reference for live-action filming, shots that would be filmed in front of a chroma key blue screen, and shots that would be composed using CGI. The sets were often built with the parts that would be required on screen; often they were built only up to the heights of the actors. Chroma key was extensively used for digital set extensions, backgrounds or scenes that required cinematographer David Tattersall to seek powerful lamps to light the sets and visual effects supervisor John Knoll to develop software that would remove the blue reflection from shiny floors. Knoll, who remained on set through most of the production, worked closely with Tatterstall to ensure that the shots were suitable to add effects later. The cameras were fitted with data capture models to provide technical data for the CGI artists.\n\nThe Phantom Menace was the final Star Wars film to be shot on 35mm film until Episode VII (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Some scenes, mostly of elements filmed by the special effects team, were shot on high definition, digital video tapes to test the performance of digital recordings, which Lucas and McCallum considered the next logical step because of the amount of digitizingan expensive process compared to recording directly on digital mediafor the compositing of computer-generated effects. All future films would be shot using Sony CineAlta high-definition video cameras. Greg Proops and Scott Capurro were filmed wearing makeup and blue bodysuits so their heads could be joined in a computer-generated body. The visual effects crew did not like the original results and crafted Fode and Beed as an entirely computer generated alien.\n\nEditing took two years; Paul Martin Smith started the process in England and focused on dialogue-heavy scenes. Ben Burttwho was also the film's sound editorwas responsible for action sequences under Lucas' supervision. Non-linear editing systems played a large part in translating Lucas' vision; he constantly tweaked, revised and reworked shots and scenes. The final sound mix was added in March 1999 and the following month the film was completed after the delivery of the remaining visual effects shots.\n\nEffects\n\nThe film saw breakthrough in computer generated effects. About 1,950 of the shots in The Phantom Menace have visual effects. The scene in which toxic gas is released on the Jedi is the only sequence with no digital alteration. The work was so extensive that three visual effects supervisors divided the workload among themselvesJohn Knoll supervised the on-set production and the podrace and space battle sequences, Dennis Muren supervised the underwater sequence and the ground battle, and Scott Squires, alongside teams assigned for miniature effects and character animation, worked on the lightsaber effects.\n\nUntil the film's production, many special effects in the film industry were achieved using miniature models, matte paintings, and on-set visual effectsalthough other films had made extensive use of CGI. Knoll previewed 3,500 storyboards for the film; Lucas accompanied him to explain factors of the shots that would be practical and those which would be created through visual effects. Knoll later said that on hearing the explanations of the storyboards, he did not know how to accomplish what he had seen. The result was a mixture of original techniques and the newest digital techniques to make it difficult for the viewer to guess which technique was being used. Knoll and his visual effects team wrote new computer software, including cloth simulators to allow a realistic depiction of the digital characters' clothing, to create certain shots. Another goal was to create computer-generated characters that could act seamlessly with live-action actors. While filming scenes with CGI characters, Lucas would block the characters using their corresponding voice actors on-set. The voice actors were then removed and the live-action actors would perform the same scene alone. A CGI character would later be added into the shot to complete the conversation. Lucas also used CGI to correct the physical presence of actors in certain scenes. Practical models were used when their visuals helped with miniature sceneries for backgrounds, set extensions, and model vehicles that would be scanned to create the digital models or filmed to represent spaceships and podraces.\n\nLucas, who had previously confronted problems with the props used to depict R2-D2, allowed ILM and the production's British special effects department to create their own versions of the robot. Nine R2-D2 models were created; one was for actor Kenny Baker to be dropped into, seven were built by ILM and featured two wheelchair motors capable of moving , enabling it to run and be mostly used in stage sets, and the British studio produced a pneumatic R2-D2 that could shift from two to three legs and was mostly used in Tunisia because its motor drive system allowed it to drive over sand. \n\nLucas originally planned to create many of the aliens with computer graphics, but those that would be more cost-effectively realized with masks and animatronics were created by Nick Dudman's creature effects team. These included the Neimodians, background characters in Mos Espa, the Jedi Council, and the Galactic Senate. Dudman's team was told where the creatures would be required six months before principal photography begun, and they rushed the production. The Neimodian suits, which were originally intended as digital characters, were delivered one day before they would be required on set. Dudman traveled to Skywalker Ranch to see the original creatures that could be reused, and read the script for a breakdown of scenes with practical creatures, leaving only the more outlandish designs to be created using CGI.\n\nTo research for the podrace vehicles, the visual effects crew visited a jet aircraft junkyard outside Phoenix, Arizona and scavenged four Boeing 747 engines. Life-sized replicas of the engines were built and sent to Tunisia to provide reference in the film. Except for Jake Lloyd inside a hydraulically controlled cockpit and a few practical podracer models, the entire podracing scenewhich the effects crew designed to be as \"out of this world\" as possibleis computer-generated.\n\nMusic\n\nAs with previous Star Wars films, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menaces score was composed and conducted by John Williams. He started composing the score in October 1998 and began recording the music with the London Voices and London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios on February 10, 1999. Williams decided to use electronic instruments such as synthesizers to enhance the sound and choral pieces to \"capture the magical, mystical force that a regular orchestra might not have been able to provide\", and create an atmosphere that was \"more mysterious and mystical and less military\" than those of the original trilogy. One of the most notable tracks is \"Duel of the Fates\", which uses the chorus to give a religious, temple-like feel to the epic lightsaber duel. The track was made into a music video. While composing Anakin's theme, Williams tried to reflect the innocence of his childhood and to foreshadow his transformation into Darth Vader by using slight suggestions of \"The Imperial March\" in the melody.\n\nThe film's soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records on May 4, 1999. This album featured the score, which Williams restructured as a listening experience; it is not presented in film order and omits many notable cues from the film because of the space restriction of the compact disc. A two-disc \"Ultimate Edition\" was released on November 14, 2000. The set features almost the entire score as it is heard in the film, including all of the edits and loops that were made for the sound mix. \n\nThemes\n\nLike previous Star Wars films, The Phantom Menace makes several references to historical events and films that George Lucas watched in his youth. The Star Wars films typically mix several concepts from different mythologies together. \n\nThe Jedi practice Zen-like meditation and martial arts, as did the ancient Japanese Samurai warriors. The name \"Qui-Gon\" adapts the term Qigong, which refers to a Chinese discipline involving meditation and cultivation of the flow of the vital energy called \"Chi\" or \"Qi\" for healing, health and combat. The words Ch'i (Chinese), gi (Korean), ki (Japanese) and the Indian term \"Prana\" all refer to the energy that is thought to flow through all living things, from the source of all chi (or power) which is \"The Way\" or \"The Tao\" in Chinese philosophy. In Taoist philosophy, from The Way, yin and yangthe opposing but complementary aspects of reality or natureare born. Unlike Chinese philosophy, in which yin and yang are not moral qualities, the ancient Persian philosophy of Zurvanism taught that the dualism of dark and light forces are locked in an eternal battle while being two sides (or evolutes) of the same \"Force\", the force of time itself (Zurvan)the prime mover. These elements derive primarily from Eastern and Iranian religions and myths.\n\nThere are many references to Christian beliefs in the film, such as the appearance of Darth Maul, whose design draws heavily from traditional depictions of the Christian devil, complete with red skin and horns. Maul's facial tattoos were inspired by the indigenous peoples of Brazil. The Star Wars film cycle features a similar Christian narrative involving Anakin Skywalker; he is the \"chosen one\"the individual prophesied to bring balance to the Forcewho was conceived of a virgin birth and is tempted to join the Sith. Anakin's fall from grace seemingly prevents him from fulfilling his destiny as the \"chosen one\". The inspiration behind the story of the virgin birth parallels a concept developed by Joseph Campbell and his work on The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which heavily influenced Lucas' writing of the original Star Wars trilogy's outline.\n\nJapanese films such as Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress influenced the original Star Wars film; scholars say that The Phantom Menace was likewise influenced by Korean and Japanese culture. Film historians Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska write, \"The costume and make-up designs ... favour a mixture of the gothic and the oriental [sic] over anything very futuristic. The gothic is most strongly apparent in Darth Maul's demonic horns and the red and black make-up mask that borrows from the facial designs found in depictions of Japanese demons\". King and Krzywinska say that \"Qui-Gon's pony tail and Obi-Wan's position of apprentice further encourage a reading in terms of the Samurai tradition\". They also say \"Amidala, in keeping with her status and character, has a number of highly formal outfits ... to go with hair sculpted into a curve that frames make-up of a Japanese cast\".\n\nRelease\n\nThe release on May 19, 1999 of the first new Star Wars film in 16 years was accompanied by a considerable amount of attention. Few film studios released films during the same week as the release of The Phantom Menace; DreamWorks and Universal Studios released The Love Letter on May 21 and Notting Hill on May 28, respectively. The Love Letter was a commercial failure but Notting Hill fared better and followed The Phantom Menace closely in second place. Employment consultant firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimated that 2.2 million full-time employees missed work to attend the film, resulting in a loss of productivity. According to The Wall Street Journal, many workers announced plans to view the premiere that many companies closed on the opening day. Queue areas formed outside cinema theaters over a month before ticket sales began. \n\nMore theater lines appeared when it was announced that cinemas were not allowed to sell tickets in advance until two weeks into the release. This was because of a fear that family theater-goers would be either unable to receive tickets or would be forced to pay higher prices for them. Instead, tickets were to be sold on a first-come-first-served basis. However, after meetings with the National Association of Theatre Owners, Lucasfilm agreed to allow advance ticket sales on May 12, 1999, provided there was a limit of 12 tickets per customer. As a result, some advance tickets were sold by scalpers at prices as high as apiece, which a distribution chief called \"horrible\" and said it was exactly what they wanted to avoid. Daily Variety reported that theater owners received strict instructions from Lucasfilm that the film could only play in the cinema's largest auditorium for the first 8–12 weeks, no honor passes were allowed for the first eight weeks, and they were obliged to send their payments to distributor 20th Century Fox within seven days. \n\nDespite worries about the film being finished on time, two weeks before its theatrical release Lucasfilm preponed the release date from May 21 to 19, 1999. At the ShoWest Convention, Lucas said the change was intended to give the fans a \"head start\" by allowing them to view it during the week and allowing families to view it during weekends. Foreshadowing his future conversion to digital cinematography, Lucas said the film would be released on four digital projectors on June 18, 1999. Eleven charity premieres were staged across the United States on May 16, 1999; receipts from the Los Angeles event, where corporate packages were available for between and ; proceeds were donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Other charity premieres included the Dallas premiere for the Children's Medical Center, the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at the Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, the Big Brother/Sister Association of the Philadelphia premiere, and the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. A statement said that tickets were sold at apiece and that certain sections of the theaters were set aside for disadvantaged children. \n\nMarketing\n\nLucasfilm spent on the film's advertising campaign and made promotional licensing deals with Hasbro, Lego, Tricon Global Restaurants, and PepsiCo. Lucasfilm also helped the Star Wars fan club to organize an event called Star Wars Celebration, which was held in Denver, Colorado between April 30 and May 2, 1999. \n\nThe teaser trailer was released on selected screens accompanying Meet Joe Black on November 13, 1998, and media reported that people were paying full admission at theaters to see the trailer. To keep fans from leaving before the movie was over, some theaters played the teaser an additional time after the film finished. A second trailer was released on March 12, 1999, with the film Wing Commander. Again, many fans paid full theater admission to watch the new trailer. A bootlegged version of the preview was leaked to the Internet the same day. The next morning, the trailer was released on the film's official website and shortly afterwards the servers became overloaded. The theatrical trailer caused even more media attention because it was premiered in theaters and screened at the |ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas, and was aired on Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.\n\nThe teaser poster, featuring Anakin with his shadow forming Darth Vader's silhouette, was released on November 10, 1998. After Lucas opted for a drawn theatrical poster, Drew Struzan, the artist responsible for the Special Edition posters, was commissioned to illustrate, and the poster was unveiled on March 11, 1999. Lucasfilm dictated that, contractually, Struzan's illustration was the only art the foreign distributors could use, and other than the text, it could not be modified in any way. \n\nMany tie-in adaptations, such as a LucasArts video game for the PlayStation and PC, a pinball machine by Williams, a four-part comic book adaptation by Dark Horse Comics, and a junior novelization by Scholastic were released. The film's official novelization was written by Terry Brooks, who met with Lucas before writing the book and receiving his approval and guidance. It included information about pending developments in the following two installments of the series.\n\nGeneral Mills and Brisk were promotional partners in North America for the 2012 3D re-release but promotion was limited. The film was extensively promoted in Japan; promotional products were sold by 7-Eleven, Domino's Pizza, Pepsi and Gari-Gari Kun. Kellogg's promoted the film internationally, and French restaurant Quick launched three Star Wars-themed burgers. Lucasfilm also partnered with Variety, the Children's Charity to raise funds for children through the sale of a special edition badge. \n\nHome media\n\nThe film was released worldwide on VHS between April 3 and 8, 2000. Two versions were released in North America on April 4a standard pan and scan version and a widescreen Collector's Edition version. In its first two days of availability, the regular version sold 4.5 million copies and the limited edition sold 500,000. It was the first Star Wars film to be officially released on DVD, on October 16, 2001. The special features included seven deleted scenes completed specifically for the DVD, a commentary track featuring Lucas and producer Rick McCallum, and several documentariesincluding a full-length documentary entitled \"The Beginning: Making Episode I\". The Phantom Menace became the fastest selling DVD ever in the U.S.; 2.2 million copies were sold in its first week after release. \n\nThe DVD version was re-released in a prequel trilogy box set on November 4, 2008. A Laserdisc version of The Phantom Menace was released in Japan several months before it was available on DVD in the U.S. The Star Wars films were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Disc on September 16, 2011; The Phantom Menace was restored to improve the picture quality and remove the magnification present on the previous DVD release, restoring approximately 8 percent of the picture to the frame. In the Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, the Yoda puppet was replaced with a CGI model, making it consistent with the other films of the prequel trilogy. \n\nOn April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released The Phantom Menace through the iTunes Store, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015. \n\n3D re-release\n\nOn September 28, 2010, it was announced that all six films in the series would be stereo-converted to 3D. These would be re-released in episode order, beginning with The Phantom Menace, which was released to cinemas in February 2012. Prime Focus Limited did the conversion under close supervision by ILM. However, the 3D re-releases of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith were postponed after Lucasfilm was bought by The Walt Disney Company, which decided to focus on the development of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. \n\nLucas stated the 3D re-release was \"just a conversion\" of the film's 2011 Blu-ray release and no additional changes were made. Only a change to Anakin's magnetic wand during the podrace sceneits tip was sharpened to more accurately fit the original 2D photography to the new 3D imagewas confirmed. \n\nNovelization\n\nReception\n\nCritical reception\n\nThe review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 56% \"rotten\" approval rating with an average score of 6/10 based on 212 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads \"Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters, The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy – albeit visually dazzling – start.\" On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating \"mixed or average reviews\". On both sites, it is the lowest-rated film in the Star Wars film series, excluding the animated feature The Clone Wars.\n\nMany aspects of the scripting were criticized, especially that of the character Jar Jar Binks, who was regarded by many members of the older fan community as toyetica merchandising opportunity rather than a serious character. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described Binks as \"a major miscue, a comic-relief character who's frankly not funny.\" Drew Grant of Salon.com wrote \"Perhaps the absolute creative freedom director George Lucas enjoyed while dreaming up the flick's 'comic' reliefwith no studio execs and not many an independently minded actor involvedis a path to the dark side.\" \n\nRed Letter Media produced a highly critical 70 minute video review narrated by a fictional \"Harry S. Plinkett\", which went into great detail on the perceived flaws of the film that went viral and received over 5 million views. Among the many criticisms was the assertion that the film lacked basic structure, such as having a protagonist. \n\nConversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it \"an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking\" and said \"Lucas tells a good story.\" Ebert also wrote that \"If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that's inevitable\" because it is the opening film in the new trilogy. He concluded his review by saying that rather than Star Trek films, filmmakers could \"[g]ive me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day.\" Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a \"B\" gradeand complimented Liam Neeson's performance and the action scenes. In an Entertainment Weekly review for the DVD release, Marc Bernardin gave the film a \"C-\", calling it \"haplessly plotted, horribly written, and juvenile\". ReelViews' James Berardinelli wrote:Looking at the big picture, in spite of all its flaws, The Phantom Menace is still among the best \"bang for a buck\" fun that can be had in a movie theater. It isn't as fresh as the original Star Wars nor does it have the thematic richness and narrative complexity of The Empire Strikes Back, but it is a distinct improvement over Return of the Jedi. In fact, after Return of the Jedi, I didn't have a burning desire to return to this galaxy 'far, far away', but, with The Phantom Menace, Lucas has revived my interest. Now, it's with genuine regret that I realize the next segment of the series is three long years away. \n\nAndrew Johnston of Time Out New York wrote \"Let's face it: no film could ever match the expectations some have for Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Which isn't to say it's a disappointment: on the contrary, it's awesomely entertaining, provided you accept it on its own terms ... Like the original film, it's a Boy's Own adventure yarn with a corny but irresistible spiritual subtext. The effects and production design are stunning, but they always serve the story, not the other way around.\" Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said the film did \"plenty right\" and praised the characters Darth Maul and Watto. David Cornelius of efilmcritic.com said the film's better moments \"don't merely balance out the weaker onesthey topple them.\" Colin Kennedy of Empire magazine said that despite problems with pacing and writing, \"there is still much pleasure to be had watching our full-blown Jedi guides in action.\" He praised the visuals and Liam Neeson's performance, and said the duel between Darth Maul and the Jedi was \"the saga's very best lightsaber battle\". \n\nEmpire magazine ranked The Phantom Menace on its list of \"500 Greatest Movies Of All Time\", while Entertainment Weekly and Comcast included the film on their lists of the worst movie sequels. James Berardinelli wrote \"The Phantom Menace was probably the most overhyped motion picture of the last decade (if not longer), and its reputation suffered as a result of its inability to satisfy unreasonable expectations.\" William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer agreed that the film's massive hype caused many of the negative reactions, saying \"it built expectations that can't possibly be matched and scuttled [the] element of storytelling surprise.\" He also said the film was \"well made and entertaining\" and was much better than similar box office fare released around that year, such as The Mummy and The Matrix. \n\nThe introduction of midi-chloriansmicroscopic organisms that mediate use of the Forcein the film has been controversial among fans. Some viewed it as a concept that negates the Force's spiritual quality, although the film still portrays the Force as a mysterious entity using the midi-chlorians to communicate with living beings. Film historian Daniel Dinello says \"Anathema to Star Wars fanatics who thought they reduced the Force to a kind of viral infection, midi-chlorians provide a biological interface, the link between physical bodies and spiritual energy.\" Religion expert John D. Caputo writes \"In the 'Gospel according to Lucas', a world is conjured up in which the intractable oppositions that have tormented religious thinkers for centuries are reconciled ... The gifts that the Jedi masters enjoy have a perfectly plausible scientific basis, even if its ways are mysterious: their bodily cells have a heavier than usual concentration of 'midi-chlorians'.\"\n\nAfter the film's release, there was controversy over whether several alien characters reflect racial stereotypes. For example, the oafish, slow-witted Jar Jar Binks had long droopy ears reminiscent of dreadlocks and spoke with what many perceived as a Caribbean patois reminiscent of Jamaican Creole. The greedy and corrupt Neimoidians of the Trade Federation spoke with East Asian accents and the unprincipled trader Watto has been interpreted as a Jewish stereotype reminiscent of Charles Dickens' character Fagin. Lucas has denied all of these implications, instead criticizing the American media for using opinions from the Internet as a reliable source for news stories. Lucas added that it reflected more the racism of the commenters than it does the movie; however, animator Rob Coleman said he viewed footage of Alec Guinness as Fagin in Oliver Twist to inspire his animators in the creation of Watto. One critic described Jar Jar Binks as \"[s]ervile and cowardly ... a black minstrel-ish stereotype on par with Stepin Fetchit.\" Michael Eric Dyson, professor of African-American studies at Georgetown University, said the entire Gungan people seem oddly suggestive of a primitive African tribe. Dyson said \"The leader of Jar Jar's tribe is a fat, bumbling buffoon with a rumbling voice, and he seems to be a caricature of a stereotypical African tribal chieftain.\" \n\nBox office performance\n\nDespite its mixed critical reception, The Phantom Menace was a financial success, breaking many box office records in its debut. It broke The Lost World: Jurassic Parks records for the largest single-day gross for taking more than in the opening day and fastest to gross in five days. It also became the quickest film to reach the and marks, surpassing Independence Day (1996) and Titanic (1997) respectively. The Phantom Menace was 1999's most successful film, earning in North America and in other territories, taking worldwide. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 84.8 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run. At that time, the film was the third highest-grossing film in North America behind Titanic and Star Wars (1977), and the second highest-grossing film worldwide behind Titanic without adjusting for inflation of ticket prices. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, it ranked as the 19th-highest-grossing film domestically, making it the fourth Star Wars film to be in the Inflation-Adjusted Top 20. Outside North America, the film grossed over in Australia (), Brazil (), France and Algeria (), Germany (), Italy (), Japan (), Mexico (), Spain (), and the United Kingdom and Ireland (). \n\nAfter its 3D re-release in 2012, the worldwide box office gross exceeded . Although in the intervening years, the film had lost some of its rankings in the lists of highest-grossing films, the 3D re-release returned it to the worldwide all-time Top 10 for several months. In North America, its revenues overtook those of the original Star Wars as the saga's highest-grossing film when not adjusting for inflation of ticket prices, and is currently the fifth highest-grossing film in North America. In North America, its ranking on the Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation list climbed to 16th placeone place behind Return of the Jedi. The 3D re-release, which premiered in February 2012, earned of which was in North Americaworldwide. , the 3D re-release has earned US$ worldwideincluding $43.5 million in North Americaand has increased the film's overall box office takings to domestically, and in other territories. The film's earnings exceeded worldwide on February 22, 2012, making it the first Star Wars film and the 11th film in historyexcluding inflationto do so.\n\nAccolades\n\nThe Phantom Menace was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Mixing (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Shawn Murphy, and John Midgley); all of which went to The Matrix. The film won Saturn Awards for Best Costumes and Best Special Effects, the MTV Movie Award for Best Action Scene, and a Young Artist Award for Jake Lloyd's performance. It was also nominated foramong othersthe BAFTAs for Visual Effects and Sound, and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. The film did however received seven Golden Raspberry Award (Razzie) nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Jake Lloyd as Anakin), Worst Supporting Actress (Sofia Coppola as Saché), Worst Screen Couple (Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman), and Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best won the Worst Supporting Actor category.",
"Star Wars (Episode 1): The Phantom Menace | Reelviews ...\nStar Wars (Episode 1): The Phantom Menace (United States, 1999) A movie review by James Berardinelli\nStar Wars (Episode 1): The Phantom Menace | Reelviews Movie Reviews\nArray ( [page] => reelviews [view] => star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace )\nStar Wars (Episode 1): The Phantom Menace (United States, 1999)\nA movie review by James Berardinelli\nWhen George Lucas first conceived the idea for Star Wars , it was just a movie. Over the course of 22 years, it has grown into a full-blown phenomenon - an event that gives promoters orgasmic shivers and makes theater employees wish they could take a week off. When it comes to unbridled anticipation generated by the release of a film, The Phantom Menace has antecedents. Gone with the Wind was the entertainment event of the '30s. Goldfinger was so popular that some movie houses stayed open 24 hours a day to meet demand. And Star Trek: The Motion Picture had Trekkies and Trekkers standing in lines for hours on end. Yet, in terms of both intensity and widespread interest, the motion picture industry has never seen anything like this before, nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future (not even in 3 years, when the next Star Wars movie is released). The hype has dwarfed the film, reducing it to a cultural footnote. Even Lucas, who will reap the majority of The Phantom Menace's financial windfall, is concerned. In New York on May 9, he was quoted as saying, \"People should have a well-rounded life. I'm happy that Star Wars stimulates young people's imagination... but when you get a situation like this where you have so much hype and expectation, a movie can't possibly live up to that.\"\nIndeed, when you get right down to it, The Phantom Menace is a movie, and can be treated as such. Those who have camped out at a theater box office for three-plus weeks may disagree, as may those who have spent $500 on an advance charity screening, but, in the end, everyone will be doing the same thing, regardless of whether they're the first admission or the last: sitting in a darkened theater, staring at the screen, and absorbing the sounds and images that represents the vision of a film maker who has left an indelible imprint upon two generations of movie-goers. Consideration of the movie, with its strengths and weaknesses, deserves to be divorced from an analysis of the Star Wars phenomenon. This is not the greatest film ever made, as some fans would have you believe, nor does it signal the death knell of artistic motion pictures, as high-brow critic-prophets cry out.\nSo what about the movie? How close does it come to meeting the astronomical expectations placed upon it by a frenzied fandom and a curious public? The best place to start is with the storyline, which does an effective job of fulfilling its three-fold purpose: telling a self-contained tale set in the Star Wars universe, setting up the first trilogy, and remaining faithful to the previously-established mythos. We already know how everything ends. Now it's time to learn how it all begins. The Phantom Menace starts in familiar fashion: the Lucasfilm logo materializes, followed by the words \"Star Wars\", then the introductory crawl - all are done in accompaniment to John Williams' score. It's the kind of opening that brings a twinge of nostalgia to those of us who were there, in theaters, in 1977.\nJedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor, keeping his clothes on throughout), are on a diplomatic mission to the planet Naboo, where they hope to negotiate the end to a blockade of the planet organized by the Trade Federation. When they arrive, however, they find themselves caught in a trap sprung by the mysterious Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid), who is making a play to take control of the Galactic Republic. After surviving an attempt on their lives in a planet-orbiting space station, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan end up on the ground in the midst of an invasion by an army of droids. After meeting the amphibious Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), they move to save Naboo's teenage ruler, Queen Amidala, from possible execution. That involves taking her and her retinue (including her favorite squat droid, R2-D2) into space. From Naboo, the action moves to the desert planet of Tatooine, where the two Jedi encounter young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a slave child with amazing potential in the Force, then to the capital world of the Republic, and finally back to Naboo. Meanwhile, Darth Maul (Ray Park), Sidious' minion, is tracking the Jedi with dire intentions.\nEven though this film takes place some forty years before Star Wars, there are plenty of familiar faces. In addition to R2-D2 (again played by Kenny Baker), an \"unfinished\" C-3PO (voice provided by Anthony Daniels) is around for a segment of the story. Jabba the Hut has a brief cameo, and Yoda is in a couple of scenes. There's also Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious, who will eventually become Return of the Jedi 's Emperor Palpatine. And new actors are on hand to play the familiar parts of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness in the original) and Anakin Skywalker.\nPlot-wise, the film borrows a lot, at least in terms of structure, from Return of the Jedi. After a rousing opening sequence, things slow down for a while. Then, on Tatooine, there's an amazing racing sequence featuring \"pod\" space ships. Finally, the film concludes with three separate, simultaneous story threads all building to a climax. The martial arts-influenced light saber duel between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan is the best that The Phantom Menace has to offer - a virtuoso action sequence directed with skill and understanding of what an audience craves from this sort of confrontation. Those looking for influences will find that Lucas draws from sources as diverse as TV sports commentary and religious traditions (there's a \"Chosen One\" - not Keanu Reeves - and a virgin birth). Attempts to provide a more scientific explanation for the Force are ineffective, however. Ben Kenobi's quick tutorial in the original Star Wars should have been allowed to stand on its own. Adding physics to the metaphysical doesn't work.\nThe Star Wars movies have always relied on the nobility of heroes and the nastiness of villains, and The Phantom Menace is no exception. As Qui-Gon, Liam Neeson brings an unforced nobility to his performance, while Ewan McGregor injects a sense of recklessness into his portrayal of Obi-Wan. Neither is an earthshaking acting job, but the two accomplished thespians are doing more than simply reacting to special effects. On the other side of the Force is Ray Park's Darth Maul (he of the black-and-orange painted face), who doesn't say much, but compensates with menacing stares and quick reflexes. Ian McDiarmid makes for a more chilling villain, even though his Darth Sidious stays in the shadows.\nThe other characters are a mixed bag. Jake Lloyd's performance as Anakin has been criticized in some circles, but that seems a little unfair. He's enthusiastic, but not polished, and, while there are scenes in which he strikes the wrong note, there are also instances when he's good. Natalie Portman, easily one of today's best young actresses, isn't given much to work with; she's too often in the background (although a couple of her scenes with Lloyd are effective at suggesting a deepening bond). The best performance belongs to Swedish actress Pernilla August (The Best Intentions, Fanny & Alexander), who gives a quiet, dignified portrayal as Anakin's mother. Ahmed Best plays Jar Jar Binks, a computer generated mistake included primarily for comic relief. He will amuse children but annoy adults. Finally, well-respected actors Terrence Stamp and Samuel L. Jackson have welcome cameos.\nPlainly, this is not an actors' movie and the director, George Lucas (at the helm for the first time since the original Star Wars), is not an actors' director. Lucas' forte is in creating worlds and pushing the special effects envelope, and, in both of those areas, The Phantom Menace doesn't just meet expectations - it exceeds them. For the most part, Lucas' vision isn't limited to putting spectacular visuals on screen for the purpose of creating a momentary sense of awe. His intention is to craft a wonderful, weird, vast universe that we can experience in a way that no other movie has been able to offer.\nThe Phantom Menace is a testimony to how far special effects have come. Does Lucas overdo it? Yes. Every scene is crammed with as many aliens, otherworldly creatures, and CGI synthetics as space will allow. Sometimes, it's breathtaking, but there are occasions when Lucas seems to be saying, \"See! Look what I can do!\" Another problem with the aliens is that some of them are too silly to be convincing, as if the director was placing added emphasis on capturing the adulation of the under-10 audience (something he probably already has). Jar Jar Binks is the most glaring example. He's irritating, and obviously a special effect.\nIt's in set design that this film triumphs unquestionably. There's a gorgeously rendered submerged city on Naboo, underwater canyons filled with increasingly grotesque and dangerous sea monsters, and a Coliseum-like stadium on Tatooine. Then there's Coruscant, the Republic's capital - a planet where the single city encompasses the entire globe. Views of the world, with soaring skyscrapers and a sky clogged with small spaceships, are as visually stunning as anything to have been shown on screen before. The enormous council chamber where Queen Amidala makes a plea for her people is equally impressive.\nWhen it comes to action sequences, The Phantom Menace is not lacking. There are several battles involving light sabers, the pod race on Tatooine (which clearly owes a debt to the chariot race in Ben Hur), a climactic space battle that echoes the ending of both Star Wars and Return of the Jedi, and an enormously complex war between two completely computer-generated opponents. Lucas has said that The Phantom Menace contains a hard-to-conceive 2000 special effects shots, and the final product makes it apparent that there's probably not a scene in which a computer didn't make some contribution.\nIn many ways, the music for Star Wars has been as important and enduring as the images. The title theme is as instantly recognizable as a picture of Darth Vader's mask, and the soundtracks for the first three movies have been huge sellers (The Phantom Menace CD will doubtlessly surpass them all). Despite not having composed a Star Wars score in 16 years, John Williams doesn't miss a beat, incorporating familiar notes and new material into a cohesive whole that provides the perfect, epic musical background to the film. Williams' approach also provides foreshadowing. Every time Darth Sidious appears, we hear strains of the \"Emporer's Theme\" from Return of the Jedi. And \"Darth Vader's Theme\" is used just once (and then only briefly and in a muted fashion) - when Yoda and Obi-Wan are speaking about Anakin's future.\nLooking at the big picture, in spite of all its flaws, The Phantom Menace is still among the best \"bang for a buck\" fun that can be had in a movie theater. It isn't as fresh as the original Star Wars nor does it have the thematic richness and narrative complexity of The Empire Strikes Back , but it is a distinct improvement over Return of the Jedi. In fact, after Return of the Jedi, I didn't have a burning desire to return to this galaxy \"far, far away,\" but, with The Phantom Menace, Lucas has revived my interest. Now, it's with genuine regret that I realize the next segment of the series is three long years away.\nSome will doubtlessly worry that The Phantom Menace will accelerate the conversion of movie theaters into giant arcades. And, while it's true that special effects-driven movies can be the bane of the industry, The Phantom Menace has far more going for it in terms of heart, plot, and human interest than the likes of Armageddon and Godzilla. This is not a mindless blockbuster designed solely to make a killing at the box office. Lucas, already wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice, is hopefully beyond that (not that he'll refuse the money...). What he has done with The Phantom Menace is to satisfy an artistic craving, and it shows in almost every frame. The director's vision and reverence for his own creation are the two key elements that differentiate this movie from 95% of the others with similar $100 million-plus budgets.\nThe bottom line? Well, nearly everyone reading this review either has already seen or is going to see the film. It doesn't matter what any critic has to say; but, for what it's worth, you can proceed to the theater with a recommendation from this corner. The Phantom Menace is not a masterpiece, but it's an example of how imagination, craftsmanship, and technological bravura can fashion superior entertainment out of something that is far from flawless.\nStar Wars (Episode 1): The Phantom Menace (United States, 1999)",
"Star_Wars.txt\nStar Wars\nStar Wars is an American epic space opera media franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters \"a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away\".\n\nThe franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars, (subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981) by 20th Century Fox, which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans in comparison to the original trilogy. A sequel trilogy is also currently being produced with the first installment as The Force Awakens (2015). All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, as well as being commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $6.46 billion, making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series. \n\nThe series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe, rebranded in April 2014 as Star Wars Legends—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series's fictional universe. The Clone Wars film, television series of the same name, the Rebels television series, and the anthology films lie outside of the Legends banner and comprise part of the Star Wars official canon alongside the film trilogies. Star Wars holds a Guinness World Records title for the \"Most successful film merchandising franchise.\" In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales. \n\nIn 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced three new Star Wars films; the first film of that trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was released in 2015. 20th Century Fox retains the physical distribution rights to the first two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original 1977 film and holding the rights to Episodes I–III, V and VI until May 2020. Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, excluding A New Hope. \n\nSetting\n\nThe events depicted in the Star Wars franchise take place in a fictional galaxy. Many species of alien creatures (often humanoid) are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are generally built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a single galactic government. In the prequel trilogy, this is depicted in the form of the Galactic Republic; at the end of the prequel trilogy and throughout the original trilogy, this government is the Galactic Empire. Preceding and during the sequel trilogy, this government is the New Republic.\n\nOne of the prominent elements of Star Wars is \"the Force\", an omnipresent energy that can be harnessed by those with that ability, known as Force-sensitives. It is described in the first produced film as \"an energy field created by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, [and] binds the galaxy together.\" The Force allows users to perform various supernatural feats (such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control) and can amplify certain physical traits, such as speed and reflexes; these abilities vary between characters and can be improved through training. While the Force can be used for good, known as the light side, it also has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence.\n\nThe seven films feature the Jedi, who adhere to the light side of the Force to serve as peacekeepers and guardians, and the Sith, who use the dark side of the Force for evil in an attempt to destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic and rule the galaxy for themselves.\n\nTheatrical films\n\nThe first film in the series, Star Wars, was released on May 25, 1977. This was followed by two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983. The opening crawl of the sequels disclosed that they were numbered as \"Episode V\" and \"Episode VI\" respectively, though the films were generally advertised solely under their subtitles. Though the first film in the series was simply titled Star Wars, with its 1981 re-release it had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to remain consistent with its sequel, and to establish it as the middle chapter of a continuing saga.\n\nIn 1997, to correspond with the 20th anniversary of the original film, Lucas released a \"Special Edition\" of the Star Wars trilogy to theaters. The re-release featured alterations to the three films, primarily motivated by the improvement of CGI and other special effects technologies, which allowed visuals that were not possible to achieve at the time of the original filmmaking. Lucas continued to make changes to the films for subsequent releases, such as the first ever DVD release of the original trilogy on September 21, 2004, and the first ever Blu-ray release of all six films on September 16, 2011. Reception of the Special Edition was mixed, prompting petitions and fan edits to produce restored copies of the original trilogy. \n\nMore than two decades after the release of the original film, the series continued with a prequel trilogy; consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace, released on May 19, 1999; Episode II: Attack of the Clones, released on May 16, 2002; and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, released on May 19, 2005. On August 15, 2008, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released theatrically as a lead-in to the animated TV series of the same name. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released on December 18, 2015.\n\nOn January 26, 2016, Variety reported that Disney executives were meeting with cable outlets Turner, FX Networks, Viacom, NBCUniversal, A&E Networks and AMC Networks to have a discussion on purchasing the free-TV rights to the first six Star Wars movies. \n\nSaga films\n\nAnthology films\n\nAnimated film\n\nPlot overview\n\nOriginal trilogy\n\nThe original trilogy begins with the Galactic Empire nearing completion of the Death Star space station, which will allow the Empire to crush the Rebel Alliance, an organized resistance formed to combat Emperor Palpatine's tyranny. Palpatine's Sith apprentice Darth Vader captures Princess Leia, a member of the rebellion who has stolen the plans to the Death Star and hidden them in the astromech droid R2-D2. R2, along with his protocol droid counterpart C-3PO, escapes to the desert planet Tatooine. There, the droids are purchased by farm boy Luke Skywalker and his step-uncle and aunt. While Luke is cleaning R2, he accidentally triggers a message put into the droid by Leia, who asks for assistance from the legendary Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke later assists the droids in finding the exiled Jedi, who is now passing as an old hermit under the alias Ben Kenobi. When Luke asks about his father, whom he has never met, Obi-Wan tells him that Anakin Skywalker was a great Jedi who was betrayed and murdered by Vader. Obi-Wan and Luke hire the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to take them to Alderaan, Leia's home world, which they eventually find has been destroyed by the Death Star. Once on board the space station, Luke and Han rescue Leia while Obi-Wan allows himself to be killed during a lightsaber duel with Vader; his sacrifice allows the group to escape with the plans that help the Rebels destroy the Death Star. Luke himself (guided by the power of the Force) fires the shot that destroys the deadly space station during the Battle of Yavin.\n\nThree years later, Luke travels to find the Jedi Master Yoda, now living in exile on the swamp-infested world of Dagobah, to begin his Jedi training. However, Luke's training is interrupted when Vader lures him into a trap by capturing Han and his friends at Cloud City. During a fierce lightsaber duel, Vader reveals that he is Luke's father and attempts to turn him to the dark side of the Force. Luke escapes and, after rescuing Han from the gangster Jabba the Hutt, returns to Yoda to complete his training; only to find the 900-year-old Jedi Master on his deathbed. Before he dies, Yoda confirms that Vader is Luke's father. Moments later, the Force ghost of Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must confront his father once again before he can become a Jedi, and that Leia is his twin sister.\n\nAs the Rebels attack the second Death Star, Luke engages Vader in another lightsaber duel as the Emperor watches; both Sith Lords intend to turn Luke to the dark side and take him as their apprentice. During the duel, Luke succumbs to his anger and brutally overpowers Vader, but controls himself at the last minute; realizing that he is about to suffer his father's fate, he spares Vader's life and proudly declares his allegiance to the Jedi. An enraged Palpatine then attempts to kill Luke with Force lightning, a sight that moves Vader to turn and kill the Emperor, suffering mortal wounds in the process. Redeemed, Anakin Skywalker dies in his son's arms. Luke becomes a full-fledged Jedi, and the Rebels destroy the second Death Star. \n\nPrequel trilogy\n\nThe prequel trilogy begins 32 years before the original film, with the corrupt Trade Federation setting up a blockade of battleships around the planet Naboo. The Sith Lord Darth Sidious had secretly planned the blockade to give his alter ego, Senator Palpatine, a pretense to overthrow and replace the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. At the Chancellor's request, the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi, are sent to Naboo to negotiate with the Federation. However, the two Jedi are forced to instead help the Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, escape from the blockade and plead her planet's crisis before the Republic Senate on Coruscant. When their starship is damaged during the escape, they land on Tatooine for repairs, where Qui-Gon discovers a nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon comes to believe that Anakin is the \"Chosen One\" foretold by Jedi prophecy to bring balance to the Force, and he helps liberate the boy from slavery. The Jedi Council, led by Yoda, reluctantly allows Obi-Wan to train Anakin after Qui-Gon is killed by Palpatine's first apprentice, Darth Maul, during the Battle of Naboo. \n\nThe remainder of the prequel trilogy, set a decade later, chronicles Anakin's gradual descent to the dark side as he fights in the Clone Wars, which Palpatine secretly engineers to destroy the Jedi Order and lure Anakin into his service. Anakin and Padmé fall in love and secretly wed, and eventually Padmé becomes pregnant. Anakin has a prophetic vision of Padmé dying in childbirth, and Palpatine convinces him that the dark side of the Force holds the power to save her life. Desperate, Anakin submits to Palpatine's Sith teachings and is renamed Darth Vader.\n\nWhile Palpatine re-organizes the Republic into the tyrannical Empire, Vader participates in the extermination of the Jedi Order, culminating in a lightsaber duel between himself and Obi-Wan on the volcanic planet Mustafar. Obi-Wan defeats his former apprentice and friend, severing his limbs and leaving him to burn to death on the shores of a lava flow. Palpatine arrives shortly afterward and saves Vader by placing him into a mechanical black mask and suit of armor that serves as a permanent life support system. At the same time, Padmé dies while giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan and Yoda, now the only remaining Jedi alive, agree to separate the twins and keep them hidden from both Vader and the Emperor; until the time comes when Anakin's children can be used to help overthrow the Empire.\n\nSequel trilogy\n\nApproximately 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, has vanished. The First Order has risen from the fallen Empire and seeks to destroy Luke and the New Republic, while the Resistance, a small force backed by the Republic and led by the former princess of Alderaan, General Leia Organa, opposes them. On the planet Jakku, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron obtains a map that leads to Luke's location. Stormtroopers under the command of Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and Leia, capture Poe. His droid BB-8 escapes with the map and encounters a scavenger, Rey. Ren tortures Poe and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187 finds himself unable to kill for the First Order, and he frees Poe. The two escape in a TIE fighter; Poe dubs FN-2187 \"Finn\". They crash on Jakku, and Poe appears to die in the process. Finn encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order locates them, so they escape the planet in a stolen ship: the Millennium Falcon. After leaving Jakku, the Falcon is recaptured by Han Solo and Chewbacca, who have stepped away from the Resistance and resumed their lives as smugglers. The five companions travel to Takodana to meet with Maz Kanata. While there, Rey finds the lightsaber that previously belonged Anakin and Luke Skywalker, and upon touching it, brushes with the Force. Maz's castle is attacked by the First Order. Finn, Han, and Chewbacca are saved by a group of Resistance pilots led by Poe, who survived the crash on Jakku, but Rey is captured by Ren and taken to Starkiller Base. After reuniting with Leia and the Resistance on D'Qar, Han, Finn, and Chewbacca travel to Starkiller Base to free Rey and disable the planet's shields, which will allow Resistance pilots to destroy it. Rey is tortured by Ren, but her Force sensitivity allows her to resist him. She escapes by using a Jedi mind trick on her guard and reunites with Han, Finn, and Chewbacca, but the group encounters Ren. Han confronts his son, calling him by his birth name, Ben Solo, and asking him to come home. Ren momentarily appears to be swayed towards the light side, but then ignites his lightsaber and kills Han. Resistance pilots begin to bombard the base. Finn and Rey escape the base and encounter Ren. Finn takes up Anakin's lightsaber, only to be badly wounded by Ren. Rey Force pulls the lightsaber to her, and fights and wounds Ren, but the two are separated by a rift. Rey, Finn, and Chewbacca escape the imploding planet on the Falcon and return to the Resistance. A wounded Finn stays on D'Qar, while Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 use the map to find Luke Skywalker on the planet Ahch-To, where Rey presents a silent Luke with his old lightsaber.\n\nThemes\n\nThe stormtroopers from the movies share a name with the Nazi stormtroopers (see also Sturmabteilung). Imperial officers' uniforms also resemble some historical German Army uniforms (see Wehrmacht) and the political and security officers of the Empire resemble the black clad SS down to the imitation silver death's head insignia on their officer's caps. World War II terms were used for names in Star Wars; examples include the planets Kessel (a term that refers to a group of encircled forces), Hoth (Hermann Hoth was a German general who served on the snow laden Eastern Front), and Tatooine (Tataouine - a province south of Tunis in Tunisia, roughly where Lucas filmed for the planet; Libya was a WWII arena of war). Palpatine being Chancellor before becoming Emperor mirrors Adolf Hitler's role as Chancellor before appointing himself Dictator. The Great Jedi Purge alludes to the events of The Holocaust, the Great Purge, the Cultural Revolution, and the Night of the Long Knives. In addition, Lucas himself has drawn parallels between Palpatine and his rise to power to historical dictators such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler. The final medal awarding scene in A New Hope, however, references Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. The space battles in A New Hope were based on filmed World War I and World War II dogfights. \n\nContinuing the use of Nazi inspiration for the Empire, J. J. Abrams, the director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has said that the First Order, an Imperial offshoot which will possibly serve as the main antagonist of the sequel trilogy, is also inspired by another aspect of the Nazi regime. Abrams spoke of how several Nazis fled to Argentina after the war and he claims that the concept for the First Order came from conversations between the scriptwriters about what would have happened if they had started working together again. \n\nAside from its well known science fictional technology, Star Wars features elements such as knighthood, chivalry, and princesses that are related to archetypes of the fantasy genre. The Star Wars world, unlike fantasy and science-fiction films that featured sleek and futuristic settings, was portrayed as dirty and grimy. Lucas' vision of a \"used future\" was further popularized in the science fiction-horror films Alien, which was set on a dirty space freighter; Mad Max 2, which is set in a post-apocalyptic desert; and Blade Runner, which is set in a crumbling, dirty city of the future. Lucas made a conscious effort to parallel scenes and dialogue between films, and especially to parallel the journeys of Luke Skywalker with that of his father Anakin when making the prequels.\n\nStar Wars contains many themes of political science that mainly favor democracy over dictatorship. Political science has been an important element of Star Wars since the franchise first launched in 1977. The plot climax of Star Wars is modeled after the fall of the democratic Roman Republic and the formation of an empire. \n\nTechnical information\n\nAll seven films of the Star Wars series were shot in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The original and sequel trilogies were shot with anamorphic lenses. Episodes IV, V, and VII were shot in Panavision, while Episode VI was shot in Joe Dunton Camera (JDC) scope. Episode I was shot with Hawk anamorphic lenses on Arriflex cameras, and Episodes II and III were shot with Sony's CineAlta high-definition digital cameras. \n\nLucas hired Ben Burtt to oversee the sound effects on the original 1977 film. Burtt's accomplishment was such that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with a Special Achievement Award because it had no award at the time for the work he had done. Lucasfilm developed the THX sound reproduction standard for Return of the Jedi. John Williams composed the scores for all seven films. Lucas' design for Star Wars involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important concepts. Williams' Star Wars title theme has become one of the most famous and well-known musical compositions in modern music history. \n\nLucas hired 'the Dean of Special Effects' John Stears, who created R2-D2, Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, the Jedi Knights' lightsabers, and the Death Star. The technical lightsaber choreography for the original trilogy was developed by leading filmmaking sword-master Bob Anderson. Anderson trained actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and performed all the sword stunts as Darth Vader during the lightsaber duels in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, wearing Vader's costume. Anderson's role in the original Star Wars trilogy was highlighted in the film Reclaiming the Blade, where he shares his experiences as the fight choreographer developing the lightsaber techniques for the movies. \n\nProduction history\n\nOriginal trilogy\n\nIn 1971, Universal Studios agreed to make American Graffiti and Star Wars in a two-picture contract, although Star Wars was later rejected in its early concept stages. American Graffiti was completed in 1973 and, a few months later, Lucas wrote a short summary called \"The Journal of the Whills\", which told the tale of the training of apprentice CJ Thorpe as a \"Jedi-Bendu\" space commando by the legendary Mace Windy. Frustrated that his story was too difficult to understand, Lucas then began writing a 13-page treatment called The Star Wars on April 17, 1973, which had thematic parallels with Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. By 1974, he had expanded the treatment into a rough draft screenplay, adding elements such as the Sith, the Death Star, and a protagonist named Annikin Starkiller.\n\nFor the second draft, Lucas made heavy simplifications, and introduced the young hero on a farm as Luke Starkiller. Annikin became Luke's father, a wise Jedi knight. \"The Force\" was also introduced as a mystical energy field. The next draft removed the father character and replaced him with a substitute named Ben Kenobi, and in 1976 a fourth draft had been prepared for principal photography. The film was titled Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars. During production, Lucas changed Luke's name to Skywalker and altered the title to simply The Star Wars and finally Star Wars. \n\nAt that point, Lucas was not expecting the film to become part of a series. The fourth draft of the script underwent subtle changes that made it more satisfying as a self-contained film, ending with the destruction of the Galactic Empire itself by way of destroying the Death Star. However, Lucas had previously conceived of the film as the first in a series of adventures. Later, he realized the film would not in fact be the first in the sequence, but a film in the second trilogy in the saga. This is stated explicitly in George Lucas' preface to the 1994 reissue of Splinter of the Mind's Eye:\n\nThe second draft contained a teaser for a never-made sequel about \"The Princess of Ondos\", and by the time of the third draft some months later Lucas had negotiated a contract that gave him rights to make two sequels. Not long after, Lucas met with author Alan Dean Foster, and hired him to write these two sequels as novels. The intention was that if Star Wars was successful, Lucas could adapt the novels into screenplays. He had also by that point developed an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process.\n\nWhen Star Wars proved successful, Lucas decided to use the film as the basis for an elaborate serial, although at one point he considered walking away from the series altogether. However, Lucas wanted to create an independent filmmaking center—what would become Skywalker Ranch—and saw an opportunity to use the series as a financing agent. Alan Dean Foster had already begun writing the first sequel novel, but Lucas decided to abandon his plan to adapt Foster's work; the book was released as Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following year. At first, Lucas envisioned a series of films with no set number of entries, like the James Bond series. In an interview with Rolling Stone in August 1977, he said that he wanted his friends to each take a turn at directing the films and giving unique interpretations on the series. He also said that the backstory in which Darth Vader turns to the dark side, kills Luke's father and fights Ben Kenobi on a volcano as the Galactic Republic falls would make an excellent sequel.\n\nLater that year, Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write Star Wars II with him. They held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called The Empire Strikes Back. The treatment is similar to the final film, except that Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke. \n\nBrackett finished her first draft in early 1978; Lucas has said he was disappointed with it, but before he could discuss it with her, she died of cancer. With no writer available, Lucas had to write his next draft himself. It was this draft in which Lucas first made use of the \"Episode\" numbering for the films; Empire Strikes Back was listed as Episode II. As Michael Kaminski argues in The Secret History of Star Wars, the disappointment with the first draft probably made Lucas consider different directions in which to take the story. He made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader claims to be Luke's father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the yearlong struggles writing the first film, and quickly wrote two more drafts, both in April 1978. He also took the script to a darker extreme by having Han Solo imprisoned in carbonite and left in limbo.\n\nThis new story point of Darth Vader being Luke's father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that the plot point had ever seriously been considered or even conceived of before 1978, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was separate from Luke's father; there is not a single reference to this plot point before 1978. After writing the second and third drafts of Empire Strikes Back in which the point was introduced, Lucas reviewed the new backstory he had created: Anakin Skywalker was Ben Kenobi's brilliant student and had a child named Luke, but was swayed to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine (who became a Sith and not simply a politician). Anakin battled Ben Kenobi on the site of a volcano and was wounded, but then resurrected as Darth Vader. Meanwhile, Kenobi hid Luke on Tatooine while the Republic became the Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi.\n\nWith this new backstory in place, Lucas decided that the series would be a trilogy, changing Empire Strikes Back from Episode II to Episode V in the next draft. Lawrence Kasdan, who had just completed writing Raiders of the Lost Ark, was then hired to write the next drafts, and was given additional input from director Irvin Kershner. Kasdan, Kershner, and producer Gary Kurtz saw the film as a more serious and adult film, which was helped by the new, darker storyline, and developed the series from the light adventure roots of the first film.\n\nBy the time he began writing Episode VI in 1981 (then titled Revenge of the Jedi), much had changed. Making Empire Strikes Back was stressful and costly, and Lucas' personal life was disintegrating. Burned out and not wanting to make any more Star Wars films, he vowed that he was done with the series in a May 1983 interview with Time magazine. Lucas' 1981 rough drafts had Darth Vader competing with the Emperor for possession of Luke—and in the second script, the \"revised rough draft\", Vader became a sympathetic character. Lawrence Kasdan was hired to take over once again and, in these final drafts, Vader was explicitly redeemed and finally unmasked. This change in character would provide a springboard to the \"Tragedy of Darth Vader\" storyline that underlies the prequels. \n\nPrequel trilogy\n\nAfter losing much of his fortune in a divorce settlement in 1987, Lucas had no desire to return to Star Wars, and had unofficially canceled the sequel trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi. At that point, the prequels were only still a series of basic ideas partially pulled from his original drafts of \"The Star Wars\". Nevertheless, technical advances in the late 1980s and 1990s continued to fascinate Lucas, and he considered that they might make it possible to revisit his 20-year-old material. After Star Wars became popular once again, in the wake of Dark Horse's comic book line and Timothy Zahn's trilogy of novels, Lucas saw that there was still a large audience. His children were older, and with the explosion of CGI technology he was now considering returning to directing. By 1993, it was announced, in Variety among other sources, that he would be making the prequels. He began penning more to the story, now indicating the series would be a tragic one examining Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. Lucas also began to change how the prequels would exist relative to the originals; at first they were supposed to be a \"filling-in\" of history tangential to the originals, but now he saw that they could form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step towards turning the film series into a \"Saga\".\n\nIn 1994, Lucas began writing the screenplay to the first prequel, titled Episode I: The Beginning. Following the release of that film, Lucas announced that he would also be directing the next two, and began work on Episode II, The first draft of Episode II was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, to polish it. Unsure of a title, Lucas had jokingly called the film \"Jar Jar's Great Adventure\". In writing The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas initially decided that Lando Calrissian was a clone and came from a planet of clones which caused the \"Clone Wars\" mentioned by Princess Leia in A New Hope; he later came up with an alternate concept of an army of clone shocktroopers from a remote planet which attacked the Republic and were repelled by the Jedi. The basic elements of that backstory became the plot basis for Episode II, with the new wrinkle added that Palpatine secretly orchestrated the crisis. \n\nLucas began working on Episode III before Attack of the Clones was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles. As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot. Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and his apprentice, Count Dooku, murdered by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side. After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side; he would now turn primarily in a quest to save Padmé's life, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 2004. \n\nLucas often exaggerated the amount of material he wrote for the series; much of it stemmed from the post‐1978 period when the series grew into a phenomenon. Michael Kaminski explained that these exaggerations were both a publicity and security measure. Kaminski rationalized that since the series' story radically changed throughout the years, it was always Lucas' intention to change the original story retroactively because audiences would only view the material from his perspective. When congratulating the producers of the TV series Lost in 2010, Lucas himself jokingly admitted, \"when Star Wars first came out, I didn't know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you've planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories – let's call them homages – and you've got a series\". \n\nSequel trilogy\n\nA sequel trilogy was reportedly planned (Episodes VII, VIII and IX) by Lucasfilm as a sequel to the original Star Wars trilogy (Episodes IV, V and VI), released between 1977 and 1983. While the similarly discussed Star Wars prequel trilogy (Episodes I, II and III) was ultimately released between 1999 and 2005, Lucasfilm and George Lucas had for many years denied plans for a sequel trilogy, insisting that Star Wars is meant to be a six-part series. In , speaking about the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars film, Lucas maintained his status on the sequel trilogy: \"I get asked all the time, 'What happens after Return of the Jedi?,' and there really is no answer for that. The movies were the story of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, and when Luke saves the galaxy and redeems his father, that's where that story ends.\" \n\nIn January 2012, Lucas announced that he would step away from blockbuster films and instead produce smaller arthouse films. Asked whether the criticism he received following the prequel trilogy and the alterations to the original trilogy had influenced his decision to retire, Lucas said: \"Why would I make any more when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?\" \n\nDespite insisting that a sequel trilogy would never happen, George Lucas began working on story treatments for three new Star Wars films in 2011. In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Lucasfilm and announced that Star Wars Episode VII would be released in 2015. Later, it was revealed that the three new upcoming films (Episodes VII-IX) would be based on story treatments that had been written by George Lucas prior to the sale of Lucasfilm. The co-chairman of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy became president of the company, reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn. In addition, Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with franchise creator and Lucasfilm founder Lucas serving as creative consultant. The screenplay for Episode VII was originally set to be written by Michael Arndt, but in October 2013 it was announced that writing duties would be taken over by Lawrence Kasdan and J. J. Abrams. On January 25, 2013, The Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm officially announced J. J. Abrams as Star Wars Episode VIIs director and producer, along with Bryan Burk and Bad Robot Productions. \n\nOn November 20, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg will write and produce Episodes VIII and IX. Kasdan and Kinberg were later confirmed as creative consultants on those films, in addition to writing stand-alone films. In addition, John Williams, who wrote the music for the previous six episodes, has been hired to compose the music for Episodes VII, VIII and IX. \n\nOn March 12, 2015, Lucasfilm announced that Looper director Rian Johnson would direct Episode VIII with Ram Bergman as producer for Ram Bergman Productions. Reports initially claimed Johnson would also direct Episode IX, but it was later confirmed he would write only a story treatment. When asked about Episode VIII in an August 2014 interview, Johnson said \"it's boring to talk about, because the only thing I can really say is, I'm just happy. I don't have the terror I kind of expected I would, at least not yet. I'm sure I will at some point.\" It was originally scheduled to be released on May 26, 2017, but it's delayed for December 15, 2017. J. J. Abrams will serve as executive producer. \n\nAnthology series\n\nOn February 5, 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the development of two stand-alone films, each individually written by Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg. On February 6, Entertainment Weekly reported that Disney is working on two films featuring Han Solo and Boba Fett. Disney CFO Jay Rasulo has described the stand-alone films as origin stories. Kathleen Kennedy explained that the stand-alone films will not crossover with the films of the sequel trilogy, stating, \"George was so clear as to how that works. The canon that he created was the Star Wars saga. Right now, Episode VII falls within that canon. The spin-off movies, or we may come up with some other way to call those films, they exist within that vast universe that he created. There is no attempt being made to carry characters (from the stand-alone films) in and out of the saga episodes. Consequently, from the creative standpoint, it's a roadmap that George made pretty clear.\" In April 2015, Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy announced that the stand-alone films would be referred to as the Star Wars Anthology series. \n\nRogue One\n\nIn May 2014, Lucasfilm announced that Gareth Edwards would direct the first anthology film, to be released on December 16, 2016, with Gary Whitta writing the first draft. On March 12, 2015, the film's title was revealed to be Rogue One with Chris Weitz rewriting the script, with Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn and Diego Luna starring. On April 19, 2015, a teaser trailer was shown exclusively during the closing of the Star Wars Celebration. Lucasfilm also announced that filming would begin in the summer of 2015. The plot will revolve around a group of rebels on a mission to steal the Death Star plans; director Edwards stated, \"It comes down to a group of individuals who don't have magical powers that have to somehow bring hope to the galaxy.\" Additionally, Kathleen Kennedy and Kiri Hart confirmed that the stand-alone films will be labeled as \"anthology films\". Edwards stated that the style of the film will be similar to that of a war film, stating, \"It's the reality of war. Good guys are bad. Bad guys are good. It's complicated, layered; a very rich scenario in which to set a movie.\" \n\nUntitled Han Solo Anthology film\n\nOn July 7, 2015, Lucasfilm announced, via StarWars.com, that a second Anthology film, which \"focuses on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley\", would be released on May 25, 2018. The project will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a script by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan. Kathleen Kennedy will produce the film, Lawrence Kasdan and Jason McGatlin will executive produce, and Will Allegra will co-produce. The Hollywood Reporter stated when reporting the story, that the film is separate to the film that was originally being developed by Josh Trank. That film has now been pushed back to an unconfirmed date. Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Jack Reynor, Scott Eastwood, Logan Lerman, Emory Cohen, Jack O'Connell, Alden Ehrenreich, Taron Egerton and Blake Jenner were among the actors who were in final considerations for the role of Han Solo. The Wrap reported that Chewbacca will appear. On May 5, 2016, Deadline reported that Ehrenreich was cast as Solo in the film, In July 2016, Ehrenreich was confirmed by Kennedy at the Star Wars Celebration. Kasdan has stated that filming will start in January 2017. \n\nUntitled Anthology film\n\nA third Anthology film rumored to focus on Boba Fett will be released in 2020. \n\n3D releases\n\nAt a ShoWest convention in 2005, Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he planned to release the six films in a new 3D film format, beginning with A New Hope in 2007. However, by January 2007, Lucasfilm stated on StarWars.com that \"there are no definitive plans or dates for releasing the Star Wars saga in 3-D.\" At Celebration Europe in July 2007, Rick McCallum confirmed that Lucasfilm was \"planning to take all six films and turn them into 3-D\", but they are \"waiting for the companies out there that are developing this technology to bring it down to a cost level that makes it worthwhile for everybody\". In July 2008, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, revealed that Lucas planned to redo all six of the movies in 3D. In late September 2010, it was announced that The Phantom Menace would be theatrically re-released in 3-D on February 10, 2012. The plan was to re-release all six films in order, with the 3-D conversion process taking up to a year to complete for each film. However, the 3D re-releases of episodes II and III were postponed to enable Lucasfilm to concentrate on Episode VII. \n\nCast and crew\n\nCast\n\nCrew and other\n\nReception\n\nBox office performance\n\nCritical and public response\n\nAcademy Awards\n\nThe seven films together have been nominated for 27 Academy Awards, of which they won seven. The films were also awarded a total of three Special Achievement Awards.\n\nIn other media\n\nThe term Expanded Universe (EU) is an umbrella term for officially licensed Star Wars material outside of the feature films. The material expands the stories told in the films, taking place anywhere from 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace to 140 years after Return of the Jedi. The first Expanded Universe story appeared in Marvel Comics' Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues of the series having been an adaptation of the film), followed quickly by Alan Dean Foster's novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following month. \n\nDespite Disney's acquisition of the product, George Lucas retains artistic control over the Star Wars universe. For example, the death of central characters and similar changes in the status quo requires his approval before authors were allowed to proceed. In addition, Lucasfilm Licensing and the new Lucasfilm Story Group devote efforts to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across companies. Elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Lucas for use in the films, such as the name of capital planet Coruscant, which first appeared in Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire before being used in The Phantom Menace. Additionally, Lucas so liked the character Aayla Secura, who was introduced in Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars series, that he included her as a character in Attack of the Clones. \n\nA radio adaptation of the original 1977 film was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981. The adaptation was written by science fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was followed by adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back in 1983 and Return of the Jedi in 1996. The adaptations included background material created by Lucas but not used in the films. Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams reprised their roles as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Lando Calrissian, respectively, except in Return of the Jedi in which Luke was played by Joshua Fardon and Lando by Arye Gross. The series also used John Williams' original score from the films and Ben Burtt's original sound designs. \n\nWhile Lucasfilm strived to maintain internal consistency between the films and television content with the expanded universe, only the films and the second Clone Wars television series are regarded as absolute canon, since Lucas worked on them directly. On April 25, 2014—anticipating future film installments—the company announced that they had devised a \"story group\" to oversee and co-ordinate all creative development. The first new on-screen canon to be produced will be the television series Star Wars Rebels. Previous EU titles will be reprinted under the \"Legends\" banner. \n\nTelevision series\n\nFollowing the success of the Star Wars films and their subsequent merchandising, several animated television series have been created:\n\n* Star Wars: Droids; also known as Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO, which premiered in September 1985, focused on the travels of R2-D2 and C-3PO as they shift through various owners/masters, and vaguely fills in the gaps between the events of Episode III and Episode IV.\n* Star Wars: Ewoks; also known as Ewoks, was simultaneously released in September 1985 and focused on the adventures of Wicket and various other recognizable Ewok characters from the original trilogy in the years leading up to Episode VI.\n* Star Wars: Clone Wars; an animated micro-series created by Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, etc.), which aired on Cartoon Network from November 2003 to March 2005.\n* Star Wars: The Clone Wars; a CGI-animated series based on the animated film of the same name, which aired on Cartoon Network from October 2008 to March 2013. The final season of the series aired on Netflix in March 2014.\n* Star Wars Rebels; a CGI-animated series set between Episode III and Episode IV, which premiered as a special on Disney Channel and began airing on Disney XD in October 2014. \n* Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles, an animated comedy mini-series that aired on Cartoon Network in 2013 and Disney XD in 2014.\n* Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales, another animated comedy mini-series that aired on Disney XD from July to November 2015. \n* Star Wars Detours, an animated comedy series written by Brendan Hay, who is a writer for the comedy news program The Daily Show, and with creative consulting from the co-creators of Robot Chicken: Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. The series will take place during the original trilogy and the setting will be remote from the front line of war. Following the Disney purchase, this series was put on indefinite hold.\n\nA live-action television project has been in varying stages of development at Lucasfilm since 2005, when George Lucas announced plans for a television series set between the prequel and original trilogies. The proposed series explores criminal and political power struggles in the aftermath of the fall of the Republic. Approximately fifty scripts have been written – Ronald D. Moore was one of the project's enlisted writers – and, as of December 2015, are still in possible development at Lucasfilm. \n\nTelevision films\n\nIn addition to the two trilogies and the The Clone Wars film, several other authorized films have been produced:\n* Star Wars Holiday Special, a 1978 two-hour television special, broadcast only once on CBS and never released to home video. Notable for the introduction of Boba Fett.\n* Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, a 1984 American made-for-TV film—released theatrically overseas.\n* Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, a 1985 American made-for-TV film—released theatrically overseas, sequel to Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure.\n\nLEGO short films\n\n* Lego Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick, a 2005 animated parody short film based on Revenge of the Sith.\n* Lego Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2, a 2009 official comedy spoof primarily based on The Clone Wars film.\n\nLiterature\n\nNovels\n\nStar Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first film, with the 1976 novelization of Star Wars (ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and credited to Lucas). Foster's 1978 novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, was the first Expanded Universe work to be released. In addition to filling in the time between the original 1977 film and The Empire Strikes Back, this additional content greatly expanded the Star Wars timeline before and after the film series. Star Wars fiction flourished during the time of the original trilogy (1977–83) but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1992, however, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy debuted, sparking a new interest in the Star Wars universe. Since then, several hundred tie-in novels have been published by Bantam and Del Rey. A similar resurgence in the Expanded Universe occurred in 1996 with the Steve Perry novel Shadows of the Empire, set in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and accompanying video game and comic book series. \n\nLucasBooks radically changed the face of the Star Wars universe with the introduction of the New Jedi Order series, which takes place some 20 years after Return of the Jedi and stars a host of new characters alongside series originals. For younger audiences, three series have been introduced. The Jedi Apprentice series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his master Qui-Gon Jinn in the years before The Phantom Menace. The Jedi Quest series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker in between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. The Last of the Jedi series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and another surviving Jedi almost immediately, set in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.\n\nFollowing Disney's purchase of the franchise, Disney Publishing Worldwide also announced that Del Rey would publish a new line of canon Star Wars books under the Lucasfilm Story Group being released starting in September on a bi-monthly schedule. The Star Wars Legends banner would be used for those Extended Universe materials that are in print. \n\nComics\n\nMarvel Comics published Star Wars comic book series and adaptations from 1977 to 1986. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, Carmine Infantino, Gene Day, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Chris Claremont, Whilce Portacio, Jo Duffy, and Ron Frenz. The Los Angeles Times Syndicate published a Star Wars newspaper strip by Russ Manning, Goodwin and Williamson with Goodwin writing under a pseudonym. In the late 1980s, Marvel announced it would publish a new Star Wars comic by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. However, in December 1991, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and used it to launch a number of ambitious sequels to the original trilogy instead, including the popular Dark Empire stories. They have since gone on to publish a large number of original adventures set in the Star Wars universe. There have also been parody comics, including Tag and Bink. On January 3, 2014, Marvel Comics—itself a Disney subsidiary since 2009—announced that it would once again publish Star Wars comic books and graphic novels, taking over from Dark Horse, with the first release arriving on January 14, 2015. \n\nVideo games\n\nStar Wars videogames commercialization started in 1982 with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back published for the Atari 2600 by Parker Brothers. Since then, Star Wars has opened the way to a myriad of space-flight simulation games, first-person shooter games, role-playing video games, RTS games, and others.\n\nThe best-selling games so far are the Lego Star Wars and the Battlefront series, with 12 million and 10 million units respectively while the most critically acclaimed is the first Knights of the Old Republic. The most recently released games are Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, for the PS3, PSP, PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii. While The Complete Saga focuses on all six episodes of the series, The Force Unleashed, of the same name of the multimedia project which it is a part of, takes place in the largely unexplored time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope and casts players as Darth Vader's \"secret apprentice\" hunting down the remaining Jedi. The game features a new game engine, and was released on September 16, 2008 in the United States. There are three more titles based on the Clone Wars which were released for the Nintendo DS (Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance) and Wii (Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes).\n\nOn May 5, 2015, Disney announced a follow-up game through Game Informer; Disney Infinity 3.0, for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, iOS, PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in 2015, featuring characters from the Star Wars universe. \n\nBoard games, trading cards, and role-playing games\n\nSince 1977, dozens of board, card, miniature, and tabletop role-playing games, among other types, have been published bearing the Star Wars name, beginning in 1977 with the board game Star Wars: Escape from the Death Star (not to be confused with another board game with the same title, published in 1990). \n\nThree different official tabletop role-playing games have been developed for the Star Wars universe: a version by West End Games in the 1980s and 1990s, one by Wizards of the Coast in the 2000s and one by Fantasy Flight Games in the 2010s.\n\nStar Wars trading cards have been published since the first \"blue\" series, by Topps, in 1977. Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed creator in the United States. Some of the card series are of film stills, while others are original art. Many of the cards have become highly collectible with some very rare \"promos\", such as the 1993 Galaxy Series II \"floating Yoda\" P3 card often commanding US$ 1 000 or more. While most \"base\" or \"common card\" sets are plentiful, many \"insert\" or \"chase cards\" are very rare. From 1995 until 2001, Decipher, Inc. had the license for, created and produced a collectible card game based on Star Wars; the Star Wars Collectible Card Game (also known as SWCCG).\n\nThe board game Risk has been adapted to the series in two editions by Hasbro: and Star Wars Risk: The Clone Wars Edition (2005) and Risk: Star Wars Original Trilogy Edition (2006). From July 25 to August 15, 2013, Disney's online game Club Penguin hosted a \"Star Wars Takeover\" event based on the films. \n\nTheme park attractions\n\nBefore Disney's acquisition of the franchise, George Lucas had established a partnership in 1986 with the company's Walt Disney Imagineering division to create Star Tours, an attraction that opened at Disneyland in 1987. The attraction also had subsequent incarnations at other Disney theme parks worldwide.\n\nThe attractions at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios closed in 2010, at Tokyo Disneyland in 2012, and at Disneyland Paris in 2016 to allow the rides to be converted into Star Tours–The Adventures Continue. The successor attraction opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland in 2011, and Tokyo Disneyland in 2013.\n\nJedi Training: Trials of the Temple is a live show where children are selected to learn the teachings of the Jedi Knights and the Force to become Padawan learners. The show is present at Disney's Hollywood Studios and at the Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland.\n\nFrom 1997 to 2015, Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios park hosted an annual festival, Star Wars Weekends, during specific dates from May to June.\n\nSince August 2014, after Disney bought the Star Wars franchise, the company has expressed plans to expand the franchise's presence in all of their theme parks, which is rumored to include a major Star Wars-themed expansion to Disney's Hollywood Studios. When asked whether or not Disney has an intellectual property franchise that's comparable to Harry Potter at Universal theme parks, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger mentioned Cars and the Disney Princesses, and promised that Star Wars, \"is going to be just that.\" Iger formally announced a 14-acre Star Wars-themed land expansion at the D23 Expo in August 2015. The land—which will debut at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios at an unspecified date—will include two new attractions inspired by the Millennium Falcon and \"a climactic battle between the First Order and the resistance\". The two parks will also host a seasonal Star Wars-themed event entitled Season of the Force, with Disneyland's version beginning in November 16, 2015. Disneyland's version will feature an updated Jedi Training Academy, a seasonal overlay for Space Mountain entitled \"Hyperspace Mountain\", a new scene in Star Tours–The Adventures Continue set on Jakku, and the Star Wars Launch Bay, a new attraction featuring exhibits and meet-and-greets.\n\nCultural impact\n\nIn 1989, the Library of Congress selected the original Star Wars film for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry, as being \"culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.\" Its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was selected in 2010. Despite these callings for archival, it is unclear whether copies of the 1977 and 1980 theatrical sequences of Star Wars and Empire—or copies of the 1997 Special Edition versions—have been archived by the NFR, or indeed if any copy has been provided by Lucasfilm and accepted by the Registry.\n\nBetween 2002 and 2004, museums in Japan, Singapore, Scotland and England showcased the Art of Star Wars, an exhibit describing the process of making the Star Wars trilogy. \n\nIn 2013, Star Wars became the first major motion picture translated into the Navajo language. \n\nFan films\n\nThe Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own non-canon material set in the Star Wars galaxy. In recent years, this has ranged from writing fan-fiction to creating fan films. In 2002, Lucasfilm sponsored the first annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, officially recognizing filmmakers and the genre. Because of concerns over potential copyright and trademark issues, however, the contest was initially open only to parodies, mockumentaries, and documentaries. Fan-fiction films set in the Star Wars universe were originally ineligible, but in 2007 Lucasfilm changed the submission standards to allow in-universe fiction entries. \n\nWhile many fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part of the Star Wars canon. However, the lead character from the Pink Five series was incorporated into Timothy Zahn's 2007 novel Allegiance, marking the first time a fan-created Star Wars character has ever crossed into the official canon. Lucasfilm, for the most part, has allowed but not endorsed the creation of these derivative fan-fiction works, so long as no such work attempts to make a profit from or tarnish the Star Wars franchise in any way. \n\nReligion (Jediism)\n\nThere is a real religion based on Star Wars. Their followers follow a modified version of the Jedi Code, and they believe in the concept of The Force as an energy field of all living things, that penetrates us and bind us together, as is depicted within Star Wars movies, although without the fictional elements such as telekinesis. Many citizens around the world answer list their religion as Jedi during their countries respective Census, among them Australia and New Zealand getting high percentages. A petition in Turkey to build a Jedi Temple within a University, also got international media attention. \n\nOrganisms named after Star Wars characters\n\nCharacters and other fictional elements from Star Wars have inspired several scientific names of organisms. Examples include Midichloria, a genus of bacteria named after the fictional micro-organisms midichlorians associated with the Force, Yoda purpurata, (an acorn worm) and Agathidium vaderi (beetle), and Aptostichus sarlacc, a trapdoor spider named for the sarlacc, the pit-dwelling creature on Tatooine. Other examples include:\n* Han solo Turvey, 2005, a species of trilobite from China. According to the scientific publication, the genus name Han refers to the Han Chinese, and the species name solo to the species being the youngest member of its family found to that date. However, Turvey has stated elsewhere that he named it after Han Solo because some friends dared him to name a species after a Star Wars character. \n* Albunione yoda Markham & Boyko, 2003, an isopod.\n* Darthvaderum, an oribatid mite genus.\n* Polemistus chewbacca and Polemistus vaderi, wasps.\n* Wockia chewbacca Adamski, 2009, a moth\n* Peckoltia greedoi Armbruster, Werneke, & Tan, 2015, a catfish named after Greedo\nParodies of Star Wars\n\nThe Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern American pop culture. Both the films and characters have been parodied in numerous films and television.\n* Notable film parodies of Star Wars include Hardware Wars, a 13-minute 1978 spoof which Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody, and Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks which featured effects done by Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic. \n* Lucasfilm itself made two mockumentaries: Return of the Ewok (1982), about Warwick Davis, who portrayed Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi; and R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002), which depicts R2-D2's \"life story\". \n* There have also been many songs based on, and in, the Star Wars universe. \"Weird Al\" Yankovic recorded two parodies: \"Yoda\", a parody of \"Lola\" by The Kinks; and \"The Saga Begins\", a parody of Don McLean's song \"American Pie\" that retells the events of The Phantom Menace from Obi-Wan Kenobi's perspective. \n* In television, the creators of the Robot Chicken series have produced three television specials satirizing the Star Wars films (\"Robot Chicken: Star Wars\", \"Episode II\", and \"III\"), and are developing an animated comedy series based in the Star Wars universe. The creators of the Family Guy series have also produced three Star Wars specials titled \"Blue Harvest\", \"Something, Something, Something, Dark Side\" and \"It's a Trap!\". Following Disney's accquisistion of the franchise, a Phineas and Ferb parody of Star Wars aired in the summer of 2014. \n* During the 2012 Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, Washington, several prominent cartoon voice actors, consisting of Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Tara Strong and Kevin Conroy, performed a parody reading of A New Hope as a radio play in each of their signature voice roles; i.e. Paulsen and Harnell as Yakko and Wakko Warner from Animaniacs, Strong as Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls and Timmy Turner from The Fairly Oddparents, LaMarche and DiMaggio as Kif Kroker and Bender from Futurama, and Conroy narrating as Batman. \n* When Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system of lasers and missiles meant to intercept incoming ICBMs, the plan was quickly labeled \"Star Wars\", implying that it was science fiction and linking it to Reagan's acting career. According to Frances FitzGerald, Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he \"thought the name was not so bad.\"; \"'Why not?' he said. 'It's a good movie. Besides, the good guys won.'\" This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an \"evil empire\".\n* During the winter of 2015, Chicago based theater company, Under the Gun Theater developed a parody revue which recapped all six of the Star Wars films as a lead up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.Hatch, Megan Horst [http://www.axs.com/celebrate-the-release-of-star-wars-the-force-awakens-in-style-in-chica-70793 Celebrate the release of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ in style in Chicago]. AXS TV. Retrieved on December 3, 2015.",
"Star Trek - Muppet Wiki - Wikia\n... to the opening narration from Star Trek. ... Wars vs Star Trek faux-feud between William Shatner ... Trek and Star Wars franchises called \"The Big Space ...\nStar Trek | Muppet Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nSesamstrasse t-shirt.\nThe Enterprise in Farscape.\nThe Star Trek franchise consists of five live-action (and one animated) TV series and thirteen motion pictures, which boldly go where no one has gone before. The franchise began as a TV series on NBC which ran from 1966 until 1969, and was \"re-booted\" with a successful new feature film series in 2009. The Muppets have spoofed Star Trek on many occasions over the years.\nContents\nReferences\nSesame Street\nSesame Street Episode 3698 is part of a story arc in which Slimey the Worm ventures to the Moon . The episode closes with a mission statement inspired by the narration that begins each episode of Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The space shuttle that takes the worms into space, the wormship Wiggleprise , is also a spoof on Star Trek’s Enterprise.\nSpaceship Surprise on Sesame Street parodied aspects of the original Star Trek, and the later incarnation Spaceship Surprise: The Next Generation specifically spoofed the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.\nA Super Morphin Mega Monsters sketch on Sesame Street features the classic \"door opening\" sound effect used on the original 1960s Star Trek series when Zostic 's minions enter his lair to do his bidding.\nWanda Cousteau 's mission on Sesame Street is a reference to the opening narration from Star Trek. When she announces her mission \"to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations -- to boldly go where no fish has gone before!\"\nPatrick Stewart , famous for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, appeared in a segment with The Count . When The Count has trouble getting a set of Muppet numbers to stay in line, Stewart helps him out by commanding, \"Make it so, Number One!\" This is a reference to an oft-spoken phrase by his Trek character to his first officer. ( YouTube )\nSome German Sesamstrasse merchandise (mainly postcards and posters) has featured Ernie and Bert dressed as Starfleet officers.\nBob greets Elmo and Zoe (who are pretending to be aliens) in Episode 4039 with the Vulcan hand sign while erroneously telling them, \" May the force be with you .\"\nThe narrator in the i-Sam segment of A Sesame Street Christmas Carol states: \"now your holiday will boldly go where no holiday has gone before,\" a reference to the Star Trek title sequence. Santa Claus is shown seated in a captain's chair similar to that of the starship Enterprise, with a reindeer as a crew member. Santa says \"That's Earth. Warp factor three,\" to which the reindeer responds \"Aye, captain.\"\nEpisode 3845 features The Amazing Mumford paraphrasing an oft-quoted line from Star Trek's Dr. McCoy, \"I'm a magician, not a contractor!\"\nWhen fielding a question from the audience at the NASA Tweetup in 2011, Elmo asked astronaut Mike Massimino to define the word exploration: \"It means finding new things, and going someplace no one else has gone before.\" Elmo responded, \"to boldly go where no one has gone before,\" quoting the famous Star Trek narration. [1]\nIn the CD-ROM game, Ernie's Adventures in Space , Bert is seen writing a captain's log (a log-shaped book) and quotes the famous Star Trek lines (\"Captain's Log, Stardate...\")\nWhen Elmo can't count to 10 with his favorite hero Green LanTen at NumericCon in Episode 4504 , Cap-ten Kirk beams in to assist. He speaks in the oft-spoofed cadence made famous by William Shatner's acting style and wears a starfleet uniform from the classic Star Trek series with a 10 on the logo. Asking Elmo if he wants to \"boldly go where no monster has gone before,\" he leads Elmo in a count to 10, the CapTen Kirk way, with dramatic pauses and gestures. Referencing an iconic scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, he leaves shouting, \"I love it here at NumericCOOOOOOONNN!\"\nIn 2015, when Rubber Duckie was returned to Ernie from space via the Orion Flight Test , he exclaims, \"he's been where no duckie has been before!\"\nIn The Furchester Hotel episode \" Power Cut ,\" Funella asks her Scottish husband Furgus to add more lights for a hotel concert. Channeling Scotty, Furgus tells her, \"The hotel power canne take it!\"\nThe Muppets\n\" Pigs in Space \" is the Muppet Show spoof of the original Star Trek series. Sketches take place on the Swinetrek , and stories involve its crew traveling through space to the unknown regions of the universe .\nThe March 1980 cover of Crazy and April 1980 cover of Frantic feature an illustrated crossover involving the Pigs in Space crew and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise ( William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy ) from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.\nIn one installment of The Muppets comic strip (reprinted in Moving Right Along ), Fozzie Bear refers to the daunting task of cleaning his room as \"To boldly go where no bear has gone before!\", a reference to the title sequence of the original Star Trek television series.\nAnother installment of The Muppets comic strip (reprinted in On the Town ) features Dr. Julius Strangepork and First Mate Piggy engaged by \"Clingons,\" a popular joke about Star Trek’s alien race of Klingons.\nThe Summer 1983 issue of Muppet Magazine features what is mostly a Star Wars parody on board a ship resembling the Millennium Falcon. At the end of the comic, the U.S.S. Enterprise shows up to settle an argument with its tractor beam.\nThe 14th volume of \"Gonzo's Weirder Than Me\" column in the Spring 1986 issue of Muppet Magazine features a photo of the alien Balok as seen in the 1960s series episode, \"The Corbomite Maneuver.\" Gonzo comments that it's easy to see why this stunning creature made space a place no man had gone before.\nIn the Winter 1987 issue of Muppet Magazine, Janice reviews Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, commenting that its premise of traveling back in time to 1986 Earth is \"gnarly.\" A photo of William Shatner as Captain Kirk is featured.\nThe Spring 1988 issue of Muppet Magazine featured an interview with Wil Wheaton who was then starring in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Photos of the cast and the Enterprise-D illustrate the article as well as a picture of Wheaton being shipped to the Enterprise in a cardboard box.\nIn the Little Muppet Monsters episode \" Space Cowboys ,\" twice Tug narrates a space log, a common story device in Star Trek. His narrative also mentions ventures into \"strange new worlds.\" Later, Tugs announces \"Let's boldly go where no monsters have gone before!\" Both quotes are references to the title sequence of the original Star Trek television series.\nGonzo appears in the Jim Henson Hour pitch reel and tells Jim Henson , \"Beam me up, Jimmy!\" This is a reference to the oft-parodied, but misquoted, line from the original Star Trek in which Captain Kirk would order chief engineer Mr. Scott to transport the landing party back to the Enterprise.\nThe announcer for the Muppets from Space trailer states, \" Columbia Pictures and Jim Henson Pictures take you where no Muppet has gone before.\"\nThe score for Muppets from Space incorporates Alexander Courage's music for the original Star Trek during a speech made by K. Edgar Singer , which is reminiscent of the voice-over from the original series. In the same scene, Gonzo supporters carry signs that read, \"Beam Me Up, Gonzo,\" another reference to a famously paraphrased line from the original Star Trek series.\nIn the Pigs in Space segment of The Muppet Show Comic Book: On the Road #2, Dr. Julius Strangepork offers a solution for how to get the Swinetrek crew back to normal: \"According to Roddenberry's Theorum, the time-space continuum will snap back into its normal state if a temporal anomaly is introduced, jump-starting the standard timeline.\" As this translates in layman's terms, you just have to make a call on your cell phone. Gene Roddenberry was the creator of Star Trek.\nWhen squire Arthur (Kermit) pulls Excalibur from the stone in Muppet King Arthur #1, the sword catches the sunlight. Slim Wilson remarks, \"Nice lens flare.\" His companion replies, \"Pfft... Like we didn't get enough of those in Star Trek.\" This is a reference to what many critics have called an overuse of lens flares by J.J. Abrams in the 2009 film.\nIn the Muppets Inside CD-ROM game, when Fozzie and Kermit first enter the \"Data-Bus\", Fozzie places a command: \"Ahead, warp factor one, Mr. Sulu.\"\nIn Miss Piggy's Rules , Miss Piggy suggests taping your favorite episode of Oprah over your boyfriend's collection of Star Trek episodes.\nDuring their November 17, 2011 appearance on Good Morning America , Lara Spencer asks the Muppets to weigh in on the Star Wars vs Star Trek faux-feud between William Shatner and Carrie Fisher. Kermit responds that he thinks of himself as a Trekkie.\nContinuing this narrative on August 20, 2014, when asked asked by Entertainment Weekly about Johnny Depp modeling his Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean after Captain Abraham Smollett from Muppet Treasure Island , Kermit replies \"I will tell you that the whole time I was doing Captain Smollett, I was thinking of Patrick Stewart in Star Trek, so I was plagiarizing too.\" [2]\nMuppet Babies\nGonzo presents \"Weirdo Trek\" in \" I Want My Muppet TV! \" using a combination of footage from the 1960s series and featuring the Babies as Star Trek characters. Gonzo plays Mister Weirdo, Kermit as Captain Kirkmit, Rowlf as Dr. Dogbones, Scooter as Scootie, Skeeter as a Spaceship Secondprise crewmember, and Piggy, Beaker, Bunsen and Fozzie as Static Klingons.\nNanny gets a parrot named Polly on loan from the pet store in \" Fine Feathered Enemies .\" The bird speaks various television catchphrases including \"Beam me up, Scotty\" and \"Warp factor nine, Mister Sulu.\"\n\" The Air Conditioner at the End of the Galaxy \" opens with footage of the Enterprise-D and the babies playing their previously-established Star Trek spoof characters. The Secondprise is on its way to the nearest starbase with two Static Klingons (Piggy and Fozzie) as their prisoner.\nIn \" A Punch Line to the Tummy ,\" Baby Scooter is watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and imagines himself floating in space next to the U.S.S. Enterprise-D (Scooter anticipates the arrival of Captain Kirk, however the captain of the ship as featured is Captain Picard).\nIn \" Muppet Babies: The Next Generation ,\" Rowlf travels to the Starship Boobieprise in a phone booth and meets his grandson, Lieutenant Woof (spoofing the Klingon character Worf). When Rowlf expects to find Captain Kirkmit and Mr. Weirdo, Woof explains that they're in The Next Generation now, but beams up the former characters anyway. Scooter appears as Geordi La Forge. Additionally, when the gang thinks Rowlf is playing charades, Skeeter guesses \"the bath of Kahn\".\nThe Muppet Babies comic book #2 features a spoof of both Star Trek and Star Wars franchises called \"The Big Space Adventure.\" Baby Piggy appears in a Princess Leia costume, while the rest of the babies play her loyal crew in classic Star Trek uniforms, including an upside-down arrowhead badge, reminiscent of the Star Trek logo.\nThe Muppet Babies comic book #13 included a Star Trek story, \"Out of This World\". The story featured Kermit as Captain Kermit, Gonzo as Spock, Rowlf as Scotty, Scooter and Skeeter as Sulu and Chekov, and Piggy as a space princess. The Babies' spaceship (which looks a great deal like the Swinetrek ) runs out of fuel on their way to bring Princess Piggy back to her home planet. The ship makes an emergency landing on Jokeville, where everything is a gag. This story was written by Muppet writer Bill Prady .\nIn the Summer 1987 issue of Muppet Magazine , the Muppet Babies appear in a comic spoof titled Star Cluck.\nOther\nIn the Fraggle Rock episode \" Beginnings \", Uncle Traveling Matt refers to Outer Space as \"the final frontier for Fraggledom.\"\nIn many episodes of the Fraggle Rock animated series , the Fraggles were heard to utter the words \"to boldly go where no Fraggle has gone before\" (a reference to the famous line uttered by William Shatner and Patrick Stewart).\nAn animated Enterprise appears in the Farscape episode \" Revenging Angel \".\nIn the Bear in the Big Blue House episode \" The View from You \", Tutter attempts to make a sci-fi movie called \"Mouse on Mars\". Ojo appears on set as an actor in costume, wearing a badge based on the Starfleet insignia.\nThe original title of Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet: When Pigs Fly was Where No Muppet Has Gone Before , a reference to Star Trek's opening narration.\nMuppet Mentions\nNot Miss Piggy and Darth Vader.\nClare Raymond's descendants as seen in the broadcast version of Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"The Neutral Zone.\"\nVarious sources, including Microsoft's Encarta Encyclopedia, [3] claim that Miss Piggy and Darth Vader can be seen in the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The images appear at 1:36:30 in the film when Spock enters the V'Ger entity. High definition reproductions of the film prove that the images are abstract and any likeness is coincidental.\nIn the 1988 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \" The Neutral Zone ,\" a character from the 20th century finds herself 400 years in her future on board the starship Enterprise-D. When researching what has become of her descendants, a graphical family tree shows amongst the names, Kermit T. Frog , Miss Piggy , Mary Richards and several actors who have portrayed the Doctor on Doctor Who . [4] The names were replaced on the remastered 2012 Blu-ray release.\nA blooper reel titled \"Totally Naked\" was produced for a Star Trek: The Next Generation wrap party using outtakes from the show with a few clips from other sources. Kermit , Scooter and Rowlf are shown from \" The Magic Store \" at the end of The Muppet Movie , as well as a shot of the Swinetrek flying through space from The Muppet Show .\nFirst Mate Piggy was interviewed for the Star Trek 30 Years celebration magazine in 1996 (pg. 74), published by TV Guide . Featured as a famous player sharing Star Trek memories in her role as First Mate of the Swinetrek , she claims to have been far too young to have seen the original series on the air, but that she became a devoted fan in reruns. A mention was also made of her run-in with Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy who appeared in a \" Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine \" sketch on Muppets Tonight .\nIn the 1997 documentary Trekkies, Marc Okrand (creator of the Klingon language) states that one of the many songs that fans have translated into Klingon is the \" Sesame Street Theme .\"\nDuring promotion for Star Trek in 2009, Zachary Quinto (the actor who played Spock) sang the \" Fraggle Rock Theme \" during press junkets more than once. [5]\nIn the special features for the Star Trek (2009) home video release, Rachel Nichols appears in the featurette, \"To Boldly Go: The Green Girl.\" Nichols plays Gaila, a green-skinned alien, and is required to undergo hours of green makeup application before filming. While speaking with one of the film's child actors, she jokes that her boyfriends could be the Grinch , the Hulk or Kermit the Frog .\nIn 2010, Film Score Monthly released a 14-disc boxed set of music composed by Ron Jones for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Disc 4 contains a track from the season one episode \"Skin of Evil\" titled \"It's Not Easy Bein' Slime\" referencing \" Bein' Green .\"\nIn the \"Inside the Writer's Room\" discussion panel on the Star Trek: The Next Generation season three Blu-ray release, the writers compare the episode \"Rascals,\" a story that finds four members of the Enterprise crew transformed into adolescent versions of themselves in a transporter accident, to the concept of Muppet Babies .\nConnections\nSonia Manzano delivers the Vulcan salute on the Sesame Street set in 2015 (via Alan Muraoka's Facebook page).\nF. Murray Abraham played Ahdar Ru'afo in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998, film)\nJason Alexander played Kurros in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Think Tank\" (1999)\nKirstie Alley played Lieutenant Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, film)\nWayne Allwine edited sound effects for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1987, film)\nPhilip Anthony-Rodriguez played Juan in the Enterprise episode \"Horizon\" (2003)\nMichael Berry Jr. played a Romulan tactical officer in Star Trek (2009, film)\nTheodore Bikel played Sergey Rozhenko in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Family\" (1990)\nOlivia Birkelund played Ensign Marla Gilmore in the Star Trek: Voyager two-parter \"Equinox\" (1999)\nJulianne Buescher played the Enterprise Computer voice and other voices in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013, film)\nLeVar Burton played Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)\nKevin Carlson worked as puppeteer for the Exocomps in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"The Quality of Life\" (1993)\nKim Cattrall played Lieutenant Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)\nRosalind Chao played Keiko O'Brien on Star Trek: The Next Generation (eight episodes, 1991-1992) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)\nJohn Cho played Hikaru Sulu in the films Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)\nBill Cobbs played Emory Erickson in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode \"Daedalus\" (2005)\nJoan Collins played Edith Keeler in the original series episode \"The City on the Edge of Forever\" (1967)\nFrank Collison played Gul Dolak in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Ensign Ro\" (1991)\nJames Cromwell played Prime Minister Nayrok on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"The Hunted\" (1990) and Jaglom Shrek in \"Birthright, Parts I & II\" (1993), Minister Hanok in the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 episode \"Starship Down,\" and Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996, film) and the Star Trek: Enterprise premiere episode.\nBenedict Cumberbatch played Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013, film)\nBarry Dennen played voice roles in the videogames Star Trek: Hidden Evil (1999, as Admiral Rotok), Star Trek: Armada II (2001, various), and Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002, as Gul Oden and Captain Terrik)\nJonathan Dixon played a simulator tactical officer in Star Trek (2009, film) and Ensign Froman in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013, film)\nJuliana Donald played Tayna in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"A Matter of Perspective\" (1990), Emi in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode \"Prophet Motive\" (1995), and Shoreham in Star Trek: Borg (1996, video game)\nPaul Dooley played Enabran Tain in four episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.\nMichael Dorn , played Lt. Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995-1999)\nJane Espenson wrote the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode \"Accession\" (1996)\nJohn Franklyn-Robbins played Macias in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Preemptive Strike\" (1994)\nMatt Frewer played Berlinghoff Rasmussen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"A Matter of Time\" (1991)\nJohn Glover played Verad in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode \"Invasive Procedures\" (1993)\nWhoopi Goldberg played Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993)\nKelsey Grammer played Captain Morgan Bateson in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Cause and Effect\" (1992)\nJoel Grey played Caylem in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Resistance\" (1995)\nBob Gunton played Captain Benjamin Maxwell in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"The Wounded\" (1991)\nMariette Hartley played Zarabeth in \"All Our Yesterdays\" (1969)\nTeri Hatcher played B. G. Robinson in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"The Outrageous Okona\" (1988)\nAshley Judd played Robin Lefler in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991)\nSally Kellerman played Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the Star Trek episode \"Where No Man Has Gone Before\" (1966)\nKristanna Loken played Malia in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Favorite Son\" (1997)\nGates McFadden played Doctor Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)\nVirginia Madsen played Kellin in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Unforgettable\" (1998)\nRobert Mandan played Kotan Pa'Dar in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode \"Cardassians\" (1993)\nAndrea Martin played Ishka in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode \"Family Business\" (1995)\nMichael McKean played the Clown in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"The Thaw\" (1996)\nGary Morgan stunt doubled as the Ferengi Kayron in the Next Generation episode \"The Last Outpost\" (1987)\nLeonard Nimoy played Spock on Star Trek and in subsequent movies from Star Trek: The Motion Picture(1979) to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), as well as Star Trek (2009).\nJosh Pais played Gaila in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes \"Business as Usual\" and \"The Magnificent Ferengi\" (1997)\nRobert Picardo played the Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) and a similar holographic doctor in First Contact (1996, film)\nSuzie Plakson , played Selar on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"The Schizoid Man\" (1989) and K'Ehleyr in \"The Emissary\" (1989) and \"Reunion\" (1990), Female Q on the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"The Q and the Grey\" (1996), and Tarah in the Enterprise episode \"Cease Fire\" (2003)\nBill Prady wrote the season five Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Bliss\"\nZachary Quinto played Spock in the 2009 film reboot and sequels\nRino Romano voiced Alexander Munro in the video game Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003)\nDeep Roy played Keenser in the films Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)\nZoe Saldana played Uhura in the films Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)\nWilliam Schallert played Nilz Barris in the Star Trek episode \"The Trouble with Tribbles\" (1967) and Varani in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode \"Sanctuary\" (1993)\nReiner Schöne played Esoqq in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Allegiance\" (1990)\nWilliam Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek and in the animated series and subsequent films from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) to Star Trek: Generations (1994).\nSarah Silverman played Rain Robinson in the Star Trek: Voyager 2-part episode \"Future's End\" (1996)\nMichelan Sisti played Tol in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Bloodlines\" (1994)\nPatrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)\nGeorge Takei played Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek and subsequent films, and voiced various aliens on Star Trek: The Animated Series\nNick Tate played Durgo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Final Mission\" (1990)\nKirk Thatcher worked on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, as associate producer, composer/singer of the song \"I Hate You,\" voice of the Vulcan computer, and appeared as \"Punk on the Bus\" in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.\nBrian Tochi played Ray Tsing Tao in the Star Trek episode \"And the Children Shall Lead\" (1968) and Ensign Kenny Lin in the Star Trek: Next Generation episode \"Night Terrors\" (1991)\nNeil deGrasse Tyson appears in the Star Trek: Voyager season 3 documentary \"Real Science\" (2004)\nJay Underwood played Mortimer Harren in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Good Shepherd\"\nBen Vereen played Dr. LaForge in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode 'Interface\" (1993)\nDavid Warner played Ambassador St. John Talbot in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1987, film), Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991, film), and Cardassian Gul Madred in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode \"Chain of Command, Part I and Part II\" (1992)\nFrank Welker voiced child Spock's screams in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984, film) and an alien in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Nothing Human\" (1998)\nOrson Welles provided narration for Star Trek: The Motion Picture advertisements (1979)\nWil Wheaton played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)\nPaul Williams played Koru in the Star Trek: Voyager episode \"Virtuoso\" (2000)\nKathleen Wirt played an aphasia victim in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode \"Babel\"\nAlfre Woodard played Lily Sloane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996, film)\nSources",
"Ewan McGregor - Biography.com\nEwan Gordon McGregor was born March 31, 1971 in Crieff, ... Ewan McGregor Biography Author. Biography.com Editors. Website Name. The Biography.com website URL.\nEwan McGregor - Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Producer, Philanthropist - Biography.com\nFamous People Born in Scotland\nSynopsis\nEwan Gordon McGregor was born March 31, 1971 in Crieff, Scotland. He achieved worldwide critical acclaim with his role in the film Trainspotting in 1996. In 1998, McGregor landed the largest role of his career when he signed on as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In the early 21st century, Ewan McGregor started his own production company called Natural Nylon.\nEarly Life\nActor. Born Ewan Gordon McGregor on March 31, 1971 to schoolteachers James Charles Stuart McGregor and Carole Diane Lawson. McGregor was born in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, just a few miles north of Edinburgh. He also has a brother Colin, who is an RAF pilot.\nAs a child, Ewan McGregor did little acting, but enjoyed singing, and became a soloist for his school's orchestra and choir. He also helped his father at the Crieff Highland Games, where his father was named director. McGregor would eventually be awarded the title of Chieftan of the Games in 2001.\nAfter high school, Ewan McGregor joined the Perth Repertory Theater and furthered his education through three years of training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His studies at Guildhall eventually led to McGregor landing a major role as Private Mick Hopper in Dennis Potter's 1993 Lipstick on Your Collar, which was a British made-for-television musical comedy.\nEarly Career\nIn 1993, Ewan McGregor starred in a British television miniseries called The Scarlet & The Black, which was an adaptation of Henri Beyle Stendhal's 1830 novel. In that same year, McGregor made his cinematic debut in Bill Forsyth's American drama Being Human, which starred Robin Williams. The film did not do well in theaters and had a very short run, which limited McGregor's exposure.\nAfter filming Being Human, Ewan McGregor continued to make television appearances in the United States and Britain, including Family Style (1993), Doggin' Around (1994) and Kavanagh QC (1995). He also got his first major movie role in the 1994 film Shallow Grave, which was written by Danny Boyle and received some critical acclaim.\nIn 1994, while filming an episode of Kavanagh QC, Ewan McGregor met his future wife, French production designer Eve Mavrakis. They had a whirlwind relationship and married on July 22, 1995 in a small village in France.\nAfter Shallow Grave, McGregor continued to get work as a movie actor in the British surfing movie Blue Juice (1995) and Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book (1996), before landing a role in 1996's Trainspotting.\nBig Break\nFor Trainspotting—his second movie with director Danny Boyle—Ewan McGregor shaved his head and lost 30 lbs to play the main character and heroin addict Mark Renton. The movie and McGregor's role received worldwide critical acclaim, garnering much attention for the young actor.\nFollowing his success in Trainspotting, McGregor took a completely different role as Frank Churchill in the historical comedy Emma (1996). McGregor then continued his work in cinema, including Brassed Off (1996), The Serpent's Kiss (1997), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), and Nightwatch (1998).\nIn 1998, Ewan McGregor landed the largest role of his career when he signed on as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. McGregor already had a connection with the iconic movie series as his uncle, Denis Lawson, appeared as Wedge Antilles in the original three films. McGregor first hit the screen as Kenobi in 1999, with Star Wars: Episode I–The Phantom Menace, to much commercial success. The next two installments of the trilogy would follow years later.\nAlso in 1999, McGregor acted in Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine, as a 1970s-era glam rocker in the mode of Iggy Pop.\nIn the early 21st century, Ewan McGregor started his own production company called Natural Nylon. He founded it with fellow actors Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Jonny Lee Miller and Sean Pertwee. The group's first movie was the Pat Murphy biopic Nora in 2000, which was co-produced by Wim Wenders' production company and Metropolitan Pictures. The film dramatized the real-life relationship between Irish author James Joyce and Nora Barnacle. McGregor was the star of the movie as Joyce and he played opposite Susan Lynch as Barnacle.\nMainstream Success\nFollowing Nora in 2001, McGregor took on another challenging role in Baz Luhrmann's musical Moulin Rouge!, which was set in Paris in 1899. McGregor starred as the young poet Christian, who carries on a tumultuous relationship with Nicole Kidman's character throughout the film. McGregor was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in the film and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. Later that same year, Black Hawk Down (2001) was released with McGregor playing one of the ensemble casts' main characters, Grimes.\nIn 2002, Ewan McGregor continued his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the second film of the trilogy, Star Wars: Episode II–Attack of the Clones. Another commercial success, McGregor was able to parlay his popularity into many more films.\nIn his early years as an actor, a magazine told Ewan McGregor that he had a very close resemblance to Albert Finney when he was a young man. So, in 2003, when Tim Burton was looking for someone in McGregor's age range to play Albert Finney as a young man in the fantasy film Big Fish, he was given the part. The film was a critical and commercial success as well. That same year, McGregor also starred in the erotic drama Young Adam, which was directed by David Mackenzie and originally screened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. McGregor played Joe Taylor, one of two barge workers who pull up the corpse of a young woman from a river. Also that year, McGregor and Renée Zellweger starred opposite each other in director Peyton Reed's homage to 1960s romantic comedies in a film called Down With Love.\nOn and Off Camera\nDuring 2004, McGregor and his best friend Charley Boorman created a documentary about riding their motorcycles from London to New York. The pair traveled east through Europe and Asia, and then flew to Alaska to finish the journey to New York. The entire journey, entitled Long Way Round, went from April 14, 2004, to July 29, 2004. It was documented as a television series, DVD set, and book. It covered over 19,000 miles and 12 countries. The project was conceived partly to raise awareness of the worldwide efforts of UNICEF and included stops to see UNICEF projects.\nMcGregor reprised his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi for the final time in 2005 for Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith. That same year he also lent his voice to the animated family film Robots, starred with Scarlett Johansson in The Island, and filmed Marc Forster's Stay, which was a follow-up to the successful Finding Neverland. After multiple commercial and critical successes, Ewan McGregor tried his hand at several arthouse films in 2006. His first was Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Ed Blum's directorial debut about a day in the life of seven British couples. The second was Miss Potter, the much-anticipated Chris Noonan follow up to the 1995 success Babe, a biopic about popular children's author Beatrix Potter.\nEwan McGregor has also tried his hand at stage acting, taking the role of Sky Masterson from 2005 to 2007 in the revival of the play Guys & Dolls at London's Piccadilly Theatre.\nIn 2007, Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman created a follow-up documentary to their 2004 trip, entitled Long Way Down. During this trip the two rode their motorcycles again, but this time traveled from John o' Groats in northern Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa. This documentary also centered on the pair spending time visiting UNICEF projects along their journey and was distributed as another television series, DVD set, and book. That same year, McGregor appeared in Cassandra's Dream (2007), and was ranked No. 36 by Empire magazine in their list of the \"The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.\" The next year, he appeared in the films Incendiary (2008) and Deception (2008).\nIn 2009, McGregor starred in I Love You Phillip Morris, and will be one of the stars in Ron Howard's blockbuster Angels & Demons, the sequel to the very popular Dan Brown novel and film, The DaVinci Code.\nSinging and Personal Life\nIn addition to film, McGregor has appeared on several soundtracks as a singer throughout his career, including two duets with Nicole Kidman on the Moulin Rouge! Soundtrack, two singles for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack and a duet with Renee Zellweger for the movie Down With Love.\nEwan McGregor and his wife have three daughters: Clara Mathilde, born in 1996, Esther Rose, born in 2001, and 4-year-old Jamiyan adopted from Mongolia in April 2006.\nFact Check\nWe strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !\nCitation Information",
"Han_Solo.txt\nHan Solo\nHan Solo is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed in films by Harrison Ford and soon by Alden Ehrenreich. In the original film trilogy, Han and his co-pilot, Chewbacca, become involved in the Rebel Alliance which opposes the Galactic Empire. During the course of the Star Wars story, he becomes a chief figure in the Alliance and succeeding galactic governments. Star Wars creator George Lucas described the character as \"a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good\". \n\nAppearances\n\nStar Wars\n\nHan Solo is introduced in Star Wars (1977), when he and his co-pilot Chewbacca accept a charter request to transport Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO and R2-D2 to Alderaan on their ship, the Millennium Falcon. Han owes crime lord Jabba the Hutt a great deal of money after dumping his cargo, and has a price on his head; when the bounty hunter Greedo tries to deliver him to Jabba, Han shoots him and prepares to leave. Han and his passengers are attacked by Imperial stormtroopers, but escape after going into light speed. When they arrive at Alderaan, however, they discover that the planet has been destroyed. The Falcon is then captured and held within the Death Star, a moon-sized battle station constructed by the Galactic Empire. Han and company hide from detection inside the Falcons smuggling bays, and infiltrate the station disguised as stormtroopers. They discover that Princess Leia Organa is a prisoner on board, and Luke convinces Han to help rescue her by promising him a huge reward. They rescue Leia and escape after Obi-Wan is killed by Sith Lord Darth Vader.\n\nAfter delivering Luke, Leia, C-3PO and R2-D2 to the Rebel Alliance, Han and Chewbacca receive a payment for their services and prepare to leave. Luke asks him to stay and help the Rebels attack the Death Star, but Han refuses, not wanting to get involved. However, he has a change of heart and returns to save Luke's life during the film's climactic battle scene, ultimately enabling Luke to destroy the Death Star. For his heroics, Han is presented with a medal of honor.\n\nThe Empire Strikes Back\n\nHan Solo returns with the Rebel Alliance to Echo Base on the frozen planet of Hoth. While out on patrol with Luke, they witness a meteor strike the surface. Han returns to base while Luke decides to investigate. Han informs Leia and the General of Echo Base that he must leave in order to clear his debt with Jabba. Before he can depart, it is discovered that Luke has not returned from his reconnaissance. Han rides out alone into the frozen Hoth wastelands, soon finding Luke badly injured and near death from exposure. Using his friend's lightsaber, Han cuts open his tauntaun, providing Luke warmth while he builds a shelter until they can be rescued the next morning.\n\nLater, Han and Chewbacca are sent out to investigate another meteor strike. They discover that the 'meteor' is actually an Imperial Probe Droid. The two succeed in destroying the probe, but not before the Empire is alerted to the location of Echo Base.\n\nWhen the Empire attacks Echo Base, Han, Chewie, Leia, and C-3PO narrowly escape on board the Millennium Falcon. Han evades a squad of Imperial TIE fighters by flying through an asteroid field, and unwittingly flies into the mouth of a giant worm. Han and Leia fall in love during the long journey. They manage to hide from the Imperial fleet long enough to escape, but not entirely unnoticed. Bounty hunter Boba Fett secretly follows the Falcon during this getaway.\n\nHan and company eventually end up at the Bespin system's Cloud City seeking repairs and shelter from his old friend Lando Calrissian, the city's administrator. However, Fett had arrived first and alerted the Empire. Under threat of death, Lando betrays Han to the Empire. Darth Vader wishes to capture Luke Skywalker by carbon freezing him, and to test its lethality, Vader subjects Solo to the carbon freezing process first. Solo survives, his captures are satisfied, and with a carbonite Han Solo in tow, Boba Fett leaves for Tatooine to collect a bounty from Jabba the Hutt.\n\nReturn of the Jedi\n\nHan Solo, still imprisoned in carbonite, is now a possession of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine. Luke devises a rescue operation and goes to Jabba's palace with Lando, Leia, C-3PO and R2D2 to rescue him. Jabba catches them, however, and sentences Han and Luke to die in the Sarlaac Pit. Luke, Leia and Han overpower their captors and escape, killing Jabba in the process.\n\nRetreating back to the Rebel Base, they discover that the Empire is building another Death Star around the Forest Moon of Endor. Following his return, Han is made a general in the Rebel Alliance along with Leia. Reuniting with Luke after his return from Dagobah, Han leads the Rebels down to Endor to take down the force field surrounding the battle station, which is still under construction. With help from the native Ewoks, Han and his team destroy the Death Star's shield generator, allowing Lando and his strike force to destroy the Death Star. Han then reunites with Leia and Luke on Endor to celebrate the defeat of the Empire.\n\nThe Force Awakens\n\nIn The Force Awakens, set approximately 30 years after Return of the Jedi, Han Solo has returned to his old life as a smuggler. He and Chewbacca lose the Millennium Falcon to thieves, but they reclaim the ship after it takes off from the planet Jakku, piloted by the scavenger Rey and the renegade stormtrooper Finn. As mercenaries close in on them, Han takes the Falcon into light speed, and they get away. When Han learns that Rey is looking for Luke, who disappeared years before, he takes them to Maz Kanata, who can deliver the droid BB-8 to the Resistance. They are forced to flee when First Order troops descend upon them. Han is impressed with Rey's piloting skills, and offers her a job on the Falcon. She declines his offer, but comes to think of him as a mentor and father figure. When Rey is kidnapped by the First Order, Han sees her being carried off by Kylo Ren, whom Han seems to recognize.\n\nHan and Finn meet with the Resistance, which is led by Leia, whom Han has not seen in many years; while it is never confirmed in the film, Han and Leia were married and are still, according to the official Force Awakens novelization. It is then revealed that Ren is their son, Ben Solo, who trained as a Jedi under Luke. However, he was corrupted by the First Order's supreme leader, Snoke, and turned to the dark side. As Kylo Ren, he betrayed the Republic and destroyed the Jedi – much like his grandfather, Darth Vader. Heartbroken by Ben's betrayal, Han and Leia separated, while Luke went into exile. Leia asks him to find Ben and bring him home, convinced that there is still good in him.\n\nHan and Chewbacca go with Finn to the First Order's battle station, Starkiller Base, to destroy the base and rescue Rey. There, he sees Kylo Ren walk onto the bridge above the reactor chasm. Han follows Ren onto the bridge, and calls out to him by his real name. Trying to save his son from the dark side, Han pleads with him to abandon it and to come back with him. Kylo Ren tells Han that he knows what he should do, but that he doesn't have the strength to do it. He asks Han to help him. Han agrees. After a moment, an unrepentant Ren ignites his lightsaber, impaling his own father. Han looks into his son's eyes and touches his face before falling off the bridge and into the reactor, to his death.\n\nSpin-off film \n\nOn February 6, 2013, Entertainment Weekly reported that The Walt Disney Company, the new owner of Lucasfilm since 2012, is developing a stand-alone film featuring Han Solo which would take place between Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). On July 7, 2015, Disney and Lucasfilm announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were hired as the film's directors, and it will see a May 25, 2018, release. \n\nDisney reportedly narrowed the choices down to three finalists to play the young Han Solo: Alden Ehrenreich, Jack Reynor and Taron Egerton. On May 5, 2016, Ehrenreich was cast as Solo in the film. On July 17, 2016 at the Stars Wars Celebration Europe 2016 in London, Lord and Miller revealed the process of casting Ehrenreich for the role. They said, \"This was the hardest casting challenge of all time. It's the biggest boots to fill - trying to get someone who can capture all of those essences you think of as Han. We did a very, very, very exhaustive search. We saw over 3,000 people for the part, all across the world. We cast it through five or six different offices, acting schools across America and the UK, cowboy bars, everything you can imagine. We made sure we turned over every rock to find someone has the charisma and the maverick swagger and the sweetness. Turns out that was a total waste of money because the person who got the part was the first person to audition, literally the first person to walk in the door. I apologize to Kathleen Kennedy for wasting all that money, but it's nice to be sure though.\" \n\nLegends\n\nWith the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014. \n\nBrian Daley wrote a series of novels (The Han Solo Adventures), first published in 1979, exploring Han Solo and Chewbecca's smuggling adventures, and Ann C. Crispin's The Han Solo Trilogy (1997–1998) further develops the character's backstory. Crispin's books depict Solo as a beggar and pickpocket throughout much of his youth. He becomes a pilot and, in the process of undermining a religious fraud, falls in love with Bria Tharen, who disappears before Solo joins the Imperial Navy. Solo loses his commission and is cashiered when he refuses an order to skin Chewbacca for commandeering a ship carrying Wookiee children destined for slavery; Chewbacca, in turn, swears a \"life-debt\" to Solo. The two become smugglers, and help repel an Imperial blockade of a Hutt moon. Solo soon thereafter wins the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a card tournament. Tharen, now a Rebel agent, reappears and asks for Solo, Chewbacca and Calrissian's help in attacking a slave colony. After succeeding, Tharen's troopers steal the smuggler's valuables to aid the Rebel Alliance. To compensate their losses, Solo and Chewbacca accept a smuggling job from Jabba the Hutt; but Imperial ships force the smugglers to jettison their cargo, invoking the debt Solo and Chewbacca owe the Hutt at the beginning of Star Wars.\n\nSolo plays a central role in a couple of Star Wars stories set after Return of the Jedi. In The Courtship of Princess Leia (1995), he resigns his commission to pursue Leia, whom he eventually marries. Solo and Leia have three children: twins Jaina and Jacen and son Anakin. Han Solo was the general in command of the New Republic task force assigned to track down Imperial Warlord Zsinj and his forces, in the 1999 novel Solo Command. Chewbacca dies saving Anakin's life in Vector Prime (1999), sending Solo into a deep depression. In Star by Star (2001), Anakin dies as well, compounding Solo's despair. At the end of the series, however, Solo accepts the deaths of his son and his best friend, and reconciles with his family.\n\nIn the Legacy of the Force series, Jacen Solo becomes the Sith Lord Darth Caedus and plunges the galaxy into a bloody civil war. Solo disowns Jacen, but is still devastated by each new outrage his son commits. He and Leia adopt Allana (Jacen's daughter) after Jacen's death in the novel Invincible.\n\nInfluence and critical reaction \n\nHan Solo is a reckless smuggler with a sarcastic wit; he is \"a very practical guy\" and considers himself \"a materialist\"; but the adventures in the first Star Wars movie evoke his compassion, a trait \"he didn't know he possessed\".\n\nThe American Film Institute ranked Solo as the 14th greatest film hero. He was also deemed the 4th greatest movie character of all-time by Empire magazine. Entertainment Weekly ranked the character 7th on their list of The All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture. On their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania.com ranked Solo at number 15. IGN listed Han Solo as the second greatest Star Wars character of all time (behind Darth Vader), as well as listing him as one of the top 10 characters who most needed a spin-off, saying he was \"Arguably the coolest character in the Star Wars universe\". \n\nPrince of Persia producer Ben Mattes explained that their \"inspiration was anything Harrison Ford has ever done: Indiana Jones, Han Solo\". The Japanese manga and anime anti-hero Space Adventure Cobra has been compared by reviewers to Solo. In preparing to play James T. Kirk, Chris Pine drew inspiration from Ford's depictions of Han Solo and Indiana Jones, highlighting their humor and \"accidental hero\" traits. \n\nFord won a 2016 Saturn Award for Best Actor for his portrayal in The Force Awakens. \n\nMerchandising \n\nSolo has been merchandised in multiple media, including action figures, video games, and other collectibles. A Han Solo action figure with \"human proportions\" was released in 1977 to coincide with the release of the original Star Wars, while a figure created for the films' mid-1990s re-release was criticized as \"unrealistically muscled.\" \n\nFamily tree",
"The 25 Youngest Oscar Nominees of All Time - MTV\n... we present the youngest ever Academy Award nominees and ... The 25 Youngest Oscar Nominees of All ... Dreyfuss was at the time the youngest Best Actor ...\nThe 25 Youngest Oscar Nominees of All Time - MTV\nmtv\n[caption id=\"attachment_32409\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Paramount\"]\n[/caption]\nWhen does a child actor stop being merely precocious and enter the pantheon of acting gods? You know the gods of which we speak; they look down from their mighty pedestals as we shower them with tributes year after year… THE OSCAR NOMINEES.\nWell, in order to walk through that threshold into Hollywood's elite circle, these young folks have to have chops, serious chops. Or be really, really cute. Either way, it takes sacrifice, hard work and possibly some crazy-ass stage parents.\nIn honor of this year's youthful nominees Hailee Steinfeld (\"True Grit\") and Jennifer Lawrence (\"Winter's Bone\"), and for your continued cinematified education, we present the youngest ever Academy Award nominees and winners from throughout the history of the awards.\nJustin Henry, 'Kramer vs. Kramer' (1979)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32310\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Columbia Pictures\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 8\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor (Youngest Nominee)\nA troubled family is at the center of 1979's \"Kramer Vs. Kramer,\" where Henry played the son of Dustin Hoffman's career-obsessed father. When his mother (Meryl Streep) leaves, the father and son overcome their mutual resentment and learn to love each other. Aside from a minor role as Molly Ringwald's brother in \"Sixteen Candles,\" Henry hasn't had much of a career per-se, currently working as a Regional Director of Sales at the website Veoh . He waits patiently to reprise his nominated role in the inevitable crossover, \"Kramer Vs. Kramer Vs. Alien Vs. Predator.\"\nJackie Cooper, 'Skippy' (1931)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32304\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Paramount\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 9\nNomination: Best Actor (Youngest Winner)\nYou might know him best as Daily Planet editor Perry White in the Christopher Reeve-era \"Superman\" flicks, but Cooper became a child actor in the late 1920s as one of the \"Little Rascals.\" In 1931 he was \"loaned\" to Paramount to play the rambunctious lead of \"Skippy,\" based on the popular comic strip. Though not so well known today, \"Skippy\" is filled with milestones, being the only film based on a comic or graphic novel nominated for Best Picture, and the youngest Best Director win for Norman Taurog (32). Cooper himself is also the earliest still-living nominee in any category. Wow.\nMary Badham, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (1962)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32322\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Universal Pictures\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 10\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress (Youngest Nominee)\nBadham lost her Oscar to Patty Duke in 1962, but lives on in pop culture as the irrepressible Scout in the film version of Harper Lee's perennial high school-read \"Mockingbird.\" She continued a lifelong friendship with co-star Gregory Peck, continuing to refer to him by his character name Atticus. As for Boo Radley, we assume she saved the nickname \"boo\" for her husband. The younger sister of \"Saturday Night Fever\" director John Badham, Mary retired from acting after a few more years of minor roles.\nTatum O'Neal, 'Paper Moon' (1973)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32333\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Paramount Pictures\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 10\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress (Youngest Winner)\nThis is it. If there's a child comedy acting equivalent to the Sistine Chapel, it has to be prodigious young Tatum acting alongside her poppa Ryan in Peter Bogdanovich's 1973 comic caper \"Paper Moon.\" As one half of a Depression-era father/daughter con team, she created a cigarette-smoking tomboy with a heart of gold. The dialogue between the two of them is priceless:\nMoses: I got scruples too, you know. You know what that is? Scruples?\nAddie: No, I don't know what it is, but if you got 'em, it's a sure bet they belong to somebody else!\nAbigail Breslin, 'Little Miss Sunshine' (2006)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32280\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Fox Searchlight\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 10\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nWe just want to thank Olive's heroin-snorting grandpa for teaching her the super freaky moves that won the hearts of audiences everywhere (but not the title competition) when this indie sensation came out in 2006. We'd also like to thank the sweetly adorkable Breslin for making all the other Olives out there believe in themselves, and huge thanks to her mom and dad for… oh wait, this isn't a beauty pageant, sorry. Now 14, Breslin has continued to impress in comedies like \"Zombieland,\" and in 2010 followed in Patty Duke's footsteps as Helen Keller in a Broadway revival of \"Miracle Worker.\"\nQuinn Cummings, 'The Goodbye Girl' (1977)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32431\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Warner Bros.\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 10\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nAs Marsha Mason's 10-year-old daughter Lucy in Neil Simon's hilarious rom-com, Cummings virtually created the now stand-by trope of the little girl who doles out funny, overly-wise advice to adults. She says of Richard Dreyfuss' neurotic actor character, \"I think he's kinda cute, he reminds me of a dog that nobody wants.\" Interestingly, Dreyfuss was at the time the youngest Best Actor recipient for this movie, and held the title for 25 years until Adrien Brody's \"The Pianist.\" Cummings retired from acting in '91, and is now a blogger and inventor of a baby carrier.\nAnna Paquin, 'The Piano' (1993)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32281\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Miramax\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 11\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nThe second-youngest Oscar-winner in history, after Tatum, is the adorable Ms. Paquin, who captured a mystifying quality quite rare in child performances. She plays the daughter of a mute Scotswoman (Holly Hunter) who only communicates through her piano, and their experiences living under a stifling New Zealand frontiersman. After a few mid-level films, her career caught fire again with her touching role (get it?) as Rogue in the \"X-Men\" trilogy. She branched out that southern accent of hers as a telepath with a thing for vampires on the HBO hit \"True Blood.\"\nHaley Joel Osment, 'The Sixth Sense' (1999)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32301\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Spyglass\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 11\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor\nNo disrespect to his memorable turns in \"A.I.\" or as Forrest Gump Jr., but Haley Joel will (ironically) have \"I see dead people\" engraved on his tombstone. His eerily mature portrayal of the haunted Cole Sear in M. Night Shyamalan's sleeper mega-hit made him iconic, and supposedly Steven Spielberg's choice for Harry Potter. Osment's last high-profile role was in 2003's \"Secondhand Lions,\" and he's since dabbled in stagework, videogame voiceovers, and DUIs, but at 22 he's a long way from \"over.\" That other former kid actor with three names, Jackie Earle Haley, taught us that you can't keep a good actor down.\nBrandon De Wilde, 'Shane' (1953)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32437\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Paramount\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 11\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor\nThe Justin Bieber of his day, De Wilde was a multi-talented prodigy whose Oscar-nominated turn in the Alan Ladd western \"Shane\" cemented his teen idoldom, making him a mainstay in Disney productions and the star of his own sitcom. He then set about triumphing on the stage, screen, Broadway, and as a musician, befriending superstars like Paul McCartney and Gram Parsons. Tragically, in 1972 his life was cut short by an auto accident and he died at the age of 30.\nPatty McCormack, 'The Bad Seed' (1956)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32438\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Warner Bros.\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 11\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nA camp favorite of directors like Eli Roth and John Waters, \"The Bad Seed\" introduced audiences to the original kid from hell: Rhoda Penmark, played with devilish good fun by McCormack. Rhoda seems to be all pigtails, sugar and spice, but turns out she's a cold-blooded killer, and the seed of another famous serial killer, hence the title. McCormack has continued acting sporadically since, including a recent high-profile role as Pat Nixon in Ron Howard's \"Frost/Nixon.\"\nKeisha Castle-Hughes, 'Whale Rider' (2002)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32313\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Newmarket Films\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 13\nNomination: Best Actress (Youngest Nominee)\nThe first Polynesian nominee on top of being the youngest, this precocious New Zealand girl was only 11 when she shot 2002's \"Rider,\" the tale of a female trying to exert the right to lead her tribe despite not being a man. She eventually proves her worth by, you know, ridin' a freakin' whale. Duh. She proved equally precocious a few years later, when the unmarried Castle-Hughes gave birth to her first child at age 17, which caused a ruckus as she was playing the Virgin Mary at the time in \"The Nativity Story.\" Talk about method acting, budda-boom-ching!\nSaoirse Ronan, 'Atonement' (2007)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32331\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Focus Features\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 13\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nBorn in New York, this Irish lass first caught our eye as Briony Tallis, a young writer who falsely accuses her older sister's lover of a crime, in \"Atonement.\" The book's author Ian McEwan said, \"She gives us thought process right on-screen, even before she speaks, and conveys so much with her eyes.\" After the nomination, she won the coveted lead in Peter Jackson's \"Lovely Bones,\" and will soon give Hit-Girl a run for her money as a little trained assassin in \"Hanna.\" Kick-ass!\nHailee Steinfeld, 'True Grit' (2010)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32300\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Paramount Pictures\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 14\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nThis currently nominated \"True Grit\" star has true talent, and even though she's nominated in the supporting category, never think for a second that this isn't her movie. Jeff Bridges gets top-billing 'cause he's The Dude, but the story is all Mattie Ross and her quest to find the dummy who done done-in her daddy. Her anal-retentive, erudite teenage girl clashes with the craggly Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Bridges), but by the end something about Mattie reaches the old fat man's heart, as she does ours. Best of luck, Hailee!\nJodie Foster, 'Taxi Driver' (1976)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32440\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Sony\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 14\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nPlaying a streetwise 12-year-old prostitute under the thumb of a skeezy pimp (played by Harvey Keitel) in Martin Scorsese's 1976 classic would have been a challenge for any young actress, even an adult one who looked the part. Foster, as you know, is a very special talent, and the astonishing thing at play in her scenes is not even that she holds her own with a titan like De Niro, but that she truly carries herself like a grown up, someone who has lived twice the life of any girl her age. This is not a child actress acting adult-like in an amusing way, but a child conveying the utter loss of childhood.\nPatty Duke, 'The Miracle Worker' (1962)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32327\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Universal Pictures\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 16\nNomination: Best Supporting Actress\nDuke and Anne Bancroft reprised their Broadway roles of blind and deaf girl Helen Keller and her blind teacher Anne Sullivan in 1962's film version of \"Miracle Worker.\" Duke almost lost the role since Keller was supposed to be only 7 during the story, but fate prevailed and she followed this Oscar win with an eponymous sitcom, \"The Patty Duke Show.\" In 1979 she played the Sullivan part in a TV remake, and later became a mental health advocate. Somewhere in there she found time to give birth to goonie Sean Astin, aka Samwise Gamgee from \"Lord of the Rings.\"\nJack Wild, 'Oliver!' (1968)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32441\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Sony\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 16\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor\nAfter winning acclaim and the Academy nod for playing the skilled pickpocket The Artful Dodger in the musical version of Dickens' classic \"Oliver Twist,\" Wild found continued fame on Sid & Marty Krofft's late-60's acid-trip kids show \"H.R. Pufnstuf.\" When the excitement of playing make-believe with giant felt creatures that look like they rode out of your darkest nightmares waned, he turned to music, and when that fell by the wayside, booze. After recovery in the late '80s, Wild spent most of his remaining career in stage productions. He passed away in 2006 from a long bout with cancer, only 53 years old.\nSal Mineo, 'Rebel Without a Cause' (1955)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32445\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Warner Bros.\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 17\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor\nThis Italian kid from The Bronx made his mark in Hollywood as the young teen enamored with James Dean's rebellious troublemaker in 1955's \"Rebel,\" and for awhile Mineo was beating off film offers and sexy ladies with a rowing oar. Then he got typecast as a troubled teen, and everything dried up. After many attempts to jumpstart his career, including some popular roles on the stage, Mineo was tragically stabbed to-death in an alleyway robbery. The killer had no idea who he was.\nRiver Phoenix, \"Running On Empty\" (1988)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32330\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Warner Bros.\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 18\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor\nPoor River. Possibly the most promising actor of his generation had his light extinguished by drugs outside the Viper Room in 1993. Only a few years before he was sitting in the Shrine Auditorium alongside fellow nominees like Kevin Kline or Alec Guinness, and he was indeed in their league. Nominated for his role in \"Empty\" as a teenage boy trying to break free from the life imposed on him by fugitive parents, check this scene between he and Martha Plimpton to see that, like James Dean before and Heath Ledger after, we lost one of the greats…\nLeonardo DiCaprio, 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' (1993)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32450\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Paramount\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 19\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor\nAs Robert Downey Jr. said in \"Tropic Thunder,\" an actor should never go \"full-retard,\" but unlike Ben Stiller in that comedy, Leo really lent his heart and soul to playing the vulnerable, childlike Arnie in \"Gilbert Grape\" opposite title character Johnny Depp. DiCaprio seamlessly captured the look and mannerisms of a developmentally disabled person at the most broad (climbing a water tower) and most sensitive ends of the spectrum. The role helped launch Leo into the stratosphere, where he remains.\nMickey Rooney, 'Babes in Arms' (1939)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32325\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"MGM\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 19\nNomination: Best Actor\nThe Mickster, still active today at age 90, has literally been performing since he was 17 months old, so he has traces of Vaudeville, classic Hollywood, and modern television & stagework coursing through his bloodstream, right up to \"Night At The Museum.\" In one of many pairings of Rooney and Judy Garland, 1939's \"Babes in Arms\" sports several catchy tunes including \"Good Morning,\" later made famous in \"Singin' in the Rain.\" Interestingly, the third-youngest Best Actor nominee is… Mickey Rooney again, at age 23 for \"The Human Comedy.\"\nTimothy Hutton, 'Ordinary People' (1980)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32335\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Paramount Pictures\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 20\nNomination: Best Supporting Actor (Youngest Winner)\nAs the troubled, suicidal teen still dealing with the loss of his brother amid family strife in Robert Redford's \"Ordinary People,\" the handsome young Hutton seemed poised for superstardom. However, after winning he fell prey to the \"Oscar Curse,\" and once most of his 80s starring vehicles died at the box office he became sidelined to supporting roles. Things have turned around for Hutton in the last few years, though, with his lead-role in TNT's hit series \"Leverage.\"\nJennifer Lawrence, 'Winter's Bone' (2010)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32307\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Roadside Attractions\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 20\nNomination: Best Actress\nHollywood being what it is, most of the plum roles for women skew towards twenty-ish ladies. Lawrence is the latest to benefit from this paradigm, receiving gobs of applause for her tough-as-nails performance in the indie drama \"Winter's Bone,\" now known as Wayne & Garth's favorite Oscar pick . As a teenage girl trying to find her meth-dealin' daddy in the rural Ozarks, she exudes a confidence that already landed her in next summer's blockbuster \"X-Men: First Class.\"\nKeira Knightley, 'Pride and Prejudice' (2005)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32312\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Focus Features\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 20\nNomination: Best Actress\nKnightley swashbuckled her way from high-seas adventure to Academy recognition, all with a little help from Jane Austen. Playing heroine Elizabeth Bennet for Joe Wright's 2005 version of \"Prejudice\" tickled the fancy of the AMPAS, while she and Wright struck gold again with a nomination two years later for \"Atonement.\" As she famously exclaimed in the first \"Pirates\" movie, \"You like pain? Try wearing a corset!\" We like your pain, Keira, we really like it!\nEllen Page, 'Juno' (2007)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32295\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Fox Searchlight\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 20\nNomination: Best Actress\nWay before she got incepted by Chris Nolan, this spunky Canadian put herself on the radar in 2005 with a savagely intense performance in \"kid-tortures-pedophile\" masterpiece \"Hard Candy.\" She then took a 180-degree turn with the cute, sassy teen pregnancy comedy \"Juno,\" where, thanks to Diablo Cody's whip-smart one-liners (\"Honest to blog?\"), she secured her place on the A-list, as well as the Academy list. Take our word, she's this generation's Jodie Foster, and at age 23 still has a nice cushion of time to prove it.\nMarlee Matlin, 'Children of a Lesser God' (1986)\n[caption id=\"attachment_32321\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\" caption=\"Paramount\"]\n[/caption]\nAge: 21\nNomination: Best Actress (Youngest Winner)\nLike Mickey Rooney, this remarkable actress's career also cemented when only a little over a year old, but that's not when she began acting… it's when she lost her hearing. Thus, Matlin knew intimately the trials of living as a deaf person, and brilliantly transferred that experience to 1986's \"Children\" opposite William Hurt, in a torn relationship between two stubborn people, one of which can't hear (guess which). One of the few actors to win for their film debut, she parlayed that fame into a broad range of roles in film/TV, and even dated Hurt for a few years, so win-win.",
"Ewan_McGregor.txt\nEwan McGregor\nEwan Gordon McGregor, (; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His first professional role was in 1993, when he won a leading role in the Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar. He is best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting (1996), the young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005), poet Christian in the musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001), and Dr. Alfred Jones in the romantic comedy-drama Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011).\n\nHe received Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for both Moulin Rouge! and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. McGregor has also starred in theatre productions of Guys and Dolls (2005–07) and Othello (2007–08). He was ranked No. 36 on Empire magazine's \"The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time\" list in 1997. In 2010 he won Best Actor for playing the title role in Roman Polanski's film The Ghost Writer at the 23rd European Film Awards. \n\nEarly life \n\nMcGregor was born in Perth, Scotland and brought up in Crieff. His mother, Carol Diane (née Lawson), is a retired teacher of Crieff High School and latterly deputy head teacher of Kingspark School in Dundee. His father, James Charles Stewart \"Jim\" McGregor, is a retired physical education teacher and careers master of Morrison's Academy, Crieff. He has an older brother, Colin (b. 1969), who is a former Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force. He is the nephew of actor Denis Lawson (who also appeared in the Star Wars franchise, as Rebel Alliance pilot Wedge Antilles) and actress Sheila Gish, and the step-cousin of actress Lou Gish on his mother's side of the family. McGregor attended the independent Morrison's Academy in Crieff. After leaving school, at the age of 16, he worked as a stagehand at Perth Repertory Theatre and studied a foundation course in drama at Kirkcaldy College of Technology, before moving to London to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama when he was 18 years old.\n\nCareer \n\nFilm and television \n\nIn 1993, six months prior to his graduation from Guildhall, McGregor won a leading role in Dennis Potter's six-part Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar. The same year, he starred in the BBC adaptation of Scarlet and Black with a young Rachel Weisz, and made his film debut in Bill Forsyth's Being Human. In 1994, McGregor performed in the thriller Shallow Grave, for which he won an Empire Award, and which marked his first collaboration with director Danny Boyle. His international breakthrough followed in 1996 with the role of heroin addict Mark Renton in Boyle's Trainspotting, an adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel of the same name.\n\nMcGregor played the male romantic lead role in the 1998 British film Little Voice. In 1999, McGregor starred in the blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, a role originally made famous by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars trilogy. His uncle, Denis Lawson, had played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy. In 2001, he starred in Moulin Rouge! as the young poet Christian, who falls in love with the terminally-ill courtesan Satine, played by Nicole Kidman. McGregor reprised his role of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the subsequent prequel Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002. In 2003, he starred alongside Renée Zellweger in Down With Love. He also portrayed the younger Edward Bloom in the critically acclaimed film Big Fish alongside Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman and Billy Crudup. During that year, he also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of an amoral drifter mixed up with murder in the drama Young Adam, which co-starred Tilda Swinton. \n\nIn 2005, McGregor appeared for the final time as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He took very special care—especially in Revenge of the Sith—to ensure that his portrayal of Obi-Wan's mannerisms, speech timings and accents closely resembled Alec Guinness' version. That same year, McGregor voiced two successful animated features; he played the robot Rodney Copperbottom in Robots, which also featured the voices of Halle Berry and Robin Williams, and he voiced the lead character in Gary Chapman's Valiant, alongside Jim Broadbent, John Cleese and Ricky Gervais. Also in 2005, McGregor played two roles—one a clone of the other—opposite Scarlett Johansson in Michael Bay's science fiction action thriller film The Island. He also headlined Marc Forster's 2005 film Stay, a psychological thriller co-starring Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling. \n\nIn 2006, he narrated the Fulldome production Astronaut, created for the National Space Centre. That same year, he also narrated the STV show JetSet, a six-part series following the lives of trainee pilots and navigators at RAF Lossiemouth as they undergo a gruelling six-month course learning to fly the Tornado GR4, the RAF's primary attack aircraft. In 2007, McGregor starred opposite Colin Farrell in the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream. In 2009, he co-starred with Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris and appeared in Amelia alongside Hilary Swank. Also in 2009, he portrayed Camerlengo Patrick McKenna in Angels & Demons, the film adaptation of Dan Brown's novel of the same name. McGregor is scheduled to co-star with Daniel Craig in Dan Harris' upcoming film adaptation of Glen Duncan's novel I, Lucifer. At the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival, he was awarded with the SIFF Golden Space Needle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting. \n\nIn 2012, he was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. At the San Sebastián International Film Festival, he was awarded the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award and became the youngest recipient of the award. \n\nIn 2015, he starred in the film Mortdecai, alongside Johnny Depp, Olivia Munn, and Paul Bettany.\n\nOn 21 April 2015, it was announced that McGregor would play Lumiere in the live-action version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon. He joins a cast that includes Emma Watson (Belle), Dan Stevens (Beast/Prince), Luke Evans (Gaston), Josh Gad (Lefou), Ian McKellen (Cogsworth), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts), Kevin Kline (Maurice) and Audra McDonald (Garderobe). Filming began in May 2015 at Shepperton Studios in London. The film is scheduled to be released in March 2017. \n\nIn 2017, he will reprise his role as Mark Renton in T2: Trainspotting 2.\n\nTheatre \n\nFrom November 1998 to March 1999, McGregor starred as Malcolm Scrawdyke in a production of David Halliwell's Little Malcolm and His Struggles Against the Eunuchs, directed by his uncle, Denis Lawson. The play was first staged at the Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. In November 2001, McGregor made a cameo appearance in The Play What I Wrote. \n\nFrom June 2005 to April 2007, McGregor starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre in London. He played the leading role of Sky Masterson, made famous by Marlon Brando in the film of the same name. McGregor received the LastMinute.com award for Best Actor for his performance in 2005, and he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2007. \n\nFrom December 2007 to February 2008, McGregor starred as Iago in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Kelly Reilly as Desdemona. He reprised the role on BBC Radio 3 in May 2008.\n\nMotorbike journeys \n\nA motorcyclist since his youth, McGregor undertook a marathon international motorbike trip with his best friend Charley Boorman and cameraman Claudio von Planta in 2004. From mid-April to the end of July, they travelled from London to New York via central Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Canada and the United States on BMW R1150GS Adventure motorbikes, for a cumulative distance of 22,345 miles (35,960 km). The trip included visits to several UNICEF programs along the route, and formed the basis of a television series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round.\n\nThe Long Way Round team reunited in 2007 for another motorcycle trip from John o' Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa. The journey, entitled Long Way Down, lasted from 12 May until 5 August 2007. McGregor's brother Colin joined the motorcycle team during the early stages of the Long Way Down journey, and his father Jim also rode on sections of both Long Way Round and Long Way Down. \n\nMcGregor appeared in a two-part BBC documentary in April 2012 entitled Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission in which he travels by motorbike, boat, plane and foot to deliver vaccines to children in remote parts of India, Nepal and the Republic of Congo. The trip was part of his work as a UNICEF Ambassador.\n\nIn a June 2015 interview, McGregor indicated that a long discussed South American trip with Boorman was still in the planning stages, but he expected that an excursion through Baja California Peninsula would take place first. \n\nPersonal life \n\nMcGregor has been married since 1995 to Eve Mavrakis, a French production designer, whom he met on the set of Kavanagh QC. They have four daughters: Clara Mathilde McGregor (b. 1996), Esther Rose McGregor (b. 2001), Jamyan McGregor (b. 2001), and Anouk McGregor (b. 2011). In 2006, McGregor and his wife adopted Jamyan from Mongolia, where he spent time during the Long Way Round journey in 2004. McGregor has a heart and dagger tattoo of the names of his wife and daughters on his right arm. The family currently resides in Los Angeles, California after moving from London. \n\nMcGregor is involved in charity work, including with UNICEF and GO Campaign. During the Long Way Round journey in 2004, McGregor and his travelling companions saw some of UNICEF's work in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and during the Long Way Down trip in 2007, he and Charley Boorman did work for UNICEF in Africa. McGregor hosted the annual Hollywood gala for GO Campaign in 2009 and 2010. He has also worked with the Children's Hospice Association Scotland, as featured in Long Way Down. In 2012, McGregor travelled with UNICEF immunisation workers to remote parts of India, Nepal and the Republic of Congo for a BBC2 documentary entitled [http://www.unicef.org.uk/coldchain Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission].\n\nIn June 2015, McGregor read Hans Christian Andersen's \"The Little Match Girl\" for the children's fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF, together with Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, Michael Caine, David Walliams, Charlotte Rampling and Paul McKenna. \n\nIn 2007, on an episode of Parkinson, McGregor stated that he had given up alcohol after a period where he was arguably a functioning alcoholic, and that he had not had a drink in seven years. In 2008, he had a cancerous mole removed from underneath his right eye. \n\nFilmography \n\nFilm\n\nTelevision\n\nTheatre\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nMcGregor was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity. \n\nDiscography \n\n* \"Choose Life\" with PF Project, Trainspotting#2: Music from the Motion Picture, Vol. #2, 1997.\n* \"TV Eye\" with Wylde Ratttz, Velvet Goldmine: Music from the Original Motion Picture, 1999.\n* \"Come What May\" with Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.\n* \"Elephant Love Medley\" with Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.\n* \"El Tango de Roxanne\" with Jose Feliciano, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.\n* \"Your Song\" with Alessandro Safina, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.\n* \"Here's To Love\" with Renée Zellweger, Down With Love: Music from and Included in the Motion Picture, 2003.\n* \"The Sweetest Gift\", Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars, 2006."
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The A3 road crosses which bridge over the River Thames? | London Bridge | [
"A3_road.txt\nA3 road\nThe A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its 67 mi length, it is classified as a trunk road and therefore managed by Highways England. Almost all of the road has been built to dual carriageway standards. Apart from brief sections in London the road travels from that city in a southwest direction and, after Liss, in a slightly more southerly direction (SSW).\n\nClose to its southerly end, traffic for Portsmouth is routed via the A3(M), A27 and M275 — the A3 becomes a single carriageway through some south Hampshire settlements (as exceptionally through Battersea, Clapham and Stockwell towards the northern end).\n\nHistory\n\nThe historic Portsmouth Road once had great strategic significance as the major link between the capital city and what became the settled main port of the Royal Navy as well as a non-military port. Many of the towns and villages that it passed through gained income and prestige as a result — such as Kingston upon Thames, Esher, Guildford, Godalming, Haslemere and Petersfield. The modern A3 follows the general route of the Portsmouth Road, but bypasses many of the towns and villages along the way, leaving the various stretches of the old Portsmouth Road for local traffic — for instance, the A307, its original course through Kingston-upon-Thames and Esher is also known as the Portsmouth Road.\n\nA programme of road improvements starting in the 1920s transformed the road so that is now predominantly a two or three lane carriageway, bypassing the town centres; south of the South Downs National Park it includes a section of motorway, the A3(M), just before the road reaches the A27 at Havant. The construction of the Kingston and Guildford bypasses in the 1920s and 1930s made use of temporary narrow gauge railways to move the construction materials. The Esher bypass, between Hook from the first mentioned bypass to the M25, is three lanes with a motorway-standard hard shoulder; from here to Guildford the road has three lanes.\n\nGovernment proposed the Kingston By-pass in 1912 but, with the onset of World War I, plans were shelved. By the early 1920s, traffic in Kingston town centre had increased by over 160% in 10 years in the coaching town and the decision was taken to revive the plans. Work finally started in 1924 on what was to become one of the first arterial roads in Britain. It was opened by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Stanley Baldwin MP, on 28 October 1927. It ran for from the Robin Hood Gate of Richmond Park to the near outskirts of Esher. The opening ceremony concluded with refreshments for 800 guests in marquees near what is now the Merton fly-over (off this the Merton Spur travels 1 mi, finishing close to Wimbledon Chase railway station).\n\nThe construction of the Kingston By-pass immediately attracted developments of housing where access was easiest. The Restriction of Ribbon Development Act 1935 came too late to prevent this private housing, which is apparent where the A3 winds through Tolworth and New Malden where the architecture includes concrete to art nouveau apartments, Mock-Tudor gabled houses and gabled Arts and Crafts movement-inspired houses.\n\nThe road was once the haunt of highwaymen such as Jerry Abershawe who terrorised the area around Kingston and led a gang based at the Bald Faced Stag Inn on the Portsmouth Road. Another particularly dangerous location was in the vicinity of the wooded crest skirting the Devil's Punch Bowl, Hindhead, about 8 mi south-west of Guildford.\n\nIn 2011 the Hindhead Tunnel became the centre of the Hindhead Bypass around the winding road of the small town, which provided the only urban set of traffic lights outside London and so a bottleneck. Until 2011 the road through Hindhead was the last single carriageway section of the route, outside London and Portsmouth.\n\nRoute\n\nThe road follows a similar route to the Portsmouth Direct Line railway, which goes through rather than past all of the towns which the road serves, with Havant and Woking 2 mi and 3 mi off the road, respectively.\n\nGreater London\n\nThe A3 starts at King William Street at its junction with Gracechurch Street in the City of London, crosses London Bridge while entering the London Borough of Southwark and goes south-west along Borough High Street and Newington Causeway to the Elephant and Castle roundabout. It continues along Newington Butts, and bounds then enters the London Borough of Lambeth on Kennington Park Road which becomes Clapham Road and Clapham High Street. The A3 then turns west (leaving as its straight continuation the A24) as Clapham Common North Side. Along this road it enters the London Borough of Wandsworth after which it runs concurrently with the A205 'South Circular' and goes through Wandsworth, then the A205 carries on west towards Richmond. On West Hill, just east of the Tibbets Corner junction with the A219 near Putney Heath, the road increases from 1 lane each way to a 3 lanes each way dual-carriageway and the speed limit increases from 30 mph (48 km/h) to 40 mph (64 km/h). The A3 then continues south-west between Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common before beginning to bypass Kingston upon Thames while going through Roehampton Vale. The A3 enters The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames just before Kingston Vale where there is a junction with the A308 for Kingston upon Thames and Richmond Park. The speed limit then increases to 50 mph (80 km/h) before going under the Coombe Flyover. The A3 then goes on a flyover by Shannon Corner in Raynes Park, before having junctions for New Malden, Tolworth and Hook along the Kingston By-pass.\n\nBrief features of a section of road contribute to a traffic pinch-point during peak hours around the Hook underpass. The road reduces from three lanes to two in the underpass. The speed limit at this point reduces from 70 mph to 50 mph, with the first of a handful of GATSO speed enforcement cameras. If returning to London traffic from the A309 also joins just before the underpass.\n\nSurrey \n\nThe A3's Kingston By-pass now ends sooner leaving a spur junction the A309 to the Scilly Isles junction near Sandown Park, Esher, its route instead becoming the Esher By-pass on the border of Hook, London and Long Ditton, Surrey.\n\nAfter passing Claygate the motorway-standard section has junctions with the A244 between Esher and Oxshott, then the A245 between Cobham and Hersham. The road's Wisley Interchange with the M25 enables a flyover still with a 70 mph (112 km/h) speed limit. It bypasses Wisley, Ockham, Ripley (and Burpham which is a suburb of Guildford) before cutting through the major town itself as a dual carriageway and changing to a 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limit. It returns to 70 mph (112 km/h) at the A31 and A246 junction before bypassing Godalming and Milford. It continues through a tunnel at Hindhead (constructed in 2011 to improve capacity and bypass the Devil's Punch Bowl) before leaving Surrey.\n\nHampshire\n\nThe A3 enters Hampshire just after exiting the Hindhead Tunnel, passes Liphook and Bramshott, turns SSW past Liss then passes Petersfield. The A3's original route between Hindhead and Petersfield, passing through several villages, became the B2070. At Liss there remains an at-grade roundabout; the only such junction on the route. Over the South Downs it passes Clanfield and Horndean. From just north of Horndean (still heading towards Portsmouth) the A3 separates from the A3(M) (below) and continues as London Road as far as Hilsea, south of which it is Northern Parade. It runs along the west side of Portsea Island which forms Portsmouth proper, roughly parallel with the M275, into the nearly waterfront centre of the city where, after passing the Catholic cathedral, it meets with the A2030. Here it reaches Old Portsmouth passing the Anglican cathedral and the 15th century harbour where it comes to an end at Portsmouth Point.\n\nHindhead tunnel\n\nThe Hindhead Tunnel is a 1830 m twin bore tunnel, which cost £371 million to construct, and is the longest non-estuarial road tunnel in the UK. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond conducted the opening ceremony on 27 July 2011, though the northbound tunnel opened to traffic two days later than the southbound one, on 29 July. \n\nThe new dual carriageway diverges from the original route where the old A3 began climbing sharply as it headed towards the scenic Devil's Punch Bowl. The old road now turns right and continues into Highfield Lane. From here, the remainder of the original route to Punch Bowl Common, a short distance north-east of the Hindhead traffic lights, has been completely ripped up and returned to nature. From the South, the short largely built-up southern stretch of old A3 (now bypassed) runs up from the Grayshott exit into Hindhead and remains in use, but has been renumbered from A3 to A333.\n\nProposed developments\n\nTunnelled section at Tolworth\n\nIn February 2015 the Mayor of London announced plans to tunnel a section of the A3 at Tolworth Junction after visiting a similar site in Boston, Massachusetts. Boris Johnson claimed that \"Rebuilding some of our complex and ageing road network underneath our city would not only provide additional capacity for traffic, but it would also unlock surface space and reduce the impact of noise and pollution.\" The plan involves sinking a section of the A3 into a tunnel to allow for development on top of the tunnel. Similar plans have been proposed for other areas of London, and further plans are expected to be drawn by TfL by May 2015. \n\nHam Barn roundabout, Liss\n\nAlthough – with the Hindhead Tunnel now open – the entire route is at least dual-carriageway between London and Portsmouth, at Liss there remains an at-grade roundabout; the only such junction on the route. Widely considered the main traffic pinch-point, and an accident hotspot (due to its unusual egg-shape and camber angle causing lorries to tip over), there have been wide calls for its removal, particularly with the projected increase in traffic with the completion of the tunnel. Eventually, in November 2010, the Highways Agency announced it would discuss three options for the roundabout's future: \n\n*full-time signalling,\n*removing the roundabout entirely (and thereby removing the A3/B3006 connection completely),\n*keeping the existing system.\n\nIn December 2010 the Highways Agency announced that no changes would be made before 2015. \n\nCathedral exit, Guildford\n\nThe slip road exiting the A3 leading to the Royal Surrey County Hospital and the Surrey Research Park regularly creates congestion on the main A3 during peak times when the traffic queue reaches onto the main carriageway. In May 2011 it was announced that this to be resolved with new improvements to the traffic system directly adjacent to the A3 with work funded jointly by the University of Surrey and Surrey County Council. \n\nA3(M)\n\nThis section of the road was opened in 1979 and acts as a bypass of the A3 road in this part of Hampshire.\n\nJunctions\n\n \n\nCycle and footpaths\n\nThere are shared pedestrian and cycle paths by or on the A3.\n\nDedicated paths\n\nOne cycle path links Liss with larger Petersfield on the Portsmouth-bound (south) side.\n\nFrom the former, a cycle path runs alongside between adjoining villages Greatham and West Liss. The path is on the London-bound side, linking to a minor road bridge over the A3 to West Liss which is close to the centre of Liss.\n\nUsing the above routes together, cyclists and pedestrians from Petersfield and Liss (and points further south) can pass over the A3 at Liss and safely pass the Ham Barn roundabout to access various roads from Greatham: towards London from this village is an eastward path (alongside the A3) to Liphook via the northern perimeter of Longmoor Camp and Griggs Green, Liphook. From here a single carriageway that is not a trunk road runs to Guildford. From the Burpham junction a track facilitates access to Woking which has good access to the RideLondon–Surrey Classic route.\n\nNearer Portsmouth there is a cycle path between Clanfield and the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, a large forest and downsland in the South Downs National Park. There is, however, no cycle path between Petersfield and the Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Instead there are footpaths for pedestrians only from the nearest village, Buriton.\n\nOn-road lanes\n\nBetween Thursley and Milford (near Guildford), cycle crossings of the slip roads have been constructed on both sides of the carriageway for the few cyclists travelling along the cycle lanes incorporated into the dual carriageway.\n\nIn Portsmouth, the A3 where it is bypassed by the A3(M) (south Hampshire) and London where speed limits are 30 to 40 mph cycling is often marked in various ways on the route or alongside.",
"River_Thames.txt\nRiver Thames\nThe River Thames ( ) is a river that flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn. While it is best known for flowing through :London, the river also flows alongside other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. In an alternative name, derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock in south west London, the lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway. The section of the river running through Oxford is traditionally called the Isis.\n\nWith a total length of 215 mi, the Thames is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary. On its way, it passes through London, the country's capital, where the river is deep and navigable to ships; the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of 7 m. Running through some of the driest parts of mainland Britain and heavily abstracted for drinking water, the Thames's discharge is low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on average despite having a smaller drainage basin. In Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller.\n\nThe administrative powers of the Thames Conservancy have been taken on with modifications by the Environment Agency and, in respect of the Tideway part of the river, such powers are split between the agency and the Port of London Authority.\n\t \nIn non-administrative use, stemming directly from the river and its name are Thames Valley University, Thames Water, Thames Television productions, Thames & Hudson publishing, Thameslink (north-south railways passing through central London) and South Thames College. Historic entities include the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company.\nTwo broad canals link the river to other river basins: the Kennet and Avon Canal (Reading to Bath) and the Grand Union Canal (London to the Midlands). The Grand Union effectively bypassed the earlier, narrow and winding Oxford Canal which also remains open as a popular scenic recreational route. Three further cross-basin canals are disused but are in various stages of reconstruction: the Thames and Severn Canal (via Stroud), which operated until 1927 (to the west coast of England), the Wey and Arun Canal to Littlehampton, which operated until 1871 (to the south coast), and the Wilts and Berks Canal.\n\nRowing and sailing clubs are common along the Thames, which is navigable to such vessels. Kayaking and canoeing also take place. Major annual events include the Henley Royal Regatta and the Boat Race, while the Thames has been used during two Summer Olympic Games: 1908 (rowing);1948 (rowing and canoeing). Safe headwaters and reaches are a summer venue for organised swimming, which is prohibited on safety grounds in a stretch centred on Central London.\n\nAlong its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs. Its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands. With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater, the Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest, with the largest being in the remaining parts of the North Kent Marshes and covering 5449 ha. \n\nThe marks of human activity, in some cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river. These include a variety of structures connected with use of the river, such as navigations, bridges and watermills, as well as prehistoric burial mounds. A major maritime route is formed for much of its length for shipping and supplies: through the Port of London for international trade, internally along its length and by its connection to the British canal system. The river's position has put it at the centre of many events in British history, leading to it being described by John Burns as \"liquid history\".\n\nThe river gives its name to three informal areas: the Thames Valley, a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway; and the greatly overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself. Thames Valley Police is a formal body that takes its name from the river, covering three counties. The administrative powers of the Thames Conservancy have been taken on with modifications by the Environment Agency and, in respect of the Tideway part of the river, such powers are split between the agency and the Port of London Authority. In non-administrative use, stemming directly from the river and its name are Thames Valley University, Thames Water, Thames Television productions, Thames & Hudson publishing, Thameslink (north-south railways passing through central London) and South Thames College. Historic entities include the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company.\n\nEtymology \n\nThe Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas (from *tamēssa),Mallory, J.P. and D.Q. Adams. The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997: 147. recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys \"Thames\". The name probably meant \"dark\" and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно (Proto-Slavic *tĭmĭnŭ), Sanskrit tamas, Irish teimheal and Welsh tywyll \"darkness\" (Proto-Celtic *temeslos) and Middle Irish teimen \"dark grey\". The same origin share countless other river names, spread across Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border of Devon and Cornwall, several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire, the Tavy on Dartmoor, the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales, the Teviot in the Scottish Borders, as well as one of the Thames' tributaries called the Thame.\n\nKenneth H. Jackson has proposed that the name of the Thames is not Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the Celts and has a name indicating \"muddiness\" from a root *tā-, 'melt'. It has also been suggested that it is not of Celtic origin, but Germanic (thus linking it with the Eem, Ems and Amstel) meaning: \"inhabited place where the estuary begins\", i. e. a place by the river, rather than the river itself. \n\nIndirect evidence for the antiquity of the name 'Thames' is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made [this]). It is believed that Tamesubugus' name was derived from that of the river. Tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography (c. 700 AD).\n\nThe river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t /t/; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and the Brittonic form Tamesis. A similar spelling from 1210, \"Tamisiam\", is found in the Magna Carta. \n\nThe th spelling lends an air of Greek to the name and was added during the Renaissance possibly to reflect or support a claim that the name was derived from the Thyamis in the Epirus, from where early Celtic-speaking groups were wrongly thought to have migrated to Britain.\n\nThe Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Historically, and especially in Victorian times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the Thame and becomes the \"Thame-isis\" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as \"River Thames or Isis\" down to Dorchester. However, since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than a truncation of Tamesis, the Latin name for the Thames.\n\nRichard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *(p)lowonida. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium, from the Indo-European roots *pleu- \"flow\" and *-nedi \"river\" meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word: as \"Landen\" with a similar origin to the word \"land\".\n\nFor merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the \"London River\". Londoners often refer to it simply as \"the river\" in expressions such as \"south of the river\". \n\nPhysical and natural aspects \n\nThe usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head (at ). This is about ¾ of a mile (1,200 m) north of Kemble parish church in southern Gloucestershire, near the town of Cirencester, in the Cotswolds. \n\nHowever, Seven Springs near Cheltenham, where the Churn rises and feeds into the Thames, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is furthest from the mouth, and adds some 14 mi to the length. At Seven Springs above the source is a stone with the Latin inscription \"Hic tuus o Tamesine pater septemgeminus fons\", which means \"Here, O Father Thames, [is your] sevenfold source\". \n\nThe springs at Seven Springs flow throughout the year, while those at Thames Head are only seasonal (a winterbourne). The Thames is the longest river entirely in England, but the River Severn, which is partly in Wales, is the longest river in the United Kingdom. As the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, is 14 mi longer than the Thames (from its traditional source at Thames Head to the confluence), the overall length of the Thames measured from Seven Springs, 229 mi, is greater than the Severn's length 220 mi. Thus, the \"Churn/Thames\" river may be regarded as the longest natural river in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the stream from Seven Springs is joined at Coberley by a longer tributary which could further increase the length of the Thames, with its source in the grounds of the National Star College at Ullenwood.\n\nThe Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes, Cricklade, Lechlade, Oxford, Abingdon-on-Thames, Wallingford, Goring-on-Thames and Streatley, Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames, Reading, Wargrave, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton, Staines-upon-Thames and Egham, Chertsey, Shepperton, Weybridge, Sunbury-on-Thames, Walton-on-Thames, Molesey and Thames Ditton. The river was subject to minor redefining and widening of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Marlow before 1850, since when further cuts to ease navigation have reduced distances further.\n\nMolesey faces Hampton, London, and in Greater London the Thames passes Hampton Court Palace, Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, Teddington, Twickenham, Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House, Kew, Brentford, Chiswick, Barnes, Hammersmith, Fulham, Putney, Wandsworth, Battersea and Chelsea. In central London, the river passes Pimlico and Vauxhall, and then forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London. At this point, it historically formed the southern boundary of the medieval city, with Southwark, on the opposite bank, then being part of Surrey.\n\nBeyond central London, the river passes Bermondsey, Wapping, Shadwell, Limehouse, Rotherhithe, Millwall, Deptford, Greenwich, Cubitt Town, Blackwall, New Charlton and Silvertown, before flowing through the Thames Barrier, which protects central London from flooding by storm surges. Below the barrier, the river passes Woolwich, Thamesmead, Dagenham, Erith, Purfleet, Dartford, West Thurrock, Northfleet, Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea.\n\nSea level \n\nSediment cores up to 10 m deep collected by the British Geological Survey from the banks of the tidal River Thames contain geochemical information and fossils which provide a 10,000 year record of sea-level change. Combined this and other studies suggest that the Thames sea-level has risen more the 30 m during the Holocene at a rate of around 5–6 mm per year from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. The rise of sea level dramatically reduced when the ice melt nearly concluded over the past 4,000 years. Since the beginning of the 20th century rates of sea level rise range from 1.22 mm per year to 2.14 mm per year.\n\nCatchment area and discharge \n\nThe Thames River Basin District, including the Medway catchment, covers an area of 6229 sqmi. The river basin includes both rural and heavily urbanised areas in the east and northern parts while the western parts of the catchment are predominantly rural. The area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. Water resources consist of groundwater from aquifers and water taken from the Thames and its tributaries, much of it stored in large bank-side reservoirs.\n\nThe Thames itself provides two-thirds of London's drinking water while groundwater supplies about 40 per cent of public water supplies in the total catchment area. Groundwater is an important water source, especially in the drier months, so maintaining its quality and quantity is extremely important. Groundwater is vulnerable to surface pollution, especially in highly urbanised areas.\n\nThe non-tidal section \n\nBrooks, canals and rivers, within an area of 3842 sqmi, combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock. This is the usual tidal limit; however, high spring tides can raise the head water level in the reach above Teddington and can occasionally reverse the river flow for a short time. In these circumstances, tidal effects can be observed upstream to the next lock beside Molesey weir, which is visible from the towpath and bridge beside Hampton Court Palace. Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810–12, the river was tidal at peak spring tides as far as Staines upon Thames.\n\nIn descending order, non-related tributaries of the non-tidal Thames, with river status, are the Churn, Leach, Cole, Ray, Coln, Windrush, Evenlode, Cherwell, Ock, Thame, Pang, Kennet, Loddon, Colne, Wey and Mole. In addition, there are occasional backwaters and artificial cuts that form islands, distributaries (most numerous in the case of the Colne), and man-made distributaries such as the Longford River. Three canals intersect this stretch: the Oxford Canal, Kennet and Avon Canal and Wey Navigation.\n\nIts longest artificial secondary channel (cut), the Jubilee River, was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief and completed in 2002. \n\nThe non-tidal section of the river is owned and managed by the Environment Agency, which is responsible for managing the flow of water to help prevent and mitigate flooding, and providing for navigation: the volume and speed of water downstream is managed by adjusting the sluices at each of the weirs and, at peak high water, levels are generally dissipated over preferred flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally, flooding of inhabited areas is unavoidable and the agency issues flood warnings. Due to stiff penalties applicable on the non-tidal river, which is a drinking water source before treatment, sanitary sewer overflow from the many sewage treatment plants covering the upper Thames basin is rare in the non-tidal Thames, which ensures clearer water compared to the river's tideway. \n\nThe tidal section \n\nBelow Teddington Lock (about 55 mi upstream of the Thames Estuary), the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea. Before the lock was installed, the river was tidal as far as Staines, about 16 mi upstream. London, capital of Roman Britain, was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill. These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. \n\nA river crossing was built at the site of London Bridge. London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide. High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as \"the Tideway\". Tide tables are published by the Port of London Authority and are [http://www.pla.co.uk/display_fixedpage.cfm/id/11 available online]. Times of high and low tides are also [https://www.twitter.com/riverthames posted on Twitter].\n\nThe principal tributaries of the River Thames on the Tideway include the rivers Brent, Wandle, Effra, Westbourne, Fleet, Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek), Lea, Roding, Darent and Ingrebourne. At London, the water is slightly brackish with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water.\n\nThis part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority. The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from the North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980s to protect London from this risk.\n\nIslands \n\nThe River Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. They are found all the way from the Isle of Sheppey in Kent to Fiddler's Island in Oxfordshire. Some of the largest inland islands, for example Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon, were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams.\n\nIn the Oxford area the river splits into several streams across the floodplain (Seacourt Stream, Castle Mill Stream, Bulstake Stream and others), creating several islands (Fiddler's Island, Osney and others). Desborough Island, Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot is a familiar landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centrepiece of the spectacular view from Richmond Hill.\n\nIslands of historical interest include Magna Carta Island at Runnymede, Fry's Island at Reading, and Pharaoh's Island near Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where MTBs were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with the impresario Fred Karno, and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East's R&B music scene.\n\nWestminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (commonly known today as the Houses of Parliament) were built on Thorney Island, which used to be an eyot.\n\nGeological and topographic history \n\nThe River Thames can first be identified as a discrete drainage line as early as 58 million years ago, in the Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch. Until around 500,000 years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire, before turning to the north east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near Ipswich. \n\nAt this time the river system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from the Berwyn Mountains in North Wales. Brooks and rivers like the River Brent, Colne Brook and Bollo Brook either flowed into the then River Thames or went out to sea on the course of the present-day River Thames.\n\nAbout 450,000 years ago, in the most extreme Ice Age of the Pleistocene, the Anglian, the furthest southern extent of the ice sheet was at Hornchurch in east London. It dammed the river in Hertfordshire, resulting in the formation of large ice lakes, which eventually burst their banks and caused the river to be diverted onto its present course through what is now London. Progressively, the channel was pushed south to form the St Albans depression by the repeated advances of the ice sheet.\n\nThis created a new river course through Berkshire and on into London, after which the river rejoined its original course in southern Essex, near the present River Blackwater estuary. Here it entered a substantial freshwater lake in the southern North Sea basin. The overspill of this lake caused the formation of the Dover Strait gap between Britain and France. Subsequent development led to the continuation of the course that the river follows at the present day.\n\nMost of the bedrock of the Vale of Aylesbury is made up of clay and chalk that was formed at the end of the ice age and at one time was under the Proto-Thames. Also created at this time were the vast underground reserves of water that make the water table higher than average in the Vale of Aylesbury.\n\nIce age \n\nThe last advance from that Scandinavian ice flow to have reached this far south covered much of north west Middlesex and finally forced the Proto-Thames to take roughly its present course. At the height of the last ice age, around 20,000 BC, Britain was connected to mainland Europe by a large expanse of land known as Doggerland in the southern North Sea basin. At this time, the Thames' course did not continue to Doggerland but flowed southwards from the eastern Essex coast where it met the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt flowing from what are now the Netherlands and Belgium. These rivers formed a single river—the Channel River (Fleuve Manche)—that passed through the Dover Strait and drained into the Atlantic Ocean in the western English Channel.\n\nThe ice sheet, which stopped around present day Finchley, deposited boulder clay to form Dollis Hill and Hanger Hill. Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process. Upon the valley sides there can be seen other terraces of brickearth, laid over and sometimes interlayered with the clays.\n\nThese deposits were brought in by the winds during the periglacial periods, suggesting that wide, flat marshes were then part of the landscape, which the new river Brent proceeded to cut down. The steepness of the valley sides is an indicator of the very much lower mean sea levels caused by the glaciation locking up so much water upon the land masses, thus causing the river water to flow rapidly seaward and so erode its bed quickly downwards.\n\nThe original land surface was around 350 to above the current sea level. The surface had sandy deposits from an ancient sea, laid over sedimentary clay (this is the blue London Clay). All the erosion down from this higher land surface, and the sorting action by these changes of water flow and direction, formed what is known as the Thames River Gravel Terraces.\n\nSince Roman times and perhaps earlier, the isostatic rebound from the weight of previous ice sheets, and its interplay with the eustatic change in sea level, have resulted in the old valley of the River Brent, together with that of the Thames, silting up again. Thus, along much of the Brent's present-day course, one can make out the water meadows of rich alluvium, which is augmented by frequent floods.\n\nConversion of marshland \n\nAfter the river took its present-day course, many of the banks of the Thames Estuary and the Thames Valley in London were partly covered in marshland, as was the adjoining Lower Lea Valley. Streams and rivers like the River Lea, Tyburn Brook and Bollo Brook drained into the river, while some islands, e.g. Thorney Island, formed over the ages. The northern tip of the ancient parish of Lambeth, for example, was marshland known as Lambeth Marshe, but it was drained in the 18th century; it is remembered in the street name Lower Marsh.\n\nThe East End of London, also known simply as the East End, was the area of London east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries; the River Lea can be considered another boundary. Most of the local riverside was also marshland. The land was drained and became farmland; it was built on after the Industrial Revolution. Use of the term \"East End\" in a pejorative sense began in the late 19th century,\n\nCanvey Island in southern Essex (area 18.45 km2; pop. 37,479Office for National Statistics. (2008). [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/Neighbourhood Statistics: Canvey Island]) was once marshy, but is now a fully reclaimed island in the Thames estuary. It is separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks. Lying below sea level it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since Roman times.\n\nWildlife \n\nVarious species of birds feed off the river or nest on it, some being found both at sea and inland. These include cormorant, black-headed gull and herring gull. The mute swan is a familiar sight on the river but the escaped black swan is more rare. The annual ceremony of Swan Upping is an old tradition of counting stocks.\n\nNon-native geese that can be seen include Canada geese, Egyptian geese and bar-headed geese, and ducks include the familiar native mallard, plus introduced Mandarin duck and wood duck. Other water birds to be found on the Thames include the great crested grebe, coot, moorhen, heron and kingfisher. Many types of British birds also live alongside the river, although they are not specific to the river habitat.\n\nThe Thames contains both sea water and fresh water, thus providing support for seawater and freshwater fish. However, many populations of fish are at risk and are being killed in tens of thousands because of pollutants leaking into the river from human activities. Salmon, which inhabit both environments, have been reintroduced and a succession of fish ladders have been built into weirs to enable them to travel upstream.\n\nOn 5 August 1993, the largest non-tidal salmon in recorded history was caught close to Boulters Lock in Maidenhead. The specimen weighed and measured 22 in in length. The eel is particularly associated with the Thames and there were formerly many eel traps. Freshwater fish of the Thames and its tributaries include brown trout, chub, dace, roach, barbel, perch, pike, bleak and flounder. Colonies of short-snouted seahorses have also recently been discovered in the river. The Thames is also host to some invasive crustaceans, including the signal crayfish and the Chinese mitten crab.\n\nAquatic mammals are also known to inhabit the Thames. The population of grey and harbour seals numbers up to 700 in the Thames Estuary. These animals have been sighted as far upriver as Richmond. Bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises are also sighted in the Thames. \n\nOn 20 January 2006, a northern bottle-nosed whale was seen in the Thames as far upstream as Chelsea. This was extremely unusual: this whale is generally found in deep sea waters. Crowds gathered along the riverbanks to witness the extraordinary spectacle but there was soon concern, as the animal came within yards of the banks, almost beaching, and crashed into an empty boat causing slight bleeding. About 12 hours later, the whale is believed to have been seen again near Greenwich, possibly heading back to sea. A rescue attempt lasted several hours, but the whale died on a barge. See River Thames whale.\n\nHuman history \n\nThe River Thames has played several roles in human history: as an economic resource, a maritime route, a boundary, a fresh water source, a source of food and more recently a leisure facility. In 1929, John Burns, one-time MP for Battersea, responded to an American's unfavourable comparison of the Thames with the Mississippi by coining the expression \"The Thames is liquid history\".\n\nThere is evidence of human habitation living off the river along its length dating back to Neolithic times. The British Museum has a decorated bowl (3300–2700 BC), found in the river at Hedsor, Buckinghamshire, and a considerable amount of material was discovered during the excavations of Dorney Lake. A number of Bronze Age sites and artefacts have been discovered along the banks of the river including settlements at Lechlade, Cookham and Sunbury-on-Thames. \n\nSo extensive have the changes to this landscape been that what little evidence there is of man's presence before the ice came has inevitably shown signs of transportation here by water and reveals nothing specifically local. Likewise, later evidence of occupation, even since the arrival of the Romans, may lie next to the original banks of the Brent but have been buried under centuries of silt.\n\nRoman Britain \n\nSome of the earliest written references to the Thames () occur in Julius Caesar's account of his second expedition to Britain in 54 BC, when the Thames presented a major obstacle and he encountered the Iron Age Belgic tribes the Catuvellauni and the Atrebates along the river. The confluence of the Thames and Cherwell was the site of early settlements and the River Cherwell marked the boundary between the Dobunni tribe to the west and the Catuvellauni tribe to the east (these were pre-Roman Celtic tribes). In the late 1980s a large Romano-British settlement was excavated on the edge of the village of Ashton Keynes in Wiltshire.\n\nIn 43, under the Emperor Claudius, the Romans occupied England and, recognising the river's strategic and economic importance, built fortifications along the Thames valley including a major camp at Dorchester. Cornhill and Ludgate Hill provided a defensible site near a point on the river both deep enough for the era's ships and narrow enough to be bridged; Londinium (London) grew up around the Walbrook on the north bank around the year 47. Boudica's Iceni razed the settlement in 60 or 61 but it was soon rebuilt and, following the completion of its bridge, it grew to become the provincial capital of the island.\n\nThe next Roman bridges upstream were at Pontes (Staines) on the Devil's Highway between Londinium and Calleva (Silchester). Boats could be swept up to it on the rising tide with no need for wind or muscle power.\n\nMiddle Ages \n\nA Romano-British settlement grew up north of the confluence, partly because the site was naturally protected from attack on the east side by the River Cherwell and on the west by the River Thames. This settlement dominated the pottery trade in what is now central southern England, and pottery was distributed by boats on the Thames and its tributaries.\n\nCompetition for the use of the river created the centuries-old conflict between those who wanted to dam the river to build millraces and fish traps and those who wanted to travel and carry goods on it. Economic prosperity and the foundation of wealthy monasteries by the Anglo-Saxons attracted unwelcome visitors and by around AD 870 the Vikings were sweeping up the Thames on the tide and creating havoc as in their destruction of Chertsey Abbey.\n\nOnce King William had won total control of the strategically important Thames Valley, he went on to invade the rest of England. He had many castles built, including those at Wallingford, Rochester, Windsor and most importantly the Tower of London. Many details of Thames activity are recorded in the Domesday Book. The following centuries saw the conflict between king and barons coming to a head in AD 1215 when King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. Among a host of other things, this granted the barons the right of Navigation under Clause 23.\n\nAnother major consequence of John's reign was the completion of the multi-piered London Bridge, which acted as a barricade and barrage on the river, affecting the tidal flow upstream and increasing the likelihood of the river freezing over. In Tudor and Stuart times, various kings and queens built magnificent riverside palaces at Hampton Court, Kew, Richmond on Thames, Whitehall and Greenwich.\n\nAs early as the 1300s, the Thames was used to dispose of waste matter produced in the city of London, thus turning the river into an open sewer. In 1357, Edward III described the state of the river in a proclamation: \"...dung and other filth had accumulated in divers places upon the banks of the river with... fumes and other abominable stenches arising therefrom.\" \n\nThe growth of the population of London greatly increased the amount of waste that entered the river, including human excrement, animal waste from slaughter houses, and waste from manufacturing processes. According to historian Peter Ackroyd, \"a public lavatory on London Bridge showered its contents directly onto the river below, and latrines were built over all the tributaries that issued into the Thames.\"\n\nEarly modern period \n\nThe 16th and 17th centuries saw the City of London grow with the expansion of world trade. The wharves of the Pool of London were thick with seagoing vessels while naval dockyards were built at Deptford. The Dutch Navy even entered the Thames in 1667 in the raid on the Medway.\n\nDuring a series of cold winters the Thames froze over above London Bridge: in the first Frost Fair in 1607, a tent city was set up on the river, along with a number of amusements, including ice bowling.\n\nIn good conditions, barges travelled daily from Oxford to London carrying timber, wool, foodstuffs and livestock. The stone from the Cotswolds used to rebuild St Paul's Cathedral after the Great Fire in 1666 was brought all the way down from Radcot. The Thames provided the major route between the City of London and Westminster in the 16th and 17th centuries; the clannish guild of watermen ferried Londoners from landing to landing and tolerated no outside interference. In 1715, Thomas Doggett was so grateful to a local waterman for his efforts in ferrying him home, pulling against the tide, that he set up a rowing race for professional watermen known as \"Doggett's Coat and Badge\".\n\nBy the 18th century, the Thames was one of the world's busiest waterways, as London became the centre of the vast, mercantile British Empire, and progressively over the next century the docks expanded in the Isle of Dogs and beyond. Efforts were made to resolve the navigation conflicts upstream by building locks along the Thames. After temperatures began to rise again, starting in 1814, the river stopped freezing over. The building of a new London Bridge in 1825, with fewer piers (pillars) than the old, allowed the river to flow more freely and prevented it from freezing over in cold winters.\n\nThroughout early modern history the population of London and its industries discarded their rubbish in the river. In the late 18th and 19th centuries people known as Mudlarks scavenged in the river mud for a meagre living.\n\nVictorian era\n\nIn the 19th century the quality of water in Thames deteriorated further. The dumping of raw sewage into the Thames was formerly only common in the City of London, making its tideway a harbour for many harmful bacteria. Four serious cholera outbreaks killed tens of thousands of people between the years of 1832 and 1865. Historians have attributed Prince Albert's death in 1861 to typhoid that had spread in the river's dirty waters beside Windsor Castle. Wells with water tables that mixed with tributaries (or the non-tidal Thames) faced such pollution with the widespread installation of the flush toilet in the 1850s. In the 'Great Stink' of 1858, pollution in the river reached such an extreme that sittings of the House of Commons at Westminster had to be abandoned.\n\nA concerted effort to contain the city's sewage by constructing massive sewer systems on the north and south river embankments followed, under the supervision of engineer Joseph Bazalgette. Meanwhile, similar huge undertakings took place to ensure the water supply, with the building of reservoirs and pumping stations on the river to the west of London, slowly helping the quality of water to improve.\n\nThe Victorian era was one of imaginative engineering. The coming of the railways added railway bridges to the earlier road bridges and also reduced commercial activity on the river. However, sporting and leisure use increased with the establishment of regattas such as Henley and the Boat Race. On 3 September 1878, one of the worst river disasters in England took place, when the crowded pleasure boat collided with the Bywell Castle, killing over 640 people.\n\n20th century \n\nThe growth of road transport, and the decline of the Empire in the years following 1914, reduced the economic prominence of the river. During the Second World War, the protection of certain Thames-side facilities, particularly docks and water treatment plants, was crucial to the munitions and water supply of the country. The river's defences included the Maunsell forts in the estuary, and the use of barrage balloons to counter German bombers using the reflectivity and shapes of the river to navigate during the Blitz.\n\nIn the post-war era, although the Port of London remains one of the UK's three main ports, most trade has moved downstream from central London.\n\nThe decline of heavy industry and tanneries, reduced use of oil-pollutants and improved sewage treatment have led to much better water quality as compared with the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries and aquatic life has returned to its formerly 'dead' stretches.\n\nAlongside the entire river runs the Thames Path, a National Route for walkers and cyclists.\n\nIn the early 1980s a pioneering flood control device, the Thames Barrier, was opened. It is closed to tides several times a year to prevent water damage to London's low-lying areas upstream (the 1928 Thames flood demonstrated the severity of this type of event). In the late 1990s, the 7 mi long Jubilee River was built as a wide flood channel through partly already watercourse-covered land in Taplow and Eton which face Maidenhead and Windsor. Other shorter cuts already existed above and below this point, however only on the non-tidal Thames, hence the need for the Barrier. \n\nThe active river \n\nOne of the major resources provided by the Thames is the water distributed as drinking water by Thames Water, whose area of responsibility covers the length of the River Thames. The Thames Water Ring Main is the main distribution mechanism for water in London, with one major loop linking the Hampton, Walton, Ashford and Kempton Park Water Treatment Works with central London.\n\nIn the past, commercial activities on the Thames included fishing (particularly eel trapping), coppicing willows and osiers which provided wood, and the operation of watermills for flour and paper production and metal beating. These activities have disappeared. A hydro-electric plant at Romney Lock to power Windsor Castle using two Archimedes' screws was opened in 2013 by the Queen. \n\nThe Thames is popular for a wide variety of riverside housing, including high-rise flats in central London and chalets on the banks and islands upstream. Some people live in houseboats, typically around Brentford and Tagg's Island.\n\nTransport and tourism \n\nThe tidal river \n\nIn London there are many sightseeing tours in tourist boats, past the more famous riverside attractions such as the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London as well as regular riverboat services co-ordinated by London River Services.\n\nThe upper river \n\nIn summer, passenger services operate along the entire non-tidal river from Oxford to Teddington. The two largest operators are Salters Steamers and French Brothers. Salters operate services between Folly Bridge, Oxford and Staines. The whole journey takes 4 days and requires several changes of boat. French Brothers operate passenger services between Maidenhead and Hampton Court. \nAlong the course of the river a number of smaller private companies also offer river trips at Oxford, Wallingford, Reading and Hampton Court. Many companies also provide boat hire on the river.\n\nThe leisure navigation and sporting activities on the river have given rise to a number of businesses including boatbuilding, marinas, ships chandlers and salvage services.\n\nAerial lift \n\nThe Air Line aerial cable system over the Thames from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks has been in operation since the 2012 Summer Olympics.\n\nPolice and lifeboats \n\nThe river is policed by five police forces. The Thames Division is the River Police arm of London's Metropolitan Police, while Surrey Police, Thames Valley Police, Essex Police and Kent Police have responsibilities on their parts of the river outside the metropolitan area. There is also a London Fire Brigade fire boat on the river. The river claims a number of lives each year.\n\nAs a result of the Marchioness disaster in 1989 when 51 people died, the Government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to work together to set up a dedicated Search and Rescue service for the tidal River Thames. As a result, there are four lifeboat stations on the River Thames at Teddington (Teddington lifeboat station), Chiswick (Chiswick lifeboat station), Victoria Embankment/Waterloo Bridge (Tower Lifeboat Station) and Gravesend (Gravesend lifeboat station).\n\nNavigation \n\nThe Thames is maintained for navigation by powered craft from the estuary as far as Lechlade in Gloucestershire and for very small craft to Cricklade. From Teddington Lock to the head of navigation, the navigation authority is the Environment Agency. Between the sea and Teddington Lock, the river forms part of the Port of London and navigation is administered by the Port of London Authority. Both the tidal river through London and the non-tidal river upstream are intensively used for leisure navigation.\n\nThe non-tidal River Thames is divided into reaches by the 44 locks. The locks are staffed for the greater part of the day, but can be operated by experienced users out of hours. This part of the Thames links to existing navigations at the River Wey Navigation, the River Kennet and the Oxford Canal. All craft using it must be licensed. The Environment Agency has patrol boats (named after tributaries of the Thames) and can enforce the limit strictly since river traffic usually has to pass through a lock at some stage. A speed limit of 8 km/h applies. There are pairs of transit markers at various points along the non-tidal river that can be used to check speed – a boat travelling legally taking a minute or more to pass between the two markers.\n\nThe tidal river is navigable to large ocean-going ships as far upstream as the Pool of London and London Bridge. Although London's upstream enclosed docks have closed and central London sees only the occasional visiting cruise ship or warship, the tidal river remains one of Britain's main ports. Around 60 active terminals cater for shipping of all types including ro-ro ferries, cruise liners and vessels carrying containers, vehicles, timber, grain, paper, crude oil, petroleum products, liquified petroleum gas etc. There is a regular traffic of aggregate or refuse vessels, operating from wharves in the west of London. The tidal Thames links to the canal network at the River Lea Navigation, the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin and the Grand Union Canal at Brentford.\n\nUpstream of Wandsworth Bridge a speed limit of 8 kn is in force for powered craft to protect the riverbank environment and to provide safe conditions for rowers and other river users. There is no absolute speed limit on most of the Tideway downstream of Wandsworth Bridge, although boats are not allowed to create undue wash. Powered boats are limited to 12 knots between Lambeth Bridge and downstream of Tower Bridge, with some exceptions. Boats can be approved by the harbour master to travel at speeds of up to 30 knots from below Tower Bridge to past the Thames Barrier. \n\nHistory of the management of the river \n\nIn the Middle Ages the Crown exercised general jurisdiction over the Thames, one of the four royal rivers, and appointed water bailiffs to oversee the river upstream of Staines. The City of London exercised jurisdiction over the tidal Thames. However, navigation was increasingly impeded by weirs and mills, and in the 14th century the river probably ceased to be navigable for heavy traffic between Henley and Oxford. In the late 16th century the river seems to have been reopened for navigation from Henley to Burcot. \n\nThe first commission concerned with the management of the river was the Oxford-Burcot Commission, formed in 1605 to make the river navigable between Burcot and Oxford.\n\nIn 1751 the Thames Navigation Commission was formed to manage the whole non-tidal river above Staines. The City of London long claimed responsibility for the tidal river. A long running dispute between the City and the Crown over ownership of the river was not settled until 1857, when the Thames Conservancy was formed to manage the river from Staines downstream. In 1866 the functions of the Thames Navigation Commission were transferred to the Thames Conservancy, which thus had responsibility for the whole river.\n\nIn 1909 the powers of the Thames Conservancy over the tidal river, below Teddington, were transferred to the Port of London Authority.\n\nIn 1974 the Thames Conservancy became part of the new Thames Water Authority. When Thames Water was privatised in 1990, its river management functions were transferred to the National Rivers Authority, in 1996 subsumed into the Environment Agency.\n\nThe river as a boundary \n\nUntil enough crossings were established, the river presented a formidable barrier, with Belgic tribes and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established their boundaries were partly determined by the Thames. On the northern bank were the ancient counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex. On the southern bank were the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and Kent.\n\nThe 214 bridges and 17 tunnels that have been built to date have changed the dynamics and made cross-river development and shared responsibilities more practicable. In 1965, upon the creation of Greater London, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames incorporated the former 'Middlesex and Surrey' banks, Spelthorne moved from Middlesex to Surrey; and further changes in 1974 moved some of the boundaries away from the river. For example, some areas were transferred from Berkshire to Oxfordshire, and from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire. On occasion – for example in rowing – the banks are still referred to by their traditional county names.\n\nCrossings \n\nMany of the present-day road bridges are on the site of earlier fords, ferries and wooden bridges. At Swinford Bridge, a toll bridge, there was first a ford and then a ferry prior to the bridge being built. The earliest known major crossings of the Thames by the Romans were at London Bridge and Staines Bridge. At Folly Bridge in Oxford the remains of an original Saxon structure can be seen, and medieval stone bridges such as Newbridge and Abingdon Bridge are still in use.\n\nKingston's growth is believed to stem from its having the only crossing between London Bridge and Staines until the beginning of the 18th century. During the 18th century, many stone and brick road bridges were built from new or to replace existing bridges both in London and along the length of the river. These included Putney Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Datchet Bridge, Windsor Bridge and Sonning Bridge.\n\nSeveral central London road bridges were built in the 19th century, most conspicuously Tower Bridge, the only Bascule bridge on the river, designed to allow ocean-going ships to pass beneath it. The most recent road bridges are the bypasses at Isis Bridge and Marlow By-pass Bridge and the motorway bridges, most notably the two on the M25 route Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and M25 Runnymede Bridge.\n\nRailway development in the 19th century resulted in a spate of bridge building including Blackfriars Railway Bridge and Charing Cross (Hungerford) Railway Bridge in central London, and the spectacular railway bridges by Isambard Kingdom Brunel at Maidenhead Railway Bridge, Gatehampton Railway Bridge and Moulsford Railway Bridge.\n\nThe world's first underwater tunnel was Marc Brunel's Thames Tunnel built in 1843 and now used to carry the East London Line. The Tower Subway was the first railway under the Thames, which was followed by all the deep-level tube lines. Road tunnels were built in East London at the end of the 19th century, being the Blackwall Tunnel and the Rotherhithe Tunnel. The latest tunnels are the Dartford Crossings.\n\nMany foot crossings were established across the weirs that were built on the non-tidal river, and some of these remained when the locks were built – for example at Benson Lock. Others were replaced by a footbridge when the weir was removed as at Hart's Weir Footbridge. Around 2000, several footbridges were added along the Thames, either as part of the Thames Path or in commemoration of the millennium. These include Temple Footbridge, Bloomers Hole Footbridge, the Hungerford Footbridges and the Millennium Bridge, all of which have distinctive design characteristics.\n\nBefore bridges were built, the main means of crossing the river was by ferry. A significant number of ferries were provided specifically for navigation purposes. When the towpath changed sides, it was necessary to take the towing horse and its driver across the river. This was no longer necessary when barges were powered by steam. Some ferries still operate on the river. The Woolwich Ferry carries cars and passengers across the river in the Thames Gateway and links the North Circular and South Circular roads. Upstream are smaller pedestrian ferries, for example Hampton Ferry and Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry the last being the only non-permanent crossing that remains on the Thames Path.\n\nPollution \n\nMercury Levels \n\nMercury (Hg) is an environmentally persistent heavy metal which at high concentrations can be toxic to marine life and humans. Sixty sediment cores of 1 m in depth, spanning the entire tidal River Thames, between Brentford and the Isle of Grain have been analysed for total Hg. The sediment records show a clear rise and fall of Hg pollution through history. Mercury concentrations in the River Thames decrease downstream from London to the outer Estuary with the total Hg levels ranging from 0.01 to 12.07 mg/kg, giving a mean of 2.10 mg/kg which is higher than many other UK and European river estuaries. The highest amount of sedimentary hosted Hg pollution in the Thames estuary occurs in the central London area between Vauxhall Bridge and Woolwich. The majority of sediment cores show a clear decrease in Hg concentrations close to the surface which is attributed to an overall reduction in polluting activities as well as improved effectiveness of recent environmental legalisation and river management (e.g. Oslo-Paris convention).\n\nNatural Carbon Compounds \n\nEvaluation of select of lipid compounds in the Thames estuary, known as Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (GDGTs) has revealed enhanced concentrations of isoprenoid GDGT compounds (crenarchaeol) around East London. This suggests that London’s pollution affects the spatial distribution of natural carbon in the river sediments. Other organic geochemical measurements of carbon flow such as stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) were found to be insensitive to this urban disturbance.\n\nSport \n\nThere are several watersports prevalent on the Thames, with many clubs encouraging participation and organising racing and inter-club competitions.\n\nRowing \n\nThe Thames is the historic heartland of rowing in the United Kingdom. There are over 200 clubs on the river, and over 8,000 members of British Rowing (over 40% of its membership). Most towns and districts of any size on the river have at least one club. Internationally attended centres are Oxford, Henley-on-Thames and events and clubs on the stretch of river from Chiswick to Putney.\n\nTwo rowing events on the River Thames are traditionally part of the wider English sporting calendar:\n\nThe University Boat Race is rowed between Oxford and Cambridge in late March or early April, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake in the west of London.\n\nHenley Royal Regatta takes place over five days at the start of July in the upstream town of Henley-on-Thames. Besides its sporting significance the regatta is an important date on the English social calendar alongside events like Royal Ascot and Wimbledon.\n\nOther significant or historic rowing events on the Thames include:\n\n* The Head of the River Race (8+) (i.e. coxed eights), Schools' Head, Veterans Head, Scullers Head 2-/2x, 4-/4+/4x Fours Head (HOR4s) (shorter) and Pairs Head (shorter) on the Championship Course\n* The Wingfield Sculls on the same course: (1x) (single sculling) championship\n* Doggett's Coat and Badge for apprentice watermen of London, one of the oldest sporting events in the world\n* Henley Women's Regatta\n* The Henley Boat Races currently for the Women's and Lightweight crews of Oxford and Cambridge universities\n* The Oxford University bumping races known as Eights Week and Torpids\n\nOther regattas, head races and university bumping races are held along the Thames which are described under Rowing on the River Thames.\n\nSailing \n\nSailing is practised on both the tidal and non-tidal reaches of the river. The highest club upstream is at Oxford. The most popular sailing craft used on the Thames are lasers, GP14s and Wayfarers. One sailing boat unique to the Thames is the Thames Rater, which is sailed around Raven's Ait.\n\nSkiffing \n\nSkiffing has dwindled in favour of private motor boat ownership but is competed on the river in the summer months. Six clubs and a similar number of skiff regattas exist from the Skiff Club, Teddington upstream.\n\nPunting \n\nUnlike the \"pleasure punting\" common on the Cherwell in Oxford and the Cam in Cambridge, punting on the Thames is competitive as well as recreational and uses narrower craft, typically based at the few skiff clubs.\n\nKayaking and canoeing \n\nKayaking and canoeing are common, with sea kayakers using the tidal stretch for touring. Sheltered water kayakers and canoeists use the non-tidal section for training, racing and trips. Whitewater playboaters and slalom paddlers are catered for at weirs like those at Hurley Lock, Sunbury Lock and Boulter's Lock. At Teddington just before the tidal section of the river starts is Royal Canoe Club, said to be the oldest in the world and founded in 1866. Since 1950, almost every year at Easter, long distance canoeists have been competing in what is now known as the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race, which follows the course of the Kennet and Avon Canal, joins the River Thames at Reading and runs right up to a grand finish at Westminster Bridge.\n\nSwimming \n\nIn 2006 British swimmer and environmental campaigner Lewis Pugh became the first person to swim the full length of the Thames from outside Kemble to Southend-on-Sea to draw attention to the severe drought in England which saw record temperatures indicative of a degree of global warming. The 202 mi swim took him 21 days to complete. The official headwater of the river had stopped flowing due to the drought forcing Pugh to run the first 26 mi. \n\nSince June 2012 the Port of London Authority has made and enforces a by-law that bans swimming between Putney Bridge and Crossness, Thamesmead (thus including all of central London) without obtaining prior permission, on the grounds that swimmers in that area of the river endanger not only themselves, due to the strong current of the river, but also other river users. \n\nOrganised swimming events take place at various points generally upstream of Hampton Court, including Windsor, Marlow and Henley. In 2011 comedian David Walliams swam the 140 mi from Lechlade to Westminster Bridge and raised over £1 million for charity. \n\nIn non-tidal stretches swimming was,e.g. :File:Bathing Place of Athens - geograph.org.uk - 1804188.jpg|The Bathing Place of Athens, Eton opened by \"Hiatt C Baker in memory of [his] son, a brilliant swimmer who spent many of the happiest hours of his boyhood here, killed in a flying accident in August 1917 while still a member of the school., Bathing Place of Athens memorial stone and Bathing Place of Athens notice\"In 1911 local police constable, Frederick Shattock for the village of Laleham ran swimming lessons for young boys from the end of Vicarage Lane]...charging 1 shilling per season\". and still is, a leisure and fitness activity among experienced swimmers where safe, deeper outer channels are used in times of low stream. \n\nMeanders \n\nA Thames meander is a long-distance journey over all or part of the Thames by running, swimming or using any of the above means. It is often carried out as an athletic challenge in a competition or for a record attempt.\n\nThe Thames in the arts \n\nFile:Brooklyn Museum - Houses of Parliament Sunlight Effect (Le Parlement effet de soleil) - Claude Monet.jpg|Houses of Parliament Sunlight Effect (Le Parlement effet de soleil) – Claude Monet\nFile:Canaletto - Westminster Bridge, with the Lord Mayor's Procession on the Thames - Google Art Project.jpg|The first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.\nRain Steam and Speed the Great Western Railway.jpg|Maidenhead Railway Bridge as Turner saw it in 1844\nClaude Monet 015.jpg|Monet's Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard, Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog, 1904\nFile:James Abbot McNeill Whistler 006.jpg|Whistler's Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Old Battersea Bridge (c. 1872–1875)\nFile:Brooklyn Museum - Foggy Morning on the Thames - James Hamilton - overall.jpg|Foggy Morning on the Thames – James Hamilton (between 1872 and 1878)\nFile:Boating on the Thames by John Lavery.jpeg|Boating on the Thames - John Lavery, circa 1890\n\nVisual arts \n\nThe River Thames has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Four major artists with works based on the Thames are Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, Claude Monet and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The 20th century British artist Stanley Spencer produced many works at Cookham.\n\nThe river is lined with various pieces of sculpture, but John Kaufman's sculpture The Diver: Regeneration is sited in the Thames near Rainham.\n\nLiterature \n\nThe Thames is mentioned in many works of literature including novels, diaries and poetry. It is the central theme in three in particular:\n\nThree Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1889, is a humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over. The landscape and features of the Thames as described by Jerome are virtually unchanged, and the book's enduring popularity has meant that it has never been out of print since it was first published.\n\nCharles Dickens Our Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) describes the river in a grimmer light. It begins with a scavenger and his daughter pulling a dead man from the river near London Bridge, to salvage what the body might have in its pockets, and heads to its conclusion with the deaths of the villains drowned in Plashwater Lock upstream. The workings of the river and the influence of the tides are described with great accuracy. Dickens opens the novel with this sketch of the river, and the people who work on it:\n\nIn these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in.\nThe figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a girl of nineteen or twenty. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man with the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waisteband, kept an eager look-out.\n\nKenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, written in 1908, is set in the middle to upper reaches of the river. It starts as a tale of anthropomorphic characters \"simply messing about in boats\" but develops into a more complex story combining elements of mysticism with adventure and reflection on Edwardian society. It is generally considered one of the most beloved works of children's literature and the illustrations by E.H.Shepard and Arthur Rackham feature the Thames and its surroundings.\n\nThe river almost inevitably features in many books set in London. Most of Dickens' other novels include some aspect of the Thames. Oliver Twist finishes in the slums and rookeries along its south bank. The Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle often visit riverside parts as in The Sign of Four. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the serenity of the contemporary Thames is contrasted with the savagery of the Congo River, and with the wilderness of the Thames as it would have appeared to a Roman soldier posted to Britannia two thousand years before. Conrad also gives a description of the approach to London from the Thames Estuary in his essays The Mirror of the Sea (1906). Upriver, Henry James' Portrait of a Lady uses a large riverside mansion on the Thames as one of its key settings.\n\nLiterary non-fiction works include Samuel Pepys' diary, in which he recorded many events relating to the Thames including the Fire of London. He was disturbed while writing it in June 1667 by the sound of gunfire as Dutch warships broke through the Royal Navy on the Thames.\n\nIn poetry, William Wordsworth's sonnet On Westminster Bridge closes with the lines:\n\nNe'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!\nThe river glideth at his own sweet will:\nDear God! the very houses seem asleep;\nAnd all that mighty heart is lying still!\n\nT. S. Eliot makes several references to the Thames in The Fire Sermon, Section III of The Waste Land.\n\nSweet Thames run softly, till I end my song.\nThe river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,\nSilk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes cigarette ends\nOr other testimony of summer nights.\n\nand\n\nThe river sweats\nOil and tar\nThe barges drift\nWith the turning tide\nRed sails\nWide\nTo leeward, swing on the heavy spar,\nThe barges wash\nDrifting logs\nDown Greenwich reach\nPast the Isle of Dogs\n\nThe Sweet Thames line is taken from Edmund Spenser's Prothalamion which presents a more idyllic image:\n\nAlong the shoare of silver streaming Themmes;\nWhose rutty banke, the which his river hemmes,\nWas paynted all with variable flowers.\nAnd all the meads adornd with daintie gemmes\nFit to deck maydens bowres\n\nAlso writing of the upper reaches is Matthew Arnold in The Scholar Gypsy:\n\nCrossing the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hythe\nTrailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet\nAs the slow punt swings round\n\nOh born in days when wits were fresh and clear\nAnd life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames;\nBefore this strange disease of modern life.\n\nWendy Cope's poem 'After the Lunch' is set on Waterloo Bridge, beginning:\n\nOn Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,\nThe weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.\nI wipe them away with a black woolly glove,\nAnd try not to notice I’ve fallen in love.\n\nDylan Thomas mentions the Thames in his poem \"A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London\". \"London's Daughter\", the subject of the poem, lays \"Deep with the first dead...secret by the unmourning water of the riding Thames\".\n\nScience-fiction novels make liberal use of a futuristic Thames. The utopian News from Nowhere by William Morris is mainly the account of a journey through the Thames valley in a socialist future. The Thames also features prominently in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, as a communications artery for the waterborne Gyptian people of Oxford and the Fens.\n\nIn The Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis, the Thames appears several times. In one book, rat characters swim through it to Deptford. Winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award I, Coriander, by Sally Gardner is a fantasy novel in which the heroine lives on the banks of the Thames.\n\nMark Wallington describes a journey up the Thames in a camping skiff, in his 1989 book Boogie up the River (ISBN 978-0-09-965910-5).\n\nMusic \n\nThe Water Music composed by George Frideric Handel premiered on 17 July 1717, when King George I requested a concert on the River Thames. The concert was performed for King George I on his barge and he is said to have enjoyed it so much that he ordered the 50 exhausted musicians to play the suites three times on the trip.\n\nThe song 'Old Father Thames' was recorded by Peter Dawson at Abbey Road Studios in 1933 and by Gracie Fields five years later.\n\nJessie Matthews sings \"My river\" in the 1938 film Sailing Along, and the tune is the centrepiece of a major dance number near the end of the film.\n\nThe Sex Pistols played a concert on the Queen Elizabeth Riverboat on 7 June 1977, the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, while sailing down the river.\n\nThe choral line \"(I) (liaised) live by the river\" in the song \"London Calling\" by the Clash refers to the River Thames.\n\nTwo songs by the Kinks feature the Thames as the setting of the first song's title and, for the second song, arguably in its mention of 'the river': \"Waterloo Sunset\" is about a couple's meetings on Waterloo Bridge, London and starts: \"Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, flowing into the night?\" and continues \"Terry meets Julie, Waterloo station\" and \"...but Terry and Julie cross over the river where they feel safe and sound...\". \"See My Friends\" continually refers to the singer's friends \"playing 'cross the river\" instead of the girl who \"just left\". Furthermore, Ray Davies as a solo artist refers to the river Thames in his \"London Song\". \n\nEwan MacColl's \"Sweet Thames, Flow Softly\", written in the early 1960s, is a tragic love ballad set on trip up the river (see Edmund Spencer's love poem's refrain above)\n\nEnglish musician Imogen Heap wrote a song from the point of view of the River Thames entitled \"You Know Where To Find Me\". The song was released in 2012 on 18 October as the sixth single from her fourth album Sparks. \n\nMajor flood events \n\nLondon flood of 1928 \n\nThe 1928 Thames flood was a disastrous flood of the River Thames that affected much of riverside London on 7 January 1928, as well as places further downriver. Fourteen people were drowned in London and thousands were made homeless when flood waters poured over the top of the Thames Embankment and part of the Chelsea Embankment collapsed. It was the last major flood to affect central London, and, particularly following the disastrous North Sea flood of 1953, helped lead to the implementation of new flood-control measures that culminated in the construction of the Thames Barrier in the 1970s.\n\nThames Valley flood of 1947 \n\nThe 1947 Thames flood was worst overall 20th century flood of the River Thames, affecting much of the Thames Valley as well as elsewhere in England during the middle of March 1947 after a very severe winter.\n\nThe floods were caused by of rainfall (including snow); the peak flow was 61.7 billion litres of water per day and the damage cost a total of £12 million to repair. \nWar damage to some of the locks made matters worse.\n\nOther significant Thames floods since 1947 have occurred in 1968, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2014.\n\nCanvey Island flood of 1953 \n\nOn the night of 31 January, the North Sea flood of 1953 devastated the island taking the lives of 58 islanders, and led to the temporary evacuation of the 13,000 residents. Canvey is consequently protected by modern sea defences comprising 15 mi of concrete seawall.\"Canvey Island Drainage scheme 2006\". Environment agency. (May Avenue Pumping Station information board). Many of the victims were in the holiday bungalows of the eastern Newlands estate and perished as the water reached ceiling level. The small village area of the island is approximately two feet above sea level and consequently escaped the effects of the flood.",
"London_Bridge.txt\nLondon Bridge\nMany historical bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1974, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. This replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which in turn superseded a 600-year-old medieval structure. This was preceded by a succession of timber bridges, the first built by the Roman founders of London. \n\nThe current bridge stands at the western end of the Pool of London but is positioned 30 m upstream from previous alignments. The traditional ends of the medieval bridge were marked by St Magnus-the-Martyr on the northern bank and Southwark Cathedral on the southern shore. Until Putney Bridge opened in 1729, London Bridge was the only road-crossing of the Thames downstream of Kingston-upon-Thames. Its importance has been the subject of popular culture throughout the ages such as in the nursery rhyme \"London Bridge Is Falling Down\" and its inclusion within art and literature.\n\nThe modern bridge is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, an independent charity overseen by the City of London Corporation. It carries the A3 road, which is maintained by the Greater London Authority. The crossing also delineates an area along the southern bank of the River Thames, between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, that has been designated as a business improvement district.\n\nHistory\n\nLocation\n\nThe abutments of modern London Bridge rest several metres above natural embankments of gravel, sand and clay. From the late Neolithic era the southern embankment formed a natural causeway above the surrounding swamp and marsh of the river's estuary; the northern ascended to higher ground at the present site of Cornhill. Between the embankments, the River Thames could have been crossed by ford when the tide was low, or ferry when it was high. Both embankments, particularly the northern, would have offered stable backheads for boat traffic up and downstream – the Thames and its estuary were a major inland and Continental trade route from at least the 9th century BC. There is archaeological evidence for scattered Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement nearby, but until a bridge was built there, London did not exist. Two ancient fords were in use a few miles upstream, beyond the river's upper tidal reach. They were aligned with the course of Watling Street and led into the heartlands of the Catuvellauni, who at the time of Caesar's invasion of 54 BC were Britain's most powerful tribe. Some time before Claudius' conquest of AD 43, power shifted to the Trinovantes, who held the region northeast of the Thames estuary from a capital at Camulodunum. The first London Bridge was built by the Roman military as part of a road-building programme to help consolidate their conquest. \n\nRoman bridges\n\nThe first bridge was probably a Roman military pontoon type, giving a rapid overland shortcut to Camulodunum from the southern and Kentish ports, along the Roman roads of Stane Street and Watling Street (now the A2). The Trinovantes submitted to Rome; a major colonia was imposed on Camulodunum, which became capital city of the new Roman province of Britannia. Around AD 55, this temporary bridge was replaced by a permanent timber piled bridge, maintained and guarded by a small garrison. On the relatively high, dry ground at the northern end of the bridge, a small, opportunistic trading and shipping settlement took root, and grew into the town of Londinium. A smaller settlement developed at the southern end of the bridge, in the area now known as Southwark. The bridge was probably destroyed along with the town in the Boudican revolt (60 AD), but both were rebuilt and Londinium became the administrative and mercantile capital of Roman Britain. The upstream fords and ferries remained in use but the bridge offered uninterrupted, mass movement of foot, horse, and wheeled traffic across the Thames, linking four major arterial road systems north of the Thames with four to the south. Just downstream of the bridge were substantial quays and depots, convenient to seagoing trade between Britain and the rest of the Roman Empire. \n\nEarly medieval bridges\n\nWith the end of Roman rule in Britain in the early 5th century, Londinium was gradually abandoned and the bridge fell into disrepair. In the Saxon period, the river became a boundary between the emergent, mutually hostile kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. By the late 9th century, Danish invasions prompted at least a partial reoccupation of London by the Saxons. The bridge may have been rebuilt by Alfred the Great soon after the Battle of Edington as part of Alfred's redevelopment of London in his system of burhs, or it may have been rebuilt around 990 under the Saxon king Æthelred the Unready to hasten his troop movements against Sweyn Forkbeard, father of Cnut the Great. A skaldic tradition describes the bridge's destruction in 1014 by Æthelred's ally Olaf, to divide the Danish forces who held both the walled City of London and Southwark. The earliest contemporary written reference to a Saxon bridge is c.1016 when chroniclers mention how Cnut's ships bypassed the crossing, during his war to regain the throne from Edmund Ironside.\n\nFollowing the Norman conquest of England in 1066, King William I rebuilt the bridge. The London tornado of 1091 destroyed it, also damaging St Mary-le-Bow. It was repaired or replaced by King William II, destroyed by fire in 1136, and rebuilt in the reign of Stephen. Henry II created a monastic guild, the \"Brethren of the Bridge\", to oversee all work on London Bridge, and in 1163 its Warden, Peter of Colechurch, supervised the bridge's last rebuilding in timber.\n\n\"Old\" (medieval) London Bridge\n\nAfter the murder of his erstwhile friend and later opponent Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, the penitent King Henry II commissioned a new stone bridge in place of the old, with a chapel at its centre dedicated to Becket as martyr. The archbishop had been a native Londoner and a popular figure. The Chapel of St Thomas on the Bridge became the official start of pilgrimage to his Canterbury shrine; it was grander than some town parish churches, and had an additional river-level entrance for fishermen and ferrymen. Building work began in 1176, supervised by Peter, a priest and chaplain of St Mary Colechurch. The costs would have been enormous; Henry's attempt to meet them with taxes on wool and sheepskins probably gave rise to a later legend that London Bridge was built on wool packs. It was finished by 1209 during the reign of King John. It had taken 33 years to complete, and John licensed out building plots on the bridge to help recoup the costs; but it was never enough. In 1284, in exchange for loans to the royal purse, the City of London acquired the Charter for its maintenance, based on the duties and toll-rights of the former \"Brethren of the Bridge\".\n\nThe bridge was some wide, and about 800 - long, supported by 19 irregularly spaced arches, founded on \"starlings\" set into the river-bed. It had a drawbridge for the passage of tall ships up-river, and defensive gatehouses at both ends. By 1358, it was already crowded, with 138 shops. At least one two-entranced, multi-seated public latrine overhung the bridge parapets and discharged into the river below; so did an unknown number of private latrines reserved for Bridge householders or shopkeepers and bridge officials. In 1382–83 a new latrine was made (or an old one replaced) at considerable cost, at the northern end of the bridge. \n\nThe buildings on London Bridge were a major fire hazard and increased the load on its arches, several of which had to be rebuilt over the centuries. In 1212, perhaps the greatest of the early fires of London broke out on both ends of the bridge simultaneously, trapping many people in the middle. Houses on the bridge were burnt during Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt in 1381 and during Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450. A major fire of 1633 that destroyed the northern third of the bridge formed a firebreak that prevented further damage to the bridge during the Great Fire of London (1666).\n\nBy the Tudor era there were some 200 buildings on the bridge. Some stood up to seven stories high, some overhung the river by seven feet, and some overhung the road, to form a dark tunnel through which all traffic had to pass, including (from 1577) the palatial Nonsuch House. The roadway was just wide, divided into two lanes, so that in each direction, carts, wagons, coaches and pedestrians shared a passageway six feet wide. When the bridge was congested, crossing it could take up to an hour. Those who could afford the fare might prefer to cross by ferry, but the bridge structure had several undesirable effects on river traffic. The narrow arches and wide pier bases restricted the river's tidal ebb and flow, so that in hard winters, the water upstream of the bridge became more susceptible to freezing and impassable by boat. The flow was further obstructed in the 16th century by waterwheels (designed by Peter Morice) installed under the two north arches to drive water pumps, and under the two south arches to power grain mills; the difference in water levels on the two sides of the bridge could be as much as 6 ft, producing ferocious rapids between the piers. Only the brave or foolhardy attempted to \"shoot the bridge\"—steer a boat between the starlings when in flood—and some were drowned in the attempt. The bridge was \"for wise men to pass over, and for fools to pass under.\" \n\nThe southern gatehouse became the scene of one of London's most notorious sights — a display of the severed heads of traitors, impaled on pikes and dipped in tar and boiled to preserve them against the elements. The head of William Wallace was the first to appear on the gate, in 1305, starting a tradition that was to continue for another 355 years. Other famous heads on pikes included those of Jack Cade in 1450, Thomas More in 1535, Bishop John Fisher in the same year, and Thomas Cromwell in 1540. In 1598, a German visitor to London, Paul Hentzner, counted over 30 heads on the bridge: \n\nEvelyn's Diary noted that the practice stopped in 1660, following the Restoration of King Charles II, but heads were reported at the site as late as 1772. \n\nBy 1722 congestion was becoming so serious that the Lord Mayor decreed that \"all carts, coaches and other carriages coming out of Southwark into this City do keep all along the west side of the said bridge: and all carts and coaches going out of the City do keep along the east side of the said bridge.\" This has been suggested as one possible origin for the practice of traffic in Britain driving on the left. \n\nFrom 1758 to 1762, all houses and shops on the bridge were demolished through Act of Parliament. The two centre arches were replaced by a single wider span to improve navigation on the river.\n\n\"New\" (19th-century) London Bridge\n\nBy the end of the 18th century, it was apparent that the old London Bridge — by then over 600 years old — needed to be replaced. It was narrow and decrepit, and blocked river traffic. In 1799, a competition for designs to replace the old bridge was held. Entrants included Thomas Telford, whose proposal of a single iron arch spanning 600 ft was rejected as unfeasible and impractical. John Rennie won the competition with a more conventional design of five stone arches. It was built west (upstream) of the original site by Jolliffe and Banks of Merstham, Surrey, under the supervision of Rennie's son. Work began in 1824 and the foundation stone was laid, in the southern coffer dam, on 15 June 1825.\n\nThe old bridge continued in use while the new bridge was being built, and was demolished after the latter opened in 1831. New approach roads had to be built, which cost three times as much as the bridge itself. The total costs, around £2.5 million (£ in ), were shared by the British Government and the Corporation of London.\n\nRennie's bridge was long and wide, constructed from Haytor granite. The official opening took place on 1 August 1831; King William IV and Queen Adelaide attended a banquet in a pavilion erected on the bridge.\n\nIn 1896 the bridge was the busiest point in London, and one of its most congested; 8,000 pedestrians and 900 vehicles crossed every hour. It was widened by 13 ft, using granite corbels. Subsequent surveys showed that the bridge was sinking an inch (about 2.5 cm) every eight years, and by 1924 the east side had sunk some three to four inches (about 9 cm) lower than the west side. The bridge would have to be removed and replaced.\n\nSale of Rennie's London bridge to Robert McCulloch\n\nIn 1967, the Common Council of the City of London placed the bridge on the market and began to look for potential buyers. Council member Ivan Luckin had put forward the idea of selling the bridge, and recalled: \"They all thought I was completely crazy when I suggested we should sell London Bridge when it needed replacing.\" On 18 April 1968, Rennie's bridge was sold to an American. It was purchased by the Missourian entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch of McCulloch Oil for US$2,460,000. The claim that McCulloch believed mistakenly that he was buying the more impressive Tower Bridge was denied by Luckin in a newspaper interview.[http://www.webcitation.org/65maWrJ0h How London Bridge Was Sold To The States (from This Is Local London)] As the bridge was taken apart, each piece was meticulously numbered. The blocks were then shipped overseas through the Panama Canal to California and trucked from Long Beach to Arizona. The bridge was reconstructed by Sundt Construction at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and re-dedicated on 10 October 1971. The reconstruction of Rennie's London Bridge spans the Bridgewater Channel canal that leads from the Uptown area of Lake Havasu City and follows McCulloch Boulevard onto an island that has yet to be named.\n\nThe London Bridge that was rebuilt at Lake Havasu City consists of a frame with stones from Rennie's London Bridge used as cladding. The cladding stones used are 150 to 200 millimetres (6 to 8 inches) thick. Some of the stones from the bridge were left behind at Merrivale Quarry at Princetown in Devon.[http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/1995/12/21/27226/london-bridge-is-still-here.html London Bridge is still here! - 21/12/1995 - Contract Journal] When Merrivale Quarry was abandoned and flooded in 2003, some of the remaining stones were sold in an online auction.[http://www.mindat.org/loc-1521.html Merrivale Quarry, Princetown, Central Dartmoor, Dartmoor & Teign Valley District, Devon, England, UK]\n\nModern London Bridge\n\nThe current London Bridge was designed by architect Lord Holford and engineers Mott, Hay and Anderson. It was constructed by contractors John Mowlem and Co from 1967 to 1972, and opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 17 March 1973. It comprises three spans of prestressed-concrete box girders, a total of long. The cost of £4 million (£ in ), was met entirely by the Bridge House Estates charity. The current bridge was built in the same location as Rennie's bridge, with the previous bridge remaining in use while the first two girders were constructed upstream and downstream. Traffic was then transferred onto the two new girders, and the previous bridge demolished to allow the final two central girders to be added. \n\nIn 1984, the British warship HMS Jupiter collided with London Bridge, causing significant damage to both ship and bridge.\n\nOn Remembrance Day 2004, several bridges in London were furnished with red lighting as part of a night-time flight along the river by wartime aircraft. London Bridge was the one bridge not subsequently stripped of the illuminations, which are regularly switched on at night.\n\nThe current London Bridge is often shown in films, news and documentaries showing the throng of commuters journeying to work into the City from London Bridge Station (south to north). A recent example of this is actor Hugh Grant crossing the bridge north to south during the morning rush hour, in the 2002 film About a Boy.\n\nOn Saturday, 11 July 2009, as part of the annual Lord Mayor's charity Appeal and to mark the 800th anniversary of Old London Bridge's completion in the reign of King John, the Lord Mayor and Freemen of the City drove a flock of sheep across the bridge, supposedly by ancient right. \n\nIn vaults below the southern abutment of the bridge is 'The London Bridge Experience.'\n\nTransport\n\nThe nearest London Underground stations are Monument and London Bridge. They are respectively at the northern and southern ends of the bridge. London Bridge station is also served by National Rail.\n\nLondon Bridge in literature and popular culture\n\nAs previously noted, the various London Bridges have featured regularly in popular culture. For example:\n\n*The nursery rhyme \"London Bridge Is Falling Down\" has been speculatively connected to several of the bridge's historic collapses.\n*Rennie's Old London Bridge is a prominent landmark in T.S. Eliot's masterpiece \"The Waste Land\", wherein he compares the shuffling commuters across London Bridge to the hell-bound souls of Dante's Limbo.\n* Gary P. Nunn's song \"London Homesick Blues\" includes the lyrics, \"Even London Bridge has fallen down, and moved to Arizona, now I know why.\" \n\nModern London Bridge Gallery",
"List_of_crossings_of_the_River_Thames.txt\nList of crossings of the River Thames\nThis is a list of crossings of the River Thames comprising over 200 bridges, 27 tunnels, six public ferries, one cable car link, and one ford. Historic achievements, explanatory notes and proposed crossings are also included.\n\nBarrier and boundary\n\nUntil sufficient crossings were established, the river provided a formidable barrier for most of its course – in post-Roman Britain during the Dark Ages Belgic-Celtic tribal lands and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and subdivisions were defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established, it formed a boundary between the counties on either side. After rising in Gloucestershire, the river flowed between, on the north bank, the historic counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex; and on the south bank, the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent. However the many permanent crossings that have been built over the centuries have changed the dynamics and made cross-river development and shared responsibilities more practicable. In 1911 Caversham was transferred into Berkshire. In 1965, on creating a new county of Greater London, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames united areas formerly in Middlesex and in Surrey and at the same time two urban districts in Middlesex (united in 1974) became part of Surrey. Further changes in 1974 moved some of the boundaries away from the river. For example, much of the north west of Berkshire including Abingdon and Wantage became part of Oxfordshire and some southern parts of Buckinghamshire became Berkshire, including Slough, Eton and Wraysbury. The number of county councils has dwindled (as well as their area) in the south-east and south-centre of England in favour of increased localisation. Despite these changes, in the sports of rowing and skiffing the banks are still referred to by their traditional county names and in sports such as football and cricket historic county areas are sometimes used. \n\nHistory of crossings\n\nMany of the present road bridges over the river are on the sites of earlier fords, ferries and wooden structures. The earliest known major crossings of the Thames by the Romans were at London Bridge and Staines Bridge. At Folly Bridge in Oxford the remains of an original Saxon structure can be seen, and mediæval stone structures such as Newbridge and Abingdon Bridge are still in use. Kingston's growth is believed to stem from its having the only crossing between London Bridge and Staines until the beginning of the 18th century. Proposals to build bridges across the Thames at Lambeth and Putney in around 1670 were defeated by the Rulers of the Company of Watermen, since it would mean ruin for the 60,000 rivermen who also provided a pool of naval reserve. \n\nDuring the 18th century many stone and brick road bridges were built from new or to replace existing structures in London and further up the river. These included Westminster Bridge, Putney Bridge, Datchet Bridge, Windsor Bridge and Sonning Bridge. Several central London road bridges were built in the 19th century, most conspicuously Tower Bridge, the only bascule bridge on the river, designed to allow ocean-going ships to pass beneath it. The most recent road bridge sites are the bypasses at Isis Bridge and Marlow By-pass Bridge and the motorway bridges, most notably the two on the M25: Queen Elizabeth Bridge and M25 Runnymede Bridge.\n\nThe development of the railway resulted in a spate of bridge building in the 19th century including Blackfriars Railway Bridge and Charing Cross (Hungerford) Railway Bridge in central London, and the spectacular railway bridges by Isambard Kingdom Brunel at Maidenhead, Gatehampton and Moulsford.\n\nThe world's first underwater tunnel was the Thames Tunnel by Marc Brunel built in 1843 and used to carry the East London Line. The Tower Subway was the first railway under the Thames, which was followed by all the deep-level tube lines. Two road tunnels were built in East London at the end of the 19th century, the Blackwall Tunnel and the Rotherhithe Tunnel, and the latest tunnel is the Dartford Crossing.\n\nMany foot crossings were established across the weirs that were built on the non-tidal river, and some of these remained when the locks were built – for example at Benson Lock. Others were replaced by a footbridge when the weir was removed as at Hart's Weir Footbridge. Around the year 2000, several footbridges were added, either as part of the Thames Path or in commemoration of the Millennium. These include Temple Footbridge, Bloomers Hole Footbridge, the Hungerford Footbridges and the Millennium Bridge, all of which have distinctive designs.\n\nSome ferries still operate on the river. The Woolwich Ferry carries cars and passengers across the river in the Thames Gateway and links the North Circular and South Circular roads. Upstream are smaller pedestrian ferries, for example Hampton Ferry and Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry; the latter is the only non-permanent crossing that remains on the Thames Path.\n\nNote on the listing\n\nThe list starts at the downstream (estuary) end and follows the river upstream towards the source. A few of the crossings listed are public pedestrian crossings utilising walkways across lock gates and bridges above or adjacent to the adjoining weirs. Most of the other locks on the River Thames also have walkways across their lock gates and weirs, but these either do not completely cross the river, or are restricted to authorised personnel only, and are therefore not listed. Crossings listed in italics are inaccessible to the public. Besides the ferry crossings listed, there are commuter boat services operating along the river in London, and tourist boat services operating both in London and upstream. Whilst the principal purpose of these services is not to carry people across the river, it may be possible to use them to do so.\n\nNorth Sea to London \n\nProposed\n\nA Lower Thames Crossing is proposed, at or east of the Dartford Crossing. Three options were announced in April 2009.\n\nEast London \n\nProposed or under construction\n\n* A new rail tunnel is being constructed between Plumstead and North Woolwich as part of Crossrail 1. \n* The Silvertown Tunnel is a proposed tunnel to relieve the Blackwall Tunnels between the Greenwich Peninsula and West Silvertown.\n* The Gallions Reach Crossing is a proposed tunnel or bridge, between Beckton and Thamesmead. \n*The Belvedere Crossing is a proposed tunnel or bridge, between Belvedere and Rainham. \n* A pedestrian and cycle bridge between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf has been proposed.\n\nCentral London \n\nFormer\n\n* At least two Emergency Thames Bridges were erected as a precaution against enemy action during World War II. The first of these bridges was built from Victoria Embankment to County Hall, London and was constructed in 1942 before being demolished in 1948. The second such bridge was constructed at Millbank outside the Tate Britain in 1942 before also being dismantled in 1948. \n\nPlanned \n\n* Garden Bridge, a pedestrian bridge between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges.\n* Nine Elms-Pimlico cycle and pedestrian bridge \n\nSouth West London \n\nPlanned \n\n* Diamond Jubilee Footbridge, a pedestrian bridge adjacent to Battersea Railway Bridge, granted planning permission in 2013.\n\nLondon to Windsor \n\nFormer\n\n* The Datchet Bridge, built in 1707, was demolished in 1848.\n\nWindsor to Reading \n\nReading to Oxford \n\nOxford to Cricklade \n\nCricklade to the source \n\nNot all of the bridges above Cricklade are listed below. For example, there are a number of small agricultural bridges allowing access between fields, and bridges to properties in Ashton Keynes that are not mentioned.\n\nThe river splits as it passes through Ashton Keynes. An alternative route to that listed above crosses High Bridge at and Three Bridges at .",
"London Bridge A Historical Bridge On River Thames | Travel ...\nLondon Bridge A Historical Bridge On River Thames. ... was the only passing which was used to cross the river from the Thames. ... The A3 road which is also being ...\nLondon Bridge A Historical Bridge On River Thames | Travel Featured\nLondon Bridge A Historical Bridge On River Thames\n1384 Views October 03, 2013 No Comments Attractions , Europe Tiffany Weekes\nLondon Bridge refers to few historical bridges in the central London,England. These bridges have covered the distance from the River Thames. The current passage which was before made of concrete and iron supports was opened for the general traffic in 1973. Later it was out dated and has to be replaced with the new design before that it was made of timber wood bridges in fact the series of bridges.\nThe first overpass on London was built by the Founder of London. The present London Bridge which lies at the west point of the river of the place, located about 30 meters in opposite direction of the water flow (upstream). It has been changed from the old location of the overpass which later replaced by the new design.\nPutney was opened in 1729 which was the set of series of bridges in the area before this the London Bridge was the only passing which was used to cross the river from the Thames.\n \nThe current shape of the overpass is being looked after by an organization called, Bridge House Estates. It is a individual aid which is being supervised by the London city corporation itself.\nThe A3 road which is also being looked after by the local authority. The London Bridge and the adjacent towers are now being selected as the busiest business area.\nThe total length of the over pass is 269 meters long; its total width is 32 meters wide. The long spam area is measured as 104 meters. It was open to the general transportation back in 1973 in the month of March.\nIt is a fantastic place to visit. Tourist comes from all over the world to visit the great architecture which has the most historical places in the area. People can come and see the areas like, Tower, the Dungeon and Tower over pass Experience.\nThe place is located on these coordinates if you see on the world equator, Coordinates : 51°30′29″N 0°05′16″W. Hope you like the article which has all the basic information about the place, keep us posted with your valuable feedbacks.\nShips passing by London Bridge\n London Bridge day view",
"London Bridge, Daily Topic - StudyHills\nSeveral historical bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and ... The current crossing, ... It carries the A3 road, ...\nLondon Bridge, Daily Topic - StudyHills\nLondon Bridge\nLondon Bridge\nSeveral historical bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1974, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. This replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which in turn superseded a 600-year-old medieval structure. This was preceded by a succession of timber bridges, the first built by the Roman founders of London.\nThe current bridge stands at the western end of the Pool of London but is positioned 30 metres (98 ft) upstream from previous alignments. The traditional ends of the medieval bridge were marked by St Magnus-the-Martyr on the northern bank and Southwark Cathedral on the southern shore. Until Putney Bridge opened in 1729, London Bridge was the only road-crossing of the Thames downstream of Kingston-upon-Thames. Its importance has been the subject of popular culture throughout the ages such as in the nursery rhyme \"London Bridge Is Falling Down\" and its inclusion within art and literature.\nThe modern bridge is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, an independent charity overseen by the City of London Corporation. It carries the A3 road, which is maintained by the Greater London Authority. The crossing also delineates an area along the southern bank of the River Thames, between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, that has been designated as a business improvement district.",
"Thames Bridges in London - Guided London walks and tours\nLondon's Thames Bridges ... which was the first suspension bridge to cross the Thames ... The flat steel suspension bridge carries pedestrians over the river ...\nThames Bridges in London\n450 feet long, 70 feet wide\nThree flat ferro-concrete arches are faced with Portland stone.\nArchitect: Herbert Baker. Engineer: Alfred Dryland. Contractor: Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co. Ltd\nGolden Jubilee Bridge (2002)\n325 metres long, 4.7 metres wide\nTwo footbridges on either side of Hungerford Railway Bridge are supported by white-painted steel rods which fan out from slanting steel pylons.\nArchitect: Lifschutz Davidson. Engineer: WSP Group. Contractor: Costain/Norwest Holst\nGrosvenor Railway Bridge (1860)\n700 feet long\nOriginally, the four wrought-iron spans carried four rail tracks across the river. In 1965, the bridge was reconstructed in steel and now provides a crossing for ten tracks. In fact, the steel structure consists of ten separate bridges joined together.\nEngineer: John Fowler\nHammersmith Bridge (1887)\nReplaced Tierney Clark�s elegant structure of 1827, which was the first suspension bridge to cross the Thames.\n688 feet long, 33 feet wide\nTwo river-towers of wrought iron clad in highly ornamental cast iron support steel suspension chains from which the narrow carriageway is hung. The footways are cantilevered out from the main structure.\nEngineer: Joseph Bazalgette. Contractor: Messrs Dixon, Appleby and Thorne\nHungerford Railway Bridge (1864)\nReplaced Brunel�s suspension footbridge, the chains of which were removed for use in Clifton Suspension Bridge.\n1,200 feet long\nNine wrought-iron girders are supported on cast-iron cylinders and on the two arched brick river-piers preserved from Brunel�s suspension bridge. The bridge was widened in 1886 to increase the number of railway tracks from four to eight.\nEngineer: John Hawkshaw. Contractor: South Eastern Railway\nKew Bridge (1903)\nReplaced Robert Tunstall�s wooden bridge of 1759 and James Paine�s stone bridge of 1789.\n360 feet long, 56 feet wide\nThree rough granite elliptical arches are enhanced by the ornamental shields of the counties of Middlesex and Surrey carved into the walls.\nEngineer: John Wolfe Barry. Contractor: Easton Gibbs\nKew Railway Bridge (1869)\n575 feet long\nFive wrought-iron lattice-girder spans supported on cast-iron columns with ornate capitals carry two railway tracks across the river.\nEngineer: W. Galbraith\nReplaced P.W. Barlow�s suspension bridge of 1862.\n776 feet long, 60 feet wide\nThe five arches of the bridge, supported by granite-faced riverpiers, are faced with flat steel plating to disguise the steel skeleton that lies behind. The red colour scheme is intended to reflect the red furnishings of the nearby House of Lords. Pineapple obelisks stand at the approaches.\nArchitect: Reginald Blomfield. Engineer: George W. Humphreys. Contractor: Dorman, Long & Co. Ltd\nLondon Bridge (1973) with City skyline\nReplaced John Rennie�s London Bridge of 1831, which itself replaced the inhabited Old London Bridge of 1209.\n860 feet long, 104 feet wide\nThree cantilevered high-strength concrete arches have spans of 260 feet, 340 feet and 260 feet. The only decorative features are the granite obelisks on the river-piers and the polishedgranite facing of the parapet walls.\nArchitect: Lord Holford. Engineers: Mott, Hay and Anderson.\nLondon, Chatham and Dover Railway Bridge (1864) insignia.\n933 feet long\nFive spans of wrought-iron lattice girders were supported by massive cast-iron columns. The superstructure was removed in 1985, leaving just the headless columns and its insignia.\nEngineer: Joseph Cubitt. Contractor: Kennards of Monmouthshire\nMillennium Bridge (2002)\n325 metres long, 4 metres wide\nThe flat steel suspension bridge carries pedestrians over the river between Tate Modern and St Paul�s Cathedral. Also known as the �Wobbly Bridge� because of the swaying that occurred at its official opening in 2000. The bridge was closed while the problem was solved using a system of dampers.\nArchitect: Foster and Partners. Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners. Contractors: Monberg & Thorsen/Sir Robert McAlpine\nPutney Bridge (1886)\nReplaced the wooden Fulham Bridge of 1729.\n700 feet long, 74 feet wide\nFive segmental granite arches span the river with All Saints Church, Fulham, at the northern end and St Mary�s Church, Putney, at the southern end.\nEngineer: Joseph Bazalgette. Contractor: John Waddell\nPutney Railway Bridge (1889)\n750 feet long\nFive turquoise wrought-iron lattice girders supported by pairs of cast-iron cylinders provide two railway tracks for the District Line.\nEngineer: William Jacomb. Contractor: Head Wrightson\nRichmond Bridge (1777)\n280 feet long, 36 feet wide\nFive segmental arches are constructed in masonry faced with Portland stone. Widened on the upstream side in 1939.\nArchitect: James Paine. Engineer: Kenton Couse. Contractor: Thomas Kerr\nRichmond Footbridge, Lock and Weir (1894)\n300 feet long, 28 feet wide\nTwin high-level footbridges pass over a lock capable of handling six river barges and a weir controlled by lifting sluice gates. Originally hand cranked, the sluice gates are now raised by electric power.\nEngineer: F.G.M. Stoney. Contractors: Ramsomes and Rapier\nRichmond Railway Bridge (1848)\n300 feet long\nThree 100-foot steel girders are supported on stone-faced land arches and two stone-faced river-piers. The original castiron girders were replaced by steel in 1907.\nEngineer: Joseph Locke\nReplaced John Rennie�s three-span iron bridge of 1819.\n800 feet long, 55 feet wide\nFive steel arches are supported by four stone river-piers, which are topped by pierced lunettes for decoration.\nArchitect: Ernest George. Engineer: Mott, Hay and Anderson. Contractor: Sir William Arrol & Co.\nTower Bridge (1894). Massive chains framing the Tower and Gherkin\n380 feer long, 60 feet wide\nCentral drawbridge with two bascules of 1,100 tons each, originally raised by steam-driven hydraulic power, today by electricity. Two 300-foot steel towers clad in granite and Portland stone support the bascules as well as a 200-foot-high walkway which is cantilevered out from the towers. Suspension chains support the road spans from the riverbanks to the two towers.\nArchitect: Horace Jones. Engineer: John Wolfe Barry. Contractors: Sir William Arrol & Co. and William Armstrong\nTwickenham Bridge (1933)\n280 feet long, 70 feet wide\nThree reinforced-concrete arches are supported on concrete river-piers, with bronze plated permanent hinges at the springings and centres to allow adjustments due to changes in temperature.\nArchitect: Maxwell Ayrton. Engineer: Alfred Dryland. Contractor: Aubrey Wilson Ltd\nVauxhall Bridge (1906)\nReplaced James Walker�s bridge of 1816, which was the first iron bridge to be built over the Thames in London.\n759 feet long, 80 feet wide\nThe appearance of the structure of five steel arches is enlivened by the heroic-sized statues which stand in front of each of the river-piers.\nArchitect: W.E. Riley. Engineers: Alexander Binnie and Maurice Fitzmaurice. Contractor: Petwick Bros\nWandsworth Bridge (1940)\nReplaced J.H. Tolm�s five wrought-iron arches of 1873.\n619 feet long, 60 feet wide\nThree steel cantilever spans are supported by granite-faced river-piers in a typically plain LCC design.\nArchitect: E.P. Wheeler. Engineer: T. Pierson Frank. Contractor: Messrs Holloway Bros (London) Ltd <\nWaterloo Bridge (1945)\nReplaced John Rennie�s 1817 bridge of nine semi-elliptical granite arches, which was once described by Canova as �the noblest bridge in the world�.\n1,200 feet long, 80 feet wide\nFive spans of reinforced concrete clad in Portland stone cross the river between the modernist concrete structures of the South Bank Centre and the classical stone structure of Somerset House on the north bank. Externally, the spans appear as elegantly flat arches, but the underlying structure consists of steel box-girders.\nArchitect: Giles Gilbert Scott. Engineer: Rendell, Palmer and Triton. Contractor: Sir William Arrol & Co.\nWestminster Bridge (1862)\nReplaced Labelye�s beautiful but unsafe stone bridge of 1750.\n748 feet long, 85 feet wide\nSeven elliptical cast- and wrought-iron arches supported by granite piers cross the river between the former County Hall and the Houses of Parliament. Gothic shields in the spandrels and ornamental shields emblazoned with the arms of England and Westminster provide decoration appropriate to the site.\nArchitect: Charles Barry. Engineer: Thomas Page. Contractor: Thomas Page\nFor information on Crossing the River:\n© Copyright Brian Cookson 2006"
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"River Thames | river, England, United Kingdom | Britannica.com\n... England) River Isis, ... The river in spate can upset tidal flows for some ... Other outstanding riverside landmarks on a boat voyage through London include ...\nRiver Thames | river, England, United Kingdom | Britannica.com\nriver, England, United Kingdom\nAlternative Titles: River Isis, Tamesa, Tamesis\nRelated Topics\nriver\nRiver Thames, ancient Tamesis or Tamesa, also called (in Oxford, England) River Isis, chief river of southern England . Rising in the Cotswold Hills , its basin covers an area of approximately 5,500 square miles (14,250 square km). The traditional source at Thames Head, which is dry for much of the year, is marked by a stone in a field 356 feet (108.5 metres) above sea level and 3 miles (5 km) southwest of the town of Cirencester . Some think a tributary, the River Churn, has a better claim to being the source; it rises near the village of Seven Springs (700 feet [213 metres] above sea level), just south of Cheltenham .\nLambeth from the northwest, London, showing the River Thames with Westminster Bridge (centre), …\nSandy Stockwell—© London Aerial Photo/Corbis\nEast End of London along the River Thames (c. 1900), detail of a map in the 10th edition of …\nEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\nPhysical features\nThe Thames is some 205 miles (330 km) long, running 140 miles (226 km) from the source to the tidal waters limit—i.e., from Thames Head to Teddington Lock —and, as an estuary , a further 65 miles (104 km) from there to The Nore sandbank, which marks the transition from estuary to open sea. Its basin, which receives an annual average precipitation of 27 inches (688 mm), has a complex structure. In its upper course the river drains a broadly triangular area defined by the chalk escarpment of the Chiltern Hills and the Berkshire Downs to the east and south, the Cotswolds to the west, and the Northamptonshire uplands to the north. At Goring Gap it cuts through the chalk escarpment and then drains the land lying north of the dip slope of the North Downs. Its last great tributary, the River Medway , drains much of the low-lying Weald area of Kent and Sussex to the south of London .\nSimilar Topics\nSeine River\nFlowing through gently rolling lowlands, the distinctive character of the Thames is pastoral and undramatic. Its average fall between Lechlade and London is less than 20 inches per mile (32 cm per km). The tides and surges of the sea, moreover, have a profound effect on the water level of the river’s lower course. This tidal influence begins to be felt intermittently, for some three hours during a high tide , at Teddington in the west suburbs of London. The transition from freshwater to estuarine reaches occurs closer to central London, around Battersea . At London Bridge , in the heart of the metropolis, the river rises 22 feet (7 metres) on the spring tides and 18 feet (5.5 metres) on the neap tides.\nThe Tower of London and the River Thames. The earliest part of the fortification, the White Tower …\nDennis Marsico/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\nThe average flow at the upper limit of the tideway, at Teddington, is 1,856 cubic feet (53 cubic metres) per second, rising to 4,640 cubic feet (130 cubic metres) per second after winter rain. In extreme floods (e.g., March 1947) the discharge at Teddington Weir may be as much as 20,900 cubic feet (590 cubic metres) per second. Reputedly, an average of 31,310 cubic feet (887 cubic metres) per second passed over it one day after heavy storms in 1894. The river in spate can upset tidal flows for some distance below Teddington, overpowering the incoming tide and causing the stream to run seaward continuously for days on end. Conversely, high spring tides can overtop the weir and affect the river flow as far as 2 miles (3.2 km) upstream of Teddington. The catastrophic potential of tidal surges for London’s underground infrastructure , buildings, and population prompted the construction of the Thames Barrier at Silvertown (completed 1982) and extensive complementary flood defenses along the entire tideway.\nThe Thames Barrier consists of 10 movable gates separated by 9 piers. Each gate has a curved face …\nEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\nRingling Bros. Folds Its Tent\nThe Thames is navigable by small boat up to the town bridge of Cricklade , close to the source, though motor cruisers and barges must turn at Lechlade, 10 miles (16 km) downstream. Meandering gently through lowlands for the first 28 miles (45 km) between Cricklade and Oxford , the river passes Kelmscott Manor—the gabled stone home of the 19th-century designer, socialist, and poet William Morris , who is buried in the village churchyard. Before reaching Oxford, the Thames (or Isis, its literary epithet) swings in a northward loop around the wooded hills of Wytham and Cumnor, which overlook the city from the west. A side stream at Wolvercote leads to the mill where fine paper was made for Oxford University Press from the early 17th century to 1943. Braided into many backwaters around the gravelly site of the celebrated university town, the river in summer is alive with elegant flat-bottomed punts, rowing eights, and skiffs. Decorated narrowboats (canal barges) may also be seen making their way to or from the West Midlands and the north of England via the Oxford Canal.\nBoats on the River Thames near the Tower Bridge, London.\nJupiterimages\nBritish Culture and Politics\nThe Thames at Oxford is 150 feet (46 metres) wide. Reinforced by three tributaries from the north—the Rivers Windrush, Evenlode, and Cherwell—it swings southward past the woods of Nuneham to the market town of Abingdon . There it collects the River Ock, which drains the Vale of White Horse . The Thames then trends east and south by the ancient towns of Dorchester (with its 14th-century abbey) and Wallingford. Passing between the Chiltern Hills and the Berkshire Downs at Goring Gap, it is joined by the Great Western Railway (London to Penzance) in a beautiful valley with beech woods rising to either side. It emerges from the chalk escarpment at Pangbourne to collect the River Pang. There the banker and author Kenneth Grahame wrote about the joys of “messing about in boats” in the opening chapters of The Wind in the Willows.\nConnect with Britannica\nFacebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest\nSoon afterward the Thames enters Reading , where it is joined by the River Kennet. Following the dip slope of the Chilterns, it loops north to Henley-on-Thames , scene of a celebrated annual rowing regatta , then east and south again toward Maidenhead , passing below Cliveden House (former home of the Astor family and now owned by the National Trust). From there it maintains a broadly easterly course, passing by Eton College , royal Windsor Castle , and Runnymede , where Magna Carta was drafted in 1215. It is joined by the River Colne on the northern bank at Staines .\nHenley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire district, …\nBritain on View (SI/BTA/ETB)\nOn the approaches to London , villas lining the riverbanks and the “gin palace” cruisers at private moorings make an ostentatious display of wealth. But the Thames is also a great popular playground, with thousands of acres of public parkland along its banks and intensive (and sometimes conflicting) use by sunbathers, swimmers, walkers, fishermen, rowers, canoeists, dinghy sailors, campers, and bird-watchers. Less visibly, the river thereabouts provides the metropolis with the greater part of its water supply. Some 63.6 million cubic feet (1.8 million cubic metres) are diverted per day between Windsor and Hampton on London’s western periphery and pumped to large storage reservoirs prior to treatment and distribution. The same water eventually rejoins the Thames by way of the giant sewage-treatment facilities at Mogden to the west of London and at Beckton and Crossness to the east.\nAt Teddington the river is 250 feet (76 metres) wide. The embanked tideway broadens steadily to 750 feet (229 metres) at London Bridge, 2,100 feet (640 metres) at Gravesend , and 5.5 miles (9 km) at The Nore. The tidal Thames is joined by the Brent at Brentford, the Wandle at Wandsworth , the Ravensbourne at Deptford, the Lea at Blackwall, the Darent just east of Erith, and its greatest tributary, the Medway, at Rochester .\nThe urban Thames was once best admired from the deck of one of its many scheduled passenger boats. It can now also be viewed to striking advantage from the Millennium Bridge (2000; retrofitted and reopened 2002), the only bridge across the Thames that is solely for pedestrians, and from the London Eye, a sort of enormous Ferris wheel. Other outstanding riverside landmarks on a boat voyage through London include Kew Gardens , the Tate Britain , the Houses of Parliament , the London Eye, the Tate Modern, St. Paul’s Cathedral , the Tower of London , Tower Bridge , Canary Wharf, the former Royal Naval College and the Millennium Dome at Greenwich , and the gleaming steel of the Thames Barrier, the last marking the transition to estuarine flatlands.\nMillennium Bridge, with St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background, London.\n© Wallace/Fotolia\nPedestrians and motor traffic above the River Thames, Tower Bridge, London.\nDennis Marsico/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\nHouses of Parliament, Westminster, London.\nEnglish Heritage, National Monuments Record/Heritage-Images\nThe Thames Barrier, London.\nEditor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies\nLondon has exerted a dominant influence on the river for centuries. A statute of 1393 granted powers to its citizens to remove weirs from the Thames, and the lord mayor of London’s water bailiffs enforced rights of navigation thereafter. An act of Parliament in 1771 enabled Thames commissioners to build locks along the river upstream of Maidenhead, while the Corporation of London carried out similar improvements on the lower stretches of the river. By the beginning of the 19th century, a busy cargo traffic extended upstream to Lechlade, where a canal link (now defunct) connected through the Cotswolds to the River Severn by way of the two-mile-long Sapperton Tunnel, opened in 1789. The origins of the modern system of water control were in place, as were the river’s 48 navigation locks. The grandest, Teddington Lock (1811), is 650 feet (198 metres) long with three sets of gates and is capable of taking a tugboat and six barges at one time.\nThe Thames is crossed at a number of points, including 16 bridges in Greater London alone. Most are road and rail bridges, but some, such as the Golden Jubilee Bridges and the aforementioned Millennium Bridge accommodate pedestrians. There are also two foot tunnels, one at Greenwich and the other at Woolwich , and a number of road and rail tunnels. The Woolwich Ferry links Woolwich in the borough of Greenwich with North Woolwich in Newham.\nEconomic factors\nOpium Wars\nAs on other rivers and canals in Britain, commercial waterway traffic declined steadily during the 20th century to the point of near extinction after World War II . Less inevitable, perhaps, was the collapse of seagoing traffic on the Thames in London—in notable contrast to Rotterdam , Netherlands . From 1970 the Port of London Authority concentrated all its investment in modern cargo-handling technology at Tilbury , 20 miles (32 km) downstream of the metropolis. The unwelcoming but functional industrial landscape of the London riverfront and docks was rapidly transformed beginning in the 1980s, as wharves and processing plants gave way to apartment and office buildings, promenades, and parks. The river was biologically dead in the 1950s, but changing land use together with improved pollution control have brought dramatic improvements in the quality of the water and a renewed abundance of fish. See also London Docklands .\nShipping on the River Thames in London.\nEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\nThames River - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)\nNot for its length but for its location is the Thames one of the best-known rivers in the world. Although it is only 210 miles (338 kilometers) long, it is England’s chief waterway. The Thames begins at Seven Springs in the Cotswold Hills. From there it pursues a very winding course through the Chiltern Hills. At Oxford, the famous university town, it is met by its chief western tributary, the River Cherwell. This is the end of commercial navigation. From here the river flows through the English countryside, passing such well-known sites as Henley, where the annual regatta is held; the royal residence at Windsor Castle; the college town of Eton; Hampton, famous for its beautiful Hampton Court palace built during the reign of Henry VIII; and then on to London.\nArticle Contributors",
"Thames Bridges - POLA2012\nThames Bridges Albert Bridge ... only bridge across the Thames. ... the second bridge to cross the Thames in London after London Bridge. The next nearest crossing ...\nThames Bridges\nThames Bridges\nThames Bridges\nAlbert Bridge\nDesigned by Roland Mason Ordish and built in 1873 this suspension bridge was named after Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.\nIt was originally a toll bridge and, although tolls were abolished in 1879, the toll booths still remain. Nowadays, the bridge is not strong enough to carry modern traffic and a weight limit of two tons was introduced in 1973. Of interest are the notices on the bridge which instruct marching troops to break step when crossing it!\nThe Albert bridge is at its most beautiful at night when it is illuminated by thousands of electric light bulbs. \n \nBarnes Bridge\n \nIn 1847 the Windsor, Staines and South-Western Railway was given permission to build a line from Barnes to Feltham. The bridge to carry this line across the Thames was designed by Joseph Locke and Thomas Brassey and opened in 1849. The line was popular for passengers and freight, avoiding as it did the busy and congested route through Richmond.\nThe bridge was also very popular as a vantage point from which to see the closing stages of the University Boat Race - special trains were laid on to allow spectators to enjoy the view from the comfort of a railway carriage.\nThe bridge was strengthened to cope with increasing traffic in 1891-95, at which time the footbridge was added. This was made especially strong to support the crowds that traditionally gathered for the Boat Race. However, the footbridge is now closed during the race. \n \nBattersea / Wandsworth Railway Bridge\nThis railway bridge was opened in 1863 as part of the West London Extension Railway. This connected lines running from Waterloo and Victoria with those from Euston and Paddington and it carried both standard and the broad gauge railway tracks needed for Great Western Railway stock.\nThe bridge still carries the only north-south route through London but is now subject to a speed limit of 15 mph. \n \nBattersea Bridge\nIn 1771 a timber bridge was built to replace a ferry that had existed at this location for many centuries. The bridge had 19 narrow spans and was a severe navigational hazard for river craft. The bridge was the subject of a well-known painting by the artist Whistler but it became unsafe and was demolished in 1885.\nThe present 5 span bridge was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette for the Metropolitan Board of Works and opened in 1890. \n \nBlackfriars Bridge\nThis bridge was designed by Joseph Cubbit and opened by Queen Victoria in 1869. It replaced an earlier stone structure and features stone pillars shaped like pulpits between iron arches. These pillars were designed to resemble the interior of a church to commemorate the 13th century Dominican monastery that gave its name to Blackfriars. \n \nCannon Street Railway Bridge\nThis bridge was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw for the South Eastern Railway and opened for traffic in 1866. It originally had two footpaths. One was reserved for railway employees but the other was open to the general public on payment of a toll. The tolls were abolished in 1877.\nThe bridge was widened and strengthened in 1898 at which time the footpaths were removed. Since then the bridge has been rebuilt twice, the latest version being constructed by British Railways in 1981. \n \nChelsea Bridge\nThe first Chelsea bridge was designed by Thomas Page and opened in 1858. Like the present bridge, this was a suspension bridge and was described at the time as the most beautiful of the bridges that crossed the Thames. It gave access to Battersea Park, which had been laid out just before the bridge was built. Tolls were payable, and this led to complaints that \"Government gave a park to the people but placed a toll-bar at the gate to keep them out\". The tolls were abolished in 1879.\nThe old bridge was demolished in 1935 and the new suspension bridge was provided with much stronger foundations to cope with increasing traffic levels. \n \nChiswick Bridge\nThis bridge formed part of a major road improvement scheme and was designed by Sir Herbert Baker. It is virtually on the finishing line of the University Boat Race and was one of three Thames bridges opened by the Prince of Wales on the same day in 1933. \n \nGrosvenor Railway Bridge\nThis bridge is also known as the Victoria Bridge and the first railway bridge to cross the Thames into central London. It was designed by Sir John Fowler for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and opened in 1860.\nA second bridge to match the existing structure was designed by Sir Charles Fox for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. This was built alongside the existing bridge in 1866.\nA third bridge was built in 1907 to increase the number of tracks into Victoria Station up to ten.\nAll three bridges were replaced between 1963 and 1967 and there are now in effect ten separate bridges each carrying one railway line. \n \nHammersmith Bridge\nThe first bridge here, designed by William Clarke and opened in 1827, was the first suspension bridge to span the Thames.\nThe current structure, also a suspension bridge, was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and opened in 1887. Of all the London bridges, this one offers the least headroom over the River. It is a favourite vantage point from which to watch the University Boat Race.\nHammersmith is one of the most attractive of London's bridges. This is especially true at night after a new lighting scheme was installed in 2000.\nThe bridge is too narrow for modern traffic and is now subject to a weight limit of 7.5 tons. A priority traffic system for buses is also now in operation. Hungerford Railway and Pedestrian Bridges These bridges take their name from Hungerford Market which was situated on the site now occupied by Charing Cross Station.\nThe first bridge at this location was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1845 to provide pedestrian access to the Market. The bridge was purchased in 1859 by the South Eastern Railway so it could extend the line from London Bridge to the proposed new Charing Cross Station. The chains and other suspension parts of Brunel's Thames bridge were used to finish his other bridge across the Avon Gorge in Bristol in memory of the famous engineer who had recently died.\nThe new railway bridge, which utilised Brunel's original foundations and piers, was completed in 1864 and included two toll footpaths which the Railway Company was obliged to maintain. The tolls were abolished in 1878 and one of the footpaths was replaced by track in 1882. However, the bridge remained as the only London crossing to take both rail and pedestrian traffic.\nThe single footpath was replaced in 2000 by two new suspension footbridges designed by Lifshutz Davidson. These new landmarks provide good views of the Thames towards Westminster.\n \nKew Bridge\nThe first bridge at this location was built of wood in 1759 and replaced a horse powered ferry. The power of the currents in the Thames started to damage the wooden piers so the bridge was replaced by a stone structure designed by James Paine thirty years later in 1789. The new bridge was opened by King George III.\nIn 1873 ownership of the bridge passed to the Metropolitan Board of Works and tolls were abolished. The bridge was later transferred to the Middlesex and Surrey County Councils.\nThe present bridge, the third to occupy this site, was designed by Sir John Wolfe-Barry and CA Breton and opened by King Edward VII in 1903. The bridge was re-named the King Edward VII Bridge to commemorate this, but this name proved unpopular and it reverted to Kew Bridge a few years later. \n \nKew Railway Bridge\nThis bridge was built by the London and South Western Railway Company to extend the line from South Acton Junction to Richmond. It was designed by WR Galbraith and opened in 1869. \n \nLambeth Bridge\nThe present bridge was designed by George Humphreys and opened by King George V and Queen Mary in 1932. This replaced an earlier iron suspension bridge designed by PW Barlow which was opened in 1862. Severe problems with rust to the iron structure resulted in the bridge becoming unsafe after only forty years or so.\nThe pineapples on top of the obelisks at each end of the bridge commemorate John Tradescant, who was gardener to Charles I. He was the first man to successfully grow a pineapple in England. \n \nLondon Bridge\nUntil 1750, when Westminster Bridge was built, this was London's only bridge across the Thames. The first bridge was built by the Romans in about AD 50 and was succeeded by a timber bridge built by the Saxons. The bridge was rebuilt in wood several times until the last timber bridge was built in 1163.\nWork started on a new stone bridge in 1176 and was completed in 1209. This was the famous old London Bridge, complete with shops, a chapel and houses. By the middle of the 18th century a large number of the houses were occupied by pin and needle makers, whose pins can still be found on the foreshore.\nA new stone bridge, designed by John Rennie, was opened in 1831 by King William IV and Queen Adelaide. This bridge was in use for 140 years until it became too weak to cope with modern traffic and had to be replaced. The old bridge is now sited in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, having been removed brick by brick in 1973.\nThe present bridge, built by Harold Knox King and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973, is London's widest road bridge with six traffic lanes and two footpaths. \n \nMillennium Bridge\nBuilt by Southwark Council in association with the Millennium Bridge Trust and the Corporation of London, this was the first new footbridge to be constructed over the Thames for 100 years.\nThe bridge was designed by Foster and Partners, Ove Arup and Partners and Sir Anthony Caro and is 370 metres long, four metres wide and 9.5 metres above the river.\nIt was inspected and dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II on May 9 2001 and opened on June 10. The bridge was closed soon after to allow engineers to investigate a disturbing swaying effect that occurred when a large number of people crossed at the same time. After installation of a new damping system the bridge was re-opened in 2002. \n \nPutney Bridge\nThis bridge marks the start of the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The first bridge was of timber construction and opened in 1729. Tolls were payable but initially people were reluctant to pay these - they did not pay when they went over London Bridge, why should they pay at Putney? Two toll collectors were stationed at each end of the bridge and issued with staves which were occasionally used to persuade the public to pay. In 1730 bells were hung on the tops of the toll houses so that collectors could go to the assistance of their colleagues if they were in trouble.\nThe present stone bridge was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette for the Metropolitan Board of Works and was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1886. \n \nPutney Railway Bridge\nDesigned by WH Thomas and William Jacomb, this bridge opened in 1889 for the London and South West Railway. The bridge is now used by the London Underground District Line. \n \nQueen Elizabeth II Bridge\nThe Queen Elizabeth II Bridge is situated some 20 miles east of London, between Dartford in Kent and Thurrock in Essex. It carries the M25 traffic across the river from Essex to Kent.\nThe need for a new crossing at this point was identified in the 1980's as sections of the M25, the new orbital motorway around London, were opened. It was recognised that the existing tunnels, which now carry M25 traffic from Kent to Essex, would be seriously overloaded once the motorway was finished.\nWork on the bridge started in August 1988 and it was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II in October 1991. At this time it was the largest cable-supported bridge in Europe and cost £86 million to build.\nTraffic volumes have grown by 75% since the bridge was opened and it is now used by approximately 50 million vehicles every year. \n \nRichmond Bridge\nBuilt in 1777 by James Paine and Kenton Couse, this is the oldest Thames bridge still in use. Before the bridge was built a ferry operated by the Crown occupied this site and was used extensively by King Henry VIII and his daughters, who spent much of their time at Richmond Palace.\nThe bridge was transferred to Middlesex and Surrey County Councils in 1927 and was widened between 1937-39. Great care was taken to retain the original appearance and each stone was removed, numbered and replaced after the foundations had been extended. \n \nRichmond Lock\nPermission was granted in 1890 to build a half-lock and weir downstream of Richmond Bridge. This followed many years of petitioning since the old London Bridge was demolished in 1862. The effect of the removal of the pallisades that protected London Bridge was to cause the tides to rise and fall more rapidly than before. This effect, combined with increased dredging activities in the lower reaches of the Thames, resulted in the river at Richmond and Twickenham becoming little more than a trickle between wide mud banks for long periods of time.\nA barge lock was built on the Surrey side at Richmond and this was joined by a weir to three roller slipways for small boats on the Middlesex side. The weir was opened and closed twice a day to hold water back at low tide. A superstructure was needed to house the weir mechanisms and this was constructed to form two footbridges. These were opened by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1894.\nRichmond Railway Bridge\nA new six mile line to connect Richmond with Waterloo via Clapham Junction was built by the Richmond Company in 1846.\nIn 1847 the Staines and South Western Railway Company extended the line to Windsor via Staines and Datchet and the line crosses the Thames very near to Richmond Station. The bridge to carry this line, originally called the Richmond, Windsor and Staines Bridge, was designed by Joseph Locke and opened in 1848. A similar cast iron beam bridge near Norbury collapsed in 1891 and this caused some concern over Richmond Railway Bridge. A new bridge was commissioned to replace Locke's structure and the present bridge, designed by JW Jacomb-Hood, was opened in 1908.\n \nSouthwark Bridge\nThe first bridge on this site was designed by John Rennie and opened in 1819. It was a toll bridge and included one of the largest cast iron arches ever built. However, within 80 years or so it was clear that the bridge was too narrow to cope with an increased amount of traffic and the decision was taken to replace it.\nThe new bridge was completed in 1921 and was designed to ensure that the piers lined up with those of both Blackfriars and London Bridges to assist navigation. The turrets on the piers were designed by Sir Ernest George RA. \n \nTower Bridge\nAs traffic levels increased in the 19th century it became clear that a new bridge was needed to the east of London Bridge. This bridge would have to allow the passage of tall ships into the Port of London so the City Engineer, Sir Horace Jones, suggested a double-bascule leaf bridge.\nWork started in 1886 and the bridge was completed in 1894. Sir Horace Jones died just after work began and the project was completed by Sir John Wolfe Barry with the assistance of Brunel (the younger).\nThe bridge opened 22 times per day on average during the early years but, as commercial shipping migrated downstream, this frequency reduced. Nowadays it opens on average once a day.\nOn one occasion, in 1953, a bus was trapped on the roadway and had to leap several feet to the other side - there were no serious injuries. \n \nTwickenham Bridge\nA modern road bridge designed by Maxwell Ayrton and one of three new bridges opened by the Prince of Wales in July 1933. The bridge has reinforced concrete arches with permanent hinges to allow adjustment for changes in temperature. It was the first bridge incorporating this feature to be built in Britain. \n \nVauxhall Bridge\nThis bridge was designed by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice and opened in 1906. It replaced an earlier structure built in 1816 to a design by James Walker. Then called Regent's Bridge, this was the first iron bridge to be built on the Thames.\nThe later name of Vauxhall was derived from Falkes' Hall, a nearby manor house built in the 13th century by Falkes de Breaute, a henchman of King John.\nFrederick Pomeroy and Alfred Drury sculpted the bronze figures that adorn the piers on either side of the bridge. These represent the Arts and Sciences, namely Agriculture, Architecture, Engineering, Learning, Education, Astronomy and the Fine Arts. \n \nWandsworth Bridge\nA wrought iron structure designed by Julian Tolmne was built here in 1873. It was of the lattice girder type and had a wooden roadway.\nAfter 60 years or so this bridge proved unable to cope with increasing levels of traffic so a new bridge was commissioned in 1935. This was designed by Sir Peirson Frank and opened in 1940. \n \nWaterloo Bridge\nThe first bridge on this site was built by John Rennie. Originally known as the Strand Bridge, it was re-named Waterloo Bridge in 1816. It was opened in 1817 by the Prince Regent, accompanied by the Duke of Wellington, on the second anniversary of Wellington's famous victory at the Battle of Waterloo.\nBy 1923 it was found that the three central piers were sinking and despite efforts to remedy this by reinforcing the foundations, the bridge was closed on safety grounds.\nWork began on a replacement bridge to a design by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1937. This magnificent bridge with five spans each of 230 feet (70 metres) opened in 1945. It is constructed of reinforced concrete faced with Portland Stone and is the longest bridge in London. \n \nWestminster Bridge\nThe original bridge completed in 1750 was only the second bridge to cross the Thames in London after London Bridge. The next nearest crossing point at that time was at Kingston. The new bridge met much opposition from the watermen, who made their living ferrying people across the river. The bridge featured semi-octagonal turrets at intervals to provide shelter for pedestrians but they soon became haunts for cut-throats and prostitutes. Twelve nightwatchmen were hired to guard travellers.\nThe bridge became unsafe and work began in 1854 on a replacement designed by Thomas Page. The new bridge opened in 1862 and is the oldest bridge in use in Central London.",
"British Rivers Including Pictures - Montego Data\nBritish Rivers Including Pictures ... and goods used the river, with its major tributary the ... the north are the Windrush, Evenlode, Cherwell, Thame ...\nBritish Rivers Including Pictures\nAvon\nUpper Avon or Warwickshire Avon\nRiver in southern England; length 154 km / 96 miles. Sometimes known as the Upper Avon or Warwickshire Avon, it rises in the Northamptonshire uplands near Naseby and flows southwest through Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Evesham, before joining the River Severn near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.\nRiver in Norfolk, England; length 80 km / 50 miles.\nIt flows southeast through the Norfolk Broads, where it joins the River Yare at Yarmouth.\nRiver in West Yorkshire, England; length 72 km / 45 miles It rises in the Pennine moors northwest of Todmorden, and joins the River Aire at Castleford.\nSeveral large reservoirs supplying water to West Yorkshire towns lie within its catchment area.\nThe Aire and Calder Navigation forms a link in the system of rivers and canals that provides a waterway from the River Mersey to the River Humber.\nThe Calder valley, via Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge, Mirfield, to Wakefield, is one of the main road and rail routes through the Pennines.\nCalder\nRiver in Cumbria, England. It flows into the Irish Sea 16 km / 10 miles southeast of Whitehaven.\nCalder\nRiver in central Lancashire, England; length 24 km / 15 miles It joins the River Ribble near Whalley.\nCam\nRiver in southeast England.\nIt rises in Ashwell, Hertfordshire, and flows 65 km / 40 miles northwest and northeast through Cambridgeshire, and then into the River Ouse, 6 km / 4 miles south of Ely.\nThe Cam is joined at Hauxton by the River Granta, which rises in Essex, and is known thereafter as either the Cam or the Granta.\nIt is navigable as far as the city of Cambridge.\nRiver in Northumberland, England; length 64 km / 40 miles It rises in the Cheviot Hills, flows northeast, and enters the North Sea at Amble.\nCoquet Island lies just off the mouth of the river.\nDerwent\nRiver in North Yorkshire, northeast England; length 92 km / 57 miles.\nRising in the North Yorkshire moors, it flows south through Malton and joins the River Ouse southeast of Selby.\nDove\nRiver in Derbyshire, England, a tributary of the Trent; length 65 km / 40 miles.\nThe Dove rises on Axe Edge, 6 km / 4 miles from Buxton, and forms the southwestern border between Derbyshire and Staffordshire as it flows south to join the Trent near Burton.\nThe valley of Dovedale, below Hartington, where the river runs through a rocky, wooded gorge some 3 km / 2 miles long, is popular with walkers.\nGreat Ouse\nRiver which rises near Brackley in Northamptonshire, central England, and flows eastwards through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk, before entering the Wash north of King's Lynn; length 250 km / 160 miles. A large sluice across the Great Ouse, near King's Lynn, was built as part of extensive flood-control works in 1959.\nThe chief tributaries of the Great Ouse are the Ivel, Cam , Lark, Little Ouse, Wissey, and Nar, all of which come from the south or east.\nThe Bedfordshire Ouse was diverted in the 17th century from its devious course through Ely via two new channels called the New and Old Bedford rivers, 32 km / 20 miles long, running in a direct line from Earith near St Ives to Denver Sluice near Downham Market.\nManifold\nRiver which flows through the Manifold Valley, a limestone gorge situated at the southern end of the Peak District in Staffordshire, England.\nFor a distance of about 1.5 km / 1 miles the river disappears underground in swallow holes for part of the year.\nMersey\nRiver in northwest England; length 112 km / 70 miles.\nFormed by the confluence of the Goyt and Tame rivers at Stockport, it flows west through the south of Manchester, is joined by the Irwell at Flixton and by the Weaver at Runcorn, and enters the Irish Sea at Liverpool Bay.\nIt drains large areas of the Lancashire and Cheshire plains.\nThe Mersey is linked to the Manchester Ship Canal. Although plans were announced in 1990 to build a 1,800-m / 5,907-ft barrage across the Mersey estuary to generate electricity from tides, these were abandoned in 1992 for financial reasons.\nThe river lies entirely below 45 m / 150 ft.\nIt is artificially modified (as part of the Manchester Ship Canal) as far as Warrington, where it becomes tidal.\nThe Mersey is polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and chemicals.\nThe Mersey became an artery of communications from the 18th century.\nBoats for passengers and goods used the river, with its major tributary the Irwell, between Liverpool and Manchester from 1720; the Bridgewater Canal acquired this traffic in the late 18th century.\nThe Mersey had passenger services until the development of the railway in the middle of the 19th century.\nIn the estuary (which has an area of over 78 sq km / 30 sq miles), steam ferries provided transport for commuters from the residential areas of Cheshire to Liverpool from 1815.\nIn 1934 the first road tunnel under the Mersey was opened.\nUntil the 1920s the river formed the boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire.\nNidd\nRiver in North Yorkshire, England, located within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.\nThe river flows southeast from the base of Whernside (27 km / 17 miles northwest of Ripon) into the River Ouse near York.\nWater is supplied to Bradford from a dam above the village of Pateley Bridge.\nUpper Nidderdale is a designated area of outstanding natural beauty.\nNith\nRiver of southern Scotland, rising in East Ayrshire unitary authority, about 13 km / 8 miles south of Cumnock, and flowing southeast for about 112 km / 70 miles through the valley of Nithsdale in Dumfries and Galloway unitary authority, before entering the Solway Firth 13 km / 8 miles south of Dumfries.\nSevern\nWelsh Hafren\nLongest River in Britain, which rises on the slopes of Plynlimon, in Ceredigion, west Wales, and flows east and then south, finally forming a long estuary leading into the Bristol Channel; length 336 km / 208 miles.\nThe Severn is navigable for 290 km / 180 miles, up to Welshpool (Trallwng) on the Welsh border.\nThe principal towns on its course are Shrewsbury, Worcester, and Gloucester.\nEngland and South Wales are linked by two road bridges and a railway tunnel crossing the Severn.\nA remarkable feature of the river is a tidal wave known as the `Severn Bore� that flows for some miles upstream and can reach a height of 2 m / 6 ft.\nThe Severn rail tunnel was built in 1873-85.\nThe first of the road bridges to be built opened in 1966, and carries the M4 motorway linking London and South Wales.\nA second road bridge was opened in 1996 and carries the M48 motorway.\nFrom its source, the Severn passes east through Powys and enters Shropshire near the Brythen Hills.\nSoutheast of Shrewsbury, the river passes through Ironbridge Gorge, `cradle of the Industrial Revolution� and now a tourist attraction. Thereafter, it runs through Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, widening considerably after it passes Newnham.\nThe Severn is navigable by larger ships (of around 8,000 tonnes) as far as Sharpness, and by smaller vessels (up to 700 tonnes) to Gloucester, while barges of 350 tonnes capacity can negotiate its upper reaches as far as Stourport.\nThe Severn is connected with the rivers Trent and Mersey via the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.\nThere is a canal network around Birmingham via the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, which joins the Severn at Worcester. Between Gloucester and Sharpness, the treacherous nature of the riverbed necessitated the construction, in 1827, of the 26 km / 16 mile long, lock-free Sharpness and Gloucester Ship Canal.\nTributaries of the Severn include the Teme, Stour, Wye , Vyrnwy, Tern, and Avon; in total, the river basin covers an area of 11,420 sq km / 4,409 sq miles. Crossings Between 1873 and 1885, a rail tunnel was dug underneath the Severn near Chepstow, running for a distance of 7.2 km / 4.4 miles, from New Passage to Portskewett.\nThis crossing greatly facilitated travel between Bristol and the Welsh capital Cardiff.\nA road suspension bridge was opened nearby, from Aust to Beachley, in 1966; this crossing carries the main M4 motorway linking London and South Wales and is subject to payment of a toll by users. Because of the increase in traffic volume, construction of a new road bridge was started in 1992 and completed five years later. Hydroelectric power in 1933, a committee recommended the construction of a hydroelectric power station on a river barrage at English Stones reef, which would utilize the tidal flow of the Severn.\nThis plan, which was interrupted by World War II, was revived in 1945, when engineers confirmed the practicability of the scheme and projected an output of some 2,190,000,000 kWh.\nHowever, no tidal power plant has yet been built.\nShannon\nLongest river in Ireland, rising 105 m / 344 ft above sea level in the Cuilcagh Mountains in County Cavan, and flowing 386 km / 240 miles to the Atlantic Ocean past Athlone, and through Loughs Allen, Boderg, Forbes, Ree, and Derg.\nThe estuary, which is 110 km / 68 miles long and 3-16 km / 3-10 wide, forms the northern boundary of County Limerick.\nThe river is navigable as far as Limerick city, above which are the rapids of Doonas and Castletroy.\nThe river is known for its salmon farms, Castleconnell being an important centre.\nIt also has the first and largest hydroelectric scheme in the Republic of Ireland (constructed 1925-29), with hydroelectric installations at and above Ardnacrusha, 5 km / 3 miles north of Limerick.\nSecond longest river in Scotland. It flows through Highland and Moray, rising 14 km / 8 miles southeast of Fort Augustus, for 172 km / 107 miles to the Moray Firth between Lossiemouth and Buckie.\nIt has salmon fisheries at its mouth. The upper river augments the Lochaber hydroelectric scheme.\nWhisky is distilled in the Spey valley.\nRiver in Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales, rising on the eastern side of the Preseli Hills and flowing through Carmarthenshire to Carmarthen Bay; length 50 km / 31 miles Commercial fisheries operate in Carmarthen Bay.\nThe village of Laugharne lies at the mouth of the river.\nLongest river in Scotland; length 193 km / 120 miles, it flows northeast through Loch Tay, then east and southeast past Perth to the Firth of Tay, crossed at Dundee by the Tay Bridge, before joining the North Sea.\nThe Tay has salmon fisheries; its main tributaries are the Tummel, Isla, and Earn, Braan, and Almond.\nThe drainage basin of the Tay and its tributaries forms one the most fully integrated hydroelectric developments in the north of Scotland.\nThe first Tay Bridge, opened in 1878, on the then longest span over water in the world, was blown into the river in 1879, along with a train which was passing over it. The bridge was rebuilt in 1883-88, and a road bridge, from Newport-on-Tay to Dundee, was completed in 1966.\nRiver flowing from the Pennines in Cumbria, northwest England, to the North Sea via Tees Bay, Middlesborough unitary authority, in northeast England; length 130 km / 80 miles.\nIts port, Teesport, handles in excess of 42 million tonnes per annum, with port trade mainly chemical-related.\nAlthough much of the river nearing the sea is polluted with industrial waste, sewage, and chemicals, the Tees Barrage (opened in 1985, cost of construction �50 million) enables a 16 km / 10 mile stretch of the river to provide clean, non-tidal water.\nThis is used for white - water sports, including canoeing.\nThe Tees rises in the north Pennines at Tees Head, on the easterly reaches of Cross Fell, Cumbria, and flows southeast and then northeast through Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough, entering the Tees Mouth estuary to join the North Sea.\nIt is navigable to Middlesbrough.\nIts main tributaries are the Lune, Balder, and Greta.\nThe river valley, known as Teesdale, includes Mickle Fell (790 m / 2,326 ft), the highest point in County Durham, and the waterfall of High Force.\nThe Tees has a unique transporter bridge (a bridge consisting of a movable platform suspended from cables), opened in 1911, which has 49 m / 160 ft clearance above the water.\nIts central section transports cars and people across the Tees towards Hartepool. It is the sole working example in England.\nRiver in Devon, southwest England; length 48 km / 30 miles.\nIt rises on Dartmoor, west of Chagford, and flows east into the English Channel at Teignmouth.\nIts estuary is over 1 km / 0.6 miles wide.\nTeme\nThe river Teme is the second largest tributary of the River Severn .\nIt rises in the Kerry hills in Mid Wales from a small spring in Bryn Coch quarry on Cilfaesty Hills at 460 metres above sea level.\nThe Teme is a rural river flowing through unspoilt countryside which is regarded as some of the most attractive in Britain.\nThe main town on the Teme is the historic border town of Ludlow in Shropshire.\nThe Teme Valley, running down from Ludlow, comprises of the orchards, woods and countryside of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, to the foothills of the Malverns, the valley of the River Teme is an area of great beauty, interesting architecture, quiet places and rural pursuits.\nThe rural nature of the river is reflected by high quality water with excellent brown trout and grayling fishing, with a challenge for the purist angler willing to accept the rugged conditions.\nThames\nRiver in south England, flowing through London; length 338 km / 210 miles.\nThe longest river in England, it rises in the Cotswold Hills above Cirencester and is tidal as far as Teddington.\nBelow London there is protection from flooding by means of the Thames Barrier (1982).\nThe headstreams unite at Lechlade.\nTributaries from the north are the Windrush, Evenlode, Cherwell, Thame, Colne, Lea, and Roding; and from the south, the Kennet, Loddon, Wey, Mole, Darent, and Medway.\nAround Oxford the river is sometimes poetically called the Isis.\nThe construction of a 11 km / 7 mile flood alleviation channel between Maidenhead and Eton was approved in 1994.\nAt Gravesend, the head of the estuary, it has a width of 1 km / 0.6 miles, gradually increasing to 16 km / 10 miles at the Nore.\nLying some 5 km / 3 miles southwest of the Nore is the mouth of the Medway estuary, at the head of which lie Chatham with important naval dockyards, Gillingham, and Rochester.\nGravesend on the south bank of the river, some 40 km / 25 miles from the Nore, developed at a point where vessels used to await the turn of the tide.\nTidal waters reach Teddington, 100 km / 62 miles from its mouth, where the first lock from the sea (except for the tidal lock at Richmond) is located.\nThere are in all 47 locks, St John's Lock, Lechlade, being nearest the source.\nThe normal rise and fall of the tide is from 4.5 m / 15 ft to 7 m / 23 ft at London Bridge and from 4 m / 13 ft to 6 m / 20 ft at Tilbury.\nUntil Tower Bridge was built, London Bridge was the lowest in the course; the reach between these two bridges is known as the `Pool of London.\nTilbury, Fort and Docks, important as the main London container terminal, lies opposite Gravesend on the northern bank.\nAt Woolwich, some 30 km / 19 miles above Tilbury, is the arsenal; Greenwich, a little farther upriver, has the Royal Naval College.\nBetween Tilbury and London Bridge (some 40 km / 25 miles upstream) stretches the London dock System.\nThe Thames has been frozen over at various times, the earliest recorded occasion being AD 1150.\nThe embankments of the Thames in London were the work of Sir Joseph Bazalgette (1819-91), chief engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The Albert Embankment on the south side was completed in 1869, the Victoria Embankment from Westminster to Blackfriars in 1870, and the Chelsea Embankment from the Royal Hospital to Battersea Bridge in 1874. In January 1949 work was started on a new embankment, designed by J Rawlinson, chief engineer of the former London County Council, on the south side from County Hall to Waterloo Bridge. These embankments were raised after 1974.\nThere are walkways (formerly towpaths) from Teddington to Cricklade.\nThe Port of London Authority is responsible for the control and conservation of the river below Teddington.\nAbove Teddington the Environment Agency is the responsible authority; there is some barge traffic on this stretch of the river.\nThe Thames is of great importance to the water supply of London, partly because the many springs in the chalk usually maintain a steady flow in summer.\nSalmon returned to the Thames in 1974.\nThe river is spanned by 20 road and nine rail bridges between Hampton Court and the Tower of London.\nThese include Tower Bridge (which has a drawbridge mechanism to enable large vessels to pass) and a suspension bridge at Hammersmith.\nThe QEII Bridge opened in 1991 joins the counties of Essex and Kent.\nThe chief tunnels under the Thames are the Thames Tunnel, completed by Brunel in 1841, now used by the East London Line of the London Underground; the Blackwall Tunnel (1897) from East India Dock Road to East Greenwich, the Rotherhithe Tunnel (1918) from Shadwell to Rotherhithe, and the Dartford tunnel completed in 1963.\nThere are regular boats from Kingston to Folly Bridge, Oxford, during the summer.\nThere is some beautiful scenery along this part of the river, for example at Cliveden, Cookham, Sonning, and Pangbourne. There are fine bridges at Richmond, Hampton Court, Chertsey, Maidenhead, and Shillingford. Henley, Wallingford, Dorchester, Abingdon, Eton and Windsor are attractive.\nThe Royal Regatta at Henly on Thames is one of the highlights of the British social calander.\nAlong the 80 km / 50 miles from its source beneath a tree in `Trewsbury Mead� to Oxford, the Thames glides through meadows, its course interrupted only by the small towns of Lechlade and Cricklade and the pretty stone-built hamlets of Kelmscott and Ashton Keynes.\nIn these upper reaches there are two medieval bridges New Bridge and Radcot Bridge.\nMotor launches can reach Lechlade; beyond that point it is possible to canoe up to Cricklade, but the final 16 km / 10 miles to the source of the Thames is best done on foot.\nOne particularly attractive section is the steep-sided valley through the chalk hills between Goring and Reading, known as the Goring Gap.\nTrent\nThird longest river of England; length 275 km / 170 miles.\nRising in the south Pennines (at Norton in the Moors) by the Staffordshire-Cheshire border, it flows south and then northeast through Derbyshire, along the county boundary of Leicestershire, and through Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, joining the Ouse east of Goole to form the Humber estuary, and entering the North Sea below Spurn Head.\nIts drainage basin covers more than 10,000 sq km / 4,000 sq miles. Main tributaries are the Churnet, Dove , and Derwent.\nIt is navigable by barge for nearly 160 km / 100 miles.\nThe principal towns and cities along its course are Burton upon Trent, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, and Newark.\nIt is connected with other rivers and with the Birmingham and Lancashire districts by the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Grand Union Canal.\nThe Trent valley includes extensive gravel workings and many electric power stations.\nTweed\nRiver rising in the Tweedsmuir Hills, 10 km / 6 miles north of Moffat, southwest Scottish Borders, Scotland, and entering the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland; length 156 km / 97 miles.\nIt flows in a northeasterly direction, and from Coldstream until near Berwick-upon-Tweed it forms the border between England and Scotland.\nIt is the fourth longest river in Scotland and is one of the best salmon rivers.\nTyne\nRiver of northeast England formed by the union of the North Tyne (rising in the Cheviot Hills) and South Tyne (rising near Cross Fell in Cumbria) near Hexham, Northumberland, and reaching the North Sea at Tynemouth ; length 72 km / 45 miles.\nKielder Water (1980) in the North Tyne Valley is Europe's largest artificial lake, 12 km / 7.5 miles long and 0.8 km / 0.5 miles wide, and supplies the industries of Tyneside, Wearside, and Teesside.\nAs well as functioning as a reservoir, it is a major resource for recreational use.\nThe principal tributary of the Tyne is the River Derwent , and the chief towns and cities along its course are Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Jarrow, and South Shields.\nMuch of the Tyne basin lies within the Northumberland National Park.\nAlong the lower reaches the Tyneside conurbation developed in the 19th century around shipyards, iron works, and chemical industries.\nTywi or Towy\nRiver in Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales; length 108 km / 68 miles.\nIt rises in the Cambrian Mountains of central Wales and flows southwest through Carmarthen before entering Carmarthen Bay.\nUre\nRiver in North Yorkshire, northern England; length about 80 km / 50 miles.\nIt rises 10 km / 6 miles northwest of Hawes, near the borders of Cumbria, and joins the River Swale near Boroughbridge to form the Ouse .\nFlowing through the spectacular Wensleydale countryside, the river drops dramatically at Aysgarth.\nAysgarth Force is located alongside the A684 where a beautiful old single arched bridge spans the river close by.\nWear\nRiver in northeast England; length 107 km / 67 miles.\nFrom its source near Wearhead in the Pennines in County Durham, it flows eastwards along a narrow valley, Weardale, to Bishop Auckland and then northeast past Durham and Chester-le-Street, to meet the North Sea at Sunderland.\nWeardale is moorland in its upper reaches at Stanhope and Wolsingham.\nAt Sunderland the Wear cuts a gorge 30 m / 98 ft deep through the local magnesian limestone plateau to reach the North Sea.\nThe city of Durham is built along the Wear, and its castle and cathedral (a World Heritage site) stand 30 m / 100 ft above the river on an incised meander.\n(Welsh Gwy)\nRiver in Wales and England; length 208 km / 130 miles.\nIt rises on Plynlimon in northeast Ceredigion, flows southeast and east through Powys and Hereford and Worcester, and follows the Gwent-Gloucestershire border before joining the river Severn 4 km / 2.5 miles south of Chepstow.\nIt has salmon fisheries and is noted for its scenery particularly at Symonds Yat.\nWye\nRiver of central England; length 15 km / 9 miles.\nIt rises in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire and flows in a southeasterly direction to Bourne End where it meets the Thames .\nWye\nRiver in Derbyshire, central England; length 32 km / 20 miles.\nIt rises near Buxton and flows in a southeasterly direction to meet the Derwent at Rowsley.",
"River Thames - London Wiki - Wikia\nThe Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. ... central London, the river flows through ... River Thames is the second longest river in the ...\nRiver Thames | London Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nEdit\nThe River Thames is the second longest river in the United Kingdom and the longest river entirely in England, rising at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flowing into the North Sea at the Thames Estuary. It has a special significance in flowing through London, the capital of the United Kingdom, although London only touches a short part of its course. The river is tidal in London with a rise and fall of 7 metres (23 ft) and becomes non-tidal at Teddington Lock . The catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and Western England and the river is fed by over 20 tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, and having both seawater and freshwater stretches supports a variety of wildlife.\nThe river has supported human activity from its source to its mouth for thousands of years providing habitation, water power, food and drink. It has also acted as a major highway both for international trade through the Port of London, and internally along its length and connecting to the British canal system. The river’s strategic position has seen it at the centre of many events and fashions in British history, earning it a description as “Liquid History”. It has been a physical and political boundary over the centuries and generated a range of river crossings. In more recent time the river has become a major leisure area supporting tourism and pleasure outings as well as the sports of rowing, sailing, skiffing, kayaking, and punting. The river has had a special appeal to writers, artists, musicians and film-makers and is well represented in the arts. It is still the subject of various debates about its course, nomenclature and history.\nPhysical and natural aspects\nThe monument at the official source of the Thames.\nRiver Thames Flood Barrier\nThe Thames passes by some of the sights of London, including the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye\nThe Thames has a length of 215 miles (346 km). Its usually quoted source is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994), about a mile north of the village of Kemble and near the town of Cirencester, in the Cotswolds. However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham, where the river Churn rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is furthest from the mouth both in distance along its course and as the crow flies and adds some 14 miles (22 km) to the length. The springs at Seven Springs also flow throughout the year, while those at Thames Head are only seasonal.\nThe Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes, Cricklade, Lechlade, Oxford, Abingdon, Wallingford, Goring-on-Thames, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Eton, Staines, Weybridge and Thames Ditton before entering the Greater London area. The present course is the result of several minor redirections of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Maidenhead and more recently the creation of specific cuts to ease navigation.\nFrom the outskirts of Greater London, the river passes Hampton Court, Kingston, Teddington, Twickenham, Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House and Kew before flowing through central London. In central London, the river forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London and was the southern boundary of the mediaeval city, with Southwark on the opposite bank.\nOnce past central London, the river passes between Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs, before flowing through the Thames Barrier, which protects central London from flooding in the event of storm surges. Below the barrier, the river passes Dartford, Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea.\nCatchment area and discharge\nEdit\nThe river drains a catchment area of 4994|sqmi or 5924 sqmi if the River Medway is included as a tributary. (Dot & Ian Hart (2001–5). The River Thames — Its geology, geography and vital statistics from source to sea . Retrieved November 1, 2005.)\nThe non-tidal section\nLocks and weirs on the River Thames\nThe Jubilee River at Slough Weir\nBrooks, canals and rivers, within an area of convert|3841, combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock , the tidal limit. Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810-12, the river was tidal as far as Staines. The tributaries include the rivers River Churn, River Leach, River Cole, Wiltshire, River Coln, River Windrush, River Evenlode, River Cherwell, River Ock, River Thame, River Pang, River Kennet, River Loddon, River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Wey and River Mole, Surrey. In addition there are many backwaters and distributaries and some man-made channels such as the Longford River.\nMore recently, an artificial secondary channel to the Thames, known as the Jubilee River, was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief, being completed in 2002.\nMore than half the rain that falls on this catchment is lost to evaporation and plant transpiration. The remainder provides a water resource that has to be shared between river flows, to support the natural environment and navigation, and the population's needs for water supplies to homes, industry and agriculture.\nThe non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency which has the twin responsibilities of managing the flow of water to control flooding, and providing for navigation. The volume and speed of water down the river is managed by adjusting the gates at each of the weirs and at high water levels are usually dissipated over flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally flooding is unavoidable, and the Agency issues Flood Warnings. During heavy rainfall the Thames occasionally receives raw sewage discharge due to sanitary sewer overflow.\nThe tidal section\nMain article: Tideway\nLondon Stone at Staines, built in 1285 marked the tidal limit of the Thames and the City of London 's jurisdiction\nThe lower course of the Thames in 1840\nBelow Teddington Lock (about convert|55|mi} upstream of the Thames Estuary) the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea. Before the lock was installed the river was tidal as far as Staines. London, capital of Roman Britain, was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. (Peter Ackroyd London:The Biography Vintage 2001) A river crossing was built at the site of London Bridge. London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide. High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as \"the Tideway\".\nThe principal tributaries on the Tideway include the rivers Brent , Wandle , Effra , Westbourne , Fleet , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea , Roding, Darent and Ingrebourne . At London, the water is slightly brackish, with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water.\nThis part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from the North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980’s to protect London from this risk.\nIslands\nEdit\nTemple Island — the start of the Henley Royal Regatta course\nThe river Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey, Isle of Grain and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. Some of the largest inland islands — Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon — were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams, while Desborough Island, Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot] is a familiar landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centrepiece of the spectacular view from Richmond Hill . Islands with a historical interest are Magna Carta Island at Runnymede, Fry's Island at Reading and Pharaoh's Islandnear Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with the impresario Fred Karno, and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East’s R&B music scene.\nGeological history\nEdit\nLardon Chase\nThe River Thames can first be identified as a discrete drainage line as early as 58 million years ago, in the late Palaeocene Period Thanetian Stage. Until around half a million years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire, before turning to the north east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near Ipswich. At this time the river system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from the North Wales Berwyn Mountains. Arrival of an ice sheet in the Quaternary Ice Age, about 450,000 years ago, dammed the river in Hertfordshire and caused it to be diverted onto its present course through London. This created a new river route aligned through Berkshire and on into London after which the river rejoined its original course in southern Esse], near the present River Blackwater estuary. Here it entered a substantial freshwater lake in the southern North Sea basin. The overspill of this lake caused the formation of the Dover Straits or Pas-de-Calais gap between Great Britain and France. Subsequent development led to the continuation of the course which the river follows at the present day.\nAt the height of the last ice age around 12000 years ago, Britain was connected to mainland Europe via a large expanse of land known as Doggerland in the southern North Sea basin. At this time, the Thames' course did not continue to Doggerland, but was aligned southwards from the eastern Essex coast where it met the Rhine, the River Meuse and the River Scheldt [1]\nIn addition the Thames is host to some invasive crustaceans including Signal crayfish and Chinese Mitten Crab.\nOn 20 January 2006 a northern 16-18 ft (5 m) bottle-nosed whale was spotted in the Thames and was seen as far upstream as Chelsea. This is extremely unusual because this type of whale is generally found in deep sea waters. Crowds gathered along the riverbanks to witness the extraordinary spectacle. But it soon became clear there was cause for concern, as the animal came within yards of the banks, almost beaching, and crashed into an empty boat causing slight bleeding. Approximately 12 hours later, the whale was believed to be seen again near Greenwich , possibly heading back to sea. There was a rescue attempt lasting several hours, but it eventually died on a barge. (See Wikipedia page [5] )\nHuman aspects\nThe River Thames has served several roles in human history, being an economic resource, a water highway, a boundary, a fresh water source, also a source of food and more recently a leisure facility.\nHuman history\n19th century painting \"Haymaking on the Thames\" by John Clayton Adams\nWallingford Bridge and St Peter's Church\nThe Thames at Hampton\nThe Thames as it flows through London, with the Isle of Dogs in the centre.\nThere is evidence of human habitation living off the river along its length dating back to Neolithic times. [2] The British Museum has a decorated bowl (3300-2700 BC), found in the River at Hedsor, Buckinghamshire and a considerable amount of material was discovered during the excavations of Dorney Lake. [3] A number of Bronze Age sites and artifacts have been discovered along the banks of the River including settlements at Lechlade, Cookham and Sunbury-on-Thames . Some of the earliest written accounts of the Thames occur in Julius Caesar’s account of his second expedition to Britain in 54BC [4] when the Thames presented a major obstacle and he encountered the Iron Age Belgae/|Belgic tribes the Catuvellauni and the Atrebates along the river.\nUnder the Emperor Claudius in AD 43 the Romans occupied England and, recognising the River's strategic and economic importance, built fortifications along the Thames valley including a major camp at Dorchester, Oxfordshire. Two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill , provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames called Londinium where a bridge was built. The next Roman bridge upstream was at Staines (Pontes) to which point boats could be swept up on the rising tide with no need for wind or muscle power. Many of the Thames’ riverside settlements trace their origins back to very early roots and the suffix - “ing” in towns such as Goring and Reading, Berkshire, owe their origins to the Saxons. Recent research suggests that these peoples preceded the Romans rather than replaced them. [5] The river’s long tradition of farming, fishing, milling and trade with other nations started with these peoples and has continued to the present day. Competition for the use of the river created the centuries-old conflict between those who wanted to dam the river to build millraces and fish traps and those who wanted to travel and carry goods on it. Economic prosperity and the foundation of wealthy monasteries by the Anglo-Saxons attracted unwelcome visitors and by around AD 870 the Vikings were sweeping up the Thames on the tide and creating havoc as in their destruction of Chertsey Abbey.\nOnce William I of England had won total control of the strategic Thames Valley he went on to invade the rest of England. He had many castles built, including those at Wallingford, Rochester, Kent, Windsor, Berkshire and most importantly the Tower of London . Many details of Thames activity are recorded in the Domesday book . The following centuries saw the conflict between King and Barons coming to a head in AD 1215 when King John was forced to adhere to the Magna Carta]] on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. This granted them among a host of other things under Clause 23 the right of Navigation. Another major consequence of John’s reign was the completion of the multi-piered London Bridge which acted as a barricade and barrage on the river, affecting the tidal flow upstream and increasing the likelihood of freezing over. In Tudor and Stuart times the Kings and Queens loved the river and built magnificent riverside palaces at Hampton Court , Kew , Richmond on Thames , Whitehall and Greenwich .\nThe 16th and 17th centuries saw the City of London grow with the expansion of world trade. The wharves of the Pool of London were thick with seagoing vessels while naval dockyards were built at Deptford . The Dutch navy even entered the Thames in 1667 in the raid on the Medway. A cold series of winters led to the Thames freezing over above London Bridge, and this led to the first Frost Fair in 1607, complete with a tent city set up on the river itself and offering a number of amusements, including ice bowling. In good conditions barges travelled daily from Oxford to London carrying timber and wool, foodstuffs and livestock, battling with the millers on the way. The stone from the Cotswolds used to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire in 1666 was brought all the way down from Radcot. The Thames provided the major highway between London and Westminster in the 16th and 17th centuries and the clannish guild of watermen ferried Londoners from landing to landing and tolerated no outside interference. In AD 1715 Thomas Doggett was so grateful to a local waterman for his efforts to ferry him home pulling against the tide, that he set up a rowing race for professional watermen known as “ Doggett's Coat and Badge ”.\nBy the 18th century, the Thames was one of the world's busiest waterways, as London became the centre of the vast, mercantile British Empire and progressively over the next century the docks expanded in the Isle of Dogs and beyond. Efforts were made to resolve the navigation conflicts up stream by building locks along the Thames. After temperatures began to rise again, starting in 1814, the river stopped freezing over completely. [6] The building of a new London Bridge in 1825, with fewer pillars than the old, allowed the river to flow more freely and reduced the likelihood of freezing over in cold winters. [7]\nThe Victorian era was an era of imaginative engineering. In the ' Great Stink ' of 1858, pollution in the river reached such proportions that sittings at the House of Commons at Westminster had to be abandoned. A concerted effort to contain the city's sewage by constructing massive sewers on the north and south river embankments followed, under the supervision of engineer Joseph Bazalgette . Meanwhile, similar huge undertakings took place to ensure water supply, with the building of reservoirs and pumping stations on the river to the west of London. The embankments in London house the water supply to homes, plus the sewers, and protect London from flood. The coming of rail transport] added both spectacular and ugly railway bridges to fine range of earlier road bridges but reduced commercial activity on the river. However sporting and leisure use increased with the establishment of regattas such as Henley Royal Regatta and The Boat Race. On 3 September 1878, one of the worst river disasters in England took place, when the crowded pleasure boat {{SS|Princess Alice collided with the Bywell Castle, killing over 640 people.\nThe growth of road transport and the decline of the Empire, in the years following 1914, reduced the economic prominence of the river. During World War II the protection of the Thames was crucial to the defence of the country. Defences included the Maunsell forts in the estuary and barrage balloons to cope with the threat of German bombers using the distinctive shape of the river to navigate during The Blitz. Although the Port of London remains one of the UK's three main ports, most trade has moved downstream from central London. The decline of manufacturing industry and improved sewage treatment have led to a massive clean-up since the filthy days of the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries, and aquatic life has returned to its formerly 'dead' waters. Alongside the river runs the Thames Path , providing a route for walkers and cyclists.\nIn the early 1980s a massive flood-control device, the Thames Barrier , was opened. It is closed several times a year to prevent water damage to London's low-lying areas upstream (as in the 1928 Thames flood for example). In the late 1990s, the Jubilee River was built, which acts as a flo]] channel for the Thames around Maidenhead and Windsor. [8]\nOrigin of the name\nEdit\nStatue of Old Father Thames at St John's Lock\nThe Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Celtic name for the river, Tamesas (from *tamēssa), [9] recorded in Latin as Tamesis and underlying modern Welsh Tafwys \"Thames\". The name probably meant \"dark\" and can be compared to other cognates such as |Irish teimheal and Welsh tywyll \"darkness\" Proto-Celtic *temeslos) and Middle Irish teimen \"dark grey\", [9] though Richard Coates [10] mentions other theories: Kenneth H. Jackson ref>Template under construction. in F. T. Wainright (ed.), ed. The Problem of the Picts. Nelson. pp. 129–166. </ref> that it is non Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), and Peter Kitson's [11] that it is IE but pre-Celtic, and has a name indicating muddiness from a root *tã-, 'melt'.\nThe river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t; the [Middle English spelling was typically Temese and Celtic languages TAmesis. The th lends an air of Ancient Greek to the name and was added during the Renaissance, possibly to reflect or support a belief that the name was derived from River Thyamis in the Epirus (region region of Greece, whence early Celtic tribes were erroneously thought to have migrated.\nIndirect evidence for the antiquity of the name 'Thames' is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made this). It is believed that Tamesubugus's name was derived from that of the river. [12]\nThe Thames through Oxford is often given the name the River The Isis, although historically, and especially in Victorian era, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the River Isis from its source until Dorchester, Oxfordshire. Only at this point, where the river meets the River Thame and becomes the \"Thame-isis\" (subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so-called; Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as \"River Thames or Isis\" until Dorchester. However since the early 20th century, this distinction has been lost in common usage outside Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis—although possibly named after the Egyptian mythology goddess of Isis —is nothing more than a contraction of Tamesis, the[Latin] (or pre-Roman Celtic) name for the Thames.\nRichard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *(p)lowonida. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium, from the Indo-European roots *pleu- \"flow\" and *-nedi \"river\" meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. [10]\nFor merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just 'The London River'. Londoners often refer to it simply as 'the river', in expressions such as 'south of the river'. [13]\nThe active river\nEdit\nOne of the many piers for joining sightseeing boat trips.\nOne of the major resources provided by the Thames is drinking water provided by Thames Water whose area of responsibility covers the length of the River Thames. The Thames Water Ring Main is the main distribution mechanism for water in London with one major loop linking the Hampton , Walton-on-Thames, Ashford, Surrey, and Kempton Water Treatment Works to central London.\nIn the past, commercial activities on the Thames included fishing (particularly eel trapping), coppicing willows which provided wood for many purposes including osiers, and running watermills for flour and paper production and metal beating. These activities have disappeared, although there was a proposal to build a hydro plant at Romney Lock to power Windsor Castle. As of January 2008, this scheme appears to have been abandoned.\nThe Thames is popular for riverside housing whether in high rise flats in central London or chalets on the banks and islands up stream. The river has its own residents dwelling on houseboats, typically around Brentford and Tagg's Island\nTransport and tourism\nIn London there are many sightseeing tours in tourist boats, past the more famous riverside attractions such as the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London as well as regular riverboat services co-ordinated by London River Services .\nThe upper river\nEdit\nPassenger services are operated in summer along the entire non-tidal river from Oxford to Teddington. The two largest operators are Salters Steamers and French Brothers. Salters operate services between Folly Bridge, Oxford and Staines. The entire journey takes 4 days and requires several changes of boat. [14] French Brothers operate passenger services between Maidenhead and Hampton Court. [15] Along the course of the river a number of smaller private companies also offer river trips at Wallingford, Reading and Hampton Court. [16] Many companies also provide boat hire on the river.\nThe leisure navigation and sporting activities on the river have given rise to a number of dependent businesses including boatbuilding, marinas, ships chandlers and salvage services.\nPolice and lifeboats\nEdit\nThe river is policed by five police forces. The Thames Division is the River Police arm of London’s Metropolitan Police , while Surrey Police, Thames Valley Police, Essex Police and Kent Police have responsibilities on their parts of the river outside the metropolitan area. There is also a London Fire Brigade fire boat on the river. The river claims a number of lives each year. As a result of the Marchioness disaster in 1989 when 51 people died, the UK Government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution] (RNLI) to work together to set up a dedicated Search and Rescue service for the tidal River Thames. As a result, there are four lifeboat stations on the river Thames based at Teddington , Chiswick Pier, Tower Lifeboat Station and Gravesend, Kent. [17]\nNavigation\nEdit\nBray lock, Berkshire\nPool of London looking west, from the high-level walkway on Tower Bridge . Click on the picture for a longer description\nThe Thames is navigable from the estuary as far as Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Between the sea and Teddington Lock , the river forms part of the Port of London and navigation is administered by the Port of London Authority . From Teddington Lock to the head of navigation, the navigation authority is the Environment Agency. Both the tidal river through London and the non-tidal river upstream are intensively used for leisure navigation. All craft using the river Thames must be licensed.\nThe river is navigable to large ocean-going ships as far upstream as the Pool of London and London Bridge . Although London's upstream enclosed docks have closed and central London sees only the occasional visiting cruise ship or naval warship, the tidal river remains one of Britain's main ports. Around 60 active terminals cater for shipping of all types including ro-ro ferries, cruise liners and vessels carrying containers, vehicles, timber, grain, paper, Petroleum, petroleum products], liquified petroleum gas, etc. [18] There is a regular traffic of Construction aggregate or waste vessels, operating from wharves in the west of London. The tidal Thames links to the canal network at the River Lea Navigation , the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin , and the Grand Union Canal at Brentford.\nThe non-tidal River Thames is divided into reaches by the 45 locks. The locks are manned for a greater part of the day, but can be operated by experienced users out of hours. This part of the Thames links to existing navigations at the River Wey Navigation, the River Kennet and the Oxford Canal.\nThere is no speed limit on the Tideway downstream of Wandsworth Bridge , [19] although boats are not allowed to create undue wash. Upstream of Wandsworth Bridge a speed limit is in force for powered craft to protect the riverbank environment and to provide safe conditions for rowers and other river users. The speed limit of 8 km per hour applies to powered craft on this tidal part and 4.3km per hour on the non-tidal Thames. The Environment Agency has patrol boats (named after tributaries of the Thames) and can enforce the limit strictly since river traffic usually has to pass through a lock at some stage. There are pairs of Navigation transit markers at various points along the non-tidal river that can be used to check speed - a boat travelling legally taking a minute or more to pass between the two markers.\nHistory of the management of the river\nEdit\nThe first commission concerned with the management of the river was the Oxford-Burcot Commission formed in 1605 to make the river navigable between Burcot and Oxford.\nIn 1751 the Thames Navigation Commission was formed to manage the whole non-tidal river down to Staines. The City of London long claimed responsibility for the tidal river. A long running dispute between the City and the The Crown over ownership of the river was not settled until 1857, when the Thames Conservancy was formed to manage the river from Staines downstream. In 1866 the functions of the Thames Navigation Commission were transferred to the Thames Conservancy, which thus had responsibility for the whole river.\nIn 1909 the powers of the Thames Conservancy over the tidal river, below Teddington, were transferred to the Port of London Authority .\nIn 1974 the Thames Conservancy became part of the new Thames Water Authority . When Thames Water was privatised in 1990, its river management functions were transferred to the National Rivers Authority , in 1996 subsumed into the Environment Agency.\nThe river as a boundary\nEdit\nUntil sufficient crossings were established, the river provided a formidable barrier, with Belgic tribes and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established their boundaries were partly determined by the Thames. On the Northern bank were the traditional counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex. On the southern bank were the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent. However the 214 bridges and 17 tunnels that have been built to date have changed the dynamics and made cross-river development and shared responsibilities more practicable. The 1974 boundary changes moved some of the boundaries away from the river, so that, for example, some of Berkshire became Oxfordshire, some of Buckinghamshire became Berkshire, and some of Middlesex became Surrey. On occasion – for example in rowing – the banks are still referred to by their traditional county names.\nCrossings\nHammerton's Ferry near Richmond.\nMany of the present road bridges on the river are on the site of earlier fords, ferries and wooden structures. The earliest known major crossings of the Thames by the Romans were at London Bridge and Staines Bridge . At Folly Bridge in Oxford the remains of an original Saxon structure can be seen, and mediaeval stone structures such as [[Newbridge, Oxfordshire and Abingdon Bridge are still in use. Kingston’s growth is believed to stem from its having the only crossing between London Bridge and Staines until the beginning of the 18th century. During the 18th century, many stone and brick road bridges were built from new or to replace existing structures both in London and along the length of the river. These included Putney Bridge , Westminster Bridge , Windsor Bridge and Sonning Bridge. Several central London road bridges were built in the 19th century, most conspicuously Tower Bridge , the only Bascule bridge on the river, designed to allow ocean going ships to pass beneath it. The most recent road bridges are the bypasses at Isis Bridge and Marlow By-pass Bridge and the Motorway bridges, most notably the two on the M25 route Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and M25 Runnymede Bridge. The development of the railway resulted in a spate of bridge building in the 19th century including Blackfriars Railway Bridge and Charing Cross (Hungerford) Railway Bridge in central London, and the spectacular railway bridges by Isambard Kingdom Brunel at Maidenhead Bridge, Gatehampton Railway Bridge and Moulsford Railway Bridge.\nThe world’s first underwater tunnel was the Thames Tunnel by Marc Brunel built in 1843 and used to carry the East London Line . The Tower Subway was the first railway under the Thames, which was followed by all the deep-level tube lines. Road tunnels were built in East London at the end of the 19th century, being the Blackwall Tunnel and the Rotherhithe Tunnel , and the latest tunnel was the Dartford Crossing .\nMany foot crossings were established across the weirs that were built on the non-tidal river, and some of these remained when the locks were built – for example at Benson Lock. Others were replaced by a footbridge when the weir was removed as at Hart's Weir Footbridge. Around the year 2000 AD, several footbridges were added along the Thames, either as part of the Thames Path or in commemoration of the Millennium. These include Temple Footbridge, Bloomers Hole Footbridge, the Hungerford Footbridges and the Millennium Bridge , all of which have distinctive design characteristics.\nSome ferries still operate on the river. The Woolwich Ferry carries cars and passengers across the river in the Thames Gateway and links the North Circular and South Circular roads. Upstream are smaller pedestrian ferries, for example Hampton Ferry and Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry the last being the only non-permanent crossing that remains on the Thames Path.\nSport\nThere are several watersports prevalent on the Thames, with many clubs encouraging participation and organising racing and inter-club competitions.\nRowing\nMain article: Rowing on the River Thames\nCambridge cross the finish line ahead of Oxford in the 2007 Boat Race, viewed from Chiswick Bridge\nThe Thames is the historic heartland of sport rowing in the United Kingdom. There are over 200 clubs on the river, and over 8,000 members of thAmateur Rowing Association]] (over 40% of its membership). Most towns and districts of any size on the river have at least one club, but key centres are Oxford, Henley-on-Thames and the stretch of river from Chiswick to Putney .\nTwo rowing events on the River Thames are traditionally part of the wider English sporting calendar:\nThe University Boat Race is rowed between Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club in late March or early April, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake in the west of London .\nHenley Royal Regatta takes place over five days at the start of July in the upstream town of Henley-on-Thames. Besides its sporting significance the regatta is an important date on the English Season (society) alongside events like Royal Ascot and Wimbledon .\nOther significant or historic rowing events on the Thames include:\nThe Head of the River Race and other head races over the The Championship Course\nThe The Wingfield Sculls for the amateur sculling championship of the Thames and Great Britain\nDoggett's Coat and Badge for apprentice watermen, one of the oldest sporting events in the world\nHenley Women's Regatta\nThe Henley Boat Races for the Women's and Lightweight crews of Oxford and Cambridge Universities\nThe Oxford University bumps race known as Eights Week and Torpids\nOther regattas, head races and bumping races are held along the Thames which are described under Rowing on the River Thames .\nSailing\nEdit\nThames Raters at Raven's Ait, Surbiton\nSailing is practiced on both the tidal and non-tidal reaches of the river. The highest club upstream is at Oxford. The most popular sailing craft used on the Thames are laser (dinghy), GP14 (dinghy), and Wayfarer (dinghy). One sailing boat unique to the Thames is the Thames A Class Rater (scow) which is sailed around Raven's Ait .\nSkiffing\nSkiffing remains popular, particularly in the summer months. Several clubs and regattas may be found in the outer suburbs of west London.\nPunting\nUnlike the \"pleasure punting\" common on the River Cherwell in Oxford and the River Cam in Cambridge, punting on the Thames is competitive and uses narrower craft.\nKayaking and canoeing\nMain article: Kayaking and Canoeing on the River Thames\nKayaking and canoeing are popular, with sea kayakers using the tidal stretch for touring. Sheltered water kayakers and canoeists use the non-tidal section for training, racing and trips. Whitewater playboating, and Slalom canoeing paddlers are catered for at weirs like those at Hurley Lock, Sunbury Lock and Boulter's Lock. At Teddington just before the tidal section of the river starts is Royal Canoe Club , said to be the oldest in the world and founded in 1867.\nMeanders\nEdit\nA Thames meander is a long-distance journey over all or part of the Thames by running, swimming or using any of the above means. It is often carried out as an athletic challenge in a competition or for a record attempt.\nCulture\nThe first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.\nMaidenhead Railway Bridge as Turner saw it in 1844\nMonet's Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard, Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog, 1904\nWhistler's Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Old Battersea Bridge (c. 1872-1875)\nSt John's lock, near Lechlade.\nThe River Thames in Oxford\nVisual arts\nEdit\nThe River Thames has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Four major artists with works based on the Thames are Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, Claude Monet, and James McNeil Whistler. The 20th century British artist Stanley Spencer produced many works at Cookham.\nThe river is lined with various pieces on sculpture, but John Kaufman's sculpture The Diver:Regeneration is actally sited in the Thames near Rainham .\nLiterature\nEdit\nThe Thames is mentioned in many works of literature including novels, diaries and poetry. It is the central theme in three in particular:\nThree Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1889, is a humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over. The landscape and features of the Thames as described by Jerome are virtually unchanged, and enduring humour has meant that it has never been out of print since it was first published.\nCharles Dickens Our Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) describes the river in a grimmer light. It begins with a scavenger and his daughter pulling a dead man from the river near London Bridge, to salvage what the body might have in its pockets, and heads to its conclusion with the deaths of the villains drowned in Shepperton Lock/Plashwater Lock upstream. The workings of the river and the influence of the tides are described with great accuracy. Dickens opens the novel with this sketch of the river, and the people who work on it:\nIn these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a girl of nineteen or twenty. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man with the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waisteband, kept an eager look-out.\nKenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, written in 1908, is set in the middle to upper reaches of the river. This starts as a tale of gentle anthropomorphic animals \"simply messing\" about on the water and concludes with the arrogant and anti-social Mr Toad getting his come-uppance on a river barge.\nThe river almost inevitably features in many books set in London . Most of Dickens' other novels include some aspect of the Thames. Oliver Twist finishes in the slums and rookeries along its south bank. The Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle often visit riverside parts as in The Sign of Four. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the serenity of the contemporary Thames is contrasted with the savagery of the Congo River, and with the wilderness of the Thames as it would have appeared to a Roman soldier posted to Britannia two thousand years before. Conrad also gives a description of the approach to London from the Thames Estuary in his essays Joseph Conrad#On the River Thames|The Mirror of the Sea (1906). Upriver, Henry James' Portrait of a Lady uses a large riverside mansion on the Thames as one of its key settings.\nLiterary non-fiction works include Samuel Pepys ' diary, in which he recorded many events relating to the Thames including the Fire of London . He was disturbed while writing it in June 1667 by the sound of gunfire as Dutch warships broke through the Royal Navy on the Thames.\nIn poetry, William Wordsworth's sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802/On Westminster Bridge closes with the lines:\nNe'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!\nThe river glideth at his own sweet will:\nDear God! the very houses seem asleep;\nAnd all that mighty heart is lying still!\nT. S. Eliot references makes several references to the Thames in The Fire Sermon, Section III of The Waste Land.\nSweet Thames run softly, till I end my song.\nThe river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,\nSilk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes cigarette ends\nOr other testimony of summer nights.\nand\nDown Greenwich reach\nPast the Isle of Dogs\nThe Sweet Thames line is taken from Edmund Spenser’s Prothalamion which presents a more idyllic image:\nAlong the shoare of silver streaming Themmes;\nWhose rutty banke, the which his river hemmes,\nWas paynted all with variable flowers.\nAnd all the meads adornd with daintie gemmes\nFit to deck maydens bowres\nAlso writing of the upper reaches is Matthew Arnold in The Scholar Gypsy:\nCrossing the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hythe\nTrailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet\nAs the slow punt swings round\nOh born in days when wits were fresh and clear\nAnd life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames;\nBefore this strange disease of modern life.\nScience-fiction novels make liberal use of a futuristic Thames. The utopian News from Nowhere by William Morris is mainly the account of a journey through the Thames valley in a socialist future. The Thames also features prominently in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, as a communications artery for the waterborne Gyptian people of Oxford and the Fens.\nIn The Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis, the Thames appears several times. In one book, rat characters swim through it to Deptford .\nMusic\nEdit\nThe Water Music composed by George Frideric Handel premiered in the summer of 1717 (July 17, 1717) when George I of Great Britain requested a concert on the River Thames. The concert was performed for King George I on his barge and he is said to have enjoyed it so much that he ordered the 50 exhausted musicians to play the suites three times on the trip.\nThe Sex Pistols played a concert on the Queen Elizabeth Riverboat on June 7, 1977, the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, while sailing down the river.\nCinema and television\nEdit\nA boat chase on the Thames forms the long opening scene of the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. The offices of MI6, Britain's external spy agency, are right on the river in a building known as Vauxhall Cross.\nThe theme of the Thames being completely drained was used in the Doctor Who episode \"The Runaway Bride\". This theme was also used in the Hollywood Blockbuster Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), where a huge hole in the riverbed beside Westminster Bridge and the London Eye stranded the items formerly floating on the river. The river was traversed in an episode of Top Gear season 10 episode 5. A birds eye view version can be seen in the main titles of EastEnders .\n↑ [1] Rare seahorses breeding in Thames BBC News, 7 April 2008\n↑ P. Needham (1985) Neolithic And Bronze Age Settlement On The Buried Floodplains Of Runnymede Oxford Journal of Archaeology 4\n↑ Lamdin-Whymark, H, 2001 ‘Neolithic activity on the floodplain of the river Thames at Dorney’, Lithics 22,\n↑ Gaius Julius Caesar De Bello Gallico\n↑ Stephen Oppenheimer The Origins of the British",
"The River Thames Guide - About the Thames - About the ...\nThe River Thames Guide ... Middle River. From Oxford downstream the Thames meanders its way through beautiful ... A new road bridge across the Thames is planned ...\nThe River Thames Guide - About the Thames - About the River Thames - The Thames is Liquid History\nPassenger boats can be found in many towns up and down this stretch of the river, including Oxford , Abingdon , Reading , Henley , Maidenhead , Windsor , Hampton Court and Kingston .\nPhoto Maidenhead courtesy David Auckland\nHistoric sites of compelling interest abound, from tiny hamlets such as Mapledurham with its working watermill to the great castles and royal palaces of Windsor and Hampton Court .\nHampton Court\nLower River and London\nDownstream of Teddington (a derivative of Tide-end-town) the River Thames changes its rhythm. Though still 60 miles from Southend and the North Sea the Thames becomes tidal. Twice a day the river flows back up towards its source, as the sea pushes its way up the estuary. With the falling tide the foreshore is revealed � a somewhat neglected part of the river, but whose mud and shingle conceal fascinating clues to the great city of London�s rich past. The river changes its character many times as it flows towards the Nation�s capital. Suburban gardens and green open spaces of stately parks rub shoulders with Georgian mansions, often set alongside new luxurious riverside homes built on former industrial sites. Passenger boats coming upriver from Westminster stop at Richmond , Kew , Chiswick , and Putney en route for Kingston and Hampton Court In Central London you will find a wide choice of passenger boats plying the piers between Westminster and the Thames Barrier. If you prefer to explore on your own, you can choose buses or the underground.\nWestminster Bridge and The London Eye photo Southbank Consultancy\nIn Central London every stretch of the river has a tale to tell of former days. Palaces, docks, cathedrals and churches, great bridges, theatres and museums all jostle for attention. Here one can spend many happy days exploring the city�s rich past, both on foot or by boat, or shopping in the luxurious areas of the West End and the galleria which abound by the Thames. Samuel Boswell recorded that Dr Johnson, the author of the first Dictionary of the English Language, once said that �When one is tired of London one is tired of life itself, for there is in London everything that life affords.�\nSt Pauls Cathedral - Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece - visit www.st.pauls.co.uk\nThis section of the Thames contains such iconic images as Big Ben , the Houses of Parliament , Westminster Bridge , St Paul�s Cathedral and London Bridge , to name but a few of the world-famous landmarks sited by the river.\nThe Tower of London is the next famous building that you see from the river. It has over 1000 years of history and much bloodshed and misery in its long life. However, certain inhabitants of The Tower enjoy their life and are cared for very carefully. They are the huge black Ravens - they are kept in the Tower because an old legend says that if the ravens ever leave the Tower the Tower and the Kingdom will fall. Needless to say they are very well loked after, and they are very popular with the millions of sightseeers who view them daily. A Yeoman Warder (called the Ravenmaster) told me once that the ravens also have one or two flight feathers removed so as to discourage them from trying to leave....\nOnce past Tower Bridge the river widens at it sweeps inexorably down to Deptford and Greenwich , towns rich in Naval tradition and maritime history. The working wharves here are nearly an extinct species.\nThe twin towers of Greenwich Naval College - photo Stephen Worsfold\nFurther downstream from Greenwich you pass the Millennium Dome - now the O2 Dome - on the Greenwich peninsular , and on to the Thames Barrier whose glittering stainless steel casings (which are to my mind reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House) form a fitting gateway to the sea.\n \nThames Barrier stainless steel caissons - photo by SW\nThames Barrier and park -photo David Auckland\nLooking to the future in 7 years� time the Olympic venues will be mainly located in the areas to the north of the river at this point, and yet another chapter in the Thames� rich history will be written.\n\"The Thames is Liquid History\"\nMany of the key players in the history of England have lived on or around the River Thames. In 1929 the MP John Burns once famously described the river as �liquid history� � the actual quote was �The St Lawrence is water, the Mississippi is muddy water, but the Thames is liquid history�. The following summary can only give a hint of the wealth of history that is out there for the curious visitor to explore.\nBack to the Ice Age\nThe story of the Thames goes back to over 30 million years ago when the river was once a tributary of the River Rhine, because Britain was not an island. During the Great Ice Age 10,000 years ago, the Thames changed its course and pushed its way through the Chiltern Hills at the place now known as the Goring Gap. The Thames was then 10 times its present size, a high-energy fast flowing river, fuelled by the melting ice sheets. However, this rapid progress slowed down, and by 3,000 years ago the river had settled down into its familiar meandering pattern that � with a few exceptions � we know today.\nThe Thames near Runnymead - photo courtesy The National Trust and used by kind permission\nFirst Settlers and Invaders\nArchaeological finds now suggest that the Thames valley was probably first inhabited 400,000 years ago. (Visit National Ice Age Network Team website http://www.iceage.bham.ac/\nSigns of permanent settlements dating back to Neolithic times have been found at Runnymede and Staines . Visit the Spelthorne Museum at Staines to see some recent finds. Farming and fishing were the main occupations. In the Bronze Age men in boats started to trade with Continental ports and the Thames valley became a leading trading area. Later the Romans came to the site of what is now London, and they consolidated the Thames as an international port by constructing wharves mills and, of course, London Bridge, the first man-made crossing of the river. The story of why they selected the site we now see as the place for the bridge is an interesting one. It was where there was the first easy crossing of the river after they sailed upstream from the estuary. The Romans discovered that by using the rising tide their boats could be swept over 50 miles inland up the Thames from the North Sea, with no wind or muscle power needed. Later invaders also made use of this free energy source.\nOver the next 1000 years the Thames� long tradition of farming, fishing, milling and trade with other nations began and has continued right up to the present day. Most of the Thames� riverside settlements trace their origins back to these very early roots. People from Northern Europe invaded the Thames valley and established many settlements, usually distinguished by the suffix - �ing�. Towns such as Reading owe their origins to these early settlers, who built many water mills and created disputes between those people who wanted to navigate up and down the Thames, and those who wanted to dam the river to build mill streams and fish traps. People fought in dry weather when millers were understandably reluctant to release their precious store of dammed water in order to float off boats below the mills. Navigation remained difficult until the building of pound locks in the 17th and 18th centuries. Conflict over water use and abstraction of water from the Thames for industrial and domestic use and for irrigation continues today.\nAs the Thames grew in importance successive settlers built castles and forts along the river in order to protect the valley and their possessions against jealous invaders. The Roman town of Dorchester boasted a vast military fortification, and � of course - it was the Romans who built the City walls around London and a large fort on the site of what is now the Tower of London. Later, it was the Anglo-Saxons who built defences at the mouth of the Thames on the Essex and Kent banks.\nHowever, these failed to stop the Vikings in their longboats, who swept up the river on daring raids. Indeed, by AD870 the Vikings had sailed up the Thames as far as Reading creating havoc wherever they could and taking possession of farms and villages by force, as was their tradition. The dreaded Vikings were known for their mighty feats and for the rape and pillage of everyone and everything that stood in their way. Life was hard if you were not a Viking!\nIn time, when even the Vikings became bored with their traditional way of achieving their ends in the Thames valley over the next few hundred years, and peace was finally restored under the rule of the Danish King, Canute in AD1016. By now most of the place names along the Thames were established as we now know them. The River Thames became a favoured valley for settlement. It provided not only protection but also water for domestic use and for power for mills, also fertile land for the cultivation of crops and livestock and fish for food. It was said that the apprentices of London became tired of being fed salmon so often!\n\"String of Pearls\"\nThe banks of the Thames became the favoured location for buildings of all kinds, from monastic abbeys to gorgeous palaces. The huge number of famous buildings along the course of the Thames gave rise to the description of the river as a �string� linking a series of �pearls�. Many of these can still be visited today.\nIn AD597 St Augustine introduced Christianity to Britain. The Vikings had become assimilated into a peaceable society, and monasteries at Chertsey and Abingdon were founded by the river, along with a huge abbey at Dorchester. In London, King Canute built his palace on the site now occupied by the Houses of Parliament (hence its old name of the Palace of Westminster.) The next King, Edward the Confessor, was responsible for the building Westminster Abbey , next to the Palace of Westminster. The saintly King Edward was buried by his grieving monks before the high altar of his Abbey when he died in January 1066, and it was to the Abbey on Christmas Day 1066 that William the Conqueror rode for his coronation as King of the country he had just subjugated, after the Battle of Hastings.\nNorman Invasion, and Foreign Domination of the English\nOnce King William had fought and won total control of the strategic Thames Valley he went on to invade the rest of England. To facilitate the subjugation of his unwilling new subjects he had built many castles , including those at Wallingford, Rochester and Windsor. Windsor is now the largest inhabited castle in the World.\nWilliam the Conqueror also began the construction of the Tower of London, the stern fortress built to guard access to the Pool of London, and destined to be used by successive Monarchs as a State prison and a place of torture and execution. The castles along the Thames guarded strategic crossing places, and enabled the King to keep strong garrisons of knights and fighting men up and down the Thames valley, ready to ride out and beat up the locals whenever they showed signs of rebellion against the harsh Norman rule. Next came the tax collectors, chasing villagers and farmers up and down the Thames valley for monies deemed to be due to the King after the properties were assessed and recorded in William�s famous Domesday book.\nEventually even the great Norman Lords of the manors became disenchanted with the feudal system and the way in which their manors were so heavily taxed. In AD1215 they forced King John to sign the Magna Carta (�Great Charter�) on an island in the Thames at Runnymede .This granted them among a host of other things the right of Navigation under Clause 23 of the Charter.\nThe American Bar Association's Runnymede Memorial - photo courtesy The National Trust\n The Middle Ages - Mediaeval Kings and The Thames\nFollowing the signing of Magna Carta political stability (and thus increasing prosperity) developed during the Middle Ages, and this led to an increase in trade up and down the Thames valley. Market towns such as Henley , Lechlade and Reading grew up along the river. Wool was � of course � a particularly valuable commodity, and huge flocks of sheep were grazed in the lands near the Thames. English wool was particularly prized in Europe and the monies raised from the sale of wool were often ploughed into the building of churches and houses near the Thames.\nThe Tudors and the Stuarts\nDuring the period AD 1485 to AD1703 the Thames was possibly seen in its greatest splendour. The Kings and Queens of these times loved the river and lived in their beautiful riverside palaces at Hampton Court, Kew, Richmond, Whitehall and Greenwich.\nThese were all built during this period and bear witness to the amazing skill of architects and craftsmen working on the buildings. King Henry VIII loved his palaces at Greenwich and Richmond, but once he had sight of Cardinal Wolsley�s own little pad at Hampton Court he did not rest until he �persuaded� Wolsley to �give� it to him. Queen Elizabeth I also loved Greenwich and Richmond , and it was at Richmond Palace in AD1603 that she died. Her body was brought downstream to Westminster for her funeral on a magnificent black barge � the poet William Campden describes the scene as follows:-\n�The Queen was brought by water to Whitehall At every stroke of oars did tears fall�.\nLess romantic was Henry VIII�s final trip from London to Windsor � he was due to be buried in St George�s Chapel there. During the course of his reign Henry had dissolved the monasteries and turned the monks and nuns out of their buildings. He claimed the monies raised by this action for himself, distributing the spoils among his courtiers and favourites. During the overnight stop between London and Windsor his barge moored at Syon House in Isleworth. His coffin suddenly split open, and dogs were found licking his remains. This fulfilled a prophecy made by a friar at the time when Henry VIII had claimed what was a former convent as his own property.\nKew Palace - photo by JB\nDuring the reign of the Stuart Kings, Hampton Court and Kew Palace were developed, and such famous architects as Sir Christopher Wren were employed to embellish the gorgeous facades � which can still be seen from the river. King William and his Queen Mary particularly loved the view of the Thames from Hampton Court and had the great formal gardens laid out so that they could maintain the view. \nThe 16th and 17th Centuries - War and Trade\nIn the great City of London (link) settlements grew to support shipbuilding , a consequence of expanding naval power and world trade. Henry VIII established the Royal Dockyards at Deptford, and the wharves of London were thronged with sea-going vessels. The wars with Spain and France kept local shipbuilders busy, and as did the great voyages of exploration. Sir Francis Drake was knighted in Deptford by Queen Elizabeth I after his round the world voyage, and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail from here in 1589 to be the scourge of the Spanish Navy and to discover the potato and tobacco plants in the New World.\nTilbury Fort - photo courtesy English Heritage Photo Library and reproduced by kind permission\n The Tudor Kings were responsible for the building of Tilbury Fort on the banks of the Thames, as a response to the threat of invasion, and it can still be visited today. Queen Elizabeth famously rode to Tilbury Fort to review her troops and to give her speech about �being a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a King, and a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Spain shall seek to conquer England�. Further forts along the Thames were built during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Tilbury Fort like so many other historical treasures in Englnad is cared for by English Heritage - visit www.english-heritage.org.uk for more details.\nTrade continued to flourish, not only with Europe but also with the newly discovered lands in other continents. London monopolised half of the Nation�s trade. Quays were established between London Bridge and the Tower of London to handle cargoes and to collect Customs dues. Because London�s population increased greatly it needed to be fed, and this led to towns and villages up and down the Thames valley expanding to keep up with the demands for basic essentials of daily life, like bread and milk, meat and vegetables. Barges travelled daily from Oxford to London carrying timber and wool, foodstuffs and livestock. The timber was used to build merchant and war ships. Lower downstream the Thames was used by barges travelling up to London from the sea, laden with Portland stone to rebuild London after the Great Fire in 1666. St Paul�s Cathedral and many other Wren churches bear testimony to this. Visit www.stpauls.co.uk .\nSt Paul's Dome - photo by SW \nRiver Pageants and Events\nHowever, life for Londoners was not all �War� and �Work�! In the 17th and 18th centuries during the hard winter freezes, Frost Fairs were held on the River Thames, complete with ox-roasting, groups of musicians playing, stalls selling a variety of popular novelties and food, like mutton pies (the forerunner of our mince pies), fairground amusements and performing animals. The last fair to be held on the Thames was in February 1814. In 1831 the old London Bridge was replaced, and � with the removal of the �starlings� or piers upon which the old bridge rested � the river no longer slowed down sufficiently for it to freeze over sufficiently to support public events. Navigation was however vastly improved all year round, and the boat skippers were no longer prevented by ice from moving their boats up and down the river. Formerly they were forced to remain with their precious cargoes because they could not afford to leave them unattended to find other work during the freeze-up.\nThe River Thames also provided some of the greatest �shows� seen on water. In AD1422 the Lord Mayor�s Show took to the water. The participating barges of the City Livery companies became ever more ornate. Barges were covered in gold leaf and some rowed with oars of silver. In the 17 century the Lord Mayor�s procession included dramas and pageants. However, these came to an end in 1856 by which time the river had become overcrowded with steamships and was horribly polluted�..\n \nShakespeare's Globe on Bankside - re-created thanks to the vision of Sam Wanamaker\nthe American actor.\nIt was an actor who established one of the most enduring of the traditions of the River Thames. In AD 1715 Thomas Doggett was so grateful to a local waterman for his efforts to ferry him home on a bad night, pulling against the tide, that he set up a rowing race for professional watermen. The winner receives prize money and also the coveted scarlet coat and badge, made of silver � hence the name of the race �Doggett�s Coat and Badge�. The race is still held on August 1st each year when professional watermen row from London Bridge to Chelsea.\nThe 18th Century � Boom and Competition\nDuring the 18th century there was an enormous expansion in trade, and London became the World�s busiest port, dealing with commodities from all over the huge areas of the British Empire. The building of London�s Docks commenced to cope with the increase in trade.\nUpriver the scene was the same � Reading received 95% of its goods by river. The construction of toll roads in the mid-18th century started to attract passenger traffic away from the River Thames. The Industrial Revolution led to rapid expansion of the canal system towards the end of the century and this linked the south of England and the Thames with the industrial North and Midlands. This gave rapid rise to growth of towns and settlements at the junction of the canals with the Thames, such as at Brentford and Limehouse. (see the section on the Thames and The Canal Connection).These new settlements needed supplies of food and perishable commodities and these too were carried up and down the Thames.\nThe Royal Docks at Deptford saw the refurbishment of such ships as Captain Cook�s famous ships HMS Endeavour, Resolution and Discovery. They were originally Whitby coal ships and were specially fitted out ready for Captain Cook�s astounding voyages of discovery around the World and in the Pacific in the period 1759-1778. Following on from this, and other voyages by such famous sailors as Captain William Bligh and Captain George Vancouver trade increased at unprecedented rates, and the foundations of what became the British Empire (and later the Commonwealth) were laid.\nHMS Belfast and The Pool of London\nThe 19th Century - the Victorian Era and the Thames\nThe Port of London www.portoflondon.co.uk became the central trading post for a vast British Empire. More docks were built, in the face of intense competition from riverside wharves, who built huge warehouses down river from Tower Bridge . (Most of these warehouses now house riverside apartments and shopping malls.)\nTower Bridge and the Pool of London- photo by SW\nRiver and canal trade expanded despite competition from the new railway network. However, it became apparent that those towns with railways expended rapidly, and those without did not. It was a time of transition and change, with steam powered cargo vessels appearing on the river alongside traditional Thames sailing barges and lighters. This was also an era of imaginative engineering. Evidence of the influence of the great Victorian engineers can be found all along the river. The embankments in London house the water supply to homes, plus the sewers, and protect London from flood.\nThe Great Stink\nSome Victorian schemes had very far-reaching and serious environmental impacts � the widespread introduction of the flushing water closet, with sewers discharging straight into the Thames, turned the river into one vast open stinking sewer. The once thriving fishing industry died, as did thousands of Londoners, or cholera, as their main water supply was now polluted. Nothing was done however, until a particularly hot summer which made living near the Thames unbearable. Fumes from the river penetrated the recesses of the Houses of Parliament and made work there unbearable. MP�s decided at last that something had to be done�.\nIn AD1864 Sir Joseph Bazalgette masterminded the laying of two enormous sewers along the Thames to collect and divert the sewage downstream to Beckton and Crossness. Here sewage farms were set up to deal with the effluent. At the same time the Metropolitan Line was installed and the Victoria Embankments were built on top, reducing the width of the Thames and improving the depth and speed of flow of the river.\n#\nRiver of Death\nThe Thames runs through Southern England along a wide low lying valley � its flood plain. Throughout the centuries the Thames has burst its bank, swamping riverside settlements causing death and destruction. Because properties beside the river have always been popular people have often ignored the lessons of the past, and they continue to build on the highly desirable land of the Thames flood plain. High embankments and flood alleviation schemes are all part of man�s constant fight against Nature. The great threat to London comes from the sea. Throughout history high tides and strong winds have pushed the sea up the estuary, flooding low-lying areas. It is recorded that AD 1816 people rowed through the Great Hall of the Palace of Westminster, whose floor was covered in dead and dying fish. As the flood waters receded the Victorians considered that the building of the Embankments would protect against flooding. However, as stated before, this resulted in the narrowing of the river, and increased its depth, thus making it necessary over the years to raise the walls still higher. The Thames is now 3 metres deeper than it was 300 years ago.\nA Thames rescue boat\nConcerns about flooding led to the design and construction of the Thames Barrier in 1982. It is a magnificent and beautiful feat of engineering, and well worth a visit � the housing of the lifting mechanism is faced with stainless steel tiles that shimmer in the sunlight. The barriers are raised several times a year to ensure that they remain in perfect working order.\n \nRiver of Pleasure\nDuring Victorian times there was an explosion of interest in the Thames as a leisure source, and many of the activities we enjoy on the river today started in this era. The new railways, which reached towns on the river such as Reading, Oxford and Windsor, provided a popular �day out� for those ordinary people who could afford it. Rowing boat firms sprung up with boats for hire. The river filled with small boats during the summer. Rowing in particular became a hugely popular pastime and clubs increased. Regattas became annual events. The world famous Henley Regatta dates from 1839, and still takes place every year at Henley in late June and early July. In AD 1829 the Colleges at Cambridge put out a challenge to those at Oxford, and a rowing race ensued between the two Universities � and so began the most famous rowing race in the World. The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race is now the Nation�s favourite rowing race, and it takes place in late March or early April over a course between Putney and Mortlake, as it has done every year since 1845, with the exception of the War Years.\nPractising for The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race\nOther river races grew up as a result of continuing interest in the Thames as a leisure location. Punting at Oxford was one of these, and so was sailing and canoeing. The first canoes to be used on the Thames were �dug-outs� in pre-historic times, made by our ancestors so that they could fish for food on the river. Early examples of dug-outs have been found in the riverbed, and one example is in the Museum of London. A long-distance canoe race from Devizes to Westminster Bridge also started during this period.\nCruising on the river for private pleasure also developed in the Victorian era. One can recall the iconic painting of pleasure boats at Boulters Lock near Maidenhead, full of well-dressed Victorian ladies and gentlemen in their straw boaters and striped blazers. Today cruises are available up and down the Thames, in chartered vessels and passenger boats, and also in self-drive boats for the more adventurous. http://www.riverthames.co.uk/boat/hire.htm .\nThe 20th Century and Massive Changes\nThe 20th Century saw a huge decline in the use of the River T\nhames for trade, in the Port of London area especially. A combination of factors- including the introduction of container ships needing deepwater anchorage - led to the closure of the London docks. The Isle of Dogs and the Royal Docks were never to be the same. Because of the development of containerisation new docks were built at Tilbury to handle the lorries and containers coming in from all over the World and the emphasis on trade and the Thames shifted downriver from London itself.\nTrade declined on the upper River Thames as well, mainly because goods were moved by road. Many older people remember trade on the river at Wandsworth and Lambeth right up to the 1960's. Coal for fire stations was moved in this way. Since this time there has been an unprecedented surge of building programmes, which have changed the character of the London riverside areas from industrial use to residential use. To own an apartment by the riverside with river views is now a treasured (and expensive) aspiration. http://www.riverthames.co.uk/properties.htm\nA trip on the new Docklands Light Railway takes you to the Isle of Dogs Docklands area, which has changed out of all recognition over the past 25 years. Luxury flats nestle with huge skyscrapers and glass walls in the Canary Wharf area alongside shops and restaurants and wine bars. Where once busy stevedores wrestled with heavy smelly cargoes, now smartly-dressed City workers, bankers and investment managers scurry to meetings across the footbridges which have been built over the waterways, or crowd the miriad number of shops which have mushroomed in the lower levels of the huge towers.",
"River Thames | Article about River Thames by The Free ...\nFind out information about River Thames. river, ... its tributaries include the Windrush, Cherwell, Thame, Kennet, Wey, Mole, Lea, Roding, ... River tributaries;\nRiver Thames | Article about River Thames by The Free Dictionary\nRiver Thames | Article about River Thames by The Free Dictionary\nhttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/River+Thames\nAlso found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia .\nThames\n(tĕmz), river, c.160 mi (260 km) long, rising NW of Woodstock, S Ont., Canada, and flowing SW past London and Chatham to Lake St. Clair. It is navigable to Chatham, near which was fought (1813) the battle of the Thames (see Thames, battle of the Thames, battle of the,\nengagement fought on the Thames River near Chatham, Ont. (Oct. 5, 1813), in the War of 1812. Gen. William H. Harrison led an American force of about 3,000 against a British army of approximately 400 regulars commanded by Gen. Henry A.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) in the War of 1812.\nThames\n(tĕmz), Rom. Tamesis, principal river of England, c.210 mi (340 km) long. It rises in four headstreams (the Thames or Isis, Churn, Coln, and Leach) in the Cotswold Hills, E Gloucestershire, and flows generally eastward across S England and through London to the North Sea at The Nore. In its upper course—around and above Oxford Oxford,\ncity (1991 pop. 113,847) and district, county seat of Oxfordshire, S central England. In addition to its importance as the site of the Univ. of Oxford, the city has significant industries, including the manufacture of automobiles and steel products.\n..... Click the link for more information. —it is often called Isis. The Thames drains c.5,250 sq mi (13,600 sq km); its tributaries include the Windrush, Cherwell, Thame, Kennet, Wey, Mole, Lea, Roding, and Medway. It is joined by canals (including the Oxford, Thames and Severn, and Grand Junction) that cover a wide area. The river is navigable by barges to Lechlade, below which there are a number of locks. The Thames is tidal to Teddington; there is a 23-ft (7-m) difference between low and high tide at London Bridge. The part of the stream near London Bridge is known as the Pool. The main part of the port of London stretches from London Bridge to Blackwall. The Thames Conservancy Board was established in 1857; the docks and the tidal part of the river below Teddington have been administered by the Port of London Authority since 1908. Part of the river is of great beauty, is much used for boating, and is still popular for fishing. The upper valley of the Thames is a broad, flat basin of alluvial clay soil, through which the river winds and turns constantly in all directions. At Goring Gap the valley narrows, separating the Chiltern Hills from the Berkshire Downs. The lower valley forms a second broad basin through which the Thames also meanders. The land around the river was formerly marshy, and the ancient roads were far from the river banks. In the Middle Ages the valley was very prosperous, with many religious houses and several large towns, including Reading and Windsor. Between Oxford and London, the valley is predominantly agricultural, with scattered villages; Reading is the only industrial town there. The Greater London conurbation along the river's lower course is one of the most important industrial regions of Great Britain. Among the many interesting archaeological discoveries made in the valley are fossils of seashells and a human skull from the Paleolithic period. In London the river is crossed by 27 bridges, including the new London Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, and Tower Bridge. There are two main tunnels under the river in London, and one between Dartford and Purfleet, as well as several footpaths and 5 railroad tunnels. In 1963 governmental efforts began to combat pollution of the waters through a series of rules and regulations. At parts along the river downstream flood barriers were constructed, which became operational in 1982, to prevent London from damage by North Sea gales.\nBibliography",
"River Thames - London Wiki - Wikia\nThe River Thames is the second longest river in the United ... The tributaries include the rivers River Churn, ... River Windrush, River Evenlode, River Cherwell, ...\nRiver Thames | London Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nEdit\nThe River Thames is the second longest river in the United Kingdom and the longest river entirely in England, rising at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flowing into the North Sea at the Thames Estuary. It has a special significance in flowing through London, the capital of the United Kingdom, although London only touches a short part of its course. The river is tidal in London with a rise and fall of 7 metres (23 ft) and becomes non-tidal at Teddington Lock . The catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and Western England and the river is fed by over 20 tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, and having both seawater and freshwater stretches supports a variety of wildlife.\nThe river has supported human activity from its source to its mouth for thousands of years providing habitation, water power, food and drink. It has also acted as a major highway both for international trade through the Port of London, and internally along its length and connecting to the British canal system. The river’s strategic position has seen it at the centre of many events and fashions in British history, earning it a description as “Liquid History”. It has been a physical and political boundary over the centuries and generated a range of river crossings. In more recent time the river has become a major leisure area supporting tourism and pleasure outings as well as the sports of rowing, sailing, skiffing, kayaking, and punting. The river has had a special appeal to writers, artists, musicians and film-makers and is well represented in the arts. It is still the subject of various debates about its course, nomenclature and history.\nPhysical and natural aspects\nThe monument at the official source of the Thames.\nRiver Thames Flood Barrier\nThe Thames passes by some of the sights of London, including the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye\nThe Thames has a length of 215 miles (346 km). Its usually quoted source is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994), about a mile north of the village of Kemble and near the town of Cirencester, in the Cotswolds. However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham, where the river Churn rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is furthest from the mouth both in distance along its course and as the crow flies and adds some 14 miles (22 km) to the length. The springs at Seven Springs also flow throughout the year, while those at Thames Head are only seasonal.\nThe Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes, Cricklade, Lechlade, Oxford, Abingdon, Wallingford, Goring-on-Thames, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Eton, Staines, Weybridge and Thames Ditton before entering the Greater London area. The present course is the result of several minor redirections of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Maidenhead and more recently the creation of specific cuts to ease navigation.\nFrom the outskirts of Greater London, the river passes Hampton Court, Kingston, Teddington, Twickenham, Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House and Kew before flowing through central London. In central London, the river forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London and was the southern boundary of the mediaeval city, with Southwark on the opposite bank.\nOnce past central London, the river passes between Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs, before flowing through the Thames Barrier, which protects central London from flooding in the event of storm surges. Below the barrier, the river passes Dartford, Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea.\nCatchment area and discharge\nEdit\nThe river drains a catchment area of 4994|sqmi or 5924 sqmi if the River Medway is included as a tributary. (Dot & Ian Hart (2001–5). The River Thames — Its geology, geography and vital statistics from source to sea . Retrieved November 1, 2005.)\nThe non-tidal section\nLocks and weirs on the River Thames\nThe Jubilee River at Slough Weir\nBrooks, canals and rivers, within an area of convert|3841, combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock , the tidal limit. Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810-12, the river was tidal as far as Staines. The tributaries include the rivers River Churn, River Leach, River Cole, Wiltshire, River Coln, River Windrush, River Evenlode, River Cherwell, River Ock, River Thame, River Pang, River Kennet, River Loddon, River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Wey and River Mole, Surrey. In addition there are many backwaters and distributaries and some man-made channels such as the Longford River.\nMore recently, an artificial secondary channel to the Thames, known as the Jubilee River, was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief, being completed in 2002.\nMore than half the rain that falls on this catchment is lost to evaporation and plant transpiration. The remainder provides a water resource that has to be shared between river flows, to support the natural environment and navigation, and the population's needs for water supplies to homes, industry and agriculture.\nThe non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency which has the twin responsibilities of managing the flow of water to control flooding, and providing for navigation. The volume and speed of water down the river is managed by adjusting the gates at each of the weirs and at high water levels are usually dissipated over flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally flooding is unavoidable, and the Agency issues Flood Warnings. During heavy rainfall the Thames occasionally receives raw sewage discharge due to sanitary sewer overflow.\nThe tidal section\nMain article: Tideway\nLondon Stone at Staines, built in 1285 marked the tidal limit of the Thames and the City of London 's jurisdiction\nThe lower course of the Thames in 1840\nBelow Teddington Lock (about convert|55|mi} upstream of the Thames Estuary) the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea. Before the lock was installed the river was tidal as far as Staines. London, capital of Roman Britain, was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. (Peter Ackroyd London:The Biography Vintage 2001) A river crossing was built at the site of London Bridge. London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide. High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as \"the Tideway\".\nThe principal tributaries on the Tideway include the rivers Brent , Wandle , Effra , Westbourne , Fleet , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea , Roding, Darent and Ingrebourne . At London, the water is slightly brackish, with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water.\nThis part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from the North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980’s to protect London from this risk.\nIslands\nEdit\nTemple Island — the start of the Henley Royal Regatta course\nThe river Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey, Isle of Grain and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. Some of the largest inland islands — Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon — were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams, while Desborough Island, Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot] is a familiar landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centrepiece of the spectacular view from Richmond Hill . Islands with a historical interest are Magna Carta Island at Runnymede, Fry's Island at Reading and Pharaoh's Islandnear Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with the impresario Fred Karno, and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East’s R&B music scene.\nGeological history\nEdit\nLardon Chase\nThe River Thames can first be identified as a discrete drainage line as early as 58 million years ago, in the late Palaeocene Period Thanetian Stage. Until around half a million years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire, before turning to the north east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near Ipswich. At this time the river system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from the North Wales Berwyn Mountains. Arrival of an ice sheet in the Quaternary Ice Age, about 450,000 years ago, dammed the river in Hertfordshire and caused it to be diverted onto its present course through London. This created a new river route aligned through Berkshire and on into London after which the river rejoined its original course in southern Esse], near the present River Blackwater estuary. Here it entered a substantial freshwater lake in the southern North Sea basin. The overspill of this lake caused the formation of the Dover Straits or Pas-de-Calais gap between Great Britain and France. Subsequent development led to the continuation of the course which the river follows at the present day.\nAt the height of the last ice age around 12000 years ago, Britain was connected to mainland Europe via a large expanse of land known as Doggerland in the southern North Sea basin. At this time, the Thames' course did not continue to Doggerland, but was aligned southwards from the eastern Essex coast where it met the Rhine, the River Meuse and the River Scheldt [1]\nIn addition the Thames is host to some invasive crustaceans including Signal crayfish and Chinese Mitten Crab.\nOn 20 January 2006 a northern 16-18 ft (5 m) bottle-nosed whale was spotted in the Thames and was seen as far upstream as Chelsea. This is extremely unusual because this type of whale is generally found in deep sea waters. Crowds gathered along the riverbanks to witness the extraordinary spectacle. But it soon became clear there was cause for concern, as the animal came within yards of the banks, almost beaching, and crashed into an empty boat causing slight bleeding. Approximately 12 hours later, the whale was believed to be seen again near Greenwich , possibly heading back to sea. There was a rescue attempt lasting several hours, but it eventually died on a barge. (See Wikipedia page [5] )\nHuman aspects\nThe River Thames has served several roles in human history, being an economic resource, a water highway, a boundary, a fresh water source, also a source of food and more recently a leisure facility.\nHuman history\n19th century painting \"Haymaking on the Thames\" by John Clayton Adams\nWallingford Bridge and St Peter's Church\nThe Thames at Hampton\nThe Thames as it flows through London, with the Isle of Dogs in the centre.\nThere is evidence of human habitation living off the river along its length dating back to Neolithic times. [2] The British Museum has a decorated bowl (3300-2700 BC), found in the River at Hedsor, Buckinghamshire and a considerable amount of material was discovered during the excavations of Dorney Lake. [3] A number of Bronze Age sites and artifacts have been discovered along the banks of the River including settlements at Lechlade, Cookham and Sunbury-on-Thames . Some of the earliest written accounts of the Thames occur in Julius Caesar’s account of his second expedition to Britain in 54BC [4] when the Thames presented a major obstacle and he encountered the Iron Age Belgae/|Belgic tribes the Catuvellauni and the Atrebates along the river.\nUnder the Emperor Claudius in AD 43 the Romans occupied England and, recognising the River's strategic and economic importance, built fortifications along the Thames valley including a major camp at Dorchester, Oxfordshire. Two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill , provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames called Londinium where a bridge was built. The next Roman bridge upstream was at Staines (Pontes) to which point boats could be swept up on the rising tide with no need for wind or muscle power. Many of the Thames’ riverside settlements trace their origins back to very early roots and the suffix - “ing” in towns such as Goring and Reading, Berkshire, owe their origins to the Saxons. Recent research suggests that these peoples preceded the Romans rather than replaced them. [5] The river’s long tradition of farming, fishing, milling and trade with other nations started with these peoples and has continued to the present day. Competition for the use of the river created the centuries-old conflict between those who wanted to dam the river to build millraces and fish traps and those who wanted to travel and carry goods on it. Economic prosperity and the foundation of wealthy monasteries by the Anglo-Saxons attracted unwelcome visitors and by around AD 870 the Vikings were sweeping up the Thames on the tide and creating havoc as in their destruction of Chertsey Abbey.\nOnce William I of England had won total control of the strategic Thames Valley he went on to invade the rest of England. He had many castles built, including those at Wallingford, Rochester, Kent, Windsor, Berkshire and most importantly the Tower of London . Many details of Thames activity are recorded in the Domesday book . The following centuries saw the conflict between King and Barons coming to a head in AD 1215 when King John was forced to adhere to the Magna Carta]] on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. This granted them among a host of other things under Clause 23 the right of Navigation. Another major consequence of John’s reign was the completion of the multi-piered London Bridge which acted as a barricade and barrage on the river, affecting the tidal flow upstream and increasing the likelihood of freezing over. In Tudor and Stuart times the Kings and Queens loved the river and built magnificent riverside palaces at Hampton Court , Kew , Richmond on Thames , Whitehall and Greenwich .\nThe 16th and 17th centuries saw the City of London grow with the expansion of world trade. The wharves of the Pool of London were thick with seagoing vessels while naval dockyards were built at Deptford . The Dutch navy even entered the Thames in 1667 in the raid on the Medway. A cold series of winters led to the Thames freezing over above London Bridge, and this led to the first Frost Fair in 1607, complete with a tent city set up on the river itself and offering a number of amusements, including ice bowling. In good conditions barges travelled daily from Oxford to London carrying timber and wool, foodstuffs and livestock, battling with the millers on the way. The stone from the Cotswolds used to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire in 1666 was brought all the way down from Radcot. The Thames provided the major highway between London and Westminster in the 16th and 17th centuries and the clannish guild of watermen ferried Londoners from landing to landing and tolerated no outside interference. In AD 1715 Thomas Doggett was so grateful to a local waterman for his efforts to ferry him home pulling against the tide, that he set up a rowing race for professional watermen known as “ Doggett's Coat and Badge ”.\nBy the 18th century, the Thames was one of the world's busiest waterways, as London became the centre of the vast, mercantile British Empire and progressively over the next century the docks expanded in the Isle of Dogs and beyond. Efforts were made to resolve the navigation conflicts up stream by building locks along the Thames. After temperatures began to rise again, starting in 1814, the river stopped freezing over completely. [6] The building of a new London Bridge in 1825, with fewer pillars than the old, allowed the river to flow more freely and reduced the likelihood of freezing over in cold winters. [7]\nThe Victorian era was an era of imaginative engineering. In the ' Great Stink ' of 1858, pollution in the river reached such proportions that sittings at the House of Commons at Westminster had to be abandoned. A concerted effort to contain the city's sewage by constructing massive sewers on the north and south river embankments followed, under the supervision of engineer Joseph Bazalgette . Meanwhile, similar huge undertakings took place to ensure water supply, with the building of reservoirs and pumping stations on the river to the west of London. The embankments in London house the water supply to homes, plus the sewers, and protect London from flood. The coming of rail transport] added both spectacular and ugly railway bridges to fine range of earlier road bridges but reduced commercial activity on the river. However sporting and leisure use increased with the establishment of regattas such as Henley Royal Regatta and The Boat Race. On 3 September 1878, one of the worst river disasters in England took place, when the crowded pleasure boat {{SS|Princess Alice collided with the Bywell Castle, killing over 640 people.\nThe growth of road transport and the decline of the Empire, in the years following 1914, reduced the economic prominence of the river. During World War II the protection of the Thames was crucial to the defence of the country. Defences included the Maunsell forts in the estuary and barrage balloons to cope with the threat of German bombers using the distinctive shape of the river to navigate during The Blitz. Although the Port of London remains one of the UK's three main ports, most trade has moved downstream from central London. The decline of manufacturing industry and improved sewage treatment have led to a massive clean-up since the filthy days of the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries, and aquatic life has returned to its formerly 'dead' waters. Alongside the river runs the Thames Path , providing a route for walkers and cyclists.\nIn the early 1980s a massive flood-control device, the Thames Barrier , was opened. It is closed several times a year to prevent water damage to London's low-lying areas upstream (as in the 1928 Thames flood for example). In the late 1990s, the Jubilee River was built, which acts as a flo]] channel for the Thames around Maidenhead and Windsor. [8]\nOrigin of the name\nEdit\nStatue of Old Father Thames at St John's Lock\nThe Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Celtic name for the river, Tamesas (from *tamēssa), [9] recorded in Latin as Tamesis and underlying modern Welsh Tafwys \"Thames\". The name probably meant \"dark\" and can be compared to other cognates such as |Irish teimheal and Welsh tywyll \"darkness\" Proto-Celtic *temeslos) and Middle Irish teimen \"dark grey\", [9] though Richard Coates [10] mentions other theories: Kenneth H. Jackson ref>Template under construction. in F. T. Wainright (ed.), ed. The Problem of the Picts. Nelson. pp. 129–166. </ref> that it is non Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), and Peter Kitson's [11] that it is IE but pre-Celtic, and has a name indicating muddiness from a root *tã-, 'melt'.\nThe river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t; the [Middle English spelling was typically Temese and Celtic languages TAmesis. The th lends an air of Ancient Greek to the name and was added during the Renaissance, possibly to reflect or support a belief that the name was derived from River Thyamis in the Epirus (region region of Greece, whence early Celtic tribes were erroneously thought to have migrated.\nIndirect evidence for the antiquity of the name 'Thames' is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made this). It is believed that Tamesubugus's name was derived from that of the river. [12]\nThe Thames through Oxford is often given the name the River The Isis, although historically, and especially in Victorian era, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the River Isis from its source until Dorchester, Oxfordshire. Only at this point, where the river meets the River Thame and becomes the \"Thame-isis\" (subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so-called; Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as \"River Thames or Isis\" until Dorchester. However since the early 20th century, this distinction has been lost in common usage outside Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis—although possibly named after the Egyptian mythology goddess of Isis —is nothing more than a contraction of Tamesis, the[Latin] (or pre-Roman Celtic) name for the Thames.\nRichard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *(p)lowonida. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium, from the Indo-European roots *pleu- \"flow\" and *-nedi \"river\" meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. [10]\nFor merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just 'The London River'. Londoners often refer to it simply as 'the river', in expressions such as 'south of the river'. [13]\nThe active river\nEdit\nOne of the many piers for joining sightseeing boat trips.\nOne of the major resources provided by the Thames is drinking water provided by Thames Water whose area of responsibility covers the length of the River Thames. The Thames Water Ring Main is the main distribution mechanism for water in London with one major loop linking the Hampton , Walton-on-Thames, Ashford, Surrey, and Kempton Water Treatment Works to central London.\nIn the past, commercial activities on the Thames included fishing (particularly eel trapping), coppicing willows which provided wood for many purposes including osiers, and running watermills for flour and paper production and metal beating. These activities have disappeared, although there was a proposal to build a hydro plant at Romney Lock to power Windsor Castle. As of January 2008, this scheme appears to have been abandoned.\nThe Thames is popular for riverside housing whether in high rise flats in central London or chalets on the banks and islands up stream. The river has its own residents dwelling on houseboats, typically around Brentford and Tagg's Island\nTransport and tourism\nIn London there are many sightseeing tours in tourist boats, past the more famous riverside attractions such as the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London as well as regular riverboat services co-ordinated by London River Services .\nThe upper river\nEdit\nPassenger services are operated in summer along the entire non-tidal river from Oxford to Teddington. The two largest operators are Salters Steamers and French Brothers. Salters operate services between Folly Bridge, Oxford and Staines. The entire journey takes 4 days and requires several changes of boat. [14] French Brothers operate passenger services between Maidenhead and Hampton Court. [15] Along the course of the river a number of smaller private companies also offer river trips at Wallingford, Reading and Hampton Court. [16] Many companies also provide boat hire on the river.\nThe leisure navigation and sporting activities on the river have given rise to a number of dependent businesses including boatbuilding, marinas, ships chandlers and salvage services.\nPolice and lifeboats\nEdit\nThe river is policed by five police forces. The Thames Division is the River Police arm of London’s Metropolitan Police , while Surrey Police, Thames Valley Police, Essex Police and Kent Police have responsibilities on their parts of the river outside the metropolitan area. There is also a London Fire Brigade fire boat on the river. The river claims a number of lives each year. As a result of the Marchioness disaster in 1989 when 51 people died, the UK Government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution] (RNLI) to work together to set up a dedicated Search and Rescue service for the tidal River Thames. As a result, there are four lifeboat stations on the river Thames based at Teddington , Chiswick Pier, Tower Lifeboat Station and Gravesend, Kent. [17]\nNavigation\nEdit\nBray lock, Berkshire\nPool of London looking west, from the high-level walkway on Tower Bridge . Click on the picture for a longer description\nThe Thames is navigable from the estuary as far as Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Between the sea and Teddington Lock , the river forms part of the Port of London and navigation is administered by the Port of London Authority . From Teddington Lock to the head of navigation, the navigation authority is the Environment Agency. Both the tidal river through London and the non-tidal river upstream are intensively used for leisure navigation. All craft using the river Thames must be licensed.\nThe river is navigable to large ocean-going ships as far upstream as the Pool of London and London Bridge . Although London's upstream enclosed docks have closed and central London sees only the occasional visiting cruise ship or naval warship, the tidal river remains one of Britain's main ports. Around 60 active terminals cater for shipping of all types including ro-ro ferries, cruise liners and vessels carrying containers, vehicles, timber, grain, paper, Petroleum, petroleum products], liquified petroleum gas, etc. [18] There is a regular traffic of Construction aggregate or waste vessels, operating from wharves in the west of London. The tidal Thames links to the canal network at the River Lea Navigation , the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin , and the Grand Union Canal at Brentford.\nThe non-tidal River Thames is divided into reaches by the 45 locks. The locks are manned for a greater part of the day, but can be operated by experienced users out of hours. This part of the Thames links to existing navigations at the River Wey Navigation, the River Kennet and the Oxford Canal.\nThere is no speed limit on the Tideway downstream of Wandsworth Bridge , [19] although boats are not allowed to create undue wash. Upstream of Wandsworth Bridge a speed limit is in force for powered craft to protect the riverbank environment and to provide safe conditions for rowers and other river users. The speed limit of 8 km per hour applies to powered craft on this tidal part and 4.3km per hour on the non-tidal Thames. The Environment Agency has patrol boats (named after tributaries of the Thames) and can enforce the limit strictly since river traffic usually has to pass through a lock at some stage. There are pairs of Navigation transit markers at various points along the non-tidal river that can be used to check speed - a boat travelling legally taking a minute or more to pass between the two markers.\nHistory of the management of the river\nEdit\nThe first commission concerned with the management of the river was the Oxford-Burcot Commission formed in 1605 to make the river navigable between Burcot and Oxford.\nIn 1751 the Thames Navigation Commission was formed to manage the whole non-tidal river down to Staines. The City of London long claimed responsibility for the tidal river. A long running dispute between the City and the The Crown over ownership of the river was not settled until 1857, when the Thames Conservancy was formed to manage the river from Staines downstream. In 1866 the functions of the Thames Navigation Commission were transferred to the Thames Conservancy, which thus had responsibility for the whole river.\nIn 1909 the powers of the Thames Conservancy over the tidal river, below Teddington, were transferred to the Port of London Authority .\nIn 1974 the Thames Conservancy became part of the new Thames Water Authority . When Thames Water was privatised in 1990, its river management functions were transferred to the National Rivers Authority , in 1996 subsumed into the Environment Agency.\nThe river as a boundary\nEdit\nUntil sufficient crossings were established, the river provided a formidable barrier, with Belgic tribes and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established their boundaries were partly determined by the Thames. On the Northern bank were the traditional counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex. On the southern bank were the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent. However the 214 bridges and 17 tunnels that have been built to date have changed the dynamics and made cross-river development and shared responsibilities more practicable. The 1974 boundary changes moved some of the boundaries away from the river, so that, for example, some of Berkshire became Oxfordshire, some of Buckinghamshire became Berkshire, and some of Middlesex became Surrey. On occasion – for example in rowing – the banks are still referred to by their traditional county names.\nCrossings\nHammerton's Ferry near Richmond.\nMany of the present road bridges on the river are on the site of earlier fords, ferries and wooden structures. The earliest known major crossings of the Thames by the Romans were at London Bridge and Staines Bridge . At Folly Bridge in Oxford the remains of an original Saxon structure can be seen, and mediaeval stone structures such as [[Newbridge, Oxfordshire and Abingdon Bridge are still in use. Kingston’s growth is believed to stem from its having the only crossing between London Bridge and Staines until the beginning of the 18th century. During the 18th century, many stone and brick road bridges were built from new or to replace existing structures both in London and along the length of the river. These included Putney Bridge , Westminster Bridge , Windsor Bridge and Sonning Bridge. Several central London road bridges were built in the 19th century, most conspicuously Tower Bridge , the only Bascule bridge on the river, designed to allow ocean going ships to pass beneath it. The most recent road bridges are the bypasses at Isis Bridge and Marlow By-pass Bridge and the Motorway bridges, most notably the two on the M25 route Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and M25 Runnymede Bridge. The development of the railway resulted in a spate of bridge building in the 19th century including Blackfriars Railway Bridge and Charing Cross (Hungerford) Railway Bridge in central London, and the spectacular railway bridges by Isambard Kingdom Brunel at Maidenhead Bridge, Gatehampton Railway Bridge and Moulsford Railway Bridge.\nThe world’s first underwater tunnel was the Thames Tunnel by Marc Brunel built in 1843 and used to carry the East London Line . The Tower Subway was the first railway under the Thames, which was followed by all the deep-level tube lines. Road tunnels were built in East London at the end of the 19th century, being the Blackwall Tunnel and the Rotherhithe Tunnel , and the latest tunnel was the Dartford Crossing .\nMany foot crossings were established across the weirs that were built on the non-tidal river, and some of these remained when the locks were built – for example at Benson Lock. Others were replaced by a footbridge when the weir was removed as at Hart's Weir Footbridge. Around the year 2000 AD, several footbridges were added along the Thames, either as part of the Thames Path or in commemoration of the Millennium. These include Temple Footbridge, Bloomers Hole Footbridge, the Hungerford Footbridges and the Millennium Bridge , all of which have distinctive design characteristics.\nSome ferries still operate on the river. The Woolwich Ferry carries cars and passengers across the river in the Thames Gateway and links the North Circular and South Circular roads. Upstream are smaller pedestrian ferries, for example Hampton Ferry and Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry the last being the only non-permanent crossing that remains on the Thames Path.\nSport\nThere are several watersports prevalent on the Thames, with many clubs encouraging participation and organising racing and inter-club competitions.\nRowing\nMain article: Rowing on the River Thames\nCambridge cross the finish line ahead of Oxford in the 2007 Boat Race, viewed from Chiswick Bridge\nThe Thames is the historic heartland of sport rowing in the United Kingdom. There are over 200 clubs on the river, and over 8,000 members of thAmateur Rowing Association]] (over 40% of its membership). Most towns and districts of any size on the river have at least one club, but key centres are Oxford, Henley-on-Thames and the stretch of river from Chiswick to Putney .\nTwo rowing events on the River Thames are traditionally part of the wider English sporting calendar:\nThe University Boat Race is rowed between Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club in late March or early April, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake in the west of London .\nHenley Royal Regatta takes place over five days at the start of July in the upstream town of Henley-on-Thames. Besides its sporting significance the regatta is an important date on the English Season (society) alongside events like Royal Ascot and Wimbledon .\nOther significant or historic rowing events on the Thames include:\nThe Head of the River Race and other head races over the The Championship Course\nThe The Wingfield Sculls for the amateur sculling championship of the Thames and Great Britain\nDoggett's Coat and Badge for apprentice watermen, one of the oldest sporting events in the world\nHenley Women's Regatta\nThe Henley Boat Races for the Women's and Lightweight crews of Oxford and Cambridge Universities\nThe Oxford University bumps race known as Eights Week and Torpids\nOther regattas, head races and bumping races are held along the Thames which are described under Rowing on the River Thames .\nSailing\nEdit\nThames Raters at Raven's Ait, Surbiton\nSailing is practiced on both the tidal and non-tidal reaches of the river. The highest club upstream is at Oxford. The most popular sailing craft used on the Thames are laser (dinghy), GP14 (dinghy), and Wayfarer (dinghy). One sailing boat unique to the Thames is the Thames A Class Rater (scow) which is sailed around Raven's Ait .\nSkiffing\nSkiffing remains popular, particularly in the summer months. Several clubs and regattas may be found in the outer suburbs of west London.\nPunting\nUnlike the \"pleasure punting\" common on the River Cherwell in Oxford and the River Cam in Cambridge, punting on the Thames is competitive and uses narrower craft.\nKayaking and canoeing\nMain article: Kayaking and Canoeing on the River Thames\nKayaking and canoeing are popular, with sea kayakers using the tidal stretch for touring. Sheltered water kayakers and canoeists use the non-tidal section for training, racing and trips. Whitewater playboating, and Slalom canoeing paddlers are catered for at weirs like those at Hurley Lock, Sunbury Lock and Boulter's Lock. At Teddington just before the tidal section of the river starts is Royal Canoe Club , said to be the oldest in the world and founded in 1867.\nMeanders\nEdit\nA Thames meander is a long-distance journey over all or part of the Thames by running, swimming or using any of the above means. It is often carried out as an athletic challenge in a competition or for a record attempt.\nCulture\nThe first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.\nMaidenhead Railway Bridge as Turner saw it in 1844\nMonet's Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard, Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog, 1904\nWhistler's Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Old Battersea Bridge (c. 1872-1875)\nSt John's lock, near Lechlade.\nThe River Thames in Oxford\nVisual arts\nEdit\nThe River Thames has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Four major artists with works based on the Thames are Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, Claude Monet, and James McNeil Whistler. The 20th century British artist Stanley Spencer produced many works at Cookham.\nThe river is lined with various pieces on sculpture, but John Kaufman's sculpture The Diver:Regeneration is actally sited in the Thames near Rainham .\nLiterature\nEdit\nThe Thames is mentioned in many works of literature including novels, diaries and poetry. It is the central theme in three in particular:\nThree Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1889, is a humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over. The landscape and features of the Thames as described by Jerome are virtually unchanged, and enduring humour has meant that it has never been out of print since it was first published.\nCharles Dickens Our Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) describes the river in a grimmer light. It begins with a scavenger and his daughter pulling a dead man from the river near London Bridge, to salvage what the body might have in its pockets, and heads to its conclusion with the deaths of the villains drowned in Shepperton Lock/Plashwater Lock upstream. The workings of the river and the influence of the tides are described with great accuracy. Dickens opens the novel with this sketch of the river, and the people who work on it:\nIn these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a girl of nineteen or twenty. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man with the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waisteband, kept an eager look-out.\nKenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, written in 1908, is set in the middle to upper reaches of the river. This starts as a tale of gentle anthropomorphic animals \"simply messing\" about on the water and concludes with the arrogant and anti-social Mr Toad getting his come-uppance on a river barge.\nThe river almost inevitably features in many books set in London . Most of Dickens' other novels include some aspect of the Thames. Oliver Twist finishes in the slums and rookeries along its south bank. The Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle often visit riverside parts as in The Sign of Four. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the serenity of the contemporary Thames is contrasted with the savagery of the Congo River, and with the wilderness of the Thames as it would have appeared to a Roman soldier posted to Britannia two thousand years before. Conrad also gives a description of the approach to London from the Thames Estuary in his essays Joseph Conrad#On the River Thames|The Mirror of the Sea (1906). Upriver, Henry James' Portrait of a Lady uses a large riverside mansion on the Thames as one of its key settings.\nLiterary non-fiction works include Samuel Pepys ' diary, in which he recorded many events relating to the Thames including the Fire of London . He was disturbed while writing it in June 1667 by the sound of gunfire as Dutch warships broke through the Royal Navy on the Thames.\nIn poetry, William Wordsworth's sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802/On Westminster Bridge closes with the lines:\nNe'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!\nThe river glideth at his own sweet will:\nDear God! the very houses seem asleep;\nAnd all that mighty heart is lying still!\nT. S. Eliot references makes several references to the Thames in The Fire Sermon, Section III of The Waste Land.\nSweet Thames run softly, till I end my song.\nThe river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,\nSilk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes cigarette ends\nOr other testimony of summer nights.\nand\nDown Greenwich reach\nPast the Isle of Dogs\nThe Sweet Thames line is taken from Edmund Spenser’s Prothalamion which presents a more idyllic image:\nAlong the shoare of silver streaming Themmes;\nWhose rutty banke, the which his river hemmes,\nWas paynted all with variable flowers.\nAnd all the meads adornd with daintie gemmes\nFit to deck maydens bowres\nAlso writing of the upper reaches is Matthew Arnold in The Scholar Gypsy:\nCrossing the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hythe\nTrailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet\nAs the slow punt swings round\nOh born in days when wits were fresh and clear\nAnd life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames;\nBefore this strange disease of modern life.\nScience-fiction novels make liberal use of a futuristic Thames. The utopian News from Nowhere by William Morris is mainly the account of a journey through the Thames valley in a socialist future. The Thames also features prominently in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, as a communications artery for the waterborne Gyptian people of Oxford and the Fens.\nIn The Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis, the Thames appears several times. In one book, rat characters swim through it to Deptford .\nMusic\nEdit\nThe Water Music composed by George Frideric Handel premiered in the summer of 1717 (July 17, 1717) when George I of Great Britain requested a concert on the River Thames. The concert was performed for King George I on his barge and he is said to have enjoyed it so much that he ordered the 50 exhausted musicians to play the suites three times on the trip.\nThe Sex Pistols played a concert on the Queen Elizabeth Riverboat on June 7, 1977, the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, while sailing down the river.\nCinema and television\nEdit\nA boat chase on the Thames forms the long opening scene of the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. The offices of MI6, Britain's external spy agency, are right on the river in a building known as Vauxhall Cross.\nThe theme of the Thames being completely drained was used in the Doctor Who episode \"The Runaway Bride\". This theme was also used in the Hollywood Blockbuster Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), where a huge hole in the riverbed beside Westminster Bridge and the London Eye stranded the items formerly floating on the river. The river was traversed in an episode of Top Gear season 10 episode 5. A birds eye view version can be seen in the main titles of EastEnders .\n↑ [1] Rare seahorses breeding in Thames BBC News, 7 April 2008\n↑ P. Needham (1985) Neolithic And Bronze Age Settlement On The Buried Floodplains Of Runnymede Oxford Journal of Archaeology 4\n↑ Lamdin-Whymark, H, 2001 ‘Neolithic activity on the floodplain of the river Thames at Dorney’, Lithics 22,\n↑ Gaius Julius Caesar De Bello Gallico\n↑ Stephen Oppenheimer The Origins of the British",
"River Thames - London Wiki - Wikia\nThe River Thames is the second longest river in the ... The next Roman bridge ... The Woolwich Ferry carries cars and passengers across the river in the Thames ...\nRiver Thames | London Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nEdit\nThe River Thames is the second longest river in the United Kingdom and the longest river entirely in England, rising at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flowing into the North Sea at the Thames Estuary. It has a special significance in flowing through London, the capital of the United Kingdom, although London only touches a short part of its course. The river is tidal in London with a rise and fall of 7 metres (23 ft) and becomes non-tidal at Teddington Lock . The catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and Western England and the river is fed by over 20 tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, and having both seawater and freshwater stretches supports a variety of wildlife.\nThe river has supported human activity from its source to its mouth for thousands of years providing habitation, water power, food and drink. It has also acted as a major highway both for international trade through the Port of London, and internally along its length and connecting to the British canal system. The river’s strategic position has seen it at the centre of many events and fashions in British history, earning it a description as “Liquid History”. It has been a physical and political boundary over the centuries and generated a range of river crossings. In more recent time the river has become a major leisure area supporting tourism and pleasure outings as well as the sports of rowing, sailing, skiffing, kayaking, and punting. The river has had a special appeal to writers, artists, musicians and film-makers and is well represented in the arts. It is still the subject of various debates about its course, nomenclature and history.\nPhysical and natural aspects\nThe monument at the official source of the Thames.\nRiver Thames Flood Barrier\nThe Thames passes by some of the sights of London, including the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye\nThe Thames has a length of 215 miles (346 km). Its usually quoted source is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994), about a mile north of the village of Kemble and near the town of Cirencester, in the Cotswolds. However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham, where the river Churn rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is furthest from the mouth both in distance along its course and as the crow flies and adds some 14 miles (22 km) to the length. The springs at Seven Springs also flow throughout the year, while those at Thames Head are only seasonal.\nThe Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes, Cricklade, Lechlade, Oxford, Abingdon, Wallingford, Goring-on-Thames, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Eton, Staines, Weybridge and Thames Ditton before entering the Greater London area. The present course is the result of several minor redirections of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Maidenhead and more recently the creation of specific cuts to ease navigation.\nFrom the outskirts of Greater London, the river passes Hampton Court, Kingston, Teddington, Twickenham, Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House and Kew before flowing through central London. In central London, the river forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London and was the southern boundary of the mediaeval city, with Southwark on the opposite bank.\nOnce past central London, the river passes between Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs, before flowing through the Thames Barrier, which protects central London from flooding in the event of storm surges. Below the barrier, the river passes Dartford, Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea.\nCatchment area and discharge\nEdit\nThe river drains a catchment area of 4994|sqmi or 5924 sqmi if the River Medway is included as a tributary. (Dot & Ian Hart (2001–5). The River Thames — Its geology, geography and vital statistics from source to sea . Retrieved November 1, 2005.)\nThe non-tidal section\nLocks and weirs on the River Thames\nThe Jubilee River at Slough Weir\nBrooks, canals and rivers, within an area of convert|3841, combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock , the tidal limit. Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810-12, the river was tidal as far as Staines. The tributaries include the rivers River Churn, River Leach, River Cole, Wiltshire, River Coln, River Windrush, River Evenlode, River Cherwell, River Ock, River Thame, River Pang, River Kennet, River Loddon, River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Wey and River Mole, Surrey. In addition there are many backwaters and distributaries and some man-made channels such as the Longford River.\nMore recently, an artificial secondary channel to the Thames, known as the Jubilee River, was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief, being completed in 2002.\nMore than half the rain that falls on this catchment is lost to evaporation and plant transpiration. The remainder provides a water resource that has to be shared between river flows, to support the natural environment and navigation, and the population's needs for water supplies to homes, industry and agriculture.\nThe non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency which has the twin responsibilities of managing the flow of water to control flooding, and providing for navigation. The volume and speed of water down the river is managed by adjusting the gates at each of the weirs and at high water levels are usually dissipated over flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally flooding is unavoidable, and the Agency issues Flood Warnings. During heavy rainfall the Thames occasionally receives raw sewage discharge due to sanitary sewer overflow.\nThe tidal section\nMain article: Tideway\nLondon Stone at Staines, built in 1285 marked the tidal limit of the Thames and the City of London 's jurisdiction\nThe lower course of the Thames in 1840\nBelow Teddington Lock (about convert|55|mi} upstream of the Thames Estuary) the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea. Before the lock was installed the river was tidal as far as Staines. London, capital of Roman Britain, was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. (Peter Ackroyd London:The Biography Vintage 2001) A river crossing was built at the site of London Bridge. London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide. High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as \"the Tideway\".\nThe principal tributaries on the Tideway include the rivers Brent , Wandle , Effra , Westbourne , Fleet , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea , Roding, Darent and Ingrebourne . At London, the water is slightly brackish, with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water.\nThis part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from the North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980’s to protect London from this risk.\nIslands\nEdit\nTemple Island — the start of the Henley Royal Regatta course\nThe river Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey, Isle of Grain and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. Some of the largest inland islands — Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon — were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams, while Desborough Island, Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot] is a familiar landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centrepiece of the spectacular view from Richmond Hill . Islands with a historical interest are Magna Carta Island at Runnymede, Fry's Island at Reading and Pharaoh's Islandnear Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with the impresario Fred Karno, and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East’s R&B music scene.\nGeological history\nEdit\nLardon Chase\nThe River Thames can first be identified as a discrete drainage line as early as 58 million years ago, in the late Palaeocene Period Thanetian Stage. Until around half a million years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire, before turning to the north east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near Ipswich. At this time the river system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from the North Wales Berwyn Mountains. Arrival of an ice sheet in the Quaternary Ice Age, about 450,000 years ago, dammed the river in Hertfordshire and caused it to be diverted onto its present course through London. This created a new river route aligned through Berkshire and on into London after which the river rejoined its original course in southern Esse], near the present River Blackwater estuary. Here it entered a substantial freshwater lake in the southern North Sea basin. The overspill of this lake caused the formation of the Dover Straits or Pas-de-Calais gap between Great Britain and France. Subsequent development led to the continuation of the course which the river follows at the present day.\nAt the height of the last ice age around 12000 years ago, Britain was connected to mainland Europe via a large expanse of land known as Doggerland in the southern North Sea basin. At this time, the Thames' course did not continue to Doggerland, but was aligned southwards from the eastern Essex coast where it met the Rhine, the River Meuse and the River Scheldt [1]\nIn addition the Thames is host to some invasive crustaceans including Signal crayfish and Chinese Mitten Crab.\nOn 20 January 2006 a northern 16-18 ft (5 m) bottle-nosed whale was spotted in the Thames and was seen as far upstream as Chelsea. This is extremely unusual because this type of whale is generally found in deep sea waters. Crowds gathered along the riverbanks to witness the extraordinary spectacle. But it soon became clear there was cause for concern, as the animal came within yards of the banks, almost beaching, and crashed into an empty boat causing slight bleeding. Approximately 12 hours later, the whale was believed to be seen again near Greenwich , possibly heading back to sea. There was a rescue attempt lasting several hours, but it eventually died on a barge. (See Wikipedia page [5] )\nHuman aspects\nThe River Thames has served several roles in human history, being an economic resource, a water highway, a boundary, a fresh water source, also a source of food and more recently a leisure facility.\nHuman history\n19th century painting \"Haymaking on the Thames\" by John Clayton Adams\nWallingford Bridge and St Peter's Church\nThe Thames at Hampton\nThe Thames as it flows through London, with the Isle of Dogs in the centre.\nThere is evidence of human habitation living off the river along its length dating back to Neolithic times. [2] The British Museum has a decorated bowl (3300-2700 BC), found in the River at Hedsor, Buckinghamshire and a considerable amount of material was discovered during the excavations of Dorney Lake. [3] A number of Bronze Age sites and artifacts have been discovered along the banks of the River including settlements at Lechlade, Cookham and Sunbury-on-Thames . Some of the earliest written accounts of the Thames occur in Julius Caesar’s account of his second expedition to Britain in 54BC [4] when the Thames presented a major obstacle and he encountered the Iron Age Belgae/|Belgic tribes the Catuvellauni and the Atrebates along the river.\nUnder the Emperor Claudius in AD 43 the Romans occupied England and, recognising the River's strategic and economic importance, built fortifications along the Thames valley including a major camp at Dorchester, Oxfordshire. Two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill , provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames called Londinium where a bridge was built. The next Roman bridge upstream was at Staines (Pontes) to which point boats could be swept up on the rising tide with no need for wind or muscle power. Many of the Thames’ riverside settlements trace their origins back to very early roots and the suffix - “ing” in towns such as Goring and Reading, Berkshire, owe their origins to the Saxons. Recent research suggests that these peoples preceded the Romans rather than replaced them. [5] The river’s long tradition of farming, fishing, milling and trade with other nations started with these peoples and has continued to the present day. Competition for the use of the river created the centuries-old conflict between those who wanted to dam the river to build millraces and fish traps and those who wanted to travel and carry goods on it. Economic prosperity and the foundation of wealthy monasteries by the Anglo-Saxons attracted unwelcome visitors and by around AD 870 the Vikings were sweeping up the Thames on the tide and creating havoc as in their destruction of Chertsey Abbey.\nOnce William I of England had won total control of the strategic Thames Valley he went on to invade the rest of England. He had many castles built, including those at Wallingford, Rochester, Kent, Windsor, Berkshire and most importantly the Tower of London . Many details of Thames activity are recorded in the Domesday book . The following centuries saw the conflict between King and Barons coming to a head in AD 1215 when King John was forced to adhere to the Magna Carta]] on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. This granted them among a host of other things under Clause 23 the right of Navigation. Another major consequence of John’s reign was the completion of the multi-piered London Bridge which acted as a barricade and barrage on the river, affecting the tidal flow upstream and increasing the likelihood of freezing over. In Tudor and Stuart times the Kings and Queens loved the river and built magnificent riverside palaces at Hampton Court , Kew , Richmond on Thames , Whitehall and Greenwich .\nThe 16th and 17th centuries saw the City of London grow with the expansion of world trade. The wharves of the Pool of London were thick with seagoing vessels while naval dockyards were built at Deptford . The Dutch navy even entered the Thames in 1667 in the raid on the Medway. A cold series of winters led to the Thames freezing over above London Bridge, and this led to the first Frost Fair in 1607, complete with a tent city set up on the river itself and offering a number of amusements, including ice bowling. In good conditions barges travelled daily from Oxford to London carrying timber and wool, foodstuffs and livestock, battling with the millers on the way. The stone from the Cotswolds used to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire in 1666 was brought all the way down from Radcot. The Thames provided the major highway between London and Westminster in the 16th and 17th centuries and the clannish guild of watermen ferried Londoners from landing to landing and tolerated no outside interference. In AD 1715 Thomas Doggett was so grateful to a local waterman for his efforts to ferry him home pulling against the tide, that he set up a rowing race for professional watermen known as “ Doggett's Coat and Badge ”.\nBy the 18th century, the Thames was one of the world's busiest waterways, as London became the centre of the vast, mercantile British Empire and progressively over the next century the docks expanded in the Isle of Dogs and beyond. Efforts were made to resolve the navigation conflicts up stream by building locks along the Thames. After temperatures began to rise again, starting in 1814, the river stopped freezing over completely. [6] The building of a new London Bridge in 1825, with fewer pillars than the old, allowed the river to flow more freely and reduced the likelihood of freezing over in cold winters. [7]\nThe Victorian era was an era of imaginative engineering. In the ' Great Stink ' of 1858, pollution in the river reached such proportions that sittings at the House of Commons at Westminster had to be abandoned. A concerted effort to contain the city's sewage by constructing massive sewers on the north and south river embankments followed, under the supervision of engineer Joseph Bazalgette . Meanwhile, similar huge undertakings took place to ensure water supply, with the building of reservoirs and pumping stations on the river to the west of London. The embankments in London house the water supply to homes, plus the sewers, and protect London from flood. The coming of rail transport] added both spectacular and ugly railway bridges to fine range of earlier road bridges but reduced commercial activity on the river. However sporting and leisure use increased with the establishment of regattas such as Henley Royal Regatta and The Boat Race. On 3 September 1878, one of the worst river disasters in England took place, when the crowded pleasure boat {{SS|Princess Alice collided with the Bywell Castle, killing over 640 people.\nThe growth of road transport and the decline of the Empire, in the years following 1914, reduced the economic prominence of the river. During World War II the protection of the Thames was crucial to the defence of the country. Defences included the Maunsell forts in the estuary and barrage balloons to cope with the threat of German bombers using the distinctive shape of the river to navigate during The Blitz. Although the Port of London remains one of the UK's three main ports, most trade has moved downstream from central London. The decline of manufacturing industry and improved sewage treatment have led to a massive clean-up since the filthy days of the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries, and aquatic life has returned to its formerly 'dead' waters. Alongside the river runs the Thames Path , providing a route for walkers and cyclists.\nIn the early 1980s a massive flood-control device, the Thames Barrier , was opened. It is closed several times a year to prevent water damage to London's low-lying areas upstream (as in the 1928 Thames flood for example). In the late 1990s, the Jubilee River was built, which acts as a flo]] channel for the Thames around Maidenhead and Windsor. [8]\nOrigin of the name\nEdit\nStatue of Old Father Thames at St John's Lock\nThe Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Celtic name for the river, Tamesas (from *tamēssa), [9] recorded in Latin as Tamesis and underlying modern Welsh Tafwys \"Thames\". The name probably meant \"dark\" and can be compared to other cognates such as |Irish teimheal and Welsh tywyll \"darkness\" Proto-Celtic *temeslos) and Middle Irish teimen \"dark grey\", [9] though Richard Coates [10] mentions other theories: Kenneth H. Jackson ref>Template under construction. in F. T. Wainright (ed.), ed. The Problem of the Picts. Nelson. pp. 129–166. </ref> that it is non Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), and Peter Kitson's [11] that it is IE but pre-Celtic, and has a name indicating muddiness from a root *tã-, 'melt'.\nThe river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t; the [Middle English spelling was typically Temese and Celtic languages TAmesis. The th lends an air of Ancient Greek to the name and was added during the Renaissance, possibly to reflect or support a belief that the name was derived from River Thyamis in the Epirus (region region of Greece, whence early Celtic tribes were erroneously thought to have migrated.\nIndirect evidence for the antiquity of the name 'Thames' is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made this). It is believed that Tamesubugus's name was derived from that of the river. [12]\nThe Thames through Oxford is often given the name the River The Isis, although historically, and especially in Victorian era, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the River Isis from its source until Dorchester, Oxfordshire. Only at this point, where the river meets the River Thame and becomes the \"Thame-isis\" (subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so-called; Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as \"River Thames or Isis\" until Dorchester. However since the early 20th century, this distinction has been lost in common usage outside Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis—although possibly named after the Egyptian mythology goddess of Isis —is nothing more than a contraction of Tamesis, the[Latin] (or pre-Roman Celtic) name for the Thames.\nRichard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *(p)lowonida. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium, from the Indo-European roots *pleu- \"flow\" and *-nedi \"river\" meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. [10]\nFor merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just 'The London River'. Londoners often refer to it simply as 'the river', in expressions such as 'south of the river'. [13]\nThe active river\nEdit\nOne of the many piers for joining sightseeing boat trips.\nOne of the major resources provided by the Thames is drinking water provided by Thames Water whose area of responsibility covers the length of the River Thames. The Thames Water Ring Main is the main distribution mechanism for water in London with one major loop linking the Hampton , Walton-on-Thames, Ashford, Surrey, and Kempton Water Treatment Works to central London.\nIn the past, commercial activities on the Thames included fishing (particularly eel trapping), coppicing willows which provided wood for many purposes including osiers, and running watermills for flour and paper production and metal beating. These activities have disappeared, although there was a proposal to build a hydro plant at Romney Lock to power Windsor Castle. As of January 2008, this scheme appears to have been abandoned.\nThe Thames is popular for riverside housing whether in high rise flats in central London or chalets on the banks and islands up stream. The river has its own residents dwelling on houseboats, typically around Brentford and Tagg's Island\nTransport and tourism\nIn London there are many sightseeing tours in tourist boats, past the more famous riverside attractions such as the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London as well as regular riverboat services co-ordinated by London River Services .\nThe upper river\nEdit\nPassenger services are operated in summer along the entire non-tidal river from Oxford to Teddington. The two largest operators are Salters Steamers and French Brothers. Salters operate services between Folly Bridge, Oxford and Staines. The entire journey takes 4 days and requires several changes of boat. [14] French Brothers operate passenger services between Maidenhead and Hampton Court. [15] Along the course of the river a number of smaller private companies also offer river trips at Wallingford, Reading and Hampton Court. [16] Many companies also provide boat hire on the river.\nThe leisure navigation and sporting activities on the river have given rise to a number of dependent businesses including boatbuilding, marinas, ships chandlers and salvage services.\nPolice and lifeboats\nEdit\nThe river is policed by five police forces. The Thames Division is the River Police arm of London’s Metropolitan Police , while Surrey Police, Thames Valley Police, Essex Police and Kent Police have responsibilities on their parts of the river outside the metropolitan area. There is also a London Fire Brigade fire boat on the river. The river claims a number of lives each year. As a result of the Marchioness disaster in 1989 when 51 people died, the UK Government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution] (RNLI) to work together to set up a dedicated Search and Rescue service for the tidal River Thames. As a result, there are four lifeboat stations on the river Thames based at Teddington , Chiswick Pier, Tower Lifeboat Station and Gravesend, Kent. [17]\nNavigation\nEdit\nBray lock, Berkshire\nPool of London looking west, from the high-level walkway on Tower Bridge . Click on the picture for a longer description\nThe Thames is navigable from the estuary as far as Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Between the sea and Teddington Lock , the river forms part of the Port of London and navigation is administered by the Port of London Authority . From Teddington Lock to the head of navigation, the navigation authority is the Environment Agency. Both the tidal river through London and the non-tidal river upstream are intensively used for leisure navigation. All craft using the river Thames must be licensed.\nThe river is navigable to large ocean-going ships as far upstream as the Pool of London and London Bridge . Although London's upstream enclosed docks have closed and central London sees only the occasional visiting cruise ship or naval warship, the tidal river remains one of Britain's main ports. Around 60 active terminals cater for shipping of all types including ro-ro ferries, cruise liners and vessels carrying containers, vehicles, timber, grain, paper, Petroleum, petroleum products], liquified petroleum gas, etc. [18] There is a regular traffic of Construction aggregate or waste vessels, operating from wharves in the west of London. The tidal Thames links to the canal network at the River Lea Navigation , the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin , and the Grand Union Canal at Brentford.\nThe non-tidal River Thames is divided into reaches by the 45 locks. The locks are manned for a greater part of the day, but can be operated by experienced users out of hours. This part of the Thames links to existing navigations at the River Wey Navigation, the River Kennet and the Oxford Canal.\nThere is no speed limit on the Tideway downstream of Wandsworth Bridge , [19] although boats are not allowed to create undue wash. Upstream of Wandsworth Bridge a speed limit is in force for powered craft to protect the riverbank environment and to provide safe conditions for rowers and other river users. The speed limit of 8 km per hour applies to powered craft on this tidal part and 4.3km per hour on the non-tidal Thames. The Environment Agency has patrol boats (named after tributaries of the Thames) and can enforce the limit strictly since river traffic usually has to pass through a lock at some stage. There are pairs of Navigation transit markers at various points along the non-tidal river that can be used to check speed - a boat travelling legally taking a minute or more to pass between the two markers.\nHistory of the management of the river\nEdit\nThe first commission concerned with the management of the river was the Oxford-Burcot Commission formed in 1605 to make the river navigable between Burcot and Oxford.\nIn 1751 the Thames Navigation Commission was formed to manage the whole non-tidal river down to Staines. The City of London long claimed responsibility for the tidal river. A long running dispute between the City and the The Crown over ownership of the river was not settled until 1857, when the Thames Conservancy was formed to manage the river from Staines downstream. In 1866 the functions of the Thames Navigation Commission were transferred to the Thames Conservancy, which thus had responsibility for the whole river.\nIn 1909 the powers of the Thames Conservancy over the tidal river, below Teddington, were transferred to the Port of London Authority .\nIn 1974 the Thames Conservancy became part of the new Thames Water Authority . When Thames Water was privatised in 1990, its river management functions were transferred to the National Rivers Authority , in 1996 subsumed into the Environment Agency.\nThe river as a boundary\nEdit\nUntil sufficient crossings were established, the river provided a formidable barrier, with Belgic tribes and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established their boundaries were partly determined by the Thames. On the Northern bank were the traditional counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex. On the southern bank were the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent. However the 214 bridges and 17 tunnels that have been built to date have changed the dynamics and made cross-river development and shared responsibilities more practicable. The 1974 boundary changes moved some of the boundaries away from the river, so that, for example, some of Berkshire became Oxfordshire, some of Buckinghamshire became Berkshire, and some of Middlesex became Surrey. On occasion – for example in rowing – the banks are still referred to by their traditional county names.\nCrossings\nHammerton's Ferry near Richmond.\nMany of the present road bridges on the river are on the site of earlier fords, ferries and wooden structures. The earliest known major crossings of the Thames by the Romans were at London Bridge and Staines Bridge . At Folly Bridge in Oxford the remains of an original Saxon structure can be seen, and mediaeval stone structures such as [[Newbridge, Oxfordshire and Abingdon Bridge are still in use. Kingston’s growth is believed to stem from its having the only crossing between London Bridge and Staines until the beginning of the 18th century. During the 18th century, many stone and brick road bridges were built from new or to replace existing structures both in London and along the length of the river. These included Putney Bridge , Westminster Bridge , Windsor Bridge and Sonning Bridge. Several central London road bridges were built in the 19th century, most conspicuously Tower Bridge , the only Bascule bridge on the river, designed to allow ocean going ships to pass beneath it. The most recent road bridges are the bypasses at Isis Bridge and Marlow By-pass Bridge and the Motorway bridges, most notably the two on the M25 route Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and M25 Runnymede Bridge. The development of the railway resulted in a spate of bridge building in the 19th century including Blackfriars Railway Bridge and Charing Cross (Hungerford) Railway Bridge in central London, and the spectacular railway bridges by Isambard Kingdom Brunel at Maidenhead Bridge, Gatehampton Railway Bridge and Moulsford Railway Bridge.\nThe world’s first underwater tunnel was the Thames Tunnel by Marc Brunel built in 1843 and used to carry the East London Line . The Tower Subway was the first railway under the Thames, which was followed by all the deep-level tube lines. Road tunnels were built in East London at the end of the 19th century, being the Blackwall Tunnel and the Rotherhithe Tunnel , and the latest tunnel was the Dartford Crossing .\nMany foot crossings were established across the weirs that were built on the non-tidal river, and some of these remained when the locks were built – for example at Benson Lock. Others were replaced by a footbridge when the weir was removed as at Hart's Weir Footbridge. Around the year 2000 AD, several footbridges were added along the Thames, either as part of the Thames Path or in commemoration of the Millennium. These include Temple Footbridge, Bloomers Hole Footbridge, the Hungerford Footbridges and the Millennium Bridge , all of which have distinctive design characteristics.\nSome ferries still operate on the river. The Woolwich Ferry carries cars and passengers across the river in the Thames Gateway and links the North Circular and South Circular roads. Upstream are smaller pedestrian ferries, for example Hampton Ferry and Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry the last being the only non-permanent crossing that remains on the Thames Path.\nSport\nThere are several watersports prevalent on the Thames, with many clubs encouraging participation and organising racing and inter-club competitions.\nRowing\nMain article: Rowing on the River Thames\nCambridge cross the finish line ahead of Oxford in the 2007 Boat Race, viewed from Chiswick Bridge\nThe Thames is the historic heartland of sport rowing in the United Kingdom. There are over 200 clubs on the river, and over 8,000 members of thAmateur Rowing Association]] (over 40% of its membership). Most towns and districts of any size on the river have at least one club, but key centres are Oxford, Henley-on-Thames and the stretch of river from Chiswick to Putney .\nTwo rowing events on the River Thames are traditionally part of the wider English sporting calendar:\nThe University Boat Race is rowed between Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club in late March or early April, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake in the west of London .\nHenley Royal Regatta takes place over five days at the start of July in the upstream town of Henley-on-Thames. Besides its sporting significance the regatta is an important date on the English Season (society) alongside events like Royal Ascot and Wimbledon .\nOther significant or historic rowing events on the Thames include:\nThe Head of the River Race and other head races over the The Championship Course\nThe The Wingfield Sculls for the amateur sculling championship of the Thames and Great Britain\nDoggett's Coat and Badge for apprentice watermen, one of the oldest sporting events in the world\nHenley Women's Regatta\nThe Henley Boat Races for the Women's and Lightweight crews of Oxford and Cambridge Universities\nThe Oxford University bumps race known as Eights Week and Torpids\nOther regattas, head races and bumping races are held along the Thames which are described under Rowing on the River Thames .\nSailing\nEdit\nThames Raters at Raven's Ait, Surbiton\nSailing is practiced on both the tidal and non-tidal reaches of the river. The highest club upstream is at Oxford. The most popular sailing craft used on the Thames are laser (dinghy), GP14 (dinghy), and Wayfarer (dinghy). One sailing boat unique to the Thames is the Thames A Class Rater (scow) which is sailed around Raven's Ait .\nSkiffing\nSkiffing remains popular, particularly in the summer months. Several clubs and regattas may be found in the outer suburbs of west London.\nPunting\nUnlike the \"pleasure punting\" common on the River Cherwell in Oxford and the River Cam in Cambridge, punting on the Thames is competitive and uses narrower craft.\nKayaking and canoeing\nMain article: Kayaking and Canoeing on the River Thames\nKayaking and canoeing are popular, with sea kayakers using the tidal stretch for touring. Sheltered water kayakers and canoeists use the non-tidal section for training, racing and trips. Whitewater playboating, and Slalom canoeing paddlers are catered for at weirs like those at Hurley Lock, Sunbury Lock and Boulter's Lock. At Teddington just before the tidal section of the river starts is Royal Canoe Club , said to be the oldest in the world and founded in 1867.\nMeanders\nEdit\nA Thames meander is a long-distance journey over all or part of the Thames by running, swimming or using any of the above means. It is often carried out as an athletic challenge in a competition or for a record attempt.\nCulture\nThe first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.\nMaidenhead Railway Bridge as Turner saw it in 1844\nMonet's Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard, Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog, 1904\nWhistler's Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Old Battersea Bridge (c. 1872-1875)\nSt John's lock, near Lechlade.\nThe River Thames in Oxford\nVisual arts\nEdit\nThe River Thames has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Four major artists with works based on the Thames are Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, Claude Monet, and James McNeil Whistler. The 20th century British artist Stanley Spencer produced many works at Cookham.\nThe river is lined with various pieces on sculpture, but John Kaufman's sculpture The Diver:Regeneration is actally sited in the Thames near Rainham .\nLiterature\nEdit\nThe Thames is mentioned in many works of literature including novels, diaries and poetry. It is the central theme in three in particular:\nThree Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1889, is a humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over. The landscape and features of the Thames as described by Jerome are virtually unchanged, and enduring humour has meant that it has never been out of print since it was first published.\nCharles Dickens Our Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) describes the river in a grimmer light. It begins with a scavenger and his daughter pulling a dead man from the river near London Bridge, to salvage what the body might have in its pockets, and heads to its conclusion with the deaths of the villains drowned in Shepperton Lock/Plashwater Lock upstream. The workings of the river and the influence of the tides are described with great accuracy. Dickens opens the novel with this sketch of the river, and the people who work on it:\nIn these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a girl of nineteen or twenty. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man with the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waisteband, kept an eager look-out.\nKenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, written in 1908, is set in the middle to upper reaches of the river. This starts as a tale of gentle anthropomorphic animals \"simply messing\" about on the water and concludes with the arrogant and anti-social Mr Toad getting his come-uppance on a river barge.\nThe river almost inevitably features in many books set in London . Most of Dickens' other novels include some aspect of the Thames. Oliver Twist finishes in the slums and rookeries along its south bank. The Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle often visit riverside parts as in The Sign of Four. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the serenity of the contemporary Thames is contrasted with the savagery of the Congo River, and with the wilderness of the Thames as it would have appeared to a Roman soldier posted to Britannia two thousand years before. Conrad also gives a description of the approach to London from the Thames Estuary in his essays Joseph Conrad#On the River Thames|The Mirror of the Sea (1906). Upriver, Henry James' Portrait of a Lady uses a large riverside mansion on the Thames as one of its key settings.\nLiterary non-fiction works include Samuel Pepys ' diary, in which he recorded many events relating to the Thames including the Fire of London . He was disturbed while writing it in June 1667 by the sound of gunfire as Dutch warships broke through the Royal Navy on the Thames.\nIn poetry, William Wordsworth's sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802/On Westminster Bridge closes with the lines:\nNe'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!\nThe river glideth at his own sweet will:\nDear God! the very houses seem asleep;\nAnd all that mighty heart is lying still!\nT. S. Eliot references makes several references to the Thames in The Fire Sermon, Section III of The Waste Land.\nSweet Thames run softly, till I end my song.\nThe river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,\nSilk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes cigarette ends\nOr other testimony of summer nights.\nand\nDown Greenwich reach\nPast the Isle of Dogs\nThe Sweet Thames line is taken from Edmund Spenser’s Prothalamion which presents a more idyllic image:\nAlong the shoare of silver streaming Themmes;\nWhose rutty banke, the which his river hemmes,\nWas paynted all with variable flowers.\nAnd all the meads adornd with daintie gemmes\nFit to deck maydens bowres\nAlso writing of the upper reaches is Matthew Arnold in The Scholar Gypsy:\nCrossing the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hythe\nTrailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet\nAs the slow punt swings round\nOh born in days when wits were fresh and clear\nAnd life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames;\nBefore this strange disease of modern life.\nScience-fiction novels make liberal use of a futuristic Thames. The utopian News from Nowhere by William Morris is mainly the account of a journey through the Thames valley in a socialist future. The Thames also features prominently in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, as a communications artery for the waterborne Gyptian people of Oxford and the Fens.\nIn The Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis, the Thames appears several times. In one book, rat characters swim through it to Deptford .\nMusic\nEdit\nThe Water Music composed by George Frideric Handel premiered in the summer of 1717 (July 17, 1717) when George I of Great Britain requested a concert on the River Thames. The concert was performed for King George I on his barge and he is said to have enjoyed it so much that he ordered the 50 exhausted musicians to play the suites three times on the trip.\nThe Sex Pistols played a concert on the Queen Elizabeth Riverboat on June 7, 1977, the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, while sailing down the river.\nCinema and television\nEdit\nA boat chase on the Thames forms the long opening scene of the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. The offices of MI6, Britain's external spy agency, are right on the river in a building known as Vauxhall Cross.\nThe theme of the Thames being completely drained was used in the Doctor Who episode \"The Runaway Bride\". This theme was also used in the Hollywood Blockbuster Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), where a huge hole in the riverbed beside Westminster Bridge and the London Eye stranded the items formerly floating on the river. The river was traversed in an episode of Top Gear season 10 episode 5. A birds eye view version can be seen in the main titles of EastEnders .\n↑ [1] Rare seahorses breeding in Thames BBC News, 7 April 2008\n↑ P. Needham (1985) Neolithic And Bronze Age Settlement On The Buried Floodplains Of Runnymede Oxford Journal of Archaeology 4\n↑ Lamdin-Whymark, H, 2001 ‘Neolithic activity on the floodplain of the river Thames at Dorney’, Lithics 22,\n↑ Gaius Julius Caesar De Bello Gallico\n↑ Stephen Oppenheimer The Origins of the British",
"Westminster_Bridge.txt\nWestminster Bridge\nthe bridge:\nWestminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the north side and Lambeth on the south side.\n\nThe bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the House of Commons which is on the side of the Palace of Westminster nearest to the bridge. This is in contrast to Lambeth Bridge which is red, the same colour as the seats in the House of Lords and is on the opposite side of the Houses of Parliament. \n\nIn 2005–2007 it underwent a complete refurbishment, including replacing the iron fascias and repainting the whole bridge.\nIt links the Palace of Westminster on the west side of the river with County Hall and the London Eye on the east and was the finishing point during the early years of the London Marathon.\n\nThe next bridge downstream is the Hungerford footbridge and upstream is Lambeth Bridge. Westminster Bridge was designated a Grade II* listed structure in 1981., \n\nHistory and the story of the bridge\n\nFor over 600 years, the nearest bridge to London Bridge was at Kingston. A bridge at Westminster was proposed in 1664, but opposed by the Corporation of London and the watermen. Despite further opposition in 1722, and after a new timber bridge was built at Putney in 1729, the scheme received parliamentary approval in 1736. Financed by private capital, lotteries and grants, Westminster Bridge, designed by the Swiss architect Charles Labelye, was built between 1739–1750.\n\nThe City of London responded to Westminster Bridge by removing the buildings on London Bridge and widening it in 1760–63. The City also commenced work on the Blackfriars Bridge, which opened in 1769. Other bridges from that time include Kew Bridge (1759), Battersea Bridge (1773), and Richmond Bridge (1777).\n\nThe bridge was required for traffic from the expanding West End to the developing South London as well as to south coast ports. Without the bridge, traffic from the West End would have to negotiate the congested routes to London Bridge such as the Strand and New Oxford Street. Roads south of the river were also improved, including the junction at the Elephant & Castle in Southwark.\n\nBy the mid 19th century the bridge was subsiding badly and expensive to maintain. The current bridge was designed by Thomas Page and opened on 24 May 1862. With a length of 250 m and a width of 26 m, it is a seven-arch wrought iron bridge with Gothic detailing by Charles Barry (the architect of the Palace of Westminster). It is the oldest road bridge across the Thames in central London. It was made of wood but it is now made of stone and cement and brick.\n\nFile:Canaletto - Westminster Bridge, with the Lord Mayor's Procession on the Thames - Google Art Project.jpg|The first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto, 1747 full of boats\nFile:Westminster Bridge 1750.jpg|Westminster Bridge, around 1750. The proprietors of the bridge had to pay compensation to the operators of the earlier 'Horseferry', and to local watermen\nFile:Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge 1897.jpg|Map of 1897, showing Lambeth Palace, Lambeth Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge\nFile:Rocque Vauxhall and Westminster (cropped).png|Westminster & Lambeth, 1746. Westminster Bridge, opened in 1740, connects Westminster to Lambeth; Huntley Ferry crosses the river on the site of the future Vauxhall Bridge\nFile:Joseph Mallord William Turner, English - The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834 - Google Art Project.jpg|The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons by J. M. W. Turner, 1835, with Westminster Bridge on the right\nFile:London - Lanterns on Westminster Bridge.jpg|Street lamps on the bridge\n\nIn popular culture\n\nIn the 2002 British horror film 28 Days Later, the protagonist awakes from a coma to find London deserted, and walks over an eerily empty Westminster Bridge whilst looking for signs of life.\n\nWestminster Bridge is the start and finish point for the Bridges Handicap Race, a traditional London running race.\n\nWilliam Wordsworth wrote the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802.\n\nIn the British science fiction TV series Doctor Who, Westminster Bridge has been used for various location shots. It was used originally in 1964 in the serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth which depicts the structure as desolate and deserted. Several Daleks are seen gliding over the bridge and the adjoining Albert Embankment. The location was then re-used by the production team when the series was revived in 2005 where the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler run across the bridge in the episode Rose. In 2006, with the Tenth Doctor, a shot of many Cybermen as 'ghosts' congregating on Westminster Bridge was used in the episode \"Army of Ghosts\". Then, in 2013, the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald cross the bridge on a motorbike in the episode The Bells of Saint John. It is also the name of a track in the Doctor Who Soundtrack album.\n\nThe bridge plays a prominent role in the Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch \"Nationwide\" (\"Hamlet\", Episode 43). Reporter John Dull (Graham Chapman) is sent to the bridge to find out if it is possible to sit in a chair and rest your legs whenever you want. A policeman (Michael Palin) confiscates his chair, saying it is stolen from a woman (Terry Jones in drag) who is standing across the street. Instead of giving the chair back to the woman, the policeman knocks her down and takes an identical chair from her and sits beside the reporter. He then takes different items from people walking or sitting nearby, finally breaking into a store (the crash of glass breaking is heard followed by the sound of an alarm) to get beer.\n\nIn the 2000 film 102 Dalmatians, Cruella de Vil goes mad after she hears the sound of Big Ben, and while on Westminster Bridge she sees everything white with black spots (the pattern of Dalmatians).\n\nThe final scene of the film Queen of the Damned shows Jesse and the Vampire Lestat walking across the Westminster Bridge towards Big Ben.\n\nIn the finale of Spectre, Blofeld's helicopter crashes into Westminster Bridge.",
"River Thames - Major Rivers Of The British Isles\n... bridges which span the River Thames, tributaries of the River ... Major Rivers Of The British Isles. ... Mole, Thame, Wey and Windrush, all of which are over ...\nRiver Thames - Major Rivers Of The British Isles\nMajor Rivers Of The British Isles\nImage courtesy of Motmit, wikimedia commons\n \n \n \nThe River Thames has it's source in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds and travels for two hundred and fifteen miles through eight English counties before reaching it's estuary on the North Sea at Southend - on - Sea, making it England's longest river and the U.K's second longest river after the River Severn. \nThe river starts life one mile from the village of Kemble in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds and travels through the counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Essex and Kent before discharging into the area known as the Thames Estuary, which is the largest river inlet in Great Britain and leads into a major shipping route on the North Sea.This area has the second largest tidal movement in the world with a tidal rise of up to twelve feet which flows at a rate of eight miles an hour. \nThe river travels through hundreds of villages and towns along the way, including the metropolis of London and the City of Oxford and other notable locations such as Richmond, Reading, Kingston, Marlow, Henley and Windsor. \nThe river's name is of Celtic origin and was known as Tameses, which meant dark or muddy coloured.Today the name Thames has been hailed by historians as being the oldest place name in Great Britain.\nIn the city of Oxford the river is known as the Isis, a name which stems from Victorian times, when geographers of that period claimed that the river's correct name from it's source to Dorchester, was infact the River Isis, but modern historians are of the belief, that the name is just a corruption of the Roman's Latin name for the River, which was Tamisis, which meant wide water = tam - wide & isis - water. \nThe river is served by thirty eight tributaries along it's course, the largest of which are the Rivers Cherwell, Lea, Mole, Thame, Wey and Windrush, all of which are over forty miles long.\n Before the building of the Teddington Lock, pictured above, in 1811, the river was tidal for sixteen miles upstream by way of tidal activity from the North Sea. Today the river is entirely tidal for the fifty five miles from it's estuary at Southend until it reaches the weir and three locks at Teddington. This part of the river is known as The Tideway, an area that includes the Thames Estuary, The Thames Gateway and the Pool of London. It is at London Bridge where the river has a depth of one point eight metres, which is the basis for the the publication of the London Tide Tables.The river receives two tides a day, with levels as high as twenty four feet, which takes up to four to five hours to flow in, and between six to nine hours to drain out. Because of this the river is vulnerable to flood and storm surges. Due to this the Thames Barrier was constructed in 1974, the world's second largest floating barrier, built on a five hundred and seventy yard stretch of the river at Woolwich. Another major flood defense is the seven mile long, River Jubilee, a hydraulic channel built to protect the towns of Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton from high water. The river begins life just upstream of Boulters Lock in Maidenhead and flows for seven miles before rejoining the Thames at Eton. Water levels are kept constant by way of the Slough Weir and Black Potts Weir, although the low level areas between Pangbourne and Teddington, which include the communities of Reading, Henley, Taplow, Datchet, Old Windsor, Wraysbury, Egham, Staines, Sunbury and Shepperton, are still vulnerable to flooding during times of heavy rain and or high water. \n \nImage courtesy of Debot, NL.Wikimedia Commons. \nThe river's crossings are made up of two hundred and fourteen bridges, the longest of which is The Queen Elisabeth II Bridge between Dartford and Thurrock at two thousand, six hundred and sixty four feet long, and twenty tunnels, including the world's first ever underwater tunnel, the Thames Tunnel built between Rotherhide and Wapping in 1843 by Marc Brunel, father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. \nIn all the river is served by more than one hundred bridges, forty five locks, twenty one tunnels, six passenger ferries, one cable car, one ford and a flood barrier tunnel. Within the environs of London the river is spanned by thirty five rail, road and foot bridges, running west to east these bridges are; \nHampton Court Bridge (Road), Kingston Bridge (Road), Teddington Lock Bridge (Pedestrian), Richmond Road Bridge (Road), Richmond Rail Bridge (Rail), Twickenham Bridge (Road), Richmond Lock Bridge (Pedestrian), Kew Road Bridge (Road), Kew Rail Bridge (Rail), Chiswick Bridge (Road), Barnes Bridge (Rail), Hammersmith Bridge (Road), Putney Bridge (Road), Fulham Bridge (Rail & Pedestrian), Wandswoth Bridge (Road), Battersea Rail Bridge (Rail), Battersea Road Bridge (Road), Albert Bridge (Road), Chelsea Bridge (Road), Grosvenor Bridge (Rail), Vauxhall Bridge (Road), Lambeth Bridge (Road), Westminster Bridge (Road), Golden Jubilee Bridge (Pedestrian), Hungerford Bridge (Rail & Pedestrian), Waterloo Bridge (Road), Blackfrier's Road Bridge (Road), Blackfrier's Rail Bridge (Rail), Millenium Bridge (Pedestrian), Southwark Bridge (Road), Cannon Street Bridge (Rail), London Bridge (Road), Tower Bridge (Bascule Road Bridge) and Queen Elisabeth II Bridge (Road)."
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In 1994, Conchita Martinez became the first Spanish woman to win the Wimbledon singles title. Who did she beat in the Final? | MARTINA NAVRATILOVA | [
"Conchita_Martínez.txt\nConchita Martínez\nConchita Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She is the only Spanish player to have won the women's singles title at Wimbledon, where she beat Martina Navratilova to win the 1994 title. Martínez also was the singles runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open. She reached a highest world ranking of No. 2 in October 1995. She is currently the captain of the Spain Fed Cup team and the Spain Davis Cup team.\n\nPersonal life\n\nMartinez currently lives in Barcelona, Spain\n\nPlaying style\n\nMartínez used extreme topspin on her forehand and slower topspin and slice on her backhand. She was a patient baseliner who won matches by disrupting her opponents' rhythm through changes of spin, pace, depth, height, and angle. She was known for expending \"plenty of time and energy securing the ball with which she had just won the previous point so she could serve it again,\" a major irritant to her opponents.\n\nCareer\n\nBorn in Monzón, Martínez turned professional in 1988. At the age of just 16, she reached the fourth round at the French Open in her third professional tournament. She upset Lori McNeil en route. In 1989, her breakthrough year, Martínez got rid of Sabatini to win the title at Tampa and won two other tournaments. She also reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing to Steffi Graf. She finished the year World No. 7. In 1990 and 1991, Martínez won a further six titles and again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open both years (losing to Graf in 1990 and Monica Seles in 1991).\n\nThe following year, Martínez was a silver medalist in doubles at the Olympic Games in Barcelona (partnering Arantxa Sánchez Vicario) and the runner-up in women's doubles at the French Open.[http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/conchita-martinez-1.html Conchita Martínez]. sports-reference.com Once again, Martínez was a quarterfinalist at the French Open, losing a tight match with Sabatini. In 1992 she was runner up in Indian Wells and San Diego. In 1993, Martínez became the first Spanish woman since Lilí de Álvarez in 1928 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Steffi Graf in two sets. Martínez defeated Steffi for the first and only time in her career, at a tournament in Philadelphia in the final. At the Italian Open, Martínez became the first Spaniard to win the tournament since de Álvarez in 1930. She again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the fifth year in a row, losing a 2-hour, 45 minute battle with Anke Huber 6–7, 6–4, 6–4.\n\nMartínez reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1994 beating Rene Simpson, Nana Smith, Nathalie Tauziat, Kristine Kunce and Lindsay Davenport in the quarter final and Lori McNeil in the semifinals where the third set went to 10–8, where she faced nine-time former Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova. Navratilova's last Wimbledon triumph had come four years earlier, but many observers felt that the 37-year-old Czech-born American was the favourite going into the match given her long track record of success on grass courts, whereas Martínez's most significant tournament victories up to that time had been on slower-playing surfaces, particularly on clay courts. Martínez, however, won the match 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 and became the first Spanish woman ever to win Wimbledon. In 1995, Martínez was a semifinalist at all four Grand Slam tournaments and reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. In the Australian Open she beat Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals before losing to Mary Pierce in the semifinals. At the French Open, Martínez beat Sabatini in the quarterfinals before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also had a new coach that year, Carlos Kirmayr.\n\nIn 1996, Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title four consecutive years. She also partnered Sánchez Vicario to claim a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta. In 1998, Martínez reached her second career Grand Slam singles final at the Australian Open. She beat Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals before losing to Martina Hingis in the final in straight sets. She also helped Spain win the Fed Cup that year, beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6–3, 2–6, 9–7 in 3 hours, 19 minutes in the final.\n\nIn January 2000 in the Australian Open Martinez beat Elena Likhovsteva in the quarterfinals after Likhovsteva twice failed to serve for the match to reach the semifinals where she was beaten by Martina Hingis. Martínez reached the final of the French Open in 2000, where she lost to Mary Pierce 6–2, 7–5 after beating Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also won the German Open, beating Hingis in a semifinal and Amanda Coetzer in the final. In 2001, Martínez was a runner-up in the women's doubles at the French Open (partnering Jelena Dokić). Martínez also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in six years but lost to Justine Henin of Belgium. In 2003 Martínez reached her last grand slam quarterfinal in the French Open losing to Kim Clijsters. Also that year she reached the final at Eastbourne losing to Chanda Rubin.\n\nMartínez won her second Olympic silver medal in the women's doubles in 2004 in Athens, Greece (partnering Virginia Ruano Pascual). In 2005, Martínez won her first singles title in five years at Pattaya, Thailand, bringing her career total to 33 top-level singles titles, 9 of which were Tier I events, and 13 doubles titles. On 15 April 2006, aged 33 and after 18 years of playing professionally, she announced her retirement, having won more professional singles tournaments than any other Spanish female tennis player.\n\nIn 2008 Martínez expressed her delight on seeing Rafael Nadal win the Men's singles at Wimbledon saying It is a big boost for Spanish grass court tennis again with a Spanish player winning Wimbledon like after her win in Wimbledon in 1994\n\nIn 2008, 2009 and 2010 Martínez played at Wimbledon in the Ladies Invitations Doubles. In 2010 her partner in doubles was Nathalie Tauziat.\n\nMajor finals\n\nGrand Slam finals\n\nSingles: 3 (1–2)\n\nDoubles: 2 (0–2)\n\nOlympics\n\nDoubles: 3 (2 silver medals, 1 bronze medal)\n\nWTA Tour finals\n\nSingles 55 (33–22)\n\nDoubles 41 (13–28)\n\nSingles performance timeline\n\nA = did not participate in the tournament.\n\nSR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.\n\n– = tournament either not held or was not classified as a Tier I event on the Women's Tennis Association tour at the time it was held.\n\nDoubles performance timeline\n\n*A=did not participate in the tournament\n*SR=the ratio of the number of tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played\n\nWTA Tour career earnings\n\nHead-to-head vs. top 10 ranked players",
"The_Championships,_Wimbledon.txt\nThe Championships, Wimbledon\nThe Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and is widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. \n\nWimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Since the Australian Open shifted to hardcourt in 1988, Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass.\n\nThe tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Final, scheduled always for the second Saturday and Sunday of July respectively. Five major, junior, and invitational events are held each year. Wimbledon traditions include a strict dress code for competitors and Royal patronage. The tournament is also notable for the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain.\n\nHistory\n\nBeginning\n\nThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded on 23 July 1868, originally as \"The All England Croquet Club\". Its first ground was off Worple Road, Wimbledon. \n\nIn 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally given the name Sphairistikè, was added to the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed \"The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club\" and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws, replacing the code administered by the Marylebone Cricket Club, was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.\n\nThe inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship opened on 9 July 1877. The Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held and was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final. \n\nThe lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was in the middle with the others arranged around it, hence the title \"Centre Court\". The name was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although no longer a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.\n\nBy 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word \"croquet\" was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons it was restored in 1899.\n\nIn 1884, the club added Ladies' Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions. Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles events were added in 1913. Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whomever had won through to challenge him/her. As with the other three Major or Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players, professional players were prohibited from participating. This changed with the advent of the open era in 1968. No British man won the singles event at Wimbledon between Fred Perry in 1936 and Andy Murray in 2013, while no British woman has won since Virginia Wade in 1977, although Annabel Croft and Laura Robson won the Girls' Championship in 1984 and 2008 respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.\n\nThough properly called \"The Championships, Wimbledon\", depending on sources the event is also known as \"The All England Lawn Tennis Championships\", \"The Wimbledon Championships\" or simply \"Wimbledon\". From 1912 to 1924, the tournament was recognized by the International Lawn Tennis Federation as the \"World Grass Court Championships\".\n\n21st century\n\nWimbledon is considered the world's premier tennis tournament and the priority of the Club is to maintain its leadership. To that end a long-term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours. Stage one (1994–1997) of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building the new No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road. Stage two (1997–2009) involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats. Stage three (2000–2011) has been completed with the construction of an entrance building, club staff housing, museum, bank and ticket office. \n\nA new retractable roof was built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time that rain did not stop play for a lengthy time on Centre Court. The Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters and Tim Henman. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara Safina and Amélie Mauresmo. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof took place between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka on 29 June 2009, which Murray won. Murray was also involved in the match completed latest in the day at Wimbledon, which ended at 11:02 pm in a victory over Marcos Baghdatis at Centre Court in the third round of the 2012 Championships. The 2012 Men's Singles Final on 8 July 2012, between Roger Federer and Murray, was the first final to be played under the roof, which was activated during the third set.\n\nA new 4000-seat No. 2 Court was built on the site of the old No. 13 Court in time for the 2009 Championships. A new 2000-seat No. 3 Court was built on the site of the old No. 2 and No. 3 Courts. \n\nOn 17 January 2016, it was reported The Championships at Wimbledon were among several high-level tennis tournaments being investigated for instances of alleged match-fixing. \n\nEvents\n\nWimbledon consists of five main events, five junior events and five invitation events. \n\nMain events\n\nThe five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) are:\n* Gentlemen's Singles (128)\n* Ladies' Singles (128)\n* Gentlemen's Doubles (64)\n* Ladies' Doubles (64)\n* Mixed Doubles (48)\n\nJunior events\n\nThe five junior events and the number of players or teams are:\n* Boys' Singles (64)\n* Girls' Singles (64)\n* Boys' Doubles (32)\n* Girls' Doubles (32)\n* Disabled Doubles (12)\nNo mixed doubles event is held at this level.\n\nInvitation events\n\nThe five invitational events and the number of pairs are:\n* Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)\n* Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin) \n* Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)\n* Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs) \n* Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)\nFrom 2016 singles draws for the existing wheelchair events were added. \n\nMatch formats\n\nMatches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles are best-of-five sets; all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–6 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached.\n\nAll events are single-elimination tournaments, except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, which are round-robin tournaments.\n\nUntil 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byes into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles in successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. From 1922, the prior year's champions were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.\n\nSchedule\n\nEach year the tournament begins on the last Monday in June, two weeks after the Queen's Club Championships, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments, together with the Gerry Weber Open, which is held in Halle, Germany, during the same week. Other grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne, England, and Rosmalen in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in England. The only grass-court tournament scheduled after the Championships is the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at Newport, Rhode Island, USA, which takes place the week after Wimbledon.\n\nWimbledon is scheduled for 14 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday. The five main events span both weeks, but the junior and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, there is no play on the \"Middle Sunday\", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday four times, in 1991, 1997, 2004 and 2016. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon staged a \"People's Sunday\", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts.\n\nSince 2015, the championships have begun one week later than in previous years, extending the gap between the tournament and the French Open from two to three weeks. Additionally the Stuttgart Open men's tournament converted to a grass surface and was rescheduled from July to June, extending the grass court season.\n\nPlayers and seeding\n\nBoth the men's and ladies' singles consist of 128 players. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with 104 direct entries into the men's and 108 into the ladies' competitions. Both tournaments have 8 wild card entrants, with the remainder in each made up of qualifiers. Since the 2001 tournament 32 players have been given seedings in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles, 16 teams in the doubles events. The system of seeding was introduced during the 1924 Wimbledon Championships. This was a simplified version allowing countries to nominate four players who were placed in different quarters of the draw. This system was replaced for the 1927 Wimbledon Championships and from then on players were seeded on merit. The first players to be seeded as no. 1 were René Lacoste and Helen Wills.\n\nThe Committee of Management decide which players receive wildcards. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's Singles Championship was Goran Ivanišević in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton. The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events; the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in a Singles tournament is the semi-final round: John McEnroe in 1977 (Gentlemen's Singles), Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra Stevenson in 1999 (Ladies' Singles).\n\nPlayers are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis Federation world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events.\n\nThe Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings, but it can change the seedings based on a player's previous grass court performance. Since 2002 a seeding committee has not been required for the Gentlemen's Singles following an agreement with the ATP. While the seeds are still the top 32 players according to rankings, the seeding order is determined using the formula: ATP Entry System Position points + 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months + 75% points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have won the Gentlemen's Singles: Boris Becker in 1985 and Goran Ivanišević in 2001. In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th; Ivanišević was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant, although he had previously been a finalist three times, and been ranked no. 2 in the world; his low ranking was due to having been hampered by a persistent shoulder injury for three years, which had only just cleared up. In 1996, the title was won by Richard Krajicek, who was originally unseeded (ranked 17th, and only 16 players were seeded) but was promoted to a seeded position (still with the number 17) when Thomas Muster withdrew before the tournament. No unseeded player has captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was Venus Williams, who won in 2007 as the 23rd seed; Williams was returning from an injury that had prevented her playing in previous tournaments, giving her a lower ranking than she would normally have had. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.\n\nGrounds\n\nSince 2001, the courts used for Wimbledon have been sown with 100% perennial ryegrass. Prior to 2001 a combination of 70% ryegrass and 30% Creeping Red Fescue was used. The change was made to improve durability and strengthen the sward to better withstand the increasing wear of the modern game. \n\nThe main show courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are normally used for only two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining 17 courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the Club. The show courts were in action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon hosted the tennis events of the 2012 Olympic Games. One of the show courts is also used for home ties of the GB teams in the Davis Cup on occasions.\n\nWimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. At one time, all the Majors, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass in 1975 and the Australian Open in 1988.\n\nThe principal court, Centre Court, was opened in 1922 when the Club moved from Worple Road to Church Road. The Church Road venue was larger and was needed to meet the ever-growing public demand.\n\nDue to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 Championship. It is designed to close/open in about 20 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships. When the roof is being opened or closed, play is suspended. The first time the roof was closed during a Wimbledon Championship match was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving Amélie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina.\n\nBecause of the summer climate in southern England, Wimbledon employs 'Court Attendants' each year, who work to maintain court conditions. Their principal responsibility is to ensure that the courts are quickly covered when it begins to rain, so that play can resume as quickly as possible once the referees decide to uncover the courts. The court attendants are mainly university students working to make summer money. Centre Court is covered by full-time groundstaff, however.\n\nThe court has a capacity of 15,000. At its south end is the Royal Box, from which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches. Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or local favourites.\n\nThe second most important court is No. 1 Court. The court was constructed in 1997 to replace the old No.1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court. The old No.1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. The new No.1 Court has a capacity of approximately 11,000.\n\nFrom 2009, a new No. 2 Court is being used at Wimbledon with a capacity for 4,000 people. To obtain planning permission, the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-storey structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games played at the 2012 Olympic Games. The old No.2 Court has been renamed as No.3 Court. The old No.2 Court was known as the \"Graveyard of Champions\" because many highly seeded players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years, including Ilie Năstase, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. The court has a capacity of 2,192 + 770 standing. In 2011 a new No.3 Court and a new Court 4 were unveiled on the sites of the old No.2 and 3 courts. \n\nAt the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, the hill attracts fans for them, and is often renamed by the press for them: Greg Rusedski's followers convened at \"Rusedski Ridge\", and Tim Henman has had the hill nicknamed Henman Hill. As both of them have now retired and Andy Murray is the number 1 British player, the hill is occasionally referred to as \"Murray Mound\" or \"Murrayfield\", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish ground of the same name, but this has largely failed to catch on – the area is still usually referred to as Henman Hill. None of these nicknames are official.\n\n;Grounds schedule\n\nThe grounds open at 10:30 am on each day. On the Centre Court, play starts at 1 pm, with exception of the final two days of the competition (Ladies' and Gentlemen's Finals), when play begins at 2 pm. On courts 2–19, play begins at noon for at least the first eight days of the competition. It then starts at 11 am for the Junior matches on the middle Saturday and during the second week.\n\nTraditions\n\nSocial commentator Ellis Cashmore describes Wimbledon as having \"a David Niven-ish propriety\", conforming to the standards of behaviour common in the 1950s. Writer Peter York sees the event as representing a particular white and affluent type of Britishness, describing the area of Wimbledon as \"a southern, well off, late Victorian suburb with a particular social character\". Cashmore has criticised the event for being \"remote and insulated\" from the changing multicultural character of modern Britain, describing it as \"nobody's idea of all-things-British\". \n\nBall boys and ball girls\n\nIn the championship games, ball boys and girls, known as BBGs, play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a good BBG \"should not be seen. They should blend into the background and get on with their jobs quietly.\" \n\nFrom 1947 ball boys were supplied by Goldings, the only Barnardos school to provide them. Prior to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys had been provided by The Shaftesbury Children's Home.\n\nSince 1969, BBGs have been provided by local schools. As of 2008 they are drawn from schools in the London boroughs of Merton, Sutton, Kingston, and Wandsworth, as well as from Surrey. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys Grammar School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to the club. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nine and ten. BBGs will serve for one, or if re-selected, up to five tournaments, from Year Nine to Year Thirteen. \n\nStarting in 2005, BBGs work in teams of six, two at the net, four at the corners, and teams rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours depending on the court) for the day's play. Teams are not told which court they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. From the second Wednesday, BBGs are told to leave the Championships, leaving around 80 on the final Sunday. Each BBG receives a certificate, a can of used balls, a group photograph and a programme when leaving. BBG service is paid, with a total of £120-£180 being paid to each ball boy\nor girl after the 13-day period depending on the number of days served. Every BBG keeps all of their kit, typically consisting of three or four shirts, two or three shorts or skorts, track suit bottoms and top, twelve pairs of socks, three pairs of wristbands, a hat, water bottle holder, bag and trainers. Along with this it is seen as a privilege, and seen as a valuable addition to a school leaver's curriculum vitae, showing discipline. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been used since 1977, appearing on centre court since 1985. \n\nProspective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests, against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical, procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast, alert, self-confident and adaptable to situations. As of 2011, early training occurs at the Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Club Covered Courts, to the side of the Grounds, and then moves to outside courts (8, 9, 10) the week before the Championships for a feel of the grass court.\n\nColours and uniforms\n\nDark green and purple are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However, all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear all-white or at least almost all-white clothing, a long-time tradition at Wimbledon. Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable, provided the colour scheme is not that of an identifiable commercial brand logo (the outfitter's brand logo being the sole exception). Controversy followed Martina Navratilova's wearing branding for \"Kim\" cigarettes in 1982. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were dressed in new navy blue- and cream-coloured uniforms from American designer Ralph Lauren. This marked the first time in the history of the Championships that an outside company was used to design Wimbledon clothing; the contract with Polo Ralph Lauren is set to end in 2015.\n\nReferring to players\n\nBy tradition, the \"Men's\" and \"Women's\" competitions are referred to as \"Gentlemen's\" and \"Ladies'\" competitions at Wimbledon. The junior competitions are referred to as the \"Boys'\" and \"Girls'\" competitions.\n\nPrior to 2009 female players were referred to by the title \"Miss\" or \"Mrs\" on scoreboards. As dictated by strict rule of etiquette, married female players are referred to by their husbands' names: for example, Chris Evert-Lloyd appeared on scoreboards as \"Mrs. J. M. Lloyd\" during her marriage to John Lloyd, since \"Mrs. X\" essentially designates the wife of X. This tradition has continued at least to some extent. For the first time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards by both their first and last names. \n\nThe title \"Mr\" is not used for male players who are professionals on scoreboards but the prefix is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as \"Mr\" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say \"Mr is challenging the call...\" and \"Mr has X challenges remaining.\" However, the umpires still say Miss when announcing the score of the Ladies' matches.\n\nIf a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g. Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will specify to whom they are referring by stating the player's first name and surname during announcements (e.g. \"Game, Miss Serena Williams\", \"Advantage, Mike Bryan\").\n\nRoyal Family\n\nPreviously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. In 2003, however, the President of the All England Club, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if HRH The Prince of Wales, or Her Majesty The Queen is present, as was in practice during the 2010 Championships when the Queen was in attendance at Wimbledon on 24 June. \nOn 27 June 2012, Roger Federer said in his post-match interview that he and his opponent had been asked to bow towards the Royal Box as Prince Charles and his wife were present, saying that that was no problem for him. \n\nServices Stewards\n\nPrior to the Second World War, members the Brigade of Guards and retired members of the Royal Artillery performed the role of stewards. In 1946 the AELTC offered employment to wartime servicemen returning to civilian life during their demobilization leave. Initially this scheme extended only to the Royal Navy, followed by the Army in 1947 and the Royal Air Force in 1949. In 1965 London Fire Brigade members joined the ranks of stewards. The service stewards, wearing uniform, are present in Centre Court and No.'s 1 and 2 courts. In 2015, 595 Service and London Fire Brigade stewards attended. Only enlisted members of the Armed Forces may apply for the role, which must be taken as leave, and half of each year's recruits must have stewarded at Wimbledon before. The AELTC pays a subsistence allowance to servicemen and women working as stewards to defray their accommodation costs for the period of the Championships. The Service Stewards are not to be confused with the 185 Honorary Stewards.\n\nTickets\n\nThe majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public have since 1924 been made available by a public ballot that the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club holds at the start of the year. The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer. The most recent figures from 2011 suggested there were four applicants to every ballot ticket. Applications must be posted to the AELTC by mid December, the year prior to the tournament. Seats and days are allocated randomly and ballot tickets are not transferrable.\n\nThe All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues Debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the investment lasts. Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties and demand for debentures has increased in recent years, to such an extent that they are even traded on the London Stock Exchange.\n\nWimbledon and the French Open are the only Grand Slam tournaments where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on the three show courts on the day of the match. Sequentially numbered queue cards were introduced in 2003. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue, fans are handed queue cards. Anyone who then wishes to leave the queue temporarily, even if in possession of a queue card, must agree their position with the others nearby in the queue and/or a steward.\n\nTo get access to the show courts, fans will normally have to queue overnight. This is done by fans from all over the world and, although considered vagrancy, is part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. The All-England Club allows overnight queuing and provides toilet and water facilities for campers. Early in the morning when the line moves towards the Grounds, stewards walk along the line and hand out wristbands that are colour-coded to the specific court. The wrist band (and payment) is exchanged at the ticket office for the ticket when the grounds open. General admission to the grounds gives access to the outer courts and is possible without queuing overnight. Tickets returned by people leaving early go on sale at 2:30 pm and the money goes to charity. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.\n\nAt 2.40pm on Day Seven (Monday 28 June) of the 2010 Championships, the one-millionth numbered Wimbledon queue card was handed out to Rose Stanley from South Africa. \n\nSponsorship\n\nWimbledon is notable for the longest running sponsorship in sports history due to its association with Slazenger who have supplied all tennis balls during the tournament since 1902. Since 1935 Wimbledon has a sponsorship association with the Robinsons fruit drink brand. \n\nMedia\n\nRadio Wimbledon\n\nFriday before the start of the tournament. Radio Wimbledon can be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operates under a Restricted Service Licence and is arguably the most sophisticated RSL annually in the UK. The main presenters are Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they work alternate four-hour shifts until the end of the last match of the day. Reporters and commentators include Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they report from the \"Crow's Nest\", an elevated building housing the Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside courts. Regular guests include Sue Mappin. In recent years Radio Wimbledon acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from 2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news bulletins and travel (using RDS) are also broadcast.\n\nTelevision coverage\n\nUnited Kingdom\n\nSince 1937 the BBC has broadcast the tournament on television in the UK. The matches covered are split between its two main terrestrial channels, BBC One and BBC Two. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2017 and it distributes its commercial-free feed to outlets worldwide. During the days of British Satellite Broadcasting, its sports channel carried extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable British commentators was Dan Maskell, who was known as the BBC's \"voice of tennis\" until his retirement in 1991. John Barrett succeeded him in that role until he retired in 2006. Current commentators working for the BBC at Wimbledon include British ex-players Andrew Castle, John Lloyd, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Samantha Smith and Mark Petchey; tennis legends such as John McEnroe, Tracy Austin, Boris Becker and Lindsay Davenport; and general sports commentators including David Mercer, Barry Davies, Andrew Cotter and Nick Mullins. The coverage is presented by Sue Barker and highlights with Claire Balding. Previous BBC presenters include Des Lynam, David Vine, John Inverdale and Harry Carpenter.\n\nThe Wimbledon Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television (BBC Television Service, ITV, Channel 4, or Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals) may be sought by satellite or cable TV. \n\nThe BBC was forced to apologise after many viewers complained about \"over-talking\" by its commentary team during the TV coverage of the event in 2011. It said in a statement that views on commentary were subjective but that they \"do appreciate that over-talking can irritate our audience\". The BBC added that it hoped it had achieved \"the right balance\" across its coverage and was \"of course sorry if on occasion you have not been satisfied\". Tim Henman and John McEnroe were among the ex-players commentating. \n\nWimbledon was also involved in a piece of television history, when on 1 July 1967 the first official colour television broadcast took place in the UK. Four hours live coverage of the 1967 Championships was shown on BBC Two, which was the first television channel in Europe to regularly broadcast in colour. Footage of that historic match no longer survives, however the Gentlemen's Final of that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first Gentlemen's Final transmitted in colour.\n\nSince 2007, Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in high-definition, originally on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HD, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlights show Today at Wimbledon. Since the closure of BBC HD, coverage is now shown on BBC One HD and BBC Two HD.\n\nThe BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith Mansfield and is titled \"Light and Tuneful\". A piece titled \"A Sporting Occasion\" is the traditional closing theme, though nowadays coverage typically ends either with a montage set to a popular song or with no music at all. Mansfield also composed the piece \"World Champion\", used by NBC during intervals (change-overs, set breaks, etc.) and at the close of broadcasts throughout the tournament.\n\nOther countries\n\nABC began showing taped highlights of the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles Final in the 1960s on its Wide World of Sports series. NBC began covering Wimbledon in 1969, with same-day taped (and often edited) coverage of the Gentlemen's Singles Final. In 1979, the network began carrying the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles Finals live. For the next few decades, Americans made a tradition of NBC's \"Breakfast at Wimbledon\" specials at weekends. Live coverage started early in the morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continued well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews from Bud Collins, whose tennis acumen and (in)famous patterned trousers were well-known to tennis fans in the USA. Collins was sacked by NBC in 2007, but was promptly hired by ESPN, the cable home for The Championships in the States. For many years NBC's primary Wimbledon host was veteran broadcaster Dick Enberg.\n\nFrom 1975 to 1999, premium channel HBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim Lampley, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, John Lloyd and Barry MacKay among others. \n\nPreviously, weekday coverage in the United States was exclusively handled by ESPN2 during the tournament's first week. During the tournament's second week it was split between ESPN2 and NBC. ESPN's online service ESPN3 provides full coverage of courts not televised using BBC graphics and commentary. Since the 2012 tournament, all live coverage, including the Finals, has been exclusively on ESPN and ESPN2, marking the second major tennis championship (after the Australian Open) available in the United States exclusively on pay television (although taped highlights from the tournament were presented at weekend afternoons on sister network ABC) through 2015. Taped coverage using the BBC world feed is aired in primetime and overnights on Tennis Channel and is branded Wimbledon Primetime.\n\nIn Ireland, RTÉ broadcast the tournament during the 1980s and 1990s on their second channel RTÉ Two, they also provided highlights of the games in the evening. The commentary provided was given by Matt Doyle a former Irish-American professional tennis player and Jim Sherwin a former RTÉ newsreader. Caroline Murphy was the presenter of the programme. RTÉ made the decision in 1998 to discontinue broadcasting the tournament due to falling viewing figures and the large number of viewers watching on the BBC. From 2005 until 2014 TG4 Ireland's Irish-language broadcaster provided coverage of the tournament. Live coverage was provided in the Irish language while they broadcast highlights in English at night. In 2015 Wimbledon moved to Pay TV broadcaster Setanta Sports under a 3-year agreement. \n\nIn Australia, the free-to-air Nine Network covered Wimbledon for almost 40 years but decided to drop their broadcast following the 2010 tournament, citing declining ratings and desire to use money saved to bid on other sports coverage. In April 2011, it was announced that the Seven Network, the host broadcaster of the Australian Open, along with its sister channel 7Two would broadcast the event from 2011.\n\nIn India and its Subcontinental region, it is broadcast on Star Sports.\n\nIn Canada, coverage of Wimbledon is exclusively carried by TSN (which is partially owned by ESPN).\n\nIn Mexico, the Televisa family of networks has aired Wimbledon since the early 1960s. Presently, most weekend matches are broadcast through Canal 5 with the weekday matches broadcast on the Televisa Deportes Network. As Mexico is six hours behind the U.K., some Canal 5 affiliates air the weekend matches as the first program of the day after sign-on. Although Mexico had begun broadcasting in colour in 1962, Wimbledon continued to air in black and white in Mexico until colour television came to the United Kingdom in 1967.\n\nIn most of Latin America, Wimbledon airs on ESPN, as the other Grand Slam tournaments. In Brazil, SporTV has exclusive rights to the broadcast.\n\nTrophies and prize money\n\nTrophies\n\nThe Gentlemen's Singles champion is presented with a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: \"All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World.\" The actual trophy remains the property of the All England Club in their museum, so the champion receives a three-quarter size replica of the Cup bearing the names of all past Champions (height 13.5 inches). \n\nThe Ladies' Singles champion is presented with a sterling silver salver commonly known as the \"Venus Rosewater Dish\", or simply the \"Rosewater Dish\". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology. The actual dish remains the property of the All England Club in their museum, so the champion receives a miniature replica bearing the names of all past Champions. From 1949 to 2006 the replica was 8 inches in diameter, and since 2007 it has been a three-quarter size replica with a diameter of 13.5 inches.\n\nThe winner of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. A trophy is awarded to each player in the Doubles pair, unlike the other Grand Slam tournaments where the winning Doubles duo shares a single trophy. The Gentlemen's Doubles silver challenge cup was originally from the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club and donated to the All England Club in 1884. The Ladies' Doubles Trophy, a silver cup and cover known as The Duchess of Kent Challenge Cup, was presented to the All England Club in 1949 by HRH The Princess Marina. The Mixed Doubles Trophy is a silver challenge cup and cover presented to the All England Club by the family of two-time Wimbledon doubles winner S.H. Smith. \n\nThe runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of Kent.\n\nPrize money\n\nPrize money was first awarded in 1968, the year that professional players were allowed to compete in the Championships for the first time. Total prize money was £26,150; the winner of the men's title earned £2,000 while the women's singles champion earned £750. \n\nBefore 2007, among grand slam tournaments, Wimbledon and the French Open awarded more prize money in men's events than in women's events. In 2007, Wimbledon changed this policy, awarding the same amounts per event category to both men and women. The decision has been controversial because women generally spend considerably less time playing on court than men (except in mixed doubles) owing to their wins being based upon best of three sets, whereas men's are based upon best of five sets. \n\nIn 2009, a total of £12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles champions receiving £850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008. \n\nFor the 2010 Championships, the total prize money increased to £13,725,000, and the singles champions received £1,000,000 each.\n\nFor the 2011 Wimbledon Championships it was announced that the total prize money would be £14,600,000, an increase of 6.4% from 2010. Both male and female singles champions prize money also increased to £1,100,000, a rise of 10% since the previous year. \n\nOn 24 April 2012, it was announced that the total prize money offered at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships would be £16,060,000, an increase of 10.0% from 2011. The bulk of the increases were given to players losing in earlier rounds. This move was in response to the growing angst among lower-ranked players concerning the inadequacy of their pay. Sergiy Stakhovsky, a member of the ATP Player Council and who was at the time ranked 68th, was among the most vocal in the push for higher pay for players who bow out in the earlier rounds. In an interview Stakhovsky intimated that it is not uncommon for lower-ranked players to be in the negative, for certain tour events, if their results weren't stellar. This issue gained the attention of the men's \"big four\"—Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal—as well as the Championships.\n\nOn 23 April 2013, The All England Club announced the total prize money had been increased by about 40% from 2012 to £22,560,000. The losers in the earlier singles rounds of the tournament saw a highest 62% increase in their pay while the total prize money of the doubles increased by 22%. The prize money for participants of the qualifying matches saw an increase of 41%. Sergiy Stakhovsky, a member of the ATP Player Council, was the loudest voice for this increase. \n\nThe 2015 prize money is £1,880,000 each for the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles winners, £340,000 each pair for the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Doubles winners, and £100,000 per pair for the Mixed Doubles winners. The total prize money awarded is £26,750,000 up 7% from the £25,000,000 in 2014.\n\nThe 2016 Wimbledon Championships saw prize money for the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles winners reach £2,000,000 for the first time. The winning pair of the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Doubles will receive £350,000, a £10,000 increase from 2015. £100,000 will be awarded to the winning pair of the Mixed Doubles competition. The total prize money of £28,100,000 is a 5% increase on the 2015 prize money.\n\nRanking points\n\nRanking points for the ATP and WTA have varied at Wimbledon through the years but at present singles players receive the following points:\n\nChampions\n\nPast champions\n\n* Gentlemen's Singles\n* Ladies' Singles\n* Gentlemen's Doubles\n* Ladies' Doubles\n* Mixed Doubles\n\nSix of the 18 female winners in the Open Era have not reached world no. 1 ranking. These are, in chronological order: Ann Haydon-Jones, Virginia Wade, Conchita Martínez, Jana Novotná, Petra Kvitová, and Marion Bartoli. Although the men ranked world no. 1 have been dominant in Wimbledon (11 of the 20 Open Era winners), four champions reached a career high of world no. 2, Arthur Ashe, Michael Stich, Goran Ivanišević, and Andy Murray. Richard Krajicek, Pat Cash, and Jan Kodeš, who reached career highs of only no. 4, have also won the singles championship.\n\nCurrent champions\n\nFile:2015_Australian_Open_-_Andy_Murray_12_(cropped).jpg|Andy Murray was the winner of the Gentlemen's Singles in 2016. It was his third Grand Slam Men's Singles title and his second Wimbledon title, following his victory in 2013.\nFile:Serena Williams Dish Venus Rosewater 2015.jpg|Serena Williams was the winner of the Ladies' Singles in 2016. It was her twenty-second Grand Slam Women's Singles title and her seventh title at Wimbledon in singles, and fourteenth title at Wimbledon.\nFile:Pierre-Hugues Herbert (19047575640).jpg|Pierre-Hugues Herbert was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2016. It was his second Grand Slam Men's Doubles title and his first title at Wimbledon.\nFile:Nicolas Mahut (27656705272).jpg|Nicolas Mahut was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2016. It was his second Grand Slam Men's Doubles title and his first title at Wimbledon.\nFile:VWilliams WIM2010.jpg|Venus Williams, along with sister Serena won the Women's Doubles title in 2016. This was her sixth Wimbledon Women's Doubles title and eleventh title overall at Wimbledon. \nFile:Serena Williams (19479794256).jpg|Serena Williams won her 14th Grand Slam Doubles title along with older sister Venus. This win makes them the second most successful female doubles pairing in the Open Era.\nFile:Watson WM15 (8) (20442762998).jpg|Heather Watson won the Mixed Doubles event with Henri Kontinen in 2016. It was her first senior Grand Slam title and she was the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1987 to win the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title.\n\n \t\t \t\n \t\n\nRecords",
"Tennis in 1994 | Britannica.com\n... Conchita Martínez triumphed at Wimbledon; Martínez thus became the first Spanish woman to receive the singles ... final as she dominated the final set to win ...\nTennis in 1994 | Britannica.com\nTennis in 1994\nOriginally published in the Britannica Book of the Year. Presented as archival content.\nBritannica Stories\nScientists Ponder Menopause in Killer Whales\nThe major prizes in tennis were distributed more liberally in 1994 than had been anticipated. The most unexpected triumph was that of the unseeded Andre Agassi in the United States Open in September. While continuing to be one of the sport’s leading attractions with his designer-tramp appearance, confident gait, and potent ground strokes, Agassi had won only one Grand Slam title previously, his counterpunching style having succeeded on Wimbledon’s grass in 1992.\nAt the outset it appeared that 1994 would be dominated by the excellence of the two players at the head of the respective world rankings, the men’s events by Pete Sampras of the U.S. and the women’s by Steffi Graf of Germany. This view was strengthened by the performances of the two players in winning the singles titles at the Australian Open in January, prompting discussion of their prospects of accomplishing a Grand Slam (a sweep of the Australian, French, Wimbledon, and U.S. singles championships within a calendar year).\nSurprisingly, however, Graf did not add to her Grand Slam titles during the remainder of the year, and the women’s game suddenly belonged to Spain. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, emphatically beaten by Graf in the Australian final, went on to capture both the French and U.S. championships, and Conchita Martínez triumphed at Wimbledon; Martínez thus became the first Spanish woman to receive the singles trophy at the All-England Championships, winning a magnificent final against Martina Navratilova, who was marking her farewell to the grass courts. Sánchez Vicario and Martínez also made major contributions to Spain’s successful defense of the Federation Cup, the women’s premier international team competition, in Frankfurt, Germany, in July.\nSpain also featured prominently in the men’s game. Sergi Bruguera won the singles title at the French Open for the second consecutive year, on this occasion defeating a compatriot, Alberto Berasategui, in the final.\nConnect with Britannica\nFacebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest\nSampras’ prospects of adding a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title to his 1993 victories at Wimbledon and the United States Open and his successful opening in 1994 in Australia were ended in Paris. He was defeated in the quarterfinals of the French Open by Jim Courier of the U.S., the champion in 1991 and 1992. Sampras recovered his confidence, making a successful defense of the Wimbledon championship little more than a month later. But physical problems beset him during the U.S. Open, the title slipping away from him when he lost to Jaime Yzaga of Peru in the fourth round.\nWhat Yzaga achieved by maneuvering a debilitated Sampras around the Stadium Court at Flushing Meadow, N.Y., an assertive young Russian had come close to accomplishing by driving impressive shots beyond Sampras in the second round of the Australian Open. Yevgeny Kafelnikov from the Black Sea resort of Sochi came within two points of eliminating Sampras before the American recovered to win 9-7 in the fifth set.\nAustralian Open\nSampras, so thoroughly shaken by Kafelnikov that he dropped a set 6-1 to the unseeded Frenchman Stephane Simian, required two tiebreakers before defeating Ivan Lendl (who retired later in the year) in straight sets and two more tiebreakers to discourage Magnus Gustafsson, the 10th seed from Sweden, in four sets. In the semifinals, however, Sampras was in such irresistible form that he was able to dispatch Courier, the champion for the previous two years, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.\nIn the final Sampras played another fellow American, Todd Martin, the ninth seed, who had recovered from losing the first set of his semifinal against Stefan Edberg, the fourth seed, and defeated the Swede in three tiebreakers. Martin’s prospects of causing an upset in his first Grand Slam final diminished after the opening set. Unable to convert any of six break points, he lost a tiebreaker in the first set 7-4, and Sampras took the title 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.\nAnimals Randomizer\nThe most interesting feature of the women’s singles as Graf and Sánchez Vicario advanced to meet as seeded in the final was the progress of Kimiko Date, the 10th seed. By defeating the third-seeded Martínez, Date became only the second Japanese woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final. Her misfortune was to meet an overpowering Graf, who swept through Date’s deep, flat shots, winning 6-3, 6- 3. Sánchez Vicario’s retrieving style was also treated with disdain in the final, and Graf won 6-0, 6-2 in 57 minutes.\nFrench Open\nEditor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies\nAt the French Open the chief issue was whether Sampras could successfully translate a smooth, attacking style, ideally suited to faster courts, to the slow clay of Paris, which favoured the ground stroke rallying of baseline players. The crux came in the quarterfinal match between Sampras and Courier. It was their first meeting on clay, and Courier’s potent backcourt style flourished, bringing him victory in four sets.\nBruguera, who had beaten Courier in five sets in the 1993 final, required only four to defeat him in the 1994 semifinals. From the lower half of the draw, which after three rounds was bereft of all seeded players except Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, Berasategui emerged to challenge Bruguera while their monarch, King Juan Carlos, waited to present the trophy. It went to Bruguera, who won the first-ever all-Spanish Grand Slam final 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.\nSánchez Vicario had commanded the Centre Court less than four hours earlier, defeating Mary Pierce representing France 6- 4, 6-4 to win the women’s title. The match had begun under storm clouds the night before, and only 17 minutes of play were possible before rain intervened. Pierce, who had caused a sensation in the semifinals by bewildering Graf with the pace and accuracy of her strokes in winning 6-2, 6-2 in 77 minutes, was unable to reproduce her form against the scurrying Spaniard.\nWimbledon\nGraf was under pressure at Wimbledon the moment the draw put her in an opening-round match against Lori McNeil, an experienced American with an attacking style suited to grass. Never before had a defending Wimbledon champion been eliminated in the first round of the women’s singles, but the unseeded McNeil was the worthy winner 7-5, 7-6 of a contest that took an hour and 43 minutes spread over nearly five hours because of rain.\nTrending Topics\nOpen Door policy\nThe defeat of the top player immediately caused an upturn in the expectations of the other contenders, notably Martínez and Navratilova, the third and fourth seeds, respectively. Navratilova sought a memorable finale to her long and glorious association with the All-England Championships, especially after losing in the first round of the French Open. Martínez and Navratilova advanced to the final and produced a showpiece, neither player allowing her game to be overwhelmed by the emotion of the occasion. The contrast in styles enhanced the match, Martínez brilliantly anticipating Navratilova’s volleys and smashes and frequently bewildering the nine-time champion with the pace and variety of her passing shots. There was not the slightest indication that this was Martínez’s first experience in a Grand Slam singles final as she dominated the final set to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and become the first Spanish woman to gain the trophy.\nSampras performed at Wimbledon as if the Courier match in Paris had never happened. The defending champion conceded only one set in his seven matches and was two sets ahead when that occurred, against Martin in the semifinals. The final matched Sampras and Ivanisivec, two of the world’s finest servers, and so it was inevitable that power would dominate at the expense of rallying. Sampras prevailed 7-6, 7-6, 6-0, with the concluding set requiring only 20 minutes.\nU.S. Open\nDoubts concerning the fitness of Sampras and Graf preceded the U.S. Open. Sampras was able to advance apparently stress-free to the third round, at which stage not a single seeded player remained in his quarter of the draw. He lost one set in the third round and then seemed to be on the verge of a physical collapse when taxed by Yzaga’s ground strokes over five sets in the fourth round.\nWith Sampras gone, Michael Stich, the number four seed, took charge of the top half of the draw, but the German was unable to resist Agassi’s inspired form in the final with any more conviction than had four other seeded players, Wayne Ferreira, Michael Chang, Thomas Muster, and Martin. Agassi defeated Stich 6-1, 7-6, 7-5 to become the first unseeded champion since Fred Stolle of Australia in 1966.\nIn an exciting women’s final, Sánchez Vicario gave a characteristically spirited performance to defeat Graf 1-6, 7- 6, 6-4. Graf began to experience problems with her lower back in the eighth game of the second set but did not offer the injury as an excuse.\nDavis Cup\nKafelnikov, aided by compatriot Aleksandr Volkov, led Russia into and through the Davis Cup final for the first time, defeating Australia, the Czech Republic, and then defending champion Germany in the semifinals. Sweden traveled to Moscow in December to play the closely contested final. Volkov lost to Stefan Edberg and Kafelnikov to Magnus Larsson in the singles, both in five-set matches. Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman and Jan Apell beat Kafelnikov and Andrey Olkhovsky in the doubles, also in five sets. Kafelnikov’s reverse singles victory over Edberg provided the Russians’ only win. John Roberts\nArticle Contributors",
"Bio | Conchita Martinez\nShe is the only Spanish woman to have won the singles title at Wimbledon, when she beat ... became the first Spanish woman ever to win ... Conchita Martinez beat ...\nBio | Conchita Martinez\nMedia\nBio\nInmaculada Concepción (“Conchita”) Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Monzón, Aragón, Spain. She is the only Spanish woman to have won the singles title at Wimbledon, when she beat Martina Navrátilová in the 1994 Women’s Singles. She also was the singles runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open. Martinez is currently the tournament director at the Andalucia Tennis Experience.\nPlaying style\nMartínez used extreme topspin on her forehand and slower topspin and slice on her backhand. She was a patient baseliner who won matches by disrupting her opponents’ rhythm through changes of spin, pace, depth, height, and angle.\nCareer\nBorn in Monzón, Martínez turned professional in 1988. At the age of just 16, she reached the fourth round at the French Open in her third professional tournament. She upset Lori McNeil en route. In 1989, her breakthrough year, Martínez beat Gabriela Sabatini to win the title at Tampa and won two other tournaments. She also reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing to Steffi Graf. She finished the year World No. 7. In 1990 and 1991, Martínez won a further six titles and again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open both years (losing to Graf in 1990 and Monica Seles in 1991).\nThe following year, Martínez was a silver medalist in doubles at the Olympic Games in Barcelona (partnering Arantxa Sánchez Vicario) and the runner-up in women’s doubles at the French Open. Once again, she was a quarterfinalist at the French Open, losing a tight match with Sabatini. In 1992 she was runner up in Indian Wells and San Diego. In 1993, Martínez became the first Spanish woman since Lilí de Álvarez in 1928 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Graf 7–6, 6–3. Martínez beat Graf for the first & only time in her career, at a tournament in Philadelphia in the final. At the Italian Open, Martínez became the first Spaniard to win the tournament since de Álvarez in 1930. She again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the fifth year in a row, losing a 2 hour, 45 minute battle with Anke Huber 6–7, 6–4, 6–4.\nMartínez reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1994 already beating Lindsay Davenport in the quarter final and Lori McNeil in the semi final where the third set went to 10–8, where she faced nine-time former Wimbledon champion Martina Navrátilová. Navrátilová’s last Wimbledon triumph had come four years earlier, but many observers felt that the 37 year-old Czech-born American was the favourite going into the match given her long track record of success on grass courts, whereas Martínez’s most significant tournament victories up to that time had been on slower-playing surfaces, particularly on clay courts. Martínez, however, won the match 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 and became the first Spanish woman ever to win Wimbledon. In 1995, Martínez was a semifinalist at all four Grand Slam tournaments and reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. In the Australian Open she beat Lindsay Davenport in the semi-final before losing to Mary Pierce in the semi-final. At Wimbledon, she beat Sabatini in the quarterfinals before losing to Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also had a new coach that year, Carlos Kimayer.\n \nIn 1996, Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title four consecutive years. She also partnered Sánchez Vicario to claim a women’s doubles Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta, Georgia. Two years later, Martínez reached her second career Grand Slam singles final. She beat Lindsay Davenport in the semi-final in the Australian Open in 1998. She was defeated in the final of the Australian Open by Martina Hingis 6–3, 6–3. She also helped Spain win the Fed Cup that year, beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6–3, 2–6, 9–7 in 3 hours, 19 minutes in the final.\nIn January 2000 in the Australian Open Conchita Martinez beat Elena Likhovsteva in the quarter final after Likhovsteva twice failed to serve for the match to reach the semi-final where she was beaten by Martina Hingis. Martínez reached the final of the French Open in 2000, where she lost to Mary Pierce 6–2, 7–5 after beating Sánchez Vicario in a semifinal. She also won the German Open, beating Hingis in a semifinal and Amanda Coetzer in the final. In 2001, Martínez was a runner-up in the women’s doubles at the French Open (partnering Jelena Dokić). Martínez also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in six years but lost to Justine Henin of Belgium. In 2003 Conchita reached her last grand slam quarter-final in the French Open losing to Kim Clijsters. Also that year she reached the final at Eastbourne losing to Chanda Rubin.\nMartínez won her second Olympic silver medal in the women’s doubles in 2004 in Athens, Greece (partnering Virginia Ruano Pascual). In 2005, Martínez won her first singles title in five years at Pattaya, Thailand, bringing her career total to 33 top-level singles titles, 9 of which were Tier I events, and 13 doubles titles. On 15 April 2006, aged 33 and after 18 years of playing professionally, she announced her retirement, having won more professional singles tournaments than any other Spanish female tennis player.\nIn 2008 Conchita expressed her delight on seeing Rafael Nadal win the Men’s singles at Wimbledon saying It is a big boost for Spanish grass court tennis again with a Spanish player winning Wimbledon like after her win in Wimbledon in 1994\nIn 2008, 2009 and 2010 Conchita played at Wimbledon in the Ladies Invitations Doubles. In 2010 her partner in doubles was Nathalie Tauziat.\nCareer Stats",
"Conchita Martinez | Tennis Celebrities\n... women's singles title at Wimbledon, where she beat Martina ... 3 and became the first Spanish woman ever to win ... Open Conchita Martinez beat Elena ...\nConchita Martinez | Tennis Celebrities\nTennis Celebrities\nConchita Martinez, Conchita Martinez images, Conchita Martinez photos, Conchita Martinez tennis player, Conchita Martinez wallpaper, tennis celebrities, tennis women player, wellknown famous tennis celebrity,\n{[['\n']]}\nInmaculada Concepción Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972), professionally known as Conchita Martínez, is a former professional tennis player born in the town of Monzón, Aragón, Spain. Martínez is currently the Captain of the Spain Fed Cup team.\nShe is the only Spanish player to have won the women's singles title at Wimbledon, where she beat Martina Navrátilová to win the 1994 Women's Singles. She also was the singles runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open.\nBorn in Monzón, Conchita Martínez turned professional in 1988. At the age of just 16, she reached the fourth round at the French Open in her third professional tournament. She upset Lori McNeil en route. In 1989, her breakthrough year, Conchita Martínez beat Sabatini to win the title at Tampa and won two other tournaments. She also reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing to Steffi Graf. She finished the year World No. 7. In 1990 and 1991, Martínez won a further six titles and again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open both years (losing to Graf in 1990 and Monica Seles in 1991).\nThe following year, Martínez was a silver medalist in doubles at the Olympic Games in Barcelona (partnering Arantxa Sánchez Vicario) and the runner-up in women's doubles at the French Open. Once again, Conchita was a quarterfinalist at the French Open, losing a tight match with Sabatini. In 1992 she was runner up in Indian Wells and San Diego. In 1993, Martínez became the first Spanish woman since Lilí de Álvarez in 1928 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Steffi Graf 7–6, 6–3. Conchita beat Steffi for the first & only time in her career, at a tournament in Philadelphia in the final. At the Italian Open, Martínez became the first Spaniard to win the tournament since de Álvarez in 1930. She again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the fifth year in a row, losing a 2 hour, 45 minute battle with Anke Huber 6–7, 6–4, 6–4.\nMartínez reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1994 already beating Lindsay Davenport in the quarter final and Lori McNeil in the semifinals where the third set went to 10–8, where she faced nine-time former Wimbledon champion Martina Navrátilová. Navrátilová's last Wimbledon triumph had come four years earlier, but many observers felt that the 37 year-old Czech-born American was the favourite going into the match given her long track record of success on grass courts, whereas Martínez's most significant tournament victories up to that time had been on slower-playing surfaces, particularly on clay courts. Martínez, however, won the match 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 and became the first Spanish woman ever to win Wimbledon. In 1995, Martínez was a semifinalist at all four Grand Slam tournaments and reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. In the Australian Open she beat Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals before losing to Mary Pierce in the semifinals. At Wimbledon, Conchita beat Sabatini in the quarterfinals before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also had a new coach that year, Carlos Kirmayr.\nIn 1996, Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title four consecutive years. She also partnered Sánchez Vicario to claim a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1998, Martínez reached her second career Grand Slam singles final at the Australian Open. She beat Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals before losing to Martina Hingis in the final 6–3, 6–3. She also helped Spain win the Fed Cup that year, beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6–3, 2–6, 9–7 in 3 hours, 19 minutes in the final.\nIn January 2000 in the Australian Open Conchita Martinez beat Elena Likhovsteva in the quarterfinals after Likhovsteva twice failed to serve for the match to reach the semifinals where she was beaten by Martina Hingis. Martínez reached the final of the French Open in 2000, where she lost to Mary Pierce 6–2, 7–5 after beating Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also won the German Open, beating Hingis in a semifinal and Amanda Coetzer in the final. In 2001, Martínez was a runner-up in the women's doubles at the French Open (partnering Jelena Dokić). Martínez also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in six years but lost to Justine Henin of Belgium. In 2003 Conchita reached her last grand slam quarterfinal in the French Open losing to Kim Clijsters. Also that year she reached the final at Eastbourne losing to Chanda Rubin.\nMartínez won her second Olympic silver medal in the women's doubles in 2004 in Athens, Greece (partnering Virginia Ruano Pascual). In 2005, Martínez won her first singles title in five years at Pattaya, Thailand, bringing her career total to 33 top-level singles titles, 9 of which were Tier I events, and 13 doubles titles. On 15 April 2006, aged 33 and after 18 years of playing professionally, she announced her retirement, having won more professional singles tournaments than any other Spanish female tennis player.\nIn 2008 Conchita expressed her delight on seeing Rafael Nadal win the Men's singles at Wimbledon saying It is a big boost for Spanish grass court tennis again with a Spanish player winning Wimbledon like after her win in Wimbledon in 1994\nIn 2008, 2009 and 2010 Conchita played at Wimbledon in the Ladies Invitations Doubles. In 2010 her partner in doubles was Nathalie Tauziat.\nShare this article :",
"Muguruza becomes first Spanish woman to reach final since ...\nLONDON — Garbine Muguruza became the first Spanish woman to reach the Wimbledon final since 1996 when she beat Poland’s ... in the other semi-final at ...\nMuguruza becomes first Spanish woman to reach final since 1994 | TODAYonline\nMuguruza becomes first Spanish woman to reach final since 1994\nGarbine Muguruza of Spain. Photo: Getty Images\nTweet\nPublished: 4:17 AM, July 10, 2015\nLONDON — Garbine Muguruza became the first Spanish woman to reach the Wimbledon final since 1996 when she beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 3-6 6-3 in an engrossing Centre Court duel yesterday.\nMuguruza will face either world No 1 and five-time champion Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova in Saturday’s final. World No 1 Williams of the United States, and Russian fourth seed Sharapova were scheduled to be in action in the other semi-final at press time last night.\nMuguruza is now just one more win away to becoming the first Spanish woman to win the singles title at Wimbledon since Conchita Martinez beat Martina Navratilova in 1994.\n“I don’t have words to explain it,” Muguruza told BBC Sport.\n“I worked all my life to achieve this moment. I think I was playing really well so I had to stay calm and keep a poker face.\n“I knew it was going to be tough. I was nervous in second set. She has a lot of experience and I had to fight.”\nThe 20th-seeded Muguruza, whose previous best finish in a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the quarter-finals of this year’s French Open, showed no early nerves in the biggest match of her career and seemed to be on course for a quickfire victory when she powered through the first set and moved 3-1 ahead in the second.\nBut wily 13th seed Radwanska, playing her third Wimbledon semi-final, dug her heels in and the momentum shifted her way with a run of six successive games.\nMuguruza, the youngest of the semi-finalists, never lost heart though despite going down an early break in the decider, and after winning a tense service game at 2-2 she broke Radwanska and then held her own serve for a 5-2 ahead.\nThere were understandable nerves as Muguruza, 21, served for the match at 5-3, not helped by a foot-fault and a double-fault, but she clinched victory on her first match point with a swinging forehand volley after a powerful first serve forced Radwanska into a desperate high return. AGENCIES",
"BBC SPORT | Tennis | Wimbledon | Martinez bows out quietly\nMartinez bows out quietly. ... she became the first Spanish woman to win ... Navratilova a 10th Wimbledon singles title. Martinez may have been seeded ...\nBBC SPORT | Tennis | Wimbledon | Martinez bows out quietly\nSunday, 30 June, 2002, 07:57 GMT 08:57 UK\nMartinez bows out quietly\nMartinez won the Wimbledon title in 1994\nBy Sophie Brown\nBBC Sport Online\nWhile there have been umpteen column inches about the exit of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, one former singles champion has departed Wimbledon with barely a mention.\nConchita Martinez, winner of the women's title back in 1994, was beaten in the third round by Lisa Raymond on Saturday.\nThe tournament had begun promisingly for the out-of-form Martinez - she dropped just five games in her first two matches and ousted 17th seed Patty Schnyder.\n Conchita Martinez factfile\nUS Open\nSemi-finalist 1995, 1996\nBut then she ran into Raymond - and it was a case of deja-vu for the Spaniard, who has twice previously been knocked out of Wimbledon by the American.\nAnd if there are doubts over whether Agassi and Sampras will return, it is surely a better bet that Martinez will not be back.\nThe veteran Spaniard, who turned 30 earlier this year, has been on the tour for 14 years and has been a mainstay in the top 20 for most of that time.\nThis year has seen a dramatic slide in Martinez' ranking. She was once number two in the world. Now she is 66.\nBut, in truth, Martinez has not been a genuine force in the game for most of the second half of her career, despite reaching two of her three Grand Slam finals in the past four years.\nWhen she won the title as a 22-year-old, she became the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon.\nBut typically for a player who has been overlooked for much of her career, that victory is better remembered because it denied Martina Navratilova a 10th Wimbledon singles title.\nMartinez may have been seeded three that year while Navratilova was a 37-year-old on her way out of the singles game.\nBut the Spaniard was a confirmed clay-courter while the Centre Court was a second home for the nine-time Wimbledon champion.\nMartinez' backhand is one of her strengths\nDespite needing treatment for an injury, Martinez eventually prevailed in three sets, causing Navratilova endless problems with her devastating one-handed backhand.\nIt was expected that having won the Grand Slam least suited to her game, Martinez would add to her tally of major titles.\nBut, with Steffi Graf dominating the women's game, Martinez did not reach another Grand Slam final until the Australian Open in 1998.\nBy that time, Martina Hingis was winning everything in sight and dismissed the Spaniard in straight sets.\nEven before that defeat, it seemed that Martinez was already firmly on the down slope.\nBut over four years later, she is still clinging on.\nIt is a journey that mirrors many of her matches, where she has ground out marathon three-set victories by waiting for her opponent to commit the error.\nThis tactic has not always endured the queen of the moonball to spectators, but she does also have a stylish range of shots, whipping up incredible top spin on both wings.\nHer doubles experience means she can come to the net and volley, albeit reluctantly.\nBut she lacks the power to cope with the hard-hitting new generation of the likes of the Williams sisters, her own serve involving perhaps the lowest toss in the game.\nMartinez' ranking will slump further as a result of her Wimbledon campaign - and the ex-champion may be saying adios to SW19 for the final time.\nMen's singles",
"The Esurance Tennis Classic - Player Profiles - Conchita ...\nConchita Martinez; Mary ... Martínez became the first Spanish woman ... Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title ...\nThe Esurance Tennis Classic - Player Profiles - Conchita Martinez\n \nConchita Martínez - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009\nBorn in Monzón, Huesca, Martínez turned professional in 1988. In 1992, she was a silver medalist in doubles at the Olympic Games in Barcelona (partnering Arantxa Sánchez Vicario) and the runner-up in women's doubles at the French Open.\nIn 1993, Martínez became the first Spanish woman since Lili de Alvarez in 1928 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Steffi Graf 7-6, 6-3. Martinez beat Graf for the first and only time in her career, at a tournament in Philadelphia. At the Italian Open, Martinez became the first Spaniard to win the tournament since de Alvarez in 1930.\nIn 1994, Martínez reached the Wimbledon singles final, where she faced 9-time former Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova. Navratilova's last Wimbledon triumph had come four years earlier, but many observers felt that the 37 year-old Czech-born American was the favourite going into the match given her long track record of success on grass courts, whereas Martínez's most significant tournament victories up to that time had been on slower-playing surfaces, particularly clay courts. Martínez, however, won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.\nIn 1995, Martínez was a semifinalist at all four Grand Slam tournaments and reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 2.\nIn 1996, Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title four consecutive years. She also partnered Sánchez Vicario to claim a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta, Georgia.\nIn 1998, Martínez reached her second career Grand Slam singles final. She was defeated in the final of the Australian Open by Martina Hingis 6-3, 6-3. She also helped Spain win the Fed Cup that year, beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-3, 2-6, 9-7 in three hours and 19 minutes in the final.\nMartínez reached the final of the French Open in 2000, where she lost to Mary Pierce 6-2, 7-5 after beating Sanchez-Vicario in a semifinal. She also won the German Open, beating Hingis in a semifinal and Amanda Coetzer in the final.\nIn 2001, Martínez was a runner-up in the women's doubles at the French Open (partnering Jelena Dokic). Martinez also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in six years but lost to Justine Henin of Belgium.\nMartínez won her second Olympic silver medal in the women's doubles in 2004 in Athens, Greece (partnering Virginia Ruano Pascual).\nIn 2005, Martínez won her first singles title in five years at Pattaya, Thailand, bringing her career total to 33 top-level singles titles, 9 of which were Tier I events, and 13 doubles titles.\nOn April 15, 2006, at the age of 33 and after 18 years of playing professionally, she announced her retirement, having won more professional singles tournaments than any other Spanish female tennis player.",
"History - 1990s - The Championships, Wimbledon 2016 ...\n1994: Conchita Martinez v Martina ... Martina Navratilova in the final. By doing so, Martinez became the first ... player to win the Wimbledon singles title since ...\nHistory - 1990s - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM\n READ MORE\n1990: A record for Navratilova\nOn a sunny Saturday afternoon, Martina Navratilova produced a near-flawless performance to win her ninth Wimbledon singles title, a record that will take some topping in today's day and age. Competing against fellow American Zina Garrison, Navratilova served and volleyed her way around Centre Court in emphatic fashion, dropping just five games as she took the title 6-1, 6-4.\nThe 33-year-old Navratilova won six consecutive championships from 1982 to 1987 but was made to wait before surpassing Helen Wills Moody's record of eight titles, losing the previous two years in the final to Steffi Graf. But, with Graf disposed of by Garrison in the semi-finals, Navratilova got there eventually, straddling the net to acknowledge her beaten opponent and then, her courtside courtesies complete, sinking down on her knees for an instant of silent communion with the tennis court she loves best.\n\"There were no glitches this time; everything came up nines,\" she said. \"This tops it all, absolutely, because I've worked so hard.\"\n1990: Boris Becker v Stefan Edberg\nThe most defining aspect of the rivalry between Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg was the three successive Wimbledon finals they contested between 1988 and 1990. Having split the titles in '88 and '89, their 1990 encounter was undoubtedly the most riveting. \nEdberg, who had been routed by Boris the year before, swept ahead, crunching through the first two sets 6-2, 6-2. But, as was his wont, Becker rallied in typical fashion to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-3, and send the match into a fifth. Becker broke Edberg early in the fifth set, on course for a fourth Wimbledon title, and setting up the possibility of being the first Wimbledon champion to win the last three sets in a five-set match since Henri Cochetin 1927.\nBut, it was not to be. Edberg regained the break and then broke Becker in the ninth game of the set with a topspin lob winner, eventually serving it out for his second Wimbledon title. The Swede went on to win the US Open in 1991 and 1992.\n1991: Steffi Graf v Gabriela Sabatini\nOne of SW19's greatest champions arrived at Wimbledon in 1991 having suffered rather a seesaw period, registering one of the worst defeats of her career against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the French Open semi-finals, losing her first 6-0 set since 1984.\nBut, as is so often the case, the green grass of the All England Club gave the formerly indomitable German a boost, powering her way to the final. Coming up against friend and rival Gabriela Sabatini, the odds on form were in the Argentine's favour, having beaten Graf in four tournaments in the spring.\nBut Graf was always capable of something special at Wimbledon, and so it proved, the German rallying back from dropping the second set, and holding her nerve to win an epic Centre Court final 6-4 3-6 8-6, the longest final for 15 years.\n1991: Middle Sunday\nOne of the wettest first weeks in the tournament's history - just 52 out of about 240 matches were completed by Thursday evening - prompted the decision to stage play on the traditional day off, the Middle Sunday. Gabriela Sabatini and Andrea Strnadova emerged from their dressing room on to Centre Court for their third-round noon showdown. They were greeted by a packed stadium, a seemingly unending roar and enough Mexican waves to fill an ocean.\nThe spectators had raced from the gates for prime, £10-a-head unreserved seats. They had formed part of a queue snaking almost two miles that produced an attendance of 24,894.\nOn No.1 Court, John McEnroe, a three-time champion, did not disappoint his adoring fans with a victory against Frenchman Jean-Philippe Fleurian, while victories for eventual Swedish semi-finalist Stefan Edberg and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario warmed up the effervescent crowd on the main court for the top of the bill: Jimmy Connors. Despite thriving on the atmosphere, Connors was eventually upstaged by fellow American Derrick Rostango, but the atmosphere overtook the results that day.\n1992: Andre Agassi v Goran Ivanisevic \nThey said that he couldn't win Wimbledon, and certainly not by playing resolutely pinned to the baseline. But Andre Agassi wasn't having that. Defeating Goran Ivanisevic 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 for the Wimbledon title, the Las Vegan erased the stigma of his previous Grand Slam failures, becoming the first back-of-the-court player to win the title since Bjorn Borg, and the first American to win Wimbledon since John McEnroe in 1984.\nIllustrating that thundering groundstrokes can be just as important as booming serves, the flamboyant American stood firm throughout a Wimbledon final record onslaught of 37 aces from the 6’4” Croatian, waiting for his chances, and eventually breaking Ivanisevic three times in the match. One of the remarkable statistics was the fact that Ivanisevic came to the net 91 times, not uncommon on grass, but was passed by Agassi an astounding 26 times. \n\"So many things were going through my mind - Wimbledon champion, Grand Slam winner, a lot of months and years of people doubting me,\" he said.\n1992: John McEnroe v Michael Stich\nJohn McEnroe collected his fifth Wimbledon men's doubles title as he and Michael Stich beat Americans Jim Grabb and Richie Reneberg 5-7, 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(5), 19-17 in a record-breaking final. McEnroe had been dumped out of the singles by the sprightly Andre Agassi in the semi-finals, and so his and Stich's performance, in the longest men's doubles final since the 1968 Roche and Newcombe victory over Rosewall and Stolle, certainly made amends.\nHeld over from Saturday because of fading light, the match was moved to Court 1 on the final Sunday, the All England Club allowing 7,500 fans into the Grounds for free. After 34 games in the final set had gone with serve, McEnroe produced a stunningly disguised lob to bring up match point, followed by Reneberg dumping Super Brat's serve into the net. Stich grabbing McEnroe around the waist and lifting him into the air, the unseeded pair triumphed after five hours and one minute.\n1993: The Long Term Plan\nIn March 1993, The All England Lawn Tennis Club unveiled its Long Term Plan, the blueprint to take Wimbledon into the 21st Century by providing the finest facilities for all those involved with the event — spectators, players, media, officials — and consistent with our aspiration for The Championships to be embraced as the world’s premier tennis tournament, and still played on grass.\n1993: Steffi Graf v Jana Novotna \nSteffi Graf's fifth Wimbledon title was almost overshadowed by her opponent, Jana Novotna, conspiring to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory after leading by a double break of serve in the third set. Graf looked down and out as Novotna went for broke on a second serve while leading 4-1 in the third set, having romped through the second set 6-1. But whether it was nerves or simply getting ahead of herself, she missed, and the whole match changed. \nThe German storming back to win 7-6, 1-6, 6-4, Novotna cried her eyes out on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder during the trophy presentation, in what has become one of Wimbledon's most iconic images. \"Don't worry Jana, I know you can do it,\" said the Duchess to Novotna. And she was right, the Czech player triumphing in her third Wimbledon final in 1998.\n\"With the way Jana was playing and the way I was playing, yes, I'd kind of lost it,\" said Graf, who yelped for joy after pulling off a remarkable turnaround. \"I didn't give up but I didn't have a very positive feeling.\"\n1994: Steffi Graf v Lori McNeil\nIn a timely reminder, 1994 proved no champion is safe at Wimbledon. The first Tuesday dawned with an ill wind that blasted through Wimbledon's elite like a bull in a china shop, rattling nerves, stealing the strawberries, flipping the table with a glorious smash. And there was no greater fall than the world No.1 and five-time champion Steffi Graf, a victim of what the legendary Fred Perry described as \"wet, greasy and slippery\" gusts. \nGraf and the wind proved no match for the contrasting cool intensity of her first round opponent, the unseeded Lori McNeil of the US. The German, winner of the last three Wimbledon’s and five of the past six, was blown out of the draw faster than any other defending women's champ in 101 years, and after she cracked nobody was safe.\nTriumphing 7-5, 7-6, it was the best showing by African-Americans at a Grand Slam event since Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon in 1975, and was received with a huge ovation from the rather wet Centre Court crowd. It was, McNeil said, the best moment she had ever known. \"It seemed very short, but at the same time—if this makes any sense—it seemed very long and very loud,\" she said. \"It was a great feeling, a great moment for me.\"\n1994: Conchita Martinez v Martina Navratilova\nEven in Wimbledon’s rich history, Conchita Martinez’s triumph in the 1994 Ladies’ Singles has to be one of The Championships’ most fascinating stories. She beat a whole host of top names, including nine-time Champion Martina Navratilova in the final. By doing so, Martinez became the first – and to date only – Spanish woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish, and the only Champion between 1982 and 1996 other than Navratilova or Steffi Graf. \nDespite her excellent run, few gave Martinez a chance in the final against Navratilova. Even at 37, the legendary left-hander was a huge favourite, hunting what would have been her 10th singles crown. But it was not to be, as Martinez produced a stunning upset.\nThe Spaniard admits she was actually more anxious about the prospect of meeting Princess Diana on Centre Court that day. \"When they told me she would be at the final and I would have to curtsy for her, I was more nervous about having to do that and meeting her than playing the match! So maybe that was a good thing.\"\n1995: Tim Henman and the ball girl\nAlways considered to be the epitome of British etiquette, it comes as some surprise that Tim Henman, who shouldered British hopes admirably for so long, became the first player ever to be disqualified from Wimbledon. Playing a doubles match alongside Jeremy Bates, the British pair were leading Jeff Tarango and Henrik Holm by two sets to one. Deep into the fourth set, Henman missed a net cord during the tie-break, and, being an impressionable young thing at that time, lashed out with his racket in frustration, hitting the ball he was holding. But it was his and her misfortune that as he did so, a ball girl was crossing the net, and received the full force of the ball on the side of her head. \nReferee Alan Mills and Wayne McKewan were summoned to the court, and defaulted the pair for ball abuse. At a late-night press conference at the All England Club, Henman described the incident. \"I was not happy at losing the point and was angry. I went to hit the ball hard. I'd looked to see if the linespeople were out of the way.\" Clearly on the verge of tears, he said: \"It's a complete accident, but I'm responsible for my actions.\"\n1995: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario v Steffi Graf\nSteffi Graf won her sixth Wimbledon title but was forced to work hard in the final by her erstwhile rival Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, eventually triumphing 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.\nThe Spaniard, a clear underdog on grass, dropped only five points on her own serve to take the first set with some exquisite tennis. But Graf battled back, running through the second set before sealing the win with a break in a titanic 20-minute 11th game in the third set, which featured a boggling 13 deuces and 18 game points.\nSanchez Vicario attacked Graf's backhand with such consistency that the German spent much of the game camped in the tramlines on the edge of the court. On her sixth game point, Graf at last found a powerful backhand drive to seal the break of serve and effectively the match. \nThe Centre Court crowd applauded for the entire changeover, the euphoria continuing as Graf served out for the title. Graf let out an enormous sigh of relief and a cry of joy. She won seven Wimbledons among her 22 Grand Slams but never was she forced to fight harder for victory.\n1995: Jeff Tarango’s tantrum\nIf John McEnroe, for all his explosions and mutterings, was a master at delivering a line and working the crowd, fellow American Jeff Tarango was the complete opposite. His meltdown at Wimbledon in 1995, was the perfect lesson in how to alienate an entire crowd with a pathetic, childish outburst. \nTrailing Alexander Mronz in his third-round match, Tarango became increasingly annoyed with chair umpire Bruno Rebeuh, screaming ‘That’s it, I’m not playing….you are one of the most corrupt officials in the game’. After his request to have Rebeuh removed from the match was denied, Tarango walked off the court, defaulting the match.\nHe then made matters worse by yelling at the crowd to ‘shut up’ when they jeered him off. Even more bizarrely, a few minutes later, Tarango's wife, Benedicte, slapped Rebeuh twice in the face when they encountered one another in the corridor. Tarango was subsequently banned for two Grand Slam tournaments and fined $63,000.\n1996: The streaker\nThe 1996 final between Richard Krajicek and MaliVai Washington was the subject of several headlines, not necessarily because it was the first Sampras-less final in four years, or Washington being the first black man in the final since Arthur Ashe, but because 23-year-old Melissa Johnson became the first female streaker to get on to Centre Court. As the players were preparing to warm up, Johnson ran on to the court with an apron on, disrobed, and ran around the hallowed turf.\nSix years later, a streaker got on to Centre Court during the men’s final at Wimbledon. During a rain break, with Lleyton Hewitt leading David Nalbandian 6-1, 1-0 in 2002, 37-year-old Mark Roberts jumped on to the court, shed his clothes and gave spectators quite a show. He pirouetted, bowed, somersaulted over the net and flexed his muscles before he was finally caught and escorted away with a red sheet covering his modesty.\n1996: Sir Cliff Richard\nIn one of the most famous and clichéd of all Wimbledon rain delays, play was interrupted extensively in 1996, and so Sir Cliff Richard was invited to give an impromptu concert on Centre Court. The ageing popstar delighted the sodden crowd with a rendition of ‘Singing in the Rain,’ backed by the implausible choir of Virginia Wade, Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernandez and Conchita Martinez.\n\"I started with Summer Holiday, almost as a joke,\" Sir Cliff said. \"It was totally a capella, which has its advantages - it's impossible to sing out of key for a start. And the crowd see the vulnerability of someone singing without any help. They were magnificent, from the first moment. The reaction was stunning.\"\n1997: Middle Sunday\nAfter two days of the 1997 Championships were washed out by rain, the club took the decision to play on the middle Sunday for only the second time in Wimbledon history. This was made particularly thrilling thanks to one match where sporting theatre reached its absolute peak – a third-round clash between Tim Henman, the No.14 seed, and Dutchman Paul Haarhuis, regarded as a doubles expert.\nFor the first time in nearly 20 years, a Brit had a chance of Wimbledon glory and the local public, along with genuine tennis enthusiasts from all over the world, camped all night to pick up one of 14,000 cut-price £15 Centre Court tickets. As Tim Henman recalled, he would never experience a crowd like that \"Super Sunday\" one again in the 10 remaining years of his career. \n\"From the word go, it was something I'd never experienced before,\" he admitted. \"The noise was at a different level. Every time I won a point it felt like the roof was going to come off. I’ve never played at Wembley, but I can say that’s as good as it gets in tennis.\" \n1997: Tim Henman v Paul Haarhuis\nOn the 1997 Middle Sunday, Tim Henman and Paul Haarhuis met on Centre Court to contest the sought-after fourth round place against defending champion Richard Krajicek. Neither Henman nor Haarhuis were on top form - there were far too many unforced errors and double faults for the purists, but you would struggle to find any tennis match that could beat it for sheer drama. Henman carved out six first-set points in the opener and squandered them all, three on double faults, and went down 9-7 in the tiebreaker. Haarhuis then got the jitters, a double fault of his own handing the British No.1 the second set and two more giving him the third. \nThere then followed an absolutely exhilarating fourth set. Haarhuis broke early then held strong when Henman twice had golden opportunities to break back, to the groans of the crowd. The underdog was putting up a tremendous fight, but it now became all about who had the bravest of brave hearts. The subsequent fifth and final set went on and on, each game and each point feeling like a lifetime for the predominately British crowd, who cheered every Henman winner with a roar to put soccer fans to shame. Tiger Tim eventually prevailed 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 14-12, Haarhuis dropping serve to bring the titanic 93-minute decider to an end.\nHenman went on to beat Krajicek in a four-set, three tie-break thriller before losing to Michael Stich in the quarter-finals. \n1997: Martina Hingis\nMartina Hingis produced the tennis version of rope-a-dope to exhaust Jana Novotna, and become, at 16, the youngest player to win the Wimbledon singles title since 1887. Floating around the court, the young Swiss dismantled the experienced Novotna 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 with a poise and savvy far beyond her years. Despite a slightly timid start, the teenager rallied to hand out an all-court attack that the increasingly weary Novotna was too tired to handle.\n\"It might be that maybe I'm too young to win this title,\" said Hingis, who had lost in the French Open final the month before. \"But at the French Open I just knew I wasn't in great shape. This time it's like I could do it.\"\nIt was another blow for Novotna, who had surrendered the title to Steffi Graf four years earlier, but she went on to triumph against Nathalie Tauziat the following year. \n1997: The new No. 1 Court\nSome of Wimbledon's greatest champions, including Rod Laver, John Newcombe, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Louise Brough, Maria Bueno, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova gathered at the All England Club in 1997, invited for the opening ceremony of the new No.1 Court at Wimbledon.\nOfficially opened by the Duke of Kent, the new No.1 Court seats 11,000, an increase of 4,500 on the original No.1 Court, which has been demolished. The building incorporates a food village, a merchandising shop, 11 hospitality suites and a debenture holders' lounge overlooking courts 14-17. In addition to the new No.1 Court, a broadcast centre, new courts 18 and 19, and a road tunnel linking Somerset Road and Church Road came into operation for the first time.\nAs part of the continuation of the Long Term Plan, the site where the original No.1 Court stood, adjacent to the Centre Court, was turned into what is the Millennium Building today - the new player and press facilities, which were completed in 2000.\n1998: Martina Hingis v Jelena Dokic\nEven Jelena Dokic's volatile father was left speechless after the 16-year-old Australian qualifier knocked out world No.1 Martina Hingis in the first round in 1999 in one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history. Bobbing up and down like a boxer on the baseline as she swept past Hingis 6-2, 6-0, Dokic summed it up with the understatement so beloved of teengagers - \"I think I played quite well today. There was no pressure on me to win. I didn't feel nervous. I just went for it,\" Dokic said. \"It's tough to beat her, whether you practise with her or not ... I tried to play my own game.\" \nSomewhat ironically, Hingis had taken Dokic under her wing as a training partner, practising together before the French Open, and even taking a holiday together. \"Martina and her mum made us feel part of the family for a whole week. We never stopped talking and it was such good fun,\" Dokic said then. \"I hope we are friends forever.\"\n1999: Steffi Graf v Venus Williams\nOld met new in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, as 19-year-old Venus Williams came up against Steffi Graf, on a high after claiming the French Open. It was a second quarter-final in a row at SW19 for Venus, who hussled and tussled to beat Anna Kournikova in the fourth round.\nBut Graf had not won seven Wimbledon titles by just ambling about. The seven-time champion neutralised the young Venus's powerful hitting in typical athletic style, running down every groundstroke that her opponent pummelled over the net, and sending it back just as hard. Interrupted four times by rain, both players were forced to produce some of their best tennis, Graf in particular mixing it up with drop shots and net play to keep Williams guessing.\nConverting on her first match point, Graf hopped up and down, punching the air and screaming with delight.\n\"It rarely happens in the quarter-final to play that kind of tennis,\" said Graf, remarking that it was the best she had ever had to play to get to the semi-finals at Wimbledon.\n1999: Pete Sampras v Andre Agassi\nSampras v Agassi was the classic duel of the 1990s. Pistol Pete was the quiet, unassuming fellow who kept to himself while going about the business of amassing a record haul of 14 Grand Slam titles, seven of them at Wimbledon. He served, volleyed and one-handed-backhanded his way into the record books, spent 286 weeks as world No.1 and was a model of consistency. Agassi on the other hand was a veritable firecracker, up one day, down the next. World No.1, world No.141 – it all depended on where his focus was at the time.\nThe two all-American heroes played each other 34 times between 1989 and 2002, with Sampras holding a 20-14 record and a 4-1 advantage in Grand Slam finals. Serving for the title at 6-3, 6-4, 6-5, Sampras fired down two service winners to make it 30-0. An Agassi backhand return clipped the baseline, then he sent a perfect cross-court forehand as Sampras came in behind a second service to level matters at 30-all. The prostrate Sampras, who had dived in vain to retrieve Agassi’s masterpiece, then picked himself up, dusted himself off and banged a second service right on the T for an ace. On match point, Sampras repeated the feat: two second-serve aces and the title, his sixth Wimbledon crown of seven – was his.",
"conchita martinez : definition of conchita martinez and ...\nShe is the only Spanish woman to have won the singles title at Wimbledon, when she beat ... became the first Spanish woman ever to win ... Conchita Martinez beat ...\nconchita martinez : definition of conchita martinez and synonyms of conchita martinez (English)\n10 External links\n Playing style\nThis section of a biographical article needs additional citations for verification . Please help by adding reliable sources . Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful.\n(March 2009)\nMartínez used extreme topspin on her forehand and slower topspin and slice on her backhand. She was a patient baseliner who won matches by disrupting her opponents' rhythm through changes of spin, pace, depth, height, and angle. She was known for expending \"plenty of time and energy securing the ball with which she had just won the previous point so she could serve it again,\" [1] a major irritant to her opponents.\n Career\nThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources . Please help by adding reliable sources . Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately.\n(October 2008)\nBorn in Monzón, Martínez turned professional in 1988. At the age of just 16, she reached the fourth round at the French Open in her third professional tournament. She upset Lori McNeil en route. In 1989, her breakthrough year, Martínez beat Gabriela Sabatini to win the title at Tampa and won two other tournaments. She also reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing to Steffi Graf . She finished the year World No. 7. In 1990 and 1991, Martínez won a further six titles and again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open both years (losing to Graf in 1990 and Monica Seles in 1991).\nThe following year, Martínez was a silver medalist in doubles at the Olympic Games in Barcelona (partnering Arantxa Sánchez Vicario ) and the runner-up in women's doubles at the French Open. Once again, she was a quarterfinalist at the French Open, losing a tight match with Sabatini. In 1992 she was runner up in Indian Wells and San Diego. In 1993, Martínez became the first Spanish woman since Lilí de Álvarez in 1928 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon , where she lost to Graf 7–6, 6–3. Martínez beat Graf for the first & only time in her career, at a tournament in Philadelphia in the final. At the Italian Open , Martínez became the first Spaniard to win the tournament since de Álvarez in 1930. She again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the fifth year in a row, losing a 2 hour, 45 minute battle with Anke Huber 6–7, 6–4, 6–4.\nMartínez reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1994 already beating Lindsay Davenport in the quarter final and Lori McNeil in the semifinals where the third set went to 10–8, where she faced nine-time former Wimbledon champion Martina Navrátilová. Navrátilová's last Wimbledon triumph had come four years earlier, but many observers felt that the 37 year-old Czech-born American was the favourite going into the match given her long track record of success on grass courts , whereas Martínez's most significant tournament victories up to that time had been on slower-playing surfaces, particularly on clay courts . Martínez, however, won the match 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 and became the first Spanish woman ever to win Wimbledon. In 1995, Martínez was a semifinalist at all four Grand Slam tournaments and reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. In the Australian Open she beat Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals before losing to Mary Pierce in the semifinals. At Wimbledon, she beat Sabatini in the quarterfinals before losing to Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also had a new coach that year, Carlos Kirmayr .\nIn 1996, Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title four consecutive years. She also partnered Sánchez Vicario to claim a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta, Georgia . In 1998, Martínez reached her second career Grand Slam singles final at the Australian Open. She beat Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals before losing to Martina Hingis in the final 6–3, 6–3. She also helped Spain win the Fed Cup that year, beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6–3, 2–6, 9–7 in 3 hours, 19 minutes in the final.\nIn January 2000 in the Australian Open Conchita Martinez beat Elena Likhovsteva in the quarterfinals after Likhovsteva twice failed to serve for the match to reach the semifinals where she was beaten by Martina Hingis. Martínez reached the final of the French Open in 2000, where she lost to Mary Pierce 6–2, 7–5 after beating Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also won the German Open , beating Hingis in a semifinal and Amanda Coetzer in the final. In 2001, Martínez was a runner-up in the women's doubles at the French Open (partnering Jelena Dokić ). Martínez also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in six years but lost to Justine Henin of Belgium. In 2003 Conchita reached her last grand slam quarterfinal in the French Open losing to Kim Clijsters . Also that year she reached the final at Eastbourne losing to Chanda Rubin .\nMartínez won her second Olympic silver medal in the women's doubles in 2004 in Athens, Greece (partnering Virginia Ruano Pascual ). In 2005, Martínez won her first singles title in five years at Pattaya , Thailand , bringing her career total to 33 top-level singles titles, 9 of which were Tier I events, and 13 doubles titles. On 15 April 2006, aged 33 and after 18 years of playing professionally, she announced her retirement, having won more professional singles tournaments than any other Spanish female tennis player.\nIn 2008 Conchita expressed her delight on seeing Rafael Nadal win the Men's singles at Wimbledon saying It is a big boost for Spanish grass court tennis again with a Spanish player winning Wimbledon like after her win in Wimbledon in 1994\nIn 2008, 2009 and 2010 Conchita played at Wimbledon in the Ladies Invitations Doubles. In 2010 her partner in doubles was Nathalie Tauziat .\n Grand Slam finals",
"Muguruza bans parents from attending Wimbledon final vs ...\nMuguruza bans parents from attending Wimbledon final ... her women's singles title clash ... Martinez became the last Spanish woman to win ...\nMuguruza bans parents from attending Wimbledon final vs Serena\ntennis Updated: Jul 11, 2015 17:57 IST\nAFP\nGarbine Muguruza of Spain during a practice session at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, on July 10, 2015. Muguruza will face Serena Williams of the United States in the ladies' singles final of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships on Saturday, July 11, 2015. (Reuters Photo)\nFirst-time Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza of Spain has banned her parents from watching her women's singles title clash against Serena Williams as she doesn't want her performance to be jinxed.\nThe 21-year-old Spaniard has had a set routine on her way to a first Grand Slam final which has included getting up and cleaning her teeth at a certain time while her mother and father stayed in Spain so as not to upset the rhythm.\nNow the world number 20 has decided against inviting Spanish father Jose Antonio and Venezuelan mother Scarlet over to the All England Club.\n\"My parents, they're going to be in Barcelona watching me on the TV. I don't want to change anything, but I'm not superstitious,\" she said Friday.\nMuguruza also revealed that as a child she had dreamed of facing Williams in the Wimbledon final. \"It's weird. When I was eight, I was dreaming. Now it's happening. It's amazing. It's what I've worked for. Now I'm feeling that all my effort, all the work that I did before, it's like paying off,\" said Muguruza, who couldn't recall who won the match she dreamt about.\nBut having defeated the world number one once before in real life -- at the French Open last year -- she said she will not be intimidated by a player who has lost just once in 39 matches in 2015.\n\"It's really important because it makes you see and realise that she's also a person. She knows that I can win against her, that I'm not afraid. I don't think she's really used to this. Serena doesn't lose so many matches in the year. I think it's important.\"\nKey role\nMuguruza was just nine months old in 1994 when Conchita Martinez became the last Spanish woman to win Wimbledon\nBut 21 years later, Martinez finds herself in the position of playing a key role in convincing her compatriot that she can pull off the seemingly impossible on Saturday and derail Williams's bid to win a sixth Wimbledon crown.\n\"Well, we were laughing when the tournament started because I was like, Conchita, I'm not sure about grass,\" said Muguruza, recalling her conversation with Martinez, who defeated Martina Navratilova in the 1994 final.\nIt was her only triumph at the majors and Navratilova's last appearance in a Grand Slam final.\n\"She's like, C'mon, you can play good. She's just telling me every day, every match, Keep going, you're doing great. Giving me power,\" she added.\nMuguruza was right to be cautious about her prospects at the All England Club.\nBefore the tournament began, the world number 20 had won just one match on grass this summer at Eastbourne after losing in the first round in Birmingham.\nBut the Venezuela-born Muguruza has been rejuvenated at Wimbledon, knocking out top 10 players Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to make her first final at the Majors. She will also rise into the world top 10 next week, only the fourth Spanish woman to do so. If she beats world number one Williams, she will become the new world number six.\nBut the American is the overwhelming favourite on Saturday.\nShe will be playing in her eighth Wimbledon final, seeking a sixth title. It's Williams' 25th Grand Slam final, and victory will give her a 21st Major title, just one behind the Open Era record of Steffi Graf's 22.\nShe can also complete her second career 'Serena Slam' by holding all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.\ntags",
"Muguruza bans parents from Wimbledon final - Yahoo Sports\nMuguruza bans parents from Wimbledon final. ... Conchita Martinez became the last Spanish woman to win ... Wimbledon final, seeking a sixth title.\nMuguruza bans parents from Wimbledon final\nMuguruza bans parents from Wimbledon final\nDave James\nShare\nView photos\nGarbine Muguruza celebrates beating Agnieszka Radwanska on July 9, 2015 to reach the Wimbledon women's singles final (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)\nMore\nLondon (AFP) - Shock Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza has banned her parents from watching her title showdown against Serena Williams as she doesn't want them to jinx her.\nThe 21-year-old Spaniard has had a set routine on her way to a first Grand Slam final which has included getting up and cleaning her teeth at a certain time while her mother and father stayed in Spain so as not to upset the rhythm.\nNow the world number 20 has decided against inviting Jose Antonio and Venezuelan mother Scarlet over to the All England Club.\n\"My parents, they're going to be in Barcelona watching me on the TV. I don't want to change anything, but I'm not superstitious,\" she said Friday.\nMuguruza also revealed that as a child she had dreamed of facing Williams in the Wimbledon final.\n\"It's weird. When I was eight, I was dreaming. Now it's happening. It's amazing. It's what I've worked for. Now I'm feeling that all my effort, all the work that I did before, it's like paying off,\" said Muguruza who couldn't recall who won the match she dreamt about.\nBut having defeated the world number one in real life -- at the French Open last year -- she said she will not be intimidated by a player who has lost just once in 39 matches in 2015.\n\"It's really important because it makes you see and realise that she's also a person. She knows that I can win against her, that I'm not afraid. I don't think she's really used to this. Serena doesn't lose so many matches in the year. I think it's important.\"\n- Key role -\nMuguruza was just nine months old in 1994 when Conchita Martinez became the last Spanish woman to win Wimbledon\nBut 21 years later, Martinez finds herself in the position of playing a key role in convincing her compatriot that she can pull off the seemingly impossible on Saturday and derail Williams's bid to win a sixth Wimbledon crown.\n\"Well, we were laughing when the tournament started because I was like, Conchita, I'm not sure about grass,\" said Muguruza, recalling her conversation with Martinez, who defeated Martina Navratilova in the 1994 final.\nIt was her only triumph at the majors and Navratilova's last appearance in a Grand Slam final.\n\"She's like, C'mon, you can play good. She's just telling me every day, every match, Keep going, you're doing great. Giving me power,\" she added.\nMuguruza was right to be cautious about her prospects at the All England Club.\nBefore the tournament began, the world number 20 had won just one match on grass this summer at Eastbourne after losing in the first round in Birmingham.\nBut the Venezuela-born Muguruza has been rejuvenated at Wimbledon, knocking out top 10 players Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to make her first final at the majors.\nShe will also rise into the world top 10 next week, only the fourth Spanish woman to do so. If she beats world number one Williams, she will become the new world number six.\nBut the American is the overwhelming favourite on Saturday.\nShe will be playing in her eighth Wimbledon final, seeking a sixth title.\nIt's Williams' 25th Grand Slam final where victory will give her a 21st major title, just one behind the Open Era record of Steffi Graf.\nShe can also complete her second career \"Serena Slam\" by holding all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.\nReblog"
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"The Championships, Wimbledon: winners, fun facts, and ...\nTennis, Anyone? Wimbledon fun facts. ... Dod became the youngest player ever to win a Wimbledon singles event when, ... he became the youngest male singles champ ...\nThe Championships, Wimbledon: winners, fun facts, and record holders\nby Mike Morrison\n2008 Wimbledon Women's Singles Champion Venus Williams (Source/AP)\nSo you think you know Wimbledon ? Tennis's most prestigious grand slam event gets underway on June 27, 2015, and finishes up on July 10. You probably already know that it is the only grand slam event played on grass, and that last year's singles champions were Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Czech Republic's Petra Kvitovà.\nBelow is some history, as well as some little-known facts about the tourney.\nIf you're feeling especially adventurous, try your luck at Infoplease's Wimbledon Quiz .\nThe first Wimbledon took place in 1877 solely as an amateur competition. Men's singles was the only event that took place. There were 22 competitors and the championship was won by Spencer Gore. A few hundred spectators were in attendance.\nWomen's singles and men's doubles events began seven years later, in 1884.\nMay Sutton of the United States became the first non-European champion in 1905 when she captured the women's singles title.\nCharlotte (Lottie) Dod became the youngest player ever to win a Wimbledon singles event when, in 1887, she won at the age of 15 years, 285 days. In 1996 Martina Hingis became a Wimbledon doubles champion at 15 years, 282 days. And by the way, Dod was also a silver medalist in archery at the 1908 Olympics, a member of the British national field hockey team in 1899, and the British Amateur golf champ in 1904.\nDuring World War II , a bomb ripped through Centre Court at the All England Club and 1,200 seats were lost. Fortunately, they weren't filled at the time. Play finally resumed in 1946 but it wasn't until 1949 that the area was back in top shape.\nAmerican Althea Gibson became the first black player to win a Wimbledon singles championship when she captured the title in 1957. She successfully defended her title a year later. She was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in both years.\nIn 1985, Boris Becker accomplished three feats: he became the youngest male singles champ (17 years, 227 days old), the first German champ, and the first unseeded champ.\nThere are currently 20 grass courts available for play at the Wimbledon complex. The Number 1 Court now comes complete with large fans at either end to dry out the court in case of rain. There are also five red shale courts, four clay courts, and five indoor courts for club members.\nThe last married woman to win the women's singles championship was Chris Evert Lloyd in 1981.\nA wooden racket was last used at Wimbledon in 1987.\nThe 2014 prize purse for the men's and women's singles winners is £1,760,000, an increase of £160,000 (10%) over 2013. In 1968, the year of the first \"open\" championships, the prize money was £2,000 for the male champion and £750 for the female champion.\nAside from cash, the women's champ also receives a silver gilt salver (a round, disk-like platter) that was made in 1864. The men's winner receives a silver gilt cup from 1887. Both are actually displayed at the Wimbledon museum for most of the year.\nKeep your eyes on the ball! The records for fastest serve are Taylor Dent, clocked at 148 mph (2010) and Venus Williams with 129 mph (2008)\nKeeping track of all those fast-moving balls are approximately 250 ball boys and girls at The Championships each year.\nThe top-selling item in the Wimbledon gift shop in 2010: 18,000 yellow mini tennis ball keyrings. in 2013, it was Championship towels (28,600).\nIn 2013, the top-selling drink was tea/coffee, with 300,000 sold.",
"Wimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25. ... 1960, 1964 The lithe and elegant Brazilian brought ... Bueno after she won her first Wimbledon title in 1959, ...\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25\n9:41AM BST 28 Jun 2008\nFormer champion Bjorn Borg reveals his top 25 women while Mark Hodgkinson and Kaz Mochlinski profile the players.\nLouise Brough\n1948-1950, 1955\nNo player has ever dominated Wimbledon more completely than did Brough in the three Championships between 1948 and 1950. Not only did she collect three of her four singles titles in that time, but she reached the final of every event, winning eight out of nine. The only final she lost was the mixed doubles in the middle year, when she played 117 games in three finals that involved five hours 20 minutes' playing time on Centre Court on the final Saturday of the tournament. Her hard volleying was ideally suited to the Wimbledon grass courts, which she again demonstrated in adding a last singles victory in 1955. It was her 13th title in total at the All England Club and she did not drop a set in winning it. With Margaret du Pont, she also collected a remarkable 12 women's doubles successes in the US Championships.\nMaria Bueno\n1959-1960, 1964\nThe lithe and elegant Brazilian brought sex appeal to the Wimbledon lawns, improving the SW19 libido. All the men in the Centre Court crowd fell in love with Bueno after she won her first Wimbledon title in 1959, after which she was given a prize of a clothes voucher and then flown back in a presidential jet to a ticker-tape parade in Sao Paolo. In future years she titillated Wimbledon by wearing a white dress with a pink lining, and also won two more titles, in 1960 and 1964.\nMaureen Connolly\n1952-1954\nHer first love was horse riding, but Maureen Connolly's mother could not afford the lessons and she turned to tennis. 'Little Mo' snaffled a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles, from 1952-54, and was a popular figure back home in the United States. But that did not stop her from speaking of \"the dark destiny\" of her tennis career. \"I always believed greatness on a tennis court was my destiny, a dark destiny at times, where the court became my secret jungle and I, a lonely, fear-stricken hunter. I was a strange little girl armed with hate, fear and a golden racket,\" Connolly once said.\nMargaret Court\n1963, 1965, 1970\n'Big Marge' dominated the tour in the 1960s and 1970s, winning her first two Wimbledon titles, as Margaret Smith, in 1963 and 1965. She quit the circuit in 1966 to marry and start a family, but returned to the game as Margaret Court, and in 1970 won all four majors to achieve the grand slam. On the Wimbledon leg of that feat, Court and the American Billie Jean King contested what was one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history, with the Australian eventually closing out a 14-12, 11-9 victory. In addition to her three Wimbledon trophies, Court won a further 21 grand slam singles titles, taking her singles tally to 24, and many consider her to be the greatest female player to have ever stepped on Centre Court.\nLindsay Davenport\n1999\nAmerican Lindsay Davenport may have won Wimbledon as well as the US and Australian Opens , plus an Olympic gold medal, in an illustrious career. But her greatest achievement is perhaps showing that it is still possible to succeed in modern tennis as a mother. After giving birth to a baby son 12 months ago, she returned to win two of her three tournaments before the end of the year and has continued to notch up further victories in 2008. She made her breakthrough by winning the women's singles at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, but she secured full recognition as one of the best players of her generation only when she clinched the Wimbledon title in 1999. In an emotional final Davenport overcame Steffi Graf, who was playing her last major match. To underline her dominance that year, the American added the women's doubles with her compatriot, Corina Morariu, too.\nChris Evert\n1974, 1976, 1981\nKnown as the 'Ice Maiden' for having icicles in her veins on court, the American won her first Wimbledon title in 1974. That same year, her fiancé, Jimmy Connors, won the men's crown and the two of them danced together at the Champions' Ball. Their romance became known as the 'Love Match'. But they broke off the engagement later that year so there was no fairytale ending. However, she did go on to win two more Venus Rosewater Dishes, with triumphs in 1976 and 1981, and also married and then divorced John Lloyd, the British tennis player.\nBorg on Evert\nChris could play on every surface, but she was particularly comfortable on the Wimbledon grass. She knew exactly which shot to play. Everyone called me 'Ice Borg' or the 'Ice Man', but she was the 'Ice Maiden' of the women's game. She was a great champion\nAlthea Gibson\n1957-1958\nThe African-American Althea Gibson is one of the most important figures in Wimbledon's history as she was the first black player, male or female, to win a title on the grass of SW19. Born in North Carolina and raised in Harlem, she had it tough during her tennis education as she was barred from whites-only clubs and competitions. However, Gibson persevered with her tennis and secured her first Wimbledon title in 1957 and then backed it up by winning again the next year. She lived in poverty for much of her old age before dying in 2003. Venus and Serena Williams know that they owe much to Gibson.\nEvonne Goolagong\n1971, 1980\nShe was the daughter of a sheep shearer and the family lived in a tin shack in New South Wales. Yet that didn't stop Evonne Goolagong, an Australian of Aboriginal descent, following her dream of playing tennis. Her early career was funded by the Aboriginal community. \"The town only had a population of 700, but they used to provide everything for me, including clothes, shoes and rackets,\" said Goolagong. She won her first Wimbledon title in 1971, beating Margaret Court, and a second in 1980, beating Chris Evert.\nSteffi Graf\n1988-1989, 1991-1993, 1995-1996\nSteffi Graf was to win a total of seven Wimbledon singles titles up to 1996, but none would surpass her first. In 1988 she dethroned Martina Navratilova at the All England Club on the way to collecting all four major championships in a calendar year. And she then added a victory at the Seoul Olympics to produce a unique Golden grand slam. An added bonus that year was her success in the Wimbledon doubles with Gabriela Sabatini, of Argentina, for her only major title in that version of the game. In 1989 the then German supremacy in tennis was underlined with Wimbledon wins for both Graf and Boris Becker. Graf went on to collect a remarkable 22 grand slam singles crowns before marrying Andre Agassi in a rare match-up of Wimbledon champions.\nBorg on Graf\nIt's difficult to compare one generation to another, but there is no question that Steffi was one of the greats. She worked extremely hard on her tennis, she had that brilliant forehand, and I remember watching a lot of her matches at Wimbledon. I can't think of one weakness in Steffi's game\nBlanche Bingley Hillyard\n1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899-1900\nFirst as Blanche Bingley and then as Mrs Hillyard, she became the first multiple champion of women's tennis. Her severe looks concealed a friendly and sporting nature, but she was nevertheless a ferocious competitor and claimed six Wimbledon titles from 1886 to 1900. Usually photographed wearing a tie as part of her formal tennis kit, she became well known at the time as an indefatigable player.\nMartina Hingis\n1997\nThe 'Little Swiss Miss' was just 16??years old when she beat Jana Novotna in the 1997 Wimbledon final and so became the youngest champion of the professional era. Martina Hingis displayed an excellent tennis brain; she played with an exceptionally high IQ, Mensa stuff off the strings. But 10 years on she tested positive for cocaine after a third-round defeat and was banned from the game. In the space of a decade Hingis had gone from a sweet-16 prodigy to a scandal-hit veteran.\nAnn Jones\n1969\nThe delight that greeted Ann Jones's triumph in 1969 was not just down to it being a home victory. As well as the Birmingham player's popularity, her success was all the sweeter for being unexpected. She was past her 30th birthday and competing at her 14th??Wimbledon. Having got through to the semi-finals, she put out the top seed, Margaret Court, before beating defending champion, Billie Jean King, in the final.\nBillie Jean King\n1966-1968, 1972-1973, 1975\nIt was not just her record 20?Wimbledon titles, six of them in the singles between 1966 and 1975, that King will be remembered for. She was the foremost pioneer of women's professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s, bringing a new athleticism to the female game and campaigning for fair rewards in return. To which end she played in the infamous 'Battle of the Sexes' in Houston, Texas, in 1973, when, as the reigning Wimbledon champion, she lost in three straight sets to Bobby Riggs, the 1939 men's victor at the All England Club. Having won the doubles on her first visit to SW19 as a teenager in 1961, she was nearly 36 years old at the time of her last success at the Championships in 1979 – partnering Martina Navratilova, who would later equal King's number of Wimbledon crowns. A less-heralded achievement was becoming the first woman to win at Wimbledon wearing glasses.\nBorg on King\nAll the players in the current generation should thank Billie Jean, as she is the one who has done the most to put women's tennis where it is now. If it wasn't for her, the women might not have equal prize money at Wimbledon these days. She has done some great work off the court, but she was also a great player on the court, let's not forget about that. She is one of the most important figures in the history of women's tennis, if not the most important\nSuzanne Lenglen\n1919-1923, 1925\nShe was French and she was fabulous. One of the first racket-twirling divas, Suzanne Lenglen used to sip brandy during the change of ends. And – shock horror – Lenglen showed her ankles to the world, sported a short hairstyle and refused to wear a corset at Wimbledon. Polite society didn't know what had hit it when Lenglen won the Wimbledon title in 1925. The French press nicknamed her 'La Divine' (the divine one) and she did much to get the starch out of the clothes and out of tennis as whole. She won six Wimbledon titles, with an uninterrupted stretch of five crowns from 1919-23, and the last in 1925.\nAlice Marble\n1939\nThe American Alice Marble was raped by a stranger when she was 15, but she overcame the trauma of that violent attack to become a professional tennis player. Marble won her Wimbledon title in 1939, just months before the outbreak of the Second World War. She married a pilot and miscarried her husband's child after a car accident during the war and a few days later he was killed in action. She attempted suicide, but then recovered and agreed to work as a spy for American intelligence, going on a difficult mission that involved contacting a former lover, a Swiss banker. Marble was shot in the back by a Nazi agent, but rescued by American intelligence. She died in 1990 at the age of 77.\nAmelie Mauresmo\n2006\nBefore Wimbledon in 2006 Amelie Mauresmo's talent had never been in doubt, just her mental fortitude. There was a time when the Frenchwoman was known as the choker-in-chief of women's tennis, when it seemed that an hour on the psychologist's couch would have been as useful as an hour on the practice court. However, she overcame the doubt and the doubters to beat Belgium's Justine Henin and win her Wimbledon title. \"I don't want people to talk about my nerves any more,\" she said triumphantly; winning Wimbledon had sealed her career.\nHelen Wills Moody\n1927-1930, 1932-1933, 1935, 1938\nThe American Helen Wills Moody was an introverted, shy woman to the point of being socially awkward, and on court she would show little emotion and ignore her opponent and the crowd. However, that shyness was often wrongly and unfairly seen as her being aloof and arrogant and she became known as 'Little Miss Poker Face', 'Queen Helen' and 'The Imperial Helen'. See, even back then, between the World Wars, the public wanted to see their stars emoting. Yet 'Little Miss Poker Face' went on to win eight Wimbledon titles, landing four in a row from 1927-30 and then the rest in 1932, 1933, 1935 and 1938. A serious woman and a serious champion.\nAngela Mortimer\n1961\nThe Henmania of later years was hardly a match for the patriotic fervour that surrounded Angela Mortimer's sole Wimbledon victory in 1961. There had been a wait of 24?years since Dorothy Round had provided the last triumph by a player from the host nation, but a new home-produced champion was guaranteed by the first all-British final since 1914, with Mortimer getting through to face Christine Truman. While Truman famously practised on shale courts in a local park, Mortimer was prepared by Arthur Roberts, the coach at the Palace Hotel in Torquay, which was renowned for its two covered courts. It produced a tennis player with a style that was a joy to watch, which proved enough to add a Wimbledon title to Mortimer's earlier successes in the French and Australian grand slam events.\nMartina Navratilova\n1978-1979, 1982-1987, 1990\nThere can be no disputing Martina Navratilova's supremacy at the All England Club. The joint-record holder with Billie Jean King of a total of 20 Wimbledon titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, she is unmatched in singles with nine victories. Having won the singles title in 1978 and 1979 and then another six victories in a row up to 1987 – when she defeated Germany's Steffi Graf to equal the American Helen Wills Moody's record of eight singles titles – she finally went past the record in 1990, in what was to be her final Wimbledon singles title, when she was almost 34 ??years old. Her longevity in doubles was even greater, spanning 17 years to 2003, when her victory in the mixed doubles made her, at 46 years 261 days, the oldest Wimbledon champion. It was possible only because she took physical fitness in tennis to new levels. And yet it could have been very different after her defection from Czechoslovakia to the US during the Cold War, as she initially showed such a passion for American junk food that she put on weight alarmingly. Turning that around proved to be the making of her.\nBorg on Navratilova\nI really admire Martina for the way she went on playing at the top for so long. Tennis was really in her heart and she kept on setting herself new goals. Her results speak for themselves. She had a game that was almost perfect for grass-court tennis. She was an aggressive player and liked to come into the net, and that is what you needed to do, to do well on Centre Court. Martina did a lot for women's tennis\nJana Novotna\n1998\nThe Czech player, Jana Novotna, was a popular loser, but also a popular winner. In 1993, after she was defeated in the final by Germany's Steffi Graf, Novotna famously sobbed on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent, and was then denied for a second time in 1997 when losing to Martina Hingis, of Switzerland. On this second occasion there were no tears staining the royal jacket, but the duchess was moved to remark to the runner-up: \"The third time will be third time lucky.\" A year later Novotna beat Nathalie Tauziat, of France, and the Venus Rosewater Dish was hers. But there was another quiet word from the Duchess. \"I was right,\" the Duchess told her.\nMaria Sharapova\n2004\nOne sunny afternoon in the summer of 2004, the 17-year-old Siberian became an international superstar when beating Serena Williams in the final. With her photogenic looks, this was a victory made in marketing men's heaven and she has gone on to become the world's highest-earning sportswoman. Don't think that Maria Sharapova doesn't have a sense of her own worth. She is a businesswoman as well as an athlete.\nBorg on Sharapova\nIt doesn't hurt to look good, and Maria looks good, but what she really cares about is winning titles. Every time she goes on the court, she gives absolutely everything. She loves to win and hates to lose. She won Wimbledon at such a young age, at 17, but she has a game that is well suited to grass. She's a great athlete, her game is well-suited to playing on grass, and you can tell that she enjoys being on Centre Court\nVirginia Wade\n1977\nIt's the cardigan that most people remember, Virginia Wade having walked on to Centre Court for the 1977 final wearing a natty pink one with a monogrammed 'VW' on the front. She peeled the pink cardy off and then went out and beat Holland's Betty Stove. It was quite a way to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, with the monarch in attendance that day in the Royal Box. Afterwards the crowd sang \"For she's a jolly fellow\", and it wasn't directed at Her Majesty, but at Wade. No British woman has won Wimbledon since and Wade is as frustrated as anyone by that. British winners are as retro as Wade's attire that day.\nMaud Watson\n1884-1885\nMaud Watson is inevitably found in tennis books as the first in historical lists. She won Wimbledon on her debut in 1884, owing to it being the inaugural staging of the women's singles at the Championships. In doing so she was the first player to beat her sister, having to overcome her older sibling, Lillian, in the final. Maud was also the first champion, man or woman, to wear headgear, sporting a neat straw hat, something which was by no means usual on court at the time. The following year she also went on to become the first to defend the title successfully. It was a shame, then, that a trophy was not provided for the women's event until the year after the last of her two victories.\nVenus and Serena Williams\n2000-2001, 2005, 2007 (Venus) 2002-2003 (Serena)\nVenus Williams may have a kooky off-court air, but she is the finest grass-court player of her generation. Going into the 2008 Championships, Williams had already appeared in six Wimbledon finals. She won her first title in 2000, added a second a year later, picked up a third in 2005 and then won her fourth last summer when she was hitting the ball so violently that she made Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli's wrist sting. The only two finals that she lost were to her younger sister, Serena, in 2002 and 2003.\nSerena may go on court with designer handbags and outrageous earrings, but don't for a minute think that the American is anything other than ferociously competitive. Serena has won two Wimbledon titles, in 2002 and 2003, and on both occasions she had to beat her older sister Venus in the final. The sisters, both coached from an early age by their father, Richard, have won the title six??times between them, but those all-Williams finals have rarely lived up to the hype.\nBorg on the Williams sisters\nI've always enjoyed watching the Williams sisters play as they strike the ball so powerfully. That has often been the difference for them. And maybe they could have won more titles than they have so far, but they have been unlucky. It must have been tricky for them having to play against each other in the Wimbledon final. They are a very close family and they do everything together, so having to play each other in a grand slam final, I can't even imagine how difficult that would be for them. If I had a brother and I had to play him in the final of Wimbledon, I have no idea how I would have behaved towards him before the match, what I would have said to him. You can tell that it's a strange situation for Venus and Serena as the tennis they have produced against each other hasn't been as good as when they have played against someone else",
"Wimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25. ... after she won her first Wimbledon title in ... the women's singles at the Championships. In doing so she was the ...\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25\n9:41AM BST 28 Jun 2008\nFormer champion Bjorn Borg reveals his top 25 women while Mark Hodgkinson and Kaz Mochlinski profile the players.\nLouise Brough\n1948-1950, 1955\nNo player has ever dominated Wimbledon more completely than did Brough in the three Championships between 1948 and 1950. Not only did she collect three of her four singles titles in that time, but she reached the final of every event, winning eight out of nine. The only final she lost was the mixed doubles in the middle year, when she played 117 games in three finals that involved five hours 20 minutes' playing time on Centre Court on the final Saturday of the tournament. Her hard volleying was ideally suited to the Wimbledon grass courts, which she again demonstrated in adding a last singles victory in 1955. It was her 13th title in total at the All England Club and she did not drop a set in winning it. With Margaret du Pont, she also collected a remarkable 12 women's doubles successes in the US Championships.\nMaria Bueno\n1959-1960, 1964\nThe lithe and elegant Brazilian brought sex appeal to the Wimbledon lawns, improving the SW19 libido. All the men in the Centre Court crowd fell in love with Bueno after she won her first Wimbledon title in 1959, after which she was given a prize of a clothes voucher and then flown back in a presidential jet to a ticker-tape parade in Sao Paolo. In future years she titillated Wimbledon by wearing a white dress with a pink lining, and also won two more titles, in 1960 and 1964.\nMaureen Connolly\n1952-1954\nHer first love was horse riding, but Maureen Connolly's mother could not afford the lessons and she turned to tennis. 'Little Mo' snaffled a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles, from 1952-54, and was a popular figure back home in the United States. But that did not stop her from speaking of \"the dark destiny\" of her tennis career. \"I always believed greatness on a tennis court was my destiny, a dark destiny at times, where the court became my secret jungle and I, a lonely, fear-stricken hunter. I was a strange little girl armed with hate, fear and a golden racket,\" Connolly once said.\nMargaret Court\n1963, 1965, 1970\n'Big Marge' dominated the tour in the 1960s and 1970s, winning her first two Wimbledon titles, as Margaret Smith, in 1963 and 1965. She quit the circuit in 1966 to marry and start a family, but returned to the game as Margaret Court, and in 1970 won all four majors to achieve the grand slam. On the Wimbledon leg of that feat, Court and the American Billie Jean King contested what was one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history, with the Australian eventually closing out a 14-12, 11-9 victory. In addition to her three Wimbledon trophies, Court won a further 21 grand slam singles titles, taking her singles tally to 24, and many consider her to be the greatest female player to have ever stepped on Centre Court.\nLindsay Davenport\n1999\nAmerican Lindsay Davenport may have won Wimbledon as well as the US and Australian Opens , plus an Olympic gold medal, in an illustrious career. But her greatest achievement is perhaps showing that it is still possible to succeed in modern tennis as a mother. After giving birth to a baby son 12 months ago, she returned to win two of her three tournaments before the end of the year and has continued to notch up further victories in 2008. She made her breakthrough by winning the women's singles at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, but she secured full recognition as one of the best players of her generation only when she clinched the Wimbledon title in 1999. In an emotional final Davenport overcame Steffi Graf, who was playing her last major match. To underline her dominance that year, the American added the women's doubles with her compatriot, Corina Morariu, too.\nChris Evert\n1974, 1976, 1981\nKnown as the 'Ice Maiden' for having icicles in her veins on court, the American won her first Wimbledon title in 1974. That same year, her fiancé, Jimmy Connors, won the men's crown and the two of them danced together at the Champions' Ball. Their romance became known as the 'Love Match'. But they broke off the engagement later that year so there was no fairytale ending. However, she did go on to win two more Venus Rosewater Dishes, with triumphs in 1976 and 1981, and also married and then divorced John Lloyd, the British tennis player.\nBorg on Evert\nChris could play on every surface, but she was particularly comfortable on the Wimbledon grass. She knew exactly which shot to play. Everyone called me 'Ice Borg' or the 'Ice Man', but she was the 'Ice Maiden' of the women's game. She was a great champion\nAlthea Gibson\n1957-1958\nThe African-American Althea Gibson is one of the most important figures in Wimbledon's history as she was the first black player, male or female, to win a title on the grass of SW19. Born in North Carolina and raised in Harlem, she had it tough during her tennis education as she was barred from whites-only clubs and competitions. However, Gibson persevered with her tennis and secured her first Wimbledon title in 1957 and then backed it up by winning again the next year. She lived in poverty for much of her old age before dying in 2003. Venus and Serena Williams know that they owe much to Gibson.\nEvonne Goolagong\n1971, 1980\nShe was the daughter of a sheep shearer and the family lived in a tin shack in New South Wales. Yet that didn't stop Evonne Goolagong, an Australian of Aboriginal descent, following her dream of playing tennis. Her early career was funded by the Aboriginal community. \"The town only had a population of 700, but they used to provide everything for me, including clothes, shoes and rackets,\" said Goolagong. She won her first Wimbledon title in 1971, beating Margaret Court, and a second in 1980, beating Chris Evert.\nSteffi Graf\n1988-1989, 1991-1993, 1995-1996\nSteffi Graf was to win a total of seven Wimbledon singles titles up to 1996, but none would surpass her first. In 1988 she dethroned Martina Navratilova at the All England Club on the way to collecting all four major championships in a calendar year. And she then added a victory at the Seoul Olympics to produce a unique Golden grand slam. An added bonus that year was her success in the Wimbledon doubles with Gabriela Sabatini, of Argentina, for her only major title in that version of the game. In 1989 the then German supremacy in tennis was underlined with Wimbledon wins for both Graf and Boris Becker. Graf went on to collect a remarkable 22 grand slam singles crowns before marrying Andre Agassi in a rare match-up of Wimbledon champions.\nBorg on Graf\nIt's difficult to compare one generation to another, but there is no question that Steffi was one of the greats. She worked extremely hard on her tennis, she had that brilliant forehand, and I remember watching a lot of her matches at Wimbledon. I can't think of one weakness in Steffi's game\nBlanche Bingley Hillyard\n1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899-1900\nFirst as Blanche Bingley and then as Mrs Hillyard, she became the first multiple champion of women's tennis. Her severe looks concealed a friendly and sporting nature, but she was nevertheless a ferocious competitor and claimed six Wimbledon titles from 1886 to 1900. Usually photographed wearing a tie as part of her formal tennis kit, she became well known at the time as an indefatigable player.\nMartina Hingis\n1997\nThe 'Little Swiss Miss' was just 16??years old when she beat Jana Novotna in the 1997 Wimbledon final and so became the youngest champion of the professional era. Martina Hingis displayed an excellent tennis brain; she played with an exceptionally high IQ, Mensa stuff off the strings. But 10 years on she tested positive for cocaine after a third-round defeat and was banned from the game. In the space of a decade Hingis had gone from a sweet-16 prodigy to a scandal-hit veteran.\nAnn Jones\n1969\nThe delight that greeted Ann Jones's triumph in 1969 was not just down to it being a home victory. As well as the Birmingham player's popularity, her success was all the sweeter for being unexpected. She was past her 30th birthday and competing at her 14th??Wimbledon. Having got through to the semi-finals, she put out the top seed, Margaret Court, before beating defending champion, Billie Jean King, in the final.\nBillie Jean King\n1966-1968, 1972-1973, 1975\nIt was not just her record 20?Wimbledon titles, six of them in the singles between 1966 and 1975, that King will be remembered for. She was the foremost pioneer of women's professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s, bringing a new athleticism to the female game and campaigning for fair rewards in return. To which end she played in the infamous 'Battle of the Sexes' in Houston, Texas, in 1973, when, as the reigning Wimbledon champion, she lost in three straight sets to Bobby Riggs, the 1939 men's victor at the All England Club. Having won the doubles on her first visit to SW19 as a teenager in 1961, she was nearly 36 years old at the time of her last success at the Championships in 1979 – partnering Martina Navratilova, who would later equal King's number of Wimbledon crowns. A less-heralded achievement was becoming the first woman to win at Wimbledon wearing glasses.\nBorg on King\nAll the players in the current generation should thank Billie Jean, as she is the one who has done the most to put women's tennis where it is now. If it wasn't for her, the women might not have equal prize money at Wimbledon these days. She has done some great work off the court, but she was also a great player on the court, let's not forget about that. She is one of the most important figures in the history of women's tennis, if not the most important\nSuzanne Lenglen\n1919-1923, 1925\nShe was French and she was fabulous. One of the first racket-twirling divas, Suzanne Lenglen used to sip brandy during the change of ends. And – shock horror – Lenglen showed her ankles to the world, sported a short hairstyle and refused to wear a corset at Wimbledon. Polite society didn't know what had hit it when Lenglen won the Wimbledon title in 1925. The French press nicknamed her 'La Divine' (the divine one) and she did much to get the starch out of the clothes and out of tennis as whole. She won six Wimbledon titles, with an uninterrupted stretch of five crowns from 1919-23, and the last in 1925.\nAlice Marble\n1939\nThe American Alice Marble was raped by a stranger when she was 15, but she overcame the trauma of that violent attack to become a professional tennis player. Marble won her Wimbledon title in 1939, just months before the outbreak of the Second World War. She married a pilot and miscarried her husband's child after a car accident during the war and a few days later he was killed in action. She attempted suicide, but then recovered and agreed to work as a spy for American intelligence, going on a difficult mission that involved contacting a former lover, a Swiss banker. Marble was shot in the back by a Nazi agent, but rescued by American intelligence. She died in 1990 at the age of 77.\nAmelie Mauresmo\n2006\nBefore Wimbledon in 2006 Amelie Mauresmo's talent had never been in doubt, just her mental fortitude. There was a time when the Frenchwoman was known as the choker-in-chief of women's tennis, when it seemed that an hour on the psychologist's couch would have been as useful as an hour on the practice court. However, she overcame the doubt and the doubters to beat Belgium's Justine Henin and win her Wimbledon title. \"I don't want people to talk about my nerves any more,\" she said triumphantly; winning Wimbledon had sealed her career.\nHelen Wills Moody\n1927-1930, 1932-1933, 1935, 1938\nThe American Helen Wills Moody was an introverted, shy woman to the point of being socially awkward, and on court she would show little emotion and ignore her opponent and the crowd. However, that shyness was often wrongly and unfairly seen as her being aloof and arrogant and she became known as 'Little Miss Poker Face', 'Queen Helen' and 'The Imperial Helen'. See, even back then, between the World Wars, the public wanted to see their stars emoting. Yet 'Little Miss Poker Face' went on to win eight Wimbledon titles, landing four in a row from 1927-30 and then the rest in 1932, 1933, 1935 and 1938. A serious woman and a serious champion.\nAngela Mortimer\n1961\nThe Henmania of later years was hardly a match for the patriotic fervour that surrounded Angela Mortimer's sole Wimbledon victory in 1961. There had been a wait of 24?years since Dorothy Round had provided the last triumph by a player from the host nation, but a new home-produced champion was guaranteed by the first all-British final since 1914, with Mortimer getting through to face Christine Truman. While Truman famously practised on shale courts in a local park, Mortimer was prepared by Arthur Roberts, the coach at the Palace Hotel in Torquay, which was renowned for its two covered courts. It produced a tennis player with a style that was a joy to watch, which proved enough to add a Wimbledon title to Mortimer's earlier successes in the French and Australian grand slam events.\nMartina Navratilova\n1978-1979, 1982-1987, 1990\nThere can be no disputing Martina Navratilova's supremacy at the All England Club. The joint-record holder with Billie Jean King of a total of 20 Wimbledon titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, she is unmatched in singles with nine victories. Having won the singles title in 1978 and 1979 and then another six victories in a row up to 1987 – when she defeated Germany's Steffi Graf to equal the American Helen Wills Moody's record of eight singles titles – she finally went past the record in 1990, in what was to be her final Wimbledon singles title, when she was almost 34 ??years old. Her longevity in doubles was even greater, spanning 17 years to 2003, when her victory in the mixed doubles made her, at 46 years 261 days, the oldest Wimbledon champion. It was possible only because she took physical fitness in tennis to new levels. And yet it could have been very different after her defection from Czechoslovakia to the US during the Cold War, as she initially showed such a passion for American junk food that she put on weight alarmingly. Turning that around proved to be the making of her.\nBorg on Navratilova\nI really admire Martina for the way she went on playing at the top for so long. Tennis was really in her heart and she kept on setting herself new goals. Her results speak for themselves. She had a game that was almost perfect for grass-court tennis. She was an aggressive player and liked to come into the net, and that is what you needed to do, to do well on Centre Court. Martina did a lot for women's tennis\nJana Novotna\n1998\nThe Czech player, Jana Novotna, was a popular loser, but also a popular winner. In 1993, after she was defeated in the final by Germany's Steffi Graf, Novotna famously sobbed on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent, and was then denied for a second time in 1997 when losing to Martina Hingis, of Switzerland. On this second occasion there were no tears staining the royal jacket, but the duchess was moved to remark to the runner-up: \"The third time will be third time lucky.\" A year later Novotna beat Nathalie Tauziat, of France, and the Venus Rosewater Dish was hers. But there was another quiet word from the Duchess. \"I was right,\" the Duchess told her.\nMaria Sharapova\n2004\nOne sunny afternoon in the summer of 2004, the 17-year-old Siberian became an international superstar when beating Serena Williams in the final. With her photogenic looks, this was a victory made in marketing men's heaven and she has gone on to become the world's highest-earning sportswoman. Don't think that Maria Sharapova doesn't have a sense of her own worth. She is a businesswoman as well as an athlete.\nBorg on Sharapova\nIt doesn't hurt to look good, and Maria looks good, but what she really cares about is winning titles. Every time she goes on the court, she gives absolutely everything. She loves to win and hates to lose. She won Wimbledon at such a young age, at 17, but she has a game that is well suited to grass. She's a great athlete, her game is well-suited to playing on grass, and you can tell that she enjoys being on Centre Court\nVirginia Wade\n1977\nIt's the cardigan that most people remember, Virginia Wade having walked on to Centre Court for the 1977 final wearing a natty pink one with a monogrammed 'VW' on the front. She peeled the pink cardy off and then went out and beat Holland's Betty Stove. It was quite a way to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, with the monarch in attendance that day in the Royal Box. Afterwards the crowd sang \"For she's a jolly fellow\", and it wasn't directed at Her Majesty, but at Wade. No British woman has won Wimbledon since and Wade is as frustrated as anyone by that. British winners are as retro as Wade's attire that day.\nMaud Watson\n1884-1885\nMaud Watson is inevitably found in tennis books as the first in historical lists. She won Wimbledon on her debut in 1884, owing to it being the inaugural staging of the women's singles at the Championships. In doing so she was the first player to beat her sister, having to overcome her older sibling, Lillian, in the final. Maud was also the first champion, man or woman, to wear headgear, sporting a neat straw hat, something which was by no means usual on court at the time. The following year she also went on to become the first to defend the title successfully. It was a shame, then, that a trophy was not provided for the women's event until the year after the last of her two victories.\nVenus and Serena Williams\n2000-2001, 2005, 2007 (Venus) 2002-2003 (Serena)\nVenus Williams may have a kooky off-court air, but she is the finest grass-court player of her generation. Going into the 2008 Championships, Williams had already appeared in six Wimbledon finals. She won her first title in 2000, added a second a year later, picked up a third in 2005 and then won her fourth last summer when she was hitting the ball so violently that she made Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli's wrist sting. The only two finals that she lost were to her younger sister, Serena, in 2002 and 2003.\nSerena may go on court with designer handbags and outrageous earrings, but don't for a minute think that the American is anything other than ferociously competitive. Serena has won two Wimbledon titles, in 2002 and 2003, and on both occasions she had to beat her older sister Venus in the final. The sisters, both coached from an early age by their father, Richard, have won the title six??times between them, but those all-Williams finals have rarely lived up to the hype.\nBorg on the Williams sisters\nI've always enjoyed watching the Williams sisters play as they strike the ball so powerfully. That has often been the difference for them. And maybe they could have won more titles than they have so far, but they have been unlucky. It must have been tricky for them having to play against each other in the Wimbledon final. They are a very close family and they do everything together, so having to play each other in a grand slam final, I can't even imagine how difficult that would be for them. If I had a brother and I had to play him in the final of Wimbledon, I have no idea how I would have behaved towards him before the match, what I would have said to him. You can tell that it's a strange situation for Venus and Serena as the tennis they have produced against each other hasn't been as good as when they have played against someone else",
"Wimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25. ... crowd fell in love with Bueno after she won her first Wimbledon title in ... beating defending champion, ...\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25\n9:41AM BST 28 Jun 2008\nFormer champion Bjorn Borg reveals his top 25 women while Mark Hodgkinson and Kaz Mochlinski profile the players.\nLouise Brough\n1948-1950, 1955\nNo player has ever dominated Wimbledon more completely than did Brough in the three Championships between 1948 and 1950. Not only did she collect three of her four singles titles in that time, but she reached the final of every event, winning eight out of nine. The only final she lost was the mixed doubles in the middle year, when she played 117 games in three finals that involved five hours 20 minutes' playing time on Centre Court on the final Saturday of the tournament. Her hard volleying was ideally suited to the Wimbledon grass courts, which she again demonstrated in adding a last singles victory in 1955. It was her 13th title in total at the All England Club and she did not drop a set in winning it. With Margaret du Pont, she also collected a remarkable 12 women's doubles successes in the US Championships.\nMaria Bueno\n1959-1960, 1964\nThe lithe and elegant Brazilian brought sex appeal to the Wimbledon lawns, improving the SW19 libido. All the men in the Centre Court crowd fell in love with Bueno after she won her first Wimbledon title in 1959, after which she was given a prize of a clothes voucher and then flown back in a presidential jet to a ticker-tape parade in Sao Paolo. In future years she titillated Wimbledon by wearing a white dress with a pink lining, and also won two more titles, in 1960 and 1964.\nMaureen Connolly\n1952-1954\nHer first love was horse riding, but Maureen Connolly's mother could not afford the lessons and she turned to tennis. 'Little Mo' snaffled a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles, from 1952-54, and was a popular figure back home in the United States. But that did not stop her from speaking of \"the dark destiny\" of her tennis career. \"I always believed greatness on a tennis court was my destiny, a dark destiny at times, where the court became my secret jungle and I, a lonely, fear-stricken hunter. I was a strange little girl armed with hate, fear and a golden racket,\" Connolly once said.\nMargaret Court\n1963, 1965, 1970\n'Big Marge' dominated the tour in the 1960s and 1970s, winning her first two Wimbledon titles, as Margaret Smith, in 1963 and 1965. She quit the circuit in 1966 to marry and start a family, but returned to the game as Margaret Court, and in 1970 won all four majors to achieve the grand slam. On the Wimbledon leg of that feat, Court and the American Billie Jean King contested what was one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history, with the Australian eventually closing out a 14-12, 11-9 victory. In addition to her three Wimbledon trophies, Court won a further 21 grand slam singles titles, taking her singles tally to 24, and many consider her to be the greatest female player to have ever stepped on Centre Court.\nLindsay Davenport\n1999\nAmerican Lindsay Davenport may have won Wimbledon as well as the US and Australian Opens , plus an Olympic gold medal, in an illustrious career. But her greatest achievement is perhaps showing that it is still possible to succeed in modern tennis as a mother. After giving birth to a baby son 12 months ago, she returned to win two of her three tournaments before the end of the year and has continued to notch up further victories in 2008. She made her breakthrough by winning the women's singles at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, but she secured full recognition as one of the best players of her generation only when she clinched the Wimbledon title in 1999. In an emotional final Davenport overcame Steffi Graf, who was playing her last major match. To underline her dominance that year, the American added the women's doubles with her compatriot, Corina Morariu, too.\nChris Evert\n1974, 1976, 1981\nKnown as the 'Ice Maiden' for having icicles in her veins on court, the American won her first Wimbledon title in 1974. That same year, her fiancé, Jimmy Connors, won the men's crown and the two of them danced together at the Champions' Ball. Their romance became known as the 'Love Match'. But they broke off the engagement later that year so there was no fairytale ending. However, she did go on to win two more Venus Rosewater Dishes, with triumphs in 1976 and 1981, and also married and then divorced John Lloyd, the British tennis player.\nBorg on Evert\nChris could play on every surface, but she was particularly comfortable on the Wimbledon grass. She knew exactly which shot to play. Everyone called me 'Ice Borg' or the 'Ice Man', but she was the 'Ice Maiden' of the women's game. She was a great champion\nAlthea Gibson\n1957-1958\nThe African-American Althea Gibson is one of the most important figures in Wimbledon's history as she was the first black player, male or female, to win a title on the grass of SW19. Born in North Carolina and raised in Harlem, she had it tough during her tennis education as she was barred from whites-only clubs and competitions. However, Gibson persevered with her tennis and secured her first Wimbledon title in 1957 and then backed it up by winning again the next year. She lived in poverty for much of her old age before dying in 2003. Venus and Serena Williams know that they owe much to Gibson.\nEvonne Goolagong\n1971, 1980\nShe was the daughter of a sheep shearer and the family lived in a tin shack in New South Wales. Yet that didn't stop Evonne Goolagong, an Australian of Aboriginal descent, following her dream of playing tennis. Her early career was funded by the Aboriginal community. \"The town only had a population of 700, but they used to provide everything for me, including clothes, shoes and rackets,\" said Goolagong. She won her first Wimbledon title in 1971, beating Margaret Court, and a second in 1980, beating Chris Evert.\nSteffi Graf\n1988-1989, 1991-1993, 1995-1996\nSteffi Graf was to win a total of seven Wimbledon singles titles up to 1996, but none would surpass her first. In 1988 she dethroned Martina Navratilova at the All England Club on the way to collecting all four major championships in a calendar year. And she then added a victory at the Seoul Olympics to produce a unique Golden grand slam. An added bonus that year was her success in the Wimbledon doubles with Gabriela Sabatini, of Argentina, for her only major title in that version of the game. In 1989 the then German supremacy in tennis was underlined with Wimbledon wins for both Graf and Boris Becker. Graf went on to collect a remarkable 22 grand slam singles crowns before marrying Andre Agassi in a rare match-up of Wimbledon champions.\nBorg on Graf\nIt's difficult to compare one generation to another, but there is no question that Steffi was one of the greats. She worked extremely hard on her tennis, she had that brilliant forehand, and I remember watching a lot of her matches at Wimbledon. I can't think of one weakness in Steffi's game\nBlanche Bingley Hillyard\n1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899-1900\nFirst as Blanche Bingley and then as Mrs Hillyard, she became the first multiple champion of women's tennis. Her severe looks concealed a friendly and sporting nature, but she was nevertheless a ferocious competitor and claimed six Wimbledon titles from 1886 to 1900. Usually photographed wearing a tie as part of her formal tennis kit, she became well known at the time as an indefatigable player.\nMartina Hingis\n1997\nThe 'Little Swiss Miss' was just 16??years old when she beat Jana Novotna in the 1997 Wimbledon final and so became the youngest champion of the professional era. Martina Hingis displayed an excellent tennis brain; she played with an exceptionally high IQ, Mensa stuff off the strings. But 10 years on she tested positive for cocaine after a third-round defeat and was banned from the game. In the space of a decade Hingis had gone from a sweet-16 prodigy to a scandal-hit veteran.\nAnn Jones\n1969\nThe delight that greeted Ann Jones's triumph in 1969 was not just down to it being a home victory. As well as the Birmingham player's popularity, her success was all the sweeter for being unexpected. She was past her 30th birthday and competing at her 14th??Wimbledon. Having got through to the semi-finals, she put out the top seed, Margaret Court, before beating defending champion, Billie Jean King, in the final.\nBillie Jean King\n1966-1968, 1972-1973, 1975\nIt was not just her record 20?Wimbledon titles, six of them in the singles between 1966 and 1975, that King will be remembered for. She was the foremost pioneer of women's professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s, bringing a new athleticism to the female game and campaigning for fair rewards in return. To which end she played in the infamous 'Battle of the Sexes' in Houston, Texas, in 1973, when, as the reigning Wimbledon champion, she lost in three straight sets to Bobby Riggs, the 1939 men's victor at the All England Club. Having won the doubles on her first visit to SW19 as a teenager in 1961, she was nearly 36 years old at the time of her last success at the Championships in 1979 – partnering Martina Navratilova, who would later equal King's number of Wimbledon crowns. A less-heralded achievement was becoming the first woman to win at Wimbledon wearing glasses.\nBorg on King\nAll the players in the current generation should thank Billie Jean, as she is the one who has done the most to put women's tennis where it is now. If it wasn't for her, the women might not have equal prize money at Wimbledon these days. She has done some great work off the court, but she was also a great player on the court, let's not forget about that. She is one of the most important figures in the history of women's tennis, if not the most important\nSuzanne Lenglen\n1919-1923, 1925\nShe was French and she was fabulous. One of the first racket-twirling divas, Suzanne Lenglen used to sip brandy during the change of ends. And – shock horror – Lenglen showed her ankles to the world, sported a short hairstyle and refused to wear a corset at Wimbledon. Polite society didn't know what had hit it when Lenglen won the Wimbledon title in 1925. The French press nicknamed her 'La Divine' (the divine one) and she did much to get the starch out of the clothes and out of tennis as whole. She won six Wimbledon titles, with an uninterrupted stretch of five crowns from 1919-23, and the last in 1925.\nAlice Marble\n1939\nThe American Alice Marble was raped by a stranger when she was 15, but she overcame the trauma of that violent attack to become a professional tennis player. Marble won her Wimbledon title in 1939, just months before the outbreak of the Second World War. She married a pilot and miscarried her husband's child after a car accident during the war and a few days later he was killed in action. She attempted suicide, but then recovered and agreed to work as a spy for American intelligence, going on a difficult mission that involved contacting a former lover, a Swiss banker. Marble was shot in the back by a Nazi agent, but rescued by American intelligence. She died in 1990 at the age of 77.\nAmelie Mauresmo\n2006\nBefore Wimbledon in 2006 Amelie Mauresmo's talent had never been in doubt, just her mental fortitude. There was a time when the Frenchwoman was known as the choker-in-chief of women's tennis, when it seemed that an hour on the psychologist's couch would have been as useful as an hour on the practice court. However, she overcame the doubt and the doubters to beat Belgium's Justine Henin and win her Wimbledon title. \"I don't want people to talk about my nerves any more,\" she said triumphantly; winning Wimbledon had sealed her career.\nHelen Wills Moody\n1927-1930, 1932-1933, 1935, 1938\nThe American Helen Wills Moody was an introverted, shy woman to the point of being socially awkward, and on court she would show little emotion and ignore her opponent and the crowd. However, that shyness was often wrongly and unfairly seen as her being aloof and arrogant and she became known as 'Little Miss Poker Face', 'Queen Helen' and 'The Imperial Helen'. See, even back then, between the World Wars, the public wanted to see their stars emoting. Yet 'Little Miss Poker Face' went on to win eight Wimbledon titles, landing four in a row from 1927-30 and then the rest in 1932, 1933, 1935 and 1938. A serious woman and a serious champion.\nAngela Mortimer\n1961\nThe Henmania of later years was hardly a match for the patriotic fervour that surrounded Angela Mortimer's sole Wimbledon victory in 1961. There had been a wait of 24?years since Dorothy Round had provided the last triumph by a player from the host nation, but a new home-produced champion was guaranteed by the first all-British final since 1914, with Mortimer getting through to face Christine Truman. While Truman famously practised on shale courts in a local park, Mortimer was prepared by Arthur Roberts, the coach at the Palace Hotel in Torquay, which was renowned for its two covered courts. It produced a tennis player with a style that was a joy to watch, which proved enough to add a Wimbledon title to Mortimer's earlier successes in the French and Australian grand slam events.\nMartina Navratilova\n1978-1979, 1982-1987, 1990\nThere can be no disputing Martina Navratilova's supremacy at the All England Club. The joint-record holder with Billie Jean King of a total of 20 Wimbledon titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, she is unmatched in singles with nine victories. Having won the singles title in 1978 and 1979 and then another six victories in a row up to 1987 – when she defeated Germany's Steffi Graf to equal the American Helen Wills Moody's record of eight singles titles – she finally went past the record in 1990, in what was to be her final Wimbledon singles title, when she was almost 34 ??years old. Her longevity in doubles was even greater, spanning 17 years to 2003, when her victory in the mixed doubles made her, at 46 years 261 days, the oldest Wimbledon champion. It was possible only because she took physical fitness in tennis to new levels. And yet it could have been very different after her defection from Czechoslovakia to the US during the Cold War, as she initially showed such a passion for American junk food that she put on weight alarmingly. Turning that around proved to be the making of her.\nBorg on Navratilova\nI really admire Martina for the way she went on playing at the top for so long. Tennis was really in her heart and she kept on setting herself new goals. Her results speak for themselves. She had a game that was almost perfect for grass-court tennis. She was an aggressive player and liked to come into the net, and that is what you needed to do, to do well on Centre Court. Martina did a lot for women's tennis\nJana Novotna\n1998\nThe Czech player, Jana Novotna, was a popular loser, but also a popular winner. In 1993, after she was defeated in the final by Germany's Steffi Graf, Novotna famously sobbed on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent, and was then denied for a second time in 1997 when losing to Martina Hingis, of Switzerland. On this second occasion there were no tears staining the royal jacket, but the duchess was moved to remark to the runner-up: \"The third time will be third time lucky.\" A year later Novotna beat Nathalie Tauziat, of France, and the Venus Rosewater Dish was hers. But there was another quiet word from the Duchess. \"I was right,\" the Duchess told her.\nMaria Sharapova\n2004\nOne sunny afternoon in the summer of 2004, the 17-year-old Siberian became an international superstar when beating Serena Williams in the final. With her photogenic looks, this was a victory made in marketing men's heaven and she has gone on to become the world's highest-earning sportswoman. Don't think that Maria Sharapova doesn't have a sense of her own worth. She is a businesswoman as well as an athlete.\nBorg on Sharapova\nIt doesn't hurt to look good, and Maria looks good, but what she really cares about is winning titles. Every time she goes on the court, she gives absolutely everything. She loves to win and hates to lose. She won Wimbledon at such a young age, at 17, but she has a game that is well suited to grass. She's a great athlete, her game is well-suited to playing on grass, and you can tell that she enjoys being on Centre Court\nVirginia Wade\n1977\nIt's the cardigan that most people remember, Virginia Wade having walked on to Centre Court for the 1977 final wearing a natty pink one with a monogrammed 'VW' on the front. She peeled the pink cardy off and then went out and beat Holland's Betty Stove. It was quite a way to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, with the monarch in attendance that day in the Royal Box. Afterwards the crowd sang \"For she's a jolly fellow\", and it wasn't directed at Her Majesty, but at Wade. No British woman has won Wimbledon since and Wade is as frustrated as anyone by that. British winners are as retro as Wade's attire that day.\nMaud Watson\n1884-1885\nMaud Watson is inevitably found in tennis books as the first in historical lists. She won Wimbledon on her debut in 1884, owing to it being the inaugural staging of the women's singles at the Championships. In doing so she was the first player to beat her sister, having to overcome her older sibling, Lillian, in the final. Maud was also the first champion, man or woman, to wear headgear, sporting a neat straw hat, something which was by no means usual on court at the time. The following year she also went on to become the first to defend the title successfully. It was a shame, then, that a trophy was not provided for the women's event until the year after the last of her two victories.\nVenus and Serena Williams\n2000-2001, 2005, 2007 (Venus) 2002-2003 (Serena)\nVenus Williams may have a kooky off-court air, but she is the finest grass-court player of her generation. Going into the 2008 Championships, Williams had already appeared in six Wimbledon finals. She won her first title in 2000, added a second a year later, picked up a third in 2005 and then won her fourth last summer when she was hitting the ball so violently that she made Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli's wrist sting. The only two finals that she lost were to her younger sister, Serena, in 2002 and 2003.\nSerena may go on court with designer handbags and outrageous earrings, but don't for a minute think that the American is anything other than ferociously competitive. Serena has won two Wimbledon titles, in 2002 and 2003, and on both occasions she had to beat her older sister Venus in the final. The sisters, both coached from an early age by their father, Richard, have won the title six??times between them, but those all-Williams finals have rarely lived up to the hype.\nBorg on the Williams sisters\nI've always enjoyed watching the Williams sisters play as they strike the ball so powerfully. That has often been the difference for them. And maybe they could have won more titles than they have so far, but they have been unlucky. It must have been tricky for them having to play against each other in the Wimbledon final. They are a very close family and they do everything together, so having to play each other in a grand slam final, I can't even imagine how difficult that would be for them. If I had a brother and I had to play him in the final of Wimbledon, I have no idea how I would have behaved towards him before the match, what I would have said to him. You can tell that it's a strange situation for Venus and Serena as the tennis they have produced against each other hasn't been as good as when they have played against someone else",
"Wimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25. ... Bueno after she won her first Wimbledon title ... when beating Serena Williams in the final. With her ...\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25 - Telegraph\nWimbledon Champions: Women's top 25\n9:41AM BST 28 Jun 2008\nFormer champion Bjorn Borg reveals his top 25 women while Mark Hodgkinson and Kaz Mochlinski profile the players.\nLouise Brough\n1948-1950, 1955\nNo player has ever dominated Wimbledon more completely than did Brough in the three Championships between 1948 and 1950. Not only did she collect three of her four singles titles in that time, but she reached the final of every event, winning eight out of nine. The only final she lost was the mixed doubles in the middle year, when she played 117 games in three finals that involved five hours 20 minutes' playing time on Centre Court on the final Saturday of the tournament. Her hard volleying was ideally suited to the Wimbledon grass courts, which she again demonstrated in adding a last singles victory in 1955. It was her 13th title in total at the All England Club and she did not drop a set in winning it. With Margaret du Pont, she also collected a remarkable 12 women's doubles successes in the US Championships.\nMaria Bueno\n1959-1960, 1964\nThe lithe and elegant Brazilian brought sex appeal to the Wimbledon lawns, improving the SW19 libido. All the men in the Centre Court crowd fell in love with Bueno after she won her first Wimbledon title in 1959, after which she was given a prize of a clothes voucher and then flown back in a presidential jet to a ticker-tape parade in Sao Paolo. In future years she titillated Wimbledon by wearing a white dress with a pink lining, and also won two more titles, in 1960 and 1964.\nMaureen Connolly\n1952-1954\nHer first love was horse riding, but Maureen Connolly's mother could not afford the lessons and she turned to tennis. 'Little Mo' snaffled a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles, from 1952-54, and was a popular figure back home in the United States. But that did not stop her from speaking of \"the dark destiny\" of her tennis career. \"I always believed greatness on a tennis court was my destiny, a dark destiny at times, where the court became my secret jungle and I, a lonely, fear-stricken hunter. I was a strange little girl armed with hate, fear and a golden racket,\" Connolly once said.\nMargaret Court\n1963, 1965, 1970\n'Big Marge' dominated the tour in the 1960s and 1970s, winning her first two Wimbledon titles, as Margaret Smith, in 1963 and 1965. She quit the circuit in 1966 to marry and start a family, but returned to the game as Margaret Court, and in 1970 won all four majors to achieve the grand slam. On the Wimbledon leg of that feat, Court and the American Billie Jean King contested what was one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history, with the Australian eventually closing out a 14-12, 11-9 victory. In addition to her three Wimbledon trophies, Court won a further 21 grand slam singles titles, taking her singles tally to 24, and many consider her to be the greatest female player to have ever stepped on Centre Court.\nLindsay Davenport\n1999\nAmerican Lindsay Davenport may have won Wimbledon as well as the US and Australian Opens , plus an Olympic gold medal, in an illustrious career. But her greatest achievement is perhaps showing that it is still possible to succeed in modern tennis as a mother. After giving birth to a baby son 12 months ago, she returned to win two of her three tournaments before the end of the year and has continued to notch up further victories in 2008. She made her breakthrough by winning the women's singles at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, but she secured full recognition as one of the best players of her generation only when she clinched the Wimbledon title in 1999. In an emotional final Davenport overcame Steffi Graf, who was playing her last major match. To underline her dominance that year, the American added the women's doubles with her compatriot, Corina Morariu, too.\nChris Evert\n1974, 1976, 1981\nKnown as the 'Ice Maiden' for having icicles in her veins on court, the American won her first Wimbledon title in 1974. That same year, her fiancé, Jimmy Connors, won the men's crown and the two of them danced together at the Champions' Ball. Their romance became known as the 'Love Match'. But they broke off the engagement later that year so there was no fairytale ending. However, she did go on to win two more Venus Rosewater Dishes, with triumphs in 1976 and 1981, and also married and then divorced John Lloyd, the British tennis player.\nBorg on Evert\nChris could play on every surface, but she was particularly comfortable on the Wimbledon grass. She knew exactly which shot to play. Everyone called me 'Ice Borg' or the 'Ice Man', but she was the 'Ice Maiden' of the women's game. She was a great champion\nAlthea Gibson\n1957-1958\nThe African-American Althea Gibson is one of the most important figures in Wimbledon's history as she was the first black player, male or female, to win a title on the grass of SW19. Born in North Carolina and raised in Harlem, she had it tough during her tennis education as she was barred from whites-only clubs and competitions. However, Gibson persevered with her tennis and secured her first Wimbledon title in 1957 and then backed it up by winning again the next year. She lived in poverty for much of her old age before dying in 2003. Venus and Serena Williams know that they owe much to Gibson.\nEvonne Goolagong\n1971, 1980\nShe was the daughter of a sheep shearer and the family lived in a tin shack in New South Wales. Yet that didn't stop Evonne Goolagong, an Australian of Aboriginal descent, following her dream of playing tennis. Her early career was funded by the Aboriginal community. \"The town only had a population of 700, but they used to provide everything for me, including clothes, shoes and rackets,\" said Goolagong. She won her first Wimbledon title in 1971, beating Margaret Court, and a second in 1980, beating Chris Evert.\nSteffi Graf\n1988-1989, 1991-1993, 1995-1996\nSteffi Graf was to win a total of seven Wimbledon singles titles up to 1996, but none would surpass her first. In 1988 she dethroned Martina Navratilova at the All England Club on the way to collecting all four major championships in a calendar year. And she then added a victory at the Seoul Olympics to produce a unique Golden grand slam. An added bonus that year was her success in the Wimbledon doubles with Gabriela Sabatini, of Argentina, for her only major title in that version of the game. In 1989 the then German supremacy in tennis was underlined with Wimbledon wins for both Graf and Boris Becker. Graf went on to collect a remarkable 22 grand slam singles crowns before marrying Andre Agassi in a rare match-up of Wimbledon champions.\nBorg on Graf\nIt's difficult to compare one generation to another, but there is no question that Steffi was one of the greats. She worked extremely hard on her tennis, she had that brilliant forehand, and I remember watching a lot of her matches at Wimbledon. I can't think of one weakness in Steffi's game\nBlanche Bingley Hillyard\n1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899-1900\nFirst as Blanche Bingley and then as Mrs Hillyard, she became the first multiple champion of women's tennis. Her severe looks concealed a friendly and sporting nature, but she was nevertheless a ferocious competitor and claimed six Wimbledon titles from 1886 to 1900. Usually photographed wearing a tie as part of her formal tennis kit, she became well known at the time as an indefatigable player.\nMartina Hingis\n1997\nThe 'Little Swiss Miss' was just 16??years old when she beat Jana Novotna in the 1997 Wimbledon final and so became the youngest champion of the professional era. Martina Hingis displayed an excellent tennis brain; she played with an exceptionally high IQ, Mensa stuff off the strings. But 10 years on she tested positive for cocaine after a third-round defeat and was banned from the game. In the space of a decade Hingis had gone from a sweet-16 prodigy to a scandal-hit veteran.\nAnn Jones\n1969\nThe delight that greeted Ann Jones's triumph in 1969 was not just down to it being a home victory. As well as the Birmingham player's popularity, her success was all the sweeter for being unexpected. She was past her 30th birthday and competing at her 14th??Wimbledon. Having got through to the semi-finals, she put out the top seed, Margaret Court, before beating defending champion, Billie Jean King, in the final.\nBillie Jean King\n1966-1968, 1972-1973, 1975\nIt was not just her record 20?Wimbledon titles, six of them in the singles between 1966 and 1975, that King will be remembered for. She was the foremost pioneer of women's professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s, bringing a new athleticism to the female game and campaigning for fair rewards in return. To which end she played in the infamous 'Battle of the Sexes' in Houston, Texas, in 1973, when, as the reigning Wimbledon champion, she lost in three straight sets to Bobby Riggs, the 1939 men's victor at the All England Club. Having won the doubles on her first visit to SW19 as a teenager in 1961, she was nearly 36 years old at the time of her last success at the Championships in 1979 – partnering Martina Navratilova, who would later equal King's number of Wimbledon crowns. A less-heralded achievement was becoming the first woman to win at Wimbledon wearing glasses.\nBorg on King\nAll the players in the current generation should thank Billie Jean, as she is the one who has done the most to put women's tennis where it is now. If it wasn't for her, the women might not have equal prize money at Wimbledon these days. She has done some great work off the court, but she was also a great player on the court, let's not forget about that. She is one of the most important figures in the history of women's tennis, if not the most important\nSuzanne Lenglen\n1919-1923, 1925\nShe was French and she was fabulous. One of the first racket-twirling divas, Suzanne Lenglen used to sip brandy during the change of ends. And – shock horror – Lenglen showed her ankles to the world, sported a short hairstyle and refused to wear a corset at Wimbledon. Polite society didn't know what had hit it when Lenglen won the Wimbledon title in 1925. The French press nicknamed her 'La Divine' (the divine one) and she did much to get the starch out of the clothes and out of tennis as whole. She won six Wimbledon titles, with an uninterrupted stretch of five crowns from 1919-23, and the last in 1925.\nAlice Marble\n1939\nThe American Alice Marble was raped by a stranger when she was 15, but she overcame the trauma of that violent attack to become a professional tennis player. Marble won her Wimbledon title in 1939, just months before the outbreak of the Second World War. She married a pilot and miscarried her husband's child after a car accident during the war and a few days later he was killed in action. She attempted suicide, but then recovered and agreed to work as a spy for American intelligence, going on a difficult mission that involved contacting a former lover, a Swiss banker. Marble was shot in the back by a Nazi agent, but rescued by American intelligence. She died in 1990 at the age of 77.\nAmelie Mauresmo\n2006\nBefore Wimbledon in 2006 Amelie Mauresmo's talent had never been in doubt, just her mental fortitude. There was a time when the Frenchwoman was known as the choker-in-chief of women's tennis, when it seemed that an hour on the psychologist's couch would have been as useful as an hour on the practice court. However, she overcame the doubt and the doubters to beat Belgium's Justine Henin and win her Wimbledon title. \"I don't want people to talk about my nerves any more,\" she said triumphantly; winning Wimbledon had sealed her career.\nHelen Wills Moody\n1927-1930, 1932-1933, 1935, 1938\nThe American Helen Wills Moody was an introverted, shy woman to the point of being socially awkward, and on court she would show little emotion and ignore her opponent and the crowd. However, that shyness was often wrongly and unfairly seen as her being aloof and arrogant and she became known as 'Little Miss Poker Face', 'Queen Helen' and 'The Imperial Helen'. See, even back then, between the World Wars, the public wanted to see their stars emoting. Yet 'Little Miss Poker Face' went on to win eight Wimbledon titles, landing four in a row from 1927-30 and then the rest in 1932, 1933, 1935 and 1938. A serious woman and a serious champion.\nAngela Mortimer\n1961\nThe Henmania of later years was hardly a match for the patriotic fervour that surrounded Angela Mortimer's sole Wimbledon victory in 1961. There had been a wait of 24?years since Dorothy Round had provided the last triumph by a player from the host nation, but a new home-produced champion was guaranteed by the first all-British final since 1914, with Mortimer getting through to face Christine Truman. While Truman famously practised on shale courts in a local park, Mortimer was prepared by Arthur Roberts, the coach at the Palace Hotel in Torquay, which was renowned for its two covered courts. It produced a tennis player with a style that was a joy to watch, which proved enough to add a Wimbledon title to Mortimer's earlier successes in the French and Australian grand slam events.\nMartina Navratilova\n1978-1979, 1982-1987, 1990\nThere can be no disputing Martina Navratilova's supremacy at the All England Club. The joint-record holder with Billie Jean King of a total of 20 Wimbledon titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, she is unmatched in singles with nine victories. Having won the singles title in 1978 and 1979 and then another six victories in a row up to 1987 – when she defeated Germany's Steffi Graf to equal the American Helen Wills Moody's record of eight singles titles – she finally went past the record in 1990, in what was to be her final Wimbledon singles title, when she was almost 34 ??years old. Her longevity in doubles was even greater, spanning 17 years to 2003, when her victory in the mixed doubles made her, at 46 years 261 days, the oldest Wimbledon champion. It was possible only because she took physical fitness in tennis to new levels. And yet it could have been very different after her defection from Czechoslovakia to the US during the Cold War, as she initially showed such a passion for American junk food that she put on weight alarmingly. Turning that around proved to be the making of her.\nBorg on Navratilova\nI really admire Martina for the way she went on playing at the top for so long. Tennis was really in her heart and she kept on setting herself new goals. Her results speak for themselves. She had a game that was almost perfect for grass-court tennis. She was an aggressive player and liked to come into the net, and that is what you needed to do, to do well on Centre Court. Martina did a lot for women's tennis\nJana Novotna\n1998\nThe Czech player, Jana Novotna, was a popular loser, but also a popular winner. In 1993, after she was defeated in the final by Germany's Steffi Graf, Novotna famously sobbed on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent, and was then denied for a second time in 1997 when losing to Martina Hingis, of Switzerland. On this second occasion there were no tears staining the royal jacket, but the duchess was moved to remark to the runner-up: \"The third time will be third time lucky.\" A year later Novotna beat Nathalie Tauziat, of France, and the Venus Rosewater Dish was hers. But there was another quiet word from the Duchess. \"I was right,\" the Duchess told her.\nMaria Sharapova\n2004\nOne sunny afternoon in the summer of 2004, the 17-year-old Siberian became an international superstar when beating Serena Williams in the final. With her photogenic looks, this was a victory made in marketing men's heaven and she has gone on to become the world's highest-earning sportswoman. Don't think that Maria Sharapova doesn't have a sense of her own worth. She is a businesswoman as well as an athlete.\nBorg on Sharapova\nIt doesn't hurt to look good, and Maria looks good, but what she really cares about is winning titles. Every time she goes on the court, she gives absolutely everything. She loves to win and hates to lose. She won Wimbledon at such a young age, at 17, but she has a game that is well suited to grass. She's a great athlete, her game is well-suited to playing on grass, and you can tell that she enjoys being on Centre Court\nVirginia Wade\n1977\nIt's the cardigan that most people remember, Virginia Wade having walked on to Centre Court for the 1977 final wearing a natty pink one with a monogrammed 'VW' on the front. She peeled the pink cardy off and then went out and beat Holland's Betty Stove. It was quite a way to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, with the monarch in attendance that day in the Royal Box. Afterwards the crowd sang \"For she's a jolly fellow\", and it wasn't directed at Her Majesty, but at Wade. No British woman has won Wimbledon since and Wade is as frustrated as anyone by that. British winners are as retro as Wade's attire that day.\nMaud Watson\n1884-1885\nMaud Watson is inevitably found in tennis books as the first in historical lists. She won Wimbledon on her debut in 1884, owing to it being the inaugural staging of the women's singles at the Championships. In doing so she was the first player to beat her sister, having to overcome her older sibling, Lillian, in the final. Maud was also the first champion, man or woman, to wear headgear, sporting a neat straw hat, something which was by no means usual on court at the time. The following year she also went on to become the first to defend the title successfully. It was a shame, then, that a trophy was not provided for the women's event until the year after the last of her two victories.\nVenus and Serena Williams\n2000-2001, 2005, 2007 (Venus) 2002-2003 (Serena)\nVenus Williams may have a kooky off-court air, but she is the finest grass-court player of her generation. Going into the 2008 Championships, Williams had already appeared in six Wimbledon finals. She won her first title in 2000, added a second a year later, picked up a third in 2005 and then won her fourth last summer when she was hitting the ball so violently that she made Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli's wrist sting. The only two finals that she lost were to her younger sister, Serena, in 2002 and 2003.\nSerena may go on court with designer handbags and outrageous earrings, but don't for a minute think that the American is anything other than ferociously competitive. Serena has won two Wimbledon titles, in 2002 and 2003, and on both occasions she had to beat her older sister Venus in the final. The sisters, both coached from an early age by their father, Richard, have won the title six??times between them, but those all-Williams finals have rarely lived up to the hype.\nBorg on the Williams sisters\nI've always enjoyed watching the Williams sisters play as they strike the ball so powerfully. That has often been the difference for them. And maybe they could have won more titles than they have so far, but they have been unlucky. It must have been tricky for them having to play against each other in the Wimbledon final. They are a very close family and they do everything together, so having to play each other in a grand slam final, I can't even imagine how difficult that would be for them. If I had a brother and I had to play him in the final of Wimbledon, I have no idea how I would have behaved towards him before the match, what I would have said to him. You can tell that it's a strange situation for Venus and Serena as the tennis they have produced against each other hasn't been as good as when they have played against someone else",
"WIMBLEDON Tennis Schedule , Information and Records\nWIMBLEDON Tennis Schedule, Information and Records. ... Last defending Wimbledon champion to lose first ... The women's top seed has won singles title at Wimbledon ...\nWimbledon Tennis Schedule, Information and Records\nWIMBLEDON Tennis Schedule, Information and Records\nStats Thru 2015 Wimbledon\nSite: All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England\nDates: Mon., June 27 - Sun., July 10, 2014\nQualifying Matches: Begin Monday, June 20\nMain Draw: To be made Friday, June 24, 10:00am\nMain Draw Begins Mon., June 27\nUS Television: ESPN (Two weeks)\nSingles Winner Prize (pounds): 1,880,000 (men)/1,880,000 (women)\nClick for the Wimbledon Homepage \n \n7 - William C. Crenshaw (1881-'86, 1889), Pete Sampras (1993-'95, '97-2000), Roger Federer (2003-2007,2009, 2012)\n5 - Hugh Doherty (1902-'06), Bjorn Borg (1976-'80)\n4 - Reginald Doherty (1987-1900), Anthony Wilding (1910-'13), Rod Laver (1961, '62, '68, '69),\nMOST TITLES BY COUNTRY\nOPEN ERA MATCH WIN LEADERS\nJimmy Connors\nBoris Becker, 1985 (17 yrs, 7 mos)\nWilfred Baddeley, 1881 (19 yrs, 5 mos)\nSidney Wood, 1931, (19 yrs, 8 mos)\nOLDEST CHAMPION\nArthur Gore, 1909, (41 yrs, 6 mos)\nArthur Ashe, 1975, (31 yrs, 11 mos) *Open Era leader\nMISC\nLowest Ranked Winner: No. 125 Goran Ivanisevic (2001)\nLongest men's final by time: Roger Federer d Rafael Nadal 4hrs 48mins (2008)\nLongest men's match by time: John Isner d Nicolas Mahut 11hrs 5mins (2010)\nLongest men's final by games: Roger Federer d Andy Roddick 77 games (2009)\nLongest men's match by games: John Isner d Nicolas Mahut 183 games (2010)\nLast defending Wimbledon champion to lose first round: Lleyton Hewitt l. to Ivo Karlovic (2003)\nWINNING WIMBLEDON WITHOUT PLAYING A WARMUP (Open Era - 7 players)\nStan Smith 1972 \nNovak Djokovic 2011, 2014, 2015\nHOW HAS THE TOP SEED FARED?\nOf the 47 Wimbledon championships played since 1968, 19 top seeds have held form and gone on to win the title. Pete Sampras won 6 of his 7 Wimbledon titles as No. 1 seed, with Lleyton Hewitt successful in 2002 and Roger Federer in 2004-2007. In 2003, Hewitt became the only No. 1 seed at Wimbledon in the Open Era to lose in the 1st round, when he was defeated by Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic 16 76 63 64.\nMOST WIMBLEDON TITLES - MEN (Open Era)\n1\n67(7) 64 76(4) 57 64\n2013 Andy Murray\n57 76(6) 76(5) 36 1614\n2008 Rafael Nadal\n64 64 67(5) 67(8) 97\n2007 Roger Federer\n76 46 76 26 62\n2006 Roger Federer\n63 36 63 26 97\n2000 Pete Sampras\n67 76 64 36 62\n1997 Pete Sampras\n67 64 64 16 64\n1991 Michael Stich\n62 62 36 36 64\n1989 Boris Becker\n9 - Miss M. Navratilova (USA) 1978, '79, '82-87, '90\n8 - Miss H.N. Wills-Moody (USA) 1927-30, '32, '33, '35, '38\n7 - Miss D.K. Douglass- Chambers (BRI) 1903, '04, '06, '10, '11, '13, '14\n7 - Miss S.M. Graf (GER) 1988, '89, '91-93, '95, '96\n6 - Miss S.J. Williams (USA) 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015\nYOUNGEST CHAMPION\nMiss C. Dod, 1887, 15 years, 285 days\nOLDEST CHAMPION\nMrs A Sterry, 1908, 37 years, 282 days\nRECENT WIMBLEDON WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS\n2015 Miss S.J. Williams (USA) 1\nMiss Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 20\n6-4, 6-4\n2014 Miss P. Kvitova (CZE) 6\nMiss E. Bouchard (CAN) 13\n6-3 6-0\n2013 Miss M. Bartoli (FRA) 15\nMiss S. Lisicki (GER) 23\n6-1 6-4\n2012 Miss S.J. Williams (USA) 6\nMiss A. Radwanska (POL) 3\n6-1 5-7 6-2\n2011 Miss P. Kvitova (CZE) 8\nMiss M. Sharapova (RUS) 5\n6-3 6-4\n2010 Miss S.J. Williams (USA) 1\nMiss Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 21\n6-3, 6-2\n2009 Miss S.J. Williams (USA) 2\nMiss V.E.S. Williams 3\n2008 Miss V.E.S. Williams (USA) 7\nMiss S.J. Williams 6\n2007 V.E.S. Williams (USA) 23\nMiss M. Bartoli (FRA) 18\n6-4, 6-1\n2006 Miss A. Mauresmo (FRA) 1\nJ. Henin (BEL) 3\n2005 V.E.S. Williams (USA) 14\nMiss L. Davenport (USA) 1\n4-6, 7-6(4), 9-7\n2004 Miss M. Sharapova (RUS) 13\nS.J. Williams ( USA ) 1\n2003 S.J. Williams ( USA ) 1\nV.E.S. Williams ( USA ) 4\n2002 S.J. Williams ( USA ) 2\nV.E.S. Williams ( USA ) 1\n2001 V.E.S. Williams ( USA ) 2\nJ. Henin (BEL) 8\n2000 V.E.S. Williams ( USA ) 5\nL.A. Davenport ( USA ) 2\n1999 L.A. Davenport ( USA ) 3\nS.M. Graf (GER) 2\n1998 J. Novotna (TCH) 3\nN. Tauziat (FRA) 16\n1997 M. Hingis (SUI) 1\nJ. Novotna (TCH) 3\n1996 S.M. Graf (GER) 1\nA. Sanchez Vicario (ESP) 4\n6-3, 7-5,\n1995 S.M. Graf (GER) 1\nA. Sanchez Vicario (ESP) 2\n4-6, 6-1, 7-5,\n1994 C. Martinez (ESP) 3\nM. Navratilova ( USA ) 4\n1993 S.M. Graf (GER) 1\nJ. Novotna (TCH) 8\n1992 S.M. Graf (GER) 2\nM. Seles ( USA ) 1\n1991 S.M. Graf (GER) 1\nG.B. Sabatini (ARG) 2\n1990 M. Navratilova ( USA ) 2\nZ.L. Garrison ( USA ) 5\nLowest ranked women's winner: No. 31 Venus Williams (2007)\nLongest women's final by time: Venus Williams d Lindsay Davenport 2hrs 45mins (2005)\nLongest women's match by time: Chanda Rubin d Patricia Hy-Boulais 3hrs 45mins (1995)\nSet won without losing a point (golden set): Yaroslava Shvedova (3rd round vs S Errani, 1st set) 15 mins (2012)\nOldest competitor: 1922, Mrs A O’Neill (GBR) – 54 years, 304 days\nYoungest competitor: 1990, Jennifer Capriati (USA) – 14 years, 90 days\nFastest recorded serve: Venus Williams, 129mph in 2008\n- Maria Sharapova (2004), Venus Williams (2005, 2007) and Marion Bartoli (2013) are only players to win Wimbledon when seeded outside Top 10\n- The top seed has won the Wimbledon women’s singles 22 times in the Open Era, only three No.1 seeds have won here in the last 14 years (Serena Williams in 2003 and 2010 and Amelie Mauresmo in 2006)\n- The women's title has been successfully defended 15 times in the Open Era\n- Five players havewon the singles title after saving match point (Blanche Hillyard (1889), Suzanne Lenglen (1919), HelenWills-Moody (1935), VenusWilliams (2005) and SerenaWilliams (2009)\n- In 2010, Serena Williams became the 28th woman towin the singles title without dropping a set (9th in Open Era)\n- In 2004, Maria Sharapova became the first woman not seeded in the Top 8 to win theWimbledon singles title since seeding began in 1927. She has since been joined by Venus Williams both in 2005 (No.14) and in 2007 (No.23)\n- Only 4 players have won the Wimbledon women’s singles title after winning the Wimbledon girls singles title (Haydon-Jones, Susman, Hingis and Mauresmo).\n- The player with the most women’s doubles titles is Elizabeth Ryan, who won 12 between 1914 and 1934\n- Serena Williams was the last player to win both the singles and doubles titles in the same year – 2012; the Williams sisters have won both singles and doubles titles on 5 occasions (3 Serena)\n- Ann Jones (1969), Martina Navratilova (9 times) and Petra Kvitova (once) are the only three left-handers to win the Wimbledon women’s singles title in the Open Era\nWimbledon’s oldest women’s singles champion of all time is Britain’s Charlotte Sterry, who won the title in 1908 at the age of 37 years, 282 days. The oldest champion at Wimbledon in the Open Era is Martina Navratilova of the USA, who won the last of her record nine Wimbledon singles titles at the age of 33 years, 263 days in 1990.\nNO.1 SEEDS’ PERFORMANCES AT WIMBLEDON\nThe women's top seed has won singles title at Wimbledon on 23 occasions in Open Era¸ most recently in 2015 with Serena Williams.\nWINNING FRENCH OPEN AND WIMBLEDON IN SAME YEAR (Open Era):\nMargaret Court 1970",
"2012_Wimbledon_Championships_–_Women's_Singles.txt\n2012 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles\nPetra Kvitová was the defending champion, but lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Williams went on to win the tournament, beating Agnieszka Radwańska in the final, 6–1, 5–7, 6–2.\n\nYaroslava Shvedova became the first player in the Open Era to win a 'Golden Set' at Wimbledon, winning the first set of her 6–0, 6–4 victory over 2012 French Open runner-up Sara Errani in the third round without dropping a single point. \n\nSabine Lisicki defeated the reigning French Open champion for her third straight Wimbledon. She defeated Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, as well as beating Li Na in 2011 and Svetlana Kuznetsova 2009. She missed the 2010 Championships due to injury.\n\nSeeds\n\nQualifying\n\nDraw\n\nFinals\n\nTop Half\n\nSection 1\n\nSection 2\n\nSection 3\n\nSection 4\n\nBottom Half\n\nSection 5\n\nSection 6\n\nSection 7\n\nSection 8",
"Winners and Runner-ups of Wimbledon | The Tennis Freaks\nSteffi Graf won the Wimbledon Singles title seven times ... last title win in 2000 at Wimbledon, he lost only ... and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis ...\nWinners and Runner-ups of Wimbledon | The Tennis Freaks\nShare Your Thoughts\nIn Wimbledon Championships, 2015 final Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 7-6. 6-7. 6-4, 6-3 to claim his third Wimbledon title and ninth Grand Slam title overall. By lifting the title, Djokovic has tied the number of Wimbledon trophies won with his coach Boris Becker.\n Serena Williams beat Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 in ladies’ singles final match to win her third Grand Slam title of the year.\n Jean-Julyien Rojer and Horia Tecau lifted the trophy in the gentlemen’s doubles category, after beating Jamie Murray and John Peers 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 in the final.\n In the category of ladies’ doubles at Wimbledon 2015, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza defeated Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 in the final match.\n Mixed doubles category was won by Leander Paes and Martina Hingis, who defeated Timea Babos and Alexander Peya 6-1, 6-1 to lift their second Grand Slam trophy of the year.\n Boys’ singles category of Wimbledon Championships 2015 was won by Reilly Opelka, who defeated Mikael Ymer 7-6, 6-4 in the match for the title.\n Sumit Nagal and Ly Hoang Nam defeated Reilly Opelke and Akira Santillan 7-6, 6-4 and lifted the trophy in boys’ doubles competition of Wimbledon 2015.\n When it comes to girls’ competitions, Sofya Zhuk won the singles category by defeating Anna Blinkova 7-5, 6-4.\n Dalma Galfi and Fanny Stollar won girls’ doubles trophy, after winning against Vera Lapko and Tereza Mihalikova 6-3, 6-2 in the final match.\n Gentlemen’s invitation doubles of Wimbledon 2015 was won by Goran Ivanisevic and Ivan Ljubicic, who won against Wayne Ferreira and Sebastian Grosjean 6-3, 1-6, 10-5 in the final.\n Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis defeated Guy Forget and Cedric Pioline 6-4, 6-4 in the final of senior gentlemen’s invitation doubles.\n Ladies’ invitation doubles were won by Magdalena Maleeva and Rennae Stubbs, who beat Martina Navratilova and Selima Sfar 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the final match.\nIn the wheelchair events, Gustavo Fernandez and Nicolas Peifer defeated Michael Jeremiasz and Gordon Reid 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in the final match of men’s doubles of Wimbledon championships 2015.\nWheelchair ladies’ doubles were won by Jordanne Whiley and Yui Kamiji, who defeated Jiske Griffioen and Aniek Van Koot 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.\nShare Your Thoughts\nTennis Grand Slams tournaments are the most important annual tennis events held. Also called Majors, these tournaments offer the maximum ranking points, prize money and public and limelight. These are the most important tournaments in the career of any tennis player to reach him or her on the highest echelons of Tennis.\nThe Australian Open is held on the hard courts and so are US tournaments. French Open is played on Clay court and Wimbledon is played on the Grass courts.\nAustralian Open 2011\nNovak Djokovic won the Australian Open for the second time along with wining the Grand Slam title. Before 2011, he won the tournament in 2008 whereas Andy Murray made it to the finals but lost the title at the hands of Djokovic with 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.\nIn the women’s singles finals Kim Clijsters of Belgium clinched away the title and it happened to be his first Australian Open title scoring 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. In the finals she played against LiNa of China and defeated her. Meanwhile Li Na was the first Asian to enter finals of any Grand slam.\nIn Men’s doubles, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan took away the title by Mahesh Bhupatinand Leander Paes in two straight sets of 6-3, 6-4. Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy won over Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) / Maria Kirilenko (Rus) 2–6, 7–5, 6–1.\nKatarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Daniel Nestor of Canada bagged the title against Yung –Jan Chan of Taiwan and Paul Hanley of Australia 6–3, 3–6, 10–7.\n2012\nMen’s single champion ship was taken by Novak Djokovic, defeating Rafael Nadal.\nWomen’s single title was bagged by Belarus Tennis star Victoria Azarenka defeating Maria Sharapova.\nMen’s Double – Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic\nWomen’s double – Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and Vera Zvonareva of Russia\n2013\nMen singles title bagged by Novak Djokovic and runner up was Andy Murray\nWomen’ single clinched by Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beating Li Na of China\nMen’s double title was bagged by Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan\nWomen’s double title was won by Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci\n2014\nIn men singles title was clinched by Stanislas Wawrinka defeating Rafael Nadal scoring 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3\nIn Women singles Li Na won over Dominika Cibulkova by 7-6(3), 6-0\nIn Men’s doubles Lukasz Kubot/Robert Lindstedt defeated Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen by 6-3, 6-3\nIn Women’s double Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci won over Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina scoring 6-4, 3-6, 7-5\nFrench Open 2011\nSpanish Tennis Maestro won French Open 2011 defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland, clinching away the title for the sixth time.\nChinese emerging player Li Na surprised everyone by bagging the title beating Francesca Schiavone of Italy by 6–4, 7–6.\nIn doubles Max Mirnyi (Belarus) / Daniel Nestor (Canada) won over Juan Sebastian Cabal (Columbia)/ Eduardo Schwank (Argentina).\nAndrea Hlavackova (Czech Republic) / Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) won over Sania Mirza (India) / Elena Vesnina (Russia).\n2012\nMen singles – Rafa Nadal (ESP) won over Serbian star Novak Djokovic (SRB) scoring 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5\nWomen Singles – Maria Sharapova (RUS) clinched the title defeating Sara Errani (ITA) with 6-3, 6-2\nMen Double was taken by Max Mirnyi (BLR) / Daniel Nestor (CAN) defeating Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) with 6-4, 6-4\nSara Errani (ITA) / Roberta Vinci (ITA) won over Maria Kirilenko (RUS) / Nadia Petrova (RUS) winning with 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.\n2013\nRafael Nadal won over David Ferrer scoring 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in Men’s single\nSerena Williams won over Maria Sharapova by 6-4, 6-4\nBob Bryan/Mike Bryan defeated Michael Llodra/Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 4-6, 76-4, 4-6, 7-6(4)-6(4)\nEkaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina won over Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci with 7-5, 6-2\n2014\nRafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic scoring 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4\nMaria Sharapova bagged the title defeating Simona Halep with 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4\nWomen doubles – Shuai Peng/Su-Wei Hsieh won over Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci with 6-4, 6-1\nMen Doubles –-Julien Benneteau/Edouard Roger-Vasselin won over Marcel Granollers/Marc Lopez winning series with 6-3, 7-6(1)\nUS Open\n2011\nIn men Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated Rafael Nadal (SPN) with 6–2, 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 6–1\nIn Women Samantha Stosur (AUS) defeated Serena Williams (USA) with 6–2, 6–3\nIn Doubles Women – Liezel Huber (USA) / Lisa Raymond (USA) won over Vania King (USA) / Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) with 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–3).\nIn Men doubles Jürgen Melzer (AUS) / Philipp Petzschner(GER) won over Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) / Marcin Matkowski (POL) with 6–2, 6–2.\n2012\nIn Men’s singles Andy Murray (GBR) won over Novak Djokovic (SRB) with 7-6(10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2\nIn Women’s singles Serena Williams (USA) won over Victoria Azarenka (BLR) scoring 6-2, 2-6, 7-5\nIn Women’s double Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) defeated Andrea Hlaváčková (CZE)/Lucie Hradecká (CZE) with 6-4, 6-2\nIn Men’s single Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) won over Andrea Hlaváčková (CZE)/Lucie Hradecká (CZE) with 6-4, 6-2\n2013\nRafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic with 6–2, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1\nSerena Williams won over Victoria Azarenka scoring 6–2, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1\nIn Women’s double Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka won over Ashleigh Barty/Casey Dellacqua 6–7(4), 6–1, 6–4\nIn Men’s double Leander Paes/Radek Stepanek won over Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares with 6-1, 6-3\nWimbledon\n2011\nIn Men Novak Djokovic (SRB) won over Rafael Nadal (SPN) with 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3.\nIn Women Petra Kvitová (CZR) won over Maria Sharapova (RUS) with 6–3, 6–4\nIn Women’s double Květa Peschke (CZR) / Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) won over Sabine Lisicki (GER) / Samantha Stosur (AUS) with 6–3, 6–1\nIn Men’s double Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) defeated Robert Lindstedt (SWE) / Horia Tecău (ROM) with 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–2)\n2012\nIn Men’s singles Roger Federer (SUI) won over Andy Murray (GBR) with 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–4\nIn Women’s single Serena Williams (USA) defeated Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) with 6-1, 5-7, 6-2\nIn Women’s double Serena Williams (USA) / Venus Williams (USA) won over Andrea Hlaváčková (CZE) / Lucie Hradecká (CZE) with 7-5, 6-4\nIn Men’d double Jonathan Marray (GBR) / Frederik Nielsen (DEN) won over Robert Lindstedt (SWE) / Horia Tecău (ROM) with 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3.\n2013\nIn Men’s single Andy Murray bagged the title winning over Novak Djokovic with 6–4, 7–5, 6–4\nIn Women single Marion Bartoli won over Sabine Lisicki with 6-1, 6-4\nIn Women’s double Peng Shuai/Hsieh Su-Wei won over Ashleigh Barty/Casey Dellacqua with 7-6(1), 6-1\nIn Men’s double Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan defeated Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo with 3–6, 6–3, 6-4, 6-4.\nShare Your Thoughts\nWimbledon, having the history of the toughest tournament and some great names winning it, winning it is indeed a dream come true. Hence the very era talks about none other than William Sisters (Serena Williams and Venus Williams) from USA. They won the title 9 out of 11 times. They are the unchallenged champions of this entire era. Although Serena Williams is having a hard time with her injuries and health, she still has a potential to make a come back and continue her winning streak at Wimbledon.\nAlso among them are a French tennis player Marion Bartoli who is a French No. 1 and the hottest tennis player Maria Sharapova former world No 1. The list of female winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 2010-2000 is as follow:\nYear 2010-2000 Wimbeldon Open Winners and runner-ups:\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2010: Serena Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2010: Vera Zvonareva\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2009: Serena Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2009: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2008: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2008: Serena Williams\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2007: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2007: Marion Bartoli\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2006: Amelie Mauresmo\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2006: Justine Henin-Hardenne\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2005: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2005: Lindsay Davenport\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2004: Maria Sharapova\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2004: Serena Williams\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2003: Serena Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2003: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2002: Serena Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2002: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2001: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2001: Justine Henin\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-2000: Venus Williams\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-2000: Lindsay Davenport\nShare Your Thoughts\nThe era of 1999-1990 of Wimbledon revolves around one of the hot tennis players from Germany Steffi Graf who won the title 5 times and stood runner-up once. Among the female tennis players’names, she is one of the great names. She stopped the victorious journey of Martina Navratilova in that era.\nSteffi Graf won the Wimbledon Singles title seven times along with winning a Golden Slam in 1988. Steffi Graf ruled this decade at Wimbledon and overall tennis world with 22 singles grand slam wins, four more than Martina Navratilova. Steffi won the first Wimbledon title in 1988. She not only won this title but the other three Championships as well, only a third woman to do so.\nAlso among them is Monica Seles, Serbian tennis player, who holds a famous name in the circuit. The list of female winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 1999-1990 is as follow:\n1999\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1999: Lindsay Davenport\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1999: Steffi Graf\n1998\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1998: Jana Novotna\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1998: Nathalie Tauziat\n1997\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1997: Martina Hingis\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1997: Jana Novotna\n1996\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1996: Steffi Graf\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1996: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario\n1995\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1995: Steffi Graf\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1995: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario\n1994\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1994: Conchita Martinez\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1994: Martina Navratilova\n1993\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1993: Steffi Graf\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1993: Jana Novotna\n1992\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1992: Steffi Graf\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1992: Monica Seles\n1991\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1991: Steffi Graf\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1991: Gabriela Sabatini\n1990\nMixed Doubles Champion:1985, 1993, 1995, 2003\nMixed Doubles Runner-up:1986\nMartina Navratilova won a record number of nine Wimbledon Singles titles, spanning over the three successful decades of her career. She enjoyed the fiercest rivalries against the greatest players like Steffi Graf and Chris Evert. Her dominance in the circuit was later challenged by Steffi Graf carrying the top tennis player profile in history. Steffi won 7 Wimbledon Grand Slams, only two less than Navratilova and claimed 22 Grand Slam singes titles overall, only four more than Navratilova.\nThe list of female winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 1989-1980 is as follow:\nYear 1989-Wimbledon Open\nShare Your Thoughts\nWimbledon glory was under the flags of USA in another era by Billie Jean King and Chris Evert-Lloyd. Both were highlighted in the WTA tennis player ranking for several years. They met some resistance from the former world No. 1 in the tennis player ranking Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, who appeared in the finals of the Wimbledon in that era 4 times, but over all it was all USA in that era.\nAfter trying for couple of years, Chris finally won the Wimbledon title in 1974 after defeating the Russian Olga Morozova 6-0, 6-4 and got her name in the Venus Rosewater Trophy. The following night, Chris Evert danced at the ball with her fiancé, Jimmy Connors who also won the Gentlemen’s singles title after defeating Ken Rosewall. The media called it a Love Match.\nThe list of female winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 1979-1970 is as follow:\nYear 1979\nWimbledon Open winner: Martina Navratilova\nWimbledon Open runner-up : Chris Evert-Lloyd\nYear 1978\nWimbledon Open winner : Martina Navratilova\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1978: Chris Evert\nYear 1977\nWimbledon Open winner: Virginia Wade\nWimbledon Open runner-up: Betty Stove\nYear 1976\nWimbledon Open winner : Chris Evert\nWimbledon Open runner-up : Evonne Goolagong-Cawley\nYear 1975\nWimbledon Open winner : Billie Jean King\nWimbledon Open runner-up (: Evonne Goolagong-Cawley\nYear 1974\nWimbledon Open winner : Chris Evert\nWimbledon Open runner-up : Olga Morozova\nYear 1973\nWimbledon Open winner : Billie Jean King\nWimbledon Open runner-up : Chris Evert\nYear 1972\nWimbledon Open winner : Billie Jean King\nWimbledon Open runner-up: Evonne Goolagong\nYear 1971\nWimbledon Open winner : Evonne Goolagong\nWimbledon Open runner-up : Margaret Court\nYear 1970\nShare Your Thoughts\nThe era of 1969-1960 produced mixed results in the Wimbledon, when not one player could manage to hold the title for long. Famous female tennis playerBillie Jean King from United States won the title 3 times along with Maria bueno from Brazil who won the title twice and stood runner-up twice as well.\nBillie Jean King was the most dynamic and prolific winner at the women’s singles Wimbledon championship. She not only played Wimbledon but contributed a lot to the development of tennis. Between 1966 and 1975, Billie dominated Wimbledon with her impeccable game. She reached eight women’s singles finals and won six of them. The opponent whom she defeated twice is Goolagong, first in 1972 and then 1975. Billie Jeans defeated Maria Bueno in 1966, Ann Jones in 1967 and Judy Tegart in 1968. She has two losses in the following years, to Mrs. Jones in 1969 and Margaret Court in 1970. The 1970 Wimbledon was a classic in which Margaret staggered off a 14-12, 11-9 winner against Jean and is a record for the most games in a Wimbledon women’s final ever.\nBoth were amongst the top ten tennis player ranking followed by Australian tennis player Margaret Smith who showed some resistance. The list of female winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 1969-1960 is as follow:\nYear 1969-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1969: Ann Haydon Jones\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1969: Billie Jean King\nYear 1968-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1968: Billie Jean King\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1968: Judy Tegart\nYear 1967-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1967: Billie Jean King\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1967: Ann Jones\nYear 1966-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1966: Billie Jean King\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1966: Maria Bueno\nYear 1965-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1965: Margaret Smith\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1965: Maria Bueno\nYear 1964-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1964: Maria Bueno\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1964: Margaret Smith\nYear 1963-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1963: Margaret Smith\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1963: Billie Jean\nYear 1962-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1962: Karen Susman\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1962: Vera Sukova\nYear 1961-Wimbledon Open\nWimbledon Open winner (female)-1961: Angela Mortimer\nWimbledon Open runner-up (female)-1961: Christine Truman\nYear 1960-Wimbledon Open\nShare Your Thoughts\nWimbledon the name speaks itself is undoubtedly the ultimate test of the top tennis players in the tennis circuit. The era of 2000-2010 shows the dominance of one of the best tennis players ever and that is of Roger Federer from Basel, Switzerland. He has the prestige of being the most famous tennis player in history. He also held the world ranking No. 1 seat for a long period, followed by Spanish tennis player giant Rafael Nadal, currently No. 2 from Spain.\nRoger Federer first made his mark at Wimbledon 2001 by defeating Pete Sampras in an epic five setter marathon. He made the crowd sit up and forced them to notice his absolute skills. Defeating Sampras was quite an achievement itself and this achievement later multiplied successively. This was the only encounter between Federer and Sampras as Sampras retired later. Federer did lose to Mario Ancic in the following year but he won his first Wimbledon title in 2003 where he defeated Mark Philippoussis to win the Grand Slam title. He dropped only one set in this match and since then, he has been unstoppable. Like Sampras, Federer also felt comfortable at Wimbledon and claimed 6 Wimbledon titles, only one less than Sampras. His exquisite one handed backhand perhaps is the most aesthetic shot in tennis and would be missed after his retirement.\nThe list of male winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 2000-2010 is as follow:\nYear 2010-2000 Wimbeldon Open Winners\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2010: Rafael Nadal\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2009: Roger Federer\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2008: Rafael Nadal\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2007: Roger Federer\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2006: Roger Federer\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2005: Roger Federer\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2004: Roger Federer\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2003: Roger Federer\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2002: Lleyton Hewitt\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2001: Goran Ivanisevic\nWimbledon Open winner (male)-2000: Pete Sampras\nYear 2010-2000 Wimbeldon Open Runner-ups\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2010: Tomas Berdych\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2009: Andy Roddick\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2008: Roger Federer\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2007: Rafael Nadal\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2006: Rafael Nadal\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2005: Andy Roddick\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2004: Andy Roddick\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2003: Mark Philippoussis\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2002: David Nalbandian\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2001: Patric Rafter\nWimbledon Open runner-up (male)-2000: Patric Rafter\n1 Comment\nWhen it comes to Wimbledon’s era of 1999-1990, there is only one name which appeared to be uncontested amongst famous male tennis players, holding the record for 286 weeks, and No. 1 ranking in the history of tennis. Yes, this is none other than one of the best tennis players ever Pete Sampras from Los Angeles, California United States.\nPete Sampras won 7 Wimbledon titles although he did not have the best of standings initially. He won only one match in his initial three years at Wimbledon. It was in 1993 where Sampras defeated the then number one, Jim Courier, having already defeated Boris Becker and Andre Agassi in the previous rounds. From then on, Sampras continued his successive winning streak and won 7 Wimbledon titles in only eight years. From 1993 to his last title win in 2000 at Wimbledon, he lost only match in 1996. Wimbledon was the comfort zone of Sampras. Sampras failed at winning any French Open title and after being dismissed in the French Open, he would rejuvenate at the Wimbledon. Sampras is also the last American to have won the Wimbledon title in year 2000. Since him, it was only Roddick who made it to the final 3 times but lost at the hands of Roger Federer.\nOther famous name was of Boris Becker who appeared in the finals of Wimbledon thrice in that period of time. The list of male winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 1999-1990 is as follow:\nYear 1999-Wimbledon Open winners from 1999-1990:\nPete Sampras\nShare Your Thoughts\nWimbledon has a history of challenging competitions and one of the prime examples is the era of 1989-1980, when the title went into the hands of United States, Sweden and Germany. This era ended the victorious journey of Bjorn Borg, a Swedish Tennis Player who was highly ranked amongst the professional tennis players’ names in history. Other top names include John McEnroe and Boris Becker who won the title 3 times in this era. Boris Becker became the youngest man ever to have won Wimbledon championship in 1985. He was just 15 years old when he raised the coveted silver trophy on the centre court. Boris Becker is also the first German ever to have won the title, along with being the first unseeded player to do so. Boris took three hours and 18 minutes to defeat South African Born American Kevin Curren to win the Wimbledon Championship. Boris won the Wimbledon championship again in the following year and then for the third time in 1989. His attacking style of tennis based on massive and dramatic serves and diving volleys defined the tennis game for men for many years. McEnroe not only won 3 Wimbledon titles but he also brought style and charisma to centre court. He was often booed upon for his extreme and inexcusable behavior but he was loved for his delicacy and tough mind which he showed in his game.\nThe list of male winners and runner-ups of Wimbledon Open tennis championship during 1989-1980 is as follow:\nYear 1989-Wimbledon Open",
"Martina_Hingis.txt\nMartina Hingis\nMartina Hingis (born 30 September 1980) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in doubles by the WTA. She spent a total of 209 weeks as the singles world No. 1 and has won five Grand Slam singles titles (three at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the US Open), twelve Grand Slam women's doubles titles, winning a calendar-year doubles Grand Slam in 1998, and five Grand Slam mixed doubles titles; for a combined total of twenty-two major titles. In addition, she has won the season-ending WTA Championships two times in singles and three times in doubles.\n\nHingis set a series of \"youngest ever\" records, including youngest ever Grand Slam champion and youngest ever world No. 1, before ligament injuries in both ankles forced her to withdraw temporarily from professional tennis in 2002, at the age of 22. She had won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles titles up until that point, and, according to Forbes, had been the highest-paid female athlete in the world for five consecutive years, 1997 to 2001. After several surgeries and long recuperations, Hingis returned to the WTA tour in 2006, climbing to world No. 6 and winning three singles titles, and also receiving the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year. She retired in November 2007, following months of injuries and a positive test for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, during the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, which led to a two-year suspension from the sport.\n\nIn July 2013, Hingis came out of retirement to play the North American hard court season, partnering Daniela Hantuchová. After achieving moderate success in 2014 playing with Sabine Lisicki and Flavia Pennetta, she partnered with Sania Mirza in March 2015. Together they won three consecutive Grand Slam titles: the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, the 2015 US Open, and the 2016 Australian Open. Hingis also achieved a mixed doubles career Grand Slam during her comeback, winning all four Grand Slam tournaments alongside Leander Paes.\n\nWidely considered to be one of the greatest Swiss athletes in history and an all-time tennis great, Tennis magazine ranked her in 2005 as the 22nd-greatest player, male or female, of the preceding 40 years. She was named one of the \"30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future\" by Time in June 2011. In 2013, Hingis was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and was appointed two years later the organization's first ever Global Ambassador. \n\nChildhood and early career\n\nHingis was born in Košice, Czechoslovakia (now in Slovakia) as Martina Hingisová Molitor, to accomplished tennis players Melanie Molitorová and Karol Hingis. Molitorová was a professional tennis player who was once ranked tenth among women in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to develop Hingis into a top player as early as pregnancy. Her father was ranked as high as nineteenth in the Czechoslovak tennis rankings. Martina Hingis spent her early childhood growing up in the town of Rožnov (now in Czech Republic). Hingis's parents divorced when she was six, and she and her mother defected from Czechoslovakia in 1987 and emigrated to Trübbach in Switzerland when she was seven. Her mother remarried to a Swiss man, Andreas Zogg, a computer technician. Martina Hingis acquired Swiss citizenship through naturalization.\n\nHingis began playing tennis when she was two years old and entered her first tournament at age four. In 1993, 12-year-old Hingis became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title: the girls' singles at the French Open. In 1994, she retained her French Open junior title, won the girls' singles title at Wimbledon, and reached the final of the US Open.\n\nShe made her WTA debut in October 1994, two weeks after her 14th birthday. She ended the year ranked World no. 87.\n\nGrand Slam success and period of dominance\n\n1996\n\nIn 1996, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time, when she teamed with Helena Suková at Wimbledon to win the women's doubles title at age 15 years and 9 months. She also won her first professional singles title that year at Filderstadt, Germany. She reached the singles quarterfinals at the 1996 Australian Open and the singles semifinals of the 1996 US Open. Following her win at Filderstadt, Hingis defeated the reigning Australian Open champion and co-top ranked (with Steffi Graf) Monica Seles in the final at Oakland. Hingis then lost to Graf at the year-end WTA Tour Championships final.\n\n1997\n\nIn 1997, Hingis became the undisputed World No. 1 women's tennis player. She started the year by winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open at age 16 years and 3 months (beating former champion Mary Pierce in the final). In March, she became the youngest top ranked player in history. In July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 by beating Jana Novotná in the final. She then defeated another up-and-coming player, Venus Williams, in the final of the US Open. The only Grand Slam singles title that Hingis failed to win in 1997 was the French Open, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli. She won the Australian Open women's doubles with Natasha Zvereva.\n\n1998\n\nIn 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles, only the fourth in women's tennis history to do so, (the Australian Open with Mirjana Lučić and the other three events with Novotná), and she became only the third woman to hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles simultaneously. She also retained her Australian Open singles title by beating Conchita Martínez in straight sets in the final. Hingis, however, lost in the final of the US Open to Lindsay Davenport. Davenport ended an 80-week stretch Hingis had enjoyed as the No. 1 singles player in October 1998, but Hingis finished the year by beating Davenport in the final of the WTA Tour Championships.\n\n1999\n\n1999 saw Hingis win her third successive Australian Open singles crown as well as the doubles title (with Anna Kournikova). She had dropped her former doubles partner Jana Novotná. \nShe then reached the French Open final and was three points away from victory in the second set before losing to Steffi Graf about whom she had said before: \"Steffi had some results in the past, but it's a faster, more athletic game now... She is old now. Her time has passed.\" She broke into tears after a game in which the crowd had booed her for using underhand serves and crossing the line in a discussion about an umpire decision. After a shock first-round, straight set, loss to Jelena Dokić at Wimbledon, Hingis bounced back to reach her third consecutive US Open final, where she lost to 17-year-old Serena Williams. Hingis won a total of seven singles titles that year and reclaimed the No. 1 singles ranking. She also reached the final of the WTA Tour Championships, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport.\n\n2000\n\nIn 2000, Hingis again found herself in both the singles and doubles finals at the Australian Open. This time, however, she lost both. Her three-year hold on the singles championship ended when she lost to Davenport. Later, Hingis and Mary Pierce, her new doubles partner, lost to Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. Hingis captured the French Open women's doubles title with Pierce and produced consistent results in singles tournaments throughout the year. She reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before losing to Venus Williams. Although she did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament, she kept the year end No. 1 ranking because of nine tournament championships, including the WTA Tour Championships where she won the singles and doubles titles.\n\nInjuries and first retirement from tennis\n\n2001\n\nIn 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup. Hingis was undefeated in singles during the event, defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn, Nicole Pratt, Amanda Coetzer, and Monica Seles. \n\nHingis reached her fifth consecutive Australian Open final in 2001, defeating both of the Williams sisters en route, before losing to Jennifer Capriati. She briefly ended her coaching relationship with her mother Melanie early in the year but had a change of heart two months later just before the French Open. 2001 was her least successful year in several seasons, with only three tournament victories in total. She lost her No. 1 ranking for the last time (to Jennifer Capriati) on 14 October 2001. In that same month, Hingis underwent surgery on her right ankle.\n\n2002\n\nComing back from injury, Hingis won the Australian Open doubles final at the start of 2002 (again teaming with Anna Kournikova) and reached a sixth straight Australian Open final in singles, again facing Capriati. Hingis led by a set and 4–0 and had four match points but lost in three sets. In May 2002, she needed another ankle ligament operation, this time on her left ankle. After that, she continued to struggle with injuries and was not able to recapture her best form.\n\n2003\n\nIn February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain. \"I want to play tennis only for fun and concentrate more on horse riding and finish my studies.\" In several interviews, she indicated she wanted to go back to her country and coach full-time.\n\nDuring this segment of her tennis career, Hingis won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles events. She held the World No. 1 singles ranking for a total of 209 weeks (fifth most following Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova (after whom she was named), Chris Evert, and Serena Williams). In 2005, Tennis magazine put her in 22nd place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.\n\nReturn to the game\n\n2005\n\nIn February 2005, Hingis made an unsuccessful return to competition at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany's Marlene Weingärtner in the first round. After the loss, she claimed that she had no further plans for a comeback.\n\nHingis, however, resurfaced in July, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in World Team Tennis and notching up singles victories over two top 100 players and shutting out Martina Navratilova in singles on 7 July. With these promising results behind her, Hingis announced on 29 November her return to the WTA Tour in 2006.\n\n2006\n\nAt the Australian Open, Hingis lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded Kim Clijsters. However, Hingis won the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi of India. This was her first career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and fifteenth overall (5 singles, 9 women's doubles, 1 mixed doubles).\n\nThe week after the Australian Open, Hingis defeated World No. 4 Maria Sharapova in the semifinals of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo before losing in the final to World No. 9 Elena Dementieva. Hingis competed in Dubai then, reaching the quarter-finals before falling to Sharapova. At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Hingis defeated World No. 4 Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round before again losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.\n\nAt the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Hingis posted her 500th career singles match victory in the quarterfinals, beating World No. 18 Flavia Pennetta, and subsequently won the tournament with wins over Venus Williams in the semifinals and Dinara Safina in the final. This was her 41st Women's Tennis Association tour singles title and first in more than four years. Hingis then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before losing to Kim Clijsters.\n\nAt Wimbledon, Hingis lost in the third round to Ai Sugiyama.\n\nHingis's return to the US Open was short lived, as she was upset in the second round by World No. 112 Virginie Razzano of France.\n\nIn her first tournament after the US Open, Hingis won the second title of her comeback at the Tier III Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India. She defeated unseeded Russian Olga Puchkova in the final. The following week in Seoul, Hingis notched her 50th match win of the year before losing in the second round to Sania Mirza.\n\nHingis qualified for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid as the eighth seed. In her round robin matches, she lost in three sets to both Justine Henin and Amélie Mauresmo but defeated Nadia Petrova.\n\nHingis ended the year ranked World No. 7. She also finished eighth in prize money earnings (U.S.$1,159,537). Hingis also ranked as number 7 on the Annual Top Google News Searches in 2006. \n\n2007\n\nAt the Australian Open, Hingis won her first three rounds without losing a set before defeating China's Li Na in the fourth round. Hingis then lost a quarterfinal match to Kim Clijsters. This was the second consecutive year that Hingis had lost to Clijsters in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the third time in the last five Grand Slam tournaments that Clijsters had eliminated Hingis in the quarterfinals.\n\nHingis won her next tournament, the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final. This was Hingis's record fifth singles title at this event.\n\nA hip injury that troubled her at the German Open caused her to withdraw from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was the defending champion, and the French Open, the only important singles title that eluded her.\n\nIn her first round match at Wimbledon, Hingis saved two match points to defeat British wildcard Naomi Cavaday, apparently not having fully recovered from the hip injury that prevented her from playing the French Open. In the third round, Hingis lost to Laura Granville of the United States, and stated afterwards she should not have entered the tournament.\n\nHingis's next tournament was the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, in which Hingis lost in the third round to Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka. Hingis did not play any tournaments after the China Open, as she was beset by injuries for the rest of the year.\n\nITF suspension and second retirement \n\nIn November 2007, Hingis called a press conference to announce that she was under investigation for testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, during a urine test taken by players at Wimbledon.\n\nHingis' urine sample contained an estimated 42 nanograms per millilitre of benzoylecgonine, less than half the level required for a positive confirmatory test for cocaine in the workplace under the United States government Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration guidelines. The International Tennis Federation's report on the matter mentions that \"the very low estimated concentration of benzoylecgonine (42 ng/ml) was such that it would go unreported in many drug testing programmes such as that of the US military, which uses a screening threshold of 150 ng/ml.\" As the amount was so minute, Hingis appealed, arguing the likely cause was contamination rather than intentional ingestion. In January 2008, the International Tennis Federation's tribunal suspended Hingis from the sport for two years, effective from October 2007.\n\n2008\n\nHaving retired for the second time in 2007, Hingis played an exhibition match at the Liverpool International tournament on 13 June 2008. Although this event was a warm-up for Wimbledon, it was not part of the WTA Tour. In a rematch of their 1997 Wimbledon final, Hingis defeated Jana Novotná. \n\n2009\n\nIn 2009, Hingis took part in the British television dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing. She was the bookies' favourite for the competition, but went out in the first week after performing a waltz and a rumba. \n\n2010\n\nAt the start of 2010, Hingis defeated former world number one Lindsay Davenport, and hinted at a possible return to tennis. In February, she announced having committed to a full season with the World TeamTennis Tour in 2010. She had previously played for World Team Tennis in 2005 to assist her first comeback. Sparking thoughts that she was trying to come back to the WTA tour, she committed to playing at the Nottingham Masters. On 5 May 2010, it was announced that Hingis would reunite with her doubles partner Anna Kournikova. Kournikova was participating in competitive tennis for the first time in seven years, in the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon. Hingis also confirmed that she would play at the Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International championship in June 2010, preceding Wimbledon, before playing in the Manchester Masters after Wimbledon. Liverpool like the Nottingham and Manchester Masters are organised by her management company Northern Vision. At the Nottingham Masters, Hingis faced Michaëlla Krajicek (twice), Olga Savchuk and Monika Wejnert. Hingis won just once in the event, against Wejnert. After the Nottingham event Billie Jean King stated that she believed that Hingis may return to the WTA Tour on the doubles circuit, after competing in the WTT. \n\n2011\n\nOn 5 June 2011, Hingis, paired with Lindsay Davenport, won the Roland Garros Women's Legends title, defeating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotná in the final. Before facing Navratilova/Novotná, Hingis and Davenport won two round robin matches in the tournament: first against Gigi Fernández / Natasha Zvereva, and then in the next match they prevailed over Andrea Temesvári / Sandrine Testud and 10:0 in the Super tie-break. \n\nOn 3 July, Hingis partnering Lindsay Davenport won the Wimbledon Ladies' Invitation Doubles title, defeating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotná in the final. \nShe also played for the New York Sportimes of the World TeamTennis Pro League in July 2011. She finished the season with the top winning percentage of any player competing in Women's Singles.\n\n2012\n\nHingis and Davenport successfully defended their Wimbledon Ladies' Invitation Doubles title in 2012, again beating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotná in the final.\n\nSecond return and doubles success\n\n2013: Coming out of retirement\n\nIn April 2013 Hingis agreed to coach Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; however, after a disagreement about how to prepare for tournaments they parted company in June. \n\nHingis won the Ladies' Invitation Doubles for a third year in a row at Wimbledon, again with Davenport. They beat Jana Novotná and Barbara Schett in the final. Hingis was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July 2013, and in the same month, announced that she was coming out of retirement to play a doubles tournament, with Daniela Hantuchová as her partner, in Carlsbad, California. She was accepted as a wildcard entry. She also played doubles in Toronto, Cincinnati, New Haven, and the US Open.\n\n2014: US Open doubles finalist\n\nHingis helped Sabine Lisicki during the 2014 Australian Open. She participated in Champions Tennis League India to boost tennis in the country. \n\nHingis returned to the WTA Tour at Indian Wells, partnering Sabine Lisicki in the doubles. They lost in the first round to 3-time Grand Slam finalists Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua. At the 2014 Sony Open Tennis in Miami, Hingis and Lisicki reached the finals of the tournament and then defeated Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets, marking Hingis' first title since she won the Qatar Ladies Open in 2007 and her first Premier Mandatory doubles title since winning the 2001 title in Moscow. This was also her third win in Miami, having won her last title there in 1999.\n\nHingis reached the final at Eastbourne with Flavia Pennetta where they lost to Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she reached the quarter-finals with partner Bruno Soares in mixed doubles, where they lost to Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.\n\nEntering as an unseeded team at the 2014 US Open, Hingis and Pennetta reached the final, without losing a set in any of their matches. In the final they lost to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in three sets.\n\nAt the latter end of the season, Hingis and Flavia Pennetta won two titles. At the tournament in Wuhan, they beat Cara Black and Caroline Garcia to take the title; in Moscow they beat Caroline Garcia and Arantxa Parra Santonja.\n\n2015: Five Major titles, 3rd doubles year-end championship\n\nIn Hingis' first tournament of the year in Brisbane, she and partner Sabine Lisicki didn't drop a set en route to the title, beating Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets in the final. Hingis played at the 2015 Australian Open with Flavia Pennetta, as the fourth seeds, but lost in the third round. However, Hingis paired with Leander Paes in the mixed doubles to win the title. The win was her first in a Grand Slam event since capturing the mixed doubles crown at the 2006 Australian Open.\n\nAfter early exits with Pennetta at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Qatar Ladies Open, Hingis then partnered with Indian player Sania Mirza; they won the first 20 sets they contested, subsequently winning back-to-back titles in two WTA Premier Mandatory events: the 2015 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the 2015 Miami Open, also winning afterwise the 2015 Family Circle Cup. They were defeated in the first round in Stuttgart. At the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open they lost in the quarterfinals to Australian Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová 11-9 in the super tie-break. They reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 French Open, losing again to Mattek-Sands and Šafářová, this time in straight sets.\n\nHingis made a comeback in Fed Cup after a 17-year absence. She was scheduled to play doubles only, but then decided to try another comeback in singles by playing in the Fed Cup tie for Switzerland. She drew Agnieszka Radwańska in the first rubber and was defeated in two sets in her first official tour match since 2007. She lost her second singles rubber too, defeated by Urszula Radwańska in three sets, having been a set and a double break up.\n\nOn July 11, 2015, Hingis and Mirza beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in three tight sets recovering from 5–2 down in the third to win the women's doubles tournament at Wimbledon. The win gave Hingis her first Grand Slam in women's doubles since the 2002 Australian Open. The following day, Hingis then won the the mixed doubles final partnering with Leander Paes to defeat Alexander Peya and Tímea Babos in straight sets.\n\nAfter two semifinal losses in Toronto and Cincinnati, Hingis won the mixed doubles title at the 2015 US Open on September 12, partnering Leander Paes, defeating Sam Querrey and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets. The following day, Hingis and Mirza beat Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets to win the the doubles tournament. At the WTA Finals, they won all their group matches, including against Kops-Jones/Spears, Hlavackova/Hradecka and Babos/Mladenovic. In the semifinals they beat the Chan sisters, and then they beat the Spanish team Muguruza/Suarez Navarro to win the title. That month Hingis participated at the Champions Tennis League in India, playing for the Hyderabad Aces team. \n\n2016: Mixed doubles Career Grand Slam\n\nIn January, Hingis and Mirza won at Brisbane and Sydney. They then won the doubles tournament at the 2016 Australian Open, defeating Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in the final, for their third consecutive Grand Slam title. Afterwards, Hingis said of their partnership: \"There's not that many people who can match her in the forehand rallies and me on the backhand side and at the net. That's what we try to do every match.\" In mixed doubles, Hingis and Paes lost in the quarterfinals to Mirza and Ivan Dodig.\n\nIn February, Hingis represented Switzerland in the Fed Cup tie against Germany alongside Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinszky. Switzerland beat Germany 3-2, with Hingis and Bencic clinching the doubles rubber. Switzerland advanced to the semifinals, where the team lost to the defending champions the Czech Republic.\n\nThe Hingis-Mirza winning-streak record of 41 matches ended in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Qatar Total Open, where they lost to Kasatkina/Vesnina. Hingis and Mirza then proceeded to the BNP Paribas Open to defend their title. However, they suffered a shock as the unseeded Vania King/Alla Kudryavtseva defeated them in straight sets, 7-6(7), 6-4.\n\nAt the Miami Open, Mirza and Hingis lost in the second round to Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu.\n\nHingis and Mirza started their clay season by reaching the finals of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Mutua Madrid Open, where they lost to Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia in both the tournaments. However, they won the Italian Open, defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. At the French Open , they were upset by Czech pair Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in the third round, which ended their 20 match winning streak in Grand Slam doubles tournaments. \n\nHingis won the French Open mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes. It is her first mixed doubles title at Roland Garros, and she completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam, becoming only the fourth woman ever to complete a career grand slam in both women's doubles and mixed doubles.\n\nCareer statistics\n\nSingles performance timeline\n\n* A = did not participate in the tournament\n* SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played\n* 2If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 12–2; Carpet: 6–1) and Fed Cup (10–0) participations are included, overall win-loss record stands at 548–133.\n\nGrand Slam singles finals: 12 (5–7)\n\nDoubles\n\nGrand Slam doubles finals: 15 finals (12–3)\n\nBy winning the 1998 US Open title, Hingis completed the doubles Career Grand Slam, becoming the 17th female player in history to achieve this, as well as the youngest. It also meant she completed the Calendar Year Grand Slam, becoming the fourth woman in history to achieve the feat.\n\nMixed doubles\n\nGrand Slam mixed doubles: 5 finals (5–0)\n\nRecords\n\n* These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.\n\n* By winning Wimbledon doubles title in 1996 with Helena Suková became youngest doubles winner at 15 years, 282 days and youngest ever Grand Slam winner in the Open era. \n* By winning Australian singles title in 1997, became youngest winner there in tennis history at 16 years and 3 months. \n* By defeating Monica Seles 6–2, 6–1 in 1997 at Key Biscayne, ascended the no. 1 spot as the youngest ever in tennis history.\n* By winning the US Open against Venus Williams in 1997, Hingis contended all Grand Slam tournament finals that year; second youngest winner in the US Open at 16 years, 11 months and 8 days. \n* Won the Australian and US Open in 1997 without losing a set.\n* In 1997, from Sydney to the final of Roland Garros had a 37-match winning streak, best from 1995 until present. \n* By winning the US Open doubles title in 1998 with Jana Novotná, completed a doubles Grand Slam, third player in the Open Era.\n* Held simultaneously the no. 1 position for singles and doubles in 1998.\n* Most successful player to play the Toray Pan-Pacific Tournament with 5 wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, and reached 8 finals in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.\n* Compiled 103 top-10 wins (behind Serena Williams 164, Lindsay Davenport 129, and Venus Williams 127), 43 singles titles, 53 doubles titles, 4 mixed doubles titles, and 209 weeks at no.1 (5th behind Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Serena Williams). \n* In 2015, won three Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title with Leander Paes, an accomplishment last achieved in 1969 by Margaret Court and Marty Riessen\n* Most Mixed Doubles titles (2) won by a woman player in Open Era in Australian Open\n* Only player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open singles and doubles titles three consecutive years.\n** 1997 (S) d. Pierce, (D) w/Zvereva d. Davenport/Raymond\n** 1998 (S) d. Martinez, (D) w/Lučić d. Davenport/Zvereva\n** 1999 (S) d. Mauresmo, (D) w/Kournikova d. Davenport/Zvereva\n\nAwards \n\n* 1992: Swiss Champion together with the tennisclub TC Schützenwiese (from Winterthur) in the Interclub-Championships.\n* 1994: ITF Junior Girls Singles World Champion.\n* 1995: WTA Newcomer of the Year.\n* 1995: Named \"Female Rookie of the Year\" by Tennis magazine. \n* 1996: WTA Most Improved Player of the Year.\n* 1997: Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.\n* 1997: WTA Player of the Year.\n* 1997: ITF World Champion – Women's Singles.\n* 1997: BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. \n* 1998: First female athlete to be on the cover of the American men's magazine GQ in June 1998.\n* 1998: WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Jana Novotná).\n* 1999: WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Anna Kournikova).\n* 1999: ITF World Champion – Women's Singles.\n* 1999: ITF World Champion – Women's Doubles (with Anna Kournikova).\n* 2000: ITF World Champion – Women's Singles.\n* 2000: One of five female tennis players named to the 2000 Forbes magazine Power 100 in Fame and Fortune list at No. 51.\n* 2000: WTA Diamond Aces Award.\n* 2002: Elected to Tour Players' Council.\n* 2006: Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year.\n* 2007: Surpassed US$20 million in career earnings at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, the fourth female player to do so (after Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Lindsay Davenport). She was fourth in the all-time money list at $20,033,600 after the tournament. \n* 2007: Meredith Inspiration Award for inspiring women around the world – Family Circle Cup/Family Circle magazine\n* 2013: Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 13, 2013\n* 2015: First Global Ambassador for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.\n* 2015: WTA Doubles Team of the Year with Sania Mirza.\n* 2015: ITF World Champion – Women's Doubles (with Sania Mirza).\n\nNotable accolades \n\n* Except for the French Open, has won every major WTA Tour singles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).\n* Except for Berlin, has won every major WTA Tour doubles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).\n* 1999 French Open final (Graf d. Hingis 4–6, 7–5, 6–2) was voted by worldwide fans as the Greatest Match in 30-Year History of the Tour (online voting spanned two months and included a ballot of 16 memorable matches).\n* By reaching the 2016 French Open mixed doubles finals, Hingis joined an elite group of players who have reached the finals in all 4 Grand Slams across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.\n* To celebrate the WTA Tour's 30th Anniversary, attended on-court ceremony at 2003 season-ending WTA Tour Championships that honored 13 world No. 1 champions (past and present), and founding members of the tour.\n\nEquipment endorsements\n\nIn the 1990s, Hingis was sponsored by Sergio Tacchini. She sued the company in 2001, demanding $40 million for making allegedly defective shoes that injured her feet. In 1998 already she suffered a foot injury, and she withdrew from the Wimbledon doubles competition in 1999; Hingis alleged that a Tacchini-appointed specialist recommended her shoes be changed, a recommendation which was ignored by the company, which had fired her as spokeswoman in April 1999 due to an alleged breach of contract. She was then sponsored by Adidas from 1999 until 2008.\n\nHingis's current on court apparel is manufactured by Tonic Lifestyle Apparel, having her own clothing line, Tonic Tennis by Martina Hingis. She is sponsored by Yonex for racquets and shoes. \n\nPersonal life\n\nIn 2000, Hingis dated Swedish tennis player Magnus Norman and Spanish golfer Sergio García. She was briefly engaged to Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek, but split up with him in August 2007. She dated former tennis players Ivo Heuberger and Julian Alonso. \n\nOn 10 December 2010, in Paris, Hingis married then-24-year-old Thibault Hutin, a French equestrian show jumper she had met at a competition the previous April. \nOn 8 July 2013, Hingis told the Swiss newspaper Schweizer Illustrierte the pair had been separated since the beginning of the year. \n\nHingis speaks five languages: Swiss German, Standard German, Czech, English and French.",
"britishtennis.com - History of Tennis\nShe is the youngest player to win a singles event at ... tennis player to win Wimbledon when she ... at Wimbledon was in the 1980 Mens Singles Final ...\nbritishtennis.com - The British Tennis Website\n \nHistory of Tennis\nLets take a step back in time. Below we have identified key moments in tennis history. Cream boxes containing the General heading represent general tennis history facts, while green boxes containing the Wimbledon heading represent specific moments in Wimbledon history.\nAll facts are listed in chronological order (if read as newspaper columns) for your convenience. Enjoy!\n12th Century\nGeneral: Origins trace back to French game called \"Paume\" (\"Palm\"), where players hit a small ball over a net by hand.\n16th Century\nGeneral: The racket was actually invented in Italy in 1583.\nGeneral: Paume evolved into \"Jeu de Paume\" (\"Game of Palm\") and a racket was used instead of a hand.\n1873\nGeneral: Major Walter Wingfield invented the game called \"Sphairistik�\" (Greek for \"playing ball\") and first introduced it to Wales (UK).\nPlayed on hour-glass shaped courts on Manor House lawns by wealthy English people. This is truly where modern tennis evolved.\nGeneral: The game soon became known as \"tennis\", thought to come from the French word \"tenir\" (\"hold this\"), \"tendere\" (\"to hold\"), or \"tenez\" (\"to take\"). The precise origins are unknown.\n1875\nWimbledon: Henry Cavendish Jones convinced the All England Croquet Club to replace a croquet court with a lawn tennis court. Marylebone Cricket Club followed suit.\nWimbledon: Marylebone Cricket Club made significant changes to the game. They added Deuce , Advantage , and 2 chances per serve. The hourglass-shaped court also changed to a rectangular court, identical to the measurements we use today!\n1877\nWimbledon: The very first World Tennis Championship was held in 1877 at Worple Road in Wimbledon (United Kingdom), the true home of tennis! The sponsors were the All England Croquet Club. Only 22 players entered the Mens Singles, which was the only event. Spectators paid a mere one shilling to watch the final. The winner of this mens event was Spencer Gore, who aparently speculated that it would not catch on because it was too boring!\n1880\nWimbledon: The Overhead Smash was introduced into the game by the Renshaw brothers.\nThey would dominate Wimbledon for a decade, winning all but 1880 and 1887 championships between them.\n1881\nGeneral: The United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) is founded, and the first U.S. Championships are played.\n1884\nWimbledon: The Wimbledon Championships are open to women for the first time. There are only 13 participants. Mens doubles was also introduced for the first time.\n1887\nGeneral: The U.S. Championships are open to women for the first time.\n1887\nWimbledon: Lottie Dod of England wins the Wimbledon Ladies Singles title for the first of 5 times between 1887 and 1893.\nShe is the youngest player to win a singles event at the age of only 15 years and 285 days.\n1888\nGeneral: Our very own Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is founded in order to maintain the new rules and standards of tennis.\n1891\nGeneral: The first French Championships are played. However, they rule these Championships are only open to French residents - trust the French!\n1897\nGeneral: The French Championships are open to women for the first time.\n1899\nWimbledon: The All England Croquet Club changed it's name to the All England Tennis & Croquet Club.\n1900\nGeneral: The first Davis Cup Tournament is held.\n1905\nGeneral: The first Australasian Championships are played. Only twice between 1905 and 1925 were the Championships held outside Australia (in New Zealand).\n1905\nWimbledon: May Sutton won the Ladies Singles at Wimbledon, and was the first international tennis player to win at Wimbledon.\nWimbledon: The Doherty brothers (Laurie and Reggie) won the Wimbledon Mens Doubles title for a record eigth time. Ironically, they were both born in Wimbledon!\n1907\nWimbledon: Norman Brookes of Australia became the first international Wimbledon Mens Singles champion.\n1908\nWimbledon: Mrs Charlotte Sterry of Great Britain became the oldest Wimbledon Ladies Singles champion at the age of 37 years and 282 days.\n1909\nWimbledon: Arthur Gore of Great Britain became the oldest Wimbledon Mens Singles champion at the age of 41 years and 182 days.\n1912\nGeneral: The International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) is born with an aim of operating the 4 major tennis Championships (Wimbledon, U.S., Australasian, and French).\n1920\nWimbledon: Suzanne Lenglen of France became the first player to win the triple crown of Ladies Singles, Ladies Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.\nWimbledon: Building works for a new Wimbledon Championships tournament to be located on Church Street had started. The total cost of this development would cost �140,000ukp\n1922\nGeneral: The Australasian Championships are open to women for the first time.\n1922\nWimbledon: The new Wimbledon Championships located on Church Street was open for business. Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales were at the grand opening. The new arena had a capacity 14,000.\n1925\nGeneral: Finally the pathetic \"French residents only\" rule is dropped by the French Championships!\nAs the Australasian Championships were predominantly held in Australia anyway, they became the Australian Championships and would only be hosted in Australia.\n1927\nWimbledon: The idea of seeding players was introduced for the first time.\n1928\nGeneral: The Stade Roland Garros hosts the French Championships for the first time.\n1930\nGeneral: One-piece Ash wood tennis rackets are replaced by laminated wood.\n1934\nWimbledon: Fred Perry and Miss Dorothy Round won both the Wimbledon Mens and Ladies Singles titles. It has so far proven to be the last British double.\n1936\nWimbledon: Fred Perry of Great Britain became Wimbledon Mens Singles champion for the third successive year. This is the last time a British player has won the Wimbledon Mens Singles title.\n1938\nGeneral: The first tennis player to complete the Grand Slam of all 4 Championships in the same year was the American Don Budge.\n1940\nWimbledon: From 1940 to 1945 World War II put a hold on the Wimbledon and French Championships. It was in October 1940 that a Centre Court was hit by a bomb. Fortunately no lives were lost, but we did lose 1200 seats.\n1941\nGeneral: From 1941 to 1945 the Australian Championships are put on hold.\n1946\nWimbledon: Wimbledon and French Championships are open for business once again!\n1949\nWimbledon: Fashion designer Ted Tinling created a dress for the American Gertrude \"Gussy\" Moran that would shock Wimbledon.\nHer lace-trimmed knickers were front-page news worldwide, and were even the subject of debate in Parliament!\n1950\nGeneral: The Pro Tour created by Jack Kramer kicks off and becomes extremely popular with both amateur tennis players and the public.\n1953\nThe first woman to complete the Grand Slam of all 4 Championships was Maureen Connelly.\n1962\nWimbledon: The Australian Rod Laver wins the Wimbledon Mens Singles title on his way to securing his first of two Grand Slam titles!\n1967\nGeneral: The first metal tennis racket appears thanks to Wilson!\n1967\nWimbledon: Wimbledon was shown on colour television for the first time thanks to the BBC.\n1968\nGeneral: The \"Open Era\" of tennis begins. From now on all tennis players regardless of professional or amateur status will compete in the same tennis tournaments.\n1969\nGeneral: Having completed his first Grand Slam in 1962 Rod Laver collects his second in 1969. He is the only tennis player in history to have achieved two Grand Slams.\n1970\nGeneral: Jack Kramer introduces a points system for tennis tournaments. Players earn points depending on how far they go in tournaments and at the end of the season prize money is distributed to those who have accumulatedthe most points.\n1970\nGeneral: The Tie-break was invented by Jimmy van Allen in the late 1960s, and was then introduced at the US Open following a successful trial period at Newport, R.I. The winner of the tie-break was the first person to reach five points.\n1971\nWimbledon: The Tie-break was introduced at Wimbledon, and came into effect if the score in games reached 8-8 in any set except the final set.\n1972\nGeneral: The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is formed by professional tennis players, and Jack Kramer is chosen as Executive Director.\n1973\nWimbledon: Wimbledon is boycotted by the ATP following the suspension of Yugoslav Nikki Pilic.\n1975\nWimbledon: The first time players were allowed chairs on court to allow them to rest during a change of ends.\n1976\nGeneral: The first graphite and fiberglass tennis rackets appear on the scene thanks to Howard Head of Prince.\nWimbledon: The Swedish player Bj�rn Borg won his 1st singles title.\n1977\nWimbledon: Virginia Wade was the last British tennis player to win Wimbledon when she won the Ladies Singles title.\nWimbledon: The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum opened.\n1979\nWimbledon: Billie Jean King won the Wimbledon Ladies Doubles title, which totalled a record 20 titles in all (6 Ladies Singles, 10 Ladies Doubles, and 4 Mixed Doubles).\nWimbledon: The Tie-break rule was to come into play at a score in games of 6-6 (instead of 8-8), with the exception of final sets.\n1980\nWimbledon: The longest Tie-break at Wimbledon was in the 1980 Mens Singles Final between John McEnroe (USA) and Bj�rn Borg (Sweden), with a score of 18-16 in favour of Bj�rn Borg.\nWimbledon: The mighty Swede Bj�rn Borg secures his 5th consecutive Wimbledon Mens Singles title.\nWimbledon: Tennis was played at Wimbledon on Sunday for the first time.\n1985\nWimbledon: Boris Becker of Germany was the youngest ever and first unseeded Wimbledon Mens Singles champion at the age of only 17 years and 227 days.\n1990\nWimbledon: Martina Navratilova became the Wimbledon Ladies Singles champion for a record ninth time.\n1994\nGeneral: Martina Navratilova retires from singles tennis, having won a record 167 singles titles, a record 1438 matches won, and an amazing 9 Wimbledon titles!\nWimbledon: Tim Henman was disqualified during a Wimbledon Mens Doubles match after hitting a ball in anger and striking a ball girl (accidentally of course).\n1996\nWimbledon: Martina Hingis of Switzerland was the youngest ever Wimbledon champion when she won the Ladies Doubles in 1996 at the age of only 15 years and 282 days.\n2001\nWimbledon: Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia became the first Wimbledon Wildcard in history to win the Mens Singles title.\n2002\nGeneral: Venus and Serena Williams become the first sisters in history to be ranked #1 and #2 in the WTA world rankings list respectively.\n2003\nGeneral: Pete Sampras retires from tennis at a US Open farewell ceremony. He won 64 singles titles (4th highest ever) including a record 14 Grand Slam titles - 2 Australian Open, 5 US Open and 7 Wimbledon.\n2004\nGeneral: Roger Federer becomes the first man since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three of the four grand slam events (Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) in a calendar year. He also captured an ATP-best 11 titles in as many finals, including the end-of-season Masters Cup.\nAnd also set an Open Era record by winning 13 consecutive finals (dating back to 2003), surpassing Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe who won 12 straight finals.\n2005\nGeneral: Roger Federer's 25-match winning streak (the longest in men's tennis since 1984) ended at the hands of 18-year-old Richard Gasquet in Monte Carlo.\n2006\nGeneral: The greatest showman in tennis history - Andre Agassi - retires on 3 September 2006 following a 7-5 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 defeat to Benjamin Becker (GER) in the third round of the US Open.\n2007\nGeneral: Roger Federer becomes the first athlete to be named Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards for the third time. Roger said: \"It is a great honour for me to recieve this award for the third straight year.\"\n2007\nGeneral: Roger Federer become the first Swiss national alive to be honoured through a stamp issue. The one Swiss franc stamp (�0.4; $0.8) shows Federer holding the Wimbledon trophy. Roger said: \"It's a great moment. I'm proud to be a symbol like the army knife or the mountains.\"\n2007\nGeneral: On the 19 May, Raphael Nadal claims 81 straight wins on clay to set a new all surface record. His run was ended by Roger Federer in the Hamburg Masters final the following day.\n2007\nGeneral: On the 9 September, Roger Federer became the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win four US Open titles in a row, beating Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 6-4 in the final.\n2008\nGeneral: Roger Federer became the longest serving consecutive World No.1 with 237 days. His reign lasted from 2 February 2004 until 17 August 2008 when he was succeeded by Rafael Nadal.\n2008\nGeneral: On 21 October, Laura Robson became the youngest British tennis player in history on the main tour at age 14. Her debut was against 25-year-old world number 42 Iveta Benesova at the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg - wildcard. Despite taking the opening set, Laura was defeated 1-6 6-2 6-3.\n2009\nGeneral: On 20 April, Marat Safin and Dinara Safina became the first brother and sister to reach world number one. Marat became achieved the top ranking on 20 November 2000.\n2009\nGeneral: On 7 June, Roger Federer became arguably the greatest tennis player of all time with his victory at the French Open. Federer joins Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi as winner of all four Grand Slam titles, and equals the 14 Grand Slam titles claimed by Pete Sampras - who never managed to win on the clay of Roland Garros.\n2010\nWimbledon: There were no English men in the Wimbledon singles draw for the first time in its 133-year history. Representing Great Britain were only 2 Scots Andy Murray and Jamie Baker (wildcard).\n2011\nGeneral:30 January, Andy Murray makes tennis history, by becoming the first player never to win a set in 3 Grand Slam finals. - Lost 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to Novak Djokovic, Australian Open 2011 - Lost 6�3, 6�4, 7�6(11) to Roger Federer, Australian Open 2010 - Lost 6�2, 7�5, 6�2 to Roger Federer, US Open 2008\n2012\nWimbledon/Olympics: On 3 August the longest singles match in Olympic history was held at Wimbledon during London 2012. Roger Federer defeated Juan Martin Del Potro 3-6 7-6(5) 19-17 in 4hrs 26mins.\n2014\nGeneral: 21 March, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland secured the fastest ATP Tour win record by beating the Australian Bernard Tomic 6-0 6-1 in 28 minutes and 20 seconds at the Sony Open. The record was previously held by Briton Greg Rusedski who defeated the German Carsten Arriens in 29 minutes at the Sydney International in 1996."
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Leigh Francis is the real name of which TV entertainer, the character first appeared in ?Whatever I Want? then ?Bo Selecta?? | Keith Lemon | [
"Leigh_Francis.txt\nLeigh Francis\nLeigh Francis (born 30 April 1973) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, director, producer, writer, and voice artist, best known for creating Channel 4's Bo' Selecta! and portraying Keith Lemon in several ITV and ITV2 shows including Celebrity Juice, Keith Lemon's LemonAid, Through the Keyhole and The Keith Lemon Sketch Show.\n\nEarly life\n\nFrancis was born in Beeston, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 30 April 1973 and brought up on a council estate in Old Farnley, Leeds. His father died aged 47 of cancer. \n\nFrancis attended Farnley Park High School (now The Farnley Academy). He later studied at the Leeds College of Art and received a qualification in graphic design. Before making his major television breakthrough, he was discovered and encouraged by television presenter Davina McCall, performing in-role stand-up comedy in a southern comedy club.\n\nMcCall landed Francis his first television role on Dom and Kirk's Nite O' Plenty, where he portrayed Bobby Stark, a man who gives tips on how to win over the ladies. The series aired on Paramount Television from January to July 1996. Francis' second television role was as Barry Gibson, a music paparazzo, featured on the early series of Channel 4's Popworld. Francis also starred as various characters, including Gibson, Keith Lemon and Avid Merrion in the series Whatever I Want, which aired late night on ITV in 2000.\n\nCareer\n\nIn his early career, Francis did a series of shorts for Paramount Comedy called Stars in Their Houses. Some of the shorts can be found on YouTube.\n\nHis major television breakthrough occurred when Channel 4 offered him a £250,000 deal to produce a series based on his television characters, such as his previous roles as Bobby Stark and Barry Gibson, and in 2002, Bo' Selecta! was born. The series featured Francis portraying a series of celebrities by wearing face masks to impersonate them, as well as portraying the main, non-celebrity character, Avid Merrion. The programme lasted for five series, airing between 2002 and 2006, however, the last two series were only loosely based on the original three. Season 4 was subtitled A Bear's Tail, and was based on another of his characters, The Bear. Season 5 returned to Avid Merrion and was called Bo! in the USA.\n\nFollowing the axing of Bo' Selecta!, Francis took one of the series characters, Keith Lemon, and created a brand new show, Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour, which aired on ITV2 in April 2008. The show was a success, and subsequently, Francis created another new show featuring Lemon, Celebrity Juice, which has aired 15 series to date. Lemon also co-hosted Sing If You Can with Stacey Solomon, and, since 7 April 2012, he has hosted his new show Keith Lemon's LemonAid on ITV. In November 2011, it was revealed that Lemon would make his feature film debut in Keith Lemon: The Film, with production starting later that month. \n\nSince 31 August 2013, Francis has presented ITV panel show Through the Keyhole in character as Keith Lemon. Since 5 February 2015, he has appeared in the ITV2 comedy show The Keith Lemon Sketch Show.\n\nPersonal life\n\nOn 30 October 2002, at Allerton Castle, North Yorkshire, Francis married Jill Carter, a beauty therapist. In February 2009, their daughter, Matilda, was born. Francis lives in north London with his wife and daughters.\n\nCharacterisation\n\nFrancis is known to conduct almost every interview in one of his celebrity guises, being interviewed as Avid Merrion during Bo' Selecta!s run between 2002 and 2006, and as Keith Lemon ever since. In an out-of-character interview with On: Yorkshire Magazine, Francis confirmed that Avid Merrion's accent and dialects were inspired by his former tutor at Jacob Kramer College, Laimonis Mieriņš. He also pointed out that Merrion is a misspelling of Mieriņš and has nothing to do with the Merrion Centre in Leeds, as some may have assumed. Francis conducted further interviews as himself for The Frank Skinner Show, Loose Women, Big Brother's Little Brother and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.\n\nCharacters\n\nTelevision\n\n* The Buzz (1998)\n* Bo' Selecta! (2002–06)\n* The Frank Skinner Show (2004)\n* Loose Women (2009)\n* Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2014)\n\nAs 'Keith Lemon'\n* Whatever I Want (2000)\n* Celebrity Juice (2008– )\n* Keith Lemon's LemonAid (2012)\n* Take Me Out (Christmas Celebrity Special, 2012)\n* Lemon La Vida Loca (2012–13)\n* Through the Keyhole (2013– )\n* The Keith Lemon Sketch Show (2015–16)",
"Keith_Lemon.txt\nKeith Lemon\nKeith Ian Lemon is a fictional character portrayed by English comedian Leigh Francis.\n\nBackground\n\nIn a 2006 interview with The Guardian, Leigh Francis said that Keith Lemon is loosely based on his best friend (whose name is also Keith Lemon). Lemon is easily distinguished by his Yorkshire accent, bleached hair, ginger moustache and fake tan. \n\nAccording to Francis, Lemon's background is that of a failed businessman who was most successful in 1993, when he won the prestigious Businessman of the Year award for his innovative creation, the \"securi-pole\". He is also the son of the famous singer Billy Ocean, as established on Celebrity Juice by having a \"DMA\" test undertaken on them both during the show on 24 April 2016. In that same episode, Lemon discovered that Chris Kamara was his half-brother.\n\nFrancis has admitted that he hates the fake moustache that he has to wear whilst in character and removes it as soon as filming is finished. He also gave Gino D'Acampo a second name of \"Sheffield\". \n\nCareer\n\n2000–02\n\nLemon was first portrayed in 2000 in the short-lived Whatever I Want, aired on London Weekend Television. The show also featured Francis' other two main characters, Avid Merrion, and a human version of The Bear. All three characters were in very early stages of development, and in comparison to Francis' appearances in Bo' Selecta! and beyond, Lemon's actions and behaviour remain similar to, but are noticeably different from, those of the final personalities of the characters. An episode of this programme is available to view on YouTube.\n\n2002–06\n\nLemon first appeared as a recurring character in the Channel 4 impersonations series Bo' Selecta!, which was created and performed by Francis. During the show's first series, aired in 2002, he made one appearance, which depicted himself in a trendy wine bar attempting to chat-up Tess Daly. Lemon later appeared in the third series of Bo' Selecta!, where he was introduced in a regular role as the agent of Avid Merrion, the main character, also played by Francis, after Avid gets himself his own television show. Lemon's face was not shown to camera during this series, but was instead obscured by various objects in the manner of Wilson from Home Improvement.\n\nLemon also appeared in the Bo' Selecta! spin-off A Bear's Tail, which focused entirely on the character of The Bear. In the series, he became the neighbour of the Hennerson family, who adopted The Bear after they ran him over. Lemon developed a friendship with Patsy Kensit, who played the character of Mrs. Hennerson, during the series. Lemon later appeared in the fourth and final series of Bo' Selecta!, which was set in the United States. In this series, he featured in a regular role when he became the American ambassador.\n\n2008–09\n\nFollowing the conclusion of Bo' Selecta!, Lemon re-appeared in his own spin-off series on ITV2, entitled Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour. The programme depicted Lemon flying to six different countries around the world, in a shark-shaped flight plan, meeting various celebrity guests along the way. The series premiered on 11 March 2008 on ITV2, and pulled in very successful ratings.\n\nIn August 2008, it was announced that Lemon would return to ITV2 with his own comedy panel show, Celebrity Juice. The format of the show involves two teams of celebrities, who battle it out to see which team know the most about the past week's news. The series began airing in September 2008, featuring regular team captains Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton, as well as regular panellist, Rufus Hound. The series popularised his quotes \"Ooosh, Bang Tidy!\" and \"I'd smash your back doors in!\", which first became known during his time on Bo' Selecta!, and also introduced his end-of-episode catchphrase, \"If I don't see ya' through week, I'll see ya' through window\".\n\nThe series also featured sketches involving his Bo' Selecta! guises, and also featured a round in which The Bear questioned a mystery celebrity regarding his or her life. The series was successful enough for a second season to be commissioned, however, all references to Bo' Selecta! were ordered to be removed, as they were in copyright breach of Channel 4, who originally aired the series.\n\nIn October 2008, Lemon made numerous appearances on the Big Brother companion shows Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth, as a celebrity guest discussing the action in the house, and as the host of public phone-in competitions. In February 2009, Lemon appeared as a contestant with fellow comedian Paddy McGuinness on the first series of the charity competition Let's Dance for Comic Relief. Their performance of \"(I've Had) The Time of My Life\" from Dirty Dancing made them the runners-up of the series. Shortly after, the second series of Celebrity Juice premiered, featuring a selection of big name guests, including Tito Jackson.\n\n2010\n\nIn March 2010, Lemon made several appearances on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! companion show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! with host Caroline Flack. Shortly after, the third series of Celebrity Juice began broadcasting featuring two special episodes: the Girls Night Out special and a BBC Radio 1 vs. This Morning special. In July 2010, Lemon recorded a fitness DVD with Australian fitness instructor Deanne Berry. Since being released, the DVD, entitled 'Keith Lemon's Fit', has sold over 50,000 copies.\n\nIn August 2010, Lemon worked as an agony uncle on This Morning, alongside Celebrity Juice colleague Holly Willoughby. In September 2010, the fourth series of Celebrity Juice began broadcasting featuring several special episodes, including a TV stars special, an episode dedicated to McFly, an episode dedicated to N-Dubz, an episode dedicated to The X Factor, an episode dedicated to Coronation Street, and an episode dedicated to JLS. The fourth series also revealed further details about Lemon, including his belief that he is the son of Billy Ocean, and that all Irish people should be referred to as a \"potato\", a quote frequently referred to when discussing Jedward, Louis Walsh or any other Irish personalities. That year, Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour was released on DVD.\n\n2011\n\nIn February 2011, Lemon became the executive producer of This Morning for a week of special episodes, taking over from the absent Karl Newton. He also appeared as a member of the judging panel on the third series of Let's Dance for Comic Relief. Both series five and six of Celebrity Juice were broadcast during the year. Special episodes during the year included an Up the Duff special, a Pop music special, an episode dedicated to the Royal Wedding, a Coronation Street vs. Emmerdale special, a Back to School special, a Girl on Girl special, an episode dedicated to Ant & Dec, and an I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! special. The sixth series also introduced another of Lemon's infamous activities, \"Motting\".\n\nIn March 2011, Lemon hosted six episodes of ITV game show Sing If You Can with Stacey Solomon , after original intended host Vernon Kay pulled out. In June 2011, Lemon filmed a pilot for a possible ITV prime time series, entitled The Bang Tidy Show. The description of the pilot was as follows: \"While there's all the usual celebrity guests from hit series Celebrity Juice, there's also a talking Orangutan, a door that leads to anywhere, audience games and prizes, a supermarket in the future staffed by old celebrities, and you, the audience, can ask Keith anything you want! Each episode will also finish with Keith performing with his celebrity guests.\" \n\nAlthough the pilot was not commissioned, the idea for the latter production Lemonaid was born. In September 2011, Lemon made his first ever public appearance, when he switched on the Blackpool Illuminations in a special ceremony. On 21 November 2011, the first Celebrity Juice DVD was released, entitled Celebrity Juice: Too Hot for TV. During the year, Lemon also promoted Tacheback, a campaign to raise awareness of male cancer. \n\n2012\n\nIn Spring 2012, Lemon starred in an episode of Mad Mad World. The seventh series of Celebrity Juice began on 9 February 2012, featuring five special episodes: the Hunks special, Girls on Top special, Coronation Street vs. EastEnders special, an Irish special and a Pop Music special. Thus far, the seventh series has received some of ITV2's highest ratings ever. On 11 February, Lemon featured as one of three members of the judging panel on tan episode of Let's Dance for Sport Relief.\n\nOn 14 February, Lemon co-presented the backstage coverage of the 2012 BRIT Awards with RTÉ presenter Laura Whitmore. On 18 February, Lemon, Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton were guests on The Jonathan Ross Show, where they gave a candid interview about their time on Celebrity Juice, and also played a pair of studio games with Ross. On 19 March, Lemon fronted a special edition of Celebrity Juice for the Sport Relief telethon, which featured swimmer Mark Foster appearing in a special round.\n\nOn 7 April, Lemon's six-part Jim'll Fix It style series for ITV, Keith Lemon's Lemonaid premiered. In the series, Lemon travels up and down the country to meet his fans, and solve people's problems using his own tongue-in-cheek manner. Every episode also includes a celebrity guest and a musical performance, as well as studio games in which the audience have the chance to win some prizes. In August 2012, Lemon released his own feature-length film, openly titled Keith Lemon: The Film. It features acting performances by Kelly Brook and Verne Troyer, as well as cameo appearances by David Hasselhoff, Billy Ocean, Peter Andre, Gary Barlow, Tinchy Stryder, Jedward and Fearne Cotton.\n\nFrom 2 to 23 August 2012, Lemon starred in his own show, called Lemon La Vida Loca, which centres around his relationship with his new girlfriend Rosie (Laura Aikman). In 2012, Lemon was nominated for the National Television Award for Most Popular Entertainment Presenter but lost out to Ant & Dec. On 30 August 2012, Lemon confirmed he will host series 8 of Celebrity Juice. That same day, Francis announced on Keith Lemon's Twitter account that Lemon La Vida Loca would return for a Christmas episode.\n\n2013–present\n\nSince 31 August 2013, Lemon has hosted a revived series of Through the Keyhole, broadcast on Saturday evenings on ITV. \n\nSince February 2015, Lemon has starred in two series of his ITV2 sketch show The Keith Lemon Sketch Show. \n\nLemon also made guest appearances in the Christmas edition of Take Me Out in 2012 and in December 2015, he appeared in a Text Santa edition of 1000 Heartbeats. \n\nIn May 2014, Lemon appeared in an advertisement for Hooper's Hooch. He currently appears in the Carphone Warehouse television commercials."
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"2273"
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"Mike_Leigh.txt\nMike Leigh\nMike Leigh OBE (born 20 February 1943) is an English writer and director of film and theatre. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) before honing his directing skills at East 15 Acting School and further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid-1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s his career moved between theatre work and making films for BBC Television, many of which were characterised by a gritty \"kitchen sink realism\" style. His well-known films include the comedy-dramas Life is Sweet (1990) and Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biographical film Topsy-Turvy (1999), and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). His most notable works are the black comedy-drama Naked (1993), for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA and Palme d'Or-winning drama Secrets & Lies (1996) and the Golden Lion winning working-class drama Vera Drake (2004). Some of his notable stage plays include Smelling A Rat, It's A Great Big Shame, Greek Tragedy, Goose-Pimples, Ecstasy, and Abigail's Party.\n\nLeigh is known for his lengthy rehearsal and improvisation techniques with actors to build characters and narrative for his films. His purpose is to capture reality and present \"emotional, subjective, intuitive, instinctive, vulnerable films.\" His aesthetic has been compared to the sensibility of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. His films and stage plays, according to critic Michael Coveney, \"comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period.\" Coveney further noted Leigh's role in helping to create stars – Liz Smith in Hard Labour, Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, Brenda Blethyn in Grown-Ups, Antony Sher in Goose-Pimples, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in Meantime, Jane Horrocks in Life is Sweet, David Thewlis in Naked – and remarked that the list of actors who have worked with him over the years – including Paul Jesson, Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Sharp, Kathy Burke, Stephen Rea, Julie Walters – \"comprises an impressive, almost representative, nucleus of outstanding British acting talent.\" Ian Buruma, writing in the New York Review of Books in January 1994, noted: \"It is hard to get on a London bus or listen to the people at the next table in a cafeteria without thinking of Mike Leigh. Like other wholly original artists, he has staked out his own territory. Leigh's London is as distinctive as Fellini's Rome or Ozu's Tokyo.\" \n\nEarly life\n\nLeigh was born in Welwyn, the son of Phyllis Pauline (née Cousin) and Alfred Abraham Leigh, a doctor. His mother, in her confinement, went to stay with her parents in Hertfordshire for comfort and support while her husband was serving as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Leigh was brought up in Broughton, Salford. He is from a Jewish immigrant family whose surname, originally Lieberman, had been anglicised in 1939 \"for obvious reasons\". When the war ended Leigh's father began his career as a general practitioner in Higher Broughton, \"the epicentre of Leigh's youngest years and the area memorialised in Hard Labour.\" Leigh went to Salford Grammar School, as did the director Les Blair, his friend, who produced Leigh's first feature film Bleak Moments in 1971. There was a strong tradition of drama in the all-boys school, and an English master, called Mr Nutter, supplied the library with newly published plays. Outside of school, Leigh thrived in the Manchester branch of Habonim. He attended summer camps and winter activities over the Christmas break all round the country in the late 1950s. Throughout this time, (and though supplemented by his discovery of Picasso, Surrealism, The Goon Show, and even family visits to the Hallé Orchestra and the D'Oyly Carte), the most important part of his artistic consumption was the cinema. In 1960, 'to his utter astonishment', he won a scholarship to RADA. Initially trained as an actor at RADA, Leigh went on to start honing his directing skills at East 15 Acting School where he met the actress Alison Steadman. \n\nLeigh responded negatively to RADA's agenda, found himself being taught how to 'laugh, cry and snog' for weekly rep purposes and so became a sullen student. He later attended Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (in 1963), the Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design, and the London School of Film Technique in Charlotte Street. When he had arrived in London, one of the first films he had seen was Shadows, an 'improvised' film by John Cassavetes, in which a cast of unknowns was observed 'living, loving and bickering' on the streets of New York, and Leigh had \"felt it might be possible to create complete plays from scratch with a group of actors.\" Other influences from this time included Harold Pinter's The Caretaker—\"Leigh was mesmerised by the play and the (Arts Theatre) production\"— Samuel Beckett, whose novels he read avidly, and the surreal writing of Flann O'Brien, whose 'tragi-comedy' Leigh found particularly appealing. Influential and important productions he saw in this period included Beckett's Endgame, Peter Brook's King Lear and in 1965 Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade, a production developed through improvisations, the actors having based their characterisations on people they had visited in a mental hospital. The visual worlds of Ronald Searle, George Grosz, Picasso, and William Hogarth exerted another kind of influence. He played small roles in several British films in the early 1960s, (West 11,Two Left Feet), and played a young deaf-mute, interrogated by Rupert Davies, in the BBC TV series Maigret. In 1964–65 he teamed up with David Halliwell, and designed and directed the first production of Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs at the Unity Theatre.\n\nLeigh has been described as \"a gifted cartoonist ... a northerner who came south, slightly chippy, fiercely proud (and critical) of his roots and Jewish background; and he is a child of the 1960s, and of the explosion of interest in the European cinema and the possibilities of television.\" \n\nCareer\n\nBetween 1965 and 1970 Leigh's activity was varied. In 1965 he went to work at the Midlands Art Centre in Birmingham as a resident assistant director and had the opportunity to start experimenting with the idea that writing and rehearsing could potentially be part of the same process. The Box Play, a family scenario staged in a cage-like box, \"absorbed all sorts of contemporary ideas in art such as the space frames of Roland Pichet..it was visually very exciting,\", and two more 'improvised' pieces followed. After the Birmingham interlude he found a flat in Euston, where he lived for the next ten years. In 1966/67 he worked as an assistant director with the Royal Shakespeare Company, assisting Peter Hall on (a disastrous) Macbeth, and on Coriolanus, and Trevor Nunn on a knockabout The Taming of the Shrew. He also worked on an improvised play with some professional actors on a play of his own called NENAA, (an acronym for the North East New Arts Assiociation), which explored the fantasies of a Tynesider working in a café, with ideas of founding an arts association in the northeast.\n\nLeigh wrote, in 1970, \"I saw that we must start off with a collection of totally unrelated characters (each one the specific creation of its actor) and then go through a process in which I must cause them to meet each other, and build a network of real relationships; the play would be drawn from the results.\" After Stratford-upon-Avon Leigh directed a couple of London drama school productions that included Thomas Dekker's The Honest Whore at E15 Acting School in Loughton – where he met Alison Steadman for the first time. In 1968, wanting to return to Manchester, he sub-let his London flat and moved to Levenshulme. Taking up a part-time lectureship in a Catholic women teachers training college, Sedgley Park, he ran a drama course and devised and directed Epilogue, focusing on a priest with doubts, and for the Manchester Youth Theatre he devised and directed two big-cast projects, Big Basil and Glum Victoria and the Lad with Specs.\n\nAs the decade came to a close Leigh knew he wanted to make films, and that \"The manner of working was at last fixed. There would be discussions and rehearsals. Plays or films would develop organically with actors fully liberated into the creative process. After an exploratory improvisation period, Leigh would write a structure, indicating the order in which scenes happened, usually with a single bare sentence: Johnny and Sophie meet; Betty does Joy's hair; [etc.]. And it was rehearsed and rehearsed until it achieved the required quality of 'finish'.\" \n\nIn the 1970s, Leigh made nine television plays. Earlier plays such as Nuts in May and Abigail's Party tended more towards bleakly yet humorously satirising middle-class manners and attitudes. His plays are generally more caustic, stridently trying to show the banality of society. Goose-Pimples and Abigail's Party both focus on the vulgar middle class in a convivial party setting that spirals out of control. The television version of Abigail's Party was made at some speed, Steadman was pregnant at the time, and Leigh's objections to flaws in the production, particularly the lighting, led to his preference for theatrical films.\n\nThere was something of a hiatus in Leigh's career following the death of his father at the end of February 1985. Leigh was in Australia at the time – having agreed to attend a screenwriters conference in Melbourne at the start of 1985, he had then accepted an invitation to teach at the Australian Film School in Sydney – and he then 'buried his solitude and sense of loss in a busy round of people, publicity and talks.' He gradually extended 'the long journey home' and went on to visit Bali, Singapore, Hong Kong, China. He said later, \" The whole thing was an amazing, unforgettable period in my life. But it was all to do with personal feelings, my father, where to go next, and my desire to make a feature film. I felt I was at the end of one stage of my career and at the start of another.\" His 1986 project codenamed 'Rhubarb', for which he had gathered actors in Blackburn, including Jane Horrocks, Julie Walters and David Thewlis, was cancelled after seven weeks rehearsals and Leigh returned home. \"The nature of what I do is totally creative, and you have to get in there and stick with it. The tension between the bourgeois suburban and the anarchist bohemian that is in my work is obviously in my life, too...I started to pull myself together. I didn't work, I simply stayed at home and looked after the boys.\" In 1987 Channel 4 put up some money for a short film and, with Portman Productions, agreed to co-produce Leigh's first feature film since Bleak Moments. \n\nIn 1988 Mike Leigh and producer Simon Channing Williams founded Thin Man Films, a film production company based in London, to produce Mike Leigh's films.[https://www.duedil.com/company/02280415/thin-man-films-limited Duedil: Thin Man Films Limited] Linked 2013-05-27 They chose the company name because both founders were the opposite of it. \n\nLater In 1988, he made High Hopes, about a disjointed working-class family whose members live in a run-down flat and a council house. Leigh's subsequent films such as Naked and Vera Drake are somewhat starker, more brutal, and concentrate more on the working-class; another of his recent films, however, is a modern-day comedy, Happy-Go-Lucky. A commitment to social realism and humanism is evident throughout. More specifically, several of his films and television plays examine the domestic relationships of ordinary people, which are brought to a head or transformed by some crisis towards the end of the film.\n\nHis stage plays include Smelling A Rat, It's A Great Big Shame, Greek Tragedy, Goose-Pimples, Ecstasy, and Abigail's Party.\n\nThe anger inherent in Leigh's material, in some ways typical of the Thatcher years, softened after her departure from the political scene. In 2005, Leigh returned to directing for the stage after many years absence with his new play, Two Thousand Years at the Royal National Theatre in London. The play deals with the divisions within a left-wing secular Jewish family when one of the younger members finds religion. It is the first time Leigh has drawn on his Jewish background for inspiration.\n\nLeigh has won several prizes at major European film festivals. Most notably he won the Best Director award at Cannes for Naked in 1993 and the Palme d'Or in 1996 for Secrets & Lies. He won the Leone d'Oro for the best film at the International Venice Film Festival in 2004 with Vera Drake. He has been nominated for the Academy Award seven times, twice each for Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake (Best Original Screenplay and Best Directing) and once for Topsy-Turvy, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Another Year (Best Original Screenplay only). He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008. \n\nLeigh has used a pool of actors regularly over the years, including Alison Steadman, Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Paul Jesson, Marion Bailey, Phil Davis, Jim Broadbent, David Thewlis, Sam Kelly Peter Wight, Imelda Staunton, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Claire Skinner, James Corden, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Brenda Blethyn and the late Katrin Cartlidge.\n\nLeigh was selected to be jury president of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. \n\nIn 2015, he offered from English National Opera to directs Gilbert & Sullivan's operetta The Pirates of Penzance (cond: David Parry, design: Alison Chitty, starring: Andrew Shore, Robert Murray, Jonathan Lemalu). Then toured in Europe: Luxembourg (Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg), Caen (Théâtre de Caen) and Saarbrucken (Saarländisches Staatstheater).\n\nLeigh is purported to be working on another historical feature, a story based on the Peterloo massacre. \n\nStyle\n\nLeigh uses lengthy improvisations developed over a period of weeks to build characters and storylines for his films. He starts with some sketch ideas of how he thinks things might develop, but does not reveal all his intentions with the cast who discover their fate and act out their responses as their destinies are gradually revealed. Initial preparation is in private with the director and then the actors are introduced to each other in the order that their characters would have met in their lives. Intimate moments are explored that will not even be referred to in the final film to build insight and understanding of history, character and personal motivation. When an improvisation needs to be stopped, he says to the actors: 'Come out of character,' before they discuss what's happened or what might have happened in a situation. \n\nLeigh begins his projects without a script, but starts from a basic premise that is developed through improvisation by the actors. Leigh initially works one-to-one with each actor, developing a character who is based, in the first place, on someone he or she knows. The critical scenes in the eventual story are performed and recorded in full-costumed, real-time improvisations where the actors encounter for the first time new characters, events or information which may dramatically affect their characters' lives. Final filming is more traditional as definite sense of story, action and dialogue is then in place. The director reminds the cast of material from the improvisations that he hopes to capture on film. \"The world of the characters and their relationships is brought into existence by discussion and a great amount of improvisation ... And research into anything and everything that will fill out the authenticity of the character.\" It is after months of rehearsal, or 'preparing for going out on location to make up a film', that Leigh writes a shooting script, a bare scenario. Then, on location, after further 'real rehearsing', the script is finalized; \"I'll set up an improvisation, ... I'll analyse and discuss it, ... we'll do another, and I'll ... refine and refine... until the actions and dialogue are totally integrated. Then we shoot it.\" \n\nIn an interview with Laura Miller, \"Listening to the World: An Interview With Mike Leigh\", published on salon.com, Leigh states, \"I make very stylistic films indeed, but style doesn't become a substitute for truth and reality. It's an integral, organic part of the whole thing.\" Leigh's vision is to depict ordinary life, \"real life\", unfolding under extenuating circumstances. Speaking of his films, he says, \"No, I'm not an intellectual filmmaker. These are emotional, subjective, intuitive, instinctive, vulnerable films. And there's a feeling of despair...I think there's a feeling of chaos and disorder.\"Gordon, Bette.[http://bombsite.com/issues/46/articles/1732 \"Mike Leigh\"], \"BOMB Magazine\", Winter, 1994. Retrieved 25 July 2011. He makes courageous decisions to document reality. He speaks about the criticism Naked received: \"The criticism comes from the kind of quarters where \"political correctness\" in its worst manifestation is rife. It's this kind of naive notion of how we should be in an unrealistic and altogether unhealthily over-wholesome way.\"[http://www.salon.com/weekly/interview2960916.html Salon: Mike Leigh, page 2]\n\nLeigh's characters often struggle, \"to express inexpressible feelings. Words are important, but rarely enough. The art of evasion and failure in communication certainly comes from Pinter, whom Leigh acknowledges as an important influence. He especially admires Pinter's earliest work, and directed The Caretaker while still at RADA.\" \n\nLeigh has cited Jean Renoir and Satyajit Ray among his favourite film makers. The critic David Thomson has written that, with the camera work in his films characterised by 'a detached, medical watchfulness', Leigh's aesthetic may justly be compared to the sensibility of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Michael Coveney: \" The cramped domestic interiors of Ozu find many echoes in Leigh's scenes on stairways and in corridors, and on landings, especially in Grown-Ups, Meantime, and Naked. And two wonderful little episodes in Ozu's Tokyo Story, in a hairdressing salon and a bar, must have been in Leigh's subconscious memory when he made The Short and Curlies (1987), one of his most devastatingly funny pieces of work, and the pub scene in Life is Sweet...\" \n\nLeigh's style has been influential over a number of film companies. The youth film company ACT 2 CAM uses his improvisation techniques to build characters and context for films with young people in the UK. His character work, improvisations and unplanned scenes are a technique followed by East 15 School of Acting, where these methods continue to be taught and used at the forefront of the acting and directing training industry.\n\nPersonal life\n\nIn September 1973, he married actress Alison Steadman; they have two sons: Toby (born February 1978) and Leo (born August 1981). Steadman appeared in seven of his films and several of his plays, including Wholesome Glory and Abigail's Party. They divorced in 2001. He now lives in Camden. The actress Marion Bailey is his partner. \n\nHe is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. In 2014, Leigh publicly backed \"Hacked Off\" and its campaign towards UK press self-regulation by \"safeguarding the press from political interference while also giving vital protection to the vulnerable.\" \n\nFilmography\n\nFeature films\n\n* Bleak Moments (1971)\n* High Hopes (1988)\n* Life Is Sweet (1990)\n* Naked (1993)\n* Secrets & Lies (1996)\n* Career Girls (1997)\n* Topsy-Turvy (1999)\n* All or Nothing (2002)\n* Vera Drake (2004)\n* Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)\n* Another Year (2010)\n* Mr. Turner (2014)\n\nShort films\n\n* The Short and Curlies (1987)\n* A Sense of History (1992)\n* A Running Jump (2012)\n\nTelevision films\n\n* Hard Labour (1973)\n* The Permissive Society (BBC Second City Firsts, 10/04/)\n* Knock for Knock (BBC Second City Firsts, 21/11/)\n* Nuts in May (BBC Play for Today, 13/01/)\n* Abigail's Party (BBC Play for Today, 01/11/)\n* Kiss of Death (1977)\n* Who's Who (1978)\n* Grown-Ups (1980)\n* Home Sweet Home (1982)\n* Meantime (1983)\n* Four Days in July (BBC1, 29/1/)\n\nList of plays\n\n* The Box Play (1965)\n* My Parents Have Gone to Carlisle (1966)\n* The Last Crusade of Five Little Nuns (1966)\n* Individual Fruit Pies (1968)\n* Glum Victoria and the Lad with Specs (1969)\n* Bleak Moments (1970)\n* A Rancid Pong (1971)\n* Wholesome Glory (1973)\n* The Jaws of Death (1973)\n* Dick Whittington and His Cat (1973)\n* Babies Grow Old (1974)\n* The Silent Majority (1974)\n* Abigail's Party (1977)\n* Too Much of a Good Thing 1979; BBC radio\n* Ecstasy (1979)\n* Goose-Pimples (1981)\n* Smelling a Rat (1988)\n* Greek Tragedy (1989)\n* It's a Great Big Shame! (1993)\n* Two Thousand Years (2005)\n* Grief (2011)\n\nRecurring collaborators",
"Robin_Leach.txt\nRobin Leach\nRobin Douglas Leach (born 29 August 1941) is an English entertainment reporter and writer, best-known for hosting his first show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, in the mid-1980s and into the mid-1990s, which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic details. His voice is often parodied by other actors with his signature phrase, \"champagne wishes and caviar dreams.\" During the final season, he was assisted by Shari Belafonte, and the show was renamed, Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte. Leach resides in Las Vegas.\n\nEarly life\n\nLeach was born in Perivale. During grammar school at Harrow County School for Boys, 10 miles (16 km) from London, he edited a school magazine, The Gayton Times, at age 14. At age 15 he became a general news reporter for the Harrow Observer and started a monthly glossy town magazine at age 17.\n\nCareer\n\nLeach moved on to the Daily Mail as Britain's youngest \"Page One\" reporter, at age 18. In 1963, he emigrated to America and wrote for a number of publications (New York Daily News, People, Ladies Home Journal etc.) before launching GO Magazine and then was show business editor of The Star.\n\nOther television work includes reporting for People Tonight, on CNN and Entertainment Tonight and helping start Good Morning Australia, as well as the Food Network. Leach was also a guest at the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania IV, where he read the rules for the championship tournament. In 1993, for the Fox network, Leach hosted an exposé documentary of Madonna titled \"Madonna Xposed.\" The documentary was a biography of Madonna focusing on her career and publicity stunts. Before the documentary aired, he gave Madonna a cell phone number; he claimed that at any point during the airing Madonna could call Leach and argue any point. Madonna never called and the documentary continued without incident. He also hosted Lifestyles spinoff Fame, Fortune & Romance, along with future Today Show host Matt Lauer.\n\nLeach hosted The Surreal Life: Fame Games on VH1 in 2007. He also served as the public address announcer for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.\n\nSince 2008, he had resided in Las Vegas and writes for the Las Vegas Sun and the daily VegasDeluxe.com website. \n\nLeach appeared in the documentary film Maxed Out in 2006, which chronicled the rise of the credit card industry in the U.S. along with increased personal debt among working class people and criticized that industry's practices. Leach remarks, \"Nobody would watch Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown\". The comment was highlighted by a review in the Baltimore Sun. \n\nOther appearances\n\n*He appeared as himself in Roseanne after the Connors win the lottery, with Robin remarking, \"Beer wishes and nacho dreams!\"\n*He appeared as himself in the feature film Troop Beverly Hills in 1989.\n*He appeared as himself in Season 2 Episode 17 of Boy Meets World in 1995. \n*He appeared as himself in Season 1 Episode 3 of \"Bill Nye the Science Guy\"\n*He was interviewed on \"Space Ghost Coast to Coast\" in 1997, until he is a villain named Zoltran.\n*He made a cameo appearance in Jermaine Dupri's video \"Ballin' Out of Control\" in 2001.\n*He made an appearance on Penn and Teller: Bullshit! in Season 3 Episode 13, \"The Best\", in 2005.\n*He appeared in \"Shark Tank\" Season 4 Episode 3 as spokesman for Rock Band Fashion, in 2012. \n*He made a cameo appearance in an Old Navy commercial along with Nancy Kerrigan in 2012.\n*He introduced the final episode in the 1st season of TV show \"Sledge Hammer!\" in 1986.\n*He appeared in an April 2014 episode of \"Celebrity Wife Swap\" swapping partners with Eric Roberts.\n\nIn popular culture\n\n*Rapper Big L named his debut album Lifestyles of the Poor and Dangerous a play on the TV show \"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous\"\n*He is mentioned in The Notorious B.I.G's \"Juicy\".\n*He is parodied in Ice Cube's skit song \"Robin Leach\" from the 1991 Album Death Certificate.\n*He is parodied in an episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.\n*In 1995, Lost Boyz debuted \"Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless\" single, a parody of the Rich and Famous motto.\n*In 2002, rock band Good Charlotte released their single Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous from their second studio album, The Young and the Hopeless. \n*He is mentioned in Fergie and Ludacris' song \"Glamorous\", along with the Rich and Famous motto.\n*He is mentioned in the songs \"Grove Street Party Remix\" and \"Beat Without Bass\" from Lil Wayne's mixtape, 'Sorry For the Wait'. Wayne also mentions him in \"Burn\" on the mixtape, 'Dedication 4'.\n*He is mentioned in the Jimmy Buffett song, \"King of Somewhere Hot\".\n*He is mentioned in the Marie Gonsalves song, \"Siren City\".\n*He is mentioned in the Phil Keggy song \"Ain't Got No\".\n*He is mentioned in the Warren G feat. Mack 10 song \"I Want it All\" by Mack 10\n*His program \"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous\" is referenced in the 1987 Act single \"Snobbery and Decay\"\n*He is mentioned in the Ryan Leslie song \"Swiss Francs\"(\"..lifestyle is extravagant, word to Robin Leach..\")\n*He is mentioned in the video game Popful Mail for the Sega CD (though his name is misspelled as Robyn) \n*He is parodied by Dana Carvey on SNL's Weekend Update with Dennis Miller \n*He is parodied in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode \"Henny Youngman Day\"",
"Mike Leigh - First thoughts about\n... is a British writer and director of film and theatre. Mike Leigh: Mike Leigh, ... Timothy Spall Ken Loach Cannes Film Festival David Thewlis David Cronenberg ...\nMike Leigh - First thoughts about\nMike Leigh\nMike Leigh, OBE (born 20 February 1943) is a British writer and director of film and theatre.\nWrite here your first thoughts about Mike Leigh ...\n28 Dec 2016 12:27\nBut actually I make films that I think are extremely sophisticated and c...\n28 Dec 2016 10:09\nThe BFI's 10 biggest production awards of 2016 include new films from Mike Leigh, Lynne Ramsay and Amma Asante:â¦\n28 Dec 2016 01:37\nThe depiction of Ruskin (Wuskin) in Mike Leigh's Mr Turner cweeps me wout evewy time.\n28 Dec 2016 00:14\nCaptain Mike Johnson has left the game after an injury to his wrist. 2nd period hockey about to start. 1-0 Blue.\n27 Dec 2016 21:15\nIt's funny because at the Inquests I used to say to Mike (Mansfield) \"Nobody puts Brookesy in the corner or tells her to ð¤ð\n27 Dec 2016 19:44\nFirst saw Smith in 1973 in Mike Leigh's Hard Labour The Play For Today. Hope that it's broadcast again in tribute to a talented actress\n27 Dec 2016 18:04\nlove his latest film though ... ken loach or mike Leigh for slice of life in Britain films ð\n27 Dec 2016 16:07\nShe was brilliant. Great to see Mike Leigh on BBC's breakfast programme this morning talking about her.\n27 Dec 2016 15:16\nand then watch her stunning performance in Mike Leigh's TV movie, Hard Labour.\n27 Dec 2016 15:13\nI suggest everyone to see Bleak Moments; Mike Leigh's first film & Liz Smith 's first credited roll in 1972 at the age of 50\n27 Dec 2016 15:08\nSo Mike Leigh, what exactly is 'a bog standard middle-aged actress'?\n27 Dec 2016 13:40\nYes. Remember the Mike Leigh TV drama \"Hard Labour\" and then so many more. Favourite? A tiny role in Polanski's \"Oliver Twist'.\n27 Dec 2016 12:17\nRIP Liz Smith , who starred in Mike Leigh's Bleak Moments and, of course, The Royle Family and so much British tv in beâ¦\n27 Dec 2016 12:10\nSomeone please tell mike Leigh that female actors are Actors -& there are massively more \"bog standard\" middle aged male actors\n27 Dec 2016 12:08\nMike Leigh just couldn't keep the misogyny out of his 'tribute' to Liz Smith -\"not your bog standard middle aged actress\" -really\n27 Dec 2016 10:45\nLiz Smith : She was a 'charming eccentric' - Mike Leigh.\n23 Dec 2016 03:55\nMr. Turner of Mike Leigh. Timothy Spall as William Turner , Best Actor, Cannes 2014 Astonishing acting and directinâ¦\n17 Dec 2016 01:18\nLawrence of Arabia, starring Marge Simpson and Paul Giamatti. Directed by Mike Leigh, music by Steve Miller Band. Budget: $50m\n05 Oct 2016 00:03\nwasn't that the name of a Mike Leigh film?\n29 Sep 2016 10:15\nWhen I make films, I work with Mike Leigh, who's the most prolific director in England.\n27 Sep 2016 21:41\nMike Leigh to companion at Dominic Cooper play The Libertine tonight: \"Are you enjoying the show? You don't have to lie.\" He could prob tell\n25 Sep 2016 14:05\nWhat a bad guy! Leigh has requested that he be photographed pushing an\n25 Sep 2016 13:50\ngetting my Mike Leigh on at the pictures this afternoon ð½\n24 Sep 2016 23:46\nBowling with mike rn. I just threw the ball backwards towards the seats. How?\n24 Sep 2016 19:01\nJamie Vardy makes a polite enquiry of Mike Dean\n24 Sep 2016 17:24\nMike Leigh's ABIGAIL'S PARTY: My new favourite monster movie.\n24 Sep 2016 17:00\nwatch some old Mike Leigh stuff. Nuts in May, Grown Ups, Abigail's Party, Home Sweet Home or Who's Who. Classic Britain on film.\n24 Sep 2016 13:48\nEnjoying spending the day with Mike Leigh and Timothy Dalton and Young Chekhov\n24 Sep 2016 12:23\nTrump has recommended Cruz pal Mike Leigh for SCOTUS. He's the man that prevented aid to Flint.\n24 Sep 2016 10:06\nRef the ptb did you spot the Leigh player who played the ball while facing the touchline?\n24 Sep 2016 08:13\nnuts in may is cool as well both the genius that is Mike Leigh\n24 Sep 2016 01:56\nPaddington the bear film starring Academy Award Winner Nicole Kidman and Mike Leigh vet Sally Hawkins is LEGIT.\n24 Sep 2016 00:15\nIt creeps up on you and becomes an obsession. It comes out of watching a million movies.\n23 Sep 2016 21:08\nOur next Vice President, - delivers an unbelievable speech in the pouring rain- as not one person left the rallâ¦\n23 Sep 2016 19:23\nI want to see the Mike Leigh version of Brief Encounter\n23 Sep 2016 19:13\nNice! F'U Kaepernick! Mike Ditka slams Kaepernick: Don't like our country? 'Get the *** out' viaâ¦\n23 Sep 2016 16:21\nMike Leigh on BbcRadio4 5 pm news now is brilliant on the state of our nation. It is disgusting that people have to rely on food banks\n23 Sep 2016 12:54\nTrump would nominate Stan Lee, Bruce Lee or Jennifer Jason Leigh before Sen Mike Lee for SCOTUS\n23 Sep 2016 04:28\nYep. Mike Barnicle was all \"why are you smiling? you had one job to do, Mook. ONE job.\"\n23 Sep 2016 02:52\nJust re-watched Mike Leigh's Naked. Still pretty *** good, but not quite as great as I remembered it\n22 Sep 2016 23:58\nthey can drop you off in lax n you can stay wth me Leigh ð\n22 Sep 2016 20:59\nLeigh won't last five minutes in SL with the ill-discipline that is inherent in that club\n22 Sep 2016 20:39\nJames Corden is the first US talk show star to have been in a Mike Leigh film; since Letterman pitched a tent next to Keith & Candice-Marie.\n22 Sep 2016 19:21\nHow did Leigh get away with that 'sideways' ptb ?\n22 Sep 2016 15:34\nWatching vs . come on leigh beat the yorkshire puddings\n22 Sep 2016 10:48\nor since Mike Leigh's 'Nuts in May' maybe?\n22 Sep 2016 07:38\nThe good thing from my perspective is that nobody puts any pressure on me to say what it's goi\n22 Sep 2016 07:30\nNewsNoys exclusive: Mike Leigh has been found in a car park. tests have revealed him to the son of an endangered species.\n22 Sep 2016 07:20\nGiven the choice of Hollywood or poking steel pins in my eyes, I'd prefer steel pins.\n22 Sep 2016 05:40\nIt's funny in a Mike Leigh sort of way, but actually funny.\n22 Sep 2016 03:25\nDang, forgot to go see Mike Leigh's \"High Hopes\" at ... oh well \"Naked\" is coming up.\n22 Sep 2016 02:20\nFilm-makers should remain true to their principles and never compromise, there is a real reviv\n22 Sep 2016 00:36\nInnovation vs. invasion of privacy: MLB wearable technology battle looms - by\n22 Sep 2016 00:25\nMike Leigh taught me about making choices - as an actor, you choose between being honest and c\n21 Sep 2016 22:40\nI'm developing the stuff all the time. There's a film in my head. I'm imagining a film.\n21 Sep 2016 18:36\napparently it's a trophy to honour Risman who played for both teams, only played for between Leeds & Leigh.\n21 Sep 2016 16:00\nCorvus Amateur Drama Society Royston presents \"Abigail's Party\" by Mike Leigh as part of Royston Arts Festival...\n21 Sep 2016 07:40\nMike - 9 ð ed - 2 I got 2 Leigh - 1 tony - 1 and you scored 1 and they got 2 apparently. 16-2 then\n21 Sep 2016 03:13\nMike Pence U have line of BS worse than Donald U do REALIZE U Committed Political Suicide RockinRooster's Politics\n21 Sep 2016 02:50\nGiven the events of even the 19th century, Zionism was inevitable. Given the events of the 20th\n21 Sep 2016 01:00\nYou will find hardly any improvising on camera anywhere in my films. It's very structured, but\n20 Sep 2016 22:18\nEscape from New York, starring Al Pacino and Cate Blanchett. Directed by Mike Leigh, music by Randy Newman. Budget: $5\n20 Sep 2016 14:29\nOh boy! by Phoebe Waller-Bridge is like a Mike Leigh film plus the funnies. So foul-mouthed, deep, & real. Best dramedy in a while!\n21 Jul 2016 20:11\nMike Leigh's tv film Meantime too with Gary Oldman and Phil Daniels. All superb.\n31 May 2016 13:47\nsuper glad Mike Leigh is taking hold of this rich franchise.\n30 May 2016 03:46\nStefan is a genius. He is to Mike Leigh what Victoria Wood is to Alan Bennett\n28 May 2016 21:19\nClaire Skinner and Jane Horrocks in Mike Leigh's film. Be sure to check out the bonus Timothy Spall .\n06 May 2016 11:59\nEvery time I read this, I want Mike Leigh's next biopic to be about Terence Rattigan.\n28 Apr 2016 19:55\nMike Leigh's 'Mr. Turner' is as stunning to watch as Turner's painting's are to look at.\n25 Apr 2016 17:29\nImagine your life is a film. I think mine was co-directed by Mike Leigh and David Lynch today.\n23 Apr 2016 11:50\n- a great biopic of JMW Turner's last 30 years starring Timothy Spall & directed by Mike Leigh. .\n22 Apr 2016 21:31\n\"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford\" (Andrew Dominik, 2007). \"Mr. Turner\" (Mike Leigh, 2014) httâ¦\n16 Apr 2016 00:28\nStephen Hawking supports the movement, as do Brian Eno, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Alice Walker & Adrienne Rich.\n14 Mar 2016 01:55\nWilliam Turner : \"I know of no genius but the genius of hard work.\". Timothy Spall in âMr Turnerâ (2014) Mike Leigh\n14 Mar 2016 01:49\nTimothy Spall during the filming of âMr Turnerâ (2014, Mike Leigh), in which he took the title role.\n13 Mar 2016 03:13\nSaturday night in = finishing off the Mindy Project, followed by Mike Leigh's Mr Turner. I contain multitudes.\n10 Mar 2016 09:43\nI wanted to work with Mike Leigh. I had my list of British people I wanted ...\n08 Mar 2016 23:48\nDavid Hockney and Mike Leigh back protest about Bradford's National Media Museum losing 400,000 photos to London\n07 Mar 2016 12:44\nDavid Hockney, Don McCullin and Mike Leigh back Bradford photography protest\n29 Feb 2016 14:09\nI mentioned two great Mike Leigh shorts and 2 great Rohmer 80s films, not to mention an unbelievable Play for Today by Dennis Potter.\n13 Feb 2016 15:18\nI will now watch 'Meantime' by Mike Leigh and then read a bit of George Orwell's collected essays.\n25 Jan 2016 00:19\nMR. TURNER - Hmm, think this might be the first Mike Leigh film I dislike more than I like. This thought makes me sad.\n16 Jan 2016 16:46\nSo many stories attached to Corfe! And ever seen the Mike Leigh film 'Nuts in May' with Alison Steadman ? That was set there.\n15 Jan 2016 21:31\nWATCH! John talks to Mike Leigh about the apocalypse and pale ale for\n06 Jan 2016 00:41\nSomeone tell me why I just watched Magic Mike xxl .. I know what I'll be dreaming about ðð¤\n06 Jan 2016 00:00\nBring back Mike Leigh! His disgruntled mug was so enjoyable.\n05 Jan 2016 23:20\nToday's offering made me feel physically nauseous in its sadness. Must be Mike Leigh\n05 Jan 2016 20:56\nLeigh Murphy is taking home her 2015 CR-V EX-L today courtesy of Salesperson Mike Martin. Congratulations Leigh...\n05 Jan 2016 15:50\nSo excited about this being our next single â¶ï¸ You guys ready for the music vid?? Leigh x\n05 Jan 2016 09:40\nCheck out a Mike Leigh flick called \"Life is Sweet\". Same area I think. One of my faves.\n05 Jan 2016 07:58\nFor anyone wanting to understand what Tommy Sale meant to this tribute from Mike Latham says it all\n05 Jan 2016 07:46\nI've had one too many Mike's Hard and I'm crying over a sloth documentary\n05 Jan 2016 07:04\nBoyfriend of Mike Ashley's daughter gets key property role at Sports Direct\n05 Jan 2016 04:55\nBlame the cannabis: Mike Leigh has a lung big to fit Costco in.\n04 Jan 2016 23:03\nThat sounds like a start to a Mike Leigh film.\n04 Jan 2016 20:27\nThat was supposed to be a sort of middle class homage to Mike Leigh.\n04 Jan 2016 19:00\nThe family next to me sound like a they're actors in a Mike Leigh film starring Brenda Blethyn. Struggling not to laugh.\n04 Jan 2016 16:27\nMike Pettine to return to his old job\n04 Jan 2016 14:47\nThis quote from Jim Nantz to Mike Francesa Sunday about not discussing the Peyton Manning/HGH story is astonishing. https:â¦\n04 Jan 2016 14:12\nNo chuck, that's Mike Leigh you're thinking of.\n04 Jan 2016 13:34\nAgent \"executives like Mike Brown of Bengals would say âwe donât deal with agentsâ & hang up..\" \"\n04 Jan 2016 12:01\nWe've had some lovely tributes for Tommy Sale from Allan Rowley, Mike Hulme & Derek Beaumont for tomorrow's Leigh Observer.\n04 Jan 2016 08:08\nThree weeks til our first (sold out) event of 2016 - with film director Mike Leigh, sponsored by\n04 Jan 2016 06:41\nshe grew up with DaeDae And lil Mike not Leigh-Ann & Hannah Marie\n04 Jan 2016 03:55\nI honestly don't knowð and Ight Mike and Leigh said \"yes but remember you have school tomorrow\"ð
\n04 Jan 2016 00:46\nBREAKING: Browns coach Mike Pettine expected to be fired in Sunday meeting, sources say:\n03 Jan 2016 22:48\nha. Joy reminded of Happy-Go-Lucky, and boy how I hated that Mike Leigh film as well.\n03 Jan 2016 20:11\nIn Miami, Mike Carey says not a catch, says it is a catch. Nobody agrees on anything anymore.\n03 Jan 2016 19:26\n- back in 1971, Leigh got some great \"profile\" when BBC was showing RL properly to the nation. Run up to CCF always good.\n03 Jan 2016 16:10\nPossibly true: Mike Leigh has travelled to Neolithic times to rescue tin brimming with sweets from certain destruction!\n03 Jan 2016 12:19\nHi Mike, just to check, do you mean contactless card payments? Leigh\n03 Jan 2016 02:02\nDailyMail - Celtic match-winner Leigh Griffiths admits shock at being called into action in victory \n03 Jan 2016 01:55\nWorking theory is that Mike Leigh is secretly behind the Great British Baking Show.\n03 Jan 2016 00:47\nDailyMail - Celtic 1-0 Partick Thistle: Leigh Griffiths returns to score last-minute winner\n03 Jan 2016 00:44\nGus: Look me in the eyes...Look me right in the eyes and tell me that you love him. Leigh: You always do...\n02 Jan 2016 23:45\nConsider me someone who is just usually weak in the knees for Mike Leigh's stuff.\n02 Jan 2016 22:56\nLet's start the year as we mean to go on: . 'NEVER COMPROMISE'. Mike Leigh's Golden Rules >> hâ¦\n02 Jan 2016 22:03\nYou need to give Mike Leigh a call.\n31 Dec 2015 01:19\nanything w Suranne Jones, Lesley Sharpe, Alison Steadman or any of the Mike Leigh regulars & I'm *there*!\n03 Dec 2015 19:21\nBRITISH CINEMA RETRO:. Mike Leigh with the cast of Naked, David Thewlis and Katrin Cartlidge.\n26 Nov 2015 15:15\nWatch our movie of the day, Mr Turner by Mike Leigh\n15 Nov 2015 16:48\nThe real Turner prize: Britain's largest stately home - where Mike Leigh's biopic of artist was ... via\n13 Oct 2015 14:27\nI just keep thinking of more Simon Godwin, Mike Leigh, Jenny Sealey, Gillian Lynne, Grandage, Rourke...\n12 Oct 2015 07:06\nEp 3 is LIVE! Sinead Matthews on life after Mike Leigh... working in a bar Pls RT\n10 Oct 2015 22:11\nMike Leigh's film A great watch. David Thewlis ' performance is a must see for any actor.\n09 Oct 2015 21:00\nIn the combined imaginations of Mike Leigh & David lynch... Flipping weird (@ Harry Morgan)\n29 Sep 2015 09:10\nâThatâs something the viewer can choose to see.â An Interview with Mike Leigh on Mr. Turner\n12 Sep 2015 10:23\nAt this point I think I can reveal that Mike Leigh beat me to the post of Chief Stylist to the Jeremy Corbyn campaign\n02 Sep 2015 18:04\nAt least the Queen has spared us President Blair | Letters from Oliver Miles, Mike Leigh and others: Polly Toynbeeâs tirade against t...\n30 Aug 2015 08:16\nSo here it is, Leigh's 10 min service on Go to 32 minutes ð . Mike Hill, 30/08/2015\n29 Aug 2015 23:20\nLots of actors from Mike Leigh films turned up in HP. Neil Jordan's producer Stephen Woolley called HP \"Mike Leigh on Steroids.\"\n29 Aug 2015 23:12\nNot to mention Gary Oldman & Timothy Spall (best known then for Secrets & Lies, directed by Mike Leigh who also made Naked.)\n29 Aug 2015 22:53\nI know but there's nothing on Netflix. Hugely depressed by watching Mike Leigh film Another Year.\n29 Aug 2015 13:17\nugh I'll miss Mike's sweet Snuffie. that pup has always been my favorite...ever since I met ðð\n29 Aug 2015 04:02\nMy mother just mixed up Mike Leigh and Spike Lee. SNORT.\n28 Aug 2015 15:55\nMike Florio on D&C: Deflategate âwasnât an investigation, it was a prosecutionâ against Patriots\n28 Aug 2015 15:35\nAfter 9 years and 51 weeks of marriage you can see I have Mike Leigh well trained!\n28 Aug 2015 13:15\nMike Florio: \"There is an injustice being perpetrated against the Patriots\".\n28 Aug 2015 13:14\nMike Florio just said that he requested the actual PSI numbers from the AFC Title game from the NFL on Super Bowl Sunday andâ¦\n28 Aug 2015 10:50\n> Mike Leighâ²s opera debut with Pirates of Penzance gets mixed reception on\n28 Aug 2015 03:12\nsaid a relative of Mike Kensil shared proof w/him that Kensil was the leaker. And a major d-bag.\n28 Aug 2015 02:49\nDefinitely not a troll like Mike Gasior. Clearly it's a legit account. Interesting.\n28 Aug 2015 02:47\nDenzel should make a film with the following directors: Scorsese, Coen bros, McQueen, PT Anderson, Mike Leigh, Nolan, Fincher or me\n28 Aug 2015 02:36\nTimothy Spall gets his paint on in Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner, now available on Netflix Canada.\n28 Aug 2015 02:27\nFinally caught up with Mike Leigh's \"Mr. Turner\". An awful man who made great work and died among a beautiful landscape. So, see it?\n28 Aug 2015 01:39\noh man. I watched that on Netflix knowing nothing about it and completely fell in love with it. Mike Leigh 4ever\n27 Aug 2015 12:46\nSome weird recasting going on in that TV remake of Mike Leigh's movie...\n27 Aug 2015 10:31\nEver wanted to write and Devise like Mike Leigh? Come and have a go!\n27 Aug 2015 08:31\nGo and see Rosebery's playing Susan in Mike Leigh's ever brilliant Abigail's Party.16-19 Sep at\n27 Aug 2015 06:52\nWatching Mike Leigh's for month. I hope enduring this annoying main character will pay off.\n27 Aug 2015 02:36\nLmfao yes. Kind of like leigh at the moment.\n26 Aug 2015 22:23\nI think I'm staring in it now only there's no camera and Mike Leigh hasn't turned up to direct.\n26 Aug 2015 20:21\nZoo Song - Nuts in May[Mike Leigh] - you can't get enough of the Zoo Song\n26 Aug 2015 20:13\nSpall is outstanding in everything - his Mike Leigh work is incredible every time - Life is Sweet is one of my fav performances\n26 Aug 2015 20:03\n\"The sun is God!\" - dying words of J.M.W. (just saw the Mike Leigh film, couldn't resist).\n26 Aug 2015 17:56\nGrand: Wentworth Woodhouse is wider than Buckingham Palace, has more than five miles of corridors, and was once ...\n26 Aug 2015 16:37\nMike Leigh is a legend, love all of his films. cant wait for yet another great release - Bring it on!\n24 Aug 2015 19:12\nExamples (as I see it) of \"actors' directors\": David O. Russell, Ava DuVernay, Mike Nichols, Bennett Miller, Mike Leigh, Jane Campion.\n03 Aug 2015 07:14\n\"Mr. Turner\": Not up with Leigh's best, but Spall is amazing. Turner's approach to art more than mirror's Mike Leigh's.\n02 Aug 2015 00:01\njust rewatched Mike Leigh's Naked. David Thewlis still blows my mind.\n17 Jul 2015 19:51\nMike Leigh's Oscar-nominated artistic biopic Mr Turner won its star, Timothy Spall , the best actor award at Cannes, but has now earned a\n16 Jul 2015 14:37\nBut who will follow in Honorary footsteps of Zandra Rhodes,Mike Leigh,Tracey Emin, Gilbert&George,Jim Moir,Antony Gormley on the 27th July?\n08 Jul 2015 14:45\nSandy Man (Ed Chappell) Winner of the Young Green Horn Festival Award 2014 Presented by Mike Leigh. Another film for the Fringe Festival!\n07 Jul 2015 00:03\nI'm a fan of director Mike Leigh and actor Timothy Spall , and count Secrets & Lies among my favourite movies - but Mr. Turner is terrible.\n06 Jul 2015 20:11\n\"Mr. Turner\" director Mike Leigh at the Gallery studying Dort hâ¦\n18 Jun 2015 23:04\n\"Analysing the significance of the Sonic the Hedgehog reference in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky\" -The 2015 video game media, 2008.\n12 Jun 2015 02:17\n\"Happy-Go-Lucky\" is such a brilliant film, underrated. With the sublime Sally Hawkins and directed by the amazingly talented Mike Leigh.\n28 May 2015 14:06\n\"Led by a masterful performance from Timothy Spall and brilliantly directed by Mike Leigh, Mr. Turner is a...\n27 May 2015 11:42\nTimothy Spall is \"a gruff badger in a top hat and overcoat\" in Mike Leigh's MR. TURNER:\n27 May 2015 01:53\nMike Leigh's Mr. Turner one more time. Timothy Spall as the genius painter. Some superb scenes!\n12 May 2015 15:51\nMike Leigh talks The Pirates of Penzance which will be broadcast live and Lyme Regis |\n09 May 2015 09:05\nBook your tickets today for Mike Leigh's first ever opera production, Pirates of Penzance!\n09 May 2015 03:17\nTimothy Spall is a genius - can do anything from Rock Star to Turner - in awe of him and Mike Leigh\n08 May 2015 09:46\nDirected by Mike Leigh & starring Timothy Spall , Mr Turner is our pick this week\n07 May 2015 21:55\nNew on digital and DVD: Mike Leigh and long-time partner Timothy Spall turn the tale of Mr. Turner into...\n07 May 2015 19:17\nTimothy Spall almost went mad to play MR. TURNER for Mike Leigh:\n07 May 2015 19:12\nAll that plus J Greenwood on working with PTA, Rachel Portman on RATCATCHER and Mike Leigh, David Arnold on Bond, STARGATâ¦\n02 May 2015 17:11\nWish I could find out the name of the theme from Mike Leigh's \"Life Is Sweet,\" by Rachel Portman . Fantastic:\n23 Apr 2015 11:33\nEverybody has to see Timothy Spall 's interpretation of the man in. Mike Leigh's film, 'Mr Turner'. Like a painting!\n23 Apr 2015 10:30\nMike Leigh talks about his creative process for his latest biopic, \"Mr. Turner\"\n23 Apr 2015 10:20\nAgreed. (And if you haven't seen Mike Leigh's \"Mr. Turner\" yet, do so. My fave film of last year.)\n22 Apr 2015 18:09\nTaking a classroom of kindergartners to see the Turner exhibit at the Getty. Should have shown them the Mike Leigh film first?\n22 Apr 2015 16:17\nMike Leigh to Take on Peterloo Massacre in 'Mr. Turner' Follow-Up -\n21 Apr 2015 15:09\nMike Leigh takes time out from shooting Mr. Turner.. life and work of renowned painter JMW Turner via\n02 Apr 2015 14:02\nI am on a Mike Leigh period movie kick. Mr Turner and now Topsy Turvy. Highly recommended. The people and times feel \"real.\"\n23 Mar 2015 06:48\nPerhaps like Mike Leigh and David Thewlis in Naked, itâs not easy to conventionally script these levels of authenticity?\n21 Mar 2015 22:06\nWatch Mr. Turner, it's brilliant ! - latest masterpiece from Mike Leigh, with great performances from Tim Spall and all the cast...\n19 Mar 2015 19:38\n'Mr. Turner', the new Mike Leigh film, is very very good. A subtle and complex look at the life of an artist.\n19 Mar 2015 10:25\nMike Leigh's film focusing on the later years of the great British painter J.M.W. Turner is being shown at 6.30...\n18 Mar 2015 19:59\nOur Michael Cassin talks about the artist on 3/14 after the 7:15 show of Mike Leigh's film, Mr. Turner\n18 Mar 2015 19:59\nMike Leigh's film 'Mr. Turner' explores the life of British artist J.M.W Turner's life.\n18 Mar 2015 19:17\nAbout to see MR TURNER, my first Mike Leigh!\n18 Mar 2015 16:39\nactress Sandy Foster on getting a role in Mr Turner, working with Mike Leigh and whatâs to come next:\n15 Mar 2015 21:42\nThe most popular film on BFI Player this week: Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner\n05 Mar 2015 22:47\nJust watched Turner the Mike Leigh film, utterly magnificent, it was like watching a moving painting, every frame was perfect, Tim Spall ace!\n04 Mar 2015 02:53\nJake Gyllenhaal & Mike Leigh at Members of the jury (LtoR) Dutch directo\n26 Feb 2015 18:49\nIs Ryan Philippe or Juliette Lewis playing the Marianne Jean-Batiste role in this new TV version of Mike Leigh's \"Secrets and Lies?\"\n20 Feb 2015 00:29\nMike Leigh on J.M.W. Turner, Adam Gopnik on âCharlie Hebdo,â and Learning Love from Jane Austen via\n16 Feb 2015 11:19\nHeartening to see a letter in The Guardian defending zombie rights signed by Mike Leigh, Vanessa Redgrave, Tariq Ali and 79 more\n08 Feb 2015 23:23\nSome good speeches tonight, esp those by Wes Anderson (c/o Ralph Fiennes ), Eddie Redmayne and a fiery but respectful Mike Leigh\n08 Feb 2015 22:56\nNext year's BAFTAS should probably just be Stephen Hawking , Ralph Fiennes reading Wes Anderson letters and Mike Leigh.\n08 Feb 2015 22:50\nSo unbelievably happy for Eddie Redmayne , Pride, Interstellar, Wes Anderson , JK Simmons and the adorable Mike Leigh.\n08 Feb 2015 15:02\nnope! Wes Anderson , Mike Leigh and Terrence Malick stike fear into the hearts of our plucky Oscar watchers!\n06 Feb 2015 09:58\nQ4: Who is the director of the film . - Mike Leigh. - Mike Shinoda. - Mike Tyson\n03 Feb 2015 18:31\nDelighted to announce that Mike Leigh will receive this year's BAFTA Fellowship:\n03 Feb 2015 14:17\nMike Leigh to be honoured with BAFTA Fellowship for Outstanding & Exceptional contribution to film. Great news - a brilliant, brilliant man.\n03 Feb 2015 13:57\nenjoy 'Mr. Turner' director Mike Leigh to receive fellowship great\n01 Feb 2015 21:17\n\"Music is like liquid architecture.\" Frank Gehry, Andrew Norman & Mike Leigh are on the new podcast http:â¦\n28 Jan 2015 11:37\nMike Leigh's 'Mr. Turner' Captures Spirit of Famous Painter: by Cameron Meier The auteur theory suggests that aâ¦\n28 Jan 2015 10:50\n..& the Mike Leigh one for MR TURNER. I assume it's more useful for some directors than others, e.g. not convinced a C. Nolan...\n27 Jan 2015 23:33\nCongratulations to the team behind Mike Leigh's film Mr. Turner for their Academy Award nominations.\n26 Jan 2015 17:59\nRIP Demis Roussos. Brings back happy memories of this classic Mike Leigh sketch from Abigail's Party. Enjoy...\n23 Jan 2015 02:23\nMr. Turner: reminds me of Barry Lyndon with its time and space. A period piece that feels liveable. And of course, a pure Mike Leigh film.\n20 Jan 2015 13:35\nHow did Timothy Spall not get nominated for an Oscar? Come to think of it,how did Mike Leigh not get nominated? What a load of industry crap\n17 Jan 2015 20:23\nExcellent column by on why keeps snubbing Mike Leigh.\n10 Jan 2015 11:45\nMike Leigh's great 'Mr Turner' didn't make this year's BAFTA Outstanding British Film nominations list. Oh well, 'Paddington' did..\n09 Jan 2015 12:36\nAnnoyed that Mr Turner received only two nominations from the BAFTA! Mike Leigh, Timothy Spall and Marion Bailey have been robbed.\n08 Jan 2015 21:31\nGreat speeches tonight from Mike Leigh and Timothy Spall about how Petworrh inspired both Turner and their film\n06 Jan 2015 13:24\nIs this Llyn Idwal or Llyn Bochllwyd? Awesome film btw, wonderful minor characters as with all Mike Leigh films\n06 Jan 2015 04:07\nMike Leigh has some things to say about Quentin Tarantino 's \"Battle to Save Celluloid\".\n05 Jan 2015 22:43\nNot only is Mike Leigh right, but when a British person says *** Americans pay attention (\n05 Jan 2015 16:39\nOften viewed as antiquated Mike Leigh's stance is encouraging, but Tarantino should be free to use his chosen format?\n05 Jan 2015 16:02\nMike Leigh calls Quentin Tarantino 's fight to save celluloid is *** andâ¦\n05 Jan 2015 13:47\nMike Leigh: ' Quentin Tarantino 's fight for celluloid is twaddle'\n04 Jan 2015 20:01\nNext week we have Mike Leigh's cinematic exploration of the life of eccentric British painter J.M.W Turner\n04 Jan 2015 17:51\nMike Leigh is officially my new cinematic hero. Heck yes to all of this:\n04 Jan 2015 14:18\n\"The sun is God,\" last words of JMW Turner, subject of Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner.\n04 Jan 2015 12:41\nWatched 3 Mike Leigh's films. No, not the one. Abigail's Party and Nuts in May are the greatest programmes.\n04 Jan 2015 03:19\nIn âMr. Turner,â Mike Leigh makes the screen his canvas\n03 Jan 2015 23:22\nYou may want to see the new Mike Leigh film as well - Mr. Turner. Brilliant too.\n03 Jan 2015 21:58\nAfter seeing Mike Leigh's 'Mr. Turner' I'll be viewing 's January Turner Exhibibition with new eyes.\n03 Jan 2015 20:53\nMike Leigh on Mr Turner: âHe was an enigmatic character â conflicted. He was so driven. He never stoppedâ\n03 Jan 2015 20:49\nI usually like Mike Leigh films. I usually like Timothy Spall . I love Turner. But you put 'em together and...meh.\n03 Jan 2015 18:37\nMike Leigh's new film Mr. Turner is gorgeous. Outstanding achievement in cinematography award for 2014. Also, best grunting by a lead actor.\n03 Jan 2015 17:56\nF.Y.I. I loved Mike Leigh's âMr. Turner'. Timothy Spall was hilarious in the lead role of the great British painter.\n03 Jan 2015 17:12\nTarantino's fight to save celluloid is 'twaddle' according to \"Mr. Turner\" filmmaker Mike Leigh. â¦\n03 Jan 2015 17:00\nReview: Mike Leigh chronicles the latter years of British painter J.M.W. Turner in âMr. Turnerâ\n03 Jan 2015 07:04\nMike Leigh's Turner movie is a great movie. Go & see - then watch this 30 min Q & A with Leigh.\n31 Dec 2014 12:18\nSally Hawkins does this in Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky. A character so difficult to portray, and you must see Hawkins playing this woman\n31 Dec 2014 08:22\nWatching Happy-Go-Lucky for the first time in a few years and it really is a joy. Mike Leigh, Sally Hawkins = brilliance.\n29 Dec 2014 22:52\nEnjoyed the Mike Leigh film Happy Go Lucky. Sally Hawkins is excellent as the lead character Poppy.\n26 Dec 2014 00:27\nAnn Hornaday gave the new Mike Leigh movie four stars and it sold out all day. The Ann wields such power.\n25 Dec 2014 22:08\nMr Turner - movie review: A UK, French, German co-production, written and directed by Mike Leigh ...\n25 Dec 2014 22:00\nMike Leigh's MR TURNER is out in Australian cinemas today! For session times go to\n25 Dec 2014 21:27\nMike Leigh's latest, MR. TURNER, opens today. Prepare for brilliant sparks and dim finishes.\n25 Dec 2014 20:55\nMike Leigh's \"Mr. Turner\" demolishes mythology about what art is and how artists work\n25 Dec 2014 19:53\nMike Leigh's film \"Mr. Turner\" opens today. Join Leigh as he explores the art of JMW Turner, the movie's inspiration: httpâ¦\n25 Dec 2014 15:56\nTimothy Spall becomes Mr. Turner in two brand new clips from the Mike Leigh awards contender: htâ¦\n25 Dec 2014 15:42\nMike Leigh and Timothy Spall on painting 'Mr. Turner' - Toronto Sun\n25 Dec 2014 02:01\nMike Leigh's sumptuous MR. TURNER is now playing at the Here's our review:\n24 Dec 2014 23:12\nAlso really want to see Mike Leigh's Mr Turner which opens downtown tomorrow, and not sure if/when that will get any sort of wide release.\n24 Dec 2014 22:04\nIt looks like tomorrow is going to feature tonkotsu ramen and Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner at TIFF\n24 Dec 2014 21:45\nGreat acting performance by Timothy Spall in Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner.\n24 Dec 2014 19:36\n\"Mr. Turner, reviewed: A portrait of greatness with brushes in this Mike Leigh biopic |\n24 Dec 2014 18:16\nMike Leigh's 'Mr. Turner': A master and a misanthrope: REVIEW: Englandâs greatest filmmaker in the field of grumpyâ¦\n24 Dec 2014 17:57\nMr. Turner and National Gallery two views of genius of art: reviews: With Mr. Turner, Mike Leigh brings his ha...\n24 Dec 2014 16:38\nBut the best movie out this week (sorry Kim Jong-un) is MR. TURNER, Mike Leigh's masterpiece.\n18 Dec 2014 11:59\nJ.M.W. Turner is having quite a moment. Tate Britain 's enormous (and enormously popular) survey exhibition Late Turner: Painting Set Free, which runs to 25th January, is set for an international tour next year, taking in The Getty Museum, Los Angeles (24th February to 24th May) and the Fine Art Museum Of San Francisco (20th June to 20th September). Meanwhile, Mike Leigh's biopic of the painter, Mr. Turner, has been a critical and commercial success. Most recently, it has been nominated for seven awards by the London Film Critics' Circle, including two for Timothy Spall 's performance in the title role and nods for Best Film and Best Director. This month's free review, from the December issue, is Christopher Baker's take on the exhibition at Tate Britain . Read it here: if that wasn't enough, we have made freely available Martin Butlin's review of three books on the painter published by Tate, and another by major Turner scholar David Hill, from our November 1997 issue. It can be read via the following link:\n14 Dec 2014 20:12\nReally great round-table this year Mike Leigh is a treat!!\n03 Dec 2014 14:36\nDavid Denby objects to the portrayal of in Mike Leigh's 'Mr Turner'\n26 Nov 2014 08:22\nCaught the Mike Leigh Doc. last night. What a treat. (There was one film from early 90's I hadn't heard of?!)\n26 Nov 2014 08:17\nInteresting watching on Mike Leigh the Salford film Director!\n26 Nov 2014 08:15\nImagine on Mike Leigh was another fascinating programme ( not especially keen on him as director in his approach to working class issues tho Abigail's party and Nuts In May great favourites)... Very interesting and honest biographical info ( relationship with father) and details of creative practice ( no script, improvisation) ...Must see Turner.\n26 Nov 2014 07:40\nAfter watching the ace Mike Leigh doc on last night I hope more of his stuff is going to be shown!\n26 Nov 2014 07:35\nIf you didn't see it last night, make sure you catch \"Imagine\" about MI's patron Mike Leigh on iplayer\n26 Nov 2014 07:29\nMike Leigh's 12 best films: ⦠(1971). With this, his first film, Leigh started as he meant â¦\n26 Nov 2014 07:13\nAnd from Mike Leigh , I'm a big admirer of his work . I'm seeing at Tate Britain in January .\n26 Nov 2014 07:09\nHi Mike. See link for our chat today on LAFM Tassie ahead of grand finale. Plz RT\n26 Nov 2014 07:04\nImagine... the One and Only Mike Leigh, BBC1 - TV review: Mike Leigh's face wouldn't look out of place in a Mi...\n26 Nov 2014 06:24\nSuper programme on BBC2 right now Imagine...looking at Mike Leigh films. What a talented man. Need to be more like Popâ¦\n26 Nov 2014 05:29\nBritish director Mike Leigh on bringing Turner's art to life\n26 Nov 2014 05:12\nI do wonder: If he is the one and only Mike Leigh, what will we do in the future without him? ð\n26 Nov 2014 05:00\nLoved - Mike Leigh is brilliant, an inspiration and I was in awe, just like when watching his films and incredible actors ð\n26 Nov 2014 04:38\nIt's not rhetoric when we say white supremacy dehumanizes Black men. Darren Wilson called Mike Brown an \"it\" in his testimâ¦\n26 Nov 2014 03:48\nthink about how badly Mike would be hurt\n26 Nov 2014 02:22\nSince when did I What is today the updated \"Mike_Leigh\"?\n26 Nov 2014 02:05\nHouse with 365 rooms and 5 miles of corridor for sale in England .\n26 Nov 2014 01:30\nHow did Mike Leigh bring Royal Academy to life? Watch our behind-the-scenes film to find out\n26 Nov 2014 01:28\nWatched Alan yentobs Imagine ... Really enjoy Mike Leigh films but hope I don't get the complete works dvd box set for Xmas ... *** *** ***\n26 Nov 2014 01:26\nImagine provided a fascinating insight into the world and work of Mike Leigh\n26 Nov 2014 01:11\nimagine... 'The One and Only Mike Leigh'. Available now on the i-player. â¦\n26 Nov 2014 01:04\nwatching a great programme on Mike Leigh (BBC1). I'd love to see you in one of his films. All the best.\n26 Nov 2014 01:03\nLoved the Mike Leigh 'imagine...', but bit of a late bedtime. N'night one and all.\n26 Nov 2014 01:00\nI think I need a meeting with Mike Leigh. Yeah that would sort everything out. What an inspirational character.\n26 Nov 2014 00:55\nMike Leigh My home life was a battlefield: Mike Leigh tells of early traumas - The Guardian\n26 Nov 2014 00:52\nBrilliant, and I mean truly brilliant Imagine Tonight with Alan Yentob about one of my heros -Mike Leigh. Inspirational!!\n26 Nov 2014 00:47\nTerrific episode of Imagine tonight about the one & only Mike Leigh. A truly original British voice in cinema. Its all secrets & lies.\n26 Nov 2014 00:45\nMike Leigh Mike Leigh: his 12 best films - Telegraph\n26 Nov 2014 00:43\nMike Leigh The real Mr Turner: has Mike Leigh's film got its man? - The Guardian\n26 Nov 2014 00:42\nMike Leigh was great, tho forgot Career Girls with fabulous & much missed Katrin Cartlidge\n26 Nov 2014 00:41\nMike Leigh, the Master craftsman at the very top of his game ! His attention to detail in his characterisation is timeless !\n26 Nov 2014 00:40\nMike Leigh is now trending in UK, ranking 7.\n26 Nov 2014 00:40\nEating Romanian instant noodles and watching Mike Leigh films, decent\n26 Nov 2014 00:39\nJust watched BBC1 'Imagine' The one and only Mike Leigh. What a pleasure, so absorbing. One to catch on iplayer.\n26 Nov 2014 00:38\nHas to be said Mike Leigh is a very inspirational gentleman & the fact he still struggles to raise funding speaks volumes about the industry\n26 Nov 2014 00:37\nI only get BBC NI, there's a doc on about Mike Leigh, not of interest to me!\n26 Nov 2014 00:36\nGreat BBC1 programme about Mike Leigh films there, even minus Career Girls. 90mins+ but didn't drag. Still not paying licence fee though.\n26 Nov 2014 00:36\nPost-watching Mike Leigh's Imagine, he deserves praise for resisting America & sticking staunchly to Britishness (\nCarrie Fisher Star Wars Donald Trump New Year Princess Leia George Michael Pearl Harbor Middle East Watership Down Richard Adams Dylann Roof Boxing Day President Obama Hillary Clinton State John Kerry John Kerry White House Shinzo Abe Trump Tower Christmas Eve President Barack Obama Frank Sinatra Christmas Day New Years Daily News South Africa Bob Bradley Betty White Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Barack Obama Big Ten Kanye West George Lucas New Zealand Jeanie Buss Phil Jackson Premier League Liz Smith Mariah Carey New Years Eve Santa Claus New Dawn Mutual Fund Super Mario Run George W. Bush Christmas Carol Anadolu Agency Manchester United Daft Punk Davao City Jude Medical Pearl Jam Foreign Ministry Amazon Echo Looking Forward Scarlett Johansson Black Sea North Carolina Modern Family James May Super Bowl Golden Girls Duck Dynasty Economic Policy Islamic State Real Estate Sean Spicer Fox Valley Mall Prince George Arizona Memorial Des Plaines Robert Downey Jr Rodrigo Duterte Rick Perry Manchester City Top Artist Philippine President Trump Organization Ohio State De Blasio Karen Klein Las Vegas Nigel Farage South Korea Taylor Swift Hyde Park Prince Harry Stan Lee United Nations Climate Change Swansea City Evel Knievel Gianni Infantino David Beckham Eden Hazard Georgia May Foote Mike Leigh Nasty Gal Ford Escort Elton John\n© 2016",
"Abigail's Party: The party that has lasted for 30 years ...\nHe wrote in the Sunday Times that the play was 'based on ... Abigail's Party is not a play ... Nuts in May, but it is Abigail's Party that she still ...\nAbigail's Party: The party that has lasted for 30 years | Media | The Guardian\nThe Observer\nThe party that has lasted for 30 years\nThirty years after it caused a TV sensation, social comedy Abigail's Party has a power to stir devoted fans and stern critics. Alison Steadman still holds a soft spot for Beverly, but Leigh himself can hardly bear to watch ...\nSunday 14 October 2007 06.42 EDT\nFirst published on Sunday 14 October 2007 06.42 EDT\nShare on Messenger\nClose\nIt's not often that Mike Leigh gets to feel like Mick Jagger. He is not the most rock'n'roll of film-makers, but for one night in 1999 he felt like a pop star. As part of the National Theatre's year-long project charting 20th century drama, the original cast of Abigail's Party read extracts from the play in London's Olivier Theatre. It was the first time they had been reunited on stage since the play made its debut at Hampstead Theatre in 1977. Public response was phenomenal. 'It felt like a Stones concert,' says Leigh.\nThe box office was mobbed and the overflow audience watched the action on a TV screen outside the auditorium. Leigh knew the play was popular - it was a sell-out for two runs at Hampstead, received well as a BBC Play for Today in the same year and, when repeated for a second time in August 1979, around 16 million people watched - but nothing could have prepared him for that night on the South Bank. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised. In the 30 years since Abigail's Party was first shown on television, the drama has taken on a life of its own. It is a simple story brilliantly done: Beverly and her husband Laurence host a drinks party for a few neighbours in their suburban house. The guests - Angela, her husband Tony, and Sue, a divorcee whose daughter Abigail is having a rowdy party nearby - are subjected to Beverly's desire to be an exemplary hostess. Swishing around in her voluminous dress, she plies them with alcohol and nibbles. After a series of awkward silences and arguments about music and art, Laurence, tense from the outset, dies of a heart attack.\nBeverly, the personification of the gauche, aspirational hostess, has become a gay icon and a drag-queen favourite; there are Abigail's Party parties where fans recite lines to one another (Beverly: 'Tone? A little cheesy-pineapple one?') People are endlessly drawn, it seems, to finding inappropriate moments funny: it's even hard to stifle a horrified laugh when Beverly flicks ash over Laurence as he lays dying. The play is continually being staged around the world, whether by professional or amateur actors. Alison Steadman gave a sublime, almost untouchable performance as Beverly but others have got close - notably Elizabeth Berrington in the 2002 West End revival and Jennifer Jason Leigh in an Off-Broadway production in 2005. Right now the play is running in Sao Paulo. Some have tried daft experiments: Hornchurch Rep had real drinks instead of pretend alcohol in one rehearsal and didn't make it to the second act. Recently, Tony Grounds wrote The Dinner Party for BBC1; starring, among others, Steadman and Berrington, it drew inevitable comparisons to Abigail's Party. Leigh would rather not discuss it.\nPale imitations aside, it is still hard to think of another play that offers such a relentlessly uncomfortable and yet hilarious take on strained relationships and awkward social situations - on what Leigh calls 'the done thing'. It is a deep, dark, moving and beautifully-observed period piece. Three decades on, this comedy of bad manners is hard to beat. Richard Eyre, the film and theatre director who is a contemporary of Leigh's, says it has reached classic status. 'Abigail's Party has become adjectival. You can describe an event as being \"Abigail's Party\". Which, of course, means that Mike's work has acquired the status of a playwright such as Pinter.'\nEyre remembers seeing Abigail's Party at Hampstead. 'It was one of the funniest and most terrifying things I'd ever seen. I thought then what I think now: a great piece of work. I didn't think it would be remembered in 30 years time - more that it was an astonishing genre that Mike had invented: social horror.'\nYet, as a stage production, Abigail's Party almost didn't happen, and as a BBC Play for Today it was a last-minute affair. By 1977, 34-year-old Leigh had already made several films for the BBC's prestigious Play for Today slot, including Hard Labour and Nuts in May but had only done 'one proper, fully fledged, two-act stage play': Babies Grow Old was staged at The Other Place in Stratford before transferring to the ICA in London. The reviews were good and, after years of being overlooked by the Hampstead Theatre, Leigh was finally invited to lunch with David Aukin and Michael Rudman, who were respectively general manager and artistic director. Leigh was preoccupied with preparing the next Play for Today with producer Margaret Matheson, but agreed to meet. 'Lunch is always a good sign. Aukin and Rudman took me to a Chinese restaurant in Belsize Park and said they had enough money for a 10-week rehearsal and half a dozen actors. I had to say yes or no before leaving the restaurant. I was reluctant but finally agreed.'\nHe went home and said to Alison Steadman, whom he had married in 1973, that he was doing this play purely as a 'stopgap'. He added: 'Whatever it turns out to be, it will sink without trace because the important thing is to make another film for the BBC.' But Abigail's Party was such a success at Hampstead that half a dozen West End managers wanted to put it on. However, Steadman discovered she was pregnant, and the West End was not an option. At the same time, Matheson told Leigh she had an empty television studio on her hands and suggested recording Abigail's Party. Leigh thought it wouldn't translate on to television but was persuaded otherwise. Three decades later, it remains one of his best-known works - despite the fact that Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy and Vera Drake were all Oscar nominated, and the latter is also his most commercially successful film in the UK to date.\nDespite its phenomenal success, Leigh has an issue with the technical side of Abigail's Party. We talked about the play while working on a book together, and I was surprised at his very first comment: 'For a film-maker, it's a work of deep embarrassment and pain.' He is referring not to the Hampstead version, however, but 'the stage play that was wheeled into a television studio'. Talking again, he is slightly less damning. 'The cast had done 104 performances, and so they steamed into the studio and we did it with a confidence that television plays didn't normally have. But for all the commitment of those taking part, it is appallingly and inconsistently lit. And at one point you actually see the boom in the shot. It's as amateur as that.'\nLeigh usually enjoys seeing his films time and time again: Abigail's Party is an exception. 'I feel uncomfortable. It has nothing to do with anyone's intentions or commitments; the crew were enthralled by it and didn't pull the plugs at the agreed time of 10pm but continued till almost midnight. It has everything to do with a cumbersome medium that died a very natural dinosaur death: the five-camera television studio drama. Having said all that, the flaws are overshadowed by the remarkable enthusiasm whenever it's aired.'\nSo where did Beverly, who Alan Bennett once described as 'a brutal hostess with shoulders like a lifeguard and a walk to match', come from? Alison Steadman discloses that she had two different sources. When she left her native Liverpool for East 15 Acting School in Essex, Steadman was struck by the local women. 'One of the girls in my class lived in Romford, so we went to a few pubs round there. Very flash cars parked outside, all these rich Essex guys looking at the well turned-out women who had clearly dressed up to click with them. They were lower middle-class women looking for money.'\nShe also remembers one particular woman from Liverpool. 'I grew up on a nice private lower middle-class estate in Anfield in the Fifties and early Sixties. There was this one very glamorous woman in her early thirties who lived nearby with her mother - the sort of woman everyone would whisper about: \"I think she's going out with the doctor, don't know if he's married...\" She had flame-red hair with a rinse on. Not tarty, very attractive. I was fascinated by her. Eventually Mike asked what sort of work I thought this woman might do and I immediately thought: beauty therapist.'\nSteadman spoke to personnel managers at cosmetic companies and spent a few days wandering around Selfridges, watching beauty therapists at work. She saw one pulling a reluctant woman - no make-up, a bit drab and damp from the wet weather - out of the crowd and doing a makeover on her as she sat on a stool, embarrassed but unable to leave. Later Steadman was improvising with Janine Duvitski. Beverly was giving Duvitski's character Angela advice about lipstick, and the Selfridges experience was in the back of her mind when she said: 'Now, can you take a little bit of criticism?' She then encouraged Angela to sit in front of the mirror and repeat to herself: 'I've got very beautiful lips.' It has since become a famous scene; Duvitski tells me that just the other day a make-up artist quoted the line back at her. 'My god, Abigail's Party was 30 years ago! But I find it very flattering. People still remember it more than any other work I've done.'\nAbigail's Party is not without its critics. Leigh remembers seeing Kenneth Williams at one performance, 'dressed in black and with a face as long as a fiddle'. Leigh watched him leave at the interval. 'He thought it was awful. He saw it as sneering and braying at suburban people.' Dennis Potter was equally furious after watching it on television. He wrote in the Sunday Times that the play was 'based on nothing more edifying than rancid disdain, for it was a prolonged jeer, twitching with genuine hatred, about the dreadful suburban tastes of the dreadful lower middle classes... It sank under its own immense condescension.' Leigh is still affronted. 'The play is so in love with the characters... Abigail's Party is not a play about them, it's a play about us. Which is why it works for the audience.'\nIf it still works for a contemporary audience, Abigail's Party has also left a lasting impression upon its cast. Steadman has spent the last 30 years working hard not to repeat the aspirational hostess in her subsequent roles. Yet she occasionally feels nostalgic for that period. 'When we were rehearsing, I brought some music in from home that I thought might be appropriate. One was Sam \"The Man\" Taylor's \"Blue Mist\", which I loved. It ended up being the smoochy music that Beverly plays to seduce Tony. I put it on last night, and took me straight back to the Hampstead Theatre in 1977. It's a bit painful to listen to. Almost like returning to a house you once lived in that has got lots of memories but is empty now.' She smiles. 'Having said that, we laughed so much when we were putting the play together. Being Beverly was just terrific fun.'\nThe players\nAlison Steadman\nBeverly\nAlthough she says Beverly is one of her saddest characters, Steadman has only good memories of the TV play. 'We were in the studio for four days and on the final night the head cameraman came over to me, shook my hand and said it had been an absolute pleasure. Such a gesture was unheard of. There was a real sense that we were doing something a bit different, a bit unusual.' Steadman had already made her name with Leigh's earlier Play for Today, Nuts in May, but it is Abigail's Party that she still finds herself talking about. 'Many of the comedians around now say they watched it when they were very young; it was a real stepping stone.'\nWhere is she now? She has continued to work with Leigh since they separated in 1995. Other roles include Mrs Marlow in The Singing Detective and Pam in Gavin & Stacey.\nTim Stern\nLaurence\nAs he had already worked with Leigh on The Five Minute Films for the BBC and Dick Whittington and His Cat at the Royal Court, Stern was surprised to hear his agent's response when he was offered a part in Abigail's Party. 'She lived in Swiss Cottage and advised me not to do it; she said that people who went to Hampstead Theatre didn't like what she defined as \"experimental plays\". I ignored her and agreed to take part. But I had no idea how much it was going to catch on...'\nWhere is he now? Stern has appeared in Heartbeat, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and Holby City.\nJanine Duvitski\nAngela\nWhen the cast was improvising early on, Duvitski remembers feeling anxious. 'I didn't know if my character would be good enough. I couldn't quite believe that the stuff we were doing would ever get on stage - until John Salthouse and I, in character as Tony and Angela, met Alison Steadman as Beverly for the first time. We had been improvising alone as a couple for weeks and finally we went to the drinks party. I couldn't stop laughing. It was amazing.' Duvitski hasn't watched Abigail's Party for years, apart from the odd clip. 'People often quote lines at me, and it usually takes me time to work out what they're talking about.'\nWhere is she now? Duvitski worked with Leigh on Grown-Ups in 1980. She appeared in One Foot in the Grave and The Worst Week of My Life; she is now filming the ITV comedy Benidorm.\nJohn Salthouse\nTony\nTony is memorable for not saying much, but Salthouse is the opposite. 'By the time we opened, I was exhausted: Tony had so much anger inside him and I had no way of releasing it. So the process was tough but absolutely worth it. It marked me for life. It had a profound effect on me.'\nWhere is he now? After a spell on The Bill as DI Galloway, Salthouse, who played football for Crystal Palace until serious injury ended his career, appeared on Sky's Dream Team as manager Frank Patcham. He is now working on projects with Shameless creator Paul Abbott.\nHarriet Reynolds\nSue\nThelma Whiteley played Sue in the original production of Abigail's Party at Hampstead. But when the play returned to the theatre for a summer run, she declined to take part. Leigh's initial reaction was to ditch the play, but he decided to recast. 'Sue is uniquely reactive rather than proactive, which meant I could recreate the character with another actress and then slot her into the play. When we put Harriet Reynolds in an improvised situation with the others, she came out with nearly the same lines.' In 1992, Reynolds died of cancer. In 1999, when the cast was reunited at the National Theatre, Whiteley agreed to play Sue again. She died in 2000.\n· BBC4 is hosting a night dedicated to Abigail's Party on 28 October. Amy Raphael is editor of Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh (Faber), to be published next spring.\nAnyone for Demis Roussos? Changing cultural times\nThen",
"Most Popular People With Biographies Matching \"Dancing ...\nMost Popular People With Biographies Matching ... in America and the United Kingdom, he began representing the ... and won the Colombian version of ...\nIMDb: Most Popular People With Biographies Matching \"Dancing With the Stars\"\nMost Popular People With Biographies Matching \"Dancing With the Stars\"\n1-50 of 189 names.\nJulianne Hough\nJulianne Alexandra Hough was raised in Salt Lake City, the youngest of 5 children. She is the daughter of Mari Anne (Heaton) and Bruce Robert Hough, twice chairman of the Utah Republican Party. Her parents met in college when both were part of a ballroom dancing team. Her parents divorced, and she has 9 stepsiblings from their second marriages.\nHer mother was instrumental in her career in entertainment, enrolling her and her siblings in various performance classes from a very young age. She began her training in Latin ballroom dancing at the Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, Utah. At age 10, along with her brother Derek Hough , she went to London to study with coaches Corky and Shirley Ballas. She and Derek attended the Italia Conti Academy with the Ballas's son, Mark Ballas . The three children performed as a pop music trio '2B1G' (2 Boys, 1 Girl) at dance competitions in the United Kingdom and the United States. At age 15, Julianne became Junior World Latin Champion and International Latin Youth Champion at the Blackpool Dance Festival.\nDuring this time in London, her parents divorced. She returned to the United States to live with her mother in Las Vegas, where she attended the Las Vegas Academy. After a year, she moved back to Utah to live with her father and graduated from Alta High School. She then moved to Los Angeles to begin a career in entertainment. Julianne quickly landed her first job as a dancer on ABC game show Show Me the Money . She then went on tour as a company dancer with \"Dancing with the Stars\" and joined the cast of Dancing with the Stars in season 4.\nJulianne is also known as a country singer. She released her debut album in 2008, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart and at #3 on the Billboard 200. Her first acting role was in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at age 13. She has appeared in her first lead role in the remake of Footloose . Julianne is also actively involved in charities and humanitarian efforts--including Susan G. Komen Foundation, Clothes Off Our Back, and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital--and serves on the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet.\nLea Thompson\nLea Katherine Thompson was born on May 31, 1961, in Rochester, Minnesota. She is the youngest of five children. Her parents are Barbara Anne (Barry) and Clifford Elwin \"Cliff\" Thompson. Since all her siblings were much older than she, Lea says it seemed like she had more than two parents. The family lived in the Starlight Motel, all the kids sharing a room. Things began to look up for the family when Lea's father got a job in Minneapolis, where the family moved.\nLea's parents divorced when she was six, and her mother decided to maintain the family. This wasn't the easiest job, considering her mother was alcohol-addicted at the time. When she found the strength to quit drinking, she took a job playing the piano and singing in a bar to support Lea and her siblings. When Lea was seven, her mother remarried. Ever since Lea was little, she loved to dance -- ballet to be exact. She would practice three to four hours every day. Her first role was as a mouse in \"The Nutcracker\". After Lea turned fourteen, she had performed in more than 45 ballets on stages, such as The Minnesota Dance Theatre, The Pennsylvania Ballet Company, and The Ballet Repertory. She won scholarships to The American Ballet Theatre and The San Francisco Ballet. At age nineteen, she auditioned for Mikhail Baryshnikov , who later told her that she was \"a beautiful dancer... but too stocky\". Lea knew her dreams had been crushed. At that point, she decided to turn to acting. She began working as a waitress, also making 22 Burger King commercials and a few Twix commercials. She was perfect for these parts simply because she was the average girl-down-the-street, from the Midwest. Everyone who knows her can't believe she was and still is so completely different...trying to be independent and fight against the system. In 1982, Lea made some type of a computer game or interactive movie known as \"Murder, Anyone\".\nHer first role was in the movie, Jaws 3-D , as a water ski bunny, although she couldn't swim or ski, which she still can't! There, she met Dennis Quaid , who became her fiancée and acting coach. Her next role was in All the Right Moves , where she acted opposite Tom Cruise . Director Michael Chapman was so disappointed with her performance, that he almost fired her. Between 1983 and 1984, Lea appeared in other \"teen\" movies, such as Red Dawn , The Wild Life , and Going Undercover (aka Going Undercover ), and believes it was lucky that, in these movies, they were able to use anyone who could walk and talk! Lea's biggest known accomplishment, and her big break, came from the first Back to the Future . It was the biggest hit of 1985, and Lea was suddenly the most wanted actress. She could have her pick of any role she wanted to take on. She chose Howard the Duck . Although it was a George Lucas production, the critics turned the movie, and Lea, down. Afterwards, director Howard Deutch offered Lea a part in his movie, Some Kind of Wonderful , but she refused. After he urged her to do it, she reconsidered. She won the Young Artist Award for best young actress. During filming, Howard and Lea fell in love, and she called it off with Dennis. She then went on to film The Wizard of Loneliness , which was her first movie as a woman, rather than a youngster. Lea went on to film Back to the Future Part II and an episode of Tales from the Crypt . She then married Howard Deutch . She continued filming Back to the Future Part III , Montana , and Article 99 . Lea then took a break to stay home with her first born, Madelyn Deutch .\nShe jumped back into acting in Dennis the Menace , where she says she just played herself. Then it was on to The Beverly Hillbillies , Stolen Babies , The Little Rascals , and The Substitute Wife . In 1994, she had her second child, Zoey Deutch . Lea then went into filming The Unspoken Truth . It was then that she was first given the script of a new NBC sitcom, Caroline in the City . It was probably the best decision Lea ever made. She won a People's Choice Award for best actress in a new sitcom. Unfortunately, with all of NBC's problems, Caroline in the City kept being moved to a worse and worse time slot, giving it horrible ratings. The show ended after only four seasons. Bad ideas from the creators (Julia, etc.) didn't help, either.\nLea quickly went onto The Right to Remain Silent , The Unknown Cyclist , and A Will of Their Own . She also guest-starred in the Friends episode, The One with the Baby on the Bus , as \"Caroline Duffy\", and on The Larry Sanders Show . Lea also did some stage work, including starring as \"Sally Bowles\" in \"Cabaret\". The show toured and also appeared on Broadway. She then did \"The Vagina Monologues\" in L.A. She had a stint in a dramatic role as a Chief Deputy Assistant District Attorney, \"Camille Paris\", on For the People .\nThompson has starred in more than 30 films, 25 television movies, 4 television series, more than 20 ballets, and starred on Broadway in \"Cabaret\". Lea can currently be seen on ABC Family's Peabody Award winning hit show \"Switched at Birth,\" where she acts and directs. Lea's movie credits include: \"All the Right Moves,\" \"Red Dawn,\" \"Some Kind of Wonderful,\" \"The Beverly Hillbillies,\" \"Howard The Duck\"(star and vocals), Clint Eastwood's \"J. Edgar;\" the 2014 Sundance favorite \"Ping Pong Summer;\" and soon to be released \"Left Behind\" starring Nicolas Cage.\nLea lives in Los Angeles with her husband of twenty-five years, film/television director Howard Deutch, and their two talented daughters, Madelyn and Zoey, along with many dogs, fish, horses, chickens, a cat, tortoise, and parrot. She supports and often performs for breast cancer, mental health, and Alzheimer's charities. Lea is currently in pre-production on \"The Year of Spectacular Men\", a film written by her daughter Madelyn Deutch, and is writing her first book of essays. Lea Thompson will partner with international Mirrorball Trophy holder Artem Chigvintsev on the 19th season of \"Dancing With The Stars.\"\nSophia Lucia\n13 year old Dance Prodigy, Guinness World Record Holder, YouTube Sensation and Entrepreneur, Sophia Lucia loves to dance and strives each day to be the best she can be by pushing her ability to the limit.\nSophia started dancing at the young age of 2 years at San Diego Dance Centre in Poway, CA and is now, flourishing to be one of the most exciting and top talents in the industry. She trains 35 to 40 hours a week in Jazz, Contemporary, Tap and Ballet. Sophia's focus and determination is leading her to excel in many ways as in setting the New Official Guinness World Record of 55 Consecutive Pirouettes, spokes model & design her new line for California Kisses Dance Wear and several National Champion Dance Titles. At such a young age, she has been featured in numerous television shows such as 'Dancing with the Stars,' 'So You Think You Can Dance,' Disney's hit show 'Shake He t Up, 'Dance Moms,' 'X-Factor' and 'America's Got Talent,' plus several talk shows like 'The Ellen Show,' 'The Ricki Lake Show, to name a few. She made her film debut in 2010 as child star icon, Shirley Temple in the Fox Legacy Movie \"The Shirley Temple Story.\"\nSophia's ability to captivate an audience with her artistry is one of a kind. Her performances have catapulted her to He nternet stardom and taken her across the world to do what she loves most, dance.\nMadalina Diana Ghenea\nMadalina Ghenea is a Romanian actress and fashion model. She started her acting career in Italy and rose to fame in 2010. She was born on August 8th, 1987 in Slatina, she grew up in a small farm following her mother around the villages where she still works as a vet. From an early age, Madalina was in the limelight, attending a famous children TV show. For 7 years, Madalina took ballet and piano lessons. She graduated from college and started theater studies managing to commit also with the career that would begin. At the age of 14, she was discovered by Italian designer Gattinoni. After that she participated in many fashion shows worldwide. Therefore, Madalina describes herself as a citizen of the world, caring her life in a suitcase, always open to embrace any culture or tradition that makes her today a fluent speaker of 5 languages. Commercials around the world, a video with Eros Ramazzotti, brand Ambassador for different important companies, like H3G, phone company together with famous Italian actor Raoul Bova, Famous TV shows like \"Dancing with the Stars\".\nStunning, not necessarily by her looks, but rather by her political career, Madalina Ghenea is a international activist. She joined the organization \"Artists for Peace and Justice\" for Haiti. She is noted in Romania for renovating the Maternity of the main hospital in her hometown. The lead role in her latest movie, \"Razza Bastarda\", with Alessandro Gassman, was the biggest challenge in her career.\nCody Linley\nCody is perhaps best known for his role as Jake Ryan (Miley's boyfriend) on Disney Channel's hit tv series \"Hannah Montana.\" Cody danced his way to the \"Final Four\" on the seventh season of ABC's \"Dancing With The Stars\" with partner Julianne Hough, and subsequently appeared on \"The Ellen DeGeneres Show\" and \"Jimmy Kimmel Live!\" Cody has guest starred on ABC Family's \"Melissa & Joey,\" Disney Channel's \"That's So Raven\" and CBS's \"Walker, Texas Ranger.\"\nWhen he was just eight years old, Cody acted in his first feature film, the coming of age drama \"My Dog Skip\" with Diane Lane and Kevin Bacon. He would go on to star in a variety of roles that evoked an endearing charm which quickly become his trademark. Among his many feature film credits are \"Cheaper By The Dozen,\" \"Miss Congeniality,\" \"Where The Heart Is\" and \"Hoot\" opposite Brie Larson.\nHis latest projects have included \"The Playroom\" which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; and \"My Dog the Champion\" in which he starred as Eli, the heartwarming dog trainer, alongside Lance Henriksen. In 2015, Cody starred as the title character in \"Hoovey\" directed by Sean McNamara. He also will be starring in an upcoming SyFy Channel film in the summer of 2016.\nCody's passions include yoga, making music, playing sports and, of course, always inspiring others.\nMargaret Cho\nMargaret Cho was born Dec. 5, 1968 and raised in San Francisco. Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret's father who writes joke books - in Korean.\nWhat Margaret did know is that she didn't love being a kid. Racing toward adulthood to escape bullying, she began writing jokes for stand up at 14 and professionally performing at age 16. Getting picked on, and feeling disenfranchised, is a subject that's very near to Margaret's heart. She has become a sort of \"Patron Saint\" for Outsiders, speaking for them when they are not able to speak for themselves.\nSoon after starting her Stand Up career, Margaret won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. She moved to Los Angeles in the early '90s and, still in her early twenties, hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for \"Campus Comedian of The Year.\" She performed over 300 concerts within two years. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity.\nHer groundbreaking, controversial, and short-lived ABC sitcom, All-American Girl (1994) soon followed. Oddly, while chosen because of who she was-a non-conformist Korean American woman with liberal views-the powers-that-be then decided they wanted her to \"tone it down\" for the show. Challenging Margaret's feelings for both who she was and how she looked, she soon realized that though she was an Executive Producer, it was a battle she would not win.\nThe experience was a traumatic one, bringing up unresolved feelings left over from childhood, and Margaret developed an eating disorder as a response to criticism about her body. She was so obsessive in her goal to try to be what she thought others wanted, she landed in the hospital with kidney failure. Through out a period of self-abuse, Margaret continued performing to sold-out audiences across the country in comedy clubs, theaters, and on college campuses, working to channel her anger in to something more positive.\nIn 1999, her groundbreaking, off Broadway one-woman show, I'm The One That I Want, toured the country to national acclaim and was made into a best-selling book and feature film of the same name. After her experience with All-American Girl, Margaret wanted to make sure she would only have to answer to herself, making sure she was responsible for the distribution and sales of her film, taking a page from what music artist Ani DiFranco did with her Righteous Babe Records. The concert film, which garnered incredible reviews, broke records for most money grossed per print in movie history. In 2001, after the success of her first tour, Cho launched Notorious C.H.O., a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O. was recorded and released as a feature film, hailed by the New York Times as \"Brilliant!\" Both films were acquired by Showtime Cable Networks, and produced by Margaret's production company, a testament to the success of Margaret's bold business model.\nIn March of 2003, Margaret embarked on her third sold-out national tour, Revolution. It was heralded by the Chicago Sun Times as \"Her strongest show yet!\" and the CD recording was nominated for a Grammy for Comedy Album of the Year. In 2005, Cho released Assassin, which The Chicago Tribune crowed \"Packs passion in to each punch.\" The concert film premiered in select theaters and on the gay and lesbian premium channel Here! TV in late 2005.\nIn 2007, Margaret hit the road with Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Erasure, along with indie faves The Dresden Dolls and The Cliks, to host the True Colors Tour, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign. A true entertainment pioneer, Margaret also created and starred in The Sensuous Woman, a live variety show featuring vaudevillian burlesque and comedy, which she took for an extended off-Broadway run in the fall.\nMargaret returned to TV in 2008 on the VH1 series, The Cho Show. The Cho Show followed Margaret, her real parents, and her eccentric entourage through a series of irreverent and outrageous experiences, shaped by Margaret's 'anything goes' brand of stand-up. It was beloved for the audience it was intended for, the ones who maybe don't quite fit in, who knew Margaret is one of them.\nThe aptly titled Beautiful came next, exploring the good, bad and ugly in beauty, and the unattractive politicians and marketers who shape our world. The concert premiered in Australia at The Sydney Theater, marking the first time Margaret debuted a tour abroad. While touring through the US, the concert was filmed at the Long Beach theatre, aired as a special on Showtime in 2009, and then released as both a DVD and a book.\nIn 2009 Margaret nabbed a starring role in the comedy/drama series Drop Dead Diva, airing on Lifetime. Margaret enjoys being part of a team, and not necessarily having the sole responsibility for keeping things afloat.\nNever one to shy away from a challenge, Margaret stepped right up to the proverbial plate when asked to do Season 11 of the #1 rated Dancing with the Stars. Paired with pro Louie Van Amstel, Margaret was on one of the show's most controversial seasons, dancing alongside Mike \"The Situation\" Sorrentino, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Grey and Bristol Palin among others.\nMargaret got a very strong reaction to her Rainbow Dancing Dress during a time when the issue of bullying, especially among gay teens, was all over the media.\n2010 culminated with another high honor, a second Grammy Award nomination for Comedy Album of the Year for Cho Dependent, her incredibly funny collection of music featuring collaborations with Fiona Apple, Andrew Bird, Grant Lee Phillips, Tegan & Sara, Ben Lee and more. The album received critical acclaim.\nMargaret self released Cho Dependent on her own Clownery Records, and was encouraged by the acclaim, as there are only a handful of people putting out albums of comedy music - \"Weird\" Al Yankovic, Flight of the Conchords, The Lonely Island, to name a few - but no women. While thrilled that her hard work was rewarded with the nomination, Margaret isn't finished with musical comedy yet, claiming to have more music in her.\nIn 2011, Margaret released the live concert film of Cho Dependent, which also had its cable network debut on Showtime. Audiences who caught these performances live can attest that Cho hasn't lost any of her edge on Cho Dependent, her sixth live concert DVD. Shot at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA, Cho remains uncensored, but never unhinged, taking aim at the Palin family, her stint on Dancing With the Stars, smoking pot and living in a world with 'sexting.' The DVD is characteristically no-holds-barred Margaret and instantly a classic.\nMargaret is currently filming the sixth and final season on Drop Dead Diva. Cho returns as \"Teri\" Girl Friday to Brooke Elliott's \"Jane Bingham,\" whose body is inhabited by the soul of a vapid model sent back to earth after Heaven judges her as a \"zero-zero\" for having committed no good and no bad deeds. Drop Dead Diva is not only beloved on Lifetime, but by the many stars who have queued up to guest on the show, including Paula Abdul, Wanda Sykes, Rosie O'Donnell, Vivica Fox and Kim Kardashian.\nNot one to rest on her laurels, Margaret spent whatever free time she had crafting her all new stand-up show, the uproariously and aptly named Mother, which kicked off in September, 2012, including both a US and European tour.\nParadox not lost, Margaret had to re-schedule some of the shows she had booked mid-September so she could attend the Emmy Awards with her mother. Nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her hilarious stint on 30 Rock as gender-bending North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.\nIn 2014, Margaret filmed a pilot for FOX and was thrilled to be working with Tina Fey and the producing team from 30 Rock. The multi-camera comedy takes place at a women's college that has just opened its doors to men for the first time.\nWhile thrilled with her two Grammy and recent Emmy nod, Margaret has never turned away from the causes that are important to her. She is incredibly active in anti-racism, anti-bullying and gay rights campaigns, and has been recognized for her unwavering dedication. She was the recipient of the Victory Fund's 2008 Leadership Award and the first ever Best Comedy Performance Award at the 2007 Asian Excellence Awards. She also received the First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California, and the Intrepid Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW). Throughout her career, she has been honored by GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and PFLAG for making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity. In June of 2011, Margaret was honored by LA Pride, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing an individual whose lifetime body of work has left a lasting major imprint on the LGBT community.\nThrough her hard work, Margaret has had the opportunity to be heard, to extend her point of view and become regarded as a true pioneer in her field. She takes none of it for granted.\nIan Ziering\nIan Ziering was born on March 30, 1964, and was raised in West Orange, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. By the mid-1970s, young Ian was landing spots in national commercials at the age of 12, which led to roles in various soap operas and stage plays, most notably Guiding Light, the Broadway production of I Remember Mama and, in a national touring production of Peter Pan. In 1981 he made his feature film debut in Endless Love (as Brooke Shields' little brother) - a film that also marked the big-screen debuts of Tom Cruise and James Spader.\nHowever, in 1990, Ziering landed the role that would change his life - \"Steve Sanders\" on the teen drama, Beverly Hills 90210. The show brought instant, worldwide fame to the cast. Ian was suddenly an international heartthrob and played the role for the show's entire ten-year run. During his years on 90210 he was also featured in various films and television shows, including Russell Crowe's No Way Back, What I Like About You and Melrose Place, to name a few.\nSince 90210, Ziering has appeared on numerous television shows including CSI: NY, JAG and Fran Drescher's Happily Divorced. In addition, he has continued to be one of the most in-demand actors for various animated films and television shows including Spider-Man, Mighty Ducks, Batman Beyond and Biker Mice from Mars. In 2005, in a real change of pace from his normal acting roles, Ziering also appeared in the Tony Scott feature film thriller, Domino, with Keira Knightley. Other film credits include National Lampoon's The Legend of Awesomest Maximus, That's My Boy with Adam Sandler, An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars with Nia Vardalos, Snake and Mongoose, and, Christmas In Palm Springs.\nIn 2007, Ziering showed the world that he was a true triple threat when he signed on to the fourth season of the hit ABC series, Dancing with the Stars. A fan and judge favorite with his partner, two-time Mirror Ball Champion Cheryl Burke, the pair eventually danced their way into the show's semifinals. In addition to his ongoing acting roles and voiceover work, Ian is a much sought-after television host and, was most recently seen hosting HGTV's A-List Pets.\n2013 proved to be a pivotal year for Ziering both professionally and personally. At the age of 49, Ian became a Las Vegas headliner when he starred as the celebrity guest host of the award-winning production of Chippendales at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Taking on this new role, the actor hit the gym and dropped 30 pounds, transforming himself into a fit and muscled man, thrilling the sold-out audiences. His Chippendales engagement brought him a new wave of fans and international acclaim, thrusting him once again into the limelight. The engagement was such a huge success, establishing Ian as a major Las Vegas box-office draw, he was asked to return to the show in Summer 2014 for another sold-out run at the Rio with the world-famous brand.\nHowever, it was during his final week with the Chippendales in 2013 that Ian's small-budget film Sharknado aired on the SyFy Channel and instantly became a social media and worldwide phenomenon. Garnering more than 5,000 tweets per minute during its initial broadcast - more than any other television show to date - Sharknado became an instant science fiction, cult classic and, even received a theatrical release in movie theatres around the world due to its popularity with fans.\nThe franchise exploded so much that in July 2014 Ian reprised his role as Fin Shepard in SyFy's Sharknado 2: The Second One, and the film went on to devour the world and become an even bigger pop culture phenomenon than the first. The record-setting sequel had nearly 4 million viewers in its first broadcast and went on to claim the title as the \"most social movie on TV ever\" by garnering one billion (that is NOT a typo) twitter impressions. At one point, Sharknado 2 held all top 10 trending topics in the United States with more mentions on Twitter than #MileyCyrus on the day of MTV's 2013 VMAs, and #kimye on Kim and Kanye's wedding day. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! stormed the world in July 2015 and chomped its way to over 2 billion twitter impressions - doubling those of Sharknado 2. Generating more Twitter activity than every episode of the final season of Mad Men, every episode of last season's The Bachelor and Hillary Clinton's presidential announcement, Sharknado 3 trended #1 in the United States and #2 worldwide. The latest film in the hit franchise, Sharknado 4: The Fourth Awakens, debuts on July 31, 2016 on SyFy.\nA true philanthropist, Ian used his brains, brawn (and his heart) when he competed on NBC's 7h season of the hit series, Celebrity Apprentice. Along with his other contestants, Ian endured challenging tasks that tested his ability to work with his colleagues while ultimately raising over $320,000 for the EB Medical Research Foundation (www.ebkids.org). Ian is proud to be the fourth highest celebrity fundraiser in the history of Celebrity Apprentice. Inspired by his entrepreneurial tasks during Celebrity Apprentice, Ian has created a new clothing line, Chainsaw Brands (ChainsawBrands.com), featuring classic American style athleisure and apparel. In keeping with his philanthropic nature, a portion of all proceeds from the sale of his signature line will benefit those less fortunate. In addition, in February 2016, Ian launched CelebrityHideaways.com, a luxury destination based website for the discerning traveler looking for unique experiences typically frequented by the rich and famous. His extensive travel over the last 30 years lends itself to revealing the less beaten path for site visitors to browse, get information, and book their perfect vacation.\nAnd, it's not just his professional career that is soaring. Ian's personal life has seen some wonderful changes as well over the last few years. He and his wife, nurse Erin Ziering, welcomed their second daughter, Penna Mae in 2013. Their first daughter, Mia Loren, was born on the same day, two years earlier. The quintessential father and family man, Ian was named DaddyScrubs \"Daddy of the Year 2013,\" an award which recognizes fathers who are extremely proactive in raising their children. In June 2016, Ian and his wife launched the family blog, AtHomeWithTheZierings.com, a creative resource for other families. Ian currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and daughters. Follow Ian on Twitter and Instagram @IanZiering.\nMarla Maples\nBorn in Cohutta, Georgia (population 661), Marla Maples got her start as an overachieving student, athlete, and homecoming queen who attended the University of Georgia before heading to New York City to pursue a career in the arts. With more than 15 films roles (Happiness, Black and White), numerous TV appearances (Spin City, The Nanny), Broadway shows (The Will Rogers Follies, Love, Loss and What I Wore), and dozens of magazine covers on her resume, Maples firmly secured her place in popular culture.\nIn 1999, she relocated to Southern California with daughter Tiffany in tow to focus on finding a quieter, more spiritual existence. The longtime Kabbalist released her first album, The Endless featuring Deepak Chopra, His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Michael Bernard Beckwith, and hosted a talk radio show, Awakening With Marla with specialists from the natural wellness world. With Tiffany having grown up and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016, Marla made her triumphant return to the spotlight, tangoing her way through Season 22 of Dancing With the Stars alongside Tony Dovolani, co-hosting The View, The Doctors, and Good Day New York, and attending a host of VIP charity events.\nThe philanthropist, who herself suffered from Lyme disease as a teen, was honored for her work with the Global Lyme Alliance, and remains committed to supporting a multitude of non-profit organizations including Spirituality for Kids, Make a Wish Foundation, American Family Housing, Feed the Children, Shelter for the Homeless, The City of Hope, and Kids Creating Peace. Whether speaking about unity at the UN or performing her single \"One World of Love\" on stage at Carnegie Hall, the actress, musical artist, and philanthropist is steadfast in her mission to expand the greater good and add light to the world.\nJames Whitmore\nBorn on October 1, 1921, in White Plains, New York, gruff veteran character actor James Whitmore earned early and widespread respect with his award-winning dramatic capabilities on Broadway and in films. He would later conquer TV with the same trophy-winning results.\nThe son of James Allen Whitmore and Florence Crane, he was educated at Connecticut's Choate School after receiving a football scholarship. He later earned his BA from Yale University in 1944 before serving with the Marines in World War II. Following his honorable discharge he prepared for the stage under the G.I. bill at the American Theatre Wing, where he met first wife Nancy Mygatt. They married in 1947 and went on to have three sons together -- Steve, Dan and actor/director James Whitmore Jr. .\nApplause and kudos came swiftly for Whitmore while under both the Broadway and film banners. After appearing with the Peterborough, New Hampshire, Players in the summer of 1947 in \"The Milky Way,\" Whitmore made a celebrated Broadway debut as Tech Sergeant Evans in \"Command Decision\" later that year. His gritty performance swept the stage acting trifecta -- Tony, Donaldson and Theatre World awards. In later years Whitmore would often comment that most of his satisfaction came from performing on the live stage.\nHollywood soon took notice of Whitmore. Clark Gable happened to be starring in the film version of Command Decision , and it was hoped that Whitmore would get to recreate his award-winning role. But it was not to be. Song-and-dance star Van Johnson , who was looking for straight, serious roles after a vastly successful musical career, was given the coveted part. The disappointment didn't last long, however, and Whitmore made an auspicious film bow the following year with a prime role in the documentary-styled crime thriller The Undercover Man starring Glenn Ford and Nina Foch . Whitmore scored brilliantly with his second film as well. Battleground , another war picture, was highly praised and the actor became the talk of the town upon its initial release, grabbing both the Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for \"supporting actor\" for his efforts.\nHardly the handsome, matinée lead type, Whitmore nevertheless primed himself up for leading roles in a character vein and found a fine range of material come his way. He showed off his soft inner core as a religious, moral-minded family man opposite Nancy Reagan [Reagan] in the inspirational drama The Next Voice You Hear... ; featured his usual saltier side alongside Marjorie Main in Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone ; ably portrayed a hunchbacked crook in The Asphalt Jungle and displayed customary authority as a security chief in the stoic military drama Above and Beyond starring Robert Taylor . Elsewhere, he played it strictly for laughs as a Runyonesque gangster partnered with Keenan Wynn in the classic MGM musical Kiss Me Kate ; portrayed a valiant cop fighting off gigantic mutant ants in the intelligent sci-fi thriller Them! ; a hard-hitting social worker in Crime in the Streets and even made the most of his small role as Tyrone Power 's manager in The Eddy Duchin Story .\nBy 1959, the craggy-faced actor known for his trademark caterpillar eyebrows, turned more and more toward the small screen, with memorable roles in The Twilight Zone , The Detectives (working again with Robert Taylor ), Ben Casey and a host of live theater dramas. He also starred in his own series as attorney Abraham Lincoln Jones in The Law and Mr. Jones , which lasted two seasons.\nEvery so often a marvelous character would rear its pretty head and interest him back to the big screen. Notable of these were his white man passing for black in the controversial social drama Black Like Me ; his weary veteran cop in Madigan ; and his brash, authoritative simian in the classic sci-fi Planet of the Apes .\nDivorced from wife Nancy after more than two decades, Whitmore married actress Audra Lindley , best known on TV as Mrs. Roper of Three's Company fame, in 1972. The couple forged a strong acting partnership as well, particularly on stage, and maintained a professional relationship long after their 1979 divorce. Whitmore and Lindley were lauded for their appearances together in such plays as \"The Magnificent Yankee,\" \"On Golden Pond,\" \"The Visit,\" \"Foxfire\" and \"Love Letters,\" among others.\nIn the 1970s the actor transformed into a magnificent one-man-show machine playing such celebrated and inspiring historical/entertainment icons as Will Rogers , Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt . He disappeared into these historical legends so efficiently that even the powers-that-be had the good sense to preserve them on film and TV in the form of Will Rogers' USA ; Give 'em Hell, Harry! , which earned him his second Oscar nomination; and Bully: An Adventure with Teddy Roosevelt .\nIn his twilight years, Whitmore showed he still had what it took to touch movie audiences, most notably as the fragile prisoner-turned-parolee who cannot adapt to his late-life freedom in the classic film The Shawshank Redemption . On TV he continued to win awards, copping a TV Emmy for a recurring part on The Practice in the late 1990s. A household face in commercials as well, one of his passions was gardening and he eventually became the spokesman for Miracle-Gro plant food.\nWhitmore remarried (and re-divorced, 1979-1981) his first wife Nancy briefly before finding a lasting union with his fourth wife, actress-turned-author Noreen Nash , whom he married broaching age 80 in 2001. Whitmore died of lung cancer on February 6, 2009, after having been diagnosed in mid-November 2008.\nChaz Bono\nChaz Bono is an LGBT rights advocate, three time author, speaker and the only child of famed entertainers Sonny and Cher. Chaz's decision to come out as a Lesbian in 1995 prompted his public work in support of LGBT rights and social justice.\nChaz has contributed as a writer-at-large to The Advocate and in 1996 became the Human Rights Campaign's National Coming Out Day spokesperson. Chaz also served as Entertainment Media Director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and continues to speak at dozens of universities and LGBT events every year.\nAn acclaimed author, Chaz has written three books including Transition, which was released by Dutton in May of 2011. Transition is his groundbreaking and candid account of a forty-year struggle to match his gender identity with his physical body and his transformation from female to male.\nAdding to his multiple hyphenated talents, he has shared his life and experiences in the three-time Emmy nominated documentary, \"Becoming Chaz.\"\n\"Intimate and nakedly honest, the documentary reveals the humanity and courage it takes for Chaz to ultimately embrace his true self.\" The film received a standing ovation at its Sundance debut and was predicted to be a breakthrough in molding the American conversation about transgender issues by Rosie O'Donnell. The world television premiere of the documentary aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network and garnered excellent ratings.\nIn 2011, Chaz signed on to compete with 11 other celebrities in the 13th season of ABC's hit show, Dancing With The Stars. He was very excited to compete athletically and continue to create awareness and impact change for the LGBT community.\nMost recently, Bono has appeared on the small screen with cameo appearances on ABC Family's \"The Secret Life of the American Teenager\" and Teen Nick's long running series \"Degrassi.\" Chaz recently starred in a 30 Minute Musical adaptation of Patrick Swayze's Roadhouse featuring Bono singing original songs as he played the role of Tinker. Continuing his passion for acting, Chaz forges ahead with future acting endeavors.\nVan Johnson\nVan Johnson was the well-mannered nice guy on screen you wanted your daughter to marry. This fair, freckled and invariably friendly-looking MGM song-and-dance star of the 40s emerged a box office favorite (1944-1946) and second only to heartthrob Frank Sinatra during what gossipmonger Hedda Hopper dubbed the \"Bobby-Soxer Blitz\" era. Johnson's musical timing proved just as adroit as his career timing for he was able to court WWII stardom as a regimented MGM symbol of the war effort with an impressive parade of earnest soldiers. He may have been a second tier musical star behind the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly , but his easy smile, wholesome, boy-next-door appeal and strawberry-blond good looks earned him a solid shot at box-office stardom while the big boys (i.e., MGM stars) were off to war. When they returned, Johnson amiably relinquished his \"golden boy\" pedestal, but his popularity did not wane. In retrospect, his dramatic talent seemed overly scrutinized...for he was very capable. Besides, he worked another three decades on stage, screen and TV...and always as a star.\nJohnson was born Charles Van Dell Johnson in Newport, Rhode Island, the only child of Loretta (Snyder) and Charles E. Johnson. His paternal grandparents were Swedish, and his mother was of German, and a small amount of Irish, ancestry. Johnson endured a lonely and unhappy childhood as the sole offspring of an extremely aloof father (who was both a plumber and real estate agent by trade) and an absentee mother (she abandoned the family when he was three, the victim of alcoholism). A paternal grandmother helped in raising the young lad. Happier times were spent drifting into the fantasy world of movies, and he developed an ardent passion to entertain. Taking singing, dancing and violin lessons during his high school years, he disregarded his father's wish to become a lawyer and instead left home following graduation to try his luck in New York.\nEarly experiences included chorus lines in revues, at hotels and in various small shows around town. A couple of minor breaks occurred with his 40-week stint in the \"New Faces of 1936\" revue (making his Broadway debut) and in a vaudeville club act (based around star Mary Martin ) called \"Eight Young Men of Manhattan\" that played the Rainbow Room. He served as understudy to the three male leads of Rodgers and Hart's popular musical \"Too Many Girls\" in October of 1939 and eventually replaced one of them (actor Richard Kollmar left the show to marry reporter Dorothy Kilgallen .) He also formed a lifelong and career-igniting friendship with one of the other leads, Desi Arnaz . Johnson made an inauspicious film debut with Arnaz in Too Many Girls when the musical was eventually lensed in Hollywood, but he was cast in a scant chorus boy part. Following a stint on Broadway in \"Pal Joey\" in 1940, Warner Bros. signed Van to a six-month contract. He went on to co-star with Faye Emerson in Murder in the Big House , but they dropped him quickly feeling that his acting chops were lacking. It was Arnaz's wife Lucille Ball , who had recently signed with MGM, who introduced Van to Billy Grady, MGM's casting head, and instigated a successful screen test.\nWith the studio's top male talent off to war, Van served as an earnest substitute donning fatigues in such stalwart movies as Somewhere I'll Find You The War Against Mrs. Hadley and The Human Comedy . Van also replaced actor/war pacifist Lew Ayres in the \"Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie\" film series after Ayres was unceremoniously dumped by the studio for his unpopular beliefs. Stardom came, and at quite a price, for Van when he was cast yet again as a wholesome serviceman in A Guy Named Joe . During the early part of filming, he was severely injured in a near-fatal car crash (he had a metal plate inserted in his skull, which instantly gave him a 4-F disqualification status for war service). Endangered of being replaced on the film, the two stars of the picture, Spencer Tracy (who became another lifelong friend) and Irene Dunne , insisted that the studio work around his convalescence or they would quit the film. The unusually kind gesture made Van a star following the film's popular release and resulting publicity. Van's career soared during the war years. His boyish charm and fair, attractive features made him the resident heartthrob and he rode on a crest of popularity not only in musicals ( Two Girls and a Sailor , Easy to Wed ), but in airy comedies ( Week-End at the Waldorf ) and, of course, more war stories ( Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ).\nWhen the big stars such as Clark Gable , James Stewart and Robert Taylor returned to reclaim post-war stardom, Van willingly resigned himself to second dramatic leads, but he remained a high profile musical star opposite the likes of June Allyson , Esther Williams and Judy Garland . He continued to demonstrate his dramatic skills in such well-regarded films as Command Decision , State of the Union , Battleground , Brigadoon and The Caine Mutiny . MGM's \"golden age\" phased out by the mid-1950s and, with it, Van's strong film career took a sharp decline. The studio released him after he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in The Last Time I Saw Paris .\nWhile he continued to freelance and show strength in other pictures such as the English-made The End of the Affair with Deborah Kerr ; Miracle in the Rain opposite Jane Wyman , The Bottom of the Bottle with Joseph Cotten , 23 Paces to Baker Street co-starring Vera Miles , Kelly and Me partnered with a dog, and Web of Evidence , the bloom was falling off the rose. In the late 50s and early 1960s Van again capitalized on his musical talents by reinventing himself as a nightclub performer and musical stage star. He made a wonderful Harold Hill in several productions of \"The Music Man\" and graced a number of musical and light comedy vehicles on the regional and dinner theater circuits, including \"Damn Yankees,\" \"Guys and Dolls,\" \"Bells Are Ringing,\" \"On a Clear Day...,\" \"Forty Carats,\" \"Bye Bye Birdie,\" \"There's a Girl in My Soup\" and \"I Do! I Do!\" He never delved heavily into TV until the 1970s and then appeared on a number of shows, earning an Emmy nomination for his participation in the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man .\nIn later years, he grew larger in girth but still continued to work. He earned respectable reviews after replacing Gene Barry as Georges in the smash gay musical \"La Cage Aux Folles\" in 1985. His last musical role was as Cap' Andy in \"Show Boat\" in 1991, and his last several movies were primarily filmed overseas in Italy and Australia. Van was married only once but it was constantly dissected under a microscope by the tabloids as well as the public. The marriage ended quite bitterly. Typically in the closet as a high-ranking actor of the 1940s, he was extremely close friends to MGM actor Keenan Wynn and his wife. However, Van wound up marrying Wynn's ex-wife, one-time stage actress Eve Abbott, right after the Wynns divorced (within four hours) in 1947. To an unsuspecting public, this seemed quite heartless of Van and Van's popularity suffered in its aftermath. In the meantime the tabloids continued to throw out innuendos that it was a studio-arranged \"marriage\". Whatever the intention, Van and Eve did have daughter Schuyler in 1948, and were a popular Hollywood couple before separating in 1962, after fifteen years of marriage. The marriage lingered on for another six acrimonious years before the final divorce decree. Van never married again and in later years Eve \"spilled the beans\" in a very bitter account of their marriage, which she admitted she went along with but maintained that it was an MGM-staged sham set up by Louis B. Mayer . Sadly, Van was estranged from his daughter Schuyler at the time of his death at age 92 at a senior living facility in Nyack, New York. In declining health, the popular actor had been residing there for several years.\nBrooke Burke-Charvet\nBrooke Burke-Charvet is a host, actress, television personality, fashion designer and entrepreneur. Brooke is recognized for first winning, and then going on to Co- Host 8 seasons of the iconic, \"Dancing With The Stars.\" Recently, Brooke dove back into world of sitcom's playing a recurring role as Joey Lawrence's ex-girlfriend in the ABC Family Network's hit sitcom, \"Melissa & Joey.\" The mother of four is Co-CEO of the website ModernMom.com, President of BabooshBaby.com. With over two million Twitter followers, Brooke has made a name for herself as a trusted resource in the world of motherhood and social media networking, motivating her to co-create the website with her partner, Lisa Rosenblatt.\nBrooke created the online store, BabooshBaby.com in 2007, featuring her popular post-pregnancy belly wraps, Tauts. Through her own pregnancies, Brooke became inspired to develop the wrap. Her online vision quickly grew to a multi-million dollar business, and eventually became the e-commerce division of ModernMom.com.\nSince 2012, Brooke has starred in her own series of fitness DVD's for Sony Home Entertainment titled, \"Transform Your Body With Brooke Burke: Strengthen & Condition and Tone & Tighten\". Most recently, Brooke Burke Body: Sexy Abs & Brooke Burke Body: 30-Day Slimdown. Brooke tackled the fitness game by creating the ultimate fresh, fun and dynamic designed for a total body workout to help sculpt and define muscles.\nRecently, Brooke's passion for design and fashion led her to embark on a new apparel venture with her fashion guru brother-in-law Danny Guez. Together they have created her first line of activewear.\nIn 2011, Brooke authored her first book, \"The Naked Mom: A Modern Mom's Fearless Revelations, Savvy Advice and Soulful Reflections\".\nBrooke's television credits also include hosting \"Miss America\", TV Land's reality competition series, \"She's Got the Look,\" \"Mommy Expert\" on the nationally syndicated daytime program, \"The Doctors,\" acting as liaison between mothers and the show's panel of doctors. She hosted Mark Burnett's \"RockStar INXS\" and \"RockStar Supernova\" competitions for CBS. Brooke first gained worldwide attention as tour guide for the series, \"Wild On,\" which has been seen in 120 countries and in more than 400 million homes. Brooke is regularly ranked one of the sexiest women in the world, and appearing in many top-selling magazines. She has graced the cover of Fitness, Ladies Home Journal, and Shape's #1 best-selling cover of 2011.\nBrooke was raised in Tucson, Arizona and currently lives in California with her four children and husband, David Charvet.\nRuby Rose Turner\nRuby Rose Turner was born October 16, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Ruby is an actress, dancer, singer and model who began her professional career at the age of 7 as a dancer on an episode of Univision Miami's longest running hit TV show, \"Sabado Gigante.\" Ruby was a competitive dancer for four years winning several small group National Champion award titles prior to working professionally in the entertainment industry. She has appeared on ABC's \"Dancing With The Stars\" in a special live performance promoting the modern day \"Annie\" movie alongside child actress Quvenazhane Wallis. Ruby has also appeared in numerous National and International Television Commercials. Ruby appeared in Guest Starring roles on ABC's \"Black-ish\", Nickelodeon's hit show \"Game Shakers\" and Co-Stars on Season 2 of \"Fuller House\" as Phyllis Gladstone. Ruby has a true passion for theatre and performed at The Pasadena Playhouse with Lythgoe Family Productions and their American Panto Productions of Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty. Ruby has modeled for Wells Fargo, Under Armour, Isobella and Chloe, and numerous other tween clothing labels. Ruby has danced and modeled on the runway at Otis Parsons annual Fashion benefit show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Ruby is the second oldest of four children.\nRachel Sterling\nComedic actress Rachel Sterling began her training at the Piero Dusa Acting Conservatory in Santa Monica California. Her years at the conservatory laid the foundation that would lead to a love and respect of the fundamentals of theater.\nOriginally known for being a pin up model and music video vixen, appearing first in Playboy's College girl issue, then appearing in videos for Kid Rock, Dr. Dre, Shaggy, Sugar Ray, Ja Rule, Velvet Revolver, No Doubt, Wyclef Jean, Enrique Iglesias, Nas, Third Eye Blind, Lil Kim, Blink 182, Chief Wakil, Limp Biszket, Saliva, and George Michael. The transition to film and television came with her debut as Cherry in the comedy film TomCats, followed by her series regular role on the Comedy Central series The Man Show staring Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla.\nShortly after a 5 episode run as the On The Red Carpet correspondent for ShowTime, an offer came to join Robin Antin's original Pussycat Dolls live at the Viper Room. This opportunity would change her life forever. After years of working the showgirl circuit before coming to Hollywood, burlesque became second nature to Rachel. It was a dream come true becoming the Dolls burlesque solo artist. Her performance in the bath tube and Champagne glass have been often imitated but never duplicated. Under Jimmy Iovine at Interscope Records, The Pussycat Dolls transformed from a burlesque revue to pop girl band group originally having 12 members including Carmen Electra. The opportunity to appear in a small role in The Wedding Crashers along side Vince Vaughn would guide Rachel back to her original path toward acting. Rachel would leave the Dolls to pursue acting. Returning years later for 6 months as the Headliner at The Pussycat Doll Lounge at Caesars Palace.\nThe success of The Wedding Crashers coupled with the notoriety of being an original Pussycat Doll landed Magazine features and covers globally for Maxim, FHM, Stuff, Esquire, Front, Frank 151, and in various photography art books. Most notable is her work with Ellen Von Unwerth, Nick & Adam Hayes as well as close friends Estevon Oriol, Patrick Hoelck, and Scott Cann. During this time Rachel toured America and Canada as the burlesque headliner coupled with famous DJs at numerous nightclubs, theaters, events and even Hugh Hefner's famous Playboy Mansion.\nAfter honing her improv chops at Upright Citizens Brigade, Rachel quickly found a place on The Carpet Brothers along side Will Ferrell as Bianca Jaguar, and as Madam Caramel for 2 seasons on Reno 911. It was this role that got Hugh Hefner's attention and the celebrity pictorial for Playboy Magazine. Proving once and for all that personality counts.\nHer time studying at the John Rosenfeld Studios was time well spent and, soon after, landed her television roles on Wilfred, How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, Workaholics, House MD, True Blood & 90210. Rachel also makes a cameo along side Chelsea Handler in Fun Size and makes her debut into the horror world in indie film The No Vacancy. This past year Rachel not only posed images with photographer Tibor Glob for clothing companies Want My Look and Stephanie Costello couture, but made a cameo on Australia's Dancing With The Stars with her partner Damian Whitewood ,as well and landing an invitation to appear on NBC's Truth Be Told staring Vanessa Lachey, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Bresha Webb, and comedian Tone Bell.\nDaniel MacPherson\nDaniel was born in Sydney, Australia, and attended the prestigious Sydney Boys High School. A talented student and athlete, his professional acting debut came in 1998 in Australian drama 'Neighbours'. The role of Joel Samuels was written specifically for him. In almost four years on the show, Daniel won a Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent, and in 2001 was nominated for Most Popular Actor.\nIn 2002 Daniel moved to London to star in the stage musical 'Godspell' in which he alternated the roles of Jesus and Judas nightly. He revisited this Biblical theme in 2004, again playing the role of Jesus in 'The Mysteries' onstage opposite revered UK actor Edward Woodward.\nWhile in London, Daniel also starred in UK Television favorite 'The Bill' as PC Cameron Tait (2003-2005) and in 2004 was Nominated for a British Television Award for Best Newcomer.\nUpon returning to Australia in 2005, Daniel starred in UK-Australian Co Production 'Tripping Over' and has since proving his enduring popularity, playing Detective Simon Joyner in 'City Homicide', the number 1 show in Australia in 2007. In 2009 he completed his final scenes on the popular police drama\nIn 2010 Daniel played the role of Jason Oliver in film The Cup, before taking the lead role in Channel 7 Western 'Wild Boys' in 2011.\nDaniel received a silver Logie Nomination for his work on Wild Boys.\n2012 saw Daniel relocate to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.\nIn 2013/14 Daniel filmed the lead role in Shane Abbess' sci-fi film Infini, a breakout lead role for him, where he was universally praised for the intensity of performance.\nAlmost immediately after Daniel was cast in the role of Arion Ellessedil in MTV's big budget fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles, released globally in January 2016 and renewed for a second series in 2017.\nDaniel has recently completed filming in the lead role of Lt. Kane Somerville in ambitious futuristic feature SFv1 alongside Kellan Lutz, Isabel Lucas, Rachel Griffiths and Temuera Morrisson, set for a 2017 release.\nAlso in 2016 Daniel has recently completed an impressive arc on upcoming FOX series A.P.B starring Justin Kirk and Natalie Martinez, as well as playing the lead role in US indie film Generational Sins and working opposite Levi Miller on Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time, set for a 2018 release.\nNever one to sit still, Daniel is also one of the most renowned live television hosts in Australia, having hosted multiple series of juggernauts such as Dancing with the Stars and X Factor.\nIn his spare time has raced triathlons and marathons for over 20 years. He has represented Australia at amateur level at 3 world championship distances, and raced the famous Hawaiian Ironman triathlon. Dan raced the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon World Championships in Las Vegas in September 2013, and raced his 8th Ironman triathlon in early 2015. He has run the London, Gold Coast and LA marathons, just to name a few, raising money for charity along the way. For now though his focus is firmly on his acting career, and like Daniel himself, its showing no signs of slowing down.\nMaksim Chmerkovskiy\nMaksim \"Maks\" Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy is a Ukrainian Latin Ballroom dance champion, choreographer, Broadway performer, and actor . He is widely known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series Dancing with the Stars, on which he first appeared in season two. In 14 appearances on the show, Chmerkovskiy made it to the final round four times, with two runner-up and two third place finishes.On May 20, 2014, Chmerkovskiy, paired with Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis, won his first Dancing with the Stars title.\nFollowing his win with Davis, Maksim announced his retirement from the show.\nMaksim owns four dance studios in greater New York City. The three studios - Dance With Me USA- are social dance studios located in Ridgefield, New Jersey, and Long Island, New York, as well as the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan. He recently opened another studio in Stamford, Connecticut. He is also the founder of the Rising Stars Dance Academy in NYC.\nMaksim appeared on the TV Land sitcom \"The Exes\" in July 2012. He also appeared on the ABC soap General Hospital in March 2013 playing the role of handyman Anton Ivanov, who danced with Kelly Monaco's character Sam Morgan during the Nurses' Ball.\nIn July 2013 Maksim made his second stint on the Broadway production of \"Forever Tango . He first appeared on Broadway in the ballroom fusion production \"Burn The Floor\" in 2009-2010.\nVal Chmerkovskiy\nValentin (Val) Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy was born in Odessa (Ukraine). At the age of 26, Val is a professional dancer and is known for his appearances on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. Val is the son of Aleksandr and Lariss Chmerkovskiy, and the younger brother to Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Val found his passion for dancing at the age of seven, and by twelve years old he attended his first overseas competition- The German Open. At the German Open, Val and his brother Maks were the only two United States couples there. At the age of 15, Val won his first IDSF World Championship and became the first American to do it. Val has had the honor to have been a US Champion 14 times over his fifteen year dance career. He has many accomplishments, which include the winning of the German Open,Asian-Pacific Championships, US Open, Blackpool and the World Championships 2-times. Val has done a handful of things outside of his dancing passion as well.Val, his brother Maksim, and Tony Dovolani opened \"Dance with me\" studio in Stamford, Connecticut on April 16th of 2012. Valentin Chmerkovskiy is also a rapper under his stage name \"Val C.\" His single called \"White Boy Boogie\" can be seen on Youtube.\nBen Vereen\nFew entertainers today are as accomplished or versatile as Ben Vereen. His legendary performances transcend time and have been woven into the fabric of this country's artistic legacy. His first love and passion is and always will be the stage. \"The theater was my first training ground. It taught me discipline, dedication and appreciation of hard work and values that will stay with me a lifetime. The stage sharpens the creative instrument and encourages you to go deeper inside and try new things,\" states Ben.\nOn Broadway, Ben Vereen has appeared in Wicked, Fosse, I'm Not Rappaport, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin,Grind, Jelly's Last Jam and A Christmas Carol. His role in Pippin garnered him both the prestigious Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for \"Best Actor in a Musical.\"\nFor over 40 years, Ben has showcased his versatility and creativity, performing countless one-man shows not only in the United States, but also Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. He was the first simultaneous winner of the \"Entertainer of the Year,\" \"Rising Star,\" and \"Song and Dance Star\" awards from the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). He also earned a coveted spot in the Casino Legends Hall of Fame. Ben and his band are currently touring his one man shows, \"Ben Sings a Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. featuring the music of Sammy Davis Jr.\" and \"Brooklyn to Broadway\" at top performing arts centres. He also performs with symphonies around the country.\nWhile performing worldwide, Ben's acting credits continue to give us memorable roles that stand the test of time such as the unforgettable Chicken George in Roots and Louis Armstrong in Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style.Ben's television guest appearances include How I Met Your Mother, Grey's Anatomy, for which he won the Prism Award, House of Payne, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, OZ, Touched By An Angel, Second Noah, New York Undercover, The Nanny, Star Trek - The Next Generation, The Jamie Fox Show, The Promised Land, and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as well as recurring roles on Silk Stalkings, Webster, J.J. Starbuck and Booker. For Nickelodeon, Ben provided voice-overs on the show Wonder Pets! Additional credits include: Anne Rice's Feast of All Saints(Showtime), Intruders They Are Among Us (Emmy nomination), Zoobilee Zoo, Faerie Tale Theatre's Puss N' Bootswith Gregory Hines, The Jesse Owens Story, Ellis Island (Golden Globe Nomination), Lost in London, and Salute to Liberty Special. His own network television shows are Ben Vereen: His Roots (Seven Emmy Awards), Tenspeed and Brownshoe and You Write the Songs. In the early 90's, he released a number of well-received children's Sing-Along musical videos.\nBen was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his performance in the Hallmark movie An Accidental Friendship. He appears in two soon to be released features, 21 and a Wake-Up starring Faye Dunaway andMama, I Want to Sing! in which Ben co-starred opposite Ciara and Patti LaBelle. While filming Idlewild with the award winning group Outkast, Ben also served as the acting coach for both Andre 3000 and Big Boy. In addition, Ben has been coaching the singing sensation Usher both as an entertainer and an actor. Ben was featured in the movie, On The One - Preaching to the Choir directed by Charles Randolph-Wright. Other film credits include Sweet Charity, All That Jazz, Funny Lady (Golden Globe nomination), Why Do Fools Fall in Love,And Then Came Love starring Vanessa Williams, the animated movie Once Upon a Forest, Christmas in Washingtonand The Painting which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2004, Ben was nominated for a \"Career Achievement Award\" by the Le Prix International Film Star Awards Organization.\nThe lecture circuit has become an integral part of Ben's career, as he has become one of the Nations' most requested speakers among audiences of all ages. His strong sense of social consciousness has enabled him to reach out to his audiences and convey to them a deep feeling of understanding. His topics range from overcoming adversity, arts in education, Black history, motivational topics, recovery through physical and occupational therapy and the importance of continuing education - to name a few.\nBen's gift of time has benefited many organizations. He has served on Ballet Florida's Board of Directors, the American Red Cross and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Association. In addition, he has served as chairman of several renowned organizations including the American Heart Association and the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Association. In 1989, he spearheaded his own organization, \"Celebrities for a Drug Free America,\" which raised more than $300,000 for drug rehabilitation centres, educational programs and inner city community-based projects. The Community Mental Health Council awarded Ben with their 2004 Lifeline Celebration Achievement Award. For his humanitarian contributions, he has received a number of awards including Israel's Cultural and Humanitarian Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, an Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award and a Victory Award. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Arizona, Emerson College, St. Francis College, and Columbia College in Chicago. In 2001, Medgar Evers College created the Ben Vereen Scholarship for the Performing Arts, and in 2004, he received an Achievement in Excellence Award from his alma mater, the High School of the Performing Arts.\nBen celebrated Eartha Kitt's 80th birthday in concert at Carnegie Hall to multiple standing ovations and in front of the Armed Forces for those men and women who have served in Iraq, truly a major highlight of his career. In 2009, he performed at the Inaugural Ball and entertained at the reopening of the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C., which was attended by President Obama. Last year Ben entertained at the Friar's Club gala honouring CBS president Leslie Moonves. Ben is leading an ongoing diabetes awareness campaign called \"S.T.A.N.D.\" in partnership with sanofi-aventis pharmaceuticals. Ben recently starred in the world premier of Fetch Clay, Make Man directed by Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys) at the McCarter Theatre. Below are some of Ben's reviews from the show:\n\"A seething resentment can be sensed underneath the wary cool with which Fetchit negotiates with Fox. In brief snippets from the routines that made Fetchit famous (and infamous), Mr. Vereen also reveals the glowing pride of an entertainer whose gifts sometimes managed to transcend the offensive uses to which they were put.\" -New York Times\n\"The dramatic center is Ben Vereen's role as Lincoln Perry,the vaudeville performer who made his fortune in silent films and Depression-era talkies playing screen persona Stepin Fetchit, the quintessential negative stereotype of the shuffling, smiling, work-shirking Negro...Tapping all the undiminished charisma and limber body language of a veteran song-and-dance man, Vereen effortlessly sells the now-reviled representation of the black flunky while slyly asserting the cultured, savvy negotiator beneath; it's a performance of enormous charm and intelligence.\" -Variety\n\"As Fetchit, Ben Vereen creates a man who comports himself with dignity in hopes of negating all that he did before. In one scene, after Fetchit has been forced to acknowledge what he'd been, Vereen blinks three times, and actually manages to make a statement with each blink: The first acknowledges the charge, the second shows his pain at being reminded, and the third hopes to push away the memory.\" -The Star-Ledger\nAdditionally, Ben has a recurring role on the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother, playing Wayne Brady's father. In February of 2011, he released his CD Steppin' Out Live with Ben Vereen and staged a triumphant return to Broadway with his concert \"BEN VEREEN ON BROADWAY AT TOWN HALL\" . One review from Ben's show is featured below:\n\"Ben Vereen's performance at The Town Hall on February 18th was a lesson in performance energy.....a tour de force ....Without a single synthesizer, with no voice tuner, with only an acoustic band, Vereen displayed shocking innovation.\".....\" He flirted with off notes and inventive runs during classics such as \"My Funny Valentine.\" This is always a dangerous idea, because it risks alientating the audience who wants to hear the melody of a familiar tune, but Vereen not only pulled it off, he left the audience wanting him to do more...The lasting impression was of a man who loves life, wants you to love life, and has mastered both his medium and his message. At age 65, he is the youngest man performing today. - The Newark Examiner\nBen remains the consummate actor, singer, and all around entertainer with a storied and legendary career.\nSean Kanan\nSean Kanan stars on The Bold and the Beautiful, the number one syndicated show in daytime in 120 countries. He plays the deviously sexy Deacon Sharpe, a role that he made famous on both B and B and Y and R. Kanan is starring in a feature film, Limelight, directed by James Cullen Bressacks. Recently he starred in My Trip to the Darkside and subsequent sequel, My Trip Back to the Darkside, directed by Shane Stanley and Abracadabra, directed by Julie Pacino, executive produced by Al Pacino and starring Ty Simpkins. The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival. Early in his career, Kanan was chosen at an open call by Oscar-winning Director, John Avildsen from over 2000 hopefuls for the role of Mike Barnes in the Karate Kid III. Kanan's popularity in Italy and ability to speak fluent Italian garnered him the lead role in the film Sons of Italy and landed him on the in Italian version of the popular show Dancing with the Stars where he lasted 9 weeks. In conjunction with his acting career, Kanan has had great success as a producer and writer. . On the comedy stage, Kanan has performed at some of the countries leading clubs including the Laugh Factory, the Comedy Store, Dangerfield's, the Brokerage, Uncle Vinny's and other venues. In addition, he has performed in Sam Shepard's True West twice, once at the Zephyr theater and once at the Palm Canyon Theater. Sean's book, The Modern Gentleman; Cooking and Entertaining with Sean Kanan was published by Dunham Books and is currently available on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Kanan co-hosted a celebrity parenting radio talk show called Kanan's Rules, available for download on iTunes podcast. Kanan's television guest stars include Desperate Housewives, Happily Divorced, True Jackson VIP, Freddie, Who's the Boss, the Nanny, Walker: Texas Ranger and Lois & Clark. He also had a regular role on the series Camera Cafe, executive produced by Antonio Banderas. He worked under executive producer, Francis Ford Coppola on the prime-time series, The Outsiders and he appeared in the miniseries Wild Palms, executive produced by Oliver Stone. Sean Kanan spends his free time studying martial arts, writing scripts, cooking, performing his stand-up routine and further pursuing the study of the Italian and Japanese language. Sean also dedicates much of his time to numerous charitable and nonprofit endeavors including ASPCA and the Anti-Defamation League's anti-bullying campaign.\nMaría Elisa Camargo\nEcuadorian actress Maria Elisa Camargo knew she wanted to be an artist since childhood when she got asked from SíTV to be part of the kids show Dr. Expertus'. At 17 she moved to Bogotá where she began her studies in economics at the University of Andes. In 2005 she auditioned for El Factor X (Colombia's X Factor). After several months of auditions, she reached the main show, under the guidance of Jose Gaviria, playing tracks from artists Lara Fabian, David Bisbal and Shakira. Maria Elisa then appeared on various RCN shows, eventually landing a role on the telenovela Floricienta. After this she was hired to play Mary Joy in La Marca del Deseo (Mark of Desire) with Stephanie Cayo and Alfonso Baptista. This was her first exposure on American television, as La Marca was made by RCN for Univision, and also her first leading role and singing opportunity. In 2009 she moved to Mexico City and started auditioning in Televisa until she got her first shot in Verano de Amor (Summer of Love) in which she played Isabella, the villain of the story. She also played Monica in Hasta Que el Dinero Nos Separe (For Love or Money) with latino stars Pedro Fernandez and Itatí Cantoral. In 2010 she portrayed Kristel in Llena de Amor (Fill Me With Love) as one of the villains alongside Altair Jarabo and Azela Robinson, and this got her recognized by Telemundo, who later contracted her for a star role in \"Flor Salvaje\". Her real shot in Mexico and what got her in the map was Televisa's Porque el Amor Manda, prime time Telenovela starred by latino legends Fernando Colunga and Carmen Salinas. She played the hilarious villain \"Patricia Zorrilla\" and stole the show! It was an absolute success and this immediately got her the star status. This lead to Univision inviting her to compete as one of the stars of Mira Quien Baila (Latino version of Dancing With the Stars) showing her surprising skills as a dancer and after a month of competition, Telemundo Studios signed her as their prime time star for their next two projects: \"En Otra Piel\"/Part of Me (global success) and \"Bajo el Mismo Cielo\"(Under the Same Sky) which created a new record for Telemundo being the first show at 9pm gaining more ratings than its direct competitor, Univision. That year, Maria got invited to be a part of People en Español Magazine \"50 most beautiful\". She's now enjoying the popularity of her last telenovela airing now in USA and internationally, and living in L.A. to pursue English roles in TV and movies.\nJoan Taylor\nJoan Taylor's mother, Amelia Berky, was a vaudeville singing-dancing star in the 1920s. Her father was a prop man in Hollywood during that same period, but, after Joan's birth, the family moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, where her father managed a movie theater. She developed a love of movies from watching so many at her father's theater, and she graduated from the Chicago National Association of Dancing Masters. Heading to Hollywood in 1946, she enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse. Victor Jory arranged an interview for her with producer Nat Holt , and she made her film debut in the Randolph Scott western Fighting Man of the Plains . She appeared in quite a few films over the next several years, many of them westerns. She also made many appearances on TV series, and had a recurring role in The Rifleman , but it's for two sci-fi films that she is fondly remembered by 1950s movie audiences: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and 20 Million Miles to Earth . After her two-year stint on \"The Rifleman\", however, she decided to retire from films, and did so in 1963.\nMeital Dohan\nMeital is an award-winning actress in theater, film, and television; including two Israeli Oscar nominations and an Israeli Tony award. In Israel she was part of major productions such as Ugly Betty, Romeo and Juliet, Dancing with the Stars and many more. US audiences were first introduced to Meital in her breakout role as Yael Hoffman on Showtime's Weeds, Aurora in the Sony Pictures web-comedy Woke Up Dead, Foreclosure with Michael Imperioli, Monogamy with Chris Messina and Rashida Jones (Winner of Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival) and many more. Her short and full of achievement music career started just a few years ago and includes only three songs so far, receiving rave reviews and charting in many charts around the world including the top five at iTunes Dance Chart Italy, UK Commercial Pop Club, Billboard Dance Chart, Billboard Club Chart, UK Upfront Club Chart and more.\nSusan Anton\nSusan Anton has been recognized as a multi talented international star for more than 35 years in television, film, theater, and concert venues. She was nominated for a Golden Globe in her first film outing, Golden Girl, and was soon thereafter signed by NBC to star in her own variety show, Presenting Susan Anton. ABC later signed her to a development deal where she starred in the hourly drama, Cliffhangers. She has appeared in hundreds of film and television projects over the years. Her Broadway credits include co-starring with the original Broadway cast of Tommy Tune's Tony Award-winning musical The Will Rogers Follies; she also worked with director Mike Nichols in David Rabe's Pulitzer Prize winning play Hurlyburly. She co-starred as Velma Von Tussle in the Las Vegas production of the Broadway musical, Hairspray, opposite Harvey Fierstein, which was directed by Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell. She went on to reprise the role for three spectacular evenings at the Hollywood Bowl with an all-star cast, which was directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. She co-starred in the national tour of the Broadway musical All Shook Up, directed by Christopher Ashley and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo. Susan starred for seven years in the The Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular with the legendary Rockettes, directed by the late Joe Layton. She also toured in the Neil Simon/Marvin Hamlish production of They're Playing Our Song and then went on to co-star with Elizabeth Ashley in the national tour of A Couple of White Chicks Sitting Around Talking. She has shared the stage with legendary entertainers Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davies Jr., Tom Jones, and many more. She toured with country super star Kenny Rogers and had a top 10 country hit with the song \"Killing Time\". Internationally, she had recording success and received a Gold record for her hit, \"Foxy\". Susan and her husband, director, Jeff Lester have called Las Vegas home for more than 20 years. In 1997 they opened their production company, Big Picture Studios. Under their banner, Susan executive produced the award winning The Last Real Cowboys, starring Oscar winner, Billy Bob Thornton, and also executive produced the documentary Speed of Life with Amy Purdy, the inspirational Sochi bronze medalist who was also runner up in last season's Dancing With The Stars. Susan is a minority partner and celebrity brand ambassador in a new beverage company, Spa Girl Cocktails, slated to launch in late 2015.\nRoshon Fegan\nMusic man and entertainer Ro Shon Fegan began his claim to fame here in Los Angeles at the age of 18 months. His first creative moments of his career was actually a national soda commercial where he collaborated with the musical classic group Boyz II Men. And his momentum for the creative industry took off from there.\nRo Shon is heavily inspired by old school music like Jazz, Soul and R&B. He feels that helped sculpt his own creative expression through the arts. He highlights that feel good music as overall being of who he is as a upbeat person and expresses that positive vibe to everyone that he encounters.\nAt 8 years old Ro Shon discovered many of his early gifts as an artist including drawing and drumming just to name a few. Years later Ro Shon would say that his first \"Big Break\" was his claim to fame role in Spider Man 2, the highest grossing movie in 2004. His triple threat paint brushes if you will are his skills, acting, dancing, and music. \"Im an artist and the entertainment business is my canvas.-- i just love it when people enjoy my art that is created for them to share the love\".\nThe career history of his art comes in all shades but a few highlights entail, Shake it Up, Dancing with the Stars, and a budding music career which includes songwriting, singing and producing his own songs. He is humbled with his gift and is a great all around entertainer that creates what he feels. Music is definitely an extreme passion of his, something that he makes time for no matter what. He is presently in the works of making music that will connect him to his many friends and fans to define the essence of his current power-housed mindset.\nRo Shon's music is energetic and passionate.\"It's like a cross of electronic, pop, soulful jazz and urban contemporary. \" His upcoming release is entitled, \"So Bad\", a track that spoke to his true personality. \"I wanted to write a song that had passion, substance and was also simple. Something that would give you that feeling of a love connection and just feel good music. I wanted to create a dope song that was easy for everyone to sing along to as well as share my passionate loving persona.\"\nRo Shon's discography has created music for his generation he has also licensed music for commercials, television shows, movies, and video games. His sound is a push for the evolution of music; so that wherever music goes the rest of entertainment can follow along and hopefully elevate the game. His music is different because it doesn't fall into a genre. It's genre-less. It expresses several emotions of an individual. Ro Shon swag is out of the box!\nThe Ro-volution domination has begun! \"I also want to thank all my fans out there for rollin' with me all these years and showing me love and support! I definitely need you to keep rockin' with me on this elevating music journey; I can't wait to meet you all around the world some day! Let's all Elevate\nActor / Music Producer / Recording Artist / Songwriter.\nPeter Chelsom\nPeter Chelsom is a member of the British Academy, the American Academy, The Directors Guild Of America, and The Writers Guild Of America. Peter was born in Blackpool in the North of England. He is a US and UK citizen. (Trivia: he is an Honorary Citizen of a small town in Tuscany, Italy, called Fivizzano). He is married with three sons. He trained at London's Central School of Drama and worked as an actor playing leading roles in TV, films, and in the theatre for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and the Royal Court Theatre. At 30, Peter became a film director/writer. His first film, Treacle, won a BAFTA nomination and invitations to festivals all over the world, including New York. His first full-length feature was the successful romantic comedy, Hear My Song. The film is a wild and highly entertaining tale inspired by the life of the charismatic Irish tenor, Josef Locke, played in the film by Ned Beatty. Locke disappeared in the late fifties to be secretly replaced by an imposter who passed himself off as the great man for thirty years. Hear My Song was praised universally by critics and was a hugely optimistic crowd-pleaser. Princess Diana attended its Royal Premiere, and the Evening Standard British Film Awards awarded the film Best Newcomer. Peter's second feature was Funny Bones, a film about comedy. Made for Hollywood Pictures and starring Oliver Platt, Jerry Lewis, Leslie Caron, Freddie Davies, and newcomer Lee Evans, it once again won rave reviews in the States and the rest of the world. It won Best Picture at five European Film Festivals. Bigger, richer and darker than the first, it tells the story of two half brothers - one American and the other British - who will stop at nothing to get a laugh... even murder. Peter's third feature, The Mighty, was based on the best-selling book, Freak The Mighty. It stars Sharon Stone, Gillian Anderson, Gena Rowlands, and Harry Dean Stanton. It received two Golden Globe Nominations. Chelsom followed with Town and Country and Serendipity, which grossed $52m at the US Box Office. His next film, Shall We Dance, starred Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci. The film grossed $170m worldwide. His next film, Hector and the Search for Happiness, had its US Premiere in a special presentation at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. It was distributed by Relativity Media, and the cast included Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Christopher Plummer, Toni Collette, Stellan Skarsgard, and Jean Reno. It is the story of a disillusioned psychiatrist traveling the world to research what makes people happy. Chelsom's latest film, The Space Between Us, will open on December 16th, 2016. It stars Gary Oldman, Asa Butterfield, Britt Robertson, and Carla Gugino. It tells the story of the first boy to be born on Mars. A love story wrapped in sci-fi.\nCarson Kressley\nCarson Lee Kressley was born on 11 November 1969 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. Growing up, he was very interested in horses and owned his first pony (named Sparky) when he was five years old. Carson still loves horses and is now a world champion equestrian. In 1987, he graduated high school and went on to study at Gettysburg College from which he graduated in 1991 (magna cum laude and phi beta kappa) with degrees in Finance and Fine Arts. Following his college graduation, Carson worked as a stylist for Ralph Lauren for many years before auditioning for Queer Eye .\nIn 2004, after Carson's first year with \"Queer Eye\", the show won an Emmy for \"outstanding reality program\". Post \"Queer Eye\" Carson appeared as the critically acclaimed host of \"How to Look Good Naked\" and a fan favorite contestant on Dancing with the Stars 13th season. In April 2012 Shop NBC launched Carson's collection of affordable glamour wear, \"Love, Carson\".\nMalene Ostergaard\nMalene Ostergaard began her Latin/Ballroom career at the age of 3. After having competed in and dominated Danish tournaments in her youth years, the four times Danish champion moved to Italy for new challenges. Together with her partner Stefano Moriondo, she won the world championship in latin show dance, US open two times and claimed the dancing throne in Italy as two times Italian champion. With these results, it was time for Malene to move. After Studying in Hong Kong together with dance all-stars Donnie Burns MBE and Gaynor Fairweather MBE she was able to fully exploit her potential and finished in the finals in three major international competitions of which she won two. After having achieved everything a ballroom dancer could ask for, Malene moved to USA with a goal of becoming a world known entertainer. She started studying at Margie Harber acting school and quickly got parts in several productions including major music videos and national commercials. Because of her experience and her ability to take directions, she got to work with major artists as Pitbull, JLO, Fallout Boy, Frankie J and many more. Breathtaking beauty and extreme talent are the features that made her a highly attractive character among producers and directors. This attractive combination is one of the main reasons why producers have hired Malene to dance on So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars US and twice in Dancing with the Stars in Denmark.\nLillian Müller\nLillian Müller was born on August 19, 1951 in a small town by the sea in the South of Norway. Spending her early childhood in the financial turmoil of the post-WWII era, her determination to make something of herself was embedded deep within. Lillian spent her formative years burying her head in books, igniting an optimistic sense of reality that differentiated from the world around her. In the meantime, she blossomed into a strikingly beautiful woman who would go on to become a successful model in London, where she strutted the catwalk, graced the pages of French Vogue, and hit the stands as the \"Page Three Girl\" in the London Sun. After being discovered by Playboy, she moved to America and was featured as the 1976 \"Playboy's Playmate of the Year\". Lillian went on to become the most featured \"Playmate Of The Year\" in the history of the publication and has nine covers from 1975 through 1999 to her name. To date, Lillian has more than 1,000 cover stories and features in international media publications as a celebrity and supermodel.\nUtilizing her beauty and charm, Lillian found herself as a desired commodity in the acting world, where she has been featured in more than 30 movies and television shows, such as Remington Steele , Starsky and Hutch , Once Upon a Spy , Eischied and Fantasy Island . Intent on perfecting the art, Lillian immersed herself in studying under talented acting teachers. Since 2009, she has been studying under Oscar Winners, Martin Landau and Mark Rydell at The Actors Studio in Hollywood, which is home to legendary actors, such as Al Pacino , Gene Hackman , Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise . Throughout the years, Lillian has starred opposite established leading men, such as Tom Selleck on Magnum, P.I. ; Tony Curtis in Some Like It Cool ; Rock Hudson in Superstunt II ; and Bill Cosby in The Devil and Max Devlin . She has also co-starred with Pierce Brosnan , Elliott Gould , Vincent Price , Dudley Moore , Kirstie Alley , Harry Hamlin , Dennis Hopper and Ted Danson . Most recently, Lillian has been circulating amongst Norway's mainstream media, starring in hit television shows, such as \"Ja, Vi Elsker Hollywood\" (Yes, We Love Hollywood - 2011), \"4-Stjerners Middag\" (4-Star Dining - 2011), \"71 Grader Nord - Celbrity Edition\" (71 Degrees North - 2010), \"Skal Vi Danse\" (Dancing with the Stars - 2012) and most recently, \"MasterChef\" (TV3, 2015)\nThe portrayal of Lillian as the leading female vixen in Rod Stewart 's \"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy\" music video could not stray farther from reality, as she is a walking advertisement of health and fitness. In December 2010, Lillian won PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Over 50 title, which was well-justified, thanks to her 35 years as a vegetarian. She promotes her vegan lifestyle through her book, \"Feel Great, Be Beautiful Over 40\", as well as her lectures as a motivational speaker. This past half-decade, Lillian has been well received by audiences listening to her speak about health, fitness, beauty, and anti-aging. She acclaims that her youthful looks and demeanor are the product of her healthy lifestyle, as well as the fact that she has never tried tobacco, alcohol, or drugs. Lillian's charismatic and informative lectures have proved to be a sensation for those she has inspired throughout the years, all over the US and Norway. Her fascinating life story, as well as her transformations from the runner-up of Miss Norway; successful fashion model; most celebrated Playmate of the Year of all time; actress; and, finally, today as a health guru and inspirational speaking leader, have all elicited immense interest culminating in the creation of her 1998 biography, \"Usminket\", and two documentaries, \"Tillbake Hos Hef (The Lillian Müller Story - 2003)\" and, more recently, \"Lillian Müller- Mitt I Livet\" (Lilian Müller - In the Midst of Life - 2012).\nKeltie Knight\nA former Radio City Rockette and dancer for Kanye West and Beyoncé Knowles , Keltie Colleen has brought her talents in front of the camera as a correspondent for CBS's The Insider . Keltie began her broadcasting career hosting an episode of CMT's CMT Hot 20 Countdown , as a publicity stunt to promote \"The Radio City Christmas Spectacular\". Soon after, Colleen became the music host for \"LiveNation\". She has served as a host and expert on a variety of TV and top events, including US Weekly's 2012 Emmy Awards livestream, Bravo's The Millionaire Matchmaker , \"Dancing with the Stars Afterparty\", and ABC's \"Duets Afterparty\". Keltie has interviewed countless icons of the music world, including Pink , Miley Cyrus , Psy , Alicia Keys , Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder .\nKeltie's blog has an impressive global following and extremely loyal fan base, with a readership of over 4 million views, monthly. Known as a tastemaker for emerging trends, Keltie's extensive online reach has afforded her with unique opportunities in the entertainment industry, where she has been able to work with major brands across a variety of platforms.\nAdditionally, Keltie is also the author of a book entitled \"Rockettes, Rockstars and Rockbottom\", in which she discusses her life, dance and rock 'n roll. Keltie was recently named one of Vans 2013 Culture Ambassadors and is one of Stila Cosmetics \"Stila Girls\". Keltie is a tireless and passionate supporter of \"To Write Love On Her Arms\", a non-profit organization that aims to help young people dealing with self-harm, suicide and depression. Her collection for dance clothing line, \"Sugar and Bruno\", has been worn on Dancing with the Stars , So You Think You Can Dance , The Bachelor and has been featured in Dance Spirit Magazine, Dance Retailers News and Dance Magazine.\nKeltie Colleen currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.\nHolly Brisley\nHolly Brisley is an Australian and entertainer with a career that includes; acting, presenting and voice over roles. A career highlight was the coveted role as Amanda Vale on the hit series Home and Away. Holly became one of Australia's best known actors on our TV screens five nights a week. Having started her career at Warners Bros Movie world in films; The Flood, who will save our children & Official Denial with Parker Stevenson, Holly was quickly snapped up by channel 7, who awarded her the much sought after role of roving reporter on Agro's Cartoon Connection, the nations number one kids program where she stayed for 3 years. From 1999 to 2001, Holly presented on various shows for the music country network on cable television and secured roles in Scooby Doo: The Movie; and Garage Days which was directed by Alex Proyas (I:Robot) Holly's other work includes; Escape with ET, Cheez TV, White Collar Blue, Beastmaster and Pizza (Series 3) and the iconic channel 7 hit All Saints. In early 2002 Holly was offered the role to host the Nine Network's Looney Tunes cartoon show. In 2003 Holly landed the lead role in the Australian feature-film, The Crop, for which she won 'Best Actress' at the New York Independent Film Festival in May 2005. She also played Heather Locklear's role of Sammy Jo in the Hallmark Channel's Behind the Scenes of Dynasty that same year. In 2004, Holly was once again given her own TV show called, Worlds Craziest Videos. Holly swept the floor on the second series of the acclaimed Seven Network series Dancing with the Stars in 2005. Holly made it through to the final three, impressing the judges with her talent and dancing ability. After DWTS finished Holly then went on to land the role of Amanda Vale, the resident vixen on the international smash hit TV series, Home and Away, This role allowed Holly to explore her darker and more confrontational side, she really enjoyed the journey that Amanda took her on in the two years she played the role. Holly forged great friendships with the cast and crew on the show and was happy when she reunited with them for a small return visit in 2009. Since then Holly has had roles in various other film projects and presenting roles and is extremely passionate and focused on the craft of acting.\nSean van der Wilt\nSean van der Wilt is a multifaceted performer, singer and songwriter known for his dynamic energy and bold stage presence!\nIn 2012 Sean knew it was time to put his successful dance and choreography career on the back burner to focus solely on his music career. With the release of his first single \"S.W.C. ft. Mark Cole\" in 2013, Sean took the stage as a solo artist and has never looked back! Dubbed by VIBE Magazine in 2013 \"Among the most underrated triple threats of the decade is Sean van der Wilt. The video features the stunning Tyne Stecklein (of Dancing with the Stars acclaim) and clearly marks Sean's re-entrance to the world of pop, now with a new dash of EDM to go along with his already familiar dance, stunning voice and his indisputable and remarkable showmanship...\"\nHaving worked along side such incredible performers including Rihanna, Usher, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Cher and Michael Jackson, Sean has clearly learned from the best.\nSince the Release of \"S.W.C\", Sean has been collaborating with Producer Mark Cole (DJ Trak Mark) known for working with Chris Brown and Drummer Boy. Sean has been writing and performing new tracks from his current catalog all of which can be heard on his Soundcloud. Some of Sean's prior performance events include the world renowned Viper Room, celebrity hot spot House Of Blues, Supperclub and various music festivals.\nJ.R. Martinez\nJose Rene \"J.R.\" Martinez is an actor, best-selling author, motivational speaker and U.S. Army veteran.\nJose Rene Martinez was born June 14, 1983 in Shreveport, Louisiana to Maria Zavala. His two sisters, Consuelo and Anabel, were raised in El Salvador with his mother's family. He never met Anabel, who died as a young child. At nine years old, J.R. moved with his mother to Hope, Arkansas, where he lived until he was 17. He then moved to Dalton, Georgia, a place he proudly calls his hometown. J.R. always loved playing football and had aspirations of becoming a pro football player, even though he was injured his junior year playing with the Bobcats in Hope. During his senior year he played strong safety for the Dalton High School Catamounts and they went on to Georgia's State Championship.\nAfter high school, he joined the army. J.R. was proud to serve, as a way to give something back to a country that had already given so much to him and to his family. In September of 2002, J.R. underwent Basic and Advanced Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he gained skills as an 11-B Infantryman. After reporting to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in January of 2003, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.\nIn March of 2003, J.R. was deployed to Iraq. On April 5, less than a month into his deployment, he was driving a Humvee in Karbala when his left front tire hit a roadside bomb. The three other soldiers were ejected from the burning vehicle, but he was trapped inside and suffered smoke inhalation and severe burns to 34 percent of his body. J.R. claims that while he was fighting for his life and awaiting medical help, his sister, Anabel, appeared to him giving him the strength to live.\nJ.R. was evacuated to a local medic station in Iraq and then to Landstuhl, Germany, for immediate care. He spent 34 months in recovery surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, Texas. He has undergone 33 different surgeries, including skin grafts and cosmetic surgery. During recovery, a nurse asked him to speak to a burn patient, who had just seen his body for the first time and had become withdrawn. After a brief visit, the patient opened the curtain, letting light in his room and his heart. J.R. then understood the impact he had on this patient and decided to use his experience to help others. He continued to visit patients sharing his story and listening to theirs.\nWhile J.R.'s experience was certainly life-changing, amazingly he claims this is actually a change for the better. When he does have leisure time, J.R. likes to spend it with his family, friends and his black lab, Romeo.\nJ.R. can be seen starring as Alfonso Rivera, a Los Angeles paramedic/firefighter and a member of the U.S. Air Force Pararescue team, in the nationally syndicated drama series \"SAF3\" (pronounced SAFE), which premiered September 2013 in national syndication in over 90 markets across the country. The series is being shot on location in Cape Town, South Africa, and Martinez commutes back and forth to the United States where he continues the successful motivational speaking aspect of his career.\nMartinez is the author of the New York Times best-selling book \"Full of Heart: My Story of Survival, Strength, and Spirit,\" a memoir about how he took his own personal tragedy and turned it into inspiration for others. Published by Hyperion, the book came out in October 2012. J.R. was also host of the highly successful \"The J.R. Martinez Show\" on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, one of the highest-rated talk radio stations in the country.\nThe past two years have been quite something; he and his dance partner, Karina Smirnoff, won ABC's season 13 of \"Dancing With The Stars.\" J. R. was the cover of People Magazine, featured in their Sexiest Man Alive issue and one of the magazine's 25 Most Intriguing People of 2011. Many awards and honors have been bestowed upon him including an Ivy Award, for his work with burn survivors and disabled veterans in the entertainment community, and the 2012 National Red Cross Spirit Award. He was the recipient of the 2012 National Disabled American Veteran of the Year Award and he also received the 2012 California DAV of the Year Award.\nJ.R was featured on Katie Couric's 2011 ABC Special \"The Year\" and narrated the CNN documentary series \"In America: Vets Wanted?\" Talk show guest appearances include: \"Access Live,\" \"Entertainment Tonight,\" \"The Oprah Winfrey Show,\" \"60 Minutes,\" \"Ellen,\" \"The View,\" \"Good Morning America,\" \"Dr. Oz,\" CNN, FOX News and Univision. He has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Guidepost, Success, Salute, U.S. Veterans and DAV Magazines.\nJ.R. guest starred on Lifetime's \"Army Wives\" as a physical therapist in the season finale. He played Brot Monroe, a combat veteran who was injured in Iraq and returned home to face new challenges of civilian life, on the Emmy Award winning daytime drama \"All My Children.\" In true Hollywood fashion, he was encouraged by a friend to go on the open casting call that AMC put out for a veteran to join the cast. After several meetings with producers he was cast and an actor was born. Due to his popularity, what started as a three month story arc, developed into a three year role.\nMartinez has become a highly sought-after motivational speaker and he travels the country spreading his message of resilience and optimism. He devotes himself to showing others the true value of making the most of every situation. He is called on by a wide-range of groups including corporations, veterans groups, non-profits and schools. He is a spokesperson for Operation Finally Home, an organization that builds mortgage-free homes for disabled veterans, and he is involved with Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, Rebuilding America's Warriors (R.A.W.) and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.\nAlex Sparrow\nRussian actor, singer, musician and winner of Russian \"X-factor\" and \"Dancing with the stars\" is Russia's rising star. His skills have brought him to the point of signing a contract with world famous music producer - RedOne - with major hits for Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias, Usher, JLo and many others on his repertoire. RedOne's new star will be presented to the European audience at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, representing Russia.\nBorn into a large family in the city of Tula - Alexey was a child prodigy; winning every singing and dancing competition he ever entered. Though from a very poor family and required to work hard from a very young age; his parents believed in his talent and made every effort to enable Alexey's music studies. Little Alex loved music as much as soccer, but his music career got the upper hand after winning numerous Russian and international music contests as accordionist.\nAt the age of 16 Alexey graduates in music at the College of the Arts, specializing on the accordion. He follows by graduating in vocals at Gnesins Jazz College. He is also awarded the Gold Medal for singing by winning Russian Delphic Games of Art.\n17 year old Alexey heads for Moscow where he adds another trophy to his collection by winning the Russian version of the X-factor. His road to fame continues when he becomes the star of MTV comedy \"Dreams of Alice\" and in 2007 he gets the Russian MTV Music Award \"Discovery of the Year\".\nAfter his graduation in 2008 from Moscow Jazz College, he decides to continue his studies at the famous acting school - Moscow Art Theater (MHAT), founded by the legendary Stanislavsky.\nAlexey is currently the only young Russian star that has successfully combined a singing and acting career. At the age of 23, Alexey has already starred in 14 movies and written 11 soundtracks for Russian films.\nAlso providing great athletic skills, Alexey went through special stunt training and now makes his own stunts in all his movies. This includes such stunts as; jumps from the17th floor, car stunts and burning.\nHis great; competitive spirit, athletic abilities and passion for the extreme - were on display as he made great performances in two extreme TV shows on Russian television: \"The Amazing Race\" and \"Wipe Out\". His innate courage and strong willpower makes him fight for victory under all and any circumstances. This year, with a broken arm and heavily injured knee, he made a spectacular victory in the Russian version of \"Dancing with the Stars\" - the TV show \"Ice and Fire\", skating and dancing together with Tatyana Navka - Olympic Champion figure skater.\nThroughout his life Alexey has showed the young generation that a; healthy lifestyle and positive mental attitude is a recipe for success. In December 2007 Alexey was appointed Good Will Ambassador to the United Nations and currently is responsible for all Anti-AIDS Programs in Russia under jurisdiction of U.N.F.P.A.. He also represents and supports Anti-AIDS Programs for school children \"Dance For Life\".\nAlexey has released ten radio singles and music videos, he also released an album written and produced entirely by himself. In 2011 Alexey starts working on his new album in cooperation with RedOne and clarifies his name to the international market - Alex Sparrow.\nEdyta Sliwinska\nEdyta Sliwinska is known for being the only professional dancer on all 6 seasons of \"Dancing with the Stars\", partnered with Evander Holyfield, George Hamilton, Joey Lawrence, John Ratzenberger, and most recently Cameron Mathison and Jason Taylor. Edyta has been on the \"Dancing with the Stars\" tour and was featured in the fitness section of the new book. Edyta is a 5 time US National Finalist. In addition to many Polish commercials Edyta was featured in the \"Jared Galleria of Jewelry\" commercial in the US. Edyta and Alec recently produced an instructional DVD \"Dancing like the Pros\" and a fitness DVD \"Fitness with the Pros\".\nBorn in Poland, Edyta comes from a working class family. She has two sisters and one brother who live in Warsaw. Edyta moved to the United States in 2000 to form a professional dance partnership with Alec. She was a director/choreographer at \"Genesis DanceSport\" in San Francisco for seven years. Now Edyta and Alec run the San Francisco and Los Angeles locations of the school.\nSharna Burgess\nThe talented and gorgeous Sharna Burgess was born to dance and entertain.\nFrom a very young age, the precocious Sharna demonstrated her star quality when she would regularly treat her family and friends to impromptu song and dance productions growing up in Australia. At five years old, Sharna began training in ballet, jazz and gymnastics and at eight years old, her love affair with ballroom began. After winning numerous local and national titles, by the age of fifteen, Sharna was chosen to represent Australia at the World Championships in both the Standard and Latin styles. Her accolades and national prominence went on to earn her the distinguished honor of performing in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games closing ceremony, a privilege and a memory she will always cherish.\nIn 2006 choreographer Jason Gilkison chose Sharna to go on tour with the hit dance sensation Burn The Floor, after living in London for two years following her competitive career which included collecting numerous titles around the globe and appearing in a UK tour with the theatre show Simply Ballroom. Burn The Floor was wildly successful selling in excess of four million tickets in over 30 countries and 160 cities worldwide. Sharna had the incredible privilege to tour the world with them for six years. During that time she also had guest appearances on Dancing with the Stars Australia, Dancing With The Stars USA and So You Think You Can Dance Holland. Moreover, she was the assistant choreographer to Jason Gilkison on So You Think You Can Dance USA and So You Think You Can Dance Australia for many years. In 2009 Burn The Floor landed on Broadway with Sharna as one of the lead female dancers.\nFinally achieving her life long dream of doing Broadway, Sharna bid the world-renowned Great White Way a sweet adieu in 2011. After that amazing and exhilarating run with Burn The Floor, she leapt from the theatre world to the film business when she choreographed Street Dance 2 3D released in the UK, Europe, India, Australia, and Asia in 2012. She not only created some of the most electrifying Latin and Salsa scenes on film to date, but she also worked with renowned choreographers Rich + Tone Talauega to fuse those Hip Hop and Latin worlds together. This innovative unification created a whole new style and catapulted Sharna into Tinsel Town's stratosphere landing her on one of the biggest prime-time network television shows - Dancing With The Stars - after years of devotion, passion, and perseverance to her artistry and craft.\nSharna has had the privilege of dancing with celebrity partners funny man Andy Dick, football-great-turned-ESPN personality, Keyshawn Johnson, Olympian Charlie White and television host Tavis Smiley on Dancing With The Stars. Sharna was honored to be paired with wounded warrior and motivational speaker Noah Galloway on Season 20 of the show. Sharna and Noah danced their way into the hearts of America and finished in third place while inspiring millions each week.\nSharna is embarking on an exciting new adventure as she also pursues a career in hosting and acting in television and film projects. Sharna is blessed to be making her childhood dreams a reality as she lights up the stage and screen with her incredible talent.\nAzra Akin\nAzra Akin (December 8, 1981, Almelo/Holland) She has won Elite Model Look Turkey in 1998 and entitled to attend in Elite Model Look International which she qualified for the first 15 and became a finalist. In 2002 she has won Miss Turkey title and same year entitled to attend Miss World Contest and she has won Miss World title. She brought that title to Turkey second times after Keriman Halis in 1932. In 2003 she has attended \"The Games\" reality show with her Miss World title which was broadcasted in England Channel 4 and she won the show. In 2004 she was the face of Turkey International Tourism Campaign. Same year, she has started her acting career with the TV Series \"Yagmur Zamani\" and continued with 'Oyun Bitti', 'Ruzgar' 'Ayrilik', 'Genis Aile', 'M.U.C.K.' She has started her Cinema Career in 2005 with the movie \"Anlat Istanbul\" and continues with guess star in \"Ilk Ask\" 2006, \"Pespese\" 2010, and \"Cilek\" which will be on theaters in 2014. She also take place in the theatre play called \"72. Kogus\". In 2011 she has won the competition called Dancing With The Stars, held for the first time in Turkey. Next year she was awarded being a jury member in the new episodes of the same competition. She has been the face of many Turkish and International brands such as Avon, Pepsi, Pantene, Avea, Arcelik and the TVC's have shown along Turkey and in many other countries which she is well known.\nBesides her charity works which she did for one year all around the world when she has won the Miss World title, in 2012 she was elected fort he face and voice of UNFPA Turkey Office Violence Against Women.\nShe can speak Turkish, English, Dutch and German fluently.\nPrachi Desai\nShe is best known for her role as Bani Walia in the Hindi television drama Kasamh Se which aired on Zee TV. Prachi is the endorser, spokesperson, brand ambassador and the face of Neutrogena products in India.\nPrachi was born in Surat, Gujarat. She studied in St Joseph Convent, Panchgani and completed her schooling till ninth grade in Surat. After that, she went to Pune for higher studies. She studied at Sinhagad college, Kondhwa, Pune.\nShe started her career with a short modeling workshop. She was in Pune for higher studies and had almost finished her junior college when her pictures were sent to Balaji Telefilms who called her for audition. She was 17 when she left her studies and started her career with Kasamh Se.\nPrachi starred in the serial Kasamh Se on Zee TV that got her fame. She left Kasamh Se on 15 April 2008 and was replaced by Gurdeep Kohli, after being burnt and drowned in episode 562. Kasamh Se ended 12 March 2009. In the last episode, Prachi Desai made a special appearance as the former Bani. She also did a two day cameo in Kasautii Zindagii Kay, which was aired on Star Plus. She played a school student in Prerna's school.\nOn 7 September 2007, Prachi entered Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, the Indian version of America's dancing show, Dancing With The Stars, with choreographer Deepak Singh. She was eliminated on 10 November 2007. However, she entered the contest again via the wild-card entry on 23 November 2007. Prachi then landed a spot in the grand finale of the dance show on 15 December 2007 and won the first place amongst the contestants. She was awarded the dancing star of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 2. It was alleged that she was made to return as a wild card entry in spite of her elimination due to a direct intervention from her close personal friend, Ekta Kapoor, though the channel denied the allegations.\nPrachi also competed in a tribute show to Jhalak competition called Dard-e-Disco, alongside other former contestants, which aired on Sony Entertainment Television Asia on 31 December 2007.\nBecca Sweitzer\nAt the age of 18, Becca Sweitzer traveled from Michigan to Los Angeles to find success as a dancer & choreographer. She found that success very quickly and has been a sought after talent ever since her arrival. She is is incredibly versatile and can move from styles such as jazz to ballet to tap to hip hop with much ease but is probably best known for her sexy, edgy style.\nAs a dancer, Becca has worked in every medium of entertainment. She has appeared with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Katharine McPhee and Christina Aguilera-including the iconic music videos \"What A Girl Wants\" and \"Come On Over\". Her film credits include Hairspray, Austin Powers 3, Tropic Thunder and Behind the Candelabra. She has appeared on The Academy Awards, The Primetime Emmys, Dancing With The Stars, Glee, Smash, Cold Case and AGT. Her extensive stage experience includes industrial work for Apple, HP, Asics and Nike and she was also a member of the original Los Angeles cast of Rock of Ages. Oh, and rumor has it she was also a Laker Girl....\nBecca also always had a goal of being behind the camera and has been able to parlay her performing experience into a successful choreography career. She is known for the infectious Sensa Weight Loss dance commercials and has done other commercial work for products such as Chrysler, Uggs and Just Fab featuring Avril Lavigne. A big highlight of her career was working with the Academy Award nominated & Golden Globe winning actress, Chloe Sevigny on the feature film, Barry Munday. Her choreography has been seen on television shows such as Disney's hit show \"Jessie\", Hart of Dixie, 90210, America's Got Talent, and CMT's Your Chance to Dance. She has also been an associate choreographer on multiple Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.\nBecca's music video credits include: Hinder (\"All American Nightmare\"), Raphael Saadiq (\"Staying in Love\" & \"Stone Rollin\") and Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros (\"40 Day Dream\"). Most recently, she choreographed a video for Scissor Sisters called \"Shady Love\" which was an official selection of the 2012 LA Film Festival. Becca is also the creator and choreographer of the hot new club show \"Frisky Honey\" which is a night of sexy, thrilling dance set to a soundtrack of 70's classic rock.\nNelson Beato\nNelson Beato was born October 8, 1986 in Orange County, California. His love for the arts and desire to perform emerged at a young age. After graduating from the musically acclaimed Oakwood University in 2008, Nelson returned to Los Angeles, CA on a mission to become a professional actor, singer, and songwriter performing on and off stage with the industry's top entertainers and musicians. His resume includes appearances on \"American Idol\", \"The Voice\", \"X Factor\", \"America's Got Talent\", \"Dancing with the Stars\", NBC's \"Sing-Off, \"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno\", \"Ellen\", \"The Today Show\", \"KTLA\", and many more.\nDatari Turner\nWith over 15 years of experience, Datari Turner has worked along side some of the biggest names in entertainment including Sean \"Diddy\" Combs, Jay-Z, Bruce Webber, and the late Herb Ritts to name a few.\nIn 2011 and 2012, as a feature film producer, Datari produced a total of eleven films. Turner produced films \"Another Happy Day\" and \"Salvation Boulevard\" both premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 with \"Another Happy Day\" winning the prestigious Waldo Salt Award for Best Screenplay. \"Another Happy Day\" starred Hollywood heavy weights Demi Moore, Ellen Barkin and Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn. \"Salvation Boulevard\" starred Oscar Winners Marisa Tomei and Jennifer Connolly in addition to A- List veterans Pierce Brosnan and Ed Harris. Turner produced, co-starred, and wrote the film \"Video Girl\" starring Meagan Good and Academy Award nominee Ruby Dee. The film has developed cult following and catapulted star Meagan Good to leading lady status.\nIn 2012 \"LUV,\" also produced by Turner, starring Rapper/Actor Common, Danny Glover, and Dennis Haysbert, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews and opened in theaters across the country in January 2013. While working on \"LUV\" Turner also produced \"About Cherry\" starring Academy Award nominee James Franco, and Dev Petal, who starred in the Oscar winning film \"Slumdog Millionaire.\" \"About Cherry\" premiered at the 62nd Annual Berlin Festival to critical acclaim. Turner then produced and starred in the popular indie comedy \"Dysfunctional Friends \"which premiered at both the SXSW and ABFF Film Festivals respectively. \"Dysfunctional Friends\" stars Turner, Meagan Good, Stacey Dash, Stacy Keibler, and NFL Icon Terrell \"T.O.\" Owens in his acting debut. Other notable Turner produced films include the Julia Stiles, America Ferrera dark comedy \"It's a Disaster\" which opened in theaters in April, 2013 and was rated one of the 5 Best Independent films of 2013 by the Huffington Post.\n\"Kilimanjaro\" starring Brian Geraghty and Abigail Spencer, and The Neil Labute film \"Some Velvet Morning\" starring Alice Eve and Stanley Tucci, both premiered at SXSW and the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013 respectively. Turner produced Kilimanjaro and was an Executive Producer on the Neil Labute film.\nOther Turner produced films in post production are \"Lap Dance\" starring Briana Evigan, James Remar, Mariel Hemingway, and Omari Hardwick. And the John Stockwell thriller \"Kid Cannabis.\"\nIn television Datari has produced over 50 hours of original programming for networks WE TV, BET, TvOne, Starz, and the Oxygen network. Most recent television credits include \"The Ruckers: Southern Royalty\" premiering on the WE Channel in 2014. Datari serves as the shows Creator and Executive Producer.\nDatari resides in Beverly Hills, California and is an alum of the ABC/ Disney program. Turner is repped at CAA.\nDaniela Leon\nDaniela Leon was born on June 11, 1999 in Los Angeles, California and began her career at the age of 8 when she made her first television appearance as a guest performer on ABC/BBC show \"Dancing with the Stars\". She went on to perform on The Maury Show - \"Most Talented Kids 2010\" and appeared on the cover of American Dance Magazine.\nDaniela jump-started her career in entertainment as a ballroom dancer. She started dancing when she was 5 and at the age of 6 was the youngest ballroom competitor in the USA. She showcased her talent in numerous dance competitions, charity events and on national television. Daniela is a two time US National Latin/Ballroom Champion. Besides ballroom, Daniela has a passion for all forms of dance including ballet and jazz.\nDaniela Leon balances her passion for acting with her dedication to education. She graduated from middle school with high honors - Valedictorian.\nDaniela got her start in the school play \"The Wizard of Oz\", starring as the Wicked Witch of the West at age 8. She went on to star in many short films, music videos and commercials. She did an amazing music video for Five Knives - Viva Le Roi, sketch comedy bit This is 14, she played a tough orphan in Lily in Red, a werewolf in Luna, and Nadia an experimental KGB project, a girl with special powers in Bunker.\nActing is Daniela's passion. She is building her acting career by trying different and challenging projects taking on roles that will stretch her emotional boundaries. Daniela has a wide range of skills. She easily transitions from theater to comedy to drama to horror films.\nBrynn Rumfallo\nBrynn Rumfallo is the oldest daughter of Aaron and Ashlee. Brynn has 2 siblings, one named Noah and another named Sadie. Brynn is an American dancer, actress, and model. She began dancing at the age of 2. She is best known for being on a dance team called Fresh Faces. Fresh Faces competed on the hit show America's Got Talent. Brynn, along with her team, made it all the way to the quarter finals. After leaving America's Got Talent, Brynn went to another hit show on Lifetime called Dance Moms. Brynn has won many awards for her dance. Brynn has performed on Dancing with the Stars with Josh Groban. She has also had the privilege of dancing on the Ellen Degeneres Show. When Brynn isn't dancing, she likes to model for Missfit by Missbehave.\nDmitry Chaplin\nDmitry is recognized as one of the most distinguished Ballroom Dancers and Choreographers in The United States and around the World. A Star Professional on \"Dancing With The Stars,\" an EMMY Nominated Choreographer for his work on \"So You Think You Can Dance,\" and is one of America's favorite dancers.\nDmitry's Ballroom dancing career began at the age of 12 in his hometown of Rostov-on-Don in Russia. He moved to the United States in 1999 and after studying both in America and the United Kingdom, he began representing the United States at many world famous ballroom competitions. Dmitry won many of titles, becoming a National Finalist in 2006, and ultimately a semi-finalist and finalist in prestigious International global competitions.\nIn 2006, Dmitry's dance career took a different course - he won a place on the FOX hit TV show \"So You Think You Can Dance\" and became one of America's Top 10 dancers. He soon established himself as a favorite America and all around the World. This led to offers and invitations to choreograph and perform not only in the USA but many in Countries generating even more critical acclaim.\nAfter a series of guest performances on \"American Idol,\" Dmitry was invited as a 'special guest' to dance with Gloria Estefan on the phenomenal and EMMY winning episode \"Idol Gives Back.\" Numerous TV offers followed, leading to special guest appearances on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, Larry King Live, KTLA news, The View and many more. 2009 was a milestone year for Dmitry when he choreographed an Argentinean Tango on \"So You Think You Can Dance\". This earned him an EMMY Nomination for best choreography. That same year, Dmitry also became Runner Up Champion in \"Dancing With The Stars\" with his partner Mya, receiving a record breaking number of votes making him one of the most popular dancers on the show.\nDmitry headlined the Vegas spectacular show \"Dancing with The Stars - Live!\" and during this time made frequent guest appearances on TV and choreographing on So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars. He was invited to perform and guest teach at many prestigious conventions and industrials, which he still does today when he has time.\nHe was invited to headline the new live tour of \"Ballroom With A Twist\" and makes frequent appearances with them all over the United States. Last year, 2013, proved to be the next exciting stage in Dmitry's career. He was not only invited to choreograph an entire episode of the FOX hit show \"BONES\" but seeing him work the Producers offered him the Guest Star roll of Kendrick Mann, the suspect, in the premier episode of the Season. It was the highest rating show of \"Bones\" that year.\nDmitry has been invited back to choreograph for the forthcoming seasons of \"Dancing With The Stars\" and \"So You Think You Can Dance\". At the start of 2014 Dmitry Guest Starred on the hit ABC Family show \"Baby Daddy\" where he played the role of Vladimir the Ballroom expert and once again choreographed the entire episode. Recently in 2015 he Guest Starred on another ABC show \"Manhattan Love Story\" and later on the new Sharon Stone's series \"Agent X\", to be aired later this year.\nBalancing a career that combines acting, dancing, choreographing, teaching, personal appearances on TV, at events and conventions across America, Dmitry is in constant demand all around the world. His high profile TV appearances have made him a highly sought after personality and has become an inspiration and motivator to many young people and future stars who, through his example, are given hope that their dreams can become real.\nChiquinquirá Delgado\nChiquinquira Delgado better known as \"Chiqui\" is a renowned and experienced international Venezuelan actress and TV host/presenter. Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, it was in Caracas where she developed her artistic career. Her beauty, elegance, and intelligence led her to participate in the Miss Venezuela pageant in 1990 where she was first runner up, allowing her to becomes part of her country's runways and later to become a television personality where her first important job was as a host on \"TV Time\". By 1993 she became the face/image of the number one network in her country, Venevisión, and continued to be so for many years, becoming one of the most charismatic personalities in show business.\nShe started her career in major soap operas in 1999 with the melodrama \"Calypso\". By the year 2000 she was designated the image of Sony Entertainment Television. She played leading roles in soap operas \"Cosita Rica\" and \"Mambo y Canela\", to mention a few. She has also been a leading personality in music videos for major International Latin singers Luis Miguel and Alejandro Fernández.\nImportant brands in the beauty industry have selected Chiqui to represent their brand image, such as Pantene, L'Oreal, Wen and Nivea. Other brands she has worked with are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Zulia Lottery, and Occidental Bank.\nIn her role as an entrepreneur in Venezuela she launched her line of beauty products \"Chiqui\" which sold nationwide and was very successful. Her experience on television, her connection with women, and her incredible charisma made the \"Chiqui\" brand a household name.\nGrateful for all the goals she achieved in her country, five years ago (2010) she embarked on a new course to the United States in order to continue to grow professionally when the number one Hispanic TV Network Univision hired her to host of the show \"Mira Quien Baila\" (Dancing with the Stars equivalent). Since then she has also become the main host of the #1 rated show on the network \"Nuestra Belleza Latina\" (2014, 2015) and has conducted other top-rated shows on Univision such as Sábado Gigante (Variety Show on Saturday evenings prime time), El Gordo y la Flaca (Entertainment Show, daily show in the afternoon) Despierta América (Good Morning America equivalent, daily morning show) which has aired daily in the United States for over 15 years. Also, live from Las Vegas she hosted the green carpet at the \"Night of Stars\". She has been a red carpet host for the past four years for the Latin Grammys.\nHer career in the US has skyrocketed and in 2012 achieved her crossover when she was invited to work on one of the top-rated prime time shows on CBS \"Entertainment Tonight\" where she interviewed top celebrities, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Sophia Vergara to name a few. This past year she worked on a new sitcom series called \"Hitstreak\" which can be viewed online.\nChiqui enters the field of fashion in 2015 when she is asked to collaborate with the David Lerner brand to develop and launch \"Chiqui Delgado\" by David Lerner.\nChiqui has been on the cover of and featured in numerous magazines in the US, including: Cosmopolitan, People in Español, Buenhogar, Vanidades, and many others. The editors, aside from following her career, have also featured her as a leading role model for the woman of today, because her influence and knowledge of the beauty world have a positive impact on readers.\nShe has shared her achievements throughout her career by helping many charities including: St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Telecorazón (Venezuela), Amigos for Kids and Socievent (Organization for Deaf Children). She also hosts major top charity benefits, Telethon USA and Telethon Mexico.\nChiqui's commitment to her artistic profession in Latin America and the United States has consolidated her as one of the most promising Hispanic stars in Television and Publicity within the US market.\nJordi Caballero\nJordi Caballero's passion for acting, the performing arts and the American way led him to the U.S. to pursue a career in acting and the performing arts where he earned a BFA in acting at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Stella Adler Conservatory.\nAmong Jordi's notable film credits is his acclaimed role as Captain Madrid in \"I Witness\", opposite Jeff Daniels and James Spader, which landed him a Best Supporting Actor Nomination at the 2003 Method Fest Film Festival in Los Angeles. Jordi's captivating style and ability to truly embrace his characters have earned him key guest-starring roles spanning a range of hit TV shows such as Grimm, CSI Miami, Justified, Sex and the City, Rules of Engagement, Brothers and Sisters, The Unit and The Shield, among many others.\nInfluenced by the TV show \"Fame\" during his childhood, Jordi was inspired to hone his \"triple threat\" skills between the performing arts, dance and choreography which led him to work with top musical celebrities such as Cher, The Spice Girls and Tony Bennett, as well as through stage performances on widely broadcast television productions including The Annual Academy Awards and Dancing with the Stars. His talents have been enlisted by film director veterans such as Rob Reiner and Chris Columbus among many other film and television directors and producers. He has received two Nominations as Best Choreographer from the prestigious American Choreography Awards.\nJordi's deep understanding of entertainment media and the performing arts combined with his international savvy and embrace of varying cultures and languages, serves as his foundation to connect with ever-growing diverse audiences through a universal language.\nSharon Ferguson\nJamaican born Sharon Ferguson is an accomplished Actress, Singer, and Dancer. She has appeared in films, T.V. shows, commercials, music videos, live stage performances, and magazine ads and articles.\nSharon's film credits include supporting acting roles in \"Blue Lagoon\", \"Quarantine\", \"Just Go With It\" and Shakespeare's \"H4\" as well as lead roles in \"The Bloody Indulgent\" and \"The Algerian\". You can also see her in \"Austin Powers III\" with Mike Meyers and Beyonce, \"Shall We Dance\" with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere, \"Along Came Polly\" with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston, and \"My Life In Idlewild\" with Outkast, to name a few. She also won the \"Best Actress in a Short Film\" Award at The Action on Film Festival for her starring role as Eve in the film \"Theogony\".\nHer television credits include roles on Grays Anatomy, Glee, Hart of Dixie, Suburgatory, Alias, and The District, as well as her recurring role as the Primitive, the First Slayer on Buffy The Vampire Slayer series directed and produced by Joss Whedon.\nShe has been featured in music videos as a dancer with some of the world's greatest artists including Prince, No Doubt, Will Smith, George Michael, P-Diddy and Rod Stewart.\nThere is rarely a time when you can turn on your television and not see Sharon in a commerical. Some of these are: Super Bowl 2010 Bridgestone Tires, Chevy Auto, Tropicana, Sprite, 7-Up, Desani Water, Viactiv, McDonalds, Coors Lite, Opel, Toyota, Kahlua, Miller Lite, Imodium, Mercedes Benz, Minute Maid, GMC Auto, Burger King, and Warehouse Music.\nShe has performed live on stage for Dancing With The Stars, the Grammy Awards, Motown Live, MTV Music Awards, MTV Movie Awards, VHI Music and Fashion Awards, and the American Music Awards with the likes of Prince, Macy Gray, Gwen Stefani, George Clinton, and Ricky Martin.\nShe has worked in the dynamic world of Los Angeles Live Shows, from Prince's Erotic City and the Pussy Cat Dolls to Strutter Cabaret, Cherry Boom-Boom and The Zodiac Party.\nShe has also done modeling work for national magazines in print ads for Oil of Olay and Crystal Lite, as well as featured editorials for Code and Drink Magazine. Sharon has modeled for Reebok, Adidas and was a guest model for Roberto Cavalli in a televised live fashion show in San Remo, Italy.\nAs a voiceover artist, her distinct sultry vocals have represented Reebok, Sketchers, Sebastian, and Obermeyer.\nBrent Ryan Green\nDirector and Producer Brent Ryan Green founded Toy Gun Films and has since produced the short film En Tus Manos in Colombia, and produced and directed the short films Paper Flower in Japan, Half Good Killer in South Africa, and Running Deer in Oklahoma, which stars Boo Boo Stewart (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Twilight Saga film series) and Q'orianka Kilcher (The New World.) The short films have won over 40 awards.\nGreen is the producer of the three-year production of The Lumo Project, a four-part film series portraying the retelling of 100AD. The series is narrated by Brian Cox (The Bourne Identity, Troy) and David Harewood (Homeland, Blood Diamond.) Green is also an Executive Producer on Dylan Baker's directorial debut, 23 Blast. The Audience Award-winning film at the 2013 Heartland Film Festival stars Alexa Vega (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Spy Kids.) He also is an Associate Producer on Martin Scorsese's next film Silence starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.\nAdditionally, Green produced his feature film directorial debut, The Veil, which tells the story of a warrior who turns on his own empire and rises to the defense of an oppressed civilization in a final war for a dying world. The Veil stars William Levy (Dancing with the Stars), William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia film series) and Serinda Swan (Tron: Legacy, USA's Graceland).\nJim Bakkum\nJim Bakkum, born on the 10th August 1987, always had a thing for music. He, his brother (who now plays in his band) and two kids from around the block had their own band called 'The Kids'. With parents who were also into music, the musical family performed many times. At the age of 15 Jim auditioned for Idols, and finished second. The boy got thousands of fans, and wasn't able to walk on the streets any more. His first CD came out; impressed with several hits, and a duet with Idols winner Jamai. Jim won several awards, and in 2003 his second CD Ready came out. This one had two hits, and Jim also started to act. He made his debut with Baantjer, where he played Rick, and later he played in Snowfever, where he sang on the soundtrack. Jim also did Dancing with the Stars, which he won. And in 2005 he made a CD called 'Dance with me' inspired by Dancing with the stars.\nAarti Chhabria\nAarti Chabria began modeling at 3 years of age. She was the Farex Baby, and appeared in over 300 commercials including Maggi Noodles, Pepsodent tooth paste, Clean and Clear face wash, Amul Frostick ice cream, LML Trendy Scooter, Krack Cream.\nAfter completing her education, Chabria shot to fame when she was crowned \"Miss India Worldwide 2000\" in November 1999 being the youngest amongst 22 Indian contestants from all over the world.\nShe then appeared in the music videos - \"Harry Anands\" Teri Chaahat Mein, \"Sukhwinder Singh's\" Nasha Hi Nasha Hai, \"Adnan Sami's\" Roothe Hue Hai Kyo (from album Tera Chehra) and another by \"Avdhoot Gupte\" Madhubala\nHer debut Bollywood film was Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai (2002) which did fairly well at the box office,and the music of which was a super hit, but before that she appeared in a cameo role in a telefilm called Akansha in 1989 as a child artist and Lajja in 2001 as Danny Denzongpa's daughter opposite Sharman Joshi.\nShe then worked with some of the best names in the industry in films like Awara Paagal Deewana (2002) opposite Akshay Kumar,directed by Vikram Bhutt which was a super hit at the box office and for which Aarti received a lot of acclaim and rave reviews for her role as Chiman Chappus daughter, a NRI tapori in love with an underworld don \"Guru Gulab Khatri\". Following that there was Raja Bhaiya (2003) opposite Govinda where she essayed the role of a girl who looses her memory and has a mental level of a 5 year old. Shaadi No 1 (2005) as a hot diva opposite Fardeen Khan directed by David Dhawan. Ssukh (2006) opposite Govinda where she played a multi layered character. Teesri Aankh (2006) Directed by Harry Baweja. She even did a special appearance in a film called Partner (2007) which was a box office hit directed by David Dhawan. Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007) Directed By Apoorva Lakhia and Produced by Sanjay Gupta was a super hit in which Aarti played a muslim girl \"Tannu\" who's a bar dancer in love with an underworld gangster played by Tushar Kapoor.Both her item songs from the film \"Unke Nashein mein\" and \"Mere Yaar\" were super hits. Daddy Cool (2009) A film by Inder Kumar, opposite Suniel Shetty as a christian housewife. Dus Tola (2013) opposite Manoj Bajpayee where Aarti played a village belle Suvarnalata Shastri in love with a Gold and a Goldsmith which got her a lot of critical acclaim for her performance in this author-backed role. Aarti left a mark with her performance in Telugu and Kannada movies as well which got her popularity in the South Indian Film Industry with films like.Okariki Okaru , Gopi Godameda pilli , Intlo Shreemati Veedhilo Kumari (remake of Priyadarshans hindi film Hungama) , Aham Premasmi Directed by Ravichandra , Santha opposite Shiv Raj Kumar, Rajni opposite Upendra.\nAarti was hugely appreciated as \"Preeto\" in a Punjabi Movie Viyah 70 kms which released in Sept 2013\nShe was the winner of the fourth season of Fear Factor - Khatron Ke Khiladi in 2011.\nAarti has also studied Film Making at the New York Film Academy in New York in 2012.\nAarti participated in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (season 6) 2013 (which is the Indian version of Dancing with the Stars) and was praised for her performances by all three judges for her sincerity, perfection in dance style, grace, and beauty. She was injured on the show, but still continued with true competitive spirit without giving up.\nAarti is known to be a dancer and mimic who performs live as well as comperes shows with élan.\nShe was also seen in the latest Kalyan jewels advertisement with Mr Amitabh Bachchan.",
"News Archive - UKGameshows\n... one of our contributors and a long-standing member of the UK game ... children's TV from around the world. 2009. ... been named as Rachel Riley, ...\nNews Archive - UKGameshows\nNews Archive\nOld news stories are archived here. See the main page for the latest news.\nContents\n2016\n16 September You're Hired in the Firing Line Mr. Gilbert\nRhod Gilbert has been announced as the new host of The Apprentice spin-off programme You're Fired! after Jack Dee fired himself from the BBC2 vehicle after only one series. Romesh Ranganathan, who was a regular panellist in the last series will not return due to scheduling conflicts.\n13 September We've had the most amazing time on Bake Off\nMel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins have announced that they will not follow The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4. They will step down as hosts after the current series on the BBC. Mel and Sue said in a statement: \"We made no secret of our desire for the show to remain where it was... we're not going with the dough.\"\n12 September Bake Off Off\nThe BBC has lost the rights to show The Great British Bake Off after the current series and Christmas specials. The exceedingly popular show will move to Channel 4, after Love Productions turned down the BBC's final offer. It's not immediately clear if any of its stars will leave.\n22 August BLANK Me One More Time\nMore information about the Blankety Blank revival has been revealed as David Walliams will host a Christmas special of the cult game show. According to the Daily Mirror, the Christmas special will be a trial for a full series, which is quite similar to how the Lily Savage era went.\n19 August Deal Me Out\nChannel 4 announced today that Deal or No Deal has been axed after being on the screens for 11 years and airing over 3,000 episodes. The final series will air in autumn 2016.\n15 August ReBLANKED\nA piece in the Sunday People claimed that ITV wanted to make another series of Blankety Blank . We've not been able to confirm that ITV has commissioned a series, as the broadcaster has not commented on the speculation.\n1 June Meet the new judges, same as the old judges\nLouis Walsh ! Sharon Osbourne! Simon Cowell ! Nicole Scherzinger! The judging panel for The X Factor has been announced, and the names have bags of experience. With Dermot O'Leary back as host, this year's show takes us back to the glory days of 2013, and with no Gary Barlow.\n5 May CJ de Mooi on the move again\nCJ de Mooi will leave the Eggheads panel and move to South Africa. CJ, one of the original Eggheads, left the programme between 2012 and 2014. He will be replaced by two new Eggheads who will be found in a televised quiz.\n6 April Coach Trip Rolls onto E4\nCoach Trip is heading for a new destination by moving to E4. The series which sees tour guide Brendan Sheerin overseeing a couples tour of Europe, with the least popular couple voted off at the end of each day, has aired on and off for 11 years on Channel 4. The new series will consist of thirty half-hour episodes, and will air later in the year.\n5 April Cheryl has The Exit Factor\nCheryl Fernandez-Versini has quit The X Factor . The singer first appeared as a judge between 2008-10, before returning for the 2014-5 series. The former Popstars: The Rivals contestant has chosen to leave to focus on her music career. To date, no judges have been confirmed for the upcoming series, which begins airing this summer.\n31 March It's goodbye from him.\nThe other half of \"The Two Ronnies\" Ronnie Corbett died today at the age of 85. In the game show world, he is well known for hosting Small Talk .\n30 March Vernon drives to success\nNext week, Vernon Kay will host Drive on ITV. He's now the second most prolific game show host in the UK with 16 main hosting roles. Vernon moves clear of the late Bob Monkhouse , who is now in third place with 15 shows. Davina McCall remains the current leader, she's fronted 17 programmes.\n29 March Your Saturday Night Starts Right Here!\nDermot O'Leary is returning to host The X Factor . The announcement was made almost a year after he left the programme. The 2015 series was helmed by Caroline Flack and Olly Murs and saw mixed reviews and falling ratings. The new series, which will also see the return of the room auditions, will begin in the summer.\n17 March You WON'T Like This\nMagician Paul Daniels died today at the age of 77 after he was taken to hospital a month ago following a brain tumor. He is well known for hosting such game shows as Odd One Out , Dealing with Daniels and Every Second Counts .\n15 March I'm Jack Dee and I'm Fired\nJack Dee has fired himself as the host of The Apprentice spin-off programme You're Fired! He said \"It's been a tough decision to leave You're Fired, I'd like to thank The Apprentice team, BBC2, the candidates and the 'Big Man' Lord Sugar himself for making me feel so welcome but now, in keeping with The Apprentice tradition, I am firing myself. Good luck with the next series.\".\n3 February Dara, Standby!\nDara O'Briain has been announced as the new host for the Robot Wars revival. Angela Scanlon will work alongside him as co-host. Jonathan Pearce will return as commentator. The new series will be recorded in Glasgow, and will go out on BBC2 later in the year.\n31 January Sir Terry Wogan\nThe broadcaster Terry Wogan has died of cancer, aged 77. In five decades of broadcasting, he helmsed the Radio 2 breakfast programme, and a primetime chat show. Wogan spent many nights at the Eurovision Song Contest , hosted the micro-budget Blankety Blank , and many other shows.\n13 January 3...2...1...Activate!\nRobot Wars has been revived by the BBC. The series, which sees amateurs construct weaponised robots to battle each other in a specially built arena, originally aired on the BBC from 1998-2003, before a brief spell on Channel 5. The new six episode series will air on BBC2 later in the year.\n2015\n23 November ITV Finds its Voice\nITV have confirmed they have signed a deal to broadcast The Voice UK from 2017. The three-year deal, worth a reported £50m, will also see the broadcaster air two series of The Voice Kids, as well as spin-off programmes on ITV2. The programme will air its fifth and final series on the BBC in January.\n17 November Good evening. This is Canberra calling. Again.\nThe European Broadcasting Union has announced that Australia will compete in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest . The country was given a one-off wildcard entry to the 2015 event to mark the contest's 60th anniversary. Following positive feedback, the Antipodean country will compete again in Stockholm, Sweden in May. They will however not be granted a pass to the final, and will have to take part in one of the semi-finals to secure their place in the grand final.\n7 November The BBC Loses its Voice\nThe BBC has confirmed that The Voice UK has been poached by another broadcaster, and the upcoming series will be the last to be broadcast by the corporation. The series has aired on the BBC since 2012, and will return in January for its fifth series, with new judges Paloma Faith and Boy George. The identity of the new broadcaster has yet to be revealed.\n19 October The points DON'T go to Andy\nAndy Parsons has announced he is quitting Mock the Week after becoming a regular panelist on the show since 2006. He will be focusing on his future live stand-up tours and his new podcast.\n14 October N for Sandi Toksvig\nQI is to get a new host. Stephen Fry is leaving \"one of the best jobs on television\" after the M-series ends in early 2016. Sandi Toksvig will take over from next year, taking viewers through from N to an unknown destination. \"Who knows what lies ahead? It should all be quite interesting.\" Alan Davies remains on the panel to the end of the alphabet - and beyond?\n8 October Laughing All the Way to the Oche\nFour new episodes of the pro-celebrity darts tournament Let's Play Darts have been ordered and will be filming on 17 and 18 November in aid of Sport Relief. Gabby Logan will return to host.\n11 September Jack Dee Hired for You're Fired!\nJack Dee has been announced as the new host of The Apprentice spin-off programme You're Fired! The comedian replaces Dara O'Briain who has left as host after five years. Dee has previously appeared on the celebrity version of the programme. He will be joined by fellow comedian Romesh Ranganathan, who becomes a regular panellist, when the series returns later this year.\n14 August Boy George and Paloma Faith to join The Voice\nThe coaching line-up has been revealed for the upcoming fifth series of The Voice UK . New coaches Boy George and Paloma Faith will join returning coaches will.i.am and Ricky Wilson. They replace long-standing coach Sir Tom Jones and Rita Ora, who is now a judge on rival singing show The X Factor . The new series will begin filming in Salford next month, and will air in the new year.\n12 August Davina's On Target Again\nDavina McCall has now increased her lead as the title holder of most prolific game show host in the UK . With the upcoming darts show One Hundred and Eighty added on to her resume, she will now have done 17 main hosting roles (not counting co-hosting roles, regular/stand-in/guest appearances, one-offs and pilots). The previous title holder, the late Bob Monkhouse , had 15 main hosting roles.\n2 August Taa-raa Chuck\nBlind Date host Cilla Black suddenly died on 1 August 2015 at her holiday home near Marbella, Spain. She was 72 years of age. A post mortem examination later confirmed that her death was from a stroke.\n21 July Five For Chasing\nBritain has a new Chaser . Jenny Ryan from Bolton joins Mark, Shaun, Anne, and Paul on ITV's teatime show. Known as \"The Vixen\", her quiz pedigree includes the semi-finals of University Challenge , a spot on Are You an Egghead? , and an Only Connect championship with the Gamblers in 2010.\n21 July You're Back Again\nITV has announced that they have commissioned another run of You're Back in the Room with Phillip Schofield returning as host after the first series picked up an average of 4 million viewers. The second series will consist another 4 episodes.\n14 July Britain's Next Top Model Gives Us Another Twirl\nAfter being dropped by Sky Living in 2013, Britain's Next Top Model is taking to the catwalk once again courtesy of TV network Lifetime. The programme, based on the American original, first aired in the UK in 2005, and racked up nine series before its cancellation. The new 10-part series will air in 2016, with the host and judges to be confirmed in due course.\n16 June The Ora Of Success\nAppointments to The X Factor have concluded with two new mentors. Rita Ora joins the judging panel, fresh from a similar role on The Voice UK earlier in the year. The final judge is Nick Grimshaw, host of Radio 1's breakfast show. The new series will begin later in the summer.\n26 May ITV's Heart Keeps on Beating\nITV has announced a second series of 1000 Heartbeats . The first series averaged 1.2 million viewers throughout its run, prompting ITV to hand it an extended 30 episode run. The new series will air in the autumn, with Vernon Kay returning as host.\n26 May No More Buzzcocks\nThe BBC has announced that long-running music-based panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks will not return. The programme first aired in 1996, and has seen three permanent hosts, and more than 60 guest hosts during its 28 series run. The final episode, a best-of compilation of the previous series, aired in January.\n27 April Claude, You're Hired!\nThe BBC has announced that Claude Littner will replace Nick Hewer as one of Lord Sugar's advisors on the upcoming series of The Apprentice . Littner, notable for his tough interview style on previous series, will line-up alongside fellow advisor Karren Brady when the programme returns in the autumn.\n17 April Olly & Caroline have The X Factor\nOlly Murs and Caroline Flack have been announced as the new hosts of The X Factor . The appointments were strongly rumoured for several weeks, and will re-unite Murs and Flack who previously hosted spin-off programme The Xtra Factor together in 2011-2. The new series will begin airing in the summer.\n27 March Leaving the Competition Tonight is... Dermot O'Leary\nDermot O'Leary has announced that he has left The X Factor . He first hosted the programme in 2007, when he took over from original host Kate Thornton . O'Leary commented, 'After eight wonderful years on The X Factor it's time for me to move on'. A replacement has not yet been announced.\n19 March Channel 5 moves in with Big Brother Again\nIt has been announced that Channel 5 has extended its deal to broadcast Big Brother for another three years. The agreement between the channel's owner Viacom, and Endemol subsidiary Initial, will see two celebrity series and one civilian series, as well as associated spin-offs, air each year until the end of 2018.\n12 March BBC = Big Bonanza Commissions\nThe BBC has announced an array of new series and pilot commissions as well as recommissions for the four main channels. BBC One were given two series commissions for Can't Touch This and Five Star Family Reunion as well as a pilot commission for Perfect Match and three recommissions for Win Your Wish List , Who Dares Wins and In It to Win It , BBC Two were given a pilot commission for Airheads and a recommission for Only Connect , BBC Three were given a series commission for Killer Magic and BBC Four were given a series commission for The Hive (working title).\n24 February Truth accepted\nThe BBC has commissioned 10 new episodes of the hit comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? . The ninth series will consist of eight regular episodes, a Christmas special and an unseen bits compilation.\n10 February Good evening. This is Canberra calling.\nThe European Broadcasting Union has announced that Australia has been invited to compete in this year's Eurovision Song Contest . The contest has a strong following Down Under, and in recognition of this, the country has been granted a wildcard entry into the final. The EBU has said this is a one-off to mark the contest's 60th anniversary, but should they win, Australia will be allowed to defend their title in a European city in 2016. Organisers have also not ruled out allowing other guest countries to compete in the future.\n30 January I'm Out, I'm Out, and I'm Out Too\nDragon Piers Linney has announced he will be leaving the Den . His announcement follows that of fellow Dragons Kelly Hoppen and Duncan Bannatyne who will also being leaving at the end of the current series. Linney and Hoppen have both been Dragons for two years, while Bannatyne has been with the programme since it began in 2005.\n10 January Dara, You're also Fired!\nDara O'Briain has decided to quit his hosting duties on The Apprentice 's spin-off show \"The Apprentice: You're Fired\" as he'll be focusing more on his stand-up comedy roots and he'll be doing his new tour coming this year.\n2014\n19 December Nick, You're Fired!\nNick Hewer has described his decision as a \"relief tinged with regret\" to not be Lord Sugar's aide for future series of The Apprentice . The 70-year-old PR expert explained in his statement that \"I've been pondering my departure from The Apprentice for a while and have decided that year 10 is the appropriate time.\" He will still be hosting Countdown .\n23 September Rita Ora finds her Voice\nThe BBC have announced that Rita Ora will join the judging panel on The Voice UK when it returns for its fourth series early next year. The singer, who will replace Kylie Minogue, guest judged on The X Factor in 2012, and will appear alongside returning coaches will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones, and Ricky Wilson.\n17 September Rising Star Falls\nITV has cancelled forthcoming singing contest Rising Star. The series, which was to have replaced Dancing on Ice early next year, sees viewers voting via an app as contestants perform, with only those securing 70% or more positive votes progressing to the next stage. The programme was a success in its native Israel, but has under-performed in both the United States and Germany, prompting ITV's decision to cancel it.\n8 September Deal for a Decade\nChannel 4 has renewed Deal or No Deal until the end of 2015. The agreement makes sure that Noel and his red box club will mark their tenth birthday at the end of October next year. We've also heard about changes to the game, including a way for the studio player to demand an offer from The Banker.\n9 July New Rock Follies\nWelsh stand-up comic Rhod Gilbert has been confirmed as the new permanent host of the music comedy panel game Never Mind the Buzzcocks . Guest presenters have filled the chair for 4 years, since Simon Amstell stepped down as the resident ringmaster in 2008.\n11 June Zig-a-zig-ah! Mel B joins The X Factor\nMel B has been announced as the fourth and final judge on this year's series of The X Factor . The former Spice Girl was previously a guest judge on the 2012 series, and has also judged on the Australian version of the programme, and on America's Got Talent. She will join Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole who are returning to the panel, as well as long-standing judge Louis Walsh , who, contrary to earlier reports, has not left the programme. The new series will begin airing in the summer.\n19 May They're in a League Of Their Own (Again)\nThat's the BAFTA-winning A League of Their Own , folks. Sky's flagship sports-and-entertainment quiz won the BAFTA award for Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme. Ant and Dec won Best Entertainment Programme and Best Entertainment Performance for Saturday Night Takeaway .\n10 May Please Welcome to the Floor, Claudia Winkleman\nClaudia Winkleman has been confirmed as the new co-presenter of Strictly Come Dancing following Sir Bruce Forsyth 's decision to step down. Winkleman has previously stood-in as a main presenter during Forsyth's abscence, and has also previously hosted spin-off programme It Takes Two. She will join Tess Daly when the series returns for its twelfth outing in the autumn.\n23 April They're in a League Of Their Own\nA League of Their Own will air until at least 2017, according to a new deal. Hosted by James Corden, the sports-themed quiz has been one of Sky1's most consistent performers. The new contract, for three ten-episode series, will see the programme reach its eleventh series, making it one of Sky's longest-running game shows.\n4 April Nice to see you...\nSir Bruce Forsyth is to step down as host of the main Strictly Come Dancing show after 11 series. The 86-year-old entertainer said \"it was the right time to step down from the rigours\". He will continue to host the show for the Children in Need and Christmas specials.\n10 March Cheryl Cole is Back Too\nFollowing in the footsteps of a certain Mr Cowell, Cheryl Cole has today announced via Twitter that she will be returning to the judging panel on The X Factor after a four-year break. Ms Cole was the winning mentor twice during her previous tenure, guiding Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry to victory. The talent show's eleventh series is due to air this summer.\n7 February Simon Cowell's Back\nThree years after he last judged musical careers, Simon Cowell will return to The X Factor in the UK. He left us to star in the US version of the show, which wasn't such a success, and now returns to find the next Shayne Ward.\n2013\n18 December Travis Penery\nEveryone at UKGameshows.com is very sad to hear of the death of Travis Penery, one of our contributors and a long-standing member of the UK game show fandom scene. Travis was well-known for his in-depth knowledge of formats and selflessly shared his passion for television with fans both in the UK and around the world. Often his Christmas cards contained a small bundle of CDs containing rarities he had found from his extensive sources, including his own satellite TV system. He also wrote his own blog and contributed UK-skewing articles to the US game show site Buzzerblog. He died aged 29, following complications from a stroke. We would like to extend our sincere condolences to his friends and family.\n7 November Davina Jumps to Victory\nChannel 4 has announced that Davina McCall will host Twofour's new upcoming reality competition The Jump , which means that she now holds the title as the most prolific game show host in the UK with 16 main hosting roles (not counting co-hosting roles, regular/stand-in/guest appearances, one-offs and pilots), overtaking Bob Monkhouse who previously held the title with 15 main hosting roles.\n19 September The BBC Reveals its New Voice\nAfter drip-feeding information for a week, the BBC has finally confirmed the full line-up for the upcoming third series of The Voice UK . Returning coaches Sir Tom Jones and will.i.am with be joined by Aussie songstress Kylie Minogue and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, while Emma Willis and Marvin Humes will be the new presenters. The new series will air in January, avoiding a ratings battle with Britain's Got Talent .\n4 September Coach Trip Back on the Road\nChannel 4 have announced that they have commissioned a ninth series of Coach Trip . The series which sees tour guide Brendan Sheerin overseeing a couples tour of Europe, with the least popular couple voted off at the end of each day, last aired in March 2012. The new series will consist of thirty half-hour episodes, and will take in countries in southern Europe.\nThe story below has been contradicated by events: we heard in March 2014 that Louis Walsh will return for the eleventh series.\n6 August Louis has The Exit Factor\nLouis Walsh has revealed that the upcoming tenth series of The X Factor will be his last. The Irish music mogul has judged on all series of the programme since it first aired in 2004. During his time on the programme he has mentored several acts that have gone on to have chart success, including JLS, Shayne Ward, Union J, and Jedward .\n24 July Life Force Replenished\nThere's to be a new edition of Knightmare , distributed on the internet. Original producer Tim Child has returned to the one-off show, which features Jessie Cave from Harry Potter and comedian Isy Suttie. This summer will also see a stage show of Knightmare performed at the Edinburgh Festival.\n9 July 8 Out of 10 Cats Prefer Countdown\nChannel 4 have announced that 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown has been commissioned for a full series. The format, which sees the 8 Out of 10 Cats regulars invade the Countdown studio, originated from the Channel 4 Mash-up evening aired in January 2012. This special, originally intended as a one-off, rated well, and led to three more specials being aired. The new series is scheduled to air this summer.\n21 May Dancing on Ice Skates Off\nITV have announced that the forthcoming series of Dancing on Ice, scheduled to air in January 2014, will be the last. The format, which first aired in 2006, will bow out by celebrating the 30th anniversary of Torvill & Dean's gold-medal-winning performance of Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics.\n2 April Brian, You Have Been Evicted\nChannel 5 has announced that Emma Willis , presenter of Big Brother spin-off Bit On The Side, has been promoted to host of the main show, replacing two-time Big Brother winner Brian Dowling who has hosted the programme since its move to the broadcaster in 2011. Willis will take the helm for the first time when the civilian version of the programme returns for its 14th series this summer.\n11 March They're In\nThe BBC has announced Cloud-service entrepreneur Piers Linney as the second new Dragon to join the den, following the departures of Hilary Devey and Theo Paphitis. Linney, and fellow new Dragon, designer Kelly Hoppen, will appear alongside long-standing Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, and Duncan Bannatyne when the programme returns for its eleventh series later this year.\n2012\n14 November More Heavy Action\nThe BBC's Christmas schedule will include a one-off revival of Superstars , featuring sixteen medal winners from the recent Olympics. Amongst those due to compete are Mo Farah, Nicola Adams, Alistair Brownlee, and Kath Grainger. The full line-up's in the BBC press release\n13 November Found Their Voice\nThe judging panel for the second series of The Voice UK has been confirmed, and it's very familiar. Jessie J, Sir Tom Jones, Danny O'Donaghue, and will.i.am are all going to reprise their roles when the show comes back in 2013.\n15 September RIP Jacques Antoine\nUKGameshows is very sad to hear of the death of the prolific French TV director and producer Jacques Antoine, aged 88. During a career that spanned over 45 years, he developed 150 formats for French radio and television. His shows were characterised by imaginative locations and the novel use of physical activity - such as 1960's La Tête et les Jambes (Head and Legs). His adventure show Fort Boyard , still running in France, was developed in the UK as The Crystal Maze , and his other ideas influenced Treasure Hunt and Interceptor .\n8 September Largest Cash Prize in History Paid\nGraham Fletcher, a carpenter from Reading, has won £1,500,000 on ITV's Red or Black? . It's the biggest money prize ever awarded on UK television, and he goes to the top of our All Time Winners List .\n16 June Heraldic Rigor Sits\nIn the Queen's Birthday Honours, Richard Stilgoe was knighted. This was for his charity work, and not his services to anagrams. Mary Berry from The Great British Bake Off was appointed CBE. Those appointed OBE included The X Factor 's Gary Barlow and Armando Iannucci of The 99p Challenge .\n28 May The Great British Bake Off Wins Again\nIs there no stopping Mel and Sue's grotto of gateaux? The Great British Bake Off rolled off with the Best Lifestyle programme at the Rose d'Or festival, and added another layer of success with the Best Feature at the BAFTA Television awards. A new series is being whipped up for later in the year.\n29 March Totally Wipedout\nThe BBC won't commission another series of Total Wipeout . The show has been making its way across the big red balls of television for four years, but now looks a bit wobbly, and will fall into the water after one final series.\n18 January Who Wants to be a Messiah?\nAndrew Lloyd Webber is taking his casting shows to ITV, and the first role to fill will be Jesus Christ. A new arena tour of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar is planned, and the title part will be cast by the great British public. More: ITV press release\n6 January End of the Run for Bob\nGame show legend Bob Holness has died peacefully this morning. He had been suffering from heart conditions for several years. The South African-born actor and radio presenter hosted the long-running student quiz Blockbusters and a modern incarnation of Call My Bluff .\n2 January Alesha Dixon leaves Strictly\nIt has been announced that Alesha Dixon will not return to the judging panel for the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing , which is due to air later this year. Dixon has been a judge on the programme since 2009, when she controversially replaced original judge Arlene Phillips . Instead, Dixon will judge on Britain's Got Talent , alongside Simon Cowell , Amanda Holden, and newcomer David Walliams .\n2011\n31 December That's Sir Big Brother to you\nThe New Year's Honours list has recognised people associated with game shows. Former Endemol Creative Director Peter Bazalgette, the overseer of shows including Big Brother and Ready Steady Cook , is appointed a Knight. There's a CBE for Ronnie Corbett for his services to broadcasting, Lorraine Kelly is appointed OBE for her charity work, and Stuart Hall is honoured for both of these reasons.\n1 December Eggheads crack\nC J de Mooi, the curly-haired one, has announced he's leaving Eggheads . In a brief statement, he said \"I'm acting full time now and that's what I want to pursue.\"\n16 November Countdown to Nick Hewer: You're Hired\nOne of Alan Sugar's henchmen from The Apprentice will be the new host of Countdown . Nick Hewer will host the parlour game from the start of 2012, and said in a Channel 4 press release, \"It's particularly fitting that I should be doing this now as my spelling has started to slip quite badly. I used to be able spell chrysanthemum.\"\n15 November Uvavu! Shooting Stars axed\nThe BBC has confirmed that is has cancelled long-running comedy panel show Shooting Stars . Hosted by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, the programme first appeared on TV screens in 1993, and despite two hiatuses in the time since, has racked up over 70 episodes of anarchic fun.\n22 April Goodbye... and this time, she means it\nAnne Robinson is quitting Weakest Link and will not be replaced, bringing the show to an end next spring. Robinson is stepping down to devote more time to writing. She will continue with her other programmes including Watchdog.\n5 April Big Brother is getting back to you\nChannel 5 have signed a £200m, two-year deal with rights holder Endemol which will see the reality show, and its celebrity spin-off, return to UK screens from August 2011.\n3 March QI goes home\nIt has been announced that QI will be returning to its original home of BBC Two for the next series. Producer John Lloyd said, \"QI did very well in the ratings on BBC One but we thought we ought to give Coronation Street a fighting chance.\"\n1 March RTS awards\nThe nominations for this year's Royal Television Society Awards are in. The major game show category is \"Best Entertainment\", with The X Factor , The Million Pound Drop Live and The Cube battling it out. Also up for awards are Deal or No Deal (Daytime and Early Peak), The Great British Bake Off (Lifestyle and Features) and inevitably Ant & Dec (Best Entertainment Performance).\n1 March Have I Got A Bit Extra News Quiz For You\nFollowing the success of extended versions of TV shows such as Have I Got News for You , QI and The Apprentice: You're Fired! , the concept is to be transferred to radio for the first time, with Radio 4's The News Quiz getting an hour-long repeat on soon-to-be sister station Radio 4 Extra (currently Radio 7).\n15 February Beat the Monkey to make Noel Feel Good?\nNoel Edmonds has set up a new company, Feel Good Television, and is currently touting a number of potential formats. Feel Good will concentrate on exploiting format rights and will contract production out to other companies. Among the formats being shopped around are valuation game Bank It or Bin It, which recently filmed a pilot, and the headline-grabbing Beat the Monkey, in which questions will be selected by a monkey in recorded inserts.\n13 February CBBC cleans up at KidScreen Awards\nEscape from Scorpion Island has been honoured as Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series at the inaugural KidScreen Awards. It was one of five trophies picked up by CBBC at the awards, which aim to recognise engaging and entertaining children's TV from around the world.\n2010\n5 November Ready... Steady... Gone!\nBBC2's long-running cookery challenge Ready Steady Cook is to be chopped, the BBC's head of daytime, Liam Keelan, has announced. The move is part of a far-reaching revamp of the BBC2 afternoon schedule. The show debuted in 1994 as part of Peter Bazalgette's Bazal Productions slate. Originally members of the public fought in the red tomato and green pepper kitchens, but recent years have mainly featured celebrity contestants.\n18 October ITV's Got the Cowell Factor\nITV has announced it has agreed a deal with Simon Cowell 's Syco company and Fremantle Media, which will see Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor both broadcast until 2013. However, it remains to be seen whether Simon Cowell himself will appear in all the programmes due to his commitments in America.\n15 September Challenge to launch on Freeview\nIt has been announced that game show channel Challenge is to launch on the Freeview digital TV platform, doubling the number of homes able to receive it. The channel, recently purchased by BSkyB, is home to classic episodes of game shows such as Bullseye , Catchphrase , Family Fortunes , Strike it Lucky , The Crystal Maze and Who Wants to be a Millionaire .\n10 September Big Brother isn't watching\nAfter 11 years, 274 housemates, and thousands of hours of television, the daddy of reality TV shows Big Brother has finally come to an end, with series two winner Brian Dowling being voted the ultimate Big Brother housemate.\n3 August Robinson steps down\nRobert Robinson has left Brain of Britain , of which he has been the official regular host since 1972. Russell Davies, who has stood in during Robinson's illness, now becomes the full-time host.\n9 June No Fortuna\nProfessional dancer Brian Fortuna has left Strictly Come Dancing after changes to the format were revealed. Fortuna was one of five regulars asked to step down from competing and instead form part of a dedicated professional dance troupe, along with Ian Waite, Matthew Cutler, Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova. The others will not be competing this year but have yet to announce whether they will join the troupe.\n24 May Ray Alan\nThe death has been announced of ventriloquist and presenter Ray Alan at the age of 79. Alan's hosting roles included Three Little Words and the travel quiz Where in the World? , and with his dummy Lord Charles he was a regular guest on shows such as 3-2-1 and Celebrity Squares .\n2 May Davina to host new show\nDavina McCall is to host Channel 4's live primetime game show, The Million Pound Drop Live . The programme, described by C4's Julian Bellamy as \"live event meets game show\", launches later this month and will offer a potential £1m prize.\n23 April Hole in the Wall axed\nHole in the Wall has been axed after two series, according to The Sun today. The first of a new wave of physical gameshows when it launched in 2008, it has since been overtaken in the ratings by the likes of Total Wipeout and The Whole 19 Yards .\n20 March Tarrant becomes #1 all-time UK host\nWith the launch of ITV's The Door in April, Chris Tarrant becomes indisputably the most successful UK game show host of all time . He will have 17 main hosting roles to his credit, and involvement in 18 different formats overall, beating the late Bob Monkhouse who, to our knowledge, had 15 main hosting roles. Tarrant's varied career has included two shows with diametrically opposite aims: Lose a Million and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? as well as board game conversions ( Cluedo , PSI ) and the raucous Man O Man .\nThough believed accurate at the time, subsequent analysis has demonstrated that Tarrant has never had more than 15 hosting roles, and had not overtaken Monkhouse. We regret the error.\n16 February A Question of Sport to tour\nA Question of Sport is to mark its 40th anniversary year by going out on tour. It follows in the footsteps of shows as diverse as I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue , Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Dancing on Ice which have cashed in on their popularity with non-broadcast variants. Host Sue Barker and team captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell are all signed up to take part in the 15-date tour.\n15 February Beat the Monkey to make Noel Feel Good?\nNoel Edmonds has set up a new company, Feel Good Television, and is currently touting a number of potential formats. Feel Good will concentrate on exploiting format rights and will contract production out to other companies. Among the formats being shopped around are valuation game Bank It or Bin It, which recently filmed a pilot, and the headline-grabbing Beat the Monkey, in which questions will be selected by a monkey in recorded inserts.\n13 February CBBC cleans up at KidScreen Awards\nEscape from Scorpion Island has been honoured as Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series at the inaugural KidScreen Awards. It was one of five trophies picked up by CBBC at the awards, which aim to recognise engaging and entertaining children's TV from around the world.\n2009\n23 November Yes, he is an Egghead\nPat Gibson is the new Egghead . Gibson, a former Brain of Britain , Mastermind champion, jackpot winner on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and 2007 IQA World Quiz champion, beat fellow Millionaire and Mastermind winner David Edwards to become the seventh member of \"arguably Britain's most formidable quiz team\".\n20 November Max Robertson\nThe death has been announced of Max Robertson at the age of 94. Robertson hosted the popular antiques panel game Going for a Song for twelve years, 1965-77. He was also a commentator, associated particularly with tennis, and retired in 1986.\n10 November Auntie gets Argumental\nBBC Two is to trial the Dave-commisioned comedy debating show Argumental . It is the first time the BBC has picked up an entertainment show from the UKTV network.\n10 November Apprentice put back to summer\nThe BBC has confirmed that the 2010 series of The Apprentice will be moved from its usual March starting date to the summer. The move was recommended by the BBC Trust in July, due to concerns that Alan Sugar's position as a government advisor could cause a breach of impartiality rules if the series, currently filming, were aired during a general election campaign. The Junior Apprentice spin-off will also be delayed.\n16 October Dee to host ISIHAC\nJack Dee is to be the sole host for the next series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue . His appointment is for the next series only, and no decision has been made on a permanent host. Dee was one of three rotating hosts on the previous series, the first made since the death of long-serving chairman Humphrey Lyttelton .\n14 October Ian Wallace\nMy Music panellist Ian Wallace has died at the age of 90 after a long illness. Wallace partnered Denis Norden on the panel game from 1967 to 1993, never missing a single episode. Wallace was also a bass baritone singer, best known for his performance of Flanders and Swann's The Hippotamus Song.\n2 October Frankie Boyle quits MTW\nMock the Week has been commissioned for a further two series, but Frankie Boyle will not be taking part. Boyle has been a regular on the show since the first series in 2005, when he was still considered an unknown. He has left to pursue other TV projects.\n1 October I'll name that tune on five\nFive has announced that it is to revive the classic format Name That Tune next year. The show will be made by Ant and Dec's production company Gallowgate but they will not host it. Five previously revived the show in 1998, in a short-lived version hosted by Jools Holland .\n11 September Spoiler: He's not a real wizard\nThe BBC has confirmed that next year's planned casting show for The Wizard of Oz will go ahead. Andrew Lloyd Webber had been in talks to move to ITV.\n8 September More prizes for Ant and Dec\nAnt and Dec were the big winners at last night's TV Quick & TV Choice Awards, picking up an Outstanding Contribution award as well as trophies for Best Entertainment Show ( Saturday Night Takeaway ) and Best Talent Show ( Britain's Got Talent ). Other game show winners were The Apprentice for Best Reality Show, and Deal or No Deal for Best Gameshow.\n30 August Brady takes on Apprentice role\nThe managing director of Birmingham City FC, Karren Brady, has been confirmed as Margaret Mountford's replacement on The Apprentice . Brady has appeared as an interviewer in two previous series and as a contestant on the Comic Relief celebrity version of the show.\n26 August Big Brother axed\nC4 has confirmed that next year's Big Brother series will be the last. The channel's Director of Programmes, Kevin Lygo, said that the show was still profitable but that it \"has reached a natural end point on Channel 4 and it’s time to move on.\" The station is planning to spend the money saved on commissioning more original drama.\n25 August BBC holds press conference\nThe celebrity line-up for this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing was announced at a press conference in London this morning. The full list, which includes former tennis star Martina Hingis (pictured) is now up on the Strictly Come Dancing show page.\n24 August Junior Masterchef\nCBBC has commissioned a full series of Junior Masterchef following a one-off competition for last year's Children in Need night. The show joins the regular, celebrity and professional versions of Masterchef , all of which have already been commissioned through 2011.\n23 August Show pulled after fakery claims\nThe BBC has suspended Sun, Sea and Bargain Spotting after it emerged that a \"member of the public\" seen buying an item from contestants was in fact one of the show's cameramen. The series, the offending episode of which was repeated last Wednesday, has also been withdrawn from the BBC's iPlayer catch-up service.\n18 August X Factor splits over weekend\nThe X Factor is to move its results shows to Sunday nights for the forthcoming series. Unlike Strictly Come Dancing 's recently-abandoned Sunday night show, The X Factor's results show will be live.\n18 August Coach Trip keeps travelling\n12 Yard's recently-revived Coach Trip has been recommissioned for a longer, 50-episode run in 2010. The show returned to Channel 4 daytime earlier this year after a 3-year break.\n9 July Strictly changes\nJudge Arlene Phillips has been dropped from the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing , the BBC confirmed today. She will be replaced by the 2007 series champion, Alesha Dixon (pictured). Unspecified changes will also be made to the voting for the new series, which is to be launched with a special Friday night show.\n23 June Steve Race\nThe death has been announced of the pianist, composer and broadcaster Steve Race . He was 88. Race's major contributions to game shows were hosting My Music on both radio and TV, and appearing as the \"musical mistakes man\" in Many a Slip .\n31 May Talent's Got Ratings\nSaturday night's final of Britain's Got Talent was the most watched British game show for ten years, and the highest-rated TV show of any kind for nearly five years. Overnight figures suggest that the programme, won by dance troupe Diversity, averaged over 18 million viewers and peaked at over 19m. The last TV show to rate higher was an England match in Euro 2004, and the last game show to do so was Who Wants to be a Millionaire? in March 1999.\n16 April Clement Freud\nRegular panel game contributor Clement Freud has died at the age of 84. The former restaurateur and MP was latterly best known for being a panellist on Just a Minute , having regularly appeared on the show since its launch in 1967.\n9 April Lennie Bennett\nComedian and game show host Lennie Bennett has died at the age of 70. The star of Lucky Ladders and Punchlines died at Royal Lancaster Infirmary on Wednesday night after a fall at home.\n25 March BAFTA TV awards\nGame shows shortlisted for this year's BAFTA TV Awards are: QI and The X Factor (Entertainment programme); Celebrity MasterChef and The Apprentice (Features) and Stephen Fry and Ant & Dec (Entertainment Performance).\n22 March Jade Goody\nIt has been announced that Jade Goody has died at the age of 27. The former Big Brother contestant and star of Jade's PA was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year and died at home in the early hours of Sunday morning.\n18 March Royal Television Society Awards\nBruce Forsyth has received a Lifetime Achievement award, and producer Richard Holloway (pictured) picked up the Judges' Award, at the RTS awards ceremony held last night. Holloway's credits include Supermarket Sweep , New Faces , Pop Idol and Britain's Got Talent . None of the nominated game shows won their categories, though Peter Kay's Pop Factor spoof won the Comedy Performance prize.\n11 March All, some, or none shall have prizes\nUK game show nominees for the prestigious Rose d'Or awards 2009 are Relentless and The Colour of Money in the Game Show category and Last Choir Standing for the Entertainment award. The winners will be announced at the Lucerne Television Festival in May.\n10 March MasterChef poached for BBC One menu\nMasterChef is to move to BBC One next year after achieving strong ratings for its most recent series on BBC Two. BBC One already shows the spin-off, Celebrity MasterChef.\n4 March UC ruckus rumbles on\nFollowing Monday's disqualification of Corpus Christi College from University Challenge , press investigations have turned up evidence of at least three previous winning teams fielding players who were not studying at the institutions they represented at the time of the finals. The programme's producers apparently did not consider these to be an issue, and the BBC have said that they did not act on these breaches of the rules because they were not made aware of them at the time. The decision to disqualify CCO has been widely criticised in the press as disproportionate.\n4 March RTS Programme Awards\nThe Royal Television Society programme awards shortlists have been published. Game show nominations are Masterchef: The Professionals for Best Daytime / Early Peak programme, Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor for Best Entertainment and Britain's Missing Top Model for Best Constructed Factual Series. The winners will be announced on 17 March.\n2 March University Challenge: Corpus Christi stripped of title\nCorpus Christi College, Oxford, has been officially disqualified from the just-completed University Challenge series, and stripped of their champion status after it emerged that one of the team was not technically a student. Sam Kay applied for the Corpus Christi team in the expectation that he would be studying for a DPhil there, but funding fell through. The title has been awarded to Manchester.\n25 February Dale deal\nDale Winton has signed up for another two years as host of BBC National Lottery shows . The deal guarantees him two more series of In It to Win It and two of a new format, most likely We Know Where You Live which will be piloted next month.\n24 February Tarrant becomes #1\nAccording to our records, the advent of Chris Tarrant 's new ITV game show The Colour of Money means he has become Britain's top game show host, with 16 different shows under his belt. The previous record holder, the late great Bob Monkhouse , had 15. 12 Yard's guessing game - dubbed the \"most stressful\" on TV - didn't stress BARB's ratings last Saturday, bringing in under 4 million viewers.\nThough believed accurate at the time, subsequent analysis has demonstrated that Tarrant has never had more than 15 hosting roles, and had not overtaken Monkhouse. We regret the error.\n13 January Britain's Got Talent's Got Brook\nKelly Brook has been added to the judging panel for the new series of Britain's Got Talent . Brook was a last-minute addition, being signed up on Friday for series 3 which begins filming this week. (Update 20 January: And now she's been dropped, Simon Cowell saying that \"it's become clear the format doesn't support another judge\".)\n12 January David Vine\nThe death has been announced of former Superstars , It's a Knockout and A Question of Sport host, David Vine . He was 73 and died of a heart attack at his Oxfordshire home on Sunday.\n2008\n27 December New game show book\nIf you're wondering what you do with all your Christmas cash, you could do a lot worse than buy The Quiz Show by Su Holmes , a new book published by Edinburgh University Press. Very thoroughly researched and reasonably priced for an academic work, it gives a decent coverage of quizzes old and new all set in a social context.\n18 December OFCOM fines BBC £95,000\nOFCOM has imposed fines totalling £95,000 on the BBC in respect of competition irregularities on Dermot O'Leary 's Radio 2 show, and Tony Blackburn's programme on BBC London. Both shows invited callers to apply for on-air competitions which had already been recorded. Premium rate numbers were not used on either show. Earlier this week, OFCOM also fined the Gcap station Mercury FM £20,000 for deliberately screening out correct answers from callers to its \"Secret Sounds\" competition.\n5 December ESC: Wogan out, Norton in\nGraham Norton has been confirmed as the new BBC TV commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest , replacing Terry Wogan who has stepped down after complaining that it is \"no longer a music contest\".\n25 November Krikey!\nBen Shephard has been confirmed as the new host of The Krypton Factor . The revived series, made by ITV Productions, begins filming next month.\n21 November Countdown conundrum resolved\nThe new host of Countdown has at last been named. Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling will take over from Des O'Connor in January. Meanwhile, Carol Vorderman 's replacement has been named as Rachel Riley, a 22-year old Oxford graduate with a masters degree in maths.\n19 November I want my 15p back\nBBC One controller Jay Hunt has said that the BBC \"has every intention of reimbursing\" people who voted for John Sergeant in this year's Strictly Come Dancing . Sergeant quit the show on Wednesday following weeks of adverse comment in the media.\n12 November The Countdown Presenting Saga: part umpteen\nUncomfirmed reports are claiming that Sky Sports frontman Jeff Stelling is back in the frame to become the new host of Countdown. The Soccer Saturday frontman, who had previously ruled himself out of the role, is said to have been reapproached following Alexander Armstrong 's 11th hour pullout last month. According to some sources, Stelling will be named as the new host, barring any problems.\n31 October Countdown saga continues\nIt now looks likely that Alexander Armstrong will not be taking over as host of Countdown , after reportedly pulling out at the last minute. No new names have yet emerged as possible replacements, and producers have not officially ruled out employing a large friendly robot to dispense quips and engage in banter with guests.\n17 October Countdown latest\nIt now looks almost certain that Alexander Armstrong will take over as the new host of Countdown in January. Contrary to some reports, the appointment had not been confirmed as of 1pm Friday, but it is understood that Armstrong has verbally accepted the post and an official announcement is expected in the next few days.\n13 October Krypton Factor to be AFP\nThe forthcoming revival of The Krypton Factor is to be ITV1's first primetime Advertiser Funded Programme. The series will be sponsored by the business software company Sage, which will also be promoted through the show's web and interactive content.\n9 October 12 Yard show us the colou...BONG!\nITV1 is to air a primetime series based on the Bong Game from Chris Tarrant 's old Capital Radio show. Tarrant himself will host The Colour of Money, the first new ITV1 commission from 12 Yard since the production company was bought by ITV last year.\n3 October BBC One poaches QI\nThe BBC has confirmed that QI is to move to BBC One following five series on BBC Two, during which it has become one of the channel's most watched shows. The new series is to air early in 2009.\n1 October SFO no-go on premium rate inquiry\nThe Serious Fraud Office has announced that it will not be carrying out inquiries into the recent allegations of abuse of premium rate services. Allegations against the BBC, ITV, GMTV, Big Game TV, Audiocall and Opera Telecom were referred to the SFO, which reports that \"none of these meet the SFO criterion for acceptance for investigation\". ( SFO statement )\n28 September Suchet goes for gold\nITN newsreader John Suchet is to host Five's revival of long-running daytime quiz Going for Gold . The show is to air in the old Brainteaser slot and will be broadcast live. Potential applicants should see the Contestant Calls page for more details.\n25 September ITV to regain Krypton Factor ?\nBroadcast magazine reports that ITV is on the verge of commissioning a revival of classic game show The Krypton Factor . The show would be made in-house by ITV Productions. The Krypton Factor has been the subject of recurrent comeback rumours since it was axed 13 years ago. (Update: The revival has now been confirmed.)\n15 September ESC brings back juries\nThe European Broadcasting Union has announced that next year's Eurovision Song Contest is to use a combination of national juries and televoting, in a move seen as a response to concerns over \"neighbourly\" voting skewing the results of recent contests. A similar combined system was used in this year's ESC semi-finals and in the recent Eurovision Dance Contest .\n9 September ISIHAC to return\nThe self-styled \"antidote to panel games\", I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue will return next year, Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer has announced. The show's future had been in doubt following the death of host Humphrey Lyttelton in April.\n29 August Geoffrey Perkins\nFormer director of Hat Trick Productions and BBC Head of Comedy, Geoffrey Perkins, has died in a road accident. He was 55. Perkins was the devisor of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue 's signature game Mornington Crescent and in 1990 hosted the short-lived panel game Don't Quote Me .\n25 July Vorderman quits, too\nCarol Vorderman has also announced she is to leave Countdown at the end of the year. Carol has been with the show since it started in 1982 and since 1989, has been sole hostess. In a statement released today, Carol's manager John Mills said she is 'extremely sad'. ( BBC )\n23 July O'Connor quits Countdown\nDes O'Connor is to leave his role as host of Countdown at the end of the current series in November. Des, aged 76, has presented the Channel 4 show since January 2007, when he took over from Des Lynam , the original replacement for the late Richard Whiteley . O'Connor says he has no plans to retire and is working on new projects. ( BBC )\n8 May Record fine for ITV plc\nOfcom has fined ITV plc a record £5.675 million for misconduct over its premium rate phone services - the biggest fine ever imposed by the regulator. The fine follows a report by Deloitte last year which identified \"serious editorial issues\" within Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway , Gameshow Marathon and Soapstar Superstar . ITV will also have to broadcast six summaries of the regulator's adjudication. ( BBC )\n8 May Eggheads sought\nAre you one of the millions convinced you could do better than CJ and Judith Keppel? 12 Yard are developing a spin-off show of Eggheads called Are You an Egghead?, the winner of which will join the official line up of the popular BBC2 quiz. Details on how to apply can be found on our Contestant Calls page.\n25 April Humphrey Lyttelton\nHumphrey Lyttelton , the long-serving chairman of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue , has died following surgery for an aortic aneurysm. He was 86.\n13 April Mark Speight\nPolice have announced that the body of children's TV presenter Mark Speight has been found at Paddington station. Speight, who was 42, went missing on Monday.\n9 April Ofcom consults\nThe media regulator Ofcom has issued a new consultation document outlining proposals for the regulation of premium rate \"services\". The major recommendation is that programmes using phone-ins \"must consist primarily of content other than the promotion of the premium rate service\" or be reclassified and regulated as teleshopping services. The consultation period runs until 22 May. ( OFCOM site )\n8 April Speight missing\nTV presenter and children's game show host Mark Speight has gone missing. The disappearance follows the death in January of his fiancee Natasha Collins, who appeared as the jester \"See\" in See it, Saw it with Speight. A recent inquest ruled that Collins had died from a large drugs overdose.\n6 April Phone cash unclaimed\nDespite ITV offering refunds to all viewers affected by the premium rate phone line scams, only ten thousand pounds out of £7.8 million has been reclaimed. It was announced last October that any unclaimed money will go to charity, and the period for making claims ended on 29 February.\n20 March RTS awards\nThe two game show winners from last night's Royal Television Society awards are Come Dine with Me for Best Daytime Programme (\"a pioneering show for daytime, with... great energy and pace\", said the judges) and QI for Best Entertainment Programme (\"a Great British programme, incredibly old-fashioned but absolutely part of the zeitgeist\").\n1 March Brits up for golden roses\nBritish game shows shortlisted for this year's Rose d'Or awards are Codex (pictured) and Who Dares Wins in the game show category, Deadline , Last Man Standing and The One and Only for best reality, and Streetmate for best entertainment series. Technically a Netherlands entry (as it's made by Dutch company Eyeworks), CBBC's Hider in the House also joins Streetmate in the entertainment category.\n21 February Des returns to the Beeb\nAfter an ill-conceived move to ITV, Des Lynam returns to his alma mater to present a sport-themed version of the BBC's long-running quiz, Mastermind . Over ten programmes, the debonair Lynam will test contestants over the usual specialist subject and general knowledge rounds to find the country's Sport Mastermind.\n19 February New phone-in regulations\nUnder new OFCOM rules, broadcasters will need to have premium rate phone-in competitions approved by the premium rate regular PhonePayPlus. Broadcasters will need to meet new guidelines, including closing lines promptly when competitions end. OFCOM wants the new system to be in place by the end of June.\n31 January Vernon Kay signs with ITV\nVernon Kay has signed a two-year golden handcuffs deal with ITV, said to be worth £2m. He is currently lined up to present Beat the Star this spring. The deal allows Kay to keep his current Radio 1 show.\n30 January Jeremy Beadle\nJeremy Beadle , the trivia buff and practical joker, has died of pneumonia. He was 59. Beadle rose to fame as the naughty brother on Game for a Laugh , where he pioneered the hidden camera stunts that he developed on Beadle's About. More: BBC .\n30 January Re-enter the Gladiators\nA revival of the 1990s ITV show Gladiators has been commissioned by Sky. The new series will be produced by Shine and The Sun reports that Ian Wright is in talks to be the show's new host.\n26 January Millionaire \"best game show\"\nWho Wants to be a Millionaire has been named the nation's favourite game show in a survey to promote insurance company Churchill. The Crystal Maze , which topped our all-time poll two years ago, came fourth, behind Deal or No Deal and Mastermind . Ant & Dec were named favourite hosts, Bullseye best theme tune and \" Can I have a P please, Bob? \" the top catchphrase.\n17 January Good neighbours? Not likely!\nThe BBC has confirmed that The Weakest Link is to switch channels from next month, to fill the gap left on BBC One by the loss of Aussie soap Neighbours. The quiz will retain its traditional 5.15 slot. The BBC have denied that the move will diminish its commitment to children's programming, which currently runs until 5.35.\n10 January Shephard to take on new flock\nBen Shephard is to replace Dermot O'Leary as host of the Saturday night lottery tie-in 1 vs 100 . The show has been recommissoned for a further run of eight episodes.\n4 January Natasha Collins\nNatasha Collins, who appeared as the jester \"See\" in See it, Saw it , has died suddenly at the age of 31. Police are treating the death as \"unexplained\". Her boyfriend and co-star Mark Speight , who lived with her, was questioned and has been released on police bail.\n2007\n30 December BBC phone-ins to return in new year\nThe BBC's phone-in competitions will be phased back in from January, starting with Popmaster on Radio 2's Ken Bruce show and Match of the Day's \"Goal of the Month\" contest. Call charges will be capped at 15p except for specific charity appeals.\n29 December Going for a Gong\nSometime game show hosts Michael Parkinson and Des Lynam are recognised in the 2008 New Year Honours list. Des becomes an OBE, while Parky receives a knighthood.\n22 December Graham!\n2008's follow-up to How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do will be a search for actors to play Oliver and Nancy in a revival of Oliver!. Graham Norton will again host the show, called I'd Do Anything , and Andrew Lloyd Webber is again involved, despite recent interviews suggesting he didn't want to invest the time in another TV series. Legendary West End producer Cameron Mackintosh will also be involved.\n20 December OFCOM say, C4 pay\nChannel 4 has been fined £1million by OFCOM over irregularities in Richard & Judy's \"You Say, We Pay\" competition and a further £500,000 over the viewers' competition in Deal or No Deal . C4 has said it intends to recover part of the fines by starting legal proceedings against phone service provider Eckoh. Meanwhile, OFCOM has asked ITV for details relating to last Saturday's X Factor final after more than 2,400 complaints from people who could not get through to vote, mainly for runner-up Rhydian Roberts. ITV has also been asked to reveal the full findings of the Deloitte Report into telephone irregularities, a condensed version of which was published in October.\n5 December Yard sale nets tidy profit\nITV has bought the game show producer 12 Yard for an initial £26m, with a further £9m to follow contingent on performance. The company was founded by David Young in 2001 and has recently enjoyed international success with its format The Rich List .\n21 November BBC competitions to return: new code of conduct introduced\nThe BBC has announced that competitions will return across its radio, television and online services by the end of the year. Today, the corporation's Director General, Mark Thompson, announced a new code of conduct which states that every competition entry should have a fair chance of winning and contest winners must be genuine. Competitions were suspended in July this year after an inquiry found 'serious editorial breaches' in programmes such as Children In Need's Scottish opt-out and Comic Relief. BBC Competition code details\n6 November OFCOM: Big Brother cleared\nOFCOM has ruled that Channel 4 did not breach guidelines by broadcasting two incidents in which contestants in Big Brother used potentially offensive language. A total of 650 complaints were received after the incidents were broadcast in June.\n19 October Alan Coren\nWriter and frequent panel game contributor Alan Coren has died from cancer at the age of 69. Coren was a regular panellist on The News Quiz and a team captain on the 90s/00s revival of Call My Bluff .\n18 October ITV Deloitte report released\nThe long-awaited Deloitte report into ITV plc's premium rate phone-in services has found three 'key areas of failure' in how the broadcaster integrated services into its programming. In a statement this morning, the executive chairman of ITV plc, Michael Grade, said that a 'serious cultural failure' within the company had been identified. He added that the company will reimburse £7.8million worth of unfunded votes to misled viewers. Voting via digital television and SMS text systems have been suspended, and ITV has pre-announced a refund scheme . BBC Digital Spy\n8 October Ladies please!\nMastermind is to advertise for contenders in women's magazines in an effort to encourage more female applicants, reports MediaGuardian . At present only a quarter of applicants are female, and no woman has won the title since Anne Ashurst in 1997. Applications (regardless of gender) can be made through the Mastermind website .\n1 October Ned Sherrin\nNed Sherrin , the original and long-serving host of Counterpoint , has died of complications from throat cancer. He was 76.\n26 September GMTV fined\nGMTV has been fined £2m by Ofcom over its use of premium-rate phone-in competitions between May 2003 and April 2007, during which time around 18 million calls were placed which were disreagrded as winners had been selected early on. Ofcom ruled that GMTV had been \"both irresponsible and negligent\" in its relationship with operator Opera Telecom and had not done enough to ensure compliance with Ofcom codes of practice. The fine equals the largest ever handed down by Ofcom.\n24 September Telecoms company fined over GMTV competitions\nOpera Telecom, the former phone operator for GMTV competitions, has been fined a record £250,000 by the premium rate regulator, ICSTIS. The regulator found that over four years, more than 18 million calls were made to GMTV competitions that had no chance of winning. The fine is the largest ever imposed by ICSTIS in its 21-year history.\n13 September Strictly Mr & Mrs\nGabby Logan and her husband, former rugby international Kenny Logan, are to be the first married celebrity couple to compete against each other in Strictly Come Dancing when the show returns next month. Gabby was barred from competing in the 2006 series because she was then under exclusive contract to ITV. Other celebs appearing this year include Kate Garraway , Kelly Brook and John Barnes. The line-up of professional dancers is unchanged from last year. ( Full list )\n12 September 50/50\nWho Wants to be a Millionaire? bosses have created a spin-off show based on the 50/50 lifeline. Called 50/50, surprisingly enough, the quiz will see pairs of contestants competing for big cash prizes by accepting or rejecting alternative answers to questions, but quite what that means is still unclear. ( The Sun )\n12 September Game over for ITV Play\nITVplc has announced that its phone-in quiz programming on ITV1 + ITV2 is to be axed by the end of the year. The company's executive chairman, Michael Grade, announced the decision to end Glitterball and Make Your Play this morning saying that the recent TV phone-in scandal had decreased call volumes to 'uneconomic levels'. Earlier this year, a dedicated ITV Play channel was closed down in what the broadcaster described as a 'commerical move'. ( Digital Spy )\n3 September No shocks at TV Quick awards\nWinners at last night's TV Quick Awards included I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! as Best Reality Show and The X Factor as Best Talent Show. The award for Best Entertainment Show was won by Saturday Night Takeaway .\n31 August \"This is so men'al\"\nBrian Belo, who famously said he did not know who William Shakespeare was, and told Davina he was a director who made Romeo and Juliet, has won the eighth series of Big Brother ahead of twins Amanda and Sam, Liam and Ziggy. ( BBC )\n31 August Boyle goes Bollywood\nTrainspotting director Danny Boyle is to base his forthcoming movie on the Indian version of hit TV quiz show Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? Based on a true story, Slumdog Millionaire, will shoot in Mumbai from a script by fellow Briton Simon Beaufoy, who penned The Full Monty. ( BBC )\n24 August EXCLUSIVE: Scrapheap scrapped\nCelebrity Big Brother is to be rested, and Scrapheap Challenge axed in a major shakeup of Channel 4 programming. Celeb BB will not run next year, in order to free up the 9pm weeknight slot for new commissions, though a \"very different\" BB spin-off will air on E4 only. Scrapheap Challenge will end after its 2008 series, which has already been recorded.\nOctober 2007 Update: Broadcast magazine reports that although the pre-released copy of Kevin Lygo's speech lists Scrapheap as one of many long-running formats to be axed, the show itself was not personally listed by Lygo in his address. Furthermore, we understand that the future of Scrapheap remains undecided at this time.\n13 August 12 question money tree on WWTBAM\nJon Culshaw and John Thomson will be the first people to face the new-look Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The prize money will now start at £500, not £100, and it will only take 12 correct answers to win the top prize. It will only take two questions to reach the first safe haven at £1,000. The second rises in value from £32,000 to £50,000, and is achieved after seven correct answers. ( BBC )\n13 August Merv Griffin\nMerv Griffin, the devisor of game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! , has died at the age of 82. The US entertainer, best known for his eponymous talk show which ran from 1965 to 1986, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer for a second time earlier this year.\n10 August Tony Wilson\nMaverick music mogul, veteran news anchor and sometime game show host Anthony H. Wilson has died at the age of 57. Wilson was diagnosed with renal cancer last year but his condition was said to have been responding well to treatment.\n9 August Gcap forgoes phone profits\nGcap, the radio giant which runs Capital and BMRB, as well as Classic FM and Capital Gold, is the latest broadcaster to drop profit-making phone-ins. The move comes after phone operator MX Telecom was fined £17,500 over irregularities in Gcap's \"Secret Sounds\" competition broadcast across 31 local stations in its \"One Network\". Gcap will continue to use premium-rate services but will not take a profit from them.\n9 August Fine over DoND phone-in\niTouch, the telephone operator for Deal or No Deal 's phone-in contest, has been fined £30,000 by ICSTIS because the programme gave the impression that viewers could win any one of the three prizes on offer. In fact because the show is pre-recorded, producers knew which prize would be available before the lines opened. Though imposing a fine for a breach of its code of practice, ICSTIS' ruling stated that \"the detriment to consumers from this specific breach was not high\".\n6 August Millionaire moves to audition model\nIn an attempt to refresh the show ahead of its tenth anniversary (or to put it another way, stop boring people getting on screen), Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is to begin holding auditions for prospective contestants. The premium-rate application line will remain, but will be joined by a free web entry route. Auditions are already held in some countries where the WWTBAM format has been licensed.\n1 August Channel 4 scraps almost all phone-ins\nIn what it describes as \"a tough new policy\", Channel 4 has announced that it will no longer include profit-making phone-in competitions in its shows, with the exception of Big Brother and Deal or No Deal , from which Channel 4's profits will go to charity. The announcement follows the discovery that between September 2004 and March 2007, a total of 2.9 million calls were entered to Richard & Judy's \"You Say, We Pay\" competition which had no chance of winning because the shortlist had already been finalised soon after lines opened.\n30 July Phil Drabble\nPhil Drabble , the original and longest-serving host of One Man and His Dog , has died at the age of 93. Drabble, who fronted the programme from 1976 to 1993, died peacefully at his Staffordshire home on Sunday.\n29 July Mike Reid\nThe death has been announced of comedian and actor Mike Reid at the age of 67. Latterly famous for his role as Frank Butcher in EastEnders, Reid was also the sometime host of Runaround and recently competed in a celeb reality show, The Baron , which was due to air next month on ITV1.\n27 July Give a Few Bob\nGame show legend Bob Monkhouse returns to our screens four years after his death. With full support of the Monkhouse family, amazing computer graphics and body doubles have been used in conjunction with archive footage to produce an amazingly lifelike advert featuring Bob asking the public to donate money to prostate cancer research, the illness which took Monkhouse's life. Watch the advert here\n25 July GMTV MD resigns\nPaul Corley, the managing director of GMTV, has announced his resignation over the mishandling of phone-in competitions on the station. GMTV will offer a series of free draws with a total prize fund of 2.5 million pounds and will also change the way that competitions are run in future. Mr. Corley says that he hopes his resignation and this series of initatives will help restore 'viewer trust' in the station. ( BBC )\n18 July All BBC competitions suspended\nBBC Director-General Mark Thompson has announced that all BBC phone-in competitions will be suspended from midnight tonight (Wednesday) and that online and interactive competitions will be suspended \"as soon as possible\". The measures come after an internal enquiry at the BBC uncovered five previously unknown instances of competition results being faked, including phone-ins during the Sport Relief, Comic Relief and Children in Need telethons.\n11 July Holmes flop is new lottery vehicle\nNick Knowles is to host a new BBC One lottery tie-in this autumn. The 12 Yard show, Who Dares Wins, is a renamed version of The Rich List, a format which was billed as Eamonn Holmes ' bid to crack America, but which was pulled from US TV schedules after just one episode. The show had previously been piloted and rejected by ITV. The format has, however, been a hit in Australia.\n6 July Richard and Judy phone quiz thievery\nA fine of £150,000 is to be levied on the phone company involved in the Richard & Judy phone quiz fraud. You Say We Pay began shortly after Richard & Judy went on air at 5pm and ended at 5.38pm, with the competition being won at 5.42pm. On most days a shortlist of 24 possible winners was drawn up as early as 5.11pm, and sent by Eckoh to Cactus Television. ( Times )\n27 June Tycoon toppled from Tuesdays\nITV has pulled its much-hyped business reality series Tycoon from Tuesday nights after the show failed to improve on its first-week ratings. Only 1.8 million people saw the second episode, a 9% share of viewing. The one-hour episodes will be re-edited to half an hour to fit a 10pm slot on Mondays and it is likely that the live final, originally scheduled for 24 July, will be put back.\n26 June er Bra | e fin | Fiv | inte | ed ov | aser\nOFCOM has imposed a record £300,000 fine on Five in respect of a series of incidents during the first three months of this year in which Brainteaser faked the results of on-air competitions. According to the ruling, the incidents \"should be seen against a background of serious and longstanding compliance failures\" dating back to 2003. Five will also have to broadcast apologies both in the show's old slot and in primetime.\n26 June Highbrow reality series for BBC2 autumn line-up\nBBC2's autumn line-up, announced today, includes two major new reality shows. Classical Star will seek a young musician to be awarded a recording contract with a major classical label, while The Restaurant challenges nine couples to run an eaterie with the winners receiving backing from Raymond Blanc. Dragons' Den will also return for a fifth series.\n23 June People's Quiz pays out\nStephanie Bruce, a chemist and self-styled \"Essex girl\" resident in Haverhill, Suffolk has been named the People's Quiz champion after beating Mark Labbett in the final head-to-head round. Her £200,700 prize is the most ever paid out by a BBC show.\n22 July Walsh gets job back\nLouis Walsh has confirmed that he is back in The X Factor fold for the next series. Walsh had previously been dropped from the line-up but will return to replace \"new judge\" Brian Friedman, who has quit the panel but will be given a new role on the show.\n15 June Dragons' Den\nEntrepreneur James Caan has been confirmed as the new Dragon in the Den . Caan, founder of HR firm The Alexander Mann Group, will replace Richard Farleigh when the fifth series goes into production this summer.\n14 June The Great Pretender\nChris Tarrant is taking on Deal or No Deal host Noel Edmonds by fronting a weekday tea-time quiz. The Who Wants to be a Millionaire? star, 60, has signed up for an ITV show in which players bluff each other to win. ( The Sun )\n13 June Bloody old fool that I am, I'm going to take that risk\nSimon Ambrose has won The Apprentice , beating Kristina Grimes to the £100,000-a-year job with Sir Alan Sugar. The pair's final showdown saw them compete to win over architects and property developers with a design for a building on the South Bank. Kristina's property design was said to resemble Fascist architecture which was later changed. ( BBC )\n13 June Sir David Hatch\nThe death has been announced of former BBC Managing Director of Radio, David Hatch . He was co-creator of the long-running comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and host of Wireless Wise , as well as commissioner of countless other radio shows. ( BBC )\n12 June Katie, you're fired\nKatie Hopkins, a former candidate on BBC's The Apprentice , has been fired from her 'real job' (a brand manager for the Met Office) as she failed to pass her probationary term. The final, between Simon Ambrose and Kristina Grimes takes place on Wednesday 13th June at 21:00 on BBC1. ( BBC )\n8 June Brainteaser compensation sought\nFive is reported to be claiming compensation from Endemol for loss of revenue following the sudden axing of Brainteaser in March this year. The show, made by Endemol's Cheetah West subsidiary, was pulled after it was discovered that some of the on-air winning \"callers\" to the show were in fact members of the production staff.\n7 June The 'n' word is clearly offensive\nEmily Parr has been removed from the Big Brother house for using a racially offensive word to Charley Uchea, while they were dancing in the living room on Wednesday evening. The eviction vote, in which Emily was nominated along with Shabnam Paryani, has been suspended. ( BBC )\n7 June Grand Slam goes to U.S.\nWinners from American shows including Jeopardy! (Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter), Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Kevin Olmstead and John Carpenter), Wheel of Fortune , Tic Tac Dough , Lingo and The Weakest Link are scheduled to compete for $100,000 in the U.S. version of the 2003 quiz . The show will be hosted by Dennis Miller with Amanda Byram and broadcast on Game Show Network from 8 Aug. ( TV Guide )\n4 June X Factor appointments\nSinger Dannii Minogue and choreographer Brian Friedman are the new judges on The X Factor . Their appointment follows Louis Walsh 's departure from the show.\n3 June Manford's the man for Cats\nStand-up comic Jason Manford is to join the regular cast of 8 Out of 10 Cats . He will replace Dave Spikey as team captain when the fifth series begins on 15 June.\n30 May Hancock returns\nNick Hancock has been announced as the host of new Channel 4 daytime show Win My Wage , which will air in Deal or No Deal 's slot this summer. It will be his first regular hosting role on national TV since leaving They Think it's All Over in 2004.\n29 May The Big Donor Show\nBig Brother maker Endemol is said to be going ahead with a new reality TV programme called De Grote Donorshow (The Big Donor Show) to be screened on Dutch TV station BNN this Friday, in which viewers vote on who will recieve the kidney of a terminally ill woman. ( BBC ). (Update 1 June: It was a hoax.) For more information on organ donation, visit: www.uktransplant.org.uk\n24 May OFCOM adjudication: CBB broke broadcasting rules\nAn OFCOM investigation has found that Channel 4's 2007 series of Celebrity Big Brother was in breach of the Broadcasting Code. The report says that a serious failure of the compliance process led to serious editorial misjudgements. Channel 4 and S4C (also affected by OFCOM's actions) will broadcast a summary of the findings after the first show of the new series next week. Repeat summaries will be shown after a revised repeat and the first eviction. ( OFCOM adjudication )\n20 May BAFTA Winners\nThe sole game show winner from this year's BAFTA TV awards was The X Factor as Best Entertainment Programme out of about half a dozen game show nominations. If you count Numberwang from That Mitchell and Webb Look (winner of Best Comedy Programme), there are two winning game shows!\n18 May Dragon dropped\nAustralian investor Richard Farleigh has been dropped from the next series of Dragons' Den . Farleigh said he was \"gutted\" not to be invited to take part after appearing in the previous two series. His replacement has not yet been named.\n18 May MGEITF\nThe MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival has announced some of the confirmed speakers for this year's event, including Jeremy Paxman , who will deliver the MacTaggart Lecture and host a one-off live edition of University Challenge . Channel 4's chief executive, Andy Duncan, will take part in a major session, including discussion of the Big Brother controversy. ( WorldScreen )\n17 May Quiz scandal hits ITV profits\nIn a statement for its annual general meeting the broadcaster confirmed that its premium rate telephone services revenue dropped by around 20 per cent in March and April amid scandals involving GMTV and The X Factor . Ad revenues for the first half of 2007 at ITV1 are down 9.6 per cent against last year, while ITV's total take from advertising is down 5.7 per cent. ( InTheNews )\n13 Apr Are You Smarter?\nSky One has bought the rights to the phenomenally successful US game show - Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. It will be renamed Are You Smarter Than a 10-Year-Old? ( BBC )\n11 Apr BAFTA Nominations\nThe nominees for this year's BAFTA TV awards have been announced. Dancing on Ice , Maria? and The X Factor go up against Derren Brown's The Heist for Best Entertainment Programme, while Stephen Fry , Ant 'n' Dec , Paul Merton and Jonathan Ross face off in the Best Entertainment Performance category, and The Apprentice and Dragons' Den are up against The Choir and Gordon Ramsay 's The F Word for Best Features. Dragons' Den and Celeb BB are shortlisted for the Pioneer Audience Award but stand no chance against Life On Mars. Finally Numberwang , or at any rate That Mitchell and Webb Look, is up for Best Comedy. The winners will be announced on 20 May.\n4 Apr Brucie's Back!\nThe Generation Game is making a comeback later this year as part of UKTV Gold's £10 million new programming strategy, with UKGameshows.com's top host of all time (as voted by readers) Bruce Forsyth at the helm. ( DS )\n30 Mar O'Leary has X Factor\nDermot O'Leary has been confirmed as the new host of The X Factor , replacing the ousted Kate Thornton . The hit ITV talent show will return in the autumn.\n13 Mar ITV Play channel closes down for good\nThe controversial ITV Play channel has ceased transmission permanently after just under a year on air. Overnight broadcasts, which currently include Glitterball and Make Your Play will continue on ITV1 + ITV2. ( ITN , BBC )\n5 Mar ITV suspends premium rate phone-ins\nITV has admitted a mistake when a vote on The X Factor led to viewers being overcharged by £200,000. There have also been complaints regarding Richard and Judy and Big Brother on Channel 4. ( BBC , BBC )\n3 Mar Dominic wins £1m\nDominic Jackson beat Colin Lynch in the final to scoop the jackpot on the second series of PokerFace and go into 12th place in the UK game shows All Time Winners List . Congratulations to him!\n22 Feb You Say We Don't Pay refund line\nFor people ripped off by Richard & Judy, the refund line is 0800 666 805. The line will be open until the investigation is complete. ( C4 , BBC )\n8 Feb Two new ITV game shows\nTwo shows from Endemol-owned Initial have been commissioned by ITV: For the Rest of Your Life by Deal or No Deal creator Dick de Rijk gives couples the chance to win a pay cheque every month of every year for the rest of their lives; and Golden Balls are due to air in the Spring.\n12 Jan Match burnt out\nSky One have confirmed that their longest-running game show format, The Match , has been axed. The celebrity football show ran for three series, but failed to produce a team capable of beating a squad of ex-professionals. Sky has said it is seeking a new football-based reality format.\n7 Jan Deal jackpot won\nLaura Pearce, a civilian police worker from Hemel Hempstead, has become the first person to win the £250,000 jackpot on Deal or No Deal . It is the biggest prize ever given away on daytime television in the UK.\n7 Jan Magnus Magnusson dies\nFormer Mastermind presenter Magnus Magnusson dies of cancer at the age of 77. ( BBC )\n5 Jan ITV1 seeks tycoons\nThe first fruit of ITV1's deal with Dragons' Den investor Peter Jones has been announced. Tycoon will see Jones mentoring would-be entrepreneurs and is likely to air this summer. Applications can be made via the ITV website from Saturday.\n1 Jan Return of the King\nIt has been confirmed that School's Out will be returning for a second, eight-part, series, to be filmed in February. King Danny of Lovely will again host the show, which is made by Graham Norton 's So Television.\n2006\n30 Dec A gong for Sarpong\nJune Sarpong is an unexpected inclusion on the 2007 new year honours list, becoming an MBE for her broadcasting and charity work. Penelope Keith is made a CBE, though it is unlikely that her stint as host of What's My Line? had much bearing on the award.\n26 Dec Grand Cram\nThe first-round questions for the forthcoming National Lottery People's Quiz have been published online, together with details of the five open auditions for the show. The guaranteed jackpot is £200,700, more than double the previous highest prize awarded on a BBC show. People's Quiz website.\n23 Dec Big Game TV\nFraud charges against Big Game TV have been dropped after a six-month investigation found no evidence of criminality. However, the channel may still face regulatory action from OFCOM.\n7 November Another Des\nDes O'Connor is said to have won the race to replace Des Lynam as host of Countdown . Des, aged 74, is said to still be in negotiations but reports are confident he has been given the job. Channel 4 is thought to have offered him a contract worth £500,000. His first episodes would be broadcast in January 2007. Other contenders Michael Aspel , Alan Titchmarsh , Stephen Fry and Paul Merton are said to have pulled out of the race due to work commitments.\n1 November National Television Awards\nThe winners have been announced of the ITV-sponsored National Television Awards. Ant and Dec won Most Popular Entertainment Presenter, while Gameshow Marathon was voted top game show, ending Millionaire 's seven-year winning streak. Deal or No Deal took the Most Popular Daytime Show title, Big Brother was Most Popular Reality Programme (and BB7's Nikki Grahame was named Most Popular TV Contender) and Most Popular Entertainment Programme was The X Factor .\n30 October New Faces discovery\nA 1973 episode of New Faces previously believed to have been lost has been rediscovered by director Paul Stewart Laing. The episode includes the first TV appearance of Victoria Wood, who went on to win the series. Including this new discovery, only 18 out of the 160 episodes produced in the 1970s are known to have survived.\n12 October Magnus Magnusson diagnosed with cancer\nFormer Mastermind presenter Magnus Magnusson has been diagnosed with cancer. He has cancelled a number of public appearances, including a talk at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to mark his 77th birthday. ( BBC )\n5 October BB vote rapped\nThe premium rate watchdog ICSTIS has ruled that Channel 4 \"misled\" viewers and broke its own guidelines when it invited Big Brother viewers to vote to evict housemates who were subsequently reinstated. ISCTIS received over 2600 complaints about the matter. C4 avoided a fine, but have been ordered to pay the costs of the investigation.\n30 September Lynam quits\nDes Lynam has announced that he is to leave Countdown at the end of the present series, citing the inconvenience of travel between his West Sussex home and Yorkshire TV's studios in Leeds. No decision has yet been announced on who will take over as host.\n16 September Ingram wins the jackpot\nIngram Wilcox's win on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? puts him in at position 10 on the All Time Winners List . His final question was \"Which boxer was famous for striking the gong in the introduction to J. Arthur Rank films?\" A: Bombardier Billy Wells, B: Freddie Mills, C: Terry Spinks, D: Don Cockell.\n18 October NTA Award noms\nThe shortlists have been announced for the ITV-sponsored National Television Awards, to be handed out on 31 October. The major game show categories are Most Popular Game Show ( Cats , Marathon , News , Millionaire ), Entertainment Programme ( Takeaway , Strictly , Dancing on Ice , The X Factor and non-gameshow Friday Night with Jonathan Ross) and Reality Programme ( BB7 , Celeb BB4 , I'm a Celeb 4 and Apprentice 2 ). Deal or No Deal is up for Most Popular Daytime Programme, Bad Lads Army is nominated for Most Popular Factual, and there is a new \"TV Contender\" category featuring contestants from BB, Celeb BB, I'm a Celeb and Soapstar Superstar . The Most Popular Entertainment Presenter noms are Ant and Dec , Noel , Davina , Paul O'Grady and perpetual winner in this category, Jonathan Ross . You can vote if you wish at nta.itv.com .\n6 September Anne Gregg\nThe death has been announced of the presenter Anne Gregg. Best-known for presenting the Holiday programme, she also hosted the short-lived Holiday Quiz spin-off and was a regular panellist on the antiques quiz Going, Going, Gone . Gregg was 66 and had been ill with cancer.\n5 September Noel's mystery solved\nThe mystery of the symbols on Noel Edmonds' hand when filming Deal or No Deal has been solved. Far from being an object lesson in cosmic ordering, as many had thought, in fact the final messages spelt out \"www\", \"red\", \"box\" and \"club\" pointing to this website . If you can solve the hidden message of the code you can win a VIP trip to the DoND studios including a chance to meet Noel and be one of the blue box openers.\n5 September Award season again, so soon\nThe TV Quick Awards were handed out last night. Deal or No Deal added the \"Best Daytime Show\" award to its already strained trophy cabinet, while the usual suspects also picked up gongs: I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! won \"Best Reality Show\" for the fourth year running, and Strictly Come Dancing took \"Best Entertainment Programme\" for the second year on the trot (so to speak).\nThis page was last modified on 13 January 2017, at 19:08.\nThis page has been accessed 92,445 times.",
"IFI October Programme by Irish Film Institute - issuu\n... and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu’s millions of monthly readers. Title: ... Author: Irish Film ... OCTOBER 2014. MR ...\nIFI October Programme by Irish Film Institute - issuu\nissuu\nTHE IRISH FILM INSTITUTE\nEXHIBIT PRESERVE EDUCATE Night Will Fall\nThe Irish Film Institute is Ireland’s national cultural institution for film. It aims to exhibit the finest in independent, Irish and international cinema, preserve Ireland’s moving image heritage at the IFI Irish Film Archive, and encourage engagement with film through its various educational programmes.\nTHE CRITICAL TAKE WINE TASTING\nThe IFI’s annual gore-fest, IFI Horrorthon, returns from October 23rd to 27th with another bloody feast of features set to shock you to the core! With over 30 new releases showcasing the best of Irish and international films of the genre, including many Irish premieres, a new IFI Horrorthon Honours selection, special guests, and judiciously chosen classics, this year’s festival will be the most grizzly yet. A highlight of the IFI calendar! (See page 19 for further details.) 2\nWhy not join us in the IFI Café Bar for a night of wine tasting on Tuesday, October 14th at 19.30. For only €20 sample some Spanish wines along with tasty and tempting tapas! To book your place contact Sharon Corrigan (01 679 5744). A perfect mid-week treat!\nEVENING COURSE\nIFI HORRORTHON\nWhat We Do in the Shadows\nJoin our panel for The Critical Take on October 29th (18.30) for a discussion on André Singer’s extraordinary Second World War documentary Night Will Fall (opens October 3rd), the British historical action film ’71 set in Northern Ireland (opens October 10th) and the re-issue of Michelangelo Antonioni’s cult classic Zabriskie Point from 1970 (opens October 24th). This event is FREE and open to all to attend and to take part.\nThe IFI Evening Course, South Facing, will take place every Tuesday between October 7th and November 11th, focusing on the cinema of Latin America. Inspired by the work of directors such as Walter Salles, Lucrecia Martel, Alfonso Cuarón and others, this six-week course will examine a selection of titles from several different Latin American countries with guest speakers at each screening. Cost: €65 for complete course (concessions €60). Book before October 7th by emailing Sharon Corrigan ([email protected]).\nThis month we report on major advancements at the IFI Irish Film Archive, and present a programme which features the annual IFI Horrorthon, a celebration of German cinema, and a plethora of special events and guests…\nOCTOBER AT THE IFI As previously reported, during the summer of 2014, with the generous support of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the IFI Irish Film Archive completed the first stage of its Digital Preservation and Access strategy through an ambitious infrastructure project. This is a major development for the Irish Film Institute. As a result of this, access to the collections will be vastly improved due to the speed at which digital collections can now be retrieved and the potential to make them more widely available in the future through technology-based access solutions. These improvements are the first steps for the IFI Irish Film Archive in achieving its goal to become a world-class Digital Archive, ensuring Ireland’s moving image heritage is preserved and accessible in an increasingly digitised era.\nIFI Festival season is well and truly upon us once again. As we’ve just said goodbye to the first of this year’s autumn/ winter festivals – another hugely successful IFI Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Film Festival – we’re now gearing up for our annual IFI Horrorthon over the Bank Holiday weekend, which promises the usual gory thrills and spills. This year there are some great new additions to the programme, including live music and readings, and we’re delighted to welcome two special guests: filmmaker Frank Henenlotter and scream queen (and now director) Jessica Cameron. Please see the separate IFI Horrorthon flyer for full programme details and information on special discounted day passes (see page 19 for further details). Next month, we’ll be welcoming back the Carte Noire IFI French Film Festival which boasts some fantastic guests who have yet to be announced. This month we also continue our annual celebration of German cinema, and this year, IFI Kinofest, in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Irland, presents a short selection of the best in contemporary German cinema, alongside some of the grand masters – Edgar Reitz and Volker Schlöndorff.\nMike Leigh, who will be taking part in a Q&A at the IFI (see page 15)\nDIRECTOR’S NOTE\nIt’s a particularly strong month for special events at the IFI. We’re especially pleased to welcome acclaimed British director Mike Leigh to the IFI (Oct 19th) to coincide with the release of his award-winning Mr. Turner. Alongside the documentary Tony Benn: Will and Testament, we’ll have a series of special introductions by a selection of guests. Filmmakers will be in attendance in abundance this month at screenings of their latest features, including director Niall Heery (Oct 10th) at the feel-good comedy Gold (starring David Wilmot and James Nesbitt); Aoife Kelleher at the thought-provoking and moving documentary about Glasnevin cemetery, One Million Dubliners (Oct 31st); a satellite Q&A at The Guarantee (Oct 30th), Ian Power’s telling of the night the Irish government committed to the bank guarantee; director Stere Gulea will introduce the screening of his latest film, the brilliantly funny I’m an Old Communist Hag (Oct 10th); and directors Laura Aguiar and Cahal McLaughlin will participate in a panel discussion following the Ireland on Sunday screening of We Were There (Oct 19th), which tells the true stories of female prisoners at the Maze Prison.\nIn addition to other great new releases and classics, there’s a fantastic music strand running through this month’s programme. We’re delighted to be exclusively presenting Björk: Biophilia Live which documents the final show in the tour of the latest album of one of the music industry’s most iconic stars. John Ridley (script writer of 12 Years a Slave) returns with his biopic about the early years of Jimi Hendrix before he found fame in Jimi: All is by My Side, while Elaine Constantine’s debut feature Northern Soul celebrates the music and the moves of this scene through the story of two young men in a Lancashire town desperately trying to get to America. So there’s plenty to keep you occupied at the IFI this autumn and winter. Ross Keane Director\n3\nNEW RELEASES & IFI CLASSICS HUMAN CAPITAL IDA SALVATORE GIULIANO MAPS TO THE STARS LE JOUR SE LÈVE NIGHT WILL FALL TONY BENN: WILL AND TESTAMENT VIOLETTE WITHNAIL & I GOLD ’71 BJÖRK: BIOPHILIA LIVE NORTHERN SOUL PALO ALTO THE BATTLES OF CORONEL AND FALKLAND ISLANDS JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE THE WAY HE LOOKS ZABRISKIE POINT THE GUARANTEE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS MR. TURNER ONE MILLION DUBLINERS\nSEASONS & EVENTS CALENDAR FROM OCT 1ST FROM OCT 1ST FROM OCT 1ST FROM OCT 1ST OPENS OCT 3RD OPENS OCT 3RD OPENS OCT 3RD OPENS OCT 3RD OPENS OCT 3RD OPENS OCT 10TH OPENS OCT 10TH OPENS OCT 17TH OPENS OCT 17TH OPENS OCT 17TH OPENS OCT 17TH OPENS OCT 24TH OPENS OCT 24TH OPENS OCT 24TH OPENS OCT 30TH OPENS OCT 31ST OPENS OCT 31ST OPENS OCT 31ST\nTIMES For a breakdown of times and dates of IFI New Releases & IFI Classics, check out our weekly schedule on www.ifi.ie or the IFI ads in The Irish Times on Fridays and Saturdays. You can also sign up to receive our weekly ezine by emailing [email protected]\nScan the QR code to take you straight to the IFI homepage on your smart phone.\n4\nIRELAND ON SUNDAY: WE WERE THERE + Q&A MR. TURNER: PREVIEW + DIRECTOR Q&A\n13.00\nIFI EXPERIMENTAL FILM CLUB: TONY HILL – GRAVITY PLAY\n18.30\nIFI EVENING COURSE: SOUTH FACING: CITY OF GOD\n18.30\nFEAST YOUR EYES: EL BULLI: COOKING IN PROGRESS\n18.30\nIFI HORRORTHON (SEE PAGE 19)\n24TH FRI\nIFI HORRORTHON (SEE PAGE 19)\n25TH SAT\nIFI HORRORTHON (SEE PAGE 19)\n26TH SUN\nIFI FAMILY: THE LITTLE VAMPIRE IFI HORRORTHON (SEE PAGE 19)\n27TH MON\nIFI HORRORTHON (SEE PAGE 19)\n28TH TUE\nIFI EVENING COURSE: SOUTH FACING: WHISKY\n18.30\nWILD STRAWBERRIES: NOW YOU SEE ME FREE EVENT: THE CRITICAL TAKE\n11.00 18.30\nTHE GUARANTEE: PREVIEW + SATELLITE Q&A\n20.00\nWILD STRAWBERRIES: NOW YOU SEE ME ONE MILLION DUBLINERS + Q&A\n11.00 18.30\nOCTOBER 2014 NEW RELEASES & IFI CLASSICS\nHUMAN CAPITAL\nFROM OCT 1ST (IL CAPITALE UMANO) FILM INFO:\n109 minutes, Italy-France, 2013, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nDino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is a real estate agent who is easily seduced by the trappings of wealth, and fancies himself as deserving of a payday. He throws his lot in with hedge-fund hawker Giovanni Bernaschi (Fabrizio Gifuni), the father of his daughter’s boyfriend. Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), Giovanni’s timid wife, is desperate for validation and finds a project in renovating a rundown theatre, which gains her the attention of academic Donato (Luigi Lo Cascio). Dino’s daughter Serena (Matilde\nGioli) has little time for the Bernaschi’s money, and finds herself distracted by troubled artist Luca (Giovanni Anzaldo). A tragic accident is at the centre of a story presented in chapters, from three different points of view. With well-drawn characters and a daring, intelligent script, Paolo Virzì’s gripping, ambitiously constructed drama is a pertinent examination of life in a modern Europe which smartly addresses issues of relationships, class and capitalism.\nIn early 1960s Poland, young novitiate nun Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska, making a powerful debut) is required to visit her Aunt Wanda, her only surviving relative, before taking her final vows. Her hard-living aunt is a proud member of the Communist Party, and a judge whose fervent prosecution of enemies of the state has earned her the nickname ‘Red Wanda’. Initially wary of each other due to their vast differences, their relationship is complicated by Wanda’s revelation\nthat Anna was once Ida, born to Jewish parents of whom no trace remains. In search of her origins, Anna travels into the Polish countryside with her aunt, seeking a connection to the family she never knew, her faith tested in this and other, more earthly ways.\nIDA\nFROM OCT 1ST FILM INFO:\n82 minutes, Poland, 2013, Subtitled, Black and White, D-Cinema Notes by Kevin Coyne\nBeautifully shot, Pawlikowski’s spare and affecting film is a strong addition to Polish cinema’s body of work examining the country’s troubled history. 5\nOCTOBER 2014 NEW RELEASES & IFI CLASSICS\nSALVATORE GIULIANO\nFROM OCT 1ST IFI CLASSIC FILM INFO:\n123 minutes, Italy, 1962, Subtitled, Black and White, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nCastelvetrano, 1950. A lifeless body, riddled with bullets and drenched in blood, lies face down in a courtyard, two guns at its side. Reporters twitter around it, demanding answers from harassed policemen, creating stories and expounding theories about the scene they are confronted with. The dead man is 27-year-old Salvatore Giuliano, a Sicillian Robin Hood, regarded as a worthless bandit by some and a hero by many. Myth and reality mingle in Francesco Rosi’s tour-de-force\nSalvatore Giuliano, a landmark work of political filmmaking which follows the path of the title character’s real life in order to expose the complex relationship between the Sicilian people, the Mafia, law enforcement and the political establishment. Rosi went to great lengths to represent his subject accurately, and the film became a noted inspiration for filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.\nMAPS TO THE STARS\nFROM OCT 1ST FILM INFO:\n111 minutes, U.S.A.-GermanyFrance, 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\n6\nNewly released from a psychiatric hospital, Agatha (Mia Wasikowska) embarks on a Hollywood adventure, connecting with Carrie Fisher via Twitter and sparking the intrigue of Jerome (Robert Pattinson), a wannabe actor/ writer and driver of the limo Agatha hires as a treat. Agatha soon scores a job as gofer for Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore), a neurotic actress desperate to land a comeback role in a remake of a 1950s film which featured Havana’s late movie star mother. The ghost of Havana’s mother haunts her,\nas the extent to which she abused her daughter is dubiously revealed by Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), a quack physical therapist. Weiss and his fragile wife Christina (Olivia Williams) are the parents of brat celeb Benjie (Evan Bird), the over-indulged 13-year-old megastar of the phenomenally successful teen-movie franchise Bad Babysitter. The Weiss family have reason to be concerned that Agatha is in LA. David Cronenberg lets rip in this deliciously vicious Hollywood satire, scripted by novelist Bruce Wagner.\nLE JOUR SE LÈVE OPENS OCT 3RD (DAYBREAK) IFI CLASSIC FILM INFO:\n93 minutes, France, 1939, Black and White, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden IFI FRENCH FILM CLUB IFI French Film Club screening will take place on October 7th. Tickets €7 for IFI and Alliance Français members.\nA gunshot rings out and a man stumbles through an apartment doorway, falling down dead. His killer remains behind the door of the apartment, which is quickly under siege from the gendarmes. As neighbours gossip about what a happy and decent man he once was, the killer reflects on events that have brought him to this dark place, and a fated love affair that continues to spur him on. Arguably the pinnacle of the poetic realism movement that emerged in France during the 1930s, Marcel Carné’s\nNIGHT WILL FALL OPENS OCT 3RD FILM INFO:\n75 minutes, U.K.-GermanyFrance-Israel-U.S.A.-Denmark, 2014, Black and White and Colour, D-Cinema Notes by British Film Institute\nNight Will Fall is a powerful new documentary about the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the efforts made by combat and newsreel cameramen to document the almost unbelievable scenes encountered there. Directed by André Singer (executive producer of the multi-award-winning The Act of Killing), it uses original archive footage and eyewitness testimonies to tell the extraordinary story of the filming of the camps. He says, \"It has been an enormous privilege to talk to\nLe Jour se lève remains an intensely romantic, emotionally engaging film, while its innovative flashback structure still intrigues and delights, despite having inspired any number of films since its release. The incomparable Jean Gabin is mesmerising as the man who takes desperate measures to protect the woman he loves, trapped between four walls as a consequence.\nSHARE YOUR VIEWS AT THE CRITICAL TAKE SEE p2\nthe soldiers who first entered the camps, the cameramen who lifted their cameras and filmed, the editors who viewed the footage, and the victims who suffered there and who were recorded on film in the first, unbelievable moments when rescue finally came.\" At a time of highly charged debate about the ethics of filming the victims of atrocity, Night Will Fall provokes challenging questions about the nature and purpose of documentary. 7\nOCTOBER 2014 NEW RELEASES & IFI CLASSICS\nTONY BENN: WILL AND TESTAMENT\nOPENS OCT 3RD FILM INFO:\n94 minutes, U.K.,2014, Black and White and Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nWe will have special guests introducing screenings of this film. Please see www.ifi.ie for updates.\nTony Benn was elected a British Member of Parliament in 1950. During a long and influential career that witnessed great social upheaval, he had to fight for his right to abandon an inherited peerage in 1960, his committed socialist beliefs brought him into conflict with many, and he was a thorn in the side of both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. His fraught relationship with the media saw him once decried as ‘The Most Dangerous Man in Britain’, then\ncelebrated as a ‘national treasure’, and the irony wasn’t lost on Benn, who remained involved in political campaigns up until his death last March, aged 88. Skip Kite’s documentary takes the form of an extended interview with Benn, illustrated with great archive footage and it’s an intimate reflection on the life, work and passions of an inspiring and brilliant figure. There’s great sadness in politicians like him having become increasingly rare.\nVIOLETTE OPENS OCT 3RD FILM INFO:\n139 minutes, France, 2013, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Alice Butler\n8\nDivided into chapters, each named after a figure instrumental in shaping Violette Leduc’s discordant life, director Martin Provost’s depiction of the acclaimed French author is forceful and moving. Beginning with Violette’s unruly relationship with duplicitous writer Maurice Sachs, the film captures the pair’s war-ravaged existence, eking out a living in the French countryside to avoid Nazi-occupied Paris, surviving on scraps bought on the black market. After Sachs abandons Violette, played\nby the outstanding Emmanuelle Devos, she returns to the capital to finish the book he implored her to write, whereupon she tracks down Simone de Beauvoir to ask her to read it. Sandrine Kiberlain’s alluring de Beauvoir obliges and recognises in Violette’s writing a forthright voice capable of challenging received notions about female expression and sexuality. Stark and poetic, this is a beautiful rendition worthy of its intrepid, powerful subject.\nWITHNAIL & I OPENS OCT 3RD EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI† IFI CLASSIC FILM INFO:\n107 minutes, U.K., 1987, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nWithnail & I is a sozzled gem that is justly revered for showing little respect for the conventions of British cinema. Jaded, unemployable actor Withnail and his put-upon associate (referred to as Marwood in some sources, though never named on screen) are living out the fag end of the 1960s. Swinging London has passed them by, they live in a hovel of a flat where things might be alive in the unattended washing up, and they give themselves little option other than to drink. They deal\nwith the unwelcome attention of the libidinous Uncle Monty and drink; they go on holiday by mistake and drink; they demand \"the finest wines available to humanity\" and drink, and drink, and drink. Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann have never been better than they are here and while there’s an under-acknowledged poignancy to Bruce Robinson’s autobiographical script, it remains hilariously funny and eminently quotable.\nOut on the street and down on his luck, homeless misfit Ray (David Wilmot) turns to one-time girlfriend Alice (Kerry Condon) for both shelter and the rare chance to see his estranged daughter, teenage athlete Abbie (Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams). Ray’s presence doesn’t suit tightly wound ‘performance coach’ Frank (James Nesbitt), Alice’s current partner and the man Abbie considers her father, and his fears are quickly realised as Ray’s well-meaning\nattempts to be a parent upset the balance of this small-town family.\nGOLD OPENS OCT 10TH FILM INFO:\n85 minutes, Ireland, 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Conor Dowling\nDIRECTOR Q&A We are delighted to welcome director Niall Heery to participate in a Q&A session following the opening night (Oct 10th) screening of the film at 20.30.\nSparkling at the film’s heart is Williams, who captures perfectly the brashness and insecurity of a teenager desperate for success. Brave enough to show the real challenges of rebuilding families and lives, Gold is the best kind of feel-good comedy: one that earns the delight it inspires.\n9\nOCTOBER 2014 NEW RELEASES & IFI CLASSICS\n’71 OPENS OCT 10TH FILM INFO:\n100 minutes, U.K., 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nDIRECTOR AND WRITER Q&A We are delighted to welcome director Yann Demange and writer Gregory Burke to participate in a Q&A session following the 18.30 screening on October 17th.\nSHARE YOUR VIEWS AT THE CRITICAL TAKE SEE p2\nIt is 1971, and with escalating tensions in Northern Ireland, Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell) is one of a number of young English soldiers sent to keep the peace on the streets of Belfast. Clueless about the politics of the place and ill-served by his commanding officers, Hook is left to fend for himself in an unfamiliar, unforgiving city after a routine house search descends into a chaotic riot and he is separated from the rest of his unit. As night comes down and the soldier attempts get back to the army base,\nHook’s disorientating odyssey brings him into contact with Unionist and Republican paramilitary units, as well duplicitous forces stoking the flames of conflict, waging their own dirty war. Acclaimed TV director Yann Demange delivers a notable debut feature, an exhilarating action movie that has more in common with the work of Walter Hill or John Carpenter than it does with other depictions of The Troubles in recent British cinema.\nBJÖRK: BIOPHILIA LIVE\nOPENS OCT 17TH EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI† FILM INFO:\n97 minutes, U.K., 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Kevin Coyne\n10\nSince coming to international attention with The Sugarcubes, Björk has proven to be a fearless innovator. Her restless approach has led to a remarkable body of work, idiosyncratic and beautiful, providing a suitable backdrop for one of music’s most astonishing voices. Her most recent album, Biophilia, saw Björk embrace new technology in a typically unique manner, using an iPad to compose and record, and ultimately releasing a series of apps which allowed listeners to interact with the\nmusic in a wholly new fashion. The subsequent tour lasted two years, the final show of which is documented in the film. Featuring an Icelandic choir, specially created instruments, visuals perfectly matched to the music, and a setlist that draws on her entire career (usually presenting old favourites in entirely new arrangements), it’s a vital record of an exciting artist.\nNORTHERN SOUL OPENS OCT 17TH FILM INFO:\n102 minutes, U.K., 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nEngland in 1974 and in a dreary Lancashire town John (Elliot Langridge) is about to take his final exams, leave school and face an uninspiring future on the factory production line. On a reluctant visit to his local youth club, John sees charismatic, confrontational Matt (Josh Whitehouse) dancing to Edwin Starr’s Time and is immediately drawn to the music and the moves. Under Matt’s guidance, John becomes a Northern Soul obsessive, the pair forming a tight bond in their\ncommitment to the scene, tracking down rare soul records, attending drug-fuelled all-nighters at Wigan Casino, and vowing to save any spare cash so that they might one day get to America. Featuring a number of familiar faces supporting an exceptional young cast, acclaimed photographer Elaine Constantine reveals her keen eye for period detail in her debut feature, a labour of love that brilliantly celebrates the music that soundtracked a pivotal youth movement and still resonates today.\nPALO ALTO OPENS OCT 17TH EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI† FILM INFO:\n100 minutes, U.S.A., 2013, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nThe latest from a famed dynasty of filmmakers, the debut feature from Gia Coppola is based on short stories written by James Franco and references the classic portraits of disaffected youth that her grandfather Francis adapted from the work of S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders and Rumble Fish. Not that Palo Alto is overly nostalgic or sentimental about teenagedom, as Coppola takes on issues of sexuality, addiction and depression with a welcome frankness.\nStories weave around sensitive April (Emma Roberts) and sweet stoner Teddy (Jack Kilmer), two characters who seem destined for each other, yet both find it hard to articulate their feelings. She is distracted by illicit flirtation with her soccer coach Mr. B (played by Franco); while he starts to realise that booze and drugs might not be the sole cure to boredom, particularly as he witnesses the behaviour of his best friend Fred (Nat Wolff) become increasingly erratic. 11\nOCTOBER 2014 NEW RELEASES & IFI CLASSICS\nTHE BATTLES OF CORONEL AND FALKLAND ISLANDS OPENS OCT 17TH IFI CLASSIC FILM INFO:\n105 minutes, U.K., 1927, Silent, Black and White, D-Cinema Notes by the British Film Institute\nThis virtually unknown film commemorates two key battles faced by the Royal Navy in the early days of World War One – the Battle of Coronel which took place on November 1st 1914 and the Battle of the Falkland Islands on December 8th 1914. The Battle of Coronel, off the coast of Chile, was a triumph for German Admiral von Spee – the first defeat of the British navy for a hundred years. The retaliatory strike was instigated six weeks later by ace British tactician Admiral Fisher who\nsent two large battle cruisers, Invincible and Inflexible, to the South Atlantic to restore British supremacy. Summers’ film was originally released on Armistice Day to act as a memorial to the thousands who died. Filmed on real battleships supplied by the Admiralty, this monumental production was shot mostly at sea near Malta, with the Isles of Scilly a convincing stand-in for the Falklands.\nJIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE OPENS OCT 24TH EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI† FILM INFO:\n118 minutes, U.K.-Ireland-U.S.A., 2013, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\n12\nDirector and writer John Ridley (who scripted 12 Years a Slave) has produced a daring dream of a biopic, a film imagining Jimi Hendrix life in the years before he found fame. It’s 1966, and a frustrated Hendrix (charismatically played by hip hop star André Benjamin) is playing in a New York dive bar before he comes into the orbit of Linda Keith (Imogen Poots), the girlfriend of the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards. Linda’s connections and her belief in his talent inspire Jimi to take\non The Animals bassist Chas Chandler (Andrew Buckley) as his manager and relocate to London in search of stardom. These are the years before that stardom and the greatest hits are absent here, yet Swinging London is evocatively recreated and Jimi: All is by My Side does an exceptional job in the telling story of a troubled genius while acknowledging the women who gave him succour and direction during barren times.\nTHE WAY HE LOOKS OPENS OCT 24TH (HOJE EU QUERO VOLTAR SOZINHO) EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI† FILM INFO:\n95 minutes, Brazil, 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden IFI IRISH SHORT These screenings will be preceded by David Freyne's IFB-funded short film The Tree. (6 mins, Ireland, 2012)\nLeonardo (Ghilherme Lobo) is a teenager who is not popular at school, but has a devoted friend in Giovana (Tess Amorim). The pair hang out at her parents' pool, rating how lazy they’re feeling on a scale of one to ten and discussing when Leonardo might experience a first kiss. He desperately yearns for independence, and resents his overbearing parents, preferring to stay in his room listening to his beloved classical music. He’s a typical moody school kid, then, but Leonardo’s\nZABRISKIE POINT\nOPENS OCT 24TH IFI CLASSIC FILM INFO:\n110 minutes, U.S.A., 1970, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nFollowing the success of Blow Up (1966), Antonioni had the opportunity to tell an American story and was inspired by a newspaper article he had read about a youth who had stolen an airplane in Phoenix. Roping Sam Shepard in to help with the script and heavily bankrolled by MGM, Antonioni embarked on the troubled production of a film that would examine the pervasive nature of big business, sympathise with student protests and the counter culture, feature\nblindness does set him apart from others. When new kid on the block Gabriel (Fabio Audi) befriends the duo, tension develops between Leonardo and Giovana, as the three characters struggle to come to terms with their feelings for each other. The debut feature from Daniel Ribeiro is an affecting coming-of-age story with natural, engaging performances from a terrific young cast.\nSHARE YOUR VIEWS AT THE CRITICAL TAKE SEE p2\na prolonged orgiastic love scene, include breathtaking panoramas of Death Valley and the Arizona desert, have a striking soundtrack provided by Pink Floyd, Jerry Garcia and John Fahey, and climax with a mind-blowing explosion. The FBI watched him all the way, the film was dismissed by critics and blanked by audiences on release and it was to be Antonioni’s sole American venture; yet the ravishing beauty and admirable ambition of Zabriskie Point endures. 13\nOCTOBER 2014 NEW RELEASES & IFI CLASSICS\nTHE GUARANTEE OPENS OCT 30TH FILM INFO:\n90 minutes, Ireland, 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes from Wild Card Distribution\nPREVIEW AND SATELLITE Q&A A preview screening on October 30th at 20.00 will feature a live Q&A broadcast by satellite, hosted by Gay Byrne.\nOn the night of September 29th, 2008, the Irish government decided to guarantee the entire domestic banking system. That decision was made by a handful of men in a room in the middle of the night. By the time the costs can be fully counted, in another 30 years or so, it will have cost over €60 billion – the most expensive bank rescue in history.\nyears earlier, it charts the peak of the boom and the beginning of the bust. Based on Colin Murphy’s stage play and directed by Ian Power (The Runway), The Guarantee features an ensemble cast of Gary Lydon, David Murray, Peter Coonan, Orla Fitzgerald and Morgan C. Jones, who all play dual roles.\nThe Guarantee tells the story of that night, and what led to it. Starting four\nINVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS OPENS OCT 31ST EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI† IFI CLASSIC FILM INFO:\n80 minutes, U.S.A., 1956, Black and White, D-Cinema Notes by Kevin Coyne\n14\nOne of the most evergreen of sciencefiction films, Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been remade by Philip Kaufman (1978), Abel Ferrara (1993), and Oliver Hirschbiegel (2007). While there are merits to the adaptations of Jack Finney’s novel produced by Kaufman and Ferrara, and Hirschbiegel’s take is best forgotten, it is Don Siegel’s masterful allegory for Cold War paranoia and the rise of McCarthyism in the U.S. that has proved the most enduring.\nIn the town of Santa Mira, Doctor Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is confronted with patients claiming that family members have been replaced by imposters. Initially dismissing these concerns as mass hysteria, Bennell comes to believe something more sinister is happening than the townsfolk had ever imagined – ‘pod people’ from outer space have begun their invasion of the Earth. Still an effectively scary film, this is a welcome reissue for Hallowe'en.\nMR. TURNER OPENS OCT 31ST FILM INFO:\n250 minutes, U.K.-FranceGermany, 2014, Colour Notes by Michael Hayden\nPREVIEW AND DIRECTOR Q&A There will be a preview of Mr. Turner at 18.30 on October 19th followed by a Q&A with Mike Leigh. Tickets €12 (€10 for IFI Members).\nMike Leigh has fulfilled a long held ambition to make a film about British painter J.M.W. Turner. Focusing on the 25 years before his death, Mr. Turner depicts a character who, in Leigh’s words, was “a giant among artists, single-minded and uncompromising, extraordinarily prolific, revolutionary in his approach, consummate at his craft, clairvoyant in his vision”, but also “eccentric, anarchic, vulnerable, imperfect, erratic and sometimes uncouth. He could be selfish and disingenuous, mean yet generous,\nand he was capable of great passion and poetry.” These complexities are embodied in an incredible, physical performance from Timothy Spall, who veers from pontificating about art in high society to issuing guttural grunts, from claiming the moral high ground to visiting a brothel or sexually exploiting his housekeeper. More than a standard period biopic, Mr. Turner is an enigmatic marvel from a masterful filmmaker.\nONE MILLION DUBLINERS OPENS OCT 31ST FILM INFO:\n80 minutes, Ireland, 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Conor Dowling\nDIRECTOR AND PRODUCER Q&A Following the screening on Friday, October 31st at 18.30, director Aoife Kelleher and producer Rachel Lysaght will participate in a Q&A.\nNever has journeying into the world of Ireland’s dead been as enlightening an experience as it is in One Million Dubliners, a fascinating exploration of Glasnevin Cemetery that was joint-winner of the Best Irish Feature Documentary award at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh. Cultural icons, political heroes, and ordinary Dubliners all find their resting place at Glasnevin and from the economics of arranging plots to the Frenchwoman who lays flowers at Michael Collins' grave,\nthe film unravels the richly detailed tapestry of these stories. Leading the way is Glasnevin’s tour guide and resident historian Shane Mac Thomáis, whose wisdom and charm breathes life into the stories buried under Glasnevin’s varied headstones and monuments. Concerned with mortality but never morbid, One Million Dubliners is a warm celebration of everyday life and a memorable contribution to Ireland’s ongoing conversation with its dead. 15\nBroken Glass Park\nIFI KINOFEST\nFollowing last year’s successful event, the IFI is pleased to once again collaborate with the GoetheInstitut Irland in presenting this short selection of the best in contemporary German cinema. Whereas last year focused on emerging talent, IFI Kinofest 2014 takes a more rounded approach. New directors are represented by the opening film, Bettina Blümner’s Broken Glass Park. The most acclaimed German films of the year to have played on the festival circuit, Stations of the Cross (which will open at the IFI later in the year) and Jack, receive their Irish premieres. Grand masters of German cinema also feature in this year’s line-up, with the inclusion of Edgar Reitz’s Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision, the latest episode in the Heimat saga. Finally, we’re particularly thrilled to present an incredibly rare screening of Volker Schlöndorff’s Baal with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. This wide-ranging choice of films serves to highlight the continuing richness of German cinema.\nPresented in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Irland. 16\nIntroduction by Kevin Coyne. Notes on individual films as credited.\nBROKEN GLASS PARK OCT 9TH (18.30) (SCHERBENPARK) FILM INFO:\n94 minutes, Germany, 2013, Subtitled, Colour, Blu-ray Notes by Kevin Coyne\nSPECIAL GUEST & RECEPTION We are pleased to welcome producer Stefanie Groß to this opening film, which will be followed by a reception courtesy of the German Embassy Dublin.\nSeventeen-year-old Russian immigrant Sascha (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) lives in a rough Stuttgart neighbourhood where her family has some notoriety, with her stepfather imprisoned for the brutal murder of her mother. When Sascha sees a sympathetic newspaper interview with the convict, she angrily confronts the editor, Volker (Ulrich Noethen), whose guilt leads him to invite Sascha into his home,\nwhere he lives with son Felix (Max Hegewald). In this environment, the harsh and abrasive young woman slowly begins to mature into someone more open and accepting of the world’s flaws. At the heart of documentarian Bettina Blümner’s debut feature is Fritzi Bauer’s excellent performance as the complex and troubled Sascha, yearning for escape from the past and hope for the future.\nSTATIONS OF THE CROSS OCT 10TH (20.45) (KREUZWEG) FILM INFO:\n107 minutes, Germany, 2014, Subtitled, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nMaria (Lea van Acken) is a devout 14-year-old Catholic girl counting down the days to her confirmation. She is determined to devote her life to Jesus and longs to attain sainthood. Encouraged by her fundamentalist family, and just like Jesus on the road to Golgotha, Maria embarks on a fraught path measured out in 14 stations and leading to her own sacrifice, resolutely resisting being distracted from her course, despite attracting attention from\nChristian (Moritz Knapp), a boy she meets at school. Filmmaker Dietrich Brüggemann presents each chapter of Maria’s story in static, single shots, each incident framed impeccably, and it is an arresting and inventive device that serves the intensity of the drama. Stations of the Cross is a rigorous examination of radical faith and devotion, a study of the dangers of unquestioning dogma that is daring, intelligent, and slyly humorous. 17\nIFI KINOFEST\nJACK OCT 11TH (18.15) FILM INFO:\n103 minutes, Germany, 2013, Subtitled, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Michael Hayden\nJack (Ivo Pietzcker) looks out for his younger brother Manuel (Georg Arms) while their sweet-hearted but unpredictable 20-something-yearold mother Sanna (Luise Heyer) is distracted by friends and lovers.\nBAAL\n85 minutes, West Germany, 1970, Subtitled, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Kevin Coyne\nMade for German television, Baal remained unseen for over 40 years after its first transmission in 1970, such was the displeasure it caused the Brecht estate. An adaptation of his first play, it tells of a wastrel poet\nHOME FROM HOME: CHRONICLE OF A VISION OCT 12TH (18.00) (DIE ANDERE HEIMAT – With this new film, Edgar Reitz’s CHRONIK EINER SEHNSUCHT) FILM INFO:\n225 minutes, Germany-France, 2013, Subtitled, Black and White and Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Kevin Coyne\n18\nSales company and print source: Beta Films. with an anarchistic streak, who rejects the bourgeois society that celebrates him in order to indulge his own dubious pleasures.\nOCT 12TH (16.00) FILM INFO:\nSocial Services recognise Senna’s neglect, and Jack is taken into care. His experiences lead him to run away, get to Manuel and go in search of their mother. A sincere and affecting social drama in the spirit of the Dardennes and Ken Loach, Jack depicts a boy with too much responsibility weighted on the shoulders of somebody so young, and there’s a notable, compelling performance from first time actor Pietzcker.\nsprawling, epic Heimat series runs to some 57 hours covering the history of the fictitious Simon family, who live in the equally fictitious rural village of Schabbach. While previous instalments have covered the years\nThe film is perhaps most noteworthy for the talent involved, all of whom were at the early stages of careers that would reshape German cinema: Schlondörff, Margarethe von Trotta, Hanna Schygulla, and, in the title role, a dishevelled, mesmerising Rainer Werner Fassbinder.\n1919 to 2000, Home from Home acts as a prequel, set in Germany in the 1840s, and requires no knowledge of Reitz’s previous work. The primary focus is on Jakob Simon, beguiled by the prospect of seeking his fortune in Brazil, much to the annoyance of his blacksmith father. Despite its almost four-hour running time, audiences will be left wanting more.\nBasket Case\nIFI HORRORTHON 2014\nIreland’s leading genre film festival, IFI Horrorthon, returns for its 17th year. As always, the programme features the best new work, Irish and international, to have appeared on the festival circuit, presenting these titles alongside previews of the most anticipated upcoming releases. This year sees some exciting additions to the format: there will be a special screening of silent classic Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages with live musical accompaniment; in association with the Bram Stoker Festival, there will be readings from the work of Ireland’s greatest horror writers; for younger fans, there will be an IFI Family screening of The Little Vampire (see page 22); and we also introduce a new strand, ‘IFI Horrorthon Honours’. We’re delighted to welcome this year’s guests, Frank Henenlotter and Jessica Cameron, to Dublin. With a line-up of over three dozen films, this year’s IFI Horrorthon will provide thrills and chills to satisfy all horror devotees. A separate flyer listing the full schedule for IFI Horrorthon 2014 will be available in early October. Please also see www.ifi.ie/horrorthon and horrorthon.com for future updates. Opening and closing night films €10.20. All other screenings €9.20. (IFI Membership is required for all films. If you are not an IFI Member then a Daily Membership fee of €1 will be added to each Horrorthon ticket price.) Special Festival packages will be available.\n19\nTHE BABADOOK\nFESTIVAL GUESTS:\nFrank Henenlotter is the creator of cult classics Basket Case, Brain Damage, and Frankenhooker, all of which will screen during the festival, as will Frank’s new documentary, That’s Sexploitation! Since her 2008 debut, scream queen Jessica Cameron has built up an impressive body of work. Jessica will present her acclaimed directorial debut, Truth or Dare, at this year’s IFI Horrorthon.\nHouse of Usher\nWe’re proud to open this year’s festival with the Irish premiere of one of 2014’s most acclaimed horror films, the eerie and atmospheric The Babadook. Single mother Amelia struggles to control six-year-old son Samuel, whose vivid flights of fancy regarding monsters and their existence drains her both physically and emotionally – until it suddenly seems that not every monster is imaginary…\nIFI HORRORTHON HONOURS: This new strand will focus each year on a true icon of horror. The inaugural edition celebrates the inestimable Vincent Price. With almost 200 credits to his name in a career spanning over 50 years, his contribution to the genre is indisputable. We’re pleased to present The Abominable Dr. Phibes, House of Usher, and, on 35mm, Theatre of Blood.\n20\nWHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS From the team behind Flight of the Conchords comes this comic mockumentary about house-sharing vampires in New Zealand. Viago, Vladislav, and Deacon struggle with modern technology and try to get invited into bars and clubs until new arrival Nick, a 21st-century hipster, throws their lives into chaos. This very funny film will provide the perfect ending to this year’s festival.\nIFI EVENTS\nIFI EVENTS IRELAND ON SUNDAY WE WERE THERE OCT 19TH (13.00)\nIRELAND ON SUNDAY WILD STRAWBERRIES ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME IFI FAMILY I’M AN OLD COMMUNIST HAG FRIDAY FRIGHT NIGHT FROM THE VAULTS AFTERNOON TALK IFI & EXPERIMENTAL FILM CLUB FEAST YOUR EYES includes stories of a prison officer’s wife, prisoners’ relatives, Open University tutors, Probation Service staff and a visual artist. The interviews featured in the film were recorded by the Prisons Memory Archive, which filmed 140 walk-and-talk interviews around the empty prison during the summer of 2007.\nDIRECTORS:\nIreland on Sunday is our monthly showcase for new Irish film.\nIt is a fascinating, moving and very personal insight into the experiences of these women at this time.\nFILM INFO:\nThis captivating documentary features the unique experiences of women in the predominantly male world of the Maze/Long Kesh Prison during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The film\nThe screening is presented in association with the Institute for British-Irish Studies, UCD. It will be followed by a Q&A with directors Laura Aguiar and Cahal McLaughlin and participants.\nLaura Aguiar and Cahal McLaughlin 61 minutes, 2014, D-Cinema\nWILD STRAWBERRIES NOW YOU SEE ME OCT 29TH & 31ST (11.00) DIRECTOR:\nLouis Leterrier\nFILM INFO:\n115 minutes, France-U.S.A., 2013, Crime-Mystery-Thriller\nWild Strawberries is our bi-monthly film club for over 55s. If you have often dreamt about getting the better of your bank manager, this smart crime drama should appeal.\nThe Four Horsemen are a group of magicians who combine sleight of hand, hypnotism, illusionism and escapology in huge stage shows during which a random audience member is teleported to his own bank to raid the safe. With the FBI and Interpol hot on their heels, their manager Arthur, keenly played by Michael Caine, is determined to keep the show on the road. €3.85 including regular tea/coffee before the screening. Wild Strawberries is our film club for over 55s. If you are lucky enough to look younger, please don’t take offence if we ask your age. 21\nIFI FAMILY\nReturn to Glennascaul\nARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME\nJoin us for free lunchtime screenings of films from the IFI Irish Film Archive. Simply collect your tickets at the IFI Box Office. Please see www.ifi.ie for dates and times. With Hallowe'en looming, we present two ghost stories produced by impresarios Micheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards. PROGRAMME 1: RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL Introduced by Orson Welles, a long-time friend of the pair, while on a break from filming Othello, this is the story of an encounter with two ethereal women in the foothills of the Dublin mountains. FILM INFO: 23 minutes, 1951, Black and White\nPROGRAMME 2: FROM TIME TO TIME (AKA A STONE IN THE HEATHER) Framed by a fireside introduction from MacLiammóir, this eery tale, written by George Morrison (Mise Éire) sees Maureen Cusack haunted by a War of Independence informer.\nTHE LITTLE VAMPIRE OCT 26TH (11.00)\nIt’s time to sharpen your fangs for our Hallowe’en screening, the story of young American Tony who moves with his family to Scotland. Lonely, he is looking for a friend who will bring adventure into his life. So when Rudolph the Vampire flies into his room, Tony takes off with him on a flying adventure. They join forces to fend off the vampire hunter and save the 300-year-old family. Before the film we will have a Parade of Vampires through IFI Foyer. Come in your favourite scary outfit and see if you can terrify us! We’ll be on the lookout for sharp fangs, stinking garlic, wooden stakes and scary fake blood! DIRECTOR: Uli Edel FILM INFO: 95 minutes, Germany-Netherlands-U.S.A.,\nFILM INFO: 20 minutes, 1954, Black and White\nAdventure-Comedy-Family, Recommended 7+\nWe present this programme with kind permission of The Edwards MacLiammóir Estate.\nTickets: €4.80 per person, €14.40 family ticket (2 adults + 2 children/1 adult + 3 children)\n22\nI’M AN OLD COMMUNIST HAG\nOCT 10TH (18.30) (SUNT O BABA COMUNISTA) In partnership with the Romanian DIRECTOR: Stere Gulea\nFILM INFO:\n98 minutes, Romania, 2013, Subtitled, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Kevin Coyne\nCultural Institute in London and the Embassy of Romania in Ireland on the occasion of Romanian Cultural Days in Dublin, the IFI welcomes director Stere Gulea to present his latest film, the funny and poignant I’m An Old\nCommunist Hag. Veteran actress Luminita Gheorghiu (The Death of Mr Lăzărescu, Child’s Pose) plays Emilia, whose quiet life with husband Tucu is disturbed by the sudden arrival of her daughter from the U.S., with American fiancée in tow. While Emilia is at first worried about how best to present her home to the glamorous American, she quickly realises that life under capitalism has its own particular problems. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Stere Gulea.\nFRIDAY FRIGHT NIGHT ZOMBEAVERS\nvery smart B-movie that keeps the laughs and gore coming in equal measure, with some unexpected developments along the way.\nOCT 10TH (22.30)\nDespite the frankly ludicrous situation in which they find themselves, the characters never question it, adding to the humour. Stay to the very end for a great song over the closing credits, and a teaser for a possible sequel.\nDIRECTOR: Jordan Rubin\nFILM INFO:\n80 minutes, U.S.A., 2014, Colour, D-Cinema Notes by Kevin Coyne\nAs a warm-up for this month’s IFI Horrorthon, we present this screening of horror-comedy Zombeavers. While the title lets audiences know what they’re in for, this is no Sharknado or similar. Instead, Zombeavers is a very funny,\nFROM THE VAULTS DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS OCT 15TH (18.30) DIRECTOR:\nLance Comfort\nFILM INFO:\n91 minutes, U.K., 1948, Black and White, 35mm Please see page 19 for further information on IFI Horrorthon.\nOn the eve of IFI Horrorthon we present the gothic horror which gave Siobhan McKenna her first starring role. Emmy Baudine (McKenna), an angelic young girl plays the church organ and works as the trusted housekeeper to the priest (Liam\nPlease see page 19 for further information on IFI Horrorthon.\nRedmond) in an Irish village. Despite these saintly credentials the women of the village find her unsettling while the men find her irresistible. Following a savage encounter with a boxer from a visiting fairground who falls for her dangerous charms, Emmy is sent to live with a wealthy family in Yorkshire where her relations with the opposite sex become ever more violent. This intriguing sexual psychodrama from prolific British B-movie director Lance Comfort presents an early instance of that rare villain, the female serial killer. Image courtesy of the BFI National Archive 23\nAFTERNOON TALK NORTHERN IRELAND ON FILM Good Vibrations\nOCT 15TH (16.30)\nThe representation of Northern Ireland on film, currently in focus again with the release of ’71 (see page 10), has gone through a series of transformations; from a tragic, abject province devoid of hope during\nIFI & EXPERIMENTAL FILM CLUB TONY HILL – GRAVITY PLAY OCT 20TH (18.30) DIRECTOR: Tony Hill\nFILM INFO:\nTotal duration approx 70 minutes See www.ifi.ie for full details on all short films in our programme.\nTony Hill has consistently applied an interest in space, place, viewpoint and orientation to his practice as an artist and filmmaker. His bizarre and sometimes humorous vantage points make us rethink our assumptions about perspective, gravity, scale\nFEAST YOUR EYES EL BULLI: COOKING IN PROGRESS OCT 22ND (18.30) DIRECTOR:\nGereon Wetzel\n108 minutes, Germany, 2010, Colour, D-Cinema\nTickets €20. Free list suspended.\n24\nLately the emphasis has been on marketing Northern Ireland to major global media corporations as an attractive film location. While attempts at image transformation and economic regeneration are welcome, in this illustrated talk Dr. Stephen Baker (University of Ulster) asks what does this mean for politically and culturally engaged cinema that might illuminate, investigate and question Northern Ireland’s new dispensation.\nand movement. Developing his own camera rigs and ingeniously using mirrors and unusual lenses, he exploits the great potential for film to see in different ways. Downside Up\nTickets €5 (inc tea and coffee)\nThe Troubles to more affirmative images during the peace process.\nOur monthly gastronomic feature followed by a meal in the IFI Café Bar. A Michelin 3-star restaurant situated in northeastern Spain, elBulli was internationally renowned for its avant-\nTony Hill will be present to enact his cinematic performance ‘Point Source’ and for a Q&A after the screenings. This programme, curated by Aoife Desmond, is presented in association with DMARC (Digital Media and Arts Research Centre) at University of Limerick and Indie Cork Film Festival 2014.\ngarde 35-course menus developed by chef Ferran Adrià and his meticulous team until its closure in 2011. German director Gereon Wetzel takes a behind-the-scenes look at the extraordinary work involved by filming both at the restaurant and at the laboratory in Barcelona where the chefs were based for six months of every year to develop new ideas for the menu, often using techniques and appliances more commonly associated with scientific experiment. His resulting documentary is an elegant and innovative study on creativity and collaboration.\nCulturefox.ie is the definitive online guide to Irish cultural events, giving you complete information about cultural activities both here and abroad. To find out what’s on near you right now, visit Culturefox.ie on your computer or mobile phone.\nDownload the FREE App available now for:\niPhone | Android | Blackberry\nShowrunners – The Art of Running A TV Show (Oct 17th)\nFrank (Out Now)\n20,000 Days on Earth (Oct 20th)\n26\nYOUR VISIT TO THE IFI\nPUBLIC & CLUB SCREENINGS\nBOX OFFICE & PRICES\nAround half of our films are classified by the Irish Film Classification Office, are open to the general public and do not require membership. Unclassified films require membership. You have two options: annual membership (€25 or €15 concessions) or daily membership (€1 per person each time you visit the cinema). For further details on membership, please go to www.ifi.ie or call our Box Office.\nADMISSION FEES These apply to regular IFI screenings and do not necessarily apply to special events or festivals. Reduced admission fees for annual members and their guests are detailed in brackets.\n†The exclusivity status of films is correct at time of going to print\nLOYALTY & MEMBERSHIP\nJERV\nLIF LWR\nThe IFI Loyalty Card is free and allows you to earn points that you can later exchange for free cinema tickets. Membership gives you the chance to attend a free preview Tmonth and discounts when you screening every single GREA REET spend RatANthe D STIFI. Go to www.ifi.ie or call our Box Office for WALK T S ’S OR details. Please remember: no card, no points! HEL\nPARKING\nUAY ND Q RMO ER Oof your IFI cinema presentation LOW\nBAC\nGE BID NNY FPE L A H the Fleet Street ticket,\nBEDFORD ROW\nOn Car Park will offer IFI patrons a special rate of €5.00 for GE BRID IUM 3 hours’ parking. present the cinema ticket along ENNSimply MILL with the parking ticket when you pay at the cash desk, Y QUA prior to collecting your car. GTON IN\nWELL\nANGLESEA STREET\nCOPE STREET\n*including Bank Holidays Credit card bookings can be taken between 12.30pm and 9.00pm on (01) 679 3477 or 24-hours at www.ifibooking.ie. Online and telephone bookings are subject to a booking fee of 50c per ticket to a maximum of €1 per transaction. There are no booking fees on any ticket purchase made in person at the IFI Box Office. Please be advised that tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded. All cinema screens at the IFI are wheelchair accessible. If you are a wheelchair user, please let the IFI Box Office know at least 30 minutes in advance of a screening (01 679 5744 /[email protected]). To enable us to determine your requirements and assist you fully, we regret that we are unable to offer wheelchair bookings online.\nFilms start at the times stated in this programme. Latecomers may be refused admission after the start of the feature.\nCONTACT Irish Film Institute, 6 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Box Office: (01) 679 3477, Web: www.ifi.ie\nDAME STREET\nTEMPLE BAR\nST ST EA\nMONDAY – FRIDAY 12.30pm to 6pm €7.60 (€6.90) Conc. €5.90 (€5.40) 6pm to 10pm €9.00 (€7.90) Conc. €7.60 (€6.90)\n@IFI_Dub @IFI_Filmshop\nFacebook.com/irishfilminstitute Facebook.com/IFICafe\nY\nIFI BOARD Patron: Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland Board Members: Lenny Abrahamson, Paddy Breathnach, Michael Collins, Maeve Connolly, Sheila de Courcy, Garry Hynes, Neil Jordan, Margaret Kelleher (Chairperson), Trish Long, Kevin Moriarty, Patsy Murphy, Dr. Harvey O’Brien, Dearbhla Walsh. NE LA\n27\nIrish Film Institute The home of film in Ireland. Be part of it.\nApply online at www.ifi.ie or pick up an application form at the IFI Box Office. For Group Membership, contact Saidhbh Ní Dhúlaing T: 01 679 5744 E: [email protected] For Corporate Membership, contact Fiona Clark T: 01 679 5744 E: [email protected]\nIFI MEMBERSHIP gives you free film tickets, free screenings, discounts and much more… Your IFI Membership helps support the IFI’s vital work in preserving and restoring Ireland’s unique and precious moving image heritage, and in engaging young people through our national education programme.\nwww.ifi.ie",
"The Sopranos The Complete~720p~2014~$$CAPOBOSS666 ...\nThe Sopranos was the second hour-long television drama ... that this particular Mafia show was about New Jersey, ... pick up Adriana under the pretense ...\nThe Sopranos The Complete~720p~2014~$$CAPOBOSS666$$+BOUNISES - 🔥Demonoid🔥\nOriginal run January 10, 1999 – June 10, 2007\nExternal links\nWebsite\nThe Sopranos is an American television series created by David Chase. Revolving around the fictional New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), the show portrays the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and his criminal organization. These are often highlighted during his therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). The series features Tony's family members and Mafia colleagues and rivals in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).\nAfter a pilot was ordered in 1997, the show premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on January 10, 1999, and ended its original run of six seasons and 86 episodes on June 10, 2007. The series then went through syndication and has been broadcast on A&E in the United States and internationally.[1] The Sopranos was produced by HBO, Chase Films, and Brad Grey Television. It was primarily filmed at Silvercup Studios, New York City, and on location in New Jersey. The executive producers throughout the show's run were Chase, Brad Grey, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter, and Matthew Weiner.\nThe Sopranos has been regarded by some as the greatest television series of all time.[2][3][4][5] The series also won a multitude of awards, including Peabody Awards for its first two seasons, twenty-one Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. A staple of 2000s American popular culture, the series has been the subject of critical analysis, controversy, and parody, and has spawned books,[6] a video game,[7] high-charting soundtrack albums, and a large amount of assorted merchandise.[8] Several members of the show's cast and crew who were previously largely unknown to the public have had successful careers after The Sopranos.[9][10][11][12] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named The Sopranos the best-written TV series of all time,[13] while TV Guide ranked it the best television series of all time.[14]\nContents [hide]\nProduction[edit]\nConception[edit]\nBefore creating The Sopranos, David Chase had worked as a television producer for more than 20 years.[15][16] He had been employed as a staff writer/producer for several television series (including Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Switch, The Rockford Files, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure[17][18]) and had co-created one short-lived original series, Almost Grown, in 1988.[19][20] He made his television directorial debut in 1986 with the \"Enough Rope for Two\" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents revival. He also directed episodes of Almost Grown and I'll Fly Away in 1988 and 1992, respectively. In 1996, he wrote and directed the television film The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime.[18] He served as showrunner for I'll Fly Away and Northern Exposure in the 1990s. Chase won his first Emmy Award in 1978 for his work on The Rockford Files (shared with fellow producers) and his second for writing the 1980 television film Off the Minnesota Strip.[21][22] By 1996, he was a coveted showrunner.[23]\n\"I want to tell a story about this particular man. I want to tell the story about the reality of being a mobster—or what I perceive to be the reality of life in organized crime. They aren't shooting each other every day. They sit around eating baked ziti and betting and figuring out who owes who money. Occasionally, violence breaks out—more often than it does in the banking world, perhaps.\"\n—David Chase, creator and showrunner of The Sopranos[24]\nThe story of The Sopranos was initially conceived as a feature film about \"a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother.\"[19] After some input from his manager, Lloyd Braun, Chase decided to adapt it into a television series.[19] In 1995, Chase signed a development deal with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script.[16][21][25]\nDrawing heavily from his personal life and his experiences growing up in New Jersey, Chase has stated that he tried to \"apply [his own] family dynamic to mobsters.\"[24] For instance, the tumultuous relationship between series protagonist Tony Soprano and his mother, Livia, is partially based on Chase's relationship with his own mother.[24] Chase was also in therapy at the time and modeled the character of Dr. Jennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist.[26] Chase had been fascinated by organized crime and the Mafia from an early age, witnessing such people growing up, and having been raised on classic gangster films like The Public Enemy and the crime series The Untouchables. The series is partly inspired by the Boiardo family, a prominent New Jersey organized crime family when Chase was growing up, and partly on New Jersey's DeCavalcante Family.[27] Chase has mentioned American playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as influences on his and the show's writing and Italian director Federico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style.[23][28][29] The series was named after high school friends of his.[15][26] Like the majority of the characters on the show, Chase is Italian-American. His original family name is DeCesare.[30]\n\"I said to myself, this show is about a guy who's turning 40. He's inherited a business from his dad. He's trying to bring it into the modern age. He's got all the responsibilities that go along with that. He's got an overbearing mom that he's still trying to get out from under. Although he loves his wife, he's had an affair. He's got two teenage kids, and he's dealing with the realities of what that is. He's anxious; he's depressed; he starts to see a therapist because he's searching for the meaning of his own life. I thought: the only difference between him and everybody I know is he's the Don of New Jersey.\"\n—Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, 1995–2002.[16][31]\nChase and producer Brad Grey, then of Brillstein-Grey, pitched The Sopranos to several networks; Fox showed interest but passed on it after Chase presented them the pilot script.[25] Chase and Grey eventually pitched the show to Chris Albrecht, at the time president of HBO Original Programming, who decided to finance the shooting of a pilot episode.[16][21]\nThe pilot episode—originally referred to as \"Pilot\" but renamed to \"The Sopranos\" on the DVD release—was shot in 1997;[32] Chase directed it himself.[18] After the pilot was finished and shown to the HBO executives, the show was put on hold for several months. During this time, Chase considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and release The Sopranos as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season.[16][21][33] The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999 with the pilot episode. The Sopranos was the second hour-long television drama series produced by HBO, the first being the prison drama Oz.\nCasting[edit]\nLike the characters they portray on the show, many of the actors on The Sopranos are Italian-American. Many cast members had appeared together in films and television series before joining the cast of The Sopranos. The series shares a total of 27 actors with the 1990 Martin Scorsese gangster film, Goodfellas, including main cast members Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, and Tony Sirico.[34]\nCast members James Gandolfini (right) and Tony Sirico (left) visit with a member of the U.S. Air Force during a USO visit to Southwest Asia.\nThe main cast was put together through a process of auditions and readings. Actors often did not know whether Chase liked their performances or not.[16] Michael Imperioli, who beat out several actors for the part of Christopher Moltisanti, recalls \"He's got a poker face, so I thought he wasn't into me, and he kept giving me notes and having me try it again, which often is a sign that you're not doing it right. I thought, I'm not getting this. So he said, 'Thank you,' and I left. I didn't expect to hear back. And then they called.\" Chase also said he wanted Imperioli because he had been in Goodfellas.[16] James Gandolfini was invited to audition for the part of Tony Soprano after casting director Susan Fitzgerald saw a short clip of his performance in the 1993 film True Romance.[16] Lorraine Bracco, who had played the role of mob wife Karen Hill in Goodfellas, was originally asked to play the role of Carmela Soprano. She took the role of Dr. Jennifer Melfi instead because she wanted to try something different and felt the part of the highly educated Dr. Melfi would be more of a challenge for her.[35] Tony Sirico, who has a criminal background,[36] signed on to play Paulie Walnuts as long as his character was not to be a \"rat\".[37] Chase invited musician \"Little Steven\" Van Zandt (known as the guitarist of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band) to audition for a part in his series after seeing him live at the 1997 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony and being impressed with his appearance and presence. Van Zandt, who had never acted before, originally auditioned for the role of Tony Soprano but felt the role should go to an experienced actor.[35] Van Zandt eventually agreed to star on the show as mob consigliere Silvio Dante and his real-life spouse Maureen was cast as his on-screen wife, Gabriella.[38][39][40]\nWith the exception of Oscar nominee Bracco (Goodfellas), Dominic Chianese (The Godfather Part II, along with stage work) and Emmy-winner Nancy Marchand (Lou Grant), the cast of the debut season of the series consisted of largely unknown actors. After the breakthrough success of the show, many cast members were noted for their acting ability and received mainstream attention for their performances.[16][41] Subsequent seasons saw some established actors (Joe Pantoliano, Robert Loggia, Steve Buscemi, Frank Vincent[42]) join the starring cast along with well-known actors in recurring roles such as Peter Bogdanovich, John Heard,[43] Robert Patrick,[44] Peter Riegert,[45] Annabella Sciorra,[42] and David Strathairn.[46] Several well-known actors appeared in just one or two episodes, such as Charles S. Dutton,[47] Ken Leung,[48] Ben Kingsley, Lauren Bacall, Daniel Baldwin, Tim Kang, Elias Koteas, Annette Bening, Sydney Pollack, Hal Holbrook and Burt Young.[49]\nCrew[edit]\nSeries creator and executive producer David Chase served as showrunner and head writer for the production of all six seasons of the show. He was deeply involved with the general production of every episode and is noted for being a very controlling, demanding and specific producer.[15][22] In addition to writing or co-writing 2–7 episodes per season, Chase would oversee all the editing, consult with episode directors, give actors character motivation, approve casting choices and set designs and do extensive but uncredited re-writes of episodes written by other writers.[41][50][51] Brad Grey served as executive producer alongside Chase, but had no creative input on the show.[52] Many members of the creative team behind The Sopranos were handpicked by Chase, some being old friends and colleagues of his; others were selected after interviews conducted by producers of the show.[16][42]\nMany of the show's writers worked in television prior to joining the writing staff of The Sopranos. Writing team and married couple Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, who worked on the series as writers and producers from the first to the fifth season, had previously worked with Chase on Northern Exposure.[53] Terence Winter, who joined the writing staff during the production of the second season and served as executive producer from season five onwards, practiced law for two years before deciding to pursue a career as a screenwriter. He eventually caught the attention of Chase through writer Frank Renzulli.[23][54] Matthew Weiner, who served as staff writer and producer for the show's fifth and sixth seasons, wrote a spec script for the series Mad Men in 2000. The script was passed on to Chase who, after reading it, was so impressed that he immediately offered Weiner a job as a writer for The Sopranos.[55] Cast members Michael Imperioli and Toni Kalem, who portray Christopher Moltisanti and Angie Bonpensiero, respectively, also wrote episodes for the show. Imperioli wrote five episodes of seasons two through five and Kalem wrote one episode of season five.[56][57] Other writers the show employed throughout its run include Frank Renzulli, Todd A. Kessler (known as the co-creator of Damages), writing team Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider (worked with Chase on Northern Exposure) and Lawrence Konner, who co-created Almost Grown with Chase in 1988. In total, 20 writers or writing teams (22 people) are credited with writing episodes of The Sopranos. Of these, two (Tim Van Patten and Maria Laurino) receive a single story credit and eight are credited with writing a sole episode. The most prolific writers of the series were Chase (30 credited episodes, including story credits), Winter (25 episodes), Green and Burgess (22 episodes), Weiner (12 episodes) and Renzulli (9 episodes).\nBefore directing The Sopranos, many of the directors had worked on other television series and in independent films.[42] The most frequent directors of the series were Tim Van Patten (20 episodes), John Patterson (13 episodes), Allen Coulter (12 episodes), and Alan Taylor (9 episodes), all of whom have a background in television.[42] Recurring cast members Steve Buscemi and Peter Bogdanovich also directed episodes of the series intermittently.[58][59] Chase directed two episodes himself, the pilot episode and the series finale.[60] Both episodes were photographed by the show's original director of photography Alik Sakharov; he later alternated episodes with Phil Abraham.[61] The show's photography and directing is noted for its feature film-quality.[62][63] This look was achieved by Chase collaborating with Sakharov: \"David wanted a look that would have its own two feet. [...] From the pilot, we would sit down with the whole script and break the scenes down into shots. That's what you do with feature films.\"[61]\nMusic[edit]\nMain article: Music on The Sopranos\nThe Sopranos is noted for its eclectic music selections and has received considerable critical attention for its effective use of previously recorded songs.[64][65][66][67] Chase personally selected all of the show's music with producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak, sometimes also consulting Steven Van Zandt.[64] The music was usually selected once the production and editing of an episode was completed, but on occasion sequences were filmed to match preselected pieces of music.[50]\nThe show's opening theme is \"Woke Up This Morning\" (Chosen One Mix), written by, remixed and performed by British band Alabama 3.[68] With few exceptions, a different song plays over the closing credits of each episode.[66] Many songs are repeated multiple times through an episode, such as \"Living on a Thin Line\" by The Kinks in the season three episode \"University\" and \"Glad Tidings\" by Van Morrison in the season five finale \"All Due Respect\".[66] Other songs are heard several times throughout the series. A notable example is \"Con te partirò\", performed by Italian singer Andrea Bocelli,[69] which plays several times in relation to the character of Carmela Soprano. While the show utilizes a wealth of previously recorded music, it is also notable for its lack of originally composed incidental music, compared to other television programs.[70]\nTwo soundtrack albums containing music from the series have been released. The first, titled The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series, was released in 1999. It contains selections from the show's first two seasons and reached #54 on the U.S. Billboard 200.[71][72] A second soundtrack compilation, titled The Sopranos - Peppers and Eggs: Music From The HBO Series, was released in 2001. This double-disc album contains songs and selected dialogue from the show's first three seasons.[73] It reached #38 on the U.S. Billboard 200.[74]\nSets and locations[edit]\nThe majority of the exterior scenes taking place in New Jersey were filmed on location, with the majority of the interior shots—including most indoor shots of the Soprano residence, the back room of the strip club Bada Bing!, and Dr. Melfi's psychiatrist's office—filmed at Silvercup Studios in New York City.[41]\nThe pork store, a frequent hangout for the mobsters on the show, was in the pilot episode known as Centanni's Meat Market, an actual butchery in Elizabeth, New Jersey.[75] After the series was picked up by HBO, the producers leased a building with a store front in Kearny, New Jersey.[75] For the remainder of the production period, this building served as the shooting location for scenes outside and inside the pork store, now renamed Satriale's.[75] After the series ended, the building was demolished.[76]\nBada Bing!, a strip club owned and operated by the character Silvio Dante on the show, is an actual strip club on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey.[75] Exteriors and interiors (except for the back room) were shot on location.[75] The club is called Satin Dolls and was an existing business before the show started.[77] The club continued to operate during the eight years the show was filmed there. As such, a business arrangement was worked out with the owner.[77] Locations manager Mark Kamine recalls that the owner was \"very gracious\" as long as the shooting did not \"conflict with his business time.\"[77] Scenes set at the restaurant Vesuvio, owned and operated in the series by character Artie Bucco, were in the first episode filmed at a restaurant called Manolo's located in Elizabeth. After the destruction of Vesuvio within the context of the series, Artie opened a new restaurant called Nuovo Vesuvio; exterior scenes set there were filmed at an Italian restaurant called Punta Dura located in Long Island City.[75] All the exterior and some interior shots of the Soprano residence were filmed on location at a private residence in North Caldwell, New Jersey.[75]\nTitle sequence[edit]\nTony Soprano is seen emerging from the Lincoln Tunnel and passes through the tollbooth for the New Jersey Turnpike. Numerous landmarks in and around Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, are then shown passing by the camera as Tony drives down the highway.[78] The sequence ends with Tony pulling into the driveway of his suburban home. Chase has said that the goal of the title sequence was to show that this particular Mafia show was about New Jersey, as opposed to New York, where most similar dramas have been set.[79]\nIn the first three seasons, between Tony leaving the tunnel and entering the Turnpike, an image of the World Trade Center towers can be seen in his side rear-view mirror as Tony leaves the Lincoln Tunnel to join the Turnpike. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, this shot was removed, beginning with the show's fourth season.[80]\nIn a 2010 issue of TV Guide, the show’s opening title sequence ranked #10 on a list of TV's top 10 credits sequences, as selected by readers.[81]\nCast and characters[edit]\nFurther information: List of The Sopranos characters\nThe Sopranos features a large cast of characters throughout its six-season run. Some only appear in certain seasons, while others appear for the entire series. All characters were created by David Chase, unless otherwise noted.\nTony Soprano (James Gandolfini) was the protagonist of the series. Tony was a capo of the New Jersey-based DiMeo crime family at the beginning of the series and the acting boss starting in season two. He was also the patriarch of the Soprano household. Throughout the series, Tony struggles to balance his family life and his career in the Mafia.[82] Because he is prone to depression, Tony seeks treatment from psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) in the show's first episode. Jennifer is a divorced Italian-American woman with a son in college. She treats Tony to the best of her ability despite the fact that they frequently clash over various issues. Jennifer is usually thoughtful, rational and humane, which contrasts with Tony's personality. Tony and Jennifer also harbor sexual feelings for each other, although Jennifer never openly shows or tries to act on it.[83]\nAdding to Tony's complicated life is his relationship with his wife Carmela (Edie Falco),[84] which is strained by his constant infidelity and her struggle to reconcile the reality of Tony's business with the material rewards it brings her. Both have a stressful relationship with their two children, the intelligent but rebellious Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler)[85] and troubled underachiever Anthony Junior (Robert Iler),[86] whose everyday teenage issues are further complicated by their knowledge of their father's criminal activities.\nThe starring cast includes members of Tony's extended family, including his mother, Livia (Nancy Marchand);[87] sister, Janice (Aida Turturro);[88] uncle Corrado \"Junior\" Soprano (Dominic Chianese), nominal boss of the crime family following the death of then-acting boss Jackie Aprile, Sr;[89] cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi);[90] and Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli),[91] often referred to as Tony's nephew but actually a cousin by marriage. Both Livia and Janice are shrewd manipulators with emotional problems of their own. Tony's Uncle Junior is involved in his criminal organization and their family bond ties with their criminal ambitions. Both his cousin Tony and nephew Christopher are also involved with his \"other\" family and their actions are a further source of conflict. Christopher struggles with drug addiction and alcoholism, and a desire to gain respect, while Tony Blundetto hopes to \"go straight\" but has a violent streak.\nTony's close circle within the DiMeo crime family includes Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt),[92] Paulie Gualtieri (Tony Sirico)[93] and Salvatore \"Big Pussy\" Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore).[94] Silvio is Tony's consigliere and best friend. Paulie and Big Pussy are longtime soldiers and close allies who have worked with Tony and his father; Paulie soon becomes capo and eventually is further promoted to underboss. Also in Tony's criminal organization are Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi)[95] and Furio Giunta (Federico Castelluccio).[96] Patsy is a quiet soldier with a head for figures. Furio, imported muscle from Italy, is Tony's bodyguard and enforcer.\nOther significant characters in the DiMeo family include Bobby \"Bacala\" Baccalieri (Steven R. Schirripa),[97] Richie Aprile (David Proval),[98] Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano),[99] Eugene Pontecorvo (Robert Funaro)[100] and Vito Spatafore (Joseph R. Gannascoli).[101] Bobby is a subordinate of Junior's whom Tony initially bullies but later accepts into his inner circle. Ralph is a clever, ambitious top-earner but his arrogance and tendency to be obnoxious, disrespectful and very violent make Tony resentful. Richie Aprile is released from prison in season two and quickly makes waves in the organization. Pontecorvo is a young soldier who becomes a made man alongside Christopher. Spatafore works his way up through the ranks to become top earner of the Aprile Crew but is secretly homosexual.\nFriends of the Soprano family include Herman \"Hesh\" Rabkin (Jerry Adler),[102] Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo),[103] Rosalie Aprile (Sharon Angela),[104] Angie Bonpensiero (Toni Kalem), along with Artie (John Ventimiglia)[105] and Charmaine Bucco (Kathrine Narducci).[106] Hesh is an adviser and friend to Tony, and served in this role under Tony's father. Adriana is Christopher's longtime girlfriend; the two have a tempestuous relationship. Rosalie is the widow of the previous DiMeo boss and a close friend of Carmela. Angie is Salvatore Bonpensiero's wife who later goes into business for herself. Artie and Charmaine are school friends of the Sopranos and owners of the popular restaurant Vesuvio. Charmaine wishes to have no association with Tony and his crew due to his criminal activities, and often has to insist because Artie—a law-abiding and hard-working man—is drawn to Tony's way of life.\nJohn \"Johnny Sack\" Sacramoni (Vince Curatola),[107] Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent)[108] and \"Little\" Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr. (Ray Abruzzo)[109] are all significant characters from the New York-based Lupertazzi crime family, which shares a good amount of its business with the Soprano organization. Although the Lupertazzis' and DiMeos' interests are often at odds, Tony maintains a cordial, business-like relationship with Johnny Sack, preferring to make deals that benefit both families. His second-in-command and eventual successor, Phil Leotardo, is less friendly and is harder for Tony to do business with. Little Carmine is the son of the family's first boss and vies for power with the others.\nPlot synopsis and episode list[edit]\nMain article: List of The Sopranos episodes\nSeason 1[edit]\nMain article: The Sopranos (season 1)\nThe series begins with Tony Soprano collapsing after suffering a panic attack. This prompts him to begin therapy with Dr. Jennifer Melfi. Gradually, the storyline reveals details of Tony's upbringing, with his father's influence looming large on his development as a gangster, but more so that Tony's mother, Livia, was vengeful and possibly personality-disordered. His complicated relationship with his wife Carmela is also explored, as well as her feelings regarding her husband's cosa nostra ties. Meadow and Anthony Jr.—Tony's children—gain increasing knowledge of their father's mob dealings. Later, federal indictments are brought as a result of someone in his organization talking to the FBI.\nAfter ordering the execution of Brendan Filone and the mock execution of Chris Moltisanti, Tony's uncle Corrado \"Junior\" Soprano is installed as boss of the family (following the death of previous boss Jackie Aprile, Sr. from cancer), even though Tony actually controls most things from behind the scenes. Furious at Corrado's plan to have him killed, Tony responds to the attempt on his life with a violent reprisal, and confronts his mother for her role in plotting his downfall; she appears to have a psychologically-triggered stroke. \"Junior\" is arrested by the FBI on non-related charges.\nSeason 2[edit]\nMain article: The Sopranos (season 2)\nJackie's brother Richie Aprile is released from prison at the beginning of the second season, and proves to be uncontrollable in the business arena; he also starts a relationship with Tony's sister Janice, who has arrived from Seattle. Tony's friend \"Big Pussy\" returns to New Jersey after a conspicuous absence.\nChristopher Moltisanti becomes engaged to his girlfriend Adriana La Cerva. Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte, two low-level associates dissatisfied with their perceived lack of success in the Soprano crew, try to make a name for themselves by attempting to kill Christopher. Their plan backfires; Christopher kills Sean and though critically wounded, survives their attack. Tony and Big Pussy locate Matthew and assassinate him. However, a witness goes to the FBI and identifies Tony.\nJunior is placed under house arrest as he awaits trial. Richie, frustrated with Tony's authority over him, entreats Junior to have Tony killed. Junior feigns interest, then informs Tony of Richie's intentions, leaving Tony with another problem to address. However, the situation is defused unexpectedly when Janice kills Richie in a violent argument; Tony and his men conceal all evidence of the murder, and Janice returns to Seattle.\nTony, realizing Big Pussy is an FBI informant, murders him on board a boat (with assistance from Silvio Dante and Paulie Gualtieri), then wraps his corpse in chains and throws it overboard.\nSeason 3[edit]\nMain article: The Sopranos (season 3)\nFollowing the \"disappearance\" of Aprile Crew capo Richie Aprile, the return of the ambitious Ralph Cifaretto, having spent an extended period of leisure time in Miami, marks the third season. He renews a relationship with Rosalie Aprile, the widow of the deceased acting boss Jackie Aprile, Sr., and former capo of the Aprile Crew, which bears his name. With Richie assumed to have joined the Witness Protection Program, Ralph unofficially usurps control over the Aprile Crew, proving to be an exceptionally dexterous earner for the crew. While Ralph's competitive merit would seemingly have him next in line to ascend to capo, his insubordination inclines Tony not to promote him and instead gives the promotion to the unqualified, but complacent, Gigi Cestone, causing much resentment and tension between him and Ralph. Livia dies of a stroke.\nJackie Aprile, Jr. becomes involved with Meadow and then descends into a downward spiral of recklessness, drugs and crime. Tony initially attempts to act as a mentor to Jackie but becomes increasingly impatient with his escalating misbehavior, particularly as Jackie's relationship with Meadow begins to become serious. Inspired by a story from Ralph about how Tony, Jackie Sr., and Silvio Dante got made, Jackie and his friends Dino Zerilli and Carlo Renzi make a similar move and attempt to rob Eugene Pontecorvo's Saturday night card game, so they can gain recognition from the family, possibly getting them respected and made as well. The plan takes a turn for the worse when Jackie panics due to the heckling of the card dealer \"Sunshine\" and shoots him to death. Dino and Carlo are killed during the robbery, but Jackie manages to escape. Tony decides to give Ralph the decision regarding Jackie Jr.'s punishment. Despite his role as a surrogate father, Ralph decides to have Jackie Jr. killed.\nRalph ultimately crosses the line when, in a cocaine-induced rage, he gets into a confrontation with girlfriend, Tracee and beats her to death. She may have been pregnant with his child at the time. This infuriates Tony to the point where he violates traditional Mafia code by striking him repeatedly in front of the entire family. Bad blood temporarily surfaces between the two but is shortly resolved after Gigi Cestone dies of an aneurysm, thereby forcing Tony to reluctantly promote Ralph to capo.\nTony begins an affair with Gloria Trillo, who is also a patient of Dr. Melfi. Their relationship is brief and tumultuous. Meanwhile, Dr. Melfi is raped. Junior is diagnosed with stomach cancer; following chemotherapy, it goes into remission. A.J. continues to get in trouble at school, despite success on the football team. This culminates in his expulsion.\nSeason 4[edit]\nMain article: The Sopranos (season 4)\nStarting the fourth season, Tony and Christopher stake out the retirement party of Detective Lieutenant Barry Haydu, the man who murdered Christopher's father. Tony gives Christopher Haydu's address. When Christopher asks why he had been allowed to live all these years, Tony says that he had been valuable, but that he has outlived his worth. Christopher waits inside Haydu's home and ambushes him as he returns from his party. Haydu vehemently denies murdering Christopher's father, but struggles to get away, yelling \"I'm sorry!\" when Christopher goes to shoot him.\nNew York underboss Johnny Sack becomes enraged after learning Ralph Cifaretto made an inappropriate joke about his wife's weight. He seeks permission from boss Carmine Lupertazzi to have Ralph clipped, but is denied. Johnny orders the hit anyway. Tony receives the okay from Carmine to hit Johnny Sack for insubordination. Junior Soprano tips Tony to use an old outfit in Providence for the work. After catching his wife eating sweets secretly, instead of following the diet plan, Johnny Sack gives in, and bloodshed is averted.\nTony and Ralph invest in a race horse named Pie-O-My, who wins several races and makes them both a great deal of money. However, when Ralph's 12-year old son Justin is severely injured when an arrow plunges into his chest, Tony comes to believe Ralph burned Pie-O-My in a stable fire to collect $200,000 in insurance money. Tony confronts Ralph the following morning and Ralph denies setting the fire. The two engage in a violent brawl, culminating in Tony strangling Ralph to death. Tony and Christopher dispose of the body; they bury his head and hands at Mikey Palmice's father's farm and throw his body into a quarry.\nWhile he is leaving court, Uncle Junior is hit in the head with a boom mic and falls down several steps. Tony advises him to take advantage of the opportunity, act mentally incompetent, and employ it as a ruse for not continuing the trial. Later, Eugene Pontecorvo intimidates a juror, resulting in a deadlocked jury, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial.\nFollowing the death of Bobby Baccalieri's wife, Janice pursues a romantic relationship with him. Christopher's addiction to heroin deepens, prompting his associates and family to organize an intervention, after which he enters a drug rehabilitation center. Adriana befriends a woman who is an undercover FBI agent. When the friendship ends, the woman reveals herself as an FBI agent and tells Adriana the only way to stay out of prison is to become an informant. Adriana agrees and starts sharing information with the FBI.\nCarmela, whose relationship with Tony is tense due to financial worries and Tony's infidelities, develops a mutual infatuation with Furio Giunta. Furio, incapable of breaking his own moral codes and that of the Neapolitan mafia, clandestinely returns home to Italy. After Tony's former mistress calls their home, Carmela throws Tony out. Tony is approached by Johnny Sack with a proposal to murder Carmine, which Tony turns down.\nSeason 5[edit]\nMain article: The Sopranos (season 5)\nA string of brand new characters are introduced in the fifth season, including Tony's cousin Tony Blundetto, who along with other mafiosos are released from prison simultaneously. Among the others released are former DiMeo Crime Family capo Michele \"Feech\" La Manna, Lupertazzi family capo Phil Leotardo, and semi-retired Lupertazzi consigliere Angelo Garepe. Tony offers Tony B. a job, but he respectfully declines, as he is determined to lead a straight life. He initially begins to take courses to earn a degree in massage therapy and aspires to open up his own massage parlor. After Carmine Lupertazzi dies of a stroke, his death leaves a vacancy for boss of the Lupertazzi Family, which will soon be fought over by underboss Johnny Sack and Carmine's son Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr.. After Feech proves to be an insubordinate presence, Tony arranges for him to be sent back to prison by setting him up with stolen property, violating his parole.\nThe war between Johnny Sack and Carmine, Jr. begins when Johnny has Phil kill \"lady shylock\" Lorraine Calluzzo. Tony B.'s attempt to stay straight comes to a head when he gets into a brawl with his employer Sungyon Kim. Tony informs Tony B. that \"it's hard working with strangers.\" Angelo, who was a good friend to Tony B. in prison, and Lupertazzi capo Rusty Millio offer Tony B. the job of taking out Joey Peeps in retaliation for Lorraine's death. Tony B. initially declines but, desperate to earn, accepts the job. He catches Joey outside a bordello, shoots him, and quickly flees the scene. Johnny believes Tony B. is involved, and retaliates by having Phil and his brother Billy Leotardo kill Angelo. Tony B. finds the Leotardo brothers and opens fire, killing Billy and wounding Phil.\nStill separated from Carmela, Tony is living at his parents' house. Carmela, now the sole authority figure in the home, becomes frustrated as her rules lead A.J. to resent her; eventually she allows him to live with his father. She has a brief relationship with Robert Wegler, A.J.'s guidance counselor; he breaks it off abruptly when he suspects that she is manipulating him to improve A.J.'s grades. Tony and Carmela reconcile; Tony promises to be more loyal and agrees to pay for a piece of real estate Carmela wishes to develop.\nTony gets Meadow's boyfriend Finn De Trolio a summer job at a construction site, which is run by Aprile Crew capo Vito Spatafore. Finn comes in early one morning and catches Vito performing fellatio on a security guard. Vito tries to buddy up to Finn so that he does not say anything to anybody else. He even asks Finn to a Yankees game, which Finn does not attend. Finn soon quits the job out of fear.\nAfter covering up a murder that occurred at The Crazy Horse, Adriana is arrested and pressured by the F.B.I. to wear a wire to avoid being charged as an accomplice. She refuses to wear a wire and informs the F.B.I. that she may be able to persuade her fiancé Christopher to co-operate and become an informant against Tony. She confesses to Christopher that she has been informing and that the F.B.I. would give them new identities if they would testify. Christopher is grief-stricken and nearly kills her. He leaves the apartment, saying he needs time to think. Tony has Silvio pick up Adriana under the pretense of taking her to see Christopher, but instead drives her out to the woods and executes her. Adriana’s betrayal and subsequent execution is too much for Christopher to handle and he briefly returns to drug abuse to deal with the pain.\nPhil Leotardo and his henchmen beat Benny Fazio while trying to acquire the whereabouts of Tony B.; Phil also threatens to have Christopher taken out if Tony B.'s whereabouts are not disclosed soon. To avoid any more of his guys getting hurt and to pacify New York, Tony tracks Tony B. to their Uncle Pat's farm and shoots him. Phil, however, is furious that he did not get the opportunity to do it himself. Tony and Johnny meet at Johnny's house in a reconciliatory manner, but Johnny is arrested by Federal agents, while Tony escapes.\nSeason 6[edit]\nMain article: The Sopranos (season 6)\nUncle Junior, now senile and confused, shoots Tony at the beginning of the sixth and final season. Rendered comatose, Tony dreams he is a salesman on a business trip, where he mistakenly exchanges his briefcase and identification with a man named Kevin Finnerty. Tony's recovery from the shooting changes his outlook, and he tries to mend his ways. However, he is faced with more problems in his business life.\nOnce out of the hospital, Johnny Sack's daughter gets married and the Soprano family attends. There, Tony is shown very exhausted and through security must take off his shoes. In the process he collapses to the ground, but is not hurt. Before the wedding Johnny Sack is approved to leave prison for six hours to see his daughter get married and that he has to pay for the metal detectors and the presence of the U.S. marshals at the event. As his daughter is about to drive away the SUV that was escorting Johnny to the wedding blocks the car from leaving and an altercation begins in the driveway. In a moment of weakness and despair Johnny Sack cries as he is put back into handcuffs and driven back to prison, greatly diminishing the respect his crew and Tony's crew have for him.\nVito Spatafore is outed as homosexual after running into a friend at a New York night club. The rumor spreads quickly, and once word gets to Meadow that everyone else knows, she tells Tony and Carmela about the incident between Finn and Vito with the security guard. Finn then has to sit in front of Tony's entire crew and tell them what happened with the guard, solidifying their thoughts on Vito's sexuality. Tony is urged to deal with the problem by Phil Leotardo, now acting boss of New York with Johnny Sack in prison. Once Vito is outed, he runs away from the city and hides out in a New Hampshire town where he claims to be writing a book and meets with the locals. Vito also starts a romantic relationship with a male cook at a local diner. Eventually, Vito returns to New Jersey and asks Tony to allow him to return to work, albeit in Atlantic City. He continues to maintain that he is not a homosexual. Tony mulls over the decision to let him work, as well as whether to let him live. When Tony fails to act, Phil intervenes and kills Spatafore. When one of the members of the New York family, Fat Dom Gamiello, pays a visit to the Jersey office and won't stop making jokes about Vito and his death, the two members of Tony's crime family who are present kill Fat Dom out of anger at the disrespect he has shown. Once more, it appears that the families are on the verge of all-out war.\nDuring the first half of the season Chris and Carmine head to Los Angeles to try to sign Ben Kingsley for a film they are trying to make called Cleaver, which is basically a mix of The Godfather and Saw. But Kingsley passes on the picture. While in Los Angeles Chris goes back to using cocaine for a short period of time.\nTony considers killing several of his associates for relatively minor infractions. Christopher is unable to leave the mob, deflecting his problems by relapsing into drug addiction and kills his friend from Narcotics Anonymous, J. T. Dolan. He is then seriously injured in a car accident while driving under the influence of narcotics. Tony, the sole passenger, is not badly hurt, and suffocates Christopher to death. A.J. is dumped by his fiancée and slips into depression, culminating in a failed suicide attempt in the backyard pool. Dr. Melfi is convinced by friends that Tony is making no progress and may even be using talking therapy for his own sociopathic benefit. She drops him as a patient.\nJohnny Sack dies from lung cancer while imprisoned, and Leotardo then consolidates his position in the Lupertazzi family by having his rivals for the leadership killed. Phil then officially takes over, igniting a resumption of the past feud with Tony and refusing to compromise with Tony on a garbage deal. When Tony assaults a Lupertazzi soldier for harassing Meadow while she is on a date, Phil decides it's time to decapitate the Soprano crew. He orders the executions of Bobby Baccalieri, who is shot to death; Silvio, who ends up comatose; and Tony, who goes into hiding. A deal is brokered whereby the rest of the Lupertazzi family agrees to ignore the order to kill Tony, giving Tony an opportunity to go after Phil. An FBI agent informs Tony of Phil's location, allowing Tony to have him killed. Tony suspects that Carlo, a capo from New Jersey, has become an informant in an attempt to help out his son, who has recently been caught for dealing ecstasy. Tony meets with his lawyer, who informs him that subpoenas are being given to New Jersey and New York crews alike. Sometime after Phil's death and a meeting with everyone, Tony, Carmela, and AJ meet for dinner, while the Journey song \"Don't Stop Believin'\" plays in the background. At this time, several individuals become apparent that seem out of place for the venue. Three individuals enter and are specifically focused upon during entry. Meadow is shown coming to the dinner late and crossing the street as the rest of the family starts to eat an appetizer. An individual who had been previously shown at the counter specifically taking notice of Tony, is shown entering the restroom, the door of which is directly facing, (and approximately 90 degrees to), the table at which Tony and his family are sitting. As Meadow walks up to the door, the screen goes to Tony. The diner door opens with a bell ringing, Tony looks up and the show smash cuts to black and after a few seconds the credits roll in silence.\nChase's decision to end the last episode abruptly with just a black screen was controversial. While Chase has insisted that it was not his intention to stir controversy, the ambiguity over the ending and question of whether Tony was murdered has continued for years after the finale's original broadcast and has spawned numerous websites devoted to finding out his true intention.[110][111][112]\nReception and impact[edit]\nRatings[edit]\nThe Sopranos was a major ratings success. Despite being aired on premium cable network HBO, which is available in significantly fewer American homes than regular networks, the show frequently attracted equal or larger audiences than most popular network shows of the time.[113] Nielsen ratings for the show's first four seasons are not entirely accurate, however, as prior to January 2004 Nielsen reported aggregate numbers for cable networks, meaning people watching other HBO channels than the main one, on which The Sopranos aired, would be included in the ratings estimates.[114]\nSeason Originally aired Nielsen ratings (in millions) Time slot\nSeason premiere Season finale Season average\n1 January 10 – April 4, 1999 3.45[115] 5.22[115] 3.46[116] Sunday\n9:00 pm\n2 January 16 – April 9, 2000 7.64[115] 8.97[115] 6.62[116]\n3 March 4 – May 20, 2001 11.26[115] 9.46[115] 8.87[116]\n4 September 15 – December 8, 2002 13.43[115] 12.48[115] 10.99[116]\n5 March 7 – June 6, 2004 12.14[115] 10.98[115] 9.80[116]\n6 (Part 1) March 12 – June 4, 2006 9.47[115] 8.90[117] 8.60[117]\n6 (Part 2) April 8 – June 10, 2007 7.66[118] 11.90[119] 8.23[116]\nCritical response[edit]\nMany critics have asserted that The Sopranos is the greatest and most groundbreaking television series of all time.[2][3][4][32][120][121][122][123] The writing, acting, and directing have often been singled out for praise. The show has also received considerable attention from critics and journalists for its mature and artistic content, technical merit, music selections, cinematography, and willingness to deal with difficult and controversial subjects including crime, gender roles, family, and American and Italian American culture.[63][122][123] The Sopranos is credited for creating a new era in the mafia genre deviating from the traditional dramatized image of the gangster in favor of a simpler, more accurate reflection of mob life.[124] The series sheds light on Italian family dynamics through the depiction of Tony's tumultuous relationship with his mother.[125] Edie Falco's character Carmela Soprano is praised in Kristyn Gorton's essay \"Why I Love Carmela Soprano\" for challenging Italian-American gender roles.[126] The New Yorker writer, David Remnick, stated in his 2006 article \"Family Guy\", The Sopranos mirror the \"mindless commerce and consumption\" of modern America.[127]\nThe Sopranos has been called \"perhaps the greatest pop-culture masterpiece of its day\" by Vanity Fair contributor Peter Biskind.[16] The New Yorker editor David Remnick called the show \"the richest achievement in the history of television.\"[127] In 2002, TV Guide ranked The Sopranos fifth on their list of the \"Top 50 TV Shows of All Time,\"[128] while the series was only in its fourth season. In 2007, Channel 4 (UK) named The Sopranos the greatest television series of all time.[129]\nThe first season of the series received overwhelmingly positive reviews.[130] Following its initial airing in 1999, The New York Times stated, \"[The Sopranos] just may be the greatest work of American popular culture of the last quarter century.\"[21] In 2007, Roger Holland of PopMatters wrote, \"the debut season of The Sopranos remains the crowning achievement of American television.\"[131]\nTime Out New York 's Andrew Johnston had high praise for the series, stating: \"Together, Chase and his fellow writers (including Terence Winter and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner) produced the legendary Great American Novel, and it’s 86 episodes long.\"[132] Johnston asserted the preeminence of The Sopranos as opposed to Deadwood and The Wire in a debate with critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz.[133]\nIn November and December 2009, a large number of television critics named The Sopranos the best series of the decade and all time in articles summarizing the decade in television. In numbered lists over the best television programs, The Sopranos frequently ranked first or second, almost always competing with The Wire.[123] In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Sopranos No. 2 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time,[134] In the same year, the Writers Guild of America named it the best-written television series of all time[135] and TV Guide ranked it as the greatest show of all time.[14]\nCertain episodes have frequently been singled out by critics as the show's best. These include the pilot, titled \"The Sopranos\", \"College\" and \"I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano\" of the first season; \"The Knight in White Satin Armor\" and \"Funhouse\" of the second; \"Employee of the Month\", \"Pine Barrens\" and \"Amour Fou\" of the third; \"Whoever Did This\" and \"Whitecaps\" of the fourth; \"Irregular Around the Margins\" and \"Long Term Parking\" of the fifth and \"Members Only\", \"Join the Club\", \"Kennedy and Heidi\", \"The Second Coming\" and \"The Blue Comet\" of the sixth season.[136][137][138][139][140][141]\nHumanities professor Camille Paglia, herself Italian-American, has spoken negatively about The Sopranos, arguing that its depiction of Italian-Americans was inaccurate, inauthentic, dated and racist.[142]\nAwards and nominations[edit]\nMain article: List of awards and nominations received by The Sopranos\nThe Sopranos won and was nominated for a large number of awards over the course of its original broadcast. It was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in every year it was eligible, and is the first cable TV series to receive a nomination for the award. After being nominated for and losing the award in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003 (losing the first time to The Practice, and the last three to The West Wing), The Sopranos won the award in 2004, and again in 2007. Its 2004 win made The Sopranos the first series on a cable network to win the award,[143] while its 2007 win made the show the first drama series since Upstairs, Downstairs in 1977 to win the award after it had finished airing.[144] The show earned 21 nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and won the award six times, with creator David Chase receiving three awards.[145]\nThe Sopranos won at least one Emmy Award for acting in every eligible year except 2006 and 2007. James Gandolfini and Edie Falco were each nominated six times for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress, respectively, both winning a total of three awards. Joe Pantoliano won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2003, and Michael Imperioli and Drea de Matteo also won Emmys in 2004 for their supporting roles on the show. Other actors who have received Emmy nominations for the series include Lorraine Bracco (in the Lead Actress and Supporting Actress categories), Dominic Chianese, Nancy Marchand, Aida Turturro, Steve Buscemi (who was also nominated for directing the episode \"Pine Barrens\"), Tim Daly, John Heard and Annabella Sciorra.[145]\nIn 2000 and 2001, The Sopranos earned two consecutive George Foster Peabody Awards. Only two other series have won the award in consecutive years: Northern Exposure and The West Wing.[146] The show also received numerous nominations at the Golden Globe Awards (winning the award for Best Drama Series in 2000)[147] and the major guild awards (Directors,[148] Producers,[149] Writers,[150] and Actors[151]).\nInfluence on television industry[edit]\nThe Sopranos had a significant impact on the shape of the American television industry. It has been characterized by critics as one of the most influential artistic works of the 2000s (decade) and is credited with allowing other drama series with similarly mature content to achieve mainstream recognition. It has also often been cited as one of the television series that helped turn serial television into a legitimate art form on the same level as feature films, literature and theater.[62][122][152] TIME editor James Poniewozik wrote in 2007, \"This mafia saga showed just how complex and involving TV storytelling could be, inspiring an explosion of ambitious dramas on cable and off.\"[122] Also in 2007, Maureen Ryan of PopMatters described The Sopranos as \"the most influential television drama ever\" and wrote \"No one-hour drama series has had a bigger impact on how stories are told on the small screen, or more influence on what kind of fare we’ve been offered by an ever-growing array of television networks.\"[62] Hal Boedeker, also writing for PopMatters in 2007, stated that the series was \"widely influential for revealing that cable would accommodate complex series about dark characters. The Sopranos ushered in Six Feet Under, The Shield, Rescue Me and Big Love.\"[152]\nThe series helped establish HBO as producers of critically acclaimed and commercially successful original television series. Michael Flaherty of The Hollywood Reporter has stated that The Sopranos \"helped launch [HBO's] reputation as a destination for talent looking for cutting-edge original series work.\"[32]\nDepiction of stereotypes[edit]\nThe show has been frequently criticized for allegedly perpetuating negative stereotypes about Italian Americans. In 2000, Essex County officials denied producers permission to film on county-owned property, arguing that the show depicts Italian Americans in a \"less than favorable light.\"[153] Despite the controversy, Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind found, in an August 2001 national survey, that 65% of Americans disagreed with the notion that the show was \"portraying Italian Americans in a negative way.\"[154] The PublicMind's \"New Jersey and The Sopranos: Perfect Together?\" survey was referenced in a 2002 episode titled \"Christopher\" that addressed the topic of Italian American identity in the context of Newark's annual Columbus Day parade.[155] Later that year, Sopranos cast members were barred by parade organizers from participating in the real-life event.[156] At the end of the series the PublicMind again asked the American public about their opinions on the series. Similar to the 2001 results, 61% of Americans disagreed with the idea that The Sopranos portrayed Italian Americans in a negative light.[157] The PublicMind also found, in their 2001 poll, that viewers of The Sopranos were more likely to see New Jersey in a more negative light than people who did not watch the show.[158]\nChase has defended his show, saying that it is not meant to stereotype all Italian Americans, only to depict a small criminal subculture.[159]\nDVD and Blu-ray Disc releases[edit]\nAll six seasons were released as DVD box sets, with the final season released in two parts; two different versions of the complete series were also released.\nIn addition, the sixth season (both parts 1 and 2) were also released on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The first season was released on Blu-ray in 2009.[160] A complete series box set will be released on Blu-ray on November 4, 2014.[161]\nSeason Release dates Episodes Special features Discs\nRegion 1 Region 2 Region 4\n1 December 12, 2000 November 24, 2003 November 24, 2003 13\nA 77-minute interview with series creator David Chase, conducted by film historian and director Peter Bogdanovich.\n\"Family Life\" featurette.\n\"Meet Tony Soprano\" featurette.\nOne audio commentary by David Chase and Peter Bogdanovich for the pilot episode, \"The Sopranos\".[162]\n4\n2 November 6, 2001 November 24, 2003 November 24, 2003 13\n\"The Real Deal\" featurette.\n\"A Sit Down With Tony Soprano\" featurette.\nFour audio commentaries by crew members for the episodes \"Commendatori\", \"From Where to Eternity\", \"The Knight in White Satin Armor\", and \"Funhouse\".[163]\n3 August 27, 2002 November 24, 2003 November 24, 2003 13\n\"A Day On The Set Of The Sopranos\" featurette.\nThree audio commentaries by crew members for the episodes \"The Telltale Moozadell\", \"Pine Barrens\", and \"Amour Fou\".[164]\n4 October 28, 2003 November 3, 2003 November 3, 2003 13\nEpisodic previews and recaps.\nCast and crew biographies.\nFour audio commentaries by crew members for the episodes \"The Weight\", \"Everybody Hurts\", \"Whoever Did This\", and \"Whitecaps\".[165]\n5 June 7, 2005 June 20, 2005 August 17, 2005 13\nFive audio commentaries by cast and crew members for the episodes \"All Happy Families...\", \"Sentimental Education\", \"In Camelot\", \"Cold Cuts\", and \"Long Term Parking\".[166]\n6\n(Part 1) November 7, 2006 November 27, 2006 March 7, 2007 12\nFour audio commentaries by cast and crew members for the episodes \"Join the Club\", \"Luxury Lounge\", \"The Ride\", and \"Kaisha\".[167]\n6\n(Part 2) October 23, 2007 November 19, 2007 January 31, 2008 9\n\"Making Cleaver: Behind the scenes of Christopher's horror film\" featurette.\n\"The Music of The Sopranos\" – Creator David Chase, cast, and crew discuss the songs from the show.\nFour audio commentaries by cast members for the episodes \"Soprano Home Movies\", \"Remember When\", \"The Second Coming\", and \"The Blue Comet\".[168]\nComplete HBO\nBox set N/A November 19, 2007 86\nCollects the previously released box-sets.\n28\nDeluxe Edition November 11, 2008 November 24, 2008 86\nIncludes all special features from the previously released box-sets.\nNever before seen scenes from all six seasons.\nExclusive interviews with David Chase conducted by actor Alec Baldwin.\nSupper with The Sopranos: Two sit-down dinners with the cast and crew of the show as they discuss the series finale.\nLost scenes from all six seasons of The Sopranos.\nPanel Center Seminar: Discussions featuring \"whacked\" characters.\nExtra Gravy: Spoofs and Parodies, including The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live.\nShow Demonoid some love with",
"Mike Leigh - Samuel French – Licensing Plays and ...\nMike Leigh. Mike Leigh is an ... Goose-Pimples (1982), Ecstasy (1989) and Abigail's Party ... His television plays, which he wrote and directed, include Nuts in May, ...\nMike Leigh\nZ\nMike Leigh\nMike Leigh is an award-winning screen-writer and playwright who was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1943. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and at Camberwell and Central Art Schools and the London Film School. He gained acting and directing experience with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and his first original play, Bleak Moments, evolved from improvisations. His career began as a playwright and theatre director, his stage plays including Smelling A Rat (1989), It's A Great Big Shame, Greek Tragedy, Goose-Pimples (1982), Ecstasy (1989) and Abigail's Party (1979), the latter being revived on its 25th anniversary and nominated for the 2002 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival. Later he began to make films for television, then became involved with feature film production. His television plays, which he wrote and directed, include Nuts in May, Home Sweet Home, and Vera Drake. He is well-known for his films which do not begin with a script, but evolve from actors talking, improvising and creating characters. His multi-award winning films include All or Nothing (2002), Life is Sweet , Secrets and Lies (1997) and Topsy Turvy (1999).\nSamuel French Titles by Mike Leigh",
"Tracy Heffernan - BMA Magazine Canberra Streetpress\n... and Steven Spielberg, among others. Other ... Fargo, a ten-part series based on the film but ... That may well change with his first TV role as FBI agent ...\nBMA Magazine Canberra Streetpress\nThe Last Blackbox Ever\nDate Published: Tuesday, 3 December 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 1 month ago\nThe year is drawing to a close and so too is Blackbox. This, the 301st edition of this columnist’s rants and viewing tips, will be the last.\nBack in February 2001 when Blackbox first appeared in the pages of BMA, the digital revolution was close to a decade away, Canberra had five free-to-air stations and people only connected Foxtel for the sport. Broadband was in its infancy and download so slow it took half a day to procure an episode of The Simpsons. Bit torrent sites were the domain of serious IT nerds and it was record companies, not film studios, worried about illegal downloads. The first iPod was still eight months away and your TV really was a black (or silver) cathode ray-powered box. (The Black Box in the column’s name, by the way, was also a reference to the intel from a plane’s flight recorder.)\nFast forward almost 13 years and the television landscape has changed dramatically. TV isn’t about channels anymore – it’s about platforms. And instead of time-shifting, we talk about television on demand. And that’s the point. BMA is a printed magazine with quite long deadlines. At a time when bloggers are putting up reviews within an hour of airtimes, most of you have downloaded the show at least a week before BMA is published, which makes a fortnightly TV column a bit redundant.\nBut rather than dying the slow, drawn out death that was predicted 15 years ago, television, or at least the content, has thrived. It’s not uncommon to hear people say, “I don’t watch TV.” But they do. They just watch it in a different way. You can call it episodic drama but it’s TV content designed to be viewed as episodes.\nIt was a phenomenon that took shape in the early ‘90s – mixing the mini-series format and discreet weekly episodes to produce series with longer story arcs entwining across multiple episodes. By 2001, pioneers of this genre, such as the X-Files and Buffy were nearing their natural end. Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. creator Joss Wheedon’s cult hit Firefly, which starred a pre-Castle Nathan Fillion and sealed the sci-fi fate of Summer Glau, was still a year off. The golden age of writing and production typified by the HBO catalogue had barely begun. The first of these, The West Wing and The Wire, were so poorly treated by commercial networks that the ABC reran them from start to finish years later. There was also some great British and local fare in shows such as Teachers and Rake.\nThe late ‘90s also introduced us to the scourge of free-to-air-TV: reality programming. 2001 was the year Survivor filmed in Australia and an Oscar was first awarded in this category. Australian Idol was yet to appear on the scene.\nIt would be years before teen drama would take on the glitz of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars or re-imagine the vampire-fuelled success of Buffy. In 2001, teens were obsessing over the intellectual discourse of a group of teens from the mid-west in Dawson’s Creek.\nTalk, panel, and game shows also made a resurgence, albeit in a hipper format, usually with a comedian at the helm. There was Wil Anderson’s The Glasshouse which looked at events of the week, the Tony Squires-hosted sport panel The Fat, and Andrew Denton’s long-running Enough Rope. Rockwiz brought music trivia to the box in May 2005 and Spicks and Specks followed soon after. It was also the decade television made the laconic underground publishers of The Chaser the most recognisable faces in the nation. \nIt was also the decade where animation hit the big time. The Simpsons and South Park were already hits in 2001 as was Blackbox’s favourite, Daria. The sublime humour of Archer wouldn’t hit the Box for another ten years.\nI’ve missed a lot – a plethora of ob docos, lifestyle shows, unsurpassed comedy, and some of the best documentaries ever made. But I’m almost out of time, and note this last column also marks the closure of a lengthy chapter in my life. For the past 17 years, almost every issue of BMA has featured my byline. It has been a stellar ride. I have met loads of incredibly inspiring, talented and interesting people, and made quite a few life-long friends. I’d like to particularly thank Vanessa Bowden, Lisa Howdin, Scott Layne, and also the many editors who’ve put up with my deadline tardiness. And most of all, I’d like to thank you, the readers of this column. Rest assured I will still be watching the box and unleashing TV news, views and abuse through Twitter. But for now, in the best BMA tradition, I’ll leave you with the top five TV moments from the past 13 years:\n1. The return of Dr Who – the childhood fodder of almost every Gen X-er was given a new lease on life, and last weekend the show celebrated its 50th anniversary.\n2. HBO – because its approach to quality TV drama has raised the stakes, and audiences are the winners. Think The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Da Ali G Show, Deadwood, and of course, Game of Thrones.\n3. The doco Great Australian Albums – if only because The Triffids reformed (with guest vocalists) to play Born Sandy Devotional live. Oh, and Koolism winning an ARIA.\n4. NCIS chief Gibbs asking, ‘What’s emo?’ on the show’s second episode, and being given the answer, ‘Emotional music,’ as the writer’s mocked the world’s silliest genre title.\n5. The episode of The Lone Gunmen which featured a hijacked plane about to crash into the World Trade Centre which screened just days before one actually did.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 19 November 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 2 months ago\nIf you own more than about four or five records (or LPs, as we called them in the olden days), chances are one of them has a Geffen label. King of Hollywood: Inventing David Geffen (SBS1, Sun Nov 24, 9:35pm) is a rare portrait of the man behind the label – the agent, manager, and producer who has been behind some of the biggest careers over more than 40 years. And it features interviews with Yoko Ono, Cher, and Steven Spielberg, among others.\nOther docos to check out include Songs of War: Music as Weapon (SBS1, Tue Nov 19, 2pm), Opening Shot 2: Suicide and Me (ABC2, Wed Dec 4, 9:30pm) which talks to three suicide survivors, Bill Bailey’s Jungle Hero (SBS1, Wed Nov 27, 7:30pm) in which the comedian retraces the steps of naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace through Asia, Korraiyn (NITV, Sun Nov 24, 8pm) about the Indigenous surfing titles, Freedom Ride (NITV, Wed Nov 27, 8:30pm) which looks at the 2011 recreation of Charles Perkins’ infamous Freedom ride, and Secrets of the Irish Landscape (SBS1, Fri Nov 22, 7:30pm).\nThe term ‘event TV’ is oft bandied about and more so over the past few years as free-to-air networks struggle for relevancy. This time though it is an appropriate, if not understated description. This Sunday, Dr Who fans, young and old across the world, will simultaneously tune in for the 50th Anniversary Special – Dr Who: The Day of the Doctor (ABC1, Sun Nov 24, 6:50am). Of course, the time difference means watching rage for a few hours after you get back from the pub. Keep drinking – the daleks are bound to freak you out more. Chez Blackbox will be regressing to childhood, and watching in snuggled up in jammies. And if you squint hard enough, Matt Smith kind of looks like a younger Jon Pertwee. For those less worried about the simulcast and more interested in the content, it will be repeated at 7:30pm followed by Dr Who – An Adventure in Space and Time (ABC1, Sun Nov 24, 8:45pm).\nJJ Abrams’ latest action disaster series Revolution (WIN, Tue, 8:30pm) has finally hit free-to-air screens in Australia. Like everything the man touches, the series is being lauded, but really it’s just more of the same against a slightly different world. This time it’s about all modern technology blacking out and a band of freedom fighters fighting the oppressive militia, a story that’s never, ever been told before …\nAlso airing into the summer break are Top Boy (ABC2, Mon Dec 2, 9:30pm), a new British drama about life on the edge in east London, Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals (Go, Wed, 8:30pm), the second season of department store drama The Paradise (ABC1, Sat Dec 7, 7:30pm), the fifth season of Fringe (Go, Tue, 11:30pm), the final season of Weeds (WIN, Tue, 11:40pm), and The Walking Dead (SBS2, Tue Nov 19, 9:30pm) from the beginning.\nLove her or hate her, she certainly makes riveting viewing – even for the costumes alone – Gaga (Go, Thu Nov 28, 11:30pm).\nThere’s a plethora of retro flicks on the box including JFK (GEM, Fri Nov 22, 8:30pm), Superman II (Go, Sun Nov 24, 6pm), the one with the leather clad villains from Krypton, the original Total Recall (Prime, Sat Nov 23, 9pm), Top Gun (Prime, Fri Nov 22, 8:30pm), Twilight Zone The Movie (GEM, Mon Nov 25, 12:15am), Jailhouse Rock (GEM, Fri Nov 29, 12pm), Summer Holiday (GEM, Sat Nov 30, 9:30am), The Picasso Summer (GEM, Sat Nov 30, 2:20pm), and Casablanca (GEM, Sat Nov 30, 4:20pm) as well as some slightly newer fare such as District 9 (Go, Sun Nov 24, 9:30pm) and Finding Nemo (Prime, Sat Nov 23, 7pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 5 November 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 2 months ago\nThe most original music competition on the box (and quite frankly the one most likely to uncover the kind of bands Chez Blackbox enjoys) is about to kick off. Exhumed (ABC1, Thu Nov 14, 8pm) has been searching the country for the best bands that never were. The rules were simple – be unsigned, unrecorded, unrecognised, and play for the love. Oh, and at least some of the band members needed to be old farts. There were more than 1400 from across the country, and every local ABC station chose a winner. Six of them will compete in the Grand Final at (of course) Rooty Hill RSL in Western Sydney. The four-part series follows the competition and includes some illuminating personal stories.\nOn a different musical front is Yarrabah! The Musical (NITV, Sun Nov 10, 8pm) which is the outcome of a partnership between Opera Australia, writer/director Rhoda Roberts, and the people of Yarrabah to produce a musical that tells the story of the community’s protest against the Queensland Protection Act in 1957.\nNow that The Chaser team are far too recognisable to pull their own pranks, Craig Reucassel has to be content with looking back at the shocking exploits of others in another season of Shock Horror Aunty (ABC2, Wed Nov 6, 8:30pm).\nWhat is it about offices, call centres, and IT people that makes such good comedy? Adding to the list of comedies in this genre (though not outshining Blackbox favourite The IT Crowd), is The Call Centre (ABC2, Wed Nov 13, 8:30pm). And where does the funny come from? It’s about Britain’s newest maligned country – Wales.\nDocos to check out include Young, Mormon and Single (ABC2, Wed Nov 6, 9:20pm) which looks at the Mormon version of spring break, Richard Hammond’s Miracle of Nature (SBS1, Wed Nov 6, 7:30pm) looking at biomechanics, Bodyline (ABC1, Sun Nov 17, 7:30pm) which takes a fresh look at (one of) Cricket’s biggest controversies with comedian Adam Zwar recreating the famous moment, Joel Parkinson – One Perfect Day (WIN, Sat Nov 9, 4pm) which follows the Aussie surf champion through the Pipe Masters in December 2012, and Nordic Wild (SBS1, Sat Nov 16, 7:30pm) which looks at the creatures of Scandinavia, starting with the first signs of snow melt.\nThe SBS JFK season continues on with Jack Without Jackie (SBS1, Sun Nov 10, 9:10pm) which recounts conversations with the world’s most famous first lady only a few months after the assassination, and JFK (SBS1, Tue Nov 12, 7:30pm) which follows the story of the president, not just his assassination. Auntie also gets in on the action with Four Corners: JFK: The Lost Bullet (ABC1, Mon Nov 11, 8:30pm).\nThe last episode of period detective series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (ABC1, Fri Nov 22, 8:30pm) takes on a serious turn of the century subject when they investigate the death of a teenager at the infamous Magdalene Laundries.\nWhile away Sunday afternoon dreaming of your next holiday with Explore Ireland (GEM, Sun Nov 10, 12:25pm) and repeats of Getaway (GEM, Sun Nov 10, 1:25pm).\nMovies to keep a look out for include Se7en (WIN, Sat Nov 9, 10pm) the mid-90s thriller (and the seven deadly sins), Blown Away (GEM, Sun Nov 10, 8:30pm) from the same era about an Irish bomber, Shrek 2 (Go, Sun Nov 3, 6:30pm), Australian classic The Sundowners (GEM, Sat Nov 16, 1:40pm), ‘70s British spy drama Zeppelin (GEM, Sat Nov 16, 4:25pm), Tomorrow When the War Began (SCTEN, Sat Nov 16, 8:30pm), and German alternate reality flick The Door (SBS2, Sat Nov 16, 9:35pm).\nAnd yes, that really was ‘80s teen staple Corey Feldman on #7DaysLater (ABC2, Tue, 9pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 22 October 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 3 months ago\nGiven regular television broadcasting only began at the BBC in 1936, (1948 in the US and 1956 in Australia), the idea that any show, with the exception of news broadcasting, could survive half a century, is unfathomable. Even Sesame Street (ABC2, Mon–Sun, 8:30am), which has adapted well to the changing needs of three tofive-year-olds, has only been on air for 44 years. Sure Dr Who had a 15-year hiatus that took in the entire ‘90s, but the idea of a concept brought to screens in black and white in 1963 surviving until 2013 is extraordinary. Sure the sets aren’t made of foil and every planet in the universe doesn’t look like the same quarry on Britain’s south coast, but the basic storyline is the same. And many of the characters, although somewhat modernised, have survived – just like Robocop, the daleks have evolved enough to negotiate stairs. Australian audiences will join Dr Who fans in 75 countries around the world for a simulcast of Dr Who 50th Anniversary Special (ABC1, Sun Nov 24, TBC). The show will be repeated at 7:30pm and then made available on iView for those not quite as excited about the global simulcast. The special includes David Tennant, Billie Piper, and John Hurt as a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor. To get you there, iView is hosting 47 classic episodes from Auntie’s archives. The first three tranches have already gone on the site, with a fourth to go up on Saturday October 26. There is also a series of Doctor Who Specials (ABC2, Sun, 7:30pm) including a look at the Science, Women, and Destinations, and a repeat of last season’s final ep, The Day of the Doctor (ABC2, Mon Nov 25, 7:30pm).\nNew stuff on screens includes the second series of the brilliant Redfern Now (ABC1, Thu Oct 31, 8:30pm), The Sarah Silverman Program (SBS2, Wed Nov 6, 9:30pm), part sit com, part musical comedy, Rebel Wilson’s much touted comedy Super Fun Night (WIN, Tue, 8pm), the return of Nikita (WIN, Wed, 1am) and NCIS (SC10, Tue, 8:30pm), and so-so new US thriller Cult (Go, Sat Nov 2, 11:30pm).\nNo doubt everyone is earnestly awaiting the return of Chris Lilley’s most successful character in Ja’mie: Private School Girl (ABC1, Wed Oct 23, 9:05pm). Everyone except this column’s author. While you can’t fault Lilley’s brilliance, there are plenty of more innovative, original characters he has created over the years that far outshine the two dimensional Ja’mie. Minority view? Definitely, but Chez Blackbox will be hoping for a very big dose of Mr G to keep it on the viewing roster.\nWhat will be on the viewing roster is A Different Breed (ABC2, Fri Oct 25, 8:30pm). The new ob doco from the makers of Pineapple Dance Studios makes Christopher Guest’s brilliant mockumentary Best in Show look like a serious study of dog shows. And it’s not just dog shows – there’s grooming salons, professional dog walkers, dog crèches, and even a doggie dancing competition.\nOther docos worth a look include The Sunnyboy (ABC2, Sun Nov 3, 9:25pm), exploring Jeremy Oxley’s battle with schizopherenia, and Paul Kelly: Stories of Me (ABC2, Sun Oct 27, 9:25pm).\nMovie picks include the very B-grade Trick’r Treat (WIN, Sun Nov 3, 12:20am), and iconic ‘80s hits Poltergeist (Go, Mon Oct 28, 12am), Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Go, Wed Oct 30, 9:30pm), and Gremlins (Go, Fri Nov 1, 10pm).\nJFK: The Smoking Gun (SBS1, Sun Nov 3, 8:30pm) and four-parter JFK (SBS1, Tue Nov 5, 7:30pm) kick off a JFK season on SBS to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. New conspiracy theory – Dr Who did it…\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 8 October 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 3 months ago\nSome actors were born to play a certain kind of role. There are those that lack talent and can only ever play themselves – Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Costner, and almost every comedic actor who ever lived, I’m looking at you. There are also those so convincing that we think they are the character – is there anyone who hears Patrick Stewart and doesn’t think Captain Picard? And it will certainly take some adjustment seeing Peter Capaldi transition from The Thick of It’s (ABC1, TBC) foul-mouthed political fixer Malcolm Tucker to Dr Who (ABC iView). Then there are the character actors – a term once reserved for those who didn’t suit the mould of the Hollywood star and played a supporting character with unusual traits or eccentricities. Character actors have long been the stars of comedy but better writing, particularly in series drama, has meant character actors take the lead and often drive the success of the show. The most notable pioneer is of course the late great James Gandolfini. There were some stellar performances and phenomenal writing on The Sopranos but Gandolfini’s portrayal of mob boss Tony Soprano was key.\nTwo new shows that kicked off last week may also owe their success to character actors. Since his earliest roles in ‘80s classics Wall Street, Less Than Zero and Pretty in Pink, James Spader has played evil narcissists but played them with such a degree of intrigue that your gaze is often torn from the central plot. With the end of Breaking Bad (ABC2, Mon Oct 7, 9:20pm), Spader as former FBI agent and concierge of crime Raymond Reddington on The Blacklist (Prime, Mon, 8:40pm) may well replace Walter White as TV’s new anti-hero.\nLess obvious, hidden by the blazing lights of the Marvel franchise and Joss Whedon creator credit, is Clark Gregg's continuing portrayal as Agent Coulson in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Prime, Wed, 8:30pm). Gregg’s fate as a law enforcement character actor was sealed the day he took the role of Special Agent Casper on The West Wing and despite his ability to step outside that mould, it is a role in which he excels. Gregg may not have all the superhero kick-ass moves but he is the link with Marvel franchise and his character is the one that will have loyal fans coming back for more. Not for nothing, but it’s Mandy Patinkin, not Claire Danes, that loyal Homeland (SCTEN, Mon, 8:30pm) fans tune in to see.\nDiving headfirst into crowd sourcing (and not the predictable funding model) Auntie’s #7DaysLater (ABC2, Tue Oct 22, 9pm) uses an ensemble cast of YouTube celebrities plus a surprise weekly guest star to turn crowd sourced ideas into five minute comedy to screen on ABC2 – you guessed it – seven days later. Join in via YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.\nOther new shows on the box this week include four-part high-end Irish crime drama Corp and Anam (NITV, Sun Oct 20, 8:30pm), Rebel Wilson’s Super Fun Night (WIN, Tue Oct 15, 8pm), and Chris Lilley’s latest Ja’mie: Private School Girl (ABC1, Wed Oct 23, 9:05pm).\nDocos to keep an eye out for include the controversial BBC film about the building of the Sydney Opera House Autopsy on a Dream (ABC1, Sun Oct 20, 9:25pm), Richard III: The King in the Carpark (SBS1, Sun Oct 20, 8:30pm), about identifying remains to see if they belonged to the King, Sunday Best: American Teen (ABC2, Sun Oct 20, 8:30pm), a real life Breakfast Club, Dr Who Explained (ABC2, Sun Oct 20, 7:30pm), featuring interviews of Doctors past and present, The Art of Australia: Strangers in a Strange Land (ABC1, Tue Oct 22, 8:30pm).\nMovie picks include Swedish vampire spoof Frostbite (SBS2, Sat Oct 26, 9:30pm) and Sydney Pollack’s 1974 noir gangster flick The Yakuza (WIN, Sat Oct 19, 2am).\nWith less than shopping days until Christmas, the final ep of Heston’s Fantastical Food (SBS1, Thu Oct 24, 8:30pm) is definitely one for Christmas tragics.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 24 September 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 3 months ago\nAs the fall season gets into the swing in the US, we are starting to see local airdates for the big ticket shows including political crime thriller Hostages (WIN, Wed Oct 2, 8:30pm) and the third season of Homeland (SCTEN, Mon Sep 30, 8:30pm).\nAs we go to print, Prime still has a heap of primetime holes in its schedule in the week starting Mon Sep 30, just ripe for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which kicks of in the US on Fri Sep 24, The Blacklist, starting Thu Sep 23 and the third season of Scandal, due to air in the US on Thu Oct 3.\nFollowing the ongoing obsession with mid (last) century drama, Auntie’s newest offering Serangon Road (ABC1, Sun, 8:30pm) leaves behind the prim and proper pop art sensibilities of shows like Mad Men and takes the audience into the competing cultural tensions of colonial Singapore. The lush co-production with HBO Asia is essentially an episodic detective story, but that doesn’t give it enough credit. The underlying story arcs speak much more about the relationships between the characters and the cultural clash of colonialism set against a quickly modernising world. Hopefully the first of more co-productions to leave the void left by ABC losing the first run rights to BBC content.\nSet in a somewhat similar time period, but with all the trappings of the Mad Men palette is docu-drama Masters of Sex (SBS1, Thu Oct 3, 9:30pm) which tells the story of sexual research pioneers Virginia Johnson and Dr William Masters.\nOther new shows on the box this fortnight include Canadian fantasy-noir series Lost Girl (SBS2, Tue Oct 8, 8:40pm), and Chinese dating show If You are the One (SBS2, Tue Oct 1, 7:45pm) – much less schmaltzy than its local equivalents.\nThe second season of Prisoners of War (SBS1, Wed Oct 2, 9:30pm), the Israeli drama that inspired Homeland, offers a much more nuanced look at returned hostages than its American interpretation, with plenty of drama but less wailing, and, sadly, less Mandy Patinkin.\nThere are also new seasons of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror (SBS2, Tue Oct 8 9:30pm), the original CSI (WIN, Wed Oct 2, 9:30pm), and Whitechapel (ABC1, Sat Oct 12, 8:30pm), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (ABC2, Thu Oct 3, 8:30pm), the final season of How I Met your Mother (Prime, Thu Sep 26, 8pm), and the new season of Sons of Anarchy (Showcase, Wed Sep 11, 9:30pm) kicked off a couple of weeks back.\nFor those who haven’t seen it through other means, Auntie is running all 16 eps of the final season of Breaking Bad (ABC2, Mon Oct 7, 9:20pm). With the final ep due to air on Sun Sep 29, there probably won’t be time for withdrawal pains.\nDocos to keep a look out for include Kakadu (ABC1, Sun Oct 6, 7:30pm), filmed over 12 months through the experience of rangers and traditional owners, Jennifer Byrne presents Tim Winton (ABC1, Thu Oct 10, 8pm), Redesign my Brian with Todd Sampson (ABC1, Thu Oct 10, 8:30pm) which looks at neuroplasticity, Big Name, No Blanket (ABC1, Sun Sep 29, 9:30pm) about former Warumpi band lead singer George Rrurrambu, and Blur: No Distance Left to Run (ABC2, Wed Oct 3, 8:30pm).\nMovies to check out this fortnight include 1983 vampire flick The Hunger (Go, Mon Sep 30, 1am), one of a number of films from this era starring David Bowie, Sherlock Holmes (WIN, Fri Oct 4, 8:30pm), the one with Robert Downey Jr, Blow (Go, Mon Sep 30, 9:30pm) with Johnny Depp as an ‘80s cocaine king, Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 AD (GEM, Sat Sep 28, 2am), and Superman/Batman Apocalypse (Go, Sat Oct 5, 11:50pm), proof that nothing good ever comes from superhero sci-fi character mash ups.\nLook out for BMA alumni The Bedroom Philosopher doing his own version of a promo for ABC2.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 10 September 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 4 months ago\nAfter the past couple of seasons filling the telly schedule with sub-standard suburban Australian drama and wall-to-wall reality programming, Prime has just started to get interesting again. Apart from obdocs American Pickers (7Mate, Mon and Wed, 9:30pm) and Hardcore Pawn (7Mate, Wed, 8:30pm), or reruns of Seinfeld (7Mate, Mon–Fri, 6pm), Homicide: Life on the Streets (7Mate, Tue–Fri, 12:30pm), Chez Blackbox gave the whole network a miss. Until now.\nThe comeback started a month ago with the brilliant Mr Selfridge (Prime, Mon, 8:40pm). Part period drama, part history of shopping, with a good helping of scandal and social commentary, wrapped in a well-written (and performed) drama. Alas, Prime has seen fit to gallop through it, airing double episodes for the foreseeable future.\nAlso in the Prime catalogue are two of the most talked-about shows from recent pilot screenings in the US, where they both start in late September – but sadly no firm local air dates as yet. The Black List (Prime, TBC) stars James Spader as a master criminal who surrenders himself to the FBI to help them bring down serious criminals and terrorists. Spader’s character has a Silence of the Lambs-style obsession with a particular detective, and as always Spader plays creepy with aplomb. Also queued up on Prime’s ‘coming soon’ list is Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated superhero franchise Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Prime, TBC).\nElsewhere there’s Sleepy Hollow (SCTEN, Tue Sep 17, 9:30pm), a psychological horror featuring time travel and the four horseman of the apocalypse, new drama from Aunty with the brilliantly executed Serangoon Road (ABC1, Sun Sep 22, 8:30pm), a detective story set in 1960s Singapore, a new season of Tractor Monkeys (ABC1, Wed Sep 25, 8pm) which starts with a look at fashion, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery (ABC1, Wed Sep 25, 9:05pm) where the host walks well-known comedians down memory lane, zombie drama In the Flesh (SBS2, Tue Sep 17, 8:35pm), and Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story (WIN, Sun, 8:30pm, Go!) has finally gone to air. If you missed the first ep, it’s on repeat (WIN, Fri Sep 13, 10pm and Sat Sep 14, 9:45pm).\nDocos to look out for include Sunday Best: The Tillman Story (ABC2, Sun Sep 22, 8:30pm), which looks at the circumstances surrounding the death of US Army poster child Pat Tillman, and The Tundra Book (NITV, Mon Sep 16, 8:30pm) which takes a journey through the culture of Russia’s Arctic communities.\nThis issue’s movie picks include The Never Ending Story (Go, Fri Sep 20, 7:30pm) for the day-dreamers, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (WIN, Sun Sep 15, 11:35pm) because it’s a classic, and Happy Feet (Go, Sat Sep 21, 6:30pm) – who doesn’t love penguins? There are plenty of other movie choices too, such as Revenge of the Nerds II (Go, Wed Sep 18, 9:30pm) and Kindergarten Cop (Prime, Fri Sep 23, 8:30pm). Elsewhere you’ll find 1962’s Rome Adventure (GEM, Sun Sep 15, 1:30pm), Cliff Richards '60s musical-come-comedy Wonderful Life (GEM, Sat Sep 21, 11am), and 1973 police drama Cleopatra Jones (GEM, Sun Sep 22, 1am).\nDon’t miss Tropfest TV (SBS2, Sun, 10pm) but steer clear of The Bachelor Australia (SCTEN, Sun, 7:30pm). At least when it was just a US show it was less embarrassing.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 27 August 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 4 months ago\nAs election fever grips absolutely no one around the country, even Gruen Nation (ABC1, Wed, 8:30pm) and Hamster Decides (ABC1, Wed, 9:05pm) aren’t proving a source of water cooler chat like they once did. In a stroke of election hazed genius it’s rage (ABC1, Sat Aug 31, 10:30am and 11:20pm) to the rescue. Can’t decide on who you want to run the country? Maybe the pollies’ musical taste will sway you. Anthony Albanese, Julie Bishop and Adam Bandt take to the rage couch (separately, of course) to talk about their fave tracks. Apparently there are fans of PJ Harvey and French house music amongst them. Should be good for a laugh (and hopefully the rage folks cut out any electioneering).\nOnce it comes to election night, the action moves from the second string channels that hosted the debates to the main event, including Australia Votes: Election Night: the Vote Count (ABC1, Sat Sep 7, 6pm), The Election Project with Hugh Riminton (SCTEN, Sat Sep 7, 6pm), and Election 2013 (WIN, Sat Sep 7, 6:30pm).\nAnd just in case you really are an election tragic, there’s some political-themed movie choices, including 1972’s The Candidate (GEM, Sat Sep 7, 1:20pm), and Dave (Go, Sat Sep 7, 6:30pm). But where is the ultimate political tragic’s movie, Bob Roberts?\nNew shows this week run the spectrum from intelligent, witty and classy – Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (ABC1, Fri Sep 6, 8:30pm) – to a celebration of the 20th century’s boldest and tackiest decade – The Amazing ‘80s (WIN, Mon, 8:30pm ). There’s also a new season of Archer (ABC2, Tue Sep 3, 9:05pm), animated comedy Unsupervised (11, Wed Sep 4, 10pm), and news and pop culture panel show from standup Anthony Jeselnik, The Jeselnik Offensive (SBS1, Mon Sep 2, 10pm) in between.\nPlenty of ads but no airdates yet for Power Games – The Packer–Murdoch Story (WIN, TBC), and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Prime, TBC).\nDocos to keep an eye out for include Supersized Earth: A Place to Live (ABC1, Sun Sep 1, 7:30pm), about how humans have transformed the world in a generation, Sunday Best: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (ABC2, Sun Sep 8, 8:30pm), about the Chinese artist’s work and life, Beyonce – Life is But a Dream (ABC2, Wed Sep 11, 8:30pm), Coming Out Diaries (ABC2, Fri Sep 13, 9:20pm), following three gay and transgender teens as they come out to friends and family, a new series of Who Do You Think You Are? (SBS1, Tue Sep 3, 7:30pm) starting with Annie Lennox, Eddie Izzard’s Marathon for Mandela (SBS1, Sat Sep 7, 8:35pm), and Sunday Best: Where Soldiers Come From (ABC2, Sun Sep 1, 8:30pm), which follows four young Americans from joining the National Guard to Afghanistan and back.\nIf you haven’t had enough bleary-eyed mornings from the mortifying Ashes series, perhaps you’ll be able to see Australia redeem themselves in the One Day Series (WIN, Fri Sep 6 7pm). Perhaps not …\nOther movies include The Music Man (GEM, Sat Sep 7, 3:30pm) and Klute (GEM, Sun Sep 8, 12:20am), as well as The Smurfs (7Mate, Sat Aug 31, 6:30pm), Con Air (7Mate, Sat Aug 31, 8:40pm), I Am Legend (Go, Wed Aug 28, 9pm), Rockstar (Go, Wed Aug 28, 11:15pm), Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (GEM, Sun Sep 1, 8:30pm), The Karate Kid (Go, Sun Sep 1, 5:30pm), Conan the Barbarian (Go, Sun Sep 1, 9:30pm), over-the-top Chinese action satire Let the Bullets Fly (SBS2, Sat Sep 7, 9:40pm), The Shawshank Redemption (WIN, Sat Aug 31, 8:45pm), and the original 1981 version of Arthur (WIN, Sat Sep 7, 1pm).\nABC’s brilliant drama The Time of our Lives (ABC1, Sun Sep 8, 8:45pm) winds up this fortnight. If you missed it, catch up on iView (or go old school and buy the surely soon-to-be released DVD).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 13 August 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 5 months ago\nIf, like Chez Blackbox, your eyeballs are bleeding watching the wall-to-wall Tony and Kevin roadshow, there are some true gems to ensure your TV set doesn’t explode in protest, including the thoroughly charming intrigue of turn-of-the-century department store trading in Mr Selfridge (Prime, Mon, 8:30pm), and the not-so-charming but still mesmerising Norse antics in Vikings (SBS1, Thu, 9:30pm). And for early evening respite Parks and Recreation (SBS1, Mon-Fri from Mon Aug 26, 7:05pm).\nIf you must watch election coverage, Gruen Nation (ABC1, Wed, 8:30pm) and The Hamster Decides (ABC1, Wed, 8:30pm) are the only sensible way. \nThe only reality comp Chez Blackbox has truly been (read: admitted to) enjoying was Design for Life where Philippe Starck weeded out the best design student to win a job for a year. Work of Art: The Next Great Artists (SBS2, Wed Aug 28, 8:35pm) is in the same vein but because it’s American slightly flashier – artists win a solo show at Brooklyn Museum and $100,000. On the other end of the trash scale is RuPaul’s Drag Race (SBS2, Sat Aug 31, 8:45pm). Other new shows include relationship drama Wonderland (SCTEN, Wed Aug 21, 8:30pm).\nDocos to look out for this fortnight include the six-part Charley Boorman’s Extreme Frontiers South Africa (SBS1, Wed Aug 14, 8:35pm), and The Secret History of Our Streets (SBS1, Fri Aug 30, 7:30pm) which looks at 125 years of history of six of London’s streets.\nMost loyal Dr Who fans (or pretty much anybody else) would know who will be the next Doctor – such is the torment of a fortnightly column – but for those that don’t, it’s Peter Capaldi, better known as foul-mouthed political fixer Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It. Make of that what you will …\nAs promised, news on the new shows to look out for from the critics summer press tour in the US – Penny Dreadful, a psychological horror story, Years of Living Dangerously, a climate change doco, Fargo, a ten-part series based on the film but without the same characters, starring Billy Bob Thornton and with support from the Coen Brothers, Trending Down, a comedy starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, described as ‘a blistering attack on our youth-obsessed culture’, The Wrong Mans, a thriller about two office workers who get caught up in a criminal conspiracy, from the producers of The Thick of It, Quick Draw, a comedy western that’s funnier than it sounds, Trophy Wife, also much funnier than the premise would suggest, The Awesomes, an animated anti-superhero comedy from Seth Meyer, Sleepy Hollow, another psychological horror (with time travel and the four horseman of the apocalypse), Brooklyn Nine Nine, a well made and written cop comedy, The March, a documentary to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march on Washington, Side by Side, a Keanu Reeves documentary about digital cinema, War of the Worlds, new Sherlock, The Black List, a Silence of the Lambs-style affair starring James Spader, a remake of Ironside, and Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated superhero drama Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.\nThe bad news is that in the long tradition of ruining British and Australian TV shows with remakes, Fox is going to murder the brilliant Broadchurch (ABC1, Fri, 8:30pm). Also avoid Almost Human, crime drama with a cop and his half-robot partner.\nDon’t miss the Rockwiz season finale (SBS1, Sat Aug 31, 8:30pm) with Tex Perkins, Mia Dyson and Don Walker.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 30 July 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 5 months ago\nAlong with other midwinter delights (like snow, Splendour in the Grass and Christmas in July), the networks are finally airing the big ticket shows they’ve been spruiking since January. Chez Blackbox is relieved that Underbelly: Squizzy (WIN, Sun, 8:30pm) has finally gone to air – the ads have taken up more airtime than the entire drama will. It started solidly enough but while the sets and costumes are lush, and the story well known, just like The Great Gatsby, only time will tell if its (real and depicted) decadence is enough to live up to the hype.\nAlso based on a real life event is Ripper Street (SCTEN, Sun, 8:30pm) the BBC’s reimagining of the Jack the Ripper case. Set during the police investigation, the show is everything it should be – part CSI, part British costume drama and all tied up in a tightly scripted, well acted and directed gritty and harrowing look at the streets of Victorian London.\nAuntie’s new comedy, Upper Middle Bogan (ABC1, Thu Aug 15, 8:30pm), is just what it sounds like – a fish out of water affair where the adopted daughter of a ‘well-to-do’ family discovers her real parents are bogans, played by everyone’s favourite bogan dad, Glen Robbins.\nDon’t miss Game of Thrones withdrawal cure Vikings (SBS1, Thu Aug 8, 9:35pm) and Adam Hills Tonight: Princess Bride Special (ABC1, Wed Aug 7, 8:30pm).\nAt press time, the date of the federal election was still a closely guarded secret (and may still be as you read this). That hasn’t stopped auntie gearing up. There won’t be a national tally room this year but there will be at least four episodes of both Gruen Nation (ABC1, Wed Aug 21, 8:30pm) and The Hamster Decides (ABC1, Wed Aug 21, 9:15pm).\nOther new shows to look out for include Free Radio (SBS2, Thu Aug 8, 8:40pm), improvised comedy from Lance Krall as a DJ so bad that his ratings go up because of his incompetency, The Kroll Show (ABC2, Thu Aug 15, 8:30pm), sketch comedy from Community and Parks & Rec regular Nick Kroll, It’s a Date (ABC1, Thu Aug 15, 9pm), a narrative comedy series from Peter Helliar which features thematically linking two dates in each episode, and new seasons of Him & Her (SBS2, Thu Aug 8, 9:10pm), Friday Night Lights (One, Fri Aug 2, 8:30pm) and Grand Designs Revisited (ABC1, Sun Aug 4, 7:40pm).\nDocos worth checking out include A Year in the Wild (SBS1, Sat Aug 17, 7:30pm), which ventures through Britain’s national parks, Sunday Best: Bill Cunningham: New York (ABC2, Sun Aug 11, 8:30pm), about the career of the New York Times style section photographer, Ladyboys (ABC2, Fri Aug 16, 9:20pm), which follows British men who set up new lives in Thailand with their ladyboy lovers, The Last Woman Standing (ABC2, Tue Aug 13, 9:30pm), the girl’s version of Last Man Standing, which took a bunch of Western blokes to remote areas of the world, The Iraq War: Regime of Change (ABC1, Sun Aug 11, 9:25pm), a series telling the inside story from both sides, and Artscape: Comic Book Heroes (ABC1, Tue Aug 13, 10pm), which follows Australia’s Gestalt publishing duo as they take on the US market, including San Diego Comic Con International.\nMovies to keep an eye out for include A Nightmare on Elm Street (Go, Fri Aug 2, 9:30pm), The Taking of Pelham 123 (Go, Sun Aug 4, 9:30pm), Good Will Hunting (Go, Sat Aug 10, 8:30pm), Little Fockers (SCTEN, Sat Aug 10, 8:30pm), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (WIN, Sat Aug 10, 7:30pm), Aces High (WIN, Sun Aug 11, 12:25am), Dirty Harry flick The Enforcer (WIN, Sat Aug 3, 1am), The Champ (WIN, Sun Aug 4, 1:30pm), 1939’s Dodge City (GEM, Sun Aug 4, 4:15pm), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (GEM, Sat Aug 10, 2:20pm), and Cool Runnings (7Mate, Sat Aug 3, 6:30pm).\nDeep Space Nine (11, Thu Aug 1, 10:30pm) heats up when Worf is posted to the station.\nNext ish … all the news from the US Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 16 July 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 6 months ago\nIt’s not up there with Game of Thrones for scripting and the tagline ‘The storm is coming’ may be a bit too close for comfort, but Michael Hirst’s latest drama Vikings (SBS, Thu Aug 8, 8:30pm) will fill the void left by GoT, and, surprisingly, Sons of Anarchy. Not because of its subject – like he did with The Tudors, Hirst has faithfully recreated a real period in history, albeit with lashings of artistic licence – but because of its testosterone-fuelled sword battles and the vikings’ penchant for plundering.\nWhile it’s not the most popular viewpoint, Chez Blackbox is excited at the return of The Newsroom (Showcase, Mon, 8:30pm). A bit too Sorkin-preachy for most, but if you can get past that, its in-depth portrait of the way media should be, mile-a-minute dialogue and idiosyncratic characters are worth the effort.\nSci-fi geeks rejoice – Summer Glau will have a continuing role in Arrow (WIN, Wed Jul 24, 8:30). Maybe the CW-produced show will get some nerd cred.\nBetter Man (SBS1, Thu Jul 25, 8:30pm), the harrowing two-part mini-series from acclaimed filmmaker Khao Do, is heart-wrenching drama at its best. And as much as any of the high-profile Australian docudramas this year, it’s a story begging to be told.\nOther new shows include Dexpedition (SBS2, Sun, 7pm), a travelogue from Dex Carrington that’s the antidote to a middle-aged British person showing you how to have the most boring time of your life in any given destination, and the similarly themed Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year Asia (WIN, Mon Jul 22, 8pm). But where’s Squizzy (WIN, TBC)? Reeeeeally sick of the coming soon ads now.\nThe original Danish series of The Killing (SBS1, Wed Jul 24, 9:30pm), Housos (SBS1, Mon Jul 22, 9:30pm) and 2 Broke Girls (WIN, Mon, 10pm) all return for new seasons, and South Park Season 16 (SBS2, Sun Jul 28, 8:30pm) makes its free-to-air debut.\nDocos to check out include David Bowie: Five years in the making of an icon (ABC2, Wed Jul 24, 8:30pm), exploring five separate years of Bowie’s career – ‘71, ‘75, ‘77, ‘80, and ‘83, Pain, Pus and Poison (SBS1, Mon Jul 22, 8:30pm), which looks at how the world’s most useful drugs were created, Australia Sunday Best: Facing Ali (ABC2, Sun Jul 28, 8:30pm), a tribute from ten of his acclaimed rivals, and Ten Bucks a Litre (ABC1, Thu Aug 1, 8:30pm), where Dick Smith looks at Australia’s energy use in his own inimitable way.\nThe fifth season of The True Story (ABC2, Sat Jul 27, 7:30pm) goes behind a series of major films, starting with Star Trek and including Platoon, Die Hard 4.0, Scream and The Da Vinci Code, to explore the real stories that inspired them.\nLook out David and Margaret, there’s a new movie show in town. Sort of. Marc Fennell presents the best cult, action, thriller and horror flicks in Movie Mayhem (SBS2, Sat Jul 27, 9:35pm), starting with British thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed.\nOther movies to keep an eye out for include Revenge of the Nerds (Go, Sat Jul 27, 9pm), 1970 hammer horror flick Lust for a Vampire (GEM, Sat Jul 27, 12:55am), described by one of its stars as the worst film ever made, Shaun of the Dead (7Mate, Wed Jul 24, 10:30pm), a cult classic that actually deserves that title, Romancing the Stone (One, Sat Jul 20, 8:30pm), an ‘80s adventure romp with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and (of course) Danny DeVito, another ‘80s jewel Lethal Weapon 2 (WIN, Sat Jul 20, 9:45pm), Carry on Spying (GEM, Sat Jul 27, 2:45am), one of the earlier and more revered Carry On films, and more spying in the Cold War-era Ice Station Zebra (WIN, Sun Jul 21, 2pm) with Rock Hudson. The most curious flick is Romper Stomper director Geoffrey Wright’s 2006 (almost straight-to-video) reinvention of Macbeth (WIN, Sat Jul 27, 1am) in Melbourne’s Gangland War.\nDon’t miss the re-runs of The Hollowmen (ABC1, Wed, 10pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 26 June 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 6 months ago\nFinally, a talent search that might be worth watching – Exhumed (ABC, TBC) is a nationwide competition for unsigned, unrecorded, unheard and, until now, unwanted bands. The only real rule is that you can’t actually make a living out of music. The emphasis is on those who play for fun (like the weekly jam session in the shed next door to Chez Blackbox) and those who never quite made it. Blackbox is waiting with baited breath for the return of The Killer Dolphins.\nThe big new drama this fortnight is The Dome (SCTEN, Tue, 8:30pm). Based on a Stephen King novel, it explores what happens when an impenetrable dome inexplicably traps the inhabitants of a small town. An interesting concept that has started well, but, like so many similar concepts that explore the way characters deal with the situation, only time will tell whether there’s a series in it. At least this has a novel – rather than a short story – backing it up.\nIt’s been a long time since Chopper Read has entered the public consciousness but Heath Franklin, whose parody of Chopper reached saturation point in the years following the Eric Bana flick and the real Chopper’s stage show, is back with Heath Franklin’s Chopper: Harden the F#@k up Australia (Go, Wed Jul 3, 9:30pm). Flogging a dead horse?\nOther new shows include: satirical talk show Morgan Spurlock’s New Britannia (SBS2, Sat, 8:30pm), which takes a humourous look at the differences between British and American culture; failed sitcom Man Up! (Prime, Sat, 12pm) – don’t get too attached, it only ran for eight eps; Would you rather? With Graham Norton (One, Thu Jun 27, 11:30pm), which is just what it sounds like; and new seasons of twentysomething (ABC2, Thu Jun 27, 8:30pm); Kitchen Cabinet (ABC1, Tues Jul 2, 8pm); True Blood (Showcase, Mon, 8:30pm); and The Newsroom (Showcase, Mon Jul 15, TBC).\nDocos to keep an eye out for include: Sunday Best: Catfish (ABC2, Sun Jun 30, 8:30pm), which explores human nature in the digital age; the latest cultural confrontation from Joe Hildebrand, Shitsville Express (ABC2, Tue Jul 2, 9:30pm); Chris Masters takes a look at Australia in the ‘20s and ‘30s in The Years That Made Us (ABC1, Sun Jun 30, 9:25pm); Ellen Fanning’s The Observer Effect (SBS1, Sun, 8:30pm), which looks at what Australia’s mavericks, power-brokers and celebrities are really like; The Fall of Versailles (SBS1, Fri Jul 5, 8:30pm), which looks at the reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI; Sunday Best: Camp 14 Total Control Zone (ABC2, Sun Jul 7, 8:30pm) about a North Korean man who grew up in an internment camp; and Compass: Archie Roach (ABC1, Sun Jul 7, 6:30pm).\nMembers of the Academy will be finalising their Emmy ballots in coming days with Game of Thrones, The Americans (SCTEN, Mon, 9:30pm), Homeland, Girls, Louie, Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Breaking Amish among those being talked about for the gongs.\nOld B-grade movies can be such fun on a cold winter’s night and there are a few to choose from this fortnight: 1956 sci-fi thriller The Brain Machine (GEM, Sun Jun 30, 10am); 1984’s sci-fi parody The Ice Pirates (GEM, Sun Jun 30, 11:30am) with Anjelica Huston and Ron Perlman; and Shalako (GEM, Sun Jun 30, 2pm), a Western starring Sean Connery (as Shalako) and Brigitte Bardot – Blackbox is tuning in just to hear Mr. Connery utter his character’s name.\nOther flicks on the box include: ‘60s British spy comedy Our Man in Marrakesh (GEM, Mon Jul 1, 12pm); British horror parody The Horror of Frankenstein (GEM, Sat Jul 6, 3am); Batman: the Movie (Go, Sat Jul 6, 7pm); and the very ‘80s Superman II (Go, Fri Jul 5, 10:45pm), complete with a trio of leather clad villains.\nDon’t miss an intriguing series of Dr Who’s Greatest Moments (ABC2, Mon-Thu Jul 1-4, 7:40pm) to celebrate 50 years.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 4 June 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 7 months ago\nWith the final ep of Game of Thrones (Showcase, Mon Jun 10, 8:30pm) about to go to air, don’t be too hasty to reclaim your Monday night. This year’s best new show (as endorsed by Chez Blackbox), The Americans (SCTEN, Mon, 9:30pm), has only just begun and there’s also the sixth season of True Blood (Showcase, Mon Jun 17, 8:30pm) to fill the GoT void.\nIn terms of (non-biopic) Australian drama, the big news is The Time of Our Lives (ABC1, Sun Jun 16, 8:30pm). From some of the creative minds behind Gen X twenty-something drama Secret Life of Us, and also starring Claudia Karvan, this one’s about the relationships in an extended Australian family (although strangely quite a lot of them probably fall in the same demographic). For actual twenty-something drama (and some laughs) there’s a second series of Twentysomething (ABC2, Thu Jun 27, 8:30pm).\nGrand Designs (ABC1, Sun, 7:30pm) is back, starting with a rebuild from the ruins of Cloontykilla Castle in Southern Ireland.\nThe Alternative Comedy Experience (ABC2, Tue Jun11, 9:05pm) unearths underground comedians pushing boundaries in a world of stadium tours from the long established comic voices. If Bill Hicks was here today, he’d be proud.\nAlso new this fortnight are British legal thriller Injustice (ABC1, Sat Jun 8, 8:30pm), panel show Mock the Week (ABC2, Thu Jun 20, 9pm) from the creators of Whose Line is it Anyway?, Reef Doctors (SCTEN, Sun Jun 9, 6:30pm), the Great Barrier Reef medico drama (think commercial TV version of ABC’s RAN), Hamish McDonald’s The Truth is? (SCTEN, Mon, 8:30pm), NY underground short film comedy from Human Giant (SBS2, Mon Jun 10, 9:30pm) and travel blog Departures (SBS2, Tue Jun 11, 8:40pm).\nThe first ep of the CW’s re-imagined Beauty and the Beast (SCTEN, Wed, 9:30pm) aired a couple of weeks ago. It stars the not-very-beastly Jay Ryan of Go Girls fame. Think Arrow (WIN, Thu, 10:30pm) and you’re about there.\nDocos to check out include Artscape: The A-Z of Contemporary Art (ABC1, Tue Jun 11, 10pm), a bluffer’s guide to the art world over two weeks, Compass: Britain’s Wicca Man (ABC1, Sun Jun 9, 6:30pm), about the man behind modern pagan witchcraft established in the ‘30s, Sunday Best: Born Rich (ABC2, Sun Jun 16, 8:30pm), about the lives of the less publicity-seeking Paris Hiltons of the world, On Borrowed Time (ABC1, Sun Jun 16, 9:30pm), in which filmmaker Paul Cox turns the camera on himself to film his own struggle against cancer, and William Yang: My Generation (ABC1, Sun Jun 16, 10:25pm), which tells the stories behind his photographs of Sydney’s art, literary, theatrical and queer circles in the ‘70s and ‘80s.\nDespite the high-wasted acid wash jeans and terrible décor, Seinfeld (7Mate, Tue, 6:30pm) still stands up against plenty of new comedy offerings. It’s time for the infamous Soup Nazi ep though.\nAuntie’s next Aussie biopic has gone into production. Carlotta (ABC, TBC), about the iconic Les Girls headliner, will be filmed throughout Sydney, stars Jessica Marais in the title role and includes Caroline O’Connor and Alex Dimitriades in the cast.\nComing our way in future are UK comedy Vicious (Prime, TBC), starring legends Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi as a grumpy old gay couple, and more of the fabulous Jack Irish (ABC, TBC), again in telemovie format.\nMovies to keep an eye out for include the 1989 flick that started the trend in tortured superheroes – Batman (Go, Sat Jun 15, 7:30pm), Norwegian zombie flick The Snow (SBS2, Sat Jun 15, 9:30pm) and French stoner comedy The Dope (SBS2, Sat Jun 15, 11:45pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Monday, 20 May 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 8 months ago\nWinter (and the rich tapestry of ratings winners it brings) is definitely here. Grab a blanket, a hot cocoa (or espresso martini, if you prefer) and curl up for these five not-to-be-missed appointments with the box:\n1. The Americans (SCTEN, Mon May 27, 8:30pm) – The Cold War set spy drama finally goes to air a full two weeks after the season ended in the US. This brilliantly executed drama follows the exploits of two deep cover Russian spies. If you only have room for one new show this year, make this it.\n2. Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode II (SBS2, Mon Jun 3, 9:30pm) – Stop-motion animated Star Wars skits. Up there with Blue Haven and the lego stop motion of Eddie Izzard’s Star Wars standup.\n3. Paper Giants: Magazine Wars (ABC1, Sun Jun 2, 8:30pm) – The second instalment, after Asher Keddie’s award winning portrayal of Ita. This time it’s the ‘80s, the explosion of chequebook journalism and the battle between the editors of Murdoch’s New Idea and Packer’s Woman’s Day to be the top selling tabloid magazine in the country.\n4. Whitlam: The Power and the Passion (ABC1, Sun May 26, 7:30pm) – Narrated by Judy Davis, the two part doco traces arguably Australia’s most famous Prime Minister’s journey from his start in the Labour party, through the dismissal, cataloguing his legacy – some lasting reforms as well as his place in constitutional history.\n5. World B-Boy Championships (SBS2, Sun Jun 2, 6:30pm) – The six part series follows top break crews around the world as they battle to represent their country at the world finals.\nAnd if that’s not enough, there’s also Cliffy (ABC1, Sun May 26, 8:30pm), a biopic of Australia’s favourite marathon running potato farmer, Longmire (GEM, Wed, 9:30pm), a police procedural set against the backdrop of Wyoming, The Life and Times of Tim (SBS, Thu May 23, 9:05pm), an animated series from the mind of Steve Dildarian about a self-conscious young guy who can’t catch a break, and new seasons of Dallas (GEM, Thu May 23, 11:30pm), Skins (SBS2, Thu Jun 6, 9:35pm), Nurse Jackie (11, Mon May 20, 10:40pm), Rules of Engagement (11, Tue, 7:30pm), Offspring (SCTEN, Wed May 29, 8:30pm) and Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat May 25, 8:30pm), which kicks off with Steve Kilbey, Tex Perkins and Russell Morris at Bluesfest.\nDocos to keep an eye out for include Climb Every Mountain: The Story Behind the Sound of Music (SBS1, Fri May 24, 8:35pm), Kidnap Terror on Seymour Avenue (SBS1, Sun Jun 2, 9:30pm), a look at the story of the three girls rescued in Cleveland this month, Making of The Great Gatsby (WIN, Sat Jun 1, 1pm), worth it just for the costumes and jewels, Sunday Best: When We Were Kings (ABC2, Sun Jun 2, 8:30pm), about Mohammed Ali and George Foreman’s infamous Rumble in the Jungle, and Her Majesty’s Prison: Aylesbury (ABC2, Tue Jun 4, 9:30pm), a look inside the prison housing some of the UK’s worst young offenders.\nLovers of vintage (and all that crafty stuff) may enjoy Kirstie’s Vintage Home (ABC1, Thu May 23, 8:30pm), which shows classic techniques to create vintage interiors.\nSBS is kicking off its Australian film series with Snowtown (SBS1, Sat May 25, 9:30pm) and The Tree (SBS1, Sat Jun 1, 9:30pm). Other movie picks include 1965’s The Great Race (GEM, Sat Jun 1, 3:30pm), Made in America (Go, Fri May 24, 9:40pm), Die Hard (SCTEN, Sat Jun 1, 8:30pm), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Go, Tue May 28, 9:30pm), Clerks II (Go, Wed May 29, 10:40pm), Dirty Dancing (Go, Thu May 30, 9:30pm), Mars Attacks! (Go, Sat Jun 1, 8:40pm), the original Superman (WIN, Sat May 25, 9:50pm), and Gone in 60 Seconds (7Mate, Sun May 26, 6pm).\nDon’t miss the World Cup Qualifier: Japan vs Australia (SBS1, Tue Jun 4, 9pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 7 May 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 8 months ago\nTime to put on your best faux fur, grab the tiara and open a bottle of bubbly as the annual ritzy glitzy Eurotrash-tastic spectacle brightens up your lounge room. And this year you really can pull the fondue kit out of the cupboard as the yodelling caravan of Eurovision (SBS1, Fri-Sun May 17-19, 7:30pm) winds its way to the Sweden’s Malmo – the Mecca for fans of Eurovision’s most famous victors, ABBA. It starts with Julia Zemiro’s travelogue throughout Eurovision country– The Heart of Eurovision (SBS1, Fri May 17, 7:30pm) and then we get down to business. This year’s highlights include the return of croaky voiced ‘80s Brit songstress Bonnie Tyler, bookie’s favourite Emmelie de Forest from neighbouring Denmark and the 95-year-old Emil Ramsauer of Swiss band Takasa. But if you’re looking for this year’s Lordi – which Chez Blackbox definitely is – you can’t go past Greek Balkan ska band Koza Mostra. Pick your favourites from sbs.com.au/eurovision , organise a sweep and get your glasses ready to hear the sweet sound of ‘zero points’.\nNew shows on the box include YouTube sensations The Midnight Beast (SBS2, Mon May 13, 9:30pm), Trashmag panel show Dirty Laundry Live (ABC2, Thu May 16, 9:30pm), Some Girls (Comedy, Wed May 8, 9pm), described by some as a girl’s version of Inbetweeners, finally some new eps of The Big Bang Theory (WIN, Wed May 1, 7:30pm) and season six of Dexter (11, Mon, 9:30pm).\nCompass: Holy Switch (ABC1, Sun May 12, 7:30pm), which follows six religious young Australians from different faiths – Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Anglican, Buddhist and Hindu – as they switch lives, Stephen Fry: Gadget Man (ABC1, Thu May 9, 9:25pm), The Pitch (SBS2, Wed May 8, 9:35pm), an obdoco series about the advertising industry, The Witch Doctor Will See You Now (SBS 2, Tue May 21, 9:40pm), which investigates some extreme medical practices, and there’s a distinct royal flavour with obdoco Our Queen (ABC1, Thu May 9, 8:30pm), which gets up close and personal with the monarch, her family and staff throughout her jubilee year, and The Queen’s Mother-in-law (SBS1, Fri May 10, 8:30pm, which looks at Prince Philip’s mother, a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria.\nThe FA Cup Final 2013 (SBS1, Sat May 11, 1am) will be a David and Goliath battle between Wigan Athletic and Manchester City.\nThe team behind At Home with Julia are bringing together political impersonations, satirical characters to hash out the week’s political and cultural events in front of a live studio audience, with a bit of musical comedy thrown in. Wednesday Night Fever (ABC1, TBC) is due to air mid-2013.\nKeep an eye out for Rectify, just launched on the Sundance channel in the US. The drama focuses on Daniel Holden (played by Aden Young) who has been freed after almost 20 years on death row. Critics Blackbox usually agrees with are raving.\nThe US version of Celebrity Splash (Prime, Tue, 7:30pm) just featured Tony Hawke doing a dive with a skateboard. We get Brynne Edelsten in a sequined (almost) bikini. Where’s the justice?\nThere is a swathe of vintage ‘90s flicks this fortnight to complement the return of black velvet, lace and doc martens in our shopping malls including Singles (Go, Sat May 11, 10:30pm), Seven (GEM Tue, May 7, 10pm), and ‘90s by virtue of its Tarrantino link – Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Go, Thu May 9, 9:30pm). There’s also a smorgasbord of older classics including Carrie (Go, Fri May 17, 9:30pm), Wrath of God (GEM, Fri May 17, 11:05pm), April in Paris (GEM, Sat May 18, 1:15pm), and 55 Days at Peking (GEM, Sat May 15, 3:20pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 23 April 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 9 months ago\nThe world’s most accomplished hardcore hero cum social commentator/comedian, Henry Rollins, is about to bring his unique perspective to our screens. Last seen on screens here as a white supremacist leader on Sons of Anarchy (Showcase, Sep, TBC), the latest offering is more in line with Hank’s philosophy, if not his appearance. Animal Underworld (SBS2, Tue May 7, 9:30pm) takes Hank on a journey to find out why some people choose to go head to head with the world’s most disturbing and dangerous animals.\nBad news for Auntie (and lovers of British comedy and drama who don’t have cable) – the network’s 50 year deal with the BBC will end mid-next year with almost all new content going to a new Foxtel Channel.\nThose who get their storytelling fix from literature (instead of endless stock of serialised drama) will be interested to hear the new series of Jennifer Byrne Presents (ABC1, Tue Apr 30, 10pm) will feature chats with authors Ian McEwan, PD James, Ian Rankin and Margaret Atwood.\nAlso returning is the new, succinctly monikered Adam Hills Tonight (ABC1, Wed May 15, 8:30pm), Celebrity Apprentice (WIN, Tue Apr 30, 8:40pm) and Arrow (WIN, Wed May 1, 8:40pm) finally goes to air after much hoo haa and at least one false start.\nNo doubt most fans Breaking Bad (ABC1, Mon Apr 29, 9:30pm) have already seen season four but in case you haven’t, Auntie’s got you covered\nDocos to check out include Head First (ABC2, Wed May 1, 9:30pm) where Sabour Bradley immerses himself in the lives of unknown Australians living extraordinary lives, including a nurse searching for her brother in Syria, and carrying out a sting against internet dating scammers, and Murdoch (SBS1, Sun May 5:30pm) a two-parter about the media magnate.\nTeasers have started running in the US for the second season of The Newsroom (Showtime, Jul, TBC) which will start airing there July.\nFilming on the 50th Anniversary Dr Who Special (ABC, TBC) has begun, with David Tennant and Billie Piper reprising their roles and a guest appearance by John Hurt.\nPlanning has begun for a Once Upon a Time (Prime, TBC) spin-off – Once: Wonderland will give the same treatment to Alice and Wonderland in a self-contained 13 episode series (provided it goes to pilot stage of course).\nMore Aussie shows may be headed to US pilots, including A Moody Christmas and The Straits. A new series of The Moodys (ABC, TBC) which takes the family beyond Christmas will go into production later this year. ABC announced last year that there would only be one season of The Straits.\nFilming has started on a number of other local projects including a telemovie based on Peter Temple’s crime thriller The Broken Shore (ABC, TBC). The compelling Indigenous drama Redfern Now (ABC, TBC) has been renewed for another six episode season. Dawn French will be one of the judges on the next series of Australia’s Got Talent (WIN, TBC).\nThis fortnight’s movie picks include Mad Max (Go, Mon Apr 29, 9:30pm), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Mate, Sun Apr 28, 9pm), King Richard and the Crusaders (GEM, Sun Apr 28, 2pm), Kelly’s Heroes (GEM, Sat May 4, 3:30pm) starring a range of ‘70s tough guys including Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland, The Maltese Falcon (GEM, Sun Apr 28, 4:20pm), the Humphrey Bogart detective story made in 1941, not another Star Wars spin-off.\nMark this date – Eurovision Final (SBS1, Sun May 19, 7:30pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 9 April 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 9 months ago\nWinter’s not coming anymore. It’s here. And the networks have brought out the big guns as we all start to hibernate. Sure, everyone already knows about Game of Thrones (Showcase, Mon, 4:20pm, 8:30pm) – it broke records here on Foxtel, in the US and on download sites and has just been renewed for a fourth season – but there are plenty of other big name shows that have begun since Easter (or are about to) including Mad Men (SBS1, Mon, 9:30pm), superhero drama Arrow (WIN, Tue Apr 16, 8:30pm), Shameless (SBS2, Sun Apr 14, 9pm), Veep (Showcase, Mon Apr 15, 4:45pm) and serial killer drama The Following (WIN, Wed, 8:30pm).\nAlso new are psychological thriller Case Sensitive: The Other Half Lives (ABC1, Sat 27 Apr, 8:30pm), Danish drama Borgen (SBS1, Wed Apr 24, 9:35pm) from the makers of The Killing (One, Wed, 10:30pm), You Tube comedians The Midnight Beast (SBS2, Mon Apr 22, 9:30pm) and new eps of quirky comedy Portlandia (ABC2, Thu Apr 18, 9pm), The Ugly Americans (SBS2, Mon Apr 22, 10pm), Californication (11, Tue, 10:10pm) and Supernatural (11, Mon, 8:30pm).\nBut where’s The Americans (SCTEN, TBC)? The Ten network has the Australian rights and the critically acclaimed ‘80s spy drama is into its tenth episode in the US. Talk about slow-tracked – at this rate the DVDs will be available before the pilot airs. Hope they don’t do the same with Homeland (SCTEN, TBC) when it starts airing in September. Also showing in the US with a delayed airdate here is Bates Motel (Fox 8, Sun May 8, TBC), a prequel to the movie Psycho.\nAuntie has long had a problem with filling the ten mins after a 50-minute program. Its two latest solutions are repackaged satirical news show The Roast (ABC2, Mon Apr 8, 7:30pm) and Canberra-produced The Boffin, The Builder, The Bombardier (ABC1, Sun, 8:15pm), part history lesson, part Mythbusters (SBS2, Mon-Fri, 7:30pm), part dad joke comedy.\nThere really is no end to what they’ll come up with for reality programming. Celebrity Splash (Prime, TBC) takes a bunch of former sports stars who’ve proved they can talk in front of a camera, a couple of comedians, B-list celebrities and network starlets, and a smattering of serial offenders (yes, Brynne Edelsten, we’re looking at you) and instead of ballroom dancing, they learn to dive. What’s next? Celebrity teeth brushing where a panel of dentists (whose faces can’t be shown) judge contestants on the state of their pearly whites?\nFull disclosure: Blackbox, usually an advocate for mandatory bans on reality TV, is addicted to Fashion Star (11, Tue, 8:30pm). Let the flagellation begin.\nThe King of talk shows, (Sir) Michael Parkinson, returns with Parkinson: Masterclass (ABC1, Sun Apr 14, 10pm), a series of interviews with artists, authors and musicians.\nDocos to check out include Urban Secrets (SBS1, Fri Apr 19, 7:35pm), where Alan Cumming unearths the secrets of urban environments, starting with some recently uncovered Sex Pistols graffiti in London; Hard Time (ABC2, Tue Apr 16, 9:30pm), which goes inside a maximum security prison in the US state of Georgia; Artscape: The Sharp Edge: The Art of Martin Sharp (ABC1, Tue Apr 16, 10pm), which celebrates the artist’s influence on the 50th anniversary of Oz magazine; and Artscape: Love and Fury: Judith Wright & Nugget Coombs (ABC1, Tue Apr 23, 10pm), which explores their ambitions for Australian culture and society.\nMovie choices include the retro Gremlins (Go, Fri Apr 26, 5:30pm), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (GEM, Fri Apr 26, 8:40pm), The Neverending Story (Go, Fri Apr 26, 5:30pm), the vintage Key Largo (GEM, Sun Apr 21, 11:30pm), the bizarre Corpse Bride (Go, Sun Apr 14, 5:30pm) and St Trinian’s (Go, Sun Apr 14, 8:30pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 26 March 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 10 months ago\nWhile the major commercial networks continue to play cat-and-mouse games with their post-Easter schedule, Foxtel and Auntie aren’t so coy, announcing ‘fast tracked’ airdates for two of the year’s most anticipated returns – Dr Who (ABC1, Sun Mar 31, 7:30pm) and Game of Thrones (Showcase, Mon Apr 1, 4:20pm, 8:30pm).\nJust as SCTEN announce they are no longer devoting themselves to the 18-35 demographic, SBS has crowned itself (or at least the SBS2 channel) as a youth broadcaster from Monday April 1 with a line-up that includes a new season of Skins (SBS2, Thu Apr 11, 9:30pm); Community (SBS2, Mon Apr 1, 7pm); Bullet in the Face (SBS2, Mon Apr 1, 9:30pm), an action comedy series with Eddie Izzard parodying graphic novel noir films; Dudesons in America (SBS2, Mon Apr 1, 9pm), a bunch of Finnish pranksters being Jackasses in the US; Threesome (SBS2, Thu Apr 4, 8:30pm), a comedy about raising a baby conceived as the result of a threesome; Him & Her (SBS2, Thu Apr 4, 9pm), a comedy about a couple of slackers who don’t leave their flat (much less the bed) and the bunch of characters who keep visiting; and Warrior Road Trip (SBS2, Tue Apr 2, 9:30pm), a fish-out-of-water doco series following two Maasai warriors as they travel the US.\nInstead of the usual post-event packaged offering, Auntie will do a live-to-air broadcast of triple j’s One Night Stand (ABC2, triplej.net.au , Sat Apr 13, 7pm) from Dubbo with Flume, The Rubens, Ball Park Music and Seth Sentry.\nSketch comedy returns to Auntie too with The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting (ABC1, Wed Apr 3, 9pm) with the comedic talents of Patrick Brammall, Brendan Cowell and Phil Lloyd.\nDocos to keep an eye out for include Graffiti Wars (SBS2, Apr 4, 9:30pm), exploring the creative tension between ‘80s legend King Robbo and Banksy; Exit Through the Gift Shop (SBS2, Sun Apr 6, 9:30pm), Banksy’s film that tells the story of Thierry Guetta – hoax mockumentary or documentary – you decide; Who’s been Sleeping in my House?: Gunning (ABC2, Fri Apr 12, 8pm), which looks at the lawless past of the local village; Artscape: Don’t try this at home (ABC2 , Tue Apr 1, 10pm), which explores performance art; Conspiracy Road Trip (ABC2, Wed Apr 3, 8:30pm), which takes on some big conspiracies starting with UFOs; Barefoot in Ethiopia (ABC2, Wed Mar 27, 10:10pm), which follows two Australians as they attempt to start an aid organisation in northern Ethiopia.\nAuntie has just launched Opening Shot 3 for filmmakers under 35. If you have a doco idea head to openingshot.abc.net.au/about . Apps close Tuesday April 12. Opening Shot 2 (ABC2, TBC) will air later this year.\nUS adaptations of The Bridge, based on the Scandinavian drama that aired here on SBS, and Low Winter Sun, based on the British mini-series, will air later in the year on FX.\nSam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spiderman) will make his TV directorial debut on the US Rake pilot. Eep!\nThe Chaser team will be back for the federal election campaign with a show they say is likely to be called The Election Hamster to save on sets.\nMovies include classic The Godfather (ABC2, Fri Mar 29, 9:30pm), The Godfather Part II (ABC2, Sat Mar 30, 9:30pm) and Part III (ABC2, Sun Mar 31, 9:30pm); The Great Gatsby (ABC2, Sat Apr 6, 9:30pm); Cadillac Records (WIN, Fri Apr 5, 8:30pm), starring Beyoncé and Mos Def among others; Heath Ledger’s turn as Ned Kelly (WIN, Sun Mar 31, 8:30pm); ‘80s American Pie predecessor, Porky’s (WIN, Tue Apr 2, 10:30pm); Sex and the City (WIN, Wed Apr 3, 9:30pm); ‘80s Bratpacker classic Young Guns (WIN, Sat Apr 6, 8:40pm); American History X (WIN, Thu Apr 4, 9:30pm); The Interpreter (Prime, Thu Mar 28, 8:30pm), Twins (Prime, Fri Mar 29, 8:30pm); and The Gods Must be Crazy (One, Sat Apr 6, 8:30pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 12 March 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 10 months ago\nThe most intriguing show to debut on the box this week has slipped right under the radar. Lilyhammer (SBS1, Sat Mar 30, 8:35pm) is a Norwegian fish-out-of-water crime drama with Sopranos alumni Steven Van Zandt starring as a New York mafia boss under witness protection in the Norwegian ski town. Strange premise but a compelling series.\nThe Fades (ABC 2, Mon Mar 18, 9:30pm) is a new British supernatural drama from the makers of Skins and This is England. The central character is a 17-year-old bedwetter, maligned at school, who’s also a psychic and can see ghosts. Again, much better than it sounds from the précis.\nOther new shows airing this fortnight include Inspector George Gently (ABC2, Sat Mar 23, 8:30pm) based on the detective stories that reveal the dark underbelly of ‘60s Britain, and Transporter: The Series (FX, Wed Mar 20, 7:30pm).\nMaybe it’s because the drama’s moved into the ‘20s, but Downton Abbey (Prime, Sun, 8:30pm) has suddenly become even more appealing. Dammit – that’s the hook that Underbelly (WIN, TBC) keeps using, with Squizzy (WIN, TBC) the next instalment.\nOf course all the networks are playing coy about their post-Easter line-ups in order to outfox their competitors (and ensure us regular folk don’t end up watching). Expect announcements for Arrow (WIN, TBC) and The Following (WIN, TBC) as well as Game of Thrones (Foxtel, TBC) and Mad Men (TBC) which start airing in the US Sunday March 31 and Sunday April 7 respectively.\nJust in case you thought there weren’t enough comedy quiz shows about, here comes Tractor Monkeys (ABC2, Wed Mar 20, 8:30pm). A nostalgia-based show mining Auntie’s archive, the Merrick Watts/Dave O’Neill/Monty Dimond-led chaos has a companion app that allows audiences to play along in real time (and if they’re good, make it on the leader board).\nDocos to check out include Artscape: Anatomy – Stomach (ABC2, Tue Mar 19, 10pm) which looks at sideshow artist and sword swallower Aerial Manx, Kangaroo Dundee (ABC2, Thu Mar 22, 8:30pm) which follows the life of outback kangaroo rescuer Brolga, Compass: Patrick: The Renegade Saint (ABC1, Sun Mar 17, 6:30pm), uncovering the man behind the green-tinted legend – luck of the Irish alright, The Ultimate Mars Challenge (SBS1, Sun Mar 24, 8:30pm), and The Pluto Files (SBS1, Sun Mar 17, 8:30pm), about the planet not the Disney dog.\nBlackbox’s reality comp guilty pleasure Fashion Star (11, Tue, 8:30pm) is back. No, of course it’s not The Voice (WIN, TBC).\nProjects in development are a new Chris Lilley series for Auntie, and US pilots for Gothica, a gothic modern-day soap that incorporates the legends of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray, a remake of The Tomorrow People, The Hundred, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story about a ship of 100 teenage delinquents who are sent back to Earth 97 years after a nuclear war to try and recolonise, and Lucky 7, about seven employees of a Queens gas station whose lives are changed when their lottery syndicate wins the jackpot. Be warned – all but Lucky 7 have a whiff of CW teenage drama about them.\nThe best of this fortnight’s movies include How the West was Won (GEM, Sat Mar 23, 3:30pm).\nFor sports fans there’s the Australian Formula One Grand Prix (SCTEN, Sun Mar 17, 10am) and the FIFA World Cup qualifier, Australia vs. Oman (SBS1, Tue Mar 26, 8pm).\nFirst Eurovision (SBS, May, TBC) news: Bonnie Tyler of Total Eclipse of the Heart fame will represent the UK. Giving them perhaps less chance of winning than when they wheeled out Englebert Humperdinck.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 26 February 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 10 months ago\nThe self-deprecating comedy of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation’s Gen Y captain Josh Thomas now has its own sitcom. Please Like Me (ABC2, Thu Mar 7, 9:30pm) is a perfect vehicle for Josh; part drama, part comedy, with him grappling with 101 things, constantly digressing and usually not really coping very well. If you like Josh’s particular brand of comedy (and Blackbox does) and aren’t offended by two boys making out or vomit from an overdose of Panadol, you’ll be back.\nCanberra gets a guernsey for its birthday with Canberra Confidential (ABC1, Thu Mar 14, 8:30pm) where Annabel Crabb rummages through our secrets and scandals (mostly political, of course).\nOther new shows to look out for include Shaun Micalleff and Kat Stewart in Mr & Mrs Murder (SC10, Wed, 8:30pm) and The Chaser team’s look at consumer affairs, The Checkout (ABC1, Thu Mar 21, 8pm) – yes, Wil Anderson, they got there first.\nDocos to check out include: Meet the Young Americans (ABC2, Mon Mar 4, 8:35pm), which takes the Stacey Dooley style of immersion reporting to a boot camp prison for girls, young Mexican border runners and controversial gay conversion therapy; My Tattoo Addiction (ABC2, Wed Mar 6, 9:30pm), with access to two of the UK’s top tattooists and their clients; Dig 1940 (ABC2, Sun Mar 3, 6pm) that follows an archaeological dig examining World War II evidence from 1940; David Attenborough’s Galapagos (ABC1, Sun Mar 17, 7:30pm) and Wildest Arctic (SBS1, Wed Mar 13, 7:30pm).\nThe US version of Rake has made it to pilot stage – Blackbox is dying to see the results. The question is: acerbic rant or pleasant surprise?\nThe new Dr Who (ABC, TBC) season kicks off in the UK on Saturday March 30. With a bit of luck, Auntie will make it available on iView directly after.\nNew eps of Up All Night (Prime, Thu Feb 28, 11:45pm) which include a guest spot from Stevie Nicks may be some of the last you’ll see, with news Christina Applegate has left the show. There’s also new Revenge (Prime, Mon, 8:45pm), How I Met Your Mother (Prime, Mon, 9:45pm), Supernatural (11, Mon, 8:30pm), American Horror Story (11, Mon, 9:30pm) and CSI (WIN, Sun, 9:30pm).\nThere’s an eclectic round of movies this fortnight, including The Great Train Robbery (GEM, Sun Mar 3, 4pm) starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland; ‘60s spy drama The Double Man (GEM, Sun Mar 3, 1:50pm) with Yul Brynner and Britt Ekland; Sliding Doors (GEM, Fri Mar 8, 20:30); Australia’s own ‘70s sex romp Alvin Purple (GEM, Sat Mar 9, 11:30pm); Pretty Woman (Prime, Fri Mar 1, 9pm); Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Go, Sat Mar 2, 6:30pm); 10 (WIN, Sat Mar 9, 11:30pm) starring Dudley Moore and Bo Derek; Harry Brown (SBS1, Sat Mar 9, 9:30pm), a gritty critique on British society starring Michael Caine; Bonfire of the Vanities (WIN, Sun Mar 3, 12:25am); Million Dollar Baby (Go, Fri Mar 1, 9:40pm); Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Go, Tue Mar 5, 8:30pm) and Inception (Go, Sun Mar 3, 8:30pm).\nAnd for something incredibly camp, catch 1964’s Wonderful Life (GEM, Sun Mar 3, 10am) starring Cliff Richard and The Shadows as a band stranded on the Canary Islands making a musical version of a veteran director’s comeback.\nCure your Saturday afternoon hangover with a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (11, Sat, from 12pm) marathon.\nDon’t miss reruns of classic ‘80s Aussie sketch comedy Fast Forward (One, Thu, 9:30pm). Now if Auntie would just drag The Late Show out of the archives...\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Monday, 11 February 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 11 months ago\nWhile we indulge in the new big ticket premieres the networks can’t help telling us about – yes, yes, we know Downton Abbey (Prime, Sun, 8:30pm) is back – Chez Blackbox is quietly awaiting news of a start date for The Americans (SCTEN, TBC). With a stamp of approval from the US critics that matter (and a Canberra one with far less cachet), the ‘80s-era spy drama about KGB officers deep undercover in the US is the ultimate Cold War drama. But it’s not all just spy action. As well as looking at the duality of life undercover, it also explores the mixed loyalties that real spies must have endured during the Cold War. As much a case study of what the human spirit can endure as a racy spy drama (think Breaking Bad with Russian spies instead of malcontent drug manufacturers).\nBest. News. Ever: arguably the greatest Star Trek franchise, Deep Space Nine (Eleven, Thu Feb 14, 8:30pm), gets a rerun from the beginning.\nOther new shows that have kicked off with the advent of the ratings season include Girls (Showcase, Tue, 5:45pm), Enlightened (Showcase, Mon, 5:15pm), CSI: NY (WIN, Thu Feb 14, 10:40pm), Revenge (Prime, Mon, 8:45pm), Castle (Prime, Sun, 9:40pm) and new action thriller Last Resort (Prime, Wed Feb 20, 8:30pm), about a US nuclear submarine crew who have been branded fugitives after questioning a suspicious order.\nAt the Movies (ABC 1, Tue Feb 19, 9:30pm) has moved days – you can catch Margaret and David a little earlier in the evening every week before The Book Club (ABC1, Tue Mar 5, 10pm) once a month.\nDocos to check out include Kevin McCloud’s new series Man Made Home (ABC1, Sun Feb 17, 7:30pm), a new season of Australian architecture in Dream Build (ABC1, Sun Feb 17, 8:20pm), Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission (SBS1, Wed Feb 27, 8:30pm), where the Scotsman goes on a mission to deliver vaccines to children in remote communities across the world, and The Dust Bowl (SBS1, Fri Mar 1, 8:35pm) that looks at the environmental catastrophe in the US in the ‘30s and features the tunes of Woody Guthrie.\nAlso seek out The Legend of Cool \"Disco\" Dan, narrated by Henry Rollins. It premieres in Washington on Sat Feb 23 and comes recommended by Hank himself (which is not the case with all of his work).\nIf you’ve had about as much as you can take of the cold-faced stares of chefs and judges on the endless roundabout of reality cooking shows and you ventured out to enliven your tastebuds at the Multicultural Festival, let some real chefs show you how to recapture the heady aromas at home with Yotam Ottolenghi’s Mediterranean Feasts (SBS1, Thu Feb 28, 8:35pm), Food Safari (SBS1, Thu Feb 21, 7:30pm) and Jerusalem on a Plate (SBS1, Thu Feb 21, 8:30pm).\nThe new reimagining of Dallas (WIN, TBC) was left with a bit of a conundrum when Larry Hagman died last year. With half the season shot and the need to kill off the character, they decided to go retro, revisiting the popular ‘Who Shot JR?’ cliffhanger of 1980.\nOdd guest spots are the bread and butter of cult sci-fi stars. Big Bang Theory (WIN, Mon & Tue, 8pm) alone has provided superannuation supplements to Leonard Nimoy, George Takei and Summer Glau, but now Mr Sulu will play an alien on US sci-fi sitcom The Neighbors (No Australian airdate).\nDon’t miss Tropfest (SBS1, Sun Feb 17, 8:30pm).\nJust 47 days until new Game of Thrones (assuming you read BMA on the day of issue and Foxtel fast-tracks it).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 29 January 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 3 years, 11 months ago\nMaybe it’s the ‘80s fashion, maybe it’s that Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are at the helm, or maybe it’s just that nothing could be worse than Sex and the City 2, but The Carrie Diaries (FOX8, Tue, 8:30pm) has made the don’t miss list. The prequel to the ‘90s’ most risqué drama focuses on Carrie Bradshaw’s late teenage years. And yes, the fifth character of the original series and Schwartz’s previous work – NYC – still features heavily. With a heavy dose of nostalgia for the time and original series, it could have gone horribly wrong, but the quality of the writing is keeping it nicely balanced so far.\nIronically, given the infamous game that bears his name, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, the actor is still most often associated with Footloose (and the game). That may well change with his first TV role as FBI agent Ryan Hardy in The Following (WIN, TBC), opposite James Purefoy as a serial killer with an Edgar Allan Poe obsession. The show opened well in the States and while the premise isn’t original, the strong performances should give it a lengthy shelf life.\nDon’t forget Elementary (SCTEN, Sun Feb 3, 8:30pm), the Johnny Lee Miller/Lucy Lui reimagining of Holmes and Watson which takes the Homeland timeslot. Incidentally if you need a Homeland fix, try the original, Prisoners of War (SBS1, Sat, 8:30pm).\nThere’s also Mindy Kailing’s comedy The Mindy Project (Prime, Mon, 9pm), and more returning shows including Food Safari (SBS1, Thu Feb 14, 7:30pm), The Big Bang Theory (WIN, Mon Feb 4 & Tue Feb 5, 8pm), Two and a Half Men (WIN, Mon Feb 4, 9pm), Person of Interest (WIN, Mon Feb 4, 9:30pm), Two Broke Girls (WIN, Tue Feb 5, 9pm), Anger Management (WIN, Tue Feb 5, 10pm), Up All Night (Prime, Thu Jan 31, 11:30pm), Mike and Molly (Go, Sun Feb 6, 8:30pm) and Good Game (ABC2, Tue Feb 12, 8:30pm).\nThe Chaser’s Craig Reucassel has found another use for his talents with the two part Shock Horror Auntie (ABC1, Wed Jan 30, 8:30pm), looking at the comedy that’s outraged viewers or management. Compadre Chas Licciardello will be back with more Planet America (ABC24, Fri Feb 1, 7:30pm).\nMore Game of Thrones news as we edge closer to the US season premiere on Sunday March 31 – the new characters include Clive Russell as Bryndon ‘The Blackfish’ Tully, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Jojen Reed, and Diane Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell, ‘The Queen of Thorns’. New pics also show Daenerys Targaryen leading an army. Season 3 is based on A Storm of Swords, heralded as one of the best George R. R. Martin books.\nDocos to check out this fortnight include Wildest Latin America (SBS1, Wed Feb 6, 7:30pm), Luke Nguyen’s Memories of Vietnam (SBS1, The Feb 7, 8:30pm), Monty Hall’s Great Irish Escape (SBS1, Fri Feb 8, 7:30pm), Louis Theroux’s Wild Weekends:UFOs (ABC2, Mon Feb 11, 8:35pm), and Andy Warhol (ABC1, Sun Feb 3, 10:05pm).\nBlackbox has just returned from a couple of weeks in mainland China and in keeping with this column’s occasional international reviews, Chinese TV can be summed up pretty easily – lots of locally produced news and soap operas – both enthralling in their own way. Oh, and the Disneyland Hotel in Hong King doesn’t show Disney movies (but you can have breakfast with Pluto).\nBest summer find: Wedding Band– it could have gone either way but has turned out a high enough laugh quota to keep Chez Blackbox returning. Unfortunately it’s been axed in the US so last week’s season finale was it.\nBest of the movies are 1967’s Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon (GEM, Sun Feb3, 10am), 1976’s Network (Go, Fri Feb 1, 9:30pm) and Dog Day Afternoon (Gem, Sat Feb 9, 12am).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Monday, 14 January 13 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years ago\nThe days are still sweltering and we’ll be waiting a while before the leaves start turning but it’s a different story on the box: the season’s upon us – the ratings season, that is. In case watching the cricket (or anything else) hasn’t reminded you enough about what’s coming soon, here’s the recap…\nSCTEN is relying heavily on proven fare and new reality offerings. The newbies from OS to look out for are Elementary, the reimagined Sherlock Holmes with Lucy Lui as Watson. Not completely woeful but also not a patch on the British Sherlock, Ripper Street and The American. Locally there’s the delayed drama Reef Doctors, and Mr and Mrs Murder, Secrets & Lies: The Track, Batavia and Wonderland. The best of the new reality is probably Masterchef: the Professionals (SCTEN, Sun Jan 20, 7:30pm). There’s also a second series of Puberty Blues, a third of Homeland and more Modern Family, NCIS and The Simpsons.\nEleven will pick up the CW’s reimagining of Beauty and the Beast and Sons of Anarchy and An Idiot Abroad will return to ONE (sorry no GoT, which stays on pay).\nWIN has followed its recent formula with lots of locally produced historical drama including Underbelly: Squizzy, a remake of ‘80s miniseries Return to Eden, Power Games, about the competition between the Packer and Murdoch families for ownership of Australian media, Schapelle, Gallipoli and literature brought to the small screen with Parade’s End. The network also has a couple of international standouts with Arrow, based on The Green Arrow comics, and crime drama The Following, about an FBI officer’s hunt for a serial killer. And, in case you thought reality cooking was over, there’s The Great Australian Bake-Off.\nIt’s a similar story over on Prime with Mrs Biggs, about the notorious bank robber’s wife, and A Place to Call Home, set in rural Australia in the ‘50s.Their O/S fare includes Last Resort, about the crew of a nuclear submarine branded fugitives, Red Widow, about a suburban housewife pulled into a life of organized crime, Zero Hour, a sci-fi offering which borrows heavily from central X-Files themes, and Mr Selfridge, a period drama set in the famous department store. And the most bizarre reality show – Celebrity Splash, where celebrities show their diving skills.\nSBS’s centerpiece is Prisoners of War (SBS1, Sat Jan 19, 8:30pm), the Israeli drama series on which Homeland is based.\nOver at Auntie there’s Peep Show (ABC2, Thu Jan 24, 9:30pm), the next installment of Paper Giants: Magazine Wars, detective series Serangon Road, 1950s crime sleuthing in The Dr Blake Mysteries (ABC1, Fri Feb 1, 8:30pm), telemovie Cliffy about Australia’s most unlikely sporting hero, long form drama in The Time of Our Lives, about three generations of the one family with the likes of William McInnes, Stephen Curry and Claudia Karvan, and the doco Whitlam: The Power and the Passion. Comedy-wise there’s a new Chris Lilley project, Upper Middle Bogan, new Spicks and Specks and Twenty Something, Indigenous sketch comedy in Don’t be Afraid of the Darkies, and the Merrick Watts and Dave O’Neill gameshow Tractor Monkeys. The Chaser take on consumer affairs in The Check Out and Joe Hildebrand is back.\nIn its drive to bring quality stand-up to your loungeroom, Auntie is premiering Set List (ABC2, Thu Jan 24, 9pm), with fully improvised sets from the likes of Ross Noble, Tim Minchin, Robin Williams, Drew Carey, Frank Skinner and Dara O’Briain, using an unseen list of phrases and audience wild cards.\nWhether you are looking to awaken a yearning for yet more ‘70s nostalgia or just feed your penchant for glittery kitsch, you can’t go past Abba: Bang a Boomerang (ABC1, Wed Jan 30, 8:30pm). Hosted by everybody’s fave Kiwi, Allan Brough, the doco takes a trip down memory lane to chart the Abba journey in Australia, starting with Molly admitting he never said he liked Abba because he thought everyone would think he was gay, and on to features interviews with fans, music journos, promoters, publicists and even the tour security guard.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 4 December 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 1 month ago\nThe weather is heating up, the wading pool in the backyard is full, got the cricket on the box and a beer in-hand. What more do you need? Despite the advent of the silly (off-ratings) season, there?s actually plenty to keep the telly on. While you're waiting for the next Game of Thrones instalment (around April), get your medieval fix fromThe Pillars of the Earth (ABC1, Sun Dec 9, 8:30pm) adapted from the Ken Follet novel set in the 12th century;The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (WIN, Fri Dec 7, 8:30pm) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (WIN, Fri Dec 14, 8:30pm).\nAlso new to screens are Brian Austin Green's newbie, Wedding Band (SCTEN, Wed Dec 5, 8:30pm), silly fun with hilarious covers of some long-forgotten tunes; mockumentary The Arecibo Message (SBS1, Mon Dec 17, 9:30pm);Cult (Prime, Wed Dec 5, 10:30pm), another paranormal offering with a mysterious cult in New Zealand; new Go Girls (SCTEN, Mon-Thu, 10:30pm); and crime dramas Breakout Kings (One, Tue Dec 19, 10:40pm) and Mafia's Greatest Hits (One, Tue Dec 19, 9:30pm). There's more to come with new seasons of Peep Show (ABC2, TBC) and Misfits (ABC2, TBC). Sadly, the wonderful Hit & Miss (ABC2, Mon Dec 10, 9:30pm) winds up this week and won't be back for a second season.\nThe impending arrival of that fat bearded guy in boots has also brought some gems - if you haven't watched A Moody Christmas (ABC1,Wed Dec 5, 9pm) get thee to iView or your local DVD retailer now. Of course, there's the annual Doctor Who Christmas Special (ABC1, Wed Dec 26, 7:30pm).\nIf you're looking for festive inspiration in the kitchen there's plenty on offer, including Maggie Beer's Christmas Feast (ABC1, Tue Dec 18, 8:30pm); Rick Stein's Spanish Christmas (ABC1, Tue Dec 4, 8:30pm); Nigellissima Christmas Special (ABC1, Tue Dec 11, 8:30pm); River Cottage Christmas Special (ABC1, Sat Dec 22, 6pm);Jamie's Christmas with Bells On (SCTEN, Thu Dec 20, 7:30pm); Jamie's Best Ever Christmas (SCTEN, Sat Dec 22, 4pm); and Better Homes and Gardens Countdown to Christmas Prime, Mon-Fri, 7pm).\nDocos include Sunday Arts Up Late: Marina Abramovic - the Artist is Present (ABC1, Sun Dec 9, 10:15pm);Freddy Mercury: The Great Pretender (ABC2, Sun Dec 9, 8:30pm); Martin Luther King: The Assassination Tapes (SBS1, Fri Dec 7, 8:35pm); The Crusades (SBS1, Dec 16, 7:35pm); Cities of the Underworld (7Mate, Wed Dec 5, 7:30pm); and The Truth About Exercise (SBS1, Tue Dec 11, 8:30pm).\nDon't miss: Celebrating 25 Years of rage - 2007 2011 (ABC1, Sat Dec 22, 11pm) and rage FIFTY (ABC1, Sat Dec 29, 11pm); Dr. No (Prime, Sat Dec 6, 6:30pm); From Russia with Love (Prime, Sat Dec 6, 8:45pm); Empire Records (Go, Wed Dec 19, 9:30pm); Airheads (Go, Sat Dec 22, 9:30pm); Ned Kelly (Go, Fri Dec 14, 9:10pm); and the last ep of Blackbox's own guilty pleasure, Gossip Girl (Fox, Tue Dec 18, 8:30pm). Definitely do miss: Andre Rieu Home for Christmas Special (WIN, Sat Dec 22, 3pm) and Rod Stewart: Merry Christmas Baby (GEM, Sat Dec 15, 2:25pm).\nSANTA WATCH: Carols from St Peter's Cathedral (ABC1, Mon Dec 24, 6pm); The Santa Clause (Prime, Fri Dec 7, 8:30pm); and The Simpsons (SCTEN, Sat Dec 22, 6pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 20 November 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 2 months ago\nThere are 33 shopping days* until the fat guy in the red suit crawls down your chimney (or in through the reverse cycle air conditioner) and, so far, there’s not much on the box to herald his arrival. Except for the deliciously quirky oz comedy, A Moody Christmas (ABC1, Wed, 9:30pm), and Big Fat Gypsy Weddings: My Big Fat Gypsy Christmas (WIN, Wed Nov 21, 8:30pm).\nAustralian music’s night of nights will be broadcast on Go!, kicking off with pseudo-celebs strutting the ARIA Red Carpets (Go, Thu Nov 29, 7:30pm) followed by the ARIA Awards 2012 (Go, Thu Nov 29, 7:30pm). In a scheduling nightmare, the awards are preceded by One Direction: A Year in the Making (Go, Thu Nov 29, 6:30pm). For much more interesting musical history, there’s Crossfire Hurricane (ABC2, Sun Nov 25, 8:30pm), an insight into what makes The Rolling Stones.\nOne thing that crystallises at this time of year is that not everybody in the world is having a party. So, while you’re trimming the tree or shopping on eBay, check out the fabulous series of docos on Auntie as part of the global media event, Why Poverty? There’s Park Avenue (ABC2, Mon Nov 26, 9:30pm), which looks at the extreme wealth and inequality in the US; Give Us the Money (ABC2, Tue Nov 27, 9:30pm), examining how and why celebrities have become the spokespeople for Africa’s poor; Stealing Africa (ABC2, Wed Nov 28, 9:30pm), about global trade and corruption in Zambia; Solar Mamas (ABC2, Thu Nov 29, 9:30pm), looking at how women are finding ways out of poverty, and Welcome to the World (ABC2, Fri Nov 30, 9:30pm), about the prospects of the newest generation.\nOther docos to check out include Opening Shot: Queen of the Desert (ABC2, Sun Nov 25, 9:30pm), about a remote central Australian youth worker; Top Gear: 50 Years of Bond Cars (WIN, Tue Nov 27, 7:30pm), and 10 Aussie Books to Read Before You Die (ABC2, Tue Dec 4, 9:30pm).\nOther new stuff includes the All Creatures Great and Small prequel, Young James Heriot (ABC1, Sat Dec 1, 8:20pm), Sam Simmons’ Problems (ABC1, Wed Nov 21, 9pm), more fairytale action in Grimm (Prime, Tue, 9:30pm), Swedish thriller Real Humans (SBS1, Sat Dec 1, 9:30pm), and the return of House of Lies (One, Thu Nov 29, 9:30pm), Once Upon a Time (Prime, Thu Nov 22, 7:30pm) and Brand X (One, Thu Nov 29, 10:10pm).\nA raft of projects have begun filming locally, including An Accidental Soldier, a telemovie set in WWI; the next instalment of Paper Giants, Wentworth; the reimagined version of ‘80s classic Prisoner, and Underbelly: Squizzy, marking a return to the ‘20s.\nThe West Wing’s Brad Whitford will guest star in the US version of Shameless, and in the can’t-believe-it-hasn’t-happened-already basket, Mythbusters will do a Breaking Bad episode.\nMovies include Brother Sun Sister Moon (ABC2, Sat Nov 24, 8:30pm), Finding Nemo (Prime, Sat Nov 24, 6:30pm), Nightshift (WIN, Sat Dec 1, 1am), The Wizard of Oz (WIN, Sat Nov 24, 7:40pm), and Rush Hour (Go, Mon Nov 26, 9:30pm).\nDon’t forget to check out the second-last instalment of Celebrating 25 Years of rage: 2003-2006 (ABC1, Sat 24 Nov, 11pm) or reruns of This is England ’88 (SBS1, Mon Nov 26, 9:30pm).\n*assuming you’re reading BMA on publication day and you shop on eBay.\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 6 November 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 2 months ago\nFirst up, an apology: last issue, Blackbox suggested that the reappearance of Red Dwarf (ABC1, Wed Nov 7, 9:30pm) was a replay of the original series. In fact, it’s actually the hotly anticipated Season 11. If you’re reading early enough, there’s still time. Otherwise, it’s available on iView. Plus, it’s Red Dwarf – new or old, you should be watching.\nHow much better can it get than a telly show about telly shows? America in Primetime (SBS1, Tue Nov 13, 8:30pm) is part history, part analysis – basically porn for TV geeks.\nFinding Your Roots (SBS1, Tue Nov 20, 7:30pm) is a spin on the six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon game that takes two celebrities with similar ancestry and looks at that history. And yes, Kevin Bacon is featured.\nHunted (SBS1, Sat Nov 24, 8:30pm) – created by X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz and produced by the team behind Spooks – has an impressive pedigree, but the proof will be in the second and third episodes. Speaking of spies, don’t miss the double episode of Homeland (SCTEN, Sun Nov 11, 8:30pm), Hit &Miss (ABC2, Mon, 9:30pm) and doco Modern Spies (ABC2, Mon Nov 19, 8:30pm).\nOther new shows to catch include: Chris O’Dowd’s latest effort, Moone Boy (ABC2, Fri Nov 9, 8pm), about a chaotic family in ‘80s Ireland; Michael Palin’s Brazil (ABC2, Sun Nov 11, 7:30pm); Devil’s Dust (ABC1, Sun/Mon Nov 11/12, 8:30pm), the mini-series about asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton; Artscape: The Making of the Reef (ABC1, Tue Nov 13, 10pm), which follows the composition and filming behind multimedia performance The Reef (ABC2, Sun Nov 18, 10pm); and dramedy The Wedding Band (11, Tue Nov 13, 7:30pm).\nMicronation (11, Sun, 10:30pm), the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it five-minute comedic interlude with a premise that takes longer to explain than an episode, rises a wry smile and even a giggle. You can’t argue with that, given the small investment of time.\nDocos to check out include: Sam and Evan: From Girls to Men (ABC2, Fri Nov 9, 9:30pm), following the journey of two transgender teenagers; America Revealed (SBS1, Fri Nov 9, 8:30pm), which looks at the systems that keep America fed, powered and moving; Quest for the Lost Maya (SBS1, Sun Nov 18, 7:35pm); and Gaddafi: Dead or Alive (SBS1, Wed Nov 21, 9:30pm).\nSome interesting series under development here and in the US at the moment include: Heathers, based on the cult 1988 movie but, like other shows of the same ilk, set in the present day with some of the old characters as adults; and a new imagining of Wonder Woman with a Smallville-style plot; Beverly Hills Cop, which focuses on Axel Foley’s son and guest stars Eddie Murphy; ‘60s detective drama Serangon Road, an ABC/HBO Asia co-production set in Singapore; and Steven Spielberg has just bought the rights to Aussie supernatural novel Embrace for a series. Can’t wait for new BBC2 drama The Fall to make it to our shores. With a bit of luck, the psychological thriller starring Gillian Anderson will get picked up by Auntie.\nAmongst this fortnight’s movies, you’ll find Shane (ABC2, Sat Nov 10, 8:30pm), A Knight’s Tale (7Mate, Sun Nov 11, 6:30pm) and Dune (Go, Sat Nov 17, 12:50am).\nDon’t forget to check out the next instalment of Celebrating 25 Years of rage: 2003-2006 (ABC1, Sat 22 Nov, 11pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 23 October 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 3 months ago\nAn Australian version of The Street, with six stories of Indigenous inner-city life, Redfern Now (ABC1, Thu Nov 1, 8:30pm) is the first drama series written, produced and directed by Indigenous Australians. And a moving series with loads of humour. And it features the magnificent Kelton Pell. Don’t miss it.\nOther new shows this week include Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong 2 (SBS1, Thu Oct 25, 8pm), Outback Truckers (7Mate, Thu, 9:30pm), the Aussie version of the inimitable Ice Road Truckers, UK drama Blackout (SBS1, Sat Nov 3, 8:30pm), about a corrupt councilman looking for redemption, I Just Want my Pants Back (Prime, Tue, 11:45pm), an MTV comedy based on the David Rosen novel, Melbourne 1880s period drama The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (ABC1, Sun Oct 28, 8:30pm), based on the Fergus Hulme novel, House of Lies (One, Mon Oct 29, 9:30pm) a US comedy about a bunch of cutthroat management consultants, telemovie Dangerous Remedy (ABC1, Sun Nov 4) about Dr Bertram Wainer, and UK drama Hit and Miss (ABC2, Mon Nov 5, 9:30pm), starring Chloe Sevigny as a transgender contract killer.\nNot content to take over the world Gangnam-style, Asian pop is about to have its own version of Eurovision: the Asia Broadcasting Union TV Song Festival (SBS1, Sun Oct 28, 9:30pm). The good news – Australia will be represented – by DJ Havana Brown. The bad news – there’s no voting. The SBS broadcast is hosted by PopAsia (SBS1, Sun, 8:30am) hostess Jamaica dela Cruz.\nAs regular readers are no doubt aware, Chez Blackbox is a sucker for the retro smorgasbord multi-channel programming has brought but Auntie has hit the jackpot, replaying Red Dwarf (ABC1, Wed Nov 7, 9:30pm) from the beginning. Still waiting for The Jetsons, which turned 50 this year, and a flying car.\nDocos to check out include the ultimate observational doco (before there was a name for it), 56 Up (SBS1, Tue Oct 30, 7:30pm), The Hunt for AI (SBS1, Sun Oct 28, 8:30pm), Jimmy and the Giant Supermarket (SBS1, Thu Nov 1, 8:35pm), which follows a free range food advocate working with UK supermarket Tesco, Foreign Correspondent: Goin’ Up Around the Bend (ABC1, Tue Nov 6), Annabel Crabb’s journey through Florida ahead of the US election, Louis Theroux: The City Addicted to Crystal Meth (ABC2, Mon Nov 5, 8:30pm) and Opening Shot: The H Bomb (ABC2, Sun Nov 4, 9:30pm), the first in a series from young Australian doco makers. This one’s about herpes.\nBest news is that Auntie has commissioned a third season of Rake (ABC1, Thu, 8:30pm), although the man who created it and plays Cleaver Green to perfection has suggested three might be the end. The really disturbing news – there will be a US version. We all know how that goes.\nJust in case you don’t have a Christmas countdown app or didn’t notice the Christmas puddings in the supermarket, the TV signs that Christmas is around the corner have arrived. There’s new comedy, A Moody Christmas (ABC1, Wed Oct 31, 8:30pm), which features the dysfunctional Moody family’s Christmases over six years, Christmas specials – That ‘70s Show – An Eric Forman Christmas (7Mate, Tue Oct 30, 6pm) – and the summer telly details have started to arrive, but more about that next ish.\nDon’t miss Kitchen Cabinet: Barnaby Joyce (ABC2, Wed Oct 31, 9:30pm) and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (ABC2, Sat Nov 3, 8:30pm). It’s also time for the next instalment of Celebrating 25 Years of rage: 1999-2002 (ABC1, Sat Oct 27, 11pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Monday, 8 October 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 3 months ago\n On your couch is once again the place to be seen on Sunday nights, so grab some pizzas and beers (or go the gourmet route with wine and cheese) and settle in for the long haul. And you don’t even have to use the remote – (read in commercial radio voiceover tone:) SCTEN is fast-tracking it right to your door.\nThe fun starts with Merlin (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 6:30pm) followed by Modern Family (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 7:30pm), The New Normal (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 8pm) a comedy with two men and a surrogate baby, Homeland(SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 8:30pm) and ‘60s period drama Vegas (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 9:30pm). If that’s not enough, set the DVR for Jack Irish (ABC1, Sun Oct 13, 8:30pm), with Guy Pearce as the former criminal lawyer turned private investigator and debt collector from Peter Temple’s books.\nAlso starting this fortnight are comedy Ben and Kate (SCTEN, Mon Oct 15, 8pm), the Chaser team’s foray into commercial telly, The Unbelievable Truth (Prime, Thu Oct 11, 9:30pm) and new seasons of Mike and Molly(WIN, Tue Oct 16, 10pm), Survivor: Philippines (WIN, Tue Oct 16, 10:30pm), Supernatural (11, Mon Oct 15, 6:25pm) and The Graham Norton Show (SCTEN, Sat Oct 20, 8:30pm), which kicks off with Arnold Schwarzenegger.\nThere’s still more to come, including Elementary (SCTEN, TBC) the Sherlock Holmes reimagining with Lucy Lui as Watson, and Scandal (Prime, TBC) a political thriller with everyone’s fave government flack, Josh Malina. The Foxtel fast-tracking list (which they’re calling ‘Express from the US’) is also growing, with new seasons ofBoardwalk Empire (Showcase, Mon, 3pm), Dexter (Showcase, Thu, 8:30pm), The Walking Dead (FX, Tue Oct 16, 8:30pm), Gossip Girl (Fox8, Tue Oct 9, 8:30pm), The Vampire Diaries (Fox8, Wed Oct 17, 7:30pm) and JJ Abrams’ newbie, Revolution (Fox8, Wed, 8:30pm).\nAnd if that’s a drama overload, there’s plenty of docos, including Mega Builders: Glitz City (ABC2, Mon Oct 8, 7:30pm), which follows the building of a huge casino resort in Vegas, My Transsexual Summer (ABC2, Fri Oct 12, 9:30pm) which follows the journey of seven transgender individuals, Gypsy Blood (ABC2, Sun Oct 21, 8:30pm), which takes a more serious look at Gypsy culture, and a new series of Who Do You Think You Are? (WIN, Wed Oct 10, 10:30pm) which begins with Martin Sheen. The best fly-on-the-wall doco since Newlyweds and The Osbournes is Brynne: My Dedazzled Life (Prime, Thu, 7:30pm). Avoid Geordie Shore (Eleven, Tue Oct 16, 9:40pm). You have been warned. But don’t miss Peter Garrett on Kitchen Cabinet (ABC2, Wed Oct 24, 9:30pm).\nThere’s so much new telly coming our way, Blackbox hasn’t mentioned the seemingly endless stream of classics in a while. Look out for Thunderbirds (Go!, Sun, 6am) and the original early ‘80s version of Battlestar Galactica(7Mate, Thu, 2am).\nThe best of the flicks are Tropic of Cancer (ABC2, Sat Oct 13, 8:30pm), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Go!, Fri Oct 19, 7:30pm), Caddyshack (Go!, Fri Oct 19, 9:30pm), Pulp Fiction (Go!, Sat Oct 20, 9:30pm), Jaws 3 (7Mate, Sun Oct 14, 9pm) complete with (crappy) 3D effects, and Whip It (Go!, Tue Oct 16, 9:30pm), which is followed by Roller Derby X-Treme (Go!, Tue Oct 16, 11:50pm).\nFinally, fanatics won’t want to miss the Dr Who Symphony Spectacular (Sydney Opera House, Sat-Sun Dec 15-16).\n \nDate Published: Tuesday, 25 September 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 3 months ago\nThe casualty of Foxtel’s fast-tracking to stop the pirates may be the spoiler alert\nThe big ticket shows may have already engulfed your flatscreen but there are some hidden gems among the second string shows premiering in the next few weeks, including Killing Time (Prime, Sun Oct 7, 8:30pm), starring David Wenham as notorious Melbourne criminal lawyer Andrew Fraser, Strikeback (Prime, Sun Sep 30, 8:30pm) a thriller about a British counter terrorism unit from HBO/ UK Sky and Black Mirror (SBS1, Mon Oct 8, 9:30pm), a black dramedy set in three different future universes.\nThe Big Bang Theory (WIN, Tue Oct 2, 8:30pm), Covert Affairs (Prime, Mon, 9:30pm), Two Broke Girls (WIN, Tue Oct 2, 9pm). New Girl (SCTEN, Mon Oct 1, 7:30pm), NCIS (SCTEN, Tue Oct 2, 8:30pm) and Kitchen Cabinet (ABC2, Wed Oct 10, 9:30pm) also return.\nDocos to check out include the best ever Sunday Best: Strummer (ABC2, Sun Oct 7, 8:30pm) a biopic of The Clash lead singer from punk doco legend Julien Temple, Barack Obama: Great Expectations (SBS1, Wed Oct 10, 9:30pm), Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City (SBS1, Fri Sep 28, 8:30pm), which looks at the history of the city through the prism of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, Battle Castle (SBS1, Sun Sep 30, 7:35pm) the tale of six medieval castles and Living with the Amish (SBS1, Wed Oct 3 8:30pm), which follows six British teenagers living in US Amish communities.\nThe new season premieres continue in the US, including Nashville, a dramedy with a country music flavour, Arrow, the Green Arrow series, and returns of Community, The Walking Dead, Homeland (SCTEN, Sun, TBC), Revenge and finals seasons of Fringe and Gossip Girl. Whether Fox’s strategy of airing shows such as Sons of Anarchy (Showcase, Wed, 3:10pm) and 666 Park Avenue (Fox 8, Mon Oct 1, 9:30pm) almost immediately after the US will actually have any effect on illegal downloading remains to be seen. But it will at least mean looking at the interweb without covering your eyes. Let’s hope all the free-to-air networks will follow suit. Even superb local content isn’t going to save you.\nSkins USA (11, TBC), which has already aired in the US and here on Pay, will get another run on free-to-air and US comedy The B*tch in Apartment 23 (Arena, Mon, 7:30pm), starring Dawson’s Creek’s James Van Der Beek as himself, is airing on Pay.\nThe best part of First Tuesday Book Club (ABC1, Tue Oct 2, 10pm) is often the guests and with Marieke Hardy, Dave Graney and Indira Naidoo in the mix it’s sure to be a good one. And don’t miss The Muppets All-Star Comedy Gala (SCTEN, Sun Sep 30, 6:30pm).\nIt’s anybody’s guess how Roberta Williams goes down in the UK, Europe and the Middle East but the original series of Underbelly has been sold to CBS who plan to broadcast it in those markets, starting with the UK in the next couple of weeks.\nRake (ABC1, Thu, 8:30pm) certainly started with a bang, prompting former NSW premier Kristina Kenneally to tweet “ah, the hair has a life of its own”. The West Wing cast have reunited – not for a movie – but for a political ad (YouTube, walk and talk the vote).\nA great grab bag of flicks coming up including Donnie Brasco (Go, Thu Sep 27, 8:30pm), Sherlock Holmes (Go, Thu Oct 4, 8:30pm), Revenge of the Nerds (Go, Fri Oct 5, 8:30pm) and A Fish Called Wanda (GEM, Mon Oct 1, 12am).\n \nDate Published: Tuesday, 11 September 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 4 months ago\nOur publicly funded broadcasters serve up the Chaser and Steve Buscemi\nThe worst-kept secret in Australian television is finally out – the Chaser crew haven’t completely ditched auntie for the cold hard cash. The Hamster Wheel (ABC1, Wed Sep 26, 9:05pm) is back as most astute Canberrans and readers of The Riot Act would know from their prank at a Parliament House protest a month or so back. They haven’t completely taken the pauper route, though – half the crew will make a name for themselves on the network that sued them (Prime) later this year with the Australian version of The Unbelievable Truth.\nOne of the greatest things about being Australian is the knowledge that we have two taxpayer-supported free-to-air channels. Not only do they bring us great locally produced fodder such as Rake (ABC1, Thu, 8:30pm) and Rockwiz (SBS, Sat, 8:30pm) and a plethora of docos, they also ensure (sometimes belated) access to cable shows like Boardwalk Empire (SBS1, Sat Sep 29, 9:30pm). And they’re not afraid of the ratings monster. ABC’s Dr Who (ABC1, Sat, 7:30pm) debut on iView immediately after its UK premiere and a week before it hit TV broke records.\nDocos to check out include Artscape: Subtopia (SBS, Tue, 10pm), which looks at Blender co-op founder, artist, activist and academic Adrian Doyle, who put street art on Melbourne’s map, Empire (Prime, Thu Sep 13, 7:30pm), which looks at the NY icon, Sunday Best: Jig (ABC2, Sun Sep 23, 8:30pm) which follows the intrigue of Irish dancing world champs, Tyson (SBS1, Sun Sep 16, 9:30pm), Sunday Best: Surviving Progress (ABC2, Sun Sep 16, 8:30pm), Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die (SBS1, Sun Sep 23, 9:30pm), JK Rowling (ABC1, Thu Sep 27, 8pm), her only Australian interview – with Jennifer Byrne – and Prohibition (SBS1, Sat Sep 29, 8:30pm), which cleverly precedes Boardwalk Empire.\nMasterchef may be well and truly over but there’s no shortage of foodie fodder to indulge your palate, including a new season of The Great Food Truck Race (ABC2, Fri Sep 14, 7:30pm), Poh’s Kitchen Lends a Hand (ABC1, Tue, 8pm), Yes Chef (SCTEN, Sat Sep 15, 3pm), A Taste of Travel (SCTEN, Sat Sep 15, 3:30pm), with aforementioned Masterchef contestants travelling the country and globe to find the best food, Love to Share (SCTEN, Sat Sep 15, 4pm), with more Masterchefers, and Rick Stein’s Spain (ABC1, Tue Sep 25 8:30pm). \nBest. News. Ever. Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson are reprising their Bottom roles in Hooligans Island – set to air in 2013. Filming has started on Auntie’s comedy, Upper Middle Bogan, from the team behind The Librarians and Very Small Business – also set to air in 2013. (Second best news ever: The Shire has been axed.)\nThere are more new shows in the US Autumn schedule to look out for in coming months including Copper, a BBC America production about an Irish-born police officer in 1860s New York, and Go On, a new Matthew Perry-driven comedy. Vegas, set in ‘60s Las Vegas when The Strip was just getting started, starts in the US on Tue Sep 25.\nOf course, the next most anticipated return (when it gets its (hopefully) free-to-air start) will be season two of Homeland (TBC). The trailers are already airing in the US. And it looks awesome. Sadly, a new season of Game of Thrones is a long way off – they’re still casting – and The Wire’s Dominic West turned them down. McNulty would have made a perfect King beyond the wall.\nThe Emmys (Fox8, Mon Sep 24, 9am) don’t seem to have a free-to-air home. And on award shows, this year’s ARIAs will be on Go with public voting categories. And the biggest football comp of the year is here: UEFA Champions League (SBS1, Wed Sep 19, 4:30am).\nDon’t miss the third instalment of Celebrating 25 Years of rage – 1995-98. Here at Chez Blackbox there’ll be plenty of (ANU) bar flashbacks in store... And if that’s not enough, an avid fan has put together a site of all rage eps from 1998- 2012: rageagain.com\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 28 August 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 4 months ago\nWhile the ‘70s pop cultural journey of discovery (or trip down Memory Lane for some) of Howzat: Kerry Packer’s War (WIN, Sun, 8:30pm) and Puberty Blues (SCTEN, Wed, 8:30pm) has kept Chez Blackbox enthralled, the most anticipated series of 2012 is yet to arrive. But it’s close. And the second season of Rake (ABC1, Thu Sep 6, 8:30pm) is a humdinger. In the first couple of eps, our good friend Cleave, the world’s most inappropriate barrister, has an affair with the Premier (Toni Collette) and gets sued for defamation by Harry – sorry, David.\nOf course Chez Blackbox is also shivering with anticipation at the prospect of new Dr Who (ABC1, Sat Sep 8, 7:30pm) within a week of its UK and US premiere.\nAnd they aren’t the only shows to let the post-Olympic dust settle before launching. There’s a second season of Lowdown (ABC1, Thu Sep 6, 9:30pm), GCB (Prime, Mon, 8:30pm), a comedy about grown-up mean girls starring the inimitable Kristen Chenoweth, the much promoted House Husbands (WIN, Sun Sep 2, 8:30pm), Broadway drama Smash (Prime, Tue, 9:30pm), Kath & Kim: The Souvenir Editions (Prime, Sun, 7:30pm), repackaged just in time for the movie, Up All Night (Prime, Mon, 10:30pm), Kevin’s Grand Design (ABC1, Sun Sep 9, 7:30pm), Rick Stein Tastes the Blues (ABC 1, Tue Sep 11, 8:30pm), full of soul food from America’s south, Glory Daze (Go, Sat Sep 8, 11pm), college comedy set in the ‘80s – a cult hit since it was canned, Sinbad (ABC1, Sat Sep 8, 8:20pm), a modern reimagining from the folks behind Primeval, and new seasons of Episodes (WIN, Tue Sep 4, 9pm) and Weeds (WIN, Tue Sep 4, 11:55pm).\nMeet the Amish (SBS1, Wed Sep 5, 8:30pm) is the ultimate fish out of water doco. It takes a mob of Amish kids from the American mid-west to live with contemporary British families in London. They go from a quiet rural existence to South London in episode one.\nAaron Sorkin’s Newsroom (SoHo, Mon, 8:30pm), which is about to reach its conclusion in the US (to the joy of many critics), has been picked up here on cable. Unsurprisingly, it’s not the only new US show to go cable with JJ Abrams’ post apocalyptic sci-fi, Revolution, and 666 Park Avenue, pitched as an Alfred Hitchcock psychological thriller rather than a horror gore-fest, bypassing free-to-air.\nThe Beer Factor (Go, Sat Sep 1, 10:30pm) is a curious hybrid – part beer company marketing ploy, part comedy. It’s hosted by Tom Gleeson, who is on the hunt for Australia’s funniest beer inventions and is tied to the Hahn ‘pioneering beering’ campaign.\nThere’s more promising shows in the works here and OS including Whitlam, a two-part doco on the former PM from the crew behind Bombora and Wide Open Road, a new season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Better Man, about Van Tuong Nguyen, the Australian who was executed in Singapore in 2005 for drug trafficking, Janet King, a political thriller off the back of Crownies, Mockingbird Lane, an NBC re-imagining of The Munsters with Portia De Rossi and Eddie Izzard, Dracula, based on Bram Stoker’s tale, a Marvel comic superhero show to be developed by Joss Wheedon, a-yet-to-be-named-drama about an interpreter being described as West Wing in the UN to be written Tom Brady, Slings and Arrows, a new Ben Elton Comedy and a reimagining of classic ‘80s BBC sci-fi Blakes 7 from the folks behind Battlestar Galactica.\nAs teen dramas go, the re-booted 90210 (11, Sun, 5pm) and Melrose Place (11, Tue, 10:30pm) leave a lot to be desired. Wait for the final season of Gossip Girl (airing in the US in October and here on cable) or seek out the early ‘90s originals. Better still, wait for next year and get your retro on with the mid-‘80s trip that is The Carrie Diaries.\nAfter press time last issue, SC10 announced they would air Canberra-produced drama Space (11, Sun, 10pm). If you missed the first ep, catch the encore (11, Sun Sep 2, 1am) and follow Chez Blackbox on Twitter for the stuff that happens between eps – sorry, issues.\nDon’t miss Clerks (Go, Wed Sep 5, 9:30pm). One of the best cult movies ever.\n \nDate Published: Tuesday, 14 August 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 5 months ago\nHow WIN lost the Olympics\nBefore launching into the smorgasbord of post-Olympic viewing opportunities, something has to be said about Nine’s terrible free-to-air coverage of the world’s biggest event. Chez Blackbox was bubbling with excitement at the prospect of two weeks of weird and wonderful sports, postcards from London and fun. Unfortunately what we got was an extended version of Wide World of Sports with a little too much Karl and way too much Eddie. No Roy and HG, no Bruce McAveny, no wider cultural backstory and very little coverage of weird sports – just the same races repeated over and over, endless commentary about the swim team and information about what footy team they support. No doubt the Paralympics (ABC1, from Thu Aug 30, 5.20am) will be better viewing. Adam Hills is hosting the Opening Ceremony for starters.\nWhat the Olympics has done is jump-start a round of new viewing across the networks, beginning with Puberty Blues (SCTEN, Wed Aug 22, 8.30pm) which is so far showing the right mix of elements to make it worth the investment – great cast, good backstory, excellent (and well-researched) writing. SCTEN released the first ep on Facebook for 24 hours last week and it left Chez Blackbox wanting more, despite giggling every time the girls called each other molls.\nThe new version of Dallas (WIN, Wed Aug 22, 9.30pm) isn’t as bad as expected – the creators actually made some good decisions. 1) They retained more than a token of the original cast to reprise their roles – JR, Bobby, Sue-Ellen and Lucy are all back. 2) Instead of totally filling the cast with pretty, vacant starlets, they’ve got some real talent like Josh Henderson in the lead roles.\nWhile Chez Blackbox is usually not a fan of reality TV, the concept behind Don’t Tell the Bride (SCTEN, Tue Aug 21, 7pm) is intriguing but here lies the rub – would any bride let their hubby organise a wedding if there was any possibility they would totally screw it up?\nElsewhere there’s Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War (WIN, Sun Aug 19, 8.30pm), Destination Flavour (SBS1, Thu Aug 16, 8pm), a foodie trip around Australia with Adam Liaw, Renee Lim and Lily Serna, Can of Worms (SCTEN, Tue Aug 20, 8.30pm), with Chrissie Swan not Dicko, House of Lies (SCTEN, Tue Aug 20, 9.40pm), the US comedy starring Don Cheadle as a management consultant, I Will Survive (SCTEN, Wed Aug 22, 7pm) – despite the marketing campaign it isn’t yet clear whether these guys will be performing as drag queens – otherwise it’s just a rural version of Idol or The Voice, Underbelly Badness (WIN Mon Aug 20 8.30pm) the saving grace will be Anthony LaPaglia in the lead role, Charlie Sheen’s new comedy Anger Management (WIN Tue Aug 21 8.30pm) and Big Brother (WIN, Mon-Fri, 7pm).\nDocos to check out include God Bless Ozzy Osborne (ABC1, Wed Aug 29, 9.30pm) – sure, it’s produced by Sharon but it does feature interviews with Sir Paul McCartney and Henry Rollins, Compass: My Brother’s Cult (ABC1, Sun Aug 19, 6.30pm) about a Sydney cult, the next instalment of the Three Men Go franchise – Three Men Go to New England (ABC1, Tue Aug 28, 8.30pm), Sunday Best: Murderball (ABC2, Sun Aug 26, 8.30pm), which looks at the world’s roughest sport – wheelchair rugby, Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story (SBS1, Sun Aug 19, 9.30pm) and Male Hookers Uncovered (ABC2, Fri Aug 24, 9.30pm).\nMovies include 2001: A Space Oddity (SCTEN Sun Aug 26 1.50am), In Bruges (Prime, Thu Aug 16, 9.50pm), A Nightmare on Elm Street (Go!, Thu Aug 23, 9.30pm), Mad Max (Go!, Sat Aug 25, 9.30pm), and The Addams Family (WIN, Sat Aug 18, 7.30pm).\nWeirdest TV listing – WIN celebrating the Ten Year anniversary tour of Auntie’s Long Way to the Top (WIN, Sat Aug 18, 3pm) without so much as a nod in ABC’s direction.\nDon’t miss the second instalment of rage’s trip down memory lane, Celebrating 25 years of rage: 1991-1994 (ABC1, Sat Aug 25, 11pm). More new shows next week.\n \nDate Published: Tuesday, 31 July 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 5 months ago\nA memory trip down rage lane and the best TV of 2013\nThe second instalment of Celebrating 25 Years of rage: 1991-1994 (ABC1, Sat Aug 25, late) will be stellar: the (commercial) birth of grunge; big beefy guitars; the first Big Day Out; the rise of the DJ; and the reinvention of punk, ska and hardcore. Episode one featured some gems from Run DMC, Stone Roses and The Pixies, along with some cringeworthy fare from Tone Loc, Fine Young Cannibals and Kylie.\nChez Blackbox is eagerly awaiting the Olympic Opening Ceremony in the wee hours of the morning as we go to press, and hoping, dear readers, that if you don’t like sports, you like movies. With ads. Because that’s what’s showing on most networks (other than WIN) for the next couple of weeks. On the plus side, there are some standouts that you forgot (or didn’t know existed) including Seven (Go!, Wed Aug 8, 9.30pm), Go (Go!, Tue Aug 7, 9.45pm), Maverick (Go!, Fri Aug 10, 7.30pm), Child’s Play (Go!, Sat Aug 11, 12.10am), The Man With Two Brains (Go!, Sat Aug 11, 11.30pm), Some Like It Hot (ABC2, Sat Aug 4, 8.30pm), and Planet of the Apes (One, Tue Aug 7, 8.30pm).\nAlmost everything else appears to be on hold. If you’re really desperate there will still be Masterchef All Stars (SCTEN, Sun Aug 5, 7.30pm), The Shire (SCTEN, Sun, 8pm), The Voice US (Go!, Tue Aug 7, 8.30pm), Being Lara Bingle (SCTEN, Tue, 8pm), and 90210 (11, Sun, 5pm).\nOne little awesome late-night find Fresh Meat (11, Tue, 9.30pm) will continue. Best described as a cross between Spaced and Peep Show (with lots of the same comedians) but with a pinch of Young Ones absurdity.\nOf course, there’s also still new Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat, 8.30pm) to save you, and some doco fare including: The Last Explorers (SBS1, Wed Aug 8, 8.30pm); Dream Build (ABC1, Sun, 8.15pm); Three Men Go To Scotland (ABC1, Tue Aug 7, 8.30pm), and; Websex: What’s the Harm? (ABC2, Fri Aug 3, 9.30pm).\nTwo new Aussie dramas have just gone into production: Seven’s A Place to Call Home set in rural Australia in the ‘50s, and ABC’s The Time of Our Lives, a Gen-X drama from The Secret Life of Us creator Amanda Higgs.\nThe place to be this weekend is in the Beverly Hills Hotel where hundreds of US TV critics will get to see the first full episode of the next season of Homeland. It’s part of the TV Critic Association’s press tour, with previews of the new shows and panels of actors, directors, studio execs, and show runners (much more glamorous than the odd preview DVD that arrives in the mail at Chez Blackbox...). The Twitterverse has been ablaze with commentary on the new shows and, if the critics that get the Blackbox seal of approval are right, the shows to watch out for include: comedies The Mindy Project (from Office star Mindy Kailing), Ben and Kate, Gordon Ramsay’s Hotel Hell and new seasons of Downton Abbey and Fringe. And there are still offerings from ABC, FX, CBS, Showtime, The CW and HBO to come.\nFinally, in appreciation of the audience rather than advertisers, Go! is airing full uncut 45-minute episodes of, well, Episodes (Go!, Thu, 10.30pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 17 July 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 6 months ago\nCome Friday July 27, there’ll only be one show in town. A little sporting event on a little island in the North Sea has wrapped the telly schedule in patriotism, scaring big ticket shows like Downtown Abbey (Prime, Sun Jul 22, 7:30pm), Revenge (Prime, Mon Jul 23, 8:30pm) and Episodes (WIN, Tue Jul 24, 9:30pm) into wrapping up next week. Masterchef (SCTEN, Wed Jul 25, 7:30pm) and Australia’s Got Talent (Prime, Wed Jul 25, 7:30pm) even reveal their winners the same night to defy the sudden ratings drop that comes with being pitted against Olympic Games 2012 coverage.\nFor some reason it seems we’d prefer to watch skeet shooting if it comes with the Olympic rings. And that’s the point – there’s something for everyone. If the celebrity of the Australian swim team makes you see red, take Blackbox’s lead and seek out the weird and wonderful. Find out why people put themselves through a pentathlon, whether all fencers are private school boys and how synchronised swimmers stop water from going up their noses. And to satisfy Chez Blackbox’s penchant for kitsch, the biggest ticket in town is the 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony (WIN, GEM Sat Jul 28, 6:30pm). Lucky for us the live coverage starts during primetime but the finals will be in the wee hours.\nOutside the wall-to-wall WIN coverage there’s a host of Olympics-related programming such as Gruen Sweat (ABC1, Wed Jul 25, 8:30pm), scheduled for the four weeks of the Olympics advertising bonanza, Absolutely Fabulous (ABC1, Thu Jul 26, 8pm), which sees Eddy and Pats gate-crash The Olympics, and Dateline: Olympics Special (SBS1, Tue Jul 24, 9:30pm) for an inside look at the corporate organisation of the Games.\nOf course the Closing Ceremony heralds the floodgates to a raft of new shows (and gives the host broadcaster, WIN, a corner on the promos). You can expect to see Boardwalk Empire (SBS), Smash (Prime) a US musical drama about a Broadway musical based on Marilyn Monroe, Puberty Blues (SC10) an Aussie series based on the infamous ‘70s novel, Underbelly: Badness (WIN), The Chasers’ The Unbelievable Truth (Prime), I Will Survive (SCTEN), essentially a drag queen talent quest (although it’s not quite being billed that way), Big Brother (WIN), and Howzat! The Kerry Packer Story (WIN).\nIn the meantime there’s Fresh Meat (ELEVEN, Tues, 9:30pm), the (very) bad remake of Melrose Place (ELEVEN, Sat, 5pm), and cute but ugly Wilfred (ELEVEN, Tue, 9:30pm). For the really ugly there’s The Shire (SCTEN, Mon, 8pm) and for some culture there’s Australia’s answer to Grand Designs, Dream Build (ABC1, Sun 22 Jul, 8:15pm).\nGame Of Thrones fans should check out the Australian Centre for the Moving Image’s Live In The Studio forum (Thu Jul 26, 7pm) at www.acmi.net.au .\nNew shows heading for US schedules in the coming months include Last Resort, a drama about the crew of a nuclear sub who go rogue and set up their own country, Elementary, the US reimaging of Sherlock Holmes (with Lucy Lui as Watson), Vegas, a period mobster drama set in the ‘60s, and Dallas, which is set for the Nine network here later this year.\nFinal news is that the sixth and final season of Gossip Girl started filming in New York last week. It’s slated to air in the US in October.\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 3 July 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 6 months ago\nOh, to be witty, likeable and know the right people. While it’s true everybody loves celebrity, it’s usually the off-camera antics of the Paris Hiltons of the world that draw the most followers. If you really want a long-term audience, the key is to be a slightly funnier yet still inherently daggy version of the rest of us. Think Myf Warhurst, Adam Hills, Hamish Blake or Andy Lee. Sure, Andy may have dated a top model and Myf may have met more celebrities than Canberra has roundabouts but they still ask the stupid questions we would ask and get starstruck. And everything they touch turns to gold. What’s that, Hamish and Andy? You want to spend a year hanging out in NY, finding odd things about the city and generally getting up to mischief? Sure. Now you want to do it all again in Europe? No problem – we’ll just call it Hamish and Andy’s Euro Gap Year (WIN, Thu, 8pm). We won’t even need marketing. So, Myf, you want to take a personal journey back to the pop culture of the ‘80s? That’s nice. We can call it Myf Warhurst’s Nice (ABC1, Wed, 8pm). And the king of everymen has Stephen Fry’s 100 Greatest Gadgets (ABC1, Thu, 9:30pm). Alas, even roller derby and a pet a llama wouldn’t be enough to save Blackbox’s Canberra Gap Year from a 10am Saturday timeslot on SBS.\nOther new shows this fortnight include Audrey’s Kitchen (ABC1, Sat Jul 14, 6:25pm) the latest Working Dog creation where celebrity chefs get the Frontline treatment, Episodes (WIN, Tue, 9.30pm), a new comedy starring Tamsin Greig and Greg Mannigan as UK TV producers remaking their show for a US audience, and new seasons of Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat Jul 7, 8:30pm), Futurama (11, Wed Jul 11, 8pm) and Wilfred (11, Tue Jul 10, 9pm).\nJohn Clarke is never far from anything mildly Olympics-related. The satirist looks at why we take sport so seriously on Sporting Nation (ABC1, Sun, 7:30pm).\nStories about travel and food sell almost as well as sex, and there’s plenty of them: Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey (ABC1, Tue, 8:30pm), Gordon’s Great Escape (ABC1, Tue, 9:25pm), which takes Gordon Ramsay on a culinary journey through south-east Asia, A South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby (SBS1, Fri Jul 6, 7:30pm), and the ultimate American road trip with Billy Connolly’s Route 66 (Prime, Sun, 7:30pm).\nDocos to seek out include Forest Designs (SCTEN, Sat Jul 7, 2:30pm), which looks at Tasmanian artisans using native timbers, Sunday Best: Kumare (ABC2, Sun, 8:30pm), in which filmmaker Vikram Gandhi poses as a guru as a social experiment, Compass: Nigeria’s Millionaire Preachers (ABC1, Sun Jul 15, 6.30pm).\nNo free-to-air appearance of True Blood in sight but Season Four is out on DVD, Season Five is airing in the States and has just started here on Showcase. Those in search of other HBO shows can catch Bored To Death (ABC2, Mon, 9:30pm) or repeats of Deadwood (ABC2, Mon, 12:20am), and something equally compelling in AMC’s Breaking Bad (ABC2, Mon, 11:55pm).\nThe much-anticipated Aaron Sorkin drama Newsroom has just kicked off in the States and it looks well worth the effort. (How can you not eagerly anticipate a Sorkin show?) Emmy nominations are announced Thursday July 19. Send tips.\nMovies to check out include Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam (ABC2, Sat Jul 14, 8:30pm), The African Queen (1951) (ABC2, Sat Jul 14, 9:50pm), so-bad-it’s-good Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (WIN, Sun Jul 8, 2:40am), Pride and Prejudice (SCTEN, Fri Jul 13, 9pm), Shaun of the Dead (7Mate, Sun Jul 8, 9:45pm), X Files: I Want To Believe (11, Tue Jul 11, 9:30pm). The best (pre-Voyager) Star Trek villains get the human touch in Star Trek Next Generation: I Borg (11, Thu Jul 5, 9:30pm).\nYou can now watch all your fave Aunty goodness on the move (as long as you have an iPhone). The free iView app is available on iTunes. News is that iView is about to overtake piracy. Now if they’d only get Game of Thrones…\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 12 June 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 7 months ago\nLet’s face it: the one thing Aussie TV has honed in recent years is producing stories of important characters or events in our recent past. Think Ita, the soon to be released Packer biopic, Bastard Boys, the original Underbelly, Hawke and Keating (who fittingly got a musical instead). These were stories filled with characters we knew well.\nMabo (ABC1, Sun Jun 10, 8.30pm) is something else altogether. Despite his name being synonymous with the struggle for Indigenous land rights, this beautifully shot and detailed story of Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo is an informative tale of a determined man, a tender love story and a revealing look at Australia’s recent past.\nDollhouse (ELEVEN, Mon Jun 11, 9.30pm) is almost the complete opposite of Mabo and has slid quietly into the TV guide without a peep. Penned by the revered Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly and The Avengers), the sci-fi series is about a corporation programming ‘actives’ with temporary personalities and skills for wealthy clients. Like Firefly, it was cancelled while airing, this time during the second season.\nMyf Warhurst’s Nice (ABC1, Wed Jun 13, 8pm) is a personal trip through the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s looking at music food, fashion, photography, art and design. It’s Australian pop culture through a Gen-X lens. By the time you’re done you’ll recognise the girl in the Chico Roll ads and be singing love duets with the best of them. The first episode features Kenny Rogers and Paul Gray from Wa Wa Nee. And it gets better from there.\nJennifer Byrne has been busy of late. When not appearing on hubby Andrew Denton’s Randling (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm), she’s been compiling a series of bookworm specials for winter shut-ins: Jennifer Byrne Presents: Punchlines (ABC1, Tue Jun 12, 10pm); Erotica (ABC1, Tue Jun 12, 10.05pm) and Books That Changed The World (ABC1, Tue Jun 26, 10.15pm).\nThere’s heaps of other new stuff hitting screens this fortnight, including Ricky Gervais’ mockumentary Life’s Too Short (ABC1, Wed Jun 13, 9.05pm), amateur photo comp Photo Finish (ABC1, Thu Jun 14, 8pm), HBO comedy Bored To Death (ABC2, Mon 9.30pm), BBC dramedy Death In Paradise (ABC1, Sat Jun 9, 7.30pm), Hamish and Andy’s Euro Gap Year (WIN, Thu Jun 14, 8.30pm), new Man vs Wild (SBS1, Mon Jun 18, 8.30pm) and reruns of The Wonder Years (ABC1 Sat Jun 9 5pm) and Kojak (7TWO, Mon-Fri 12pm & 3.30am).\nDocos include Dumb, Drunk and Racist (ABC2, Wed Jun 20, 9.30pm), in which Joe Hildebrand gives Indians a look at Australian culture, Utopia Girls (ABC1, Thu Jun 14, 9.30pm) on how women won the vote, Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters (ABC2, Thu Jun 7, 9.30pm), Ross Kemp: Extreme World (ABC1 Wed Jun 20 10pm), Death Unexplained (SBS1, Jun 19, 8.40pm) and Foreign Correspondent Presents: 20 Years (ABC1, Tue Jun 19, 8.30pm).\nPlenty for the foodies too, including Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking (ABC1, Sat Jun 9, 6pm) and Island Feast with Peter Kuruvita (SBS1, Thu 8pm).\nThere’s a raft of ‘80s films including Mystic Pizza (ABC2, Sat Jun 9, 8.30pm), Pretty in Pink (WIN, Sun Jun 10, 8.35pm) and Teen Wolf (ABC2, Sat Jun 16, 8.30pm).\nFinally, fans of The Wire should check out Maxim’s interview with the creators and stars of the show, which features some great insights for fans.\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 6 June 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 7 months ago\nLet’s face it: the one thing Aussie TV has honed in recent years is producing stories of important characters or events in our recent past. Think Ita, the soon to be released Packer biopic, Bastard Boys, the original Underbelly, Hawke and Keating (who fittingly got a musical instead). These were stories filled with characters we knew well.\nMabo (ABC1, Sun Jun 10, 8.30pm) is something else altogether. Despite his name being synonymous with the struggle for Indigenous land rights, this beautifully shot and detailed story of Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo is an informative tale of a determined man, a tender love story and a revealing look at Australia’s recent past.\nDollhouse (ELEVEN, Mon Jun 11, 9.30pm) is almost the complete opposite of Mabo and has slid quietly into the TV guide without a peep. Penned by the revered Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly and The Avengers), the sci-fi series is about a corporation programming ‘actives’ with temporary personalities and skills for wealthy clients. Like Firefly, it was cancelled while airing, this time during the second season.\nMyf Warhurst’s Nice (ABC1, Wed Jun 13, 8pm) is a personal trip through the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s looking at music food, fashion, photography, art and design. It’s Australian pop culture through a Gen-X lens. By the time you’re done you’ll recognise the girl in the Chico Roll ads and be singing love duets with the best of them. The first episode features Kenny Rogers and Paul Gray from Wa Wa Nee. And it gets better from there.\nJennifer Byrne has been busy of late. When not appearing on hubby Andrew Denton’s Randling (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm), she’s been compiling a series of bookworm specials for winter shut-ins: Jennifer Byrne Presents: Punchlines (ABC1, Tue Jun 12, 10pm); Erotica (ABC1, Tue Jun 12, 10.05pm) and Books That Changed The World (ABC1, Tue Jun 26, 10.15pm).\nThere’s heaps of other new stuff hitting screens this fortnight, including Ricky Gervais’ mockumentary Life’s Too Short (ABC1, Wed Jun 13, 9.05pm), amateur photo comp Photo Finish (ABC1, Thu Jun 14, 8pm), HBO comedy Bored To Death (ABC2, Mon 9.30pm), BBC dramedy Death In Paradise (ABC1, Sat Jun 9, 7.30pm), Hamish and Andy’s Euro Gap Year (WIN, Thu Jun 14, 8.30pm), new Man vs Wild (SBS1, Mon Jun 18, 8.30pm) and reruns of The Wonder Years (ABC1 Sat Jun 9 5pm) and Kojak (7TWO, Mon-Fri 12pm & 3.30am).\nDocos include Dumb, Drunk and Racist (ABC2, Wed Jun 20, 9.30pm), in which Joe Hildebrand gives Indians a look at Australian culture, Utopia Girls (ABC1, Thu Jun 14, 9.30pm) on how women won the vote, Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters (ABC2, Thu Jun 7, 9.30pm), Ross Kemp: Extreme World (ABC1 Wed Jun 20 10pm), Death Unexplained (SBS1, Jun 19, 8.40pm) and Foreign Correspondent Presents: 20 Years (ABC1, Tue Jun 19, 8.30pm).\nPlenty for the foodies too, including Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking (ABC1, Sat Jun 9, 6pm) and Island Feast with Peter Kuruvita (SBS1, Thu 8pm).\nThere’s a raft of ‘80s films including Mystic Pizza (ABC2, Sat Jun 9, 8.30pm), Pretty in Pink (WIN, Sun Jun 10, 8.35pm) and Teen Wolf (ABC2, Sat Jun 16, 8.30pm).\nFinally, fans of The Wire should check out Maxim’s interview with the creators and stars of the show, which features some great insights for fans.\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 22 May 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 8 months ago\nPour the champagne cocktails, pull out the fondue pot and get your best Eurotrash on. It’s Eurovision time! If you’re a devotee there are the semi-finals (SBS1, Fri-Sat May 25-27, 8:30pm) and The Road to Azerbaijan with Julia Zemiro (SBS1, Fri-Sat May 25-27, 7:30pm). But the Eurovision Final (SBS1, Sun May 27, 7:30pm) where you get to hear them say ‘[Small European nation ending in -stan] – no points’, is definitely the main event. This year the entry du jour is the emotional ballad and host nation Azerbaijan has led the charge. As always there’s a good share of trashy dance tracks and novelty entries from countries trying not to make it through. The UK has sent Englebert Humperdink; the token hard rock track comes from Slovakia who have opened a portal to the late ‘80s; and Austria look like an industrial version of the Revenge of the Nerds finale. Sweden’s Loreen may be the favourite but Blackbox points go to Montenegro’s Rambo Amadeus. There’s a donkey in the film clip. You have to give points for a donkey.\nElsewhere it’s all about bikies: Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms (SCTEN, Tue, 8:30pm) continues and Sons of Anarchy (One, Wed May 23, 9:40pm) has a start date. Insight (SBS1, Tue Jun 5, 8:30pm) is getting into the act and there’s even a bikie-themed episode of CSI (GEM, Sat May 26, 10:30pm).\nNew shows this week include Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell (ABC1, Fri May 25, 8pm) a round up of the week’s news Micallef-style, the most inventive talent show Bollywood Star (SBS1, Sat Jun 9, 7:30pm) with the prize of Bollywood stardom, Archer (ABC2, Tue, 9pm) an animated spy comedy, new Fringe (Go!, Mon May 28, 10:30pm), Sanctuary (ABC2, Tue Jun 5, 9:25pm) and Downton Abbey (Prime, Sun, 8:30pm).\nDocos to check out include Sunday Best: We Were Here (ABC2, Sun Jun 3, 8:30pm) about AIDS in the ‘80s, The Truth About Child Brides (ABC2, Wed May 30, 9:30pm) and The Story of Wales (SBS1, Fri Jun 1, 8:30pm). There are some great shows airing in the US at the moment starting with the jaw-dropping second season of Game of Thrones on Fox. There are also a couple of newbies that will hopefully get some free-to-air investment. Girls is an enthralling drama about four twenty-somethings in NYC. It straddles the timeline between Gossip Girl and Sex and the City (11, Fri, 9:40pm) but is grittier and pushes more boundaries. Veep is a US adaptation of The Thick of It starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Vice President.\nThe new season US shows were announced last week and include comedies The Neighbours about a gated community where aliens reside and dramas 666 Park Avenue about a haunted NYC apartment building, Zero Hour, starring Anthony Edwards as the editor of a skeptics mag, and Arrow, based on DC Comics character.\nNew Australian projects include Aunty’s This Christmas, a six-part comedy about an anti-Christmas family to air (you guessed it) in the lead up to Christmas, Mr &Mrs Murder a 13-part comedy crime series starring Shaun Micallef and Kat Stewart for SCTEN which has just been funded by Screen Australia and a telemovie of Peter Temple’s The Broken Shore.\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 8 May 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 8 months ago\nThe death of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch is the biggest loss to music in some time. Like them or loathe them, the Beastie Boys drove hip hop to new heights, changed music and minds and provided a killer soundtrack to life. BMA was there back in ’92 when they lifted the roof off the ANU Bar and had everybody fighting for their right. rage has announced they will air a tribute to MCA on the weekend of Sat-Sun May 12-13, which will no doubt include the extended, cameo laden version of that track directed by Yauch. No details of date or time as we go to print. Check www.abc.net.au/rage .\nOn the other end of the music spectrum, dust off the fake fur and big sunnies – it’s time for Eurovision. The comp is on the weekend of Fri-Sun May 25-27 but start revising with Secret History of Eurovision (SBS, Fri May 11, 8.30pm)\nThe free-to-air commercial networks wonder why people find other ways to watch their fave shows. After Blackbox pleaded with readers to support HBO-style drama on free to air, Ten network folks pulled Sons of Anarchy from One to screen it on SCTEN. No air date yet but in all likelihood they’ll link it to their first foray into local Underbelly style drama, Bikie Wars (SCTEN, Tue May 15, 8.30pm) and replace their Super Sunday with Bikie Tuesday.\nThere’s finally an airdate for the much promoted fantasy drama Once Upon a Time (Prime, Tue May 15, 7.30pm). This habit of promoting shows months out but without pertinent information like when it’s on is annoying. It’s hardly likely to ensure an audience. Other new shows include Louie (ABC2, Mon May 21, 10pm) starring comedian Louis C.K, and the sure-to-be cringe worthy new real people obdoco The Shire (SCTEN, Wed May 16, 8.20pm).\nEverything old really is new again. A rebooted The Price is Right (Prime, Mon-Fri, 5pm) hosted by game show fave Larry Emdur kicked off this week with a tribute to Price is Right king Ian Turpie. Some other interesting old shows are quietly creeping into schedules undetected. Keep your eyes peeled for Buck Rogers (7Mate, Sat, 6.30am) and The Incredible Hulk (7Mate, Sat, 7.30am).\nDocos to keep an eye out for include Sunday Best: The Hollywood Complex (ABC2, Sun May 13, 8.30pm) which follows the child actors that flock to Hollywood for their big break, American Movie (ABC2, Sun May 20, 8.30pm) which follows Mark Borchardt as he makes his first independent film, Artscape: A Law unto Himself (ABC1, Tue May 15, 10.05pm) about artist and puppeteer Roger Law, and Patrick White: Will they read me when I’m dead (ABC1, Tue May 22, 10pm). Documentary series include Secrets of Superbrands (ABC1, Thu May 17, 9.30pm) a series looking at our obsession with brands, The Diamond Queen (ABC1, Sun May 13, 7.30pm), a three-parter following the life of QEII to celebrate her diamond jubilee, and Easter Island: Underworld (SBS1, Sun May 13, 7.30pm) which looks at the vast cave system underneath the island.\nIf you’re a sporting junkie, don’t forget to book in early July for the Olympics. WIN will simulcast in HD on GEM with the promise of 14 hours live (6.30pm-9am) plus highlights twice daily.\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 24 April 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 9 months ago\nThe magnificent Sons of Anarchy (One, Wed Apr 25, 9.30pm) returns this week with the free to air debut of season three. Chez Blackbox will be tuning in, not just because the goings-on in the SAMCRO clubhouse make for riveting viewing but because it’s well-written, big budget episodic drama accessible to everyone. SCTEN, SBS and good old Auntie are making sure some of the HBO-style drama gets aired either after the pay channels are done or (in the case of Mad Men and Big Love) before. Join Blackbox in supporting them. There’s something great about watching TV drama the way it was intended – with anticipation and an enquiring mind, wondering who shot JR or killed Laura Palmer and re-watching last week’s episode for clues.\nAlso new and worth the investment are sci-fi drama Touch (SCTEN, Sun Apr 29, 8.30pm), new episodes of Person of Interest (WIN, Mon Apr 30, 10pm), Andrew Denton’s long-awaited game show Randling (ABC1, Wed May 2, 8.30pm), British legal drama Silks (ABC1, Thu Apr 26, 8.30pm) and a new series of Laid (ABC1, Wed May 2, 9pm).\nProphets of Science Fiction (SBS, Sun Apr 29, 8.30pm) got off to a great start last week with Jules Verne and his steam punk motif. With H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick to come, it’s already made the Blackbox must watch list.\nEver notice that the world’s philosophers and thinkers usually come from cold places? Winter is coming and with it a feast of thought-provoking documentaries like Deliver us From Evil (ABC2, Sun May 6, 8.30pm), the story of the Catholic Church’s most notorious paedophile. Also Mark Zuckerberg: Inside Facebook (ABC 2, Thu May 10, 9.30pm), Steve Jobs: Billion Dollar Hippy (ABC1, Thu May 3, 9.30pm), Sarah Palin: You Betcha (ABC2, Sun Apr 29, 8.30pm), Wildest India (SBS1, Wed Apr 25, 7.30pm), a five-parter that looks at wildlife and landscape, Long March to Freedom (SBS1, Fri Apr 27, 9.30pm), a three-parter looking at the Red Army’s advance to Germany in 1945, Machu Picchu Decoded (SBS1, Sun May 6, 7.30pm), and Extreme Frontiers: Canada (SBS1, Wed May 9, 8.30pm), a new Charley Boorman four-parter. Amazing the sort of career you can build from being Ewan McGregor’s riding buddy.\nTwo on the Great Divide (ABC1, Sun Apr 29, 7.30pm) come to our neighbourhood this week, climbing Mt Kosciuszko and explaining the vagaries of Lake George. The WIN folks are moving shows around so much that unless you’re tuned in to them 24/7 you’d never know when anything was on. This time it’s 2Broke Girls (WIN, Sun Apr 29, 6.30pm). Do you have it or know someone who does? Computer Game Addiction on Catalyst (ABC1, Thu Apr 26, 8pm). Step away from the Xbox. Loving Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (ABC1, Fri 8.30pm) and her wardrobe. Not your usual drab period drama.\nIn production are two period dramas. Telemovie Dangerous Remedy, a 1960s political thriller set in Melbourne, and a serial version of the Carey-Lette 70s coming of age novel Puberty Blues.\nThis fortnight’s movies include The Thomas Crown Affair (ABC2, Sat Apr 28, 8.30pm), Vantage Point (Go!, Sun Apr 29, 9.30pm), Wayne’s World 2 (7Mate, Sun Apr 29, 7pm), the 1966 Dr Who flick, Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (GEM, Sat May 5, 9.30am), Every Which Way You Can (WIN, Sat May 5, 12am), 1972 romp Dracula A.D. (WIN, Sat May 5, 2.10am), and Alien (One, Fri May 4, 8.30pm). Good to see TMZ (Go!, Mon-Fri, 12am) return to a slightly friendlier timeslot.\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 10 April 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 9 months ago\nThe quiet achiever in the musical landscape celebrates 25 years on air this month: rage – Silver Jubilee (ABC1, Sat Apr 21, 10.20pm) takes a Tim Rogers-hosted journey through history, so watch, upload your rage party pics on Facebook and tweet (#maintaintherage). It’s spawned the best compilation CDs, filled hard drives with inerasable guest programming slots and brought Countdown to a whole new audience. Congratulations rage – looking forward to your Golden Jubilee. Blackbox’s fave rage moment remains Frenzal Rhomb’s predictably ironic guest programming slot. What’s yours? The best one gets a mystery Blackbox prize.\nThe SCTEN folks are filling the void left by Homeland with critically acclaimed supernatural drama Touch (SCTEN, Sun Apr 22, 8.30pm). Dirk Gently (ABC2, Mon Apr 23, 9.30pm) delivers everything you’d expect from Douglas Adams’ detective. Entries for Open Shot 2 are open now. If you’re under 35 and have a great idea for a doco, you can apply for up to $80,000 and have your doco on the telly. www.abc.net.au/independent .\nGet some inspiration from All the Way (ABC1, Thu Apr 12, 9.30pm) about Australia’s alliance with the USA during the Vietnam War, and from Wildest Africa (SBS1, Wed Apr 18, 7.30pm) about cultures and wildlife of Africa. Two on the Great Divide (ABC1, Sun Apr 22, 7.30pm) sees John Doyle and Tim Flannery at it again, and I Can Change your Mind about Climate (ABC1, Thu Apr 26, 8.30pm) takes Anna Rose of the Youth Climate Coalition and former Senator Nick Minchin around, followed by a special Q&A. Prophets of Science Fiction (SBS1, Sun Apr 15, 8.30pm) looks at science fiction thinkers such as H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick.\nSome old favourites are back with new seasons. Being Human (ABC2, Tue 10 Apr, 9.30pm), Whitechapel (ABC1, Sat Apr 14, 8.30pm), Offspring (SCTEN, Wed Apr 18, 8.30pm), Nurse Jackie (11, Tue Apr 17, 9.30pm), Californication (11, Tue Apr 17, 10pm), Shameless (SBS1, Mon Apr 16, 9.30pm), and Community (Go, Thu Apr 12, 8pm).\nBlackbox is not usually one to spruik Dancing with the Stars (Prime, Sun Apr 15, 6.30pm) but the inclusion of Brian Mannix in the line-up might make the first few episodes worthwhile. There’s a grab bag of other stuff to look out for including The Family UK (SBS1, Thu Apr 12, 9.30pm), a doco that follows the lives of a British Indian family, Heath Franklin’s Chopper – Harden the F#ck up Australia (One, Fri Apr 20, 11.30pm) and Jamie’s Big Feastival (SCTEN, Sat Apr 14, 6.30pm), a big day out for musical foodies.\nANZAC viewing includes 480:ANZAC, a series of mini-docos on indigenous ANZACs (daily on ABC1, Apr 23-26, 6.50pm), ANZAC (Prime, Sun Apr 15, 12.20am), a series of B&W docos hosted by Bud Tingwell, The Overlanders (GEM, Wed Apr 25, 12pm), a Chips Rafferty flick about WWII in the top end, ANZAC Day March (ABC1, Wed Apr 25, 10.30am) and Gallipoli Dawn Service (ABC1, Wed Apr 25, 12.30pm) for those too lazy for the local dawn service.\nMovies include Twilight Zone (WIN, Sun Apr 15, 1.10am), Addams Family Values (Go!, Fri Apr 13, 7.30pm) and the John Hughes classic Sixteen Candles (Prime, Sun Apr 15, 1.30pm). Don’t miss: Family Guy Star Wars Trilogy (7Mate, Mon Apr 16, 8.30pm). Avoid The Logies (WIN, Sun Apr 15, 7.30pm). Yawn.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 27 March 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 10 months ago\nIf you’ve got Foxtel, look out for the brilliant new drama Awake starring Michael Britten as a detective who wakes up in two different realities, and Justified, based on a short story by Elmore Leonard. If not, queue up at the video store like the rest of us and spend Sunday might watching NCIS reruns (SCTEN, Sun Apr 1, 8.30pm) after the year’s best drama Homeland winds up.\nOb docos and lifestyle programming are usually not Chez Blackbox faves but exceptions can be made for Toughest Place to be a… (SBS1, Wed Mar 28, 8.30pm) which follows a UK binman, fisherman and train driver doing their job in Jakarta, Sierra Leone and Peru respectively, Seven Dwarves (ABC2, Wed Apr 4, 9.30pm) which looks at the lives of seven little people acting in a pantomime, How to cook like Heston (SBS1, Thu Mar 29, 8pm) which, as you’d expect, drops a bit of science in the mixing bowl and Jamie’s Fish Suppers (SCTEN, Sat Mar 31, 6.30pm) because we all should be eating more of it and we may as well do it right.\nAlso look out for new seasons of Shameless (SBS1, Mon Apr 9, 9.30pm) and Being Human (ABC1, Tue Apr 10, 9.30pm), sadly without Mitchell.\nDocos to check out include In The Name of The Family (SBS1, Thu Mar 29, 7.30pm) which looks at honour killings in the west, Martin Scorsese: Emotions through Music (SBS1, Sat Mar 31, 8.30pm) in which the legendary director talks about the influence of music on his life and work, Sunday Best: Thrilla in Manila (ABC2, Sun Apr 8, 8.30pm) about the infamous boxing match, The Cove (ABC2, Sun Apr 1, 8.30pm) about the dolphin hunt in Japan, and Insight: Nineteen (SBS1, Tue Apr 10, 8.30pm) – a recent Aussie version of 7Up.\nFilming has started on a couple of new tele-movies and mini-series including Devil’s Dust, which follows the story of Bernie Banton’s fight against James Hardie, and Cliffy, starring Kevin from Seachange as marathon runner and sheep farmer Cliff Young.\nFilming on season 2 of Rake starts in April which means an airdate is still way too far away.\nMovies to keep an eye out for include Dog Day Afternoon (WIN, Sat Apr 7, 11.50pm), Samson and Delilah (ABC2, Sat Apr 7, 8.30pm), The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (Prime, Sat Apr 7, 1.30pm), The Big Steal (ABC2, Sat Mar 31, 8.30pm), The Black Balloon (ABC2, Sat Mar 31, 10.10pm), Come Fly with Me (GEM, Sat Apr 7, 12.40) about three air hostesses made in the golden age of commercial flight – the ‘60s, The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (GEM, Good Fri Apr 6, 12pm) – one of the lesser known religious epics of the ‘50s, The Addams Family (Go!, Good Fri Apr 6, 7.50pm) and Anna and The King (SCTEN, Sat Apr 7, 1pm) – the Jodie Foster version or better still find the Yul Brynner original.\nStuck at home bored at Easter? Try a marathon of Glee (SCTEN, Good Fri Apr 6, 8pm) or 2 Broke Girls (Go!, Thu Apr 5, 9.30pm).\nDon’t miss the first ever mass same sex TV wedding on Adam Hills in Gordon St Tonight (ABC1, Wed Mar 28, 8.30pm) with Adam Ant (who Blackbox can report still has it) as the wedding singer.\nIf you’re desperate enough for fame, Beauty and the Geek is looking for contestants.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 13 March 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 10 months ago\nJust as digital music opened a door to a massive candy store of long forgotten classics ripe for reinvention and reinterpretation, dusting off TV classics to fill ever-expanding schedules has exponentially increased the volume of TV remakes. Except that TV moguls are more like pub cover bands than recording artists. There are some success stories, mainly in the sci-fi genre – Star Trek, which moved the universe on a bit and dumped the Kirk-style bravado for a more eloquent, sophisticated approach; Dr Who, which replaced that quarry with sophisticated sets and CGI while maintaining the character-based plots that served the original so well and even Battlestar Galactica, which has captured a sizable niche following. The list of failures though is lengthy – Knight Rider, Beverly Hills 90210, Get Smart, The Love Boat, Bionic Woman, Melrose Place. The key thing the failed shows have in common – vanilla characters and a cast filled with pretty faces that all look the same. In fact they’re so alike the characters are easily mixed up. At least, barring late night talk shows and reality TV where there are fame and prizes to be won, Australia has been spared local remakes of US or UK shows. So why waffle on about this? Because there are a raft of remakes or reinventions in the works including Wentworth, a new version of Prisoner for Foxtel, The Munsters, a return to Dallas (with Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy reprising their roles), The Flintstones, Bewitched and two Beauty and the Beasts – one based on the original tale, the other a remake of the ‘80s cult show.\nAnd on cue: Maggie Kirkpatrick, best known as Prisoner’s Joan “The Freak” Ferguson appears in this week’s Talkin’ about Your Generation (SCTEN, Wed Mar 21, 8.30pm).\nThere’s also stunning (and much hyped) wildlife doco The Great Barrier Reef (WIN, Sun, 6.30pm), Danish crime drama The Killing (SBS2, Wed Mar 21, 8.30pm) and new Damages (WIN, Tue, 1am) although it’s been relegated to the wee hours.\nOther docos on offer include the sensationalised One series Ross Kemp on Gangs (One, Tue, 9.30pm), Sunday Best: The King of Kong (ABC2, Sun Mar 18, 8.30pm) about Donkey Kong champions and not the Fay Wray movie, Brave New World with Stephen Hawking (SBS1, Sun, 8.30pm) – a five-parter looking for the next scientific great leap forward, The Real MASH (SBS1, Fri Mar 16, 9.30pm) which looks at the real MASH units in Korea that inspired the show, and Sunday Best: Aileen: The Life And Death Of A Serial Killer (ABC2, Sun Mar 25, 8.30pm) which looks at the case of serial killer Aileen Wuoronos.\nFood seems to have bumped travel from primetime but there are still a few shows including Places We Go (One, Sat, 5pm), An Idiot Abroad – The Bucket List (SCTEN, Sat, 9.30pm) – squirm-worthy as well as informative, and Getaway (WIN, Sat, 5.30pm).\nIf you’re still looking for food, check out Food Truck (7TWO, Sun, 6.30pm) which follows kiwi chef Michael Wan De Elzen making restaurant quality van food.\nAuntie’s classic movie slot has gone all Australian with Malcolm (ABC2, Sat Mar 17, 8.30pm), Oyster Farmer (ABC2, Sat Mar 17, 9.50pm), Lucky Miles (ABC2, Sat Mar 24, 8.30pm) and The Coca Cola Kid (ABC2, Sat Mar 24, 10.10pm).\nGood to see TMZ (Go!, Tue-Sat, 12.30am) at a slightly more respectable time.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 28 February 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 10 months ago\nOnce upon a time in the ‘burbs, a group of Canberra 20-somethings with not much else to do created a series of short schlock horror films about a teddy bear named Kuddles. It involved some unscrupulous acts with Barbie dolls, purposefully bad acting and a lot of fake blood. Back in the days before YouTube it was passed around on a videotape. No doubt Danger 5 (SBS1, Mon, 9.30pm) started life in much the same way. Set in WWII and reimagined as a B-grade ‘60s spy thriller, replete with bad acting, establishing shots with poorly constructed cardboard models, and plenty of scantily clad vixens it’s like the bastard love child of the Thunderbirds, Austin Powers and Top Secret! (it was the ‘60s). Destined to be a cult hit – miss it at your peril.\nElsewhere in comedy land there’s Grandma’s House (ABC2, Thu, 10pm ) starring comedian Simon Amstell, best known as the host of UK’s version of Spicks and Specks – Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 2BrokeGirls (WIN, Tue, 8pm) which has its moments and cult hit Portlandia (ABC2, Thu, 10pm).\nThe Chaser team will be back in the year with The Goodies’ Graeme Garden for an Australian version of The Unbelievable Truth. The British show (which features Garden) makes comedians tell unbelievable stories while managing to pass off five facts as fiction. Probably something the Chaser team will excel at, one would think.\nThe Ricky Gervais Show (SBS1, Mon Mar 5, 10.05pm) is a bit of a money spinner – the audio podcasts of Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington and whacking an animation on top. Gervais makes more money without really having to do anything.\nFor those with a hankering for more crime there’s a new series of Waking the Dead (ABC1, Sun Mar 11, 8.35pm) and for medico fans a new season of House (SCTEN, Sun, 9.45pm).\nDocos to check out include Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags (ABC2, Wed Feb 29, 8.30pm) – a series following the songstress as she and her sister set up a clothing business, Fry’s Planet Word (ABC2, Sun Mar 11, 9.30pm) where Stephen Fry takes a look at sixth development of language, including participating in a Klingon version of Hamlet, Fukushima: Is nuclear power safe? (SBS1, Sun Mar 4, 8.30pm) which asks the question not just in Japan but more broadly, The Spice Trail (SBS1, Thu Mar 8, 8.30pm) – a three-parter that looks at 15th century spice trade, Aung San Suu Kyi – Lady of no fear (SBS2, Thu Mar 8, 7.30pm), Vivienne Westwood: Do it yourself (SBS2, Sat Mar 10, 8.30pm) which looks at the life and work of the designer, and Sunday Best: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (ABC2, Sun Mar, 4 8.30pm).\nClassic movies to check out include Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (GEM, Sat Mar 3, 2.40pm), Broadcast News (SCTEN, Sat Mar 3, 10.30pm), Fight Club (Go!, Mon Mar 5, 9.30pm), Gremlins (Go!, Fri Mar 9, 7.30pm) and Zombie Strippers (Go!, Fri Mar 9, 9.40pm) with Jenna Jameson in the lead role.\nDon’t miss new Spooks (ABC1, Sat Mar 2, 8.30pm), Charlie Sheen Roast (WIN, Thu Mar 1, 11pm) for voyeuristic reasons of course, and CSI: Miami – Wheels Up (WIN, Wed Mar 7, 10.30pm) which delves into the world of Roller Derby.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 14 February 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 11 months ago\nChez Blackbox is mourning the end of another long running successful series with intelligent British spy caper Spooks (ABC1, Sat Mar 3, 8.30pm) winding up with season ten about to go to air. While some shows can peter out with poor plot lines and actors going through the motions, Spooks will have you on the edge of your seat, guessing until the very end. It always leaves you wondering when a show that’s still going strong decides it’s time to go. Until, when you’re re-watching your special edition boxed set, it hits you. It’s so much better to burn out than fade away.\nFor every end there is a new beginning. While Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (ABC1, Fri Mar 2, 8.30pm) is set in roaring ‘20s Melbourne, the protagonist of Kerry Greenwood’s crime novels is every bit as sharp as any modern crime fighter. And there are flappers to boot.\nRevenge (Prime, Mon Feb 20, 8.45pm) on the other hand has a fair bit to prove. The story of a woman who plots revenge on an entire family who wronged her barely lasted half a season on Gossip Girl (Go!, Mon, 12am).\nThere are another two new comedies – US sketch show Portlandia (ABC2, Thu Feb 23, 9pm) with SNL’s Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein, and Frank Woodley’s first story driven show, Woodley (ABC1, Wed Feb 22, 8pm). While it has a narrative, it’s classic Woodley slapstick.\nLike to mix your gourmet with politics? Don’t miss Kitchen Cabinet (ABC2, Wed, 9.30pm) with Annabel Crabb who cooks then natters with the pollies in their own kitchens.\nMore favourites are returning too, with new seasons of Good Game (ABC2, Tue, 8.30pm), NCIS (SCTEN, Tue, 8.30pm), American Dad (7Mate, Mon, 9pm), Family Guy (7Mate, Mon, 9.30pm), Mad Men (SBS1, Sat Feb 25, 9.15pm), Glee (SCTEN, Fri, 7.30pm) and An Idiot Abroad: The Bucketlist (SCTEN, Sat Feb 18, 9.30pm), The Tudors (ABC2, Mon Feb 20, 9.30pm).\nOf course the schedules are again littered with reality shows– either the same ones as last year or slight variations on a theme including The Biggest Loser Australia (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 7pm) now with the lovelorn, Excess Baggage (GEM, Mon-Fri, 7pm) which has already been bumped from the main channel, My Kitchen Rules (Prime, Mon, 7.30pm), Please Marry My Boy (Prime, Mon, 8.45pm), A Farmer’s Life For Me (ABC2, Tue, 6pm) which sets eight couples up on an English farm. The worst is probably The Marriage Ref (Prime, Wed, 11.05pm) – a mix between agony aunt and comedy, the Jerry Seinfeld panel show advises couples on what could only be manufactured marital disputes.\nThere are some fabulous docos around at the moment, including Tea Party America (ABC1, Wed Feb 15, 9.30pm), Artscape: Life Architecturally (ABC1, Tue Feb 28, 10pm) which follows architect Robert McBride and his wife interior designer Debbie Ryan, Arctic with Bruce Parry (SBS1, Wed Feb 22, 8.30pm) – a five- part journey, God in America (SBS1, Fri Feb 24, 8.30pm) about the history of religion in the US, Cocaine Cowboys (ABC2, Sun Feb 19, 8.30pm) about Miami’s part in the ‘70s and ‘80s and Wild Ones: Kangaroo Mob (ABC2, Tue Feb 21, 8.30pm) which follows city roos for a year.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nDate Published: Tuesday, 31 January 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 4 years, 11 months ago\nBlackbox - Three out of four new comedies on the telly get the Blackbox stamp of approval.\nTV comedies, like good drama, need really good writing and at least one cast member with exceptional skills. Comedy, though, also needs the ability to hook you in from the very beginning. Audiences will forgive a lumbering drama, conceding that a complex backstory needs to be put in place. But when it comes to comedy, if it doesn’t make you laugh by the first ad break, you ain’t going back. Ever. Fortunately New Girl (SCTEN, Sun, 8pm) had Chez Blackbox in stitches by the time the opening credits started. Zooey Deschanel stars as Jess, the geeky flatmate of three guys. The schmaltzy moments are still funny and Chez Blackbox has already adopted the douchebag jar. The only thing SCTEN could do to improve its Sunday lineup is drop the irritating cross promos from The Project people.\nOutland (ABC1, Wed Feb 8, 9.30pm) looks promising in an absurd kind of way. The John Richards penned comedy (with Adam Richard co-writing the first three episodes) about a gay science fiction fan club is a comical farce in the great British-Australian tradition of over-exaggeration.\nCoincidentally one of the best British examples from the late ‘80s returns this fortnight – Absolutely Fabulous 20th Anniversary Specials (ABC1, Wed Feb 8, 8pm) revisits Eddy and Pats over two weeks, for a few bolly stolly cocktails. If you haven’t seen the original, get thee to the DVD store now.\nAlso back from the dead is Minder (ABC1, Sat Feb 11, 6.10pm). Britain may have moved on but the dodgy businessman from the East End is a stereotype that’s hard to shake.\nChez Blackbox knows that with all your fave series returning you only have room for a couple of new shows. Don’t waste it on Suburgatory (Go!, Sun Feb 5, 8.30pm) – a fish out of water comedy about a NYC teenager who moves to the burbs. Desperate Housewives (Prime, Thu, 8.30pm) and Weeds (GEM, TBC) have already done cartoon suburban pastiche.\nSeries returns include House (SCTEN, Sun Feb 5, 9.35pm), Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation (SCTEN, Wed Feb 8, 8pm), Glee (SCTEN, Fri, 7pm), An Idiot Abroad: Bucket List (SCTEN, Sat Feb 4, 7.30pm), CSI (WIN, Thu Feb 2, 9pm), Adam Hills in Gordon St (ABC1, Wed Feb 8, 8.30pm), Dexter (SCTEN, Tue, 9.30pm), The Office (SCTEN, Tue, 9pm), How I Met Your Mother (Prime, Mon, 9.40pm), The Tudors (ABC2, Mon Feb 13, 9.30pm) and Damages (WIN, Tue Jan 31, 1am).\nDocos to check out include the four part Putin, Russia and The West (SBS1, Wed Feb 1, 9.30pm) which looks at the world’s favourite action hero, Dancing with Dictators (ABC2, Sun Feb 12, 10pm) about Burma’s only media company, Singapore 1942 – End of Empire (SBS1, Fri Feb 10, 8.30pm), the four part History of Celtic Britain (SBS1, Sun Feb 5, 7.30pm) with the incredibly intense Neil Oliver who could probably look at joining the cast of Minder if archaeology doesn’t work out.\nMovies on offer include Star Trek (2009) (SCTEN, Wed Feb 8, 9.30pm), The Sound of Music (Fri Feb 10, 8pm), The Towering Inferno (GEM, Sat Feb 4, 4.10pm), When Harry Met Sally (GEM, Sun Feb 5, 8.30pm) and Dracula Prince of Darkness (GEM, Mon Feb 6, 1.50am).\nChez Blackbox has joined the twitterverse. Look out.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 17 January 12 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years ago\nChez Blackbox is simply giddy with excitement at the prospect of the new ratings season. Not since the original Underbelly series (which brought the trash whore lingo of Roberta Williams into the lexicon) has there been this much excitement at new free-to-air TV series. And this year there are two – one from Showtime, one from Auntie – offering very different takes on crime.\nHomeland (SCTEN, Sun Jan 22, 8.30pm) is the latest slickly produced drama from Showtime. From the folks behind 24 with a stellar cast including Claire Danes and everybody’s favourite almost-bad-guy Damien Lewis, the political-come-espionage thriller has a lot to live up to. And it does. Danes’ portrayal of a paranoid and slightly mentally unhinged CIA agent is compelling – perhaps honed from all those years with Ben Lee. And Lewis puts in another Emmy-worthy turn as a US soldier held captive by terrorists for eight years, a man returned as a hero but who Danes suspects is a sleeper. It sounds like an obvious plot but it's executed with an incredible attention to detail, slick dialogue, and compelling performances. Should be water cooler worthy for fans of good drama.\nOnce you get past the title sequence, which is a straight rip off of the True Blood credits, The Straits (ABC1, Thu Feb 2, 8.30pm) is the best totally fictional crime series Australia has seen for an eternity. The story of a crime family running drugs and guns through the Torres Straits, using their own island connections, has the right mix of drama, violence and humour to hold even the most jaded TV addict’s attention. With an opening sequence that involves a drug deal gone wrong with Papuan tribesmen, automatic gunfire, and a spear through the face, it is refreshing that the series isn’t trying to highlight indigenous injustice but rather entertain through the prism of islander culture. And the humour? Tripped out drug dealers seeing the iconic kangaroo warning signs as a hitch-hiker, brothers who blow up a meth lab with a mobile phone, and an Indian dentist found floating in a large esky. And that’s just for starters.\nDO NOT MISS The Wild Ones: Cane Toads – The Conquest (ABC1, Tue Jan 31, 8.30pm) the follow up to the best doco ever – 1988’s Cane Toads – An Unnatural History. You have been warned.\nOther new offerings to look out for in the next couple of weeks include News Exchange (ABC News24, Fri Feb 3, 8pm) a web focussed news program that also looks at social media; Jamie Cooks Summer (SCTEN, Fri Jan 20, 7.30pm) with, presumably, a book from Mr Oliver to follow; and the Zooey Deschanel vehicle New Girl (SCTEN, Sun Jan 22, 8pm).\nThere’s also new series (or at least episodes) of CSI: NY (WIN, Thu Jan 26, 9.30pm), The Graham Norton Show (SCTEN, Sat Jan 21, 8.50pm), Dexter (Eleven, Tue Jan 24, 9.30pm) and The Big Bang Theory (WIN, Mon Jan 23, 7.30pm).\nAuntie’s love is being spread around with Sea Change (7TWO, Fri Jan 20, 7.30pm) being shown from the beginning.\nDocos to check out include Persecution Blues (ABC2, Wed Jan 25, 8.30pm) a homage to legendary Melbourne venue The Tote, Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard (ABC2, Wed Jan 25, 9.30pm) about the Melbourne punk scene, Nick Cave: Triple J’s Tribute (ABC2, Thu Jan 26, 9.30pm), Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar (SBS1, Thu Jan 26, 8:30pm) following Hugh Dennis and wine expert Oz Clarke as they collect the best of British drinks for their British pub (a must for home brewers), Video Killed the Radio Star (ABC2, Sun Jan 22, 7pm) which charts the rise of the music video through the eyes of the producers and artists that made them happen, From Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means (SBS1, Wed Feb 1, 8.30pm) and the best Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil so far – Donald Trump vs Viagra (ABC2, Thu Jan 31, 10.25pm).\nTrue romantics (or those with an eye for a Parisian romance) should be sure to catch Sex and the City – An American Girl in Paris (Eleven, Fri Jan 27, 9.40pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 6 December 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 1 month ago\nThe sweet smell of summer is in the air – fresh cut grass, drinks that should, ideally, have little umbrellas in them, the cricket on the box, DVD box sets of Sons of Anarchy, True Blood, Game of Thrones and X-Files under the tree (hint, hint Santa) and the last issue of BMA for 2011. The smart networks have started their 2012 hype early, perhaps realising BMA folk will be out hitting what’s left of the festival circuit, catching some rays and sipping the aforementioned cocktails with accoutrement instead of chained to a typewriter in the Gorman House basement.\nAnd the winner for most appealing 2012 line-up so far is good ol’ Auntie. At least one inhabitant of Chez Blackbox is wetting her pants in anticipation of a new season of Rake in 2012! Auntie’s also serving up Josh Thomas in Please Like Me, Outland – about a gay sci-fi fanclub, crime drama The Straits, Planet America – a look at the US election, Myf Warhurst’s pop cultural journey in Nice, Annabel Crabb talking food with the pollies in Kitchen Cabinet, the Ab Fab anniversary specials, Shaun Micallef is Mad as Hell and new seasons of Lowdown and Laid. Elsewhere Nine has the London Olympics, a Hamish and Andy show in the leadup to the Olympics, a resurrected Big Brother and three miniseries – Howzat: The Kerry Packer Story, Beaconsfield and The Great Mint Swindle. Seven serves up new projects from the Kath and Kim crew and Working Dog and Good Christian Bitches from the makers of Sex and the City. Over at Channel 10 there’s new Puberty Blues, Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms – an Underbelly-style drama about the Milperra Massacre, Showtime thriller Homeland, Fox sitcom New Girl, and Robert de Niro’s cop show The 2-2.\nThere’s also a feast of sci-fi for serious hermits including two Terry Pratchett series – Going Postal (ABC1, Sat Dec 17, 7.30pm), Dr Who At The Proms 2010 (ABC1, Sat Dec 24, 11.30pm), Dr Who: The Next Doctor (ABC1, Sat Dec 17, 10.45pm), and Star Trek Voyager (11, Sat Dec 10, 9.30pm).\nAmongst the next month’s movies are a raft of ‘80s comic treats. If you look past the poor production values and excruciating ‘80s fashion, you’ll find a few gems like Teen Wolf (Go!, Sun Dec 18, 9.30pm), Spaceballs (Go!, Mon Dec 19, 9.30pm), and Caddyshack (Go!, Thu Dec 22, 9.30pm).\nSANTA WATCH: The Graham Norton Show: Christmas Special (ABC2, Sat Dec 24, 10pm), Peep Show: Seasonal Beating (ABC2, Sat Dec 24, 11pm), The Vicar of Dibley (Prime, Sun Dec 11, 7pm), Happy Days (11, Sun Dec 25, 1.30am), The Flintstones (Go!, Sat Dec 24, 7.30am), Bewitched (Go!, Sat Dec 24, 1.30pm), Just Shoot Me (Go!, Sat Dec 24, 2.30pm), Top Gear Middle East Special (Go!, Sat Dec 24, 6.30pm), South Park (Go!, Sat Dec 25, 12.20am), Little Britain (WIN, Sat Dec 24, 11pm), The Smurfs – A Christmas Carol (Prime, Sat Dec 17, 8pm), SOS: Santa: The Fascist Years (SBS1, Sun Dec 25, 12.40am), Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat Dec 24, 9.30pm), The Legends of Santa (SBS1, Sat Dec 24, 5.30pm) and for the traditionalists Carols from St Andrews (ABC1, Sat Dec 24, 6pm) and It’s a Wonderful Life (ABC2, Sat Dec 24, 1pm).\nIt’s time to mix a margarita (sans umbrella), whack Do They Know It’s Christmas on the turntable and put up the tree. Merry Christmas to all…\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 22 November 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 2 months ago\nThere’s a raft of musical history treats this fortnight including Queen: Days of Our Lives (ABC2, Wed Nov 30, 9.30pm). The two parter charts the band’s history, Australian Story style, including their infamous spats with the NME and The Sex Pistols, quite a few old interviews with Freddie Mercury and unseen early gig footage. It’s nothing fans of the band wouldn’t know but it is a great study on how four very different, strong minded and talented musicians continued to work together for four decades. Oh and a good lesson on overdubbing and why the porn star ‘tache should come off after Movember.\nSame era, different result – The Agony & Ecstasy of Phil Spector (ABC2, Sun Nov 27, 8.30pm) is from an interview given during his first trial where he talks about his life and work, including his friendship with John Lennon.\nElsewhere, triple j Presents Sparkadia (ABC2, Tue Nov 29, 10.25pm), and a new series of Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat, 9.30pm) continues.\nOther docos to check out include Running to America (ABC1, Thu Dec 1, 8.30pm) about four indigenous men trained by Canberra’s own Robert de Castella to run the NY marathon, Artscape: Ben Quilty and the Maggots (ABC1, Tue Nov 29, 10pm) which repeats the brilliant doco about the artist, Spellbound (ABC2, Sun Dec 11, 8.30pm) – behind the scenes at America’s National Spelling Bee, Trapped in an Elevator (SBS1, Thu Nov 29, 7.30pm) which tells the history of elevators, interspersed by the story of someone who got stuck in one for 41 hours, and Scarlet Road: A sex worker’s journey (SBS1, Fri Dec 2, 10.05pm) which looks at the work of sex worker Rachel Wotton who works with people with disabilities.\nThe less glitzy of the award shows, the 2011 Walkley Awards (SBS1, Sun Nov 27, 10.15pm) for journalism round up the year and so you don’t fall asleep, The Chaser (sorry, Hamster Wheel) boys will appear.\nSummer programming has arrived. But don’t panic, there are a few gems including Green Wing (ABC2, Tue Nov 29, 9.30pm) – a hospital-based, soapie style comedy from the makers of Smack the Pony, two The Thick of it Christmas Specials (ABC1, Wed Nov 30 and Wed Dec 7, 9pm), and Lewis Black’s Root of all Evil (ABC2, Tue Dec 6, 10.25pm) which pits two comedians against each other to make the case for which pop cultural icon or pursuit is worse including Paris Hilton vs Dick Cheney, and weed vs beer.\nMovies to check out include restored cult classic Dogs in Space (ABC2, Fri Dec 9, 9.30pm) in its first airing in 20 years starring Michael Hutchence and set in a group house at the centre of Melbourne’s ‘70s punk scene, Here I Am (ABC1, Thu Dec 8, 8.30pm) – the award-winning debut from Beck Cole shot in Port Adelaide, Brideshead Revisited (ABC1, Sun Nov 27, 8.30pm), Steve Martin classic The Jerk (ABC2, Sat Nov 26, 8.40pm), American History X (Go, Sat Dec 3, 10.50pm) and Poltergeist (WIN, Sun Dec 4, 1.50am).\nSANTA WATCH: Better Homes and Gardens Christmas at Dr Harry’s Farm (Prime, Fri Nov 25, 7.30pm), Mythbusters: Christmas Lights (7Mate, Tue Nov 22, 7.30pm), and Six Million Dollar Man: A bionic Christmas carol (7Mate, Wed Nov 23, 6.30am).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 8 November 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 2 months ago\nThis month marks a sad day in Australian television history – Spicks and Specks (ABC1, Wed Nov 23, 8.30pm) airs its finale. The upstart music quiz show that should have been a cult hit got so popular its host earned two gold Logie nominations and his own tonight show. It turned a music savant into a household name and made a triple j contributor so famous she only needed one name, like Madonna. Each moment has been played out in our living rooms – from the agony of Myf’s Nirvana blunder to the joy on Hamish Blake’s face when he finally got a question right (exactly how a radio personality can know nothing about music is in itself bizarre). Who will be able to forget a breathless Dave O’Neil on a stationary pushbike in Malvern Stars on 45, the world’s most boring text, Measurement in Australia sung to the tune of Born to be Wild by Shaun Micallef or BMA’s own Justin Heazlewood (aka The Bedroom Philosopher) performing Musical Clearance Sale. Adam, Alan and Myf, we salute you – hard to believe it’s only been seven years. Of course, there’s one option left – Spicks and Specktacular hits town for shows at The Royal Theatre from Saturday-Monday December 10-12.\nSome of the retro TV fare currently gracing our screens hasn’t stood up well but well-written classic British comedy even from as far back as the ‘70s is still as witty in 2011. The latest series to join the retro revolution is Yes Minister (GEM, Sun and Wed, 8pm). While more modern political comedies such as The Thick of It and The Hollowmen may cut closer to the bone, public servants about town will no doubt be aware of Sir Humphreys in their midst.\nHow do you know summer TV is on its way? All the networks’ big budget shows are winding up. Underbelly Razor (WIN, Sun, 8.30pm), Rush (SCTEN, Thu Nov 17, 8.30pm) and Crownies (ABC1, Thu Dec 1, 9.30pm) have either just finished (time to watch on the catch up sites) or will soon.\nDon’t miss new series The Hour (ABC1, Mon Nov 21, 8.30pm) – a thriller set at the BBC in ‘50s Britain and telemovie The Night Watch (ABC1, Sun Nov 20, 8.30pm) based on a Sarah Walters novel about four young Londoners in 1940s wartime Britain.\nIf you’re looking for a movie offering, check out Meryl Streep’s unconvincing Aussie accent in Evil Angels (GEM, Wed Nov 9, 9.30pm), Robert Carlyle doing comedy with his kit off in The Full Monty (SCTEN, Fri Nov 18, 9.30pm), Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis doing comedy in True Lies (SCTEN, Sat Nov 19, 8.55pm), the 1950s reimagined ‘80s style in Back to the Future (SCTEN, Sat Nov 19, 6.30pm), Bond flick The Living Daylights (7Mate, Sun Nov 13, 8.30pm), Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen in Red Dawn (7Mate, Fri Nov 18, 12pm), Eric Bana’s nerd outing in Star Trek (SCTEN, Fri Nov 11, 9.30pm), X-Men: The Last Stand (SCTEN, Sat Nov 12, 9pm) and Clint Eastwood in Hang ‘Em High (7Mate, Wed Nov 16, 12pm).\nFor Ausmusic Month, rage has a collection of Aussie acts guest programming including Boy & Bear (ABC1, Sat Nov 5, 12.15am), Horrorshow (ABC1, Sat Nov 12, 11.25am), The Jezabels (ABC1, Sat Nov 19, 11.25pm) and Bag Raiders (ABC1, Sat Nov 26, 12.10am).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 25 October 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 2 months ago\nOMG. Could the producers of the Australian version of Celebrity Apprentice (WIN, Mon-Fri, 7pm) have chosen a more embarrassing collection of pseudo celebrities? Let’s just hope this disaster waiting to happen never sees the light of day on foreign shores. At the very least someone should pass a law that Pauline Hanson is never allowed to appear on TV again. You could also add Warwick Capper (who should never be described with terms like ‘‘80s icon’) and ‘celebrity agent’ Max Markson (who doesn’t deserve that title if he advises his clients to be involved in this claptrap).\nOn the back of shows like The Gruen Transfer and Gruen Planet (ABC1, Wed, 9pm) that use the sausage-making in advertising and PR as a comedy vehicle, film and telly have been given the same treatment in The Bazura Project (ABC1, Thu, 9pm) and The Joy of Sets (WIN, Tue, 9pm). And while Bazura is less wooden and more entertaining than the Tony Martin/Myles Barlow effort, they have limited themselves to a series of cheap gags without the insight of Gruen. Blackbox is a huge fan of Martin and a devotee of Working Dog’s champagne comedy and really really wanted to love it but so far Joy of Sets is more sparkling Chardy.\nYes, there is some good news in TV land and it starts with Haven (ABC2, Mon Nov 7, 8.30pm), a new supernatural series set in Maine, complete with an FBI investigator. Based on a Steven King novella, it’s essentially The X-Files in one place without the government conspiracy.\nAdd to that American Horror Story (11, Tue Nov 1, 9.30pm) and you’ve got a decent suspense/mystery line-up at last. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a suspense/horror series that was more about the story and the fright than the pin-up quality of its cast, but American Horror Story with the inimitable Jessica Lange does this well. Also watch out for Psychoville Halloween Special (ABC2, Mon Oct 31, 10.15pm) to put you in the mood.\nNot to be missed docos include Sunday Best: Out of the Ashes (ABC2, Sun Nov 6, 8.30pm) which follows the Afghan cricket team, Happy Hookers (SBS1, Fri Nov 4, 10pm) which looks at young women in London turning to escort work to fund their lavish lifestyles, Sunday Best: Born into Brothels (ABC2, Sun Oct 30, 8.30pm) which looks at children who grow up in India’s red light districts while the mothers work in the sex industry.\nThe 7pm Project has changed name to The Project (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 6.30pm) and will stretch out to an hour taking over the George Negus spot.\nIf you’re looking for a movie escape there’s Bond classics Moonraker (7Mate, Sun Oct 30, 8.30pm) and For Your Eyes Only (7Mate, Sat Nov 5, 8.30pm), early ‘90s spy comedy Sneakers (Prime, Sun Oct 30, 2pm), Borat (11, Sun Oct 30, 9pm) and Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (ABC2, Sat Nov 5, 8.30pm).\nIt’s about to become even easier to catch up with your fave shows from Auntie, as long as you’ve got an X-box. Auntie’s catchup site will arrive on the X-box platform over summer.\nA musical interlude comes from triple j Presents Drapht (ABC2, Tue Nov 8, 10.15pm).\nChristmas has arrived at pretty much every Canberra shopping destination and that means time to start Blackbox’s annual Santa Watch. This year 30 Rock (Prime, Mon Oct 31, 11.30pm) kicks off our countdown (probably by accident rather than design) with an ep entitled Secret Santa followed by Die Hard 2 (SCTEN, Sat Nov 5, 9.05pm). BTW: the Android app says 61 days to go.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 11 October 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 3 months ago\nChez Blackbox is extremely excited about Auntie’s latest doco series, Wide Open Road (ABC1, Sun, 8.30pm) which looks at Australia’s love affair with the car, from the family cars of the ‘50s and ‘60s through to the golden era of ‘70s muscle cars, the fuel crisis, suburban car culture and the environmental future. Hot on the heels of Blackbox’s fave sporting event of the year, the Bathurst 1000 and referencing Australia’s best-ever driving song, The Triffids’ Wide Open Road, what’s not to love?\nHandmade enthusiasts and artisans will love the BBC ob doco Mastercrafts (ABC1, Thu, 6pm). Each episode takes three creative types and starts to train them in a number of artisan crafts including heirloom weaving.\nDocos to check out include All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (SBS1, Tue Oct 18, 8.30pm).\nFinally – new episodes of Big Bang Theory (WIN, Mon, 7.30pm).\nOther new and returning shows include Keeping Up With The Joneses (GEM, Thu Oct 22, 8.30pm), last year’s ob doco following a family in the outback, Bored to Death (ABC1, Fri, 10.05pm), from the team behind Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Destiny of Rome (SBS1, Sun Oct 23, 7.30pm), a two part mini-series bringing to life the passions, loves and politics of the Roman Empire, Housos (SBS1, Mon Oct 24, 10pm) a comedy set in the Sunnyvale housing estate from the crew behind Pizza, Kill Arman (SBS1, Mon Oct 24, 8.30pm) an ob doco following a martial arts novice as he trains in a series of different martial arts.\nIf you’re looking for movies on the box, check out the Cohen Brothers’ classic The Big Lebowski (GEM, Sat Oct 15, 10.30pm), and A Fish Called Wanda (GEM, Sun Oct 16, 9pm), with a Python laden cast and sensibilities.\nThose with a talent not covered by shows about singing, cooking or being a geek should head to Sydney Showground on Friday October 21 and Saturday October 22 for Australia’s Got Talent auditions.\nBlackbox celebrates its 250th issue this fortnight. Thanks to all those loyal readers who have shared a passion for square-eyed fervor, addiction to late night local advertising, and most of all an appreciation for the quirkier side of the programming schedule over the past decade. So break open the Cheezels and beer (or tea and iced vovos) and join Chez Blackbox in toasting the next decade.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 27 September 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 3 months ago\nBlackbox has been enjoying the televisual delights of Turkey over the past few weeks which pretty much consist of Turkish versions of English game and reality shows, and low budget over-acted soap operas. Picking up three years after the film, This is England-1986 (SBS1, Mon, 10pm) continues its portrayal of life growing up working class in Thatcher’s Britain. The movie and the show are based on British filmmaker Shane Meadows’ own upbringing and paint a grim picture of alienation that was a feature of the time.\nOne would have thought we might have dropped the term ‘fast tracking’ by now as all US series (apart from anything really good like Treme) are now played to Australian audiences just days after their US debut. Anyway the latest ‘fast tracked premiere’ is Unforgettable (WIN, Thu Oct 6, 8.30pm) a US drama starring ‘Australia’s own’ Poppy Montgomery as an ex-detective with a disorder that means she remembers everything clearly. Of course she is lured back to help the police solve a murder. It’s based on a J. Robert Lennon short story.\nAlso ‘fast-tracked’ is Person of Interest (WIN, Sun, 9.30pm), a crime drama set amongst crime, corruption and cops in New York, where a presumed dead federal agent teams up with a computer genius to beat the system. It’s created by Jonathan Nolan (Memento), Bryan Burk and the legendary J.J. Abrams.\nFranchising, like any good advertiser should, The Gruen Transfer has given birth to Gruen Planet (ABC1, Wed Sep 28, 9pm) which will look not just at advertising but at how advertising and public relations affect how we see the world – why everything is spin, branding, advertising and image control.\nAlso coming are series three of Breaking Bad (ABC 2, Thu Sep 29, 9pm), new United States of Tara (ABC2, Tue Sep 27, 8.30pm), the new Charlie’s Angels (WIN, Tue Sep 27, 7.30pm), a new season of CSI (WIN, Wed Sep 28, 8.30pm), William Shatner’s Weird or What? (SBS1, Mon Oct 3, 7.30pm), Big Love (SBS1, Thu Oct 6, 10pm) and The Hamster Wheel (ABC1, Wed, 9.35pm) which sees The Chaser crew looking at how journalism works which is really just an excuse for more pranks.\nThe final episode of Catalyst (ABC1, Thu Sep 29, 8pm) looks specifically at GM crops, asking Frankenfood or famine buster?\nOther docos to check out include Planet Egypt (SBS1, Sun, 7.30pm), a series looking at what transformed an agrarian society into one of the world’s great empires, Compass: Death in Brooklyn (ABC1, Sun Oct 2, 10pm) which looks at the New York neighbourhood of Crown Heights where racial tensions between Orthodox Jews and African Americans resulted in riots 20 years ago, Rome Wasn’t Built In a Day (ABC1, Tue Oct 4, 8.30pm) follows the construction of a Roman villa using only Roman methods, Choccywoccydoodah: Failure Is Not An Option (ABC2, Fri Oct 14, 6pm) which goes behind the scenes at the infamous British chocolate shop that helped Tim Burton create Willy Wonka’s world, Sunday Best: Jesus Camp (ABC2, Sun Oct 9, 8.30pm) which looks at the evangelical Christian camps that recruit born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future, Louis Theroux: Louis and the Nazis (ABC2, Wed Oct 12, 8.30pm) which sees Louis meet members of the White Aryan Resistance including everyone’s favourite baby-faced warblers Lamb and Lynx.\nDon’t miss Triple J Presents Architecture in Helsinki (ABC2, Tue Oct 11, 10.20pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 13 September 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 4 months ago\nOne of the biggest guitar heroes of all time died 31 years ago but the legacy of Jimi Hendrix lives on in all self styled guitar heroes (even those proficient only at the air model). The brilliant autobiography, Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child (ABC2, Sun Sep 18, 8.30pm) brings the legend to life.\nBig news of the week is that The Chaser crew are returning with a new show – The Hamster Wheel – on ABC later this year.\nSunday Best (ABC2, Sun Sep 25, 8.30pm) brings a series of feature length documentaries to auntie’s second digi channel including Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the story of the infamous oil spill, Lesson Plan, Teenage Paparazzo directed by Entourage’s Adrian Greiner, Hoop Dreams, Born into Brothels, The Most Dangerous Man in America, Jesus Camp and Out of the Ashes, the story of the Afghan cricket team.\nOther docos to check out include Kill it, Cook it, Eat it (ABC2, Wed Sep 14, 9.30pm), which follows meat production from farm to table, The Truth Behind: Crop Circles (7Mate, Thu Sep 15, 10.30pm), and Stealing Shakespeare (ABC1, Tue Sep 27, 8.30pm) which follows the story of con man Raymond Scott who tried to sell a folio of Shakespeare’s original plays.\nA special episode of Collectors (ABC1, Fir Sep 16, 8pm) takes a guided tour of the Tasmanian private art gallery that’s putting the southern state on the map.\nThe seasonal changeover continues and it’s not just the pink cherry blossoms and the squawk of magpies. New and returning faves are filling TV screens including the third season of Breaking Bad (ABC2, Thu Sep 29, 9pm), the second half of the new series of Dr Who (ABC1, Sat Sep 17, 7.30pm), Father & Son (ABC2, Mon Sep 19, 8.30pm), a new BBC series about a British gangster trying to leave his former life behind, a new season of United States of Tara and The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency (ABC1, Sun Sep 25, 8.30pm) based on the novels of Alexander McCall-Smith.\nAdam Hills takes his stand-up routine to the small screen with Adam Hills Live: Joymonger and Characterful (ABC1, Sat Sep 17, 9.25pm).\nThose with a criminal underworld obsession will love new ob doco Lockdown (7Mate, Thu, 9.40pm) which takes viewers inside the US justice system’s most notorious prisons.\nThe Bazura Project (ABC2, Mon Sep 29, 9.30pm) is a six-part comedy about the movies. Well, a look at how they are made and the six essential ingredients – sex, violence, money, profanity, drugs and fame.\nAt the Movies is running a comp to celebrate their 25th anniversary (albeit on a couple of different networks). All you need do is create a trailer for a fake movie for David and Margaret to review. It closes Monday September 19. Visit http://bit.ly/atmcomp for details.\nMovies to check out include classic Western The Magnificent Seven (ABC2, Sat Sep 17, 8.30pm) starring Yul Bryner and Charles Bronson.\nDon’t miss This is England (SBS1, Sat Sep 24, 10.05pm). Set in a working class council estate in Britain in the ‘80s, the film looks at the relationship between those drawn to skinhead culture as a way to fit in and the National Front in what was then referred to as Thatcher’s Britain.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 30 August 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 4 months ago\nThere’s new Australian comedy on auntie this week with Twentysomethings (ABC2, Tue Sep 6, 9pm) and At Home With Julia (ABC1, Wed Sep 7, 9.30pm). Twentysomethings is witty, well-written and most of all, about having fun. At Home With Julia is just what its name suggests, a parody of life at the lodge with the PM and her partner Tim.\nThere really is no end to the ridiculous premises for low cost reality, talent and ob doco programs – this fortnight’s gems include: Same Name (WIN, Wed, 7.30pm), where celebrities swap places with regular people who have the same name, and Are You Fitter Than A Pensioner (Go!, Thu, 7.30pm) which, yes, is just as the name suggests.\nOther new and returning shows include Rush (SCTEN, Thu Sep 1, 8.30pm), Good News World (SCTEN, Mon Sep 5, 9.30pm), Louis Theroux Specials (ABC2, Wed Sep 7, 8.30pm), Swift & Shift Couriers (SBS1, Mon, 8.30pm), Top Gear Australia (WIN, Tue, 8.30pm) and triple j Presents (ABC2, Tue Sep 13, 10.20pm).\nDespite its tenuous link to a Canberra institution, the first eps of Underbelly Razor were underwhelming. With the plot already written for them, is it too much to ask for some creative dialogue?\nPredictably many of this fortnight’s docos focus on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which were broadcast live during prime time in Australia. The occupants of Chez Blackbox, like many Canberrans, were watching The West Wing when the pictures started rolling in. Docos include: 9/11: The Day That Shook The World (SBS1, Tue Sep 6, 8.30pm), which shows minute by minute how the disaster was managed, Engineering Ground Zero (SBS1, Sun Sep 11, 7.30pm), Love Hate Love (SBS1, Sun Sep 11, 9.30pm) a Sean Penn film which tells the story of three families affected by terrorism, Children of 9/11 (SCTEN, Tue Sep 6, 9.30pm), which looks at the families affected, Dateline: 9/11: Ten Years On (SBS1, Sun Sep 11, 8.30pm), Rebirth (ABC1, Sun Sep 11, 8.30pm) which follows those affected by 9/11, and Compass: 9/11 Ten Years On (ABC1, Sun Sep 11, 10pm).\nOther docos include Artscape: 3 Days in Venice: Biennale 2011 (ABC2, Tue Sep 20, 10.05pm), Joanna Lumley Jewel of the Nile (GEM, Thu Sep 1, 7.30pm) which follows the British actress on a journey along the Nile River, and The Passionate Apprentices (SBS1, Sat, 6pm) following artisan apprentices such as knifemakers and beekeepers, The September Issue (ABC1, Sun Sep 4, 8.30pm) a fly on the wall view of Vogue magazine, and Julien Temple’s Glastonbury (ABC2, Sun Sep 4, 8.30pm).\nApparently it’s less than 120 days until Christmas and just to remind you there are Christmas specials including Absolutely Fabulous (ABC2, Sun Sep 4, 11.35pm), and Family Guy (7Mate, Sun Sep 4, 8.30pm).\nMovie picks include Age of Consent (ABC2, Sat Sep 3, 8.30pm) from 1969 with a young Helen Mirren, Donnie Brasco (GEM, Fri Sep 2, 9.30pm), Henry V111 And His Six Wives (GEM, Sat Sep 3, 2.25am) a historically inaccurate ‘70s flick starring Charlotte Rampling as Anne Boleyn, Almost Famous (Go!, Sun Sep 4, 8.30pm), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Go!, Wed Sep 7, 9.30pm), ‘80s adventure flick The Jewel of the Nile (SCTEN, Sat Sep 3, 8.40pm) and Tarantino classic Pulp Fiction (Go!, Fri Sep 2, 9.30pm).\nDon’t miss Rosso’s house on Better Homes and Gardens (WIN, Fri Sep 2, 7.30pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 16 August 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 5 months ago\nApparently, according to incessant commercials running on all three of WIN’s digi channels, Sunday August 21 is television’s biggest night of the year because a) it hosts the final of The Block (WIN, 6.30pm) and b) the first episode of the latest Underbelly instalment, Underbelly Razor (WIN, 8.30pm). Blackbox wholeheartedly agrees with part a) because it takes the most annoying reality series of the year off the box, but is less convinced about part b). Sure the first season of Underbelly that brought Melbourne’s gangland killings to life and featured Kat Stewart’s riveting portrayal of Roberta Williams, was awesome television but the following two instalments haven’t really lived up to expectations.\nAlso returning (with slightly less fanfare) are new seasons of Weeds (GEM, Mon, 11pm), The Big C (GEM, Mon, 10.30pm), and Hung (Prime, Tue, 10.30pm).\nOther new shows include On Track (ABC2, Fri Aug 26, 9.15pm) which focuses on artists recording, Suits (Prime, Mon, 9.40pm) a new legal series that’s part of the US summer roster from the people who brought you Burn Notice, Accused (ABC1, Fri Aug 26, 9.30pm), a series of six teleplays from writer Jimmy McGovern where an ordinary person winds up in the dock, Monroe (ABC1, Sat Aug 27, 8.30pm) a new James Nesbitt series, this time a medical one, and ob doco Drug Bust (Prime, Thu Aug 18, 7.20pm). Really the only question is why it took so long – much more intriguing than drink driving, parking infringements or the endless stream of drunk, drugged and prostituting bust on COPS (One Tue, Wed, 8.30pm).\nAnd if you enjoy intrigue, put Emmy Award winning Danish series The Protectors (SBS1, Thu, 10pm) on your viewing roster.\nCarlos (ABC2, Mon Aug 29, 8.30pm) is a three part drama from Olivier Assayas that portrays the life of notorious revolutionary and terrorist, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez aka Carlos the Jackal.\nIf you want to join the next series of Amazing Race Australia, you’d better be quick. Applications close on Friday August 19. Check yahoo7.com.au/theamazingrace for details.\nGastronomes will enjoy Jamie Oliver’s European adventures in Jamie Does (SCTEN, Sat, 6.30pm) which takes in the cuisine of Andalucia on Saturday August 20 and Stockholm (Blackbox’s fav city) on Saturday Aug 27.\nComing soon to Prime – Wild Boys, a story about bushrangers, power and government corruption in the 1850s – Australian version of Deadwood?\n Docos to check out include The Cove (ABC1, Sun Aug 28, 8.30pm), the story of an elite team of activists, who penetrated the site of a dolphin hunt, Artscape: Stunt Love (ABC1, Tue Aug 30, 10.05pm), the life of Australian stunt director J.P ‘Jack’ McGowan in the early 20th century, and In The Shadow Of Hollywood: Race Movies And The Birth Of Black Cinema (ABC2, Sun Aug 21, 8.30pm).\nThe cutest babies on earth are baby animals and Zoo Babies (GEM, Tue, 7.30pm) is chock full of them – gibbons, zebras, elephants…\nThe pick of this fortnight’s movies are Pulp Fiction (Go!, Fri Aug 26, 9:50pm) – what Tarrantino was doing before Kill Bill, 50 First Dates (Go!, Fri Aug 19, 7.30pm) – what Adam Sandler was doing after Happy Gilmore, Hitchcock classic North by Northwest (GEM, Sat Aug 27, 2.40pm), and Star Trek (SCTEN, Sun Aug 21, 8.30pm) the Eric Bana film not the Shatner one although Leonard Nimoy makes an appearance.\nTrekkies should catch a repeat of Getaway (WIN, Wed Aug 21, 2.05pm), which features the world’s only organised tour conducted in Klingon.\nGuest star of the week – Gene Simmons in Castle (Prime, Sun Aug 21, 9.30pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Monday, 1 August 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 5 months ago\nThe latest Chez Blackbox obsession Sons of Anarchy (One, Wed Aug 10, 9.30pm) gets even better this fortnight as it swings into the season two storyline and the great Henry Rollins joins the cast. Hank does a star turn as (ironically) a white supremacist. Playing against type is status quo for Hank – fans should seek out The Chase, an early ‘90s b-grade action flick which also features cameos by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and porn legend Ron Jeremy.\nFriday Night Lights (ABC1, Fri, 8.30pm) does for middle America what The Wire did for Baltimore – showing a true portrayal of the characters that inhabit what bureaucrats call the flyover states.\nOther shows new to screens in coming weeks include Valemont (ABC2, Tue Aug 16, 8.30pm) – another Supernatural series that went straight to the web in the US, Renovators (SCTEN, Sun Aug 7, 7.30pm) – the network’s replacement for Masterchef (SCTEN, Sun Aug 7, 6.30pm), Big Trouble in Thailand (Go!, Thu, 8.30pm) following British cops working alongside Thai police, The Hotel (SBS1, Wed Aug 10, 8.30pm) – an ob doco about a hotel in the UK and new seasons of Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation (SCTEN, Wed Aug 10, 8.30pm), Law & Order UK (SCTEN, Fri Aug 12, 8.30pm) and Law & Order (SCTEN, Fri Aug 12, 9.30pm).\nJust when you thought the networks had run out of premises for talent shows, along comes The Voice (Go!, Tue Aug 9, 7.30pm), hosted by Carson Daly, which apparently takes looks out of the equation. Judges on the US show have their backs to the contestants and only get to see them after they make a decision. Not sure what happens in the casting audition though.\nFinally Buffy the Vampire Slayer (11, Sat, 11.30pm) makes it onto the late night roster. Unfortunately it’s at the expense of Roseanne but only on the weekend. For a bit of Australian cultural history night owls can also catch Skippy (WIN, Sun, 5.30am).\nIt was bound to happen sooner or later – WIN has announced production of a Beaconsfield telemovie. No air date yet but it will star Shane Jacobson and Lachy Hume. Come to think of it, the WIN folks are yet to reveal an air date for Underbelly Razor despite relentless promotion for at least the past year.\nDocos to check out include Erasing David (ABC1, Wed Aug 3, 9.30pm) where UK filmmaker David Bond sees whether he can actually disappear without a trace, Artscape: Carnival Queen (ABC2, Tue Aug 23, 10pm) which follows Finucane and Smith’s Carnival of Mysteries as it is prepared for the stage, Ingrid Betancourt: 6 years in the Jungle (ABC1, Wed Aug 17, 10.20pm) which recounts what happened to Colombia’s most famous hostage, and The Invention of Dr Nakamats (ABC2, Wed Aug 10, 9.20pm) – the world’s most prolific patent holder and inventor of the CD.\nMovie picks this fortnight include In the Heat of the Night (ABC2, Sat Aug 20, 8.30pm), Tropic Thunder (SCTEN, Sun Aug 7, 9.35pm), Thank You For Smoking (SCTEN, Sat Aug 6, 10pm), Chocolat (GEM, Fri Aug 12, 8.30pm), Rio Bravo (GEM, Sat Aug 13, 3.05pm), The Omega Man (WIN, Sat Aug 13, 2am) and the premiere of Australian horror flick The Tunnel (iView from Sun Aug 14).\nAlso don’t miss the new series of British political satire The Thick of It (ABC1, Thu, 10pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 19 July 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 6 months ago\nAs a foodie at heart (a pastime that can at least in part be enjoyed slothing about in front of the telly with a pinot or three), the endless gastronomic advice now available through digital TV channels was welcomed, as long as it didn’t come from Masterchef (SCTEN, Sun-Fri, 7.30pm). But now, the networks have gone into a time warp flooding our screens with home reno shows – besides the five nights a week of The Block (WIN) which is now casting for its next season, there’s Jamie Drury’s Top Design (WIN, Wed, 8pm), 60 Minute Makeover (7TWO, Sun, 9.45pm) and repeats of Room for Improvement (7TWO, Wed, 2.30am). If you really want to know about home renovation, stick with the new series of Grand Designs (ABC1, Sun, 7.30pm) where you might also learn a thing or two about architecture, design and not looking like the CAD rendered drawing on the real estate brochure.\nThe much promoted Hamish &Andy’s Gap Year (SCTEN, Thu Jul 28, 8.30pm) takes the intrepid duo to the US now that Spicks and Specks has wrapped. Other new shows include the premiere of pawn shop obdoco Hardcore Pawn (7Mate, Wed Jul 20, 8.30pm), Off The Map (Prime, Thu Jul 21, 10.41pm), already cancelled medical drama set in South America, the much awaited Friday Night Lights (ABC2, Fri Jul 29, 8.30pm) and the one-off comedy show We ain’t Terrorists (ABC2, Thu Jul 28, 9.30pm). \n If you’re a fan, make sure you catch Spicks and Specks (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm) – there’s only a few months left of this season, its last. For a triple treat, it’ll soon be followed by The Gruen Transfer (ABC1, Wed Aug 3, 9pm) and Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journeys Transfer (ABC1, Wed Aug 3, 9.30pm), which put’s the comedienne’s spin on the topic that spurned the John Safran and Fr Bob phenomenon.\nCollectors (ABC1, Fri Jul 22, 8pm) promises two not-to-be-missed segments - a look at Boardgames and a chat with bma’s own Justin Haezlewood.\nThere’s a plethora of documentary series coming up including Tropic of Capricorn (SBS1, Wed Aug 3, 7.30pm) which follows Simon Reeve as he circumnavigates the southern hemisphere, Seduction in the City (SBS1, Wed Jul 27, 8.30m) which looks at the history of shopping, Sex: An Unnatural History (SBS1, Fri Jul 29, 10pm), expertly hosted by Julia Zemiro.\nOther docos to check out include Compass: Bali High Wedding (ABC1, Sun Jul 24, 10pm), Secrets of Stonehenge (SBS1, Sun Jul 31, 7.30pm), James May at the Edge of Space (SBS1, Sun Jul 24, 9.30pm), and Final 24: John Belushi (7Mate, Thu Jul 28, 11.30pm)\nThere’s a weekend pyjama fest for fans of xtreme and death defying sports including skateboarding with Drive (One, Sat Jul 23, 11.30am), Pro Bull Riding (One, Sun Jul 24, 10am), Snowboarding: TTR World Tour (One, Sun Jul 24, 11.30am), World of Free Sports (One, Sun Jul 24, 11am) and Cycling: UCI BMX World Championships (SBS2, Sun Jul 31, 8.30pm)\nMovies this fortnight include Juno (SCTEN, Fri Jul 22, 9pm), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (GEM, Sat Jul 30, 3.40pm), The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (ABC2, Sat Jul 30, 8.30pm) and Mary Poppins (7Mate, Sat Jul 30, 1.30pm)\nAnd what is it with franchises and L.A.? First the woeful NCIS: LA (SCTEN, Tue, 9.30pm) and now Law and Order: LA (Prime, Thu, 8.40pm). What next? CSI: LA?\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 5 July 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 6 months ago\nThere are two types of drama in the US. The first is the good, well scripted variety that usually comes out of the Showtime or HBO stables and eventually makes its way to Australian free-to-air networks, usually via pay TV here. Think Sons of Anarchy (One, Wed, 9.30pm), The Wire (ABC2, Fri, 10.30pm), Californication (11, Tue, 10pm), The Big C (GEM, Mon, 11.10pm), Deadwood (ABC2, Mon, 9.30pm), Mad Men (SBS, TBC) and True Blood (still waiting for free-to-air debut). The second is the replicating an old TV show, movie, or worse still, Americanising a show that’s been successful in another English speaking country. Buffy and The Office (11, Tue, 8.30pm) were successful, Kath and Kim less so.\nThis week’s new offerings are most definitely the second type. Teen Wolf (Prime, Mon July 11, 9.30pm) takes the ‘80s Michael J Fox teen movie and turns it into a series. Or tries to.\nThe US network execs have taken the British cult underworld drama Being Human (11, Mon, 9.30pm) about a vampire, werewolf and ghost sharing a house, transplanted it in Boston and done what every network exec is bound to do – filled it with pretty people. What is it about Americans needing their TV casts to look like they stepped out of a photo shoot for banality? This comes off the back of the US version of Wilfred (11, Tue, 9.30pm), which is watchable because of Elijah Wood, but mostly because Jason Gann has reprised his role as Wilfred. Watch out for the US version of Shameless with William H Macy.\nGood old Auntie has fresh Australian drama with Crownies (ABC1, Thu July 14, 8.30pm) set in the courts and legal chambers. While this is no Rake, it is still worth a look.\nMarchlands (ABC1, Sat July 23, 8.25pm), is an innovative and intriguing BBC drama about a haunted house, with three interconnecting plotlines set in 1968, 1987 and 2010.\nThe ‘much funnier when he was an acerbic judge on idol’ Dicko hosts SCTEN’s newie Can of Worms (SCTEN, Mon, 8.45pm).\nOther new series include a new season of Grand Designs (ABC1, Sun, 7.30pm), Jail (7Mate, Thu July 14) an ob doco series on… well, jail, Young, Dumb and Living off Mum (Prime, Mon, 10.30pm), and brilliant UK political satire The Thick of It (ABC2, Thu July 21, 10.15pm).\nDocos to check out include: The King of Calls (SBS1, Sun July 17, 9.30pm) which looks at the day-to-day operations of an Indian call centre, The Buddha (SBS2, Tue July 19, 7.30pm) a two-parter narrated by Richard Gere to tell the story of the Buddha, Triple J’s One Night Stand (ABC2, Sun July 17, 8.30pm), 7 Ages of Marriage (ABC2, Wed July 13, 8.30pm) about how people approach weddings, and Jennifer Byrne Presents: Fantasy (ABC1, Tue July 12, 9.55pm) with guests Jennifer Rowe (aka Emily Rodda), Lev Grossman and Fiona McIntosh.\nCycling junkies won’t want to miss Le Tour de France - live nightly (SBS1, nightly 10pm until Sunday July 24), morning updates (SBS1, daily 7.30am) and daily highlight packages (SBS1, daily 6pm and SBS2, daily 8.30pm).\nMovies to look out for include spaghetti western For a Few Dollars More (ABC2, Sat July 23, 8.30pm) and New York, New York (ABC2, Sat July 16, 8.30pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 14 June 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 7 months ago\nOne man’s hoarder is another man’s collector and there are plenty of shows to cater for the obsession including American Pickers (7Mate, Wed Jun 29, 9.30pm),which follows Mike Wolfe and Franz Fritz as they unearth rare finds in people’s garages and junkyards across the US Midwest, Hardcore Pawn (7Mate, Wed Jun 29, 10.30pm), a fly on the wall doco about a family owned pawn shop in Detroit, Antiques Roadshow (Gem Sat, Sun 6.30pm, Mon-Fri 4.30pm) and Australia’s favourite (and the best) Collectors (ABC1, Fri, 8pm) which peers into some of the most eclectic collections imaginable.\nMate is really living up to its moniker with a slew of very blokey new observational docos including Monster Nation (7Mate, Wed Jun 29, 11pm), Monster Garage with ordinary people, Swamp People (7Mate, Thu Jun 30, 7.30pm), which follows the alligator season in Louisiana, and repeats of Mythbusters (7Mate, Wed Jun 29, 7.30pm).\nIt’s all about the observational doco this issue with viewers finally getting a peek behind the scenes of UK policing with Behind the Force (SBS1, Tue Jun 28, 8.30pm) and yes Chez Blackbox will be most disappointed if it turns out to be more like COPS (One; Tue, Wed, 8.30pm) than The Bill (7TWO, Thu 8.30pm, ABC1, Mon-Fri, 4am).\nAnd the new Chez Blackbox fave ob doco is An Idiot Abroad (One, Mon, 8.30pm). More a rollicking travel comedy, really - Ricky Gervais (which usually spells don’t watch) has sent his mate Karl Plinkington off around the world to sample other cultures. If Karl was Australian he’d probably come from Bogangate and question why you’d want to go to Sydney, let alone Brazil. As it turns out, he does go to Brazil and as you’d expect makes some hilarious observations.\nThose who fancy a fash mag career should check out Marie Claire – Under the Cover (7TWO, Sun 6.30pm, Prime, Sat, 2pm). The BMA office is much more exciting… just sayin’. Those who dream to be a famous product designer should get a taste of the reruns of Design for Life (ABC2, Sun, 8pm) – not sure Philippe Starck really disproves the arrogance of the French.\nOther docos to check out include Leigh Hart’s Mysterious Planet (ABC1, Tue, 9pm), which looks at the world’s greatest mysteries, like the Loch Ness Monster, The True Story (ABC1, Wed, 9.30pm) looks at the real stories that inspired Hollywood adventure flicks such as Pirates of the Caribbean and James Bond, Nuclear Meltdown (SBS1, Sun Jun 19, 9.30pm) looks at the situation at Fukushima, and Go Back to Where You Came From (SBS1, Tue Jun 21, Wed Jun 22, Thu Jun 23, 8.30pm) takes six Australians on the reverse journey that refugees have taken to reach Australia.\nIf you like Will Ferrell, you can now catch him on the small screen in Eastbound and Down (7Mate, Tue, 10.30pm) as burnt out baseball player Kenny Powers. Pure unadulterated Will Ferrell and Danny McBride.\nLooking for some non-footy sports viewing? The FIFA Women’s World Cup is on (SBS1, starts Mon Jun 27, 1.30am) and should be good for the patriotic spirit – Australia’s women’s team is ranked 11th in the world. Tennis fans will be pleased to hear Prime will be broadcasting Wimbledon live.\nThe brilliant Rake (ABC1, Sat Jul 2, 9.30pm) is repeated (again) and don’t miss Stephen Fry’s latest dramedy Kingdom (ABC1, Sat Jun 18, 7.30pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 24 May 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 8 months ago\nChez Blackbox is (en)raptured by Sons of Anarchy (One, Wed, 10.30pm). The US drama about the original chapter of the fictional Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club has brilliant characterisation, well thought out scripts, just the right amount of violence and a sprinkling of moral ambiguity. Blackbox will be waiting patiently on the couch, Buffy survival kit at the ready, watching Sons of Anarchy, True Blood and Treme (if the two latter shows ever get picked up on free-to-air). When better than the apocalypse than to dream of square-eyed heaven?\nBiggest disappointment of the new season offerings has got to be Jersey Shore. Sure, it’s great for caricatures, but it’s not even mildly funny or even entertaining in a morbid sort of way. It’s just sad. Really sad.\nThe jury’s still out on Amazing Race Australia (Prime, Mon, 8.30pm). Australians just aren’t as whiney as Americans and the teams are a little too contrived. Farmers who haven’t left Australia – please…\nAnd there are more new shows including Outcasts (ABC1, Sat May 28, 8.30pm) a new British sci-fi drama that follows a group of pioneers building a new settlement on the planet Caparthia, Thorne (ABC1, Fri May 27, 8.30pm), which puts the crime novels of Mark Billingham on the box, The Kennedys (ABC1, Sun, 8.30pm) with Katie Holmes trying to play the first lady with the same facial expressions she used as Joey in Dawson’s Creek. The Young Ones (ABC2, Tue Jun 14) which takes six celebrities from the ‘70s and sends them to live as they would have in the ‘70s, as well as new seasons of Hustle (Fri Jun 3, 9.20pm), Deadwood (ABC2, Mon Jun 6, 9.30pm) and The Tudors (ABC2, Fri Jun 10, 9.15pm).\nIn recent times, auntie has almost cornered the market on the 20th century biopic, including the brilliant Paper Giants, which chronicled the creation of Cleo. Keen to be involved in a story that involves them, WIN will air the as yet unnamed mini-series about Kerry Packer’s other creation, World Series Cricket.\nLater in May, 7TWO will start airing reruns of The Bill. Unfortunately they are picking it up from series 15, long past the point of soap opera. Take it back to series one – with cockney conmen, DI Burnside and DI Tosh Lyons.\nDocos to check out include Murundak – Songs of Freedom (SBS, Saturday May 28, 10.05pm), which follows the Black Arm Band and features indigenous music legends such as Archie Roach, Bart Willoughby, Jimmy Little and Ruby Hunter; Recipe for Murder (ABC1, Thu May 26, 8.35pm), which takes us back to 1950s Sydney where women were adding rat poison to cakes and cups of tea and feeding it to their murder victims; and Jump! (SBS1, Tue Jun 7, 10pm), which looks at the world of competitive jump rope.\nCatalyst (ABC1, Thu Jun 2, 8pm) is always a good source of quirky amusement and this week the ultimate in why? Mathematicians have finally found God’s algorithm – the fewest number of moves it takes to solve Rubik’s cube.\nDon’t miss Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (ABC2, Sat May 28, 8.30pm), A Quiet Word with Richard. E. Grant (ABC1, Sat Jun 4, 9.30pm), and Artscape: Bryan Ferry in Conversation with Virginia Trioli (ABC2, Tue Jun14, 8.30pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 10 May 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 8 months ago\nIt’s a reality TV bonanza (and regular readers would know at Chez Blackbox that means pulling out the old school series yet to make it to 11 or Go! – Twin Peaks is the newest re-obsession). For those reality-inclined (and the psychology students watching for ‘research’) there’s new Masterchef (SCTEN, Sun-Fri 7.30pm) and Dancing with the [B-Grade] Stars (Prime, Sun 6.30pm). The Australian version of The Amazing Race, Blackbox’s one reality weakness is due to start soon. In the meantime, adventurers should check out Wild Rides (ABC2, Fri 8pm), and re-runs of Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round (One, Wed 7.30pm)\nJersey Shore (7Mate, Wed May 18, 8.30pm) is coming to free-to-air! The observational doco that even the US president was talking about is here. TMZ addicts would be somewhat familiar with the hijinks of Snooki and the Situation.\nSci-fi fantasy Riese (ABC2, Fri May 20, 9.15pm) is worth staying in for. A luscious production that’s a bit Mad Max crossed with Xena, it started its life as a web production before being picked up on the SyFy channel in the states.\nOther new offerings include The Kennedys (ABC1, Sun May 22, 8.35pm) starring Greg Kinnear and Mrs Cruise (Katie Holmes), Come Fly With Me (WIN, Mon May 16, 8pm) the airport themed new offering from the Little Britain Boys, No Ordinary Family (Prime, Mon 7.30pm) is about an ordinary family that get superpowers after a freak accident, My Big Friggin’ Wedding (Prime, Mon 10.30pm), a new season of Sanctuary (ABC2, Fri May 20, 8.30pm), Chris Lilley’s newie Angry Boys (ABC1, Wed May 11, 8pm), reruns of The Six Million Dollar Man (7Mate, Tue May 10, 3am), new Offspring (SCTEN, Mon May 16, 8.30pm), and of course Sons of Anarchy (One, Wed 9.30pm).\nJust in case you wake up confused, ABC News Breakfast (ABC1, Mon-Fri 6am) has moved to ABC1 and the kids programs are airing on ABC2, including the new fully animated Bananas in Pyjamas (ABC2, daily 8am, 1.30pm). BMA interviewed the Bananas when they turned ten. Now they’re a very grown up 19.\nUnfortunately, like its HBO stable mate True Blood, medieval fantasy Game of Thrones, described as a medieval Sopranos (7Mate, Wed-Fri 12am), will air on Pay TV here. For those willing to shell out, it’s expected on Showcase in July.\nDon’t miss TalHotBlond (ABC2, Wed May 18, 8.30pm), the true story of a cyber vixen whose online fantasy escalated to a real life murder.\nOther docos to check out include Bleach, Nip, Tuck: The White Beauty Myth (ABC1. Wed May 18, 9.30pm) looks at the phenomenon of people of other cultural backgrounds having surgery to make them look more European, Jennifer Byrne Presents: The Future of the Book (ABC1, Tue May 17, 10pm), Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking (SBS, Tue May 24, 8.30pm), and Men Who Swim (ABC2, Wed May 24, 8.30pm) which follows a male synchronised swimming team in Stockholm.\nMovie highlights include Marlon Brando classic The Wild One (ABC2, Sat May 21 8.30pm), Escape from New York (7Mate, Sun May 15, 8.30pm) and Our Man in Marrakesh (7TWO, Sat May 14, 12am).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 26 April 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 9 months ago\nTVs across the land are about to be overwhelmed by pomp, ceremony and an overdose of kitsch and not just from the upcoming royal nuptials. May is Eurovision month, an event that provides more elaborate frocks, more protocol, more tradition and more inane commentary than any royal event.\nEurovision fever kicks off with the Secret History of Eurovision (SBS1 Fri May 6 & 13, 7.30pm) which traces its origins in 1956 through its expansion at the end of the cold war to the worldwide TV phenomenon it has become. The Semi-Finals follow (SBS1 Fri May 13, 8.30pm & Sat May 14, 7.30pm,) with the Eurovision Final (SBS1 Sun May 15, 7.30pm).\nFor those who just can’t look away, the Royal Wedding broadcasts include The Royal Wedding (ABC1 Fri Apr 29, 6pm) with BBC presenters such as Huw Edwards, and William and Kate – The Royal Wedding (Prime Fri Apr 29, 4pm) with Chris Bath. Not interested? Pop out to the pub, they’re sure to have the footy on instead. And for god’s sake don’t get sucked in by all those specials that promise the inside goss… pretty sure the palace isn’t going to allow the dress design to be leaked to Dicky Arbiter.\nOver those engineering marvel shows? This one will hook you in – Animal Monster Moves (SBS1 Saturdays, 7.30pm) shows vets and transport engineers move herds of elephants and rhino, and killer sharks across continents. There’s also Man Made Marvels Sydney Opera House (7Mate Sun May 8, 7.30pm) and Ultimate Factories – Ferrari (7Mate Sun May 8, 7.30pm).\nSpicks and Specks (ABC1 Wed May 4, 8.30pm) is back starting with a one-hour comedy special and on Wednesday May 18, BMA’s own Justin Heazlewood aka The Bedroom Philosopher.\nThe end of the Easter holidays brings with it a raft of new shows, including Chris Lilley’s newie, Angry Boys (ABC1 Wed May 11), Swingtown (ABC2 Mon May 2, 8.30pm), the new series from the makers of Big Love that takes on 70s swingers rather than modern-day polygamists, Meet the Natives USA (ABC2 Sat May 7, 7.30pm) which takes five South Pacific tribesman to live with the ‘tribes’ of Americans – cowboys, Californians, etc. And new seasons of Dr Who (ABC1 Sat Apr 30, 7.30pm), Masterchef (SCTEN Sun May 1, 4.30pm) and Collectors (ABC1 Fri May 6, 8pm) that starts with Monopoly, sci-fi memorabilia, and milk paraphernalia.\nDocos to check out include Intangible Asset No 82 (ABC2 Sun May 15, 8.30pm) which sees Australian drummer Simon Baker search out Korean shaman, Kim Seok-Chul; Madagascar (WIN Wed May 4, 7.30pm), which looks at the wildlife and natural environment of the island; The Real King’s Speech (ABC1 Thu May 5, 8.30pm) uses interviews to delve into the relationship between King George VI and his speech therapist; Atlantis: The Evidence (ABC1 Thu May 5, 9.30pm); and Gaddafi: Our Best Enemy (SBS1 Sun May 8, 9.30pm).\nKeep your recorder ready for some movie classics - Shawshank Redemption (GEM Sun May 1, 8.30pm), Unforgiven (GEM Fri May 6, 8.30pm), The Sandpiper (GEM Sun May 1, 3.30pm) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Carry on Screaming (Gem Wed May 4, 12pm), Witness for the Prosecution (ABC2 Sat may 7, 8.30pm) starring Marlene Dietrich and Glory (ABC2 Sat Apr 30, 8.30pm).\nGood Game (ABC2 Tue May 3, 8.30pm) goes all super hero looking at super games from Superman on the Atari 2600 to Batman: Arkham City on Xbox 360.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 12 April 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 9 months ago\nThe extreme long weekend that rolls up Easter and Anzac Day is a great opportunity to lie around in front of the box, especially if it’s cold, wet and miserable. Quite surprisingly, the Easter Bunny doesn’t feature high on the schedule. In terms of Christian religious rituals, the closest you get is a Compass special (ABC1 Fri April 22, 8.30pm) that goes into a remote Aboriginal mission, and two Christian-but-not-really Easter-themed classic movies The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (GEM Sat April 23, 6am) and The Ten Commandments (ABC2 Sat April 23, 8.30pm).\nSadly, Go’s main bunny-themed offering is the b-grade movie The House Bunny (Go! Mon April 25, 6.30pm) about an evicted Playboy bunny joining a sorority, featuring Hugh Hefner.\nEaster week does bring with it a plethora of much better movie choices including I’m Not There (SBS1 Sat April 23, 10.05pm), Todd Haynes fabulous biopic of Bob Dylan that uses personality rather than narrative, Death of a President (SBS1 Wed April 20, 10.05), a mockumentary which follows the investigation into the assassination of George Bush, (Go! Thurs April 21, 9.30pm), Flight of the Navigator (Go! Sat April 23, 6.30pm), The Omega Man (Go! Sun April 24, 12.30am) and Igor (Go! Wed April 27, 7.30pm).\nAnzac Day coverage is everywhere including Lost Diggers of Fromelles (Prime Mon April 25, 7.30pm), ANZAC Day March 2011 (ABC1 Mon April 25, 10.30am) live from Anzac Parade, Gallipoli Dawn Service (ABC1 Mon April 25, 12.30pm), Viller-Bretonneux Memorial Service (ABC1 Mon April 25, 1.30pm), Lone Pine Service from Gallipoli (ABC1 Mon April 25, 6pm).\nDon’t miss Australian Story (ABC1 Mon April 25, 8pm) as they follow Jet’s former manager, David Powell and reveal some of the inner dynamics of the relationship.\nArt Nation (ABC1 Sun April 17, 5pm) takes on fashion but is not your average catwalk show – it looks at street fashion photography, men’s fashion in Australia, the rise of eco fashion, jewellery design from the House of Baulch and fashion photographer Bruno Benini.\nOther new shows and seasons this fortnight include Collectors (ABC1 Fri 8pm), Detroit 1-8-7 (Prime Wed 8.30pm) starring Michael Imperioli (aka Christopher from the Sopranos), new Caprica (7Mate Fri 10.45pm, Sat 10.30pm) and the brilliant East West 101 (SBS Wed Apr 20 8.30pm).\nDocos to check out include Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill (ABC1 Tue April 19, 8.30pm) which visits the communities of the deep south to see the effect on the people and the wildlife, William and Kate: A Royal Love Story (ABC1 Tue April 26, 8.30pm), The First Windsors (ABC1 Tue April 26, Wed April 27, Thu April 28, 6pm) and a special Q&A: Is the Royal Romance Over (ABC1 Thu April 28, 8.30pm) which looks at the role of the monarchy in Australia.\nIf you’re looking to get your head on telly in a reality show, there’s a couple of opportunities at the moment – X Factor auditions in Melbourne April 15 -17 – check www.xfactortv.com.au for details, and Beauty & The Geek is looking for geeks (there’s $100,000 in the offing) visit www.beautyandthegeek.com.au .\nWest Wing nuts shouldn’t miss 30 Rock (Prime Thu April 21, 11.30pm) with Aaron Sorkin guest starring, made all the more significant by the fact that 30 Rock was the show in direct competition with Sorkin’s quickly cancelled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 29 March 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 9 months ago\nThis is a Blackbox community service announcement: Contrary to the tales your mother (and TDK) told you, as yet there is no scientific proof that watching too much television, or sitting too close to the set will give you square eyes. There are, however, a few telltale signs that you’ve got a problem: 1) You refuse to go out on Saturday nights because the (damn) ABC decided that would be the best night for Spooks (ABC Sat 8.30pm). 2) The TV Guide is the first favourite in your web browser. 3) You spend your Sunday in the company of Macgyver (11 Sun 2pm), Magnum PI (7Mate Sun 12pm) and Airwolf (7Mate Sun 1pm). 4) You’ve adopted the catchphrases of your favourite characters. 5) You really believe vampires (and their slayers) walk the earth, bartenders in the wild west sounded like crack dealers, President Bartlett was the leader of the free world, we will boldly go where no man has gone before, serial killers aren’t all bad and that the truth really is out there. If you identify with more than two of these, seek help now. Blackbox recommends booking tix for TV’s Greatest Hits – The Concert. Conductor and host Guy Noble, the Partridge Bunch Singers, the Gilligan's Castaway Orchestra, and some special surprise guests will overdose you on themes from your fave shows. Think the Banana Splits, The Addams Family, Fawlty Towers, The Simpsons, Skippy, Prisoner and Mr Squiggle. It’s at the NSW state theatre on May 5. Tix from Ticketmaster.\nFinally, a better game show than those shows where people compete by doing home renos. Car Sharks (7Mate Sat 2pm) pits two teams against each other to customise the same car. It’s an English show so it’s more tongue in cheek than nail biting. And it features some quite hilarious matchups – vicars vs tarts, graffiti artists vs fine artists, etc.\nThe folks at aunty have been getting all 20 th century with their docu-drama. The latest to be served up is Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo (ABC1 Sun Apr 17, Mon Apr 18 8.30pm). It may not be on the top of your reading list these days but when a young Ita Buttrose and Kerry Packer launched Cleo in the 70s it was cutting edge, controversial and changed the concept of women’s magazines in Australia.\nThe original Charlie’s Angels (GEM Wed Apr 6 12.25am) starting with the pilot episode.\nDocos to check out include The War You Don’t See (SBS1 Sun Apr 10 8.35pm) in which John Pilger looks at the way wars are reported, The Story of Science (SBS1 Tue Apr 12 8.30pm) a six parter that looks at the science that changed the world , Crack House USA (ABC1 Wed Apr 13 9.30pm) which follows a crew of drug dealers in Chicago as federal authorities monitored them, Who Killed Maggie Thatcher (SBS1 Sun Apr 3 9.30pm) which looks at the career of Britain’s Iron Lady, The Secret Life of Chaos (SBS1 Tue Apr 5 8.30pm).\nMovies to look out for include Gone with the Wind (GEM Sun Apr 3 3.45pm), Devil Girl from Mars (Mon Apr 4 12.30am), Surf’s Up (Go! Fri Apr 8 8pm), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (11 Sun Apr 3 8.30pm), Lake Mungo (SBS1 Wed Apr 6 10.05pm), Incident at Loch Ness (SBS1 Wed Apr 13 10.05pm), The Lost Thing (ABC1 Sun Apr 3 4.45pm).\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 16 March 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 10 months ago\nMovies are back! When pay TV arrived, movies all but disappeared from the telly, apart from high rotation romcoms ( Pretty Woman , Bridget Jones ) and the occasional cult classic late at night, just before the irritating ads for exercise machines that promise in just five minutes a day your couch potato physique will be transformed to match the rippling abs of the presenter. The challenge of filling at least three 24 hour schedules per network has meant forgotten flicks are popping up everywhere on the (slightly larger) small screen. The upside – it’s free and you don’t have to leave the house to find them. The downside – you have to endure (or tape and skip) the ads. Some of the standouts over the next fortnight include: Seven (GEM, Mon Mar 28, 9.30pm), Flight of the Navigator (Go!, Sat Apr 2, 6.30pm), Space Balls (Go!, Sat Apr 2, 6.30pm) – yes, there was a Star Wars spoof long before Blue Harvest , Dead Calm (GEM, Wed Mar 23, 9.30pm), Friday the 13 th (Go!, Wed Mar 23, 9.30pm), Snatch (Go!, Fri Mar 25, 9.30pm), Shampoo (ABC2, Sat Apr 2, 8.30pm) and The Taming of the Shrew (ABC2, Sat Mar 26, 8.30pm).\nConfirmation that The Big Bang Theory (Go!, Sun, Mon, Thu, 7.30pm and Thu 8.30pm – WIN, Tue, Wed, 7.30pm) is the new Simpsons – after setting record series, the (quite old) set top box at Chez Blackbox ran out of hard drive after two weeks!\nIt’s a Greek warrior festival over at 7Mate with Xena Warrior Princess (7Mate, Mon-Fri, 3.30pm) and Hercules (7Mate, Mon-Fri, 4pm). Blackbox is awaiting the return of Roar , starring Heath Ledger as an Irishman uniting Celtic clans against the Romans. Sure, a different century and a different place but it was still about bravado, leather armour and sword fights.\nThe fourth season of Big Love (SBS1, Wed, 8.30pm) wraps up on Wednesday March 30, with the news that the next season, currently airing in the US, will be the last.\nNew but already relegated to Friday night is The Cape (7Mate, Fri Apr 1, 8.30pm). This could go either way – an out there premise (a cop who has been set up takes on the identity of a comic super hero to clear his name, and fight crime), Summer Glau in the cast and panned by US critics. It has the hallmarks of some other shows… Firefly comes to mind. And yes it’s already been cancelled in the States.\nDocos to look out for include Reagan (SBS1, Sun Mar 27, 9.30pm) which looks at Ronald Reagan’s career on the 100 th anniversary of his birth, America, Whaling & the World (SBS1, Tue Mar 29, 10.05pm) which looks at the American whaling industry, Stripped (SBS1, Fri Apr 1, 10.05pm) which follows photographer Greg Friedler as he captures 173 photos in Las Vegas for his Naked series, Mind the Gap (SBS1, Fri Apr 1, 8.30pm) which follows an Australian Sikh family (originally from Kenya via London) as they head to India in search of their identity, Casino Jack and the United States of Money (SBS1, Sun Mar 20, 9.30pm) – a portrait of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy, Roads to Memphis (SBS1, Tue Mar 22, 10.05pm) – the stories of Martin Luther King and his assassin, James Earl Ray.\nRemember Daylight Savings ends Saturday April 2 – reset your recorder!\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 2 March 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 10 months ago\nHistory as a telly subject usually conjures up images of war films, costume dramas, pointed Englishmen telling you about the saucy goings on in palaces, sepia toned photographs of heroic figures and nothing after the end of World War II. Of course some of the most interesting parts of history are much more pedestrian – the way normal people lived their lives in centuries past, the tools they used to do it and how technology developed. Why, for example, were four different electrical plugs invented and how did people find this out before Wikipedia? This is what makes low budget gems like Turn Back Time: The High Street (ABC2, Thu Mar 10, 8.30pm) so worthwhile. The show sees five shopkeepers and their families set up shop and conduct their lives exactly as merchants did in six earlier eras, beginning in the 1870s and moving through to the 1970s. The shops include The Butchers, The Bakers, The Ironmongers, The Chemist, The Dress Maker, The Record Shop and The Convenience Store Owners. Not sure what a record shop sold in the 1870s (pianoforte rolls?) or what the Ironmonger sells today. Let’s hope they do a second series moving from the 1970s to the 2010s.\nThe folks at WIN are ‘revamping’ This is Your Life (WIN, Mon, 8.30pm) to make it more contemporary. There’s only one way to turn a self-congratulatory bio-pic interesting – make it funny and Star Stories already did that. WIN have chosen to chuck in some musical numbers (probably from stars with an album to sell) and more Hollywood celebrities (ditto).\nWhites (ABC1, Thu Mar 10, 9.30pm) is a new BBC comedy that shouldn’t be missed. Set in the kitchen of a country hotel, it’s written by comedic actors Oliver Lansley ( FM ) and Matt King ( Peep Show ) and stars Alan Davies and Katherine Parkinson ( The IT Crowd ). Not one-liner, laugh out loud funny but good for a chuckle.\nAlso coming are Harry’s Law (WIN, Sun Mar 6, 9.30pm) – a new legal dramedy (go figure) from David E. Kelley starring Kathy Bates as a curmudgeonly patent lawyer, and new seasons of Deadwood (ABC2, Mon Mar 14, 9.30pm), Being Human (ABC2, Fri Mar 18, 8.30pm) and The Tudors (ABC2, Fri Mar 18, 9.30pm).\nRe-enchantment (ABC2, Sun Mar 6, 4.30pm and 10.30pm) is a new cross-media documentary that explores why fairytales continue to enchant and horrify adult audiences. They will be aired on TV as three minute animations between programs, with an interactive online documentary available at www.abc.net/tv/re-enchantment and sound recordings of the fairytales on ABC Radio National's Sunday Story (ABC Radio National, Sun, 8.30am).\nOther docos to look out for include How Earth Made Us (ABC1, Tue Mar 8, 8.30pm), a five parter about how the Earth’s natural forces have shaped human civilisation, The Stonewall Uprising (SBS1, Tue Mar 15, 10.05pm) which looks at the beginning of the gay rights movement in the US, Jennifer Byrne Presents: Cult Reads (ABC1, Tue Mar 15, 10pm) and Raw Opium (SBS1, Sun Mar 6, 9.30pm) which charts the history of opium.\nDog lovers will be happy to see Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan (ABC1, Mon Mar 7, 6.30pm). Blackbox is particularly keen to see the ferocious chihuahua in episode one.\nHot tip: avoid GEM on Thursdays unless you are watching with your Nanna. It’s heavy on the old lady comedy with As Time Goes By (GEM, Thu, 7.30pm), The Golden Girls (GEM, Thu, 8.30pm) and Hot in Cleveland (GEM, Thu, 9pm). Saving grace? Judi Dench and Betty White.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 15 February 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 11 months ago\nThe comedian hosted talk show or variety show, the mainstay of American television, has been a bit of a hit and miss affair on Australian screens. Graham Kennedy was very good at it in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Steve Vizard made a ham-fisted yet successful attempt at pretending to be David Letterman back before most Australians knew who David Letterman was, The Panel turned the format on its head in the ‘90s with five interviewers and Andrew Denton who owned their timeslots for the best part of the last decade.* They were the successful ones. The gutters of TV guides are littered with the wreckage of the ones that didn’t make the grade and over the past few years the networks have been content to recycle the US and UK products, albeit days late, rendering many of the monologues pointless.\nThis week two new local shows hit our screens – Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm) and Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth (WIN, Tue, 9.30pm). One tanked. The other didn’t. Hills’ show – a mix of the variety, talk and quirk – was a riveting affair, drawing on Hills’ own personality and self-deprecating humour. The show-warming gifts from studio guests were inspired. Then there was the brilliant homage to the studio’s former resident show, Countdown – James Reyne performed the Dragon track April Sun in Cuba on the stage it was performed more than a quarter of a century before. It’s proof that the key to Spick and Specks’ success is at least partially due to Hills. Elton’s show, billed as a live variety show had a few moments of humour but not enough to keep remote control fingers from walking. Elton is a brilliant comedic writer, behind some of the UK’s best cult comedies – The Young Ones and Blackadder among them – and an inspired writer and novelist – Stark, Gridlock, Dead Famous, High Society and the musical We Will Rock You. As a stand-up comic he is hit and miss and as an actor, barely watchable. Live from Planet Earth was proof Elton should stick to making his name from behind the typewriter.\nThe Underbelly franchise, unable to find enough crime for a whole series this year, has gone to telemovies. Look out for Underbelly Files: Infiltration (WIN, Sun Feb 20, 8.30pm), and The Man Who Got Away (WIN, Sun Feb 27, 8.30pm).\nLaid (ABC1, Wed, 9.30pm), created by triple j it girl Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher, is the best new show on television. Its black humour and tightly written scripts make it a must on your viewing schedule (or catch up TV list).\nThe best of the other newbies include Mike & Molly (WIN, Wed, 8pm), $#*! My Dad Says (WIN, Mon, 8pm), Ugly Americans (SBS1, Mon, 10pm) and the two new episodes a week of The Big Bang Theory (WIN, Tue-Wed, 7.30pm).\nNot shy of controversy, Auntie’s spiritual series Compass (ABC1, Sun, 10.20pm) sits down with some notable Australians including Philip Nitschke, Rolf de Heer, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and Clare Bowditch. Don’t miss The Filth and The Fury (ABC2, Wed Feb 23, 8.30pm), Julien Temple’s bookend to The Sex Pistols. Tip – watch The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle first so you know why John Lydon is such a cranky bastard.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\[email protected]\n*For one of the best talk shows of all time, Blackbox recommends scouring the internet for The Henry Rollins Show. Paradoxically it’s available from the iTunes store.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 1 February 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 5 years, 11 months ago\nWhat a difference a decade makes. Regular readers will recognise Blackbox as a not so closeted Star Trekfan. A fan, not a Trekkie (the life-size cardboard cut out Worf in the lounge room belonged to a housemate, honest). Despite this proclivity, Blackbox was fond of telling all in sundry that the best part of Star Trek 7is that Captain Kirk dies twice. Sure, William Shatner’s camp bravado in the original series is iconic but when the plots and props moved beyond cardboard and alfoil, Shatner was done (his cover of Common People aside – fans should check out his original spoken word experiment – The Transformed Man – a regular feature on worst albums of all time lists). The final nail was his woeful, short-lived run hosting the US version of Iron Chef. Then something happened. Shatner discovered his funny bone. One of the most parodied actors in history learnt to play characters that were the butt of everybody’s jokes. A couple of hilarious turns in the Miss Congenialityfilms and Shatner found his true calling as Denny Crane on Boston Legal. Which is what makes $#*! My Dad Says(WIN, Mon, 7.30pm) worth the effort. Based on the Shit my Dad Says Twitter feed, the show has all the makings of a cult classic – panned by critics and with Shatner at his comic best.\nSpeaking of shows with a post-modern premise, keep your eyes peeled forEpisodes, a new comedy based on the premise of remaking a high brow British comedy for American TV by putting Matt LeBlanc in the lead role. It’s a co-production with the BBC from the writers of Friendsand Mad About You. Sadly, there’s no news yet on who will air it in Australia.\nWhile the schedules are mostly full of returning shows, there are a few newbies worth a look, including Blue Bloods(SCTEN, Wed Feb 9, 8.30pm) – an NYC police drama starring Tom Selleck and Donny Wahlberg, Laid(ABC1, Wed Feb 9, 9.30pm) – a new ABC dramedy about Roo, played by Alison Bell, who thinks she might be causing her exes to die, andAdam Hill in Gordon Street tonight(ABC1, Wed Feb 9, 9.30pm), auntie’s new talk show.\nDocos to look out for include Franco Zeffirelli(SBS1, Sat Feb 5, 2.30pm) which looks at the work of the renowned director, Once Upon a Time… Mon Oncle(SBS1, Sat Feb 5, 3.30pm) which follows the life of French comic genius Jacques Tati, Snake Island(Prime, Sat Feb 19) which looks at the wildlife on the island of Niue, The Romantics(ABC2, Sun Feb 13, 8.30pm) – a series about modern imagination, the poets who pioneered an alternative way of living, 6ftHick(ABC2, Wed Feb 16, 9.30pm) which follows one of Australia’s most prolific underground bands as they negotiate the low budget, truly indie way of doing things and The Future of Food(SBS1, Tue Feb 8, 8.30pm) which looks at the growing global food crisis.\nJust when you committed to less gluttony and more exercise, a new raft of cooking programs hits the box. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations(SBS1, Thu, 8.30pm) where the author takes on what must really be the perfect job – touring the world in search of the best dining experience, and Zumbo(SBS1, Thu Feb 17, 7.30pm) about desserts not exercise.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 18 January 11 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years ago\nThe launch of SCTEN’s new digital channel, 11, on January 11 (not at 11pm, because that wouldn’t really give you bang for your buck), should have been the biggest news. But it isn’t. Like most of the other networks, SCTEN is yet to decide which of its myriad of new programs will go to air, on which channels and when. There are of course a few exceptions, with TEN stable favourites such as Californication (11, Tue, 10.05pm), Dexter (11, Mon, 9.30pm) and 90210 (11, Fri, 7.30pm) making the move to 11.\nIt seems that, just like over on Go!, there are theme nights. Wednesday is animation night with Futurama (11, Wed, 8pm), The Simpsons (11, Wed, 8.30pm), The Cleveland Show (11, Wed, 8pm) resurrected from the SKIP bin, Bob’s Burgers (11, Wed, 8pm) – a new animation from Loren Bouchard (Dr Katz) fast-tracked from the US and King of the Hill (11, Wed, 10pm). No sign of Daria on any of the networks yet but fans will be happy to know that a DVD is available on import from the US (and pretty cheaply at the moment too – thanks to the inexplicable forces that decide the exchange rate). Thursday is sci-fi night on 11, which goes a little bit retro, back to when CGI budgets were huge and TV budgets were not – Star Trek Next Generation (11, Thu, 9.30pm) whose storylines and characters loomed larger than its special effects, follows the already discontinued Stargate Universe (11, Thu, 8.30pm), with the Scottish bravado of Robert Carlisle.\nThe big news though is over at Aunty – starting with the awesome Generation Kill (ABC2, Mon, 9.30pm), a Rolling Stone reporter’s tale of the first Gulf War from the team behind The Wire and starring everybody’s fave vampire Alexander Skarsgård. As much a war drama as The Wire was a cop show. There’s also the much lauded The Tudors (ABC2, Fri, 9.30pm) and Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention (ABC1, Sun, 6.30pm) in which our favourite clay characters explore the history of inventions.\nIf you a) didn’t get a Big Day Out ticket, b) are avoiding misdirected bogan pride or c) need a break from the triple j Hottest 100 on Australia Day, chuck a ‘shrimp’ on the barby, grab a cold beer and watch Barry Humphries’ Flashbacks (7TWO, Wed Jan 26, 2pm), Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon (SBS1, Wed Jan 26, 8.30pm) which follows the Aussie journo who became the queen of infamous NY club Max’s Kansas City, Salute (ABC2, Wed Jan 26, 9.30pm) which chronicles Australian Peter Norman’s involvement in the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics and for some fun there’s The Wiggles Australia Day Concert (ABC2, Wed Jan 26, 10am), Australia Celebrates (ABC1, Tue Jan 25, 8.30pm) if you can’t be bothered going to Commonwealth Place and Spicks and Specks Australiana Special (ABC1, Wed Jan 26, 9.30pm).\nElsewhere the Chaser’s CNNNN (7mate, Mon Jan 31, 10.30pm) makes its way onto commercial TV, Xena – Warrior Princess (7mate, Thu Feb 3, 3pm) makes a comeback, there’s a new season of Big Love (SBS1, Wed Feb 2, 8.30pm), Retouches (SBS1, Sat Feb 1, 2.20pm) which is a Canadian animation, Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (SCTEN, Wed Jan 19 – Fri Jan 21, 7.30pm), 6PM with George Negus (SCTEN, Mon Jan 24, 6pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 7 December 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 1 month ago\nAs the party season ramps up, the last thing to worry about while you’re sipping your sixth chocolate martini is whether you remembered to record the 21st repeat of Big Bang Theory (Go!, Thu, 8.30pm) with the napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy. Fortunately there’s a myriad of places to source them. If you just want to see what happened and don’t care about getting a whole episode at once or the quality there’s always YouTube. ABC’s iView has been providing short term access to streams of aunty’s popular programs for a couple of years now (abc.net.au) as well as downloadable podcasts of its own shows such as this year’s best new Aussie show, Rake (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm). The SBS folks also post some of their programs (player.sbs.com.au). SCTEN has streams of some of its shows on its site (ten.com.au) as does WIN on its TVfix site (fixplay.ninemsn.com.au) along with shows such as Mad Men and Dr Who that have aired on other networks. Seven does the same (au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7). So if you don’t have internet on the telly yet, send Santa a letter just like Blackbox did. After all lying on the couch is the way the box was meant to be watched.\nThe extra channels mean this year’s Santa Watch is about to go into overdrive with cartoons for kids and adults alike such as American Dad (Prime, Wed Dec 15, 9pm), The Flintstones, Yogi’s First Christmas, Caper’s First Christmas and Looney Tunes Christmas Tales (Go!, Sat Dec 25, from 9.30), South Park (Go!, Sat Dec 25, 10.25pm).\nThose with the Christmas spirit will love Merry Christmas, Mr Bean (ABC2, Thu Dec 23, 9.30pm), Xtras: Xmas 2007 Special (ABC2, Sat Dec 25, 10pm), A Very Specky Christmas (ABC1, Fri Dec 24, 8.30pm and Sat Dec 25, 10am), Catherine Tate: Nan’s Christmas Card (ABC2, Fri Dec 24, 9.30pm), The Vicar of Dibley (Prime, Sun Dec 12, 6.30pm), Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (7TWO, Mon Dec 13, 7pm), To the Manor Born (7TWO, Tue Dec 14, 7pm), Are You Being Served? (7TWO, Wed Dec 15, 7.30pm), Seinfeld (Go!, Tue Dec 21, 8pm), Bewitched, Married with Children, Just Shoot Me and The Dukes of Hazzard (Go!, Sat Dec 25, from 2pm) and Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat Dec 25, 7.30pm).\nThe traditionalists haven’t been forgotten with Carols from St Mary’s Cathedral (ABC1, Fri Dec 24, 7.30pm), The Queen’s Christmas Message (ABC1, Sat Dec 25, 7.20pm), The Pope’s Christmas Mass (Sat Dec 25, 11am), Carols in the Domain (Prime, Sat Dec 18, 8.30pm) and It’s a Wonderful Life (ABC1, Sat Dec 18, 8.30pm).\nIf you’re looking for entertainment while you wrap Auntie Marge’s gift basket there are a plethora of Christmas movies such as Deck the Halls (Go!, Fri Dec 24, 7pm) and Bad Santa (Go!, Fri Dec 24, 9pm) or the food oriented Willie’s Perfect Chocolate Christmas (ABC1, Mon Dec 27, 9.35pm) and Heston Blumenthal’s Perfect Christmas (ABC2, Sun Dec 12, 6pm).\nDon’t miss Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (ABC1, Sun Dec 26, 7.30pm), fast-tracked from the UK, The Whitlams and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (ABC2, Sun Dec 12, 7.30pm) and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (ABC2, Fri Dec 17, 8.30pm).\nIf you’re over Santa, there’s always the cricket – Boxing Day Test (WIN / GEM, Sun Dec 26, 10.30am), Pete Helliar’s new quiz show The Trophy Room (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm) or the movies – let Margaret and David tell you how – At the Movies Summer Special (ABC1, Sun Dec 14, 6pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 23 November 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 2 months ago\nDespite the fact it still feels like winter most days, summer is less than a week away and in TVland that means three things – a mad rush to tie up the good shows, the start of the b-grade summer shows and lots and lots of cricket. In fact Richie and the rest of the Channel 9 commentary team pull off the covers with the first Ashes Test (GEM, Thu Nov 25, 10.30am).\nIf you can’t wait – FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022 host announcement (SBS1, Fri Dec 2, 1.55am).\nThose addicted to Deadwood (which seems to have dropped from our screens) should check out a classic for comparison – The Man who shot Liberty Valance (ABC2, Sat Dec 11, 8.30pm) with James Stewart, John Wayne and Lee Marvin is a good place to start.\nOne of the surprises of this year has been The Big C (GEM, Wed, 9.30pm), an engaging dramedy with just the right amount of quirkiness. A cast that includes Laura Linney, Oliver Platt, Gabourey Sidibe and Idris Elba certainly helps. Weeds (GEM, Wed, 10pm) hasn’t fared so well since it took on the Desperate Housewives style of scriptwriting – suspension of disbelief is had when the storyline is ridiculous.\nBlackbox mused last fortnight that there was no stone left unturned in the pursuit of observational docos. Blackbox was wrong. SAS: The Search for Warriors (SBS1, Tue Dec 7, 8.30pm) follows SAS hopefuls as they try out for the elite fighting force.\nBest non-ratings news so far is that 7Mate is replaying The Shield (7Mate, Mon Dec 6, 9.30pm) from Season 1 and Prime will air the new Jimmy Smits legal drama Outlaw (Prime, Mon Nov 29, 9.30pm). Elsewhere it’s all about docos, travel, music and food… as it should be at this time of year.\nThe musical brush is broad starting with Blur: No Distance Left to Run (ABC2, Fri Dec 10, 8.30pm) which tells the band’s story and is followed by Blur: Live at Hyde Park (ABC2, Fri Dec 10, 10:05pm), filmed during their 2009 reunion tour. One musically themed show not to miss is Lennon Naked (ABC2, Sun Dec 5, 8.30pm) – a biopic of Lennon’s post-Beatles life starring Christopher Eccleston. There’s also Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones 1972 Concert (ABC2, Fri Dec 3, 9.30pm), Live at the Chapel presents Lady Gaga (Go!, Sun Nov 28, 1pm) and Sony Music Special: Jimi Hendrix (Go!, Sun Nov 28, 1.30pm).\nFor the gastronomes there’s Rene Redzepi’s Noma (SBS1, Thu Nov 25, 7.30pm) which looks at the world’s number one restaurant, Copenhagen’s Noma, Neil Morrissey’s Risky Business (SBS1, Thu Nov 25, 8.30pm) that follows Neil Morrissey on his quest to open a micro brewery, Willie’s Chocolate Revolution (ABC2, Mon Dec 6, 9.30pm) and a second series of Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam (SBS1, Thu Dec 9, 7.30pm).\nThose with the travel bug will appreciate High Road, Low Road (Prime, Sat Dec 4, 7pm) which looks at the luxury and budget options for exploring California, Making Tracks (SCTEN, Sat, 4.30pm) which takes us on a tour of Australia, repeats of Great British Journeys (7TWO, Sun Nov 28, 9.45pm) follows the routes of Britain’s explorers, Escape to the Sun (7TWO, Sun Nov 28, 10.45pm) which puts a microscope on Benidorm in Spain.\nBest schedule find: Wacky Races (Go!, Sun, 11am) – the original with Dick Dastardly and co.\nNCIS (SCTEN, Tue, 8.30pm) fans shouldn’t miss Good News Week (SCTEN, Mon Nov 29, 9.30pm) with Pauly Perrette as guest.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 9 November 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 2 months ago\nLots of the new Australian offerings this year have been a bit of a disappointment – think Cops LAC (WIN, Thu, 9.30pm) – and the tradition of great Aussie dramedy, so beautifully weaving cynicism, humour and quirkiness through the fabric of well written drama, seems to have dropped from our screens. Offspring (SCTEN, Sun, 8.30pm) is better viewing than most but it’s trying to cram too many different ideas and reveals into each character and episode and then just moving on to a new set without exploring the first. There is hope. Rake (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm) is superb. In a role that seems written for him, the inimitable Richard Roxborough plays a morally bankrupt barrister who doesn’t care about justice but believes in the law. He’s in love with a prostitute, gets relationship advice from his psychologist ex and is being pursued by the tax department. But that’s just the backstory – the characterisations are quirky yet sublime and the dialogue razor sharp. Must watch TV at Chez Blackbox.\nJust when you thought they’d run out of ideas for observational docos – William McInnes narrates The Enforcers (WIN, Sun Nov 14, 6.30pm) which follows council rangers. Mary Queen of Shops (GEM, Thu Nov 18, 8.30pm) tries to turn around struggling fashion boutiques. What next? Filming Blackbox watching telly and going to the shop for chocolate?\nTrue Stories (ABC, Wed, 8.30pm) delves into the cinematic realm to discover the real stories that inspired celluloid classics such as The Hunt for Red October, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Exorcist and The Silence of the Lambs. Funny how the truth inspires some of the best films.\nThere’s some classic cinema coming up including Pink Panther (ABC2, Sat Nov 13, 8.30pm) and The Red Riding Trilogy (SBS1, Tue-Thu Nov 16-18, 10pm).\nConan (GEM, Tue – Fri, 11.30pm), which is being ‘fast tracked’ has some interesting musical guests including Jack White, Soundgarden and Fistful of Mercy.\nA Small Act (ABC1, Mon Nov 25, 9.30pm) should be mandatory viewing – it tells the story of just how successful programs to sponsor children in impoverished countries have become. Chris Mburu was a sponsored child. Now a human rights lawyer working for the UN, he has started his own scholarship fund. Powerful stuff. You really can make a difference.\nDocos to look out for include an African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby (ABC1, Tue, 8.30pm), another instalment of Jennifer Byrne presents Graphic Novels with Nicki Greenberg, Bruce Mutard, Eddie Campbell and Sophie Cunningham (ABC1, Tue Nov 16, 10pm), JFK: 3 shots that changed America (SBS1, Tue Nov 23, 10pm) – a two parter, and Manson (SBS1, Sun Nov 14, 9.30pm) which features interviews with key players.\nDon’t miss Powderfinger: The Final Odyssey (ABC1, Thu Nov 11, 9.30pm) which includes live and behind the scenes footage of their final tour, and William Shatner’s Weird or What? (SBS1, Mon Nov 15, 7.30pm).\nSci-fi fans who can’t afford the DVD will be happy to hear 7Mate is airing the rest of the final season of Stargate Atlantis (7Mate, Thu Nov 25, 8.30pm).\nGeorge Negus fronts his last episode of Dateline (SBS1, Sun Nov 21, 8.30pm).\nBest news? The final of X Factor (Prime, Mon Nov 22, 7.30pm). Interestingly the final of Iron Chef Australia (Prime, Tue, 7.30pm) which only just started is slated to air next week.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 26 October 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 2 months ago\n“The British are coming, the British are coming,” was the infamous cry of the horseman Paul Revere. It appears the Boston blacksmith and sometimes town crier, immortalised in a Beastie Boys tune, was on the money. Sherlock, which aired last week on WIN, was an ambitious contemporary re-imagining of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic tale. And despite the mini-series style format requiring quite an investment, Chez Blackbox was in its grip. Attention to detail gave just the right balance of 21st century pace and Victorian sensibility. From the grey tonal production palette to Sherlock running around London’s cobbled streets in a trench coat sending texts on a mobile phone. Despite the same production palette and location, the ultra modern British spy drama Spooks (ABC1, Sat Oct 30, 8.30pm), now in its ninth season in Britain, is very different, yet equally compelling viewing. Aunty is about to air the eighth season here and regular viewers will remember the seventh season ended with Harry kidnapped by Russian agents, following the revelation of a decades old intelligence leak.\nThe ‘80s have come in for a lot of ridicule over the past few years as ‘80s shows full of bleached perms and overdone blush are re-aired but a similar ‘90s phenomenon is beginning to take shape. You just need to look at Elaine’s long skirts and boots on Seinfeld (Go!, Mon-Fri, 12.30pm and Sat, 3pm) and the dark brown lipstick of all the female Friends (GEM, Mon-Fri, 6.30pm) to see just where this year’s fashion inspiration is coming from.\nIf you really want to ridicule a classic and much referenced TV fave, tune in to a repeat of the Mythbusters: MacGyver Special (SBS1, Mon Nov 8, 7.30pm).\nDocos to look out for include A Ripple of Hope (ABC1, Thu Oct 28, 9.25pm) which looks at Robert F. Kennedy’s decision to continue with an appearance in an African-American neighbourhood on the day Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated, A History of Scotland (SBS1, Sun, 7.30pm), The Lancaster at War (SBS1, Fri Oct 29, 8.30pm) which looks at the bomber’s role in WWII, a new series of Sleek Geeks (ABC1, Thu Nov 11, 8pm) with Adam Spencer and Dr Karl, I, Spry: The Rise and Fall of a Master Spy (ABC1, Thu Nov 4, 9.25pm) about ASIO in the 1950s from the makers of The Prime Minister is Missing, Chevolution (SBS1, Tue Nov 9, 10pm) which explores how a portrait of Che Guevara taken in 1960 has become one of the most reproduced images in the history of photography, Obama and Me (SBS2, Thu Nov 11, 7.30pm) which follows the lives of six ordinary Americans in the year after Obama was elected and Outrage (SBS1, Tue Nov 2, 10pm) about the movement to ‘out’ gay politicians who campaign against gay rights.\nChoose new episodes of The Big Bang Theory (WIN, Wed, 8.30pm) over the much more contrived and unrealistic Beauty and the Geek Australia (Prime, Thu Nov 4, 8.30pm).\nIf you couldn’t be bothered trick or treating, settle in for Francis Ford Coppola’s Dementia 13 (ABC2, Sat Oct 30, 8.30pm), Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Halloween Party (ABC1, Sun Oct 31, 8.35pm) and Scary Movie (Go!, Sun Oct 31, 9.30pm).\nDon’t miss Adam Hills Live: Joymonger and Characterful (ABC2, Thu Oct 28, 9.30pm), the Season 2 final of Mad Men (SBS1, Sun Nov 7, 9.30pm) and The Melbourne Cup (Prime, Tue Nov 2).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 12 October 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 3 months ago\nNow that the school carnival of the good old British Empire is over, it’s time for a new free-to-air scheduling bonanza… you can just feel the anticipation building in the air as the networks fill their listings with three little letters that cause conniption fits in TV columnists everywhere – TBA. Sure, the scheduling folks don’t want to be gazumped by other networks but if they don’t let the punters know something is on, how do they expect it to rate? With 14 channels to flick through, the odds of random discovery are getting longer. Confirmed returns include Top Gear Australia (WIN, Tue Oct 19, 7.30pm) and Glee (SCTEN, Wed, 7.30pm) and new NCIS (SCTEN, Tue Oct 19, 8.30pm).\nBlackbox has a new bipartisan project idea for WIN and Prime – setup a new digi channel – call it Retro and raid the Go! and 7mate archives for our fave ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s TV shows and no, not Hey, Hey It’s Saturday (WIN, Sat Oct 16, 7.30pm) which has thankfully returned to its proper timeslot. Shows such as Starsky and Hutch (Go!, Mon-Fri, 2pm), Miami Vice (7Mate, Tues, 12pm) and Thunderbirds (Go!, Sat Oct 16, 6am). Of course for an authentic viewing experience, you’ll need an old school cathode ray telly and a bean bag.\nThere are even some retro movies popping up outside of auntie’s Classic Cinema Seasons (ABC2, Sat, 8.30pm) including Goodfellas (Gem, Fri Oct 15, 8.30pm), Police Academy (Go!, Fri Oct 15, 9.30pm) and Jaws (SCTEN, Sat Oct 23, 8.45pm).\nOne thing is certain in the new digital paradigm, food is the new lifestyle/reality topic du jour – SCTEN has been banging on for weeks with ads for Junior Masterchef (SCTEN, Sun, Mon, 7.30pm) and WIN will topple the BMA server if they don’t stop putting out media releases about the impending arrival of Iron Chef Australia (WIN, TBA).\nOf course there is some non-foodie fare, including Keeping up with the Joneses (SCTEN, Thu Oct 14, 9pm) – a kind of claytons Aussie equivalent of Keeping up with the Kardashians (Prime, Tue, 10.30pm) when you can’t get the Irwins.\nSure The Bill (ABC1, Sat, 8.30pm) lost all relevance once it became a soap opera for the blue rinse set but once upon a time it was a witty and engaging low budget drama about the conmen and garden variety criminals of London. Fans from those days may want to give Farewell The Bill (ABC1, Sat Oct 23, 8.30pm) a look.\nDocos this fortnight include Cleopatra, Portrait of a Killer (ABC1, Thu Oct 21, 9.30pm), Kevin McCloud Slumming It (ABC1, Tue Oct 26, 8.30pm) which takes Kevin, of Grand Designs fame, to Mumbai’s slums, Tibetan Eldorado (ABC1, Thu Oct 28, 8.30pm) which looks at a rare Tibetan animal-plant, prized by Asian pharmaceutical companies as the Viagra of the Himalayas, A History of Scotland (SBS1, Sun Oct 24, 7.30pm), The Virtual Revolution (SBS1, Tue Oct 26, 8.30pm) which marks 20 years of the webiverse.\nOther stuff to catch – Rockwiz on the Road (SBS1, Sat Oct 16, 9.20pm), the season final of Deadwood (ABC2, Tue Oct 19, 9.30pm) and Sherlock (WIN, Sun Oct 17, 8.30pm).\nIf you have a really good road trip story that deserves to be in Wide Open Road, the new doco series from the makers of Long Way to the Top, visit abc.net.au/tv/wideopenroad .\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 28 September 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 3 months ago\nJust when you thought you wouldn’t have to touch the set top box for a while, WIN launches its new channel, GEM. Like 7Mate it’s pitched at a fairly specific demographic – 35+ women. Apparently Gen X must be more fond of a night in, curled up in front of the telly than out at a show – this may come as news to the rapidly expanding touring schedule also squarely pitched at the slacker generation (Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins…). Having said that, GEM features quite a few ‘90s classics such as Friends (GEM, Mon-Fri, 6.30pm), a plethora of reality shows such as Holiday Showdown (GEM, Fri, 8pm) and a smattering of new shows, the most notable of which is The Big C (GEM, Wed Sep 29, 9.30pm) a comedy about dealing with cancer – Showtime quality, not Hallmark.\nThe folks at SCTEN won’t be launching their new channel, 11, until next year. In the meantime, budding screenwriters and doco makers will have the chance to get their series and special ideas on air with the Eleven out of Ten development initiative. You need to write a three-page pitch outline of your idea and submit an entry form by Friday October 15. Details at http://conference.spaa.org.au\nThe 7Mate schedule is shaping up nicely with the inclusion of some classic ‘70s fare with the likes of The A Team (7Mate, Sun, 5pm) with Mr T and Knight Rider (7Mate, Sun, 4pm) with The Hoff. Blackbox is still waiting for Logan’s Run and Blake’s 7. The pick of their new shows is Caprica (7Mate, Thu, 9.30pm), the prequel to Battlestar Galactica.\nFans of The Wire won’t want to miss Luther (ABC1, Fri Oct 15, 8.30pm), a psychological thriller starring Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) as a tormented detective.\nSeptember/October means sport and with that heralding a telly phenomenon waaaaay older than BMA – the program tie in. There hasn’t been a locally produced show on Prime or WIN that hasn’t has a footy finals tie-in. There’s even been a news tie-in with the Saints and Pies draw. And it doesn’t stop there. The Bathurst 1000 (Prime, Sun Oct 10, 7.30am) has Better Homes and Gardens – The Fast Show (Prime, Fri Oct 8, 7.30pm) and The Commonwealth Games (SCTEN, One Sun Oct 3-Thu Oct14, from 12pm daily) has Learn India with Hamish and Andy (SCTEN, Sun Oct 3, 7.30pm).\nDon’t miss Pure Pwange (ABC2, Mon Oct 4, 9.05pm) a mockumentary about Jeremy aka the_pwnerer, an obsessive video gamer.\nWith the 50th anniversary of JFK’s election as US president, expect to see quite a few docos and other conspiracy-related fare about what happened in the book depository, including Virtual JFK: Vietnam if JFK Had Lived (SBS1, Tue Oct 12, 10pm) and the movie JFK: Complete and Uncut (GEM, Sat Oct 9, 8.30pm).\nDocos to look out for include Dawn Porter: Extreme Wife (Prime, Tue Oct 5, 11pm), which starts with mail order brides, The Great Escape: China’s Long March (ABC1, Thu Oct 14, 9.30pm) and Tank on the Moon (ABC1, Thu Oct 7, 9.30pm).\nOther stuff to put on your radar – new seasons of Supersizers Go… (SBS1, Thu Oct 7, 8.30pm) starting with …‘80s and …Medieval, The Librarians (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm), The IT Crowd (ABC1, Wed Oct 6, 9pm), Dylan Moran: Like Totally (ABC2, Thu Oct 14, 9.30pm), and Rude Boy Food (ABC2, Fri Oct 8, 6pm) with tips on West Indian cookery.\nBest Movie Line Up of the Month: Go, Friday October 8 – Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (6pm), Kangaroo Jack (7.30pm – so bad it’s good), Little Shop of Horrors (9.20pm – so good it’s bad) and Helter Skelter (11.20pm – just bad)… and if you’re still up Star Trek Deep Space Nine (2am) [as the father said to his newborn – that’s a lot of poo in one night – Bossman]\n \nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 15 September 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 4 months ago\nPrime’s fourth digi channel, 7mate (ch63) launches on September 25 with the AFL Grand Final. If you can get past the stupid name and even more ridiculous promo, you’ll find a pretty decent line-up.\nSure, the schedule’s not littered with chick flicks but Blackbox is pretty sure those of us ‘burdened’ by two X chromosomes will feature quite heavily amongst the Family Guy audience. And the audience for Jersey Shore. And The Situation is just as funny to those of us who sit down to pee. Other shows slated for the bloke’s channel, but not yet scheduled, include American Dad, Last Comic Standing, Crank Yankers, Stargate Atlantis; sci-fi series Caprica; adventure series Warehouse 13 and Fifth Gear; factual series such as Life After People, The Boneyard, Ax Man, Mega Moves, Mega Structures; and observational doco cult classic Pawn Stars (yes that p-a-w-n – the shops that give you money for your useless junk). Even some of the more blokey reality fare may attract the women. After all, who doesn’t want to see just what all the fuss over Monster Garage’s Jesse James is about? So far the confirmed line-up consists of Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels (7mate, Sat Sep 25, 6.30pm) having a crack at being another Osbournes but the star (and his family) aren’t quite as loopy, and Punk’d (7mate, Sat Sep 25, 8.30pm). So now we’ve got a channel for the blokes, two channels for foreign movie buffs, two kids’ channels, a news channel, a sports channel, two channels aimed squarely at Gen X-Y (Go!, ABC2) and a channel for old people (7TWO). What we’re missing is a quality drama channel (HBO and Showtime hybrid for free?) and a sci-fi channel. Of course what we’ll likely get is more sport and crappy movies.\nIf you’ve got a regular telly instead of a swanky new plasma that you can’t fit in the loungeroom, and your furniture is the outcasts from mum’s garage, you may just think you’ve stepped out of a tardis and into the ‘80s this week. Stop. Rewind (ABC2, Wed Sep 21, 6pm) takes us on a journey through the ‘80s imagining of the future; Heston’s 80s Feast (SBS1, Thu Sep 23, 8.30pm) uses all the ‘80s kitchen gadgetry, and Spicks and Specks (ABC1, Wed Sep 22, 8.30pm) does Australiana.\nThings are getting even worse with Iron Chef Australia – the network has announced Grant Denyer as host. Surely one of the out-of-character Chaser boys (or even the human cravat Matt Preston) would be more likely to create the required theatrics.\nFinally, a job for the chic-chic boom girl – as part of the scamming team on The Real Hustle (WIN, Tue, 9pm) hosted by Gyton Grantley while he waits for a real acting job.\nOther new shows include October Road (7TWO, Mon Sep 20, 9.30pm) which follows an author’s re-entry problems when he returns to his home town after a ten-year absence; Hellcats (Go!, Mon, 7.30pm), the cheerleader comedy drifting in on the sequined coat tails of Glee; La La Land (SBS1, Mon, 11pm) a mockumentary about an aspiring actor, a psychic and a doco maker in LA; and The Genius of Design (ABC1, Tue Sep 21, 6pm).\nDon’t miss repeats of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Go!, Wed 12am, 1pm, Sat 2.30am), Thunderbirds (Go!, Sat, Sun 6am), the original Logan’s Run movie (Go!, Sat Sep 25, 11pm) – hopefully the original series isn’t far off – and the new series of Shameless (SBS1, Mon, 10pm).\nCops LAC (WIN, Wed, 8.30pm) is the disappointment of the year – as bland and paint-by-numbers as its title.\nRemember – the Brownlow Medal Count (SCTEN, Mon Sep 20, 11.45pm) is for fans only.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 31 August 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 4 months ago\nThe travel/cooking show, Blackbox’s personal fave, is ubiquitous this season. Jamie Oliver, the socially conscience man who’s shown American school teachers and ‘pie and chips men’ how to cook, is about to embark on Jamie’s Food Escapes (SCTEN, Fri, 7.30pm). He joins a schedule packed with galloping gourmets including Made in Spain with Jose Andres (SBS1, Wed Sep 1, 6.30pm), Food Trip With Todd English (SBS1, Thu Sep 2, 6.30pm), Taste Takes Off with Peta Mathias (SBS1, Fri Sep 3, 6.30pm), Food Safari (SBS1, Thu Sep 2, 7.30pm), Annabel Langbein: The Free Range Cook (ABC1, Sat Sep 4, 6pm) and Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam (SBS1, Thu Sep 2, 8pm).\nIn the end though, nothing can beat the pure theatre of Iron Chef (SBS1, Sat, 8.30pm), the Japanese one of course. The American version a few years back was a disaster because the gravitas of a kitchen stadium challenge is best experienced in a Japanese context with some kind of urchin as the theme ingredient – even the comic genius of host William Shatner couldn’t prevent a flop. Unfortunately such news seems to have been lost on the network execs at prime. Iron Chef Australia (Prime, TBA), featuring Neil Perry, Guy Grossi and Guillaume Brahimi is slated to launch soon.\nThere is some good news this week though with the start of the new season of Breaking Bad (ABC2, Fri Sep 3, 9.30pm) and the post-election return of United States of Tara (ABC1, Wed Sep 1, 8.30pm).\nAmong the new shows on the box over the next couple of weeks you’ll find Horne and Corne (ABC2, Thu Sep 2, 9pm) a sketch comedy starring the two guys from Gavin and Stacey which looks much funnier than that show partly set in the (caretaker) PM’s hometown; Gary: Tank Commander (ABC2, Thu Sep 2, 9.30pm) a six-part British dramedy about a returned soldier from Iraq adjusting to life in the barracks; Keeping Up with the Kardashians (Prime, Thu, 10.30pm) the ultimate in trashy US celeb observational docos (at least since Osbournes gave up); Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow (ABC1, Sat Sep 18, 9.20pm) and Parking Wars (Prime, Mon, 10.30pm) – US car chases have nothing on the stupidity of people taking on parking inspectors; it’s a hoot!\nDocos to look out for include Silesia Strips (SBS1, Fri Sep 3, 10pm) about a Polish coal mining area where teenage girls strip to earn an income; The Music Instinct: Science & Song (ABC1, Thu Sep 2, 9.35pm); Life: Creatures of the Deep (ABC1, Sun Sep 12, 7.30pm); Seven Ages of Britain (ABC1, Sep 7, Tue 8.30pm), and Artscape: Obsessed with Walking (ABC1, Tue Sep 14, 10pm) in which cultural provocateur Will Self wanders through LA’s suburbs on a 120 mile trek from LAX to Hollywood.\nAuntie is taking its iView responsibilities seriously with another exclusive – the new cult doco The Vice Guide to Film (iView, Mon Aug 30). Eps include a visit to Kim Jong Il’s film studio and the Narco Cinema funded by Mexico’s drug lords. Increase your bandwith now.\nAnyone who’s ever done an Outward Bound course should pencil in The Goodies – Way Outward Bound (ABC2, Mon Sep 6, 8.05pm). And don’t miss The Kirk Douglas Season which starts with Spartacus (ABC2, Sat Sep 11, 8.30pm) or series two of Mad Men (SBS1, Sun, 8.30pm). Avoid: X-Factor (Prime, Mon –Thu, 7.30pm). Kyle Sandilands coming at ya four nights a week… aaaaaaagh.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 17 August 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 5 months ago\nThe monster that ate Canberra is about to make another appearance. Although this time it’s not pink and will be followed by more cameras and mobile TV recording units than anyone has ever seen. Yep, that’s right, the election road show is about to roll into town. And if you’re not a big enough political geek to stand in line on a Canbrrrr-a winter night to get into the National Tally Room, the expanded digital networks have plenty of coverage for you.\nIf you want your coverage with a bit of the everyman edge served up with a smattering of political commentary, try Election 2010: Australia Decides (WIN, Sat Aug 21, 5pm) with Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson and Laurie Oakes (and hopefully not Mark Latham). Your Call 2010 (Prime, Sat Aug 21, 6.30pm), continues the same theme with Sunrise all-stars Kochie, Mel and Mark Riley.\nOver at Auntie, the election is pretty much the only show in town and you can see the whole thing in HD, complete with the Antony Green whip around the seats with the simulcast of Federal Election 2010 (ABC1, Sat Aug 21, 6pm). SBS are leaving things until closer to the result with World News Australia Election special (SBS1, Sat Aug 21, 8.30pm), and over at Southern Cross TEN they’re starting early with National Election Special (SCTEN, Sat Aug 21, 5.30pm), followed by the only light look at things with The Election Project (SCTEN, Sat Aug 21, 6pm), and then (predictably) Southern Cross TEN bows out and takes viewers to AFL (SCTEN, Sat Aug 21, 6.30pm) to be exact.\nThe big change from last election is the choice for those who just want to wake up in the morning (or next week) and see who won. Apart from the HD channels, the networks have left their secondary airwaves clear of political palaver. The best of the rest includes Once Upon a Time in the West (ABC2, Sat Aug 21, 8.30pm), Blast From the Past (Go!, Sat Aug 21, 6pm) and Wedding Crashers (Go!, Sat Aug 21, 8.30pm).\nIf you’ve always wanted to be a TV star and travel around the world, well here’s your chance! Applications for The Amazing Race Australia http://au.tv.yahoo.com/the-amazing-race/ are now open, but will close Monday, September 6, so hurry. If you’re really desperate to be on telly, and you can’t sing, juggle or travel, there’s a new dating show on Prime. Apply here if you must: http://www.datingshowgranadamedia.com.au/ but Blackbox recommends The Amazing Race Australia. People you like are more likely to watch.\nOffspring (SCTEN, Sun, 8.30pm) is the latest offering from Secret Life of Us, Love My Way and Rush creator John Edwards. Sure, there’s not a lot of action but it is witty and insightful and worth a watch.\nAlso new this week is spy drama Covert Affairs (Prime, Mon, 9.30pm). Not a perfect one, despite its production links to the Bourne Trilogy, but it’s a genre that’s been missing for quite a while.\nSome favourites return to screens in the next few week too: Breaking Bad (ABC2, Fri Sep 3, 9.30pm), The IT Crowd (ABC1, Fri 10.15pm) and, following the post-election end of Yes We Canberra (ABC1, Wed Aug 25, 9.30pm), United States of Tara (ABC1, Wed Sep 1, 9.30pm).\nDocos to look out for include Visions of the Future (ABC1, Thu Aug 26, 8.30pm), The Music Instinct: Science and Song (ABC1, Thu Aug 26, 9.35pm) and Daredevils: The Flying Car (ABC2, Wed Aug 25, 8.30pm).\nDon’t forget to watch the new season of Heston’s Feasts (SBS1, Thu Aug 24, 8.30pm) which begins with recreating Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Oompa Loompas and chocolate waterfalls here we come.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 3 August 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 5 months ago\nHere at Chez Blackbox we love the hoopla and theatre of a federal election campaign; the brief period every few years when everybody wants to speak to the politically astute woman’s crumpet, ABC numbers man Antony Green. But this year, despite our first woman PM, a budgie smuggler wearing opposition leader, and a much happier looking anti-logging warrior, it’s been pretty boring television. Until Wil Anderson and The Chaser got involved. Auntie’s regular Wednesday night line-up is on hold for the election but don’t fret, Spicks and Specks (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm) remains (with a Eurotrash special August 19). It’s followed by a new incarnation of The Gruen Transfer – Gruen Nation (ABC1, Wed, 9pm) which reviews political advertising past and present with the regulars plus a mix of political campaign specialists, political commentators and ex-pollies. John Hewson was very frank on the first show. It’s followed by Yes We Canberra! (ABC1, Wed, 9.45pm), the Chaser’s latest election incarnation which serves as a warm up act for Tony Jones (wearing his Lateline hat). The first episode even garnered them an election scoop – the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons candidate revealed that he’ll be running as an independent. The re-imagined Angry Angus ad is worth the visit to iview alone.\nSpeaking of comics, Jennifer Byrne Presents: Graphic Novels (ABC1, Tue Aug 10, 10.05pm) is the latest in the genre series. Guests include Nicki Greenberg, Bruce Mustard and Eddie Campbell.\nAustralia may not have won the World Cup [or got remotely near – AL] but the attention has meant The World Game (SBS2, Mon, 9.30pm) has graduated to panel show format reviewing the weekend games from the A League and across the world. Yet the same question remains – just what nationality is Les Murray (with apologies to TISM)?\nThe end of Le Tour de France has heralded new seasons of several SBS faves – Mad Men (SBS1, Sun Aug 15, 9.30pm) Man vs Wild (SBS1, Mon Aug 16, 8.30pm) and Heston’s Feasts (SBS1, Thu Aug 19, 8.30pm). Also back is Rush (SCTEN, Thu, 8.30pm), Burn Notice (SCTEN, Thu, 9.30pm) and Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation (SCTEN, Sun, 7.30pm).\nLovers of mysteries would be well advised to check out The Prisoner (ABC1, Sat, 9.20pm). It’s one of a series of interesting BBC dramas over the next few weeks including Criminal Justice (ABC1, Sun Aug 15, 8.30pm) about a woman accused of attempting to murder her husband.\nDocos to check out include Anatomy of a Massacre (ABC1, Thu Aug 12, 9.30pm) about East Timor, Rituals: Around the World in 80 Faiths (SBS1, Fri Aug 20, 7.30pm) which looks at, amongst other things, sacrifices by Voodoo priests and an Australian Indigenous dance, Paparazzi: Next Generation (ABC2, Wed Aug 18, 8.30pm) about the new breed of paps – watch closely for your chance to pursue a career with TMZ, Five Weddings, Five Funerals (ABC2, Wed Aug 18, 9.30pm) about The Black Widow, Betty Neumar.\nIf you haven’t yet caught The Making of Modern Australia (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm) make sure you do – it’s a great mix of archival footage and Australian Story style interviews hung together by the dulcet tones of William McInnes.\nThe Goodies (ABC1, Mon, 8.05pm) has some classics coming up – Blackbox fave The Winter Olympics (Aug 16) gives hope to slothful couch campers everywhere that a good massage can make up for years of no exercise.\nChez Blackbox is now enjoying round the clock ABC News 24 in HD and counting the crow’s feet on Kerry O’Brien. I bet every ABC journo is wishing for a return to old technology right about now.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 21 July 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 6 months ago\nOnce upon a time in a galaxy not so far, far away, ABC was really the only station you actually needed. Auntie’s schedules were overflowing with the best English comedy (Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones and Ab Fab), homegrown hilarity (Australia You’re Standing In It) and it was the home of sci-fi (Dr Who, Blake’s 7), anime (G-Force) and other Asian treats (Monkey). In the early ‘90s the Americans learnt how to do quirky and the local commercial networks were overflowing (Seinfeld, Star Trek Next Generation, X-Files, Twin Peaks). A few years ago when everything headed for pay TV land, Chez Blackbox took an egalitarian stance and waited patiently for a return on the 8c a day investment in our national broadcaster. And it’s come back in spades. In fact, as this week’s schedule proves, you could almost stick with Auntie’s four channels (except for Big Bang Theory [WIN, Mon, 8pm and Go, Sun, 7.40pm and Thu, 8.40pm]). So here are Blackbox’s Top 5 reasons to watch Auntie:\n1. The best of HBO – now that the commercial networks are passing on shows already aired on Pay TV, Auntie is running entire HBO series, without interruption or ads. The latest is the fabulous Deadwood (ABC2, Tue Aug 1, 9.30pm) filling the vacuum left by The Wire. Hopefully the ABC’s letter writers are tucked safely in bed by the time it hits screens as Auntie’s usual language warning will need to be on steroids.\n2. A finger that’s really on the pulse – Jennifer Byrne Presents: Graphic Novels (ABC1, Tue Aug 10, 10.05pm), The Botany of Desire (ABC1, Thu, 9.30pm) which looks at our fave plants from marijuana to potatoes.\n3. The best travel (and adventure) docos – Three Men Go to Ireland (ABC1, Tue Aug 3, 6pm) which follows British comedians Griff Rhys Jones, Dara O’Briain and Rory McGrath on a trek across Ireland, Nicholas Crane’s Britannia (ABC2, Tue, 8.30pm), The Trail of Genghis Khan (ABC2, Wed Jul 28, 8.30pm) which follows Tim Cope across the Eurasian steppe from Mongolia to Hungary.\n3. ABC News 24 launches this week – make sure your TV (or set top box) is HD though – Auntie, not quite totally egalitarian when it comes to news.\n4. Comedy old and new – The Goodies (ABC2, Mon, 8pm) and the Chaser election series Yes We Canberra! (ABC1, Wed, 9.45pm).\n5. iView – if you miss any of the best programs, you can watch them at your leisure.\nElsewhere there’s the fourth series of Skins (SBS1, Mon Jul 26, 10pm), the return of Entourage (SBS1, Mon Jul 26, 10.55pm), new episodes of Man vs Wild (SBS1, Mon Aug 2, 8.30pm) and a new season of Rules of Engagement (SCTEN, Sun Jul 25, 7pm).\nDocos to check out include Dateline: Mothers Against Paco (SBS1, Sun Aug 1, 8.30pm) about Paco, a drug made from the waste of cocaine production, Dateline: Bee Prepared (SBS1, Sun Jul 25, 8.30pm) about the move to allow beekeeping in New York City, Roll In Babies (ABC2, Wed Aug 4, 9.30pm) – a making of doco about the roller skating babies ad that went crazy on YouTube and I Know What I Saw (ABC2, Wed Jul 28, 9.30pm).\nFinally there’s a reason to watch (or record) Better Homes and Gardens (Prime, Fri Jul 23, 7.30pm) as they take a retro approach to decorating (although some of the tips are more ‘80s retro, which is a bit disturbing). The key though is Dr Harry’s spot on retro pets which includes ant farms and sea monkeys.\nDon’t miss Review with Myles Barlow (ABC2, Thu Aug 5, 9.30pm) which covers the topic Killing Kyle Sandilands. ‘Nuff said.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 7 July 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 6 months ago\nLast year’s surprise hit, The Gruen Transfer (ABC1, Wed, 9pm) slipped quietly back to our screens a couple of weeks back and it’s lost none of its wit. Last week’s Pitch for a campaign to justify Western Australia leaving the Commonwealth was a corker. Blackbox is lobbying for the bogan-proof fence. See it here if you missed it: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/thepitch .\nEver noticed that a French accent seems to increase the superiority factor? So it is with much lauded designer Philippe Starck on his very own reality series Design for Life (ABC2, Wed, 8.30pm). He may be the most recognised designer in the world (and second only to architects in a sense of worth to the world), but when Starck screws up his face, shrugs at the contestants’ work and in his thick French accent says “it’s, for me…” you feel their hearts sink. Mind you, at Chez Blackbox there has been quite a bit of yelling at the stupidity of some of the contestants but without the French overtones…\nThis week Rosso embarked on his first free to air solo vehicle since the big Merrick and Rosso split. It’s called Australia Versus (Prime, Tue, 9.30pm) and is a comedy debate between Australian comedians and the international counterparts (well Ireland, England and the US, many of whom already reside in Australia). Each show has a different topic (this week’s is music) and a number of rounds – wildest festival, hottest boy band, best karaoke song (which will no doubt feature that Aussie fave Khe Sanh). Sounds a bit indulgent but so did Thank God You’re Here…\nJust when you thought observational documentary couldn’t get any weirder… The Undercover Princes (ABC2, Wed Jul 21, 8.30pm) follows three bona fide princes (from India, Sri Lanka and South Africa) as they go undercover in Brighton, UK to find Ms Right (and learn how to do their own chores).\nThe biggest treat this week is for Mighty Boosh fans – The Mighty Boosh: A Journey Through Time and Space (SBS1, Mon Jul 12, 10pm). Noel and Julian tell the story behind The Mighty Boosh, visiting important places such as the studio where the radio show was recorded, which is now an organic supermarket.\nFinally a documentary that goes beyond convicts and the ANZAC spirit to look at what shaped the Australia we live in. The Making of Modern Australia (ABC1, Thu Jul 22, 8.30pm) is a four part look at post-war history in Australia, from the childhoods of today’s baby boomers to the national obsession with owning a house. Narrated by William McInness and supported by interviews and archival material.\nOther docos to check out include Life (ABC1, Sun Jul 25, 7.30pm) which boasts stunning nature visuals narrated by David Attenborough, A Good Man (ABC1, Thu Jul 22, 9.30pm) which follows sheep farmer, carer and brothel owner Chris Rohelach, Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner (ABC2, Sun Jul 11, 7.30pm), The Volcano that Stopped the World (ABC1, Thu Jul 15, 9.30pm – yes, that one) and Great Cities of the World with Griff Rhys Jones (ABC1, Tue, 8.30pm – Sydney Jul 13 and Hong Kong Jul 20).\nSports fanatics should stay tuned to SBS with the FIFA World Cup Final (SBS1, Mon Jul 12, 3.30am) which, for the second time in a row, is likely to feature the team that was Australia’s undoing, and the Tour De France (SBS1, live nightly 10pm, highlights nightly 6pm, updates daily 7.30am).\nFanatics can watch a repeat screening of the Lost finale (7TWO, Fri Jul 16, 11.40pm) with… wait for it… special pop up facts.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 15 June 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 7 months ago\nAs the whole country once again catches World Cup Fever – the PM will be watching in the Lodge rather than at UC – most of the networks are keeping a low profile, pulling new run episodes, and generally biding their time until the whole shebang is over (or at least until Australia makes an exit). Except for auntie of course. Our friends at the ABC have cleverly worked out that most of the action will take place at 4am (or at least not before 9pm), leaving the primetime schedule up for grabs. Sure Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever (SBS1, daily, 8.30pm) is entertaining and while it will probably take a while to hit its stride, at this point it’s no Roy and HG.\nAuntie is using the gap in new scheduling to air the new season of United States of Tara (ABC1, Wed Jun 23, 9.30pm) and the second season of supernatural share house drama Being Human (ABC2, Fri Jun 18, 8.30pm) and introduce new shows such as US comedy 10 Items or Less (ABC2, Mon Jun 21, 8pm) and the BBC’s Lunch Monkeys (ABC2, Mon Jun 28, 9pm) – a sitcom about a bunch of surly school leavers in their first job at a law firm.\nPrime too has taken the opportunity to repopulate its schedule, bringing back interrupted series such as Russell Brand’s Ponderland (Prime, Sun, 11.30pm).\nHung (Prime, Mon Jun 21, 9.30pm), the latest effort from Sideways creator Alexander Payne, is about a high school basketball coach who decides to become a gigolo when he falls on hard times. The plot sounds a bit preposterous and despite the obvious entendres, the show is well-acted and charming.\nThe HBO series are coming thick and fast with The Black Donnellys (7TWO, Wed Jun 23, 11.30pm) also making it to our screens. The NYC Irish mobster drama is thoroughly watchable – a different slant on the Italian crime bosses vs Irish cops story – and deserves a better timeslot. The only question left is will an Australian network ever air either Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (which was replaced by The Black Donnellys) or Brotherhood, the superior Irish mob show set in Providence, Rhode Island?\nNot content to end the crime doco wars with WIN’s ridiculous Australian Families of Crime (WIN, Tue, 9.30pm), Prime has upped the anti with Police Under Fire (Prime, Wed Jun 23, 8.30pm) which allows them to once again roll out the Brendon Abbott story. At least WIN has the excuse of cross promotion for Underbelly (WIN, Sun, 8.30pm).\nThere is, thankfully, a raft of other docos to choose from including Blood Sweat and Gears (SBS1, Thu Jul 1, 10pm) to get you ready for the start of Le Tour de France on Sunday July 4, The End of the Rainbow (ABC2, Sun Jun 27, 7.30pm) which follows the closure of a music-friendly pub in Fitzroy, Bikini Revolution (SBS1, Sat Jun 26, 8.30pm) about its history, and if you really want a crime doco, The Artful Codgers (ABC2, Sun Jun 20, 7.30pm) is about a pair of geriatric art forgers.\nGluttons should check out Dinner in a Box with Curtis Stone (7TWO, Fri, 5.30pm), My Family Feast (SBS1, Thu Jun 24, 7.30pm), Oz and James Drink to Britain (SBS1, Thu Jun 24, 8pm), Delish (SBS1, Fri, 7pm) and Supersizers Eat… (SBS1, Thu Jun 24, 8.30pm), which looks at dining culture of the recent past.\nOld British comedians don’t die, they just host travel docos. Cities of the World with Griff Rhys Jones (ABC1, Tue, 8.30pm) is the latest.\nThose who committed will want to know about the series final of Flashforward (Prime, Thu Jun 24, 11.30pm). If Blackbox had a guarantee it would be one season and the storyline would actually get tied up, it may have been worth the investment…\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 26 May 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 8 months ago\nStock the fridge with Red Bull or clean out that espresso pot that’s been festering on the kitchen bench. The Football World Cup, the one with the round ball that’s the world’s biggest sporting event, kicks off with the Opening Ceremony (SBS1, Fri Jun 11, 10pm). Then it’s a couple of days’ wait for Australia vs Germany (SBS1, Mon Jun 14, 4.30am). If you’re a World Cup novice, grab a FIFA-loving friend, learn the rules and pick an underdog to cheer for when Australia’s not playing. Chez Blackbox will be cheering on Nigeria. Definitely not New Zealand, whose appearance somehow makes a World Cup berth seem much less impressive. Now that the World Cup has become something we actually have a chance of winning, the broadcast has gone Olympics-style complete with The World Cup Show (SBS1, daily from Fri Jun 11, 9pm) hosted by the subject of the ‘90s TISM tune What Nationality is Les Murray?. And Working Dog has come up with its own World Cup version of The Dream – Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever (daily from Fri Jun 11, 8.30pm). No doubt a brainstorm from soccer tragic Santo Cilauro, it also stars Ed Kavalee and Sam Peng. For uber fans, there will be a 3D broadcast available but you will have to a) shell out more money for a 3D TV than a flight to Johannesburg would cost and b) move to Sydney as Canberra has once again been overlooked.\nPolitical thrillers are all the rage at the moment. The latest – Midnight Man (ABC1, Fri May 28, 8.30pm) – brings the fantastic James Nesbitt back to Auntie’s Friday night crime slot. While probably not his greatest offering to date, Nesbitt is a good choice for the eccentric ex-muckraking journalist, embroiled in an international conspiracy and afraid of daylight. What this really has to do with the story (apart from intrigue the vampire-obsessed to tune in) is not quite apparent.\nThe Riches (7TWO, Wed Jun 2, 10.30pm) is the latest high quality US drama to appear quietly on one of Australia’s commercial networks. Starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as a pair of grifters, the show is about how they, along with their children, take over the lives of a well off suburban family. We can only hope it doesn’t disappear later into the schedule only to be rescued by Auntie in five years time.\nOther new offerings include Misfits (ABC2, Mon Jun 7, 9.30pm) about a group of teenagers with newly acquired and unwanted superpowers and 30 Seconds (ABC2, Fri Jun 11, 10.05pm) – a satirical drama set in the advertising world.\nDocos to look out for include the series The American Future (ABC1, Thu May 27, 9.30pm) which looks to history to put modern America in context, Albino United (SBS1, Thu Jun 10, 8.30pm) about albinos in Tanzania, murdered or disfigured for witchdoctors, Art from The Arctic (ABC2, Sun Jun 6, 8.30pm) which follows 20 artists on an expedition to Spitzbergen in the Arctic circle, Leaving the Cult (ABC1, Wed Jun 2, 8.30pm) and Being Human: Unearthed (ABC2, Fri Jun 11, 8.30pm) which goes behind the scenes of the nocturnal series.\nThe latest reality show is a must watch for designers – Design for Life (ABC2, Wed Jun 2, 8.30pm) with a job with Philippe Starck up for grabs. For the uninitiated, he’s the Donald of the design world.\nIf you’ve always dreamed about being humiliated on television, auditions for the second series of Beauty and the Geek are happening in Sydney on Saturday June 5. Check out www.yahoo7.com.au/beautyandthegeek for details.\nBeauty and the Geek US (7TWO, Wed Jun 2, 7.30pm) is the first of a run of new shows on 7TWO that also includes new Knightrider (7TWO, Wed May 26, 8.30pm) which pales in comparison next to the cult value of the Hoff version.\nThe network is also trying to put in their bid for purveyors of the new Australian pastime – cooking. Dinner in a Box with Curtis Stone (7TWO, Fri Jun 4, 5.30pm) has a complete dinner party in every ep while Delish (7TWO, Fri, 7pm) shows you how to use what you grow (and there’s tips on that too).\nDon’t forget the Eurovision Final (SBS1, Sun May 30, 7.30pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 11 May 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 8 months ago\nStone the flamin’ crows – the TV Gold Logie should be renamed the ‘old bastard left standing’ award. It wasn’t enough that last year’s ‘top Australian television award’ (if you don’t count the AFIs) went to Harold Bishop, this one had to go to rival network old bastard Alf. Let’s face it – it’s the characters rather than the actors getting the votes of the square-eyed TV Week readers (and network publicists). Next year Blackbox intends to mount a grassroots campaign to give the Gold Logie to B1, so get voting forms now.\nSpeaking of ballots, it’s time for Eurovision – Semi Finals (SBS1, Fri May 28 and Sat May 29, 7.30pm) and Finals (SBS1, Sun May 30, 7.30pm). Polish the fondue pot and get your eurotrash on. Sure, your vote won’t count but a lucky sweep pick could just make up for that. Get prepared early with A-Z of Eurovision (SBS1, Sat May 22, 8.30pm).\nAnd yes Lost (Prime, Wed May 26, 8.30pm) is about to get a bump in its ratings with the last episode ever. The ep airs in the US on Sun May 23 so there is plenty of opportunity to log on and find an abridged version if you can’t be bothered with the movie length finale. If you’re a true tragic, tune in to the Lost Special: The Final Journey (Prime, Wed May 26, 12pm) which looks into the many theories about what’s going on. Let’s just hope a movie exec bereft of ideas doesn’t decide to turn it into a film in a decade or two.\nThe much promoed Modern Family (SCTEN, Tue May 18, 8pm) starts this week, and schedules are moving around all over the place – 30 Rock (Prime, Sun May 16, 11pm) shifts to Sundays with double eps, the disappointing V (WIN, Sun, 10.30pm) gets bumped later. Glee (SCTEN, Mon, 10pm and Thu, 8pm) is set to become the new Simpsons (SCTEN, Sun-Fri, 6pm), Top Gear (WIN, Tue, 7.30pm – Go, Sun, 6.30pm and Thu, 7.30pm) or Big Bang Theory (WIN, Mon, 8pm and Tue, 9.40pm – Go, Sun 8.40pm and Thu, 8.40pm) repeats replace the less than funny Cleveland Show.\nA heap of old shows are returning including Lie to Me (SCTEN, Wed May 19, 8.30pm) and Law and Order: Criminal Intent (SCTEN, Wed May 19, 9.30pm).\nIf you dream of travelling to a galaxy far, far away, don’t miss auntie’s new doco series, Voyage to the Planets (ABC1, Thu May 13, 8.30pm), a visual guidebook of the planets with tips from those intimately familiar with the planets, albeit from a distance.\nOther docs to look out for include The Hottest Place on Earth (SBS1, Fri May 14, 7.30pm), a series following five adventurers to the home of the Afar, the volcanic Danakil region of Africa where it reaches 60°C, Iran and the West (SBS1, Fri May 14, 8.30pm) – a two parter exploring the relationship between Iran and the US over the past three decades, Iceland’s Killer Volcano (SBS1, Sun May 23, 7.30pm) which looks at the history of the now infamous Icelandic volcano, poisonous gas from which killed a third of the population in 1783, Lani’s Story (SBS1, Tue May 25, 8.30pm), a personal story of severe domestic violence, In My Father’s Country (Tue May 25, 10pm) which looks at traditional life in one of Australia’s most remote Aboriginal communities, and Conviction: The true story of Clarence Elkins (ABC2, Wed, 9.30pm) which looks at the case of a man wrongly convicted of murder and rape in the US.\nGet ready for the FIFA World Cup in June with the FA Cup Final (SBS1, Sat May 15, 10.30pm), UEFA Champions League Final: Bayern Munich v Inter Milan (SBS1, Sun May 23, 4am) and Women’s Asian Cup: China PR vs Australia (ABC2,, Sun May 23, 6pm).\nPolitical tragics won’t want to miss the final episode of Dateline (SBS1, Sun May 23, 8.30pm), a British election special – by then they might even have a winner.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 27 April 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 9 months ago\nGet your tiaras and garish costumes ready, dig out the ‘70s recipe book, open a bottle of sparkling and gather your friends – it’s time for Eurovision (SBS, Sun May 30, TBC). There are three essential ingredients for a successful Eurovision viewing party – a camp retro vibe, culturally appropriate food (usually involving toothpicks with flags) and a sweep (which needs to be drawn before Tuesday May 25 when the semis start – damn interweb). This year’s event is in Oslo, Norway, so perhaps some traditional Norwegian delicacies (most of which seem to involve salmon) or a broader Scandinavian experience (fondue perhaps) might be in order. At the very least make it as retro as possible.\nChez Blackbox is also salivating with anticipation for Psychoville (ABC1, Wed May 5, 9.30pm), the new black comedy from the makers of The League of Gentlemen. Starring Dawn French, Jason Tompkins and creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, the gothic series is old school British comedy mixed with a touch of Alfred Hitchcock. The BAFTA winning show will have you glued to the edge of your couch and will undoubtedly hold its own on the DVD shelf once the series is released.\nDiehard fans of MTV cult classic cartoon Daria will be happy to know that while it hasn’t showed up on the box for a while, the complete series is finally being released on DVD on Tuesday May 11 after more than a decade. Those too young to remember it but who love a sardonic wit should order it now. Blackbox is tossing out the VHS copies as we speak.\nAuntie has thrown up some great movie seasons on ABC2 but the latest is the best – The Clint Eastwood Season (ABC2, Sat, 8.30pm) features classics such as Coogan’s Bluff (Sat May 1), Two Mules for Sister Sarah (Sat May 8) and Play Misty for Me (Sat May 15). If you’re planning a night out, press record – sugary drinks, salty snacks, a couch and Clint make for a good hangover cure.\nDocos to look out for include Wild Things (SBS1, Fri May 7, 8.05pm) which tells the story of a group of children raised collectively in a commune with one surname, Compass: The Trials of Galileo (ABC1, Sun May 9, 10.10pm) which looks at the event that pitted science and religion against each other long before some Americans sought to have creationism taught in schools, Annie Leibovitz: Life through a Lens (ABC2, Sun May 2, 7.30pm) and Close Up: Photographers at work: Portraits (ABC2, Sun May 9, 8.15pm).\nTwo highlights with a musical flavour – the new series of triple j TV Presents (ABC2, Mon May 3, 11pm) starts with indie darlings Phoenix and I Rock (ABC2, May 3, 9pm), the Australian dramedy following the antics of a rock band kicks off this week.\nOther new or returning shows include new South Park (SBS1, Mon May 3, 10pm), Dog Squad (Prime, Wed, 7.30pm) which follows police, prison and airport dogs, new Family Guy (Prime, Thu Apr 29, 10.30pm) and Ax Men (SCTEN, Sat May 8, 2pm) which follows extreme loggers.\nIf you’re more concerned with what you spend your money on than what the government does with the slice you have to give them, find some place else to be on Budget night (Tue May 11).\nDon’t miss Dr Who (ABC1, Sun May 2, 7.30pm) – the daleks and Winston Churchill, or the excellent new Aussie doco, Voyage to Planets (ABC1, Thu May 13, 8.30pm).\nBlackbox question of the week: why are the networks keen to rerun the movie Serenity at every opportunity but not replay the brilliant Firefly series?\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 13 April 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 9 months ago\nSC10 has created for itself a delightful circle of life – now it is done with The Biggest Loser Final (SC10, Sun Apr 18, 8.30pm), Masterchef Australia (SC10, Mon Apr 19, 7.30pm) has kicked in so we can all spend winter fattening up on delicious treats just in time to register as contestants for the next series of Biggest Loser.\nIt’s got to be better than watching Australia’s Got Talent (Prime, Tue, 7.30pm). Putting aside the pure mathematics of the plethora of talent shows vs our population, Blackbox doubts that even if there was a ‘SuBo’ lurking in our midst, the judging panel of Sandilands, the also-ran Minogue sister and Delta’s ex-boy-band fiancé could manage to unearth them.\nBlackbox thoroughly recommends Lowdown (ABC1, Wed Apr 21, 9pm), the new comedy from Wilfred’s (SBS1, Mon, 10pm) Adam Zwar. Loosely based on Zwar’s former career as a Sunday Herald Sun columnist, Lowdown is not immediately laugh out loud comedy but it’s a grower. Like Wilfred it’s wickedly dark and self-effacing. Don’t give up after the first ep; the second is much better but relies on the comedy hooks of the first. The punchy, not-quite-novella narrations from Geoffrey Rush are a particular highlight.\nIt was bound to happen sooner or later – Burn Up (ABC1, Sun, 8:35pm) political thriller/spy drama set against the backdrop of climate change.\nEveryone’s favourite historic dramas re-imagined with pretty people, Merlin (SC10, Sun Apr 25, 6.30pm) and Robin Hood (ABC2, Sat May 1, 7.30pm) return to screens.\nWhile we’re on the subject of dramas filled with pretty people – instead of putting yourself through the torture of V (WIN, Sun, 9.30pm), haul out your parents’ video recorder and search e-bay for copies of the original (and cheesy) ‘80s version. Much more satisfying.\nThe Street (ABC2, Tue Apr 27, 8.30pm) is an intriguing new British drama in which each episode looks at the relationships in a different house through an intertwined narrative.\nThe Cleveland Show (SCTEN, Mon Apr 26, 10pm), Glee (SCTEN, Thu Apr 29, 8pm), Sea Patrol (WIN, Thu Apr 15, 8.30pm) and CSI: Miami (WIN, Mon, 9.30pm) are all returning.\nDocumentaries to catch include The Inquisition (ABC1, Thu May 6, 8.30pm) – a detailed look at the Wood Royal Commission, The 10 Conditions of Love (ABC1, Thu May 6, 9.30pm) which tells the story of the exiled Rebiya Kadeer, Feasts (SBS1, Thu Apr 29, 8.30pm) which examines the culture of India, Japan and Mexico through the ritual of their feasts and Iconoclasts: Howard Schultz and Norman Lear (ABC2, Wed Apr 28, 9.30pm) which asks the big question: what could the creator of The Princess Bride and the owner of Starbucks have in common?\nAs we go to press the next instalment of Underbelly, The Golden Mile (WIN, Sun, 8.30pm) is finally going to air. Set in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, it will be interesting to see the production design – it’s a fair bet we’ll see some Nirvana lookalikes in there somewhere.\nKeep an eye out for Winston Churchill and the Daleks in Dr Who (ABC1, Sun May 2, 7.30pm) and the new black comedy from the League of Gentlemen folk, Psychoville (ABC1, Wed May 5, 9.30pm) and new episodes of Blackbox’s favourite comedy, Big Bang Theory (WIN, Mon, 8pm).\nANZAC inspired fare is provided by World War II: The Lost Films (Prime, Sun, 8.45pm), The Pacific (Prime, Wed Apr 14, 8.30pm), Lone Pine Service from Gallipoli (ABC2, Sun Apr 25, 6pm) and ANZAC Day March (ABC1, Sun Apr 25, 10.30am).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 30 March 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 9 months ago\nTwo new Australian-produced series from Auntie are due to make it to your loungeroom in the next month. The first, dramedy I Rock (ABC2, Mon May 3, 9pm), follows a band as they try to break into the Australian music scene – not really a new idea but one that hasn’t been done all that well in Australia (remember Garage Days) so there might still be hope. It’s penned by and stars comedian Josh Maplestone and includes cameos from the likes of Tim Rogers and Laura Imbruglia. Blackbox is awaiting a preview tape so stay tuned. Check out the promo clip – www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGADze5KcgY.\nLowdown (ABC1, Wed Apr 21, 9pm) is a new comedy from Adam Zwar (of Wilfred fame). Zwar stars as Alex Burchill, an entertainment reporter and gossip columnist for the fictional Sunday Sun. Zwar’s former life as a columnist for the Sunday Herald Sun has provided a fertile source for his latest effort. Narrated by Geoffrey Rush and also starring Kim Gyngell, Judith Lucy, Julia Zemiro, Steve Bisley and Beth Buchanan, the show looks like cementing Adam Zwar’s place in Australian comedy. Big call but the promo clip had Blackbox in stitches – www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx7sR5mwipg.\nBlackbox has just returned from a trip to the good ol’ US of A and while telly viewing wasn’t top of the priority list, some gems were uncovered. That is, amongst all the news shows – American news – the only mention of Australia was about the US President not coming here. And weather – for some reason the Americans are obsessed with the weather – most news shows had more stories about weather than anything else. Anyway, among the 57 channels with nothing on, Blackbox discovered Extreme Loggers, one for fans of Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, and Brotherhood, a well written and acted dram that takes the government corruption and Irish heritage of The Wire, mixes it with the gangsters of The Sopranos (7TWO, Tue, 9.30pm) and dumps the whole thing in Providence, Rhode Island – proving there is a seedy underbelly just about anywhere.\nUnderbelly: The Golden Mile (WIN, Sun Apr 11, 8.30pm) [Good segue! Ed.] is about to hit the box with a two hour premiere. Unfortunately the start of WIN’s lineup proper also includes Hey, Hey it’s Saturday (WIN, Wed Apr 14, 7.30pm) on a Wednesday (!?) and Sea Patrol (WIN, Thu Apr 15, 8.30pm).\nOther new series to keep an eye out for include Iconoclasts (ABC2, Wed Apr 7, 9.30pm) which pairs two artists who admire each other – Sean Penn and author Jon Krakauer travel to Alaska in the first ep to retrace the steps of the protagonist of Into the Wild, Gavin and Stacey (ABC2, Thu Apr 1, 9.30pm) the second series which disappeared from Prime’s schedule, Waking the Dead (ABC2, Fri Apr 16, 8.30pm) – British cold case drama, treated with no respect by Nine and resurrected by Auntie and Barry Humphries’ Flashbacks (7TWO, Thu Apr 15, 7.30pm) which looks back at Australian pop cultural history.\nDocos to catch include Rituals Around the World in 80 Faiths (SBS1, Fri Apr 9, 7.30pm) which looks at customs and ceremonies from the world’s religions and tribes, Travels with a Tangerine (ABC2, Thu Apr 15, 9.30pm) which takes viewers on a journey in the footsteps of medieval explorer Ibn Battutah, A Son’s Sacrifice (SBS1, Sun Apr 11, 9.30pm) – the best short doco winner at Tribeca follows a young muslim American who struggles to takeover his father’s halal butchery in NYC.\nThe Academy season movie to watch is The Grass is Greener (ABC2, Sat Apr 16, 8.30pm) starring Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum. Also watch out for repeats of classic ‘70s dramedy Minder (7TWO, Sat, 10.10pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 16 March 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 10 months ago\nAfter a year of one-off specials and the like, a brand new series of Dr Who, with a brand new Doctor, hits screens next month. Well, computer screens anyway. Auntie will first screen the series on iView (Fri Apr 6 from 12am) before broadcasting on the telly (ABC1, Sun Apr 18). And it’s within a couple of weeks of the UK debut so you don’t need to worry too much about spoiler alerts. Those who watched The End of Time will know Matt Smith (the younger brother in Party Animals). An odd choice but then David Tennant took a while to settle into the role – and he has proved one of the most popular. And if you need extra incentive, the Daleks again feature heavily this season.\nFrom the ‘thank god we’ve got extra digital channels because you would need to strap me down and pry my eyelids open Clockwork Orange style’ box comes The Matty Johns Show (Prime, Thu Mar 25, 7.30pm). It’s not enough that WIN takes up two hours with the kind of ramshackle theatrics on show in Eddie McGuire’s Olympics coverage and their Footy Shows – now we have to have another carbon copy to avoid.\nThe best show ever – James May’s Toy Stories (SBS1, Fri, 7.30pm) airs its best ep Lego (Apr 2). With the help of a lot of volunteers, James builds a full size lego house, replete with a lego toilet, and holds a house warming and then spends the night in it. If only Blackbox could find a way to make money out of fun things to do when you’re five.\nJames May’s Top Gear (WIN, Go! more times a week than anyone can possibly remember) compatriot Richard Hammond takes on real architecture with his Engineering Connections: Guggenheim Bilbao (SBS1, Sat Apr 3, 7.30pm).\nNew shows include Miranda (ABC2, Fri Mar 19, 8pm) – a semi-autobiographical sitcom from British comedian Miranda Hart, Whistleblowers (7TWO, Mon, 9.30pm) – a British political thriller, and Place of Execution (ABC1, Fri Apr 2, 9.20pm) – a psychological thriller. Docos not to be missed include Human Journey: Australia (ABC2, Thu Mar 18, 8.30pm) which charts Australia’s part in the spread of homiosapiens, Fire Talker: The Life and Times of Charlie Perkins (ABC2, Thu Mar 18, 9.30pm), Serial Killers (Prime, Tue Mar 23, 10.30pm) – a doco series like Gangs of Oz that predictably starts with the body-in-a-barrel case, Chachapoya (SBS1, Sun Mar 28, 7.30pm) about a lost civilisation found high in the Andes, An Englishman in New York (ABC1, Sun Mar 28, 8.30pm) which follows the life of Quentin Crisp, I. Psychopath (ABC2, Thu Mar 25, 9.25pm) which focuses on a suspected psychopath and becomes a kind of gonzo journalism and Not Quite Hollywood (SBS1, Sat Mar 27, 10pm) which looks at Ozploitation cinema and features interviews with the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Phillip Adams. It’s followed by the most famous of them all – The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (SBS1, Sat Mar 27, 11.45pm).\nStill no news on a start date for Underbelly – you can enter a competition to attend a preview screening in Sydney on Thursday April 8 (channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/underbelly) so presumably it won’t be until after that.\nBlackbox Tip: If you’ve never heard of The Young Ones (ABC2, Tue, 8pm), watch it – it’s where the sitcom changed forever (and good research for that uni paper on post-modernism).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 2 March 10 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 6 years, 10 months ago\nThe biggest controversy of the Winter Olympics isn’t the Russians’ indigenous ice dance, whether flamboyant ice dancer Johnny Weir can make the sign of the cross correctly or even US snowboarder Scott Lago being sent home because of that pic. The biggest question is – why didn’t someone offer Roy and HG a big wad of cash to resurrect The Ice Dream? Chez Blackbox is Winter Olympics-friendly – especially the X-Games sports, backroom bitching at the ice rink and the curling – but even with that magnificent lineup, Vancouver Gold (WIN, daily, 9.30pm) is wearing pretty thin. Mick Molloy is a great comedy writer and even actor in the right circumstance but he ain’t no commentator. And Eddie? For God’s sake, stick to the Footy Show (WIN, TBA) where homophobic pranks, juvenile jokes and chauvinistic jibes seem to be the backbone of the show and Millionaire, where the contestants (including the armchair ones) will put up with anything for the chance of winning a million.\nAs the Winter Olympics heads towards the closing ceremony, WIN’s 2010 lineup is (finally) taking shape. As we go to press there’s still no start date for the third season of Underbelly but one has been set for the remake of V (WIN, Sun Mar 7, 8.30pm). Sure the technology has improved – the rat swallowing is bound to look more believable this time around – but the whole thing has a seen-it-before feel to the production; a sci-fi version of Robin Hood re-imagining with pretty young things and a monochromatic backdrop. Sure the ‘80s mini-series was cheesy and there was no CGI but that’s what made it so good – Blackbox recommends searching it out. If you’re a fan of old Star Trek, you’ll love it.\nKyle Sandilands will join Danii Minogue and Brian McFadden as hosts of the upcoming season of Australia’s Got Talent (Prime, TBA). That’s at least two good reasons not to watch.\nKings (7TWO, Wed, 10:30pm) is the latest offering from Heroes creator Michael Green. The plot is a modern day imagining of the bible’s Book of David, set in the fictitious kingdom of Gilboa, that looks a lot like NYC. It’s no doubt the bible is a great plot resource and Ian McShane of Deadwood fame certainly makes for a great king. The fact that Prime has relegated it to 7TWO is probably the best indication that it’s a sophisticated, not to be missed drama.\nDocos to check out include Rendezvous with Death: Kennedy and Castro (SBS2, Thu Mar 4, 7:30pm) which hypothesises that Lee Harvey Oswald was a gun for hire, Contact (ABC2, Thu Mar 4, 9.25pm) which looks at the first contact between a remote Australian indigenous mob and ‘whitefellas’ in 1964, Underdog (ABC2, Wed Mar 10, 8.30pm) which follows a Jamaican dog sledder (yes dog sled, not bobsleigh) and Natascha Kampusch: 3096 Days in Captivity (SBS1, Sun Mar 7, 9.30pm) where the former pre-Fritzl captive tells her story.\nThe folks who give away money at the ABC have announced a further $400,000 funding will be made available for young documentary makers under round five of the triple j TV docs initiative. You can apply for funding until Monday April 5 at www.screenaustralia.gov.au/jtvdocs .\nA new series of Wilfred (SBS1, Mon Mar 8, 10pm) starts this week.\nAnd yes, that was English star Dominic West, who plays McNulty in The Wire (ABC2, Tue, 9.30pm), putting on a half-decent Australian accent in Breaking the Mould: The Story of Penicillin last Sunday night.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 24 November 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 1 month ago\nAs Canberra melts into a Salvador Dali installation, the challenge is on to beat the heat. If you can’t find a friend with a pool and can afford to spend the entire day at the cinema, do the next best thing and find a friend with air conditioning and enjoy a summer of cricket (and other televisual delights). By a stroke of luck Chez Blackbox manages to stay quite pleasant without contributing to climate change so the beer fridge is stocked and the remotes are ready for battle. And the most important event is the new series Red Dwarf Special 2009: Back to Earth (ABC2, Mon Nov 30, 8pm). Kryten is the only character who hasn’t managed to look like he has aged ten years and the storyline is incredibly self-referential and filled with alternate realities. Fans will lap it up. ABC3 Kids starts broadcasting at the beginning of December and while it’s squarely pitched at tweens and the under fives, there’s a fair chance some bigger kids will tune in for Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab (ABC3, Fri Dec 4, 7.05pm) to see a science lab run by a Top Gear (SBS1, Mon and Fri 7.30pm) adrenaline junkie. Other new series include Moses Jones (ABC1, Tue 8.30pm), an intriguing crime thriller set against the backdrop of London’s Ugandan community, The Take (Prime, Wed Dec 2, 9.30pm), another British crime drama, set in London’s East End, Kingdom (Prime, Sat Dec 5, 7.30pm), a British odd-ball drama starring Stephen Fry, Wallander (Prime, Sat Dec 5, 8pm), a BBC crime drama filmed in Sweden and starring Kenneth Branagh, Park and Recreation (Prime, Tues Dec 1, 11pm), a US mockumentary, History of Scotland (SBS1, Sun Dec 6, 7.30pm), Heston’s Feasts (SBS1, Sun Dec 6, 8.35pm), an historical gastronomic delight, and acclaimed HBO drama John Adams (SBS1, Sun Dec 6, 9.30pm). Docos to check out this fortnight include Rudely Interrupted (ABC1, Thu Dec 3, 9.35pm), which follows the Melbourne band of the same name as they play at the UN building in New York for International Disability Day, Make ‘em Laugh: The Funny Business of America (ABC1, Mon Nov 30, 9.35pm), comedy from Charlie Chaplin to Chris Rock, Edge Codes: Beyond the Cut (ABC2, Sun Nov 29, 8.30pm), a history of film editing, Making Samson & Delilah (ABC1, Thu Nov 26, 9.30pm), Joanna Lumley in the Land of Northern Lights (ABC1, Sun Nov 29, 7.30pm), No Way San Jose: Cocktails in Costa Rica (ABC2, Wed Dec 9, 8pm), which follows two Australians trying to open a cocktail bar, and Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory (ABC2, Wed Dec 9, 8.30pm), a glimpse inside a boutique chocolate making operation. A whole lot of shows are returning with new episodes for the summer including Little Britain (SCTEN, Wed Dec 9, 9.30pm),Californication (SCTEN, Wed Dec 9, 10.05pm), Rules of Engagement (SCTEN, Thu Dec 3, 7.30pm), The Circuit (SBS1, Tue Dec 1, 8.30pm) and Ideal (ABC2, Fri Dec 4, 9.30pm). Series finishing up this fortnight include John Safran’s Race Relations (ABC1, Wed Dec 9, 9.30pm), which finishes with his nailing to a cross in The Philippines, Flashforward (Prime, Mon Nov 30, 8.30pm) and Nurse Jackie (SCTEN, Tue Dec 8, 1am), which deserves better scheduling than it got. Still feeling frazzled, talk to Ernie Dingo – his new show No Leave, No Life (Prime, Sat Dec 5, 6.30pm) gives ordinary people a holiday. Sign up now! And finally Madness fans (of which Blackbox is one), should check out Madness: The Liberty of Norton Folgate (ABC2, Sun Nov 29, 3.55pm) as the rejuvenated band plays songs from their 2009 concept album and some old hits. TRACY HEFFERNAN\nDate Published: Tuesday, 10 November 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 2 months ago\nThe Blackbox guide to recognising that the end of the world is nigh*\n1. The guide is littered with the words \"season finale\" (or \"series finale\" accompanied by \"last ever\" if it's been axed). This fortnight's end of season casualties include Australian Idol (SCTEN, Sun Nov 22, 7.30pm), Good News Week (SCTEN, Mon Nov 23, 8.30pm), NCIS (SCTEN, Tue Nov 24, 8.30pm), Celebrity Masterchef (SCTEN, Wed Nov 25, 7.30pm), Glee (SCTEN, Thu Nov 26, 7.30pm), RSPCA Animal Rescue (Prime, Tue Nov 17, 7.30pm) and Rove (SCTEN, Sun Nov 15, 9.30pm).\n2. The words \"fast-tracked\" disappear from the commercial network schedules because TV execs don't want to waste time, effort and money when it won't help them sell advertising space.\n3. You notice a lot of shows you've never heard of because even the networks who commissioned them aren't willing to say they're the best thing since sliced bread. The first of these is White Collar (SCTEN, Wed Nov 25, 8.30pm) - con artist captured by the FBI puts his skills to use for the powers of good at the FBI. If he was so skilled he probably would've evaded capture. Hint number two that it is drama-lite - it stars Tiffani-Amber Thiessen whose last appearances of note were on Saved by the Bell and the old version of Beverly Hills 90210.\n4. Every show, from the stupidest sitcom to the most serious drama, has a Christmas episode that is usually dripping with sentiment and hardly ever fits with the show's ongoing narrative. The silly season starts with Talkin' 'bout Your Generation Christmas Special (SCTEN, Sun Nov 22, 6.30pm) and Rove Presents Hamish & Andy Regifted, Another Very Early Christmas Special (SCTEN, Mon Nov 23, 7.30pm). Surely it won't be long before there's a Christmas reality show (note to any young TV execs - you know where to send the royalties when you steal my idea).\n5. WIN announces its summer of cricket. This season starts out with All Star Twenty20 (Sun Nov 22, time TBC) and features Ritchie Benaud (yay) and Shane Warne (boo) in the commentary team.\nAuntie has moved the period drama into the 21st Century with Lillies (ABC1, Mon Nov 16, 8.30pm) set in '20s and '30s Liverpool against the backdrop of sectarianism in Britain.\nSamson & Delilah (ABC1, Tue Nov 26, 9.30pm) has its TV premiere just in time for the IF Awards (SBS1, Thu Nov 19, 10pm). The awards season also includes the Walkely Awards (SBS1, Thu Nov 26, 10pm) for journalism.\nSBS is trying to shoehorn as much Top Gear (SBS1, Mon 7.30pm, Fri 8.35pm), into their schedule as possible, (including a Winter Olympics special on Nov 16) before they have to hand over the reigns to WIN.\nDocos over the fortnight include Tank on the Moon (ABC1, Thu Nov 19, 9.35pm) about the Russian remote control robots that surveyed the moon decades before the US Mars Rover program, Secrets of the Freemasons (SBS1, Thu Nov 12, 9.35pm), What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity (SBS1, Tue Nov 24), Leanne Tander - Living the Dream (Prime, Sat Nov 14, 2pm) and The Magic of Audrey (ABC2, Sun Nov 15, 8.30pm) about the life of Audrey Hepburn.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 27 October 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 2 months ago\nTwo big stories this week - one good news, the other not. Keeping with tradition, the bad news first - the Top Gear franchise is moving to WIN. The original UK series should be fine (apart from the fact there will be plenty more ads to wade through). It's the kids - Top Gear Australia - that Blackbox is worried about. What's going to happen to the kids? After a rough start where the show was trying really hard to be a carbon copy, the hosts settled in with the addition of James Morrison at the start of the second series. Morrison was witty and despite his night job with a trumpet, knows his cars. Channel Nine has already confirmed it is in talks with Shane Warne to host what is bound to be a slicker, more commercial version of Top Gear Australia. The key to the show's success has always been its irreverence, its ability to take on the top manufacturers and tell them their car is rubbish. Will the face of Advance Hair (yeah, yeah) take on the new Holden Commodore on a network where the main aim is to get advertising revenue? Perhaps not.\nUsually WIN waits until it has these things settled but this time their hand may have been forced by a disgruntled SBS showing their disappointment in a press release that ended with \"SBS will not comment further.\"\nAnd now for the good news. Channel Seven has finally launched its new digital channel, 7TWO. Freeview Australia says it will air in Canberra and the start date is Monday November 2 but Channel 72 is not showing up on a set top box scan at Chez Blackbox yet. Aside from moving Ugly Betty (7TWO Tue Nov 3 7.30pm), Stargate Atlantis (7TWO Wed Nov 4 8.30pm), Heroes (7TWO Thu Nov 5 8.30pm) and some other programming to more friendly timeslots and adding The Jay Leno Show (7TWO Mon Nov 2 6pm), 7TWO will take Go!'s lead and resurrect some retro programming - including Dangermouse (7TWO Sun Nov 8 9am), Flipper (7TWO Tues Nov 3 8am), and Murphy Brown, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under on the coming soon list.\nElsewhere this fortnight, SBS finally has Dead Set (SBS1 Mon Nov 9 10pm), a five-part zombie thriller set on Big Brother Britain and another Chaser stalwart goes serious - Julian Morrow will deliver the Andrew Olli Media Lecture (ABC1 Sun Nov 8 10.15pm).\nLas Vegas (Prime Sun Nov 1 10.30pm) winds up with weddings and a funeral. Dexter (SCTEN Sat 7 Nov 11.05pm) and the first season of The Wire (ABC2 Tue Nov 10 9.30pm) also finish up.\nDocos to look out for include Artscape: The Sylvania Waters Project (ABC2 Sun Nov 1 7pm) which revisits our first ever observational doco that followed a family of cashed-up bogans living on a Sydney canal-estate, The Farewell File (SBS1 Fri Oct 30 8.30pm) about KGB agent Vladimir Vetrov, Rainforests: the secret of life (ABC2 Sun Nov 1 7.30pm) from Mt Warning, Where is the Wall? (ABC1 Tue Nov 10 8.30pm) and Busting the Berlin Wall (SBS1 Sun Nov 1 9.30pm) to mark the 20th anniversary since it came down, Guerilla Art (SBS1 Sun Nov 1 8.30pm) which looks at street art and Shintaro (SBS1 Wed Nov 4 8.30pm) about the controversy over '60s kids show The Samurai.\nMovie of the week: Hitchcock's original Psycho (ABC2 Sat Oct 31 8.30pm).\nDon't miss Spick and Specks '80s Revival (ABC1 Wed Nov 4 8.30pm) - mullets, new wave, early Madonna or Debbie Gibson, the garb alone will be worth the investment - guests are Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men), Ally Fowler (The Chantoozies), Dave O'Neill and George McEncroe and the winner scores a Prince Charles and Lady Diana commemorative engagement plate that could well be worth a bomb on eBay.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 13 October 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 3 months ago\nDon't worry loyal readers, Blackbox is not going to devote an entire column to moral outrage over the \"Red Faces incident.\" It is interesting to note though that most commentators missed the irony of the Michael Jackson face paint changing from black to white since the skit's original outing in 1989.\nAnd while everyone has racial issues on their mind, whether it's the stupidity of Hey, Hey or the more serious issue of the safety of Indian students, in steps John Safran with a show that is bound to start a race debate (or at least have him banned from television if he was a commercial TV personality). Aside from comparing the merits of an Asian wife vs a white one, the show sees Safran go black and go undercover in Chicago, become a ladyboy in Thailand and be nailed to a cross in The Philippines. A show guaranteed not to be picked up by CBS.\nFlashForward (Prime Mon 8.30pm)? Another Lost? Chez Blackbox will give it one more ep before unconditional commitment...\nThe Sunday night lineup on Go! has drastically improved. Following two eps of The Big Bang Theory (Go! Sun 7.30pm), two eps of South Park (Go! Sun 8.30pm), Curb Your Enthusiasm (Go! Sun 9.30pm) and two eps of Weeds (Go! Sun 10.05pm).\nNow that the devastation of losing The Cook and the Chef is over, foodies should turn their attention to the Wild Gourmets (ABC Sat 6pm) who travel Britain creating meals out of naturally occurring ingredients - part Bush Tucker Man part Galloping Gourmet. Other foodie delights to look out for include Luke Nguyen's Vietnam (SBS1 Thu Oct 15 7.30pm), River Cottage Autumn (ABC1 Wed Oct 21 6.10pm) and Jamie's American Roadtrip (SCTEN Mon Oct 26 7.30pm).\nOther new shows and docos to look out for include The 39 Steps (ABC1 Sun Oct 18) - a British spy drama set in the '30s, Hope Springs (ABC1 Sat Oct 24 7.30pm) - a UK comedy about four ex-cons trying to go straight, The Great Contemporary Art Bubble (ABC2 Sun Oct 18 8.30pm) - a doco looking at the 800 percent increase in the price of contemporary art in the past five years, Conspiracy Files: Lockerbie (SBS1 Sat Oct 18 9.30pm) - a doco that examines allegations the Libyans were set up, The Bisexual Revolution (SBS1 Sun Oct 18 9.30pm), Getaway's European Road Trip (Prime Thu Oct 15 7.30pm) and Wuthering Heights (ABC1 Sun Oct 25 8.30pm).\nChris Lilley's newest mockumentary, Angry Boys, a joint venture between ABC and HBO, has just gone into production with air dates yet to be announced.\nSure he's not as famous as Ringo Starr but Craig Lowndes is about to take a leaf out of the ex-Beatle's book, voicing Roary the Racing Car when the kids' series starts on ABC next year.\nAlso slated for release next year on ABC1 is Sleuth 101, a whodunit gameshow hosted by comedian Cal Wilson. It comes from the team behind Spick and Specks (ABC1 Wed 8.30pm), which airs the long-awaited (at least by Chez Blackbox) '80s episode on November 4.\nIf you're bored with the antics of Australian TV personalities, consider a move to Brazil, where reality crime show host Wallace de Souza is accused of commissioning murders to boost his show's ratings. The former policeman and ex-politician is also facing charges of drug trafficking and criminal association. The 2016 Olympics should make for interesting viewing.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 29 September 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 3 months ago\nFinally the show Go won't shut up about has made it to air. Whether The Vampire Diaries (Go Mon 8.30pm) warrants all the hype is the bigger question. All the evidence points to a lamer version of Buffy/Angel/Twilight with just a bit more teen angst; not only is it based on a teen novel series, the creative team behind it is headed by Kevin Williamson of Dawson's Creek fame. If you're looking for a vampire theme, seek out True Blood (Showcase Tue 8.30pm). Unfortunately at the moment you'll need to purchase either cable or the DVD (or visit mates who've shelled out).\nOver at Prime, the hype is flowing for the 'fast tracked' (wish they'd get over that) FlashForward (Prime Mon 8.30pm). With the pilot airing in the US just days before press time, critics there have likened it to Lost - asking substantially more questions than it answers with the potential to go completely off on a tangent at any moment. Having said that, the idea that the whole world will get a glimpse six months into its collective future is intriguing. Blackbox predicts sitting in Chez Blackbox writing about the new season shows for 2010 (and if Santa's feeling generous, watching previews on a very big plasma).\nAlso on the must watch list for teen drama addicts (and lovers of musical theatre) is Glee (SCTEN). While Glee definitely has the potential to overdo it with a Technicolor overload not seen since the '70s, the wisecracking antics of Jane Lynch as the school's cheerleading coach (and arch-enemy of the Glee Club) saves it from itself. Not worth seeking out but watchable in a pinch.\nThe latest reality show to go Aussie is The Secret Millionaire (WIN Thu Oct 8 9.30pm). It's hosted by big Russ(ell Crowe) but it will be interesting to see who parts with their hard-earned.\nRockwiz (SBS1 Sat Oct 3 9.20pm) kicks off its new season with American singer/songwriter Victoria Williams and Henry Wagons, leader of Melbourne-based country rock sextet, Wagons.\nThe Denton-produced Hungry Beast (ABC2 Wed 9pm) features 19 newcomers to the world of telly (Blackbox advertised the talent call earlier in the year) who are charged with telling us all something we don't know. As well as the half hour of TV, there's also daily web content at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/hungrybeast.\nThe promo material for Dead Famous (ABC1 Thu Oct 8 8.30pm) warns Blackbox to seek legal advice before saying much about the doco that features analysis of Melbourne's infamous gangland war. So, instead of incurring the wrath of BMA's (really enormous) legal department or landing on some defamation hitlist, Blackbox will simply say: watch it.\nCollectors (ABC1 Fri Oct 9 8pm) celebrates its 200th episode this fortnight with collections of TV memorabilia, cocktail paraphernalia, Kinder Surprises and the ABC's own heritage collection.\nOther docos to seek out include Inside the Vatican (SBS1 Fri Oct 2 7.35pm) which looks at everyday life and work within the world's smallest independent state, Manhunters (SBS1 Fri Oct 2 10pm) about British women finding men in the Caribbean, The Mysterious Death of Cleopatra (ABC1 Tue Oct 13 8.30pm) and for the foodies The Wild Gourmets (ABC1 Sat Oct 17 6pm)\nSad news of the week - United States of Tara (ABC1 Wed Oct 14 9.30pm) winds up its first season.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 15 September 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 4 months ago\nThe talented folk of Canberra haven't really featured heavily in the plethora of reality shows. Sure there's been a couple of chicks on Big Brother over the years and some Canberra musicians that have had varying degrees of success on Australian Idol but a new show that premieres on Prime in October is about to show Canberra's true strength. The Australian version of Beauty and the Geek (Prime TBC) features two Canberrans - Jeremy, 24, a radio communications engineer and Paul, 23, a research economist and data analyst - among the eight geeks. That's a quarter of the geeks from a town with less than two percent of Australia's population. Blackbox feels a 'proud to be a Canberra geek' marketing opportunity coming on... (Mates who want to out them should feel free to drop Blackbox a line.)\nAnyone who was shocked into buying a bitsa from the RSPCA after watching Pedigree Dogs Exposed last week on the ABC should watch Catalyst (Thu Sep 17 8pm) which looks at Australia's pedigrees. It'll also make you feel good about your imaginary friend.\nWhile Money for Jam (WIN Wed 8pm) is a catchy title, the show is yet to provide any thoroughly useful information like how to find the rent money when you really want to buy beer.\nThe much talked about Celebrity Masterchef (SCTEN Wed Sep 30 7.30pm) should finally answer the big question - is the Queensland Premier better at cooking than she is at defending her appearance on the show?\nIt will be interesting to see if NCIS: Los Angeles (SC10 Wed Sep 30 8.30pm) can hold audience attention, even with the likes of Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. It's the idiosyncratic characters that make the original show such a success. Operations Manager Hetty (played by Linda Hunt, most memorable for her role in Kindergarten Cop) is likely to win over some viewers.\nLittle Britain USA (SCTEN Sun 9.50pm) and Nurse Jackie (SCTEN Sun 10.25pm) are holding down the post-Rove (SCTEN Sun 8.30pm) slot.\nFashionistas hanging out for the next Sex in the City (SCTEN Sun 11.10pm) movie should check out Video Hits presents: The music of Madonna (Sun Sep 27 10am) for tips - Carrie's flashback sequence is a none-too-subtle re-imagining of Madonna's early wardrobe.\nNot only has digital telly brought The Wire (ABC2 Tue 9.30pm), Gossip Girl (Go! Thu 8.30pm) and Seinfeld (Go! Mon-Fri 8pm) reruns to our screens, Go! is also bringing back classic cartoons such as Josie and the Pussycats (Go! Sat 10am), Scooby Doo (Go! Sat 9.30am), The Flintstones (Go! Sat 12pm) and The Jetsons (Go! Sat 11am) as well as The Thunderbirds (Go! Sat 6am).\nThis fortnight's docos include Inside the Bombay Railway (SBS Fri Sep 18 7.30pm) which goes behind the scenes of the Mumbai rail system that moves 6.5 million people a day, Yellowstone (ABC Sun Sep 20 7.30pm), a four part series that follows the seasons in the infamous Yellowstone National Park starting with winter, Athens: The truth about democracy (ABC1 8.30pm) and The US vs John Lennon (SBS Tue Sep 29 10pm) which looks at the US government's efforts to stop John Lennon's public criticism of the Vietnam War.\nAmong this week's returns and new shows are Highway Patrol (Prime Mon Sep 21 7.30pm) and new seasons of Torchwood (ABC2 Fri Sep 18 8.30pm) and East West 101 (SBS Tue Sep 29 8.30pm). Don't forget Skippy (ABC1 Thu Sep 17 8.30pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 1 September 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 4 months ago\nDon't let anyone tell you spending all day making Youtube videos is a waste of time - the guys behind the popular Youtube video that spread faster than swine flu are about to have the fruits of their labour air as a new ABC2 series. Beached az (ABC2, Thu Sep 10, 9.25pm) goes beyond the seagull encounter that made 'I'm beached bro' part of the lexicon but promises it will be the first kiwi animation never to feature a sheep.\nOf course we will never agree to steer clear of the kangaroo and the star of them all gets her just recognition in Skippy: Australia's first superstar (ABC1, Thu Sep 15, 8.30pm). Not only does the doco show us what happened to the kid who played Sonny, it also features an interview with the ageing diva herself - Skippy's frank admissions make compelling viewing.\nBBC comedy FM (ABC2, Thu Sep 10, 9pm) has finally arrived. Featuring familiar faces from the IT Crowd and Teachers, it depicts life in an FM radio station - kind of. For a laugh at '80s rock, check out Rock of Love (SCTEN, Sun Sep 12, 1am) a US reality show where contestants are competing for the affection of Poison lead singer Bret Michaels. Scary.\nSad news this week with the final episode of the Cook and the Chef (ABC1, Wed Sep 16), which ensured everyone had heard of verjuice even if nobody still understands what it is. Maggie and Simon will be sorely missed in the kitchen at chez Blackbox. Fortunately Maggie's delectable delights are available locally.\nJennifer Byrne Presents (ABC1, Tue Sep 8, 10pm) turns, inevitably, to Monsters and Bloodsuckers. Fans of the genre will recognize authors Catherine Jinks and Will Elliott, academic and Australian Horror and Fantasy mag ed Leigh Blackmore. Model turned crime writer Tara Moss, an avid reader of the genre, also joins the discussion.\nOther new shows to hit screen this week include Gary Unmarried (Prime, Thu Sep 3, 7.30pm) another 'I can't help it I'm a guy comedy' starring the not especially funny Jay Mohr, Billable Hours (ABC2, Thu Sep 10, 10.30pm) a Canadian legal comedy, Little Britain USA (SCTEN, Sun Sep 13, 9.50pm), Nurse Jackie (SCTEN, Sun Sep 13, 10.25pm) and The Urban Monkey with Murray Foote (ABC2, Mon Sep 14, 8.55pm), an Alby Mangels style mockumentary from comedian and Triple J personality Sam Simmonds.0\nDocos in the must watch category include the final ep of Stephen Fry in America (ABC1, Sun Sep 13, 7.30pm) which heads to any grunge fan's mecca, Seattle and Hawaii where fry meets a real Magnum P.I., Artscape: Marc Newson in Conversation (ABC1, Tue, 10pm) - the Aussie designer tells why he doesn't own one of his famous Lockheed lounges.\nRove presents: Hamish and Andy's American Caravan of Courage (SCTEN, Thu Sep 10, 7.30pm) builds on the popular Rove (SCTEN Sun 8.40pm) segment as the hapless duo take the RV from Miami to LA. Not much sign of Rove though, thankfully.\nSpeaking of Hamish, Spicks and Specks (ABC1, Wed Sep 9, 8.30pm) celebrates its 200th episode with Paul Grabowsky, Ella Hooper, Meshel Laurie and almost-permanent-fixture Hamish.\nBlackbox just pips them at the post celebrating its 202nd column this issue - sure its traditional to mark the 200th but Go's arrival had Chez Blackbox just too damn excited (and Blackbox doesn't have an enormous marketing team to keep tabs on these things).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 4 August 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 5 months ago\nIt’s not often the first ep lives up to the hype but the only criticism of United States of Tara (ABC1, Wed, 9.30pm) is that it is packaged in comedy-sized bites. While Tara certainly has the comedic overtones Diablo Cody tickled us with in Juno, like that film there is drama at its core. While wanting more is good, satisfied and wanting more will bring the audience back. Tara runs the risk that viewers will wait for the DVD.\nWhile Blackbox is not usually over-confident (hungry, insecure writers are good – any ed will tell you that) after one ep of TV Burp (Prime, Thu, 9pm) it’s unlikely Blackbox’s loyal audience will be tuning in for their telly news. Billed as bringing you the highlights and lowlights on the box, Burp is just a lame sketch comedy on a vomit-inducing set that’s, presumably, meant to be hip. Leave the psychedelics to Yo Gabba Gabba (ABC1, Mon-Fri, 9.05am) and the comedy to the next incarnation of The Chaser, if indeed their next venture is a comedy.\nChris Taylor’s next appearance on our screens is in Australia’s Heritage: National Treasures (ABC1, Thu Aug 6, 6.50pm) a series of ten-minute docos looking at a raft of items on the Heritage List starting with the Eureka Flag.\nOther new shows to hit our screens include Law and Order: UK (SCTEN, Wed Aug 12, 9.30pm), the first US drama to be adapted for the UK, it’s set in London, Go Girls (SCTEN, Fri Aug 7, 10pm) a sort of north shore version of Outrageous Fortune – Auckland’s north shore but much the same sentiment applies, Ashes to Ashes (ABC1, Mon Aug 10, 9.35pm) a follow up to the original Life on Mars and How Not to Live Your Life (ABC1, Thu Aug 6, 9pm).\nThere are loads of series about to return to the weekly lineup – some new seasons, others that the networks yanked mid-season because of the cricket or the school holidays or some other indiscriminant reason that was really about ratings. SCTEN wants us to forget the way Dexter (SCTEN, Mon Aug 10, 9.40pm) was moved all over the schedule and is trying to make up for it with Season 3. Also returning are Numbers (SCTEN, Wed Aug 19, 9.30pm), Burn Notice (SCTEN, Thu Aug 20, 9.30pm), Las Vegas (Prime, Sun Aug 9, 10.30pm), East West 101 (SBS1, Tue Aug 18, 8.30pm) and City Homicide (Prime, Mon Aug 10, 7.30pm). The first night is a double episode and, if you’re a big enough fan to skive off work, Prime is airing the last two eps of last season at 12pm.\nDocos to look out for include On Board Airforce One (Prime, Mon Aug 10) which takes you on a ride with the new US president and Stephen Fry in America (ABC1, Sun Aug 9, 7.30pm) which takes the UK comedian through all 50 states (what is it with UK comedians and travel shows?), To Russia with Love: The Great Radio War (SBS1, Fri Aug 14, 8.30pm) about Radio Free Europe and the award winning Forbidden Lies (SBS1, Tue Aug 18, 10pm) which looks at the lies of author Norma Khouri.\nIt’s not often that a Saturday Night Movie is worth watching but Serenity (SCTEN, Sat Aug 22, 8.30pm) never disappoints. But don’t watch it if you haven’t seen Firefly.\nTV moment not to miss – Darnell cover in the Witness Protection Program is blown – My Name is Earl (Prime, Wed Aug 19, 9.30pm).\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 21 July 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 6 months ago\nTV land is inundated with good news this week (and it's not often Blackbox gets to say that). The folks at Nine launched their new digital channel this week and for once Canberra will get it at the same time as the rest of the civilised world. At least if you have a HD setup. In a WIN news advertorial on Friday night they let slip that from early August Go! will be available on channel 80, the current HD channel but not on the second non-HD channel until October. It may be worthwhile upgrading to HD though - WIN has suddenly realised that people under 40 have plenty of cash to spend - cue advertisers and a move of 'youth-oriented programming' to Go! The schedule will be interesting - they are coordinating the programming on different nights - reality on Tuesday, sci fi on Wednesday and girl's night in on Thursdays.\nFans of The Wire who've spent oodles of cash and time searching for the DVDs will now be spoilt for choice. Other shows slated to rear their head on Go! are Gossip Girl, The Hills, Fringe, Terminator - Sarah Connor Chronicles, Weeds, Survivor, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, CSI, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not sure there'll be much point tuning into the regular channel.\nThe other big news is that the much-heralded Diablo Cody-penned drama series United States of Tara (ABC1, Wed Jul 29, 9.30pm) hits screens next week. Toni Collette as the multi-personalitied Tara takes viewers on a wild ride. Over the past 20 years writers have shied away from taking on this type of material but Cody, like the writers of Big Love, has hit the right strategy. United States of Tara uses dissociative personality disorder as a device rather than a subject. This is a family sitcom; the everyday life of a family - it's just that Tara's disorder makes the stories more interesting.\nThe 40th anniversary of the moon landing, an event which should have had us living in moon colonies and getting around with jetpacks by now, is permeating the telly schedule at every turn. One of the most interesting ways is Mythbusters: Moon landing hoax (SBS, Sat Jul 25, 7.30pm) where the team put the conspiracy theories to the test.\nThe time-honoured tradition of encore screenings has started once again with shows such as Airways (Prime, Tue, 7.30pm, Fri, 11.45pm, Sat, 8pm) and the 7pm Project (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 7pm, 3.30pm) filling every available gap.\nNew shows include a new season of East of Everything (ABC1, Sat Jul 25, 7.30pm), Love Lies Bleeding (ABC1, Fri Jul 31, 9.40pm) a two part thriller starring Martin Kemp, Gavin & Stacey (Prime, Tue, 9.30pm) award-winning British sitcom set in Wale and Essex not to be confused with Ned & Stacey, a US sitcom from the mid '90s, Agent Moura (SBS1, Thu Jul 23, 8.30pm) about the Russian noblewoman who became a British spy, and Sin City Law (ABC2, Wed Aug 5, 8.30pm) which takes a 360 degree view of real Nevada cases.\nShows winding up include Being Human (ABC1, Fri Jul 24, 9.20pm), Spooks (ABC1, Mon Aug 3, 9.35pm) and the last ever eps of Lipstick Jungle (Prime, Tue Jul 28, 11.30pm) and Prison Break (Prime, Wed Jul 29, 11.30pm).\nThis week's shows to avoid - Australia's Perfect Couple (WIN, Wed, 7.30pm) - who cares, Dance Your Ass Off (WIN, Tue, 7.30pm) worse than the American Biggest Loser and True Beauty (Prime, Thu, 9.30pm) US makeover show hosted by Vanessa Minnillo of trashmag fame.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 8 July 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 6 months ago\nSick of Michael Jackson? You wouldn't be the only one. And it isn't over yet. As we go to press, there is no word on which network will air the memorial service but Rage (ABC1, Sat Aug 1, 10am) has put together a package spanning 40 years of his career.\nLast Word Monologues (ABC1, Fri Jul10, 10pm) is a trio of monologue stories from Hugo Blick (of Up in Town fame). The first stars Rhys Ifans as a framer trying to break free from his mother. Subsequent weeks feature Bob Hoskins as a hitman and Sheila Hancock as a woman in a euthanasia clinic. Worth the investment.\nBlackbox is blaming Idol, its siblings and the revival of Fame for Glee (SCTEN, Sun Jul 19, 9pm). It was only a matter of time before TV execs cottoned on to the potential of a modern musical comedy series about a high school choir. Nominated for three teen choice awards. That about says it all.\nMasterchef (SCTEN, Sun Jul 19, 7.30pm) winds up next week - check out The Cook and the Chef (ABC1, Wed, 6.30pm) for your cooking fix. The much-promoted 7pm Project (SCTEN, Mon Jul 20, 7pm) will fill the weekday slot. While there's no doubt Hughsie, and Charlie Pickering are entertaining, dissecting the news of the day may not be their forte. Perhaps the razor sharp wit and insightful comedic critique of Wil Anderson or Paul McDermott may have been a better fit. And Ruby Rose? Entertainment reporter? Please. If the selection criterion was number of mentions in a trash mag, no wonder she got the gig.\nWIN have just announced that Little Britain (WIN, Tue Jul 7, 10.30pm) is 'premiering'. Why on earth would anyone tune in to watch a show with ads that a) has already run on another network without ads and b) is readily available on DVD? Is it possible that WIN has secured the rights to HBO's Little Britain USA and this is just a warm up? We can only hope.\nABC's Sunday night slot will be filled with The Last Enemy (ABC1, Sun Jul 19, 8.30pm), about an international 1984-style conspiracy. Funny how the immediate future is always about doom and gloom, big brother, terrorists, machines taking over the world and destruction and the distant future a utopian (Star-Trek style) imagining of the world. This eve of destruction thriller stars the brilliant Robert Carlyle so it can't be all bad.\nIf you're looking for a good doco check out Ned Kelly Uncovered (ABC1, Thu Jul 9, 8.30pm) as Tony Robinson (intrepid British history sleuth) conducts an archeological dig at Glenrowan, Spirit Stones (ABC1, Thu Jul 9, 9.30pm) looks at stone showers reported in south west Victoria in the '40s and '50s, We are Wizards (ABC2, Wed Jul 22, 8.30pm) which looks at Harry Potter Fans that have taken it to a trekkie level, Artscape: Brian Eno in conversation (ABC1, Tue Jul 21, 9.50pm) which shows great insight into one of the world's greatest producers, or World's Greenest Homes (ABC1, Thu Jul 30, 6pm).\nReturning series include Big Bang Theory (WIN, Mon, 8pm), Q&A (ABC1, Thu Jul 23, 9.30pm) and Rush (SCTEN, Mon Jul 13, 8.30pm).\nStrangest casting of the year - Corinne Grant will host Airways (Prime, Tue Jul 14, 7.30pm) the new Tiger Airways fly-on-the-wall doco.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 24 June 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 7 months ago\nDebate has raged over the past few weeks about The Chaser's War on Everything (ABC2, Wed, 9pm) - yanked from the schedule due to a stunt everybody seemed to find offensive. So far not a single person has said they found it funny, despite it being offensive. Because it wasn't. And that's the problem with the latest series. The desire to be as shocking and newsworthy as possible has drowned out the wit and panache with which The Chaser team once plied their trade. They were at their best when they were writing an anonymous satirical newspaper. Now they've become the celebrities they once skewered so eloquently.\nThe following comment will probably mean that a chasm opens under Chez Blackbox and it is sucked into Hades but doesn't anyone else see the absolute hypocrisy in shows like Random Acts of Kindness (WIN, Sun, 6.30pm)? First, the company/agency etc that donates the goods gets a free ad that would usually cost a lot more. Meeting stars is no less profitable - they usually have a movie to flog. The hosts are from other WIN shows, providing a great cross-promotional opportunity (and a boost to their careers). And shows like this cost very little to produce. Sure, deserving people are on the receiving end of the largesse but the motive is the same as The Chaser. Ratings.\nThe British have long been superior at penning and producing cops shows and spy dramas (with a few exceptions like The Wire) and comedy. Now they've taken a punt with the supernatural. Being Human (ABC2, Fri, 9.20pm) slots comfortably into the Friday night sci-fi lineup. The show about a vampire, werewolf and ghost who share a house is far more sophisticated than it sounds. And the scripts walk all over recent efforts in this genre. Sure, the vampire is man candy but that's the nature of the beast, and the storylines explore much more than the mythical stereotypes.\nIf you've always wanted to be a TV star but can't act, sing or juggle, two new casting calls may set you on your way to stardom. ABC is looking for presenters for a number of projects on its new digital kids channel, ABC3 - visit abc.net.au/meon3. The Apprentice is coming to Australia. No Donald though - visit ninemsn.com.au/Apprentice to apply.\nLooking for cool telly to keep little tykes busy - Yo Gabba Gabba (ABC2, Mon Jul 6, 9.05am) - DJ Lance Rock, The Ting Tings, Jack Black...\nTrouble in Paradise (WIN, Thu Jun 25, 8.30pm) shows you where and what to avoid when you go overseas.\nWhile it sounds like an accountant's ultimate fantasy, The Ascent of Money (ABC, Thu, 8.30pm) is proving to be very interesting for those of us who don't understand why a whole lot of bad home loans in the US means that our money is suddenly worth less. As it Happened: 1929 The Wall Street Crash (SBS1, Fri Jul 3, 8.30pm) is a good companion.\nDocos to check out include La Paloma (ABC2, Sun Jun 28, 9.35pm), about the oft recorded tune, Are We Alone in the Universe?Australian Biography: Noel Tovey (SBS1, Wed Jul 1, 10pm) which follows the extraordinary life of the indigenous actor, choreographer and writer, Slave Revolution (SBS, Sun Jul 5, 7.30pm) which looks at the first slave revolution in Haiti, Can GM Food Save the World (SBS1, Tue Jul 7, 8.30pm) and Journos (SBS1, Sun Jul 5, 9.30pm). (SBS1, Tue Jun 30, 7.30pm),\nSports fans will be in heaven with the launch of ONE in the ACT from July 2 as well as Tour de France (SBS1, from Sat 4 Jul, 10pm) and The Ashes (SBS1, from Wed Jul 8, time TBA).\nNew series Prime has slated for the next few months include Airways - an observational doco inside Tiger Airways so you can see how it all goes wrong, Double Take - a new sketch parody show and TV Burp - a look at the week's TV with comedian Ed Kavalee, which probably won't put Blackbox out of a job - after all, 'you gotta dance with the one who brung ya'.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 10 June 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 7 months ago\nIs anybody else sick of the Freeview ads tugging at your heart strings with TV moments from before you were born, promising much but delivering little? Despite trumpeting the advent of 15 channels, we still only have seven. The five we already had plus the recently launched SBS TWO, expanding the news channel to include foreign language films and repeats, and a growing stable of programs on ABC2. SC10 is yet to pick up ONE HD, Channel 10’s sports channel but you can already get it through Foxtel. That’s right – the one extra free-to-air channel that’s available can only be seen in Canberra on pay TV, while free-to-air networks run ads to tell us why they’re better than pay TV. Lucky Auntie is taking things seriously otherwise Chez Blackbox might have to rethink its principled stance against paying for television. Now if Foxtel got rid of the ads…\nOn another front, SCTEN’s loss is a Flight of the Conchords (SBS, Mon, 9pm) fan’s gain with the second series on air in a much more respectable (and predictable) timeslot. It may have been a better show for SCTEN if it hadn’t been subject to being pushed later by Rove (SCTEN, Sun, 8.45pm) and whichever inane reality show preceded him.\nMerlin (SCTEN, Sun, 6.30pm) is really paint-by-numbers stuff. Take a British legend – preferably set sometime when there were busty women, jousting, crusades and when the men wore tights – and add some pretty people with more hair product than you’d find backstage at a drag show. Hard to tell you’re not watching the latest Robin Hood incarnation.\nHarper’s Island seems to have turned out a dud – from 9.35pm to midnight to gone in the space of two weeks. Dave in the Life has also been hastily replaced with South Park (SBS, Mon, 8.30pm).\nThree Acts of Murder (ABC1, Sun Jun 14, 8.30pm) ticks all the right boxes – an Australian period crime drama – this time set in the 1930s – based on a true story – serial killer Snowy Rowles, who took his inspiration from an Arthur Upfield novel, before it was even published. Confused? Tune in.\nSpooks (ABC1, Mon, 9.35pm) is proving to be riveting viewing – in the next few weeks the focus moves from Iran and the middle east to Russia and there’s a new addition to the cast, Richard Armitage as MI5 officer Lucas North, captured in Russia eight years ago.\nIt sounds incredibly boring but The Ascent of Money (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm) is actually fascinating, particularly if you can’t understand how you can wake up one day and be in the middle of the GFC without it having something to do with fried chicken.\nDocos to look out for include Artscape: Circus Oz: The Big Birthday Bash (ABC1, Tue Jun 16, 10pm) which follows the circus on its 30th anniversary tour, Back Home (ABC1, Thu Jun 25, 9.25pm) which takes a Rwandan genocide survivor on a return trip through his country, Wordplay (SBS, Tue Jun 16, 10pm) which looks at the culture and history of The New York Times crossword, Nature’s Great Events (ABC1, Sun Jun 14, 7.30pm) which begins with the Arctic’s yearly melt.\nDon’t miss Family Guy (Wed, Jun 10, 10.30pm), which promises the audio from the now infamous rant from Christian Bale.\nTRACY HEFFERNAN\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 19 May 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 8 months ago\nThe new black in tellyland has got to be the panel quiz show – cheaper than a Millionaire-type quiz where you have to give prizes to the boring contestants and more interactive than straight panel shows. The recipe goes something like this… take two or three regular team leaders who have a knack for comedy, being starstruck and some knowledge of the show’s subject matter, add some guests – a mix of comedians and celebrities who have something to spruik and add a well-loved and funny host and you’ve got a winner. The concept is not new – Good News Week (SCTEN, Mon, 8.30pm) has been around for more than a decade, originally on the ABC, and Spicks and Specks (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm) and Rockwiz (SBS, Sat, 9.20pm) have both proved must-watch telly for music trivia geeks – but it is spreading. Talkin ‘bout Your Generation (SCTEN, Tue, 7.30pm) just started and SBS’s new sports quiz show The Squiz (SBS, Sat May 23, 8.30pm), hosted by Anh Do, kicks off this weekend.\nIndia is certainly on the TV producer’s radar. Following the Story of India recently aired on Auntie, comes Jamie’s Journey with the Children of India (Prime, Sat May 23, 4.30pm) featuring pretty boy gardener Jamie Durie, Office Tigers (SBS, Wed May 27, 8pm) – a four-part doco that follows American corporate trainers as they teach young Indian workers in Chennai and Mumbai Calling (ABC1, Tue, 9.35pm), the new Sanjeev Bhaskar comedy about a call centre in India – Richard E. Grant stars in the May 26 ep.\nIf you can’t remember the last time you went to bed sober before 3am then you should make sure you set your recorder for Dead Tired (SBS, Wed May 27, 8.30pm) which proves that (apparently) lack of sleep is slowly killing us all… better to burn out than fade away takes on a whole new meaning.\nEver the speed lover, Top Gear’s Richard Hammond steps away from the race track (but not too far) for Richard Hammond’s Engineering Connections (SBS, Sat May 30,ww 7.30pm) that looks at Airbus A380 and Taipei’s 101 Tower among other engineering marvels.\nShould I Smoke Dope (ABC2, Wed May 27, 9.30pm) takes immersive journo Nicky Taylor on a pot-smoking journey where she explores whether cannabis should be re-classified as a class B drug in the UK and treated differently to heroin and cocaine, including taking part in a medical trial to see if pot makes you mad.\nOther docos and new shows to look out for over the next three weeks include Lost Worlds: And Man Invented Animals (SBS, Sun May 24, 7.30pm) tracking the taming of wild animals over the centuries to produce cute kitties and puppies for your home, Lugosi: Fallen Vampire (ABC2, Sun May 24, 9.35pm) which tells the story of the first actor to play Dracula, the legendary Bella Lugosi, Michael Palin: Around the World in 20 Years, where Palin revisits some of his adventures and the people he met along the way and the return of Sea Patrol (WIN, Mon May 18, 8.30pm).\nAnd the big news is the return after their post-APEC hiatus of The Chaser’s War on Everything (ABC1, Wed May 27, 9pm) – celebrities, politicians, public servants and shoppers beware. They’re on the streets again.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Tuesday, 12 May 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 7 years, 8 months ago\nThe recent trend towards setting drama in the mid-late 20th century, in Blackbox faves such as Life on Mars (SCTEN, Fri, 10.30pm), Mad Men (SBS, Thu, 8.30pm) and Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (WIN, Mon, 8.30pm) begs the question: are writers trying to turn a mirror on the past to show us why we should be thankful for today or are they just fed up with the political correctness that underlies every word they write in a modern drama? Mad Men in particular echoes outrageous sentiments that were the accepted norms of the time – so much so that there was no need to articulate them in shows made in the 1950s and ‘60s. You don’t see Darren from Bewitched remonstrating about the fact that his wife’s place is at home, in the kitchen, as a homemaker. And witch or not she dutifully accepts that as her role. And she does it without a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. Whether a serious social message is at their heart, these shows must be loads of fun for the writers. There are loads of tongue-in-cheek jibes at cultural icons. And the costume and set designers must have a blast. Blackbox feels another round of vintage dressing approaching…\nOn the topic of Life on Mars, it appears fans of long-running crime franchise, Law and Order, in particular Law and Order: Criminal Intent (SCTEN, Thu May 14, 8.30pm) will see their icons back on the regular timeslot with Life on Mars heading to Friday nights. Jeff Goldblum joins the Criminal Intent cast as rockstar detective Zach Nichols.\nHarper’s Island (SCTEN, Sun May 10, 9.40pm) is one of those revolutionary ideas that spends so much time on the revolutionary it falls flat on the delivery – a little like the BBC’s Wallpaper/Echo Beach duo (ABC). Harper’s Island is a teenage horror series set around a wedding on an island. It is a 13-part series with a finite end and the promise of at least one character dying each episode – sort of a modern horror version of Agatha Christie. There is a companion web series, Harper’s Globe – the story of a new reporter at the island’s newspaper that gets drawn into the drama.\nTalkin ‘bout Your Generation (SCTEN, Tue May 5, 7.30pm) which looked like a promising social challenge just turns out to be a formula for a new quiz show.\nRefugees from Perth who miss the music scene back home (or anyone who is interested in the culture behind music) should tune in to Something in the Water (ABC2, Wed May 13, 9.30pm).\nWildlife lovers shouldn’t miss Christian the Lion (Prime, Tue May 5, 7.30pm) which tells the 1960s story behind last year’s Youtube star or Foreign Correspondent: Queen of the Mountains (ABC1, Tue May 5, 8pm) about breeding snow leopards in the Himalayas. Snow leopards also feature in the return of The Zoo (Prime, Tue May 5, 7.30pm).\nOther shows to watch out for over the next three weeks include The Brothers Warner (ABC2, Sun May 3, 8.30pm) about the movie studio siblings, Jeff Tweedy: Sunken Treasure Live in the Pacific Northwest (ABC2, Mon May 4, 9.55pm) which follows the Wilco frontman on his solo tour, Dave in the Life (SBS, Mon May 11, 8.30pm) which follows the guy imbedded with Sheikh Hilaly into other people’s lives, Cyber Guerillas (SBS, Tue May 12, 8.30pm), When Borat Came to Town (SBS, Tue May 12, 10pm) about the Kazakh village Sacha Baron Cohen depicted, Mumbai Calling (ABC1, Tue May 12, 9.35pm) the latest Sanjeev Bhaskar comedy about a call centre in Mumbai and the return of Thank God You’re Here (Prime, Wed, 7.30pm) in its new home, Lipstick Jungle (Prime, Tue May 5, 10.30pm) and Top Gear Australia (SBS, Mon May 11, 7.30pm).\nAnd yes The Logies (WIN, Sun May 3, 8pm – Red Carpet at 7.30pm) are on. Blackbox thinks they should include a category for best TV critic/commentator/columnist but of course that would be against the sycophantic nature of the awards (and BMA isn’t controlled by Channel 9).\nFor much more fun with awards shows, try Eurovision Song Contests Semi Final 1 & 2 and Final (SBS, Fri May 15, Sat May 16, Sun May 17 7.30pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 22 January 09 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years ago\nSo it looks like another year of crime drama, but at least it’s getting slightly more imaginative. No doubt the over-hyped show of 2009 will be the new Underbelly series A Tale of Two Cities (WIN), set in the ‘70s and ‘80s in Griffith and Sydney. It’s going to have to do big things to even come close to the intensity of Roberta’s bogan ways. Sure, you can believe Matthew Newton as a sleazy drug boss, but whether we can see the man most famous as the Mayor of Parkes as a mafia boss or Sally Fletcher as a gangster’s wife remains to be seen. The beauty of the first series was the relatively unknown actors in the lead roles - sure there were a couple of faces from long dead ‘80s soaps, and Frankie J Holden, but our faves, like Roberta, were newcomers. The ‘70s garb and the locations in downtown Griffith alone won’t cut it - Blackbox is just praying the script is as good as the original.\nOne show that most of you have probably already put on the don’t-watch-unless-every-other-channel-goes-to-test-pattern list is the US version of Life on Mars (SCTEN), and while the fact that they killed the continuing mystery in the original series and David E. Kelley pulled out before the pilot was re-written, there is one reason to tune in. Harvey Keitel. That makes it at least worth a peek.\nThe show you really should put on the list is the Australian version of Ladette to Lady (WIN). Cringe (non-cultural).\nElsewhere it’s wall-to-wall observational docos, reality and lifestyle. Bondi Vet (SCTEN) doesn’t promise anything new apart from a vet who’s more attractive than Dr. Harry, but Guerrilla Gardeners (SCTEN) might prove more interesting – instead of the backyards of battlers it makes over urban spaces. Talkin’ ‘bout my Generation (SCTEN), a panel show that will feature different generations discussing issues, could prove entertaining depending on the panelists. While it could be completely self indulgent, Toasted and Roasted (WIN) brings the US concept to our screens. The only problem is we’ve been doing it for years without a TV show deeming it OK.\nAs usual Auntie wins in the comedy stakes with The Chaser’s War on Everything (ABC1) returning and John Safran taking on yet another taboo topic with John Safran’s Race Relations (ABC1).\nDr Who fans will be pleased that a new Doctor has been announced – Matt Smith from summer hit Party Animals (ABC1, Tue, 8.30pm) - and that Auntie will screen this year’s Christmas episode with David Tennant at the end of February. Visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VLFli9i9Jw for a preview.\nWhile the summer viewing was pretty thin on the ground – Chez Blackbox managed to get through at least two seasons of The Wire and some other assorted retro fare such as The X-Files and Northern Exposure – the pick of the new shows was Big Bang Theory (WIN, Sun-Mon, 8pm). Sure, there are a lot of predictable geek jokes and some of the peripheral characters are lucky to make two dimensions, but Jim Parsons is brilliant as the arrogant yet whiny Sheldon and Johnny Galecki and Sara Gilbert successfully recreate the chemistry that often saw them steal the show on Roseanne.\nOf course special mention should go to the highly addictive Gossip Girl (WIN, Wed, 11.30pm), although WIN seems to have ditched it a few times in favour of Temptation (WIN, Mon-Fri, 11.30pm). Game shows are not an 11.30pm show. Bring back the bitches of New York society!\nWhile you wait for the new shows to start, keep yourself amused with Animation Season (SBS, Tue, 10.55pm), Rockwiz featuring Adalita of Magic Dirt fame (SBS, Sat Jan 24, 9.20pm), new comedy Chandon Pictures (ABC1, Wed, 9.05pm) and Food Safari USA (SBS, Wed Jan 28, 7.30pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 11 December 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 1 month ago\nFreeview, the consortium of free to air networks has started marketing itself and the new digital channels that are due to arrive in 2009 but there’s no air date, or many details so far. Just one. SCTEN has announced that its second (non-HD) channel will be dedicated to sport. Presumably the ‘Berra won’t be the first market to get tuned in so if you’re paying for pay TV, don’t tear up your subscription just yet.\nSpeaking of pay TV, the transition of Gossip Girl (WIN, Wed, 10.30pm) is further proof that it’s all about waiting (as long as the network doesn’t axe it because it’s not rating well enough). Dirty Sexy Money (Prime, Tue, 11.30pm) is in danger with its move to late night.\nLooking for a trip away but can’t afford to leave the couch? Go on a culinary tour of the world with Food Safari (SBS, Wed, 7.30pm) and visit delectable delights from Persia, Africa, Syria as well as (scarily enough) the UK and US. Check out Iron Chef America: Cheese (SBS, Wed Dec 24, 3.10pm) for a taste.\nNew shows for the summer include In Plain Sight (SCTEN, Tue Dec 16, 9.30pm) which is another crime show, Gangland Graveyard (ABC1, Mon Jan 5, 8.30pm) another one and Nigel Marven’s Ugly Animals (ABC1, Sun Jan 4, 7.30pm).\nDocos to search out in coming weeks include Hitler’s Museum (SBS, Fri Dec 12, 8.30pm) tracing Hitler’s plan to pillage Europe’s museums to build his own, Celebrity Dominick Dunne (ABC1, Mon Dec 15, 8.30pm) which follows the legendary 82-year-old commentator as he follows the murder trial of Phil Spector, Roller Derby Dolls (repeated ABC2, Wed Dec 15, 8.05pm), Expedition Bhutan (ABC1, Mon Dec 22, 8.30pm), The Real Mrs Doubtfire (ABC1, Mon Dec 22, 10.15pm), 638 Ways to Kill Castro (SBS, Mon Dec 29, 8.30pm) which speaks to a number of men who have tried to assassinate Fidel Castro, Destiny in Alice (SBS, Thu Jan 1, 9.30pm) looks at lesbianism in Alice Springs and AC/DC – Legends of Rock (Prime, Wed Dec 17, 9.30pm).\nIf you want to look forward rather than back as the year comes to a close, check out At the Movies Summer Special (ABC1, Sun Dec 14, 6pm) and let David and Margaret help plan your summer.\nIn the true tradition of celebratory specials, Myf Warhurst will ‘host’ New Year’s Eve – The Best 0f 2008 with Myf Warhurst (ABC 1, Wed Dec 31, 8.30pm) strings together a series of (mostly) repeats of The Gruen Transfer, Spicks and Specks, The New Inventors and Enough Rope. It does, however, begin with the Chaser-produced Happy News Year.\nOver at SBS, they have a more novel approach to the new year (while you recover from your hangover). Terry Jones traces The Story of 1 (SBS, Thu Jan 1, 8.30pm).\nDon’t miss 1 Giant Leap – What About Me? (ABC2, Wed Dec 31, 8.05pm). The series takes musicians Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto as they travel around the world with their music, adding layers to the music through the cultures of the places they travel to. Alongside the music there are interviews with some famous actors and some of the world’s greatest thinkers on all aspects of the human condition.\nHave a fantastic Christmas and New Year and check out the following shows while you get excited bout the white-bearded fat man in the red suit. Scrooged (Prime, Sat Dec 20, 11.20pm), Merry Christmas Joyeux Noel (ABC1, Sun Dec 21, 8.35pm), Christmas Lights (ABC1, Wed Dec 24, 8.05pm), Jamie at Home: Christmas Special (SCTEN, Wed Dec 24, 7.30pm), Vision Australia’s Carols by Candlelight (WIN, Wed Dec 24, 8.30pm), Catherine Tate Christmas Special (ABC1, Wed Dec 24, 9.35pm), Father Ted Christmas Special (ABC1, Wed Dec 24, 10.10pm), An Irish Christmas (ABC2, Wed Dec 24, 11.05pm), Santa Claus Parade (SCTEN, Thu Dec 25, 6am), A Very Barry Christmas (ABC1, Thu 25, 8.15am), The Grinch (SCTEN, Thu Dec 25, 12pm), Creature Comforts: Merry Christmas (ABC2, Thu Dec 25, 9.50pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 30 October 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 2 months ago\nWhile the Australian series of Top Gear (SBS, Mon, 7.30pm) is still finding its feet, it is already attracting a loyal following. And rightly so. The challenges and commentary on cars available in Australia are a hoot and cartoonist Warren Brown is proving a winner. Last week’s lawn bowls segment was inspired, and the show is taking on Australian topics like this week’s investigation of the ‘Toorak Tractor’ phenomenon. The only criticism that can be directed thus far is the show’s strict adherence to the British format – right down to the copycat set, the camera angles, voiceover and the personalities of the hosts. Hopefully, with a bit of time, the hosts, in particular Charlie Cox, will step out of the shadow of their UK counterparts and let their own personality shine. Personality is largely what has made the UK show so successful and it would be a pity for the Aussie version to suffer an identity crisis on this basis. Attempting to copy a show lock stock and barrel may have worked for Steve Vizard in the ’80s but in these days of ‘fast-tracking’ (a term that should be relegated to the cutting room floor) and in a situation where the original show has such a loyal audience, it simply doesn’t wash. Just ask those few who even bothered to watch last week’s debut of the US version of Kath and Kim. After one poorly performing ep and a panning in the press, Prime have seen the error of their ways and yanked the show, preferring to air reruns of the original Kath and Kim (Prime, Sun, 7pm), even acknowledging in their own publicity as ‘the original and best’. Let’s face it, Kimmy needs a muffin top, Kath needs to be unfashionable, Brett is supposed to be a dork, and Kel as a sandwich shop owner just doesn’t quite cut it. The US version of The Office (SCTEN, Sun, 11.20pm) has managed to find an audience because it developed its own flavour – a satirical look at the US workplace.\nA copycat that is probably likely to work (as reality or observational docos often do) is Face Painting with Bill Leak (ABC1, Mon Nov 17, 8pm) which builds on the Rolf Harris show. In Leak’s version, the subjects are no longer with us and he goes on a quest to find out what they were really like before completing their portrait.\nSCTEN have had a bit of a shake-up in their schedule – Californication (SCTEN, Sun Nov 9, 10.40pm) will need to re-program recorders as repeat episodes of NCIS (SCTEN, Sun, 9.40pm) push it to a later timeslot. And Friends is gone from the weeknight slot replaced with reruns of Will and Grace (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 7pm).\nThose who’ve not made the commitment to Life (SCTEN, Thu, 9.30pm) should take the opportunity this week with a special double episode. Good scripts and plots and an ongoing theme make this a show to add to your regular viewing roster.\nDocos to keep an eye out for include Humpbacks: From Fire to Ice (ABC1, Sun Nov 16, 7.30pm), The Howard Years: Change the Government, Change the Country (ABC1, Mon Nov 17, 8.30pm), Sunday Arts (ABC1, Sun Nov 16, 5pm) which features an article with film director Julien Temple (The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, The Filth and the Fury, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten) who is in Sydney directing Eternity Man, Cooking in the Danger Zone – Chernobyl (SBS, Wed Nov 5, 8pm) and Hairtales (ABC1, Thu Nov 20, 9.30pm) which takes an offbeat look at hair, including an ex-gothic mortician, a Canadian hair academic, a country girl bikini waxer and a myopic hair artist.\nPolitical geeks will be in heaven this week with the US election. Auntie’s new ABC News Breakfast (ABC2, Mon Nov 3, 6am) premieres just in time, World News Australia: America Decides (SBS, Wed Nov 5, 3.30pm) follows the action live with the help of CNN, and Dateline (SBS, Wed Nov 5, 8.30pm) airs live from Washington. On the lighter side is Mr Firth Goes to Washington (SBS, Tue Nov 4, 8.30pm) part docudrama, part mockumentary, the show follows The Chaser’s Charles Firth as he goes to Washington and attempts to get an interview with George Bush. The following week British political satire The Thick of It (ABC1, Fri Nov 21, 9.40pm) hits our screens.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 16 October 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 3 months ago\nThe music industry’s night-of-nights is almost upon us and unlike the Oscars, Emmys or Logies, sunglasses and bondage wear are guaranteed to make an appearance on the red carpet. The 22nd Annual ARIA Awards (SCTEN, Sun Oct 19, 7.30pm) will be hosted by Hamish, Andy and James Mathison, which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Without platinum selling albums from Silverchair or Powderfinger, the awards might even warrant a wager with friends.\nOn a musical note, Rainman goes to Rockwiz (SBS, Wed Oct 22, 8pm) as it follows music aficionado Mark Boerebach as a guest on Rockwiz. Mark, who was born blind and diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, is a font of knowledge about Australian ’80s music and lists the Xanadu soundtrack as his favourite album. The episode of Rockwiz (SBS, Sat, 9.20pm) airs on October 25.\nOther music shows to look out for include London Live (ABC2, Sun Oct 19, 12pm) with Morrissey, Mohair, Wolfmother and Goldfrapp, Classic Albums: Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks (ABC2, Fri Oct 24, 10.30pm) and Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (ABC2, Sun Oct 26, 8.30pm) which features interviews with the likes of David Bowie, Radiohead, Jarvis Cocker, Alison Goldfrapp and Brian Eno.\nFans of Californication (SCTEN, Sun, 10pm) who were concerned that last season’s happily-ever-after tie-up would be the end of Hank’s sleazy ways should be unconcerned, if last week’s season opener is anything to go by, the writer’s aren’t done with jumping over boundaries. The best news of the fortnight is the return of Stupid Stupid Man (ABC1, Wed, 9pm) filling the void left by The Hollowmen, which will be sadly missed.\nThe folks behind Pizza have a brand new comedy – Swifty and Shift Couriers (SBS, Mon Oct 27, 8.30pm) has an eclectic cast that includes Ian Turpie, Amanda Keller, Melissa Tkautz, Paul Fenech and Angry Anderson among others.\nNow Blackbox is not usually a forum to promote any kind of business news or financial show but the topic for this week’s Insight (SBS, Tue Oct 21, 7.30pm) is an exception. In the wake of the financial market uncertainty the program is looking at whether greed is to blame – could make interesting viewing. In the documentary stakes, First Australians (SBS, Sun, 8.35pm and Tue, 8.30pm) continues until November, Run Granny Run (SBS, Tue Oct 21, 10.05pm) looks at 89-year-old Doris Haddock, who after walking 3200 miles to protest against the influence of big money in US elections, became a senator, The Choice 2008 (SBS, Tue Oct 28, 10.05pm) which looks at the biographies of Barack Obama and John McCain, and Infamous Victory: Ben Chifley’s battle for coal (ABC1, Thu Nov 6, 8.30pm). West Wing fans and other political geeks shouldn’t miss Mister President (SBS, Fri Oct 31, 7.30pm) which looks at how the White House is portrayed on film and TV. Series returning this week include The Office (SCTEN, Sun Oct 26, 10.20pm), The Zoo (Prime, Tue Oct 21, 7.30pm).\nThought for the week – Battlefronts (WIN, Sun, 6.30pm) – if the networks scrape any further for lifestyle show ideas, they are sure to put a hole in the bottle of the barrel soon.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 18 September 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 4 months ago\nThere’s so much going on in TV land over the next few weeks that it’s hard to know what’s the biggest news. Until you get to the SBS email. Yes folks, the much-vaunted local version of Top Gear (SBS Mon Sep 29 7.30pm) kicks off in just over a week. Carlovers, revheads and comedy fans who catch the bus will be holding their breath to see if the series measures up. On the plus side, the cars will be available here and some of the hosts, such as inimitable cartoonist Warren Brown have a personality and love for motoring that should fit the format. Like all localised versions, though, it will probably need a settling-in period for the viewers to see it as a stand-alone show and for the hosts to avoid trying to mimic their counterparts. Except for The Stig. And it remains to be seen whether the Australian Stig can be as successful as TISM at protecting his real identity. Perhaps The Stig is actually a member of TISM…\nThe new 90210 (SCTEN Mon 8.30pm) has managed to copy its longer monogrammed predecessor and offer a real surprise in the teen drama genre. Sure all the actors are pretty – no Andrea or David Silver here – but, elaborate backstories notwithstanding, the characters are less vapid and vacant than many of the show’s contemporaries. While not challenging viewing or Emmy-award winning scripting, Blackbox predicts 90210 will become the guilty pleasure to replace the void left by Dirty Sexy Money.\nWhether the new Knightrider (Prime Sat Sep 27 9pm) will mange the same feat, remains to be seen. This is likely to be one case where the original retains its cult status, cheesy acting from The Hoff and all. And what’s with the new K.I.T.T? Taking a regular black rev head coupe and adding a red light to the bonnet and a couple of props from the Star Trek set does not an icon make.\nSpicks and Specks (ABC1 Wed Oct 8 8.30pm) takes a different tack with Hamish Blake hosting a behind-the-scenes special. While there’s expected fare such as viewers’ comments and how the questions are picked, the team interviews will reveal the rudest, crudest and weirdest guests. Voyeuristic viewing at its best.\nNew police dramas Rush (SCTEN Tue 9.30pm) and The Strip (WIN Thu 8.30pm) have yet to solidly cement themselves in the Chez Blackbox schedule but neither is reach-for-the-remote fare. Of course it could be Callan Mulvey in the former and endless scenes of summer in the latter that are holding the attention.\nWhile the premise of a comedy actor reprising a film role to do a documentary about toilets around the world could have been a disaster, Kenny’s World (SCTEN Wed 8pm) is incredibly well-researched with plenty of quirky finds.\nThe same can’t be said for Taken Out (SCTEN Mon-Fri 7pm). This woeful dating show makes Perfect Match, replete with compatability-calculating robot Dexter, look sensitive.\nIn the documentary department don’t miss The Lost World of Tibet (ABC1 Sun Oct 5 7.30pm) which uses archival footage shot before communism, Two in the Top End (ABC1 Tue 8pm) with intrepid travelers Tim Flannery and John Doyle, Four Wives, One Man (SBS Tue Sep 30 10.05pm), which follows a polygamist family in Iran over three years and Iconoclasts: Eddie Vedder and Laird Hamilton (ABC 2 Wed Oct 1 9.20pm) which looks at the lives of the Pearl Jam singer and the surfer through their friendship.\nSadly, some Blackbox faves are approaching season cliffhangers including The Hollowmen (ABC1 Wed Oct 8 8.30pm) which actually ran two seasons, Doctor Who (Sun Sep 28 7.30pm) which winds up with Davros and a cast of thousands and Dexter (SCTEN Sun Sep 28 10.10pm) which should cure the nightmares about the ice truck killer.\nAmusing note of the week: A new season premiere of NCIS (SCTEN Tue Sep 30 8.30pm). Hard to recognize when a season ends amongst all those repeats.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 4 September 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 4 months ago\nPromised riches, promoted ad nauseam throughout the unimpressive Olympics coverage have finally reached our screens, with all networks flooding schedules with new programming this week. And the new rush of observational documentary and lifestyle programming looks just like the old, except that they’ve joined two concepts to make one show – Outback Wildlife Rescue (Prime, Sun, 7pm), for example, takes the RSPCA concept, adds a bit of wildlife doco and throws in Ernie Dingo for good measure. You can just imagine the producers of The Outdoor Room (Prime, Sun, 6.30pm) and Bondi Rescue: Bali (SCTEN, Wed, 7.30pm) sitting around thinking ‘let’s come up with an idea that involves us getting to travel’.\nThe new shows kick off on Monday with Taken Out (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 7pm), a kind of noughties version of ’80s dating show Perfect Match and 90210 (SCTEN, Mon, 8.30pm), a noughties version of ’90s teen drama Beverly Hills 90210. Blackbox recommends avoiding both. However do check out Secret Diary of a Call Girl (WIN, Tue, 10.30pm).\nOn Tuesday John Doyle (better known as Rampaging Roy Slaven) and Tim Flannery jump in a car instead of a tinnie and discover the north in Two in the Top End (ABC1, Tue Sep 16, 8pm). Follow that up with new cop drama Rush (SCTEN, Tue, 9.30pm) starring Roger Corser and Callan Mulvey of Underbelly (which is as good a reason as any for Blackbox viewing).\nWednesday, it’s worth sticking with The Hollowmen (ABC1, Wed Sep 24, 9pm). Many have been disappointed and, while it won’t have you rolling on the floor, it’s actually clever satire – maybe a bit too close to the bone. Elsewhere there’s the much promoed world tour of lavatories, Kenny’s World (SC10, Wed, 8pm).\nThursday is reserved for new glitzy Gold Coast cop drama The Strip (WIN Thu 8.30pm), starring McLeods Daughters’ Aaron Jeffrey and Frankie.J.Holden who seems to be in demand as a cop lately.\nDon’t let the glossy new shows blind you to an absolute nostalgic gem. Doctor Who: The Stolen Earth (Sun, Sep 21, 7.30pm) sees a plethora of the Doctor’s companions on hand including new girl Donna, Rose Taylor, Martha Jones and ’70s stalwart Sarah-Jane Smith. In those circumstances, the Doctor should consider taking on an earth-style nickname – Heff perhaps? Follow the Doctor with Black Box’s new fave show, Dexter (SCTEN Sun 10.40pm).\nAnd when is somebody going to buy The Wire off WIN? Black Box is not in the least bit surprised at the contempt WIN showed for such a great show but now it’s getting really hard to find the DVDs! Please Auntie, do what you did for West Wing fans a few years ago – buy The Wire and keep it in a reliable and reasonable timeslot.\nOne offs to look out for include Australia’s Greatest Islands (Prime, Sat Sep 13, 6.30pm), Flipping Out (SBS, Tue Sep 16, 10.05pm) which is about young Israelis who travel to India after their compulsory military service, Rear Window (ABC2, Sat Sep 20, 8.30pm) which kicks off a Hitchcock season, Great Australian Albums (SBS, Sat Sep 20, 10pm) and The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes (ABC2, Wed Sep 17, 8.20pm). And the new series of NCIS (SCTEN, Tue Sep 16, 8.30pm) winds up. No doubt the rolling repeats will continue.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 21 August 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 5 months ago\nPatriotic souls will have noticed Prime bombarding viewers with ads for dramas that are coming soon. Those looking for respite from Johanna Griggs and Bruce McAvaney will have noticed the same phenomenon on the other networks. Amongst all the froth and bubble about the exciting new schedule, at press time, on the commercial networks, there was only a start date for one – new Australian drama Packed to the Rafters (Prime, Tue Aug 26, 8.30pm). Starring Rebecca Gibney, Erik Thomson, Michael Caton and a bunch of relative newcomers (including Kick’s Zoe Ventoura), it’s about a suburban family and doesn’t involve police, a legal firm or a doctor’s surgery, which has got to be good.\nPrime has also announced a start date for the Jack Thompson–hosted Find my Family (Prime, Tue Aug 26, 8pm), which helps people find family members they have never known. And yes, just in case you missed the 500 ads, Australian Idol (SCTEN, Sun Aug 24, 7.30pm) is back.\nAnd what of the Olympics? The lack of HG and Roy was a great disappointment. Sure the timing was lousy and there’s probably few people watching anyway, but Andrew Daddo had to have known his show was just filler, something to plug the gap between Sunrise and competition. The Dream was must-watch-telly. Yum Cha was not.\nAnd as far as the general coverage goes, there was too little focus on those odd sports that you only ever see at the Olympics. Rather than see Grant Hackett’s heat swim repeated 15 times, it might have been nice to see more table tennis, handball or BMX.\nWhile not dedicating themselves to blanket coverage, it’s safe to say that the folks at good old Auntie will have more Paralympic coverage than any broadcaster in the world, with two one-hour highlight packages (ABC1 daily from Sun, Sep 7, 6pm and 11.30pm) and stacks of live stuff on ABC2 and ABCHD. Head of the commentary panel for the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony (ABC1 and ABC2, Sat Sep 6, 9.50pm) will be Adam Hills.\nBetween ABC and SBS, there are quite a few gems over the next fortnight, including what they’re calling series two of Hollowmen (ABC1, Wed Sep 3, 9pm). There’s also the new comedy from the people behind The Librarians. Small Business (ABC1, Wed Sep 3, 9.30pm) stars Stupid Man’s Wayne Hope and like The Librarians, will grow on you but probably not become don’t-miss-TV.\nTop Gear’s affable, yet oft pilloried James May takes his technical ability on a journey looking at some of the world’s technological advances in James May’s 20th Century (SBS, Sun Aug 24, 8.30pm). Like Top Gear, it’s much more entertaining than it sounds – he talks to Status Quo about the electric guitar, gets his brain photographed while looking at cars and takes a drive with Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay in his replica Lunar Rover.\nIn the don’t miss basket is Roller Derby Dolls (ABC, Tue Sep 9, 8pm), a doco about a group of Brisbane women who have just set up a roller-derby league. The full contact women-only sport is having a resurgence lately and plans are afoot for a local league. Check out the doco and then visit http://crdl.wikispaces.com for more info on what’s happening locally.\nStill on full contact sport and repeated Murderball (ABC2, Wed Sep 3, 8.30pm) is about the guys who play wheelchair rugby.\nOther shows to catch include the SBS Australian movie season starting with Look Both Ways (SBS, Sun Aug 24, 9.05pm) and Home Song Stories (SBS, Sun Aug 31, 9.10pm), Great Australian Albums: The Go Betweens -16 Lovers Lane (SBS, Sat Sep 6, 10pm), Nynne (SBS, Sat Sep 6, 11pm) a kind of Danish Bridget Jones made into a series, The Cook and the Chef (ABC1, Wed Sep 3, 6.30pm) go to Nimbin and new series of Southpark (SBS, Mon Aug 25, 8.30pm), The Mighty Boosh (SBS, Mon Aug 25, 8.55pm), Shameless (SBS, Mon Aug 25, 10.05pm), Mythbusters (SBS, Sat Aug 30, 7.30pm) and Rockwiz (SBS, Sat Aug 30, 9.20pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 24 July 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 6 months ago\nIf you don’t like sport or re-runs of the crap Star Wars films (like Phantom Menace), stock up on DVDs. Now. The Olympics is ‘just days away’. Buried somewhere within Prime’s 127-page press kit was the revelation that from the Opening Ceremony (Prime, Fri Aug 8, 9pm) to the Closing Ceremony (Prime, Sun Aug 24, 10pm), the network will have wall-to-wall coverage. Beijing is two hours behind so live coverage will start in the morning and run until bedtime. And there’ll be no Dream this time around. Of course, never ones to miss the action, Sunrise (Prime, 6am, Mon-Fri) - the only show not really affected by live coverage - will be broadcasting from Beijing from August 4.\nEven Auntie, who usually couldn’t give a stuff about ratings, will take the Working Dog’s political staffer satire Hollowmen (ABC, Wed, 9.30pm) off air during the games. SBS will join in the action with Olympic team sports such as handball, beach volleyball, women’s basketball and football as well as boxing and cycling.\nCue cheering from the bleachers - Big Brother is over. And perhaps after the dismal ratings, it will mean an end to the torture (and Kyle and Jackie O’s telly career). This year’s contestants are such duds that SCTEN has used footage of original housemates like Sara Marie in the promos.\nMcLeod’s Daughters (WIN, Wed, 8.30pm) has returned for its final season - about time too, with the original daughters far, far away.\nTop Gear (SBS, Mon, 7.30pm) has become such a staple part of the Black Box diet, it often doesn’t get the glory it deserves. Watch out for two upcoming episodes - the boys take on the Britcar 24-hour enduro with their own biodeisel (Jul 24) and turn an electric car into a radio-controlled vehicle just for sport. Don’t miss it.\nThe magnificent Flight of the Conchords (SCTEN, Sun Jul 27, 10.40pm) is winding up. Yes, it took a while to get into a groove with this show but once it got under the skin it featured prominently on The Black Box ‘don’t miss even if your pants are on fire’ list. Ahh Jermaine, Brett and Murray, especially Murray - we’ll be waiting for the next fan club meeting. Also finishing up is Mark loves Sharon (SCTEN, Mon Aug 4, 10.30pm) which, although it had its moments, is a large comedic ocean away.\nAlso getting the quick wind-up through double episodes is Lipstick Jungle (Prime, Sun Jul 27, 9.30pm).\nAfter just bringing Futurama to the screen, SCTEN has removed it from the schedule to bring back the last eps of Rules of Engagement (SCTEN, Thu Jul 24, 7.30pm) and Back to You (SCTEN, Thu Jul 24, 8pm).\nIf you like Xtreme sports, check out Ice Road Truckers (SCTEN, Sat 6.30pm), except it’s not a sport, it’s a job, and these guys are more crazy than your average boardrider.\nThe mY Generation series takes a look at Student Politics in Electioneering (SBS, Wed Aug 6, 8pm) and living online with Age of Avatars (SBS, Wed Aug 6, 10.05pm) while Virtual Adultery and Cyberspace Love (SBS, Wed Aug 6, 10.35pm) looks at what happens when it all goes too far.\nLooking for something to do on a cold and miserable Sunday afternoon? Check out Australia’s Celtic Country (SCTEN, Sun Aug 3, 3pm) where Mal Leyland visits New England - if you haven’t got a fire at home there’s bound to be one here to make you feel cosy - and Journeys to the Ends of the Earth (SCTEN, Sun Aug 3, 4pm) where David Adams searches for living indigenous culture in remote places.\nPants on fire playlist: Dexter (SCTEN, Sun, 9.40pm), Burn Notice (SCTEN, Mon, 9.30pm) Hollowmen (ABC, Wed, 9.30pm).\nDon’t miss This is Your Life Presents… Bert’s 70th Birthday (WIN, Wed Jul 23, 7.30pm). Yes it will be full of old farts but that won’t stifle Bert’s wit.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Wednesday, 25 June 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 7 months ago\nJust as the inner workings of Melbourne’s underworld were revealed in Underbelly (sorry, ‘hit-series Underbelly’), so too are the inner workings of Canberra about to be revealed. No seedy underside of Canberra’s nightlife, no plot to rob national institutions, not even roundabout rage - The Hollowmen (ABC, Wed Jul 9, 9.30pm) is set in the arena of federal politics (and no, Carl Williams doesn’t break out of jail to organize a hit on Kevin). Hollowmen is a dramedy set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, set up by the PM to get re-elected. The Working Dog production, written by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch is set to do for political staffers what Frontline did for current affairs television. Unlike the disaster of Corridors of Power a few years ago, this is likely to cut much closer to the bone. It would be nice if just once a series set in Canberra moved away from the house on the hill…\nIf you’ve been watching the annoying ads for Mark loves Sharon (SCTEN, Mon Jun 30, 9.30pm), don’t be fooled; they haven’t found a couple as dumbly entertaining as Nick and Jess. The show is a spoof (the network’s calling it a mockumentary) of the rash of American reality shows like Newlyweds from the team behind The Wedge. That in itself is a reason to switch off. Mark is apologetic sportstar Mark Wary and his girlfriend Sharon (or is it Karen). The Mark Wary sketches were the best part of The Wedge, but that’s not a great compliment.\nStill on the topic of football stars off the rail is Valentine’s Day (ABC, Sun Jul 6, 8.30pm), a movie starring Rhys Muldoon as a famous Aussie Rules footballer fallen on hard times who is given community service to coach a small town football team. Nice to see fallen footy stars as fodder for the box, it makes a change from crime drama - at least a detour, anyway.\nPrime’s new girlie show, Lipstick Jungle (Prime, Sun Jun 29, 9.30pm), starts this week. Although it’s based on a Candace Bushnell book, it’s got a much sleazier, more plastic feel than Sex and the City - worth a watch, but maybe not a girls’ night in. It follows the debut of Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Private Practice (Prime, Sun Jun 29, 8.30pm).\nGood news - the Doctor is in. Following on from the Christmas special with Kylie, Dr Who (ABC, Sun Jul 6, 7.30pm) returns to the box with Catherine Tate (of the Catherine Tate Show) reprising her role as the runaway bride from a previous Christmas special and becoming his sidekick.\nIn a bid to stretch out its programming, SBS is following SC10’s lead and repackaging its long-running programs - we’ve already had repackaged Top Gear (SBS, Sat, 7.30pm) and now it’s South Park: The Early Years (SBS, Mon, 9pm). There were some classics though - Cartman Gets an Anal Probe is a case in point.\nIt may seem a bit tabloid for Aunty, but Family Fortunes (ABC, Tue Jul 15, 8pm) looks at dramatic reversals of fortune in some of Australia’s more high-profile families. Developed by the team that brought us Dynasties, the show’s approach is more Australian Story than Today Tonight, which is just as well because the first family under the microscope is that of racing legend Peter Brock. Watch out for tales of a pokie king, Victorian landed gentry and artist John Olsen. Not hard to guess whose fortunes went south.\nFor the kid in us all, The Mr Men Show (ABC, Thu Jul 17, 4pm) returns with new adventures from Little Miss Chatterbox and Mr Nervous. Tune in and ask the inevitable - which Mr Men are you?\nDocos to look out for this fortnight include Car of the Future (SBS, Sun Jul 6, 8.30pm), Bill Gates: How a geek changed the world (SBS, Tue Jul 8, 8.30pm), The Seven Sins of England (SBS, Tue Jul 1, 10pm) and A Northern Town (SBS, Fri Jul 11, 7.30pm) which looks at Kempsey, known as the most racist town in Australia.\nSports fanatics should tune in for the UEFA Euro 2008 Final (SBS, Mon Jun 30, 4am) and the Tour de France (SBS, Sat Jul 5 to Sun Jul 28, 10pm).\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 12 June 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 7 months ago\nThe big news this week is that Sesame Street icons Bert and Ernie will reveal their legs in a new claymation series from the folks at The Children’s Television Workshop. The nerdy pair, with a penchant for rubber duckies, will star in Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures (ABC, Wed Jun 25, 8.35am).\nOK, there is one bigger piece of news - Dr Who: Voyage of the Damned (ABC, Sun Jun 29, 7.30pm). Britain loves a panto at Christmas and there’s been no bigger Christmas draw than ‘our’ Kylie. So this little Christmas offering, with the space ship Titanic and Kylie, had all the trimmings for the sci-fi series not scared to laugh at itself.\nAll those of you still at home mooching off your folks, stand up. You are to blame for yet another observational doco The Nest (SBS, Sat Jul 5, 7.30pm). Apparently two thirds of those between 20 and 26 are still at home - and they called Gen-X the slacker generation.\nFlight of The Conchords (SCTEN, Sun, 10.40pm) is a grower. On the first watch the subtlety of the deadpan humour can be lost, but give it a second go and it will soon be on your must watch list.\nWhile The Gruen Transfer (ABC, Wed, 9pm) has many of the hallmarks of the ABC’s comedy panel shows (such as Good News Week (SCTEN), Spicks and Specks (ABC Wed 8pm) and Wil Anderson’s televisual launch pad, The Glass House), it burrows into a profession that’s managed to keep its tactics to itself for a long time - more incisive and creative than World’s Greatest Ads and more entertaining too.\nThe networks are squarely aiming at their girlie audience (women and the boys that like girlie shows) with the ‘new Sex and the City’ Lipstick Jungle and Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Private Practice due to make Prime’s prime-time list this month. The former is based on the best-selling book by Sex creator Candace Bushnell and the latter is the star vehicle for McDreamy and McSteamy ex Kate Walsh. Scheduled timeslot TBC.\nNice to see the Top Gear guys are pumping the money back into the show rather than extending their own garages - in Top Gear Botswana Special (SBS, Mon Jun 23, 7.30pm), they race each other across Africa in 30-plus-year-old cars. Look out for the Stig on the London tube and Hammond on a bike the following week.\nWhile binge drinking appears to be a modern problem, The Seven Sins of England (SBS, Tue Jul 1, 10pm) takes us back through the UK’s 1000-year-old drinking problem, discovering the first law to control binge-drinking was passed in 616AD and other tidbits. It’s followed by Attack of the Happy People (SBS, Tue Jul 1, 10.55pm) which charts the history of ecstasy.\nWhile Auntie’s mantra might be to provide us with quality entertainment, SBS, aside from their second language responsibilities, seem to be tasked with finding the weird and wonderful. The Fabulous Flag Sisters (SBS, Fri Jul 4, 7.30pm) a doco about an Italian TV trio of drag queens, including an Australian, is certainly that.\nIf you’ve ever dreamed of being Australia’s Next Top Model (girls and guys), you’ll have to drive to Sydney this weekend for the audition (details at www.yahoo7.com.au/supermodel ). Apparently Canberrans aren’t pretty (or interested) enough to rate a local audition.\nWhat is it with the networks and movies? How many times have we seen Bridget Jones’s Diary (Prime, Fri Jun 13, 9.30pm), America’s Sweethearts (Prime, Fri Jun 20, 9.30pm) and My Best Friend’s Wedding (SCTEN, Fri Jun 27, 9.30pm) in the past six months? Isn’t it about time for some new movies or even a re-hash some much older movies? The viewing public can probably recite Bridget’s snow in her undies speech easier than Hamlet’s soliloquy.\nNew to the box are a new series of Futurama (SCTEN, Thu Jun 19, 7.30pm), Ice Road Truckers (SCTEN, Sat Jun 28, 6.30pm), the return of Psych (Sat, Jun 21, 7.30pm) and Calling all Aliens (SBS, Sun Jun 22, 8.30pm).\nDon’t miss Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Concert. Just because.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 29 May 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 7 months ago\nNews of the week - no Dream at Beijing. Seven have decided that without an audience in the studio and with many events running into the late night slot, Roy and HG won’t be on the plane. Instead, they’re offering a morning show, Yum Cha, complete with requisite Daddo (Andrew). More sleep looks like an appealing option.\nEurovision tragics will be aware that British commentator Terry Wogan takes the Eurotrash pop comp very seriously, in fact the comedy that comes from that has been a feature of Eurovision coverage for many years. But Terry lost that edge and started sounding like a whiney two-year-old with nappy rash. While his suggestion that Eastern Europe, as it divides itself up into smaller and smaller slivers of land, has a stranglehold on voting is probably fair enough, his whining about the UK being last on the leader board is not. The UK, a country that has produced some of the world’s biggest recording artists, regularly sends a range of crap musicians to Eurovision. While Terry takes the whole thing very seriously, the UK public doesn’t, with the most famous British Eurovision winners including Brotherhood of Man, Bucks Fizz, Lulu and Katrina and the Waves. Enough said. And as for Terry, he’s got a tough decision to make - will he be back next year? What else is he going to do.\nFrom Eurotrash to the seedier Hollywood kind, with two trashy celebrities trying to redeem themselves by appearing on sitcoms.\nParis’s star turn in My Name is Earl (Prime, Sun, 8pm) didn’t improve her standing as an actress, but don’t miss Britney’s star turn in How I Met Your Mother (Prime, Thu Jun 5, 7.30pm). And Britney’s biggest shock yet? She can act.\nTop Gear (SBS, Mon/Sat 7.30pm) is back with a vengeance and on June 9, they revisit one of their stupidest (and most hilarious) stunts yet. And it gets bigger. The amphibious car race will this time be a race across the English Channel.\nFor something almost as funny, check out Kung Faux (ABC2, Mon, Jun 2) which mashes up ‘70s martial arts movies, adds music, re-dubbed hip-hop voices and comic book graphics.\nThe folks at SCTEN are up to their old tricks - if it works put it on as often as you can - running double episodes of House (SCTEN, Wed, 8.30pm). Just like NCIS, the second ep is a repeat.\nMore good news for The Strip, the police drama set on the Gold Coast that’s in production - one of the Underbelly writers is on board.\nIt was bound to happen sooner or later - Eataholics (ABC, Wed Jun 4, 8.30pm) is an observational documentary series, trying to change the eating habits of Britain’s fatty boombas with nutrition and psychology. Should be an easy fix. One; get rid of all that stodgy food and two; learn that a takeaway vindaloo doesn’t really rate as ‘exotic’.\nCulture this week comes from Talking Heads (ABC, Mon Jun 2, 6.30pm) and an interview with architect Glenn Murcutt.\nFans of AC/DC will want to tune into The Guitar Show (ABC2, Sun Jun 8, 1.30pm) for an interview with Angus Young. It’s a repeat but if you missed it the first time, you’ll want to set the recorder.\nOther music highlights include The Cure: Trilogy, Live in Berlin (ABC2, Mon Jun 2, 10.25pm) where the band played three albums in their entirety live over two nights in 2002.\nIf you didn’t give up about two seasons ago, you’ll want to tune in for the season finale of Lost (Prime, Thu Jun 5, 9.30pm). This modern take on Gilligan’s Island seems like it’s never going to end. Also winding up is The State Within (ABC, Thu Jun 5, 8.30pm).\nSo soon? Gladiators (Prime, Sun Jun 1, 6.30pm) is up to its second quarter final.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 15 May 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 8 months ago\nAutumn is the Blackbox pick for season of the year. Despite the fact it requires enduring the most biased awards show in the world – The Logies – autumn is also host to the best. That’s right ladies and gentlemen – it’s time once again for the glorious kitsch of the Eurovision Song Contest. The continent that takes itself seriously when it comes to culture and the arts is also able to laugh at the absurdity of this multilingual pop-fest. It’ll be held in Belgrade and this year there are semi-finals over two nights (SBS, Fri May 23, Sat May 24, 8.30pm) before the final (SBS, Sun May 25, 7.30pm). It’s hosted by Julia Zemiro and of course there’ll be the obligatory commentary from Terry Wogan – it wouldn’t be Eurovision without it. So grab your friends, put together a spread of the most retro Euro snacks you can muster, open the champagne and have a sweep – guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat longer than the Melbourne Cup.\nIf you have been wondering why the likes of Andrew Denton and Adam Hills were going hard at the product placement at The Logies or have been ringing the ABC to complain about ads, you’ll be pleased to know it was all publicity for The Gruen Transfer (ABC, May 28, 9pm), a show about advertising, hosted by Wil Anderson.\nWhile many are still reeling from the disappearance of the ultimately watchable Terminator spin-off from WIN’s schedule, the folks at Prime have shoved Dirty, Sexy Money tapes into the basement and shut the door. Its demise makes way for a new series of the fabulous Boston Legal, which has made even Blackbox come around to Shatner. Perhaps it’s the fallibility of Denny Crane that makes the most annoying Starfleet captain actually likeable.\nThe runaway success of Underbelly (rumoured to be followed by a prequel) has lead to resurgence in the production of crime dramas. The Strip, a 13-part police drama for WIN, is about to start filming on the Gold Coast. And while the location may have leant itself to a CSI Miami feel, with Wildside and East West 101 producers and stars such as Aaron Jeffrey and Bob Morley, it’s likely to have a distinctly Australian flavour. It’s good to see Australian television finally finding stories in our cities (where most of us live) rather than the outback or seachange destinations where we holiday.\nPrime follows the crime route with Crimes That Shook the World (Prime, Tue May 13, 9.30pm) beginning with The Green River Killer.\nAs predicted last column, Louis Theroux (Prime, Mon May 19, 10.30pm) has been packaged as a series and is well worth a look.\nIf you’ve been wondering what Lateline (ABC1, weeknights, 10.30pm) host Tony Jones has been up to since he cut his hours back, don’t fret – you’re about to see a lot more of him. He’s already on air with Q&A (ABC1, Thu, 9.35pm) and his new vehicle ABC Fora (ABC2, Thu May 29, 5.35pm and Fri May 30, 8am). The show promises talks, lectures, public addresses and debates from Australia and around the world. So if opinion and debate is your bag, Tony will help you out.\nThe development of ABC2 has given Auntie the chance to take risks on programs that it might otherwise have avoided. Moving Wallpaper (ABC2, Fri May 30, 8.30pm) and its partner program Echo Beach (Fri May 30, 8.55pm) are a good example. Moving Wallpaper is a comedy drama about the making of a TV soap and Echo Beach is the soap (or the subtle piss-take of a soap in this case).\nScience geeks or the inquisitive should tune into Absolute Zero (SBS, Sun June 1, 8.30pm).\nBlack Box thumbs up for the new series of Big Love (SBS, Sat, 8.30pm), The State Within (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm) and the new series of Spooks (ABC1, Fri, 9.20pm)\nDon’t miss Taxi Driver (ABC2, Sat 31 May, 9.30pm) for De Niro’s classic line and of course the aforementioned Eurovision Song Contest.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 1 May 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 8 months ago\nBig Brother (SCTEN, daily, 7pm) is upon us and it appears there are some changes… apart from adding TV’s biggest tool Kyle and his vapid sidekick Jackie O as hosts. It’s pure irony that the man who couldn’t last five minutes on the ill-fated celebrity version of the show because of the coffee (shameless publicity seeking alert), will be grilling the ‘contestants’. On the plus side, this pair is more likely to give the show it’s goldfish bowl quality. It always felt a bit too much like Gretel was protecting her kids. From the promos, it appears they’ve also rid themselves of the decision to fill the house with pretty people who spend all day complaining about not having any hair product. Instead they’ve gone completely base level, choosing people who will once again make all Australians look bad. How can they put someone who thinks she’s like Pauline Hanson in the house with a clear conscience? Gone too are the late-night feeds so it’s back to telemarketing for night-owls. Unfortunately, the Friday night live show (SCTEN, Fri, 7.30pm) continues to provide a steady income for two of the ex-housemates. The one good decision – no return of the uncut show. Instead there will be a panel show, Big Mouth (SCTEN, Mon, 9.30pm), hosted by Tony Squires and Rebecca Wilson, that will appeal to an entirely new audience and almost make BB worth watching. Almost.\nMost will be happy to hear of the Biggest Loser Final Weigh-in (SCTEN, Sun Apr 27, 6.30pm), even if it does herald the beginning of BB. This is the interesting episode for those that cringe at making fun of fat people’s ability to cry when asked to do push-ups. Here there will also be tears but you get to see all the contestants next to a Jenny Craig style before image.\nAnd the TV stations are up to their old tricks. With SCTEN that means scheduling repeats to fill up prime time. Just as we get a new series of NCIS (SCTEN, Tue, 8.30pm) it’s followed by repeats at 9.30pm. How long until they start seeping into the 8.30pm timeslot? And WIN has once again alienated its sci-fi audience. After pushing Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles into a late night timeslot without warning, the show has followed so many others and disappeared altogether. Perhaps if fans had been shown a little respect by being told where it had gone…\nIntrepid doco maker and sub-cultural explorer Louis Theroux goes inside the controversial Westboro Baptist Church with the Phelps family in The Most Hated Family in America (Prime, Mon May 5, 10.40pm). While this was designed as a one-off, Prime is starting a series with it.\nIf you want to know how hard it is to break into the US music industry (and you haven’t watched any of the multitude of ‘follow the struggling band’ docos) then check out Flight of the Conchords (SCTEN, Sun May 11, 10.10pm).\nReturns this fortnight include a new series of Boston Legal (Prime, Mon May 5, 9.30pm) – no that’s not a misprint – 9.30pm, Ugly Betty (Prime, Wed May 7, 7.30pm) and a news series of Spooks (ABC1, Fri May 16, 9.20pm).\nAlso worth looking out for are How to Look Good Naked (SCTEN, Mon, 8pm) where Queer Eye’s Carson Kressley teaches women the aforementioned art, Michael Palin’s New Europe (Prime, Sat May 10, 7.30pm) visits Poland, Freddie Mercury – The Tribute Concert (ABC2, Sun May 11, 2pm) and Death in Santaland (ABC1, Thu May 15, 9.35pm), which looks at a Columbine High style mass murder plot in the town of North Pole, Alaska, named and founded for the tourist dollar Lapland has managed to capture.\nBuy a DVD, darn some socks or spend your evening on Facebook on Tuesday, May 13 – it’s Budget night.\nDon’t miss The State Within (ABC, Thu May 2, 8.30pm) and the new series of Big Love (SBS, Sat May 10, 8.30pm) and watch out – Eurovision is coming.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 17 April 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 9 months ago\nCanal Road (WIN, Wed, 9.30pm) is slated to fill the void left by Underbelly (WIN, Wed, 8.30pm). The folks at WIN are hyping the show as another gritty Melbourne drama. Tip: when the promo material consists of glamour shots and the stars were clearly chosen for their sex appeal, it might be wise to drop the gritty tag. No fat-boy here.\nThere are also some interesting British dramas coming our way. The State Within (ABC, Thu May 1, 8.30pm) will appeal to West Wing-nuts and fans of Spooks. This convoluted thriller set in the British Embassy in Washington during a terrorist attack looks like living up to the BBC reputation for this kind of thing.\nMistresses (Prime, Apr 29, 9.30pm) which also sits in the thriller camp (if you’re a genre nazi) looks at the lives and complex relationships of four female friends. Sounds gushy but it’s the deceit and their undoing that provides the real drama (and danger) here – the new Cold Feet.\nArchitecture is not usually associated with murder but the tale of iconic modernist architect Frank Lloyd Wright includes some quite salacious revelations. Frank Lloyd Wright: Murder, Myth and Modernisation (ABC2, Sun Apr 27, 8.30pm).\nJust when you thought there couldn’t possibly be a new idea for an observational doco, Prime comes to the party with Find my Family. The show, which is about to begin production purports to reunite loved ones – only a slight step removed from existing missing persons shows Blackbox suspects.\nLife in Cold Blood (WIN, Mon, 7.30pm) sounds like something that should find itself in a much later timeslot but the prefix ‘David Attenborough’s’ tells nature doco lovers they’re in for a ride through the reptile and amphibian part of the animal kingdom. Still all a bit creepy crawly.\nOf all the things SCTEN is known for, hard-hitting public service docos aren’t usually high on the agenda. Its ‘special presentation’ The Truth about Binge Drinking (SCTEN, Mon Apr 21, 7.30pm) doesn’t do anything to change that. “Binge drinking is everywhere from city slickers to underage kids on the streets and desperate housewives to celebrities,” it says… pahleeeeze. Read “serious television project for UK pop star Michelle Heaton” – Saving Kids with Damien Leith ringing any bells?\nFirst there was the bidding war, then the controversy about clashes with existing schedules. Now finally, Indian Premier League –Twenty20 cricket (SCTEN, mid-late evening, from Fri Apr 18) hits our screens.\nAdrenalin junkies will be pleased to hear of the return of Red Bull Air Race (SCTEN, Sun Apr 20, 12pm). The first race comes direct from Abu Dhabi.\nEast of Everything (ABC, Sun May 4, 8.30pm) winds up this fortnight but the void will be filled with Kerry Armstrong’s new drama Bed of Roses (ABC, Sat May 10, 7.30pm). After her wealthy husband dies and leaves her bankrupt, she too returns home to her mother in Rainbow’s End. Not quite up to East of Everything but it explores similar territory.\nAnd for some feel-good telly, watch Millionaires Mission (ABC, Tue Apr 29, 8.30pm). Eight British business leaders spend three weeks in a makeshift camp with World Vision. They each donate $32,500 to a fund and they have to use their skills to improve the living standards of a remote Ugandan community. Sure it’s just television but if the Ugandan village is better off and it shames some other big spenders (and the rest of us) into action, it’s good television.\nDon’t miss Michael Palin’s New Europe (Prime, Sat, 7.30pm) where the world’s most intrepid traveller finds special parts of Eastern Europe that others won’t.\nBlackbox\nDate Published: Thursday, 3 April 08 | Author: Tracy Heffernan | | 8 years, 9 months ago\n“Are you ready?” the glossy promo material for re-invented ’90s game show Gladiators (Prime, Sun, 6.30pm) asks. Your answer should be no. Australia is very good at emulating some American traits (like a love of anything with cheese), but that WWF-style bravado/ego where the stars take themselves incredibly seriously while everyone else is laughing at you is not something we’ve managed to pull off successfully. Of course, there are those poor misguided souls who believe the WWF to be a sport – it’s on television and based on circus acts of old people. You’ll probably see some of them (and your local gym junkies) as challengers on the show. And Greg Harrigan, who made his name as a football referee should be ashamed of himself for using his whistle for this. Gladiators may turn out to be a more effective fitness motivator than The Biggest Loser (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 7pm) – while it may not shift tellytubbies from the couch, it will surely make them switch off the box.\nLovers of anime will want to rearrange their Monday viewing schedule for Death Note (ABC2, Mon Apr 14, 9.30pm). The Madman Entertainment series features a notebook with the power of life and death and all the sorts of noble goals you expect from anime.\nArt Safari (ABC2, Sun Apr 13, 9.30pm) returns for another up-close-and-personal look at interesting artists. The first ep explores the work of Japan’s answer to Warhol, Takashi Murkami.\nRev heads may want to check out Scrapheap Challenge: Tanks (ABC2, Sat Apr 19, 6.35pm), because there’s nothing quite like a tank built from junk, and Mini Challenge (Prime, Sat Apr 5, 1.30pm), because there’s nothing cooler.\nWhile the Power of 10 (WIN Mon 7.30pm) means putting up with game show contestants and host Steve Jacobs, it’s an interesting case study on what people think. Family Feud surveyed the audience for their response – this purports to survey ‘Australians’. If only they had Bert to host. Blackbox would of course be interested to hear from anyone who has been ‘surveyed’ for this program.\nLooks like the folks at WIN realised there are only so many stories about a Navy Patrol boat off the Aussie coast – Sea Patrol II The Coup (WIN, Mon, 8.30pm) gives them an actual enemy.\nOh how the once-mighty have fallen. One of the hit shows from five or six years ago, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (SCTEN, Fri Apr 11, 4am), returns with new episodes in the bleary-eyed timeslot known only to serial killers, insomniacs and shift workers.\nThe Dog Dominatrix takes an interesting turn with It’s Me or the Fat Dog (SCTEN, Sat Apr 12, 6.30pm), putting porky pooches through their own Biggest Loser hell. And if the dog and you have been chowing down on Maccas over the summer recess, you’ll be glad to know Jamie at Home (SCTEN, Thu Apr 10) is back to save you from yourself.\nRove returns to our screens (SCTEN, Sun, 9pm) and has Delta’s new squeeze, Mr Boyband Brian McFadden, on the show on April 6.\nMusic viewing this week should include Planet Rock Profiles: Beck (ABC 2, Sun April 13, 1.25pm), Madness: Live at Finbsbury Park (ABC 2, Sun April 13, 4pm), Jane’s Addiction: Three Days (ABC 2, Mon April 14, 10pm).\nAnd now we know who to blame for the woeful term emo: Red Dwarf (ABC 2, Mon, 8pm). The ep entitled Emohawk Polymorph II about an ugly tribe selling engine parts airs April 14. Pity we can’t blame them for the music. Address all complaint letters to Editor, BMA Magazine.\nLastly this week, the return of two of the greatest comedy finds in the last couple of years – The IT Crowd (ABC, Wed April 16, 9pm) is back for a second season and My Name is Earl (Prime, Sun, 8pm) is back for a third. And don’t miss Michael Palin’s Europe (Prime, Sat April 5, 7.30pm)."
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Gibbons are native to which continent? | Asia | [
"Continent.txt\nContinent\nA continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in size to smallest, they are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. In geology, areas of continental crust include regions covered with water.\n\nDefinitions and application \n\nBy convention, \"continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water.\" Many of the seven most commonly recognized continents identified by convention are not discrete landmasses separated completely by water. The criterion \"large\" leads to arbitrary classification: Greenland, with a surface area of 2166086 sqkm is considered the world's largest island, while Australia, at 7617930 sqkm is deemed the smallest continent.\n\nThe Earth's major landmasses all have coasts on a single, continuous world ocean, which is divided into a number of principal oceanic components by the continents and various geographic criteria. \n\nExtent of continents \n\nThe most restricted meaning of continent is that of a continuous\"continent n. 5. a.\" (1989) Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press ; \"continent1 n.\" (2006) The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edition revised. (Ed.) Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press; \"continent1 n.\" (2005) The New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd edition. (Ed.) Erin McKean. Oxford University Press; \"continent [2, n] 4 a\" (1996) Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. ProQuest Information and Learning ; \"continent\" (2007) Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 January 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. area of land or mainland, with the coastline and any land boundaries forming the edge of the continent. In this sense the term continental Europe (sometimes referred to in Britain as \"the Continent\") is used to refer to mainland Europe, excluding islands such as Great Britain, Ireland, Malta and Iceland, and the term continent of Australia may refer to the mainland of Australia, excluding Tasmania and New Guinea. Similarly, the continental United States refers to the 48 contiguous states in central North America and may include Alaska in the northwest of the continent (the two being separated by Canada), while excluding Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.\n\nFrom the perspective of geology or physical geography, continent may be extended beyond the confines of continuous dry land to include the shallow, submerged adjacent area (the continental shelf) and the islands on the shelf (continental islands), as they are structurally part of the continent. \n\nFrom this perspective the edge of the continental shelf is the true edge of the continent, as shorelines vary with changes in sea level.Ollier, Cliff D. (1996). Planet Earth. In Ian Douglas (Ed.), Companion Encyclopedia of Geography: The Environment and Humankind. London: Routledge, p. 30. \"Ocean waters extend onto continental rocks at continental shelves, and the true edges of the continents are the steeper continental slopes. The actual shorelines are rather accidental, depending on the height of sea-level on the sloping shelves.\" In this sense the islands of Great Britain and Ireland are part of Europe, while Australia and the island of New Guinea together form a continent.\n\nAs a cultural construct, the concept of a continent may go beyond the continental shelf to include oceanic islands and continental fragments. In this way, Iceland is considered part of Europe and Madagascar part of Africa. Extrapolating the concept to its extreme, some geographers group the Australasian continental plate with other islands in the Pacific into one continent called Oceania. This divides the entire land surface of the Earth into continents or quasi-continents. \n\nSeparation of continents \n\nThe ideal criterion that each continent be a discrete landmass is commonly relaxed due to historical conventions. Of the seven most globally recognized continents, only Antarctica and Australia are completely separated from other continents by ocean. Several continents are defined not as absolutely distinct bodies but as \"more or less discrete masses of land\". Asia and Africa are joined by the Isthmus of Suez, and North and South America by the Isthmus of Panama. In both cases, there is no complete separation of these landmasses by water (disregarding the Suez Canal and Panama Canal, which are both narrow and shallow, as well as being man-made). Both these isthmuses are very narrow compared to the bulk of the landmasses they unite.\n\nNorth America and South America are treated as separate continents in the seven-continent model. However, they may also be viewed as a single continent known as America or the Americas. This viewpoint was common in the United States until World War II, and remains prevalent in some Asian six-continent models. This remains the more common vision in Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece, where they are taught as a single continent.\n\nThe criterion of a discrete landmass is completely disregarded if the continuous landmass of Eurasia is classified as two separate continents: Europe and Asia. Physiographically, Europe and South Asia are peninsulas of the Eurasian landmass. However, Europe is widely considered a continent with its comparatively large land area of 10180000 sqkm, while South Asia, with less than half that area, is considered a subcontinent. The alternative view—in geology and geography—that Eurasia is a single continent results in a six-continent view of the world. Some view separation of Eurasia into Europe and Asia as a residue of Eurocentrism: \"In physical, cultural and historical diversity, China and India are comparable to the entire European landmass, not to a single European country. [...]\" However, for historical and cultural reasons, the view of Europe as a separate continent continues in several categorizations.\n\nIf continents are defined strictly as discrete landmasses, embracing all the contiguous land of a body, then Asia, Europe and Africa form a single continent which may be referred to as Afro-Eurasia. This produces a four-continent model consisting of Afro-Eurasia, America, Antarctica and Australia.\n\nWhen sea levels were lower during the Pleistocene ice ages, greater areas of continental shelf were exposed as dry land, forming land bridges. At those times Australia–New Guinea was a single, continuous continent. Likewise the Americas and Afro-Eurasia were joined by the Bering land bridge. Other islands such as Great Britain were joined to the mainlands of their continents. At that time there were just three discrete continents: Afro-Eurasia-America, Antarctica, and Australia-New Guinea.\n\nNumber of continents \n\nThere are numerous ways of distinguishing the continents:\n\n* The seven-continent model is usually taught in China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, parts of Western Europe and most English-speaking countries, including Australia and the UK \n* \n* Latin America, and Greece. \n* A five-continent model is obtained from the six-continent combined-America model by excluding Antarctica as uninhabited. This is used, for example, in the Olympic Charter. \n\nThe terms Oceania or Australasia are sometimes substituted for Australia to denote a region encompassing the Australian continent and various islands in the Pacific Ocean that are not included in the seven-continent model. For example, the Atlas of Canada names Oceania, as does the model taught in France, Italy, Greece, the Ibero-American countries (Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Hispanic America), China, and South Korea.\n\nArea and population \n\nThe following table summarizes area and population of each continent using the seven continent model, sorted by decreasing area. \n\nThe total land area of all continents is 148647000 sqkm, or 29.1% of earth's surface (510065600 sqkm).\n\nHighest and lowest points \n\nThe following table lists the seven continents with their highest and lowest points on land, sorted in decreasing highest points.\n\n† The lowest exposed points are given for North America and Antarctica. The lowest non-submarine bedrock elevations in these continents are the trough beneath Jakobshavn Glacier ( ) and Bentley Subglacial Trench (), but these are covered by kilometers of ice.\n\nSome sources list the Kuma–Manych Depression (a remnant of the Paratethys) as the geological border between Europe and Asia. This would place the Caucasus outside of Europe, thus making Mont Blanc (elevation 4810 m) in the Graian Alps the highest point in Europe - the lowest point would still be the shore of the Caspian Sea.\n\nOther divisions \n\nSupercontinents \n\nAside from the conventionally known continents, the scope and meaning of the term continent varies. Supercontinents, largely in evidence earlier in the geological record, are landmasses that comprise more than one craton or continental core. These have included Laurasia, Gondwana, Vaalbara, Kenorland, Columbia, Rodinia, and Pangaea.\n\nSubcontinents \n\nCertain parts of continents are recognized as subcontinents, particularly those on different tectonic plates from the rest of the continent. The most notable examples are the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula. Greenland, generally reckoned as the world's largest island on the northeastern periphery of the North American Plate, is sometimes referred to as a subcontinent. This is a significant departure from the more conventional view of a subcontinent as comprising a very large peninsula on the fringe of a continent. Where the Americas are viewed as a single continent (America), it is divided into two subcontinents (North America and South America) or three (with Central America being the third). \n\nSubmerged continents \n\nSome areas of continental crust are largely covered by the sea and may be considered submerged continents. Notable examples are Zealandia, emerging from the sea primarily in New Zealand and New Caledonia, and the almost completely submerged Kerguelen continent in the southern Indian Ocean.\n\nMicrocontinents \n\nSome islands lie on sections of continental crust that have rifted and drifted apart from a main continental landmass. While not considered continents because of their relatively small size, they may be considered microcontinents. Madagascar, the largest example, is usually considered an island of Africa but has been referred to as \"the eighth continent\" from a . \n\nBotanical continents \n\n\"Continents\" may be defined differently for specific purposes. The Biodiversity Information Standards organization has developed the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, used in many international plant databases. This scheme divides the world into nine \"botanical continents\". Some match the traditional geographical continents, but some differ significantly. Thus the Americas are divided between Northern America (Mexico northwards) and Southern America (Central America and the Caribbean southwards) rather than between North America and South America. \n\nHistory of the concept \n\nEarly concepts of the Old World continents \n\nThe first distinction between continents was made by ancient Greek mariners who gave the names Europe and Asia to the lands on either side of the waterways of the Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles strait, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus strait and the Black Sea.Toynbee, Arnold J. (1954). A Study of History. London: Oxford University Press, v. 8, pp. 711-12. The names were first applied just to lands near the coast and only later extended to include the hinterlands. But the division was only carried through to the end of navigable waterways and \"... beyond that point the Hellenic geographers never succeeded in laying their finger on any inland feature in the physical landscape that could offer any convincing line for partitioning an indivisible Eurasia ...\"\n\nAncient Greek thinkers subsequently debated whether Africa (then called Libya) should be considered part of Asia or a third part of the world. Division into three parts eventually came to predominate. From the Greek viewpoint, the Aegean Sea was the center of the world; Asia lay to the east, Europe to the north and west, and Africa to the south. The boundaries between the continents were not fixed. Early on, the Europe–Asia boundary was taken to run from the Black Sea along the Rioni River (known then as the Phasis) in Georgia. Later it was viewed as running from the Black Sea through Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov and along the Don River (known then as the Tanais) in Russia. The boundary between Asia and Africa was generally taken to be the Nile River. Herodotus in the 5th century BC, however, objected to the unity of Egypt being split into Asia and Africa (\"Libya\") and took the boundary to lie along the western border of Egypt, regarding Egypt as part of Asia. He also questioned the division into three of what is really a single landmass, a debate that continues nearly two and a half millennia later.\n\nEratosthenes, in the 3rd century BC, noted that some geographers divided the continents by rivers (the Nile and the Don), thus considering them \"islands\". Others divided the continents by isthmuses, calling the continents \"peninsulas\". These latter geographers set the border between Europe and Asia at the isthmus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and the border between Asia and Africa at the isthmus between the Red Sea and the mouth of Lake Bardawil on the Mediterranean Sea. \n\nThrough the Roman period and the Middle Ages, a few writers took the Isthmus of Suez as the boundary between Asia and Africa, but most writers continued to consider it the Nile or the western border of Egypt (Gibbon). In the Middle Ages, the world was usually portrayed on T and O maps, with the T representing the waters dividing the three continents. By the middle of the 18th century, \"the fashion of dividing Asia and Africa at the Nile, or at the Great Catabathmus [the boundary between Egypt and Libya] farther west, had even then scarcely passed away\". \n\nEuropean arrival in the Americas \n\nChristopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies in 1492, sparking a period of European exploration of the Americas. But despite four voyages to the Americas, Columbus never believed he had reached a new continent—he always thought it was part of Asia.\n\nIn 1501, Amerigo Vespucci and Gonçalo Coelho attempted to sail around what they considered the southern end of the Asian mainland into the Indian Ocean, passing through Fernando de Noronha. After reaching the coast of Brazil, they sailed a long way further south along the coast of South America, confirming that this was a land of continental proportions and that it also extended much further south than Asia was known to. On return to Europe, an account of the voyage, called Mundus Novus (\"New World\"), was published under Vespucci’s name in 1502 or 1503,Formisano, Luciano (Ed.) (1992). Letters from a New World: Amerigo Vespucci's Discovery of America. New York: Marsilio, pp. xx-xxi. ISBN 0-941419-62-2. although it seems that it had additions or alterations by another writer.Zerubavel, Eviatar (2003). Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, pp. 77–79. ISBN 0-7658-0987-7. Regardless of who penned the words, Mundus Novus credited Vespucci with saying, \"I have discovered a continent in those southern regions that is inhabited by more numerous people and animals than our Europe, or Asia or Africa\",Formisano, Luciano (Ed.) (1992). Letters from a New World: Amerigo Vespucci's Discovery of America. New York: Marsilio, p. 45. ISBN 0-941419-62-2. the first known explicit identification of part of the Americas as a continent like the other three.\n\nWithin a few years the name \"New World\" began appearing as a name for South America on world maps, such as the Oliveriana (Pesaro) map of around 1504–1505. Maps of this time though, still showed North America connected to Asia and showed South America as a separate land.\n\nIn 1507 Martin Waldseemüller published a world map, Universalis Cosmographia, which was the first to show North and South America as separate from Asia and surrounded by water. A small inset map above the main map explicitly showed for the first time the Americas being east of Asia and separated from Asia by an ocean, as opposed to just placing the Americas on the left end of the map and Asia on the right end. In the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, Waldseemüller noted that the earth is divided into four parts, Europe, Asia, Africa and the fourth part, which he named \"America\" after Amerigo Vespucci's first name.Zerubavel, Eviatar (2003). Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, pp. 80–82. ISBN 0-7658-0987-7. On the map, the word \"America\" was placed on part of South America.\n\nThe word continent \n\nFrom the 16th century the English noun continent was derived from the term continent land, meaning continuous or connected land\"continent n.\" (1989) Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press. and translated from the Latin terra continens.\"continent1 n.\" (2006) The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edition revised. (Ed.) Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press. The noun was used to mean \"a connected or continuous tract of land\" or mainland. It was not applied only to very large areas of land—in the 17th century, references were made to the continents (or mainlands) of Isle of Man, Ireland and Wales and in 1745 to Sumatra. The word continent was used in translating Greek and Latin writings about the three \"parts\" of the world, although in the original languages no word of exactly the same meaning as continent was used. \n\nWhile continent was used on the one hand for relatively small areas of continuous land, on the other hand geographers again raised Herodotus’s query about why a single large landmass should be divided into separate continents. In the mid 17th century Peter Heylin wrote in his Cosmographie that \"A Continent is a great quantity of Land, not separated by any Sea from the rest of the World, as the whole Continent of Europe, Asia, Africa.\" In 1727 Ephraim Chambers wrote in his Cyclopædia, \"The world is ordinarily divided into two grand continents: the old and the new.\" And in his 1752 atlas, Emanuel Bowen defined a continent as \"a large space of dry land comprehending many countries all joined together, without any separation by water. Thus Europe, Asia, and Africa is one great continent, as America is another.\" However, the old idea of Europe, Asia and Africa as \"parts\" of the world ultimately persisted with these being regarded as separate continents.\n\nBeyond four continents \n\nFrom the late 18th century some geographers started to regard North America and South America as two parts of the world, making five parts in total. Overall though the fourfold division prevailed well into the 19th century.\n\nEuropeans discovered Australia in 1606 but for some time it was taken as part of Asia. By the late 18th century some geographers considered it a continent in its own right, making it the sixth (or fifth for those still taking America as a single continent). In 1813 Samuel Butler wrote of Australia as \"New Holland, an immense island, which some geographers dignify with the appellation of another continent\" and the Oxford English Dictionary was just as equivocal some decades later. \n\nAntarctica was sighted in 1820 and described as a continent by Charles Wilkes on the United States Exploring Expedition in 1838, the last continent identified, although a great \"Antarctic\" (antipodean) landmass had been anticipated for millennia. An 1849 atlas labelled Antarctica as a continent but few atlases did so until after World War II. \n\nFrom the mid-19th century, atlases published in the United States more commonly treated North and South America as separate continents, while atlases published in Europe usually considered them one continent. However, it was still not uncommon for American atlases to treat them as one continent up until World War II.\n\nFrom the 1950s, most U.S. geographers divided the Americas into two continents. With the addition of Antarctica, this made the seven-continent model. However, this division of the Americas never appealed to Latin Americans, who saw their region spanning an as a single landmass, and there the conception of six continents remains, as it does in scattered other countries.\n\nSome geographers regard Europe and Asia together as a single continent, dubbed Eurasia. In this model, the world is divided into six continents, with North America and South America considered separate continents.\n\nGeology \n\nGeologists use the term continent in a different manner from geographers, where a continent is defined by continental crust: a platform of metamorphic and igneous rock, largely of granitic composition. Some geologists restrict the term 'continent' to portions of the crust built around stable Precambrian \"shield\", typically 1.5 to 3.8 billion years old, called a craton. The craton itself is an accretionary complex of ancient mobile belts (mountain belts) from earlier cycles of subduction, continental collision and break-up from plate tectonic activity. An outward-thickening veneer of younger, minimally deformed sedimentary rock covers much of the craton. The margins of geologic continents are characterized by currently active or relatively recently active mobile belts and deep troughs of accumulated marine or deltaic sediments. Beyond the margin, there is either a continental shelf and drop off to the basaltic ocean basin or the margin of another continent, depending on the current plate-tectonic setting of the continent. A continental boundary does not have to be a body of water. Over geologic time, continents are periodically submerged under large epicontinental seas, and continental collisions result in a continent becoming attached to another continent. The current geologic era is relatively anomalous in that so much of the continental areas are \"high and dry\"; that is, many parts of the continents that were once below sea level are now elevated well above it due to changes in sea levels and the subsequent uplifting of those continental areas from tectonic activity. \n\nSome argue that continents are accretionary crustal \"rafts\" that, unlike the denser basaltic crust of the ocean basins, are not subjected to destruction through the plate tectonic process of subduction. This accounts for the great age of the rocks comprising the continental cratons. By this definition, Eastern Europe, India and some other regions could be regarded as continental masses distinct from the rest of Eurasia because they have separate ancient shield areas (i.e. East European craton and Indian craton). Younger mobile belts (such as the Ural Mountains and Himalayas) mark the boundaries between these regions and the rest of Eurasia.\n\nThere are many microcontinents, or continental fragments, that are built of continental crust but do not contain a craton. Some of these are fragments of Gondwana or other ancient cratonic continents: Zealandia, which includes New Zealand and New Caledonia; Madagascar; the northern Mascarene Plateau, which includes the Seychelles. Other islands, such as several in the Caribbean Sea, are composed largely of granitic rock as well, but all continents contain both granitic and basaltic crust, and there is no clear boundary as to which islands would be considered microcontinents under such a definition. The Kerguelen Plateau, for example, is largely volcanic, but is associated with the breakup of Gondwanaland and is considered a microcontinent, whereas volcanic Iceland and Hawaii are not. The British Isles, Sri Lanka, Borneo, and Newfoundland are margins of the Laurasian continent—only separated by inland seas flooding its margins.\n\nPlate tectonics offers yet another way of defining continents. Today, Europe and most of Asia constitute the unified Eurasian Plate, which is approximately coincident with the geographic Eurasian continent excluding India, Arabia, and far eastern Russia. India contains a central shield, and the geologically recent Himalaya mobile belt forms its northern margin. North America and South America are separate continents, the connecting isthmus being largely the result of volcanism from relatively recent subduction tectonics. North American continental rocks extend to Greenland (a portion of the Canadian Shield), and in terms of plate boundaries, the North American plate includes the easternmost portion of the Asian land mass. Geologists do not use these facts to suggest that eastern Asia is part of the North American continent, even though the plate boundary extends there; the word continent is usually used in its geographic sense and additional definitions (\"continental rocks,\" \"plate boundaries\") are used as appropriate.\n\nThe movement of plates has caused the formation and break-up of continents over time, including occasional formation of a supercontinent that contains most or all of the continents. The supercontinent Columbia or Nuna formed during a period of 2.0–1.8 billion years and broke up about 1.5–1.3 billion years ago. The supercontinent Rodinia is thought to have formed about 1 billion years ago and to have embodied most or all of Earth's continents, and broken up into eight continents around 600 million years ago. The eight continents later re-assembled into another supercontinent called Pangaea; Pangaea broke up into Laurasia (which became North America and Eurasia) and Gondwana (which became the remaining continents).",
"Einstein Factor: Gibbons - Australian Broadcasting Corporation\nGibbons. Q. All gibbons are native to the south-eastern part of which continent? ... Q. Gibbons can be found in the wild as far west as which country?\nEinstein Factor: Gibbons\nQ. All gibbons are native to the south-eastern part of which continent?\nA. Asia\nQ. As opposed to the larger great apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas, gibbons are also known as the what apes?\nA. Lesser\nQ. Like their fellow apes, gibbons belong to which mammalian order?\nA. Primates\nQ. The family comprising the various species of gibbon is commonly divided into how many genera?\nA. Four\nQ. Reaching about a metre in height, what is the largest of the dozen or so species of gibbon?\nA. Siamang\nQ. When swinging through the trees, gibbons use how many fingers per hand as a hook?\nA. Four\nQ. The silvery gibbon lives exclusively on which heavily populated island?\nA. Java\nQ. A mature and healthy gibbon has a total of how many teeth?\nA. 32\nQ. Having a distinctive white ring of hair around its black face is which ape also known as the white-handed gibbon?\nA. Lar / common [gibbon]\nQ. Used for amplifying their calls, some gibbons have an enlarged throat what?\nA. Sac/Pouch\nQ. Gibbons typically give birth to how many offspring at a time?\nA. One\nQ. While also including leaves, insects and bird eggs in its diet, the gibbon�s main source of food is what?\nA. Fruit[s]\nQ. Like the various lar gibbons, the Mueller�s Bornean gibbon belongs to which genus?\nA. Hylobates\nQ. Gibbons can be found in the wild as far west as which country?\nA. India\nQ. The scientific name of the black-crested gibbon is �Nomascus what�?\nA. Concolor\nQ. One species of ape is the bulbous-nosed gibbon.\nA. FALSE",
"Apes | Twycross Zoo\nApes are native to tropical Asia and Africa, but one species of great ape can now be found on every continent ... Agile gibbon Bonobo Bornean orang utan\nApes | Twycross Zoo\nTwycross Zoo\nAnimals : Primates : Apes\nApes are native to tropical Asia and Africa, but one species of great ape can now be found on every continent – do you know which one?\nApes are divided into two groups; great apes, which include gorillas, chimpanzees, orang utans, bonobos and humans; and small apes, which are gibbons and siamangs.\nApes have no tail and are able to brachiate (swing from tree to tree), though gorillas and humans spend relatively little time in trees. Apes have big brains in proportion to their bodies, and with long periods of parental care (from four to nine years for non-human apes), apes have excellent learning ability and complex behaviour.\nTwycross Zoo is the only zoo in the UK where you can see all types of great ape – so look out for them all!",
"Native American Documentary Films - Native American ...\nNative American Documentary Films; Native ... Americans to the North American continent after the retreat ... Gibbons [Seattle] : Native Voices at the ...\nNative American Documentary Films - Native American Studies Research Guide - LibGuides at Michigan State University Libraries\nNative American Studies Research Guide\nNoDAPL\nContents\nA compilation of film resources about Native Americans available in the MSU Libraries. Additional films such as The Menominee and The Potawatomi from the Library of Michigan are also listed in our union catalog.\nStreaming Videos\nThe MSU Libraries own many more streaming videos besides the ones listed to the right. If you want to explore Native American films in Canada or the Latin America, for example, or if you want to explore different topics, take a look at :\nFilmakers Library Online / Alexander Street Press. This collection provides award-winning documentaries with relevance across the curriculum—race and gender studies, human rights, globalization and global studies, multiculturalism, international relations, criminal justice, the environment, bioethics, health, political science and current events, psychology, arts, literature, and more. It presents points of view and historical and current experiences from diverse cultures and traditions world-wide. This release now provides 956 titles, equaling approximately 752 hours. Other titles will be added as Alexander Street Press works out permission/ownership issues from the Filmakers Library.\nEthnographic Video Online / Alexander Street Press. This collection currently contains This release includes 803 videos totalling roughly 548 hours. It too contains many videos relating to indigenous peoples around the world, a few of which are listed under Native American Documentary Films. Be sure to check this resource as well if you are interested in streaming videos about Native Americans in Canada and Latin America.\nPBS Video Collection contains numerous films related to Native Americans.\nCreating Clips and Playlists with Alexander Street Press products.\nVanderbilt Television News Archive contains miscellaneous newscasts from NBC and CNN. A few examples include:\nMichigan / Chippewa Indians / Fishing Rights, NBC, July 9, 1971\nAmerican Indian Movement / Wounded Knee, NBC, February 28, 1973.\nThe Indians and the Fish, NBC, September 12, 1978.\nPequot Native Americans / Casino Success, CNN, August 15, 1992\nCrosscountry Protests on 500th Anniversary of Columbus Day, NBC, October 12, 1992.\nGambling / Indian Reservations / Ojibwa Civl War, NBC, September 28, 1996.\nGambling / Native Americans, CNN, December 16, 2002.\nNote : To use the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, it may be necessary to download RealPlayer on your computer.\nMore Native American Film Catalogs\nAlso check out Native Americans in the Movies: A Bibliography of Materials in the UC Berkeley Library . Covers both books and journal articles.\nSmithsonian Museum of the American Indian Film & Media Catalog : The Film & Media Catalog provides information on films screened since 1995 at the National Museum of the American Indian in programs presenting indigenous media from North, Central, and South America, the Pacific region, and the Arctic Circle. The Catalog includes information about productions, the mediamakers and actors who created them, and the film and media organizations that support their creation.\nFilm Covers, A-I\nWounded Heart : Pine Ridge and the Sioux \nDocumentary Films, A-B\nAll Native American documentaries are located in the Kline Digital and Multimedia Center unless otherwise indicated. Movies can be checked out unless reserved for a class.\n500 Nations . 4 DVD videodiscs (372 min.) E77 .F57 1995 VideoDVD : An eight-part documentary that explores the history of the indigenous peoples of North and Central America, from pre-Colombian times through the period of European contact and colonization, to the end of the 19th century and the subjugation of the Plains Indians of North America. 500 Nations utilizes historical texts, eyewitness accounts, pictorial sources and computer graphic reconstructions to explore the magnificent civilizations which flourished prior to contact with Western civilization, and to tell the dramatic and tragic story of the Native American nations' desperate attempts to retain their way of life against overwhelming odds. A companion book is also available in the Main Library stacks.\nAcross the Americas : Indigenous Perspectives . [San Francisco, California, USA] : Kanopy Streaming, 2015. 1 online resource (2 video files, approximately 45 minutes) : digital, .flv file, sound ideo file MPEG-4 Flash available online : In this compilation, award-winning independent documentary filmmaker Robbie Leppzer chronicles indigenous people from North, South, and Central America speaking out about their common legacies of survival and contemporary struggles over land, human rights, and the environment. Columbus Didn't Discover Us The 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's historic voyage to America also marked 500 years of survival by indigenous people throughout the Americas, whose way of life was fundamentally changed by the European landing. In preparation for the Columbus Quincentennial, 300 Native men and women came to the highlands of Ecuador to take part in the First Continental Conference of Indigenous Peoples. Columbus Didn't Discover Us features interviews with participants, filmed at this historic gathering, representing a wide spectrum of Indian nations from North, South, and Central America. This documentary is a moving testimony about the impact of the Columbus legacy on the lives of indigenous peoples from across the hemisphere. Native people speak about the devastation of their cultures resulting from the \"European Invasion,\" contemporary struggles over land and human rights, the importance of reviving spiritual traditions, and the need to alert the world to the environmental crises threatening the survival of the planet. Columbus Didn't Discover Us is an essential primer for understanding the Columbus legacy — past and present — from an indigenous point of view. Arctic to Amazonia From the Arctic to the Amazon, much of our world's fragile ecosystem is at risk. Multinational corporations and government development projects often engage in practices which threaten not only the environment, but the survival of indigenous cultures. To discuss this growing problem, representatives of Native communities from around the world came to Smith College to attend the week-long Arctic to Amazonia Tribal Lands Conference. Arctic to Amazonia features Native activists from North and South America presenting first-hand information on the impact of industrial development upon their land and cultures. They review the history of European colonization in the Americas, critique destructive patterns of consumerism, and contrast indigenous perspectives on the environment with corporate world views. In excerpts from speeches presented at the conference, indigenous representatives talk about the struggles of Native communities to protect their land against ecological destruction. These battles range from northern Quebec, where the Cree and Inuit peoples are fighting massive hydro-dam projects, to Arizona, where the Havasupai oppose plans to mine uranium near the Grand Canyon, to the Brazilian jungles, where numerous Amazonian peoples have won important victories in the campaign to protect the tropical rain forest. As the threat of global environmental disaster looms over us, mainstream society can learn much from Native peoples. Arctic to Amazonia is an effective catalyst for discussion of environmental issues from an indigenous perspective.\nAfter the Mayflower. In 1621, Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags of New England negotiated a treaty with Pilgrim settlers. A half-century later, as a brutal war flared between the English and a confederation of Indians, this diplomatic gamble seemed to have been a grave miscalculation. Directed by Chris Eyre. Part of the We Shall Remain package.\nAlcatraz is not an island / producer, Jon Plutte ; director, James M. Fortier ; writers, James M. Fortier, Jon Plutte and Mike Yearling with with Troy Johnson and Millie Ketcheshawno ; produced in association with the Independent Television Service, KQED Public Television and the Golden Gate National Parks Association ; produced by Diamond Island Productions. [Pacifica, Calif.] : Diamond Island Productions, [2012?] 1 DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E93 .A347 2012 VideoDVD : For thousands of Native Americas, the infamous Alcatraz is not an island . . . it is an inspiration. After generations of oppression, assimilation, and near genocide, a small group of Native American students and “Urban Indians” began the occupation of Alcatraz Island in November 1969. They were eventually joined by thousands of Native Americans, retaking “Indian land” for the first time since the 1880s. ALCATRAZ IS NOT AN ISLAND is the story of how this historic event altered U.S. Government Indian policy and programs, and how it forever changed the way Native Americans viewed themselves, their culture and their sovereign rights. Out of Alcatraz came the “Red Power” movement of the 1970s, which has been called the lost chapter of the Civil Rights era. Among the many people interviewed are occupation leaders John Trudell, Dr. LaNada Boyer and Adam Fortunate Eagle, along with several other prominent participants, including Wilma Mankiller, Grace Thorpe, Leonard Garment and Brad Patterson. Associate Producer and Historical Consultant Dr. Troy Johnson and Native American author/historian Robert Warrior provide much of the historical commentary in the film. Also included in the documentary is an abundance of historical photos by Michelle Vignes and Ilka Hartmann and archival 16 mm footage –– much of which has never been seen by the public. More information .\nAmerican Cowboys / produced by Wildbill Productions ; in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting ; Native American Public Telecommunications. Lincoln, NE : Distributed by Vision Maker Video, [2005?] 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 27 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. F596 .A475 2005 VideoDVD : American Cowboys tells the stories of George Fletcher and Jackson Sundown, the first African American and the first Native American to compete in the World Title at the Pendleton Round-Up. This documentary reveals the glory of being the best, the frustration of being ignored, and the rewards for not giving up on a dream.\nAmerican Indian comedy slam : goin' native: no reservations needed / LOL comedy presents ; Payaso Entertainment presents ; with DRO Entertainment ; produced by Neal Marshall ; directed & produced by Scott Montoya. [United States] : LolFlix : Payaso Productions, c2011. 1 DVD videodisc (82 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. PN1969.C65 A44 2011 VideoDVD : In the spirit of the Kings of Comedy and the Latin Kings of Comedy, no reservations needed for this historical stand-up comedy event. Hosted by legendary Native American comedian Charlie Hill, this special showcases the best of the Native American Indian comedians performing today. This comedy special features legendary Native American comedians all on one stage for the first time : Charlie Hill, Larry Omaha, Howie Miller as well as the Pow Wow Comedy Jam members now making their own mark on the Native American comedy scene, Marc Yaffee, Jim Rule, Vaughn Eaglebear and JR Redwater.\nAmerican Outrage . Oley, PA : Bullfrog Films, 2008. 1 DVD videodisc (56 min.) HD1251 .A44 2009 VideoDVD : Two elderly Western Shoshone sisters, the Danns, put up a heroic fight for their land rights and human rights. This movie asks why the United States government has spent millions persecuting and prosecuting two elderly women grazing a few hundred horses and cows in a desolate desert? The United States Bureau of Land Management insists the sisters are degrading the land. The Dann sisters say the real reason is the resources hidden below this seemingly barren land, their Mother Earth. Western Shoshone land is the second largest gold producing area in the world.\nAmerican red and black : stories of Afro-Native identity / Native Voices presents a Talking Fish Production ; a film by Alicia Woods [Seattle, WA?] : Native Voices, University of Washington, c2006 1 DVD-R videodisc (38 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.E85 A53 2006 VideoDVD : This intimate film follows six Afro-native Americans from around the U.S., as they reflect upon the personal and complex issues of Native and African heritage, ethnic identity, and racism within communities of color.\nAmerica's Prehistoric Civilizations : The Mound Builders . New York, NY : Ambrose Video Pub., c2007. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 30 min.) E73 .A44 2007 VideoDVD : Had they been made of stone, they would have been among the greatest wonders of the ancient world. These were the pyramids and effigy earthenworks by the Mound Building Cultures of the eastern half of the United States. This is the story of the 3000 year Native American tradition that culminated with the construction of cities rivaling any on the planet when Columbus landed in the New World. The program begins with a look at the arrival of the first Native Americans to the North American continent after the retreat of the glaciers 12,000 years ago. Viewers will then examine an archeological site in Louisiana, where ancient hunter gatherers built their own city, and learn about the Woodland Mound Builders and the Mississippian Mound Building culture. Program includes a teacher's guide along with a timeline, maps and quizzes.\nAncient America Seattle, WA : Camera One, c1996. 4 VHS videocassettes (ca. 60 min. ea.) E77 .A52 1996 Videocassette : This series looks at America before the arrival of the Europeans, discussing Native American peoples and cultures. \"Eastern woodlands\" discusses technological accomplishments of these tribes, such as Cahokia's Woodhenge and Monks Mound. In \"Indians of the Northwest,\" the totem pole is explained. The Anasazi's structures, the city of Chimney Rocks, and Mesa Verde are some of the accomplishments featured in \"The Southwest\". \"Nomadic Indians of the West\" surveys Medicine Wheel and covers the transition of the Great Basin from the Ice Age to desert.\nAncient Pueblo People : the Anasazi . Library Video Company, 2007. 1 dvd; 30 min. E99.P9 A53 2007 VideoDVD : They stand today much as their builders left them 500 years ago. These are the cities of the Anasazi, the ancient Pueblo people of the four corners region of the western United States. Their history is the history how a civilization, against all odds, became so successful at agriculture they were able to produce a leisure society capable of not only building these incredible cities, but also producing some of the greatest pottery, rock art and trading networks the world has ever seen. How the Anasazi did this with a social organization not governed by kings or queens or other hierarchical rulers is one of the great mysteries of ancient history. Viewers will learn about the rise of the maize culture that enabled the Anasazi to become skilled artisans and builders of North America's most distinctive buildings prior to the arrival of European colonists. The program explores the architecture of Anasazi buildings and look at how, in the absence of written records, these structures are evidence of this culture's remarkable accomplishments and social structure. Program includes a teacher's guide along with a timeline, maps and quizzes.\nBefore Columbus . Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1993. 6 VHS videocassettes (168 min.) E58 .B43 1993 Videocassette : This series of programs presents the other side of the \"discovery\" saga as the native peoples of the Americas tell their own story of the destruction of their culture and their lands and of their growing efforts to fight back. [Pt. 1] Invasion -- [pt. 2] The right to their own lands -- [pt. 3] Temples into churches -- [pt. 4] Teaching Indians to be White -- [pt. 5] Rebellion -- [pt. 6] The Indian experience in the 20th Century.\nBlackfeet Encounter / The Going-to-the-Sun Institute and Native View Pictures ; written, produced and directed by Dennis Neary and Curly Bear Wagner. Lincoln, NE : Vision Maker Media, 2006. 57 minutes. Streaming video from Alexander Street Press : In the summer of 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition headed home from the Pacific Ocean. But Meriwether Lewis had not yet accomplished a mission from Thomas Jefferson, which would take him into the heart of Blackfeet country in what is now Montana and force him into the expedition's only life-or-death encounter with a party of Blackfeet Indians. Not only did this chance confrontation put a new perspective on a peaceful expedition, it impacted the fate of the Blackfeet people forever. A Blackfeet Encounter uncovers the rich Blackfeet history and culture, traces the aftermath of the expedition's arrival and illustrates the challenges and triumphs of the Blackfeet people today.\nBlack Indians : An American Story / Rich-Heape Films. Dallas, Tex. : Rich-Heape Films, c2000. 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E98.R28 B53 2000 Videocassette : This video explores the issue of racial identity among Native Americans and African Americans, and the coalescence of these two groups in American history. Perhaps the two most misunderstood and mistreated of minorities, Native and African peoples have often shared a common past. Yet today they are all but invisible-their heritage ignored, unknown and frequently denied by most Americans, many Native- and African- Americans and sometimes by Black Indians themselves. The video features interviews with Black Indians from many tribes (including Narragansetts, Pequots, Seminoles, Cherokees and others) who discuss such issues as blood versus culture, detribalization, and personal identity in an increasingly multicultural world.\nBlood tests : Native American gamble / BBC Education & Training. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, c1997. 1 VHS videocassette (50 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. QH431 .B56 1997 Videocassette : Steve Jones investigates what constitutes Native American blood, then follows three individuals as they use DNA matching of a female gene in an attempt to confirm a genetic link between themselves and their Pequot ancestors.\nBones of Contention / a BBC production ; written and produced by Danielle Peck and Alex Seaborne. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities, c1998. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 50 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E77 .B663 1998 Videocassette : This program provides an even-handed examination of the conflict between Native American groups and scientists, historians, and museum curators concerning the issue of the remains of more than 10,000 Native Americans unearthed at archaeological sites across the U.S. In doing so, it also provides an excellent survey of American Indian archaeology in the U.S.\nBones of Contention (British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 1995) 48:46 mins. Also available as a streaming video to the MSU community as part of Ethnographic Video Online.\nBroken Rainbow / [New York] : Docurama : Distributed by New Video Group, [2006]. 1 DVD videodisc (1 hr. 10 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.N3 B7 2006 VideoDVD : \"Passionate\" and \"compelling\" (The New York Times) the Academy Award-winning Broken Rainbow is the heartbreaking tale of the forced relocation of 12,000 Navajos from their ancestral homeland in Arizona that began in the 1970s and continues to this day....It documents the impact of a law signed by President Ford (on a ski vacation) that forced relocation of thousands of Navajo from their tribal land. The reason? There was hundreds of millions of dollars of coal, natural gas, and oil in that land and therefore the needs of the Navajo were irrelevant in light of the outrageous profits that could be made....Broken Rainbow bears witness to the machinations of energy companies and their government proxies as they eagerly cast aside the peaceful Navajo to make way for oil, gas, uranium and coal exploration. In their own words, elders and outside experts discuss the rich culture and the history of the Navajo as well as their close friends and neighbors the Hopi. The film follows these Native Americans as they take their protest to Congress and join with the militant American Indian Movement, turning their tragedy into acts of heroic resistance. Beautifully photographed and scored, the film captures the sweeping majesty of sacred Native American lands and the people who inhabit them. Narrated by Emmy-winning actor Martin Sheen, Broken Rainbow compassionately illuminates a modern Trail of Tears, giving voice to the conflicts faced by indigenous peoples who struggle to survive in the face of Western imperatives. DVD Features: Update \"2006: The Struggle Continues\"; Filmmaker Biographies; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection.\nBuffalo Dance (1894) / Thomas Edison Available as a streaming video from the Internet Archive : \"According to Edison film historian C. Musser, this film and others shot on the same day featured Native American Indian dancers from Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, and constitutes the American Indian's first appearance before a motion picture camera.\" - Library of Congress.\nThe Buffalo War / produced by Buffalo Jump Pictures ; a film by Matthew Testa ; directed by Matthew Testa. Oley, Penn. : Bullfrog Films, c2001. 1 DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in SF401.A45 B84 2001 VideoDVD : The battle over the yearly slaughter of America's last wild bison outside Yellowstone National Park. THE BUFFALO WAR is the moving story of the Native Americans, ranchers, government officials and environmental activists currently battling over the yearly slaughter of America's last wild bison. Yellowstone National Park bison that stray from the park in winter are routinely rounded up and sent to slaughter by agents of Montana's Department of Livestock, who fear the migrating animals will transmit the disease brucellosis to cattle, despite the federal Department of Agriculture's urging that this is unlikely....This film explores the controversial killing by joining a 500-mile spiritual march across Montana by Lakota Sioux Indians who object to the slaughter. Led by Lakota elder Rosalie Little Thunder, the marchers express their cultural connection to bison and display the power of tradition and sacrifice....Woven into the film is the civil disobedience and video activism of an environmental group trying to save the buffalo, as well as the concerns of a ranching family caught in the crossfire.\nBuried Stories : A Native American Preserves Her Heritage / Co-Directed, produced and edited by Julie Kirkenslager and Emily Wick. Executive Producer: Allen Pastron. 2009. 34 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : Reveals the life story of a Native American (Ohlone/Esselen) Ella Rodriguez, who, in her seventies, still resents that she was taken from her rural California home at age thirteen and sent to an Indian boarding school. After running away from the school and becoming ensnared in the juvenile justice system, she was forced into marriage by a parole officer at eighteen, then labored as a migrant worker. In the 1970s, when Ella was 44, she protested for weeks to stop the destruction of a Native American cemetery site and dedicated her life to preserving her heritage....After two decades of working on endangered construction sites to oversee and protect Native American burial grounds, Ella obtained an informal but comprehensive education about her ancestors. Ella’s later years bridged her Native American past and modern archaeological research. A resilient and wisecracking woman in a hard hat, Ella fought to preserve her ancestors’ history. In the process, she connected with her painful personal past as she unearthed troubling official documents relating to her youth. Told through Ella’s charismatic and poignant lens, her story incites curiosity about the historical and cultural forces that shaped her destiny and identity.\nDocumentary Films, C\nCamp Forgotten : the Civilian Conservation Corps in Michigan / written and produced by William Jamerson. Traverse City, MI : Forgotten Films & Video, c1993. 1 VHS videocassette (58 min.) : sd., col., b&w ; 1/2 in. S932.M4 C35 1993 Videocassette : Camp Forgotten explores the role of the CCC in Michigan. Some of their projects included the building of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Caberfae Ski Area, and the transport of moose from Isle Royale to the Upper Peninsula. The only Native American CCC camp in the nation was also in the state, Camp Marquette. Camp Forgotten includes interviews with over a dozen CCC members who vividly describe life in camp and how the experience changed their lives. Combining archival footage and photographs with location cinematography of CCC-built structures, this timeless program tells the dramatic story of how young men discovered their potential as productive citizens while restoring Michigan's devasted wilderness\nThe canary effect : kill the Indian, save the man / Ananda Entertainment, Bastard Fairy Films ; written by Robin Davey ; executive producers Dave Stewart, John Shanks ; produced & directed by Robin Davey & Yellow Thunder Woman. [Los Angeles, Calif.] : Bastard Fairy Films, c2010. 1 DVD-R videodisc (65 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E93 .C36 2010 VideoDVD : The Canary Effect is a really accurate documentary film about the history of the Native American Indians from the time that Christopher Columbus stumbled into the \"new world\" and onwards. It does not just deal with the past misdeeds that the United States government committed against Indian peoples, but it also deals with current affairs in the 20th and 21st centuries such as life, poverty, and suicide rates on Indian reservations. In doing so, it effectively shows that the abuses against them are not just a thing of the past; they are happening now. Featuring interviews with the leading scholars and experts on Indian issues including controversial author Ward Churchill, the film brings together the past and present in a way never before captured so eloquently and boldly on film....The grim legacy of America's treatment of its native peoples is explored in detail in this documentary. Filmmakers Robin Davey and Yellow Thunder Woman take the perspective that if one is to define \"genocide\" as the a deliberate effort by a government to exterminate a people, then the United States is clearly guilty of the crime given their actions against America's indigenous population over the past 300 years. Davey and Thunder Woman back up their argument with footage detailing the economic marginalization of American Indians, the consistent violation of legal agreements reached with native tribes, the mismanagement and consistent neglect of Indian reservations, the brutalization of Native Americans as they were segregated onto flinty soil and forced to live under substandard conditions, and the refusal of the mass media to report stories of suicide and Columbine-style school shootings among reservation youth. The Canary Effect was screened in competition at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. YouTube Trailer . Also available (at least for the moment) from Vimeo\nCasting Calls / produced by Running Down Dreams Productions for Discovery Times Channel ; producer/writer, Lauren F. Cardillo. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, c2004. 1 DVD videodisc (47 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. PN1995.9.V47 C37 2003 VideoDVD : \"Does Hollywood's portrayal of villains reinforce racial stereotypes or does the industry give the public what it wants? This program explores the history of film's ethnic 'bad guy,' looking at sociopolitical and economic forces that create, perpetuate, and rehabilitate these characters. Special attention is paid to current depictions of Muslims onscreen [along with an historical survey of film depictions of African-Americans, Asians, and Native Americans]. A wide range of ilm clips from 'Birth of a Nation' to 'The Sopranos' provides many examples, along with commentary from critics, directors and actors ...\"\nA Century of Genocide in the Americas : The Residential School Experience / Native Voices presents a film by Rosemary Gibbons & Dax Thomas ; directed by Rosemary Gibbons [Seattle] : Native Voices at the University of Washington, c2003 1 DVD-R videodisc (18 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in E96.5 .R47 2003 VideoDVD : A short but powerful documentary about how Indian Residential Schools became a haven for institutionalized sexual abuse. The inspiration for the film comes from the First Nations survivors who have taken legal action against the institutions that perpetuated this destructive cycle; these are the very same institutions whose purpose and mandate was to \"provide\" for their well being. This video takes a historical look at how the systematic removal of First Nations children from their families and community not only made the them easy targets for pedophiles but also how these vile acts turned many of the victims into predators. The second half shows First Nations peoples taking legal action against not only the pedophiles, but also against the Canadian government and churches while at the same time using their traditional ways of healing in order to bring back joy and balance back within their own lives and also within their communities.\nThe Chaco Legacy directed by Graham Chedd, Graham. (Documentary Educational Resources, 1980.) 59 mins. Available as streaming video to the MSU Community as part of Ethnographic Video Online : In the kingdoms and fiefdom of Europe, it was called the year of our lord 1150. No one knows what the year was called here, or if it was called anything at all. In Europe in 1150 AD the people lived in wooden hovels in isolated villages and towns. Here in that same year the finishing touches were being put to some of the most spectacular masonry buildings ever constructed by man. Integrated townships with places of worship and work, debate and playing. This is the most famous of those townships Pueblo Bonito, beautiful town. The name given it by its discoverers, more than 600 years after its people abandoned it. In the territory that was to become, New Mexico. Its people’s own name for themselves, their townships, their land we will never know. Pueblo Bonito is just one of a dozen large buildings in the shallow canyon 15 miles long and mile or so across Chaco Canyon. Yet the people of Chaco spread far beyond the Canyon itself, holding sway over a region of 40,000 square miles. Establishing perhaps a hundred outlying townships linked by skillfully engineered roads and a system of long distance communication. All this 800 years ago, in an environment so arid it supports almost no one today. The full achievement of the Chaco people is only now being appreciated by archeologists. We’re trying to understand how and why such an astonishing cultured flowered in the deserts of the South West. And why abruptly it faded and disappeared.\nChoctaw Code Talkers / director, writer, producer, Valerie Red-Horse. [Durant, Okla..?] : Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ; Red-Horse Native Productions (Distributed by VisionMaker Video), c2010. 1 DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in E99.C8 .T44 2010 VideoDVD : In 1918, not yet citizens of the United States, Choctaw members of the American Expeditionary Forces were asked by the government to use their Native language as a powerful tool against the German Forces in World War I, setting a precedent for code talking as an effective military weapon and establishing them as America's Original Code Talkers.\nClans of the Anishinabe / written and produced by Robert A. Rozoff. St. Germain, WI : DeltaVision Entertainment, c2000. 1 VHS videocassette (21 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Library of Michigan Audiovisual Collection E99.C6 C53 2000 : Tells that the word Anishinabe means \"original people,\" and that it is the name adopted by the Ojibwa Indian tribes of the Lake Superior Region. Describes the clan system of the Ojibwa, covering what clans are, the origins of the various Ojibwa clans, what it means to be a clan member, what the animal symbols of clans represent, and the significance of totems.\nClimate change threatens the tribe from 'Twilight' / by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. Arlington, VA : MacNeil-Lehrer Productions, 2012. 7 minutes. Available as streaming video to the MSU Community as part of via Environmental Studies in Video. : Located west of Olympic National Park, La Push, Washington is idyllic at first glance, but its beauty is matched by danger and vulnerability. Located at sea level, La Push lies directly in a flood and tsunami zone. Hari Sreenivasan reports on how the Quileute tribe is adapting to new climate challenges. A fictionalized version of the tribe is featured in the 'Twilight' series.\nClub Native : How Thick Is Your Blood? / written and directed by Tracey Deer ; producers, Linda Ludwick, Christina Fon, Adam Symansky ; executive producers, Catherine Bainbridge, Ernest Webb ; produced by Rezolution Pictures Inc. in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada. Montréal] : Rezolution Pictures : National Film Board of Canada ; New York, NY : Distributed by Women Make Movies, [2008] 1 DVD videodisc (78 min) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.M8 C58 2008 VideoDVD : \"In Club Native, filmmaker Tracey Deer uses Kahnawake, her hometown, as a lens to probe deeply into the history and contemporary reality of Aboriginal identity. Following the stories of four women, she reveals the exclusionary attitudes that divide the community and many others like it across Canada. Deer traces the roots of the problem, from the advent of the highly discriminatory Indian Act through the controversy of Bill C31, up to the present day, where membership on the reserve is determined by a council of Mohawk elders, whose rulings often appear inconsistent. And with her own home as a poignant case study, she raises a difficult question faced by people of many ethnicities across the world: What roles do bloodline and culture play in determining identity?\" View Film Clip\nColumbus Day legacy / a co-production of Trickster Films, L.L.C. and Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc. (NAPT) with major funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ; produced by Leighton C. Peterson ; directed by Bennie Klain. [Austin, Tex.] : Trickster Films ; Lincoln, Neb. : Distributed by Vision Maker, c2011. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 60 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E120 .C655 2011 VideoDVD : Since 1992, the Denver Italian-American community has proudly and publicly celebrated Columbus Day with a revived parade -- long a part of the city's history -- much to the dismay of the local American Indian Movement chapter who are equally determined to vilify the man credited with 'discovering' America. The history of this annual parade is peppered with both verbal and physical violence, challenging ideas of political correctness and freedom of assembly. Both the Italian and Native Americans are strong, vibrant, tight-knit communities, a point conveyed by the film as it uncovers conflicting notions of the freedom of speech, the interpretation of history and what it means to be an American Navajo filmmaker Bennie Klain takes viewers into this very personal yet very public conflict, asking tough questions about identity and history in America. Trailer .\nColumbus on Trial / by Lourdes Portillo with Culture Clash ; producer and director, Lourdes Portillo ; screenplay by Richard Montoya ... [et al.]. New York, NY : Distributed by Women Make Movies, 1993. 1 VHS videocassette (18 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E111 .C658 1993 Videocassette : A satire on the controversy surrounding Christopher Columbus as to whether he, indeed, did discover America and introduce European civilization and Christianity to the native populations there, or if he (from the Native American point of view) invaded their territories and began the systematic destruction of their cultures that has continued for the following 500 years. Set in the context of a trial presided over by a woman judge of Hispano-American descent. Performed by the comedy troupe, Culture Clash.\nComing To Light: The Edward S. Curtis Story / Sundance. DVD. 84 minutes. Available via Amazon Instant Video : Edward Sheriff Curtis, or the \"Shadow Catcher\" as he was later called by some of the tribes, took over 40,000 images and recorded rare ethnographic information from over eighty American Indian tribal groups, ranging from the Eskimo or Inuit people of the far north to the Hopi people of the Southwest. This film explores the history of Curtis' accumulated works. Descendants of his photographic subjects tell stories about the photos and reveal their meaning to Indian people today. Cover .\nConquest of America : Vitus Bering, Peter Menendez, Francisco Coronado, Henry Hudson, Jean Ribault / the History Channel. [New York] : A & E Home Video, 2005. 2 DVD videodiscs (180 min.) : sd., col., b&w ; 4 3/4 in. E101 .C725 2005 VideoDVD pt. 1 and 2 : After Columbus came conquest—from all corners of the world, explorers reached the shores of the New World to reap untold riches, seek new routes to the Far East, and gain the most elusive glory of all—a place in history... CONQUEST OF AMERICA brings a stunning four-part series from THE HISTORY CHANNEL® to DVD for the first time. A sweeping saga of bravery, cruelty and pure folly, these are the stories of adventurers who stopped at nothing to conquer an unknown land and its peoples. Led by legendary cities of gold and mythical passages to China, foiled by international intrigue and mutiny on the high seas, men like Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Henry Hudson, Jean Ribault, and Vitus Bering left an indelible mark on a vast new continent. Straight from the explorers' journals, European diaries and oral histories of Native Americans, CONQUEST OF AMERICA presents an amazing, region-by-region account of extraordinary times and extraordinary men. Expert commentary and vivid on-site re-enactments complete this epic course in history.\nConquistadors / a Maya Vision International Production for PBS and BBC ; produced by Rebecca Dobbs ; written by Michael Woods ; director, David Wallace. [Alexandria, VA] : PBS Home Video, [2006], c2001. 1 DVD digital videodisc (ca. 240 min.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in. E123 .C66785 2006 VideoDVD : One of history's most fateful chapters and greatest adventures. The exploration of the America's by Spanish soldier-explorers, and the experiences and tragedies they had once there.\nContrary Warriors : a Story of the Crow Tribe / Rattlesnake Productions ; produced by Connie Poten and Pamela Roberts ; co-producer, Beth Ferris ; narration written by Beth Ferris and Connie Poten. Bozeman, MT : Rattlesnake Productions, Inc., ; c1985 ; Ho-ho-Kus, N.J. : Distributed by Film Library, [1999?] 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E99.C92 C66 1999 Videocassette : Chronicles the Crow Indians' century-long battle for survival. In spite of every effort by the U.S. government to assimilate the people and acquire tribal land, the crows have persisted -- their language, family and culture intact. They continue to live on their ancestors' land in what is now southeastern Montana, but like tribes everywhere, the Crows' future is a high-risk gamble....This film brings the past into the present by focusing on the life of Robert Yellowtail, a 97-year old tribal leader whose courage and brilliance saved Crow lands and traditions. At four, Yellowtail was taken from his mother and sent to boarding school where it was forbidden to even speak Crow. He went on to teach himself law, and in 1910 began a seven-year battle before the U.S. Senate to save Crow lands. He succeeded and went on to spend 60 years shaping the course of the Crow tribe. The first Indian appointed Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent of his own tribe, Yellowtail used federal funds to restore traditions and bring back the buffalo. In his eighties, he was called on to unite and advise the tribe on the critical issue of coal development. Even today, Yellowtail speaks out for tribal autonomy and economic rehabilitation....Intimate ceremonies, never before filmed, demonstrate the spiritual strength and ties to the lands that sustain the Crow people. The filmmakers spent three years with the Crows filming Contrary Warriors. The result is a moving, intimate film that reveals Crow life and history from the inside.\nCounseling and therapy with Native American Indians / Teresa LaFromboise. North Amherst, Mass. : Microtraining Associates, [1995] 1 streaming video file (70 min.) via Counseling and Therapy in Video. : This lecture presented by Teresa LaFromboise focuses on three key issues: assumptions that Indians hold about psychologists, assumptions that psychologists hold about Indians and the counseling implications of different perspectives.\nCrazy Horse - The Last Warrior . [Burlington, VT] : A&E Home Video ; New York : Distributed by New Video, [2005] 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 50 min.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in. E99.O3 C73 2005 VideoDVD : He fought to the end to protect the lands that had been his people's since time immemorial. His death marked the end of an era. Crazy Horse cut his teeth fighting with the Olgala chief Red Cloud against United States troops in Wyoming. He earned a place in legend and signed his own death warrant for his role in Custer's last stand. BIOGRAPHY travels back to the waning days of the frontier for a revealing portrait of one of the great Indian leaders. Leading historians and elders of his Sioux tribe offer their take on his life and legend, while period accounts, art and artifacts show the fervor that marked his pursuit and capture by U.S. forces after the Little Big Horn. Join BIORAPHY for a stirring profile of a noble warrior who gave everything he had in a desperate and futile struggle to preserve the freedom and dignity of his people.\nCulture and standardized tests : Native American issues and examples / Carlon Ami. [North Amherst, MA] : Microtraining Associates, 2005. 1 streaming video file (43 min.) via Counseling and Therapy in Video. : Discusses how and why the use of research and evaluation in educational contexts (e.g. standardized testing) have been used inappropriately with Native Americans and other ethnic minority children, thereby leading to incorrect assumptions about students' educational gains and achievement in both K-12 grade system and higher education.\nDocumentary Films, D-F\nThe Dakota Conflict / a production of KTCA TV St. Paul/Minneapolis ; Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. [Bethesda, Md.] : Atlas Video, 1993. 1 VHS videocassette (VHS) (58 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E83.86 .D35 1993 Videocassette : (1) In the majority of the history books, when you read of battles between white settlers/U. S. soldiers and the Dakota Sioux it is about the battles in Montana and the states of North and South Dakota. Rarely do you hear the state of Minnesota mentioned. And yet, a series of pitched battles between whites and the Dakota Sioux raged in Minnesota during the 1860's. Hundreds of white settlers were killed and many more fled Minnesota in fear of their lives. Like all other conflicts between the white encroachers and the Native Americans, it ended with a total white victory, destruction of most of the Dakota nation and another blot on the history of the United States. (2) This tape recounts this time in history and uses a unique approach. Garrison Keillor, who speaks in English and Floyd Red Crow Westerman, who speaks in Sioux, jointly narrate it. Vintage photographs and readings from the newspapers and diaries of the day help recreate what happened in the fateful year of 1862. It is a tragedy from several perspectives, there is the usual white greed and duplicity, and promises made to the Dakota were routinely broken. When well meaning people on both sides tried to find common ground, they were ignored or swept away. Once the fighting was over, 38 Dakotas were simultaneously executed in the largest mass execution ever carried out in the United States. That group included a Dakota who had risked his life to protect some white settlers from being killed by his fellow Dakotas. The order for the execution was signed by then President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln tried to find a middle ground between the white hysteria that demanded the extermination of the Dakota and treating the captured Sioux as enemy combatants. In the end, he settled on these executions as a form of political compromise. (3) This tape is an accurate recapitulation of yet another sad event in American history, where whites simply used their overpowering strength to destroy people who had a natural right to their property. In the end, a large group of Dakota warriors chose to die fighting rather than slowly die due to economic and cultural strangulation. This is their story that must be remembered, even though it generally is not.\nDakota Exile / KTCA/Video. Saint Paul, MN : Twin Cities Public Television, c1995. 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E83.86 .D34 1995 Videocassette : This documentary, sequel to The Dakota Conflict, traces the paths of Dakota prisoners and refugees. Through the words of Dakota elders and tribal historians it tells of the struggle to remain Dakota in the face of government efforts to destroy their language and culture.\nDancing in Moccasins / producer/writer, E. Lenita Johnson ; director, David Vandivort. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2003. 1 DVD videodisc (49 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E77 .D263 1993 VideoDVD : \"For nearly 2 million Native Americans, representing 500 Indian nations, life in the U.S. today is a frustrating struggle to retain their ancient ways while functioning in the modern world, to carve out an identity in an overwhelmingly non-Indian culture. This program examines the needs and problems of today's Native Americans, both those who live on the reservation and those who have chosen the mainstream. The conclusion focuses on celebration and survival as reflected in the continuing tradition of the Pow Wow\".\nDead reckoning : Champlain in America / a production of Mountain Lake PBS ; written and produced by Frank Christopher ; directed by Marc Hall. [Plattsburgh, N.Y.] : Mountain Lake PBS, c2009. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 60 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in F1030.1 .C4357 2009 VideoDVD : An award-winning animated documentary that tells the story of the explorer and cartographer Samuel de Champlain, and the people who taught him how to survive in the wilds of North America. Cover .\nDigging for the truth. Mystery of the Anasazi / produced and written by Ann Carroll ; directed by Graham Townsley ;produced by JWM Productions, LLC for History Television Network Productions. [New York, NY] : History Channel : A & E Television Networks : Distributed in U.S. by New Video, c2005. 1 streaming video (ca. 50 min.) via American History in Video : The people who became known as the Anasazi began to farm the Four Corners Region as early as 1 A.D. For most of their history, they lived in small, scattered villages on the mesas and in the valleys. But in the middle of the 13th century, something happened. They began to cluster together and built high walls around their homes, or lived precariously on the cliff-sides. Then, a few decades later, they abandoned these homes, leaving behind most of their possessions, as if they intended to return. Instead, they disappeared from history. What happened? Did drought drive them away? Invading tribes? There is compelling evidence that the Anasazi might have had to turn to warfare and even cannibalism. Piecing together the story from both archaeologists and Native Americans, Josh Bernstein finally ends up, in his search for the truth, in the mysterious ruins of the Anasazi's greatest cultural center, Chaco Canyon, which for unknown reasons was abandoned around 1150 A.D.\nDineh Nation: The Navajo Story / Produced by Russell Richards. 1992. 26 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : This powerful film, with its haunting Native American music, o-graphed in the Sovereign Dineh Indian Reservation which stretches through parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Here the Navajo people have lived on vast deposits of oil, coal and uranium. Their religion considers Mother Earth sacred and forbids them from exploiting her resources. But outside forces are at work, strip mining the coal and polluting the water. The sweet wells on Dineh land are drying up. This land has also suffered a uranium spill larger than that of Three Mile Island.Tens of thousands of Dineh were relocated. Others were fenced off from the land they worship....The film emphasizes the spiritual essence of the Dineh, with their unique art forms, music and original lifestyle.\nDon't get sick after June : American Indian healthcare / Rich-Heape Films, Inc. ; executive producer, Steven R. Heape ; director, Chip Richie ; producers, Chip Richie & Steven R. Heape ; script, Dan Agent & Chip Richie. Dallas, Tex. : Rich-Heape Films, c2010.. 1DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. RA448.5.I5 D663 2010 VideoDVD : This well-researched documentary by Rich-Heape Films presents a troubling portrait - and indictment - of the U.S. government's dismal failure to provide health care in fulfillment of federal treaty and trustee obligations with American Indian nations....Peter Coyote narrates, inviting viewers to engage in the national dialogue on health care from a native perspective. The powerful images and voices from some of the most vulnerable communities in Indian Country provide historical evidence of just how poorly health care services have been funded and managed, while hundreds of treaties promising health care, education and protected status in exchange for millions of acres of land, have continued to be dishonored and ignored by the federal government. Current perspectives are equally disheartening: the introduction and substitution of food commodities for traditional native diets is discussed as a major contributing factor to the alarming increase in diabetes, heart disease and other native health concerns....\"Don't Get Sick After June\" is a quality feature film production, and its sobering message will provoke debate. As a native educator in higher education social sciences, I have shared the film in my coursework, and highly recommend it to anyone wishing to understand the historical and contemporary experience of Native Americans.\nDown To Earth - Adobe In New Mexico directed by Mark Freeman (Documentary Educational Resources, 1995) 29:27 mins. Available online as streaming video for the MSU Community as part of Ethnographic Video Online : This fascinating multidisciplinary social history investigates the contributions of New Mexico's diverse cultures to the state's unique architectural heritage. Today adobe is often associated with wealth and the \"Santa Fe Style.\" But adobe architecture also continues to play a vital role in Native American and Hispanic cultures in New Mexico. Adobe is not just a building material. Its formal and structural elements cannot be divorced from its social, cultural, and environmental functions. Down to Earth explores the increasing pressures of tourism and development and illustrates the relationship between the environment of New Mexico and the continuity of cultural tradition.\nEarl's Canoe directed by Charles Weber and Thomas Vennum (Documentary Educational Resources, 1997) 50:09 mins. Available online as streaming video as part of Ethnographic Video Online : We meet Earl Nyholm, a member of the Ojibwe Nation, as he walks through the woods on Madeleine Island, Wisconsin. He's looking for just the right birch tree to select for the bark which will be used in the making of a traditional Ojibwe canoe. He talks about the respect that the Ojibwe People have for nature and for the spirit of the particular tree used in the making of a canoe following the traditions that had been handed down through the generations. We are told that this spot is a good one for building this canoe as Madeline Island was a sacred place and a center for the Ojibwe Nation in earlier times....We watch the entire process from peeling the bark from the tree to shaping the form of the canoe with heavy rocks and then the elegant stitching together of the canoe's parts. Earl tells us that artists have always depicted birch bark canoes with the distinctive white pattern of the bark on the outside. This is a myth, as they are actually made with the white, outer bark of the tree, on the inside of the canoe....While the task is arduous the work proceeds step by step with the help of other members of the Ojibwe Nation. The excellent camerawork allows us to see in great detail the ingenious process. While it is not as easy as going down to the local sporting goods shop and picking up an aluminum model, there is the sense of satisfaction knowing that the materials and the process are integrated with the natural environment and provide a spiritual link to the past. This program is suitable for all ages and will be very useful for anyone interested in canoe making, in the preserving of a Native American craft, in teaching Native American Studies, and anthropology.\nThe Eastern Woodlands / Camera One ; produced, directed, edited & written by Gray Warriner. Seattle, WA : Camera One, c1996. 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) Available as part of the Ancient America set : A number of Indian cultures thrived in what is today the United States Mississippi Valley and the Middle Atlantic regions during Pre-Columbian times. Shows these different Indian cultures & how they were able to adapt to their environment.\nElla Mae Blackbear : Cherokee basketmaker / Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa ; produced, written and directed by Scott and Sheila Swearingen. Tulsa, Okla. : Full Circle Communications, c1990. 1 VHS videocassette (24 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E99.C5 E443 1990 Videocassette : Follows noted Oklahoma Cherokee basket maker, Ella Mae Blackbear, as she gathers native buckbrush, plants for dyes, and creates a traditional basket\nThe Exiles / [Sherman Alexie and Charles Burnett present] ; written, produced and directed by Kent Mackenzie ; a Milestone Film release. [Harrington Park, NJ] : Milestone Film & Video ; [United States] : Exclusively distributed by Oscilloscape, c2009. 2 DVD videodiscs (approx. 180 min.) : sd., b&w ; 4 3/4 in. E98.U72 E95 2009 VideoDVD 1-2 : An account of the problems encountered by Native Americans living in urban areas and caught between two conflicting cultures, as shown by footage of 12 hours in the lives of a group living in Los Angeles.\nFacing the storm : story of the American bison / Big Sky Pictures presents ; a production of High Plains Films ; an ITVS / Montana Public Television co-production ; produced by Rita Pastore and Doug Hawes-Davis ; directed by Doug Hawes-Davis. Missoula, Mont. : High Plains Films, c2011. 1 DVD videodisc (79 min.) : sd., col. w/ b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. QL737.U53 F3 2011 VideoDVD : From the first North Americans who relied on bison for food, shelter and clothing for at least 10,000 years, to modern wildlife conservationists - descendants of those first North Americans among them - Facing the Storm introduces viewers to a rich history of human sustenance, exploitation, conservation, and spiritual relations with the ultimate icon of wild America. Facing the Storm is a Co-Production with The Independent Television Service (ITVS) & Montana Public Television. Trailer .\nFalse Promises : The Lost Land of the Wenatchi / A film by Rustin Thompson. 2002. 57 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : Our Wenatchi Reservation was taken from us in 1894. Our hunting and fishing rights were also taken at that time, against our wishes. Many of our tribesmen are scattered in various parts of the State of Washington where the land is poor...We, the Wenatchi Indians, wish to have our fishing and hunting rights restored to us in the Wenatchee Valley and forests.\" (Chief John Harmelt, 1933)...This film makes an impassioned plea for the return of the land that was taken from the Wanatchi Indians of Washington State,. For generations they lived and fished on their land. In 1855, they were offered a reservation under the terms of the Yakama Treaty. The U.S. failed to honor that treaty as well as others which were made with the tribe. Historian E. Richard Hart has been working in Indian affairs for over thirty years. He knows of no other case where a tribe was promised fishing rights in a ratified treaty and again in a ratified agreement, and still does not have those rights honored. As a result of these injustices, the Wenatchis had to leave their land. Most moved to the Colville Indian Reservation...In 1937, Chief Harmelt died, but today his granddaughter and her children have taken up the fight along with other tribal elders of the Wenatchi Advisory Board and many others. About 28% of the land in the area that should have been a Wenatchi Reservation is still a part of the public domain. When will the U.S. right this historical wrong?\nFight No More Forever / Ken Burns. Arlington, VA : PBS, 1996. 86 minutes. Available as streaming video from PBS Video Collection. By 1874, railroads had brought millions of new settlers to the West and the federal government began consolidating its control over the region as never before. Washington mounted still another assault on the Mormons, forcing their prophet to choose between saving his church or sacrificing a spiritual son. Meanwhile, the American army pressed its campaign against the Indians, forcing most tribes onto reservations where they were dependent on government rations that often did not arrive, and on the whims of government agents who often did not care. But a few bands still held out, determined to live as they wished in a West that was already transformed. On the plains, a Lakota medicine man, who saw the Americans as his mortal enemies, would become a symbol of this defiant spirit and win the greatest victory of the Indian wars, only to see his people shattered by an avenging nation. While in the mountains, a Nez Perce chief, who had struggled all his life to keep peace with whites, would find himself helping to lead one of the most extraordinary military campaigns in American history. To subdue them, the government would call on an unlikely army made up of immigrants, fugitives, social outcasts -- and a dashing young hero of the Civil War, who came West pursuing a vision of invincibility and discovered there an enemy with visions stronger than his own.\nFirst Americans past and present . [S.l.] : [s.n.], [between 1914 and 1928?] 1 online resource (9 min.) via American History in Video. : Scenes of traditional ways of Native American life introduced by intertitles reflecting early 20th century attitudes.\nThe First People : History of Native Americans in the Blue Water Area / produced by: St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency. 1 videocassette (27 min.) Library of Michigan Audiovisual Collection E78.M6 F57 2006 (Note - does not circulate) : \"This video explores the rich history of the Native Americans of Michigan's thumb region beginning with the Ice Age and concluding with a look at what life is like today\".\nThe First People : The Last Word / A film by Torsten Jansen and Hanne Ruzou for DR TV. 2002. 44 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : For the first time since their land was taken many Native Americans tribes have the opportunity of taking over the rights to the land they live on and creating a cultural consciousness . No longer do they fit the old stereotypical image of the impoverished, drunken Indian. They now play a new role in American society both culturally and economically....The filmmakers start their journey in the Dakotas, where 100 years ago the Oglala Sioux Nation was nearly wiped out at Wounded Knee. Today the Oglala Lakota College is the fastest growing college in South Dakota. Navahos that live on the country's biggest Indian reservation, covering parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, have chosen not to build casinos since their land is rich in coal, oil and minerals. Yet casino's remain the most refined revenge for past sins, enabling the East Coast tribes to systematically empty America's pockets....The filmmakers talk to an Indian attorney, a movie director, an artist, a nurse and others. The question remains will Native Americans be able to maintain their unique culture now that they are participating in the American dream.\nFor the Rights of All : Ending Jim Crow in Alaska / a co-production of Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc., KAKM-TV Channel 7 Anchorage ; a Blueberry Productions film. Anchorage, Alaska : Blueberry Productions, Inc. ; Lincoln, Neb. : Vision Maker Video, c2009 1 DVD videodisc (56 min., 46 sec.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in E78.A3 F67 2009 VideoDVD : In the Alaska Purchase of 1867 the United States took on more than just the land. There were indigenous people living everywhere in Alaska. Like Native Americans in the lower 48, Alaska Natives struggled to keep their basic human rights as well as protect their ancient ties to the land. The Bill of Rights did not apply to them. Through extensive reenactments and rarely seen historic footage and photographs, 'For the Rights of All' reveals these remarkable people and their non-violent struggle for civil rights....This extraordinary story bridges the Civil War to World War II to today's Native leaders, who find inspiration in the efforts of the generations that preceded them. Those efforts culminated in the passage of the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, one of the first such laws passed anywhere in America, and ten years before Brown versus Board of Education. Of particular note is a young Tlingit activist, Elizabeth Peratrovich, whose dramatic testimony on behalf of the Act is fully reenacted in this film by Jeffry Lloyd Silverman. Narrated by Peter Coyote. Trailer .\nForgotten war : the struggle for North America / Mountain Lake PBS ; D. Damian Panetta, producer, director ; Eric Stange, supervising producer, writer. [Plattsburgh, N.Y.] : Mountain Lake PBS, c2009. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 56 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E199 .F67 2009 VideoDVD : Struggle for North America tells the little-known story of how the native people of North America controlled the outcome of this war that defined our history as a nation and a people. This one-hour special taps an international panel of experts to dig beneath the familiar history, and shed new light on the multi-cultural blend of natives, Europeans, and Africans that was the North America of the 1750's. Cover .\nFrontier : Legends of the Old Northwest / The History Channel. New York : A & E Television Network, [1998], 1996. 4 VHS videocassettes (200 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. F596 .F76 1998 Videocassette v. 1-4 : To most Americans, the word \"frontier\" conjures up the sagebrush sagas of the Wild West. But before the young nation got that far, the Mississippi was the border of the great unknown, and the frontier was the Great Lakes area of the Midwest. FRONTIER: LEGENDS OF THE OLD NORTHWEST tells the oft-overlooked tales of adventurers, warriors and conflicts that shaped the nation in the late 18th century. Trace the many battles fought by Native Americans against the French, British, Spanish and Americans. Dramatic re-enactments at historic sites, expert commentary, authentic period artifacts and journals are all used to recreate the incredible events of the era that some historians have dubbed \"America's true first world war,\" when forces of Europe's great powers, the fledgling United States and Native Americans fought one another for ascendancy in the New World. The four volumes in this comprehensive set are: (1) Roger's Rangers: the story of America's first special forces and the unorthodox leader who forged them. (2) Pontiac's Rebellion examine the Native American resistance of 1763, led by the Ottawa war chief, Pontiac. (3) Long Knives: The improbable saga of George Rogers Clark, who led a tiny force to a momentous victory at Vincennes, Indiana in 1799. (4) Tecumseh: The Dream of Confederacy the tragic tale of the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh and his ill-fated attempt to lead a united last stand among the Native Americans.\nFry Bread Babes / Steffany Suttle presents ; a Native Voices film ; a film by Steffany Suttle. Seattle, Wash.] : Native Voices at the University of Washington, [2008] 1 DVD-R videodisc [ca. 30 min.] : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.W8 F79 2008 VideoDVD : \"In 21st Century American mass media where are the Native American women? The images that exist are stereotypical, so how does the lack of images in the mass media affect Native American women? Growing up without seeing other Native American women who look like your mother and aunties does [a]ffect your body image and sense of self. The filmmaker explores body image and identity in this powerful and intimate documentary.\"\nFull Circle / by Qin Wen-jie (Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2002) 27 minutes. Streaming video from the Ethnographic Video Online collection : In the summer of 2001, under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a totem pole in the Peabody Museum at Harvard University was returned to its original owners' ancestors, a Tlingit community in Southeast Alaska. The journey of the pole began a hundred years ago when it was removed by the Harriman Expedition from the deserted village of Gash at Cape Fox. The totem pole makes its way from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Ketchikan, Alaska, where the Cape Fox community holds a ceremony to welcome home artifacts taken by the Expedition.\nDocumentary Films, G-H\nGeronimo : As the leader of the last Native American fighting force to capitulate to the U.S. government, Geronimo was seen by some as the perpetrator of unspeakable savage cruelties, while to others he was the embodiment of proud resistance. Directed by Dustinn Craig and Sarah Colt. Part of the We Shall Remain package.\nGeronimo and the Apache Resistance / a Peace River Films production for American experience ; produced and directed by Neil Goodwin. Boston] : WGBH Boston Video, 2007. 1 DVD videodisc (56 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.A6 G47 2007 VideoDVD : Separate myth from reality in the tragic collision of two cultures with dramatically different views of the world and of each other. For years, Apache tribes had resisted the advance of the pioneers and their threat to the traditional ways of life. But Geronimo fought the longest, becoming one of the most famous, feared and misunderstood Indian warriors in our history. Now at last, descendants of those Apaches who fought so long ago tell their story as it has never been told. They explain the mysteries of Apache power that made them so terrifying in battle, so skillful in escaping disaster. Also available as VHS recording and as streaming video from PBS Video collection.\nGhost Dance / Stephen Ives. Arlington, VA : PBS, 1996. 60 minutes. Streaming video available from PBS Video Collection. : This documentary by Stephen Ives examines the Ghost Dance movement in the American West.\nGifts from the Elders : honouring the past for a healthier tomorrow / written & produced by Chantelle A.M. Richmond, James M. Fortier ; director, James M. Fortier, Wab Kinew ; a Turtle Island Productions film. [London, Ont.] : University of Western Ontario, 2013. 1 DVD videodisc (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.C6 G545 2013 VideoDVD : Follows five Anishinaabe youth who interview their elders to research the impact that environmental and cultural dispossession has had on the loss of knowledge about traditional ways and the health of their people. Also available online . More information .\nA Good Day to Die / a Yocha Dehe Winton Nation production ; produced and directed by David Mueller and Lynn Salt. New York, NY : Distributed by Kino Lorber, Inc., 2011. 1 DVD videodisc (90 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E93 .G66 2011 VideoDVD : A Good Day to Die chronicles a movement that started a revolution and inspired a nation. By recounting the life story of Dennis Banks, the Native American who co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 to advocate and protect the rights of American Indians, the film provides an in-depth look at the history and issues surrounding AIM's formation. From the forced assimilation of Native Americans within boarding schools, to discrimination by law enforcement authorities, to neglect by government officials responsible for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, AIM sought redress for the many grievances that its people harbored. Banks' personal struggle culminated in major armed confrontations at Custer, South Dakota and Wounded Knee -- climactic flash points which saw him standing steadfast as a leader for his cause. Bittersweet and compelling, A Good Day to Die charts the rise and fall of a movement that fought for the civil rights of American Indians. Trailer . \nThe Great American Foot Race / produced by BIG Productions in association with Native American Public Telecommunications and Independent Television Service ; produced by Dan Bigbee, Jr. and Lily Shangreaux. [S.l.] : Distributed by Visionmaker Video, c2002. 1 DVD videodisc (58 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. GV1063 .G74 2002 VideoDVD : Documents an extraordinary 3,422-mile cross-country trek in 1928, won by 19-year-old Cherokee Indian Andy Payne, the shy son of an Oklahoma farmer who entered the race because “I just thought I could do it.”...Dubbed “The Bunion Derby” by sports writers of the day, this was a grueling competition in which 199 runners attempted to cross the United States. Facing scorching temperatures, intermittent supplies of food and water, competing without modern running shoes or equipment, only 55 men finished the 84-day race from Los Angeles to New York. The film not only describes Payne’s incredible achievement, but tells the story of a race that was filled with drama, hucksterism, and even the early beginnings of corporate sponsorship of amateur athletic events....One of the first roads to be designated a U.S. Highway was Route 66, running from Chicago to Los Angeles. Cy Avery of Tulsa, known as the Father of Route 66, and a member of the American Association of State Highway Officials, wanted to promote the fact that a network of roads had been created to link the U.S. from coast to coast. To calm people’s fears about driving long distances, the idea of a foot race across the country was born....The man chosen to organize and promote the foot race was Charles C. Pyle, the P.T. Barnum of sports promotion. When a $25,000 grand prize was announced, men from all over the world, including prominent long-distance runners from Finland, South Africa, and Canada signed up. Others who entered were unknown immigrants whose heads were filled with dreams of fame and fortune. Andy Payne’s family borrowed $125 for Andy to enter the race and he headed off for the training camp in Los Angeles....In the end he triumphed in the face of overwhelming odds, simply because he believed in himself. Trailer.\nThe Great Indian Wars, 1540-1890 . [Minneapolis, MN] : Mill Creek Entertainment, c2009. 3 DVD videodiscs (approx. 235 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E81 .G74 2009 VideoDVD 1-3 : The year 1540 was a crucial turning point in American history. The Great Indian Wars were incited by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado when his expedition to the Great Plains launched the inevitable 350 year struggle between the white man and the American Indians. From the point forward the series of battles the United States and the Native American Indians began where blood was shed and thousands of lives were lost on both sides. The Battle of Tippecanoe, the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, all three Seminole Wars, and the Battle of Little Big Horn were some of the most important conflicts that led up to the last official massacre the Battle of Wounded Knee where the defeat of the Indians was solidified. America's landscape would be forever changed.\nThe Great Movie Massacre / written, produced, & directed by Phil Lucas & Robert Hagopian. Lincoln, NE : GPN, c1979. 1 VHS videocassette (29 min.) PN1995.9.I48 G7 1979 Videocassette : First in a five-part series which examines the Indian stereotype portrayed in movies and questions what effect this Hollywood image has had on Indians' own self-image. This segment explores the beginning of the \"savage Indian\" myth in popular American literature which was perpetuated in the Wild West by Buffalo Bill and others, and on into the scripts written for the early motion pictures. The myth was used to advance the drama of the story without regard to historical fact in many cases.\nThe Great Tribes / video produced by Laura Verklan. New York, NY : A&E Television Networks, 1997. 1 streaming video (92 min.) via American History in Video. : Features the Cheyenne, Cherokee, and Navajo Indians.\nGuns, Germs, and Steel (2004) / produced by Lion TV for National Geographic Television & Film ; series producer, Cassian Harrison. [United States] : National Geographic, [2005] 2 DVD videodiscs (165 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. HM206 .G86 2005 VideoDVD 1-2 : An epic detective story that offers a gripping expose on why the world is so unequal. Professor Jared Diamond traveled the globe for over 30 years trying to answer this question. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse? Diamond dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history's broadest patterns.\nHalf of Anything / Native Voices presents a JNH Production of a Jonathan S. Tomhave film. [Seattle, WA] : JNH Video Production : Native Voices at the University of Washington, c2005. 1 DVD-R videodisc (25 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.. E98.E85 H35 2005 VideoDVD : The question, “What is a REAL Indian?” seems at first blush to be a simple question about identity. However, any question about identity is never simple. A documentary in which four participants (Christina Entrekin, Sherman Alexie, Deborah Bassett, and John Trudell) examine the notion of how Indian identity is constructed from their individual and often very personal perspectives.\nHarold of Orange / Film in the Cities. Lincoln, Neb. : Native American Public Telecommunications ; Vision Maker Video, 1984. 1 VHS videocassette (32 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. PN1995.9.C55 H358 1984 Videocassette : A satirical comedy that explores the interaction of American Indians and philanthropic organizations. Draws on trickster myths common to many Indian tribes to dispel Hollywood stereotypes of the \"wild Indian\" and the \"noble savage\".\nThe Healing Road / Instituto Familiar de la Raza, Inc. ; executive producer, director, author, Robert Ryan ; rEYEn Productions. [S.l.] : Alexander Street Press, c2009. 1 streaming video file (61 min.) via Counseling and Therapy in Video : Discusses Native American mental health issues and the combined use of traditional Native American healing techniques and western professional healing approaches. The video contains two sections, one dealing with the historical and cultural forces affecting Native Americans and a panel discussion in the second half. The panel includes four multicultural specialists, representing different racial/ethnic groups, discussing cultural differences between western professional helping approaches and the healing techniques used by other people and cultures.\nHealing of the soul wound : Native American psychology and its implications for multicultural theory and practice / Microtraining Associates. [S.l.] : Alexander Street Press, c2009. 1 streaming video file (55 min.) via Counseling and Therapy in Video : Eduardo Duran discusses the Native American soul and how appropriate approaches through counseling can help patients heal.\nHistory Lessons : processing American indigenous history : a consideration in three parts / written, directed and edited by Clark Miller ; a Native Voices production ; producers, Luana Ross and Daniel Hart. / written, directed, and edited by Clark Miller; a Native Voices production; producers, Luana Ross and Daniel Hart. [Seattle, Wash.] : Native Voices, c2008. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 13 min.) : sd., b&w with col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.W8 H57 2008 VideoDVD : This powerful documentary explores how Native peoples are excluded in U.S. history, and how media and popular culture influence public perceptions.\nA History of American Indian Achievement . 4 DVD videodiscs (240 min.) E77 .H57 2008 VideoDVD 1-4 : This original, eight-part series on four dvds (released in 2008), documents the history of American Indian achievement, its defining role in the growth of the country, and its influence on current events. The series highlights the many contributions of American Indians that have influenced and shaped the history of the United States. Disc. 1. Program 1: American Indians populate the North American continent ; Program 2: The golden age of ancient American Indians -- Disc. 2. Program 3. The great transition ; Program 4. Resistance and acceptance -- Disc 3. Program 5. The new Indian leaders ; Program 6: Plains Indians war -- Disc. 4. Program 7. The emergence of the American Indian hero ; Program 8: American Indian renaissance.\nA History of American Indian Achievement . Streaming video from Ambrose Digital : Eight half-hour shows chronicle the story of American Indians ... Their magnificent civilizations and accomplishments.\nHomeland : Four Portraits of Native action / Roberta Grossman. Berkeley, CA : Katahdin Productions : Orchard Pictures, 2005. 1 videodisc (88 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. KF8210.E54 H64 2005 VideoDVD (Also available in the Schaeffer Law Library ) : Filmed against some of America's most spectacular backdrops, from Alaska to Maine and Montana to New Mexico, this award-winning film profiles Native American activists who are fighting to protect Indian lands, preserve their sovereignty and ensure the cultural survival of their peoples. Nearly all 317 Native American reservations in the U.S. face grave environmental threats - toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling and nuclear contamination. A moving tribute to the power of grassroots organizing, Homeland is also a call-to-action against the current dismantling of thirty years of environmental laws. Study guide available .\nHonorable Nations : The Seneca's Land Rights / Produced by Chana Gazit and David Steward. 1993. 58 minutes. Streaming video from Filmakers Library Online : Salamanca is the only city in the United States that is situated entirely on land owned by Native Americans. For 99 years, the townspeople have rented the land upon which their homes stand from the Seneca Indians for $1 a year. They have gotten used to their right to live and to do business on Indian property. But on February 19, 1991 the lease expired....The Seneca Nation felt that it has been badly exploited by the old terms, and now insisted on huge increases - or else it would take back the land. Many of the townspeople were outraged at higher rents, especially as the town was suffering from a depressed economy. The film follows the five years of negotiation, as each side heatedly defended their position....Archival footage, historical photographs and interviews help tell the story of two communities caught in a web of historical injustice. Eventually, a landmark agreement was hammered out which enabled the town to survive. Among its terms is $60 million in reparation by the Federal government to the Senecas, the first Native American tribe to receive this acknowledgement of past wrongs.\nHonored by the moon / presented by the Minnesota American Indian AIDS Task Force ; produced by Skyman-Smith ; producer/script development, Mona M. Smith. New York, NY : Distributed by Women Make Movies, 1990, c1989. 1 VHS videocassette (15 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. HQ76.3.U5 H66 1990 Videocassette : Native American lesbians and gay men talk about their lives. They speak of their unique historical and spiritual role, and of the sacredness associated with being lesbian or gay and having the power to bridge the worlds of male and female.\nHorse Dancing and Tasha / writer and director, Charles Nauman ; a Nauman Films production. New York, N.Y. : Cinema Guild, c1995. 1 streaming video (26 min.)via Dance in Video : This video tells a story in dance about the two cultures -- Native American and Anglo-Saxon -- and about the evolution of dance itself, from nature. It features the confrontation between Horse Dancing, a young Native America, who is on a vision quest, and Tasha, a young Anglo woman, who is searching in the world of ethnic dance for creative inspiration. They engage in a dialogue of dance, which ranges from anger to trust and culminates as they begin to 'weave a robe' of their two dances. Based on a Lakota (Sioux) legend, the video tells the timeless story of opposites, of polarity and the never-ending process of creativity, and a multicultural celebration of ethnic differences\nHow can I keep on singing? / produced and directed by Melissa Young. New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2001. 1 streaming video (55 min.) via Filmakers Library : This evocative film is a tribute to both the pioneering and Native American women in the West at the turn of the last century. Their stories offer glimpses of everyday life, and help recover the historical contributions of women. Striking images of the landscape are woven together with historical photographs and re-enactments of women s daily activities, and an unforgettable musical score. The women and girls who cooked, cleaned, taught, did laundry and milked the cows endured unbelievable hardships. In Jana Harris story \"Cattle-Killing Winter\" a settler woman describes the terrible blizzard that hit in the winter of 1889-90. In a particularly poignant story, a mother tries to teach her eldest daughter how to run the household as they lie buried in an avalanche. In another segment of the film, Mourning Dove of the Colville tribe writes \"My birth happened in the year 1888 ... I was born long enough ago to have known people who had lived in the ancient way, before everything started to change.\" While describing her love of the summer gathering expeditions, she also conveys her experience in a residential Indian school. Acclaimed Canadian poet Jeannette Armstrong of the Penticton Indian Band takes us on a berry picking expedition with three generations of Okanagan women.\nHow to Trace Your Native American Heritage / a production of Rich-Heape Films ; executive producer, Steven R. Heape ; director, Chip Richie. Dallas, Tex. : Rich-Heape Films, c1998. 1 VHS videocassette (ca. 32 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. CS49 .H68 1998 Videocassette : Discusses how and where to research one's Indian lineage, how to obtain Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, and how to obtain tribal membership.\nDocumentary Films, I\nIce Age Columbus : Who Were The First Americans? / produced by Wall to Wall Media and Barna Alper. [Silver Spring, MD] : Discovery Communications Inc., 2011 1 DVD videodisc (86 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in E103 .I34 2011 VideoDVD : Traditional history tells us that European settlers discovered America about the time of the Renaissance. But revolutionary new archaeological data and the latest DNA research reveal that Europeans visited our shores far earlier - some 17,000 years before Columbus was even born. Filmed in glorious high definition, this two-hour, epic drama follows an intrepid family of stone age hunters as they trek from their homeland in southwestern France, cross 3,000 miles of ocean and eventually make their first permanent settlement in what is today the northeastern U.S. Along the way, they overcome starvation and storms with the help of a revolutionary weapons technology they would later bequeath to the native peoples of the Americas. But awaiting the pioneers' arrival is a stark, empty continent, filled with a plethora of bizarre and lethal animals - all brought to life by brilliant computer animation. Firmly rooted in the latest scientific discoveries, it's a compelling vision of the greatest migration in human history.\nImages of Indians / written, produced, and directed by Phil Lucas and Robert Hagoplan. Seattle, Wash. : KCTS-TV ; Lincoln, Neb. : NAPBC [distributor], c1979. 5 VHS videocassettes (30 min. each) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. PN1995.9.I48 I42 1979 Videocassette : A five-part series which examines the Indian stereotype portrayed in movies and questions what the effect of this Hollywood image has been on Indians' own self-image. Contents :\n[1] The great movie massacre -- Explores the beginning of the \"savage Indian\" myth in popular American literature which was perpetuated in the Wild West shows such as Buffalo Bill's, and on into the scripts written for the early motion pictures. The myth was used to advance the drama of the story without regard to historical fact in many cases.\n[2] How Hollywood wins the West -- Explores the concept of \"manifest destiny\" or the taking of Indian lands which \"nobody owned\" by the white man in the early nineteenth century. The film clips used point out the lack of historical facts found in Hollywood films concerning this era have helped perpetuate the concept through generations of viewers.\n[3] Warpaint and wigs -- Shows the sharp contrast between contemporary Native American actors and the policies of Hollywood. Emphasizes the treatment of American Indians in light of the stereotype perpetuated in the media\n[4] Heathen Injuns and the Holywood gospel -- Emphasizes the beliefs and culture of American Indians are seldom portrayed accurately in the Hollywood motion picture\n[5] The movie reel Indians -- Emphasizes the effect of the movies' image of the American Indian on Indians themselves and American society.\nImagining Indians directed by Victor Masayesva (Documentary Educational Resources, 1992) 60 mins . Available online as streaming video to the MSU community as part of Ethnographic Video Online : With an all Indian crew, Victor Masayesva visited tribal communities in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Washington and the Amazon to produce this film. Masayesva says, \"Coming from a village which became embroiled in the filming of\nDarkwind\n, a Hollywood production on the Hopi Reservation, I felt a keen responsibility as a community member, not an individual, to address these impositions on our tribal lives. Even as our communities say no, outsiders are responding to this as a challenge instead of respecting our feelings....I have come to believe that the sacred aspects of our existence which encourages the continuity and vitality of Native peoples are being manipulated by an aesthetic in which money is the most important qualification. This contradicts the values intrinsic to what's sacred and may destroy our substance. I am concerned about a tribal and community future which is reflected in my film and I hope this challenges the viewer to overcome glamorized Hollywood views of the Native American, which obscures the difficult demands of walking the spiritual road of our ancestors.\"\nIn Lousiana rising seas threaten Native American land / by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. Arlington, VA : MacNeil-Lehrer Productions, 2012. 1 streaming video file (9 min.) via Environmental Studies in Video : Native American tribal lands along the Louisiana coast are washing away as sea levels rise and marshes sink. As part of our Coping with Climate Change series, Hari Sreenivasan reports from Isle de Jean Charles, a community that is slowly disappearing into the sea.\nIn the Light of Reverence / produced and directed by Christopher McLeod ; written by Jessica Abbe ; produced in association with the Independent Television Service and Native American Public Telecommunications ; produced by the Sacred Land Film Project of Earth Island Institute. Oley, PA : Bullfrog Films, [2002] 1 DVD videodisc (73 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.R3 I6 2002 VideoDVD : Across the USA, Native Americans are struggling to protect their sacred places. Religious freedom, so valued in America, is not guaranteed to those who practice land-based religions. This film discusses the struggles of three indigenous communities to protect their sacred sites from rock climbers, tourists, strip-mining, development and New Age religious practitioners. Special features include: New threats: Zuni Salt Lake & Quechan Indian Pass (short film update) (c2002, 12 min.); Vine Deloria Jr. extended interview; interviews with the filmmakers; classroom version: view any one of the three stories as a complete film; additional scenes; What you can do to protect sacred lands (weblinks) Contents : Mato Tipila (Devil's Tower, Wyoming) (25 min.) -- Hopitutskwa (Hopi land, Northern Arizona) (23 min.) -- Bulyum Puyuik (Mt. Shasta, California) (26 min.)\nIn the White Man's Image / presented by WGBH/Boston, WNET/New York and KCET/Los Angeles ; written and produced by Christine Lesiak ; a production of the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium and the Nebraska Educational Television Network for The American experience. [Alexandria, Va.] : PBS Video, c1991. 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 1/2 in. + student worksheet (1 fold. leaf) E97 .I67 1991 Videocassette : Stacy Keach narrates this program which examines the experiment of federal government boarding schools for Indian children. Native Americans who attended these schools help tell the story of this humanist experiment gone wrong.\nIn Whose Honor? / written and produced by Jay Rosenstein. Ho-ho-kus, NJ : New Day Films, c1997. 1 DVD videodisc (46 min., 15 sec.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E98.E85 I52 1997 VideoDVD : Discussion of Chief Illiniwek as the University of Illinois mascot, and the effect the mascot has on Native American peoples. Graduate student Charlene Teters shares the impact of the Chief on her family. Interviewees include members of the Board of Regents, students, alumni, current and former \"Chiefs\" and members of the community.\nIncident at Oglala : the Leonard Peltier story / Miramax films, Spanish Fork Motion Picture Company presents a film by Michael Apted ; Studio Canal ; produced by Arthur Chobanian ; executive producer, Robert Redford. Santa Monica, Calif. : Artisan Home Entertainment, c2004, c1992. 1 DVD videodisc (90 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E93 .I53 2004 VideoDVD : Examines the 1975 incident where armed FBI agents illegally entered the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, resulting in the deaths of a Native American and two FBI agents. Explores the controversy and potential abuse of justice surrounding the case of Leonard Peltier, who was the sole person in the incident convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.\nIndian Country Diaries : Part One, A Seat at the Drum / produced in association with ITVS ; a co-production of Adanvdo Vision and Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc. Lincoln, NE : Native American Public Telecommunications : Adanvdo Vision, c2006. DVD. 87 minutes. E98.S67 I53 2006 VideoDVD part 1 : In A Seat at the Drum, journalist Mark Anthony Rolo (Bad River Ojibwe) journeys to L.A., the city that filled his imagination as a child. There he meets many of the thousands of American Indian families who were relocated from poor reservations to the cities in the last half of the 20th century, creating the largest Native American community in the nation -- over 200,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Trailer . Also available as streaming video from Alexander Street Press.\nIndian Country Diaries : Part Two, Spiral of Fire / produced in association with ITVS ; a co-production of Adanvdo Vision and Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc. Lincoln, NE : Native American Public Telecommunications : Adanvdo Vision, c2006. 87 minutes. E98.S67 I53 2006 VideoDVD part 2 : This documentary explores the challenges faced by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on their reservation in North Carolina. Through the eyes of Choctaw writer LeAnne Howe, we see how their fusion of tourism, cultural preservation, and spirituality is working to insure their tribe's vitality in the 21st century. Also available as streaming video from Alexander Street Press.. \nIndian Country Diaries. Part 4, Compare : Modern vs. Traditional Dance / Native American Public Telecommunications, Adanvdo Vision ; producer-director Carol Cornsilk. Lincoln, NE : Vision Maker Media, 2005. 1 streaming video file (6 minutes) available from Alexander Street Press. : This special feature discusses Cherokee dance and powwows.\nIndian Country Diaries. Part 5, Compare : Identity / Native American Public Telecommunications, Adanvdo Vision ; producer-director Carol Cornsilk. Lincoln, NE : Vision Maker Media, 2005. 1 streaming video file (6 minutes) available from Alexander Street Press.: This special feature discusses American Indian identity.\nIndian Country Diaries. Part 8, Basket making / Native American Public Telecommunications, Adanvdo Vision ; producer-director Carol Cornsilk. Lincoln, NE : Vision Maker Media, 2005. 1 streaming video file (9 minutes) available from Alexander Street Press. : This special feature includes Cherokee artists making a unique basket.\nIndian Country Diaries. Compare : Spiritual Health / Native American Public Telecommunications, Adanvdo Vision ; producer-director Carol Cornsilk. Lincoln, NE : Vision Maker Media, 2005. 1 streaming video file (10 minutes) available from Alexander Street Press. : This special feature discusses Cherokee food and health.\nIndian School : A Survivor's Story / produced by American Indian Services, Inc.. Lincoln Park, MI : American Indian Services, c2011. 1 DVD videodisc (41 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E97.5 .I55 2011 VideoDVD : During the late 19th and 20th centuries, across the United States and Canada, the federal governments habitually required Native American children to attend residential boarding schools. Beginning with the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania (1879), the goal was assimilation. The motto was, “Kill the Indian to save the man.” There were 519 schools in the U.S. and 126 in Canada. Indian Boarding Schools routinely subjected children, some as young as four, to emotional and spiritual abuse, corporal punishment and worse. The students’ alienation from their families resulted in a loss of culture, language, ritual and spirituality; which in turn led to inter-generational trauma and thus exacerbated the post traumatic stress disorder in many Native families today. This film, from the victims’ own voices, details the boarding school experience. ; Detroit Metro Times article describing film .\nIndian Self-Rule: A Problem of History directed by Selma Thomas (Documentary Educational Resources, 1985) 58 mins. Available online as streaming video to the MSU community as part of Ethnographic Video Online : After centuries of struggle, the Indians of North America own less than 2% of the land settled by their ancestors. Indian Self-Rule traces the history of white-Indian relations from nineteenth century treaties through the present, as tribal leaders, historians, teachers, and other Indians gather at a 1983 conference organized to reevaluate the significance of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The experiences of the Flathead Nation of Montana, the Navajo Nation of the Southwest, and the Quinault people of the Olympic Peninsula illustrate some of the ways Indians have dealt with shifting demands imposed upon them, from allotment to reorganization to termination and relocation. Particularly eloquent are Indian reflections upon the difficulties of maintaining cultural identities in a changing world and within a larger society that views Indians with ambivalence.\nIndian Warriors: The Untold Story of the Civil War / The History Channel ; A&E Television Networks. [New York, N.Y.] : A&E Television Networks : Distributed by New Video, [2007], c2006. E540.I3 I53 2007 VideoDVD : Though largely forgotten, some 20-30 thousand Native Americans fought in the Civil War. Ely Parker was a Seneca leader who found himself in the thick of battle at the side of General Ulysses S. Grant. Stand Waite, a Confederate General and a Cherokee was known for his brilliant guerilla tactics. Also highlighted is Henry Berry Lowery, who became known as the Robin Hood of North Carolina. Respected Civil War authors Thom Hatch and Lawrence Hauptman help reconstruct these stories, along with descendants like Cherokee Nation member Jay Hanna, whose great-grandfathers fought for both the font Union and the Confederacy. Together, they reveal a new perspective and the very personal reasons that drew these Native Americans into the fray.\nIndians of the Southwest . Part of the Ancient America package.\nIndians, Outlaws and Angie Debo / a co-production of the Institute for Research in History and WGBH/Boston ; produced by Barbara Abrash and Martha Sandlin ; written & directed by Martha Sandlin. Alexandria, Va. : PBS Video, c1989. 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 1/2 in. E175.5.D32 I62 1989 Videocassette : A profile of historian Angie Debo. Focuses on her research in the 1930s uncovering a statewide conspiracy that deprived the Oklahoma Indians of their oil-rich lands and the efforts of officials and business interests to suppress her findings. Part of the American Experience series.\nIndigenous voices : witnessing the wisdom of our \"elders\" / by Jean Lau Chin, Ed.D, ABPP, Teresa LaFromboise, Ph.D., Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D., Joseph E. Trimble, Ph.D., Melba J. T. Vasquez, Ph.D., ABPP. Hanover, MA : Microtraining Associates, 2011. 1 streaming video (120 min.). : Powerful and inspiring, these pioneers paved the way for others with their tireless work to advance the field of multicultural counseling and psychology. Their stories of their upbringing, their work in counseling psychology, and their words of wisdom will inspire us all!\nInto the Circle : an Introduction to Native American Powwows / State Arts Council of Oklahoma ; Full Circle Communications ; produced by Scott Swearingen, Sandy Rhoades. Tulsa, OK: Full Circle Communications, 1992. 1 VHS videocassette (58 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E98.D2 I58 1992 Videocassette : An introduction to Oklahoma powwows including an explanation of the meaning of powwow in Indian culture, how it has evolved, the role of the drum, the head singer and the songs in powwows and related celebrations.\nIshi, the last Yahi / a Rattlesnake Productions film presentation ; produced and directed by Jed Riffe and Pamela Roberts ; written by Anne Makepeace. Newton, N.J. : Shanachie Entertainment Corp., c2002. 1 DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. ROVI Movie Collection AJ3 D0018821 VideoDVD : Presents a narrated version of the discovery of Ishi, last member of the Yahi Indian tribe, and events in his life after coming into the white man's world. Part of the American Experience series, 1992.\nIt Starts With a Whisper / Bay of Quinte Productions ; written, produced and directed by Shelley Niro and Anna Gronau. New York : Women Make Movies, c1993. 1 VHS videocassette (28 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Available via interlibary loan through MeL : This film follows a young woman who has grown up on a Reserve and her decision about which path to follow in life. To her the choice between traditional and contemporary values seems impossible. Guided by her ancestral spirits, she comes to realize that she may live her life in the present while remembering and respecting the people of the past and traditional ways. Web page describing film .\nDocumentary Films, J-L\nJames Welch / a film by Matteo Bellinelli ; a production of TSI Swiss Television, Lugano. Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, c1995. 1 VHS videocassette (VHS) (48 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. S3573.E44 Z4 1995 Videocassette : The Native American experience is portrayed in conversations with James Welch.\nJim Thorpe : The World's Greatest Athlete / a Moira Productions film in association with Dateline Productions. [Berkeley, Calif.] : Moira Productions ; Lincoln, NE : Distributed by Visionmaker Video, c2009. 1 DVD videodisc (56 & 86 min. versions) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. GV697.T5 J45 2009 VideoDVD : A biography of the Native American athlete who became a sports icon in the first half of the 20th century. Beginning with Thorpe's boyhood in Indian Territory it chronicles his rise to athletic stardom at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, winning two gold medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics, his fall from grace in the eyes of the amateur athletic establishment, and his rebound in professional baseball and football. Thorpe retired from pro sports at age 41 just before the stock market crash of 1929. He worked as a construction laborer before getting work in Hollywood as a bit part player. He became a representative for Indian extras in Hollywood, fighting for equal pay for Native Americans in the movies. In the 1940s, he crisscrossed the nation as a public speaker advocating for Indian self-determination. This is a film about a man who used his amazing physical prowess as a way to affirm his American Indian identity in the face of unrelenting efforts to eradicate Native American culture. It is the first documentary film to tell the story of Thorpe's life outside of his well-known athletic victories. The film uses in-depth interviews with Thorpe's surviving children, some simple recreations and images culled from over seventy-five archive sources, both stills and motion picture. Trailer.\nKen Burns Presents the West / directed by Stephen Ives ; written by Geoffrey C. Ward & Dayton Duncan ; produced by Stephen Ives, Jody Abramson, Michael Kantor ; executive producer, Ken Burns ; a co-production of Insignia Films and WETA-TV Washington ; in association with Florentine Films and Time-Life Video & Television ; The West Film Project, Inc., Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, Inc. [Alexandria, Va.] : PBS Home Video ; Hollywood, Calif. : Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, c2004. 5 DVD videodiscs (707 min.) : sd., col. & b&w ; 4 3/4 in. F591 .W44 2004 VideoDVD 1-5 : Historian-documentary director Ken Burns creates a careful and vivid portrait of westward expansion in this PBS nine-parter. Archival photos, old maps, and vintage music deepen the documentary's historical feel; actors' reading of first-person narrative fragments from old letters, newspapers, and other documents add intimacy to the experience. To identify which sections cover American Indian interactions with white settlers, see the following Episode Index\nKennewick Man : An Epic Drama of the West / A film by Kyle Carver and Ryan Purcell. 2002. 86 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : On July 28th, 1996, two college students stumbled upon an anthropological find that would change forever the way North Americans view their past. While sneaking into hydroplane races on the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA., Will Thomas and Dave Deacy noticed a human skull mired in the mud. It turned out to be one of the oldest and most complete skeletons ever found in North America. James Chatters, the anthropologist who eventually investigated the skeleton, determined that the skull had \"Caucasoid\" features. The word, \"Caucasoid,\" and the subsequent carbon dating of the bones, which found them to be over 9,000 years old, ignited a firestorm of controversy....These events pitted science against religion and scientists against Native Americans. The scientists demanded the right to study the bones. The Umatilla Tribe believed the bones to be sacred and ancestral. They were adamant that the bones be repatriated to the tribes for reburial. The American government, seemingly caught in the middle due to the fact that the remains were found on Federal land, decided to repatriate the remains to the Tribe. Eight scientists then filed a lawsuit in order to block this repatriation, claiming that more study was needed to determine ownership....The documentary explores with humor and compassion the cultural assumptions and differing opinions among the various groups involved, and attempts to explain why so many have claimed the bones of Kennewick Man. The far-reaching implications for the future of American anthropology, our view of America's ancient past, and the present day relationship between Native and non-native people are addressed.\nKind Hearted Woman / a special co-presentation of Frontline and Independent Lens ; a David Sutherland production for WGBH/Frontline and the Independent Television Service ; produced, written and directed by David Sutherland. [United States] : PBS Distribution, [2013] 2 DVDs (5 hrs.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. E98.W8 K56 2013 VideoDVD discs 1-2 : Follows Robin Charboneau, a 31-year-old Oglala Sioux woman living on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota. Portrays what it means to be a contemporary Native American woman living in two worlds.\nLady Warriors / Produced by Corbis Documentaries, Directed by John Goheen. 2002. 56 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : In addition to their stories are brief glimpses of Hopi and Navajo life. Sequences include scenes shot on the Hopi reservation as well as a Navajo puberty ceremony. This award winning film is about the will to succeed, about the importance of age-old traditions and the struggles of minority girls to grow up in today's America.\nLake Superior's fishery : \"the big water\" / produced by Robert R. Jackson ; written & directed by Robert A. Rozoff. St. Germain, WI : DeltaVision Entertainment, c1998. 1 VHS videocassette (22 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Library of Michigan Audiovisual Collection SH219.7.S8 L35 1998 : Tells of the great migration that brought the Anishinabe, or the \"Original People,\" from America's east coast to the Lake Superior Region. Describes the development of the Lake Superior fishery and the Ojibwa connection to it and to efforts to keep it alive and thriving.\nHeenetiineyoo3eihiiho' = Language Healers : The Story of Native Peoples Striving to Revitalize Their Languages / an EmpathyWorks Films production ; directed, produced by Brian McDermott. [Swarthmore, Penn.] : EmpathyWorks Films, c2014. 1 DVD videodisc (40 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. PM206 .H44 2014 VideoDVD : Heenetiineyoo3eihiiho' (Language Healers) is our recently completed 40-minute documentary that tells the story of Native Americans who are striving to revitalize their languages. From Alaska to Oklahoma and Wisconsin to Montana, we witness stories about the importance of saving Native American languages and meet some of the people who are working hard to heal these national treasures....Language Healers is one of the first films to focus upon the work the broader Native community is doing now to revitalize their languages. We learn about the importance of Native languages and cultures in Alaska from a Yup’ik dog musher and then from a Tlingit carver of wood and metal. The film then takes us to a school in Wisconsin where we hear the story of a seventh grade girl who was recently punished for speaking a few words of the Menominee language. We learn more about the fight against language loss through visiting a Euchee (Yuchi) immersion school in Oklahoma where only four fluent elder speakers remain. Finally, we travel to Montana where an inventive Arapaho professor has been perfecting a method to quickly save these disappearing national treasures. Visit the film website and facebook for more information. Trailer . Available for education screenings at MSU.\nLast Stand at Little Big Horn / a Midnight Films production for American experience ; WGBH Educational Foundation and WNET/Thirteen ; produced and directed by Paul Stekler ; written by James Welch and Paul Stekler. [United States] : WGBH Boston Video, [2004] 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 58 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E83.876 .L34 2004 VideoDVD : The Battle of Little Big Horn, known as ''Custer's Last Stand,'' has been one of the most frequently depicted moments in American history—and one of the least understood, still shrouded in myth. The battle has inspired over 1,000 different paintings and works of art, calendar displays, comic books and cereal boxes. The golden-haired general and his doomed 7th Cavalry have been wiped out by Indians in more than 40 films. Yet the battle that left no white survivors also left two very different accounts of Little Big Horn: one white; one Native. Using journals, oral accounts and Indian ledger drawings as well as archival and feature films, a Native American novelist, James Welch (Winter in the Blood, The Indian Lawyer) and a white filmmaker, Paul Stekler (Eyes on the Prize) combine talents to examine this watershed moment from two views: from that of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and Crow who lived on the Great Plains for generations; and from that of the white settlers who pushed west across the continent. Pulitzer Prize-winning Native American writer Scott Momaday narrates. Also available as VHS recording .\nLeslie Marmon Silko / a film by Matteo Bellinelli ; written by Andrea Belloni in collaboration with Claudio Belotti ... [et al.] ; a production of TSI Swiss Television, Lugano. Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities, 1995. 1 videocassette (42 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. PS3569.I44 Z87 1995 Videocassette : Profiles best known Native American woman author Leslie Marmon Silko, whose work is strongly rooted in her own matrilineal tribal background. Like all writing of lasting value, it uses particular experiences and places to reveal universal truths. Here, Silko discusses her own background and the interrelationship between her smaller, immediate Indian world and the larger brutal surrounding world.\nLiberation psychology : an on-going practice in American Indian country / Eduardo Duran. Hanover, Mass. : Microtraining Associates, Inc., [2007?] 1 streaming video file (55 min.) via Counseling and Therapy in Video. : This keynote presentation, from a Native American perspective, explores different cultural metaphors for therapy with Native Americans.\nLighting the 7th Fire / produced by Sandra Johnson Osawa (Makah). Seattle, WA : Upstream Productions, c1994. 1 VHS videocassette (47 min., 30 sec.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E99.C6 L54 1994 Videocassette : Examines how the Chippewa Indians of northern Wisconsin have struggled to restore the tradition of spear fishing and the opposition they have encountered. Relates the re-emergence of traditional fishing rights to the Chippewa prophecy that speaks of seven fires representing seven periods of time, the seventh being a time when lost traditions would be renewed.\nLittle Bighorn : the Native American View / a Lou Reda production. Chicago, IL : New Dimension Media, [2005?] 1 VHS videocassette (25 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E83.876 .L58 2005 Videocassette : This program tells the story of the Battle of Little Bighorn from the Native American point of view, offering new insights into this battle commonly known as \"Custer's Last Stand.\" Includes dramatic recreations of the battle, and insightful profiles of Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Gall.\nThe Long Walk : Tears of the Navajo / producer-director-writer, John Howe ; director of production, Ken Verdoia. [Salt Lake City, Utah] : KUED 7, c2008. 1 DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E99.N3 L77 2008 VideoDVD : The year was 1864. Eight thousand Navajo men, women and children were forced from their sacred homeland to march over 300 miles to Bosque Redondo, a barren reservation in New Mexico along the Texas border. Many died along the way and during a four-year incarceration, aimed at crushing American Indian resistance in lands that would eventually become the states of Arizona and New Mexico. The Long Walk tells the story for the first time from the perspectives of Navajo Elders. It reveals the campaign of the U.S. military against the Navajo in the early 1860s, the events leading to it, and the aftermath of the Treaty of 1868, all of which would change the world of the Navajos....The Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo, produced by award-winning producer John Howe, tells one of the most important stories of the American West. It's a story of heartbreak and triumph against enormous adversity. Narrated by motion picture/television actor Peter Coyote, The Long Walk is produced in state-of-the-art high definition television with 5.1 surround sound....Distributed for KUED, public broadcaster based out of the University of Utah.\nLooking toward home : an urban Indian experience / a cultural affairs production of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Television for the Nebraska ETV Network ; Conroy Chino and Dale Kruzic. Lincoln, Neb. : Native American Public Telecommunications : Distributed by Vision Maker Video, 2003. 1 DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. E98.U72 L66 2003 VideoDVD : A one-hour documentary which explains how government relocation programs in the 1950's enticed significant numbers of Native Americans to leave the reservation for life in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The life and times of urban Indians is shown primarily through the eyes of these individuals and subsequent generations as they maintain their tribal identity far away from the culturally nurturing climate of the reservation.\nLost Nation : the Ioway / Fourth Wall Films ; producer, writer, director, editor, Kelly Rundle ; producer, writer, Tammy Rundle. [Moline, Ill.] : Fourth Wall Films, c2008. 1 DVD videodisc (56 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E99.I6 L67 2008 VideoDVD : Historians and archaeologists tell the story of the small tribe that once dominated the territory between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, from Pipestone, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri. What was once a quest for survival in the past has become a struggle to retain a unique Native American culture and language in the present. Special features include Ioway language track, filmmakers' commentary track, Iowa history & culture, Ioway archeology, 10 minute version for kids, Oklahoma & Kansas Powwows, behind-the-scenes featurette.\nLouise Erdrich and Michael Dorris: Searching for a Native American Identity / produced and directed by Catherine Tatge ; a production of Public Affairs Television, Inc. ; a presentation of WNET/New York and WTTW/Chicago. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1994, c1988. 1 VHS videocassette (30 min.) E98.E85 S42 1994 Videocassette : Bill Moyers interviews husband and wife writing team Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris who discuss their literary collaboration, their shared thinking based upon their like backgrounds as mixed-blood Native Americans, and the Native American characters who people their novels.\nDocumentary Films, M-N\nMedicine Woman / producer, director, writer, Christine M. Lesiak ; producer, researcher, director, Princella P. RedCorn ; produced by NET Television ; a presentation of Vision Maker Media ; with major funding provided by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [Nebraska] : NET, Nebraska PBS Station, [2016] 1 DVD videodisc (approximately 60 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in R154.P53 M43 2016 VideoDVD : Medicine Woman interweaves the lives of Native American women healers of today with the story of America's first Native doctor, Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865-1915). Doctor Picotte studied medicine at a time when few women dared. She graduated first in her class and returned home to serve as doctor to her Omaha tribe. It was a heartbreaking, violent time but she never gave up hope. The reverberations from her shattered world continue today as Native Americans suffer from alarming rates of disease, suicide and mental illness. Like Susan, these modern day medicine women from the Omaha, Lakota and Navajo tribes are fighting a war, sharing a confident, even joyful approach to the work of healing. Youtube teaser.\nMidnight Son: A Nunamiut Village in Alaska , by Wil Carson (Filmakers Library) 36 minutes. Streaming video from the Ethnographic Video Online collection : Alaska has undergone a rapid transformation from traditional Eskimo life to modern living in an extraordinarily short period of time. The Nunamiut Eskimo village of Anaktuvuk Pass, is at once a microcosm of this larger transition and markedly unique. The three hundred residents of this small, isolated town are the only tribe of inland Eskimos in the world, comprising their own linguistic group and biological heritage. Unlike most traditional cultures which have been ravaged by Western culture, Anaktuvuk has balanced old ways and new horizons....The anthropologist lived among a family of four generations and captures with spontaneity their daily life. From the elders who remember hunting caribou and still speak only their native language to the youngsters who search the internet and participate in consumer culture, Anaktuvuk is two worlds in one. The film follows the day-to-day struggles of Juke and Julia, his pregnant girlfriend, as they try to come to terms with their future.\nMinik - the Lost Eskimo / WGBH, Boston ; a film by Axel Engstfeld ; reversioned by Susan Bellows. Boston : WGBH Educational Foundation ; [S.l.] : PBS Home Video [distributor], c2008. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 60 min.) : sd., b&w & col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.E7 M655 2008 VideoDVD : In 1897, Robert Peary returned to New York from his latest Arctic expedition with five Eskimos for study at the American Museum of Natural history. Anthropology regarded the Eskimos as a rare species. Within months, four of the Eskimos died, leaving a young boy, Minik, alone in a foreign land. This program offers a thought-provoking look at the intersection of race, culture and the budding science of anthropology at the turn of the 20th century. Also available as streaming video via the PBS Video Collection.\nMiss Navajo (2006) / produced & directed by Billy Luther ; a co-production of Billy Luther and the Independent Television Service, in association with World of Wonder Productions. 1 DVD videodisc (60 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences, 4 3/4 in. HQ1220.U5 M576 2007 VideoDVD : For most of us, pageants conjure up smiling beauty-queen hopefuls parading around in bathing suits or glittery gowns. But most of us have never witnessed the Miss Navajo Nation competition. Inaugurated in 1952, this unique competition redefines “pageant” as an opportunity for young women to honor and strengthen Navajo culture....Directed by Billy Luther, whose own mother was crowned Miss Navajo 1966, the film reveals the inner beauty of the young women who compete in this celebration of womanhood. Not only must contestants exhibit poise and grace as those in typical pageants, they must also answer tough questions in Navajo and demonstrate proficiency in skills essential to daily tribal life: fry-bread making, rug weaving and sheep butchering....Miss Navajo follows the path of 21-year-old Crystal Frazier, a not-so-fluent Navajo speaker and self-professed introvert, as she undertakes the challenges of the pageant. It is through Crystal's quiet perseverance that we see the strength and power of Navajo womanhood revealed. No matter who takes the crown, this is a journey that will forever change her life. Interspersed with pageant activities are interviews with former Miss Navajos, whose cheerful recollections of past pageants break the tension the current contestants are undergoing....As winners of the pageant, these women are challenged to take on greater responsibility, and their memories provide a glimpse into the varying roles Miss Navajo is called upon to perform: role model, teacher, advisor, and Goodwill Ambassador to the community and the world at large....This wonderful not-to-be-missed documentary reveals the importance of cultural preservation, the role of women in continuing dying traditions and the surprising role that a beauty pageant can play.\nMohawk Girls / produced by Rezolution Pictures International in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada ; written and directed by Tracey Deer ; producers, Joanne Robertson, Linda Ludwick, Christina Fon. [Montréal] : National Film Board of Canada [production company] ; New York : Distributed by Women Make Movies, 2005. 1 videodisc (DVD) (53 min) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. Available on interlibrary loan through MeL : Documentary explores the lives and reveals the challenges facing three teenaged girls of Mohawk heritage living on the Kahnawake Native Reserve in Quebec and includes home video footage of the director as she experienced similar conflicts of emotions. Web page describing film .\nMore Than Bows & Arrows . 1 VHS videocassette (52 min.) E77 .M8 1994 Videocassette : Deals with the role of the American Indian in shaping various aspects of American culture, ranging from food and housing to the democratic way of life.\nMystic Voices : The Story of the Pequot War (2004) / a film by Guy Perrotta & Charles Clemmons ; dramatic & artistic director, Guy Perrotta. New York, NY : Cinema Guild, c2005. 1 videodisc (117 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E83.63 .M93 2005 VideoDVD : What led to the first declared war in America? Why is the slaughter seldom talked about? In May 1637, English Puritan colonists torch a Pequot Indian village at Missituck (Mystic), Connecticut, massacring 400-700 men, women and children in less than an hour. Pequots are forbidden to use their tribal name and are subjugated to other Native Tribes allied with the English. With the help of sympathetic English leaders, they eventually are able to reestablish their own communities, which become the first Indian reservations in America. Narrated in part by Roy Scheider, Mystic Voices tells the story of a pivotal event in the early history of the Colonial America that set the stage for the ultimate domination of Native Peoples by European settlers. Although this seldom told story was a small conflict by today's standards, the Puritans' rhetoric made their victory over the \"heathens\" a significant factor in the formulation of Colonial/American Indian policy over the next three centuries. Mystic Voices tells the story of this tragedy and presents viewpoints of historians and Native descendants as it investigates the underlying causes and legacy of the first declared war in America. Trailer .\nNanook of the North / produced by Robert J. Flaherty. Claremont, Calif. : Criterion Collection, [1998], ©1998. 1 videodisc (79 min.) : black and white ; 4 3/4 in. E99.E7 N3666 1998 VideoDVD : Presents a documentary on the life of an Eskimo family pitting their strength against a vast and inhospitable Arctic. Juxtaposes their struggle for survival against the elements with the warmth of the little family as they go about their daily affairs. Originally produced in 1922 as a silent motion picture. Also available via ROVI Movie Collection AF8 D0003031 VideoDVD\nNanook of the North ; The wedding of Palo and other films of Arctic life / Blu-ray produced by Jeffery Masino and David Shepard. [Los Angeles, Calif.] : Flicker Alley, [2013], ©2013. 2 videodiscs (281 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (31 pages ; 16 cm). E99.E7 N17 2013 Blu-ray Video discs 1-2 & booklet : Nanook of the North: videodisc release of the 1922 American/French silent motion picture by Revillon Frères. The wedding of Palo: videodisc release of the motion picture originally released in Denmark by Palladium, 1935. This collection also contains six bonus films: Nanook revisited (1988 ; 64 min.); Capitain Kleinschmidt's Arctic hunt (1913 ; 15 min.); Primitive love (1927 ; 32 min.); Houses of the Arctic (1928 ; 11 min.); Eskimo hunters of northwestern Alaska (1949 ; 20 min.); Face of the high Arctic (1959 ; 14 min.). Also available via ROVI Movie Collection CY1 D0151317 Blu-ray Video discs 1-2\nNative American communities affected by climate change plan for the future / by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. Arlington, VA : MacNeil-Lehrer Productions, 2012. 1 streaming video file (9 min.). via Environmental Studies in Video : Native Americans from Maine to Washington State convened for a conference at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Their goal: to discuss the effects of climate change on tribal communities.\nNative American healing in the 21st century / A production of Rich-Heape Films, Inc. ; Executive producer, Steven R. Heape ; producer/director, Chip Richie ; writer, Howard Fisher. Dallas, Tex. : Rich-Heape Films, c2004. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 40 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.M4 N38 2004 VideoDVD : A comprehensive look at the healing practices of American Indians and how many of those natural remedies are applicable to today's alternative health-conscious society.\nNative American Men's & Women's Dance Styles . / produced by Scott Swearingen, Sandy Rhoades. Tulsa, OK : Full Circle Communications, [1994] 2 VHS videocassettes (120 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E98.D2 N38 1994 Videocassette v.1 : Viewers can watch and learn contemporary powwow dance styles.\nNative American Tech . New York, NY : A & E Television Networks : Distributed by New Video Group, 2004. 1 electronic resource (50 min.). via American History in Video : Examines the lives of leaders including Geronimo, Crazy Horse, Red Cloud and Sitting Bull. Describes the decimation of Custer's 7th Cavalry at Little Big Horn and the Cheyenne sacking of Julesburg. Explore how medicine men and surgeons tended to the tribes and their warriors.\nThe Native Americans . 1 VHS videocassette (ca. 47 min.) E77 .N35 1999 Videocassette : This program explores the many similarities among tribal nations, including a profound respect for nature, myth, and tradition; matriarchal governance; a communal lifestyle; a belief in an afterlife; and the use of pictographs, symbols, and patterns rather than an alphabet-based language. Also featured are brief scenes of re-created warfare.\nNative Americans : a tribute / directed by James Stewart ; written by James Stewart & Wayne Clark ; produced by Native American Productions.. 2008. S.l. : Native American Productions, [2008]. 1 DVD-R videodisc (75 min.) : s.d., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E77 .N375 2008 VideoDVD : Pays homage to Native Americans, examining their history, culture, and traditions through narration, music, and the paintings of George Catlin, Charles Bird King, and the amazing photographs of Edward S. Curtis. Four chapters include: 1. In the beginning (15:32); 2. A Gathering of Nations (8:25); 3. Wars and Rumors of Wars (19:38); 4. Native Americans in the 20th Century (28:24). The DVD traces the early history of Native Americans and continues through the twentieth century, culminating with the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian in 2004.\nNative Americans : Celebrating Traditions . Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, c2003. 1 DVD videodisc (30 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.S7 N37 2001 VideoDVD : \"Once forced to hide their heritage, Native Americans now enjoy both an acceptance and a celebration of their history and culture. By presenting the experiences of Native Americans from a wide array of fields including artisans, performers, and teachers, this program shows how many tribes are returning to the traditions and spirituality of their ancestors. Among those interviewed are Kevin Locke, award-winning Native American vocalist; Wilma Mankiller, the first woman in modern history to lead a tribe; and Richard West, Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian.\"\nNative Nations : Standing Together For Civil Rights / produced by Native Americans in association with B&B Productions for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Chicago : Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2008. 1 DVD videodisc (59 Min.) : sd, col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98 .M6 N17 2008 VideoDVD : Native Nations, hosted by Peter Coyote, chronicles the American Indians' struggle for civil rights, and the creation of the National Indian Lutheran Board to raise funds and awareness for that struggle. From the controversy surrounding the 1862 trial when 38 Dakota Sioux were executed in the largest single-day mass hanging in United States history, to the confrontation of the 1960s when many Indian tribes joined together to speak out with a unified voice, Native Nations tells the story of standing together for sovereignty, justice and civil rights. Trailer .\nNative silence / directed and produced by Jane Wells. New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2013. 1 streaming video file (24 min.) Available online as part of Filmakers library online, volume 3. : Native Silence is a solemn account of the legacy of forced adoption on Native American children, torn from their tribal communities and placed in foster care and boarding schools. Joyce, is a recovered drug-addict and now mental health worker, and Paulette, a mother who ‘doesn’t associate’ with the Natives in her town. Their stories reflect the struggle that they and many others faced growing up as Native American within larger non-Indian culture.\nNavajo Code Talkers / produced by Triage, Inc. for the History Channel. [New York] : A&E Television Networks : Marketed and distributed in the U.S. by New Video, [2006], c1998. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 50 min) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. D810.C88 N38 2006 VideoDVD : Describes the role of a select group of Navajo Marines who developed a code based on their own native language that provided a means for secure communications among American forces in the Pacific during World War II. From the History Channel. Also available as VHS recording.\nNavajo Warriors : The Great Secret / A film by Michel Viotte for Bonne Pioche. 2003. 52 minutes. Streaming video from Filmakers Library Online : The famous Navajo Code Talkers, memorialized by Hollywood in the feature film \"Windtalkers,\" were an integral part of the armed forces during World War II. Navajo veterans who fought in the Pacific in World War II, used their unwritten Native American tongue as an unbreakable code language, essential in the American military intelligence machine. Richard West, President, Museum of the American Indian, says, \"Ironically, the U.S. military used the Native American language as a potent instrument of war although the government had prohibited [native] people from speaking their own language for almost a century.\" ...Successive generations of young Navajo men who fought in the elite division of the U.S. Marine Corps, relate their stories in this film. Vincent and his brother enlisted in the 1970's; his brother died in Vietnam. Benjamin, Calbert and Michael are currently training as Marines in San Diego. The film reveals how their strong Navajo cultural identity and spiritual references correlated with traditional Marine Corps values and a passionate patriotism.\nNo More Smoke Signals / A film by Fanny Bräuning. 2009. 90 minutes. Streaming video from Filmakers Library Online : Kili Radio, the \"Voice of the Lakota Nation,\" is broadcast out of a small wooden house in the vast countryside of South Dakota. There, people converge to speak to the community about daily concerns and in doing so, strengthen their sense of identity. Daily existence on America's poorest reservation is hard. We meet people like Roxanne Two Bulls, who’s trying to start over again on the land of her ancestors after a difficult life nearly destroyed by alcoholism; and Bruce, the white lawyer who for thirty years has been trying to free an American Indian militant who’s been fighting for equal rights for his people....Everything comes together at Kili Radio. Instead of sending smoke signals the radio station transmits its own signals across a vast and magnificent landscape with a delightful combination of humor and melancholy. We hear native hip hop and complaints about broken windshields. Some of their pride has been restored with the radio broadcast; the listeners now feel that it really is acceptable to be Lakota. After all, \"Kili\" means awesome in Lakota. As the young DJ Derrick Janis who is discovering his gift for music says: \"We once were warriors, I like to think about that. Back in those days I’d be a warrior on a horse. But today, I’m a DJ on a hill.\" A film about the role of media, as well as an up-close look at present day life on the reservation.\nNokomis : Voices of Anishinabe Grandmothers / Cinnamon Productions; KTCA. Westport, CT. : Cinnamon Productions, Inc., c1994. 1 VHS videocassette (55 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E96.C6 N65 1994 Videocassette : Documents Ojibwe women's attempts to restore and preserve their Native American culture and heritage. They recall painful memories of growing up trying to conform to a white man's view of the world, a view that saw Indian ways as bad. They discuss the negative influence of the mission schools, the desecration of Indian sacred and ceremonial artifacts and grounds, and the movement by Indians to reassert their treaty rights.\nNomadic Indians of the West . Part of the Ancient America package.\nDocumentary Films, O-Q\nOjibwe / produced by the Public Information Office of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission ; written by Sue Erickson with David Braga and Patty Loew. Odanah, WI : GLIFWC, c2000. 1 VHS videocassette (25 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Library of Michigan Audiovisual Collection E99.C6 O35 2000 : Provides information about the history of treaties between the United States and the Ojibwe, contemporary court decisions affirming treaty rights, off-reservation, treaty harvest statistics, off-reservation treaty regulation, and tribal off-reservation resource management activities.\nOjibwe Waasa-Inaabidaa : We Look in All Directions / producer/director Lorraine Norrgard ; scriptwriter, Jim Fortier Duluth, Minn. : WDSE-TV, c2002. 6 DVDs. 60 minutes each. E99.C6 O358 2002 VideoDVD : A landmark six-part television documentary series about the second largest tribe in North America, the Anishinabe-Ojibwe (Chippewa) Nation. Each hour-long episode focuses on a unique central them, spanning 500 years of Ojibwe culture and history, culminating in contemporary times. The series includes more than 100 interviews with tribal elders, historians, youth and leaders from the nineteen Ojibwe bands throughout Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. These interviews, along with 3000 archival photographs, commentary by academic historians, original and historic artwork, and dramatic re-enactments, combine to stunningly illustrate the Ojibwe people, culture, and language through the past two centuries.,...The documentary is an in-depth portrayal of the second-largest tribe in North America, the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe (Chippewa) nation of the upper Great Lakes Region. [Disc 1]: Ojibwe Oral Tradition explains the importance of the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe language, its near disappearance and its renewal today. [Disc 2]: We Are All Related teaches about the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe relationship with the land, a relationship based on respect, sharing, humility and responsibility. [Disc 3]: We Gain Knowledge explores the connection between the traditional Anishinaabe/Ojibwe family structure and how individuals acquire knowledge thorough the four phases of life. [Disc 4]: A Healthy Way of Life explores the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe belief that a healthy way of life requires maintaining a balance between mental, physical, spiritual and emotional aspects of a person. [Disc 5]: Making Decisions the Right Way portrays the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe decision-making process, emphasizing the roles of the individual in relationship to the family, the community, the clan and the Creator. [Disc 6]: That Which is Given to Us explores the traditional Anishinaabe/Ojibwe subsistence lifestyle based on the seasonal cycle and the belief that the individual is dependent on the group, the group is dependent on nature and nature is dependent upon the supernatural\nOn Sacred Ground / Aegis Film and Television Group in association with Gray Wolf Films presents a film by Charro Wongittilin film. [Los Angeles, Calif.] : Aegis Film and Television Group, c2009. 1 DVD videodisc (56 min.) : sd., col. w/b&w sequences : 4 3/4 in.. E78.S63 O57 2009 VideoDVD : The peace and serenity that envelops Bear Butte Mountain in South Dakota seems an unlikely venue for activism. It is here, amid the bucolic grasses and flowers, the grazing Buffalo and wild life that the stage has been set for battle. ...While not Wounded Knee or Custer's Last Stand it is still the stuff of history - and just as important to Native Americans. Whether they be Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Cheyenne or Cherokee, Bear Butte is a strong symbol of religious freedom and opposition to the white man's continued ignorance, indifference and desecration of sacred Indian sites....\"On Sacred Ground\" follows the fight of the American Indian Nation and its supporters to overcome this ignorance through legislative efforts, use of media and hitting the pavement informing and enlightening those who, in many cases, have no idea the damage being done by their very presence....There is much to be gleaned from the elders who have gone before and those who would take their place in the hierarchy of the tribal lore. The red man and woman demand nothing - but elegantly requests respect for their beliefs, their shared history and sacred sites. www.aegisfilmgroup.com .\nThe Oneida Speak / producer, Michelle Danforth ; produced by Wisconsin Public Television for presentation by Native American Public Telecommunications. Lincoln, NE : Vision Maker Media, 2006. 1 streaming video file (57 minutes) from Alexander Street Press. : The instructional television program, The Oneida Speak, is based in part on oral interviews of Oneida Indian elders in Wisconsin conducted between 1939-1941, as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project sponsored by the federal government. Several stories from these interviews are reenacted in this program, which also includes interviews of contemporary Oneida historians, cultural preservationists, and elders by program producers. Oneida voices, both historic and contemporary, tell their own Oneida stories--stories of loss and rejuvenation over the past 150 years. Nominated for two Emmys. Trailer .\nOur Fires Still Burn : the Native American Experience : a documentary / by Audrey Geyer. [Michigan] : Visions, c2013. 1 DVD-R videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.. E78.M67 O83 2013 VideoDVD : This exciting and compelling one hour documentary invites viewers into the lives of contemporary Native American role models living in the Midwest. It dispels the myth that American Indians have disappeared from the American horizon, and reveals how they continue to persist, heal from the past, confront the challenges of today, keep their culture alive, and make great contributions to society. Their experiences will deeply touch both Natives and non-Natives and help build bridges of understanding, respect, and communication. The tragic history of Native Americans is considered by many to be our \"American Holocaust.\" This can be seen in the history of the Boarding School Era, during which time Native children were forcibly removed from their homes and placed into boarding schools. Interviewees explain how this past trauma continues to negatively impact their emotional and physical health today and contribute to urgent social problems. To help heal this historical trauma, Native peoples are reclaiming their spiritual and cultural identity. In the documentary, an Ojibwa Firekeeper demonstrates the ancient healing ceremony of the Sacred Fire. Also, a Native American businessman, journalist, artist and youth advocate share how they use ancestral teachings to foster diversity and creativity as well as to educate and initiate social change. The stories shared in this documentary are powerful, startling, despairing and inspiring. They reflect an American history fraught with the systematic destruction of a people. Yet, amidst the debris of suffering and trauma, there is resilience and a profound remembering and healing taking place today, which will also benefit the next Seven Generations.\nOur Lives In Our Hands / A film by Carter Karen and Prins Harald (Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1986) 49 minutes. Streaming video from the Ethnographic Video Online collection : Examines the traditional Native American craft of split ash basketmaking as a means of economic and cultural survival for Aroostook Micmac Indians of northern Maine. This documentary of rural off-reservation Indian artisans aims to break down stereotypical images. Basketmakers are filmed at their craft in their homes, at work on local potato farms and at business meetings of the Basket Bank, a cooperative formed by the Aroostook Micmac Council. First person commentaries are augmented by authentic 17th century Micmac music.\nOur Spirits Don't Speak English : Indian Boarding School / Rich-Heape Films presents ; direction, Chip Richie ; producers, Chip Richie, Steven R. Heape ; screen writer, Dan Agent. Dallas, Texas : Rich-Heape Films, c2008. 1 DVD videodisc (80 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E97.5 .O97 2008 VideoDVD : Gayle Ross is a descendent of John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation during and after the infamous Trail of Tears, the forced removal of many Southeastern Indians to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the late 1830s. Her grandmother told stories and it is from this rich heritage that Gayle s storytelling springs. During the past twenty years, she has become one of the most respected storytellers to emerge from the current surge of interest in this timeless art form.\nThe Peyote Road : Ancient Religion in Contemporary Crisis / a Kifaru production in association with Peacedream Productions with participation by Eagle Heart Productions ; production coordinated by the Native American Religious Freedom Project. San Francisco, Calif. : Kifaru Productions, c1993. 1 VHS videocassette (VHS) (62 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 1/2 in. E98.R3 P49 1993 Videocassette : A documentary on the religious use of peyote by Native Americans and of efforts to establish protective legislation for practicing peyotism.\nPine Ridge, USA: A Frontier of the Forgotten / A film by SCEREN-CNDP. 2006. 26 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library : The 40,000 Sioux Lakota Native Americans living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota are the poorest inhabitants in America. In this film, they describe the abysmal conditions there, with neither a bank, a store, an industry or technology of any kind. Unemployment has reached 95%, life expectancy is about 50 years of age and social problems are rife. They are shockingly isolated from the rest of the U.S. More than 90% of the land In Pine Ridge is rented and farmed by non-Indians who do not even live on the reservation....The closest city offering employment is Rapid City, South Dakota, the economic and financial hub of Western Dakota. It attracts Pine Ridge inhabitants but discrimination, lack of skills and low salaries keep most of them in a state of financial instability. On top of that, they have to endure the humiliation of tourists visiting the site of their historic defeat in the Black Hills.\nPlaying for the World / produced by John Twiggs, KUFM-TV Montana PBS/ The University of Montana. [Missoula, Mont.] : KUFM-TV Montana PBS/ The University of Montana, c2009. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 60 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in E97.6.F66 P537 2009 VideoDVD : In 1902, a unique combination of Native women came together at a Montana boarding school. They used the new sport of basketball to help adjust to a rapidly changing world. Their travels and experiences led them to places they never imagined....After winning the state championship, they barnstormed to the St. Louis World's Fair where they defeated all challengers and were declared the \"Champions of the World.\"...Along the way, they handled issues of race and gender with the same grace and skill they displayed on the court. They gained entry into mainstream society, all the while realizing they were always \"on display\". These were hard lessons learned that they carried for the rest of their lives. Ultimately, they played for something much bigger than themselves. Trailer .\nPocahontas : Ambassador of the New World / a Perpetual Motion Films production ; a presentation of Non Fiction Films Inc. in association with A & E Network ; producer/directors, Monte Markham, Adam Friedman ; writers, Stephen Bankler-Jukes, Lee Fulkerson. Burlington, VT : A&E Home Video ; New York : Distributed by New Video, 2005. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 50 min.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in. E99.P85 P633 2005 VideoDVD : The legendary Pocahontas was the Native American princess who, at the age of 12, saved the life of English explorer Captain John Smith. Before her death at 23, she had single-handedly forged an improbable peace between two nations.\nPower Paths / Specialty Studios presents a Looking Hawk production ; narrator, Peter Coyote ; producer/director/videographer, Bo Boudart. [South Dakota] : Looking Hawk Productions, c2009. 1 DVD videodisc (85 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. TJ807.9.U6 P68 2009 VideoDVD : The story begins in the 1960s, when two massive coal mines open on Navajo and Hopi reservations in Arizona. Between them, they produce enough coal to satisfy the unquenchable energy thirsts of Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. They also comprise the single largest strip-mining complex in the world. For more than 30 years, the mines—and the Mohave Generating Station they supply—scar sacred native land, drain the natural aquifers and pollute the Southwestern skies....Meanwhile, beneath the high-tension power lines that carry electricity to the neon-saturated Vegas Strip, Native American reservation dwellers have no electricity or running water....Sickened by the economic disparity and the mounting toll on their land and health, some Navajo and Hopi tribe members begin pressuring their tribal governments not to renew the mining leases, but to no avail. As a result, a handful of grassroots organizers from both tribes join forces with The Sierra Club, the Grand Canyon Trust and the National Parks and Conservation Association to fight back. Calling themselves the Just Transition Coalition, they take on wealthy and entrenched adversaries from Peabody to Southern California Edison....They succeed in closing the power plant (and subsequently the mines) in 2005. But the ecological and moral victory comes at a cost: About half of the adults on the reservations had worked for the mines, and are now unemployed....Undeterred, the Just Transition Coalition shifts gears and heads for California, where they win a legal battle to use the shuttered Mohave plant’s cap-and-trade pollution credits to finance investment in solar panels and wind turbines for their reservations....In one scene, a Navajo mother screws a light bulb into a kitchen socket for the first time and sees it light up, enabling her children to stop depending on sunlight or dangerous kerosene lanterns in order to do their homework. She weeps in relief and gratitude....Today, more tribes are seeking investments and partnerships to create green-energy economies on the reservation, with hopes that one day, renewable energy will replace casinos as a primary means for economic development and tribal self-sufficiency....As the nation at large struggles to disengage itself from the chains of a fossil-fuel-based economy, POWER PATHS signals cause for hope that an alternative is not somewhere in the future, but possible right now. And Native Americans are leading the way. More information .\nDocumentary Films, R\nRadioactive Reservations , produced by Goldhawk Productions. 1996. 50:35 mins. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : The story of how the Indian tribes may become the repository for radioactive waste is yet another chapter in their sad history in North America. In this film tribal leader Ron Eagleye Johnny takes us to four reservations whose inhabitants chronicle the negotiations with the U.S. government to place Monitored Storage Retrieval sites on their land The large commercial power companies have run out of places to bury their nuclear waste....The lure to these impoverished people is quick money, jobs, and the promise of safety. Unhappily, it is often the tribal councils that will negotiate the deals and profit from them without the money filtering down to the rest of the population. The tour starts with the Paiute Shoshone reservation, near Fort McDermott, Oregon, goes to the Skull Valley Cosiute reservation outside of Salt Lake City, and takes us to New Mexico and Nevada where the Apaches, Navajos and Pueblos have long been recipients of nuclear fallout from weapons testing. Ron Eagleye Johnny also visits a power plant in Minnesota where conversation is monitored by lawyers and public relations people....Radioactive Reservations is an eloquent statement from the Native Americans themselves on the vulnerability of their very existence. Access limited to the MSU community and other subscribers.\nRamona : a Story of Passion and Protest / produced by Teya Ryan ; written by Nancy Wilkman. Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, c2004. 1 DVD videodisc (28 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. PS2107 .R33 2004 VideoDVD : Uses film clips to recap the plot and historical background to explain the immense popularity of Jackson's 1884 novel, which crystallized public opinion about the whites' maltreatment of Native Americans in much the same way that Uncle Tom's Cabin had done for African Americans.\nReclaiming Our Children: a story of the Indian Child Welfare Act / a film by Marcella Ernest ; produced by Native Voices. [Seattle, Wash. : Native Voices, 2007?] 1 DVD-R videodisc (29 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in E98.C5 R43 2007 VideoDVD : The wholesale separation of Indian children from their families is the most destructive and tragic aspect of American Indian life today. Prior to 1978, Native children were placed in foster care at a rate of 10 to 20 times higher than any other group in the U.S. This documentary examines the impact of the Indian Child Welfare Act, the child welfare system, and the laws, policies, and attitudes that work against Native families.\nReclaiming Their Voice : the Native American vote in New Mexico & beyond / producer, director, Dorothy Fadiman. [Menlo Park, CA] : Concentric Media, c2010. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 42 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E91 .R43 2010 VideoDVD : Examines the history of Native American voting rights in the United States and New Mexico. It follows narratives including the history of the Pueblo revolt, the evolution of Native voting rights, the Laguna Tribe's 2004 voter registration drive, the passage of new legislation to support and protect Native American voting rights, and a battle to preserve sacred petroglyphs in Albuquerque.\nReel Injun / [presented by] Rezolution Pictures International Inc in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada, CBC Newsworld, Telefilm Canada... [et al.] ; directed by Neil Diamond ; produced by Christina Fon, Catherine Bainbridge, Linda Ludwick. New York, N.Y. : Lorber HT Digital, 2010. 1 DVD videodisc (88 min.) : sd., col and b&w. ; 4 3/4 in. PN1995.9.I48 R44 2010 VideoDVD : Travelling through the heartland of America, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond examines how the myth of the movie \"Injun\" has influenced the world's understanding - and misunderstanding - of Natives. With clips from hundreds of classic and recent films, and candid interviews with celebrated Native and non-Native directors, writers, actors and activists, including Clint Eastwood, Robbie Robertson, Sacheen Littlefeather, John Trudell, Charlie Hill and Russell Means, Reel Injun traces the evolution of cinema's depiction of Native people from the silent film era to the present day.\nThe Return of Navajo Boy (2000) / Groundswell Educational films in association with Native American Public Telecommunications in association with PBS ; directed by Jeff Spitz ; co-producers, Jeff Spitz & Bennie Klain ; story by Jeff Spitz. [Chicago, Ill.] : Groundswell Educational Films, 2009. 1 DVD videodisc (57, 15 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E99.N3 R47 2009 VideoDVD : \"The Return of Navajo Boy ... reunited a Navajo family and triggered a federal investigation into uranium contamination. It tells the story of Elsie Mae Begay, whose history in pictures reveals an incredible and ongoing struggle for environmental justice. A powerful new epilogue (produced in 2008) shows how the film and Groundswell Educational Films' outreach campaign create news and rally supporters including Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform who has mandated a clean-up plan by the five agencies that are responsible for uranium contamination.\"\nRiver People : Behind the Case of David Sohappy / Produced by Michal Conford and Michele Zaccheo. 1991. 51 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : River Peopledocuments a timely issue - the clash between an ancient culture and modern society. It is the story of David Sohappy, a Native-American spiritual leader who was sentenced to a five-year prison term for selling 317 salmon out of season. For twenty years Sohappy has fished in open defiance of all state and federal fishing laws. He claims he has an ancestral right to fish along Oregon's Columbia River. As a result, he has become a symbol of resistance for indigenous people of the Northwest United States and beyond....River People uses Sohappy's case to explore the historic conflict over the resources of the Columbia and the political controversy involving fishing rights and the right to religious freedom. Behind the controversy is the story of a man caught in a conflict between two cultures, and two seemingly irreconcilable ways of looking at the world.\nThe Road to Andersonville : Michigan Native American Sharpshooters in the Civil War / Producer, David B. Schock. [Holland, Mich.] : penUltimate, Ltd., 2013. 1 DVD videodisc (111 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E540.I3 R62 2013 VideoDVD: A documentary on Native American soldiers who served in Michigan's Company K during the Civil War. Includes a segment about a trip by present day Native Americans to honor the Anishinabe of Michigan who died at Andersonville Prison....During the American Civil War, Union forces ran low on sharpshooters. In Michigan, the answer was to change a law prohibiting Native American military service, and then—in 1863—to ask members of the Three Fires Tribes (Odawa [Ottawa]), Bodewadmik [Potawatomi], and Ojibway [Chippewa]) to enlist. These were men who lived in peaceful coexistence with their neighbors, Native American and white alike, and who also possessed legendary woodland and hunting skills. There existed among these men the important tradition of a warrior society, the Ogitchedaw, whose members were required to partake in battle....The Native Americans knew they were not likely to be well treated; they knew all too well the intentions of the whites who routinely effected displacements of other tribes resulting in horrific events such as The Trail of Tears in 1838. The Native Americans knew their way of life was at risk, and their accumulating losses of lands and culture were everywhere apparent. However, they also knew that if the South was successful in its campaign during the Civil War, they would likely be relegated to the status of slaves. Therefore, the members of the Three Fires Tribes responded with alacrity and in number: The first was Thomas “Big Tom” Kechittigo from Saginaw on May 3, 1863. Twenty five men from the Elbridge Reservation near Pentwater in Oceana County joined on July 4, 1863. Twenty-eight Ojibway from the Isabella reservation enlisted. A dozen Potawatomi also joined the ranks. Some others traveled from southwest Michigan to enlist in Company K. A few trekked from Canada. The Native Americans arrived at the Dearborn Arsenal to be trained into a cohesive fighting unit as members of Company K, First Michigan Sharp Shooters, the only all Native American unit in the North. Not one member of the 139 was Ogitchedaw; that meant not one member had experienced battle....And these men saw hard service in most of the major battles remaining in the war. In all, one fourth of the men of Company K were either killed or wounded in battle....While many gave the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield, some of the Sharpshooters were captured. After the Battle of Petersburg, 15 of their number were sent to a living hell: the prison camp at Andersonville. According to the National Parks Service, of 45,000 prisoners, almost 13,000 died of starvation and/or disease. Of the 15 from Company K, seven died and were buried there. At the time of the beginning of this film, they had lain at Andersonville for nearly 150 years without receiving their burial ceremony....About a dozen descendants of Company K and others of the present day Anishinabe Ogitchedaw Veteran and Warrior Society traveled to Andersonville, Georgia, in May of 2010 to honor the graves of the men. These travelers motored from Michigan to Andersonville to offer their prayers and pay homage and respect to the spirits of the men of Company K there buried....This film is the story of that journey and the telling of the tale of the 139 men who joined as members of Company K, their recruitment, the training, their battles, and their deaths and survival....In addition to members of the Ogitchedaw and other descendants of the men of Company K we hear from Company K historians Ray Herek (These Men Have Seen Hard Service) and Chris Czopek (Who Was Who in Company K). The Road to Andersonville trailer and description. Another Trailer .\nThe Romance of a Vanishing Race : The Rodman Wanamaker expedition of citizenship to the North American Indian ; Winter farm life on a Crow reservation / Rich-Heape Films. Dallas, Tex. : Rich-Heape Films, 2008. 1 DVD videodisc (63 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E77 .R665 2008 VideoDVD : This DVD includes three historic motion pictures of Native Americans and their life-style in the early 1900's. Featuring Tribal Chiefs who participated in the Last Great Indian Council and several who fought at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Originally produced on 35mm film, this priceless footage, recently discovered within the lost treasures of the National Archives is re-mastered to include an original music score and soundtrack to further preserve Native American history and culture.\nProgram #1, The Romance of the Vanishing Race provides a view of Indian life in the west featuring Navajo, Pueblo, Crow, and Hopi tribes. Released 1916. Running Time 29 min\nProgram #2, Rodman Wanamaker Expedition of Citizenship to the North American Indian Carrying the Flag and a Message of Hope to a Vanishing Race, Dr. Joseph Dixon explains the symbolism of the flag to numerous Indian tribes. Released 1913. Running Time 26min\nProgram #3, Winter Farm Life on a Crow Reservation featuring WWI French hero General Ferdinand Foch. Shows reservation life including butchering a cow, raising a teepee, and Native ceremonies. Released 1921. Running Time 8min\nDocumentary Films, S\nSacred Buffalo People . Morris Plains, NJ : Lucerne Media, [199-?] 1 vVHS ideocassette (58 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E78.G73 S23 1990z Videocassette : Indians of the Great Plains.\nSavagery and the American Indian . 2 VHS videocassettes (101 min.) E77 .S39 2000 Videocassette : Describes the impact of white settlement on the American Indian. Part 1 covers the period from 1620-1890 when the Indian population had fallen from 5 million to 250,000. Traces the expansion of white settlement; the resultant depletion of the native peoples and the way in which contemporaries recorded the events. Part 2 traces developments since 1890 when the Indian reservations were established and the residual tribes were compulsorily moved into them. The program talks of the native peoples efforts to retain more of their own culture in the face government endeavors to assimilate them, and the resultant cultural and social problems.\nA Search for Vanished People directed by Elizabeth Patapoff (Documentary Educational Resources, 1982) 29:06 mins. Steaming video from the Ethnographic Video Online collection : Pioneering archaeologist, Luther Cressman, pursued the evidence that describes the lifeways of the earliest people of the Northern Great Basin. Cressman explores the caves where he discovered basket fragments, sagebrush sandals and ancient weapons. Carbon dating verified that people had lived in the region during the last Ice Age, 13,000 years ago. This film shows Dr. Cressman's more than 40 years of research on western prehistory....A Search For Vanished People is an important historical film about Native North Americans.\nA Seat at the Table: Struggling for American Indian Religious Freedom / [produced by Gary Rhine for Kifaru Productions] ; written by Phil Cousineau. 2005. Berkeley, Calif. : Berkeley Media LLC, 2005. 1 DVD videodisc (91 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. DVD. 90 minutes. E98.R3 S43 2005 VideoDVD : Professor Huston Smith is widely regarded as the most eloquent and accessible contemporary authority on the history of religions. In this thought-provoking documentary he is featured in dialogues with eight American Indian leaders....The film interweaves thoughtful commentary, sequences shot in threatened Indian sacred sites, and scenes from the Third Parliament of the World's Religions in Cape Town, South Africa. The result is a profound and poignant exploration of the myriad problems faced by contemporary Native Americans in practicing their religious ceremonies and beliefs....Each of the film's eight segments deals with an important obstacle to American Indian religious freedom. Taken as a whole, the film provides an outstanding overview of the spiritual ways of today's Native Americans. The Native leaders and the topics they examine with Prof. Smith are as follows: (1) Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Senior Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund: A History and overview of the American Indian struggle for religious freedom; (2) Winona LaDuke (Anishinabe), Director, White Earth Land Recovery Project: Native religions and the earth; pollution and clear-cutting as religious persecution; (3) Frank Dayish, Jr. (Dine), President, Native American Church of North America: The triumph of the Native American Church's struggle for the religious use of Peyote; (4) Charlotte Black Elk (Lakota), Primary Advocate for protection of the Black Hills: Protection of The Black Hills and Native access to sacred sites; (5) Doug George-Kanentiio (Mohawk), journalist and activist: Destruction of Native languages and the resulting damage to Native ceremonies; (6) Lenny Foster (Dine), Director/Spiritual Advisor, Navajo Nation Corrections Project: Injustices faced by incarcerated Native Americans; (7) Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga), President, American Indian Law Alliance: The spiritual threat posed to indigenous peoples by the Human Genome Diversity Project; (8) Guy Lopez (Crow Creek Sioux), Coordinator, Sacred Lands Protection Program, Association of American Indian Affairs: Disrespect of Apache beliefs by University of Arizona and Jesuit astrophysicists....The film includes excerpts of messages by the Dalai Lama, South African President Nelson Mandela, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The ceremonial opening of the week-long Parliament flamboyantly displays the rich variety of religious traditions from around the world and includes a performance of an Iroquois ancestral song by noted American Indian singer Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida), who also delivers the articulate narration for the documentary....The menus on the DVD version of the film enable easy access to particular segments and encourage in-depth classroom discussion and analysis....\"A Seat at the Table\" is an exemplary teaching tool that will spotlight the issues of Native American religious freedom for a wide variety of courses in Native American studies, religious studies and comparative religion, cultural anthropology, American history and studies, and legal studies. The film is also the ideal enhancement to the new book by the same title published by University of California Press. More information .\nSeeking the First Americans (1980) / a production of Public Broadcasting Associates, Inc. ; written, produced and directed by Graham Chedd. Watertown, Mass. : Documentary Educational Resources, 2010. 1 DVD videodisc (59 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E61 .S45 2010 VideoDVD : The earliest inhabitants of the New World came across the Bering Sea land bridge that opened as a result of glaciation, which lowered the level of the sea and connected the continents of Asia and America. The question of when these people walked from Siberia is still debated by archaeologists. In 1932, a site excavated near Clovis, New Mexico, yielded the bones of extinct animals in association with man-made, skillfully fluted stone points. With the development of radiocarbon dating in the late 1940s, it was determined that \"Clovis man\" had lived between 12,000 and 11,000 years ago. Finely flaked Clovis stone tools have been discovered throughout North America, suggesting an extraordinarily rapid spread - either of ideas and technology, or of people. Presumably Clovis men and women moved across the land, hunting large animals (mammoth, bison, saber-toothed tiger) with stone points hafted to spears, and collecting wild fruits, thistle leaves, yucca pods, roots, and nuts....This film addresses a number of puzzles associated with the discovery of early man in America, in addition to the question of diffusion of ideas versus migration of people. What accounts for the rapid growth of Clovis culture across the continent, and for its rather quick demise: within a thousand years, American megafauna (except for bison) were extinct, and Clovis stone tool technology had been replaced by other forms. Does Clovis culture represent the earliest human occupation of this area, or did peoples perhaps 40,000 years ago leave less recognizable evidence of themselves?...If bone tools preceded stone, how can scientists determine whether a broken piece of bone has been modified by man, and not simply crunched by a large bear? What can we learn from experimental archaeology: making stone tools, or butchering a bison with a Clovis-style knife? These and other questions are explored by several archaeologists involved in the search for evidence of the earliest Americans, from the Old Crow Basin in Alaska, to sites in Texas and Wyoming. \nSheep Eaters - Plants and Minerals / A film by Gary Wortman (Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2004) 30 minutes. Streaming video from the Ethnographic Video Online collection : The Sheep Eaters relied heavily on the plants they could gather for medicinal and edible uses, often cooking food in a unique soapstone vessel....The spectacular Wind River Mountain Range of northwest Wyoming was once home to a little known but fascinating band of Shoshone Indians known as the Tuku Dika, or Sheep Eaters. As their name implies, these peoples were among the most successful hunters of North America’s wild sheep, the majestic Rocky Mountain ‘big horns’. These magnificent creatures still roam the rugged Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; however, the tribe that followed them for hundreds of years was relegated to life on the reservation by the turn of the nineteenth century. This four-part series examines the life ways of this ancient band of high mountain Shoshones.\nSheep Eaters - Trading and Tools / A film by Gary Wortman (Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2004) 30 minutes. Streaming video from the Ethnographic Video Online collection : This film examines the skills of tanning, flint napping and bowmaking among the Sheep Eaters, who utilized dogs to help them travel and gather resources....The spectacular Wind River Mountain Range of northwest Wyoming was once home to a little known but fascinating band of Shoshone Indians known as the Tuku Dika, or Sheep Eaters. As their name implies, these peoples were among the most successful hunters of North America’s wild sheep, the majestic Rocky Mountain ‘big horns’. These magnificent creatures still roam the rugged Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; however, the tribe that followed them for hundreds of years was relegated to life on the reservation by the turn of the nineteenth century. This four-part series examines the life ways of this ancient band of high mountain Shoshones.\nSitting Bull : a stone in my heart / a LilliMar picture ; a film by John Ferry ; written, produced and directed by John Ferry ; co-written and co-produced by Grace De Soto Ferry. Santa Barbara, CA : LilliMar Pictures, c2006. 1 DVD videodisc (83 min.) : col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E99.D1 S588 2006 VideoDVD : Sitting Bull's own words, over six-hundred photographs and a compelling original music score bring to life this great American Indian's struggle to save his people's way of life against an ever-expanding westward movement of white settlers. This is powerful cinematic journey into the life and spirit of a legendary figure. No other film captures him with such depth of character and personality. In his own words, Tatanka-Iyotanka (narrated by Adam Fortunate Eagle) talks about his life on the Northern Plains, the Battle of the Little Big Horn and finally, his complicated views of Euro- American culture. Except for a few lines of dialogue invented for cohesion, it is Sitting Bull s first-person account of his life and times. And what an amazing life and time it was. ... A standout leader even at a young age, he used his bravery and wit to defy the encroaching incursion into his ancestral lands. He reveled in the attention from performing in Buffalo Bill s Wild West show, selling his autograph for a dollar or more a pop. He loved fame and developed a appreciation for ice cream and White dancing girls. When he finally met with the Great White Father to explain the plight of his people back home in South Dakota, Sitting Bull was insulted by President Cleveland s dismissive demeanor. Not the treatment a man with his standing and outsized ego was willing to accept. Similarly, Sitting Bull found it astounding that a culture that calls itself civilized abused its children and allowed people to go homeless and hungry on city streets. The wealth he amassed as an entertainer was given away to the urban poor and those on the reservation in need, keeping none for his personal enrichment. It's clear that despite the allure of celebrity, he remained to his core a Hunkpapa Lakota chief; a devotion he eventually paid for with his life in 1890. It is anecdotes like these interspersed with archival photos, graphics and a powerful score by Steve Henry and Cory and Ernie Orosco, that leave you wanting to know more. Cover .\nSitting Bull - Chief of the Lakota Nation . [Burlington, VT] : A&E Home Video ; New York : Distributed by New Video, 2005. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 50 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E99.D1 S58 2005 VideoDVD : One of the last great leaders of the Native American Resistance, Sitting Bull earned his place in history with his stunning victory in the Battle at Little Bighorn-but his life encompassed much more than one battle. BIOGRAPHY® journeys back to the fading days of the Old West for a comprehensive history of the Sioux medicine man. Hear period accounts that narrate his many battles with early settlers and learn how he revised the Native American strategy and created more effective fighters. Discover how he masterminded the victory at Custer's Last Stand and trace the tragic last days of his life, from his position in Buffalo Bill's \"Wild West Show\" to his captivity and death. A moving and remarkable portrait of one of the last great Native American warriors.\nSon of the morning star / Republic Pictures. Los Angeles, CA : Republic Pictures Home Video, c1991. 2 VHS videocassettes (183 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E83.876 .C6962 1991 Videocassette : Retelling of the legendary Battle of Little Bighorn, the meeting of Gen. George Armstrong Custer and Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Told from both the soldiers' and Indians' viewpoint, the battle proved to be the beginning of the end for the American Indians and their way of life.\nThe Spirit of Crazy Horse / produced by Michel Dubois and Kevin McKiernan ; directed by James Locker ; written by Milo Yellow Hair ... [et al.] ; a production of Parallax Productions and Access Productions in association with WGBH. [United States] : PBS Video, c1990. 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) MSU College of Law Library Reserve Video S : \"The heart of everything that is.\" These are the words which the Sioux Indians use to describe their ancestral homeland, the Black Hills of South Dakota. Those million acres form the spiritual core of the Sioux culture, and it's a land they have struggled to reclaim for a century. The Spirit of Crazy Horse is an eye-opening vision of their quest, which has shaped the lives and destiny of the Sioux for six generations....It is a tale recounted by Milo Yellow Hair, a fullblood Oglala Sioux, whose great-grandfather fought General Custer at the Little Big Horn. While the story echoes with famous names like Wounded Knee -- the last major Indian slaughter a century ago -- this is more than a tale of long-lost wars. The Spirit of Crazy Horse reveals the modern Sioux struggle to regain their heritage, and how places like Wounded Knee became sites for a fight that still continues....The program carries us through the militant confrontations of the 1960s and '70s, the explosive results of 100 years of confinement on Indian reservations. The Spirit of Crazy Horse takes us past the clichés about the problems that plague life on the reservation, and puts the issues in a meaningful context of Indian culture....By investigating the simmering conflict of recent decades, The Spirit of Crazy Horse also offers a clear perspective on the crucial choices that lie ahead. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Black Hills were stolen from the Sioux, the fight for the return of the land rages on. In the shadow of Mount Rushmore , the Sioux vision of their sacred homeland still thrives, and The Spirit of Crazy Horse is a moving portrait of those hopes and aspirations. In the face of hard choices, the descendents of the famous warrior Crazy Horse carry his spirit on. (source: tape case copy)\nThe Spirit of Sacajawea / Naka Productions. [Charlotte, NC] : Naka Productions, c2006. 1 DVD videodisc (59 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. F592.7.S123 S65 2006 VideoDVD : One of the most revered women in American history, Sacajawea has been romanticized and often misinterpreted by non-natives. Revolving around interviews with her tribal peoples as well as recognized historians, this documentary examines the many controversies regarding her life, how her role in the Lewis & Clark journey impacted her tribes, and how they are surviving today.\nSpirits for Sale / A film by Folke Johanssen. 2008. 58:25 minutes. Streaming video from Filmakers Virtual Library : When Annika is given an eagle feather by a Native American visiting Sweden, she realizes it is a sacred object which should probably not be in her hands. These days Native American ceremonies are being commercialized for \"outsiders,\" arousing resentment in the Native community....Annika sets out to find the feather's rightful owner, a quest which takes her to American Indian communities in Albuquerque, San Antonio and to Bear Butte in South Dakota. She meets many Native Americans who are bitter, believing they are \"the forgotten people.\" But others are fighting to preserve their culture and their faith as well as to protect their land....Navajo Andrew Thomas, who manages the Albuquerque Pueblo Center, explains that certain tribes use feathers in special ways to communicate with \"the Upper God.\" He fears modern Native Americans have lost touch with the ancient beliefs. In this film we hear from a professor of Native American history in San Antonio who discusses the five hundred tribes who lived in the US centuries ago and recalls the massacres they suffered. Gayle Ross, a respected Cherokeeteacher, feels Americans do not understand native people. Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota nation is deeply disturbed by the entire arena of cultural exploitation.\nStanding Bear's Footsteps / produced, written & directed by Christine Lesiak ; associate producer, Princella Parker (Omaha); videographer-editor, Pat Aylward. [Lincoln, Neb.] : NET Television ; distributed by VisionMaker, c2011. 1 DVD videodisc (56 min., 46 sec.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.P7 S73 2011 VideoDVD : In 1877, the Ponca people were exiled from their Nebraska homeland to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. To honor his dying son's last wish to be buried in his homeland, Chief Standing Bear set off on a grueling, six-hundred-mile journey home. Captured en-route, Standing Bear sued a famous U.S. army general for his freedom--choosing to fight injustice not with weapons, but with words. The Chief stood before the court to prove that an Indian was a person under the law. The story quickly made newspaper headlines--attracting powerful allies, as well as enemies.\nStanding on Sacred Ground : Eight Cultures, One Fight / Bullfrog Films. 228 minutes. On order : In this 4-part series, indigenous people from eight different cultures stand up for their traditional sacred lands in defense of cultural survival, human rights and the environment. Indigenous communities around the world and in the U.S. resist threats to their sacred places--the original protected lands--in a growing movement to defend human rights and restore the environment. In this four-part documentary series from the producer of In the Light of Reverence , native people share ecological wisdom and spiritual reverence while battling a utilitarian view of land in the form of government megaprojects, consumer culture, and resource extraction as well as competing religions and climate change. Narrated by Graham Greene, with the voices of Tantoo Cardinal and Q'orianka Kilcher, the series exposes threats to native peoples' health, livelihood, and cultural survival in eight communities around the world. Rare verité scenes of tribal life allow indigenous people to tell their own stories--and confront us with the ethical consequences of our culture of consumption. The titles in the series are:\nPilgrims and Tourists In the Altai Republic of Russia and in Northern California, indigenous shamans resist massive government projects that threaten nature and culture.\nProfit and Loss From Papua New Guinea to the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, native people fight the loss of land, water, and health to mining and oil industries.\nFire and Ice From the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia to the Andes of Peru, indigenous highland communities battle threats to their forests, farms, and faith.\nIslands of Sanctuary Aboriginal Australians and Native Hawaiians reclaim land from the government and the military, and resist the erosion of culture and environment.\nStanding Silent Nation / by Courtney Hermann and Suree Towfighnia. Watertown, Mass. : Documentary Educational Resources, 2007. 1 streaming video (52 min.) via Ethnographic Video Online. : When the Oglala Sioux Tribe passed an ordinance separating industrial hemp from its illegal cousin, marijuana, Alex White Plume and his family glimpsed a brighter future. Having researched hemp as a sustainable crop that would grow in the inhospitable soil of the South Dakota Badlands, the White Plumes envisioned a new economy that would impact the 85% unemployment rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation. They never dreamed they would find themselves swept up in a struggle over tribal sovereignty, economic rights, and common sense....From the hemp fields of Pine Ridge to the US Federal Court of Appeals, the one-hour documentary Standing Silent Nation tracks one family's effort to create economic independence for themselves, their reservation, and their future generations. The hemp plant is like a new buffalo for the Lakota: a resource whose many uses from food to fuel to fiber, could enrich their sovereign nation. For three years, Alex White Plume and his family planted industrial hemp. But each year, their harvest was disrupted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which claims that hemp is marijuana despite the absence of marijuana's psychoactive properties....Standing Silent Nation challenges contemporary notions of Native America, while providing a compelling and engaging story rarely covered in mainstream media. DVD also includes deleted scenes, producer and director interviews, trailer and the 1942 Government film -- Hemp for Victory.\nSun, Moon & Feather / Metropolitan Arts ; a film by Jane Zipp, Bob Rosen. [New York] : Cinema Guild, c1989. 1 VHS videocassette (26 min.) E78.N7 S85 1989 Videocassette : Presents a musical comedy-documentary about three Native American sisters growing up in Brooklyn during the 1930s and 1940s.\nSunrise Dance / Producer/Director: Gianfranco Norelli. 1995. 28 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : This unique and highly visual documentary shows an ancient, sacred Apache ceremony that has never before been filmed. The Sunrise Ceremony which marks the passage from adolescence to adulthood for young Apache women, is disappearing under the pressure of cultural assimilation. This documentary focuses on 13-year-old Maureen Nachu, who lives on the Fort Apache Reservation, in Whiteriver, Arizona....It captures the elaborate preparations for the ceremony: the mystical rituals of the Medicine Man who presides over the dance, the spiritual purification rites in the \"Sweat Lodge,\" and the secret midnight appearance of the \"Crown Dancers.\" The Sunrise Dance is a tremendous physical test, lasting three days. It proves that Maureen has the courage and strength of character to take her place in adult society. For Maureen, her family and her community, the dance is a reaffirmation of tribal identity and the celebration of the role of women in Apache society.\nSuper Chief directed by Nicholas Kurzon (Documentary Educational Resources, 1999) 75 mins. Available online as streaming video as part of Ethnographic Video Online : This documentary is about a campaign and election for a new tribal chairman of the White Earth Ojibwe Reservation....By 1996, millions of dollars that had come through the new casino on the White Earth Reservation seemed to stop at the tribal chairman's desk. The self-proclaimed \"Super Chief\", Darryl \"Chip\" Wadnea had been tribal chairman for the past 20 years. The tensions within the tribe had been building as members realized they had not seen any improvements in their social services or any services that should have resulted from a sharing of the wealth. A U.S. Prosecutor is trying to haul Wadnea into court and a Harvard educated reservation school teacher is determined to uncover his corruption....This long-in the making film project freezes a chapter of recent Minnesota history that's as important to non-Indians as it is to Indians. For Indians, it's a reminder of the frustration of taking on what seemed an insurmountable task: the unseating of a powerful incumbent. The film records the impact of people who were bent on change and fed up with the status quo. For non-Indians, \"Super Chief\" provides a telling glimpse into reservation life against the larger backdrop of the election....Nick Kurzon has accomplished what few filmmakers have: gaining the trust of American Indians so that their humor and thought processes are captured. He took things slow, allowing the people to see who he was. They in turn felt confident enough to show emotion and all that was at stake. Those intimately involved with the election provide the most interesting character profiles. Kurzon shows the hard work of the campaign and follows the tensions building like an orchestrated plot to an unpredictable end. He also manages the impossible: perhaps the first public filming in the state of Minnesota of the counting of ballots during a tribal election. This riveting film reveals much about politics and reservation life.\nSurviving Columbus : the story of the Pueblo people / produced by KNME/Albuquerque and Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Albuquerque, N.M. : Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium, 1992. 1 VHS videocassette (124 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E99.P9 S97 1992 Videocassette : Using stories from Pueblo elders, interviews with Pueblo scholars and leaders, archival photographs, and historical accounts, this program explores the Pueblo Indians' 450-year struggle to preserve their culture, land, and religion despite European contact.\nSweating Indian Style : Conflicts Over Native American Ritual / by Smith Susan, Center for Visual Anthropology, University of Southern California. (Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1994) 57 minutes. Streaming video from the Ethnographic Video Online collection : This documentary is about a group of non-Native women's search for self in \"other\". The focus is on a specific group of New Age women in Ojai, California who construct a new sweat lodge and perform their own ceremony. We meet each of these women as they prepare themselves for the ceremony, and hear about the reasons why they have chosen this path....We also meet and hear the various points of view of Native Americans. Some Native American groups report \"declarations of war against the New Age\". They believe their sacred ceremonial rituals should not be shared with outsiders, while others are open to \"sincere non-native seekers of truth\"....Other members of the video production team include Richard Grounds, a Yuchi-Seminole and a Henry Kendall Fellow with the departments of religion and anthropology at Tulsa University, and Rayna Green, a Cherokee who is director of the American Indian Program at the Smithsonian Institution.\nDocumentary Films : T-V\nTales of Wonder I; Tales of Wonder II : traditional Native American fireside stories / executive producer, Steven R. Heape ; director, Chip Richie. Dallas, TX : Rich-Heape Films, [2004] 1 DVD videodisc (120 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.C5 T33 2004 VideoDVD : Fireside stories told in the Native American tradition by an acclaimed storyteller and linguist and accompanied by a flutist. A talented sketch artist creates drawings as the stories unfold. Contents : Rabbit & the bear -- Why rabbit has a short tail -- Why possum's tail is bare -- The ruby necklace -- Origin of fire -- Pleiades and the pine tree -- Little grey bat -- Little turtle -- How deer got antlers -- Flying squirrel -- The ball game -- Dream catcher -- Daughter of the sun -- Democracy -- Sky people -- Strawberries -- Hawk and the hunter -- Origin of bluebonnets\nTecumseh's Vision. In the course of his brief and meteoric career, Tecumseh would become one of the greatest Native American leaders of all time, orchestrating the most ambitious pan-Indian resistance movement ever mounted on the North American continent. After his death he would live on as a potent symbol of Native pride and pan Indian identity. Directed by Ric Burns and Chris Eyre. Part of the We Shall Remain package.\nThe Thick Dark Fog / a film by Randy Vasquez ; a co-production of High Valley Films, & Native American Public ; director, Randy Vasquez ; producers, Jonathan Skurnik, Randy Vasquez ; writer and editor, Paul Freedman. [Colorado?] : High Valley Films, c2012. 1 DVD videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E97 .T45 2012 VideoDVD : Walter Littlemoon, a Lakota author and public speaker, attended a federal Indian boarding school in South Dakota 60 years ago. The mission of many of these schools in 1950 was to \"kill the Indian and save the man.\" The children were not allowed to speak their language or express their culture or Native identity in any way. This is the story of how Littlemoon confronted his past so that he could renew himself and his community. Trailer\nThieves of Time (1999). ABC News Home Video, 23 minutes. Bonus film available as part of A Thief of Time (2004) PS3558.I45 T49 2005 VideoDVD : Examines archaeological thefts from Navajo and Anasazi sites. Includes interviews with a convicted thief, art dealers, Navajo leaders, and archaeologists as well as a tour of several vandalized sites.\nThis May Be the Last Time / Bond/360 ; This Land Films presents a film by Sterlin Harjo ; produced by Matt Leach, Christina D. King, Sterlin Harjo ; directed by Sterlin Harjo (With Public Performance Rights). [S.l.] : This Land Films, [2013] 1 DVD videodisc (93 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + guide. ML3557 .T54 2013 VideoDVD disc & guide : Traces the heartfelt journey of award-winning filmmaker Sterlin Harjo as he interweaves the tale of a mysterious death in 1962 with the rich history of the powerful hymns that have united Native American communities in times of worship, joy, tragedy, and hope. Investigating the stories of these songs, this illuminating film takes us on an epic tour as we travel with the power of the music through Southwest America, slavery in the deep South, and as far away as the Scottish Highlands. Teaser . More information\nA Thousand Roads / a Seven Arrows/Telenova Production ; produced by Scott Garen and Barry Clark ; directed by Chris Eyre. Washington, DC] : National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, c2005. 1 DVD videodisc (40 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. PN1995.9.I48 T56 2005 VideoDVD : The lives of four Native Americans take a significant turn as they confront the crises that arise in a single day. A young Inupiat girl, a Navajo homeboy, a Mohawk stockbroker, and a Quechua healer journey through the epic landscapes of Alaska, New Mexico, Manhattan, and Peru, drawing strength from their tribal pasts to transcend the challenges of the day and embrace the promises that await them. \nThrough the eyes of the eagle / written by Georgia Perez ; illustrated by Patrick Rolo and Lisa A. Fifield. Atlanta, GA : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, [2008] 7 minutes. Government Documents Online Resource HE 20.7056:D 54\nA Thunder-Being Nation : the Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation / Roaring Fire Films presents a film by Steven Lewis Simpson an Inlio Entertainment release. [S.l.] : Roaring Fire Films, c2012. 1DVD videodisc (ca. 86 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.. E99.O3 T48 2012 VideoDVD : The most comprehensive look at the journey from past to present of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, of the Oglala Lakota where people live under the harshest conditions within the USA. Produced by the award winning director of the movie Rez Bomb, also made on Pine Ridge and made over a 13 years period it's narrative is drawn from a broad cross-section of the local community from many different walks of life. Half of the documentary explores the history through key events like Wounded Knee 1890, Boarding Schools, confinement to the Reservation and Wounded Knee 1973 and the second half looks in depth at contemporary life today. Pairing the two it gives a detailed look at how contemporary conditions were created. This Special Edition contains 4 hours of extras (The Ultimate Edition holds over 10 hours of high value extras like full source documentaries, full interviews of elders that have passed on since filming and out-takes.) Special Featur5es : Commentary by Steven Lewis Simpson Image Galleries : Past & Present Deleted Sequences : Kili Radio, Ghost Shirt Return, Misc. Out-takes, Red Cloud Takeover Featurettes : Pine Ridge - a Film-makers Journey, A Summer Week on Pine Ridge\nThunderbird Woman : Winona LaDuke / A film by Bertram Verhaag and Claus Biegert. 2003. 60 minutes. Streaming video from Filmakers Library Online : This is an inspiring portrait of Winona La Duke, a unique and dynamic activist and member of the Anishinaabe tribe from the White Earth reservation in Northern Minnesota. Her father was a Native American who worked as a stuntman in Hollywood; her mother was a Jewish artist from New York....After completing her studies in economics at Harvard, Winona settled on the reservation. She traveled widely raising money to buy back land originally owned by Native Americans. In the film, we meet Native American activists Ralph Bear Killer and Alex White Plume who describe how the U.S. government in the late 19th century had defrauded the Native Americans of so much of their land, while suppressing their language and culture. The government had also slaughtered millions of buffalo upon which their agriculture depended. This destruction of the ecosystem is still being felt today....Winona organized resistance against uranium and coal mining on reservation lands. Nicknamed \"No Nukes la Duke,\" in the 1980's she used the slogan \"No Nukes\" to united the Indian Movement with anti-nuclear protests. A published author, she was named one of America¹s fifty most promising leaders under forty years of age by Time Magazine. And, this impressive woman was chosen by Ralph Nader to be his running mate on the Green Party ticket in the l996 and 2000 elections!\nTrail of Tears. Though the Cherokee embraced \"civilization\" and won recognition of tribal sovereignty in the U.S. Supreme Court, their resistance to removal from their homeland failed. Thousands were forced on a perilous march to Oklahoma. Directed by Chris Eyre. Part of the We Shall Remain package.\nTrail of tears : a Native American documentary collection . [United States] : Mill Creek Entertainment, c2009. 2 DVD videodiscs (4 hrs., 23 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. ROVI Movie Collection CV8 D0120501 VideoDVD discs 1-2 Contents : Disc 1. Trail of tears : Cherokee legacy / Rich-Heape Films ; written by Daniel Blake Smith ; produced by Chip Richie and Steven R. Heape ; directed by Chip Richie. (105 min.) -- Disc 2. Black Indians : an American story / written by Daniel Blake Smith ; directed by Chip Richie (52 min.) ; Native American healing in the 21st century / written by Howard Fisher ; produced and directed by Chip Richie(52 min.) ; Our spirits don't speak English : Indian boarding school / written by Dan Agent ; directed by Chip Richie (53 min.).\nThe Trail of Tears. Cherokee Legacy / Rich-Heape Films ; producers, Chip Richie, Steven R. Heape ; writer, Daniel Blake Smith ; director, Chip Richie. Dallas, TX : Rich-Heape Films, 2006. 1 DVD videodisc (115 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.C5 T73 2006 VideoDVD Also available as part of the ROVI Movie Collection CP6 D0074684 VideoDVD : Thousands of Cherokees died during the Trail of Tears, nearly a quarter of the Nation. They suffered beyond imagination, and when they finally arrived in Indian Territory, they had almost no children and very few elders. Presented by Wes Studi ; celebrity voices, James Garner, Crystal Gayle, John Buttrum, Gov. Douglas Wilder ; narrated by James Earl Jones.\nTransitions : Destruction of the Mother Tongue / the Native Voices Public Television Workshop presents ; a film by Darrell Robes Kipp and Joe Fisher ; produced by Daniel Hart ; Piegan Institute and Native Voices Public TV. Seattle, WA : Native Voices at the University of Washington, [2007?]. 1 DVD-R videodisc (28 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.S54 T73 2007 VideoDVD : This provocative film by Blackfeet producers explores the relationship between language, thought, culture, and examines the impact of language loss in Native American communities. The film chronicles the disappearance of the Blackfeet tribal language during the years of 1890-1990, with analysis of why the Mother tongue was destroyed. The film points out the tremendous loss that is only now beginning to be realized, not only by tribal members, but also by the society around them. The film also illustrates the commonality of language loss amongst Indian Tribes and other ethnic groups in America. Teacher's Study Guide from the University of Washington.\nTree / New Directions in Cinema ; LIFT ; produced by Shelley Niro ; written and directed by Shelley Niro. Toronto, Canada : V Tape, c2006. 1 DVD videodisc (5 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E98.E85 T74 2006 VideoDVD : Silent film with musical soundtrack that shows a young Native American woman, personifying Mother Earth, walking through various environments showing the negative impact of mankind.\nTribal Nations : The Story of Federal Indian Law / a Signature Media Production ; Lisa Jaegar, executive producer and writer ; producer, David Raasch ; director, videographer, and editor, Igor Sopronenko. Fairbanks, Alaska : Tanana Chiefs Conference, c2006. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 62 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in E98.T77 T75 2006 VideoDVD : This documentary is a beautifully illustrated introductory history of how federal Indian law has developed in the United States, from the arrival of Columbus through the current era of tribal self-determination. It is an excellent educational tool on basic federal Indian law for tribes, those who work with tribes, judges, attorneys, agencies, grades 11 through college, and the general public.\nTribal sovereignty : the right to self-rule / Tribal Eye Productions. [Santa Ynez, CA] : Tribal Eye Productions, c2007 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 15 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 study guide E98.T77 T765 2007 VideoDVD disc + study guide : This classroom-tested educational program answers the most-asked questions concerning the origin, history and legal development of tribal sovereignty and the basis for the existence of American Indian tribal governments. Within this fourteen minute program, a number of academic experts address these topics: What is sovereignty and how does it relate to Indian tribes? What is the legal foundation for tribal sovereignty? How has tribal sovereignty been modified during the past 100 years? What is the federal government's relationship to tribal nations? What is a federally recognized tribe? How did Indian gaming originate and how is it different than commercial gaming? Trailer .\nTwo Rivers / produced and directed by Rodney Mitchell ; written by Rodney Mitchell, Diana Rico ; a Greenleaf Street production, Judith A. Mitchell, Rodney Mitchell. Chatsworth, CA : Greenleaf Street Productions, c2005. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 57 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.R33 T96 2005 VideoDVD : Part history lesson, part deeply felt emotion, and part fascinating story of an unlikely solution to a dark time in American history, this award winning PBS documentary tells the true story of a Native American reconciliation group in North Central Washington State. Seeking to learn why there has never been any Indian presence or awareness in their community, a white couple begins a journey that starts as a small discussion group in their home. As the regions (and later the Nations) history of cruelty, racism, and ignorance toward Native Americans is told, the whites are deeply affected. Word begins circulating around the reservations that something unusual is happening among a group of whites and Indians. Curious whites hear about Indians traveling to their community, and start attending. What follows is an amazing story of changed hearts, friendships between enemies, and ultimately, astonishing community renewal and transformation. Two Rivers is a fascinating human story, with large implications: A true story of people from two different worlds who created profound and lasting changes because they were willing to learn new attitudes, new ways of connecting, and to speak, listen, and act from their hearts.\nTwo-Spirit People : the Berdache Tradition in Native American Culture / produced, directed, and edited by Michel Beauchemin, Lori Levy, Gretchen Vogel ; Gender On A Stick Productions. San Francisco, CA : Frameline, [2005?] 1 vDVD-R ideodisc (20 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E98.S48 T863 1991 VideoDVD : Examines the concepts of gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation in Native American cultures, focusing on the tradition of berdaches.\nTwo Spirits (2009) / a production of Say Yes Quickly ; a co-production of Riding the Tiger, Just Media. s.l.] : IndependentLens, 2010, c2009. 1 videodisc (54 mins.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. (DVD). E99.N3 T96 2010 VideoDVD : Interweaves the tragic story of a mother's loss of her son with a revealing look at a time when the world wasn't simply divided into male and female and many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders. Fred Martinez was nádleehí, a male-bodied person with a feminine nature, a special gift according to his ancient Navajo culture. But the place where two discriminations meet is a dangerous place to live, and Fred became one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at sixteen.\nUnlearning \"Indian\" Stereotypes / originally produced by the Council on Interracial Books for Children. New York : Rethinking Schools, 2008. 1 DVD videodisc (15 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. LC1099.3 .U55 2008 VideoDVD : Young students focus on the real lives, real history, and real beliefs of American Indians and point out many misconceptions and stereotypes which have characterized attitudes towards Indians.\nUp Heartbreak Hill : Coming of Age in the Contemporary Native American World / Long Distance Films, LLC, Native American Public DVD videodisc (ca. 82 minutes) : sound, color ; 12 cm. E98.Y68 U6 2012 VideoDVD - Also part of the ROVI Movie Collection CY4 D0148121 VideoDVD : Teenage friends Thomas, Tamara, and Gabby wrestle with their decisions to leave their Navajo, New Mexico, reservation community to attend college. Going away means giving up strong cultural traditions, and even though life isn’t easy on the reservation, where the teens are exposed to poverty, alcoholism, and family problems, it’s the only life they know. Running is a way for Thomas to cope with the unrest, but his track coach and teachers worry that the elite athlete might not be mentally strong enough to compete in college. Tamara is academically ready, but she’s unsure about surviving on her own, and aspiring-photographer Gabby is also conflicted about leaving classmates and family. The profiled teens, seen interacting with family members, teachers, and friends, speak frankly about life on the reservation and their dreams, hopes, and fears in this insightful program that shows the challenges facing these youngsters, who “struggle to be both Native and modern.\"\nVision Man : An Eskimo Hunter / An Aby-Long Production for TV2/Denmark. 1999. 51 minutes. Streaming video from the Filmakers Library Online : The 87-year-old Eskimo hunter, Utuniarsukak, looks out over the glacial expanse of his Arctic homeland and recalls for us a past way of life. He describes how he hunted polar bear with spear and harpooned walrus from his kayak. Like the walrus, he sustained himself with food from the frozen sea. But the modern world is encroaching even here. People buy food in supermarkets. The young people watch television. Against his stark glacial background, his face dark and weathered, and his eyes flashing, Utuniarsukak gives a stirring account of living in harmony, interdependent with other living creatures in a primal environment.\nDocumentary Films, W-Z\nWaćipi Powwow / Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. St. Paul, MN : KTCA Video, c1995. 1 VHS videocassette (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. + 1 curriculum guide (51 p. ; 30 cm.) E98.D2 W3 1995 Videocassette : \"Each summer, thousands of Native American nations across the country celcbrate their connections to tradition and spirituality to the earth and to one another in a social, personal and spiritual meeting--the Powwow. All of it is centered in an emotional song and dance--the wacipi, which means 'dance' in Dakota\"\nThe War That Made America (2005) / Spy Pond Productions ; Ben Loeterman Productions, Inc. ; presented by WQED Multimedia ; produced, directed and written by Eric Stange, Ben Loeterman. [Alexandria, VA] : PBS Home Video, [c2006] 2 DVD videodiscs (ca. 240 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. E199 .W37 2006 VideoDVD discs 1-2 : The French and Indian War pitted French forces for almost a decade against the British, yet few Americans realize its historic contribution to the revolutionary fervor which swept the continent in 1776. Actor Graham Greene, an Oneida Indian whose ancestors fought in the war, narrates this gripping four-part documentary series. Episodes include \"A Country Between,\" \"Unlikely Allies,\" \"Turning the Tide,\" and \"Unintended Consequences.\"\nWarrior in Two Worlds : The Life of Ely Parker / PBS. Available via Interlibrary Loan : Ely Parker was a Seneca chief, a legal scholar, an engineer, a Civil War hero, and a Cabinet-level commissioner -- all by the age of 40. At first glance, his story appears to be one of success and triumph. Yet Parker died in poverty far from the land of his birth. In later life he was estranged from his people and dismissed by political leaders he once considered friends. Today, American history remembers him as a mere footnote, and inside the Seneca community, he is a controversial figure -- considered a hero by some, branded a traitor by others. This web site offers insight into Ely Parker -- the human being -- and his accomplishments, which reach an almost mythical level. In the timeline below (starting with \"A Time of Crisis\") you can explore Parker's thoughts, his youthful dreams, his front-line battle experiences with General Grant during the Civil War, and the reflections and regrets of his final years. PBS website .\nWater Flowing Together: Jock Soto / A film by Gwendolen Cates. 2009. 54 minutes. Streaming video from Filmakers Library Online : Offers an intimate portrait of a remarkable dancer, Jock Soto, who retired from the New York City Ballet at age forty, after a twenty-four-year career. Soto's journey as an openly gay man of Navajo Indian and Puerto Rican descent provides a rare glimpse into the life of a dancer and the disparate worlds which shaped this important artist....Soto was asked to join the New York City Ballet by George Balanchine at sixteen after first studying at its School on a full scholarship. He was soon given his first solo roles in Balanchine's ballets, then Jerome Robbins featured him. In the course of his career, Soto became one of the most choreographed-on dancers in the company, as Balanchine, Robbins and Peter Martins were inspired by his capabilities. Lauded for his partnering as well, he formed memorable duos with Heather Watts and Wendy Whelan....The film captures his determination, ambivalence and occasional despair as he prepared to retire in 2005 and let go of his identity as a principal dancer. He was reluctant to return to the Navaho tribe in Arizona to visit his family as he feared Navaho \"rules\" about homosexuality but he did so and found that they were extremely proud of him and accepting. This was where his mother had first taught him the Navajo Hoop Dance. Jock may have left the stage, but says, \"I will continue teaching at the School of American Ballet until I'm 104.\"\nWay of the Warrior / National Endownment for the Humanities ; CPB ; a production of Wisconsin Public Television, in association with Native American Public Telecommunications ; writer, producer, Patty Loew. [Lincoln, Neb.] : VisionMaker Video, c2007. 1 DVD videodisc (56 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in E98.M5 W39 2007 VideoDVD : This documentary examines the visceral nature of war and the bravery of Native-American veterans who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War--and came to grips with the difficult post-war personal and societal conditions. The program honors the endurance and sacrifice of individuals such as Mitchell Red Cloud (Ho-Chunk), a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient; Ira Hayes (Pima), one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima; Phil Coon (Creek), a Bataan Death March survivor; and John Yahola (Creek), a member of the red Stick Warrior society. ...Their stories are examined through the prism of what it means to be \"ogichidaa,\" one who protects and follows the way of the warrior. Dramatic historical footage, period photographs and sound effects juxtaposed with photos of veterans in more genial settings, away from combat with family and friends stateside, create portrait of not just the warrior, but the paradox of a warrior's motivations. Trailer More information .\nThe Way West : How the West Was Lost & Won, 1845-1893 (1995) / Steeplechase Films, Inc. ; produced by Lisa Ades and Ric Burns ; written and directed by Ric Burns. 2 videodiscs (ca. 6 hrs.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in. F596 .W388 2006 VideoDVD discs 1-2 : Directed by Ric Burns. Produced by PBS Paramount, this four-part, six-hour series runs from 1845 – 1893 and covers the European push to further establish the United States at the expense of Native Americans. The four parts are: (1) Westward, The Course Of Empire Takes Its Way, 1845 – 1864; (2) The Approach Of Civilization, 1965 – 1869; (3) The War For The Black Hills, 1970 – 1876; (4) Ghost Dance, 1877 – 1893. Covers historical events such as Custer's Last Stand, Chief Joseph, Red Cloud's War, Fort Laramie Treaty, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill...and so on. In addition, it provides the views of both red and white men.\nThe Way West / a Steeplechase Films production for The American Experience in association with Channel Four Television ; written and directed by Ric Burns ; produced by Lisa Ades and Ric Burns. Alexandria, Va. : Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 1995. 1 streaming video (341 min.) via American History in Video. : The history of the western movement and the philosophy of manifest destiny -- how the American west was lost and won from the time of the gold rush until after the last Indian wars at Wounded Knee. The first program presents the opening decades of expansion, key technological advances, and the uprooting of the native people, through the Civil War period; the second examines the four-year period immediately following the Civil War to reveal the conflict between white invaders and Native Americans up to the completion of the transcontinental railroad; the third follows the sequence of events leading to the battle of the Little Big Horn; and the last program chronicles the oppression of Native American tribes, the rise of the Ghost Dance religion and the massacre at Wounded Knee.\nWe Shall Remain : America Through Native Eyes / executive producer, Sharon Grimberg ; WGBH Educational Foundation ; WGBH-Boston ; an American Experience film ; in association with Apograph Productions Inc., Tecumseh LLC and Native American Public Telecommunications. [Alexandria, Va.] : [Distributed by] PBS Home Video, c2009. 3 DVD videodiscs (394 min.) E77 .W47 2009 VideoDVD : They were charismatic and forward thinking, imaginative and courageous, compassionate and resolute, and, at times, arrogant, vengeful and reckless. For hundreds of years, Native American leaders from Massasoit, Tecumseh, and Tenskwatawa, to Major Ridge, Geronimo, and Fools Crow valiantly resisted expulsion from their lands and fought the extinction of their culture. Sometimes, their strategies were militaristic, but more often they were diplomatic, spiritual, legal and political ... These five documentaries spanning almost four hundred years tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective, upending two-dimensional stereotypes of American Indians as simply ferocious warriors or peaceable lovers of the land. Portions of We Shall Remain are available via the Internet, including :\nWe Shall Remain: After the Mayflower, Pt. 1 of 5 : In March of 1621, in what is now southeastern Massachusetts, Massasoit, the leading sachem of the Wampanoag, sat down to negotiate with a ragged group of English colonists. Hungry, dirty, and sick, the pale-skinned foreigners were struggling to stay alive; they were in desperate need of Native help.\nWe Shall Remain: Tecumseh's Vision, Pt. 2 of 5 : Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa came closer than anyone since to creating an Indian nation that would exist alongside and separate from the United States. The dream of an independent Indian state may have died at the Battle of the Thames, when Tecumseh was killed fighting alongside his British allies, but the great Shawnee warrior would live on as a potent symbol of Native pride and pan-Indian identity.\nWe Shall Remain: Trail of Tears Pt. 3 of 5 : On May 26, 1838, federal troops forced thousands of Cherokee from their homes in the Southeastern United States, driving them toward Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the way.\nWe Shall Remain: Geronimo, Pt. 4 of 5 : Born around 1820, Geronimo grew into a leading warrior and healer. But after his tribe was relocated to an Arizona reservation in 1872, he became a focus of the fury of terrified white settlers, and of the growing tensions that divided Apaches struggling to survive under almost unendurable pressures.\nWe Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, Pt. 5 of 5 : On the night of February 27, 1973, fifty-four cars rolled into the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Within hours, some 200 Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement activists had seized the few major buildings in town. The occupation of Wounded Knee had begun. Demanding redress for grievances--some going back more than 100 years--the protesters captured the world's attention for 71 gripping days.\nWe were children = Nous étions des enfants / Eagle Vision and Entertainment One in coproduction with the National Film Board of Canada ; produced in association with Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. [Montreal?] : National Film Board of Canada, c2012. 1 videodisc (83 min.) : sd., col., 4 3/4 in. E96.5 .W4 2012 VideoDVD : As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools. The trauma of this experience was made worse by years of untold physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives. In this emotional film, the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed unflinchingly through the eyes of two children who wereforced to face hardships beyond their years. We Were Children gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit. Discussion questions . Trailer .\nWeapons of the native Americans . Los Angeles, CA : A&E Television Networks, 2003. 1 streaming video (22 min.) via American History in Video. \n The West see Ken Burns Presents the West.\nWhite Shamans, Plastic Medicine Men : a Documentary / by Terry Macy and Daniel Hart. [Bozeman, Mont.] : Native Voices Public Television, c1995. 1 VHS videocassette (26 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 1/2 in. E98.R3 W48 1995 Videocassette : Documentary exploring the popularization and commercialization of Native American spiritual traditions.\nWilliam Kunstler : disturbing the universe / Arthouse Films, Curiously Bright Entertainment and LM Media GMBh present and Off Center Media Production in association with Chicken & Egg Pictures ; a co-production of Disturbing the Universe LLC and the Independent Television Service (ITVS) ; a film by Emily Kunstler & Sarah Kunstler ; written by Sarah Kunstler ; produced by Jesse Moss and Susan Korda ; produced and directed by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler. [United States] : Arthouse Films : Distributed by New Video Group, [2010]. 1 DVD videodisc (ca. 86 min.) : sd., col., b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. KF373.K8 W55 2010 VideoDVD : In the 1960s and '70s, radical lawyer William Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the 'Chicago 8' activists who protested the Vietnam War. When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer. Kunstler also represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins.\nWith hand and heart : a portrait of Southwestern Native American artists / Bill and Deann Snyder. New York : Mysic Fire Video, c1997. 1 VHS videocassette (30 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. E98.A7 W84 1997 Videocassette : Among the native poeples who inhabit the unforgiving, rocky landscape of the American Southwest, a tradition of magnificent ceramics and crafts has evolved for over a thousand years.\nWithout reservations : notes on racism in Montana / a film by Native Voices. [Bozeman, Mont.] : Native Voices Public Television, 2006, c1995. 1 DVD videodisc (28 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E78.M9 W58 2006 VideoDVD : This powerful documentary looks at racism against Native Americans in three stories - through the eyes of an Indian teacher, a Native police officer, and a Native/white couple. Produced by a group of eight Native Voices filmmakers, \"Without Reservations\" is a film that asks many questions regarding racism. Is covert and ignorant stereotyping less racist than overt racism? And how is an entire culture degraded through the casual use of racist imagery? How are Native children hurt by the racist history taught in U.S. schools? The film addresses these questions of racism between whites and Indians in a bold manner and an upbeat tone. This documentary is great for classroom discussions.\nThe World of American Indian Dance / Four Directions Entertainment, presented by The Oneida Indian Nation ; written by Julia Brescia and SaSuWeh ; directed by Randy Martin. Oneida, NY. : Four Directions Entertainment, Inc., 2003. 1 DVD (65 Min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.. E98.D2 W67 2003 VideoDVD : The beauty, artistry, athleticism and competition of Native American dance are illustrated dramatically in The World of American Indian Dance. This one-hour documentary highlights the many dance styles incorporated into the culture from various Native American tribes and nations. While having a powerful influence on US/Indian relationships, the dance demonstrates the ancient as well as the new struggles between intertribal cultures, progress, tradition, spirituality and commerce. Cover .\nWounded Heart : Pine Ridge and the Sioux (2005) / Blue Wood Films presents ; produced and directed by Oliver W. Tuthill Jr. Seattle, WA : Blue Wood Films, c2005. 1 DVD videodisc (70 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. E99.D1 W68 2005 VideoDVD : On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in SW South Dakota, most American Indians don't live past the age of 50. Many die in their 20's and 30's. Pine Ridge has the highest mortality rate in the western hemisphere outside of Haiti and is located in the poorest county in the United States. In this penetrating look at Pine Ridge, American Indians and government officials discuss poverty, racism, domestic violence, child abuse, inadequate health care, and drug and alcohol problems that beseige Pine Ridge. Shot in ten days in the heart of Pine Ridge and Rapid City, the film offers insight into how Native Americans, and the Sioux in particular, view life on Pine Ridge. By embracing their Lakota culture and language they seek to determine their own destiny in the face of enormous challenges that lie before them. Featuring Russell Means. Includes public performance rights.\nWounded Knee. In 1973, American Indian Movement activists and residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation occupied the town of Wounded Knee, demanding redress for grievances. As a result of the siege, Indians across the country forged a new path into the future. Directed by Stanley Nelson. Part of the We Shall Remain package.\nSubject Guide\nNative Americans, Animation, Music, Graphic Comics, and Video Games\nApproaches to and Issues in Native American Media Studies\nNative Aesthetics in Visual Culture and Storytelling\nNative American Use of Media for Cultural Resistance and Activism\nNative American Use of Media for Cultural Identity and Media Sovereignty\nNarrative Analysis and Auteur Studies of Native American Media\nBibliographies, Filmographies, and Resources Regarding Native Americans and Film\nMore Film Analysis\nCelluloid Indians : Native Americans and film / Jacquelyn Kilpatrick. Lincoln, NE : University of Nebraska Press, c1999. 261pp. Main Library PN1995.9.I48 K56 1999 : Native American characters have been the most malleable of metaphors for filmmakers. The likeable Doc of Stagecoach (1939) had audiences on the edge of their seats with dire warnings about “that old butcher, Geronimo.” Old Lodgeskins of Little Big Man (1970) had viewers crying out against the demise of the noble, wise chief and his kind and simple people. In 1995 Disney created a beautiful, peace-loving ecologist and called her Pocahontas. Only occasionally have Native Americans been portrayed as complex, modern characters in films like Smoke Signals....Celluloid Indians is an accessible, insightful overview of Native American representation in film over the past century. Beginning with the birth of the movie industry, Jacquelyn Kilpatrick carefully traces changes in the cinematic depictions of Native peoples and identifies cultural and historical reasons for those changes. In the late twentieth century, Native Americans have been increasingly involved with writing and directing movies about themselves, and Kilpatrick places appropriate emphasis on the impact that Native American screenwriters and filmmakers have had on the industry. Celluloid Indians concludes with a valuable, in-depth look at influential and innovative Native Americans in today’s film industry. [ film ]\nEngaged resistance : American Indian art, literature, and film from Alcatraz to the NMAI / Dean Rader. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2011. 253pp. Main Library E98.A73 R23 2011 : From Sherman Alexie's films to the poetry and fiction of Louise Erdrich and Leslie Marmon Silko to the paintings of Jaune Quick-To-See Smith and the sculpture of Edgar Heap of Birds, Native American movies, literature, and art have become increasingly influential, garnering critical praise and enjoying mainstream popularity. Recognizing that the time has come for a critical assessment of this exceptional artistic output and its significance to American Indian and American issues, Dean Rader offers the first interdisciplinary examination of how American Indian artists, filmmakers, and writers tell their own stories....Beginning with rarely seen photographs, documents, and paintings from the Alcatraz Occupation in 1969 and closing with an innovative reading of the National Museum of the American Indian, Rader initiates a conversation about how Native Americans have turned to artistic expression as a means of articulating cultural sovereignty, autonomy, and survival. Focusing on figures such as author/director Sherman Alexie (\nFlight, Face,\nImages of American Indians on film : an annotated bibliography / Gretchen M. Bataille, Charles L.P. Silet. New York : Garland, 1985. 216pp. PN1995.9.I48 B3 1985\n'Injuns!' : Native Americans in the movies / Edward Buscombe. London : Reaktion, 2006. 272pp. Main Library PN1995.9.I48 B87 2006 : The indispensable sage, fierce enemy, silent sidekick: the role of Native Americans in film has been largely confined to identities defined by the “white” perspective. Many studies have analyzed these simplistic stereotypes of Native American cultures in film, but few have looked beyond the Hollywood Western for further examples. Distinguished film scholar Edward Buscombe offers here an incisive study that examines cinematic depictions of Native Americans from a global perspective....Buscombe opens with a historical survey of American Westerns and their controversial portrayals of Native Americans: the wild redmen of nineteenth-century Wild West shows, the more sympathetic depictions of Native Americans in early Westerns, and the shift in the American film industry in the 1920s to hostile characterizations of Indians. Questioning the implicit assumptions of prevailing critiques, Buscombe looks abroad to reveal a distinctly different portrait of Native Americans. He focuses on the lesser known Westerns made in Germany—such as East Germany’s Indianerfilme, in which Native Americans were Third World freedom fighters battling against Yankee imperialists—as well as the films based on the novels of nineteenth-century German writer Karl May. These alternative portrayals of Native Americans offer a vastly different view of their cultural position in American society.\nBuscombe offers nothing less than a wholly original and readable account of the cultural images of Native Americans through history andaround the globe, revealing new and complex issues in our understanding of how oppressed peoples have been represented in mass culture.\nKilling the Indian maiden : images of Native American women in film / M. Elise Marubbio. Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, c2006. 298pp. Main Library PN1995.9.I48 M37 2006 : Marubbio surveys images of Native American women in films of the 20th century and, in her conclusion, into the 21st. She identifies three archetypal constructions and so names the book's three sections: \"The Celluloid Princess,\" \"The Sexualized Maiden,\" and \"The Hybrid Celluloid Maiden.\" Basing her analysis on the groundbreaking work of frontier scholars such as Annette Kolodny and Richard Slotkin, the author extends paradigms of the feminine and the Other into a colonial framework in which cinema engages in a racial project that does the ideological work of oppression and colonial appropriation. She begins with silent films (images that often negotiate between savagism and civilization) and moves into the 1930s. Her strongest chapters analyze the Western as it emerged in the 1940s and continued into the 1950s-60s. Here Marubbio explores the tensions between the celluloid princess and the sexualized maiden as she critiques the films as \"social narratives and politically inspired works of art that inform us about our society's fears, desires, politics, conflicts, and structures of power.\" Marubbio's study, with its careful scholarship, is a welcome, valuable addition to the discussion of images of Native Americans. Collections of popular culture or film history are incomplete without it. [ film ]\nMaking the white man's Indian : native Americans and Hollywood movies / Angela Aleiss. Westport, Conn. : Praeger, c2005. 211pp. PN1995.9.I48 A44 2005 : The image in Hollywood movies of savage Indians attacking white settlers represents only one side of a very complicated picture. In fact sympathetic portrayals of Native Americans stood alongside those of hostile Indians in the silent films of D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and flourished during the early 1930s with Hollywood's cycle of pro-Indian adventures. Decades later, the stereotype became even more complicated, as films depicted the savagery of whites (The Searchers) in contrast to the more \"peaceful\" Indian (Broken Arrow). By 1990 the release of Dances with Wolves appeared to have recycled the romantic and savage portrayals embedded in early cinema. In this new study, author Angela Aleiss traces the history of Native Americans on the silver screen, and breaks new ground by drawing on primary sources such as studio correspondence, script treatments, trade newspapers, industry censorship files, and filmmakers' interviews to reveal how and why Hollywood created its Indian characters. Behind-the-scenes anecdotes of filmmakers and Native Americans, as well as rare archival photographs, supplement the discussion, which often shows a stark contrast between depiction and reality. [ film ]\nNavajo talking picture : cinema on native ground / Randolph Lewis. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2012. 215pp. Main Library E99.N3 L633 2012 : Navajo Talking Picture, released in 1985, is one of the earliest and most controversial works of Native cinema. It is a documentary by Los Angeles filmmaker Arlene Bowman, who travels to the Navajo reservation to record the traditional ways of her grandmother in order to understand her own cultural heritage. For reasons that have often confused viewers, the filmmaker persists despite her traditional grandmother’s forceful objections to the apparent invasion of her privacy. What emerges is a strange and thought-provoking work that abruptly calls into question the issue of insider versus outsider and other assumptions that have obscured the complexities of Native art....Randolph Lewis offers an insightful introduction and analysis of Navajo Talking Picture, in which he shows that it is not simply the first Navajo-produced film but also a path-breaking work in the history of indigenous media in the United States. Placing the film in a number of revealing contexts, including the long history of Navajo people working in Hollywood, the ethics of documentary filmmaking, and the often problematic reception of Native art, Lewis explores the tensions and mysteries hidden in this unsettling but fascinating film.\nReservation reelism : redfacing, visual sovereignty, and representations of Native Americans in film / Michelle H. Raheja. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, c2010. 338pp. Main Library PN1995.9.I48 R34 2010 :In this deeply engaging account Michelle H. Raheja offers the first book-length study of the Indigenous actors, directors, and spectators who helped shape Hollywood's representation of Indigenous peoples. Since the era of silent films, Hollywood movies and visual culture generally have provided the primary representational field on which Indigenous images have been displayed to non-Native audiences. These films have been highly influential in shaping perceptions of Indigenous peoples as, for example, a dying race or as inherently unable or unwilling to adapt to change. However, films with Indigenous plots and subplots also signify at least some degree of Native presence in a culture that largely defines Native peoples as absent or separate....Native actors, directors, and spectators have had a part in creating these cinematic representations and have thus complicated the dominant, and usually negative, messages about Native peoples that films portray. In Reservation Reelism Raheja examines the history of these Native actors, directors, and spectators, reveals their contributions, and attempts to create positive representations in film that reflect the complex and vibrant experiences of Native peoples and communities.\nSeeing red : Hollywood's pixeled skins : American Indians and film / edited by LeAnne Howe, Harvey Markowitz, Denise K. Cummings. East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, c2013. 225pp. Main Library PN1995.9.I48 S44 2013 : At once informative, comic, and plaintive, Seeing Red—Hollywood’s Pixeled Skins is an anthology of critical reviews that reexamines the ways in which American Indians have traditionally been portrayed in film. From George B. Seitz’s 1925 The Vanishing American to Rick Schroder’s 2004 Black Cloud, these 36 reviews by prominent scholars of American Indian Studies are accessible, personal, intimate, and oftentimes autobiographic. Seeing Red—Hollywood’s Pixeled Skins offers indispensible perspectives from American Indian cultures to foreground the dramatic, frequently ridiculous difference between the experiences of Native peoples and their depiction in film. By pointing out and poking fun at the dominant ideologies and perpetuation of stereotypes of Native Americans in Hollywood, the book gives readers the ability to recognize both good filmmaking and the dangers of misrepresenting aboriginal peoples. The anthology offers a method to historicize and contextualize cinematic representations spanning the blatantly racist, to the well-intentioned, to more recent independent productions. Seeing Red is a unique collaboration by scholars in American Indian Studies that draws on the stereotypical representations of the past to suggest ways of seeing American Indians and indigenous peoples more clearly in the twenty-first century.\nVisualities : perspectives on contemporary American Indian film and art / edited by Denise K. Cummings. East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, c2011 243pp. Main Library E98.A73 V57 2011 : In recent years, works by American Indian artists and filmmakers such as Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Edgar Heap of Birds, Sherman Alexie, Shelley Niro, and Chris Eyre have illustrated the importance of visual culture as a means to mediate identity in contemporary Native America. This insightful collection of essays explores how identity is created and communicated through Native film-, video-, and art-making; what role these practices play in contemporary cultural revitalization; and how indigenous creators revisit media pasts and resignify dominant discourses through their work. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Visualities: Perspectives on Contemporary American Indian Film and Art draws on American Indian Studies, American Studies, Film Studies, Cultural Studies, Women’s Studies, and Postcolonial Studies. Among the artists examined are Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, Eric Gansworth, Melanie Printup Hope, Jolene Rickard, and George Longfish. Films analyzed include Imprint, It Starts with a Whisper, Mohawk Girls, Skins, The Business of Fancydancing, and a selection of Native Latin films.\nWiping the war paint off the lens : Native American film and video / Beverly R. Singer ; foreword by Robert Warrior. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c2001. 110pp. PN1995.9.I48 S56 2001 : Native Americans have thrown themselves into filmmaking since the mid-1970s, producing hundreds of films and videos, and their body of work has had great impact on Native cultures and filmmaking itself. With their cameras, they capture the lives of Native people, celebrating community, ancestral lifeways, and identity. Not only artistic statements, the films are archives that document rich and complex Native communities and counter mainstream media portrayals....Wiping the War Paint off the Lens traces the history of Native experiences as subjects, actors, and creators, and develops a critical framework for approaching Native work. Singer positions Native media as part of a larger struggle for \"cultural sovereignty\"-the right to maintain and protect cultures and traditions. Taking it out of a European-American context, she reframes the discourse of filmmaking, exploring oral histories and ancient lifeways inform Native filmmaking and how it seeks to heal the devastation of the past. Singer's approach is both cultural and personal, provides both historical views and close textual readings, and may well set the terms of the critical debate on Native filmmaking.\nWant to Make a Recommendation?\nFeel free to recommend your favorite documentary or feature film for acquisition by the library. Send an email to Jon Harrison at [email protected] \nBetter yet the Library will be happy to accept donations and they are tax deductible too!"
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"Erithacus rubecula - The Full Wiki\nThe European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), most commonly known in Anglophone Europe simply as the Robin, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly ...\nErithacus rubecula - The Full Wiki\nThe Full Wiki\nMore info on Erithacus rubecula\n Wikis\nErithacus rubecula: Wikis\nAdvertisements\nNote: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles .\n(Redirected to European Robin article)\nFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nEuropean Robin\nSubspecies\n7-10, see text.\nThe European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), most commonly known in Anglophone Europe simply as the Robin, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). Around 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) in length, the male and female are similar in colouration, with an orange breast and face lined with grey, brown upperparts and a whitish belly. It is found across Europe, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa; it is sedentary in most of its range except the far north.\nThe term Robin is also applied to some unrelated birds with red or orange breasts. These include the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), which is a thrush , and the Australian red robins of the genus Petroica , which are more closely related to crows .\nContents\n8 External links\nTaxonomy\nThe European Robin was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae , under the name of Motacilla rubecula. [2] Its specific epithet rubecula is a diminutive derived from the Latin ruber 'red'. [3] The genus Erithacus was created by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800, giving the bird its current binomial name of E. rubecula. [4]\nThe distinctive orange breast of both sexes contributed to the European Robin's original name of redbreast (orange as the name of a colour was unknown in English until the sixteenth century, by which time the fruit of that name had been introduced). In the fifteenth century, when it became popular to give human names to familiar species, the bird came to be known as Robin redbreast, which was eventually shortened to Robin. [5] Other older English names for the bird include Ruddock and Robinet. In American literature of the late 19th century, this robin was frequently called the English Robin. [6] The Frisian robyntsje or robynderke is similar to the English name, [7] while Dutch Roodborstje and French Rougegorge both refer to the distinctively coloured front. [8]\nThe Robin belongs to a group of mainly insectivorous birds that have been variously assigned to the thrushes or \" flycatchers \", depending on how these groups were perceived taxonomically . Eventually, the flycatcher-thrush assemblage was re-analysed and the genus Erithacus assigned to a group of thrush-like true flycatchers, the tribe Saxicolini, that also includes the nightingale and the Old World chats . [9]\nTwo Eastern Palearctic species are usually placed in the genus Erithacus, the Japanese Robin (E. akahige) and the Ryūkyū Robin (E. komadori), the latter being a restricted-range island species. Biogeography and mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data indicate that these might better be classified with some Far Eastern \"nightingales\", leaving only the European species in Erithacus. [10]\nAdvertisements\nSubspecies\nIn its large continental Eurasian range, Robins vary somewhat, but do not form discrete populations that might be considered subspecies . [11] [12] Thus, Robin subspecies are mainly distinguished by forming resident populations on islands and in mountainous areas.\nThe British subspecies, Erithacus rubecula melophilus, differs only slightly from Continental birds.\nThe Robin from the British Isles (Erithacus rubecula melophilus) also occurs on the Continental side of the English channel and as a vagrant in adjacent regions. E. r. witherbyi from Northwestern Africa , Corsica , and Sardinia closely resembles melophilus but for a shorter wing length. [13] The northeasternmost birds, large and fairly washed-out in colour are E. r. tataricus. In the southeast of its range, E. r. valens of the Crimean Peninsula , E. r. caucasicus of the Caucasus and N Transcaucasia , and E. r. hyrcanus southeastwards into Iran are generally accepted as significantly distinct. [13]\nOn Madeira and the Azores , the local population has been described as E. r. microrhynchos, and although not distinct in morphology , its isolation seems to suggests the subspecies is valid (but see below). The most distinct birds are those of Tenerife and Gran Canaria (E. (r.) superbus), which may be a distinct species, the Tenerife Robin, Erithacus superbus. It is readily distinguished by a white eye-ring, an intensely coloured breast, and a grey line that separates the orange-red from the brown colouration. Its belly is entirely white. [14] Robins from the western Canary Islands – El Hierro , La Palma and La Gomera – on the other hand are indistinguishable from European E. r. rubecula. [13] While cytochrome b sequence data and vocalisations [15] indicate that the Tenerife/Gran Canaria Robins are indeed very distinct and probably derived from colonization by mainland birds some 2 million years ago , [16] The W Canary Islands populations are younger ( Middle Pleistocene ) and only beginning to diverge genetically. In addition, Tenerife and Gran Canaria birds are well distinct genetically and the latter have been named E. (r.) marionae; a thorough comparison between superbus and marionae is pending. Initial results suggest that Gran Canaria birds have distinctly shorter (c.10%) wings than Tenerife superbus. [11]\nOther robins\nThe larger American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is named for its similarity to the European Robin, but the two birds are not closely related. The similarity lies largely in the orange chest patch in both species. This American species was incorrectly shown \"feathering its nest\" in London in the film Mary Poppins , [17] but it only occurs in the UK as a very rare vagrant. [18] Some Central and South American Turdus thrushes are also named as robins such as the Mountain Robin (T. plebejus). [19] The Australian \"robin redbreast\", more correctly the Scarlet Robin (Petroica multicolor), is more closely related to the crows and jays than it is to the European Robin. It belongs to the family Petroicidae , commonly called \"Australasian robins\". The Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) is sometimes named \"Pekin Robin\" by aviculturalists . Yet another group of Old World Flycatchers, this time from Africa and Asia is the genus Copsychus; its members are known as Magpie-robins , one of which, the Oriental Magpie Robin (C. saularis), is the national bird of Bangladesh.\nDescription\nJuvenile\nThe adult European Robin is 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) long and weighs 16–22 g (9/16–13/16 oz ), with a wingspan of 20–22 cm (8–9 in). The male and female bear similar plumage; an orange breast and face (more strongly coloured in the otherwise similar British subspecies E. r. mesophilus), lined by a bluish grey on the sides of the neck and chest. The upperparts are brownish, or olive-tinged in British birds, and the belly whitish, while the legs and feet are brown. The bill and eyes are black. Juveniles are a spotted brown and white in colouration, with patches of orange gradually appearing. [20]\nVocalisations\nThe Robin has a fluting, warbling song in the breeding season, when they often sing into the evening, and sometimes into the night, leading some to confuse them with the Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos). Nocturnal singing in urban Robins occurs in places that are noisy during the day, suggesting that they sing at night because it is quieter, and their message can propagate through the environment more clearly. Daytime noise outperformed night-time light pollution as a predictor of nocturnal singing activity in urban robins in Sheffield , England. [21] Both the male and female sing during the winter, when they hold separate territories, the song then sounding more plaintive than the summer version. [20] The female Robin moves a short distance from the summer nesting territory to a nearby area that is more suitable for winter feeding. The male Robin keeps the same territory throughout the year.\nDistribution and habitat\nThe Robin occurs in Eurasia east to Western Siberia , south to Algeria and on the Atlantic islands as far west as the Azores and Madeira . It is not found in Iceland . [20] In the south east, it reaches the Caucasus range. British Robins are largely resident but a small minority, usually female, migrate to southern Europe during winter, a few as far as Spain . Scandinavian and Russian Robins migrate to Britain and western Europe to escape the harsher winters. These migrants can be recognised by the greyer tone of the upper parts of their bodies and duller orange breast. The European Robin prefers spruce woods in northern Europe, contrasting with its preference for parks and gardens in the British Isles. [22]\nAttempts to introduce the European Robin into Australia and New Zealand in the latter part of the 19th century were unsuccessful. Birds were released around Melbourne , Auckland , Christchurch , Wellington and Dunedin by various local Acclimatisation societies , with none becoming established. There was a similar outcome in North America as birds failed to establish after being released in Long Island , New York in 1852, Oregon in 1889-92, and the Saanich Peninsula in British Columbia in 1908-10. [23]\nBehaviour\nFeeding from the hand\nThe Robin is diurnal , although has been reported to be active hunting insects on moonlit nights or near artificial light at night. [12] Well known to British and Irish gardeners, it is relatively unafraid of people and likes to come close when anyone is digging the soil, in order to look out for earthworms and other food freshly turned up; when the gardener stops for a break the robin might use the handle of the spade as a lookout point. Indeed, the robin is considered by many to be a gardener's friend and for various folklore reasons the robin would never be harmed. In continental Europe on the other hand, robins were hunted and killed as most other small birds and are more wary. [20] Robins also approach large wild animals, such as wild boar and other animals which disturb the ground, to look for any food that might be brought to the surface. In autumn and winter, robins will supplement their usual diet of terrestrial invertebrates, such as spiders, worms and insects, with berries and fruit. [22] They will also eat seed mixtures placed on bird-tables. [20]\nA robin's egg\nMale Robins are noted for their highly aggressive territorial behaviour. They will ruthlessly attack other males that stray into their territories, and have been observed attacking other small birds without apparent provocation. Such attacks sometimes lead to fatalities, accounting for up to 10% of adult Robin deaths in some areas. [24]\nBecause of high mortality in the first year of life, a Robin has an average life expectancy of 1.1 years; however, once past its first year it can expect to live longer and one Robin has been recorded as reaching the age of 12 years. [25] Predators include the domestic cat, which kills 15 times as many birds as do birds of prey such as the owl or sparrowhawk. A spell of very low temperature in winter may also result in significant mortality. [24]\nBreeding\nFemale robin in its nest, incubating a clutch of eggs\nRobins may choose a wide variety of sites for building a nest, in fact anything which can offer some form of depression or hole may be considered. As well as the usual crevices, or sheltered banks, odder objects include pieces of machinery, barbecues, bicycle handlebars, bristles on upturned brooms, discarded kettles, watering cans, flower pots and even hats. The nest is composed of moss, leaves and grass, with finer grass, hair and feathers for lining. Two or three clutches of five or six eggs are laid throughout the breeding season, which commences in March in Britain and Ireland . The eggs are a cream, buff or white speckled or blotched with reddish-brown colour, often more heavily so at the larger end. [26] When juvenile birds fly from the nests they are mottled brown in colour all over. After two to three months out of the nest, the juvenile bird grows some orange feathers under its chin and over a similar period this patch gradually extends to complete the adult appearance.\nCultural depictions\n1880 Engraving\nThe robin features prominently in British folklore, and that of northwestern France, but much less so in other parts of Europe. [27] It was held to be a storm-cloud bird and sacred to Thor , the god of thunder, in Norse mythology . [28] More recently, it has become strongly associated with Christmas , taking a starring role on many a Christmas card since the mid 19th century. [29] The Robin has also appeared on many Christmas postage stamps. An old British folk tale seeks to explain the Robin's distinctive breast. Legend has it that when Jesus was dying on the cross, the Robin, then simply brown in colour, flew to his side and sang into his ear in order to comfort him in his pain. The blood from his wounds stained the Robin's breast, and thereafter all Robins got the mark of Christ's blood upon them. [28] An alternative legend has it that its breast was scorched fetching water for souls in Purgatory. [29] The association with Christmas, however, more probably arises from the fact that postmen in Victorian Britain wore red uniforms and were nicknamed \"Robin\"; the Robin featured on the Christmas card is an emblem of the postman delivering the card. [30] Robins also feature in the traditional children's tale, Babes in the Wood ; the birds cover the dead bodies of the children. [29]\nIn the 1960s in a highly publicised vote, the Robin was adopted as the national bird of the UK . Unlike other countries, official emblems such as flags and anthems become national by convention and usage (see Union Jack and God Save The Queen ) rather than by vote in Parliament . The Robin was used as a symbol of a Bird Protection Society. [31]\nSeveral English and Welsh professional football clubs are nicknamed \"The Robins\"; Bristol City , Swindon Town , Cheltenham Town and, traditionally, Wrexham FC : the nickname is derived from the clubs' home colours being red . A small bird is an unusual choice, though it is thought to symbolise agility in darting around the field. [32] In addition to the football club, the Swindon Robins is the full name of the local Speedway promotion. It is also the nickname of the English Rugby League team Hull Kingston Rovers . The nickname is derived from the club's home colours, of white with a red band. [33]\nNotes and references\n^ BirdLife International (2004). Erithacus rubecula. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org . Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern\n^ Linnaeus, C (1758) (in Latin). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii).. pp. 188. \"M. grisea, gula pectoreque fulvis.\" \n^ Simpson, D.P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd.. pp. 883. ISBN 0-304-52257-0. \n^ (French) Cuvier, G. (1800) Lecons d'Anatomie Comparée Paris.\n^ Lack, D. (1950). Robin Redbreast. Oxford: Oxford, Clarendon Press. pp. 44. \n^ Sylvester, Charles H. (2006). Journeys Through Bookland. BiblioBazaar, LLC. pp. 155. ISBN 1426421176. \n^ J. Simpson, E. Weiner (eds), ed (1989). \"Robin\". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-861186-2. \n^ Holland J (1965). Bird Spotting. London: Blandford. pp. 225. \n^ Monroe Jr. BL, Sibley CG (1993). A World Checklist of Birds. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 228. ISBN 0-300-05549-8. \n^ Seki, Shin-Ichi (2006): The origin of the East Asian Erithacus robin, Erithacus komadori, inferred from cytochrome b sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(3): 899–905. doi : 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.028",
"Field Guide/Mammals/United States/Minnesota - Wikibooks ...\n< Field Guide | Mammals | United States. ... to Canada, and throughout northern states from Washington to Maine. ... They build their nests out of stems, twigs, ...\nField Guide/Mammals/United States/Minnesota - Wikibooks, open books for an open world\nField Guide/Mammals/United States/Minnesota\nJump to: navigation , search\nThis page is being developed as a guide to mammals of Minnesota by the students of Writing Studies 3562W, section 9, at the University of Minnesota.\nSize: Total Length: 2.5 feet (76 centimeters)\nTail Length: 1 foot (30.48 centimeters)\nWeight: 8-13.2 pounds (4-6 kilograms)\nDescription: Greyish-white fur that is long and dense. Has a long, pointed face with whiskers. Tail is long and has very little fur. [1]\nSimilar Species: Opossums are characterized by their long tail, which can act like a third appendage when hanging from a tree.\nRange: The opossum can be found as far north as the Canadian border, and as far south as Costa Rica. It can be found throughout the United States.\nHabitat: Opossum do not have a specific habitat. They can be found in cities and rural areas. They populate wooded areas along creeks and lakes.\nDiet: Opossum are omnivores. They eat grass and fruit as well as mice, worms, and chickens. They are scavengers and can often be found by road kill or garbage cans and dumpsters. [2]\nActivity: Opossum do not migrate or have a specific territory. They are nocturnal.\nReproduction: Gestation period is 12-13 days from the months of February to July. The young are as small as honeybees when they are born. After birth they crawl into the females pouch, where they continue to develop and start to nurse. Litter sizes can be as large as 20, though half do not survive. They leave their mother 90-105 days after birth. [3]\nLifespan: 2-3 years\nBaby Opossum\n↑ Krause, W. J.; Krause, W. A. (2006), The Opossum: Its Amazing Story, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri: Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine \n↑ National Geographic (2012), Opossum , http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/opossum/ , retrieved 9-23-12 \n↑ National Geographic (2012), Opossum , http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/opossum/ , retrieved 9-23-12 \nSize: The total length of the American Beaver is 3-4 feet (1000-1200mm).\nIts average tail length is 10-13 inches (258-325mm). [1]\nThe average weight is 40-50 pounds average (18.1-22.7 Kg); may be up to 90 pounds (40.8 Kg). [2]\nDescription: This species is a large rodent with yellow-brown to black fur. Young beavers have black fur that lightens with age. The under fur is dense while the guard hair is long and coarse. The American Beaver has large teeth and a large, flat, scaled, and hairless tail. The hind feet are webbed for swimming and the front feet are small. All of the feet have claws. [1]\nSimilar Species: The American Beaver is the largest rodent in North America. Its large teeth and large, flat tail distinguish it from other similar species. [2]\nRange: The American Beaver is generally found throughout North America. The only exceptions are in the peninsula of Florida, the southwest deserts of the United States, and the Arctic Circle. [3]\nHabitat: This species lives near lakes, ponds, and streams. They must be near trees for building and a food and water source. American Beavers often reconstruct their habitat to create dams. [3]\nDiet: The American beaver is a herbivore. This species will eat most types of plants that surround their habitat including leaves, twigs, bark of trees, and aquatic plants. Their diet varies among seasons. In the summer, American Beavers eat mostly willow leaves and twigs and herbaceous vegetation. In the fall, they store lots of branches and bark to eat in the winter. [1]\nActivity: During the spring, summer, and fall the American Beaver is active about 12 hours a day. They are considered to be nocturnal and diurnal because they are active during parts of the day and night. Beavers activity occurs from early evening until early morning. During the day, they rest in their homes. [1]\nReproduction: American Beavers reproduce only once per year producing a litter of 3-4. They reach sexual maturity around 1 1/2 years old which means they breed during their second winter. Breeding usually occurs from January to February with an average gestation of 107 days. Babies are usually born between May and June although this may vary between February and November. [1]\nLifespan: The average American Beaver lives for twelve years. [2]\nNotes: The American Beaver has adapted to have its ears and nose close when going underwater. They may stay under water up to 20 minutes at a time. Babies will swim under water for the first time on the day they are born. Beavers are active woodcutters and dam builders. When they overpopulate an area, they build too many dams which cause floods for the area. Beavers are listed under least concern on the IUCN Red List.\nAmerican Beaver\n↑ a b c Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (2012), Beaver , http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/beaver.html , retrieved October 4, 2012 \n↑ a b Linzey, A; NatureServe; Hammerson, G; Cannings, S (2011), Castor Canadensis , http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/summary/4003/0 , retrieved October 9, 2012 \nMarmota monax ( Woodchuck )\nFamily: Squirrel (Sciuridae)\nSize: Woodchucks weigh anywhere from 4 to 13 lbs (2-6 kg), and range from 16 to 27 inches (415-675 mm) in total length. Their tail length ranges from 4 to 6 inches (100-160 mm) in length. [1]\nDescription: Woodchucks are stout in appearance. Their fur color varies greatly, but ranges from gray to cinnamon to dark brown. They have white-tipped guard hairs giving them a grizzled appearance. Their paws are typically black to dark down. They have a short bushy tail that is often black or dark brown. The species also has white teeth and rounded ears. [1]\nSimilar Species: Unlike most rodents, woodchucks have white teeth. Their paws are also black, unlike a subspecies that has pink. [1]\nRange: The woodchuck ranges from central Alaska, east through Canada south of the northwest territories; in the eastern United States south to Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas; in the western United States absent from the Great Plains, extending down to northern Idaho. [2]\nHabitat: The woodchuck is typically found in farmlands, small woodlots, forests, fields, pastures, and hedgerows. It constructs its dens in well-drained soils. They have separate dens for the winter and summer. Winter dens are located near protective cover, while summer dens are located near food sources. [1] [2]\nDiet: Woodchucks are primarily herbivores , eating a wide variety of herbs, grasses, leaves, bark, and nuts. They also eat insects and mollusks. [1] [2]\nActivity: Woodchucks are diurnal . They feed twice daily during the summer, and mate soon after hibernation. Generally, woodchucks hibernate, however in the southern range, they have been known to remain active throughout the entire year due to a warmer climate. [1]\nReproduction: The woodchuck’s breeding season extends from early March to mid-April. gestation lasts 31-32 days. Their litter size varies from 2-6, with an average litter size of 4 per year. The young become independent after two months, and sexually mature in one year. [1] [2]\nLifespan: Woodchucks live 4 to 6 years in the wild. [1]\nNotes: Woodchucks are non-social animals. They have a high tendency to be territorial, and use secretions from their facial and anal glands to designate territorial boundaries. Their sight is used to spot predators and make visual threats to other species. Woodchucks avoid predators by staying elevated in trees and constantly checking their surroundings while feeding. They often use their teeth to defend themselves. Known predators include hawks, snakes, bobcats, black bears, lynx, foxes, wolves, and coyotes. [1]\nWoodchucks have both positive and negative economic importance for Humans. The positive economic importance for humans is that they have been used in biomedical research to investigate hepatitis B, obesity, energy balance, the endocrine system, reproduction, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and neoplastic disease. The negative economic importance for humans is that they are known to destroy farmlands, garden, and pastures. [1]\nThere are currently no major threats to this species according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [2]\nWoodchuck\n↑ a b c d e Linzey, A.V.; Cannings, S. (2008), Marmota monax (Woodchuck) , http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42458/0 , retrieved October 7, 2012 \nFranklin's Ground Squirrel[ edit ]\nSpermophilus franklinii [1] ( Franklin's Ground Squirrel )\nFamily: Squirrel (Sciuridae) [1]\nSize: Length: Ranges from 14-16 inches (355-410 mm). Average is 14.6 inches (371 mm). Average Weight: Males is 12.3-33.5 oz. (350-950 g). Females is 12-26.8 oz. (340-760 g). [2]\nDescription: Dark brownish grey fur speckled with pale and dark flecks. Fur on sides of body is pale. Tail is blackish mixed with pale flecks. Head is typically grayer than the rest of their body. [3]\nSimilar Species: Franklin’s Ground Squirrel is similar to the Gray Tree Squirrel except that Franklin’s Ground Squirrel is smaller and has shorter ears and tail. [4]\nRange: Occurs in the United States and Canada. From Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois northward to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. [3]\nHabitat: Tall, dense cover grasses, shrubs, and small trees. Tallgrass and mid-grass prairie. Occupy prairie, woodland edges, forest openings, thickets, and bog borders. Avoid short grass. [5] Agriculture suitable habitats include fence rows to old fields, [4] cemetery prairies, and ditch banks. [5]\nDiet: Most carnivorous of ground squirrels. Green plants, seeds, fruit, insects, amphibians, bird eggs, young birds and mammals, and carrion. [5]\nActivity: It is Diurnal. [5] Begins hibernation by late September. [3] Emerge from hibernation during April. [5]\nReproduction: Breeding starts immediately after hibernation and lasts until early June. Gestation lasts 28 days. [1] Litter size is 5-11, average is 7. One litter per year. Weaned in 40 days. [3] Born naked and blind. Fully furred after 16 days. Eyes open after 18-20 days. [1]\nLifespan: Females 4-5 years. Males 1-2 years. [1]\nCute little Franklin's Ground Squirrel eating.\n↑ a b c d e Ostroff, A. C.; Finck, E. J. (2003), \"Spermophilus franklinii\" , The American Society of Mammalogists, http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/724_Spermophilus_franklinii.pdf , retrieved September 24, 2012 \n↑ \"North American Mammals:Spermophilusfranklinii\" , Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History NMNH, http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=337 , retrieved September 24, 2012 \n↑ a b c d e Hofmann, J. E. (1999), INHS Reports: Franklin's Ground Squirrel: An Increasingly Rare Prairie Mammal , Illinois Natural History Survey - University of Illinois, http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports/jan-feb99/franklin.html , retrieved September 24, 2012 \nRichardson's ground squirrel[ edit ]\nSpermophilus tridecemlineatus ( Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel )\nFamily: Sciuridae\nSize: Weighing around 8 oz (227 g), they are a smaller, more slender squirrel with a body length around 10 inches (25 cm) along with a 3 inch tail (8 cm). [1]\nDescription: Known for having small ears, elongated bodies, and thirteen stripes down their back from the nape of the neck extending down through the tail. These stripes alternate from a dark brown or black color to a light tan or white and also turn into spots along their back. Their front paws only have four toes with very long claws but the back feet have five toes with normal claws. Their long claws are used for digging along with large cheeks to carry food. [1]\nSimilar Species: Similar species to the thirteen lined ground squirrel are the Richardson’s Ground Squirrel and the Wyoming Ground Squirrel. They can be differentiated by their small ears, long bodies, and the thirteen strips along their backs. [1]\nRange: Home to central North America, it has extended its range over the past two centuries northward and eastward. Currently, they spread from east of Ohio to west of Montana and Arizona. [1]\nHabitat: Because they enjoy burrowing, open areas with short grass and well drained soil are common areas to live. Although it used to be mostly prairies, cemeteries, golf courses, and other well groomed areas are now considered home for these gophers. [1]\nDiet: Being omnivorous, 50% of the food eaten are animal matter such as insects, bugs, mice, birds, and other small animals. Also, they consume seeds from weeds and available crop species. It will also eat grass, leaves and clovers, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and roots. These animals hardly ever drink water or other liquids and depend on the food that they eat to contain water for hydration. [1] [2]\nActivity: These ground squirrels come up when the sun is up and the earth is warm but return to their burrows before sundown. Coming out of their burrow is rare unless the sun is out. They like the warmth of their burrow when it is overcast and rainy. When they first come out of the burrow, you will often see the ground squirrel stand on its hind legs to survey the ground around them to check for predators. These animals begin hibernation anywhere from September to late October depending on their region and come up anytime in late January to March. Males usually begin and end hibernation earlier than females do. [1]\nReproduction: Within two weeks after hibernation, the Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel begins breeding. On average, only one litter per female is born per year. Averaging around eight to ten babies per liter, they are born hairless and blind with a gestation period of around 28 days. After these 28 days are over, the animal is ready to start weaning off of their mother and start living on their own. Sexual maturity for both males and females is around nine months after birth. [1]\nLifespan: : An estimated 90% of newborn ground squirrels are killed by predators. If the squirrel is fortunate enough to survive it usually only lives around two years. [1]\nNotes: The thirteen lined ground squirrels are not colonizing animals and there are only 1 to 20 of these animals per acre but this changes per season. Also, these animals hibernate and allow their heart rates to drop from their normal 200 beats per minute to around 20 beats per minute keeping their body temperatures just slightly above freezing. Not only do they let their heart rates drop during hibernation but they also lose almost 1/3 of their body weight during this time. These little animals also have a great sense of vision, touch, and smell. They use these sounds and secretions to communicate. Also, this species greet each other by touching noses and lips. [1]\nSize: Total Length: 8.5-11.2 inches (215-285mm)\nTail Length: 2.8-4 inches (72-101mm)\nWeight: 2.8-5.3 oz. (80-150g)\nDescription: 5 black stripes over red-brown, white, and grey stripes on back. Cream belly, white “eyeliner” stripes, 4 toes on front paws & 5 toes on back paws [1] , red-brown tail brown on tip [2]\nSimilar Species: The Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus) has similar striping patterns and toes, but is quite a bit smaller than the Eastern Chipmunk.\nRange: The Eastern Chipmunk ranges from Eastern and Central United States (as far south as Louisiana and Florida) and Southeastern Canada, including Nova Scotia.\nHabitat: Eastern Chipmunks live in burrows in deciduous forest or woodland edge, but they are also able to survive in urban environments [3] . The home territory of an Eastern Chipmunk is usually less than 100 yards.\nDiet: The Eastern Chipmunk eats nuts, acorns, seeds, mushrooms, corn, and sometimes berries, slugs, and snails. They collect up to 8 pounds of food for eating in winter.\nActivity: Chipmunks run from burrow to collect food. They stuff and carry food in cheek pouches, as well as soil when digging burrows [3] . They are diurnal and hibernate.\nReproduction: Chipmunks call for mating season is a short “chip, chip, chip.” Mating is in March and again the latter half of June-July. Females may bite dominant male as form of rejection. Gestation is 31-32 days, and litters average 4-5. The babies are furless at birth and open eyes after the first month.\nLifespan: Eastern Chipmunks live 1-3 years, and up to 8 years in captivity.\nNotes: They wake from hibernation and torpor to eat some and then return to sleep. (Torpor is an advanced stage of hibernation where about 75% of the chipmunk’s functions cease. This decreases energy usage, but can cause temporary brain damage [3] .)\nEastern Chipmunk\n↑ Anderson, R.; Stephens, J. (2002), \"Tamias striatus\" , Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Tamias_striatus \n↑ Whitaker, J.O (1980), A.A.Knopf, ed., Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) \n↑ a b c Snyder, D. P. (1982), \"Tamias striatus\" , Mammalian Species 168: 1-8, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ Invalid <ref> tag; name \"name\" defined multiple times with different content\n�\nSize: Range mass: 1.48oz-1.87oz (42g-53g)\nRange length: 7.28in-8.74in (185mm-222mm)\nRange length of tail: 81mm-95mm\nDescription: The least chipmunk is the smallest of all the chipmunks. In some of the chipmunk population the female are bigger than the male. They have three dark and two light stripes on the face, with five dark and four light stripes along the sides which the middle strip runs all the way to the tail. Their fur colors are orangish-brown and grayish-white. The tail is long and bushy with a pale brown color to it.\nHabitat: They live throughout North America from the Rocky Mountain regions to the western Great Plains. They are also found throughout central and western Canada, and in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. They prefer more open areas like forest edges and the openings. Some common places are near rock cliffs, river bluffs and open pine stands. The least chipmunk is the most widespread North American chipmunk, both in their geographic range and habitats (Harris, 1999).\nDiet: The least chipmunks eat a variety of food which their diet consist of seeds, nuts, berries, fruits, grasses, fungi, snails, insects and possibly some small birds or mammals (Schlimme, 2000). These chipmunks spend most of their time from April through October foraging. Their cheek pouches allow them to carry food items back to their nests and are either eaten or store. They feed on ground, in shrubs or up in the trees and store food underground to use during winter (Harris, 1999).\nActivity: When it’s cold the least chipmunks will climb on trees to keep themselves warm in the sun. They are adept climbers and some of them will make nest high above grounds where their nest are built seasonally. These least chipmunks are most active between the month of April and October. For the summer, their nest will be made from leaves and bark that are in rotting logs and tree cavities. As the winter, their nest will be underground burrows which consist of dried grass, bark, fur, feathers and soft vegetation. Hibernation for the least chipmunks is not as deep as compare to ground squirrels (Schlimme, 2000). Hibernation occurs from October to April and the male enter hibernation first (Harris, 1999). During these winter months and season they often awake to snack on stored food. They are not social except during mating season and during the time they are rearing young. But, when provisioned by humans then they are remarkably tolerant of conspecifics (Schlimme, 2000).\nReproduction: The males come out from hibernation before the females do and starts to get involve in competition for mates. Individual are sexually mature by 10 months. The mating season starts in April when females begin to come out of hibernation. Gestation usually last about 28-30 days for the least chipmunks (Harris, 1999). Litter size varies between 2 to 6 young and during a breeding season normally there is only a single litter of off springs but are capable of a second litter if the first one is lost. Young are born from April through May and will appear above ground around June to early July (Harris, 1999). Newborns are naked with a pink color, are 50 mm in length and average about 2.25 g. After the 28th days, their eyes will open and fur will not be fully grown until by the 40th day. Some may move the newborn to tree nest after they begin to activity out of the nest (Harris, 1999). As for lactation it’ll last about 60 days and the newborns will be with their mother for up to six weeks or more. The female will choose their nests for nursery while still pregnant. They are often lines with grass and usually located in stumps, under logs, in brush piles, or even rock piles. The location or position of the chosen nest for nursery will be protected from rainfall and runoff for the health and comfort of the newborns after birth. The role of males in the care for off springs is not certain but some indications are that males may help defend the home range of female with off springs, help maintain the nursery nest, and also bring food. (Schlimme, 2000).\nLifespan: The lifespan of these animals has not been reported but are known to be shorter than the Eastern chipmunks, which can live up to 11 years (Schlimme, 2000).\nSize: Total length: 110-138 Inches (280-350 cm)\nTail length: 42- 56 Inches (106-142 cm)\nWeight: 5-9 oz (140-250 g) [1]\nDescription: Smallest squirrel in North America besides the flying squirrel. They are brownish-red in color with a white underbody and a black stripe to separate the two colors. Tail is also brownish-red in color, but has grey with white flecks underneath. Have prominent white eye ring. [2]\nSimilar Species: In addition to its very small size, the red squirrel has a reddish coat and a white eye ring that set it apart from other squirrels. They also have distinguished ear tufts [2]\nRange: The red squirrel ranges across northern North America. They are found as far north as Alaska and across Canada. The squirrel is found all the way into northern Georgia, Arizona, and New Mexico. [3]\nHabitat: This species prefers coniferous and mixed forests. It can also be found in hedgerows and deciduous forests. They prefer to nest in tree cavities, but also constructs leaf nests and uses ground burrows. The main factor of the squirrels habitat is the amount of food available. [4]\nDiet: The red squirrel is omnivorous, but is primarily herbivorous. Their diet consists of seeds, conifer cones, nuts, fruits while occasionally feeding on invertebrates and small vertebrates. [3]\nActivity: A diurnal animal that is active throughout the year. They are usually active the two hours after sunrise and before sunset for the purpose of feeding or social activity. Young squirrels tend be more active during the day for feeding. Red squirrels can be active at night, but it is usually caused by weather conditions. In addition, during the fall season there is a heavier focus on feeding which causes the squirrels to be more active. [4]\nReproduction: Red squirrels are sexually mature around one year old. Breeding season is from February to midsummer. Females are in estrus for less than a day, but may be solicited by several males. This can lead to breeding chases for several hours. Females usually have one litter a year, but occasionally have two litters. They will have 3-5 young per litter after a 35 day gestation period. The young are nursed for about 45 days and then leave the nest. They may remain with their mother after that for another several weeks or a month before going out on their own. [2]\nLifespan: Average life expectancy is about three years. [2] They have been known to live as long as 9 years in some cases. Predation can greatly impact the life expectancy of red squirrels in a range. [4]\nNotes: insert notes\n↑ a b c Linzey, A.V. (2008), \"Tamiasciurus hudsonicus\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42587/0 , retrieved October 4, 2012 \nEastern Fox Squirrel[ edit ]\nSciurus niger ( Eastern Fox Squirrel )\nFamily: Sciuridae\nSize: The length of an eastern fox squirrel 17-27 inches (431.8-685.8mm) with a tail length of 10 inches long. [1] It weighs from 1-2 pounds (.45-.91kg) [2]\nDescription: Eastern fox squirrel is a pretty large size squirrel with a long furry tail. The colors of their fur are black and silver-grey but mostly seen in reddish-brown. The belly is lighter colored in reddish-orange bellies and their nose, ears, and teeth are colored white. This species likes to sit on an upright position when peaking, eating, and observing. Eastern fox squirrels can also climb trees very well because of its sharp claws and masculine body. [3]\nSimilar Species: This specie is similar to eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinesis) but has a bigger body. [3]\nRange: These eastern fox squirrels live all over eastern and central United States, southern Canada, and northeastern Mexico. [1] As for Minnesota, they are sighted in all of Minnesota forests.\nHabitat: Eastern fox squirrels only likes to live by wide and tall grasslands, forests (trees like oak trees and pine trees for nesting and food), and swamps.\nDiet: All year long, they like to eat plants such as flowers and grasses. Eastern fox squirrels also like to eat fruits, nuts, and seeds. Not only that, they like to eat insects and rarely birds. [1] [3]\nActivity: Eastern fox squirrels do not hibernate during the winter or any other season. They like to sleep at night and become active in the morning and around the late afternoons. When they are awake, they climb trees, eat, look for food, and bury nuts underground for winter.\nReproduction: Eastern fox squirrels can mate all year long but most mate twice; usually during the spring and winter seasons. Male eastern fox squirrels start mating when they are 10-11 months old. [3] Pregnant females tend to give birth after 44 days and have about 1-6 babies but 1-3 only makes it alive. Female eastern fox squirrels can have up to two litters per year too. After 3 months of age, the babies can pretty much explore on their own lives. [1]\nLifespan: For this specie, they are known to live up to 18 years of life but rarely make adulthood. Therefore, they usually live for 4-8 years in average. [1]\nNotes: Eastern fox squirrels have a tail that is 40% as long as its body (from tip of nose to start of tail). Hunters hunt these species and other squirrels for food. They are usually hunted during the early fall seasons in state forests throughout Minnesota.\nEastern Fox Squirrel\n↑ a b c d e Fahey, Bridget, Fox Squirrel , http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Sciurus_niger/ , retrieved October 7, 2012 \n↑ Mason, Jim (2003), Fox Squirrel , http://www.gpnc.org/fox.htm , retrieved October 7, 2012 \nFamily: Sciuridae\nSize: Weight is usually 11.9-26.4 oz (338-750g). Length is 15-20.7 in. (380-525mm).\nDescription: Medium sized tree squirrel. No differences in size or color between sexes. Back of squirrel ranges from grey to cinnamon color. Front is light grey. [1]\nSimilar Species: Most differentiable feature between other similar squirrels is its long bushy tail. [2]\nRange: Ranges from just west of Mississippi River through eastern states of the United States and up into Canada. Also live in Italy, Scotland, England and Ireland.\nHabitat: Large woodlands with trees that produce winter storage such as acorns or walnuts.\nDiet: Mainly nuts, buds, and flowers. Will eat farm crops such as corn or wheat, especially during winter. May also eat frogs, eggs, and insects.\nActivity: The eastern grey squirrel does not hibernate. It is most active in summer 2 hours after sunrise and 2-5 hours before sunset to avoid overheating in the sun. [1]\nReproduction: There are 2 breeding seasons; one in first 2 months of the year, second in the middle 2 months of year. Gestation is 40 days. Many males may mate with one female. Once mated, the male has no role in rearing offspring. Average litter size of 3. Female will generally give birth to cavity prepared in tree. Newborn have no fur and develop the fur by 4 weeks. At 12 weeks, the young will be adult size and independent.\nLifespan: Average of 6 or less years [2]\nNotes: The eastern grey squirrel was an important source of food for both the colonists and Native Americans and is still eaten by some people today. Squirrels can be a household pest by getting into bird feeders and can be destructive to property. Squirrels will either live permanently in a hollowed out tree or build a temporary nest made of twigs and leaves in the notch of tree branches. The eastern grey squirrel is hunted by many animals including hawks, coyotes, bobcats, and other carnivores. They are hard to catch because of their quickness and will produce a shriek to warn others of danger when a predator is near. They will eat almost anything including nuts, berries, field crops, and have even been known to be cannibalistic. They primarily live in large areas of heavily wooded areas. Communication between squirrels is translated through twitches and posture. The sense of smell is important to the eastern grey squirrel, allowing them to sense stress and the reproductive state of other squirrels. The eastern grey squirrel is important to its ecosystem, being known for spreading seeds of multiple beneficial plants. They are also the prey to many carnivores and prey on nuts and small animals as well. [1]\nEastern Gray Squirrel, Sciuris carolinensis\n↑ a b Hamilton , H. (1990), Hinterland , http://www.hww.ca/en/species/mammals/eastern-grey-squirrel.html , retrieved October 1, 2012 \nNorthern Flying Squirrel[ edit ]\nGlaucomys sabrinus ( Northern Flying Squirrel )\nFamily: Sciuridae\nSize: Total Length: 10.24 in. (260 mm.). Tail Length: 8.19 in. (208 mm.). [1] Weight: 2-3 oz. (56.7-85.05 g.) [2]\nDescription: The Northern Flying Squirrel has dense fur, olive-brown above and white below. [1]\nIt also has large brown eyes. Its tail is uniformly gray with a dark tip. [2]\nThe tail is also flat for aerial control. The Northern Flying Squirrel has a membrane, called a patagium, which stretches from the front to the hind limbs. [3]\nSimilar Species: The Northern Flying Squirrel is similar in appearance to the Southern Flying Squirrel, but larger and more robust. The Southern Flying Squirrel has a tail that is paler below and has a darker tip than The Northern Flying Squirrel. [1]\nRange: Continuous across North America through central Canada. [1]\nHabitat: Northern Flying Squirrels inhabit cool and moist forests near swamps or streams. Mixed coniferous-deciduous forests are ideal habitats for the species. [1] In addition, they can be found to nest in tree hollows or leaf nests. [2]\nDiet: Their diet is omnivorous [4] , characteristic of most squirrels' diets. [5]\nActivity: They have a nocturnal activity pattern in the late summer, leaving the nest shortly after sundown and returning within two hours. They do not hibernate, remaining active during the winter months. [1]\nReproduction: Mates in late March through May. Gestation period of 37-42 days. Typical litter size of 2-4 (2-3 litters per year). Newborns weigh .18 oz. (5-6 g.) and are 2.76 in. (70mm) in length. Weaned at 2 months. [1]\nLifespan: 4 years in the wild. 13 years in captivity. [5]\nNotes: The Northern Flying Squirrel has a long tail, up to 80% of its body length. It has no evident sexual dimorphism. Common predators include Barn Owls (Tylo alba), Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus), Red-tailed Hawks (Butao jamaicensis), and House Cats (Felis catus). Female Northern Flying Squirrels raise the young, with no help from male. Northern Flying Squirrels are social and often share nests during the winter. The Northern Flying Squirrel actually does not fly; it glides with glide lengths averages of 16.6 ft. (19.7 m.). They also help disperse conifer seeds. The Northern Flying Squirrel is usually clumsy on the ground and will occasionally get its patagium tangled in barbed wire and die. [1]\nNorthern Flying Squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus\n↑ a b c d e f g h Wells-Gosling, Heaney, N., L.R. (1984), Glaucomys sabrinus, pp. 1-8 \n↑ a b c Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (2012), Glaucomys sabrinus \n↑ Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (2012), Glaucomys sabrinus \n↑ Riebe, j. (2004), Glaucomys sabrinus \n↑ a b Malamuth, Mulheisen, E., M. (1999) \nSouthern Flying Squirrel[ edit ]\nSize: Length: 8.3 to 10.1 inches (21.1 to 25.7 cm)\nTail Length: 3.1 to 4.7 inches (7.9 to 12 cm)\nWeight: 2.3 ounces (65.2 grams) [1]\nDescription: Grayish-brown coat on the top of its body with a creamy white underside, large eyes that help the species see at night, gliding membrane that is a flap of loose skin from its wrist to its ankle that gives it the ability to glide through the air. [1] [2]\nSimilar Species: Similar in characteristics to its cousin, the tree squirrel, gliding membrane is their differentiating trait. [2]\nRange: Every state east of Texas including Minnesota, north to Quebec and Nova Scotia Canada and as far south as northwestern Mexico to Honduras. [3]\nHabitat: In woodlands that are both conifer and deciduous forests and in suburbs preferring trees such as maple, hickory, oak, popular, and beech for their seeds and uses old woodpecker holes or a natural cavity as their nest sites. [1]\nDiet: Omnivores consuming nuts, acorns, seeds, berries, fruit, moths, junbugs, eggs, young birds, young mice, fungus, bark, and leaf buds. [1] [4]\nActivity: Nocturnal gliding to avoid predators, often spotted in pairs or during winter hibernation have been found in groups upward to 20 in one den. [1]\nReproduction: In the northern locations births peak in April-May and late summer and in the southern locations late February-March and September-October, females have two liters per year and those liters consist of 2 to 3 young per liter but can reach as high as 6 with a gestation period of 40 days. [1] [3]\nLifespan: 5 to 6 years within the wild 10 years within captivity, but most Southern Flying Squirrels probably die in their first year. [1]\nNotes: Despite being a nocturnal squirrel, an animal not typically thought to be a pet, Southern Flying Squirrels have records dating back to 1606 and later of them becoming domesticated and described as easily tamed. People have domesticated this species and have made them into family pets and there are websites dedicated to informing and educating individuals on ownership and proper care like the National Flying Squirrel Association website. The name of the species can me misunderstood if taken literally because in fact the Squirrels do not fly like a bird or other winged animals, they glide. Jumping from tree to tree or other structures and extending the membrane connected to their arms and legs allow the species to glide through the air giving them the ability to travel through the air with great control. Southern Flying Squirrels can make 90 degree turns while in flight and the maximum glide is up to 262 feet (80 meters). They may not be able to fly like a bird but the capabilities they do have maneuvering through the air are very impressive and fascinating. While flying around within their natural habitats these squirrels consume fungi and the spores that are left behind in their feces is thought to be importance in the growth and sustainability of trees, trees that they may actually have helped to produce by scattering hardwood seeds. [2] [1]\nSouthern Flying Squirrel\nSize: Total length: Average- 9 Inches (236 mm)\nTail length: Average- 3 Inches (65 mm)\nWeight: Males = 6-7 oz (180-200 g) Females = 4-6 oz (120-160 g) [1]\nDescription: Plains pocket gophers are medium to small sized, dark brown gophers. They have fur-lined cheek pouches with a thick body and tiny bead-like eyes. Their front claws are long and curved for digging with smaller claws on the hind feet. [1]\nSimilar Species: The eastern mole is similar, but creates a mound with a cone shape instead of the kidney shape a plains pocket gopher creates. [1]\nRange: The plains pocket gopher is from the Great Plains of North America. They have been found in southern Manitoba into the Midwest from eastern North Dakota to Indiana. Their range also extends south into New Mexico and Texas. [2]\nHabitat: This species typically likes to be in sandy soils for easier digging while clay type soils are usually avoided. Gophers live primarily solitary lives in burrows and tunnels and seldom travel far over land. They burrow at shallow depths usually in search of food. [1]\nDiet: The plains pocket gopher is herbivorous and consists mostly of grasses, forbs, and roots. Most common grasses include brome, oats, and bluegrass. Some studies have indicated that gophers prefer forbs over grasses. All of the gopher’s necessary water is obtained from their food. [3]\nActivity: The plains pocket gopher is active day and night, but primarily around the times of sunrise and sunset. This is when they do a great deal of digging. Gophers live within loose, social ‘colonies,’ but are primarily solitary with small home ranges. They stay within burrows and tunnels most of the time. Tunnels between neighbors are not connected. [2]\nReproduction: Mating occurs during the spring. The gestation period is about 30 days. Females give birth to one litter of 4-5 young a year in late spring. When the young are ready to be weaned, the mother evicts them from the burrow. Gophers are sexually mature at 12 months of age. [2]\nLifespan: The average life expectancy for this species is 5 years, but some have been known to live for 10 or 11 years. [4]\nPlains Pocket Gopher\n↑ a b c d Schmidly, David (1994), [Retrieved from http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/geomburs.htm \"Plains Pocket Gopher\"], The Mammals of Texas-Online Edition, Retrieved from http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/geomburs.htm , retrieved October 3, 2012 \n↑ a b c Linzey, A.V. (2008), [Retrieved from http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42588/0 \"Geomys bursarius\"], IUCN Red list of Threatened Species, Retrieved from http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42588/0 , retrieved October 2, 2012 \n↑ Miller, Richard (1964), \"Ecology and Distrubition of Pocket Gophers(Geomyidae)in Colorado\" , Ecological Society of America, http://www.jstor.org.ezp1.lib.umn.edu/stable/info/1933839 , retrieved October 4, 2012 \nNorthern Pocket Gopher[ edit ]\nFamily: Geomyidae [1]\nSize: The average adult northern pocket gopher weighs 2.75-5 ounces (or 60-160 grams). Their total body length ranges from 6.5-9 inches (or 165-260 mm and their tail length vary from 1.6-2.9 inches (or 40-74 mm). [2]\nDescription: Northern pocket gophers have a tubed-shaped body, small ears and eyes, and short smooth fur that is brownish to tan. The mammal also displays a short, hairless tail and dark patches behind the ears. [3]\nSimilar Species: Darker fur color, smaller eyes and black patches of hair around the ears distinguish it from similar species such as the Idaho pocket gopher. [2]\nRange: This species has the greatest range of any pocket gopher in North America, ranging from Alberta to Saskatchewan, south to northern Arizona and New Mexico, and from Washington east to Minnesota. [2]\nHabitat: Northern pocket gophers occupy a great variety of habitats. They are commonly found in deep soils along streams and cultivated fields. They can also be found in rocky soils and clay, in bushy areas, and even in Alpine tundra. [2]\nDiet: Their diet consists of roots of forbs, cacti and grasses. [3]\nActivity: Northern gophers are often found digging, constructing elaborate networks of tunnels. They are very territorial and aggressive, except during mating season. There are brief periods of inactivity during the summer and winter but do not truly hibernate at any time. [2]\nReproduction: Female northern pocket gophers breed once a year. Mating periods vary depending on weather and latitude, but often occur from March to mid-June. A female produces a litter of 4-7 young after a gestation period of 19-20 months. [3]\nLifespan: The species can live up to 6 years in captivity. In the wild, they are expected to live between 18-24 months. Every 5 years there is a total population replacement. Similar to other mammals, the females live longer than males, so there are times in the late summer where the majority of the species population is female. [3]\nNotes: The northern pocket gopher gets its name from their fur-lined cheek pouches, or pockets, which are used for carrying food. Their whiskers and tail serve as sensory mechanisms to assist them in navigating in the dark. [4]\nAnother interesting note is that pocket gophers are rarely observed above ground. And when they are above ground, they never venture very far away from their burrow entrance. [1]\nNorthern Pocket Gopher\n↑ a b Linzey, A.V. (2008), Thomomys talpoides , http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42597/0 , retrieved (October 4, 2012) \n↑ a b c d e McMahon, J.A. (1999), Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals , http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Thomomys_talpoides/#physical_description , retrieved (October 11, 2012) Invalid <ref> tag; name \"name\" defined multiple times with different content Invalid <ref> tag; name \"name\" defined multiple times with different content Invalid <ref> tag; name \"name\" defined multiple times with different content Invalid <ref> tag; name \"name\" defined multiple times with different content\nSynoptomys Cooperi ( Southern Bog Lemming )\nFamily: Lemming\nSize: The average length of the Southern Bog Lemming is 3.7-6.06in (94-154mm). The average length of its tail is .51-.94in (13-24 mm). And, its average weight is .75oz (21.4-50g). [1]\nDescription: This species is small with a very short tail, minimal length, and small eyes. The head is larger compared to its body size. The hair color ranges from a light chestnut to a darker shade of brown. . [2]\nSimilar Species: The Southern Bog Lemming is the smallest when it comes to body size in the mice family. The sexes also do not make a significant difference when it comes to size. [1]\nRange: This specie’s general range of population is in the Northeastern part of the United States and South Eastern parts of Canada. In Minnesota in particular, the population thrives in the North Western part of the state. [3]\nHabitat: The Southern Bog Lemming's habitat ranges from wet grasslands, forests, to grassy wetlands. It's burrow holes are typically 6-12 inches deep and its home range varies from 1/4 of an acre. [4]\nDiet: This species diet consists of plants, leaves, stems, and seeds. It is also known to eat small fruits. [2]\nActivity: The Southern Bog Lemming is active day and night throughout the entire year. They tend to be independent creatures that travel alone. [5]\nReproduction: This species breeds year round, but its reproduction thrives between the months of April-September. Gestation lasts between 21-23 days and the litter size once born is about 8-11. The Southern Bog Lemming reaches sexual maturity 60 days after birth. [4]\nLifespan: It has a lifespan of about 2.5 years. [5]\nNotes: The Southern Bog Lemming could be the mouse you catch in your house. It breeds year round and says goodbye to their young in just 60 days. They are very small with a short tail and small eyes. Their color ranges from browns, but typically they will be a chestnut or darker brown. Since the Southern Bog Lemming’s population thrives in the Northwestern part of Minnesota, counties such as Marshall, Clearwater, and Lake of the Woods have a significantly larger population than Minneapolis would. This mouse has no significant threats and it is on the “least concerned” list for extinction.\nSouthern Bog Lemming\n↑ a b Linzey, Alicia (1983), Synoptomys Cooperi, American Society of Mammalogists, p. 1-5 \n↑ a b Linzey, A.V. (2008), Synaptomy Cooperi, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, p. 1 \n↑ Roset, Robert (2012), Minor species as the dominant rodents in an Oldfield, American Midland Naturalist, p. 1-8 \n↑ a b Osbourne, Joseph (2005), Effects of Habitat on small-mammal diversity and abundance in West Virginia, Wildlife Society Bulletin, p. 814- 822 \n↑ a b Bien, Walter; Spotilafirst2=James (2007), The distribution of small mammals at the Warren Grove Gunnery Range with special emphasis on Southern Bog Lemming and Meadow Jumping Mice, New Jersey Academy of Science, p. 9-12 \nNorthern Bog Lemming[ edit ]\nFamily: Cricetidae [1]\nSize: Average length overall: 4.7 inches (120 mm). Tail length: .8-.9 inches (21 to 23 mm). Weight: 0.77-.88 ounces (22 to 25 grams) [1]\nDescription: The northern bog lemming has reddish-brown fur that fades into gray on the under belly. It has noticeable ears that extend longer than the fur and has a very short tail. [1]\nSimilar Species: Similar in appearance to mice and voles but has a much shorter tail. The only way to distinguish the northern bog lemming from the southern bog lemming is by dental and skull characteristics. [1] [2]\nRange: Northern bog lemming can be found from Kansas, to Canada, and throughout northern states from Washington to Maine. In Minnesota they have been found in Lake of the Woods, Roseau, Koochiching, and Itasca counties. [2]\nHabitat: Areas where moisture is high and grasses are present for food and shelter. They can be found in grass meadows within forests, wet meadows, bogs, tundra, and recently burned forest areas and typically inhabit an area less than one acre. [3]\nDiet: The northern bog lemming consumes sedges, grasses, snails, slugs, and other invertebrates. [1] [4]\nActivity: They are nocturnal and diurnal. They create runways shared with other species by marking them with droppings. They remain active year around but spend summer months within burrows to avoid predators. [1] [4] [5]\nReproduction: The breeding season occurs from May to August. With a 3 week gestation period they have 2-3 litters per season with 2-8 offspring per litter. They are able to reproduce at 5 to 6 weeks of age. [2] [4]\nLifespan: The average lifespan of a similar species, the Southern Bog Lemming is 2.4 years; though the lifespan of this northern variant remains unknown. [6]\nNotes: Very little is actually recorded and known of this species which is hard to believe due to their reproduction habits and abilities. The northern bog lemming can have 2 to 3 litters in only a 4 month breeding season which seems like an impossible number, but the day after the females give birth they can breed again. Within the average 1 acre habitat, communities can range up to 36 lemmings. The extremely rapid breeding habits coupled with the low population density leads researchers to believe that there is a high mortality rate in the first year. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has developed concern for the lemmings scarcity. A Minnesota plan, Tomorrow’s Habitat for Wild and Rare, has listed the northern bog lemming as a species in need of great conservation. [1] [2]\nNorthern Bog Lemming (this is the Southern Bog Lemming)\n↑ Saunders, D.A. (1988), \"Adirondack Mammals\" , IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry): 216, http://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/mammals/bog_lemming.htm , retrieved October 11, 2012 \nSouthern Red-backed Vole[ edit ]\nFamily: Cricetidae\nSize: Length: 4.57-6.77 in (116-172 mm) Weight: 0.21-1.48 oz (6-42 g)\nDescription: The Southern red-backed vole has a broad reddish stripe from its forehead to its bottom, with a grayish nose and sides of the head, and a whitish, creamy belly. Its tail is bicolor, with dark brown or black and whitish or gray at the end of the tail. It has a stocky build, short ears, and small eyes. [1]\nSimilar Species: Its tail is more slender and has less hair than the Northern red-backed vole. Its back is also brighter and has smaller ears than the Northern red-backed vole. [2] [3]\nRange: It can be found in the Rocky Mountains south to southwestern New Mexico and Arizona, the Northern Great Plains to Iowa, and the Appalachian mountains to northern Georgia.\nHabitat: The Southern red-backed vole inhabits moist coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests with stumps and logs for ground cover. Some voles are found in muskegs, sedge marshes, and bogs. It nests under logs, stumps, and roots, but will use the burrows of moles and other small mammals instead of making its own nest. [3]\nDiet: It is an herbivore with a diet of plants, seeds, nuts, berries, mosses, lichens, ferns, fungi, and arthropods. Southern red-backed voles have also been known to eat insects.\nActivity: The Southern red-backed vole mates with more than one vole of the opposite sex, and generally does not form colonies. [3] It is active day and night, but it is more nocturnal than diurnal . [3] [4]\nReproduction: The breeding season lasts about 7 months in the wild, from late winter to late fall, and gestation is 17-19 days. Litter size ranges from 2-8 young, with 1 to 6 litters per year. In 2 to 4 months young are sexually matured . [3] [5]\nLifespan: Most live 10-12 months in the wild, although they have been reported to live up to 20 months. Few survive two winters. [3]\nSouthern Red-backed Vole, Clethrionomys gapperi\n↑ Hazard, E. B. (1982), The Mammals of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press, pp. 90-91 \n↑ Reid, F. A. (2006), Mammals of North America, Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, pp. 308-309 \n↑ a b c d e f Merritt, J. F. (1981), \"Clethrionomys gapperi\" , Mammalian Species (146): 1-9, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ Linzey, A. V.; NatureServe (2010), \"Canis lupus\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Version 2012.1), http://www.iucnredlist.org , retrieved September 28, 2012 \n↑ NatureServe (2012), \"Clethrionomys gapperi\" , NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life (Version 7.1), http://www.natureserve.org/explorer , retrieved September 28, 2012 \nMicrotus chrotorrhinus ( Rock Vole )\nFamily: Cricetidae\nSize: Weight is 1.1-1.7 oz (30-40g). Length is 5.5-7.3 in. (140-185mm). Tail Length is 1.7-2.5in (42-64mm).\nDescription: Vole’s nose is orange-yellow hue. Fur is yellowish, grayish brown except on the stomach which is a silvery gray.\nSimilar Species: Vole’s nose is orange-yellow hue, differentiating it from any other vole. [1]\nRange: Is found in northeast Canada down to northeastern Minnesota. Also found in South Carolina and Tenessee.\nHabitat: Lives around rocks and boulders in coniferous forests near water and mosses they eat and other plants.\nDiet: Fungi, fruits, and vegetation. Cuts pieces off and moves between rocks to eat.\nActivity: Rock voles do not hibernate. They are active throughout both day and night, possibly eating more during the morning than any other time. [1]\nReproduction: Breeding season from March until October. 2-3 litters of an average 3-4 young each time. Gestation period is about 20 days. [1]\nLifespan: Average lifespan is less than one year. [2]\nNotes: Rock voles, also known as Southern rock voles, are hard to assess as far as population numbers go. They are thought to be slowly declining in numbers due to multiple reasons. Optimal nesting sites for rock voles is near moving water, ferns, and mosses. The nests of rock voles are based around logs, boulders, and other protected places. They are known for living in the higher elevations in the Appalachians and the coniferous forests of Canada. They will use tunnels made by other burrowing animals underground. The primary competitors of rock voles are the red-blacked vole, shrews, the deer mouse, and deer. They also have to worry about parasites such as tapeworms, roundworms, fleas, mites, ticks, and fleas. Ski developments are having a negative impact on the populations of rock voles while logging seems to increase the population numbers of the rock vole population greatly. The best populations and habitats of rock voles are found in the northern range of North America, but there are also smaller populations in the eastern and southern range. The rock vole is not a highly populated specie but are so spread out throughout the continent and can adapt to many habitats so they are not at risk of extinction. [2]\nRock Vole, Microtus chrotorrhinus\nMicrotus pennsylvanicus ( Meadow Vole )\nFamily: Cricetidae\nSize: Weighing on average 1.5 oz (48 g) the Meadow Vole is a small rodent that is around 5 to 7 inches long (128 to 195 mm) with a tail that is over 40% of their body size. [1]\nDescription: The back of the meadow vole is very dark brown and black colored with very course hairs. Their stomachs are a very light tan, white, or light brown color. [1]\nSimilar Species: Similar species to the Meadow Vole are Pine Voles and other types of voles. Their skulls are rather long and slightly angular making them different from other species. Also, the meadow vole is larger than the pine and other voles and also have longer tails. Voles are very good swimmers that can dig very well too. [1]\nRange: Home to central North America, it is the largest mole population across the nation. The Meadow vole makes his home all the way across the country including Alaska and a small part of southern Canada. [1]\nHabitat: Because the Meadow Vole is a good swimmer, you can find this species along rivers and lakes, grassy marshes and lowland fields. Meadow Voles can also be found in some fields but are mainly in meadows and wet areas. Flooded marshes and grasslands are another habitat these creatures can be seen. [1] [2]\nDiet: Not only are grasslands commonly the home for the Meadow Vole, fresh grass is often consumed by this critter as well. Besides grass, they tend to eat seeds, grains, sedges, herbs. Their vegetation changes with the season eating more grass in the summer and more grains in the winter. A vole will eat 60% of its body weight at a time. [1]\nActivity: The Meadow Vole is nocturnal during the summer and winter months but is active all times of day during spring and fall. Females are very territorial and the only time that you will see two females together are if they are mother and daughter. Males will live a range of areas. [1]\nReproduction: Females may bare babies during any month of the year but most are born in spring and fall. Voles grow quickly, weaning off of their mothers in around 12 days after birth. Females can breed when they are only 28 days old but males are not ready until around day 35. On average, about five voles are born at a time. [1] [2]\nLifespan: Live usually less than a year due to predators but can live up to around two years. [1]\nNotes: When it comes to breeding, the mothers are very territorial. It has been observed that the meadow vole females to not like to let their young breed although they are mature enough to. The reason behind this is unknown. Also, they hardly make noise but when they do, they are using their vocals in a defensive situation not and offensive. They can also hear and smell really well which helps them out in the wild. Although they are small, meadow voles are small, they are very aggressive and will attack. [1]\nMicrotus Ochrogaster ( Prairie Vole )\nFamily: Cricetidae\nSize: The prairie vole has a total length of 5.7 inches (or 146 mm) and weighs 1-1.8 ounces (or 30-50 grams). Its tail has an average length of 1.3 inches (or 34mm). [1]\nDescription: The prairie vole is a medium-sized animal similar in appearance to a mouse. They have stocky, compact bodies with brownish-black fur. Some of the longer furs on their bodies have yellow tips, giving the species a grizzled appearance. In addition, the furs on their bellies often show a yellow cast. [2]\nSimilar Species: Though the prairie vole is similar in appearance to the meadow vole, yellow fur on their bellies serves as a distinguishing feature. In addition, the sides of the prairie vole are somewhat paler than the back and the tail has two distinct colors. [3]\nRange: This species ranges throughout the prairie states of the United States and north toward southern provinces of Canada. They are also found in east-central Alberta, central Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba through northern Oklahoma and Arkansas, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, central Tennessee, and westernmost Virginia. [4]\nHabitat: Prairie voles live in tall-grass prairies, often ones with very dry soil. They live in colonies, using burrows for protection in upland agricultural habitats. They will also inhabit herbaceous fields; grasslands, and even old agricultural lands. [4]\nDiet: Prairie voles eat mostly vegetables, such as plants, seeds, bulbs and bar. They store much of this food for winter. They are also known to eat the flesh of other prairie voles. [2]\nActivity: Prairie voles are active year round both day and night. Their peak activity occurs near dusk. They are more active during the day in the winter, and more active at night in the summer seasons. [4]\nReproduction: Their breeding habits are not entirely well known. It is thought they breed throughout the year, but primarily in the spring and summer seasons. Each female produces several litters per year of two to six children. [2]\nLifespan: Prairie voles rarely live longer than one or two years in the wild. In captivity, they may live up to 16 months. [3]\nNotes: Prairie voles are one of very few monogamous mammals. [5] In addition to being monogamous, they are extremely loyal partners to their mates. Their behavior often suggests that they would rather spend time with their mates than with any other voles. They even avoid other voles of the opposite sex to focus on their mates. Similar to humans, prairie voles release the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin after mating. These hormones have been linked to pair bonding and may be the reason they bond with their first mate. Prairie voles also form family units, where both parents support their offspring as well as each other. [6]\nPrairie Vole\n↑ a b c , http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/microchr.htm , retrieved October 13, 2012 \n↑ a b Stalling, D.T. (1999), Microtus ochrogaster, pp. 1-9 \nOndatra zibethicus ( Muskrat )\nFamily: Cricetidae\nSize: The average length of the Muskrat is 15.75-27.5 inches (40- 70 cm) long, almost half of that makes up their tail. It weights between 2- 4 lbs (908-1816 g). [1] Muskrats are much larger than the other animals in their subfamily, which include the vole and the lemming.\nDescription: The Muskrat is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent that is native to North America. They are covered with short, dense fur, which is medium to dark brown or black in color, with a lighter underside. As the muskrat ages, it turns partly gray in color. The fur has two layers, which helps protect them from the cold water. To aid them in swimming, they have a long tail covered with scales rather than hair, and are slightly flattened from side to side which is a shape that is unique to them. [1]\nSimilar Species: The muskrat is the only species in genus Ondatra, but it is the largest species in the subfamily Arvicolinae, which includes 142 other species of rodents, mostly voles and lemmings. The muskrat’s distinguishing features from these other species is it’s overall coloration, it’s waterproof fur with chestnut to hazel sides and underbelly, it’s tail flattened vertically, and it’s furless hind feet that are partially webbed. [2]\nRange: Muskrats are found over most of the United States and Canada and a small part of northern Mexico. They were also introduced to Europe in the beginning of the 20th century.\nHabitat: Muskrats mostly inhabit wetlands, areas in or near saline and freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes, or ponds. They are able to live alongside streams and slow-moving rivers and in waters that are deep enough not freeze at the bottom. [2]\nDiet: The muskrat commonly eats the cattail, yellow water lily, and other aquatic vegetation. They do not store food for the winter, but sometimes eat the insides of their lodges. Plant materials make up 95% of their diet, and they also eat small animals such as freshwater mussels, frogs, crayfish, fish, and small turtles. [3]\nActivity: Muskrats are most active at night or near dawn and dusk. Muskrats follow trails they make in swamps and ponds, and when the water freezes, they continue to follow their trails under ice. They normally live in groups consisting of a male and female and their young. In the spring, they often fight with other muskrats over territory and potential mates.\nReproduction: During the spring, muskrats often fight with each other over territory and potential mates. Many are injured or killed in these fights. Muskrat families build nests to protect themselves and their young from cold and predators. They are prolific breeders, where the females can have two to three litters a year of six to eight young each. Babies are born small and hairless, and weigh only about 22 grams. Young muskrats mature between 6 months to a year. The gestation period for muskrats is 22-30 days. [1]\nLifespan: The lifespan for a muskrat is 2-3 years old. [4]\nNotes: The muskrats are sometimes referred to as “rats” in a general sense because they are medium-sized rodents with an adaptable lifestyle and omnivorous diet, but they are not, however, “true rats” because they do not belong in the genus Rattus.\nAmerican Indians have long considered the muskrat to be a very important animal. Some predict winter snowfall levels by observing the size and timing of muskrat lodge construction. Contrary to belief, though, the thickness of muskrat lodges does not indicate the severity of the coming winter. The muskrat’s underfur traps air, and prevents the skin of the muskrat from becoming wet while it is in the water. Musk glands are predominant beneath the skin on the lower abdomen of male muskrats. These two glands become swollen during the spring and produce a yellowish, musky smelling fluid. Thus, the name “muskrat”. With their webbed feet, muskrats can also swim at a speed up to 3 miles per hour and can even swim backwards. [5]\nUnlike the beaver, the muskrat does not store food for the winter. It needs to eat fresh plants each day, and sometimes it makes channels in the mud to get from its house to reach food under the ice. To stay warm in winter, groups of muskrats huddle together in their lodges.Muskrats have the ability to hold their breath underwater for a 12-17 minutes while searching for food. When food is scarce, female muskrats have been known to eat their young. [6]\nMuskrat\nOnychomys leucogaster ( Northern Grasshopper Mouse )\nFamily: Neotominae\nSize: Ranging from 4.5-7.5 inches (12-19cm) in length overall, tail between 1-2 inches (3-6cm). Weighing roughly 1.8 ounces (52g) at maturity. [1] [2]\nDescription: The northern grasshopper mouse is a bulkier rodent (though still quite small) with a greyish to pale brown fur on top and a white underbelly. Its tail is short and thick generally with a white tip. [1]\nSimilar Species: Besides a shorter tail and larger forefeet, the northern grasshopper mouse differs in that it’s primarily a carnivore and has adapted larger teeth to kill prey. Similar species eat mostly nuts seeds and only occasionally insects. [1] [3]\nRange: The northern grasshopper mouse inhabits a wide area. From a line beginning in northern Mexico through Texas and the western half of Minnesota into Manitoba, extending west to the coast. They tend to be territorial so population density is low. [2]\nHabitat: This species does well in western prairies, plains, sparse pastures and deserts with minimal vegetation, commonly inhabiting the burrows of other animals. They have also adapted to more mountainous regions in many cases. [3] [2]\nDiet: Primarily carnivorous (70-90%), mostly insects - occasionally poisonous, reptiles, other mice, small birds and other creatures. Grasshopper mice will eat plants when other food is scarce and have been known to store seeds in preparation for winter survival. [2]\nActivity: Primarily Nocturnal and active throughout the year, reduced during a full moon likely because of exposure to other predators, likewise during heavy rainfall because of difficulty hunting. Mated pairs defend their territory against other grasshopper mice and will bark or howl to ward off intruders. [4] [2]\nReproduction: Gestation ranges from 32-38 days, litter sizes are from 1-6, In the wild grasshopper mice produce an average of three litters per year and up to 6 in a lab environment. The male and female rear their young together. [2] [4]\nLifespan: Approximately three years. [4]\nNotes: Because of its territorial nature the grasshopper mouse is sparsely populated over a wide area and adapts well to varied climates. Despite their ferocious nature, grasshopper mice are preyed upon by owls, coyotes, snakes and other predators and are easily displaced by human populations. [4]\nNorthern Grasshopper Mouse\nPeromyscus Leucopus ( White Footed Mouse )\nFamily: Cricetidae.\nSize: The total length of the White Footed Mouse is around 6.8 inches (173mm). The tail has a length of 3.1 inches (78mm) and their hind foot is around 0.83 inches (21mm). The weight of the mouse ranges from 0.03- 0.06 pounds (15-25g), with an average of 0.05 pounds (23g). [1]\nDescription: the general color of the back and sides is reddish or orange-ish. They have a dark brown stripe along the middle of the back from the head to tail. The throat, belly, and feet are white; the ears thin, sparsely furred, and prominent. [2]\nSimilar Species: The White Footed Mouse is very similar to the deer mouse in size and color. It is hard to find distinguishable features between them. [2]\nRange: They are found throughout eastern United States as well as throughout the plains states.\nHabitat: They are most abundant in warm, dry forests and brush-lands at middle elevations. They build nests in places that are warm and dry, such as a hollow tree or and old bird's nest. Their home ranges from 1/2 to 1 1/2 acres with 4 to 12 mice per acre. [1]\nDiet: The White Footed Mice are omnivores. Their diet include seeds, berries, nuts, insects, grains, fruits, and fungi. They do not hibernate in winter so they tend to collect seeds and nuts during the fall. [1]\nActivity: They are primarily nocturnal. They will sometimes be out in the day if in high grassy areas or if there is overcast. [1]\nReproduction: They typically have 2-4 litter's per year, with 2-9 offspring per litter. They usually breed between March and October. They sometimes will breed more often in warmer climates. [1]\nLifespan: Their average lifespan is one year in the wild, but in captivity has an average lifespan of 1.5 years. [1]\nWhite- Footed Mouse\nPeromyscus maniculatus ( Deer Mouse )\nFamily: Cricetidae\nSize: Deer mice range in size from 5 to 8 inches (127 mm to 203.2 mm) long. An average weight for deer mice is only about 0.59 oz to 3.88 oz (15 to 110 grams). Newborn mice only weigh 0.04 oz to 0.07 oz (1 to 2 grams). Depending on the species, the tail may be significantly shorter or longer than their body. [1]\nDescription: Deer mice acquired their name because of their similar characteristics to deer. For example, they have the same type of fur that is dark on the back and white on the legs and underside with a bicolored tail that is dark on top and light on the bottom. In addition, they are agile and can jump and run similar to deer. [2] Peromyscus maniculatus have rounder bodies with large, black, beady eyes and large ears with little hair.\nSimilar Species: Because there are seven different types of mice within the species Peromyscus, it is hard to tell the difference between each subspecies. [3] Deer mice are the most common and widespread of the species and can be identified by their larger eyes and ears, overall body size, and bicolored tail. House mice have nearly furless tails with a predominately gray-brown coat. [3] When comparing species, the North American deer mouse has smaller forelimbs than hind limbs. [1]\nRange: The deer mouse has one of the most extensive geographic distribution of any North American rodent. They range in areas from Canada to subtropical Mexico. [1]\nHabitat: The deer mouse occupies almost every type of habitat within its range such as forests and grasslands. [4] One of the only types of habitats they avoid are wetlands. [2]\nDiet: Deer mice feed primarily on seeds but may also consume fruits, invertebrates, fungi, insect larvae, and green vegetables. [3]\nActivity: Deer mice are nocturnal and spend the day sleeping in their nests. They build their nests out of stems, twigs, leaves, roots, and other fibrous materials. The inside of their nests may be lined with fur, feathers, or cloth. Often time, nests are found in tree hollows, stumps, roots, and under rocks and logs but are always within the deer mouse’s range of 1/3 to 4 acres. [3] [4] Unlike some species, deer mice do no hibernate. Instead, they become torpid during extreme weather but remain with their family in their nest. [3]\nReproduction: Deer mice reproduce depending on the type of climate they live in. In warmer regions deer mice will typically breed year round, typically every three to four weeks, from spring until fall. In cooler regions, deer mice often do not breed during the winter or undergo delayed implantation. The gestation period for females is about three weeks. Females will have about 2 to 4 litters per year with about 1 to 8 young per litter. [4] Upon birth, babies are blind, deaf, and have transparent skin and whiskers. [2] In only one week a baby mouse will have doubled in weight. After about 2 to 3 weeks, females wean their young and they become sexually mature at 7 to 8 weeks. Usually mice born in the spring and summer will breed within the same year. [2] Mates stay together during the breeding season but will take new mates in the spring. [4]\nLifespan: When in captivation, the North American deer mouse can live up to eight years but wild deer mice only live up to a year or less on average. [1]\nNotes: Unfortunately, deer mice are the primary carriers of the hantavirus. Hantavirus is a dangerous syndrome affecting many humans throughout the United States. It is a pulmonary virus that affects the lungs of humans. First recognized in 1993, this virus has spread and has affected 131 people in the United States. Of the people affected, half have died. [2] People are suggested not to handle wild mice and to report sightings. If droppings are found, it is advised to use disinfectant solutions, such as Lysol or bleach, for a ten minute duration before removing the droppings from the area. [3] Deer mice can also be harmful to agricultural crops because seeds are their number one food source. Crops that have the ability to be affected are seeds in row crops, melon, alalfa, almonds, avocado, pomegranates, and sugar beets. [3]\nDeer Mouse\nDeer mice not only cause the destruction of current crops, but they may also prevent the regrowth of new plants and crops. [1]\n↑ a b c d Timm, R.; Howard, W. (n.d.), \"White-footed and Deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, control and management\" , The Handbook: Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage (1): 1-22, http://www.icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/whitefooteddeermouse.asp , retrieved September 24, 2012 \nWestern Harvest Mouse[ edit ]\nFamily: Cricetidae\nSize: 2.3-3.0 in (59-77 mm) in length, 0.21-0.38 oz (6-11 g) in weight\nDescription: The Western Harvest Mouse is a small, long-tailed rodent that has prominent, orange-tipped ears. [1] [2] It is among the smallest rodents in Minnesota with a brown back and whitish belly. [3] Its tail is bi-color, with a scaly appearance covered by hair.\nSimilar Species: It is difficult to distinguish the Western Harvest Mouse from similar species, but it is slightly larger than the Plains Harvest Mouse, the Sonoran Harvest Mouse, and the Eastern Harvest Mouse. Also, its hair is shorter and its tail is more distinctly bi-color than the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse. [1]\nRange: The Western Harvest Mouse is commonly found in southwestern Canada, southward to southern Mexico, western United States, the central Rockies, and central and upper Midwest. [1] [4] Although rare in Minnesota, it is commonly found in the southern region. [3]\nHabitat: Old fields, meadows, weedy roadsides, agricultural areas, grassy situations within pine-oak forests, and near the banks of rivers. It prefers dense vegetative cover, and may also be found in shrubby arid regions. The Western Harvest Mouse builds spherical nests that are usually located on the ground under heavy grass, bushes, weeds, or fallen logs. [4] [5]\nDiet: It is a granivore and herbivore . It mainly eats seeds, but it also eats some herbaceous material and insects. [2] [4]\nActivity: It is primarily a nocturnal and non-hibernating species, and is most active on moonless, rainy nights. [1]\nReproduction: The Western Harvest Mouse breeds year round, but mostly during the early spring to late autumn with a reduced midsummer activity. Its gestation period lasts 23-24 days, with an average litter size of 6, and it is able to produce multiple litters annually. The young sexually mature in 2-4 months. [1] [5]\nLifespan: Few reach the age of 12 months. [1]\nWestern Harvest Mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis\n↑ a b c d e f Webster, W. D.; Jones, J. K. Jr. (1982), \"Reithrodontomys megalotis\" , Mammalian Species (167): 1-5, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ a b Reid, F. A. (2006), Mammals of North America, Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, pp. 289-290 \n↑ a b Hazard, E. B. (1982), The Mammals of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press, p. 83 \n↑ a b c Linzey, A. V.; Matson, J. (2008), \"Reithrodontomys megalotis\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Version 2012.1), http://www.iucnredlist.org , retrieved September 28, 2012 \n↑ a b NatureServe (2012), \"Reithrodontomys megalotis\" , NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life (Version 7.1), http://www.natureserve.org/explorer , retrieved September 28, 2012 \nSize: Length: 2.5 to 3.75 inches (65 to 95mm)\nTail length: 2.3 to 4 inches (60 to 105mm)\nWeight: .42 to 1.06 ounces (12 to 30g)\nDescription: The house mouse's fur color ranges from light brown to black. They typically have white fur on their bellies. They have long furless tails with circular scales.\nSimilar Species: The house mouse is very similar in appearance to the deer mouse and white footed mouse. It can be distinguished from the two by its naked tail and relatively small ears.\nRange: The house mouse has a range all over the world, and they can be found on every continent except for Antarctica. [1]\nHabitat: The house mouse usually lives close to humans, rarely straying away from buildings. They can also be found in fields and barns. They typically cannot be found in forests or deserts. [2]\nDiet: In the wild, the house mouse eats plant matter and insects. In houses they will eat any food that is available.\nActivity: They are generally nocturnal, sometimes active during the day.\nReproduction: Males have more than one female mate at a time. Females usually have 5-10 litters a year consisting of 3-12 offspring. House mice reach sexual maturity at 5-7 weeks old. [1]\nLifespan: House mice can live up to 18 months in the wild, and up to 5 years in captivity.\nNotes: House mice are common throughout all parts of the world. In homes they are considered a pest, so they are often exterminated. They will look for food in homes and store what they find which can often create a stench. They have been domesticated as the 'fancy mouse' and are kept as pets. House mice are able to run very quickly and can also swim well, climb, and jump. [1]\nHouse Mouse\n↑ a b c Ballenger, L. (1999), \"Mus musculus\" , Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Mus_musculus/ , retrieved October 4, 2012 Invalid <ref> tag; name \"adw\" defined multiple times with different content Invalid <ref> tag; name \"adw\" defined multiple times with different content\n↑ Musser, G.; Amori, G.; Hutterer, R.; Kryštufek, B.; Yigit, N.; mitsain, G. (2008), \"Mus musculus\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/13972/0 , retrieved October 4, 2012 \nRattus norvegicus ( Norway Rat )\nFamily: Rodents (Muridae) [1]\nSize: Total Length: 17.3 inches (440 mm.) Tail: 8 inches (205 mm.) Weight: 14-17.6 oz. (400-500 g.) [2]\nDescription: Large and robust. Belly is mostly gray. Tail is shorter than body, dark above and pale below. [3] Blunt nose. Ears are relatively small and close to body. Large and protruding eyes. [4]\nSimilar Species: The Norway rat is similar to the Roof Rat; but differs in that the Norway rat is large and robust and the roof rat is sleek and agile. The tail of the Norway rat is shorter than the tail of the roof rat. The nose of the Norway rat is blunt while the nose of the roof rat is pointed. The eyes and ears on Norway rats are small while the roof rats’ are large. [3]\nRange: Live throughout the 48 contiguous United States. [3] Native to China, Japan, and Russia. Occurs worldwide. [1]\nHabitat: In the wild present in lowland and coastal regions. [1] Lives as a commensal in close association with humans, principally in basements, ground floor, or burrows under sidewalks or outbuildings. [2]\nDiet: Cereal grains, meats, fish, nuts, and some fruits. [3]\nActivity: Nocturnal. Most feeding occurs half hour after sunset and before sunrise. [4]\nReproduction: At low densities in a burrow: Polygynous, one male mates with multiple females. At high densities: Polygynandrous, multiple males mate with multiple females. [5] Prolific breeders, [2] usually have 4-7 litters per year. [4] Gestation is 21-23 days. Litter size from 2-14. Born naked and blind. Eyes open in 14-17 days. Weaned at 3-4 weeks old. [2]\nLifespan: In the wild 5-12 months. [4] As a commensal 2-3 years. [2]\n↑ Wild Norway Rat Behavior , http://www.ratbehavior.org/WildRats.htm , retrieved September 24, 2012 \nWoodland Jumping Mouse[ edit ]\nNapaeozapus insignis ( Woodland Jumping Mouse )\nFamily: Zapodinae\nSize: Length overall: 8-10 inches (204-256mm), body length: 3-4 inches(80-100mm), tail length: 4.5–6 inches (115-160mm). Weight is usually 0.6-0.9 ounces (17-26g), though that will increase as much as 50% when preparing for hibernation. [1]\nDescription: The woodland jumping mouse resembles the shape of most mice. It has a fine white underbelly and a rougher top coat of fur that gives it a distinct reddish brown tri color, which camouflages it against dead leaves and trees along the forest floor. Other distinguishing features include its long hind legs and long tail. [1]\nSimilar Species: Perhaps the most striking differentiation is that the meadow and woodland jumping mice hibernate where most other mice don’t. While both woodland and meadow are similar in appearance with long tails and hind legs, the woodland variety has a white tipped tail. [2]\nRange: This species can be found throughout northeastern portions of North America. From the arrowhead region of Minnesota through mostly the upper peninsula of Michigan into Canada through northern Quebec, extending south along the Appalachian Mountains into Georgia. [3] [1]\nHabitat: Not surprisingly, woodland mice prefer woodlands; forested areas with thick undergrowth consisting of ferns, shrubs and grasses. Damp swampy lowlands or mossy mountainous regions provide a suitable habitat. [4]\nDiet: Primarily herbivorous but will consume insects and worms in addition to leaves, roots, seeds, fruit, and nuts. These mice also eat fungi inadvertently providing nutrients to surrounding trees, playing an important role in the forest ecosystem\nActivity: Woodland jumping mice may be active during the day but they are mostly nocturnal. They hibernate from September to May in burrows up to 4.5 feet (1.5m) deep. They are not typically aggressive amongst themselves and are known to share food. They can increase their body weight as much as 50% during the summer months to prepare for hibernation. [4]\nReproduction: Breeding is seasonal and mating occurs after females come out of hibernation - males emerge first – as early as mid may but more commonly in June. Mice in the southern range can have two litters in one season despite being slow to develop. It takes approximately 35 days for offspring to wean and grow hair. [4]\nLifespan: Longer than most small North American mammals, the woodland jumping mouse can live 3-4 years in the wild. [3]\nNotes: The jump in the mouse is most impressive. They can cover 2-6 feet (0.6-1.8m) in a single hop and get as high as 2 feet (0.6m)! They can also swim underwater for short distances. [4] [1]\nWoodland Jumping Mouse\n↑ a b c d Harrington, E. ((2004)), Napaeozapus Insignis , Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Napaeozapus_insignis/ , retrieved (October 16, 2012) \nMeadow Jumping Mouse[ edit ]\nzapus hudsonius ( Meadow Jumping Mouse )\nFamily: Dipodidae\nSize: Meadow Jumping Mice range in length from 180 to 240 mm. The hind feet are 28 to 35 mm long. Body weight typically depends on the time of year; they weigh more prior to hibernation,up to 35 g. During the summer, weights average between 16 and 19 g. [1]\nDescription: Meadow Jumping Mice are recognized by their extremely long tails, long hind feet, and slender build. Adults have a dorsal dark or olive brown band, which is paler in juveniles. The sides are a pale yellowish-brown, with black hairs lining the sides, and the underparts are white. The tail is sparsely haired, dark brown on top, and white on the bottom, and is longer than the body length. Meadow jumping mice are the only mammal with eighteen teeth. The upper jaw is characterized as having short, narrow, and longitudinally grooved incisors; small cheek teeth; and a small premoloar that generally precedes the molars.\nSimilar Species: The Meadow Mouse is similar in appearance to the Woodland Jumping Mouse except they do not have a white-tipped tail and are typically duller in color.\nRange: This species is found throughout northern North America.They are found as far North as Alaska and as far south as New Mexico giving them the widest distribution of mice in the subfamily Zapodinae. [2]\nHabitat: Meadow Jumping Mice live in various habitats that have some herbacious cover. They prefer moist grasslands and avoid heavily wooded areas. Grassy fields and thick vegetated areas bordering streams, ponds, or marshes generally support greater numbers of this species. [3]\nDiet: Meadow Jumping Mice primarily eat seeds, but also feeds on fruit, insects, and berries.\nActivity: Meadow Jumping Mice are solitary, but not aggressive toward others. They are generally nocturnal (although occasionally diurnal), and usually move in short hops of about 2.5 to 15 cm or by crawling along vole runways or in the grass. They are also great swimmers, diggers, and can climb. These mice are relatively nomadic, and may roam up to 1 km in search of moist habitat. They also hibernate during the winter. [4]\nReproduction: The breeding season of Meadow Jumping Mice occurs after hibernation in late April or May. Males emerge from hibernation slightly before the females and are reproductively active when the females emerge. Gestation is usually about 18 days, but may be longer for females who are already nursing a litter. Females typically have 2 to 3 litters in a year with an average of 5.3 young per litter. Small and weighing about 0.8 g, the neonates are naked, pink, blind, clawless and deaf, but squeak audibly at birth. In the first week, their ears unfold, fur begins to cover their backs, and their claws appear. They begin crawling between one and two weeks, and by the third week they can hop, creep, and hear. Their incisors have erupted, and they have tawny coats. By the end of the fourth week, the young have adult pelage, and open eyes. Weaned, they become independent during the 4th week. [5]\nLifespan: <1 year in the wild, or up to 5 years in captivity\nNotes: The Meadow jumping mouse can jump up to 3 feet in length in its first jump which it then follows with a series of smaller jumps.\nMeadow Jumping Mouse\n↑ Whittakerl, J.O. (1972), \"Zapus Hudsonius\" , Mammalian Species (189): 1-7, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-011-01-0001.pdf , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ Whittakerl, J.O. (1972), \"Zapus Hudsonius\" , Mammalian Species (189): 1-7, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-011-01-0001.pdf , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ \"Meadow Jumping Mouse\", Mammals of Minnesota: 106-109., 1982 \n↑ \"Meadow Jumping Mouse\", Mammals of Minnesota: 106-109., 1982 \nPlains Pocket Mouse[ edit ]\nFamily: Heteromyidae [1]\nSize: These mice weigh from 0.15- 0.35 pounds (7- 16 grams). The length of the animals range from 4.3- 6.1 inches (110- 155mm) with the tail length being between 1.92- 3.5 inches (49 and 89mm). [2]\nDescription: The small mouse is distinguishable by visible, external, fur-lined cheek pouches that no other mouse in Minnesota has. Their fur color is generally a tan buff color with a mix of brown and black hair on its upper side and back and may have white spots on it's belly. [1]\nSimilar Species: The P. apache or silky pocket mouse is very similar to the plains pocket mouse and has been debated if it should be considered a sub-species of the pocket mouse or remain two different species. [2]\nRange: Plains pocket mice are found in the North America Great Plains region, with a range from Mexico to Minnesota and the Dakotas. [2]\nHabitat: The mouse lives in temperate, terrestrial habitats made of loose, sandy soil with moderate vegetation. They commonly build vertical burrows underneath bushes or other plants. The burrows are used for nesting as well as food storage. [2]\nDiet: Granivore , mostly seeds and sometimes ants. They will also eat grains, oats, and different types of grasses. Water they drink comes from seeds. [2]\nActivity: Nocturnal , but will be out during the day if there is an overcast. [2]\nReproduction: Produce 2-3 litters per year, with approximately 2-7 offspring per litter. They mate around April until late summer. Mice usually start mating at the age of 10-17 weeks. [2]\nLifespan: 1-2 years, sometimes longer. [2]\nThis is a pocket mouse but not a plains pocket mouse. This is a Pacific pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus)\n↑ a b Linzey, A.V.; Timm, R.; Alvarez-Castaneda, S.T.; Castro-Arellano, I.; Lacher, T. (2008), Perognathus Flavescens , http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/16634/0 , retrieved (September 25, 2012) \nSize: Total length: 25-40 inches, 645-1030 mm\nTail length: 6-12 inches, 145-300 mm Height: 1-2 inches, 25-42 mm\nWeight: 7-40 pounds, 3.5-18 kg [1]\nDescription: A prickly, barb covered creature that is dark brown and black in color. Quills found on dorsal surface are white tipped to ward off predators. [2] Lack canine teeth and possess exceptionally long claws. [3]\nSimilar Species: The North American Porcupine is similar to the Central or South American porcupine, but is more likely to be found in a cold environment. [2]\nRange: North American Porcupines are found in the northern tier of the United States, specifically Alaska and California. The northern Great Lakes region, including Minnesota, also houses a large number of this species. [3]\nHabitat: Open tundra and deciduous forests are common habitats for the North American Porcupine. Groundcover, trees, and stone den shelters are utilized based on climate and elevations. During winter months, it is more common to find a porcupine in stone lodging, but will make due with trees if that is their only option. [3]\nDiet: All porcupines are herbivores. Foods rich in nitrogen, protein, and fiber such as bark, phloem, twigs, sugar maple buds, etc. are often consumed as staples in their diets. [3]\nActivity: Porcupines are nocturnal, as they feed at night in order to harness additional nutrients in their foods. Their dominant and protective nature keeps both males and females within a specific “home range” for approximately three rounds of mating. [3]\nReproduction: Females initiate mating season annually by marking their territories and emitting vaginal secretions attracting males. Males will fight to mate with specific females. Alpha males are typically larger in nature, providing a good line of genetics to the offspring. When females have been fertilized, their gestation period will span around 200 days. Offspring are cared for by the female, gaining full independence within a year of birth. [2]\nLifespan: Up to 18 years. [2]\nNotes: A porcupine's quills act as a high quality defensive mechanism, both warding off predators through an ominous color contrast (white on black) and by acting as a barrier when under attack. [3]\n↑ Woods, C.A. (1973), \"Erethizon dorsatum\", Mammalian Species 29: 1-6 \n↑ a b c d e f Shefferly, Nancy; Weber, Christopher (2012), North American Porcupine , http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Erethizon_dorsatum/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \nRabbits, Hares & Pikas[ edit ]\nLepus americanus ( Snowshoe Hare )\nFamily: Leporidae\nSize: Total length: 20 in. (508 mm.). Tail Length: 2 in. (50.8 mm.). Weight: 3 lbs. (1.36 kg). [1]\nDescription: The Snowshoe Hare is a medium-sized rabbit. It has a brown coat in the summer, and a white coat during the winter. [1] The soles of its hind legs are densely furred and large, forming the characteristic snowshoe. [2]\nSimilar Species: The Snowshoe Hare is similar to but slightly taller than the Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus). [1]\nRange: Northern species found as far north as Alaska and over most of Canada. [1]\nHabitat: Dense woodlands and forest bogs. [1] Open fields, fence rows, and coniferous lowlands. [2]\nDiet: Grass, clover, and ferns in the summer. Bark and twigs in the winter. [1] Also eat their own feces. [2]\nActivity: Nocturnal. [3] Most active during dawn and dusk during periods of low light. Sleep and groom throughout the day. [2]\nReproduction: Mates in February through July. Gestation period of 36 days. Typical litter size of 4 (3-4 litters per year). [1] Weaned at 14-28 days. Polygynandrous (males and females both have multiple mates). [2]\nLifespan: 5 years in the wild. Up to 85% do not live longer than 1 year. [2]\nNotes: Much of the Snowshoe Hare’s digestion occurs in the hindgut. Therefore, to extract all of the available nutrients they will often eat their own feces to cycle their food through a second time. The Snowshoe Hare can run up to 27 MPH and leap 10 ft. in a single bound. [2]\nCommon predators include Coyotes (Canis latrans) Lynxes (Lynx lynx), Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus), and Red-Tailed Hawks (Butao jamaicensis). [1]\nSnowshow Hare’s are accomplished swimmers and often swim to escape prey (2). Snowshoe Hares have very dramatic population fluctuations over 10-year cycles thought to be accredited to over-grazing. Females are typically larger than males. [4]\nSnowshoe Hare Lepus americanus\n↑ Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (2012), Lepus americanus \n↑ Ruland, C. (2012), Lepus americanus \nLepus townsendii ( White-tailed Jackrabbit )\nFamily: Rabbits and Hares (Leporidae)\nSize: White-tailed jackrabbits weigh 6.61 to 8.81 lbs (3 to 4 kg), and range from 22 to 25.6 inches (558-650 mm) in total length. [1]\nDescription: The white-tailed jackrabbit’s coat color varies with season and habitat. The back ranges from yellowish to grayish brown in color while the underside is white or grey. The throat and face are darker with coarser hair. Its tail is white with a buffy dorsal stripe. Their ears are rimmed in white and tipped in black. Two distinguishing features are their large ears and hind legs. [2]\nSimilar Species: The white-tailed jackrabbit is the least social of all hares. [2] . They can also be distinguished from other hares due to their prominent flanges projecting from the sides. [1]\nRange: The white-tailed jackrabbit’s range within the United States including: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. [3]\nHabitat: The white-tailed jackrabbit is typically found in open grasslands, forests, pastures, and fields. [2]\nDiet: White-tailed jackrabbits are strict herbivores . They want grasses, forbs, and shrubs in varying amounts. [2]\nActivity: White-tailed jackrabbits are nocturnal . They generally feed from sunset to sunrise and rest in shallow forms during the day. They do not hibernate in the winter. [2]\nReproduction: The White-tailed jackrabbit’s breeding season extends from February to July with a peak from March to June. gestation typically lasts 42 days. Their litter size ranges from 1 to 11, but averages at 4-5. Females may have one to four litters per year, however a maximum of one litter is produced in northern climates. The young are fully weaned at one month, and sexually mature after 7-8 months. [2]\nLifespan: Up to 5 years in the wild. [3]\nNotes: The white-tailed jackrabbit is the least social of all hares. In terms of communication, the species generally make no vocal noises, but screams if caught or injured. They have acute hearing and a sharp sense of smell. They also have good vision and whiskers that allow them to navigate to find food. These senses help them perceive their environment. [2]\nThe white-tailed jackrabbit is a favorite prey of animals such as foxes, coyotes, cougars, badgers, bobcats, snakes, eagles, and owls. They avoid predators by lying perfectly still. They are also proficient swimmers, which helps them to escape predators. [2]\nWhite-tailed jackrabbits are a large population and are considered a “least concern” species by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [3]\nWhite-tailed jackrabbit\n↑ a b Wallmo, O.C. (1984), \"Odocoileus hemionus\", Mammalian Species (219): (1-9) \nSize: Total Length: 12-16 inches (304.8-406.4mm) [1]\nTail Length: No more than 2 inches (25-54mm) [2]\nWeight: 2-3 pounds (0.9-1.4 kg) [1]\nDescription: This large cottontail has long, dense fur that ranges in color from brown to grey. The underbody and tail are white. Some may have fur that looks patchy in color. [2]\nSimilar Species: The Eastern Cottontail has a patch of fur on its neck that may be yellow-brown to black which distinguishes it from other species. [2]\nRange: The Eastern Cottontail is found in the middle to eastern parts of the United States and the northern parts of South America. They may be found in small parts of the southwest and northwest United States. In Minnesota specifically, they are grossly populated throughout the entire state. [3]\nHabitat: This species lives in a variety of diverse habitats. These habitats include prairies, deserts, swamps, glades, and various types of forests. The Eastern Cottontail also may reside in areas that are more developed such as farms, pastures, and shrubs. [3]\nDiet: This species is a herbivore. The Eastern Cottontail’s diet varies based on the time of year. In the winter, this species eats twigs and bark. In the summer, they eat green plants such as clover or grass. At times, the Eastern Cottontail may eat its droppings to consume nutrients. [1]\nActivity: The Eastern Cottontail is most active at dawn and dusk. If the moon is out, they may be more active during the night. The Eastern Cottontail is more active in the winter than the summer especially during times when there is more snow and less food around. The species' highest activity level is in the winter, when the temperature is between 0 and 33 degrees Fahrenheit. [2]\nReproduction: Reproductive seasons vary based on the location of the animal. Cottontails living at higher elevations start their breeding seasons later than those living at lower elevations. The average gestation is 28 days. Most females have 3-5 babies per litter and have 3-4 litters each year. The Eastern Cottontail is prolific meaning the female can be bred shortly after giving birth. The female may abandon her babies if she gets pregnant again. The babies would then live alone in a ground nest for about three weeks. [1]\nLifespan: The average lifespan of the Eastern Cottontail is 15 months in the wild. Their potential lifespan is 10 years, but most do not survive their second year. [2] In captivity, the Eastern Cottontail may die of shock instantly. [1]\nNotes: According to the IUCN Red List, the Eastern Cottontail is of least concern for threatened species. Eastern Cottontails are a very common species in Minnesota. In fact, they are one of the most common mammals seen here. Most predators hunt Cottontails including humans who may enjoy eating their meat. Babies are the size of the human thumb at birth.\nEastern Cottontail\n↑ a b c d e Chapman, J; Hockman, J (1980), \"Sylvilagus Floridanus\" , Mammalian Species 136: 1-8, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-136-01-0001.pdf , retrieved October 4, 2012 \n↑ a b Mexican Association for Conservation and Study of Lagomorphs; Romero Malpica, F; Rangel Cordero, H (2008), Sylvilagus floridanus , http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41299/0 , retrieved (October 8, 2012) \nSize: Total Length: 4.3-5.5 inches (11-14cm)\nTail Length: about 20% of total length [1]\nWeight: 0.35-1oz. (10-30g)\nDescription: Soft dark gray fur that covers even the ears. Pointed head attaches to robust body. They also have chestnut colored teeth [1] [2] .\nSimilar Species: The difference between Southern Short-tailed Shrew and the Northern Short-tailed Shrew is where they live. Northern Short-tailed shrews generally live north of Oklahoma. The tooth structure is slightly also slightly different.\nRange: Northern Short-tailed shrews live in central and eastern United States and Canada, mostly keeping north of Oklahoma.\nHabitat: The Northern Short-tailed shrew lives in woodlands with lots of brush cover, sticks and leaf-litter. Nearby food is also a necessity, so shrews will leave if they cannot find enough to eat.\nDiet: Shrews eat worms, snails, centipedes, beetles, invertebrates, mice, and smaller shrews. They eat up to 3 times their body weight per day.\nActivity: Northern short-tailed shrews are nocturnal, but can be active 24 hours a day. Most of a shrew’s energy is spent constructing narrow burrow systems or moving in where other animals lived [3] .\nReproduction: Northern short-tailed shrews breed from February – November, peaking in mid-spring and late summer or early fall. Young may reproduce at 60 days. Gestation is 20-21 days. Birth litters are 4-5 shrews in a nest, and these nests are constructed ideally under a fallen log with ample brush cover.\nLifespan: Northern short-tailed shrews live about 1.5 years.\nNotes: Northern Short-tailed shrews have poison in their saliva that allows them to attack their predators and prey in the face, paralyzing and preserving the creature until the shrew is ready to eat. The poison is not deadly to humans. In the wild they try to kill each other and live alone, but in captivity they will sleep together peacefully and try to get to the bottom of the pile [1] .\nNorthern Short-tailed Shrew\nReferences[ edit ]\n↑ a b c George, S.B.; Choate, J.R. (1986), B.J.Verts; K.J.J.Jones; T.E.Lawlor, eds., \"Blarina brevicauda\" , Mammalian Species (Los Angeles, CA) 261: 1-9, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ \n↑ Whitaker, J.O. (1980), A.A.Knopf, ed., \"Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda)\", Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals (New York: Chanticleer Press, Inc.): 48, 279, 291-293 \n↑ NatureServe (2012), \"Northern Short-tailed Shrew\" , NatureServe Explorer: An Online Encyclopedia of Life., http://www.natureserve.org \nCryptotis parva ( Least Shrew )\nFamily: Soricidae\nSize: Total Length – 2.7 to 3.4 inches (68 to 86 mm); Tail Length – 0.5 to 0.7 inches (13 to 18 mm); Weight – 0.1 to 0.2 oz (4 to 6.5 grams) [1]\nDescription: Least shrews have dense, short hair; which is dark brown to reddish brown on the dorsal side during the winter. Fur becomes grayish brown in color during the summer. They have a bi-colored tail, with a darker brown on top and a lighter underside. [1]\nSimilar Species: Smallest of the shrews, they can be distinguished by their tail length.\nRange: The least shrew is widely distributed across the eastern United States, and southward into Central America. However, it is only known in Minnesota from a single male specimen collected in Winona County. [2]\nHabitat: Least shrews are commonly found in open fields with tall grasses or areas with fallen trees and brush that provide protection. [1]\nDiet: Least shrews eat insects, earthworms, snails, and carrion. When those types of food are scarce they may eat seeds and fruit. Emergency supplies of food are stored. [3]\nActivity: Least Shrews are social animals and often share burrows. They make nests out of leaves or dig burrows, which they line with leaves and grass. They also will use old burrows and runways of other mammals, such as voles. [4]\nReproduction: Least shrews may reproduce several times during the mating season, which lasts from February to November. Gestation lasts 21 to 23 days. Females give birth to an average of 5 young per litter, though litters can range from 2 to 7 individuals. [1]\nLifespan: Least shrews tend to live a little over a year in the wild. Captive least shrews can live for roughly 21 months. [1]\nNotes: Carnivorious mammals capture and kill these shrews, but rarely eat them because of the specialized skin glands that are distasteful to these carnivores. The principal gland is the flank gland, which is better developed in males than females after sexual maturity. [3]\nLeast Shrew\no 3.9 to 4.9 in (100 to 125 mm)\n• Tail length:\no 1.4 to 1.8 in (36 to 45 mm)\n• Weight:\no .18 to .47 oz (5.3 to 13.5 g) [1]\nDescription: This particular species is similar to the size of a mouse and is a medium size compared to other shrews. The back of this animal is a darker brown. The sides are light brown. The stomach has a more gray like brown color. The tail starts out dark and then ends in a dark brown. [1]\nSimilar Species: • The tri colored body is what distinguishes this from others like it. This shrew is also larger than the others in its family. • Another distinguishing trait is that its tail has dual colors unlike others in its family. [2]\nRange: • This species ranges from the Arctic Circle as far down as the northern part of the United States.\n• They go as far as east as Quebec and up to the Atlantic coastline. They go as far west as southern Yukon.\n• They are typically found in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. [3]\nHabitat: • This species prefers to live in moist, open areas. Particularly in Minnesota they favor living in marshes that surround rice lakes. • However, this particular species of shrew is also able to adjust to other habitats depending on what part of the country this animal is found. [2]\nDiet: • These animals are insectivorous.\no The types of insects that this animal eats in particular are grasshoppers, larch sawflies, and some aquatic insects as well.\no Generally they forage in the ground for their food but have also been known to climb plants to get their food. [3]\nActivity: • These animals are mostly active at night and are considered to be nocturnal. They also spend part of their time awake during the day making them diurnal as well. [3] They are typically not active between the hours of 6:00 AM and 10:00 AM. [2]\n• When they are awake they tend to move quite quickly. During periods of inactivity they generally lay on their side or stomach with their heads tucked under.\n• This species is also a very solitary animal that does not survive well with others. [3]\nReproduction: • This species is generally promiscuous in its mating. Males often move farther away from their homes than the females to mate. [3]\n• Females typically have 1 or 2 litters in their lifetime. It is characteristic in Minnesota that the first litter is born sometime between April to late August with most occurring in June. • Gestation lasts around 13 to 21 days. Lactation typically is 20 to 24 days. • Weaning lasts about 5 to 6 weeks. • The average litter size of this shrew is 6.8 per litter.\n• The offspring reach sexual maturity at the age of 12 months. [4]\nLifespan: • The lifespan of this animal is typically 18 months. [3]\nNotes: In the wilds of Minnesota it will be quite hard to find this tiny animal as they are only about 4 inches long. Oddly they are considered to be a large size compared to other shrews in the family. To distinguish this shrew from others you will have to look at the coat and tail of it. The coat is tri colored and the tail gets darker as it comes to the end. This animal generally eats insects and will go to great lengths to get them including climbing large plants. It will be easy to find these animals during the day but they can especially be found at night searching for food. In Minnesota it would be most easy to find them in wet land areas such as marshes and swamps. This animal is quite adaptable in that it can adjust to a variety of climates making it a great animal for Minnesota. These animals are very solitary in nature. In captivity when 2 of them are together one always suspiciously dies with no signs of any sort of fight between them.\nThe northern short tailed shrew is very similar to the arctic shrew with the same body type and similar size\n↑ a b c Lariviere, Serge (1999), \"Sorex Arcticus\" , Mammalian Species (608): 1-9, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ a b c d e f Seto, Stephanie (2006), [http:/animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Sorex_arcticus/ \"Sorex Arcticus, Arctic Shrew\"], Animal Diversity Web, http:/animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Sorex_arcticus/, retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ Clough, Garrett (1963), \"Biology of the Shrew\" , American Midland Naturalist (69): 69-81, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2422844 , retrieved September 23,2012 \nsorex cinereus ( Masked Shrew )\nFamily: Soricidae\nSize: The masked shrew usually weighs between .08-1.4 ounces (2.5-4.0g) and is approximately 3.9 inches (10cm) in length. Average length of the tail is 1.5 inches (3.9cm), comprising over 40% its the total length. [1]\nDescription: The fur along the back is brown, while underside fur is white. The coat tends to be darker overall in winter. The tail is brown above and pale underneath, with a blackish tip. [2]\nRange: The masked shrew is the most widely distributed shrew found in North America. They occur throughout the northern United States, most of Canada, and Alaska. They do not occur on Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands, in tundra habitats, arctic islands, or in extreme northern Quebec. [3]\nHabitat: The masked shrew typically live in open and closed forests, meadows, river banks, lake shores, and willow thickets. Habitat suitability depends on the availability of water and the highest population densities can be found in moist environments where water is easily accessible. [4]\nDiet: The Masked shrew is omnivorous although they are on the carnivorous side as they primarily eat a variety of insects primarily consisting of ants.They also commonly consume insect larvae and caterpillars.[ citation needed ]\nActivity: Masked shrews are primarily nocturnal and are solitary. They can run fast to protect themselves from predation. [5]\nReproduction: Young become sexually active at 2 months although few females have their first litter until the spring after their birth. Their average litter size is around 6.5 neonates at birth the young can exhibit movements but cannot crawl,see, or hear. they are weaned and grown enough to leave the nest at 27 days of age. [6]\nLifespan: The masked shrew typically lives 1-2 years. [7]\nNotes: All shrews (including the masked shrew) have a very high metabolic rate which includes and very fast heart beat. Some shrews have had their heartbeats measured at 1200 beats per minute. To maintain themselves they must eat their weight in food every day. This is accomplished by eating every few minutes. With a heart beating so fast the animals are easily startled and with deadly consequences, as they have been known to die of fright after a loud burst of thunder.\nMasked Shrew\n↑ Leel, W. (2010), Masked Shrew , http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/sorex_cinereus/ , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ \"Sorex Cinereus\" , Mammalian Species (743): 1-9., 2004, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/743_Sorex_cinereus.pdf , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ \"Sorex Cinereus\" , Mammalian Species (743): 1-9., 2004, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/743_Sorex_cinereus.pdf , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ Leel, W. (2010), Masked Shrew , http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/sorex_cinereus/ , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ Leel, W. (2010), Masked Shrew , http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/sorex_cinereus/ , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ Hazardl, E. (1982), \"The Masked Shrew\", Mammals in Minnesota: 21-27 \n↑ Hazardl, E. (1982), \"The Masked Shrew\", Mammals in Minnesota: 21-27 \nNorthern Water Shrew[ edit ]\nSize: Length: 5 to 7 inches. (130 to 170mm)\nTail length: 2.2 to 3.5 inches. (57 to 89mm)\nWeight: 0.28 to 0.6 ounces. (8 to 18g)\nDescription: The coat appears black or dark grey, but it seems browner in the summer and blacker in the winter. Its hind feet are larger than its front feet, and its tail is darker on the top and lighter on the bottom. [1]\nSimilar Species: The Glacier Bay water shrew is sometimes classified as being an American water shrew, though the two are different species.\nRange: The American water shrew can be found in Alaska, Canada, and the northern American states.\nHabitat: American Water Shrews live in forests near streams or other water sources.\nDiet: They mostly feed on aquatic insects but will also feed on land insects and vegetation. The water shrew will usually hunt any small creature that it can overpower. [2]\nActivity: They are active during the day and night. For every half hour of activity the American water shrew spends one hour resting. The American water shrew is a solitary creature. [2]\nReproduction: The breeding season is from December to September. 1 to 2 litters are produced during each season with a litter of 3 to 10 offspring. They reach sexual maturity in the winter following their birth. [2]\nLifespan: Their typical lifespan is 18 months.\nNotes: Water shrews are relatively large compared to other shrews and are classified as long tailed shrews. They forage for food in the water and are able to swim in water all year long. Some water shrews have been seen walking on the surface of water as well. One suggestion as to how they can walk in water is that they are able to trap air bubbles between the hairs on their feet. They are aggressive creatures and fighting is common between both males and females. [2]\nAmerican Water Shrew\n↑ Beneski, John; Stinson, Derek (1987), \"Sorex palustris\" , Mammalian Species: 1-6, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved October 12, 2012 \n↑ a b c d Carmen, M. (2001), \"Sorex Palustris\" , Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Sorex_palustris/ , retrieved October 9, 2012 Invalid <ref> tag; name \"adw\" defined multiple times with different content\nSize: Total length: 2-4 inches, 67-98 mm\nTail length: 1-2 inches, 25-34 mm\nWeight: less than 1 pound, 2.2-6.6 grams [1]\nDescription: Slim skull with pointed face. Covered in soft fur, gray-brown in color with lighter underside. [2]\nSimilar Species: The major distinguishing factor between Pygmy Shrews and other species of the same genus are the number of unicuspid teeth on the top jawline, 3, as opposed to four or five. [1]\nRange: Pygmy Shrews are permanent residents across much of North American, specifically in northern Canada, east-Central United States, and the large majority of Minnesota. [1]\nHabitat: Preferred habitats for the Pygmy Shrew seem to be northern forests, edges of tundrous regions, and in mountainous terrain. They may be found in both soft and hardwood forests, as well as burrowing within moist soils, pre-constructed tunnels, and other biotic litters. [3]\nDiet: Pygmy Shrews are omnivores, tending to lean more toward a carnivorous existence. Insects and small invertebrates make up much of their diet. Pygmy shrews eat constantly, as they are so small and have extremely high metabolic rates. [4]\nActivity: Very little is known about Pygmy Shrew activity, although controlled environment testing show a high level of feeding, climbing, and sleeping throughout the entire day, identifying more with a crepuscular mammal. [4]\nReproduction: Pygmy shrews mate during the summer months, gestating for approximately 18 days. A typical litter holds between three and eight offspring. Little is known about post-birth maternal care, aside from the fact that offspring must nurse for some period of time. These offspring are ready to mate two years after birth. [3]\nLifespan: Up to 2 years. [3]\nNotes: Smallest American mammal. [2]\n↑ a b c Montana Field Guide, Pygmy shrew: sorex hoyi , http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AMABA01250.aspx , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ a b Long, Charles A. (1974), \"Microsorex hoyi and microsorex thompsoni\", Mammalian Species 33: 1-4 \nCondylura cristata ( Star-nose Mole )\nFamily: Talpidae\nSize: Total Length – 6.89 to 8.07 inches (175 to 205 mm); Weight – 1.23 to 2.64 oz (35 to 75 g) [1]\nDescription: The star-nose mole has a blackish brown appearance; their body is covered in black-brown water-repellant fur. Long tail, four large legs covered in scales. They have 11 pairs (22 total) of fleshy pink tentacles at the end of their snout that makes the nose look like a star. [2]\nSimilar Species: Unlike any other species; easy to differentiate with their tentacles on their nose.\nRange: The main distribution range of these animals extends to the north-eastern US and eastern Canada. They are found in places like Labrador, Quebec, Minnesota, Indiana and South Dakota. These mammals can also be found along the Atlantic Coast and in the Appalachian Mountain area. [2]\nHabitat: They are semi-aquatic animals preferring low wet areas. The tunnels of these moles often lead below water surfaces. They can be found in wet meadows, marshes, banks of streams, lakes and ponds. [2]\nDiet: These small mammals feed on various small insects and fishes including ants, worms, beetles, mollusks and snails. [2]\nActivity: Spends most of the time burrowing tunnels; this species is active by day as well as by night, spending about half of each 24 hour period resting or sleeping curled upright with the head bent under the forelimbs.\nReproduction: The breeding season starts in mid-March and continues through April. They reproduce once every year, but the females may reproduce a second time if their first litter is unsuccessful. One litter may contain 2- 7 offspring. [2]\nLifespan: 3 to 4 years in the wild.\nNotes: The nose is the principal sensory organ of the Star Nosed Moles as they cannot see. The tentacles covering the edges of the nose contain 25,000 highly sensitive touch receptors. These completely hairless tentacles help them in hunting. They identify insects, invertebrates or any other consumable substance around them by the help of these tentacles. They hunt by touching their prey. It takes them very little time to decide if a substance is edible. The whole hunting process takes an average 230 ms (millisecond- a thousandth of a second) to complete once they find their prey. [2]\nStar-nose Mole\nSize: Head and body length: 110mm to 170mm (4.33in to 6.96in)\nTail length range: 18mm to 36mm Range mass: 32g to 140g (1.13os tp 4.93oz)\nAverage mass: 74.6g (2.63oz)\nDescription: The Eastern Mole’s body is covered with a thick velvety fur that varied from a color from silver to black to copper. Their short tail is round and almost hairless. As for their feet there are some hairs above or upper portion but naked or hairless below and the feet are quite large. There are web between the toes of each foot which are to help with all the diggings (Gorog, 1999). They don’t have any eyes or ears. But it’s thought that the poorly developed eye may be effective in detecting light (Gorog, 1999).\nHabitat: These are found from eastern South Dakota, Michigan, southeastern Wyoming, Central Texas, south to the tip of Florida and north to Ontario and New England. There is a small amount of population found in southwestern Texas and in northwestern Mexico. They prefer fields, meadows, pastures and open woodland.\nDiet: Eastern mole most likely eat earthworms and also eat insects and their larvae, some vegetation, and in captivity will eat ground beef, dog food, mice, and small birds. They eat up to 25%-100% of their own weight in food each day (Gorog, 1999).\nActivity: The eastern moles are not solitary. They have high energy requirements and needs a considerable amount of food daily (Gorog, 1999). They can dig up to 4.5 meters in one hour with their powerful forefeet and are good swimmers. Even though they have no vision, they may be able to detect the presence or absence of light. Also their ears are cover by a layer of skin but again, they may be able to detect sounds and vibrations. They probably find their way around and detect prey by the use of their acute and senses of smell and touch (Gorog, 1999).\nReproduction: The female has a litter of around three to five young after about 44 days and the litters are born anytime from late February through early June. The eastern mole will have only one litter per year. Newborn don’t have any fur and are in a plant-like nest that are in one of the deeper chambers. This is where they will stay until about four weeks old. They will become adult size by three months and can breed at the end of year one.\nLifespan: One captive animal will usually live longer than 36 months but in the wild, these eastern moles likely live less than this (Gorog, 1999). But their average lifespan is 3 years.\no 3.6 to 4.5 in (92 to 115mm)\n• Tail length: o 1.4 to 1.8 in (35 to 45mm)\n• Weight:\no .28 to .39 oz (8.1 to 11g) [1]\nDescription: This particular bat has a distinguishing black coat with silver or white tips. They also have black wings and black ears. Their ears are short, rounded, and have no hair on them. [1]\nSimilar Species: • The most distinguishing feature of these bats is the color of their hair. They are easy to spot because they are the only bats that have that particular silver tipped hair. [1]\nRange: • This animal can be found throughout North America.\n• They range from as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico.\n• They range from as far west as California and as far east as Georgia. [1]\nHabitat: • This species prefers to live in temperate areas in the northern woodlands that has some source of water nearby.\n• They generally roost in trees such as willows, ash, and maple trees. It is not as common but they have also been known to roost in some buildings.\n• In the winter they roost inside of trees, buildings, and the cracks of rocks. [2]\nDiet: • These animals are insectivorous\no They eat small, soft bodied insects such as flies, moths, mosquitoes, beetles, and crickets.\no They generally look for food in the tree tops but they also search in small clearings and near water. [3]\nActivity: • These animals are nocturnal. At night they fly generally late compared to other bats starting after other animals have already started eating. [1]\n• They have 2 periods in the night that they are active. Their first period is typically 2 to 4 hours after sunset and their second occurs 6 to 8 hours after sunset. [1] • They have a generally slow flight speed of 15.7 f/s (4.8 m/s). [2]\n• Unlike other bats they do not hibernate in the winter they actually migrate south towards Mexico in the autumn and then return north in the spring. [1]\nReproduction: • This species in particular species reproduces in a unique way called delayed fertilization. Mating occurs from August to October and then ovulation occurs in April to May when they return north.\n• The typical female has around 1 to 2 offspring in each attempt. • The gestational period is approximately 50 to 60 days. • Weaning lasts until the offspring is around 3 to 4 weeks old.\n• Offspring reach sexual maturity typically in the late summer or fall. [4]\nLifespan: The life span of this particular bat is generally 12 years of age. [4]\nNotes: Silver haired bats, along with any other kind of bat should be considered Minnesotan’s best friend as they eat the mosquitoes and other insects that bother us every year. This bat can be distinguished from others because of its black hair with white or silver tips. It is a medium sized bat that has a small wingspan compared to others. It is nocturnal so a night trip will be necessary to see this extraordinary animal. Look for them in the later part of the night as they generally fly much later than other bats. This bat is typically found in woodland areas near water but otherwise all over Minnesota and the rest of the country. They prefer to live in willow, ash, or maple trees. In the winter they do not hibernate as most animals do they migrate south making it impossible to spot them during that time. However, you will not want to get too close to these animals as this particular bat has been known to be common carriers of rabies.\nSilver haired bat in captivity\n↑ a b c d e f g Kunz, Thomas H. (1982), \"Lasionnycteris Notivagans\" , Mammalian Species (172): 1-5, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ a b Arroyo Cabrales, J.; Miller, B.; Reid, F.; Cuaron, A.D.; de Grammont (2008), \"Lasionnycteris Notivagans\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ \"Lasionycteris Noctivagans\" , Bat Conservation International, 2012, http://www.batcon.org/index.php , retrieved September 23, 2012 \nLasiurus Borealis ( Eastern Red Bat )\nFamily: Bat (Vespertilionidae)\nSize: The average length of the Eastern Red Bat is 4.28in (108.9mm). The average length of it's tail: 2.07in (52.7mm). It's average weight: .4 ounces. [1]\nDescription: The Eastern Red Bat is moderately sized with long, pointed wings. It has small feet with ears that are low, broad, and rounded. Its fur is a rusty red with tints of light brown and white. [2]\nSimilar Species: The feature that will distinguish the Eastern Red Bat from any other species is their hair color. The rusty red tint is unlike any other fur color from the bat family. [3]\nRange: The Eastern Red Bat's population is all over North and South America. In Minnesota, this bat can be seen in all parts of the state. [1]\nHabitat: Their habitats tend to be heavily human populated areas with trends of urban areas. Their habitats can be trees, shrubbery, and sometimes near the ground. [4]\nDiet: This species dines on moths and beetles. [2]\nActivity: Eastern Red Bats are nocturnal and thrive at night. It spends most of the day sleeping. This species migrates south for the winter in late summer. [3]\nReproduction: Mating takes place in flight and copulation occurs in August or September. Female Red Bats give birth to twins each year. Their young learn to fly at about 5 weeks old and it takes them about another 5 weeks to learn to fly on their own. [4]\nLifespan: The Eastern Red Bat's lifespan is about 12 years of age. [2]\nNotes: The Eastern Red Bat is known as one of the most beautiful bats in all of North America. Its red color and piercing eyes make it stand out from the rest. This species is on the “least concerned” list when it comes to extinction because of its wide distribution, large population, and habitat tolerance. They prefer to live in trees and hang there to sleep during the day and live/hunt at night. They have been recorded in existence since the mid 1800’s. This bat does not form large colonies and is a very independent species.\nEastern Red Bat\n↑ a b Shump, Karl (1982), Lasiurus Borealis, The American Society of Mammalogists, p. 1-6 \n↑ a b c Arroyo-Cabrales, Jay; Reid, F (2008), Lasiurus Borealis, IUCN Red List of Threatned Species, p. 1 \n↑ a b Davis, Andrew (2010), Pelage color of red bats lasirrus borealis varies with body size, Journal of Zoology, p. 401-405 \n↑ a b Kurta, Allen (2010), Reproductive timing, distribution and sex ratios of tree bats in lower Michigan, Journal of Mammalogy, p. 586-592 \nSize: Total Length: 5.3 inches (134.5millimeter)\nTail Length: 2.3 inches (57.5millimeter)\nWeight: .7-1.2 ounces (20-35 grams)\nDescription: Black to dark brown starting at the base, followed by a cream colored band, and then a strip of mahogany brown. Has a yellowish-brown collar under its chin along with black-rimmed yellow ears. Has long, soft fur that starts at the tip or the tail and ends by the wrists on the underside of the wings.\nSimilar Species: This species is one of the few tree-dwelling bats that is spread widely throughout North and South America.\nRange: The hoary bat has a range from Argentina and Chile, extending northward into Canada. They are mostly concentrated in the Plains States and the Pacific Northwest.\nHabitat: This species can mainly be found in forests with small open areas and live in hollowed out areas, like woodpecker holes and squirrel nests. Females normally nest in deciduous trees, while the males prefer coniferous trees. Most bats favor areas that have dense vegetation above and no obstructions below their nest, allowing them to drop and gain flight.\nDiet: The hoary bat focuses its diet on moths and beetles along with mosquitos.\nActivity: In the winter months, this species migrates to coastal areas around south San Francisco, from South Carolina to central Florida, and throughout the Gulf States. They are nocturnal and feed once in the early evening and once before sunrise.\nReproduction: Females usually give birth between the middle of May and the end of June. Litter size ranges from one to four pups. Young are born blind and deaf, with their ears and eyes opening 3 days after birth. They learn to fly 33 days after birth.\nLifespan: The hoary bat lives for 6 to 7 years. [1]\nHoary Bat\n↑ Texas Parks and Wildlife, Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus) , http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/hoary/ , retrieved 9-23-12 \nLittle Brown Myotis[ edit ]\nMyotis lucifugus ( Little Brown Bat )\nFamily: Vespertilionidae\nSize: Little brown bats range in length between 2 to 4 inches (50.8 mm to 101.6 mm) and only weigh about 5 to 15 grams (0.18 oz to 0.53 oz). Their wingspan ranges from 9 to 10.5 inches (228.6 mm to 266.7 mm). [1] While both sexes appear similar, males are generally smaller than females. [2]\nDescription: Little brown bats have fur that is glossy and varies from dark brown, golden brown, reddish, to olive brown. The abdominal region is lighter in color. [1] Unlike the rest of their body, the wings of little brown bats are nearly hairless and dark brown or black.\nSimilar Species: The little brown bat lacks the brownish vascular membrane of the eyeball and folded retinas so they do not exhibit eye shine like other species. [1] They have a blunt tragus, or an extra piece of cartilage sticking out from the base of each ear, and fur is typically longer, darker, and more glossy than others. Other distinguishing factors include the length of the ears, pelage length and sheen, and ear color. [3]\nRange: Little brown bats are found in abundance in southern Alaska, Canada, across the United States, and in high, forested elevations in regions of Mexico. [1] Little brown bats are absent from hot, arid lowlands such as areas in northern Canada, Florida, the Great Plains regions, southern California, and the coasts of Virginia and North and South Carolina. They are located in Iceland and Kamchatka, which may have been a result of overseas travel. [1]\nHabitat: Little brown bats occupy three different types of roosts: day, night, and hibernation. Active bats occupy day and night roosts in buildings, trees, under rocks, and in piles of wood. Most roosts have very little to no light and provide good shelter and high humidity. Night roosts include confined spaces in which large clusters of about 300,000 bats can group together to increase the temperature. [1] Day and night roosts are different in order to prevent accumulation of feces and to avoid attracting predators. [4] In the winter, a hibernation roost is used. These hibernation roosts may be shared with the Myotis yumanensis and include areas such as abandoned mines and caves where temperatures are above freezing and humidity is high. Unlike day and night roosts, hibernacula are not found in or around buildings. [1]\nDiet: Insects make up the primary diet of little brown bats. Like birds, little brown bats catch their prey by aerial hawking and gleaning. Typically, little brown bats feed on swarms of insects in order to save time and energy. If a feeding area is successful these bats tend to go back to the same site. Types of insects that are consumed by these bats are beetles, aquatic insects, caddisflies, moths, midges, mayflies, lacewings, and mosquitoes. [1]\nActivity: Little brown bats do hibernate in the winter. Northern populations enter hibernation is early September whereas southern populations enter hibernation in November. Northern populations end their hibernation period in mid May whereas southern populations end in mid March. [4] Some populations may migrate for the winter but never too far from their original location. Little brown bats are primarily nocturnal and begin to hunt during the dusk hours and return before dawn. [1] In order to communicate, bats use ultrasonic calls that are beyond the range of human hearing. Calls usually last about 4 milliseconds. When hunting, these bats call about 20 times per second and increase their calls to 200 per second when approaching their prey. Calls allow bats to locate, track, and evaluate prey. [2]\nReproduction: There are two phases in the mating process. These include the active phase in which both partners are awake and alert and the passive phase in which males mate with inactive individuals. During the active stage, females often times mate with several males and during the passive stage males mate with multiple females. [1] Mating occurs during the late summer and fall and is called swarming. [1] Females delay ovulation and store sperm for up to seven months until fertilization takes place in the spring. Females have a 50 to 60 day gestation period and pups are born in June and July. Most bats hang upside down, but females giving birth hang with their heads facing upwards. Unlike other species, the little brown bat only gives birth to one pup each year. Pups are born with a full set of teeth and open their eyes and ears within hours of birth. It takes about three weeks before a pup can finally fly and feed on insects. After about four weeks, pups reach their adult weight and become self-supporting. [1]\nLifespan: Usually little brown bats live up to 6 to 7 years in the wild with the males leading longer lives than the females. [1]\nNotes: Evidence suggests that the little brown bat may be entering an extinction stage because of the widespread disease called white-nose syndrome. [3] WNS is a disease that affects hibernating bats. When the disease is visible, the nose of the bat or other hairless parts, such as the wings, have a layer of white fungus. First detected in the winter of 2006-2007 in New York, this disease has continued to spread throughout the bat community into many regions of the United States. So far 5.7 to 6.7 million bats in eastern North America have been killed with a death rate of 90 to 100 percent in some hibernacula. Scientists are still researching the disease and trying to find a way to control it. [5] In addition to the day and night roosts, females occupy nursery roosts. These roosts are similar to day roosts but are warmer and are usually only occupied by females and their offspring. [4] The same nursery roost is used each year. [1] These types of roosts are usually located in and around buildings but may also be found in hollow trees and other natural crevices. Typically during feeding little brown bats will eat half their body weight, but nursing females can eat up to 110 percent of their body weight. [2]\nLittle Brown Bat\nMyotis septentrionalis ( Northern long-eared myotis )\nFamily: Vespertilionidae\nSize: The average length of the Northern myotis is 2.90- 3.3 inches (74-84mm) long, the length of the tail averaging at 1 inch (26mm), and it weighs between .17- .35 oz (5- 10g). They have a wingspan of 9-10 inches (22.86- 25.4cm). [1] Compared to other Myotis species, these bats have long ears with a relatively long tragus in each ear.\nDescription: The Northern myotis is a small bat with dull, gray-brown pelage. It has relatively long ears that extend beyond the tip of the nose when laid forward. It also has a narrow and sharp-pointed tragus, which is the externally visible cartilaginous structure of the external ear. [2] [3]\nSimilar Species: Similar species of the Northern myotis include the Myotis sodalis and the Myotis lucifugus, from which it can be distinguished by having ears that extend beyond the tip of the nose when laid forward and a long, pointed tragus.\nRange: The northern myotis is widely distributed over eastern and northern North America, but has been known to stretch all of the way down to Texas. [2]\nHabitat: The Northern myotis hibernates in caves and mine tunnels. It is also found heavily in forested areas, and have been known to roost in buildings, under shingles of buildings, under exfoliating tree bark, and in caves and mines. [3] [4]\nDiet: The Northern myotis tend to forage in forest interiors, and their long ears allow them to find stationary insects. The diet focuses on moths, which often are often captured by gleaning, or plucking, the insects from a surface. They do eat other insects, which include caddisflies, beetles, flies, and leafhoppers, and generally hunt 1 to 3 meters from the ground.\nActivity: During autumn, the Northern Myotis gathers into groups of a few hundred individuals for the purpose of mating, followed by hibernation. They forage at dusk or shortly after sunset and again at dawn, resting periodically throughout the night and roost during the day, being largely nocturnal. [3]\nReproduction: Mating occurs in autumn when groups of a few hundred, known as “swarming”, are formed and pairs mate before going into hibernation. The gestation period for he Northern myotis is 50-60 days, after which a single young bat is born. Young are generally born in late June or early July. Female bats nurse their young for about a month, and give birth to one young bat a year. [5]\nLifespan: Northern Myotis have been known to live up to 18.5 years. [3]\nNotes: Male and female Northern Myotis bats roost separately; however, females with offspring may form small maternity colonies of less than 60 individuals.\nNorthern bats have good hearing and they often listen for sounds made by their insect prey. They also use echolocation to locate insects resting on leaves, tree trunks, or on buildings. As in the case with most bats, many humans consider northern bats to be pests. Bats often work their way into attics of houses and may carry a threat of rabies, although this is often exaggerated. The females of this species are generally larger and heavier than the males. There was only one reported specimen from Winterhaven in Dimmit County in Texas, making it doubtful that resident populations of this species occur in Texas. [3] Bats are the only mammals capable of flight. Long-eared bats are more of a forest dweller than other Myotis species. They are much more solitary in habits than other Myotis, generally found singly or in small groups containing up to 100 individuals. [1]\nAlthough sperm is transferred to the female during copulation that occurs in the fall, ovulation and fertilization of the egg are delayed until the females arouse from hibernation the following spring. [5]\nNorthern myotis\nPerimyotis subflavus ( Tri-colored Bat )\nFamily: Vespertilionidae\nSize: Tri colored bat has a total length of 2.9-3.5 inches (73.66-88.9mm). [1] With wings spread, it has a length of 8-10 inches wide (203.2-254mm). It weighs from 5-8 grams (.005-.008kg). [2]\nDescription: Tri-colored bats are seen with yellowish, grayish brown, reddish brown fur color. They have pink ears, face, and skin. Some of this specie has fur on their tails and some has light fur on theirs. Along with that, it is a weak flier.\nSimilar Species: Another specie that can be mistaken as a tri-colored bat is a mouse-eared bat. Mouse-eared bats have dark brown or black skins. Tri-colored bat have more of a short and round ear. [1]\nRange: Tri-colored bats live in the central and western parts of the United States, western Canada, and the western part of Mexico. This specie is spotted all over Minnesota but mostly in the south western part of this state. [1]\nHabitat: Caves, mines, tunnels, buildings, and edge of forests (trees) are where this specie lives. [3]\nDiet: Tends to eat all insects such as moths, flies, beetles, mosquitoes, midges, bugs, and ants. [2]\nActivity: Usually they are the first bats to hibernate in the fall and first to wake up from hibernation after winter. They cannot stand up to the cold and so they hibernate in warm areas such as deep in caves and mines. Tricolored bats are active in the daytime and sleeps/hides in the early evenings. [2]\nReproduction: Tri colored bats mate during the fall season and the female usually gives birth in spring to two twins. The young are born with hairless and closed eyes. [1] They tend to grow super fast and after 4 weeks to a month, the young tri-colored bat learns to fly. [2] When the young is 5-6 weeks old, it becomes independent to live its own life. [1]\nLifespan: Tri colored bats lives from an average of 10-15 years of age. [1]\nNotes: Tri colored bats are rarely noticed because of their small sizes, fast turns, and blending in with the dark evening sky. The only way to spot them is if they fly in groups scattering around. [3]\nTri-colored Bat\nSize: Total length: ~3 feet, 91 cm [1]\nTail length: 4 inches, 10 cm [1]\nHeight: ~2 feet, 60 cm [2]\nWeight: 20-44 pounds, 9-20 kg [1]\nDescription: Countoured body. Brown/gray and white fur on respective dorsal and parietal sides. [1] Oversized, hairy feet with sharp claws ideal for traversing snow-covered ground and hunting. [2]\nSimilar Species: Brown coloring, pronounced tufts of ear fur, distinctive short beard under chin [1] , and a black tip on stubbed tail [3] differentiate the Canada lynx from a bobcat.\nRange: The Canada lynx is located across northern Canada, as well as the northwest United States stemming from British Columbia. [2] They can be found in northern Minnesota, specifically in the Arrowhead region. [1]\nHabitat: The Canada lynx resides in coniferous forests where they can forge shelters from trees and other natural features. [2]\nDiet: Canada lynx are carnivores that only reside where their ideal prey, the snowshoe hair, lives. [1] When resources are scarce, Canada lynx eat smaller mammals, such as mice and squirrels [4] , a variety of birds, and occasionally larger animals. [2]\nActivity: The Canada lynx is considered nocturnal, as the majority of their hunting occurs at night. Their anatomy, including large, highly receptive ears, allows them to hear their prey and attack quietly. [4] These mammals are not incredibly quick, relying on their ability to be stealthy in order to catch their food. [2]\nReproduction: Mating season for the Canada lynx is the end of winter. A litter ranges between one and six kittens with an approximately two-month gestation period. [5] Females stay with the kittens after birth. [2]\nLifespan: 15-20 years. [2]\nNotes: Since 2000, this mammal has been considered \"federally threatened\", not to be confused with an \"endangered species.\" [1]\n↑ a b National Geographic, Lynx , http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/lynx/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ Tumlison, R. (1987), \"Felis lynx\", Mammalian Species 269: 1-8 \nLynx Rufus ( Bobcat )\nFamily: Felidae\nSize: The bobcat stands 16-22 in (or 40-55 cm) and measures 24-40 in (or 60-100 cm) in length, not including its “bobbed” tail, which measures between 3-7 in (or 8-18 cm). Bobcats weigh between 10-70 lbs. (or 5-30 kg), with males usually weighing more than females. [1]\nDescription: The bobcat is a medium-sized member of the felidae (cat) family. Its name corresponds to its short, stubby tail. Their cheeks display large tufts of fur. Their fur is reddish-brown with whitish fur on the belly. Black spots and stripes can also be seen throughout the coat. [2]\nSimilar Species: The bobcat is very similar to other species of the Lynx genus, but is generally the smallest. In addition, the bobcat is very similar in appearance to their cousin, the lynx but is distinguishably smaller and has a characteristic short (bobbed) tail. Bobcats are also the only species in the cat family that display spotted and striped patterns throughout their fur. [3] [4]\nRange: Bobcats have a relatively large range. They can be found throughout North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the United States. [2]\nHabitat: Bobcats habitat remote, well-forested areas such as cliffs, bluffs or forests. They can also be seen inhabiting hollow trees and logs. Habitats with an abundance of food and prey are ideal for bobcats. [2]\nDiet: They are carnivores and thus prefer a diet of meat. They mainly hunt rabbits and hares, but are known to eat rodents, birds, bats, and even adult deer. [5]\nActivity: Bobcats are very active between dusk and dawn, making them uncommon to spot during the day. They are referred to be secretive, primarily hunting and moving during the night. Bobcats are solitary and territorial animals that display limited social behaviors. [6]\nReproduction: Bobcats begin breeding as early as February, but is most common during the months between March and April. Female bobcats have a gestation period between 50 and 70 days and give birth to litters of 3 or 4 kittens. Female bobcats are usually 3 years or older by the time they begin giving birth, and kittens will remain with their parents for almost a year. [6]\nLifespan: It is estimated that bobcats live as long as 10-12 years in the wild. But bobcats as old as 15 years have been documented. The greatest proportion of bobcats are between 0-1 years of age, with a steady decline as they age. [6]\nNotes: Bobcats are the most common wildcat in North America. Bobcats often ambush prey by waiting very still and then pouncing. [5]\nEach bobcat may have several dens in its territory. A main den is usually a cover or rock shelter or some other protected place such as a hollow log. Auxiliary dens are the less-used portions of the home, such as brush piles, rock ledges or stumps. [2]\nIn the mid 1900s, bobcat populations in the Midwest United States were declining at a rapid pace due to the increased value of their fur. Beginning in the 1970s, international laws were set to protect bobcats. As a result of these laws, the bobcat population has replenished in many northern states.\nPuma concolor ( Cougar (Puma) )\nFamily: Felidae\nSize: Total length: males – 7.55 ft. females – 6.9 ft. (males - 2.3 m. females – 2.1 m.). Tail length: males – 2.5 ft. females – 2.3 ft. (males - .77 m. females - .7 m.). Weight: 121 – 143 lbs. (55-65 kg.). [1]\nDescription: The cougar is a large, slender cat with muscular limbs. [1] They have grayish-brown to reddish-brown hair except for the tips on their tail and ears, which are black. [2]\nSimilar Species: The Bobcat (Lynx rufus) differs from the cougar mainly in size and tail length. Bobcats are typically much smaller than Cougars. Bobcats also have short tails, while Cougar’s tails can account for up to a third of their total length. [3]\nRange: Cougars are found in western North America eastward to the Midwest. As well as north into Canada and south into Mexico. [4]\nHabitat: Relatively unpopulated areas in the mountains. [1] Heavily forested areas. [2]\nDiet: Carnivorous. Moose (Alces alces), Elk (Cervus elaphus), White-Tail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Bobcats (Lynx rufus). [3]\nActivity: Solitary animals. [1] Nocturnal. Usually active at dawn and again at dusk. [2]\nReproduction: Polygamous. Mates year-round, but typically between April and September. Gestation period of 82-96 days. Typical litter size of 1-6 (1 litter every other year). Newborns weigh 14.1 oz. (400 g.) at birth. [1] Weaned at 40 days. [3]\nLifespan: 8-12 years in the wild. 20 years in captivity. [2]\nNotes: Cougars used to have the largest distribution of all American terrestrial mammals. They used to range from coast to coast throughout North America and from southern Argentina to southeastern Alaska. Hunting and habitat destruction by humans has restricted their present-day range. [3]\nThe most common cause of death is from humans. Cougars cannot roar, but they can purr. [1]\nSiblings will stay together for 2-3 months after leaving their mother. [2]\nCougar (Puma) Puma concolor\n↑ a b c d Hamilton, Hundt, Piokowski, M., P., R., Mountain Lion, Puma, Cougar \n↑ Dewey, Shivaraju, T., A. (2003), Puma concolor \nCanis Latran ( Coyote )\nFamily: Canidae\nSize: Max height of coyote is 18” (45.7 cm). Length is 3 ft (0.9 m). Weight is 25-45 lbs. (11.3-20.4 kg).\nDescription: Small wolf-like animal. Fur color is variable depending on geographical location and subspecies. Fur colors are usually reddish, black, or gray predominantly. Size is comparable to a smaller full grown Labrador. Looks are comparable to German shepherd or a small wolf.\nSimilar Species: Coyotes’ ears are pointed and stick straight up, differentiating it from a German shepherd dog which looks similar to the coyote. Coyote looks very similar to wolf but is can be as small as half of a wolf’s length [1]\nRange: Ranges from northern Canada to Central America. Found in all United States excluding Hawaii. Do not extend into South America.\nHabitat: Live in variety of habitats ranging from forests, to outskirts of cities to tundra.\nDiet: Opportunistic feeders and scavengers. Carnivorous, eating anything from fish to insects to deer.\nActivity: Coyotes are nocturnal, so they feed at night. They do not hibernate. [2]\nReproduction: Mating season is between January and February. Female picks the male. Once picked, there is little opposition to male. Gestation period is 2 months. Average litter size is 6 cubs. Cubs are born in den already dug by different animal or the parents dig one together. Male provides for the cubs by protecting them and hunting for them. Cubs are weaned by 35 days and are fed regurgitated food from parents. Cubs can begin to hunt by 4 months. Physical maturity reached at 9-12 months.\nLifespan: 10-14 years. [2]\nNotes: Coyotes are extremely adaptable and are found in many different types of habitat as long as it has water, food, and cover. Coyotes are known for remaining unnoticed even while living in close proximity to humans. There are very few attacks on humans by coyotes each year. Coyotes generally hunt at night. [1] Coyotes help keep rodent populations lowered. Their pelts can also still be sold in some places. Coyotes sometimes hunt with badgers when hunting rodents. The coyote chases the rodent above ground and the badger chases the rodent underground, and they come together to share in the spoils in the end. Coyotes prefer fresh meat but have to rely on carrion as a large portion of their diet. Coyotes usually don’t hunt together but will group together to take turns chasing a deer until it tires for the kill or chase it toward a hidden member of the group. Coyotes are the most vocal of all North American mammals. They have various means of communicating sounds but are most known for their long drawn out howl. This howl is to notify other packs that they have already claimed a certain territory. It is also used to reunite with other members of their pack. [3]\nCoyote, Canis latran\n↑ a b Postanowicz, R. (2012), Lioncrusher’s domain , http://web.archive.org/web/20080503042918/http://www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=11 ), retrieved October 1, 2012 \n↑ Tokar, E (2001), Canis latrans , http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Canis_latrans.html , retrieved October 1, 2012 \nFamily: Canidae\nSize: 4.5-6.0 ft (1.37-1.83m) in length, 40-175 lbs (18.14-79.38 kg) in weight\nDescription: The Gray Wolf is a large, densely furred dog with a bushy tail. [1] It is the largest of the Canidae family. Its long fur varies in color from pure white through gray and brown to black, and it generally resembles the German shepherd or husky. [2] It has long legs and small ears, and has a long muzzle. [3]\nSimilar Species: It is larger than a coyote, and has a broader snout and rounder, shorter ears. It is also larger than a domestic dog, has a broader nose pad, and a more massive skull with heavier teeth. [2] [4]\nRange: The Gray Wolf was once the most widely distributed mammal that could be found in Western Europe, Mexico, Canada, and in the United States. Now, it can be found in some parts of Canada, reintroduction sites in Wyoming and Idaho, Alaska, northeastern third of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, Michigan Upper Peninsula, and the Cascade Mountains of northern Washington. [4] [5]\nHabitat: There is no particular habitat preference for the Gray Wolf, but it is mainly found in forests and tundra. [2]\nDiet: It is a carnivore, and eats mostly large mammals such as deer, moose, caribou, elk, and wild boar, but it also eats smaller preys, livestock, carrion, and garbage. [5]\nActivity: It is a social animal that usually travels in packs of 5 to 8 members that uses a dominance hierarchy to maintain order. [2] It is mainly crepuscular , but may be active by day.\nReproduction: The Gray Wolf breeds from January to April, with a gestation period of 63 days, and an average of 6 pups in a litter. It is only the dominant male/female wolf who mate and rear offspring. [4] It is sexually matured after 2 years, but often does not breed until its third year.\nLifespan: It may live up to 16 years, but 10 years is an old age for those in the wild. [2]\nGray Wolf, Canis lupus\n↑ Hazard, E. B. (1982), The Mammals of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press, pp. 116-119 \n↑ a b c d e Mech, L. D. (1974), \"Canis lupus\" , Mammalian Species (37): 1-6, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ Reid, F. A. (2006), Mammals of North America, Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, pp. 441-442 \n↑ a b c NatureServe (2012), \"Canis lupus\" , NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life (Version 7.1), http://www.natureserve.org/explorer , retrieved September 28, 2012 \n↑ a b Mech, L. D.; Boitani, L. (2010), \"Canis lupus\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Version 2012.1), http://www.iucnredlist.org , retrieved September 28, 2012 \nurocyon cineroargenteus ( Grey Fox )\nFamily: Canidae\nSize: 76-112.5 cm (30-44.3 inches) in total length. Weighs approximately 3.6-7 kg (7.9-15 lbs.) Male and Females look the same except females may be slightly smaller in size than male counterparts.\nDescription: The gray fox is medium sized with a stocky body, moderately short legs and medium-sized ears. It can be distinguished from the grizzled grey and red coat with dark points around the nose top of the head and back with a black tipped tail. The undercoat is gray. The Grey fox can be distinguished from other candid's by its widely separated temporal ridges which create a U shape. [1]\nRange: The gray fox is widespread in forest, woodland, brushland, shrubland, and rocky habitats in temperate and tropical regions of North America, and in northern regions of South America.\nHabitat: In eastern North America, the gray fox is most commonly lives where there are deciduous/southern pine forests interspersed with some old fields and woodlands. In western North America, it is commonly found in mixed agricultural/woodland landscapes, and shrub habitats. The species occupies forested areas and thick brush habitats in Central America, and forested montane habitats in South America. They may also occur in semi-arid areas of the south-western U.S. and northern Mexico where cover is sufficient. [2]\nDiet: The gray fox is a solitary hunter and is primarily omnivorous. It will readily prey upon the eastern cottontail, voles, shrews, and birds in the eastern United States. In California, the gray fox primarily eats rodents, followed by other rabbit species such as jack rabbit, and the brush rabbit. In some parts of the Western United States the gray fox is primarily insectivorous and herbivorous. Fruit is also an important component of urocyon cinereogenteus’s diet and they seek whatever fruits are readily available, generally eating more vegetable matter and is therefore more omnivorous than any other fox species [3]\nActivity: Grey foxes are nocturnal creatures meaning that they are primarily do their hunting/ foraging at night and dens in hollow trees, stumps or burrows during the day. Its ability to climb trees is shared only with the Asian Raccoon dog among canids. The grey fox has strong, hooked claws that allow it to climb up trees to escape predators such as the domestic dog or the coyote or to reach arboreal food sources. It descends primarily by jumping from branch to branch, or by descending slowly backwards as a house cat would do. [4]\nReproduction: During parturition and pup rearing, gray foxes use earthen dens, either dug themselves or modified from burrows of other species. They will also den in wood and brush piles, rock crevices, hollow logs, hollows under shrubs, and under abandoned buildings. Gray foxes may even den in hollows of trees up to nine meters above the ground. Den use diminishes greatly during non- reproductive seasons when gray foxes typically use dense vegetation for diurnal resting locations. Gray foxes reach sexual maturity at 10 months of age, although not all females breed in their first year. Breeding typically occurs from January to April with gestation lasting about 60 days. Litter size ranges from 1–10 and averages around four pups. Eyes of pups open at about 10–12 days. Pups accompany adults on foraging expeditions at three months and forage independently at four months. Females appear to be responsible to provision pups, although there is some evidence that males may also contribute to care of pups. Juveniles reach adult size and weight at about 210 days. [5]\nLifespan: It is rare for a gray fox to live longer than 4–5 years, although it has been reported that some individuals could live 14–15 years if kept in proper conditions in captivity.\nNotes: The Grey Fox is unique from other candids because of the fact that they can climb trees easily using their back legs to quickly propel themselves up tree trunks. This unique behavior characteristic has given them the nicknames \"tree fox\" and \"racoon dog\". While their fur in the past has some value for fur trade, because of their duller gray coat color,grey foxes were never as highly sought after for fur trade as the red fox.\nurocyon cineroargenteus Grey Fox\n↑ \"Urocyon Cinereoargenteus\" , Mammalian Species (189): 283-294., 1979, http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-189-01-0001.pdf , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ \"Urocyon Cinereoargenteus\" , Mammalian Species (189): 283-294., 1979, http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-189-01-0001.pdf , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ [: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22780/0 Urocyon Cinereoargenteus], 2011,\nhttp://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22780/0 , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ [: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22780/0 Urocyon Cinereoargenteus], 2011,\nhttp://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22780/0 , retrieved October 10, 2012 \n↑ \"Grey Fox\" , Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals, and Dogs: 92-98., 1982, http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/actionplans/canids.pdf , retrieved October 10, 2012 \nSize: Average size: 15in to 16in tall at shoulder\nLength: about 3ft Tail: 13in\nWeight: 8lbs-15lbs\nDescription: The red fox is a medium size predator and is most common across Minnesota, even in the Twin Cities and suburbs¹. They are cousins to the dog. These red fox have rusty-red coat with white-tipped bushy tail, and black legs, ears and nose. There are also other colors such as nearly solid black, silver-black and red bisected by dark bands that are across the back and shoulder which sometimes this is called a cross fox¹.\nHabitat: Red fox live in many ranges of habitat, ranging from forest to open fields and are found throughout Minnesota. They often have den in woodchuck or badger holes found in dense woods¹. Most dens are up to 40 feet and used for nursery because red foxes prefer to sleep in open areas even during the winter time¹.\nDiet: They eat rats, mice, rabbits, ground squirrels, birds, snakes, fish, insects, berries nuts, and seeds. Their diet can be flexible from their home habitat². They will also eat fruit, vegetable, fish frogs, and even worms. Among humans, they will mostly eat garbage and pet food. Red fox hide their uneaten food under litter or bury it in holes. They are one of the few predators that actually store food items¹.\nActivity: They tend to be solitary animals and will always hunt alone¹. The red fox are active both during the day and night but likely to hunt during twilight and in the evenings.\nReproduction: They mate during the winter, February in particular and 52 days before offspring. Newborns are nurse for ten weeks and will be independent in seven months. At birth, their colors are brown and gray. Then a new coat will grow in toward the end of the first month². Both parents care after their young. These red foxes can reproduce at age one.\nUrsus americanus ( Black Bear )\nFamily: Ursidae\nSize: The total length of a black bear grows up to 6 feet (1828.8 mm) long with a tail length of 3-5 inches (76.2-127mm). With four feet on the ground, it stands up to 2 feet. (609.6mm) tall and weighs from 220-330 pounds (99.8-149.68 kg). [1]\nDescription: Black bears usually have black or dark brown furs with a lighter brown snout. They have small eyes, round ears, and a straight or rounded snout. Some of these black bears have white chest patch. They can stand and walk, but they usually stand on all four legs. They can dig and climb trees because of their curved claws. [1]\nSimilar Species: This species has black or dark brown fur which is similar to grizzly bears'. Grizzly bears have furs that are lighter. Black Bears also have a straighter and more round snout that is different from a grizzly bear’s “curved in” face. [2]\nRange: Black Bears can be sighted from Alaska, east of Canada, most of the United States, to central Mexico. [2] As for our state, they are usually seen in northern parts of Minnesota.\nHabitat: They are usually in areas that have a lot of vegetables, tall grassy areas, woodlands, forests, and water access areas.\nDiet: If they are disturbed during their hibernation in winter, they tend to eat hollow trees, rock cavities, and open-ground trees. During winter, black bears are known to hibernate for about seven months. During spring, they usually eat grass, insects, and vegetables. Overall, they eat fruits, nuts, acorns, berries, rarely other animals, and garbage composed by humans. [3]\nActivity: Winter, Black Bears hibernate in “hard to get in” places for about seven months. Spring, they move to lower parts of grounds (e.g. bottom of a mountain) then higher parts in summer/fall as foods become available. [2]\nReproduction: Mating season only happens once per year and it usually starts late May to mid July. Black Bears mate when they are 4-5 years old. Female bears will mate every other year after pregnancy. It takes about 220 days to give birth including 10 weeks delay of fertilizing eggs. Female Black Bears usually give birth to 1-6 cubs. 2-3 cubs usually survive. The cub stays with the mom for 1-1 ½ year before separating to begin their own lives. [1]\nLifespan: Black Bears live up to 30 years of age, but most only live up to 10 years because of hunters. [2]\nNotes: The black bear got its name from the color of its furs. Also, some black bear are confused for brown (grizzly) bears because of their dark brownish furs. They are also hunted by humans for food or trophies.\nBlack bear\n↑ a b c d Dewey, Tanya; Kronk, Christine (2012), Ursus americanus: American black bear , http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Ursus_americanus/ , retrieved October 7, 2012 \n↑ Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named j\nProcyon Lotor ( Northern Raccoon )\nFamily: Raccoons\nSize: The average length of the Northern Raccoon is 24.96-37.4 in (634-950mm). The average length tail of the tail is 7.8- 15.9 in (200-405mm). It has an average weight is 14.9 lbs. (6.76kg) [1]\nDescription: The Northern Raccoon has a brown-black facial mask and areas of white hair. Its color varies from an iron grey to black/brownish tints. This species has five toes on each foot with short, compacted claws. Their hands are made to grasp objects and help support their legs and the weight of their body. [1]\nSimilar Species: This species is distinguished between others by the colors and lines on its face. The skull size is also a distinguishing feature because it is significantly smaller than the body. [1]\nRange: The Northern Raccoon is typically found in North America, starting from southern Canada to the southern parts of Mexico. This species can be most commonly found in urban metropolitan areas. In Minnesota specifically, the Northern Raccoon is greatly populated in all parts of the state. [2]\nHabitat: This species depends on large vertical structures to climb if they feel threatened or need to escape. They prefer forests and other covered areas so they can hide from predators and hunters. [2]\nDiet: This species eats insects, plants, and mice. Fruit, nuts, plants, and worms are the most common. Depending on the season, a raccoon will eat a variety of foods. [3]\nActivity: The Northern Raccoon is nocturnal. They prefer to hunt and eat during the night and sleep or mate during the day. They do not hibernate. [4]\nReproduction: This species mating season is January to March. The litter size is 2-3 babies. The baby raccoons are weened by mid-summer after their birth and are free to live on their own by autumn. [1]\nLifespan: The average lifespan of an adult raccoon is 9-11 years of age. [4]\nNotes: The Northern Raccoon is the raccoon that run in front of your car. It is the animal that can see at night and thrives in all parts of Minnesota. It is known for its color range of grey, black, and white. Its face mask is what distinguishes itself from other raccoons. Because this raccoon ranges in many parts of the United States it is on the “least concerned” list when it comes to extinction. This is an example of an animal that is very adaptive to human life. It can survive and thrive in a city or the country side and has increasing population size in suburban areas. There are very few threats to the northern raccoon. Hunting the raccoon has increased in many regions. It is commonly hunted using traps, poison, or firearm.\nNorthern Raccoon\n↑ a b c d Joerg-Henner, Lotze; Anderson, Sydney (1979), Procyon Lotor, The American Society of Mammalogists, p. 1-8 \n↑ a b Cuaron, Timm; Helgen, Reid (2008), Procyon Lotor, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, p. 1 \n↑ Beasly, James; Atwood, Todd (2012), A Comparison of methods for estimating raccoon abundance: Implications for disease vaccines programs, Journal of Wildlife Management, p. 1290-1297 \n↑ a b Rettit, Michael (2010), Raccoon intelligence at the borderlands of Science, The American Psychological Association, p. 26-29 \nMephitis mephitis ( Striped Skunk )\nFamily: Mephitied\nSize: The skunk ranges anywhere from 20 to 30 inches (575 mm to 800 mm) and weigh anywhere from 42 to 186 oz (1200 to 5300 g) with a long fluffy tail. [1]\nDescription: The striped skunk is known for having large stripes along its back. Starting as one from the top of the head, these stripes then break into two or more strips along the back. Each skunk has an individual stripe pattern from one another. Their tails are very large and bushy with both black and white fur in it. [1]\nSimilar Species: With small ears and triangle shaped head, the skunk takes on a similar shape of that as a cat differing with short legs and webbed toes with long nails for digging. [1]\nRange: The striped skunk is only found on the continent of North America. Not only in the United States, the striped skunk runs all the way from Central Canada to Northern Mexico. [1]\nHabitat: Although the striped skunk never lives far from water, the striped skunk lives in a lot of different habitats. They tend to live in open areas in the woods, grasslands and meadows. They like to make dens in places that are warm such as caves, stumps, logs and rock openings. [1] [2]\nDiet: The striped skunk eats both meat and plants. It eats things such as insects, small mammals, fish, fruits, nuts and leaves. This species also likes to eat fruits and vegetables when they are ripe in the summer months. Most of the time skunks dig to find their food buried in the ground and often come across the eggs of other animals to eat. [1]\nActivity: The skunk is mostly nocturnal. It will sleep during the day and hunt for its food during the hours of night. Striped skunks normally live in a burrow that they find that is abandon and make it their own. They are inactive from November to March for the most part but do not hibernate. [1] [2]\nReproduction: Mating season starts at mid-February and go through mid-March. Two months after mating, around five or six baby skunks are born per litter. Born both blind and deaf, a baby will nurse in the den with the mother for almost two months and will then stay with the mother for almost a year after birth before weaning onto their own. Male skunks provide no parental care and females only have one litter per year. [1]\nLifespan: Up to 90% of striped skunks die in their first winter but some can live up to two or three years old in the wild. [1]\nNotes: Striped skunks might like to live in open wooded areas but they also like to wonder into suburban areas because they like the buildings that are there to give them cover if they ever need it. Males provide no parental care after birth because females will no longer associate with the male except for the few days during fertilization. The dens in winter usually consist of separate male and females. Most mothers will hibernate in packs of six with their young. The striped skunk is mostly known for its defensive system. When it feels in danger, it will lift its tail, arch its back and spray two streams of fluid from their scent glands. The spray causes nausea and burns the eyes of the predator. [1]\nSpilogale putorius ( Eastern Spotted Skunk )\nFamily: Mustelidae\nSize: : Total length – 10 to 27 inches (250 to 688 mm); Weight – 1 to 4 pounds (0.5 to 1.8 kg) [1]\nDescription: Bushy tail, black and white pelage, and pungent odor. The eastern spotted skunk has a complex pattern of white spots or broken stripes and generally has a white-tipped tail. [2]\nSimilar Species: Spotted skunks are smaller than Striped skunks and more weasel-like in appearance. [3]\nRange: Throughout the eastern U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It is threatened in MN, 6 have been documented in the past 20 years in Minnesota.\nHabitat: Eastern spotted skunks are generally found in open lands with sufficient cover, such as fencerows, shelterbelts, thickets, brush, and riparian woodlands. In agricultural areas they use buildings, corncribs, trash piles, rock piles, and haystacks for cover and den sites. [1]\nDiet: They are generally insectivorous, but also opportunistic feeders and will eat almost anything they can find, including carrion, birds, eggs, small mammals, lizards, snakes, frogs, fruits, corn, and garbage. [2]\nActivity: The Spotted Skunk usually sprays as a last resort, if stomping with its front paws or doing a handstand is not sufficient to warn off an intruder. Spotted Skunks are good climbers, able to scurry up and down trees like squirrels. They sometimes dig burrows to use for denning. [3]\nReproduction: Spotted skunks breed in late winter or early spring and may delay implantation for up to two weeks. Gestation lasts 45 to 60 days. One litter per year generally produces one to six young. Young are born from April through July and are weaned by about eight weeks of age; May and June are the peak breeding months for this species. [1]\nLifespan: 1-2 years in the wild/6 years in captivity [2]\nNotes: Both habitat fragmentation and destruction and public persecution of skunks are the most common challenges to spotted skunk populations. The eastern spotted skunk are also known as a Civet-cat, Little Spotted Skunk, Hydrophoby Cat, Little Pole-cat, Four-striped Cat. [3]\nEastern Spotted Skunk\nSize: Total length: 24-29 Inches (600-730 mm)\nTail length: 4-5 Inches (105-135 mm)\nWeight: 20-26 lbs (9-12 kg) [1]\nDescription: Stocky with low-slung bodies. Huge fore claws with short, powerful legs for digging. Silvery coat with coarse fur. A distinctive black and white pattern on their face with brown or blackish ‘badges’ that mark their cheeks. A white stripe extends from the nose to the base of their head and sometimes the length of their body. [1]\nSimilar Species: The American Badger has a distinctive black and white pattern on its face with brown or blackish ‘badges’ that mark their cheeks. [1]\nRange: The badger is found throughout northern, western, and central United States as well as British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and southern Ontario. They are found as far east as Ohio and parts of New York and well into southern Mexico. [2] They live in altitudes from 12,000 feet above sea level to slightly below sea level. [3]\nHabitat: Prefers open areas and is found in brushlands with little to no ground cover. They stay in underground burrows when they are inactive. Badgers are most commonly found in relatively dry grasslands and open forests. They prefer soil with a high level of sand for ease of digging. Their home ranges vary from 2-725 hectacres depending on the season. [2]\nDiet: The badger is an opportunistic feeder. They are omnivorous, but feed primarily on small rodents such as: ground squirrels, pocket gophers, prairie dogs, and mice. They may also eat scorpions, insects, snakes, lizards, birds, and plant depending on where they are located and what animal populations are present. [2] [4]\nActivity: The badger can be active at any hour, but is primarily nocturnal. During the winter the badger is not as active and may enter temporary hibernation, or torpor, for several days or weeks in its den during severe conditions. [4]\nReproduction: American badgers mate in the summer and fall. Fertilization occurs at that time, but embryos remain in a dormant state for several weeks. Embryos implant during the winter between December and February. After a 6 week gestation period, females give birth to 1-6 cubs that are furred and blind. The cubs will remain in the burrow for several weeks and usually venture out on their own toward the end of summer. [1]\nLifespan: It is rare for this species to live longer than 4–5 years, although it has been reported that some individuals have lived 14–15 years. [4]\nNotes: Badgers in northern ranges tend to be larger than southern ranges [1]\nAmerican Badger\n↑ a b c Reid, F; helgen, K (1973), \"Taxidea taxus\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41663/0 , retrieved October 4, 2012 \n↑ Long, Charles (1973), \"Mammalian Species, Taxidea taxus\" , The American Society of Mammalogits, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved October 4, 2012 \nFamily: Mustelidae\nSize: Total Length: 35-51.2 inches (889-1300mm)\nTail Length: about 1/3 of total length [1] Height: about 7.8 inches (200mm) when on all fours\nWeight: 11-31 pounds (5-14kg)\nDescription: River otters have a long, slender body with a small head that is wider than tall. They have webbed feet on stump muscular limbs. Their fur is dark brown however appears black when wet. Occasionally they have a cream colored kerchief or belly.\nSimilar Species: River otters function a lot like sea otters, but sea otters do not come on land and are slightly larger in stature. Sea otters are diurnal, and river otters tend to be nocturnal.\nRange: Most major waterways in North America, although sensitive to pollution. The North American River Otter can be found in all major rivers in Minnesota.\nHabitat: River otters reside in woods near permanent freshwater rivers or lakes with fish. They stick to a range of 2-78 km from waterways, which they roam for food and mark as their territory.\nDiet: One river otter will consume 1-1.5kg fish every day, so otters are mostly carnivorous [1] . River otters tend to eat the “slower fish” that are smaller and not fished commercially. River otters also eat crayfish, crabs, small mammals, birds, some aquatic plants [2] .\nActivity: River otters usually hunt at night; they are mostly nocturnal. Otters enjoy sliding on riverbanks and in snow piles, and will swim up to 29 kilometers/hour [3] .\nReproduction: Mating season is in late winter and early spring. They have a 2 month gestation period, although pups may be born up to a year later due to delayed implantation of egg in uterus. Peak births occur in March and April, and litters average 2-3 pups. Pups are weaned after 12 weeks, although mothers will provde food for young for the first three years. [2]\nLifespan: Average 8-9 years wild\nNotes: River otters enjoy “trash fish,” the small, slow-swimming kind unsuitable for fishing. Otters are hunted regularly for pelts. They pinch their nostrils shut while underwater, and can stay under for 8 minutes.\nNorth American River Otter\nReferences[ edit ]\n↑ a b Melquist, W.E.; Polechla, P.J.J.; Toweill, D. (2003), G.A. Feldhammer; B.C. Thompson; J.A.Chapman, eds., \"River Otter (Lontra canadensis)\", Wild Animals of the North America: Biology, Management, and Conservation (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press): 708-734 \n↑ a b Larivière, S.; Walton, L. R. (1998), C. E. Rebar; V. Haysen; K. F. Koopman et al., eds., Lontra canadensis , 587, pp. 1-8), http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved October 4, 2012 \n↑ Ellis, E. (2003), Lontra canadensis , Animal Diversity Web., http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lontra_canadensis/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \nFamily: Mustelidae [1]\nSize: Total Length: 24 to 30 inches; Weight: 2 pounds. [2]\nDescription: The American Marten is a weasel that is small in size with golden brown fur and a yellow chest. They are long animals with small, cat-like ears. [2]\nSimilar Species: The American Marten is a type of weasel that is very often mistaken by the Pine Marten.\nRange: They are found in the northern reaches of North America.\nHabitat: Mature, Northern forests. They den in hollow trees, crevices, or vacant ground burrows. [3]\nDiet: Their diet consists of small mammals, including squirrels and rodents. Occasionally birds, fruit, nuts, insects, and carrion are eaten as well. [3]\nActivity: They are arboreal (tree dwelling) and are nocturnal. Seen before in male/female pairs as well as with young. Most hunting occurs at dusk and dawn, when prey species are most active. [3]\nReproduction: Martens are pregnant 8-9 months, but the fetus only develops during the last two months. The litter of two or three babies are called kits and are usually born in a hollow log or under bushes. [3]\nLifespan: approximately 17 years. [3]\nNotes: Marten distribution and demographic rates are affected by the loss of closed-canopy forest due to logging. Martens are still legally trapped for their fur in most of the western states. [1]\nAmerican Marten (Martes Americana)\nSize: The male Fisher is larger than the female Fisher.\nTotal Length: 29.5-47.2 inches (75-120 cm)\nWeight: 4.4-12 pounds (2.0-5.5 kg) [1]\nDescription: The Fisher is a medium sized mammal whose body type resembles a weasel. This mammal is long, thin, and short to the ground. The dark brown to black fur changes among seasons and varies by gender. The tail is long and bushy. The Fisher has a muzzle similar to a dog. [1]\nSimilar Species: Fishers are larger in size and darker in color compared to similar species such as the American Marten (Martes americana. In addition, many similar species may have a cream colored patch near their chin or chest, but the Fisher does not have this marking. [1]\nRange: Fishers are native to North America and can only be found here. They are often found in the northern parts of North America, but may live in the Appalachian and Pacific Coast Mountains. [1]\nHabitat: Fisher live in forests such as dense lowlands and spruce forests. They find areas that have a continuous canopy and avoid forests with open areas. [2]\nDiet: Fishers are omnivores that have a diverse diet. They often eat birds, reptiles, and insects as well as carrion, berries, and nuts. Fishers kill other animals to eat such as squirrels, deer fawns, mice, chipmunks, porcupines, and snowshoe hares. [3]\nActivity: The Fisher is diurnal, or can be found active during the day and the night. Their activity levels vary throughout the year. Males are more active during their breeding season while females are less active because they care for the young. [4]\nReproduction: Fishers experience delayed implantation where the female is impregnated shortly after giving birth. The delayed implantation lasts 10-11 months. Breeding and births occur in the spring usually from March to May. Fishers usually give birth to three babies, but may give birth to up to six at a time. Females are sexually mature at one year old, but they give birth for the first time around two years old. Males become sexually mature between one and two years old. [1]\nLifespan: In both captivity and in the wild, Fisher usually live to be ten years old. In zoos, some Fishers have lived to be older than ten years old. This species does not have a lot of predators, so they usually live until old age. [1]\nNotes: Fishers were nearly extinct in Minnesota in the 1900s, but their population has increased and is now stable. They are listed under least concern on the IUCN Red List. Fishers are more often predators of other animals than they are the subject of predation. They may compete against bobcats, coyotes, and large raptors while gathering prey. They are one of few animals that kill porcupines. Female Fishers are pregnant 350 days out of the year due to their delayed implantation reproductive methods. Fishers are solitary animals with the exception of mother raising young and mating.\nFisher\n↑ a b c d e f Powell, R (1981), \"Martes pennanti\" , Mammalian Species 156: 1-6, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-156-01-0001.pdf , retrieved (October 4, 2012) \n↑ Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (2012), Fisher , http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/fisher.html , retrieved October 4, 2012 \n↑ Ziel, W; Duncan, N (2004), \"Diets of Sympatric Populations of American Martens (Martes Americana) and Fishers(Martes Pennanti) in California\", Journal of Mammalogy 85 (3): 470-477 \n↑ Weir, R; Corbould, F (2007), \"Factors Affecting Diurnal Activity of Fishers in North Central British Columbia\", Journal of Mammalogy 88 (6): 1508-1514 \nFamily: Weasel family\nSize: • Total length:\no 18.5 to 27.5 in (470 to 700 mm) • Tail length: o 9.8 in (250 mm) • Weight:\no 19.4 to 44 oz (550 to 1250 g) [1]\nDescription: The long body and short stub like legs of this species is similar to a weasel. Along with their long body they also have long bushy tail. Their coat is dark brown with a white strip that starts at the base of the stomach and reaches all the way up to the chin. They also have star webbed like feet that enable them to swim. [2]\nSimilar Species: • They are distinguished from similar mammals like weasels because of their size. It is bigger in that it is longer and heavier. It is also darker and has a bushier tail than other weasels.\n• Another similar species is the river otter. The difference is that the river otter is significantly larger than the mink. Also, the tail on the mink is bushy and thick throughout while the tail on the otter widens at the bottom.\n• In general a distinguishing factor of the mink is its white belly. [3]\nRange: • This species ranges as far north as Alaska and as far south as Florida.\n• They range as far west as Montana and as far east as Maine.\n• They generally avoid dry states such as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. [4]\nHabitat: • This species is found in generally wet areas including swamps, marshes and along streams and lakes.\n• They prefer highly vegetated areas where food is abundant.\n• They generally live in burrowed holes, under rocks or tree roots, and even in homes where beaver or muskrats once lived but deserted. [4]\nDiet: • These animals are carnivores:\no They generally eat small mammals including small birds\no They also eat crayfish, frogs, and fish. [1]\nActivity: • This species is mostly nocturnal. Generally activity depends on that of their prey.\n• In particular this species is active in the water and can swim easily using their webbed feet.\n• This species is active all year long however during winter or periods of cold activity decreases significantly. [3]\nReproduction: • Mating season for this species is between February and April with most occurring in March.\n• Gestation lasts on average 51 days but can range anywhere from 40 to 75 days. • A typical litter is 4 but can range anywhere from 2 to 8. • Weaning lasts up until 5 weeks of age.\n• Young stay with their mothers until autumn. They then start hunting at around 8 weeks. [3]\nLifespan: • The average life span of a wild mink is around 3 years of age. [3]\nNotes: The American Mink is definitely most known for their fur and are still farmed for it to this day. Although the fur is what makes it famous there are also other qualities that it has that makes it quite an exquisite animal. For one it is considered the cutest of the weasel family which can be easily seen if you find one. Its dark brown, dense looking fur with a white belly is what will distinguish it from others in it family. It has a long bushy tail and short stubby legs. This species can be easily found throughout Minnesota and will generally be found on its own as it is a solitary animal. In order to spot one of these animals you will have to go out at night and search in wet areas such as swamps and marshes. This species likes to swim so you could easily find them in the water where they hunt and travel. Overall, this animal can be quite predatory especially around its young so it is best to avoid areas where they would live such as burrowed holes and trees where other animals have lived.\nAmerican mink\n↑ a b \"Mustela Vision\" , Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, http://www.mnh.si.edu , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ \"American Mink\" , Conserve Ireland: A guide to Irelands Protected Habitats and Species, 2009, http://www.conserveireland.com/mammals/americanmink.php , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ a b c d Kirkland, Gordon Jr.; Schmidt, David F. (1996), \"Mustela Vision\" , Mammalian Species (524): 1-5, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved September 23, 2012 \n↑ a b Reid, F.; Helgen, K. (2008), \"Neovision Vision\" , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org , retrieved September 23, 2012 \nFamily: Mustelidae\nSize: Total Length: 6.5-8 inches (16.51-20.32cm) Weight: 1-2 ounces (28-57g)\nDescription: The least weasel has a long and slender body with short limbs. It has a long neck and a narrow, flat head. It has round ears, large black eyes, and sharp claws on each of its feet. It's fur is normally brown but will turn all white during the winter in northern populations. [1]\nSimilar Species: The least weasel is similar in appearance to the ermine and the domesticated ferret.\nRange: Their range is the Nearctic and Palearctic regions.\nHabitat: The least weasel can be found in open forests, farmlands, prairies, and meadows. They avoid open spaces. [1]\nDiet: The least weasel is primarily a carnivore. They feed mostly on small rodents. When rodents are scarce they will feed on bird eggs, nestlings, and small reptiles.\nActivity: They are active during the day and during the night.\nReproduction: Males have more than one female mate at a time. Litters typically have 1 to 7 offspring. They reach sexual maturity at 4 to 8 months. Breeding can occur all year but typically occurs in Spring and late Summer. [1]\nLifespan: The average lifespan is less than one year. Some may live for as many as 9 years.\nNotes: The least weasel moves very quickly. They sometimes climb trees to investigate birds’ nests and are also able to swim slowly. They hunt at whichever time of day their prey is most abundant. Males and females live apart from each other aside from the breeding season. [2]\nLeast Weasel\n↑ a b c Newell, T. (1999), \"Mustela Nivalis\" , Animal Diversity, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Mustela_nivalis/ , retrieved October 9, 2012 Invalid <ref> tag; name \"adw\" defined multiple times with different content\n↑ Steven, S.; Carolyn, K. (1994), \"Mustela nivalis\" , Mammalian Species: 1-10, http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ , retrieved October 9, 2012 \nMustela erminea ( Ermine )\nFamily: Mustelidae\nSize: Ranging in length from 7-14 inches (18-35cm) overall, with tail length, 2-6 inches (5-15cm) of total length or approximately 30-45% of the length of the body. Weight is 2-5 ounces (57-142g) [1] [2]\nDescription: The ermine resembles a small weasel and exhibits a long slender body, a short tail, short legs and a pointed head with small rounded ears, round black eyes, long whiskers. Fur is reddish brown on the back and creamy white on the front or underside during warmer months; becoming all white in the winter. [1]\nSimilar Species: The ermine has a shorter tail than other weasel species and is slightly smaller overall. The mink is a much larger cousin to the ermine. [2]\nRange: The ermine is widely populated in the northern portions of Europe, Asia, and North America. In the US they are mostly distributed north of a line between Oregon and Pennsylvania and throughout Minnesota, though there are known populations as far south as New Mexico. Ermines were also introduced in New Zealand but are not native to the islands. [3] [4]\nHabitat: Ermines can be found in all types of forests, prairies, farmlands, and tundra; essentially anywhere they can find a viable food supply – they do not avoid populations of humans. Because of their vulnerability to other predators they gravitate to areas that provide cover. Ermines are also adept at burrowing in the snow during winter. This provides insulation from the elements and camouflage as their fur changes to a white color during colder months. [3]\nDiet: The ermine is an opportunistic predator and eats mice; voles; insects; fish; crayfish; small birds, rats and rabbits. They will also feed on garbage and decaying scraps left behind by other predators. Routinely ermines will peel away and discard the skin of their prey as they eat. [3] [2]\nActivity: Ermines nest in burrows, hollow trees, or rock piles. They are alternately active and resting for periods of 3-5 hours throughout a 24 hour period. They move quickly and in short bursts, investigating everywhere as they go. The climb trees and forage along streams and lakes. In the winter, hunting and activity is primarily in tunnels below the snow cover to avoid predators. [1]\nReproduction: Weasels, including the ermine, are somewhat unique. Their mating season is from the end of summer to mid-winter. The embryos grow for approximately two weeks and then go through a dormant period; development resumes for two more weeks in the spring and litters of 1-18 are born. [3] [2]\nLifespan: Average life span is less than 12 months due to high juvenile mortality. However, natural life expectancy ranges from 2-3 years. [3]\nNotes: The ermine is listed as one of the top 100 most invasive species in the world. It was introduced to several areas to reduce rabbit populations and rapidly became a threat to ecosystems because of its vicious nature and ability to sustain itself on a variety of prey. [3]\nErmine\nAlces alces ( Moose )\nFamily: Deer (Cervidae) [1]\nSize: 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Legs 3½-4 feet in length. In the fall: adult cow (female) can weigh 500-700 lbs. Bull (male) can weigh 600-1000 lbs. [2]\nDescription: Largest of all deer species. [3] Fur is dark brown to black. Front shoulder hump and bell (flap of skin hanging below throat) are characteristics of mature moose. Have poor eyesight and acute senses of smell and hearing. Long legs and splayed hooves. [4] Bulls begin growing antlers in March to early April. Velvet is shed by August. Start dropping in December. [2] Antlers can spread 6 feet from end to end [3] and weigh up to 40 lbs. [4]\nRange: Northern United States into Canada. [3]\nHabitat: Woodland habitats both coniferous and broadleaved. Tends to prefer damp, marshy habitats and areas close to water. Found in open country in lowlands and mountains if a forest is nearby. [1]\nDiet: Herbivore. [3] Vegetative parts of trees, shrubs, dwarf shrubs, herbs, and aquatic plants. [1] Winter food: needle bearing trees and hardwood bark, buds, and twigs. [2]\nActivity: Active between dawn and dusk. High activity in May when yearlings are leaving adult cows before she calves. [2]\nReproduction: Rutting (sexual excitement) occurs from mid-September to mid-October. Give birth in May or June. Calf weighs 25-35 lbs., occasionally two calves are born. Calves remain with mothers 12-18 weeks. Within a week newborns are strong enough to walk and swim. [4]\nLifespan: 15-20 years. [3]\nOdocoileus virginianus ( White-Tailed Deer )\nFamily: Cervidae\nSize: Depending on the access to nutritional sources and the type of weather in each region, white-tailed deer may vary in length, width, height, weight, and antler growth. For example, male deer found in the northern United States and southern Canada range in weights of 198 to 298 pounds (89.81 kg to 135.17 kg) compared to male deer in the Florida Keys and Coiba Island who can weigh as low as 49 pounds (22.23 kg). [1] During the summer, female deer, or does, average 99 pounds (44.90 kg) whereas males average 150 pounds (68.04 kg). The difference between sexes is that females weigh about 20 to 40 percent less than males. In addition, white-tailed deer typically range in size from 41 to 94 inches (104.14 cm to 238.76 cm) in length and 21 to 42 inches (53.34 cm to 106.68 cm) in height. [1]\nDescription: The name white-tailed deer is widely accepted because their tails are brown above and white below with laterally fringed white throughout. Adults have white patches along their nose, throat, and eyes. Unlike fawns and females, adult male deer are called bucks and have antlers that branch into two parts with tines, or fork-like points, that are about equal in size. [1] Depending on the season, white-tailed deer have different types of coats. For example, in the summer seasons, from May to June, adults have short, thin, wiry hairs that vary between the colors red-brown to bright tan. Darker hairs can be found along the middle of the back and lighter hairs can be found on the face, throat, and chest. During the months of August to September, summer coats are replaced by winter coats that range in colors from blue-gray to gray-brown. While summer coats are much thinner, winter coats are longer, thicker, and more brittle. [1]\nSimilar Species: White-tailed deer can be distinguished from other species by the white hair that grows on the underside of the tail. In addition, white-tailed deer have antlers that branch out from a single beam whereas other species, like the mule deer, have antlers with tines that fork from each joint. [2]\nRange: White-tailed deer range from southern Canada throughout the United States and occupy the northern part of South America. [1] White-tailed deer are absent in Utah, Alaska, and Hawaii and are rarely found in the states of Nevada and California. Previously, white-tailed deer were less common and did not occupy such a broad range, but after the corruption of forests and land clearing numbers rapidly increased. In order to maintain the overabundance of white-tailed deer, seasons are dedicated to deer hunting. [1]\nHabitat: White-tailed deer occupy a wide range of habitats from north-temperate and subtropical climates in North America to rainforests in Central America and northern South America. The greatest abundance of deer is found east of the Mississippi River within coastal wetlands and islands along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. [1]\nDiet: White-tailed deer are herbivores and prefer to graze on plant foods. The most common type of food white tailed deer forage for is grasses and forbs. Once vegetation matures during the late summer months, deer feed on succulent leaves and twigs. Come the autumn months, deer must rely on soft and hard fruits and acorns. In regions where snowy winters are prevalent, deer feed on dried leaves from deciduous trees, sedges, grasses, mushrooms, and other fungi. White-tailed deer that are located in farming regions eat crops like corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. [3]\nActivity: White-tailed deer are crepuscular, or active during the twilight hours. Typically, they feed at dusk but may also feed during the day or night. [4] [5] White-tailed deer do not hibernate in the winter and do not migrate. [5] White-tailed deer have two basic social groups: family and fraternal. Family groups are centered around a female head and her fawns while a fraternal group is made up of male adults and sometimes yearling males. [3] Sometimes mixed feeding groups arise which include deer of various age and sex. Unlike social groups, this grouping is only a temporary gathering. Another type of temporary gathering can happen during the winter and summer when deer use trees as protection against weather severity. These types of gatherings are called \"deer yards.\" [3]\nReproduction: An average gestation period for female deer is about 202 days but varies between species. The weight, height, and length of fawns depends on the mother's nutritional availability and weather severity. [1] Litter sizes range from one to three fawns. Fawns begin nursing immediately and continue a fast growth cycle. Upon birth, fawns weigh between 4 to 8 pounds (1.81 kg to 3.63 kg). Within the first two weeks, a fawn will have doubled in weight and tripled in weight by the end of the first month. [1] Fawns have reddish-brown coats with white spots found along the back that disappear around 3 to 4 months. [1] Females have the ability to breed after about 6 to 7 months but typically begin after a year and a half. Similarly, males reach sexual maturity by one and a half years. Fawns begin to accompany their mothers at 3 to 4 weeks and by 8 weeks are considered members of the female group. [5]\nLifespan: The life expectancy of the white-tailed deer can exceed twenty years. However, most deer only make it to ten years. Incidents such as fence entanglement, automobile accidents, diseases, parasites, predation, hunting, old age, and poaching may end the life of a deer sooner than later. [1] [5]\nNotes: White-tailed deer can cause a range of situations in which damage is done to plants, landscapes, automobiles, and even humans. Estimates say that white-tailed deer cost the forest industry $750 billion a year when they eat economically valuable trees. In addition, they eat garden and field crops, fruits, and ornamental plants that cause $100 million a year in agricultural damage throughout the United States. Car collisions are estimated at a cost of $1 billion a year nationally. Also, white-tailed deer are associated with disease risks because they serve as hosts for parasites like botflies, liver flukes, ticks, lice, and worms. The combined losses result in a $2 billion loss a year nationally and increased cases of Lyme's disease have been reported in the northeastern parts of the United States. [3] [5] Male white-tailed deer, or bucks, grow antlers annually. Antlers begin to grow in the summer and fall off during the winter months. Because antlers are rich in calcium, small rodents, rabbits, and porcupines feed on them once they have been shed. [5]\nWhite-tailed deer fawn\nOdocoileus hemionus ( Mule Deer )\nFamily: Deer (Cervidae)\nSize: Mule deer weigh from 94.71 to 330.4 lbs (43-150 kg). Their body length ranges from 49.6 to 66.1 inches (126-168 cm) in males, and 42.9 to 61.4 inches (125-156 cm) in females. Shoulder height ranges from 33 to 41.7 inches (84-106 cm) in males, and 31.5 to 39.4 inches (80-100 cm) in females. [1]\nDescription: The mule deer’s coat color ranges from dark brown gray, dark and light ash-gray to brown and even reddish. Their rump is either white or yellow, while the throat patch is white. Generally, they have a white tail that ends in a tuft of black hairs, but occasionally a tail that ends in a tuft of white hair. Some mule deer have a dark line running down the back to the top of the tail. A distinguishing feature of the mule deer is their dark V-shaped mark, which extends from a point between the eyes upward and laterally . [1]\nSimilar Species: Mule deer can be distinguished from other subspecies by their tail that is white and tipped black. Their antlers also branch dichotomously rather than one main beam with vertically rising prongs. [2]\nRange: Mule deer can be found throughout western North America from Alaska and Western Canada through the Rocky Mountains and Western Plains States of the United States south to the Peninsula of Baja California, Cedro Island, Tiburon Island and Northwestern Mexico. The southernmost distribution reaches central Mexico. [3]\nHabitat: Mule deer can be found in a variety of habitats due to their high ability to adapt to different environments. Some habitats include: mountains, deserts, semi deserts, temperate forests, open ranges, grasslands, and fields. [3]\nDiet: Mule deer are classified as intermediate eaters. They commonly eat green leaves, twigs, acorns, legume seeds, and fleshy fruits, including berries and drupes. [1]\nActivity: Mule deer generally limit their daily movements to isolated home ranges. They do not hibernate, however they tend to move to lower elevations during the winter due to temperature changes. Most mule deer establish home ranges and use the same winter and summer homes in consecutive years. [1] [2]\nReproduction: The mule deer’s breeding season occurs from late November through mid-December. The average gestation period is 204 days. The common litter size is 2. The young are fully weaned at 16 weeks, and full development occurs at about 49 months of age in males and 37 months of age in females. [1]\nLifespan: Average lifespan is 22 years. [1]\nNotes: Mule deer have an annual cycle of antler growth. This growth is based on changes in day length. Mule deer also have excellent hearing and binocular vision. They are unable to detect motionless objects, however are very sensitive to moving objects. [1]\nMule deer have both positive and negative economic importance for humans. Their positive economic importance is that due to their large population, mule deer are of great interest to hunters. They are able to support hunting during two or three weeks in the fall. The mule deer’s negative economic importance for humans is that they heavily browse Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine trees, both of which are important for commercial timber. [1]\nIn terms of conservation of mule deer, the most pending threat in the wild is the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Currently CWD is more prominent at the local or regional level. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists mule deer as a “least concern” species. [3]\nMule deer\nBison Bison ( American Bison )\nFamily: Bovine (Bovidae)\nSize: The average length of an American Bison is 6.5-11.5ft(2-3.5m)long, the tail length is about 11.8-35.8in(30-91 cm) and it weighs between 701-2203lbs(318- 1,000 kg). [1]\nDescription: The American Bison is a large hooved animal that spends most of its time grazing in the North American prairies. They have a sloping back and a massive head with two horns that curve upwards. Fur color can range from chestnut-brown to white (which is considered sacred in the Native American culture) in calves, to dark brown for adults. [1]\nSimilar Species: The American Bison can be distinguished from other bison by the fact that they have 15 ribs , while European bison have 14, they have four lumbar vertebrae (European has five), and the adult American bison are slightly heavier and have shorter legs. The American bison also has a nose that is set farther forward than European bison. It is also hairier, though the tail has less hair than that of the European bison. American Bison also graze more than the European bison. They drink water or consume snow on a daily basis.\nRange: The American Bison’s range of population was once the grasslands of North American, but has since been restricted to a few national parks and reserves. Historically, their range was between the Great Bear Lake in Canada (far northwest) and the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo Leon to the south. They were also known to stretch as far east as the Appalachian Mountains prior to their decline in population. [2]\nHabitat: Historically the American Bison would favor large open prairies and grasslands. Presently, they are restricted within the confines of National parks that provide adequate grazing grounds. There tends to be trees, rivers, and valleys.\nDiet: The American Bison is a herbivore that primarily grazes on grass and sedges. [3] They drink water water or consume snow on a daily basis. [4]\nActivity: The American Bison is a migratory animal and have usual daily movements between foraging sites during the summer. Their daily schedule consists of two-hour periods of grazing, resting and cud chewing, then moving to a new location to graze. They can have been known to travel up to 2 miles(3.2 km) a day. [4] Their movement is also influenced by the seasonal vegetation changes, interspersion and size of foraging sites, and the number of biting insects. The availability of water may also be a factor. They also tend to gather in more wooded areas during the fall in winter, versus the open plains area they favor in the spring and summer.\nReproduction: The American Bison mate in late spring and summer, usually in August or September. The gestation period is 285 days. A single calf nurses until the next calf is born, and if the cow is not pregnant, a calf will nurse for 18 months. [4] [1]\nLifespan: The American Bison has a life expectancy of about 15 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity.\nNotes: The American Bison is often used in North America in official seals, flags, logos, and coins and is particularly popular in the Great Plains states. It has appeared as an official mascot for many sports teams, and is even the official state mammal of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.\nDespite its gentle-seeming nature, the American Bison are among the most dangerous animals encountered by visitors to the various U.S. and Canadian national parks and will attack humans if provoked. They appear slow because of their lethargic movements but can easily outrun humans, topping speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Between 1980 and 1999, more than three times as many people in Yellowstone National Park were injured by bison than by bears, charging and injuring a total of 79 people and killing 1. [5]\nA proposal known as Buffalo Commons has been suggested by a handful of academics and policymakers to restore large parts of the drier portion of the Great Plains to native prairie grazed by bison. Arguments against this proposal include the notion that current agricultural use of the shortgrass prairie is not sustainable due to the periodic disasters it has sustained, one of which includes the Dust Bowl. Those that live in the area of question have also opposed the idea. [6]",
"List of Mammals with Facts, Pictures And Names\nIt is a common name for a number of species of the alert ... these furry animals form the largest group of mammals. ... Types Of Goats. Goat is a mammal that belongs ...\nList of Mammals with Facts, Pictures And Names\nGrasshoppers are insects which belong to the...\nList of Mammals with Facts, Pictures And Names\nHyenas belong to the order carnivora and family hyaenide...\n04 Feb, 2016\nThe sloth animal is a mammal with its species belonging...\n09 Nov, 2015\nBongo animal is one of the most interesting creatures ...\n11 Sep, 2015\nThe scientific name for okapi is Okpia johnstoni. It is ...\n07 Aug, 2015\nGoat is a mammal that belongs to the family Bovidae. 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Although it has its own identity and traits, the animal resembles both cats as well as dogs. It is closely related to cats, dogs, bears and seals which belong to the same order. However, within the hyaenidae family, there are three different species – stripped hyena, brown... Read More ->\nSloth Animal Facts\n09 Nov, 2015\nThe sloth animal is a mammal with its species belonging to two families – Megalonchidae and Bradypoidae. Members of these families are also commonly referred to as two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths, respectively. They are further classified into six species.This tree-dwelling animal is native to the regions of Central as well as... Read More ->\nBongo Animal Facts\n11 Sep, 2015\nBongo animal is one of the most interesting creatures found on the African continent. It is the largest type of forest antelope possessing a striking appearance. The animal is covered with a chestnut colored coat. What makes it stand out is the pattern of white stripes on the coat... 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Read More ->\nChimpanzees Facts And Pictures\n24 , Apr 2014\nChimpanzees are two Ape species which fall under the genus Pan. These two species are known as Pan Troglodytes and Pan Paniscus in scientific language. As apes, they are classified as mammals... Read More ->\nDeer Facts And Pictures\n11 , Oct 2013\nDeer seems to be an awesome creature, one that is friendly, shy and simply lovely. It is a kind of animal that neither bothers anyone nor likes to be bothered by any other animal. Deer animal has long legs and a beautiful body. They are found everywhere across the globe except... Read More ->\nDogs Facts And Pictures\n04 , Mar 2013\nDogs are as old as the human beings are. The history of the domestication of dogs started with the history of mankind which means that they were the first domesticated animals on earth. They vary in size, physical appearance and characteristics more than any other animal... 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As you can see in the duckbill pictures, these peculiar mammals... Read More ->\nElephant Facts And Pictures\n23 , Feb 2013\nElephants are known to be the largest living mammals on earth. Water is something that they require frequently, at regular intervals. It is one of the interesting elephant facts that they cannot survive more than 24 hours without drinking water so they usually inhabit close to water resources. Habitual of bathing, these enormous... Read More ->\nFacts About Foxes\n23 , Jun 2014\nFox is a very beautiful animal that is characterized as an extremely cunning creature in the folklores which have survived till date through oral transmission from one generation to another. It is a common name for a number of species of the alert-looking mammals that have upright triangular ears and are sometimes... 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Read More ->\nSea Lion Facts And Pictures\n16 , Feb 2013\nThese sleek, playful, intelligent and fin-footed marine mammals are widely distributed across all oceans of the world (with the exception of Atlantic Ocean). These marine mammals become a frequent sight around the big harbors where... Read More ->\nSheep Facts And Pictures\n25 , Nov 2013\nSheep are grouped among the friendliest species on earth. They are known as the most clever and extra intelligent creature in the cattle group. The specific names given to male and female sheep animal are Ram and Ewe, respectively. While the baby sheep, that is not more... Read More ->\nSeal Facts And Pictures\n07 , Mar 2013\nThese sleek, playful, intelligent and fin-footed marine mammals are widely distributed across all oceans of the world (with the exception of Atlantic Ocean). These sea lions have become a frequent sight around the big harbours where they settle in colonies to feed and bask in the sun. 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So far, scientists have identified 285 species, making it the largest group of... Read More ->\nWhale Facts And Pictures\n16 , Feb 2013\nWhales are enormous and aquatic animals that reside in all oceans around the world. The term whale is generally used for a wide variety of marine mammals, which include dolphin, whales and porpoises. These intelligent mammals collectively belong to order cetacean, which denotes that they are predominantly aquatic inhabitants. Whales exhibit... Read More ->\nWhat do Chinchilla Eat\n23 , Dec 2013\nChinchillas are very famous for their extremely soft fur; sharp teeth and big fluffy tail, and they are fond of eating hays and grass. This type of diet is very good for their teeth and light on their stomachs too. Wild Chinchillas are commonly found eating... Read More ->\nWhat do Deer Eat\n22 , Oct 2013\nThinking about deer, a thought may come in your mind concerning what does a deer eat? What are they fond of eating more and more? This makes you search out well regarding eating habits of deer. As a matter of fact, it depends on the type of deer. If you know the type... Read More ->\nWhat Do Giraffes Eat\n10 , July 2014\nA giraffe, also known as Giraffa camelopardalsi, is an innocent herbivore. It harms no animals and feeds peacefully on plant material. In the animal kingdom, it is popular as the tallest mammal. Its long neck extends to almost... Read More ->\nWhere do Squirrels Live\n27 , May 2014\nSquirrel is the common name for over 250 species of rodents in the family Sciuridae. Their sizes and physical traits vary widely and so does their habitat. If you are wondering about where squirrels live, you should know that they exist on all continents... Read More ->\nWhat do Squirrels Eat\n08 , July 2014\nA squirrel is a type of rodent with over two hundred species grouped in the family Sciuridae. These animals look cute and innocent, but can turn out to be a nuisance if you have a well-maintained garden. This is because of their... Read More ->\nWhere do Zebras Live\n25 , Oct 2013\nZebras the relatives of horses having grey or black strips on overall white body are the animals that can be easily found in African countries such as Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Kenya and Ethiopia. They prefer to live in a place where they can easily get... Read More ->\nWhat do Zebras Eat\n08 , Oct 2013\n'What do Zebras eat' is a question that is directly related to their types. Since there are three types of zebras, the one that loves to live on mountains, the second that lives on the plain grounds and the third that is known as Grevy's zebra. All these zebras... Read More ->\nZebra Mammals Facts And Pictures\n30 , Sep 2013\nA zebra belongs to the family Equidae and is closely related to horses as well as asses. It is one of the most beautiful creatures in the animal kingdom with its characteristic black and white stripes covering the entire body. There are three species known to... Read More ->",
"Chimpanzee.txt\nChimpanzee\nChimpanzees (sometimes called chimps) are one of two exclusively African species of great ape that are currently extant. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, both are currently found in the Congo jungle. Classified in the genus Pan, they were once considered to be one species. However, since 1928, they have been recognized as two distinct species: the common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes) live north of the Congo River and the bonobo (P. paniscus) who live south. In addition, P. troglodytes is divided into four subspecies, while P. paniscus has none. Based on genome sequencing, the two extant Pan species diverged around one million years ago. The most obvious differences are that chimpanzees are somewhat larger, more aggressive and male dominated, while the bonobos are more gracile, peaceful, and female dominated.\n\nTheir hair is typically black or brown. Males and females differ in size and appearance. Both chimps and bonobos are some of the most social great apes, with social bonds occurring among individuals in large communities. Fruit is the most important component of a chimpanzee's diet; however, they will also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects and even other chimps or monkeys. They can live over 30 years in both the wild and captivity.\n\nChimpanzees and bonobos are equally humanity's closest living relatives. As such, they are among the largest-brained, and most intelligent of primates; they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage. They have both been extensively studied for their learning abilities. There may even be distinctive cultures within populations. Field studies of Pan troglodytes were pioneered by primatologist Jane Goodall. Both Pan species are considered to be endangered as human activities have caused severe declines in the populations and ranges of both species. Threats to wild panina populations include poaching, habitat destruction, and the illegal pet trade. Several conservation and rehabilitation organisations are dedicated to the survival of Pan species in the wild.\n\nName\n\nThe first use of the name \"chimpanze\" is recorded in The London Magazine in 1738, glossed as meaning \"mockman\" in a language of \"the Angolans\" (apparently from a Bantu language, reportedly modern Vili (Civili), a Zone H Bantu language, has the comparable ci-mpenzi ).\nThe spelling chimpanzee is found in a 1758 supplement to Chamber's Cyclopædia. The colloquialism \"chimp\" was most likely coined some time in the late 1870s. \n\nThe common chimpanzee was named Simia troglodytes by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1776. The species name troglodytes is a reference to the Troglodytae (literally \"cave-goers\"), an African people described by Greco-Roman geographers. Blumenbach first used it in his De generis humani varietate nativa liber (\"[Book] on the natural varieties of the human genus\") in 1776, \nLinnaeus 1758 had already used Homo troglodytes for a hypothetical mixture of human and orangutan. \n\nThe genus name Pan was first introduced by Lorenz Oken in 1816. An alternative Theranthropus was suggested by Brookes 1828 and Chimpansee by Voigt 1831. Troglodytes was not available, as it had been given as the name of a genus of wren (Troglodytidae) in 1809. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature adopted Pan as the only official name of the genus in 1895. The name is a reference to Pan, the Greek god of nature and wilderness. The bonobo, in the past also referred to as the \"pygmy chimpanzee\", was given the species name of paniscus by Ernst Schwarz (1929), a diminutive of the theonym Pan. \n\nIn his book, The Third Chimpanzee, J. Diamond proposes that P. troglodytes and P. paniscus belong with H. sapiens in the genus Homo, rather than in Pan. He argues that other species have been reclassified by genus for less genetic similarity than that between humans and chimpanzees.\n\nDistribution and habitat \n\nThere are two species that we call Chimpanzees: \n# Common Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, are found almost exclusively in the heavily forested regions of Central and West Africa. With at least four commonly accepted subspecies, their population and distribution is much more extensive that the 'Pygmy Chimpanzee' called Bonobos. \n# Bonobos, Pan paniscus, are found only in Central Africa, south of the Congo River and north of the Kasai River (a tributary of the Congo), in the humid forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo of Central Africa.\n\nEvolutionary history\n\nEvolutionary relationship\n\nThe genus Pan is part of the subfamily Homininae, to which humans also belong. The lineages of chimpanzees and humans separated in a drawn-out process of speciation over the period of roughly between twelve and five million years ago, making them humanity's closest living relative. Research by Mary-Claire King in 1973 found 99% identical DNA between human beings and chimpanzees, although research since has modified that finding to about 94% commonality, with some of the difference occurring in noncoding DNA.\n\nFossils\n\nThe chimpanzee fossil record has long been absent and thought to have been due to the preservation bias in relation to their environment. However, in 2005, chimpanzee fossils were discovered and described by Sally McBrearty and colleagues. Existing chimpanzee populations in West and Central Africa are separate from the major human fossil sites in East Africa; however, chimpanzee fossils have been reported from Kenya, indicating that both humans and members of the Pan clade were present in the East African Rift Valley during the Middle Pleistocene.\n\nAnatomy and physiology\n\nA chimpanzee's arms are longer than its legs. The male common chimp stands up to high and weighs as much as 91 kg; the female is somewhat smaller. When extended, the common chimp’s long arms span one and a half times the body’s height. The bonobo is slightly shorter and thinner than the common chimpanzee, but has longer limbs. In trees, both species climb with their long, powerful arms; on the ground, chimpanzees usually knuckle-walk, or walk on all fours, clenching their fists and supporting themselves on the knuckles. Chimpanzees are better suited for walking than orangutans, because the chimp's feet have broader soles and shorter toes. The bonobo has proportionately longer upper limbs and walks upright more often than does the common chimpanzee. Both species can walk upright on two legs when carrying objects with their hands and arms.\n\nThe chimpanzee is tailless; its coat is dark; its face, fingers, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet are hairless. The exposed skin of the face, hands, and feet varies from pink to very dark in both species, but is generally lighter in younger individuals and darkens with maturity. A University of Chicago Medical Centre study has found significant genetic differences between chimpanzee populations. A bony shelf over the eyes gives the forehead a receding appearance, and the nose is flat. Although the jaws protrude, a chimp's lips are thrust out only when it pouts.\n\nThe brain of a chimpanzee has been measured at a general range of 282–500 cc. The human brain, in contrast, is about three times larger, with a reported average volume of about 1330 cc. \n\nChimpanzees reach puberty between the age of eight and ten years.A chimpanzee's testicles are unusually large for their body size, with a combined weight of about 4 oz compared to a gorilla's 1 oz or a human's . This relatively great size is generally attributed to sperm competition due to the polyandrous nature of chimpanzee mating behaviour. One study estimates that chimps live about 33 years for males, 37 years for females, in the wild, but some have lived longer than 60 years in captivity.\n\nMuscle strength\n\nChimpanzees are known for possessing great amount of muscle strength, especially in their arms. However, compared to humans the amount of strength reported in media and popular science is greatly exaggerated with numbers of four to eight times the muscle strength of a human. These numbers stem from two studies in 1923 and 1926 by a biologist namned John Bauman. These studies were refuted in 1943 and an adult male chimp was found to pull about the same weight as an adult man. Corrected for their smaller body sizes, chimpanzees were found to be stronger than humans but not anywhere near four to eight times. In the 1960s these tests were repeated and chimpanzees were found to have twice the strength of a human when it came to pulling weights. The reason for the higher strength seen in chimpanzees compared to humans are thought to come from longer skeletal muscle fibers that can generate twice the work output over a wider range of motion compared to skeletal muscle fibers in humans.\n\nBehaviour\n\nAnatomical differences between the common chimpanzee and the bonobo are slight, but sexual and social behaviours are markedly different. The common chimpanzee has an omnivorous diet, a troop hunting culture based on beta males led by an alpha male, and highly complex social relationships. The bonobo, on the other hand, has a mostly frugivorous diet and an egalitarian, nonviolent, matriarchal, sexually receptive behaviour. Bonobos frequently have sex, sometimes to help prevent and resolve conflicts. Different groups of chimpanzees also have different cultural behaviour with preferences for types of tools. The common chimpanzee tends to display greater aggression than does the bonobo. The average, captive chimpanzee sleeps 9.7 hours per day. \n\nContrary to what the scientific name may suggest, chimpanzees do not typically spend their time in caves, but there have been reports of some of them seeking refugee in caves because of the heat during daytime. \n\nSocial structure\n\nChimpanzees live in large multi-male and multi-female social groups, which are called communities. Within a community, the position of an individual and the influence the individual has on others dictates a definite social hierarchy. Chimpanzees live in a leaner hierarchy wherein more than one individual may be dominant enough to dominate other members of lower rank. Typically, a dominant male is referred to as the alpha male. The alpha male is the highest-ranking male that controls the group and maintains order during disputes. In chimpanzee society, the 'dominant male' sometimes is not the largest or strongest male but rather the most manipulative and political male that can influence the goings on within a group. Male chimpanzees typically attain dominance by cultivating allies who will support that individual during future ambitions for power. The alpha male regularly displays by puffing his normally slim coat up to increase view size and charge to seem as threatening and as powerful as possible; this behaviour serves to intimidate other members and thereby maintain power and authority, and it may be fundamental to the alpha male's holding on to his status. Lower-ranking chimpanzees will show respect by submissively gesturing in body language or reaching out their hands while grunting. Female chimpanzees will show deference to the alpha male by presenting their hindquarters.\n\nFemale chimpanzees also have a hierarchy, which is influenced by the position of a female individual within a group. In some chimpanzee communities, the young females may inherit high status from a high-ranking mother. Dominant females will also ally to dominate lower-ranking females: whereas males mainly seek dominant status for its associated mating privileges and sometimes violent domination of subordinates, females seek dominant status to acquire resources such as food, as high-ranking females often have first access to them. Both genders acquire dominant status to improve social standing within a group.\n\nCommunity female acceptance is necessary for alpha male status; females must ensure that their group visits places that supply them with enough food. A group of dominant females will sometimes oust an alpha male which is not to their preference and back another male, in whom they see potential for leading the group as a successful alpha male.\n\nIntelligence\n\nChimpanzees make tools and use them to acquire foods and for social displays; they have sophisticated hunting strategies requiring cooperation, influence and rank; they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception; they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax, concepts of number and numerical sequence; and they are capable of spontaneous planning for a future state or event. \n\nTool use\n\nIn October 1960, Jane Goodall observed the use of tools among chimpanzees. Recent research indicates that chimpanzees' use of stone tools dates back at least 4,300 years (about 2,300 BC). One example of chimpanzee tool usage behavior includes the use of a large stick as a tool to dig into termite mounds, and the subsequent use of a small stick altered into a tool that is used to \"fish\" the termites out of the mound. Chimpanzees are also known to use smaller stones as hammers and a large one as an anvil in order to break open nuts. \n\nIn the 1970s, reports of chimpanzees using rocks or sticks as weapons were anecdotal and controversial. However, a 2007 study claimed to reveal the use of spears, which common chimpanzees in Senegal sharpen with their teeth and use to stab and pry Senegal bushbabies out of small holes in trees. \n \n\nPrior to the discovery of tool use in chimps, humans were believed to be the only species to make and use tools; however, now several other tool-using species are now known. \n\nNest-building\n\nNest-building, sometimes considered to be a form of tool use, is seen when chimpanzees construct arboreal night nests by lacing together branches from one or more trees to build a safe, comfortable place to sleep; infants learn this process by watching their mothers. The nest provides a sort of mattress, which is supported by strong branches for a foundation, and then lined with softer leaves and twigs; the minimum diameter is 5 m and may be located at a height of 3 to. Both day and night nests are built, and may be located in groups. A study in 2014 found that the Muhimbi tree is favoured for nest building by chimpanzees in Uganda due to its physical properties, such as bending strength, inter-node distance, and leaf surface area. \n\nAltruism and emotivity\n\nStudies have shown chimpanzees engage in apparently altruistic behaviour within groups. Some researchers have suggested that chimpanzees are indifferent to the welfare of unrelated group members, but a more recent study of wild chimpanzees found that both male and female adults would adopt orphaned young of their group. Also, different groups sometimes share food, form coalitions, and cooperate in hunting and border patrolling. Sometimes, chimpanzees have adopted young that come from unrelated groups. And in some rare cases, even male chimps have been shown to take care of abandoned infant chimps of an unrelated group, though in most cases they would kill the infant.\n\nAccording to a literature summary by James W. Harrod, evidence for chimpanzee emotivity includes display of mourning; \"incipient romantic love\"; rain dances; appreciation of natural beauty (such as a sunset over a lake); curiosity and respect towards other wildlife (such as the python, which is neither a threat nor a food source to chimpanzees); altruism toward other species (such as feeding turtles); and animism, or \"pretend play\", when chimps cradle and groom rocks or sticks. \n\nCommunication\n\nChimps communicate in a manner that is similar to that of human nonverbal communication, using vocalizations, hand gestures, and facial expressions. There is even some evidence that they can recreate human speech. Research into the chimpanzee brain has revealed that when chimpanzees communicate, an area in the brain is activated which is in the same position as the language center called Broca's area in human brains. \n\nThere is some debate as to whether chimpanzees have the ability to express hierarchical ideas in language. Studies have found that chimps are capable of learning a limited set of sign language symbols, which they can use to communicate with human trainers. However, it is clear that there are distinct limits to the complexity of knowledge structures with which chimps are capable of dealing. The sentences that they can express are limited to specific simple noun-verb sequences, and are they do not seem capable of the extent of thought complexity characteristic of humans.\n\nAggression\n\nAdult common chimpanzees, particularly males, can be very aggressive. They are highly territorial and are known to kill other chimps. \n\nHunting\n\nChimpanzees also engage in targeted hunting of lower-order primates, such as the red colobus and bush babies, and use the meat from these kills as a \"social tool\" within their community. \n\nPuzzle solving\n\nIn February 2013, a study found that chimpanzees solve puzzles for entertainment. \n\nHistory\n\nChimps, as well as other apes, had also been purported to have been known to ancient writers, but mainly as myths and legends on the edge of European and Near Eastern societal consciousness. Apes are mentioned variously by Aristotle. The English word ape translates Hebrew qőf in English translations of the Bible (1 Kings 10:22), but the word may refer to a monkey rather than an ape proper.\n\nThe diary of Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira (1506), preserved in the Portuguese National Archive (Torre do Tombo), is probably the first written document to acknowledge that chimpanzees built their own rudimentary tools. The first of these early transcontinental chimpanzees came from Angola and were presented as a gift to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange in 1640, and were followed by a few of its brethren over the next several years. Scientists described these first chimpanzees as \"pygmies\", and noted the animals' distinct similarities to humans. The next two decades, a number of the creatures were imported into Europe, mainly acquired by various zoological gardens as entertainment for visitors.\n\nDarwin's theory of natural selection (published in 1859) spurred scientific interest in chimpanzees, as in much of life science, leading eventually to numerous studies of the animals in the wild and captivity. The observers of chimpanzees at the time were mainly interested in behaviour as it related to that of humans. This was less strictly and disinterestedly scientific than it might sound, with much attention being focused on whether or not the animals had traits that could be considered 'good'; the intelligence of chimpanzees was often significantly exaggerated, as immortalized in Hugo Rheinhold's Affe mit Schädel (see image, left). By the end of the 19th century, chimpanzees remained very much a mystery to humans, with very little factual scientific information available.\n\nIn the 20th century, a new age of scientific research into chimpanzee behaviour began. Before 1960, almost nothing was known about chimpanzee behaviour in their natural habitats. In July of that year, Jane Goodall set out to Tanzania's Gombe forest to live among the chimpanzees, where she primarily studied the members of the Kasakela chimpanzee community. Her discovery that chimpanzees made and used tools was groundbreaking, as humans were previously believed to be the only species to do so. The most progressive early studies on chimpanzees were spearheaded primarily by Wolfgang Köhler and Robert Yerkes, both of whom were renowned psychologists. Both men and their colleagues established laboratory studies of chimpanzees focused specifically on learning about the intellectual abilities of chimpanzees, particularly problem-solving. This typically involved basic, practical tests on laboratory chimpanzees, which required a fairly high intellectual capacity (such as how to solve the problem of acquiring an out-of-reach banana). Notably, Yerkes also made extensive observations of chimpanzees in the wild which added tremendously to the scientific understanding of chimpanzees and their behaviour. Yerkes studied chimpanzees until World War II, while Köhler concluded five years of study and published his famous Mentality of Apes in 1925 (which is coincidentally when Yerkes began his analyses), eventually concluding, \"chimpanzees manifest intelligent behaviour of the general kind familiar in human beings ... a type of behaviour which counts as specifically human\" (1925).\n\nThe August 2008 issue of the American Journal of Primatology reported results of a year-long study of chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Mahale Mountains National Park, which produced evidence of chimpanzees becoming sick from viral infectious diseases they had likely contracted from humans. Molecular, microscopic and epidemiological investigations demonstrated the chimpanzees living at Mahale Mountains National Park have been suffering from a respiratory disease that is likely caused by a variant of a human paramyxovirus. \n\nResearch and study\n\nAs of November 2007, about 1,300 chimpanzees were housed in 10 U.S. laboratories (out of 3,000 great apes living in captivity there), either wild-caught, or acquired from circuses, animal trainers, or zoos. Most of the labs either conduct or make the chimps available for invasive research, defined as \"inoculation with an infectious agent, surgery or biopsy conducted for the sake of research and not for the sake of the chimpanzee, and/or drug testing\". Two federally funded laboratories use chimps: the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Southwest National Primate Center in San Antonio, Texas.Lovgren, Stefan. [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0906_050906_chimplabs.html Should Labs Treat Chimps More Like Humans?], National Geographic News, September 6, 2005. Five hundred chimps have been retired from laboratory use in the U.S. and live in animal sanctuaries in the U.S. or Canada.\n\nChimpanzees used in biomedical research tend to be used repeatedly over decades, rather than used and killed as with most laboratory animals. Some individual chimps currently in U.S. laboratories have been used in experiments for over 40 years.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080215112131/http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/chimps_deserve_better/ Chimps Deserve Better], Humane Society of the United States. According to Project R&R, a campaign to release chimps held in U.S. labs—run by the New England Anti-Vivisection Society in conjunction with Jane Goodall and other primate researchers—the oldest known chimp in a U.S. lab is Wenka, which was born in a laboratory in Florida on May 21, 1954. She was removed from her mother on the day of birth to be used in a vision experiment that lasted 17 months, then sold as a pet to a family in North Carolina. She was returned to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in 1957 when she became too big to handle. Since then, she has given birth six times, and has been the subject of research into alcohol use, oral contraceptives, aging, and cognitive studies.[http://www.releasechimps.org/chimpanzees/their-stories/wenka/ Wenka], Project R&R, New England Anti-Vivisection Society.\n\nWith the publication of the chimpanzee genome, plans to increase the use of chimps in labs are reportedly increasing, with some scientists arguing that the federal moratorium on breeding chimps for research should be lifted.Langley, Gill (June 2006). [http://www.eceae.org/english/documents/NoKReport.pdf Next of Kin: A Report on the Use of Primates in Experiments], British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, p. 15, citing A five-year moratorium was imposed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in 1996, because too many chimps had been bred for HIV research, and it has been extended annually since 2001.\n\nOther researchers argue that chimps are unique animals and either should not be used in research, or should be treated differently. Pascal Gagneux, an evolutionary biologist and primate expert at the University of California, San Diego, argues, given chimpanzees' sense of self, tool use, and genetic similarity to human beings, studies using chimps should follow the ethical guidelines used for human subjects unable to give consent. Also, a recent study suggests chimpanzees which are retired from labs exhibit a form of posttraumatic stress disorder. Stuart Zola, director of the Yerkes National Primate Research Laboratory, disagrees. He told National Geographic: \"I don't think we should make a distinction between our obligation to treat humanely any species, whether it's a rat or a monkey or a chimpanzee. No matter how much we may wish it, chimps are not human.\"\n\nAn increasing number of governments are enacting a great ape research ban forbidding the use of chimpanzees and other great apes in research or toxicology testing. As of 2006, Austria, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK had introduced such bans.Langley, Gill (June 2006). [http://www.eceae.org/english/documents/NoKReport.pdf Next of Kin: A Report on the Use of Primates in Experiments], British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, p. 12.\n\nStudies of language\n\nScientists have long been fascinated with the studies of language, believing it to be a unique human cognitive ability. To test this hypothesis, scientists have attempted to teach human language to several species of great apes. One early attempt by Allen and Beatrix Gardner in the 1960s involved spending 51 months teaching American Sign Language (ASL) to a chimpanzee named Washoe. The Gardners reported Washoe learned 151 signs, and she had spontaneously taught them to other chimpanzees. Over a longer period of time, Washoe learned over 800 signs. \n\nDebate is ongoing among some scientists (such as David Premack), about nonhuman great apes' ability to learn language. Since the early reports on Washoe, numerous other studies have been conducted, with varying levels of success, including one involving a chimpanzee named, in parody, Nim Chimpsky, trained by Herbert Terrace of Columbia University. Although his initial reports were quite positive, in November 1979, Terrace and his team (including psycholinguist Thomas Bever) re-evaluated the videotapes of Nim with his trainers, analyzing them frame by frame for signs, as well as for exact context (what was happening both before and after Nim’s signs). In the reanalysis, Terrace and Bever concluded Nim's utterances could be explained merely as prompting on the part of the experimenters, as well as mistakes in reporting the data. \"Much of the apes’ behaviour is pure drill,\" he said. \"Language still stands as an important definition of the human species.\" In this reversal, Terrace now argued Nim's use of ASL was not like human language acquisition. Nim never initiated conversations himself, rarely introduced new words, and simply imitated what the humans did. More importantly, Nim's word strings varied in their ordering, suggesting that he was incapable of syntax. Nim’s sentences also did not grow in length, unlike human children whose vocabulary and sentence length show a strong positive correlation. \n\nMemory\n\nA 30-year study at Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute has shown that chimps are able to learn to recognise the numbers 1 through 9 and their values. The chimps further show an aptitude for photographic memory, demonstrated in experiments in which the jumbled digits are flashed onto a computer screen for less than a quarter of a second, after which the chimp, Ayumu, is able to correctly and quickly point to the positions where they appeared in ascending order. The same experiment was failed by human world memory champion Ben Pridmore on most attempts. \n\nLaughter in apes\n\nLaughter might not be confined or unique to humans. The differences between chimpanzee and human laughter may be the result of adaptations that have evolved to enable human speech. Self-awareness of one's situation as seen in the mirror test, or the ability to identify with another's predicament (see mirror neurons), are prerequisites for laughter, so animals may be laughing for the same reasons that humans do.\n\nChimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact, such as wrestling, play-chasing, or tickling. This is documented in wild and captive chimpanzees. Common chimpanzee laughter is not readily recognisable to humans as such, because it is generated by alternating inhalations and exhalations that sound more like breathing and panting. Instances in which nonhuman primates have expressed joy have been reported. One study analyzed and recorded sounds made by human babies and bonobos when tickled. Although the bonobo's laugh was a higher frequency, the laugh followed a pattern similar to that of human babies and included similar facial expressions. Humans and chimpanzees share similar ticklish areas of the body, such as the armpits and belly. The enjoyment of tickling in chimpanzees does not diminish with age.\n\nListed as endangered in the US\n\nThe US Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule on June 12, 2015 Listing All Chimpanzees as Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act\nCertain activities involving chimpanzees will be prohibited without a permit, including import and export of the animals into and out of the United States, \"take\" (defined by the ESA as harm, harass, kill, injure, etc.) within the United States, and interstate and foreign commerce.\n\nPermits will be issued for these activities only for scientific purposes that benefit the species in the wild, or to enhance the propagation or survival of chimpanzees, including habitat restoration and research on chimpanzees in the wild that contributes to improved management and recovery.\n\nChimpanzees as pets\n\nChimpanzees have traditionally been kept as pets in a few African villages, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Virunga National Park in the east of the country, the park authorities regularly confiscate chimpanzees from people keeping them as pets. \n\nChimpanzees are popular as wild pets in many areas despite their strength, aggression, and wild nature. Even in areas where keeping non-human primates as pets is illegal, the exotic pet trade continues to prosper and some people keep chimpanzees as pets mistakenly believing that they will bond with them for life. As they grow, so do their strength and aggression; some owners and others interacting with the animals have lost fingers and suffered severe facial damage among other injuries sustained in attacks. In addition to the animals' hostile potential and strength well beyond any human being, chimpanzees physically mature a lot more proportionally than do human beings, and even among the most cleanly and well-organized of housekeepers, maintaining cleanliness and control of chimpanzees is physically demanding to the point that it is impossible for humans to control, especially due to the animals' strength and aggression. \n\nIn popular culture\n\nChimpanzees have been commonly stereotyped in popular culture, where they are most often cast in standardized roles as childlike companions, sidekicks or clowns. They are especially suited for the latter role on account of their prominent facial features, long limbs and fast movements, which humans often find amusing. Accordingly, entertainment acts featuring chimpanzees dressed up as humans have been traditional staples of circuses and stage shows. \n\nIn the age of television, a new genre of chimp act emerged in the United States: series whose cast consisted entirely of chimpanzees dressed as humans and \"speaking\" lines dubbed by human actors. These shows, examples of which include Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp in the 1970s or The Chimp Channel in the 1990s, relied on the novelty of their ape cast to make their timeworn, low comedy gags funny. Their chimpanzee \"actors\" were as interchangeable as the apes in a circus act, being amusing as chimpanzees and not as individuals. Animal rights groups have urged a stop to this practice, considering it animal abuse. \n\nWhen chimpanzees appear in other TV shows, they generally do so as comic relief sidekicks to humans. In that role, for instance, J. Fred Muggs appeared with Today Show host Dave Garroway in the 1950s, Judy on Daktari in the 1960s and Darwin on The Wild Thornberrys in the 1990s. In contrast to the fictional depictions of other animals, such as dogs (as in Lassie), dolphins (Flipper), horses (The Black Stallion) or even other great apes (King Kong), chimpanzee characters and actions are rarely relevant to the plot.\n\nPortrayals in science fiction\n\nThe rare depictions of chimpanzees as individuals rather than stock characters, and as central rather than incidental to the plot are generally found in works of science fiction. Robert A. Heinlein's short story \"Jerry Was a Man\" (1947) centers on a genetically enhanced chimpanzee suing for better treatment. The 1972 film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the third sequel of Planet of the Apes, portrays a futuristic revolt of enslaved apes led by the only talking chimpanzee, Caesar, against their human masters. This concept was revisited in the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, again with a chimpanzee protagonist named Caesar. Another short story, \"The Pope of the Chimps\" by Robert Silverberg, set in the present day, shows the development of the first signs of religiosity in a group of chimpanzees, much to the surprise of the humans observing them. David Brin's Uplift novels present a future in which humans have \"uplifted\" chimpanzees (and certain other species) with human-level sapience.",
"Gecko.txt\nGecko\nGeckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 to 60 cm (0.64 to 24 inches). Most geckos cannot blink, but they often lick their eyes to keep them clean and moist. They have a fixed lens within each iris that enlarges in darkness to let in more light.\n\nGeckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations. They use chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos. They are the most species-rich group of lizards, with about 1,500 different species worldwide. The New Latin gekko and English \"gecko\" stem from the Indonesian-Malay gēkoq, which is imitative of the sound the animals make. \n\nAll geckos, excluding the Eublepharidae family, lack eyelids and instead have a transparent membrane, which they lick to clean. Nocturnal species have an excellent night vision; their color vision is 350 times more sensitive than human color vision. The nocturnal geckos evolved from diurnal species which had lost the eye rods. The gecko eye therefore modified its cones that increased in size into different types both single and double. Three different photopigments have been retained and are sensitive to UV, blue, and green. They also use a multifocal optical system that allows them to generate a sharp image for at least two different depths. \n\nMost gecko species can lose their tails in defense, a process called autotomy. Many species are well known for their specialized toe pads that enable them to climb smooth and vertical surfaces, and even cross indoor ceilings with ease. Geckos are well-known to people who live in warm regions of the world, where several species of geckos make their home inside human habitations. These (for example the house gecko) become part of the indoor menagerie and are often welcomed, as they feed on insects, including moths and mosquitoes. Unlike most lizards, geckos are usually nocturnal.\n\nThe largest species, the kawekaweau, is only known from a single, stuffed specimen found in the basement of a museum in Marseille, France. This gecko was 60 cm (24 in) long and it was likely endemic to New Zealand, where it lived in native forests. It was probably wiped out along with much of the native fauna of these islands in the late 19th century, when new invasive species such as rats and stoats were introduced to the country during European colonization. The smallest gecko, the Jaragua sphaero, is a mere 1.6 cm long and was discovered in 2001 on a small island off the coast of the Dominican Republic.\n\nCommon traits\n\nGeckos are selectively bred. Geckos occur in various patterns and colors, and are among the most colorful lizards in the world. Some species can change colour and may be lighter in colour at night. Some species are parthenogenic, which means the female is capable of reproducing without copulating with a male. This improves the gecko's ability to spread to new islands. However, in a situation where a single female gecko populates an entire island, the island will suffer from a lack of genetic variation within the geckos that inhabit it. The gecko's mating call sounds like a shortened bird chirping which attracts males, when they are nearby. Like other reptiles, geckos are ectothermic, producing very little metabolic heat. Essentially a gecko's body temperature is dependent on its environment. Also, in order to accomplish their main functions—such as locomotion, feeding, reproduction, etc.—geckos must have a relatively elevated temperature.\n\nShedding or molting\n\n \nAll geckos shed their skin at fairly regular intervals, with species differing in timing and method. Leopard geckos will shed at about two- to four-week intervals. The presence of moisture aids in the shedding. When shedding begins, the gecko will speed the process by detaching the loose skin from its body and eating it. \n\nAdhesion ability\n\nGecko toes have special adaptations that allow them to adhere to most surfaces without the use of liquids or surface tension. About 60% of gecko species have adhesive toe pads; such pads have been gained and lost repeatedly over the course of gecko evolution. Adhesive toepads evolved independently in about 11 different gecko lineages and were lost in at least 9 lineages. The spatula-shaped setae arranged in lamellae on gecko footpads enable attractive van der Waals' forces between the β-keratin lamellae/setae/spatulae structures and the surface. These van der Waals interactions involve no fluids; in theory, a boot made of synthetic setae would adhere as easily to the surface of the International Space Station as it would to a living-room wall, although adhesion varies with humidity. The setae on the feet of geckos are also self-cleaning and will usually remove any clogging dirt within a few steps.[http://www.lclark.edu/~autumn/dept/geckostory.html How Geckos Stick to Walls]. Teflon, which has very low surface energy, is more difficult for geckos to adhere to than many other surfaces.\n\nIncreasing humidity typically fortifies gecko adhesion, even on hydrophobic surfaces, yet is reduced if completely immersed in water. The role of water in that system is under discussion, yet recent experiments agree that the presence of molecular water layers (water molecules carry a very large dipole moment) on the setae as well as on the surface increase the surface energy of both, therefore the energy gain in getting these surfaces in contact is enlarged, which results in an increased gecko adhesion force. Moreover, the elastic properties of the b-keratin change with water uptake. Friction experiments with gecko toes—torn parallel to surfaces—have shown to be influenced also by electrostatic forces. \n\nGecko toes seem to be \"double jointed\", but this is a misnomer and is properly called digital hyperextension. Gecko toes can hyperextend in the opposite direction from human fingers and toes. This allows them to overcome the van der Waals force by peeling their toes off surfaces from the tips inward. In essence, this peeling action alters the angle of incidence between millions of individual setae and the surface, reducing the van der Waals force. Geckos' toes operate well below their full attractive capabilities most of the time, because the margin for error is great depending upon the surface roughness, and therefore the number of setae in contact with that surface. \n\nUse of small van der Waals attraction force requires very large surface areas: every square millimeter of a gecko's footpad contains about 14,000 hair-like setae. Each seta has a diameter of 5 μm. Human hair varies from 18 to 180 μm, so a human hair could hold between 12 and 1300 setae. Each seta is in turn tipped with between 100 and 1,000 spatulae. Each spatula is 0.2 μm long (one five-millionth of a meter), or just below the wavelength of visible light. \n\nThe setae of a typical mature 70 g gecko would be capable of supporting a weight of 133 kg: each spatula can exert an adhesive force of 5 to 25 nN. The exact value of the adhesion force of a spatula varies with the surface energy of the substrate to which it adheres. Recent studies have moreover shown that the component of the surface energy derived from long-range forces, such as van der Waals forces, depends on the material's structure below the outermost atomic layers (up to 100 nm beneath the surface); taking that into account, the adhesive strength can be inferred.\n\nRecent studies have also revealed that apart from the setae, phospholipids—fatty substances produced naturally in their bodies—also come into play. These lipids lubricate the setae and allow the gecko to detach its foot before the next step.\n\nBiomimetic technologies designed to mimic gecko adhesion could produce reusable self-cleaning dry adhesives with many applications. Development effort is being put into these technologies, but manufacturing synthetic setae is not a trivial material design task.\n\nTeeth\n\nGeckos are polyphyodonts and able to replace each of their 100 teeth every 3 to 4 months. Next to the full grown tooth there is a small replacement tooth developing from the odontogenic stem cell in the dental lamina. \nThe formation of the teeth is pleurodont; they are fused (ankylosed) by their sides to the inner surface of the jaw bones.\nThis formation is common in all species in the order Squamata.\n\nTaxonomy and classification\n\nThe infraorder Gekkota is divided into seven families, containing numerous genera of gecko species. \n\n*Family Pygopodidae\n*Family Carphodactylidae\n*Family Diplodactylidae\n*Family Sphaerodactylidae\n*Family Phyllodactylidae\n*Family Eublepharidae\n*Family Gekkonidae\n\nSpecies of geckos\n\n \nAbout 1,500 species of geckos occur worldwide, including these familiar or notable species:\n*Coleonyx variegatus, the western banded gecko, is native to the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico.\n*Cyrtopodion brachykolon, the bent-toed gecko, is found in northwestern Pakistan; it was first described in 2007.\n*Eublepharis macularius, the leopard gecko, is the most common gecko kept as a pet; it does not have adhesive toe pads and cannot climb the glass of a vivarium.\n*Gehyra mutilata (Peropus mutilatus), the stump-toed gecko, is able to vary its color from very light to very dark to camouflage itself; this gecko is at home in the wild, as well as in residential areas.\n*Gekko gecko, the Tokay gecko, is a large, common, Southeast Asian gecko known for its aggressive temperament, loud mating calls, and bright markings.\n*Hemidactylus is genus of geckos in which there are many varieties.\n**Hemidactylus frenatus, the Common house gecko, thrives around people and human habitation structures in the tropics and subtropics worldwide.\n**Hemidactylus garnotii, the Indo-Pacific gecko, is found in houses throughout the tropics, and has become an invasive species of concern in Florida and Georgia in the US.\n**Hemidactylus mabouia, the Tropical house gecko, Afro-American house gecko or Cosmopolitan house gecko, is a species of house gecko native to sub-Saharan Africa and also currently found in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.\n**Hemidactylus turcicus, the Mediterranean house gecko, is frequently found in and around buildings, and is an introduced species in the US.\n*Lepidodactylus lugubris, the mourning gecko, is originally an East Asian and Pacific species; it is equally at home in the wild and residential neighborhoods.\n*Pachydactylus bibroni, Bibron's gecko, is native to southern Africa; this hardy arboreal gecko is considered a household pest.\n*Phelsuma laticauda, the gold dust day gecko, is a diurnal gecko; it lives in northern Madagascar and on the Comoros. It is also an introduced species in Hawaii.\n*Ptychozoon is a genus of arboreal geckos from Southeast Asia also known as flying geckos or parachute geckos; they have wing-like flaps from the neck to the upper leg to help them conceal themselves on trees and provide lift while jumping.\n*Rhacodactylus is genus of geckos native to New Caledonia.\n**Rhacodactylus ciliatus, the crested gecko, was believed extinct until rediscovered in 1994, and is gaining popularity as a pet.\n**Rhacodactylus leachianus, the New Caledonian giant gecko, was first described by Cuvier in 1829; it is the largest living species of gecko.\n*Sphaerodactylus ariasae, the dwarf gecko, is native to the Caribbean Islands; it is the world's smallest lizard.\n*Tarentola mauritanica, the crocodile gecko or Moorish gecko, is commonly found in the Mediterranean region from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France to Greece and northern Africa; their most distinguishing characteristics are their pointed heads, spiked skin, and tails resembling that of a crocodile.",
"About: Gibraltar - DBpedia\n... is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the ... entrance of the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 ...\nAbout: Gibraltar\nAbout: Gibraltar\nAn Entity of Type : place , from Named Graph : http://dbpedia.org , within Data Space : dbpedia.org\nGibraltar /dʒᵻˈbrɔːltər/ is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and shares its northern border with the Province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.\nProperty\nGibraltar (englisch [dʒɨˈbɹɒltə], spanisch [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) ist ein britisches Überseegebiet an der Südspitze der Iberischen Halbinsel. Es steht seit 1704 unter der Souveränität des Vereinigten Königreichs und wurde 1713 von Spanien offiziell im Frieden von Utrecht abgetreten.\n(de)\nGibraltar (en inglés: Gibraltar, [dʒɨˈbrɔːltər]) es un territorio británico de ultramar situado en una pequeña península del extremo sur de la península ibérica, haciendo frontera únicamente con España, país que reclama su soberanía. Para la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, Gibraltar es una colonia, conformando uno de los territorios no autónomos bajo supervisión de su Comité Especial de Descolonización, al igual que otros dieciséis casos más. Atendiendo al artículo x del Tratado de Utrecht, «la ciudad y castillos de Gibraltar, juntamente con su puerto, defensas y fortalezas» en 1713 serían una propiedad a perpetuidad de la Corona británica en territorio de jurisdicción española, debiendo retornar a España si el Reino Unido renunciase o enajenase de alguna manera dicha propiedad. El istmo entre el peñón y las otras fortificaciones españolas, desde el punto de vista español y del Tratado, se trata de territorio ocupado. Gibraltar está situado en el extremo meridional de la península ibérica, al este de la bahía de Algeciras, y se extiende sobre la formación geológica del peñón de Gibraltar (en inglés: the Rock of Gibraltar o también, the Rock), península que domina la orilla norte del estrecho homónimo, comunicando el mar Mediterráneo y el océano Atlántico. Alberga una población de 29 752 habitantes en una superficie de menos de 7 km², con una economía basada en el sector de servicios, principalmente como centro financiero, turístico y puerto franco. Aprovechando su privilegiada posición estratégica, cuenta con una base aeronaval de las Fuerzas Armadas Británicas. Gibraltar fue conocida en la antigüedad como promontorio o monte Calpe (en latín: Mons Calpe), una de las dos míticas columnas de Hércules, y posteriormente renombrada como derivación del árabe Ẏabal Tāriq (جبل طارق), o «montaña de Tariq», en recuerdo del general Táriq ibn Ziyad, quien dirigió el desembarco en este lugar de las fuerzas del Califato Omeya de al-Walid I en 711. Integrada en la Corona de Castilla desde la segunda mitad del siglo, fue ocupada en 1704 por una escuadra angloholandesa en apoyo del Archiduque Carlos, pretendiente durante la Guerra de Sucesión Española, al término de la cual, las Coronas británica y la española firmaron el Tratado de Utrecht en 1713. Desde entonces, el devenir político de Gibraltar ha sido objeto de controversia en las relaciones hispano-británicas.\n(es)\nجبل طارق (بالإنجليزية: Gibraltar، جبرلتار) هي منطقة حكم ذاتي تابعة للتاج البريطاني، تقع في أقصى جنوب شبه جزيرة إيبيريا على منطقة صخرية متوغلة في مياه البحر الأبيض المتوسط. تسمى محليا بـ \"جبرلتار\" وهو تحريف لاسم \"جبل طارق\" على اسم أمير مدينة طنجة طارق بن زياد في القرن الأول الهجري.كانت المنطقة مستعمرة بريطانية حتى 1981 عندما ألغت بريطانيا هذه المكانة وقررت إقامة مناطق حكم ذاتي في ما بقي من مستعمراتها السابقة. وبعد تغيير طريقة الحكم في منطقة جبل طارق، طالبت إسبانيا بإعادة المنطقة لسيادتها مشيرة إلى أن الاتفاقية بين البلدين تنص بإعادة المنطقة إلى إسبانيا في حال حدوث تنازل بريطاني عنها. أما بريطانيا فأعلنت أنها لم تتنازل عن المنطقة وأن الحكم الذاتي لا يلغي إنتماء المنطقة إلى التاج البريطاني. مع ذلك وافقت بريطانيا على فتح ميناء جبل الطارق أمام السفن الإسبانية. في غضون السنوات جددت إسبانيا مطالبتها بإعادة جبل طارق للسيادة الإسبانية وحتى تفاوضت مع حكومة بريطانية عن هذه الإمكانية، ولكن سكان المنطقة رفضوها بقوة وتظاهروا ضدها إذ كان معظمهم بريطانيو الأصل.\n(ar)\nGibraltar (de l'arabe « جبل طارق », « Djebel Tariq », « le mont de Tariq » du nom de Tariq ibn Ziyad) est un territoire britannique d'outre-mer, situé au sud de la péninsule Ibérique, en bordure du détroit de Gibraltar qui relie la Méditerranée à l'océan Atlantique. Il correspond au rocher de Gibraltar et à ses environs immédiats et est séparé de l'Espagne par une frontière de1,2 kilomètre. Gibraltar est possession du Royaume-Uni depuis 1704. Les forces armées britanniques y conservent une présence relativement importante. Bien que la majorité de sa population y soit opposée, Gibraltar est revendiqué par l'Espagne. La question de Gibraltar est une cause majeure de dissension dans les relations hispano-britanniques. Gibraltar fait partie de l'Union européenne mais pas de l'espace Schengen. En ce qui concerne les élections européennes, le Rocher est joint à l'Angleterre du Sud-Ouest. L'aéroport de Gibraltar a pour code LXGB, selon la liste des préfixes des codes OACI des aéroports. Sa piste a la particularité d'être traversée par la route reliant Gibraltar à l'Espagne. Les habitants de Gibraltar sont les Gibraltariens et les Gibraltariennes.\n(fr)\nGibilterra (in inglese Gibraltar, [dʒɨˈbɹɒltə]; idem in spagnolo, [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) è un territorio d'Oltremare del Regno Unito. Gibilterra si trova nell'Europa sudoccidentale, sulla costa meridionale della Spagna, all'estremità orientale dello stretto omonimo, che collega l'oceano Atlantico e il mar Mediterraneo. Confina interamente con La Línea de la Concepción, comune spagnolo in provincia di Cadice (Andalusia). Un tempo nota come Calpe, una delle Colonne d'Ercole, deve il suo nome attuale alla corruzione del nome arabo Jabal Ţāriq (جبل طارق) (\"Monte di Tariq\"), così chiamato in omaggio a Tariq ibn Ziyad, il condottiero arabo che conquistò la Spagna nel 711. Gibilterra è nella lista delle Nazioni Unite dei territori non autonomi.\n(it)\nジブラルタル（Gibraltar）は、イベリア半島の南東端に突き出した小半島を占める、イギリスの海外領土。ジブラルタル海峡を望む良港を持つため、地中海の出入口を抑える戦略的要衝の地、すなわち「地中海の鍵」として軍事上・海上交通上、重要視されてきた。現在もイギリス軍が駐屯する。 半島の大半を占める特徴的な岩山（ザ・ロック）は、古代より西への航海の果てにある「ヘラクレスの柱」の一つとして知られてきた。半島は8世紀よりムーア人、レコンキスタ後はカスティーリャ王国、16世紀よりスペイン、18世紀よりイギリスの占領下にあるが、その領有権を巡り今もイギリス・スペイン間に争いがある。 地名の由来は、ジブラルタル海峡を渡ってイベリア半島を征服したウマイヤ朝の将軍ターリク・イブン・ズィヤードにちなんでおり、アラビア語で「ターリクの山」を意味するジャバル・アル・ターリク（Jabal al-Ţāriq、亜: جبل طارق）が転訛したものである。なお、ジブラルタルの英語での発音は「ジブロールタ(ァ)」[dʒiˈbrɔːltə（r）]、スペイン語での発音は「ヒブラルタル」[xiβɾalˈtaɾ]に近い。\n(ja)\nGibraltar is een Brits overzees gebied gelegen aan het zuidelijke eind van het Iberisch Schiereiland bij de ingang van de Middellandse Zee. Het heeft een oppervlakte van 6,8 km² en een noordelijke grens met Andalusië, Spanje. De Rots van Gibraltar is de belangrijkste bezienswaardigheid van het gebied. De economie is vooral gebaseerd op toerisme, financiële diensten en de scheepvaart. De naam komt uit het Arabisch: جبل طارق - jabal Tariq: de berg van Tariq, naar de Moorse legerleider Tariq ibn Zijad. Gibraltar werd in 1704 tijdens de Spaanse Successieoorlog door een Engels-Nederlandse troepenmacht op Spanje veroverd. Het gebied werd vervolgens in 1713 onder de Vrede van Utrecht \"voor altijd\" overgedragen aan het Koninkrijk Groot-Brittannië. Het was een belangrijke basis voor de Royal Navy. De soevereiniteit van Gibraltar is een belangrijk twistpunt van de Brits-Spaanse relatie omdat Spanje aanspraak maakt op Gibraltar. Gibraltarezen verwierpen voorstellen voor Spaanse soevereiniteit bij referendum in 1967 en opnieuw in 2002. Volgens de Gibraltarese grondwet van 2006 regelt Gibraltar zijn eigen zaken, hoewel sommige bevoegdheden, zoals defensie en buitenlandse zaken, de verantwoordelijkheid blijven van de regering van het Verenigd Koninkrijk.\n(nl)\nNieprawidłowe parametry: {| region:{{#property:P300}}} Gibraltar (zniekształcone arab. جبل طارق – Dżabal al-Tarik, „góra Tarika”) – brytyjskie terytorium zamorskie na południowym wybrzeżu Półwyspu Iberyjskiego, u wyjścia Morza Śródziemnego na Ocean Atlantycki; zajmuje powierzchnię 6,55 km², od północy graniczy z hiszpańską prowincją Kadyks. Charakterystycznym obiektem górującym nad terytorium jest Skała Gibraltarska. W przeszłości ważna baza Royal Navy, obecnie ekonomia terytorium bazuje głównie na turystyce, handlu, usługach finansowych, sektorze żeglugi morskiej oraz podatku od zakładów bukmacherskich.\n(pl)\nGibraltar ([ʒibɾaɫˈtaɾ]; [ʒibɾawˈtaʁ]; [dʒɨˈbrɔːltər]; [xi.βɾal'taɾ]; [hi.βɾaɾ'ta(:), hi'βɾaɾ.ta(:)]) é um território britânico ultramarino localizado no extremo sul da Península Ibérica. Corresponde a uma pequena península, com uma estreita fronteira terrestre a norte, é limitado, dos outros lados, pelo Mar Mediterrâneo, Estreito de Gibraltar e Baía de Gibraltar, já no Atlântico. A Espanha mantém a reivindicação sobre o Rochedo, o que é totalmente rejeitado pela população gibraltina. O nome Gibraltar origina-se na expressão árabe jabal al-Tariq (ﺨﺒﻝﻄﺭﻕ) que significa \"montanha do Tárique\". A montanha, um promontório militarmente estratégico na entrada do mar Mediterrâneo, guarnece o estreito oceânico que separa a África do continente europeu. O nome é uma homenagem ao general muçulmano Tárique que no ano de 711 d.C. aí desembarcou, iniciando a conquista do reino visigótico. Antes foi chamado pelos fenícios de Calpe, uma das Colunas de Hércules. Popularmente, Gibraltar é chamada de \"Gib\" ou \"The Rock\" (o Rochedo).\n(pt)\nGibraltar /dʒᵻˈbrɔːltər/ is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and shares its northern border with the Province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities. An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg pretender to the Spanish throne. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain \"in perpetuity\" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During World War II it was an important base for the Royal Navy as it controlled the entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea, which is only eight miles (13 km) wide at this point. Today Gibraltar's economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services, and shipping. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum and again in 2002. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the Government of the United Kingdom.\n(en)\n直布罗陀（英语：Gibraltar）是14個英國海外領土之一，也是最小的一個，位于伊比利亚半岛的末端，是通往地中海的入口。直布罗陀面积約为6平方公里，北接西班牙安達魯西亞加的斯省。直布罗陀巨岩是直布罗陀主要的地标之一。直布罗陀的人口集中在该区域的南部，容纳了直布罗陀人和其他民族共三万多人居民人数包括直常住的布罗陀人，一些常驻的英国人(包括英国军人的妻子和家人，未包括军人本身)和非英国居民。参观的游客和短暂停留的人也没有包括。在2009年，本地出生人数达到23907人，含3129名英国移民居住者和其余民族2395人，这样总人口数达到29431人。人数达到了31623人。\n(zh)\nGibraltar (englisch [dʒɨˈbɹɒltə], spanisch [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) ist ein britisches Überseegebiet an der Südspitze der Iberischen Halbinsel. Es steht seit 1704 unter der Souveränität des Vereinigten Königreichs und wurde 1713 von Spanien offiziell im Frieden von Utrecht abgetreten.\n(de)\n直布罗陀（英语：Gibraltar）是14個英國海外領土之一，也是最小的一個，位于伊比利亚半岛的末端，是通往地中海的入口。直布罗陀面积約为6平方公里，北接西班牙安達魯西亞加的斯省。直布罗陀巨岩是直布罗陀主要的地标之一。直布罗陀的人口集中在该区域的南部，容纳了直布罗陀人和其他民族共三万多人居民人数包括直常住的布罗陀人，一些常驻的英国人(包括英国军人的妻子和家人，未包括军人本身)和非英国居民。参观的游客和短暂停留的人也没有包括。在2009年，本地出生人数达到23907人，含3129名英国移民居住者和其余民族2395人，这样总人口数达到29431人。人数达到了31623人。\n(zh)\nجبل طارق (بالإنجليزية: Gibraltar، جبرلتار) هي منطقة حكم ذاتي تابعة للتاج البريطاني، تقع في أقصى جنوب شبه جزيرة إيبيريا على منطقة صخرية متوغلة في مياه البحر الأبيض المتوسط. تسمى محليا بـ \"جبرلتار\" وهو تحريف لاسم \"جبل طارق\" على اسم أمير مدينة طنجة طارق بن زياد في القرن الأول الهجري.كانت المنطقة مستعمرة بريطانية حتى 1981 عندما ألغت بريطانيا هذه المكانة وقررت إقامة مناطق حكم ذاتي في ما بقي من مستعمراتها السابقة.\n(ar)\nGibraltar (en inglés: Gibraltar, [dʒɨˈbrɔːltər]) es un territorio británico de ultramar situado en una pequeña península del extremo sur de la península ibérica, haciendo frontera únicamente con España, país que reclama su soberanía. Para la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, Gibraltar es una colonia, conformando uno de los territorios no autónomos bajo supervisión de su Comité Especial de Descolonización, al igual que otros dieciséis casos más.\n(es)\nGibraltar (de l'arabe « جبل طارق », « Djebel Tariq », « le mont de Tariq » du nom de Tariq ibn Ziyad) est un territoire britannique d'outre-mer, situé au sud de la péninsule Ibérique, en bordure du détroit de Gibraltar qui relie la Méditerranée à l'océan Atlantique. Il correspond au rocher de Gibraltar et à ses environs immédiats et est séparé de l'Espagne par une frontière de1,2 kilomètre.Gibraltar fait partie de l'Union européenne mais pas de l'espace Schengen. En ce qui concerne les élections européennes, le Rocher est joint à l'Angleterre du Sud-Ouest.\n(fr)\nGibraltar /dʒᵻˈbrɔːltər/ is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and shares its northern border with the Province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.\n(en)\nGibilterra (in inglese Gibraltar, [dʒɨˈbɹɒltə]; idem in spagnolo, [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) è un territorio d'Oltremare del Regno Unito.Gibilterra si trova nell'Europa sudoccidentale, sulla costa meridionale della Spagna, all'estremità orientale dello stretto omonimo, che collega l'oceano Atlantico e il mar Mediterraneo. Confina interamente con La Línea de la Concepción, comune spagnolo in provincia di Cadice (Andalusia).Gibilterra è nella lista delle Nazioni Unite dei territori non autonomi.\n(it)\nジブラルタル（Gibraltar）は、イベリア半島の南東端に突き出した小半島を占める、イギリスの海外領土。ジブラルタル海峡を望む良港を持つため、地中海の出入口を抑える戦略的要衝の地、すなわち「地中海の鍵」として軍事上・海上交通上、重要視されてきた。現在もイギリス軍が駐屯する。半島の大半を占める特徴的な岩山（ザ・ロック）は、古代より西への航海の果てにある「ヘラクレスの柱」の一つとして知られてきた。半島は8世紀よりムーア人、レコンキスタ後はカスティーリャ王国、16世紀よりスペイン、18世紀よりイギリスの占領下にあるが、その領有権を巡り今もイギリス・スペイン間に争いがある。地名の由来は、ジブラルタル海峡を渡ってイベリア半島を征服したウマイヤ朝の将軍ターリク・イブン・ズィヤードにちなんでおり、アラビア語で「ターリクの山」を意味するジャバル・アル・ターリク（Jabal al-Ţāriq、亜: جبل طارق）が転訛したものである。なお、ジブラルタルの英語での発音は「ジブロールタ(ァ)」[dʒiˈbrɔːltə（r）]、スペイン語での発音は「ヒブラルタル」[xiβɾalˈtaɾ]に近い。\n(ja)\nGibraltar is een Brits overzees gebied gelegen aan het zuidelijke eind van het Iberisch Schiereiland bij de ingang van de Middellandse Zee. Het heeft een oppervlakte van 6,8 km² en een noordelijke grens met Andalusië, Spanje. De Rots van Gibraltar is de belangrijkste bezienswaardigheid van het gebied. De economie is vooral gebaseerd op toerisme, financiële diensten en de scheepvaart. De naam komt uit het Arabisch: جبل طارق - jabal Tariq: de berg van Tariq, naar de Moorse legerleider Tariq ibn Zijad.\n(nl)\nNieprawidłowe parametry: {|_region:{{#property:P300}}}Gibraltar (zniekształcone arab. جبل طارق – Dżabal al-Tarik, „góra Tarika”) – brytyjskie terytorium zamorskie na południowym wybrzeżu Półwyspu Iberyjskiego, u wyjścia Morza Śródziemnego na Ocean Atlantycki; zajmuje powierzchnię 6,55 km², od północy graniczy z hiszpańską prowincją Kadyks. Charakterystycznym obiektem górującym nad terytorium jest Skała Gibraltarska. W przeszłości ważna baza Royal Navy, obecnie ekonomia terytorium bazuje głównie na turystyce, handlu, usługach finansowych, sektorze żeglugi morskiej oraz podatku od zakładów bukmacherskich.\n(pl)\nGibraltar ([ʒibɾaɫˈtaɾ]; [ʒibɾawˈtaʁ]; [dʒɨˈbrɔːltər]; [xi.βɾal'taɾ]; [hi.βɾaɾ'ta(:), hi'βɾaɾ.ta(:)]) é um território britânico ultramarino localizado no extremo sul da Península Ibérica. Corresponde a uma pequena península, com uma estreita fronteira terrestre a norte, é limitado, dos outros lados, pelo Mar Mediterrâneo, Estreito de Gibraltar e Baía de Gibraltar, já no Atlântico. A Espanha mantém a reivindicação sobre o Rochedo, o que é totalmente rejeitado pela população gibraltina.\n(pt)",
"About Dinosaurs - Crystalinks Home Page\n... their unique bony back plates, ... the plates were set in a single midline row along the ... small and large interlocking bony plates that ...\nAbout Dinosaurs\nDinosaurs\n'Dinosaur' is the common name given to any of certain extinct reptiles, often very large, that thrived worldwide for some 150 million years and that died out at the end of the Mesozoic Era, about 66.4 million years ago. The popular name comes from the Greek words deinos (�terrible�) and sauros (�lizard�).\nThe English anatomist Richard Owen proposed the formal term Dinosauria to designate certain giant extinct animals represented by large fossil bones that had been unearthed at several locations in southern England during the early part of the 19th century. Originally applied to just a handful of incomplete specimens, the category Dinosauria now encompasses more than 550 generic names and at least 1,000 species. Not all of these are valid taxa, however, because of either inadequate specimens, duplication of names, or misidentification of findings as dinosaurian. Nevertheless, certain characteristics of the dinosaurs, such as diversity, longevity, and ubiquitous distribution, are well documented by abundant fossil remains recovered from every continent on Earth.\nThe extensive list of genera and species is testimony of the many different kinds of animals, with widely divergent lifestyles and adaptations, that are known as dinosaurs. Their remains are found in sedimentary rock strata laid down over a period ranging from roughly 230 to 66.4 million years ago (from the Middle Triassic Epoch to the end of the Cretaceous). The abundance of their fossil bones is substantive proof that dinosaurs were the dominant form of terrestrial animal life during the Mesozoic Era. It is likely that the known remains represent a very small fraction, probably less than 0.0001 percent, of all the dinosaurs that once lived. New kinds are added to the roster every year through scientific explorations around the world.\nBefore Richard Owen introduced the word in 1841, there was no concept of anything like a dinosaur. Quite probably, large fossil bones had been observed long before that time, but there is little record, and no existing specimens, of such findings before 1818. Dragons of Asian and Western legends would seem to have been generated by very early fossil discoveries (which later might have proved to be dinosaur remains), but there is no historical evidence to that effect.\nEarly 19th-century discoveries\nThe earliest published record of fossil remains that still exist for verification as dinosaurian was a note in the 1820 American Journal of Science and Arts by Nathan Smith. The bones had been found in 1818 by Solomon Ellsworth, Jr., while he was digging a well at his homestead just east of the Connecticut River in Windsor, Conn., U.S. At the time, the bones were thought to be human, but much later they were identified as Anchisaurus . Even earlier (1800), large birdlike footprints had been noticed on sandstone slabs farther north, in Massachusetts. Pliny Moody, who discovered these tracks, attributed them to �Noah's raven,� and Edward Hitchcock of Amherst College, who began collecting them in 1835, considered them to be those of some giant extinct bird. The tracks are now recognized as having been made by several different kinds of dinosaurs, and such tracks are still commonplace in the Connecticut River valley today.\nBetter known are the finds in southern England during the early 1820s by William Buckland, a clergyman, and Gideon Mantell, a physician, discoverers respectively of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon . In 1824 Buckland published a description of the original specimen of Megalosaurus, which consisted of a lower jawbone with a few teeth. The following year Mantell published his �Notice on the Iguanodon, a Newly Discovered Fossil Reptile, from the Sandstone of Tilgate Forest, in Sussex,� based on several teeth and some leg bones. Both men collected fossils as an avocation and are credited with the earliest published announcements of what later would be recognized as dinosaurs. In both cases, their finds were too fragmentary to permit a clear image of either original animal. In 1834 a partial skeleton was found near Brighton, Eng., which corresponded with Mantell's fragments from Tilgate Forest. It became known as the Maidstone Iguanodon, named after the village where it was discovered. The Maidstone skeleton provided the first glimpse of what these creatures might have looked like.\nTwo years before the Maidstone Iguanodon came to light, a different kind of skeleton was found in the Weald of southern England. It was described and named Hylaeosaurus by Mantell in 1832 and later proved to be one of the armoured dinosaurs. Other fossil bones began turning up in continental Europe: fragments described and named as Thecodontosaurus and Palaeosaurus by two English students, Henry Riley and Samuel Stutchbury, and the first of many skeletons named Plateosaurus by the naturalist Hermann von Meyer in 1837. Richard Owen named two other fragmentary specimens: a single large tooth that he called Cladeiodon and an incomplete skeleton composed of very large bones that he named Cetiosaurus . Having carefully studied most of these fossil specimens, Owen recognized that all of these bones represented a group of large reptiles that were unlike any living varieties. In a report to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1841, he termed these animals Dinosauria, and the word was first published in the association's Proceedings in 1842.\nReconstruction and classification During the decades that followed Owen's announcement, many other kinds of dinosaurs were discovered and named in England and Europe: Massospondylus in 1854, Scelidosaurus in 1859, Bothriospondylus in 1875, and Omosaurus in 1877. Popular fascination with the giant reptiles grew, reaching a peak in the 1850s with the first attempts to reconstruct two of them, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus, for the first world exposition, the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London's Crystal Palace. The sculptor Waterhouse Hawkins, under Owen's direction, created life-size models of these two genera, and in 1854 they were displayed together with models of other extinct and living reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and crocodiles.\nInitially the category Dinosauria was adequate to include all of the large nonaquatic reptiles then known from Mesozoic strata of Europe. But by the 1880s it became evident that the Mesozoic fauna was more diverse and complex than had been realized. The first important attempt to establish a more instructive classification of the dinosaurs was made by the English biologist T.H. Huxley as early as 1868. Because he observed that these animals had a number of birdlike features, including their legs, he established a new order called Ornithoscelida. He divided the order into two suborders: first, the Dinosauria, including the iguanodonts, the large carnivores, or megalosaurids, and the armoured forms including Scelidosaurus; and second, the Compsognatha, for the very small, birdlike carnivorous form Compsognathus.\nHuxley's classification was replaced by a radically new scheme proposed by his fellow Englishman H.G. Seeley in 1887. Seeley noticed that all dinosaurs possessed one of two distinctive pelvic designs, one like that of birds and the other like that of reptiles. Accordingly, he divided the dinosaurs into two orders, the Ornithischia (with a birdlike pelvis) and the Saurischia (with a reptilian pelvis). The Ornithischia included four suborders: Ornithopoda (Iguanodon and similar herbivores), Stegosauria (plated forms), Ankylosauria (Hylaeosaurus and other armoured forms), and Ceratopsia (horned dinosaurs, just then being discovered in North America). Seeley's second order, the Saurischia, included all the carnivorous dinosaurs, such as Megalosaurus and Compsognathus , as well as the giant herbivorous sauropods, including Cetiosaurus and several immense �brontosaur� types that were turning up in North America.\nIn 1878 a spectacular discovery was made in the town of Bernissart, Belg., when several dozen complete, articulated skeletons of Iguanodon were accidentally uncovered in a coal mine during the course of mining operations. Under the direction of the Royal Institute of Natural Science of Belgium, in Brussels, thousands of bones were retrieved and carefully restored over a period of many years. The first skeleton was placed on exhibit in 1883, and today the public can view an impressive herd of Iguanodon. The discovery of these multiple remains gave the first hint that at least some dinosaurs may have traveled in groups. The supervisor of this extraordinary project was Louis Dollo, a zoologist who was to spend most of his life studying Iguanodon, working out its structure, and speculating on its living habits.\nAmerican hunting expeditions\nEngland and Europe produced most of the early discoveries and students of dinosaurs, but North America soon began to contribute a large share of both. One leading student of fossils was Joseph Leidy of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, who named some of the earliest dinosaurs found in America, among them Palaeoscincus, Trachodon, Troodon, and Deinodon. Leidy is perhaps best known for his study and description of the first dinosaur skeleton to be recognized in North America, that of the duckbill found at Haddonfield, N.J., U.S., in 1858. He named the specimen Hadrosaurus foulkii. Leidy's theory that this animal probably was amphibious influenced views of dinosaur life for the next century.\nTwo Americans whose work in the second half of the 19th century had worldwide impact on the science of paleontology in general, and the growing knowledge of dinosaurs in particular, were O.C. Marsh of Yale College and E.D. Cope of the University of Pennsylvania and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. All previous dinosaur remains had been discovered by accident in well-populated regions with temperate, moist climates, but Cope and Marsh astutely focused their attention on the arid North American West, which had wide expanses of bare, exposed rock. In their intense quest to find and name new dinosaurs, these scientific pioneers became fierce and unfriendly rivals.\nMarsh's field parties explored widely, exploiting dozens of now famous areas, among them Yale's sites at Morrison and Canon City in Colorado and, most important, Como Bluff in southeastern Wyoming. The discovery of Como Bluff in 1877 was a momentous event in the history of paleontology, generating a burst of exploration and study and a widespread public enthusiasm for dinosaurs. Como Bluff brought to light one of the greatest assemblages of dinosaurs, both small and gigantic, ever found. For decades the site went on producing the first known specimens of renowned dinosaurs like Stegosaurus, Camptosaurus, Camarasaurus, Laosaurus, Coelurus, and others. From the Morrison site came the original specimens of Allosaurus, Diplodocus, Atlantosaurus, and Apatosaurus (sometimes called Brontosaurus). Canon City provided bones of a host of dinosaurs, including Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus, and Camptosaurus.\nAnother major historic site was the Lance Creek area of northeastern Wyoming. There J.B. Hatcher discovered and collected dozens of horned dinosaur remains for Marsh and Yale College, among them the first specimens of Triceratops and Torosaurus. Marsh was aided in his work at these and other localities by the skills and efforts of many other collaborators like Hatcher�William Reed, Benjamin Mudge, Arthur Lakes, William Phelps, and Samuel Wendell Williston, to name a few. Marsh's specimens now form the core of the Mesozoic collections at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University.\nCope's dinosaur explorations ranged as far as, or farther than, Marsh's, and his interests encompassed a wider variety of fossils. Due to a number of circumstances, however, Cope's dinosaur discoveries were fewer and his collections far less complete than those of Marsh. Perhaps his most notable achievement was finding and proposing the names for Coelophysis and Monoclonius . Cope's dinosaur explorations began in the eastern badlands of Montana, where he discovered Monoclonius in the Judith River Formation of the Cretaceous period. Accompanying him there was a talented young assistant, Charles H. Sternberg. Later Sternberg, with his three sons, went on to recover countless dinosaur skeletons from the Late Cretaceous Oldman and Edmonton formations along the Red Deer River of Alberta, Canada.\nDinosaur ancestors During the early decades of dinosaur discoveries, little thought was given to their evolutionary ancestry. Not only were few specimens known, and those specimens so unlike any living animal, but the concept of evolution itself was still a radical idea. With the growing acceptance of Charles Darwin's theory on the mutability of species during the last half of the 19th century, the question of dinosaurian origins acquired respectability and serious thought.\nEarly on, it was recognized that, as a group, dinosaurs appear to be most closely allied with crocodilians. Two anatomic features�socketed teeth and a doubly fenestrated (diapsid) skull�are present in both. The earliest crocodilians occurred nearly simultaneously with the first known dinosaurs, so neither could have given rise to the other. The most likely ancestry of dinosaurs lies within a poorly understood group of Triassic reptiles termed pseudosuchian (\"false crocodile\") thecodonts (\"socket-toothed reptiles\").\nAn early candidate for ancestor of the dinosaur was an advanced thecodont of South Africa, Euparkeria , of the Early Triassic epoch. Euparkeria was a diapsid with socketed teeth, a preorbital fenestra (opening), and semierect hind limbs�conditions all equivalent to, or approaching, those of dinosaurs. New discoveries suggest an even more dinosaur-like creature in the Middle Triassic small South American form Lagosuchus.\nThe earliest appearance of \"true dinosaurs\" is almost impossible to pinpoint. First, it can never be known with certainty that the very first (or last) specimen of any kind of organism has been found. The stratigraphic succession is discontinuous and contains many gaps in the geologic record. Similarly, the fossil record of dinosaurs and other creatures contained in the rock strata is far from complete.\nSecond, evolution from ancestral to descendant form is usually a gradational process; consequently, in the transformation from a theoretical thecodont ancestor to a recognizable dinosaur, it is extremely difficult to determine at exactly what point every diagnostic feature of the dinosaurian condition first appeared. A true dinosaur possessed all of the following anatomic features: a diapsid skull, a preorbital fenestra, a mandibular fossa, a perforated hip socket, an offset femoral head, a fourth trochanter of the femur, a mesotarsal ankle joint, digitigrade feet, and at least four sacral vertebrae. The first such animal is still being sought.\nPre-Triassic and Early Triassic reptiles that had acquired some of these features, the archosaurians (\"ruling lizards\"), diversified along a variety of evolutionary pathways. Only a few, however�possibly one�passed on to the dinosaurs an improved stance and posture with a resulting improved gait, increased efficiency of food gathering and processing, apparently higher metabolic rates and cardiovascular nourishment, and, for most, an overall increase in size. All these trends, individually or in concert, probably contributed to the collective success of dinosaurs, which resulted in their dominance among the terrestrial animals of the Mesozoic.\nModern studies During the first century or more of dinosaur awareness, workers in the field more or less concentrated on the search for new specimens and new kinds of animals. Their discoveries then required detailed description and analysis followed by comparisons with other known kinds in order to classify the new finds and develop theories about dinosaur evolutionary relationships. All these pursuits continue, but newer methods of exploration and analysis have been adopted. Emphasis has shifted from purely descriptive procedures to quantitative analytical and multivariate statistical analysis and the application of such analysis to functional anatomic systems.\nFunctional anatomic studies make extensive use of living analogues that, together with both mechanical and theoretical models, make it possible to visualize certain aspects of the once living animal. For example, reconstruction of the limb musculature, combined with examination of the biomechanics of the leg and joint skeletomuscular system and analysis of trackways, can provide information about an animal's locomotion�walking and running�and estimates of normal walking and maximum running speeds. The same method has been applied to jaw mechanisms and tooth wear patterns for a better understanding of feeding habits and capabilities.\nOriginal colours and patterns cannot be known, but it is possible to speculate on them with an understanding of the ecological functions of pattern and colour in modern analogues. Are large animals mostly brightly coloured or drab? How important is colour vision, and what kinds of organisms see colours? Dinosaur skin texture has rarely been preserved, but there are a few examples. Most show a knobby or pebbly surface and not a scaly texture such as might be expected in reptiles. What might that indicate about dinosaur environments or about dinosaur relatives? In short, modern inquiry focuses more on the biology of dinosaurs and their various modes of life than on their immense size and strange design.\nHabitats\nDinosaurian habitats must have been as diverse as the animals themselves. One can infer something about the habitats of particular dinosaurs from a variety of clues, such as the kind of sedimentary rock in which the remains are preserved, other animal or plant fossils associated with them, and certain anatomic features like claws or hoofs. The kind of rock, its mineral composition, and sedimentary structures such as scour marks are especially important clues.\nThe presence of ripple marks, for example, indicates a shallow-water environment. Fossil plants indicate something about climate. Associated animal remains like turtle, crocodile, or fish scales point to a nearby aquatic environment. Whatever habitat is inferred from clues like these, however, one must keep in mind that it is only an inference and does not necessarily reflect the actual living conditions of the dinosaur in question. Rather, such clues reflect the animal's death environment or burial situation. The condition of the skeleton and its bones and their degree of disarticulation help to reveal the extent of preburial transport.\nAnatomic features indicate that all dinosaurs were basically terrestrial animals. All had well-developed legs and feet; none had fins or flippers; most had long tails, but only those of the duckbills and their near relatives were deep and flat-sided as might be expected in swimmers. In general, it can be concluded that none were primarily aquatic animals. Of course, that does not preclude aquatic activity; most animals can swim if necessary, but the ability cannot always be predicted from their anatomy.\nThe earliest dinosaurs known are from South America, found in Argentina and Brazil in rocks of the Middle and Late Triassic epochs. The oldest are carnivorous varieties named Eoraptor, Staurikosaurus , and Herrerasaurus . Until 1989, the only known specimens were far from complete, but they suggested that all three kinds occupied distinctly terrestrial habitats with sufficiently large prey communities (not yet discovered) to support their predaceous habits.\nThe encompassing sedimentary rocks�the Santa Maria Formation of Brazil and the Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina, respectively�indicate lowland, coastal plain environments and lowland streams and lakes. It is not clear which of these predators came first (stratigraphic correlations between Argentina and Brazil are still under study). Associated with Herrerasaurus remains are fragments of another predator, Ischisaurus, and a smaller herbivore, Pisanosaurus .\nAll four predators in question are considered to have been exceedingly primitive theropods (two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs). Eoraptor is the most primitive dinosaur yet discovered, closely resembling the �original� dinosaur. Presumably, they preyed on small herbivores like Pisanosaurus and on the rhynchosaurs and mammallike reptiles that were abundant at the time.\nThese few specimens represent a meagre beginning (probably because of a highly incomplete early record) of the dinosaurian reign. Before that time, all the continents of the world had joined together to form one very large supercontinent called Pangaea. But movements of the Earth's great crustal plates were changing its geography. By Early Triassic time (245 to 240 million years ago), as dinosaurs were beginning to gain a foothold, Pangaea had started to split apart at a rate averaging a few centimetres a year. The initial separation was an east-west breach called Tethys�the precursor of the Mediterranean Sea�which divided Pangaea into a northern and a southern landmass. The northern landmass, known as Laurasia, consisted of the North American and Eurasian continental plates; the southern landmass, called Gondwanaland, was composed of the African, South American, Indian, Australian, and Antarctic plates. These landmasses continued to break up to form separate continents.\nIn short, it appears that, just as the dinosaur line arose and experienced its initial diversification during the last half of the Triassic Period, the land areas of the world were in motion, splintering and drifting apart. Their respective inhabitants, dinosaurs and others, were consequently isolated from each other. Throughout the Mesozoic Era the ocean barriers grew wider and the separate faunas became increasingly different. As the continents drifted apart, successive assemblages arose on each landmass, diversified, waned, and disappeared, to be replaced by a new fauna. By Late Cretaceous time each continent occupied its own unique geographic position and climatic zone, and its fauna reflected that separation.\nFood and feeding\nDuring the passage of time from the Triassic through the Jurassic and into the Cretaceous, the Earth's vegetation changed slowly from forests rich in gymnosperms (cycadeoids, cycads, and conifers) to angiosperm-dominated forests of palms and hardwoods. Although conifers continued to flourish at high latitudes, palms were increasingly confined to subtropical and tropical regions. These forms of plant life, the vast majority of them high in hard-to-digest cellulose and low in calories and proteins, were the foodstuffs of the changing dinosaur communities.\nAccordingly, certain groups of dinosaurs, such as the ornithopods, included a succession of types that were increasingly adapted for efficient food processing. At the peak of the ornithopod lineage, the hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous) featured large dental batteries, in both upper and lower jaws, consisting of many tightly compressed teeth that formed a long crushing or grinding surface. The preferred food of the duckbills cannot be certified, but at least one specimen found in Wyoming offers an intriguing clue: fossil plant remains in the stomach region have been identified as pine needles.\nOther Late Cretaceous contemporaries, the ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs), had similarly compacted teeth, forming solid dental batteries that consisted of dozens of teeth. But here the upper and lower batteries occluded in serrated shearing blades rather than crushing or grinding surfaces. Ordinarily, slicing teeth are found only in flesh-eating animals, but the bulky body and the unclawed, hooflike feet of dinosaurs like Triceratops clearly are those of plant eaters. The sharp beaks and specialized shearing dentition of the ceratopsians suggest that they probably fed on tough, fibrous plant tissues, perhaps palm or cycad fronds.\nThe giant sauropods like Diplodocus and Apatosaurus must have required large quantities of plant food, but there is no direct evidence as to the particular plants they preferred. Since angiosperms rich in calories and proteins did not exist during most of the Mesozoic, it must be assumed that these sauropods fed on the abundant conifers and palm trees. Such a cellulose-heavy diet would have required an unusual bacterial flora in the intestines to break down the fibrous tissues. A digestive tract with one or more crop chambers containing millstone batteries might have aided in the food-pulverizing process, but such gastroliths, or �stomach stones,� have only rarely been found in association with any dinosaur skeleton (the Seismosaurus specimen and its several hundred such stones is an important exception).\nThe food preference of herbivorous dinosaurs can be inferred to some extent from their general body plan as well as the form of their teeth. It is probable, for example, that low-built animals like the ankylosaurs, stegosaurs, and ceratopsians fed on low shrubbery (but not grasses, which had not yet appeared). The tall ornithopods, especially the duckbills, and the long-necked sauropods probably browsed on high branches and treetops.\nThe flesh-eating dinosaurs must have eaten anything they could catch, since predation is a highly opportunistic lifestyle. In several instances the prey victim of a particular carnivore has been established beyond much doubt. Remains of the small predator Compsognathus were found containing a tiny skeleton of the lizard Bavarisaurus in its stomach region. In Mongolia two different dinosaur skeletons were found together, a nearly adult-size Protoceratops in the clutches of its predator Velociraptor. Two of the many skeletons of Coelophysis discovered at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico contained bones of several half-grown Coelophysis, apparently an early Mesozoic example of cannibalism. The skeletons of Deinonychus unearthed in Montana were mixed with fragmentary bones of a much larger victim, the herbivore Tenontosaurus. This last example is significant because the multiple remains of the predator Deinonychus associated with the bones of a single large prey animal, Tenontosaurus, strongly suggests that Deinonychus hunted in packs.\nHerding behavior\nThat Deinonychus was a social animal should not come as a surprise. Many animals today are gregarious and form groups. Fossil evidence documents similar herding behaviour in a variety of dinosaurs. The mass grave in Bernissart, Belg., held a large assembly of Iguanodon. The dozens of skeletons of Coelophysis of all ages recovered in New Mexico indicate group association and activity. The many specimens of Allosaurus at the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry in Utah may denote a herd of animals attracted to the site for the common purpose of scavenging.\nThese rare multiple occurrences of skeletal remains have repeatedly been reinforced by dinosaur footprints that register herding habits. First noted by Roland T. Bird in the early 1940s, a series of large, basin-size depressions along the Paluxy riverbed in central Texas proved to be a succession of giant sauropod footsteps preserved in the Early Cretaceous limestone of the region. Bird noticed that there were many trackways and that they were nearly parallel and progressed in the same direction. He concluded that �all were headed toward a common objective� and suggested that the sauropod track-makers �passed in a single herd.� Large trackway sites are known in the eastern and western United States, Canada, Australia, England, Argentina, South Africa, China, and other places. These sites, ranging in time from the Late Triassic to the latest part of the Cretaceous, document herding as common behaviour among a variety of dinosaur types.\nSome dinosaur trackways register hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of animals, possibly recording mass migrations. They suggest the presence of great populations of sauropods, prosauropods, ornithopods, and probably most other kinds of dinosaurs. The majority must have been herbivores, and many of them were huge, weighing several tons or more. The impact of such large herds on the plant life of the time must have been devastating.\nGrowth and life span\nMuch attention has been devoted to dinosaurs as once-living animals�as moving, eating, growing, and reproducing biological machines. But how fast did they grow? How long did they live? How did they reproduce? The evidence concerning growth and life expectancy is sparse. Histological studies by Armand de Ricql�s in Paris and R.E.H. Reid in Ireland show that plexiform perichondral bone in dinosaur skeletons grew quite rapidly. The time required for full growth has not been quantified, but the life span of most dinosaurs would seem to have been short and probably did not exceed five or six decades. The largest varieties probably lived longer than the smaller ones, but no precise age has been determined for any kind.\nReproduction\nAs for reproduction, considerable evidence is now available. The idea that dinosaurs, like most living reptiles and birds, built nests and laid eggs had been widely debated before the 1920s, when a team of scientists from the American Museum of Natural History made an expedition to Mongolia. Their discovery of dinosaur eggs in the Gobi proved conclusively that at least one kind of dinosaur, Protoceratops, had been an egg layer and nest builder. These findings were substantiated in 1978 when John R. Horner discovered dinosaur nests in western Montana. A few other finds, mostly of eggshell fragments from a number of sites, established oviparity as the dinosaurian mode of reproduction.\nThe almost complete absence of juvenile dinosaur remains, however, was puzzling. Horner, first of Princeton University and later of Montana State University, demonstrated that most paleontologists simply had not been exploring the right territory. After a series of intensive searches for immature dinosaur material, he succeeded beyond all expectations. He unearthed the first such bones near Choteau, Mont., U.S., and during the 1980s he and his field crews discovered hundreds of nests, eggs, and newly hatched dinosaurs, mostly of the duck-billed variety. Horner observed that previous explorations had usually concentrated on geologically old lowland areas, where sediments were commonly deposited and most fossil remains were preserved.\nHe recognized that those regions were not likely to produce dinosaur nests and young because they would have been hazardous places for nesting and raising hatchlings. Upland regions would have been safer, but they were subject to erosion rather than deposition and therefore less likely to preserve nests and eggs. It was exactly in such ancient upland areas, though, close to the rising young Rocky Mountains, that Horner made his discoveries.\nEgg Mountain, as the area was named, produced some of the most important clues to dinosaurian habits yet found. For example, the sites show that a number of different dinosaur species made annual treks to this same nesting ground (perhaps not all at the same time). Because of the stratigraphic succession of like nests and eggs one on top of the other, it is thought that particular species returned to the same site year after year to lay their clutches. As Horner concluded, �site fidelity� was an instinctive part of dinosaurian reproductive strategy. If site fidelity was a universal instinct among dinosaurs, that strategy could help to explain their success for some 150 million years. As mountain building increased toward the end of the Mesozoic era, geologic processes might have reduced appropriate nesting grounds and contributed to the decline and eventual extinction of dinosaur communities.\nBody temperature There is no doubt about the dinosaurs' success. Their worldwide domination of the land during the Mesozoic and what brought it about is every bit as important as what caused their extermination, or more so. Understanding their success requires further consideration of them as living animals. Beyond eating, digestion, assimilation, reproduction, and nesting, there are many other processes and activities that go into making a successful biological machine. Breathing, fluid balance, temperature regulation, and other such capabilities are also required. Dinosaurian body temperature regulation, or lack thereof, has been a hotly debated topic among students of dinosaur life.\nBody temperature\nEctothermy and endothermy\nAll land animals possess some degree of thermoregulation. Much of the terrestrial environment is highly variable and beyond the control of most organisms. The internal environment of the body is under the influence of both external and internal conditions. When the outside world is hotter than preferred, organisms usually respond by moving to a cooler spot. Some perspire or pant to increase cooling. When it is dangerously cold, organisms may move to warmer climates (migrate), generate heat (shiver), or conserve body heat and energy by lowering their metabolism (hibernate), and the human species, of course, can further adjust body temperature by artificial means. The so-called warm-blooded animals today are the mammals and birds; reptiles, amphibians, and most fish are labeled as cold-blooded. These two terms are imprecise and misleading. Some �cold-blooded� lizards have higher normal body temperatures than do some mammals, for instance. More precise terms for these conditions are �ectothermy� and �endothermy.�\nEctothermy is that state in which thermoregulation depends on the behaviorally and autonomically regulated uptake of heat from the external environment. Endothermy, on the other hand, depends on a high (tachymetabolic) and controlled rate of internal heat production. Mammals and birds have a high metabolism, which produces body heat internally. They possess temperature sensors that control heat production and switch on heat-loss mechanisms such as perspiration. Reptiles and amphibians are ectotherms that must gain heat energy from sunlight, a heated rock surface, or some other external source. The endothermic state is effective but expensive; the metabolic �furnaces� must produce heat continuously, and that requires correspondingly high quantities of �fuel� (i.e., food). On the other hand, endotherms can be active and can survive quite low external temperatures. Ectotherms do not require as much fuel, but most cannot deal as well with cold surroundings.\nWhat, then, about the dinosaurs? From the time of the earliest discoveries in the 19th century, experts like Owen, Leidy, Marsh, and Cope classified all then-known dinosaur remains as reptilian because they exhibited a set of anatomic features that were typical of living reptiles like turtles, crocodiles, and lizards. Dinosaurs all had lower jaws constructed of several bones, featured a reptilian jaw joint, and possessed a number of other nonmammalian characteristics. Consequently, it was assumed that living dinosaurs were like living reptiles�scaly, cold-blooded ectotherms and not furry, warm-blooded creatures that gave live birth. A chauvinistic attitude seems to prevail that the warm-bloodedness of mammals is better than the cold-blooded reptilian state. Turtles, snakes, and other reptiles, however, do very well by regulating their body temperature in a different way.\nClues to dinosaurian metabolism\nThe physiology of dinosaurs is unknown for the simple reason that their temperatures cannot be measured, nor can their food consumption or carbon dioxide and solid waste output be determined (the usual methods of measuring an animal's metabolic rate). Indirect evidence is all that is available. The question whether any dinosaur species was a true endotherm cannot be answered, but some interesting anatomic facts suggest that possibility.\nFirst of all, two dinosaurian clans, the hadrosaurs and the ceratopsians, featured highly specialized dentitions that obviously were effective food processors. Both groups were herbivorous, but unlike living reptiles they chewed their foliage thoroughly. Such highly efficient dental equipment implies that the hadrosaurs and ceratopsians were tachymetabolic. With the exception of the carnivores and possibly some ornithopod predecessors of the duckbills, like Heterodontosaurus and Iguanodon, other dinosaurs generally possessed very weakly developed dentitions.\nOn another tangent, certain of the predaceous dinosaurs had anatomic features that reflect a high capacity for activity. The 'ostrich dinosaurs' like Struthiomimus , Gallimimus, and Dromiceiomimus, for example, all were obligatory bipeds (two-footed animals) that, on the basis of their long hind legs, must have been very fleet. Further, the dromaeosaurs like Deinonychus , Velociraptor , and Dromaeosaurus , although they also were obligatory bipeds, killed their prey with the talons on their feet. It must have taken a high level of metabolism to generate the degree of activity and agility required by such a skill. The implication is compelling, but conclusive proof of endothermy is lacking.\nDinosaurian posture is also suggestive. Many (but not all) dinosaurs stood upright with the legs positioned directly beneath the hip sockets and, in some, the shoulder sockets. Such an erect posture is present in all nonaquatic endotherms (mammals and birds), but a sprawling or semierect posture is typical of all ectotherms (reptiles and amphibians). Bipedal stance and gait are not possible in any living ectotherm. Why is that? And what is the implication for all of the theropod dinosaurs?\nRelated to the upright posture of many dinosaurs is the inescapable fact that the head was usually positioned at a high level, often well above the level of the heart. In some extreme cases (Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus , and Barosaurus, for instance), the brain must have been several metres above the heart. The importance of this is that a four-chambered heart would need to have been present to pump freshly oxygenated blood to the brain. Brain death follows very quickly when nerve cells are deprived of oxygen, and to prevent it most dinosaurs must have required two ventricle pumps.\nIn a four-chambered heart, one ventricle pumps oxygen-poor venous blood at low pressure to the lungs to absorb fresh oxygen (low pressure so as not to rupture the pulmonary capillaries). A powerful second ventricle pump circulates the freshly oxygenated blood from the lungs to all other parts of the body at high pressure; the high systemic pressure is needed to overcome the weight of the column of blood that must be pumped from the heart to the elevated brain. In short, like birds and mammals, many dinosaurs apparently had the required double-pump heart that is necessary for an animal with a high metabolism.\nThe significance of thermoregulation can be seen by comparing modern reptiles with mammals. The rate of metabolism is usually measured in terms of oxygen consumed per unit of body weight per unit of time. The resting metabolic rate for most mammals is on the order of 10 times that of modern reptiles, and the range of metabolic rates of living mammals is about double that of reptiles. These differences mean that endothermic mammals have much more endurance than their cold-blooded counterparts. Some dinosaurs may have been so endowed. They seem to have possessed the cardiovascular system necessary for endothermy, but that capacity does not prove that they were endothermic. The probabilities are that dinosaurs were neither complete ectotherms nor complete endotherms but were somewhere in between.\nForm and function\nDifferentiation of the dinosaurian orders\nThe two traditional orders of dinosaurs established by Seeley, Saurischia and Ornithischia, long believed to be closely related, are now widely believed to have evolved from a common ancestor�an as-yet unrecognized (or undiscovered) primitive archosaurian reptile. The chief difference between the two orders was in the configuration of the pelvis. It was primarily on this distinction that Seeley established the orders and named them Saurischia ('Lizard Hips') and Ornithischia ('Bird Hips'), a differentiation still maintained today.\nAs in all four-legged animals, the dinosaurian pelvis was a paired structure consisting of three separate bones on each side that attached to the sacrum of the backbone. The ilium, above (attached to the spine), and the pubis and ischium, below, formed a robust bony plate at the centre of which was a deep cup�the hip socket, or acetabulum. The hip socket faced laterally and was pierced or open at its centre for the articulation of the medially projecting proximal head of the thighbone. The combined saurischian pelvic bones presented a triangular outline as seen from the side, the pubis extending down and forward and the ischium projecting down and backward from the hip socket.\nThe massive ilium formed a deep vertical plate of bone to which the muscles of the pelvis, hind leg, and tail were attached. The pubis had a stout shaft, commonly terminating in a pronounced expansion or bootlike structure (presumably for muscle attachment), that joined its opposite mate in a solid symphysis. The ischium was slightly less robust than the pubis, but it too joined its mate in a midline symphysis. There were minor variations in this structure between different saurischian genera and families.\nThe ornithischian pelvis was constructed of the same three bones on each side of the sacral vertebrae, to which they attached by coossification. The lateral profile of the pelvis was quite different from that of the saurischians, with a long but low iliac blade above the hip socket and a modified ischium-pubis structure below. Here, the long, thin ischium extended backward and slightly downward from the hip socket. The pubis had a short to moderately long anterior blade, but posteriorly it stretched out into a long, thin postpubic process lying beneath and closely parallel to the ischium. The resulting configuration resembled that of birds, whose pubis is a thin process extending backward beneath the larger ischium.\nThese anatomic dissimilarities are believed to reflect important differences in muscle arrangements in the hips and hind legs of these two orders. Other marked dissimilarities between saurischians and ornithischians are found in their jaws and teeth, their limbs, and especially their skulls. Details on these differences are given in the following discussions of the major dinosaur groups. The table shows how the two orders are subdivided. It is important to note that the classification of dinosaurs involves a high degree of uncertainty, which may result in variations in the way dinosaurs are grouped depending on the authority.\nSaurischia\nThe order Saurischia is known from specimens ranging from the Middle Triassic to the latest part of the Cretaceous in geologic time and recovered from every continent on the Earth. Two distinctly different suborders are traditionally included in the order�the Sauropodomorpha (herbivorous sauropods and prosauropods) and the Theropoda (carnivorous dinosaurs). These groups are placed together only because both have the saurischian type of pelvis along with a few other primitive archosaurian features in common. No common ancestor has been widely recognized, and they could just as well be placed in separate orders. A little-known group, the Staurikosauria, is also classified in the order.\nIncluded in this group as infraorders are the well-known sauropods, or �brontosaur� types, and their probable ancestral group, the prosauropods. All were plant eaters.\nProsauropoda\nMost primitive of the Sauropodomorpha were the early (Triassic) saurischians known as prosauropods or plateosaurs. Found in Late Triassic and Early Jurassic rocks (230 to 187 million years old), their remains are probably the most ubiquitous of all Triassic dinosaurs. They have been found in Europe (Germany), North America (New England, Arizona, New Mexico), South America (Argentina), Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe), China (Yunnan), and Antarctica.\nThe best-known examples are Plateosaurus of Germany and Massospondylus of South Africa. Prosauropods were not large, as dinosaurs go, ranging from less than 2 metres (7 feet) in length up to about 7 metres (23 feet) and about 1 ton in maximum weight. Because their forelimbs were conspicuously shorter than their hind limbs, these animals (known from very complete skeletons) usually have been reconstructed poised on their two hind legs in a bipedal stance. Their anatomy, however, clearly indicates that some of them could assume a quadrupedal (four-footed) position. Footprints generally attributed to prosauropods appear to substantiate a quadrupedal form of locomotion.\nProsauropods have long been seen as including the first direct ancestors of the giant sauropods, probably among the family of melanorosaurids. That view still prevails, largely because of their distinctly primitive sauropod-like appearance and also because of their Late Triassic�Early Jurassic occurrence. No better candidate has been discovered so far. In general body form they were rather stocky, with a long, moderately flexible neck (containing surprisingly long and flexible cervical ribs) and a head that was small in comparison with the body. The jaw was long and contained rows of thin, leaflike teeth suited for chopping up (but not grinding or crushing) plant tissues, although there is an indication of direct tooth-on-tooth occlusion.\nProsauropod forelimbs were stout and heavily built, with five complete digits. The hind limbs were about 50 percent longer than the forelimbs and even more heavily built. The foot was of primitive design, and its five-toed configuration could be interpreted as a forerunner of the sauropod foot. Walking apparently was semidigitigrade (partly on the toes), with the metatarsus held well off the ground. The vertebral column was unspecialized and bore little indication of the cavernous excavations that were to come in later sauropod vertebrae or of the processes and projections that were to buttress the sauropod vertebral column. The long tail probably served as a counterweight or stabilizer whenever the animal assumed a bipedal position.\nA large number of skeletons of Plateosaurus were recovered in the 1920s from a site in Germany. The occurrence there of multiple remains, together with the nature of the enclosing sediments, led to the thought that this assemblage had been overcome by drought and sandstorm while migrating to more suitable environs. Whether migrating or not, the abundance of Plateosaurus individuals in one location lends support to the herding instinct that has been attributed to several kinds of dinosaurs.\nThe more widely known sauropods - the huge 'brontosaurs' - varied in length from 6 or 7 metres (about 20 feet) in the primitive ancestral sauropods Riojasaurus of South America and Vulcanodon of Africa up to 28 to 30 metres (90 to 100 feet) or more in advanced Jurassic North American forms like Apatosaurus (formerly known as Brontosaurus), Diplodocus, and Seismosaurus. Weights ranged from about 20 tons or less in the smaller kinds like Barapasaurus of India to 80 tons or more for the gigantic Brachiosaurus of Africa and North America. Sauropods were worldwide in distribution but have not as yet been found in Antarctica. In geologic time they ranged from the Late Triassic Riojasaurus to the Late Cretaceous Alamosaurus of North America and Laplatasaurus of South America. Their greatest diversity and abundance took place during the Late Jurassic (163 to 144 million years ago).\nSauropods are notable for their body form as well as their enormous size. Their large bodies were almost barrel-shaped, with long (sometimes very long) necks and tails. They had columnar legs, like those of elephants, with little freedom to bend at the knee and elbow. The legs were maintained in a nearly vertical position beneath the shoulder and hip sockets. Because of their great bulk, sauropods unquestionably were obligatory quadrupeds, and the largest forms could not have assumed a bipedal stance even momentarily.\nThe sauropod limb bones were heavy and solid. The feet were broad, close to plantigrade (adapted for walking on the soles), and graviportal (adapted for bearing great weight). The five toes were generally short, blunt, and broad, but some kinds featured a large straight claw on the first digit of the forefoot and the first and second toes of the hind foot. These claws probably improved traction. Movement for these animals must have been relatively slow, with short steps necessary because of the comparative inflexibility of the limbs. Running must have been stiff-legged and no better than an elephantine pace of 16 kilometres (10 miles) per hour, if that. Their tremendous bulk placed them out of the reach of predators and eliminated any need for speed.\nThe vertebrae of the backbone were highly modified, with numerous excavations and struts to reduce bone weight. Complex spines and projections for muscle and ligament attachment compensated for any loss of skeletal strength that resulted from reductions in bone density and mass. The long and sometimes massive tails, characteristic of so many sauropods, would appear to have been carried well off the ground. Tail drag marks associated with sauropod trackways are not known, and damaged (stepped-on) tails are also not known, even though these animals apparently traveled in herds (albeit of undetermined density).\nThe sauropod tail may have served as a modest whiplike weapon, but there is no evidence to that effect. Another possible use of the tail may have been thermal regulation�improved heat loss through its large surface area. A more likely explanation of its function is that the massive muscular base of the tail was the critical anchor site of the large, powerful hind leg muscles that produced most of the walking force required to move the many tons of sauropod weight. The muscle arrangement of the tail was precisely that of modern alligators and lizards.\nThe most important part of any skeleton is the skull, because it provides the most information about an animal, its mode of life, and its general biology. Sauropod skulls were of several main types; the high, boxy Camarasaurus type (often incorrectly associated with Apatosaurus) and the low, narrow, streamlined Diplodocus type. The former had broad, spatulate teeth, while the latter had narrow, pencil-shaped teeth. Both kinds of teeth seem weak and totally ill-designed to crop or chew the volumes of plant food necessary to sustain such large animals. Correspondingly, the jaws were relatively weakly developed, and there is no special evidence indicating powerful jaw muscles to activate the feeding system.\nUntil recently, sauropods were visualized as swamp or lake dwellers because their legs were thought to be incapable of supporting their great weights or because such huge creatures would naturally prefer the buoyancy of watery surroundings. Not only is that thinking incompatible with their food requirements (food would seem to have been most plentiful on land), but research has refuted it. Experiments with fresh bone samples have shown that bone of the type which composed the sauropods' limb bones could easily have supported their estimated weights. Moreover, there is no feature in their skeletons that suggests an aquatic, or even amphibious, existence. In addition, numerous trackway sites clearly prove that sauropods could navigate on land, or at least where the water was too shallow to buoy up their weight. Accordingly, newer interpretations see these animals as forest inhabitants.\nStill another blow has been dealt to the old swamp image by the physical laws of hydrostatic pressure, which prohibit the explanation that the long neck enabled a submerged animal to raise its head to the surface for a breath of fresh air. The depth at which the lungs were submerged would not allow them to be expanded by normal atmospheric pressure, the only force that fills the lungs. Consequently, the long necks of sauropods must be explained in terms of terrestrial functions such as elevating the feeding apparatus or the eyes. On all counts, sauropods are best seen as successful giraffelike browsers and only occasional waders.\nStaurikosauria\nVery little is known about the animals grouped in this suborder because so few specimens have been found, and all of those are fragmentary. The remains of Staurikosaurus, from the Middle Triassic of Brazil, the specimen for which the suborder was established, consist only of the vertebral column and pelvis, the hind legs lacking the feet, and the lower jaw. The skull and forelimbs, like the feet, are not known. Those parts that are known, however, are similar to those of the later theropods, and a flesh-eating habit is suggested by the piercing teeth of the lower jaw. The skeleton indicates a moderate-size animal of about two metres (seven feet) in length, possibly having a bipedal posture and gait. Appearing as it does in Middle Triassic rocks, it may be the oldest kind of dinosaur known�if in fact it proves to be a dinosaur.\nSeveral other fragmentary remains from South America may be of related types. Specimens of Herrerasaurus and Ischisaurus from Middle to Late Triassic rocks of Argentina are those of carnivores about the same size as Staurikosaurus or slightly heavier. But again, the material is so incomplete that relationships are still uncertain. What is preserved suggests a theropod identity.\nTheropoda\nThis group includes all the other known carnivorous dinosaurs. No herbivores are recognized in the group. Theropods ranged in size from the smallest known adult dinosaur, Compsognathus , the size of an ordinary chicken and probably weighing 1 or 2 kilograms (2 to 4 pounds), up to the great Tyrannosaurus , which was 15 or more metres (50 feet) long and over 5 metres (16 to 18 feet) tall and which weighed 6 tons or more. In all theropods the hind leg bones were hollow to varying degrees�extremely hollow and lightly built in small to medium-size animals like Compsognathus, Coelurus, and Ornitholestes and more solid in the larger forms like Allosaurus, Daspletosaurus, and Tarbosaurus. Theropods have been recovered from rocks of the Late Triassic through the latest part of the Cretaceous and from all continents except Antarctica.\nIn stance and gait, theropods were obligatory bipeds. Their bodies conformed to a common shape in which the hind legs were dominant and designed for support and locomotion. The forelimbs, on the other hand, had been modified from the primitive design and entirely divested of the functions of locomotion and body support. Hind limbs were either very robust and of graviportal (weight-bearing) proportions, as in Allosaurus, Megalosaurus, and the tyrannosaurids, or very slender, elongated and of cursorial (adapted for running) proportions, as in Coelurus, Coelophysis, Ornitholestes, and the ornithomimids.\nTheropod feet, despite the group's name, which means �beast (i.e., mammal) foot,� usually were designed like those of birds. Three main toes were directed forward and splayed in a V-arrangement; an additional inside toe was directed medially or backward; and the whole foot was functionally digitigrade, with the �heel� elevated well above the ground. Toes usually bore sharp, somewhat curved claws.\nThe forelimbs varied widely from the slender, elongated ones of Struthiomimus, for example, to shorter, more massively constructed grasping appendages like those of Allosaurus, to the greatly abbreviated arms and hands of Tyrannosaurus. The hands typically featured long, flexible fingers with pronounced, often strongly curved claws, which must have borne sharp piercing talons. Primitive theropods like Coelophysis had four fingers, but the majority were three-fingered. Tyrannosaurids (Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Tarbosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus) and apparently the diminutive Compsognathus were notable for their two-fingered hands on unusually short arms. This separation of function between fore and hind limbs set theropods apart from all other dinosaurs.\nAs obligatory bipeds, the theropod body plan was reorganized so that the animal, large or small, balanced at the pelvic pedestal by using its heavy tail behind and thrusting the thighs and knees forward to positions directly below the centre of gravity. To shift the centre of gravity back toward the supporting hind legs, the head and neck were arched upward, especially so in those kinds with very large heads. In addition, the bipedal stance required reinforcing the backbone by enlargement of the interspinous ligaments (between the back vertebrae) and the ligaments of the neck. The tail probably served not only as a counterweight to the large body and head but also as a dynamic inertial stabilizer, moving up and down and from side to side to counteract changes in the animal's movement and direction such as lunging and turning during an attack.\nBipedality has sometimes been explained as an adaptation for fast running or for energy conservation. The latter seems unlikely in view of several experiments showing that it requires no less energy to run or walk on two legs than it does on four. Speed does not seem to have been the primary factor either, although some investigators have claimed that a seven-ton Tyrannosaurus could achieve an unlikely velocity of 70 kilometres (45 miles) per hour - faster than a greyhound or a racehorse. Rather, because of their great weight, tyrannosaurids probably could have barely kept ahead of a charging elephant (20 kilometres per hour), whereas the more cursorial-limbed ornithomimids might have been able to keep up with a modern ostrich (70 kilometres per hour). Rather than as a specialization for running, bipedality may have come into being and perfection more as an enhancement of viewing range. Theropods all had large eyes and a wide field of vision.\nTheropods that featured large heads, like Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus, had long, strong lower jaws that undoubtedly were powered by massive jaw muscles. The skull was a highly fenestrated strut work, both for lightness and for strength, providing ample attachment areas for muscles. The jaws are noted for their complement of sharp, bladelike teeth. In nearly all theropods these laterally compressed blades had steak-knife-like serrations along the rear edge and often along the front edge as well. Among the predatory adaptations displayed by most kinds of theropods, the characteristic teeth were the most conspicuous. The diversity of the suborder Theropoda, with its various modes of predation and carnivory, is suggested by the following summary of the group's two infraorders.\nCeratosauria\nThese are the basal or primitive theropods of medium size like Ceratosaurus, Dilophosaurus, and perhaps Coelophysis from the Late Triassic and Late Jurassic. They may include ancestral stock of most later theropods.\nTheropoda\nTetanurae\nThese comprise all the nonceratosaurian theropods. The tetanuran theropods are subdivided into five distinct categories: the coelurosaurs, the ornithomimosaurs, the maniraptors, the segnosaurs, and the carnosaurs.\nThe coelurosaurs were small to medium-size carnivores, the smallest known being Compsognathus. Coelurosaurs had very long legs of cursorial proportions and had forelimbs and hands ranging from short (Compsognathus) to long and grasping (Ornitholestes).\nOrnithomimosaurs were medium-size to large theropods. They were toothless and apparently beaked, with very long legs and arms. A well-known example is Struthiomimus. Most were ostrich-size and were designed for fast running. The largest kind was Deinocheirus from Asia, known only from one specimen consisting of complete arms and hands almost three metres (nine feet) long�nearly four times longer than those of Struthiomimus. These animals' cursorial design, toothlessness, and hands unsuited for seizing prey leave their lifestyle and feeding habits unclear.\nThe maniraptors are also known as deinonychosaurs and include the oviraptors and troodontids. These medium-size predators had long, grasping arms and hands, moderately long legs, and a specialized tail that could be held high for active balance control. Their feet bore the primary killing device, large slicing talons on the inside toes. The best-known examples are Deinonychus of North America and Velociraptor of Asia.\nSegnosaurs were medium-size Asian theropods known only from a few examples. The mouth had bladelike teeth at the back but apparently no teeth at the front. The pelvis differed markedly from the normal saurischian design. They are very inadequately understood but seem to have been unlike all other theropods.\nThe carnosaurs were large to very large (up to 6- or 7-ton) carnivores with blade-toothed jaws, twice or more as long as the arms and hands, powerful hind legs, and taloned feet. It is not certain whether they were predators or carrion feeders. Tyrannosaurus is the most commonly cited example.\nOrnithischia\nThe order Ornithischia, unlike the Saurischia, appears to be a natural group of closely related animals. All were plant eaters, and all are thought to have descended from a common ancestor. The rationale for postulating such an ancestor is based on the common existence of a uniquely ornithischian feature�a median predentary bone that joined the two lower jaws at the symphysis. Further, a distinctive tooth form, crenulated along the upper edges, occurred in some members of all suborders. Collectively, these features point to a close common ancestry. The order has traditionally been divided into four suborders. However, recent studies have regrouped the members of this order into two major categories, the suborders Cerapoda and Thyreophora.\nOrnithischia",
"Birds beginning with R - Animal pictures\nBirds beginning with R. ... Rachel's Malimbe - It has interesting breeding behaviour. ... from where the type specimen was allegedly collected.\nBirds beginning with R\nBirds beginning with R\nFish\nBirds beginning with R\nR - It is a typical \"sylvia\" warbler, similar in size but slimmer than Sardinian Warbler. The adults have a plain grey back and paler grey underparts. The bill is fine and pointed, with brown legs and red eyes. The striking male has a black head and, usually, a black throat, separated by a white malar streak . Females have a pale throat, and the head is grey rather than black. Their grey back has a brownish tinge. The song is a slower, deeper rattle than that of Sardinian Warbler.\nRachel's Malimbe - It has interesting breeding behaviour. The nest is build by three to four birds of which only one is female and which takes the leading role in building the nest. After the nest is finished one of the males that participated in the building chase off the other participating males. Both of the remaining couple take duty of incubating the eggs.\nRacket-tailed Coquette - The Racket-tailed Coquette is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRacket-tailed Treepie - It has a velvety-black forehead of short, plush black feathers with the rest of the bird being an oily green colour, though appearing black in dim light. The tail feathers which in this species are long and broaden at the tail's end are black also with a greenish tinge, as are the wings. The iris of the bird is a turquoise-blue darkening towards the pupil to a very deep or near black. The bill, legs and feet are black.\nRackettailed Roller\nRadde's Accentor - Its natural habitat is temperate grassland.\nRadde's Warbler - This is a bird of open woodlands with some undergrowth near water. The nest is built low in a bush, and eggs are laid. Like most Old World warblers, this small passerine is insectivorous.\nRadjah Shelduck - Both the male and female of the species are mostly white, with dark wingtips and a distinctive \"collar\" of dark feathers. Seen from above in flight, the birds have green bands on the tops of their wings. The female has a harsh rattle and the male has a breathy, sore-throat whistle.\nRaffles's Malcoha - Raffles's Malkoha is a species of cuckoo . It was formerly often placed in Phaenicophaeus with the other malkohas, but it is a rather distinct species, with several autapomorphies and sexual dimorphism .\nRaggiana Bird-of-paradise - The Raggiana Bird-of-paradise, also known as Count Raggi's Bird-of-paradise, is a large bird in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae.\nRaiatea Parakeet - Psittacus ulietanus J. F. Gmelin, 1789 Platycercus tannaensis Finsch, 1868 Psittacus fuscatus von Pelzeln, 1873\nRaimondi's Yellow Finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRain Quail - Grassland, cropped fields and scrub in the Indus valleys of Pakistan, the Gangetic plains, of the central Republic of India and parts of peninsular continental India. Mostly seen in winter further south.\nRainbow Lorikeet - Rainbow Lorikeets have been introduced to Perth, Western Australia,\nRainbow Pitta - An Australian endemic, the Rainbow Pitta lives in the forests of northern Australia. As with other pittas, it is a secretive and shy bird. The diet consists mainly of insects, arthropods and small animals. The female lays three to four glossy cream eggs with blotches inside its large domed nest.\nRainbow Starfrontlet - The Rainbow Starfrontlet is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRainbow-bearded Thornbill - The Rainbow-bearded Thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nRajah Scops Owl - The Rajah Scops Owl is common through most of its Indonesian habitat. There are two subspecies.\nRamsay's Woodpecker - The Sulu Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\nRarotonga Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRarotonga Starling - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRarotongan Fruit Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRaso Lark - The Raso Lark is restricted to one small island in the Cape Verde group, although historically it is believed to have ranged over two other islands, Branco and Sao Vicente Island; all three of these islands were joined in the last Ice Age. Branco island itself has no permanent water and has never been inhabited by people, a fact that has probably saved the lark from extinction until now.\nRatchet-tailed Treepie - The Ratchet-tailed Treepie is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Temnurus. It is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRazor-billed auk - Adult birds are black on their upperparts and white on the breast and belly. The thick black bill has a blunt end. The tail is pointed and longer than that of a Murre. In winter, the throat and upper chest turn white.\nRazor-billed Curassow - The Razor-billed Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRecurvebill Bushbird - Working in parallel, Colombian ornithology student Oscar Laverde refound Bushbirds in Norte de Santander, Colombia in July 2005. The birds were subsequently studied in detail by Laverde, F. Gary Stiles and ornithology students of the Natural Sciences Institute of the National University of Colombia. Their findings are published in issue No. 5 of Ornitología Colombiana .\nRed & Yellow Barbet - This bird is found in eastern Africa, from Sudan in the north to Tanzania in the south.\nRed Bird of Paradise - Large, up to 33 cm long, brown and yellow with a dark brown iris, grey legs and yellow bill. The male has an emerald green face, a pair of elongated black corkscrew-shaped tail wires, dark green feather pompoms above each eye and a train of glossy crimson red plumes with whitish tips at either side of the breast. The male measures up to 72 cm long, including the ornamental red plumes that require at least six years to fully attain. The female is similar but smaller in size, with a dark brown face and has no ornamental red plumes. The diet consists mainly of fruits, berries and arthropods.\nRed bishop - It is 10-11 centimetres long and has a thick conical bill. Breeding males are brightly-coloured with red and black plumage. The forehead, face and throat are black and the rest of the head is red. The upperparts are red apart from the brown wings and tail. The upper breast and under tail-coverts are red while the lower breast and belly are black. The non-breeding male and female have streaky brown plumage, paler below. Females are smaller than the males.\nRed Collared-Dove - This dove is essentially a plains species, extending to Taiwan and the Philippines but uncommon on the Malaysian archipelago, avoiding rocky foothill and an oriential species. There is however a summer migration into the broader cultivated valleys of Balochistan and the Afghania where it breeds. It is the commonest dove throughout the Punjab region. It is a summer migrant visitor to Pakistan and the Republic of India where it is more or less resident. It is abundant in the Punjab plains. They prefer better-wooded tracts such as canal or roadside tree plantations and avoid extensive desert regions. When they first arrive they are often in small flocks, but they soon split up and start pain formation and breeding.\nRed Fody - The Madagascar Fody is about 5 inches in length and weighs 14–19 grams. The male of the species is bright red with black markings around each eye. Its wings and tail are olive-brown. The female fody's upper body is olive-brown and its underbody is greyish-brown.\nRed Forest Fody - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed Goshawk - The Red Goshawk used to be regarded as a very large member of the goshawk subfamily, Accipitridae, but it is now believed that the resemblance to these other birds is convergent. Experts now group the Red Goshawk with the superficially dissimilar Black-breasted Buzzard and Square-tailed Kite as one of the Australasian old endemic raptors. It is believed that the ancestors of these birds, possibly together with a handful of species from South-east Asia and Africa, occupied Gondwana and over the millennia have diverged into their current forms.\nRed Grouse - The Willow Grouse or Willow Ptarmigan is a bird of the grouse subfamily. It is a sedentary species, breeding in birch and other forests and moorlands in the tundra of Scotland, Scandinavia, Siberia, and of Alaska and northern Canada. It is the state bird of Alaska.\nRed Jungle-fowl - The range of the true species stretches from northeast India eastwards across southern China and down into Malaysia, The Philippines and Indonesia. Junglefowl are established on several of the Hawaiian Islands, but these are feral descendents of domestic chickens. They can also be found on Christmas Island and the Marianas.\nRed Kite - This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Falco milvus.\nRed Knot - The Red Knot, Calidris canutus , is a medium sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the Great Knot. Six subspecies are recognised.\nRed lark\nRed Lory - The Red Lory is the most commonly kept lory in captivity. This intelligent bird has a playful personality and a colourful appearance. Red Lories are primarily a deep red with black and electric blue markings on the wings and rump, pattern varies from individual to individual. The tail is darker maroon. They range in size from ten to twelve inches long and have an orange beak.\nRed Munia - The Red Munia, Red Avadavat or Strawberry Finch is a sparrow-sized bird of the Munia family. It is found in the open fields and grasslands of tropical Asia and is popular as a cage bird due to the colourful plumage of the males in their breeding season. It breeds in South Asia during the Monsoon season. The species name of amandava and the common name of avadavat are derived from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat from where these birds were exported into the pet trade in former times.\nRed Myzomela\nRed Phalarope - The Red Phalarope , Phalaropus fulicarius, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, migrating mainly on oceanic routes and wintering at sea on tropical oceans.\nRed Shining-Parrot\nRed Siskin - Some hope has been given to this highly endangered species by the discovery in 2003 of a population of several thousand birds in southern Guyana, 1000 km from any previously known colony. Otherwise the world population is believed to be between 600-6000 pairs.\nRed Spurfowl - It is a bird of dry forests and cultivation, which is a quite secretive bird, and despite its size is difficult to see as it slips through the undergrowth. Often the first indication of its presence is its distinctive call.\nRed Warbler\nRed Wattlebird - Although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around the world , they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence of convergent evolution. The Red Wattlebird is a large grey-brown honeyeater with red eyes, distinctive red wattles either side of the neck and white streaks on the chest and belly, which reveals a bright yellow patch towards the tail. Juveniles are generally less flamboyant, with less prominent wattles and browner eyes.\nRed-and-black Grosbeak\nRed-and-blue Lory - The Red-and-blue lory, Eos histrio is an arboreal parrot endemic to Indonesia. It is classed as endangered, as it is hunted for the pet trade and has lost much of its habitat due to habitat destruction. The Red-and-blue Lory is now confined to the Talaud Islands off northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Further populations, some apparently introduced, disappeared during the 20th century from Sangihe, Siau and Tagulandang. The population is estimated at only 5,000-10,000 birds. It is thought to be in rapid decline.\nRed-and-green Macaw - This is the largest of the Ara genus, widespread in the forests and woodlands of northern and central South America. However, in common with other macaws, in recent years there has been a marked decline in its numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture for the parrot trade.\nRed-and-white Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRed-backed Buttonquail\nRed-backed Fairywren - The Red-backed Fairywren mainly eats insects, and supplements its diet with seed and small fruit. The preferred habitat is heathland and savannah, particularly where low shrubs and tall grasses provide cover. It can be nomadic in areas where there are frequent bushfires, although pairs or small groups of birds maintain and defend territories year-round in other parts of its range. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with one or more helper birds who assist in raising the young. These helpers are progeny that have attained sexual maturity yet remain with the family group for one or more years after fledging. The Red-backed Fairywren is sexually promiscuous, and each partner may mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Older males in breeding plumage are more likely to engage in this behaviour than are those breeding in eclipse plumage. As part of a courtship display, the male wren plucks red petals from flowers and displays them to females.\nRed-backed Kingfisher - The Red-backed Kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in the Halcyonidae family, also known as tree kingfishers. It is a predominantly blue-green and white bird with a chestnut rump. It is found across the continent of Australia, mainly inhabiting the drier regions.\nRed-backed Mousebird\nRed-backed Shrike - This bird breeds in most of Europe and western Asia and winters in tropical Africa. Its range is contracting, and it is now probably extinct in Great Britain as a breeding bird, although it is frequent on migration. It is named as a protected bird in Britain under a Biodiversity Action Plan. It breeds in open cultivated country with hawthorn and dog rose.\nRed-backed Thrush - It is endemic to forests on Sulawesi and the nearby islands of Buton and Kabaena in Indonesia. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nRed-banded Flowerpecker - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-banded Fruiteater - Uniquely among the fruiteaters, the males' underparts are primarily grey. As suggested by its common name, the male also has a conspicuous red pectoral collar.\nRed-bearded Bee-eater - Like other bee-eaters, they are colourful birds with long tails, long decurved beaks and pointed wings. They are large bee-eaters, predominantly green, with a red colouration to face that extends on to the slightly hanging throat feathers to form the “beard”.\nRed-bellied Grackle\nRed-bellied Macaw - It is a resident bird in tropical Amazonian South America, from Colombia and Trinidad south to Amazonian Peru and Bolivia, and central Brazil as far as the northwestern cerrado of Brazil. Its habitat is forest and swamps with Moriche Palms . Their life revolves solely around this species of palm tree. Although locally common, in places it has been adversely affected by clearing of the palms for use as posts, or to allow cattle ranching; also by capture for the pet trade.\nRed-bellied Malimbe - The Red-bellied Malimbe is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda.\nRed-bellied Parrot - The Red-bellied Parrot is a small parrot about 23 cm long. It is a mostly greenish and grey bird with the green being more prominent over its lower surfaces and the grey more prominent over its upper surfaces. Adult birds have green feathers covering the upper portions of their legs, red irises and dark grey beaks. The species is sexually dimorphic; Typically, males have a bright orange lower chest and abdomen, whilst adult females are greenish on these lower areas. The dimorphism occurs from a young age and is seen even in young chicks still in the nest.\nRed-bellied Pitta\nRed-bellied Woodpecker - The Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, is a medium-sized woodpecker of the Picidae family. It breeds in southern Canada and the northeastern United States, ranging as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas. Its common name is somewhat misleading, as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on the head; the Red-headed Woodpecker however is another species that is a rather close relative but looks entirely different.\nRed-billed Blue Magpie - The head, neck and breast are black with a bluish spotting on the crown. The shoulders and rump are a duller blue and the underparts are a greyish cream. The long tail is a brighter blue with a broad white tip. The bill is a bright orange-red as are the legs and feet and a ring around the eye. This red can vary across its range to almost yellow in some birds.\nRed-billed Brush Turkey - An Indonesian endemic, the Red-billed Brush-turkey inhabits to lowland forests on Vogelkop Peninsula, western Snow Mountains, and Misool Island of West Papua. It builds nest mound from sticks and leaves.\nRed-billed Buffalo Weaver\nRed-billed curassow - The Red-knobbed Curassow or Red-billed Curassow, Crax blumenbachii, is an endangered species of Cracid that is endemic to lowland Atlantic Forest in the states of Espírito Santo, Bahia and Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. Its population is decreasing As suggested by its common name, the male has a largely red bill, but this is lacking in the female.\nRed-billed Dwarf Hornbill\nRed-billed Emerald - It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRed-billed Firefinch - The Red-billed Firefinch is 10 cm in length. The adult male has entirely scarlet plumage apart from brown wings. The bill is pink, and there is a yellow eye-ring. Females have uniformly brown upperparts and buff underparts. There is a small red patch in front of both eyes, and the bill is pink.\nRed-billed Francolin\nRed-billed Ground Cuckoo - The Red-billed Ground-cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-billed Gull - The Red-billed Gull , once also known as the Mackerel Gull, is a native of New Zealand, being found throughout the country and on outlying islands including the Chatham Islands and Sub-antarctic islands.The Māori name of this species is Tarapunga or Akiaki. Its vernacular name is sometimes also used for the Dolphin Gull, a somewhat similar-looking but unrelated species. As is the case with many gulls, the Red-billed Gull has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\nRed-billed Helmetshrike - It is found in West Africa, occurring in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. In Central Africa it is replaced by the Rufous-bellied Helmet-shrike which is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the Chestnut-bellied Helmetshrike.\nRed-billed Helmetshrike - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nRed-billed Hornbill - During incubation, the female lays three to six white eggs in a tree hole, which is blocked off with a plaster of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, just big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks.\nRed-billed leiothrix - Adults have bright red bills and a dull yellow ring around their eyes. Their backs are dull olive green, and they have a bright yellow-orange throat with a yellow chin; females are somewhat duller than males, and juveniles have black bills.\nRed-billed Malkoha - The Red-billed Malkoha is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nRed-billed Oxpecker - The Red-billed Oxpecker nests in tree holes lined with hair plucked from livestock. It lays 2-5, average 3, eggs. Outside the breeding season it forms large, chattery flocks.\nRed-billed Partridge\nRed-billed Pied Tanager - The Red-billed Pied Tanager is 17 cm in length and weighs 34 g. It lives in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil, Bolivia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru and Suriname. It occurs in groups of 3-6 individuals. It forages in mixed flocks for fruits in trees.\nRed-billed pigeon - The Red-billed Pigeon, Patagioenas flavirostris , is a relatively large pigeon which breeds from southern Texas, United States, and northwestern Mexico south to Costa Rica. It belongs to a clade of Patagioenas which generally lack iridescent display plumage, except some vestiges in the Pale-vented Pigeon.\nRed-billed Pintail - The Red-billed Teal is 43–48 cm long and has a blackish cap and nape, contrasting pale face, and bright red bill. The body plumage is a dull dark brown scalloped with white. Flight reveals that the secondary flight feathers are buff with a black stripe across them. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults.\nRed-billed Quailfinch - It is found in Angola, Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nRed-billed Quelea - Red-billed Quelea grow to about 12.5 cm long and 15 to 20 g weight. During breeding the male is distinguished by its more colorful plumage and red bill. Breeding plumage in male queleas is unusually variable: comprising a facial mask which ranges from black to white in color, and breast and crown plumage which varies from yellowish to bright red. For the rest of the year male plumage resembles that of the female, which is a cryptic beige coloration. The female's bill is yellow during breeding, and red during the non-breeding season.\nRed-billed Scimitar Babbler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRed-billed Scythebill - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRed-billed Thrush\nRed-billed Toucan - It was formerly considered to be two species, with the southern and western nominate subspecies, R. t. tucanus, named the Red-billed Toucan, and the northern and eastern subspecies, R. t. cuvieri, Cuvier's Toucan . However, the two subspecies, which differ principally in the bill colour, interbreed freely wherever they meet and therefore merit only subspecies status. The subspecies R. t. inca from Bolivia is of questionable validity and may represent a stable hybrid population between tucanus and culminatus.\nRed-billed Tyrannulet\nRed-billed Woodcreeper - It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is humid lowland forests.\nRed-breasted Blackbird - The Red-breasted Blackbird breeds from southwestern Costa Rica, which it has recently colonised, and Trinidad, south to northeastern Peru and central Brazil.\nRed-breasted Chat - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nRed-breasted Flycatcher - The Asian race Ficedula parva albicilla has the red throat surrounded by grey and a different song. It is sometimes separated as the Taiga Flycatcher, or Red-throated Flycatcher, Ficedula albicilla .\nRed-breasted Goose - The Red-breasted Goose is a goose of the genus Branta. It is sometimes separated in Rufibrenta but appears close enough to the Brent Goose to make this unnecessary, despite its distinct appearance.\nRed-breasted Hill Partridge - It is a distinctive partridge with chestnut breast-band and grey belly. It is distinguished from the similar Rufous-throated Partridge A. rufogularis by more rufescent crown and head-sides, white gorget and entirely chestnut upper breast.\nRed-breasted Madagascar Coucal - The Red-breasted Coua is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is endemic to Madagascar.\nRed-breasted Pygmy-Parrot\nRed-breasted sapsucker - Adults have a red head and upper chest; they have a white lower belly and rump. They are black on the back and wings with bars; they have a large white wing patch. Red-Breasted Sapsuckers nest in tree cavities. Northern birds migrate to the southern parts of the range; birds on the coast are often permanent residents. Like other sapsuckers, these birds drill holes in trees and eat the sap as well as insects attracted to it. They sometimes catch insects in flight; they also eat seeds and berries. These birds interbreed with the Red-naped Sapsucker or Yellow-bellied Sapsucker where their ranges overlap.\nRed-breasted Swallow - This is a bird of dry open country. In more wooded areas it is replaced by the similar Mosque Swallow. It builds a closed mud nest with a tubular entrance in a cavity or under bridges and similar structures. It will use deserted buildings, tree holes or caves, and has benefited from the construction of railway bridges and similar structures. Three eggs is a typical clutch.\nRed-breasted thrush - The American Robin or North American Robin It has seven subspecies, but only T. m. confinis in the southwest is particularly distinctive, with pale gray-brown underparts.\nRed-breasted Toucan - It is one of the smallest species of Ramphastos toucans, weighing approximately 350 grams. Its beak is one of the shortest of Ramphastos toucans at only about 10 cm in length. The Red-breasted Toucan derives its name from the large area of red feathers, which are really on the abdomen. Its breast is actually orange, with yellow at the sides. The beak is mostly pale greenish-horn, leading to its alternative common name, the Green-billed Toucan. In aviculture, their requirement of spacious cages, a high fruit diet and sensitivity to hemochromatosis make them difficult to maintain for novice keepers.\nRed-breasted Wheatear\nRed-browed Firetail - The species is distinguished by the bright red stripe above the eye, and bright red rump. The rest of the body is grey, with olive wing coverts and collar. Juveniles do not have red brow marks, and lack olive colouration on the collar and wing coverts. The adults are 11-12cm long.\nRed-browed Pardalote - It is rare in the eastern part of its range, it is common in the north-west, where it prefers dry woodlands, mulga, and the trees growing along creekbeds. This beautiful pardalote builds it's nest underground at the end of a tunnel.\nRed-browed parrot - It is threatened by habitat loss and capture for the wild parrot trade.\nRed-browed Treecreeper\nRed-capped Cardinal - The adult Red-capped Cardinal is 16.5 cm long and weighs about 22 g .\nRed-capped Coua - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-capped Crombec - The Red-capped Crombec is a species of African warbler, formerly placed in the family Sylviidae. It is found in Angola, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Botswana. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nRed-capped Flowerpecker - A common but inconspicuous tiny bird with short bill and tail, red cap, rump and, in the male, red spot on the breast.\nRed-capped Lark - This is a species of short grassland including fallow agricultural areas. In eastern Africa, it is found in the highlands, normally above 1000 m, but it [occurs down to sea level in suitable habitat in the cooler south of its extensive range.\nRed-capped Manakin - The bird is probably best known for the male's unusual courting method whereby it shuffles rapidly backwards across a branch, akin to a speedy moonwalk.\nRed-capped parrot - First described by German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl in 1820, from a collection in Albany, Western Australia,\nRed-capped Plover - Red-capped Plovers have white underparts and forehead. Their upperparts are mainly grey-brown. Adult males have a rufous crown and hindneck. Adult females have a paler rufous and grey brown crown and hindneck, with pale loral stripe. The upperwing of Charadrius ruficapillus shows dark brown remiges and primary coverts with a white wingbar in flight. Its length is 14-16 cm and its wingspan is 27-34 cm; weight 35-40 g.\nRed-capped Robin - The position of the Red-capped Robin and its Australian relatives on the passerine family tree is unclear; the Petroicidae are not closely related to either the European or American Robins but appear to be an early offshoot of the Passerida group of songbirds. The Red-capped Robin is a predominantly ground-feeding bird and its prey consists of insects and spiders. Although widespread, it is uncommon in much of its range and has receded in some areas from human activity.\nRed-capped Robin-Chat\nRed-cheeked Cordon-bleu - The Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on grain and other seeds. It is frequently seen at open dry grassland and savanna habitats as well as around human habitation. The nest is a large domed grass structure with a side entrance in a tree, bush or thatch into which 4-5 white eggs are laid.\nRed-cheeked Parrot - The Red-cheeked Parrot is a species of parrot in the Psittacidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nRed-cheeked Wattle-eye\nRed-chested Buttonquail - Red-chested Button-quail are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. However, their conservation status varies from state to state within Australia. For example:\nRed-chested Cuckoo - It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In Southern Africa it is a common breeding migrant, found throughout the area except for the drier west.\nRed-chested Sunbird\nRed-chested Swallow - It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Barn Swallow, which it closely resembles. Red-chested Swallow differs in being slightly smaller than its migratory relative. It also has a narrower blue breast band, and the adult has shorter tail streamers. In flight, it looks paler underneath than Barn Swallow. Although the adult Red-chested Swallow is reasonably distinctive, juvenile can be confused with the juvenile Barn Swallow, which also has short tail streamers. However, juvenile Red-chested Swallow has a narrower breast band and more white in the tail.\nRed-chinned Lorikeet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRed-cockaded woodpecker - The Red-cockaded Woodpecker's most distinguishing feature is a black cap and nape that encircle large white cheek patches. Rarely visible, except perhaps during the breeding season and periods of territorial defense, the male has a small red streak on each side of its black cap called a cockade, hence its name. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker feeds primarily on ants, beetles, cockroaches, caterpillars, wood-boring insects, and spiders, and occasionally fruit and berries.\nRed-collared Widowbird\nRed-collared Woodpecker - Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRed-cowled Cardinal - Its occurs in a wide range of dry to semi-humid open to semi-open habitats in north-eastern Brazil . It has been introduced to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, being locally common even in urban areas.\nRed-crested Bustard\nRed-crested cardinal - It is found in northern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Among others, it is found in southern regions of the Pantanal. It has also been introduced to Hawaii and Puerto Rico. In Brazil, it has been introduced to various places outside its historical range, as in the Tietê Ecological Park in São Paulo, alongside with its close relative, the Red-cowled Cardinal. The Yellow-billed Cardinal could be easily confused with the Red-crested Cardinal. The Yellow-billed Cardinal does not have a crest.\nRed-crested Cotinga - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nRed-crested Finch\nRed-crested Malkoha - The Rough-crested Malkoha or Red-crested Malkoha is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-crested Pochard - Their breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes in southern Europe and southern and central Asia. They are somewhat migratory, and northern birds winter further south and into north Africa.\nRed-crested Turaco - Niagara Falls Aviary, Canada\nRed-crowned Ant-Tanager - Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers are 18 cm long and weigh 34 g or 31 g . Adult males are dull reddish brown with a brighter red throat and breast. The black-bordered scarlet crown stripe is raised when the bird is excited. The female is yellowish brown, with a yellow throat and yellow-buff crown stripe.\nRed-crowned Barbet - The prey of Red-crowned Barbet include land snails of the genus Amphidromus.\nRed-crowned Woodpecker - This woodpecker occurs in forests and semi-open woodland and cultivation. It nests in a hole in a dead tree or large cactus. The clutch is two eggs, incubated by both sexes, which fledge after 31-33 days.\nRed-eared Conure - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nRed-eared Firetail - BirdLife Species Factsheet\nRed-eared Parrotfinch - The species inhabits forest understorey and edge, second growth and grassy clearings at altitude over 1,000 m. The status of the species is evaluated as Near Threatened.\nRed-eyed Bulbul - The Red-eyed Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-eyed Dove - This species builds a stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs. Its flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.\nRed-eyed Puffback\nRed-eyed Thornbird - The Orange-eyed Thornbird is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is endemic to Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil. It formerly included P. ferrugineigula as a subspecies, but under the common name Red-eyed Thornbird. Unlike that species, the Orange-eyed Thornbird has conspicuously bright orange eyes, far less rufous below and on the crown , and the entire tail rufous. The two also have different voices and are locally sympatric in São Paulo without evidence of interbreeding.\nRed-eyed Vireo - The Red-eyed Vireo, Vireo olivaceus, is a small American songbird, 13-14 cm in length. It is somewhat warbler-like but not closely related to the New World warblers . Common across its vast range, this species is not considered threatened by the IUCN.\nRed-faced Barbet - The Red-faced Barbet is a species of bird in the African barbet family Lybiidae. It is found in Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, and arable land. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRed-faced Cisticola - The race C. e. lepe, found in Angola and possibly the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is sometimes regarded as a separate species, the Lepe Cisticola.\nRed-faced cormorant - The adult bird has glossy plumage that is a deep greenish blue in colour, becoming purplish or bronze on the back and sides. In breeding condition it has a double crest, and white plumes on the flanks, neck and rump, and the bare facial skin of the lores and around the eyes is a bright orange or red, giving the bird its name; although the coloration is less vivid outside the breeding season, the red facial skin is enough to distinguish it from the otherwise rather similar Pelagic Cormorant. Its legs and feet are brownish black. Its wings ranges from 25 to 29 cm in extent, with females having on average about 5 cm shorter wings. Adults weigh between 1.5 and 2.3 kg, with females averaging 350g less than males.\nRed-faced Crimson-wing - It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.\nRed-faced Crombec - The Red-faced Crombec is a species of African warbler, formerly placed in the family Sylviidae. It is found in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nRed-faced Guan\nRed-faced Liocichla - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRed-faced Lovebird - The Red-headed Lovebird is 15 cm long. It is a mostly green parrot. It has a well demarcated red area on its head extending from the top of the beak, over the forehead to mid-crown, and extending to the left and right up to the eyelid margins. The have grey feet. The underside of the wings are a lighter green. The female has orange head colouring, which is less well demarcated than the males red head. The adult male has a red beak and the female has a paler red beak.\nRed-faced Malkoha - This is a large species at 46 cm with a long graduated tail. Its back is dark green, and the uppertail is green edged with white. The belly and undertail are white, the latter being barred black. The crown and throat are black, and the lower face white. There is a large red patch around the eye and the bill is green. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are much duller.\nRed-faced Mousebird - This bird is about 34 cm long, with the tail comprising approximately half the length. The crested head and breast are pale cinnamon with a red bill and eye mask. The rest of the upperparts and tail are blue-grey apart from a paler grey rump. The belly is whitish. The sexes are similar, but juveniles lack the crest and have a green mask.\nRed-faced Parrot - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRed-faced Pytilia - It is commonly found at Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone & Togo.\nRed-faced Spinetail\nRed-faced warbler - Mature Red-faced Warblers are small birds, 14 cm long. They are light gray on top with a white rump and a white underside. The face, neck, and upper breast are all bright red, while the crown and sides of the head are black. The spot on the back of the head where the black crown and gray back meet is sometimes speckled gray, or sometimes plain white. They also have a quirky habit of flicking their tail sideways while feeding.\nRed-faced Woodland Warbler - The Red-faced Woodland-warbler is a medium sized warbler with a distinctive reddish face, which is richer on P. l. schoutedeni. Overall the rest of the plumage is greenish above with a paler off white belly and rump.\nRed-fan Parrot - The Red-fan Parrot possesses elongated neck feathers that can be raised to form an elaborate fan, which greatly increases the bird's apparent size, and is possibly used when threatened. It generally lives in undisturbed forest, feeding in the canopy on fruits. It nests in holes in trees and stumps, laying two to three eggs. Only two nests have been examined in the wild, both had one chick.\nRed-flanked Lorikeet - There are five subspecies:\nRed-footed booby - The Red-footed Booby, Sula sula, is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings.\nRed-footed Falcon - The Red-footed Falcon , formerly Western Red-footed Falcon, is a bird of prey. It belongs to the family Falconidae, the falcons. This bird is found in eastern Europe and Asia although its numbers are dwindling rapidly due to habitat loss and hunting. It is migratory, wintering in Africa. It is a regular wanderer to western Europe, and in August 2004 a Red-footed Falcon was found in North America for the first time on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.\nRed-footed Madagascar Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-fronted Lorikeet\nRed-fronted Macaw - The Red-fronted Macaw is 55–60 cm long. It is mostly green, and has a red forehead, a red patch over the ears and bright red to orange edged under wing coverts. It has an area of pinkish skin around the eyes extending to the beak. It has red at the bend of wings and blue primary wing feathers.\nRed-fronted Parakeet - Red-crowned Parakeets feed on seeds, fruit, berries, nuts and other parts of plants.\nRed-fronted Parrot - The Red-fronted Parrot , also known as the Jardine's Parrot, is a medium-sized mainly green parrot endemic across wide areas of Africa. It has three subspecies. The extent and shade of the red or orange plumage on its head, thighs, and bend of wings vary depending on the subspecies.\nRed-fronted Parrotlet - The Red-fronted Parrotlet, Touit costaricensis, is a parrot in Central America in Costa Rica and Panama. It is 15cm, green with a short tail, red forehead, lores, and under eye, red shoulders and leading edge of underwing, and the remaining underwing coverts yellow. Edges of tail also yellowish.\nRed-fronted Rosefinch - The Red-Fronted Rosefinch is a species of rosefinch in the finch family Fringillidae. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Pyrrhospiza. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitat is montane tundra.\nRed-fronted Serin - This bird breeds in the Caucasus and the higher mountains of Turkey and Iran, with vagrants occasionally reaching the Greek Eastern Aegean Islands in winter. Outside the breeding season, it occurs in small flocks, typically seen searching through thistle patches. It is a popular cagebird, and escapes from captivity are occasionally found throughout Europe.\nRed-fronted Tinkerbird - The Red-fronted Tinkerbird is a widespread and frequently common resident breeder in eastern South Africa, with a separate population from southern Sudan and Ethiopia south to central and eastern Tanzania. It is sometimes considered conspecific with its northern counterpart, the Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Pogoniulus chrysoconus.\nRed-fronted Tree Babbler - This 12 cm long babbler has a rufous crown, grey supercilium, brown upperparts and pale buff underparts. the juvenile has a paler crown and underparts.\nRed-gartered Coot\nRed-headed Barbet - The Red-headed Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in humid highland forest in Costa Rica and Panama, as well as the Andes in western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and far northern Peru. The diet of the Red-headed Barbet may include bananas and various other fruits.\nRed-headed Bluebill - It is found in Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern. This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 560,000 km². The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as 'frequent' in at least parts of its range . Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List . For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nRed-headed Bullfinch - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nRed-headed Bunting - It breeds in central Asia. It is migratory, wintering in India. Its status in western Europe, where it is a potential vagrant, is confused by escapes, especially as this species is more commonly recorded than the closely related Black-headed Bunting, despite the latter have a more westerly breeding range. Reports in Britain have declined dramatically over recent years, co-inciding with the decline in Asiatic imports for the cage-bird trade.\nRed-headed Falcon - The Red-necked Falcon or Red-headed Merlin is a bird of prey in the falcon family. This bird is a widespread resident in India and adjacent regions as well as sub-Saharan Africa. It is sometimes called Turumti locally.\nRed-headed Finch - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.\nRed-headed Manakin\nRed-headed Parrotfinch - It is found in subtropical/ tropical lowland moist forest. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nRed-headed Quelea - The Red-headed Quelea is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nRed-headed Tailor Bird - The Rufous-Tailed Tailorbird is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nRed-headed Tanager - It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRed-headed Tree Babbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRed-headed Trogon - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Republic of India, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRed-headed Vulture - Up to 85 cm long and weighing 3.7-5.4 kg , this gaudy-faced vulture was historically abundant with range over south-central and south-eastern Asia extending from Pakistan to Singapore. Today the range of the Red-headed Vulture is localized primarily to Nepal and northern India where it is found in open country and in cultivated and semi-desert areas.\nRed-headed Weaver - It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nRed-headed Woodpecker - The Red-headed Woodpecker was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work Systema Naturae.\nRed-hooded Tanager - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRed-kneed Dotterel - Adults distinctively marked: Black cap or hood from bill, extending below eyes, merging at nape to grey-brown of back. White chin and throat. Broad black band on breast joining nape and also extending to flanks as chestnut stripe. Belly and vent white. Back and mantle grey-brown, mainly black upperwing with white trailing edge. Upper leg, including tarsal joint or “knee”, red. Bill red with dark tip.\nRed-knobbed Imperial-Pigeon - Formerly classified as a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN.\nRed-legged crake - Medium-large crake . Head, neck and breast red-brown, paler on throat. Upperparts grey-brown. Underparts and underwing barred black and white. Bill green; legs and feet red.\nRed-legged duck - The American Black Duck is a large dabbling duck.\nRed-legged Honeycreeper - The Red-legged Honeycreeper is on average 12.2 cm long, weighs 14 g and has a medium-long black, slightly decurved, bill. The male is violet-blue with black wings, tail and back, and bright red legs. The crown of its head is turquoise, and the underwing, visible only in flight, is lemon yellow. After the breeding season, the male moults into an eclipse plumage, mainly greenish with black wings.\nRed-legged kittiwake - The Red-legged Kittiwake is a very localised subarctic Pacific species. Apart from the distinguishing feature implicit in its name, it is very similar to its better known relative, the Black-legged Kittiwake; other differences include the shorter bill, larger eyes, a larger, rounder head and darker grey wings, and in the juveniles, which barely differ from the adults, lacking the black tail band and 'W' across the wings of juvenile Black-legged Kittiwakes. Juveniles take three years to reach maturity.\nRed-legged Partridge - It is a rotund bird, with a light brown back, grey breast and buff belly. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked flanks and red legs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded wings.\nRed-legged Seriema - Species-level:\nRed-legged Tinamou - The Red-legged Tinamou or Red-footed Tinamou,.\nRed-lored Amazon - It is 32–35 cm long, with a weight of 310–480 g. The plumage is primarily green, with red forehead and in some subspecies yellow cheeks . The crown is blue. Adult males and females do not differ in plumage. Juveniles have less yellow on cheeks, less red on forehead, and dark irises.\nRed-lored Whistler - The Red-lored Whistler is generally restricted to the “Big Desert” or “Ninety-mile Desert” country of south-eastern South Australia and western Victoria, but which is now regularly observed north of the River Murray and at Round Hill Nature Reserve in outback New South Wales, and has been recorded from Pinkawillinnie Conservation Park , and in the vicinity of Adelaide, from where the type specimen was allegedly collected. In every case, the habitat is Mallee Woodland.\nRed-mantled Rosefinch - The Red-Mantled Rosefinch is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and boreal shrubland.\nRed-masked Conure - Red-masked Parakeets average about 33 cm long, of which half is the tail. They are bright green with a mostly red head on which the elongated pale eye-ring is conspicuous; the nape is green. Also, the lesser and median underwing coverts are red, and there is some red on the neck, the thighs, and the leading edge of the wings. Juveniles have green plumage, until their first red feathers appear at around the age of four months.\nRed-moustached Fruit-Dove - The Red-moustached Fruit-dove was a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It was endemic to French Polynesia.\nRed-naped Fruit Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRed-naped Ibis - at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.\nRed-naped Trogon\nRed-necked Amazon - It is green, with bright splashes of various colours. Its name is due to the area of red plumage commonly found at its throat.\nRed-necked Aracari - It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRed-necked Avocet - With long wading legs, this bird is found swimming and wading on or around lakes and shallow areas such as mud flats.\nRed-necked Crake - The Red-necked Crake is a waterbird in the rail and crake family Rallidae.\nRed-necked Francolin - The Red-necked Francolin breeds across the central belt of Africa and down the east coast to Tanzania.\nRed-necked Grebe - The Red-necked Grebe, Podiceps grisegena, is a migratory aquatic bird that is found in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Its wintering habitat is largely restricted to calm waters just beyond the waves around ocean coasts, although some birds may winter on large lakes. Grebes prefer shallow bodies of fresh water such as lakes, marshes or fish-ponds as breeding sites.\nRed-necked Nightjar - Open sandy heaths with trees or bushes are the haunts of this crepuscular Nightjar. It flies at dusk, most often at sundown, with an easy, silent moth-like flight; its strong and deliberate wingbeats alternate with graceful sweeps and wheels with motionless wings.\nRed-necked Snow Finch - The Rufous-necked Snowfinch is a species of bird in the sparrow family.\nRed-necked Tanager - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRed-pate Cisticola\nRed-ruffed Fruitcrow - It has a relatively heavy pale bluish bill, and the plumage is primarily black, but with a bright orange-crimson patch on the throat . Some subspecies have brown underparts. Males gather in loose leks where they call to attract the smaller, but otherwise similar, females.\nRed-rumped Bush-Tyrant - The Red-rumped Bush-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family, the only one in the genus Cnemarchus.\nRed-rumped Cacique - The Red-rumped Cacique's natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRed-rumped Parrot - The Red-rumped Parrot , also known as the Red-backed Parrot or Grass Parrot, is a common bird of south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin.\nRed-rumped Swallow - The Red-rumped Swallow is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in open hilly country of temperate southern Europe and Asia from Portugal and Spain to Japan, India and tropical Africa. The Indian and African birds are resident, but European and other Asian birds are migratory. They winter in Africa or India and are vagrants to Christmas Island and northern Australia.\nRed-rumped Waxbill - It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Tanzania. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nRed-rumped Wheatear - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nRed-rumped Woodpecker - The habitat of this small woodpecker is forests, more open woodland, and cultivation. Two or three white eggs are laid in a nest hole in a dead tree.\nRed-shouldered blackbird\nRed-shouldered Cuckooshrike - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\nRed-shouldered Glossy-Starling\nRed-shouldered Hawk - Males are 43 to 58 cm long, weigh about 550 g and have a wingspan of 96 cm . Females are slightly larger at 48 to 61 cm in length, a weight of about 700 g , and a wingspan of about 105 cm . Adults have a brownish head, a reddish chest, and a pale belly with reddish bars. Their tail, which is quite long by Buteo standards, is marked with narrow white bars. The red \"shoulder\" is visible when the bird is perched as seen in the image to the right. These hawks' upper parts are dark with pale spots and they have long yellow legs. Western birds may appear more red while Florida birds are generally paler. The wings of adults are more heavily barred on the upper side. Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks are most likely to be confused with juvenile Broad-winged Hawks, but can be distinguished by their long tail, crescent-like wing markings, and a more flapping, Accipiter-like flight style.\nRed-shouldered Macaw - The Red-shouldered Macaw , is representative of two distinct subspecies: Noble Macaw or Hahn's Macaw. Both are a small parrot native to the tropical lowlands, savannah and swamplands of Venezuela, the Guianas, Bolivia, Brazil, and far south-eastern Peru. It is the smallest macaw. These birds range from 30 to 35 centimetres in length, and have good speech mimicry. They are frequently bred in captivity for the commercial pet trade. They are not considered to be an endangered species, but wild populations have declined locally due to habitat loss. As most parrots, they are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, which makes the trade and export of wild caught birds illegal. This status greatly limits the ability to capture or sell wild birds.\nRed-shouldered Spinetail - The Red-shouldered Spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is the only member of the genus Gyalophylax.\nRed-shouldered Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.\nRed-shouldered vanga - This species is notable for being the last species viewed by internationally renown bird watcher Phoebe Snetsinger before her tragic 1999 death in Madagascar.\nRed-spectacled Amazon - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, dry savanna, and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRed-striped Flowerpecker\nRed-tailed Amazon - Red-tailed Amazons weigh around 425 g and are approximately 35 cm long. As expected from its common name, it has a broad red band on its tail, but as it largely is limited to the inner webs of the feathers, it is mainly visible from below or when the tail is spread open. Additionally, the tail has a broad yellow tip, and the outer rectrices are dark purplish-blue at the base. The remaining plumage is green, while the throat, cheeks and auriculars are purple-blue, the forecrown is red, and the retrices are broadly tipped dark blue. It has a yellowish bill with a blackish tip to the upper mandible, a pale grey eye ring, and orange irises. Juveniles have a duller plumage and a brown irises.\nRed-tailed ant-thrush\nRed-tailed Black-Cockatoo - Adult Red-tailed Black Cockatoos are around 60 centimetres in length and sexually dimorphic. Males are completely black in colour, excepting their prominent red tail bands; the slightly smaller females are brownish-black with yellow barring and spotting and have yellow-orange tail stripes. The species is usually found in eucalyptus woodlands, or along water courses. In the more northerly parts of the country, these cockatoos are commonly seen in large flocks. They are seed eaters and cavity nesters. As such, they depend on trees with fairly large diameters, generally Eucalyptus. Populations in southeastern Australia are threatened by the reduction in forest cover and by other habitat alterations. Of the black cockatoos, the red-tailed black is the most adaptable to aviculture,\nRed-tailed Comet - The male has a spectacular, long, iridescent, golden-reddish tail.\nRed-tailed Greenbul - The Red-tailed Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-tailed Hawk - The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the \"chickenhawk,\" though it rarely preys on chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common buteos in North America. Red-tailed Hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within its range. There are fourteen recognized subspecies, which vary in appearance and range. It is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America, typically weighing from 690 to 1600 grams and measuring 45–65 cm in length, with a wingspan from 110 to 145 cm . The Red-tailed Hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males.\nRed-tailed Laughingthrush\nRed-tailed Minla - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRed-tailed Tropic Bird - The Red-tailed Tropicbird looks like a stout tern, and hence closely resembles the other two tropicbird species. It has generally white plumage, often with a pink tinge, a black crescent around the eye and a thin red tail feather. It has a bright red bill and black feet.\nRed-tailed Vanga - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-throated Alethe\nRed-throated Ant-Tanager - Red-throated Ant-tanager are 19 cm long and weigh 40 g. Adult males are dull dusky red, somewhat paler below, and with a bright red throat and central crown. The female is brownish olive, paler and greyer below, and with a yellow throat and small dull yellow crown stripe. Young birds are brown and lack the throat and crown patches.\nRed-throated Barbet - The Red-throated Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRed-throated Bee Eater\nRed-throated Caracara - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRed-throated Diver - The Red-throated Loon or Red-throated Diver , is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere; it breeds primarily in Arctic regions, and winters in northern coastal waters. It is the most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family.\nRed-throated Lorikeet - This bird occurs on the islands of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and Ovalau. Ten specimens were collected in 1923, but it was last recorded in 1993, although it may also have been seen on Mt. Tomaniivi on Viti Levu in 2001. A search of Viti Levu in 2001-2 failed to find any birds, as did a second series of surveys in 2003.\nRed-throated Myzomela\nRed-throated Parrotfinch - It is found in either subtropical or tropical lowland moist forest and shrubland habitats. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nRed-throated Piping-Guan - The Red-throated Piping-guan is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRed-throated pipit - This is a small pipit, with adults easily identified in the breeding season by their brick red face and throat. In other plumages this is an undistinguished looking species, heavily streaked brown above, with whitish mantle stripes, and with black markings on a white background below. Its flight is strong and direct, and it gives a characteristic \"psii\" call.\nRed-throated Thrush - The Red-throated Thrush is a migratory Asian species. Its range overlaps with the more westerly-breeding Black-throated Thrush. It is a large thrush with a plain grey back and reddish underwings. The adult male has a red throat. Females and young birds lack the bib, but have black-streaked underparts. This bird species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.\nRed-vented Barbet\nRed-vented bulbul - The Red-vented Bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Burma and southwestern China. It has been introduced and has established itself in the wild in many Pacific islands including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Hawaii. It has also established itself in parts of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand. It is included among the world's worst invasive alien species.\nRed-vented Cockatoo - The plumage is all white with red undertail coverts tipped white, yellowish undertail and pale yellow underwings. It is 12.2 inches long and has an 8.6 inches wingspan.\nRed-vented Malimbe\nRed-wattled Lapwing - The Red-wattled Lapwing is a lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. It has characteristic loud alarm calls which are variously rendered as Did he do it or Pity to do it\nRed-whiskered bulbul - The Red-whiskered Bulbul is a passerine bird found in Asia. It is a member of the bulbul family. It is a resident frugivore found mainly in tropical Asia. It has been introduced in many tropical areas of the world where populations have established themselves. It feeds on fruits and small insects and they conspicuously perch on trees and their calls are a loud three or four note call. The distinctive crest and the red-vent and whiskers makes them easy to identify. They are very common in hill forests and urban gardens within its range.\nRed-winged Blackbird - The Red-winged Blackbird is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, and northwestern Costa Rica. It may winter as far north as Pennsylvania and British Columbia, but northern populations are generally migratory, moving south to Mexico and the southern United States. The Red-winged Blackbird is sexually dimorphic; the male is all black with a red shoulder and yellow wing bar, while the female is a nondescript dark brown. Seeds and insects make up the bulk of the Red-winged Blackbird's diet.\nRed-winged Fairy-wren - Bearing a narrow pointed bill adapted for probing and catching insects, the Red-winged Fairywren is primarily insectivorous; it forages and lives in the shelter of scrubby vegetation in temperate wetter forests dominated by the Karri , remaining close to cover to avoid predators. Like other fairywrens, it is a cooperative breeding species, with small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several helper birds who assist in raising the young. There is a higher proportion of female helpers recorded for this species than for other species of fairywren. A variety of vocalisations and visual displays have been recorded for communication and courtship in this species. Singing is used to advertise territory, and birds can distinguish other individuals on song alone. Male wrens pluck yellow petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display.\nRed-winged Francolin - The Red-winged Francolin is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.\nRed-winged Gray Warbler\nRed-winged Lark - The range of Red-winged Lark is quite extensive within Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 660,000 km2.\nRed-winged Laughingthrush - The plumage is mostly brown with large areas of red in the wings and tail. The crown and ear-coverts are grey with dark streaks and the throat is dark. The bill and feet are blackish. It has a loud, whistling song and is 27 to 28 centimetres long. The Red-tailed Laughingthrush is similar but has a rufous crown and greyer back and breast.\nRed-winged Parrot - The Red-winged parrot is typically about 30 to 33 cm in length. Both sexes have bright red wings and a bright green body. The male birds have a black nape, lower blue back and rump with a yellow tip on their tail, an orange bill and grey feet. The female birds on the other hand have a yellowish green body and the wings have red and pink trimmings on their wings. Also distinguishing the females are a dark iris and the lower back is a light blue colour. Juveniles have orange/yellow beaks and pale brown irises, and otherwise resemble females in colouration. Males develop adult plumage at about the age of two years and females at the age of about a year and a half.\nRed-winged Prinia - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nRed-winged Pytilia - It is found at Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nRed-winged Starling - The Red-winged Starling builds a lined nest of grass and twigs, and with a mud base, on a natural or structural ledge. It lays 2–4, usually three, blue eggs, spotted with red-brown. The female incubates the eggs for 13–14 days, with another 22–28 days to hatching. This starling is commonly double-brooded. It may be parasitised by the Great Spotted Cuckoo.\nRed-winged thrush - The Redwing is a bird in the thrush family Turdidae, native to Europe and Asia, slightly smaller than the related Song Thrush.\nRed-winged Tinamou - The Red-winged Tinamou, Rhynchotus rufescens, is a medium-sized ground-living bird from central and eastern South America.\nRed-winged Wood Rail\nReddish egret - According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department , there are only 1,500 to 2,000 nesting pairs of Reddish Egrets in the United States - and most of these are in Texas. They are classified as \"threatened\" in Texas and receive special protection.\nReddish Hermit - The majority of the Reddish Hermit's range, in northern and central South America, is the entire Amazon Basin to the foothill drainages of the eastern Andes slope. The Caribbean and Atlantic coasts of the entire Guianas are included in the northeast; in the southeast, the southeastern limit is the eastern banks of the Tocantins River in the Araguaia-Tocantins River system, usually included as part of the Amazon Basin. The countries included in the bird's range in the western Amazon Basin drainage are Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.\nReddish Scops-Owl - The Reddish Scops Owl is an owl found in southeast Asia.\nRedhead - The adult male has a blue bill, a red head and neck, a black breast, yellow eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a darker bluish bill with a black tip.\nRedshank - The Common Redshank or simply Redshank is an Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.\nRedstart - Southeastern Common Redstart\nRedthroat - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nReed Cormorant - The Reed Cormorant , also known as the Long-tailed Cormorant, is a bird in the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. It breeds in much of Africa south of the Sahara, and Madagascar. It is resident but undertakes some seasonal movements.\nReed Warbler - This small passerine bird is a species found almost exclusively in reed beds, usually with some bushes. The 3-5 eggs are laid in a basket nest in reeds. The chicks fledge after 10 or 11 days. This species is usually monogamous .\nReeves's Pheasant - The name commemorates the British naturalist John Reeves, who first introduced live specimens to Europe in 1831.\nRegal Sunbird\nRegent Bowerbird - All male bowerbirds build bowers, which can be simple ground clearings or elaborate structures, to attract female mates. Regent bowerbirds in particular are known to mix a muddy greyish blue or pea green \"saliva paint\" in their mouths which they use to decorate their bowers. Regents will sometimes use wads of greenish leaves as \"paintbrushes\" to help spread the substance, representing one of the few known instances of tools used by birds.\nRegent Honeyeater - Recent genetic research suggests it is closely related to the wattlebirds.\nRegent Parrot - The Regent Parrot is a bird of the parrot family . It has predominantly yellow plumage with a green tail. The bird is found primarily in eucalyptus groves and other wooded areas of subtropical southwestern Australia, as well as to a smaller area of subtropical and temperate southeastern Australia. Seeds make up the bulk of its diet.\nRegulus ignicapilla - This is the second smallest European bird at 9 to 10 cm. The Firecrest is greenish above and has whitish underparts. It has two white wingbars, a black eye stripe and a white supercilium. It has a crest, orange in the male and yellow in the female, which is displayed during breeding, and gives rise to the English name for the species. This is a restless species, constantly on the move as it searches for insects, and frequently hovering. It resembles the Goldcrest, but its bronze shoulders and strong face pattern are distinctive.\nRegulus madeirensis - The Madeira Firecrest is a member of the kinglet family and is very closely allied to the Firecrest, which it was considered a subspecies of until recently. It differs in having a shorter supercilium, duller orange crest and a longer bill, as well as a different song and call notes.\nReichard's Seedeater - The Reichard's Seedeater is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nReiser's Tyrannulet\nRelict gull - The Relict Gull, Ichthyaetus relictus, is a medium-sized gull which breeds in several locations in Mongolia , two in Kazakhstan, one in Russia, and one in China. Small numbers appear to migrate to South Korea during the nonbreeding period. There is additional evidence that larger numbers may migrate to eastern China as well, but this is not verified. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\nRennell Fantail - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRennell Island White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRennell Shrikebill - It is endemic to Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRennell Starling - The plumage of the Rennell Starling is blackish with a green-blue gloss. It has a yellow-orange eye and a short tail. It is an abundant bird of tropical moist lowland forests, secondary growth and coconut plantations.\nResplendent Quetzal - P. m. costaricensis P. m. mocinno\nRestinga Tyrannulet\nRestless Flycatcher - Also known colloquially as Scissors Grinder, Girl Grinder, or Dishwasher on account of its unusual call,\nReunion Bulbul - The Réunion Bulbul , also known as Olivaceous Bulbul, is a passerine endemic to Réunion. Formerly, the Mauritius Bulbul was included here as subspecies olivaceus, but nowadays H. borbonicus is considered monotypic.\nReunion Cuckooshrike - The Reunion Cuckoo-shrike is a small arboreal bird. The plumage is dimorphic between the sexes. The male is grey coloured with a darker back and lighter underside; the face is darker and has the impression of a mask. The female is quite different, being dark brown above and striped underneath with a white eye-line. The call of the species is a clear whistled tui tui tui, from which is derived its local Réunion Creole/French name, tuit-tuit.\nReunion Harrier - It is about 50 cm long; the female is around 3–15% larger than the male. The male has a blackish head and back with white streaks. The underparts, underwings and rump are white and the tail is grey. The wings are grey and black with a white leading edge. Females and immatures are dark brown with a white rump and barred tail.\nReunion Olive White-eye\nReunion Petrel - The Mascarene Petrel is a medium-sized, dark gadfly petrel.\nReunion Starling - The Bourbon Crested Starling was discovered in 1669 and first described 1783 by Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert. It got its name from its conspicuous ash grey crest. It reached a size of 30 cm. in length. The wings, which were coloured grey-brown, had wingspan of 4.7 cm. The tail was 11.4 cm long and had a rufous hue. It had long yellow legs with tarsi of about 3.9 cm. The nails were curved. The head, neck, and abdomen were white. There was sexual dimorphism between male and female. The male had a 4 cm long light-yellow coloured bill which was slightly downcurved. The bill of the female was smaller and straight. The crest of the male was directed forwards, the crest of the female backwards. Because of its crest and the form of its bill it was long regarded as relative of the hoopoes by scientists, and its French name Huppe was derived from that. Boddaert named it Hupupa varia when he first described it but naturalist René-Primevère Lesson put it in its own genus Fregilupus in 1831. However, after careful ana\nReunion Stonechat - It has for some time been included in the \"Common Stonechat\" , but it is well distinct; it is an insular derivative of the African Stonechat. Its ancestors diverged from the sub-Saharan African lineage as it spread across the continent some 2-2.5 mya during the Late Pliocene.\nRhinoceros auklet - It ranges widely across the North Pacific feeding on small fish and nesting in seabird colonies. Its name is derived from a horn-like extension of the beak. This horn is only present in breeding adults, and like the elaborate sheath on the bill of puffins is shed every year.\nRhinoceros Hornbill - Like most other hornbills, the male has orange or red eyes, and the female has whitish eyes. This bird has a mainly white beak and casque , but there are orange places here and there. It has white underparts, especially to the tail. This bird lives in the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.\nRhodopechys mongolicus - The Mongolian Finch is a small, long-winged bird. It has a large head and short, thick greyish-yellow bill. In breeding plumage, males have a pink flush to their face and underparts, and there are extensive white and pink areas in the wings, a pattern that is also present but less marked in non-breeding plumage.\nRhopornis ardesiacus - The Slender Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Rhopornis. It is endemic to Brazil.\nRibbon-tailed Bird of Paradise - One of the most spectacular birds of paradise, the male Ribbon-tailed Astrapia has the longest tail feathers in relation to body size of any bird, over three times the length of its body.\nRibbon-tailed Drongo\nRichard's Pipit - It belongs to the pipit genus Anthus in the family Motacillidae. It was formerly lumped together with the Australasian, African, Mountain and Paddyfield Pipits in a single species: Richard's Pipit, Anthus novaeseelandiae. These pipits are now commonly considered to be separate species although the African and Paddyfield Pipits are sometimes treated as part of Anthus richardi.\nRidgway's Cotinga\nRidgway's Hawk - The Ridgway's Hawk's original breeding range included Haiti and the Dominican Republic and some of the adjacent isles and keys. As of 2006, its only known population resides within Los Haitises National Park in the northeastern Dominican Republic, which is mostly covered by wet limestone forest.\nRifleman - The Rifleman, Acanthisitta chloris, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to New Zealand. The bird resembles a wren in form but is not linked to the family of true wrens, Troglodytidae.\nRimatara Reed-Warbler - The Rimatara Reed-warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found only in French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and swamps.\nRimator pasquieri - The Long-billed Wren-babbler is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Rimator. It is found in Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRing Ouzel - It is the mountain equivalent of the closely-related Common Blackbird, and breeds in gullies, rocky areas or scree slopes.\nRing-billed Gull - Adults are 49 cm length and with a 124 cm wingspan. The head, neck and underparts are white; the relatively short bill is yellow with a dark ring; the back and wings are silver gray; and the legs are yellow. The eyes are yellow with red rims. This gull takes three years to reach its breeding plumage; its appearance changes with each fall moult.\nRing-necked Dove - Males and females look alike, although the males are slightly bigger. They are usually around 27–28 cm in length.\nRing-necked Duck - The adult male is similar in color pattern to the Eurasian Tufted Duck, its relative. It has a grey bill with a white band, a shiny purple head, a white breast, yellow eyes and a dark grey back. The adult female has a pale brown head and body with a dark brown back, a dark bill with a more subtle light band than the male and brown eyes. The cinnamon neck ring is usually difficult to observe, unlike the white ring on its bill, which is why the bird is sometimes referred to as a \"ringbill\".\nRing-necked Francolin - The Ring-necked Francolin is a bird species in the family Phasianidae.\nRing-tailed Pigeon - The Ring-tailed Pigeon is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is endemic to Jamaica.\nRinged Antpipit - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRinged Kingfisher - The breeding habitat is areas near large bodies of water, usually in heavily wooded areas where it finds a perch to hunt from. It is mostly a sedentary species, remaining in territories all year long.\nRinged Plover - Adults are 17-19.5 cm in length with a 35-41 cm wingspan. They have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes and a short orange and black bill. The legs are orange and only the outer two toes are slightly webbed, unlike the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar Semipalmated Plover, which has all three toes slightly webbed, and also a marginally narrower breast band; it was in former times included in the present species. Juvenile Ringed Plovers are duller than the adults in colour, with an often incomplete grey-brown breast band, a dark bill and dull yellowish-grey legs.\nRinged Storm-Petrel - The breeding biology of the Hornby's Storm-petrel is a mystery, as its colonies and nests have never been found. It is thought to breed between March and July, as this is when fledglings are regularly seen at sea around Lima and Antofagasta . There have also been reports of mummified fledglings and adults found in crevices in the Atacama Desert 50 km from the sea, and even reports of one fledgling being seen 150km from the sea, and one unproven report of a bird flying into a nest in the town of Caraz in Peru, 100km from the sea.\nRinged Teal - The male and female remain colourful throughout the year, lacking an eclipse plumage. The drake has a rich chestnut back, pale grey flanks and a salmon-coloured breast speckled in black. A black band runs from the top of its head down to the nape. Females have an olive-brownish back with the head blotched and striated in white, with pencilled barring on a pale chest and belly. Both have a dark tail, a contrasting pale rump, and a distinctive white patch on the wing. Bills are grey and legs and feet are pink in both sexes. Pairs easily bond. Their contact calls are a cat-like mee-oowing in ducks, a lingering peewoo in drakes.\nRinged Woodpecker\nRio Branco Antbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nRio de Janeiro Antbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRio de Janeiro Antwren - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRio Suno Antwren - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRipley's Fruit Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. In fact, there have been no recorded sightings of it since 1953; it may or may not be extinct.\nRiver Lapwing - The River Lapwing, Vanellus duvaucelii, is a lapwing species which breeds in Southeast Asia from northeastern India to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. It appears to be entirely sedentary. Formerly also called Spur-winged Lapwing, this name is better reserved for one of the \"Spur-winged Plovers\" of old, Vanellus spinosus of Africa, whose scientific name it literally translates. The Masked Lapwing of Australasia was at one time also called \"Spur-winged Plover\", xompleting the name confusion - particularly as none of these is a plover in the strict sense.\nRiver Tern - This species breeds from March to May in colonies in less accessible areas such as sandbanks in rivers. It nests in a ground scrape, often on bare rock or sand, and lays three greenish-grey to buff eggs, which are blotched and streaked with brown.\nRiver Tyrannulet - Its range consists of several Amazon Basin river-corridors and the Orinoco River drainage river corridors, and extending into neighbor contries, or a country-river border. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist shrubland located along these corridors.\nRobust Thornbill\nRobust White-eye - The Robust White-eye , also known as the Lord Howe White-eye or Robust Silvereye, and locally as the \"Big Grinnell\", was a species of bird in the Zosteropidae family. It was endemic to the lowland forests of Lord Howe Island, east of Australia.\nRobust Woodpecker - The Robust Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRock Bunting - It breeds in northwest Africa, southern Europe east to central Asia, and the Himalayas. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further south, mainly within the breeding range of the resident southern populations. It is a rare wanderer to western Europe.\nRock Bush Quail\nRock Firefinch - The Rock Firefinch has a blue-grey bill, red back in the male and reddish brown back in the female and juvenile and broad primaries in both the adult and juvenile.\nRock Martin - The Rock Martin is a small passerine bird in the swallow family that is resident in Africa, and in southwestern Asia east to Pakistan. It breeds mainly in the mountains, but also at lower altitudes, especially in rocky areas and around towns, and, unlike most swallows, it is often found far from water. It is 12–15 cm long, with mainly brown plumage, paler-toned on the upper breast and underwing coverts, and with white \"windows\" on the spread tail in flight. The sexes are similar, but juveniles have pale fringes to the upperparts and flight feathers. The northern subspecies are smaller, paler, and whiter-throated than southern African forms, and are sometimes split as the \"Pale Crag Martin\". The Rock Martin hunts along cliff faces for flying insects using a slow flight with much gliding. Its call is a soft twitter.\nRock Nuthatch - The Western Rock Nuthatch is a bird associated with habitats with bare rocks, especially in mountainous areas. Those at the highest altitudes may move lower down in winter.\nRock Parrot - The Rock Parrot was described by ornithologist John Gould in 1841, its specific name petrophila derived from the Greek petros/πετρος 'rock' and philos/φιλος 'loving'.\nRock Partridge - Perdix graeca Meisner, 1804\nRock Pigeon - This species builds a large stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs. Its flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.\nRock Pipit - The Rock Pipit, Anthus petrosus, is a small passerine bird species which breeds on rocky coasts of western Europe northwards from Brittany. It is mainly resident in Ireland, Great Britain and France, in the west of its range, but the Scandinavian and Russian populations migrate south in winter; individuals sometimes stray into inland Europe. In Saxony it is a rarely-seen visitor for example; the Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden has but a single specimen , a male shot at Dresden as long ago as 8. Oktober 1894.\nRock Pratincole\nRock Ptarmigan - The Rock Ptarmigan is a medium-sized gamebird in the grouse family. It is known simply as Ptarmigan in Europe and colloquially as Snow Chicken or Partridge in North America, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada,\nRock Robin\nRock sandpiper - The Rock Sandpiper is a small shorebird.\nRock Shag - At a distance, the Rock Shag is a black and white bird, with head, neck and upperparts black and chest and underparts white. Closer up, the black areas vary from metallic blue to oily green, and are flecked with white in places. The legs and feet are a pink, fleshy colour, and the bare flesh around the beak and eyes is brick red. In breeding condition, there is a blackish though not very prominent crest on the forehead, and a distinctive white ear patch. There is even less sexual dimorphism than in most cormorant species, but males are 5%-10% larger on most size measurements.\nRock Sparrow - It is a rare vagrant north of its breeding range. There is just a single record from Great Britain, at Cley, Norfolk on 14 June 1981.\nRock wren - The 12 cm long adults have grey-brown upperparts with small black and white spots and pale grey underparts with a light brown rump. They have a light grey line over the eye, a long slightly decurved thin bill, a long barred tail and dark legs.\nRockwarbler\nRodrigues Fody - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRodrigues Solitaire - It was first recorded by François Leguat, the leader of a group of French Huguenot refugees who colonised the island from 1691 to 1693. He described the bird in some detail, including its solitary nesting behaviour. The Huguenots praised the birds for their flavour, especially the young ones.\nRodriguez Little Owl - The Rodrigues Owl , also known as Leguat's Owl or Rodrigues Little Owl, was a small owl. It lived on the Mascarene island of Rodrigues, but it is nowadays extinct. It is part of the genus of Mascarene owls, Mascarenotus. Like many of the Mascarene land-birds, the genus was a distinct relative to South-East Asian taxa, in this case apparently the Ninox owls of Australasia. However, they evolved to a form more like an Otus little owl, and in accord with a general trend seen in insular owls, their feet were proportionally elongated and they were able to live a more terrestrial lifestyle. It is sometimes assumed that Leguat mentioned this bird in his 1708 description, but this seems to be in error; Julien Tafforet gives a good description in 1726, however. The Rodrigues bird, which Tafforet compared to the petit-duc, the European Scops Owl , was more arboreal than its congeners and fed on small birds and \"lizards\" . A monotonous call was given in good weather. Considering the bird's likely relationships as eviden\nRodriguez Starling - Species-level: Testudophaga bicolor Hachisuka, 1937\nRoll's hill partridge\nRoller - There are two subspecies: the nominate garrulus, which breeds from in north Africa from Morocco east to Tunisia, southwest and south-central Europe and Asia Minor east through northwest Iran to southwest Siberia; and semenowi, which breeds in Iraq and Iran east to Kashmir and north to Turkmenistan, south Kazakhstan and northwest China . The European Roller is a long-distance migrant, wintering in southern Africa in two distinct regions, from Senegal east to Cameroon and from Ethiopia west to Congo and south to South Africa.\nRook - This species is similar in size to or slightly smaller than the Carrion Crow with black feathers often showing a blue or bluish-purple sheen in bright sunlight. The feathers on the head, neck and shoulders are particularly dense and silky. The legs and feet are generally black and the bill grey-black.\nRoraiman Antwren - It is found in Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRoraiman Barbtail - It is found in Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRoraiman Flycatcher - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRoraiman Nightjar - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRose Robin - It is endemic to Australia east or south of the Great Dividing Range, from Queensland through to southeastern South Australia. Its natural habitats are the gullies and valleys of temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRose-bellied Bunting - The Rose-bellied Bunting is a species of bird in the Cardinalidae family. It is also known as Rosita's Bunting. It is endemic to a tiny strip of hills along the Pacific slope of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, where it occurs in arid to semiarid thornforest and gallery woodlands. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRose-breasted Chat - The Rose-breasted Chat is a species of bird in the Cardinalidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRose-breasted Grosbeak - The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, is a large seed-eating songbird in the cardinal family . It breeds in cool-temperate North America, migrating to tropical America in winter.\nRose-collared Piha - Only the male has the rosy collar for which this species is named. The female resembles the Screaming Piha, but has a cinnamon vent.\nRose-headed Parakeet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nRose-ringed parakeet - This non-migrating species is one of few parrot species that have successfully adapted to living in 'disturbed habitats', and in that way withstood the onslaught of urbanisation and deforestation. In the wild, this is a noisy species with an unmistakable squawking call.\nRose-throated Tanager - It is found in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRoseate Spoonbill - The Roseate Spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of the United States.\nRoseate Tern - S. d. dougallii breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America, and winters south to the Caribbean and west Africa. Both the European and North American populations have been in long term decline, though active conservation measures have reversed the decline in the last few years at some colonies.\nRoss - It is found in woodland, open forest and riparian habitats in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.\nRoss' Goose - The Ross's Goose is a North American species of goose.\nRoss' gull - The Ross's Gull, Rhodostethia rosea, is a small gull, the only species in its genus, although it has been suggested it should be moved to the genus Hydrocoloeus, which otherwise only includes the Little Gull.\nRosy Minivet\nRosy Starling - The Rosy Starling, or Rose-coloured Starling, Sturnus roseus is a passerine bird in the starling family Sturnidae. It is sometimes given its own, monotypic genus Pastor; a split supported by recent studies; its closest living relatives are still not certainly known .\nRosy Thrush-Tanager - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRosy-billed Pochard - The Rosybill or Rosybill Pochard is a duck with a distinctive red bill on males and a slate-colored bill on females. Though classified as a diving duck, this pochard feeds more like a dabbling duck.\nRosy-patched Bushshrike\nRota White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRothschild's Peacock-Pheasant - The Mountain Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron inopinatum also known as Rothschild's Peacock-pheasant or Mirror Pheasant is a medium-sized, up to 65cm long, blackish brown pheasant with small ocelli and long graduated tail feathers. Both sexes are similar. The male has metallic blue ocelli on upperparts, green ocelli on tail of twenty feathers and two spurs on legs. Female has black ocelli on upperparts, unspurred legs and tail of eighteen feathers. The female is smaller and duller than male.\nRothschild's Swift - The Rothschild's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRouget's Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, pastureland, rural gardens, and urban areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRough-faced Cormorant - It is a large black and white cormorant with pink feet. White patches on the wings appear as bars when the wings are folded. Yellow-orange swellings are found above the base of the bill. The grey gular pouch is reddish in the breeding season. A blue eye-ring indicates its kinship with the other blue-eyed shags.\nRough-legged Buzzard - It breeds on cliffs, slopes or in trees, laying about four eggs, but more in good lemming years. It hunts over open land, eating small mammals and carrion. This species, along with the Osprey, is one of the few large birds of prey to hover regularly.\nRough-legged Tyrannulet - The Rough-legged Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family.\nRound-tailed Manakin\nRoviana Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations .\nRowley's Flycatcher - The Caerulean Paradise-flycatcher is endemic to the island of Sangihe, off north Sulawesi in Indonesia. Previously known only from a single specimen collected in 1873, this rare bird was rediscovered in October 1998 around forested valleys of Mount Sahendaruman in southern Sangihe. Its diet consists mainly of insects and other small invertebrates.\nRoyal Albatross - The Southern Royal Albatross, Diomedea epomophora, is a large seabird from the albatross family. At an average wingspan of almost 3 m , it is the second largest albatross, behind the Wandering Albatross.\nRoyal Cinclodes - This bird has a population of less than 250, and is classified as Critically Endangered. It is confined to tiny, humid patches of Polylepis woodland and montane scrub, and the major threat to tis survival is the use of fire and heavy grazing which restrict the regeneration of Polylepis.\nRoyal Flycatcher - The Amazonian Royal Flycatcher is found in forest and woodland throughout most of the Amazon basin in northern Bolivia, eastern Peru, eastern Ecuador, eastern Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern and western Brazil. It is easily overlooked and typically found in low densities, but overall it remains widespread and common. It is therefore considered to be of Least Concern by BirdLife International.\nRoyal Parrotfinch - The Royal Parrotfinch is approximately 11 cm long. This species is a multicoloured finch. Male Royal Parrotfinches have a bright red head and tail, blue breast and turquoise-green upperparts, while females are greener in colour. Young Royal Parrotfinches are duller with dull blue head. This species has high, thin voice and trilling song.\nRoyal Penguin - There is some controversy over whether Royal Penguins are a sub-species of Macaroni Penguins. Individuals of the two groups have been known to interbreed, though this is a relatively rare occurrence. Indeed, other penguins have been known to form mixed-species pairs in the wild.\nRoyal Spoonbill - The Royal Spoonbill is a large white bird with a black, spoon-shaped bill. It is a wading bird and has long legs for walking through water. It eats fish, shellfish, crabs and amphibians, catching its prey by making a side-to-side movement with its bill.\nRoyal Sunangel - The Royal Sunangel is a species of hummingbird. It is endemic to subtropical elfin forests and shrub in the Andes of northern Peru and adjacent south-eastern Ecuador. It is endangered due to habitat loss. It is strongly sexually dichromatic, and while females resemble other female sunangels, males are unique with their iridescent dark blue plumage.\nRoyal tern - The Royal Tern is a seabird in the tern family Sternidae. This bird has two distinctive subspecies.\nRuby-cheeked Sunbird\nRuby-crowned Kinglet - The Ruby-crowned Kinglet was described in 1766 by Linnaeus; its generic name is Latin for 'little king'. The Kinglets are a group which appear to be only distantly related to all other passerines. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet differs sufficiently in its voice and plumage from other kinglets that it is occasionally placed in its own genus, Corthylio.\nRuby-crowned Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRuby-throated Hummingbird - The Ruby-throated Hummingbird , is a small hummingbird. It is the only species of hummingbird that regularly nests east of the Mississippi River in North America.\nRuby-topaz Hummingbird - This hummingbird inhabits open country, gardens and cultivation. It is 8.1 cm long and weighs 3.5 g. Compared to most other hummingbirds, the almost straight, black bill is relatively short.\nRudd's Apalis\nRudd's Lark - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRuddy Crake - The bird occurs from Mexico south to north-west Costa Rica. It is found in freshwater habitats such as marshes, reedbeds, damp fields and ditches.\nRuddy Duck - The Ruddy Duck is a small stiff-tailed duck.\nRuddy Foliage-gleaner\nRuddy Ground Dove - The Ruddy Ground Dove is very common in scrub and other open country, including cultivated land and urban centers, where it can be seem feeding on grain alongside feral pigeons. It builds a solid but sparsely lined cup-shaped stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs. Incubation is 12–13 days with another 12–14 days to fledging. There may be a second or third brood. Chick mortality through predation and falls from the nest is high.\nRuddy Kingfisher - Reaching approximately 25cm, the Ruddy Kingfisher has a very large, bright red bill and equally red legs. The body is rust red, generally deepening to purple at the tail. There is little sexual dimorphism though some sources state that male birds are somewhat brighter in plumage.\nRuddy Pigeon - The Ruddy Pigeon, Patagioenas subvinacea, is a largish pigeon which breeds from Costa Rica south to western Ecuador, Bolivia and central Brazil. It belongs to a clade of small and rather plain species of Patagioenas with characteristic calls.\nRuddy Quail-Dove - It breeds throughout the West Indies, Central America, and tropical South America. It has appeared as a vagrant in Florida and southern Texas. It lays two buff colored eggs on a flimsy platform built on a shrub. Some nests are built on the ground.\nRuddy shelduck - The Ruddy Shelduck, Tadorna ferruginea, is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. In India it is known as the Brahminy Duck.\nRuddy Spinetail\nRuddy Tody-Flycatcher - The Ruddy Tody-Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela.\nRuddy Treerunner - This treerunner is found in hills and mountains from 1200 m up to the timberline, in forests and adjacent edges and clearings. It builds a large enclosed oval nest 25 m high in the crown of a tree on the underside of a thick branch. The nest is camouflaged with mosses and epiphytes and has a downward pointing entrance tunnel at its base. The eggs are undescribed, but members of this family typically lay two white eggs.\nRuddy Turnstone - It is a fairly small and stocky bird, 22–24 centimetres long with a wingspan of 50–57 centimetres and a weight of 85-150 grams. The dark, wedge-shaped bill is 2–2.5 centimetres long and slightly upturned. The legs are fairly short at 3.5 centimetres and are bright orange.\nRuddy Woodcreeper - This woodcreeper is typically 20 cm long, and weighs 44 g. It is almost entirely rufous, with a paler throat and grey line from the bill to the eye. The bill is longish and straight.\nRuddy-breasted Crake - Its breeding habitat is swamps and similar wet areas across south Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to south China, Japan and Indonesia. It has been recorded as a vagrant from the Australian territory of Christmas Island. This crake nests in a dry location on the ground in marsh vegetation, laying 6-9 eggs. It is mainly a permanent resident throughout its range, but some northern populations migrate further south in winter.\nRuddy-breasted Seedeater\nRuddy-headed Goose - It breeds on open grassy plains in Tierra del Fuego, Chile and the Falkland Islands. The South American birds are now very rare. They winter on lowlands in southern Argentina, some distance north of the breeding range. The Falklands population is resident.\nRuddy-tailed Flycatcher - This tiny flycatcher breeds from sea level to 1000 m altitude, locally to 1200 m, in wet mountain forests and in adjacent tall second growth. The nest is a pear-shaped pouch of plant fibres and leaves with a visored side entrance, built by the female 2-6 m high in the undergrowth and suspended from a twig or vine. The two chocolate-blotched white eggs are incubated by the female for 15-16 days to hatching, the male playing no part in the care of the eggs or young.\nRueck's Niltava - The Rueck's Blue-flycatcher is endemic to the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is known only from four specimens. Two specimens, an immature and adult male were last recorded and collected around 1917-1918 in secondary lowland forests in Medan area of North Sumatra province by the Dutch collector, August van Heijst. The other two skins are of doubtful origin.\nRueppell's Bustard - The Rüppell's Bustard is a species of bird in the family Otididae. It is native to southwestern Africa in Angola and Namibia, occurring in semi-desert habitats.\nRueppell's Chat - The Rueppell's Chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Eritrea and Ethiopia.\nRueppell's Griffon - Adults are close to 1 metre in length, with a wingspan of around 2.6 metres , and a weight that usually ranges from 7 to 9 kg . Both sexes are alike: mottled brown or black overall with a whitish-brown underbelly and thin, dirty-white fluff covering the head and neck. The base of the neck has a white collar, the eye is yellow or amber, the crop patch deep chocolate-brown. Silent as a rule, they become vocal at the nest and when at a carcass, squealing a great deal.\nRueppell's Parrot - Rüppell's Parrot is 22–25 cm long and weighs 121–156 g. It has an overall dark brown colour and its head is dark greyish. Both adult male and female birds have some yellow feathers on the leading edge of the wings, and yellow feathers covering their upper legs; in immatures, the yellow is dull or missing. They are sexually dimorphic; adult female birds have blue feathers on the lower back and the rump, whilst male birds loose this blue feather colouration as they become mature.\nRueppell's Robin-Chat - The Rueppell's Robin-chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nRufescent Screech-Owl - The Rufescent Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.\nRufescent Tiger Heron - It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is swamps.\nRuff - The Ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female , and has a breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar of ornamental feathers that inspired this bird's English name. The female and the non-breeding male have grey-brown upperparts and mainly white underparts. Three differently plumaged types of male, including a rare form that mimics the female, use a variety of strategies to obtain mating opportunities at a lek, and the colourful head and neck feathers are erected as part of the elaborate main courting display. The female has one brood per year and lays four eggs in a well-hidden ground nest, incubating the eggs and rearing the chicks, which are mobile soon after hatching, on her own. Predators of wader chicks and eggs include mammals such as foxes, feral cats and stoats, and birds such as large gulls, corvids and skuas.\nRuffed grouse - The Ruffed Grouse is frequently referred to as the \"partridge\". This is technically wrong - partridges are unrelated phasianids, and in hunting may lead to confusion with the Grey Partridge, it is a bird of woodlands, not open areas. The Ruffed Grouse is also sometimes called a \"grinch\" in parts of rural Kentucky and Ohio, likely due to its spectral quality in the woods.\nRufous & White Wren - The Rufous-and-white Wren, Thryophilus rufalbus, is a small songbird of the wren family. It is a resident breeding species from southwesternmost Mexico to northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. It was formerly placed in the genus Thryothorus .\nRufous Antpitta - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.\nRufous Bristlebird - Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous Cacholote - The Grey-crested Cacholote is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is sometimes known as the Rufous Cacholote, but this is potentially confusing, as this name also was used for the \"combined\" species when P. unirufa was considered a subspecies of P. cristata.\nRufous Cisticola\nRufous Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous Crab Hawk - The Rufous Crab-hawk is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nRufous Fantail - They are found in rainforests, wet forests, swamp woodlands and mangroves in the northern and eastern coastal Australia. Other countries include New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Guam, Sulawesi and eastern Indonesia. They roam frequently on the ground. During migration, the Fantail is seen in other more open habitats.\nRufous Fieldwren - The Rufous Fieldwren or Calamanthus is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family, endemic to Australia.\nRufous Fishing Owl - The Rufous Fishing-owl, Chouette D'Ussher, Chouette-pêcheuse Rousse, Búho Pescador Rojizo, or Cárabo Pescador Rojizo is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous Flycatcher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nRufous Gnateater - It is a small, rounded bird, 13cm in length with a short tail and fairly long legs. The plumage is mostly reddish-brown. There is a white stripe above the eye which ends in a tuft of feathers which can be hidden. The call is a series of quiet cheeps which become faster and higher-pitched. At dusk and dawn the males make a buzzing sound with their wing feathers as they fly around their territory.\nRufous Hornbill - As with other hornbills, females seal themselves within the nest cavity, where they lay the clutch and remain with the growing young for most or all of the nesting period. In some species the male helps with the sealing process from outside the nest cavity. The nestlings and female are fed by the male through a narrow vertical slit in the sealed nest opening.\nRufous Hornero - The Rufous Hornero is a large ovenbird with a square tail and a straight bill. The plumage is overall reddish brown with a dull brown crown and a whitish throat. Both sexes look alike, and juvenile birds are slightly paler below. There is some clinal size variation from north to south due to Bergmann's Rule. Rufous Horneros feed on insects and other arthropods obtained by foraging on the ground while walking.\nRufous hummingbird - The adult male, shown in the photo, has a white breast, rufous face, upperparts, flanks and tail and an iridescent orange-red throat patch . Some males have some green on back and/or crown. The female has green upperparts, white underparts, some iridescent orange feathers in the center of the throat, and a dark tail with white tips and rufous base. Females and the rare green-backed males are extremely difficult to differentiate from Allen's Hummingbird.\nRufous Monarch\nRufous Motmot - This large motmot is 46cm long and weighs 195 g. it is mainly cinnamion-rufous, with a black face mask and central breast spot, green wings and sides, a greenish-blue lower belly, and dark blue tail and flight feathers. The tail is very long and has a bare-shafted racket tip, except the Amazon. The bill and legs are black. Young birds are paler and duller than adults, and lack the tail rackets and black breast spot. The call of the Rufous Motmot is a low owl-like hoop hoop huhuhuhuhuhu.\nRufous Mourner - The Rufous Mourner is 20 cm. long and weighs 40 g. Its plumage is entirely rufous, brighter on the underparts, and with darker brown wings. The base of the bill is pink or horn-coloured. The call is a drawling way teeer and the song is wee hi hi weeur-weeur-weeur.\nRufous night-heron - The Nankeen Night Heron stands about 60cm tall. It is not strictly nocturnal. It often feeds during the day, especially during wet weather. The bird is dependent on a diet of small fish, reptiles, insects and sometimes eggs. It can be seen around freshwater rivers, lakes, bulrushes, estuaries, harbors and in residential fishponds for goldfish.\nRufous Owl - Legge S., Heinsohn R., Blackman C. and Murphy S. Predation by Rufous owls on Eclectus parrots and other animals at Iron Range National Park, Cape York. Corella 27: 45-46\nRufous Sabrewing\nRufous Scrub-bird - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous Songlark - It is a species of Sylviidae, the Old World Warblers, a successful passerine family. It shares the genus Cincloramphus with the Brown Songlark, another species endemic to Australia.\nRufous Spinetail\nRufous Treecreeper - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRufous Treepie - The Rufous Treepie is an Asian treepie, a member of the Corvidae family. It is long tailed and has loud musical calls making it very conspicuous. It is found commonly in open scrub, agricultural areas, forests as well as urban gardens. Like other corvids it is very adaptable, omnivorous and opportunistic in feeding.\nRufous Twistwing - It is associated with bamboo growing in humid forested regions in south-eastern Peru, northern Bolivia and far western Brazil . Most of its range is remote. Nevertheless, it has recently been estimated that the total population is below 10,000 individuals, leading to recommendations of treating it as vulnerable, and this was followed by BirdLife International in 2009. As suggested by its common name, its primaries are modified as in the related, but smaller, Brownish Twistwing. Unlike the Brownish Twistwing, the Rufous Twistwing is bright rufous overall.\nRufous Vanga\nRufous Whistler - It was originally described as Sylvia rufiventris by ornithologist John Latham in 1802., and later considered a member of Laniarius before being described in the genus Pachycephala.\nRufous Woodpecker - The Rufous Woodpecker, Micropternus brachyurus is a brown woodpecker found in South Asia. Its genus, Micropternus, is monotypic.\nRufous Wren - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous Wren Warbler\nRufous- sided towhee - Adults have rufous sides, a white belly and a long dark tail with white edges. The eyes are red, white for birds in the southeast. Males have a dark head, upper body and tail; these parts are brown in the female.\nRufous-backed Antvireo - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-backed Honeyeater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-backed Inca Finch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRufous-backed Shrike - It is a common resident breeder throughout the Indomalayan ecozone from Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indian peninsula except eastern states, to New Guinea, found on bushes in scrubby areas and cultivation. Winter visitor to southern areas such as southeast India and Sri Lanka.\nRufous-backed Sibia - The Rufous-backed Sibia is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-bellied Euphonia\nRufous-bellied Giant Kingfisher - This kookaburra is unusual in that it occupies dense rainforests and does not live in family groups but in pairs. It is a white-billed bird with a black cap, blue-tinged wings, and a pale rufous belly and tail feathers.\nRufous-bellied Heron\nRufous-bellied Nighthawk - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-bellied Niltava - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-bellied Saltator\nRufous-bellied Seedsnipe - It is a member of the seedsnipe family, a group of small gregarious waders which have adapted to a vegetarian diet of seeds and other plant material. It is found in the high Andes at up to 4000 m, although it can occur as low as 2000 m in the south of its range. It is very hardy, and does not move downhill even in harsh conditions.\nRufous-bellied Shrike Babbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-bellied Thrush - It is one of the most common birds across much of southeastern Brazil, and is well-known there under its local name sabiá-laranjeira. The Rufous-bellied Thrush has been the state bird of São Paulo since 1966. It was proposed as the national bird of Brazil, and was officially chosen in 2002.\nRufous-bellied Tit - It is found in Africa from the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Namibia east to Tanzania and northern Mozambique.\nRufous-bellied Triller - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nRufous-bellied Woodpecker - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of India, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-breasted Accentor - Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nRufous-breasted Bush Robin - The Rufous-breasted Bush-robin is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nRufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nRufous-breasted Flycatcher\nRufous-breasted Hermit - The Rufous-breasted Hermit or Hairy Hermit, Glaucis hirsutus, is a hummingbird that breeds from Panama south to Bolivia, and on Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada. It is a widespread and generally common species, though local populations may change in numbers and disappear altogether in marginal habitat\nRufous-browed Conebill\nRufous-browed Flycatcher - The Rufous-browed Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-browed Peppershrike - The adult Rufous-browed Peppershrike is approximately 15 cm long and weighs 28 g. It is bull-headed with a thick, somewhat shrike-like bill, which typically is blackish below and pinkish-grey above. The head is grey with a strong rufous eyebrow. The upperparts are green, and the yellow throat and breast shade into a white belly. The subspecies ochrocephala from the south-eastern part of its range has a shorter rufous eye-brow and a brown-tinged crown, while the subspecies virenticeps, contrerasi and saturata from north-western Peru and western Ecuador have greenish-yellow nape, auriculars and cheeks.\nRufous-browed Tyrannulet - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-browed Wren\nRufous-brown Solitaire - The Rufous-brown Solitaire is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-capped Antshrike\nRufous-capped Brush Finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRufous-capped Motmot - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRufous-capped Thornbill\nRufous-capped Warbler - Rufous-capped Warblers generally reach a length of about 12.7 cm in length. They are plain-olive to olive-gray, with white underbellies, bright yellow chests and throats, and a distinctive facial pattern consisting of a rufous cap, a white eyebrow-line , a dark eye-line fading into a rufous cheek, and a white malar marking. The bill is rather stout for a warbler, the wings are round and stubby, and the tail is long, often raised at a high angle and flicked.\nRufous-cheeked Tanager\nRufous-chested Flycatcher - The Rufous-chested Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-chested Plover - The Rufous-chested Plover or Rufous-chested Dotterel is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It breeds in southern parts of Argentina and Chile and on the Falkland Islands. Some birds migrate north in winter, reaching as far as Uruguay, southern Brazil and occasionally Peru. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and sandy shores.\nRufous-chested Sparrowhawk - It forms a superspecies with Eurasian Sparrowhawk and possibly Madagascar Sparrowhawk .\nRufous-chested Tanager\nRufous-chinned Laughingthrush - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-collared Kingfisher - The Rufous-collared Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-collared Monarch\nRufous-collared Robin - It is endemic to highlands of Middle America, south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, occurring in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Chiapas state in Mexico. Its closest relative is the American Robin, and like that species, it is found in varied habitats, from towns to forest. It is, however, restricted to highland areas with at least some trees. It is also known as the Rufous-collared Thrush.\nRufous-collared Sparrow - The Rufous-collared Sparrow is 13.5–15 cm long and weighs 20–25 g. The adult has a stubby grey bill and a grey head with broad black stripes on the crown sides and thinner stripes through the eye and below the cheeks. The nape and breast sides are rufous and the upperpart are black-streaked buff-brown. There are two white wing bars. The throat is white, and the underparts are off-white, becoming brown on the flanks and with a black breast patch.\nRufous-eared Warbler\nRufous-faced Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRufous-faced Warbler - It is found in Bangladesh, Bermuda, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRufous-fronted Ant-thrush - The Rufous-fronted Antthrush is a species of bird in the Formicariidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-fronted Parakeet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and arable land. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-headed Chachalaca\nRufous-headed Pygmy Tyrant - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-headed Robin - The Rufous-headed Robin is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in China and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-headed Tailorbird - The Rufous-Headed Tailorbird is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found only in the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-headed Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRufous-headed Woodpecker - It is found in the western Amazon in northern Bolivia, far south-western Brazil , eastern Ecuador, and eastern Peru. Its natural habitats are tropical humid forests and woodland. It is often associated with bamboo.\nRufous-naped Lark - The Rufous-naped lark's range is very large, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 5,600,000 square km. It is found in the following countries:\nRufous-naped Whistler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-naped Wren - This large wren breeds in lowlands and foothills from sea level up to 800 m altitude in forest or open woodland, scrub, second growth and savanna. It is found mainly on the Pacific side of the central mountain ranges. Its spherical nest has a side entrance and is lined with seed down. It is constructed 1.5 – 8 m high in thorny trees or shrub, especially bull’s-horn acacia.\nRufous-necked Foliage-gleaner\nRufous-necked Hornbill - It is currently found in Bhutan, north-east India, Burma, southern Yunnan and south-east Tibet, Nepal, China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Numbers have declined dramatically, and it is estimated that there are now less than 10,000 individuals. It is the longest-bodied species of hornbill at up to more than 120 cm , but often weighs half as much as the Southern Ground-Hornbill.\nRufous-necked Laughingthrush - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-sided Gerygone - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nRufous-sided Honeyeater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-sided Pygmy Tyrant - The Rufous-sided Pygmy-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Suriname. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-sided Warbling Finch\nRufous-streaked Accentor - The Rufous-streaked Accentor or Altai Accentor, is a species of bird in the Prunellidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.\nRufous-tailed Antbird - The Rufous-tailed Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nRufous-tailed Babbler - It is endemic to China.\nRufous-tailed Fantail - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-tailed Flatbill - BirdLife International 2004. Ramphotrigon ruficauda. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 27 July 2007.\nRufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner\nRufous-tailed Hawk - The Rufous-tailed Hawk is found in southern Argentina and Chile, including the entire region of Tierra del Fuego.\nRufous-tailed Hummingbird - This is a common to abundant bird of open country, river banks, woodland, scrub, forest edge, coffee plantations and gardens up to 1850 m .\nRufous-tailed Jacamar - The jacamars are elegant brightly coloured birds with long bills and tails. The Rufous-tailed Jacamar is typically 25 cm long with a 5 cm long black bill. The subspecies G. r. brevirostris has, as its name implies, a shorter bill. This bird is metallic green above, and the underparts are mainly orange, including the undertail, but there is a green breast band. Sexes differ in that the male has a white throat, and the female a buff throat; she also tends to have paler underparts. The race G. r. pallens has a copper-coloured back in both sexes.\nRufous-tailed Jungle Flycatcher - The Rufous-tailed Jungle-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-tailed Palm Thrush - The Rufous-tailed Palm-thrush is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Angola, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Namibia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nRufous-tailed Plantcutter - It is a stocky bird, 18-20 centimetres in length, with short wings and a red eye. The longish tail is black with a reddish base. The upperparts of the male are grey-brown with dark streaks while the crown and underparts are chestnut-coloured. There is a white bar on the wing and a pattern of dark and pale areas on the face. Females have buff underparts with brown streaks and have buff rather than white in the wings. They do not have the males' chestnut crown but may show a cinnamon wash to the forehead and throat. The song is a series of stuttering notes followed by a rasping trill similar to a fishing reel.\nRufous-tailed Robin - It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forests in the taiga of northeastern Asia and south to Mongolia, and wintering in Southeast Asia and southern China. The first record in Europe was on Fair Isle, Scotland in October 2004. Another was in Poland in January 2006.\nRufous-tailed Rock-Thrush - It breeds in southern Europe across central Asia to northern China. This species is strongly migratory, all populations wintering in Africa south of the Sahara. It is an uncommon visitor to northern Europe. Its range has contracted somewhat at the periphery in recent decades due to habitat destruction. For example, in the early 20th century it bred in the Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska where none occur today,\nRufous-tailed Shrike - The Isabelline Shrike breeds in south Siberia and central Asia and China ) and winters in the tropics. These two races are sometimes regarded as separate species. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe, including Great Britain, usually in autumn.\nRufous-tailed Wheatear - Its breeding range covers south-east Turkey, northern Iraq and western Iran. It migrates south in winter to the Arabian Peninsula and north-east Africa.\nRufous-tailed Xenops - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRufous-throated Bronze-Cuckoo\nRufous-throated Dipper - It lives along rapid rocky streams in the Andes at 800 metres to 2500 metres in elevation. The bird breeds in the alder zone at 1500 metres to 2500 metres in elevation.\nRufous-throated Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-throated Fulvetta - The Rufous-throated Fulvetta is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRufous-throated Hill Partridge - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRufous-throated Honeyeater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nRufous-throated Sapphire - The Rufous-throated Sapphire is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found at forest edge, savanna-like habitats and plantations in northern and central South America.\nRufous-throated Solitaire - It is found on Dominica, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Martinique, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent.\nRufous-throated Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nRufous-throated White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufous-throated Wren-Babbler - Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nRufous-vented Chachalaca - Rufous-vented Chachalaca is a largely arboreal species found in forest and woodland, but it is also found in more open dry scrubby areas. This combined with relatively low hunting pressure, make it far less vulnerable than larger members of the family, notably curassows.\nRufous-vented Ground Cuckoo - As other species in the genus Neomorphus, the Rufous-vented Ground-cuckoo is generally highly inconspicious and infrequently seen. While overall unlikely to be threatened due ot its large range, one subspecies, maximiliani , may be extinct, and another, dulcis , is very rare and likely to be threatened. The subspecies vary primarily in the details of the chest- and crown-pattern, and the colour of the tail and wings.\nRufous-vented Laughingthrush - The Rufous-vented Laughingthrush is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRufous-webbed Brilliant\nRufous-webbed Bush-Tyrant - The Rufous-webbed Bush-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Polioxolmis. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRufous-winged Antwren\nRufous-winged Bushlark - It is short-tailed and has a strong stout bill. In size it is not as long as the Skylark, measuring about 15 centimeters.\nRufous-winged Buzzard - The adult Rufous-winged Buzzard is 38–43 cm long. It has a grey head and underparts, with some streaking on the crown, neck and breast. The rest of the upperparts are rufous grey, and the uppertail is bright rufous. In flight, from above it shows rufous-chestnut flight feathers and the rufous uppertail, and from below it has a grey body, white underwing coverts, and greyish flight feathers and undertail. The juvenile is duller and browner, with a brown-grey head and white supercilium.\nRufous-winged Fulvetta - The Rufous-winged Fulvetta is a bird species of the Old World babbler family . Its common name is misleading, because it is not a close relative of the \"typical\" fulvettas, which are now in the genus Fulvetta and are actually Sylviidae.\nRufous-winged Ground Cuckoo - The Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in humid primary forests in northern Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela, and Colombia. At 50 cm , it is the largest South American cuckoo together with the other members of the genus Neomorphus.\nRufous-winged sparrow - The Rufous-winged Sparrow, Aimophila carpalis, is a slender sparrow with a gray face and a brown streak which extends behind the eyes.\nRufous-winged Sunbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRufus Nightjar - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.\nRunning Coua - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nRusset Antshrike - It is a resident breeder in the tropical New World from southern Mexico to northern Bolivia.\nRusset Hawk-Owl - This species is found in the lowlands and hills of New Britain and New Ireland Endemic Bird Areas at elevations up to 1200 meters above sea level.\nRusset Nightingale-Thrush - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRusset Sparrow - The Russet Sparrow , also called the Cinnamon or Cinnamon Tree Sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. A chunky little seed-eating bird with a thick bill, it has a body length of 14–15 cm . Its plumage is mainly warm rufous above and grey below. It exhibits sexual dimorphism, with both sexes having a pattern similar to that of the corresponding sex of House Sparrow. Its vocalisations are sweet and musical chirps, which when strung together form a song.\nRusset-mantled Softtail - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRusset-tailed Thrush - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRusset-throated Puffbird - The puffbirds are an insectivorous bird family related to the jacamars, but lacking the iridescent colours of that group. The Russet-throated Puffbird is fairly common in dry scrub and dry forest. It excavates a burrow in an arboreal termite colony, and lays three white eggs.\nRusset-winged Spadebill - The Russet-winged Spadebill is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRust-and-yellow Tanager\nRustic bunting - It breeds across northern Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering in south east Asia, Japan, and eastern China. It is a rare wanderer to western Europe.\nRusty Blackbird - Adults have a pointed bill and a pale yellow eye. They have black plumage; the female is greyer. \"Rusty\" refers to the brownish winter plumage. They resemble the western member of the same genus, the Brewer's Blackbird; however, this bird has a longer bill and the male's head is iridescent green. The song resembles the grating of a rusty hinge.\nRusty Bush Lark - The range of M. rufa is large, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 470,000 km2. It is typically found inhabiting the dry savanna ecoregions of Chad, Mali, Niger, Sudan, and Togo.\nRusty flowerpiercer - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRusty Mouse-warbler\nRusty Pitohui - The Rusty Pitohui is distributed and endemic to lowland and hill forests of New Guinea, Aru Island and West Papuan islands. The subspecies P. f. leucorhynchus and P. f. fuscus of Waigeo and Batanta islands off Western New Guinea has whitish bill.\nRusty Sparrow - The Rusty Sparrow is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRusty Thicketbird - The Rusty Thicketbird is a bird species. Previously placed in the \"Old World Warbler\" family Sylviidae, it does not seem to be a close relative of the typical warblers; probably it belongs in the newly-recognized grass-warbler family Megaluridae. It is found only in Papua New Guinea.\nRusty Tinamou - All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and Tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.\nRusty-backed Antwren\nRusty-backed Monjita - The Rusty-backed Monjita is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is endemic to Argentina.\nRusty-backed Spinetail - The Rusty-backed Spinetail is a Neotropical species of bird in the Furnariidae family. The taxon from Panama is sometimes considered a separate species, the Coiba Spinetail .\nRusty-barred Owl - They are medium-sized owls, 33 to 38 centimetres long, and weighing 285 to 340 grams . Their body and breast are rust-coloured, and they have a brown barring, hence their common name. They have dark eyes set in a rusty coloured heads. They also have a pale buff barring their upper parts.\nRusty-bellied Brush-Finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRusty-bellied Shortwing - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is affected by habitat loss. Having turned out to be more common than previously believed, it is downlisted from Vulnerable to Near Threatened in the 2007 IUCN Red List.\nRusty-breasted Antpitta - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.\nRusty-breasted Nunlet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\nRusty-browed Warbling Finch\nRusty-capped Fulvetta - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRusty-collared Seedeater - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRusty-crowned Babbler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nRusty-crowned Ground Sparrow - Rusty-crowned Ground-sparrow natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nRusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRusty-faced Parrot - It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRusty-flanked Crake - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and water storage areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRusty-flanked Fantail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nRusty-fronted Barwing - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nRusty-fronted Canastero - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nRusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher - The Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRusty-headed Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRusty-margined Flycatcher - It is found in northern and central South America in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela; also eastern Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nRusty-naped Pitta\nRusty-necked Piculet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRusty-necklaced Partridge - The Przevalski's Partridge or Rusty-necklaced Partridge is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It is found only in China.\nRusty-tailed Flycatcher - The Rusty-tailed Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae.\nRusty-winged Barbtail\nRusty-winged Starling - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nRuwenzori - The Collared Apalis or Ruwenzori Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. Formerly in genus Apalis, Nguembock et al. moved species to a new genus, Oreolais. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.\nRuwenzori Nightjar\nRuwenzori Puff-back Flycatcher - The Ruwenzori Batis is a species of bird in the Platysteiridae family. It is found in the Albertine Rift in Burundi, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is montane forests above 1,400 m.\nRyukyu Minivet\nRyukyu Robin - The specific name komadori is, somewhat confusingly, the common name of its relative Erithacus akahige in Japanese.\nRyukyu Wood Pigeon - The Ryukyu Wood-pigeon , otherwise known as the Silver-banded or Silver-crescented Pigeon is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to islands in the Okinawa archipelago south-west of the Japanese mainland. In the Okinawa group, it has been recorded from Iheyajima, Izenajima, Okinawa proper and the nearby islet Yagachijima. In the Kerama Retto to the west of Okinawa, it was found on Zamamijima, whereas in the Daitō group, some 300 km to the SE of Okinawa, it occurred on both major islets, Kita Daitōjima and Minami Daitōjima. In earlier times, it was most likely also found on other islands near Okinawa, such as Iejima. The species' scientific name honors Stejneger's friend, the specimen collector Pierre Louis Jouy.\nAnimal of the Day",
"European_robin.txt\nEuropean robin\nThe European robin (Erithacus rubecula), known simply as the robin or robin redbreast in the British Isles, is a small insectivorous passerine bird, specifically a chat, that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher. Around 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) in length, the male and female are similar in colouration, with an orange breast and face lined with grey, brown upperparts and a whitish belly. It is found across Europe, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa; it is sedentary in most of its range except the far north.\n\nThe term robin is also applied to some birds in other families with red or orange breasts. These include the American robin (Turdus migratorius), which is a thrush, and the Australasian robins of the family Petroicidae, the relationships of which are unclear.\n\nTaxonomy and systematics \n\nThe European robin was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla rubecula. Its specific epithet rubecula is a diminutive derived from the Latin ruber 'red'. The genus Erithacus was introduced by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800, giving the bird its current binomial name of E. rubecula. \n\nThe genus previously included the Japanese robin and the Ryukyu robin. These east Asian species were shown in molecular phylogenetic studies to be more similar to a group of other Asian species than to the European robin. In a reorganisation of the genera, the Japanese and the Ryukyu robins were moved to the resurrected genus Larvivora leaving the European robin as the sole member of Erithacus. The phylogenetic analysis placed Erithacus in the subfamily Erithacinae which otherwise contained only African species, but its exact position with respect to the other genera was not resolved.\n\nThe distinctive orange breast of both sexes contributed to the European robin's original name of redbreast (orange as the name of a colour was unknown in English until the sixteenth century, by which time the fruit of that name had been introduced). In the fifteenth century, when it became popular to give human names to familiar species, the bird came to be known as robin redbreast, which was eventually shortened to robin. As a given name, Robin was originally a diminutive of Robert. Other older English names for the bird include ruddock and robinet. In American literature of the late 19th century, this robin was frequently called the English robin. The Frisian robyntsje or robynderke is similar to the English name, while Dutch roodborstje and French rouge-gorge both refer to the distinctively coloured front. \n\nThe robin belongs to a group of mainly insectivorous birds that have been variously assigned to the thrushes or \"flycatchers\", depending on how these groups were perceived taxonomically. Eventually, the flycatcher-thrush assemblage was re-analysed and the genus Erithacus assigned to a group of thrush-like true flycatchers, the tribe Saxicolini, that also includes the common nightingale and the Old World chats. \n\nSubspecies \n\nIn its large continental Eurasian range, robins vary somewhat, but do not form discrete populations that might be considered subspecies. Robin subspecies are mainly distinguished by forming resident populations on islands and in mountainous areas. The robin found in Ireland, Britain and much of western Europe, Erithacus rubecula melophilus, occurs as a vagrant in adjacent regions. E. r. witherbyi from Northwestern Africa, Corsica, and Sardinia closely resembles melophilus but for a shorter wing length. The northeasternmost birds, large and fairly washed-out in colour are E. r. tataricus. In the southeast of its range, E. r. valens of the Crimean Peninsula, E. r. caucasicus of the Caucasus and N Transcaucasia, and E. r. hyrcanus southeastwards into Iran are generally accepted as significantly distinct.\n\nOn Madeira and the Azores, the local population has been described as E. r. microrhynchos, and although not distinct in morphology, its isolation seems to suggests the subspecies is valid (but see below).\n\nCanary Islands robin \n\nThe most distinct birds are those of Gran Canaria (E. r. marionae) and Tenerife (E. r. superbus), which may be considered two distinct species or at least two different subspecies. It is readily distinguished by a white eye-ring, an intensely coloured breast, and a grey line that separates the orange-red from the brown colouration. Its belly is entirely white. \n\nCytochrome b sequence data and vocalisations indicate that the Gran Canaria/Tenerife robins are indeed very distinct and probably derived from colonisation by mainland birds some 2 million years ago. In addition, Gran Canaria and Tenerife birds are well distinct genetically between each other. \n\nChristian Dietzen, Hans-Hinrich Witt and Michael Wink published in 2003 in Avian Science a study called \"The phylogeographic differentiation of the European robin Erithacus rubecula on the Canary Islands revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data and morphometrics: evidence for a new robin taxon on Gran Canaria?\". In it they concluded that Gran Canaria's robin diverged genetically from their European relatives as far back as 2.3 million years, while the Tenerife ones took half a million years to make this leap, 1.8 million years ago. The reason would be a different colonization of the Canaries by this bird, which arrived to the oldest island first (Gran Canaria) and subsequently passed to the neighboring island (Tenerife). \n\nA thorough comparison between marionae and superbus is pending to confirm that the first one is effectively a different subspecies. Initial results suggest that birds from Gran Canaria have wings about 10% shorter than those on Tenerife. The west Canary Islands populations are younger (Middle Pleistocene) and only beginning to diverge genetically. Robins from the western Canary Islands: El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera (E. (r.) microrhynchus) are similar to the European (Erithacus rubecula).\n\nFinally, the robins which can be found in Fuerteventura are the European ones, which is not surprising as the species does not breed either in this island or in the nearby Lanzarote, they are wintering exemplaries or just passing through during their long migrations between Africa and Europe.\n\nOther robins \n\nThe larger American robin (Turdus migratorius) is named for its similarity to the European robin, but the two birds are not closely related. The similarity lies largely in the orange chest patch in both species. This American species was incorrectly shown \"feathering its nest\" in London in the film Mary Poppins, but it only occurs in the UK as a very rare vagrant. \n\nSome South and Middle American Turdus thrushes are also named as robins such as the rufous-collared robin. The Australian \"robin redbreast\", more correctly the scarlet robin (Petroica multicolor), is more closely related to the crows and jays than it is to the European robin. It belongs to the family Petroicidae, commonly called \"Australasian robins\". The red-billed leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) is sometimes named \"Pekin robin\" by aviculturalists. Another group of Old World Flycatchers, this time from Africa and Asia, is the genus Copsychus; its members are known as magpie-robins, one of which, the Oriental magpie robin (C. saularis), is the national bird of Bangladesh. \n\nDescription \n\nThe adult European robin is 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) long and weighs 16–22 g (9/16–13/16 oz), with a wingspan of 20–22 cm (8–9 in). The male and female bear similar plumage; an orange breast and face (more strongly coloured in the otherwise similar British subspecies E. r. melophilus), lined by a bluish grey on the sides of the neck and chest. The upperparts are brownish, or olive-tinged in British birds, and the belly whitish, while the legs and feet are brown. The bill and eyes are black. Juveniles are a spotted brown and white in colouration, with patches of orange gradually appearing.\n\nDistribution and habitat \n\nThe robin occurs in Eurasia east to Western Siberia, south to Algeria and on the Atlantic islands as far west as the Azores and Madeira. It is a vagrant in Iceland. In the south east, it reaches the Caucasus range. Irish and British robins are largely resident but a small minority, usually female, migrate to southern Europe during winter, a few as far as Spain. Scandinavian and Russian robins migrate to Britain and western Europe to escape the harsher winters. These migrants can be recognised by the greyer tone of the upper parts of their bodies and duller orange breast. The European robin prefers spruce woods in northern Europe, contrasting with its preference for parks and gardens in Ireland and Britain.\n\nAttempts to introduce the European robin into Australia and New Zealand in the latter part of the 19th century were unsuccessful. Birds were released around Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin by various local acclimatisation societies, with none becoming established. There was a similar outcome in North America as birds failed to establish after being released in Long Island, New York in 1852, Oregon in 1889–92, and the Saanich Peninsula in British Columbia in 1908–10. \n\nBehaviour and ecology \n\nThe robin is diurnal, although has been reported to be active hunting insects on moonlit nights or near artificial light at night. Well known to British and Irish gardeners, it is relatively unafraid of people and drawn to human activities involving the digging of soil, in order to look out for earthworms and other food freshly turned up. Indeed, the robin is considered to be a gardener's friend and for various folklore reasons the robin would never be harmed. In continental Europe on the other hand, robins were hunted and killed as with most other small birds, and are more wary. Robins also approach large wild animals, such as wild boar and other animals which disturb the ground, to look for any food that might be brought to the surface. In autumn and winter, robins will supplement their usual diet of terrestrial invertebrates, such as spiders, worms and insects, with berries and fruit. They will also eat seed mixtures placed on bird-tables.\n\nMale robins are noted for their highly aggressive territorial behaviour. They will attack other males that stray into their territories, and have been observed attacking other small birds without apparent provocation. Such attacks sometimes lead to fatalities, accounting for up to 10% of adult robin deaths in some areas. \n\nBecause of high mortality in the first year of life, a robin has an average life expectancy of 1.1 years; however, once past its first year it can expect to live longer and one robin has been recorded as reaching 19 years of age. A spell of very low temperatures in winter may also result in significant mortality. This species is parasitised by the moorhen flea, Dasypsyllus gallinulae.\n\nBreeding \n\nRobins may choose a wide variety of sites for building a nest, in fact anything which can offer some shelter, like a depression or hole may be considered. As well as the usual crevices, or sheltered banks, odder objects include pieces of machinery, barbecues, bicycle handlebars, bristles on upturned brooms, discarded kettles, watering cans, flower pots and even hats. The nest is composed of moss, leaves and grass, with finer grass, hair and feathers for lining. Two or three clutches of five or six eggs are laid throughout the breeding season, which commences in March in Britain and Ireland. The eggs are a cream, buff or white speckled or blotched with reddish-brown colour, often more heavily so at the larger end. When juvenile birds fly from the nests they are mottled brown in colour all over. After two to three months out of the nest, the juvenile bird grows some orange feathers under its chin and over a similar period this patch gradually extends to complete the adult appearance.\n\nVocalisations \n\nThe robin produces a fluting, warbling during the breeding season. Both the male and female sing during the winter, when they hold separate territories, the song then sounding more plaintive than the summer version. The female robin moves a short distance from the summer nesting territory to a nearby area that is more suitable for winter feeding. The male robin keeps the same territory throughout the year. During the breeding season, male robins usually initiate their morning song an hour before civil sunrise, and usually terminate their daily singing around thirty minutes after sunset. Nocturnal singing can also occur, especially in urban areas that are artificially lighted during the night. Under artificial light, nocturnal singing can be used by urban robins to actively shunt daytime anthropogenic noise. A variety of calls are also made at any time of year, including a ticking note indicating anxiety or mild alarm.\n\nMagnetoreception \n\nThe avian magnetic compass of the robin has been extensively researched and uses Vision-Based Magnetoreception, in which the robin's ability to sense the magnetic field of the earth for navigation is affected by the light entering the bird's eye. The physical mechanism of the robin's magnetic sense is not fully understood, but may involve quantum entanglement of electron spins. \n\nCultural depictions \n\nThe robin features prominently in British folklore, and that of northwestern France, but much less so in other parts of Europe.Ingersoll, p. 167 It was held to be a storm-cloud bird and sacred to Thor, the god of thunder, in Norse mythology. Robins feature in the traditional children's tale, Babes in the Wood; the birds cover the dead bodies of the children.\n\nMore recently, the robin has become strongly associated with Christmas, taking a starring role on many Christmas cards since the mid 19th century. The robin has appeared on many Christmas postage stamps. An old British folk tale seeks to explain the robin's distinctive breast. Legend has it that when Jesus was dying on the cross, the robin, then simply brown in colour, flew to his side and sang into his ear in order to comfort him in his pain. The blood from his wounds stained the robin's breast, and thereafter all robins got the mark of Christ's blood upon them. \n\nAn alternative legend has it that its breast was scorched fetching water for souls in Purgatory. The association with Christmas, however, more probably arises from the fact that postmen in Victorian Britain wore red jackets and were nicknamed \"Robins\"; the robin featured on the Christmas card is an emblem of the postman delivering the card. \n\nIn the 1960s, in a vote publicised by The Times, the robin was adopted as the unofficial national bird of the UK. In 2015, the robin was again voted Britain's national bird in a poll organised by birdwatcher David Lindo, taking 34% of the final vote. \n\nSeveral English and Welsh sports organisations are nicknamed \"The Robins\". These include the professional football clubs Bristol City, Swindon Town, Cheltenham Town (whose home colours are red) and, traditionally, Wrexham FC, as well as the English rugby league team Hull Kingston Rovers (whose home colours are white with a red band). A small bird is an unusual choice, although it is thought to symbolise agility in darting around the field.",
"taggedwiki.zubiaga.org\nThe lion (Panthera leo) is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is ...\nLion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nLion\nFossil range: Early Pleistocene to recent\nMale\n( Linnaeus , 1758)\nDistribution of lions in Africa\nDistribution of lions in India. The Gir Forest, in the State of Gujarat , is the last natural range of approximately 300 wild Asiatic Lions . There are plans to reintroduce some lions to Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in the neighboring State of Madhya Pradesh .\n[3]\nThe lion (Panthera leo) is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera . With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb ) in weight, [4] it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger . Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with a critically endangered remnant population in northwest India , having disappeared from North Africa , the Middle East , and Western Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene (about 10,000 years ago), the lion was the most widespread large land mammal beside humans. They were found in most of Africa, much of Eurasia from western Europe to India and, in the Americas, from the Yukon to Peru .\nShould they survive the rigors of cubhood, lionesses in secure habitat, such as national parks, frequently reach an age of 12–14 years whereas male lions seldom live for longer than 8 years. [5] However, there are records of lionesses living for up to 20 years in the wild. In captivity both male and female lions can live for over 20 years. They typically inhabit savanna and grassland , although they may take to bush and forest . Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates . The lion is an apex and keystone predator , although they will resort to scavenging if the opportunity arises. While lions, in general, do not selectively hunt humans, some have been known to become man-eaters and seek human prey.\nThe lion is a vulnerable species , having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of 30 to 50 percent over the past two decades in its African range; [6] populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not well understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern. Lions have been kept in menageries since Roman times and have been a key species sought after and exhibited in zoos the world over since the late eighteenth century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered Asiatic subspecies .\nThe male lion is highly distinctive and is easily recognized by its mane . The lion, particularly the face of the male, is one of the most widely recognized animal symbols in human culture . Depictions have existed from the Upper Paleolithic period, with carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves , through virtually all ancient and medieval cultures where they historically occurred. It has been extensively depicted in literature, in sculptures , in paintings , on national flags , and in contemporary films and literature .\nContents\n10 External links\nEtymology\nThe lion's name, similar in many Romance languages, derives from the Latin leo; [7] cf. the Ancient Greek λέων (leon). [8] The Hebrew word lavi (לָבִיא) may also be related, [9] as well as the Ancient Egyptian rw. [10] It was one of the many species originally described, as Felis leo, by Linnaeus in his eighteenth century work, Systema Naturae . [3] The generic component of its scientific designation, Panthera leo, often is presumed to derive from Greek pan- (\"all\") and ther (\"beast\"), but this may be a folk etymology . Although it came into English through the classical languages, panthera is probably of East Asian origin, meaning \"the yellowish animal,\" or \"whitish-yellow\". [11]\nTaxonomy and evolution\nSkull of a modern lion at Kruger National Park\nThe oldest lion-like fossil is known from Laetoli in Tanzania and is perhaps 3.5 million years old; some scientists have identified the material as Panthera leo. These records are not well-substantiated, and all that can be said is that they pertain to a Panthera-like felid. The oldest confirmed records of Panthera leo in Africa are about 2 million years younger. [12] The closest relatives of the lion are the other Panthera species: the tiger , the jaguar , and the leopard . Morphological and genetic studies reveal that the tiger was the first of these recent species to diverge. About 1.9 million years ago the jaguar branched off the remaining group, which contained ancestors of the leopard and lion. The lion and leopard subsequently separated about 1 to 1.25 million years ago from each other. [13]\nPanthera leo itself evolved in Africa between 1 million and 800,000 years ago before spreading throughout the Holarctic region. [14] It appeared in Europe for the first time 700,000 years ago with the subspecies Panthera leo fossilis at Isernia in Italy . From this lion derived the later Cave Lion (Panthera leo spelaea), which appeared about 300,000 years ago. During the upper Pleistocene the lion spread to North and South America, and developed into Panthera leo atrox, the American Lion . [15] Lions died out in northern Eurasia and America at the end of the last glaciation , about 10,000 years ago; [16] this may have been secondary to the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna . [17]\nSubspecies\nSouthwest African lions (Panthera leo bleyenberghi)\nTraditionally, twelve recent subspecies of lion were recognized, the largest of which has been recognized as the Barbary Lion . [18] The major differences between these subspecies are location, mane appearance, size, and distribution. Because these characteristics are very insignificant and show a high individual variability, most of these forms were debatable and probably invalid; additionally, they were often based upon zoo material of unknown origin that may have had \"striking, but abnormal\" morphological characteristics. [19] Today only eight subspecies usually are accepted, [16] [20] but one of these (the Cape Lion formerly described as Panthera leo melanochaita) probably is invalid. [20] Even the remaining seven subspecies might be too many; mitochondrial variation in recent African lions is modest, which suggests that all sub-Saharan lions could be considered a single subspecies, possibly divided in two main clades: one to the west of the Great Rift Valley and the other to the east. Lions from Tsavo in Eastern Kenya are much closer genetically to lions in Transvaal (South Africa), than to those in the Aberdare Range in Western Kenya. [21] [22]\nRecent\nEight recent subspecies are recognized today:\nP. l. persica, known as the Asiatic Lion or South Asian, Persian, or Indian Lion, once was widespread from Turkey , across the Middle East , to Pakistan , India , and even to Bangladesh . However, large prides and daylight activity made them easier to poach than tigers or leopards; now around 300 exist in and near the Gir Forest of India. [23]\nP. l. leo, known as the Barbary Lion , is extinct in the wild due to excessive hunting, although captive individuals may still exist. This was one of the largest of the lion subspecies, with reported lengths of 3–3.3 metres (10–10.8 ft) and weights of more than 200 kilograms (440 lb) for males. They ranged from Morocco to Egypt . The last wild Barbary lion was killed in Morocco in 1922. [24]\nP. l. senegalensis, known as the West African Lion, is found in western Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria .\nP. l. azandica, known as the Northeast Congo Lion, is found in the northeastern parts of the Congo .\nP. l. nubica, known as the East African or Massai Lion, is found in east Africa, from Ethiopia and Kenya to Tanzania and Mozambique .\nP. l. bleyenberghi, known as the Southwest African or Katanga Lion, is found in southwestern Africa, Namibia , Botswana , Angola , Katanga ( Zaire ), Zambia , and Zimbabwe .\nP. l. krugeri, known as the Southeast African Lion or Transvaal Lion, is found in the Transvaal region of southeastern Africa, including Kruger National Park .\nP. l. melanochaita, known as the Cape Lion , became extinct in the wild around 1860. Results of mitochondrial DNA research do not support the status as a distinct subspecies. It seems probable that the Cape lion was only the southernmost population of the extant P. l. krugeri. [20]\nPrehistoric\nSeveral additional subspecies of lion existed in prehistoric times:\nP. l. atrox, known as the American Lion or American cave lion, was abundant in the Americas from Alaska to Peru in the Pleistocene Epoch until about 10,000 years ago. This form as well as the cave lion sometimes are considered to represent separate species, but recent phylogenetic studies suggest that they are in fact, subspecies of the lion (Panthera leo). [16] One of the largest lion subspecies to have existed, its body length is estimated to have been 1.6–2.5 m (5–8 ft). [25]\nP. l. fossilis, known as the Early Middle Pleistocene European cave lion , flourished about 500,000 years ago; fossils have been recovered from Germany and Italy .\nCave Lions , Chamber of Felines, Lascaux caves\nP. l. spelaea, known as the European cave lion , Eurasian cave lion, or Upper Pleistocene European cave lion, occurred in Eurasia 300,000 to 10,000 years ago. [16] This species is known from Paleolithic cave paintings (such as the one displayed to the right), ivory carvings, and clay busts, [26] indicating it had protruding ears, tufted tails, perhaps faint tiger-like stripes, and that at least some males had a ruff or primitive mane around their necks. [27] With this example being a hunting scene it is likely that it depicts females hunting for the pride using the same strategy as their contemporary relatives and males may not be part of the subject.\nP. l. vereshchagini, known as the East Siberian- or Beringian cave lion , was found in Yakutia ( Russia ), Alaska ( USA ), and the Yukon Territory ( Canada ). Analysis of skulls and mandibles of this lion demonstrate that it is distinctly—larger than the European cave lion and smaller than the American cave lion with differing skull proportions. [16] [28]\nDubious\nP. l. sinhaleyus, known as the Sri Lanka Lion , appears to have become extinct approximately 39,000 years ago. It is only known from two teeth found in deposits at Kuruwita . Based on these teeth, P. Deraniyagala erected this subspecies in 1939. [29]\nP. l. europaea, known as the European Lion , probably was identical with Panthera leo persica or Panthera leo spelea; its status as a subspecies is unconfirmed. It became extinct around 100 AD due to persecution and over-exploitation. It inhabited the Balkans , the Italian Peninsula , southern France , and the Iberian Peninsula . It was a very popular object of hunting among Romans , Greeks , and Macedonians .\nP. l. youngi or Panthera youngi , known as the North-Eastern Pleistocene China cave lion , flourished 350,000 years ago. [30] Its relationship to the extant lion subspecies is obscure, and it probably represents a distinct species.\nP. l. maculatus, known as the Marozi or Spotted lion, sometimes is believed to be a distinct subspecies, but may be an adult lion that has retained its juvenile spotted pattern. If it was a subspecies in its own right, rather than a small number of aberrantly colored individuals, it has been extinct since 1931. A less likely identity is a natural leopard-lion hybrid commonly known as a leopon . [31]\nHybrids\nFurther information: Panthera hybrid , liger , and tigon\nLions have been known to breed with tigers (most often the Siberian and Bengal subspecies) to create hybrids called ligers and tigons . [32] They also have been crossed with leopards to produce leopons , [33] and jaguars to produce jaglions . The marozi is reputedly a spotted lion or a naturally occurring leopon, while the Congolese Spotted Lion is a complex lion-jaguar-leopard hybrid called a lijagulep. Such hybrids once commonly were bred in zoos, but this is now discouraged due to the emphasis on conserving species and subspecies. Hybrids are still bred in private menageries and in zoos in China .\nThe liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress. [34] Because the growth-inhibiting gene from the female tiger is absent, a growth-promoting gene is passed on by the male lion, the resulting ligers grow far larger than either parent. They share physical and behavioural qualities of both parent species (spots and stripes on a sandy background). Male ligers are sterile, but female ligers are often fertile. Males have about a 50 percent chance of having a mane, but if they grow one, their manes will be modest: around 50 percent of a pure lion mane. Ligers are typically between 3.0 and 3.7 m (10 to 12 feet) in length, and can be between 360 and 450 kg (800 to 1,000 pounds) or more. [34] The less common tigon is a cross between the lioness and the male tiger. [35]\nPhysical characteristics\nDuring confrontations with others, the mane makes the lion look bigger than he really is.\nThe lion is the tallest (at the shoulder) of the felines, and also is the second-heaviest feline after the tiger . With powerful legs, a strong jaw , and 8 cm (3.1 in) long canine teeth , the lion can bring down and kill large prey. [36] The skull of the lion is very similair to that of the tiger, though the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened, with a slightly shorter postorbital region. The lion's skull has broader nasal openings. However, due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually, only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species. [37] Lion coloration varies from light buff to yellowish, reddish, or dark ochraceous brown. The underparts are generally lighter and the tail tuft is black. Lion cubs are born with brown rosettes (spots) on their body, rather like those of a leopard. Although these fade as lions reach adulthood, faint spots often may still be seen on the legs and underparts, particularly on lionesses. The ancient Egyptians usually portrayed their lioness goddesses with a single rosette on their shoulders.\nLions are the only members of the cat family to display obvious sexual dimorphism —that is, males and females look distinctly different. They also have specialized roles that each gender plays in the pride. For instance, the lioness, the hunter, lacks the male's thick cumbersome mane, which would impede her ability to be camouflaged when stalking the prey and create overheating in chases. The color of the male's mane varies from blond to black, generally becoming darker as the lion grows older.\nTwo lionesses in Masai Mara, Kenya\nWeights for adult lions generally lie between 150–250 kg (330–550 lb) for males and 120–182 kg (264–400 lb) for females. [4] Nowell and Jackson report average weights of 181 kg for males and 126 kg for females; one male shot near Mount Kenya was weighed at 272 kg (600 lb). [24] Lions tend to vary in size depending on their environment and area, resulting in a wide spread in recorded weights. For instance, lions in southern Africa tend to be about 5 percent heavier than those in East Africa , in general. [38]\nHead and body length is 170–250 cm (5 ft 7 in – 8 ft 2 in) in males and 140–175 cm (4 ft 7 in – 5 ft 9 in) in females; shoulder height is about 123 cm (4 ft) in males and 107 cm (3 ft 6 in) in females. The tail length is 90-105 cm (2 ft 11 in - 3 ft 5 in) in males and 70–100 cm in females (2 ft 4 in – 3 ft 3 in). [4] The longest known lion was a black-maned male shot near Mucsso, southern Angola in October 1973; the heaviest known lion was a man-eater shot in 1936 just outside Hectorspruit in eastern Transvaal , South Africa and weighed 313 kg (690 lb). [39] Lions in captivity tend to be larger than lions in the wild—the heaviest lion on record is a male at Colchester Zoo in England named Simba in 1970, who weighed in at 375 kg (826 lb). [40] [ unreliable source? ]\nThe most distinctive characteristic shared by both females and males, is that the tail ends in a hairy tuft. In some lions, the tuft conceals a hard \"spine\" or \"spur\", approximately 5 mm long, formed of the final sections of tail bone fused together. The lion is the only felid to have a tufted tail—the function of the tuft and spine are unknown. Absent at birth, the tuft develops around 5½ months of age and is readily identifiable at 7 months. [41]\nMane\nThermographic image of a lion, showing the insulating mane\nThe mane of the male lion, unique among cats, is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the species. It makes the lion appear larger, providing an excellent intimidation display; this aids the lion during confrontations with other lions and with the species' chief competitor in Africa, the spotted hyena . [42] The presence, absence, color, and size of the mane is associated with genetic precondition, sexual maturity, climate, and testosterone production; the rule of thumb is the darker and fuller the mane, the healthier the lion. Sexual selection of mates by lionesses favors males with the densest, darkest mane. [43] Research in Tanzania also suggests mane length signals fighting success in male-male relationships. Darker-maned individuals may have longer reproductive lives and higher offspring survival, although they suffer in the hottest months of the year. [44] In prides including a coalition of two or three males, it is possible that lionesses solicit mating more actively with the males who are more heavily maned. [43]\nA maneless male lion, who also has little body hair—from Tsavo East National Park, Kenya\nScientists once believed that the distinct status of some subspecies could be justified by morphology , including the size of the mane. Morphology was used to identify subspecies such as the Barbary Lion and Cape Lion . Research has suggested, however, that environmental factors influence the color and size of a lion's mane, such as the ambient temperature . [44] The cooler ambient temperature in European and North American zoos , for example, may result in a heavier mane. Thus the mane is an inappropriate marker for identifying subspecies. [20] [45] The males of the Asiatic subspecies, however, are characterized by sparser manes than average African lions. [46]\nManeless male lions have been reported in Senegal and Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, and the original male white lion from Timbavati also was maneless. Castrated lions have minimal manes. The lack of a mane is sometimes found in inbred lion populations; inbreeding also results in poor fertility. [47]\nLioness showing the ruff that sometimes leads to misidentification as a male\nMany lionesses have a ruff that may be apparent in certain poses. Sometimes it is indicated in sculptures and drawings, especially ancient artwork, and is misinterpreted as a male mane. It differs from a mane, however, in being at the jaw line below the ears, of much less hair length, and frequently not noticeable, whereas a mane extends above the ears of males, often obscuring their outline entirely.\nCave paintings of extinct European Cave Lions exclusively show animals with no mane, or just the hint of a mane, suggesting to some that they were more or less maneless; [27] however, females hunting for a pride are the likely subjects of the drawings—since they are shown in a group related to hunting—so these images do not enable a reliable judgment about whether the males had manes. The drawings do suggest that the extinct species used the same social organization and hunting strategies as contemporary lions.\nWhite lions\nWhite lions owe their coloring to a recessive gene; they are rare forms of the subspecies Panthera leo krugeri\nThe white lion is not a distinct subspecies, but a special morph with a genetic condition, leucism , [19] that causes paler colouration akin to that of the white tiger ; the condition is similar to melanism , which causes black panthers . They are not albinos, having normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin. White Transvaal lion (Panthera leo krugeri) individuals occasionally have been encountered in and around Kruger National Park and the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve in eastern South Africa, but are more commonly found in captivity , where breeders deliberately select them. The unusual cream color of their coats is due to a recessive gene . [48] Reportedly, they have been bred in camps in South Africa for use as trophies for canned hunts . [49]\nConfirmation of the existence of white lions only came in the late twentieth century. For hundreds of years prior, the white lion had been thought to be a figment of legend circulating in South Africa, the white pelage of the animal said to represent the goodness in all creatures. Sightings were first reported in the early 1900s, and continued, infrequently, for almost fifty years until, in 1975, a litter of white lion cubs was found at Timbavati Game Reserve. [50]\nBiology and behavior\nLions spend much of their time resting and are inactive for about 20 hours per day. [51] Although lions can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socializing, grooming, and defecating. Intermittent bursts of activity follow through the night hours until dawn, when hunting most often takes place. They spend an average of two hours a day walking and 50 minutes eating. [52]\nGroup organization\nLions are predatory carnivores who manifest two types of social organization. Some are residents, living in groups, called prides. [53] The pride usually consists of approximately five or six related females, their cubs of both sexes, and one or two males known as a coalition who mate with the adult females (although extremely large prides, consisting of up to 30 individuals, have been observed). The coalition of males associated with a pride usually amounts to two, but may increase to four and decrease again over time. Male cubs are excluded from their maternal pride when they reach maturity.\nA pride on the move near Governors Camp, in the Massai Mara, Kenya\nThe second organizational behaviour is labeled nomads, who range widely and move about sporadically, either singularly or in pairs. [53] Pairs are more frequent among related males who have been excluded from their birth pride. Note that a lion may switch lifestyles; nomads may become residents and vice versa. Males have to go through this lifestyle and some never are able to join another pride. A female who becomes a nomad has much greater difficulty joining a new pride, as the females in a pride are related and reject most attempts by an unrelated female to join their family group.\nThe area a pride occupies is called a pride area, whereas that by a nomad is a range. [53] The males associated with a pride tend to stay on the fringes, patrolling their territory. Why sociality —the most pronounced in any cat species—has developed in lionesses is the subject of much debate. Increased hunting success appears an obvious reason, but this is less than sure upon examination: coordinated hunting does allow for more successful predation, but also ensures that non-hunting members reduce per capita caloric intake, however, some take a role raising cubs, who may be left alone for extended periods of time. The health of the hunters is the primary need for the survival of the pride and they are the first to consume the prey at the site it is taken. Other benefits include possible kin selection (better to share food with a related lion than with a stranger), protection of the young, maintenance of territory, and individual insurance against injury and hunger. [24]\nLioness in a burst of speed while hunting in the Serengeti\nLionesses do the majority of the hunting for their pride, being smaller, swifter and more agile than the males, and unencumbered by the heavy and conspicuous mane, which causes overheating during exertion. They act as a co-ordinated group in order to stalk and bring down the prey successfully. However, if nearby the hunt, males have a tendency to dominate the kill once the lionesses have succeeded and eaten. They are more likely to share with the cubs than with the lionesses, but rarely share food they have killed by themselves. Smaller prey is eaten at the location of the hunt, thereby being shared among the hunters; when the kill is larger it often is dragged to the pride area. There is more sharing of larger kills, [54] although pride members often behave aggressively toward each other as each tries to consume as much food as possible.\nBoth males and females defend the pride against intruders. Some individual lions consistently lead the defense against intruders, while others lag behind. [55] Lions tend to assume specific roles in the pride. Those lagging behind may provide other valuable services to the group. [56] An alternative hypothesis is that there is some reward associated with being a leader who fends off intruders and the rank of lionesses in the pride is reflected in these responses. [57] The male or males associated with the pride must defend their relationship to the pride from outside males who attempt to take over the pride. Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females; [58] membership only changes with the births and deaths of lionesses, [59] although some females do leave and become nomadic. [60] Subadult males on the other hand, must leave the pride when they reach maturity at around 2–3 years of age. [60]\nHunting and diet\nWhile a lioness such as this has very sharp teeth, prey is usually killed by strangulation\nLions are powerful animals who usually hunt in coordinated groups and stalk their chosen prey. However, they are not particularly known for their stamina - for instance, a lioness' heart makes up only 0.57 percent of her body weight (a male's is about 0.45 percent of his body weight), whereas a hyena's heart is close to 1 percent of its body weight. [59] Thus, although lionesses can reach speeds of 59 km/h (40 mph), [61] they can only do so for short bursts [62] so they have to be close to their prey before starting the attack. They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night. [63] They sneak up to the victim until they reach a distance of approximately 30 metres (98 ft) or less. Typically, several female lions work together and encircle the herd from different points. Once they have closed with a herd, they usually target the closest prey. The attack is short and powerful; they attempt to catch the victim with a fast rush and final leap. The prey is usually killed by strangulation , [64] which can cause cerebral ischemia or asphyxia (which results in hypoxemic , or \"general,\" hypoxia ). The prey may also be killed by the lion enclosing the animal's mouth and nostrils in its jaws [4] (which would also result in asphyxia). Smaller prey, though, may simply be killed by a swipe of a lion's paw. [4]\nThe prey consists mainly of large mammals, with a preference for wildebeest , impalas , zebras , buffalo , and warthogs in Africa and nilgai , wild boar , and several deer species in India. Many other species are hunted, based on availability. Mainly this will include ungulates weighing between 50 and 300 kg (110–660 lb) such as kudu , hartebeest , gemsbok , and eland . [4] Occasionally, they take relatively small species such as Thomson's Gazelle or springbok . Lions living near the Namib coast feed extensively on seals . [65] Lions hunting in groups are capable of taking down most animals, even healthy adults, but in most parts of their range they rarely attack very large prey such as fully grown male giraffes due to the danger of injury.\nSeven lions along the road in the Masai Mara park reserve in Kenya\nExtensive statistics collected over various studies show that lions normally feed on mammals in the range 190–550 kg (420–1210 lb). Wildebeest rank at the top of preferred prey (making nearly half of the lion prey in the Serengeti ) followed by zebra. [66] Most adult hippopotamuses , rhinoceroses , elephants , and smaller gazelles , impala , and other agile antelopes are generally excluded. However giraffes and buffalos are often taken in certain regions. For instance, in Kruger National Park, giraffes are regularly hunted. [67] , and in Manyara Pack, Cape buffaloes constitute as much as 62% of the lion's diet, [68] due to the high number density of buffaloes. Occasionally hippopotamus is also taken, but adult rhinoceroses are generally avoided. Even though smaller than 190 kg (420 lb), warthogs are often taken depending on availability. [69] In some areas, they specialise in hunting atypical prey species; this is the case at the Savuti river, where they prey on elephants. [70] Park guides in the area reported that the lions, driven by extreme hunger, started taking down baby elephants, and then moved on to adolescents and, occasionally, fully grown adults during the night when elephants' vision is poor. [71] Lions also attack domestic livestock; in India cattle contribute significantly to their diet. [46] They are capable of killing other predators such as leopards , cheetahs , hyenas , and wild dogs , though (unlike most felids) they seldom devour the competitors after killing them. They also scavenge animals either dead from natural causes or killed by other predators, and keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, being keenly aware that they indicate an animal dead or in distress. [72] A lion may gorge itself and eat up to 30 kg (66 lb) in one sitting; [73] if it is unable to consume all the kill it will rest for a few hours before consuming more. On a hot day, the pride may retreat to shade leaving a male or two to stand guard. [74] An adult lioness requires an average of about 5 kg (11 lb) of meat per day, a male about 7 kg (15.4 lb). [75]\nThe hunters of a pride sharing a zebra where the kill occurred\nBecause lionesses hunt in open spaces where they are easily seen by their prey, cooperative hunting increases the likelihood of a successful hunt; this is especially true with larger species. Teamwork also enables them to defend their kills more easily against other large predators such as hyenas, which may be attracted by vultures from kilometers away in open savannas. Lionesses do most of the hunting; males attached to prides do not usually participate in hunting, except in the case of larger quarry such as giraffe and buffalo. In typical hunts, each lioness has a favored position in the group, either stalking prey on the \"wing\" then attacking, or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey in flight from other lionesses. [76]\nYoung lions first display stalking behavior around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old. They begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two. [77]\nReproduction and life cycle\nMost lionesses will have reproduced by the time they are four years of age. [78] Lions do not mate at any specific time of year, and the females are polyestrous . [79] As with other cats, the male lion's penis has spines which point backwards. Upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which may cause ovulation. [80] A lioness may mate with more than one male when she is in heat ; [81] during a mating bout, which could last several days, the couple copulates twenty to forty times a day and are likely to forgo eating. Lions reproduce very well in captivity.\nDuring a mating bout, a couple may copulate 20 to 40 times a day for several days\nThe average gestation period is around 110 days, [79] the female giving birth to a litter of one to four cubs in a secluded den (which may be a thicket, a reed-bed, a cave or some other sheltered area) usually away from the rest of the pride. She will often hunt by herself whilst the cubs are still helpless, staying relatively close to the thicket or den where the cubs are kept. [82] The cubs themselves are born blind—their eyes do not open until roughly a week after birth. They weigh 1.2–2.1 kg (2.6–4.6 lb) at birth and are almost helpless, beginning to crawl a day or two after birth and walking around three weeks of age. [83] The lioness moves her cubs to a new den site several times a month, carrying them one by one by the nape of the neck, to prevent scent from building up at a single den site and thus avoiding the attention of predators that may harm the cubs. [82]\nUsually, the mother does not integrate herself and her cubs back into the pride until the cubs are six to eight weeks old. [84] However, sometimes this introduction to pride life occurs earlier, particularly if other lionesses have given birth at about the same time. For instance, lionesses in a pride often synchronize their reproductive cycles so that they cooperate in the raising and suckling of the young (once the cubs are past the initial stage of isolation with their mother), who suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. In addition to greater protection, the synchronization of births also has an advantage in that the cubs end up being roughly the same size, and thus have an equal chance of survival. If one lioness gives birth to a litter of cubs a couple of months after another lioness, for instance, then the younger cubs, being much smaller than their older brethren, are usually dominated by larger cubs at mealtimes—consequently, death by starvation is more common amongst the younger cubs.\nA pregnant lioness (right)\nIn addition to starvation, cubs also face many other dangers, such as predation by jackals, hyenas, leopards, martial eagles and snakes. Even buffaloes, should they catch the scent of lion cubs, often stampede towards the thicket or den where they are being kept, doing their best to trample the cubs to death whilst warding off the lioness. Furthermore, when one or more new males oust the previous male(s) associated with a pride, the conqueror(s) often kill any existing young cubs, [85] perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die. All in all, as many as 80 percent of the cubs will die before the age of two. [86]\nWhen first introduced to the rest of the pride, the cubs initially lack confidence when confronted with adult lions other than their mother. However, they soon begin to immerse themselves in the pride life, playing amongst themselves or attempting to initiate play with the adults. Lionesses with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another lioness's cubs than lionesses without cubs. The tolerance of the male lions towards the cubs varies—sometimes, a male will patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, whereas another may snarl and bat the cubs away. [87]\nThe tolerance of male lions towards the cubs varies. They are, however, generally more likely to share food with the cubs than with the lionesses.\nWeaning occurs after six to seven months. Male lions reach maturity at about 3 years of age and, at 4–5 years of age, are capable of challenging and displacing the adult male(s) associated with another pride. They begin to age and weaken between 10 and 15 years of age at the latest, [88] if they have not already been critically injured whilst defending the pride (once ousted from a pride by rival males, male lions rarely manage a second take-over). This leaves a short window for their own offspring to be born and mature. If they are able to procreate as soon as they take over a pride, potentially, they may have more offspring reaching maturity before they also are displaced. A lioness often will attempt to defend her cubs fiercely from a usurping male, but such actions are rarely successful. He usually kills all of the existing cubs who are less than two years old. A lioness is weaker and much lighter than a male; success is more likely when a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against one male. [85]\nContrary to popular belief, it is not only males that are ousted from their pride to become nomads, although the majority of females certainly do remain with their birth pride. However, when the pride becomes too large, the next generation of female cubs may be forced to leave to eke out their own territory. Furthermore, when a new male lion takes over the pride, subadult lions, both male and female, may be evicted. [89] Life is harsh for a female nomad. Nomadic lionesses rarely manage to raise their cubs to maturity, without the protection of other pride members.\nOne scientific study reports that both males and females may interact homosexually . [90] [91] Male lions pair-bond for a number of days and initiate homosexual activity with affectionate nuzzling and caressing, leading to mounting and thrusting. A study found that about 8 percent of mountings have been observed to occur with other males. Female pairings are held to be fairly common in captivity, but have not been observed in the wild.\nHealth\nThough adult lions have no natural predators, evidence suggests that the majority die violently from humans or other lions. [92] This is particularly true of male lions, who, as the main defenders of the pride, are more likely to come into aggressive contact with rival males. In fact, even though a male lion may reach an age of 15 or 16 years if he manages to avoid being ousted by other males, the majority of adult males do not live to be more than 10 years old. This is why the average lifespan of a male lion tends to be significantly less than that of a lioness in the wild. However, members of both sexes can be injured or even killed by other lions when two prides with overlapping territories come into conflict.\nVarious species of tick commonly infest the ears, neck and groin regions of most lions. [93] [94] Adult forms of several species of the tapeworm genus Taenia have been isolated from intestines, the lions having ingested larval forms from antelope meat. [95] Lions in the Ngorongoro Crater were afflicted by an outbreak of stable fly ( Stomoxys calcitrans ) in 1962; this resulted in lions becoming covered in bloody bare patches and emaciated. Lions sought unsuccessfully to evade the biting flies by climbing trees or crawling into hyena burrows; many perished or emigrated as the population dropped from 70 to 15 individuals. [96] A more recent outbreak in 2001 killed six lions. [97] Lions, especially in captivity, are vulnerable to the Canine distemper virus (CDV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). [19] CDV is spread through domestic dogs and other carnivores ; a 1994 outbreak in Serengeti National Park resulted in many lions developing neurological symptoms such as seizures. During the outbreak, several lions died from pneumonia and encephalitis . [98] FIV, which is similar to HIV while not known to adversely affect lions, is worrisome enough in its effect in domestic cats that the Species Survival Plan recommends systematic testing in captive lions. It occurs with high to endemic frequency in several wild lion populations, but is mostly absent from Asiatic and Namibian lions. [19]\nCommunication\nHead rubbing and licking are common social behaviors within a pride\nWhen resting, lion socialization occurs through a number of behaviors, and the animal's expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful tactile gestures are head rubbing and social licking, [99] which have been compared with grooming in primates. [100] Head rubbing—nuzzling one's forehead, face and neck against another lion—appears to be a form of greeting, [101] as it is seen often after an animal has been apart from others, or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females. [102] Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked, which may have arisen out of utility, as a lion cannot lick these areas individually. [103]\nLions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures. [104] Their repertoire of vocalizations is also large; variations in intensity and pitch, rather than discrete signals, appear central to communication. Lion sounds include snarling, purring, hissing, coughing, miaowing, woofing and roaring. Lions tend to roar in a very characteristic manner, starting with a few deep, long roars that trail off into a series of shorter ones. They most often roar at night; the sound, which can be heard from a distance of 8 kilometres (5.0 mi), is used to advertise the animal's presence. [105] Lions have the loudest roar of any big cat.\nInterspecific predatory relationships\nThe relationship between lions and spotted hyenas in areas where they coexist is unique in its complexity and intensity. Lions and spotted hyenas are both apex predators which feed on the same prey, and are therefore in direct competition with one another. As such, they will often fight over and steal each others' kills. Though hyenas are popularly assumed to be opportunistic scavengers profiting from the lion's hunting abilities, it is quite often the case that the reverse is true. In Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater, the spotted hyena population greatly exceeds that of the resident lions, which obtain a large proportion of their food by stealing hyena prey. The feud between the two species, however, extends beyond battles over food. In animals, it is usually the case that territorial boundaries of another species are disregarded. Hyenas and lions are an exception to this; they set boundaries against each other as they would against members of their own species. Male lions in particular are extremely aggressive toward hyenas, and have been observed to hunt and kill hyenas without eating them. Conversely, hyenas are major predators of lion cubs, and will harass lionesses over kills. [106] [107] However, healthy adult males, even single ones, are generally avoided at all costs.\nLions tend to dominate smaller felines such as cheetahs and leopards in areas where they are sympatric. They will steal their kills and will kill their cubs and even adults when given the chance. The cheetah has a 50 percent chance of losing its kill to lions or other predators. [108] Lions are major killers of cheetah cubs, up to 90 percent of which are lost in their first weeks of life due to attacks by other predators. Cheetahs avoid competition by hunting at different times of the day and hide their cubs in thick brush. Leopards also use such tactics, but have the advantage of being able to subsist much better on small prey than either lions or cheetahs. Also, unlike cheetahs, leopards can climb trees and use them to keep their cubs and kills away from lions. However, lionesses will occasionally be successful in climbing to retrieve leopard kills. [109] Similarly, lions dominate African wild dogs , not only taking their kills but also preying on both young and adult dogs (although the latter are rarely caught). [110]\nThe Nile crocodile is the only sympatric predator (besides man) that can singly threaten the lion. Depending on the size of the crocodile and the lion, either can lose kills or carrion to the other. Lions have been known to kill crocodiles venturing onto land, [111] while the reverse is true for lions entering waterways containing crocodiles, as evidenced by the fact that lion claws have on occasion been found in crocodile stomachs. [112]\nDistribution and habitat\nIn Africa, lions can be found in savanna grasslands with scattered Acacia trees which serve as shade; [113] their habitat in India is a mixture of dry savanna forest and very dry deciduous scrub forest. [114] In relatively recent times the habitat of lions spanned the southern parts of Eurasia , ranging from Greece to India , and most of Africa except the central rainforest -zone and the Sahara desert. Herodotus reported that lions had been common in Greece around 480 BC; they attacked the baggage camels of the Persian king Xerxes on his march through the country. Aristotle considered them rare by 300 BC and by 100 AD extirpated. [115] A population of the Asiatic Lion survived until the tenth century in the Caucasus , their last European outpost. [116]\nThe species was eradicated from Palestine by the Middle Ages and from most of the rest of Asia after the arrival of readily available firearms in the eighteenth century. Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century they became extinct in North Africa and the Middle East . By the late nineteenth century the lion had disappeared from Turkey and most of northern India, [19] [117] while the last sighting of a live Asiatic lion in Iran was in 1941 (between Shiraz and Jahrom, Fars province), though the corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of Karun river, Khūzestān Province in 1944. There are no subsequent reliable reports from Iran . [73] The subspecies now survives only in and around the Gir Forest of northwestern India. [23] About 300 lions live in a 1,412 km² (558 square miles) sanctuary in the state of Gujarat , which covers most of the forest. Their numbers are slowly increasing. [118]\nUntil the late Pleistocene (about 10,000 years ago), the lion was the most widespread land mammal aside from man. They were found in most of Africa, much of Eurasia from western Europe to India and the Bering land bridge , and in the Americas from Yukon to Peru. [30] Parts of this range were occupied by subspecies that are extinct today.\nPopulation and conservation status\nMain article: Lion hunting\nLion cubs playing in the Serengeti\nMost lions now live in eastern and southern Africa, and their numbers there are rapidly decreasing, with an estimated 30–50 percent decline over the last two decades. [6] Currently, estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002–2004, [119] [120] down from early 1990s estimates that ranged as high as 100,000 and perhaps 400,000 in 1950. The cause of the decline is not well-understood, and may not be reversible. [6] Currently, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are considered the most significant threats to the species. [121] [122] The remaining populations are often geographically isolated from each other, which can lead to inbreeding , and consequently, a lack of genetic diversity . Therefore the lion is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources , while the Asiatic subspecies is critically endangered . The lion population in the region of West Africa is isolated from lion populations of Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals. The number of mature individuals in West Africa is estimated by two separate recent surveys at 850–1,160 (2002/2004). There is disagreement over the size of the largest individual population in West Africa: the estimates range from 100 to 400 lions in Burkina Faso 's Arly-Singou ecosystem. [6]\nAn Asiatic Lioness Panthera leo persica, named Moti, born in captivity in Helsinki Zoo (Finland) in October 1994; she arrived at Bristol Zoo (England) in January 1996.\nConservation of both African and Asian lions has required the setup and maintenance of national parks and game reserves; among the best known are Etosha National Park in Namibia , Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, and Kruger National Park in eastern South Africa . Outside these areas, the issues arising from lions' interaction with livestock and people usually results in the elimination of the former. [123] In India, the last refuge of the Asiatic lion is the 1,412 km² (558 square miles) Gir Forest National Park in western India which had about 359 lions (as of April 2006). As in Africa, numerous human habitations are close by with the resultant problems between lions, livestock, locals and wildlife officials. [124] The Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project plans to establish a second independent population of Asiatic Lions at the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh . [125] It is important to start a second population to serve as a gene pool for the last surviving Asiatic lions and to help develop and maintain genetic diversity enabling the species to survive.\nThe former popularity of the Barbary lion as a zoo animal has meant that scattered lions in captivity are likely to be descended from Barbary Lion stock. This includes twelve lions at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent , England that are descended from animals owned by the King of Morocco . [126] Another eleven animals believed to be Barbary lions were found in Addis Ababa zoo, descendants of animals owned by Emperor Haile Selassie . WildLink International, in collaboration with Oxford University , launched their ambitious International Barbary Lion Project with the aim of identifying and breeding Barbary lions in captivity for eventual reintroduction into a national park in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco . [45]\nFollowing the discovery of the decline of lion population in Africa, several coordinated efforts involving lion conservation have been organised in an attempt to stem this decline. Lions are one species included in the Species Survival Plan , a coordinated attempt by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to increase its chances of survival. The plan was originally started in 1982 for the Asiatic lion, but was suspended when it was found that most Asiatic lions in North American zoos were not genetically pure , having been hybridized with African lions. The African lion plan started in 1993, focusing especially on the South African subspecies, although there are difficulties in assessing the genetic diversity of captive lions, since most individuals are of unknown origin, making maintenance of genetic diversity a problem. [19]\nMan-eaters\nMain article: Man-eater\nWhile lions do not usually hunt people, some (usually males) seem to seek out human prey; well-publicized cases include the Tsavo maneaters , where 28 railway workers building the Kenya-Uganda Railway were taken by lions over nine months during the construction of a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya in 1898, and the 1991 Mfuwe man-eater, which killed six people in the Laungwa River Valley in Zambia . [127] In both, the hunters who killed the lions wrote books detailing the animals' predatory behavior. The Mfuwe and Tsavo incidents bear similarities: the lions in both incidents were larger than normal, lacked manes, and seemed to suffer from tooth decay . The infirmity theory, including tooth decay, is not favored by all researchers; an analysis of teeth and jaws of man-eating lions in museum collections suggests that, while tooth decay may explain some incidents, prey depletion in human-dominated areas is a more likely cause of lion predation on humans. [128] In their analysis of Tsavo and man-eating generally, Kerbis Peterhans and Gnoske acknowledge that sick or injured animals may be more prone to man-eating, but that the behavior is \"not unusual, nor necessarily 'aberrant'\" where the opportunity exists; if inducements such as access to livestock or human corpses are present, lions will regularly prey upon human beings. The authors note that the relationship is well-attested amongst other pantherines and primates in the paleontological record. [129]\nA man-eating lion in British East Africa\nThe lion's proclivity for man-eating has been systematically examined. American and Tanzanian scientists report that man-eating behavior in rural areas of Tanzania increased greatly from 1990 to 2005. At least 563 villagers were attacked and many eaten over this period—a number far exceeding the more famed \"Tsavo\" incidents of a century earlier. The incidents occurred near Selous National Park in Rufiji District and in Lindi Province near the Mozambican border. While the expansion of villagers into bush country is one concern, the authors argue that conservation policy must mitigate the danger because, in this case, conservation contributes directly to human deaths. Cases in Lindi have been documented where lions seize humans from the center of substantial villages. [130]\nAuthor Robert R. Frump wrote in The Man-eaters of Eden that Mozambican refugees regularly crossing Kruger National Park at night in South Africa are attacked and eaten by the lions; park officials have conceded that man-eating is a problem there. Frump believes thousands may have been killed in the decades after apartheid sealed the park and forced the refugees to cross the park at night. For nearly a century before the border was sealed, Mozambicans had regularly walked across the park in daytime with little harm. [131]\nPacker estimates more than 200 Tanzanians are killed each year by lions, crocodiles , elephants, hippos, and snakes , and that the numbers could be double that amount, with lions thought to kill at least 70 of those. Packer and Ikanda are among the few conservationists who believe western conservation efforts must take account of these matters not just because of ethical concerns about human life, but also for the long term success of conservation efforts and lion preservation. [130]\nA man-eating lion was killed by game scouts in Southern Tanzania in April 2004. It is believed to have killed and eaten at least 35 people in a series of incidents covering several villages in the Rufiji Delta coastal region. [132] [133] Dr Rolf D. Baldus, the GTZ wildlife programme coordinator, commented that it was likely that the lion preyed on humans because it had a large abscess underneath a molar which was cracked in several places. He further commented that \"This lion probably experienced a lot of pain, particularly when it was chewing.\" [134] GTZ is the German development cooperation agency and has been working with the Tanzanian government on wildlife conservation for nearly two decades. As in other cases this lion was large, lacked a mane, and had a tooth problem.\nThe \"All-Africa\" record of man-eating generally is considered to be not Tsavo, but the lesser-known incidents in the late 1930s through the late 1940s in what was then Tanganyika (now Tanzania). George Rushby, game warden and professional hunter, eventually dispatched the pride, which over three generations is thought to have killed and eaten 1,500 to 2,000 in what is now Njombe district. [135]\nIn captivity\nWidely seen in captivity, [136] lions are part of a group of exotic animals that are the core of zoo exhibits since the late eighteenth century; members of this group are invariably large vertebrates and include elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, large primates, and other big cats; zoos sought to gather as many of these species as possible. [137] Though many modern zoos are more selective about their exhibits, [138] there are over 1000 African and 100 Asiatic lions in zoos and wildlife parks around the world. They are considered an ambassador species and are kept for tourism, education and conservation purposes. [139] Lions can reach an age of over 20 years in captivity; Apollo, a resident lion of Honolulu Zoo in Honolulu , Hawaii , died at age 22 in August 2007. His two sisters, born in 1986, are still living. [140] A zoo-based lion breeding programme usually takes into account the separation of the various lion subspecies, while mitigating the inbreeding that is likely to occur when animals are divided by subspecies. [141]\nA lion at Paignton Zoo\nLions were kept and bred by Assyrian kings as early as 850 BC, [115] and Alexander the Great was said to have been presented with tame lions by the Malhi of northern India. [142] Later in Roman times , lions were kept by emperors to take part in the gladiator arenas. Roman notables, including Sulla , Pompey , and Julius Caesar , often ordered the mass slaughter of hundreds of lions at a time. [143] In the East, lions were tamed by Indian princes, and Marco Polo reported that Kublai Khan kept lions inside. [144] The first European \"zoos\" spread amongst noble and royal families in the thirteenth century, and until the seventeenth century were called seraglios ; at that time, they came to be called menageries , an extension of the cabinet of curiosities . They spread from France and Italy during the Renaissance to the rest of Europe. [145] In England, although the seraglio tradition was less developed, Lions were kept at the Tower of London in a seraglio established by King John in the thirteenth century, [146] [147] probably stocked with animals from an earlier menagerie started in 1125 by Henry I at his palace in Woodstock , near Oxford ; where lions had been reported stocked by William of Malmesbury . [148]\nSeraglios served as expressions of the nobility's power and wealth. Animals such as big cats and elephants , in particular, symbolized power, and would be pitted in fights against each other or domesticated animals. By extension, menageries and seraglios served as demonstrations of the dominance of man over nature. Consequently, the defeat of such natural \"lords\" by a cow in 1682 astonished the spectators, and the flight of an elephant before a rhinoceros drew jeers. Such fights would slowly fade out in the seventeenth century with the spread of the menagerie and their appropriation by the commoners. The tradition of keeping big cats as pets would last into the nineteenth century, at which time it was seen as highly eccentric. [149]\nAlbrecht Dürer , Lions sketch. Circa 1520\nThe presence of lions at the Tower of London was intermittent, being restocked when a monarch or his consort, such as Margaret of Anjou the wife of Henry VI , either sought or were given animals. Records indicate they were kept in poor conditions there in the seventeenth century, in contrast to more open conditions in Florence at the time. [150] The menagerie was open to the public by the eighteenth century; admission was a sum of three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions. [151] A rival menagerie at the Exeter Exchange also exhibited lions until the early nineteenth century. [152] The Tower menagerie was closed down by William IV , [151] and animals transferred to the London Zoo which opened its gates to the public on 27 April 1828. [153]\nAnimal species disappear when they cannot peacefully orbit the center of gravity that is man.\n—Pierre-Amédée Pichot, 1891 [154]\nThe wild animals trade flourished alongside improved colonial trade of the nineteenth century. Lions were considered fairly common and inexpensive. Although they would barter higher than tigers, they were less costly than larger, or more difficult to transport animals such as the giraffe and hippopotamus, and much less than pandas . [155] Like other animals, lions were seen as little more than a natural, boundless commodity that was mercilessly exploited with terrible losses in capture and transportation. [156] The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century. [157] Explorers and hunters exploited a popular Manichean division of animals into \"good\" and \"evil\" to add thrilling value to their adventures, casting themselves as heroic figures. This resulted in big cats, always suspected of being man-eaters, representing \"both the fear of nature and the satisfaction of having overcome it.\" [158]\nLion at Melbourne Zoo enjoying an elevated grassy area with some tree shelter\nLions were kept in cramped and squalid conditions at London Zoo until a larger lion house with roomier cages was built in the 1870s. [159] Further changes took place in the early twentieth century, when Carl Hagenbeck designed enclosures more closely resembling a natural habitat, with concrete 'rocks', more open space and a moat instead of bars. He designed lion enclosures for both Melbourne Zoo and Sydney's Taronga Zoo , among others, in the early twentieth century. Though his designs were popular, the old bars and cage enclosures prevailed until the 1960s in many zoos. [160] In the later decades of the twentieth century, larger, more natural enclosures and the use of wire mesh or laminated glass instead of lowered dens allowed visitors to come closer than ever to the animals, with some attractions even placing the den on ground higher than visitors, such as the Cat Forest/Lion Overlook of Oklahoma City Zoological Park . [19] Lions are now housed in much larger naturalistic areas; modern recommended guidelines more closely approximate conditions in the wild with closer attention to the lions' needs, highlighting the need for dens in separate areas, elevated positions in both sun and shade where lions can sit and adequate ground cover and drainage as well as sufficient space to roam. [139]\nThere have also been instances where a lion was kept by a private individual, such as the lioness Elsa , who was raised by George Adamson and his wife Joy Adamson and came to develop a strong bonds with them, particularly the latter. The lioness later achieved fame, her life being documented in a series of books and films.\nBaiting and taming\nMain articles: Lion-baiting and Lion taming\nNineteenth century etching of a lion tamer in a cage of lions\nLion-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of lions in combat with other animals, usually dogs. Records of it exist in ancient times through until the seventeenth century. It was finally banned in Vienna by 1800 and England in 1825. [161] [162]\nLion taming refers to the practice of taming lions for entertainment, either as part of an established circus or as an individual act, such as Siegfried & Roy . The term is also often used for the taming and display of other big cats such as tigers , leopards , and cougars . The practice was pioneered in the first half of the nineteenth century by Frenchman Henri Martin and American Isaac Van Amburgh who both toured widely, and whose techniques were copied by a number of followers. [163] Van Amburgh performed before Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in 1838 when he toured Great Britain . Martin composed a pantomime titled Les Lions de Mysore (\"the lions of Mysore\"), an idea that Amburgh quickly borrowed. These acts eclipsed equestrianism acts as the central display of circus shows, but truly entered public consciousness in the early twentieth century with cinema. In demonstrating the superiority of man over animal, lion taming served a purpose similar to animal fights of previous centuries. [163] The now iconic lion tamer's chair was possibly first used by American Clyde Beatty (1903–1965). [164]\nCultural depictions\nThe Lion Capital of Asoka , originally erected around 250 BCE atop an Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath is the national emblem of India .\nThe lion has been an icon for humanity for thousands of years, appearing in cultures across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Despite incidents of attacks on humans, lions have enjoyed a positive depiction in culture as strong but noble. A common depiction is their representation as \" king of the jungle\" or \"king of the beasts\"; hence, the lion has been a popular symbol of royalty and stateliness, [165] as well as a symbol of bravery; it is featured in several fables of the sixth century BC Greek storyteller Aesop . [166]\nRepresentations of lions date back 32,000 years; the lion-headed ivory carving from Vogelherd cave in the Swabian Alb in southwestern Germany has been determined to be about 32,000 years old from the Aurignacian culture. [16] Two lions were depicted mating in the Chamber of Felines in 15,000-year-old Paleolithic cave paintings in the Lascaux caves. Cave lions are also depicted in the Chauvet Cave , discovered in 1994; this has been dated at 32,000 years of age, [26] though it may be of similar or younger age to Lascaux. [167]\nAncient Egypt venerated the lioness (the fierce hunter) as their war deities and among those in the Egyptian pantheon are, Bast , Mafdet , Menhit , Pakhet , Sekhmet , Tefnut , and the Sphinx ; [165] Among the Egyptian pantheon also are sons of these goddesses such as, Maahes , and, as attested by Egyptians as a Nubian deity, Dedun . [168] [169]\nThe Lion Gate of Mycenae (detail)—two lionesses flank the central column that represents a goddess—c. 1300 BC renovation of an existing structure that was demolished to build the new\nCareful examination of the lion deities noted in many ancient cultures reveal that many are lioness also. Admiration for the co-operative hunting strategies of lionesses was evident in very ancient times. Most of the lion gates depict lionesses. The Nemean lion was symbolic in Ancient Greece and Rome, represented as the constellation and zodiac sign Leo , and described in mythology, where its skin was borne by the hero Heracles . [170]\nThe emblem of Jerusalem is a lion standing in front of the Western Wall and flanked by olive branches .\nThe lion is the biblical emblem of the tribe of Judah and later the Kingdom of Judah . It is contained within Jacob's blessing to his fourth son in the penultimate chapter of the Book of Genesis , \"Judah is a lion's whelp; On prey, my son have you grown. He crouches, lies down like a lion, like the king of beasts—who dare rouse him?\" (Genesis 49:9 [171] ). In the modern state of Israel , the lion remains the symbol of the capital city of Jerusalem , emblazoned on both the flag and coat of arms of the city.\nThe lion was a prominent symbol in both the Old Babylonian and Neo-Babylonian Empire periods. The classic Babylonian lion motif, found as a statue, carved or painted on walls, is often referred to as the striding lion of Babylon. It is in Babylon that the biblical Daniel is said to have been delivered from the lion's den. [172] Such symbolism was appropriated by Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq for their Lion of Babylon tank , with the technology adapted from a Russian model.\nIn the Puranic texts of Hinduism , Narasimha (\"man-lion\") a half-lion, half-man incarnation or ( avatara ) of Vishnu , is worshipped by his devotees and saved the child devotee Prahlada from his father, the evil demon king Hiranyakashipu ; [173] Vishnu takes the form of half-man/half- lion , in Narasimha, having a human torso and lower body, but with a lion-like face and claws. [174] Narasimha is worshiped as \"Lion God.\"\nSingh is an ancient Indian vedic name meaning \"lion\" ( Asiatic lion ), dating back over 2000 years to ancient India . It was originally only used by Rajputs a Hindu Kshatriya or military caste in India. After the birth of the Khalsa brotherhood in 1699, the Sikhs also adopted the name \"Singh\" due to the wishes of Guru Gobind Singh . Along with millions of Hindu Rajputs today, it is also used by over 20 million Sikhs worldwide. [175] [176]\n\" Bharat Mata \" (\"Mother India\"), National personification of India , depicted with an Asiatic/ Indian lion at her side\nFarther south on the Indian subcontinent , the Asiatic lion is symbolic for the Sinhalese , [178] Sri Lanka 's ethnic majority; the term derived from the Indo-Aryan Sinhala, meaning the \"lion people\" or \"people with lion blood\", while a sword wielding lion is the central figure on the national flag of Sri Lanka . [179]\nThe Asiatic lion is a common motif in Chinese art . They were first used in art during the late Spring and Autumn Period (fifth or sixth century BC), and became much more popular during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220), when imperial guardian lions started to be placed in front of imperial palaces for protection. Because lions have never been native to China, early depictions were somewhat unrealistic; after the introduction of Buddhist art to China in the Tang Dynasty (after the sixth century AD), lions were usually depicted without wings, their bodies became thicker and shorter, and their manes became curly. [180] The lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume, often with musical accompaniment from cymbals, drums and gongs. They are performed at Chinese New Year , the August Moon Festival and other celebratory occasions for good luck. [181]\nThe island nation of Singapore (Singapura) derives its name from the Malay words singa (lion) and pura (city), which in turn is from the Tamil - Sanskrit சிங்க singa सिंह siṃha and पुर புர pura, which is cognate to the Greek πόλις, pólis. [182] According to the Malay Annals , this name was given by a fourteenth century Sumatran Malay prince named Sang Nila Utama , who, on alighting the island after a thunderstorm, spotted an auspicious beast on shore that his chief minister identified as a lion (Asiatic lion). [183]\nFlag of Sri Lanka\n\" Aslan \" or \" Arslan (Ottoman ارسلان arslān and اصلان aṣlān) is the Turkish and Mongolian word for \"lion\". It was used as a title by a number of Seljuk and Ottoman rulers, including Alp Arslan and Ali Pasha , and is a Turkic / Iranian name.\n\"Lion\" was the nickname of medieval warrior rulers with a reputation for bravery, such as Richard I of England , known as Richard the Lionheart, [165] , Henry the Lion ( German : Heinrich der Löwe), Duke of Saxony and Robert III of Flanders nicknamed \"The Lion of Flanders\"—a major Flemish national icon up to the present. Lions are frequently depicted on coats of arms , either as a device on shields themselves, or as supporters . (The lioness [184] is much more infrequent.) The formal language of heraldry , called blazon , employs French terms to describe the images precisely. Such descriptions specified whether lions or other creatures were \"rampant\" or \"passant\", that is whether they were rearing or crouching. [185] The lion is used as a symbol of sporting teams, from national association football teams such as England , Scotland and Singapore to famous clubs such as the Detroit Lions [186] of the NFL, Chelsea [187] and Aston Villa of the English Premier League , [188] (and the Premiership itself) to a host of smaller clubs around the world. Villa sport a Scottish Lion Rampant on their crest, as do Rangers and Dundee United of the Scottish Premier League .\nThe lion is a popular symbol and mascot of high schools, colleges and universities throughout the United States. This statue is on the campus of the University of North Alabama .\nLions continue to feature in modern literature, from the messianic Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and following books from the Narnia series written by C. S. Lewis , [189] to the comedic Cowardly Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . [190] The advent of moving pictures saw the continued presence of lion symbolism; one of the most iconic and widely recognised lions is Leo the Lion , the mascot for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios, which has been in use since the 1920s. [191] The 1960s saw the appearance of what is possibly the most famous lioness, the Kenyan animal Elsa in the movie Born Free , [192] based on the true-life international bestselling book of the same title. [193] The lion's role as King of the Beasts has been used in cartoons, from the 1950s manga which gave rise to the first Japanese colour TV animation series, Kimba the White Lion , Leonardo Lion of King Leonardo and his Short Subjects , both from the 1960s, up to the 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King , [194] [195] which also featured the popular song \" The Lion Sleeps Tonight \" in its soundtrack. A lion appears on the South African 50-Rand banknotes (see South African rand ).\nNotes\n^"
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What spirit is used to make Daquari? | Rum | [
"Distilled_beverage.txt\nDistilled beverage\nA distilled beverage, spirit, liquor, hard liquor or hard alcohol is an alcoholic beverage produced by distillation of a mixture produced from alcoholic fermentation. This process purifies it and removes diluting components like water, for the purpose of increasing its proportion of alcohol content (commonly expressed as alcohol by volume, ABV). As distilled beverages contain more alcohol, they are considered \"harder\" – in North America, the term hard liquor is used to distinguish distilled beverages from undistilled ones, which are implicitly weaker.\n\nAs examples, this does not include beverages such as beer, wine, and cider, as they are fermented but not distilled. These all have relatively low alcohol content, typically less than 15%. Brandy is a spirit produced by the distillation of wine, and has an ABV over 35%. Other examples of distilled beverages include vodka, gin, rum, and whisky.\n\nNomenclature\n\nThe term spirit refers to a distilled beverage that contains no added sugar and has at least 20% alcohol by volume (ABV).\n\nDistilled beverages bottled with added sugar and added flavorings, such as Grand Marnier, Frangelico, and American schnapps, are known instead as liqueurs. In common usage, the distinction between spirits and liqueurs is widely unknown or ignored; as a consequence, in general, all alcoholic beverages other than beer and wine are referred to as spirits.\n\nBeer and wine, which are not distilled beverages, are limited to a maximum alcohol content of about 20% ABV, as most yeasts cannot reproduce when the concentration of alcohol is above this level; as a consequence, fermentation ceases at that point.\n\nEtymology\n\nThe origin of \"liquor\" and its close relative \"liquid\" was the Latin verb liquere, meaning \"to be fluid\". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an early use of the word in the English language, meaning simply \"a liquid\", can be dated to 1225. The first use the OED mentions of its meaning \"a liquid for drinking\" occurred in the 14th century. Its use as a term for \"an intoxicating alcoholic drink\" appeared in the 16th century.\n\nThe term \"spirit\" in reference to alcohol stems from Middle Eastern alchemy. These alchemists were more concerned with medical elixirs than with transmuting lead into gold. The vapor given off and collected during an alchemical process (as with distillation of alcohol) was called a spirit of the original material.\n\nHistory of distillation\n\nPrecursors\n\nThe first clear evidence of distillation comes from Greek alchemists working in Alexandria in the 1st century AD, although the Chinese may have independently developed the process around the same time. Distilled water was described in the 2nd century AD by Alexander of Aphrodisias. The Alexandrians were using a distillation alembic or still device in the 3rd century AD.\n\nThe medieval Arabs learned the distillation process from the Alexandrians and used it extensively, but there is no evidence that they distilled alcohol.\n\nFreeze distillation involves freezing the alcoholic beverage and then removing the ice. The freezing technique had limitations in geography and implementation limiting how widely this method was put to use.\n\nTrue distillation \n\nThe earliest evidence of true distillation of alcohol comes from the School of Salerno in southern Italy during the 12th century. \nAgain, the Chinese may not have been far behind, with archaeological evidence indicating the practice of distillation began during the 12th century Jin or Southern Song dynasties.\n\nA still has been found at an archaeological site in Qinglong, Hebei, dating to the 12th century.\n\nFractional distillation was developed by Taddeo Alderotti in the 13th century. \nThe production method was written in code, suggesting that it was being kept secret.\n\nIn 1437, \"burned water\" (brandy) was mentioned in the records of the County of Katzenelnbogen in Germany. It was served in a tall, narrow glass called a Goderulffe.\n\nClaims upon the origin of specific beverages are controversial, often invoking national pride, but they are plausible after the 12th century AD, when Irish whiskey and German brandy became available. These spirits would have had a much lower alcohol content (about 40% ABV) than the alchemists' pure distillations, and they were likely first thought of as medicinal elixirs. Consumption of distilled beverages rose dramatically in Europe in and after the mid-14th century, when distilled liquors were commonly used as remedies for the Black Death. Around 1400, methods to distill spirits from wheat, barley, and rye beers, a cheaper option than grapes, were discovered. Thus began the \"national\" drinks of Europe: jenever (Belgium and the Netherlands), gin (England), Schnaps (Germany), grappa (Italy), horilka (Ukraine), akvavit/snaps (Scandinavia), vodka (Poland and Russia), ouzo (Greece), rakia (the Balkans), and poitín (Ireland). The actual names emerged only in the 16th century, but the drinks were well known prior to then.\n\nGovernment regulation\n\nIt is legal to distill beverage alcohol as a hobby for personal use in some countries, including Italy, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.\n\nIn the United States, all states allow unlicensed individuals to make their own beer, and some also allow unlicensed individuals to make their own wine, although in some places that do not prohibit home manufacture at the state level, local governments may prohibit it. However, it is illegal to distill beverage alcohol without a license anywhere in the US. In some jurisdictions, it is also illegal to sell a still without a license.\n\nMicrodistilling\n\nMicrodistilling (also known as craft distilling) as a trend began to develop in the United States following the emergence and immense popularity of microbrewing and craft beer in the last decades of the 20th century. It is different from megadistilling in the quantity and quality of output.\n\nFlammability\n\nLiquor that contains 40% ABV (80 US proof) will catch fire if heated to about 26 °C and if an ignition source is applied to it. This temperature is called its flash point. The flash point of pure alcohol is , less than average room temperature. \n\nThe flash points of alcohol concentrations from 10% ABV to 96% ABV are: \n\n* 10% — 49 °C — ethanol-based water solution\n* 12.5% — about 52 °C — wine \n* 20% — 36 °C — fortified wine\n* 30% — 29 °C\n* 40% — 26 °C — typical vodka, whisky or brandy\n* 50% — 24 °C — strong whisky\n* 60% — 22 °C — normal tsikoudia (called mesoraki or middle raki)\n* 70% — 21 °C — absinthe, Slivovitz\n* 80% — 20 °C\n* 90% or more — 17 °C — neutral grain spirit\n\nServing\n\nDistilled beverages can be served:\n* Neat — at room temperature without any additional ingredient(s) \n* Up — shaken or stirred with ice, strained, and served in a stemmed glass.\n* On the rocks — over ice cubes\n* Blended or frozen — blended with ice\n* With a simple mixer, such as club soda, tonic water, juice, or cola\n* As an ingredient of a cocktail\n* As an ingredient of a shooter\n* With water\n* With water poured over sugar (as with absinthe)\n\nAlcohol consumption by country\n\nThe World Health Organization measures and publishes alcohol consumption patterns in different countries. The WHO measures alcohol consumed by persons 15 years of age or older and reports it on the basis of liters of pure alcohol consumed per capita in a given year in a country. \n\nHealth effects\n\nShort-term effects\n\nDistilled spirits contain ethyl alcohol, the same chemical that is present in beer and wine and as such, spirit consumption has short-term psychological and physiological effects on the user. Different concentrations of alcohol in the human body have different effects on a person. The effects of alcohol depend on the amount an individual has drunk, the percentage of alcohol in the spirits and the timespan that the consumption took place, the amount of food eaten and whether an individual has taken other prescription, over-the-counter or street drugs, among other factors. Drinking enough to cause a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.03%-0.12% typically causes an overall improvement in mood and possible euphoria, increased self-confidence and sociability, decreased anxiety, a flushed, red appearance in the face and impaired judgment and fine muscle coordination. A BAC of 0.09% to 0.25% causes lethargy, sedation, balance problems and blurred vision. A BAC from 0.18% to 0.30% causes profound confusion, impaired speech (e.g., slurred speech), staggering, dizziness and vomiting. A BAC from 0.25% to 0.40% causes stupor, unconsciousness, anterograde amnesia, vomiting, and respiratory depression (potentially life-threatening). Death may occur due to inhalation of vomit (pulmonary aspiration) while unconscious. A BAC from 0.35% to 0.80% causes a coma (unconsciousness), life-threatening respiratory depression and possibly fatal alcohol poisoning. As with all alcoholic beverages, driving under the influence, operating an aircraft or heavy machinery increases the risk of an accident; many countries have penalties against drunk driving.\n\nLong-term effects\n\nThe main active ingredient of distilled spirits is alcohol, and therefore, the health effects of alcohol apply to spirits. Drinking small quantities of alcohol (less than one drink in women and two in men) is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and early death. Drinking more than this amount; however, increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. Risk is greater in younger people due to binge drinking which may result in violence or accidents. About 3.3 million deaths (5.9% of all deaths) are believed to be due to alcohol each year. \n\nAlcoholism also known as \"alcohol use disorder\" is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems. It was previously divided into two types: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions is present: a person drinks large amounts over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use. Alcoholism reduces a person's life expectancy by around ten years and alcohol use is the third leading cause of early death in the United States. No professional medical association recommends that people who are nondrinkers should start drinking wine. \n\nWhile lower quality evidence suggest a cardioprotective effect, no controlled studies have been completed on the effect of alcohol on the risk of developing heart disease or stroke. Excessive consumption of alcohol can cause liver cirrhosis and alcoholism. The American Heart Association \"cautions people NOT to start drinking ... if they do not already drink alcohol. Consult your doctor on the benefits and risks of consuming alcohol in moderation.\"",
"Daiquiri.txt\nDaiquiri\nDaiquiri (; ) is a family of cocktails whose main ingredients are rum, citrus juice (typically lime juice), and sugar or other sweetener.\n\nThe daiquiri is one of the six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. In the book, he also suggests some variations.\n\nOrigins\n\nDaiquirí is also the name of a beach and an iron mine near Santiago de Cuba, and is a word of Taíno origin. The drink was supposedly invented by an American mining engineer, named Jennings Cox, who was in Cuba at the time of the Spanish–American War. It is also possible that William A. Chanler, a US congressman who purchased the Santiago iron mines in 1902, introduced the daiquiri to clubs in New York in that year. \n\nOriginally the drink was served in a tall glass packed with cracked ice. A teaspoon of sugar was poured over the ice and the juice of one or two limes was squeezed over the sugar. Two or three ounces of white rum completed the mixture. The glass was then frosted by stirring with a long-handled spoon. Later the daiquiri evolved to be mixed in a shaker with the same ingredients but with shaved ice. After a thorough shaking, it was poured into a chilled flute glass.\n\nConsumption of the drink remained localized until 1909, when Rear Admiral Lucius W. Johnson, a U.S. Navy medical officer, tried Cox's drink. Johnson subsequently introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C., and drinkers of the daiquiri increased over the space of a few decades. It was one of the favorite drinks of writer Ernest Hemingway and President John F. Kennedy. \n\nThe drink became popular in the 1940s. Wartime rationing made whiskey and vodka hard to come by, yet because of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy rum was easily obtainable because the policy opened up trade and travel relations with Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean. The Good Neighbor policy, also known as the Pan-American program, helped make Latin America fashionable. Consequently, rum-based drinks (once frowned upon as being the choice of sailors and down-and-outs), also became fashionable, and the daiquiri saw a tremendous rise in popularity in the US.\n\nThe basic recipe for a daiquiri is also similar to the grog British sailors drank aboard ship from the 1740s onwards. By 1795 the Royal Navy daily grog ration contained rum, water, ¾ ounce of lemon or lime juice, and 2 ounces of sugar. This was a common drink across the Caribbean, and as soon as ice became available this was included instead of the water.\n\nVariations\n\n* Hemingway daiquiri – or papa doble – two and a half jiggers of white rum, juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, six drops of maraschino liqueur, without sugar.\n* Banana daiquiri – regular daiquiri with a half a banana. \n* Avocado daiquiri – regular daiquiri with half an avocado. \n\nFrozen daiquiri\n\nA wide variety of alcoholic mixed drinks made with finely pulverized ice are often called frozen daiquirí. These drinks can also be combined and poured from a blender, eliminating the need for manual pulverization and producing a texture similar to a smoothie. On larger scales, such drinks are often commercially made in larger machines, and come in a wide variety of flavors made with various alcohol or liquors. Another way to create a frozen daiquiri (mostly fruit-flavored variants) is by using frozen limeade, providing the required texture, sweetness and sourness all at once. \nVariations on the frozen daiquirí. \n* the old rose daiquiri, which features strawberry syrup and rum along with two teaspoons of sugar and lime juice\n* the daiquiri mulata featuring rum and coffee liqueur",
"The Best Rum for a Daiquiri | Serious Eats\nThe Best Rum for a Daiquiri. Michael Dietsch. Profile; ... I weighed the ice to make sure it was the same for each drink. ... daiquiri; rum; spirit;\nThe Best Rum for a Daiquiri | Serious Eats\nThe Best Rum for a Daiquiri\n6\nYour choice of rum matters when it comes to daiquiris. [ Photographs: Jennifer Hess ]\nIn these hot, muggy times, the thoughts and hearts of drinkers turn to the perfect hot-weather drink: the daiquiri. Now, when I say daiquiri, I'm not talking about anything fruity or frozen. I mean the original, the classic: the simple sour of rum, lime juice, and either simple syrup or sugar.\nI usually like mine bone-dry. I'll usually mix one with 2 ounces of rum, either 3/4 or 1 ounce of lime, and a couple of barspoons of superfine sugar. Then I shake the hell out of it on ice to dissolve the sugar and pour it into a chilled coupe glass.\nBack in February I started exploring the best ingredients to use in a Negroni . I'm now on a similar mission for the daiquiri.\nThis drink is easy to test. Lime juice is lime juice (a slight oversimplification since there are a few lime varieties out there, but bear with me), and white sugar is white sugar. But the rums, oh the rums. That's where you can have some fun.\nThe Rums\nI've had great daiquiris made with dark rums, but in general, when I want a daiquiri, I'm looking for refreshment. I want something deliciously bright and crisp and sharp. Dark rums tend to be rich and smooth and mellow. That's what I want when I'm drinking a Mai Tai or a rum Old Fashioned, but it's not what I want when I want a daiquiri. But which white rum is best in this classic drink? I put five to the test to find out.\nBacardi Superior (about $14 for 750 mL). I'm guessing you're familiar with this white rum from Puerto Rico. I think anyone who's had a daiquri has at one time had a Bacardi daiquiri, and I wanted to see how it would fare in a blind tasting.\nFlor de Caña (about $15 for 750 mL). A bright, crisp white rum from Nicaragua. Flor is a go-to for sipping and cocktails, plus it's pretty affordable and widely available.\nRhum Barbancourt (about $18 for 750 mL). This white rum from Haiti is made from freshly pressed sugar cane, using a pot still. Though it's made in a manner similar to an agricole-style rum, it doesn't have the sort of abiding funk you expect from agricole.\nRhum Clément Premiére Canne (about $30 for 750 mL). A rich white agricole from Martinique. Unlike the Barbancourt, Rhum Clément Premiére Canne has a potent funk that reaches your nose the moment you open the bottle.\nRon Diplomatico Blanco (about $33 for 750 mL). A 6-year-old rum from Venezuela that is filtered to remove the barrel coloration.\nGet Mixing!\nSeveral variables in each daiquiri remained the same:\nProportions. Each drink was 1 ounce rum, 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice, and 1 teaspoon simple syrup.\nIce. I weighed the ice to make sure it was the same for each drink.\nGlassware. Though I normally serve daiquiris in coupe glasses, I don't own enough of them right now to test five drinks, so I used V-shaped cocktail glasses instead.\nTechnique. I shook each drink over fresh ice, to chill and properly dilute it, and then strained it into a glass.\nMy wife and I were both blind-tasting the daiquiris. To ensure that neither one of us knew which glass was which, I used the following method:\nI mixed each drink and poured each one into a glass.\nI designated the drinks as A, B, C, D, and E, and then took them out to my wife in the living room.\nI kept a note on my phone saying which drink was which.\nWhile I was in the kitchen, my wife shuffled the drinks, so that I wouldn't know which one was which. So she knew where A, B, C, etc. were on the table, but she didn't know what was in each glass. I knew what was in each glass, but I didn't know where A, B, C, etc. were.\nBecause the rums were clear and the proportions of each ingredient were the same in each drink, we didn't notice any color variations in the drinks.\nThe Results\nDoes the rum you use in a daiquiri change the drink's flavor? You bet.\nA great daiquiri should marry the rum and lime flavors, without either flavor overpowering the other. A citrusy-tasting rum can be delicious, but in a daiquiri, it can leave you with a drink that's overwhelmed by lime flavors. We love a rich and funky rum, but in a daiquiri, the lime can collapse under that weight.\nRon Diplomatico Blanco\nThis bright and impressively balanced daiquiri was our favorite of the bunch. It was the kind of daiquiri that makes you want to be in a lounge chair, poolside. It tasted crisp and tart, with a range of citrus flavors that were prominent but not overpowering. On its own, this rum has a creamy, smooth texture, and in the daiquiri, a hint of coconut came out.\nWe found that Diplomatico carried the right balance of flavor to pair well with the lime and sugar: it's rich but not funky, flavorful but not in a showy, dramatic way. The Diplomatico daiquiri was just how we like this classic drink: tropical, fruity, and dry.\nFlor de Caña\nOur second-favorite of the lineup had a vivid tropical fruit aroma that carried through to the flavor. The tartness of the drink helped to punch this up, almost as if the drink were made with pineapple instead of lime. If you're watching your wallet, Flor de Caña is the rum for your daiquiri.\nRhum Barbancourt\nTasting this daiquiri blind, we first noticed the herbal, grassy scent. Though all the drinks had the same amount of sugar, this cocktail tasted quite a bit sweeter than the others, with a more piercing lime presence. Overall, we liked the drink but it didn't dazzle us. I was surprised to learn that this was the Barbancourt daiquiri; I expected to like that version more. This drink also reminded me of an important lesson...more on that below.\nRhum Clément Premiére Canne\nThis drink was a dead giveaway: it had a much stronger aroma than any of the others, and a funky, vegetal flavor without much sweetness. The Rhum Clément Premiére Canne daiquiri had the most complex flavor of the daiquiris we tried. The problem: it also tasted the least like a classic daiquiri. If I wanted a classic daiquiri, I wouldn't choose this, but if I were in the mood for a funky cocktail, I'd go Rhum Clément without hesitating.\nBacardi\nThough this daiquiri had a mild aroma, it also offered a sharpness that reminded us a little bit of freshly grated ginger. The citrus flavors dominate the drink, and there isn't much of a rummy finish. If you have friends who like fruity drinks but are uncertain whether they like rum, this affordable bottling will do just fine.\nLessons Learned\nIn the forthcoming cocktail book from New York City's Death & Co., various D&C bartenders share their favorite daiquiri recipes. What's interesting about the recipes is that some of them use a blend of two different rums as the base in order to layer and balance more complex flavors and fill in any holes.\nThis advice is worth heeding. In the case of the funky Rhum Clement Premiére Canne, mixing with a fruitier tasting rum would tone down the vegetal side, resulting in a brighter drink. So, for example, you could blend the Clement with Flor de Caña, for a complex drink that balances funk and fruit.\nI was also surprised by how much more sugary the Barbancourt daiquiri tasted compared to the others. This reminded me of an important principle: a drink recipe is not one size fits all. You really need to adjust the quantities of ingredients depending on what spirits or liqueurs you're using. A Barbancourt daiquiri needs a little less sugar than some other rums require. I used a teaspoon of simple syrup for these daiquiris; one half teaspoon would have sufficed for the Barbancourt. Taste your drinks as you make them, and you might be able to get the balance right.\nMore Rum Options\nIf you can't find the rums on this list, there are other options. For example, El Dorado 3 Year Old Superior White (about $20 for 750 mL) is produced in a similar fashion to Diplomatico: it's barrel-aged but then filtered to round out the flavor and strip the color away. If you can't find Diplomatico, El Dorado would sub in well.\nBrugal Blanco Especial (about $20 for 750 mL) would work well in place of Flor de Caña, as would Caña Brava Rum (about $35 for 1 L) or 10 Cane (about $24 for 750 mL).\nDon Q (about $10 for 750 mL) is a nearly perfect replacement for Bacardi, if you want a light-tasting daiquiri or if you're mixing them for a crowd.\nIf you want to go funky and don't have Clément, you could swap in La Favorite Blanc (about $38 for 1 L) or Neisson Blanc (about $45 for 1 L); both have the earthy funk and richness that you'd look for in an agricole-based daiquiri.\nDisclosure: Ron Diplomatico Blanco tasting sample provided for review consideration.",
"Daiquiri Cocktail - Small Screen Network\nDaiquiri Cocktail. The daiquiri is a ... You can use the Daiquiri to get a good handle on the whole “balance” thing with the lime ... Tequilla is another spirit ...\nDaiquiri Cocktail - Small Screen Network\nThe Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess\nDaiquiri Cocktail\nThe daiquiri is a historic and iconic cocktail and John F. Kennedy’s favorite cocktail. It’s simplicity disguises what can be a complex and delicious cocktail when made correctly.\n2 oz rum\nStrain into a cocktail glass.\nGarnish with lime wheel.\nRobert Hess 17 Aug 2007\n8:03 am\nThese days it seems like most people think of the Daiquiri as being a “frozen” drink, which is unfortunate. Those drinking it that way are missing out on a great drink, and those who are “wanting” a great drink are avoiding it because they don’t like frozen drinks.\nYou can use the Daiquiri to get a good handle on the whole “balance” thing with the lime juice and the simple syrup. Just play around with the ratios a bit until you feel that it isn’t too sweet or too sour for your palate. One thing I’ve learned is that the sweet/sour balance really does tend to vary from one person to another.\n-Robert\nBikram 16 Dec 2007\n7:59 am\nRobert, Do you think that the Vodka added to the simple syrup actually makes a difference? The effective concentration of alcohol would be pretty low, and fungi can tolerate reasonably high levels of alcohol since they produce it themselves. You can try a side by side test (with and without the vodka) to test your hypothesis.\nRobert Hess 18 Dec 2007\n12:14 pm\nI’ve never done a true scientific “side-by-side” test on this, but I have simply noticed that without alcohol, mold. With alcohol, no mold. But you’re right, I should try to get some more data. Would also be good to find out how much alcohol is needed and how long the ‘protection’ lasts (wrt. alcohol evaporation)\nJonathan Gorman 25 Dec 2007\n12:56 pm\nRobert,\nWhat is the right proportions for simple syrup? I’ve seen 1 pound sugar (about 2 cups) to 1 cup water - and 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water.\nRobert Hess 25 Dec 2007\n1:54 pm\nThere are essentially two main recipes people tend to use for simple syrup, either a 1 part sugar and 1 part water (by volume), or 2 parts sugar to 1 part water.\nObviously the second results in a sweeter syrup, it is often refered to as “rich” simple syrup.\nWhich you choose to use can be a bit of a personal choice. I personally prefer the 2-to-1 version myself. But I have several friends who swear by the 1-to-1 version.\n-Robert\nJonathan Gorman 25 Dec 2007\n2:38 pm\nWhen you specify simple syrup in your instructions, are you using 1:1 or 2:1?\nMerry Christmas.\nThomas 28 Jan 2008\n5:31 pm\nRobert, I also notice that your syrup is tan. What kind of sugar do you use to make it? \nAnd I salute you atop your Soap Box regarding sour mix. Good speech!\nRobert Hess 29 Jan 2008\n6:19 am\nWe get so much lovely sunshine here in Seattle that lots of things take on that wonderful tan color.\nOk, maybe not :->\nActually I used “Demerara” (aka. raw cane) sugar to make my simple syrup for this episode. I find that it has just a little bit of extra character to it.\n-Robert\nOwen Webb 29 Jan 2008\n12:51 pm\nI’m a little confused by your comments regarding simply syrup. In the episode you say you use a 1:1 ratio. Here in the comments you say you prefer to use a 2:1 ratio. When you use simply syrup in the episodes, are you giving us the recipe for 1:1 syrup or the richer 2:1 syrup.\nThanks,\nRobert Hess 29 Jan 2008\n1:16 pm\nOwen,\nGood catch… as I was rattling off at the mouth I should have said “two cups of sugar” instead of one. I personally prefer to use a 2:1 ratio in my syrup.\nWhich of course raises another issue as to if “you” might happen to prefer the 1:1 ratio, how does that alter your drink? Well as you might expect it won’t be “quite” as sweet, and so you may need to slightly adjust the recipe to your palate, which is part of what makes “mixology” such a fun thing because we are each providing our own slight interpretation of a drink every time we make it.\nThomas 2 Feb 2008\n8:24 pm\nI can see the dense Seattle rainforest outside your window there, so I knew you were joking about the sun. \nI recently tried finely granulated raw sugar in some bar syrup and it turned out kind of greenish. The coarser dememera or turbinado sugar you suggest here creates a better color. And a touch of molasses odor (but not flavor). \nThanks for the tips!\nblair frodelius 8 Mar 2008\n11:54 am\nRobert,\nGranted, we all should be using fresh squeezed juices and simple syrup when making a daquiri. Have you had any experience with the Freshies brand?\nRobert Hess 8 Mar 2008\n10:16 pm\nI’ve never tried Freshies, but I personally can’t imagine any “mix” product being even close to fresh ingredients, except in very few cases and situations.\nJon 25 Jul 2008\n7:42 pm\nRobert,\nI absolutely love your series here. After watching a number of episodes, I decided to come back to this one to ask a question about your simple syrup. Exactly how much vodka do you add to keep it from molding? I’m afraid that I will add too much and have my drinks hint of vodka, or that I will add too little for it to be effective.\nRobert Hess 26 Jul 2008\n5:47 am\nJon,\nTo add enough vodka so you could taste the alcohol (since that is of course the only flavor that would come through) you’d have to add quite a bit. I use perhaps one ounce (or perhaps a little more) of vodka per pint of simple syrup. And I use a 151 proof vodka just for good measure. I’ve never tried any exhaustive tests to find out what the best amount to use is, but this appears to work fine for me.\n-Robert\n9:01 am\nRobert,\nI am a bit confused here. On your drinkboy.com site, recipe for daiquiri calls for 1oz lime juice to one teaspoon sugar.\nIn this video you do 1/2 oz lime juice to 3/4 oz (rich?) sugar syrup. Isn`t this too much of a difference?\nThanks,\nRobert Hess 12 Mar 2009\n10:22 am\nIvana,\nGreat Point! What this shows, is a gradual evolution that each of us will go through on our cocktailian journey. Many of the recipes on my website were ones I put up when I first started the site over 10 years ago. Over the years, many of my thoughts on what makes a “great” cocktail, and more importantly, a properly “balanced” cocktail, have evolved, and while I mentally make the adjustment when making these cocktails, I haven’t been as dilligent as I could be at making sure that all of the reicpes on my site are evolving along with me…\nIn the past it was very difficult for me to change recipes on my site, since to change just a single page on the site would essentially necessitate an entire day’s worth of work. But with the recent update to DrinkBoy.com, I’ve set it up so I can just make a simple update in the database, and the changes are automatically visible… so if you look now, the recipe has been updated! :->\nWhat I really need to do, is just take the time to go through each recipe, one at a time, and make them as-indicated, and verify that they still reflect what I feel is a well balanced drink.\nIvana 12 Mar 2009\n11:23 am\nThanks for the clarification. I`ve made 5 daiquiris so far and I can`t make up my mind which one is “properly balanced” for my inexperienced palate :)\nGood luck on your site updates!\nRobert Hess 12 Mar 2009\n12:51 pm\nFor all cocktails, a key aspect of balance is so that as you are finishing off the drink, you wish the glass were “just a litlte” larger. Sometimes, if a drink is too sweet or too sour, the initial sip can be quite tasty, with your taste buds enjoying that extra little kick of flavor, but by the time you are finishing the drink you are getting a little fatigued from it. That, in my mind, is an unbalanced drink.\nDavid B. 5 Jun 2009\n11:45 am\nThe Daiquiri has quickly become a favorite when entertaining at my home bar. Recently I’ve started using Key Limes instead of the regular Persian Limes with good success. You have to be careful to not let any of the pith or the seeds make their way into the drink but if you can manage you’ll get a really nice treat.\nAlan 27 Jul 2011\n3:43 pm\nI usually drink Havana Club 3yr and have always used that for drinks such as this. Recently I splashed out on Appleton Estate 8yr and my was I overwhelmed. Hugh difference and I struggled with the drink a bit. I’m not sure if a darker and older aged rum such as that is suitable for a drink like this or if I just have to tinker with the ratios to find a suitable one.\nRobert Hess 28 Jul 2011\n6:37 am\nHavana Club 3 year… don’t rub in in. We can’t (easily) get that here in the US :->\nRum is a facinating topic. There is a far broader landscape in rum “character” then I think in any of the other spirits, so it can often be challenging (and exciting) to see how different rums work in different cocktails. The Daiquiri I think is one of the drinks that benefits from a lighter style rum, but that said, it can also work well with some of the slightly more robust rums, but you’ll want to start flexing the recipe around to make it work properly.\nWhen you find any tried and true recipe of yours that suddenly becomes less palatable due to a change of brand/product, you should start playing around with the ratios of the ingredients to see if you can bring it back into line again. Through experimentations like this you’ll really gain a better understanding of the underlying components.\nGaz Regan tells of a time he was at the Ritz in New York, and Norman was bartending. He noticed various customers ordering a Manhattan and specifically calling for a particular whiskey. In each one Norman would use a different amount of vermouth. When asked about it, Norman commented that each whiskey needed a slightly different ratio in order to make it properly balanced.\n-Robert\nAlan 28 Jul 2011\n8:34 am\nThanks for the reply. Yeah I think I’d have to agree that sometimes with a different spirit you need to adjust the ratios. Havana 3yr to Appleton 8yr is quite a leap in flavour.\nI can happily report that after many years of Barcardi dominating the market Havana Club has now found its way into many bars, off-licenses and supermarkets. It has seemingly succeeded on name alone since there is very little advertising and marketing versus the former’s massive campaigns.\nIf it is of any consolation, here in Ireland it can be very hard to get good American whiskey - many supermarkets and off-licenses usually only stock Jim Beam or Jack Daniels and if you find Maker’s Mark anywhere it’s usually at least €35! That isn’t to say I can’t get hold of bourbons but the cheapest other than the previously mentioned that I can find is Bulleit which is €30.\nTequilla is another spirit that can be hard to come by. I mean, you can of course get Olmeca as well as Jose Cuervo mixtos in many places and unfortunately this is most people’s introduction to tequilla. 100% can be hard to find and when you do find it is quite expensive. See: http://celticwhiskeyshop.com/Other_Spirits__drinks/Tequila/A_to_z_of_Tequila-category-24-distillery-24-z-distillery.htm\njellydonut 16 Aug 2011\n7:29 am\nIn honor of National Rum Day (even though I’m not American), I made this with;\n- 1 1/2 oz Ron Cubay 10 Anejo ten year old Cuban rum, very strong flavor\n- juice of one lime (no, when I’m at home I refuse to measure it and thus throwing away some of the juice of the lime. :p)\n- equal part of sweet to sour, in this case I used home-made honey syrup. (simple syrup.. with honey instead of sugar)\n- The Bitter Truth aromatic bitters, one dash\n- The Bitter Truth orange bitters.. at least four dashes. I just poured a little. dripdripdrip.\nYou can tell your daiquiri is a classic when it’s *brown* from the aged rum and the honey syrup instead of being fluorescent green from commercial sour mix. ^_^ It’s not a very strong drink, you can see my non-alcoholic ingredients are at least equal to the alcohol. Call me whatever you like, I don’t care. :p\nI’m not looking to get drunk on a Tuesday so I’ll be making a Rum Old Fashioned later on, to continue celebrating National Rum Day. c:\nBen Golden 20 Jul 2012\n7:16 pm\nThe use of commercial sour mix is extremely frustrating to me. Whenever I order a drink at a regular old neighborhood restaurant, I usually have to avoid sour style drinks because I know they will be made with sour mix, which makes me feel kind of sick just drinking it. That’s an incredible shame because sour style drinks are among my favorite kinds, and they tend to go well with meals if properly made, as opposed to dry style French-Italian drinks (e.g. Martinis and Manhattans) which I tolerate best before dinner or well after it, but not during.\nWe’ve seen bans on trans-fat foods, wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could get the same to happen with artificial sour mix? :-D\nPeter_Timms 2 Aug 2012\nMartin OK 22 Aug 2013\n7:44 am\nDear Robert,\nFirst of all, thank you for these outstanding videos. In conjunction with your excellent book, I have been thoroughly enjoying my forays into the homemade cocktail world (and so have my friends, incidentally).\nI was wondering what your thoughts were on pre-made simple syrups. I haven’t made my own yet, but have often used Monin sugar syrup. I find that this works well for some drinks, but they don’t deliver as nicely on the sours.\nDoes this have to do with the ratios they employ? If you would have to use a pre-made simple syrup, which would you recommend?\nThank you again for all your informative and exciting videos.\nAll the best from the UK -\nMartin\nRobert Hess 24 Aug 2013\n11:43 pm\nMartin,\nRegarding “pre-made” simple syrup… the only time I use them is in those very rare cases where I can’t seem to find any sugar on hand. Simple syrup is SO easy to make, and you then have complete control over the sugar ratio so relying on some unknown ratio is not an issue.\nThe standard simple syrup that most bars use is a plain 1-to-1 ratio. just fill a bottle half full with water, then fill the rest with sugar and give it a good solid shake for about 30 seconds. The level will settle down a bit, so add a little more water, then shake again for about 30 seconds or so. Now let it sit for a few minutes and use it as you wish. It might still be just a little cloudy, but that will diminish over the next few minutes.\nThere is also the notion of “rich” simple syrup, which you have seen me use on the show a few times. You can’t really use the cold water method here, but instead you put one cup of water into a saucepan, bring it to a simmer, add two cups of water, and stir until fully dissolved. Allow to cool, and you are ready to go.\nThen there is what is known as “rock candy” syrup. This I believe is usually a 4-to-1 ratio (1 cup water, 4 cups sugar) which you also need to do at a simmer. It takes a little longer to get fully dissolved, but you end up with a fairly dense sugar syrup. They call it “rock candy” because if once it is cooled you dangle a cotton string in it, the sugar will crystalize on the string and form a solid piece of sugar (aka. rock candy).\n-Robert",
"Daiquiri Cocktail Recipe - Liquor.com\n... sour and spirit is refreshing and tangy, ... Watch Liquor.com advisory board member Dushan Zaric make a proper Daiquiri in our How to Cocktail video.\nDaiquiri Cocktail Recipe\nYou must be logged in to post a comment.\nAdding comment … \ndannynannady2007.2b626c1 posted 10 months ago\nI usually enjoy the videos with Dushan, but FREE POURING a daiquiri???? You gotta be out of your mind...\njohndixon548gmailcom1017305228 posted 1 year ago\nI made this tonight with Pusser's British Navy Rum and Rose's Lime Juice. Very citrusy until I added an additional .5 oz (ish) of rum. Refreshing!\ncholo7 posted 2 years ago\nI thought the classic is supposed to be with light rum??\nCocktailSeb posted 2 years ago\nDark Rum?!?!",
"Strawberry Daiquiri recipe | Epicurious.com\nStrawberry Daiquiri . ... Central American/Caribbean Rum Alcoholic Berry Fruit Cocktail Party Backyard BBQ Latin American Cocktail Strawberry Spirit Shower Party ...\nStrawberry Daiquiri recipe | Epicurious.com\nFair. Not much flavor when recipe followed exactly. Tried adding more strawberries and lime and sugar but still not great.\napmcd from Naples, Fl /\nFlag if Inappropriate\nHi Sat in the \" Friends Cafe \" in Chiang Mai, having been on a day trip to Mon Jam in the hills above Chiang Mai. We were discusding with the owner all the strawberries her cousin was growing, a government assisted project to encourage the hill tribes to move away from opium growing. We renamed the Daiquiri to the Strawberry Mai Quiri. Using Thai black rum and the local strawberries to you recipe. What a hit, remember wher you heard the name first:)\njem5 from Palma de Mallorca, Spain /\nFlag if Inappropriate\nI made the recipe with dark rum (Myers) and it was delicious. Used lime juice from my own limes growing inside!\nChristinaJ from Maine /\nFlag if Inappropriate\nI like the simplicity and freshness of this recipe, but I liked it with more sugar and more ice. Just an opinion...\nAmelia0719 from Houston, TX /",
"Make-Ahead Frozen Fruit Daiquiris - The Yummy Life\nYou can make these frozen daiquiris ahead and pour them into individual size mason jars and put them in the freezer where they are ready to serve when the guests arrive.\nMake-Ahead Frozen Fruit Daiquiris\nMake-Ahead Frozen Fruit Daiquiris\nFrozen Fruit Daiquiris\nBy Monica 5-6 (1-cup) servings\nThese easy & delicious daiquiris can be made ahead, frozen in mason jars, and enjoyed at any time. Make them in a variety of fruit flavors for a party--always a crowd pleaser!\nIngredients\n6 oz. (3/4 cup) frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate (*see substitute at end of directions)\n6 oz. (3/4 cup) light rum\n4 cups frozen fruit*; may substitute fresh, flavorful, ripe fruit\n2 cups ice cubes\nsweetener (optional), to taste, if desired (superfine sugar, agave syrup, or other preferred sweetener)\nfresh fruit for garnish (optional)\nDirections\nIn a blender, combine lemonade/limeade concentrate, rum, and fruit. (Berries can be added whole; other fruits should be cut into cubes/pieces.) Blend until smooth. Add ice. Blend until smooth, and no ice chunks remain. Taste and add sweetener, if desired. If flavor is too intense, add more ice cubes and blend. For stronger fruit flavor, add more fruit and blend.\n*RECOMMENDED FRUIT:\n--Strawberry (raspberry & blackberry not recommended for this \"whole fruit\" method, because their larger seeds result in a gritty drinking texture)\n--Blueberry\n--Pineapple (optional: add 1 cup canned light coconut milk for a Pina Colada)\nMAKE AHEAD MASON JAR DAIQUIRIS:\nPour blended daiquiris into 1/2 pint (1 cup) mason jars, leave at least 1/2\" at the top to allow for expansion when they freeze, screw on the lids and freeze. To serve, remove from freezer (let them set out for 5-15 minutes if they're too hard) & use a fork to break up and stir the semi-frozen daiquiris into a slushy consistency. The alcohol keeps them from freezing to a hard solid state, so they're always ready to remove from the freezer, stir, serve, and drink. These will keep for up to 1 month in the freezer.\nTO MIX FLAVORS IN ONE JAR: Layer 2 or more layers in a single jar for a pretty presentation and mixed fruit flavor. Pour 1st layer into jar, freeze for 2 hours, add 2nd layer and freeze, repeat with any remaining layers. Try layering Strawberry, Pineapple (or Pina Colada), and Blueberry for a festive 4th of July daiquiri.\nVIRGIN DAIQUIRIS: omit rum and substitute equivalent amount of water. Taste and add sweetener, if needed. If made ahead, these will reach a hard ice state when refrozen due to the lack of alcohol. Remove them from the freezer and let them sit at room temperature for 15-25 minutes before stirring into a slushy consistency.\nNUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:\napprox. the same for an 8-oz serving of all of the plain fruit flavors: 208 calories; .5g fat; 36g carbs; 2g fiber; .6g protein; 4 Weight Watchers PtsPlus\nFor an 8-oz serving of the Pina Colada (a pineapple daiquiri plus light coconut milk):\n246 calories; 4g fat; 36.2g carbs; 2g fiber; 1.5g protein; 5 Weight Watchers Pts Plus\n*If you prefer to avoid the high fructose corn syrup often used in frozen limeade and lemonade concentrates, you may substitute:\n--1/2 cup fresh lime or lemon juice\n--1/3 cup agave nectar OR honey OR simple sugar syrup. (Taste and add more sweetener, if needed.)\nPreviously, I shared my popular Make-Ahead Frozen Margarita recipe. It's time for another of my favorite frozen drinks--daiquiris! Like the margaritas, I've been making these for many years. These are so easy, and always a crowd pleaser.\nEarly in our marriage, King-Man and I lived in Tucson, Arizona. We had a tradition with some fun neighbors of hanging out on our deck on weekends and drinking strawberry daiquiris. We were grad students and didn't have much money, but an evening on the deck with good friends and pitcher of frozen daiquiris was all we needed for a fun night out in. This simple recipe is one of those that makes me nostalgic. When I make a batch today, it still takes me back to those good times on our Tucson deck. I love that about food and recipes. Through the years, made over and over again, they become a connection with good friends and simple traditions, even when we're miles apart. Pat and Jose’, our daiquiris-on-the-deck Tucson friends, this one's for you!\n4 fruit flavors with endless variations. For years I made just the strawberry version of these daiquiris; but it's so easy to adapt this recipe for any kind of fruit, that I've been branching out to other flavors. In today's recipe, I use the same procedure for making 4 daiquiri flavors: strawberry, blueberry, mango and pineapple. You can also turn a pineapple daiquiri into a pina colada simply by adding coconut milk. I'll show you how I layer more than one flavor in a single glass or jar--just for fun. Feel free to get creative with other fruits, too, or blend together more than one kind.\nSimple ingredients with LOTS of fruit. My recipe is heavier on the fruit than most daiquiri recipes, resulting in a more intense fruit flavor and vibrant color. In fact over 50% of these daiquiris are made of fruit. (That makes them healthy, right???) It's basically a fruit puree mixed with some rum. For convenience, you can add some frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate for a tart sweetener; or, you can use fresh lemon/lime juice and sweeten it with agave, honey, or a simple syrup. The fruit puree is often sweet enough that no additional sweetener is needed, but you can easily adjust the sweetness to suit you.\nFrozen fruit is preferred. Unless you have access to freshly picked, ripe, sweet, and flavorful fruit, frozen fruit works best in these daiquiris. Truth is, frozen fruit is picked at its peak of ripeness and frozen right away and is often more flavorful, sweet, and nutritious than fresh fruit that is picked before it's ripe and stored--all the while losing nutrients. It's disappointing to buy gorgeous looking fresh strawberries that turn out to be flavorless. Go ahead and use fresh fruit, if you prefer; I know there's so much great fresh fruit available in the summer months. However, you may need to taste-test and add some sweetener if you use fresh fruit.\nMake-ahead convenience! I love to serve these when we have parties, but I don't want to be a slave to the blender all night. You can make these frozen daiquiris ahead and pour them into individual size mason jars and put them in the freezer where they are ready to serve when the guests arrive. No last minute preparation or blending drinks throughout the party. Love the convenience; and it's a fun, novel way to serve the daiquiris that our guests always enjoy. King-Man and I like having them on hand in our freezer, too. You can also take a cooler full of these pre-made daiquiris along to a picnic--always a hit!\nNutritional information. I wouldn't call these health food, but as alcoholic drinks go, these aren't as naughty as most because of the use of whole fruit with a relatively small amount of added sweetener.\nan 8-oz serving of all of the 4 plain fruit flavors are approx. the same: 208 calories; .5g fat; 36g carbs; 2g fiber; .6g protein; 4 Weight Watchers PtsPlus\nan 8-oz serving of the Pina Colada (a pineapple daiquiri plus light coconut milk):\n246 calories; 4g fat; 36.2g carbs; 2g fiber; 1.5g protein; 5 Weight Watchers Pts Plus\nStep-by-step photos for\nStep 1. Assemble these ingredients & supplies.\nLight rum\nFrozen fruit (or ripe, flavorful fresh fruit); strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, or mangos. For a smoother consistency, avoid using raspberries or blackberries because their seeds are larger and give the daiquiris a gritty texture. (I personally don't mind that gritty texture, but it's not for everyone.) Peaches work well, too.\nLite coconut milk (the canned kind found in the Asian aisle of grocery stores)--this is optional for making a pina colada version of the pineapple daiquiri ( view coconut milk on Amazon )\nFrozen lemonade or limeade concentrate. Look for this convenient ready-made frozen concentrate in the freezer case at your grocery store. Although harder to find, organic versions don't contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). \nOR, you avoid the HFCS in frozen concentrate by substituting fresh lemon or lime juice plus either agave nectar, honey, or simple sugar syrup . (This is my preference.) My printable recipe at the end of the post provides both options.\nview on Amazon: organic agave nectar syrup\nIce cubes\nBlender - You need a blender that can handle blending ice and frozen fruit well. I use my full-size KitchenAid blender for making these. ( view my blender on Amazon )\nMason jars - I use half-pint jars; perfect for a single serving ( view jars on Amazon )\n \nThe photos below illustrate mixing a batch of Strawberry Daiquiris.\n(Use the same procedure for any fruit variety.) \nStep 2. Add to blender: rum, lemonade/limeade concentrate (or fresh citrus juice and sweetener), fruit. Blend until smooth. Add ice and blend again until smooth. Done!\nYou can enjoy the daiquiris right away if you like. Just pour them into a glass and say \"Cheers!\" \nOr, you can put the blended daiquiris in the freezer to drink at another time. \nMAKE AHEAD MASON JAR DAIQUIRIS. Pour blended daiquiris into 1/2 pint (1 cup) mason jars, leave about 1/2 inch at the top for expansion when they freeze, screw on the lids and freeze. To serve, remove from freezer, let them rest for 5-15 minutes until they soften a bit & use a fork to break up and stir the semi-frozen daiquiris into a slushy consistency. The alcohol keeps them from freezing to a hard solid state, so they're always ready to remove from the freezer, stir, serve, and drink. These will keep for up to 1 month in the freezer.\nHere are 4 varieties: strawberry, blueberry, mango, and pineapple. I added some coconut milk to the pineapple to make it a pina colada--so yum!\nYou'll love keeping these stocked in the freezer for a refreshing drink at a moment's notice.\nFREEZE IN BIGGER BATCHES, TOO. You can freeze them in bigger batches in large jars or containers. Remove them from the freezer, let them thaw a few minutes, stir enough to soften, and pour or scoop them into glasses.\nTO MIX MULTIPLE FLAVORS IN ONE JAR: Layer 2 or more layers in a single jar for a pretty presentation and mixed fruit flavor. Pour 1st layer into jar, freeze for 2 hours, add 2nd layer and freeze, repeat with any remaining layers. Try layering Strawberry, Pineapple (or Pina Colada), and Blueberry flavors.\nCUSTOMIZE COLORS FOR ANY OCCASION. You can layer any fruit colors to represent team, school, or holiday colors. Red and white for Valentines or St. Louis Cardinals baseball (forgive me, I had to send a little love to the home team); red, white, and kiwi green for Christmas, etc.\nADD EASY GARNISHES\nAdd fruit garnishes using cocktail skewers for an easy way to fancy them up.\nCut fruit into shapes with mini cookie cutters. I cut pineapple slices into star shapes for these.\nView on Amazon: mini cookie cutters , bamboo cocktail skewers\nAren't they pretty? These are all ready for a 4th of July or Memorial Day party. \nVIRGIN DAIQUIRIS? Easy. Omit the rum and substitute an equivalent amount of water. Taste and add sweetener, if needed. If made ahead, these will reach a harder ice state when refrozen due to the lack of alcohol. Remove them from the freezer and let them sit at room temperature for 15-25 minutes before stirring into a slushy consistency.\nGET READY TO PARTY! You might want to make up a blender or two of daiquiris, freeze them in individual jars or glasses, and be ready for your next party or picnic. Whether celebrating the start of summer, the 4th of July, or any ol' day you choose, these daiquiris are hard to beat. Put them in a cooler covered with ice, for a portable way to beat the heat.\nLet me know if you have a favorite flavor or come up with a new one. \nMake it a Yummy day!\nMonica",
"BBC Food - Recipes - Strawberry Daiquiri\nStrawberry Daiquiri. Preparation time. less than 30 mins. ... The sweetness of strawberries and the kick of lime make this classic daiquiri a real crowd pleaser of a ...\nBBC Food - Recipes - Strawberry Daiquiri\nStrawberry Daiquiri\n4 fresh strawberries , plus ½ strawberry to garnish\n2 tsp white sugar\n35ml/1½fl oz white rum\n1 tbsp strawberry liqueur\n25ml/1fl oz lime juice\nMethod\nPlace the strawberries, sugar, rum, strawberry liqueur and lime juice into the base of a cocktail shaker and mash (muddle) with the end of a clean rolling pin.\nPlace the lid onto the cocktail shaker and shake well.\nStrain the mixture into a Martini glass and garnish with half a strawberry.\nFind a recipe on BBC Food\nQuick & Easy"
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"Diwali.txt\nDiwali\nDiwali (or Deepavali, the \"festival of lights\") is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn (northern hemisphere) or spring (southern hemisphere) every year. Arguably the most important festival in Hinduism, it is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness or good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed.Frank Salamone (2004), Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals and Festivals, ISBN 978-0415880916, Routledge, pp 112–113, 174, 252 The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid-November.\n\nBefore Diwali night, people clean, renovate, and decorate their homes and offices. On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new clothes or their best outfit, light up diyas (lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family puja (prayers) typically to Lakshmi – the goddess of fertility and prosperity. After puja, fireworks follow, then a family feast including mithai (sweets), and an exchange of gifts between family members and close friends. Deepavali also marks a major shopping period in nations where it is celebrated.[http://www.webcitation.org/6LYPWvqVY India Journal: ‘Tis the Season to be Shopping] Devita Saraf, The Wall Street Journal (August 2010)\n\nThe name of festive days as well as the rituals of Diwali vary significantly among Hindus, based on the region of India. In many parts of India, the festivities start with Dhanteras (in Northern and Western part of India), followed by Naraka Chaturdasi on second day, Deepavali on the third day, Diwali Padva dedicated to wife–husband relationship on the fourth day, and festivities end with Bhau-beej dedicated to sister–brother bond on the fifth day. Dhanteras usually falls eighteen days after Dussehra.\n\nOn the same night that Hindus celebrate Diwali, Jains celebrate a festival of lights to mark the attainment of moksha by Mahavira, Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas and some Newar Buddhists also celebrate Diwali remembering Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism.\n\nThe word Diwali means rows of lighted oil lamps.\n\nEtymology\n\nDiwali is derived from the Sanskrit dīpāvali \"series of lights\".,Lochtefeld, James G. \"Diwali\" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, pp. 200–201. Rosen Publishing. ISBN 9780823931798. formed from dīpa \"light, lamp\" and āvali \"series, line, row\". Diwali is also known as दीपोत्सव dīpotsava \"festival of lights\".\n\nThe holiday is known as dīpavaḷi in , , and , dipawoli in , dipaboli or dipali in , dipābali in , divālī in , dīvālī in , divāḷi in , , and , diyārī in , tīpāvaḷi in , and tihar in .\n\nHistory\n\nDiwali dates back to ancient times in India, as a festival after the summer harvest in the Hindu calendar month of Kartika. The festival is mentioned in Sanskrit scriptures such as the Padma Purana, the Skanda Purana both completed in second half of 1st millennium AD but believed to have been expanded from a core text from an earlier era. The diyas (lamps) are mentioned in Skanda Purana to symbolically represent parts of sun, the cosmic giver of light and energy to all life, who seasonally transitions in the Hindu calendar month of Kartik.Pintchman, Tracy. Guests at God's Wedding: Celebrating Kartik among the Women of Benares, pp. 59–65. State University of New York Press, 2005. ISBN 0-7914-6596-9. Hindus in some regions of India associate Diwali with the legend of Yama and Nachiketa on Kartika amavasya (Diwali night). The Nachiketa story about right versus wrong, transient wealth versus true wealth, ignorance versus knowledge is recorded in Katha Upanishad composed in 1st millennium BC. \n\nKing Harsha in the 7th century Sanskrit play Nagananda mentions Deepavali as Deepapratipadutsava, where lamps were lit and newly engaged brides and grooms were given gifts.BN Sharma, Festivals of India, South Asia Books, ISBN 978-0836402834, pp. 9–35 Rajasekhara referred to Deepavali as Dipamalika in his 9th century Kavyamimamsa, where in he mentions the tradition of homes being whitewashed and oil lamps decorating homes, streets and markets in the night. The Persian traveller and historian Al Biruni, in his 11th century memoir on India, wrote Deepavali being celebrated by Hindus on New Moon day of the month of Kartika. \n\nSignificance\n\nDiwali is one of the happiest holidays in India and Nepal with significant preparations. People clean their homes and decorate them for the festivities. Diwali is one of the biggest shopping seasons in India and Nepal; people buy new clothes for themselves and their families, as well as gifts, appliances, kitchen utensils, even expensive items such as cars and gold jewelry. People also buy gifts for family members and friends which typically include sweets, dry fruits, and seasonal specialties depending on regional harvest and customs. It is also the period when children hear ancient stories, legends, myths about battles between good and evil or light and darkness from their parents and elders. Girls and women go shopping and create rangoli and other creative patterns on floors, near doors and walkways. Youth and adults alike help with lighting and preparing for patakhe (fireworks).Deborah Heiligman, Celebrate Diwali, ISBN 978-0-7922-5923-7, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. \n\nThere is significant variation in regional practices and rituals. Depending on the region, prayers are offered before one or more deities, with most common being Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth and prosperity. On Diwali night, fireworks light up the neighborhood skies. Later, family members and invited friends celebrate the night over food and sweets.\n\nSpiritual significance\n\nDiwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs and some Buddhists to mark different historical events, stories or myths but they all symbolise the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, hope over despair.[http://www.hinduismtoday.com/pdf_downloads/pagers/Hindu-Festival_Diwali_broadsheet-color.pdf Diwali – Celebrating the triumph of goodness] Hinduism Today (2012) \n\nThe Yoga, Vedanta, and Samkhya schools of Hindu philosophy share the belief that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. The celebration of Diwali as the \"victory of good over evil\" refers to the light of higher knowledge dispelling all ignorance, the ignorance that masks one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With this awakening comes compassion and the awareness of the oneness of all things, and knowledge overcomes ignorance. Diwali is the celebration of this inner light over spiritual darkness, knowledge over ignorance, right over wrong, good over evil. \n\nHinduism\n\nThe religious significance of Deepavali varies regionally within India, depending on the school of Hindu philosophy, regional myths, legends, and beliefs.\n\nHindus across the world celebrate Diwali in honor of the return of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana from exile of 14 years after Rama defeated Ravana. To honor the return of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana from Lanka and to illuminate their path, villagers light Diyas to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. For some, Diwali also celebrates the return of Pandavas after 12 years of Vanvas and one year of \"Agyatavas\" in Mahabharata. Furthermore, Deepavali is linked to the celebration of Lakshmi, who is venerated amongst Hindus as the goddess of wealth and prosperity and is the wife of Lord Vishnu. The 5-day festival of Diwali begins on the day Goddess Lakshmi was born from the churning of cosmic ocean of milk by the gods and the demons; while the night of Diwali is the day Lakshmi chose Vishnu as her husband and they were married. Along with Lakshmi, devotees make offerings to Ganesha, who symbolizes ethical beginnings and fearless remover of obstacles; Saraswati, who embodies music, literature and learning and Kubera, who symbolizes book-keeping, treasury and wealth management. Other Hindus believe that Diwali is the day Vishnu came back to Lakshmi and their abode in the Vaikuntha; so those who worship Lakshmi receive the benefit of her good mood, and therefore are blessed with mental, physical and material wellbeing during the year ahead. \n\nHindus in India's eastern region, such as Odisha and West Bengal, worship the goddess Kali instead of Lakshmi, and call the festival Kali Puja. In India's Braj and north central regions, the god Krishna is recognized. People mark Mount Govardhan, and celebrate legends about Krishna. In other regions, the feast of Govardhan Puja (or Annakoot) is celebrated, with 56 or 108 different cuisines prepared, offered to Krishna, then shared and celebrated by the local community.\n\nIn West and certain Northern parts of India, the festival of Diwali marks the start of a new Hindu year.\n\nSikhism\n\nDiwali for Sikhs marks the Bandi Chhor Divas, when Guru Har Gobind freed himself and some Hindu Rajahs, from the Gwalior Fort, from the prison of the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, and arrived at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Ever since then, Sikhs celebrate Bandi Choorh Divas, with the annual lighting up of Golden Temple, fireworks and other festivities. In the post-Guru Gobind Singh era, Sarbat Khalsa used to meet on Diwali and Baisakhi to discuss important issues concerning Sikh community. \n\nJainism\n\nDiwali has special significance in Jainism. Mahavira, the last of the Tirthankar of this era, attained Nirvana on this day at Pavapuri on 15 October 527 BCE, on Kartik Krishna Amavasya. According to the Kalpasutra by Acharya Bhadrabahu, 3rd century BC, many gods were present there, illuminating the darkness. Therefore, Jains celebrate Diwali as a day of remembering Mahavira. On Diwali morning, Nirvan Ladoo is offered after praying to Lord Mahavira in all Jain temples all across the world. Gautam Gandhar Swami, the chief disciple of Lord Mahavira achieved omniscience(Kevala Gyan) later the same day.\n\nBuddhism\n\nThe Newar people in Nepal, who are Buddhist celebrate the festival through chanting mantras and remembering Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism following the Kalinga War.\n\nDescription and rituals\n\nDiwali is a five-day festival in many regions of India, with Diwali night centering on the new moon – the darkest night – at the end of the Hindu lunar month of Ashvin and the start of the month of Kartika. In the Common Era calendar, Diwali typically falls towards the end of October, or first half of November each year. The darkest night of autumn lit with diyas, candles and lanterns, makes the festival of lights particularly memorable. Diwali is also a festival of sounds and sights with fireworks and rangoli designs; the festival is a major celebration of flavors with feasts and numerous mithai (sweets, desserts), as well as a festival of emotions where Diwali ritually brings family and friends together every year.\n\nRituals and preparations for Diwali begin days or weeks in advance. The festival formally begins two days before the night of Diwali, and ends two days thereafter. Each day has the following rituals and significance: \n\nDhanteras (Day 1)\n\nDhanteras (celebrated in Northern and Western part of India) starts off the five day festival. Starting days before and through Dhanteras, houses and business premises are cleaned, renovated and decorated. Women and children decorate entrances with Rangoli – creative colourful floor designs both inside and in the walkways of their homes or offices. Boys and men get busy with external lighting arrangements and completing all renovation work in progress. For some, the day celebrates the churning of cosmic ocean of milk between the forces of good and forces of evil; this day marks the birthday of Lakshmi – the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, and the birthday of Dhanvantari – the God of Health and Healing. On the night of Dhanteras, diyas (lamps) are ritually kept burning all through the nights in honor of Lakshmi and Dhanvantari.\n\nDhanteras is also a major shopping day, particularly for gold or silver articles. Merchants, traders and retailers stock up, put articles on sale, and prepare for this day. Lakshmi Puja is performed in the evening. Some people decorate their shops, work place or items symbolizing their source of sustenance and prosperity.\n\nNaraka Chaturdasi (Day 2)\n\nNarak Chaturdasi is the second day of festivities, and is also called Choti Diwali. The Hindu literature narrates that the asura (demon) Narakasura was killed on this day by Krishna, Satyabhama and Kali. The day is celebrated by early morning religious rituals and festivities followed on. Typically, house decoration and colourful floor patterns called rangoli are made on or before Narak Chaturdasi. Special bathing rituals such as a fragrant oil bath are held in some regions, followed by minor pujas. Women decorate their hands with henna designs. Families are also busy preparing homemade sweets for main Diwali.\n\nLakshmi Puja (Day 3)\n\nThe third day is the main festive day. People wear new clothes or their best outfits as the evening approaches. Then diyas are lit, pujas are offered to Lakshmi, and to one or more additional deities depending on the region of India; typically Ganesha, Saraswati, and Kubera. Lakshmi symbolises wealth and prosperity, and her blessings are invoked for a good year ahead. \n\nLakshmi is believed to roam the earth on Diwali night. On the evening of Diwali, people open their doors and windows to welcome Lakshmi, and place diya lights on their windowsills and balcony ledges to invite her in. On this day, the mothers who work hard all year, are recognized by the family and she is seen to embody a part of Lakshmi, the good fortune and prosperity of the household. Small earthenware lamps filled with oil are lighted and placed in rows by some Hindus along the parapets of temples and houses. Some set diyas adrift on rivers and streams. Important relationships and friendships are also recognized during the day, by visiting relatives and friends, exchanging gifts and sweets. \n\nAfter the puja, people go outside and celebrate by lighting up patakhe (fireworks). The children enjoy sparklers and variety of small fireworks, while adults enjoy playing with ground chakra, Vishnu chakra, flowerpots (anaar), sutli bomb, rockets and bigger fireworks. The fireworks signify celebration of Diwali as well a way to chase away evil spirits. After fireworks, people head back to a family feast, conversations and mithai (sweets, desserts).\n\nPadwa, Balipratipada (Day 4)\n\nThe day after Diwali, is celebrated as Padwa. This day ritually celebrates the love and mutual devotion between the wife and husband. The husbands give thoughtful gifts, or elaborate ones to respective spouses. In many regions, newly married daughters with their husbands are invited for special meals. Sometimes brothers go and pick up their sisters from their in-laws home for this important day. The day is also a special day for the married couple, in a manner similar to anniversaries elsewhere in the world. The day after Diwali devotees perform Goverdhan puja in honor of Lord Krishna.\n\nDiwali also marks the beginning of new year, in some parts of India, where the Hindu Vikram Samvat calendar is popular. Merchants and shopkeepers close out their old year, and start a new fiscal year with blessings from Lakshmi and other deities.\n\nBhai Duj, Bhaiya Dooji (Day 5)\n\nThe last day of festival is called Bhai dooj (Brother's second) or Bhai tika in Nepal, where it is the major day of the festival. It celebrates the sister-brother loving relationship, in a spirit similar to Raksha Bandhan but with different rituals. The day ritually emphasizes the love and lifelong bond between siblings. It is a day when women and girls get together, perform a puja with prayers for the well being of their brothers, then return to a ritual of food-sharing, gift-giving and conversations. In historic times, this was a day in autumn when brothers would travel to meet their sisters, or bring over their sister's family to their village homes to celebrate their sister-brother bond with the bounty of seasonal harvests.\n\nFestival of peace\n\nOn this festive occasion, Hindu, Jain and Sikh communities also mark charitable causes, kindness, and for peace. For example, at the international border, every year on Diwali, Indian forces approach Pakistani forces and offer traditional Indian sweets on the occasion of Diwali. The Pakistani soldiers anticipating the gesture, return the goodwill with an assortment of Pakistani sweets. \n\nRegional variations\n\nNew Year celebrations\n\n* The Marwari New Year is celebrated on the day of the festival of Diwali, which is the last day Krishna Paksha of Ashvin month and also last day of the Ashvin month of Hindu calendar.\n* The Gujarati New Year is celebrated the day after the festival of Diwali (which occurs in mid-fall – either October or November, depending on the Lunar calendar). The Gujarati New Year is synonymous with sud ekam i.e. first day of Shukla paksha of the Kartik month -, which is taken as the first day of the first month of Gujarati lunar calendar. Most other Hindus celebrate the New Year in the spring – Baisakhi. Gujarati community all over the world celebrates the New Year after Diwali to mark the beginning of a new fiscal year.\n* The Nepal Era New year is celebrated by the ethnic Newari in the Kathmandu valley. The new year occurs in the fourth day of Diwali. The calendar was used as an official calendar until the mid 19th century. Most Nepalese celebrate the traditional new year in April i.e. Baisakhi.\n\nMelas\n\nTo add to the festivals of Diwali, fairs are held throughout India. Melas are found in many towns and villages. A mela generally becomes a market day in the countryside when farmers buy and sell produce, and rural families shop for clothes, utensils and other products. Girls and women dress attractively during the festival. They wear colourful clothing and new jewelry, and their hands are decorated with henna designs.\n\nAmong the many activities that take place at a fairs are performances by jugglers, acrobats, snake charmers and fortune tellers. Food stalls are set up, selling sweet and spicy foods. There are a variety of rides at the fair, which include Ferris wheels and rides on animals such as elephants and camels. Activities for children, such as puppet shows, occur throughout the day.\n\nAndhra Pradesh and Telangana\n\nIn Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the festivities center over two days – Naraka Chaturthasi and Deepavali Amaavasya. The festivities start out at the crack of dawn and carry on well into the night. Most people make a trip to the local temple along with their families to seek the blessings of their respective gods. The night sky is lit up with a scintillating array of noisy fireworks.\n\nDiwali is one of the seven most important festivals of Andhra Pradesh. It is very popular with children who celebrate Diwali because of the excitement of bursting firecrackers. Special shops to sell firecrackers are set up in all towns, cities and bigger villages. Some areas host local stage story telling called Hari Katha. Some areas may put a huge Narakasura dummy made with fireworks. This will be burst by a person dressed as Lord Krishna or, more accurately, a costume of Satyabhama, the consort of Lord Krishna, who actually killed the demon Narakasura; an event that is celebrated as Diwali for generations. The evening sky of Diwali is a colourful sight to watch.\n\nPeople clean/white-wash or paint/decorate their homes as it is a very auspicious day; to welcome the goddess of wealth and prosperity i.e. Lakshmi devi to their homes. Homes are lit up with hundreds of diyas and colourful diwali rangolis adorn the doorways. After all this preparation all the members of the family perform the Lakshmi puja. Another custom involves decorating homes with paper figures.\n\nFestivities cut across boundaries to move on from the small villages to the big towns, often beginning almost a month before Diwali. Sales of expensive silk saris, jewellery, ornaments, and household goods increase. From the poor to the rich, everyone indulges in the largest shopping spree of the year. Sweets, which are an integral part of any festival in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, are prepared or purchased from shops. The festival is full of messages depicting one or more aspects of human life, relationships, and ancient traditions.\n\nGoa and Konkan\n\nDiwali begins in Konkan and Goa on the day of Naraka Chaturdashi. The houses are cleaned and decorated with kandeel(known as Akashdivo in Konkani), lamps, mango leaves, and marigold flowers. The utensils are made to shine, filled with water, and decorated for the holy bath the following morning. On the eve of Naraka Charurdashi, paper-made effigies of Narakasura, filled with grass and firecrackers symbolizing evil, are made. These effigies are burnt at around four o'clock in the morning. Firecrackers are burst, and people return home to take a scented oil bath. Lamps are lit in a line. The women of the house perform aarti of the men, gifts are exchanged, a bitter berry called kareet is crushed under the feet in token of killing Narkasur, symbolising evil and removal of ignorance. Different varieties of Poha and sweets are made and eaten with family and friends. Festivities continue till Tulsi Vivah and lamps are lit every evening. Celebrations include Lakshmi puja on the Diwali day, Krishna puja or Govardhan puja and cattle worship on Balipratipada day, Bhaubeej, and Tulsi vivah.\n\nGujarat\n\nIn Gujarat the Diwali celebrations take on a number of distinct characteristics.\n\nDiwali occurs in the second (dark) lunar fortnight (Krishna Paksha) of the month of Ashvin (Gujarati: \"Aaso\") and the first (bright) fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of Kartika (Guj: \"Kartik\"). Aaso is the last month of the Gujarati calendar, and Kartik the first.\n\nCelebrations start earlier in Gujarat than in the rest of India, commencing on Agyaras, the 11th day of the Krishna Paksha of Aaso.\nOn the 12th day is Vagh Baras, the festival of the cow and the calf.\nOn the 13th day is Dhanteras, the days Diwali starts in the rest of India. The 14th (elsewhere known as Naraka Chaturdashi in South India and Choti Diwali in the North) is celebrated as Kali Choudas.\nThe 15th (new moon day) is Lakshmi Puja, celebrated throughout India. The next day, the first day of Shukla Paksha of Kartik, is Bestu Varsh, New Year's Day, start of the Gujarati calendar.\nThe 2nd day of Kartik is Bhai Bij, the day Diwali ends.\nA further celebration takes place on the 5th day of Kartik, Labh Pancham.\n\nKarnataka\n\nKnown as Deepavali (ದೀಪಾವಳಿ) in Karnataka, it is celebrated on the day before and day following Amavasye (New Moon Day) as Naraka Chaturdashi (before new-moon day) resembling Satyabhama's victory over Narakasura and as Bali Padyami, the first day of Kartika masa. The entire house is cleaned and new clothes are purchased for the entire family which is followed by lighting of oil lamps around the house and bursting firecrackers. The tradition in Kannada families is that all members gather together for the three days celebration. The thirteenth day of the Krishna Paksha is celebrated as \"neeru tumbo habba\" when the house is cleaned, painted afresh and the vessels are washed, bedecked and filled with fresh water for the festival. The next day is Naraka Chaturdashi, considered very auspicious. In parts of North Karnataka, the women of the house perform Aarti on the men. The next day is Lakshmi mahaapooje on Amavaasye (new-moon day). On the fourth day, the house, especially the entrance, is decorated with flowers and floor decorations to invite Bali into their homes. A special entrance to the home is built, made out of cow-dung (gOmaya) and Sandalwood (siri-chandana). Both materials are revered in Kannada tradition as having divine significance. The day is of special importance to agricultural families as they celebrate Govardhan Pooja on this day. The houses are adorned with Keraka (replica of the Govardhana giri using cow dung) bejewelled with flowers and maize, ragi stalks. Fire-camps are kindled on both Naraka Chaturdashi and Bali Padyami days of Deepavali. The celebration of Deepavali is marked by the lighting of lamps in every courtyard and the bursting of firecrackers. Ravtegh is a special Deepavali delicacy in Bangalore region. Holiges and Chakkulis are prepared in all households.\n\nKerala\n\nDiwali or popularly known locally as Deepavali, falls on the preceding day of the New Moon in the Malayalam month Thulam (October–November). The celebrations are based on the legend of Narakasura Vadha – where Sri Krishna destroyed the demon and the day Narakasura died is celebrated as Deepavali. It commemorates the triumph of good over evil. The story of King Bali is also associated with Diwali by Hindus in Kerala. \n\nMaharashtra\n\nPreparations for Diwali start before the festival with people preparing sweets and savory snacks collectively called 'Faral'. The snacks include Chakali, Laddu, Karanji, Chiwada and other festive foods.\n\nIn Maharashtra, Diwali starts from Vasubaras which is the 12th day of the 2nd half of the Marathi month Ashvin. This day is celebrated by performing an Aarti of the cow and its calf – which is a symbol of love between mother and her baby.\n\nThe next day is Dhana Trayodashi. Traders and business people give special importance to this festival. It is also considered an auspicious day for making important purchases, especially metals, including kitchenware and precious metals like silver and gold.\n\nThis is followed by Naraka Chaturdashi. On this day people get up early in the morning and take their bath before sunrise while stars are still visible. Bathing is an elaborate process on this day with abundant use of utnas, oils and perfumes, and is preceded by an Aarti.\n\nThe day after Naraka Chaturdashi comes Lakshmi-pooja. It occurs on Amavasya i.e. no moon day. The dark night is illuminated by lamps and at dusk firecrackers are burst. New account books are opened after a pooja. Generally the traders do not make any payments on that day to preserve Lakshmi in home. In every household, cash, jewellery and an idol of the goddess Lakshmi is worshipped. Friends, neighbours and relatives are invited over and celebrations are in full swing.\n\nBali Pratipada is the 1st day of Kartik in the Hindu calendar. It marks the start of Hindu financial year. It is a special day for Husband and wife. The wife puts tilak on her husbands forehead and he gives her an expensive gift. In recent times there is a growing trend of organising a cultural event called Diwali Padwa early in the morning.\n\nBhau-beej – it is the time when the bond of love between a brother and sister is further strengthened. The sister asks God for her brother's(s') long and successful life while she receives presents from her beloved brothers. .\n\nOdisha\n\nIn Odisha, the day starts with drawing Rangolis in front of the house. The Rangoli is drawn in the shape of sailboat on the ground in front of their house and is filled with items like cotton, salt, mustard, asparagus root, turmeric and a wild creeper. However, in the central chamber, Prasad is placed and over which a Diya of a jute stem with cloth wick is lit. This marks the beginning of Puja. Tarpanam – the ritual meant to invoke the spirits of the ancestors. Immediately after the dusk, all members of household gather for lighting Kaunria (pith of the jute plant). A lighted lamp is placed inside an earthen pot that is tied to a pole erected in front of the house . All the members then hold a bunch of jute stick in their hands and lit them from the fire from main Diya i.e. the Diya kept over Prasad and raise the bunch towards the sky chanting the following verse. And then in presence of every members of the house, a bundle of the Kaunria is lit during the Puja and raised skywards accompanied with the chant: \"Badbadua ho andhaara re aasa aalua re jaa\" meaning \"O' forefathers come in the dark of the evening, we light your way to the heaven\". The significance of the ritual is that we show respect to our ancestors who reinforce their absence from the physical world by our presence.\n\nTamil Nadu\n\nKnown as Deepavali (தீபாவளி) in Tamil Nadu, it commemorates the death of Narakasura at the hands of Lord Sri Krishna. It is believed that Narakasura, a malevolent demon, tortured common people and they prayed to lord Krishna to defeat him. The people then celebrated Narakasura's defeat with sparklers, lights and firecrackers. This celebration has continued down the generations as Diwali. In Tamil Nadu, Diwali falls on the 14th day preceding the amavasya (new moon) in the solar month of Aippasi. The day begins with an early morning oil bath, wearing new clothes, bursting of firecrackers, visiting Lord Ganesha, Lord Vishnu and Shiva temples. The exchange of sweets between neighbours, visiting relations, and preparing Diwali special sweets are traditions of the day.\n\nTypical Deepavali celebrations begin with waking up early in the morning, before sun rise, followed by an oil-bath. The bathing tradition involves extensive massaging of warm til-oil containing pepper corns and betel leaves. New clothes are typically worn as a part of celebrations. After the bath, a home-made medicine known as \"Deepavali Lehiyam\" is consumed, which is supposed to aid in soothing digestive problems that may ensue because of feasting that occurs later in the day. Sparklers, firecrackers and lights are used extensively, much like the rest of the world where Deepavali is celebrated. Tamil Nadu will celebrate it on the preceding day, Naraka Chaturdashi. In Tamil Nadu, Diwali is calculated when chaturdashi prevails during sunrise, precisely at 4am-6am. If chaturdashi prevails after 6am it is not considered. For example, if chaturdashi tithi begins at 2:30 pm the preceding day and ends at 1pm next day, the next day will be celebrated as Diwali. Lamps are lit on the night of Karthikai Deepam, in the Tamil solar month of Karthikai.\n\nTelangana\n\nIn Telangana the festivities center over two days – Naraka Chaturthasi and Deepavali Amaavasya. People clean/white-wash and paint their homes as it is a very auspicious day; to welcome the goddess of wealth and prosperity i.e. Lakshmi devi to their homes. Homes are lit up with hundreds of diyas and colorful Diwali rangolis adorn the doorways. After all this preparation all the members of the family perform the Lakshmi puja. Sri Kedareswara Vratham is held on Amavasya called Nomu. This is very sacredly performed. There is special thread called the Nomu Dhara, which is tied to the worshiper right hand after performing puja. This custom is acquire through ancestry only. Those families who have this ritual are eligible to perform this puja.\n\nThe Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped and food, fruits, nuts, in multiples of 21 are placed in twin winnow as offering to God, new clothes, area nuts, food arranged in plaintain leaf is offered as Naivedya. Adrasam or Kajjaya is a savoury made of rice flour and jaggery then deep fried is specially prepared on this day.\n\nThere are some traditional customs followed such as buying new clothes for this festival. Buying new home or vehicles is considered auspicious. Special sweets are made too. Some eateries in Hyderabad make some delicious sweets during Diwali which will not be available at any other time. Some areas may put a huge Narakasura dummy made with fireworks.\n\nUttar Pradesh\n\nDiwali is the most important festival in this predominantly Hindu state and is celebrated with great vigor and gaiety. Diwali is celebrated in memory of Lord Rama's victory over the demon king Ravana and his subsequent homecoming to Ayodhya after 14 years in exile. People wear colourful clothes throughout the Diwali festival, and enthusiasm is visible over the entire festival. The ghats of Varanasi come alive with thousands of brightly lit earthen lamps. Visitors throng in large numbers to watch this. Fairs and art festivals are held in the state, a venue for fun and shopping. Other celebrations, such as puja, fireworks, sweets and gifts exchange are similar to the rest of India.Diwali is celebrated with pomp and antiquity in Uttar Pradesh.It is celebrated as the Festival of Lights.The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm the children and the old.\n\nBraj region\n\nIn this region, Diwali marks the killing of Narakasura: Celebrated as Naraka Chaturdashi, one day before Diwali, it commemorates the killing of the evil demon Narakasura, who wreaked havoc. In different versions, either Krishna or Krishna's wife Satyabhama killed Narakasura during the Dwapara yuga. The festival is celebrated over six days. It starts with Govatsa Dwadashi. Go means cow and vatsa means calf. Dwadashi means the 12th day. The story associated with this day is that of King Prithu, son of the tyrant King Vena. Because of the ill rule of Vena, there was a terrible famine and earth stopped being fruitful. Prithu chased the earth, who is usually represented as cow, and ‘milked’ her, meaning that he brought prosperity to the land. On second day, people shop for utensils, clothes, gold and other items. The third day is called Chaturdashi, the day on which the demon Narakasura was killed by Krishna – an incarnation of Vishnu. It signifies the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. The day is celebrated with puja, fireworks, and feast. The fourth day, is Diwali night, celebrated like rest of India. The fifth day is Govardhan Puja, celebrated as the day Krishna defeated Indra by the lifting of Govardhana hill to save his kinsmen and cattle from rain and floods. Symbolic mountains of food are prepared representing the Govardhan hill lifted by Krishna, then shared in the community. The last day is Yama Dwitiya where brothers and sisters meet to mark their bond, love and affection for each other. If sister is married and lives in a distant area, the brothers typically visit their sisters’ place on this day and usually have a meal there. The brothers also bring and give gifts to their sisters.\n\nWest Bengal, Northeast Bihar, Assam\n\nKali Puja is light-up night for West Bengal, Mithila region of Bihar and Assam. Kali Puja coincides with the festival of Diwali (pronounced Dipaboli in Bengali), (in Maithili, it is known as Diya-Baati) where people light diyas/candles in memory of the souls of departed ancestors. The goddess Kali is worshipped, not Lakshmi, for whole night on one night during this festival. The festival is popularly called Kali puja, not Diwali. Kali puja is also known by the names of Shyama puja or Nisha puja in parts of the Mithila region and West Bengal.Many people also celebrate this festival by lighting earthen lamps (deeps) which is a significance of Lord ram winning over the evil Ravana.\n\nIn other parts of the world\n\nDeepavali is celebrated around the world, particularly in countries with significant populations of Hindu, Jain and Sikh origin. These include Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. With more understanding of Indian culture and global migration of people of Indian origin, the number of countries where Diwali/Deepavali is celebrated has been gradually increasing. While in some countries it is celebrated mainly by Indian expatriates, in others it is becoming part of the general local culture. In most of these countries Diwali is celebrated on the same lines as described in this article with some minor variations. Some important variations are worth mentioning.\n\nAsia\n\nNepal\n\nDeepavali is known as \"Tihar\" or \"Swanti\". It is celebrated over the same five day period concurrent with Deepavali in India. The traditions vary from those followed in India. On the first day (Kaag tihar), crows are given offerings, considering them to be divine messengers. On the second day (Kukur tihar), dogs are given food for their honesty. After Kaag and Kukur Tihar, Gai Tihar and Goru Tihar is celebrated on the third day, where cow and ox are decorated and fed. Also on the third day, Laxmi puja is performed. This is the last day of the year according to Nepal Sambat, so many of the businessmen clear their accounts on this day and on finishing it, worship goddess Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. Days before the Laxmi puja, houses are cleaned and decorated; on the day of Laxmi puja, oil lamps are lit near doors and windows. The fourth day is celebrated as new year. Cultural processions and other celebrations are observed in this day. The Newars celebrate it as \"Mha Puja\", a special ritual in which the body is worshipped to keep it fit and healthy for the year ahead on this day. On the fifth and final day called \"Bhai Tika\", brothers and sisters meet, garland each other, pray for the other's well being, mark the other's forehead with Tika. The brothers give gifts to their sisters, and sisters feed their brothers.Tanka Bahadur Subba (1999), Politics of Culture: A Study of Three Kirata Communities, Orient Longman, ISBN 978-8125016939, pages 108–109\n\nIn Nepal, family gathering is more significant during Tihar. People in the community play \"Deusi and Bhailo\" which is a kind of singing and dancing forming a group. People go to all the houses in the community and play songs and dance, and give blessings to the visited house, whereas the home owner gives gifts like rice, SelRoti, fruits and money. After the festival, people donate some part of the collected money and food to the charity or welfare groups and with the rest of the money and food, they go for a picnic. People also play swing called Dore Ping made out of thick ropes and Pirke Ping or Rangate Ping made out of wood.\n\nAmong Nepali people, after Lakshmi Puja, young girls assemble in a groups four to ten members in a group on Diwali. And they sing/dance and play Bhailo in each and every village one by one.The head of the family, of each house they visit, gives them dakshani as a token of gift. They play till Bhaitika (Bhaiduj).Similarly boys play Deusi. Diwali is rejoicingly celebrated during these days.\n\nPakistan\n\nIn mid March, before the 2016 Diwali festival, it was declared a public holiday throughout Pakistan. It is mainly celebrated by Pakistani Hindus, however Muslims and Christians also take part in the festival, like in Peshawar in the 2015 celebrations. \n\nMalaysia\n\nDeepavali is a federal public holiday throughout Malaysia. In many respects it resembles the traditions followed in the Indian subcontinent. 'Open houses' are held where Hindu Malaysians (of all ethnic groups like Tamils, Telugus and Malayalees) welcome fellow Malaysians of different races and religions to their house for a meal. Diwali in Malaysia has become an occasion for goodwill and friendly ties between religious and ethnic groups in Malaysia.On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new clothes, light up diyas (lamps and candles )inside and outside their home, participate in family puja(prayers)typically to Lakshmi.\n\nSingapore\n\nDeepavali is a gazetted public holiday. Observed primarily by the minority Indian community (Tamils), it is typically marked by a light-up in the Little India district, the heart of the Indian community. Apart from the light-up, other activities such as bazaars, exhibitions, parades and concerts will also take place in Little India. The Hindu Endowment Board of Singapore along with Singapore's government organizes many of these cultural events during this festive period. \n\nSri Lanka\n\nThis festival, a public holiday in the island nation, is also called \"Deepavali\" and is celebrated by the Tamil community. On this day, it is traditional for people to take an oil bath in the morning, wear new clothes, exchange gifts, performing Poosai (Pūjā), and a visit to the Koil (Hindu temple) is normal.In Sri Lanka, this festival is largely celebrated by the Tamil community scattered in different areas of the island but mostly concentrated in the North and in the East. Burning of firecrackers in the evening of the festival is a common practice of this festival. Hindus light oil lamps to invite the blessings of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and to banish any evil from the household for once and for all. The festival is marked by illumination, making of toys of enamel and making of figures out of crystal sugar popularly known as Misiri. Sri Lanka's celebration include many of the traditional aspects of Deepavali such as games, fireworks, singing and dancing; however, the tradition of a large meal, family reunions and fireworks are admirably preserved.\n\nBeyond Asia\n\nAustralia\n\nIn Australia, Deepavali is celebrated publicly among the people of Indian origin and the local Australians in Melbourne. Deepavali at Federation Square has been embraced warmly by the mainstream Victorian population beginning in 2006. The event has now become a part of the Melbourne Arts calendar and is celebrated over a week in the city.\n\nOver 56,000 people had visited the Federation square on the last day of the festival last year and had enjoyed the entertaining live music and traditional dances of India, art and crafts as well as the variety of Indian cuisines with the festival culminating in a spectacular fireworks display on the Yarra River.\n\nMany iconic buildings including the Victorian Parliament, Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, Melbourne Airport and the Indian Consulate are decorated over this week. Along with this, many outdoor dance performances and super banners immerse the city in Deepavali mood in the City and Melbourne Airport. The Deepavali event regularly attracts national organizations like AFL, Cricket Australia, White Ribbon, Melbourne Airport and artists from other communities and India . Their participation and contribution by a team of volunteers makes it a mega event and a show case for Indian community.\n\nFrom the sheer numbers alone attending over one week period of the festival, Diwali at Federation Square has now been recognized as the biggest celebration in Australia.\n\nIn Brisbane, Diwali celebrations are held annually in the city's Chinatown, Brisbane which is known for its pan-Asian atmosphere. \n\nOn the Australian external territory of Christmas Island, Deepavali is celebrated alongside many other celebrations common in Australia and Malaysia as well as local celebrations of the island. \n\nCaribbean\n\nIn Trinidad and Tobago, communities all over the islands get together and celebrate the festival. One major celebration that stands out is the Diwali Nagar or Village of the Festival of Lights located in Chaguanas, Trinidad. It features stage performances by the east Indian cultural practitioners, a folk theatre featuring skits and plays, an exhibition on some aspect of Hinduism, displays by Hindu religious sects and social organisations, nightly worship of Lakshmi, lighting of deeyas, performances by schools related to Indian culture, and a food court with Indian and non-Indian vegetarian delicacies. Thousands of people participate in the island wide festivities. Sports grounds, schools and other public locations such as parks, host Deepavali Celebrations. Deepavali celebrations begin with Lakshmi Pooja and continue with lighting deyas and singing, dancing and sharing meals. The festival culminates with fireworks displays ushering in Diwali. \n\nFiji\n\nIn Fiji, Deepavali is a public holiday and is a religious event celebrated together by Hindus (who constitute close to a third of Fiji's population), and culturally amongst members of Fiji's races and is a time in the year that is greatly looked forward to. Originally celebrated by imported indentured labourers from the Indian subcontinent during British rule in the then Colony of Fiji during the 19th century, it was set as a holiday at independence in 1970 as the government wished to set aside one religious public holiday each for Fiji's three largest religions, i.e., Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.\n\nDeepavali in Fiji is often remarked by people from India as being observed on a larger scale then Deepavali celebrations in India, as fireworks and Deepavali related events begin at least a week before the actual day. Another unique feature is the cultural celebration of Deepavali (aside from its traditionally religious celebration) where Fijians of Indian origin or Indo-Fijians, whether Hindu, Christian, Sikh or even Muslim along with the other cultural groups in Fiji celebrate Deepavali as a time for sharing with friends and family as well as signalling the beginning of the Holiday season in Fiji. On the commercial side, Deepavali is a time for many retail sales and giveaways. Deepavali celebrations in Fiji have taken on a flair of its own, markedly different from celebrations on the Subcontinent.\n\nDeepavali marks a time for cleaning and buying new and special clothes for the celebrations amongst cultural groups along with dressing up in Saris and other Indian clothing, to work the day before. Homes are cleaned and Oil lamps or diyas are lit. Decorations are made around the home with an array of coloured lights, candles and paper lanterns, as well as the use of religious symbols formed out of coloured rice and chalk. Invitations are made to family, friends and neighbours and houses are opened. Gifts are made and prayers or pooja are made by Hindus. Sweets and vegetable dishes are often eaten during this time and fireworks are fired for days before and after Diwali.\n\nNew Zealand\n\nIn New Zealand, Deepavali is celebrated publicly among many of the South Asian diaspora cultural groups. A large group that celebrates Diwali in New Zealand are members of the Indo-Fijian communities who have migrated and settled there. There are main public festivals in Auckland and Wellington, with other events around the country becoming more popular and visible. An official reception has been held at the New Zealand Parliament since 2003. Diwali is celebrated by Hindus. The festival signifies the triumph of light over darkness, justice over injustice, good over evil and intelligence over ignorance. Lakshmi Mata is worshiped. Lakshmi Mata is the goddess of light, wealth and beauty. Special Divali foods are barfi and Prasad.\n\nUnited Kingdom\n\nIn Britain, Indians celebrate Diwali with great enthusiasm. People clean and decorate their homes with lamps and candles. A popular type of candle is a diya. People also give each other sweets such as laddoo and barfi, and the different communities may gather for a religious ceremony and get-together. It is also an important time to contact family in India and perhaps exchange gifts.\n\nThe festival of Deepavali has begun to find acceptance in the broader British national consciousness as more non-Hindus appreciate and celebrate Hinduism on this occasion. Hindus celebrate all over the UK which also brings an understanding to different cultures for the rest of the community. Over the past decade national and civic leaders such as Prince Charles have attended Diwali celebrations at some of the UK's prominent Hindu temples, such as the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, using the occasion to commend the Hindu community's contributions to British life. In 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife joined thousands of worshipers at the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden to celebrate Diwali and the Annakut festival marking the Hindu New Year. Since 2009, Diwali has been celebrated every year at 10 Downing Street, the residence of the British Prime Minister. The yearly celebration, begun by Gordon Brown and continued by David Cameron, is one of the most anticipated events hosted by the British Prime Minister. \n\nLeicester plays host to some of the biggest Diwali celebrations outside of India. \n\nUnited States\n\nDiwali was first celebrated in the White House in 2003 and was given official status by the United States Congress in 2007 by former president George W. Bush. Barack Obama became the first president to personally attend Diwali at the White House in 2009. On the eve of his first visit to India as the president of United States, Obama released an official statement sharing best wishes with \"those celebrating Diwali\". \n\nThe Diwali Mela in Cowboys Stadium boasted an attendance of 100,000 people in 2009. In 2009, San Antonio became the first U.S. city to sponsor an official Diwali celebration including a fireworks display; in 2012, over 15,000 people attended. In 2011, The Pierre in New York City, now operated by Tata Group's Taj Hotels, hosted its first Diwali celebration. There are about 3 million Hindus in the United States. \n\nAfrica\n\nMauritius\n\nDivali is an official public holiday in the African Hindu majority country of Mauritius.\n\nRéunion\n\nIn Réunion, one quarter of its population are of Indian origin and Deepavali is celebrated by the Hindus. \n\nEconomics of Diwali\n\nDiwali marks a major shopping period in India. In terms of consumer purchases and economic activity, Diwali is the equivalent of Christmas in the west. It is traditionally a time when households purchase new clothing, home refurbishments, gifts, gold and other large purchases. The festival celebrates Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and investment, spending and purchases are considered auspicious. Diwali is a peak buying season for gold and jewelry in India. It is also a major sweets, candy and fireworks buying season. At retail level, about US$800 million (INR 5,000 crores) worth of firecrackers are consumed in India over the Diwali season. \n\nIssues\n\nThere has been growing concern and questions on the environmental and health impact of Diwali, as with other major festivals of the world.\n\nAir pollution\n\nOne study indicates that air pollution worsens not as much during fireworks, but after fireworks celebration is over, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels about four times worse than pre-Diwali levels, and average levels about two times a normal day. The study indicated that there is high accumulation of PM2.5 generated because of fireworks on Diwali festival which remains suspended in the air. The peak pollution lasts for about one day, and the pollutant concentrations return to background levels after 24 hours.\n\nAnother study indicates that ground level ozone pollution is also formed during Diwali. The dispersal and decay times for increased ground level ozone is also about one day.\n\nBurn injuries\n\nThere is an increase in burn injuries in India during Diwali from fireworks. A firework called anar (fountain) has been found to cause 65% of the injuries. Adults are the typical victims. Newspapers advise splashing cold water immediately after the burn, which along with proper nursing of the wound helps reduce complications. Most burns are Group I type burns (minor) requiring outpatient care. \n\nDiwali prayers\n\n;Prayers\nThe prayers vary widely by region of India. An example vedic prayer from Brhadaranyaka Upanishad celebrating lights is: \n\nAsato ma sat gamaya | (असतो मा सद्गमय ।)\nTamaso ma jyotir gamaya | (तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।)\nMṛtyor ma amṛtam gamaya | (मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।)\nOm shanti shanti shantihi || (ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥)\n\nTranslation: \n\nFrom untruth lead us to Truth.\nFrom darkness lead us to Light.\nFrom death lead us to Immortality.\nOm Peace, Peace, Peace.\n\nNotes",
"Spirits Glossary - Big Red Liquors\nSpirits Glossary; Store Locator; ... Originally referring to wine, ... Liqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, ...\n» Spirits Glossary\nSpirits Glossary\nThe Grape & Food\nSpirits Glossary\nFrom Amarula African Crème to Zaya Rum, you will find almost 1,500 varieties of spirits in Big Red locations. Regardless of whether you are seeking the ultimate $2,000 bottle of Cognac or need an inexpensive Vodka for the punch at a holiday party, you will find it at Big Red Liquors!\nBecause of our enormous purchasing power and solid belief in providing our customers with reasonable prices, you will find many of our spirits priced from 10 to 25% below the competition. These are not just “sale” items, but Big Red’s everyday low prices. Many of our brands come from difficult to locate sources that are not in every corner store and Big Red’s size also allows us to be one of the first in bringing new and exciting brands to market in our area.\nMany Big Red employees are specialists in one or more types of spirits and you will find managers with an incredible depth of knowledge in areas such as Scotch, Bourbon, Cognac, Vodka and others. We are happy to help – it is our passion!\nAbsinthe: A once illegal anise based aperitif drink with an infusion of wormwood, considered by some to be hallucinogenic and dangerous. Brands now available are made without all of the dangerous ingredients.\nAllspice: A ground spice made from an unripe berry with an aroma reminiscent of a cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg blend.\nAmaretto: Almond flavored liqueur.\nAmaretto di Saronno: Italian amaretto produced since 1525. Originally created by a widow as a gift to an artist of the Leonardo da Vinci School of Art.\nAngostura Bitters: Aromatic bitters originating in Angostura, Venezuela; now produced in Trinidad.\nAnisette: A licorice tasting liqueur made from the anise seed.\nAperitif: Originally referring to wine, but now may mean any liquor taken to stimulate the appetite before a meal.\nApricot Brandy: Apricot flavored brandy.\nApplejack: North American name for apple brandy.\nAquavit: Scandinavian grain spirit, usually flavored with caraway and anise.\nArmagnac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the city of Condom, France.\nBenedictine: An herb flavored liqueur produced by the Benedictine monks of France.\nBitters: A non-alcoholic aromatic combination of herbs, fruits, roots, barks, seeds, and flowers steeped in an alcohol base and then aged. (See Peychauds and Angostura.)\nBlack Raspberry Liqueur: A black raspberry flavored liqueur. (See Chambord.)\nBlended straight whiskey: A blend consisting of only straight whiskeys.\nBlended whiskey: A blending of straight whiskeys with either light-bodied whiskeys or with neutral alcohols.\nBlue Curacao: Blue colored Dutch West Indian Curacao orange liqueur. Produced in Holland.\nBottled-in-bond whiskey: At least a 100 proof straight bourbon whiskey that has aged two or more years in a bonded warehouse kept under federal lock and key. All bottled-in-bond whiskey bears a green government stamp.\nBourbon Whiskey: American whiskey made by using at least 51% corn grain mash in a wheat, oats, rye, and barley combination.\nBrandy: A product of the distillation of wine, or fruit in the case of flavored brandies such as peach or cherry. Cognac and Armagnac are special varieties made from grapes grown in specific areas of France.\nCachaca: A Brazilian sugar cane based spirit similar to rum.\nCalvados: French apple brandy from Normandy.\nCampari: An Italian brand of bitter aperitif wine.\nCanadian Whiskey: A light-bodied whiskey balanced so that no one particular mash ingredient is allowed to dominate the flavor.\nChambord: A black raspberry flavored liqueur produced in Burgundy, France.\nChartreuse: Yellow and green herbal liqueurs made only by the Carthusian monks of La Grande Chartreuse, France. Produced since 1605 from a secret recipe consisting of over 100 alpine herbs.\nCoco Lopez: A sweet, syrupy, coconut based drink mixer. Non Alcoholic.\nCoffee Liqueur: Coffee flavored liqueur.\nCognac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the cities of Cognac and Jarnac.\nCointreau: A French made, bitter-sweet orange flavored liqueur. Produced by the Cointreau family since 1849.\nCordial: A strong, highly flavored and sweet liquor typically consumed after a meal.\nCorn whiskey: A whiskey made from a mash of at least 80% corn. May or may not be aged.\nCrème: A thick and concentrated infusion of fruit in neutral grain spirits. Commonly made from Cassis, Frambois, but can be from any fruit or nut source.\nCrème de Banana: Banana flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Cacao: A white or brown colored liqueur made from cocoa beans, vanilla and spices.\nCrème de Cassis: A French liqueur made from black currants.\nCrème de Menthe: A red, green, or white colored, peppermint flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Framboise: Raspberry-flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Violette: Violet-flavored liqueur.\nCuracao: Orange-flavored liqueur, produced mainly in France and the Netherlands, but originating from the Caribbean; an orange flavored liqueur made from the peels of oranges grown on the island of Curacao, in the West Indies.\nDigestif: A liquor consumed at or after a meal to aid in digestion.\nDrambuie: A Scotch based, honey flavored liqueur first produced in Skye, Scotland in 1745, now produced in Edinburgh.\nDry Vermouth: French made, herb flavored wine that is used in making drinks such as the Martini and Manhattan.\nDubonnet: A French brand of aperitif wine made from aromatics.\nEverclear: In the United States, Everclear is a brand of grain alcohol (ethanol), available at concentrations of 95% alcohol (190 proof) and 75.5% (151 proof).\nEau de Vie: Eau-de-vie (plural eaux-de-vie) is a French term for a colorless brandy, derived from one or more fruits. Literally translated it means “water of life”.\nFernet Branca: A bitter, aromatic spirit made from over 40 herbs and spices.\nFlips: A combination of eggnog and fizz, made with liqueur, egg, sugar and shaved ice.\nFrangelico: An Italian liqueur made with wild hazelnuts, berries and flowers.\nFrappe: Any mixture of liqueurs over finely crushed ice.\nGalliano: A yellow herb and spice liqueur made in Solaro, Italy.\nGin: A neutral alcohol base flavored with the juniper berry.\nGrain Neutral Spirits: Alcohol distilled from grain at 190 proof. Used in blended whiskeys and for making vodka, gin and other liquors.\nGrand Marnier: A cognac brandy based liqueur flavored with orange.\nGrappa: An Italian brandy distilled from the pulp of grapes used in winemaking.\nGrenadine: A non-alcoholic cherry flavoring used in a variety of drinks such as the Sling or the Shirley Temple.\nIrish whiskey: A whiskey whose flavor is obtained from the malted barley component of its mash, made in Ireland.\nJigger: also called a shot, a small glass used to measure liquor.\nJulep: Originally a sweet syrup, now a family of spirit-based cocktails, flavored and decorated with fresh mint.\nKahlua: A coffee flavored liqueur made in sunny Mexico.\nKirshwasser: Colorless, cherry-flavored eau-de-vie, mainly from France and Switzerland.\nKummel: Colorless Dutch liqueur, flavored with caraway.\nLillet: French herb-flavored liqueur, based on wine and Armagnac.\nLimoncello: A distinctive, premium liqueur made with the juice of fresh lemons from Southern Italy.\nLiqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, herbs, coffee, nuts, mint and chocolate.\nLondon gin: The driest gin available.\nMadeira: Fortified wine from the Portuguese island of the same name.\nMandarin Napoleon: Belgian, brandy-based liqueur flavored with tangerines.\nMaraschino: Italian, cherry-flavored liqueur – usually colorless, but may be red.\nMelon liqueur: Spirit-based, melon-flavored liqueur, (See Midori).\nMezcal: Spirit similar to tequila made from one of five permissible Agave plants. Most is made in the state of Oaxaca, but it can be produced elsewhere. The worm found in the bottom of the bottle in some brands originated in the 1940’s as a marketing ploy.\nMidori: A green colored, melon flavored liqueur made in Japan.\nMirabelle: Plum eau-de-vie, or colorless brandy.\nMonte Alban: A Mezcal named after an Aztec mountain-top settlement in Oaxaca, Mexico where Mezcal has been produced since the mid 1500’s. True Oaxacan mezcal has an agave cactus worm in each bottle.\nMuddle: To mash or crush ingredients with a spoon or muddler.\nNeat: A term referring to liquor that is consumed undiluted by ice, water or mixers.\nNocello Walnut: Nocello, from the Emeligia-Romagna region of Italy is a walnut flavored liqueur.\nOuzo: An unsweetened anise-flavored liqueur made in Greece since 1888.\nPastis: Anise based aperitif, turns cloudy with water, Often known by the brand names Pernod, Ricard or Mon Pastis.\nPeter Heering Cherry Liqueur: A world renowned cherry flavored liqueur. Produced since 1818 in Copenhagen, Denmark.\nPeychaud Bitters: Originally created in 1830 by Antoine Peychaud in Haiti, now produced in New Orleans by the Sazerac Company.\nPimms: Pimm’s No. 1 is a gin-based liquor made in England from dry gin, liqueur, fruit juices and spices.\nPisco: A Peruvian grape based brandy, often used to make a Pisco Sour.\nPousse-Café: A drink poured in layers to float on top of one another, which gives its name to a narrow, straight-sided stemmed glass.\nPrisonniere: Literally “prisoner”. When an apple or pear is grown inside a bottle which is then filled with either Calvados or Poire William.\nProof: An American system for measuring alcohol content by volume. 80 proof equals 40% alcohol by volume (ABV).\nRickey: A spirit-based cocktail including lemon or lime juice and soda water.\nRoses: A sweetened West Indian lime juice produced in St. Albans, England. Non-Alcoholic.\nRum: Spirit made from the fermentation and distillation of sugar cane. Light, medium, and heavy bodied flavor variations exist as do variations in color when not clear. Often flavored with spices or fruit flavors.\nRye whiskey: Mainly American and Canadian whiskey which must be made from a mash containing at least 51 percent rye.\nSake: Japanese rice wine, may be served warm or chilled.\nSambuca: Italian, anise flavored liqueur often served flaming with coffee beans.\nSchnapps: A peppermint flavored liqueur. Many flavored varieties of peppermint schnapps exist, such as root beer or peach; all have peppermint as the base flavoring.\nScotch Whisky: Blends are a mixture of about 40 percent malt and 60 percent grain whiskey and single malts are 100% from a single distillery.\nSlivovitz: A Croatian version of plum brandy.\nSloe Gin: Liqueur made by steeping sloe berries in gin – previously homemade but now available commercially.\nSour: A spirit-based cocktail containing sugar, and lemon or lime juice.\nSour Mash Whiskey: A broad category of whiskey where a portion of old mash is mixed in with new to help advance the character and smoothness of the flavor.\nStraight Whiskey: A whiskey that is distilled and then aged at least two years without blending.\nStrega: Italian, herb-flavored liqueur made with over 50 botanicals and colored with saffron.\nSugar syrup: A sweetener for cocktails, made by dissolving sugar in boiling water.\nSweet Vermouth: An Italian made, herb flavored wine. Used in making drinks such as Rob Roy’s and Manhattans.\nTequila: Mexican spirit distilled from the blue agave plant, a succulent. Tequila can only be made in the state of Jalisco. Generally available in three categories: Blanco (no wood aging), Reposado and Anejo.\nTia Maria: Popular, Jamaican rum-based coffee liqueur.\nTriple sec: Colorless, orange-flavored liqueur.\nVermouth: Wine-based aperitif flavored with extracts of wormwood – both sweet and dry vermouths are widely used in cocktails.\nVodka: Colorless, grain-based spirit, originally from Russia and Poland. Now made from virtually any grain, many fruits and potatoes as well and available in dozens of flavors.\nWhiskey: Spirit distilled from grain in either Ireland or North America. Corn, rye and barley are all used.\nWhisky: A spirit from Scotland traditionally distilled from grain in the lowlands and barley in the rest of the country. Also known as Scotch Whisky.",
"Dayak_people.txt\nDayak people\nThe Dayak or Dyak or Dayuh are the native people of Borneo.[http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_iso639.asp?code=day Ethnologue report for ISO 639 code: day] It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayak languages are categorised as part of the Austronesian languages in Asia. The Dayak were animist in belief; however, many converted to Islam and since the 19th century there has been mass conversion to Christianity. \n\nHistory\n\nThe Dayak people of Borneo possess an indigenous account of their history, mostly in oral literature, partly in writing in papan turai (wooden records), and partly in common cultural customary practices. Among prominent accounts of the origin of the Dayak people is the mythical oral epic of \"Tetek Tahtum\" by the Ngaju Dayak of Central Kalimantan; it narrates that the ancestors of the Dayak people descended from the heavens before moving from inland to the downstream shores of Borneo. \n\nThe independent state of Nansarunai, established by the Ma'anyan Dayaks prior to the 12th century, flourished in southern Kalimantan. The kingdom suffered two major attacks from the Majapahit forces that caused the decline and fall of the kingdom by the year 1389; the attacks are known as Nansarunai Usak Jawa (meaning \"the destruction of the Nansarunai by the Javanese\") in the oral accounts of the Ma'anyan people. These attacks contributed to the migration of the Ma'anyans to the Central and South Borneo region.\n\nThe colonial accounts and reports of Dayak activity in Borneo detail carefully cultivated economic and political relationships with other communities as well as an ample body of research and study concerning the history of Dayak migrations. In particular, the Iban or the Sea Dayak exploits in the South China Seas are documented, owing to their ferocity and aggressive culture of war against sea dwelling groups and emerging Western trade interests in the 18th and 19th centuries. \n\nIn 1838, British adventurer James Brooke arrived to find the Sultan of Brunei fending off rebellion from warlike inland tribes. Sarawak was in chaos. Brooke put down the rebellion, and was made Governor of Sarawak in 1841, with the title of Rajah. Brooke pacified the natives, including the Dayaks, who became some of his most loyal followers. He suppressed headhunting and piracy. Brooke's most famous Iban enemy was Libau \"Rentap\"; Brooke led three expeditions against him and finally defeated him at Sadok Hill. Brooke had many Dayaks in his forces at this battle, and famously said \"Only Dayaks can kill Dayaks.So he deployed Dayaks to kill Dayaks.\" Sharif Mashor, a Melanau from Mukah, was another enemy of Brooke.\n\nDuring World War II, Japanese forces occupied Borneo and treated all of the indigenous peoples poorly - massacres of the Malay and Dayak peoples were common, especially among the Dayaks of the Kapit Division. In response, the Dayaks formed a special force to assist the Allied forces. Eleven US airmen and a few dozen Australian special operatives trained a thousand Dayaks from the Kapit Division in guerrilla warfare. This army of tribesmen killed or captured some 1,500 Japanese soldiers and provided the Allies with vital intelligence about Japanese-held oil fields. \n\nCoastal populations in Borneo are largely Muslim in belief, however these groups (Tidung, Banjarese, Bulungan, Paser, Melanau, Kutainese, Kedayan, Bakumpai, Bisayah) are generally considered to be Malayised and Islamised Dayaks, native to Borneo, and heavily amalgated by the Malay people, culture and sultanate system.\n\nOther groups in coastal areas of Sabah and northeastern Kalimantan; namely the Illanun, Tausūg, Sama and Bajau, although inhabiting and (in the case of the Tausug group) ruling the northern tip of Borneo for centuries, have their origins from the southern Philippines. These groups though may be indigenous to Borneo, they are nonetheless not Dayak, but instead are grouped under the separate umbrella term of Moro.\n\nEthnicity\n\nThe Indigenous people of the Heart of Borneo are commonly known as Dayak. The term was coined by Europeans referring to the non-Malay inhabitants of Borneo. There are seven main ethnic divisions of Dayaks according to their respective native languages which are:\n*1. Ngaju\n*2. Apo Kayan (part of their sub-ethnic groups are known as Orang Ulu along with other smaller sub-ethnic Dayak groups in Malaysia)\n*3. Iban or Hiban (Sea Dayak)\n*4. Klemantan (Land Dayak)\n*5. Murut\n*6. Punan\n*7. Ot Danum\n\nUnder the main classifications, there are dozens of ethnics and hundreds of sub-ethnics dwelling in the Borneo island. There are over 50 ethnic Dayak groups speaking different languages. This cultural and linguistic diversity parallels the high biodiversity and related traditional knowledge of Borneo.\n\nLanguages\n\nDayaks do not speak just one language, even if just those on the island of Borneo (Kalimantan) are considered. Their indigenous languages belong in the general classification of Malayo-Polynesian languages and to diverse groups of Bornean and Sabahan languages (including Land Dayak), and the Ibanic languages of the Malayic branch. Most Dayaks today are bilingual, in addition of their native language, they are well-versed in Malay or Indonesian, depending on their country of origin.\n\nMany of Borneo's languages are endemic (which means they are spoken nowhere else). It is estimated that around 170 languages and dialects are spoken on the island and some by just a few hundred people, thus posing a serious risk to the future of those languages and related heritage.\n\nHeadhunting and peacemaking\n\nIn the past, the Dayak were feared for their ancient tradition of headhunting practices (the ritual is also known as Ngayau by the Dayaks). Among the Iban Dayaks, the origin of headhunting was believed to be meeting one of the mourning rules given by a spirit which is as follows:\n* The sacred jar is not to be opened except by a warrior who has managed to obtain a head, or by a man who can present a human head, which he obtained in a fight; or by a man who has returned from a sojourn in enemy country. \n\nOften, a war leader had at least three lieutenants (called manuk sabong) who in turn had some followers. The war (ngayau) rules among the Iban Dayaks are listed below:\n* If a warleader leads a party on an expedition, he must not allow his warriors to fight a guiltless tribe that has no quarrel with them.\n* If the enemy surrenders, he may not take their lives, lest his army be unsuccessful in future warfare and risk fighting empty-handed war raids (balang kayau).\n* The first time that a warrior takes a head or captures a prisoner, he must present the head or captive to the warleader in acknowledgement of the latter's leadership.\n* If a warrior takes two heads or captives, or more, one of each must be given to the warleader; the remainder belongs to the killer or captor.\n* The warleader must be honest with his followers in order that in future wars he may not be defeated (alah bunoh). \n\nThere were various reasons for headhunting as listed below:\n* For soil fertility so Dayaks hunted fresh heads before paddy harvesting seasons after which head festival would be held in honour of the new heads.\n* To add supernatural strength which Dayaks believed to be centred in the soul and head of humans. Fresh heads can give magical powers for communinal protection, bountiful paddy harvesting and disease curing.\n* To avenge revenge for murders based on \"blood credit\" principle unless \"adat pati nyawa\" (customary compensation token) is paid.\n* To pay dowry for marriages e.g. \"derian palit mata\" (eye blocking dowry) for Ibans once blood has been splashed prior to agreeing to marriage and of course, new fresh heads show prowess, bravery, ability and capability to protect his family, community and land\n* For foundation of new buildings to be stronger and meaningful than the normal practice of not putting in human heads.\n* For protection against enemy attacks according to the principle of \"attack first before being attacked\".\n* As a symbol of power and social status ranking where the more heads someone has, the respect and glory due to him. The warleader is called tuai serang (warleader) or raja berani (king of the brave) while kayau anak (small raid) leader is only called tuai kayau (raid leader) whereby adat tebalu (widower rule) after their death would be paid according to their ranking status in the community. \n* For territorial expansion where some brave Dayaks intentionally migrated into new areas such as Mujah \"Buah Raya\" migrated from Skrang to Paku to Kanowit while infighting among Ibans themselves in Batang Ai caused the Ulu Ai Ibans to migrate to Batang Kanyau River in Kapuas, Kalimantan and then proceeded to Katibas and later on Ulu Rajang in Sarawak. The earlier migrations from Kapuas to Batang Ai, Batang Lupar, Batang Saribas and Batang Krian rivers were also made possible by fighting the local tribes like Bukitan.\n\nReasons for abandoning headhunting are:\n* Peacemaking agreements at Tumbang Anoi, Kalimantan in 1874 and Kapit, Sarawak in 1924. \n* Coming of Christianity, with education where Dayaks are taught that headhunting is murder and against the Christian Bible's teachings.\n* Dayaks' own realisation that headhunting was more to lose than to gain. \n\nAmong the most prominent legacy during the colonial rule in the Dutch Borneo (present-day Kalimantan) is the Tumbang Anoi Agreement held in 1874 in Damang Batu, Central Kalimantan (the seat of the Kahayan Dayaks). It is a formal meeting that gathered all the Dayak tribes in Kalimantan for a peace resolution. In the meeting that is reputed taken several months, the Dayak people throughout the Kalimantan agreed to end the headhunting tradition as it believed the tradition caused conflict and tension between various Dayak groups. The meeting ended with a peace resolution by the Dayak people.\n\nAfter mass conversions to Christianity, and anti-headhunting legislation by the colonial powers was passed, the practice was banned and appeared to have disappeared. However, it should be noted that the Brooke-led Sarawak government, although banning unauthorized headhunting, actually allowed \"ngayau\" headhunting practices by the Brooke-supporting natives during state-sanctioned punitive expeditions against their own fellow people's rebellions throughout the state, thereby never really extinguished the spirit of headhunting especially among the Iban natives. The state-sanctioned troop was allowed to take heads, properties like jars and brassware, burn houses and farms, exempted from paying door taxes and in some cases, granted new territories to migrate into. This Brooke's practice was in remarkable contrast to the practice by the Dutch in the neighbouring West Kalimantan who prohibited any native participation in its punitive expeditions. Initially, James Brooke (the first Rajah of Sarawak) did engage the British Navy troop in the Battle of against the Iban and Malay of the Saribas region and the Iban of Skrang under Rentap's charge but this resulted in the Public Inquiry by the British government in Singapore. Thereafter, the Brooke government gathered a local troop who were its allies.\n\nSubsequently, the headhunting began to surface again in the mid-1940s, when the Allied Powers encouraged the practice against the Japanese Occupation of Borneo. It also slightly surged in the late 1960s when the Indonesian government encouraged Dayaks to purge Chinese from interior Kalimantan who were suspected of supporting communism in mainland China and also in the late 1990s when the Dayak started to attack Madurese emigrants in an explosion of ethnic violence. After formation of Malaysia, some Iban became trackers during the Malayan Emergency against the Communist Insurgency and thereafter they continue to be soldiers in the armed forces.\n\nHeadhunting resurfaced in 1963 among Dayak soldiers during the Confrontation Campaign by President Sukarno of Indonesia against the newly created formation of Malaysia between the pre-existing Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak on 16 September 1963. Subsequently, Dayak trackers recruited during the Malayan Emergency against the Communists' Insurgency wanted to behead enemies killed during their military operations but disallowed by their superiors.\n\nIt should be noted headhunting or human sacrifice was also practised by other tribes such as follows:\n* Toraja community in Sulawesi used adat Ma’ Barata (human sacrifice) in Rambu Solo’ ritual which is still held until the arrival of the Hindi Dutch which is a custom to honour someone with a symbol of a great warrior and bravery in a war. \n* In Gomo, Sumatra, there ware megalithic artefacts where one of them is \"batu pancung\" (beheading stone) on which to tie any captive or convicted criminals for beheading. \n* One distinction was their ritual practice of head hunting, once prevalent among tribal warriors in Nagaland and among the Naga tribes in Myanmar. They used to take the heads of enemies to take on their power.\n\nAgriculture, land tenure and economy\n\nTraditionally, Dayak agriculture was based on actually Integrated Indigenous Farming System. Iban Dayaks tend to plant paddy on hill slopes while Maloh Dayaks prefer flat lands as discussed by King. Agricultural Land in this sense was used and defined primarily in terms of hill rice farming, ladang (garden), and hutan (forest). According to Prof Derek Freeman in his Report on Iban Agriculture, Iban Dayaks used to practice twenty seven stages of hill rice farming once a year and their shifting cultivation practices allow the forest to regenerate itself rather than to damage the forest, thereby to ensure the continuity and sustainability of forest use and/or survival of the Iban community itself. The Iban Dayaks love virgin forests for their dependency on forests but that is for migration, territorial expansion and/or fleeing enemies.\n\nDayaks organised their labour in terms of traditionally based land holding groups which determined who owned rights to land and how it was to be used. The Iban Dayaks practice a rotational and reciprocal labour exchange called \"bedurok\" to complete works on their farms own by all families within each longhouse. The \"green revolution\" in the 1950s, spurred on the planting of new varieties of wetland rice amongst Dayak tribes.\n\nTo get cash, Dayaks collect jungle produce for sales at markets. With the coming of cash crops, Dayaks start to plant rubber, pepper, cocoa, etc. Nowadays, some Dayaks plant oil palm on their lands while others seek employment or involve in trade.\n\nThe main dependence on subsistence and mid-scale agriculture by the Dayak has made this group active in this industry. The modern day rise in large-scale monocrop plantations such as palm oil and bananas, proposed for vast swathes of Dayak land held under customary rights, titles and claims in Indonesia, threaten the local political landscape in various regions in Borneo.\n\nFurther problems continue to arise in part due to the shaping of the modern Malaysian and Indonesian nation-states on post-colonial political systems and laws on land tenure. The conflict between the state and the Dayak natives on land laws and native customary rights will continue as long as the colonial model on land tenure is used against local customary law. The main precept of land use, in local customary law, is that cultivated land is owned and held in right by the native owners, and the concept of land ownership flows out of this central belief. This understanding of adat is based on the idea that land is used and held under native domain. Invariably, when colonial rule was first felt in the Kalimantan Kingdoms, conflict over the subjugation of territory erupted several times between the Dayaks and the respective authorities.\n\nReligion and festivals\n\nThe Dayak indigenous religion has been given the name Kaharingan, and may be said to be a form of animism. The name was coined by Tjilik Riwut in 1944 during his tenure as a Dutch colonial Resident in Sampit, Dutch East Indies. In 1945, during the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese referred Kaharingan as the religion of the Dayak people. During the New Order in the Suharto regime in 1980, the Kaharingan is registered as a form of Hinduism in Indonesia, as the Indonesian state only recognises 6 forms of religion i.e. Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism respectively. The integration of Kaharingan with Hinduism is not due to the similarities in the theological system, but due to the fact that Kaharingan is the oldest belief in Kalimantan. Unlike the development in Indonesian Kalimantan, the Kaharingan is not recognised as a religion both in Malaysian Borneo and Brunei, thus the traditional Dayak belief system is known as a form of folk animism or pagan belief on the other side of the Indonesian border.\n\nUnderlying the world-view is an account of the creation and re-creation of this middle-earth where the Dayak dwell, arising out of a cosmic battle in the beginning of time between a primal couple, a male and female bird/dragon (serpent). Representations of this primal couple are amongst the most pervasive motifs of Dayak art. The primal mythic conflict ended in a mutual, procreative murder, from the body parts of which the present universe arose stage by stage. This primal sacrificial creation of the universe in all its levels is the paradigm for, and is re-experienced and ultimately harmoniously brought together (according to Dayak beliefs) in the seasons of the year, the interdependence of river (up-stream and down-stream) and land, the tilling of the earth and fall of the rain, the union of male and female, the distinctions between and co-operation of social classes, the wars and trade with foreigners, indeed in all aspects of life, even including tattoos on the body, the lay-out of dwellings and the annual cycle of renewal ceremonies, funeral rites, etc.\n\nThe best and still unsurpassed study of a traditional Dayak religion in Kalimantan is that of Hans Scharer, Ngaju Religion: The Conception of God among a South Borneo People; translated by Rodney Needham (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1963). The practice of Kaharingan differs from group to group, but shamans, specialists in ecstatic flight to other spheres, are central to Dayak religion, and serve to bring together the various realms of Heaven (Upper-world) and earth, and even Under-world, for example healing the sick by retrieving their souls which are journeying on their way to the Upper-world land of the dead, accompanying and protecting the soul of a dead person on the way to their proper place in the Upper-world, presiding over annual renewal and agricultural regeneration festivals, etc. Death rituals are most elaborate when a noble (kamang) dies. On particular religious occasions, the spirit is believed to descend to partake in celebration, a mark of honour and respect to past ancestors and blessings for a prosperous future.\n\nAmong Iban Dayaks, their belief and way of life can be simply called the Iban religion as per Jenson's book with the same title and has been written by Benedict Sandin and others extensively. It is characterised by a supreme being in the name of Bunsu (Kree) Petara who has no parents and creates everything in this world and other worlds. Under Bunsu Petara are the seven gods whose names are: Sengalang Burong as the god of war and healing, Biku Bunsu Petara as the high priest and second in command, Menjaya as the first shaman (manang) and god of medicine, Selampandai as the god of creation, Sempulang Gana as the god of agriculture and land along with Semarugah, Ini Inda/Inee/Andan as the naturally born doctor and god of justice and Anda Mara as the god of wealth. \n\nThe life actions and decision-making processes of Iban Dayaks depend on divination, augury and omens. They have several methods to receive omens where omens can be obtained by deliberate seeking or chance encounters. The first method is via dream to receive charms, amulets (pengaroh, empelias, engkerabun) or medicine (obat) and curse (sumpah) from any gods, people of Panggau Libau and Gelong and any spirits or ghosts. The second method is via animal omens (burong laba) which have long-lasting effects such as from deer barking which is quite random in nature. The third method is via bird omens (burong bisa) which have short term effects that are commonly limited to a certain farming year or a certain activity at hands. The forth method is via pig liver divination after festival celebration At the end of critical festivals, the divination of the pig liver will be interpreted to forecast the outcome of the future or the luck of the individual who holds the festival. The fifth but not the least method is via nampok or betapa (self-imposed isolation) to receive amulet, curse, medicine or healing.\n\nThere are seven omen birds under the charge of their chief Sengalang Burong at their longhouse named Tansang Kenyalang (Hornbill Abode), which are Ketupong (Jaloh or Kikeh or Entis) (Rufous Piculet) as the first in command, Beragai (Scarlet-rumped trogon), Pangkas (Maroon Woodpecker) on the righthand side of Sengalang Burong's family room while Bejampong (Crested Jay) as the second in command, Embuas (Banded Kingfisher), Kelabu Papau (Senabong) (Diard's Trogon) and Nendak (White-rumped shama) on the lefthand side. The calls and flights of the omen birds along with the circumstances and social status of the listeners are considered during the omen interpretations. \n\nThe praying and propitiation to certain gods to obtain good omens which indicate God's favour and blessings are held in a series of three-tiered classes of minor ceremonies (bedara), intermediate rites (gawa or nimang) and major festivals (gawai) in ascending order and complexity. Any Iban Dayak will undergo some forms of simple rituals and several elaborate festivals as necessary in their lifetime from a baby, adolescent to adulthood until death. The longhouse where the Iban Dayaks stay is constructed in a unique way to function as for both living or accommodation purposes and ritual or religious practices. Nearby the longhouse, there is normally a small and simple hut called langkau ampun/sukor (forgiveness/thanksgiving hut) built to place offerings to deities. Sometimes, when potentially bad omens are encountered, a small hut is quickly built and a fire is started before saying prayers to seek good outcomes.\n\nCommon among all these propitiations are that prayers to gods and/or other spirits are made by giving offerings (\"piring\"), certain poetic leka main and animal sacrifices (\"genselan\") either chickens or pigs. The number (leka or turun) of each piring offering item is based on ascending odd numbers which have meanings and purposes as below:\n* piring 3 for piring ampun (mercy) or seluwak (wastefulness spirit)\n* piring 5 for piring minta (request) or bejalai (journey)\n* piring 7 for piring gawai (festival) or bujang berani (brave warrior)\n* piring 9 for sangkong (including others) or turu (leftover included)\nPiring contains offering of various traditional foods and drinks while genselan is made by sacrificing chickens for bird omens or pigs for animal omens.\n\nBedara is commonly held for any general purposes before holding any rites or festivals during which a simple \"miring\" ceremony is done to prepare and divide piring offerings into certain portions followed by a \"sampi ngau bebiau\" (prayer and cleansing) poetic speeches. This most simple ceremonies have categories such as bedara matak held at the longhouse family bilek room, bedara mansau performed at the family ruai gallery, berunsur (cleansing) carried out at the tanju and river, minta ujan tauka panas (request for rain or sunniness).\n\nThe intermediate and medium-sized propitiatory rites are known as \"gawa\" (ritually working) with its main highlight called \"nimang\" (poetic incantation) that is recited by lemambang bards besides miring ceremonies. This category is smaller than or sometimes relegated from the full-scaled and thus costly festivals for cost savings but still maintaining the effectiveness to achieve the same purpose. Included in this category are \"sandau ari\" (mid-day ritual) held at the tanju verandah, gawai matak (unripe feast), gawa nimang tuah (Luck feast), enchaboh arong (head feast) and gawa timang beintu-intu (life caring feasts. \n\nThe major festivals comprise at least seventh categories which are related to major aspects of Iban's traditional way of life i.e. agriculture, headhunting, fortune, health, death, procreation and weaving.\n\nWith paddy being the major sustenance of life among Dayaks, so the first major category comprises the agricultural-related festivals which are dedicated to paddy farming to honour Sempulang Gana who is the deity of agriculture. It is a series of festivals that include Gawai Batu (Whetstone Festival), Gawai Ngalihka Tanah (Soil Ploughing Festival), Gawai Benih (Seed Festival), Gawai Ngemali Umai (Farm Healing Festival), Gawai Matah (Harvest Initiation Festival) and Gawai Basimpan (Paddy Storing Festival). According to Derek Freeman, there are 27 steps of hill paddy farming. One common ritual activity is called \"mudas\" (making good) any omens found during any farming stages especially the early bush clearing stage.\n\nThe second category includes the headhunting-related festivals to honour the most powerful deity of war, Sengalang Burong that comprises Gawai Burong (Bird Festival) and Gawai Amat/Asal (Real/Original Festival) with their successive ascending stages with most famous one being Gawai Kenyalang (Hornbill Festivla). This is perhaps the most elaborate and complex festivals which can last into seven successive days of ritual inchantation by lemambang bards. It is held normally after instructed by spirits in dreams. It is performed by tuai kayau (raid leader) called bujang berani (leading warriors) and war leader (tuai serang) who are known as \"raja berani\" (bravery king). In the past, this festival is vital to seek divine intervention to defeat enemies such as Baketan, Ukit and Kayan during migrations into new territories.\n\nWith the suppression of headhunting, the next important and third category relates to the death-related rituals among which the biggest celebration is the Soul Festival (Gawai Antu) to honour the souls of the dead especially the famous and brave ones who are invited to visit the living for the Sebayan (Haedes) to feast and to bestow all sorts of helpful charms to the living relatives. The raja berani (brave king) can be honoured by his descendants up to three times via Gawai Antu. Other mortuary ceremonies are \"beserara bungai\" (flower separation) held 3 days after burial, ngetas ulit (mourning termination), berantu (Gawai Antu) or Gawai Ngelumbong (Entombing Festival).\n\nThe fourth category in term of complexity and importance is the fortune-related festivals which consist of Gawai Pangkong Tiang (Post Banging Festival) after transferring to a new longhouse, Gawai Tuah (Luck Festival) with three ascending stages to seek and to welcome lucks, and Gawai Tajau (Jar Festival) to welcome newly acquired jars.\n\nThe fifth category consists of the health-related festivals to request for curing from sickness by Menjaya or Ini Andan such as in Gawai Sakit (Sickness Festival) which is held after other smaller attempts have failed to cure the sicked persons such as begama (touching), belian (various manang rituals), Besugi Sakit (to ask Keling for curing via magical power) and Berenong Sakit (to ask for curing by Sengalang Burong) in the ascending order. Manang is consecrated via an official ceremony called \"Gawai Babangun\" (Manang Consecration Festival). The shaman (manang) of the Iban Dayaks have various types of pelian (ritual healing ceremony) to be held in accordance with the types of sickness determined by him through his glassy stone to see the whereabouts of the soul of the sick person. Besides, Gawai Burung can also be used for healing certain difficult-to-cure sickness via magical power by Sengalang Burong especially nowadays after headhunting has been stopped. Other self-caring ritual ceremonies that are related to wellness and longevity are Nimang Bulu (Hair Adding Ceremony), Nimang Sukat (Destiny Ceremony) and Nimang Buloh Ayu (Life-Bamboo Ceremony).\n\nThe sixth category of festivals pertains to procreation. Gawai Lelabi (River Turtle Festival) is held to pray to the deity of creation called Selampadani, toannounce the readiness of daughters for marriage and to solicit a suitable suitor. This is where those men with trophy head skulls become leading contenders. The wedding ceremony is called Melah Pinang (Areca nut Splitting). The god of creation Selampandai is invoked here for fertility of the daughters to bear many children. There is a series of ritual rites from birth to adolescence of children.\n\nThe last and seventh category is Gawai Ngar (Cotton-Dyeing Festival) which is held by women who are involved in weaving pua kumbu for conventional use and ritual purposes. Ritual textiles woven by Iban women are used in the Bird Festival and in the past used to receive trophy heads. The ritual textiles have specific \"enkeramba\" (anthropomorphic) motifs that represent igi balang (trophy head), tiang ranyai (shrine pole), cultural heroes of Panggau and Gelong, deities and antu gerasi (demon figure).\n\nOver the last two centuries, some Dayaks converted to Christianity, abandoned certain cultural rites and practices. Christianity was introduced by European missionaries in Borneo. Religious differences between Muslim and Christian natives of Borneo has led, at various times, to communal tensions. Relations, however between all religious groups are generally good.\n\nMuslim Dayaks have generally retained their original identity and kept various customary practices consistent with their religion. Many Christian Dayak has changed their name to European name but some minority still maintain their ancestors traditional name. Since Iban has been converted to Christian, some of them abandoned their ancestors belief such as 'Miring' or celebrate 'Gawai Antu' and many celebrate only Christian festivals.\n\nAn example of common identity, over and above religious belief, is the Melanau group. Despite the small population, to the casual observer, the coastal dwelling Melanau of Sarawak, generally do not identify with one religion, as a number of them have Islamised and Christianised over a period of time. A few practise a distinct Dayak form of Kaharingan, known as Liko. Liko is the earliest surviving form of religious belief for the Melanau, predating the arrival of Islam and Christianity to Sarawak. The somewhat patchy religious divisions remain, however the common identity of the Melanau is held politically and socially. Social cohesion amongst the Melanau, despite religious differences, is markedly tight within their small community.\n\nDespite the destruction of pagan religions in Europe by Christians, most of the people who try to conserve the Dayaks' religion are missionaries. For example, Reverend William Howell contributed numerous articles on the Iban language, lore and culture between 1909 and 1910 to the Sarawak Gazette. The articles were later compiled in a book in 1963 entitled, The Sea Dayaks and Other Races of Sarawak. \n\nSociety and customs\n\nKinship in Dayak society is traced in both lines of genealogy (tusut). Although, in Dayak Iban society, men and women possess equal rights in status and property ownership, political office has strictly been the occupation of the traditional Iban patriarch. There is a council of elders in each longhouse.\n\nOverall, Dayak leadership in any given region, is marked by titles, a Penghulu for instance would have invested authority on behalf of a network of Tuai Rumah's and so on to a Pemancha, Pengarah to Temenggung in the ascending order while Panglima or Orang Kaya (Rekaya) are titles given by Malays to some Dayaks.\n\nIndividual Dayak groups have their social and hierarchy systems defined internally, and these differ widely from Ibans to Ngajus and Benuaqs to Kayans.\n\nIn Sarawak, Temenggong Koh Anak Jubang was the first paramount chief of Dayaks in Sarawak and followed by Tun Temenggong Jugah Anak Barieng who was one of the main signatories for the formation of Federation of Malaysia between Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak with Singapore expelled later on. He was said to be the \"bridge between Malaya and East Malaysia\". The latter was fondly called \"Apai\" by others, which means father. Unfortunately, he had no western or formal education at all.\n\nThe most salient feature of Dayak social organisation is the practice of Longhouse domicile. This is a structure supported by hardwood posts that can be hundreds of metres long, usually located along a terraced river bank. At one side is a long communal platform, from which the individual households can be reached.\n\nThe Iban of the Kapuas and Sarawak have organised their Longhouse settlements in response to their migratory patterns. Iban longhouses vary in size, from those slightly over 100 metres in length to large settlements over 500 metres in length. Longhouses have a door and apartment for every family living in the longhouse. For example, a longhouse of 200 doors is equivalent to a settlement of 200 families.\n\nThe tuai rumah (long house chief) can be aided by a tuai burong (bird leader), tuai umai (farming leader) and a manang (shaman). Nowadays, each long house will have a Security and Development Committee and ad hoc committee will be formed as and when necessary for example during festivals such as Gawai Dayak.\n\nThe Dayaks are peace-loving people who live based on customary rules or adat asal which govern each of their main activities. The adat is administered by the tuai rumah aided by the Council of Elders in the longhouse so that any dispute can be settled amicably among the dwellers themselves via berandau (discussion). If no settlement can be reached at the longhouse chief level, then the dispute will escalate to a pengulu level and so on.\n\nAmong the main sections of customary adat of the Iban Dayaks are as follows:\n* Adat berumah (House building rule)\n* Adat melah pinang, butang ngau sarak (Marriage, adultery and divorce rule)\n* Adat beranak (Child bearing and raising rule)\n* Adat bumai and beguna tanah (Agricultural and land use rule)\n* Adat ngayau (Headhunting rule)\n* Adat ngasu, berikan, ngembuah and napang (Hunting, fishing, fruit and honey collection rule)\n* Adat tebalu, ngetas ulit ngau beserarak bungai (Widow/widower, mourning and soul separation rule)\n* Adat begawai (festival rule)\n* Adat idup di rumah panjai (Order of life in the longhouse rule)\n* Adat betenun, main lama, kajat ngau taboh (Weaving, past times, dance and music rule)\n* Adat beburong, bemimpi ngau becenaga ati babi (Bird and animal omen, dream and pig liver rule)\n* Adat belelang (Journey rule) \n\nThe Dayak life centres on the paddy planting activity every year. The Iban Dayak has their own year-long calendar with 12 consecutive months which are one month later than the Roman calendar. The months are named in accordance to the paddy farming activities and the activities in between. Other than paddy, also planted in the farm are vegetables like ensabi, pumpkin, round brinjal, cucumber, corn, lingkau and other food sources lik tapioca, sugarcane, sweet potatoes and finally after the paddy has been harvested, cotton is planted which takes about two months to complete its cycle. The cotton is used for weaving before commercial cotton is traded. Fresh lands cleared by each Dayak family will belong to that family and the longhouse community can also use the land with permission from the owning family. Usually, in one riverine system, a special tract of land is reserved for the use by the community itself to get natural supplies of wood, rattan and other wild plants which are necessary for building houses, boats, coffins and other living purposes, and also to leave living space for wild animals which is a source of meat. Beside farming, Dayaks plant fruit trees like rambutan, langsat, durian, isu and mangosteen near their longhouse or on their land plots to amrk their ownership of the land. They also grow plants which produce dyes for colouring their cotton treads if not taken from the wild forest. Major fishing using the tuba root is normally done by the whole longhouse as the river may take some time to recover. Any wild meat obtained will distribute according to a certain customary law.\n\nHeadhunting was an important part of Dayak culture, in particular to the Iban and Kenyah. The origin of headhunting in Iban Dayaks can be traced to the story of a chief name Serapoh who was asked by a spirit to obtain a fresh head to open a mourning jar but unfortunately he killed a Kantu boy which he got by exchanging with a jar for this purpose for which the Kantu retaliated and thus starting the headhunting practice. There used to be a tradition of retaliation for old headhunts, which kept the practice alive. External interference by the reign of the Brooke Rajahs in Sarawak via \"bebanchak babi\" (peacemaking) in Kapit and the Dutch in Kalimantan Borneo via peacemaking at Tumbang Anoi curtailed and limited this tradition.\n\nApart from massed raids, the practice of headhunting was then limited to individual retaliation attacks or the result of chance encounters. Early Brooke Government reports describe Dayak Iban and Kenyah War parties with captured enemy heads. At various times, there have been massive coordinated raids in the interior and throughout coastal Borneo before and after the arrival of the Raj during Brooke's reign in Sarawak.\n\nThe Ibans' journey along the coastal regions using a large boat called \"bandong\" with sail made of leaves or cloths may have given rise to the term, Sea Dayak, although, throughout the 19th Century, Sarawak Government raids and independent expeditions appeared to have been carried out as far as Brunei, Mindanao, East coast Malaya, Jawa and Celebes.\n\nTandem diplomatic relations between the Sarawak Government (Brooke Rajah) and Britain (East India Company and the Royal Navy) acted as a pivot and a deterrence to the former's territorial ambitions, against the Dutch administration in the Kalimantan regions and client sultanates.\n\nIn the Indonesian region, toplessness was the norm among the Dayak people, Javanese, and the Balinese people of Indonesia before the introduction of Islam and contact with Western cultures. In Javanese and Balinese societies, women worked or rested comfortably topless. Among the Dayak, only big breasted women or married women with sagging breasts cover their breasts because they interfered with their work. Once marik empang (top cover over the shoulders) and later shirts are available, toplessness has been abandoned. \n\nMetal-working is elaborately developed in making mandaus (machetes - parang in Malay and Indonesian). The blade is made of a softer iron, to prevent breakage, with a narrow strip of a harder iron wedged into a slot in the cutting edge for sharpness in a process called ngamboh (iron-smithing).\n\nIn headhunting it was necessary to be able to draw the parang quickly. For this purpose, the mandau is fairly short, which also better serves the purpose of trailcutting in dense forest. It is holstered with the cutting edge facing upwards and at that side there is an upward protrusion on the handle, so it can be drawn very quickly with the side of the hand without having to reach over and grasp the handle first. The hand can then grasp the handle while it is being drawn. The combination of these three factors (short, cutting edge up and protrusion) makes for an extremely fast drawing-action.\n\nThe ceremonial mandaus used for dances are as beautifully adorned with feathers, as are the costumes. There are various terms to describe different types of Dayak blades. The Nyabor is the traditional Iban Scimitar, Parang Ilang is common to Kayan and Kenyah Swordsmiths, pedang is a sword with a metallic handle and Duku is a multipurpose farm tool and machete of sorts. \n\nNormally, the sword is accompanied by a wooden shield called terabai which is decorated with a demon face to scare off the enemy. Another weapons are sangkoh (spear) and sumpit (blowpipe) with lethal poison at the tip of its laja. To protect the upper body during combat, a gagong (armour) which is made of animal hard skin such as leopards is worn over the shoulders via a hole made for the head to enter. \n\nDayaks normally build their longhouses on high posts on high ground where possible for protection. They also may build kuta (fencing) and kubau (fort) where necessary to defend against enemy attacks. Dayaks also possess some brass and cast iron weaponry such as brass cannon (bedil) and iron cast cannon meriam. Furthermore, Dayaks are experienced in setting up animal traps (peti) which can be used for attacking enemy as well. The agility and stamina of Dayaks in jungles give them advantages. However, at the end, Dayaks were defeated by handguns and disunity among themselves against the colonialists.\n\nMost importantly, Dayaks will seek divine helps to grant them protection in the forms of good dreams or curses by spirits, charms such as pengaroh (normally ponsonous), empelias (weapon straying away) and engkerabun (hidden from normal human eyes), animal omens, bird omens, good divination in the pig liver or by purposely seeking supernatural powers via nampok or betapa or menuntut ilmu (learning knowledge) especially kebal (weapon-proof). During headhunting days, those going to farms will be protected by warriors themselves and big agriculture is also carried out via labour exchange called bedurok (which means a large number of people working together) until completion of the agricultural activity. Kalingai or pantang (tattoo) is made unto bodies to protect from dangers and other signifying purposes such as travelling to certain places. \n\nThe traditional Iban Dayak male attire consists of a sirat (loincloth) attached with a small mat for sitting), lelanjang (headgear with colourful bird feathers) or a turban (a long piece of cloth wrapped around the head), marik (chain) around the neck, engkerimok (ring on thigh) and simpai (ring on the upper arms). The Iban Dayak female traditional attire comprises a short \"kain tenun betating\" (a woven cloth attached with coins and bells at the bottom end), a rattan or brass ring corset, selampai (long scarf) or marik empang (beaded top cover), sugu tinggi (high comb made of silver), simpai (bracelets on upper arms), tumpa (bracelets on lower arms) and buah pauh (fruits on hand). \n\nThe Dayaks especially Ibans appreciate and treasure very much the value of pua kumbu (woven or tied cloth) made by women while ceramic jars which they call tajau obtained by men. Pua kumbu has various motives for which some are considered sacred. Tajau has various types with respective monetary values. The jar is a sign of good fortune and wealth. It can also be used to pay fines if some adat is broken in lieu of money which is hard to have in the old days. Beside the jar being used to contain rice or water, it is also used in ritual ceremonies or festivals and given as baya (provision) to the dead. \n\nThe adat tebalu (widow or widower fee) for deceased women for Iban Dayaks will be paid according to her social standing and weaving skills and for the men according to his achievements in lifetime. \n\nDayaks being accustomed to living in jungles and hard terrains, and knowing the plants and animals are extremely good at following animals trails while hunting and of course tracking humans or enemies, thus some Dayaks became very good trackers in jungles in the military e.g. some Iban Dayaks were engaged as trackers during the anti-confrontation by Indonesia against the formation of Federation of Malaysia and anti-communism in Malaysia itself. No doubt, these survival skills are obtained while doing activities in the jungles, which are then utilised for headhunting in the old days.\n\nMilitary\n\nTwo highly decorated Iban Dayak soldiers from Sarawak in Malaysia are Temenggung Datuk Kanang anak Langkau (awarded Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa) and Awang Anak Rawing of Skrang (awarded a George Cross). So far, only one Dayak has reached the rank of a general in the military that is Brigadier-General Stephen Mundaw in the Malaysian Army, who was promoted on 1 November 2010. \n\nMalaysia's most decorated war hero is Kanang Anak Langkau due to his military services helping to liberate Malaya (and later Malaysia) from the communists. Among all the heroes were 21 holders of Panglima Gagah Berani (PGB) which is the bravery medal with 16 survivors. Of the total, there are 14 Ibans, two Chinese army officers, one Bidayuh, one Kayan and one Malay. But the majorities in the Armed Forces are Malays, according to a book – Crimson Tide over Borneo. The youngest of the PGB holder is ASP Wilfred Gomez of the Police Force.\n\nThere were six holders of Sri Pahlawan (SP) Gagah Perkasa (the Gallantry Award) from Sarawak, and with the death of Kanang Anak Langkau, there is one SP holder in the person of Sgt. Ngalinuh (an Orang Ulu).\n\nThe Dayak soldiers or trackers are regarded as equivalent in bravery to the Scot royal guards or the Gurkha soldiers.\n\nWhile in Indonesia, Tjilik Riwut was remembered as he led first team of Indonesian National Armed Forces performing a skydiving act on 17 October 1947. The team was known as MN 1001, with 17 October was celebrated annually as a special day for the Indonesian Air Force team.\n\nPolitics\n\nOrganised Dayak political representation in the Indonesian State first appeared during the Dutch administration, in the form of the Dayak Unity Party (Parti Persatuan Dayak) in the 1930s and 1940s. The feudal Sultanates of Kutai, Banjar and Pontianak figured prominently prior to the rise of the Dutch colonial rule.\n\nDayaks in Sarawak in this respect, compare very poorly with their organised brethren in the Indonesian side of Borneo, partly due to the personal fiefdom that was the Brooke Rajah dominion, and possibly to the pattern of their historical migrations from the Indonesian part to the then pristine Rajang Basin. Political circumstances aside, the Dayaks in the Indonesian side actively organised under various associations beginning with the Dayak League (Sarekat Dayak) established in 1919 in Banjarmasin, to the Partai Dayak in the 1940s, which serves as an early Pan-Dayakism in Indonesia and to the present day, where Dayaks occupy key positions in government.\n\nThe violent massacre of the Malay sultans, local rulers, intellectuals and politicians by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pontianak incidents of 1943-1944 in West Borneo (present-day West Kalimantan province) contributed the social opportunity for the Dayak people in the West Kalimantan political and administrative system during the Orde Lama era in the Soekarno regime, as a generation of predominantly Malay administrator in West Borneo was lost during the genocide perpetrated the Japanese. The Dayak ruling elite were mostly left unscratched due to the fact that they were then-mainly located in the hinterland and because the Japanese were not interested, thus giving an advantage for the Dayak leaders to fill the administrative and political position after the Indonesian independence.\n\nIn the 1955 Indonesian Constituent Assembly election, the Dayak Unity Party managed to gain:\n* 146,054 votes (0.4% of the nationwide vote)\n** One seat in the People's Representative Council from West Kalimantan\n* 33.1% of the votes in West Kalimantan (becoming the second largest political party after Masjumi)\n** the party attained 9 out of 29 seats in the West Kalimantan Regional Representative Council.\n* 1.5% votes in Central Kalimantan (the party managed to obtain 6.9% of the vote in the Dayak-majority areas in the province)\nThe party was later disbanded after an order by the then-president Soekarno that prohibited an ethnic-based party. The members of the party were then continued their careers in other political parties. Oevaang Oerey joined the Indonesian Party (Partai Indonesia), whilst some others joined the Catholic Party (Partai Katolik).\n\nAmong the most prominent Indonesian Dayak politician is Tjilik Riwut, a member of Central Indonesian National Committee, he was honourned as the National Hero of Indonesia (Gelar Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia) in 1998 for his major contribution during the Indonesian National Revolution. He had served as the Central Kalimantan Governor between 1958 and 1967.\n\nWhile in 1960, Oevaang Oeray was appointed as the 3rd Governor of West Kalimantan, becoming the first governor of Dayak origin in the province. He held the office until 1966. He is also known as one of the founding fathers of Dayak Unity Party in 1945 and had been actively assisting the Brunei Revolt in 1962 during the height of Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.\n\nIn Sarawak, Dayak political activism had its roots in the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) and Pesaka during post independence construction in the 1960s. These parties shaped to a certain extent Dayak politics in the State, although never enjoying the real privileges and benefits of Chief Ministerial power relative to its large electorate due to their own political disunity with some Dayaks joining various political parties instead of consolidating inside one single political party. It appears that this political disunity is caused by the fact of inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic warfares among the various Dayaks ethnic groups in their past history that led to political rivalries at the loss of the whole Dayak people's power. The Dayaks need to forget their past, close ranks to unite under one umbrella party and prioritize the whole Dayak interests above all personal interests.\n\nSarawak obtained its independence from British on 22 July 1963 and Sabah (North Borneo) on 31 August 1963 but both formed the Federation of Malaysia with Malaya and Singapore which materialized on 16 September 1963 with the belief of being equal partners in the \"marriage\" as per 18 and 20 points agreements and Malaysia Agreement 1963.\n\nThe first Sarawak chief minister was Datuk Stephen Kalong Ningkan who was removed as the chief minister in 1966 after court proceedings and amendments to both Sarawak state constitution and Malaysian federal constitution due to some disagreements with Malaya with regards to the 18-point Agreement as conditions for Malaysia Formation. Datuk Penghulu Tawi Sli was appointed as the second Sarawak chief minister who was a soft-spoken seat-warmer fellow and then replaced by Tuanku Abdul Rahman Ya'kub (a Melanau Muslim) as the third Sarawak chief minister in 1970 who in turn was succeeded by Abdul Taib Mahmud a (Melanau Muslim) in 1981 as fourth Sarawak chief minister. After Taib Mahmud resigned on 28 February 2014 to become the next Sarawak's governor, he appointed his brother-in-law, Adenan Satem as the next Sarawak Chief Minister.\n\nWave of Dayakism which is Dayak nationalism has surfaced at least twice among the Dayaks in Sarawak while they are on the opposition side of politics as follows:\n* SNAP won 18 seats (with 42.70% popular vote) out of total 48 seats in Sarawak state election, 1974 while the remaining 30 seats won by Sarawak National Front. \n* PBDS (Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak), a breakaway of SNAP in Sarawak state election in 1987 won 15 seats while its partner Permas only won 5 seats. Overall, the Sarawak National Front won 28 constituencies with PBB 14; SUPP 11 and SNAP 3. \nIn both cases, SNAP and PBDS (now both party are defunct) had joined the Malaysian National Front as the ruling coalition.\n\nUnder Indonesia, Kalimantan is now divided into five self-autonomous provinces i.e. North, West, East, South and Central Kalimantan.\n\nUnder Indonesia's transmigration programme, settlers from densely populated Java and Madura were encouraged to settle in the Indonesian provinces of Borneo. The large-scale transmigration projects initiated by the Dutch and continued following Indonesian independence, caused social strains.\n\nDuring the killings of 1965–66 Dayaks killed up to 5,000 Chinese and forced survivors to flee to the coast and camps. Starvation killed thousands of Chinese children who were under eight years old. The Chinese refused to fight back\n, since they considered themselves \"a guest on other people's land\" with the intention of trading only. 75,000 of the Chinese who survived were displaced, fleeing to camps where they were detained on coastal cities. The Dayak leaders were interested in cleansing the entire area of ethnic Chinese. In Pontianak, 25,000 Chinese living in dirty, filthy conditions were stranded. They had to take baths in mud. The massacres are considered a \"dark chapter in recent Dayak history\". \n\nIn 2001 the Indonesian government ended the transmigration of Javanese settlement of Indonesian Borneo that began under Dutch rule in 1905. \n\nFrom 1996 to 2003 there were violent attacks on Indonesian Madurese settlers, including executions of Madurese transmigrant communities. The violence included the 1999 Sambas riots and the Sampit conflict in 2001 in which more than 500 were killed in that year. Order was restored by the Indonesian Military.",
"Festivals - parvinkhetarpal.net\nIn South Sankrant is known by the name of \"PONGAL\", which takes its name from ... An annual festival ... the literal meaning of which in Sanskrit is ‘a row of lamps ...\nFestivals\nAround the World\nNot all countries celebrate New Year at the same time, or in the same way. This is because people in different parts of the world use different calendars. Long ago, people divided time into days, months, and years. Some calendars are based on the movement of the moon; others are based on the position of the sun, while others are based on both the sun and the moon. All over the world, there are special beliefs about New Year.\nHindu New Year\nMost Hindus live in India, but they don't all celebrate New Year in the same way or at the same time.\nThe people of West Bengal, in northern India, like to wear flowers at New Year, and they use flowers in the colors of pink, red, purple, or white. Women like to wear yellow, which is the color of spring.\nIn Kerala, in southern India, mothers put food, flowers, and little gifts on a special tray. On New Year's morning, the children have to keep their eyes closed until they have been led to the tray.\nIn central India, orange flags are flown from buildings on New Year's Day.\nIn Gujarat, in western India, New Year is celebrated at the end of October, and it is celebrated at the same time as the Indian festival of Diwali. At the time of Diwali, small oil lights are lit all along the roofs of buildings.\nAt New Year, Hindus think particularly of the goddess of wealth, Lakshm.\n \n**********\nMaghi\nMaghi, Makara Sankranti, the first day of the month of Magh. The eve of Maghi is the common Indian festival of Lohri when bonfires are lit in Hindu homes to greet the birth of sons in the families and alms are distributed. In the morning, people go out for an early-hour dip in nearby tanks. For Sikhs, Maghi means primarily the festival at Muktsar, a district town of the Punjab, in commemoration of the heroic fight of the Chali Mukte, literally, the Forty Liberated Ones, who laid down their lives warding off an attack by an imperial army marching in pursuit of Guru Gobind Singh.\n \n**********\nLohri\nIn the North Makar Sankranti is called Lohri. It is the only Hindu festival, which falls regularly on the 13th of January. Lohri is the time after which the biting cold of winter begins to taper off.\n \n**********\nMakar Sankranti\nMakar Sankranti, the day of Goodwill and friendship, usually falls on 14th of January every year. This festival is one of the many festivals which have been celebrated since the vedic period. On this day the sun comes across the north of equator. On this very day it is believed that 'the morning' of the deities commences. This particular period, when the sun is positioned across the north of equator has been considered as an 'accomplishment giving period' by the scholars. Even Astrology endorses this fact and this period is supposed to be auspicious for the various activities like construction of the houses, performance of oblations, establishment of the deities etc. This period is considered to be so auspicious, that if a person dies during this period he is supposed to attain liberation.\nThe sun's position towards the north of equator signifies the arrival of spring season and the end of winter season. The day starts to prolong. On this occasion, all the pilgrimage sites & holy rivers are the thronged by the devotees.\nAt Ganga-Sagar an inland emerges by the grace of deity Varun, which remains for a week and ultimately gets submerged into the sea. The scriptures narrate about the greatness of taking a holy dip on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. After taking the bath it is customary to eat food articles prepared from sesame seeds and 'Kichadi' (rice and pulse cooked together). Making donation of sesame seed is also considered as very auspicious.\nMakar Sankranti usually comes in the Hindu month of 'Magha'. The term 'Magha' is derived from the sanskrit word 'Magh' which means wealth i.e. gold, silver, apparels, ornaments etc. This month has been named as 'Magha' because it is considered to be the month of making donations of the above mentioned things.\nIn Punjab people celebrate it as 'Lohadi' a day before 'Makar-Sanskranti'. On this day the people of Punjab offer maize, 'Revadi' (prepared from sesame seeds), in the fire, amidst the singing of folk songs.\nIn Gujarat and Maharashtra people decorate their houses with 'Rangoli'. They eat food prepared from sesame seeds and jaggery. There is a saying in Maharashtra connected with this day which goes as follows-\n'TIL GUD GHYA ANI GARUD GARUD BOLA.'\nMeaning; (Take sesame and jaggery and speak sweetly.)\nWomen of Maharashtra attired in beautiful apparels visit the houses of their relatives and friends, where they are welcomed with 'Kheel' and 'Porridge'. The hosts honour them by applying 'Kumkum'.\nThe festival of Makar Sanskranti is celebrated as 'Pongal' in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. On this occasion people decorate the idols of deities. Cultural programmes are organised to mark this occasion. 'Pongal' (Khichadi) is offered to the deities and then it is taken as prasadam.\nDuring the ancient time, the third stage of the study of the Vedas commenced on this day. People used to send their wards to the 'Gurukula' after performing the sacred thread ceremony of children. On Vasant Panchami, which falls some days later, the worship of 'Saraswati' signifies the importance of the commencement of new learning session.\nIn the south, people still continue with the tradition of initiating their children into the study of Vedas, on this day.\nThe festival of Makar Sankrant traditionally coincides with the beginning of the Sun's northward journey (the UTTARAYAN) when it enters the sign of Makar (the CAPRICORN). It falls on the 14th of January every year according to the Solar Calendar. This day has a very special significance because the day and night on Makar Sankrant are of exactly of equal hours. This day is celebrated as a festival right from the times of the Aryans and is looked upon as the most auspicious day by the Hindus.\nThis festival is celebrated differently in different parts of the country yet the use of til that is sesame is found everywhere. Til or sesame seed contain lot of oil and they therefore have a quality of softness in them. Therefore, firstly the use of til in sweets is good for health and secondly being soft their exchange means exchange of love and tender feelings.\nIn Maharashtra on the Sankranti day people exchange multi-coloured tilguds made from til (sesame seeds) and sugar and til-laddus made from til and jaggery. Til-polis are offered for lunch and these are specialities of Maharashtra. Maharashtrian women are proud of their excellence in preparing these delicacies. While exchanging tilguls as tokens of goodwill people greet each other saying - \"til-gul ghya, god god bola\" meaning \"accept these tilguls and speak sweet words\". The under-lying thought in the exchange of tilguls is to forget the past ill-feelings and hostilities and resolve to speak sweetly and remain friends. This is a special day for the women in Maharashtra when married women are invited for a get-together called \"Haldi-Kumkoo\" and given gifts of any utensil, which the woman of the house purchases on that day.\nIn Punjab where December and January are the coldest months of the year, huge bonfires are lit on the eve of Sankrant and which is celebrated as \"LOHARI\". Sweets, sugarcane and rice are thrown in the bonfires, around which friends and relatives gather together. The following day, which is Sankrant is celebrated as MAGHI. The Punjabi's dance their famous Bhangra dance till they get exhausted. Then they sit down and eat the samptions food that is specially prepared for the occasion.\nIn South Sankrant is known by the name of \"PONGAL\", which takes its name from the surging of rice boiled in a pot of milk, and this festival has more significance than even Diwali. It is very popular particularly amongst farmers. Rice and pulses cooked together in ghee and milk is offered to the family deity after the ritual worship. In essence in the South this Sankrant is a \"Puja\" (worship) for the Sun God.\nThus we see that this festival is celebrated differently in different parts of the country.\n**********\nPongal\nIn the South Sankranti begins �Pongal�. It is a celebration of the harvest, which is observed for three days in Tamil Nadu as well as Andhra Pradesh.\n**********\nRepublic Day\nThe Constitution of India has been in effect since 26 January 1950. Hence every year this day (26 January) is celebrated as Republic Day (in India). It is one of the three National Holidays in India.\nTo mark the importance of this occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, from the Rajghat, along the Vijaypath. The different regiments of the Army, the Navy and the Air force march past in all their finery and official decorations. The President of India takes salute of the contingents of Armed Forces.\n**********\n \nMaha Shivratri\nOn the 14th day of the dark half of Magh the great night of Shiva is celebrated. On this day the devotees of Shiva observe fast.\nMaha Shivratri is the night on which Shivji and Parvati tied the knot and became 'One'. Hence it is symbolic of the meeting of the Soul with the Almighty.\nParvati had to perform a lot of penance in order to wed Shivji. In her last life Parvati was Sati. She doubted and disobeyed the word of Shivji.\nIn her life as �Parvati� she vowed to marry Shivji, for which she had to do A tremendous amount of penance (tapasya).\nOn Shivrati, the Divine Union takes place once more, never ever to be separated again.\nThe devotees stay awake throughout the night offering their prayers to Lord Shiva. They offer special food made from the fruits of the season, root vegetables and coconuts to Lord Shiva.\n**********\n \nVasantpanchami\nOn the fifth day of the Shukla Paksha (Waxing moon of fortnightly) of the Magha month, coming of spring is celebrated. when Saraswati, Shiva- Durga and Vishnu � Lakshmi are worshiped. In west Bengal, Saraswati (the goddess of learning) is worshipped. This is known as Vasant Panchami.\nDuring this flowering and blossoming season one can listen distinctly to the kooing of the Koel (bird) and the entire ambiance becomes very beautiful. On this day one should dress up in beautiful attire and worship Lord Vishnu.\nOn this day Brahmins should be offered food. Pitru-Tarpan (liberation of deceased ancestors) can also be performed on this day. One can also worship Goddess Saraswati.In the coming of Spring, God of Love(Kamadev) and his wife Rati are also prayed and worshipped on this auspicious occasion. It is on this day when Abeer and Gulal are played with and songs of Holi are sung till Phalgun Poornima.All rejoice while celebrating this auspicious occasion.\nVasant Panchami, the Festival of Kites, falls on Panchami of the Sukal Paksh ( Waxing moon) towards the close of winter in the month of January-February. The weather circle seems to be changing otherwise Vasant used to bring a message of softness in the weather in place of the hard cold season. Vasant is the time when mustard fields are yellow with it the spring is ushered in. So Punjabis welcome the change and celebrate the day by wearing yellow clothes, holding feasts and by organising kite flying.\nVasant Panchami day puja is devoted to Saraswati, the godess of learning and wife of Brahma. She bestows the greatest wealth to humanity i.e. the wealth of Knowledge.\nVasant Panchami is the festival dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of learning. (Deepavali is dedicated to Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, and Navaratri Durga is dedicated primarily to Kali, goddess of strength, might and power.)\nYellow colour is given special importance on this day. On Vasant Panchami, Saraswati is dressed in yellow garments and worshipped (with Puja, Havan etc.). Men and women try to wear yellow clothes on this day. Sweetmeats of yellowish hues are exchanged with relations and friends\nVasant Panchami is also known as Shri Panchami. As Saraswati Puja, it is observed religiously almost in all parts of India expecially in Bengal. Goddess Saraswati being pure and white and representing learning, no animal sacrifice is made to her. Idols of Saraswati are brought and worshipped.\nChildren are taught their first words on this day (as an auspicious beginning to learning). Schools, colleges etc., (places of learning) organise special worship of Saraswati.\nVasant Panchami is a festival full of religious, seasonal and social significance and is celebrated by Hindus all over the world.\nSaraswati Puja is also performed during the Navaratri or Dussehra.\n**********\n \nHolla Mohalla\nHolla Mohalla is a Sikh festival celebrated in the month of Phalguna , a day after Holi. An annual festival held at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, Hola Mohalla was started by the tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, as a gathering of Sikhs for military exercises and mock battles on the day following the festival of Holi. It reminds the people of valour and defence preparedness, concepts dear to the Tenth Guru who was at that time battling the Mughal empire.\nOn this three-day festival mock battles are held followed by music and poetry competitions. The Nihang Singhs (members of the Sikh army that was founded by Guru Govind Singh) carry on the martial tradition with mock battles and displays of swordsmanship and horse riding. They perform daring feats, such as Gatka (mock encounters), tent pegging, bareback horse-riding and standing erect on two speeding horses.\nThere are also a number of durbars where Sri Guru Granth Sahib is present and kirtan and religious lectures take place. Sporting shining swords, long spears, conical turbans, the Nihangs present a fierce picture as they gallop past on horseback spraying colors on people.On the last day a long procession, led by Panj Pyaras, starts from Takth Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five Sikh religious seats, and passes through various important gurdwaras like Qila Anandgarh, Lohgarh Sahib, Mata Jitoji and terminates at the Takth.\n**********\nHoli\nFULL MOON DAY OF PHAALGUNA\nThis is pre-eminently the spring festival of Bharat. The trees are smiling with their sprout of tender leaves and blooming flowers. With the harvest having been completed and the winter also just ended, it is pre-eminently a festival of mirth and merriment. Gulal (colored powder) is sprinkled on each other by elders and children, men and women, rich and poor alike. All superficial social barriers are pulled down by the all-round gaiety and laughter.\nThe day itself is associated with many interesting and enlightening Puraanic legends. It is the day of Kaamadahana, the burning of god Kaama - Cupid. The virgin daughter of the king of Himaalayas, Paarvati, was in deep penance to acquire the hand of Lord Shiva as her spouse. But Shiva himself was lost in a deep trance entirely oblivious of the outside world. Kaamadeva came to the rescue of Paarvati and shot his amorous arrows of love at Shiva. Shiva, disturbed from his trance, opened his terrible Third Eye. The flames of Shiva's wrath, leaping from his fore-head eye, burnt Kaama to ashes and there after, Kaama became spirit without a form. Shiva then looked towards Paarvati and fructified her penance by marrying her. It is this burning of lustful infatuation by penance that is signified in this festival.\nHoli is also associated with the story of Holika, the sister of demon Hiranyakashipu. The demon-father, having failed in various other ways to make his son Prahlaada denounce Lord Naaraayana, finally asked his sister Holika to take Prahlaada in her lap and enter a blazing fire. Holika, who had a boon to remain unscathed by fire, did her brother's bidding. But lo, Holika's boon ended by this act of supreme sin against the Lord's devotee and was herself burnt to ashes and Prahlaada came out unharmed.\nOne more legend pertains to another Holika, also known as Pootana, who came as a charming woman to kill the infant Sri Krishna by feeding him with her poisoned breast. Sri Krishna, however, sucked by blood and she lay dead in all her hideous form.\nSuch stories have effectively charged the popular mind with the faith that ultimately the forces of divinity shall triumph over the demonic forces. Symbolically, a bonfire of Kaamadeva or Holika is made in every town or village, attended by unbounded fun and frolic. Games depicting the pranks of infant Krishna are also played by boys singing and dancing around the fire.\nAs in the case of all our festivals, this too has its plentiful share of spiritual significance. Fire is the symbol of yajna in which all our bodily desires and propensities are offered in the pure and blazing flame of spiritual enlightenment lit within our hearts.\nOn the fifth day of the dark half of Phalgun the feast of Color is celebrated. On this day some people throw colored powder (\"gulal\") or colored water on each other. This is done in remembrance of the fun Krishna used to have playing \"hori\" (songs) with the \"gopis\" (female cowherds) at Gokul.\nTo have fun is one of the basic needs of man. When the year comes to an end, an occasion seems to offer itself to have fun. Among traditional minded people fun also must be done according to ancient tradition. Hence Krishna's fun and frolic can offer a convenient pattern.\nHowever, as in everything else, man must try to see that merry making conforms to advancing standards of society.\nHoli is the most colourful festival of the Hindus and falls on the Full moon day in the month of Phalgun according to the Hindu Calendar which is the month of March as per the Gregorian Calendar. The religious significance of the festival of Holi is to mark the burning of self-conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, hatred, in fact all the undesirable demoniac tendencies, propensities, thoughts and behaviours.The victory of righteous forces over demoniacal forces.\nAccording to the stories in the Puranas and various local legends, this day is important for three reasons.\nIt was on this day that Holika, the sister of the demon king Hiranyakasyapu, who tried to kill the child devotee Prahlad by taking him on her lap and sitting on a pyre of wood which was set ablaze. Holika was burnt to ashes while Prahlad remained unscathed!\nIt was again on this day that an ogress called Dhundhi, who was troubling the children in the kingdom of Prthu (or Raghu) was made to run away for life, by the shouts and pranks of the mischievous boys. Though she had secured several boons that made her almost invincible, this � noise, shouts, abuses and pranks of boys � was a chink in her armour due to a curse of Lord Siva. The day itself came to be called �Adada� or �Holika� since then.\nThere are practically no religious observances for this day like fasting or worship. Generally a log of wood will be kept in a prominent public place on the Vasantapanchami day (Magha Sukla Panchami), almost 40 days before the Holi Festival. An image of Holika with child Prahlada in her lap is also kept on the log. Holika�s image is made of combustible materials whereas Prahlada�s image is made of non-combustible ones. People go on throwing twigs of trees and any combustible material they can spare, on to that log which gradually grows into a sizable heap. On the night of Phalguna Purnima, it is set alight in a simple ceremony with the Raksoghna Mantras of the Rgveda (4.4.1-15; 10.87.1-25 and so on) being sometimes chanted to ward off all evil spirits. (Coconuts and coins are thrown into this bonfire).The next morning the ashes from the bonfire are collected as prasad (consecrated material) and smeared on the limbs of the body. Singed coconuts, if any are also collected and eaten.\nThe day- Phalgun krsna pratipad � is observed as a day of revelry especially by throwing on one another gulal or coloured water or perfumed coloured powder.\nHoly is certainly a vital part of our Indian life and culture in which religion still is a living force.\nIt is the most boisterous of all Hindu Festivals, observed all over the North. It heralds the end of winter and the beginning of the Spring. The night before the full moon, crowds of people gather and light huge bonfires to burn the residual dried leaves and twigs of the winter. People throw coloured water and powders (Gulal and Kumkum) at each other and make merry. Holi celebrates the joyful raasleela of Krishna and the gopis. They play Phag, which is a game of many colourful hues. It is a joyous celebration of the rejuvenation of nature, and renewed hope of happiness and peaceful coexistence. In Anandpur Sahib, Sikhs celebrate a special festival Hola Mohalla on the day after Holi. It marks a display of ancient martial arts and mock battles.\n \nVAISHAKHA POORNIMA\nThe full-moon day of Vaishakha\nOne of the greatest spiritual teachers of mankind which Bharat has produced is undoubtedly, Buddha. Edwin Arnold has fittingly called him the \"Light of Asia\". Buddha/s message has travelled far and wide and captured the hearts and minds of billions of people outside Bharat also.\nSiddhartha, the only son of Shuddhodana, the Kind of Kapilavastu situated at the foot of Himalayas, was prophesied by the royal astrologer to become either a famous emperor or a world-renowned ascetic. The father, anxious that his son should not take to the thorny path of a recluse, took extraordinary precautions to avoid every situation which would provoke such thoughts in his son's mind.\nSiddhartha grew of age without ever knowing what misery or sorrow was. One day the prince desired to see the city. The King ordered that the city should be all gay and grand, so that everywhere his son would meet with only pleasing sights. However, an old and crippled man by the roadside happened to catch Siddhartha's eye. It was a sight never witnessed before by the prince: a sunken face, a toothless mouth, all the limbs emaciated, the whole body bent and walking with extreme difficulty. The innocent prince asked who that creature was. Chenna, the charioteer, replied that he was a human being who had become old. To further enquiries of Siddhartha, Chenna informed that the old man was of fine shape in his young age and that every human being had to become like him after the youthful days are past. The perturbed prince returned to the palace, deeply engrossed in anxious thoughts.\nKing Shuddhodana, in order to cheer up his spirits, again ordered for his son's procession in the capital, but on subsequent rounds, Siddhartha came across a sick man and a corpse being carried to the funeral ground. Again it was Chenna, the charioteer, who explained that human beings were prone to illness and that death inevitably awaited man at the end. As luck would have it, on his final round, Siddhartha saw a person, his face beaming with job and tranquility, and heard from Chenna that he was an ascetic who had triumphed over the worldly temptations, fears and sorrows and attained the highest bliss of life.\nAnd that clinched the thoughts of the young prince. He was then hardly twenty-nine. In that full bloom of youth, in the midnight of a full-moon day, he bade good-bye to his dear parents, his beloved wife Yashodhara and sweet little child Rahul and all the royal pleasures and luxuries, and departed to the forest to seek for himself answers for the riddles of human misery.\nFor seven long years, Siddhartha roamed in the jungles, underwent severe austerities and finally, on the Vaishaakha Poornima Day, the supreme light of Realization dawned on him. He thereafter became Buddha, the Enlightened One. When he was an itinerant monk, he was called Gautama and now he became popular as Gautama Buddha. Buddha's overflowing love for the downtrodden and destitute acted as one of the greatest factors for social harmony and justice to the weaker sections in the society.\nBuddha's life abounds in such instances when he honored and upheld the purity and devotion of the lowliest in the society. Once Buddha had camped in the kingdom of Bindusara. The king - a disciple of Buddha - honored his Guru with chariots-loads of royal presents and offerings. The other disciples also, many of them rich, made offerings to the best of their ability. At the end, an old and poor woman trekked slowly to the presence of Buddha, offered a small pomegranate and collapsed at his feet, Buddha ordered the bell of honor to be rung in her name for that day, to the utter surprise of the king and his subjects.\nThe spiritual and moral forces generated by Buddha have strengthened and enriched Hinduism and helped to wean it from perversions which had set in at that time. The present-day sublime thoughts and convictions of a common Hindu owe not a little to the life and preachings of Buddha. And Buddha himself has been revered as an Avataar of God by Hindus. Buddha Gaya where he attained his supreme enlightenment has to this day remained one of the most sanctified places of pilgrimage for the entire Hindu World.\nBuddha's philosophical analysis of the basic problem of human suffering and misery helped to hold before the common man a purified and simplified Eight-Fold Path of Salvation, i.e., the right type of life-view, of intention, of speech, action, livelihood, effort, frame of mind and of concentration. Buddha, like Mahaveera, denounced the animal sacrifices in the yajnas and yagas and himself stood as the very embodiment of compassion to all living beings. He also forcefully brought home the limited merit of such rituals and stressed that the attainment of Final Beatitude is the summum bonum of human life. As days passed, the effect of Buddha's teachings not only influenced the Hindu people in general but contributed decisively in elevating spiritually several races spreading over a vast region of the globe, including areas such as the present-day Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Brahmadesh, Siam, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Annam, Cochin, China, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Malaya, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet and Khotan in Central Asia. To this day most of these countries look upon Buddha as their supreme spiritual redeemer.\nBuddha passed into eternity after completing his Sahasra Chandra Darshana i.e., 1000 full moon days (80th year) on the full moon day of Vaishaakha - the day of his birth as also of his Enlightenment. And to this day, Buddha lives on as a beacon-light to billions the world over, who yearn for the peace and well-being of all living creation.\n \n**********\nBasakhi\nDates : Baisakhi, derived from the month of Vaisakh, is New Year's Day in Punjab. It falls on April 13, though once in 36 years it occurs on 14th April.\nPractice : Baisakhi marks the ripening of the Rabi harvest. It was on this day that the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa (the Sikh brotherhood) in 1699. The Sikhs, therefore, celebrate this festival as a collective birthday.\nSikhs visits gurdwaras (Sikh temples) and listen to kirtans (religious songs)\nand discourses. The holy scriptures known as the Grantha are read, and the book is then carried in a procession led by five leaders of the congregation, carrying drawn swords. After the prayer, kada prasad (sweetened semolina) is served to the congregation. The function ends with langar, the community lunches served by volunteers. The bhangra is also performed on Baisakhi with great vigour and enthusiasm.\nProcessions are taken out, at the head of which are the panj piaras. Mock duels and bands playing religious tunes are part of the processions. Schoolchildren also enthusiastically take part in them.\nFor people in villages this festival is a last opportunity for relaxing before they start harvesting of corn.\nIn April, this day marks the beginning of the Hindu solar new year. In fact this day is celebrated all over the country as new year day under different names. It is also the time when the harvest is ready to cut and store or sell.\nIndia�s rich and glorious civilization is mirrored in its innumerable festivals. These festivals mark the seasons which signal to man the time for work and the time for relaxation, the commencement of the agricultural cycle with sowing in spring, and its culmination with the harvesting of the golden grain. And then, of course, we have, in endless variations of legend and myth, the hallowed perceptions that there is an ever-renewed war of light and darkness, of the divine and the demoniac in the unceasing evolution of the world.\nBaisakhi (also called Vaisakhi) is a harvest festival which is celebrated on the thirteenth day of April according to the solar calendar. It is celebrated in North India, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, when the rabi crop is ready for harvesting. This tough agricultural operation is rendered into a lighter occupation by merry community festivities such as the Bhangra dance by men, who pound the ground with vigorous steps accompanied by singing. Women, too, break into a revelry of dances, principally the Gidda dance, executed with fervour and rhythmic exactitude. On these occasions, men and women adorn themselves with gay-coloured clothes and traditional jewellery.\nGenerally, the sites of these festivities are on the banks of the rivers which have their sacred import with myths and legends woven around their origin and names.\nFor the Sikh community Baisakhi has a very special meaning. It was on this day that the last Guru Gobind Singh organised the sikhs into Khalsa or the pure ones. By doing so, he eliminated the differences of high and low and established that all human beings were equal.\nPunjab has always been known and identified as a land of gaiety and merrymaking where festivals are celebrated with much exuberance and fanfare. Being a predominantly agricultural state that prides itself on its foodgrain production, it is little wonder that its most significant festival is Baisakhi, which marks the arrival of the harvesting season.\nThe word Baisakhi is derived from the month of Vaisakha (April-May), a time when the farmer returns home with his bumper crop, the fruit of his whole year�s hard labour. Cries of �Jatta aai Baisakhi� rent the skies as the people of Punjab attired in their best clothes break into the Bhangra dance to express their joy. The dancers and drummers challenge each other to continue the dance. The scenes of sowing, harvesting, winnowing and gathering of crops are expressed through zestful movements of the body to the accompaniment of ballads.\nFairs are organized at various places in Punjab, where besides other recreational activities, wrestling bouts are also held. The occasion is celebrated with great gusto at Talwandi Sabo, where Guru Gobind Singh stayed for nine months and completed the recompilation of the Guru Granth Sahib.\nThe Sikhs celebrate this day by visiting gurudwaras and distributing kada prasad. Processions led by the Panj Piaras or the five religious men are taken out. Kirtans and recital of passages from the Granth Sahib are also organized in gurdwaras, where people line up to receive the delicious prasad and perform kar sewa-that is, offering help in the daily chores of the gurdwara.\nIn the hill state of Himachal, Baisakhi comes on a flood tide of peach blossom, with dazzling white dog roses rushing in torrents down the hillsides and somber rhododendrons suddenly turning a flamboyant red. People flock to the temple dedicated to Goddess Jwalamukhi and take a holy dip in the neighbouring hot springs.\nIn the plains of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Baisakhi is time to harvest the winter crop of wheat. Time also to celebrate. Homes are spruced up and doorways hung with chains of marigold and mango leaves. The day begins with a ceremonial bath and followed by prayers. A little later, the first ripe ears of wheat are gathered and brought home to be offered to the family deities to invoke their blessings. Evening sees a mela (fair) complete with stalls and fun and games where people enjoy the end of a year of good harvest.\nBaisakhi day is observed as the Naba Barsha (New Year) in Bengal. On April 14, the people take a ritual bath in the Ganga and bedeck their houses with rangoli (floral patterns) drawn on the entrance of their homes with a paste made of rice powder.\nBihar celebrates a festival in Vaishakha (April) and Kartika (November) in honour of the Sun God, Surya, at a place called Surajpur-Baragaon. This is essentially a village where, according to an ancient practice, people bathe in the temple tank and pay obeisance to the Sun God while offering flowers and water from the sacred river Ganga.\nIn Kashmir, Baisakhi is marked by a ceremonial bath and general festivity. In Assam, it coincides with the Goru Bihu or cattle festival when cattle are bathed, anointed with turmeric paste and decorated with flowers, before being treated to a repast of jaggery and brinjal. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it�s New Year time too. The Kerala New Year is conspicuous for an exchange of gifts and for alms-giving, while in Tamil Nadu, ceremonial processions are taken out, with richly caparisoned elephants swinging along to the beat of drums.\n \nThe ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra\n \n\"Wherever four Hindus live, Rama and Sita will be there\" so said Swami Vivekananda, one of the foremost harbingers of modern national renaissance of Bharat. The reverse also is equally true - wherever Rama and Sita live, the people there will remain and live as Hindus.\nEvery hill and rivulet of Bharat bears the imprint of the holy feet of Rama and Sita. Sri Rama reigns supreme to this day in the hearts of our people, cutting across all barriers of province, language, caste or sect. Even the tribes living in isolated valleys and jungles have names like Mitti-Ram and Patthar-Ram. In some other tribes, every name carries the proud suffix of Ram, such as Lutthu Ram, Jagadev Ram, etc. In many northern parts of Bharat mutual greetings take the form of Jay Ramjee Ki.\nSri Rama has become so much identified with all the good and great and virile qualities of heroic manhood that expressions such as 'Us me Ram nahi hai' (there is no Rama in him) - meaning that a person has lost all manliness and worth - have become common usage. And when a Hindu quits the world stage, he is bid God-speed in his onward journey [with Ramanama satya hai or Raghupati Raghava raja Ram, patita paavana Sita Ram. In fact, the latter couplet has become the nation's bhajan par excellence.\nSri Rama's story, Ramayana, has been sung and resung in all the languages and dialects of Bharat. The tradition of writing epics centering round the saga of Rama's achievements started by Valmiki and Samskrit was continued by Tulsidas in Hindi, by Kamban in Tamil, by Ramanujan in Malayalm, by Krittivasa in Bengali and Madhav Kambali in Assamia and in fact, in almost every Bharatiya language. The tradition is being continued up to the present day. The Ramayana Darshanam of K.V. Puttappa, the national literary award of Bharat by the Jnana Peeth. The enchanting Geet Ramayana composed in Marathi by G.D. Madgulkar and set to tune by Sudhir Phadke is now thrilling the hearts of millions in Maharashtra.\nThe various tribal groups too have sung the story of Ramayana in their dialects. Sri Rama, Lakshmana and Janaki mirror the ideals for millions of tribal boys and girls. The Khamati tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, which is Buddhist, depicts Ramayana as the story narrated by Buddha to his first disciple, Ananda, and carries the universal message of Buddha. How deeply significant that every group and sect even in distant and far-flung parts of Bharatavarsha should have found a radiant reflection of its own ideals in the form of Sri Rama!\nThe comparison of Sri Rama's fortitude to Himalayas and the grace and grandeur of his personality to the ocean - 'Samudra iva gaambheerye, dhairye cha Himavaan iva' - portrays how inseparably his personality has been blended into the entire national entity of Bharat.\nWhere in lay the secret of this unique greatness in Rama's personality? He is called Maryaada-Purushottama - the great one who never deviated from the norms set by Dharma. In the eyes of the Hindu, the touchstone of human excellence is Dharma. Devotion to Dharma came first in Rama's life and considerations of his personal joys and sorrows came last. It was his supreme commitment to putra-dharma (duty of a son) that made Rama smilingly depart to the forest for fourteen years at the bidding of his father. And this he did on the very day he was to be anointed as the future emperor of Bharat. He would not budge from the path of Dharma - righteousness - even when his own preceptor, his parents, his brothers and the whole body of his subjects tried to dissuade him. He upheld the supremacy of Dharma in every one of his human relationships and hence became an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal husband, an ideal disciple. an ideal friend, an ideal kind and even an ideal foe.\nThe one and supreme concern of Sri Rama's life was the welfare of his subjects. He would forsake everything else to uphold his kingly duties - the Rajadharma. The night previous to his scheduled coronation, when Rama and Sita were alone in a happy mood in view of the next day's joyous occasion, Sita asked Rama, \"What is that thing which hold dearest to your heart?\" Rama fell serious for a moment and said, \"Dear Sita, you know I love you most dearly, but I love the subjects of Ayodhya more and if their welfare demands, I would not hesitate to sacrifice even you!\" The following couplet conveying this idea is cited often:\nSneham dayaam cha soukhyam cha yadi vaa Jaanakimapi|\nAaraadhanaaya lokasya munchate naasti me vyathaa||\nAnd Sri Rama did live up to his words. When he felt that the call of his royal duties - Rajadharma - demanded the forsaking of Sita, he wavered not in carrying it out. The most crucial test came when Lakshmana violated the orders of Rama and admitted Durvasa to Rama's presence with a view to averting the destruction of Ayodhya by Durvasa's curse. Rama stuck to the law of the land and awarded death penalty to Lakshmana - one whom he loved dearer than his own life. It was with such a fiery faith that Rama followed the dictates of Dharma.\nTo such a one, how could power and pelf hold any fascination? When Bharata came to him in the forest and implored him to return to Ayodhya and become the emperor, Sri Rama firmly refused. Here was enacted a scene unparalleled in the annals of world history - each of the two brothers trying to out-argue the other to make him accept the emperorship of a great and mighty kingdom.\nSri Rama's role as one of the first and foremost national unifiers of Bharat is also unique and extraordinary. He embraced Guha, the forest Kind and ate in his house without the least hesitation. No sense of high or low ever touched his all-embracing love of his people. He even enjoyed a fruit tasted and offered with devotion by Shabari, a tribal lady in the far south.\nThe Vanaras or the forest-dwellers too felt that Rama was their own. He endeared himself to them so intimately that they became, in fact, his chief allies against Ravana. All over Bharatavarsha, the dear, little squirrel with his three brown stripes bespeaks the devotion to Sri Rama even among the animal world. Along with the Vanaras, a solitary squirrel had played his humble part in carrying sand for the construction of bridge to Lanka and Sri Rama's caressing of the little one on the back had left those indelible stripes for all future generations.\nSri Rama's intense adoration for the motherland has been immortalized by a legendary couplet which is playing on the lips of millions even to this day: Janani janmabhoomischa swargaadapi garreyasi (the mother and the motherland are to me greater than the heavens themselves).\nThe story of Rama is not that of a single towering personality dwarfing all others. The other characters like Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata and Hanuman too shine in their own greatness. All of them are so closely interwoven with Sri Rama's life and achievements that it is well-nigh impossible to think of any one without the other. In fact, the most popular picture of Sri Rama, i.e., of Sri Rama Pattabhisheka includes Sita, Hanuman and all his brothers. And in the bringing out of the greatness of all these partners of his life-drama, Rama's instinctive recognition of their merit and virtues played no mean part. He would always be the first to openly appreciate the unique and noble traits in others' character. Even for Kaikeyi, who was responsible for his banishment to forest, Rama had only words of kindness. And as for Ravana, the abductor of his wife, Rama's unstinted praise of his erudition and prowess at once lifts the story of Ramayana to heights unsurpassed in the annals of human history.\nNo wonder, the story of Sri Rama has crossed the boundaries of Bharat and inspired by many a distant people, their culture and literature. Indonesia - with Muslims forming 80% of her population - continues to adore Rama and Sita as her great cultural standard-bearers, and Ramayana as her national epic par excellence. Indonesia also prides herself in having the biggest drama stage in the world - with Ramayana as its chief attraction. And the credit goes to that country for celebrating the very first grand World Ramayana Festival some years ago.\nThe birthday of Sri Rama, indeed, signifies an event worth of remembrance by every one, whatever his country or race or religion, who cherishes the time honored sublime values of human culture and civilization.\nThe birthday of Lord Rama is enthusiastically celebrated on the ninth day of the waxing moon in the month of Chaitra. Temples are decorated, religious discourses are held and the Ramayana is recited for ten days. People sing devotional songs in praise of Rama and rock images of him in cradles to celebrate his birth.\n \nMahaveera Jayanti\nCHAITRA SHUKLA TRAYODASHI\nThe thirteenth day of the bright half of Chaitra. The birth anniversary of the Jains, Mahavir , the founder of Jainism , is celebrated by the Jain Community. People meditate and offer prayers all over India.\nMahaveera, also known as Vardhamana, is the last one in the galaxy of Twenty-four Teerthankaras (Jain Prophets). He was born in the year 599 B.C. and has been acclaimed as one of the greatest prophets of peace and social reformation that Bharat has ever produced. He was born to a pious couple, Siddhartha and Priyakarani or popularly Trishala Devi - who were deeply permeated with the philosophy of jainism preached by Parswanatha, the 23rd Teerthankara. Siddhartha was the king of Kaundinyapura on the outskirts of Vaishali (near Patna in Bihar).\nEven as a boy, Mahaveera came to be associated with many episodes of absolute fearlessness which earned him the name `Mahaveera'. He grew up as a prince, excelling in physical prowess as well as intellectual acumen. However, he renounced the pleasures and luxuries of the place, as also the power and prestige of kingship, and undertook a life of intense penance for more than twelve years. He calmly bore not only the rigors of nature but the torments from the ignorant and mischievous among his own countrymen also. He finally became self-illumined. But not content with his own personal salvation, he chose to become a great human redeemer.\nHe looked around and found the society corrupted by the distortions of the true concept of Dharma. Violence in the form of animal sacrifice had overshadowed the true spirit of yajna and yaga. Spiritual values had been supplanted by superstitions and lifeless rituals and dogmas. Propitiating various Gods and Goddesses was considered as a means of acquiring religious merit - Punya - to the exclusion of the true spiritual significance of these Vedic practices. Mahaveera, with his penetrating insight born out of self-realization, struck mercilessly at these perversions. He simplified the religious procedures and concentrated on righteous conduct.\nMahaveera's simple and convincing method of appealing to the highest and noblest impulses in the living breast soon won him a large following. He would, for example, pose the following question in order to bring home the grand message of non-injury to every living being: \"Can you hold a red-hot iron rod in your hand merely because some one wants you to do so?\" The listeners would instantly reply, \"No, never\". Then Mahaveera would ask them, \"Then, will it be right on your part to ask others to do the same thing just to satisfy your desire? If you cannot tolerate infliction of pain on your body or mind by others' words and actions, what right have you to do the same to others through your words and deeds?\" Mahaveera would then sum up his message: \"Do unto others as you would like to be done by. Injury or violence done by your to any life in any form, animal or human, is as harmful as it would be if caused to your own self.\"\nMahaveera's emphasis on this `Unity of Life' forms one of the highest saving principles of human life. The modern civilization, which seeks to exploit and destroy every other kind of living species in order to satiate the never ending cravings of man, is landing the entire human species itself in a deadly peril.\nAs one deeply conversant with the needs, capacities and aptitudes of human being, Mahaveera initiated a simple five-fold path for the householders: Ahimsa (Non-injury - physical or mental - to others), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (temperance in sexual pleasures) and Aparigraha (non-acquisition of property).\nMahaveera's injunctions for the monks and nuns were however very exacting. Abstinence from every kind of physical comfort and material possession and absolute dedication to the highest ethical and spiritual discipline were enforced. Even to this day, 2500 years after the passing away of that great master, this pure and upright tradition of the monks has been maintained. Thousands of whiteclad Sanyasins and Sanyasinis and also nude monks move on foot from village to village and town to town, throughout the length and breadth of the country, carrying Mahaveera's gospel of peace, non-injury and brotherhood among people.\nMahaveera left his mortal coils at the age of 71 on the Deepavali day. But the lamp of peace which he lit continues to glow through the myriad lights of that Festival of Lights.\nOn the 13th day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra Mahavir Jayanti (birthday) is celebrated. Vardhaman Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankar (guide), is the great hero of the Jam religion. He lived from 540 to 468 B.C. Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankar, is believed to have been the founder of the Jain religion. Dr Radhakrishnan writes.\n�There is no doubt that Jainism prevailed even before Vardhaman or Parshvanath.� In the 12th century A.D. King Kumarapala was won over to Jainism and made Gujarat a model Jam state. Today the followers of the lain religion form a community of more than one million and a half living in India.\n**********\nHanuman Jayanti\nThe birthday of Hanuman - the supreme devotee of Sri Ram is celebrated on full moon day of the bright lunar phase, in the Hindu month of Chaitra.\nThe most powerful and valiant Hanuman who was also the gem of the scholars has been an inspiration for all of us since time immemorial. Because of his phenomenal strength and power, Hanuman is revered by the wrestlers.\nHanuman's bravery is unmatched. This is the reason why government of India has named the bravery award on him i.e. Mahavir-Chakra. Being inspired by Hanuman's phenomenal valiance, the supreme warrior Arjun, had established him on the flag of his chariot.\nHanuman is not only brave but he is also an example of supreme loyality and faithfulness, which he had towards his master - Sri Ram. If a man worships Hanuman and takes his refuge, then he will be able to have darshan of Sri Ram in no time - just like Tulsidas.\nWhen Sri Ram met Hanuman for the first time he was very impressed by his knowledge. He told Laxman-\"O Laxman, it seems this person (Hanuman) has thoroughly studied the grammar. That is the reason why he did not pronounce incorrectly even a single word, during such a long conversation with me.\"\nHanuman's high degree of knowledge can be understood from the following incident.\nOnce Sri Ram asked Hanuman as to who he was. Hanuman replied by saying-\n\"If you consider me just as the possessor of my physical body, then I am your servant. If you consider me as a soul then I am your 'Ansha' (part). My belief is based on the fact that my existence is not different from you in any way.\"\nOn Hanuman Jayanti the various games which are based on strength and power are organised, along with the traditional worship of Hanuman. People are made to understand the phenomenal character of Hanuman - the unmatched warrior of the Indian history, so that they are able to serve the country with fearlessness and without considering their own self-interest. Hanuman's virtuosity, valiance, discipline and celibacy can prove to be an asset for any society or country.\nOn the full-moon day of chaitra exactly at sunrise a festival is arranged in the temple of Hanuman to celebrate his birth.\nHindus believe in ten avatars of Vishnu. They also believe in many other avatars. It is said that there are 33 crore gods and goddesses. In order to destroy Ravan Vishnu took birth as Rama. At the same time Brahmadev commanded all the gods, gandharvas and rishis to take birth (avatar) to help Rama. So all the gods and goddesses and rishimunis decided to take avatar in the form of \"vanaras\" (monkeys). The apsaras (courtesans of heaven) and the wives of the gandharvas became female monkeys and the rishis and the gods became male monkeys.\n**********\nBuddha Jayanti\nIn the month of Vaishakh the birthday of Gautam Buddha is celebrated. He is considered the ninth avatar of Vishnu.\nGautam Buddha \"lived and died in about the fifth century before the Christian era.\" The number of Buddhists in the world ranges \"from less than two hundred million, to more than five hundred million, with the lower number closer to reality.\"\nBuddhism was originally a sect within the Hindu way of life. Its originator had the personal name of Siddharta, and the surname Gautama. He belonged to the Sakya clan of the Kshatriya or warrior caste. He married and had a son, Rahula. But after some years he left his parents, wife and child. The king, his father, had three palaces built for him, and at the age of sixteen gave him forty thousand dancing girls. Yet thirteen years later Gautama left everything to find, in his own words, \"the incomparable security of a 'Nirvana' free from birth and endless reincarnation.\"\n**********\nRath Yatra\nRath yatra is observed on Aashad Shukla Dwitiya. On this day in Pushya Nakshatra a chariot of Subhadra and the Lord is paraded. This festival is celebrated in many parts of India, but the pomp and gaiety in Jagannathpuri is definitely worth watching.\nJagannathPuri is one of the 4 most important religious places in India. Here we have even the Govardhan Peeth established by Shankaracarya. The main deity to be worshipped here is Lord Jagannath and this deity is the main centre of attraction. One can see a lot of crowd on this day. People from every corner of India come to see the idols of the Gods being paraded and seek their blessings.\nThe chariot of Lord Jagannath is 45 feet tall, 35 feet long and 36 feet bride, 16 wheel, 6 feet diameters are fixed to the chariot. The chariot of Balbhadra 44 feet tall and has 14 wheels. The chariot of Subhadra is 43 feet tall and it has 12 wheels. Every year new chariot is built. 4200 people pull the chariot and other than these others men-women devotees do pull these chariots.\nThe Lord stays for 3 days in Lanakpur there itself he meets Goddess Laxmi. After this the Lord return backs and is placed on his original position.\n \n**********\nGuru Purnima\nA special worship is performed on this day to all teachers and is called Guru Purnima. Worship of the great Vyasa, the author of the great epic, Mahabharata, is part of the celebration. On this day students visit their elders, teachers and guides in order to show respect to them with gifts of coconuts, clothes and sweets. These gifts are called Gurudakshina. Discourses are held in community gatherings to hear the readings of the holybook, Bhagwad Gita.\n \n \nTeej\n\"Teej\" is the fasting festival for women. It takes place in August or early September. The festival is a three-day long celebration that combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid fasting. Through this religious fasting, Hindu women pray for marital bliss, well being of their spouse and children and purification of their own body and soul.\nTraditionally, the ritual of Teej is obligatory for all Hindu married women and girls who have reached puberty. Exception is made for the ones who are ill or physically unfit. In such circumstances a priest performs the rites. According to the holy books, the Goddess Parbati fasted and prayed fervently for the great Lord Shiva to become her spouse. Touched by her devotion, he took her for his wife. Goddess Parbati, in gratitude sent her emissary to preach and disseminate this religious fasting among mortal women, promising prosperity and longevity with their family. Thus was born the festival of Teej.\nThe first day of Teej is called the \"Dar Khane Din\". On this day the women, both married and unmarried, assemble at one place, in there finest attires and start dancing and singing devotional songs. Admist all this, the grand feast takes place. The jollity often goes on till midnight, after which the 24 - hour fast commences. Some women stay without a morsel of food or drops of water while others take liquid and fruit.\nGaily dressed women can be seen dancing and singing on the street leading to Shiva temples. But the main activities take place around the Pashupatinath temple where women circumambulate the Lingam, the phallic symbol of the lord, offering flowers, sweets and coins. The main puja (religious ceremony) takes place with offerings of flowers, fruits etc made to Shiva and Parbati, beseeching their blessing upon the husband and family. The important part of the puja is the oil lamp which should be alight throughout the night for it is bad omen if it dies away.\nThe third day of the festival is Rishi Panchami. After the completion of the previous day's puja, women pay homage to various deities and bathe with red mud found on the roots of the sacred Datiwan bush, along with its leaves. This act of purification is the final ritual of Teej, after which women are considered absolved from all sins. The recent years have witnessed alteration in the rituals, especially concerning the severity, but its essence remains. No matter how agonizing the fast may be Nepalese women have and will always continue to have faith in the austerities of Teej.\n \n**********\nNag Panchmi\nOn the fifth day of the bright half of Shravan people worship the snake, \"nag\". The day is known as \"Nag Panchami\". Naga Panchami is the festival of snakes celebrated on the fifth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Shriven. The festival falls during the rainy months and is believed to counter the increased possibility of a snake bite during this time. People visit temples specially dedicated to snakes and worship them. Shiva temples are also favoured places for veneration as snakes are considered dear to him. In South India, people craft images of snakes using cow dung on either side of the entrance to the house to welcome the snake god. Some go to worship the snake which is believed to be hiding in the holes of anthills. Or else a five hood snake is made by mixing \"gandh\" (a fragrant pigment), \"halad-kumkum\" (turmeric powder), \"chandan\" (sandal) and \"keshar\" (saffron) and placed on a metal plate and worshipped. This practice of worshipping the snake on this day is related to the following story.\nKrishna and the Kaliya Snake\nNag Panchami is also connected with the following legend of Krishna. Young Krishna was playing with the other cowboys, when suddenly the ball got entangled in the high branch of a tree. Krishna volunteered to climb the tree and fetch the ball. But below the tree there was a deep part of the river Yamuna, in which the terrible snake Kaliya was living. Everybody was afraid of that part of the river.\nSuddenly Krishna fell from the tree into the water. Then that terrible snake came up. But Krishna was ready and jumping on the snake�s head he caught it by the neck. Kaliya understood that Krishna was not an ordinary boy, and that it would not be easy to overcome him. So Kaliya pleaded with Krishna: \"Please, do not kill me.\" Krishna full of compassion asked the snake to promise that henceforth he would not harass anybody. Then he let the snake go free into the river again.\nOn Nag Panchami day the victory of Krishna over the Kaliya snake is commemorated. For this reason Krishna is known as \"Kaliya Mardan\". Snakes are believed to like milk. As this is the day of the serpents, devotees pour milk into all the holes in the ground around the house or near the temple to propitiate them. Sometimes, a small pot of milk with some flowers is placed near the holes so that the snakes may drink it. If a snake actually drinks the milk, it is considered to be extremely lucky for the devotee. The festival is celebrated with much enthusiasm by all, especially women.\nNag Panchami is the festival when snakes, the symbols of energy and prosperity are worshipped. In Maharashtra snake charmers go from house to house with dormant cobras ensconced in cane baskets, asking for alms and clothing. Women offer milk and cooked rice to the snakes and gather around to see the snakes spread their hoods to the tune of the Pungi. In Kerala, snake temples are crowded in this day and worship is offered to stone or metal icons of the cosmic serpent Ananta or Shesha.\n**********\nJanmashtami\nGokulashtami Sri Krishna Jayanti marks the celebration of the birth of Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Lord Sri Krishna was born on the 'Rohini' nakshatram (star) on Ashtami day. This festival is also known as Sri Krishna Jayanti and Janmashtami.\nThe actual day of celebration can be on two different days as the star 'Rohini' and Ashtami may not be on the same day. This occurs between August and September on the Christian calendar.\nThe birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu is observed all over India. It is celebrated with great fervour at Mathura and Brindavan where Lord Krishna spent his childhood. Nightlong prayers are offered and religious hymns are sung in temples. In Maharashtra, earthen pots of curd and butter are hung high up over the streets. Young men enacting an episode from Krishna�s childhood form human pyramids by climbing on each other�s shoulders and try to break thee pots.\n**********\nOnam\nOnam is Kerala�s most popular festival, celebrated with great enthusiasm. It is primarily a harvest festival celebrated to welcome the spirit of the pious King Mahabali from eternal exile and to assure him that his people are happy and wish him well. At Trichur, caparisoned elephants take part in a spectacular procession. There is also a magnificent display of fireworks. The Vallumkali (boat race) is one of the main attractions of Onam, and is best seen at Aranmulai and Kottayam.\n \nRakshaa Bandhan\nFull Moon Day, Shraavana\nThe Rakshaa Bandhan stirs up one of the deepest and noblest emotions in the human breast - the abiding and chaste bond of love between the brother and the sister.\nThe delicate cord tied by the sister to the brother on this day pulsates with this sublime sentiment. History and legends of Bharat abound in touching episodes of ladies seeking protection from far-off, unacquainted heroes, though the Raakhi. A story is told of Alexander's wife approaching his mighty Hindu adversary Pururavas and tying Raakhi on his hand, seeking assurance from him for saving the life of her husband on the battlefield. And the great Hindu king, in the true traditional Kshatriya style, responded; and as the legend goes, just as he raised his hand to deliver a mortal blow to Alexander, he saw the Raakhi on his own hand and restrained from striking.\nA more poignant instance is of the princess of a small Rajput principality. It speaks of the spell the Raakhi had cast even on those of alien faiths. The princess sent a Raakhi to the Moghal Emperor Humayun to save her honor from the onslaught of the Gujarat Sultan. The emperor who was engaged in an expedition against Bengal, turned back and hastened to the rescue of his Raakhi sister. But, alas, to his utmost sorrow, he found that the kingdom had already been overrun and the princess had committed Jauhaar, i.e., leaped into the flames to save her honor.\nThe sister-brother relationship highlighted by the Raakhi goes far beyond the mere personal protection of a female from a male. It also implies the basic element of an amicable and harmonious social life where all members of the society look upon themselves as brothers and sisters and as children of one common motherland.\nThe congregational Raakhi function carries this social content. Particularly, the tying of Raakhi to the sacred Bhagavaa Dhwaj at the start of the function signifies this social and cultural aspect. Not only do the participants in the function develop a sense of love and affection amongst themselves but they also affirm their loyalty and devotion to the society of which they are the children. Their commitment to protect each other and also the society as a whole is emphasized through this simple ceremony.\nIn the Hindu tradition the Rakshaa has indeed assumed all aspects of protection of the forces of righteousness from the forces of evil. Once, Yudhishthira asked Sri Krishna how best he could guard himself against impending evils and catastrophes in the coming year. Krishna advised him to observe the Rakshaa Ceremony. He also narrated an old incident to show how potent the Rakshaa is.\nOnce, Indra was confronted by the demon king - the Daitya-raaja - in a long-drawn battle. At one stage, the Daitya-raaja got better of Indra and drove him into wilderness. Indra, humbled and crest-fallen, sought the advice of Brihaspati, the Guru of Gods. The Guru told him to bide his time, prepare himself and then march against his adversary. He also indicated that the auspicious moment for sallying forth was the Shraavana Poornima. On that day, Shachee Devi, the wife of Indra, and Brihaspati tied Raakhis around Indra's right-wrist. Indra then advanced against the Daitya-raaja, vanquished him and reestablished his sovereignty.\nThe Rakshaa has several similar pauraanik associations. The following couplet is recited, especially in the northern parts, while tying the Raakhi. It denotes how the King Bali had become so powerful with the Raakhi on:\nYena baddho Balee raajaa daanavendro mahaabalah |\ntena twaam anubadhnaami rakshe maa chala maa chala ||\n(I am tying a Rakshaa to you, similar to the one tied to Bali the powerful king of demons. Oh Rakshaa, be firm, do not waver.)\nIt is not merely that the spirit of Rakshaa manifests itself on occasions of mortal peril to the life and honor of the beloved ones or to the society. It is not like the HOme Guards or the militia which are expected to come to the rescue of the people in times of war or natural calamities. No, it is far more deep and all-encompassing. It is like the flow of bloodstream through every limb and organ of the body, carrying strength and nourishment to every cell thereof. As a result, even a small wound anywhere in the body is promptly attended to by the entire body. Every other limb spontaneously sacrifies a part of its blood and energy to heal that wound and keep that organ healthy and strong.\nThis is how the society can live and prosper amidst all kinds of challenges either from within or without. Especially, various types of internal stresses and strains which are generated in the body-politic of a nation because of ever-changing economic, political and other factors can be overcome only on the strength of this inner flow of mutual affection and amity.\nA society imbued with this spirit will see to it that every one of its members is made happy. The idea of the Hindu has always been:\nSarvepi sukhinassantu, sarve santu niraamayaah |\nSarve bhadraani pashyantu, maa kashchit duhkhabhaag bhavet ||\n(Let everyone be happy, let everyone be free from all ills, let everyone behold only the auspicious, let no one be afflicted.)\nThis concept is far more comprehensive than the concept of the `maximum happiness of the maximum number.' In fact, spontaneous love and compassionate service for the poor and lowly in society is held up as the highest form of worship of God Himself. The spirit of selfless social service which makes for the uplift of the needy and deprived sections is thus transformed into a spiritual saadhanaa.\nIt was Raamakrishna Paramahamsa who coined the world, Daridra Naaraayana. He would not even tolerate expressions like `showing pity to the poor and sick.' Once when he was in a semi-samaadhi state, he exclaimed, \"Compassion for creatures! Compassion for creatures! Thou fool! An insignificant worm crawling on earth, thou to show compassion to others! Who art thou to show compassion? No, it cannot be. It is not compassion for others, but rather service to man, recognizing him to be the veritable manifestation of God!\" Swami Vivekananda picked up the thread and invoked God in the poor and ignorant and said,\n'daridradevo bhava, moorkhadevo bhava.'\nThe boon asked of God by the King Rantideva who, when his kingdom was ravaged by famine, gave away his last morsel of food to a hungry man and the last sip of water to a thirsty dog, remains the eternal heart-beat of every devout Hindu:\nNa twaham kaamaye raajyam na swargam naapunar bhavam |\nKaamaye duhkhataptaanaam praaninaam aarti naashanam ||\n\"Oh Lord, I desire not kingdom nor the heavens nor even moksha. All I desire is to remove the suffering from the afflicted beings.\"\nIt is only when this type of attitude towards one's less fortunate brothers and sisters permeates society that exploitations of the weak by the strong will end. Powers of intellect and body, and of material wealth and influence will then be utilized for the uplift and service of others. A Samskrit Subhaashita says,\nVidyaa vivaadaaya dhanam madaaya shaktih pareshaam paripeedanaaya |\nKhalasya sadhorvipareetam etat jnaanaaya daanaaya cha rakshanaaya ||\nFor the wicked, learning is for dry arguments, wealth is for satisfying vanity, strength for harassing others, but in the case of holy men these are for imparting knowledge, offering charity and protecting others.\nIn short, Raksha Bandhan affords a most auspicious occasion to recharge ourselves every year with the true spirit of service and sacrifice for the welfare of the society, and find therein the highest spiritual fulfillment of human life.\nThis is a Hindu sister�s day when brothers and sisters reaffirm their bonds of affections. Sisters tie colourful threads or rakhis on their brother�s wrists. The brothers in turn promise to protect their sisters and give them gifts.\n \nGanesha Chaturthi\n \nGanesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati is widely worshipped as the munificent god of wisdom. Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival in his honour and is celebrated in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. To appreciate this occasion, one must go to Mumbai where preparations begin months in advance. Images of Ganesha are installed within homes as well as in places of assembly. Elaborate arrangements are made for lighting and decoration and Ganesha is fervently worshipped for about 7-10 days. On the day of the Chaturthi, i.e. the last of the days dedicated to the elephant-headed god, thousands of processions converge on the beaches of Mumbai to immerse the holy idols in the sea. This immersion is accompanied by drum beats, devotional songs and dancing.\nOn the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapad, the great festival of Ganesh or Ganpati is celebrated. This festival marked the birthday of Lord Ganesh. Ganpati is one of the most popular deities. He is worshipped by both Shaivites and Vaishnavites. Even Buddhists and Jains have respect for Ganpati. He is considered to be an avatar of both Shiva and Vishnu. Ganpati is the god of learning.\nHe is addressed as the \"Remover of Obstacles\" (\"Vignaharta\"). His devotees believe that no enterprise will succeed unless he is invoked. The picture of Ganpati is often found on the doors of houses and printed on wedding cards.\nOn the occasion of the Ganpati festival a large number of images are made of all possible sizes, and people buy them to keep in their houses as a divine guest for one and a half, five, seven, or ten days, after which the image is taken out ceremoniously and thrown into the river, sea or well for immersion or \"visarjan\". When he is immersed in the water, people sing, \"'GANPATI BAPPA MORYA, AGLE BARAS TO JALDI AA,\" (\"father Ganpati, next year come again.\")\nGanesh Chaturthi is an important festival in India, especially in Maharashtra dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed God of all good beginnings and success. It is believed that Lord Ganesha was born on this day and every chaturthi is considered auspicious. Thousands of the clay idols of Lord Ganesha are made in every size, pose, form and colour and worshipped at community or family festivals which last between one to ten days. These images are then taken in large processions, amidst the rhythm of bells and drums and immersed in flowing water.\n \n**********\nNavratri\nDate : Navratri or the nine nights sacred to the Mother Goddess are celebrated in the month of October / November.\nLegend : It commemorates the victory of Goddess Durga over a demon, Mahishasur. Endowed with power, by the blessing of Lord Shiva the demon started destroying innocent people. The gods invoked Goddess Durga and asked for her help. The goddess, astride a lion fought with the demon and cut off his head.\nPractice: It is an occasion for vibrant festivities throughout the country.\nDuring Navratri, devotees of Durga fast and pray for health and prosperity. Different manifestations of Durga or Shakti are worshipped every night. Devotees and young enthusiasts dance the Garba or Dandiya-Raas throughout the night, in keeping with the exuberant nature of this festival. The Navratri festival celebrations at Ahmedabad and Baroda are famous throughout Gujarat. Here the evenings and nights are occasions for the fascinating Garba dance. The women dance around an earthen lamp while singing devotional songs accompanied by rhythmic clapping of the hands. In Punjab, Navratri is a period of fasting. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka dolls called Bommai kolu are placed and decorated. Goddesses' Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati are worshipped for three days. Gifts of coconuts, clothes and sweets are exchanged. Scenes culled from various stories in the epics and puranas are displayed.\nThe whole delusions of the world consists of nine elements - 'Panchamahabhurt' (the fine basic & fundamental elements from which the matter is made.) and four 'Antahkaran' (four types of consciousness).\nAccording to the Sadhakas, these nine elements symbolize the nine forms of 'Shakti' or goddess Durga. This Shakti prevails in the whole world. The same Shakti is known as 'Mahakali' (which symbolises physical, strength & power), 'Mahalaxmi' (which symbolises materialistic wealth and prosperity), and 'Mahasaraswati' (which symbolises mental).\nEighteen days have been fined as the most auspicious days, for the worship of three forms of Durga. Out of these eighteen days, nine days come in the Hindu month of 'Vasant' (spring) and the remaining nine-days fall in the Hindu month of 'Sharad' (Autumn). This is the reason behind the importance of the number nine of the famous Navratras.'\nKANYA PUJAN (Worship of the girl child)\nDuring the Navratra especially on the eighth day and ninth day, worship of small girl-child is customary. The girl child is worshipped with complete devotion, after purifying them by the chanting of mantras and he is made to seat on a special pedestal. She is worshipped by offering 'akshat' (rice grains) and by burning incense sticks.\nShe is worshipped because, according to the philosophy of 'Striyah Samastastava Devi Bhedah', women symbolize 'Mahamaya' (The goddess Durga). Even among these a girl child is considered to be the purest, because of her innocence.\nIf the worshipper is desirous of acquiring knowledge then he should worship a Brahmin girl child. If he is desirous of acquiring power, then he should worship a Kshatriya-girl child. Similarly if he is desirous of acquiring wealth and prosperity, then a girl child belonging to a Vaishya family should be worshipped by him. If a person is desirous of attaining Tantrik-power, Mohan (hypnotizing), Uchchatan (causing hurdle in the path of other success), then he should worship a shudra-girl-child.\nThis way a devotee of mother Jagdamba, contributes his lot in the social integration, by having a provision of girl child worship of all the four castes.\nSCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS\nThe festival of Vijayadashami, nourishes all the aspects of human life including religiousness, the aspects, spiritual aspects and it also provide us with an opportunity for entertainment. No other festival has such a combination of religion and politics, art and culture, as the festival of Vijayadashmi.\nWhen a devotee wakes up in the morning and takes a bath in a nearby river or pond, then worships goddess 'Dashahara', it helps him to destroy al the ten forms of sin.\nThis festival also in an occasion for family gets together. After the worship of goddess Durga, receipt of 'Prasad', strengthen the physical aspect of the devotee.\nWatching the Ramleela in the evening gives mental nourishment. It also inspires us to follow the ideal path of Sri Ram. The burning of the effigy of Ravan warns us against evil conducts. Ravan - who was killed by Sri Ram, some nine lakh years ago also strengthens our belief, that no matter how powerful a sinful person becomes, he is ultimately doomed to destruction.\nThe scriptural command for 'Seemolanghan (not being tied down by the boundary) symbolizes progress. It inspires a man to constantly try to make progress and not get tied down by restrictions.\nA provision of tree-worship is also made on Dashahara. This signifies the importance of the preservation of our forest-wealth.\nKUMBH MELA\nDates : The Kumbh Mela takes place every March. However, the major Kumbh Mela occurs once in 12 years.\nLegend : Legend has it that Lord Vishnu saved the elixir (Amrut) from the demons and gave it to the vassal gods, called Devas, in a pot. The Devas rested the pot at each of the four cities of Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik. This is the reason why this festival is celebrated only at these four places.\nPractice : Kumbh Mela is the greatest riverside religious festival of Hindus that takes place once every three years. It attracts millions of devotees and visitors from all backgrounds. Scores of ash-covered holy men and sages known as rishis and sadhus, in all shapes and sizes, flock to the centre of the Mela. The festival is rotated between four holy places of Hindus. The Sangam at Allahabad is the holiest as three rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati converge there. Thousands of devotees take a holy dip in the river that is believed to purge them of their sin.\nNavratri is the longest Hindu festival that continues for nine consecutive nights in praise of Lord Rama. Continuous chanting from the great epic Ramayana, along with evening performances from the episodes of his life, is held for nine days. It is a combination of many concepts. It is believed that Durga. The Goddess of power and vitality, has nine forms called Navadurga and on each day of the nine days, she takes a new dorm, with an arsenal of weapons, to ride a lion and fight the demon Mahishasura. Lord Rama is said to have worshipped the Goddess, seeking her blessing in order to overpower the evil- force of Ravana, the abductor of his beloved Sita.The most joyous celebration of Navratri is seen in Gujrat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bengal. Every night people gather in courtyards to dance the dandiya raas and garba, a community dance in which men and women dressed in festive clothes, dance in pairs with painted wooden sticks.\n \nAASHWAYUJA SHUKLA DASHAMI\nThe Tenth day of the bright half of the lunar month of Aashwayuja\nThis is among the most auspicious days in the Hindu calendar and comes as the finale of the nine-day festival, Navaraatri. this festival of victory is preceded by worship of Saraswati the Goddess of Learning and of Durgaa the Goddess of Strength. Grand processions of all Gods and goddesses are taken out in every town and village on this day, signifying the victory of the forces of righteousness over those of wickedness. Various have been the names of the Goddess of Strength - Durgaa, Mahaa Kaali, Mahishasura Mardini etc., under which that supreme protectress of the good and the holy put to rout, time and again, the demoniac forces and established the supremacy of the righteous.\nThe story of how Mahishaasura Mardini took birth is striking for its unique message. At one stage the Gods felt powerless against the onslaughts of the demoniac forces headed by Mahishaasura. In answer to their prayers for protection, they were ordered to part with a portion of their divine powers to form into a new Goddess. It was thus that Mahishaasura Mardini took on a physical form as the combined might of 33 crores of Gods. The dreaded demon Mahishaasura was slain by Chaamundeshwari after a ceaseless fight of nine days and nights.\nThe lesson of this legend is so beautifully clear. Even the good and the righteous can succeed against the evil forces only when they come together in an organized endeavour. Could there be a more telling message to the present-day disorganized Hindu people - many of them individually good and pious but who have remained incapable of overcoming the forces inimical to them and their culture? Truly has it been said, 'Sanghe shaktih kalau yuge' - Organization holds the key to strength in Kaliyuga. And this is the one single, most important lesson which the Hindu people have to learn today.\nEvery page of our past history bears testimony to the shocking phenomenon of how the Hindus, though immensely superior in culture, wealth, armies, territory and sheer numbers to the foreign aggressors, were defeated and enslaved. And all this tragedy because of their fatal drawback of disorganization. Now, it is high time the Hindus learnt the bitter lesson of the past and realize that \"Organization is life and disorganization is death\".\nThe unique concept of worship of strength in the Hindu tradition is far, far removed from that of accumulation of aggressive power. This strength is termed nigrahaanugraha shakti, i.e., while on the one hand it destroys the wicked, on the other it protects the good and the holy. That is how we find that the rise of Hindu power was never attended by aggression and exploitation of other countries. Probably the only nation on the face of the earth to display this rate restraint has been the Hindu Nation. The world history is replete with the blood curdling stories of nation after nation, whenever they became powerful, embarking upon barbaric invasions of other countries and liquidating whole native races. It was given to the Hindu Nation alone to live up to the famous saying of Jesus Christ, \"I have come to fulfil, and not to destroy\".\nVijaya Dashami is resplendent with many an inspiring episode reflecting the victorious culmination of deeds of valour of our illustrious ancestors. The tradition in southern parts depicts Sri Rama's triumphant return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of banishment entailing endless hardships, dangers and mental anguish like separation from Sita and finally the slaying of Raavana, as coinciding with this day. Symbolic of the victorious occasion, Raama-Leela is observed with great enthusiasm and eclat in the northern parts.\nShree Raama, it is said, worshipped Shami tree before proceeding to Ayodhya. On the same day, the Paandavas too, took out their arms hidden in the Shami tree and revealed their identity after their one year of Ajnaatavaasa (living incognito) after twelve years of exile to a forest. That marked their preparation for the victorious war of Kurukshetra. Invoking these inspiring memories the Shami is worshipped on this day and the holy leaves are distributed by one another as an auspicious omen for the coming year. The following couplet is repeated on the occasion:\nShamee shamayate paapam shamee shatruvinaashinee|\nArjunasya dhanurdhaaree Raamasya priyadarshinee||\n(Shami, the remover of all sins, the destroyer of all enemies bore witness to Arjuna taking his bow and Shree Raama coming back to his near and dear ones.)\nThe Hindu kings and chieftains in the medieval period like Vijayanagar kings and Maratha Peshwas continued this tradition of worshipping the Shami tree and marching in royal procession. Many a time they would sally forth against their foes - Seemollanghana - on this day. Even to this day, amidst the heartrending ruins of Hampi in Karnataka - the site of the once worldfamed Vijayanagar stands the Vijaya Dashami pedestal on which Krishna Devaraya, the celebrated monarch, used to stand and receive the salute of his half-a-million strong army.\nVijaya Dashami is preceded by the Aayudha Pooja on the Mahaanavami day, when not only the weapons are worshipped by the warriors, but the blacksmith, the potter, the carpenter, the tailor, the mason, the typist, the musician, the artist and every type of technical worker - worships his instruments and tools. Buses, trucks and huge machines in factories are all decorated and worshipped It is the Vishwakarma Divas - the National Labor Day of Bharat,. Can there be a more telling way than this of investing sanctity in one's allotted work? The motto `work is worship' is writ large in this ceremony. Any work, Sri Krishna declared, done with a spirit of worship of God leads to the highest spiritual realisation.\nOn this very day the Rashtreeya Swayamsevak Sangh was founded in 1925 in Nagpur for the rejuvenation and reorganization of the age-old Hindu Nation and Hindu Dharma, and true to the tradition of Vijayadashami, the Sangh too has been marching from success to success.\n \n**********\nDushera\nDates : Dusserah, also known as Vijayadashmi, is celebrated on the tenth day, which follows nine days of Durga Pooja, some time in September / October.\nLegend/s : Rama destroyed Ravana on this day and hence it is celebrated\nas the day of victory. Rama invoked the blessings of the divine mother, Goddess Durga, before actually going out to battle. In the Kulu valley in Himachal Pradesh, the hill-folk celebrate Dussehra with a grand mass ceremony wherein village deities are taken out in elaborate processions. The Dussehra of Mysore is also quite famous where caparisoned elephants lead a colourful procession through the gaily-decorated streets of the city.\nPractice : One of the significant Hindu festivals it is celebrated with much joie de vivre in the entire country. Brilliantly decorated tableaux and processions depicting various facets of Rama's life are taken out and scenes from his life enacted out in a popular form of drama called Ramlila. On Vijayadashmi day, colossal effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkarna and son Meghnath are burnt in vast open spaces by Rama (usually the actor who plays Rama in Ramlila). His consort Sita and his brother Lakshmana, who shoots arrows of fire at the effigies, which are stuffed with crackers and firework, accompany him. In burning theDURGA POOJA\nDates : Festivities commence on the first night in the month of Ashwin (September / October). Nine nights are spent in worship and the tenth day is devoted to goddess Durga, who occupies a special position in the Hindu pantheon of gods and goddesses.\nLegend/s : Durga is Shakti, the cosmic energy that animates all beings.\nAccording to a Puranic legend attached to this day, demon Mahishasur vanquished the gods and their king, Indra, who approached the Holy Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They in turn sought the help of the divine mother Durga who, equipped with lethal weapons, riding a ferocious lion, in all her awesome majesty, killed Mahishasur. This day, thus, also celebrates the magnificence and omnipotence of Goddess Durga.\nPractice : Durga pooja is celebrated extensively in North India where beautiful idols of the Mother Goddess are worshipped in elaborate pandals for nine days, and on the tenth day, these are carried out in procession for visarjan (immersion) in a river or pond. The face of the goddess remains covered until the bodhon (unveiling) ritual is performed on Sasthi - the sixth day of the moon. It is Sarat, or autumn, and Nature adorns herself to welcome the advent of the Mother Goddess, Durga. Rabindra Sangeet, dances and various programmes form a part of the celebrations.\nThe Goddess is worshipped as a kumari or young girl, and reveals herself in her true form Mahasaptami (the seventh day of the moon). On Mahastami (eighth day) and Mahanavami (ninth day) the celebrations reach a fever pitch. On Dashami (tenth day) the idol of Durga is immersed in water. The ten-armed goddess dazzles the devotees with her splendour and appearance of fiery valour during her short stay every year.\nIn the older days of zamindars (landed aristocracy) there used to be a Barwari pooja (community pooja) financed by the local zamindar who usually had a huge Nat Mandir or Mandap (out-hall) for pooja purposes, where the entire village congregated. All found employment of some kind - from the Brahmins performing the rites to various artisans of lower castes. Even women had their share of work in the preparations.\nThe time of immersion is a sad occasion and the Devi is repeatedly requested to return to shower bliss on devotees whenever invoked. The festival sees a boom in pre-pooja sales. All trade and commerce gears up to meet the challenge of coping with the frenetic shopping spree. Whole communities of artisans spend their busiest time to ensure the netting of a sizeable income that will sustain them for several months to come. It is a time of activity and employment for all. Artisans build the mammoth pandal (a pandal constructed in 1994 as a replica of the Belur Math, was almost 90 ft high, required 3500 bamboo poles, 5000 planks of wood and over 2000 metres of cloth and cost Rs 5 lakh.). Weavers are kept busy, as are the craftsmen who model the exquisitely chiseled features and limbs of each figure in the pooja tableau from clay; electricians who ingeniously devise the decorative illuminations (everything of topical interest from the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park to World Cup football, to nuclear testing is portrayed); the dhaakis whose unsurpassed virtuosity finds expression in frenzied pounding on huge barrel-shaped drums, invoking an almost hypnotic rapture. Everybody is involved, and there is profit and fun for all.\nIt is a time of prosperity also for publishing houses - the pooja Editions capitalize on the festive mood of the reading public. From big established dailies to little magazines, all thrive this season. There is also a big demand for audiocassettes, which are Pooja Hits. Today pooja pandals seem to sprout like mushrooms - practically one every 100 yards. Apart from loudspeakers blaring forth pop and Hindi film music and other forms of entertainment (there are also cultural programmes), there is a fierce competition among organisers to compete with and outdo each other in the extravagant and lavish show they put up. pooja committees are known to spend in lakhs on attractive pandal decor. Galaxies of twinkling lights make Technicolor pageants out of the dingiest lanes.\nThe para poojas become grander still each year, as the poojas are an occasion people look forward to. Money is not a constraint, as people donate generously. poojas are a convenient occasion for fun-loving denizens to forget their cares and let their hair down. Multitudes throng the streets - people from all communities are agog - shopping, gorging themselves or gazing on Durga who is a shimmering vision - power personified - tresses streaming, a flickering tongue of flame. Durga Pooja is celebrated with more fervour by Bengalis than any other community in India. With the Bengali, Bijoya evokes sentiment. It is a time of renewal of ties of kinship with friends and relatives. Thus Kolakuli echoes the Id embrace among Muslims. Durga Pooja is a festival Bengalis celebrate without religious inhibition. The nine days of pooja are synonymous with the Navratras and the tenth day is celebrated as Vijayadashmi in some parts of India.\nDussehra means the Tenth Day, being the 10th day of the bright half of Ashvin. This day is also known as Vijayadashmi, or Victory Tenth, because of the Victory of Rama over Ravana.\nIn North India it is Ram Lila and consists of plays, recitations and music that recall the life of the legendary hero, Ram. In Delhi, many amateur troupes perform plays based on this epic story. On the tenth day, an elaborate procession leads to the Ram Lila grounds where immense cracker-stuffed effigies of the demon Ravana and his brother and son explode to the cheers of thousands of spectators.\nIn Kulu, the celebrations have a different flavor. Against the backdrop of snow-covered mountains, villages dressed in their colorful best, assemble to form procession of local deities while pipes and drums make music.\nThis festival is celebrated to mark the homecoming of Lord Rama. The Ramlila � an enactment of the life of Lord Rama, is held nine days before Dussehra. On the tenth day, larger than life effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkarna and son Meghnath filled with fire crackers are set alight to celebrate the victory of good over evil.In Himachal Pradesh, a weel long fair at Kullu is a part of Dussehra celebrations. From the little temples in the hills, deties are brought in processin to the Kullu Maidan with lot of gaity, music and colour. The presiding deity is Lord Raghunathji.\n**********\n \nSharad Purnima\nThis is a harvest festival when Laxmi, the Goddess of Prosperity, visits all homes to bring fortune and good luck to all. Kojagiri, the special night, is celebrated with ice-cold, saffron-flavoured sweet milk, shared in the cool midnight. The full moon night is called Navanna Purnima or the moonlit night of new food. The newly harvested rice is offered to the gods and lamps are lit before the full moon.\n \n \nKarva Chouth\nDates : Karva Chouth falls about nine days before Diwali on the Kartik ki Chouth (fourth day of the waning moon or the dark fortnight) some time in October or November.\nPractice : It is the most important fast observed by the women of North India. A woman keeps such a fast for the wellbeing of her husband, who becomes her protector after she leaves her parents home. In the past, a widow was regarded as a burden to the house and was burned on the funeral pyre of her husband. This was glorified by attributing great virtue to the woman concerned, and she was known as a Sati. Hence, it was in her best interest that her husband remains alive.\nEarlier, the elders of the family were also keen to discipline the young wife, who was sometimes married off at the tender age of seven or eight years. Great care was taken on the day of this fast to ensure that she took neither food nor water unwittingly. An older woman would accompany the young girl even to the bathroom, or the toilet, to ensure that she did not drink any water.\nThe fast of Karva Chouth is a very tough fast to observe, as it starts before sunrise and ends after worshipping the moon, which rises at night. Today, this fast is kept even in modern homes, as a symbol of a woman's love for her husband.\nThe goddess known as Gaur Mata, who is none other than Parvati, is worshipped. Women celebrate by buying bangles and applying henna patterns on their hands. New brides wear their bridal outfits and others wear outfits woven with gold. Once the moon rises, the women see its reflection in a thaali of water, after which they do a pooja for their husband's safety and long life, and finally break their fast, only after feeding their husbands.\nKarva Chauth is a fast undertaken by married Hindu women who offer prayers seeking the welfare, prosperity, well-being, and longevity of their husbands. Karva Chauth falls about nine days before diwali on the Kartik ki Chauth some time in October or November. It is the most important fast observed by the women of North India. A woman keeps such a fast for the well-being of her husband, who becomes her protector after she leaves her parents home. Her husband provides her with food, shelter, clothing, respectability, comfort and happiness.\nThis is indeed a very tough fast to observe as it starts before sunrise and ends after worshipping the moon, which usually rises at about 8.45 p.m. No food or water is to be taken after 4 a.m. or after sunrise. Nowadays, this fast is kept even in modern educated homes, becoming a symbol of the sentiment that a woman has for her husband.\n \nKali: The Dark Mother\nThe fearful goddess with a heart of a mother\nThe love between the Divine Mother and her human children is a unique relationship. Kali, the Dark Mother is one such deity with whom devotees have a very loving and intimate bond, in spite of her fearful appearance. In this relationship, the worshipper becomes a child and Kali assumes the form of the ever-caring mother.\n\"O Mother, even a dullard becomes a poet who meditates upon thee raimented with space, three-eyed, creatrix of the three worlds, whose waist is beautiful with a girdle made of numbers of dead men's arms...\" (From a Karpuradistotra hymn, translated from Sanskrit by Sir John Woodroffe)\nWho is Kali?\nKali is the fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess Durga . She assumed the form of a powerful goddess and became popular with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya, a text of the 5th - 6th century AD. Here she is depicted as having born from the brow of Goddess Durga during one of her battles with the evil forces. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved in the killing spree that she got carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment, and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common image of Kali shows her in her mêlée mood, standing with one foot on Shiva's chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out.\nThe Fearful Symmetry\nKali is represented with perhaps the fiercest features amongst all the world's deities. She has four arms, with a sword in one hand and the head of a demon in another. The other two hands bless her worshippers, and say, \"fear not\"! She has two dead heads for her earrings, a string of skulls as necklace, and a girdle made of human hands as her clothing. Her tongue protrudes from her mouth, her eyes are red, and her face and breasts are sullied with blood. She stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the chest of her husband, Shiva.\nAwesome Symbols!\nKali's fierce form is strewed with awesome symbols. Her black complexion symbolizes her all-embracing and transcendental nature. Says the Mahanirvana Tantra : \"Just as all colors disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her\". Her nudity is primeval, fundamental, and transparent like Nature � the earth, sea, and sky. Kali is free from the illusory covering, for she is beyond the all maya or \"false consciousness.\" Kali's garland of fifty human heads that stands for the fifty letters in the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes infinite knowledge.\nHer girdle of severed human hands signifies work and liberation from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth show her inner purity, and her red lolling tongue indicates her omnivorous nature � \"her indiscriminate enjoyment of all the world's 'flavors'.\" Her sword is the destroyer of false consciousness and the eight bonds that bind us.\nHer three eyes represent past, present, and future, � the three modes of time � an attribute that lies in the very name Kali ('Kala' in Sanskrit means time ). The eminent translator of Tantrik texts, Sir John Woodroffe in Garland of Letters , writes, \"Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness.\"\nKali's proximity to cremation grounds where the five elements or \"Pancha Mahabhuta\" come together, and all worldly attachments are absolved, again point to the cycle of birth and death. The reclined Shiva lying prostrate under the feet of Kali suggests that without the power of Kali (Shakti), Shiva is inert.\nForms, Temples, and Devotees\nKali's guises and names are diverse. Shyama, Adya Ma, Tara Ma and Dakshina Kalika, Chamundi are popular forms. Then there is Bhadra Kali, who is gentle, Shyamashana Kali, who lives only in the cremation ground, and so on. The most notable Kali temples are in Eastern India � Dakshineshwar and Kalighat in Kolkata (Calcutta) and Kamakhya in Assam, a seat of tantrik practices. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Swami Vivekananda , Vamakhyapa, and Ramprasad are some of the legendary devotees of Kali. One thing was common to these saints � all of them loved the goddess as intimately as they loved their own mother.\n\"My child, you need not know much in order to please Me.\nOnly Love Me dearly.\nSpeak to me, as you would talk to your mother,\nif she had taken you in her arms.\"\n \n**********\nDhanteras\nTraditionally, the festival of lights, Diwali is celebrated over a period of five days. Each one of the five days has its unique connotation, ceremonies and legends associated.\nDhanteras is celebrated on the thirteenth day of the month of Ashwin i.e. two days before Diwali.\nDhanteras is celebrated to seek blessings of Goddess Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. In the amalgamation of Dhan teras 'Dhan' means wealth. People and specially the rich community celebrate Dhan teras festival widely.\nDhanteras is regarded as an auspicious occasion to buy some gold or silver articles. Many people shop for new utensils for their household.\nDhanteras festival is ideal time for setting up businesses, commencing new projects, housewarming, deciding wedding dates, buying cars and jewellery.\nToday, exchange of Dhanteras gifts is extremely popular. Special gifts for Dhanteras flood the markets.\nThe legend behind Dhanteras is centred on the sixteen-year-old son of King Hima. As per his horoscope he was fated to breathe his last on the fourth day of his marriage owing to snakebite. On the appointed day his wife illuminated the house with numerous lamps and placed a heap of gold and silver coins and ornaments in front of their bedroom. All through the night she sang songs and told stories.\nThe lights of the lamps, and the dazzle of the coins and ornaments blinded the god of death, Yam devta, who had come as a serpent. He spent the entire night in the heap listening to the sweet sounding songs before leaving peacefully the next morning. Thus, the wife succeeded in saving the life of her husband. This explains, why the Dhan teras festival is also referred to as \"Yamadeepdaan\".\n**********\nDeepavali\nAASHWAYUJA KRISHNA CHATURDASHI TO KAARTIKA SHUKLA DWITEEYAA\nThe 14th Day of the dark half of Aashwayuja to the 2nd day of bright half of Kaartik\nIf there is one occasion which is all joy and all jubilation for one and all - the young and the old, men and women - for the entire Hindu world, it is Deepaavali - the Festival of Lights. Even the humblest of huts will be lighted by a row of earthern lamps. Crackers resound and light up the earth and the sky. The faces of boys and girls flow with a rare charm in their dazzling hues and colors. Illumination - Deepotsavas - in temples and all sacred places of worship and one the banks of rivers symbolize the scattering of spiritual radiance all round from these holy centres. The radiant sight of everybody adorned with new and bright clothes, especially ladies decorated with the best of ornaments, captures the social mood at its happiest.\nAnd all this illumination and fireworks, joy and festivity, is to signify the victory of divine forces over those of wickedness.\nNarakaasura was a demon king ruling over Praagjyotishapura (the present-day Assam). By virtue of his powers and boons secured from God, he became all-conquering. Power made him swollen-headed and he became a menace to the good and the holy men and even the Gods. The Gods headed by Devendra implored Sri Krishna who was at Dwaaraka (in the present-day Gujarat) to come to their rescue. Sri Krishna responded. He marched from the western end of the country to its eastern end, Praagjyotishapura, destroyed the huge army which opposed him finally beheaded Narakaasura himself. The populace was freed from the oppressive tyranny and all heaved a sigh of relief. The 16,000 women kept in captivity by the demon king were freed. With a view to removing any stigma on them and according social dignity, Sri Krishna gave all of them the status of his wives. After the slaying of Narakaasura Sri Krishna bathed himself smearing his body with oil in the early morning of Chaturdashi. Hence the invigorating vogue of taking an early morning `oil-bath' on that day.\nMother Earth, whose son Narakaasura was, requested Sri Krishna that the day be celebrated as one of jubilation. Sri Krishna granted the request and since then the tradition has continued. Mother Earth reconciled herself to the loss of her son and knowing as she did that the Lord had punished her son for the sake of the welfare of the world, she set a glowing example of how one has to brush aside one's personal joys and sorrows in the interest of society. It is this deliverance of the people from the clutches of the asuras that fill the people with joy.\nThen follows Amaavaasya, the new moon day, auspicious for offering prayers and gratitude to the bygone ancestors of the family and invoking their memories and blessings for treading the path of right conduct. This is also the sacred occasion for the worship of Mahaa Lakshmi, the goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. The business community open their New Year's account with Her worship. This reminds us of the famous saying of the sage Vyaasa, 'dharmaadarthashcha kaamashcha...' - it is through right conduct that wealth and fulfilment of desires also accrue.\nIn northern parts of Bharat, Deepaavali is associated with the return of Sri Rama to Ayodhya after vanquishing Raavana. The people of Ayodhya, overwhelmed with joy, welcomed Rama through jubilation and illumination of the entire capital. Well has it been said that while Sri Rama unified the north and south of our country, Sri Krishna unified the west and the east. Sri Rama and Sri Krishna together therefore symbolize the grand unity of our motherland.\nThe third day, i.e., the first day of Kaartik, is named Balipratipada, after the demon king Bali, the ruler of Paataala (the netherworld), who had extended his kingdom over the earth also. On the day, Sri Vishnnu, taking the form of a dwarfish Brahmin by name Vaamana, approached Bali, for a boon of space equal to his three steps. Bali, known for his charity, gladly granted the boon. Vaamana now grew into a gigantic form; with one step he covered the entire earth, with the second he covered the outer sky, and asked Bali where he should keep his third step. Bali, left with no other choice, showed his own head. Sri Vishnu placed his foot on Bali's head and pushed him down to the netherworld, the rightful territory of Bali's reign. However, Bali prayed to the Lord that he might be permitted to visit the earth once a year. Now it was the turn of Vishnu to grant the boon. And the people too offer their and respect to him on this day.\nThe annual visit of Bali is celebrated in Kerala as Onam. It is the most popular festival for Kerala where every Hindu home receives him with floral decorations and lights and festoons adorn all public places. Onam, however, falls on the 16th day of Aavani (Sowramaana) in september.\nThe pratipada is also the day for Govardhana Pooja and Anna Koota (heap of grains), the former signifying the Govardhana episode in Sri Krishna's life and the latter conveying affluence and prosperity.\nThe fourth and final day is Yama Dwiteeya, also called Bahu beej. It is a most touching moment for the family members when even distant brothers reach their sisters to strengthen that holy tie. The sister applies tilak and waves aarati to her brother, and the brother offers loving presents to the sister.\nTo the Jains, Deepaavali has an added significance to the great event of Mahaaveera attaining the Eternal Bliss of Nirvaana. The passing into Eternity on the same Amaavaasya of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, that leonine sanyasin who was one of the first to light the torch of Hindu Renaissance during the last century, and of Swami Ramatirtha who carried the fragrance of the spiritual message of Hindu Dharma to the western world, have brought the national-cum-spiritual tradition of Deepaavali right up to modern times.\nHistory:\nDiwali is a five day Hindu festival which occurs on the fifteenth day of Kartika. During this time, homes are thoroughly cleaned and windows are opened to welcome Laksmi, goddess of wealth. Candles and lamps are lit as a greeting to Laksmi. Gifts are exchanged and festive meals are prepared during Diwali. Diwali, being the festival of lights, thousands of lamps are lit in and outside every home on the day. Lamp or �Deep� is the symbol of knowledge. Lighting the lamp of knowledge within us means to understand and reflect upon the significant purpose of each of the five days of festivities and to bring those thoughts in to our day to day lives. \nThe first day of Diwali:\nThe first day of Diwali is called Dhanvantari Triodasi or Dhanwantari Triodasi also called Dhan Theras .It is in fact the thirteenth lunar day of Krishna Paksh (the dark forthnight) of the month of Kartik. On this day, Lord Dhanwantari came out of the ocean with Ayurvedic medicine (medicine which promotes healthy long life) for mankind. This day marks the beginning of Diwali celebrations. On this day at sunset,Hindus should bathe and offer a lighted deeya with Prasad (sweets offered at worship time) to Yama Raj (the Lord of Death) and pray for protection from untimely death. This offering should be made near a Tulsie tree (the Holy Basil) or any other sacred tree that one might have in their yard. If there is no sacred tree, a clean place in the front yard will suffice.\nThe second day of Diwali:\nThe second day of Diwali is called Narak Chaturdasi. It is the fourteenth lunar day (thithi) of the dark forthnight of the month of Kartik and the eve of Diwali. On this day Lord Krishna destroyed the demon Narakasur and made the world free from fear. On this day, we should massage our bodies with oil to relieve it of tiredness, bathe and rest so that we can celebrate Diwali with vigour and devotion.\nOn this night, Yama Deeya should NOT be lit. The Shastras (Laws of Dharma) declares that Yama Deeya should be offered on Triodasi night with Prasad. The misconception that Yama Deeya should be offered on the night before Diwali came about some years ago when the fourteenth lunar day (Chaturdasi) was of a very short duration and caused Triodasi to extend into the night before Diwali. Some people mistook it to mean that because Yama Deeya was lit on that night, that it should always be lit on the night before Diwali.\nThis is absolutely not true. It is advisable that one consults with a learned Pandit or Hindu Astrologer for proper guidance on this matter. \nThe third day of Diwali.\nActual Diwali.......\nThis is the day when worship unto Mother Lakshmi is performed. Hindus cleanse themselves and join with their families and their Pandit (priest) and they worship the divine Goddess Lakshmi to achieve the blessings of wealth and prosperity, the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness.\nThe fourth day of Diwali.\nOn this day, Goverdhan Pooja is performed. Many thousands of years ago, Lord Krishna caused the people of Vraja to perform Goverdhan Pooja. From then on, every year Hindus worship Goverdhan to honour that first Pooja done by the people of Vraja. It is written in the Ramayan that when the bridge was being built by the Vanar army, Hanuman (a divine loyal servant of Lord Rama possessing enormous strength) was bringing a mountain as material to help with the construction of the bridge. The call was given that enough materials was already obtained. Hanuman placed the mountain down before He could have reached the construction site. Due to lack of time, He could not have returned the mountain to its original place. The deity presiding over this mountain spoke to Hanuman asking of His reason for leaving the mountain there. Hanuman replied that the mountain should remain there until the age of Dwapar when Lord Rama incarnates as Lord Krishna in the form of man. He, Lord Krishna will shower His grace on the mountain and will instruct that the mountain be worshiped not only in that age but but in ages to come. This deity whom Hanuman spoke to was none other than Goverdhan (an incarnation of Lord Krishna),who manifested Himself in the form of the mountain. To fulfill this decree, Goverdhan Pooja was performed and is continued to be performed today.\nThe fifth day of Diwali.\nThe fifth day of the diwali is called Bhratri Dooj. This is the day after Goverdhan Pooja is performed and normally two days after Diwali day. It is a day dedicated to sisters. We have heard about Raksha Bandhan (brothers day). Well this is sisters day. Many moons ago,in the Vedic era, Yama (Yamraj, the Lord of death) visited His sister Yamuna on this day. He gave his sister a Vardhan (a boon) that whosoever visits her on this day shall be liberated from all sins. They will achieve Moksha or final emancipation.\nFrom then on, brothers visit their sisters on this day to enquire of their welfare.\nThis day marks the end of the five days of Diwali celebrations.\nThis is also known as Bhai fota among Bengalis. Bhai fota is an event especially among Bengalis when the sister prays for her brother's safety, success and well being. \nThe Origin of Diwali:\nHindu Mythology:\nAccording to Ramayana, Diwali commemorates the return of Ram, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the eldest son of King Dasharath of Ayodhya, from his 14-year exile with Sita and Lakshman after killing the Ravan, a demon king. The people of Ayodhya illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and fireworks to celebration of the return of their king.\nIn rural areas, Diwali signifies Harvest Festival. Diwali which occurs at the end of a cropping season has along with the above custom, a few others that reinforce the hypothesis of its having originated as a harvest. Every harvest normally spelt prosperity. The celebration was first started in India by farmers after they reaped their harvests. They celebrated with joy and offered praises to God for granting them a good crop.\nDuring the reign of Emperor Prithu, there was a worldwide famine. He ordered that all available cultivatable lands be ploughed.When the rains came, the land became very fertile and grains were planted. The harvest provided food not only to feed all of India, but for all civilisation. This harvest was close to Diwali time and was a good reason to celebrate Diwali with great joy and merriment by a wider community.\nWhen Lord Krishna destroyed Narakasur on the day before Diwali, the news of it travelled very rapidly throught the land.It gave people who were already in a joyful mood, another reason for celebrating Diwali with greater pride and elaboration.\nIn the Adi Parva of the Mahabarat , the Pandavas returned from the forest during Diwali time. Once more, the celebrations extended beyond the boundaries of India to wherever Hindus lived.\nIt is on the same day of Amavasya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, that leonine sanyasin who was one of the first to light the torch of Hindu Renaissance during the last century, passed into Eternity. Swami Ramatirtha who carried the fragrance of the spiritual message of Hindu Dharma to the western world, also passed into eternity. The lights kindled on this day also mark the attempt of their followers to immortalize the sacred memories of those great men who lived to brighten the lives of millions of their fellow beings. The passage of these great men have indeed brought the national-cum-spiritual tradition of Deepavali right up to modern times. \nSikh Festival Diwali\nIn Sikh perspective, Diwali is celebrated as the return of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji from the captivity of the city, Gwalior. History states two commonly known reasons for his imprisonment. One is that the Muslim Raja approached Guru Hargobind Ji upon his entering Gwalior and told the Guru to denounce his Sikh religion and to join the Muslim faith. With the intention of utilizing the Guru�s great strength and fearlessness needed in battles. Being outraged by this request, the Guru rejected his proposition. In retaliation he captured the Guru and held him against his will. But eventually the Guru managed to free himself of this unjust imprisonment and returned to his beloved town of Amritsar. To commemorate his undying love for Sikhism, the townspeople lit the way to, Harmandhir Sahib (referred to as the Golden Temple), in his honour. For more about Diwali for Sikhs Click Here .\nJain Festival Diwali:\nAmong the Jain festivals, Diwali is one of the most important one. For on this occasion we celebrate the Nirvana of Lord Mahavira who established the dharma as we follow it. Lord Mahavira was born as Vardhamana on Chaitra Shukla 13 in the Nata clan at Khattiya-kundapura, near Vaishali. He obtained Kevala Gyana on Vishakha Shukla 10 at the Jambhraka village on the banks of Rijukula river at the age of 42. He initiated his shaashan (Jaina-shashana) on Shravana KrashNa 1 at his first assembly at Rajgrah. After having preached the dharma for 30 years, he attained Nirvana at Pava, at the age of 71 years and 6 and half months. For more about Diwali for Jains Click Here .\nCelebration:\nIn Punjab, the day following Diwali is known as tikka when sisters make a paste with saffron and rice and place an auspicious mark on their brother�s foreheads as a symbolic gesture to ward off all harm. \nIn North India on the day of the Diwali the children emerge, scrubbed clean to get into their festive attire, and light up little oil lamps, candles and agarbathis the wherewithal for setting alight crackers and sparklers. \nLikewise, on the second day of the month of Kartik, the people of Maharashtra exchange gifts. In Maharashtra, it is the thirteenth day of Ashwin, the trayodasi, that is observed as a festival commemorating a young prince whom Yama, the God of Death, had claimed four days after his marriage. Filled, however, with compassion for the luckless youth, the legend goes, Yama promised that those who observed the day would be spared untimely death�and so the lamps that are lit to mark the festival are placed facing south, unlike on other festive days, because south is the direction mythologically assigned to Yama. \nFor the Bengalis, it is the time to worship Goddess Kali , yet another form of Durga, the divine embodiment of supreme energy. KALI is the Goddess who takes away darkness. She cuts down all impurities, consumes all iniquities, purifies Her devotees with the sincerity of Her Love.\nTradition:\nDiwali is supposed to be a corruption of the word Deepavali, the literal meaning of which in Sanskrit is �a row of lamps.� Filling little clay lamps with oil and wick and lighting them in rows all over the house is a tradition that is popular in most regions of the country. In the north, most communities observe the custom of lighting lamps. However, in the south, the custom of lighting baked earthen lamps is not so much part of this festival as it is of the Karthikai celebrations a fortnight later. The lights signify a welcome to prosperity in the form of Lakshmi, and the fireworks are supposed to scare away evil spirits. \nFor the grown-ups, there is also a custom of indulging in gambling during Diwali. It is all in fun, though, in a spirit of light-hearted revelry, and merrymaking. \nThe children can be seen bursting fire crackers and lighting candles or earthen lamps. This is a time of generously exchanging sweets with neighbors and friends. Puffed rice and sugar candy are the favorite fares.\nDiwali is a time for shopping, whether for gifts or for adding durable items to one�s own household. The market soars�everything from saffron to silver and spices to silks. Yet, symbolic purchases are to be made as part of tradition during Diwali.\nWhatever may be the fables and legends behind the celebrations of Diwali, all people in India exchange sweets, wear new clothes and buy jewellery at this festive time. Card parties are held in many homes. Diwali has become commercialised as the biggest annual consumer spree because every family shops for sweets, gifts and fireworks. However, in all this frenzy of shopping and eating, the steady, burning lamp is a constant symbol of an illuminated mind .\nThe Diwali Festival lasts for five days. They are known as Dhantrayodashi, Narakchaturdashi, Laxmipujan (New Moon Day), Bali Pratipada, and Bhaubij.\nOn Dhantrayodashi (\"Dhan\" = wealth; \"Trayodashi\" = thirteenth Day) people clean the portion in front of the house and with powders of different colours make beautiful designs on the ground called \"rangoli\". The women prepare sweet and pungent foods. Three oil lamps are lit and Divali is on (\"line of lit lamps\").\nLord Ram 's Return\nOn this day, Lord Ram (the incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the treta Yug) returned to his capital Ayodhya after the exile of fourteen years. Thousands of Years have passed by, and yet so ideal is the kingdom of Ram (Ram Rajya) that it is remembered to this day. Ravan has been eliminated along with most of his rakshasas - by Lord Ram and his brother Lakshman, and their army of monkeys. Sita has been returned to her husband Ram, and they now make their way to Ayodhya in triumph and glory.\nThe festival of lights is one of the most beautiful of Indian festivals. It comes 21 days after Dussehra and celebrates the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after his 14 year exile. Homes are decorated, sweets are distributed by everyone and thousands of lamps lit in houses all over the country making it a night of enchantment. Doorways are hung with Torans (a decorative garland for the door) of mango leaves and marigolds. Rangolis (designs on floor) are dawn with different coloured powders to welcome guests. Worship of Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and fireworks and festivities are an essential part of the occasion.\n**********\n \nGovardhan Puja\nGovardhan Puja is an occasion to worship Lord Krishna and Govardhan Parbat or Mount Govardhan, near Mathura.\nThe fourth day of Diwali celebrations is reserved for Govardhan Puja.\nGoverdhan Puja is festival celebrated in commemoration of the lifting of Mount Govardhan by Krishna.\nThe day after Diwali is celebrated as Govadhan Puja when Govardhan Parbat or Mount Govardhan, near Mathura, is worshipped.\nThe devotees of Lord Krishna keep awake the whole night and cook as many as fifty-six or one hundred and eight different types of dishes for the bhog (the offering of food) to Krishna. This sacred ceremony is referred to as ankut i.e. a mountain of food. After being offered to the lord, the delicacies are distributed as prasad to devotees.\nAccording to Vishnu-Puran, the people of Gokul commemorated a festival in honour of Lord Indra and worshipped him after the end of monsoon season every year. In his young years Lord Krishna once prohibited the people from offering prayers to Lord Indra. Angered Lord Indra sent a torrent to sink Gokul. Lord Krishna lifted the mountain and held it as an umbrella for the people and saved them.\n \n**********\nBhaiyya dooj\nThe festival of brother and sister Bhaiyya Dooj is celebrated on the 2nd day of the Shukla Paksha of the Caitra Month, and the 2nd day of Shukla Paksha of the Kartik Month.\nOn this day before afternoon itself worship is performed. Those women who cannot move out of their homes they near the door of the house make two small idols of ruddle which indicate brother and sister in law and worship the idols with rice (parched), a mixture of lime and turmeric (roli) and offer food to the idols.\nAfter this, the door itself is worshipped and outside just below the doorsteps, at the entrance and altar (Square shaped) of Gobar (cow dung) is made. On the altar at every cornet there is one idol of cow dung placed and in between one idol is placed, Domestic commodities such as Hearth, grind mill, the pots are made of cow dung are decorated and placed every where around.\nAt the doorstep the idol of brother and sister-in-law are made. Firstly parched grains, mixture of lime and turmeric, incense offerings are offered and the altar is worshipped and after that the idols kept at the doorstep one worshipped and then a story is told, After the story is over the women with the pestle say. Who ever are jealous of my brother and are with intention to do bad, I will destroy his fall with this pestle.\nBhai Dooj:\nAfter the high voltage celebrations of the festival of lights and fire-crackers, sisters all over India get ready for 'Bhai Dooj' - when sisters ceremonize their love by putting an auspicious tilak or a vermilion mark on the forehead of their brothers and perform an aarti of him by showing him the light of the holy flame as a mark of love and protection from evil forces. Sisters are lavished with gifts, goodies and blessings from their brothers. \nBhai Dooj or Bhau Beej as it is known, is the fifth day of the Diwali festival, which falls on a new moon night. The name 'Dooj' means the second day after the new moon, the day of the festival, and 'Bhai' means brother. This day is special amongst brothers and sisters and is observed as a symbol of love and affection. The bond between them is strengthened on this day.\nTraditionally the sister applies tilak (red vermilion) on her brother's forehead and performs on aarti (a Puja) of him, wishing him a long and successful life. In return, the brother blesses his sister and offers her sweets and gifts. \nThis day is also known as Yama Dwiteeya as it is believed that on this day Yama Raj, the God of Death, visited Yami, his sister. She applied the tilak on his forehead and the spent happy moments together and exchanged special gifts as a token of love. Yama Raj then announced that anyone who received a tilak from his sister on this day would never be thrown. Hence till this day, the practice continues and brothers visit their sisters and the bond of love is strengthened.\nLike all other Hindu festivals, Bhai Dooj too has got a lot to do with family ties and social attachments. It serves as a good time, especially for a married girl, to get together with her own family, and share the post-Diwali glee. \nMyths & Legends:\nBhai Dooj is also called 'Yama Dwiteeya' as it's believed that on this day, Yamaraj, the Lord of Death and the Custodian of Hell, visits his sister Yami, who puts the auspicious mark on his forehead and prays for his well being. So it's held that anyone who receives a tilak from his sister on this day would never be hurled into hell. \nAccording to one legend, on this day, Lord Krishna, after slaying the Narakasura demon, goes to his sister Subhadra who welcomes him the lamp, flowers and sweets, and puts the holy protective spot on her brother's forehead. \nYet another story behind the origin of Bhai Dooj says that when Mahavir, the founder of Jainism, attained nirvana, his brother King Nandivardhan was distressed because he missed him and was comforted by his sister Sudarshana. Since then, women have been revered during Bhai Dooj.\n \n**********\nGuru Nanak Jayanti\nGuru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh faith, was born in the month of Kartik (October/November), and his birthday is known as Guru Nanak Jayanti. He was born in 1469 A.D. at Tolevandi some 30 miles from Lahore. The anniversaries of Sikh Guru's are known as Gurpurabs (festivals) and are celebrated with devotion and dedication.\nGurPurabs mark the culmination of Prabhat Pheris, the early morning procession that start from the gurdwaras (Sikh temples) and then go around localities singing 'shabads' (hymns). The celebrations also include the three-day Akhand path, during which the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib is read continuously, from beginning to end without a break. On the day of the festival, the Granth Sahib is also carried in a procession on a float, decorated with flowers, throughout a village or city. Five armed guards, who represent the Panj Pyares, head the procession carrying Nishan Sahibs (the Sikh flag). Local bands playing religious music form a special part of the procession.\n \n**********\nChristmas\nThe birth of Jesus is celebrated with great rejoicing all over the world on December 25th. The feast is preceded by a period of about one month (four Sundays) known as Advent. Jesus is the long awaited Savior.\nThe first part of the Bible, or Old Testament, presents the history of humanity ever since the fall of Adam and Eve as a long expectation.\nMankind in different degrees of awareness has been looking forward to the coming of the Liberator. Sin with all its consequences seems to be ever frustrating the efforts of men. Salvation seems to be beyond their reach. But the longing persists even after a thousand failures. This longing is the theme of Advent, Christmas its fulfillment. The Savior, the desired of the nations is born.\nThis festival is celebrated by the Christians and non- Christians alike with special enthusiasm. All the major Indian cities wear a festive look. Shops and bazaars are decorated for the occasion and offer attractive bargains. Carol singing, get- togethers and the exchanging of gifts enhance the Christmas spirit. Chrismas parties launch off celebrations for the New Year, thus retaining the festive mood for at least a week.\n**********",
"Navratri.txt\nNavratri\nNavaratri is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga. The word Navaratri means 'nine nights' in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Devi are worshipped. The tenth day is commonly referred to as Vijayadashami or \"Dussehra\" (also spelled Dasera). Navaratri is an important major festival and is celebrated all over India and Nepal. Diwali the festival of lights is celebrated twenty days after Dasera. Though there are in total five types of Navaratri that come in a year, Sharad Navaratri is the most popular one. Hence, the term Navaratri is being used for Sharada Navaratri here. \n\nSignificance\n\nNavratri garba at Ambaji temple\nThe beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn are considered to be important junctions of climatic and solar influences. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Divine Mother Durga. The dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar. on which each women follow tradition to wear three colours of dress on Navaratri.\n\nNavaratri represents a celebration of the Goddess Amba, (the Power).\n\nNavaratri or Navadurga Parva happens to be the most auspicious and unique period of devotional sadhanas and worship of Shakti (the sublime, ultimate, absolute creative energy) of the Divine conceptualized as the Mother Goddess-Durga, whose worship dates back to prehistoric times before the dawn of the Vedic age.\n\nA whole chapter in the tenth mandal of the Rigveda addresses the devotional sadhanas of Shakti. The \"Devi Sukta\" and \"Isha Sukta\" of the Rigveda and \"Ratri Sukta\" of the Samveda similarly sing paeans of praise of sadhanas of Shakti. In fact, before the beginning of the legendary war between the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata – a foundational Sanskrit epic in the Hindu tradition – Lord Krishna worshipped Durga, the Goddess of Shakti, for the victory of the Pandvas.\n\nLord Brahma is cited in the Markandey Purana as mentioning to Rishi Markandey that the first incarnation of Shakti was as Shailputri. Further incarnations of the Divine Mother are: Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri in that order. These nine manifestations of Shakti, are worshipped as \"Nava-Durga\". The fifth chapter of the Rudra Samhita of Shiva Purana also vividly describes the various Divine Emanations of Durga.\n\nSince the Vedic Age of the Rishies, the devotional practices recommended during Navaratri are primarily those of Gayatri Anushthana.\n\nIn the Vedic Age of the Indian Culture, the religious philosophy and devotional practices were focused towards true knowledge and ultimate realization of the supreme power of Gayatri (Bram Shakti). The Vedas were the basis of all streams of spirituality and science those days. Gayatri has been the source of the divine powers of the gods and goddesses in the heavens and their angelic manifestations and incarnations. Gayatri sadhana was also paramount in the higher level spiritual endeavors of the yogis and tapaswis. Gayatri Mantra was the core-focus of daily practice of sandhya-vandan (meditation and devotional worship) for everyone. As guided by the rishis, specific sadhanas and upasanas of the Gayatri Mantra were sincerely practiced during the festival period of Navaratri by every aspirant of spiritual enlightenment.This is mostly celebrated in ashoj or karthik.\n\nCelebrations \n\nNavratri commences on the first day (pratipada) of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashwin. The festival is celebrated for nine nights once every year during the beginning of October, although as the dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar, the festival may be held for a day more or a day less.\n\nTraditions of Navaratri\n\nNavaratri is celebrated five times a year. They are Vasanta Navaratri, Ashadha Navaratri, the Sharad Navaratri, the Paush/Magha Navaratri and the Magha Navaratri. Of these, the Sharad Navaratri of the month of Puratashi and the Vasanta Navaratri of the Vasanta kala are the most important. The other two are observed by shaktas only.\n\n# Vasanta Navaratri: Vasanta Navaratri, it's nine days are dedicated to the nine forms of Shakti (Mother Goddess) in the month of Chaitra (March–April) and is observed during the Shukla Paksha (waxing phase of moon) of Chaitra. The beginning of this Navaratri also marks the start of the new year as per the Hindu mythological lunar calendar (Vikrami Samvat).\n# Ashad Navaratri : Ashad Navaratri, also referred to as Gupta, Gayatri or Shakambhari Navaratri, is nine days dedicated to the nine forms of Shakti (Mother Goddess) in the month of Ashadha (June–July). It is observed during the Ashadha Shukla Paksha (waxing phase of moon). This is mostly observed by shaktas only\n# Sharad Navaratri: This is the most important of the Navaratris. It is simply called Maha Navaratri (the Great Navaratri) and is celebrated in the 'pratipada' (first day) of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashvin. Also known as Sharad Navaratri, as it is celebrated during Sharad (beginning of winter, September–October).\n# Pausha Navaratri: Paush Navaratri is observed during the Pausha Shukla Paksha, the waxing phase of moon, in the month of December–January. \n# Magha Navaratri: The Magha Navaratri is also a kind of Gupta Navaratri. The waxing phase of moon in January–February marks the beginning of Magha Navaratri.\n\nVasanta Navaratri\n\nThis is celebrated during Vasanta Rhitu (beginning of spring) (March – April). This is also known as Chaitra navarathri as it falls during the lunar month of Chaitra.\n\nThe Story of Vasanta Navaratri\n\nIn days long gone by, King Dooshibago was killed by a lion when he went out hunting. Preparations were made to crown the prince Sudarsana. But, King Yudhajit of Ujjain, the father of Queen Lilavati, and King Virasena of Kalinga, the father of Queen Manorama, were each desirous of securing the Kosala throne for their respective grandsons. They fought with each other. King Virasena was killed in the battle. Manorama fled to the forest with Prince Sudarsana and a eunuch. They took refuge in the hermitage of Rishi Bharadwaja.\n\nThe victor, King Yudhajit, thereupon crowned his grandson, Satrujit, at Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala. He then went out in search of Manorama and her son. The Rishi said that he would not give up those who had sought protection under him. Yudhajit became furious. He wanted to attack the Rishi. But, his minister told him about the truth of the Rishi's statement. Yudhajit returned to his capital.\n\nFortune smiled on Prince Sudarsana. A hermit's son came one day and called the eunuch by his Sanskrit name Kleeba. The prince caught the first syllable Kli and began to pronounce it as Kleem. This syllable happened to be a powerful, sacred Mantra. It is the Bija Akshara (root syllable) of the Divine Mother. The Prince obtained peace of mind and the Grace of the Divine Mother by the repeated utterance of this syllable. Devi appeared to him, blessed him and granted him divine weapons and an inexhaustible quiver.\n\nThe emissaries of the king of Benares passed through the Ashram of the Rishi and, when they saw the noble prince Sudarsana, they recommended him to Princess Sashikala, the daughter of the king of Benares.\n\nThe ceremony at which the princess was to choose her spouse was arranged. Sashikala at once chose Sudarsana. They were duly wedded. King Yudhajit, who had been present at the function, began to fight with the king of Benares. Devis helped Sudarsana and his father-in-law. Yudhajit mocked Her, upon which Devi promptly reduced Yudhajit and his army to ashes.\n\nThus Sudarsana, with his wife and his father-in-law, praised Devi. She was highly pleased and ordered them to worship her with havan and other means during the Vasanta Navarathri. Then she disappeared.\n\nPrince Sudarsana and Sashikala returned to the Ashram of Rishi Bharadwaja. The great Rishi blessed them and crowned Sudarsana as the king of Kosala. Sudarsana and Sashikala and the king of Benares implicitly carried out the commands of the Divine Mother and performed worship in a splendid manner during the Vasanta Navarathri.\n\nSudarsana's descendants Sri Rama and Lakshmana also performed worship of Devi during the Sharad Navarathri and were blessed with Her assistance in the recovery of Sita.\n\nAccording to the Krittibas Ramayana, Rama invoked the goddess Durga in his epic battle against Ravana. Although Goddess Durga was traditionally worshipped in the late spring, due to contingencies of battle, Lord Rama had to invoke her in the form of astam (eighth) Mahavidya (Maa Bagla) in the autumn and thus is known as akaal bodhan (invoking out of scheduled time). This autumnal ritual was different from the conventional Durga Puja, which is usually celebrated in the springtime. So, this Puja is also known as 'akal-bodhan' or out-of-season ('akal') worship ('bodhan'). This Rama's date for the Navaratri puja has now gained ascendancy and culminates with Dusherra in North India on the following day.\n\nShardiya Navaratri \n\nShardiya Navaratri is the most popular and significant Navaratri of all Navaratris. That's why Shardiya Navaratri is also known as Maha Navaratri.\n\nIt falls in lunar month Ashwin during Sharad Ritu. The name Shardiya Navaratri has been taken from Sharad Ritu. All nine days during Navaratri are dedicated to nine forms of Goddess Shakti. Shardiya Navaratri falls in the month of September or October. The nine days festivity culminates on tenth day with Dussehra or Vijayadashami.\n\nForms of Shakti\n\nNine forms of Shakti are worshipped during the Navaratris. The Devis worshipped depend on the tradition of the region.\n\n* Durga\n* Kali\n* Amba or Jagadamba, Mother of the universe\n* Annapoorna devi or Gauri, The one who bestows grains (anna) in plenty (purna: used as subjective)\n* Sarvamangala or Sheetal, The one who gives happiness (mangal) to all (sarva)\n* Bhairavi\n* Chandika or Chandi\n* Lalita\n* Bhavani\n* Mookambika or Tara\n\nRituals\n\nThe Sharad Navratri commences on the first day (pratipada) of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashvin. The festival is celebrated for nine nights once every year during the beginning of October, although as the dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar, the festival may be hteld for a day more or a day less.\n\nNavaratri is celebrated in different ways throughout India. In North India, all three Navaratris are celebrated with much fervor by fasting on all nine days and worshiping the Mother Goddess in her different forms. The Chaitra Navaratri culminates in Ram Navami and the Sharad Navaratri culminates in Durga Puja and Dussehra. The Dussehra of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh is particularly famous in the North. Navaratri festival in Gujarat is one of the main festivals. Garba is a dance which people perform on all nine nights, after the Durga Pooja, in groups accompanied by live orchestra or devotional songs.\n\nThe last four days of Sharad Navaratri take on a particularly dramatic form in the state of West Bengal in eastern India where they are celebrated as Durga Puja. This is the biggest festival of the year in this state. Exquisitely crafted and decorated life-size clay idols of the Goddess Durga depicting her slaying the demon Mahishasura are set up in temples and other places. These idols are then worshiped for five days and immersed in the river on the fifth day.\n\nIn the Punjab, Navaratri is known as Navratras or Naratey where the first seven days are for fasting. On the eighth day or Ashtami, devotees break their fasts by calling young girls home and these girls are treated as the goddess herself. They are called \"Kanjak Devis\". People ceremonially wash their feet, worship them and then offer food to the \"girl-goddesses\" giving them the traditional puri, halwa and chana to eat along with bangles and the red chunnis (scarves) to wear with a token amount of money as \"shagun\". The ninth day is then called Navami which means literally the ninth day of this holy and pious period.\n\nAnother prevalent practice is of sowing pulses, cereals and other seeds on the first day of this festival in a pot which is watered for nine days at the end of which the seeds sprout. This pot is worshipped throughout the nine days. This custom is also indicative of fertility worship and is known as \"Khetri\". The barley grains planted on the first day of Navaratras, in the puja room of the house, are submerged in water after saying prayers on Dussehra. The sowing and reaping of barley is symbolic of the \"first fruit\". \n\nIn Western India, particularly in the state of Gujarat and Mumbai, Navaratri is celebrated with the famous Garba and Dandiya Raas dance. Since the past few years, the Government of Gujarat has been organising the \"Navaratri Festival Celebrations\" on a regular basis for the nine days of Navaratri Festival in Gujarat. People from all over Gujarat and even abroad come to participate in the nine-day celebration. It is also popular throughout India and among Indian communities around the world including the UK, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and USA.\n\nIn the temples of Goa,on the first day of the seventh month of the Hindu calendar Ashwin, in some temples, a copper pitcher is installed surrounded by clay in which nine varieties of food grains are sown inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. All the nine nights are celebrated by presenting devotional songs, and through religious discourses. Later in the night the idol of the goddess is put in a specially-decorated colourful swing and for nine nights, this swing is being swung to the tune of temple music (called as ranavadya) by devotees who throng in large numbers to participate in the festival.\n\nIn Maharashtra, on the first day of month of Ashwin, Ghatasthapana is celebrated. An earthen pot is filled with water surrounded by clay in which foodgrains are sown and are allowed to sprout for nine days. Five stems of jowar are also placed over the pot. This arrangement is called the \"Ghat\". The ladies worship the pot for nine days by offering rituals and a garland of flowers, leaves, fruits, dry-fruits, etc. with a naivedya, and water is offered in order to get the seeds sprouted. Some families also celebrate Kaali pujan on days 1 and 2, Laxmi pujan on days 3, 4, 5 and Saraswati pujan on days 6, 7, 8, 9 along with Ghatasthapana. On the eighth day, a \"Yajna\" or \"Hom\" is performed in the name of Goddess Durga. On ninth day, the Ghat pujan is done and the Ghat is dissolved after taking off the sprouted leaves of the grains. In many families, a woman from Matang community is called and offered food and blessings are sought from her. She is considered as a form of the Goddess \"Matangi\". This process is called \"पात्रं भरणे\" in Marathi. On the occasion of Dasara or Vijayadashmi, the men go to the forest or farm and bring the leaves of the tree Apta. They worship iron in the form of utensils, weapons, etc. The iron equipments are washed and offered leaves of Apta called gold or \"sona\" and also leaves of the grains which were sprouted. On this day, a process called Vidyarambhan meaning beginning of learning takes place when small children are to write first alphabet.\n\nIn Tamil Nadu, people set up steps and place idols on them. This is known as golu. Photos of typical golu displayed in Tamil Nadu style can be found here.In the evening women in neighborhood invite each other to visit their homes to view Kolu displays, they exchange gifts and sweets. Kuthuvilakku lamp is lit, in the middle of a decorated Rangoli, devotional hymns and shlokas are chanted. After performing the puja, the food items that have been prepared are offered to the Goddess and then to the guests.On the 9th day Saraswati Puja, special pujas are offered to Goddess Saraswati, the divine source of wisdom and enlightenment. Books and musical instruments are placed in the puja and worshipped as a source of knowledge Ayudha Pooja, the worship of vehicles and instruments is the most important festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu on Navami day .Almost all mechanic shops, heavy industries celebrate ayudha Pooja to thank their instruments On this day one can see autos decorated with banana leaves and pumpkins broken.The 10th day, Vijayadasami – is the most auspicious day of all. It was the day on which evil was finally destroyed by good. It marks a new and prosperous beginning. New ventures started on this day are believed to flourish and bring prosperity. Kids often start tutoring on this day to have a head start in their education.\n\nIn the evening of \"Vijayadasami\", any one doll from the \"Kolu\" is symbolically put to sleep and the Kalasa is moved a bit towards North to mark the end of that year's Navaratri Kolu. Prayers are offered to thank God for the successful completion of that year's Kolu and with a hope of a successful one the next year. Then the Kolu is dismantled and packed up for the next year.\n\nIn temples of Tamil Nadu, navaratri is celebrated for the Devi's dwelling in each temples, The utsava murthy is decorated and vedic offerings are performed, Following by Chandi homa. Popular Tamil Nadu temples celebrating navaratri are Madurai madurai meenakshi temple, Chennai kapaleeswarar temple, Kulasekarapattinam devi temple, Perambur Ellaiamman temple, Srirangam Ranganathan temple.\n\nIn Karnataka, Ayudha Puja, the ninth day of Mysore Dasara, is celebrated with the worship of implements used in daily life such as computers, books, vehicles, or kitchen tools. The effort to see the divine in the tools and objects one uses in daily life is central to this celebration, so it includes all tools that help one earn one's livelihood. Knowledge workers go for books, pen or computers, farmers go for the plough and other agricultural tools, machinery for industrialists and cars/buses/trucks for the transportation workers—all are decorated with flowers and worshiped on this day invoking God's blessing for success in coming years. It is believed that any new venture such as starting of business or purchasing of new household items on this day is bound to bring success and prosperity.\n\nMysore is well known for the festivities that take place during the period of Dasara, the state festival of Karnataka. The Dasara festivities, which are celebrated over a ten-day period, it made official festival of the state by King Raja Wodeyar I in 1610. On the ninth day of Dasara, called Mahanavami, the royal sword is worshipped and is taken on a procession of decorated elephants, camels and horses. On the tenth day, called Vijayadashami, the traditional Dasara procession (locally known as Jumboo Savari) is held on the streets of Mysore. An image of the Goddess Chamundeshwari is placed on a golden howdah on the back of a decorated elephant and taken on a procession, accompanied by tableaux, dance groups, music bands, decorated elephants, horses and camels. The procession starts from the Mysore Palace and culminates at a place called Bannimantapa, where the banni tree (Prosopis spicigera) is worshipped. The Dasara festivities culminate on the night of Vijayadashami with a torchlight parade, known locally as Panjina Kavayatthu.\n\nIn Kerala and in some parts of Karnataka three days: Ashtami, Navami, and Vijaya Dashami of Sharad Navarathri are celebrated as Sarasvati Puja in which books are worshiped. The books are placed for Puja on the Ashtami day in own houses, traditional nursery schools, or in temples. On Vijaya Dashami day, the books are ceremoniously taken out for reading and writing after worshiping Sarasvati. Vijaya Dashami day is considered auspicious for initiating the children into writing and reading, which is called Vidyarambham. Tens of thousands of children are initiated into the world of letters on this day in Kerala.\n\nIn Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, people celebrate Bathukamma festival over a period of nine days. It is a kind of navaratri celebration.\n\nHere Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore three different aspects (Tridevi) of the supreme goddess or goddesses.\n\nFirst three days:\nThe goddess is separated a spiritual force called Durga also known as Kali in order to destroy all our evil and grant boons.\n\nSecond three days:\nThe Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees inexhaustible wealth, as she is the goddess of wealth.\n\nLast three days:\n\nThe final set of three days is spent in worshiping the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order to have all-round success in life, believers seek the blessings of all three aspects of the divine femininity, hence the nine nights of worship.\n\nEighth day is traditionally Durgashtami which is big in Bengal and Bihar.\n\nIn some parts of South India, Saraswati puja is performed on the 9th day. Ayudha Puja is conducted in many parts of South India on the Mahanavami (Ninth) day with much fanfare. Weapons, agricultural implements, all kinds of tools, equipments, machinery and automobiles are decorated and worshipped on this day along with the worship of Goddess. The work starts afresh from the next day, i.e. the 10th day which is celebrated as 'Vijaya Dashami'. Many teachers/Schools in south India start teaching Kindergarten children from that day onwards.\n\nIn North India, as the culmination of the Ramlila which is enacted ceremoniously during Dussehra, the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna, and Meghanada are burnt to celebrate the victory of good (Rama) over evil forces on the 'Vijaya Dashami' day.\n\nDuring Navaratri, some devotees of Durga observe a fast and prayers are offered for the protection of health and prosperity. Devotees avoid meat, alcoholic drinks, grains, wheat and onion during this fast. Grains are usually avoided since it is believed that during the period of Navaratri and seasonal change, grains attract and absorb lots of negative energies from the surrounding and therefore there is a need to avoid eating anything which are produced from grains for the purification of Navaratri to be successful. Navaratri is also a period of introspection and purification, and is traditionally an auspicious and religious time for starting new ventures.\n\nDuring this vowed religious observance, a pot is installed (ghatasthapana) at a sanctified place at home. A lamp is kept lit in the pot for nine days. The pot symbolises the universe. The uninterrupted lit lamp is the medium through which we worship the effulgent Adishakti, i.e. Sree Durgadevi. During Navaratri, the principle of Sree Durgadevi is more active in the atmosphere. \n\nNavaratri is celebrated in a large number of Indian communities. The mother goddess is said to appear in 9 forms, and each one is worshiped for a day. These nine forms signify various traits that the goddess influences us with. The Devi Mahatmya and other texts invoking the Goddess who vanquished demons are cited.\n\nDuring the eight or ninth day, Kanya Puja, pre-pubescent girls are ceremonially worshipped.\n\nAnimal Sacrifice\n\nAnimals are sacrificed during Sharad Navratri in many parts of India, mainly at temples of Goddesses such as Bhavani or Kali.\n\nA book published 1871 by Pratápachandra Ghosha gives full description of the rituals involved in animal sacrifice during Durga Puja \n\nThe Rajput of Rajasthan offer a sacrifice of buffalo or goat to their family Goddess ( Kuldevta) during the festival of Navaratri. The ritual requires slaying of the animal with a single stroke. In the past this ritual was considered a rite of passage for young men. The ritual is directed by a Brahmin priest. Many erstwhile Royal families from different parts India also offer animal sacrifice to the Goddess during Sharad Navratri.\n\nAnimal sacrifice is practiced in some Eastern states of India and Nepal during Navratri., The Hindu temples in Assam and West Bengal in India and Nepal where this takes place involves slaying of goats, chickens and sometimes male Water buffalos .,. A number Tantric Puranas specify the ritual for how the animal should be slayed. In Bengal, a priest recites the Gayatri Mantra in the ear of animal to be sacrificed, in order to free the animal from the cycle of life and death. In Orissa, animal sacrifice is offered to Durga in the form of Chandi during Durga Puja, . \n\nAt the Jagannath temple in Puri, Orissa, Rams are sacrificed to the Goddess Bimla during the eighth and ninth day of the autumn festival. \n\nThe tradition of animal sacrifice is being substituted with vegetarian offerings to the Goddess in temples and households around Banaras in Northern India",
"Ovates – Greywolf's Lair - The British Druid Order\nRandom Ramblings from the British Druid Order's Chief ... Home; BDO Main Site; Category: Ovates. Ovates (properly Vates, the ‘o ... Horse woman. 1st century ...\nOvates – Greywolf's Lair\nLeave a comment on White Serpent, White Dragon, White Horse, Prayer & Healing Ceremony\nOctober 29th - 30th 2016\nA crazy idea came to me on the train taking me to the 2016 White Horse Samhain (Hallowe'en) Camp, held at the Wild Ways crafts and retreat centre in Shropshire, UK. Having seen the already full schedule of events planned for the camp, I had felt there might not be anything I could add to it. For years, however, I had pondered the possibility of holding an all-night ceremony in the Iron Age roundhouse (right) we had built in nearby woods. I thought perhaps this might fit in as it wouldn’t start until everything else had finished, running through until sunrise the following morning, Sunday, November 30th. People would be welcome to come and go whenever they chose to or needed to. Even so, it was a bit of a cheek to arrive out of the blue with this crazy notion without having discussed it with any of the organisers beforehand. However, one of the great things about White Horse camps is the openness of the organisers to the unexpected and strange and their willingness to make room for them.\nThe idea had three main sources of inspiration; one was the observation that there seems to be an unusual amount of what might be termed ‘weird shit’ going on in the world at the moment; next was the way in which the stand being taken by the Lakota people against a polluting oil pipeline being driven across their sacred land has inspired so many others all around the world to stand up and be counted against ‘big oil’ and compliant governments; third was my own recent journey to deepen my understanding of how our Druid ancestors worked with serpent power. I have no doubt that they did, as evidenced by several representations from around 2,000 years ago\nportraying native European deities accompanied by serpents. The most famous is that on the Gundestrup cauldron (upper left). Another well-known image from the period overlooks the hot springs in Roman Bath and portrays a bearded god with snakes growing out of his head (lower left). I had worked out some ways in which serpent power was approached, but felt I still lacked a vital key to understanding why it was that British Druids were sometimes called Nadredd, i.e. 'Serpents.'\nThese threads all came together through a Lakota prophecy that a Black Snake would come to devastate their land, causing people and animals sicken and die. Many Lakota\nsee the DAPL oil pipeline as that Black Snake and, therefore, see opposition to it as both a vital necessity and a sacred duty. I had already been led to the conclusion that individual healing in our Druid tradition comes about partly through invoking the power of a White Serpent of Healing to set against the power of a Black Serpent that brings disease. My thinking for this roundhouse ceremony was to try to harness the power of the White Serpent to oppose the DAPL Black Snake and as many other manifestations of its destructive force in the world as we could fit into one long night.\nThe ceremony was duly announced to the camp at the first morning meeting, for which I particularly thank Richard and his fellow organisers, Ariane and Hilde. As we wouldn’t be starting until around 11pm at the end of a full day, and would continue until sunrise at 6.50am, I had no idea whether anyone would want to come at all, let alone how many. However, a few friends immediately expressed not only interest but excitement, so there were willing helpers to join me in transporting things to the roundhouse and preparing it. Thanks to Becky, who wields a fine besom, to Amanda, Daru, and Elaine, who not only runs the centre but loaned us two large reindeer hides, some saining sticks and a couple of warm woollen blankets from her house.\nWhen I mentioned our intentions for the ceremony on the BDO Facebook page , people in countries around the world said they would join us in ceremonies timed to coincide with ours. This was a wonderful gift and a further inspiration to us. Thank you friends, heart to heart, spirit to spirit.\nMorten Wolf Storeide with The World Drum\nAdding to an already potentially rich mix, Elaine also donated a bag of Chaga, a remarkable medicinal plant, a hard, woody fungus that grows on Birch trees in Northern climes. This had been given to her by a remarkable couple, Morten Wolf Storeide and Louise Degotte. Morten organises the global travels of The World Drum , a powerful healing Drum made by a Sami drum-maker following the vision of Kyrre Franck White Cougar. Morten and Kyrre, with their friends, LeNa Paalvig Johnson and Will Rubach, brought us the gift of an amazing ceremony centred around Chaga when we hosted The World Drum at Wild Ways in 2013.\nFor use in ceremony, Chaga needs to be brewed for at least four hours. This meant that a few of us had to miss the Saturday evening eisteddfod and go to the roundhouse shortly after 7pm to begin the brewing process. Amanda, who had taken part in an initiation in the roundhouse, stayed on to set up the tripods over the central fire to support the two pots in which we would brew the Chaga. The water was already heating when I arrived. We sat and talked for a while as we waited for it to boil. Then we began adding Chaga, taking it in turns to put a handful into the two pots and stir them. We talked through ideas about what we might do during the ceremony and the Chaga crew came up with several ideas while helping my sketchy ones to take shape. For the rest, I was relying on the spirits to guide us, and on all those who came, both seen and unseen, to bring their own inspiration and ideas to the mix.\nA few more people drifted in after a while, followed by quite a crowd once the eisteddfod ended. Having doubted whether anyone would come, we found the 20 log seats we’d set out were not enough. Of the 55 people on the camp, about 25 joined us.\nAs well as making prayers for the protectors at Standing Rock, we had been asked to pray for those standing against another oil pipeline in Florida, which we did. I also wanted to send some energy and protection to the Wolves of Norway, under threat from a decision by the Norwegian government to allow 47 out of the 68 Wolves in the country to be shot. Elaine, recently back from Ireland, asked that we also pray for the Deer over there who are to be shot because there is a remote and unproven possibility that they might be responsible for some cases of TB in domestic cattle. Also present at the camp were several people who have protested against Badger culls in the UK , carried out for the same dubious reason. We added them to our list. I assumed that other things to work for would emerge during the night. They did...\nAs for how we were going to work, I thought we might do some personal healing, using a technique I developed, or rediscovered, while researching for the British Druid Order ovate course . I felt we should drum and chant for the animals. I already have a Wolf chant (naturally), and a Deer chant , and thought we could come up with something for the Badgers. I also knew we had to work with the power of the White Serpent, though I wasn’t sure how. Again, I trusted the spirits to show us the way.\nThe fact that we were working through Saturday night into Sunday morning, and that Sunday 30th was the day of the New Moon of Samhain, helped. Samhain (‘Summer’s End’) is the old Irish name for the seasonal festival known in Wales as Nos Galan Gaeaf (‘Nights of Winter Calends’) and in England as Hallowe’en (‘Hallowed, i.e. Sacred, Evening’). Originally held over three nights, it marks the end of summer and the beginning of winter.\nThe Moon has its own serpentine associations, its nightly waning from the full being likened to a snake shedding its skin. A snake within a Moon appears on many Celtic coins, as in the top left corner of this image from our Druid Tarot deck, taken from one of those coins.\nDuring the ceremony, I remembered a widespread folk custom carried out in Scotland until the early 20th century, in which the White Serpent of Bride (i.e. the goddess, Bridget) is said to emerge from beneath the earth at Imbolc (Gwyl Fair, Candlemas) at the beginning of February, restoring life to the world after the long months of winter. The spoken charm that accompanies the re-emergence of the Serpent translates as follows: “Today is the day of Bride; the serpent shall come from its hole, I will not molest the serpent, nor will the serpent molest me.”\nIt struck me very strongly that the New Moon of Samhain would be exactly the time at which the White Serpent would go down into the earth, as the leaves were falling from the trees and the last of the wild plants dying back into dormancy.\nThis phase of the year’s cycle is reflected in, among others, the Greek myth of Persephone , and the ancient Middle Eastern legend of Inanna’s descent into the underworld . In native British lore, the goddess who possesses the serpent power appears as Olwen of the White Track, daughter of the giant, Ysbaddaden (‘Hawthorn’), as Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd (or Nudd) of the Silver Hand, and as Arthur’s queen Gwenhwyfar, whose name means ‘White Enchantress.’ All of these three feature in the archaic tale of Culhwch and Olwen, as preserved in the 12th century collection of tales known as the Mabinogi .\nThe night of our working, then, was the last during which our Serpent Goddess’s power would remain above the earth prior to its descent into the underworld where it would spend the winter. This seemed the perfect time to invoke her aid. In our ceremony, then, we invoked the healing power of the White Serpent against the destructive power of the Black Snake.\nI think it was Ariane who drew our attention to the fact that Ineos, one of the companies involved in fracking in the UK are calling their fleet of huge, Chinese-built oil tankers ‘ Dragon ships .’ Is this a deliberate invocation of Black Snake energy on their part? Who knows?\nThe insidious way in which oil companies and governments are conspiring together to force the unwanted, unnecessary and polluting technology of fracking on unwilling populations around the world is symptomatic of a wider malaise in which democracy has long ceased to be what it was in pagan Greece, i.e. ‘people power,’ becoming instead a means by which wealthy and powerful elites retain dominance over increasingly powerless populations. Polls show that 81% of the UK population would like to see more investment in renewable energy sources, while only 19% favour fracking. In Norway, there is an identical split between the majority who want to see Wolf numbers remain the same or increase and the minority who want them killed. Meanwhile, polls in the USA show that 86% of the population are with the protectors at Standing Rock and against the DAPL pipeline. Fortunately for us, this huge public support for what we were trying to achieve through our ceremony meant that there was a huge impetus behind us. Trying to work magic against opposition is hard. It's easier if the vast majority of the people of the world are with you in spirit. Knowing that they are is encouraging, to say the least.\nOne of our group brought a flag bearing the symbol of the Pagan anti-fracking movement in the UK and we lodged it into the rafters of the roundhouse, where it stayed throughout our ceremony. I'm not sure what it was originally designed to represent, but to me it looks like a Dragon's head!\nWe drummed to raise energy for ourselves and the groups and causes we had been asked to pray for and send power and healing to. As with the people at Standing Rock, we directed some of those prayers towards those causing the harm, asking that they realise that what they are doing is destructive and wrong, and that it is in their long-term interests to change.\nLong ago, in talking with spirit workers from other cultures and traditions, there emerged a strong sense that we should be working together for our shared Great Mother Earth and all her children. Subsequent meetings with healers and fellow spirit workers have strengthened this sense that now is the time for us to set aside the surface differences that divide us and recognise the commonalities that we share. As spirit workers, we regularly work with altered states of consciousness, and so are ideally placed to work towards changing the consciousness of those who seek to despoil and pollute our planet, bringing them to the light of realisation and understanding that will lead them to change what they are doing for the benefit of all.\nWe cast our circle with sound and saining herbs, we invoked into it all those powers for good that we work with, the spirits of place, the elemental spirits and guardians of the four directions, of our ancestors of blood and spirit, of the old gods of our lands, and of the White Serpent of healing (as painted on my drum, right) and the Dragon power through which it also manifests. We chanted the Awen, the holy spirit of inspiration and creativity. We shared Chaga brewed on our sacred fire. We drummed and chanted long into the night. From around 2am, people began to drift away, thanking our ancestors as they passed across the threshold and went in search of sleep.\nBy around 3.30am, our numbers were reduced to around nine, of whom eight were lying on the piles of furs we had provided or on the bare earth floor, most under blankets. While they drifted in and out of sleep, I continued to quietly drum and chant. I had thought to go into trance with the drum, but this didn’t happen. I realised that my role was to drum for the others, both seen and unseen, in the roundhouse and around the world. Between drumming, I made sure the central fire was kept fed with logs.\nMy lone drumming vigil continued until around 6.30am, at which time, without prompting from me, the others began to stir, wake up, and reach for their drums. We formed a circle around the central fire, linked hands and chanted the Awen again. Then we began to drum the sunrise, beginning quietly and building to a thundering crescendo that carried us across the moment of dawn and into the light of a new day, the day of the New Moon, blessed by the White Serpent of Healing.\nI shared a gift of insight the Awen had given me during the night; the reason why our ancestors were called Nadredd. As Druids, we are the Serpent, we are the Power, we are the Dragon. Our role is to embody the Serpent Power, to carry it within us at all times, to use it for the benefit of our communities, our Great Mother Earth and all her children. When the White Serpent Power of the Goddess of Life, Light and Healing goes down into the earth for the long Winter months, we, as Druids, continue to embody it in the world so that the light of life never dies.\nOur ancestors knew this, and that knowledge was either passed down directly, or rediscovered, in the bardic colleges that flourished in Wales, Ireland and Scotland during the medieval era. Hence, in the probably 12th century CE poem, ‘The Cattle-Fold of the Bards,’ attributed to the semi-legendary 5th century CE bard, Taliesin, he is able to say with absolute conviction and perfect truth:\n“I am song to the last; I am clear and bright;\nI am hard; I am a Druid;\nI am a wright; I am well-wrought;\nI am a serpent; I am reverence, that is an open receptacle...\"\nand:\nWyf sarff, wyf serch... (pronouned ooeev sarff, ooeev serch [‘e’ as in bet, ‘ch’ as in Scottish loch])\n...which means:\n“I am serpent, I am love…”\nProfound thanks to all who made our ceremony possible and took part in, both seen and unseen, in the roundhouse and around the world. Thanks to the spirits of place, spirit animals, ancestors and old gods of our lands for their gifts of Awen, and thanks to the Serpent Power of Life, Light and Healing. May that power be with all who need it in these strange and troubled times. May the Light shine strong within you.\nWe are Nadredd and we offer this Awen and these blessings to all in need,\nGreywolf /|\\\n\"I am song to the last; I am clear and bright;\nI am hard; I am a Druid;\nI am a wright; I am well-wrought;\nI am a serpent; I am reverence, that is an open receptacle.\"\nFrom 'The Cattle-Fold of the Bards,' attributed to the legendary 5th century bard, Taliesin.\nThe Lakota people of Standing Rock, North Dakota, supported by allies from over 300 other indigenous American nations, and others from Europe and beyond, are making a stand against the building of a massive, $3.8 billion pipeline across their land to carry fracked oil. The very real fear is that the pipeline will rupture, as many others have , and poison the water of the Missouri river on which the tribe depends, as do millions of others downstream.\nThe Lakota stand is inspiring people around the world to defend their own land and health where they are also threatened by industrial processes forced on them by huge, multi-national corporations, backed by compliant governments. Many of the more than 300 other tribes who have travelled to North Dakota to lend their support, bringing food, clothing, timber and other supplies, have faced similar problems themselves. Sometimes, as with the Lummi in the Pacific Northwest, they have triumphed over the big corporations and have saved their land and water for future generations.\nHere in the UK, we also face a collaboration between our government and companies like Cuadrilla and Ineos, determined to begin blasting oil and gas out of the earth using the process known as 'fracking.' Fracking relies on drilling boreholes straight down until they reach the shale level, then turning horizontally and drilling along the shale deposit. Explosives are then laid along the horizontal borehole and detonated to shatter the rock. Then water, chemicals and silica is pumped in at high pressure to hold the fissures apart.\nThere are many problems with this, including methane migration (i.e. if there's an easier escape route, the gas doesn't necessarily go into the horizontal borehole when it's released), pollution of the aquifers, rivers, streams and drinking water. Meanwhile the above-ground destruction caused by the process involves the industrialisation of the countryside with pipelines, roads, heavy traffic, drill pads, portacabins, compressor stations, water and chemical storage tanks, mud tanks, etc. Plus fracking releases methane into the atmosphere, which is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Plus getting out profitable amounts of gas requires hundreds of boreholes all along the shale beds and, while the risk posed by a single borehole might be small, multiplied by hundreds or thousands of wells, the potential for harm is similarly multiplied. In areas prone to seismic activity, the dangers from fracking are multiplied still further . Finally, being fossil fuels, all the products produced by fracking cause more pollution when used and add to global warming.\nBecause of these things, recent polls have shown that only 19% of the UK population favour fracking , while 81% favour more investment in renewable energy sources. Groups are being formed across the UK to oppose fracking. Information about many of them can be found here: http://frack-off.org.uk/locations/fracking-sites/\nAs with the Lakota, opposition to fracking is being seen as a spiritual, as well as a practical, struggle, between those who see the Earth simply as a resource to be exploited for financial gain and those who see the Earth as a Great Mother, whose children we are. Hence the number of spiritual groups who are coming together to oppose fracking and other destructive and unnecessary technologies.\nThroughout my life, I've heard calls and prophecies saying that the time is coming for all the spirit workers of the world to come together, stand together, pray together and work together for our shared Mother Earth. The message I hear now, emanating from Standing Rock and many other places, is that that time is here, and we must all answer the call and live up to the prophecies.\nThe Lakota refer to a tribal legend about a black snake called Zuzeca that brings destruction in its wake. They say that the proposed oil pipeline is that black snake. An early Irish poem from that great collection of Irish place-lore, the Metrical Dindsenchas , has the healer god, Dian Cécht, slaying a serpent to prevent it laying waste to the land. He then reduces its remains to ashes and throws them into a river, causing it to boil, from which the river is called Berba, (Anglicized as Barrow) meaning 'Boiling,' to this day. This is my translation:\nThe river Barrow, enduring its silence,\nthat flows through the folk of old Ailbe;\na labour it is to learn the cause whence it is called\nthe Barrow, the flower of all famous names.\nNo motion within it was there made\nby the ashes of Mechi the strongly smitten:\nthe stream made sodden and silent past saving,\nof the fell filth of the ancient serpent.\nThree full turns the serpent made;\nit sought out the soldier so to consume him;\nby its nature it would have wasted the kine\nof the indolent hosts of ancient Erin.\nTherefore Dian Cécht the healer slew it:\nrude reason there was to cleanly destroy it,\npreventing it thus forever from wasting,\nabove every resort, from utter consuming.\nKnown to me is the grave where he cast it,\na tomb without walls or roof-tree supporting;\nits evil ashes, no place ornamenting,\nfound silent burial in noble Barrow.\nAilbe, meaning 'White,' is one of many ancient names for Ireland. The name Mechi (Meche) probably shares a common root with the name of Miacha, Dian Cécht's son. The Barrow is the second longest river in Ireland and is known as one of the Three Sisters, the others being the rivers Suir and Nore. All three join together before flowing into a bay South-west of the city of Waterford.\nPiecing together information from this and other early European sources, I constructed a rite of healing that forms part of the BDO ovate course . In it, disease is seen as a black snake that has wormed its way into the body and is wreaking havoc within it. The aim is to drive out the serpent and dispose of it in such a way that it can do no more harm. The weapon used is a bundle of dried herbs with protective or healing properties, or having power over serpents, such as Wormwood, Feverfew, Vervain, St. John's Wort, Mugwort, Adder's Tongue and Agrimony. When fresh, the herbs are bundled together, pressed tight with the hands, then wound tightly around with thread and hung up to dry where air can circulate all around them.\nThe sick person lies down with whatever part of the body is affected reachable and bared. The healer (preferably accompanied by a drummer) then beats the affected area with the bundle of dried herbs, chanting something like this:\nHerbs of healing and protection,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nFell filth of ancient serpent,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nThree turns the serpent made,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nSought the soldier to consume him,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nit would have wasted by its nature,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nSo it was the healer slew it,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nReady reason to destroy it,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nPreventing it from wasting others,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nKept it ever from consuming,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nKnown to me is where he cast it,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nWithout walls or rising roof-tree,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nBurned the evil all to ashes,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nCast them into flowing water,\nbeat the serpent from its lair,\nCarried far in flowing water,\nbeat the serpent from its lair,\nPurified in flowing water,\nbeat the serpent from its lair.\nA shortened version, using just a few of the lines given here, should be equally effective and easier to learn.\nThrough the process described, the serpent is driven out from the patient and enters into the nearest available object, that being the bundle of herbs. The healer then takes the bundle of herbs and burns them to ash in a suitable fireproof receptacle. When there is nothing left but ashes, these are carefully collected and taken to the nearest running water, preferably a stream or river, into which they are cast, the receptacle that held them being washed in the same waters. The Anglo-Saxon ‘ Nine Herbs Charm ’ suggests that a process similar to this causes weeds growing in the river to turn into healing herbs. The fire transforms the dark serpent energy, the water completes the cleansing process. From this point on, all being well, the patient will begin to recover.\nI'm wondering if maybe this chanted spell, or an edited version of it, could be used against the Black Snake of fracking here in the UK and elsewhere? Ineos, one of the companies seeking to make money from fracking in the UK are, incidentally, calling the ships they will use to transport the product Dragon Ships . Maybe saining (our native term for smudging) proposed or active fracking sites with bundles of dried herbs, then beating drums and chanting the “beat the serpent from its lair” chant might be a way to drive out this sickness from our land? Well, it's worth a try …\nAn alternative is found in the Old English Lacnunga manuscript (circa 1000 CE), which preserves an Old Irish chant that has exactly the same intention as the above. My translation of it runs as follows:\n“In case a man or beast should drink a wyrm (i.e. serpent); if it (presumably the patient not the wyrm) be of male gender sing this song, which is written below, into the right ear; if it be of female gender sing into the left ear: ‘I wound the beast, I cut the beast, I kill the beast, a death-cloak comes rowing, the tongue is not hollow, not hollow the sharp-pointed stake, part cut away, part hollow, part wolf the creature [to whom] the death-cloak is rowing.’ Sing this charm nine times into the ear...”\nOf course, as Druids, we are serpents ourselves. There’s an old tradition that Druids were called Nadredd, ‘Serpents,’ for the great power they possessed either to hram or heal, for it is the nature of serpents in spiritual traditions around the world that they can either kill or cure. This dual nature of serpent power is often represented by a pair of serpents, one black, one white, the former bringing disease, the latter bringing healing. The caduceus wand of the god, Mercury, entwined with two snakes, is the symbol of the medical profession to this day. On the Gundestrup cauldron (left), an antlered god or Druid is shown controlling a huge, ram-headed serpent, a symbol that appears elsewhere in ancient Celtic iconography, also associated with deities.\nLet’s end as we began, with a few words from the poem, ‘The Cattle-Fold of the Bards,’ attributed to the great bard, Taliesin:\nWyf sarff, wyf serch... (pronouned ooeev sarff, ooeev serch [‘e’ as in bet, ‘ch’ as in Scottish loch])\n...which means,\n“I am serpent, I am love…”\nAs Druids, this is the power we seek to and need to invoke, the power of love and healing to set against the followers of the black snake, those who see our Mother Earth purely as a resource to be exploited and despoiled. Water is life, and we are one people, strong of voice, strong of spirit. Like our ancestors before us, we must realise that we are the serpents, we are the power, we are the Druids, and, working with our friends in other cultures who walk spirit paths akin to our own, we will prevail, because we must! Just like a tree that's growing by the water-side, we shall not be moved.\nBlessings to all,",
"25 Cocktails Everyone Should Know | Serious Eats\n25 Cocktails Everyone Should Know. ... know how to make a Sidecar: they're basically the same drink. ... character of the base spirit changes the feel of the drink.\n25 Cocktails Everyone Should Know | Serious Eats\n25 Cocktails Everyone Should Know\n53\nHave you tried all of these essential drinks? [Photographs: Vicky Wasik except where noted.]\nWe who like to mix drinks at home do it for many reasons: First, it's cheaper than drinking out. Second, it's fun to mix your own drinks at home. Third, it's even more fun to mix drinks for other people at home. Any self-respecting home bartender should have a mental\nRolodex\nExcel spreadsheet of favorite classic cocktail recipes. Even if these aren't fully memorized, you should be able to find the recipe in your home library at quick notice to serve them to your friends.\nToday, I present the 25 essential drinks that I think everyone should be able to make. I'm not including any highballs here. If you can't mix up a gin and tonic or a whiskey and soda without a recipe, you're not ready for Cocktail 101 . Take some remedial classes and get back to me.\n25 Essential Cocktails\nLast Word\nOld Fashioned\nThe origins of the word \"cocktail\" are lost to history, but the first definition we find in print comes from an 1806 newspaper from upstate New York. A cocktail is called \"a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters...\" Over the course of the 19th century, the cocktail picked up a number of additions and refinements: liqueurs, fortified wines, various bits of garnish, et cetera. Eventually, some drinkers came to prefer a simpler form of cocktail, the type their grandfathers might have enjoyed, and so they'd ask the bartender to make them an \"old-fashioned\" cocktail, of booze, sugar muddled into water to form a syrup, and bitters.\nIf you want to experience the ur-cocktail, or if you just enjoy deliciousness, the Old Fashioned is the drink for you.\nNote that the original definition called for spirits of any kind. You can make a tasty Old Fashioned from whiskey, of course, but also from tequila, mezcal, brandy, rum, genever, and to a lesser extent, aquavit or gin. I have even been desperate enough to attempt a vodka old fashioned, but I can't say I enjoyed it. Stick with more robustly flavored spirits.\nBack to the full list »\nMartinez\nGrandfather to the modern martini, the Martinez is a drink of gin (Old Tom, if you can; try Ransom or Hayman's), sweet vermouth, maraschino or curaçao, and bitters. It's a sweeter drink than the typical dry martini, but the flavor is complex and refreshing. Assembling the ingredients requires some outlay of funds, but if you're within spitting distance of a respectable craft-cocktail bar, you should be able to sample one there.\nI wouldn't say a Martinez is on my list of weekly cocktail treats, but I do enjoy one every few months or so. I consider the drink important not just from a historical standpoint, but also as a glimpse of how diverse the world of cocktails can be.\nGet the Martinez recipe »\nMartini\nAnd here's the grandbaby, though now venerable in its own right. Within reason, you can mix this one up however you want, and it's still a martini. Make it extra wet with equal parts gin and vermouth. Make it ultradry with merely a wisp of vermouth. Shake. Stir. (Blend? Now that's just crazy.) Garnish with an olive, a lemon twist, an onion, a slice of cucumber. Going gin shopping? Here are our favorite gins to use in a martini .\nBack to the full list »\nManhattan\nIf there were no other reason to include this drink on this list, I'd still put the Manhattan here for the best reason of all: your grandmother drinks them.\nNow, I'm pretty flexible on the Old Fashioned and the Martini. Mix an OF with mezcal or rhum agricole and I'll shake your hand; shake up an ultra-dry martini, and I'll drink it happily. But please, no weak bourbons in my Manhattan. Give me a bourbon with a muscular rye-heavy mashbill, or just give me rye to begin with.\nMix it sweet or mix it perfect (half sweet vermouth, half dry), but don't bother with a dry Manhattan, seriously.\nBack to the full list »\nBrooklyn\nA Manhattan variation that launched a cocktail family of its own. The Brooklyn adapts the formula for a perfect Manhattan, which is rye or bourbon, dry vermouth, and sweet vermouth. The Brooklyn swaps the sweet for a blend of maraschino liqueur and amaro. Historically, it called for Amer Picon, which is very hard to find in the United States. You can use Ramazotti in place of Picon.\nIn fact, you can use lots of things in place of Picon. If you use Punt e Mes, you have a Red Hook cocktail, named after the Brooklyn neighborhood. Other Brooklyn nabes lend their names to other Brooklyn variations. The Greenpoint uses Chartreuse (yellow, though, strangely); the Bensonhurst calls for Cynar; and the Bushwick requires Carpano Antica vermouth in addition to the Amer Picon and maraschino.\nMy current Brooklyn haunts are Kensington and Ditmas Park, and a quick search doesn't turn up any Brooklyn variants named for those neighborhoods. I should work on that.\nBack to the full list »\nDaiquiri\nHere, with the daiquiri, you have what I call a perfect litmus-test cocktail. Whenever I get a new rum, I almost always want to try it two different ways—sipped with a little ice, and mixed into a daiquiri. I find that the lime and sugar in a daiquiri complement the rum and highlight its flavors. I learn more about a rum mixed into a daiquiri than I do by just sipping it on its own. The only exception, I find, are rich, funky rums, such as rhums agricole. These tend to overpower the other ingredients.\nBack to the full list »\nMargarita\nI would love to say that everyone remembers their first Margarita, but we all know that's not true. I think it's even possible that no one remembers their first Margarita.\nI admit, sometimes when I'm out to dinner at a Mexican or Tex-Mex place and I want a margarita, I don't always care whether it's made with fresh ingrdients or from pre-mix. But I will never buy pre-mix for my home bar, and neither should you. The margarita is a simple recipe, just three ingredients, so there's no excuse for pre-mix. Get a good tequila (100% agave), a decent triple sec, and fresh limes, and you're almost guaranteed a great drink.\nSidecar\n[Photo: Carey Jones]\nAn unlikely cousin to the Margarita, the Sidecar falls into the same Sour family as the tequila classic. In fact, once you know how to make a Margarita by heart, you pretty much know how to make a Sidecar: they're basically the same drink. One uses tequila and lime, whereas the other calls for cognac and lemon, but the template is spirit, orange liqueur, and citrus.\nWhat always amazes me, though, is how the character of the base spirit changes the feel of the drink. A Margarita feels like summer to me, drinking al fresco on a bright, warm day. A Sidecar, though, because of the warmth and mellowness of cognac, feels like a drink to sip, if not by a fire, then definitely in a dark bar on a cool fall night.\nThese drinks may have a common pedigree, but they're as individual as feuding sisters.\nBack to the full list »\nFrench 75\nIf you're a cocktail geek, and you don't have the French 75 in your repertoire for parties, I'm sorry, but you're not a cocktail geek. I took the makings for French 75s to the home of some new friends a few years ago, and although my wife and I started the night as the only gin fans in the house, I wound up converting everyone else to the cause that night. You can't count on much in life, but you can always expect that sparkling cocktails will play well at parties.\nBack to the full list »\nBloody Mary\nI'm breaking my highball rule here, but that's okay because I don't think of the Bloody Mary as a highball. Though nearly every cocktail manual I own lists it as such, I take a different view. A highball just means pouring a shot or so of booze and topping it off with a non-alcoholic mixer, usually from a gun or a bottle. Fine, you can make Bloody Marys that way if you're lazy and buy a bottled mix. But a good Bloody Mary mix is prepared in-house or at home from high-quality tomato juice and whatever other juices and spices you like. For home drinking, I mix mine à la minute. I juice lemons; I dash in bitters. I go to at least as much work as I do when mixing a cocktail. So screw it, it's a cocktail, not a highball.\nBack to the full list »\nIrish Coffee\nRegrettably, perhaps, we've gotten away from the breakfast/brunch cocktail. If anyone tells you that Irish Coffee is a sweet drink, scald them with your coffee. You only need a little sugar, your Irish, your coffee, and a dollop of lightly whipped cream atop.\nJack Rose\n[Photo: J. Kenji López-Alt]\nA deceptively simple looking recipe, the Jack Rose calls for applejack, lime juice, and grenadine. The way these flavors blend together is simply delicious. Make the grenadine yourself ; it's easy and it's quick. (Although bottled pomegranate juice will do; no need to make your own juice.) Take the time and spend the money to track down Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy for this, too. It has a rich, fresh apple flavor that's much more satisfying than the blended applejack Laird's also sells. (The blended product mixes apple brandy with neutral grain spirit. It's more flavorful than an apple vodka, but nowhere near as tasty as the bonded.)\nBack to the full list »\nNegroni\nI don't think I understand people who don't love Negronis. The blend of bitter and sweet, the herbal complexity, the refreshing pleasure—you gotta be nuts not to like this. Like the Martini, the Negroni is a drink that's open to tinkering. Start with the classic 1:1:1 ratio and go from there. It's fun. Try blending vermouths, too. Right now, I like a Negroni that's 2 parts gin, 1 part Campari, and 1/2 part each of Carpano Antica vermouth and Martini & Rossi. Want more ideas? Here are 11 more !\nBack to the full list »\nBoulevardier\nNow, some might say this only qualifies as a Negroni variation. I don't think so. I think it's a fine cocktail in its own right, and delicious enough to belong on this list. In fact, I even know a person or two who prefers the Boulevardier to the Negroni. Since my favorite spirit is rye, I sympathize.\nBack to the full list »\nSazerac\nNow for a few New Orleans classics. We'll start with the Sazerac. Nothing beats sipping one while spinning around the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone, but making them at home certainly comes close. The Sazerac would be among my desert-island cocktails, except for the unfortunate fact that it's very hard to find ice on a desert island.\nBack to the full list »\nVieux Carré\nSpeaking of the Monteleone, the Vieux Carré (or Old Square, another term for the French Quarter) originated at the hotel in 1938. The cocktail blends rye, cognac, Benedictine, and vermouth, along with Peychaud's and Angostura. I've had more than my share of these at the Carousel Bar, too.\nRamos Gin Fizz\n[Photo: Robyn Lee]\nBreak out your blender for this one. The Ramos Gin Fizz is a complex drink, of gin (naturally), lemon and lime juices, simple syrup, orange flower water, cream, an egg white, and (optionally) vanilla extract. Traditionally, it has the hell shaken out of it, first without ice, so that the ingredients emulsify, and then with ice, so it gets extremely cold and frothy. But Gary Regan, a smarter man than I am, insists that it's perfectly fine to use your blender for this one, so feel free, unless you're trying to tone up your arms.\nBack to the full list »\nMint Julep\nA few years ago, we lived in an apartment with backyard access. In addition to grilling out, smoking cigars, and enjoying cocktails on the veranda, we kept a garden. One year, the mint came in so abundantly we had mint juleps every day for a week. That was a great week.\nBack to the full list »\nWhiskey Sour\nAnother simple-to-make cocktail, the Whiskey Sour calls for bourbon or rye, lemon juice, and sugar. If you want a splash of orange juice in there, too, I won't stop you. This is a basic drink, of course, but it belongs in your arsenal because you'll probably have guests over one night, and sometimes your guests prefer basic drinks. As long as you have whiskey, lemons, and sugar on hand, you can always pull this one out.\nBack to the full list »\nMai Tai\nMy tiki-swilling friends are all saying now, \"About time you got a tiki drink on here, Dietsch.\" It ain't every bar that does a Mai Tai correctly; in fact, it's probably still relatively rare to find one that does, unfortunately. Which is all the more reason to learn how to make them at home. The hardest part is finding everything you need: two rums (preferably, though one will do, if it's a rich-tasting dark rum), orange curaçao, and orgeat (try the one from Small Hand Foods.) Shake everything and strain it over fresh ice. (Heck, you don't even have to do that; I've often just dumped the entire mixing glass into a chilled rocks glass and called it a day.)\nPlanter's Punch\n[Photograph: Robyn Lee]\nA beautiful, and necessary, drink for summer. Dark rum, lime and lemon, grenadine, and simple syrup. Yum. Hell, go crazy and get some umbrellas or fancy straws and be all festive and stuff. Paul Clarke's recipe leaves out the grenadine, you'll note. I don't know whether the grenadine is traditional or one of those later additions that make the geekiest of geeks angry. At any rate, if you're using it, use the DIY stuff, and replace half of Clarke's simple syrup: so, half an ounce simple, half an ounce grenadine.\nBack to the full list »\nCosmopolitan\nYes! The Cosmopolitan is on this list! It's a popular drink, and so if you host parties with any regularity, someone will ask you for one. (I made so many at one party, I should have premade and bottled them.) And you know what? It's a better drink than you think it is.\nThe Cosmopolitan is a cultural touchstone because once upon a time, Dale DeGroff got one into the hands of Madonna at the Rainbow Room and it became the drink to be seen with. Then HBO and SJP, of course, made the drink ubiquitous and clichéd. Nevertheless, sours (like Sidecars, Margaritas, and Daiquiris) are fundamental cocktails, and the Cosmopolitan is, simply stated, the best Vodka Sour around.\nBack to the full list »\nPisco Sour\nI don't know what else I can say about sours that I haven't already said about the Margarita, the Sidecar, and the Whiskey Sour. All I can say is that the pisco version is excellent; the unaged grape brandy makes for a drink that has a character distinct from its cousins—it's lightly floral and fresh. The addition of an egg white makes the drink creamy and luscious.\nBack to the full list »\nTom Collins\nCollinses, historically, are a class of cocktails calling for a spirit, simple syrup, lemon juice, and soda water. The Tom calls for gin, of course. Historically, that would have been Old Tom gin, hence the name, but these days London dry is common. Try it with Old Tom if you have it, though. Or sub in the spirit of your choice; just about anything will work in this formula. This drink is so refreshing and so easy to sip that I think anyone who likes to drink should be able to make one.\nYes, yes, you can skimp and pour gin into a glass and top it off with Sprite. The first time I was ever inebriated was on a Sprite-version Tom Collins, at a cousin's wedding when I was in high school. I have a soft spot for such Collins knockoffs, but I still urge you not to make it this way. The drink is much more delicious made with fresh, real juice.\nBack to the full list »\nLast Word\nWhat a story this drink has! If this were a story about a forgotten boxer, rediscovered years later by a fight aficionado, Clint Eastwood would have already directed the film by now. The drink arose in Detroit during Prohibition, but fell into neglect for decades until rediscovered by Murray Stenson in Seattle. The Last Word is a complex, herbaceous drink, and like the French 75, it's one that I think would make a gin lover out of almost anyone.",
"Hindu_mythology.txt\nHindu mythology\nHindu mythology is large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism as contained in Sanskrit literature (such as the epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Puranas, and the Vedas), Ancient Tamil literature (such as the Sangam literature and Periya Puranam), several other works, most notably the Bhagavata Purana, claiming the status of a Fifth Veda and other religious regional literature of South Asia. As such, it is a subset of mainstream Indian and Nepali culture. Rather than one consistent, monolithic structure, it is a range of diverse traditions, developed by different sects, people and philosophical schools, in different regions and at different times, which are not necessarily held by all Hindus to be literal accounts of historical events, but are taken to have deeper, often symbolic, meaning, and which have been given a complex range of interpretations. \n\nSources\n\nVedas\n\nThe roots of mythology that evolved from classical Hinduism come from the times of the Vedic civilization, from the ancient Vedic religion. The four Vedas, notably the hymns of the Rigveda, contain allusions to many themes (see Rigvedic deities, Rigvedic rivers).\n\nThe characters, philosophy and stories that make up ancient Vedic myths are indelibly linked with Hindu beliefs. The Vedas are four in number, namely RigVeda, YajurVeda, SamaVeda, and the AtharvaVeda.\n\nItihasa and Puranas\n\nIn the period of Classical Sanskrit, much material is preserved in the Sanskrit epics. Besides mythology proper, the voluminous epics also provide a wide range of information about ancient Nepali and Indian society, philosophy, culture, religion, and ways of life. The two great Hindu Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata tell the story of two specific incarnations of Vishnu (Rama and Krishna). These two works are known as Itihasa (History). The epics Mahabharata and Ramayana serve as both religious scriptures and a rich source of philosophy and morality. The epics are divided into chapters and contain various short stories and moral situations, where the character takes a certain course of action in accordance with Hindu laws and codes of righteousness. The most famous of these chapters is the Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit: The Celestial Song) in the Mahabharata, in which Lord Krishna explains the concepts of duty and righteousness to the hero Arjuna before the Battle of Kurukshetra. These stories are deeply embedded in Hindu philosophy and serve as parables and sources of devotion for Hindus. The Mahabharata is the world's longest epic in verse, running to more than 2,000,000 lines.\n\nThe epics themselves are set in different Yugas, or periods of time. The Ramayana, written by the Maharshi Valmiki, describes the life and times of Lord Rama (the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu) and occurs in the Treta Yuga. The Mahabharata, describing the life and times of the Pandavas, occurs in the Dvapara Yuga, a period associated with Lord Krishna (the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu). In total, there are 4 Yugas. These are the Satya or Krita Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and the Kali Yuga. The avatara concept, however, belongs to the Puranic times, well after the two great epics, though they often refer to pre-epic Yugas.\n\nThe Puranas deal with stories that are old and do not appear (or fleetingly appear) in the epics. They contain legends and stories about the origins of the world, and the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and mythological creatures (asuras, danavas, daityas, yakshas, rakshasas, gandharvas, apsaras, kinnaras, kimpurusas etc.). They contain traditions related to ancient kings, seers, incarnations of God (avatara) and legends about holy places and rivers. The Bhagavata Purana is probably the most read and popular of the Puranas. It chronicles the legends of the god Vishnu and his avatars on earth.\n\nCosmogony and cosmology\n\nCreation\n\nThe act of creation was thought of in more than one manner. One of the oldest cosmogonic myth in the Rigveda (RV 10.121) had come into existence as a cosmic egg, hiranyagarbha (a golden egg). The Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90) narrates that all things were made out of the mangled limbs of Purusha, a magnified non-natural man, who was sacrificed by the gods. In the Puranas, Vishnu, in the shape of a boar, plunged into the cosmic waters and brought forth the earth (Bhumi or Prithivi).\n\nThe Shatapatha Brahmana says that in the beginning, Prajapati, the first creator or father of all, was alone in the world. He differentiated himself into two beings, husband and wife. The wife, regarding union with her producer as incest, fled from his embraces assuming various animal disguises. The husband pursued in the form of the male of each animal, and from these unions sprang the various species of beasts (Shatapatha Brahmana, xiv. 4, 2). Prajapati was soon replaced with Brahma in the Puranas.\n\nIn the Puranas, Brahma the creator was joined in a divine triad with Vishnu and Maheshvara (Shiva), who were the preserver and destroyer, respectively. The universe was created by Brahma, preserved by Vishnu, and destroyed for the next creation by Shiva. However, the birth of Brahma was attributed to Vishnu in some myths. Brahma was often depicted as sitting on a lotus arising from the navel of Vishnu, who was resting on the cosmic serpent, Ananta (Shesha). In the very beginning Vishnu alone was there. When Vishnu thought about creation, Brahma was created from a lotus that came from his navel.\n\nWorlds \n\nHinduism defines fourteen worlds (not to be confused with planets) – seven higher worlds (heavens) and seven lower ones (underworlds). (The earth is considered the lowest of the seven higher worlds.) The higher worlds are the seven vyahrtis, viz. bhu(meaning Land/Earth), bhuvas(meaning Air/atmosphere),svar(meaning the Sun, Heaven, World of Gods, The sky, The region of the planets and constellations,Radiance, Epithet of Shiva, Sound, Voice, Tone, Tune, A primary musical sound), \"mahas, janas, tapas, and satya (the world that is ruled by Brahma); and the lower ones (the \"seven underworlds\" or paatalas) are atala, vitala, sutala, rasaataala, talatala, mahaatala, paatala. \n\nAll the worlds except the earth are used as temporary places of stay as follows: upon one's death on earth, the god of death (officially called 'Yama Dharma Raajaa' – Yama, the lord of justice) tallies the person's good/bad deeds while on earth and decides if the soul goes to a heaven and/or a hell, for how long, and in what capacity. Some versions of the religion state that good and bad deeds neutralize each other and the soul therefore is born in either a heaven or a hell, but not both, whereas according to another school of thought, the good and bad deeds don't cancel out each other. In either case, the soul acquires a body as appropriate to the worlds it enters. At the end of the soul's time in those worlds, it returns to the earth (is reborn as a life form on the earth). It is considered that only from the earth, and only after a human life, can the soul reach supreme salvation, the state free from the cycle of birth and death, a state of absolute and eternal bliss. \n\nThe nature of time\n\nAccording to Hindu system, the cosmos passes through cycles within cycles for all eternity. The basic cycle is the kalpa, a \"day of Brahma\", or 4,320 Billion earthly years. His night is of equal length. 360 such days and nights constitute a \"year of Brahma\" and his life is 100 such years long. The largest cycle is therefore 311, 040,000 Billion years long, after which the whole universe returns to the ineffable world-spirit, until another creator god is evolved .\n\nIn each cosmic day the god creates the universe and again absorbs it. During the cosmic night he sleeps, and the whole universe is gathered up into his body, where it remains as a potentiality. Within each kalpa are fourteen manvantaras, or secondary cycles, each lasting 306,720,000 years, with long intervals between them. In these periods the world is recreated, and a new Manu appears, as the progenitor of the human race. We are now in the seventh manvantara of the kalpa, of which the Manu is known as Manu Vaivasvata.\n\nEach manvantara contains 71 Mahayugas, or aeons, of which a thousand form the kalpa. Each mahayuga is in turn divided into four yugas or ages, called Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. Their lengths are respectively 4800, 3600, 2400 and 1200 \"years of the gods,\" each of which equals 360 human years. Each yuga represents a progressive decline in piety, morality, strength, stature, longevity and happiness. We are at present in the Kali-yuga, which began, according to tradition, in 3102 BCE, believed to be the year of the Mahabharata War.\n\nThe end of the Kali-yuga is marked by confusion of classes, the overthrow of the established standards, the cessation of all religious rites, and the rule of cruel and alien kings. Soon after this the world is destroyed by flood and fire. Most medieval texts state that the cosmic dissolution occurs only after the last cycle of the kalpa, and that the transition from one aeon to the next takes place rapidly and calmly.\n\nEschatology\n\nThe dissolution of existing beings is of three kinds: \"incidental, elemental, and absolute.\" The dissolution which occurs at the end of each Kalpa, or day of Brahma, is called naimittika, incidental, occasional, or contingent. The naimittika, occasional, incidental, or Brahmya, is as occasioned by the intervals of Brahma's days; the destruction of creatures, though not of the substance of the world, occurring during the night. The second is the general resolution of the elements into their primitive source, or Prakriti, the Prakritika destruction, and occurs at the end of Brahma's life. The third, the absolute, or final, Atyantika, is individual annihilation, Moksha, exemption for ever from future existence.\n\nHindu pantheon\n\nVishnu\n\nVishnu rose from a minor role as a solar deity in the Rigveda to one of the Hindu Triad with Brahma and Shiva to the Absolute of the universe in Vaishnavism. Vishnu's willingness to incarnate in time of need to restore righteousness (dharma) was the inspiring theme that made him both absolute and a compassionate giver of grace (prasada). According to the Puranas, he sleeps in the primeval ocean, on the thousand-headed snake Shesha. In his sleep a lotus grows from his navel, and in the lotus is born the demiurge Brahma, who creates the world. Once the world is created Vishnu awakes, to reign in the highest heaven, Vaikuntha. As the protector of life, one of the duties of Vishnu is to appear on the earth whenever a firm hand is required to set things right. The Avataras or incarnations of Vishnu are, according to the most popular classification, ten. They are as follows: The Fish (Matsya), The Tortoise (Kurma), the Boar (Varaha), the Man-Lion (Narasimha), the Dwarf (Vamana), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki (the incarnation yet to come in kaliyuga).\n\nShiva\n\nShiva is considered the supreme deity, the ultimate source and goal by the Saivite sect. The Pashupata, Shaiva Siddhanta and some other sects view Shiva as equal to, or even greater than the Absolute (Brahman). Shiva's character is 'ambivalent,' as he can be a moral and paternal god, or a god of outsiders, of those outside the Brahmanical mainstream, worshipped in various ways. Several Tantric cults are also associated with Shiva.\n\nIn classical Hinduism Shiva is the god of destruction, generally portrayed as a yogin who lives on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas. His body is smeared with ashes, his hair piled up in matted locks. He wears an animal skin and carries a trident. A cobra often serves as his garland and the crescent moon as his hair ornament. He has a third eye, kept closed in the middle of his forehead. He may be surrounded by his beautiful wife Parvati, and their two sons, the six-faced Skanda and the elephant-headed Ganesha.\n\nThe ancient name of Shiva is Rudra, the Wild God. The Rig-Veda (10.61 & 1.71) tells that when time was about to begin he appeared as a wild hunter, aflame, his arrow directed against the Creator (Prajapati) making love with his virgin daughter, the Dawn (Usas). The Creator, terribly frightened, made Rudra Lord of Animals (Pasupati) for sparing his life.\n\nA key theme that first appears in later Vedic literature is the god's rather ambiguous relation to the sacrificial oblations and offerings. Originally Rudra-Shiva seems to have been at least partly excluded from orthodox Vedic sacrifices and thus has to demand his share of the offerings, sometimes described as the share that is 'left-over' (ucchista). In the classical mythology of Hinduism, this theme is incorporated into Shiva's conflict with his first father-in-law, the Brahmin named Daksha, who did not invite Shiva to a sacrifice organized by him and an enraged Sati(Daksha's daughter) goes to reproach her father for the same. However Daksha insults Shiva and Sati enraged by this says that she, being born of a being as lowly as Daksha does not deserve to be Shiva's consort and immolates herself. Shiva, furious in the loss of his love, beheads Daksha and then replaces it with that of a goat, the sacrificial animal.\n\nMany of the main episodes in the Shiva myth cycle revolve around the dynamic tension between Shiva as the god equally of asceticism and eroticism, a master of both yogic restraint and sexual prowess.\n\nShiva destroys Kama, the god of erotic love, with the fire from his third eye when Kama attempts to disturb his ascetic trance. Subsequently Parvati, daughter of the Himalaya, wins Shiva's love through her own ascetic penance and persuades him to revive Kama in disembodied form.\n\nBy chopping off the fifth head of Brahma, Shiva is charged with the major sin of the murder of a brahman and must undertake the penance, or the Great Vow (mahavrata), of the Skull-Bearer (kapalin), an ascetic who wanders about with a skull as a begging bowl. This Great Vow becomes the archetypical basis of the ascetic sect of the Kapalikas or Mahavratins, who are equally noted for their indulgence in the orgiastic rites of Tantric character. The complicated myth of the birth of the six-faced Skanda, a son of Shiva, exists in a number of very different versions. In part, Skanda is the son of Shiva and Parvati, but he is at the same time the son of Agni and of the six Krittikas. His role is to destroy the terrible demon Taraka.\n\nThe three sons of Taraka later establish the mighty triple city of the demons, which Shiva eventually destroys with a single arrow from his bow, Pinaka. Another demon named Andhaka, the blind son of Shiva and/or of the demon Hiranyaksha, lusts after Parvati but is defeated and reformed by Shiva. Shiva beheads his Ganesha, whom he has never met, when Ganesha tries to prevent the apparent stranger from entering the room of Parvati, Shiva's wife and Ganesha's mother. Shiva then replaces his son's head with that of an elephant just as he once replaced Daksha's head with that of a goat. Later in a battle Ganesha loses one of his tusk (a more popular alternative myth describes how Ganesha broke off one of his tusks to transcribe the Mahabharata as dictated by Ved Vyasa).\n\nDevi\n\nDevi is Shakti, the strength and power of her male counterpart. As one individual goddess, Devi may be seen as Parvati the wife of Shiva. Also known as Mahadevi (the \"great mother goddess\"), she is Shiva's equal, or she may even be held to be the supreme deity of the universe, and the ultimate source of everything that has life, consciousness, power, or activity. When regarded as a wife and mother, her calm and cool (orthodox) nature manifested in beautiful, obedient wives such as Parvati for Shiva, Lakshmi or Shri for Vishnu, and Sarasvati for Brahma. In her aggressive manifestation as Durga, she is a slayer of the evil, personified as a buffalo demon, Mahisha. In her most fierce aspect, she is Kali or Chamunda, who drinks up the blood of the demon Raktabija ('blood seed'), whose every blood drop when fell on land gave rise to more demons.\n\nLesser Devatas\n\nAs well as Vishnu, Shiva and Durga, many other Devatas (Devas or gods) are worshipped. Brahma rose to importance in the late Vedic period of the Aranyakas and Upanishads. In the Brahmanas he was associated with Prajapati and later replaced him as the creator. His creations, however, came to be seen as re-creations. It was Shiva, Vishnu, or Devi who was said to be the ultimate origin of the universe. Brahma was only its current creator (or re-creator).\n\nThe Rigveda speaks of Thirty-three gods called the Tridasha ('Three times ten'). They consisted of the 12 Adityas, the 8 Vasus, the 11 Rudras and the 2 Ashvins. Indra also called Śakra, lord of the gods, is the first of the 33 followed by Agni. Some of these brother gods were invoked in pairs such as Indra-Agni, Mitra-Varuna and Soma-Rudra.\n\nSome Devatas are associated with specific elements or functions: Indra or Shakra (the king of gods, the ruler of the lower heaven Amaravati, the wielder of the thunderbolt and the rain-god), Varuna (the god of the waters), Yama (the death-god), Kubera (the lord of precious metals, minerals, jewels and wealth), Agni (the fire-god), Surya (the sun-god), Vayu (the wind-god), and Chandra or Soma (the moon-god). Yama, Indra, Varuna and Kubera, are known as Lokapalas, or Guardians of the Universe.\nThe sons of Shiva and Parvati are Skanda and Ganesha. The former is the war-god while the latter is the 'Lord of the Obstacles' and is worshipped at the beginning of all undertakings to remove hindrances. Kama is the Indian love-god who was burnt to ashes by Shiva and then revived once again.\n\nAmong the Devis, Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, is the goddess of good luck and temporal blessing. Sarasvati, the wife of Brahma, is the patron of art, music and letters.\n\nDemigods and spirits\n\nAs well as these gods there are an infinite number of creatures that inhabit the world of Hinduism. The Nagas (snake-spirits) are half-human, but with a serpent's tail, dwell in the beautiful underground city of Bhogavati and guard great treasures. The Yakshas, associated with the god Kubera, are a sort of gnome or fairy, worshiped by country people. The Gandharvas, all male, are servants of Indra and heavenly musicians. Associated with them, are the Kinnaras, the Indian centaurs. The female counterparts of the Gandharvas are the Apsarases. They are beautiful and libidinous, and specially delighted in tempting ascetics in their meditations. A further group of demigods is that of the Vidyadharas or heavenly magicians, mysterious beings who live in magic cities in the high Himalayas and the Vindhyas.\n\nThe Rishis (sages or seers) were composers of the Vedic hymns and other legendary wise men of olden times. Chief of these were the 'Seven Rishis', identified with the stars of the Great Bear – Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vashistha. Other important rishis include Kashyapa and Daksha, the progenitors of gods and men; Narada, who invented the vina and is regarded the best of Vaishnavas (devotees of Lord Vishnu); Brihaspati and Shukra, the preceptor of the gods and the demons, respectively; and Agastya, who propagated religion and culture in the southern part of the peninsula. The Pitrs are the \"fathers\" or \"ancestor spirits\" connected with the ritualistic offerings to the spirits of the dead.\n\nThe Asuras ('ungodly') are the chief evil spirits who are continually at war with the gods, whose power they sometimes shake, but never conquer. They include all the sinful demons, both the sons of Diti (called daityas) and Danu (called Danavas), and various special groups, such as the Kalakeyas and Nivatakavachas. The typical leaders of the Asuras are Vritra, Hiranyakashipu, Bali etc., demons are usually slaughtered by Indra or Vishnu. Rakshasas ('demons') are the sons of Pulatsya, the chief among whom was Ravana, who was killed by Rama. Somewhat less terrible are the Pisachas, who haunt battlefields and places of violent deaths, as do a special class of demons, called Vetala or vampires, who take their abode in corpses. In addition, Preta and Bhuta ('ghosts') are the naked spirits of those who have died violent deaths and for whom shraddha has not been performed.\n\nWars\n\nWars between the gods and the Asuras (Devasura Yuddha)\n\nThere were in all twelve ferocious battles fought between the gods and the Asuras over the control of the three worlds, viz. Varaha, Narasimha, Tarakamaya, Andhaka-vadha, Traipura, Amrtamathana, Vamana, Dhvajapata, Adibaka, Kolahala, Vritra-vadha and Halahala. Hiranyaksha was killed in fighting in the cosmic ocean by Varaha with its tusks in the first. Hiranyakashipu, the daitya was killed by Narasimha in the second. In the third battle, Taraka, the son of Vajranga was slain by Skanda. Andhaka, the foster son of Hiranyaksha was killed by Vishnu in the fourth. In the fifth, as the gods could not kill the danavas led by the three sons of Taraka, Shiva killed them. Mahabali was defeated in battle by Indra in the Amrtamathana battle. In the seventh, Vamana took Mahabali captive after measuring the three worlds in one stride. In the eighth, Indra himself killed Viprachitti and his followers who became invisible by maya after the felling of the dhvaja (flag staff). In the ninth, Kakutstha, grandson of Ikshvaku helped Indra defeat Adi-Baka. Sanda and Marka, the sons of Shukra were killed in the Kolahala war. Vritra who was aided by the danavas was killed by Indra with the help of Vishnu in the eleventh. In the twelfth, Raji, the younger brother of Nahusha helped Indra defeat the Asuras.\n\nWeaponry\n\nApart from the traditional human weapons like swords, daggers, spears, clubs, shields, bows, arrows and maces, and the weapons used by the gods (such as Indra's thunderbolt Vajra), the texts mention the utilization of various divine weapons by various heroes, each associated with a certain god or deity. These weapons are most often gifted to semi-divine beings, human beings or the rakshasas by the gods, sometimes as a result of penance.\n\nThere are several weapons which were used by the gods of Hinduism, some of which are Agneyastra, Brahmastra, Chakram, Garudastra, Kaumodaki, Narayanastra, Pashupatastra, Shiva Dhanush, Sudarshana Chakra, Trishul, Vaishnavastra, Varunastra, and Vayavastra.\n\nSome of these weapons are explicitly classified ( for example, the Shiva Dhanush is a bow, the Sudharshan Chakra is a discus and the Trishul is a trident), but many other weapons appear to be weapons specially blessed by the gods. For example, the Brahmastra, Agneyastra (Sanskrit: Astra = weapon, especially, one thrown at an opponent. Shastra are weapons used with hand and are not thrown) and the other astras appear to be single use weapons requiring an intricate knowledge of use, often depicted in art, literature and adapted filmography as divinely blessed arrows.\n\nSometimes the astra is descriptive of the function, or of the force of nature which it invokes. The Mahabharata cites instances when the Nagastra (Sanskrit: Nag=snake) was used, and thousands of snakes came pouring down from the skies on unsuspecting enemies. Similarly, the Agneyastra (Agni) is used for setting the enemy ablaze, as the Varunastra (Varuna) is used for extinguishing flames, or for invoking floods. Some weapons like the Brahmastra can only be used (lethally) against a single individual.\n\nApart from the astras, other instances of divine or mythological weaponry include armor (Kavacha), crowns and helmets, staffs and jewellery (Kundala).\n\nThe Deluge \n\nThe story of a great flood is mentioned in ancient Hindu texts, particularly the Satapatha Brahmana. It is compared to the accounts of the Deluge found in several religions and cultures. Manu was informed of the impending flood and was protected by the Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu, who had manifested himself in this form to rid the world of morally depraved human beings and protect the pious, as also all animals and plants. \n\nAfter the flood the Lord inspires the Manusmriti, largely based upon the Vedas, which details the moral code of conduct, of living and the division of society according to the caste system. \n\nHouse of Ikshvaku \n\nIkshvaku was the son of Manu, the first mortal man and son of Surya, and founder of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty). Great kings like Harishchandra the Truthful and Rama were born in this house.\n\nBharatavarsha \n\nThe first king to conquer all of the world was Bharata, son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. All of this world, Vishwa, is named Bharatavarsha, or The Land of Bharata, or The Cherished Land. The Pandavas and the Kauravas were born in this dynasty.",
"Krishna: the God of Love, Sex and Yoga - Gnostic Teachings\nKrishna is a Hindu god ... This is a transcription of the audio lecture audio Teachings of the Hindu Gods 01 Krishna ... Most people who study religion do all ...\nKrishna: the God of Love, Sex and Yoga\nTeachings of the Hindu Gods, a Free Online Course\nKrishna: the God of Love, Sex and Yoga\nThis is a transcription of the audio lecture audio Teachings of the Hindu Gods 01 Krishna, the God of Love, Sex, and Yoga AUDIO (40.20 MB) originally given live on Gnostic Radio, which you can download for free. There is also an accompanying PDF: pdf Teachings of the Hindu Gods 01 Krishna, the God of Love, Sex, and Yoga PDF (5.83 MB)\nHinduism is a vastly sophisticated and complex religious tradition, with hundreds or even thousands of variations, different branches and schools, and many many ancient scriptures that describe many different aspects of religions. Yet we find a central theme throughout all Hinduism that describes the supreme manifestation of the Divine. One of the most beautiful characteristics of the Hindu tradition is its recognition that God is ultimately nameless and formless, but as an expression of love, the Divine takes different forms and appearances in order to aid humanity. Thus the Hindu tradition embraces and respects all Gods as expressions of the One. The Hindu tradition embraces and respects all religions. This is a very beautiful characteristic of the Hindu tradition.\nHinduism is one of the oldest religions that survive on this planet, in this age. Counted among its treasures are many of the oldest writings of humanity - which are of course scriptures – and, the longest writings of humanity. Many Westerners think the Bible is one of the longest writings in humanity, and one of the oldest, but it is neither. Hinduism has both the oldest and the longest writings. Today we are going to study one of the most important representations of Divinity in the Hindu tradition: Krishna.\nKrishna is, like in any religion, a character or a symbol that has many different aspects, different meanings, different levels of importance and different interpretations. Of course, over the centuries, the character of Krishna has been understood by people at many different levels, some accurate, some inaccurate. For Westerners, Krishna may appear exotic and hard to understand, but in Asia, Krishna is a very ubiquitous presence, even amongst Buddhists, Daoists and other types of traditions. Krishna is a widely recognized and respected figure, and plays a role in many different religions, not just in Hinduism.\nThe myth of Krishna is complicated, rich, and profound. We find in Hinduism that the character of Krishna has taken on many different levels of meaning. Just as in Christianity, we nowadays find that many Christians relate to Jesus only as little baby Jesus. So, they have reduced the character or symbol of Jesus to something related with family life, something very simple, which does not communicate the entirety of this Divine symbol. In India, it is common to find images of Krishna as a babe, getting in trouble, being breast fed, etc.\nThese are not interpretations of Krishna that we find to be important in Gnosis . It is not what we will discuss in this class.\nOf particular importance to us is that Krishna, as a Master, as a person, is said to be the eighth messenger of Vishnu.\nThe word messenger in Sanskrit is Avatar. Nowadays some people think this word Avatar means something other than what it really means. There are now many people claiming to be an \"Avatar,\" claiming to be Divine incarnations on Earth, and they deck themselves with jewels and gold and want to be worshipped and followed. But, this is not the meaning of Avatar. The real meaning is \"messenger,\" someone who delivers a message on behalf of God. A genuine avatar is not vain or proud, making proclamations about themselves. Instead, their every action is selfless, focused on helping others escape from suffering.\nAs a person, as a human being, there is a man named Krishna who was active in India several thousand years ago, and he still lives. The man Krishna, the Master, came several thousands years ago, long before Jesus of Nazareth. He came in order to deliver a message to the peoples of South East Asia, and that message is still being circulated today. Krishna as a man, as a Master, is a very great Master. But, we are not gathered here to talk about him. Really, what we are interested in is the message that he was delivering, and the originator of that message. In this image we see the originator of that message represented as Vishnu.\nVishnu is just one of the many symbolic representations of God in the Hindu pantheon. You see gathered around Vishnu many of his messengers, most from the past, but some also from the future.\nVishnu is just a symbol of an aspect of the Divine that reaches out in order to help humanity. It is stated in one of the Hindu scriptures, through the mouth of Krishna, that he comes into the world any time religion declines and degenerates. He comes into the world in order to give the message to guide humanity back to the light, and he does that according to the time and need of each age – with a different face (messenger, Avatar), with a different language, but it is always the same message.\n\"Whenever the Law declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to re-establish the Law.\" - Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita 4.7-8\nIn the Hindu scriptures, you will find many stories about Krishna. Probably the two most important are The Bhagavata Purana and The Mahabharata—which is the longest epic poem that we know of on this planet. It is an ancient, very extensive and very beautiful scripture. Mahabharat means, \"the Great Warrior,\" and the whole poem is about a great war amongst the Gods. Krishna plays a central role.\nThe Bhagavata Purana tells many of his exploits and stories.\nToday, we are going to talk about the Mahabharata.\nThere is one little section of the Mahabharata that is one of the most important scriptures in the world and it is called The Bhagavad Gita, which means \"the song of the Lord.\" This is an epic, beautiful poem of instructions that Krishna gave to his disciple, Arjuna.\nIn relation to all of this, we find an excerpt from an Upanishad called Gopala Tapaniya , that describes Divinity in a very beautiful way:\n\"The one Supreme Personality of Godhead is hidden within everything. It is all-pervading. It is in everyone's heart. It witnesses everyone's activities. It lives in everyone's heart. It is the witness. It is Consciousness . It is transcendence. It is beyond the modes of nature.\"\nThis passage from this Upanishad describes what every religion attempts to present to us poor mortals, which is that beyond the scope of our physical senses is a level of intelligence that pervades everything that exists. That level of intelligence is the root and source of everything that is alive. In Hinduism, it is called Krishna. The most important meaning of Krishna is not the Master, not the person, not a baby, not one man. Krishna is an energy. In Greek terms, Krishna is Christ.\nKrishna, or Christ, is the fire that lights everything that lives. Everything that exists is illuminated by the living fire-light of Krishna. So, in Gnosis when we talk about Krishna, this is what we are talking about; the root of all existence, the very fundamental basis.\nThe name Krishna is Sanskrit, and it means \"black\" or \"dark blue.\" It basically means something very dark in color. Naturally, when encountering Hinduism and discovering that the chief divinity of Hinduism has a name that means black, many fanaticized Westerners become scandalized, and accuse the Hindus of being \"devil worshippers.\" This is just a result of the fanaticism, fear, and misunderstanding in many people's minds.\nKrishna is usually represented with blue or very dark skin. We can see in this image that Krishna stands in a very relaxed posed, playing a flute. Behind him is a cow. These images are symbolic. Unfortunately, nowadays, many take them as literal, and really think that there is a person named Krishna with blue skin who plays a flute and protects cows. This is not the meaning. This image is symbolic. It is intended to be used for Meditation , and can reveal many beautiful truths about Christ.\nIf you study religions, then you know that many of the greatest prophets, Christified Masters, as representatives of Christ, were protectors of sacred animals. David, Jesus, Heracles, all protected cows or sheep. They were shepherds or cowherds. Even the Buddha, whose name is Gautama, reflects that origin. The cow represents the Divine Mother, the cow represents nature. The cow represents what gives us life, the milk of life, the Amrita or Ambrosia of the Gods, which comes from the udder of the cow. Krishna is the protector of the cow. Christ protects his mother. We find this in Isis and Horus. Isis is represented as a cow, with her cow horns. She is the one who gives life, and her protector was her son, Horus. Horus is Krishna; it is the same symbol.\nThe reason that Krishna is described as black or dark blue, can be seen when you study the night sky. Christ is the origin of all life, it is the field upon which everything lives, blossoms, and grows.\nTo us, the night sky is black, which is very odd when you consider that the sky, the universe, is filled with suns that irradiate enormous volumes of light. How could that huge quantity of light be black? It is illogical. If the universe is filled with glowing suns that are emitting immeasurable amounts of light, why would it be black? It is only black because we do not have the eyes to see that light. It is too bright; we are blind to it. We cannot see it. It is a level of luminosity that is beyond our vision; it is black to us. But, if we had the eyes that could see it, the universe would not be black.\nKrishna is called the 'Black God' in the same way that amongst the Egyptians Osiris is called a black God. His spouse is Nut, Isis, the Divine Mother, who is the sky filled with stars, that fundamental emptiness from which stars are born. Krishna / Christ is the light that emerges in the darkness. The darkness does not understand the light. Our mind, our perception, does not comprehend the light of Krishna / Christ. We see black.\nIn the Bhagavad-Gita, Christ / Krishna, incarnated in a human being, taught his disciple, Arjuna. Arjuna represents the human soul, our Consciousness , our essence, who rides in a chariot, which is the soul led by a team of horses. Those horses represent many things: the Solar Bodies, the Tattvas, the senses. The horses have psychological symbolism.\nThe whole story of the Mahabharata is about a great war. When that war is about to be commenced, Arjuna is on the battlefield about to go into battle against his relatives, against the people he loves. He hesitates and says, \"Krishna, my guide, my friend, my teacher, I cannot kill my family. I cannot kill the ones I have known and loved throughout my existences. I cannot do it. I cannot do that.\"\nOf course, this is symbolic also. The whole Bhagavad Gita is Krishna's teaching to Arjuna about the great spiritual war inside of ourselves, against ourselves. True spirituality is about conquering our defects, those aspects of ourselves that we have nourished and cherished for lifetimes, and that we feel are our inner family. Our enemies are parts of ourselves that we have known and loved for centuries. When the moment comes to engage in real spirituality, we feel, \"I cannot kill myself, because I am all I know. How do I kill myself, psychologically, spiritually?\" It is too scary. So, Arjuna gives us the answer: we have to appeal to Krishna, to Christ, for guidance. The lesson that Krishna gives is very deep, beautiful and profound. Study The Bhagavad Gita; this scripture can guide you very deeply, through many important aspects of your spiritual work.\nThis painting shows Krishna revealing his true form to Arjuna. Arjuna has a hard time understanding who Krishna is, how God fits into all of this, and why we must die. Why is it that we have to die psychologically? Why is it that the ego is wrong? Why is it that we have to conquer lust and anger and pride? The only way that Arjuna can understand that is to understand what does not have those qualities, which is the pure Consciousness .\nWe cannot really proceed in our spiritual, psychological work to eliminate pride, unless we really know what humility truly is. We cannot conquer pride until we understand that it is a source of suffering. We cannot conquer pride until we experience how humility is a source of benefit.\nIt is impossible for us to conquer lust, until we realize that it is an affliction, a source of suffering, and we have seen and tasted what it should be, which is Chastity , true love, sexual purity, inflamed by divinity.\nWe cannot conquer anger, resentment, until we have really understood compassion, love.\nThus, for every psychological defect, real comprehension can only emerge when understand it as a source of suffering, and we also understand the virtue that should be present there instead.\nFurthermore, all virtue is an expression of the divine. Thus, in this painting, Krishna shows Arjuna his multifaceted truth; that Christ explodes into existence as everything that exists. Every God, every Divinity, every flower, every plant, ever animal, every planet, every Sun is an expression of Christ's light, of Krishna. This vision so moves Arjuna, that he comprehends religion, and he comprehends the great war, and then he is prepared to go into battle. This is why in Gnosis , we emphasis the importance of developing the capacity to perceive the Divine. We develop that capacity through learning how to meditate.\nReal Meditation is a state of Consciousness in which no ego interferes with our perception. No ego interfering means that in that state there is no desire, no attachment, no pride, no lust, etc. Real Meditation is a state of pure, unfiltered Consciousness , perceptive and seeing the reality. As long as we do not have that perception, we are in confusion. So, this vision in the Bhagavad Gita represents the type of vision that we need to achieve, which is given by God in order for us to advance in our work.\nUpon seeing this vision, Arjuna exclaims,\n\"O limitless one, God of gods, refuge of the universe! You are the invincible source, the cause of all causes, transcendental to this material manifestation. You are the original Personality of Godhead, the oldest, the ultimate sanctuary of this manifested cosmic world. You are the knower of everything, and You are all that is knowable. You are the supreme refuge, above the material modes. O limitless form! This whole cosmic manifestation is pervaded by You!\"\nThis narrative event in the scripture is the moment in which Arjuna, the Consciousness ( Tiphereth ) perceives Christ, without any filters, without any ego . It is the perception of the Consciousness , freed, perceptive of reality. This is a Samadhi. It is a beautiful, cognizant comprehension of the nature of Christ.\nThere is an entire chapter in the Bhagavad Gita in which Arjuna describes his vision, and it is overwhelming, especially to the intellect and our personality. Genuine comprehension of the Divine is overwhelming. The experience of That Which Is transforms the soul, the Consciousness .\nKrishna says about his identity,\n\"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, Manas, and Buddhi, egoism (Ahamkara) – thus is My Prakriti divided eight-fold. This is the inferior (Prakriti); but distinct from this know thou My superior Prakriti, the very life, O mighty-armed, by which this universe is upheld.\"\nThe elements mentioned here are called Tattvas. A Tattva is a vibration of energy. It is a modification of the light of Christ / Krishna. We have explained in many lectures that Christ is the root energy in all that exists. That energy descends into manifestation, it crystallizes, it condenses and takes different forms, and in that path of condensation, it becomes differentiated as the elements earth, water, fire, air, ether. These are five modalities of matter and energy that vibrate in different dimensions and that give rise to everything that exists. Our physical body is a very specific combination of the five Tattvas. So is the body of a God, but with a different vibration. A great Master like Krishna or Moses is comprised of the same elements, but at a different level of vibration. This is important to understand because many people read these scriptures, and read that all things are Krishna, and they assume, \"Well then, we are all Krishna, so we are all fine as we are now, we are all enlightened.\" That is wrong. That Tattvas manifest in different levels and vibrations. We are not the same as Gods. We have the potential to become Gods, but we are not there yet.\nManas and Buddhi are related with aspects of Consciousness , of the soul. To understand this better, we can look at the Tree of Life . The Tree of Life shows us how the structures of nature are represented in Kabbalah . At the very top of the tree, this structure of 10 spheres, we see three rings – the Ain, the Ain Soph and the Ain Soph Aur. These three are really one; they are the Absolute, Abstract Space. They represent the unmanifested, uncreated light. They are Krishna at the highest level. They are pure potentiality.\n \nBecause of Karma, because of the disequilibrium of the energies in nature, the Absolute has to give rise to creation; a light emerges, which is the Ain Soph Aur (these are Hebrew words). The Ain Soph Aur means, 'The Limitless Light.\" In Sanskrit we can call that \"Adi Buddha.\" It can also be called Krishna. The first expression of that light is the sephirah Kether , in Hebrew . Kether is also Krishna, as the supreme personality of God. Kether unfolds into the sephirah Chokmah , which means \"wisdom\"; that is also Krishna, the pure wisdom aspect of God. That is also the sephirah Binah , the 3rd sphere, which means \"intelligence.\" That is also Krishna. These three together are the Trinity in any religion. Kether , Chokmah , Binah ; Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Osiris, Isis and Horus; the Three Logoi, the Trinity, the Cosmic Christ. Those three are one, as Krishna.\nThat level of existence is archetypal. It is the preparatory stage for manifestation. It is the level at which there is a blueprint, there is a map, there is a potential, but it is not created yet. When it emerges and finally creates, we see the rest of the Tree of Life , these seven spheres below. Those are all the other dimensions in nature. The seven below are different modalities or condensations of the Tattvas.\nIn other words, the light of the Ain Soph Aur gives rise to the Solar Logos, Krishna as the Supreme God-Head, which can also be called Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, that Trinity, creates. The resulting creation is the lower Prakriti, the inferior Prakriti, that forms the dimensions of nature. Those top three sephiroth and the Absolute are dimensionless. They exist, but they do not exist. We can call that realm the zero dimension. It is beyond our intellect to grasp the real meaning of that. But, when they create, dimensions come into play.\nThe first manifested dimension is the 6th dimension, which is the most subtle. In Kabbalah , that level is symbolized by the sephiroth Chesed , Geburah , and Tiphereth . Those are the Kabbalistic, Hebrew terms for that level of nature.\nChesed in Sanskrit is called Atman, which means Self. Chesed or Atman is not the self that we call our \"self\" here. Rather, it is our Being, our inner Divinity.\nGeburah in Sanskrit is called Buddhi, which strictly translated means intellect, but that does not mean our intellect, it does not mean the intellect that we have here as terrestrial people; it refers to Consciousness at a Divine level. It is a type of intellect that is pure intuition. It does not reason, it knows. So, it is intellect from an Asian psychological perspective, not Western.\nTiphereth in Sanskrit is Manas, in Sanskrit. Manas can also be translated in various ways, but it is generally translated as reasoning, mind. Again, manas is not merely our terrestrial mind, our reasoning, the way we experience it here. Manas is abstract mind, intuitive mind, a type of mind that does not reason or compare. Manas, which in Hebrew is Tiphereth , is represented by Arjuna in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna is the Human Soul, the pure Consciousness , who questions God, saying, 'Please teach me. I cannot fight this battle.' Then, when seeing God, he is ready to fight against the mistaken ones, which represent the ego , the karma.\nWhen Krishna says, \"Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Manas and Buddhi,\" he is talking about how all of that emerges out him, and become the lower levels. The first seven aspects are pure. But the last one, the 8th, is Ahamkara, egoism, the I: pride, lust, anger, greed, envy, gluttony, fear, laziness, etc. It is strange to read in a scripture that Krishna becomes egoism. But, it happens, because of us.\nThe Tree of Life represents nature, and the dimensions outside of us, but it also represents us. These levels that are displayed on the Tree of Life are in us, and in moment to moment existence, Krishna is flowing through us; Krishna is the fire of life, it is what is giving life to every cell in us. It is the energy inside every thought, inside every feeling, inside every sensation. We corrupt it.\nOur body is comprised of earth, water, fire, air, and either, and so is our heart, so is our mind, so is our soul. Manas and Buddhi are the Human Soul, Tiphereth , the Divine Soul Geburah , but in us, they are trapped in Ahamkara, egoism.\nSo, he explains further, that distinct from this, \"know thou My superior Prakriti, the very life, O mighty-armed, by which this universe is upheld.\" So, look at this map of the Tree of Life and realize there are two aspects that Krishna is describing as himself:\nThe superior aspect, which is the upper Trinity and the Absolute.\nThe inferior aspect, which are the seven Sephiroth below.\nSuperior Prakriti and inferior Prakriti.\nSo, then the question becomes, what is Prakriti? We see we have two aspects, and we understand something about how nature is manifested, we need to know what Prakriti is. Prakriti is a Sanskrit word that means nature.\nObviously, we have nature outside of us, and if you are a little bit observant, you can see that we are corrupting nature outside of us in a really terrible way. Can you go anywhere on this planet and find a place that is unaffected by human activity? None that I know of. Even in the Antarctic and the Arctic, which are completely inhospitable to human life, we find pollution, chemicals, garbage. Scientists go up there and find garbage, plastic bottles, trash that has been blown around by the atmosphere. They find chemicals, gasoline, rocket fuel. The air is poisoned, the water is poisoned, the entire planet is poisoned because of Ahamkara, egoism. So, if our exterior nature is polluted, why? Because the nature inside of us was polluted first. The pollution inside of us has spread out.\nThis is why Samael Aun Weor stated in many of his books that our external circumstances are merely a reflection of our internal ones. What is happening to us in our external lives, around us, our circumstances, our problems, the pollution and wars and uncertainty and economic hardship, are a reflection of our psychology.\nOur problem is we refuse to recognize that. We want to change what is outside, and not change what is inside. We are Arjuna, who cannot bear the thought of having to confront our relatives: our own psyche, our own defects, our egoism, Ahamkara. We do not want to face it. Nonetheless, Krishna explains that we need to know these two aspects of Prakriti, in order to understand him and to understand ourselves.\nPrakriti means nature, so now we know that is has two fundamental aspects;\nthe superior, which is the ocean of life that sustains all of existence\nthe inferior, which is the condensation of that into the tattvas\nPrakriti is the Divine Mother Nature. Prakriti is feminine. Prakriti is the cow that Krishna protects. Prakriti is Isis-Nut, the Divine Mother.\nIn this particular image, we see Tri-Devi. That name means the triple Goddess, in Sanskrit. It is that superior aspect of the Tree of Life , those three circles, Kether , Chokmah , Binah , but feminine.\nYou see, Krishna is not male, Krishna is not a man, Krishna is an energy, Krishna is beyond male-female. Krishna is Prakriti, nature. This triple feminine symbol is Krishna, displayed as a woman, with three aspects. It is beautiful. This is one of the aspects I love most about Hinduism; it really shows nature in all its glory.\nPrakriti has two fundamental aspects: superior and inferior. But, in how it functions, it has three modes.\nThe first one is creation, which in Sanskrit is Rajas. This is the ability of the light or fire of Krishna to create. The Upanishads stated that the Supreme God-Head is in everything, it is the root of everything, it is the source of everything. How is everything created? If we look at our own nature, because we are reflection of the nature around us, how do we create life? Through sex. It is the only way we can create life: through sex. Rajas relates to creation, but the word itself is extremely difficult to translate into English because it has a very rich, deep implication. It means: energy in motion, energy in activity. It is projective, it is masculine. It impels, it drives, it pushes, it is passionate, it is virile. It is powerful. It is unstoppable, it is undeniable. Rajas is an irresistible energy that pushes and motivates. It is at the very basis of existence. When the entire universe is about to be created, when there is nothing in existence, it is Rajas that emerges and impels creation. Rajas creates universes – not just ants and bees and moths and little human beings – it creates infinites. It is the projective, creative aspect of nature. It is very energetic. It is all of the power of the Gods to create.\nThe second aspect or mode of Prakriti is the one that sustains existence. In Sanskrit it is called Sattva. Sattva is also very difficult to translate in English. There is no word that conveys all of its meanings. It means sustainability, perpetuity, continuity, balance, harmony, equality, sustenance. It is the energy that preserves. The energy that harmonizes, that conciliates. That brings together, that molds and shapes.\nThe third guna is Tamas, which means destruction. Tamas is also very difficult, if not impossible, to translate into English. Tamas implies destruction, disintegration, decay, to bring down, to take apart, to remove, to be lethargic, to be slow, to stop moving, to go backwards, to be in retrograde, to devolve.\nIf you look at these three together, you see a circle, a wheel. You see the wheel of nature. You see how every living thing is created, brought to existence, sustained, maintained, managed, and then destroyed and decayed, consumed once again by nature. These three together are called the three Gunas.\nThese three aspects of Prakriti are beyond the Tree of Life . That upper Trinity on the Tree of Life – Kether , Chokmah , Binah – manifests only because the three gunas are out of balance. Thethree Gunas are not the Trinity, they are not Kether , Chokmah , Binah ; rather, they are what give rise to Kether , Chokmah , Binah . They are what give rise to the Ain Soph Aur. The three Gunas are three energetic aspects of the Absolute, but these three Gunas reflect in everything that is created. The Trinity is a manifestation of the three Gunas, and they work through the three Gunas, that is why we see in the Trinity; Kether , Chokmah , Binah – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We see a projecting force that creates, we see a preserving force that sustains and we see a destructive force that removes. These three, in Hinduism, are usually represented as Shiva. Shiva is that energetic, dynamic aspect of God that creates and destroys. In the Bible, this is Jehovah, that part of God that creates and destroys.\nThe three Gunas are modalities of energy. We have them too. Every one of us has one of these temperaments. We may tend to be a Rajasic type of person - very energetic, very productive, very energetic, always having to do things and be active, in motion psychologically, not necessarily physically. We may be Sattvic – which means that we are very balanced, which means we are always trying to balance and equilibrate things. We might be Tamasic – more lethargic, slower paced. None of these are better than the others, they are just three temperaments in psychology. These three gunas apply to how we eat, how we live, how we act, and our sex life too.\nPrakriti has these three modes in everything that happens, in every level of existence. Krishna says about himself, about these two aspects of Prakriti and the Gunas:\n\"All created beings have their source in these two natures. Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution. There is naught else higher than I, O Dhananjaya; in Me all this is woven as clusters of gems on a string.\"\nThis is Krishna saying, 'everything that is born and dies is Me.' Everything. Even impurity. From the Gods to dirt. Everything has in its nature, in its essence, Krishna, Christ, light, this energy. Everything originates out of that and returns back to that. But, its means of return is different. So, he continues,\n\"O son of Pritha, know that I am the original bijam of all existences, the buddhi of the buddhi-matam, and the tejah of the tejasvinām.\"\nI left these words in Sanskrit on purpose. I did not put them in English because the English does not convey the meaning. The meaning of these terms is really important, and all of the scriptural excerpts I was building up to were for this scripture and the next one.\nKrishna says, \"Know that I am the original bijam of all existences.\" Bija is a Sanskrit word which means seed. Bijam means the original seed, the primordial seed, the ultimate seed. So, again, let us take nature as our example to understand what this means. Krishna is not saying that he is a sesame seed. Krishna is saying that he is the ultimate seed of all that exists, so what does that mean? Well, if Krishna is in us, and is our origin, what is our primordial seed? Where did we come from? Sex. People do not like to talk about that, we like to just skip over the part about our parents having sex and like to go back to say well, we came from God or we came from Adam and Eve, or we came from some gorilla in the jungles a long time ago. Those are all theories, we need to look at facts. The fact is that every person in existence has arrived through sex. Our seed for this particular body, the seed that grew us, came from our parents. The seed that grew who we are now, came from our parents. It was not one seed, it was two: sperm and ovum, from mother and father. So, Krishna is that: \"Know that I am the original Bijam of all existences\" – Krishna is the semen , Krishna is the ova, the egg and the sperm in every creature. Krishna, the power of God to create, is in sex.\nThe next portion says, \"The Buddhi of the Buddhi-Matam.\" I explained a little about Buddhi, that it is related to Geburah on the Tree of Life and that directly translated, it means intelligence. But, really, Buddhi does not mean intellect in the way we experience it. Buddhi is an abstract, intuitive level of intelligence, related to the Consciousness . We call it the Divine Soul. In many religions it is symbolized by a beautiful woman, such as Helen of Troy, Beatrice in The Divine Comedy, Eurydice who Orpheus saves from the abyss, Persephone, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Eve. Even Aphrodite and Venus in their ways represent this beautiful aspect of Consciousness that is in us. This beautiful, pristine aspect of Soul is the embodiment of wisdom and Divinity in us as a Consciousness . That is Buddhi. Buddhi-Matam means those that have purely awakened Buddhi - in other words Buddhas. The word Buddha means, 'One who is awake.' It is derived from Buddhi, which is Consciousness . So, Buddhi-Matam are \"the awakened ones.\" Krishna is the Consciousness of the awakened ones. So, relate these two portions together, these are directly in the same passage; 'I am the original sexual aspect of all existences, I am the awakened Consciousness of the awakened ones.' These two go together and are inseparable: sex and Consciousness . This passage is very significant, but is always over looked because it brings up things that people do not want to deal with. People want sexuality and religion to be separate, but they cannot be.\nThe final passage of this scripture says, \"and the tejah of the tejasvinām.\" Tejas is often pronounced with a Spanish as Tehah, but in Sanskrit it is usually with a very slight J, Tejah. This is another word that is very difficult to translate; it relates to fire, because in the Tattvas that I explained, there are the four elements – fire, air, earth and water; fire is Tejas. Here, Tejah means \"power, virility, strength, prowess, ability.\" Have you noticed how in English, the word virility—which is of course is sexual energy—is from the same root as virtue? There is a reason, because they come from the same place. This scripture reveals that: \"The Tejah of the Tejasvinām.\" Just as Buddhi-Matam means the awakened ones, Tajasvinām means \"the powerful ones, the virile ones.\" And, who are they? It is not us. In this world we have no power; we are quite powerless. Who are the ones that have power, truly? They are Masters, Buddhas, bodhisattvas ; those who have enormous Tejah, virility, prowess, potency, the ability to command nature both inside and outside of themselves. The Master Krishna showed that through many miracles and exploits. The picture I showed you in the beginning showed him lifting a mountain over his head, in order to protect his people. Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea. The Master Krishna also parted a river. Krishna and Moses have the same symbols, same powers. These are great Masters, they are Tejasvinām. So, Krishna-Christ is the power in any Master. Krishna is Christ.\nThe next passage of this scripture reads, \"I am the strength of the strong, devoid of kama and raga. I am kama which is not contrary to dharma, O lord of the Bharatas [Arjuna].\" Kama is another word in Sanskrit that has different subtleties. It depends on its context as to how you translate it. The truth of that is right here: he says, 'I am devoid of Kama' and in the next sentence says, 'I am Kama.' So it appears to contradict. What is Kama? Ever heard of The Kama Sutra? Kama can mean sex life, it can mean lust, and it can mean love. It can also mean Chastity . So, it depends on the context. Naturally, with the mind that humanity has now, any time they see the word sex, it is lust. So, the Kama Sutra is used for lustful purposes, the world over. In fact, the only translation that is publicly available is completely adulterated. It is not the actual scripture. It is a version that was adulterated by a Westerner, in order to build up his own fame and wealth. It is completely adulterated, yet it is everywhere. It is one of those best selling books that everybody reads and thinks is a real scripture from India, but it is not. It is packed with lies. It is a text of black magic. The real Kama Sutra has been hidden.\nKrishna says, 'I am the strength of the strong, devoid of Kama and Raga.' Here he is saying, \"I am devoid of lust.\" There is no lust in Christ. There is no lust in any Buddha. Yet, humanity looks at the images of the Buddhas and Masters and sees lust, because our minds are full of lust. We see images of Krishna with his spouse, we see images of the Divinities in consort with their partners, sexually, and we see it lustfully, because our mind is like that. But the Gods have no lust. Krishna is devoid of Raga; Raga means attachment, grasping, to clutch, to pull, to hold. What is lust? Attachment to sensation. Kama and Raga work together.\nHe says, \"I am Kama which is not contrary to Dharma.\" Dharma is also very difficult to translate. The name Dharma is very deep in its implications. Used in this context, it means \"religious principles.\" But, the core of the word Dharma is \"truth, reality.\" When we hear religious principles, we think of a dogma, some list of rules that we have to follow. That is not real religion, that is only the second law. The first law is the reality, the truth. In this level, physically, gravity is a law, it is \"a Dharma.\" We have the Dharma of gravity. We have the Dharma of electricity, the Dharma of magnetism. These are truths, they are energies in motion that we can learn to work with, and if we ignore those Dharmas, we suffer. If you stick your finger in an electrical socket, you will get shocked, because you ignored that Dharma. Christ, Krishna, is Kama which is not contrary to Dharma – sex that is in harmony with truth, with religious principles.\nTo me, this is the single most important line of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says,\n\"I am sex which is not contrary to religion.\" - Bhagavad Gita 7:11\nHow is it that millions upon millions of people have read the Bhagavad Gita, and have become celibate? They missed this line, or it was mistranslated, or mis-explained. Krishna says here, \"I am sex,\" so why do they renounce sex? If they want to know Krishna, if they want to know Christ, the power of creation, the power of the Gods, it is in sex. It is in the sexual seed, which is Krishna. The problem is that we do not know what Dharmic sex is. We only know lustful sex, we only know Kama with Raga, with attachment. Because of that, we misunderstand everything. So, people renounce sex, because they are trying to renounce attachment. They are trying to renounce desire. But, they are also throwing away the keys to overcoming desire. The key to conquering desire is the middle path, which is what the Buddha taught. To not renounce sex, neither to indulge in it, but walk in the middle: to engage in sex, but without lust.\nKrishna says he is Kama; this image shows Kama-Deva.\nDeva means God. Kama-Deva means \"God of Love, God of sex.\" In this painting we see a beautifully clothed man poised on top of a bird, and in his hands he has a bow and arrow, and the arrow is fiery. What is the fire? Sex, it is Rajas, it is passion, it is the ability to create, it is the first of the three Gunas, the first modality of Prakriti. Kama-Deva sits poised on the bird, in order to fire the fiery arrow into our hearts and minds and sex, to inspire us with the impulse to create, to love. Does this remind you of anyone? Does it look familiar? It should. Ever hear of Cupid? Eros?\nIf you study Greek mythology, you know that one of the most primordial Gods in Greco-Roman mythology is Eros, who is not that little chubby boy who is mischievous and runs around shooting people with arrows in the cartoons. That is the same thing as the little baby Krishna stealing butter, and the little baby Jesus in the manger. It is a cute symbol, but it is only a cute symbol. Eros is hiding a very profound truth about our inner nature, and about the nature of spirituality. Eros is Krishna. Eros-Cupid is the most profound, important symbol in Greco-Roman mythology. It is right in the middle of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were the most important mystery school of the Greco-Roman mythology, and the Orphic Mysteries has some of this as well.\nEros is Christ, Kama-Deva, Krishna, who with his arrow penetrates the heart to inspire us with love. Of course, both Hinduism and the Greek and Roman traditions were completely perverted by the minds of men and women, because we could not comprehend divine sexuality without Raga, attachment, without passion and lust. We perverted these symbols and made them into approvals of our degeneration. We converted these beautiful, pristine, pure symbols into a stamp or seal of approval saying, \"its okay for you to be a degenerate.\" Eros is where we get the term \"erotic.\" If you go to the \"erotic\" section of any store now, you will not find anything divine or holy, you will only find poison for your soul. Originally, the erotic mysteries were the purest aspect of Divinity, of spirituality, of religion, worldwide: in Hinduism, in Buddhism, in Christianity, in Judaism. The erotic aspect of those teachings was the most pure and most sacred aspect that was only given to those who earned it, by working on themselves, by cleaning themselves of impurity.\nWe do not want to look at the war we have to wage in ourselves, against ourselves. We do not want to fight against our lust and pride. We want approval for them, and to embrace them. So, we have converted these ancient symbols into approval for degeneration. So, Eros became a symbol for degeneration, and so did Kama-Deva. That is why we have the modern Kama Sutra, and modern eroticism, which are pure 100% black magic and will take you to suffering.\nHere, Krishna is playing his flute. The flute is very symbolic, on many levels; it represents the spinal column. Krishna blows his breath through our spine to play notes, to play music, the music of the soul. That breath is his energy. If we are totally distracted and absorbed in materialism, in our lust, in our pride, in pursuing things externally, in chasing women or chasing men, we cannot hear the notes that he plays inside of us. If you learn to meditate, if you learn to harness the power of your own Kama, you can hear the music of Krishna. That same message is the basis of the Magic Flute by Mozart. It is also the teaching of Eros. This is Eros on a Greek Urn, playing his flute; but Eros adds a beautiful element – his flute has two parts, a man and a woman. The most complete note that Christ can play is through a couple. Is it not true that two voices in harmony are more beautiful than one? Love cannot exist without one to love. Love emerges as a magnetic, electric force between two beings; that is what produces the sound.\nIn the next image we see Krishna with his lover Radha. Here we see Eros with his, Psyche. Greek and Hindu, same message, same teaching, different parts of the world.\nThe point here is that this teaching is universal, it does not belong to any religion, it is every religion. That is why Christ says, 'I am sex life which is not contrary to Dharma.' Dharma is universal, it is truth. Truth does not respect any boundary. Truth is not only in India, it is not only in Mexico, it is in the Consciousness . Christ is that, the power of creation through sex. So, to understand what that means, we need to understand what is Dharmic Kama.\nHere we see Shiva in love with his wife, Parvati. She is embracing a lingam, which is a very ancient symbol found primarily in Hinduism, but also found in the Greek mysteries, which is the symbol of the phallus united with the vagina. It is a sexual symbol. These two Gods represent that sex and love are Divine, not animal, not lustful. We make sex animal, because of our attachment, because of desire. This is explained in the ancient scripture the Shiva Samhita, which is like the Hatha Yoga Paratiki, another scripture from Hinduism that is ignored these days because it says things that nobody wants to hear. Of course, nowadays, you can go to any city in the world and find 100s of Yoga schools, all different kinds; Hatha Yoga , Bhakti Yoga , Bikram, Sivananda, Kundalini , etc, etc, etc. None of them will teach you about this scripture, because they do not like it, even though all their traditions originally came from it, they just cut this out, because they do not want to teach it, because they do not want to practice it.\nThe scripture is quite short. It is spoken from the point of the Divinity, it is a dialogue from Shiva, who is Krishna in his creative and destructive aspect, who says:\n\"I [Shiva] am the semen , Sakti [the Goddess] is the generative fluid; when they are [perfectly] combined in the body [through this practice], then the body of the Yogi becomes divine [immortal].\nEjaculation of semen [ orgasm ] brings death, preserving it within brings life. Therefore, one should make sure to retain the semen within.\nOne is born and dies through semen ; in this there is no doubt. Knowing this, the Yogi must always preserve his semen .\nWhen the precious jewel of semen is mastered, anything on earth can be mastered. Through the grace of its preservation, one becomes as great as me [Shiva].\nThe use of semen determines the happiness or pain of all beings living in the world, who are deluded [by desire] and are subject to death and decay.\nThis is the ultimate Yoga .\" - Siva Samhita\nThis is directly quoted from a Hindu scripture, and explains the secret teaching that was never given publicly, and that is ignored by all the famous Yoga schools. What does it say? That Dharmic Kama teaches that one must preserve the force of Krishna and hold it as sacred. That force is the sexual energy. That means that we need to hold and transform that energy for him. Just as that energy can create if we express it physically - it can create a child - if we retain it and transform it, it creates the soul. It becomes the vessel through which God can express in us.\nIt is not easy to retain the sexual energy, especially in the beginning. But, as you learn and become trained, it becomes natural, just as it used to be.\nIn the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, \"It is lust, it is wrath, born of the energy of Rajas, all-devouring, all-sinful, that know thou is the foe here.\"\nThe enemy in spirituality is lust, is anger. He continues,\n\"As fire is surrounded by smoke, as a mirror by rust, as the fetus is enclosed in the womb, so is this covered by it. Covered, O son of Khunti, is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of desire, which is greedy and insatiable.\"\nThis passage is very profound. Synthesized in simple terms, it means this: your power to awaken and become like a God is veiled by your lust. If you want to awaken and become like a God, you need to clear away the veil. It means you need to cleanse the lust off of your sexual power. That comes as a process of a war, inside, because lust is greedy and insatiable. Lust has many arguments to defend itself. Lust is very sneaky and infects even religions and spiritual organizations, and gives itself a stamp of approval – that is right to be there. No scripture of white Tantra or pure religion approves lust. So, to advance in real spirituality, lust has to be cleansed, removed.\nFurther, he says, \"The senses, mind and reason are said to be its seat. Veiling wisdom through these, it deludes the embodied. Therefore, O Lord of the Baratas, restrain the senses first, do thou cast off this sinful thing of fornication , which is destructive of knowledge and wisdom. Slay thou, O Mighty Armed, the enemy in the form of desire, hard to conquer.\"\nFirst we talk about the physical senses. We interact with our lives through our senses.\nMind and reason are Buddhi and Manas. Unfortunately, in us, our Buddhi and Manas are not pure. Buddhi in us, Geburah , is that very high aspect, the Divine Soul, which we have clothed in animal lust. We have buried it. It is stuck in the underworld. It is Eurydice who is trapped in Hell. It is Persephone who is stolen by Pluto, kept in suffering. Her hero, the great warrior (Orpheus, Heracles, Aeneas), has to go into the underworld to pull her out. That is his true love. He cannot save her if he lusts for her. He can only save her through his pure love for her, a love that is not attached, a love of Chastity . It is a sexual love, but it is free of attachment.\n'Veiling wisdom through these, it deludes the embodied' – that wisdom is Prajna, Christ wisdom, the wisdom of the beyond. It is the highest aspect of knowledge. But, in us, it is hidden because of our egoism, because of Ahamkara.\n'Therefore, restrain the senses first. Do thou cast off this sinful thing.'\nTo restrain the senses does not mean to shut your eyes and close your ears, and clamp your mouth shut and hide. If you restrain the chariot, you cannot go anywhere. If you stop the horses, you stop moving. Thus, study the example of Arjuna in the chariot. Those horses can represent the senses. For Arjuna to fight the battle, he has to move, he has to guide the horses, the senses through conscious will, to the battlefield, to find his enemy and to slay him. To restrain the senses means to have conscious will over what you perceive, to be attentive, to be present, to be cognizant, to be self-remembering. Not to hide or avoid. Remember, we must walk the middle path; not indulging, not repressing or avoiding. To be in the middle, living our lives, pursuing our goal, but with the conscious awareness of that. Restrain here does not mean stop, it means to guide consciously.\nThen, 'Do thou cast off this sinful thing' – that is the orgasm . That is physical and it is emotional and it is mental. Many people think, even in Hinduism and Buddhism, that it is just to restrain the physical expression of that energy. That is a lie. You can restrain just the physical part, and still experience the energetic aspect of the orgasm , and it is still an orgasm , and you will awaken Consciousness , but with your lust, and you will become a black magician. Simple as that, you can become a demon. In Sanskrit demons are called Asuras. An asura is someone who is awakened, but has awakened through lust, anger, or pride, but primarily lust.\nKrishna says here that this thing, fornication , is destructive of knowledge and wisdom. This is very clear. The ones who indulge in fornication , in sex, lack knowledge and wisdom, but they are abundant in suffering.\n\"Ahamkara and Maithuna are in fact the basis of a true Yoga . Ahamkara, dissolution of the I, and Maithuna , Sexual Magic . Behold the true synthesis of the Yoga .\" - Samael Aun Weor\nThat is what is taught in the Bhagavad Gita: dissolve the I, whose primary root is lust, and transform the sexual energy, whose primary method is through sex. This is Ahamkara and Maithuna (a Sanskrit word that means religious sexuality). The result of that work, is that the person harnesses every atom of energy that they have and eliminates every atom of egoism that they have, and that they become a perfect expression of Christ. This is how all the great Masters and Angels and Buddhas and Devas have come to be. There is no other way.\nThe Vision of Vishnu\n\"My dear Arjuna, this form of mine you are now seeing is very difficult to behold. Even the Demi-Gods are ever seeking the opportunity to see this form which is so dear. The form you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see me as I am. My dear Arjuna, he who engages in my pure devotional service, free from the contaminations from the fruit of activities and mental speculation, he who works for me, who makes me the supreme goal of his life, and who is without an enemy among living beings, he certainly comes to me.\"\nIn that final passage, we see the three factors of any true path of Yoga or religion. Most people who study religion do all the things he says that do not lead anywhere, like all of us. All the spiritual people are trying to do very serious spiritual practices, which are penances, like fasting, being vegetarian, circumambulating sacred grounds, adopting certain clothes or other aspects of lifestyle, or we study the scriptures like the Vedas or Sutras or Tantras, or we enter a life of service becoming a monk or a Nun , or we commit ourselves to doing certain types of worship practices, like a Bhakti Yoga practice, like doing a 100,000 recitations of our mantra every day, this type of thing – these are all fine, and are useful, but they do not lead to God. They purify Karma, and they can help achieve some degree of stability in the Consciousness of a person – but, for one who wants to know Christ, to experience Christ, to directly perceive the reality of Krishna, there is only way to do it, and that is to die. You cannot engage in his pure devotional service, free from fruit of activities and mental speculation, you cannot make Krishna the supreme goal of your life, if you have pride, if you have lust, if you have envy or jealously. You cannot, because right now, what we worship is our ego . Even when we are religious, we make our religion a food for our pride. We make our spirituality nourishment for our lust. We make our spirituality a support for our envy. No one wants to die, and that is the conflict that Arjuna is having on the battlefield. Arjuna does not want to kill all of his egos, which are lined up I the background. He sees them and says, 'Those are my family. I have lived with them for all my lifetimes, I cannot kill them. They are me, they are my blood.' We are all like that. We see the images of God and the beautiful teachings, and we feel inspired and want to experience real religion, but when we look in the mirror, and when we look at ourselves and our behaviours, we say, \"Uh, I cannot change that. It is too much. Maybe later I will feel better and meditate on that, not today. Maybe later God will give me the strength to meditate on my lust, but right now I do not feel like I can do it; it is too much.\" All of us suffer from that disease. That is why we still suffer, and have no experience of the Divine.\nKrishna says that in order for us to see the true face of reality, we have to die, and that is today. That death is psychological, it is to look directly in ones own face, and to recognize ones own crime and to atone for it, and to stop making the mistake and to never go back. That is very difficult, but it is the only way.\nThe only power that can make it possible to do it, is Christ itself. If we are fornicating, physically, emotionally or mentally, wasting our energy through lust, primarily but also through pride and anger and envy, we will never have the energy to do it.\nThe three Gunas – Rajas, Sattva and Tamas – are the secret to spiritual advancement. All three come from sexual energy. If you are depleting your sexual energy constantly, either physically through the actual act of orgasm in sex or masturbation, or you are wasting it emotionally through explosions of anger or lust or pride or attachment in your heart, or mentally through your fantasies and daydreams and wrong thinking, you will have no energy to work spiritually. None. So, you will be as an empty vessel, without any real life, just suffering.\nThrough retention of the sexual forces, you start to acquire a vessel through which Krishna can work in you. Krishna says, \"I am the seed\" - so if we save that seed and respect it, transform it, we learn how to utilize it. Not repressing it and not indulging in it, but using it with respect; then, Krishna can work through us. This is what it means to say, \"He who works for me, who makes me the supreme goal of his life and who is without an enemy among living beings.\"\nDo you notice how nowadays, we avoid each other? People are becoming more and more insular, we talk less and less face to face, and more and more by remote. First it was letters, then it was the telephone, then it was the fax, then its email, now its chatting and cell phones - we are becoming more and more isolated. Why? Because in this way it is easier for us to maintain a false image of ourselves. When we are face to face, the other person can see all of our defects, our pimples, our sagging belly, our grey hair, they can see everything about us that we do not want them to see. This is the whole point of \"online dating\"; it is all lies. Everybody is projecting an image of themselves that they want to show others, but when they actually meet the person, they are not going to be anything like that. Those relationships are doomed to fail.\n\"He who is without an enemy among living beings.\" Who is that? Does anyone know anyone who is without an enemy? And by enemy, we do not just mean someone who hates or kills – in any place of any kind where there is conflict, that is an enemy. Most of us are enemies even with our own families; we have layers of built up resentments, envy, jealousy, over lifetimes. With our spouse, and with our children, and our parents - any places of conflict, we have an enemy. So, who is it that is without an enemy among living beings? Only Christ. Only Christ loves equally and universally. Only Christ has no enemies. Christ even loves the devil. So, in order to come to Krishna, we have to become Krishna.\nThere are many out there who say if you just chant this Mantra, \"Hari Krishna Hari Krishna Krishna Krishna Hari Hari....\" and if you do that 200,000,000,000 times, then you will become like Krishna and be very close to him. Or, if you are a business man and you have wealth, and you give all your wealth to build a temple for Krishna, then he will love you, and you will be dear to him, and you will be protected by Krishna forever and ever. These are all lies.\nThe scripture states it extremely clearly: only the one who devotes every atom of his existence to becoming Krishna, comes to Krishna. Now, it sounds impossible, it sounds overwhelming, but it has be done. It has been done many times, and it can be done again. One only has to have the will to die, psychologically. To realize that suffering is not the only way, that there is a better way. We do not have to just suffer and die in anxiety and lack of knowledge. It is possible to cast off suffering and to become pure. To do that, we have to work. It does not come by saying a prayer, or saying a mantra, or by making a promise, or by giving all your money to a temple – it comes by working on yourself.\nQuestions and Answers\nAudience: Most of the pictures I have seen have four horses, and they represent the four bodies of sin, I thought. But there are five there?\nInstructor: The horses can represent the five senses, it can also represent the four bodies of the soul, or can represent the Tattvas. There are different levels of meaning there, depending on which tradition produced the painting, because they have different ways of studying the psychology. But, in general, the chariot and the horses represent the body; ourselves, our vessel, which includes the inner bodies. You cannot separate the inner bodies from the senses. They work with each other.\nAudience: Is it then, when Orpheus turns around, is acting with desire and hence his loss of Eurydice?\nInstructor: That's right. In the Greek myth of Orpheus, he is pulling is spouse, his beloved out of the abyss. But, in a moment of doubt, he turns back to see her, and loses her. That represents an initiate who is working on the path, who is achieving some level of purification, bringing his Consciousness out of the ego , but looks back, out of desire, out of attachment, and he loses his work. Then he has to start again, and it is even more difficult.\nAudience: If Eros relates to Rajas, do then Chronos and Gaia relate to Tamas and Sattva?\nInstructor: No. In fact, Eros is the capacity of all three Gunas, just as Krishna is all three. Any God uses all three Gunas, they are not one or the other.\nAudience: Gnostically speaking, what is a Demi-God?\nInstructor: A Demi-God is a being who has achieved some degree of work in the path. Demi means \"part, partial,\" so if you are a \"partial God,\" it means that you have done some degree of work, you have achieved some degree of Initiation, but not complete.\nAudience: First mountain.\nInstructor: Yes, it is related – if you know about the three Mountains, this relates to Initiates working in the first mountain. So, that is related to creation of the Solar bodies, the serpents of fire and the serpents of light.\nAudience: Where did the lengthy quote on slide 19 comes from, on Dharmic Kama?\nInstructor: The quote about Dharmic Kama comes from a scripture called Shiva Samhita. The scripture itself is only about 5 chapters long. Most of it is just about postures, asana, and a bit about breathing. The important passage about sexuality is included in its entirety, in the back of the new addition of \" Kundalini Yoga \" by Samael Aun Weor, and is also on the sacred sex website.\nAudience: Is there any value in doing Alchemy during the day?\nInstructor: Samael Aun Weor explained that the transmutation practice with a partner is most effective when performed at night, during darkness, because the energies are veiled and hidden in such a way that they can ascend and work through the spinal column more easily, because the Solar light is not descending and working through the Nadis. But, certainly, if you practice during the day, you can utilize those forces that are harnessed in order to work on the ego . If that is the only time of day that you can practice, you should use it. But, if it is possible, it is better at night. The energies are more effectively transmitted.\nAudience: So, does looking back only relates to orgasm , or can you lose your work in other ways?\nInstructor: The looking back of Orpheus relates to a psychological phenomenon, not physical. So, when he looks back, in the myth, it is related to his mind becoming hypnotized by his attachments. So, that is a psychological symbol, not physical. It does not relate strictly to an orgasm , it relates to a psychological relationship; as an Initiate, a person can still be holding their energy physically, but fall, because of pride, because of lust, because of anger, even though physically they are still trying to maintain Chastity . So, falling and rising is primarily a psychological phenomenon. The physical component just stores energy, but it does not raise you up. It is the psychological work that raises you up.\nAudience: Is it wrong to descend into sex and lust, in order to feel enough pain to change, just as long as you have the will to get through?\nInstructor: I'm not sure I really understand the question; if the question is about indulging in lustful sexuality in order to punish oneself? That would be a mistake. If you already know something is wrong, why would you keep doing it? Masochism is a very dangerous toxin. We all have it. Everyone punishes themselves out of guild or remorse, but it is toxic. If you know something is wrong, you better stop, because the law is extra severe with those who do things that they know are wrong. It is like, if you tell a child 1000 times, 'Do not take a cookie out of the jar' and they keep doing it, your punishments are going to get more severe until they stop. So, our Divine guides are like that, too.\nAudience: Why do the Masters descend on purpose, knowing that – because they want to gain more Consciousness ?\nInstructor: Masters descend again in order to raise higher. They take on more suffering and more pain and more responsibility, and it is harder and harder every time. But, they do it because they want to reach higher degrees of light. That is not the same as us, who are already fallen. We are already fallen, why would we keep deepening our suffering?\nAudience: (inaudible)\nInstructor: We are already demons . So, why deepen our suffering even more? That would be really foolish. There are a lot of people that do that; who know certain behaviors are wrong yet they do it; they know it is wrong, and they hate themselves. That is very toxic; it is going to result in very powerful consequences. So, when you realize and feel something you know is wrong – stop. That is God telling you in your heart, \"do not do that.\" We do not listen, but the Law is the Law.\nKrishna is not separate from you. I know when we study religion, we study symbolism, it becomes a mental speculation, but he is saying you cannot reach him through mental speculation. You cannot reach him through just studying the scripture, just analyzing things with your mind, your intellect, you cannot. If you want to know about Divinity, about reality, you have to work on yourself; you have to change. This is the only way. There are many millions of people in every religion, including in Gnosis , who are just bookworms, or who do practices; they may seem very serious about doing penances and studying the scripture and doing charity and worshipping, and showing up when they need to show up, and doing what they need to do, but they are not going anywhere spiritually. They maybe people that you know, and it may be you. The key to successful work in Gnosis is to constantly self-evaluate, to analyze yourself very honestly. That is why in several of his books, the Master Samael said, \"put your hand on your heart and be sincere, have you awakened your Kundalini ?\" Have you spoken face to face with Divinity? Do you have the capability to access and perceive the truth directly for yourself? If you can do those things, then you are achieving something in Gnosis , and if you cannot, you are making some kind of mistake that you need to analyze, and revise, and change. Any person is capable of knowing God, but the chief obstacle is ourselves. We are Arjuna. Krishna is saying, \"You are on the battlefield, and you have to kill all of those demons , which are yourself and that look like your family, and that look like your loved ones, but they are your enemies. They have to die.\" So, study the Bhagavad Gita, it will help you.\nAudience: What is it when you have a nocturnal pollution without lust?\nInstructor: Any nocturnal pollution is a product of lust. Even if it is not readily visible that lust was the cause, it is the cause. So, it is likely that if a person is having wet dreams, nocturnal pollutions, and they are not seeing the cause, it is because they are not seeing the cause during the day. They have some kind of habit of perception or thinking during the day, about which they have no awareness. So, the way to cure that is to deepen self-observation, to meditate more and to find what it is that you are doing that is causing that energy to get out of control. Ultimately, the only cure for nocturnal pollutions is the Maithuna , sexual transmutation with a partner.\nLet me make one last point, this is something I wanted to point out in this lecture; that reminds me, I am glad you asked that. About Dharmic Kama: if you look at all the images I have shown you, you see something very significant, that is over looked by many Tantric traditions, especially the yogic traditions that are being brought to the West now. Do you see all these images of Krishna with Radha? And all the images of Guru Rinpoche with Yeshe Tsogyal? Or, you see all the images of Shiva with Shakti or Parvati? Do you realize something important about them? Each displays a man and a woman. It is not a man alone, it is not a man with a man, it is not a woman with a woman, it is not a person with an animal; it is a man and a woman. There is a reason. A couple, male and female, represent two of the Gunas. When they come together and unite, they activate the third force. The man is the projective force, masculine, who hunts for the woman. The woman is the avoiding force, who tries to avoid the man. But, when he catches her, and they unite, they are reconciled, they are harmonized. There you have three forces. That is the power of creation. That is what is represented in all of those ancient scriptures, paintings, symbols and images.\nDharmic Kama is a perfect matrimony: a union of a man and a woman. Full Dharmic Kama cannot be achieved by a single person, but a certain degree can be – that is, a degree of purity in oneself that can be achieved as a single person. In ancient times, that was the pre-requisite to enter into the stage of working as a couple; first you had a period of time working as a single, in order to stabilize your mind, awaken Consciousness and start to gain some ability to manage your energy. Then, when you had the energy, to manage it and not lose it; then you would be introduced to a spouse, married, and you would work with your spouse. That was the ancient way. But, of course, with our lust and our curiosity and our perversion, we ruined it. And, those who hated sex, and hated their spouse, decided to try and work on their own, or they decided to work with their best friend of the same sex, or they decided to work with their animals. They all have become black magicians, and have been perpetuating their mistaken doctrines for centuries. Their teachings are everywhere. When you study Kama, when you study Krishna and you study these sacred teachings, the vast majority of what you see will be degenerated. It will be garbage. If you really want to know about the science, you have to study the original scriptures, and you have to work in yourself, and work hard, and the real scripture will be revealed to you. But, it will not be revealed if you are continuing with perverse, degenerated habits. Krishna will not allow those elements to be brought into his real temples, which are in the internal worlds. So, if you have attachment to practices or schools or techniques that belong to the degenerated traditions, you have to discard those things in order to receive the real teaching. You cannot continue with those harmful ways, you have to stop. It is not allowed. So, that is discussed in some of the other scriptures, related with the Krishna, where he describes in one of the chapters of the Bhagavad Gita.\nAudience: Are the three Gunas related to the three traitors?\nInstructor: Only in a very loose way. There are many symbolic representations of the power of three. The Gunas are at the ultimate root of all Trinities. So, any Trinity, even the three brains, you find relationships with the gunas, but you cannot say that one Guna is related to one brain, because the reality is, in our sexual centre, we have all three Gunas. In our emotional centre, we have all three Gunas, because emotionally, we create, we sustain and we destroy. The three Gunas describe a process of the transformation of energy, and that happens in everything; in all three traitors, in every ego , in every brain, in every body, in every dimension. It is everywhere. This is the thing about trying to understand how these all fit together; it is not that these three connect directly to these three. That is an intellectual approach; that is not how nature works.\nAudience: Does Sexual Magic still work if the spouse has lust and fornicates but you do not?\nInstructor: Well, we all have lust. We all fornicate psychologically, even when we are trying to be in Chastity . You can achieve great heights in this work, even if your spouse is not on this path at all, and does not like it, and fornicates, and opposes you in it. You can still achieve a lot. Why is that? Because the basis of the work is not in the physical substances, it is in love. Krishna is the God of Love. Sex should be an expression of love, not lust. When you learn to truly love, by harnessing your sexual power as the fuel for that love, you achieve the work. You can do that to a degree as a single person, and you can do that to a greater degree with a spouse who is not on the path, and you can achieve it to an even greater degree if your spouse is working with you. The question is never about what other people are doing, of whether you can do it or not. You will always be opposed, whether your spouse is doing it or not, or your family is opposed to it, they all hate it, they think you are a degenerate and a black magician, all of your friends will reject it. None of that really matters, because the chief obstacle you have will be your own mind, your own lust, your own pride, your own envy; those are the bigger problems. Whether you are married or single, or your spouse is in this work or not in this work, ultimately, it is irrelevant. What matters is how are you using your own energy, and conquering your own problems? That is what matters. We have to do that first, and love everyone. We have to love them, whether they are in the work or not, you have to love them.\nAudience: Would you be able to briefly discuss what the different Hindu scriptures are?\nInstructor: Briefly? Haha. Well, Hinduism has probably the richest tradition of scriptures in the world; probably second to that would be Buddhism, which has many 100s of scriptures. The primary Hindu scriptures would be the Vedas, the Shastras, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, and another large collection of poems and poetic works. Those are the main ones.\nAudience: The Ramayana?\nInstructor: Yes, the Ramayana is part of the poetic works. There are hundreds of scriptures, you would not be able to read them in your lifetime. There are too many. If you really want to understand Hinduism, study the Vedas, those are the oldest, and the most profound. Most of the scriptures in the Vedas are about Agni. Agni means God of Fire; that is Krishna. They are very beautiful scriptures, but very, very difficult to understand with the intellect. To really grasp any of these scriptures, you have to meditate.\nIf you want to understand more about this lecture; take one sentence and meditate on it. Take a sentence that struck your heart, even if it was really uncomfortable, you didn't like it, that is exactly the one you should meditate on, because it is pointing at something in you that you do not want to deal with. So, deal with it. Take that scripture, read it, digest it, take it into yourself and chew on it; for a week, for two weeks, until you start to really get it. And, when you meditate on it, you visualize the meaning, you put that scripture in your mind, you analyze your three brains, you relax and let the images come. Let the Consciousness show you. Let your imagination open up, and it will show you new things. A lot of it will be garbage, but if you are patient and persistent and you know how to meditate, you will start to have insight. You see, every one of those passages is a door. They are all doorways. Any passage from the Bhagavad Gita is a doorway to Krishna. The same is true of the Bible, and the Vedas. These words, even though they are translated into English, they have a connection to where they came from, and they came from Krishna. If you meditate on them very seriously, and very persistently, and you earn it, Krishna will show you more, will teach you what you need to know. I can give you assurance of that, because I have experienced that. That is how we teach these lectures. We are not making this up. We study, we meditate, we reflect, we try to learn from the source. Not from theories; we do not read commentaries, we do not read other authors, we read the scriptures, we study the scriptures. Everything is there, because those scriptures are doorways into the Consciousness . People's opinions are worthless. We do not have time for opinions. This planet is about to undergo a tremendous cataclysm; this entire society, everything we know, is going to be taken away. No one knows when, but it will happen. So, why waste time on foolishness? On opinions and debates? We need truth, we need Dharma, the real thing. So, lets cut through the garbage and get to the point.",
"White spirit - OilfieldWiki\nWhite Spirit is a petroleum distillate that is used as a paint thinner and mild solvent. In industry, mineral spirits is used for cleaning and degreasing machine ...\nWhite spirit - OilfieldWiki\nWhite spirit\nDry cleaning\nThis article is about the solvent. For the band, see White Spirit (band) .\nWhite spirit [CAS 64475-85-0] [1] [2] [3] , also known as Stoddard solvent [CAS 8052-41-3] [4] [5] or mineral spirits, is a paraffin -derived clear, transparent liquid which is a common organic solvent used in painting and decorating. In 1924, Atlanta dry cleaner W. J. Stoddard worked with Lloyd E. Jackson of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to develop a less volatile dry cleaning solvent as an alternative to the petroleum solvents in use. Dry cleaners began using the result of their work in 1928 and it soon became the predominant dry cleaning solvent in the United States, until the late 1950s.\nIt is a mixture of aliphatic and alicyclic C7 to C12 hydrocarbons with a maximum content of 25% of C7 to C12 aromatic hydrocarbons . A typical composition for mineral spirits is > 65% C10 or higher hydrocarbons [6] , aliphatic solvent hexane , and a maximum benzene content of 0.1% by volume, a kauri-butanol value of 29, an initial boiling point of 149 °F (65 °C), a dry point of approximately 156 °F (69 °C), and a density of 0.7 g/cc.\nStoddard solvent is a specific mixture of hydrocarbons, typically > 65% C10 or higher hydrocarbons [7] .\nWhite spirit is used as an extraction solvent, as a cleaning solvent, as a degreasing solvent and as a solvent in aerosols , paints , wood preservatives , lacquers , varnishes , and asphalt products. In western Europe about 60% of the total white spirit consumption is used in paints, lacquers and varnishes. White spirit is the most widely used solvent in the paint industry. In households, white spirit is commonly used to clean paint brushes after use.\nThree different types and three different grades of white spirit exist. The type refers to whether the solvent has been subjected to hydrodesulfurization (removal of sulfur) alone (type 1), solvent extraction (type 2) or hydrogenation (type 3). Each type comprises three different grades: low flash grade, regular grade, and high flash grade. The grade is determined by the crude oil used as the starting material and the conditions of distillation.\nIn addition there is type 0, which is defined as distillation fraction with no further treatment, consisting predominantly of saturated C9 to C12 hydrocarbons with a boiling range of 140–200 °C.\nContents"
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The Arabic word 'al' (AL) roughly translates in English to mean? | The | [
"Arabic_alphabet.txt\nArabic alphabet\nThe Arabic alphabet ( ' or ') or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.\n\nConsonants\n\nThe basic Arabic alphabet contains 28 letters. Adaptations of the Arabic script for other languages added and removed some letters, as for Kurdish, Ottoman Turkish, Sindhi, Urdu, Malay, Pashto, and Arabi Malayalam, all of which have additional letters as shown below. There are no distinct upper and lower case letter forms.\n\nMany letters look similar but are distinguished from one another by dots (') above or below their central part ('). These dots are an integral part of a letter, since they distinguish between letters that represent different sounds. For example, the Arabic letters transliterated as ' and ' have the same basic shape, but ' has one dot below, , and ' has two dots above, .\n\nBoth printed and written Arabic are cursive, with most of the letters within a word directly connected to the adjacent letters.\n\nAlphabetical order\n\nThere are two main collating sequences for the Arabic alphabet, abjad and hija.\n\nThe original ' order (), used for lettering, derives from the order of the Phoenician alphabet, and is therefore similar to the order of other Phoenician-derived alphabets, such as the Hebrew alphabet. In this order, letters are also used as numbers, Abjad numerals, and possess the same alphanumeric code/cipher as Hebrew gematria and Greek isopsephy.\n\nThe ' () or ' () order, used where lists of names and words are sorted, as in phonebooks, classroom lists, and dictionaries, groups letters by similarity of shape.\n\nAbjadī \n\nThe ' order is not a simple historical continuation of the earlier north Semitic alphabetic order, since it has a position corresponding to the Aramaic letter samekh / semkat , yet no letter of the Arabic alphabet historically derives from that letter. Loss of ' was compensated for by the split of shin into two independent Arabic letters, (shīn) and (sīn) which moved up to take the place of '. The six other letters that do not correspond to any north Semitic letter are placed at the end.\n\nThis is commonly vocalized as follows:\n'.\nAnother vocalization is:\n'\n\nThis can be vocalized as:\n'\n\nHijā’ī \n\nModern dictionaries and other reference books do not use the ' order to sort alphabetically; instead, the newer ' order is used wherein letters are partially grouped together by similarity of shape. The hijā’ī order is never used as numerals.\n\nAnother kind of ' order was used widely in the Maghreb until recently when it was replaced by the Mashriqi order.\n\nLetter forms\n\nThe Arabic alphabet is always cursive and letters vary in shape depending on their position within a word. Letters can exhibit up to four distinct forms corresponding to an initial, medial (middle), final, or isolated position (IMFI). While some letters show considerable variations, others remain almost identical across all four positions. Generally, letters in the same word are linked together on both sides by short horizontal lines, but six letters () can only be linked to their preceding letter. For example, (Ararat) has only isolated forms because each letter cannot be connected to its following one. In addition, some letter combinations are written as ligatures (special shapes), notably '. \n\nTable of basic letters\n\nNotes\n\n* ' can represent many phonemes:\n\n* See the section on non-native letters and sounds.\n* is pronounced differently depending on the region. See Arabic phonology#Consonants\n* See the section on regional variations in letter form.\n\n*See the article Romanization of Arabic for details on various transliteration schemes; however, Arabic language speakers do not follow a standardized scheme when transcribing names. Also names are regularly transcribed as pronounced locally, not as pronounced in Literary Arabic (if they were of Arabic origin).\n*Regarding pronunciation, the phonemic values given are those of Modern Standard Arabic, which is taught in universities. In practice, pronunciation may vary considerably from region to region. For more details concerning the pronunciation of Arabic, consult the articles Arabic phonology and varieties of Arabic.\n*The names of the Arabic letters can be thought of as abstractions of an older version where they were meaningful words in the Proto-Semitic language. Names of Arabic letters may have quite different names popularly.\n*Six letters () don't have a distinct medial form and have to be written with their final form without being connected to the next letter. Their initial form matches the isolated form.\n* The letter ' originated in the Phoenician alphabet as a consonant-sign indicating a glottal stop. Today it has lost its function as a consonant, and, together with ' and ', is a mater lectionis, a consonant sign standing in for a long vowel (see below), or as support for certain diacritics (' and hamza|).\n* Arabic currently uses a diacritic sign, , called ', to denote the glottal stop, written alone or with a carrier:\n** alone: \n** with a carrier: (above or under a '), (above a '), (above a dotless ' or ').\n\nIn academic work, the hamza| () is transliterated with the modifier letter right half ring (ʾ), while the modifier letter left half ring (ʿ) transliterates the letter Ayin| (), which represents a different sound, not found in English.\n\n* Letters lacking an initial or medial version are never linked to the letter that follows, even within a word. The ' has a single form, since it is never linked to a preceding or following letter. However, it is sometimes combined with a ', ', or ', and in that case the carrier behaves like an ordinary ', ', or '.\n\nModified letters\n\nThe following are not individual letters, but rather different contextual variants of some of the Arabic letters.\n\nLigatures\n\nThe use of ligature in Arabic is common. There is one compulsory ligature, that for ' + ', which exists in two forms. All other ligatures (' + ', etc.) are optional.\n\nA more complex ligature that combines as many as seven distinct components is commonly used to represent the word '.\n\nThe only ligature within the primary range of Arabic script in Unicode (U+06xx) is ' + '. This is the only one compulsory for fonts and word-processing. Other ranges are for compatibility to older standards and contain other ligatures, which are optional.\n* ' + '\n*: \nNote: Unicode also has in its Presentation Form B FExx range a code for this ligature. If your browser and font are configured correctly for Arabic, the ligature displayed above should be identical to this one, U+FEFB ARABIC LIGATURE LAM WITH ALEF ISOLATED FORM:\n: \n\n* U+0640 ARABIC TATWEEL + ' + '\n*: \nNote: Unicode also has in its Presentation Form B U+FExx range a code for this ligature. If your browser and font are configured correctly for Arabic, the ligature displayed above should be identical to this one:\n* U+FEFC ARABIC LIGATURE LAM WITH ALEF FINAL FORM\n*: \n\nAnother ligature in the Unicode Presentation Form A range U+FB50 to U+FDxx is the special code for glyph for the ligature ' (\"God\"), U+FDF2 ARABIC LIGATURE ALLAH ISOLATED FORM:\n: \n\nThis is a work-around for the shortcomings of most text processors, which are incapable of displaying the correct vowel marks for the word ' in Koran. Because Arabic script is used to write other texts rather than Koran only, rendering ' + ' + ' as the previous ligature is considered faulty: If one of a number of fonts (Noto Naskh Arabic, mry_KacstQurn, KacstOne, DejaVu Sans, Harmattan, Scheherazade, Lateef, Iranian Sans) is installed on a computer (Iranian Sans is support by Wikimedia web-fonts), the word will appear without diacritics.\n* ' + ' + '\n*: or لله \n* ' + ' + ' + '\n*: or الله \n* ' + ' + ' + U+0651 ARABIC SHADDA + U+0670 ARABIC LETTER SUPERSCRIPT ALEF + '\n*: اللّٰه (DejaVu Sans and KacstOne don't show the added superscript Alef)\n\nAn attempt to show them on the faulty fonts without automatically adding the gemination mark and the superscript alif, although may not display as desired on all browsers, is by adding the U+200d (Zero width joiner) after the first or second '\n* (' +) ' + ' + U+200d ZERO WIDTH JOINER + '\n*: \n\nGemination\n\nGemination is the doubling of a consonant. Instead of writing the letter twice, Arabic places a W-shaped sign called ', above it. Note that if a vowel occurs between the two consonants the letter will simply be written twice. The diacritic only appears where the consonant at the end of one syllable is identical to the initial consonant of the following syllable. (The generic term for such diacritical signs is ').\n\nNunation\n\nNunation ( ') is the addition of a final ' to a noun or adjective. The vowel before it indicates grammatical case. In written Arabic nunation is indicated by doubling the vowel diacritic at the end of the word.\n\nVowels \n\nUsers of Arabic usually write long vowels but omit short ones, so readers must utilize their knowledge of the language in order to supply the missing vowels. However, in the education system and particularly in classes on Arabic grammar these vowels are used since they are crucial to the grammar. An Arabic sentence can have a completely different meaning by a subtle change of the vowels. This is why in an important text such as the ' the three basic vowel signs (see below) are mandated, like the ḥarakāt and all the other diacritics or other types of marks, for example the cantillation signs.\n\nShort vowels\n\nIn the Arabic handwriting of everyday use, in general publications, and on street signs, short vowels are typically not written. On the other hand, copies of the ' cannot be endorsed by the religious institutes that review them unless the diacritics are included. Children's books, elementary-school texts, and Arabic-language grammars in general will include diacritics to some degree. These are known as \"vocalized\" texts.\n\nShort vowels may be written with diacritics placed above or below the consonant that precedes them in the syllable, called '. All Arabic vowels, long and short, follow a consonant; in Arabic, words like \"Ali\" or \"alif\", for example, start with a consonant: ', '.\n\nLong vowels\n\nIn the fully vocalized Arabic text found in texts such as Quran, a long ' following a consonant other than a hamza| is written with a short ' sign (') on the consonant plus an ' after it; long ' is written as a sign for short ' (') plus a ; and long ' as a sign for short ' (') plus a '. Briefly, ' ', ' \n ' and ' = '. Long ' following a ' may be represented by an ' or by a free ' followed by an '.\n\nThe table below shows vowels placed above or below a dotted circle replacing a primary consonant letter or a Shadda| sign. For clarity in the table, the primary letters on the left used to mark these long vowels are shown only in their isolated form. Please note that most consonants do connect to the left with ', ' and ' written then with their medial or final form. Additionally, the letter ' in the last row may connect to the letter on its left, and then will use a medial or initial form. Use the table of primary letters to look at their actual glyph and joining types.\n\nIn unvocalized text (one in which the short vowels are not marked), the long vowels are represented by the vowel in question: ', ' (or '), ', or '. Long vowels written in the middle of a word of unvocalized text are treated like consonants with a ' (see below) in a text that has full diacritics. Here also, the table shows long vowel letters only in isolated form for clarity.\n\nCombinations and are always pronounced ' and ' respectively. The exception is when is the verb ending, where is silent, resulting in '.\n\nIn addition, when transliterating names and loanwords, Arabic language speakers write out most or all the vowels as long (' with ', ' and ' with ', and ' and ' with '), meaning it approaches a true alphabet.\n\nDiphthongs\n\nThe diphthongs and are represented in vocalized text as follows:\n\nVowel omission\n\nAn Arabic syllable can be open (ending with a vowel) or closed (ending with a consonant):\n\n* open: CV [consonant-vowel] (long or short vowel)\n* closed: CVC (short vowel only)\n\nA normal text is composed only of a series of consonants plus vowel-lengthening letters; thus, the word qalb, \"heart\", is written qlb, and the word qalab \"he turned around\", is also written qlb.\n\nTo write qalab without this ambiguity, we could indicate that the l is followed by a short a by writing a fatḥah above it.\n\nTo write qalb, we would instead indicate that the l is followed by no vowel by marking it with a diacritic called sukūn ( ), like this: .\n\nThis is one step down from full vocalization, where the vowel after the q would also be indicated by a fatḥah: .\n\nThe Qur’ān is traditionally written in full vocalization.\n\nThe long i sound in some editions of the Qur’ān is written with a kasrah followed by a diacritic-less y, and long u by a ḍammah followed by a bare w. In others, these y and w carry a sukūn. Outside of the Qur’ān, the latter convention is extremely rare, to the point that y with sukūn will be unambiguously read as the diphthong, and w with sukūn will be read.\n\nFor example, the letters ' can be read like English meel or mail, or (theoretically) also like mayyal or mayil. But if a sukūn is added on the y then the m cannot have a sukūn (because two letters in a row cannot be sukūnated), cannot have a ḍammah (because there is never an uy sound in Arabic unless there is another vowel after the y), and cannot have a kasrah (because kasrah before sukūnated y is never found outside the Qur’ān), so it must have a fatḥah and the only possible pronunciation is (meaning mile, or even e-mail). By the same token, m-y-t with a sukūn over the y can be mayt but not mayyit or meet, and m-w-t with a sukūn on the w can only be mawt, not moot (iw is impossible when the w closes the syllable).\n\nVowel marks are always written as if the i‘rāb vowels were in fact pronounced, even when they must be skipped in actual pronunciation. So, when writing the name Aḥmad, it is optional to place a sukūn on the ḥ, but a sukūn is forbidden on the d, because it would carry a ḍammah if any other word followed, as in Aḥmadu zawjī \"Ahmad is my husband\".\n\nAnother example: the sentence that in correct literary Arabic must be pronounced Aḥmadu zawjun sharrīr \"Ahmad is a wicked husband\", is usually mispronounced (due to influence from vernacular Arabic varieties) as Aḥmad zawj sharrīr. Yet, for the purposes of Arabic grammar and orthography, is treated as if it were not mispronounced and as if yet another word followed it, i.e., if adding any vowel marks, they must be added as if the pronunciation were Aḥmadu zawjun sharrīrun with a tanwīn 'un' at the end. So, it is correct to add an un tanwīn sign on the final r, but actually pronouncing it would be a hypercorrection. Also, it is never correct to write a sukūn on that r, even though in actual pronunciation it is (and in correct Arabic MUST be) sukūned.\n\nOf course, if the correct i‘rāb is a sukūn, it may be optionally written.\n\nThe sukūn is also used for transliterating words into the Arabic script. The Persian word (mâsk, from the English word \"mask\"), for example, might be written with a sukūn above the to signify that there is no vowel sound between that letter and the .\n\nAdditional letters\n\nRegional variations\n\nSome letters take a traditionally different form in specific regions:\n\nNon-native letters\n\nSee also Arabic script#Special letters for languages other than Arabic.\n\nSome modified letters are used to represent non-native sounds of Arabic. These letters are used in transliterated names, loanwords and dialectal words.\n\nUsed in languages other than Arabic\n\n Numerals \n\nThere are two main kinds of numerals used along with Arabic text; Western Arabic numerals and Eastern Arabic numerals. In most of present-day North Africa, the usual Western Arabic numerals are used. Like Western Arabic numerals, in Eastern Arabic numerals, the units are always right-most, and the highest value left-most.\n\nLetters as numerals\n\nIn addition, the Arabic alphabet can be used to represent numbers (Abjad numerals). This usage is based on the ' order of the alphabet. ' is 1, ' is 2, ' is 3, and so on until ' 10, ' \n 20, ' 30, …, ' \n 200, …, ' = 1000. This is sometimes used to produce chronograms.\n\nHistory \n\nThe Arabic alphabet can be traced back to the Nabataean alphabet used to write the Nabataean dialect of Aramaic. The first known text in the Arabic alphabet is a late 4th-century inscription from ' (50 km east of ') in Jordan, but the first dated one is a trilingual inscription at Zebed in Syria from 512. However, the epigraphic record is extremely sparse, with only five certainly pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions surviving, though some others may be pre-Islamic. Later, dots were added above and below the letters to differentiate them. (The Aramaic language had fewer phonemes than the Arabic, and some originally distinct Aramaic letters had become indistinguishable in shape, so that in the early writings 15 distinct letter-shapes had to do duty for 28 sounds; cf. the similarly ambiguous Pahlavi alphabet.) The first surviving document that definitely uses these dots is also the first surviving Arabic papyrus (PERF 558), dated April 643, although they did not become obligatory until much later. Important texts were and still are frequently memorized, especially in Qur'an memorization, a practice which probably arose partially from a desire to avoid the great ambiguity of the script.\n\nLater still, vowel marks and the ' were introduced, beginning some time in the latter half of the 7th century, preceding the first invention of Syriac and Hebrew vocalization. Initially, this was done by a system of red dots, said to have been commissioned in the Umayyad era by Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali a dot above ', a dot below \n ', a dot on the line = ', and doubled dots indicated nunation. However, this was cumbersome and easily confusable with the letter-distinguishing dots, so about 100 years later, the modern system was adopted. The system was finalized around 786 by '.\n\nArabic printing presses \n\nAlthough Napoleon Bonaparte generally receives credit for introducing the printing press to Egypt during his invasion of that country in 1798, and though he did indeed bring printing presses and Arabic script presses to print the French occupation's official newspaper Al-Tanbiyyah (\"The Courier\"), printing in the Arabic language started several centuries earlier.\n\nFollowing Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in 1450, Gregorio de Gregorii, a Venetian, published in 1514 an entire prayer-book in Arabic script entitled Kitab Salat al-Sawa'i - intended for the eastern Christian communities.\n\nFamed type-designer Robert Granjon, working for Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, succeeded in designing (1580-1586) elegant Arabic typefaces, and the Medici press published many Christian prayer and scholarly Arabic texts in the late 16th century.\n\nMaronite monks at the Maar Quzhayy Monastery in Mount Lebanon published the first Arabic books to use movable type in the Middle East. The monks transliterated the Arabic language using Syriac script.\n\nA goldsmith (like Gutenberg) designed and implemented an Arabic-script movable-type printing-press in the Middle East. The Greek Orthodox monk Abd Allah Zakhir set up an Arabic language printing press using movable type at the monastery of Saint John at the town of Dhour El Shuwayr in Mount Lebanon, the first homemade press in Lebanon using Arabic script. He personally cut the type molds and did the founding of the elegant typeface. The first book came off his press in 1734; this press continued in use until 1899. \n\nComputers and the Arabic alphabet \n\nThe Arabic alphabet can be encoded using several character sets, including ISO-8859-6, Windows-1256 and Unicode (see links in Infobox, above), in the latter thanks to the \"Arabic segment\", entries U+0600 to U+06FF. However, none of these sets indicate the form each character should take in context. It is left to the rendering engine to select the proper glyph to display for each character.\n\nFor compatibility with previous standards, initial, medial, final and isolated forms can be encoded separately in Unicode; however, they can also be inferred from their joining context, using the same encoding. The following table shows this common encoding, in addition to the compatibility encodings for their normally contextual forms (Arabic texts should be encoded today using only the common encoding, but the rendering must then infer the joining types to determine the correct glyph forms, with or without ligation).\n\nUnicode\n\nAs of Unicode 7.0, the following ranges encode Arabic characters:\n*Arabic (0600-06FF)\n*Arabic Supplement (0750-077F)\n*Arabic Extended-A (08A0-08FF)\n*Arabic Presentation Forms-A (FB50-FDFF)\n*Arabic Presentation Forms-B (FE70-FEFF)\n*Arabic Mathematical Alphabetic Symbols 1EE00-1EEFF)\n*Rumi Numeral Symbols (10E60-10E7F)\n\nThe basic Arabic range encodes the standard letters and diacritics, but does not encode contextual forms (U+0621-U+0652 being directly based on ISO 8859-6); and also includes the most common diacritics and Arabic-Indic digits. U+06D6 to U+06ED encode Qur'anic annotation signs such as \"end of ayah\" ۖ and \"start of rub el hizb\" ۞. The Arabic Supplement range encodes letter variants mostly used for writing African (non-Arabic) languages. The Arabic Extended-A range encodes additional Qur'anic annotations and letter variants used for various non-Arabic languages. The Arabic Presentation Forms-A range encodes contextual forms and ligatures of letter variants needed for Persian, Urdu, Sindhi and Central Asian languages. The Arabic Presentation Forms-B range encodes spacing forms of Arabic diacritics, and more contextual letter forms. The Arabic Mathematical Alphabetical Symbols block encodes characters used in Arabic mathematical expressions.\n\nSee also the notes of the section on modified letters.\n\nKeyboards\n\nKeyboards designed for different nations have different layouts, so that proficiency in one style of keyboard such as Iraq's does not transfer to proficiency in another keyboard such as Saudi Arabia's. Differences can include the location of non-alphabetic characters.\n\nAll Arabic keyboards allow typing Roman characters, e.g., for the URL in a web browser. Thus, each Arabic keyboard has both Arabic and Roman characters marked on the keys. Usually the Roman characters of an Arabic keyboard conform to the QWERTY layout, but in North Africa, where French is the most common language typed using the Roman characters, the Arabic keyboards are AZERTY.\n\nTo encode a particular written form of a character, there are extra code points provided in Unicode which can be used to express the exact written form desired. The range Arabic presentation forms A (U+FB50 to U+FDFF) contain ligatures while the range Arabic presentation forms B (U+FE70 to U+FEFF) contains the positional variants. These effects are better achieved in Unicode by using the zero-width joiner and non-joiner, as these presentation forms are deprecated in Unicode, and should generally only be used within the internals of text-rendering software, when using Unicode as an intermediate form for conversion between character encodings, or for backwards compatibility with implementations that rely on the hard-coding of glyph forms.\n\nFinally, the Unicode encoding of Arabic is in logical order, that is, the characters are entered, and stored in computer memory, in the order that they are written and pronounced without worrying about the direction in which they will be displayed on paper or on the screen. Again, it is left to the rendering engine to present the characters in the correct direction, using Unicode's bi-directional text features. In this regard, if the Arabic words on this page are written left to right, it is an indication that the Unicode rendering engine used to display them is out of date. \n\nThere are competing on-line tools, e.g. [http://www.yamli.com/editor/ Yamli editor], which allow entry of Arabic letters without having Arabic support installed on a PC, and without knowledge of the layout of the Arabic keyboard. \n\nHandwriting recognition\n\nThe first software program of its kind in the world that identifies Arabic handwriting in real time has been developed by researchers at Ben-Gurion University (BGU).\n\nThe prototype enables the user to write Arabic words by hand on an electronic screen, which then analyzes the text and translates it into printed Arabic letters in a thousandth of a second. The error rate is less than three percent, according to Dr. Jihad El-Sana, from BGU's department of computer sciences, who developed the system along with master's degree student Fadi Biadsy.",
"English_language.txt\nEnglish language\nEnglish is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca. English is either the official language or an official language in almost 60 sovereign states. It is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, and is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa, and South Asia. It is the third most common native language in the world, after Mandarin and Spanish. It is the most widely learned second language and an official language of the United Nations, of the European Union, and of many other world and regional international organisations.\n\nEnglish has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the fifth century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of England. Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London and the King James Bible, and the start of the Great Vowel Shift. Through the worldwide influence of the British Empire, modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Through all types of printed and electronic media, as well as the emergence of the United States as a global superpower, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and in professional contexts such as science, navigation, and law.\n\nModern English has little inflection compared with many other languages, and relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses, aspect and mood, as well as passive constructions, interrogatives and some negation. Despite noticeable variation among the accents and dialects of English used in different countries and regions – in terms of phonetics and phonology, and sometimes also vocabulary, grammar and spelling – English-speakers from around the world are able to communicate with one another with relative ease.\n\nClassification \n\nEnglish is an Indo-European language, and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. Most closely related to English are the Frisian languages, and English and Frisian form the Anglo-Frisian subgroup within West Germanic. Old Saxon and its descendent Low German languages are also closely related, and sometimes Low German, English, and Frisian are grouped together as the Ingvaeonic or North Sea Germanic languages. Modern English descends from Middle English, which in turn descends from Old English. Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into a number of other English (Anglic) languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian and Forth and Bargy (Yola) dialects of Ireland.\n\nEnglish is classified as a Germanic language because it shares new language features (different from other Indo-European languages) with other Germanic languages such as Dutch, German, and Swedish. These shared innovations show that the languages have descended from a single common ancestor, which linguists call Proto-Germanic. Some shared features of Germanic languages are the use of modal verbs, the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws. Through Grimm's law, the word for foot begins with in Germanic languages, but its cognates in other Indo-European languages begin with. English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as the palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see ).\n* English sing, sang, sung; Dutch zingen, zong, gezongen; German singen, sang, gesungen (strong verb)\nEnglish laugh, laughed; Dutch and German lachen, lachte (weak verb)\n* English foot, Dutch voet, German Fuß, Norwegian and Swedish fot (initial derived from Proto-Indo-European through Grimm's law)\nLatin pes, stem ped-; Modern Greek pódi; Russian pod; Sanskrit pád (original Proto-Indo-European )\n* English cheese, Frisian tsiis (ch and ts from palatalisation)\nGerman Käse and Dutch kaas (k without palatalisation)\n\nEnglish, like the other insular Germanic languages, Icelandic and Faroese, developed independently of the continental Germanic languages and their influences. English is thus not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, differing in vocabulary, syntax, and phonology, although some, such as Dutch, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages.\n\nBecause English through its history has changed considerably in response to contact with other languages, particularly Old Norse and Norman French, some scholars have argued that English can be considered a mixed language or a creole – a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis. Although the high degree of influence from these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language.\n\nHistory \n\nProto-Germanic to Old English \n\nThe earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon (c. 550–1066 CE). Old English developed from a set of North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia, Lower Saxony, Jutland, and Southern Sweden by Germanic tribes known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. In the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain and the Romans withdrew from Britain. By the seventh century, the Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain, replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409 CE): Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, and Latin, brought to Britain by the Roman occupation. England and English (originally Englaland and Englisc) are named after the Angles.\n\nOld English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects, Mercian and Northumbrian, and the Saxon dialects, Kentish and West Saxon. Through the educational reforms of King Alfred in the ninth century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety. The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn, is written in Northumbrian. Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the early period of Old English were written using a runic script. By the sixth century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms. It included the runic letters wynn and thorn , and the modified Latin letters eth , and ash .\n\nOld English is very different from Modern English and difficult for 21st-century English speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German, and its closest relative is Old Frisian. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms, and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns (he, him, his) and a few verb endings (I have, he has), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings.\n\nThe translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 CE shows examples of case endings (nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and a verb ending (present plural):\nFoxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest\nFox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅\nfox- have- hole- and heaven- bird- nest-\n\"Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests\"\n\nMiddle English \n\nIn the period from the 8th to the 12th century, Old English gradually transformed through language contact into Middle English. Middle English is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1200–1450.\n\nFirst, the waves of Norse colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse, a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the Northeastern varieties of Old English spoken in the Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English. However the centre of norsified English seems to have been in the Midlands around Lindsey, and after 920 CE when Lindsey was reincorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, Norse features spread from there into English varieties that had not been in intense contact with Norse speakers. Some elements of Norse influence that persist in all English varieties today are the pronouns beginning with th- (they, them, their) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- (hie, him, hera).\n\nWith the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now norsified Old English language was subject to contact with the Old Norman language, a Romance language closely related to Modern French. The Norman language in England eventually developed into Anglo-Norman. Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking Anglo-Saxon, the influence of Norman consisted of introducing a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains. Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative case was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to describing possession. The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms, and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible. By the Wycliffe Bible of the 1380s, the passage Matthew 8:20 was written\n\nFoxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis \n\nHere the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present.\n\nBy the 12th century Middle English was fully developed, integrating both Norse and Norman features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In the Middle English period the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer.\n\nEarly Modern English \n\nThe next period in the history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation.\n\nThe Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift, meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised, and close vowels were broken into diphthongs. For example, the word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling, since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages.\n\nEnglish began to rise in prestige during the reign of Henry V. Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents, and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard, developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands. In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English. Literature from the Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I. Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters in knight, gnat, and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent the distinct characteristics of Early Modern English.\n\nIn the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says:\nThe Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests\n\nThis exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with Subject-Verb-Object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and the introduction of loanwords from French (ayre) and word replacements (bird originally meaning \"nestling\" had replaced OE fugol).\n\nSpread of Modern English \n\nBy the late 18th century, the British Empire had facilitated the spread of English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication. As England continued to form new colonies, these in turn became independent and developed their own norms for how to speak and write the language. English was adopted in North America, India, parts of Africa, Australasia, and many other regions. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. In the 20th century the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC and other broadcasters, significantly accelerated the spread of the language across the planet. By the 21st century, English was more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been.\n\nA major feature in the early development of Modern English was the codification of explicit norms for standard usage, and their dissemination through official media such as public education and state sponsored publications. In 1755 Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of the English Language which introduced a standard set of spelling conventions and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language in an effort to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent from the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of the prestige varieties among the middle classes.\n\nIn terms of grammatical evolution, Modern English has now reached a stage where the loss of case is almost complete (case is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him, she and her, who and whom), and where SVO word-order is mostly fixed. Some changes, such as the use of do-support have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word \"do\" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it was only used in question constructions where it was not obligatory. Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing, appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer). British English is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the US as a world power. \n\nGeographical distribution \n\nAs of 2010, 359 million people spoke English as their first language. English is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin and Spanish. However, when combining native and non-native speakers it is probably the most commonly spoken language in the world. English is spoken by communities on every continent and on oceanic islands in all the major oceans. The countries in which English is spoken can be grouped into different categories by how English is used in each country. The \"inner circle\" countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms of English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world.\n\nThree circles of English-speaking countries \n\nBraj Kachru distinguishes countries where English is spoken with a three circles model. In his model, the \"inner circle\" countries are countries with large communities of native speakers of English, \"outer circle\" countries have small communities of native speakers of English but widespread use of English as a second language in education or broadcasting or for local official purposes, and \"expanding circle\" countries are countries where many learners learn English as a foreign language. Kachru bases his model on the history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time.\n\nCountries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where a significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million), the United Kingdom (60 million), Canada (19 million), Australia (at least 17 million), South Africa (4.8 million), Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million). In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages or new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces. The inner-circle countries provide the base from which English spreads to other countries in the world.\n\nEstimates of the number of English speakers who are second language and foreign-language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1,000 million depending on how proficiency is defined. Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. In Kachru's three-circles model, the \"outer circle\" countries are countries such as the Philippines, Jamaica, India, Pakistan, Singapore, and Nigeria with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business,\nand where English is routinely used for school instruction and official interactions with the government. Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to a more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English in the process of growing up through day by day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by speakers who are not native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners. Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in the inner-circle countries, and they may have grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries.\n\nIn the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as a foreign language make up the \"expanding circle\". The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time. For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it, and thus English is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, the widespread use of English in these countries puts them at the boundary between the \"outer circle\" and \"expanding circle\". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language. Many users of English in the expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use English. Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties. Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in the world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries.\n\nPluricentric English \n\nEnglish is a pluricentric language, which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language. But English is not a divided language, despite a long-standing joke originally attributed to George Bernard Shaw that the United Kingdom and the United States are \"two countries separated by a common language\". Spoken English, for example English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are also established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents, but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English. The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by the consensus of educated English-speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation. American listeners generally readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world. Both standard and nonstandard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers.\n\nThe settlement history of the English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce a koineised form of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers, although English has been given official status by only 30 of the 50 state governments of the US. \n\nEnglish as a global language \n\nEnglish has ceased to be an \"English language\" in the sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English. Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons. Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an \"Afro-Saxon\" language community that unites Africans from different countries.\n\nAs decolonisation proceeded throughout the British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies. For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India. English is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK. However English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India. David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world, but the number of English speakers in India is very uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India.\n\nModern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca, is also regarded as the first world language. English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy. English is, by international treaty, the basis for the required controlled natural languages Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring and aviation. English has replaced German as the dominant language of scientific research. It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919. By the time of the foundation of the United Nations at the end of World War II, English had become pre-eminent and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations. Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation.\n\nMany regional international organisations such as the European Free Trade Association, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of the Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations.\n\nAlthough in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than the UK, Ireland and Malta). In a 2012 official Eurobarometer poll, 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents.\n\nA working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995.\n\nSpecialised subsets of English arise spontaneously in international communities, for example, among international business people, as an auxiliary language. This has led some scholars to develop the study of English as an auxiliary languages. Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words with highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English.\n\nThe increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into the vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death, and to claims of linguistic imperialism, and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives.\n\nAlthough some scholars mention a possibility of future divergence of English dialects into mutually unintelligible languages, most think a more likely outcome is that English will continue to function as a koineised language in which the standard form unifies speakers from around the world. English is used as the language for wider communication in countries around the world. Thus English has grown in worldwide use much more than any constructed language proposed as an international auxiliary language, including Esperanto.\n\nPhonology \n\nThe phonetics and phonology of English differ between dialects, usually without interfering with mutual communication. Phonological variation affects the inventory of phonemes (speech sounds that distinguish meaning), and phonetic variation is differences in pronunciation of the phonemes. This overview mainly describes the standard pronunciations of the United Kingdom and the United States: Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA) (See Section below on \"Dialects, accents and varieties\"). The phonetic symbols used below are from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).\n\nConsonants \n\nMost English dialects share the same 24consonant phonemes. The consonant inventory shown below is valid for Californian American English, and for RP.\n\n*Conventionally transcribed.\n\nIn the table, when obstruents (stops, affricates, and fricatives) appear in pairs, such as,, and, the first is fortis (strong) and the second is lenis (weak). Fortis obstruents, such as are pronounced with more muscular tension and breath force than lenis consonants, such as, and are always voiceless. Lenis consonants are partly voiced at the beginning and end of utterances, and fully voiced between vowels. Fortis stops such as have additional articulatory or acoustic features in most dialects: they are aspirated when they occur alone at the beginning of a stressed syllable, often unaspirated in other cases, and often unreleased or pre-glottalised at the end of a syllable. In a single-syllable word, a vowel before a fortis stop is shortened: thus nip has a noticeably shorter vowel (phonetically, but not phonemically) than nib (see below).\n* lenis stops: bin, about, nib\n* fortis stops: pin, spin, happy, nip or\n\nIn RP, the lateral approximant, has two main allophones (pronunciation variants): the clear or plain, as in light, and the dark or velarised, as in full. GA has dark l in most cases.\n* clear l: RP light\n* dark l: RP and GA full, GA light\n\nAll sonorants (liquids and nasals) devoice when following a voiceless obstruent, and they are syllabic when following a consonant at the end of a word.\n* voiceless sonorants: clay and snow\n* syllabic sonorants: paddle, and button\n\nVowels \n\nThe pronunciation of vowels varies a great deal between dialects and is one of the most detectable aspects of a speaker's accent. The table below lists the vowel phonemes in Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA), with examples of words in which they occur from lexical sets compiled by linguists. The vowels are represented with symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet; those given for RP are standard in British dictionaries and other publications.\n\nIn RP, vowel length is phonemic; long vowels are marked with a triangular colon in the table above, such as the vowel of need as opposed to bid. GA does not have long vowels.\n\nIn both RP and GA, vowels are phonetically shortened before fortis consonants in the same syllable, like, but not before lenis consonants like or in open syllables: thus, the vowels of rich, neat, and safe are noticeably shorter than the vowels of ridge, need, and save, and the vowel of light is shorter than that of lie. Because lenis consonants are frequently voiceless at the end of a syllable, vowel length is an important cue as to whether the following consonant is lenis or fortis.\n\nThe vowels only occur in unstressed syllables and are a result of vowel reduction. Some dialects do not distinguish them, so that roses and comma end in the same vowel, a dialect feature called weak vowel merger. GA has an unstressed r-coloured schwa, as in butter, which in RP has the same vowel as the word-final vowel in comma.\n\nPhonotactics \n\nAn English syllable includes a syllable nucleus consisting of a vowel sound. Syllable onset and coda (start and end) are optional. A syllable can start with up to three consonant sounds, as in sprint, and end with up to four, as in texts. This gives an English syllable the following structure, (CCC)V(CCCC) where C represents a consonant and V a vowel. The consonants that may appear together in onsets or codas are restricted, as is the order in which they may appear. Onsets can only have four types of consonant clusters: a stop and approximant, as in play; a voiceless fricative and approximant, as in fly or sly; s and a voiceless stop, as in stay; and s, a voiceless stop, and an approximant, as in string. Clusters of nasal and stop are only allowed in codas. Clusters of obstruents always agree in voicing, and clusters of sibilants and of plosives with the same point of articulation are prohibited. Furthermore, several consonants have limited distributions: can only occur in syllable initial position, and only in syllable final position.\n\nStress, rhythm and intonation \n\nStress plays an important role in English. Certain syllables are stressed, while others are unstressed. Stress is a combination of duration, intensity, vowel quality, and sometimes changes in pitch. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer and louder than unstressed syllables, and vowels in unstressed syllables are frequently reduced while vowels in stressed syllables are not. Some words, primarily short function words but also some modal verbs such as can, have weak and strong forms depending on whether they occur in stressed or non-stressed position within a sentence.\n\nStress in English is phonemic, and some pairs of words are distinguished by stress. For instance, the word contract is stressed on the first syllable ( ) when used as a noun, but on the last syllable ( ) for most meanings (for example, \"reduce in size\") when used as a verb. Here stress is connected to vowel reduction: in the noun \"contract\" the first syllable is stressed and has the unreduced vowel, but in the verb \"contract\" the first syllable is unstressed and its vowel is reduced to. Stress is also used to distinguish between words and phrases, so that a compound word receives a single stress unit, but the corresponding phrase has two: e.g. to búrn óut versus a búrnout, and a hótdog versus a hót dóg.\n\nIn terms of rhythm, English is generally described as a stress-timed language, meaning that the amount of time between stressed syllables tends to be equal. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer, but unstressed syllables (syllables between stresses) are shortened. Vowels in unstressed syllables are shortened as well, and vowel shortening causes changes in vowel quality: vowel reduction.\n\nRegional variation \n\nVarieties of English vary the most in pronunciation of vowels, and are categorised generally into two groups: British (BrE) and American (AmE). Because North America was settled in the late 17th century, American and Canadian English had time to diverge greatly from other varieties of English during centuries when transoceanic travel was slow. Australian, New Zealand, and South African English, on the other hand, were settled in the 19th century, shortly before ocean-going steamships became commonplace, so they show close similarities to the English of South East England. The English spoken in Ireland and Scottish English fall between these two groups. Some differences between the various dialects are shown in the table \"Varieties of Standard English and their features\".\n\nEnglish has undergone many historical sound changes, some of them affecting all varieties, and others affecting only a few. Most standard varieties are affected by the Great Vowel Shift, which changed the pronunciation of long vowels, but a few dialects have slightly different results. In North America, a number of chain shifts such as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and Canadian Shift have produced very different vowel landscapes in some regional accents.\n\nSome dialects have fewer or more consonant phonemes and phones than the standard varieties. Some conservative varieties like Scottish English have a voiceless sound in whine that contrasts with the voiced in wine, but most other dialects pronounce both words with voiced, a dialect feature called wine–whine merger. The unvoiced velar fricative sound is found in Scottish English, which distinguishes loch from lock. Accents like Cockney with \"h-dropping\" lack the glottal fricative, and dialects with th-stopping and th-fronting like African American Vernacular and Estuary English do not have the dental fricatives, but replace them with dental or alveolar stops or labiodental fricatives. Other changes affecting the phonology of local varieties are processes such as yod-dropping, yod-coalescence, and reduction of consonant clusters.\n\nGeneral American and Received Pronunciation vary in their pronunciation of historical after a vowel at the end of a syllable (in the syllable coda). GA is a rhotic dialect, meaning that it pronounces at the end of a syllable, but RP is non-rhotic, meaning that it loses in that position. English dialects are classified as rhotic or non-rhotic depending on whether they elide like RP or keep it like GA.\n\nThere is complex dialectal variation in words with the open front and open back vowels. These four vowels are only distinguished in RP, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In GA, these vowels merge to three, and in Canadian English they merge to two. In addition, the words that have each vowel vary by dialect. The table \"Dialects and open vowels\" shows this variation with lexical sets in which these sounds occur.\n\nGrammar \n\nModern English grammar is the result of a gradual change from a typical Indo-European dependent marking pattern with a rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order, to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection, a fairly fixed SVO word order and a complex syntax. Some traits typical of Germanic languages persist in English, such as the distinction between irregularly inflected strong stems inflected through ablaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem, as in the pairs speak/spoke and foot/feet) and weak stems inflected through affixation (such as love/loved, hand/hands). Vestiges of the case and gender system are found in the pronoun system (he/him, who/whom) and in the inflection of the copula verb to be. Typically for an Indo-European language, English follows accusative morphosyntactic alignment. English distinguishes at least seven major word classes: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners (i.e. articles), prepositions, and conjunctions. Some analyses add pronouns as a class separate from nouns, and subdivide conjunctions into subordinators and coordinators, and add the class of interjections. English also has a rich set of auxiliary verbs, such as have and do, expressing the categories of mood and aspect. Questions are marked by do-support, wh-movement (fronting of question words beginning with wh-) and word order inversion with some verbs.\n\nThe seven word classes are exemplified in this sample sentence:\n\nNouns and noun phrases \n\nEnglish nouns are only inflected for number and possession. New nouns can be formed through derivation or compounding. They are semantically divided into proper nouns (names) and common nouns. Common nouns are in turn divided into concrete and abstract nouns, and grammatically into count nouns and mass nouns.\n\nMost count nouns are inflected for plural number through the use of the plural suffix -s, but a few nouns have irregular plural forms. Mass nouns can only be pluralised through the use of a count noun classifier, e.g. one loaf of bread, two loaves of bread.\n\nRegular plural formation:\nSingular: cat, dog\nPlural: cats, dogs\n\nIrregular plural formation:\nSingular: man, woman, foot, fish, ox, knife, mouse\nPlural: men, women, feet, fish, oxen, knives, mice\n\nPossession can be expressed either by the possessive enclitic -s (also traditionally called a genitive suffix), or by the preposition of. Historically the -s possessive has been used for animate nouns, whereas the of possessive has been reserved for inanimate nouns. Today this distinction is less clear, and many speakers use -s also with inanimates. Orthographically the possessive -s is separated from the noun root with an apostrophe.\n\nPossessive constructions:\nWith -s: The woman's husband's child\nWith of: The child of the husband of the woman\n\nNouns can form noun phrases (NPs) where they are the syntactic head of the words that depend on them such as determiners, quantifiers, conjunctions or adjectives. Noun phrases can be short, such as the man, composed only of a determiner and a noun. They can also include modifiers such as adjectives (e.g. red, tall, all) and specifiers such as determiners (e.g. the, that). But they can also tie together several nouns into a single long NP, using conjunctions such as and, or prepositions such as with, e.g. the tall man with the long red trousers and his skinny wife with the spectacles (this NP uses conjunctions, prepositions, specifiers and modifiers). Regardless of length, an NP functions as a syntactic unit. For example, the possessive enclitic can, in cases which do not lead to ambiguity, follow the entire noun phrase, as in The President of India's wife, where the enclitic follows India and not President.\n\nThe class of determiners is used to specify the noun they precede in terms of definiteness, where the marks a definite noun and a or an an indefinite one. A definite noun is assumed by the speaker to be already known by the interlocutor, whereas an indefinite noun is not specified as being previously known. Quantifiers, which include one, many, some and all, are used to specify the noun in terms of quantity or number. The noun must agree with the number of the determiner, e.g. one man (sg.) but all men (pl.). Determiners are the first constituents in a noun phrase.\n\nAdjectives \n\nAdjectives modify a noun by providing additional information about their referents. In English, adjectives come before the nouns they modify and after determiners. In Modern English, adjectives are not inflected, and they do not agree in form with the noun they modify, as adjectives in most other Indo-European languages do. For example, in the phrases the slender boy, and many slender girls, the adjective slender does not change form to agree with either the number or gender of the noun.\n\nSome adjectives are inflected for degree of comparison, with the positive degree unmarked, the suffix -er marking the comparative, and -est marking the superlative: a small boy, the boy is smaller than the girl, that boy is the smallest. Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms, such as good, better, and best. Other adjectives have comparatives formed by periphrastic constructions, with the adverb more marking the comparative, and most marking the superlative: happier or more happy, the happiest or most happy. There is some variation among speakers regarding which adjectives use inflected or periphrastic comparison, and some studies have shown a tendency for the periphrastic forms to become more common at the expense of the inflected form.\n\nPronouns, case and person \n\nEnglish pronouns conserve many traits of case and gender inflection. The personal pronouns retain a difference between subjective and objective case in most persons (I/me, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them) as well as a gender and animateness distinction in the third person singular (distinguishing he/she/it). The subjective case corresponds to the Old English nominative case, and the objective case is used both in the sense of the previous accusative case (in the role of patient, or direct object of a transitive verb), and in the sense of the Old English dative case (in the role of a recipient or indirect object of a transitive verb). Subjective case is used when the pronoun is the subject of a finite clause, and otherwise the objective case is used. While already grammarians such as Henry Sweet and Otto Jespersen noted that the English cases did not correspond to the traditional Latin based system, some contemporary grammars, for example , retain traditional labels for the cases, calling them nominative and accusative cases respectively.\n\nPossessive pronouns exist in dependent and independent forms; the dependent form functions as a determiner specifying a noun (as in my chair), while the independent form can stand alone as if it were a noun (e.g. the chair is mine). The English system of grammatical person no longer has a distinction between formal and informal pronouns of address, and the forms for 2nd person plural and singular are identical except in the reflexive form. Some dialects have introduced innovative 2nd person plural pronouns such as y'all found in Southern American English and African American (Vernacular) English or youse and ye found in Irish English.\n\nPronouns are used to refer to entities deictically or anaphorically. A deictic pronoun points to some person or object by identifying it relative to the speech situation — for example the pronoun I identifies the speaker, and the pronoun you, the addressee. Anaphorical pronouns such as that refer back to an entity already mentioned or assumed by the speaker to be known by the audience, for example in the sentence I already told you that. The reflexive pronouns are used when the oblique argument is identical to the subject of a phrase (e.g. \"he sent it to himself\" or \"she braced herself for impact\").\n\nPrepositions \n\nPrepositional phrases (PP) are phrases composed of a preposition and one or more nouns, e.g. with the dog, for my friend, to school, in England. Prepositions have a wide range of uses in English. They are used to describing movement, place, and other relations between different entities, but they also have many syntactic uses such as introducing complement clauses and oblique arguments of verbs. For example, in the phrase I gave it to him, the preposition to marks the recipient, or Indirect Object of the verb to give. Traditionally words were only considered prepositions if they governed the case of the noun they preceded, for example causing the pronouns to use the objective rather than subjective form, \"with her\", \"to me\", \"for us\". But some contemporary grammars such as no longer consider government and case to be defining for the class of prepositions, rather defining prepositions as words that can function as the heads of prepositional phrases.\n\nVerbs and verb phrases \n\nEnglish verbs are inflected for tense and aspect, and marked for agreement with third person singular subject. Only the copula verb to be is still inflected for agreement with the plural and first and second person subjects. Auxiliary verbs such as have and be are paired with verbs in the infinitive, past, or progressive forms. They form complex tenses, aspects, and moods. Auxiliary verbs differ from other verbs in that they can be followed by the negation, and in that they can occur as the first constituent in a question sentence.\n\nMost verbs have six inflectional forms. The primary forms are a plain present, a third person singular present, and a preterite (past) form. The secondary forms are a plain form used for the infinitive, a gerund–participle and a past participle. The copula verb to be is the only verb to retain some of its original conjugation, and takes different inflectional forms depending on the subject. The first person present tense form is am, the third person singular form is and the form are is used second person singular and all three plurals. The only verb past participle is been and its gerund-participle is being.\n\nTense, aspect and mood \n\nEnglish has two primary tenses, past (preterit) and non-past. The preterit is inflected by using the preterit form of the verb, which for the regular verbs includes the suffix -ed, and for the strong verbs either the suffix -t or a change in the stem vowel. The non-past form is unmarked except in the third person singular, which takes the suffix -s.\n\nEnglish does not have a morphologised future tense. Futurity of action is expressed periphrastically with one of the auxiliary verbs will or shall. Many varieties also use a near future constructed with the phrasal verb be going to.\n\nFurther aspectual distinctions are encoded by the use of auxiliary verbs, primarily have and be, which encode the contrast between a perfect and non-perfect past tense (I have run vs. I was running), and compound tenses such as preterite perfect (I had been running) and present perfect (I have been running).\n\nFor the expression of mood, English uses a number of modal auxiliaries, such as can, may, will, shall and the past tense forms could, might, would, should. There is also a subjunctive and an imperative mood, both based on the plain form of the verb (i.e. without the third person singular -s), and which is used in subordinate clauses (e.g. subjunctive: It is important that he run every day; imperative Run!).\n\nAn infinitive form, that uses the plain form of the verb and the preposition to, is used for verbal clauses that are syntactically subordinate to a finite verbal clause. Finite verbal clauses are those that are formed around a verb in the present or preterit form. In clauses with auxiliary verbs they are the finite verbs and the main verb is treated as a subordinate clause. For example, he has to go where only the auxiliary verb have is inflected for time and the main verb to go is in the infinitive, or in a complement clause such as I saw him leave, where the main verb is to see which is in a preterite form, and leave is in the infinitive.\n\nPhrasal verbs \n\nEnglish also makes frequent use of constructions traditionally called phrasal verbs, verb phrases that are made up of a verb root and a preposition or particle which follows the verb. The phrase then functions as a single predicate. In terms of intonation the preposition is fused to the verb, but in writing it is written as a separate word. Examples of phrasal verbs are to get up, to ask out, to back up, to give up, to get together, to hang out, to put up with, etc. The phrasal verb frequently has a highly idiomatic meaning that is more specialised and restricted than what can be simply extrapolated from the combination of verb and preposition complement (e.g. lay off meaning terminate someone's employment). In spite of the idiomatic meaning, some grammarians, including , do not consider this type of construction to form a syntactic constituent and hence refrain from using the term \"phrasal verb\". Instead they consider the construction simply to be a verb with a prepositional phrase as its syntactic complement, i.e. he woke up in the morning and he ran up in the mountains are syntactically equivalent.\n\nAdverbs \n\nThe function of adverbs is to modify the action or event described by the verb by providing additional information about the manner in which it occurs. Many adverbs are derived from adjectives with the suffix -ly, but not all, and many speakers tend to omit the suffix in the most commonly used adverbs. For example, in the phrase the woman walked quickly the adverb quickly derived from the adjective quick describes the woman's way of walking. Some commonly used adjectives have irregular adverbial forms, such as good which has the adverbial form well.\n\nSyntax \n\nModern English syntax language is moderately analytic. It has developed features such as modal verbs and word order as resources for conveying meaning. Auxiliary verbs mark constructions such as questions, negative polarity, the passive voice and progressive aspect.\n\nBasic constituent order \n\nEnglish word order has moved from the Germanic verb-second (V2) word order to being almost exclusively subject–verb–object (SVO). The combination of SVO order and use of auxiliary verbs often creates clusters of two or more verbs at the centre of the sentence, such as he had hoped to try to open it.\n\nIn most sentences English only marks grammatical relations through word order. The subject constituent precedes the verb and the object constituent follows it. The example below demonstrates how the grammatical roles of each constituent is marked only by the position relative to the verb:\n\nAn exception is found in sentences where one of the constituents is a pronoun, in which case it is doubly marked, both by word order and by case inflection, where the subject pronoun precedes the verb and takes the subjective case form, and the object pronoun follows the verb and takes the objective case form. The example below demonstrates this double marking in a sentence where both object and subject is represented with a third person singular masculine pronoun:\n\nIndirect objects (IO) of ditransitive verbs can be placed either as the first object in a double object construction (S V IO O), such as I gave Jane the book or in a prepositional phrase, such as I gave the book to Jane \n\nClause syntax \n\nIn English a sentence may be composed of one or more clauses, that may in turn be composed of one or more phrases (e.g. Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, and Prepositional Phrases). A clause is built around a verb, and includes its constituents, such as any NPs and PPs. Within a sentence one clause is always the main clause (or matrix clause) whereas other clauses are subordinate to it. Subordinate clauses may function as arguments of the verb in the main clause. For example, in the phrase I think (that) you are lying, the main clause is headed by the verb think, the subject is I, but the object of the phrase is the subordinate clause (that) you are lying. The subordinating conjunction that shows that the clause that follows is a subordinate clause, but it is often omitted. Relative clauses are clauses that function as a modifier or specifier to some constituent in the main clause: For example, in the sentence I saw the letter that you received today, the relative clause that you received today specifies the meaning of the word letter, the object of the main clause. Relative clauses can be introduced by the pronouns who, whose, whom and which as well as by that (which can also be omitted.) In contrast to many other Germanic languages there is no major differences between word order in main and subordinate clauses.\n\nAuxiliary verb constructions \n\nEnglish syntax relies on auxiliary verbs for many functions including the expression of tense, aspect and mood. Auxiliary verbs form main clauses, and the main verbs function as heads of a subordinate clause of the auxiliary verb. For example, in the sentence the dog did not find its bone, the clause find its bone is the complement of the negated verb did not. Subject–auxiliary inversion is used in many constructions, including focus, negation, and interrogative constructions.\n\nThe verb do can be used as an auxiliary even in simple declarative sentences, where it usually serves to add emphasis, as in \"I did shut the fridge.\" However, in the negated and inverted clauses referred to above, it is used because the rules of English syntax permit these constructions only when an auxiliary is present. Modern English does not allow the addition of the negating adverb not to an ordinary finite lexical verb, as in *I know not—it can only be added to an auxiliary (or copular) verb, hence if there is no other auxiliary present when negation is required, the auxiliary do is used, to produce a form like I do not (don't) know. The same applies in clauses requiring inversion, including most questions—inversion must involve the subject and an auxiliary verb, so it is not possible to say *Know you him?; grammatical rules require Do you know him?\n\nNegation is done with the adverb not, which precedes the main verb and follows an auxiliary verb. A contracted form of not -n't can be used as an enclitic attaching to auxiliary verbs and to the copula verb to be. Just as with questions, many negative constructions require the negation to occur with do-support, thus in Modern English I don't know him is the correct answer to the question Do you know him?, but not *I know him not, although this construction may be found in older English.\n\nPassive constructions also use auxiliary verbs. A passive construction rephrases an active construction in such a way that the object of the active phrase becomes the subject of the passive phrase, and the subject of the active phrase is either omitted or demoted to a role as an oblique argument introduced in a prepositional phrase. They are formed by using the past participle either with the auxiliary verb to be or to get, although not all varieties of English allow the use of passives with get. For example, putting the sentence she sees him into the passive becomes he is seen (by her), or he gets seen (by her).\n\nQuestions \n\nBoth yes–no questions and wh-questions in English are mostly formed using subject–auxiliary inversion (Am I going tomorrow?, Where can we eat?), which may require do-support (Do you like her?, Where did he go?). In most cases, interrogative words (wh-words; e.g. what, who, where, when, why, how) appear in a fronted position. For example, in the question What did you see?, the word what appears as the first constituent despite being the grammatical object of the sentence. (When the wh-word is the subject or forms part of the subject, no inversion occurs: Who saw the cat?.) Prepositional phrases can also be fronted when they are the question's theme, e.g. To whose house did you go last night?. The personal interrogative pronoun who is the only interrogative pronoun to still show inflection for case, with the variant whom serving as the objective case form, although this form may be going out of use in many contexts.\n\nDiscourse level syntax \n\nAt the discourse level English tends to use a topic-comment structure, where the known information (topic) precedes the new information (comment). Because of the strict SVO syntax, the topic of a sentence generally has to be the grammatical subject of the sentence. In cases where the topic is not the grammatical subject of the sentence, frequently the topic is promoted to subject position through syntactic means. One way of doing this is through a passive construction, the girl was stung by the bee. Another way is through a cleft sentence where the main clause is demoted to be a complement clause of a copula sentence with a dummy subject such as it or there, e.g. it was the girl that the bee stung, there was a girl who was stung by a bee. Dummy subjects are also used in constructions where there is no grammatical subject such as with impersonal verbs (e.g., it is raining) or in existential clauses (there are many cars on the street). Through the use of these complex sentence constructions with informationally vacuous subjects, English is able to maintain both a topic comment sentence structure and a SVO syntax.\n\nFocus constructions emphasise a particular piece of new or salient information within a sentence, generally through allocating the main sentence level stress on the focal constituent. For example, the girl was stung by a bee (emphasising it was a bee and not for example a wasp that stung her), or The girl was stung by a bee (contrasting with another possibility, for example that it was the boy). Topic and focus can also be established through syntactic dislocation, either preposing or postposing the item to be focused on relative to the main clause. For example, That girl over there, she was stung by a bee, emphasises the girl by preposition, but a similar effect could be achieved by postposition, she was stung by a bee, that girl over there, where reference to the girl is established as an \"afterthought\".\n\nCohesion between sentences is achieved through the use of deictic pronouns as anaphora (e.g. that is exactly what I mean where that refers to some fact known to both interlocutors, or then used to locate the time of a narrated event relative to the time of a previously narrated event). Discourse markers such as oh, so or well, also signal the progression of ideas between sentences and help to create cohesion. Discourse markers are often the first constituents in sentences. Discourse markers are also used for stance taking in which speakers position themselves in a specific attitude towards what is being said, for example, no way is that true! (the idiomatic marker no way! expressing disbelief), or boy! I'm hungry (the marker boy expressing emphasis). While discourse markers are particularly characteristic of informal and spoken registers of English, they are also used in written and formal registers.\n\nVocabulary \n\nThe vocabulary of English is vast, and counting exactly how many words English (or any language) has is impossible. The Oxford Dictionaries suggest that there are at least a quarter of a million distinct English words. Early studies of English vocabulary by lexicographers, the scholars who formally study vocabulary, compile dictionaries, or both, were impeded by a lack of comprehensive data on actual vocabulary in use from good-quality linguistic corpora, collections of actual written texts and spoken passages. Many statements published before the end of the 20th century about the growth of English vocabulary over time, the dates of first use of various words in English, and the sources of English vocabulary will have to be corrected as new computerised analysis of linguistic corpus data becomes available.\n\nWord formation processes \n\nEnglish forms new words from existing words or roots in its vocabulary through a variety of processes. One of the most productive processes in English is conversion, using a word with a different grammatical role, for example using a noun as a verb or a verb as a noun. Another productive word-formation process is nominal compounding, producing compound words such as babysitter or ice cream or homesick. A process more common in Old English than in Modern English, but still productive in Modern English, is the use of derivational suffixes (-hood, -ness, -ing, -ility) to derive new words from existing words (especially those of Germanic origin) or stems (especially for words of Latin or Greek origin). Formation of new words, called neologisms, based on Greek or Latin roots (for example television or optometry) is a highly productive process in English and in most modern European languages, so much so that it is often difficult to determine in which language a neologism originated. For this reason, lexicographer Philip Gove attributed many such words to the \"international scientific vocabulary\" (ISV) when compiling Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961). Another active word-formation process in English is acronyms, words formed by pronouncing as a single word abbreviations of longer phrases (e.g. NATO, laser).\n\nWord origins \n\nEnglish, besides forming new words from existing words and their roots, also borrows words from other languages. This process of adding words from other languages is commonplace in many world languages, but English is characterised as being especially open to borrowing of foreign words throughout the last 1,000 years. The most commonly used words in English are West Germanic. The words in English learned first by children as they learn to speak, particularly the grammatical words that dominate the word count of both spoken and written texts, are the Germanic words inherited from the earliest periods of the development of Old English. But one of the consequences of long language contact between French and English in all stages of their development is that the vocabulary of English has a very high percentage of \"Latinate\" words (derived from French, especially, and also from Latin or from other Romance languages). French words from various periods of the development of French now make up one-third of the vocabulary of English.\n\nEnglish has also borrowed many words directly from Latin, the ancestor of the Romance languages, during all stages of its development. Many of the words borrowed into English from Latin were earlier borrowed into Latin from Greek. Latin or Greek are still highly productive sources of stems used to form vocabulary of subjects learned in higher education such as the sciences, philosophy, and mathematics. English continues to gain new loanwords and calques (\"loan translations\") from languages all over the world, and words from languages other than the ancestral Anglo-Saxon language make up about 60 percent of the vocabulary of English. English has formal and informal speech registers, and informal registers, including child directed speech, tend to be made up predominantly of words of Anglo-Saxon origin, while the percentage of vocabulary that is of Latinate origin is higher in legal, scientific, and academic texts.\n\nEnglish loanwords and calques in other languages \n\nEnglish has a strong influence on the vocabulary of other languages. The influence of English comes from such factors as opinion leaders in other countries knowing the English language, the role of English as a world lingua franca, and the large number of books and films that are translated from English into other languages. That pervasive use of English leads to a conclusion in many places that English is an especially suitable language for expressing new ideas or describing new technologies. Among varieties of English, it is especially American English that influences other languages. Some languages, such as Chinese, write words borrowed from English mostly as calques, while others, such as Japanese, readily take in English loanwords written in sound-indicating script. Dubbed films and television programmes are an especially fruitful source of English influence on languages in Europe.\n\nWriting system \n\nSince the ninth century, English has been written in a Latin alphabet (also called Roman alphabet). Earlier Old English texts in Anglo-Saxon runes are only short inscriptions. The great majority of literary works in Old English that survive to today are written in the Roman alphabet. The modern English alphabet contains 26 letters of the Latin script: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z (which also have capital forms: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).\n\nThe spelling system, or orthography, of English is multi-layered, with elements of French, Latin, and Greek spelling on top of the native Germanic system. Further complications have arisen through sound changes with which the orthography has not kept pace. Compared to European languages for which official organisations have promoted spelling reforms, English has spelling that is a less consistent indicator of pronunciation and standard spellings of words that are more difficult to guess from knowing how a word is pronounced. There are also systematic spelling differences between British and American English. These situations have prompted proposals for spelling reform in English.\n\nAlthough letters and speech sounds do not have a one-to-one correspondence in standard English spelling, spelling rules that take into account syllable structure, phonetic changes in derived words, and word accent are reliable for most English words. Moreover, standard English spelling shows etymological relationships between related words that would be obscured by a closer correspondence between pronunciation and spelling, for example the words photograph, photography, and photographic, or the words electricity and electrical. While few scholars agree with Chomsky and Halle (1968) that conventional English orthography is \"near-optimal\", there is a rationale for current English spelling patterns. The standard orthography of English is the most widely used writing system in the world. Standard English spelling is based on a graphomorphemic segmentation of words into written clues of what meaningful units make up each word.\n\nReaders of English can generally rely on the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation to be fairly regular for letters or digraphs used to spell consonant sounds. The letters b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z represent, respectively, the phonemes. The letters c and g normally represent and, but there is also a soft c pronounced, and a soft g pronounced. The differences in the pronunciations of the letters c and g are often signalled by the following letters in standard English spelling. Digraphs used to represent phonemes and phoneme sequences include ch for, sh for, th for or, ng for, qu for, and ph for in Greek-derived words. The single letter x is generally pronounced as in word-initial position and as otherwise. There are exceptions to these generalisations, often the result of loanwords being spelled according to the spelling patterns of their languages of origin or proposals by pedantic scholars in the early period of Modern English to mistakenly follow the spelling patterns of Latin for English words of Germanic origin.\n\nFor the vowel sounds of the English language, however, correspondences between spelling and pronunciation are more irregular. There are many more vowel phonemes in English than there are vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u, w, y). As a result of a smaller set of single letter symbols than the set of vowel phonemes, some \"long vowels\" are often indicated by combinations of letters (like the oa in boat, the ow in how, and the ay in stay), or the historically based silent e (as in note and cake).\n\nThe consequence of this complex orthographic history is that learning to read can be challenging in English. It can take longer for school pupils to become independently fluent readers of English than of many other languages, including Italian, Spanish, or German. Nonetheless, there is an advantage for learners of English reading in learning the specific sound-symbol regularities that occur in the standard English spellings of commonly used words. Such instruction greatly reduces the risk of children experiencing reading difficulties in English. Making primary school teachers more aware of the primacy of morpheme representation in English may help learners learn more efficiently to read and write English.\n\nEnglish writing also includes a system of punctuation that is similar to the system of punctuation marks used in most alphabetic languages around the world. The purpose of punctuation is to mark meaningful grammatical relationships in sentences to aid readers in understanding a text and to indicate features important for reading a text aloud.\n\nDialects, accents, and varieties \n\nDialectologists distinguish between English dialects, regional varieties that differ from each other in terms of grammar and vocabulary, and regional accents, distinguished by different patterns of pronunciation. The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into the two general categories of the British dialects (BrE) and those of North America (AmE).\n\nUK and Ireland \n\nAs the place where English first evolved, the British Isles, and particularly England, are home to the most variegated pattern of dialects. Within the United Kingdom, the Received Pronunciation (RP), an educated dialect of South East England, is traditionally used as the broadcast standard, and is considered the most prestigious of the British dialects. The spread of RP (also known as BBC English) through the media has caused many traditional dialects of rural England to recede, as youths adopt the traits of the prestige variety instead of traits from local dialects. At the time of the Survey of English Dialects, grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of lexical attrition has led most of this variation to disappear. Nonetheless this attrition has mostly affected dialectal variation in grammar and vocabulary, and in fact only 3 percent of the English population actually speak RP, the remainder speaking regional accents and dialects with varying degrees of RP influence. There is also variability within RP, particularly along class lines between Upper and Middle class RP speakers and between native RP speakers and speakers who adopt RP later in life. Within Britain there is also considerable variation along lines of social class, and some traits though exceedingly common are considered \"non-standard\" and are associated with lower class speakers and identities. An example of this is H-dropping, which was historically a feature of lower class London English, particularly Cockney, but which today is the standard in all major English cities—yet it remains largely absent in broadcasting and among the upper crust of British society.\n\nEnglish in England can be divided into four major dialect regions, Southwest English, South East English, Midlands English, and Northern English. Within each of these regions several local subdialects exist: Within the Northern region, there is a division between the Yorkshire dialects, and the Geordie dialect spoken in Northumbria around Newcastle, and the Lancashire dialects with local urban dialects in Liverpool (Scouse) and Manchester (Mancunian). Having been the centre of Danish occupation during the Viking Invasions, Northern English dialects, particularly the Yorkshire dialect, retain Norse features not found in other English varieties.\n\nSince the 15th century, Southeastern varieties centred around London, which has been the centre from which dialectal innovations have spread to other dialects. In London, the Cockney dialect was traditionally used by the lower classes, and it was long a socially stigmatised variety. Today a large area of Southeastern England has adopted traits from Cockney, resulting in the so-called Estuary English which spread in areas south and East of London beginning in the 1980s. Estuary English is distinguished by traits such as the use of intrusive R (drawing is pronounced drawring), t-glottalisation (Potter is pronounced with a glottal stop as Po'er), and the pronunciation of th- as (thanks pronounced fanks) or (bother pronounced bover). \n\nScots is today considered a separate language from English, but it has its origins in early Northern Middle English and developed and changed during its history with influence from other sources, particularly Scots Gaelic and Old Norse. Scots itself has a number of regional dialects. And in addition to Scots, Scottish English are the varieties of Standard English spoken in Scotland, most varieties are Northern English accents, with some influence from Scots.\n\nIn Ireland, various forms of English have been spoken since the Norman invasions of the 11th century. In County Wexford, in the area surrounding Dublin, two highly conservative dialects known as Forth and Bargy and Fingallian developed as offshoots from Early Middle English, and were spoken until the 19th century. Modern Hiberno-English however has its roots in English colonisation in the 17th century. Today Irish English is divided into Ulster English, a dialect with strong influence from Scots, and southern Hiberno-English. Like Scots and Northern English, the Irish accents preserve the rhoticity which has been lost in most dialects influenced by RP.\n\nNorth America \n\nAmerican English is generally considered fairly homogeneous compared to the British varieties. Today, American accent variation is in fact increasing, though most Americans still speak within a phonological continuum of similar accents, known collectively as General American (GA), with its differing accents hardly noticed even among Americans themselves (such as Midland and Western American English). Separate from GA are American accents with clearly distinct sound systems; this historically includes Southern American English, English of the coastal Northeast (famously including Eastern New England English and New York City English), and African American Vernacular English. Canadian English, except for the Maritime provinces, may be classified under GA as well, but it often shows unique vowel raising, as well as distinct norms for written and pronunciation standards. In GA and Canadian English, rhoticity (or r-fulness) is dominant, with non-rhoticity (r-dropping) becoming associated with lower prestige and social class especially after World War II; this contrasts with the situation in England, where non-rhoticity has become the standard.\n\nIn Southern American English, the largest American \"accent group\" outside of GA, rhoticity now prevails, replacing the region's historical non-rhotic prestige, though social variation may still apply. Southern accents are often colloquially described as a \"drawl\" or \"twang,\" being recognised most readily by the Southern Vowel Shift that begins with glide-deleting in the vowel (e.g. pronouncing spy almost like spa), the \"Southern breaking\" of several front pure vowels into a gliding vowel or even two syllables (e.g. pronouncing the word \"press\" almost like \"pray-us\"), the pin–pen merger, and other distinctive features, many of which are actually recent developments of the 19th century or later.\n\nToday spoken primarily by working- and middle-class African Americans, African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is also largely non-rhotic and likely originated among enslaved Africans and African Americans influenced primarily by the non-rhotic, non-standard English spoken by whites in the Old South. A minority of linguists, contrarily, propose that AAVE mostly traces back to African languages spoken by the slaves who had to develop a pidgin or Creole English to communicate with slaves of other ethnic and linguistic origins. After abolition, most African Americans settled in the inner cities of the North and here AAVE developed to a highly coherent and homogeneous variety. AAVE has often been stigmatised as a form of \"broken\" or \"uneducated\" English, as modern Southern American English also often is, but linguists today recognise both as fully developed varieties of English with their own norms shared by a large speech community.\n\nAustralia and New Zealand \n\nSince 1788 English has been spoken in Oceania, and the major native dialect of Australian English is spoken as a first language by the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Australian continent, with General Australian serving as the standard accent. The English of neighbouring New Zealand has to a lesser degree become an influential standard variety of the language. Australian and New Zealand English are most closely related to British English, and both have similarly non-rhotic accents, aside from some accents in the South Island of New Zealand. They stand out, however, for their innovative vowels: many short vowels are fronted or raised, whereas many long vowels have diphthongised. Australian English also has a contrast between long and short vowels, not found in most other varieties. Australian English grammar differs from British English only in few instances, one difference is the lack of verbal concord with collective plural subjects. New Zealand English differs little from Australian English, but a few characteristics sets its accent apart, such as the use of for wh- and its front vowels being even closer than in Australian English.\n\nAfrica, the Caribbean, and South Asia \n\nEnglish is spoken widely in South Africa and is an official or co-official language in several countries. In South Africa, English has been spoken since 1820, co-existing with Afrikaans and various African languages such as the Khoe and Bantu languages. Today about 9 percent of the South African population speak South African English (SAE) as a first language. SAE is a non-rhotic variety, which tends to follow RP as a norm. It is alone among non-rhotic varieties in lacking intrusive r. There are different L2 varieties that differ based on the native language of the speakers. Most phonological differences from RP are in the vowels. Consonant differences include the tendency to pronounce /p, t, t͡ʃ, k/ without aspiration (e.g. /pin/ pronounced rather than as as in most other varieties), while r is often pronounced as a flap instead of as the more common fricative.\n\nSeveral varieties of English are also spoken in the Caribbean Islands that were colonial possessions of Britain, including Jamaica, and the Leeward and Windward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, and Belize. Each of these areas are home both to a local variety of English and a local English based creole, combining English and African languages. The most prominent varieties are Jamaican English and Jamaican Creole. In Central America, English based creoles are spoken in on the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Panama. Locals are often fluent both in the local English variety and the local creole languages and code-switching between them is frequent, indeed another way to conceptualise the relationship between Creole and Standard varieties is to see a spectrum of social registers with the Creole forms serving as \"basilect\" and the more RP-like forms serving as the \"acrolect\", the most formal register.\n\nMost Caribbean varieties are based on British English and consequently most are non-rhotic, except for formal styles of Jamaican English which are often rhotic. Jamaican English differs from RP in its vowel inventory, which has a distinction between long and short vowels rather than tense and lax vowels as in Standard English. The diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/ are monophthongs and or even the reverse diphthongs and (e.g. bay and boat pronounced and). Often word final consonant clusters are simplified so that \"child\" is pronounced and \"wind\".\n\nAs a historical legacy, Indian English tends to take RP as its ideal, and how well this ideal is realised in an individual's speech reflects class distinctions among Indian English speakers. Indian English accents are marked by the pronunciation of phonemes such as /t/ and /d/ (often pronounced with retroflex articulation as and) and the replacement of and with dentals and. Sometimes Indian English speakers may also use spelling based pronunciations where the silent found in words such as ghost is pronounced as an Indian voiced aspirated stop.",
"Quran.txt\nQuran\nThe Quran ( ; ', literally meaning \"the recitation\"; also romanized Qur'an or Koran) is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (, Allah). It is widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. The Quran is divided into chapters called suras, which are then divided into verses called ayahs.\n\nMuslims believe the Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril), gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death.Living Religions: An Encyclopaedia of the World's Faiths, Mary Pat Fisher, 1997, page 338, I.B. Tauris Publishers. Muslims regard the Quran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Muhammad. The word \"Quran\" occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names and words are also said to be references to the Quran. \n\nAccording to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with mostly minor differences in meaning. \n\nThe Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures. It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance. It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law. During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. \n\nSomeone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz. Some Muslims read Quranic ayah (verse) with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. \n\nEtymology and meaning\n\nThe word ' appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun (Arabic verbs#Verbal noun (maṣdar)|) of the Arabic verb ' (), meaning \"he read\" or \"he recited\". The Syriac equivalent is () ', which refers to \"scripture reading\" or \"lesson\". While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is ' itself. Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the \"act of reciting\", as reflected in an early Quranic passage: \"It is for Us to collect it and to recite it ().\" \n\nIn other verses, the word refers to \"an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]\". Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example: \"So when ' is recited, listen to it and keep silent.\" The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. \n\nThe term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of ' in certain contexts. Such terms include ' (book); ' (sign); and ' (scripture). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article (al-), the word is referred to as the \"revelation\" (waḥy), that which has been \"sent down\" (tanzīl) at intervals. Other related words are: ' (remembrance), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning, and ' (wisdom), sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it. \n\nThe Quran describes itself as \"the discernment\" (al-furqān), \"the mother book\" (umm al-kitāb), \"the guide\" (huda), \"the wisdom\" (hikmah), \"the remembrance\" (dhikr) and \"the revelation\" (tanzīl; something sent down, signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place). Another term is ' (The Book), though it is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The adjective of \"Quran\" has multiple transliterations including \"quranic\", \"koranic\", and \"qur'anic\", or capitalised as \"Qur'anic\", \"Koranic\", and \"Quranic\". The term mus'haf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books. Other transliterations of \"Quran\" include \"al-Coran\", \"Coran\", \"Kuran\", and \"al-Qurʼan\". \n\nHistory\n\nProphetic era\n\nIslamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in the Cave of Hira during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to hadith and Muslim history, after Muhammad immigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his companions to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of the Quraysh who were taken prisoners at the battle of Badr regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632.\n There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation.\n\nSahih al-Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, \"Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell\" and Aisha reported, \"I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over).\" Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the \"one mighty in power\", the one who \"grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer.\" The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being a possessed man, a soothsayer or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia. Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood. \n\nThe Quran describes Muhammad as \"ummi\", which is traditionally interpreted as \"illiterate,\" but the meaning is rather more complex. Medieval commentators such as Al-Tabari maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied the books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as Watt prefer the second meaning of \"ummi\" - they take it to indicate unfamiliarity with earlier sacred texts. \n\nCompilation\n\nBased on earlier transmitted reports, in the year 632, after the demise of Muhammad a number of his companions who knew the Quran by heart were killed in a battle by Musaylimah, the first caliph Abu Bakr (d. 634) decided to collect the book in one volume so that it could be preserved. Zayd ibn Thabit (d. 655) was the person to collect the Quran since \"he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle\". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to the task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. After Abu Bakr, Hafsa bint Umar, Muhammad's widow, was entrusted with the manuscript. In about 650, the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656) began noticing slight differences in pronunciation of the Quran as Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula into Persia, the Levant, and North Africa. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard copy of the Quran. Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death, the Quran was committed to written form. That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed.\n\n* see section Poetry and Language by Navid Kermani, p.107-120.\n* For eschatology, see Discovering (final destination) by Christopher Buck, p.30.\n* For writing and printing, see section Written Transmission by François Déroche, p.172-187.\n* For literary structure, see section Language by Mustansir Mir, p.93.\n* For the history of compilation see Introduction by Tamara Sonn p.5-6\n* For recitation, see Recitation by Anna M. Gade p.481-493\n\n The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr. \n\nAccording to Shia, Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661) compiled a complete version of the Quran shortly after Muhammad's death. The order of this text differed from that gathered later during Uthman's era in that this version had been collected in chronological order. Despite this, he made no objection against the standardized Quran and accepted the Quran in circulation. Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including Ibn Mas'ud's and Ubay ibn Ka'b's codex, none of which exist today.\n* For God in the Quran (Allah), see Allah by Zeki Saritoprak, p. 33-40.\n* For eschatology, see Eschatology by Zeki Saritoprak, p. 194-199.\n* For searching the Arabic text on the internet and writing, see Cyberspace and the Qur'an by Andrew Rippin, p.159-163.\n* For calligraphy, see by Calligraphy and the Qur'an by Oliver Leaman, p 130-135.\n* For translation, see Translation and the Qur'an by Afnan Fatani, p.657-669.\n* For recitation, see Art and the Qur'an by Tamara Sonn, p.71-81 and Reading by Stefan Wild, p.532-535.\n\nThe Quran most likely existed in scattered written form during Muhammad's lifetime. Several sources indicate that during Muhammad's lifetime a large number of his companions had memorized the revelations. Early commentaries and Islamic historical sources support the above-mentioned understanding of the Quran's early development. The Quran in its present form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants has not yielded any differences of great significance. University of Chicago professor Fred Donner states that \"...there was a very early attempt to establish a uniform consonantal text of the Qurʾān from what was probably a wider and more varied group of related texts in early transmission. [...] After the creation of this standardized canonical text, earlier authoritative texts were suppressed, and all extant manuscripts—despite their numerous variants—seem to date to a time after this standard consonantal text was established.\" Although most variant readings of the text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are. There has been no critical text produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based. Historically, controversy over the Quran's content has rarely become an issue, although debates continue on the subject. \n\nIn 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sana'a, Yemen, manuscripts were discovered that were later proved to be the most ancient Quranic text known to exist at the time. The Sana'a manuscripts contain palimpsests, a manuscript page from which the text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again—a practice which was common in ancient times due to scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text (scriptio inferior) is still barely visible and believed to be \"pre-Uthmanic\" Quranic content, while the text written on top (scriptio superior) is believed to belong to Uthmanic time. Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 AD with a 99 percent probability.\n\nIn 2015, fragments of a very early Quran, dating back to 1370 years ago, were discovered in the library of the University of Birmingham, England. According to the tests carried out by Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, \"with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645\". The manuscript is written in Hijazi script, an early form of written Arabic. This is possibly the earliest extant exemplar of the Quran, but as the tests allow a range of possible dates, it cannot be said with certainty which of the existing versions is the oldest. Saudi scholar Saud al-Sarhan has expressed doubt over the age of the fragments as they contain dots and chapter separators that are believed to have originated later. \n\nSignificance in Islam\n\nIn worship\n\nMuslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity. \n\nRevelation in Islamic and Quranic contexts means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients. The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a messenger of God is tanzil (to send down) or nuzūl (to come down). As the Quran says, \"With the truth we (God) have sent it down and with the truth it has come down.\" \n\nThe Quran frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained. Some verses in the Quran seem to imply that even those who do not speak Arabic would understand the Quran if it were recited to them. The Quran refers to a written pre-text, \"the preserved tablet\", that records God's speech even before it was sent down. \n\nThe issue of whether the Quran is eternal or created became a theological debate (Quran's createdness) in the ninth century. Mu'tazilas, an Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought, held that the Quran was created while the most widespread varieties of Muslim theologians considered the Quran to be co-eternal with God and therefore uncreated. Sufi philosophers view the question as artificial or wrongly framed. \n\nMuslims believe that the present wording of the Quran corresponds to that revealed to Muhammad, and according to their interpretation of Quran , it is protected from corruption (\"Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian.\"). Muslims consider the Quran to be a guide, a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. They argue it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Quran, as the Quran itself maintains.\n\nThe first sura of the Quran is repeated in daily prayers and in other occasions. This sura, which consists of seven verses, is the most often recited sura of the Quran:\n\nPraised be God, Lord of the Universe, the Beneficent, the Merciful and Master of the Day of Judgment, You alone We do worship and from You alone we do seek assistance, guide us to the right path, the path of those to whom You have granted blessings, those who are neither subject to Your anger nor have gone astray.\" \n\nRespect for the written text of the Quran is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims, and the Quran is treated with reverence. Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of Quran (\"none shall touch but those who are clean\"), some Muslims believe that they must perform a ritual cleansing with water before touching a copy of the Quran, although this view is not universal. Worn-out copies of the Quran are wrapped in a cloth and stored indefinitely in a safe place, buried in a mosque or a Muslim cemetery, or burned and the ashes buried or scattered over water. \n\nIn Islam, most intellectual disciplines, including Islamic theology, philosophy, mysticism and jurisprudence, have been concerned with the Quran or have their foundation in its teachings. Muslims believe that the preaching or reading of the Quran is rewarded with divine rewards variously called ajr, thawab or hasanat. \n\nIn Islamic art\n\nThe Quran also inspired Islamic arts and specifically the so-called Quranic arts of calligraphy and illumination. The Quran is never decorated with figurative images, but many Qurans have been highly decorated with decorative patterns in the margins of the page, or between the lines or at the start of suras. Islamic verses appear in many other media, on buildings and on objects of all sizes, such as mosque lamps, metal work, pottery and single pages of calligraphy for muraqqas or albums.\n\nFile:Brooklyn Museum - Calligraphy - 3.jpg|Calligraphy, 18th century. Brooklyn Museum.\nFile:Quran inscriptions on wall, Lodhi Gardens, Delhi.jpg|Quranic inscriptions, Bara Gumbad mosque, Delhi, India.\nFile:Mosque lamp Met 91.1.1534.jpg|Typical glass and enamel mosque lamp with the Ayat an-Nur or \"Verse of Light\" (24:35).\nFile:Mausolées du groupe nord (Shah-i-Zinda, Samarcande) (6016470147).jpg|Quranic verses, Shahizinda mausoleum, Samarkand, Uzebekistan.\nFile:Muhammad ibn Mustafa Izmiri - Right Side of an Illuminated Double-page Incipit - Walters W5771B - Full Page.jpg|Quran page decoration art, Ottoman period.\nFile:4.8-17-1990-Guld-koranside-recto-og-verso.jpg|The leaves from this Quran written in gold and contoured with brown ink have a horizontal format. This is admirably suited to classical Kufic calligraphy, which became common under the early Abbasid caliphs.\n\nInimitability\n\nInimitability of the Quran (or \"I'jaz\") is the belief that no human speech can match the Quran in its content and form. The Quran is considered an inimitable miracle by Muslims, effective until the Day of Resurrection—and, thereby, the central proof granted to Muhammad in authentication of his prophetic status. The concept of inimitability originates in the Quran where in five different verses opponents are challenged to produce something like the Quran: \"If men and sprites banded together to produce the like of this Quran they would never produce its like not though they backed one another.\" So the suggestion is that if there are doubts concerning the divine authorship of the Quran, come forward and create something like it. From the ninth century, numerous works appeared which studied the Quran and examined its style and content. Medieval Muslim scholars including al-Jurjani (d. 1078) and al-Baqillani (d. 1013) have written treatises on the subject, discussed its various aspects, and used linguistic approaches to study the Quran. Others argue that the Quran contains noble ideas, has inner meanings, maintained its freshness through the ages and has caused great transformations in individual level and in the history. Some scholars state that the Quran contains scientific information that agrees with modern science. The doctrine of miraculousness of the Quran is further emphasized by Muhammad's illiteracy since the unlettered prophet could not have been suspected of composing the Quran.\n\nText and arrangement\n\nThe Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a sura. Suras are classified as Meccan or Medinan, depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the migration of Muhammad to the city of Medina. However, a sura classified as Medinan may contain Meccan verses in it and vice versa. Sura titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the sura. Suras are arranged roughly in order of decreasing size. The sura arrangement is thus not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each sura except the ninth starts with the Bismillah (), an Arabic phrase meaning \"In the name of God\". There are, however, still 114 occurrences of the Bismillah in the Quran, due to its presence in Quran as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of Sheba. \n\nEach sura consists of several verses, known as ayat, which originally means a \"sign\" or \"evidence\" sent by God. The number of verses differs from sura to sura. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the Quran is 6,236, however, the number varies if the bismillahs are counted separately.\n\nIn addition to and independent of the division into suras, there are various ways of dividing the Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading. The 30 juz' (plural ajzāʼ) can be used to read through the entire Quran in a month. Some of these parts are known by names—which are the first few words by which the juzʼ starts. A juz is sometimes further divided into two ḥizb (plural aḥzāb), and each hizb subdivided into four rubʻ al-ahzab. The Quran is also divided into seven approximately equal parts, manzil (plural manāzil), for it to be recited in a week.\n\nA different structure is provided by semantical units resembling paragraphs and comprising roughly ten ayat each. Such a section is called a rukū`.\n\nThe Muqattaʿat ( ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt \"disjoined letters\" or \"disconnected letters\"; also \"mysterious letters\") are combinations of between one and five Arabic letters figuring at the beginning of 29 out of the 114 surahs (chapters) of the [Quran just after the basmala.Massey, Keith. \"Mysterious Letters.\" in Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.) Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 3 (205), p. 472 ([http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-the-quran/mysterious-letters-EQCOM_00128 .brillonline.com]). The letters are also known as fawātih () or \"openers\" as they form the opening verse of their respective suras . Four surahs are named for their muqatta'at, Ṭāʾ-Hāʾ, Yāʾ-Sīn , Ṣād and Qāf. The original significance of the letters is unknown. Tafsir (exegesis) has interpreted them as abbreviations for either names or qualities of God or for the names or content of the respective surahs.\n\nAccording to one estimate the Quran consists of 77,430 words, 18,994 unique words, 12,183 stems, 3,382 lemmas and 1,685 roots. \n\nContents\n\nThe Quranic content is concerned with basic Islamic beliefs including the existence of God and the resurrection. Narratives of the early prophets, ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. Verses pertaining to natural phenomena have been interpreted by Muslims as an indication of the authenticity of the Quranic message.\n\nMonotheism\n\nThe central theme of the Quran is monotheism. God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., Quran , , ). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., Quran , , etc.). All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God, and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly.\n\nThe Quran uses cosmological and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to the terms to prove the existence of God. Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: \"It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?\" \n\nEschatology\n\nThe doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of the universe) may be reckoned as the second great doctrine of the Quran. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time. There is a reference to the afterlife on most pages of the Quran and belief in the afterlife is often referred to in conjunction with belief in God as in the common expression: \"Believe in God and the last day\". A number of suras such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and its preparations. Some suras indicate the closeness of the event and warn people to be prepared for the imminent day. For instance, the first verses of Sura 22, which deal with the mighty earthquake and the situations of people on that day, represent this style of divine address: \"O People! Be respectful to your Lord. The earthquake of the Hour is a mighty thing.\"\n\nThe Quran is often vivid in its depiction of what will happen at the end time. Watt describes the Quranic view of End Time:\n\"The climax of history, when the present world comes to an end, is referred to in various ways. It is 'the Day of Judgment,' 'the Last Day,' 'the Day of Resurrection,' or simply 'the Hour.' Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction' (when the good are separated from the evil), 'the Day of the Gathering' (of men to the presence of God) or 'the Day of the Meeting' (of men with God). The Hour comes suddenly. It is heralded by a shout, by a thunderclap, or by the blast of a trumpet. A cosmic upheaval then takes place. The mountains dissolve into dust, the seas boil up, the sun is darkened, the stars fall and the sky is rolled up. God appears as Judge, but his presence is hinted at rather than described. [...] The central interest, of course, is in the gathering of all mankind before the Judge. Human beings of all ages, restored to life, join the throng. To the scoffing objection of the unbelievers that former generations had been dead a long time and were now dust and mouldering bones, the reply is that God is nevertheless able to restore them to life.\"\n\nThe Quran does not assert a natural immortality of the human soul, since man's existence is dependent on the will of God: when he wills, he causes man to die; and when he wills, he raises him to life again in a bodily resurrection.\n\nProphets\n\nAccording to the Quran, God communicated with man and made his will known through signs and revelations. Prophets, or 'Messengers of God', received revelations and delivered them to humanity. The message has been identical and for all humankind. \"Nothing is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty.\" The revelation does not come directly from God to the prophets. Angels acting as God's messengers deliver the divine revelation to them. This comes out in Quran , in which it is stated: \"It is not for any mortal that God should speak to them, except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger to reveal by his permission whatsoever He will.\"\n\nEthico-religious concepts\n\nBelief is a fundamental aspect of morality in the Quran, and scholars have tried to determine the semantic contents of \"belief\" and \"believer\" in the Quran. The ethico-legal concepts and exhortations dealing with righteous conduct are linked to a profound awareness of God, thereby emphasizing the importance of faith, accountability, and the belief in each human's ultimate encounter with God. People are invited to perform acts of charity, especially for the needy. Believers who \"spend of their wealth by night and by day, in secret and in public\" are promised that they \"shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve\". It also affirms family life by legislating on matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. A number of practices, such as usury and gambling, are prohibited. The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of Islamic law (sharia). Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in the Quran including the formal prayers (salat) and fasting in the month of Ramadan. As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration. The term for charity, zakat, literally means purification. Charity, according to the Quran, is a means of self-purification. \n\nEncouragement for the sciences\n\nThe astrophysicist Nidhal Guessoum while being highly critical of pseudo-scientific claims made about the Quran, has highlighted the encouragement for sciences that the Quran provides by developing \"the concept of knowledge.\". He writes: \"The Qur'an draws attention to the danger of conjecturing without evidence (And follow not that of which you have not the (certain) knowledge of... 17:36) and in several different verses asks Muslims to require proofs (Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful 2:111), both in matters of theological belief and in natural science.\" Guessoum cites Ghaleb Hasan on the definition of \"proof\" according the Quran being \"clear and strong... convincing evidence or argument.\" Also, such a proof cannot rely on an argument from authority, citing verse 5:104. Lastly, both assertions and rejections require a proof, according to verse 4:174. Ismail al-Faruqi and Taha Jabir Alalwani are of the view that any reawakening of the Muslim civilization must start with the Quran; however, the biggest obstacle on this route is the \"centuries old heritage of tafseer (exegesis) and other classical disciplines\" which inhibit a \"universal, epidemiological and systematic conception\" of the Quran's message. The philosopher Muhammad Iqbal, considered the Quran's methodology and epistemology to be empirical and rational. \n\nIt's generally accepted that there are around 750 verses in the Quran dealing with natural phenomenon. In many of these verses the study of nature is \"encouraged and highly recommended,\" and historical Islamic scientists like Al-Biruni and Al-Battani derived their inspiration from verses of the Quran. Mohammad Hashim Kamali has the stated that \"scientific observation, experimental knowledge and rationality\" are the primary tools with which humanity can achieve the goals laid out for it in the Quran. Ziauddin Sardar built a case for Muslims having developed the foundations of modern science, by highlighting the repeated calls of the Quran to observe and reflect upon natural phenomenon. \"The 'scientific method,' as it is understood today, was first developed by Muslim scientists\" like Ibn al-Haytham and Al-Biruni, along with numerous other Muslim scientists.\n\nThe physicist Abdus Salam, in his Nobel Prize banquet address, quoted a well known verse from the Quran (67:3-4) and then stated: \"This in effect is the faith of all physicists: the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement of our gaze\". One of Salam's core beliefs was that there is no contradiction between Islam and the discoveries that science allows humanity to make about nature and the universe. Salam also held the opinion that the Quran and the Islamic spirit of study and rational reflection was the source of extraordinary civilizational development. Salam highlights, in particular, the work of Ibn al-Haytham and Al-Biruni as the pioneers of empiricism who introduced the experimental approach, breaking way from Aristotle's influence, and thus giving birth to modern science. Salam was also careful to differentiate between metaphysics and physics, and advised against empirically probing certain matters on which \"physics is silent and will remain so,\" such as the doctrine of \"creation from nothing\" which in Salam's view is outside the limits of science and thus \"gives way\" to religious considerations. \n\nLiterary style\n\nThe Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the suras and verses employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Muslims assert (according to the Quran itself) that the Quranic content and style is inimitable.Issa Boullata, \"Literary Structure of Quran\", Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān, vol.3 p.192, 204\n\nThe language of the Quran has been described as \"rhymed prose\" as it partakes of both poetry and prose; however, this description runs the risk of failing to convey the rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is more poetic in some parts and more prose-like in others. Rhyme, while found throughout the Quran, is conspicuous in many of the earlier Meccan suras, in which relatively short verses throw the rhyming words into prominence. The effectiveness of such a form is evident for instance in Sura 81, and there can be no doubt that these passages impressed the conscience of the hearers. Frequently a change of rhyme from one set of verses to another signals a change in the subject of discussion. Later sections also preserve this form but the style is more expository. \n\nThe Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net. The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to exhibit lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order and repetitiousness.\"The final process of collection and codification of the Quran text was guided by one principle: God's words must not in any way be distorted or sullied by human intervention. For this reason, no serious attempt, apparently, was made to edit the numerous revelations, organize them into thematic units, or present them in chronological order.... This has given rise in the past to a great deal of criticism by European and American scholars of Islam, who find the Quran disorganized, repetitive and very difficult to read.\" Approaches to the Asian Classics, Irene Blomm, William Theodore De Bary, Columbia University Press, 1990, p. 65Samuel Pepys: \"One feels it difficult to see how any mortal ever could consider this Quran as a Book written in Heaven, too good for the Earth; as a well-written book, or indeed as a book at all; and not a bewildered rhapsody; written, so far as writing goes, as badly as almost any book ever was!\" http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/display.php?table\nreview&id21 Michael Sells, citing the work of the critic Norman O. Brown, acknowledges Brown's observation that the seeming disorganization of Quranic literary expression – its scattered or fragmented mode of composition in Sells's phrase – is in fact a literary device capable of delivering profound effects as if the intensity of the prophetic message were shattering the vehicle of human language in which it was being communicated.Michael Sells, Approaching the Qur'ān (White Cloud Press, 1999) Sells also addresses the much-discussed repetitiveness of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device.\n\nA text is self-referential when it speaks about itself and makes reference to itself. According to Stefan Wild, the Quran demonstrates this metatextuality by explaining, classifying, interpreting and justifying the words to be transmitted. Self-referentiality is evident in those passages where the Quran refers to itself as revelation (tanzil), remembrance (dhikr), news (naba), criterion (furqan) in a self-designating manner (explicitly asserting its Divinity, \"And this is a blessed Remembrance that We have sent down; so are you now denying it?\"), or in the frequent appearance of the \"Say\" tags, when Muhammad is commanded to speak (e.g., \"Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance' \", \"Say: 'Would you then dispute with us concerning God?' \"). According to Wild the Quran is highly self-referential. The feature is more evident in early Meccan suras. \n\nInterpretation\n\nThe Quran has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication (tafsir), aimed at explaining the \"meanings of the Quranic verses, clarifying their import and finding out their significance\". \n\nTafsir is one of the earliest academic activities of Muslims. According to the Quran, Muhammad was the first person who described the meanings of verses for early Muslims. Other early exegetes included a few Companions of Muhammad, like ʻAli ibn Abi Talib, ʻAbdullah ibn Abbas, ʻAbdullah ibn Umar and Ubayy ibn Kaʻb. Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation and, occasionally, interpretation of one verse with the help of the other. If the verse was about a historical event, then sometimes a few traditions (hadith) of Muhammad were narrated to make its meaning clear.\n\nBecause the Quran is spoken in classical Arabic, many of the later converts to Islam (mostly non-Arabs) did not always understand the Quranic Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims fluent in Arabic and they were concerned with reconciling apparent conflict of themes in the Quran. Commentators erudite in Arabic explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, explained which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or \"abrogating\" (nāsikh) the earlier text (mansūkh). Other scholars, however, maintain that no abrogation has taken place in the Quran. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has published a ten-volume Urdu commentary on the Quran, with the name Tafseer e Kabir. \n\nEsoteric interpretation\n\nEsoteric or Sufi interpretation attempts to unveil the inner meanings of the Quran. Sufism moves beyond the apparent (zahir) point of the verses and instead relates Quranic verses to the inner or esoteric (batin) and metaphysical dimensions of consciousness and existence. According to Sands, esoteric interpretations are more suggestive than declarative, they are allusions (isharat) rather than explanations (tafsir). They indicate possibilities as much as they demonstrate the insights of each writer.\n\nSufi interpretation, according to Annabel Keeler, also exemplifies the use of the theme of love, as for instance can be seen in Qushayri's interpretation of the Quran. Quran says:\n\nMoses, in 7:143, comes the way of those who are in love, he asks for a vision but his desire is denied, he is made to suffer by being commanded to look at other than the Beloved while the mountain is able to see God. The mountain crumbles and Moses faints at the sight of God's manifestation upon the mountain. In Qushayri's words, Moses came like thousands of men who traveled great distances, and there was nothing left to Moses of Moses. In that state of annihilation from himself, Moses was granted the unveiling of the realities. From the Sufi point of view, God is the always the beloved and the wayfarer's longing and suffering lead to realization of the truths.\n\nMuhammad Husayn Tabatabaei says that according to the popular explanation among the later exegetes, ta'wil indicates the particular meaning a verse is directed towards. The meaning of revelation (tanzil), as opposed to ta'wil, is clear in its accordance to the obvious meaning of the words as they were revealed. But this explanation has become so widespread that, at present, it has become the primary meaning of ta'wil, which originally meant \"to return\" or \"the returning place\". In Tabatabaei's view, what has been rightly called ta'wil, or hermeneutic interpretation of the Quran, is not concerned simply with the denotation of words. Rather, it is concerned with certain truths and realities that transcend the comprehension of the common run of men; yet it is from these truths and realities that the principles of doctrine and the practical injunctions of the Quran issue forth. Interpretation is not the meaning of the verse—rather it transpires through that meaning, in a special sort of transpiration. There is a spiritual reality—which is the main objective of ordaining a law, or the basic aim in describing a divine attribute—and then there is an actual significance that a Quranic story refers to. \n\nAccording to Shia beliefs, those who are firmly rooted in knowledge like Muhammad and the imams know the secrets of the Quran. According to Tabatabaei, the statement \"none knows its interpretation except God\" remains valid, without any opposing or qualifying clause. Therefore, so far as this verse is concerned, the knowledge of the Quran's interpretation is reserved for God. But Tabatabaei uses other verses and concludes that those who are purified by God know the interpretation of the Quran to a certain extent.\n\nAccording to Tabatabaei, there are acceptable and unacceptable esoteric interpretations. Acceptable ta'wil refers to the meaning of a verse beyond its literal meaning; rather the implicit meaning, which ultimately is known only to God and can't be comprehended directly through human thought alone. The verses in question here refer to the human qualities of coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sorrow, which are apparently attributed to God. Unacceptable ta'wil is where one \"transfers\" the apparent meaning of a verse to a different meaning by means of a proof; this method is not without obvious inconsistencies. Although this unacceptable ta'wil has gained considerable acceptance, it is incorrect and cannot be applied to the Quranic verses. The correct interpretation is that reality a verse refers to. It is found in all verses, the decisive and the ambiguous alike; it is not a sort of a meaning of the word; it is a fact that is too sublime for words. God has dressed them with words to bring them a bit nearer to our minds; in this respect they are like proverbs that are used to create a picture in the mind, and thus help the hearer to clearly grasp the intended idea. \n\nHistory of Sufi commentaries\n\nOne of the notable authors of esoteric interpretation prior to the 12th century is Sulami (d. 1021) without whose work the majority of very early Sufi commentaries would not have been preserved. Sulami's major commentary is a book named haqaiq al-tafsir (\"Truths of Exegesis\") which is a compilation of commentaries of earlier Sufis. From the 11th century onwards several other works appear, including commentaries by Qushayri (d. 1074), Daylami (d. 1193), Shirazi (d. 1209) and Suhrawardi (d. 1234). These works include material from Sulami's books plus the author's contributions. Many works are written in Persian such as the works of Maybudi (d. 1135) kash al-asrar (\"the unveiling of the secrets\"). Rumi (d. 1273) wrote a vast amount of mystical poetry in his book Mathnawi. Rumi makes heavy use of the Quran in his poetry, a feature that is sometimes omitted in translations of Rumi's work. A large number of Quranic passages can be found in Mathnawi, which some consider a kind of Sufi interpretation of the Quran. Rumi's book is not exceptional for containing citations from and elaboration on the Quran, however, Rumi does mention Quran more frequently. Simnani (d. 1336) wrote two influential works of esoteric exegesis on the Quran. He reconciled notions of God's manifestation through and in the physical world with the sentiments of Sunni Islam. Comprehensive Sufi commentaries appear in the 18th century such as the work of Ismail Hakki Bursevi (d. 1725). His work ruh al-Bayan (the Spirit of Elucidation) is a voluminous exegesis. Written in Arabic, it combines the author's own ideas with those of his predecessors (notably Ibn Arabi and Ghazali), all woven together in Hafiz, a Persian poetry form.\n\nLevels of meaning\n\nUnlike the Salafis and Zahiri, Shias and Sufis as well as some other Muslim philosophers believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect. For them, it is an essential idea that the Quran also has inward aspects. Henry Corbin narrates a hadith that goes back to Muhammad:\n\nThe Quran possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning (this depth possesses a depth, after the image of the celestial Spheres, which are enclosed within each other). So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings (seven depths of hidden depth).\n\nAccording to this view, it has also become evident that the inner meaning of the Quran does not eradicate or invalidate its outward meaning. Rather, it is like the soul, which gives life to the body. Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in Islamic philosophy, because gnosiology itself goes hand in hand with prophetology. \n\nCommentaries dealing with the zahir (outward aspects) of the text are called tafsir, and hermeneutic and esoteric commentaries dealing with the batin are called ta'wil (\"interpretation\" or \"explanation\"), which involves taking the text back to its beginning. Commentators with an esoteric slant believe that the ultimate meaning of the Quran is known only to God. In contrast, Quranic literalism, followed by Salafis and Zahiris, is the belief that the Quran should only be taken at its apparent meaning.\n\nReappropriation\n\nReappropriation is the name of the hermeneutical style of some ex-Muslims who have converted to Christianity. Their style or reinterpretation is ad hoc and unsystematized and geared towards apologetics. This tradition of interpretation draws on the following practices: grammatical renegotiation, renegotiation of textual preference, retrieval, and concession. \n\nTranslations\n\nTranslating the Quran has always been problematic and difficult. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form. Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult.\n\nNevertheless, the Quran has been translated into most African, Asian, and European languages. The first translator of the Quran was Salman the Persian, who translated surat al-Fatiha into Persian during the seventh century. Another translation of the Quran was completed in 884 in Alwar (Sindh, India, now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk. \n\nThe first fully attested complete translations of the Quran were done between the 10th and 12th centuries in Persian. The Samanid king, Mansur I (961-976), ordered a group of scholars from Khorasan to translate the Tafsir al-Tabari, originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of Abu Mansur Abdullah al-Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Quran in Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din Abu Hafs al-Nasafi translated the Quran into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times.\n\nIslamic tradition also holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters by Muhammad containing verses from the Quran. In early centuries, the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one could use translations in prayer.\n\nIn 1936, translations in 102 languages were known. In 2010, the Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review reported that the Quran was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran Exhibition in Tehran.\n\nRobert of Ketton's 1143 translation of the Quran for Peter the Venerable, Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete, was the first into a Western language (Latin). \nAlexander Ross offered the first English version in 1649, from the French translation of L'Alcoran de Mahomet (1647) by Andre du Ryer. In 1734, George Sale produced the first scholarly translation of the Quran into English; another was produced by Richard Bell in 1937, and yet another by Arthur John Arberry in 1955. All these translators were non-Muslims. There have been numerous translations by Muslims. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has published translations of the Quran in 50 different languages besides a five-volume English commentary and an English translation of the Quran. \n\nAs with translations of the Bible, the English translators have sometimes favored archaic English words and constructions over their more modern or conventional equivalents; for example, two widely read translators, A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall, use the plural and singular \"ye\" and \"thou\" instead of the more common \"you\". \n\nThe oldest Gurumukhi translation of the Quran Sharif in Gurmukhi has been found in village lande of Moga district of Punjab which is around 115 years old, printed in 1911. \n\nFile:Ilkhanid Quran.jpg|Arabic Quran with interlinear Persian translation from the Ilkhanid Era.\nFile:Alcoran de Mahomet 1647.jpg|The first printed Quran in a European vernacular language: L'Alcoran de Mahomet, André du Ryer, 1647.\nFile:Koran by Megerlein 1772.jpg|Title page of the first German translation (1772) of the Quran.\nFile:Chinese quran.jpg|Verses 33 and 34 of surat Yā Sīn in this Chinese translation of the Quran.\n\nRecitation\n\nRules of recitation\n\nThe proper recitation of the Quran is the subject of a separate discipline named tajwid which determines in detail how the Quran should be recited, how each individual syllable is to be pronounced, the need to pay attention to the places where there should be a pause, to elisions, where the pronunciation should be long or short, where letters should be sounded together and where they should be kept separate, etc. It may be said that this discipline studies the laws and methods of the proper recitation of the Quran and covers three main areas: the proper pronunciation of consonants and vowels (the articulation of the Quranic phonemes), the rules of pause in recitation and of resumption of recitation, and the musical and melodious features of recitation.\n\nIn order to avoid incorrect pronunciation, reciters who are not native speakers of Arabic language try to follow a program of training in countries such as Egypt or Saudi Arabia. The recitations of a few Egyptian reciters were highly influential in the development of the art of recitation. Southeast Asia is well known for world-class recitation, evidenced in the popularity of the woman reciters such as Maria Ulfah of Jakarta.\n\nThere are two types of recitation: murattal is at a slower pace, used for study and practice. Mujawwad refers to a slow recitation that deploys heightened technical artistry and melodic modulation, as in public performances by trained experts. It is directed to and dependent upon an audience for the mujawwad reciter seeks to involve the listeners.\n\nVariant readings\n\nVocalization markers indicating specific vowel sounds were introduced into the Arabic language by the end of the 9th century. The first Quranic manuscripts lacked these marks, therefore several recitations remain acceptable. The variation in readings of the text permitted by the nature of the defective vocalization led to an increase in the number of readings during the 10th century. The 10th-century Muslim scholar from Baghdad, Ibn Mujāhid, is famous for establishing seven acceptable textual readings of the Quran. He studied various readings and their trustworthiness and chose seven 8th-century readers from the cities of Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Basra and Damascus. Ibn Mujahid did not explain why he chose seven readers, rather than six or ten, but this may be related to a prophetic tradition (Muhammad's saying) reporting that the Quran had been revealed in seven \"ahruf\" (meaning seven letters or modes). Today, the most popular readings are those transmitted by Ḥafṣ (d.796) and Warsh (d. 812) which are according to two of Ibn Mujahid's reciters, Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud (Kufa, d. 745) and Nafi‘ al-Madani (Medina, d. 785), respectively. The influential standard Quran of Cairo (1924) uses an elaborate system of modified vowel-signs and a set of additional symbols for minute details and is based on ʻAsim's recitation, the 8th-century recitation of Kufa. This edition has become the standard for modern printings of the Quran.\n\nThe variant readings of the Quran are one type of textual variant. According to Melchert, the majority of disagreements have to do with vowels to supply, most of them in turn not conceivably reflecting dialectal differences and about one in eight disagreements has to do with whether to place dots above or below the line.\n\nNasser categorizes variant readings into various subtypes, including internal vowels, long vowels, gemination (shaddah), assimilation and alternation.\n\nOccasionally, an early Quran shows compatibility with a particular reading. A Syrian manuscript from the 8th century is shown to have been written according to the reading of Ibn Amir ad-Dimashqi. Another study suggests that this manuscript bears the vocalization of himsi region.\n\nWriting and printing\n\nWriting\n\nBefore printing was widely adopted in the 19th century, the Quran was transmitted in manuscripts made by calligraphers and copyists. The earliest manuscripts were written in Ḥijāzī-type script. The Hijazi style manuscripts nevertheless confirm that transmission of the Quran in writing began at an early stage. Probably in the ninth century, scripts began to feature thicker strokes, which are traditionally known as Kufic scripts. Toward the end of the ninth century, new scripts began to appear in copies of the Quran and replace earlier scripts. The reason for discontinuation in the use of the earlier style was that it took too long to produce and the demand for copies was increasing. Copyists would therefore choose simpler writing styles. Beginning in the 11th century, the styles of writing employed were primarily the naskh, muhaqqaq, rayḥānī and, on rarer occasions, the thuluth script. Naskh was in very widespread use. In North Africa and Spain, the Maghribī style was popular. More distinct is the Bihari script which was used solely in the north of India. Nastaʻlīq style was also rarely used in Persian world. \n\nIn the beginning, the Quran did not have vocalization markings. The system of vocalization, as we know it today, seems to have been introduced towards the end of the ninth century. Since it would have been too costly for most Muslims to purchase a manuscript, copies of the Quran were held in mosques in order to make them accessible to people. These copies frequently took the form of a series of 30 parts or juzʼ. In terms of productivity, the Ottoman copyists provide the best example. This was in response to widespread demand, unpopularity of printing methods and for aesthetic reasons. \n\nFile:Brooklyn Museum - Folio from the \"Blue\" Qur'an.jpg|Folio from the \"Blue\" Qur'an. Brooklyn Museum.\nFile:Folio_from_a_Koran_(8th-9th_century).jpg|kufic script, Eighth or ninth century.\nFile:Qur%27anic_Manuscript_-_Maghribi_script.jpg|maghribi script, 13th-14th centuries.\nFile:Muhaqqaq_script.gif|muhaqaq script, 14th-15th centuries.\nFile:Shikastah script.jpg|shikasta nastaliq script, 18th-19th centuries.\nFile:Quran Kufic script.jpg|kufic script, with border decorations.\n\nPrinting\n\nWood-block printing of extracts from the Quran is on record as early as the 10th century. \n\nArabic movable type printing was ordered by Pope Julius II (r. 1503−1512) for distribution among Middle Eastern Christians. The first complete Quran printed with movable type was produced in Venice in 1537/1538 for the Ottoman market by Paganino Paganini and Alessandro Paganini. Two more editions include those published by the pastor Abraham Hinckelmann in Hamburg in 1694 and by Italian priest Ludovico Maracci in Padua in 1698. The latter edition included an accurate Latin translation.\n\nPrinted copies of the Quran during this period met with strong opposition from Muslim legal scholars: printing anything in Arabic was prohibited in the Ottoman empire between 1483 and 1726—initially, even on penalty of death. The Ottoman ban on printing in Arabic script was lifted in 1726 for non-religious texts only upon the request of Ibrahim Muteferrika, who printed his first book in 1729. Very few books, and no religious texts, were printed in the Ottoman Empire for another century. \n\nIn 1786, Catherine the Great of Russia, sponsored a printing press for \"Tatar and Turkish orthography\" in Saint Petersburg, with one Mullah Osman Ismail responsible for producing the Arabic types. A Quran was printed with this press in 1787, reprinted in 1790 and 1793 in Saint Petersburg, and in 1803 in Kazan. The first edition printed in Iran appeared in Tehran (1828) and the first Ottoman edition was finally printed in 1877, during the First Constitutional Era.\n\nGustav Flügel published an edition of the Quran in 1834 in Leipzig, which remained authoritative for close to a century, until Cairo's Al-Azhar University published an edition of the Quran in 1924. This edition was the result of a long preparation as it standardized Quranic orthography and remains the basis of later editions.\n\nRelationship with other literature\n\nThe Bible\n\nThe Quran speaks well of the relationship it has with former books (the Torah and the Gospels) and attributes their similarities to their unique origin and saying all of them have been revealed by the one God. \n\nAccording to Sahih al-Bukhari, the Quran was recited among Levantines and Iraqis, and discussed by Christians and Jews, before it was standardized. Its language was similar to the Syriac language. The Quran recounts stories of many of the people and events recounted in Jewish and Christian sacred books (Tanakh, Bible) and devotional literature (Apocrypha, Midrash), although it differs in many details. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Eber, Shelah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Jethro, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Aaron, Moses, Zechariah, John the Baptist and Jesus are mentioned in the Quran as prophets of God (see Prophets of Islam). In fact, Moses is mentioned more in the Quran than any other individual.Annabel Keeler, \"Moses from a Muslim Perspective\", in: Solomon, Norman; Harries, Richard; Winter, Tim (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id\n9A4JZ8CSJJwC&pgPA55&vq\nMoses&dqMoses+Qur%27an&source\ngbs_search_s&cad4&sig\nACfU3U1sEssZMSZaPhSSlzCosLopQbDrOQ#PPA55,M1 Abraham's children: Jews, Christians and Muslims in conversation], by. T&T Clark Publ. (2005), pp. 55 - 66. Jesus is mentioned more often in the Quran than Muhammad, while Mary is mentioned in the Quran more than the New Testament. Muslims believe the common elements or resemblances between the Bible and other Jewish and Christian writings and Islamic dispensations is due to their common divine source, and that the original Christian or Jewish texts were authentic divine revelations given to prophets.\n\nRelationships\n\nSome non-Muslim groups such as Baha'is and Druze view the Quran as holy. Unitarian Universalists may also seek inspiration from the Quran. The Quran has been noted to have certain narratives similarities to the Diatessaron, Protoevangelium of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Arabic Infancy Gospel. One scholar has suggested that the Diatessaron, as a gospel harmony, may have led to the conception that the Christian Gospel is one text. \n\nArab writing\n\nAfter the Quran, and the general rise of Islam, the Arabic alphabet developed rapidly into an art form.\n\nWadad Kadi, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at University of Chicago, and Mustansir Mir, Professor of Islamic studies at Youngstown State University, state:",
"roughly - English-Spanish Dictionary - WordReference.com\nroughly - Translation to Spanish, ... English: Spanish: roughly adv adverb: Describes a verb, ... Describe al verbo, ...\nroughly - English-Spanish Dictionary - WordReference.com\nEnglish\nSpanish\nroughly advadverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, \"come quickly,\" \"very rare,\" \"happening now,\" \"fall down.\"\n(approximately)\naproximadamente advadverbio: Describe al verbo, al adjetivo o a otro adverbio (\"corre rápidamente\", \"sucede ahora\", \"muy extraño\").\n \nMartin has done roughly eight hours' work today.\nroughly advadverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, \"come quickly,\" \"very rare,\" \"happening now,\" \"fall down.\"\n(in a forceful manner)\nrudamente advadverbio: Describe al verbo, al adjetivo o a otro adverbio (\"corre rápidamente\", \"sucede ahora\", \"muy extraño\").\n \nTess grabbed her brother's arm roughly.\nroughly advadverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, \"come quickly,\" \"very rare,\" \"happening now,\" \"fall down.\"\n(in a coarse manner)\nduramente advadverbio: Describe al verbo, al adjetivo o a otro adverbio (\"corre rápidamente\", \"sucede ahora\", \"muy extraño\").\n \n \nbruscamente advadverbio: Describe al verbo, al adjetivo o a otro adverbio (\"corre rápidamente\", \"sucede ahora\", \"muy extraño\").\n \nEdward spoke and ate roughly and Sarah thought him thoroughly uncultured.\n \nEnglish\nSpanish\nroughly speaking advadverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, \"come quickly,\" \"very rare,\" \"happening now,\" \"fall down.\"\n(more or less)\naproximadamente advadverbio: Describe al verbo, al adjetivo o a otro adverbio (\"corre rápidamente\", \"sucede ahora\", \"muy extraño\").\n \nThere are four dozen apples on my tree, roughly speaking. The cost of building your house will be $100,000, roughly speaking.\n \nDeben haber cuatro docenas de manzanas en mi árbol aproximadamente.\n \n (latinismo)\ngrosso modo loc advlocución adverbial: Unidad léxica estable formada de dos o más palabras que funciona como adverbio (\"en vilo\", \"de seguido\", \"a quemarropa\").\n \nA grosso modo, deben haber cuatro docenas de manzanas en mi árbol.",
"Al | Define Al at Dictionary.com\na word in Arabic names meaning “family” or ... pastoral), and productive in English on the Latin model, usually with bases ... artificial life. al. 1. alcohol. 2 ...\nAl | Define Al at Dictionary.com\nal\na male given name: form of Albert , Alfred , Aloysius .\nAl\nAlabama (approved especially for use with zip code).\n2.\nvariant of ad- before l: allure.\nAl-\na word in Arabic names meaning “family” or “the house of”:\nAl-Saud, or the members of the house of Saud.\nOrigin\n-al1\n1.\na suffix with the general sense “of the kind of, pertaining to, having the form or character of” that named by the stem, occurring in loanwords from Latin (autumnal; natural; pastoral), and productive in English on the Latin model, usually with bases of Latin origin (accidental; seasonal; tribal). Originally, -al1 was restricted to stems not containing an -l- (cf. -ar 1. ); recent lapses in this rule have produced semantically distinct pairs, as familiar and familial.\nExpand\n< Latin ālis, -āle; often replacing Middle English -el < Old French\n-al2\na suffix forming nouns from verbs, usually verbs of French or Latin origin:\ndenial; refusal.\nOrigin\nExpand\n< Latin -āle (singular), -ālia (plural), nominalized neuter of -ālis -al 1; often replacing Middle English -aille < Old French < Latin -ālia\n-al3\nChemistry. a suffix indicating that a compound contains an aldehyde group:\nchloral.\npresumed to be short for aldehyde\nA.L.\nAlbert Arnold, Jr (\"Al\") born 1948, U.S. politician: vice president of the U.S. 1993–2001.\nOerter\n[awr-ter, ohr-] /ˈɔr tər, ˈoʊr-/\nSpell\nAlfred A (\"Al\") 1936–2007, U.S. track and field athlete: four-time Olympic discus champion.\nUnser\nAlbert (\"Al\") born 1939, and his brother Robert, (Bobby), born 1934, U.S. racing-car drivers.\nDictionary.com Unabridged\nExamples from the Web for al\nExpand\nContemporary Examples\nWhen joining the collective, members were required to swear allegiance to bin Laden personally, not to al Qaeda as a group.\nBritish Dictionary definitions for al\nExpand\n(in the US and Canada) American League (of baseball teams)\n4.\nof; related to; connected with: functional, sectional, tonal\nWord Origin\nsuffix\n1.\nthe act or process of doing what is indicated by the verb stem: rebuttal, recital, renewal\nWord Origin\nvia Old French -aille, -ail, from Latin -ālia, neuter plural used as substantive, from -ālis-al1\n-al3\nindicating a pharmaceutical product: phenobarbital\nWord Origin\nblood shed from a wound, esp when coagulated\n2.\n(informal) killing, fighting, etc\nWord Origin\nOld English gor dirt; related to Old Norse gor half-digested food, Middle Low German göre, Dutch goor\ngore2\nverb\n1.\n(transitive) (of an animal, such as a bull) to pierce or stab (a person or another animal) with a horn or tusk\nWord Origin\nC16: probably from Old English gār spear\ngore3\na tapering or triangular piece of material used in making a shaped skirt, umbrella, etc\n2.\na similarly shaped piece, esp of land\nverb\n(transitive) to make into or with a gore or gores\nDerived Forms\nOld English gāra; related to Old Norse geiri gore, Old High German gēro\nGore\nnoun\n1.\nAl(bert) Jr. born 1948, US Democrat politician; vice president of the US (1993–2001); defeated in the disputed presidential election of 2000; leading environmental campaigner; shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel For Climate Change\nCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition\n© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins\nPublishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012\nWord Origin and History for al\nExpand\n-al\nsuffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, \"of, like, related to,\" Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).\nsuffix forming nouns of action from verbs, mostly from Latin and French, meaning \"act of ______ing\" (e.g. survival, referral), Middle English -aille, from French feminine singular -aille, from Latin -alia, neuter plural of adjective suffix -alis, also used in English as a noun suffix. Nativized in English and used with Germanic verbs (e.g. bestowal , betrothal ).\nword-forming element in chemistry to indicate \"presence of an aldehyde group\" (from aldehyde ). The suffix also is commonly used in forming the names of drugs, often narcotics (e.g. barbital), a tendency that apparently began in German and might have been suggested by chloral (n.).\ngore\nn.\nOld English gor \"dirt, dung, filth, shit,\" a Germanic word (cf. Middle Dutch goor \"filth, mud;\" Old Norse gor \"cud;\" Old High German gor \"animal dung\"), of uncertain origin. Sense of \"clotted blood\" (especially shed in battle) developed by 1560s.\n\"triangular piece of ground,\" Old English gara, related to gar \"spear\" (see gar ), on the notion of \"triangularity.\" Hence also meanings \"front of a skirt\" (mid-13c.), and \"triangular piece of cloth\" (early 14c.).\nv.\nc.1400, from Scottish gorren \"to pierce, stab,\" origin unknown, perhaps related to Old English gar \"spear\" (see gar , also gore (n.2) \"triangular piece of ground\"). Related: Gored; goring.\nOnline Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper",
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"Quranic Translation- Word by Word - Arabic to URDU ...\nQuranic Translation- Word by Word - Arabic to URDU & English ... See more of Quranic Translation- Word by Word - Arabic to URDU & English by ... Hazza Al Balushi ...\nDecember 8, 2016 at 6:19am\nAssalam Alaikum Starting #QuranRoom online. You can post the Juzz N...umber or Para Number in this SECTION . After 24 hours we will publish the Total number of ُParas or Juzz being read and make DUA for everyone. Hope you will join hands in this continuous chain of non stop Recitation of #QuranRoom Online. Starting with PARA 1 ALIF LAAM MEEM الم Jazzak ALLAH See More",
"What does the Al in Arabic names mean? | Arabic Genie\n... the Al in Arabic names ... but transcribed in the same way in English. This second Al is ... 2 thoughts on “ What does the Al in Arabic names mean ...\nWhat does the Al in Arabic names mean? | Arabic Genie\nWhat does the Al in Arabic names mean?\nPosted on\nTweet\nEven if you don’t know much Arabic you have probably noticed that a lot of Arabic names contain the words “Al”. Even a lot of non-Arab Muslims have these two letters in their name. So what does this word mean that is seeminlgy in every Arab name?\nAl as definite article\nFar from being the equivalent of “Joe” or “Smith”, this is in fact not a proper name, but a particle that indicates a certain meaning. “Al” (ال) literally translates as “the”, i.e. it is the definite article in Arabic. For example, kitaab (كتاب) means book and al kitaab (الكتاب) means “the book”. It can also mean “of the”: for example, lawn al kitaab (لون الكتاب) means “the colour of the book”.\nIn names Al is generally used to identify the origin, profession or character trait of the bearer of the name or his family.\nFor example, Ahmed Al Masri (أحمد المصري) would translate as “Ahmed the Egyptian” (“Masri” means Egyptian), whereas Ahmed Al Yemeni (أحمد اليمني) would be Ahmed the Yemeni.\nA person’s profession or that of his father or grandfather is also frequently used as a last name, such as Yakoub Al Jarrah – Jacob the Surgeon.\nOccasionally, Al is used with character traits to form a last name. For instance, Salim Al Dhaki (سليم الذكي) would mean Salim the smart one.\nSometimes Al is also part of the first name of a person. For example, the famous Arab Saladin is in fact spelt Salah Al Din (صلاح الدين) in Arabic, which means “righteousness of the faith”, with the al being “of the”, Salah being “righteousness” and Din meaning faith or religion. Other examples are Abdulrahim (which could be transliterated as Abd Al Rahim), which means “servant of the Merciful” (with “the Merciful” being one of the names of God in Islam).\n“El” is sometimes used instead of “Al”. It has the same meaning and the Arabic writing is in fact the same. The difference in spelling in English is merely due to the fact that sometimes Arabic speakers pronounce certain sounds slightly differently from one another. El is predominantly the pronunciation of this word in Egypt and some other North African countries, while Al is usually used in the Levant and Gulf region. Frustratingly, one can sometimes find “La” as an alternative pronunciation for “al” in the Maghreb region (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco).\nAl as “family, tribe or clan”\nConfusingly, the Al in Arabic names oftentimes doesn’t mean “the” at all, but refers to a different word altogether, which is spelt differently in Arabic with a sign elongating the letter ‘a’ (آل), but transcribed in the same way in English. This second Al is pronounced with a long “a”-sound, so I will transcribe it as Aal here to avoid confusion, even though you will usually find it transcribed simply as Al.\nAbdelaziz Aal Saud\nSo, what does Aal mean? Well, it means “family”, “clan” or “tribe”. The founder of modern Saudi Arabia is called Abdelaziz Aal Saud (عبدالعزيز آل سعود), which shows that he is from the Saud tribe. Coincidentally, the first name Abdelaziz is an example of the first type of “Al”, meaning Servant of the Mighty One (i.e. God): Abd Al Aziz.\nOther examples: the former Emir of Qatar Hamad Aal Thani is from the Thani tribe. The third chapter in the Quran is called Al Omran, which means “family/tribe of Omran”.\nsaid:\nHello,\nI am trying to learn the Arabic alphabet and finding it rather difficult. I am wondering if Arabic linguists and scholars have tried to simplify it. For example, just use the form of the isolate case and not use the other three forms (initial, middle, and end positions)? Of course, if these other forms occur in the Koran, I can see why it has not been done and I will do my best to learn it.\nSincerely,",
"Meaning Arabic Meanings: المعنى - English to Arabic Dictionary\nMeaning Meaning in Arabic. Find best online English to Arabic Dictionary and Arabic to English Translation with Arabic keyboard. ... • Mean (n.) A part, whether ...\nMeaning Arabic Meanings: المعنى - English to Arabic Dictionary\n(n.) A part, whether alto or tenor, intermediate between the soprano and base; a middle part.\n(superl.) Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.\n(n.) That through which, or by the help of which, an end is attained; something tending to an object desired; intermediate agency or measure; necessary condition or coagent; instrument.\n(v. i.) To have a purpose or intention.\n(n.) Meantime; meanwhile.\n(n.) That which is mean, or intermediate, between two extremes of place, time, or number; the middle point or place; middle rate or degree; mediocrity; medium; absence of extremes or excess; moderation; measure.\n(superl.) Wanting dignity of mind; low-minded; base; destitute of honor; spiritless; as, a mean motive.\n(a.) Average; having an intermediate value between two extremes, or between the several successive values of a variable quantity during one cycle of variation; as, mean distance; mean motion; mean solar day.\n(n.) A quantity having an intermediate value between several others, from which it is derived, and of which it expresses the resultant value; usually, unless otherwise specified, it is the simple average, formed by adding the quantities together and dividing by their number, which is called an arithmetical mean. A geometrical mean is the square root of the product of the quantities.\n(v. t.) To have in the mind, as a purpose, intention, etc.; to intend; to purpose; to design; as, what do you mean to do ?\n(a.) Occupying a middle position; middle; being about midway between extremes.\n(v. t.) To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote.\n(n.) A mediator; a go-between.\n(superl.) Penurious; stingy; close-fisted; illiberal; as, mean hospitality.\n(superl.) Destitute of distinction or eminence; common; low; vulgar; humble.\n(superl.) Of poor quality; as, mean fare.\n(a.) Intermediate in excellence of any kind.\n(n.) Hence: Resources; property, revenue, or the like, considered as the condition of easy livelihood, or an instrumentality at command for effecting any purpose; disposable force or substance.\nSynonyms:",
"Basic Phrases of the Arabic Language | Arabic Translation ...\nBasic Phrases of the Arabic ... Basic Phrases of the Arabic Language. Arabic is spoken by roughly 250 million ... Contact us for all your Arabic translation, ...\nBasic Phrases of the Arabic Language | Arabic Translation, Transcription and Interpretation\nGet a FREE Quote!\nBasic Phrases of the Arabic Language\nArabic is spoken by roughly 250 million people in close to 25 countries around the world. Considered as the spiritual language of Islam, it is also spoken as the second language in many Islamic countries.\nThe Arabic language is also one of the world's oldest living languages and the source of many other languages. It is divided into 3 main groups:\nClassical Arabic: Quran � the holy book of Islam is written in Classical Arabic. It is very ancient and thus not spoken as a local dialect nor used for day-to-day conversation. It is primarily learnt for recitation of the Quran.\nClassical Arabic:It is a modernized version of Classical Arabic, which is taught in Arab schools. It is used in news and in modern literature and also by people who speak different varieties of Arabic.\nColloquial Arabic: Egyptian Arabic is the most commonly spoken and understood language among the variety of other local Arabic languages.\nLet us look at some of the basic Arabic phrases:-\nElementary Words",
"Translate\nEnglish Spanish Arabic. Translate. Need a Human Translation? Have a Better Translation? ... Our vetted translation process guarantees superior accuracy / quality.\nTranslate\nTranslate\nRequest Human Translation First 100 words are free!\nType the text you need translated\nOrder a Professional Human Translation\nFree Words Used:\nPlease verify that you are a real person by completing the captcha below.\nContinue Translation\nDo you have a better translation? If so, help us improve this for others:\nSubmit Translation\nTake a picture of your document or text\nPlease click \"allow\" in your browser.\nTake Photo\n \nDescribe the issue with the translation:\nWe're sorry that this translation was not what you expected. Please tell us how this translation can be improved and we will do our best to correct it!",
"English To Arabic Dictionary - Android Apps on Google Play\n100% FREE English To Arabic Dictionary. Work Offline. Play Sound. Search; ... Free Arabic English dictionary, translation and English learning by Britannica .\nEnglish To Arabic Dictionary - Android Apps on Google Play\nEnglish To Arabic Dictionary\n- FREE English To Arabic Dictionary has 87,000 words.\n- Search the English word and it will display its Arabic translation.\n- \"Search Options\" feature that help to search the word \"Starting\" with searching word or \"Ending\" with searching word or \"Containing\" the searching word.\n- Audio Pronunciation of English Words.\n- Listen the Arabic sound of Words.\n- No need of Internet. Work offline without using Internet.\nRead more\n1 263\nRawan Radwan\nMore than awesome It helps me a lot but keep improving it and adding new words\nCh Irfan javed\nI like this dictionary because have more meanings\nNot so good\nMohd Fadzli\nGood application. Really helpful but.. Please take out all those sexy and sinful ads by google. The application is good but the advertisement will draw people away from this app. Thank you.\nMd ashraf\nUser reviews\nRawan Radwan December 3, 2016\nMore than awesome It helps me a lot but keep improving it and adding new words\nCh Irfan javed November 12, 2016\nI like this dictionary because have more meanings\nFull Review\nMohd Fadzli August 28, 2016\nGood application. Really helpful but.. Please take out all those sexy and sinful ads by google. The application is good but the advertisement will draw people away from this app. Thank you.\nMd ashraf September 2, 2016\nMD ASHRAF\nنور السلام August 1, 2016\ngood work\nTammy Thomas February 10, 2016\nSucks like my first review below\nDr Zakaria AbdelGhani May 6, 2016\nSucks like my first review below\nSadiq Aga June 3, 2016\nBoth Apps in urdu n arabic have vastly improved\nkaseem adeyemi February 27, 2016\nFine Easy\nMalklhb Malklhb February 5, 2016\nmalklhb good mmni7 ma echbo chi\nSyed Mubasher February 6, 2016\nSimple & easy good job\nFull Review\nA Mo November 22, 2015\nGreat I really need to say THANK YOU to the developer who developed this app . Very helpful. شكرا لمطور هذا التطبيق الرائع فقط يرجى التأكد من ترجمة بعض الكلمات وإضافة أكثر من معنى لنفس الكلمة\nTammy Thomas December 29, 2015\nUseless sorry don't install.\nRaul jack Jack January 15, 2016\nHop can be reap It's st ok\nAbdul Hadi January 15, 2016\nArabi dictionary Translation\nMohamed Eyad November 22, 2015\nLll Mmm\nHabiba Ahmedتتعع February 27, 2016\nSo good\nazeem azeem December 10, 2015\nWow Nice\nIgnore me November 3, 2015\nlove it\nwing shooter October 20, 2015\nNot working\njaypee pangilinan June 21, 2015\nthe pronounciation is a lot different from the arabic people im used to speak with..... it's confusing.....\non the go April 21, 2015\nI'm going to umrah inshallah will help me out also good to learn our religious language. Jazakallah\nمازن الحربي June 3, 2015\nIt's not working Why it doesn't work. Please fix it ASAP @_@\nKhairul Shaikh January 11, 2014\nI can find out every word i need Keep it up\nHadeel Khaled April 29, 2014\nVery bad Most words are translated wrong\nHugo Boss August 22, 2015\nAngry It keeps shutting down trashy\nFareedat Adedotun January 13, 2014\nهذا التطبيق جيد جدا للطلبة والله لقد استفدت كثيرا من هذﺍﺍﺗﻄﺒﻴﻖالممتاز.وأنصح إخوتي في الله باستعمال هذا التطبيق.\nFull Review\nAliah Khan May 6, 2015\nLove it I love this because it has the meaning of each word and when I use it my work never be incomplete and I am thanking to give this to me\nMansoor Arda February 22, 2015\nلماذا التطبيق وقف ؟؟ . بس هو من أفضل التطبيقات ... أرجو أنكم ترجعو في أقرب وقت",
"Arabic/Basic Phrases - Wikibooks, open books for an open world\nArabic/Basic Phrases. ... because any other Arabic \"yes\" word would translate as \"no\" in English. example: ... I can speak English. Arabic (al-ara'beeya) Hello ...\nArabic/Basic Phrases - Wikibooks, open books for an open world\nArabic/Basic Phrases\nBy usefulness (most useful first)\nBy length (shortest first)\nYes also used as a question, when someone calls another person's name.\nSyllable breakdown: ya-saar\nleft i.e. The direction: left.\nSyllable breakdown: ya-miin\nright i.e. The direction right (opposite of left).\nHow are you, Meeting and greeting people.\nas salaamu alaikum\nMay Peace be with you Islamic Religious origins and a very common greeting.\nwa alaikumu èl salaamu\nAnd may peace be with you. It is the response to the above phrase.\nkam am-ri-ka\nWe are honoured used to mean \"it was an honour to meet you\"\nma asalama\nWhat country are you from?\nmin aina anta?\nNever used to answer someone calling another's name. Often used when agreeing with someone.\na laisa ka-dħaalika?\nSyllable breakdown: a-lai-sa-ka-dhaa-lik\nright? This right is not the opposite of \"left\". This is an example of a negative question.\nbalaà\nSyllable breakdown: ba-laa\nYes, sometimes interpereted as a stronger yes. It is used in answering a negative question, because any other Arabic \"yes\" word would translate as \"no\" in English.\nexample:\nWhat is it? When \"it\" is not a tangible object.\n\"amr\" is sometimes translated as \"affair\"\nmaa esmu-ka\n(For the how are you questions only)\nOther useful phrases.\nDo you speak english? When talking to a female.\nhal tashraba al-shaay?\nDo you drink tea? When talking to a male.\nmin ayyi daulatiń anta?\nWhat country are you from?\nWords alone: hal tashrabiina al-shaay?\nSyllable breakdown: hal-tash-ra-bee-nash-shaay?\nDo you drink tea? When talking to a female.\nWords alone: hal ta'kul al-laham\nSyllable breakdown:hal-ta'-ku-lal-la-ham? '=glottal stop does not equal 3 ع\nDo you (guy) eat meat? When talking to a male.\nWords alone: hal ta'kuluun al-laham?\nSpoken fluently: hal-ta'-ku-lunal-la-ham?\nDo you (guys) eat meat? When talking to a group that has some males.\nhal-ta'-ku-lee-nal-la-ham?\nDo you (girl) eat meat? When talking to a female.\nTalking about yourself."
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"Citypages May 2016 online by CityPages Kuwait (page 114 ...\nOur cover this month features the overall winner of this year’s Kuwait Grand Photography Contest. The photograph was entered by Weiguo Hu in the ‘Hero’ category ...\nCitypages May 2016 online by CityPages Kuwait (page 114) - issuu\nissuu\nHOMEWORK FOR GROWN UPS EVERYTHING YOU LEARNED AT SCHOOL... BUT CAN YOU REMEMBER? General Knowledge Quiz\nTest Your Vocabulary\n1. The Latin prefix 'dino' (as in dinosaur) means: Giant; Terrible; Noisy; or Old?\nThe opposite of leader is:\n3. Argan oil, chiefly from Morocco, used in cooking and cosmetics, is extracted from a: Seaweed; Cactus; Tree nut; or Camel? 4. Mocha is coffee with added: Alcohol; Chocolate; Cream; or Tea? 5. According to The Bible's Book of Genesis in which God created Heaven and Earth in six days, on the first day God created: Man and Woman; Fire and Air; Darkness and Light; or The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea? 6. A 'cricket box' is a: Painted batting zone; Safe area for spectators; Chest for stumps, balls, bats, etc; or Batsman's groin protector?\n1. mourner 2. agent 3. avatar 4. follower A leader is the head guy or gal, the one running the show. The leader of the band calls the shots and sets the tempo for the music. A conductor is the leader of an orchestra; all musicians look to him or her to know when to begin and end playing their instruments. A president is the leader of a country whose decisions make a difference to the whole population. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. A leader comes first in line — in a parade or a social system — and gets a lot of attention, but ultimately, a leader needs followers.\n2. Approximately how much Francium (the rarest metal on the planet) exists on Earth: 1000 tonnes; 10 tonnes; 50 kilos; or less than an ounce?\npeople and moves them to action.\n7. Paraguay, Bolivia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Nepal, and Lesotho have no: Coastlines; Armies; Cathedrals; or McDonald's?\nA leader is the one in the charge, the person who convinces other people to follow. A great leader inspires confidence in other\n9. The area of a circle with a radius of 56.5cms is approximately how many square metres: 1; 3; 5; or 10? 10. Italian clothier Emilio Ceccato redesigned/provided the traditional striped shirts in 2016 for: Venice's gondoliers; Vatican guards; Inter Milan soccer club; or Segregated Mafia prison inmates? 11. Endemic means: Contagious; Geographically native/unique; Historically significant; or Final/fatal?\nANSWER: 4. In this question, leader is a noun that means a person who rules or guides or inspires others.\n8. What Greek word meaning 'upon/additionally' prefixes these words to create different words and a rock'n'roll brand: Centre/Center, Cure, Dermis, Gram, Tome, and Phone?\nMATH PROBLEMS When you have three, you have three. When you have two, you have two. But when you have one, you have none.\n12. Persian, Venetian, Roman, and Vertical are types of: Doorways; Staircases; Window blinds; or Pure cat breeds? 13. What African nation is known in parts of Asia by the local names of two of its famous cities Marrakech and Fes? 14. Macau, Monaco and Singapore have the world's most (What?): Dense populations; Rainfall; Prisoners; or Sherry drinkers?\nANSWER: Choices.\n15. What drink from the Camellia sinensis plant has green, black and white varieties: Sarsaparilla; Coffee; Tequila; or Tea? 16. The dermis and cutis are parts of the human: Heart; Brain; Skin; or Bones?\nJUMBLED WORDS\n17. The largest theme park in Europe, subject to approval 2016, is planned by Paramount in: Dartford; Helsinki; Reykjavik; or Calais? 18. The standard spoken English accent of the UK, abbreviated to 'RP', traditionally used by BBC newsreaders, the Royal Family and 'upper class' is fully called '(What?) Pronunciation': Revised; Revived; Received; or Rhubarb?\nB A I N C\n19. Volvic, Evian, Perrier and San Pellegrino are famous brands of: Knitwear; Bottled water; Cosmetics; or Golf equipment?\nR O M M E Y\n20. The Arabic word 'al' (AL) roughly translates in English to mean: Go; The; Me; or You?\nT E R A T O\nFEBRUARY, MAY, 2016 2016\nDECEMBER, 2016\nS L U R P A ANSWERS: GUPPY, CABIN, MEMORY, ROTATE, PULSAR\nANSWERS:1.Terrible (saurus = lizard), 2.Less than an ounce (it has a 'half-life' only 22mins, is highly radioactive and decays into radon), 3.Tree nut (from the Argan tree), 4.Chocolate, 5.Darkness and Light, 6.Batsman's groin protector, 7.Coastlines (each country is landlocked), 8.Epi (Epiphone is a famous guitar maker), 9.1, 10.Venice's gondoliers, 11.Geographically native/unique, 12.Window blinds, 13.Morocco, 14.Dense populations, 15.Tea, 16.Skin, 17.Dartford (UK, NW Kent), 18.Received, 19.Bottled water, 20.The\n114",
"Top 50 English Words---of Arabic Origin! | Arabic Language ...\nTop 50+ English Words—of Arabic Origin! Posted by Hichem on Feb 21, 2012 in Arabic Language, ... MONSOON (موسم: Arabic for “season.”) MUMMY (مومياء: ...\nTop 50 English Words---of Arabic Origin! | Arabic Language Blog\nZENITH (سمت الرأس: Literally the “azimuth of the head”، it is the opposite of the “nadir.”)\nZERO (same as “cipher.”)\nNames of many stars and constellations: \n(Altair: الطَّائـــــــــر meaning “the bird”; Betelgeuse: بيت الجــــــوزاء, meaning “the House of the Gemini”; Deneb: ذنب meaning “tail”; Fomalhaut: فم الحوت which means “the mouth of the Pisces”, Rigel: رِجـــــــل meaning “foot”, it stands for رجل الجبَّار, or the “foot of the Titan”, Vega: الواقع meaning “the Falling”, refers to النسر الواقع، meaning “the falling eagle”, etc.)\nAn entirely separate post is necessary to list all of the astronomical terms which are of Arabic origin.\n TECHNICAL TERMS (ENGINEERING, MILITARY, BUSINESS, COMMODITIES, etc.)\nADMIRAL (أميــــــــر الرحلة, meaning commander of the fleet, or literally “of the trip”) \nADOBE (الطوب: meaning a “brick.” Next time you use an Adobe Acrobat product, you will remember that Adobe is originally Arabic!)\nALCOVE (القبة: meaning “the vault”, or “the dome”)\nAMBER (عنبر: Anbar, “ambergris.”)\nARSENAL (Do fans of F.C. Arsenal today, including those living in the Arab world, know where the name of their favorite team came from? دار الصناعــــــــــــــــة : “manufacturing house”)\nASSASSIN (Just like the word MAFIA, it is of Arabic origin: It either comes from “حشَّــــــــــــــاشين”, referring to the medieval sect of the same name famous for the heavy hashish consumption by its knife-wielding members, or “العسَّاسيــــــــــــــــن”, meaning “the watchmen.”)\nCALIBER (قـــــــالب: meaning “mold”) \nCANDY (from قندي, itself from Persian for “hard candy made by boiling cane sugar”)\nCHECK (from صکّ, also from Persian meaning “letter of credit.” It would give the Chess expression “Checkmate”, from “الشيخ مات”, or “the Shaikh is dead.”)\nCORK (القورق)\nCOFFEE (قهوة: For long snubbed by Europeans as the “wine of the infidels”—that is, many centuries before the age of Starbucks and instant coffee!)\nCOTTON (قُطْـــــــــن)\nGAUZE (either from قَــــــــــزّ, meaning “silk”, or from غَــــــــزّة, “Gaza”, the Palestinian city.)\nGUITAR (just as LUTE, العود, a musical instrument known to Europeans through the Arabic قيثارة, itself possibly borrowed from a word of Ancient Greek.)\nHAZARD (الزّهر: “the dice”—Think of an Arabic TV series hazardly titled “The Dukes of Al-Azhar”…) \nLAZULI (As in “Lapis Lazuli”, لاژورد: Arabic word for a semi-precious stone famous for its intense blue color. The Arabic word is said to come from a Persian city where the stone was mined.)\nMASCARA (Just as with the English “masquerade” and the French “mascarade“, mascara comes from the Arabic word مسخرة, an event during which people wear masks, such as carnivals.) \nMATTRESS (مطـــــــــــــــــــرح.)\nMONSOON (موسم: Arabic for “season.”)\nMUMMY (مومياء: Originally from Persian root “موم”, meaning “wax”.)\nRACQUET (As in a “tennis racket”. Some point to an Arabic origin of Tennis. The word racket comes the Arabic word “راحـــــــة”, as in “راحـــــة اليد”, meaning the “palm of the hand.”)\nREAM (as in a “ream of paper”, it comes from Arabic رزمة, meaning a “bundle.”) \nSAFARI (سفـــــــر: “travel”—As in Apple’s Safari web browser)\nSASH (شــــــــاش.)\nSATIN (زيتــــــــــــوني: “Olive-like”, perhaps related to modern Tsinkiang in Fukien province, southern China.) \nSOFA (الصُفــــــــة)",
"Alton,_Hampshire.txt\nAlton, Hampshire\nAlton is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is located across a valley on the source of the River Wey. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 17,816. The town is famous for its connection with Sweet Fanny Adams.\n\nThe town was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 under the name Aoltone and was notable for having the most valuable market recorded therein. The Battle of Alton occurred in the town during the English Civil War. The town contains three secondary schools and its own railway station.\n\nHistory\n\nEarly history\n\nThe Alton Hoard of Iron Age coins and jewellery was found in the vicinity of the town in 1996 and is now in the British Museum. \nA Roman road ran from Chichester to Silchester and there is evidence of a Roman posting station at Neatham near Alton, probably called Vindomis, and a ford across the River Wey. Centuries later, an Anglo-Saxon settlement was established in the area and a large 7th century cemetery has been discovered during building excavations. It contained a selection of grave goods which included the Alton Buckle which is on display in the Curtis Museum, and is considered to be the finest piece of Anglo Saxon craftsmanship found in Hampshire. The buckle was found in the grave of a warrior, and has a silver-gilt body, set with garnets and glass. \n\nThe River Wey has a source in the town, and the name Alton comes from an Anglo-Saxon word \"aewielltun\" meaning \"farmstead at the source of the river\". \n\nIn 1001 Danish forces invaded England during the First Battle of Alton. When they reached Alton, the forces of Wessex came together and fought against them. About 81 Englishman were killed, including Ethelwerd the King's high-steward, Leofric of Whitchurch, Leofwin the King's high-steward, Wulfhere a bishop's thane, and Godwin of Worthy, Bishop Elfsy's son. Danish casualties were higher, however the Danes won the battle and fleeing Englishmen took refuge in Winchester. \n\nAlton is listed as having the most valuable recorded market in the Domesday Book under the name Aoltone in the 'Odingeton Hundred — Hantescire'. \n\nThe Treaty of Alton was an agreement signed in 1101 between William the Conqueror's eldest son Robert, Duke of Normandy and his brother Henry I of England. Henry had seized the throne while his elder brother was away on the first crusade. Robert returned to claim the throne, landing in Portsmouth. The two brothers met in Alton and agreed terms which formed the Treaty of Alton. Part of the main street through Alton is called Normandy Street, probably reflecting this event.\n\nMiddle Ages\n\nThe first recorded market in Alton was in 1232, although the market at Neatham first recorded in the Domesday Book may also have been in the town. Blome wrote in 1673 of a 'market on Saturdays, which is very great for provisions, where also are sold good store of living cattle'. The Saturday market is featured on Kitchin's map of Hampshire (1751) which marks the town as Alton Mt. Sat. \n\n1307 was, in fact, the first year of Edward II’s reign but Edmund of Woodstock was not lord of the manor then. According to the Victoria County History (written after Curtis’ book):-\n\n‘In 1273 Edward I granted the manor [of Alton Westbrook] to his mother, Queen Eleanor, who died in 1291, when it reverted to the Crown and was granted in 1299 as dower to his second wife, Margaret of France. On the death of Queen Margaret in 1317, it again came to the Crown, and Edward II gave it in 1319 to his brother Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent.’\n\nAs can be seen, Queen Margaret held the manor until 1317 and so the fair could not have been granted to Edmund of Woodstock in 1307.\n\nThe correct date for the grant seems to be 22 November 1320 (according to the Charter Rolls, 14 Edward II, no.15). The grant was for a 9-day fair - the vigil [eve] and feast of Whitsuntide and seven days after.\n\nThe two main manors in Alton - Alton Eastbrook and Alton Westbrook - had a fair each. That of Alton Eastbrook has no extant charter, and may never have had one. It was originally held on St Lawrence’s Day and so its origin was, presumably, the patronal festival. The religious aspect would have ceased when the country was no longer Roman Catholic. This fair seems to have been held on Crown Close (which is in the manor of Alton Eastbrook) in the early 19th century. When this land was built upon, the fair moved and was held where ever the Westbrook fair was - the Market Place, various meadows and the Butts.\n\nThe date of the Eastbrook fair was changed to Michaelmas in the mid-18th century as it came during harvest time and the farmers were not satisfied. Some accounts for this fair in the early 18th century do survive and show that there was a cheese fair as well the usual mix of travelling and local people with stalls and stands - people selling lace, gloves, books, gingerbread, bodices, sugar plums, toys, soap and knives, to name but a few. By the late 19th century, this fair was said to be mainly for horses, sheep and, occasionally, hops. Alton still has an annual fair, but it now takes the form of a carnival.\n\nModern period\n\nEggar's School was founded in 1640 by John Eggar of Moungomeries as the Free Grammar School. It later became known as Eggar's Grammar School. It occupied a site in Anstey Road until it moved to a new site in Holybourne in 1969. \n\nA battle was fought in Alton during the English Civil War. A small Royalist force was quartered in the town when on 13 December 1643 they were surprised by a Parliamentary army of around 5,000 men. The Royalist cavalry fled, leaving Sir Richard Bolle (or Boles) and his infantry to fight. Outnumbered, the Royalists were forced into the Church of St Lawrence, where Bolle was killed along with many of his men. Over 700 Royalist soldiers were captured and bullet holes from the battle are still visible in the church today.\n\nIn 1665, Alton suffered an outbreak of bubonic plague, but soon recovered.\nOn Saturday, 24 August 1867, an eight-year-old girl, Fanny Adams, was murdered in Alton. Her assailant, Frederick Baker, a local solicitor's clerk, was one of the last criminals to be executed in Winchester. Fanny Adams' grave can still be seen in Alton cemetery. The brutal murder, so the story goes, coincided with the introduction of tinned meat in the Royal Navy, and the sailors who did not like the new food said the tins contained the remains of \"Sweet Fanny Adams\" or \"Sweet F A\". The expression \"sweet fanny adams\" has an old-fashioned slang meaning of nothing. \n\nGovernance\n\nPrior to the Local Government Act 1972, Alton had fallen under the aegis of the (now defunct) Alton Urban District Council. The Act resulted in the dissolution of this body, and the establishment (on 1 April 1974) of the current Alton Town Council. The responsibilities of the Alton Urban District Council were divided between the new Alton Town Council, the Hampshire County Council and the newly formed East Hampshire District Council. The Council meets at the Town Hall, in Market Square, and the position of Mayor is currently held by Mr Matthew Bayliss. \n\nGeography\n\nAlton is between Farnham 9 mi to the northeast and Winchester 16 mi to the southwest. London is 52 mi.\nNearby Brockham Hill, situated northeast of Alton, rises to 225 m above sea level.\n\nThe nearby village of Bentworth is the highest village in Hampshire.\n\nClimate\n\nAlong with the rest of South East England, Alton has a temperate climate which is generally warmer than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 9 °C and shows a seasonal and a diurnal variation. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between and 2 °C. June and July are the warmest months in the area with average daily maximum around . \n\nEconomy\n\nThere have been a number of breweries in Alton since 1763. Coors Brewing Company (among the ten largest brewers in the world) had a brewery in Alton for fifty years, which produced Carling, Grolsch and Worthington. It closed in 2015 because it lost work from Heineken. \n\nAlton was famous in the 18th century for the manufacture of paper and of dress materials including ribbed druggets, shallons, silks and serges, bombazine and figured barragons. \n\nAlton has businesses in the retail and service sectors in the centre of the town, and over a hundred businesses in the four industrial areas of Mill Lane, Newman Lane, Caker Stream and Omega Park, ranging from light industrial to computer software production.\nClarcor, TNT N.V. and Poseidon Diving Systems all have businesses in Alton's Industrial Site, Mill Lane.\n\nOne of Alton's largest commercial employers is the financial services sector. Lumbry Park, which used to be known as Lumbry Farm, is on the B3006 Alton to Selborne road, and is occupied by Inter Group Insurance Services (IGIS), a subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland. Inter Group employs over 170 people on this site, and specialises in travel insurance. The company has operated in Alton since 1999. It was acquired by Churchill Insurance in 2001, becoming part of RBS Insurance division in 2003 as part of an RBS takeover. However, on 11 November 2008, Inter Group announced its proposal to close its office in Alton in August 2009 due to \"changes in the travel insurance market\", leading to the loss of 104 full-time staff and around 16 part-timers. The head of Inter Group, Bob Andrews, said that the decision to close the Alton site had been forced by \"a fundamental shift in the third-party travel insurance market in the last few years\" and that \"Major clients of Inter Group have recently taken their travel insurance business back in-house and sadly we have no alternative but to make this announcement today\". He said, \"We have explored every possible avenue before proposing this unfortunate action.\"\n\nAlton was also home to the travel company TravelBag, the travel company owned by ebookers, who still have a shop in the town as well as The Adventure Company.\n\nAlton has a range of chain stores and independent shops including greengrocers, butchers and a hardware shop. There are five main supermarkets that serve the town. \n \nThe town houses various pubs and restaurants, including PizzaExpress.\n\nCulture\n\nAlton WordFest is a celebration of the spoken and written word held in late September or early October each year. The festival includes writing competitions for children and adults, a children's spelling bee, a literary lunch, book launches and talks by authors and workshops. Since 2010, Alton WordFest has hosted The Pint Pot of Fire - a story-telling competition among champions representing writers' circles, public speaking groups and oral-tradition story-telling clubs from around the area. The Pint Pot of Fire has run annually since 2005 and was formerly held in Guildford (2005) and Farnham (2006–2009). \n\nThe Allen Gallery serves as Alton's art gallery. It houses a large, permanent ceramics collection as well as temporary exhibitions. \n\nHolybourne Theatre is on the site of a former Nissen hut that was converted into a theatre by German prisoners-of-war during World War II. Plays have been performed there since 1950, but the official opening was not until 1971.\n\nAlton Morris was formed in 1979, and have been Morris Dancing both in the United Kingdom and abroad. They often perform at Alton street events.\n\nLocal choirs include Alton Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, established in 1921, who perform two musical shows and one play each year in a wide variety of musical and dramatic styles. Alton Community Choir sings unaccompanied Hampshire folk songs as well as some African, gospel, blues and calypso music.\n\nNotable landmarks\n\nThe Alton Independent Cinema Project was formed in May 2011 to help secure the future of independent cinema in the town.\n\nAlton Maltings was renovated in 2004-5 and is now the home of Harvest Church and is used by community groups, charities, private users and other organisations throughout the week. The Alton Maltings claims to be the widest wooden spanned building in Hampshire.\n\nAlton Library was rebuilt in 2005 to a design by the County Council Architects. The new library contains a lending library, reference library, computer facilities and a cafe. \n\nAlton Sports Centre is open to the public and includes a swimming pool, gym, indoor and outdoor courts.\n\nThe Curtis Museum was founded in 1856 by Dr William Curtis and houses one of the finest local history collections in Hampshire\n\nThe Town Gardens contains a bandstand (built in 1935 for the Silver Jubilee of King George V), a children's playground, flower beds, trees and shrubs (). The bandstand was replaced in 2013 to commemorate Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.\n\nAnstey Park, is a large open space with playing fields and a small children's playground (32 acre); the park is home to the town's rugby club.\nKing's Pond, with parking, a surfaced path all round, ducks and swans (11 acre)\nThe Butts, 2 acre of common land now used for visiting circuses and fairs, and used in medieval and Tudor times for the weekly archery practice which all men were legally required to do (see archery butts) Flood meadows, about 15 acre, lie close to the source of the River Wey through which rivulets weave and public footpaths give access through the diverse plant and animal life A Tourist Information Centre is in Cross and Pillory Lane (near Market Square in the centre of the town). Alton has 5 allotments: Borovere, Hawthorn, Spitalfields, Wooteys and Whitedown.\n\nEducation\n\nAlton lies approximately midway between the University of Winchester and the University of Surrey at Guildford but its nearest University campus is the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. It is home to Treloar's, an independent educational establishment founded in 1907 by Sir William Purdie Treloar, Lord Mayor of London, to provide education for young people with physical disabilities. Treloar's now runs Treloar College, a college of further education in Holybourne, and Treloar School in Upper Froyle about three miles (5 km) away. Treloar's provides specialist facilities, therapy and medical care to enable pupils to achieve their academic potential and develop their confidence and independence. Former pupils include comedian and actor Spike Breakwell, actress Julie Fernandez, mouth and foot painting artist Tom Yendell. \n\nThe State secondary schools in Alton are Eggar's School (formerly the Grammar School), and Amery Hill School. There is an independent Catholic day school, Alton Convent School, which educates boys from 3 to 11 and girls from 3 to 18. Sixth-form education is provided by Alton College, which has gained outstanding inspection reports from Ofsted.\n\nTransport\n\nAlton station is on the National Rail network at the end of the Alton Line with a service to London Waterloo.\n\nAlton railway station also serves as a terminus for the Mid Hants Railway commonly called 'The Watercress Line', a restored steam railway running between Alton and New Alresford, so called because it used to be used to transport fresh watercress to London.\n\nThe origins of the Watercress Line date back to 1861, the year in which Parliament granted consent for what was then known as the 'Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway'. Four years later the Mid Hants Railway opened, and the train service continued until the line was closed in 1973. Then in 1977 the line was partially re-opened, in 1983 it was extended further, and in 1985 it was re-opened as far as Alton to connect with the mainline London service.\n\nAlton used to be a railway junction. As well as the Mid-Hants Railway, from 1903 to 1955 the Meon Valley Railway ran from Alton down the Meon Valley to join the Eastleigh to Fareham line at Fareham. The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway ran north to Basingstoke.\n\nIn 2015 some passenger buses in the Alton area were operated by Stagecoach. \n\nNotable people \n\n* William de Alton (c. 1330–1400), Dominican Friar, writer and theological philosopher during King Edward II's reign, became famous for asserting that the Virgin Mary was polluted with original sin\n* Edmund Spenser (1552–1599), the Elizabethan poet and contemporary of William Shakespeare, may have lived in a now well-preserved Tudor cottage at 1 Amery Street in about 1590. A plaque on the house states that he \"lived some time in these parts\". \n* John Pitts, biographical author, was born in Alton in 1560\n\n* John Murray (1741–1815), born in Alton, a pioneering minister of the Universalist church in the United States. \n* William Curtis (1746–1799), botanist, was born in Alton and served his apprenticeship as an apothecary before devoting the rest of his life to the study of British plants.\n* Jane Austen (1775–1817), Georgian novelist, lived in Chawton just outside Alton from 1809 until her death, and wrote or revised six novels there.\n* Cardinal Newman (1801–1890), English Catholic, lived in Alton from 1816 to 1819.\n* Iona and Peter Opie: Iona Opie (born 1923) and Peter Opie (1918–1982), folklorists and anthologists famed for their research into children's literature, and street and playground games. Their collection of children's literature has been donated to the Bodleian Library in Oxford.\n* James William 'Jimmy' Dickinson (25 April 1925 – 8 November 1982 in Alton), an English football player. Dickinson holds the record number of league appearances for Portsmouth F.C. (764). Only Swindon Town's John Trollope (770) has made more appearances for a single club. His performances earned him a call-up to the England national football team. He won 48 caps for England, making him Portsmouth's most capped English player. During his record 845 club appearances for Pompey and his 48 England caps he was never once booked or sent off, earning him the nickname Gentleman Jim. There is a pub in Alton named after him called The Gentleman Jim.\n* Graham Stratford, English cattle breeder, local politician and in 1974 the first Town Mayor of Alton Town Council.\n* Graham Wilson (born 1958) studied at Eggar's Grammar School, from 1970 to 1976. Wilson, who worked briefly at the Harp Lager Brewery and Leisure Centre, is the author of several management text books, one of which \"Problem Solving and Decision Making\", is dedicated to his former Biology Teacher at Eggars, Dr Marion Phillips.\n* Alison Goldfrapp (born 1966), singer of Goldfrapp.\n* Yvette Cooper (born 1969), Member of Parliament and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was educated at Eggar's School and Alton College.\n\nTwin towns\n\nAlton is twinned with: \n* Pertuis, France\n* Montecchio Maggiore, Italy\n\nNearest places",
"Arabic.txt\nArabic\nArabic (, ' or ') is the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century and its modern descendants excluding Maltese. Arabic is spoken in a wide arc stretching across Western Asia, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. Arabic belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family.\n\nThe literary language, called Modern Standard Arabic or Literary Arabic, is the only official form of Arabic. It is used in most written documents as well as in formal spoken occasions, such as lectures and news broadcasts.\n\nSome of the spoken varieties are mutually unintelligible, both written and orally, and the varieties as a whole constitute a sociolinguistic language. This means that on purely linguistic grounds they would likely be considered to constitute more than one language, but are commonly grouped together as a single language for political or religious reasons (see below). If considered multiple languages, it is unclear how many languages there would be, as . If Arabic is considered a single language, it is perhaps spoken by as many as 422 million speakers (native and non-native) in the Arab world, making it one of the six most-spoken languages in the world. If considered separate languages, the most-spoken variety would most likely be Egyptian Arabic with 89 million native speakers —still greater than any other Afroasiatic language. Arabic also is a liturgical language of 1.6 billion Muslims. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations. \n\nThe modern written language (Modern Standard Arabic) is derived from the language of the Quran (known as Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic). It is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the official language of 26 states and the liturgical language of Islam. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the grammatical standards of Quranic Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary. However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no longer have any counterpart in the spoken varieties, and has adopted certain new constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, especially in modern times.\n\nArabic is written with the Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad script and is written from right-to-left although the spoken varieties are sometimes written in ASCII Latin from left-to-right with no standardized forms.\n\nArabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. Some of the most influenced languages are Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Kurdish, Somali, Swahili, Bosnian, Kazakh, Bengali, Hindi, Malay, Indonesian, Tigrinya, Pashto, Punjabi, Tagalog, Sindhi and Hausa. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a major vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As a result, many European languages have also borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are also found in ancient languages like Latin and Greek. Arabic influence, mainly in vocabulary, is seen in European languages, mainly Spanish and Portuguese owing to both the proximity of Christian European and Muslim Arab civilizations and 800 years of Arabic culture and language in the Iberian Peninsula, referred to in Arabic as al-Andalus. Balkan languages, including Greek, have also acquired a significant number of Arabic vocabulary through contact with Ottoman Turkish.\n\nArabic has also borrowed words from many languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Persian and Syriac in early centuries, Kurdish in medieval times and contemporary European languages in modern times, mostly English and French.\n\nClassification \n\nArabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages (Aramaic, Hebrew, Ugaritic and Phoenician), the Ancient South Arabian languages, and various other Semitic languages of Arabia such as Dadanitic. The Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in terms of grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include:\n# The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense.\n# The conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense.\n# The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms (e.g., a present tense formed by doubling the middle root, a perfect formed by infixing a /t/ after the first root consonant, probably a jussive formed by a stress shift) in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms (e.g., -u for indicative, -a for subjunctive, no ending for jussive, -an or -anna for energetic).\n# The development of an internal passive.\nThere are several features which Classical Arabic, the modern Arabic varieties, as well as the Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions share which are unattested in any other Central Semitic language variety, including the Dadanitic and Taymanitic languages of the northern Hijaz. These features are evidence of common descent from a hypothetical ancestor, Proto-Arabic. The following features can be reconstructed with confidence for Proto-Arabic: \n# negative particles m */mā/; lʾn */lā-ʾan/ > CAr lan\n# mafʿūl G-passive participle\n# prepositions and adverbs f, ʿn, ʿnd, ḥt, ʿkdy\n# a subjunctive in -a\n# t-demonstratives\n# leveling of the -at allomorph of the feminine ending\n# ʾn complementizer and subordinator\n# the use of f- to introduce modal clauses\n# independent object pronoun in (ʾ)y\n# vestiges of nunation\n\nHistory\n\nOld Arabic \n\nArabia boasted a wide variety of Semitic languages in antiquity. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family (e.g. Southern Thamudic) were spoken. It is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages (non-Central Semitic languages) were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages. In Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested. In eastern Arabia, inscriptions in a script derived from ASA attest to a language known as Hasaitic. Finally, on the northwestern frontier of Arabia, various languages known to scholars as Thamudic B, Thamudic D, Safaitic, and Hismaic are attested. The last two share important isoglosses with later forms of Arabic, leading scholars to theorize that Safaitic and Hismaic are in fact early forms of Arabic and that they should be considered Old Arabic. \n\nAramaic also held prestige as a written language in parts of northern and eastern Arabia in antiquity. In the northwestern frontier, the Nabataean dialect of Aramaic and its associated script had become familiar to the ancestors of the Arabs. In the earliest Nabataean inscriptions, Arabic names and idioms are attested. Starting from the 1st century CE, fragments of Old Arabic prose are attested in the Nabataean script across northern and central Arabia. Throughout late antiquity, the use of the Ancient North Arabian scripts and their associated languages declines in Arabia and an Old Arabic written standard in a transitional Nabataeo-Arabic script emerges.\n\nMiddle Arabic, Neo-Arabic, and Classical Arabic\n\nIn late pre-Islamic times, a transdialectal and transcommunal variety of Arabic emerged, already standardized in actual fact, which continued living its parallel life after literary Arabic had been institutionally standardized in the 2nd and 3rd century of the Hijra, keeping alive ancient features eliminated from the ‘learned’ tradition (Classical Arabic). The so-called rajaz poetry of pre-Islamic is a good example of the use of a sophisticated variety of Middle Arabic. The same can be said, some centuries later, about the Andalusian zajal.\n\nMiddle Arabic was structurally connected to the so-called Neo-Arabic dialects, a catch-all term for the modern varieties of Arabic and their immediate ancestors. Charles Ferguson’s koine theory (Ferguson 1959), claims that the modern Arabic dialects collectively descend from a single military koine that sprung up during the Islamic conquests; this view has been challenged in recent times. Ahmad al-Jallad proposes that there were at least two considerably distinct types of Arabic on the eve of the conquests: Northern and Central (Al-Jallad 2009). The modern dialects emerged from a new contact situation produced following the conquests. Instead of the emergence of a single or multiple koines, the dialects contain several sedimentary layers of borrowed and areal features, which they absorbed at different points in their linguistic histories. \n\nIn the late 6th century AD, a relatively uniform intertribal ‘poetic koine’ distinct from the spoken vernaculars developed based on the Bedouin dialects of Najd, probably in connection with the court of al-Ḥīra. During the first Islamic century the majority of Arabic poets and Arabic-writing persons spoke Arabic as their mother tongue. Their texts, although mainly preserved in far later manuscripts, contain traces of non-standardized Classical Arabic elements in morphology and syntax. Furthermore, it is clear that the orthography of the Qurʾān was not developed for the standardized form of Classical Arabic; rather, it shows the attempt on the part of writers to utilize a traditional writing system for recording a non-standardized form of Classical Arabic. The standardization of Classical Arabic reached completion around the end of the 8th century. The first comprehensive description of the ʿarabiyya \"Arabic\", Sībawayhi's al-Kitāb, is based first of all upon a corpus of poetic texts, in addition to the Qurʾān and Bedouin informants whom he considered to be reliable speakers of the ʿarabiyya. By the 8th century, knowledge of Classical Arabic had become an essential prerequisite for rising into the higher classes throughout the Islamic world.\n\nModern Arabic\n\nDuring the colonial era, the European powers occupying Arab nations actively encouraged the public spread and use of colloquial Arabic dialects and suppressed the use and teaching of classical Arabic. This caused great diversity in dialects throughout the near east, northern Africa, and even eastern European dialects of Arabic like Czech Arabic and Slavo-Anderski Arabic. After wiping out a third of the Algerian population between 1830 and 1872 for example, the French then closed all Qur'anic schools and banned public usage of Arabic; Arabic was actually declared a foreign language in 1938 and while about half the population was literate in Arabic at the beginning of French colonization, 90% of the native population was illiterate in both Arabic and French by its end in the 1960s. \n\nClassical, Modern Standard and spoken Arabic \n\nArabic usually designates one of three main variants: Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial or dialectal Arabic. Classical Arabic is the language found in the Quran, used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate. Theoretically, Classical Arabic is considered normative, according to the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (such as Sibawayh) and the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (such as the ). In practice, however, modern authors almost never write in pure Classical Arabic, instead using a literary language with its own grammatical norms and vocabulary, commonly known as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA).\n\nMSA is the variety used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by some of the Arabic media across North Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. \"Literary Arabic\" and \"Standard Arabic\" ( ') are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic.\n\nSome of the differences between Classical Arabic (CA) and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) are as follows:\n* Certain grammatical constructions of CA that have no counterpart in any modern dialect (e.g., the energetic mood) are almost never used in Modern Standard Arabic.\n* No modern spoken variety of Arabic has case distinctions. As a result, MSA is generally composed without case distinctions in mind, and the proper cases are added after the fact, when necessary. Because most case endings are noted using final short vowels, which are normally left unwritten in the Arabic script, it is unnecessary to determine the proper case of most words. The practical result of this is that MSA, like English and Standard Chinese, is written in a strongly determined word order and alternative orders that were used in CA for emphasis are rare. In addition, because of the lack of case marking in the spoken varieties, most speakers cannot consistently use the correct endings in extemporaneous speech. As a result, spoken MSA tends to drop or regularize the endings except when reading from a prepared text.\n* The numeral system in CA is complex and heavily tied in with the case system. This system is never used in MSA, even in the most formal of circumstances; instead, a significantly simplified system is used, approximating the system of the conservative spoken varieties.\n\nMSA uses much Classical vocabulary (e.g., ' 'to go') that is not present in the spoken varieties. In addition, MSA has borrowed or coined a large number of terms for concepts that did not exist in Quranic times, and MSA continues to evolve. Some words have been borrowed from other languages—notice that transliteration mainly indicates spelling and not real pronunciation (e.g., ' 'film' or ' 'democracy').\n\nHowever, the current preference is to avoid direct borrowings, preferring to either use loan translations (e.g., ' 'branch', also used for the branch of a company or organization; ' 'wing', is also used for the wing of an airplane, building, air force, etc.), or to coin new words using forms within existing roots ( ' 'apoptosis', using the root m/w/t 'death' put into the Xth form, or ' 'university', based on ' 'to gather, unite'; ' 'republic', based on ' 'multitude'). An earlier tendency was to repurpose older words; that has fallen into disuse (e.g., ' 'telephone' There was also the idea of finding a way to use Hieroglyphics instead of the Latin alphabet, but this was seen as too complicated to use. A scholar, Salama Musa agreed with the idea of applying a Latin alphabet to Arabic, as he believed that would allow Egypt to have a closer relationship with the West. He also believed that Latin script was key to the success of Egypt as it would allow for more advances in science and technology. This change in script, he believed, would solve the problems inherent with Arabic, such as a lack of written vowels and difficulties writing foreign words that made it difficult for non-native speakers to learn. Ahmad Lutfi As Sayid and Muhammad Azmi, two Egyptian intellectuals, agreed with Musa and supported the push for Romanization. The idea that Romanization was necessary for modernization and growth in Egypt continued with Abd Al Aziz Fahmi in 1944. He was the chairman for the Writing and Grammar Committee for the Arabic Language Academy of Cairo. However, this effort failed as the Egyptian people felt a strong cultural tie to the Arabic alphabet. In particular, the older Egyptian generations believed that the Arabic alphabet had strong connections to Arab values and history, which is easy to believe due to the long history of the Arabic alphabet (Shrivtiel, 189).\n\nArabic and Islam \n\nClassical Arabic is the language of the Qur'an. Arabic is closely associated with the religion of Islam because the Qur'an was written in Arabic, but it is nevertheless also spoken by Arab Christians, Mizrahi Jews and Iraqi Mandaeans. Most of the world's Muslims do not speak Arabic as their native language, but many can read the Quranic script and recite the Quran. Among non-Arab Muslims, translations of the Quran are most often accompanied by the original text.\n\nSome Muslims present a monogenesis of languages and claim that the Arabic language was the language revealed by God for the benefit of mankind and the original language as a prototype system of symbolic communication, based upon its system of triconsonantal roots, spoken by man from which all other languages were derived, having first been corrupted. Judaism has a similar account with the Tower of Babel.\n\nDialects and descendants \n\nColloquial Arabic is a collective term for the spoken varieties of Arabic used throughout the Arab world, which differ radically from the literary language. The main dialectal division is between the varieties within and outside of the Arabian peninsula, followed by that between sedentary varieties and the much more conservative Bedouin varieties. All of the varieties outside of the Arabian peninsula (which include the large majority of speakers) have a large number of features in common with each other that are not found in Classical Arabic. This has led researchers to postulate the existence of a prestige koine dialect in the one or two centuries immediately following the Arab conquest, whose features eventually spread to all of the newly conquered areas. (These features are present to varying degrees inside the Arabian peninsula. Generally, the Arabian peninsula varieties have much more diversity than the non-peninsula varieties, but have been understudied.)\n\nWithin the non-peninsula varieties, the largest difference is between the non-Egyptian North African dialects (especially Moroccan Arabic) and the others. Moroccan Arabic in particular is hardly comprehensible to Arabic speakers east of Libya (although the converse is not true, in part due to the popularity of Egyptian films and other media).\n\nOne factor in the differentiation of the dialects is influence from the languages previously spoken in the areas, which have typically provided a significant number of new words and have sometimes also influenced pronunciation or word order; however, a much more significant factor for most dialects is, as among Romance languages, retention (or change of meaning) of different classical forms. Thus Iraqi aku, Levantine fīh and North African kayən all mean 'there is', and all come from Classical Arabic forms (yakūn, fīhi, kā'in respectively), but now sound very different.\n\nExamples\n\nTranscription is a broad IPA transcription, so minor differences were ignored for easier comparison.\n\nKoine \n\nAccording to Charles A. Ferguson, the following are some of the characteristic features of the koine that underlies all of the modern dialects outside the Arabian peninsula. Although many other features are common to most or all of these varieties, Ferguson believes that these features in particular are unlikely to have evolved independently more than once or twice and together suggest the existence of the koine:\n* Loss of the dual (grammatical number) except on nouns, with consistent plural agreement (cf. feminine singular agreement in plural inanimates).\n* Change of a to i in many affixes (e.g., non-past-tense prefixes ti- yi- ni-; wi- 'and'; il- 'the'; feminine -it in the construct state).\n* Loss of third-weak verbs ending in w (which merge with verbs ending in y).\n* Reformation of geminate verbs, e.g., ' 'I untied' → '.\n* Conversion of separate words lī 'to me', laka 'to you', etc. into indirect-object clitic suffixes.\n* Certain changes in the cardinal number system, e.g., ' 'five days' → ', where certain words have a special plural with prefixed t.\n* Loss of the feminine elative (comparative).\n* Adjective plurals of the form ' 'big' → '.\n* Change of nisba suffix ' > '.\n* Certain lexical items, e.g., ' 'bring' or with complete loss of any pharyngealization or velarization,. (The classical ' pronunciation of pharyngealization still occurs in the Mehri language and the similar sound without velarization exists in other Modern South Arabian languages.)\n\nOther changes may also have happened. Classical Arabic pronunciation is not thoroughly recorded and different reconstructions of the sound system of Proto-Semitic propose different phonetic values. One example is the emphatic consonants, which are pharyngealized in modern pronunciations but may have been velarized in the eighth century and glottalized in Proto-Semitic.\n\nReduction of and between vowels occurs in a number of circumstances and is responsible for much of the complexity of third-weak (\"defective\") verbs. Early Akkadian transcriptions of Arabic names shows that this reduction had not yet occurred as of the early part of the 1st millennium BC.\n\nThe Classical Arabic language as recorded was a poetic koine that reflected a consciously archaizing dialect, chosen based on the tribes of the western part of the Arabian Peninsula, who spoke the most conservative variants of Arabic. Even at the time of Mohammed and before, other dialects existed with many more changes, including the loss of most glottal stops, the loss of case endings, the reduction of the diphthongs and into monophthongs, etc. Most of these changes are present in most or all modern varieties of Arabic.\n\nAn interesting feature of the writing system of the Quran (and hence of Classical Arabic) is that it contains certain features of Muhammad's native dialect of Mecca, corrected through diacritics into the forms of standard Classical Arabic. Among these features visible under the corrections are the loss of the glottal stop and a differing development of the reduction of certain final sequences containing: Evidently, final became as in the Classical language, but final became a different sound, possibly (rather than again in the Classical language). This is the apparent source of the alif maqṣūrah 'restricted alif' where a final is reconstructed: a letter that would normally indicate or some similar high-vowel sound, but is taken in this context to be a logical variant of alif and represent the sound.\n\nLiterary Arabic \n\nThe \"colloquial\" spoken varieties of Arabic are learned at home and constitute the native languages of Arabic speakers. \"Formal\" Literary Arabic (usually specifically Modern Standard Arabic) is learned at school; although many speakers have a native-like command of the language, it is technically not the native language of any speakers. Both varieties can be both written and spoken, although the colloquial varieties are rarely written down and the formal variety is spoken mostly in formal circumstances, e.g., in radio broadcasts, formal lectures, parliamentary discussions and to some extent between speakers of different colloquial varieties. Even when the literary language is spoken, however, it is normally only spoken in its pure form when reading a prepared text out loud. When speaking extemporaneously (i.e. making up the language on the spot, as in a normal discussion among people), speakers tend to deviate somewhat from the strict literary language in the direction of the colloquial varieties. In fact, there is a continuous range of \"in-between\" spoken varieties: from nearly pure Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), to a form that still uses MSA grammar and vocabulary but with significant colloquial influence, to a form of the colloquial language that imports a number of words and grammatical constructions in MSA, to a form that is close to pure colloquial but with the \"rough edges\" (the most noticeably \"vulgar\" or non-Classical aspects) smoothed out, to pure colloquial. The particular variant (or register) used depends on the social class and education level of the speakers involved and the level of formality of the speech situation. Often it will vary within a single encounter, e.g., moving from nearly pure MSA to a more mixed language in the process of a radio interview, as the interviewee becomes more comfortable with the interviewer. This type of variation is characteristic of the diglossia that exists throughout the Arabic-speaking world.\nAlthough Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is a unitary language, its pronunciation varies somewhat from country to country and from region to region within a country. The variation in individual \"accents\" of MSA speakers tends to mirror corresponding variations in the colloquial speech of the speakers in question, but with the distinguishing characteristics moderated somewhat. Note that it is important in descriptions of \"Arabic\" phonology to distinguish between pronunciation of a given colloquial (spoken) dialect and the pronunciation of MSA by these same speakers. Although they are related, they are not the same. For example, the phoneme that derives from Proto-Semitic /g/ has many different pronunciations in the modern spoken varieties, e.g.,. Speakers whose native variety has either or will use the same pronunciation when speaking MSA. Even speakers from Cairo, whose native Egyptian Arabic has, normally use when speaking MSA. The of Persian Gulf speakers is the only variant pronunciation which isn't found in MSA; is used instead.\n\nAnother example: Many colloquial varieties are known for a type of vowel harmony in which the presence of an \"emphatic consonant\" triggers backed allophones of nearby vowels (especially of the low vowels, which are backed to in these circumstances and very often fronted to in all other circumstances). In many spoken varieties, the backed or \"emphatic\" vowel allophones spread a fair distance in both directions from the triggering consonant; in some varieties (most notably Egyptian Arabic), the \"emphatic\" allophones spread throughout the entire word, usually including prefixes and suffixes, even at a distance of several syllables from the triggering consonant. Speakers of colloquial varieties with this vowel harmony tend to introduce it into their MSA pronunciation as well, but usually with a lesser degree of spreading than in the colloquial varieties. (For example, speakers of colloquial varieties with extremely long-distance harmony may allow a moderate, but not extreme, amount of spreading of the harmonic allophones in their MSA speech, while speakers of colloquial varieties with moderate-distance harmony may only harmonize immediately adjacent vowels in MSA.)\n\nVowels \n\nModern Standard Arabic has six pure vowels, with short and corresponding long vowels. There are also two diphthongs: and.\n\nThe pronunciation of the vowels differs from speaker to speaker, in a way that tends to reflect the pronunciation of the corresponding colloquial variety. Nonetheless, there are some common trends. Most noticeable is the differing pronunciation of and, which tend towards fronted, or in most situations, but a back in the neighborhood of emphatic consonants. Some accents and dialects, such as those of the Hijaz, have central in all situations. The vowels and are often affected somewhat in emphatic neighborhoods as well, with generally more back or centralized allophones, but the differences are less great than for the low vowels. The pronunciation of short and tends towards and in many dialects.\n\nThe definition of both \"emphatic\" and \"neighborhood\" vary in ways that reflect (to some extent) corresponding variations in the spoken dialects. Generally, the consonants triggering \"emphatic\" allophones are the pharyngealized consonants;; and, if not followed immediately by. Frequently, the fricatives also trigger emphatic allophones; occasionally also the pharyngeal consonants (the former more than the latter). Many dialects have multiple emphatic allophones of each vowel, depending on the particular nearby consonants. In most MSA accents, emphatic coloring of vowels is limited to vowels immediately adjacent to a triggering consonant, although in some it spreads a bit farther: e.g., ' 'time'; ' 'homeland'; ' 'downtown' (sometimes or similar).\n\nIn a non-emphatic environment, the vowel /a/ in the diphthong tends to be fronted even more than elsewhere, often pronounced or: hence ' 'sword' but ' 'summer'. However, in accents with no emphatic allophones of /a/ (e.g., in the Hijaz), the pronunciation occurs in all situations.\n\nConsonants \n\nThe phoneme is represented by the Arabic letter ' () and has many standard pronunciations. is characteristic of north Algeria, Iraq, also in most of the Arabian peninsula but with an allophonic in some positions; occurs in most of the Levant and most North Africa; and is used in most of Egypt and some regions in Yemen and Oman. Generally this corresponds with the pronunciation in the colloquial dialects. In some regions in Sudan and Yemen, as well as in some Sudanese and Yemeni dialects, it may be either or, representing the original pronunciation of Classical Arabic. Foreign words containing may be transcribed with , , , , , or , mainly depending on the regional spoken variety of Arabic or the commonly diacriticized Arabic letter. Note also that in northern Egypt, where the Arabic letter ' () is normally pronounced, a separate phoneme, which may be transcribed with , occurs in a small number of mostly non-Arabic loanwords, e.g., 'jacket'.\n\n () can be pronounced as or even. In some places of Maghreb it can be also pronounced as.\n\n and () are velar, post-velar, or uvular.\n\nIn many varieties, () are actually epiglottal (despite what is reported in many earlier works).\n\n is pronounced as velarized in الله, the name of God, q.e. Allah, when the word follows a, ā, u or ū (after i or ī it is unvelarized: بسم الله bismi l–lāh). Some speakers velarize other occurrences of /l/ in MSA, in imitation of their spoken dialects.\n\nThe emphatic consonant was actually pronounced, or possibly —either way, a highly unusual sound. The medieval Arabs actually termed their language ' 'the language of the Ḍād' (the name of the letter used for this sound), since they thought the sound was unique to their language. (In fact, it also exists in a few other minority Semitic languages, e.g., Mehri.)\n\nArabic has consonants traditionally termed \"emphatic\" (), which exhibit simultaneous pharyngealization as well as varying degrees of velarization, so they may be written with the \"Velarized or pharyngealized\" diacritic () as:. This simultaneous articulation is described as \"Retracted Tongue Root\" by phonologists. In some transcription systems, emphasis is shown by capitalizing the letter, for example, is written ; in others the letter is underlined or has a dot below it, for example, .\n\nVowels and consonants can be phonologically short or long. Long (geminate) consonants are normally written doubled in Latin transcription (i.e. bb, dd, etc.), reflecting the presence of the Arabic diacritic mark ', which indicates doubled consonants. In actual pronunciation, doubled consonants are held twice as long as short consonants. This consonant lengthening is phonemically contrastive: ' 'he accepted' vs. ' 'he kissed'.\n\nSyllable structure \n\nArabic has two kinds of syllables: open syllables (CV) and (CVV)—and closed syllables (CVC), (CVVC) and (CVCC). The syllable types with two morae (units of time), i.e. CVC and CVV, are termed heavy syllables, while those with three morae, i.e. CVVC and CVCC, are superheavy syllables. Superheavy syllables in Classical Arabic occur in only two places: at the end of the sentence (due to pausal pronunciation) and in words such as ' 'hot', ' 'stuff, substance', ' 'they disputed with each other', where a long ' occurs before two identical consonants (a former short vowel between the consonants has been lost). (In less formal pronunciations of Modern Standard Arabic, superheavy syllables are common at the end of words or before clitic suffixes such as ' 'us, our', due to the deletion of final short vowels.)\n\nIn surface pronunciation, every vowel must be preceded by a consonant (which may include the glottal stop). There are no cases of hiatus within a word (where two vowels occur next to each other, without an intervening consonant). Some words do have an underlying vowel at the beginning, such as the definite article al- or words such as ' 'he bought', ' 'meeting'. When actually pronounced, one of three things happens:\n* If the word occurs after another word ending in a consonant, there is a smooth transition from final consonant to initial vowel, e.g., ' 'meeting'.\n* If the word occurs after another word ending in a vowel, the initial vowel of the word is elided, e.g., ' 'house of the director'.\n* If the word occurs at the beginning of an utterance, a glottal stop is added onto the beginning, e.g., ' 'The house is ...'.\n\nStress \n\nWord stress is not phonemically contrastive in Standard Arabic. It bears a strong relationship to vowel length. The basic rules for Modern Standard Arabic are:\n* A final vowel, long or short, may not be stressed.\n* Only one of the last three syllables may be stressed.\n* Given this restriction, the last heavy syllable (containing a long vowel or ending in a consonant) is stressed, if it is not the final syllable.\n* If the final syllable is super heavy and closed (of the form CVVC or CVCC) it receives stress.\n* If no syllable is heavy or super heavy, the first possible syllable (i.e. third from end) is stressed.\n* As a special exception, in Form VII and VIII verb forms stress may not be on the first syllable, despite the above rules: Hence ' 'he subscribed' (whether or not the final short vowel is pronounced), ' 'he subscribes' (whether or not the final short vowel is pronounced), ' 'he should subscribe (juss.)'. Likewise Form VIII ' 'he bought', ' 'he buys'.\n\nExamples:' 'book', ' 'writer', ' 'desk', ' 'desks', ' 'library' (but ' 'library' in short pronunciation), ' (Modern Standard Arabic) 'they wrote' ' (dialect), ' (Modern Standard Arabic) 'they wrote it' \n ' (dialect), ' (Modern Standard Arabic) 'they (dual, fem) wrote', ' (Modern Standard Arabic) 'I wrote' = ' (short form or dialect). Doubled consonants count as two consonants: ' 'magazine', ' \"place\".\n\nThese rules may result in differently stressed syllables when final case endings are pronounced, vs. the normal situation where they are not pronounced, as in the above example of ' 'library' in full pronunciation, but ' 'library' in short pronunciation.\n\nThe restriction on final long vowels does not apply to the spoken dialects, where original final long vowels have been shortened and secondary final long vowels have arisen from loss of original final -hu/hi.\n\nSome dialects have different stress rules. In the Cairo (Egyptian Arabic) dialect a heavy syllable may not carry stress more than two syllables from the end of a word, hence ' 'school', ' 'Cairo'. This also affects the way that Modern Standard Arabic is pronounced in Egypt. In the Arabic of Sanaa, stress is often retracted: ' 'two houses', ' 'their table', ' 'desks', ' 'sometimes', ' 'their school'. (In this dialect, only syllables with long vowels or diphthongs are considered heavy; in a two-syllable word, the final syllable can be stressed only if the preceding syllable is light; and in longer words, the final syllable cannot be stressed.)\n\nLevels of pronunciation \n\nThe final short vowels (e.g., the case endings -a -i -u and mood endings -u -a) are often not pronounced in this language, despite forming part of the formal paradigm of nouns and verbs. The following levels of pronunciation exist:\n\nFull pronunciation \n\nFull pronunciation with pausa \n\nThis is the most formal level actually used in speech. All endings are pronounced as written, except at the end of an utterance, where the following changes occur:\n* Final short vowels are not pronounced. (But possibly an exception is made for feminine plural -na and shortened vowels in the jussive/imperative of defective verbs, e.g., irmi! 'throw!'\".)\n* The entire indefinite noun endings -in and -un (with nunation) are left off. The ending -an is left off of nouns preceded by a tāʾ marbūṭah ة (i.e. the -t in the ending -at- that typically marks feminine nouns), but pronounced as -ā in other nouns (hence its writing in this fashion in the Arabic script).\n* The tāʼ marbūṭah itself (typically of feminine nouns) is pronounced as h. (At least, this is the case in extremely formal pronunciation, e.g., some Quranic recitations. In practice, this h is usually omitted.)\n\nFormal short pronunciation \n\nThis is a formal level of pronunciation sometimes seen. It is somewhat like pronouncing all words as if they were in pausal position (with influence from the colloquial varieties). The following changes occur:\n* Most final short vowels are not pronounced. However, the following short vowels are pronounced:\n** feminine plural -na\n** shortened vowels in the jussive/imperative of defective verbs, e.g., irmi! 'throw!'\n** second-person singular feminine past-tense -ti and likewise anti 'you (fem. sg.)'\n** sometimes, first-person singular past-tense -tu\n** sometimes, second-person masculine past-tense -ta and likewise anta 'you (masc. sg.)'\n** final -a in certain short words, e.g., laysa 'is not', sawfa (future-tense marker)\n* The nunation endings -an -in -un are not pronounced. However, they are pronounced in adverbial accusative formations, e.g., ' تَقْرِيبًا 'almost, approximately', ' عَادَةً 'usually'.\n* The tāʾ marbūṭah ending ة is unpronounced, except in construct state nouns, where it sounds as t (and in adverbial accusative constructions, e.g., ' عَادَةً 'usually', where the entire -tan is pronounced).\n* The masculine singular nisbah ending ' is actually pronounced ' and is unstressed (but plural and feminine singular forms, i.e. when followed by a suffix, still sound as ').\n* Full endings (including case endings) occur when a clitic object or possessive suffix is added (e.g., ' 'us/our').\n\nInformal short pronunciation \n\nThis is the pronunciation used by speakers of Modern Standard Arabic in extemporaneous speech, i.e. when producing new sentences rather than simply reading a prepared text. It is similar to formal short pronunciation except that the rules for dropping final vowels apply even when a clitic suffix is added. Basically, short-vowel case and mood endings are never pronounced and certain other changes occur that echo the corresponding colloquial pronunciations. Specifically:\n* All the rules for formal short pronunciation apply, except as follows.\n* The past tense singular endings written formally as -tu -ta -ti are pronounced -t -t -ti. But masculine ' is pronounced in full.\n* Unlike in formal short pronunciation, the rules for dropping or modifying final endings are also applied when a clitic object or possessive suffix is added (e.g., ' 'us/our'). If this produces a sequence of three consonants, then one of the following happens, depending on the speaker's native colloquial variety:\n** A short vowel (e.g., -i- or -ǝ-) is consistently added, either between the second and third or the first and second consonants.\n** Or, a short vowel is added only if an otherwise unpronounceable sequence occurs, typically due to a violation of the sonority hierarchy (e.g., -rtn- is pronounced as a three-consonant cluster, but -trn- needs to be broken up).\n** Or, a short vowel is never added, but consonants like r l m n occurring between two other consonants will be pronounced as a syllabic consonant (as in the English words \"butter bottle bottom button\").\n** When a doubled consonant occurs before another consonant (or finally), it is often shortened to a single consonant rather than a vowel added. (But note that Moroccan Arabic never shortens doubled consonants or inserts short vowels to break up clusters, instead tolerating arbitrary-length series of arbitrary consonants and hence Moroccan Arabic speakers are likely to follow the same rules in their pronunciation of Modern Standard Arabic.)\n* The clitic suffixes themselves tend also to be changed, in a way that avoids many possible occurrences of three-consonant clusters. In particular, -ka -ki -hu generally sound as -ak -ik -uh.\n* Final long vowels are often shortened, merging with any short vowels that remain.\n* Depending on the level of formality, the speaker's education level, etc., various grammatical changes may occur in ways that echo the colloquial variants:\n** Any remaining case endings (e.g. masculine plural nominative -ūn vs. oblique -īn) will be leveled, with the oblique form used everywhere. (However, in words like ' 'father' and ' 'brother' with special long-vowel case endings in the construct state, the nominative is used everywhere, hence ' 'father of', ' 'brother of'.)\n** Feminine plural endings in verbs and clitic suffixes will often drop out, with the masculine plural endings used instead. If the speaker's native variety has feminine plural endings, they may be preserved, but will often be modified in the direction of the forms used in the speaker's native variety, e.g. -an instead of -na.\n** Dual endings will often drop out except on nouns and then used only for emphasis (similar to their use in the colloquial varieties); elsewhere, the plural endings are used (or feminine singular, if appropriate).\n\nColloquial varieties \n\nVowels\n\nAs mentioned above, many spoken dialects have a process of emphasis spreading, where the \"emphasis\" (pharyngealization) of emphatic consonants spreads forward and back through adjacent syllables, pharyngealizing all nearby consonants and triggering the back allophone in all nearby low vowels. The extent of emphasis spreading varies. For example, in Moroccan Arabic, it spreads as far as the first full vowel (i.e. sound derived from a long vowel or diphthong) on either side; in many Levantine dialects, it spreads indefinitely, but is blocked by any or; while in Egyptian Arabic, it usually spreads throughout the entire word, including prefixes and suffixes. In Moroccan Arabic, also have emphatic allophones.\n\nUnstressed short vowels, especially, are deleted in many contexts. Many sporadic examples of short vowel change have occurred (especially /a/→/i/ and interchange /i/↔/u/). Most Levantine dialects merge short /i u/ into /ǝ/ in most contexts (all except directly before a single final consonant). In Moroccan Arabic, on the other hand, short /u/ triggers labialization of nearby consonants (especially velar consonants and uvular consonants), and then short /a i u/ all merge into /ǝ/, which is deleted in many contexts. (The labialization plus /ǝ/ is sometimes interpreted as an underlying phoneme.) This essentially causes the wholesale loss of the short-long vowel distinction, with the original long vowels remaining as half-long, phonemically, which are used to represent both short and long vowels in borrowings from Literary Arabic.\n\nMost spoken dialects have monophthongized original to (in all circumstances, including adjacent to emphatic consonants). In Moroccan Arabic, these have subsequently merged into original.\n\nConsonants\n\nIn some dialects, there may be more or fewer phonemes than those listed in the chart above. For example, non-Arabic is used in the Maghrebi dialects as well in the written language mostly for foreign names. Semitic became extremely early on in Arabic before it was written down; a few modern Arabic dialects, such as Iraqi (influenced by Persian and Kurdish) distinguish between and. The Iraqi Arabic also uses sounds, and uses Persian adding letters, e.g.: ' – a plum; – a truffle and so on.\n\nEarly in the expansion of Arabic, the separate emphatic phonemes and coalesced into a single phoneme. Many dialects (such as Egyptian, Levantine, and much of the Maghreb) subsequently lost fricatives, converting into. Most dialects borrow \"learned\" words from the Standard language using the same pronunciation as for inherited words, but some dialects without interdental fricatives (particularly in Egypt and the Levant) render original in borrowed words as.\n\nAnother key distinguishing mark of Arabic dialects is how they render the original velar and uvular plosives, (Proto-Semitic), and:\n* retains its original pronunciation in widely scattered regions such as Yemen, Morocco, and urban areas of the Maghreb. It is pronounced as a glottal stop in several prestige dialects, such as those spoken in Cairo, Beirut and Damascus. But it is rendered as a voiced velar plosive in Persian Gulf, Upper Egypt, parts of the Maghreb, and less urban parts of the Levant (e.g. Jordan). In Iraqi Arabic it sometimes retains its original pronunciation and is sometimes rendered as a voiced velar plosive, depending on the word. Some traditionally Christian villages in rural areas of the Levant render the sound as, as do Shiʻi Bahrainis. In some Gulf dialects, it is palatalized to or. It is pronounced as a voiced uvular constrictive in Sudanese Arabic. Many dialects with a modified pronunciation for maintain the pronunciation in certain words (often with religious or educational overtones) borrowed from the Classical language.\n* is pronounced as an affricate in Iraq and much of the Arabian Peninsula, but is pronounced in most of North Egypt and parts of Yemen and Oman, in Morocco, Tunisia and the Levant, and, in most words in much of the Persian Gulf.\n* usually retains its original pronunciation, but is palatalized to in many words in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Iraq, and much of the Arabian Peninsula. Often a distinction is made between the suffixes ('you', masc.) and ('you', fem.), which become and, respectively. In Sana'a, Omani, and Bahrani is pronounced.\n\nPharyngealization of the emphatic consonants tends to weaken in many of the spoken varieties, and to spread from emphatic consonants to nearby sounds. In addition, the \"emphatic\" allophone automatically triggers pharyngealization of adjacent sounds in many dialects. As a result, it may difficult or impossible to determine whether a given coronal consonant is phonemically emphatic or not, especially in dialects with long-distance emphasis spreading. (A notable exception is the sounds vs. in Moroccan Arabic, because the former is pronounced as an affricate but the latter is not.)\n\nGrammar \n\nLiterary Arabic \n\nAs in other Semitic languages, Arabic has a complex and unusual morphology (i.e. method of constructing words from a basic root). Arabic has a nonconcatenative \"root-and-pattern\" morphology: A root consists of a set of bare consonants (usually three), which are fitted into a discontinuous pattern to form words. For example, the word for 'I wrote' is constructed by combining the root 'write' with the pattern 'I Xed' to form ' 'I wrote'. Other verbs meaning 'I Xed' will typically have the same pattern but with different consonants, e.g. ' 'I read', ' 'I ate', ' 'I went', although other patterns are possible (e.g. ' 'I drank', ' 'I said', ' 'I spoke', where the subpattern used to signal the past tense may change but the suffix ' is always used).\n\nFrom a single root , numerous words can be formed by applying different patterns:\n* ' 'I wrote'\n* ' 'I had (something) written'\n* ' 'I corresponded (with someone)'\"\n* ' 'I dictated'\n* ' 'I subscribed'\n* ' 'we corresponded with each other'\n* ' 'I write'\n* ' 'I have (something) written'\n* ' 'I correspond (with someone)'\n* ' 'I dictate'\n* ' 'I subscribe'\n* ' 'we correspond each other'\n* ' 'it was written'\n* ' 'it was dictated'\"\n* ' 'written'\n* ' 'dictated'\n* ' 'book'\n* ' 'books'\n* ' 'writer'\n* ' 'writers'\n* ' 'desk, office'\n* ' 'library, bookshop'\n* etc.\n\nNouns and adjectives\n\nNouns in Literary Arabic have three grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, and genitive [also used when the noun is governed by a preposition]); three numbers (singular, dual and plural); two genders (masculine and feminine); and three \"states\" (indefinite, definite, and construct). The cases of singular nouns (other than those that end in long ā) are indicated by suffixed short vowels (/-u/ for nominative, /-a/ for accusative, /-i/ for genitive).\n\nThe feminine singular is often marked by /-at/, which is reduced to /-ah/ or /-a/ before a pause. Plural is indicated either through endings (the sound plural) or internal modification (the broken plural). Definite nouns include all proper nouns, all nouns in \"construct state\" and all nouns which are prefixed by the definite article /al-/. Indefinite singular nouns (other than those that end in long ā) add a final /-n/ to the case-marking vowels, giving /-un/, /-an/ or /-in/ (which is also referred to as nunation or tanwīn).\n\nAdjectives in Literary Arabic are marked for case, number, gender and state, as for nouns. However, the plural of all non-human nouns is always combined with a singular feminine adjective, which takes the /-ah/ or /-at/ suffix.\n\nPronouns in Literary Arabic are marked for person, number and gender. There are two varieties, independent pronouns and enclitics. Enclitic pronouns are attached to the end of a verb, noun or preposition and indicate verbal and prepositional objects or possession of nouns. The first-person singular pronoun has a different enclitic form used for verbs (/-ni/) and for nouns or prepositions (/-ī/ after consonants, /-ya/ after vowels).\n\nNouns, verbs, pronouns and adjectives agree with each other in all respects. However, non-human plural nouns are grammatically considered to be feminine singular. Furthermore, a verb in a verb-initial sentence is marked as singular regardless of its semantic number when the subject of the verb is explicitly mentioned as a noun. Numerals between three and ten show \"chiasmic\" agreement, in that grammatically masculine numerals have feminine marking and vice versa.\n\nVerbs\n\nVerbs in Literary Arabic are marked for person (first, second, or third), gender, and number. They are conjugated in two major paradigms (past and non-past); two voices (active and passive); and six moods (indicative, imperative, subjunctive, jussive, shorter energetic and longer energetic), the fifth and sixth moods, the energetics, exist only in Classical Arabic but not in MSA. There are also two participles (active and passive) and a verbal noun, but no infinitive.\n\nThe past and non-past paradigms are sometimes also termed perfective and imperfective, indicating the fact that they actually represent a combination of tense and aspect. The moods other than the indicative occur only in the non-past, and the future tense is signaled by prefixing ' or ' onto the non-past. The past and non-past differ in the form of the stem (e.g., past ' vs. non-past '), and also use completely different sets of affixes for indicating person, number and gender: In the past, the person, number and gender are fused into a single suffixal morpheme, while in the non-past, a combination of prefixes (primarily encoding person) and suffixes (primarily encoding gender and number) are used. The passive voice uses the same person/number/gender affixes but changes the vowels of the stem.\n\nThe following shows a paradigm of a regular Arabic verb, ' 'to write'. Note that in Modern Standard Arabic, many final short vowels are dropped (indicated in parentheses below), and the energetic mood (in either long or short form, which have the same meaning) is almost never used.\n\nDerivation\n\nUnlike most languages, Arabic has virtually no means of deriving words by adding prefixes or suffixes to words. Instead, they are formed according to a finite (but fairly large) number of templates applied to roots.\n\nFor verbs, a given root can construct up to fifteen different verbs, each with one or more characteristic meanings and each with its own templates for the past and non-past stems, active and passive participles, and verbal noun. These are referred to by Western scholars as \"Form I\", \"Form II\", and so on through \"Form XV\" (although Forms XI to XV are rare). These forms encode concepts such as the causative, intensive and reflexive. These forms can be viewed as analogous to verb conjugations in languages such as Spanish in terms of the additional complexity of verb formation that they induce. (Note, however, that their usage in constructing vocabulary is somewhat different, since the same root can be conjugated in multiple forms, with different shades of meaning.)\n\nExamples of the different verbs formed from the root ' 'write' (using ' 'red' for Form IX, which is limited to colors and physical defects):\n\nForm II is sometimes used to create transitive denominative verbs (verbs built from nouns); Form V is the equivalent used for intransitive denominatives.\n\nThe associated participles and verbal nouns of a verb are the primary means of forming new lexical nouns in Arabic. This is similar to the process by which, for example, the English gerund \"meeting\" (similar to a verbal noun) has turned into a noun referring to a particular type of social, often work-related event where people gather together to have a \"discussion\" (another lexicalized verbal noun). Another fairly common means of forming nouns is through one of a limited number of patterns that can be applied directly to roots, such as the \"nouns of location\" in ma- (e.g. ' 'desk, office' < ' 'write', ' 'kitchen' < ' 'cook').\n\nThe only three genuine suffixes are as follows:\n* The feminine suffix -ah; variously derives terms from women from related terms for men, or more generally terms along the same lines as the corresponding masculine, e.g. ' 'library' (also a writing-related place, but different from ', as above).\n* The nisbah suffix -iyy-. This suffix is extremely productive, and forms adjectives meaning \"related to X\". It corresponds to English adjectives in -ic, -al, -an, -y, -ist, etc.\n* The feminine nisbah suffix -iyyah. This is formed by adding the feminine suffix -ah onto nisba adjectives to form abstract nouns. For example, from the basic root ' 'share' can be derived the Form VIII verb ' 'to cooperate, participate', and in turn its verbal noun ' 'cooperation, participation' can be formed. This in turn can be made into a nisbah adjective ' 'socialist', from which an abstract noun ' 'socialism' can be derived. Other recent formations are ' 'republic' (lit. \"public-ness\", < ' 'multitude, general public'), and the Gaddafi-specific variation ' 'people's republic' (lit. \"masses-ness\", < ' 'the masses', pl. of ', as above).\n\nColloquial varieties \n\nThe spoken dialects have lost the case distinctions and make only limited use of the dual (it occurs only on nouns and its use is no longer required in all circumstances). They have lost the mood distinctions other than imperative, but many have since gained new moods through the use of prefixes (most often /bi-/ for indicative vs. unmarked subjunctive). They have also mostly lost the indefinite \"nunation\" and the internal passive.\n\nThe following is an example of a regular verb paradigm in Egyptian Arabic.\n\nWriting system \n\nThe Arabic alphabet derives from the Aramaic through Nabatean, to which it bears a loose resemblance like that of Coptic or Cyrillic scripts to Greek script. Traditionally, there were several differences between the Western (North African) and Middle Eastern versions of the alphabet—in particular, the faʼ had a dot underneath and qaf a single dot above in the Maghreb, and the order of the letters was slightly different (at least when they were used as numerals).\n\nHowever, the old Maghrebi variant has been abandoned except for calligraphic purposes in the Maghreb itself, and remains in use mainly in the Quranic schools (zaouias) of West Africa. Arabic, like all other Semitic languages (except for the Latin-written Maltese, and the languages with the Ge'ez script), is written from right to left. There are several styles of script, notably naskh, which is used in print and by computers, and ruqʻah, which is commonly used in handwriting. \n\nCalligraphy \n\nAfter Khalil ibn Ahmad al Farahidi finally fixed the Arabic script around 786, many styles were developed, both for the writing down of the Quran and other books, and for inscriptions on monuments as decoration.\n\nArabic calligraphy has not fallen out of use as calligraphy has in the Western world, and is still considered by Arabs as a major art form; calligraphers are held in great esteem. Being cursive by nature, unlike the Latin script, Arabic script is used to write down a verse of the Quran, a hadith, or simply a proverb. The composition is often abstract, but sometimes the writing is shaped into an actual form such as that of an animal. One of the current masters of the genre is Hassan Massoudy.\n\nRomanization \n\nThere are a number of different standards for the romanization of Arabic, i.e. methods of accurately and efficiently representing Arabic with the Latin script. There are various conflicting motivations involved, which leads to multiple systems. Some are interested in transliteration, i.e. representing the spelling of Arabic, while others focus on transcription, i.e. representing the pronunciation of Arabic. (They differ in that, for example, the same letter is used to represent both a consonant, as in \"you\" or \"yet\", and a vowel, as in \"me\" or \"eat\".) Some systems, e.g. for scholarly use, are intended to accurately and unambiguously represent the phonemes of Arabic, generally making the phonetics more explicit than the original word in the Arabic script. These systems are heavily reliant on diacritical marks such as \"š\" for the sound equivalently written sh in English. Other systems (e.g. the Bahá'í orthography) are intended to help readers who are neither Arabic speakers nor linguists with intuitive pronunciation of Arabic names and phrases. These less \"scientific\" tend to avoid diacritics and use digraphs (like sh and kh). These are usually simpler to read, but sacrifice the definiteness of the scientific systems, and may lead to ambiguities, e.g. whether to interpret sh as a single sound, as in gash, or a combination of two sounds, as in gashouse. The ALA-LC romanization solves this problem by separating the two sounds with a prime symbol ( ′ ); e.g., as′hal 'easier'.\n\nDuring the last few decades and especially since the 1990s, Western-invented text communication technologies have become prevalent in the Arab world, such as personal computers, the World Wide Web, email, bulletin board systems, IRC, instant messaging and mobile phone text messaging. Most of these technologies originally had the ability to communicate using the Latin script only, and some of them still do not have the Arabic script as an optional feature. As a result, Arabic speaking users communicated in these technologies by transliterating the Arabic text using the Latin script, sometimes known as IM Arabic.\n\nTo handle those Arabic letters that cannot be accurately represented using the Latin script, numerals and other characters were appropriated. For example, the numeral \"3\" may be used to represent the Arabic letter . There is no universal name for this type of transliteration, but some have named it Arabic Chat Alphabet. Other systems of transliteration exist, such as using dots or capitalization to represent the \"emphatic\" counterparts of certain consonants. For instance, using capitalization, the letter , may be represented by d. Its emphatic counterpart, , may be written as D.\n\nNumerals \n\nIn most of present-day North Africa, the Western Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) are used. However, in Egypt and Arabic-speaking countries to the east of it, the Eastern Arabic numerals ( – – – – – – – – – ) are in use. When representing a number in Arabic, the lowest-valued position is placed on the right, so the order of positions is the same as in left-to-right scripts. Sequences of digits such as telephone numbers are read from left to right, but numbers are spoken in the traditional Arabic fashion, with units and tens reversed from the modern English usage. For example, 24 is said \"four and twenty\" just like in the German language (vierundzwanzig) and Classical Hebrew, and 1975 is said \"a thousand and nine-hundred and five and seventy\" or, more eloquently, \"five and seventy and nine-hundred and a thousand.\"\n\nLanguage-standards regulators \n\nAcademy of the Arabic Language is the name of a number of language-regulation bodies formed in the Arab League. The most active are in Damascus and Cairo. They review language development, monitor new words and approve inclusion of new words into their published standard dictionaries. They also publish old and historical Arabic manuscripts.\n\nAs a foreign language \n\nArabic has been taught worldwide in many elementary and secondary schools, especially Muslim schools. Universities around the world have classes that teach Arabic as part of their foreign languages, Middle Eastern studies, and religious studies courses. Arabic language schools exist to assist students to learn Arabic outside the academic world. There are many Arabic language schools in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Because the Quran is written in Arabic and all Islamic terms are in Arabic, millions of Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) study the language. Software and books with tapes are also important part of Arabic learning, as many of Arabic learners may live in places where there are no academic or Arabic language school classes available. Radio series of Arabic language classes are also provided from some radio stations. A number of websites on the Internet provide online classes for all levels as a means of distance education; most teach Modern Standard Arabic, but some teach regional varieties from numerous countries. \n\nArabic speakers and other languages\n\nHistorically, Arab linguists considered the Arabic language to be superior to all other languages, and took almost no interest in learning any language other than Arabic . With the sole example of Medieval linguist Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati - who, while a scholar of the Arabic language, was not ethnically Arab - scholars of the Arabic language made no efforts at studying comparative linguistics, considering all other languages inferior. \n\nIn modern times, the educated upper classes in the Arab world have taken a nearly opposite view. Yasir Suleiman wrote in 2011 that \"studying and knowing English or French in most of the Middle East and North Africa have become a badge of sophistication and modernity and ... feigning, or asserting, weakness or lack of facility in Arabic is sometimes paraded as a sign of status, class, and perversely, even education through a mélange of code-switching practises.\" Arab-American professor Franck Salamah went as far as to declare Arabic a dead language conveying dead ideas, blaming its stagnation for Arab intellectual stagnation and lamenting that great writers in Arabic are judged by their command of the language and not the merit of the ideas they express with it.",
"Algeria (Wikipedia encyclopedia) - Pondok Maya\nThe pondokmayacom site is entirely supported by individual donors. If you are a regular user of the site please donate generously by following this link.\nAlgeria (Wikipedia encyclopedia) - Pondok Maya Bersama Mohd Roslan Bin Abdul Ghani\nPondok Maya Bersama Mohd Roslan Bin Abdul Ghani\nThe pondokmayacom site is entirely supported by individual donors. If you are a regular user of the site please donate generously by following this link .\n2209days since\nAl-Jumhūrīyah al-Jazā’irīyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah ash-Sha’bīyah\nRépublique Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire\nPeople's Democratic Republic of Algeria\n36/sq mi GDP ( PPP )2006 estimate - Total$253.4 billion ( 38th ) - Per capita $8,100 (2007 est.) ( 88th ) GDP (nominal)2005 estimate - Total$102.026 billion ( 48th ) - Per capita $3,086 ( 84th ) Gini (1995)35.3 (medium) HDI (2007)▲ 0.733 (medium) ( 104th ) Currency Algerian dinar ( DZD ) Time zone CET ( UTC +1) Internet TLD .dz Calling code +2131 French is equally used as an administrative language though not on an official basis. Algerian Arabic , an Arabic vernacular is the most common native language. Berber languages , are recognized as \" national languages \", and are co-official in Kabylia (specifically the Kabyle language .)\nAlgeria (الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir \n: [ælʤæˈzæːʔir], Berber : \n, Dzayer [ldzæjər]), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a nation in North Africa . It is the second largest country on the African continent [1] and the 11th largest country in the world in terms of total area. [2] It is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, a few kilometers of the Western Sahara in the west, Morocco in the northwest, and the Mediterranean Sea in the north.\nAlgeria is a member of the United Nations , African Union , Arab League , and OPEC . It also contributed towards the creation of the Arab Maghreb Union . Constitutionally , Algeria is defined as an Islamic , Arab , and Amazigh (Berber) country. [3]\nEtymology\nAl-jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name jazā’ir banī mazghannā, \"the islands of (the tribe) Bani Mazghanna\", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi .\nHistory\nAncient history\nRoman arch of Trajan at Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria\nAlgeria has been inhabited by Berbers (or Imazighen) since at least 10,000 BC . After 1000 BC, the Carthaginians began establishing settlements along the coast. The Berbers seized the opportunity offered by the Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage, and Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably Numidia . In 200 BC, however, they were once again taken over, this time by the Roman Republic . When the Western Roman Empire collapsed, Berbers became independent again in many areas, while the Vandals took control over other parts, where they remained until expelled by the generals of the Byzantine Emperor , Justinian I . The Byzantine Empire then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the Arabs in the eighth century.\nMiddle Ages\nAccording to historians of the Middle Ages, the Berbers were divided into two branches, from their ancestor Mazigh. The two branches, Botr and Barnès, were also divided into tribes, with each Maghreb region made up of several tribes. [4] [5] Several Berber dynasties emerged during the Middle Ages. [6] [7]\nThe Almohads were able to unify the Maghreb. The Berbers of the Middle Ages also contributed to the Arabization of the Maghreb. [8]\nIslamization and Berber (Amaari) dynasties\nHaving converted the Kutama of Kabylie to its cause, the Shia Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids , and conquered Egypt, leaving Algeria and Tunisia to their Zirid vassals. When the latter rebelled and adopted Sunnism , the Shia Fatimids sent in the Banu Hilal , a populous Arab tribe, to weaken them. This initiated the Arabization of the region. The Almoravids and Almohads , Berber dynasties from the west founded by religious reformers, brought a period of relative peace and development; however, with the Almohads' collapse, Algeria became a battleground for their three successor states , the Algerian Zayyanids , Tunisian Hafsids , and Moroccan Marinids . In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Spanish Empire started attacking and subsuming a few Algerian coastal settlements.\nOttoman rule\nHoggar\nAlgeria was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Khair ad-Din and his brother Aruj in 1517, and they established Algeria's modern boundaries in the north and made its coast a base for the Ottoman corsairs ; their privateering peaked in Algiers in the 1600s. Piracy on American vessels in the Mediterranean resulted in the First (1801–1805) and Second Barbary War (1815) with the United States. The piracy acts forced people captured on the boats into slavery ; alternatively when the pirates attacked coastal villages in southern and western Europe the inhabitants were forced into slavery . [9] Raids by Barbary pirates on Western Europe did not cease until 1816, when a Royal Navy raid, assisted by six Dutch vessels, destroyed the port of Algiers and its fleet of Barbary ships. Spanish occupation of Algerian ports at this time was a source of concern for the local inhabitants.\nFrench colonization\nConstantine, Algeria 1840\nOn the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in 1830. [10] The conquest of Algeria by the French was long and particularly violent and resulted in the disappearance of about a third of the Algerian population. [11] France was responsible for the extermination of 1 million Algerians. According to Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison , the French pursued a policy of extermination against the Algerians.\nThe French conquest of Algeria was slow due to intense resistance from such as Emir Abdelkader , Ahmed Bey and Fatma N'Soumer . Indeed the conquest was not technically complete until the early 1900s when the last Tuareg were conquered.\nMeanwhile, however, the French made Algeria an integral part of France, a status that would end only with the collapse of the Fourth Republic in 1958. Tens of thousands of settlers from France, Spain, Italy , and Malta moved in to farm the Algerian coastal plain and occupy significant parts of Algeria's cities. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communal land, and the application of modern agriculture techniques that increased the amount of arable land. [12] Algeria's social fabric suffered during the occupation: literacy plummeted, [13] while land confiscation uprooted much of the population.\nStarting from the end of the nineteenth century, people of European descent in Algeria (or natives like Spanish people in Oran ), as well as the native Algerian Jews (typically Sephardic in origin), became full French citizens. After Algeria's 1962 independence, they were called Pieds-Noirs . In contrast, the vast majority of Muslim Algerians (even veterans of the French army) received neither French citizenship nor the right to vote.\nPost-independence\nIn 1954, the National Liberation Front (FLN) launched the Algerian War of Independence which was a guerrilla campaign. By the end of the war, newly elected President Charles de Gaulle , understanding that the age of empire was ending, held a plebiscite , offering Algerians three options. Unfortunately, he promised the pieds noirs that Algeria would remain French, and that they should stay and invest in the colony. This resulted in a landslide vote for complete independence from the DuVal Mortorian Colonial Dynasty. Over one million people, 10% of the population, then fled the country for France and Italy in just a few months in mid-1962. These included most of the 1,025,000 Pieds-Noirs, as well as 81,000 Harkis (pro-French Algerians serving in the French Army). In the days proceeding the bloody conflict, a group of Algerian Rebels opened fire on a marketplace in Oran killing numerous innocent civilians, mostly women. This event is known as the Saint Bartholomew Massacre.\nAlgeria's first president was the FLN leader Ahmed Ben Bella . He was overthrown by his former ally and defence minister, Houari Boumédienne in 1965. Under Ben Bella the government had already become increasingly socialist and authoritarian , and this trend continued throughout Boumédienne's government. However, Boumédienne relied much more heavily on the army, and reduced the sole legal party to a merely symbolic role. Agriculture was collectivised , and a massive industrialization drive launched. Oil extraction facilities were nationalized. This was especially beneficial to the leadership after the 1973 oil crisis . However, the Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil which led to hardship when the price collapsed during the 1980s oil glut.\nIn foreign policy, Algeria was a member and leader of the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement. A dispute with Morocco over the Tunisia nearly led to war. While Algeria shares much of its history and cultural heritage with neighbouring Morocco, the two countries have had somewhat hostile relations with each other ever since Algeria's independence. This is for two reasons: Morocco's disputed claim to portions of western Algeria (which led to the Sand War in 1963), and Algeria's support for the Polisario Front , an armed group of Sahrawi refugees seeking independence for the Moroccan-ruled Western Sahara , which it hosts within its borders in the city of Tindouf .\nWithin Algeria, dissent was rarely tolerated, and the state's control over the media and the outlawing of political parties other than the FLN was cemented in the repressive constitution of 1976.\nBoumédienne died in 1978, but the rule of his successor, Chadli Bendjedid , was little more open. The state took on a strongly bureaucratic character and corruption was widespread.\nThe modernization drive brought considerable demographic changes to Algeria. Village traditions underwent significant change as urbanization increased. New industries emerged, agricultural employment was substantially reduced. Education was extended nationwide, raising the literacy rate from less than 10% to over 60%. There was a dramatic increase in the fertility rate to 7-8 children per mother.\nTherefore by 1980, there was a very youthful population and a housing crisis. The new generation struggled to relate to the cultural obsession with the war years and two conflicting protest movements developed: communists, including Berber identity movements; and Islamic 'intégristes'. Both groups protested against one-party rule but also clashed with each other in universities and on the streets during the 1980s. Mass protests from both camps in Autumn 1988 forced Bendjedid to concede the end of one-party rule. Elections were planned to happen in 1991. In December 1991, the Islamic Salvation Front won the first round of the country's first multi-party elections. The military then intervened and cancelled the second round. It forced then-president Bendjedid to resign and banned all political parties based on religion (including the Islamic Salvation Front). A political conflict ensued, leading Algeria into the violent Algerian Civil War .\nMore than 160,000 people were killed between 17 January 1992 and June 2002. Most of the deaths were between militants and government troops, but a great number of civilians were also killed. The question of who was responsible for these deaths was controversial at the time amongst academic observers; many were claimed by the Armed Islamic Group . Though many of these massacres were carried out by Islamic extremists, the Algerian regime also used the army and foreign mercenaries to conduct attacks on men, women and children and then proceeded to blame the attacks upon various Islamic groups within the country. [14]\nAlgiers\nElections resumed in 1995, and after 1998, the war waned. On 27 April 1999 , after a series of short-term leaders representing the military , Abdelaziz Bouteflika , the current president, was elected. [15]\nBy 2002, the main guerrilla groups had either been destroyed or surrendered, taking advantage of an amnesty program, though sporadic fighting continued in some areas (See Islamic insurgency in Algeria (2002–present)).\nThe issue of Berber language and identity increased in significance, particularly after the extensive Kabyle protests of 2001 and the near-total boycott of local elections in Kabylie . The government responded with concessions including naming of Manthatztieht (Berber) as a national language and teaching it in schools.\nMuch of Algeria is now recovering and developing into an emerging economy . The high prices of oil and gas are being used by the new government to improve the country's infrastructure and especially improve industry and agricultural land. Recently, overseas investment in Algeria has increased.\nGeography\nTopographic map of Algeria\nMost of the coastal area is hilly, sometimes even mountainous, and there are a few natural harbours . The area from the coast to the Tell Atlas is fertile. South of the Tell Atlas is a steppe landscape, which ends with the Saharan Atlas ; further south, there is the Sahara desert. The Ahaggar Mountains (Arabic: جبال هقار), also known as the Hoggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, southern Algeria. They are located about 1,500 km (932 miles) south of the capital, Algiers and just west of Tamanghasset .\nAlgiers , Oran , Constantine , and Annaba are Algeria's main cities.\nClimate and hydrology\nNorthern Algeria is in the temperate zone and has a mild, Mediterranean climate . Its broken topography , however, provides sharp local contrasts in both prevailing temperatures and incidence of rainfall. Year-to-year variations in climatic conditions are also common.\nIn the Tell Atlas, temperatures in summer average between 21 and 24 °C and in winter drop to 10 to 12 °C. Winters are not particularly cold, but the humidity level is high. In eastern Algeria, the average temperatures are somewhat lower, and on the steppes of the High Atlas plateaux, winter temperatures are only a few degrees above freezing. A prominent feature of the climate in this region is the sirocco , a dusty, choking south wind blowing off the desert, sometimes at gale force. This wind also occasionally reaches into the coastal Tell. [1]\nThe Ahaggar Mountains\nIn Algeria, only a relatively small corner of the torrid Sahara lies across the Tropic of Cancer in the torrid zone . In this region even in winter, midday desert temperatures can be very hot. After sunset, however, the clear, dry air permits rapid loss of heat, and the nights are cool to chilly. Enormous daily ranges in temperature are recorded.\nRainfall is fairly abundant along the coastal part of the Tell Atlas, ranging from 400 to 670 mm annually, the amount of precipitation increasing from west to east. Precipitation is heaviest in the northern part of eastern Algeria, where it reaches as much as 1000 mm in some years. Farther inland, the rainfall is less plentiful. Prevailing winds that are easterly and north-easterly in summer change to westerly and northerly in winter and carry with them a general increase in precipitation from September through December, a decrease in the late winter and spring months, and a near absence of rainfall during the summer months. Algeria also has ergs , or sand dunes between mountains, which in the summer time when winds are heavy and gusty, temperatures can get up to 110 °F (43 °C).\nPolitics\nAbdelaziz Bouteflika , President of Algeria .\nThe head of state is the President of Algeria , who is elected to a five year term and is constitutionally limited to two terms. Algeria has universal suffrage at 18 years of age. [1] The President is the head of the Council of Ministers and of the High Security Council. He appoints the Prime Minister who is also the head of government. The Prime Minister appoints the Council of Ministers.\nThe Algerian parliament is bicameral , consisting of a lower chamber, the National People's Assembly (APN), with 380 members; and an upper chamber, the Council Of Nation, with 144 members. The APN is elected every five years.\nUnder the 1976 constitution (as modified 1979, and amended in 1988, 1989, and 1996) Algeria is a multi-party state. All parties must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior. To date, Algeria has had more than 40 legal political parties. According to the constitution, no political association may be formed if it is \"based on differences in religion, language, race, gender or region.\"\nMilitary forces\nmissile launcher ship made in Algeria\nThe Algerian Army is called Popular National Army (PNA or ANP in French). It is composed of the command of the army, navy, and the air defence of the territory.The summit of military hierarchy leads to the leader of the State, constitutionally supreme leader of Armed forces and Defence Minister. The Algerian army has an enrollment about 300,000 soldiers, including up to 150,000 reservists. It is also assisted by the police station composed of 60 000 members, as well as a republican elite corps of 5 000 guards, dependent on the Ministry of Defence. In 2006, the Algerian budget of defence occupied 3.3% of the GDP, which is about $3.8 billion (USD). The Algeria's main purveyor of weapon since independence was the USSR (Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic). However, since the fall of this last at the end of Cold War, Algeria has undertaken a diversification of its armed supplies, notably by turning to countries like the United States, China and South Africa. However, Russian material has always occupied a preponderant place within the Algerian army.\nIt is the direct successor of the Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN), which fought French colonial occupation during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62).\nThe People's National Army consists of 127,500 members, with some 100,000 reservists. The army is under the control of the president , who also is minister of National Defense (current president is Abdelaziz Bouteflika ). Defense expenditures accounted for some $2.67 billion or 3.5% of GDP. One and a half years of national military service is compulsory for males.\nAlgeria is a leading military power in North Africa and has its force oriented toward its western ( Morocco ) and eastern ( Libya ) borders. Its primary military supplier has been the former Soviet Union , which has sold various types of sophisticated equipment under military trade agreements, and the People's Republic of China . Algeria has attempted, in recent years, to diversify its sources of military material. Military forces are supplemented by a 45,000-member gendarmerie or rural police force under the control of the president and 30,000-member Sûreté nationale or Metropolitan police force under the Ministry of the Interior.\nRecently, the Algerian Air Force signed a deal with Russia to purchase 49 MiG-29 SMT and 6 MiG-29UBT at an estimated $1.5 Billion. They also agreed to return old airplanes purchased from the Former USSR . Russia is also building 2 636-type diesel submarines for Algeria. [16]\nMaghreb Arab Union\nTensions between Algeria and Morocco in relation to the Western Sahara have put great obstacles in the way of tightening the Maghreb Arab Union , which was nominally established in 1989 but carried little practical weight with its coastal neighbors. [17]\nProvinces and districts\nFurther information: Municipalities of Algeria\nMap of the provinces of Algeria numbered according to the official order\nAlgeria is currently divided into 48 provinces ( wilayas ), 553 districts ( daïras ) and 1,541 municipalities ( communes , baladiyahs ). Each province, district, and municipality is named after its seat , which is mostly also the largest city.\nAccording to the Algerian constitution, a province is a territorial collectivity enjoying some economic freedom. The People's Provincial Assembly is the political entity governing a province, which has a \"president\", who is elected by the members of the assembly. They are in turn elected on universal suffrage every five years. The \"Wali\" ( Prefect or governor ) directs each province. This person is chosen by the Algerian President to handle the PPA's decisions.\nThe administrative divisions have changed several times since independence. When introducing new provinces, the numbers of old provinces are kept, hence the non-alphabetical order. With their official numbers, currently (since 1983) they are: [1]\n1\n Relizane\nEconomy\nThe fossil fuels energy sector is the backbone of Algeria's economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP , and over 95% of export earnings. The country ranks fourteenth in petroleum reserves, containing 11.8 billion barrels (1,880,000,000 m³) of proven oil reserves with estimates suggesting that the actual amount is even more. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that in 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves, the eighth largest in the world. [18]\nAlgeria’s financial and economic indicators improved during the mid-1990s, in part because of policy reforms supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and debt rescheduling from the Paris Club . Algeria’s finances in 2000 and 2001 benefited from an increase in oil prices and the government’s tight fiscal policy, leading to a large increase in the trade surplus, record highs in foreign exchange reserves, and reduction in foreign debt . The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector have had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards, however. In 2001, the government signed an Association Treaty with the European Union that will eventually lower tariffs and increase trade. In March 2006, Russia agreed to erase $4.74 billion of Algeria's Soviet -era debt [19] during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to the country, the first by a Russian leader in half a century. In return, president Bouteflika agreed to buy $7.5 billion worth of combat planes, air-defense systems and other arms from Russia, according to the head of Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport . [20] [21]\nAlgeria also decided in 2006 to pay off its full $8bn (£4.3bn) debt to the Paris Club group of rich creditor nations before schedule. This will reduce the Algerian foreign debt to less than $5bn in the end of 2006. The Paris Club said the move reflected Algeria's economic recovery in recent years.\nAgriculture\nSince Roman times Algeria has been noted for the fertility of its soil. 25% of Algerians are employed in the agricultural sector. [22]\nA considerable amount of cotton was grown at the time of the United States ' Civil War , but the industry declined afterwards. In the early years of the twentieth century efforts to extend the cultivation of the plant were renewed. A small amount of cotton is also grown in the southern oases. Large quantities of a vegetable that resembles horsehair , an excellent fibre, are made from the leaves of the dwarf palm. The olive (both for its fruit and oil) and tobacco are cultivated with great success.\nMore than 7,500,000 acres (30,000 km²) are devoted to the cultivation of cereal grains . The Tell is the grain-growing land. During the time of French rule its productivity was increased substantially by the sinking of artesian wells in districts which only required water to make them fertile. Of the crops raised, wheat , barley and oats are the principal cereals. A great variety of vegetables and fruits , especially citrus products, are exported. Algeria also exports figs , dates, esparto grass , and cork . It is the largest oat market in Africa.\nAlgeria is known for Bertolli's olive oil spread, although the spread has an Italian background.\nDemographics\nDemographics of Algeria, Data of FAO , year 2005; number of inhabitants in thousands.\nThe current population of Algeria is 33,333,216 (July 2007 est.). [1] About 70% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the minority who inhabit the Sahara are mainly concentrated in oases , although some 1.5 million remain nomadic or partly nomadic. Almost 30% of Algerians are under 15. Algeria has the fourth lowest fertility rate in the Greater Middle East after Cyprus , Tunisia , and Turkey .\n97% of the population is classified ethnically as Berber / Arab and religiously as Sunni Muslim , the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadis , representing 1.3%, from the M'Zab valley. (See also Islam in Algeria .) A mostly foreign Roman Catholic community of about 45,000 people exists, along with about 350,000 Protestant Christians, and some 500 Jewish . The Jewish community of Algeria , which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel .\nEuropeans account for less than 1% of the population, inhabiting almost exclusively the largest metropolitan areas. However, during the colonial period there was a large (15.2% in 1962) European population, consisting primarily of French people , in addition to Spaniards in the west of the country, Italians and Maltese in the east, and other Europeans in smaller numbers known as pieds-noirs , concentrated on the coast and forming a majority in cities like Bône , Oran , Sidi Bel Abbès , and Algiers . Almost all of this population left during or immediately after the country's independence from France.\nA Dancer in Biskra , published in March 1917 National Geographic.\nHousing and medicine continue to be pressing problems in Algeria. Failing infrastructure and the continued influx of people from rural to urban areas has overtaxed both systems. According to the UNDP , Algeria has one of the world's highest per housing unit occupancy rates for housing, and government officials have publicly stated that the country has an immediate shortfall of 1.5 million housing units.\nWomen make up 70 percent of Algeria’s lawyers and 60 percent of its judges. Women dominate medicine. Increasingly, women are contributing more to household income than men. Sixty percent of university students are women, according to university researchers. [23]\nEthnic groups\nMost Algerians are Berber or Arab , by language or identity, but almost all Algerians are Berber in origin. [1] Today, the Arab-Berber issue is often a case of self-identification or identification through language and culture, rather than a racial or ethnic distinction. The Berber people are divided into several ethnic groups, Kabyle in the mountainous north-central area, Chaoui in the eastern Atlas Mountains , Mozabites in the M'zab valley, and Tuareg in the far south. Small pockets of Black African populations also are in Algeria. Turkish Algerians represent 5% of the population and live mainly in the big cities.\nHowever, in a recent genetic study by Standford University, Arabs and Berbers were found to have more genetic similarities than was once believed. [24] The Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups that characterize both Arabs and Berbers are E1b1b and J (found in 70% of Middle Eastern people and 90% in North Africa). This has led scientists to conclude that North Africa has a higher genetic affinity with Arab populations than was previously hypothesized. Southern Algerians are most genetically closely linked with Arabs from Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the UAE. Northern Algerians are most genetically linked with Arabs from Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Jordan and some Gulf countries.\nA more recent and thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004) which analyzed populations from Algeria concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both E1b1b and J haplogroups) is largely of Neolithic origin, which suggests that the Neolithic transition in this part of the world was accompanied by demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic–speaking pastoralists from the Middle East. This Neolithic origin was later confirmed by Myles et al. (2005), which in turn suggests that \"contemporary Berber populations possess the genetic signature of a past migration of pastoralists from the Middle East\". [25]\nLanguages\nTrilingual welcome sign in the Isser Municipality (Boumerdès), written in Arabic , Kabyle ( Tifinagh ), and French .\nMost Algerians speak Algerian Arabic . Arabic is spoken natively in dialectal form (\" Darja \") by some 83 percent of the population. [26] However, in the media and on official occasions the spoken language is Standard Arabic .\nThe Berbers (or Imazighen ), who form approximately 45 percent of the population, [26] largely speak one of the various dialects of Tamazight as opposed to Arabic. But a majority can use both Berber and Algerian Arabic. Arabic remains Algeria's only official language , although Tamazight has recently been recognized as a national language alongside it. [27]\nEthnologue counts eighteen living languages within Algeria, splitting both Arabic and Tamazight into several different languages, as well as including Korandje , which is unrelated to Arabic or Tamazight. [28]\nThe language issue is politically sensitive, particularly for the Berber minority , which has been disadvantaged by state-sanctioned Arabization . Language politics and Arabization have partly been a reaction to the fact that 130 years of French colonization had left both the state bureaucracy and much of the educated upper class completely Francophone , as well as being motivated by the Arab nationalism promoted by successive Algerian governments.\nFrench is still the most widely studied foreign language , and most Algerians are fluent in French though it is usually not spoken in daily circumstances. Since independence , the government has pursued a policy of linguistic Arabization of education and bureaucracy, with some success, although many university courses continue to be taught in French. Recently, schools have started to incorporate French into the curriculum as early as children start to learn Arabic, as many Algerians are fluent in French. French is also used in media and commerce.\nEducation\nYoung inhabitants of Algiers in the streets of the Kasbah of Algiers .\nEducation is officially compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 15. In the year 1997, there was an outstanding amount of teachers and students in primary schools.\nIn Algeria there are 10 universities, 7 colleges, and 5 institutes for higher learning. The University of Algiers (founded in 1909), which is located in the capital of Algeria, Algiers has about 267,142 students. [29] The Algerian school system is structured into Basic, General Secondary, and Technical Secondary levels:\nBasic\nLycées d'Enseignement technique (Technical School)\nLength of program: 3 years\nCertificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat technique (Technical Bachelor's Degree)\nCulture\nMosque in Algiers.\nModern Algerian literature, split between Arabic and French, has been strongly influenced by the country's recent history. Famous novelists of the twentieth century include Mohammed Dib , Albert Camus , and Kateb Yacine , while Assia Djebar is widely translated. Among the important novelists of the 1980s were Rachid Mimouni , later vice-president of Amnesty International, and Tahar Djaout , murdered by an Islamist group in 1993 for his secularist views. [30] In philosophy and the humanities, Jacques Derrida , the father of deconstruction , was born in El Biar in Algiers ; Malek Bennabi and Frantz Fanon are noted for their thoughts on decolonization ; Augustine of Hippo was born in Tagaste (modern-day Souk Ahras ); and Ibn Khaldun , though born in Tunis , wrote the Muqaddima while staying in Algeria. Algerian culture has been strongly influenced by Islam , the main religion. The works of the Sanusi family in pre-colonial times, and of Emir Abdelkader and Sheikh Ben Badis in colonial times, are widely noted. The Latin author Apuleius was born in Madaurus (Mdaourouch), in what later became Algeria.\nThe Algerian musical genre best known abroad is raï , a pop-flavored, opinionated take on folk music, featuring international stars such as Khaled and Cheb Mami . in Algeria itself the style: ( raï ) remains the most popular,but the older generation still prefer (\"shaabi\", Dahmane Elharrashi its King..) while the tuneful melodies of Kabyle music, exemplified by Idir , Ait Menguellet , or Lounès Matoub , have a wide audience. For more classical tastes, Andalusi music , brought from Al-Andalus by Morisco refugees, is preserved in many older coastal towns. For a more modern style, the English born and of Algerian descent, Potent C is gradually becoming a success for younger generations. Encompassing a mixture of folk, raï, and British hip hop it is a highly collective and universal genre.\nAlthough “ raï \". is welcomed and praised as a glowing cultural emblem for Algeria, there was time when raï’s come across critical cultural and political conflictions with Islamic and government policies and practices, post-independency. Thus the distribution and expression of raï music became very difficult. However, “then the government abruptly reversed its position in mid-1985. In part this was due to the lobbying of a former liberation army officer turned pop music impresario, Colonel Snoussi, who hoped to profit from raï if it could be mainstreamed.” [31] In addition, given both nations’ relations, Algerian government was pleased with the music’s growing popularity in France. Although the music is ore widely accepted on the political level, it still faces severe conflictions with the populace of Islamic faith in Algeria.\nIn painting, Mohammed Khadda [32] and M'Hamed Issiakhem have been notable in recent years.\nLandscapes and monuments of Algeria\nMountain of Chrea near the city of Blida (north).\nstreet of Zighout Youcef in Algiers (north)\nMountains of Hoggar in the Algerian Sahara(2000 km in the south of Algiers)\nMountains of Tikjda near the city of Tizi Ouzou (north).\nRoman ruins of Timgad (north-eastern)\nPlace of November 1st in the city of Oran(north-western)\nOverview of the city of Ghardaïa (south)\nOverview of the city of Annaba(north-eastern).\nCity of Mascara(north-western)\nTichy's beach in Bejaïa (north).\nHanging bridge of the city of Constantine\nEl-Kantara in Biskra (south).\nUNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria\nThere are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria including Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad , the first capital of the Hammadid empire; Tipasa , a Phoenician and later Roman town; and Djémila and Timgad , both Roman ruins; M'Zab Valley , a limestone valley containing a large urbanized oasis ; also the Casbah of Algiers is an important citadel. The only natural World Heritage Sites is the Tassili n'Ajjer , a mountain range.\nSee also\n^ Mohammed Khadda official site (accessed 4 April 2006 )\nBibliography\nAgeron, Charles-Robert (1991). Modern Algeria. A History from 1830 to the Present. Translated from French and edited by Michael Brett. London: Hurst. ISBN 086543266X.\nAghrout, Ahmed and Bougherira, Redha M. (2004). Algeria in Transition: Reforms and Development Prospects. Routledge. ISBN 041534848X\nBennoune, Mahfoud (1988). The Making of Contemporary Algeria: Colonial Upheavals and Post-Independence Development, 1830–1987. Cambridge U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521301505.\nFanon, Frantz (1966). The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press. ASIN B0007FW4AW, ISBN 0802141323 (2005 paperback).\nHorne, Alistair (1977). A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962. Viking Adult. ISBN 0670619647, ISBN 1-59017-218-3 (2006 reprint)\nRoberts, Hugh (2003). The Battlefield: Algeria, 1988–2002. Studies in a Broken Polity. London: Verso. ISBN 185984684X.\nRuedy, John (1992). Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253349982.\nStora, Benjamin (2001). Algeria, 1830–2000. A Short History. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801437156.\nExternal links",
"Admission Knowledge: General Knowledge in English\nPart 7 1 What star sign is Harry Potter Leo 2 The word Mongol means what in Mongolian Brave 3 In the USA it’s the Oscars what is it in France Caesars\nAdmission Knowledge: General Knowledge in English\nGeneral Knowledge in English\n1 What star sign is Harry Potter Leo\n2 The word Mongol means what in Mongolian Brave\n3 In the USA it’s the Oscars what is it in France Caesars\n4 What is the correct name for a virgin (uncalfed) cow Heifer\n5 In the USA what is Marine One Presidents Helicopter\n6 In the Bible who climbed Mount Nebo Moses to see\npromised land\n7 Where could you spend your Gourde Haiti\n8 What sausage gets it's name from the Italian for Onion Chipolata\n9 What does a cadastral map show Large scale individual\nproperties\n10 In what area of France is champagne made Reims\n11 The longest recorded one lasted 51.5 minutes - what Tennis rally1029\nstrokes\n12 Who was the first British Royal to become a motorist Prince of Wales\nEdward VII\n13 Ford Prefect came from a star in which constellation Orion (Betelgeuse)\n14 What makes Argon, Neon and Helium unique in chemistry No compounds\n15 In the Bible who put Daniel in the lions den King Darius\n16 Cheval-vapeur in France is equal to what in English Horse power\n17 The author of Moll Flanders wrote which more famous work Robinson Crusoe\n18 On the Beaufort scale what is defined as force 11 A Storm\n19 The Spink standard catalogue lists information about what Coins\n20 If you suffer from diplopia what have you got Double vision\n21 What Shakespeare play Course true love never did run smooth Midsummer Nights\nDream\n22 All my Yesterdays is which actors autobiography Edward G Robinson\n23 Which type of full moon follows a harvest moon Hunters Moon\n24 Which pop singer was Glad to be Gay Tom Robinson\n25 The Wheel Spins Ethel Lina White basis for what Hitchcock film The Lady Vanishes\n26 On average it takes 1.5 hours to do what Fully cremate a corpse\n27 In Kiplings poem Gunga Din what job had Gunga Din Water Carrier\n28 What began in 1877 but banned women until 1884 Wimbledon Tennis\n29 Who is the boss of UNCLE Mr Waverley\n30 Which cities public transport lost property office is the busiest Tokyo\n31 Name only boxer to win a world title who never had a manager Jake La Motta\n32 The opera The Tsar Sultan contains what famous musical piece The Flight of the\nBumblebee\n33 Five tons are mined annually - five tons of what Diamonds\n34 In Venezuela lovers use pink what Envelopes - post half\nprice\n35 What country in distance is furthest from New Zealand Spain\n36 Whose girlfriend had a pet snake called Enid Adolf Hitler\n37 What word is in 1200 different languages without changing Amen\n38 Whose horse was Black Nell Wild Bill Hickoks\n39 Old Honiton Genoese and Mechlin all types of what Lace\n40 Name the first teddy bear in space Mishka 1980 Olympic\nmascot\n41 In France who are nicknamed the Kepis blancs Foreign Legion\n42 Name Ernest Hemmingway's book dealing with bullfighting Fiesta\n43 Which animal pronks Springbok\n44 In the Wizard of Oz name the Good Witch of the North Glinda\n45 Britain France and who fought the battle of Trafalgar Spain\n46 Who's first book was Pebble in the Sky Isaac Asimov\n47 Whose original back up group were The Blue Moon Boys Elvis Presley\n48 Britannia female embodiment of Britain who is the French Marianne\n49 Who wrote the line East is East and West is West Rudyard Kipling\n50 Which American city used to be called Yerba Buena San Francisco\n51 What's capital of The Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen Aden\n52 Who played Louis Armstrong in 1954 film The Glen Miller Story He played himself\n53 The Old Aztecs played ollamalitzi what game does it resemble Basketball\n54 In literature who lived at 7 Savile Row Phileas Fogg\n55 What is the only Shakespeare play that mentions America The Comedy of Errors\n(Act III Scene ii)\n56 Jan Lodvik Hock changed his name to what Robert Maxwell\n57 What is the longest golf course to stage the British Open Carnoustie 7066 yards\n58 Atlanta burned in Gone With the Wind was what old film set King Kong it needed\nclearing\n59 What are Unaone, Soxisix and Novenine International phonetic\nnumbers 169\n60 If something is caseous what is it like Cheese\n61 William Herschel astronomer was a musician what instrument Organ\n62 UK snooker players call it doubling what do US pool players say Banking\n63 In MASH what was the character Radars full name Walter O'Reilly\n64 Whose only novel was The Cardinals Mistress Benito Mussolini\n65 Jimmy Doyle died during a title fight in 1947 who was opponent Sugar Ray Robinson\n66 In 1900 Persian soldiers were paid with what Donkeys\n67 In Islington in London it’s a £50 fine for sleeping where The Public Library\n68 Dr Deidrich Knickerbocker invented which famous character Rip Van Winkle\n69 What occupation would use a dibber Gardener - to make\nplanting holes\n70 Which group of people first used gold fillings Incas of Peru\n71 Miss Lemon is what detectives confidential secretary Hercule Poirot\n72 Name Alice's pet cat Dinah\n73 In the siege of Mafeking who led the defenders Robert Baden Powell\n74 Beethoven's fifth piano concerto is nicknamed what The Emperor\n75 What did Aristotle claim as the most delicate of table meats Camel\n76 Which annual world championship is held at Coxheath Kent Custard Pie throwing\n77 In which film did Cliff Richard sing Living Doll in 1959 Serious Charge\n78 Which Lombardy town is famed for its cheese Gorgonzola\n79 Which acid dissolves glass Hydrofluoric Acid\n80 Who wrote The female of the species more deadly than the male Rudyard Kipling\n81 Musical terms - what does De Capo mean on a score From the beginning\n82 What is a half of a half of a half of a half A Sixteenth\n83 Who recorded as Dib Cochran and the Earwigs Marc Bolan and\nDavid Bowie\n84 In what country is Tiahuanaco Bolivia\n85 What exactly are chitterlings Fried animals birds\nsmall intestines\n86 What was Winston Churchill's codename during WW2 Agent\n87 There are 4.5 gallons of ale in what container Pin\n88 Of what did the poet John Milton die Gout\n89 The musical instrument piccolo means what in Italian Small\n90 In what country could you spend a tugrik Mongolia\n91 All the pictures of which king are always shown in profile King of Diamonds\n92 Pernell Roberts played which character in a TV western series Adam Cartwright\n93 1937 saw the first BBC TV broadcast of which event Wimbledon Tennis\n94 Which orchestral instrument can play the highest note The Violin\n95 Who was the runner up in the 1979 Le Mans 24 hour race Paul Newman\n96 Airman T E Shaw in WW2 was better known as who T E Laurence of\nArabia\n97 Italian painter Jacopo Robusti is better known as who Tintoretto\n98 What were volitos first demonstrated in Soho London in 1823 Roller Skates\n99 Which Mozart opera is subtitled School for Lovers Cosi fan Tuti\n100 In literature who married Mary Morstan Dr John Watson\nPosted by",
"Alchemy Electronic Dictionary: Find Out the Meaning of ...\nFrom the Arabic word \"al-tannur\" ... The name comes from \"hepar,\" the Greek word for liver. ... yellow oil called simply Vitriol.\nAlchemy Electronic Dictionary: Find Out the Meaning of Arcane Words and Ciphers Instantly!\nAir is one of the Four Elements of alchemy. Air in the alchemical sense carries the archetypal properties of spirit into the manifested world. It is associated with the operation of Separation and represented by the metal Iron.\n \nalchemy\nThe word is derived from the Arabian phrase \"al-kimia,\" which refers to the preparation of the Stone or Elixir by the Egyptians. The Arabic root \"kimia\" comes from the Coptic \"khem\" that alluded to the fertile black soil of the Nile delta. Esoterically and hieroglyphically, the word refers to the dark mystery of the primordial or First Matter (the Khem), the One Thing through which all creation manifests. Alchemy, then, is the Great Work of nature that perfects this chaotic matter, whether it be expressed as the metals, the cosmos, or the substance of our souls.\nalkahest\nThe alkahest is the power from Above that makes possible alchemical transformation. The word is usually translated as \"universal solvent,\" which alludes to the ability of the alkahest to dissolve or reduce all physical matter to its basic essence. With metals, this meant transmuting them to their purest form, which was gold. In the human body, this meant the creation or revealing of a golden body of consciousness, the Astral Body. \n \naludel\nA pear-shaped earthenware bottle, open at both ends. It was used as a condenser in the sublimation process and thus came to signify the end-stages of transformation. Also called the Hermetic Vase, the Philosopher's Egg, and the Vase of the Philosophy.\n \nThe amalgam is a solid metal formed by the combination of mercury with gold, silver, lead, or other metals.\nangel\naqua regia\nA mixture of aqua fortis (\"strong water,\" i.e., nitric acid) and spiritus salis (\"spirit of salt,\" i.e., hydrochloric acid) produces aqua regia (\"royal water\" -- so named because it can dissolve gold). It was first prepared by distilling common salt with aqua fortis.\naqua vitae\nThe \"living water\" or water \"with spirit.\" An aqueous alcohol concentrated by one or more Distillations.\narcana\nThe arcana (\"magical secrets\") are archetypal influences that transcend space and time. According to the ancient text Archidoxies, the arcana are pre-existing powers that \"have the power of transmuting, altering, and restoring us.\" In this view, the arcana are the secret workings of the mind of God, the logos of the Greeks or what the alchemists referred to as the thoughts of the One Mind. In the Tarot, the arcana are represented by symbolic drawings that the reader tries to work with through meditation. In the Cabala, the arcana are represented by the esoteric properties of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, energies that the cabalist tries to work with in the Tree of Life. In the in the ancient Chinese system of divination, the I Ching, the arcana are represented by the sixty-four trigrams, each with its own properties and influences. The alchemists believed the arcana were expressed on all levels of reality -- from chemical compounds to our innermost moods and desires.\nArcanum Experiment\n \nThe early alchemists divided their chemicals into major and minor arcana. The major arcana consisted of the four compounds: Vitriol, Natron, Liquor Hepatis, and Pulvis Solaris. Three out of the four consisted of dual ingredients that were easily separable. Vitriol could be broken down into sulfuric acid and iron. Natron appeared as sodium carbonate and sodium nitrate. Pulvis Solaris was made up of the red and black varieties. Thus, the seven chemicals comprising the minor arcana were: Sulfuric Acid, Iron, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Nitrate, Liquor Hepatis, Red Pulvis Solaris, and Black Pulvis Solaris. The alchemists believed that these secret chemicals could be combined in the Arcanum Experiment, the single laboratory experiment that would demonstrate the archetypal forces and evolution of the universe. Ideally, such an experiment should succeed on many levels, not only corroborating the deepest philosophical and psychological principles, but also providing concrete evidence of their veracity. The Arcanum Experiment exposed the hidden principles connecting heaven and earth, offering a framework in which to explain both microcosmic and macrocosmic events.\n \nathanor\nFrom the Arabic word \"al-tannur\" (oven), the athanor is the furnace used by the alchemists to perfect matter. Built of brick or clay, the athanor usually was shaped like a tower with a domed roof and was designed to keep an even heat over long periods of time. The alchemists considered it an incubator and sometimes referred to it as the \"House of the Chick.\" Symbolically, the athanor is also the human body and the fire of bodily metabolism that fuels our transformation and the ultimate creation of a Second Body of light. The mountain is a symbol for the athanor, since the perfection of the metals takes place under the guise of Nature within mountains. Sometimes a hollow oak tree is used to symbolize the atanor.\n \nAzoth\nThe term \"Azoth\" is formed from the first and last letters of the English alphabet (\"a\" and \"z\"), which stand for the beginning and end of all creation -- the alpha and omega of the Greek philosophers, the aleph and tau of the Hebrew cabalists. Therefore the Azoth is the ultimate arcanum, the universal spirit of God in all created things. The alchemists believed that the liquid metal mercury carried the signature of this omnipotent archetypal spirit.\nBain Marie\nThe Bain Marie is a warm alchemical bath. Chemically, it is a double-boiler in which a container of water is suspended in a simmering cauldron. Psychologically, it is the gentle warmth of emotionally centered meditation used in the Dissolution process. The Bain Marie was named after Maria Prophetissa, a Jewish alchemist who wrote much about the methods and equipment of the Water operations of Dissolution and Distillation. \nbalsam\n \nA balsam is a resinous or waxy semi-solid compound that captures the essence of a liquid medicine or perfume. To Paracelsus, the balsam was the \"interior salt\" that protected the body from decomposition, and earlier alchemists considered the Balsam of the Elements to be the Quintessence, the result of the Conjunction of alchemical principles. Because of it amalgamating ability, mercury was considered the balsam agent of the metals. In the chemical arcana, Liquor Hepatis mixed with fat or wax was known as the Balsam of the Soul.\nBasilisk\nThe Basilisk is a symbolic alchemical creature said to have the head of a bird and the body of a dragon. The wingless serpentine animal was hatched from a hermaphroditic cock's egg and nursed by a serpent. Psychologically, the Basilisk represents the melding of our higher and lower natures in Conjunction, a process that must be continued in the next three operations of alchemy for this \"Child of the Philosophers\" to become the Living Stone of the fully integrated Self. Biologically, the Basilisk represents the mammalian embryology, the genetic replaying of the stages of evolution within the egg or womb. The Basilisk also has chemical connotations, which probably have to do with a metallurgical process involving cinnabar. \n \nBaths in alchemy symbolize the Dissolution process in which the metals are cleansed and purified.\nbirds\nAscending birds indicate the volatilization of compounds or their sublimation. Descending birds indicate the fixation of compounds or their condensation and precipitation. Birds shown both ascending and descending indicate the process of Distillation.\nbezoar\nSome chemical compounds, such as sulfur auretum when mixed with either red mercuric oxide or black antimony, clump together inseparably as soon as they are mixed together. The alchemists considered such compounds to be chemical bezoars, which are hard clumps of undigested food or solid balls of hair sometimes found in the intestines. In the Middle Ages, physicians thought the strange mass protected people from poisons and actually prescribed it to their patients. Egyptian priests discovered bezoars during the preparation of mummies and believed the hard balls were magical pills formed by the large serpent in man (the intestines). Some evidence suggests that the Egyptians also looked for a similar pill in the small serpent in man (the brain) and found it there in the form of the pineal gland. This pine-shaped gland is imbedded with tiny crystals of dark melanin, and could explain the Egyptian pinecone emblems and the origin of the caduceus itself. And, in the same way that bezoars were formed in the serpentine contours of the intestines, so was gold formed in the bowels of the earth: gold was considered a mineral bezoar.\n \nBlack Phase\nThe Black Phase (or Melanosis) is the first stage in alchemy. It phase begins with the operation of Calcination and lasts through the Putrefaction stage of Fermentation.\nbrimstone\n- C -\ncaduceus\nThe caduceus is the magical staff of Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods and revealer of alchemy. The staff is entwined by two serpents representing the solar and lunar forces. Their union is the Conjunction of alchemical principles and their offspring, if it lives, is the Stone. This Stone is represented as a golden ball with wings at the top of the caduceus.\n \nThe first operation in alchemical transformation. It is denoted by the symbol for the first sign of the zodiac, Aries.\n \nCeration\nA part of the Fermentation process during which a waxy substance flows from the putrefied matter. This is the Ferment, the precursor of the Stone. Ceration is the softening or mollification of a hard material to change it into a more waxy state; covering with wax or salve.\n \nchild\nA naked child symbolizes the innocent soul. In alchemy, the child is the offspring of the King and Queen, the result of their marriage or union. A child crowned or clothed in purple robes signifies Salt or the Philosopher's Stone. \ncibation\nCibation is the addition of new material to the contents of the crucible. During Dissolution, it requires adding liquid to the desiccated matter at precisely the right moment.\ncinnabar\nCinnabar is the bright red ore of mercury sulfide. Known as \"Dragon's Blood,\" the roasted rocks emit a thick reddish smoke, as pure glistening mercury oozes from cracks. Psychologically, cinnabar represents the hardened habits and terrestrial marriages of soul and spirit that must be broken asunder in Calcination to free the essences with which the alchemist intends to work.\n \ncircle\nThe circle or sphere is symbolic of unity, the One Mind of god. It is mathematically and psychologically an \"irrational\" experience beyond the duality of reason.\n \nThe seventh and last operation in alchemical transformation is Coagulation.\n \nCohobation\nA kind of Distillation in which the distillate is poured back into its residue; a method of redistillation.\nConjunction is the fourth operation in alchemical transformation. It is the coming together of the opposing archetypal forces of the Sun and Moon or the King and Queen.\n \n- D -\ndew\nDew is symbolic of divine incarnation or manifestation from Above. Alchemists believed natural dew contained the divine Salt (thoughts of the One Mind) that could transform the Sulfur and Mercury of the First Matter. In many ways, dew represented the Elixir or contents of the cup of God, the Holy Grail.\nDiana\nAppearances of the Greek goddess Diana in alchemical drawings and treatises signify the Moon and Lunar consciousness.\nA kind of Putrefaction in which the the nutrients or essences are reabsorbed.\n \nDistillation is the sixth operation in alchemical transformation. Denoted by the symbol for the constellation Virgo. It is essentially a process of concentration, no matter on what level (physical, mental, or spiritual) it occurs.\n \nThe second operation in alchemical transformation is Dissolution. The process of dissolving a solid in a liquid; the reduction of a dry thing in water. Represented by the sign for the constellation of Cancer.\n \ndogs\nDogs signify primitive matter, natural sulfur, or material gold. A dog being devoured by a wolf symbolizes the process of purifying gold using antimony.\n \ndove\nThe dove is a symbol of renewed spirit or infusion of energy from Above. Chemically, it signifies the change from the Black Stage to the White Phase of transformation.\n \ndragon\nThe dragon in flames is a symbol of fire and Calcination. Several dragons fighting is symbolic of Putrefaction. Dragons with wings represent the volatile principle; dragons without wings represent the fixed principle. A dragons biting its own tale is the Ouroboros and signifies the fundamental unity of all things.\n- E -\neagle\nThe eagle is always a symbol of volatilization. For instance, an eagle devouring a lion indicates the volatilization of a fixed component by a volatile component.\nEarth is one of the Four Elements of alchemy. Earth in the alchemical sense carries the archetypal properties of manifestation, birth, and material creation. It is associated with the operation of Conjunction and represented by the green ore of copper.\n \nThe Elixir of the alchemists is essentially a liquid version of the Philosopher's Stone and has the same ability to perfect any substance. When applied to the human body, the Elixir cures diseases and restores youth.\n \negg\nThe egg is symbolic of the hermetically sealed vessel of creation. Stoppered retorts, coffins, and sepulchres represent eggs in many alchemical drawings.\nFire is one of the Four Elements of alchemy. Fire in the alchemical sense carries the archetypal properties of activity and transformation. It is associated with the operation of Calcination and represented by the metal lead.\n \nThe process of stabilizing and incarnating a substance; depriving a substance of its volatility or mobility to congeal or combine it. The process is represented by the sign for the constellation of Gemini.\n \nfountain\nThe alchemical Fountain of Fountains is a symbol of the Ouroboros. Three fountains represent the three principles of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. The King and Queen sitting in a fountain signifies a bath or the Water operations of Dissolution and Distillation.\n- G -\nGeber\nThe Latin name of Jabir ibn Hayyan (721 - 815 A.D.). He is the father of both Islamic and European alchemy. He knew of the existence of the Emerald Tablet and spread the doctrines of the Four Elements and the Mercury-Sulfur theory of the generation of the metals. \nGold is the most perfect of the metals. For the alchemist, it represented the perfection of all matter on any level, including that of the mind, spirit, and soul. It is associated with the operation of Coagulation.\n \nGrain, seeds, or grapes symbolize the matter of the Stone.\n \nGriffin's Egg\nThe griffin is a half-lion and half-eagle creature that symbolizes the Conjunction of the fixed and volatile principles. An allusion to the Vessel of Hermes.\n- H -\nHermaphrodite\nThe Hermaphrodite represents Sulfur and Mercury after their Conjunction. Rebis (something double in characteristics) is another designation for this point in the alchemy of transformation.\nMagnesia\nMagnesia was a mystical term to the alchemists that denoted the primordial transforming substance in the universe. It was one of many symbols used to describe the central mystery of alchemy that was never to be spoken of in common wording.\n \nA round-bottomed flask with a very long neck. Also called a \"bolt-head.\"\n \n(see Black Phase)\nmenstruum\nAn alchemical term meaning a solvent or alkahest having both the power to dissolve and coagulate at the same time. Based on the belief that the ovum takes its life and form from the menses, the menstruum was also referred to the as the Mercury of the Philosophers.\nMercury\nMercury, called quicksilver by the ancients, is a liquid metal that could be found weeping through cracks in certain rocks or accumulating in small puddles in mountain grottos. It was also obtained by roasting cinnabar (mercury sulfide). The shiny metal would seep from the rocks and drip down into the ashes, from which it was later collected. The early alchemists made red mercuric oxide by heating quicksilver in a solution of nitric acid. The acid, which later alchemists called \"aqua fortis,\" was made by pouring sulfuric acid over saltpeter. The reaction of quicksilver in nitric acid is impressive. A thick red vapor hovers over the surface and bright red crystals precipitate to the bottom. This striking chemical reaction demonstrated the simultaneous separation of mercury into the Above and the Below. Mercury's all-encompassing properties were exhibited in other compounds too. If mercury was heated in a long-necked flask, it oxidized into a highly poisonous white powder (white mercuric oxide) and therapeutic red crystals (red mercuric oxide). Calomel (mercury chloride) was a powerful medicine, unless it was directly exposed to light, in which case it became a deadly poison. When mixed with other metals, liquid mercury tended to unite with them and form hardened amalgams. These and other properties convinced alchemists that mercury transcended both the solid and liquid states, both earth and heaven, both life and death. It symbolized Hermes himself, the guide to the Above and Below.\n \nNatron\n \nNatron means salt. To the early alchemists, however, the word Natron stood for the basic principle in all salt formation and the creation of bodies in general. The Egyptians accumulated the white salts formed from the evaporation of lakes and used them to preserve mummies. Known as soda ash (sodium carbonate), the oldest deposits are in the Sinai desert. Another naturally-occurring sodium compound mined by the Egyptians was cubic-saltpeter (sodium nitrate). The alchemists referred to both these salts as Natron (from the Arabic word for soda ash), because they suspected that both had a common signature or archetypal basis.\n- O -\nOuroboros\nThe Ouroboros (or Uroboros) is the symbolic rendition of the eternal principles presented in the Emerald Tablet. The great serpent devouring itself represents the idea that \"All Is One,\" even though the universe undergoes periodic cycles of destruction and creation (or resurrection). In Orphic and Mithraic symbology, the Ouroboros was called the Agathos Daimon or \"Good Spirit\" and was a symbol for the \"Operation of the Sun.\" In Greek terminology, the Ouroboros was the Aion, which Herakleitos likened to a child at play. To the Greeks, the Aion (from which our word \"eon\" is derived) defined the cosmic period between the creation and destruction of the universe. \n- P -\nPelican\nA circulatory vessel with two side-arms feeding condensed vapors back into the body. It has a fancied resemblance in shape to a pelican pecking at its breast.\n \nProjection\nThe final stage of Coagulation in which the power of transformation is directed toward a body; the final process in making gold, in which the Stone or powder Stone (the powder of projection) is tossed upon the molten base metal to transmute it. It is represented by the sign for the constellation of Pisces.\n \nPulvis Solaris\nPulvis Solaris was the chemical arcanum that represented spirit. The \"Powder of the Sun\" was a mixture of two powders, Black Solaris and Red Solaris. Combining black antimony with sulfur auretum made Black Pulvis Solaris. Black antimony was a common sulfide of antimony, now known as stibnite. The mineral was smelted and ground fine. Pure sulfur auretum, or \"golden sulfur,\" was made by adding sulfuric acid to a dried mixture of sodium carbonate, sulfur, lime, and antimony. The reaction gave off hydrogen sulfide gas, while the sulfur auretum precipitated to the bottom of the container. Red Pulvis Solaris was made by combining sulfur auretum with a compound of mercury known as red mercuric oxide. Egyptian alchemists associated the serpent with the red mercuric oxide and referred to Red Pulvis Solaris as Pulvis Serpentum. Later alchemists became convinced that Red Pulvis Solaris was indeed the powder of projection that would enable them to transform virtually anything into pure gold.\n \nPurple Phase\nThe Purple Phase (or Iosis) of the Great Work is the third and final stage of transformation. It is marked by the purpling or reddening of the material and occurs during the Coagulation operation.\n \nSalt\nSalt is the third heavenly substance in alchemy and represents the final manifestation of the perfected Stone. The Emerald Tablet calls it \"the Glory of the Whole Universe.\" For Paracelsus, Salt was like a balsam the body produced to shield itself from decay. It has also been associated with the Ouroboros, the Stone, and the Astral Body. In general, Salt represents the action of thought on matter, be it the One Mind acting on the One Thing of the universe or the alchemist meditating in his inner laboratory.\n \nThe third operation in the alchemy of transformation. Symbols of Separation include swords, scythes, arrows, knives, and hatchets. The operation is symbolized by the sign for the constellation of Scorpio.\n \nserpents\nTwo serpents represent the opposing masculine and feminine energies of the Work. Three serpents stand for the three higher principles of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. Wingd serpents represent volatile substances; wingless serpents represent fixed substances. A crucified serpent represents the fixation of the volatile.\nSilver is one of the seven metals of alchemy. It is associated with the operation of Distillation.\nskeletons\nSoul\nSoul in alchemy is the passive presence in all of us that survives through all eternity and is therefore part of the original substance (First Matter) of the universe. Ultimately, it is the One Thing of the universe. Soul was considered beyond the four material elements and thus conceptualized as a fifth element (or Quintessence).\nStone\nThe Stone is the goal of the Great Work. It was viewed as a magical touchstone that could immediately perfect any substance or situation. The Philosopher's Stone has been associated with the Salt of the World, the Astral Body, the Elixir, and even Jesus Christ. \nSublimation\nThe first stage of Coagulation, in which the vapors solidify; represented by the sign for the constellation of Libra. The vaporization of a solid without fusion or melting, followed by the condensation of its vapor in the resolidified form on a cool surface. The elevation of a dry thing by fire, with adherency to its vessel. The astrological symbol association with Sublimation is the sign of Libra, the scales. \n \nTin is one of the seven metals of the alchemists. It is associated with the operation of Dissolution and the element Water. Pewter (a mixture of lead and tin) represents a metallic state between the operations of Calcination and Dissolution.\n \nthree levels\nThe key to understanding alchemy is to realize that alchemical thought is extremely dynamic and takes places on three levels at once: the physical, the psychological, and the spiritual. Thus turning lead into gold meant not only physically changing the base metal into the noble metal, but also transforming base habits and emotions into golden thoughts and feelings, as well as transmuting our dark and ignoble souls into the golden light of spirit. By developing this ability to think and work on all three levels of reality at once (becoming \"thrice-greatest\"), the alchemists created a spiritual technology that applied not only to their laboratories but also to their own personalities and to their relationships with other people -- and with God.\ntree\nTrees symbolize the processes of transformation. A tree of moons signifies the Lesser or Lunar Work; a tree of suns signifies the Greater or Solar Work.\n \nThe triangle represents the three heavenly principles or substances of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt.\ntrituration\nGrind a solid into a powder. Pulverize with a mortar and pestle. Crush. A process just after Calcination, when the ashes are ground into a fine powder for Dissolution.\nVitriol\nVitriol was the most important liquid in alchemy. It was the one in which all other reactions took place. Vitriol was distilled from an oily, green substance that formed naturally from the weathering of sulfur-bearing gravel. This Green Vitriol is symbolized by the Green Lion in drawings. After the Green Vitriol (copper sulfate) was collected, it was heated and broken down into iron compounds and sulfuric acid. The acid was separated out by distillation. The first distillation produced a brown liquid that stunk like rotten eggs, but further distillation yielded a nearly odorless, yellow oil called simply Vitriol. The acid readily dissolves human tissue and is severely corrosive to most metals, although it has no effect on gold. White Vitriol is zinc sulfate; Blue Vitriol is copper sulfate.",
"Algebra.txt\nAlgebra\nAlgebra (from Arabic \"al-jabr\" meaning \"reunion of broken parts\" ) is one of the broad parts of mathematics, together with number theory, geometry and analysis. In its most general form, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. As such, it includes everything from elementary equation solving to the study of abstractions such as groups, rings, and fields. The more basic parts of algebra are called elementary algebra, the more abstract parts are called abstract algebra or modern algebra. Elementary algebra is generally considered to be essential for any study of mathematics, science, or engineering, as well as such applications as medicine and economics. Abstract algebra is a major area in advanced mathematics, studied primarily by professional mathematicians. Much early work in algebra, as the Arabic origin of its name suggests, was done in the Middle East, by Persian mathematicians such as al-Khwārizmī (780–850) and Omar Khayyam (1048–1131). \n\nElementary algebra differs from arithmetic in the use of abstractions, such as using letters to stand for numbers that are either unknown or allowed to take on many values. For example, in x + 2 \n 5 the letter x is unknown, but the law of inverses can be used to discover its value: x=3. In , the letters E and m are variables, and the letter c is a constant, the speed of light in a vacuum. Algebra gives methods for solving equations and expressing formulas that are much easier (for those who know how to use them) than the older method of writing everything out in words.\n\nThe word algebra is also used in certain specialized ways. A special kind of mathematical object in abstract algebra is called an \"algebra\", and the word is used, for example, in the phrases linear algebra and algebraic topology.\n\nA mathematician who does research in algebra is called an algebraist.\n\nEtymology \n\nThe word algebra comes from the Arabic (' \"restoration\") from the title of the book Ilm al-jabr wa'l-muḳābala by al-Khwarizmi. The word entered the English language during the fifteenth century, from either Spanish, Italian, or Medieval Latin. It originally referred to the surgical procedure of setting broken or dislocated bones. The mathematical meaning was first recorded in the sixteenth century.\n\nDifferent meanings of \"algebra\" \n\nThe word \"algebra\" has several related meanings in mathematics, as a single word or with qualifiers.\n\n* As a single word without article, \"algebra\" names a broad part of mathematics.\n* As a single word with article or in plural, \"algebra\" denotes a specific mathematical structure, whose precise definition depends on the author. Usually the structure has an addition, multiplication, and a scalar multiplication (see Algebra over a field). When some authors use the term \"algebra\", they make a subset of the following additional assumptions: associative, commutative, unital, and/or finite-dimensional. In universal algebra, the word \"algebra\" refers to a generalization of the above concept, which allows for n-ary operations.\n* With a qualifier, there is the same distinction:\n** Without article, it means a part of algebra, such as linear algebra, elementary algebra (the symbol-manipulation rules taught in elementary courses of mathematics as part of primary and secondary education), or abstract algebra (the study of the algebraic structures for themselves).\n** With an article, it means an instance of some abstract structure, like a Lie algebra, associative algebra, or vertex operator algebra.\n** Sometimes both meanings exist for the same qualifier, as in the sentence: Commutative algebra is the study of commutative rings, which are commutative algebras over the integers.\n\nAlgebra as a branch of mathematics \n\nAlgebra began with computations similar to those of arithmetic, with letters standing for numbers. This allowed proofs of properties that are true no matter which numbers are involved. For example, in the quadratic equation\nax^2+bx+c=0,\na, b, c can be any numbers whatsoever (except that a cannot be 0), and the quadratic formula can be used to quickly and easily find the value of the unknown quantity x.\n\nAs it developed, algebra was extended to other non-numerical objects, such as vectors, matrices, and polynomials. Then the structural properties of these non-numerical objects were abstracted to define algebraic structures such as groups, rings, and fields.\n\nBefore the 16th century, mathematics was divided into only two subfields, arithmetic and geometry. Even though some methods, which had been developed much earlier, may be considered nowadays as algebra, the emergence of algebra and, soon thereafter, of infinitesimal calculus as subfields of mathematics only dates from the 16th or 17th century. From the second half of 19th century on, many new fields of mathematics appeared, most of which made use of both arithmetic and geometry, and almost all of which used algebra.\n\nToday, algebra has grown until it includes many branches of mathematics, as can be seen in the Mathematics Subject Classification \nwhere none of the first level areas (two digit entries) is called algebra. Today algebra includes section 08-General algebraic systems, 12-Field theory and polynomials, 13-Commutative algebra, 15-Linear and multilinear algebra; matrix theory, 16-Associative rings and algebras, 17-Nonassociative rings and algebras, 18-Category theory; homological algebra, 19-K-theory and 20-Group theory. Algebra is also used extensively in 11-Number theory and 14-Algebraic geometry.\n\nHistory \n\nEarly history of algebra \n\nThe roots of algebra can be traced to the ancient Babylonians, who developed an advanced arithmetical system with which they were able to do calculations in an algorithmic fashion. The Babylonians developed formulas to calculate solutions for problems typically solved today by using linear equations, quadratic equations, and indeterminate linear equations. By contrast, most Egyptians of this era, as well as Greek and Chinese mathematics in the 1st millennium BC, usually solved such equations by geometric methods, such as those described in the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, Euclid's Elements, and The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. The geometric work of the Greeks, typified in the Elements, provided the framework for generalizing formulae beyond the solution of particular problems into more general systems of stating and solving equations, although this would not be realized until mathematics developed in medieval Islam. \n\nBy the time of Plato, Greek mathematics had undergone a drastic change. The Greeks created a geometric algebra where terms were represented by sides of geometric objects, usually lines, that had letters associated with them. \"In the arithmetical theorems in Euclid's Elements VII-IX, numbers had been represented by line segments to which letters had been attached, and the geometric proofs in al-Khwarizmi's Algebra made use of lettered diagrams; but all coefficients in the equations used in the Algebra are specific numbers, whether represented by numerals or written out in words. The idea of generality is implied in al-Khwarizmi's exposition, but he had no scheme for expressing algebraically the general propositions that are so readily available in geometry.\" Diophantus (3rd century AD) was an Alexandrian Greek mathematician and the author of a series of books called Arithmetica. These texts deal with solving algebraic equations, and have led, in number theory to the modern notion of Diophantine equation.\n\nEarlier traditions discussed above had a direct influence on the Persian Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (c. 780–850). He later wrote The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, which established algebra as a mathematical discipline that is independent of geometry and arithmetic.\n\nThe Hellenistic mathematicians Hero of Alexandria and Diophantus as well as Indian mathematicians such as Brahmagupta continued the traditions of Egypt and Babylon, though Diophantus' Arithmetica and Brahmagupta's Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta are on a higher level. For example, the first complete arithmetic solution (including zero and negative solutions) to quadratic equations was described by Brahmagupta in his book Brahmasphutasiddhanta. Later, Persian and Arabic mathematicians developed algebraic methods to a much higher degree of sophistication. Although Diophantus and the Babylonians used mostly special ad hoc methods to solve equations, Al-Khwarizmi's contribution was fundamental. He solved linear and quadratic equations without algebraic symbolism, negative numbers or zero, thus he had to distinguish several types of equations. \n\nIn the context where algebra is identified with the theory of equations, the Greek mathematician Diophantus has traditionally been known as the \"father of algebra\" but in more recent times there is much debate over whether al-Khwarizmi, who founded the discipline of al-jabr, deserves that title instead. Those who support Diophantus point to the fact that the algebra found in Al-Jabr is slightly more elementary than the algebra found in Arithmetica and that Arithmetica is syncopated while Al-Jabr is fully rhetorical. Those who support Al-Khwarizmi point to the fact that he introduced the methods of \"reduction\" and \"balancing\" (the transposition of subtracted terms to the other side of an equation, that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation) which the term al-jabr originally referred to, \"It is not certain just what the terms al-jabr and muqabalah mean, but the usual interpretation is similar to that implied in the translation above. The word al-jabr presumably meant something like \"restoration\" or \"completion\" and seems to refer to the transposition of subtracted terms to the other side of an equation; the word muqabalah is said to refer to \"reduction\" or \"balancing\" – that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation.\" and that he gave an exhaustive explanation of solving quadratic equations, supported by geometric proofs, while treating algebra as an independent discipline in its own right. His algebra was also no longer concerned \"with a series of problems to be resolved, but an exposition which starts with primitive terms in which the combinations must give all possible prototypes for equations, which henceforward explicitly constitute the true object of study\". He also studied an equation for its own sake and \"in a generic manner, insofar as it does not simply emerge in the course of solving a problem, but is specifically called on to define an infinite class of problems\".\n\nAnother Persian mathematician Omar Khayyam is credited with identifying the foundations of algebraic geometry and found the general geometric solution of the cubic equation. Yet another Persian mathematician, Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī, found algebraic and numerical solutions to various cases of cubic equations. He also developed the concept of a function. The Indian mathematicians Mahavira and Bhaskara II, the Persian mathematician Al-Karaji, \"Abu'l Wefa was a capable algebraist as well as a trigonometer. ... His successor al-Karkhi evidently used this translation to become an Arabic disciple of Diophantus – but without Diophantine analysis! ... In particular, to al-Karkhi is attributed the first numerical solution of equations of the form ax2n + bxn \n c (only equations with positive roots were considered),\" and the Chinese mathematician Zhu Shijie, solved various cases of cubic, quartic, quintic and higher-order polynomial equations using numerical methods. In the 13th century, the solution of a cubic equation by Fibonacci is representative of the beginning of a revival in European algebra. As the Islamic world was declining, the European world was ascending. And it is here that algebra was further developed.\n\nHistory of algebra \n\nFrançois Viète's work on new algebra at the close of the 16th century was an important step towards modern algebra. In 1637, René Descartes published La Géométrie, inventing analytic geometry and introducing modern algebraic notation. Another key event in the further development of algebra was the general algebraic solution of the cubic and quartic equations, developed in the mid-16th century. The idea of a determinant was developed by Japanese mathematician Seki Kōwa in the 17th century, followed independently by Gottfried Leibniz ten years later, for the purpose of solving systems of simultaneous linear equations using matrices. Gabriel Cramer also did some work on matrices and determinants in the 18th century. Permutations were studied by Joseph-Louis Lagrange in his 1770 paper Réflexions sur la résolution algébrique des équations devoted to solutions of algebraic equations, in which he introduced Lagrange resolvents. Paolo Ruffini was the first person to develop the theory of permutation groups, and like his predecessors, also in the context of solving algebraic equations.\n\nAbstract algebra was developed in the 19th century, deriving from the interest in solving equations, initially focusing on what is now called Galois theory, and on constructibility issues. George Peacock was the founder of axiomatic thinking in arithmetic and algebra. Augustus De Morgan discovered relation algebra in his Syllabus of a Proposed System of Logic. Josiah Willard Gibbs developed an algebra of vectors in three-dimensional space, and Arthur Cayley developed an algebra of matrices (this is a noncommutative algebra). \n\nAreas of mathematics with the word algebra in their name \n\nSome areas of mathematics that fall under the classification abstract algebra have the word algebra in their name; linear algebra is one example. Others do not: group theory, ring theory, and field theory are examples. In this section, we list some areas of mathematics with the word \"algebra\" in the name.\n\n* Elementary algebra, the part of algebra that is usually taught in elementary courses of mathematics.\n* Abstract algebra, in which algebraic structures such as groups, rings and fields are axiomatically defined and investigated.\n* Linear algebra, in which the specific properties of linear equations, vector spaces and matrices are studied.\n* Commutative algebra, the study of commutative rings.\n* Computer algebra, the implementation of algebraic methods as algorithms and computer programs.\n* Homological algebra, the study of algebraic structures that are fundamental to study topological spaces.\n* Universal algebra, in which properties common to all algebraic structures are studied.\n* Algebraic number theory, in which the properties of numbers are studied from an algebraic point of view.\n* Algebraic geometry, a branch of geometry, in its primitive form specifying curves and surfaces as solutions of polynomial equations.\n* Algebraic combinatorics, in which algebraic methods are used to study combinatorial questions.\n\nMany mathematical structures are called algebras:\n\n* Algebra over a field or more generally algebra over a ring.Many classes of algebras over a field or over a ring have a specific name:\n** Associative algebra\n** Non-associative algebra\n** Lie algebra\n** Hopf algebra\n** C*-algebra\n** Symmetric algebra\n** Exterior algebra\n** Tensor algebra\n* In measure theory,\n** Sigma-algebra\n** Algebra over a set\n* In category theory\n** F-algebra and F-coalgebra\n** T-algebra\n* In logic,\n** Relational algebra: a set of finitary relations that is closed under certain operators.\n** Boolean algebra, a structure abstracting the computation with the truth values false and true. The structures also have the same name.\n** Heyting algebra\n\nElementary algebra \n\nElementary algebra is the most basic form of algebra. It is taught to students who are presumed to have no knowledge of mathematics beyond the basic principles of arithmetic. In arithmetic, only numbers and their arithmetical operations (such as +, −, ×, ÷) occur. In algebra, numbers are often represented by symbols called variables (such as a, n, x, y or z). This is useful because:\n* It allows the general formulation of arithmetical laws (such as a + b = b + a for all a and b), and thus is the first step to a systematic exploration of the properties of the real number system.\n* It allows the reference to \"unknown\" numbers, the formulation of equations and the study of how to solve these. (For instance, \"Find a number x such that 3x + 1 10\" or going a bit further \"Find a number x such that ax + b \n c\". This step leads to the conclusion that it is not the nature of the specific numbers that allows us to solve it, but that of the operations involved.)\n* It allows the formulation of functional relationships. (For instance, \"If you sell x tickets, then your profit will be 3x − 10 dollars, or f(x) = 3x − 10, where f is the function, and x is the number to which the function is applied\".)\n\nPolynomials \n\nA polynomial is an expression that is the sum of a finite number of non-zero terms, each term consisting of the product of a constant and a finite number of variables raised to whole number powers. For example, x2 + 2x − 3 is a polynomial in the single variable x. A polynomial expression is an expression that may be rewritten as a polynomial, by using commutativity, associativity and distributivity of addition and multiplication. For example, (x − 1)(x + 3) is a polynomial expression, that, properly speaking, is not a polynomial. A polynomial function is a function that is defined by a polynomial, or, equivalently, by a polynomial expression. The two preceding examples define the same polynomial function.\n\nTwo important and related problems in algebra are the factorization of polynomials, that is, expressing a given polynomial as a product of other polynomials that can not be factored any further, and the computation of polynomial greatest common divisors. The example polynomial above can be factored as (x − 1)(x + 3). A related class of problems is finding algebraic expressions for the roots of a polynomial in a single variable.\n\nEducation \n\nIt has been suggested that elementary algebra should be taught to students as young as eleven years old, though in recent years it is more common for public lessons to begin at the eighth grade level (≈ 13 y.o. ±) in the United States. \n\nSince 1997, Virginia Tech and some other universities have begun using a personalized model of teaching algebra that combines instant feedback from specialized computer software with one-on-one and small group tutoring, which has reduced costs and increased student achievement. \n\nAbstract algebra \n\nAbstract algebra extends the familiar concepts found in elementary algebra and arithmetic of numbers to more general concepts. Here are listed fundamental concepts in abstract algebra.\n\nSets: Rather than just considering the different types of numbers, abstract algebra deals with the more general concept of sets: a collection of all objects (called elements) selected by property specific for the set. All collections of the familiar types of numbers are sets. Other examples of sets include the set of all two-by-two matrices, the set of all second-degree polynomials (ax2 + bx + c), the set of all two dimensional vectors in the plane, and the various finite groups such as the cyclic groups, which are the groups of integers modulo n. Set theory is a branch of logic and not technically a branch of algebra.\n\nBinary operations: The notion of addition (+) is abstracted to give a binary operation, ∗ say. The notion of binary operation is meaningless without the set on which the operation is defined. For two elements a and b in a set S, a ∗ b is another element in the set; this condition is called closure. Addition (+), subtraction (−), multiplication (×), and division (÷) can be binary operations when defined on different sets, as are addition and multiplication of matrices, vectors, and polynomials.\n\nIdentity elements: The numbers zero and one are abstracted to give the notion of an identity element for an operation. Zero is the identity element for addition and one is the identity element for multiplication. For a general binary operator ∗ the identity element e must satisfy a ∗ e a and e ∗ a \n a, and is necessarily unique, if it exists. This holds for addition as a + 0 a and 0 + a \n a and multiplication a × 1 a and 1 × a \n a. Not all sets and operator combinations have an identity element; for example, the set of positive natural numbers (1, 2, 3, ...) has no identity element for addition.\n\nInverse elements: The negative numbers give rise to the concept of inverse elements. For addition, the inverse of a is written −a, and for multiplication the inverse is written a−1. A general two-sided inverse element a−1 satisfies the property that a ∗ a−1 e and a−1 ∗ a \n e, where e is the identity element.\n\nAssociativity: Addition of integers has a property called associativity. That is, the grouping of the numbers to be added does not affect the sum. For example: . In general, this becomes (a ∗ b) ∗ c = a ∗ (b ∗ c). This property is shared by most binary operations, but not subtraction or division or octonion multiplication.\n\nCommutativity: Addition and multiplication of real numbers are both commutative. That is, the order of the numbers does not affect the result. For example: 2 + 3 3 + 2. In general, this becomes a ∗ b \n b ∗ a. This property does not hold for all binary operations. For example, matrix multiplication and quaternion multiplication are both non-commutative.\n\nGroups \n\nCombining the above concepts gives one of the most important structures in mathematics: a group. A group is a combination of a set S and a single binary operation ∗, defined in any way you choose, but with the following properties:\n* An identity element e exists, such that for every member a of S, e ∗ a and a ∗ e are both identical to a.\n* Every element has an inverse: for every member a of S, there exists a member a−1 such that a ∗ a−1 and a−1 ∗ a are both identical to the identity element.\n* The operation is associative: if a, b and c are members of S, then (a ∗ b) ∗ c is identical to a ∗ (b ∗ c).\n\nIf a group is also commutative—that is, for any two members a and b of S, a ∗ b is identical to b ∗ a—then the group is said to be abelian.\n\nFor example, the set of integers under the operation of addition is a group. In this group, the identity element is 0 and the inverse of any element a is its negation, −a. The associativity requirement is met, because for any integers a, b and c, (a + b) + c = a + (b + c)\n\nThe nonzero rational numbers form a group under multiplication. Here, the identity element is 1, since 1 × a a × 1 \n a for any rational number a. The inverse of a is 1/a, since a × 1/a = 1.\n\nThe integers under the multiplication operation, however, do not form a group. This is because, in general, the multiplicative inverse of an integer is not an integer. For example, 4 is an integer, but its multiplicative inverse is ¼, which is not an integer.\n\nThe theory of groups is studied in group theory. A major result in this theory is the classification of finite simple groups, mostly published between about 1955 and 1983, which separates the finite simple groups into roughly 30 basic types.\n\nSemigroups, quasigroups, and monoids are structures similar to groups, but more general. They comprise a set and a closed binary operation, but do not necessarily satisfy the other conditions. A semigroup has an associative binary operation, but might not have an identity element. A monoid is a semigroup which does have an identity but might not have an inverse for every element. A quasigroup satisfies a requirement that any element can be turned into any other by either a unique left-multiplication or right-multiplication; however the binary operation might not be associative.\n\nAll groups are monoids, and all monoids are semigroups.\n\nRings and fields \n\nGroups just have one binary operation. To fully explain the behaviour of the different types of numbers, structures with two operators need to be studied. The most important of these are rings, and fields.\n\nA ring has two binary operations (+) and (×), with × distributive over +. Under the first operator (+) it forms an abelian group. Under the second operator (×) it is associative, but it does not need to have identity, or inverse, so division is not required. The additive (+) identity element is written as 0 and the additive inverse of a is written as −a.\n\nDistributivity generalises the distributive law for numbers. For the integers and and × is said to be distributive over +.\n\nThe integers are an example of a ring. The integers have additional properties which make it an integral domain.\n\nA field is a ring with the additional property that all the elements excluding 0 form an abelian group under ×. The multiplicative (×) identity is written as 1 and the multiplicative inverse of a is written as a−1.\n\nThe rational numbers, the real numbers and the complex numbers are all examples of fields.",
"'Al Qaeda's' Arabic Translation is 'Toilet ...\n'Al Qaeda's' Arabic Translation is 'Toilet' ... sometimes spelled 'Al Qaida', is 'The Base'. ... there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida.\n‘Al Qaeda’s’ Arabic Translation is ‘Toilet’ | Theupliftingcrane's Blog\n‘Al Qaeda’s’ Arabic Translation is ‘Toilet’\nJanuary 14, 2010 by theupliftingcrane\n‘Al Qaeda’s’ Arabic Translation is ‘Toilet’\n(Highlights)\nThe widely known translation of ‘Al Qaeda’, sometimes spelled ‘Al Qaida’, is ‘The Base’. However, this is not the only translation of the ominous term. There is another. “Ana raicha Al Qaeda” is colloquial for “I’m going to the toilet”. A very common and widespread use of the word “Al-Qaeda” in different Arab countries in the public language is for the toilet bowl. This name comes from the Arabic verb “Qa’ada” which mean “to sit”, pertinently, on the “Toilet Bowl”. In most Arabs homes there are two kinds of toilets: “Al-Qaeda” also called the “Hamam Franji” or foreign toilet, and “Hamam Arabi” or “Arab toilet” which is a hole in the ground. Lest we forget it, the potty used by small children is called “Ma Qa’adia” or “Little Qaeda”. Why would a terrorist group call itself ‘The Toilet’? Did Osama really choose to name his terror network after potty humor? (The CIA came up with the name and are still laughing about it to this day.)\n“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US.” ~ Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook\nLike this:",
"Aluminium.txt\nAluminium\nAluminium or aluminum (in American English) is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic, ductile metal. Aluminium is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust (after oxygen and silicon) and its most abundant metal. Aluminium makes up about 8% of the crust by mass, though it is less common in the mantle below. Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is found combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite.\n\nAluminium is remarkable for the metal's low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry and important in transportation and structures, such as building facades and window frames. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium.\n\nDespite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of their abundance, the potential for a biological role is of continuing interest and studies continue.\n\nCharacteristics\n\nPhysical\n\nAluminium is a relatively soft, durable, lightweight, ductile, and malleable metal with appearance ranging from silvery to dull gray, depending on the surface roughness. It is nonmagnetic and does not easily ignite. A fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector (approximately 92%) of visible light and an excellent reflector (as much as 98%) of medium and far infrared radiation. The yield strength of pure aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel. It is easily machined, cast, drawn and extruded.\n\nAluminium atoms are arranged in a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure. Aluminium has a stacking-fault energy of approximately 200 mJ/m2. \n\nAluminium is a good thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper, both thermal and electrical, while having only 30% of copper's density. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin and a critical magnetic field of about 100 gauss (10 milliteslas). \n\nChemical\n\nCorrosion resistance can be excellent because a thin surface layer of aluminium oxide forms when the bare metal is exposed to air, effectively preventing further oxidation, in a process termed passivation. The strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is greatly reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals.\n\nIn highly acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, and in highly alkaline ones to form aluminates— protective passivation under these conditions is negligible. Primarily because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium. \n\nHowever, because of its general resistance to corrosion, aluminium is one of the few metals that retains silvery reflectance in finely powdered form, making it an important component of silver-colored paints. Aluminium mirror finish has the highest reflectance of any metal in the 200–400 nm (UV) and the 3,000–10,000 nm (far IR) regions; in the 400–700 nm visible range it is slightly outperformed by tin and silver and in the 700–3000 nm (near IR) by silver, gold, and copper. \n\nAluminium is oxidized by water at temperatures below 280 °C to produce hydrogen, aluminium hydroxide and heat:\n2 Al + 6 H2O → 2 Al(OH)3 + 3 H2\nThis conversion is of interest for the production of hydrogen. However, commercial application of this fact has challenges in circumventing the passivating oxide layer, which inhibits the reaction, and in storing the energy required to regenerate the aluminium metal. \n\nIsotopes\n\nAluminium has many known isotopes, with mass numbers range from 21 to 42; however, only 27Al (stable) and 26Al (radioactive, t1⁄2 = 7.2×105 years) occur naturally. 27Al has a natural abundance above 99.9%. 26Al is produced from argon in the atmosphere by spallation caused by cosmic-ray protons. Aluminium isotopes are useful in dating marine sediments, manganese nodules, glacial ice, quartz in rock exposures, and meteorites. The ratio of 26Al to 10Be has been used to study transport, deposition, sediment storage, burial times, and erosion on 105 to 106 year time scales. Cosmogenic 26Al was first applied in studies of the Moon and meteorites. Meteoroid fragments, after departure from their parent bodies, are exposed to intense cosmic-ray bombardment during their travel through space, causing substantial 26Al production. After falling to Earth, atmospheric shielding drastically reduces 26Al production, and its decay can then be used to determine the meteorite's terrestrial age. Meteorite research has also shown that 26Al was relatively abundant at the time of formation of our planetary system. Most meteorite scientists believe that the energy released by the decay of 26Al was responsible for the melting and differentiation of some asteroids after their formation 4.55 billion years ago. \n\nNatural occurrence\n\nStable aluminium is created when hydrogen fuses with magnesium, either in large stars or in supernovae. It is estimated to be the 14th most common element in the Universe, by mass-fraction. However, among the elements that have odd atomic numbers, aluminium is the third most abundant by mass fraction, after hydrogen and nitrogen.\n\nIn the Earth's crust, aluminium is the most abundant (8.3% by mass) metallic element and the third most abundant of all elements (after oxygen and silicon). The Earth's crust has a greater abundance of aluminium than the rest of the planet, primarily in aluminium silicates. In the Earths mantle, which is only 2% aluminium by mass, these aluminium silicate minerals are largely replaced by silica and magnesium oxides. Overall, the Earth is about 1.4% aluminium by mass (eighth in abundance by mass). Aluminium occurs in greater proportion in the Earth than in the Solar system and Universe because the more common elements (hydrogen, helium, neon, nitrogen, carbon as hydrocarbon) are volatile at Earth's proximity to the Sun and large quantities of those were lost.\n\nBecause of its strong affinity for oxygen, aluminium is almost never found in the elemental state; instead it is found in oxides or silicates. Feldspars, the most common group of minerals in the Earth's crust, are aluminosilicates. Native aluminium metal can only be found as a minor phase in low oxygen fugacity environments, such as the interiors of certain volcanoes. Native aluminium has been reported in cold seeps in the northeastern continental slope of the South China Sea. Chen et al. (2011) propose the theory that these deposits resulted from bacterial reduction of tetrahydroxoaluminate Al(OH)4−. \n\nAluminium also occurs in the minerals beryl, cryolite, garnet, spinel, and turquoise. Impurities in Al2O3, such as chromium and iron, yield the gemstones ruby and sapphire, respectively.\n\nAlthough aluminium is a common and widespread element, not all aluminium minerals are economically viable sources of the metal. Almost all metallic aluminium is produced from the ore bauxite (AlOx(OH)3–2x). Bauxite occurs as a weathering product of low iron and silica bedrock in tropical climatic conditions. Bauxite is mined from large deposits in Australia, Brazil, Guinea, and Jamaica; it is also mined from lesser deposits in China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Suriname.\n\nProduction and refinement\n\nBayer process and Hall–Héroult processes\n\nBauxite is converted to aluminium oxide (Al2O3) by the Bayer process. Relevant chemical equations are:\nAl2O3 + 2 NaOH → 2 NaAlO2 + H2O \n2 H2O + NaAlO2 → Al(OH)3 + NaOH\nThe intermediate, sodium aluminate, with the simplified formula NaAlO2, is soluble in strongly alkaline water, and the other components of the ore are not. Depending on the quality of the bauxite ore, twice as much waste (\"Bauxite tailings\") as alumina is generated.\n\nThe conversion of alumina to aluminium metal is achieved by the Hall–Héroult process. In this energy-intensive process, a solution of alumina in a molten (950 and) mixture of cryolite (Na3AlF6) with calcium fluoride is electrolyzed to produce metallic aluminium:\nAl3+ + 3 e− → Al\nThe liquid aluminium metal sinks to the bottom of the solution and is tapped off, and usually cast into large blocks called aluminium billets for further processing. Oxygen is produced at the anode:\n2 O2− + C → CO2 + 4 e−\nThe carbon anode is consumed by reaction with oxygen to form carbon dioxide gas, with a small quantity of fluoride gases. In modern smelters, the gas is filtered through alumina to remove fluorine compounds and return aluminium fluoride to the electrolytic cells. The anode this reduction cell must be replaced regularly, since it is consumed in the process. The cathode is also eroded, mainly by electrochemical processes and liquid metal movement induced by intense electrolytic currents. After five to ten years, depending on the current used in the electrolysis, a cell must be rebuilt because of cathode wear.\n\nAluminium electrolysis with the Hall–Héroult process consumes a lot of energy. The worldwide average specific energy consumption is approximately 15±0.5 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of aluminium produced (52 to 56 MJ/kg). Some smelters achieve approximately 12.8 kW·h/kg (46.1 MJ/kg). (Compare this to the heat of reaction, 31 MJ/kg, and the Gibbs free energy of reaction, 29 MJ/kg.) Minimizing line currents for older technologies are typically 100 to 200 kiloamperes; state-of-the-art smelters operate at about 350 kA. Trials have been reported with 500 kA cells.\n\nThe Hall–Heroult process produces aluminium with a purity of above 99%. Further purification can be done by the Hoopes process. This process involves the electrolysis of molten aluminium with a sodium, barium and aluminium fluoride electrolyte. The resulting aluminium has a purity of 99.99%.\n \n\nElectric power represents about 20% to 40% of the cost of producing aluminium, depending on the location of the smelter. Aluminium production consumes roughly 5% of electricity generated in the U.S. Aluminium producers tend to locate smelters in places where electric power is both plentiful and inexpensive—such as the United Arab Emirates with its large natural gas supplies, and Iceland and Norway with energy generated from renewable sources. The world's largest smelters of alumina are located in the People's Republic of China, Russia and the provinces of Quebec and British Columbia in Canada. \n\nIn 2005, the People's Republic of China was the top producer of aluminium with almost a one-fifth world share, followed by Russia, Canada, and the US, reports the British Geological Survey.\n\nOver the last 50 years, Australia has become the world's top producer of bauxite ore and a major producer and exporter of alumina (before being overtaken by China in 2007). Australia produced 77 million tonnes of bauxite in 2013. The Australian deposits have some refining problems, some being high in silica, but have the advantage of being shallow and relatively easy to mine. \n\nAluminium chloride electrolysis process\n\nThe high energy consumption of Hall–Héroult process motivated the development of the electrolytic process based on aluminium chloride. The pilot plant with 6500 tons/year output was started in 1976 by Alcoa. The plant offered two advantages: (i) energy requirements were 40% less than plants using the Hall–Héroult process, and (ii) the more accessible kaolinite (instead of bauxite and cryolite) was used for feedstock. Nonetheless, the pilot plant was shut down. The reasons for failure were the cost of aluminium chloride, general technology maturity problems, and leakage of the trace amounts of extremely toxic polychlorinated biphenyl compounds. \n\nAluminium chloride process can also be used for the co-production of titanium, depending on titanium contents in kaolinite.\n\nAluminium carbothermic process\n\nThe non-electrolytic aluminium carbothermic process of aluminium production would theoretically be cheaper and consume less energy. However, it has been in the experimental phase for decades because the high operating temperature creates difficulties in material technology that have not yet been solved. \n\nRecycling\n\nAluminium is theoretically 100% recyclable without any loss of its natural qualities. According to the International Resource Panel's Metal Stocks in Society report, the global per capita stock of aluminium in use in society (i.e. in cars, buildings, electronics etc.) is 80 kg. Much of this is in more-developed countries (350 – per capita) rather than less-developed countries (35 kg per capita). Knowing the per capita stocks and their approximate lifespans is important for planning recycling.\n\nRecovery of the metal through recycling has become an important task of the aluminium industry. Recycling was a low-profile activity until the late 1960s, when the growing use of aluminium beverage cans brought it to public awareness.\n\nRecycling involves melting the scrap, a process that requires only 5% of the energy used to produce aluminium from ore, though a significant part (up to 15% of the input material) is lost as dross (ash-like oxide). An aluminium stack melter produces significantly less dross, with values reported below 1%. The dross can undergo a further process to extract aluminium.\n\nEurope has achieved high rates of aluminium recycling ranging from 42% of beverage cans, 85% of construction materials, and 95% of transport vehicles. \n\nRecycled aluminium is known as secondary aluminium, but maintains the same physical properties as primary aluminium. Secondary aluminium is produced in a wide range of formats and is employed in 80% of alloy injections. Another important use is extrusion.\n\nWhite dross from primary aluminium production and from secondary recycling operations still contains useful quantities of aluminium that can be extracted industrially. The process produces aluminium billets, together with a highly complex waste material. This waste is difficult to manage. It reacts with water, releasing a mixture of gases (including, among others, hydrogen, acetylene, and ammonia), which spontaneously ignites on contact with air; contact with damp air results in the release of copious quantities of ammonia gas. Despite these difficulties, the waste is used as a filler in asphalt and concrete. \n\nCompounds\n\nOxidation state +3\n\nThe vast majority of compounds, including all Al-containing minerals and all commercially significant aluminium compounds, feature aluminium in the oxidation state 3+. The coordination number of such compounds varies, but generally Al3+ is six-coordinate or tetracoordinate. Almost all compounds of aluminium(III) are colorless.\n\nHalides\n\nAll four trihalides are well known. Unlike the structures of the three heavier trihalides, aluminium fluoride (AlF3) features six-coordinate Al. The octahedral coordination environment for AlF3 is related to the compactness of the fluoride ion, six of which can fit around the small Al3+ center. AlF3 sublimes (with cracking) at 1291 °C. With heavier halides, the coordination numbers are lower. The other trihalides are dimeric or polymeric with tetrahedral Al centers. These materials are prepared by treating aluminium metal with the halogen, although other methods exist. Acidification of the oxides or hydroxides affords hydrates. In aqueous solution, the halides often form mixtures, generally containing six-coordinate Al centers that feature both halide and aquo ligands. When aluminium and fluoride are together in aqueous solution, they readily form complex ions such as , , and . In the case of chloride, polyaluminium clusters are formed such as [Al13O4(OH)24(H2O)12]7+.\n\nOxide and hydroxides\n\nAluminium forms one stable oxide, known by its mineral name corundum. Sapphire and ruby are impure corundum contaminated with trace amounts of other metals. The two oxide-hydroxides, AlO(OH), are boehmite and diaspore. There are three trihydroxides: bayerite, gibbsite, and nordstrandite, which differ in their crystalline structure (polymorphs). Most are produced from ores by a variety of wet processes using acid and base. Heating the hydroxides leads to formation of corundum. These materials are of central importance to the production of aluminium and are themselves extremely useful.\n\nCarbide, nitride, and related materials\n\nAluminium carbide (Al4C3) is made by heating a mixture of the elements above 1000 °C. The pale yellow crystals consist of tetrahedral aluminium centers. It reacts with water or dilute acids to give methane. The acetylide, Al2(C2)3, is made by passing acetylene over heated aluminium.\n\nAluminium nitride (AlN) is the only nitride known for aluminium. Unlike the oxides, it features tetrahedral Al centers. It can be made from the elements at 800 °C. It is air-stable material with a usefully high thermal conductivity. Aluminium phosphide (AlP) is made similarly; it hydrolyses to give phosphine:\n\nAlP + 3 H2O → Al(OH)3 + PH3\n\nOrganoaluminium compounds and related hydrides\n\nA variety of compounds of empirical formula AlR3 and AlR1.5Cl1.5 exist. These species usually feature tetrahedral Al centers, e.g. \"trimethylaluminium\" has the formula Al2(CH3)6 (see figure). With large organic groups, triorganoaluminium exist as three-coordinate monomers, such as triisobutylaluminium. Such compounds are widely used in industrial chemistry, despite the fact that they are often highly pyrophoric. Few analogues exist between organoaluminium and organoboron compounds other than large organic groups.\n\nThe important aluminium hydride is lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4), which is used in as a reducing agent in organic chemistry. It can be produced from lithium hydride and aluminium trichloride:\n\n4 LiH + AlCl3 → LiAlH4 + 3 LiCl\n\nSeveral useful derivatives of LiAlH4 are known, e.g. sodium bis(2-methoxyethoxy)dihydridoaluminate. The simplest hydride, aluminium hydride or alane, remains a laboratory curiosity. It is a polymer with the formula (AlH3)n, in contrast to the corresponding boron hydride with the formula (BH3)2.\n\nOxidation states +1 and +2\n\nAlthough the great majority of aluminium compounds feature Al3+ centers, compounds with lower oxidation states are known and sometime of significance as precursors to the Al3+ species.\n\nAluminium(I)\n\nAlF, AlCl and AlBr exist in the gaseous phase when the trihalide is heated with aluminium. The composition is unstable at room temperature, converting to triiodide:\n\n3 AlI -> {AlI3} + 2 Al\n\nA stable derivative of aluminium monoiodide is the cyclic adduct formed with triethylamine, . Also of theoretical interest but only of fleeting existence are Al2O and Al2S. Al2O is made by heating the normal oxide, Al2O3, with silicon at 1800 °C in a vacuum.\n Such materials quickly disproportionate to the starting materials.\n\nAluminium(II)\n\nVery simple Al(II) compounds are invoked or observed in the reactions of Al metal with oxidants. For example, aluminium monoxide, AlO, has been detected in the gas phase after explosion and in stellar absorption spectra. More thoroughly investigated are compounds of the formula R4Al2 which contain an Al-Al bond and where R is a large organic ligand. \n\nAnalysis\n\nThe presence of aluminium can be detected in qualitative analysis using aluminon.\n\nApplications\n\nGeneral use\n\nAluminium is the most widely used non-ferrous metal. Global production of aluminium in 2005 was 31.9 million tonnes. It exceeded that of any other metal except iron (837.5 million tonnes). Forecast for 2012 was 42–45 million tonnes, driven by rising Chinese output. \n\nAluminium is almost always alloyed, which markedly improves its mechanical properties, especially when tempered. For example, the common aluminium foils and beverage cans are alloys of 92% to 99% aluminium. The main alloying agents are copper, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and silicon (e.g., duralumin) with the levels of other metals in a few percent by weight. \n\nSome of the many uses for aluminium metal are in:\n* Transportation (automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railway cars, marine vessels, bicycles, spacecraft, etc.) as sheet, tube, and castings.\n* Packaging (cans, foil, frame of etc.).\n* Food and beverage containers, because of its resistance to corrosion.\n* Construction (windows, doors, siding, building wire, sheathing, roofing, etc.). \n* A wide range of household items, from cooking utensils to baseball bats and watches. \n* Street lighting poles, sailing ship masts, walking poles.\n* Outer shells and cases for consumer electronics and photographic equipment.\n* Electrical transmission lines for power distribution (\"creep\" and oxidation are not issues in this application as the terminations are usually multi-sided \"crimps\" which enclose all sides of the conductor with a gas-tight seal).\n* MKM steel and Alnico magnets.\n* Super purity aluminium (SPA, 99.980% to 99.999% Al), used in electronics and CDs, and also in wires/cabling.\n* Heat sinks for transistors, CPUs, and other components in electronic appliances.\n* Substrate material of metal-core copper clad laminates used in high brightness LED lighting.\n* Light reflective surfaces and paint.\n* Pyrotechnics, solid rocket fuels, and thermite.\n* Production of hydrogen gas by reaction with hydrochloric acid or sodium hydroxide.\n* In alloy with magnesium to make aircraft bodies and other transportation components.\n* Cooking utensils, because of its resistant to corrosion and light-weight.\n* Coins in such countries as France, Italy, Poland, Finland, Romania, Israel, and the former Yugoslavia struck from aluminium or an aluminium-copper alloy. \n* Musical instruments. Some guitar models sport aluminium diamond plates on the surface of the instruments, usually either chrome or black. Kramer Guitars and Travis Bean are both known for having produced guitars with necks made of aluminium, which gives the instrument a very distinctive sound. Aluminium is used to make some guitar resonators and some electric guitar speakers. \n\nAluminium is usually alloyed – it is used as pure metal only when corrosion resistance and/or workability is more important than strength or hardness. The strength of aluminium alloys is abruptly increased with small additions of scandium, zirconium, or hafnium. A thin layer of aluminium can be deposited onto a flat surface by physical vapor deposition or (very infrequently) chemical vapor deposition or other chemical means to form optical coatings and mirrors.\n\nAluminium compounds\n\nBecause aluminium is abundant and most of its derivatives exhibit low toxicity, the compounds of aluminium enjoy wide and sometimes large-scale applications.\n\nAlumina\n\nAluminium oxide (Al2O3) and the associated oxy-hydroxides and trihydroxides are produced or extracted from minerals on a large scale. The great majority of this material is converted to metallic aluminium. In 2013, about 10% of the domestic shipments in the United States were used for other applications. One major use is to absorb water where it is viewed as a contaminant or impurity. Alumina is used to remove water from hydrocarbons in preparation for subsequent processes that would be poisoned by moisture.\n\nAluminium oxides are common catalysts for industrial processes; e.g. the Claus process to convert hydrogen sulfide to sulfur in refineries and to alkylate amines. Many industrial catalysts are \"supported\" by alumina, meaning that the expensive catalyst material (e.g., platinum) is dispersed over a surface of the inert alumina.\n\nBeing a very hard material (Mohs hardness 9), alumina is widely used as an abrasive; being extraordinarily chemically inert, it is useful in highly reactive environments such as high pressure sodium lamps.\n\nSulfates\n\nSeveral sulfates of aluminium have industrial and commercial application. Aluminium sulfate (Al2(SO4)3·(H2O)18) is produced on the annual scale of several billions of kilograms. About half of the production is consumed in water treatment. The next major application is in the manufacture of paper. It is also used as a mordant, in fire extinguishers, in fireproofing, as a food additive (E number E173), and in leather tanning. Aluminium ammonium sulfate, which is also called ammonium alum, (NH4)Al(SO4)2·12H2O, is used as a mordant and in leather tanning,\n as is aluminium potassium sulfate ([Al(K)](SO4)2)·(H2O)12. The consumption of both alums is declining.\n\nChlorides\n\nAluminium chloride (AlCl3) is used in petroleum refining and in the production of synthetic rubber and polymers. Although it has a similar name, aluminium chlorohydrate has fewer and very different applications, particularly as a colloidal agent in water purification and an antiperspirant. It is an intermediate in the production of aluminium metal.\n\nNiche compounds\n\nMany aluminium compounds have niche applications:\n* Aluminium acetate in solution is used as an astringent.\n* aluminium borate (Al2O3·B2O3) and aluminium fluorosilicate (Al2(SiF6)3) are used in the production of glass, ceramics, synthetic gemstones. \n* Aluminium phosphate (AlPO4) used in the manufacture of glass, ceramic, pulp and paper products, cosmetics, paints, varnishes, and in dental cement. \n* Aluminium hydroxide (Al(OH)3) is used as an antacid, and mordant; it is used also in water purification, the manufacture of glass and ceramics, and in the waterproofing fabrics. \n* Lithium aluminium hydride is a powerful reducing agent used in organic chemistry. \n* Organoaluminiums are used as Lewis acids and cocatalysts.\n* Methylaluminoxane is a cocatalyst for Ziegler-Natta olefin polymerization to produce vinyl polymers such as polyethene. \n* Aqueous aluminium ions (such as aqueous aluminium sulfate) are used to treat against fish parasites such as Gyrodactylus salaris. \n* In many vaccines, certain aluminium salts serve as an immune adjuvant (immune response booster) to allow the protein in the vaccine to achieve sufficient potency as an immune stimulant.\n\nAluminium alloys in structural applications\n\nAluminium alloys with a wide range of properties are used in engineering structures. Alloy systems are classified by a number system (ANSI) or by names indicating their main alloying constituents (DIN and ISO).\n\nThe strength and durability of aluminium alloys vary widely, not only as a result of the components of the specific alloy, but also as a result of heat treatments and manufacturing processes. A lack of knowledge of these aspects has from time to time led to improperly designed structures and gained aluminium a bad reputation.\n\nOne important structural limitation of aluminium alloys is their fatigue strength. Unlike steels, aluminium alloys have no well-defined fatigue limit, meaning that fatigue failure eventually occurs, under even very small cyclic loadings. Engineers must assess applications and design for a fixed and finite life of the structure, rather than infinite life.\n\nAnother important property of aluminium alloys is sensitivity to heat. Workshop procedures are complicated by the fact that aluminium, unlike steel, melts without first glowing red. Manual blow torch operations require additional skill and experience. Aluminium alloys, like all structural alloys, are subject to internal stresses after heat operations such as welding and casting. The lower melting points of aluminium alloys make them more susceptible to distortions from thermally induced stress relief. Stress can be relieved and controlled during manufacturing by heat-treating the parts in an oven, followed by gradual cooling—in effect annealing the stresses.\n\nThe low melting point of aluminium alloys has not precluded use in rocketry, even in combustion chambers where gases can reach 3500 K. The Agena upper stage engine used regeneratively cooled aluminium in some parts of the nozzle, including the thermally critical throat region.\n\nAnother alloy of some value is aluminium bronze (Cu-Al alloy).\n\nHistory\n\nAncient Greeks and Romans used aluminium salts as dyeing mordants and as astringents for dressing wounds; alum is still used as a styptic.\n\nIn 1782, Guyton de Morveau suggested calling the \"base\" of (i.e., the metallic element in) alum alumine. In 1808, Humphry Davy identified the existence of a metal base of alum, which he at first termed alumium and later aluminum (see etymology section, below).\n\nThe metal was first produced in 1825 in an impure form by Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted. He reacted anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium amalgam, yielding a lump of metal looking similar to tin. Friedrich Wöhler was aware of these experiments and cited them, but after repeating Ørsted's experiments, he concluded that this metal was pure potassium. He conducted a similar experiment in 1827 by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium and produced aluminium. Wöhler is therefore generally credited with isolating aluminium (Latin alumen, alum). Further, Pierre Berthier discovered aluminium in bauxite ore. Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville improved Wöhler's method in 1846. As described in his 1859 book, aluminium trichloride could be reduced by sodium, which was more convenient and less expensive than potassium, which Wöhler had used. \nIn the mid-1880s, aluminium metal was exceedingly difficult to produce, which made pure aluminium more valuable than gold. So celebrated was the metal that bars of aluminium were exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1855. Napoleon III of France is reputed to have held a banquet where the most honored guests were given aluminium utensils, while the others made do with gold. \n\nAluminium was selected as the material to use for the 100 oz capstone of the Washington Monument in 1884, a time when one ounce (30 grams) cost the daily wage of a common worker on the project (in 1884 about $1 for 10 hours of labor; today, a construction worker in the US working on such a project might earn $25–$35 per hour and therefore around $300 in an equivalent single 10-hour day).\n The capstone, which was set in place on 6 December 1884 in an elaborate dedication ceremony, was the largest single piece of aluminium cast at the time.\n\nThe Cowles companies supplied aluminium alloy in quantity in the United States and England using smelters like the furnace of Carl Wilhelm Siemens by 1886. \n\nHall-Heroult process: availability of cheap aluminium metal\n\nCharles Martin Hall of Ohio in the U.S. and Paul Héroult of France independently developed the Hall-Héroult electrolytic process that facilitated large-scale production of metallic aluminium. This process remains in use today. In 1888, with the financial backing of Alfred E. Hunt, the Pittsburgh Reduction Company started; today it is known as Alcoa. Héroult's process was in production by 1889 in Switzerland at Aluminium Industrie, now Alcan, and at British Aluminium, now Luxfer Group and Alcoa, by 1896 in Scotland. \n\nBy 1895, the metal was being used as a building material as far away as Sydney, Australia in the dome of the Chief Secretary's Building.\n\nWith the explosive expansion of the airplane industry during World War I (1914–1917), major governments demanded large shipments of aluminium for light, strong airframes. They often subsidized factories and the necessary electrical supply systems. \n\nMany navies have used an aluminium superstructure for their vessels; the 1975 fire aboard USS Belknap that gutted her aluminium superstructure, as well as observation of battle damage to British ships during the Falklands War, led to many navies switching to all steel superstructures.\n\nAluminium wire was once widely used for domestic electrical wiring in the United States, and a number of fires resulted from creep and corrosion-induced failures at junctions and terminations; additional and preventable factors in the failures have been identified. Aluminium is still used in electrical services with specially designed wire termination hardware.\n\nEtymology\n\nThe various names all derive from its elemental presence in alum. The word comes into English from Old French, from alumen, a Latin word meaning \"bitter salt\". \n\nTwo variants of the name are in current use: aluminium and aluminum. There is also an obsolete variant alumium. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990 but, three years later, recognized aluminum as an acceptable variant. The IUPAC periodic table now includes both spellings. IUPAC internal publications use the two spelling with nearly equal frequency. \n\nDifferent endings \n\nMost countries use the ending \"-ium\" for \"aluminium\". In the United States and Canada, the ending \"-um\" predominates. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary prefers aluminum, whereas the Australian Macquarie Dictionary prefers aluminium. In 1926, the American Chemical Society officially decided to use aluminum in its publications; American dictionaries typically label the spelling aluminium as \"chiefly British\". The earliest citation given in the Oxford English Dictionary for any word used as a name for this element is alumium, which British chemist and inventor Humphry Davy employed in 1808 for the metal he was trying to isolate electrolytically from the mineral alumina. The citation is from the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: \"Had I been so fortunate as to have obtained more certain evidences on this subject, and to have procured the metallic substances I was in search of, I should have proposed for them the names of silicium, alumium, zirconium, and glucium.\" \n\nDavy settled on aluminum by the time he published his 1812 book Chemical Philosophy: \"This substance appears to contain a peculiar metal, but as yet Aluminum has not been obtained in a perfectly free state, though alloys of it with other metalline substances have been procured sufficiently distinct to indicate the probable nature of alumina.\"\n But the same year, an anonymous contributor to the Quarterly Review, a British political-literary journal, in a review of Davy's book, objected to aluminum and proposed the name aluminium, \"for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminum, which has a less classical sound.\" \n\nThe -ium suffix followed the precedent set in other newly discovered elements of the time: potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and strontium (all of which Davy isolated himself). Nevertheless, element names ending in -um were not unknown at the time; for example, platinum (known to Europeans since the 16th century), molybdenum (discovered in 1778), and tantalum (discovered in 1802). The -um suffix is consistent with the universal spelling alumina for the oxide (as opposed to aluminia), as lanthana is the oxide of lanthanum, and magnesia, ceria, and thoria are the oxides of magnesium, cerium, and thorium respectively.\n\nThe aluminum spelling is used in the Webster's Dictionary of 1828. In his advertising handbill for his new electrolytic method of producing the metal in 1892, Charles Martin Hall used the -um spelling, despite his constant use of the -ium spelling in all the patents he filed between 1886 and 1903. Hall's domination of production of the metal ensured that aluminum became the standard English spelling in North America.\n\nBiology\n\nDespite its widespread occurrence in the Earth crust, aluminium has no known function in biology. Aluminium salts are remarkably nontoxic, aluminium sulfate having an LD50 of 6207 mg/kg (oral, mouse), which corresponds to 500 grams for an 80 kg person. The extremely low acute toxicity notwithstanding, the health effects of aluminium are of interest in view of the widespread occurrence of the element in the environment and in commerce.\n\nHealth concerns\n\nIn very high doses, aluminium is associated with altered function of the blood–brain barrier. A small percentage of people are allergic to aluminium and experience contact dermatitis, digestive disorders, vomiting or other symptoms upon contact or ingestion of products containing aluminium, such as antiperspirants and antacids. In those without allergies, aluminium is not as toxic as heavy metals, but there is evidence of some toxicity if it is consumed in amounts greater than 40 mg/day per kg of body mass. The use of aluminium cookware has not been shown to lead to aluminium toxicity in general, however excessive consumption of antacids containing aluminium compounds and excessive use of aluminium-containing antiperspirants provide more significant exposure levels. Studies have shown that consumption of acidic foods or liquids with aluminium significantly increases aluminium absorption, and maltol has been shown to increase the accumulation of aluminium in nervous and osseous tissue. Furthermore, aluminium increases estrogen-related gene expression in human breast cancer cells cultured in the laboratory. The estrogen-like effects of these salts have led to their classification as a metalloestrogen.\n\nThe effects of aluminium in antiperspirants have been examined over the course of decades with little evidence of skin irritation. Nonetheless, its occurrence in antiperspirants, dyes (such as aluminium lake), and food additives has caused concern. Although there is little evidence that normal exposure to aluminium presents a risk to healthy adults, some studies point to risks associated with increased exposure to the metal. Aluminium in food may be absorbed more than aluminium from water. It is classified as a non-carcinogen by the US Department of Health and Human Services.\n\nIn case of suspected sudden intake of a large amount of aluminium, deferoxamine mesylate may be given to help eliminate it from the body by chelation. \n\nOccupational safety \n\nExposure to powdered aluminium or aluminium welding fumes can cause pulmonary fibrosis. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a permissible exposure limit of 15 mg/m3 time weighted average (TWA) for total exposure and 5 mg/m3 TWA for respiratory exposure. The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit is the same for respiratory exposure but is 10 mg/m3 for total exposure, and 5 mg/m3 for fumes and powder.\n\nFine aluminium powder can ignite or explode, posing another workplace hazard. \n\nAlzheimer's disease\n\nAluminium has controversially been implicated as a factor in Alzheimer's disease. According to the Alzheimer's Society, the medical and scientific opinion is that studies have not convincingly demonstrated a causal relationship between aluminium and Alzheimer's disease. Nevertheless, some studies, such as those on the PAQUID cohort, cite aluminium exposure as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Some brain plaques have been found to contain increased levels of the metal. Research in this area has been inconclusive; aluminium accumulation may be a consequence of the disease rather than a causal agent. \n\nEffect on plants\n\nAluminium is primary among the factors that reduce plant growth on acid soils. Although it is generally harmless to plant growth in pH-neutral soils, the concentration in acid soils of toxic Al3+ cations increases and disturbs root growth and function. \n\nMost acid soils are saturated with aluminium rather than hydrogen ions. The acidity of the soil is therefore, a result of hydrolysis of aluminium compounds. The concept of \"corrected lime potential\" is now used to define the degree of base saturation in soil testing to determine the \"lime requirement\". \n\nWheat has developed a tolerance to aluminium, releasing of organic compounds that bind to harmful aluminium cations. Sorghum is believed to have the same tolerance mechanism. The first gene for aluminium tolerance has been identified in wheat. It was shown that sorghum's aluminium tolerance is controlled by a single gene, as for wheat. This adaptation is not found in all plants.\n\nBiodegradation \n\nA Spanish scientific report from 2001 claimed that the fungus Geotrichum candidum consumes the aluminium in compact discs. Other reports all refer back to the 2001 Spanish report and there is no supporting original research. Better documented, the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the fungus Cladosporium resinae are commonly detected in aircraft fuel tanks that use kerosene-based fuels (not AV gas), and laboratory cultures can degrade aluminium. However, these life forms do not directly attack or consume the aluminium; rather, the metal is corroded by microbe waste products."
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What seven letter name was given to the type of two wheeled cart that was used during The French Revolution to take prisoners to the Guillotine ? | TUMBREL | [
"French_Revolution.txt\nFrench Revolution\nThe French Revolution () was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, experienced violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon that rapidly brought many of its principles to Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies. Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history. \n\nThe causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt and attempted to restore its financial status through unpopular taxation schemes. Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789. The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate taking control, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and a women's march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. A central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms. France rapidly transformed into a democratic and secular society with freedom of religion, legalization of divorce, decriminalization of same-sex relationships, and civil rights for Jews and black people. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy. In a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793.\n\nExternal threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution. The Revolutionary Wars beginning in 1792 ultimately featured French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine – achievements that had eluded previous French governments for centuries. Internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. The dictatorship imposed by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror, from 1793 until 1794, established price controls on food and other items, abolished slavery in French colonies abroad, dechristianised society through the creation of a new calendar and the expulsion of religious figures, and secured the borders of the new republic from its enemies. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, with estimates ranging from 16,000 to 40,000. After the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, and significant military conquests abroad. Dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. Napoleon, who became the hero of the Revolution through his popular military campaigns, went on to establish the Consulate and later the First Empire, setting the stage for a wider array of global conflicts in the Napoleonic Wars.\n\nThe modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. Almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. Its central phrases and cultural symbols, such as La Marseillaise and Liberté, égalité, fraternité, became the clarion call for other major upheavals in modern history, including the Russian Revolution over a century later. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day. \n\nThe Revolution resulted in the suppression of the feudal system, the emancipation of the individual, the greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth, the establishment of equality, the simplification of life. The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. \n\nGlobally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies. It became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organizing the resources of France and the lives of its citizens towards the objective of military conquest. Some of its central documents, like the Declaration of the Rights of Man, expanded the arena of human rights to include women and slaves, leading to movements for abolitionism and universal suffrage in the next century. \n\nCauses\n\nHistorians have pointed to many events and factors culminating within the Ancien Régime that lead to the Revolution. Rising social and economic inequality, new political ideas emerging from the Enlightenment, economic mismanagement, environmental factors leading to agricultural failure, unmanageable national debt, and political mismanagement on the part of King Louis XVI have all been cited as laying the groundwork for the Revolution. \n\nOver the course of the 18th century there emerged what German philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the \"public sphere\" in France and elsewhere in Europe. Habermas argued that the dominant cultural model in 17th century France was a \"representational\" culture, which was based on a one-sided need to \"represent\" power with one side active and the other passive. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the \"public sphere\" (Öffentlichkeit) which was \"critical\" in that both sides were active. Examples of the \"public sphere\" included newspapers, journals, masonic lodges, coffee houses and reading clubs where people either in person or virtually via the printed word debated and discussed issues. In France, the emergence of the \"public sphere\" outside of the control of the state saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. Likewise, in the 17th century it was the court that decided what was culturally good and what was not; in the 18th century, the opinion of the court mattered less and it was the consumers who become the arbiters of cultural taste. In the 1750s during the \"querelle des bouffons\" over the question of the quality of Italian vs. French music, the partisans of both sides appealed to the French public \"because it alone has the right to decide whether a work will be preserved for posterity or will be used by grocers as wrapping-paper\". In 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote: \"The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV. Reigning opinions are no longer received from the court; it no longer decides on reputations of any sort...The court's judgments are countermanded; one says openly that it understands nothing; it has no ideas on the subject and could have none.\". Inevitably, the belief that public opinion had the right to decide cultural questions instead of deferring to the court transformed itself into the demand that public also have a say on political questions as well. \n\nThe economy in the Ancien Régime during the years preceding the Revolution suffered from instability; poor harvests lasting several years and an inadequate transportation system both contributed to making food more expensive. The sequence of events leading to the Revolution included the national government's fiscal troubles caused by an inefficient tax system and expenditure on numerous large wars. The attempt to challenge British naval and commercial power in the Seven Years' War was a costly disaster, with the loss of France's colonial possessions in continental North America and the destruction of the French Navy. French forces were rebuilt and performed more successfully in the American Revolutionary War, but only at massive additional cost, and with no real gains for France except the knowledge that Britain had been humbled. France's inefficient and antiquated financial system could not finance this debt. Faced with a financial crisis, the king called an Estates General Assembly of Notables in 1787 for the first time in over a century. \n\nMeanwhile, the royal court at Versailles was isolated from, and indifferent to the escalating crisis. While in theory King Louis XVI was an absolute monarch, in practice he was often indecisive and known to back down when faced with strong opposition. While he did reduce government expenditures, opponents in the parliaments successfully thwarted his attempts at enacting much needed reforms. The Enlightenment had produced many writers, pamphleteers and publishers who could inform or inflame public opinion. The opposition used this resource to mobilize public opinion against the monarchy, which in turn tried to repress the underground literature. \n\nMany other factors involved resentments and aspirations given focus by the rise of Enlightenment ideals. These included resentment of royal absolutism; resentment by peasants, laborers and the bourgeoisie toward the traditional seigneurial privileges possessed by the nobility; resentment of the Catholic Church's influence over public policy and institutions; aspirations for freedom of religion; resentment of aristocratic bishops by the poorer rural clergy; aspirations for social, political and economic equality, and (especially as the Revolution progressed) republicanism; hatred of Queen Marie-Antoinette, who was falsely accused of being a spendthrift and an Austrian spy; and anger toward the King for dismissing ministers, including finance minister Jacques Necker, who were popularly seen as representatives of the people. \n\nFreemasonry played an important role in the revolution. Originally largely apolitical, Freemasonry was radicalized in the late 18th century through the introduction of higher grades which emphasized themes of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Virtually every major player in the Revolution was a Freemason and these themes became the widely recognized slogan of the revolution. \n\nAncien Régime\n\nFinancial crisis\n\nLouis XVI ascended to the throne in the middle of a financial crisis in which the state was nearing bankruptcy and outlays outpaced income. This was because of France's financial obligations stemming from involvement in the Seven Years' War and its participation in the American Revolutionary War. In May 1776, finance minister Turgot was dismissed, after he failed to enact reforms. The next year, Jacques Necker, a foreigner, was appointed Comptroller-General of Finance. He could not be made an official minister because he was a Protestant. \n\nNecker realized that the country's extremely regressive tax system subjected the lower classes to a heavy burden, while numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy. He argued that the country could not be taxed higher; that tax exemptions for the nobility and clergy must be reduced; and proposed that borrowing more money would solve the country's fiscal shortages. Necker published a report to support this claim that underestimated the deficit by roughly 36 million livres, and proposed restricting the power of the parlements.\n\nThis was not received well by the King's ministers, and Necker, hoping to bolster his position, argued to be made a minister. The King refused, Necker was dismissed, and Charles Alexandre de Calonne was appointed to the Comptrollership. Calonne initially spent liberally, but he quickly realised the critical financial situation and proposed a new tax code. \n\nThe proposal included a consistent land tax, which would include taxation of the nobility and clergy. Faced with opposition from the parlements, Calonne organised the summoning of the Assembly of Notables. But the Assembly failed to endorse Calonne's proposals and instead weakened his position through its criticism. In response, the King announced the calling of the Estates-General for May 1789, the first time the body had been summoned since 1614. This was a signal that the Bourbon monarchy was in a weakened state and subject to the demands of its people. \n\nEstates-General of 1789\n\nThe Estates-General was organised into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France. It last met in 1614. Elections were held in the spring of 1789; suffrage requirements for the Third Estate were for French-born or naturalised males, aged 25 years or more, who resided where the vote was to take place and who paid taxes. Strong turnout produced 1,201 delegates, including 303 clergy, 291 nobles and 610 members of the Third Estate. The First Estate represented 100,000 Catholic clergy; the Church owned about 10% of the land and collected its own taxes (the tithe) on peasants. The lands were controlled by bishops and abbots of monasteries, but two-thirds of the 303 delegates from the First Estate were ordinary parish priests; only 51 were bishops. The Second Estate represented the nobility, about 400,000 men and women who owned about 25% of the land and collected seigneurial dues and rents from their peasant tenants. About a third of these deputies were nobles, mostly with minor holdings. The Third Estate representation was doubled to 610 men, representing 95% of the population. Half were well educated lawyers or local officials. Nearly a third were in trades or industry; 51 were wealthy land owners. \n\nTo assist delegates, \"Books of grievances\" (cahiers de doléances) were compiled to list problems. The books articulated ideas which would have seemed radical only months before; however, most supported the monarchical system in general. Many assumed the Estates-General would approve future taxes, and Enlightenment ideals were relatively rare. \n\nPamphlets by liberal nobles and clergy became widespread after the lifting of press censorship. The Abbé Sieyès, a theorist and Catholic clergyman, argued the paramount importance of the Third Estate in the pamphlet Qu'est-ce que le tiers état? (What is the Third Estate?) published in January, 1789. He asserted: \"What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something.\" \n\nThe Estates-General convened in the Grands Salles des Menus-Plaisirs in Versailles on 5 May 1789 and opened with a three-hour speech by Necker. The Third Estate demanded that the credentials of deputies should be verified by all deputies, rather than each estate verifying the credentials of its own members; but negotiations with the other estates failed to achieve this. The commoners appealed to the clergy, who asked for more time. Necker then stated that each estate should verify its own members' credentials and that the king should act as arbitrator. \n\nNational Assembly (1789)\n\nOn 10 June 1789, Abbé Sieyès moved that the Third Estate, now meeting as the Communes (English: \"Commons\") proceed with verifying its own powers and invite the other two estates to take part, but not to wait for them. They proceeded to do so two days later, completing the process on 17 June. Then they voted a measure far more radical, declaring themselves the National Assembly, an assembly not of the Estates but of \"the People.\" They invited the other orders to join them, but made it clear they intended to conduct the nation's affairs with or without them. \n\nIn an attempt to keep control of the process and prevent the Assembly from convening, Louis XVI ordered the closure of the Salle des États where the Assembly met, making an excuse that the carpenters needed to prepare the hall for a royal speech in two days. Weather did not allow an outdoor meeting, so the Assembly moved their deliberations to a nearby indoor real tennis court, where they proceeded to swear the Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789) under which they agreed not to separate until they had given France a constitution. \n\nA majority of the representatives of the clergy soon joined them, as did 47 members of the nobility. By 27 June, the royal party had overtly given in, although the military began to arrive in large numbers around Paris and Versailles. Messages of support for the Assembly poured in from Paris and other French cities.\n\nConstitutional Monarchy\n\nNational Constituent Assembly (1789–91)\n\nStorming of the Bastille\n\nBy this time, Necker had earned the enmity of many members of the French court for his overt manipulation of public opinion. Marie Antoinette, the King's younger brother the Comte d'Artois, and other conservative members of the King's privy council urged him to dismiss Necker as financial advisor. On 11 July 1789, after Necker published an inaccurate account of the government's debts and made it available to the public, the King fired him, and completely restructured the finance ministry at the same time. \n\nMany Parisians presumed Louis's actions to be aimed against the Assembly and began open rebellion when they heard the news the next day. They were also afraid that arriving soldiers – mostly foreign mercenaries – had been summoned to shut down the National Constituent Assembly. The Assembly, meeting at Versailles, went into nonstop session to prevent another eviction from their meeting place. Paris was soon consumed by riots, chaos, and widespread looting. The mobs soon had the support of some of the French Guard, who were armed and trained soldiers. \n\nOn 14 July, the insurgents set their eyes on the large weapons and ammunition cache inside the Bastille fortress, which was also perceived to be a symbol of royal power. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon. Despite ordering a ceasefire, which prevented a mutual massacre, Governor Marquis Bernard de Launay was beaten, stabbed and decapitated; his head was placed on a pike and paraded about the city. Although the fortress had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen kept for immoral behaviour, and a murder suspect) the Bastille served as a potent symbol of everything hated under the Ancien Régime. Returning to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) the mob accused the prévôt des marchands (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles of treachery and butchered him. \n\nThe King, alarmed by the violence, backed down, at least for the time being. The Marquis de la Fayette took up command of the National Guard at Paris. Jean-Sylvain Bailly, president of the Assembly at the time of the Tennis Court Oath, became the city's mayor under a new governmental structure known as the commune. The King visited Paris, where, on 17 July he accepted a tricolore cockade, to cries of Vive la Nation (\"Long live the Nation\") and Vive le Roi (\"Long live the King\"). \n\nNecker was recalled to power, but his triumph was short-lived. An astute financier but a less astute politician, Necker overplayed his hand by demanding and obtaining a general amnesty, losing much of the people's favour.\n\nAs civil authority rapidly deteriorated, with random acts of violence and theft breaking out across the country, members of the nobility, fearing for their safety, fled to neighbouring countries; many of these émigrés, as they were called, funded counter-revolutionary causes within France and urged foreign monarchs to offer military support to a counter-revolution. \n\nBy late July, the spirit of popular sovereignty had spread throughout France. In rural areas, many commoners began to form militias and arm themselves against a foreign invasion: some attacked the châteaux of the nobility as part of a general agrarian insurrection known as \"la Grande Peur\" (\"the Great Fear\"). In addition, wild rumours and paranoia caused widespread unrest and civil disturbances that contributed to the collapse of law and order. \n\nAbolition of feudalism \n\nOn the night of 4 August 1789, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism (numerous peasant revolts had almost brought feudalism to an end) in the August Decrees, sweeping away both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate and the tithes (a 10% tax for the Church) gathered by the First Estate. During the course of a few hours nobles, clergy, towns, provinces, companies and cities lost their special privileges. \n\nHistorian Georges Lefebvre summarises the night's work:\nWithout debate the Assembly enthusiastically adopted equality of taxation and redemption of all manorial rights except for those involving personal servitude — which were to be abolished without indemnification. Other proposals followed with the same success: the equality of legal punishment, admission of all to public office, abolition of venality in office, conversion of the tithe into payments subject to redemption, freedom of worship, prohibition of plural holding of benefices... Privileges of provinces and towns were offered as a last sacrifice. \n\nOriginally the peasants were supposed to pay for the release of seigneurial dues; these dues affected more than a fourth of the farmland in France and provided most of the income of the large landowners. The majority refused to pay and in 1793 the obligation was cancelled. Thus the peasants got their land free, and also no longer paid the tithe to the church. \n\nFuret emphasizes that the decisions of August 1789 survived and became an integral part of:\nthe founding texts of modern France. They destroyed aristocratic society from top to bottom, along with its structure of dependencies and privileges. For this structure they substituted the modern, autonomous individual, free to do whatever was not prohibited by law... The Revolution thus distinguished itself quite early by its radical individualism \n\nThe old judicial system, based on the 13 regional parlements, was suspended in November 1789, and officially abolished in September 1790. The main institutional pillars of the old regime had vanished overnight. \n\nDeclaration of the Rights of Man\n\nOn 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which comprised a statement of principles rather than a constitution with legal effect. The Declaration was directly influenced by Thomas Jefferson working with General LaFayette, who introduced it. \n\nThe National Constituent Assembly functioned not only as a legislature, but also as a body to draft a new constitution.\n\nWriting the first constitution\n\nNecker, Mounier, Lally-Tollendal and others argued unsuccessfully for a senate, with members appointed by the crown on the nomination of the people. The bulk of the nobles argued for an aristocratic upper house elected by the nobles. The popular party carried the day: France would have a single, unicameral assembly. The King retained only a \"suspensive veto\"; he could delay the implementation of a law, but not block it absolutely. The Assembly eventually replaced the historic provinces with 83 départements, uniformly administered and roughly equal in area and population.\n\nAmid the Assembly's preoccupation with constitutional affairs, the financial crisis had continued largely unaddressed, and the deficit had only increased. Honoré Mirabeau now led the move to address this matter, and the Assembly gave Necker complete financial dictatorship.\n\nWomen's March on Versailles\n\nFueled by rumors of a reception for the King's bodyguards on 1 October 1789, at which the national cockade had been trampled upon, on 5 October 1789, crowds of women began to assemble at Parisian markets. The women first marched to the Hôtel de Ville, demanding that city officials address their concerns. The women were responding to the harsh economic situations they faced, especially bread shortages. They also demanded an end to royal efforts to block the National Assembly, and for the King and his administration to move to Paris as a sign of good faith in addressing the widespread poverty.\n\nGetting unsatisfactory responses from city officials, as many as 7,000 women joined the march to Versailles, bringing with them cannons and a variety of smaller weapons. Twenty thousand National Guardsmen under the command of La Fayette responded to keep order, and members of the mob stormed the palace, killing several guards. La Fayette ultimately persuaded the king to accede to the demand of the crowd that the monarchy relocate to Paris.\n\nOn 6 October 1789, the King and the royal family moved from Versailles to Paris under the \"protection\" of the National Guards, thus legitimising the National Assembly.\n\nRevolution and the Church\n\nThe Revolution caused a massive shift of power from the Roman Catholic Church to the state. Under the Ancien Régime, the Church had been the largest single landowner in the country, owning about 10% of the land in the kingdom. The Church was exempt from paying taxes to the government, while it levied a tithe—a 10% tax on income, often collected in the form of crops—on the general population, only a fraction of which it then redistributed to the poor. The power and wealth of the Church was highly resented by some groups. A small minority of Protestants living in France, such as the Huguenots, wanted an anti-Catholic regime and revenge against the clergy who discriminated against them. Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire helped fuel this resentment by denigrating the Catholic Church and destabilising the French monarchy. As historian John McManners argues, \"In eighteenth-century France throne and altar were commonly spoken of as in close alliance; their simultaneous collapse ... would one day provide the final proof of their interdependence.\" \n\nThis resentment toward the Church weakened its power during the opening of the Estates General in May 1789. The Church composed the First Estate with 130,000 members of the clergy. When the National Assembly was later created in June 1789 by the Third Estate, the clergy voted to join them, which perpetuated the destruction of the Estates General as a governing body. The National Assembly began to enact social and economic reform. Legislation sanctioned on 4 August 1789 abolished the Church's authority to impose the tithe. In an attempt to address the financial crisis, the Assembly declared, on 2 November 1789, that the property of the Church was \"at the disposal of the nation.\" They used this property to back a new currency, the assignats. Thus, the nation had now also taken on the responsibility of the Church, which included paying the clergy and caring for the poor, the sick and the orphaned. In December, the Assembly began to sell the lands to the highest bidder to raise revenue, effectively decreasing the value of the assignats by 25% in two years. In autumn 1789, legislation abolished monastic vows and on 13 February 1790 all religious orders were dissolved. Monks and nuns were encouraged to return to private life and a small percentage did eventually marry. \n\nThe Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed on 12 July 1790, turned the remaining clergy into employees of the state. This established an election system for parish priests and bishops and set a pay rate for the clergy. Many Catholics objected to the election system because it effectively denied the authority of the Pope in Rome over the French Church. Eventually, in November 1790, the National Assembly began to require an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution from all the members of the clergy. This led to a schism between those clergy who swore the required oath and accepted the new arrangement and those who remained loyal to the Pope. Overall, 24% of the clergy nationwide took the oath. Widespread refusal led to legislation against the clergy, \"forcing them into exile, deporting them forcibly, or executing them as traitors.\" Pope Pius VI never accepted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, further isolating the Church in France.\n\nA new Republican Calendar was established in 1793, with 10-day weeks that made it very difficult for Catholics to remember Sundays and saints' days. Workers complained it reduced the number of first-day-of-the-week holidays from 52 to 37. \n\nDuring the Reign of Terror, extreme efforts of de-Christianization ensued, including the imprisonment and massacre of priests and destruction of churches and religious images throughout France. An effort was made to replace the Catholic Church altogether, with civic festivals replacing religious ones. The establishment of the Cult of Reason was the final step of radical de-Christianization. These events led to a widespread disillusionment with the Revolution and to counter-rebellions across France. Locals often resisted de-Christianization by attacking revolutionary agents and hiding members of the clergy who were being hunted. Eventually, Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety were forced to denounce the campaign, replacing the Cult of Reason with the deist but still non-Christian Cult of the Supreme Being. The Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and the Church ended the de-Christianization period and established the rules for a relationship between the Catholic Church and the French State that lasted until it was abrogated by the Third Republic via the separation of church and state on 11 December 1905. The persecution of the Church led to a counter-revolution known as the Revolt in the Vendée. \n\nIntrigues and radicalism\n\nFactions within the Assembly began to clarify. The aristocrat Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazalès and the abbé Jean-Sifrein Maury led what would become known as the right wing, the opposition to revolution (this party sat on the right-hand side of the Assembly). The \"Royalist democrats\" or monarchiens, allied with Necker, inclined toward organising France along lines similar to the British constitutional model; they included Jean Joseph Mounier, the Comte de Lally-Tollendal, the comte de Clermont-Tonnerre, and Pierre Victor Malouet, comte de Virieu.\n\nThe \"National Party\", representing the centre or centre-left of the assembly, included Honoré Mirabeau, La Fayette, and Bailly; while Adrien Duport, Barnave and Alexandre Lameth represented somewhat more extreme views. Almost alone in his radicalism on the left was the Arras lawyer Maximilien Robespierre. Abbé Sieyès led in proposing legislation in this period and successfully forged consensus for some time between the political centre and the left. In Paris, various committees, the mayor, the assembly of representatives, and the individual districts each claimed authority independent of the others. The increasingly middle-class National Guard under La Fayette also slowly emerged as a power in its own right, as did other self-generated assemblies.\n\nThe Assembly abolished the symbolic paraphernalia of the Ancien Régime – armorial bearings, liveries, etc. – which further alienated the more conservative nobles, and added to the ranks of the émigrés. On 14 July 1790, and for several days following, crowds in the Champ de Mars celebrated the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille with the Fête de la Fédération; Talleyrand performed a mass; participants swore an oath of \"fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king\"; the King and the royal family actively participated. \n\nThe electors had originally chosen the members of the Estates-General to serve for a single year. However, by the terms of the Tennis Court Oath, the communes had bound themselves to meet continuously until France had a constitution. Right-wing elements now argued for a new election, but Mirabeau prevailed, asserting that the status of the assembly had fundamentally changed, and that no new election should take place before completing the constitution.\n\nIn late 1790, the French army was in considerable disarray. The military officer corps was largely composed of noblemen, who found it increasingly difficult to maintain order within the ranks. In some cases, soldiers (drawn from the lower classes) had turned against their aristocratic commanders and attacked them. At Nancy, General Bouillé successfully put down one such rebellion, only to be accused of being anti-revolutionary for doing so. This and other such incidents spurred a mass desertion as more and more officers defected to other countries, leaving a dearth of experienced leadership within the army. \n\nThis period also saw the rise of the political \"clubs\" in French politics. Foremost among these was the Jacobin Club; 152 members had affiliated with the Jacobins by 10 August 1790. The Jacobin Society began as a broad, general organisation for political debate, but as it grew in members, various factions developed with widely differing views. Several of these factions broke off to form their own clubs, such as the Club of '89. \n\nMeanwhile, the Assembly continued to work on developing a constitution. A new judicial organisation made all magistracies temporary and independent of the throne. The legislators abolished hereditary offices, except for the monarchy itself. Jury trials started for criminal cases. The King would have the unique power to propose war, with the legislature then deciding whether to declare war. The Assembly abolished all internal trade barriers and suppressed guilds, masterships, and workers' organisations: any individual gained the right to practice a trade through the purchase of a license; strikes became illegal. \n\nRoyal flight to Varennes\n\nLouis XVI was increasingly dismayed by the direction of the revolution. His brother, the Comte d'Artois and his queen, Marie Antoinette, urged a stronger stance against the revolution and support for the émigrés, while he was resistant to any course that would see him openly side with foreign powers against the Assembly. Eventually, fearing for his own safety and that of his family, he decided to flee Paris to the Austrian border, having been assured of the loyalty of the border garrisons.\n\nLouis cast his lot with General Bouillé, who condemned both the emigration and the Assembly, and promised him refuge and support in his camp at Montmédy. On the night of 20 June 1791, the royal family fled the Tuileries Palace dressed as servants, while their servants dressed as nobles.\n\nHowever, late the next day, the King was recognised and arrested at Varennes and returned to Paris. The Assembly provisionally suspended the King. He and Queen Marie Antoinette remained held under guard.Timothy Tackett, When the King Took Flight (Harvard University Press, 2003) The King's flight had a profound impact on public opinion, turning popular sentiment further against the clergy and nobility, and built momentum for the institution of a constitutional monarchy.\n\nCompleting the constitution\n\nAs most of the Assembly still favoured a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic, the various groups reached a compromise which left Louis XVI as little more than a figurehead: he was forced to swear an oath to the constitution, and a decree declared that retracting the oath, heading an army for the purpose of making war upon the nation, or permitting anyone to do so in his name would amount to abdication.\n\nHowever, Jacques Pierre Brissot drafted a petition, insisting that in the eyes of the nation Louis XVI was deposed since his flight. An immense crowd gathered in the Champ de Mars to sign the petition. Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins gave fiery speeches. The Assembly called for the municipal authorities to \"preserve public order\". The National Guard under La Fayette's command confronted the crowd. The soldiers responded to a barrage of stones by firing into the crowd, killing between 13 and 50 people. The incident cost La Fayette and his National Guard much public support.\n\nIn the wake of the massacre the authorities closed many of the patriotic clubs, as well as radical newspapers such as Jean-Paul Marat's L'Ami du Peuple. Danton fled to England; Desmoulins and Marat went into hiding. \n\nMeanwhile, a new threat arose from abroad: the King's brother–in–law Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, Frederick William II of Prussia, and the King's brother Charles-Philippe, comte d'Artois, issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which proclaimed the cause of Louis XVI as their own, demanded his absolute liberty and hinted at an invasion of France on his behalf if the revolutionary authorities refused its conditions. Although Leopold himself sought to avoid war and made the declaration to satisfy the Comte d'Artois and the other émigrés, the reaction within France was ferocious. The French people expressed no respect for the dictates of foreign monarchs, and the threat of force merely hastened their militarisation. \n\nEven before the Flight to Varennes, the Assembly members had determined to debar themselves from the legislature that would succeed them, the Legislative Assembly. They now gathered the various constitutional laws they had passed into a single constitution, and submitted it to the recently restored Louis XVI, who accepted it, writing \"I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all attacks from abroad, and to cause its execution by all the means it places at my disposal\". The King addressed the Assembly and received enthusiastic applause from members and spectators. With this capstone, the National Constituent Assembly adjourned in a final session on 30 September 1791. \n\nLegislative Assembly (1791–1792)\n\nFailure of the constitutional monarchy\n\nUnder the Constitution of 1791, France would function as a constitutional monarchy. The King had to share power with the elected Legislative Assembly, but he retained his royal veto and the ability to select ministers. The Legislative Assembly first met on 1 October 1791, and degenerated into chaos less than a year later. Francis Charles Montague concluded in 1911, \"In the attempt to govern, the Assembly failed altogether. It left behind an empty treasury, an undisciplined army and navy, and a people debauched by safe and successful riot.\" \n\nThe Legislative Assembly consisted of about 165 Feuillants (constitutional monarchists) on the right, about 330 Girondists (liberal republicans) and Jacobins (radical revolutionaries) on the left, and about 250 deputies unaffiliated with either faction. Early on, the King vetoed legislation that threatened the émigrés with death and that decreed that every non-juring clergyman must take within eight days the civic oath mandated by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Over the course of a year, such disagreements would lead to a constitutional crisis.\n\nLyons argues that the Constituent Assembly had liberal, rational and individualistic goals that seem to have been largely achieved by 1791. However it failed to consolidate the gains of the Revolution, which not only continued but gathered increasing momentum and escalating radicalism until 1794. Lyons identifies six reasons for this escalation. First the king did not accept the limitations on his powers, and mobilized support from foreign monarchs to reverse it. Second the effort to overthrow the Roman Catholic Church, sell off its lands, close its monasteries and its charitable operations, and replace it with an unpopular makeshift system caused deep consternation among the pious and the peasants. Third the economy was badly hurt by the issuance of ever increasing amounts of paper money (called \"assignants\") which caused more and more inflation; the rising prices hurt the urban poor who spent most of their budget on bread. Fourth the rural peasants demanded liberation from the heavy system of taxes and dues owed to local landowners. Fifth, the working class of Paris and the other cities—the sans-culottes—resented the fact that the property owners and professionals had taken all the spoils of the Revolution. Finally, foreign powers threatened to overthrow the Revolution, which responded with extremism and systematic violence in its own defense. \n\nConstitutional crisis\n\nOn the night of 10 August 1792, insurgents and popular militias, supported by the revolutionary Paris Commune, assailed the Tuileries Palace and massacred the Swiss Guards who were assigned for the protection of the king. The royal family became prisoners and a rump session of the Legislative Assembly suspended the monarchy; little more than a third of the deputies were present, almost all of them Jacobins. \n\nWhat remained of a national government depended on the support of the insurrectionary Commune. With enemy troops advancing, the Commune looked for potential traitors in Paris. The Commune sent gangs of National Guardsmen and fereres into the prisons to kill 10 or more victims, mostly nonjuring priests. The Commune then sent a circular letter to the other cities of France inviting them to follow this example, and many cities launched their own massacres of prisoners and priests in the \"September massacres.\" The Assembly could offer only feeble resistance. In October, however, there was a counterattack accusing the instigators, especially Marat, of being terrorists. This led to a political contest between the more moderate Girondists and the more radical Montagnards inside the Convention, with rumor used as a weapon by both sides. The Girondists lost ground when they seemed too conciliatory. But the pendulum swung again and after Thermidor, the men who had endorsed the massacres were denounced as terrorists. \n\nChaos persisted until the Convention, elected by universal male suffrage and charged with writing a new constitution, met on 20 September 1792 and became the new de facto government of France. The next day it abolished the monarchy and declared a republic. The following day – 22 September 1792, the first morning of the new Republic – was later retroactively adopted as the beginning of Year One of the French Republican Calendar. \n\nFrench Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars\n\nFrom 1793 to 1815, France was engaged almost continuously (with two short breaks) in wars with Britain and a changing coalition of other major powers. The many French successes led to the spread of the French revolutionary ideals into neighboring countries, and indeed across much of Europe. However, the final defeat of Napoleon in 1814 (and 1815) brought a reaction that reversed some – but not all – of the revolutionary achievements in France and Europe. The Bourbons were restored to the throne, with the brother of executed King Louis XVI becoming King Louis XVIII.\n\nThe politics of the period inevitably drove France towards war with Austria and its allies. The King, many of the Feuillants, and the Girondins specifically wanted to wage war. The King (and many Feuillants with him) expected war would increase his personal popularity; he also foresaw an opportunity to exploit any defeat: either result would make him stronger. The Girondins wanted to export the Revolution throughout Europe and, by extension, to defend the Revolution within France. The forces opposing war were much weaker. Barnave and his supporters among the Feuillants feared a war they thought France had little chance to win and which they feared might lead to greater radicalization of the revolution. On the other end of the political spectrum Robespierre opposed a war on two grounds, fearing that it would strengthen the monarchy and military at the expense of the revolution, and that it would incur the anger of ordinary people in Austria and elsewhere. The Austrian emperor Leopold II, brother of Marie Antoinette, may have wished to avoid war, but he died on 1 March 1792. France preemptively declared war on Austria (20 April 1792) and Prussia joined on the Austrian side a few weeks later. The invading Prussian army faced little resistance until checked at the Battle of Valmy (20 September 1792) and was forced to withdraw.\n\nThe new-born Republic followed up on this success with a series of victories in Belgium and the Rhineland in the fall of 1792. The French armies defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November, and had soon taken over most of the Austrian Netherlands. This brought them into conflict with Britain and the Dutch Republic, which wished to preserve the independence of the southern Netherlands from France. After the king's execution in January 1793, these powers, along with Spain and most other European states, joined the war against France. Almost immediately, French forces faced defeat on many fronts, and were driven out of their newly conquered territories in the spring of 1793. At the same time, the republican regime was forced to deal with rebellions against its authority in much of western and southern France. But the allies failed to take advantage of French disunity, and by the autumn of 1793 the republican regime had defeated most of the internal rebellions and halted the allied advance into France itself.\n\nThe stalemate was broken in the summer of 1794 with dramatic French victories. They defeated the allied army at the Battle of Fleurus, leading to a full Allied withdrawal from the Austrian Netherlands. They followed up by a campaign which swept the allies to the east bank of the Rhine and left the French, by the beginning of 1795, conquering the Dutch Republic itself. The House of Orange was expelled and replaced by the Batavian Republic, a French satellite state. These victories led to the collapse of the coalition against France. Prussia, having effectively abandoned the coalition in the fall of 1794, made peace with revolutionary France at Basel in April 1795, and soon thereafter Spain, too, made peace with France. Of the major powers, only Britain and Austria remained at war with France.\n\nColonial uprisings\n\nAlthough the French Revolution had a dramatic impact in numerous areas of Europe, the French colonies felt a particular influence. As the Martinican author Aimé Césaire put it, \"there was in each French colony a specific revolution, that occurred on the occasion of the French Revolution, in tune with it.\" The Haitian Revolution (Saint Domingue) became a central example of slave uprisings in French colonies.\n\nFirst Republic\n\nNational Convention (1792–1795)\n\nExecution of Louis XVI\n\nIn the Brunswick Manifesto, the Imperial and Prussian armies threatened retaliation on the French population if it were to resist their advance or the reinstatement of the monarchy. This among other things made Louis appear to be conspiring with the enemies of France. On 17 January 1793 Louis was condemned to death for \"conspiracy against the public liberty and the general safety\" by a close majority in Convention: 361 voted to execute the king, 288 voted against, and another 72 voted to execute him subject to a variety of delaying conditions. The former Louis XVI, now simply named Citoyen Louis Capet (Citizen Louis Capet) was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 on the Place de la Révolution, former Place Louis XV, now called the Place de la Concorde. Conservatives across Europe were horrified and monarchies called for war against revolutionary France. \n\nEconomy\n\nWhen war went badly, prices rose and the sans-culottes – poor labourers and radical Jacobins – rioted; counter-revolutionary activities began in some regions. This encouraged the Jacobins to seize power through a parliamentary coup, backed up by force effected by mobilising public support against the Girondist faction, and by utilising the mob power of the Parisian sans-culottes. An alliance of Jacobin and sans-culottes elements thus became the effective centre of the new government. Policy became considerably more radical, as \"The Law of the Maximum\" set food prices and led to executions of offenders. \n\nThis policy of price control was coeval with the Committee of Public Safety's rise to power and the Reign of Terror. The Committee first attempted to set the price for only a limited number of grain products but, by September 1793, it expanded the \"maximum\" to cover all foodstuffs and a long list of other goods. Widespread shortages and famine ensued. The Committee reacted by sending dragoons into the countryside to arrest farmers and seize crops. This temporarily solved the problem in Paris, but the rest of the country suffered. By the spring of 1794, forced collection of food was not sufficient to feed even Paris and the days of the Committee were numbered. When Robespierre went to the guillotine in July of that year the crowd jeered, \"There goes the dirty maximum!\" \n\nReign of Terror\n\nThe Committee of Public Safety came under the control of Maximilien Robespierre, a lawyer, and the Jacobins unleashed the Reign of Terror (1793–1794). According to archival records, at least 16,594 people died under the guillotine or otherwise after accusations of counter-revolutionary activities. As many as 40,000 accused prisoners may have been summarily executed without trial or died awaiting trial. \n\nOn 2 June 1793, Paris sections – encouraged by the enragés (\"enraged ones\") Jacques Roux and Jacques Hébert – took over the Convention, calling for administrative and political purges, a low fixed price for bread, and a limitation of the electoral franchise to sans-culottes alone. With the backing of the National Guard, they managed to persuade the Convention to arrest 31 Girondin leaders, including Jacques Pierre Brissot. Following these arrests, the Jacobins gained control of the Committee of Public Safety on 10 June, installing the revolutionary dictatorship. \n\nOn 13 July, the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat – a Jacobin leader and journalist known for his bloodthirsty rhetoric – by Charlotte Corday, a Girondin, resulted in further increase of Jacobin political influence. Georges Danton, the leader of the August 1792 uprising against the king, undermined by several political reversals, was removed from the Committee and Robespierre, \"the Incorruptible\", became its most influential member as it moved to take radical measures against the Revolution's domestic and foreign enemies.\n\nMeanwhile, on 24 June, the Convention adopted the first republican constitution of France, variously referred to as the French Constitution of 1793 or Constitution of the Year I. It was progressive and radical in several respects, in particular by establishing universal male suffrage. It was ratified by public referendum, but normal legal processes were suspended before it could take effect. \n\nWar in the Vendée\n\nIn Vendée, peasants revolted against the French Revolutionary government in 1793. They resented the changes imposed on the Roman Catholic Church by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) and broke into open revolt in defiance of the Revolutionary government's military conscription. This became a guerrilla war, known as the War in the Vendée. North of the Loire, similar revolts were started by the so-called Chouans (royalist rebels). \n\nThe revolt and its suppression, including both combat casualties and massacres and executions on both sides, are thought to have taken between 117,000 and 250,000 lives (170,000 according to the latest estimates). Because of the extremely brutal forms that the Republican repression took in many places, certain historians such as Reynald Secher have called the event a \"genocide\". Furet concludes that the repression in the Vendee \"not only revealed massacre and destruction on an unprecedented scale but also a zeal so violent that it has bestowed as its legacy much of the region's identity.\" \n\nFacing local revolts and foreign invasions in both the East and West of the country, the most urgent government business was the war. On 17 August, the Convention voted for general conscription, the levée en masse, which mobilized all citizens to serve as soldiers or suppliers in the war effort.\n\nThe National Convention subsequently enacted more legislation, voting on 9 September to establish sans-culottes paramilitary forces, revolutionary armies, and to force farmers to surrender grain demanded by the government. On 17 September, the Law of Suspects was passed, which authorized the charging of counter-revolutionaries with \"crimes against liberty.\" On 29 September, the Convention extended price limits from grain and bread to other household goods and established the Law of the Maximum, intended to prevent price gouging and supply food to the cities. \n\nSystematic executions\n\nThe guillotine became the tool for a string of executions. Louis XVI had already been guillotined before the start of the terror; Queen Marie Antoinette, Barnave, Bailly, Brissot and other leading Girondins, Philippe Égalité (despite his vote for the death of the King), Madame Roland and many others were executed by guillotine. The Revolutionary Tribunal summarily condemned thousands of people to death by the guillotine, while mobs beat other victims to death.\n\nAt the peak of the terror, the slightest hint of counter-revolutionary thoughts or activities (or, as in the case of Jacques Hébert, revolutionary zeal exceeding that of those in power) could place one under suspicion, and trials did not always proceed according to contemporary standards of due process. Sometimes people died for their political opinions or actions, but many for little reason beyond mere suspicion, or because some others had a stake in getting rid of them. Most of the victims received an unceremonious trip to the guillotine in an open wooden cart (the tumbrel). In the rebellious provinces, the government representatives had unlimited authority and some engaged in extreme repressions and abuses. For example, Jean-Baptiste Carrier became notorious for the Noyades (\"drownings\") he organized in Nantes; his conduct was judged unacceptable even by the Jacobin government and he was recalled. \n\nAnother anti-clerical uprising was made possible by the installment of the Republican Calendar on 24 October 1793. Against Robespierre's concepts of Deism and Virtue, Hébert's (and Chaumette's) atheist movement initiated a religious campaign to dechristianize society. The climax was reached with the celebration of the flame of Reason in Notre Dame Cathedral on 10 November. \n\nThe Reign of Terror ultimately weakened the revolutionary government, while temporarily ending internal opposition. The Jacobins expanded the size of the army, and Carnot replaced many aristocratic officers with soldiers who had demonstrated their patriotism, if not their ability. The Republican army repulsed the Austrians, Prussians, British, and Spanish. At the end of 1793, the army began to prevail and revolts were defeated with ease. The Ventôse Decrees (February–March 1794) proposed the confiscation of the goods of exiles and opponents of the Revolution, and their redistribution to the needy. However this policy was never fully implemented. \n\nIn the spring of 1794, both extremist enragés such as Hébert and moderate Montagnard indulgents such as Danton were charged with counter-revolutionary activities, tried and guillotined. On 7 June Robespierre, who had previously condemned the Cult of Reason, advocated a new state religion and recommended the Convention acknowledge the existence of the \"Supreme Being\". \n\nThree approaches attempt to explain the Reign of Terror imposed by the Jacobins in 1793–94. The older Marxist interpretation arguing the Terror was a necessary response to outside threats (in terms of other countries going to war with France) and internal threats (of traitors inside France threatening to frustrate the Revolution.) In this interpretation, as expressed by the Marxist historian Albert Soboul, Robespierre and the sans-culottes were heroes for defending the revolution from its enemies. François Furet has argued that foreign threats had little to do with the terror. Instead, the extreme violence was an inherent part of the intense ideological commitment of the revolutionaries – their utopian goals required exterminating opposition. Soboul's Marxist interpretation has been largely abandoned by most historians since the 1990s. Hanson (2009) takes a middle position, recognizing the importance of the foreign enemies, and sees the terror as a contingency that was caused by the interaction of a series of complex events and the foreign threat. Hanson says the terror was not inherent in the ideology of the Revolution, but that circumstances made it necessary. \n\nThermidorian Reaction\n\nOn 27 July 1794, the Thermidorian Reaction led to the arrest and execution of Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just, and other leading Jacobins. The new government was predominantly made up of Girondists who had survived the Terror, and after taking power, they took revenge as well by persecuting even those Jacobins who had helped to overthrow Robespierre, banning the Jacobin Club, and executing many of its former members in what was known as the White Terror. \n\nIn the wake of excesses of the Terror, the Convention approved the new \"Constitution of the Year III\" on 22 August 1795. A French plebiscite ratified the document, with about 1,057,000 votes for the constitution and 49,000 against.Doyle 1989, p.320 The results of the voting were announced on 23 September 1795, and the new constitution took effect on 27 September 1795. The new regime was called \"The Directory\".\n\nThe Directory (1795–1799)\n\nThe new constitution created the Directoire () with a bicameral legislature. Power was in the hands of the five members of the Directory, only one of whom, Lazare Carnot, has a reputation for leadership or political sagacity. \n\nThe Directory denounced the arbitrary executions of the Reign of Terror, but itself engaged in large scale illegal repressions, as well as large-scale massacres of civilians in the Vendee uprising. The economy continued in bad condition, with the poor especially hurt by the high cost of food. A series of financial reforms started by the Directory finally took effect after it fell from power. Although committed to Republicanism, the Directory distrusted democracy. When the elections of 1798 and 1799 were carried by the opposition, it used the Army to imprison and exile the opposition leaders and close their newspapers. Increasingly it depended on the Army in foreign and domestic affairs, as well as finance. Finally the Army, under Napoleon, simply deposed the Directory on 9 November 1799 (see 18 Brumaire) and set up what amounted to a personal dictatorship under Napoleon.\n\nHistorians have seldom praised the Directory; it was a government of self-interest rather than virtue, thus losing any claim on idealism. It never had a strong base of popular support; when elections were held, most of its candidates were defeated. Its achievements were minor. Brown stresses the turn toward dictatorship and the failure of liberal democracy under the Directory, blaming it on, \"chronic violence, ambivalent forms of justice, and repeated recourse to heavy-handed repression.\" \n\nThe election system was complex and designed to insulate the government from grass roots democracy. The parliament consisted of two houses: the Conseil des Cinq-Cents (Council of the Five Hundred) with 500 representatives, and the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Elders) with 250 senators. Executive power went to five \"directors,\" named annually by the Conseil des Anciens from a list submitted by the Conseil des Cinq-Cents. Furthermore, the universal male suffrage of 1793 was replaced by limited suffrage based on property. The voters had only a limited choice because the electoral rules required two-thirds of the seats go to members of the old Convention, no matter how few popular votes they received. \n\nWith the establishment of the Directory, contemporary observers might have assumed that the Revolution was finished. Citizens of the war-weary nation wanted stability, peace, and an end to conditions that at times bordered on chaos. Those on the right who wished to restore the monarchy by putting Louis XVIII on the throne, and those on the left who would have renewed the Reign of Terror tried but failed to overthrow the Directory. The earlier atrocities had made confidence or goodwill between parties impossible. \n\nState finances were in total disarray; the government could only cover its expenses through the plunder and the tribute of foreign countries. If peace were made, the armies would return home and the directors would have to face the exasperation of the rank-and-file who had lost their livelihood, as well as the ambition of generals who could, in a moment, brush them aside. Barras and Rewbell were notoriously corrupt themselves and screened corruption in others. The patronage of the directors was ill-bestowed, and the general maladministration heightened their unpopularity. \n\nThe constitutional party in the legislature desired toleration of the nonjuring clergy, the repeal of the laws against the relatives of the émigrés, and some merciful discrimination toward the émigrés themselves. The directors baffled all such endeavours. On the other hand, the socialist conspiracy of Babeuf was easily quelled. Little was done to improve the finances, and the assignats continued to fall in value until each note was worth less than the paper it was printed on; debtors easily paid off their debts. \n\nThe new régime met opposition from Jacobins on the left and royalists on the right (the latter were secretly subsidised by the British government). The army suppressed riots and counter-revolutionary activities. In this way the army and in particular Napoleon gained total power. In the elections of 1797 for one-third of the seats the Royalists won the great majority of seats and were poised to take control of the Directory in the next election. The Directory reacted by purging all the winners in the Coup of 18 Fructidor, banishing 57 leaders to certain death in Guiana and closing 42 newspapers. That is, it rejected democratic elections and kept its old leaders in power.\n\nOn 9 November 1799 (18 Brumaire of the Year VIII) Napoleon Bonaparte staged the coup of 18 Brumaire which installed the Consulate. This effectively led to Bonaparte's dictatorship and eventually (in 1804) to his proclamation as Empereur (emperor) which brought to a close the specifically republican phase of the French Revolution. \n\nExporting the Revolution\n\nThe Army at first was quite successful. It conquered Belgium and turned it into another province of France. It conquered the Netherlands and made it a puppet state. It conquered Switzerland and most of Italy, setting up a series of puppet states. The result was glory for France, and an infusion of much needed money from the conquered lands, which also provided direct support to the French Army. However the enemies of France, led by Britain and funded by the inexhaustible British Treasury, formed a Second Coalition in 1799 (with Britain joined by Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria). It scored a series of victories that rolled back French successes, retaking Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands and ending the flow of payments from the conquered areas to France. The treasury was empty. Despite his publicity claiming many glorious victories, Napoleon's army was trapped in Egypt after the British sank the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. Napoleon escaped by himself, returned to Paris and overthrew the Directory in November, 1799. \n\nNapoleon conquered most of Italy in the name of the French Revolution in 1797–99. He consolidated old units and split up Austria's holdings. He set up a series of new republics, complete with new codes of law and abolition of old feudal privileges. Napoleon's Cisalpine Republic was centered on Milan. Genoa the city became a republic while its hinterland became the Ligurian Republic. The Roman Republic was formed out of the papal holdings and the pope was sent to France. The Neapolitan Republic was formed around Naples, but it lasted only five months before the enemy forces of the Coalition recaptured it. In 1805 he formed the Kingdom of Italy, with himself as king and his stepson as viceroy. In addition, France turned the Netherlands into the Batavian Republic, and Switzerland into the Helvetic Republic. All these new countries were satellites of France, and had to pay large subsidies to Paris, as well as provide military support for Napoleon's wars. Their political and administrative systems were modernized, the metric system introduced, and trade barriers reduced. Jewish ghettos were abolished. Belgium and Piedmont became integral parts of France. \n\nMost of the new nations were abolished and returned to prewar owners in 1814. However, Artz emphasizes the benefits the Italians gained from the French Revolution:\nFor nearly two decades the Italians had the excellent codes of law, a fair system of taxation, a better economic situation, and more religious and intellectual toleration than they had known for centuries... Everywhere old physical, economic, and intellectual barriers had been thrown down and the Italians had begun to be aware of a common nationality. \n\nMedia and symbolism \n\nNewspapers\n\nIn the Old regime there were a small number of heavily censored newspapers that needed a royal licence to operate. Newspapers and pamphlets played a central role in stimulating and defining the Revolution. The meetings of the Estates-General in 1789 created an enormous demand for news, and over 130 newspapers appeared by the end of the year. Among the most significant of these newspapers in 1789 were Marat's L'Ami du peuple and Elysée Loustallot's Revolutions de Paris. The next decade saw 2000 newspapers founded, with 500 in Paris alone. Most lasted only a matter of weeks. Together they became the main communication medium, combined with the very large pamphlet literature. Newspapers were read aloud in taverns and clubs, and circulated hand to hand. The press saw its lofty role to be the advancement of civic republicanism based on public service, and downplayed the liberal, individualistic goal of making a profit. By 1793 the radicals were most active but at the start the royalists flooded the country with their press the \"Ami du Roi\" (Friends of the King) until they were suppressed. Napoleon only allowed four newspapers, all under tight control.\n\nSymbolism\n\nSymbolism was a device to distinguish the main features of the Revolution and ensure public identification and support. In order to effectively illustrate the differences between the new Republic and the old regime, the leaders needed to implement a new set of symbols to be celebrated instead of the old religious and monarchical symbolism. To this end, symbols were borrowed from historic cultures and redefined, while those of the old regime were either destroyed or reattributed acceptable characteristics. These revised symbols were used to instill in the public a new sense of tradition and reverence for the Enlightenment and the Republic. \n\nLa Marseillaise\n\n\"La Marseillaise\" became the national anthem of France. The song was written and composed in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, and was originally titled \"Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin\". The French National Convention adopted it as the First Republic's anthem in 1795. It acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching on the capital.\n\nThe song is the first example of the \"European march\" anthemic style. The anthem's evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music. Cerulo says, \"the design of \"La Marseillaise\" is credited to General Strasburg of France, who is said\nto have directed de Lisle, the composer of the anthem, to 'produce one of those hymns which conveys to the soul of the people the enthusiasm which it (the music) suggests.'\" \n\nGuillotine\n\nHanson notes, \"The guillotine stands as the principal symbol of the Terror in the French Revolution.\" Invented by a physician during the Revolution as a quicker, more efficient and more distinctive form of execution, the guillotine became a part of popular culture and historic memory. It was celebrated on the left as the people's avenger and cursed as the symbol of the Reign of Terror by the right. Its operation became a popular entertainment that attracted great crowds of spectators. Vendors sold programs listing the names of those scheduled to die. Many people came day after day and vied for the best locations from which to observe the proceedings; knitting women (tricoteuses) formed a cadre of hardcore regulars, inciting the crowd. Parents often brought their children. By the end of the Terror, the crowds had thinned drastically. Repetition had staled even this most grisly of entertainments, and audiences grew bored. \n\nWhat it is that horrifies people changes over time. Doyle comments:\nEven the unique horror of the guillotine has been dwarfed by the gas chambers of the Holocaust, the organized brutality of the gulag, the mass intimidation of Mao's cultural revolution, or the killing fields of Cambodia. \n\nTricolore cockade\n\nCockades were widely worn by revolutionaries beginning in 1789. They now pinned the blue-and-red cockade of Paris onto the white cockade of the Ancien Régime – thus producing the original Tricolore cockade. Later, distinctive colours and styles of cockade would indicate the wearer's faction—although the meanings of the various styles were not entirely consistent, and varied somewhat by region and period.\n\nThe tricolour flag is derived from the cockades used in the 1790s. These were circular rosette-like emblems attached to the hat. Camille Desmoulins asked his followers to wear green cockades on 12 July 1789. The Paris militia, formed on 13 July, adopted a blue and red cockade. Blue and red are the traditional colours of Paris, and they are used on the city's coat of arms. Cockades with various colour schemes were used during the storming of the Bastille on 14 July. The blue and red cockade was presented to King Louis XVI at the Hôtel de Ville on 17 July. Lafayette argued for the addition of a white stripe to \"nationalise\" the design. On 27 July, a tricolour cockade was adopted as part of the uniform of the National Guard, the national police force that succeeded the militia. \n\nWell after the revolution, by 1912 the French Third Republic had authorized the form of the tricolore cockade for use on its military aircraft by the Aeronautique Militaire as a national insignia, the first-ever in use worldwide — it is still in use by the current Armee de l'Air of France, and directly inspired the use of similar roundel insignia by the United Kingdom and many other nations worldwide.\n\nFasces\n\nFasces are Roman in origin and suggest Roman Republicanism. Fasces are a bundle of birch rods containing an axe. The French Republic continued this Roman symbol to represent state power, justice, and unity.\n\nLiberty cap\n\nThe Liberty cap, also known as the Phrygian cap, or pileus, is a brimless, felt cap that is conical in shape with the tip pulled forward. It reflects Roman republicanism and liberty, alluding to the Roman ritual of manumission of slaves, in which a freed slave receives the bonnet as a symbol of his newfound liberty. \n\nRole of women\n\nHistorians since the late 20th century have debated how women shared in the French Revolution and what long-term impact it had on French women. Women had no political rights in pre-Revolutionary France; they were considered \"passive\" citizens; forced to rely on men to determine what was best for them. That changed dramatically in theory as there seemingly were great advances in feminism. Feminism emerged in Paris as part of a broad demand for social and political reform. The women demanded equality for men and then moved on to a demand for the end of male domination. Their chief vehicle for agitation were pamphlets and women's clubs, but the clubs were abolished in October 1793 and their leaders were arrested. The movement was crushed. Devance explains the decision in terms of the emphasis on masculinity in a wartime situation, Marie Antoinette's bad reputation for feminine interference in state affairs, and traditional male supremacy. A decade later the Napoleonic Code confirmed and perpetuated women's second-class status. \n\nWhen the Revolution opened, groups of women acted forcefully, making use of the volatile political climate. Women forced their way into the political sphere. They swore oaths of loyalty, \"solemn declarations of patriotic allegiance, [and] affirmations of the political responsibilities of citizenship.\" De Corday d'Armont is a prime example of such a woman; engaged in the revolutionary political faction of the Girondists, she assassinated the Jacobin leader, Marat. Throughout the Revolution, other women such as Pauline Léon and her Society of Revolutionary Republican Women supported the radical Jacobins, staged demonstrations in the National Assembly and participated in the riots, often using armed force. \n\nThe March to Versailles is but one example of feminist militant activism during the French Revolution. While largely left out of the thrust for increasing rights of citizens, as the question was left indeterminate in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, activists such as Pauline Léon and Théroigne de Méricourt agitated for full citizenship for women. Women were, nonetheless, \"denied political rights of 'active citizenship' (1791) and democratic citizenship (1793).\"\n\nOn 20 June 1792 a number of armed women took part in a procession that \"passed through the halls of the Legislative Assembly, into the Tuilleries Gardens, and then through the King's residence.\" Militant women also assumed a special role in the funeral of Marat, following his murder on 13 July 1793. As part of the funeral procession, they carried the bathtub in which Marat had been murdered (by a counter-revolutionary woman) as well as a shirt stained with Marat's blood. On 20 May 1793, women were at the fore of a crowd that demanded \"bread and the Constitution of 1793.\" When their cries went unnoticed, the women went on a rampage, \"sacking shops, seizing grain and kidnapping officials.\" \n\nThe Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, a militant group on the far left, demanded a law in 1793 that would compel all women to wear the tricolor cockade to demonstrate their loyalty to the Republic. They also demanded vigorous price controls to keep bread – the major food of the poor people – from becoming too expensive. After the Convention passage law in September 1793, the Revolutionary Republican Women demanded vigorous enforcement, but were counted by market women, former servants, and religious women who adamantly opposed price controls (which would drive them out of business ) and resented attacks on the aristocracy and on religion. Fist fights broke out in the streets between the two factions of women.\n\nMeanwhile, the men who controlled the Jacobins rejected the Revolutionary Republican Women as dangerous rabble-rousers. At this point the Jacobins controlled the government; they dissolved the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, and decreed that all women's clubs and associations were illegal. They sternly reminded women to stay home and tend to their families by leaving public affairs to the men. Organized women were permanently shut out of the French Revolution after October 30, 1793. \n\nProminent women\n\nOlympe de Gouges wrote a number of plays, short stories, and novels. Her publications emphasized that women and men are different, but this shouldn't stop them from equality under the law. In her \"Declaration on the Rights of Woman\" she insisted that women deserved rights, especially in areas concerning them directly, such as divorce and recognition of illegitimate children. \n\nMadame Roland (a.k.a. Manon or Marie Roland) was another important female activist. Her political focus was not specifically on women or their liberation. She focused on other aspects of the government, but was a feminist by virtue of the fact that she was a woman working to influence the world. Her personal letters to leaders of the Revolution influenced policy; in addition, she often hosted political gatherings of the Brissotins, a political group which allowed women to join. As she was led to the scaffold, Madame Roland shouted \"O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!\" \n\nMost of these activists were punished for their actions. Many of the women of the Revolution were even publicly executed for \"conspiring against the unity and the indivisibility of the Republic\". \n\nCounter-revolutionary women\n\nA major aspect of the French Revolution was the dechristianisation movement, a movement strongly rejected by many devout people. Especially for women living in rural areas of France, the closing of the churches meant a loss of normalcy. \n\nWhen these revolutionary changes to the Church were implemented, it sparked a counter-revolutionary movement among women. Although some of these women embraced the political and social amendments of the Revolution, they opposed the dissolution of the Catholic Church and the formation of revolutionary cults like the Cult of the Supreme Being. As Olwen Hufton argues, these women began to see themselves as the \"defenders of faith\". They took it upon themselves to protect the Church from what they saw as a heretical change to their faith, enforced by revolutionaries.\n\nCounter-revolutionary women resisted what they saw as the intrusion of the state into their lives. Economically, many peasant women refused to sell their goods for assignats because this form of currency was unstable and was backed by the sale of confiscated Church property. By far the most important issue to counter-revolutionary women was the passage and the enforcement of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790. In response to this measure, women in many areas began circulating anti-oath pamphlets and refused to attend masses held by priests who had sworn oaths of loyalty to the Republic. These women continued to adhere to traditional practices such as Christian burials and naming their children after saints in spite of revolutionary decrees to the contrary. \n\nEconomic policies\n\nThe French Revolution abolished many of the constraints on the economy that had slowed growth during the ancien regime. It abolished tithes owed to local churches as well as feudal dues owed to local landlords. The result hurt the tenants, who paid both higher rents and higher taxes. It nationalized all church lands, as well as lands belonging to royalist enemies who went into exile. It planned to use these seized lands to finance the government by issuing assignats. It abolished the guild system as a worthless remnant of feudalism. It also abolished the highly inefficient system of tax farming, whereby private individuals would collect taxes for a hefty fee. The government seized the foundations that had been set up (starting in the 13th century) to provide an annual stream of revenue for hospitals, poor relief, and education. The state sold the lands but typically local authorities did not replace the funding and so most of the nation's charitable and school systems were massively disrupted. \n\nThe economy did poorly in 1790–96 as industrial and agricultural output dropped, foreign trade plunged, and prices soared. The government decided not to repudiate the old debts. Instead it issued more and more paper money (called \"assignat\") that supposedly were grounded seized lands. The result was escalating inflation. The government imposed price controls and persecuted speculators and traders in the black market. People increasingly refused to pay taxes as the annual government deficit increased from 10% of gross national product in 1789 to 64% in 1793. By 1795, after the bad harvest of 1794 and the removal of price controls, inflation had reached a level of 3500%. The assignats were withdrawn in 1796 but the replacements also fueled inflation. The inflation was finally ended by Napoleon in 1803 with the franc as the new currency. \n\nNapoleon after 1799 paid for his expensive wars by multiple means, starting with the modernization of the rickety financial system. He conscripted soldiers at low wages, raised taxes, placed large-scale loans, sold lands formerly owned by the Catholic Church, sold Louisiana to the United States, plundered conquered areas and seized food supplies, and levied requisitions on countries he controlled, such as Italy. \n\nLong-term impact\n\nThe French Revolution had a major impact on Europe and the New World. \n\nOtto Dann and John Dinwiddy report, \"It has long been almost a truism of European history that the French Revolution gave a great\nstimulus to the growth of modern nationalism.\" Nationalism was emphasized by historian Carlton J. H. Hayes as a major result of the French Revolution across Europe. The impact on French nationalism was profound. For example, Napoleon became such a heroic symbol of the nation that the glory was easily picked up by his nephew, who was overwhelmingly elected president (and later became Emperor Napoleon III). The influence was great in the hundreds of small German states and elsewhere, where it was either inspired by the French example or in reaction against it. \n\nFrance\n\nThe changes in France were enormous; some were widely accepted and others were bitterly contested into the late 20th century. Before the Revolution, the people had little power or voice. The kings had so thoroughly centralized the system that most nobles spent their time at Versailles, and thus played only a small direct role in their home districts. Thompson says that the kings had:\nruled by virtue of their personal wealth, their patronage of the nobility, their disposal of ecclesiastical offices, their provincial governors (intendants) their control over the judges and magistrates, and their command of the Army. \nAfter the first year of revolution, this power had been stripped away. The king was a figurehead, the nobility had lost all their titles and most of their land, the Church lost its monasteries and farmlands, bishops, judges and magistrates were elected by the people, the army was almost helpless, with military power in the hands of the new revolutionary National Guard. The central elements of 1789 were the slogan \"Liberty, Equality and Fraternity' and the \"The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen\", which Lefebvre calls \"the incarnation of the Revolution as a whole.\" \n\nThe long-term impact on France was profound, shaping politics, society, religion and ideas, and polarizing politics for more than a century. Historian François Aulard writes:\nFrom the social point of view, the Revolution consisted in the suppression of what was called the feudal system, in the emancipation of the individual, in greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth, the establishment of equality, the simplification of life.... The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity.\" \n\nReligion and charity\n\nThe most heated controversy was over the status of the Catholic Church. From a dominant position in 1788, it was almost destroyed in less than a decade, its priests and nuns turned out, its leaders dead or in exile, its property controlled by its enemies, and a strong effort underway to remove all influence of Christian religiosity, such as Sundays, holy days, saints, prayers, rituals and ceremonies. The movement to dechristianise France not only failed but aroused a furious reaction among the pious. Napoleon's Concordat was a compromise that restored some of the Catholic Church's traditional roles but not its power, its lands or its monasteries. Priests and bishops were given salaries as part of a department of government controlled by Paris, not Rome. Protestants and Jews gained equal rights. Battles over the role of religion in the public sphere, and closely related issues such as church-controlled schools, that were opened by the Revolution have never seen closure. They raged into the 20th century. By the 21st century angry debates exploded over the presence of any Muslim religious symbols in schools, such as the headscarves for which Muslim girls could be expelled. J. Christopher Soper and Joel S. Fetzer explicitly link the conflict over religious symbols in public to the French Revolution, when the target was Catholic rituals and symbols. \n\nThe revolutionary government seized the charitable foundations that had been set up (starting in the 13th century) to provide an annual stream of revenue for hospitals, poor relief, and education. The state sold the lands but typically local authorities did not replace the funding and so most of the nation's charitable and school systems were massively disrupted.\n\nIn the ancien regime new opportunity for nuns as charitable practitioners were created by devout nobles on their own estates. The nuns provided comprehensive care for the sick poor on their patrons' estates, acting not only as nurses, but took on expanded roles as physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries. During the Revolution, most of the orders of nuns were shut down and there was no organized nursing care to replace them. However the demand for their nursing services remained strong, and after 1800 the sisters reappeared and resumed their work in hospitals and on rural estates. They were tolerated by officials because they had widespread support and were the link between elite male physicians and distrustful peasants who needed help. \n\nEconomics\n\nTwo thirds of France was employed in agriculture, which was transformed by the Revolution. With the breakup of large estates controlled by the Church and the nobility and worked by hired hands, rural France became more a land of small independent farms. Harvest taxes were ended, such as the tithe and seigneurial dues, much to the relief of the peasants. Primogeniture was ended both for nobles and peasants, thereby weakening the family patriarch. Because all the children had a share in the family's property, there was a declining birth rate. Cobban says the revolution bequeathed to the nation \"a ruling class of landowners.\" \n\nIn the cities entrepreneurship on a small scale flourished, as restrictive monopolies, privileges, barriers, rules, taxes and guilds gave way. However the British blockade virtually ended overseas and colonial trade, hurting the port cities and their supply chains. Overall the Revolution did not greatly change the French business system, and probably helped freeze in place the horizons of the small business owner. The typical businessman owned a small store, mill or shop, with family help and a few paid employees; large scale industry was less common than in other industrializing nations. \n\nConstitutionalism\n\nThe Revolution meant an end to arbitrary royal rule, and held out the promise of rule by law under a constitutional order, but it did not rule out a monarch. Napoleon as emperor set up a constitutional system (although he remained in full control), and the restored Bourbons were forced to go along with one. After the abdication of Napoleon III in 1871, the monarchists probably had a voting majority, but they were so factionalized they could not agree on who should be king, and instead the French Third Republic was launched with a deep commitment to upholding the ideals of the Revolution. The conservative Catholic enemies of the Revolution came to power in Vichy France (1940–44), and tried with little success to undo its heritage, but they kept it a republic. Vichy denied the principle of equality and tried to replace the Revolutionary watchwords \"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity\" with \"Work, Family, and Fatherland.\" However, there were no efforts by the Bourbons, Vichy or anyone else to restore the privileges that had been stripped away from the nobility in 1789. France permanently became a society of equals under the law. \n\nCommunism\n\nThe Jacobin cause was picked up by Marxists in the mid-19th century and became an element of communist thought around the world. In the Soviet Union, \"Gracchus\" Babeuf was regarded as a hero. \n\nOutside France\n\nBritain\n\nBritain saw minority support but the majority, and especially the elite, strongly opposed the French Revolution. Britain led and funded the series of coalitions that fought France from 1793 to 1815, and then restored the Bourbons. Edmund Burke was the chief spokesman for the opposition. \n\nIn Ireland, the effect was to transform what had been an attempt by Protestant settlers to gain some autonomy into a mass movement led by the Society of United Irishmen involving Catholics and Protestants. It stimulated the demand for further reform throughout Ireland, especially in Ulster. The upshot was a revolt in 1798, led by Wolfe Tone, that was crushed by Britain. \n\nGermany\n\nGerman reaction to the Revolution swung from favorable to antagonistic. At first it brought liberal and democratic ideas, the end of gilds, serfdom and the Jewish ghetto. It brought economic freedoms and agrarian and legal reform. Above all the antagonism helped stimulate and shape German nationalism. \n\nSwitzerland\n\nThe French invaded Switzerland and turned it into an ally known as the \"Helvetic Republic\" (1798–1803). The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place. \n\nBelgium\n\nThe region of modern-day Belgium was divided between two polities: the Austrian Netherlands and Prince-Bishopric of Liège. Both territories experienced revolutions in 1789. In the Austrian Netherlands, the Brabant Revolution succeeded in expelling Austrian forces and established the new United Belgian States. The Liège Revolution expelled the tyrannical Prince-Bishop and installed a republic. Both failed to attract international support. By December 1790, the Brabant revolution had been crushed and Liège was subdued the following year.\n\nDuring the Revolutionary Wars, the French invaded and occupied the region between 1794 and 1814, a time known as the French period. The new government enforced new reforms, incorporating the region into France itself. New rulers were sent in by Paris. Belgian men were drafted into the French wars and heavily taxed. Nearly everyone was Catholic, but the Church was repressed. Resistance was strong in every sector, as Belgian nationalism emerged to oppose French rule. The French legal system, however, was adopted, with its equal legal rights, and abolition of class distinctions. Belgium now had a government bureaucracy selected by merit. \n\nAntwerp regained access to the sea and grew quickly as a major port and business center. France promoted commerce and capitalism, paving the way for the ascent of the bourgeoisie and the rapid growth of manufacturing and mining. In economics, therefore, the nobility declined while the middle class Belgian entrepreneurs flourished because of their inclusion in a large market, paving the way for Belgium's leadership role after 1815 in the Industrial Revolution on the Continent. \n\nScandinavia\n\nThe Kingdom of Denmark adopted liberalizing reforms in line with those of the French Revolution, with no direct contact. Reform was gradual and the regime itself carried out agrarian reforms that had the effect of weakening absolutism by creating a class of independent peasant freeholders. Much of the initiative came from well-organized liberals who directed political change in the first half of the 19th century. \n\nUnited States\n\nThe Revolution deeply polarized American politics, and this polarization led to the creation of the First Party System. In 1793, as war broke out in Europe, the Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson favored France and pointed to the 1778 treaty that was still in effect. Washington and his unanimous cabinet, including Jefferson, decided that the treaty did not bind the United States to enter the war. Washington proclaimed neutrality instead. Under President Adams, a Federalist, an undeclared naval war took place with France from 1798 until 1799, often called the \"Quasi War\". Jefferson became president in 1801, but was hostile to Napoleon as a dictator and emperor. However, the two entered negotiations over the Louisiana Territory and agreed to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, an acquisition that substantially increased the size of the United States.\n\nHistoriography\n\nThe French Revolution has received enormous amounts of historical attention, both from the general public and from scholars and academics. The views of historians, in particular, have been characterized as falling along ideological lines, with disagreement over the significance and the major developments of the Revolution. Alexis de Tocqueville argued that the Revolution was a manifestation of a more prosperous middle class becoming conscious of its social importance. \n\nOther thinkers, like the conservative Edmund Burke, maintained that the Revolution was the product of a few conspiratorial individuals who brainwashed the masses into subverting the old order—a claim rooted in the belief that the revolutionaries had no legitimate complaints. Other historians, influenced by Marxist thinking, have emphasized the importance of the peasants and the urban workers in presenting the Revolution as a gigantic class struggle. In general, scholarship on the French Revolution initially studied the political ideas and developments of the era, but it has gradually shifted towards social history that analyzes the impact of the Revolution on individual lives. \n\nHistorians until the late 20th century emphasized class conflicts from a largely Marxist perspective as the fundamental driving cause of the Revolution. The central theme of this argument was that the Revolution emerged from the rising bourgeoisie, with support from the sans-culottes, who fought to destroy the aristocracy. However, Western scholars largely abandoned Marxist interpretations in the 1990s. By the year 2000, many historians were saying that the field of the French Revolution was in intellectual disarray. The old model or paradigm focusing on class conflict has been discredited, and no new explanatory model had gained widespread support. Nevertheless, as Spang has shown, there persists a very widespread agreement to the effect that the French Revolution was the watershed between the premodern and modern eras of Western history. \n\nHistorians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in history. It marks the end of the early modern period, which started around 1500 and is often seen as marking the \"dawn of the modern era\". Within France itself, the Revolution permanently crippled the power of the aristocracy and drained the wealth of the Church, although the two institutions survived despite the damage they sustained. After the collapse of the First Empire in 1815, the French public lost the rights and privileges earned since the Revolution, but they remembered the participatory politics that characterized the period, with one historian commenting: \"Thousands of men and even many women gained firsthand experience in the political arena: they talked, read, and listened in new ways; they voted; they joined new organizations; and they marched for their political goals. Revolution became a tradition, and republicanism an enduring option.\" \n\nSome historians argue that the French people underwent a fundamental transformation in self-identity, evidenced by the elimination of privileges and their replacement by rights as well as the growing decline in social deference that highlighted the principle of equality throughout the Revolution. The Revolution represented the most significant and dramatic challenge to political absolutism up to that point in history and spread democratic ideals throughout Europe and ultimately the world. Throughout the 19th Century, the revolution was heavily analyzed by economists and political scientists, who saw the class nature of the revolution as a fundamental aspect in understanding human social evolution itself. This, combined with the egalitarian values introduced by the revolution, gave rise to a classless and co-operative model for society called \"socialism\" which profoundly influenced future revolutions in France and around the world.",
"History of the Guillotine - Capital Punishment UK homepage\nVirtually the whole French aristocracy were sent to the guillotine during the French Revolution. ... to guillotine 75 prisoners ... French guillotines had two ...\nHistory of the Guillotine\nDr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin did not invent the execution machine that bears his name.\nA similar device known as the Halifax Gibbet had been in use in that\nYorkshire\ntown since 1286 and continued until 1650. It was noticed by a Scotsman, James Douglas Earl of Morton, who had one built in\nEdinburgh\nin 1556, which became known as the Maiden and remained in use until 1710.\nThere is a credible recording of an execution by a similar machine in\nMilan\nin 1702, and there are paintings of a guillotine like machine used in\nNuremberg\nHowever, it was Dr. Guillotin (Deputy of Paris) who on\nOctober the 10th, 1789\nproposed to the Constituent Assembly that all condemned criminals should be beheaded on the grounds of humanity and egalit� (equality). Beheading was seen as by far the most humane method of execution at the time and was allowed to people of noble birth in many countries. Ordinary prisoners were slowly hanged, broken on the wheel (an horrendously cruel form of execution) or burnt at the stake. The idea of a standardised, quick and humane death was much more in line with revolutionary thinking.\nThe Constituent Assembly duly passed a decree making beheading the only form of execution on\nthe 25th of March 1791\n, and this came into law on\nthe 25th of March 1792\n. There was a small problem to this, as was indicated by the then official executioner, Sanson, who pointed out the impracticality of executing all condemned persons by the sword. Beheading requires a skilled executioner with a lot of strength, a very steady hand and a good eye, if it is to sever the criminal's head with a single stroke. Sanson proved to be right, as during the Terror, the rate of executions reached staggering proportions, well beyond the capacity of the few skilled headsmen to carry out.\nIt was clear that some sort of machine was required and after consultation with Dr. Antoine Louis, the Secretary of the\nAcademy\nof\nSurgery\n, such a machine was devised and built. It was initially known as the louisson or louisette, but no doubt, much to the relief of the good surgeon took on the name of its proposer and became known as the guillotine.\nThe first one was built in\nParis\nby one Tobias Schmidt, a German engineer, and was ready for testing using recently deceased bodies from the\nhospital\nBicerte\non the 17thof April 1792.\nIt had two large uprights joined by a beam at the top and erected on a platform reached by 24 steps. The whole contraption was painted a dull blood red and the weighted blade ran in grooves in the uprights which were greased with tallow. However, it worked well enough and its first execution was that of Nicholas-Jacques Pelletier for robbery with violence on\nthe 25th of April 1792\nin the Place de Greve. The execution went according to plan with his head being severed at the first stroke.\nGuillotines were soon supplied to all Departments in\nFrance\nand models were made as children's toys and even as earrings for women. Experiments were made with a 45 degree angled blade and also a rounded blade but this proved unsatisfactory and the angled blade became the standard pattern, in use until the abolition of capital punishment in\nFrance\n.\nThe \"Terror\" began on the 10th of August and trade for the guillotine increased rapidly. In the 13 month period, May 1793-June 1794, no less than 1,225 people were executed in\nParis\n. The Place de Greve saw the first use of the guillotine on\nthe 22nd of August 1792\nfor ordinary criminals. Political offenders were executed at the Place de Carrousel. Virtually the whole French aristocracy were sent to the guillotine during the French Revolution. On\nthe 21st of January 1793\n, it was erected for the first time in the Place de la Revolution for the execution of King Louis XVI, its most famous victim. This was also the place of execution for such famous women as Marie Antoinette and Charlotte Corday.\nCharlotte\nwas condemned after a brief trial for stabbing to death Jean-Paul Marat, one of the revolution's leaders. She was executed on the evening of the 17th of July 1793 and upon arrival at the Place de la Revolution in the usual tumbrel (horse drawn cart), asked Sansom (her executioner) to be allowed to look at the guillotine as she hadn't seen one before and felt that it was of interest to someone in her position! She was an attractive and brave 24 year old who was seen as something of a martyr by many.\nIn June of 1793, the guillotine was temporarily moved to the Place St. Antoine where 96 people were decapitated in five days. Due to protests from local traders, it was then moved to the Barriere Ranverse where 1,270 people were executed in under two months. It returned to the Place de la Revolution for the execution of the famous revolutionary, Robespierre, and 21 of his followers on the 28th of July. The guillotine was also being used in all the other French cities with great frequency at this time and many thousands of people fell victim to it.\nFrance\nwas not the only country to adopt the guillotine as many other governments saw the advantages in speed and humanity of it compared to the other methods then available. It was used by\nAlgeria\nand Wuerttemberg from 1853 and 1854 respectively and\nBaden\nfrom 1857. From 1871, German law stated that all condemned criminals must be decapitated but allowed both the axe and the guillotine. Executions were fairly infrequent during the early years of the 20th century, however, increased dramatically particularly between 1938 and 1945. On the 14th of October 1936, Adolf Hitler decreed that in future that criminals and those who opposed his regime should suffer death by either guillotining or hanging. But since\nGermany\ndid not yet have such machines in every place of execution, there was a transition period until 1938 .Hitler ordered and had 20 guillotines built and dispersed to prisons around\nGermany\nand\nAustria\n. He also greatly increased the number of crimes punishable by death. Between 1933 and 1944, a total of 13,405 death sentences were passed. Of these, 11,881 were carried out. In 1940 alone, some 900 German civilians were put to death. In 1941, the minimum age for execution was reduced to just 14 years.\nThe execution rate had risen to over 5,000 by 1943. Between 1943 and 1945, the People's Courts sentenced around 7,000 people to death. In the first few months of 1945, some 800 people were executed, over 400 of them German citizens. Nazi executioners could guillotine a prisoner every three minutes if required, which it often was. It has been claimed that it took just 90 minutes to guillotine 75 prisoners at Breslau Prison.\nIn\n, 1,377 men and women were guillotined between 1938 and 1945 after sentence by the\nSpecial Court\nor People� Tribunal in\nVienna\n. These Special Courts had replaced the ordinary courts in 1939. Most of them were executed for opposing the Nazis and for treason. It is thought that in all, some 16,000 people were guillotined by the Nazis. For accounts of some of these executions click here .\nAfter the war, the Allies permitted the use of the guillotine for German nationals and even had some new ones constructed by the company of Fritz and Otto Tiggeman. \nWest Germany\n(as it became) abolished capital punishment in 1951, the last guillotining of Berthold Wehmeyer, taking place on\nthe 11th of May 1949\n.\ncontinued to use the guillotine until 1967, but records of executions there are very sketchy.\nConstruction.\nAll guillotines follow the same basic pattern, but the modern ones did not have a scaffold for the condemned to climb and were placed directly on the ground. As with the gallows in\nBritain\n, this was found to be a great improvement, due to the difficulty of getting an often terrified person with their hands strapped behind them up a flight of steps.\nFrench guillotines had two uprights, approximately 14 feet 9 inches (4500 mm) high and 15 inches (370 mm) apart, with metal lined grooves to ensure free movement of the triangular shaped weighted blade which ran on a four wheeled carriage. The substantial frame is set perfectly level using spirit levels after the guillotine is erected, to prevent the blade jamming.\nAt right angles to the uprights, is a bench shaped structure, about 800 mm from the ground, at the end of which is the bascule. This is a hinged board which stands upright to receive the prisoner who is then strapped to it before the bascule is turned to the horizontal and slid forward bringing the prisoner's head into the lunette. The lunette is formed in two halves each with a semicircular cut out for the neck. When the victim is correctly positioned in the lower half, the top half is lowered into position to prevent them moving.\nThe blade is of high quality steel, about 300 mm deep and is weighted with lead to give a total weight of approximately 40 Kgs. It falls just over seven feet (2,250 mm) in around 0.75 of a second before being brought to rest by a spring mechanism in the block beneath the lunette. The blade is drawn up by a rope running through a brass pulley until it is caught by a spring release mechanism. It is released by pulling a cord or operating a lever mounted on one of the uprights.\nThere is a metal bucket to catch the head and a metal tray for the blood. Originally, a wicker basket lined with oil cloth had been used to catch the head. The decapitated body falls or is pushed off the bascule onto an angled board that deposits it into a basket or coffin.\nThe Nazi guillotine (fallbeil in German) was similar to the French style but not as high, as the photo of the one in Pl�tzensee prison in\nBerlin\nshows. It is around eight feet tall but has a heavier blade to produce the required force. The condemned was made to lie face down on a simple bench rather than being strapped to a bascule and the head fell into a metal basin attached to the frame. Later a tip board was used to further speed up the process and Johann Reichhart designed a device for rapidly clamping victims to this.� Reichhart later abandoned the bascule as it took too much time to carry out the large number of executions required.� His assistants simply slid the condemned under the blade and held them there until it fell.� Other modifications were the addition of ducting to funnel the blood into a floor drain and a head rest in the surround/splash guard that the prisoners forehead rested on, helping to keep the neck straight.\nTwo guillotinings described.\nGrete Beier, the 22 year old daughter of the Mayor of Freiburg in\nSaxony\n, was guillotined for the murder of her fianc�e, a civil engineer named Kurt Proffler, whom she had poisoned for financial gain. Grete was in love with another man, Hans Merker, of whom her father didn't approve. Her father had forced her into the engagement with Proffler, whom he felt had much better prospects than Merker.\nThe case attracted international attention due to her age, sex, personality and the elaborate nature of the crime. She was seemingly a happy and fun loving girl from a good background. ( Click here for a photo of her)\nAt her trial, she admitted that on May 13th, 1908, she had visited her fianc�e's house and given him potassium cyanide in a drink she mixed for him, and then to make sure of his death, shot him in the mouth with his own revolver. She then did her best to make the scene look like a suicide, placing the gun carefully at his side, leaving a forged will in her favour on his desk and with a final note to herself, also forged, saying that he feared to lose her love, because of a relationship that he had had with a woman in Italy who was now accusing him of desertion and threatening to tell Grete everything. These forgeries were good enough to initially deceive police and the Coroner. She fell under suspicion when about a month later a letter was found that she had written to another man hinting at what she had done, when he was arrested for an unrelated crime. She was arrested and made a detailed confession to the murder. She hoped by confessing that she would be granted a lesser sentence but, as the crime was a premeditated poisoning, she was sentenced to death.\nHer execution took place on the morning of July 23rd, 1908 in the yard of the regional court building before some 190 people. The guillotine had been erected earlier in a corner of the yard and at around 6.25 a.m., the public prosecutor, Dr. Mannl, the judges who had heard her case, including their chairman Dr. Rudert, and the 12 official witnesses came into the yard. The public prosecutor and the judges all wore their official robes.\nAt precisely 6.30 a.m., a bell was rung as the signal to bring out the prisoner. She was led through the gardens by her lawyer and the prison chaplain, her arms folded and her eyes looking down at the ground, walking slowly but upright and unaided. She was very pale but seemed calm and showed no emotion. She wore a black dress, that had been cut down at the neck.\nShe was led onto the platform of the guillotine by the executioner and his assistant and strapped to the board which was then tilted into the horizontal and slid forward, so that she could now see directly into the bucket in which her head would land. This was too much for Grete, who was beginning to lose her composure. She cried out, \"Father, into your hands I lay my soul � Father.\" The upper part of the neck ring had been closed about her and at this moment the blade fell. The executioner took off his hat and announced to the public prosecutor in the traditional German fashion that the judgement of death had been executed. The prosecutor requested the witnesses to depart quietly. The whole execution had taken just three minutes. Grete's body was taken away in a hearse decorated with flowers and buried next to her late father.\nMartha Marek.\nMartha Lowenstein Marek ( see photo ) was guillotined by the\nBavarian\nexecutioner, Johann Reichhart, in\nVienna\non the 6th of December 1938, for the poisoning of her husband, their baby daughter, an elderly relative, whose money and house she inherited, and finally a lodger in her house.\nEmil Marek had conspired with his wife Martha to defraud his insurers by getting Martha to chop off his leg in order that they could collect $30,000 in accident insurance he had taken out. Martha, however, was not very good at wielding the axe and it took three blows to sever the leg. The insurer's doctors were not convinced that it was an accident that had occurred while cutting down a tree as the Mareks claimed and therefore rejected their claim. Emil died, apparently from tuberculosis, in July 1932 and their nine month old baby daughter died a month later. When her lodger, Felicitas Kittsteiner, died his relatives became suspicious because he had told them that when he ate or drank anything that Martha prepared, he immediately felt violently sick. Martha had taken out a life insurance policy on him before he died. The relatives informed the police who ordered the exhumation of all four bodies. They found that they had all been poisoned with a compound of thallium. She was arrested and brought to trial in Vienna in 1938. Hitler had re-instated capital punishment in Austria when he took control of it and a new guillotine was sent to Vienna by rail, packed as \"industrial machinery\" on October 3rd, 1938. As you read earlier, it was to see plenty of use. No woman had been executed in Austria for over 30 years and there was some reluctance on the part of the authorities to execute Martha. Martha was alleged to be paralysed so it was decided to take her from the condemned cell to the execution chamber in a wheelchair. The executioner, Johann Reichhart, and his assistants practised tipping the wheelchair in front of the guillotine so that Martha would fall directly onto the bench in the right place. On the morning of the execution, however, Martha's paralysis seemed to have disappeared and she struggled violently with her guards and was able to land a heavy kick on Reichhart before being subdued and tied to the bascule by his assistant. Reichhart executed 3,165 people between 1924 and 1947.\nMany British accounts of Martha Marek state that she was beheaded with an axe but this is not correct and may well stem from an incorrect translation of the German for guillotine -Fallbeil- literally drop or fall hatchet (axe).\nModern French execution procedure.\nSome 6000 people were guillotined in\nFrance\nbetween 1800 and abolition, with around 3,750 of these taking place in the years 1800 � 1824.\nIn the 20th century, the 580Kg. guillotine would be sent from\nParis\nto the prison by rail and be erected in a suitable place during the night. Just before dawn, the officials would go to the condemned man's cell and inform him that his appeal had failed and that he was to be executed immediately. He would be allowed an hour to prepare and to pray with his priest before having his hands strapped behind his back and the collar of his shirt cut down. The prison register would be signed for the final time and the prisoner escorted to the guillotine by warders. On arrival, he would immediately be strapped to the upright bascule and then turned horizontally and slid into the lunette. The top of the lunette would be brought down, instantly followed by the release of the blade. The whole procedure typically took less than two minutes to complete.\nUp to 1939, executions were carried out in public - normally just outside the prison gates. The crowds saw very little as the guillotine was always surrounded by gendarmes but reporters and invited witnesses were permitted. Eugene Weidmann became the last to suffer in public outside the Pallais de Justice at Versailles before a large crowd on the 17th of June 1939 for multiple murder. This execution was photographed and the shots appeared in the French press. The general public obviously enjoyed it more than was felt good for them and a week later, the government changed the law making all executions private.\nGuillotinings had got steadily fewer during the 20th century and\nFrance\ncame under pressure from its European neighbours to end capital punishment.\nFrance\nfinally abolished the death penalty in 1981. At least 247 men and eight women went to the guillotine in 20th century\nFrance\n(roughly a third as many executions as occurred in\nBritain\nduring the same period). The war time period, under Nazi occupation and the period under the\nVichy\ngovernment, saw a rise in the number of executions There were 36 executions between 1958 and 1969, during General de Gaulle's term as president. De Gaulle commuted 18 or 19 sentences, one of those condemned rejected the offer of clemency and was executed.\nBetween March 1969 and November 1972, there were no executions in France. One of the executions during Pompidou's presidency took place on the 12th of May 1973 (Ali Benyanes), the other two on 28th of November 1972 (Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems, the Clairvaux mutineers).\nValery Giscard d'Estaing sanctioned the execution of Christian Rannuci on the 28th of July 1976 at Marseilles; Jerome Carrein on the 23rd of June 1977 at Douai Prison; and Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant, who became the last person to be guillotined (by Marcel Chevalier) on the 10th of September 1977 at Baumettes Prison, in Marseilles. Djandoubi was executed for the murder, rape and torture of Elisabeth Bousquet.� Djandoubi was the last person to suffer capital punishment within the original European Union countries.\nPhilippe Maurice was granted clemency by Mitterrand in 1981. Maurice, a hardened and uneducated criminal at the time, is now noted as a talented history researcher. He was released from prison in 2001 and has written a much acclaimed book about his life.\nFrench women executed.\nDeath sentences on women were very rare and were almost always commuted in the 20th century. From 1887 to 1939 no women was executed in\nFrance\n.� However there were nine female executions in the decade 1940 and 1949.\nGeorgette Thomas (aged 25) and her husband, Sylvain Henri, (aged 30) were guillotined in public on the 24th of January 1887, at Romorantin, 100 miles south of\nParis\n.� The couple had burned to death Marie Lebon, Georgette�s mother on July 29, 1886 on their farm in Selles-Saint-Denis. Alexander and Alexis Lebon, Georgette�s brothers and accomplices received life sentences for their parts in the crime.� They thought the mother was a witch.\nA large number of reporters travelled down from the capital, to cover the almost unique execution of a woman. That it was a joint husband a wife execution heightened the public interest. Georgette disrupted the performance by proceeding to remove her clothes, trying to distract the executioners from their duties.� Louis Deibler was so upset that he vowed never to execute another woman - even if it cost him his job.\n \nFemale executions under Nazi Occupation during World War II, under the\nVichy\nFive women guillotined during World War II, they were :\nOn the 8th of January 1941, Elisabeth Ducourneau, (35) was executed at\nBordeaux\n, for the murder of her husband and mother by poisoning in 1937 and 1938.\nGeorgette Monneron (30) was guillotined at the Petite Roquette women�s prison in\nParis\non the 6th of� February 1942, for the abuse and murder of her daughter. Her husband, Emile, was executed the next day for his part in the crime.\nThe 8th of June 1943 saw the execution of Germaine Philippe Besse (29) at Saintes for the abuse and murder of her stepson.\nCzeslawa Sinska (nee Bilicki) (33) was executed on the 29th of June 1943 at Chalon for the murder of her husband.� Her lover helped with the murder but did not get the death penalty.\nMarie-Louise Giraud, (39) a laundress, was guillotined at the Petite Roquette women�s prison in\nParis\non the 30th of July 1943. She had been convicted of having performed 27 illegal abortions in the\nCherbourg\narea between December 1940 and October 1942. One of abortions had tragic consequences, causing the death of a mother on February the 15th 1942.\nFour women were executed under the \"\nFourth\nRepublic\n\" of President Vincent Auriol.\n45 year old Lucienne Thioux (45) was executed at Melun on 11th of December 1947. She had drowned her husband Paul, 73, on their wedding night, March the 2nd 1946 at Ussy-sur-Marne by throwing him off a bridge.� She had to be dragged from the cell to the guillotine, urinating in fear and shouting \"I did nothing! I did nothing!\nOn the 21st of April 1949. Genevi�ve Calame (n�e Danelle) was executed by firing squad in\nParis\nfor treason (helping the Nazi�s).� Her husband was shot the following day.\nDuring 1948 Madeleine Mouton was guillotined in\nAlgiers\nOn the 22nd of April 1949. Germaine Leloy-Godefroy (31) was guillotined at\nAngers\nfor murdering her husband, Albert Leloy, with an axe while he slept at Baug� on December the 10th 1947. This was to be the last French female execution.\nIt is reported that when she was woken up at 4:30,\" she turned pale and dressed in silence, assisted by two inmates with whom she shared her cell. \"\nFollowing a meeting with the chaplain Moreau, she wrote a long letter, went to confession and attended the mass. After the blessing, she refused rum and cigarettes. She was led into the prison yard and the blade fell at 5.50 am. She was described as \"A very dignified woman, she spoke in a soft voice. She died murmuring prayers.�\nThe cause of death.\nThe person guillotined becomes unconscious very quickly and dies from shock and anoxia due to haemorrhage and loss of blood pressure within less than 60 seconds. It has often been reported that the eyes and mouths of people beheaded have shown signs of movement. It has been calculated that the human brain has enough oxygen stored for metabolism to persist about seven seconds after the supply is cut off. As in hanging, the heart continues to beat for some time after decapitation.\nVarious experiments have been made on guillotined heads and generally seem to show that little consciousness remains after 2-5 seconds of separation from the body although some have concluded that the head retains feeling for much longer. Whatever the truth, guillotining is probably one of the least cruel methods of execution and yet one that has a high deterrent value because it is perceived as gruesome.\nThe guillotine was the catalyst for the famous Madame Tussaud's waxwork exhibitions.\nIn the 1790's there was, of course, no television and the rudimentary media of the time had no means of printing pictures in quantity. Thus only very few people knew what the French aristocracy looked like. Madame Tussaud collected the guillotined heads and made plaster casts of them, which she then filled with wax to give a reasonable likeness. She toured France with her exhibition for some time before falling foul of the Revolution herself and fleeing to England where her work continued. Her waxworks are still enormously popular today.\nExecuted criminals continued to be popular subjects and Tussaud's used to buy the clothes and other effects of famous criminals from the hangman in the days when these items became his property after the execution.\nFor further reading visit J�rn Fabricius' excellent site\nand the Bois de Justice site .",
"tumbrel - definition and meaning\ntumbrel: A two-wheeled cart, ... prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution; ... The name is often given to the carts used to convey the victims of ...\ntumbrel - definition and meaning\ntumbrel\nDefinitions\nfrom The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition\nn. A two-wheeled cart, especially a farmer's cart that can be tilted to dump a load.\nn. A crude cart used to carry condemned prisoners to their place of execution, as during the French Revolution.\nfrom Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License\nn. Alternative form of tumbril.\nfrom the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English\nn. A cucking stool for the punishment of scolds.\nn. A rough cart.\nn. A cart or carriage with two wheels, which accompanies troops or artillery, to convey the tools of pioneers, cartridges, and the like.\nn. A kind of basket or cage of osiers, willows, or the like, to hold hay and other food for sheep.\nfrom The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia\nn. A low cart used by farmers for the removal of dung, etc.; a dung-cart.\nn. A covered cart with two wheels, which accompanies artillery, for the conveyance of tools, ammunition, etc.\nn. A chair fixed on a pair of wheels and having very long shafts used to punish scolds.\nn. A sort of circular cage or crib, made of osiers or twigs, used in some parts of England for holding food for sheep in winter.\nfrom WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.\nn. a farm dumpcart for carrying dung; carts of this type were used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution\nEtymologies\nfrom The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition\nMiddle English tumberell, from Old French tomberel, from tomber, to let fall, perhaps of Germanic origin.\nExamples\na two-wheeled tumbrel: According to the OED, a tumbrel is a cart constructed so that the body tilts backwards to empty out the load, such as a dung-cart.",
"The French Revolution: Terms - Bylo Chacon\n... is a two-wheeled cart or ... Their most notable use was taking prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution. ... Swiss Guards is the name given to ...\nThe French Revolution: Terms\nThe French Revolution: Terms\n \n.pdf (. . . )\nOn 10 August 1792, during the French Revolution, revolutionary Fédéré militias — with the backing of a new municipal government of Paris that came to be known as the \"insurrectionary\" Paris Commune and ultimately supported by the National Guard — besieged the Tuileries palace. King Louis XVI and the royal family took shelter with the Legislative Assembly. This proved to be the effective end of the French Bourbon Monarchy (until it was restored in 1814, the monarchical system of an empire had been introduced ten years earlier). The formal end of the monarchy occurred six weeks later, as one of the first acts of business of the new Convention. This insurrection and its outcome are most commonly referred to by historians of the Revolution simply as \"the 10 August\"; other common designations include \"the journée of the 10 August\", \"the insurrection of the 10 August\", or even \"the revolution of the 10 August\". (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe coup of 18 Brumaire (often simply 18 Brumaire or Brumaire) was the coup d'état by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate. This occurred on 9 November 1799, which was 18 Brumaire, Year VIII under the French Republican Calendar. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nAbsolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the sovereign state and its subject peoples. In an absolute monarchy, the transmission of power is twofold; hereditary and marital. Absolute monarchy differs from limited monarchy, in which the monarch’s authority is legally bound or restricted by a constitution. In theory, the absolute monarch exercises total power over the land and its subject peoples, yet in practice the monarchy is counter-balanced by political groups from among the social classes and castes of the realm: the aristocracy, clergy, bourgeoisie, and proletarians. Some monarchies have weak or symbolic parliaments and other governmental bodies that the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment or Age of Reason) was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in Church and state. Originating about 1650–1700, it was sparked by philosophers Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), John Locke (1632–1704), and Pierre Bayle (1647–1706) and by mathematician Isaac Newton (1643–1727). Ruling princes often endorsed and fostered Enlightenment figures and even attempted to apply their ideas of government. The Enlightenment flourished until about 1790–1800, after which the emphasis on reason gave way to Romanticism's emphasis on emotion and a Counter-Enlightenment gained force. The center of the Enlightenment was France, where it was based in the salons and culminated in the great Encyclopédie (1751–72) edited by Denis Diderot (1713–1784) with contributions by hundreds of leading philosophes (intellectuals) such as Voltaire (1694–1778) and Montesquieu (1689–1755). Some 25,000 copies of the 35 volume set were sold, half of them outside France. The new intellectual forces spread to urban centers across Europe, notably England, Scotland, the German states, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Austria, and Spain, then jumped the Atlantic into the European colonies, where it influenced Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, among many others, and played a major role in the American Revolution. The political ideals influenced the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Ancien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system established in France from (roughly) the 15th century to the 18th century under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties. The administrative and social structures of the Ancien Régime were the result of years of state-building, legislative acts, internal conflicts and civil wars, but they remained a confusing patchwork of local privilege and historic differences until the French Revolution brought about a radical suppression of administrative incoherence. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Army of the Rhine is the overall name for one of the main French Revolutionary armies, that operated in the German theater along the River Rhine. La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, was initially titled Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin (War Song for the Army of the Rhine) and dedicated to Nicolas Luckner, the army's commander at the time. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Assembly of Notables was a group of notables invited by the King of France to consult on matters of state. . . Like the Estates General, they served a consultative purpose only. But unlike the Estates General, whose members were elected by the subjects of the realm, the members of the Assemblies were selected by the king for their \"zeal\", \"devotion\", and their \"fidelity\" to the sovereign, and assemblies included royal princes, peers, archbishops, important judges, and, in some cases, major town officials. The king would issue a reforming edict or edicts after hearing their advice. An assembly of notables was an expanded version of the king's Council. . . The final appearance of the Assembly of Notables began in February 1787 in the reign of Louis XVI. During the reign of Louis XVI, France’s finances were in a desperate situation and French Finance Ministers in this period (Turgot, Necker, Calonne) all believed that tax reform was necessary if France was to pay off its debt and bring government expenditure back into line with government income. However, before any new tax laws could be passed, they first had to be registered with the French parlements which possessed a limited veto power. Repeated attempts to implement tax reform failed due to lack of parlement support, as the members of France’s parlements felt that any increase in tax would have a direct negative effect on their own finances. In response to this opposition, the Finance Minister at the time, Calonne suggested that Louis XVI call an Assembly of Notables. While the an Assembly of Notables had no legislative power in its own right, Calonne hoped that if the Assembly of Notables could be made to support the proposed reforms then this would apply pressure on parlement to register them. The plan failed, as the 144 Notables who made up the Assembly included Princes of the Blood, archbishops, nobles and other people from privileged positions in society, and they too did not wish to bear the burden of increased taxation. The Assembly insisting that the proposed tax reforms had to be presented to a representative body such as an Estates General. Opposition in the Assembly combined with intrigues from rival ministers to lead to Calonne's disgrace and he was dismissed by Louis XVI on 8 April 1787. In addition to tax reform, the Assembly also discussed other issues. The end result was that the Assembly assisted the Parliament in creating provincial assemblies, reestablishing of free trade in grain, the conversion of the corvée (a tax in the form of labour) into a cash payment, and short-term loans. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Third Estate comprised all those not members of the above and can be divided into two groups, urban and rural. The urban included the bourgeoisie 8% of France's population, as well as wage-laborers (such as craftsmen). The rural had no wealth and yet were forced to pay disproportionately high taxes to the other Estates. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nAssignat was the type of a monetary instrument used during the time of the French Revolution, and the French Revolutionary Wars. . . Assignats were paper money issued by the National Assembly in France during the French Revolution. The assignats were issued after the confiscation of church properties in 1790 because the government was bankrupt. The government thought that the financial problems could be solved by printing certificates representing the value of church properties. These church lands became known as biens nationaux (“national goods”). Assignats were used to successfully retire a significant portion of the national debt as they were accepted as legitimate payment by domestic and international creditors. Certain precautions not taken concerning their excessive reissue and comingling with general currency in circulation caused hyperinflation. Originally meant as bonds, they evolved into a currency used as legal tender. As there was no control over the amount to be printed, the value of the assignats exceeded that of the confiscated properties. This caused massive hyperinflation. In the beginning of 1792, they had lost most of their nominal value. In 1796, the Directoire issued Mandats, a currency in the form of land warrants to replace the assignats, although these too quickly failed. This hyperinflation was stirred up by repeated food shortages. Instead of solving the financial problems, the assignats became a catalyst for (food) riots. Instability continued after the abolition of the monarchy, exacerbated by the wars France faced. This situation impeded the implementation of good financial policies that would reduce debts. Bills such as the Maximum Price Act of 1793 aimed to regulate inflation. When the Directoire came into power in 1795 the Maximum Price Act was lifted. Hyperinflation reemerged and in the next four years Paris was the stage of yet more riots. The inflation was finally solved by Napoleon in 1803 by introducing the franc as the new currency. By this time, the assignats were basically worthless. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA tenth; a tax paid to the church. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe August Decrees were nineteen decrees made in August 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution. . . The August Decrees were declared with the idea of calming the populace and encouraging them towards civility. However, the August Decrees revised itself over and over again during the next two years. King Louis XVI, in a letter, on the one hand expressed deep satisfaction with “…the noble and generous demarche of the first two orders of the state…” who, according to him had “…made great sacrifices for the general reconciliation, for their patrie and for their king.” On the other hand, he went on to say that though the “…sacrifices were fine, I cannot admire it; I will never consent to the despoliation of my clergy and my nobility… I will never give my sanction to the decrees that despoil them, for then the French people one day could accuse me of injustice or weakness.” What Louis was concerned with was not with the loss of position of the French nobility and clergy, but with adequate reparation for this loss. Meanwhile, the August Decrees paved the way for the Assembly to make the Declaration of the Rights of Man. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nAn autocracy is a form of government in which one person possesses unlimited power. The term autocrat is derived from the Greek αὐτοκρατία: αὐτός (\"self\") and κρατείν (\"rule\"), and may be translated as \"one who rules by himself\". It is distinct from oligarchy (\"rule by the few\") and democracy (\"rule by the people\"). Like \"despot\", \"tyrant\" and \"dictator\", \"autocrat\" is a loaded word with a negative value judgment. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nIn sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class \"characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture.\" A member of the bourgeoisie is a bourgeois or capitalist (plural: bourgeois; capitalists). (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Brunswick Manifesto was a proclamation issued by Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, commander of the Allied Army (principally Austrian and Prussian), on July 25, 1792 to the population of Paris, France during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Brunswick Manifesto threatened that if the French royal family were harmed, then French civilians would be harmed. It was a measure intended to intimidate Paris, but rather helped further spur the increasingly radical French Revolution and finally led to the war between revolutionary France and counter-revolutionary monarchies. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Champ de Mars (Field of Mars) is a large public green space in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the Campus Martius (\"Mars Field\") in Rome, a tribute to the Roman god of war. The name also alludes to the fact that the lawns here were formerly used as drilling and marching grounds by the French military. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA château (plural châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions. Where clarification is needed, a fortified château (that is, a castle) is called a château fort, such as Château fort de Roquetaillade. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Chouannerie was a royalist uprising in twelve of the western departements of France, particularly in the provinces of Brittany and Maine, against the French Revolution, the First French Republic, and even, with its headquarters in London rather than France, for a time, under the Empire. It played out in three phases and lasted from the spring of 1794 until 1800. Its members, known as Chouans, were motivated by their opposition to conscription and their support of the Catholic Church. They engaged in what would later be called guerrilla warfare. One of their leaders was Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouerie, and another was the namesake of the insurrection, Jean Chouan. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nCitizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities. \"Active citizenship\" is the philosophy that citizens should work towards the betterment of their community through economic participation, public, volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens. In this vein, schools in some countries provide citizenship education. Citizenship was equated by Virginia Leary (1999) as connoting \"a bundle of rights -- primarily, political participation in the life of the community, the right to vote, and the right to receive certain protection from the community, as well as obligations.\" The group of all citizens is the citizenry. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government. It is often stated this law confiscated the Church's French land holdings or banned monastic vows: that had already been accomplished by earlier legislation. It did, however, complete the destruction of the monastic orders, legislating out of existence \"all regular and secular chapters for either sex, abbacies and priorships, both regular and in commendam, for either sex\", etc. Some of the support from this came from figures within the Church, such as the priest and parliamentarian Pierre Claude François Daunou, and, above all, the revolutionary priest Henri Grégoire. The measure was opposed, but ultimately acquiesced to, by King Louis XVI. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colors which is usually worn on a hat. . . In the 18th century, a cockade was pinned on the side of a man's tricorne or cocked hat, or on his lapel. Women could also wear it on their hat or in their hair. A cockade uses distinctive colors to show the allegiance of its wearer to some political faction, their rank, or as part of a servant's livery. In pre-revolutionary France, the cockade of the Bourbon dynasty was all white. . . Cockades were later widely worn by revolutionaries and proponents of various political factions in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. Just as they did in the United States a few years before, the French now pinned the blue-and-red cockade of Paris onto the white cockade of the Ancien Régime - thus producing the original Tricolor cockade. Later, distinctive colors and styles of cockade would indicate the wearer's faction—although the meanings of the various styles were not entirely consistent, and varied somewhat by region and period. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Committee of Public Safety, created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror (1793–1794), a stage of the French Revolution. The Committee of Public Safety succeeded the previous Committee of General Defense (established in January 1793) and assumed its role of protecting the newly established republic against foreign attacks and internal rebellion. As a wartime measure, the Committee – composed at first of nine, and later of twelve members – was given broad supervisory powers over military, judicial, and legislative efforts. Its power peaked under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre, between August 1793 and July 1794; following the downfall of Robespierre, the Committee's influence diminished, and it was disestablished in 1795. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801. It solidified the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and brought back most of its civil status. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly had taken Church properties and issued the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which made the Church a department of the State, removing it from the authority of the Pope. This caused hostility among the Vendeans towards the change in the relationship between the Catholic Church and the French government. Subsequent laws abolished the traditional Gregorian calendar and Christian holidays. While the Concordat restored some ties to the papacy, it was largely in favor of the state; the balance of church-state relations had tilted firmly in Napoleon's favor. Now, he could win favor with the Catholics within France while also controlling Rome in a political sense. Napoleon once told his brother Lucien in April 1801, \"Skillful conquerors have not got entangled with priests. They can both contain them and use them.\" As a part of the Concordat, he presented another set of laws called the Organic Articles. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nConscription is the compulsory enrollment of people to some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1–3 years on active duty, then transfer to the reserve force. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nConstitutional monarchy (or limited monarchy) is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution. This form of government differs from absolute monarchy in which an absolute monarch serves as the sole source of political power in the state and is not legally bound by any constitution. Most constitutional monarchies employ a parliamentary system in which the monarch may have strictly ceremonial duties or may have reserve powers, depending on the constitution. Under most modern constitutional monarchies there is also a prime minister who is the head of government and exercises effective political power. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804. By extension, the term The Consulate also refers to this period of French history. During this period, Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul had established himself as the head of a more conservative, authoritarian, autocratic, and centralized republican government in France while not declaring himself head of state. Nevertheless, due to the long-lasting institutions established during these years, Robert B. Holtman has called the Consulate \"one of the most important periods of all French history.\" (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nCorvée is labor, often unpaid, that is required of people of lower social standing and imposed on them by their superiors (often an aristocrat or noble). It differs from chattel slavery in that the worker is not owned outright – being free in various respects other than in the dispensation of his or her labour – and the work is usually intermittent; typically only a certain number of days' or months' work is required each year. It is a form of unfree labor where the worker is not compensated. It is not a tax as there is no actual obligation to pay cash, nor is it technically a tribute as there is no actual obligation to pay a physical good such as wheat, but – particularly with a commutation option – it operates very much like a tax for all intents and purposes. The main advantage to corvée over taxation is that it does not require the population to have ready cash and thus it tends to be favored in economies where money is in short supply. Corvée is thus most often found in economies where barter is the usual method of trade. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Council of Ancients or Council of Elders was the upper house of the Directory, the legislature of France from 22 August 1795 until 9 November 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the French Revolution. The Council of Ancients was the senior of the two halves of the republican legislative system. The Ancients were 250 members who could accept or reject laws put forward by the Council of Five Hundred. Each member had to be at least 40 and a third of them would be replaced annually. They had no power to draft laws, but any laws rejected could not be re-presented for at least a year.The Lower house was the Council of Five Hundred. Besides functioning as a legislative body, the Council of Ancients selected the five Directors, who jointly held executive power, from a list provided by the Five Hundred. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Council of Five Hundred, or simply the Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France during the period commonly known (from the name of the executive branch during this time) as the Directory, from 22 August 1795 until 9 November 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the French Revolution. Besides functioning as a legislative body, the Council of Five Hundred proposed the list out of which the Ancients chose five Directors, who jointly held executive power. Each member had to be at least 30 and a third of them would be replaced annually. Napoleon Bonaparte led a group of grenadiers who drove the Council from its chambers and installed himself as leader of France as its First Consul in the coup of 18 Brumaire. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA counter-revolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. The adjective, \"counterrevolutionary\", pertains to movements that would restore the state of affairs, or the principles, that prevailed during a pre-revolutionary era. A counterrevolution can be positive or negative in its consequences; depending, in part, on the beneficent or pernicious character of the revolution that gets reversed. . . During the French Revolution the Jacobins saw the Counterrevolution in the Vendée as distinctly negative. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA coup d'état—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either civil or military. A coup d'état succeeds if the usurpers establish their dominance when the incumbent government fails to prevent or successfully resist their consolidation of power. If the coup neither fully fails nor achieves overall success, the attempted coup d'etat is likely to lead to a civil war. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Cult of Reason was an atheistic belief system established in France and intended as a replacement for Christianity during the French Revolution. . . The Cult of Reason was explicitly humanocentric. Its goal was the perfection of mankind through the attainment of Truth and Liberty, and its guiding principle to this goal was the exercise of the human faculty of Reason. Though atheism was at the core of the cult, it defined itself as more than a mere rejection of gods: in the manner of conventional religion, it encouraged acts of congregational worship. The cult fostered frequent devotional displays to the ideal of Reason. A careful distinction was always drawn between the rational respect of Reason and the veneration of an idol: \"There is one thing that one must not tire telling people,\" Momoro explained, \"Liberty, reason, truth are only abstract beings. They are not gods, for properly speaking, they are part of ourselves.\" . . . Adherence to the Cult of Reason became a defining attribute of the Hébertist faction. It was also pervasive among the ranks of the sans-culottes. Numerous political factions, anti-clerical groups and events only loosely connected to the cult have come to be amalgamated with its name. The earliest atheistic public demonstrations ranged from \"wild masquerades\" redolent of earlier spring festivals to outright persecutions, including ransackings of churches and synagogues in which religious and royal images were defaced. . . The official nationwide Fête de la Raison, supervised by Hébert and Momoro on 20 Brumaire, Year II (10 November 1793) came to epitomize the new republican way of religion. . . In the spring of 1794, the Cult of Reason was faced with official repudiation when Robespierre, nearing complete dictatorial power, announced his own establishment of a new, deistic religion for the Republic, the Cult of the Supreme Being. Robespierre denounced the Hébertistes on various philosophical and political grounds, specifically rejecting their atheism. When Hébert, Momoro, Ronsin, Vincent and others were sent to the guillotine on 4 Germinal, Year II (24 March 1794), the cult lost its most influential leadership; when Chaumette and other Hébertistes followed them four days later, the Cult of Reason effectively ceased to exist. Both cults were officially banned by Napoleon Bonaparte with his Law on Cults of 18 Germinal, Year X. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nTotal war is a war in which a belligerent engages in the complete mobilization of all their available resources and population. In the mid-19th Century, \"total war\" was identified by scholars as a separate class of warfare. In a total war, there is less differentiation between combatants and civilians than in other conflicts, and sometimes no such differentiation at all, as nearly every human resource, civilians and soldiers alike, can be considered to be part of the belligerent effort. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Cult of the Supreme Being was a form of deism established in France by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. It was intended to become the state religion of the new French Republic. . . The French Revolution had given birth to many radical changes in France. One of the most fundamental for the hitherto Roman Catholic nation was the official rejection of religion. The first major organized school of thought emerged under the umbrella name of the Cult of Reason. Advocated by extreme radicals like Jacques Hébert and Antoine-François Momoro, the Cult of Reason distilled a mixture of largely atheistic views into a humanocentric philosophy. No gods at all were worshipped in the Cult – the guiding principle was devotion to the abstract conception of Reason. This bold rejection of all divinity appalled the rectitudinous Robespierre. Its offense was compounded by the \"scandalous scenes\" and \"wild masquerades\" attributed to its practice. In late 1793, Robespierre delivered a fiery denunciation of the Cult and its proponents and proceeded to give his own vision of proper Revolutionary religion. Devised almost entirely by his own hand, Le culte de l'Être suprême was formally announced before the French National Convention on 7 May 1794. . . Robespierre believed that reason is only a means to an end, and the singular end is Virtue. He sought to move beyond simple deism (often described as Voltairean by its adherents) to a new and, in his view, more rational devotion to the godhead. The primary principles of the Cult of the Supreme Being were a belief in the existence of a god and the immortality of the human soul. Though not inconsistent with Christian doctrine, these beliefs were put to the service of Robespierre's fuller meaning, which was of a type of civic-minded, public virtue he attributed to the Greeks and Romans: this type of Virtue could only be attained through active fidelity to liberty and democracy. Belief in a living god and a higher moral code, he said, were \"constant reminders of justice\" and thus essential to a republican society. . . Robespierre used the religious issue to publicly denounce the motives of many radicals not in his camp, and it led, directly or indirectly, to the executions of Revolutionary de-Christianizes like Hébert, Momoro, and Anacharsis Cloots. The establishment of the Cult of the Supreme Being represented the beginning of the reversal of the wholesale de-Christianization process that had been looked upon previously with official favor. Simultaneously it marked the apogee of Robespierre's power. Though in theory he was just an equal member of the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre at this point possessed a national prominence bordering on the imperial. . . To inaugurate the new state religion, Robespierre declared that 20 Prairial Year II (8 June 1794) would be the first day of national celebration of the Supreme Being, and future republican holidays were to be held every tenth day – the days of rest (décadi) in the new French Republican Calendar. Every locality was mandated to hold a commemorative event, but the event in Paris was designed on a massive scale. The festival was organized by the artist Jacques-Louis David and took place around a man-made mountain on the Champ de Mars. Robespierre assumed full leadership of the event, forcefully – and, to many, ostentatiously – declaring the truth and \"social utility\" of his new religion. . . The Cult of the Supreme Being and its much-derided festival can be said to have contributed to the Thermidorian reaction and the downfall of Robespierre. With his death at the guillotine on 28 July 1794, the cult lost all official sanction and disappeared from public view. It was officially banned by Napoleon Bonaparte with his Law on Cults of 18 Germinal, Year X. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe national flag of France is a tricolor featuring three vertical bands colored royal blue (hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the French Tricolor or simply the Tricolor. . . Early in the French Revolution, the Paris militia, which played a prominent role in the storming of the Bastille, wore a cockade of blue and red, the city's traditional colors. According to Lafayette, white, the \"ancient French color\", was added to militia cockade to create a tricolor, or national, cockade. This cockade became part of the uniform of the National Guard, which succeeded the militia and was commanded by Lafayette. The colors and design of the cockade are the basis of the Tricolor flag, adopted in 1790. A modified design by Jacques-Louis David was adopted in 1794. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune. It closed off the western end of the Louvre courtyard, which has remained open since the destruction of the palace. The site is now the location of the Tuileries Garden. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of natural right, the rights of man are universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself. Although it establishes fundamental rights for French citizens and \"all the members of the social Body\", it addresses neither the status of women nor slavery; despite that, it is a precursor document to international human rights instruments. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Declaration of Pillnitz on 27 August 1791, was a statement issued at the Castle of Pillnitz in Saxony (south of Dresden) by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Frederick William II of Prussia. Calling on European powers to intervene if Louis XVI of France was threatened, this declaration was intended to serve as a warning to the French revolutionaries not to infringe further on the rights of Louis XVI and to allow his restoration to power. The statement helped begin the French Revolutionary Wars. (The Pillnitz Conference itself dealt mainly with the Polish Question and the war of Austria against the Ottoman Empire.) The declaration stated that Austria would go to war if and only if all the other major European powers also went to war with France. Leopold chose this wording so that he would not be forced to go to war; he knew William Pitt, prime minister of Great Britain, did not support war with France. Leopold merely issued the declaration to satisfy the French emigres taking refuge in his nation who called for foreign interference in their homeland. The National Assembly of France interpreted it to mean that Leopold was going to declare war; radical Frenchmen who called for war, such as Jacques Pierre Brissot, used it as a pretext to gain influence, and declare war on 20 April 1792, leading to the French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1792. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Executive Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate. The period of this regime (2 November 1795 until 10 November 1799), commonly known as the Directory era, constitutes the second to last stage of the French Revolution. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nÉmigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has \"migrated out,\" but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile. . . the present political connotations of the term were defined by two later instances, where it referred to: 1) A French refugee, often aristocratic, who fled the French Revolution of 1789 and its aftermath; and 2) A White Russian émigré, who fled the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and its aftermath. Whereas emigrants have likely chosen to leave one place and become immigrants in a different clime, not usually expecting to return, émigrés see exile as a temporary expedient forced on them by political circumstances. Émigré circles often arouse suspicion as breeding-grounds for plots and counter-revolution. Some of the aristocrats who left France during the revolution settled in bordering countries, which they sought to use as a base for counterrevolution. After the Storming of the Bastille, King Louis XVI of France directed several of the most conservative members of his court to leave the country for fear that they might be assassinated. Among this first group of émigrés were the king’s youngest brother, the Comte d'Artois, and Queen Marie Antoinette's best friend, the Duchesse de Polignac. Later, in coordination with the king's failed attempt to escape Paris, the king's other brother, the Comte de Provence, also emigrated. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nLes Enragés (literally \"the Enraged Ones\") were a radical group active during the French Revolution of 1789 to the left of the Jacobins. Initiated by Jacques Roux, Théophile Leclerc, Jean Varlet and others, they believed that liberty for all meant more than mere constitutional rights. Roux once said that \"liberty is no more than an empty shell when one class is allowed to condemn another to starvation and no measures taken against them\". The demands of the enragés included: price controls on grain, the assignat as the only legal tender, repression of counterrevolutionary activity, [and] a progressive income tax. They were supported by the sans-culottes. To the left of the Montagnards, the enragés were fought against by Maximilien de Robespierre and reemerged as the group of Hébertistes. Their ideas were taken up and developed by Babeuf and his associates. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nIn France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General, was a legislative assembly of the different classes (or estates) of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king. It had no true power in its own right—unlike the English parliament it was not required to approve royal taxation or legislation instead it functioned as an advisory body to the king, primarily by presenting petitions from the various estates and consulting on fiscal policy. The Estates-General met from intermittently until 1614 and rarely afterwards, but was not definitively dissolved until after the French Revolution. . . The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the nobility, the Church, and the common people. Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June of 1789, but came to an impasse as the three Estates clashed over their respective powers. It was brought to an end when many members of the Third Estate formed themselves into a National Assembly, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe term \"fédérés\" (sometimes translated to English as \"federates\") most commonly refers to the troops who volunteered for the French National Guard in the summer of 1792 during the French Revolution. The fédérés of 1792 effected a transformation of the Guard from a constitutional monarchist force into a republican revolutionary force. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nFeudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the ninth and fifteenth centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. Although derived from the Latin word feodum (fief), then in use, the term feudalism and the system it describes were not conceived of as a formal political system by the people living in the medieval period. In its classic definition, by François-Louis Ganshof (1944), feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. There is also a broader definition, as described by Marc Bloch (1939), that includes not only warrior nobility but the peasantry bonds of manorialism, sometimes referred to as a \"feudal society\". (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe First Estate comprised the entire clergy, traditionally divided into \"higher\" and \"lower\" clergy. Although there was no formal demarcation between the two categories, the upper clergy were, effectively, clerical nobility, from the families of the Second Estate. In the time of Louis XVI, every bishop in France was a nobleman, a situation that had not existed before the 18th century. At the other extreme, the \"lower clergy\" (about equally divided between parish priests and monks and nuns) constituted about 90 percent of the First Estate, which in 1789 numbered around 130,000 (about 0.5% of the population). (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Flight to Varennes (June 21, 1791) was a significant episode in the French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family were unsuccessful in their attempt to initiate a counter-revolution. Their destination was the fortress at Montmédy in northeastern France, a Royalist stronghold from which the king hoped to start a military action to counter the radical agitation of the Jacobins in Paris. They were only able to make it as far as the small town of Varennes. The incident was a turning point after which popular hostility towards the monarchy as an institution, as well as towards the king and queen as individuals, became much more pronounced. The king's attempted flight provoked the charges of treason which ultimately led to his execution in 1793. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty, following the steps of the United States of America. In the summer of 1789, the French National Assembly began the process of drafting a constitution. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, adopted on August 26, 1789 eventually became the preamble of the constitution adopted in September 3, 1791. The Constitution followed the lines preferred among reformists at that time: the creation of a French constitutional monarchy. The main controversy was the level of power to be granted to the king of France in such a system. . . Redefining the organization of the French government, citizenship and the limits to the powers of government, the National Assembly set out to represent the interests of the general will. It abolished many “institutions which were injurious to liberty and equality of rights”. The National Assembly asserted its legal presence in French government by establishing its permanence in the Constitution and forming a system for recurring elections. The Assembly's belief in a sovereign nation and in equal representation can be seen in the constitutional separation of powers. The National Assembly was the legislative body, the king and royal ministers made up the executive branch and the judiciary was independent of the other two branches. On a local level, the previous feudal geographic divisions were formally abolished, and the territory of the French state was divided into several administrative units, Departments (Départements), but with the principle of centralism. The Assembly, as constitution-framers, were afraid that if only representatives governed France, it was likely to be ruled by the representatives' self-interest; therefore, the king was allowed a suspensive veto to balance out the interests of the people. By the same token, representative democracy weakened the king’s executive authority. The constitution was not egalitarian by today's standards. It distinguished between the propertied active citizens and the poorer passive citizens. Women lacked rights to liberties such as education, freedom to speak, write, print and worship. . . When war brought radical, and ultimately republican, forces to the fore in the Assembly, this moderate constitution proved entirely unworkable. The August 10th insurrection was the effective end of the monarchy. The constitution dissolved in a chaos of forces, with the radical and even occasionally terroristic Paris Commune, the municipal government of Paris, holding the balance of power in the country until the beginning of the National Convention on October 1, 1792. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Constitution of 24 June 1793, also known as the Constitution of the Year I, or the The Montagnard Constitution, was the constitution which instated the First Republic during the French Revolution. Following a referendum, it was ratified by the National Convention on 24 June 1793. Due to the external and internal state of war, legal dispositions of the Constitution were suspended on 10 August, and accepted by the Convention on 10 October 1793. The Constitution was inspired by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, to which it added several rights: it proclaimed the superiority of popular sovereignty over national sovereignty; various economic and social rights (right of association, right to work and public assistance, right to public education); the right of rebellion (and duty to rebel when the government violates the right of the people); and the abolition of slavery written in what is known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793. It was eventually supplanted by the French Constitution of 1795, which established the Directory. The revolutionaries of 1848 were inspired by this constitution and that it passed into the ideological armory of the Third Republic (founded 1870). It represents a fundamental historical document, that contributed much to the later democratic institutions and developments. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA tumbrel (alternatively tumbril), is a two-wheeled cart or wagon typically designed to be hauled by a single horse or ox. Their original use was for agricultural work in particular they were associated with carrying manure. Their most notable use was taking prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution. They were also used by the military for hauling supplies. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I. This period is characterized by the fall of the monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention and the infamous Reign of Terror, the founding of the Directory and the Thermidorian Reaction, and finally, the creation of the Consulate and Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from left-wing political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights. The French Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution witnessed members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by tensions between various liberal assemblies and a right-wing monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms. A republic was proclaimed in September 1792 and King Louis XVI was executed the next year. External threats also played a dominant role in the development of the Revolution. The French Revolutionary Wars started in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian peninsula, the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine – achievements that had defied previous French governments for centuries. Internally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins and virtual dictatorship by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror from 1793 until 1794 during which between 16,000 and 40,000 people were killed. After the fall of the Jacobins and the execution of Robespierre, the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799, when it was replaced by the Consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. The growth of republics and liberal democracies, the spread of secularism, the development of modern ideologies and the invention of total war all mark their birth during the Revolution. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Napoleonic Wars, two separate restorations of the monarchy and two additional revolutions as modern France took shape. In the following century, France would be governed at one point or another as a republic, constitutional monarchy and two different empires (the First and Second). (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states. Marked by French revolutionary fervor and military innovations, the campaigns saw the French Revolutionary Armies defeat a number of opposing coalitions and expand French control to the Low Countries, Italy, and the Rhineland. The wars involved enormous numbers of soldiers, mainly due to the application of modern mass conscription. The French Revolutionary Wars are usually divided between those of the First Coalition (1792–1797) and the Second Coalition (1798–1801), although France was at war with Great Britain continuously from 1793 to 1802. Hostilities ceased with the Treaty of Amiens 1802, but conflict soon started up again with the Napoleonic Wars. The Treaty of Amiens is usually reckoned to mark the end of the French Revolutionary Wars, however other events before and after 1802 have been proposed to be the starting point of the Napoleonic Wars. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe gabelle was a very unpopular tax on salt in France before 1790. The term gabelle derives from the Italian gabella (a tax), itself from the Arabic qabala. In France, Gabelle was originally applied to taxes on all commodities, but was gradually limited to the tax on salt. In time it became one of the most hated and most grossly unequal taxes in the country. It was abolished in 1790, then reinstated by Napoleon in 1806; abolished briefly by the French Second Republic, and then finally abolished permanently in 1945. The gabelle existed outside France, even after 1790. In the 1919 Paris Treaties, Ho Chi Minh described the oppressiveness of taxes, forced labor, and exploitation that the gabelle symbolized. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nGeneral Maximum or The Law of the Maximum was a law created during the course of the French Revolution as an extension of the Law of Suspects on 29 September 1793. It succeeded the 4 May 1793 loi du maximum which had the same purpose: setting price limits, deterring price gouging, and allowing for the continued flow of food supply to the people of France. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Girondins were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution. The Girondists were a group of loosely-affiliated individuals rather than an organized political party with a clear ideology, and the name was at first informally applied because the most prominent exponents of their point of view were deputies to the States-general from Gironde. There were twelve of these deputies, six of whom—the lawyers Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, Marguerite Élie Guadet, Armand Gensonné, Jean Antoine Laffargue de Grangeneuve and Jean Jay, and the tradesman Jean François Ducos—sat both in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. In the Legislative Assembly, these represented a compact body of opinion which, though not as yet definitely republican, was considerably more advanced than the moderate royalism of the majority of the Parisian deputies. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe \"Great Fear\" occurred from 20 July to 5 August 1789 in France at the start of the French Revolution. Rural unrest had been present in France since the worsening grain shortage of the spring, and the grain supplies were now guarded by local militias as rumors that bands of armed men were roaming the countryside spread. In response, fearful peasants armed themselves in self-defense and, in some areas, attacked manor houses. The content of the rumors differed from region to region – in some areas it was believed that a foreign force were burning the crops in the fields while in other areas it was believed that bandits were burning buildings. Fear of the peasant revolt was a deciding factor in the Night of 4 August decision to abolish feudalism. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Gardes Françaises was one of the two non-ceremonial infantry regiments in the \"Maison du Roi\" (Household troops) of the French Army under the Ancien Régime. The other regiment was the Gardes Suisses, which made the Gardes Françaises the only one recruited from France. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe guillotine is a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which a blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body. The device is noted for long being the main method of execution in France (where it was invented) and, more particularly, for its use during the French Revolution, when it \"became a part of popular culture, celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents.\" Nevertheless, the guillotine continued to be used long after the French Revolution in several countries, including France, where it was the sole method of execution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Hébertists were an ultra-revolutionary political faction associated with the populist journalist Jacques Hébert. They came to power during the Reign of Terror and played a significant role in the French Revolution. The Hébertists were ardent supporters of the dechristianization of France and of extreme measures in service of the Terror, including the Law of Suspects enacted in 1793. They favored the direct intervention of the state in economic matters in order to ensure the adequate supply of commodities, advocating the national requisition of wine and grain. Ideologically, however, their violent, anti-intellectual, and ultra-populist views centered chiefly around what historian Simon Schama describes as \"an anarchic notion of popular government, always armed to impose the will of the people on its mandatories,\" and took the form of support for \"unrelenting surveillance, denunciation, indictment, humiliation, and death.\" (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Hôtel de Ville in Paris, France, is the building housing the City of Paris's administration. Standing on the place de l'Hôtel de Ville (formerly the place de Grève) in the city's IVe arrondissement, it has been the location of the municipality of Paris since 1357. It serves multiple functions, housing the local administration, the Mayor of Paris (since 1977), and also serves as a venue for large receptions. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Since the seventeenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated \"French Protestants\", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or \"Calvinists\". Protestants in France were inspired by the writings of John Calvin in the 1530s and the name Huguenots was already in use by the 1560s. By the end of the 17th century, roughly 200,000 Huguenots had been driven from France during a series of religious persecutions. They relocated primarily in protestant nations: England, Switzerland, the Dutch Republic, the German Electorate of Prussia, the German Palatinate, and elsewhere in Northern Europe, as well as to what is now South Africa and to North America. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA Jacobin, in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club (1789–1794). . . The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques, Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton deputies attending the Estates General of 1789. At the height of its influence, there were thousands of chapters throughout France, with a membership estimated at 420,000. After the fall of Robespierre the club was closed. Initially moderate, the club later became notorious for its implementation of the Reign of Terror. To this day, the terms Jacobin and Jacobinism are used as pejoratives for left-wing revolutionary politics. It should not be confused with Jacobites. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\n\"La Marseillaise\" (\"The Song of Marseille\") is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled \"Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin\" (\"War Song for the Army of the Rhine\") was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795. The name of the song is due to first being sung on the streets by volunteers from Marseille. The song is the first example of the \"European march\" anthemic style. The anthem's evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Law of Suspects is a term which is used to refer to an enactment passed on 17 September 1793 during the course of the French Revolution. It allowed for the creation of revolutionary tribunals to try those who were suspected of treason against the Republic and to punish those convicted with death. The corollary of this was that both enforcement and justice subsequently became synonymous with revolutionary governance. The law called for a general roundup of all suspects; it was a deeply comprehensive list, for example: those who, by their conduct, associations, comments, or writings have shown themselves partisans of tyranny or federalism and enemies of liberty. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nFrench secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. . . In its strict and official acceptance, it is the principle of separation of church (or religion) and state. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist are generally used to describe support for social change to create a more egalitarian society. The terms Left and Right were coined during the French Revolution, referring to the seating arrangement in the Estates General; those who sat on the left generally supported the radical changes of the revolution, including the creation of a republic and secularization. Use of the term Left became more prominent after the restoration of the French monarchy in 1815 when it was applied to the \"Independents\". The term was then applied to a number of revolutionary movements, especially socialism, anarchism and communism as well as more reformist movements like social democracy and social liberalism. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nDuring the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention. The Legislative Assembly was driven by two opposing groups. The members of the first group were primarily moderate members of the bourgeoisie that favored a constitutional monarchy, represented by the Feuillants, who felt that the revolution had already achieved its goal. The second group was the democratic faction, for whom the king could no longer be trusted, represented by the new members of the Jacobin club. This group claimed that more revolutionary measures were necessary. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nLettres de cachet were letters signed by the king of France, countersigned by one of his ministers, and closed with the royal seal, or cachet. They contained orders directly from the king, often to enforce arbitrary actions and judgments that could not be appealed. In the case of organized bodies lettres de cachet were issued for the purpose of preventing assembly or to accomplish some other definite act. The provincial estates were convoked in this manner, and it was by a lettre de cachet (in this case, a lettre de jussipri), or by showing in person in a lit de justice, that the king ordered a parlement to register a law in the teeth of its own refusal to pass it. The best-known lettres de cachet, however, were penal, by which a subject was sentenced without trial and without an opportunity of defense to imprisonment in a state prison or an ordinary jail, confinement in a convent or a hospital, transportation to the colonies, or expulsion to another part of the realm. The wealthy sometimes bought such lettres to dispose of unwanted individuals. In this respect, the lettres de cachet were a prominent symbol of the abuses of the ancien régime monarchy, and as such were suppressed during the French Revolution. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nLevée en masse (literally \"massed levy\" or \"mass uprising\") is a French term for mass conscription during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the one from 16 August 1793. . . The term Levée en masse denotes a short-term requisition of all able-bodied men to defend the nation and has to be viewed in connection with the political events in revolutionary France, namely the new concept of the democratic citizen as opposed to a royal subject. Central to the understanding of the Levée is the idea that the new political rights given to the mass of the French people also created new obligations to the state. As the nation now understood itself as a community of all people, its defense also was assumed to become a responsibility of all. Thus, the Levée en masse was created and understood as a means to defend the nation for the nation by the nation. Historically, the Levée en masse heralded the age of the people's war and displaced prior restricted forms of warfare as the cabinet wars (1715–1792) when armies of professional soldiers fought without general participation of the population. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nLiberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive. Political pluralism is usually defined as the presence of multiple and distinct political parties. A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms: it may be a constitutional republic, such as the United States, France, Germany, Italy, or India, or a constitutional monarchy, such as the United Kingdom, Spain, or Japan. It may have a presidential system (the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina), a semi-presidential system (France, Russia, Poland, Ukraine), or a parliamentary system (the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India). (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Women's March on Versailles, also known as The October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their various allies grew into a mob of thousands and, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the royal palace at Versailles. The crowd besieged the palace and in a dramatic and violent confrontation they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI. The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and the entire French Assembly to return with them to Paris. These events effectively ended the independent authority of the king. The march symbolized a new balance of power that displaced the ancient privileged orders of the aristocracy and favored the nation's common people, collectively termed the Third Estate. Bringing together people representing disparate sources of the Revolution in their largest numbers yet, the march on Versailles proved to be a defining moment of that Revolution. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Mountain refers in the context of the history of the French Revolution to a political group, whose members, called Montagnards, sat on the highest benches in the Assembly. The term, which was first used during the session of the Legislative Assembly, did not come into general use until 1793. At the opening of the National Convention the Montagnard group comprised men of very diverse shades of opinion, and such cohesion as it subsequently acquired was due rather to the opposition of its leaders to the Girondist leaders than to any fundamental agreement in philosophy among the Montagnard's own leaders. The chief point of distinction was that the Girondists were mainly theorists and thinkers, whereas the Mountain consisted almost entirely of uncompromising men of action. During their struggle with the Girondists, the Montagnards gained the upper hand in the Jacobin Club, and for a time \"Jacobin\" and \"Montagnard\" were synonymous terms. The Mountain was successively under the sway of such men as Marat, Danton, and Robespierre. Dominating the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety, they imposed a policy of terror. The Mountain was then split into several distinct factions, those who favored an alliance with the people, and social measures – led by Georges-Jacques Danton – and the proponents of The Terror – led by Maximilien Robespierre. In addition, several members were close to the mountain of the Enragés led by Jacques Roux, or Hebertism led by Jacques René Hébert. The group was to become one of the prime movers in the eventual downfall of Robespierre in the events of 9 Thermidor. The group dissolved shortly after Robespierre's death (28 July 1794). After the February Revolution of 1848, the Mountain was reconstituted as the left wing faction in the Constituent Assembly elected that year (see: The Mountain (1849)), and in the Legislative Assembly which followed the next year. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some 20 kilometres southwest of the French capital. The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to the application of modern mass conscription. French power rose quickly as Napoleon's armies conquered much of Europe but collapsed rapidly after France's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon's empire ultimately suffered complete military defeat resulting in the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France. The wars resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and sowed the seeds of nascent nationalism in Germany and Italy that would lead to the two nations' consolidation later in the century. Meanwhile, the global Spanish Empire began to unravel as French occupation of Spain weakened Spain's hold over its colonies, providing an opening for nationalist revolutions in Spanish America. As a direct result of the Napoleonic wars, the British Empire became the foremost world power for the next century, thus beginning Pax Britannica. No consensus exists as to when the French Revolutionary Wars ended and the Napoleonic Wars began. An early candidate is 9 November 1799, when Bonaparte seized power in France with the coup of 18 Brumaire. 18 May 1803 is the most commonly used date, as this was when a renewed declaration of war between Britain and France (resulting from the collapse of the Treaty of Amiens), ended the only period of general peace in Europe between 1792 and 1814. The latest proposed date is 2 December 1804, when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor. The Napoleonic Wars ended following Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815 and the Second Treaty of Paris. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe War in the Vendée (1793 to 1796) was a Royalist rebellion and counterrevolution in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the Loire River in western France. Reynald Secher and his associates considers the killing of Catholic Vendeans by the anticlerical French state at the end of the war to be the first modern genocide, but this claim has been widely criticized and is generally discounted. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nDuring the French Revolution, the National Assembly, which existed from June 17 to July 9, 1789, was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe National Constituent Assembly was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nDuring the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 (the 4th of Brumaire of the year IV under the French Republican Calendar adopted by the Convention). It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic. It was succeeded by the Directory, commencing 2 November 1795. Prominent members of the original Convention included Maximilien Robespierre of the Jacobin Club, Jean-Paul Marat (affiliated with the Jacobins, though never a formal member), and Georges Danton of the Cordeliers. From 1793 to 1794, executive power was de facto exercised by the Convention's Committee of Public Safety. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe National Guard was the name given at the time of the French Revolution to the militias formed in each city, in imitation of the National Guard created in Paris. It was a military force separate from the regular army. Initially under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette, then briefly under the Marquis de Mandat, it was strongly identified until the summer of 1792 with the middle class and its support for constitutional monarchy. The National Guard had some impact on the revolution, but was disarmed by Napoleon except for it's recall in 1809 and 1814 to help defend France. Reestablished after his exile, it continued to play a significant role in each French revolution of the 19th century. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nNatural and legal rights are two types of rights theoretically distinct according to philosophers and political scientists. Natural rights, also called inalienable rights, are considered to be self-evident and universal. They are not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of any particular culture or government. Legal rights, such as constitutional rights, common law rights, and statutory rights, are bestowed under a particular political and legal system; they are relative to specific cultures and governments. Legal rights are enumerated in constitutions, in statutes (by a legislative body), in case law (especially in countries with a common law tradition), in treaties, and in administrative regulations. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nNoyades were drownings superintended during the Reign of Terror at Nantes, between November 1793 and January 1794, by the attorney Carrier, the representative-on-mission. The drownings were carried out by cramming some 90 priests in a flat-bottomed craft under hatches, and drowning them in mid-stream after scuttling the boat at a signal given, followed by another in which some 138 persons suffered like \"sentence of deportation\"; of these drownings there are said to have been no fewer than 25. It is not certain exactly how many people Jean-Baptiste Carrier had executed in this manner. While it is popularly believed that around 2000 died in the Loire estuary, one member of Carrier's committee placed the number at over 6000. One of the gruesome features of the noyades were what have been termed the 'underwater marriages', where a priest and a nun would be tied together before they were drowned. The drownings were also referred to as 'republican baptisms' or republican marriages. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, the Commune became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French government. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nParlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France. The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and deliberation. . . In theory, parlements were not legislative bodies, but courts of appeal. They had the duty, however, to record all royal edicts and laws. Some, especially the Parlement de Paris, gradually acquired the habit of refusing to register legislation with which they disagreed until the king held a lit de justice or sent a lettre de cachet to force them to act. Furthermore, the parlements could pass arrêts de réglement, which were laws that applied within their jurisdiction. In the years immediately before the French Revolution, their extreme concern to preserve Ancien Régime institutions of bourgeois and noble privilege prevented France from carrying out miscellaneous reforms, especially in the area of taxation, even when those reforms had the support of absolute monarchs. . . behavior of the Parlements is one of the reasons that since the French Revolution, French courts have been forbidden by Article 5 of the French civil code to create law and act as legislative bodies, their only mandate being to interpret the law. France, through the Napoleonic Code, was at the origin of the modern system of civil law in which precedents are not as powerful as in countries of common law. The origin of the weakness of the French court system, with no rule of precedent, no single Supreme court and no constitutional review of statutes by courts, is usually traced to that hostility towards \"government by judges\". (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe physiocrats were a group of economists who believed that the wealth of nations was derived solely from the value of land agriculture or land development. Physiocracy is considered one of the \"early modern\" schools of economics. Physiocrats called for the abolition of all existing taxes, completely free trade, and a single tax on land; they did not distinguish, however, between intrinsic value of land and ground rent. Their theories originated in France and were most popular during the second half of the 18th century. The movement was particularly dominated by Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (1727–1781) and François Quesnay (1694–1774). It immediately preceded the first modern school, classical economics, which began with the publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations in 1776. The Physiocrats were also highly influential in the early history of land value taxation in the United States. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris, France.. . . During the French Revolution the statue of Louis XV of France was torn down and the area renamed \"Place de la Révolution\". The new revolutionary government erected the guillotine in the square, and it was here that King Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793. Other important figures guillotined on the site, often in front of cheering crowds, were Queen Marie Antoinette, Princess Élisabeth of France, Charlotte Corday, Madame du Barry, Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Antoine Lavoisier, Maximilien Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just and Olympe de Gouge. The guillotine was most active during the \"Reign of Terror\", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. A year later, when the revolution was taking a more moderate course, the guillotine was removed from the square. The square was then renamed Place de la Concorde under the Directory as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the French Revolution. It underwent a series of name changes in the nineteenth century, but the city eventually settled on Place de la Concorde. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nPopular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract philosophers, among whom are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Popular sovereignty expresses a concept and does not necessarily reflect or describe a political reality. It is often contrasted with the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, and with individual sovereignty. . . Popular sovereignty also can be described as the voice of the people. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe term political radicalism (or simply, in political science, radicalism) denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways. Derived from the Latin radix (root), the denotation of radical has changed since its eighteenth-century coinage to comprehend the entire political spectrum — yet retains the “change at the root” connotation fundamental to revolutionary societal change. Historically, radicalism has referred exclusively to the \"radical left\", under the single category of far-left politics, rarely incorporating far-right politics though these may have revolutionary elements; the prominent exception is in the United States where some consider radicalism to include both political extremes of the radical left and the \"radical right\". . . Philosophically, the French political scientist Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78), is the principal theoretician proposing political radicalism as feasible in republican political philosophy, viz the French Revolution (1789–99), and other modern revolutions — the antithesis to the liberalism of John Locke. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA referendum (also known as a plebiscite or a ballot question) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of direct democracy. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nA regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. \"Regressive\" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high to low, where the average tax rate exceeds the marginal tax rate. In terms of individual income and wealth, a regressive tax imposes a greater burden (relative to resources) on the poor than on the rich — there is an inverse relationship between the tax rate and the taxpayer's ability to pay as measured by assets, consumption, or income. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Reign of Terror (5 September 1793, to 28 July 1794) (the latter is date 9 Thermidor, year II of the French Revolutionary calendar), also known simply as The Terror, was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of \"enemies of the revolution.\" Estimates vary widely as to how many were killed, with numbers ranging from 16,000 to 40,000; in many cases, records were not kept or, if they were, they are considered likely to be inaccurate. The guillotine (called the \"National Razor\") became the symbol of the revolutionary cause, strengthened by a string of executions: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Girondins, Philippe Égalité (Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans) and Madame Roland, as well as many others, such as pioneering chemist Antoine Lavoisier, lost their lives under its blade. During 1794, revolutionary France was beset with both real and imagined conspiracies by internal and foreign enemies. Within France, the revolution was opposed by the French nobility, which had lost its inherited privileges. The Roman Catholic Church was generally against the Revolution, which had turned the clergy into employees of the state and required they take an oath of loyalty to the nation (through the Civil Constitution of the Clergy). In fact, many French priests were imprisoned or executed, among them Blessed Hunot and Blessed du Vivier. In addition, the First French Republic was engaged in a series of French Revolutionary Wars with neighboring powers intent on crushing the revolution to prevent its spread. The extension of civil war and the advance of foreign armies on national territory produced a political crisis and increased the rivalry between the Girondins and the more radical Jacobins. The latter were eventually grouped in the parliamentary faction called the Mountain, and they had the support of the Parisian population. The French government established the Committee of Public Safety, which took its final form on 6 September 1793, and was ultimately dominated by Maximilien Robespierre, in order to suppress internal counter-revolutionary activities and raise additional French military forces. Through the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Terror's leaders exercised broad dictatorial powers and used them to instigate mass executions and political purges. The repression accelerated in June and July 1794, a period called \"la Grande Terreur\" (the Great Terror), and ended in the coup of 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794), the so-called \"Thermidorian Reaction\", in which several leaders of the Reign of Terror were executed, including Saint-Just and Robespierre. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871. . . In Britain, people mocked the Republican Calendar by calling the months: Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nRepublicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Revolutionary Tribunal was a court which was instituted in Paris by the Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders, and eventually became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror. The news of the failure of the French arms in Belgium gave rise in Paris to popular movements on March 9 and 10, 1793, and on March 10, on the proposal of Danton, the Convention decreed that there should be established in Paris an extraordinary criminal tribunal, which received the official name of the Revolutionary Tribunal by a decree of October 20, 1793. It was composed of a jury, a public prosecutor, and two substitutes, all nominated by the Convention; and from its judgments there was no appeal. With M.J.A. Herman as president and Fouquier-Tinville as public prosecutor, the tribunal terrorized the royalists, the refractory priests and all the actors in the counter-revolution. Soon, too, it came to be used for personal ends, particularly by Robespierre, who employed it for the condemnation of his adversaries. The excesses of the Revolutionary Tribunal increased with the growth of Robespierre's ascendancy in the Committee of Public Safety; and on June 10, 1794 was promulgated, at his instigation, the infamous Law of 22 Prairial, which forbade prisoners to employ counsel for their defense, suppressed the hearing of witnesses and made death the sole penalty. Before 22 Prairial the Revolutionary Tribunal had pronounced 1,220 death-sentences in thirteen months; during the forty-nine days between the passing of the law and the fall of Robespierre 1,376 persons were condemned, including many innocent victims. The lists of prisoners to be sent before the tribunal were prepared by a popular commission sitting at the museum, and signed, after revision, by the Committee of General Security and the Committee of Public Safety jointly. Although Robespierre was the principal purveyor of the tribunal, we possess only one of these lists bearing his signature. The Revolutionary Tribunal was suppressed on May 31, 1795. Among its most celebrated victims may be mentioned Marie Antoinette, the Hebertists, the Dantonists and several of the Girondists. Similar tribunals were also in operation in the various French departments. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nIn politics, Right, right-wing and rightist are generally used to describe support for preserving traditional social orders and hierarchies. The terms Right and Left were coined during the French Revolution, referring to seating arrangements in parliament; those who sat on the right supported preserving the institutions of the Ancien Régime (the monarchy, the aristocracy and the established church). Use of the term \"Right\" became more prominent after the second restoration of the French monarchy in 1815 with the Ultra-royalists.Stephen Fisher writes in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics that in liberal democracies the term has been defined as opposition to socialism or social democracy, and that right-wing parties have included the philosophies of conservatism, Christian democracy, liberalism, libertarianism, and nationalism. He says \"extreme right parties (have included) elements of racism and fascism\" and \"In surveys, self-placement on a left-right scale is associated with attitudes on economic policy, especially redistribution and privatization/nationalization and (particularly in Catholic countries) religiosity.\" (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nIn the French Revolution, the sans-culottes were the radical militants of the lower classes, typically urban laborers. Though ill-clad and ill-equipped, they made up the bulk of the Revolutionary army during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars. The appellation refers to the fashionable culottes (silk knee-breeches) of the moderate bourgeois revolutionaries as distinguished from the working class sans-culottes, who traditionally wore pantalons (long trousers). Among the political ideals held by the sans-culottes were popular democracy, social and economic equality, affordable food, rejection of the free-market economy, and zealous pursuit of perceived counter-revolutionaries and political enemies. During the peak of their influence, roughly 1792 to 1795, the sans-culottes provided the principal support behind the two far-left factions of the Paris Commune, the Enragés and the Hébertists. Led by revolutionaries such as Jacques Roux and Jacques Hébert, they played a crucial role in important events such as the September massacres of 1792 and provided critical support for the most radical left-wing factions in successive revolutionary governments. During the Reign of Terror, they provided important support for the violent policies of Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety. By early 1794, however, radicalism was rapidly losing influence and political legitimacy in the Paris Commune. The far-left factions that enjoyed the support of the sans-culottes began feeling the wrath of Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, and the important leaders of the Enragés and Hébertists were imprisoned and executed by the very Revolutionary Tribunals they had supported. With the absence of effective leadership and having lost their favor with the Jacobins, the sans-culottes withered. Within a year of the execution of Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction the militants were forcibly - and permanently - suppressed by the more conservative new government, the French Directory. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\n\"What Is the Third Estate?\" is a pamphlet written by French thinker and clergyman Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès in January 1789, shortly before the French Revolution. The pamphlet was Sieyès response to Jacques Necker's invitation for writers to state how they thought the Estates-General should be organized. In it, Sieyès argued that the Third Estate (the common people of France) constituted a complete nation and would be better off without the \"dead weight\" of the privileged orders, the First and Second Estates of the clergy and aristocracy. Sieyès stated that the people wanted genuine representatives in the Estates-General, representatives equal to the other two orders taken together, and votes taken by heads and not by orders. These ideas came to have an immense influence on the course of the Revolution. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Second Estate was the French nobility and (technically, though not in common use) royalty, other than the monarch himself, who stood outside of the system of estates. The Second Estate is traditionally divided into \"noblesse de robe\" (\"nobility of the robe\"), the magisterial class that administered royal justice and civil government, and \"noblesse d'épée\" (\"nobility of the sword\"). The Second Estate constituted approximately 1.5% of France's population. Under the ancien régime, the Second Estate were exempt from the corvée royale (forced labour on the roads) and from most other forms of taxation such as the gabelle (salt tax) and most important, the taille (the oldest form of direct taxation). This exemption from paying taxes led to their reluctance to reform. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nSecularism is the separation of a government, organization or institution from religion and/or religious beliefs. In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, and the right to freedom from governmental imposition of religion upon the people within a state that is neutral on matters of belief. In another sense, it refers to the view that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be unbiased by religious influence. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe September Massacres were a wave of mob violence which overtook Paris in late summer 1792, during the French Revolution. By the time it had subsided, half the prison population of Paris had been executed: some 1,200 trapped prisoners, including many women and young boys. Sporadic violence, in particular against the Roman Catholic Church, would continue throughout France for nearly a decade to come. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Society of Revolutionary Republican Women was a political club during the French Revolution formed July 9 1793, lasting less than five months. In this short span, however, the Society managed to create quite a stir in the national political scene, and brought to light some controversial points about women and political and sexual equality. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, formally known as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday). It is usually called Bastille Day in English. During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major economic crisis, initiated by the cost of intervening in the American Revolution (and particularly never-consummated efforts to invade Britain), and exacerbated by a regressive system of taxation. On 5 May 1789 the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but were held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate, consisting of the nobility and amounting to only 2% of France's population at the time. On 17 June 1789 the Third Estate, with its representatives drawn from the middle class, or bourgeoisie, reconstituted themselves as the National Assembly, a body whose purpose was the creation of a French constitution. The king initially opposed this development, but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which subsequently renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July. The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes. The second had been the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath. The middle class had formed the National Guard, sporting tricolor cockades (rosettes) of blue, white and red, formed by combining the red-and-blue cockade of the Paris commune and the white cockade of the king. These cockades, and soon simply their color scheme, became the symbol of the revolution and, later, of France itself. Paris, close to insurrection, and, in François Mignet's words, \"intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm,\" showed wide support for the Assembly. The press published the Assembly's debates; political debate spread beyond the Assembly itself into the public squares and halls of the capital. The Palais-Royal and its grounds became the site of an endless meeting. The crowd, on the authority of the meeting at the Palais-Royal, broke open the prisons of the Abbaye to release some grenadiers of the French guards, reportedly imprisoned for refusing to fire on the people. The Assembly recommended the imprisoned guardsmen to the clemency of the king; they returned to prison, and received pardon. The rank and file of the regiment, previously considered reliable, now leaned toward the popular cause. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe term \"Year One\" in political history usually refers to the institution of radical, revolutionary change. This usage dates from the time of the French Revolution: after the abolition of the French monarchy (20 September 1792), the National Convention instituted the new French Revolutionary Calendar, declaring that date as the beginning of the Year I of the French Republic. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nSuffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In English, suffrage and its synonyms are sometimes also used to mean the right to run for office (to be a candidate), but there are no established qualifying terms to distinguish between these different meanings of the term(s). The right to run for office is sometimes called (candidate) eligibility, and the combination of both rights is sometimes called full suffrage. In many other languages, the right to vote is called the active right to vote and the right to be voted for (to run for office) is called the passive right to vote. In English, these are rarely called active suffrage and passive suffrage. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nSwiss Guards is the name given to the Swiss soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. . . The most famous episode in the history of the Swiss Guards was their defense of the Tuileries Palace in central Paris during the French Revolution. Of the nine hundred Swiss Guards defending the Palace on August 10, 1792, about six hundred were killed during the fighting or massacred after surrender. One group of sixty Swiss were taken as prisoners to the Paris City Hall before being killed by the crowd there. An estimated hundred and sixty more died in prison of their wounds, or were killed during the September Massacres that followed. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe taille was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in Ancien Régime France. The tax was imposed on each household and based on how much land it held. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)\nThe Tennis Court Oath was a pivotal event during the first days of the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789 so they made a makeshift conference room inside a tennis court located in the Saint-Louis district of Versailles (commune), near the Palace of Versailles. . . The deputies pledged to continue to meet until a constitution had been written, despite the royal prohibition. The oath was both a revolutionary act, and an assertion that political authority derived from the people and their representatives rather than from the monarch himself. Their solidarity forced Louis XVI to order the clergy and the nobility to join with the Third Estate in the National Assembly. . . The Oath signified the first time that French citizens formally stood in opposition to Louis XVI, and the National Assembly's refusal to back down forced the king to make concessions. The Oath also inspired a wide variety of revolutionary activity in the months afterwards, ranging from rioting across the French countryside to renewed calls for a written French constitution. Likewise, it reinforced the Assembly's strength and forced the King to formally request that voting occur based on head, not order. Moreover, the Oath communicated in unambiguous fashion the idea that the deputies of the National Assembly were declaring themselves the supreme state power. From this point forward, Louis XVI would find the Crown increasingly unable to rest upon monarchical traditions of divine right. In terms of his political sympathies, Louis XVI was noticeably more liberal than any of his predecessors or immediate family. However, given personal circumstances and the death of his son, he had badly mismanaged the mood of the Assembly. As well as giving the Left and reformist movement, the Oath also galvanized the French Right. In royalist and conservative circles, the oath was seen as an indicator of the Assembly's commitment to anarchy and it was felt that a more robust form of counter-revolutionary politics were needed to ensure the survival of the monarchy. (wikipedia.org. Accessed August 2, 2011.)",
"David Perdue's Charles Dickens Page - Glossary\n... a light two-wheeled carriage. ... Used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution. ... melted with a candle and used to seal a letter.\nDavid Perdue's Charles Dickens Page - Glossary\nIndex - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z\nPart of the lure of reading Dickens is finding out firsthand what everyday life was like in nineteenth century London. Some terms used in Dickens' works may be unfamiliar to today's readers and this glossary attempts to help readers better understand the times in which Dickens lived and described in such vivid detail.\nAll references to money are given as to what the denomination was worth in Victorian times. Britain adopted the decimal system in 1971 .\nFor more information on places in London see the Dickens London Map .\nIf you come across terms in Dickens' works that are unfamiliar, let me know and I will attempt to find a definition and add them to this glossary.\nA\nakimbo - having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward.\naldermen - local government official\nale - alcoholic beverage made from hops and malt, similar to beer, but heavier and stronger than beer.\nalmshouse - privately funded lodgings for the poor, as opposed to the workhouse, which was publicly funded.\napoplexy - a crippling stroke, sometimes fatal, usually associated with sudden loss of muscle control or paralysis.\napothecary - one who prepares drugs and medicines, sometimes made house calls, and gave advice concerning medical conditions; lowest order of medical man.\napprentice - one who is bound by agreement to work for another for a specific amount of time (usually seven years) in return for instruction in a trade, art or business. Since their hours were so long, apprentices usually lived in makeshift lodgings provided by their employers. The master was paid a fee. When one finished, they were a journeyman and able to hire themselves out to others for wages. Pip was apprenticed to Joe Gargary in Great Expectations.\narticled clerks - young men who were apprenticed to lawyers for 5 years.\nassizes - sessions held twice a year in areas outside London where law cases, too serious to be tried by local justice, were presided over by circuit-riding London judges. The assizes usually commenced with great ceremony.\nAstley's - theatre operated by Philip Astley from 1774 located on the Surrey side of the Thames. Featuring several rings of action and horse riding displays, Astley's is considered the forerunner of the modern circus.\nAustin Friars - monastery of Hermits of Saint Augustine in the heart of the City of London; founded, 1253, by Bohun, Earl of Hereford.\nautomaton - one mechanically going through the motions but without feeling or emotion\nB\nboot - place in a coach where luggage was kept.\nbootjack - device used to remove boots.\nboots - a person who cleans shoes. Sam Weller is 'boots' at the White Hart Inn in Pickwick Papers.\nborough - a town that had been granted certain rights of self government by the Crown. In London, Southwark was referred to as \"the borough.\"\nBow Bells - The bells of the church of St. Mary Le Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London. A true Cockney was said to be born within hearing of the Bow bells.\nBow Street Runners - detective force organized by novelist Henry Fielding and his brother John in 1750. The Runners worked for fees and rewards. They went out of existence in 1829 when Robert Peel organized London's first police force.\nbox - the driver's seat on a coach\nBoz - Dickens' pseudonym used early in his career. Boz came from Dickens' younger brother Augustus's through-the-nose pronunciation of his own nickname, Moses.\nBradshaw - Bradshaw's Railway Guide was published monthly from 1839-1961, founded by George Bradshaw (1801-1853).\nBramah - key to a lock invented by Joseph Bramah (1749-1814) famed for their resistance to lock picking and tampering.\nbrazier - large flat pan filled with coals, used as a heater.\nbridewell - contraction of St. Bridget's Well in London, site of a prison until 1869. Bridewell came to mean any house of correction.\nbrimstone and treacle - sulfur and molasses. Mrs Squeers administers this nasty cure-all to the boys at Dotheboys Hall from a common wooden spoon \"which widened each young gentleman's mouth considerably, they being all obliged, under heavy corporal penalties, to take in the whole of the bowl at a gasp\" (Nicholas Nickleby).\nbull's-eye - a large round peppermint sweet.\nbull's-eye lantern - lantern with a round \"bulls-eye\" lens on one side which enabled light to be concentrated in that direction, to use like today's flashlight.\nbumper - a generous glass of an alcoholic drink.\nburgess - a town magistrate or government official.\nburked - to murder, as by suffocation, so as to leave no or few marks of violence. (2)To suppress or get rid of by some indirect maneuver. Origin of burke: after W. Burke, hanged in 1829 in Edinburgh for murders of this kind. (Thanks to Devony)\nC\nchoused - cheated\ncistern - an artificial reservoir for storing liquids and especially water (as rainwater).\nCity - term referring to the old portion of London within the medieval city walls. Later became the financial district as Londoners moved to the suburbs and commuted.\nClaret - a dry red wine from Bordeaux France.\nclose - alleyway, also the area surrounding a cathedral.\ncoach and four - coach drawn by four horses.\ncoal scuttle - a metal pail for carrying coal.\ncockade - a ribbon worn in the hat.\nCockney - resident of east London; more specifically, to be a true Cockney you had to be born within hearing distance of the bells of St. Mary Le Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London. Style of speech used by a Cockney. The best known Cockney in Dickens is Samuel Pickwick's servant Sam Weller in The Pickwick Papers.\nCoketown - fictionalized name of the town of Preston in Lancashire.\ncollier - ship carrying coal.\nconstable - a British policeman appointed by the parish to keep the peace. Later incorporated into London's paid police force.\nconsumption - tuberculosis\ncooper - a barrel maker\ncopper - large boiler, used to wash clothes in. Mrs. Cratchit uses the copper to boil her Christmas pudding in A Christmas Carol.\ncorn-chandler - a retail grain dealer\ncorn laws - laws enacted to raise the import tax on corn in order to protect domestic farmers. Corn, in England, referred to any cereal grain like oats, wheat, or barley in addition to corn. Hotly debated because of subsequent hikes in food prices and manufacturing costs. Finally repealed in 1846.\ncostermonger - a street peddler, usually selling fruits or vegetables. An estimated 12,000 costermongers vied for patrons on London streets in the 1850s.\ncotillion - a ballroom dance for couples that resembles the quadrille.\ncounting house - a businessman's office. Bob Cratchit works at Scrooge's counting house in A Christmas Carol.\ncoupe - a carriage for 2 passengers\ncourier - a traveler's paid attendant, traveling ahead to make arrangements. Dickens employs a French courier for his travels in Pictures from Italy.\ncove - A fellow; a chap\ncramp-bone - the kneecap of a sheep, formerly thought to be a charm against cramps\ncrape or crepe - black silk worn as mourning garb\ncravat - a fine scarf worn around the neck and tied in a bow\ncrinoline - stiff fabric of horsehair or cotton used to stiffen the lining of petticoats or hoop skirts.\ncrossing sweeper - one who swept manure from the streets at pedestrian's crossings. Jo is a crossing sweeper in Bleak House.\ncrown - monetary unit equal to 5 shillings or 60 pence.( * see note )\ncrumpet - a light muffin, usually served with tea.\ncudgel - a thick stick used as a weapon.\ncurl papers - paper used to curl hair, old newspaper could be used in a pinch.\ncuff - an open-handed or close-fisted blow.\nD\ntop\ndaffy - a medicine for children, named for a seventeenth-century clergyman. It consisted of senna (a laxative prepared from the roots of the cassia tree) and was commonly mixed with gin, thus daffy became slang for gin itself. Mrs. Mann gives the children daffy in Oliver Twist.\ndaguerreotype - early photographic process with the image made on a light-sensitive silver-coated metallic plate. Invented by Louis Daguerre (1789-1851).\ndamme - damn me. An oath.\ndaresay - venture to say : think probable, as in \"I daresay you'll have a great time.\" Never used in conjunction with \"that\" as in \"I daresay that....\"\ndauphin - eldest son of the King of France\nday boarder - one who spends the day at school but lives at home.\ndeal - wood planks used to make furniture, as in \"deal table\"; usually denoted cheap furniture.\ndear - expensive; the wine was excellent, but very dear.\nDickensian - relating or similar to something described in the books of the 19th century British writer, Charles Dickens, especially living or working conditions that are below an acceptable standard.\ndickey - a folding outside seat at the back of a carriage.\ndiligence - a public stagecoach\ndip - cheap candle made by dipping a wick into tallow.\ndocks - large docks located just east of London Bridge where large ships loaded and unloaded cargo.\nDoctors Commons - area south of St. Paul's Cathedral where the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts were located. Dickens, in Sketches by Boz called Doctors' Commons \"the place where they grant marriage-licenses to love-sick couples, and divorces to unfaithful ones; register the wills of people who have any property to leave, and punish hasty gentlemen who call ladies by unpleasant names.\"\ndouble-knock - a double-knock was applied to the door by a more confident visitor, one who was comfortable with the purpose of his visit. A single-knock signified a more timid caller.\ndowager - widow with a title or property derived from her late husband. A dignified elderly woman.\ndraught - a check or bill of exchange; an amount of liquid one could toss off in one swallow.\ndraughts - The game of checkers\ndray - low, heavy cart without sides for hauling kegs and barrels of beer.\ndreadnought - closely-woven thick woolen material.\ndree - dreary\ndustman - man who drove a cart used in emptying household trash and ashes. Also the owner of a dust yard, where the dust was stored in great mounds was called a dustman. Mr. Boffin is known as the \"Golden Dustman\" in Our Mutual Friend.\nDutch Clock - cheap wooden clock with brass wheels featuring a pendulum, invented by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1656.\nDutch Oven - a thick-walled (usually cast iron) cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. During the late 17th century, the Dutch system of producing these cast metal cooking vessels was more advanced than the English system. The Dutch used dry sand to make their molds, giving their pots a smoother surface. Consequently, metal cooking vessels produced in the Netherlands were imported into Britain.\nE\ntop\nEast India Company - private company chartered by the British government to exploit trade with India. The Company also had political power in India until the Indians revolted against British rule in 1857.\necod - a mild oath on par with, and probably derived from, \"My God\". This was a favorite expression of Jonas Chuzzlewit ( Martin Chuzzlewit ).\negg-hot - A warm drink made of eggs, brandy, sugar, and ale.\nelbow-chair - a chair with arms to support the elbows; an arm-chair.\nequipage - equipment used in relation to horse and carriage.\neight day clock - clock which required winding only once a week.\nexpectations - likelihood of coming into a large amount of money. Pip's 'great expectations' come secretly from the convict Magwitch.\nF\nfaggot - bundle of twigs or branches used as firewood.\nfarthing - monetary unit worth 1/4 pence. Sometimes used to denote anything worth practically nothing.( * see note )\nfen - marsh\nfender - a low metal frame before an open fireplace. In Dickens people are always putting their feet upon the fender.\nfingerpost - road sign in the shape of a hand with fingers pointing the way.\nflat candle - candle designed to be easy to carry, with a short stem and a broad base which fits into a flat holder.\nflip - mixture of beer and spirits, sweetened with sugar, and heated with a hot iron.\nflorin - silver coin introduced in 1849 and worth two shillings.( * see note )\nFoot Guards - infantry regiments that stood guard over the sovereign.\nfootman - a servant in livery who attends his master's carriage: a servant who serves at table, tends the door, and runs errands.\nforenoon - period of sunlight before noon, morning.\nforfeits - popular parlor games in which play goes round the room with each player needing to supply an answer and is penalized if an answer is not supplied.\nfortnight - a period of 14 days : two weeks.\nFortunatus' purse - endless supply of money\nfrank - practice where members of Parliament were allowed to send letters for free (until 1840) by signing the bottom left corner of the envelope.\nFuries - The Furies, in Greek Mythology, were spirits of punishment, so the phrase \"as if he came attended by the Furies\" would signify coming on at great speed and/or violence.\nfurlong - English unit of measurement equaling 660 feet, which was the length of the traditional furrow on English farms; from furrow long.\nfurze - thick, prickly shrub that bears yellow flowers in winter.\nFypunnote - contraction of 'five pound note'\nG\nGreat Fire - fire which destroyed much of central London in September 1666. ( Read contemporary account in the London Gazette )\ngreengrocer - seller of fruits and vegetables\ngriffin - fabled monster with the head and wings of an eagle, and the hind quarters of a lion.\ngrog - mixture of rum and water. Named for Edward Vernon, called \"Old Grog\", an English admiral responsible for diluting the sailors' rum.\ngruel - cheap food made by boiling a small amount of oatmeal in a large amount of water. Dietary staple in the workhouse, this is what Oliver Twist asks for more of.\nguinea - monetary unit equal to 1 pound 1 shilling.( * see note )\nH\nhaberdasher - seller of small personal items.\nhackney coach - a coach for hire\nhalf-a-crown - a British coin equal to 2-1/2 shillings, or 30 pence.( * see note )\nhalf and half - alcoholic beverage: half ale and half porter.\nhansom cab - two-wheeled carriage invented in the 1830s where the driver sat in back, giving the passengers a clear view of the road.\nha'penny - slang for halfpenny, worth ½ pence.( * see note )\nhedgerow - a row of shrubs or trees enclosing or separating fields.\nHilary - a term or session of the High Court beginning in January.\nhob - metal insert in a fireplace where the kettle could be kept warm.\nhogshead - a large cask or barrel, equal to 52 ½ imperial gallons.\nHorse chaunter - a dealer who takes worthless horses to country fairs and disposes of them by artifice. He is generally an unprincipled fellow, and will put in a glass eye, fill a beast with shot, plug him with ginger, or in fact do anything so that he sells to advantage. Also a seller of street balads or other broadsides. (Thanks Devony)\nHorse Guards - cavalry who protected the monarch.\nhosier - maker of socks and stockings.\nhostler - one who tends horses at an inn; sometimes ostler. Hugh is hostler at the Maypole in Barnaby Rudge, Mark Tapley is hostler at the Blue Dragon in Martin Chuzzlewit.\nhulks - old ships, many relics of the Napoleonic Wars, their masts removed, anchored in the Thames and the Medway and used as prisons from 1776-1857. The practice started in 1776 when the American war prevented the transporting of convicts to America and conventional prisons were full. Abel Magwitch escapes from a prison ship in Great Expectations.\nIn Great Expectations Pip describes the hulks: \"By the light of the torches, we saw the black Hulk lying out a little way from the mud of the shore, like a wicked Noah's ark. Cribbed and barred and moored by massive rusty chains, the prison-ship seemed in my young eyes to be ironed like the prisoners.\"\nhumbug - nonsense, rubbish; used to express disbelief or disgust; something intended to deceive; a hoax or fraud. This was Ebenezer Scrooge's favorite word in A Christmas Carol.\nI\ntop\nInimitable - nickname given to Dickens by his early schoolmaster, Mr. Giles. The term means 'impossible to imitate, unique'. Dickens later referred to himself as 'The Inimitable'.\nInsolvent Debtors Act - Act passed in 1816 which allowed imprisoned debtors to apply for release providing they surrendered all their property and made provision to satisfy their debts. Mr. Micawber (David Copperfield), as well as Dickens' father, invoked this Act to gain release from debtor's prison.\nIron Bridge - Popular name for Southwark Bridge, its three arches were made of cast iron.\nironmonger - seller of metal goods, hardware\nJ\ntop\nJapan candle - candle made from plant wax such as Japanese wax tree, rapeseed, rice bran and palm oil. The wicks are made of Japanese paper and soft rush that make a strong flame that is not easily blown out.\njourneyman - one who has finished an apprenticeship and is now able to hire himself out by the day. Joe Gargary hired the journeyman Orlick to work in the blacksmith shop in Great Expectations.\nK\nkennel - gutter in the street\nkith - friends, neighbors, or relatives\nknaves - the jacks in a deck of cards. Pip calls the knaves \"jacks\" in Great Expectations and is scoffed at by Estella.\nknee-breeches - trousers extending to, or just below, the knee.\nknight - lowest of the titled ranks in England. A knight has Sir before his name and his wife is addressed as Lady.\nknock up - to bang on someone's door in order to wake them up.\nL\nlath and plaster - thin strips of wood with plaster covering to form walls.\nlaudanum - mixture of opium and alcohol used as a tranquilizer, pain-killer, or to induce sleep.\nlet - rented or hired\nLiberties of the City of London - Liberties are an area controlled by the city though outside its boundaries.\nLimehouse - waterside section of east London. Rogue Riderhood is a waterman in Limehouse in Our Mutual Friend.\nlimekiln - kiln used to heat limestone to produce quicklime.\nlink - torch used to light the streets.\nlink-boy - a boy for hire carrying a torch to light a traveler's way in the dark streets.\nlivery -uniform worn by servant; knee breeches and powdered wig worn by footmen.\nL.L. - Literary Ladies\nLondon Season - In London society, the Season traditionally began after Easter and ended with the \"Glorious Twelfth\" (August 12), the start of the shooting season for red grouse.\nlong vacation - summer, between Trinity and Michaelmas term\nloom - device for weaving thread into fabric. Stephen Blackpool operates a steam-driven power loom in Hard Times.\nLowestoft - seaside town in Suffolk. David Copperfield goes to Lowestoft with Mr. Murdstone to meet Mr. Quinion.\nlucifer - a match made of a sliver of wood tipped with a combustible substance, and ignited by friction. First manufactured in the 1830's.\nlumber room - a room for storing old furniture and other unused odds and ends ready for the Victorian garage sale. It would probably be a musty, moldy, spider-webbery kind of place.\nM\ntop\noakum - loosely twisted hemp fibers, impregnated with tar, used in rope. Picking oakum apart was common busywork in the prison or workhouse. The separated oakum was then used to caulk ships. Oliver picked oakum at the workhouse in Oliver Twist.\noctavo - the size of a piece of paper cut eight from a sheet; also : a book, a page, or paper of this size.\nOld Clem - St. Clement, one of the earliest Popes, regarded as the patron saint of blacksmiths. Pip and Joe sing Old Clem in the forge, later Pip sings it with Miss Havisham (Great Expectations).\nold-fashioned - As Dickens uses it to describe Paul Dombey in Dombey and Son: unusually mature, precocious, intelligent, knowing.\nomnibus - large four-wheeled carriage capable of carrying many people; horse-drawn bus.\nopium - addictive narcotic drug made from the dried juice of the opium poppy. John Jasper was an opium addict in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.\noutdoor relief - charity given to the poor which did not require them to become inmates of the workhouse. The New Poor Law of 1834 eliminated outdoor relief in an effort to stem the abuse of the system.\nP\npostilion - one who guides a horse-driven coach by riding on the left-hand lead horse.\npot-boy - employee at a tavern who serves beer to customers.\npoulterer - butcher who deals in fowl, mainly chicken or turkey. After his conversion Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol, asks the boy in the street if he \"knew the poulterer on the next street but one?\"\npound - English monetary unit, equaling 240 pence or 20 shillings. Using this system the pound could be exactly divided into halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, twelfths, fifteenths, sixteenths, twentieths, twenty-fourths, thirtieths, fortieths, forty-eightieths, sixtieths, eightieths, and one-hundred-and-twentieths.\nThe decimal system, instituted by Britain in 1971, allows only halves, quarters, fifths, tenths, twentieths, twenty-fifths, and fiftieths. ( * see note )\nDickens, while visiting America in 1842, noted in a letter home to his friend John Forster that the salary paid to his traveling secretary, George Washington Putnam, was ten dollars a month, worth about two pounds five shillings in English money.\nPrivy Council - advisors to the sovereign\nproctor - an officer of the court, paid a contracted salary to manage the affairs of others, answers to an attorney at common law, or to a solicitor.\npub - a tavern or inn\npublican - owner or keeper of a pub\npudding - a sausage like preparation made with minced meat or various other ingredients stuffed into a skin or bag and boiled.\nPunch and Judy - popular puppet show for children. Codlin and Short, in The Old Curiosity Shop, operate a Punch and Judy show.\npurl - hot beer mixed with gin\nQ\ntop\nquadrille - card game played by four people.\nquarter days - four days of the year when quarterly payments like rents were due. The four days were Lady Day (March 25), Midsummer (June 24), Michaelmas (September 29), and Christmas (December25).\nquay - wharf or reinforced bank where ships are loaded or unloaded.\nquick-lime - white, caustic alkaline substance consisting of calcium oxide, obtained by heating limestone.\nquid - slang for pound\nquizzing-glass - Also called a quizzer, this was a round, oval, or oblong lens, mounted in a frame, sometimes ornately. Quizzing-glasses were popular from the 18th-century onwards and were usually hung from a chain worn round the users neck. They were used for close examination.\nR\nrag-and-bone shop - shop that bought and sold rags to be made into paper and bones that were ground into manure. Krook, in Bleak House, was the proprietor of a rag and bone shop.\nrecusant - one who refused to attend Church of England services.\nreel - Scottish dance requiring at least two couples and usually a figure eight.\nReform Act of 1832 - hard fought Act which sought to end under representation of the middle class in Parliament. Also to more evenly distribute parliamentary seats among the boroughs. Because of property qualifications included in the Act (voting in the boroughs was restricted to men who occupied homes with an annual value of at least £10) the bill still only gave the vote to one in seven.\nRegency - period from 1810-1820. George III went insane in 1810 and his son ruled as prince regent in his stead. George III died in 1820 and his son became George IV.\nrepeater - a pocket watch which was capable of chiming on the hour or quarter hour, this made it easier to tell the time in the dark. Scrooge has one in A Christmas Carol which he checks when the first spirit is due.\nresurrectionist - a body snatcher. Legally, only the bodies of criminals could be used for teaching anatomy but this did not meet demand, so resurrectionists took up the slack. Jerry Cruncher, in A Tale of Two Cities, was a resurrectionist.\nribald - characterized by or indulging in vulgar, lewd humor.\nriband - ribbon\nRiot Act - enacted in 1714, it forced crowds, riotously assembled, to disperse within one hour after the Act was read, or risk being shot. During the Gordon Riots, in Barnaby Rudge, the mob is read the Riot Act.\nRobinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe's most famous novel, published in 1719, was one of Dickens' favorite books. It is mentioned in 9 of Dickens' 15 major novels as well as in 2 of his Christmas books, A Christmas Carol and Cricket on the Hearth, and in his 2 travel books, American Notes and Pictures From Italy.\nrookery - nesting place for rooks, birds that were related to the crow. David Copperfield's childhood home in Blunderstone was called the Rookery. Rookery was also used to denote an urban slum.\nRotten Row - horse path in Hyde Park where the rich would go riding and show off their finery. Peter Cratchit, proudly wearing his father's shirt in honor of Christmas, wishes to show it off in the fashionable parks.\nrubber - A contest consisting of a series of matches.\nrushlight - The light from a rush-candle, a candle made from the pith of a rush plant dipped in tallow.\nS\nSaint Dunstan - former Archbishop of Canterbury (10th century). Legend has it that he tweaked the Devil's nose with red-hot tongs.\nsaveloy - a highly seasoned dried and smoked pork sausage, sold ready to eat.\nsawyer - one who saws timber\nscrivener - professional scribe or copier\nscullery - dish washing area\nsea-coal - mineral coal as distinguished from charcoal\nsealing wax - wax used to seal letters, red for business letters, other colors for correspondence, and black for mourning.\nsedan chair - means of transportation consisting of a covered chair to which two long poles were attached, carried by chairmen.\nsepulchral - relating to the grave\nserjeant - an English barrister of the highest rank.\nshaver - small boy\nShepherd, Jack - (1702-1724) notorious London thief who escaped from confinement six times, including daring escapes from Newgate prison. Hanged at Tyburn in 1724.\nshilling - monetary unit equal to 12 pence; 20 shillings equaled 1 pound.( * see note )\nshort-sixes - bundles of six short candles.\nSir Roger de Coverley - popular country dance named for a fictional character created by Joseph Addison (The Spectator-1711). The dance is known in the United States as the Virginia Reel. Sir Roger de Coverley is performed at Fezziwig's ball in A Christmas Carol.\nskittles - Game played with nine wooden pins to be bowled down with a wooden ball or disc in as few attempts as possible.\nslopseller - dealer in cheap or second-hand clothing.\nsluice-gate - dam or water-gate used to control waterflow in a sluiceway.\nsluiceway - artificial waterway used to carry off surplus water.\nsmall beer - weak, low quality beer.\nsmall clothes - knee breeches\nsmoking bishop - Christmas punch made from heated red wine flavored with oranges, sugar, and spices. So named because of its deep purple color.\nsnapdragon - popular Victorian parlour game, usually played on Christmas Eve, where raisins are placed in a bowl of flaming brandy. The object being to pluck the raisins out and eat them at the risk of being burned.\nSnow Hill - busy route from Holborn to Farringdon Street in London.\nsnuff - fine powdered tobacco that is inhaled through the nose. Gentlemen carried theirs in elegant snuff boxes, poorer users, like Frederick Dorrit, may carry a small amount twisted into a piece of whitey-brown paper. Inexperienced users always sneeze when taking snuff.\nsnuffer - device used to extinguish a candle.\nsolicitor - lawyer who handled wills and estate problems and hired barristers to represent their clients in Chancery Court. Mr. Tulkinghorn was solicitor for the Dedlocks in Bleak House. Mr. Wickfield is solicitor for David's aunt, Betsy Trotwood, in David Copperfield.\nsovereign - gold coin worth a pound, first issued in 1817.\nspencer - a short, close-fitting coat worn by woman and children in the early 19th century.\nsperm-oil - oil from the Sperm whale, used in lamps.\nsponging-house - temporary debtor's prison. Dickens' father, John Dickens, was taken to a sponging-house before becoming an inmate at the Marshalsea prison. Harold Skimpole is taken to Coavinses sponging-house in Bleak House\nspontaneous combustion - a phenomenon where the human body catches fire as a result of heat generated by internal chemical action. Scientist deny the existence of spontaneous combustion despite many supposed cases. Dickens has Krook, in Bleak House, die of spontaneous combustion.\nsquire - an English country gentleman, especially the chief landowner in a district.\nsrub (shrub) - drink made from orange or lemon juice, sugar, and rum or brandy.\nStandard in Cornhill - water standard at the junction of Cornhill with Gracechurch Street, Bishopsgate, and Leadenhall Street. Although not used as a water standard since 1603, the standard remained for many years and was used as a point of measurement of distances from the city. In Barnaby Rudge, Dickens states that the Maypole Inn was twelve miles from London measuring from the Standard in Cornhill.\nsteward - head of all servants in a wealthy household. Barnaby Rudge Sr. was steward of the Warren, household of Reuben Haredale in Barnaby Rudge.\nstile - steps in a fence over which people could pass but livestock could not.\nstone - measure of weight equaling 14 pounds\nstrait-waistcoat - a strait jacket, used for restraining persons who may do harm to themselves or others.\nstreet-door-scraper - mounted iron bar for scraping mud or manure from boots before entering a house.\nsurgeon - medical man who treated broken bones and other types of external injuries although sometimes pressed into the service of bloodletting or delivering children. Of lower social status than a physician.\nsurtout - double-breasted, full-skirted, close-bodied suit.\nsweep - chimney sweep, ubiquitous in nineteenth century London. Sweeps often hired small boys that could fit in the chimneys, a very dangerous business. An 1842 law made it a crime to force anyone under 21 to enter a chimney, or to apprentice sweeps under 16. In Oliver Twist, which takes place before this law was passed, Gamfield, the sweep, tries unsuccessfully to apprentice Oliver from the workhouse.\nsweetmeat - a sweet delicacy, such as a piece of candy or candied fruit.\nT\ntallow - the fat of sheep or oxen, used for making candles or soap.\ntaper - small wax candle\ntaproom - room in an inn or tavern where working class people ate and drank. The more well-to-do used the parlor.\ntar-water - an infusion of tar in water, formerly thought to be a cure-all. Mrs Joe steeps Pip in it in Great Expectations.\nteetotaler - one who abstains from alcohol. The word originated with a stammering Lancashire temperence advocate who said in a speech that nothing would do but \"t-t-total abstinence.\"\nterm - academic sessions at Cambridge and Oxford (i.e. Michaelmas term began Sept 29). Tied to the ecclesiastical calendar of the Anglican Christian year.\nthreepenn'orth - three pennies worth, as in \"threepenn'orth rum.\"\nthruppence - slang for three pence or 3 pennies; a three pence coin.\nticket-porter - porter wearing badges, or tickets, licensed by the city of London to carry goods, as well as documents and messages. They could be found in the streets and hired when needed. Trotty Veck was a ticket-porter in The Chimes.\ntights - breeches or knee-breeches\nThe Times - London's most influential newspaper with a circulation of 60,000 in 1861. Founded by John Walter in 1785.\ntinker - one who repairs pots and pans\ntoilet - to dress and groom oneself\nTory - conservative political party as opposed to the liberal Whigs. The Tories supported the king and the Anglican Church.\ntransportation - the practice of sending British criminals to the colonies as punishment. Criminals were sent to America until 1776, from then on to Australia. It is estimated that 140,000 criminals were transported to Australia between 1810 and 1852. Abel Magwitch, in Great Expectations, had been transported to Australia and was under a death penalty for coming back to Britain.\ntreadmill - kind of like today's StairMaster. Prisoners climbed steps along a rotating cylinder designed to keep them mindlessly occupied and wear them out physically. Outlawed in 1898.\nTrinity - university or High Court term beginning after Easter.\ntriple decker - a novel published in three volumes; favored by Mudie's Circulating Library because three subscribers could read a book at once.\ntruckle bed - low bed usually kept beneath another bed when not in use.\ntrundling a hoop - popular Victorian child's game where a wooden hoop is pushed along with a stick.\ntumbler - drinking glass with a pointed bottom so that they could not be set down until emptied. Later referred to any drinking glass.\ntumbril - open cart which tilts backwards to empty its load. Used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution.\ntuppence - slang for \"two pence\" or two pennies; also, a two pence coin.\nturf-circles - Those who frequent horse races.\nturnkey - a jailor. John Chivery was turnkey at the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit.\nturnpike - toll road\ntwelfth cake - cakes made in celebration of Twelfth Night. They contained a pea or a bean, the finders of which were king and queen of the celebration.\nTwelfth Night - January 5th, the night before the twelfth day after Christmas when Christmas festivities ended. The next day, January 6th, was Epiphany.\ntwo pair back - room at the back of the house on the second floor. Two pair refers to two flights of steps with a landing in between.\ntwopenn'orth - two pennies worth\ntwopenny post - the ordinary postage within the city of London from 1801-1839 was 2 pence.\nTyburn Tree - place where public executions were performed until 1783 when they were moved to Newgate prison.\nU",
"French Revolution - Military Wiki - Wikia\nThe French Revolution (French ... had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen kept ... trip to the guillotine in an open wooden cart ...\nFrench Revolution | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nArmed conflicts with other European countries.\nThe French Revolution (French language: Révolution française) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France from 1789 to 1799 that had a fundamental impact on French history and on modern history worldwide.\nExperiencing an economic crisis exacerbated by the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War , the common people of France became increasingly frustrated by the ineptitude of King Louis XVI and the continued decadence of the aristocracy. This resentment, coupled with burgeoning Enlightenment ideals, fueled radical sentiments and launched the Revolution in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms. A republic was proclaimed in September 1792 and King Louis XVI was executed the next year.\nExternal threats shaped the course of the Revolution profoundly. The Revolutionary Wars began in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian Peninsula , the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine – achievements that had eluded previous French governments for centuries. Internally, popular agitation radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins . The dictatorship imposed by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror , from 1793 until 1794, caused up to 40,000 deaths inside France, [1] abolished slavery in the colonies, and secured the borders of the new republic from its enemies. The bloody rule of the Jacobins sparked an internal backlash and ultimately sent Robespierre to the guillotine. After the fall of the Jacobins, the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799. In that year, which marks the traditional conclusion of the Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory in the Brumaire coup and established the Consulate. The primary successor state of the Revolution, the First Empire under Napoleon, emerged in 1804 and spread the new revolutionary principles all over Europe during the Napoleonic Wars . The First Empire finally collapsed in 1815 when the forces of reaction succeeded in restoring the Bourbons, albeit under a constitutional monarchy.\nThe modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. French society itself underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic, and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from various left-wing political groups, the masses on the streets , and peasants in the countryside. [2] Old ideas about tradition and hierarchy regarding monarchs, aristocrats, and the Catholic Church were abruptly overthrown under the mantra of \" Liberté, égalité, fraternité .\" Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies, the spread of liberalism and secularism, the development of modern ideologies, and the adoption of total war . [3] Some of its central documents, like the Declaration of the Rights of Man , expanded the arena of human rights to include women and slaves. [4] The fallout from the Revolution had permanent consequences for human history: the Latin American independence wars , the Louisiana Purchase by the United States , and the Revolutions of 1848 are just a few of the numerous events that ultimately depended upon the eruption of 1789.\nContents\nMain article: Causes of the French Revolution\nThe French government faced a fiscal crisis in the 1780s, and King Louis XVI was criticized for his handling of these affairs.\nAdherents of most historical models identify many of the same features of the Ancien Régime as being among the causes of the Revolution. Historians at one time emphasized class conflicts from a Marxist perspective; that interpretation fell out of favour in the late 19th century. The economy was not healthy; poor harvests, rising food prices, and an inadequate transportation system made food even more expensive. The sequence of events leading to the revolution involved the national government's virtual bankruptcy due to its poor tax system and the mounting debts caused by numerous large wars. The attempt to challenge British naval and commercial power in the Seven Years' War was a costly disaster, with the loss of France's colonial possessions in continental North America and the destruction of the French Navy. French forces were rebuilt and performed more successfully in the American Revolutionary War , but only at massive additional cost, and with no real gains for France except the knowledge that Britain had been humbled. France's inefficient and antiquated financial system was unable to finance this debt. Faced with a financial crisis, the king called an Assembly of Notables in 1787 for the first time in over a century.\nMeanwhile, the royal court at Versailles was isolated from, and indifferent to the escalating crisis. While in theory King Louis XVI was an absolute monarch, in practice he was often indecisive and known to back down when faced with strong opposition. While he did reduce government expenditures, opponents in the parlement s successfully thwarted his attempts at enacting much needed reforms. Those who were opposed to Louis' policies further undermined royal authority by distributing pamphlets (often reporting false or exaggerated information) that criticized the government and its officials, stirring up public opinion against the monarchy. [5]\nMany other factors involved resentments and aspirations given focus by the rise of Enlightenment ideals. These included resentment of royal absolutism ; resentment by peasants, laborers and the bourgeoisie toward the traditional seigneurial privileges possessed by the nobility; resentment of the Catholic Church's influence over public policy and institutions; aspirations for freedom of religion; resentment of aristocratic bishops by the poorer rural clergy; aspirations for social, political and economic equality, and (especially as the Revolution progressed) republicanism; hatred of Queen Marie-Antoinette , who was falsely accused of being a spendthrift and an Austrian spy; and anger toward the King for firing finance minister Jacques Necker , among others, who were popularly seen as representatives of the people. [6]\nPre-revolution\nEdit\nCaricature of the Third Estate carrying the First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility) on its back.\nLouis XVI ascended to the throne amidst a financial crisis ; the state was nearing bankruptcy and outlays outpaced income. [7] This was because of France’s financial obligations stemming from involvement in the Seven Years' War and its participation in the American Revolutionary War . [8] In May 1776, finance minister Turgot was dismissed, after he failed to enact reforms. The next year, Jacques Necker , a foreigner, was appointed Comptroller-General of Finance. He could not be made an official minister because he was a Protestant. [9]\nNecker realized that the country's extremely regressive tax system subjected the lower classes to a heavy burden, [9] while numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy. [10] He argued that the country could not be taxed higher; that tax exemptions for the nobility and clergy must be reduced; and proposed that borrowing more money would solve the country's fiscal shortages. Necker published a report to support this claim that underestimated the deficit by roughly 36 million livres, and proposed restricting the power of the parlements . [9]\nThis was not received well by the King's ministers, and Necker, hoping to bolster his position, argued to be made a minister. The King refused, Necker was fired, and Charles Alexandre de Calonne was appointed to the Comptrollership. [9] Calonne initially spent liberally, but he quickly realized the critical financial situation and proposed a new tax code . [11]\nThe proposal included a consistent land tax , which would include taxation of the nobility and clergy. Faced with opposition from the parlements, Calonne organised the summoning of the Assembly of Notables . But the Assembly failed to endorse Calonne's proposals and instead weakened his position through its criticism. In response, the King announced the calling of the Estates-General for May 1789 , the first time the body had been summoned since 1614. This was a signal that the Bourbon monarchy was in a weakened state and subject to the demands of its people. [12]\nEstates-General of 1789\nMain article: Estates-General of 1789\nThe Estates-General was organized into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France. [13] On the last occasion that the Estates-General had met, in 1614, each estate held one vote, and any two could override the third. The Parlement of Paris feared the government would attempt to gerrymander an assembly to rig the results. Thus, they required that the Estates be arranged as in 1614. [14] The 1614 rules differed from practices of local assemblies, where each member had one vote and third estate membership was doubled. For example, in the Dauphiné the provincial assembly agreed to double the number of members of the third estate, hold membership elections, and allow one vote per member, rather than one vote per estate. [15]\nPrior to the assembly taking place, the \"Committee of Thirty,\" a body of liberal Parisians, began to agitate against voting by estate. This group, largely composed of the wealthy, argued for the Estates-General to assume the voting mechanisms of Dauphiné. They argued that ancient precedent was not sufficient, because \"the people were sovereign.\" [16] Necker convened a Second Assembly of Notables, which rejected the notion of double representation by a vote of 111 to 333. [16] The King, however, agreed to the proposition on 27 December; but he left discussion of the weight of each vote to the Estates-General itself. [17]\nElections were held in the spring of 1789; suffrage requirements for the Third Estate were for French-born or naturalised males only, at least 25 years of age, who resided where the vote was to take place and who paid taxes.\nPour être électeur du tiers état, il faut avoir 25 ans, être français ou naturalisé, être domicilié au lieu de vote et compris au rôle des impositions. [18]\nStrong turnout produced 1,201 delegates, including: \"291 nobles, 300 clergy, and 610 members of the Third Estate.\" [17] To lead delegates, \"Books of grievances\" (cahiers de doléances) were compiled to list problems. [13] The books articulated ideas which would have seemed radical only months before; however, most supported the monarchical system in general. Many assumed the Estates-General would approve future taxes, and Enlightenment ideals were relatively rare. [14] [19]\nPamphlets by liberal nobles and clergy became widespread after the lifting of press censorship. [16] The Abbé Sieyès , a theorist and Catholic clergyman, argued the paramount importance of the Third Estate in the pamphlet Qu'est-ce que le tiers état? (\" What is the Third Estate? \"), published in January 1789. He asserted: \"What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something.\" [14] [20]\nThe meeting of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 in Versailles.\nThe Estates-General convened in the Grands Salles des Menus-Plaisirs in Versailles on 5 May 1789 and opened with a three-hour speech by Necker. The Third Estate demanded that the verification of deputies' credentials should be undertaken in common by all deputies, rather than each estate verifying the credentials of its own members internally; negotiations with the other estates failed to achieve this. [19] The commoners appealed to the clergy who replied they required more time. Necker asserted that each estate verify credentials and \"the king was to act as arbitrator.\" [21] Negotiations with the other two estates to achieve this, however, were unsuccessful. [22]\nNational Assembly (1789)\nThe National Assembly taking the Tennis Court Oath (sketch by Jacques-Louis David ).\nOn 10 June 1789, Abbé Sieyès moved that the Third Estate, now meeting as the Communes (English: \"Commons\"), proceed with verification of its own powers and invite the other two estates to take part, but not to wait for them. They proceeded to do so two days later, completing the process on 17 June. [23] Then they voted a measure far more radical, declaring themselves the National Assembly , an assembly not of the Estates but of \"the People.\" They invited the other orders to join them, but made it clear they intended to conduct the nation's affairs with or without them. [24]\nIn an attempt to keep control of the process and prevent the Assembly from convening, Louis XVI ordered the closure of the Salle des États where the Assembly met, making an excuse that the carpenters needed to prepare the hall for a royal speech in two days. Weather did not allow an outdoor meeting, so the Assembly moved their deliberations to a nearby indoor real tennis court, where they proceeded to swear the Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789), under which they agreed not to separate until they had given France a constitution. [25]\nA majority of the representatives of the clergy soon joined them, as did 47 members of the nobility. By 27 June, the royal party had overtly given in, although the military began to arrive in large numbers around Paris and Versailles. Messages of support for the Assembly poured in from Paris and other French cities. [25]\nNational Constituent Assembly (1789–1791)\nMain article: Storming of the Bastille\nBy this time, Necker had earned the enmity of many members of the French court for his overt manipulation of public opinion. Marie Antoinette , the King's younger brother the Comte d'Artois , and other conservative members of the King's privy council urged him to dismiss Necker as financial advisor. On 11 July 1789, after Necker published an inaccurate account of the government's debts and made it available to the public, the King fired him, and completely restructured the finance ministry at the same time. [26]\nMany Parisians presumed Louis's actions to be aimed against the Assembly and began open rebellion when they heard the news the next day. They were also afraid that arriving soldiers – mostly foreign mercenaries – had been summoned to shut down the National Constituent Assembly . The Assembly, meeting at Versailles, went into nonstop session to prevent another eviction from their meeting place. Paris was soon consumed by riots, chaos, and widespread looting. The mobs soon had the support of some of the French Guard , who were armed and trained soldiers. [27]\nThe Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 26 August 1789\nOn 14 July, the insurgents set their eyes on the large weapons and ammunition cache inside the Bastille fortress, which was also perceived to be a symbol of royal power. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon. Despite ordering a cease fire, which prevented a mutual massacre, Governor Marquis Bernard de Launay was beaten, stabbed and decapitated; his head was placed on a pike and paraded about the city. Although the fortress had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen kept for immoral behavior, and a murder suspect), the Bastille served as a potent symbol of everything hated under the Ancien Régime. Returning to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall), the mob accused the prévôt des marchands (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles of treachery and butchered him. [28]\nThe King, alarmed by the violence, backed down, at least for the time being. The Marquis de la Fayette took up command of the National Guard at Paris. Jean-Sylvain Bailly , president of the Assembly at the time of the Tennis Court Oath , became the city's mayor under a new governmental structure known as the commune. The King visited Paris, where, on 17 July he accepted a tricolore cockade , to cries of Vive la Nation (\"Long live the Nation\") and Vive le Roi (\"Long live the King\"). [29]\nNecker was recalled to power, but his triumph was short-lived. An astute financier but a less astute politician, Necker overplayed his hand by demanding and obtaining a general amnesty, losing much of the people's favour.\nAs civil authority rapidly deteriorated, with random acts of violence and theft breaking out across the country, members of the nobility, fearing for their safety, fled to neighboring countries; many of these émigrés, as they were called, funded counter-revolutionary causes within France and urged foreign monarchs to offer military support to a counter-revolution . [30]\nBy late July, the spirit of popular sovereignty had spread throughout France. In rural areas, many commoners began to form militias and arm themselves against a foreign invasion: some attacked the châteaux of the nobility as part of a general agrarian insurrection known as \"la Grande Peur\" (\"the Great Fear \"). In addition, wild rumours and paranoia caused widespread unrest and civil disturbances that contributed to the collapse of law and order. [31]\nWorking toward a constitution\nMain article: French Revolution from the abolition of feudalism to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy\nOn 4 August 1789, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism (although at that point there had been sufficient peasant revolts to almost end feudalism already), in what is known as the August Decrees , sweeping away both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate and the tithes gathered by the First Estate. In the course of a few hours, nobles, clergy, towns, provinces, companies and cities lost their special privileges.\nOn 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , which comprised a statement of principles rather than a constitution with legal effect. The National Constituent Assembly functioned not only as a legislature, but also as a body to draft a new constitution .\nNecker, Mounier, Lally-Tollendal and others argued unsuccessfully for a senate, with members appointed by the crown on the nomination of the people. The bulk of the nobles argued for an aristocratic upper house elected by the nobles. The popular party carried the day: France would have a single, unicameral assembly. The King retained only a \" suspensive veto \"; he could delay the implementation of a law, but not block it absolutely. The Assembly eventually replaced the historic provinces with 83 départements, uniformly administered and roughly equal in area and population.\nAmid the Assembly's preoccupation with constitutional affairs, the financial crisis had continued largely unaddressed, and the deficit had only increased. Honoré Mirabeau now led the move to address this matter, and the Assembly gave Necker complete financial dictatorship.\nWomen's March on Versailles\nMain article: The Women's March on Versailles\nEngraving of the Women's March on Versailles, 5 October 1789\nFueled by rumors of a reception for the King's bodyguards on 1 October 1789 at which the national cockade had been trampled upon, on 5 October 1789 crowds of women began to assemble at Parisian markets. The women first marched to the Hôtel de Ville , demanding that city officials address their concerns. [32] The women were responding to the harsh economic situations they faced, especially bread shortages. They also demanded an end to royal efforts to block the National Assembly, and for the King and his administration to move to Paris as a sign of good faith in addressing the widespread poverty.\nGetting unsatisfactory responses from city officials, as many as 7,000 women joined the march to Versailles, bringing with them cannons and a variety of smaller weapons. Twenty thousand National Guardsmen under the command of La Fayette responded to keep order, and members of the mob stormed the palace, killing several guards. [33] La Fayette ultimately persuaded the king to accede to the demand of the crowd that the monarchy relocate to Paris.\nOn 6 October 1789, the King and the royal family moved from Versailles to Paris under the \"protection\" of the National Guards, thus legitimizing the National Assembly.\nRevolution and the Church\nMain articles: Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution and Civil Constitution of the Clergy\nIn this caricature, monks and nuns enjoy their new freedom after the decree of 16 February 1790\nThe Revolution caused a massive shift of power from the Roman Catholic Church to the state. Under the Ancien Régime, the Church had been the largest single landowner in the country, owning about 10% of the land in the kingdom. [34] The Church was exempt from paying taxes to the government, while it levied a tithe—a 10% tax on income, often collected in the form of crops—on the general population, only a fraction of which it then redistributed to the poor. [34] The power and wealth of the Church was highly resented by some groups. A small minority of Protestants living in France, such as the Huguenots, wanted an anti-Catholic regime and revenge against the clergy who discriminated against them. Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire helped fuel this resentment by denigrating the Catholic Church and destabilizing the French monarchy. [35] As historian John McManners argues, \"In eighteenth-century France throne and altar were commonly spoken of as in close alliance; their simultaneous collapse ... would one day provide the final proof of their interdependence.\" [36]\nThis resentment toward the Church weakened its power during the opening of the Estates General in May 1789. The Church composed the First Estate with 130,000 members of the clergy. When the National Assembly was later created in June 1789 by the Third Estate, the clergy voted to join them, which perpetuated the destruction of the Estates General as a governing body. [37] The National Assembly began to enact social and economic reform. Legislation sanctioned on 4 August 1789 abolished the Church's authority to impose the tithe. In an attempt to address the financial crisis, the Assembly declared, on 2 November 1789, that the property of the Church was \"at the disposal of the nation.\" [38] They used this property to back a new currency, the assignats . Thus, the nation had now also taken on the responsibility of the Church, which included paying the clergy and caring for the poor, the sick and the orphaned. [39] In December, the Assembly began to sell the lands to the highest bidder to raise revenue, effectively decreasing the value of the assignats by 25% in two years. [40] In autumn 1789, legislation abolished monastic vows and on 13 February 1790 all religious orders were dissolved. [41] Monks and nuns were encouraged to return to private life and a small percentage did eventually marry. [42]\nThe Civil Constitution of the Clergy , passed on 12 July 1790, turned the remaining clergy into employees of the state. This established an election system for parish priests and bishops and set a pay rate for the clergy. Many Catholics objected to the election system because it effectively denied the authority of the Pope in Rome over the French Church. Eventually, in November 1790, the National Assembly began to require an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution from all the members of the clergy. [42] This led to a schism between those clergy who swore the required oath and accepted the new arrangement and those who remained loyal to the Pope. Overall, 24% of the clergy nationwide took the oath. [43] Widespread refusal led to legislation against the clergy, \"forcing them into exile, deporting them forcibly, or executing them as traitors.\" [40] Pope Pius VI never accepted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, further isolating the Church in France.\nDuring the Reign of Terror , extreme efforts of de-Christianization ensued, including the imprisonment and massacre of priests and destruction of churches and religious images throughout France. An effort was made to replace the Catholic Church altogether, with civic festivals replacing religious ones. The establishment of the Cult of Reason was the final step of radical de-Christianization. These events led to a widespread disillusionment with the Revolution and to counter-rebellions across France. Locals often resisted de-Christianization by attacking revolutionary agents and hiding members of the clergy who were being hunted. Eventually, Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety were forced to denounce the campaign, [44] replacing the Cult of Reason with the deist but still non-Christian Cult of the Supreme Being . The Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and the Church ended the de-Christianization period and established the rules for a relationship between the Catholic Church and the French State that lasted until it was abrogated by the Third Republic via the separation of church and state on 11 December 1905. The persecution of the Church led to a counter-revolution known as the Revolt in the Vendée , whose suppression is considered by some to be the first modern genocide . [45]\nIntrigues and radicalism\nEdit\nFactions within the Assembly began to clarify. The aristocrat Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazalès and the abbé Jean-Sifrein Maury led what would become known as the right wing, the opposition to revolution (this party sat on the right-hand side of the Assembly). The \"Royalist democrats\" or monarchiens, allied with Necker , inclined toward organising France along lines similar to the British constitutional model; they included Jean Joseph Mounier , the Comte de Lally-Tollendal , the comte de Clermont-Tonnerre , and Pierre Victor Malouet, comte de Virieu .\nThe \"National Party\", representing the centre or centre-left of the assembly, included Honoré Mirabeau , La Fayette, and Bailly; while Adrien Duport , Barnave and Alexandre Lameth represented somewhat more extreme views. Almost alone in his radicalism on the left was the Arras lawyer Maximilien Robespierre . Abbé Sieyès led in proposing legislation in this period and successfully forged consensus for some time between the political centre and the left. In Paris, various committees, the mayor, the assembly of representatives, and the individual districts each claimed authority independent of the others. The increasingly middle-class National Guard under La Fayette also slowly emerged as a power in its own right, as did other self-generated assemblies.\nThe Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790 celebrated the establishment of the constitutional monarchy\nThe Assembly abolished the symbolic paraphernalia of the Ancien Régime— armorial bearings, liveries, etc. – which further alienated the more conservative nobles, and added to the ranks of the émigrés. On 14 July 1790, and for several days following, crowds in the Champ de Mars celebrated the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille with the Fête de la Fédération ; Talleyrand performed a mass; participants swore an oath of \"fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king\"; the King and the royal family actively participated. [46]\nThe electors had originally chosen the members of the Estates-General to serve for a single year. However, by the terms of the Tennis Court Oath , the communes had bound themselves to meet continuously until France had a constitution. Right-wing elements now argued for a new election, but Mirabeau prevailed, asserting that the status of the assembly had fundamentally changed, and that no new election should take place before completing the constitution.[ citation needed ]\nIn late 1790, the French army was in considerable disarray. The military officer corps was largely composed of noblemen, who found it increasingly difficult to maintain order within the ranks. In some cases, soldiers (drawn from the lower classes) had turned against their aristocratic commanders and attacked them. At Nancy, General Bouillé successfully put down one such rebellion, only to be accused of being anti-revolutionary for doing so. This and other such incidents spurred a mass desertion as more and more officers defected to other countries, leaving a dearth of experienced leadership within the army. [47]\nThis period also saw the rise of the political \"clubs\" in French politics. Foremost among these was the Jacobin Club ; 152 members had affiliated with the Jacobins by 10 August 1790. The Jacobin Society began as a broad, general organization for political debate, but as it grew in members, various factions developed with widely differing views. Several of these fractions broke off to form their own clubs, such as the Club of '89 . [48]\nMeanwhile, the Assembly continued to work on developing a constitution. A new judicial organisation made all magistracies temporary and independent of the throne. The legislators abolished hereditary offices, except for the monarchy itself. Jury trials started for criminal cases. The King would have the unique power to propose war, with the legislature then deciding whether to declare war. The Assembly abolished all internal trade barriers and suppressed guilds, masterships, and workers' organisations: any individual gained the right to practice a trade through the purchase of a license; strikes became illegal. [49]\nIn the winter of 1791, the Assembly considered, for the first time, legislation against the émigrés. The debate pitted the safety of the Revolution against the liberty of individuals to leave. Mirabeau prevailed against the measure, which he referred to as \"worthy of being placed in the code of Draco \". [47] But Mirabeau died on 2 April 1791 and, before the end of the year, the new Legislative Assembly adopted this draconian measure. [50]\nRoyal flight to Varennes\nMain article: Flight to Varennes\nThe return of the royal family to Paris on 25 June 1791, after their failed flight to Varennes\nLouis XVI was increasingly dismayed by the direction of the revolution. His brother, the Comte d'Artois and his queen, Marie Antoinette, urged a stronger stance against the revolution and support for the émigrés, while he was resistant to any course that would see him openly side with foreign powers against the Assembly. Eventually, fearing for his own safety and that of his family, he decided to flee Paris to the Austrian border, having been assured of the loyalty of the border garrisons.\nLouis cast his lot with General Bouillé , who condemned both the emigration and the Assembly, and promised him refuge and support in his camp at Montmédy . On the night of 20 June 1791, the royal family fled the Tuileries Palace dressed as servants, while their servants dressed as nobles.\nHowever, late the next day, the King was recognised and arrested at Varennes (in the Meuse département). He and his family were brought back to Paris under guard, still dressed as servants. Pétion , Latour-Maubourg , and Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave , representing the Assembly, met the royal family at Épernay and returned with them. From this time, Barnave became a counselor and supporter of the royal family. When they returned to Paris, the crowd greeted them in silence. The Assembly provisionally suspended the King. He and Queen Marie Antoinette remained held under guard. [51] [52] [53] [54] [55]\nCompleting the constitution\nMain article: The Last Days of the National Constituent Assembly\nAs most of the Assembly still favoured a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic, the various groups reached a compromise which left Louis XVI as little more than a figurehead: he was forced to swear an oath to the constitution, and a decree declared that retracting the oath, heading an army for the purpose of making war upon the nation, or permitting anyone to do so in his name would amount to abdication. [56]\nHowever, Jacques Pierre Brissot drafted a petition, insisting that in the eyes of the nation Louis XVI was deposed since his flight. An immense crowd gathered in the Champ de Mars to sign the petition. Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins gave fiery speeches. The Assembly called for the municipal authorities to \"preserve public order\". The National Guard under La Fayette's command confronted the crowd. The soldiers responded to a barrage of stones by firing into the crowd, killing between 13 and 50 people. [57] The incident cost La Fayette and his National Guard much public support.\nIn the wake of the massacre the authorities closed many of the patriotic clubs, as well as radical newspapers such as Jean-Paul Marat 's L'Ami du Peuple . Danton fled to England; Desmoulins and Marat went into hiding.[ citation needed ]\nMeanwhile, a new threat arose from abroad: the King's brother in law Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II , Frederick William II of Prussia, and the King's brother Charles-Philippe, comte d'Artois , issued the Declaration of Pillnitz , which proclaimed the cause of Louis XVI as their own, demanded his absolute liberty and hinted at an invasion of France on his behalf if the revolutionary authorities refused its conditions. [58] Although Leopold himself sought to avoid war and made the declaration to satisfy the Comte d'Artois and the other émigrés, the reaction within France was ferocious. The French people expressed no respect for the dictates of foreign monarchs, and the threat of force merely hastened their militarisation. [59]\nEven before the Flight to Varennes, the Assembly members had determined to debar themselves from the legislature that would succeed them, the Legislative Assembly . They now gathered the various constitutional laws they had passed into a single constitution, and submitted it to the recently restored Louis XVI, who accepted it, writing \"I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all attacks from abroad, and to cause its execution by all the means it places at my disposal\". The King addressed the Assembly and received enthusiastic applause from members and spectators. With this capstone, the National Constituent Assembly adjourned in a final session on 30 September 1791. [60]\nMignet argued that the \"constitution of 1791... was the work of the middle class, then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever takes possession of institutions... In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it exercised none.\" [56]\nLegislative Assembly (1791–1792)\nMain article: The Legislative Assembly and the fall of the French monarchy\nUnder the Constitution of 1791 , France would function as a constitutional monarchy. The King had to share power with the elected Legislative Assembly , but he still retained his royal veto and the ability to select ministers. The Legislative Assembly first met on 1 October 1791, and degenerated into chaos less than a year later. In the words of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica : \"In the attempt to govern, the Assembly failed altogether. It left behind an empty treasury , an undisciplined army and navy, and a people debauched by safe and successful riot.\" [61] The Legislative Assembly consisted of about 165 Feuillants (constitutional monarchists) on the right, about 330 Girondists (liberal republicans) and Jacobins (radical revolutionaries) on the left, and about 250 deputies unaffiliated with either faction.[ citation needed ] Early on, the King vetoed legislation that threatened the émigrés with death and that decreed that every non-juring clergyman must take within eight days the civic oath mandated by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Over the course of a year, such disagreements would lead to a constitutional crisis .[ citation needed ]\nConstitutional crisis\nMain articles: 10 August (French Revolution) , September Massacres , and Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy\nOn 10 August 1792 the Paris Commune stormed the Tuileries Palace and massacred the Swiss Guards\nOn the night of 10 August 1792, insurgents and popular militias , supported by the revolutionary Paris Commune , assailed the Tuileries Palace and massacred the Swiss Guards who were assigned for the protection of the king. [62] The royal family ended up prisoners and a rump session of the Legislative Assembly suspended the monarchy; little more than a third of the deputies were present, almost all of them Jacobins. [63]\nWhat remained of a national government depended on the support of the insurrectionary Commune. The Commune sent gangs into the prisons to try arbitrarily and butcher 1400 victims, and addressed a circular letter to the other cities of France inviting them to follow this example. The Assembly could offer only feeble resistance. This situation persisted until the Convention , elected by universal male suffrage and charged with writing a new constitution, met on 20 September 1792 and became the new de facto government of France. The next day it abolished the monarchy and declared a republic. The following day – 22 September 1792, the first morning of the new Republic – was later retroactively adopted as the beginning of Year One of the French Republican Calendar . [64]\nWar and Counter-Revolution (1792–1797)\nMain articles: French Revolutionary Wars and French Counter-Revolution\nThe politics of the period inevitably drove France towards war with Austria and its allies. The King, many of the Feuillants, and the Girondins specifically wanted to wage war. The King (and many Feuillants with him) expected war would increase his personal popularity; he also foresaw an opportunity to exploit any defeat: either result would make him stronger. The Girondins wanted to export the Revolution throughout Europe and, by extension, to defend the Revolution within France. The forces opposing war were much weaker. Barnave and his supporters among the Feuillants feared a war they thought France had little chance to win and which they feared might lead to greater radicalization of the revolution. On the other end of the political spectrum Robespierre opposed a war on two grounds , fearing that it would strengthen the monarchy and military at the expense of the revolution, and that it would incur the anger of ordinary people in Austria and elsewhere. The Austrian emperor Leopold II , brother of Marie Antoinette , may have wished to avoid war, but he died on 1 March 1792. [65] France preemptively declared war on Austria (20 April 1792) and Prussia joined on the Austrian side a few weeks later. The invading Prussian army faced little resistance until checked at the Battle of Valmy (20 September 1792), and forced to withdraw.\nThe French Revolutionary Army defeated the combined armies of Austrians, Dutch and British at Fleurus in June 1794.\nThe new-born Republic followed up on this success with a series of victories in Belgium and the Rhineland in the fall of 1792. The French armies defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November, and had soon taken over most of the Austrian Netherlands. This brought them into conflict with Britain and the Dutch Republic , which wished to preserve the independence of the southern Netherlands from France. After the king's execution in January 1793, these powers, along with Spain and most other European states, joined the war against France. Almost immediately, French forces faced defeat on many fronts, and were driven out of their newly conquered territories in the spring of 1793. At the same time, the republican regime was forced to deal with rebellions against its authority in much of western and southern France. But the allies failed to take advantage of French disunity, and by the autumn of 1793 the republican regime had defeated most of the internal rebellions and halted the allied advance into France itself.\nThe stalemate was broken in the summer of 1794 with dramatic French victories. They defeated the allied army at the Battle of Fleurus , leading to a full Allied withdrawal from the Austrian Netherlands. They followed up by a campaign which swept the allies to the east bank of the Rhine and left the French, by the beginning of 1795, conquering Holland itself. The House of Orange was expelled and replaced by the Batavian Republic, a French satellite state. These victories led to the collapse of the coalition against France. Prussia, having effectively abandoned the coalition in the fall of 1794, made peace with revolutionary France at Basel in April 1795, and soon thereafter Spain, too, made peace with France. Of the major powers, only Britain and Austria remained at war with France.\nThe French national anthem La Marseillaise was written during the revolution in 1792.\nProblems playing this file?\nIt was during this time that La Marseillaise was first sung. Originally titled Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin (\"War Song for the Army of the Rhine \"), the song was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. It was adopted in 1795 as the nation's first anthem.\nNational Convention (1792–1795)\nSee also: Robespierre and the Execution of Louis XVI\nIn the Brunswick Manifesto , the Imperial and Prussian armies threatened retaliation on the French population if it were to resist their advance or the reinstatement of the monarchy. This among other things made Louis appear to be conspiring with the enemies of France. On 17 January 1793 Louis was condemned to death for \"conspiracy against the public liberty and the general safety\" by a close majority in Convention: 361 voted to execute the king, 288 voted against, and another 72 voted to execute him subject to a variety of delaying conditions. The former Louis XVI, now simply named Citoyen Louis Capet (Citizen Louis Capet), was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 on the Place de la Révolution, former Place Louis XV, now called the Place de la Concorde . [66] Conservatives across Europe were horrified and monarchies called for war against revolutionary France. [67] [68]\nEconomy\nEdit\nWhen war went badly, prices rose and the sans-culottes — poor labourers and radical Jacobins – rioted; counter-revolutionary activities began in some regions. This encouraged the Jacobins to seize power through a parliamentary coup, backed up by force effected by mobilising public support against the Girondist faction, and by utilising the mob power of the Parisian sans-culottes. An alliance of Jacobin and sans-culottes elements thus became the effective centre of the new government. Policy became considerably more radical, as \"The Law of the Maximum\" set food prices and led to executions of offenders. [69]\nThis policy of price control was coeval with the Committee of Public Safety's rise to power and the Reign of Terror . The Committee first attempted to set the price for only a limited number of grain products but, by September 1793, it expanded the \"maximum\" to cover all foodstuffs and a long list of other goods. [70] Widespread shortages and famine ensued. The Committee reacted by sending dragoons into the countryside to arrest farmers and seize crops. This temporarily solved the problem in Paris, but the rest of the country suffered. By the spring of 1794, forced collection of food was not sufficient to feed even Paris and the days of the Committee were numbered. When Robespierre went to the guillotine in July of that year the crowd jeered, \"There goes the dirty maximum!\" [71]\nReign of Terror\nSatirical cartoon from England lampooning the excesses of the Revolution as symbolized through the guillotine: between 18,000 and 40,000 people were executed during the Reign of Terror\nQueen Marie Antoinette on the way to the guillotine on 16 October 1793 (drawing by Jacques-Louis David ).\nThe Committee of Public Safety came under the control of Maximilien Robespierre , a lawyer, and the Jacobins unleashed the Reign of Terror (1793–1794). According to archival records, at least 16,594 people died under the guillotine or otherwise after accusations of counter-revolutionary activities. [72] A number of historians note that as many as 40,000 accused prisoners may have been summarily executed without trial or died awaiting trial. [72] [73]\nOn 2 June 1793, Paris sections — encouraged by the enragés (\"enraged ones\") Jacques Roux and Jacques Hébert – took over the Convention , calling for administrative and political purges, a low fixed price for bread, and a limitation of the electoral franchise to sans-culottes alone. [74] With the backing of the National Guard , they managed to persuade the Convention to arrest 31 Girondin leaders, including Jacques Pierre Brissot . Following these arrests, the Jacobins gained control of the Committee of Public Safety on 10 June, installing the revolutionary dictatorship. [75]\nOn 13 July, the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat — a Jacobin leader and journalist known for his bloodthirsty rhetoric — by Charlotte Corday , a Girondin, resulted in further increase of Jacobin political influence. Georges Danton , the leader of the August 1792 uprising against the King , undermined by several political reversals, was removed from the Committee and Robespierre, \"the Incorruptible\", became its most influential member as it moved to take radical measures against the Revolution's domestic and foreign enemies. [75]\nMeanwhile, on 24 June, the Convention adopted the first republican constitution of France, variously referred to as the French Constitution of 1793 or Constitution of the Year I. It was progressive and radical in several respects, in particular by establishing universal male suffrage . It was ratified by public referendum, but normal legal processes were suspended before it could take effect. [76]\nWar in the Vendée\nEdit\nThe guillotine became the symbol of a string of executions. Louis XVI had already been guillotined before the start of the terror; Queen Marie Antoinette, Barnave, Bailly, Brissot and other leading Girondins, Philippe Égalité (despite his vote for the death of the King), Madame Roland and many others were executed by guillotine. The Revolutionary Tribunal summarily condemned thousands of people to death by the guillotine, while mobs beat other victims to death.\nThe Festival of the Supreme Being on 8 June 1794.\nAt the peak of the terror, the slightest hint of counter-revolutionary thoughts or activities (or, as in the case of Jacques Hébert , revolutionary zeal exceeding that of those in power) could place one under suspicion, and trials did not always proceed according to contemporary standards of due process . Sometimes people died for their political opinions or actions, but many for little reason beyond mere suspicion, or because some others had a stake in getting rid of them. Most of the victims received an unceremonious trip to the guillotine in an open wooden cart (the tumbrel ). In the rebellious provinces, the government representatives had unlimited authority and some engaged in extreme repressions and abuses. For example, Jean-Baptiste Carrier became notorious for the Noyades (\"drownings\") he organized in Nantes; [90] his conduct was judged unacceptable even by the Jacobin government and he was recalled. [91]\nAnother anti-clerical uprising was made possible by the installment of the Republican Calendar on 24 October 1793. Against Robespierre's concepts of Deism and Virtue , Hébert's (and Chaumette's) atheist movement initiated a religious campaign to dechristianize society. The climax was reached with the celebration of the flame of Reason in Notre Dame Cathedral on 10 November. [92]\nThe Reign of Terror ultimately weakened the revolutionary government, while temporarily ending internal opposition. The Jacobins expanded the size of the army, and Carnot replaced many aristocratic officers with soldiers who had demonstrated their patriotism, if not their ability. The Republican army was able to throw back the Austrians, Prussians , British, and Spanish. At the end of 1793, the army began to prevail and revolts were defeated with ease. The Ventôse Decrees (February–March 1794) proposed the confiscation of the goods of exiles and opponents of the Revolution, and their redistribution to the needy. However this policy was never fully implemented. [93]\nIn the spring of 1794, both extremist enragés such as Hébert and moderate Montagnard indulgents such as Danton were charged with counter-revolutionary activities, tried and guillotined. On 7 June Robespierre, who had previously condemned the Cult of Reason , advocated a new state religion and recommended the Convention acknowledge the existence of the \"Supreme Being\". [94]\nThere are three approaches to explaining the Reign of Terror imposed by the Jacobins in 1793-94. The older Marxist interpretation arguing the Terror was a necessary response to outside threats (in terms of other countries going to war with France) and internal threats (of traitors inside France threatening to frustrate the Revolution.) In this interpretation, as expressed by the Marxist historian Albert Soboul , Robespierre and the sans-culottes were heroes for defending the revolution from its enemies. Francois Furet has argued that foreign threats had little to do with the terror. [95] Instead, the extreme violence was an inherent part of the intense ideological commitment of the revolutionaries – it was inevitable and necessary for them to achieve their utopian goals to kill off their opponents. Soboul's Marxist interpretation has been largely abandoned by most historians since the 1990s. Hanson (2009) takes a middle position, recognizing the importance of the foreign enemies, and sees the terror as a contingency that was caused by the interaction of a series of complex events and the foreign threat. Hanson says the terror was not inherent in the ideology of the Revolution, but that circumstances made it necessary. [96]\nThermidorian Reaction\nMain article: Thermidorian Reaction\nThe execution of Robespierre on 28 July 1794 marked the end of the Reign of Terror .\nOn 27 July 1794, the Thermidorian Reaction led to the arrest and execution of Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just , and other leading Jacobins. The new government was predominantly made up of Girondists who had survived the Terror, and after taking power, they took revenge as well by persecuting even those Jacobins who had helped to overthrow Robespierre, banning the Jacobin Club, and executing many of its former members in what was known as the White Terror . [97] [98]\nIn the wake of excesses of the Terror, the Convention approved the new \" Constitution of the Year III \" on 22 August 1795. A French plebiscite ratified the document, with about 1,057,000 votes for the constitution and 49,000 against. [99] The results of the voting were announced on 23 September 1795, and the new constitution took effect on 27 September 1795. [99]\nThe Constitutional Republic: The Directory (1795–1799)\nMain article: French Directory\nThe new constitution created the Directoire (English: Directory) and the first bicameral legislature in French history. [100] The parliament consisted of two houses: the Conseil des Cinq-Cents (Council of the Five Hundred), with 500 representatives, and the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Elders), with 250 senators. Executive power went to five \"directors,\" named annually by the Conseil des Anciens from a list submitted by the Conseil des Cinq-Cents. Furthermore, the universal male suffrage of 1793 was replaced by limited suffrage based on property. [101]\nWith the establishment of the Directory, contemporary observers might have assumed that the Revolution was finished. Citizens of the war-weary nation wanted stability, peace, and an end to conditions that at times bordered on chaos. Those who wished to restore the monarchy and the Ancien Régime by putting Louis XVIII on the throne, and those who would have renewed the Reign of Terror were insignificant in number. The possibility of foreign interference had vanished with the failure of the First Coalition . The earlier atrocities had made confidence or goodwill between parties impossible. [102]\nThe same instinct of self-preservation which had led the members of the Convention to claim so large a part in the new legislature and the whole of the Directory impelled them to keep their predominance. However, many French citizens distrusted the Directory, [102] and the directors could achieve their purposes only by extraordinary means. They habitually disregarded the terms of the constitution, and, even when the elections that they rigged went against them, the directors routinely used draconian police measures to quell dissent. Moreover, to prolong their power the directors were driven to rely on the military, which desired war and grew less and less civic-minded. [103]\nOther reasons influenced them in the direction of war. State finances during the earlier phases of the Revolution had been so thoroughly ruined that the government could not have met its expenses without the plunder and the tribute of foreign countries. If peace were made, the armies would return home and the directors would have to face the exasperation of the rank-and-file who had lost their livelihood, as well as the ambition of generals who could, in a moment, brush them aside. Barras and Rewbell were notoriously corrupt themselves and screened corruption in others. The patronage of the directors was ill-bestowed, and the general maladministration heightened their unpopularity. [104]\nNapoléon Bonaparte in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire , which marked the end of the revolution.\nThe constitutional party in the legislature desired toleration of the nonjuring clergy , the repeal of the laws against the relatives of the émigrés, and some merciful discrimination toward the émigrés themselves. The directors baffled all such endeavours. On the other hand, the socialist conspiracy of Babeuf was easily quelled. Little was done to improve the finances, and the assignats continued to fall in value.[ citation needed ]\nThe new régime met opposition from remaining Jacobins and the royalists. The army suppressed riots and counter-revolutionary activities. In this way the army and its successful general, Napoleon Bonaparte eventually gained total power.\nOn 9 November 1799 (18 Brumaire of the Year VIII) Napoleon Bonaparte staged the coup of 18 Brumaire which installed the Consulate. This effectively led to Bonaparte's dictatorship and eventually (in 1804) to his proclamation as Empereur (emperor), which brought to a close the specifically republican phase of the French Revolution. [105]\nSymbolism in the French Revolution\nEdit\nIn order to effectively illustrate the differences between the new Republic and the old regime, the leaders needed to implement a new set of symbols to be celebrated instead of the old religious and monarchical symbolism. To this end, symbols were borrowed from historic cultures and redefined, while those of the old regime were either destroyed or reattributed acceptable characteristics. These revised symbols were used to instill in the public a new sense of tradition and reverence for the Enlightenment and the Republic. [106]\nFasces\nEdit\nThe unofficial but common National Emblem of France is backed by a fasces, representing justice.\nFasces , likes many other symbols of the French Revolution, are Roman in origin. Fasces are a bundle of birch rods containing an axe. In Roman times, the fasces symbolized the power of magistrates who could order the beating of a criminal, representing union and accord with the Roman Republic. [106] The French Republic continued this Roman symbol to represent state power, justice, and unity. [106]\nDuring the Revolution, the fasces image was often used in conjunction with many other symbols. Though seen throughout the French Revolution, perhaps the most well known French reincarnation of the fasces is the Fasces surmounted by a Phrygian cap. This image has no display of an axe or a strong central state; rather, it symbolizes the power of the liberated people by placing the Liberty Cap on top of the classical symbol of power. [106]\nLiberty cap\nEdit\nEarly depiction of the tricolour in the hands of a sans-culotte during the French Revolution.\nThe Liberty cap, also known as the Phrygian cap , or pileus , is a brimless, felt cap that is conical in shape with the tip pulled forward. The cap was originally worn by ancient Romans and Greeks. [107] The cap implies ennobling effects, as seen in its association with Homer’s Ulysses and the mythical twins, Castor and Pollux . The emblem’s popularity during the French Revolution is due in part to its importance in ancient Rome: its use alludes to the Roman ritual of manumission of slaves, in which a freed slave receives the bonnet as a symbol of his newfound liberty. The Roman tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus incited the slaves to insurrection by displaying a pileus as if it were a standard. [108]\nThe pileus cap is often red in color. This type of cap was worn by revolutionaries at the fall of the Bastille. According to the Revolutions de Paris, it became \"the symbol of the liberation from all servitudes, the sign for unification of all the enemies of despotism.\" [106] The pileus competed with the Phrygian cap, a similar cap that covered the ears and the nape of the neck, for popularity. The Phrygian cap eventually supplanted the pileus and usurped its symbolism, becoming synonymous with republican liberty. [106]\nLiberty Tree\nEdit\nThe Liberty Tree, officially adopted in 1792, is a symbol of the everlasting Republic, national freedom, and political revolution. [106] It has historic roots in revolutionary France as well as America, as a symbol that was shared by the two nascent republics. [109] The tree was chosen as a symbol of the French Revolution because it is a symbol of fertility in French folklore, [110] which provided a simple transition from revering it for one reason to another. The American colonies also used the idea of a Liberty Tree to celebrate their own acts of insurrection against the British, starting with the Stamp Act riot in 1765. [111]\nThe riot culminated in the hanging in effigy of two Stamp Act politicians on a large elm tree. The elm tree began to be celebrated as a symbol of Liberty in the American colonies. [111] It was adopted as a symbol that needed to be living and growing, along with the Republic. To that end, the tree is portrayed as a sapling, usually of an oak tree in French interpretation. [112] The Liberty Tree serves as a constant celebration of the spirit of political freedom.\nHercules\nEdit\nThe symbol of Hercules was first adopted by the Old Regime to represent the monarchy. [113] Hercules was an ancient Greek hero who symbolized strength and power. The symbol was used to represent the sovereign authority of the King over France during the reign of the Bourbon monarchs. [114] However, the monarchy was not the only ruling power in French history to use the symbol of Hercules to declare its power.\nDuring the Revolution, the symbol of Hercules was revived to represent nascent revolutionary ideals. The first use of Hercules as a revolutionary symbol was during a festival celebrating the National Assembly’s victory over federalism on 10 August 1793. [115] This Festival of Unity consisted of four stations around Paris which featured symbols representing major events of the Revolution which embodied revolutionary ideals of liberty, unity, and power. [116]\nThe statue of Hercules, placed at the station commemorating the fall of Louis XVI , symbolized the power of the French people over their former oppressors. The statue’s foot was placed on the throat of the Hydra , which represented the tyranny of federalism which the new Republic had vanquished. [115] In one hand, the statue grasped a club, a symbol of power, while in the other grasping the fasces which symbolized the unity of the French people. [117] The image of Hercules assisted the new Republic in establishing its new Republican moral system. [116] Hercules thus evolved from a symbol of the sovereignty of the monarch into a symbol of the new sovereign authority in France: the French people. [118]\nThis transition was made easily for two reasons. First, because Hercules was a famous mythological figure, and had previously been used by the monarchy, he was easily recognized by educated French observers. [114] It was not necessary for the revolutionary government to educate the French people on the background of the symbol. Additionally, Hercules recalled the classical age of the Greeks and the Romans, a period which the revolutionaries identified with republican and democratic ideals. These connotations made Hercules an easy choice to represent the powerful new sovereign people of France.\nDuring the more radical phase of the Revolution from 1793 to 1794, the usage and depiction of Hercules changed. These changes to the symbol were due to revolutionary leaders believing the symbol was inciting violence among the common citizens. [119] The triumphant battles of Hercules and the overcoming of enemies of the Republic became less prominent. In discussions over what symbol to use for the Seal of the Republic, the image of Hercules was considered but eventually ruled out in favor of Marianne . [119]\nHercules was on the coin of the Republic. [119] However, this Hercules was not the same image as that of the pre-Terror phases of the Revolution. The new image of Hercules was more domesticated. He appeared more paternal, older, and wiser, rather than the warrior-like images in the early stages of the French Revolution. [119] Unlike his 24 foot statue in the Festival of the Supreme Being, he was now the same size as Liberty and Equality. [119]\nAlso the language on the coin with Hercules was far different than the rhetoric of pre-revolutionary depictions. On the coins the words, \"uniting Liberty and Equality\" were used. [119] This is opposed to the forceful language of early Revolutionary rhetoric and rhetoric of the Bourbon monarchy. By 1798, the Council of Ancients had discussed the \"inevitable\" change from the problematic image of Hercules, and Hercules was eventually phased out in favor of an even more docile image. [119]\nRole of women\nEdit\nClub of patriotic women in a church\nWomen had no political rights in pre-Revolutionary France; they could not vote or hold any political office. They were considered \"passive\" citizens; forced to rely on men to determine what was best for them in the government. It was the men who defined these categories, and women were forced to accept male domination in the political sphere. [120]\nWomen were taught to be committed to their husbands and \"all his interests… [to show] attention and care… [and] sincere and discreet zeal for his salvation.\" A woman’s education often consisted of learning to be a good wife and mother; as a result women were not supposed to be involved in the political sphere, as the limit of their influence was the raising of future citizens. [121] The subservient role of women prior to the revolution was perhaps best exemplified by the Frederican Code, published in 1750 and attacked by Enlightenment philosophers and publications. [122]\nThe highly influential Encyclopédie in the 1750s set the tone of the Enlightenment, and its ideas exerted influence on the subsequent Revolution in France. Writing a number of articles on women in society, Louis de Jaucourt criticized traditional roles for women, arguing that \"it would be difficult to demonstrate that the husband's rule comes from nature, inasmuch as this principle is contrary to natural human equality... a man does not invariably have more strength of body, of wisdom, of mind or of conduct than a woman... The example of England and Russia shows clearly that women can succeed equally in both moderate and despotic government...\" [122]\nWhen the Revolution opened, some women struck forcefully, using the volatile political climate to assert their active natures. In the time of the Revolution, women could not be kept out of the political sphere. They swore oaths of loyalty, \"solemn declarations of patriotic allegiance, [and] affirmations of the political responsibilities of citizenship.\" De Corday d'Armont is a prime example of such a woman; engaged in the revolutionary political faction of the Girondists , she assassinated the Jacobin leader, Marat . Throughout the Revolution, other women such as Pauline Léon and her Society of Revolutionary Republican Women supported the radical Jacobins, staged demonstrations in the National Assembly and participated in the riots, often using armed force. [123]\nEven before Léon, some liberals had advocated equal rights for women including women's suffrage . Nicolas de Condorcet was especially noted for his advocacy, in his articles published in the Journal de la Société de 1789, and by publishing De l'admission des femmes au droit de cité (\"For the Admission to the Rights of Citizenship For Women\") in 1790.\nFeminist agitation\nMain article: Militant Feminism in the French Revolution\nThe March to Versailles is but one example of feminist militant activism during the French Revolution. While largely left out of the thrust for increasing rights of citizens, as the question was left indeterminate in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, [124] activists such as Pauline Léon and Théroigne de Méricourt agitated for full citizenship for women. [125] Women were, nonetheless, \"denied political rights of ‘active citizenship’ (1791) and democratic citizenship (1793).\" [124]\nPauline Léon, on 6 March 1792, submitted a petition signed by 319 women to the National Assembly requesting permission to form a garde national in order to defend Paris in case of military invasion. [125] Léon requested permission be granted to women to arm themselves with pikes, pistols, sabers and rifles, as well as the privilege of drilling under the French Guards. Her request was denied. [126] Later in 1792, Théroigne de Méricourt made a call for the creation of \"legions of amazons\" in order to protect the revolution. As part of her call, she claimed that the right to bear arm would transform women into citizens. [127]\nOn 20 June 1792 a number of armed women took part in a procession that \"passed through the halls of the Legislative Assembly, into the Tuilleries Gardens, and then through the King’s residence.\" [128] Militant women also assumed a special role in the funeral of Marat , following his murder on 13 July 1793. As part of the funeral procession, they carried the bathtub in which Marat had been murdered as well as a shirt stained with Marat’s blood. [129]\nThe most radical militant feminist activism was practiced by the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, which was founded by Léon and her colleague, Claire Lacombe on 10 May 1793. [130] The goal of the club was \"to deliberate on the means of frustrating the projects of the enemies of the Republic.\" Up to 180 women attended the meetings of the Society. [131] Of special interest to the Society was \"combating hoarding [of grain and other staples] and inflation.\" [132]\nLater, on 20 May 1793, women were at the fore of a crowd that demanded \"bread and the Constitution of 1793.\" [133] When their cries went unnoticed, the women went on a rampage, \"sacking shops, seizing grain and kidnapping officials.\" [134]\nMost of these outwardly activist women were punished for their actions. The kind of punishment received during the Revolution included public denouncement, arrest, execution, or exile. Théroigne de Méricourt was arrested, publicly flogged and then spent the rest of her life sentenced to an insane asylum. Pauline Léon and Claire Lacombe were arrested, later released, and continued to receive ridicule and abuse for their activism. Many of the women of the Revolution were even publicly executed for \"conspiring against the unity and the indivisibility of the Republic\". [135]\nWomen writers\nOlympe de Gouges was the author of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in 1791.\nWhile some women chose a militant, and often violent, path, others chose to influence events through writing, publications, and meetings. Olympe de Gouges wrote a number of plays, short stories, and novels. Her publications emphasized that women and men are different, but this shouldn’t stop them from equality under the law. In her \"Declaration on the Rights of Woman\" she insisted that women deserved rights, especially in areas concerning them directly, such as divorce and recognition of illegitimate children. [136]\nDe Gouges also expressed non-gender political views; even before the start of the terror, Olympe de Gouges addressed Robespierre using the pseudonym \"Polyme\" calling him the Revolution’s \"infamy and shame.\" She warned of the Revolution’s building extremism saying that leaders were \"preparing new shackles if [the French people’s liberty were to] waver.\" Stating that she was willing to sacrifice herself by jumping into the Seine if Robespierre were to join her, de Gouges desperately attempted to grab the attention of the French citizenry and alert them to the dangers that Robespierre embodied. [136] In addition to these bold writings, her defense of the king was one of the factors leading to her execution. An influential figure, one of her suggestions early in the Revolution, to have a voluntary, patriotic tax, was adopted by the National Convention in 1789. [137]\nMadame Roland (aka Manon or Marie Roland) was another important female activist. Her political focus was not specifically on women or their liberation. She focused on other aspects of the government, but was a feminist by virtue of the fact that she was a woman working to influence the world. Her personal letters to leaders of the Revolution influenced policy; in addition, she often hosted political gatherings of the Brissotins, a political group which allowed women to join. [138]\nWhile limited by her gender, Madame Roland took it upon herself to spread Revolutionary ideology and spread word of events, as well as to assist in formulating the policies of her political allies. Though unable to directly write policies or carry them through to the government, Roland was able to influence her political allies and thus promote her political agenda. Roland attributed women’s lack of education to the public view that women were too weak or vain to be involved in the serious business of politics. She believed that it was this inferior education that turned them into foolish people, but women \"could easily be concentrated and solidified upon objects of great significance\" if given the chance. [138]\nAs she was led to the scaffold, Madame Roland shouted \"O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!\" Witnesses of her life and death, editors, and readers helped to finish her writings and several editions were published posthumously. While she did not focus on gender politics in her writings, by taking an active role in the tumultuous time of the Revolution, Roland took a stand for women of the time and proved they could take an intelligent active role in politics. [139]\nThough women did not gain the right to vote as a result of the Revolution, they still greatly expanded their political participation and involvement in governing. They set precedents for generations of feminists to come.\nCounter-revolutionary women\nEdit\nA major aspect of the French Revolution was the dechristianisation movement, a movement that many common people did not agree with. Especially for women living in rural areas of France, the demise of the Catholic Church meant a loss of normalcy. For instance, the ringing of Church bells resonating through the town called people to confession and was a symbol of unity for the community. [140] With the onset of the dechristianisation campaign the Republic silenced these bells and sought simultaneously to silence the religious fervor of the majority Catholic population. [140]\nWhen these revolutionary changes to the Church were implemented, it spawned a counter-revolutionary movement, particularly amongst women. Although some of these women embraced the political and social amendments of the Revolution, they opposed the dissolution of the Catholic Church and the formation of revolutionary cults like the Cult of the Supreme Being advocated by Robespierre . [141] As Olwen Hufton argues, these women began to see themselves as the “defenders of faith”. [142] They took it upon themselves to protect the Church from what they saw as a heretical change to their faith, enforced by revolutionaries.\nCounter-revolutionary women resisted what they saw as the intrusion of the state into their lives. [143] Economically, many peasant women refused to sell their goods for assignats because this form of currency was unstable and was backed by the sale of confiscated Church property. [142] By far the most important issue to counter-revolutionary women was the passage and the enforcement of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790. In response to this measure, women in many areas began circulating anti-oath pamphlets and refused to attend masses held by priests who had sworn oaths of loyalty to the Republic. [143] This diminished the social and political influence of the juring priests because they presided over smaller congregations and counter-revolutionary women did not seek them for baptisms, marriages or confession. [144] Instead, they secretly hid nonjuring priests and attended clandestine traditional masses. [145] These women continued to adhere to traditional practices such as Christian burials and naming their children after saints in spite of revolutionary decrees to the contrary. [146]\nIt was this determined resistance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and the dechristianisation campaigns that played a major role in the re-emergence of the Catholic Church as a prominent social institution. In fact, Olwen Hufton notes about the Counter-Revolutionary women: “for it is her commitment to her religion which determines in the post-Thermidorean period the re-emergence of the Catholic Church…”. [147] Although they struggled, these women were eventually vindicated in their bid to reestablish the Church and thereby also to reestablish traditional family life and social stability. [148] This was seen in the Concordat of 1801 , which formally reinstated the Catholic Church in France. [149] This act came after years of failed attempts at dechristianisation or state-controlled religion, which were thwarted in part due to the resistance of devout counter-revolutionary women. After the upheaval of the revolutionary period, the reestablishment of the Church was seen by many people as a welcome return to normalcy.\nEconomic policies\nEarly Assignat of 29 Sept, 1790: 500 livres\nThe value of Assignats (1789-1796)\nThe French Revolution abolished many of the constraints on the economy that had slowed growth during the ancien regime. It abolished tithes owed to local churches as well as feudal dues owed to local landlords. The result hurt the tenants, who paid both higher rents and higher taxes. [150] It nationalized all church lands, as well as lands belonging to royalist enemies who went into exile. It planned to use these seized lands to finance the government by issuing assignats . It abolished the guild system as a worthless remnant of feudalism. [151] It also abolished the highly inefficient system of tax farming, whereby private individuals would collect taxes for a hefty fee. The government seized the foundations that had been set up (starting in the 13th century) to provide an annual stream of revenue for hospitals, poor relief, and education. The state sold the lands but typically local authorities did not replace the funding and so most of the nation's charitable and school systems were massively disrupted. [152]\nThe economy did poorly in 1790-96 as industrial and agricultural output dropped, foreign trade plunged, and prices soared. The government decided not to repudiate the old debts. Instead it issued more and more paper money (called \"assignat\") that supposedly were grounded seized lands. The result was escalating inflation. The government imposed price controls and persecuted speculators and traders in the black market. People increasingly refused to pay taxes as the annual government deficit increased from 10% of gross national product in 1789 to 64% in 1793. By 1795, after the bad harvest of 1794 and the removal of price controls, inflation had reached a level of 3500%. The assignats were withdrawn in 1796 but the replacements also fueled inflation. The inflation was finally ended by Napoleon in 1803 with the franc as the new currency. [153]\nNapoleon after 1799 paid for his expensive wars by multiple means, starting with the modernization of the rickety financial system. [154] He conscripted soldiers at low wages, raised taxes, placed large-scale loans, sold lands formerly owned by the Catholic Church, sold Louisiana to the United States, plundered conquered areas and seized food supplies, and levied requisitions on countries he controlled, such as Italy. [155]\nLegacy\nMain article: Historiography of the French Revolution\nThe French Revolution has received enormous amounts of historical attention, both from the general public and from scholars and academics. The views of historians, in particular, have been characterized as falling along ideological lines, with disagreement over the significance and the major developments of the Revolution. [156] Alexis de Tocqueville argued that the Revolution was a manifestation of a more prosperous middle class becoming conscious of its social importance. [157]\nOther thinkers, like the conservative Edmund Burke, maintained that the Revolution was the product of a few conspiratorial individuals who brainwashed the masses into subverting the old order—a claim rooted in the belief that the revolutionaries had no legitimate complaints. [158] Other historians, influenced by Marxist thinking, have emphasized the importance of the peasants and the urban workers in presenting the Revolution as a gigantic class struggle . [159] In general, scholarship on the French Revolution initially studied the political ideas and developments of the era, but it has gradually shifted towards social history that analyzes the impact of the Revolution on individual lives. [160]\nHistorians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history , and the end of the early modern period , which started around 1500, is traditionally attributed to the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. [161] The Revolution is, in fact, often seen as marking the \"dawn of the modern era \". [162] Within France itself, the Revolution permanently crippled the power of the aristocracy and drained the wealth of the Church, although the two institutions survived despite the damage they sustained. After the collapse of the First Empire in 1815, the French public lost the rights and privileges earned since the Revolution, but they remembered the participatory politics that characterized the period, with one historian commenting: \"Thousands of men and even many women gained firsthand experience in the political arena: they talked, read, and listened in new ways; they voted; they joined new organizations; and they marched for their political goals. Revolution became a tradition, and republicanism an enduring option.\" [163]\nSome historians argue that the French people underwent a fundamental transformation in self-identity, evidenced by the elimination of privileges and their replacement by rights as well as the growing decline in social deference that highlighted the principle of equality throughout the Revolution. [164] The Revolution represented the most significant and dramatic challenge to political absolutism up to that point in history and spread democratic ideals throughout Europe and ultimately the world. [165] However, according to French historian François Furet it was also the origin of totalitarian political ideas, and of the legitimization of systematic, large-scale violence against social classes considered undesirable. [166] Thus, it had a profound impact on the Russian Revolution and its ideas inspired Mao Zedong in his efforts at constructing a communist state in China. [167]\nSee also\nsee also Historiography of the French Revolution\nBaker, Keith M. ed. The French Revolution and the Creation of Modern Political Culture (Oxford, 1987–94) vol 1: The Political Culture of the Old Regime, ed. K.M. Baker (1987); vol. 2: The Political Culture of the French Revolution, ed. C. Lucas (1988); vol. 3: The Transformation of Political Culture, 1789–1848, eds. F. Furet & M. Ozouf (1989); vol. 4: The Terror, ed. K.M. Baker (1994). excerpt and text search vol 4\nBlanning, T.C.W. The French Revolutionary Wars 1787–1802 (1996).\nCenser, Jack R. \"Amalgamating the Social in the French Revolution.\" Journal of Social History 2003 37(1): 145–150. Issn: 0022-4529 Fulltext: in Project Muse and Ebsco\nDavies, Peter. The French Revolution: A Beginner's Guide (2009), 192pp\nDoyle, William. Origins of the French Revolution (3rd ed. 1999) online edition\nEnglund, Steven. Napoleon: A Political Life. (2004). 575 pages; the best political biography excerpt and text search\nFremont-Barnes, Gregory. ed. The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History (ABC-CLIO: 3 vol 2006)",
"Dickens Glossary - Charles Dickens, Victorian Literature ...\n... a light two-wheeled ... Used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution. ... thin wax disc, melted with a candle and used to seal a letter.\nDickens Glossary - Charles Dickens, Victorian Literature, and Vocabulary\nCharles Dickens, Victorian Literature, and Vocabulary\nakimbo - having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward.\naldermen - local government official\nale - alcoholic beverage made from hops and malt, similar to beer, but heavier and stronger than beer.\nalmshouse - privately funded lodgings for the poor, as opposed to the workhouse, which was publicly funded.\napoplexy - a crippling stroke, sometimes fatal, usually associated with sudden loss of muscle control or paralysis.\napothecary - one who prepares drugs and medicines, sometimes made house calls, and gave advice concerning medical conditions; lowest order of medical man.\napprentice - one who is bound by agreement to work for another for a specific amount of time (usually seven years) in return for instruction in a trade, art or business. Since their hours were so long, apprentices usually lived in makeshift lodgings provided by their employers. The master was paid a fee. When one finished, they were a journeyman and able to hire themselves out to others for wages. Pip was apprenticed to Joe Gargary in Great Expectations.\narticled clerks - young men who were apprenticed to lawyers for 5 years.\nassizes - sessions held twice a year in areas outside London where law cases, too serious to be tried by local justice, were presided over by circuit-riding London judges. The assizes usually commenced with great ceremony.\nAstley's - theatre operated by Philip Astley from 1774 located on the Surry side of the Thames. Featuring several rings of action and horse riding displays, Astley's is considered the forerunner of the modern circus.\nAustin Friars - monastery of Hermits of Saint Augustine in the heart of the City of London; founded, 1253, by Bohun, Earl of Hereford.\nautomaton - one mechanically going through the motions but without feeling or emotion\nB\nbag wig - a black hair wig carried in a small silk bag.\nbank notes - promissory notes of a bank; promise of a bank to pay upon presentation of such a note. The only form of paper currency in England.\nbanns - an announcement or notice of an intended marriage in a parish church. The banns were published on three consecutive Sundays. If no one \"forbid the banns\" the couple could get married.\nBar - the barristers of England; to be \"called to the bar\" meant that one had become eligible to practice as a barrister.\nBartholomew's Fair - huge fair held annually in Smithfield from the 1600's until an increase in crime and debauchery forced its closing in 1855.\nbathing machine - a horse-drawn covered wagon used to haul swimmers into the sea. The swimmer would undress inside the wagon, be hauled into the sea, and exit the wagon through a whole in the bottom. Men and woman swam far apart due to the fact that men swam naked until the 1870s.\nbeadle - a minor parish official whose duties include ushering and preserving order at services and sometimes civil functions. Some parishes hired them to run the workhouse after the 1834 New Poor Law was passed as was the case with Bumble, the beadle in Oliver Twist.\nBedlam - contraction of the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem, a London hospital for the insane. Used to describe a place or situation of noisy uproar and confusion.\nbeerhouse - a place where one could sell beer for payment of an annual fee of two guineas, promoted by the government in the 1830s to divert the poor from gin.\nbiffins - baked apples flattened into a cake.\nbishop - high-ranking official in the Church of England.\nblacks - flakes of soot\nblacking - shoe or boot polish. As a child Dickens was employed at Warren's Blacking factory.\nblind man's buff - popular parlor game in which the contestant is blindfolded and then must catch another player and then guess who he had caught. The game dates from ancient times. Blind man's buff is played by Samuel Pickwick and friends at the Christmas party at Dingley Dell in The Pickwick Papers, and at Christmas parties in A Christmas Carol.\nbloodletting - act of reducing the amount of blood in the body accomplished either by opening a vein or by the application of leeches. Thought to restore health from ancient times through the nineteenth century.\nbluchers - strong leather half-boots, named after Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher (1742-1819) Prussian field marshall at Waterloo.\nbob - Cockney slang for shilling.\nboned - stolen\nboot - place in a coach where luggage was kept.\nbootjack - device used to remove boots.\nboots - a person who cleans shoes. Sam Weller is 'boots' at the White Hart Inn in Pickwick Papers.\nborough - a town that had been granted certain rights of self government by the Crown. In London, Southwark was referred to as \"the borough.\nBow Bells - The bells of the church of St. Mary Le Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London. A true Cockney was said to be born within hearing of the Bow bells.\nBow Street Runners - detective force organized by novelist Henry Fielding and his brother John in 1750. The Runners worked for fees and rewards. They went out of existence in 1829 when Robert Peel organized London's first police force.\nbox - the driver's seat on a coach\nBoz - Dickens' pseudonym used early in his career. Boz came from Dickens' younger brother Augustus's through-the-nose pronunciation of his own nickname, Moses.\nBradshaw - Bradshaw's Railway Guide was published monthly from 1839-1961.\nbrazier - large flat pan filled with coals, used as a heater.\nbridewell - contraction of St. Bridget's Well in London, site of a prison until 1869. Bridewell came to mean any house of correction.\nbrimstone and treacle - sulfur and molasses. Mrs Squeers administers this nasty cure-all to the boys at Dotheboys Hall from a common wooden spoon \"which widened each young gentleman's mouth considerably, they being all obliged, under heavy corporal penalties, to take in the whole of the bowl at a gasp\" (Nicholas Nickleby).\nbull's-eye - a large round peppermint sweet.\nbull's-eye lantern - lantern with a round \"bulls-eye\" lens on one side which enabled light to be concentrated in that direction, to use like today's flashlight.\nbumper - a generous glass of an alcoholic drink.\nburgess - a town magistrate or government official.\nC\ncab - short for cabriolet, a light two-wheeled carriage.\ncalico - a plain white cotton cloth, heavier than muslin.\nCandlemas - church festival, observed February 2, celebrating the purification of the Blessed Virgin and the feast of the presentation of Christ in the Temple.\ncarter - driver of a cart or wagon.\ncase bottles - bottles, square in shape, to fit neatly in a case.\ncastor - small bottle or jar with a perforated top used for sprinkling pepper, sugar, etc. on food.\ncaul - membrane that surrounds a fetus, believed to protect against drowning. David Copperfield was born with a caul, which was then advertised for sale.\nchairmen - men who carried a sedan chair.\nchaise - any light horse-driven vehicle.\nChancery - English court of equity law, merged with common law courts in 1873. Dickens pointed out the absurdity of chancery cases in Bleak House. He had gained first hand experience when he won chancery cases against those who pirated editions of A Christmas Carol, and then lost more money in court costs than he was realizing from the book's sales.\nchandler - originally a maker or seller of candles, later a small grocer.\ncharity boy - a student in a private charitable school for the very poor. Noah Claypool is a charity boy in Oliver Twist.\nChartism - working class movement that advocated reforms that went beyond the Reform act of 1832 including universal suffrage for men and eliminating property qualification for Parliament.\ncharwoman - a cleaning woman, from the root for \"chore.\"\nchemist - a pharmacist.\ncholera - disease marked by symptoms of thirst, cramps, diarrhea, and death. Brought about by drinking water tainted with human waste. Beginning in the 1830s several epidemics of cholera hit London before sanitary conditions improved in the second half of the century.\ncholeric - irritable, hot tempered.\nchoused - cheated\ncistern - an artificial reservoir for storing liquids and especially water (as rainwater).\nCity - term referring to the old portion of London within the medieval city walls. Later became the financial district as Londoners moved to the suburbs and commuted.\nClaret - a dry red wine from Bordeaux France.\nclose - alleyway, also the area surrounding a cathedral.\ncoach and four - coach drawn by four horses\ncoal scuttle - a metal pail for carrying coal.\ncockade - a ribbon worn in the hat.\nCockney - resident of east London; more specifically, to be a true Cockney you had to be born within hearing distance of the bells of St. Mary Le Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London. Style of speech used by a Cockney. The best known Cockney in Dickens is Samuel Pickwick's servant Sam Weller in The Pickwick Papers.\ncollier - ship carrying coal.\nconstable - a British policeman appointed by the parish to keep the peace. Later incorporated into London's paid police force.\nconsumption - tuberculosis\ncooper - a barrel maker\ncopper - large boiler, used to wash clothes in. Mrs. Cratchit uses the copper to boil her Christmas pudding in A Christmas Carol.\ncorn-chandler - a retail grain dealer\ncorn laws - laws enacted to raise the import tax on corn in order to protect domestic farmers. Corn, in England, referred to any cereal grain like oats, wheat, or barley in addition to corn. Hotly debated because of subsequent hikes in food prices and manufacturing costs. Finally repealed in 1846.\ncostermonger - a street peddler, usually selling fruits or vegetables. An estimated 12,000 costermongers vied for patrons on London streets in the 1850s.\ncotillion - a ballroom dance for couples that resembles the quadrille.\ncounting house - a businessman's office. Bob Cratchit works at Scrooge's counting house in A Christmas Carol.\ncoupe - a carriage for 2 passengers\ncourier - a traveler's paid attendant, traveling ahead to make arrangements. Dickens employs a French courier for his travels inPictures from Italy.\ncramp-bone - the kneecap of a sheep, formerly thought to be a charm against cramps\ncrape or crepe - black silk worn as mourning garb\ncravat - a fine scarf worn around the neck and tied in a bow\ncrinoline - stiff fabric of horsehair or cotton used to stiffen the lining of petticoats or hoop skirts.\ncrossing sweeper - one who swept manure from the streets at pedestrian's crossings. Jo is a crossing sweeper in Bleak House.\ncrown - monetary unit equal to 5 shillings or 60 pence.\ncrumpet - a light muffin, usually served with tea.\ncudgel - a thick stick used as a weapon.\ncurl papers - paper used to curl hair, old newspaper could be used in a pinch.\ncuff - an open-handed or close-fisted blow.\nD\ndaffy - a medicine for children, named for a seventeenth-century clergyman. It consisted of senna (a laxative prepared from the roots of the cassia tree) and was commonly mixed with gin, thus daffy became slang for gin itself. Mrs. Mann gives the children daffy in Oliver Twist.\ndaguerreotype - early photographic process with the image made on a light-sensitive silver-coated metallic plate. Invented by Louis Daguerre (1789-1851).\ndaresay - venture to say : think probable, as in \"I daresay you'll have a great time.\" Never used in conjunction with \"that\" as in \"I daresay that....\"\ndauphin - eldest son of the King of France\nday boarder - one who spends the day at school but lives at home.\ndeal - wood planks used to make furniture, as in \"deal table\"; usually denoted cheap furniture.\ndear - expensive; the wine was excellent, but very dear.\nDickensian - relating or similar to something described in the books of the 19th century British writer, Charles Dickens, especially living or working conditions that are below an acceptable standard.\ndiligence - a public stagecoach\ndip - cheap candle made by dipping a wick into tallow.\ndocks - large docks located just east of London Bridge where large ships loaded and unloaded cargo.\nDoctors Commons - area south of St. Paul's Cathedral where the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts were located.\nDickens, inSketches by Boz called Doctors' Commons \"the place where they grant marriage-licenses to love-sick couples, and divorces to unfaithful ones; register the wills of people who have any property to leave, and punish hasty gentlemen who call ladies by unpleasant names.\"\ndouble-knock - a double-knock was applied to the door by a more confident visitor, one who was comfortable with the purpose of his visit. A single-knock signified a more timid caller.\ndowager - widow with a title or property derived from her late husband. A dignified elderly woman.\ndraught - a check or bill of exchange; an amount of liquid one could toss off in one swallow.\ndraughts - The game of checkers\ndray - low, heavy cart without sides for hauling kegs and barrels of beer.\ndreadnought - closely-woven thick woolen material.\ndustman - man who drove a cart used in emptying household trash and ashes. Also the owner of a dust yard, where the dust was stored in great mounds was called a dustman. Mr. Boffin is known as the \"Golden Dustman\" in Our Mutual Friend.\nDutch Clock - cheap wooden clock with brass wheels featuring a pendulum, invented by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1656.\nDutch Oven - small oven, usually portable, in which hot coals were placed, and cooking done on the flat top.\nE\nEast India Company - private company chartered by the British government to exploit trade with India. The Company also had political power in India until the Indians revolted against British rule in 1857.\necod - a mild oath on par with, and probably derived from, \"My God\". This was a favorite expression of Jonas Chuzzlewit.\negg-hot - A warm drink made of eggs, brandy, sugar, and ale.\nelbow-chair - a chair with arms to support the elbows; an arm-chair.\nequipage - equipment used in relation to horse and carriage.\neight day clock - clock which required winding only once a week.\nexpectations - likelihood of coming into a large amount of money. Pip's 'great expectations' come secretly from the convict Magwitch.\nF\nfaggot - bundle of twigs or branches used as firewood.\nfarthing - monetary unit worth 1/4 pence. Sometimes used to denote anything worth practically nothing.\nfen - marsh\nfender - a low metal frame before an open fireplace. In Dickens people are always putting their feet upon the fender.\nfingerpost - road sign in the shape of a hand with fingers pointing the way.\nflat candle - candle designed to be easy to carry, with a short stem and a broad base which fits into a flat holder.\nflip - mixture of beer and spirits, sweetened with sugar, and heated with a hot iron.\nflorin - silver coin introduced in 1849 and worth two shillings.\nFoot Guards - infantry regiments that stood guard over the sovereign.\nfootman - a servant in livery who attends his master's carriage: a servant who serves at table, tends the door, and runs errands.\nforenoon - period of sunlight before noon, morning.\nforfeits - popular parlor games in which play goes round the room with each player needing to supply an answer and is penalized if an answer is not supplied.\nfortnight - a period of 14 days : two weeks.\nFortunatus' purse - endless supply of money\nfrank - practice where members of Parliament were allowed to send letters for free (until 1840) by signing the bottom left corner of the envelope.\nFuries - The Furies, in Greek Mythology, were spirits of punishment, so the phrase \"as if he came attended by the Furies\" would signify coming on at great speed and/or violence.\nfurlong - English unit of measurement equaling 660 feet, which was the length of the traditional furrow on English farms; from furrow long.\nfurze - thick, prickly shrub that bears yellow flowers in winter.\nFypunnote - contraction of 'five pound note'\nG\ngaiters - a leather or cloth covering extending from the waist to the knee or ankle and buttons up the side.\ngammon - a misleading or deceptive comment: nonsense.\ngaol - jail\ngas - gas, made from coal, lit the streets and shops of London from the 1830s. Gas lighting for homes came later, around 1860.\nThe Gazette - the London Gazette, founded in 1665, where formal announcements, including bankruptcies, are listed. Dickens uses appearance in the Gazette as synonymous with bankruptcy.\ngeneral post - mail that went out from the London Post office bound for other parts of England. Mail within London was sent penny or two-penny post, organized separately.\ngibbet - an upright post with a projecting arm for hanging the bodies of executed criminals, clad in chains, as a warning to passersby.\ngig - two-wheeled, one horse carriage.\ngill - liquid measure equaling a quarter of a pint.\nginger and sal volatile - ammonium carbonate scented with ginger and sold as 'smelling salts' to revive ladies who had fainted.\nginger-beer - non-alcoholic beverage flavored with ginger.\ngingham - a clothing fabric usually of yarn-dyed cotton.\nGog and Magog - Traditional guardians of the City of London\ngout- disease occurring mainly in men causing the inflammation of the hands and feet, arthritic attack, and deformity. Dickens suffered from gout late in his life.\ngoverness - a female teacher employed in a private household.\ngreatcoat - overcoat worn outdoors, often accompanied by a short cape worn over the shoulders.\nGreat Exhibition - 1851 celebration of technology housed at the Crystal Palace built in Hyde Park by Joseph Paxton. The exhibition was the idea of Prince Albert, who conceived it to celebrate the Industrial Revolution. Dickens visited the Exhibition in 1851. The Crystal Palace was moved to Sydenham, in south London, in 1854 and accidentally burned down in 1936.\nGreat Fire - fire which destroyed much of central London in September 1666.\ngreengrocer - seller of fruits and vegetables\ngriffin - fabled monster with the head and wings of an eagle, and the hind quarters of a lion.\ngrog - mixture of rum and water. Named for Edward Vernon, called \"Old Grog\", an English admiral responsible for diluting the sailors' rum\ngruel - cheap food made by boiling a small amount of oatmeal in a large amount of water. Dietary staple in the workhouse, this is what Oliver Twist asks for more of.\nguinea - monetary unit equal to 1 pound 1 shilling.\nH \nhaberdasher - seller of small personal items.\nhackney coach - a coach for hire\nhalf-a-crown - a British coin equal to 2-1/2 shillings, or 30 pence.\nhalf and half - alcoholic beverage: half ale and half porter.\nhansom cab - two-wheeled carriage invented in the 1830s where the driver sat in back, giving the passengers a clear view of the road.\nha'penny - slang for halfpenny, worth ½ pence.\nhedgerow - a row of shrubs or trees enclosing or separating fields.\nHilary - a term or session of the High Court beginning in January.\nhob - metal insert in a fireplace where the kettle could be kept warm.\nhogshead - a large cask or barrel, equal to 52 ½ imperial gallons.\nHorse Guards - cavalry who protected the monarch.\nhosier - maker of socks and stockings.\nhostler - one who tends horses at an inn; sometimes ostler. Hugh is hostler at the Maypole in Barnaby Rudge, Mark Tapley is hostler at the Blue Dragon in Martin Chuzzlewit.\nhulks - old ships, many relics of the Napoleonic Wars, their masts removed, anchored in the Thames and the Medway and used as prisons from 1776-1857. The practice started in 1776 when the American war prevented the transporting of convicts to America and conventional prisons were full. Abel Magwitch escapes from a prison ship in Great Expectations.\nIn Great Expectations Pip describes the hulks: \"By the light of the torches, we saw the black Hulk lying out a little way from the mud of the shore, like a wicked Noah's ark. Cribbed and barred and moored by massive rusty chains, the prison-ship seemed in my young eyes to be ironed like the prisoners.\"humbug - nonsense, rubbish; used to express disbelief or disgust; something intended to deceive; a hoax or fraud. This was Ebenezer Scrooge's favorite word in A Christmas Carol.\nI\nInimitable - nickname given to Dickens by his early schoolmaster, Mr. Giles. The term means 'impossible to imitate, unique'. Dickens later referred to himself as 'The Inimitable'.\nInsolvent Debtors Act - Act passed in 1816 which allowed imprisoned debtors to apply for release providing they surrendered all their property and made provision to satisfy their debts. Mr. Micawber (David Copperfield), as well as Dickens' father, invoked this Act to gain release from debtor's prison.\nIron Bridge - Popular name for Southwark Bridge, its three arches were made of cast iron.\nironmonger - seller of metal goods, hardware\nJ\njourneyman - one who has finished an apprenticeship and is now able to hire himself out by the day. Joe Gargary hired the journeyman Orlick to work in the blacksmith shop in Great Expectations.\nK\nkennel - gutter in the street\nkith - friends, neighbors, or relatives\nknaves - the jacks in a deck of cards. Pip calls the knaves \"jacks\" in Great Expectations and is scoffed at by Estella.\nknee-breeches - trousers extending to, or just below, the knee.\nknight - lowest of the titled ranks in England. A knight has Sir before his name and his wife is addressed as Lady.\nknock up - to bang on someone's door in order to wake them up.\nL\nlath and plaster - thin strips of wood with plaster covering to form walls.\nlaudanum - mixture of opium and alcohol used as a tranquilizer, pain-killer, or to induce sleep.\nlet - rented or hired\nLiberties of the City of London - Liberties are an area controlled by the city though outside its boundaries.\nLimehouse - waterside section of east London. Rogue Riderhood is a waterman in Limehouse in Our Mutual\nFriend.\nlimekiln - kiln used to heat limestone to produce quicklime.\nlink - torch used to light the streets.\nlink-boy - a boy for hire carrying a torch to light a traveler's way in the dark streets.\nlivery -uniform worn by servant; knee breeches and powdered wig worn by footmen.\nL.L. - Literary Ladies\nLondon Season - In London society, the Season traditionally began after Easter and ended with the \"Glorious Twelfth\" (August 12), the start of the shooting season for red grouse.\nlong vacation - summer, between Trinity and Michaelmas term\nloom - device for weaving thread into fabric. Stephen Blackpool operates a steam-driven power loom in Hard\nTimes.\nLowestoft - seaside town in Suffolk. David Copperfield goes to Lowestoft with Mr. Murdstone to meet Mr. Quinion.\nlucifer - a match made of a sliver of wood tipped with a combustible substance, and ignited by friction. First manufactured in the 1830's.\nlumber room - a room for storing old furniture and other unused odds and ends ready for the Victorian garage sale. It would probably be a musty, moldy, spider-webbery kind of place.\nM\nmagic lantern - optical device for projecting magnified images painted on glass onto a screen, like a modern slide projector.\nmagistrate - civil officer who enforces the law.\nmake love - to court or woo, a proposition for marriage.\nmaid-of-all-work - maid, usually a young girl, hired as the only servant in the house. Charlotte is maid-of all-work for Sowerberry, the undertaker, in Oliver Twist.\nmail coach - reliable carrier of the mail and a limited number of passengers, replaced mid-nineteenth century by the railroad.\nmangle - a machine consisting of a crank attached to two rollers, used to wring water out of clothes.\nmarchioness - wife or widow of a marquis; Dick Swiveller gives the under-stairs maid in The Old Curiosity Shop the honorary title of marchioness.\nmarket day - the day when country folks would bring their livestock and produce to town to sell, always a bustle of activity.\nmarket town - a town that regularly held a market.\nmarquis - a member of the British peerage ranking below a duke and above an earl.\nmarrow-bones and cleavers - the shin-bone of an ox striking a butcher's cleaver was used to make music at weddings and other humble gatherings.\nmead - a fermented beverage made of water and honey, malt, and yeast.\nMedway - Kentish river near Rochester and Chatham. Dickens lived in this area as a child and late in life when he resided at Gad's Hill Place.\nmiasma - noxious, air-carried germs. In the first half of the nineteenth century it was widely held that diseases like cholera were transferred miasmically. It was only when proved that these diseases were water-born, and proper elimination of sewage was constructed, that these diseases were conquereg.\nMichaelmas - festival honoring the archangel Michael celebrated on September 29. It is one of the four quarters of the English business year.\nmilliner - maker of women's hats\nminor canon - one who helped with the choir at a cathedral. Canon Crisparkle was minor canon at Cloisterham Cathedral in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.\nMonmouth Street - location of many second-hand clothing shops in London.\nmother-in-law - your spouse's mother, in Dickens sometimes used to indicate your father's new wife (stepmother)\nmourning clothes - black garments worn after a relative died, to which strict rules of etiquette applied. The length of mourning depended on your relationship to the deceased. Widows generally wore mourning clothes for two years. Queen Victoria, after the death of her husband Prince Albert in 1861, wore mourning until she died in 1901. In A Christmas Carol, when the death of Tiny Tim is shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Future, Mrs Cratchit and the girls are sewing their mourning clothes.\nMudie's Circulating Library - largest circulating library in the nineteenth century. Started by Charles Mudie in 1842 , Mudie favored the triple-decker method of publishing, publishing novels in three volumes so that three subscribers could read a book at one time. Dickens published his works serially, which did not conform to Mudie's method, therefore readership of Dickens' works did not significantly increase despite Mudie's popularity. Mudie's continued in business until 1937.\nmutton - lamb meat\nNankeen - A pale yellowish cotton cloth, also trousers made from this cloth.\nN.B. - nota bene - note well, take notice\nnegus - liquor made from wine, water, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon-juice.\nNewgate Calendar - stories about sensational crimes committed by inmates of Newgate Prison. The first edition came out in 1773 and the last in 1826. Dickens used the term \"Newgate Calendar\" to refer to crimes of every sort.\nnib - point of a pen\nnose-bag - feeding bag for horses\nnosegay - small bouquet of flowers\nnotions - small personal items\nO\noakum - loosely twisted hemp fibers, impregnated with tar, used in rope. Picking oakum apart was common busywork in the prison or workhouse. The separated oakum was then used to caulk ships. Oliver picked oakum at the workhouse in Oliver Twist.\noctavo - the size of a piece of paper cut eight from a sheet; also : a book, a page, or paper of this size.\nOld Clem - St. Clement, one of the earliest Popes, regarded as the patron saint of blacksmiths. Pip and Joe sing Old Clem in the forge, later Pip sings it with Miss Havisham (Great Expectations).\nomnibus - large four-wheeled carriage capable of carrying many people; horse-drawn bus.\nopium - addictive narcotic drug made from the dried juice of the opium poppy. John Jasper was an opium addict in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.\noutdoor relief - charity given to the poor which did not require them to become inmates of the workhouse. The New Poor Law of 1834 eliminated outdoor relief in an effort to stem the abuse of the system.\nP\npalsy - a medical condition producing uncontrollable shaking.\nparliamentary train - by an Act of Parliament (1844) every railway company was required to run at least one train each week day with at a fare of a penny a mile. These became known as parliamentary trains.\nparlor - a room used primarily for conversation or the reception of guests.\npattens - device attached to the bottom of lady's shoes to keep them elevated out of the mud and muck in the streets. Sometimes consisting of circular metal rings which caused a distinctive sound on the pavement.\npeach - Inform on or give accusatory information against an accomplice or associate.\npea-coat - short double-breasted navy blue or black overcoat worn by seamen.\npeelers - nickname given members of the new London police force organized by Sir Robert Peel in 1829, also known as bobbies (also after Peel).\npence - penny; 1 pound equaled 240 pence.\npenn'orth - a pennies worth\npetticoat - full skirt worn by women as an undergarment.\npew-opener - one who opens the door of a pew in church and was usually tipped.\nphaeton - open four-wheeled carriage\nphosphorus-box - box containing matches tipped with chlorate of potash, with phosphorus on which to ignite them.\nphysic - drug prescribed by a physician\npianoforte - a piano. Learning to play piano was considered an acceptable pastime for young ladies.\npickled brown paper - brown paper soaked in vinegar, used as an antiseptic.\npic-nic - before it was an outdoor meal, a pic-nic was any social gathering for which each guest provided a share of the food. The Peerybingles, Plummers, Tackleton, May and her mother gather for a pic-nic in Cricket on the Hearth.\npint pot - vessel for drinking beer or ale, holding one pint.\nplate - valuable tableware of gold or silver.\npleurisy - inflammation of the lungs producing a hacking cough and sharp chest pain.\nport - sweet red wine from Portugal\nporter - see ticket-porter. Also the dark beer favored by porters and named for them.\nportmanteau - large leather suitcase that opened into two compartments. Dickens reported in American Notes that his cabin aboard ship was so small that his portmanteau could \"no more be got in at the door, not to say stowed away, than a giraffe could be forced into a flowerpot.\"\npost chaise - a closed, four-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage, used to transport mail and passengers.\npostern - back entrance\npostilion - one who guides a horse-driven coach by riding on the left-hand lead horse.\npot-boy - employee at a tavern who serves beer to customers.\npoulterer - butcher who deals in fowl, mainly chicken or turkey. After his conversion Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol, asks the boy in the street if he \"knew the poulterer on the next street but one?\"\npound - English monetary unit, equaling 240 pence or 20 shillings. Using this system the pound could be exactly divided into halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, twelfths, fifteenths, sixteenths, twentieths, twenty-fourths, thirtieths, fortieths, forty-eightieths, sixtieths, eightieths, and one-hundred-and-twentieths.\nThe decimal system, instituted by Britain in 1971, allows only halves, quarters, fifths, tenths, twentieths, twenty-fifths, and fiftieths. Dickens, while visiting America in 1842, noted in a letter home to his friend John Forster that the salary paid to his traveling secretary, George Washington Putnam, was ten dollars a month, worth about two pounds five shillings in English money.Privy Council - advisors to the sovereign\nproctor - an officer of the court, paid a contracted salary to manage the affairs of others, answers to an attorney at common law, or to a solicitor.\npub - a tavern or inn\npublican - owner or keeper of a pub\npudding - a sausage like preparation made with minced meat or various other ingredients stuffed into a skin or bag and boiled.\nPunch and Judy - popular puppet show for children. Codlin and Short, in The Old Curiosity Shop, operate a Punch and Judy show.\npurl - hot beer mixed with gin\nQ\nquadrille - card game played by four people.\nquarter days - four days of the year when quarterly payments like rents were due. The four days were Lady Day (March 25), Midsummer (June 24), Michaelmas (September 29), and Christmas (December25).\nquay - wharf or reinforced bank where ships are loaded or unloaded.\nquick-lime - white, caustic alkaline substance consisting of calcium oxide, obtained by heating limestone.\nquid - slang for pound\nR\nr ag-and-bone shop - shop that bought and sold rags to be made into paper and bones that were ground into manure. Krook, inBleak House, was the proprietor of a rag and bone shop.\nrecusant - one who refused to attend Church of England services.\nreel - Scottish dance requiring at least two couples and usually a figure eight.\nReform Act of 1832 - hard fought Act which sought to end under representation of the middle class in Parliament. Also to more evenly distribute parliamentary seats among the boroughs. Because of property qualifications included in the Act (voting in the boroughs was restricted to men who occupied homes with an annual value of at least £10) the bill still only gave the vote to one in seven.\nRegency - period from 1810-1820. George III went insane in 1810 and his son ruled as prince regent in his stead. George III died in 1820 and his son became George IV.\nrepeater - a pocket watch which was capable of chiming on the hour or quarter hour, this made it easier to tell the time in the dark. Scrooge has one in A Christmas Carol which he checks when the first spirit is due.\nresurrectionist - a body snatcher. Legally, only the bodies of criminals could be used for teaching anatomy but this did not meet demand, so resurrectionists took up the slack. Jerry Cruncher, in A Tale of Two Cities, was a resurrectionist.\nribald - characterized by or indulging in vulgar, lewd humor.\nriband - ribbon\nRiot Act - enacted in 1714, it forced crowds, riotously assembled, to disperse within one hour after the Act was read, or risk being shot. During the Gordon Riots, in Barnaby Rudge, the mob is read the Riot Act.\nRobinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe's most famous novel, published in 1719, was one of Dickens' favorite books. It is mentioned in 9 of Dickens' 15 major novels as well as in 2 of his Christmas books, A Christmas Carol and Cricket on the Hearth, and in his 2 travel books, American Notes and Pictures From Italy.\nrookery - nesting place for rooks, birds that were related to the crow. David Copperfield's childhood home in Blunderstone was called the Rookery. Rookery was also used to denote an urban slum.\nRotten Row - horse path in Hyde Park where the rich would go riding and show off their finery. Peter Cratchit, proudly wearing his father's shirt in honor of Christmas, wishes to show it off in the fashionable parks.\nrushlight - The light from a rush-candle, a candle made from the pith of a rush plant dipped in tallow.\nS\nsaveloy - a highly seasoned dried and smoked pork sausage, sold ready to eat.\nsawyer - one who saws timber\nscrivener - professional scribe or copier\nscullery - dish washing area\nsea-coal - mineral coal as distinguished from charcoal\nsealing wax - wax used to seal letters, red for business letters, other colors for correspondence, and black for mourning.\nsedan chair - means of transportation consisting of a covered chair to which two long poles were attached, carried by chairmen.\nsepulchral - relating to the grave\nserjeant - an English barrister of the highest rank.\nshaver - small boy\nShepherd, Jack - (1702-1724) notorious London thief who escaped from confinement six times, including daring escapes from Newgate prison. Hanged at Tyburn in 1724.\nshilling - monetary unit equal to 12 pence; 20 shillings equaled 1 pound.\nshort-sixes - bundles of six short candles.\nSir Roger de Coverley - popular country dance named for a fictional character created by Joseph Addison (The Spectator-1711). The dance is known in the United States as the Virginia Reel. Sir Roger de Coverley is performed at Fezziwig's ball in A Christmas Carol.\nskittles - Game played with nine wooden pins to be bowled down with a wooden ball or disc in as few attempts as possible.\nslopseller - dealer in cheap or second-hand clothing.\nsluice-gate - dam or water-gate used to control waterflow in a sluiceway.\nsluiceway - artificial waterway used to carry off surplus water.\nsmall beer - weak, low quality beer.\nsmall clothes - knee breeches\nsmoking bishop - Christmas punch made from heated red wine flavored with oranges, sugar, and spices. So named because of its deep purple color.\nSnow Hill - busy route from Holborn to Farringdon Street in London.\nsnuff - fine powdered tobacco that is inhaled through the nose. Gentlemen carried theirs in elegant snuff boxes, poorer users, like Frederick Dorrit, may carry a small amount twisted into a piece of whitey-brown paper. Inexperienced users always sneeze when taking snuff.\nsnuffer - device used to extinguish a candle.\nsolicitor - lawyer who handled wills and estate problems and hired barristers to represent their clients in Chancery Court. Mr. Tulkinghorn was solicitor for the Dedlocks in Bleak House. Mr. Wickfield is solicitor for David's aunt, Betsy Trotwood, in David Copperfield.\nsovereign - gold coin worth a pound, first issued in 1817.\nspencer - a short, close-fitting coat worn by woman and children in the arly 19th century.\nsperm-oil - oil from the Sperm whale, used in lamps.\nsponging-house - temporary debtor's prison. Dickens' father, John Dickens, was taken to a sponging-house before becoming an inmate at the Marshalsea prison.\nspontaneous combustion - a phenomenon where the human body catches fire as a result of heat generated by internal chemical action. Scientist deny the existence of spontaneous combustion despite many supposed cases. Dickens has Krook, inBleak House, die of spontaneous combustion.\nsquire - an English country gentleman, especially the chief landowner in a district.\nsrub (shrub) - drink made from orange or lemon juice, sugar, and rumor brandy.\nStandard in Cornhill - water standard at the junction of Cornhill with Gracechurch Street, Bishopsgate, and Leadenhall Street. Although not used as a water standard since 1603, the standard remained for many years and was used as a point of measurement of distances from the city. In Barnaby Rudge, Dickens states that the Maypole Inn was twelve miles from London measuring from the Standard in Cornhill.\nsteward - head of all servants in a wealthy household. Barnaby Rudge Sr. was steward of the Warren, household of Reuben Haredale in Barnaby Rudge.\nstile - steps in a fence over which people could pass but livestock could not.\nstone - measure of weight equaling 14 pounds\nstrait-waistcoat - a strait jacket, used for restraining persons who may do harm to themselves or others.\nstreet-door-scraper - mounted iron bar for scraping mud or manure from boots before entering a house.\nsurgeon - medical man who treated broken bones and other types of external injuries although sometimes pressed into the service of bloodletting or delivering children. Of lower social status than a physician.\nsurtout - double-breasted, full-skirted, close-bodied suit.\nsweep - chimney sweep, ubiquitous in nineteenth century London. Sweeps often hired small boys that could fit in the chimneys, a very dangerous business. An 1842 law made it a crime to force anyone under 21 to enter a chimney, or to apprentice sweeps under 16. In Oliver Twist, which takes place before this law was passed, Gamfield, the sweep, tries unsuccessfully to apprentice Oliver from the workhouse.\nsweetmeat - a sweet delicacy, such as a piece of candy or candied fruit.\nT\ntallow - the fat of sheep or oxen, used for making candles or soap.\ntaper - small wax candle\ntaproom - room in an inn or tavern where working class people ate and drank. The more well-to-do used the parlor.\ntar-water - an infusion of tar in water, formerly thought to be a cure-all. Mrs Joe steeps Pip in it in Great Expectations.\nteetotaler - one who abstains from alcohol. The word originated with a stammering Lancashire temperence advocate who said in a speech that nothing would do but \"t-t-total abstinence.\"\nterm - academic sessions at Cambridge and Oxford (i.e. Michaelmas term began Sept 29). Tied to the ecclesiastical calendar of the Anglican Christian year.\nthreepenn'orth - three pennies worth, as in \"threepenn'orth rum.\"\nthruppence - slang for three pence or 3 pennies; a three pence coin.\nticket-porter - porter wearing badges, or tickets, licensed by the city of London to carry goods, as well as documents and messages. They could be found in the streets and hired when needed. Trotty Veck was a ticket-porter in The Chimes.\ntights - breeches or knee-breeches\nThe Times - London's most influential newspaper with a circulation of 60,000 in 1861. Founded by John Walter in 1785.\ntinker - one who repairs pots and pans\ntoilet - to dress and groom oneself\nTory - conservative political party as opposed to the liberal Whigs. The Tories supported the king and the Anglican Church.\ntransportation - the practice of sending British criminals to the colonies as punishment. Criminals were sent to America until 1776, from then on to Australia. It is estimated that 140,000 criminals were transported to Australia between 1810 and 1852. Abel Magwitch, in Great Expectations, had been transported to Australia and was under a death penalty for coming back to Britain.\ntreadmill - kind of like today's StairMaster. Prisoners climbed steps along a rotating cylinder designed to keep them mindlessly occupied and wear them out physically. Outlawed in 1898.\nTrinity - university or High Court term beginning after Easter.\ntriple decker - a novel published in three volumes; favored by Mudie's Circulating Library because three subscribers could read a book at once.\ntruckle bed - low bed usually kept beneath another bed when not in use.\ntrundling a hoop - popular Victorian child's game where a wooden hoop is pushed along with a stick.\ntumbler - drinking glass with a pointed bottom so that they could not be set down until emptied. Later referred to any drinking glass.\ntumbril - open cart which tilts backwards to empty its load. Used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution.\ntuppence - slang for \"two pence\" or two pennies; also, a two pence coin.\nturf-circles - Those who frequent horse races.\nturnkey - a jailor. John Chivery was turnkey at the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit.\nturnpike - toll road\ntwelfth cake - cakes made in celebration of Twelfth Night. They contained a pea or a bean, the finders of which were king and queen of the celebration.\nTwelfth Night - January 5th, the night before the twelfth day after Christmas when Christmas festivities ended. The next day, January 6th, was Epiphany.\ntwo pair back - room at the back of the house on the second floor. Two pair refers to two flights of steps with a landing in between.\ntwopenn'orth - two pennies worth\ntwopenny post - the ordinary postage within the city of London from 1801-1839 was 2 pence.\nTyburn Tree - place where public executions were performed until 1783 when they were moved to Newgate prison.\nU \nunion workhouse - after the 1834 New Poor Law parishes were required to join together into unions for the purpose of providing a workhouse.\nusquebaugh - whiskey\nvan - wagon for hauling goods or people which was covered.\nvespers - evening prayers\nVesuvius - active volcano in southwest Italy near Naples. Dickens describes his visit to the summit of Vesuvius in Pictures from Italy.\nviands - choice foods\nvicar - parish priest who receives a stipend or salary but does not receive the tithes of a parish.\nvintner - wine merchant\nW\nwafer - thin wax disc, melted with a candle and used to seal a letter.\nwafer stamp - hand-held (or set in a ring) stamp used to put an impression on the softened wafer, thereby identifying the sender of the sealed letter.\nwaistcoat - a vest\nwaits - member of a small body of wind instrumentalists maintained by a city or town. Redlaw hears the Christmas Waits \"playing somewhere in the distance\" in The Haunted Man.\nWalker - an expression that expressed disbelief. In A Christmas Carol, when the reformed Scrooge asks the boy in the street to go and buy the prize turkey, the boy exclaims \"Walk-er.\"\nward - minor under the control of a guardian\nwashhouse - building for washing clothes, sometimes shared by several families.\nwassail - spiced ale served at Christmas\nwatch - men appointed by the parish to walk the streets at night, periodically calling out the time and making sure the streets were safe. They were generally ineffective and Dickens pokes fun at them in his novels.\nwater-butt - barrel placed under the eve of a house for the purpose of catching rainwater.\nwater-plug - fireplug or hydrant\nwater-rate - tax on the supply of water.\nwaterman - operated boats on the Thames carrying passengers for a fee.\nwax-work - wax museum. Mrs. Jarley operates a wax-work in The Old Curiosity Shop.\nwedding breakfast - Until the late 1880s weddings were required by law to be held in the morning. After the ceremony the wedding party would celebrate with a wedding breakfast.\nweeds - mourning clothes\nwelsh (or welch) wig - woolen or worsted cap, originally made in Montgomery, Wales. Old Fezziwig, in A Christmas Carol, wears a welsh wig.\nwet nurse - woman \"in milk\" hired to breast-feed the children of others.\nWhigs - liberal party in English politics as opposed to the conservative Tories. The Tories generally supported things the way they were, the Whigs favored reform.\nwithout - outside the place mentioned or implied as in 'It was so dense without...'. Opposite of within.\nwonderful - an event, not necessarily pleasant, that arouses wonder or astonishment\nworkhouses - also known as the union, poorhouse, or simply \"the house.\" Publicly supported institutions to which the sick, destitute, aged, and otherwise impoverished went for food and shelter. After the New Poor Law was passed in 1834 the workhouse became little more than a prison for the poor. Civil liberties were denied, families were separated, and human dignity was destroyed. The meager diet instituted in the workhouse prompted Dickens to quip that the poor were offered the choice of \"being starved by a gradual process in the house, or by a quick one out of it.\"\nwhist - popular 19th century card game, evolved into today's bridge.\nwhitey-brown paper - paper, not fully bleached, used for wrapping and for toilet paper.\nwicket-gate - small gate into a field\nwithal - in addition",
"French Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nThe French Revolution (French: ... Although the fortress had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen ... During the French Revolution the fasces image ...\nFrench Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nFrench Revolution\nFor other uses, see French Revolution (disambiguation) .\nThe French Revolution\n1789–1799\nResult\nA cycle of royal power being limited by uneasy constitutional monarchy —then abolition and replacement of the French king, aristocracy and church with a radical, secular, democratic republic—in turn becoming more authoritarian, militaristic and property-based.\nRadical social change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights , as well as nationalism and democracy .\ne\nThe French Revolution ( French : Révolution française; 1789–1799), was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France that had a lasting impact on French history and more broadly throughout the world . The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed within three years. French society underwent an epic transformation, as feudal , aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from radical left-wing political groups, masses on the streets , and peasants in the countryside. [1] Old ideas about tradition and hierarchy–of monarchy , aristocracy , and religious authority –were abruptly overthrown by new Enlightenment principles of equality , citizenship and inalienable rights .\nAmidst a fiscal crisis, the common people of France were increasingly angered by the incompetency of King Louis XVI and the continued indifference and decadence of the aristocracy. This resentment, coupled with burgeoning Enlightenment ideals, fueled radical sentiments, and the French Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by struggles between various liberal assemblies and a right wing of supporters of the monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms.\nA republic was proclaimed in September 1792 and King Louis XVI was executed the next year. External threats shaped the course of the Revolution. The French Revolutionary Wars began in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian Peninsula , the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine – achievements that had eluded previous French governments for centuries.\nInternally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins and virtual dictatorship by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror from 1793 until 1794 during which between 16,000 and 40,000 people were killed. [2] After the fall of the Jacobins and the execution of Robespierre, the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799, when it was replaced by the Consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte .\nThe modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. The growth of republics and liberal democracies , the spread of secularism , the development of modern ideologies , and the invention of total war [3] all mark their birth during the Revolution. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Napoleonic Wars , two separate restorations of monarchy ( Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy ), and two additional revolutions ( 1830 and 1848 ) as modern France took shape.\nContents\nMain article: Causes of the French Revolution\nThe French government faced a fiscal crisis in the 1780s, and King Louis XVI was criticized for his handling of these affairs.\nAdherents of most historical models identify many of the same features of the Ancien Régime as being among the causes of the Revolution. Economic factors included hunger and malnutrition in the most destitute segments of the population, due to rising bread prices (from a normal 8 sous for a four-pound loaf to 12 sous by the end of 1789), [4] after several years of poor grain harvests. Bad harvests, rising food prices, and an inadequate transportation system that hindered the shipment of bulk foods from rural areas to large population centers contributed greatly to the destabilization of French society in the years leading up to the Revolution.\nAt a governmental level the sequence of events leading to the revolution was sparked by France's effective bankruptcy due to the enormous cost of previous wars. The attempt to challenge British naval and commercial power in the Seven Years' War was a costly disaster, with the loss of France's colonial possessions in continental North America and the destruction of the French Navy. French forces were rebuilt and performed more successfully in the American Revolutionary War , but only at massive additional cost. France's inefficient and antiquated financial system was unable to finance this debt, a problem both partially caused and exacerbated by a grossly inequitable system of taxation. Faced with a political impasse, the king called an Assembly of Notables in 1787.\nMeanwhile, the royal court at Versailles was seen as being isolated from, and indifferent to, the hardships of the lower classes. While in theory King Louis XVI was an absolute monarch, in practice he was often indecisive and known to back down when faced with strong opposition. While he did reduce government expenditures, opponents in the parlement s successfully thwarted his attempts at enacting much needed reforms. Those who were opposed to Louis' policies further undermined royal authority by distributing pamphlets (often reporting false or exaggerated information) that criticized the government and its officials, stirring up public opinion against the monarchy. [5]\nMany other factors involved resentments and aspirations given focus by the rise of Enlightenment ideals. These included resentment of royal absolutism ; resentment by peasants, laborers and the bourgeoisie toward the traditional seigneurial privileges possessed by the nobility; resentment of the Catholic Church's influence over public policy and institutions; aspirations for freedom of religion ; resentment of aristocratic bishops by the poorer rural clergy; aspirations for social, political and economic equality, and (especially as the Revolution progressed) republicanism ; hatred of Queen Marie-Antoinette , who was falsely accused of being a spendthrift and an Austrian spy; and anger toward the King for firing finance minister Jacques Necker , among others, who were popularly seen as representatives of the people. [6]\nPre-revolution\nFinancial crisis\nCaricature of the Third Estate carrying the First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility) on its back.\nLouis XVI ascended to the throne amidst a financial crisis ; the state was nearing bankruptcy and outlays outpaced income. [7] This was because of France’s financial obligations stemming from involvement in the Seven Years War and its participation in the American Revolutionary War . [8] In May 1776, finance minister Turgot was dismissed, after he failed to enact reforms. The next year, Jacques Necker , a foreigner, was appointed Comptroller -General of Finance. He could not be made an official minister because he was a Protestant. [9]\nNecker realized that the country's extremely regressive tax system subjected the lower classes to a heavy burden, [9] while numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy. [10] He argued that the country could not be taxed higher; that tax exemptions for the nobility and clergy must be reduced; and proposed that borrowing more money would solve the country's fiscal shortages. Necker published a report to support this claim that underestimated the deficit by roughly 36 million livres, and proposed restricting the power of the parlements . [9]\nThis was not received well by the King's ministers, and Necker, hoping to bolster his position, argued to be made a minister. The King refused, Necker was fired, and Charles Alexandre de Calonne was appointed to the Comptrollership. [9] Calonne initially spent liberally, but he quickly realized the critical financial situation and proposed a new tax code . [11]\nThe proposal included a consistent land tax , which would include taxation of the nobility and clergy. Faced with opposition from the parlements, Calonne organised the summoning of the Assembly of Notables . But the Assembly failed to endorse Calonne's proposals and instead weakened his position through its criticism. In response, the King announced the calling of the Estates-General for May 1789 , the first time the body had been summoned since 1614. This was a signal that the Bourbon monarchy was in a weakened state and subject to the demands of its people. [12]\nEstates-General of 1789\nMain article: Estates-General of 1789\nThe Estates-General was organized into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France . [13] On the last occasion that the Estates-General had met, in 1614, each estate held one vote, and any two could override the third. The Parlement of Paris feared the government would attempt to gerrymander an assembly to rig the results. Thus, they required that the Estates be arranged as in 1614. [14] The 1614 rules differed from practices of local assemblies, where each member had one vote and third estate membership was doubled. For example, in the Dauphiné the provincial assembly agreed to double the number of members of the third estate, hold membership elections, and allow one vote per member, rather than one vote per estate. [15]\nPrior to the assembly taking place, the \"Committee of Thirty,\" a body of liberal Parisians, began to agitate against voting by estate. This group, largely composed of the wealthy, argued for the Estates-General to assume the voting mechanisms of Dauphiné. They argued that ancient precedent was not sufficient, because \"the people were sovereign.\" [16] Necker convened a Second Assembly of Notables, which rejected the notion of double representation by a vote of 111 to 333. [16] The King, however, agreed to the proposition on 27 December; but he left discussion of the weight of each vote to the Estates-General itself. [17]\nElections were held in the spring of 1789; suffrage requirements for the Third Estate were for French-born or naturalised males only, at least 25 years of age, who resided where the vote was to take place and who paid taxes.\nPour être électeur du tiers état, il faut avoir 25 ans, être français ou naturalisé, être domicilié au lieu de vote et compris au rôle des impositions. [18]\nStrong turnout produced 1,201 delegates, including: \"291 nobles, 300 clergy, and 610 members of the Third Estate.\" [17] To lead delegates, \"Books of grievances\" (cahiers de doléances) were compiled to list problems. [13] The books articulated ideas which would have seemed radical only months before; however, most supported the monarchical system in general. Many assumed the Estates-General would approve future taxes, and Enlightenment ideals were relatively rare. [14] [19]\nPamphlets by liberal nobles and clergy became widespread after the lifting of press censorship. [16] The Abbé Sieyès , a theorist and Catholic clergyman, argued the paramount importance of the Third Estate in the pamphlet Qu'est-ce que le tiers état? (\" What is the Third Estate? \"), published in January 1789. He asserted: \"What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something.\" [14] [20]\nThe meeting of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 in Versailles .\nThe Estates-General convened in the Grands Salles des Menus-Plaisirs in Versailles on 5 May 1789 and opened with a three-hour speech by Necker. The Third Estate demanded that the verification of deputies' credentials should be undertaken in common by all deputies, rather than each estate verifying the credentials of its own members internally; negotiations with the other estates failed to achieve this. [19] The commoners appealed to the clergy who replied they required more time. Necker asserted that each estate verify credentials and \"the king was to act as arbitrator.\" [21] Negotiations with the other two estates to achieve this, however, were unsuccessful. [22]\nNational Assembly (1789)\nThe National Assembly taking the Tennis Court Oath (sketch by Jacques-Louis David ).\nOn 10 June 1789, Abbé Sieyès moved that the Third Estate, now meeting as the Communes (English: \"Commons\"), proceed with verification of its own powers and invite the other two estates to take part, but not to wait for them. They proceeded to do so two days later, completing the process on 17 June. [23] Then they voted a measure far more radical, declaring themselves the National Assembly , an assembly not of the Estates but of \"the People.\" They invited the other orders to join them, but made it clear they intended to conduct the nation's affairs with or without them. [24]\nIn an attempt to keep control of the process and prevent the Assembly from convening, Louis XVI ordered the closure of the Salle des États where the Assembly met, making an excuse that the carpenters needed to prepare the hall for a royal speech in two days. Weather did not allow an outdoor meeting, so the Assembly moved their deliberations to a nearby indoor real tennis court, where they proceeded to swear the Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789), under which they agreed not to separate until they had given France a constitution. [25]\nA majority of the representatives of the clergy soon joined them, as did 47 members of the nobility. By 27 June, the royal party had overtly given in, although the military began to arrive in large numbers around Paris and Versailles. Messages of support for the Assembly poured in from Paris and other French cities. [25]\nNational Constituent Assembly (1789–1791)\nMain article: Storming of the Bastille\nBy this time, Necker had earned the enmity of many members of the French court for his overt manipulation of public opinion. Marie Antoinette , the King's younger brother the Comte d'Artois , and other conservative members of the King's privy council urged him to dismiss Necker as financial advisor. On 11 July 1789, after Necker published an inaccurate account of the government's debts and made it available to the public, the King fired him, and completely restructured the finance ministry at the same time. [26]\nMany Parisians presumed Louis's actions to be aimed against the Assembly and began open rebellion when they heard the news the next day. They were also afraid that arriving soldiers – mostly foreign mercenaries – had been summoned to shut down the National Constituent Assembly . The Assembly, meeting at Versailles, went into nonstop session to prevent another eviction from their meeting place. Paris was soon consumed by riots, chaos, and widespread looting. The mobs soon had the support of some of the French Guard , who were armed and trained soldiers. [27]\nThe Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 26 August 1789\nOn 14 July, the insurgents set their eyes on the large weapons and ammunition cache inside the Bastille fortress, which was also perceived to be a symbol of royal power. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon. Despite ordering a cease fire, which prevented a mutual massacre, Governor Marquis Bernard de Launay was beaten, stabbed and decapitated; his head was placed on a pike and paraded about the city. Although the fortress had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen kept for immoral behavior, and a murder suspect), the Bastille served as a potent symbol of everything hated under the Ancien Régime . Returning to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall), the mob accused the prévôt des marchands (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles of treachery and butchered him. [28]\nThe King, alarmed by the violence, backed down, at least for the time being. The Marquis de la Fayette took up command of the National Guard at Paris. Jean-Sylvain Bailly , president of the Assembly at the time of the Tennis Court Oath , became the city's mayor under a new governmental structure known as the commune. The King visited Paris, where, on 17 July he accepted a tricolore cockade , to cries of Vive la Nation (\"Long live the Nation\") and Vive le Roi (\"Long live the King\"). [29]\nNecker was recalled to power, but his triumph was short-lived. An astute financier but a less astute politician, Necker overplayed his hand by demanding and obtaining a general amnesty, losing much of the people's favour.\nAs civil authority rapidly deteriorated, with random acts of violence and theft breaking out across the country, members of the nobility, fearing for their safety, fled to neighboring countries; many of these émigrés , as they were called, funded counter-revolutionary causes within France and urged foreign monarchs to offer military support to a counter-revolution . [30]\nBy late July, the spirit of popular sovereignty had spread throughout France. In rural areas, many commoners began to form militias and arm themselves against a foreign invasion: some attacked the châteaux of the nobility as part of a general agrarian insurrection known as \"la Grande Peur\" (\"the Great Fear \"). In addition, wild rumours and paranoia caused widespread unrest and civil disturbances that contributed to the collapse of law and order. [31]\nWorking toward a constitution\nMain article: French Revolution from the abolition of feudalism to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy\nOn 4 August 1789, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism (although at that point there had been sufficient peasant revolts to almost end feudalism already), in what is known as the August Decrees , sweeping away both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate and the tithes gathered by the First Estate. In the course of a few hours, nobles, clergy, towns, provinces, companies and cities lost their special privileges.\nOn 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , which comprised a statement of principles rather than a constitution with legal effect. The National Constituent Assembly functioned not only as a legislature, but also as a body to draft a new constitution .\nNecker, Mounier, Lally-Tollendal and others argued unsuccessfully for a senate, with members appointed by the crown on the nomination of the people. The bulk of the nobles argued for an aristocratic upper house elected by the nobles. The popular party carried the day: France would have a single, unicameral assembly. The King retained only a \" suspensive veto \"; he could delay the implementation of a law, but not block it absolutely. The Assembly eventually replaced the historic provinces with 83 départements, uniformly administered and roughly equal in area and population.\nAmid the Assembly's preoccupation with constitutional affairs, the financial crisis had continued largely unaddressed, and the deficit had only increased. Honoré Mirabeau now led the move to address this matter, and the Assembly gave Necker complete financial dictatorship.\nWomen's March on Versailles\nMain article: The Women's March on Versailles\nEngraving of the Women's March on Versailles, 5 October 1789\nFueled by rumors of a reception for the King's bodyguards on 1 October 1789 at which the national cockade had been trampled upon, on 5 October 1789 crowds of women began to assemble at Parisian markets. The women first marched to the Hôtel de Ville , demanding that city officials address their concerns. [32] The women were responding to the harsh economic situations they faced, especially bread shortages. They also demanded an end to royal efforts to block the National Assembly, and for the King and his administration to move to Paris as a sign of good faith in addressing the widespread poverty.\nGetting unsatisfactory responses from city officials, as many as 7,000 women joined the march to Versailles, bringing with them cannons and a variety of smaller weapons. Twenty thousand National Guardsmen under the command of La Fayette responded to keep order, and members of the mob stormed the palace, killing several guards. [33] La Fayette ultimately persuaded the king to accede to the demand of the crowd that the monarchy relocate to Paris.\nOn 6 October 1789, the King and the royal family moved from Versailles to Paris under the \"protection\" of the National Guards, thus legitimizing the National Assembly.\nRevolution and the Church\nMain articles: Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution and Civil Constitution of the Clergy\nIn this caricature, monks and nuns enjoy their new freedom after the decree of 16 February 1790\nThe Revolution caused a massive shift of power from the Roman Catholic Church to the state. Under the Ancien Régime , the Church had been the largest single landowner in the country, owning about 10% of the land in the kingdom. [34] The Church was exempt from paying taxes to the government, while it levied a tithe —a 10% tax on income, often collected in the form of crops—on the general population, only a fraction of which it then redistributed to the poor. [34] The power and wealth of the Church was highly resented by some groups. A small minority of Protestants living in France, such as the Huguenots , wanted an anti-Catholic regime and revenge against the clergy who discriminated against them. Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire helped fuel this resentment by denigrating the Catholic Church and destabilizing the French monarchy. [35] As historian John McManners argues, \"In eighteenth-century France throne and altar were commonly spoken of as in close alliance; their simultaneous collapse ... would one day provide the final proof of their interdependence.\" [36]\nThis resentment toward the Church weakened its power during the opening of the Estates General in May 1789. The Church composed the First Estate with 130,000 members of the clergy. When the National Assembly was later created in June 1789 by the Third Estate, the clergy voted to join them, which perpetuated the destruction of the Estates General as a governing body. [37] The National Assembly began to enact social and economic reform. Legislation sanctioned on 4 August 1789 abolished the Church's authority to impose the tithe. In an attempt to address the financial crisis, the Assembly declared, on 2 November 1789, that the property of the Church was \"at the disposal of the nation.\" [38] They used this property to back a new currency, the assignats . Thus, the nation had now also taken on the responsibility of the Church, which included paying the clergy and caring for the poor, the sick and the orphaned. [39] In December, the Assembly began to sell the lands to the highest bidder to raise revenue, effectively decreasing the value of the assignats by 25% in two years. [40] In autumn 1789, legislation abolished monastic vows and on 13 February 1790 all religious orders were dissolved. [41] Monks and nuns were encouraged to return to private life and a small percentage did eventually marry. [42]\nThe Civil Constitution of the Clergy , passed on 12 July 1790, turned the remaining clergy into employees of the state. This established an election system for parish priests and bishops and set a pay rate for the clergy. Many Catholics objected to the election system because it effectively denied the authority of the Pope in Rome over the French Church. Eventually, in November 1790, the National Assembly began to require an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution from all the members of the clergy. [42] This led to a schism between those clergy who swore the required oath and accepted the new arrangement and those who remained loyal to the Pope. Overall, 24% of the clergy nationwide took the oath. [43] Widespread refusal led to legislation against the clergy, \"forcing them into exile, deporting them forcibly, or executing them as traitors.\" [40] Pope Pius VI never accepted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, further isolating the Church in France. During the Reign of Terror , extreme efforts of de-Christianization ensued, including the imprisonment and massacre of priests and destruction of churches and religious images throughout France. An effort was made to replace the Catholic Church altogether, with civic festivals replacing religious ones. The establishment of the Cult of Reason was the final step of radical de-Christianization. These events led to a widespread disillusionment with the Revolution and to counter-rebellions across France. Locals often resisted de-Christianization by attacking revolutionary agents and hiding members of the clergy who were being hunted. Eventually, Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety were forced to denounce the campaign, [44] replacing the Cult of Reason with the deist but still non-Christian Cult of the Supreme Being . The Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and the Church ended the de-Christianization period and established the rules for a relationship between the Catholic Church and the French State that lasted until it was abrogated by the Third Republic via the separation of church and state on 11 December 1905. The persecution of the Church led to a counter-revolution known as the Revolt in the Vendée , whose suppression is considered by some to be the first modern genocide [ citation needed ].\nIntrigues and radicalism\nFactions within the Assembly began to clarify. The aristocrat Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazalès and the abbé Jean-Sifrein Maury led what would become known as the right wing , the opposition to revolution (this party sat on the right-hand side of the Assembly). The \"Royalist democrats\" or monarchiens, allied with Necker , inclined toward organising France along lines similar to the British constitutional model; they included Jean Joseph Mounier , the Comte de Lally-Tollendal , the comte de Clermont-Tonnerre , and Pierre Victor Malouet, comte de Virieu .\nThe \"National Party\", representing the centre or centre-left of the assembly, included Honoré Mirabeau , La Fayette, and Bailly; while Adrien Duport , Barnave and Alexandre Lameth represented somewhat more extreme views. Almost alone in his radicalism on the left was the Arras lawyer Maximilien Robespierre . Abbé Sieyès led in proposing legislation in this period and successfully forged consensus for some time between the political centre and the left . In Paris, various committees, the mayor, the assembly of representatives, and the individual districts each claimed authority independent of the others. The increasingly middle-class National Guard under La Fayette also slowly emerged as a power in its own right, as did other self-generated assemblies.\nThe Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790 celebrated the establishment of the constitutional monarchy\nThe Assembly abolished the symbolic paraphernalia of the Ancien Régime— armorial bearings, liveries, etc. – which further alienated the more conservative nobles, and added to the ranks of the émigrés . On 14 July 1790, and for several days following, crowds in the Champ de Mars celebrated the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille with the Fête de la Fédération ; Talleyrand performed a mass ; participants swore an oath of \"fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king\"; the King and the royal family actively participated. [45]\nThe electors had originally chosen the members of the Estates-General to serve for a single year. However, by the terms of the Tennis Court Oath , the communes had bound themselves to meet continuously until France had a constitution. Right-wing elements now argued for a new election, but Mirabeau prevailed, asserting that the status of the assembly had fundamentally changed, and that no new election should take place before completing the constitution.[ citation needed ]\nIn late 1790, the French army was in considerable disarray. The military officer corps was largely composed of noblemen, who found it increasingly difficult to maintain order within the ranks. In some cases, soldiers (drawn from the lower classes) had turned against their aristocratic commanders and attacked them. At Nancy , General Bouillé successfully put down one such rebellion, only to be accused of being anti-revolutionary for doing so. This and other such incidents spurred a mass desertion as more and more officers defected to other countries, leaving a dearth of experienced leadership within the army. [46]\nThis period also saw the rise of the political \"clubs\" in French politics. Foremost among these was the Jacobin Club ; 152 members had affiliated with the Jacobins by 10 August 1790. The Jacobin Society began as a broad, general organization for political debate, but as it grew in members, various factions developed with widely differing views. Several of these fractions broke off to form their own clubs, such as the Club of '89 . [47]\nMeanwhile, the Assembly continued to work on developing a constitution. A new judicial organisation made all magistracies temporary and independent of the throne. The legislators abolished hereditary offices, except for the monarchy itself. Jury trials started for criminal cases. The King would have the unique power to propose war, with the legislature then deciding whether to declare war. The Assembly abolished all internal trade barriers and suppressed guilds, masterships, and workers' organisations: any individual gained the right to practice a trade through the purchase of a license; strikes became illegal. [48]\nIn the winter of 1791, the Assembly considered, for the first time, legislation against the émigrés. The debate pitted the safety of the Revolution against the liberty of individuals to leave. Mirabeau prevailed against the measure, which he referred to as \"worthy of being placed in the code of Draco \". [46] But Mirabeau died on 2 April 1791 and, before the end of the year, the new Legislative Assembly adopted this draconian measure. [49]\nRoyal flight to Varennes\nMain article: Flight to Varennes\nThe return of the royal family to Paris on 25 June 1791, after their failed flight to Varennes\nLouis XVI was increasingly dismayed by the direction of the revolution. His brother, the Comte d'Artois and his queen, Marie Antoinette, urged a stronger stance against the revolution and support for the émigrés, while he was resistant to any course that would see him openly side with foreign powers against the Assembly. Eventually, fearing for his own safety and that of his family, he decided to flee Paris to the Austrian border, having been assured of the loyalty of the border garrisons.\nLouis cast his lot with General Bouillé , who condemned both the emigration and the Assembly, and promised him refuge and support in his camp at Montmédy . On the night of 20 June 1791, the royal family fled the Tuileries Palace dressed as servants, while their servants dressed as nobles.\nHowever, late the next day, the King was recognised and arrested at Varennes (in the Meuse département ). He and his family were brought back to Paris under guard, still dressed as servants. Pétion , Latour-Maubourg , and Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave , representing the Assembly, met the royal family at Épernay and returned with them. From this time, Barnave became a counselor and supporter of the royal family. When they returned to Paris, the crowd greeted them in silence. The Assembly provisionally suspended the King. He and Queen Marie Antoinette remained held under guard. [50] [51] [52] [53] [54]\nCompleting the constitution\nMain article: The Last Days of the National Constituent Assembly\nAs most of the Assembly still favoured a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic, the various groups reached a compromise which left Louis XVI as little more than a figurehead: he was forced to swear an oath to the constitution, and a decree declared that retracting the oath, heading an army for the purpose of making war upon the nation, or permitting anyone to do so in his name would amount to abdication. [55]\nHowever, Jacques Pierre Brissot drafted a petition, insisting that in the eyes of the nation Louis XVI was deposed since his flight. An immense crowd gathered in the Champ de Mars to sign the petition. Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins gave fiery speeches. The Assembly called for the municipal authorities to \"preserve public order\". The National Guard under La Fayette's command confronted the crowd. The soldiers responded to a barrage of stones by firing into the crowd, killing between 13 and 50 people. [56] The incident cost Lafayette and his National Guard much public support.\nIn the wake of the massacre the authorities closed many of the patriotic clubs, as well as radical newspapers such as Jean-Paul Marat 's L'Ami du Peuple . Danton fled to England; Desmoulins and Marat went into hiding.[ citation needed ]\nMeanwhile, a new threat arose from abroad: the King's brother in law Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II , Frederick William II of Prussia , and the King's brother Charles-Philippe, comte d'Artois , issued the Declaration of Pillnitz , which proclaimed the cause of Louis XVI as their own, demanded his absolute liberty and hinted at an invasion of France on his behalf if the revolutionary authorities refused its conditions. [57] Although Leopold himself sought to avoid war and made the declaration to satisfy the Comte d'Artois and the other émigrés, the reaction within France was ferocious. The French people expressed no respect for the dictates of foreign monarchs, and the threat of force merely hastened their militarisation. [58]\nEven before the Flight to Varennes, the Assembly members had determined to debar themselves from the legislature that would succeed them, the Legislative Assembly . They now gathered the various constitutional laws they had passed into a single constitution, and submitted it to the recently restored Louis XVI, who accepted it, writing \"I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all attacks from abroad, and to cause its execution by all the means it places at my disposal\". The King addressed the Assembly and received enthusiastic applause from members and spectators. With this capstone, the National Constituent Assembly adjourned in a final session on 30 September 1791. [59]\nMignet argued that the \"constitution of 1791... was the work of the middle class, then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever takes possession of institutions... In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it exercised none.\" [55]\nLegislative Assembly (1791–1792)\nMain article: The Legislative Assembly and the fall of the French monarchy\nUnder the Constitution of 1791 , France would function as a constitutional monarchy . The King had to share power with the elected Legislative Assembly , but he still retained his royal veto and the ability to select ministers. The Legislative Assembly first met on 1 October 1791, and degenerated into chaos less than a year later. In the words of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica : \"In the attempt to govern, the Assembly failed altogether. It left behind an empty treasury , an undisciplined army and navy, and a people debauched by safe and successful riot.\" [60] The Legislative Assembly consisted of about 165 Feuillants (constitutional monarchists) on the right , about 330 Girondists (liberal republicans) and Jacobins (radical revolutionaries) on the left , and about 250 deputies unaffiliated with either faction.[ citation needed ] Early on, the King vetoed legislation that threatened the émigrés with death and that decreed that every non-juring clergyman must take within eight days the civic oath mandated by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Over the course of a year, such disagreements would lead to a constitutional crisis .[ citation needed ]\nConstitutional crisis\nMain articles: 10 August (French Revolution) , September Massacres , and Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy\nOn 10 August 1792 the Paris Commune stormed the Tuileries Palace and massacred the Swiss Guards\nOn the night of 10 August 1792, insurgents and popular militias , supported by the revolutionary Paris Commune , assailed the Tuileries Palace and massacred the Swiss Guards who were assigned for the protection of the king. The royal family ended up prisoners and a rump session of the Legislative Assembly suspended the monarchy; little more than a third of the deputies were present, almost all of them Jacobins. [61]\nWhat remained of a national government depended on the support of the insurrectionary Commune. The Commune sent gangs into the prisons to try arbitrarily and butcher 1400 victims, and addressed a circular letter to the other cities of France inviting them to follow this example. The Assembly could offer only feeble resistance. This situation persisted until the Convention , elected by universal male suffrage and charged with writing a new constitution, met on 20 September 1792 and became the new de facto government of France. The next day it abolished the monarchy and declared a republic. The following day – 22 September 1792, the first morning of the new Republic – was later retroactively adopted as the beginning of Year One of the French Republican Calendar . [62]\nWar and Counter-Revolution (1792–1797)\nMain articles: French Revolutionary Wars and French Counter-Revolution\nA uniform from the French Revolution period.\nThe politics of the period inevitably drove France towards war with Austria and its allies. The King, many of the Feuillants, and the Girondins specifically wanted to wage war. The King (and many Feuillants with him) expected war would increase his personal popularity; he also foresaw an opportunity to exploit any defeat: either result would make him stronger. The Girondins wanted to export the Revolution throughout Europe and, by extension, to defend the Revolution within France. The forces opposing war were much weaker. Barnave and his supporters among the Feuillants feared a war they thought France had little chance to win and which they feared might lead to greater radicalization of the revolution. On the other end of the political spectrum Robespierre opposed a war on two grounds , fearing that it would strengthen the monarchy and military at the expense of the revolution, and that it would incur the anger of ordinary people in Austria and elsewhere. The Austrian emperor Leopold II , brother of Marie Antoinette , may have wished to avoid war, but he died on 1 March 1792. [63] France preemptively declared war on Austria (20 April 1792) and Prussia joined on the Austrian side a few weeks later. The invading Prussian army faced little resistance until checked at the Battle of Valmy (20 September 1792), and forced to withdraw.\nThe new-born Republic followed up on this success with a series of victories in Belgium and the Rhineland in the fall of 1792. The French armies defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November, and had soon taken over most of the Austrian Netherlands. This brought them into conflict with Britain and the Dutch Republic , which wished to preserve the independence of the southern Netherlands from France. After the king's execution in January 1793, these powers, along with Spain and most other European states, joined the war against France. Almost immediately, French forces faced defeat on many fronts, and were driven out of their newly conquered territories in the spring of 1793. At the same time, the republican regime was forced to deal with rebellions against its authority in much of western and southern France. But the allies failed to take advantage of French disunity, and by the autumn of 1793 the republican regime had defeated most of the internal rebellions and halted the allied advance into France itself.\nThe stalemate was broken in the summer of 1794 with dramatic French victories. They defeated the allied army at the Battle of Fleurus , leading to a full Allied withdrawal from the Austrian Netherlands. They followed up by a campaign which swept the allies to the east bank of the Rhine and left the French, by the beginning of 1795, conquering Holland itself. The House of Orange was expelled and replaced by the Batavian Republic , a French satellite state. These victories led to the collapse of the coalition against France. Prussia, having effectively abandoned the coalition in the fall of 1794, made peace with revolutionary France at Basel in April 1795, and soon thereafter Spain, too, made peace with France. Of the major powers, only Britain and Austria remained at war with France.\nYou can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser.\nThe French national anthem La Marseillaise was written during the revolution in 1792.\nProblems listening to this file? See media help .\nIt was during this time that La Marseillaise was first sung. Originally titled Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin (\"War Song for the Army of the Rhine \"), the song was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. It was adopted in 1795 as the nation's first anthem.\nNational Convention (1792–1795)\nMain article: National Convention\nExecution of Louis XVI\nSee also: Robespierre and the Execution of Louis XVI\nIn the Brunswick Manifesto , the Imperial and Prussian armies threatened retaliation on the French population if it were to resist their advance or the reinstatement of the monarchy. This among other things made Louis appear to be conspiring with the enemies of France. On 17 January 1793 Louis was condemned to death for \"conspiracy against the public liberty and the general safety\" by a close majority in Convention: 361 voted to execute the king, 288 voted against, and another 72 voted to execute him subject to a variety of delaying conditions. The former Louis XVI, now simply named Citoyen Louis Capet (Citizen Louis Capet), was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 on the Place de la Révolution, former Place Louis XV, now called the Place de la Concorde . [64] Royalty across Europe was horrified and many heretofore neutral countries soon joined the war against revolutionary France.\nEconomy\nWhen war went badly, prices rose and the sans-culottes — poor labourers and radical Jacobins – rioted; counter-revolutionary activities began in some regions. This encouraged the Jacobins to seize power through a parliamentary coup , backed up by force effected by mobilising public support against the Girondist faction, and by utilising the mob power of the Parisian sans-culottes. An alliance of Jacobin and sans-culottes elements thus became the effective centre of the new government. Policy became considerably more radical, as \"The Law of the Maximum\" set food prices and led to executions of offenders. [65]\nThis policy of price control was coeval with the Committee of Public Safety 's rise to power and the Reign of Terror . The Committee first attempted to set the price for only a limited number of grain products but, by September 1793, it expanded the \"maximum\" to cover all foodstuffs and a long list of other goods. [66] Widespread shortages and famine ensued. The Committee reacted by sending dragoons into the countryside to arrest farmers and seize crops. This temporarily solved the problem in Paris, but the rest of the country suffered. By the spring of 1794, forced collection of food was not sufficient to feed even Paris and the days of the Committee were numbered. When Robespierre went to the guillotine in July of that year the crowd jeered, \"There goes the dirty maximum!\" [67]\nReign of Terror\nSatirical cartoon from England lampooning the excesses of the Revolution as symbolized through the guillotine : between 18,000 and 40,000 people were executed during the Reign of Terror\nQueen Marie Antoinette on the way to the guillotine on 16 October 1793 (drawing by Jacques-Louis David ).\nThe Committee of Public Safety came under the control of Maximilien Robespierre , a lawyer, and the Jacobins unleashed the Reign of Terror (1793–1794). According to archival records, at least 16,594 people died under the guillotine or otherwise after accusations of counter-revolutionary activities. [68] A number of historians note that as many as 40,000 accused prisoners may have been summarily executed without trial or died awaiting trial. [68] [69]\nOn 2 June 1793, Paris sections — encouraged by the enragés (\"enraged ones\") Jacques Roux and Jacques Hébert – took over the Convention , calling for administrative and political purges, a low fixed price for bread, and a limitation of the electoral franchise to sans-culottes alone. [70] With the backing of the National Guard , they managed to persuade the Convention to arrest 31 Girondin leaders, including Jacques Pierre Brissot . Following these arrests, the Jacobins gained control of the Committee of Public Safety on 10 June, installing the revolutionary dictatorship. [71]\nOn 13 July, the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat — a Jacobin leader and journalist known for his bloodthirsty rhetoric — by Charlotte Corday , a Girondin, resulted in further increase of Jacobin political influence. Georges Danton , the leader of the August 1792 uprising against the King , undermined by several political reversals, was removed from the Committee and Robespierre, \"the Incorruptible\", became its most influential member as it moved to take radical measures against the Revolution's domestic and foreign enemies. [71]\nMeanwhile, on 24 June, the Convention adopted the first republican constitution of France, variously referred to as the French Constitution of 1793 or Constitution of the Year I. It was progressive and radical in several respects, in particular by establishing universal male suffrage . It was ratified by public referendum , but normal legal processes were suspended before it could take effect. [72]\nWar in the Vendée\nMain article: War in the Vendée\nThe War in the Vendée was a royalist uprising that was suppressed by the republican forces in 1796.\nIn Vendée , peasants revolted against the French Revolutionary government in 1793. They resented the changes imposed on the Roman Catholic Church by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) and broke into open revolt in defiance of the Revolutionary government's military conscription . [73] This became a guerrilla war , known as the War in the Vendée . [74] North of the Loire , similar revolts were started by the so-called Chouans (royalist rebels). [75]\nAfter the defeat at Savenay , when regular warfare in the Vendée was at an end, the French general Francois Joseph Westermann is argued by some historians to have penned a letter (its veracity is disputed) [76] [77] to the Committee of Public Safety, stating:\n\"There is no more Vendée. It died with its wives and its children by our free sabres. I have just buried it in the woods and the swamps of Savenay. According to the orders that you gave me, I crushed the children under the feet of the horses, massacred the women who, at least for these, will not give birth to any more brigands. I do not have a prisoner to reproach me. I have exterminated all. The roads are sown with corpses. At Savenay, brigands are arriving all the time claiming to surrender, and we are shooting them non-stop... Mercy is not a revolutionary sentiment.\" [78] [79]\nOther historians doubt the authenticity of this document and point out that the claims in it were patently false — there were in fact thousands of living Vendean prisoners, the revolt had been far from crushed, and the Convention had explicitly decreed that women, children and unarmed men were to be treated humanely. [80] It has been hypothesized that if the letter is authentic, Westermann may have been attempting to exaggerate the intensity of his actions and his success, because he was eager to avoid being purged for his opposition to sans-culotte generals (he was later guillotined together with Danton's group). [81]\nThe revolt and its suppression, including both combat casualties and massacres and executions on both sides, are thought to have taken between 117,000 and 250,000 lives (170,000 according to the latest estimates). [82] Because of the extremely brutal forms that the Republican repression took in many places, certain historians such as Reynald Secher have called the event a \" genocide \". This description has become popular in the mass media, [83] but has largely been rejected by mainstream scholars. [84]\nFacing local revolts and foreign invasions in both the East and West of the country, the most urgent government business was the war. On 17 August, the Convention voted for general conscription , the levée en masse , which mobilized all citizens to serve as soldiers or suppliers in the war effort.\nThe National Convention subsequently enacted more legislation, voting on 9 September to establish sans-culottes paramilitary forces, revolutionary armies, and to force farmers to surrender grain demanded by the government. On 17 September, the Law of Suspects was passed, which authorized the charging of counter-revolutionaries with \"crimes against liberty.\" On 29 September, the Convention extended price limits from grain and bread to other household goods and established the Law of the Maximum , intended to prevent price gouging and supply food to the cities. [85]\nThe guillotine as a symbol\nThe guillotine became the symbol of a string of executions. Louis XVI had already been guillotined before the start of the terror; Queen Marie Antoinette, Barnave, Bailly, Brissot and other leading Girondins, Philippe Égalité (despite his vote for the death of the King), Madame Roland and many others were executed by guillotine. The Revolutionary Tribunal summarily condemned thousands of people to death by the guillotine, while mobs beat other victims to death.\nThe Festival of the Supreme Being on 8 June 1794.\nAt the peak of the terror, the slightest hint of counter-revolutionary thoughts or activities (or, as in the case of Jacques Hébert , revolutionary zeal exceeding that of those in power) could place one under suspicion, and trials did not always proceed according to contemporary standards of due process . Sometimes people died for their political opinions or actions, but many for little reason beyond mere suspicion, or because some others had a stake in getting rid of them. Most of the victims received an unceremonious trip to the guillotine in an open wooden cart (the tumbrel ). In the rebellious provinces, the government representatives had unlimited authority and some engaged in extreme repressions and abuses. For example, Jean-Baptiste Carrier became notorious for the Noyades (\"drownings\") he organized in Nantes ; [86] his conduct was judged unacceptable even by the Jacobin government and he was recalled. [87]\nAnother anti-clerical uprising was made possible by the installment of the Republican Calendar on 24 October 1793. Against Robespierre's concepts of Deism and Virtue , Hébert's (and Chaumette's) atheist movement initiated a religious campaign to dechristianize society. The climax was reached with the celebration of the flame of Reason in Notre Dame Cathedral on 10 November. [88]\nThe Reign of Terror ultimately weakened the revolutionary government, while temporarily ending internal opposition. The Jacobins expanded the size of the army, and Carnot replaced many aristocratic officers with soldiers who had demonstrated their patriotism, if not their ability. The Republican army was able to throw back the Austrians, Prussians , British, and Spanish. At the end of 1793, the army began to prevail and revolts were defeated with ease. The Ventôse Decrees (February–March 1794) proposed the confiscation of the goods of exiles and opponents of the Revolution, and their redistribution to the needy. However this policy was never fully implemented. [89]\nIn the spring of 1794, both extremist enragés such as Hébert and moderate Montagnard indulgents such as Danton were charged with counter-revolutionary activities, tried and guillotined. On 7 June Robespierre, who had previously condemned the Cult of Reason , advocated a new state religion and recommended the Convention acknowledge the existence of the \"Supreme Being\". [90]\nThermidorian Reaction\nMain article: Thermidorian Reaction\nThe execution of Robespierre on 28 July 1794 marked the end of the Reign of Terror .\nOn 27 July 1794, the Thermidorian Reaction led to the arrest and execution of Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just , and other leading Jacobins. The new government was predominantly made up of Girondists who had survived the Terror, and after taking power, they took revenge as well by persecuting even those Jacobins who had helped to overthrow Robespierre, banning the Jacobin Club, and executing many of its former members in what was known as the White Terror . [91] [92]\nIn the wake of excesses of the Terror, the Convention approved the new \" Constitution of the Year III \" on 22 August 1795. A French plebiscite ratified the document, with about 1,057,000 votes for the constitution and 49,000 against. [93] The results of the voting were announced on 23 September 1795, and the new constitution took effect on 27 September 1795. [93]\nThe Constitutional Republic: The Directory (1795–1799)\nMain article: French Directory\nThe new constitution created the Directoire (English: Directory) and the first bicameral legislature in French history. [94] The parliament consisted of two houses: the Conseil des Cinq-Cents (Council of the Five Hundred), with 500 representatives, and the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Elders), with 250 senators. Executive power went to five \"directors,\" named annually by the Conseil des Anciens from a list submitted by the Conseil des Cinq-Cents. Furthermore, the universal male suffrage of 1793 was replaced by limited suffrage based on property. [95]\nWith the establishment of the Directory, contemporary observers might have assumed that the Revolution was finished. Citizens of the war-weary nation wanted stability, peace, and an end to conditions that at times bordered on chaos. Those who wished to restore the monarchy and the Ancien Régime by putting Louis XVIII on the throne, and those who would have renewed the Reign of Terror were insignificant in number. The possibility of foreign interference had vanished with the failure of the First Coalition . The earlier atrocities had made confidence or goodwill between parties impossible. [96]\nThe same instinct of self-preservation which had led the members of the Convention to claim so large a part in the new legislature and the whole of the Directory impelled them to keep their predominance. However, many French citizens distrusted the Directory, [96] and the directors could achieve their purposes only by extraordinary means. They habitually disregarded the terms of the constitution, and, even when the elections that they rigged went against them, the directors routinely used draconian police measures to quell dissent. Moreover, to prolong their power the directors were driven to rely on the military, which desired war and grew less and less civic-minded. [97]\nOther reasons influenced them in the direction of war. State finances during the earlier phases of the Revolution had been so thoroughly ruined that the government could not have met its expenses without the plunder and the tribute of foreign countries. If peace were made, the armies would return home and the directors would have to face the exasperation of the rank-and-file who had lost their livelihood, as well as the ambition of generals who could, in a moment, brush them aside. Barras and Rewbell were notoriously corrupt themselves and screened corruption in others. The patronage of the directors was ill-bestowed, and the general maladministration heightened their unpopularity. [98]\nNapoléon Bonaparte in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire , which marked the end of the revolution.\nThe constitutional party in the legislature desired toleration of the nonjuring clergy , the repeal of the laws against the relatives of the émigrés , and some merciful discrimination toward the émigrés themselves. The directors baffled all such endeavours. On the other hand, the socialist conspiracy of Babeuf was easily quelled. Little was done to improve the finances, and the assignats continued to fall in value.[ citation needed ]\nThe new régime met opposition from remaining Jacobins and the royalists. The army suppressed riots and counter-revolutionary activities. In this way the army and its successful general, Napoleon Bonaparte eventually gained total power.\nOn 9 November 1799 (18 Brumaire of the Year VIII) Napoleon Bonaparte staged the coup of 18 Brumaire which installed the Consulate . This effectively led to Bonaparte's dictatorship and eventually (in 1804) to his proclamation as Empereur (emperor), which brought to a close the specifically republican phase of the French Revolution. [99]\nSymbolism in the French Revolution\nThe French Revolution was a time of upheaval, especially towards traditional ideology, in almost every sense: the current monarch, King Louis XVI , was executed; the Catholic Church was all but abolished; a new calendar was created; and a new Republican government was established. In order to effectively illustrate the differences between the new Republic and the old regime, the leaders needed to implement a new set of symbols to be celebrated instead of the old religious and monarchical symbolism. To this end, symbols were borrowed from historic cultures and redefined, while those of the old regime were either destroyed or reattributed acceptable characteristics. These revised symbols were used to instill in the public a new sense of tradition and reverence for the Enlightenment and the Republic. [100]\nFasces\nThe unofficial but common National Emblem of France is backed by a fasces, representing justice.\nFasces , likes many other symbols of the French Revolution, are Roman in origin. Fasces are a bundle of birch rods containing an axe. In Roman times, the fasces symbolized the power of magistrates who could order the beating of a criminal, representing union and accord with the Roman Republic. [100] The French Republic continued this Roman symbol to represent state power, justice, and unity. [100]\nDuring the French Revolution the fasces image is seen in conjunction with many other symbols. This is seen with many emblems of the French Revolution. Though seen throughout the French Revolution, perhaps the most well known French reincarnation of the fasces is the Fasces surmounted by a Phrygian cap. This image has no display of an axe or a strong central state; rather, it symbolizes the power of the liberated people by placing the Liberty Cap on top of the classical symbol of power. [100]\nLiberty cap\nEarly depiction of the tricolour in the hands of a sans-culotte during the French Revolution.\nThe Liberty cap, also known as the Phrygian cap , or pileus , is a brimless, felt cap that is conical in shape with the tip pulled forward. The cap was originally worn by ancient Romans and Greeks. [101] The cap implies ennobling effects, as seen in its association with Homer’s Ulysses and the mythical twins, Castor and Pollux . The emblem’s popularity during the French Revolution is due in part to its importance in ancient Rome: its use alludes to the Roman ritual of manumission of slaves, in which a freed slave receives the bonnet as a symbol of his newfound liberty. The Roman tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus incited the slaves to insurrection by displaying a pileus as if it were a standard. [102]\nThe pileus cap is often red in color. This type of cap was worn by revolutionaries at the fall of the Bastille. According to the Revolutions de Paris, it became \"the symbol of the liberation from all servitudes, the sign for unification of all the enemies of despotism.\" [100] The pileus competed with the Phrygian cap, a similar cap that covered the ears and the nape of the neck, for popularity. The Phrygian cap eventually supplanted the pileus and usurped its symbolism, becoming synonymous with republican liberty. [100]\nLiberty Tree\nThe Liberty Tree, officially adopted in 1792, is a symbol of the everlasting Republic, national freedom, and political revolution. [100] It has historic roots in revolutionary France as well as America, as a symbol that was shared by the two nascent republics. [103] The tree was chosen as a symbol of the French Revolution because it is a symbol of fertility in French folklore, [104] which provided a simple transition from revering it for one reason to another. The American colonies also used the idea of a Liberty Tree to celebrate their own acts of insurrection against the British, starting with the Stamp Act riot in 1765. [105]\nThe riot culminated in the hanging in effigy of two Stamp Act politicians on a large elm tree. The elm tree began to be celebrated as a symbol of Liberty in the American colonies. [105] It was adopted as a symbol that needed to be living and growing, along with the Republic. To that end, the tree is portrayed as a sapling, usually of an oak tree in French interpretation. [106] The Liberty Tree serves as a constant celebration of the spirit of political freedom.\nHercules\nThe symbol of Hercules was first adopted by the Old Regime to represent the monarchy. [107] Hercules was an ancient Greek hero who symbolized strength and power. The symbol was used to represent the sovereign authority of the King over France during the reign of the Bourbon monarchs . [108] However, the monarchy was not the only ruling power in French history to use the symbol of Hercules to declare its power.\nDuring the Revolution, the symbol of Hercules was revived to represent nascent revolutionary ideals. The first use of Hercules as a revolutionary symbol was during a festival celebrating the National Assembly’s victory over federalism on 10 August 1793. [109] This Festival of Unity consisted of four stations around Paris which featured symbols representing major events of the Revolution which embodied revolutionary ideals of liberty, unity, and power. [110]\nThe statue of Hercules, placed at the station commemorating the fall of Louis XVI , symbolized the power of the French people over their former oppressors. The statue’s foot was placed on the throat of the Hydra , which represented the tyranny of federalism which the new Republic had vanquished. [109] In one hand, the statue grasped a club, a symbol of power, while in the other grasping the fasces which symbolized the unity of the French people. [111] The image of Hercules assisted the new Republic in establishing its new Republican moral system. [110] Hercules thus evolved from a symbol of the sovereignty of the monarch into a symbol of the new sovereign authority in France: the French people. [112]\nThis transition was made easily for two reasons. First, because Hercules was a famous mythological figure, and had previously been used by the monarchy, he was easily recognized by educated French observers. [108] It was not necessary for the revolutionary government to educate the French people on the background of the symbol. Additionally, Hercules recalled the classical age of the Greeks and the Romans, a period which the revolutionaries identified with republican and democratic ideals. These connotations made Hercules an easy choice to represent the powerful new sovereign people of France.\nDuring the more radical phase of the Revolution from 1793 to 1794, the usage and depiction of Hercules changed. These changes to the symbol were due to revolutionary leaders believing the symbol was inciting violence among the common citizens. [113] The triumphant battles of Hercules and the overcoming of enemies of the Republic became less prominent. In discussions over what symbol to use for the Seal of the Republic, the image of Hercules was considered but eventually ruled out in favor of Marianne . [113]\nHercules was on the coin of the Republic. [113] However, this Hercules was not the same image as that of the pre-Terror phases of the Revolution. The new image of Hercules was more domesticated. He appeared more paternal, older, and wiser, rather than the warrior-like images in the early stages of the French Revolution. [113] Unlike his 24 foot statue in the Festival of the Supreme Being, he was now the same size as Liberty and Equality. [113]\nAlso the language on the coin with Hercules was far different than the rhetoric of pre-revolutionary depictions. On the coins the words, \"uniting Liberty and Equality\" were used. [113] This is opposed to the forceful language of early Revolutionary rhetoric and rhetoric of the Bourbon monarchy. By 1798, the Council of Ancients had discussed the \"inevitable\" change from the problematic image of Hercules, and Hercules was eventually phased out in favor of an even more docile image. [113]\nRole of women\nClub of patriotic women in a church\nWomen had no political rights in pre-Revolutionary France; they could not vote or hold any political office. They were considered \"passive\" citizens; forced to rely on men to determine what was best for them in the government. It was the men who defined these categories, and women were forced to accept male domination in the political sphere. [114]\nThe Encyclopédie , published by a group of philosophers over the years 1751–1777, summarized French male beliefs of women. A woman was a \"failed man,\" the fetus not fully developed in the womb. \"Women’s testimony is in general light and subject to variation; this is why it is taken more seriously than that of men\" as opposed to men, upon whom \"Nature seems to have conferred… the right to govern.\" In general, \"men are more capable than women of ably governing particular matters\". [115]\nInstead, women were taught to be committed to their husbands and \"all his interests… [to show] attention and care… [and] sincere and discreet zeal for his salvation.\" A woman’s education often consisted of learning to be a good wife and mother; as a result women were not supposed to be involved in the political sphere, as the limit of their influence was the raising of future citizens. [116]\nWhen the Revolution opened, some women struck forcefully, using the volatile political climate to assert their active natures. In the time of the Revolution, women could not be kept out of the political sphere; they swore oaths of loyalty, \"solemn declarations of patriotic allegiance, [and] affirmations of the political responsibilities of citizenship.\" Throughout the Revolution, women such as Pauline Léon and her Society of Revolutionary Republican Women fought for the right to bear arms, used armed force and rioted. [117]\nEven before Léon, some liberals had advocated equal rights for women including women's suffrage . Nicolas de Condorcet was especially noted for his advocacy, in his articles published in the Journal de la Société de 1789, and by publishing De l'admission des femmes au droit de cité (\"For the Admission to the Rights of Citizenship For Women\") in 1790.\nFeminist agitation\nMain article: Militant Feminism in the French Revolution\nThe March to Versailles is but one example of feminist militant activism during the French Revolution. While largely left out of the thrust for increasing rights of citizens, as the question was left indeterminate in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, [118] activists such as Pauline Léon and Théroigne de Méricourt agitated for full citizenship for women. [119] Women were, nonetheless, \"denied political rights of ‘active citizenship’ (1791) and democratic citizenship (1793).\" [118]\nPauline Léon, on 6 March 1792, submitted a petition signed by 319 women to the National Assembly requesting permission to form a garde national in order to defend Paris in case of military invasion. [119] Léon requested permission be granted to women to arm themselves with pikes, pistols, sabers and rifles, as well as the privilege of drilling under the French Guards. Her request was denied. [120] Later in 1792, Théroigne de Méricourt made a call for the creation of \"legions of amazons\" in order to protect the revolution. As part of her call, she claimed that the right to bear arm would transform women into citizens. [121]\nOn 20 June 1792 a number of armed women took part in a procession that \"passed through the halls of the Legislative Assembly, into the Tuilleries Gardens, and then through the King’s residence.\" [122] Militant women also assumed a special role in the funeral of Marat , following his murder on 13 July 1793. As part of the funeral procession, they carried the bathtub in which Marat had been murdered as well as a shirt stained with Marat’s blood. [123]\nThe most radical militant feminist activism was practiced by the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, which was founded by Léon and her colleague, Claire Lacombe on 10 May 1793. [124] The goal of the club was \"to deliberate on the means of frustrating the projects of the enemies of the Republic.\" Up to 180 women attended the meetings of the Society. [125] Of special interest to the Society was \"combating hoarding [of grain and other staples] and inflation.\" [126]\nLater, on 20 May 1793, women were at the fore of a crowd that demanded \"bread and the Constitution of 1793.\" [127] When their cries went unnoticed, the women went on a rampage, \"sacking shops, seizing grain and kidnapping officials.\" [128]\nMost of these outwardly activist women were punished for their actions. The kind of punishment received during the Revolution included public denouncement, arrest, execution, or exile. Théroigne de Méricourt was arrested, publicly flogged and then spent the rest of her life sentenced to an insane asylum. Pauline Léon and Claire Lacombe were arrested, later released, and continued to receive ridicule and abuse for their activism. Many of the women of the Revolution were even publicly executed for \"conspiring against the unity and the indivisibility of the Republic\". [129]\nThese are but a few examples of the militant feminism that was prevalent during the French Revolution. While little progress was made toward gender equality during the Revolution, the activism of French feminists was bold and particularly significant in Paris.[ citation needed ]\nWomen writers\nOlympe de Gouges was the author of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in 1791.\nWhile some women chose a militant, and often violent, path, others chose to influence events through writing, publications, and meetings. Olympe de Gouges wrote a number of plays, short stories, and novels. Her publications emphasized that women and men are different, but this shouldn’t stop them from equality under the law. In her \"Declaration on the Rights of Woman\" she insisted that women deserved rights, especially in areas concerning them directly, such as divorce and recognition of illegitimate children. [130]\nDe Gouges also expressed non-gender political views; even before the start of the terror, Olympe de Gouges addressed Robespierre using the pseudonym \"Polyme\" calling him the Revolution’s \"infamy and shame.\" She warned of the Revolution’s building extremism saying that leaders were \"preparing new shackles if [the French people’s liberty were to] waver.\" Stating that she was willing to sacrifice herself by jumping into the Seine if Robespierre were to join her, de Gouges desperately attempted to grab the attention of the French citizenry and alert them to the dangers that Robespierre embodied. [130] In addition to these bold writings, her defense of the king was one of the factors leading to her execution. An influential figure, one of her suggestions early in the Revolution, to have a voluntary, patriotic tax, was adopted by the National Convention in 1789. [131]\nMadame Roland (aka Manon or Marie Roland) was another important female activist. Her political focus was not specifically on women or their liberation. She focused on other aspects of the government, but was a feminist by virtue of the fact that she was a woman working to influence the world. Her personal letters to leaders of the Revolution influenced policy; in addition, she often hosted political gatherings of the Brissotins, a political group which allowed women to join. [132]\nWhile limited by her gender, Madame Roland took it upon herself to spread Revolutionary ideology and spread word of events, as well as to assist in formulating the policies of her political allies. Though unable to directly write policies or carry them through to the government, Roland was able to influence her political allies and thus promote her political agenda. Roland attributed women’s lack of education to the public view that women were too weak or vain to be involved in the serious business of politics. She believed that it was this inferior education that turned them into foolish people, but women \"could easily be concentrated and solidified upon objects of great significance\" if given the chance. [132]\nAs she was led to the scaffold, Madame Roland shouted \"O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!\" Witnesses of her life and death, editors, and readers helped to finish her writings and several editions were published posthumously. While she did not focus on gender politics in her writings, by taking an active role in the tumultuous time of the Revolution, Roland took a stand for women of the time and proved they could take an intelligent active role in politics. [133]\nThough women did not gain the right to vote as a result of the Revolution, they still greatly expanded their political participation and involvement in governing. They set precedents for generations of feminists to come.\nCounter-revolutionary women\nA major aspect of the French Revolution was the dechristianisation movement, a movement that many common people did not agree with. Especially for women living in rural areas of France, the demise of the Catholic Church meant a loss of normalcy. For instance, the ringing of Church bells resonating through the town called people to confession and was a symbol of unity for the community. [134] With the onset of the dechristianisation campaign the Republic silenced these bells and sought simultaneously to silence the religious fervor of the majority Catholic population. [134]\nWhen these revolutionary changes to the Church were implemented, it spawned a counter-revolutionary movement, particularly amongst women. Although some of these women embraced the political and social amendments of the Revolution, they opposed the dissolution of the Catholic Church and the formation of revolutionary cults like the Cult of the Supreme Being advocated by Robespierre . [135] As Olwen Hufton argues, these women began to see themselves as the “defenders of faith”. [136] They took it upon themselves to protect the Church from what they saw as a heretical change to their faith, enforced by revolutionaries.\nCounter-revolutionary women resisted what they saw as the intrusion of the state into their lives. [137] Economically, many peasant women refused to sell their goods for assignats because this form of currency was unstable and was backed by the sale of confiscated Church property. [136] By far the most important issue to counter-revolutionary women was the passage and the enforcement of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790. In response to this measure, women in many areas began circulating anti-oath pamphlets and refused to attend masses held by priests who had sworn oaths of loyalty to the Republic. [137] This diminished the social and political influence of the juring priests because they presided over smaller congregations and counter-revolutionary women did not seek them for baptisms, marriages or confession. [138] Instead, they secretly hid nonjuring priests and attended clandestine traditional masses. [139] These women continued to adhere to traditional practices such as Christian burials and naming their children after saints in spite of revolutionary decrees to the contrary. [140]\nIt was this determined resistance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and the dechristianisation campaigns that played a major role in the re-emergence of the Catholic Church as a prominent social institution. In fact, Olwen Hufton notes about the Counter-Revolutionary women: “for it is her commitment to her religion which determines in the post-Thermidorean period the re-emergence of the Catholic Church…”. [141] Although they struggled, these women were eventually vindicated in their bid to reestablish the Church and thereby also to reestablish traditional family life and social stability. [142] This was seen in the Concordat of 1801 , which formally reinstated the Catholic Church in France. [143] This act came after years of failed attempts at dechristianisation or state-controlled religion, which were thwarted in part due to the resistance of devout counter-revolutionary women. After the upheaval of the revolutionary period, the reestablishment of the Church was seen by many people as a welcome return to normalcy.\nLegacy\nMain article: Historiography of the French Revolution\nThe French Revolution has received enormous amounts of historical attention, both from the general public and from scholars and academics. The views of historians, in particular, have been characterized as falling along ideological lines, with disagreement over the significance and the major developments of the Revolution. [144] Alexis de Tocqueville argued that the Revolution was a manifestation of a more prosperous middle class becoming conscious of its social importance. [145]\nOther thinkers, like the conservative Edmund Burke , maintained that the Revolution was the product of a few conspiratorial individuals who brainwashed the masses into subverting the old order—a claim rooted in the belief that the revolutionaries had no legitimate complaints. [146] Other historians, influenced by Marxist thinking, have emphasized the importance of the peasants and the urban workers in presenting the Revolution as a gigantic class struggle . [147] In general, scholarship on the French Revolution initially studied the political ideas and developments of the era, but it has gradually shifted towards social history that analyzes the impact of the Revolution on individual lives. [148]\nHistorians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history , and the end of the early modern period , which started around 1500, is traditionally attributed to the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. [149] The Revolution is, in fact, often seen as marking the \"dawn of the modern era \". [150] Within France itself, the Revolution permanently crippled the power of the aristocracy and drained the wealth of the Church, although the two institutions survived despite the damage they sustained. After the collapse of the First Empire in 1815, the French public lost the rights and privileges earned since the Revolution, but they remembered the participatory politics that characterized the period, with one historian commenting: \"Thousands of men and even many women gained firsthand experience in the political arena: they talked, read, and listened in new ways; they voted; they joined new organizations; and they marched for their political goals. Revolution became a tradition, and republicanism an enduring option.\" [151]\nSome historians argue that the French people underwent a fundamental transformation in self-identity, evidenced by the elimination of privileges and their replacement by rights as well as the growing decline in social deference that highlighted the principle of equality throughout the Revolution. [152] The Revolution represented the most significant and dramatic challenge to political absolutism up to that point in history and, despite its failures, spread democratic ideals throughout Europe and ultimately the world. [153] It had a profound impact on the Russian Revolution and its ideas inspired Mao Zedong in his efforts at constructing a communist state in China. [154]\nSee also\nThis article incorporates text from the public domain History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814 , by François Mignet (1824), as made available by Project Gutenberg .\nFurther reading\nWikisource has original works on the topic: French Revolution\nBaker, Keith M. ed. The French Revolution and the Creation of Modern Political Culture (Oxford, 1987–94) vol 1: The Political Culture of the Old Regime, ed. K.M. Baker (1987); vol. 2: The Political Culture of the French Revolution, ed. C. Lucas (1988); vol. 3: The Transformation of Political Culture, 1789–1848, eds. F. Furet & M. Ozouf (1989); vol. 4: The Terror, ed. K.M. Baker (1994). excerpt and text search vol 4\nBlanning, T.C.W. The French Revolutionary Wars 1787–1802 (1996).\nCenser, Jack R. \"Amalgamating the Social in the French Revolution.\" Journal of Social History 2003 37(1): 145–150. Issn: 0022-4529 Fulltext: in Project Muse and Ebsco\nDavies, Peter. The French Revolution: A Beginner's Guide (2009), 192pp"
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"Guillotine.txt\nGuillotine\nA guillotine (;) is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade is raised to the top and suspended. The condemned person is secured with stocks at the bottom of the frame, positioning the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, to fall swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single pass and the head fell into a basket below.\n\nThe device is best known for its use in France, in particular during the French Revolution, where it was celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents. The name dates from this period, but similar devices had been used elsewhere in Europe over several centuries.\n\nThe guillotine continued to be used long after the Revolution and remained France's standard method of judicial execution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981. The last person guillotined in France was Hamida Djandoubi, on 10 September 1977.\n\nPrecursors\n\nThe use of beheading machines in Europe long predates such use in the French revolution in 1792. An early example of the principle is found in the High History of the Holy Grail, dated to about 1210. Although the device is imaginary, its function is clear. The text says:\n\nThe Halifax Gibbet was a wooden structure of two wooden uprights, capped by a horizontal beam, of a total height of . The blade was an axe head weighing 3.5 kg (7.7 lb), attached to the bottom of a massive wooden block that slid up and down in grooves in the uprights. This device was mounted on a large square platform high. It is not known when the Halifax Gibbet was first used; the first recorded execution in Halifax dates from 1280, but that execution may have been by sword, axe, or the gibbet. The machine remained in use until Oliver Cromwell forbade capital punishment for petty theft. It was used for the last time, for the execution of two criminals on a single day, on 30 April 1650.\n\nHolinshed's Chronicles of 1577 included a picture of \"The execution of Murcod Ballagh near to Merton in Ireland 1307\" showing a similar execution machine, suggesting early use in Ireland. \n\nThe Maiden was constructed in 1564 for the Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh, and was in use from April 1565 to 1710. One of those executed was James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, in 1581, and a 1644 publication began the legend that Morton himself had commissioned the Maiden having seen the Halifax Gibbet. The Maiden was readily dismantled for storage and transport, and it is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland.\n\nFrance \n\nInvention \n\nAntoine Louis, together with German engineer Tobias Schmidt, built a prototype for the guillotine. Schmidt recommended using an angled blade as opposed to a round one. \n\nIntroduction in France\n\nOn 10 October 1789, physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed to the National Assembly that capital punishment always take the form of decapitation \"by means of a simple mechanism.\" \n\nSensing the growing discontent, Louis XVI banned the use of the breaking wheel. In 1791, as the French Revolution progressed, the National Assembly researched a new method to be used on all condemned people regardless of class, consistent with the idea that the purpose of capital punishment was simply to end life rather than to inflict pain.\n\nA committee was formed under Antoine Louis, physician to the King and Secretary to the Academy of Surgery. Guillotin was also on the committee. The group was influenced by the Italian Mannaia (or Mannaja), the Scottish Maiden and the Halifax Gibbet, which was fitted with an axe head weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces (3.5 kg). While these prior instruments usually crushed the neck or used blunt force to take off a head, devices also usually used a crescent blade and a lunette (a hinged two part yoke to immobilize the victim's neck).\n\nLaquiante, an officer of the Strasbourg criminal court, designed a beheading machine and employed Tobias Schmidt, a German engineer and harpsichord maker, to construct a prototype. Antoine Louis is also credited with the design of the prototype. The memoirs of the official executioner claim that King Louis XVI (an amateur locksmith) recommended that an oblique blade be used instead of a crescent blade. The first execution by guillotine was performed on highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier on 25 April 1792. He was executed in front of what is now the city hall of Paris (Place de l'hôtel de ville). All citizens deemed guilty of a crime punishable by death were from then on executed there, until the scaffold was moved on 21 August to the Place du Carrousel.\n\nThe machine was successful as it was considered a humane form of execution, contrasting with the methods used in pre-revolutionary, Ancien Régime France. In France, before the guillotine, members of the nobility were beheaded with a sword or axe, which often took two or more blows to kill the condemned, while commoners were usually hanged, which could take minutes or longer. In the early phase of the French Revolution, the slogan À la lanterne (in English: To the Lamp Post!, String Them Up! or Hang Them!) had become a symbol of popular justice in revolutionary France. The revolutionary radicals hanged officials and aristocrats from street lanterns. Other more gruesome methods of executions were also used, such as the wheel or burning at the stake. The condemned or their family would sometimes pay the executioner to ensure that the blade was sharp, to achieve a quick and relatively painless death.\n\nThe guillotine was thus perceived to deliver an immediate death without risk of suffocation. Furthermore, having only one method of civil execution was seen as an expression of equality among citizens. The guillotine was then the only civil legal execution method in France until the abolition of the death penalty in 1981, apart from certain crimes against the security of the state, or for the death sentences passed by military courts, which entailed execution by firing squad. \n\nFor a period of time after its invention, the guillotine was called a louisette. However, it was later named for Guillotin who had proposed a less painful method of execution be found in place of the breaking wheel, though he opposed the death penalty.\n\nReign of Terror \n\nFrom June 1793 to July 1794 (the Reign of Terror) thousands were guillotined, beginning with Collenot d'Angremont of the National Guard in 1792. Former King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were executed in 1793. \nAt this time, Paris executions were carried out in the Place de la Revolution (former Place Louis XV and current Place de la Concorde); the guillotine stood in the corner near the Hôtel Crillon where the statue of Brest can be found today.\nFor a time, executions by guillotine were a popular entertainment that attracted great crowds of spectators, with vendors selling programs listing the names of the condemned.\n\nRetirement \n\nAfter the French Revolution, the executions began again in the city center. On 4 February 1832, the guillotine was moved behind the church of Saint Jacques, just before being moved again, to the Grande Roquette prison, on 29 November 1851.\n\nOn 6 August 1909, the guillotine was used on the junction of the Boulevard Arago and the Rue de la Santé, behind the La Santé Prison.\n\nThe last public guillotining in France was of Eugen Weidmann, who was convicted of six murders. He was beheaded on 17 June 1939 outside the prison Saint-Pierre, rue Georges Clemenceau 5 at Versailles, which is now the Palais de Justice. A number of problems with that execution (inappropriate behavior by spectators, incorrect assembly of the apparatus, and the fact that it was secretly filmed) caused the French government to order that future executions be conducted in private in the prison courtyard.\n\nThe guillotine remained the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was abolished in 1981. The final three guillotinings in France before abolition were those of child-murderers Christian Ranucci on 28 July 1976 in Marseille and Jérôme Carrein on 23 June 1977 in Douai, and torturer-murderer Hamida Djandoubi on 10 September 1977 in Marseille.\n\nIn the late 1840s the Tussaud brothers Joseph and Francis, gathering relics for Madame Tussauds wax museum, visited the aged Henry-Clément Sanson, grandson of the executioner Charles Henri Sanson, from whom they obtained parts, the knife and lunette, of one of the original guillotines used during the Age of Terror. The executioner had \"pawned his guillotine, and got into woeful trouble for alleged trafficking in municipal property\". \n\nElsewhere \n\nA number of countries, primarily in Europe, continued to employ this method of execution into modern times.\n\nIn Antwerp (Belgium), the last person to be beheaded was Francis Kol. Convicted for robbery with murder, he underwent his punishment on 8 May 1856. During the period from 19 March 1798, until 30 March 1856, there were 19 beheadings in Antwerp. \n\nIn Germany, where the guillotine is known as the Fallbeil (\"falling axe\"), it was used in various German states from the 17th century onwards, becoming the preferred method of execution in Napoleonic times in many parts of Germany. The guillotine and the firing squad were the legal methods of execution during the German Empire (1871–1918) and the Weimar Republic (1919–1933).\n\nThe original German guillotines resembled the French Berger 1872 model, but they eventually evolved into more specialised machines largely built of metal with a much heavier blade enabling shorter uprights to be used. Accompanied by a more efficient blade recovery system and the eventual removal of the tilting board (or bascule) this allowed a quicker turn-around time between executions, those deemed likely to struggle were backed up from behind a curtain to shield their view of the device. Additionally, blades of some models were covered by a metal screen to hide them from sight.\n\nThe guillotine was used by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945 to execute 16,500 prisoners, including 10,000 executions between 1944–1945 alone. One of these Nazi executions was of Sophie Scholl, who was convicted of high treason after distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans, and other members of the German student resistance group, the White Rose. The guillotine was used for the last time in West Germany in 1949 (in the execution of Richard Schuh) and in East Germany in 1966 (in the execution of Horst Fischer). The guillotine was used in East Germany by the Stasi between 1950 and 1966 for secret executions. In Switzerland it was used for the last time by the canton of Obwalden in the execution of murderer Hans Vollenweider in 1940.\n\nIn Sweden, where beheading became the mandatory method of execution in 1866, the guillotine replaced manual beheading in 1903 and was used only once, in the execution of murderer Alfred Ander in 1910 at Långholmen Prison, Stockholm. He was also the last person executed in Sweden before capital punishment was abolished in that country in 1921. Swedish child killer Hilda Nilsson was scheduled to be executed by guillotine in 1917. She evaded that fate when her sentence was commuted to life in prison. She hanged herself in prison rather than spend the rest of her life behind bars. \n\nIn South Vietnam, after the Diệm regime enacted the 10/59 Decree in 1959, mobile special military courts dispatched to the countryside to intimidate the rural people used guillotines belonging to the former French colonial power to carry out death sentences on the spot. One such guillotine is still on show at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. \n\nIn 1996 in the US, Georgia State Representative Doug Teper unsuccessfully sponsored a bill to replace the state's electric chair with the guillotine. \n\nLiving heads \n\nFrom its first use, there has been debate as to whether the guillotine always provided a swift death as Guillotin had hoped. With previous methods of execution intended to be painful, there was little concern about the suffering inflicted. As the guillotine was invented specifically to be humane the issue was seriously considered. The blade cuts quickly enough for there to be relatively little impact on the brain case, and perhaps less likelihood of immediate unconsciousness than with a more violent decapitation, or long-drop hanging.\n\nAudiences to guillotinings told numerous stories of blinking eyelids, speaking, moving eyes, movement of the mouth, even an expression of \"unequivocal indignation\" on the face of the decapitated Charlotte Corday when her cheek was slapped.\n\nThe following report was written by Dr. Beaurieux, who experimented with the head of a condemned prisoner by the name of Henri Languille, on 28 June 1905:\n\nNames for the guillotine \n\nDuring the span of its usage, the French guillotine has gone by many names, some of which include these:\n* La Monte-à-regret (The Regretful Climb) \n* Le Rasoir National (The National Razor)\n* Le Vasistas or La Lucarne (The Fanlight) \n* La Veuve (The Widow)\n* Le Moulin à Silence (The Silence Mill)\n* Louisette or Louison (from the name of prototype designer Antoine Louis)\n* Madame La Guillotine \n* Mirabelle (from the name of Mirabeau)\n* La Bécane (The Machine)\n* Le Massicot (The Cutter)\n* La Cravate à Capet (Capet's Necktie, Capet being Louis XVI)\n* La Raccourcisseuse Patriotique (The Patriotic Shortener)\n* La demi-lune (The Half-Moon)\n* Les Bois de Justice (Woods of Justice)\n* La Bascule à Charlot (Charlot's Rocking-chair)\n* Le Prix Goncourt des Assassins (The Goncourt Prize for Murderers)",
"French Revolution - 2 | Britannica.com\n... revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). ... violent alteration in ... of the Reign of Terror (1793–94), ...\nFrench Revolution - 2 | Britannica.com\nFrench Revolution\nthe revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789.\nDisplaying 1 - 100 of 123 results\nancien régime (French: “old order”) Political and social system of France prior to the French Revolution. Under the regime, everyone was a subject of the king of France as well as a member of an estate and province. All rights and status flowed from the social institutions,...\naristocracy government by a relatively small privileged class or by a minority consisting of those felt to be best qualified to rule. As conceived by the Greek philosophers Plato (c. 428/427–348/347 bce) and Aristotle (384–322 bce), aristocracy means the rule of...\nAulard, François-Alphonse one of the leading historians of the French Revolution, noted for the application of the rules of historical criticism to the revolutionary period. His writings dispelled many of the myths surrounding the Revolution. Aulard obtained his doctorate in...\nBabeuf, François-Noël early political journalist and agitator in Revolutionary France whose tactical strategies provided a model for left-wing movements of the 19th century and who was called Gracchus for the resemblance of his proposed agrarian reforms to those of the 2nd-century-...\nBarère, Bertrand a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94); his stringent policies against those suspected of royalist tendencies made him one of the most feared revolutionaries....\nBarnave, Antoine prominent political figure of the early French Revolutionary period whose oratorical skill and political incisiveness made him one of the most highly respected members of the National Assembly. Of an upper-bourgeois Protestant family, Barnave was privately...\nBarras, Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas, vicomte de one of the most powerful members of the Directory during the French Revolution. A Provençal nobleman, Barras volunteered as gentleman cadet in the regiment of Languedoc at the age of 16 and from 1776 to 1783 served in India. A period of unemployment...\nBastille medieval fortress on the east side of Paris that became, in the 17th and 18th centuries, a French state prison and a place of detention for important persons charged with various offenses. The Bastille, stormed by an armed mob of Parisians in the opening...\nBatz, Jean, baron de royalist conspirator during the French Revolution. Born of a noble family in Gascony, Batz entered the army at the age of 14, rising to the rank of colonel by 1787. During Louis XVI’s reign he busied himself with financial transactions and made a fortune....\nBerthier, Louis-Alexandre, prince de Wagram French soldier and the first of Napoleon’s marshals. Though Berthier was not a distinguished commander, Napoleon esteemed him highly as chief of staff of the Grande Armée from 1805. Responsible for the operation of Napoleon’s armies, he was called by...\nBillaud-Varenne, Jean-Nicolas lawyer and pamphleteer, a member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). Billaud-Varenne was the son of a lawyer of La Rochelle. After studying at the Universities of...\nbourgeoisie the social order that is dominated by the so-called middle class. In social and political theory, the notion of the bourgeoisie was largely a construct of Karl Marx (1818–83) and of those who were influenced by him. In popular speech, the term connotes...\nBrissot, Jacques-Pierre a leader of the Girondins (often called Brissotins), a moderate bourgeois faction that opposed the radical-democratic Jacobins during the French Revolution. The son of an eating-house keeper, Brissot began to work as a clerk in lawyers’ offices, first...\nBrumaire, Coup of 18–19 (November 9–10, 1799), coup d’état that overthrew the system of government under the Directory in France and substituted the Consulate, making way for the despotism of Napoleon Bonaparte. The event is often viewed as the effective end of the French Revolution....\nBurke, Edmund British statesman, parliamentary orator, and political thinker prominent in public life from 1765 to about 1795 and important in the history of political theory. He championed conservatism in opposition to Jacobinism in Reflections on the Revolution...\nCalonne, Charles-Alexandre de French statesman whose efforts to reform the structure of his nation’s finance and administration precipitated the governmental crisis that led to the French Revolution of 1789. The son of a magistrate of Douai, Calonne held various posts in French Flanders...\nCambon, Joseph financial administrator who attempted, with considerable success, to stabilize the finances of the French Revolutionary government from 1791 to 1795. Cambon was a prosperous businessman in Montpellier when the Revolution broke out in 1789. As a deputy...\nCarnot, Lazare French statesman, general, military engineer, and administrator in successive governments of the French Revolution. As a leading member of the Committee for General Defense and of the Committee of Public Safety (1793–94) and of the Directory (1793–97),...\nCarrier, Jean-Baptiste radical democrat of the French Revolution who gained notoriety for the atrocities he committed against counterrevolutionaries at Nantes. By 1790, the year after the outbreak of the Revolution, Carrier was counsellor to the bailliage (administrative district)...\nChaumette, Pierre-Gaspard French Revolutionary leader, social reformer, and promoter of the anti-Christian cult of the goddess Reason. He was put to death by the Revolutionary tribunal because of his democratic extremism. Chaumette went to sea as a cabin boy, studied botany,...\nChénier, André-Marie de poet and political journalist, generally considered the greatest French poet of the 18th century. His work was scarcely published until 25 years after his death. When the first collected edition of Chénier’s poetry appeared in 1819, it had an immediate...\nChénier, Marie-Joseph de poet, dramatist, politician, and supporter of the French Revolution from its early stages. The brother of the Romantic poet André de Chénier, Marie-Joseph attended the Collège de Navarre, then joined the regiment of Montmorency for two years. A member...\nChouan member of any of the bands of peasants, chiefly smugglers and dealers in contraband salt, who rose in revolt in the west of France in 1793 and joined the Vendéan royalists (see Vendée, Wars of the). The Breton word chouan, meaning “screech owl,” is supposed...\nCivil Constitution of the Clergy (July 12, 1790), during the French Revolution, an attempt to reorganize the Roman Catholic Church in France on a national basis. It caused a schism within the French Church and made many devout Catholics turn against the Revolution. There was a need...\nCloots, Jean-Baptiste du Val-de-Grâce, baron de radical democrat of the French Revolution who became a leading exponent of French expansionism in Europe. Born into a noble Prussian family of Dutch origin, Cloots went to Paris in 1776 and took part in the compilation of Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie....\nCollot d’Herbois, Jean-Marie radical democrat and member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). The son of a Parisian goldsmith, Collot d’Herbois became a professional actor and a writer of comedies....\nCondorcet, Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de French philosopher of the Enlightenment and advocate of educational reform and women’s rights. He was one of the major Revolutionary formulators of the ideas of progress, or the indefinite perfectibility of humankind. He was descended from the ancient...\nConstitution of 1791 French constitution created by the National Assembly during the French Revolution. It retained the monarchy, but sovereignty effectively resided in the Legislative Assembly, which was elected by a system of indirect voting. The franchise was restricted...\nConstitution of 1795 French constitution established during the Thermidorian Reaction in the French Revolution. Known as the Constitution of Year III in the French republican calendar, it was prepared by the Thermidorian Convention. It was more conservative than the abortive...\nConstitution of the Year VIII French constitution established after the Coup of 18–19 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), during the French Revolution. Drafted by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, it disguised the true character of the military dictatorship created by Napoleon Bonaparte, reassuring...\nConsulate (1799–1804) French government established after the Coup of 18–19 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), during the French Revolution. The Constitution of the Year VIII created an executive consisting of three consuls, but the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte,...\nCorday, Charlotte the assassin of the French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat. Descended from a noble family, educated in a convent at Caen, and royalist by sentiment, yet susceptible also to the ideals of the Enlightenment, Corday was living with an aunt in Caen when it...\nCordeliers, Club of the one of the popular clubs of the French Revolution, founded in 1790 to prevent the abuse of power and “infractions of the rights of man.” The club’s popular name was derived from its original meeting place in Paris, the nationalized monastery of the Cordeliers...\nCouthon, Georges close associate of Robespierre and Louis de Saint-Just on the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship and Reign of Terror (1793–94). Couthon became a poor people’s advocate at Clermont-Ferrand...\nDanton, Georges French Revolutionary leader and orator, often credited as the chief force in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic (September 21, 1792). He later became the first president of the Committee of Public Safety,...\nDaunou, Pierre-Claude-François French statesman, theorist of liberalism, and historian. Educated at the local school of the Oratorians, Daunou became an Oratorian himself in 1777, taught in the order’s convents from 1780, and was ordained priest in 1787. During the French Revolution,...\nDavid, Jacques-Louis the most celebrated French artist of his day and a principal exponent of the late 18th-century Neoclassical reaction against the Rococo style. David won wide acclaim with his huge canvases on classical themes (e.g., Oath of the Horatii, 1784). When the...\nDesmoulins, Camille one of the most influential journalists and pamphleteers of the French Revolution. The son of an official of Guise, Desmoulins was admitted to the bar in 1785, but a stammer impeded his effectiveness as a lawyer. Nevertheless, after the outbreak of the...\nDirectory the French Revolutionary government set up by the Constitution of the Year III, which lasted four years, from November 1795 to November 1799. It included a bicameral legislature known as the Corps Législatif. The lower house, or Council of Five Hundred...\nDrouet, Jean-Baptiste French revolutionary, chiefly remembered for his part in the arrest of Louis XVI at Varennes. Drouet grew up and lived in the town of Sainte-Menehould in Champagne, where his father had been postmaster. There, the carriages conveying Louis XVI and his...\nDumouriez, Charles-François du Périer French general who won signal victories for the French Revolution in 1792–93 and then traitorously deserted to the Austrians. The son of a war commissary, Dumouriez entered the French army in 1758 and served with distinction against the Prussians in...\nDuport, Adrien-Jean-François French magistrate who was a leading constitutional monarchist during the early stages of the French Revolution of 1789. A prominent member of the Parlement of Paris (one of the high courts of justice), Duport was elected for the nobility to the Estates-General...\némigré any of the Frenchmen, at first mostly aristocrats, who fled France in the years following the French Revolution of 1789. From their places of exile in other countries, many émigrés plotted against the Revolutionary government, seeking foreign help in...\nEnragé French “Madman” any of a group of extreme revolutionaries in France in 1793, led by a former priest, Jacques Roux, and Varlet, a postal official, who advocated social and economic measures in favour of the lower classes. The Enragés’ name reflects the...\nFabre d’Églantine, Philippe French political dramatic satirist and prominent figure in the French Revolution; as deputy in the National Convention he voted for the death of Louis XVI. He added the appellation d’Églantine to his surname, Fabre, after falsely claiming that he had...\nFeuillants, Club of the conservative political club of the French Revolution, which met in the former monastery of the Feuillants (Reformed Cistercians) near the Tuileries, in Paris. It was founded after Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes (June 20, 1791), when a number of deputies,...\nFouché, Joseph, duc d’Otrante French statesman and organizer of the police, whose efficiency and opportunism enabled him to serve every government from 1792 to 1815. Fouché was educated by the Oratorians at Nantes and Paris but was not ordained a priest. In 1791 the Oratorian order...\nFouquier-Tinville, Antoine-Quentin French Revolutionary lawyer who was public prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal during the Reign of Terror. A friend and relative of the journalist Camille Desmoulins, Fouquier-Tinville early supported the Revolution and rose from minor legal offices...\nFrance country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by...\nFrench republican calendar dating system that was adopted in 1793 during the French Revolution and which was intended to replace the Gregorian calendar with a more scientific and rational system that would avoid Christian associations. The Revolutionary Convention established...\nFrench Revolution the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789. Hence the conventional term “Revolution of 1789,” denoting the end of the ancien régime in France and serving also to distinguish that event...\nFrench Revolution, The three-volume narrative history by Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle, first published in 1837. The French Revolution established Carlyle’s reputation. Its creation was beset with difficulty; after spending months on the manuscript in 1834,...\nFrench revolutionary wars a series of wars between 1792 and 1815 that ranged France against shifting alliances of other European powers and that produced a brief French hegemony over most of Europe. The revolutionary wars, which may for convenience be held to have been concluded...\nFréron, Louis journalist of the French Revolution and leader of the jeunesse dorée (“gilded youth”) who terrorized Jacobins (radical democrats) during the Thermidorian reaction that followed the collapse of the Jacobin regime of 1793–94. His father, Élie-Catherine...\nFructidor, Coup of 18 (Sept. 4, 1797), the purge of conservatives from the Corps Législatif and other posts during the Revolutionary period of the Directory in France. The Directory, fearing that it was losing favour in the country, called upon Napoleon Bonaparte to send...\nFuret, François French historian whose reinterpretation of the French Revolution challenged the then-prevailing Marxist viewpoint and reshaped the country’s perception of its history; he was elected to the French Academy in 1997 (b. March 27, 1927--d. July 12/13, 1997)....\nGeneral Security, Committee of organ of the French Revolutionary government. It directed the political police and Revolutionary justice. Founded by the National Convention in 1792, the committee administered the Reign of Terror of 1793–94, along with the Committee of Public Safety....\nGenêt, Edmond-Charles French emissary to the United States during the French Revolution who severely strained Franco-American relations by conspiring to involve the United States in France’s war against Great Britain. In 1781 Edmond succeeded his father, Edmé-Jacques Genêt,...\nGentz, Friedrich German political journalist, famous for his writings against the principles of the French Revolution and Napoleon and as a confidential adviser of Metternich. Though a commoner, he sometimes affected the von of nobility, having received a Swedish knighthood...\nGirondin a label applied to a loose grouping of republican politicians, some of them originally from the département of the Gironde, who played a leading role in the Legislative Assembly from October 1791 to September 1792 during the French Revolution. Lawyers,...\nGreat Fear (1789) in the French Revolution, a period of panic and riot by peasants and others amid rumours of an “aristocratic conspiracy” by the king and the privileged to overthrow the Third Estate. The gathering of troops around Paris provoked insurrection,...\nGrégoire, Henri French prelate who was a defender of the Constitutional church, the nationalized Roman Catholic church established in France during the Revolution, and of the rights of Jews and blacks. Born into a poor peasant family, Grégoire entered the priesthood...\nGuadet, Marguerite-Élie a leader of the Girondin faction of moderate bourgeois revolutionaries during the French Revolution. At the time of the outbreak of the revolution (1789), Guadet was a leading lawyer in Bordeaux. In 1790 he became administrator of the Gironde département,...\nguillotine instrument for inflicting capital punishment by decapitation, introduced into France in 1792 during the Revolution. It consists of two upright posts surmounted by a crossbeam and grooved so as to guide an oblique-edged knife, the back of which is heavily...\nHanriot, François commander in chief of the Paris national guard during the supremacy of the Jacobin Club radicals, led by Maximilien Robespierre, in the French Revolution. A partisan of the Revolution from the start, Hanriot showed great courage in the rising of August...\nHébert, Jacques political journalist during the French Revolution who became the chief spokesman for the Parisian sansculottes (extreme radical revolutionaries). He and his followers, who were called Hébertists, pressured the Jacobin regime of 1793–94 into instituting...\nHérault de Séchelles, Marie-Jean nobleman and magistrate who became a member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). Hérault de Séchelles came from an ancient and distinguished noble family. Wealthy,...\nJacobin Club the most famous political group of the French Revolution, which became identified with extreme egalitarianism and violence and which led the Revolutionary government from mid-1793 to mid-1794. The Jacobins originated as the Club Breton at Versailles,...\nLa Révellière-Lépeaux, Louis-Marie de member of the French Revolutionary regime known as the Directory. In 1789 La Révellière-Lépeaux was elected as a representative of the Third Estate (the unprivileged order) to the States General, which converted itself into the revolutionary National...\nLacretelle, Jean-Charles-Dominique de, the Younger French historian and journalist, a pioneer in the historical study of the French Revolution. Summoned in 1787 to Paris by his older brother Pierre, a lawyer and political activist, he became a member of the Feuillants, a party advocating a constitutional...\nLamballe, Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan, princesse de the intimate companion of Queen Marie-Antoinette of France; she was murdered by a crowd during the French Revolution for her alleged participation in the queen’s counterrevolutionary intrigues. The daughter of Prince Louis-Victor de Savoie-Carignan,...\nLameth, Alexandre-Theodore-Victor, comte de (count of) French nobleman who was a leading advocate of constitutional monarchy in the early stages of the French Revolution of 1789. Lameth and his brothers, Charles and Théodore, fought for the colonists in the American Revolution. On returning to...\nLe Chapelier, Jean French Revolutionary leader who in 1791 introduced in the National Assembly the Loi (“Law”) Le Chapelier, which made any association of workers or of employers illegal. In force until 1884, the law actually affected only workers, who found it much more...\nLefebvre, Georges French historian noted for his studies of various aspects of the French Revolution. Lefebvre’s major work, Les Paysans du Nord pendant la Révolution française (1924; “The Peasants of the North During the French Revolution”), was the result of 20 years...\nLegislative Assembly national parliament of France during part of the Revolutionary period and again during the Second Republic. The first was created in September 1791 and was in session from Oct. 1, 1791, to Sept. 20, 1792, when it was replaced by the National Convention,...\nLindet, Jean-Baptiste-Robert member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). He organized the provisioning of France’s armies and had charge of much of the central economic planning carried out by...\nLouis XVI the last king of France (1774–92) in the line of Bourbon monarchs preceding the French Revolution of 1789. The monarchy was abolished on Sept. 21, 1792; later Louis and his queen consort, Marie-Antoinette, were guillotined on charges of counterrevolution....\nLouvet, Jean-Baptiste French literary figure prominent as a Girondin during the Revolution. While working as a bookseller, Louvet won fame as the author of a licentious novel published from 1786 to 1791; the work was reprinted many times as Les Amours (or, in some editions,...\nMallarmé, François-René-Auguste French revolutionist, briefly president of the Convention in 1793. Mallarmé was brought up in his father’s profession as a lawyer and, during the Revolution, was elected by the department of Meurthe as deputy to the Legislative Assembly and the Convention,...\nMarat, Jean-Paul French politician, physician, and journalist, a leader of the radical Montagnard faction during the French Revolution. He was assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Corday, a young Girondin conservative. Early scientific work Marat, after obscure years...\nMarie-Antoinette queen consort of King Louis XVI of France (1774–93). Imprudent and an enemy of reform, she helped provoke the popular unrest that led to the French Revolution and to the overthrow of the monarchy in August 1792. The 11th daughter of the Holy Roman emperor...\nMerlin, Antoine-Christophe democratic radical during the early years of the French Revolution who became one of the leading organizers of the conservative Thermidorian reaction that followed the collapse of the radical democratic Jacobin regime of 1793–94. Merlin was the son of...\nMerlin, Philippe-Antoine, comte one of the foremost jurists of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. As a deputy for the town of Douai in the revolutionary Constituent Assembly of 1789, he was instrumental in the passage of important legislation abolishing feudal and seignorial...\nMirabeau, Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de French politician and orator, one of the greatest figures in the National Assembly that governed France during the early phases of the French Revolution. A moderate and an advocate of constitutional monarchy, he died before the Revolution reached its...\nMontagnard French “Mountain Man” any of the radical Jacobin deputies in the National Convention during the French Revolution. Noted for their democratic outlook, the Montagnards controlled the government during the climax of the Revolution in 1793–94. They were...\nNapoleon I French general, first consul (1799–1804), and emperor of the French (1804–1814/15), one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West. He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code, the prototype of...\nNational Convention assembly that governed France from September 20, 1792, until October 26, 1795, during the most critical period of the French Revolution. The National Convention was elected to provide a new constitution for the country after the overthrow of the monarchy...\nOrléans, Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d’ Bourbon prince who became a supporter of popular democracy during the Revolution of 1789. The cousin of King Louis XVI (ruled 1774–92) and the son of Louis-Philippe (later duc d’Orléans), he became duc de Chartres in 1752 and succeeded to his father’s...\npeasantry any member of a class of persons who till the soil as small landowners or as agricultural labourers. The term peasant originally referred to small-scale agriculturalists in Europe in historic times, but many other societies, both past and present, have...\nPétion de Villeneuve, Jérôme politician of the French Revolution who was at first a close associate, and later a bitter enemy, of the Jacobin leader Maximilien de Robespierre. The son of a lawyer of Chartres, Pétion practiced as an advocate before accepting a seat with the bourgeois...\nphilosophe any of the literary men, scientists, and thinkers of 18th-century France who were united, in spite of divergent personal views, in their conviction of the supremacy and efficacy of human reason. Inspired by the philosophic thought of René Descartes,...\nPichegru, Charles general of the French Revolutionary Wars who played a leading role in the conquest of the Austrian Netherlands and Holland (1794–95); he subsequently ruined his reputation by conspiring with counterrevolutionaries (1795) and against Napoleon Bonaparte...\nPlain, the in the French Revolution, the centrist deputies in the National Convention (1792–95). They formed the majority of the assembly’s members and were essential to the passage of any measures. Their name derived from their place on the floor of the assembly;...\nPrice, Richard British moral philosopher, expert on insurance and finance, and ardent supporter of the American and French revolutions. His circle of friends included Benjamin Franklin, William Pitt, Lord Shelburne, and David Hume. A Dissenter like his father, he ministered...\nPrieur, Pierre-Louis French political figure, a member of the Committee of Public Safety, which ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). He vigorously enforced the committee’s policies in the antirepublican coastal towns west of...\nPrieur-Duvernois, Claude-Antoine French military engineer who was a member of the Committee of Public Safety, which ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). He organized the manufacture and requisitioning of the weapons and munitions that were...\nPublic Safety, Committee of political body of the French Revolution that gained virtual dictatorial control over France during the Reign of Terror (September 1793 to July 1794). The Committee of Public Safety was set up on April 6, 1793, during one of the crises of the Revolution,...\nrevolution in social and political science, a major, sudden, and hence typically violent alteration in government and in related associations and structures. The term is used by analogy in such expressions as the Industrial Revolution, where it refers to a radical...\nRevolutionary Tribunal court that was instituted in Paris by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. It became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror. The news of the failure of the French armies in Belgium...\nRights of Man and of the Citizen, Declaration of the one of the basic charters of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. Its 17 articles, adopted between August 20 and August 26, 1789, by France’s National Assembly, served as the preamble to the Constitution of...",
"French Revolution - 2 | Britannica.com\nCorday, Charlotte the assassin of the French ... French Revolutionary leader and ... during the French Revolution. He was assassinated in his bath by ...\nFrench Revolution - 2 | Britannica.com\nFrench Revolution\nthe revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789.\nDisplaying 1 - 100 of 123 results\nancien régime (French: “old order”) Political and social system of France prior to the French Revolution. Under the regime, everyone was a subject of the king of France as well as a member of an estate and province. All rights and status flowed from the social institutions,...\naristocracy government by a relatively small privileged class or by a minority consisting of those felt to be best qualified to rule. As conceived by the Greek philosophers Plato (c. 428/427–348/347 bce) and Aristotle (384–322 bce), aristocracy means the rule of...\nAulard, François-Alphonse one of the leading historians of the French Revolution, noted for the application of the rules of historical criticism to the revolutionary period. His writings dispelled many of the myths surrounding the Revolution. Aulard obtained his doctorate in...\nBabeuf, François-Noël early political journalist and agitator in Revolutionary France whose tactical strategies provided a model for left-wing movements of the 19th century and who was called Gracchus for the resemblance of his proposed agrarian reforms to those of the 2nd-century-...\nBarère, Bertrand a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94); his stringent policies against those suspected of royalist tendencies made him one of the most feared revolutionaries....\nBarnave, Antoine prominent political figure of the early French Revolutionary period whose oratorical skill and political incisiveness made him one of the most highly respected members of the National Assembly. Of an upper-bourgeois Protestant family, Barnave was privately...\nBarras, Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas, vicomte de one of the most powerful members of the Directory during the French Revolution. A Provençal nobleman, Barras volunteered as gentleman cadet in the regiment of Languedoc at the age of 16 and from 1776 to 1783 served in India. A period of unemployment...\nBastille medieval fortress on the east side of Paris that became, in the 17th and 18th centuries, a French state prison and a place of detention for important persons charged with various offenses. The Bastille, stormed by an armed mob of Parisians in the opening...\nBatz, Jean, baron de royalist conspirator during the French Revolution. Born of a noble family in Gascony, Batz entered the army at the age of 14, rising to the rank of colonel by 1787. During Louis XVI’s reign he busied himself with financial transactions and made a fortune....\nBerthier, Louis-Alexandre, prince de Wagram French soldier and the first of Napoleon’s marshals. Though Berthier was not a distinguished commander, Napoleon esteemed him highly as chief of staff of the Grande Armée from 1805. Responsible for the operation of Napoleon’s armies, he was called by...\nBillaud-Varenne, Jean-Nicolas lawyer and pamphleteer, a member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). Billaud-Varenne was the son of a lawyer of La Rochelle. After studying at the Universities of...\nbourgeoisie the social order that is dominated by the so-called middle class. In social and political theory, the notion of the bourgeoisie was largely a construct of Karl Marx (1818–83) and of those who were influenced by him. In popular speech, the term connotes...\nBrissot, Jacques-Pierre a leader of the Girondins (often called Brissotins), a moderate bourgeois faction that opposed the radical-democratic Jacobins during the French Revolution. The son of an eating-house keeper, Brissot began to work as a clerk in lawyers’ offices, first...\nBrumaire, Coup of 18–19 (November 9–10, 1799), coup d’état that overthrew the system of government under the Directory in France and substituted the Consulate, making way for the despotism of Napoleon Bonaparte. The event is often viewed as the effective end of the French Revolution....\nBurke, Edmund British statesman, parliamentary orator, and political thinker prominent in public life from 1765 to about 1795 and important in the history of political theory. He championed conservatism in opposition to Jacobinism in Reflections on the Revolution...\nCalonne, Charles-Alexandre de French statesman whose efforts to reform the structure of his nation’s finance and administration precipitated the governmental crisis that led to the French Revolution of 1789. The son of a magistrate of Douai, Calonne held various posts in French Flanders...\nCambon, Joseph financial administrator who attempted, with considerable success, to stabilize the finances of the French Revolutionary government from 1791 to 1795. Cambon was a prosperous businessman in Montpellier when the Revolution broke out in 1789. As a deputy...\nCarnot, Lazare French statesman, general, military engineer, and administrator in successive governments of the French Revolution. As a leading member of the Committee for General Defense and of the Committee of Public Safety (1793–94) and of the Directory (1793–97),...\nCarrier, Jean-Baptiste radical democrat of the French Revolution who gained notoriety for the atrocities he committed against counterrevolutionaries at Nantes. By 1790, the year after the outbreak of the Revolution, Carrier was counsellor to the bailliage (administrative district)...\nChaumette, Pierre-Gaspard French Revolutionary leader, social reformer, and promoter of the anti-Christian cult of the goddess Reason. He was put to death by the Revolutionary tribunal because of his democratic extremism. Chaumette went to sea as a cabin boy, studied botany,...\nChénier, André-Marie de poet and political journalist, generally considered the greatest French poet of the 18th century. His work was scarcely published until 25 years after his death. When the first collected edition of Chénier’s poetry appeared in 1819, it had an immediate...\nChénier, Marie-Joseph de poet, dramatist, politician, and supporter of the French Revolution from its early stages. The brother of the Romantic poet André de Chénier, Marie-Joseph attended the Collège de Navarre, then joined the regiment of Montmorency for two years. A member...\nChouan member of any of the bands of peasants, chiefly smugglers and dealers in contraband salt, who rose in revolt in the west of France in 1793 and joined the Vendéan royalists (see Vendée, Wars of the). The Breton word chouan, meaning “screech owl,” is supposed...\nCivil Constitution of the Clergy (July 12, 1790), during the French Revolution, an attempt to reorganize the Roman Catholic Church in France on a national basis. It caused a schism within the French Church and made many devout Catholics turn against the Revolution. There was a need...\nCloots, Jean-Baptiste du Val-de-Grâce, baron de radical democrat of the French Revolution who became a leading exponent of French expansionism in Europe. Born into a noble Prussian family of Dutch origin, Cloots went to Paris in 1776 and took part in the compilation of Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie....\nCollot d’Herbois, Jean-Marie radical democrat and member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). The son of a Parisian goldsmith, Collot d’Herbois became a professional actor and a writer of comedies....\nCondorcet, Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de French philosopher of the Enlightenment and advocate of educational reform and women’s rights. He was one of the major Revolutionary formulators of the ideas of progress, or the indefinite perfectibility of humankind. He was descended from the ancient...\nConstitution of 1791 French constitution created by the National Assembly during the French Revolution. It retained the monarchy, but sovereignty effectively resided in the Legislative Assembly, which was elected by a system of indirect voting. The franchise was restricted...\nConstitution of 1795 French constitution established during the Thermidorian Reaction in the French Revolution. Known as the Constitution of Year III in the French republican calendar, it was prepared by the Thermidorian Convention. It was more conservative than the abortive...\nConstitution of the Year VIII French constitution established after the Coup of 18–19 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), during the French Revolution. Drafted by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, it disguised the true character of the military dictatorship created by Napoleon Bonaparte, reassuring...\nConsulate (1799–1804) French government established after the Coup of 18–19 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), during the French Revolution. The Constitution of the Year VIII created an executive consisting of three consuls, but the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte,...\nCorday, Charlotte the assassin of the French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat. Descended from a noble family, educated in a convent at Caen, and royalist by sentiment, yet susceptible also to the ideals of the Enlightenment, Corday was living with an aunt in Caen when it...\nCordeliers, Club of the one of the popular clubs of the French Revolution, founded in 1790 to prevent the abuse of power and “infractions of the rights of man.” The club’s popular name was derived from its original meeting place in Paris, the nationalized monastery of the Cordeliers...\nCouthon, Georges close associate of Robespierre and Louis de Saint-Just on the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship and Reign of Terror (1793–94). Couthon became a poor people’s advocate at Clermont-Ferrand...\nDanton, Georges French Revolutionary leader and orator, often credited as the chief force in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic (September 21, 1792). He later became the first president of the Committee of Public Safety,...\nDaunou, Pierre-Claude-François French statesman, theorist of liberalism, and historian. Educated at the local school of the Oratorians, Daunou became an Oratorian himself in 1777, taught in the order’s convents from 1780, and was ordained priest in 1787. During the French Revolution,...\nDavid, Jacques-Louis the most celebrated French artist of his day and a principal exponent of the late 18th-century Neoclassical reaction against the Rococo style. David won wide acclaim with his huge canvases on classical themes (e.g., Oath of the Horatii, 1784). When the...\nDesmoulins, Camille one of the most influential journalists and pamphleteers of the French Revolution. The son of an official of Guise, Desmoulins was admitted to the bar in 1785, but a stammer impeded his effectiveness as a lawyer. Nevertheless, after the outbreak of the...\nDirectory the French Revolutionary government set up by the Constitution of the Year III, which lasted four years, from November 1795 to November 1799. It included a bicameral legislature known as the Corps Législatif. The lower house, or Council of Five Hundred...\nDrouet, Jean-Baptiste French revolutionary, chiefly remembered for his part in the arrest of Louis XVI at Varennes. Drouet grew up and lived in the town of Sainte-Menehould in Champagne, where his father had been postmaster. There, the carriages conveying Louis XVI and his...\nDumouriez, Charles-François du Périer French general who won signal victories for the French Revolution in 1792–93 and then traitorously deserted to the Austrians. The son of a war commissary, Dumouriez entered the French army in 1758 and served with distinction against the Prussians in...\nDuport, Adrien-Jean-François French magistrate who was a leading constitutional monarchist during the early stages of the French Revolution of 1789. A prominent member of the Parlement of Paris (one of the high courts of justice), Duport was elected for the nobility to the Estates-General...\némigré any of the Frenchmen, at first mostly aristocrats, who fled France in the years following the French Revolution of 1789. From their places of exile in other countries, many émigrés plotted against the Revolutionary government, seeking foreign help in...\nEnragé French “Madman” any of a group of extreme revolutionaries in France in 1793, led by a former priest, Jacques Roux, and Varlet, a postal official, who advocated social and economic measures in favour of the lower classes. The Enragés’ name reflects the...\nFabre d’Églantine, Philippe French political dramatic satirist and prominent figure in the French Revolution; as deputy in the National Convention he voted for the death of Louis XVI. He added the appellation d’Églantine to his surname, Fabre, after falsely claiming that he had...\nFeuillants, Club of the conservative political club of the French Revolution, which met in the former monastery of the Feuillants (Reformed Cistercians) near the Tuileries, in Paris. It was founded after Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes (June 20, 1791), when a number of deputies,...\nFouché, Joseph, duc d’Otrante French statesman and organizer of the police, whose efficiency and opportunism enabled him to serve every government from 1792 to 1815. Fouché was educated by the Oratorians at Nantes and Paris but was not ordained a priest. In 1791 the Oratorian order...\nFouquier-Tinville, Antoine-Quentin French Revolutionary lawyer who was public prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal during the Reign of Terror. A friend and relative of the journalist Camille Desmoulins, Fouquier-Tinville early supported the Revolution and rose from minor legal offices...\nFrance country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by...\nFrench republican calendar dating system that was adopted in 1793 during the French Revolution and which was intended to replace the Gregorian calendar with a more scientific and rational system that would avoid Christian associations. The Revolutionary Convention established...\nFrench Revolution the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789. Hence the conventional term “Revolution of 1789,” denoting the end of the ancien régime in France and serving also to distinguish that event...\nFrench Revolution, The three-volume narrative history by Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle, first published in 1837. The French Revolution established Carlyle’s reputation. Its creation was beset with difficulty; after spending months on the manuscript in 1834,...\nFrench revolutionary wars a series of wars between 1792 and 1815 that ranged France against shifting alliances of other European powers and that produced a brief French hegemony over most of Europe. The revolutionary wars, which may for convenience be held to have been concluded...\nFréron, Louis journalist of the French Revolution and leader of the jeunesse dorée (“gilded youth”) who terrorized Jacobins (radical democrats) during the Thermidorian reaction that followed the collapse of the Jacobin regime of 1793–94. His father, Élie-Catherine...\nFructidor, Coup of 18 (Sept. 4, 1797), the purge of conservatives from the Corps Législatif and other posts during the Revolutionary period of the Directory in France. The Directory, fearing that it was losing favour in the country, called upon Napoleon Bonaparte to send...\nFuret, François French historian whose reinterpretation of the French Revolution challenged the then-prevailing Marxist viewpoint and reshaped the country’s perception of its history; he was elected to the French Academy in 1997 (b. March 27, 1927--d. July 12/13, 1997)....\nGeneral Security, Committee of organ of the French Revolutionary government. It directed the political police and Revolutionary justice. Founded by the National Convention in 1792, the committee administered the Reign of Terror of 1793–94, along with the Committee of Public Safety....\nGenêt, Edmond-Charles French emissary to the United States during the French Revolution who severely strained Franco-American relations by conspiring to involve the United States in France’s war against Great Britain. In 1781 Edmond succeeded his father, Edmé-Jacques Genêt,...\nGentz, Friedrich German political journalist, famous for his writings against the principles of the French Revolution and Napoleon and as a confidential adviser of Metternich. Though a commoner, he sometimes affected the von of nobility, having received a Swedish knighthood...\nGirondin a label applied to a loose grouping of republican politicians, some of them originally from the département of the Gironde, who played a leading role in the Legislative Assembly from October 1791 to September 1792 during the French Revolution. Lawyers,...\nGreat Fear (1789) in the French Revolution, a period of panic and riot by peasants and others amid rumours of an “aristocratic conspiracy” by the king and the privileged to overthrow the Third Estate. The gathering of troops around Paris provoked insurrection,...\nGrégoire, Henri French prelate who was a defender of the Constitutional church, the nationalized Roman Catholic church established in France during the Revolution, and of the rights of Jews and blacks. Born into a poor peasant family, Grégoire entered the priesthood...\nGuadet, Marguerite-Élie a leader of the Girondin faction of moderate bourgeois revolutionaries during the French Revolution. At the time of the outbreak of the revolution (1789), Guadet was a leading lawyer in Bordeaux. In 1790 he became administrator of the Gironde département,...\nguillotine instrument for inflicting capital punishment by decapitation, introduced into France in 1792 during the Revolution. It consists of two upright posts surmounted by a crossbeam and grooved so as to guide an oblique-edged knife, the back of which is heavily...\nHanriot, François commander in chief of the Paris national guard during the supremacy of the Jacobin Club radicals, led by Maximilien Robespierre, in the French Revolution. A partisan of the Revolution from the start, Hanriot showed great courage in the rising of August...\nHébert, Jacques political journalist during the French Revolution who became the chief spokesman for the Parisian sansculottes (extreme radical revolutionaries). He and his followers, who were called Hébertists, pressured the Jacobin regime of 1793–94 into instituting...\nHérault de Séchelles, Marie-Jean nobleman and magistrate who became a member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). Hérault de Séchelles came from an ancient and distinguished noble family. Wealthy,...\nJacobin Club the most famous political group of the French Revolution, which became identified with extreme egalitarianism and violence and which led the Revolutionary government from mid-1793 to mid-1794. The Jacobins originated as the Club Breton at Versailles,...\nLa Révellière-Lépeaux, Louis-Marie de member of the French Revolutionary regime known as the Directory. In 1789 La Révellière-Lépeaux was elected as a representative of the Third Estate (the unprivileged order) to the States General, which converted itself into the revolutionary National...\nLacretelle, Jean-Charles-Dominique de, the Younger French historian and journalist, a pioneer in the historical study of the French Revolution. Summoned in 1787 to Paris by his older brother Pierre, a lawyer and political activist, he became a member of the Feuillants, a party advocating a constitutional...\nLamballe, Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan, princesse de the intimate companion of Queen Marie-Antoinette of France; she was murdered by a crowd during the French Revolution for her alleged participation in the queen’s counterrevolutionary intrigues. The daughter of Prince Louis-Victor de Savoie-Carignan,...\nLameth, Alexandre-Theodore-Victor, comte de (count of) French nobleman who was a leading advocate of constitutional monarchy in the early stages of the French Revolution of 1789. Lameth and his brothers, Charles and Théodore, fought for the colonists in the American Revolution. On returning to...\nLe Chapelier, Jean French Revolutionary leader who in 1791 introduced in the National Assembly the Loi (“Law”) Le Chapelier, which made any association of workers or of employers illegal. In force until 1884, the law actually affected only workers, who found it much more...\nLefebvre, Georges French historian noted for his studies of various aspects of the French Revolution. Lefebvre’s major work, Les Paysans du Nord pendant la Révolution française (1924; “The Peasants of the North During the French Revolution”), was the result of 20 years...\nLegislative Assembly national parliament of France during part of the Revolutionary period and again during the Second Republic. The first was created in September 1791 and was in session from Oct. 1, 1791, to Sept. 20, 1792, when it was replaced by the National Convention,...\nLindet, Jean-Baptiste-Robert member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). He organized the provisioning of France’s armies and had charge of much of the central economic planning carried out by...\nLouis XVI the last king of France (1774–92) in the line of Bourbon monarchs preceding the French Revolution of 1789. The monarchy was abolished on Sept. 21, 1792; later Louis and his queen consort, Marie-Antoinette, were guillotined on charges of counterrevolution....\nLouvet, Jean-Baptiste French literary figure prominent as a Girondin during the Revolution. While working as a bookseller, Louvet won fame as the author of a licentious novel published from 1786 to 1791; the work was reprinted many times as Les Amours (or, in some editions,...\nMallarmé, François-René-Auguste French revolutionist, briefly president of the Convention in 1793. Mallarmé was brought up in his father’s profession as a lawyer and, during the Revolution, was elected by the department of Meurthe as deputy to the Legislative Assembly and the Convention,...\nMarat, Jean-Paul French politician, physician, and journalist, a leader of the radical Montagnard faction during the French Revolution. He was assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Corday, a young Girondin conservative. Early scientific work Marat, after obscure years...\nMarie-Antoinette queen consort of King Louis XVI of France (1774–93). Imprudent and an enemy of reform, she helped provoke the popular unrest that led to the French Revolution and to the overthrow of the monarchy in August 1792. The 11th daughter of the Holy Roman emperor...\nMerlin, Antoine-Christophe democratic radical during the early years of the French Revolution who became one of the leading organizers of the conservative Thermidorian reaction that followed the collapse of the radical democratic Jacobin regime of 1793–94. Merlin was the son of...\nMerlin, Philippe-Antoine, comte one of the foremost jurists of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. As a deputy for the town of Douai in the revolutionary Constituent Assembly of 1789, he was instrumental in the passage of important legislation abolishing feudal and seignorial...\nMirabeau, Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de French politician and orator, one of the greatest figures in the National Assembly that governed France during the early phases of the French Revolution. A moderate and an advocate of constitutional monarchy, he died before the Revolution reached its...\nMontagnard French “Mountain Man” any of the radical Jacobin deputies in the National Convention during the French Revolution. Noted for their democratic outlook, the Montagnards controlled the government during the climax of the Revolution in 1793–94. They were...\nNapoleon I French general, first consul (1799–1804), and emperor of the French (1804–1814/15), one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West. He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code, the prototype of...\nNational Convention assembly that governed France from September 20, 1792, until October 26, 1795, during the most critical period of the French Revolution. The National Convention was elected to provide a new constitution for the country after the overthrow of the monarchy...\nOrléans, Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d’ Bourbon prince who became a supporter of popular democracy during the Revolution of 1789. The cousin of King Louis XVI (ruled 1774–92) and the son of Louis-Philippe (later duc d’Orléans), he became duc de Chartres in 1752 and succeeded to his father’s...\npeasantry any member of a class of persons who till the soil as small landowners or as agricultural labourers. The term peasant originally referred to small-scale agriculturalists in Europe in historic times, but many other societies, both past and present, have...\nPétion de Villeneuve, Jérôme politician of the French Revolution who was at first a close associate, and later a bitter enemy, of the Jacobin leader Maximilien de Robespierre. The son of a lawyer of Chartres, Pétion practiced as an advocate before accepting a seat with the bourgeois...\nphilosophe any of the literary men, scientists, and thinkers of 18th-century France who were united, in spite of divergent personal views, in their conviction of the supremacy and efficacy of human reason. Inspired by the philosophic thought of René Descartes,...\nPichegru, Charles general of the French Revolutionary Wars who played a leading role in the conquest of the Austrian Netherlands and Holland (1794–95); he subsequently ruined his reputation by conspiring with counterrevolutionaries (1795) and against Napoleon Bonaparte...\nPlain, the in the French Revolution, the centrist deputies in the National Convention (1792–95). They formed the majority of the assembly’s members and were essential to the passage of any measures. Their name derived from their place on the floor of the assembly;...\nPrice, Richard British moral philosopher, expert on insurance and finance, and ardent supporter of the American and French revolutions. His circle of friends included Benjamin Franklin, William Pitt, Lord Shelburne, and David Hume. A Dissenter like his father, he ministered...\nPrieur, Pierre-Louis French political figure, a member of the Committee of Public Safety, which ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). He vigorously enforced the committee’s policies in the antirepublican coastal towns west of...\nPrieur-Duvernois, Claude-Antoine French military engineer who was a member of the Committee of Public Safety, which ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). He organized the manufacture and requisitioning of the weapons and munitions that were...\nPublic Safety, Committee of political body of the French Revolution that gained virtual dictatorial control over France during the Reign of Terror (September 1793 to July 1794). The Committee of Public Safety was set up on April 6, 1793, during one of the crises of the Revolution,...\nrevolution in social and political science, a major, sudden, and hence typically violent alteration in government and in related associations and structures. The term is used by analogy in such expressions as the Industrial Revolution, where it refers to a radical...\nRevolutionary Tribunal court that was instituted in Paris by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. It became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror. The news of the failure of the French armies in Belgium...\nRights of Man and of the Citizen, Declaration of the one of the basic charters of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. Its 17 articles, adopted between August 20 and August 26, 1789, by France’s National Assembly, served as the preamble to the Constitution of...",
"The RevolutionistsNewPlay - Google Sites\n... of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, ... David which shows Marat after Corday had stabbed him to ... of Marat dead in his bath has been reviewed ...\nThe RevolutionistsNewPlay\nThe RevolutionistsNewPlay\nA new play about four very real women who lived boldly \nin France during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. \n Playwright Olympe De Gouge, assassin Charlotte Corday, and former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette hang out, murder Marat, loose their heads and try to beat back the extremist insanity in 1793's Paris.\n This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy,\n feminism and terrorism, \nand how we actually go about changing the world. \nIt a true story. \nOr a play about a play. \nOr a raucous resurrection... \nthat ends in a song and a scaffold. \nCHARACTERS:\nAll are French women, All are beautiful, All are about to be beheaded\nOLYMPE De Gouges –badass activist playwright and feminist. \nOlympe is a bit righteous for theatre, she loves everything about it, she wields it's magic, she believes it can change the world. She believes words and story and common sense can change France... we'll see if she's right.\nCHARLOTTE Corday – badass country girl and assassin. She is very serious, focused on her upcoming assassination, she has never been on a date, never had a good girlfriend to talk to, and has never seen a play.\nMARIE Antoinette – less badass but fascinating queen of France. She is treacly sweet and bored and easy to herd. She thinks everything is \"hilarious\". She has never had a really personal conversation before. She is not stuck up. She has never known anything but being royalty. \nANGELLE Ogé – A badass black woman in Paris. She is from San Domingue in the Caribbean, and is a free woman of stature and means. She is tough, thoughtful, a very good listener and decoder of intentions. She is the sanest one of them all. She is the real revolutionary. She sings. \nFRATERNITE: The lone male presence in the play. Confident, authoritative, humorless. \nSETTING:\nABOUT OLYMPE...\nOlympe de Gouges died on 3RD NOVEMBER 1793.\nAlthough militant feminism and female agitation were major features of the French Revolution, the woman whose name is most closely associated with this world-shattering event remains the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. But that distinction, by revolutionary rights, belongs in truth to Olympe de Gouges. Two years before she met her grizzly fate with Madame Guillotine at the age of 38, Olympe had written: “A woman has the right to mount the scaffold; she must also have the right to mount the rostrum.” For a slew of similarly bold and visionary statements – radical even within that momentous milieu – Olympe has earned the distinction of “first modern feminist” among historians such as Benoîte Groult. There is strong support for this assertion; in 1791, one year before Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman,Olympe published the very first charter for women’s rights – which remains one of the most powerful and concise expressions of feminism. But Olympe did not limit her vision solely to women’s struggles: in a flurry of political pamphlets, journal articles, and broadsides published between 1789 and 1792, she championed the causes of social justice and civil rights on behalf of all the disenfranchised and underprivileged: children, the poor, the unemployed and, most controversially, slaves. (A proto-abolitionist, Olympe’s play – Slavery of Negroes – caused an uproar when it was first performed by the Comédie Française in 1788; the mayor of Paris condemned it as an incendiary act, fearing it would cause revolt in the French colonies.) Despite a multitude of groundbreaking contributions as playwright, agitator, reformer and author, Olympe’s name has until recent years been conspicuously, disturbingly, absent from historical records. There can be only one reason: she was a woman. Let us therefore rectify such criminal neglect and recall her finest moment, namely: Olympe de Gouge’s authorship of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen.\n“Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe; discover your rights. The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies. The flame of truth has dispersed all the clouds of folly and usurpation. Enslaved man has multiplied his strength and needs recourse to yours to break his chains. Having become free, he has become unjust to his companion. Oh, women, women! When will you cease to be blind? What advantage have you received from the Revolution?”\nThus wrote an outraged Olympe de Gouges in the summer of 1791 when the exclusion of women from active citizenship in the French Constitution crystallized her ideas and inspired her greatest political pamphlet. In an act of rhetorical genius, de Gouges added or substituted “woman” for “man” in each article of Thomas Paine ’s famousDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen – which was to the French revolutionaries what the Declaration of Independence had been to Americans two decades prior. Unimaginably radical at the time, Olympe’s Declaration remains radical even today – insistent, as she was, on exact equality, including combat roles in the military. And it was with characteristic directness that she demanded an explanation for the hypocritical omission of women from the Constitution:\n“Man, are you capable of being just? It is a woman who asks you this question. Who has given you the authority to oppress my sex?”\nIn speaking out on behalf of the rights of women, Olympe violated traditional social boundaries that even revolutionaries held dear. \nAs the Revolution progressed, she became more and more vehement in her writings. On 2 June 1793, the Jacobins arrested her allies, the Girondins , imprisoned them, and sent them to the guillotine in October. Finally, her posterLes trois urnes, ou le salut de la Patrie, par un voyageur aérien (\"The Three Urns, or the Salvation of the Fatherland, By An Aerial Traveller\") of 1793, led to her arrest. That piece demanded a plebiscite for a choice among three potential forms of government: the first, indivisible republic , the second, a federalist government, or the third, a constitutional monarchy .\nAfter she was arrested, the commissioners searched her house for evidence. When they could not find any in her home, she voluntarily led them to the storehouse where she kept her papers. It was there that the commissioners found an unfinished play titled La France Sauvée ou le Tyran Détroné (\"France Preserved, or The Tyrant Dethroned\"). In the first act (only the first act and a half remain), Marie-Antoinette is planning defence strategies to retain the crumbling monarchy and is confronted by revolutionary forces, including De Gouges herself. The first act ends with De Gouges lecturing the queen for having seditious intentions and on how to lead her people. Both De Gouges and her prosecutor used this play as evidence in her trial. The prosecutor claimed that Olympe's depictions of the queen threatened to stir up sympathy and support for the Royalists, whereas De Gouges stated that the play showed that she had always been a supporter of the revolution. [6]\nThrough her friends, she managed to publish two texts: Olympe de Gouges au tribunal révolutionnaire (\"Olympe de Gouges at the revolutionary tribunal\"), where she related her interrogations and her last work, Une patriote persécutée (\"A [female] patriot persecuted\"), where she condemned the Terror. The Jacobins, who already had executed a King and Queen , were in no mood to tolerate any opposition from the intellectuals. De Gouges was sentenced to death on 2 November 1793, and executed the following day for seditious behaviour and attempting to reinstate the monarchy. [6]\nAs she ascended the scaffold, she spoke her last words to the assembled crowd: \n“Children of the Fatherland, you will avenge my death!”\nEight months later, Robespierre was guillotined without trial.\nEXECUTIONS...\nMarie Antoinette's execution on 16 October 1793.\nMarie Antoinette's last words were \"Pardon me sir, I meant not to do it\", to Henri Sanson the executioner, whose foot she had accidentally stepped on after climbing the scaffold.\nThe execution of Olympe de Gouges, \n3 November 1793,\nHistory of... \n\"Viva la Victime - Guillotine Gallery\" The Chapel Perilous http://www.sepulchritude.com/chapelperilous/decollete/revolt-victims.html \"Editorial Notes to Mary Robinson's Letter to the Women of England\" [discussing Corday and Roland and mentioning de Gouges] Romantic Circles http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/robinson/rnotesb.html \"Names Related to the Guillotine\" [including Corday and Leclerc] The Guillotine Headquarters http://www.metaphor.dk/guillotine/Pages/Names.html \"Palmarès 1792\" Guillotine http://guillotine.site.voila.fr/Palma1792.html Les Guillotinés de la Révolution Française http://les.guillotines.free.fr/index.htm http://les.guillotines.free.fr/index2.htm\nDeclaration of the Rights of Woman\n1791\nBy Olympe De Gouge, read to the National Assembly\n Man, are you capable of being just? It is a woman who poses the question; you will not deprive her of that right at least. Tell me, what gives you sovereign empire to opress my sex? Your strength? Your talents? Observe the Creator in his wisdom; survey in all her grandeur that nature with whom you seem to want to be in harmony, and give me, if you dare, an example of this tyrannical empire. Go back to animals, consult the elements, study plants, finally glance at all the modifications of organic matter, and surrender to the evidence when I offer you the menas; search, probe, and distinguish, if you can, the sexes in the administration of nature. Everywhere you will find them mingled; everywhere they cooperate in harmonious tpgetherness in this immortal masterpiece.\n Man alone has raised his exceptional circumstances to a principle. Bizarre, blind, bloated with science and degenerated--in a century of enlightenment and wisdom--into the crassest ignorance, he wants to command as a despot a sex which is in full possession of its intellectual faculties; he pretends to enjoy the Revolution and to claim his rights to equality in order to say nothing more about it.\nA list of Olympe's plays and essays here. \nABOUT CHARLOTTE...\nCharlotte Corday was a figure of the French Revolution . In 1793, she was executed under the guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat , who was in part responsible, through his role as a politician and journalist, for the more radical course the Revolution had taken. More specifically, he played a substantial role in the political purge of the Girondins , with whom Corday sympathized. His murder was memorialized in a celebrated painting by Jacques-Louis David which shows Marat after Corday had stabbed him to death in his bathtub. In 1847, writer Alphonse de Lamartine gave Corday the posthumous nickname l'ange de l'assassinat (the Angel of Assassination).\nBorn in Saint-Saturnin-des-Ligneries, a hamlet in the commune of Écorches ( Orne ), in Normandy, France, Charlotte Corday was a member of a minor aristocratic family. She was a fifth-generation matrilineal descendant of the dramatist Pierre Corneille . Her parents were cousins. [1]\nWhile Charlotte was a young girl, her mother, Charlotte Marie Jacqueline Gaultier de Mesnival and her older sister died. Her father, Jacques François de Corday, seigneur d'Armont (1737–1798), unable to cope with his grief over their death, sent Charlotte and her younger sister to the Abbaye-aux-Dames convent in Caen, where she had access to the abbey's library and first encountered the writings of Plutarch , Rousseau and Voltaire . [2] :154–5 After 1791, she lived in Caen with her cousin, Madame Le Coustellier de Bretteville-Gouville. The two developed a close relationship and Corday was the sole heir to her cousin's estate. [2] :157\nMarat's assassination\nBaudry, Paul Jaques Aimé (1860): under the Second Empire , Marat was seen as a revolutionary monster and Corday as a heroine of France, represented in the wall-map.\nJean-Paul Marat was a member of the radical Jacobin faction which had a leading role during the Reign of Terror . As a journalist, he exerted power and influence through his newspaper, L'Ami du peuple (\"The Friend of the People\").\nCorday's decision to kill Marat was stimulated not only by her revulsion at the September Massacres , for which she held Marat responsible, but for her fear of an all-out civil war. [2] :161 She believed that Marat was threatening the Republic, and that his death would end violence throughout the nation. She also believed that King Louis XVI should not have been executed. [2] :160\nDavid (1793), The Death of Marat\nOn 9 July 1793, Corday left her cousin, carrying a copy of Plutarch 's Parallel Lives , and went to Paris, where she took a room at the Hôtel de Providence. She bought a kitchen knife with a six-inch blade. She then wrote herAddresse aux Français amis des lois et de la paix(\"Address to the French people, friends of Law and Peace\") to explain her motives for assassinating Marat.\nShe went first to the National Assembly to carry out her plan, but discovered that Marat no longer attended meetings. She went to Marat's home before noon on 13 July, claiming to have knowledge of a planned Girondist uprising in Caen ; she was turned away. On her return that evening, Marat admitted her. At the time, he conducted most of his affairs from a bathtub because of a debilitating skin condition . Marat wrote down the names of the Girondists that she gave to him, then she pulled out the knife and plunged it into his chest, piercing his lung , aorta and left ventricle .[ citation needed ] He called out, Aidez-moi, ma chère amie! (\"Help me, my dear friend!\") and died.\nThis is the moment memorialised by Jacques-Louis David 's painting (illustration, right). The iconic pose of Marat dead in his bath has been reviewed from a different angle in Baudry 's posthumous painting of 1860, both literally and interpretatively: Corday, rather than Marat, has been made the hero of the action.\nTrial and execution\nGillray, James (1793) (Caricature),Corday's trial\nAt her trial, when Corday testified that she had carried out the assassination alone, saying \"I killed one man to save 100,000,\" she was likely alluding to Maximilien Robespierre 's words before the execution of King Louis XVI. On 17 July 1793, four days after Marat was killed, Corday was executed under the guillotine and her corpse was disposed of in the Madeleine Cemetery .\nAfter her decapitation, a man named Legros lifted her head from the basket and slapped it on the cheek. Charles-Henri Sanson, the executioner, indignantly rejected published reports that Legros was one of his assistants. However, Sanson stated in his diary that Legros was in fact a carpenter who had been hired to make repairs to the guillotine. [5] Witnesses report an expression of \"unequivocal indignation\" on her face when her cheek was slapped. This slap was considered unacceptable and Legros was imprisoned for three months because of his outburst. [6]\nMichelena, Arturo (1889), Charlotte Corday being conducted to her execution\nJacobin leaders had her body autopsied immediately after her death to see if she was a virgin . They believed there was a man sharing her bed and the assassination plans. To their dismay, she was found to be virgo intacta (a virgin ), a condition that focused more attention on women throughout France—laundresses, housewives, domestic servants—who were also rising up against authority after having been controlled by men for so long. [7]\nThe assassination did not stop the Jacobins or the Terror: Marat became a martyr, and busts of him replaced crucifixes and religious statues that had been banished under the new regime.\nAbout MARIE...\nThere is so much.\nInitially charmed by her personality and beauty, the French people generally came to dislike her, accusing \"L'Autre-chienne\" (a pun in French playing with the words \"Autrichienne\" meaning Austrian (woman) and \"Autre-chienne\" meaning Other bitch) of being profligate and promiscuous, [2] and of harboring sympathies for France's enemies, particularly Austria, her country of origin. [3]\nAfter the royal family's flight to Varennes , Louis XVI was deposed and the monarchy abolished on 21 September 1792 ; the royal family was subsequently imprisoned at the Temple Prison . Nine months after her husband's execution , Marie Antoinette was herself tried, convicted of treason , and executed by guillotine on 16 October 1793.\nPortrait from 1780s\nABOUT ANGELLE'S LIFE in HAITI\nFree Women of Color in 18th C. Caribbean\nHaitian Rev!\nThe Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was a slave revolt in the French colony of Saint-Domingue , which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic . The Haitian Revolution was the only slave revolt which led to the founding of a state . The revolution was one of the two successful attempts, along with the American Revolution , to achieve permanent independence from a European colonial power for an American state before the 19th century.\nFrançois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, also Toussaint Bréda,Toussaint-Louverture (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was the leader of the Haitian Revolution . His military genius and political acumen led to the establishment of the independent black state of Haiti , transforming an entire society of slaves into a free, self-governing people. [1] The success of the Haitian Revolution shook the institution of slavery throughout the New World . [2]\nSaint-Domingue's free people of color , most notably Julien Raimond , had been actively appealing to France for full civil equality with whites since the 1780s. Raimond used the French Revolution to make this the major colonial issue before the National Assembly of France . In October 1790, Vincent Ogé , another wealthy free man of color from the colony, returned home from Paris, where he had been working with Raimond.[ citation needed ] Convinced that a law passed by the French Constituent Assembly gave full civil rights to wealthy men of color, Ogé demanded the right to vote . When the colonial governor refused, Ogé led a brief insurgency in the area around Cap Français . He was captured in early 1791, and brutally executed by being \"broken on the wheel \" before being beheaded. [7] Ogé was not fighting against slavery, but his treatment was cited by later slave rebels as one of the factors in their decision to rise up in August 1791 and resist treaties with the colonists . The conflict up to this point was between factions of whites, and between whites and free coloreds. Enslaved blacks watched from the sidelines. [4]\nOn the 4th of February 1794 under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre , the French Convention voted for the abolition of slavery [...] Robespierre is still revered by the poor of Haiti today.\nAND HER CULTURE IN FRANCE...\n\"There are no Slaves in France\": \nA Re-Examination of Slave Laws in Eighteenth Century France\nSamuel L. Chatman\nBlacks in French culture in the late-18th and early 19th centuries\nWilliam Alexander\nThe theoretical underpinnings of abolition, the humanitarianism and belief in natural rights, were offset by the simultaneous derogation of Blacks by philosophers, belles-lettrists, and naturalists.\nBlack skin color was identified with servitude and was considered reflective of the very soul of Black people. Even those Enlightenment figures who criticized the slave trade and slavery rarely accorded Blacks the full measure of humanity. A decade before the French Revolution, Blacks from the colonies were forbidden to enter France. The rationales advanced included fears of the consequences of race mixing and the growing nervousness that Blacks visiting France would return to the colonies and infect the slaves with their sense of independence and mobility. In my research on the place of Blacks in emerging racial theory I am trying to bring more clarity to the issue of the transition from cultural ethnocentrism to outright biological racism.\nAt the same time, the actual situation of Blacks in France was more nuanced. While the actual numbers of Blacks in France during the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries were relatively small, some Blacks and “people of color” experienced assimilation in port cities and Paris. Obviously there were examples of race mixing who were not physically identifiable; but there are several examples of people of color who were recognized as such and were able to thrive in Enlightenment society. ( more )\nFRENCH REVOLUTION!",
"The Storming of the Bastille: HistoryWiz French Revolution\nThe Storming of the Bastille\", ... On July 14, 1789, the Paris mob was able to get hold of 3000 rifles and ... one which is still celebrated in France every year.\nThe Storming of the Bastille: HistoryWiz French Revolution\nby Hans-Jurgen Lusebrink\n \nThe Bastille was a medieval fortress with 8 towers, which at the time of the French Revolution housed only a few common criminals. Taken from the French word ‘bastide’, meaning fortress, the Bastille was constructed to defend the eastern wall of Paris in 1382. But because it had previously been used to house political prisoners, it had long been a symbol of royal tyranny. Cardinal Richelieu, acting for King Louis XIII, had imprisoned enemies of the king. Prisoners were arrested by a secret warrant issued by the King called a lettres-de-cachet. They were not given a trial, nor informed of the charges, but simply held in secret. If they were released they were instructed not to reveal any thing they had seen or experienced inside the prison. This was long before the reign of Louis XVI, but the mystique of secrecy and terror made it a focus of the anger of the Parisian mob.\nThe Storming of the Bastille\", Visible in the center is the arrest of Bernard René Jourdan, Marquis De Launay 1789, Jean-Pierre Houël (1735-1813)\nOn July 14, 1789, the Paris mob was able to get hold of 3000 rifles and a few cannon. They went to the Bastille in search of more weapons and ammunition. The fortress was only weakly guarded with 30 Swiss Guards and 85 Invalides. The mob, joined by some of the King's soldiers, stormed the Bastille. The commander Marquis De Launay tried to surrender, but the mob would not accept it. He was killed as they poured through the gates. No guard was left alive\nLater in the day the prisoners were released. There were only seven: two were convicted forgers; one was a loose-living aristocrat put in prison by his own father. Nevertheless it was a great symbolic event, one which is still celebrated in France every year.\nliberated prisoners parading later in the day",
"Paris | Michael Weening: a few pictures\n... the Victory is believed to date to between 220 and 190 BC. When first discovered on the island ... on the Aegean island of Milos, (also Melos ... island of Melos ...\nParis | Michael Weening: a few pictures\nMichael Weening: a few pictures\nNear my office in Tokyo. Confusing.\nShare this:\nReply\nAs we walked back to our hotel, we came across this monument which I have had a tough time puzzling out. It says ‘memorial national de la guerre d’algerie’ which I assume is a monument to the Algerian War which is worth reading about here . A few tidbits:\nThe Algerian War remains a contentious event today. According to historian Benjamin Stora , doctor in history and sociology and teacher at Paris VII , and one of the leading historians of the Algerian war, memories concerning the war remain fragmented, with no common ground to speak of:\n\"There is no such thing as a History of the Algerian War, there is just a multitude of histories and personal paths through it. Everyone involved considers that they lived through it in their own way, and any attempt to take in the Algerian War globally is immediately thrown out by the protagonists.\" [41]\nStora further points out that \"The phase of memorial reconciliation between the two sides of the sea is still a long way off.\" [41] This was recently illustrated by the UMP ‘s vote of the February 23, 2005 law on colonialism , which asserted that colonialism had globally been \"positive.\" Thus, a teacher in one of the elite’s high school of Paris can declare:\n\"Yes, colonisation has had positive effects. After all, we did give to Algeria modern infrastructures, a system of education, libraries, social centers… There were only 10% Algerian students in 1962? This is not much, of course, but it is not nothing either!\" [42]\nAs we walked back to the hotel, we stopped at the Ferris wheel in the Place de la Concorde . The sun was going down and it was a great way to end the trip.\nSo much still to see. Wonderful city.\nShare this:\nLike this:\nLike Loading...\nReply\nAfter the Louvre we headed to the Eiffel Tower (of course). We did not feel like fighting the crowds and were unable to get a reservation in the tower restaurant (despite an amazing effort from the Concierge). Exiting the metro at Trocadero (Paris has an amazing subway system), we enjoyed the view across the river.\nAs you exit the metro, you come across a WWI monument to the people who fought the war.\nAs we looked down on the Eiffel tower from the Trocadero , we did not realize the importance of the location:\nFor the Exposition Internationale of 1937 , the old Palais du Trocadéro was demolished and replaced by the Palais de Chaillot which now tops the hill. It was designed in classicizing \" moderne \" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau , Jacques Carlu and Léon Azéma . Like the old palais, the palais de Chaillot features two wings shaped to form a wide arc: indeed, these wings were built on the foundations of those of the former building. However, unlike the old palais, the wings are independent buildings and there is no central element to connect them: instead, a wide esplanade leaves an open view from the place du Trocadéro to the Eiffel Tower and beyond.\nThe buildings are decorated with quotations by Paul Valéry , and they now house a number of museums:\nthe Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine , including the Musée national des Monuments Français , in the eastern (Paris) wing, from which one also enters the Théâtre national de Chaillot , a theater below the esplanade.\nIt was on the front terrace of the palace that Adolf Hitler was pictured during his short tour of the vanquished city in 1940, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. This became an iconic image of the Second World War .\nIt is in the Palais de Chaillot that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10 , 1948 . This event is now commemorated by a stone, and the esplanade is known as the esplanade des droits de l’homme (\"esplanade of human rights\").\nI never knew who Foch was. Interesting quote from him:\nHe advocated peace terms that would make Germany unable to ever pose a threat to France again. His words after the Treaty of Versailles , \"This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years\" would prove prophetic.\nEnjoying a baguette, in the sun on a brisk December day in front of the Eiffel tower was a magical experience. We then headed down to the river and enjoyed a boat ride – a Paris must do. A few sights captured below.\nAlexander III bridge :\nPont Alexandre III is an arch bridge that spans the Seine , connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter, widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in Paris [1] [2] .\nThe bridge, with its exuberant Art Nouveau lamps, cherubs , nymphs and winged horses at either end, was built between 1896 and 1900. It is named after Tsar Alexander III , who had concluded the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892. His son Nicholas II laid the foundation stone in October 1896. The style of the bridge reflects that of the Grand Palais , to which it leads on the right bank.\nNot the kind of detail you would ever see on a Canadian bridge.\n \nAnother Egyptian obelisk liberated, the Obelisk of Luxor in the Place de la Concorde:\nThe center of the Place is occupied by a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II . It is one of two the Egyptian government gave to the French in the nineteenth century. The other one stayed in Egypt, too difficult and heavy to move to France with the technology at that time. In the 1990s, President François Mitterrand gave the second obelisk back to the Egyptians.\nThe obelisk once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple . The viceroy of Egypt , Mehemet Ali , offered the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to France in 1831. The obelisk arrived in Paris on December 21, 1833. Three years later, on October 25, 1836, King Louis-Philippe had it placed in the center of Place de la Concorde, where a guillotine used to stand during the Revolution.\nThe Louvre.\nThe architecture of old European cities is breathtaking.\nNotre Dame. We did not take the time to visit, the boys are all ‘churched’ out.\nAnd it was finally time to start walking back to the hotel.\nShare this:\nLike this:\nLike Loading...\nReply\nOur third day in Paris was one of those days that we usually say we will never do, completely full from start to finish. The first stop was The Louvre and as one would expect, it was packed. We decided on a whirlwind tour where we agreed to hit the big three.\nThe Winged Victory of Samothrace :\nThe product of an unknown sculptor, presumably of Rhodian origin, the Victory is believed to date to between 220 and 190 BC. When first discovered on the island of Samothrace (in Greek , Σαμοθρακη — Samothraki) and published in 1863 it was suggested that the Victory was erected by the Macedonian general Demetrius I Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Cyprus between 295 and 289 BC. The Samothrace Archaeological Museum continues to follow these originally established provenance and dates. [7] Ceramic evidence discovered in recent excavations has revealed that the pedestal was set up about 200 BC, though some scholars still date it as early as 250 BC or as late as 180. [8] Certainly, the parallels with figures and drapery from the Pergamon Altar (dated about 170 BC) seem strong.\nIn April 1863, the Victory was discovered by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau , who sent it to Paris in the same year. The statue has been reassembled in stages since its discovery. The prow was reconstructed from marble debris at the site by Champoiseau in 1879 and assembled in situ before being shipped to Paris. Since 1884 it has dominated the Daru staircase. [9] displayed in the Louvre , while a plaster replica stands in the museum at the original location of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace. The discovery in 1948 of the hand raised in salute, which matched a fragment in Vienna, established the modern reconstruction — without trumpet — of the hand raised in epiphanic greeting.\nVenus de Milo . A fascinating history:\nThe Venus de Milo was discovered by a peasant named Yorgos Kentrotas in 1820, inside a buried niche within the ancient city ruins of Milos, on the Aegean island of Milos , (also Melos or Milo). The statue was found in two main pieces (the upper torso and the lower draped legs) along with several herms (pillars topped with heads), fragments of the upper left arm and left hand holding an apple, and an inscribed plinth. Olivier Voutier , a French naval officer, was exploring the island. With the help of the young farmer, Voutier began to dig around what were clearly ancient ruins. Within a few hours Voutier had uncovered a piece of art that would become renowned throughout the world. About ten days later, another French naval officer, Jules Dumont d’Urville , recognized its significance and arranged for a purchase by the French ambassador to Turkey, Charles-François de Riffardeau, marquis, later duc de Rivière .\nTwelve days out of Touloun the ship was anchored off the island of Melos. Ashore, d’Urville and [fellow officer] Matterer met a Greek peasant, who a few days earlier while ploughing had uncovered blocks of marble and a statue in two pieces, which he offered cheaply to the two young men. It was of a naked woman with an apple in her raised left hand, the right hand holding a draped sash falling from hips to feet, both hands damaged and separated from the body. Even with a broken nose, the face was beautiful. D’Urville the classicist recognized the Venus of the Judgement of Paris. It was, of course, the Venus de Milo. He was eager to acquire it, but his practical captain, apparently uninterested in antiquities, said there was nowhere to store it on the ship, so the transaction lapsed. The tenacious d’Urville on arrival at Constantinople showed the sketches he had made to the French ambassador, the Marquis de Riviére, who sent his secretary in a French Navy vessel to buy it for France. Before he could take delivery, French sailors had to fight Greek brigands for possession. In the mêlée the statue was roughly dragged across rocks to the ship, breaking off both arms, and the sailors refused to go back to search for them. [2]\nNews of the discovery took longer than normal to get to the French ambassador. The peasant grew tired of waiting for payment and was pressured into selling to a local priest, who planned to present the statue as a gift to a translator working for the Sultan in Constantinople (present day Istanbul , Turkey ).\nThe French ambassador’s representative arrived just as the statue was being loaded aboard a ship bound for Constantinople and persuaded the island’s chief citizens to annul the sale and honor the first offer.\nUpon learning of the reversal of the sale, the translator had the chiefs whipped and fined but was eventually reprimanded by the Sultan after the French ambassador complained to him about the mistreatment of the island citizenry. The citizens were reimbursed and ceded all future claims to the statue in gratitude.\nAnd last but not least, the Mona Lisa : which was protected by glass as it has been vandalized twice (acid thrown on it once, a rock another time).\nWe did not have a lot of time (and it was just too busy), and we passed by a thousand great pieces (which means we definitely need to go back). One noteworthy part for me was when we passed the Greek and Egyptian displays (having been there, we skipped past). It left me reflecting upon the comments of our guides in those countries and how their history no longer belonged to them. Each went on to explain how large parts of their history is in the museums of the world (Britain and England in particular). Consider the following ….\nFrom the Parthenon in Athens, hundreds of statues were taken (the second picture being where this would reside had it been left behind):\nA sphinx …. (well over 6 feet high):\nOf course. You need to look up. This is just the roof …\nHow it looks before they go on display:\nAnd that was just the morning.\nShare this:\nReply\n \nAfter enjoying the Catacombs, we headed toward the Eiffel Tower and the Military Museum. Our first stop was lunch at a little French deli near École Militaire . The food was fantastic and we did everything that we could to get the French lady who was serving us to smile (she certainly was not going to speak English).\nThe École Militaire is a vast military training facility near the Eiffel Tower and had I read the map correctly, I would have realized that it was not the Musée de l’Armée that we were looking for. It is very vast and in the biting wind, the troops were getting a bit frustrated that I could not find the entrance.\nAs we circled, we came across this memorial and to the best of my knowledge this refers to the round-ups of Jews and other political targets in Paris:\nDecember 12, 1941:\nArrests in homes. Roundups carried out in Paris, regardless of nationality but aimed particularly at French Jews (dignified Jews) – sent to the camp of Compiegne.\nComing around another corner, I finally realized we were circling around the wrong building (DOH). Guess I should have looked up earlier.\nI should have realized that it was the building with the gold roof.\nThe Musée de l’Armée is a museum at Les Invalides in Paris , France . Originally built as a hospital and home for disabled soldiers by Louis XIV , it now houses the Tomb of Napoleon and the museum of the Army of France. The museum’s collections cover the time period from antiquity until the 20th century.\nThe start of our tour was the tomb of Napoleon (among others). This is a magnificent building dedicated to one of the world’s greatest generals:\nWithin Les Invalides is the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte .\nThe former emperor’s body was returned to France from St Helena in 1840 and, after a state funeral, was laid to rest in St Jerome’s Chapel while his tomb was completed in 1861.\nThere was no expense spared for the tomb and Napoleon Bonaparte’s body lies within six separate coffins. They are made of iron, mahogany, two of lead, ebony, and the outer one is red porphyry.\nThe tomb sits on a green-granite pedestal surrounded by 12 pillars of victory.\nI found this book very interesting, it is Napoleon’s notes about Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, which influenced his thinking. The Scots would be proud.\nWhat is also interesting (and not publicized) is the fact that the tomb also hosted hundreds of President Mitterrand’s spies who kept tabs on his enemies .\nA FORMER French spy chief has revealed how a bunker beneath Napoleon’s tomb was used by hundreds of secret policemen to monitor the conversations of politicians, writers and celebrities.\nPierre Charroy, 69, a retired general, lifted the veil last week on one of the most sensitive secrets of French intelligence when he told a court about the so-called inter-ministerial control group, or GIC, that he ran for 16 years.\nHe is one of 12 accused in the “Elysée-gate” scandal, a case that has made history by showing the extraordinary lengths to which the late President François Mitterrand went to keep tabs on his enemies.\nAbusing the near absolute powers of the French presidency, the Socialist leader set up a cell of security officials in the Elysée Palace to protect secrets such as the existence of his illegitimate daughter and his work as an official in the collaborationist wartime Vichy government.\nWe then headed into the museum. Put a male in a war museum, you can never go wrong. The museum covers all major wars and France’s colonial days. A few highlights for me ….\nIt is scary to think that exploitation of Africans was so common place in an era not that long past. These posters are from 1905, The paper on the right was denouncing the exploitation of black Africans (November, 1905).\nDuring the Battle of the Marne (WWI), the German’s tried to encircle Paris. At one point, the legend of the Taxis of the Marne was created, where 670 taxis took 6,000 troops to the front as the rail system was too congested. You can read about it here . It should be noted that the fares were paid, at 27% of the metered rate.\nThis weapon stopped me in my tracks. In the middle of machine guns and artillery from WWI was a French made cross bow. It was used to hurl grenades and made from wood. Someone must not have seen the memo about the move to Gatling guns and mortars.\nThe tank changed the cavalry but it was the Gatling gun that changed man’s approach to infantry. This 1939 Gatling gun looked menacing.\nThis map reaffirmed my admiration for the British in World War II. A small island of blue holding out against the Axis regime. Thank God for the British and Churchill.\nThe benefits of video games? My boys could name an astonishing number of weapons in that museum including the German Goliath , the tracked mine (thanks to Company of Heroes ). It was bigger than I imagined.\nSo ended day 2, strolling past a beautiful flower shop on our way back to the hotel.\nShare this:\nReply\nWe decided to stay in the heart of the city, at the Hyatt which made it easy to get to the subway and move around Paris (public transit is fantastic).\nWalking out of the hotel we received our first big Paris experience – the cold. It was hovering around –2 but there was wind chill. As a family of Canadians who have not seen a Canadian winter in 2 years, we found –7ish crisp VERY cold (how quick we forget).\nParis is littered with great food shops. As we walked to the subway stop we noticed these truffles in the window. Note the price for the white truffles. These are not Cadbury truffles (smile).\nOur first stop was the Paris Catacombs . We had to wait in line for a half hour and noticed these protestors in the park next to us. The boys went up and asked what they were protesting. Turns out they were protesting smoking, although I wonder if they were protesting people who smoked or the Paris smoking ban ?\n \nThe line slowly moved forward and after a short wait, we entered the catacombs :\nThe Catacombs of Paris or Catacombes de Paris are a famous underground ossuary in Paris , France . Organized in a renovated section of the city’s vast network of subterranean tunnels and caverns towards the end of the 18th century, it became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century and has been open to the public on a regular basis from 1867. The official name for the catacombs is l’Ossuaire Municipal.\nThis cemetery covers a portion of Paris’ former mines near the Left Bank ‘s Place Denfert-Rochereau , in a location that was just outside the city gates before Paris expanded in 1860. Although this cemetery covers only a small section of underground tunnels comprising \"les carrières de Paris\" (\"the quarries of Paris\"), Parisians today popularly refer to the entire network as \"the catacombs\".\nThe catacombs are massive. We exited at least 6 blocks from where we entered.\nI found this sign at the entrance quite interesting. Who would steal bones? Turns out lots of people. At the exit the security guard had a stack of bones and skulls that he had confiscated from people. But he doesn’t bother calling the police.\nIt is roughly 135 steps down to the catacombs, and then it is through a series of tunnels. My camera instantly fogged up (and kept fogging) because the humidity was very high, with water dripping from the ceilings. The ambiance was quite effective and unsettling.\nAfter a myriad of tunnels, you finally arrive at the catacombs. The Quarrymen’s foot bath is where the workers would draw water for personal use. The water was a rather eerie green.\nAnd then there it is. The bones of 6 million (estimated) Parisians. Initially, the bones were simply thrown into the tunnels but during Napoleon’s time it was ordered that they be arranged. The front bones are in neat piles, with the rest jumbled in behind. It is genuinely creepy (but a must see).\nVarious designs adorn the bone ‘walls’.\nPart way through the catacombs you come upon a sculpture carved into the wall, Port Mahon gallery, carved by Decure, a veteran of the armies of Louis XV. The town of Port Mahon is in Minorca, where Decure was kept prisoner by the English.\nThere are few bodies that were actually buried in the Catacombs. Those killed during the massacres of September 1792 were:\nThe September Massacres [1] were a wave of mob violence which overtook Paris in late summer 1792 , during the French Revolution . By the time it had subsided, half the prison population of Paris had been executed: some 1,200 trapped prisoners, including many women and young boys. Sporadic violence, in particular against the Roman Catholic Church , would continue throughout France for nearly a decade to come. [2]\nAn amazing start to day 2 … and a final bone design to close …. creepy.\nShare this:\nReply\nOver the Christmas break our family elected to spend it in Paris. Our first decision was an easy one, spend time in the airport during the holidays or drive to Paris. We quickly settled on the drive (with a few reservations as it is much longer than our Brugee journey) via the Eurotunnel.\nAgain, it was surprisingly easy. Approximately 6 hours door to door with roughly 1 hour waiting on the train (to board). The tunnel itself is an engineering wonder and sitting inside the train with a couple hundred other cars is surprisingly relaxing. Correction, relaxing once I had asked the people in front of us to roll up their windows as I was growing weary of listening to High School Musical 3 blaring from their DVD player.\nDriving into Paris around 4 p.m. (We are not into the whole ‘get on the road early’ thing), we headed directly to our first tourist destination: The Pompidou Center :\nCentre Georges Pompidou (constructed 1971–1977 and known as the Pompidou Centre in English) is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles and the Marais . It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture .\nIt houses the Bibliothèque publique d’information , a vast public library, the Musée National d’Art Moderne, and IRCAM , a centre for music and acoustic research. Because of its location, the Centre is known locally as Beaubourg. It is named after Georges Pompidou , who was President of France from 1969 to 1974, and was officially opened on 31 January 1977 by the then-French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing .\nAn interesting building, designed with the ‘guts’ of the building on the outside.\nThe center is dedicated to a French President who loved the arts, with a library and a few museums. We went straight to the top to catch the sunset from the restaurant Georges . It was a spectacular view of the city which you enjoy from here via their live webcams or here for a 360 degree view..\nThe view needed to be great, because the food was average, expensive and the service was VERY poor. It was very clear to me that they picked their staff based on their looks and whether or not they would complement the ‘modern art, trendy location’ ambiance versus aptitude (they would rival the British for bad service). But like I said, we were there for the view:\nFrustrated, but still enthusiastic, we headed down to the very cool Junior Pompidou interactive gallery, filled with interactive light and music displays. The boys particularly enjoyed posing for the light wall.\nIt was then off for a quick tour of the modern art museum, which has digitized much of the collection here . Of course, this is where the pragmatic small town boy in me comes out. I see art in many of the pieces, but am really challenged by others.\nFor example, I get this piece of art: This is a protest piece. This is an artist who has something to say and is expressing his point of view. Of course, this is why it is not surprise to me that during the same year that he made this piece, he was also busy signing manifestos with his fellow art buddies :\nOctober 27\nSigns a manifesto with Klein, Raysse, Hains, Tinguely Spoerri and Villeglé, thus founding the “Nouveau Realisme” with the Critic/Art Historian Pierre Restany. New Realism= new perceptive approaches of reality.\nThis fellow is deep. Apologies for the picture, no filters on hand. Click the link above for one without reflections.\nNow, here is where I struggle. To me, this piece, in British terms, is ‘ taking the piss’ . I know, the art elite are in shock. How can I not see it? Have I no vision?\nTo me, this artist is laughing all the way to the bank. Seriously, am I the only one? And to make it even funnier, it is a prominent location near the entrance.\nThe title of this magnificent piece? Dark Blue Panel by Ellsworth Kelly. When commenting on his style:\nWilliam Rubin noted that “Kelly’s development had been resolutely inner-directed: neither a reaction to Abstract Expressionism nor the outcome of a dialogue with his contemporaries.” [7] Many of his paintings consist of a single (usually bright) color, with some canvases being of irregular shape, sometimes called “ shaped canvases .” The quality of line seen in his paintings and in the form of his shaped canvases is very subtle, and implies perfection. This is demonstrated in his piece Block Island Study 1959.\nI love reading art reviews. Said one art critic to the other over a glass of white wine ‘Magnificent. Look at the way he has taken this 12’ by 12’ canvas and only covered it in the darkest black, and only black. Minimalist mastery. It is like I am looking into the tortured soul of the artist. I must have this, it is a bargain at $6,000’.\nTo add to the humour of the situation, Ellsworth is an American artist. I wonder when the French will finally realize that this is simply an American getting the last laugh? And not just an American … A New Yorker …\nSo ends day one, with a laugh. Thanks Ellsworth.\nShare this:",
"Dinky Toys Explained - Everything Explained Today\nWhat is Dinky Toys? Dinky Toys was at Binns Road, Liverpool, ... Hornby Trains model train sets ... Meccano Ltd began shipping Dinky Toy parts to South Africa in ...\nDinky Toys Explained\nDinky Toys Explained\nMeccano Ltd , Triang , Airfix , Matchbox\nDinky Toys are die-cast zamac miniature vehicles which were produced by Meccano Ltd – makers of Hornby Trains , which were named after founder Frank Hornby . Dinky Toys in England were made from 1935 to 1979. The factory was at Binns Road, Liverpool , England . Dinky Toys were among the most popular diecast vehicles ever made and predate other diecast marques, including Corgi, Matchbox, and Mattel's Hot Wheels (Ralston 2009, 7; Richardson 1999, 128).\nPre-war history\nFrank Hornby established Meccano Ltd. in 1901 to make metal erector construction sets (Wainwright 2015). The company soon moved into trains with the first O gauge clockwork train appearing in 1920 (Ellis 2009, p. 15; Wainwright 2013).\nIn the early 1930s, Meccano had made many types of tin plate and other metal cars, like its Morgan and BSA three-wheelers, mostly in kit form (Interesting 1934, pp. 306–307). In 1933 Meccano Ltd issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement their O scale (1/45) Hornby Trains model train sets (Force 1988, p. 6; Ramsay 1933, p. 88). These accessories were first called \"Hornby Modelled Miniatures\", but in the April 1934 issue of Meccano Magazine they were given the name 'Meccano Dinky Toys' for the first time (Meccano Magazine 1934 p. 332) in August 1935, the name Meccano was dropped and the marque became DINKY TOYS until 1971(Encyclopédie Dinky Toys). By December 1934 the Dinky name was also used for the 'Dinky Builder' sets where coloured flat metal pieces could be hinged together to make buildings and vehicles (Esplen 2013).\nOne story is that the 'Dinky' name came from a nickname that a friend gave to one of Frank Hornby's daughters. The word could have been derived from the Scottish \"dink\" meaning neat or fine (Powerhouse Museum (Simpson 2008).\nThe legacy of vehicles\nAt this time, six vehicles were introduced (designated 22a through f), including a sports car, a sports coupe, a truck, a delivery van, a farm tractor, and a tank, they were all cast in lead. Soon after the first Dinky model car available individually was numbered 23 – a sports car based on the MG Magic Midget. At this early time a series 24 (a-h) were introduced and included a generic ambulance (which was made until the late 1940s) a grand sport open four-seater, a grand sport two-seater, a coupe and a limousine (Gardner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 46–47). The 24 series was also made in France.\nSome smaller vehicles were also produced alongside model track workers, passengers, station staff and other O scale track side accessories (Meccano Dinky 1934 p. 332). All of these early cars were inaccurate representations and had die-cast metal bodies, chassis and wheels with rubber tyres. By August 1935 there were around 200 different products in the Dinky Toys range which included die-cast ships, aeroplanes and small trains. Dinky Toys model cars were available individually in trade packs of 6 cars per pack. Most models would not be available in individual boxes until 1952.\nThe number of commercial vehicles expanded with the addition of Series 28 which included many delivery vans. In 1935, a new series 30 was introduced which featured accurate likenesses of specific vehicles for the first time. These included a generic ambulance, a Daimler saloon, a Vauxhall saloon, a Chrysler Airflow saloon, and a Rolls-Royce saloon (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 46–47). Smaller Matchbox-sized Austin 7 saloons and tourers were also made. About this same time, several models were also made and marketed in France. Liveries of well known companies began to decorate the commercial vehicles.\nSeries 30 included:\n30f Ambulance\nIn 1938, a new Series 36 was introduced. Most of these models were also made after World War II up to 1948. Production was halted during the war while the Binns Road factory in Liverpool produced many items for the War effort. Models in series 36, meanwhile, included a Rover Saloon, a Bentley 2 seat sports coupe, an Armstrong-Siddeley limousine, a British Salmson 4 seater convertible, a British Salmson 2 seat convertible, and a Humber Vogue coupe (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 48–49). Chassis were cast with open holes in them, saving expense and metal. Provisions were made in some models for attachment of metal drivers, but not many appeared before the war, making them more valuable (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, p. 48).\nDinkys had acute problems on early models with zinc pest also known wrongly as metal fatigue, caused by impure alloys in which corossion happens between molecules causing cracking of the metal (Harvey 1974, p. 1997). Metal would then crumble prematurely. This was much more common before the war in the years 1938 - 1941, and a main reason it is rare to find surviving toys in good condition from this period (Ramsay 1993, p. 88). Some early castings have survived in numbers, while others are rare without some form of damage - such as the 28/2 Series vans. Another theory is that lead from Hornby train and Dinky Toys production, lead ties from sacks and foil from cigarettes wraping found their way into the metal, corrupting it.\nMilitary\nBetween 1937 and 1939, a number of military vehicles numbered from 151 to 162 were introduced. These were painted army green and consisted of a medium and a light tank, an Austin 7 military car, a six-wheeled truck, a reconnaissance car, a searchlight lorry, an anti aircraft gun, a light Dragon tractor with limber and 19 pdr gun. Most interesting were several fairly detailed trailers, including: amler, cooker trailer and water tank trailer. The military offerings were produced through 1941 though a few select models - the clever 161b Anti-Aircraft Gun, the 151a medium tank and some of the trailers - were also made again in 1946–1955 after the war (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nPre-war models were fitted with thin dia 1.626 mm. (0.064 in.) axles and the post war axles were 2.032 mm. (0.08 in.). The pre-war hubs were smooth and after the war, there was a raised part in the center of the hub. Tracks on the tanks and the 162a Light Dragon Artillery Tractor were done with wire-link sprocket chain wrapped around the hubs. This gave a mechanical, but not very realistic, appearance to the tracks. With the Anti-Aircraft Gun, the side panels folded and not only did the gun swivel 360 degrees, but it could be moved from level to about a 50-degree angle upward. The searchlight was also adjustable in horizontal and vertical directions.\nMilitary models, however, were made up through the end of production in the late 1970s. A wide variety of military vehicles were produced, like the Jeep-like Austin Champ with driver and passengers.\nAircraft and ships\nIn the early days of the Dinky Toys range aeroplanes and ships formed a considerable part of the output of the Binns Road factory alongside models of cars, vans and trucks. Both civilian and military aircraft were subjects for the Dinky Toys modellers, and the model of the Spitfire was also sold in a special presentation box between 1939 and 1941 as part of The Spitfire Fund in order to raise money for the supply of a real Spitfire to the Royal Air Force. Some models were clearly identified whereas others re-issued in 1945 had generic names such as Heavy Bomber (66a) and Two Seater Fighter (66c). The reason for this is not clear and it may have been that these were not true representations of particular aircraft types, but there were rumours that some models of aircraft and ships were disguised so that enemy agents would not be able to recognise allied aircraft and shipping from the Dinky Toys models. This was of particular importance in the production of French Dinky models due to the political friction in Europe before the war and the fact that France was occupied by the Axis forces during hostilities. These theories do not stand as the models with generic names were issued in 1945 and at that time there was no enemy any more, the allies had dealt with them. (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nProduction of model aircraft resumed after the war with a mixture re-issues of pre-war and new models of civilian airliners and new jet-powered aircraft. Production of Dinky planes tailed off in 1968 but was resurgent in 1971 with a range of World War II types complete with battery-powered propellers, modern jet fighters, and even a Sea King helicopter. These large scale planes had been developed by Airfix but were made by Meccano Ltd. which had just been bought by Airfix.\nThe range included:\n707 Avro Vulcan – renumbered as 749 before release\n708 Vickers Viscount Airliner (BEA) (1957)\n732 Gloster Meteor (1946) – re-issue of 70e\n732 Bell Police Helicopter – same issue number as above (Meteor) – 1974 release\n733 Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star – re-issue of 70f\n718 Hawker Hurricane Mk IIe (1972) – motorised propeller\n719 Supermarine Spitfire Mk IV (1969) – motorised propeller\n731 SEPECAT Jaguar (1973) – retracting undercarriage\n749 Avro Vulcan (1955) – boxes marked \"992\" – \"Supertoys\" range\n997 SE 210 Caravelle Airliner (1962) made alternatively in France and in England – \"Super toys\" range\n998 Bristol Britannia Airliner (1959)\n999 Comet Airliner (1956) – re-issue of 702\nAlthough the production of aircraft models continued after the war, the heyday of Dinky ships was between 1934 and 1939. The models were cast from the same unstable alloy that was used across the entire immediate pre-war Dinky range and have therefore also suffered from metal fatigue that makes survivors all the more rare. Small metal rollers were also included in the design and concealed in the underside of the hull so that the models could be moved smoothly across surfaces. Mirroring the aircraft range, both civilian and military ships were issued, and again, some were disguised. It was not until 1976 that five further models were added to the long line of maritime releases from Dinky Toys, these were in the larger scale of 1/180 - 1/200.The liner France was the only Dinky Toys ship made in France after the war, it was made partly of zamac and partly of plastic at the scale of 1/1200. (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia). Models in the pre-war range include:\n50a\n50b Battle ship Nelson class\n50c Cruiser Effingham\n51d CPR Empress of Britain\n51e P & O Strathaird\n51f Furness Queen of Bermuda\n51g Cunard White Star Britannic\n52c Battleship Dunkerque made in France\nPost-war history\nNo Dinky Toys models were made between 1941 and 1945. The French Meccano factory was occupied by the Germans some who worked for Märklin and the British factory was on war work but every Christmas a few models would be sold from pre-war stocks. Thus during and after the war a few 'pre-war' models survived and were sold in 1945 (Harvey 1974, p. 1997-1998) (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia). The first new models released after the war were U.S. military jeeps ref.153a in April 1946 in England and ref. 24M in France, it was the first Dinky Toy made at the scale of 1/43. Besides some of the military vehicles offered before and after the war, the first significant releases from Dinky in the late 1940s were the 40 series, which were all British saloons. These were the opening chapter of the \"golden age\" of Dinky Toys in the post-war era and represented far greater accuracy and detail than their pre-war relatives. These were very popular and today are often considered by collectors to be the quintessential Dinky Toys models. The 40 series cars were manufactured from better quality alloy, meaning that the survival rate is higher and although originally sold in trade boxes of six, they were renumbered in 1954 and re-coloured in two-tone paintwork in 1956, the Austin Somerset ref. 40j is probably the first model sold in its own individual yellow box. The first two models in the 40 series were in 1:48 scale, while the others were in 1:45 scale (Schellekens 2010). The Jowett Javelin saloon is an interesting case as plans were made, but the model was never issued. More recently, Odgi Models have remade the Jowett and a couple other Dinky Toys Models which were planned but never manufactured.\nThe series included :\n1953\nDinky Supertoys\nAs part of the post-war development and expansion of the range, in 1947 Meccano Ltd introduced a series of model lorries modelled to the usual Dinky scale of 1:48, and called the range Dinky Supertoys. To many collectors these are the most desirable Dinky Toys, and big premiums are paid for rare issues and difficult to find casting / wheel variations. This name was used until 1965 when it disappeared (Encyclopédie Dunky Toys). In 1968, Meccano registered the trademark Super Dinky®, this marque was used for Bobigny and Calais products only (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nSome models issued in this line included:\nNumber\nFoden Flat Truck with Tailboard\n1947\nFoden Flat Truck with Chains\n1952\nFoden 8 wheel tanker 'Mobilgas'\n1953\nLeyland Tanker 'Shell BP'\n1963\nIn 1950 Meccano introduced as Dinky Supertoys a number of appealing Guy Vans finished in period liveries. Each model was an identical all metal box van with opening rear doors. The Guy cab was joined by a Bedford S cab in 1955 and a Guy Warrior cab was introduced in 1960. Supertoys were commonly packaged in white boxes with thin blue horizontal lines and were marketed all on their own - no longer were the models solely focused on railroad accessories. Still, they were not quite reached the commercial marketing level of later diecast brands like Corgi Toys or Solido .\nNumber\nBedford S Van 'Heinz'\n1955\nMeccano continued producing detailed Dinky Supertoys commercial vehicles through the fifties and sixties, including such subjects as a Mobile Television Control Room and Camera Van in both BBC and ABC Television liveries, a Leyland test chassis with removable miniature 5 ton weights, a series of military vehicles including a Corporal Erecting Vehicle and missile (a subject also modelled by Corgi Toys at the same time), a range of Thornycroft Mighty Antar heavy haulage transporters complete with loads and a Horse Box in British Railways and later in Newmarket liveries.\nPost-War Car Lines\nHaving been well known before the war, Dinky Toys were popular in the United Kingdom in the early 1950s. The smaller cars were in a scale of 1:45, while the larger cars and many Supertoys, as stated above, were in a scale of 1:48, which blended in with O scale railway sets, but many buses and lorries were scaled down further (Schellekens 2010). The scale of the Dinky Toys land vehicles range from 1/27 for the Lunar Roving Vehicle ref. 355 and 1/99 for the Duple Viceroy Luxury coach ref. 293 / 296. Because of the introduction of data processing, the British Dinky Toys range was reorganized in 1954 with a new numbering system – previously model numbers were commonly followed by letters and often sold in sets with several vehicles. Now each model had its own unique three digit catalogue number, and cars were now sold in individual boxes. The renumbering also happened in France, but in 1959 (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThe Dinky Toys ranges became more sophisticated throughout the 1950s. Some cars in the sporty pre-war line were carried on after the war like the Alvis sports tourer, the Sunbeam Talbot, or the Frazer-Nash BMW. These offerings then led to a magnificent line-up in the post war DT range, which included a Lagonda, an Armstrong-Siddeley, MG, Sunbeam Alpine, Austin Atlantic, Austin Healey 100, Aston Martin DB3S racer, and Triumph TR2 (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 50–51). Additionally, several models introduced were American cars, and even now still seem unique choices, such as a 1954 Packard convertible, a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere, a Cunningham, the 1953 and 1957 Studebakers (and a 1957 Packard), a Chrysler New Yorker Convertible, a 1957 Rambler, and a late model Hudson Hornet. In many cases, even domestic British / European vehicle choices for models were just as interesting as those from Corgi Toys, e. g. a Connaught racing car, a Maserati Sports 2000, the AC Aceca, a Humber Hawk, and a Daimler instead of the more routine Jaguar.\nSeveral colourful gift sets of sports and racing cars were offered in the mid-1950s, usually five cars to a set. For example, Gift set no. 4 / 249 offered Cooper-Bristol in British racing green, Alfa Romeo in the Italian red, Ferrari in the blue and yellow of Argentina, Fangios country, H.W.M. in H.W.M. light green, and Maserati in the red and white colours of Switzerland. No. 149, the sports car set offered an MG, Austin-Healey, Sunbeam Alpine, Aston-Martin and Triumph TR-2 (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 22–23) (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nProduction of agricultural machinery and implements had occurred since the 1930s, such as the 1933 number 22e Fordson farm tractor, and such offerings were maintained post-war. One interesting model was the odd Opperman 3-wheeled Motocart, a tilting flat-bed vehicle with engine hanging off to the side of its large front wheel (Rixon 2005, pp. 122–123).\nDublo Dinky\nIn November 1958, Meccano Ltd introduced the Dublo Dinky range of models in 1:76 OO scale , designed to be used with the Hornby railway system (Force 1988, pp. 165–166). These were relatively cheap to produce – having a one-piece die-cast metal body, a base plate and or windows on some and plastic wheels. There was the added bonus of being able to compete in the small-scale toy car market which, at the time was dominated by Lesney's Matchbox (see Force 1988, p. 47).\nThere were a total 15 Dublo models, although with upgrades and modifications there are possibly up to 42 variations (not including box variations) manufactured (Force 1988, p. 47). All models came boxed. There were no colour changes throughout the short life of Dublo. Models were well-proportioned and looked similar in style to contemporary Matchbox or Budgie Toys. For example, similar to Matchbox, the Land Rover (which came with a horse trailer) had windows, grey or black plastic wheels and a black base (see photo, Force 1988, p. 47). Wheels, however, (the Land Rover had one on the bonnet as well as one underneath) were somewhat flatter and wider than those of Matchbox and their circumference was not ribbed at the beginning but this feature was added later. The baseplate, however, was pressed steel with etched lettering (not diecast with moulded lettering as was the case with Matchbox, Budgie Toys or Lone Star vehicles). Finally, the Land Rover had a trailer hook behind which was a cut, curved extension of the baseplate. The front and rear axles were held to the vehicle differently. The front was covered by the tube of the baseplate and held pinched on each side by extensions of the diecast body. The rear axle was exposed and run through holes in rounded sections folded over on each side of the plate. The ref. 072 Bedford articulated lorry was a reproduction of the Meccano factory lorry, its articulated flat trailer was dimensioned to receive the Hornby Dublo container. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThe range met with limited success and the first model was withdrawn in October 1960 having only been on sale for 18 months - there was no replacement. Within 22 months of their launch there were price reductions to 3 models. Further models were withdrawn in May 1961, September 1962 and March 1963 until in November 1963 those models that remained were taken off the shelf six years after the Dinky Dublo line was introduced. Thus ended the production of Dublo Dinky Toys under Meccano who went into receivership two years later.\nFive of the Dublo models enjoyed a new lease on life when Meccano was purchased by Lines Brothers.\nThe range (see Force 1988, pp. 165–166) and (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia) :\n061 Ford Prefect: Introduced in March 1958 and withdrawn October 1960. Three model variations and one box variation.\n062 Singer Roadster: Introduced in March 1958 and withdrawn 1960. Two model and one box variation.\n063 Commer Van: Introduced in March 1958 and withdrawn 1960. Three model and two box variations.\n064 Austin Lorry: Introduced December 1957; withdrawn 1962. Four model variations and four box variations.\n065 Morris Pick Up: Introduced December 1957; withdrawn 1960. Two model and one box variation.\n066 Bedford Flat Truck: Introduced December 1957; withdrawn 1960. Four model variations and two box variations.\n067 Austin Taxi: Introduced March 1959; withdrawn 1966. Two model variations and two box variations.\n068 Royal Mail Van: Introduced April 1959; withdrawn 1964. Three model variations and two box variations.\n069 Massey-Ferguson Tractor: Introduced September 1959; withdrawn 1964. Five model variations and two box variations. Model was also issued with a low sided wagon as part of the Hornby Dublo railway system, no. 6494, boxed.\n070 AEC Mercury Tanker: Introduced October 1959; withdrawn 1964. Two model variations and two box variations.\n071 Volkswagen Delivery Van: Introduced March 1960; withdrawn 1964. Three model variations and two box variations.\n072 Bedford Articulated Flat Truck: Introduced June 1959; withdrawn 1964. Two model variations and no box variations.\n073 Land Rover & Horse Trailer: Introduced September 1960; withdrawn 1966. The most complex of all Dublos; three model variations and three box variations. The horse came in light, medium and dark tan.\n074 This number was never used : Land Rover was to be marketed as separate but model was never produced.\n075 This number was never used : Horse trailer was to be marketed as separate but model was never produced.\n076 Lansing Bagnall Tractor & Trailer: Introduced June 1960; withdrawn 1964. No model variation but two box variations.\n077 This number was never used : The planned model was to have been an AEC Transporter but model was never produced.\n078 Lansing Bagnall Trailer (Trade box of 6): Introduced June 1960; withdrawn 1966. Three box variations.\nCompeting with the 'Ones with Windows'\nDinky offerings at this time were striking, but due to the lack of much competition, development of new models was perhaps a bit slow at least until July 1956 when Mettoy introduced a rival line of models under the Corgi brand name. The most obvious difference was the addition of clear plastic window glazing. While Corgi Toys called their vehicles, \"The Ones With Windows\", Meccano Ltd responded by updating the Dinky Toys range and the models from both companies quickly became more and more sophisticated featuring such things as working suspension, 'fingertip steering', detailed interiors, and jewelled headlights. The first model to have jewelled headlights was the no. 196 Holden Special sedan made from 1963-1969. Truck offerings remained continuously creative including a Simca glass truck with a sheet of 'glass' (clear plastic) and a mirror (polished aluminium), a Leyland Octopus flatbed truck complete with realistic chain around the bed, a car carrier with a car carrying trailer, a Dunlop tyre rack full of tyres, a Berliet truck hauling an electrical transformer, and an intricately detailed Brockway bridgelaying truck. One of the most astounding was the Mighty Antar truck hauling a large gold ship's propeller. A wide variety of military vehicles continued under production.\nA rival third range of model cars also appeared in 1959 called \" Spot-on \" which were manufactured in Northern Ireland and produced by Tri-ang , a division of Lines Brothers . This range was kept to one scale, 1:42, also featured mainly British makes, and were comparatively more expensive, never managing to sell as many units as Corgi or Dinky Toys. To compete with Spot-on, the scale of British Dinky Toys was increased to 1:42 in 1963 (Schellekens 2010). In 1964 Tri-ang took over the parent Meccano company (which included Hornby trains as well as Meccano itself). Since Dinky Toys were more popular, Spot-On Models were phased out in 1967, although a few cars originally designed for Spot-On were made in Hong Kong and marketed as Dinky Toys. After the take-over, Meccano continued to use the 1:42 scale for many of the English made cars and trucks until 1977. The French factory stuck to 1:43 scale, which it had used since 1947 (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThe Mattel onslaught\nIn 1967, Mattel's Hot Wheels entered the U.K. model car market. Their low-friction axles and bright paint schemes gave play value and appeal that Dinky and other British brands did not possess. Each manufacturer responded with its own version of this innovation – Dinky's name was \"Speedwheels\" (Force 1988, p. 8). The company continued to make innovative models, with all four doors opening (a first in British toy cars), retractable radio aerials (another first), Speedwheels, high quality metallic paint, and jewelled headlights (which were pretty, but not very realistic). Such features, however, were expensive to manufacture and the price could only be kept down if the quantities produced were sufficiently high, and in the face of Mattel's creation, Dinky was facing an uphill battle.Though the writing was on the wall, Dinky's offerings in the 1970s covered the entire spectrum of vehicles, both real and fictitious. Besides the normal gamut of passenger, sports and racing cars, buses, farm, emergency and military vehicles – cars, aeroplanes and spacecraft were also offered from popular (mostly British) TV shows of the time like Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , UFO , Thunderbirds , the Pink Panther , The Secret Service , and Joe 90 (Dinky Toys 1974). It could be argued, though, that it was too little too late, as Corgi Toys had already been offering for several years vehicles from far more well-known shows and movies in the United States like Batman , The Saint , Daktari , James Bond , and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Dinky's seemingly weaker standing made it all the more susceptible to Mattel's unstoppable Hot Wheels onslaught. At least the Corgi name still survives as a well-known collectible brand.\nInto the 1970s, many British made Dinky vehicles lost the precision quality of detailing and proportions seen during the two previous decades. Models like no. 186 Jensen FF or no. 213 European Ford Capri were rather chunky and unrefined with thick metal door frames, imprecise grilles, and ungainly painted doors and bonnets painted in separate colours from the rest of the body. Many just did not look quite right. Others, like the no. 1453 Citroën DS Présidentielle saloon were still impressive - flying French flags, with driver, and battery operated lights (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, p. 23). Some of the truck and construction models remained very clever as well, with many moving features, like the Bedford refuse truck or the Taylor Excavator. On the other hand, French Dinky Toys, which had to compete with Solido since 1957, were much more accurate with better paint and sharper details than their English counterparts. The no. 825 DUKW military truck is a good example of the quality of French Dinky Toys (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nMini-Dinky\nA second series of small scale models was introduced four years later in 1968, somewhat larger than the Matchbox range at 1:65. Mini-Dinky Toys, as the range was called, featured opening bonnets, doors and boots and were produced in Hong Kong and the Netherlands, with some construction models designed in Italy by Mercury to a smaller 1:130 scale.\nEach model was sold in stackable red plastic garages, with clear removable top and sides. The model would slide out of a double hinged opening door to one end. This was in place of the usual cardboard box. Some Mini-Dinkys were also blister packaged in a dark grey pack (some with garage and some not) with bright yellow lettering (Mini Dinky 2011).\nTelevision and movie tie-ins\nAlthough Dinky Toys were not known as widely for producing television related models as Corgi Toys, they still made a number of vehicles widely known from the small screen. Many of these models were the result of beating Corgi Toys to the signing of a licensing deal with Gerry Anderson 's Century 21 Productions , whose programmes are immensely popular in the United Kingdom. The French factory produced only one TV series related model: the 1406 Renault 4 Sinpar \"Michel Tanguy\" (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nNumber\nCountry-specific models\nFrance\nIn 1912 Frank Hornby set up an office in Paris on Rue Ambroise Thomas to import Meccano toys into France. By 1921, the French market had proved so successful that production of Meccano began in Paris at the newly opened factory on Rue Rebeval, with another plant opening in 1931 in Bobigny where production of the Dinky Toys range would be based. In the early days production consisted mainly of tiny model trains cast in lead, with vehicles gradually increasing in number. By the late 1930s the French Dinky Toys range had begun to diversify from that of the British parent company, concentrating on the products of the French motor manufacturers and eventually including; Citroën , Peugeot , Simca , Renault, Panhard and Ford of France (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 62–63).\nDuring the Second World War the Meccano factory was commandeered by the invading Germans and used in the Nazi war effort. The Bobigny factory was also produced an equivalent toy to the Meccano using the Märklin name. From 1945, the model vehicles were forcibly shod with solid metal wheels and the pumps did not have rubber hoses due to the shortage of rubber which was needed for the army. In the early post war period, rubber was needed badly as the French supply came from Cambodia and Laos in war against France, rubber tyres were not fitted on models until 1950. In 1951, the headquarters and offices which were still at Rue Rebeval closed and Dinky Toys production was now solely based at Bobigny. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia and Dinky Toys les modèles d'avant guerre, 1934 - 1940).In 1951, French Meccano has been the first post-war European manufacturer to introduce 1:43 scale. Initially, the scales of French Dinky Toys were similar to those of English Dinkys. The Citroën Traction Avant (24N), released in 1949, was 1:48, while the Ford Vedette 1949 (24Q), released in 1950, was 1:45, the same scales as used in the British 40 series. But then, in 1946 Meccano France released their first car in 1:43 scale: the Jeep (24M) (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nBy the late 1950s, Italian, German and other marques, like the Dutch DAF were also offered by Dinky Toys of France (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 64–65). Focusing on export, American cars were also made like the late 1950s Studebaker, Chrysler's DeSoto, Buick Roadmaster, Plymouth Belvedere Coupe, Chrysler New Yorker convertible and Saratoga sedan, Ford Thunderbird \"Squarebird\" and Lincoln Premiere sedan (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 66–67). 1960s cars produced by Meccano France were the first Corvair sedan, a 1967 Ford Thunderbird coupe and a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 sedan.\nSome models such as the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia were produced both in France as 24M / 530 and in the UK at the Binns Road plant in Liverpool as number 187. By the 1960s there was virtually no crossover of product between the two countries resulting in a fascinating range that complemented the models. The vast majority of the French Dinky range was only available in the home market, Belgium, Switzerland, U.S.A. and other non British Commonwealth countries although a few models did make it across the English Channel both before and after the war. Similarly, some examples of the British range of Dinky Toys were exported to France at the same time. The factory at Bobigny closed in 1970 and production moved to Calais where the range continued to be manufactured for another 2 years when the final single sheet catalogue spelt the domestic end for the best known name in diecast toys. A contract had been signed with the Spanish firm Auto Pilen who received some tools and produced some models both as Dinkys and Auto-Pilens. (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia and Dinky Toys les modèles d'avant guerre, 1934 - 1940).\nSpain\nAs import duties were high on finished goods and reduced on components, to get into the Spanish market, Meccano s.a. (France) exported sixteen unpainted and unassembled Dinky Toys to The Novades Poch Company in Barcelona. There the models were finished and fitted with specific Pirelli tyres.\nThe models are :\n559 Taunus 17M\n560 Fourgoneta 2cv Citroën\nIn 1974 labour was getting too expensive in France, and Meccano subcontracted the manufacture of some models to Auto Pilen s.a. in Spain. These models had already been made in France and were sold exclusively under the marque Dinky. When the Calais factory closed down some of the recent tools were sent to Liverpool where the models were produced with new baseplates. Some of these tools were later sent to Auto-Pilen where they were modified or updated before; being re-issued, however it is not known if the dies were modified by Meccano or by Pilen. These models were sold in France under the marque Dinky, they were clearly identified as Dinky and as MADE IN SPAIN on the base plate. In Spain they were sold as Pilen and marked as such. Pilen models, most of which were Dinky dies, were very popular and numerous in Spain and commonly sold in El Corte Engles and Galerias Preciados department stores.\nAccording to a contract between Meccano s.a. and Pilen, the last five so called French Dinkys were in fact Pilen models designed and tooled in Algeciras and fitted with a Dinky Toys base plate. Like the previous series, they were sold in France as Dinky and are very rare and as Pilen in Spain. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThey were :\n11543 Opel Ascona\nSouth Africa\nMeccano Ltd exported Dinky Toys to all of the United Kingdom 's old colonies relatively cheaply because of existing Commonwealth trade agreements. South Africa was one of its big importers.Around 1952 -54, Meccano Ltd shipped to South Africa a limited edition set of vehicles for the South African Defence Force . This set included a Motor Truck, a Covered Wagon, an Ambulance, a Dispatch Rider, a Van, a petrol tanker, a fire engine, a road roller, a Mechanical horse and trailer, a loudspeaker van. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nWhen South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1961, it imposed a luxury goods import tax, making Dinky Toys very expensive – a potential loss for Meccano Ltd. To resolve this problem, Meccano Ltd began shipping Dinky Toy parts to South Africa in 1962 where models were assembled and painted locally. The import of unfinished goods was not subject to the tax. These models were sold in South Africa between 1962 and 1963 and it is believed that only one batch of each model was produced, making South African Dinky Toys very rare. South Africa also imported Dinky Toys parts from the French factory in 1966 and six models were assembled and painted locally (Binns Road website).\nSome of the distinguishing features of South African Dinky Toys are :\nThe boxes have Afrikaans lettering at the one end and \"Printed in South Africa\" on the side.\nThe colours are often different from those on the same models assembled in the UK.\nThe base plates have a glossy finish, whereas the same models released in the UK have matt black base plates.\nSouth African Dinky Toys from Liverpool.\n112 Austin Healey Sprite Mk. II\n113 MG B\n555 Ford Thunderbird\nChile\nCirca 1967 - 1973, For the same reason as the Dinky Toys were assembled in South Africa, some were finished in Arica a tax free harbour at the very north of Chile. Only twelve models are known today, those which in England were packed in cristal boxes were provided in Chile in specific yellow end flaps boxes printed with \"Armado en Arica\" which means \"Assembled in Arica\" and the logo of the manufacturer. These models were painted in different colours from those made in England.These are the models known, there may be more to uncover :\n110 Aston Martin DB5\n(The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia)\nIndia\nOriginal British-made Dinky Toys had been available in select cities in India from pre-war days until about 1955, when import curbs on toys came into effect. Old stocks of original Dinky toys continued to be available for a few years in Calcutta and other metro areas until supplies were exhausted.\nLater, similar to how Corgis became Milton Toys and Matchboxes became Maxwells in India, Dinkys eventually appeared there under a distinct name. In 1963, Meccano closed its Speke factory and sold the dies, the casting machines and remains of spare parts and yellow boxes to S. Kumar & Co. in Calcutta, India. Toys were marketed as Atamco Ltd. products. The toys were first assembled with parts made in Liverpool and packed in original yellow boxes with the Dinky Toys name. The quality was very poor and it is believed that Meccano Ltd. asked S. Kumar & Co. not to use the Dinky name. Kumar then applied stickers with the name NICKY on the boxes to hide the name DINKY. Later when the stock of original boxes ran out, NICKY TOYS boxes of poor quality were printed in India (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThese were selected Dinky dies, and not the whole British range – with only 32 different cars and trucks produced. Several aeroplanes were also made.\nIn September 2011, a Nicky Toys catalogue sold on eBay for $105.00.\nHong Kong\nBetween 1965 and 1967 six model cars were produced for Dinky Toys in Hong Kong for the lucrative U.S. market. Originally intended to be produced by Spot-On, but re-branded as Dinky Toys when the Spot-On parent company (Tri-ang) bought Meccano Ltd, they were built to the usual Spot-On scale of 1:42. These were all American vehicles:\n57-006 Rambler Classic\nDuring 1978 and 1979, production of Dinky Toys in Hong Kong was again resumed. These were poor quality models, however, compared to earlier Dinkys, and an attempt to cut production costs and possibly shift production should the Binns Road Factory close, which it eventually did. So, the last new Dinky Toys made by Meccano were Hong Kong products. These are now some of the most sought after of all Dinky Toys. A few, such as the Mk2 Ford Granada, and Steed's Jaguar from the New Avengers TV series exist as pre-production examples only.\nDemise and rebirth\nThe Matchbox connection\nChanging fashions in the toy industry, international competition and the switch to cheap labour in lower wage countries meant that the days of British-made toy vehicles like Dinky Toys were numbered. After attempts at simplifying the products as a means of saving costs, the famous Binns Road factory in Liverpool finally closed its doors in November 1979. By comparison, Corgi Toys managed to struggle on until 1983. Matchbox was taken over by Universal International of Hong Kong in 1982 (McGimpsey & Orr 1989, p. 28). Thus ended the era when UK-made die-cast toy models were dominant.\nThe Dinky trade-name changed hands many times before ending up as part of Matchbox International Ltd in the late 1980s. This seemed to be a logical and perhaps synergistic development, uniting two of the most valuable and venerated names in the British and world die-cast model car market under one roof. For a time some Matchbox vehicles were sold under the Dinky name (Stoneback 2002, p. 24). In the 1980s, Matchbox began issuing model cars of the 1950s and 1960s through the 'Dinky Collection' – these models were marketed toward adult collectors. The models, like a Wolseley Hornet or a 1953 Buick Skylark convertible, were attractive and honoured the tradition of the Dinky name in realism. In fact these were often even more detailed than original Dinkys, instead resembling something more like Lledo 's Vanguard range. Still, production stopped after only a few years.\nThe 'Dinky Collection' eventually was absorbed into a themed series offered by Matchbox Collectibles Inc, owned by the US giant Mattel - which portrayed little interest in any historical honoring of the Dinky brand. Mattel has preferred to occasionally re-badge normal Matchbox models with the Dinky name for some editions in certain markets. In some cases 1:43 scale models from the Matchbox era were sometimes given the Dinky name. No new \"dedicated\" Dinky castings have been created in the Mattel era since Matchbox Collectibles was shut down in 2000.\nAtlas partworks issues\nIn 2008 French partworks publishers, Atlas Editions, began to reissue models previously available as Dinky Toys under licence from Mattel. These models were only available by subscription in some European countries, initially France. This range is a twice monthly partwork featuring a particular Dinky Toy model complete with certificate and an information leaflet on the history of the casting and the real model. These models were from brand new tooling as the original Meccano dies had been previously sold to other toy makers worldwide or were destroyed or lost. The castings were similar to original Dinky Toys but the baseplates were marked Atlas Editions - Made in China and replacing the Meccano - Made in England (or France) imprint respectively. The new range was finally also available in The UK, Denmark,The Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden.\nIn 2016, DeAgostini, the parent company of Atlas editions, launched another range of Dinky Toys in The United Kingdom and Italy. This time offerings to the general public were through selected newsagents in Dorset and Milan or by subscription. After a test run of 5 issues the range was discontinued until further notice. These appear to be castings from Atlas Editions with the baseplate now reading DeAgostini. In the United Kingdom, the first five models issued were the Triumph TR2, Bedford CA Van, Ford Thunderbird, Morris Mini Traveller and the Jaguar XK120 coupe. In Italy the first three issues were the Citroen DS, Fiat 600 and the Volkswagen beetle. Issue 6 will be issued at a later date according to a letter attached to issue 5.\nSee also\nReferences\nBinns Road website. No date. South African Defense Force Military Items 1950s http://web.archive.org/web/20050129141055/http://meccanodinkytoys.com:80/dinkytoysid/military/samil.htm\nCavendish, Richard. 2011. The Death of Frank Hornby. History Today online, vol. 61, no. 9. http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/death-frank-hornby\nDalefield, Wes. 2013. History of Meccano webpage. Wes Dalefield's Meccano Erector website. http://www.dalefield.com/mwes/history/index.html\nThe Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia.\nEllis, Chris. 2009. The Hornby Book of Model Railways. Conway/Anova. ISBN 978-1844860951\nDinky Toys. 1974. Catalogue no. 10. Tough die-cast metal models.\nDujardin, Jacques. 2015. Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia. Editions. 2016, 3000 + colour pages on DVD, ISBN 978-2-7466-3115-1.\nForce, Dr. Edward. 1988. Dinky Toys. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing.\nGardiner, Gordon, and O'Neill, Richard. 1996. The Collector's Guide to Toy Cars: An International Survey of Tinplate and Diecast Cars from 1900. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. ISBN 0-517-15977-5.\nHarvey, Brian. 1974. Motoring in Miniature. The World of Automobiles: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Motor Car, Vol. 17, pp. 1995–1998. London: Orbis Publishing, distributed by Columbia House.\nInteresting Three-Wheeler Cars. 1934. Meccano Magazine 19/4, April.\nJohnson, Dana. 1998. Collector's Guide to Diecast Toys and Scale Models, 2nd ed. Padukah, Kentucky: Collector Books, a division of Schroeder Publishing Co. Inc.\nMcCullagh, John. 2008. (7 April 2008). Boys' Toys of the 1950s. The Newry Journal on-line. 7 April. http://www.newryjournal.co.uk/content/view/1963/41/\nMcGimpsey, Kevin and Stewart Orr. 1989. Collecting Matchbox Diecast Toys – The First Forty Years. Major Productions, Ltd.\nMeccano Dinky Toys. 1934. Meccano Magazine 19/4, April.\nDINTOYS. No date. Website Dinky Toys - Supertoys Club of Net Catalogue. http://www.dintoys.fr/\nRalston, Andrew. 2009. Diecast Toy Cars of the 1950s & 1960s. Dorchester, England: Veloce Publishing. ISBN 9781845841805.\nRamsay, John. 1993. Catalogue of British Diecast Model Toys (5th ed.). Swapmeet Toys and Models. pp. 88–148. ISBN 0-9509319-6-9.\nRichardson, Mike and Sue. 1999. Christie's Presents WHEELS: The Magical World of Automotive Toys. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0811823202.\nRixon, Peter. 2005. Miller's Collecting Diecast Vehicles. London: Miller's, a division of Mitchell Beasley. ISBN 1-84533-030-7.\nSchellekens, Jona. 2009. The history behind 1:43. Model Collector 24 (12), pp. 54–55.\nSchellekens, Jona. 2010. Dinky Toys car scales: Was there a standard? Model Collector 25 (11), pp. 72–73.\nSimpson, Margaret. 2008. Collection of Dinky Toys, 1935. Powerhouse Museum Collection online. http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/mob/collection/database/?irn=380089&img=238677\nStoneback, Bruce and Diane Stoneback. 2002. Matchbox Toys. Royston, Hertfordshire: A Quantum Book, published by Eagle Editions, Ltd. ISBN 1-86160-525-0.\nWainwright, Oliver. 2013. Frank Hornby: The Man Who Put the World in a Box. Art & Design section. The Guardian online, 15 May. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2013/may/15/frank-hornby-meccano-dinky-toys\nNotes and References\nWeb site: Coopee. Todd. [https://toytales.ca/klingon-battle-cruiser-dinky-1976/ Klingon Battle Cruiser from Dinky]. ToyTales.ca.\nThis article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article \" Dinky Toys \".\nExcept where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2016, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy .",
"Quizlet Lists | Course-Notes.Org\n... United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would ...\nQuizlet Lists | CourseNotes\nQuizlet Lists\nTitle : AP World History final exam review\nTerm Count : 125\n175367844\nRenaissance\nIs a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this is a general use of the term. As a cultural movement, it encompassed a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term \"Renaissance man\".\n0\n175367845\nLeonardo da Vinci\nwas an Italian polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of \"unquenchable curiosity\" and \"feverishly inventive imagination\".He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived. According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and \"his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote\". Marco Rosci points out, however, that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time.\n1\n175393136\nMichelangelo\nwas an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with fellow Italian Leonardo da Vinci.\n2\n175393137\nReformation\nThe Protestant Reformation, also called the Protestant Revolt or the Reformation, was the European Christian reform movement that established Protestantism as a constituent branch of contemporary Christianity. It was led by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described \"reformers\", who objected to (\"protested\") the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Catholic Church, led to the creation of new national Protestant churches. The Catholics responded with a Counter-Reformation, led by the Jesuit order, which reclaimed large parts of Europe, such as Poland. In general, northern Europe, with the exception of Ireland and pockets of Britain, turned Protestant, and southern Europe remained Catholic, while fierce battles that turned into warfare took place in the centre. The largest of the new denominations were the Anglicans (based in England), the Lutherans (based in Germany and Scandinavia), and the Reformed churches (based in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scotland). There were many smaller bodies as well. The most common dating begins in 1517 when Luther published The Ninety-Five Theses, and concludes in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia that ended years of European religious wars.\n3\n175393138\nMartin Luther\n(10 November 1483 - 18 February 1546) was a German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation.[1] He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his\n4\n175393139\nCounter-Reformation\n(Or Catholic Reformation) denotes the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation. The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements: -Ecclesiastical or structural reconfiguration -Religious orders -Spiritual movements -Political dimensions Such reforms included the foundation of seminaries for the proper training of priests in the spiritual life and the theological traditions of the Church, the reform of religious life by returning orders to their spiritual foundations, and new spiritual movements focusing on the devotional life and a personal relationship with Christ, including the Spanish mystics and the French school of spirituality. It also involved political activities that included the Roman Inquisition. However, in this movement to strengthen the authority of the Catholic Church, it has been argued that it also inadvertently helped set the stage for the Scientific Revolution, which would eventually present a more fundamental challenge to that authority.\n5\n175393140\nPrinting Press\nis a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. Typically used for texts, the invention and spread of the printing press are widely regarded as the most influential events in the second millennium AD,[1] revolutionizing the way people conceive and describe the world they live in, and ushering in the period of modernity. The printing press was invented in the Holy Roman Empire by the German Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, based on existing screw presses. Gutenberg, a goldsmith by profession, developed a complete printing system, which perfected the printing process through all its stages by adapting existing technologies to printing purposes, as well as making groundbreaking inventions of his own. His newly devised hand mould made for the first time possible the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities, a key element in the profitability of the whole printing enterprise.\n6\n175393141\nGutenburg\n(c. 1398 - February 3, 1468) (English: yoh-hahn-uhs goot-n-burg) was a German goldsmith, printer and publisher who introduced modern book printing. His invention of mechanical movable type printing started the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period.[1] It played a key role in the development of the Renaissance, Reformation and the Scientific Revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses. Gutenberg was the first European to use movable type printing, in around 1439, and the global inventor of the printing press. Among his many contributions to printing are: the invention of a process for mass-producing movable type; the use of oil-based ink; and the use of a wooden printing press similar to the agricultural screw presses of the period. His truly epochal invention was the combination of these elements into a practical system which allowed the mass production of printed books and was economically viable for printers and readers alike. Gutenberg's method for making type is traditionally considered to have included a type metal alloy and a hand mould for casting type.\n7\n175393142\nOttoman Empire\nwas an empire that lasted from 27 July 1299[9] to 29 October 1923. It was usually referred to as the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish Empire or more commonly Turkey by its contemporaries (since 1923, the name Ottoman Empire is preferred to avoid confusion with the Republic of Turkey). At the height of its power, in the 16th and 17th centuries, it controlled territory in southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia, and North Africa. The Ottoman Empire contained 29 provinces and numerous vassal states, some of which were later absorbed into the empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. The empire also temporarily gained authority over distant overseas lands through declarations of allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan and Caliph, such as the declaration by the Sultan of Aceh in 1565, or through temporary acquisitions of islands such as Lanzarote in the Atlantic Ocean in 1585.\n8\n175393143\nTimur the Lame\n(8 April 1336 - 18 February 1405), was a fourteenth-century conqueror of Western, South and Central Asia, founder of the Timurid Empire and Timurid dynasty (1370-1405) in Central Asia, and great, great grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived until 1857 as the Mughal Empire in India. Born into the Turco-Mongol[7][8] Barlas tribe who ruled in Central Asia,[9][10] Timur was in his lifetime a controversial figure, and remains so today. He sought to restore the Mongol Empire,[11][12] yet his heaviest blow was against the Islamized Tatar Golden Horde. He was more at home in an urban environment than on the steppe. He styled himself a ghazi while conducting wars that severely affected some Muslim states, for example the Ottoman Empire. A great patron of the arts, his campaigns also caused vast destruction. Timur told the qadis of Aleppo, during the sacking of that newly conquered city: \"I am not a man of blood; and God is my witness that in all my wars I have never been the aggressor, and that my enemies have always been the authors of their own calamity.\"\n9\n175393144\nSuleyman the Magnificent/Lawgiver\n(6 November 1494 - 5/6/7 September 1566) was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent[3] and in the East, as the Lawgiver for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system. Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th century Europe, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire's military, political and economic power. Suleiman personally led Ottoman armies to conquer the Christian strongholds of Belgrade, Rhodes, and most of Hungary before his conquests were checked at the Siege of Vienna in 1529. He annexed most of the Middle East in his conflict with the Safavids and large swathes of North Africa as far west as Algeria. Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.\n10\n175393145\nMughal Dynasty (India)\nwas an imperial power in South Asia that ruled a large portion of the Indian subcontinent. It began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of India by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol ancestry, and at the height of their power around 1700, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinent—extending from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west, Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south.[5] Its population at that time has been estimated as between 110 and 150 million, over a territory of more than 3.2 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles). The \"classic period\" of the Empire started in 1556 with the accession of Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, better known as Akbar the Great. It ended with the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 by the rising Hindu Maratha Empire,[6] although the dynasty continued for another 150 years. During the classic period, the Empire was marked by a highly centralized administration connecting the different regions. All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, date to this period which was characterised by the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and architectural results. Following 1725 the Mughal Empire declined rapidly, weakened by wars of succession, agrarian crises fueling local revolts, the growth of religious intolerance, the rise of the Maratha, Durrani, and Sikh empires and finally British colonialism. The last Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, whose rule was restricted to the city of Delhi, was imprisoned and exiled by the British after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.\n11\n175393146\nShah Jahan\nwas the emperor of the Mughal Empire in South Asia from 1628 until 1658. The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian meaning \"King of the World.\" He was the fifth Mughal emperor after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir. While young, he was favourite of his legendary grandfather Akbar the Great. He is also called Shahjahan the Magnificent. Even while very young, he was chosen as successor to the Mughal throne after the death of Emperor Jahangir. He succeeded to the throne upon his father's death in 1627. He is considered to be one of the greatest Mughals and his reign has been called the Golden Age of the Mughals and one of the most prosperous ages of the Indian civilization. Like Akbar, he too was eager to expand his vast empire. In 1658 he fell ill, and was confined by his son Emperor Aurangzeb in the Citadel of Agra until his death in 1666. On the eve of his death in 1666, he was one of the most powerful personalities on the earth and his Mughal Empire spanned almost 750,000,000 acres (3,000,000 km2) and he had in his empire the largest and most prosperous capital as well as some of the most delicate architectural masterpieces in the world.\n12\n175393147\nTaj Mahal\nis a mausoleum located in Agra, India. It is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and stands as a symbol of eternal love. Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Islamic and Indian architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen.[5] The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.[6][7] Lahauri[8] is generally considered to be the principal designer.\n13\n175393148\nAge of Exploration\nThe Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration, was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania and mapping the planet. Historians often refer to the 'Age of Discovery'[1][2] as the pioneer Portuguese and Spanish long-distance maritime travels in search of alternative trade routes to \"the Indies\", moved by the trade of gold, silver and spices.\n14\n175393149\nCaravel sail\nA caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward (beating). Caravels were much used by the Portuguese for the oceanic exploration voyages during the 15th and 16th centuries in the age of discovery.\n15\n175393150\nCompass\nA compass is a navigational instrument for determining direction relative to the Earth's magnetic poles. It consists of a magnetized pointer (usually marked on the North end) free to align itself with Earth's magnetic field. The compass greatly improved the safety and efficiency of travel, especially ocean travel. A compass can be used to calculate heading, used with a sextant to calculate latitude, and with a marine chronometer to calculate longitude. It thus provides a much improved navigational capability that has only been recently supplanted by modern devices such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). A compass is any magnetically sensitive device capable of indicating the direction of the magnetic north of a planet's magnetosphere. The face of the compass generally highlights the cardinal points of north, south, east and west. Often, compasses are built as a stand alone sealed instrument with a magnetized bar or needle turning freely upon a pivot, or moving in a fluid, thus able to point in a northerly and southerly direction. The compass was invented in ancient China around 247 B.C., and was used for navigation by the 11th century. The dry compass was invented in medieval Europe around 1300.[1] This was supplanted in the early 20th century by the liquid-filled magnetic compass.\n16\n175393151\nAstrolabe\nis a historical astronomical instrument used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars; determining local time given local latitude and vice-versa; surveying; triangulation; and to cast horoscopes. They were used in Classical Antiquity and through the Islamic Golden Age and the European Middle Ages and Renaissance for all these purposes. In the Islamic world, they were also used to calculate the Qibla and to find the times for Salah, prayers. There is often confusion between the astrolabe and the mariner's astrolabe. While the astrolabe could be useful for determining latitude on land, it was an awkward instrument for use on the heaving deck of a ship or in wind. The mariner's astrolabe was developed to address these issues.\n17\n175393152\nDutch in Japan\nInitially the Dutch maintained a trading post at Hirado, from 1609-1641. Later, the Japanese granted the Dutch a trade monopoly on Japan, but solely on Deshima, an artificial island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, from 1641 to 1853. During this period they were the only Europeans allowed into Japan. Chinese and Korean traders were still welcome, though restricted in their movements.\n18\n175393153\nMotives for European Exploration\nGod- After the Reformation, people had a new found faith and respects for the church. Europeans wanted to spread Christianity to other parts of the world, including the teachings of the Gospel. Religion was a means of control. The more people controlled by a religion, the more power that religion had, and thus the more chance of dominance. Europeans believed they could save souls through Christian salvation. They also believed it was their duty to spread the word of God. Gold- In general, wealth was a driving motivation of European exploration. The Ottoman Turks had taken control of the eastern Mediterranean and Europeans wanted to find a new route to Asia for trading. The rise in new monarchs led to the competition for wealth through trade and conquering new lands. Upper class men, especially in Spain, had limited power and wanted to seek their fortune elsewhere (Americas especially). Individual explorers, such as Christopher Columbus (although he wanted to spread religion as well) wanted profit and recognition to their name. The spice market was also a huge profit of trading and several countries tried to gain control of spice trade. Glory- Somewhat mentioned in \"gold,\" individuals and countries wanted recognition to their name. Prestige was a driving force for exploration. The more land and money a country owned, the better their chance of domination in Europe.\n19\n175393154\nEurope in Africa\nEuropean exploration of Africa began with Ancient Greeks and Romans, who explored and established settlements in North Africa. Fifteenth Century Portugal, especially under Henry the Navigator probed along the West African coast. Scientific curiosity and Christian missionary spirit soon were subordinated to mercantile considerations, including lucrative trafficking in enslaved persons. Others (Dutch, Spanish, French, English, etc.) joined in African trading, though for centuries European knowledge of Africa's interior was very vague. Much of the blank map was filled in by arduous, often fatal, expeditions in the Nineteenth Century\n20\n175393155\nSlavery\nis a system under which people are treated as property and are forced to work.[1] Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation. Slavery predates written records, has existed in many cultures[2] and in some historical situations it has been legal for owners to kill slaves. The number of slaves today remains as high as 12 million[4] to 27 million though this is probably the smallest proportion of the world's population in history.[8] Most are debt slaves, largely in South Asia, who are under debt bondage incurred by lenders, sometimes even for generations. Human trafficking is primarily for prostituting women and children into sex industries.\n21\n175393156\nJoint-Stock Companies\nis a type of corporation or partnership involving two or more individuals that own shares of stock in the company. Certificates of ownership (\"shares\") are issued by the company in return for each financial contribution, and the shareholders are free to transfer their ownership interest at any time by selling their shareholding to others. In modern company law the existence of a joint-stock company is often synonymous with incorporation (i.e. possession of legal personality separate from shareholders) and limited liability (meaning that the shareholders are only liable for the company's debts to the value of the money they invested in the company). And as a consequence joint-stock companies are commonly known as corporations or limited companies. Some jurisdictions still provide the possibility of registering joint-stock companies without limited liability. In the United Kingdom and other countries which have adopted their model of company law, these are known as unlimited companies. In the United States they are, somewhat confusingly known as joint-stock companies.\n22\n175393157\nEncomineda System\nwas a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labour. In the encomienda, the crown granted a person a specified number of natives for whom they were to take responsibility. The receiver of the grant was to protect the natives from warring tribes and to instruct them in the Spanish language and in the Catholic faith.[1] In return, they could extract tribute from the natives in the form of labor, gold or other products, such as in corn, wheat or chickens. In the former Inca empire, for example, the system continued the Incaic (and even pre-Incaic) traditions of extracting tribute under the form of labor.\n23\n175393158\nConstitutional Monarchy\n(or limited monarchy) is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution. This form of government differs from absolute monarchy in which an absolute monarch serves as the sole source of political power in the state and is not legally bound by any constitution. Most constitutional monarchies employ a parliamentary system in which the monarch may have strictly ceremonial duties or may have reserve powers, depending on the constitution. Under most modern constitutional monarchies there is also a prime minister who is the head of government and exercises effective political power.\n24\n175393159\nPalace at Versaille\nis a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some twenty kilometres southwest of the French capital. The court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.\n25\n175393160\nPeter the Great\nruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May [O.S. 27 April] 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V. He carried out a policy of modernization and expansion that transformed the Tsardom of Russia into a 3-billion acre Russian Empire, a major European power.\n26\n175393161\nWesternization of Russia\nfrom 1697-1998 Peter the Great went on a tour of western europe to learn about their adminstration. when he returned he reformed the army by offering better pay and drafting peasants who served for life as professional soldiers. he provided forces with training and modern weapons. he had sristocrats learn math so they could calculate how to aim cannons. he redid the bureaucracy to facilitate tax collection and to make administration mor efficient. he also made aristocrats wear western closthes and clop off thier traditional beards.\n27\n175393162\nEnlightenment\nThe Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment) is the era in Western philosophy, intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority. It is also known as the Age of Reason. Developing simultaneously in Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the colonies on the Western Hemisphere, the movement culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions, especially the success of the American Revolution, which resulted in independence from the British Empire. The authors of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791, were motivated by Enlightenment principles.\n28\n175393163\nPhilosophes\n(French for philosophers) were the intellectuals of the 18th century Enlightenment.[1] Few were primarily philosophers; rather they were public intellectuals who applied reason to the study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics and social issues. They had a critical eye and looked for weaknesses and failures that needed improvement. They promoted a \"republic of letters\" that crossed national boundaries and allowed intellectuals to freely exchange books and ideas. They strongly endorsed progress and tolerance, and distrusted organized religion (most were deists) and feudal institutions.[2] They faded away after the French Revolution reached a violent stage in 1793.\n29\n175393164\nSalon\nis a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, \"either to please or to educate\" (\"aut delectare aut prodesse est\"). Salons, commonly associated with French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th century and 18th centuries, were carried on until quite recently, in urban settings, among like-minded people.\n30\n175393165\nSmallpox Vaccination\nThe smallpox vaccine was the first successful vaccine to be developed. The process of vaccination was discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796, who acted upon his observation that milkmaids who caught the cowpox virus did not catch smallpox. Prior to widespread vaccination, mortality rates in individuals with smallpox were high—up to 35% in some cases.\n31\n175393166\nFrench Revolution\n(1789-1799) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.\n32\n175393167\nSlogan for the French Revolution\nLiberté, égalité, fraternité, French for \"Liberty, equality, fraternity (brotherhood)\",[1] is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not really institutionalized until the Third Republic at the end of the 19th century.[2] Debates concerning the compatibility and order of the three terms began at the same time as the French Revolution.\n33\n175393168\nJuly 14, 1789- Bastille Day\nThe Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, formally known as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday). It is usually called Bastille Day in English.\n34\n175393169\nGuillotine\nis a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which a blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body. The device is noted for long being the main method of execution in France (where it was invented) and, more particularly, for its use during the French Revolution, when it \"became a part of popular culture, celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Terror by opponents.\"[1] Nevertheless, the guillotine continued to be used long after the French Revolution in several countries, including France, where it was the sole method of execution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981.\n35\n175393170\nChecks and Balances in Government\nTo prevent one branch from becoming supreme, protect the \"opulent minority\" from the majority, and to induce the branches to cooperate, government systems that employ a separation of powers need a way to balance each of the branches. Typically this was accomplished through a system of \"checks and balances\", the origin of which, like separation of powers itself, is specifically credited to Montesquieu. Checks and balances allow for a system based regulation that allows one branch to limit another, such as the power of Congress to alter the composition and jurisdiction of the federal courts.\n36\n175393171\nVolatire\nFrançois-Marie Arouet Volatire (21 November 1694 - 30 May 1778), was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade. Voltaire was a prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form including plays, poetry, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma and the French institutions of his day. Voltaire was one of several Enlightenment figures (along with Montesquieu, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Émilie du Châtelet) whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.\n37\n175393172\nMontesquieu\n(18 January 1689 - 10 February 1755), was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, taken for granted in modern discussions of government and implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He was largely responsible for the popularization of the terms feudalism and Byzantine Empire.\n38\n175393173\nRousseau\n(28 June 1712 - 2 July 1778) was a major Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy heavily influenced the French Revolution, as well as the American Revolution and the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought. His novel, Émile: or, On Education is a seminal treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel, Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse, was of great importance to the development of pre-romanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings: his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his Reveries of a Solitary Walker were among the pre-eminent examples of the late 18th-century movement known as the Age of Sensibility, featuring an increasing focus on subjectivity and introspection that has characterized the modern age. His Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and his On the Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought and make a strong case for democratic government and social empowerment. Rousseau also made important contributions to music as a theorist. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophes among members of the Jacobin Club. He was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.\n39\n175393174\nJohn Locke\nwas an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work had a great impact upon the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the American Declaration of Independence. Locke's theory of mind is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and the self, figuring prominently in the work of later philosophers such as Hume, Rousseau and Kant. Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness. He postulated that the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa. Contrary to pre-existing Cartesian philosophy, he maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception.\n40\n175393175\nAdam Smith\nwas a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. It earned him an enormous reputation and would become one of the most influential works on economics ever published. Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics and capitalism.\n41\n175393176\nNapoleon Bonaparte\nwas a military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for the wars he led against a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars, during which he established hegemony over much of Europe and sought to spread revolutionary ideals.Napoleon was born in Corsica to parents of noble Italian ancestry and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. Bonaparte rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. In 1799, he staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor. In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts—the Napoleonic Wars—involving every major European power. After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe, and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances and the appointment of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French client states. Napoleon's campaigns are studied at military academies throughout much of the world. The French invasion of Russia in 1812 marked a turning point in Napoleon's fortunes. His Grande Armée was badly damaged in the campaign and never fully recovered. In 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig; the following year the Coalition invaded France, forced Napoleon to abdicate and exiled him to the island of Elba. Less than a year later, he escaped Elba and returned to power, but was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon spent the last six years of his life in confinement by the British on the island of Saint Helena. An autopsy concluded he died of stomach cancer.\n42\n175393177\nNapoleon's Goals for France\nHe wanted to create France in the same mold as the Roman Empire; full of greatness, national pride, territory and colonies too.Napoleon Bonaparte completely and utterly failed. He left France bankrupt, with less territory than before, and marched an entire generation of soldiers to their death.\n43\n175393178\nContinental System\nThe Continental System or Continental Blockade (known in French as Blocus continental) was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars. It was a large-scale embargo against British trade, inaugurated on November 21, 1806. This embargo ended in April 11, 1814 after Napoleon's first abdication.\n44\n175393179\nNationalism\nis a political ideology which involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. It is usually the belief that a nation has a right to statehood. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. Although there are various definitions for what constitutes a nation, which leads to several different strands of nationalism. It can be a belief that citizenship in a state should be limited to one ethnic, cultural or identity group, or that multinationality in a single state should necessarily comprise the right to express and exercise national identity even by minorities.\n45\n175393180\nOtto von Bismarck\n(1 April 1815 - 30 July 1898) was a German-Prussian national-liberal statesman of the late 19th century, and a dominant figure in world affairs. As Ministerpräsident, or Prime Minister, of Prussia from 1862-1890, he oversaw the unification of Germany. In 1867 he became Chancellor of the North German Confederation. He designed the German Empire in 1871, becoming its first Chancellor and dominating its affairs until he was removed by Wilhelm II in 1890. His diplomacy of Realpolitik and powerful rule gained him the nickname the \"Iron Chancellor\". As Henry Kissinger has noted, \"The man of 'blood and iron' wrote prose of extraordinary directness and lucidity, comparable in distinctiveness to Churchill's use of the English language.\"\n46\n175393181\nRevolutions in Latin America\nThe Latin American Wars of Independence were the various revolutions that took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and resulted in the creation of a number of independent countries in Latin America. These revolutions followed the American and French Revolutions, which had profound effects on the Spanish, Portuguese and French colonies in the Americas. Haiti, a French slave colony, was the first to follow the United States to independence, during the Haitian Revolution, which lasted from 1791 to 1804. Thwarted in his attempt to rebuild a French empire in North America, Napoleon Bonaparte turned his armies to Europe, invading and occupying many countries, including Spain and Portugal in 1808. The Peninsular War, which resulted from this occupation, caused Spanish Creoles in Spanish America to question their allegiance to the metropole, stoking independence movements that culminated in bloody wars of independence, which lasted almost two decades. At the same time, the Portuguese monarchy relocated to Brazil during Portugal's French occupation. After the royal court returned to Lisbon, the prince regent, Pedro, remained in Brazil and in 1822 successfully declared himself emperor of a newly independent Brazil.\n47\n175393182\nBrazil Revolution\nThe Revolution of 1930 was a movement that overthrew President Washington Luís and installed Getúlio Vargas as Provisional President.\n48\n175393183\nMexico Revolution\nThe Mexican Revolution (Spanish: Revolución mexicana) was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution changed from a revolt against the established order to a multi-sided civil war. After prolonged struggles, its representatives produced the Mexican Constitution of 1917. The Revolution is generally considered to have lasted until 1920, although the country continued to have sporadic, but comparatively minor, outbreaks of warfare well into the 1920s. The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was the most significant relapse of bloodshed. The Revolution triggered the creation of the National Revolutionary Party in 1929 (renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in 1946). Under a variety of leaders, the PRI held power until the general election of 2000.\n49\n175393184\nSouth American Revolutions\nThe Latin American Wars of Independence were the various revolutions that took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and resulted in the creation of a number of independent countries in Latin America. These revolutions followed the American and French Revolutions, which had profound effects on the Spanish, Portuguese and French colonies in the Americas. Haiti, a French slave colony, was the first to follow the United States to independence, during the Haitian Revolution, which lasted from 1791 to 1804. Thwarted in his attempt to rebuild a French empire in North America, Napoleon Bonaparte turned his armies to Europe, invading and occupying many countries, including Spain and Portugal in 1808. The Peninsular War, which resulted from this occupation, caused Spanish Creoles in Spanish America to question their allegiance to the metropole, stoking independence movements that culminated in bloody wars of independence, which lasted almost two decades. At the same time, the Portuguese monarchy relocated to Brazil during Portugal's French occupation. After the royal court returned to Lisbon, the prince regent, Pedro, remained in Brazil and in 1822 successfully declared himself emperor of a newly independent Brazil.\n50\n175393185\nIndustrial Revolution\nThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. Starting in the later part of the 18th century, there began a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual labour and draft-animal-based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal.[4] Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The introduction of steam power fuelled primarily by coal, wider utilisation of water wheels and powered machinery (mainly in textile manufacturing) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity.[5] The development of all-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world, a process that continues as industrialisation. The impact of this change on society was enormous.\n51\n175393186\nFactors of Production\nIn economics, factors of production (or productive inputs or resources) are any commodities or services used to produce goods and services. 'Factors of production' may also refer specifically to the primary factors, which are stocks including land, labor (the ability to work), and capital goods applied to production. The primary factors facilitate production but neither become part of the product (as with raw materials) nor become significantly transformed by the production process (as with fuel used to power machinery). 'Land' includes not only the site of production but natural resources above or below the soil. Recent usage has distinguished human capital (the stock of knowledge in the labor force) from labor. Entrepreneurship is also sometimes considered a factor of production. Sometimes the overall state of technology is described as a factor of production. The number and definition of factors varies, depending on theoretical purpose, empirical emphasis, or school of economics.\n52\n175393187\nBritish Raj\nThe British Raj (reign) is the name given to the period of British colonial rule in South Asia between 1858 and 1947;[2] it can also refer to the dominion itself and even the region under the rule. The region, commonly called India in contemporary usage, included areas directly administered by Britain,as well as the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the paramountcy of the British Crown. After 1876, the resulting political union was officially called the Indian Empire and issued passports under that name. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, the United Nations, and a member nation of the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936.\n53\n175393188\nIndia= \"Jewel in the Crown\"\nIndia had valuable resources that Europe wanted to exploit, like diamonds, cotton, wheat and other goods. As its largest colonial territory, India was the most important of the overseas possessions of the British Empire. The phrase is attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, the British prime minister from 1874 to 1881. He called India \"the brightest jewel in the crown\". In 1876, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India, and British monarchs retained the title until 1947.\n54\n175393189\nImperialism\nImperialism, as defined by The Dictionary of Human Geography, is \"the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination.\" The imperialism of the last 500 years, as described by the above work, is primarily a western undertaking that employs \"expansionist - mercantilism and latterly communist - systems.\" Geographical domains have included the Mongolian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Portuguese Empire, the Spanish Empire, the Dutch Empire, the Persian Empire, the French Empire, the Russian Empire, the Chinese Empire, and the British Empire, but the term can equally be applied to domains of knowledge, beliefs, values and expertise, such as the empires of Christianity (see Christendom)or Islam (see Caliphate). Imperialism is usually autocratic, and also sometimes monolithic (i.e. having a massive, unchanging structure that does not allow individual variation) in character. It can be relatively benign as in Canada, or brutal as in the Congo Free State.\n55\n175393190\nEthiopia and Imperialism\nThe Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa, was a process of invasion, occupation, colonisation and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914. As a result of the heightened tension between European states in the last quarter of the 19th century, the partitioning of Africa may be seen as a way for the Europeans to eliminate the threat of a Europe-wide war over Africa. Ethiopia was the only African country to resist the italian imperialism stuff\n56\n175393191\nMenelik ll\nEmperor Menelik II GCB, GCMG, (17 August 1844 - 12 December 1913), was Negus of Shewa (1866-89), then Nəgusä Nägäst of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death. At the height of his internal power and external prestige, the process of territorial expansion and creation of the modern empire-state had been completed by 1898. Ethiopia was transformed under Nəgusä Nägäst Menelik: the major signposts of modernization were put in place. Externally, his victory over the Italians had earned him great fame: following Adwa, recognition of Ethiopia's independence by external powers was expressed in terms of diplomatic representation at the court of Menelik and delineation of Ethiopia's boundaries with the adjacent colonies.\n57\n175393192\nCrimean War\nThe Crimean War (October 1853 - February 1856)was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining Ottoman Empire. Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Peninsula, but there were smaller campaigns in western Anatolia, Caucasus, the Baltic Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the White Sea. The war has gone by different names. In Russia it is also known as the \"Eastern War\" (Russian: Восточная война, Vostochnaya Voina), and in Britain at the time it was sometimes known as the \"Russian War\".\n58\n175393193\nOpium Wars in China\nAlso known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, divided into the First Opium War from 1839 to 1842 and the Second Opium War from 1856 to 1860, were the climax of disputes over trade and diplomatic relations between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire. After the inauguration of the Canton System in 1756, which restricted trade to one port and did not allow foreign entrance to China, the British East India Company faced a trade imbalance in favor of China and invested heavily in opium production to redress the balance. British and United States merchants brought opium from Bengal to the coast of China, where they sold it to Chinese smugglers who distributed the drug in defiance of Chinese laws. Aware both of the drain of silver and the growing numbers of addicts, the Dao Guang Emperor demanded action. Officials at the court who advocated legalization of the trade in order to tax it were defeated by those who advocated suppression. In 1838, the Emperor sent Lin Zexu to Guangzhou where he quickly arrested Chinese opium dealers and summarily demanded that foreign firms turn over their stocks. When they refused, Lin stopped trade altogether and placed the foreign residents under virtual siege, eventually forcing the merchants to surrender their opium to be destroyed. In response, the British government sent expeditionary forces from India which ravaged the Chinese coast and dictated the terms of settlement. The Treaty of Nanking not only opened the way for further opium trade, but ceded territory including Hong Kong, unilaterally fixed Chinese tariffs at a low rate, granted extraterritorial rights to foreigners in China which were not offered to Chinese abroad, a most favored nation clause, as well as diplomatic representation. When the court still refused to accept foreign ambassadors and obstructed the trade clauses of the treaties, disputes over the treatment of British merchants in Chinese ports and on the seas led to the Second Opium War and the Treaty of Tientsin. These treaties, soon followed by similar arrangements with the United States and France, later became known as the Unequal Treaties and the Opium Wars as the start of China's \"Century of Humiliation.\"\n59\n175393194\nSino-Japanese War (significance/foughtover)\nThe First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 - 17 April 1895) was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea. After more than six months of continuous successes by Japanese army and naval forces and the loss of the Chinese port of Weihaiwei, the Qing leadership sued for peace in February 1895. The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 - September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany (see Sino-German cooperation (1911-1941)), the Soviet Union (1937-1940) and the United States (see American Volunteer Group). After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941), the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. The Second Sino-Japanese War was the largest Asian war in the 20th century.[7] It also made up more than 50% of the casualties in the Pacific War if the 1937-1941 period is taken into account.\n60\n175409977\nRusso-Japanese War (significance/foughtover)\nThe Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 - 5 September 1905) was \"the first great war of the 20th century\"[3] which grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea.\n61\n175409978\nMonroe Doctrine\nThe Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention (however, the wording referred to the entire Western Hemisphere, which actually includes much of Europe and Africa). The doctrine was introduced by President Monroe when he was enraged at the actions being executed around him. The Monroe Doctrine asserted that the Americas were not to be further colonized by European countries but that the United States would neither interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries. The Doctrine was issued at a time when many Latin American countries were on the verge of becoming independent from the Spanish Empire. The United States, reflecting concerns raised by Great Britain, ultimately hoped to avoid having any European power take over Spain's colonies. The US President, James Monroe, first stated the doctrine during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to Congress. It became a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States and one of its longest-standing tenets, and would be invoked by many U.S. statesmen and several U.S. presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and others.\n62\n175409979\nMilitarism\nMilitarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests. It can be more simply defined as a policy of glorifying military power and keeping a standing army always prepared for war. It has also been defined as \"aggressiveness that involves the threat of using military force\", the \"glorification of the ideas of a professional military class\" and the \"predominance of the armed forces in the administration or policy of the state\"\n63\n175409980\nPatriotism\nExcluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy, patriotism is a devotion to one's country. In a generalized sense applicable to all countries and peoples, patriotism is a devotion to one's country for no other reason than being a citizen of that country.\n64\n175409981\nMANIA (WWI acronym)\nThe Causes of WORLD WAR ONE= M- Militarism ( each country was building its military) A - Alliances ( Triple Alliance consisting of Germany, Austria Hungary, and Italy and there was the Triple Entente consisting of France, Russia, and Britain) I- Imperialism ( European countries competed for colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific) N- Nationalism (Pride in ones country and wanting a self government) A- Assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian Terrorist. Germany then declared war on Russia and France.\n65\nPrime Minister of Germany 1800s\nOtto von Bismarck\n175409983\nUS involvement in WWl\nDuring \"The War to End all Wars,\" you have to remember, the USA was not yet a Superpower, as it became at the end of WWII. We were probably as much a military power as Canada or Australia at that time. The world powerhouses were the British Empire, France and Germany. What the first world war did for Britain and France was to bankrupt them. What it did for the US was to help is to see the power we could have, because of our natural resources, unionized factories, and production capabilities. By WWII, we were burgeoning into the Superpower we became in the second half of the 20th Century. However, during the first World War, we were a minor component. Important? Yes. But, not as important as the British, French, Germans, Ottoman Empire (which was completely destroyed in WWI) and the Austrians. (Note: WWI also bankrupted Russia, which became the USSR after pulling out of the war) The dougboys (what we called our soldiers then) were, compared to European powers, under-trained, poorly equipped and undisciplined.\n67\n175409984\nTreaty of Versailles 1919\nThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties.[1] Although the armistice signed on 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on October 21, 1919, and was printed in The League of Nations Treaty Series.\n68\n175409985\nFourteen Points\nThe Fourteen Points was a speech delivered by United States President Woodrow Wilson to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918. The address was intended to assure the country that the Great War was being fought for a moral cause and for postwar peace in Europe. People in Europe generally welcomed Wilson's intervention, but his Allied colleagues (Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando) were skeptical of the applicability of Wilsonian idealism. The speech was delivered 10 months before the Armistice with Germany and became the basis for the terms of the German surrender, as negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The Treaty of Versailles had little to do with the Fourteen Points and was never ratified by the U.S. Senate.\n69\n175409986\nWoodrow Wilson\nThomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 - February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. With Progressive (\"Bull Moose\") Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt and Republican nominee William Howard Taft dividing the Republican Party vote, Wilson was elected President as a Democrat in 1912. Like his arch-rival Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Wilson held a Ph.D. degree--the only U.S. President to earn one. In his first term as President, Wilson persuaded a Democratic Congress to pass major progressive reforms including the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act and an income tax. Wilson brought many white Southerners into his administration, and tolerated their expansion of segregation in many federal agencies.\n70\n175409987\nLeague of Nations\nThe League of Nations (LON) was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War I, and it was the precursor to the United Nations. The League was the first permanent international security organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members. The League's primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing war through collective security, disarmament, and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Other issues in this and related treaties included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, trafficking in persons and drugs, arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe.\n71\n175409988\nReparations/War Guilt Clause\nWorld War I reparations refers to the payments and transfers of property and equipment that Germany was forced to make under the Treaty of Versailles (1919) following its defeat during World War I. Article 231 of the Treaty (the so-called 'war guilt' clause) declared Germany and its allies responsible for all 'loss and damage' suffered by the Allies during the war and provided the basis for reparations. Article 231, commonly known as the \"Guilt Clause\" or the \"War Guilt Clause\", is the first article in Part VIII, \"Reparations\" of the Treaty of Versailles. Apart from \"Article 231\", there is no title for this article in the treaty itself. The names \"Guilt Clause\" and \"War Guilt Clause\" were assigned in later commentaries.\n72\n175409989\nRussian Revolution\n1. The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included terrorism, worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. It led to the establishment of limited constitutional monarchy, the State Duma of the Russian Empire, the multi-party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906. 2. The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917 (March in the Gregorian calendar; the older Julian calendar was in use in Russia at the time). In the second revolution, during October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a Bolshevik (Communist) government. 3. Left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks were a series of rebellions and uprisings against the Bolsheviks led or supported by left wing groups including Socialist Revolutionaries, Left Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, and anarchists. Some were in support of the White Movement while some tried to be an independent force. The uprisings started in 1918 and continued through the Russian Civil War and after until 1922. In response the Bolsheviks increasingly abandoned attempts to get these groups to join the government and suppressed them with force.\n73\n175409990\nBolsheviks/Mensheviks\nThe Bolsheviks were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1917 The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues of party organization. Martov's supporters, who were in the minority in a crucial vote on the question of party membership, came to be called \"Mensheviks\", derived from the Russian word меньшинство (men'shinstvo, \"minority\"), whereas Lenin's adherents were known as \"Bolsheviks\", from bol'shinstvo (\"majority\").\n74\n175409991\nRasputin\nGrigori Yefimovich Rasputin (22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1869 - 29 December [O.S. 16 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei. Rasputin had often been called the \"Mad Monk\",while others considered him a \"strannik\" (or religious pilgrim) and even a starets (ста́рец, \"elder\", a title usually reserved for monk-confessors), believing him to be a psychic and faith healer. It has been argued that Rasputin helped to discredit the tsarist government, leading to the fall of the Romanov dynasty, in 1917. Contemporary opinions saw Rasputin variously as a saintly mystic, visionary, healer and prophet or, on the contrary, as a debauched religious charlatan. There has been much uncertainty over Rasputin's life and influence as accounts of his life have often been based on dubious memoirs, hearsay and legend.\n75\n175455147\nAlexander lll and Nicholas ll\nAlexander lll, commonly known as Alexander the Great was a king of Macedon, a state in the north eastern region of Greece, and by the age of thirty was the creator of one of the largest empires in ancient history, stretching from the Ionian sea to the Himalaya. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of the most successful commanders of all time.[1] Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by the famed philosopher Aristotle. In 336 BC he succeeded his father Philip II of Macedon to the throne after Philip was assassinated. Philip had brought most of the city-states of mainland Greece under Macedonian hegemony, using both military and diplomatic means. Nicholas ll, was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland.[2] His official title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias[3] and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.\n76\n175455148\nTotalitarianism\nis a political system where the state, usually under the power of a single political person, faction, or class, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. Totalitarianism is usually characterized by the coincidence of authoritarianism (where ordinary citizens have less significant share in state decision-making) and ideology (a pervasive scheme of values promulgated by institutional means to direct most if not all aspects of public and private life).\n77\n175455149\nWeak democracies after WWl- Which countries in Europe?\nThe economic disruption of the war and the end of the Austro-Hungarian customs union created great hardship in many areas. Although many states were set up as democracies after the war, one by one, with the exception of Czechoslovakia, they reverted to some form of authoritarian rule. Many quarreled amongst themselves but were too weak to compete effectively. Later, when Germany rearmed, the nation states of south- central Europe were unable to resist its attacks, and fell under German domination to a much greater extent than had ever existed in Austria-Hungary.\n78\n175455150\nGreat Depression\nThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s. It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the world's economy can decline. The depression originated in the U.S., starting with the fall in stock prices that began around September 4, 1929 and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday). From there, it quickly spread to almost every country in the world.\n79\n175455151\nRoosevelt (FDR)\nFranklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 - April 12, 1945) also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States (1933-1945) and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms, he facilitated a durable coalition that realigned American politics for decades. FDR defeated incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover in November 1932, at the depths of the Great Depression. FDR's persistent optimism and activism contributed to a renewal of the national spirit. He worked closely with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin in leading the Allies against Germany and Japan in World War II, but died just as victory was in sight.\n80\n175455152\nNew Deal\nThe New Deal is a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call the \"3 Rs\": relief, recovery, and reform. That is, Relief for the unemployed and poor; Recovery of the economy to normal levels; and Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. The New Deal produced a political realignment, making the Democratic Party the majority (as well as the party which held the White House for seven out of nine Presidential terms from 1933 to 1969), with its base in liberal ideas, big city machines, and newly empowered labor unions, ethnic minorities, and the white South. The Republicans were split, either opposing the entire New Deal as an enemy of business and growth, or accepting some of it and promising to make it more efficient. The realignment crystallized into the New Deal Coalition that dominated most American elections into the 1960s, while the opposition Conservative Coalition largely controlled Congress from 1938 to 1964.\n81\n175455153\nDawes Plan\n(As proposed by the Dawes Committee, chaired by Charles G. Dawes) was an attempt following World War I for the Triple Entente to collect war reparations debt from Germany. When after five years the plan proved to be unsuccessful, the Young Plan was adopted in 1929 to replace it.\n82\n175455154\nMussolini/Il Duce\nBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 1883 - 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by 1925. After 1936, his official title was \"His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire\". Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.\n83\n175455155\nFascism\nIs a radical, authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists advocate the creation of a totalitarian single-party state that seeks the mass mobilization of a nation through indoctrination, physical education, and family policy including eugenics. Fascists seek to purge forces and ideas deemed to be the cause of decadence and degeneration and produce their nation's rebirth based on commitment to the national community based on organic unity where individuals are bound together by suprapersonal connections of ancestry and culture. Fascists believe that a nation requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong. Fascist governments forbid and suppress opposition to the state.\n84\n175455156\nNazism\nNazism (Nationalsozialismus, National Socialism; alternatively spelled Naziism) was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany. It was a unique variety of fascism that incorporated biological racism and antisemitism. Nazism presented itself as politically syncretic, incorporating policies, tactics and philosophies from right- and left-wing ideologies; in practice, Nazism was a far right form of politics. The Nazis believed in the supremacy of an Aryan master race and claimed that Germans represent the most pure Aryan nation. They argued that Germany's survival as a modern great nation required it to create a New Order — an empire in Europe that would give the German nation the necessary land mass, resources, and expansion of population needed to be able to economically and militarily compete with other powers.\n85\n175455157\nBlitzkrieg\nBlitzkrieg (German, \"lightning war\")is an anglicized word describing all-mechanized force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the latter is broken, proceeding without regard to its flank. Through constant motion, the blitzkrieg attempts to keep its enemy off-balance, making it difficult to respond effectively at any given point before the front has already moved on.\n86\n175455158\nSchlieffen Plan\nThe Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff's early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory in a possible future war where it might find itself fighting on two fronts: France to the west and Russia to the east. The First World War later became such a war with both a Western Front and an Eastern Front. The plan took advantage of expected differences in the three countries' speed in preparing for war. In short, it was the German plan to avoid a two-front war by concentrating their troops in the west, quickly defeating the French and then, if necessary, rushing those troops by rail to the east to face the Russians before they had time to mobilize fully. The Schlieffen Plan was created by Count Alfred von Schlieffen and modified by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger after Schlieffen's retirement. In modified form, it was executed to near victory in the first month of World War I; however, the modifications to the original plan, a French counterattack on the outskirts of Paris (the Battle of the Marne), and surprisingly speedy Russian offensives, ended the German offensive and resulted in years of trench warfare. The plan has been the subject of intense debate among historians and military scholars ever since. Schlieffen's last words were \"remember to keep the right flank strong\".\n87\n175455159\nPearl Harbor attack\nby the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters (Operation Z in planning) and the Battle of Pearl Harbor[9]) was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.\n88\n175455160\nKristallnacht\nAlso to referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on November 9-10, 1938. Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and villages, as SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed buildings with sledgehammers, leaving the streets covered in pieces of smashed windows—the origin of the name \"Night of Broken Glass.\" Ninety-one Jews were killed, and 30,000 Jewish men—a quarter of all Jewish men in Germany—were taken to concentration camps, where they were tortured for months, with over 1,000 of them dying. Around 1,668 synagogues were ransacked, and 267 set on fire. In Vienna alone 95 synagogues or houses of prayer were destroyed.\n89\n175455161\nHolocaust\nThe Holocaust (from the Greek:\"whole\" and \"burnt\"), also known as The Shoah (Hebrew \"calamity\"; Yiddish: Churben or Hurban, from the Hebrew for \"destruction\"), was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany throughout Nazi-occupied territory. Of the nine million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust, approximately two-thirds perished. Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' genocide of millions of people in other groups, including Romani (more commonly known in English by the exonym \"Gypsies\"), Soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet civilians, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses and other political and religious opponents, which occurred regardless of whether they were of German or non-German ethnic origin. Using this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims is between 11 million and 17 million people.\n90\n175455162\nKamikaze\nThe Kamikaze (\"divine wind\") were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible.\n91\n175455163\nCold War\nWas the continuing state from about 1947 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World - primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies - and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States and its allies. Although the chief military forces never engaged in a major battle with each other, they expressed the conflict through military coalitions, strategic conventional force deployments, extensive aid to states deemed vulnerable, proxy wars, espionage, propaganda, conventional and nuclear arms races, appeals to neutral nations, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the Space Race.\n92\n175455164\nIron Curtain\nThe concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989. On either side of the Iron Curtain, states developed their own international economic and military alliances: -The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the military Warsaw Pact on the east side, with the Soviet Union as most important member of each -The European Community and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on the west and south.\n93\n175455165\nTruman Doctrine\nWas a policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. Truman stated the Doctrine would be \"the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.\" Truman reasoned, because these \"totalitarian regimes\" coerced \"free peoples,\" they represented a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States. Truman made the plea amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). He argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid that they urgently needed, they would inevitably fall to communism with grave consequences throughout the region.\n94\n175455166\nNATO\nIs an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium,[3] and the organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.\n95\n175455167\nWarsaw Pact\nThe treaty was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe. It was established at the USSR's initiative and realized on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw. In the Communist Bloc, the treaty was the military analogue of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CoMEcon), the communist (East) European economic community. The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Bloc's military response to West Germany's May 1955 integration to the NATO Pact, per the Paris Pacts of 1954.\n96\n175455168\nUSSR\nThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics commonly known as the Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovietsky Soyuz), was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991. A more informal name also used among its residents was the Union (Soyuz). The Soviet Union had a single-party political system dominated by the Communist Party until 1990. Although the USSR was nominally a union of Soviet republics (15 in all after 1956) with the capital in Moscow, it was actually a highly centralized state with a planned economy.\n97\n175455169\nChinese Civil War (nationalists and communists)\nWas a civil war fought between the Kuomintang (KMT or Chinese Nationalist Party), the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China (CPC), for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China (now commonly known as Taiwan) and People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The war began in April 1927, amidst the Northern Expedition. The war represented an ideological split between the Nationalist KMT, and the Communist CPC. In mainland China today, the last three years of the war (1947-1949) is more commonly known as the War of Liberation.\n98\n175455170\nMao Tse Tung/Chiang Kai Shek\n1. AKA Mao Zedong, was a Chinese revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, poet, political theorist, and leader of the Chinese Revolution. He was the architect and founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism-Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of political policies, are now collectively known as Maoism. 2. Chiang was an influential member of the Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang (KMT), and was a close ally of Sun Yat-sen. He became the Commandant of the Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy, and took Sun's place as leader of the KMT when Sun died in 1925. In 1926, Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming China's nominal leader.[3] He served as Chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1948. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Nationalist government's power severely weakened, but his prominence grew. Chiang Kai-shek was socially conservative, promoting traditional Chinese culture in the New Life Movement, and economically, he used heavy government control and intervention, at times against private enterprises.\n99\n175455171\nUS-Filipino Conflict\nThe Philippine-American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection (1899 - 1902), was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following annexation by the United States. The war was part of a series of conflicts in the Philippine struggle for independence, preceded by the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish-American War.\n100\n175455172\n1956 Suez Crisis\nThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression (\"Operation Kadesh\" \"Sinai War\") was an offensive war fought by France, Britain, and Israel against Egypt beginning on October 29, 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to both Egypt and Israel, and then began to bomb Cairo. In a short time, and despite Israeli and British denials, considerable evidence showed that the two attacks were planned in collusion, with France as the instigator, Britain as a belated partner, and Israel as the willing trigger. Anglo-French forces withdrew before the end of the year, but Israeli forces remained until March 1957, prolonging the crisis. In April, the canal was fully reopened to shipping, but other repercussions continued.\n101\n175455173\nCamp David Accords\nWere signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter. The second of these frameworks, A Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel, led directly to the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, and resulted in Sadat and Begin sharing the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. Little progress was achieved on the first framework however, A Framework for Peace in the Middle East, which dealt with the Palestinian territories.\n102\n175455174\nAfghanistan- Taliban\nThe Taliban, alternative spelling Taleban, (meaning \"students\" in Arabic) is an Islamist militia group that ruled large parts of Afghanistan from September 1996 onwards. Although in control of Afghanistan's capital (Kabul) and most of the country for five years, the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. After the attacks of September 11 2001 the Taliban regime was overthrown by Operation Enduring Freedom. The Taliban mostly fled to neighboring Pakistan where they regrouped as an insurgency movement to fight the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (established in late 2001) and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).\n103\n175455175\nDeclaration of Principles (Palestine in Gaza 1993)\nwas an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One of the major continuing issues within the wider Arab-Israeli conflict, it was the first direct, face-to-face agreement between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was intended to be the one framework for future negotiations and relations between the Israeli government and Palestinians, within which all outstanding \"final status issues\" between the two sides would be addressed and resolved. Negotiations concerning the agreements, an outgrowth of the Madrid Conference of 1991, were conducted secretly in Oslo, Norway, hosted by the Fafo institute, and completed on 20 August 1993; the Accords were subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington, DC on 13 September 1993, in the presence of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and US President Bill Clinton. The documents themselves were signed by Mahmoud Abbas for the PLO, foreign Minister Shimon Peres for Israel, Secretary of State Warren Christopher for the United States and foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev for Russia.\n104\n175455176\nBrazil's Government in 1990s- open to change\nIn 1989 Fernando Collor de Mello was elected president for the term from 1990-1994. The elections were marked by unanimous condemnation of José Sarney, with all candidates trying to keep distance from him. Collor made some very bold statements, like saying that the Brazilian industry (of which the Brazilians used to be very proud) was mostly obsolete and polluting or that defaulting the debt was equal to not paying the rent. He also took quite revolutionary measures, like reducing the number of ministries to only 12 and naming Zélia Cardoso de Mello Minister of Economy (the highest position so far enjoyed by a woman in Brazil) or removing existing barriers to importing of goods. His inflation control plan was based on an attempt to control prices and a complicated currency conversion process that prevented people from cashing their bank accounts for 18 months. Collor desperately tried to resist impeachment by rallying the support of the youth and of the lower classes, but his call for help was answered by massive popular demonstrations, led mostly by students, demanding his resignation.\n105\n175455177\nApartheid\nwas a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and minority rule by white people was maintained. The government of South Africa also practised the same discriminatory policies while occupying South West Africa, known after 1966 as Namibia.\n106\n175455178\nGorbachev\nMikhail Sergeyevic (born 2 March 1931) is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991.\n107\n175455179\nPerestroika\nWas a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Its literal meaning is \"restructuring\", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system. Perestroika is often argued to be a cause of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, and the end of the Cold War.\n108\n175455180\nGlasnost\nWas the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s. The word \"glasnost\" was first used in Russia at the end of 1850. The word was frequently used by Gorbachev to specify the policies he believed might help reduce the corruption at the top of the Communist Party and the Soviet government, and moderate the abuse of administrative power in the Central Committee. Russian human rights activist and dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva explained glasnost as a word that \"had been in the Russian language for centuries. It was in the dictionaries and lawbooks as long as there had been dictionaries and lawbooks. It was an ordinary, hardworking, nondescript word that was used to refer to a process, any process of justice of governance, being conducted in the open. Glasnost can also refer to the specific period in the history of the USSR during the 1980s when there was less censorship and greater freedom of information.\n109\n175455181\nEast and West Germany Unify\nDuring the summer of 1989, rapid changes known as peaceful revolution or Die Wende took place in East Germany, which quickly led to German reunification. Growing numbers of East Germans emigrated to West Germany, many via Hungary after Hungary's reformist government opened its borders. Thousands of East Germans also tried to reach the West by staging sit-ins at West German diplomatic facilities in other East European capitals, most notably in Prague. The exodus generated demands within East Germany for political change, and mass demonstrations in several cities continued to grow. Unable to stop the growing civil unrest, Erich Honecker was forced to resign in October, and on 9 November, East German authorities unexpectedly allowed East German citizens to enter West Berlin and West Germany. Hundreds of thousands of people took advantage of the opportunity; new crossing points were opened in the Berlin Wall and along the border with West Germany. This led to the acceleration of the process of reforms in East Germany that ended with the German reunification that came into force on 3 October 1990.\n110\n175455182\nBerlin Wall- fall\nThe Wall fell because the east Germans and west Germans wanted a united Germany. First of all, the wall fell in 1989. Hitler died in 1945, and Stalin died in 1953. The Russians did not want the wall to come down. Reagan was president until January, 1989 (then George Bush Sr. was inaugurated), but Reagan was not in command of anything.\n111\n175455183\nChinese students demand reform (Tiananmen Square)\nOn the morning of May 4, 1919, student representatives from thirteen different local universities met in Beijing and drafted five resolutions: 1. to oppose the granting of Shandong to the Japanese under former German concessions. 2. to draw awareness of China's precarious position to the masses in China. 3. to recommend a large-scale gathering in Beijing. 4. to promote the creation of a Beijing student union. 5. to hold a demonstration that afternoon in protest to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. On the afternoon of May 4 over 3,000 students of Peking University and other schools gathered together in front of Tiananmen and held a demonstration. The general opinion was that the Chinese government was \"spineless\".They voiced their anger at the Allied betrayal of China and the government's inability to secure Chinese interests in the conference. A boycott of Japanese products during this period was advocated, which boosted the domestic Chinese industry slightly.Throughout the streets of China, students packed the streets to protest China's concession to Japanese demands. During these demonstrations, students also insisted on the resignation of three Chinese officials involved in these proceedings. After burning the residence of one of the three despised officials, student protesters were arrested and severely assaulted.\n112\n175455184\nInternet\nThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail. The origins of the Internet reach back to research of the 1960s, commissioned by the United States government in collaboration with private commercial interests to build robust, fault-tolerant, and distributed computer networks. The funding of a new U.S. backbone by the National Science Foundation in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial backbones, led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies, and the merger of many networks. The commercialization of what was by the 1990s an international network resulted in its popularization and incorporation into virtually every aspect of modern human life. As of 2009, an estimated quarter of Earth's population used the services of the Internet.\n113\n175455185\nGlobal Economy\nThe world economy, or global economy, generally refers to the economy, which is based on economies of all of the world's countries, national economies. Also global economy can be seen as the economy of global society and national economies - as economies of local societies, making the global one. It can be evaluated in various kind of ways. For instance, depending on the model used, the valuation that is arrived at can be represented in a certain currency, such as 2006 US dollars.\n114\n175455186\nSpace Race\nThe Space Race was a mid-to-late twentieth century competition between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (US) for supremacy in outer space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national security and symbolic of technological and ideological superiority. The Space Race involved pioneering efforts to launch artificial satellites, sub-orbital and orbital human spaceflight around the Earth, and piloted voyages to the Moon. It effectively began with the Soviet launch of the Sputnik 1 artificial satellite on 4 October 1957, and concluded with the co-operative Apollo-Soyuz Test Project human spaceflight mission in July 1975. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project came to symbolize détente, a partial easing of strained relations between the USSR and the US. The Space Race had its origins in the missile-based arms race that occurred just after the end of the World War II, when both the Soviet Union and the United States captured advanced German rocket technology and personnel.\n115\n175455187\nInternational Space Station\nThe International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility that is being assembled in low Earth orbit. The objective of the ISS, as defined by NASA, is to develop and test technologies for exploration spacecraft systems, develop techniques to maintain crew health and performance on missions beyond low Earth orbit, and gain operational experience that can be applied to exploration missions.\n116\n175455188\nNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty\nis a treaty to limit the spread (proliferation) of nuclear weapons. The treaty came into force on 5 March 1970, and currently there are 189 states party to the treaty, five of which are recognized as nuclear weapon states: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China (also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council).\n117\n175455189\nPopular Culture (definition)\nis the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred through an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given society. Popular culture is heavily influenced by the mass media and permeates the everyday life of many people.\n118\n175455190\nUniversal Declaration of Human Rights\nis a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris). The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966 the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights; and in 1976, after the Covenants had been ratified by a sufficient number of individual nations, the Bill took on the force of international law.\n119\n175455191\nHelsinki Accords\nwas the final act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki, Finland, during July and August 1,1975. Thirty-five states, including the USA, Canada, and all European states except Albania and Andorra, signed the declaration in an attempt to improve relations between the Communist bloc and the West.\n120\n175455192\nHIV/AIDS impact in Africa\nThe death toll is expected to have a severe impact on many economies in the region. In some nations, it is already being felt. Life expectancies in some nations is already decreasing rapidly, while mortality rates are increasing.\n121\n175455193\nGlobal Interdependence\nMutual dependence at a global level. One country depends on another country for something and that country may depend on another country, which eventually creates global interdependence. Importing and exporting of goods and services highly contributes to global interdependence. Certain commodities such as oil have created a global interdependence between countries that produce the precious commodity and those that covet it.\n122\n175455194\nMultinational Corporations\nis a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation. The Dutch East India Company was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock.It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies.\n123\n175455195\nInternational Organizations\nAn international organization is an organization with an international membership, scope, or presence. There are two main types: 1. International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs): non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate internationally. These may be either: International non-profit organizations. Examples include the International Olympic Committee, World Organization of the Scout Movement, International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières. International corporations, referred to as multinational corporations. Examples include The Coca-Cola Company, Sony, Nintendo, McDonalds, and Toyota. 2. Intergovernmental organizations, also known as international governmental organizations (IGOs): the type of organization most closely associated with the term 'international organization', these are organizations that are made up primarily of sovereign states (referred to as member states). Notable examples include the United Nations (UN), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe (CoE), European Union (EU; which is a prime example of a supranational organization), European Patent Organisation and World Trade Organization (WTO). The UN has used the term \"intergovernmental organization\" instead of \"international organization\" for clarity.\n124",
"16th of October 1793: execution of Marie-Antoinette ...\n16th of October 1793: execution of Marie-Antoinette. ... France. Louis is executed on the ... last time the Queen in her capital. Marie-Antoinette sits ...\n16th of October 1793: execution of Marie-Antoinette « Versailles and More\nAfter the fall of the monarchy on the 10th of August 1792 , the dethroned Queen was imprisoned in the Tower of the Temple , along with her husband, Louis XVI, their children and Madame Elisabeth, the King’s younger sister.\nThe following December, Louis XVI stands trial before the National Convention, the elected body that now governs France. Louis is executed on the 21st of January 1793 . Then, the following August, Marie-Antoinette is transferred, alone, without her children or sister-in-law Madame Elisabeth, to the jail of La Conciergerie . It is located within the premises of the main Courthouse of Paris, next to the Revolutionary Tribunal. For an ordinary prisoner that would mean that trial is imminent.\nBut Marie-Antoinette is no ordinary prisoner. She may have some value as a hostage in war negotiations with the Austrians, and the National Convention sends emissaries to that effect to the enemy. But Marie-Antoinette’s brothers, Joseph II and Leopold II, no longer reign over Austria. The new Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, her nephew, has never met her. He is not ready to compromise the hopes of a victory against the French armies for the sake of an aunt he does not know.\nThis is the context of her transfer to La Conciergerie: the National Convention hopes to step up the pressure and show Francis II that a trial is a real possibility. To no avail: the Emperor is content to express his indignation. For the National Convention, there is political advantage in executing a hated public figure, and none in keeping her alive.\nFurthermore, several escape plans, including one that took her only yards from freedom, have been hatched while Marie-Antoinette was jailed at La Conciergerie. The National Convention does not want to lose face if she managed to flee. The case is therefore set for trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal, and a preliminary hearing is held at the beginning of October.\nThe trial itself begins on the 14th. The accused states her name: “Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine d’Autriche.” In itself this is a very bold move: she reminds the jurors of her French paternal ancestry (Lorraine) but also, less diplomatically, of the phrase The Austrian Woman . And France is at war with Austria… For a full transcript (in French) of the trial, I direct you to the irreplaceable Royet site . I will not enter into the details of the trial, which would require its separate – and very long – post. The Tribunal remained in session 15 hours on October 14, and almost 24 hours on October 15 and 16. The transcript notes that “Antoinette almost always kept a calm and assured demeanor; during the first hours of her questioning, she was seen running her fingers on the arm of her chair, as though she were playing the pianoforte.”\nIn my first novel, Mistress of the Revolution , one of the main characters is Pierre-André Coffinhal, a judge of the Revolutionary Tribunal. I have him relate the trial (it was eerie to write, because I had always thought of it from Marie-Antoinette’s standpoint.)\nHer main line of defense was that she was not responsible for any of her actions! She claimed she had obeyed her husband’s orders when she prepared the flight to Varennes, or when she sent the French war plans to her brother, the tyrant of Austria. Her argument might have succeeded had she been any other woman. In her case, it was common knowledge that Capet [Louis XVI] had fallen entirely under her influence, that he was a hapless imbecile without any will of his own... Of course, that jackass Hébert [representative of the Municipality of Paris] had to disgrace himself by testifying that she had taught her son to pleasure himself. You may trust that scoundrel to bring up something lewd at every opportunity. [The presiding judge] Herman, who is no fool, let it pass without questioning Antoinette on it. The rest of us judges also ignored it, but one of the jurors insisted that she respond. That gave her an opportunity to feign outrage and appeal to the public.\nMarie Antoinette before the Revolutionary Tribunal\nThis is of course her famous response to the incest accusation: “I appeal to all mothers!” Throughout the trial, Marie-Antoinette, very pale, physically exhausted, but as imposing as ever in her patched-up black dress, defends herself with energy and dignity.\nShe is assisted by two famous attorneys: Chauveau-Lagarde and Tronçon-Ducoudray. When the case goes to the jury in the early hours of the 16th, the outrageous incest accusation has been dropped. Only remain the counts of treason, conspiracy and collusion with domestic and foreign enemies.\nThe jury retires for over one hour. This is a very long by Revolutionary Tribunal standards. Then the verdict is read: guilty on all four counts. The sentencing is immediate, and there is no appeal from the jugements of the Revolutionary Tribunal. Had Marie-Antoinette harbored any hope of a different outcome? One of her attorneys, Chauveau-Lagarde, notes that “she was like annihilated by surprise.” She silently shakes her head when the presiding judge asks her whether she has anything to add. She leaves the courtroom without a word, her head held high.\nFrom then on, we will simply follow a timeline.\n4:30 AM: Marie-Antoinette is taken back to her cell, within the Courthouse building. She feels very faint now. One of the gendarmes, Lieutenant de Busne, offers her a glass of water and his arm to go down the steep corkscrew stairs. He holds his hat in his hand as a sign of respect. Once in her cell, she is given a candle, ink and paper. She writes her famous last letter to her sister-in-law, Madame Elisabeth, a translation of which is provided by Elena at Tea at Trianon .\nShe also writes a few words in her prayer book:\nThis 16th of Oct. at 4:30 in the morning\nMy God, have mercy on me!\nMy eyes have no more tears\nto weep for you my poor\nchildren; farewell, farewell!\nMarie Antoinette\n7:00 AM: Rosalie Lamorlière, a young servant who has been attending to the former Queen, offers to bring her some food. “I do not need anything anymore,” responds Marie-Antoinette. “All is over for me.” Upon Rosalie’s insistence, Marie-Antoinette accepts a bowl of bouillon, but she can only swallow a few spoonfulls.\nShe is informed that she is not to wear her black dress to her execution. She puts on her only other remaining garment: a white cotton dress, with a black petticoat, and a white cap adorned with black ribbon. She has been bleeding profusely (she is apparently suffering from a uterine fibroma, or possibly some more serious condition) and wishes to change her shirt. She must do so, only shielded by Rosalie, in the presence of the gendarme officer who has replaced Lieutenant de Busne (the latter has been briefly arrested for showing her too much respect.) Rosalie also cuts Marie-Antoinette’s hair short on the neck. In this fashion the executioner does not have to do it himself to facilitate the operation of the guillotine.\nmarie antoinette led to the guillotine\n10:00 AM: The prison concierge and the turnkey find Marie-Antoinette kneeling by her bed, in prayers. She rises. Soon arrive the Court clerk and the judges, who read her the sentence, as required by law. She replies that she knows it all to well, but is told that she must listen to it again.\nThen enters Henri Sanson, the executioner, who ties her hands behind her back. Again she protests. Louis XVI’s hands were not tied until he reached the foot of the guillotine, but the deposed Queen will receive far less consideration than her late husband. She is taken to the clerk’s office for the last formalities.\n11:00 AM: She leaves La Conciergerie and reaches the Cour du Mai, in front of the Courthouse. There an open cart, drawn by two large white horses, is waiting for her. Louis XVI had been taken to the guillotine in the enclosed carriage of the Mayor of Paris, but again she will be treated like any other convict. However, the security is out of the ordinary: 30,000 men have been called to prevent any escape.\nMarie Antoinette on the cart to the guillotine David\nA sworn priest (meaning a cleric who had pledged allegiance to the Constitution) accompanies her the cart, but she politely declines his services. Again this is a stark contrast with the execution of Louis XVI, who had been granted the assistance of an unsworn priest of his own choosing.\nThe executioner and his helper, their hats in hand in sign of respect, also climb onto the cart. It slowly makes its way through the streets of Paris, in the midst of a jeering crowd assembled to see one last time the Queen in her capital. Marie-Antoinette sits very straight in the cart, proud and calm in the face of this display of hate, contempt and anger.\n12:00 PM: At last the cart reaches Place de la Révolution, where she can see both her former Palace of Les Tuileries and the guillotine. She shows a strong emotion, but soon regains her composure. She steps off the cart promptly, lightly. Without requiring any help, she climbs the steps to the scaffold. She does not oppose any resistance and even apologizes for stepping on the executioner’s foot.\n12:15 PM: The blade of the guillotine falls. So dies Marie-Antoinette, two weeks before her 38th birthday.\nMarie Antoinette guillotine",
"Dinky Toys - Videos - Mashpedia\nAnother theory is that lead from Hornby train and Dinky Toys ... Meccano Ltd began shipping Dinky Toy parts to South ... South African Dinky Toys from Liverpool.\nDinky Toys - Wikipedia, Photos and Videos\nDinky Toys\nNEXT GO TO RESULTS [51 .. 100]\nWIKIPEDIA ARTICLE\nMeccano Ltd , Triang , Airfix , Matchbox\nDinky Toys are die-cast zamac miniature vehicles that were produced by Meccano Ltd . They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool . Dinky Toys were among the most popular diecast vehicles ever made predating other popular diecast marques, including Corgi, Matchbox, and Mattel's Hot Wheels (Ralston 2009, 7; Richardson 1999, 128).\nContents\nPre-war history[ edit ]\nFrank Hornby established Meccano Ltd. in 1908 to make metal construction sets. The company later moved into model railroading with their first O gauge clockwork trains appearing in 1920 (Ellis 2009, p. 15; Wainwright 2013).\nIn the early 1930s, Meccano had made many types of tin plate and other metal cars, like its Morgan and BSA three-wheelers, mostly in kit form (Interesting 1934, pp. 306–307). In 1933 Meccano Ltd issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement their O scale (1/45) Hornby Trains model train sets (Force 1988, p. 6; Ramsay 1933, p. 88). These accessories were first called \"Hornby Modelled Miniatures\", but in the April 1934 issue of Meccano Magazine they were given the name \"Meccano Dinky Toys\" for the first time (Meccano Magazine 1934 p. 332) in August 1935, the name Meccano was dropped and the marque became DINKY TOYS until 1971 (Encyclopédie Dinky Toys). By December 1934 the Dinky name was also used for the \"Dinky Builder\" sets where coloured flat metal pieces could be hinged together to make buildings and vehicles (Esplen 2013).\nDinky 23e model of George Eyston's land record car, \"Speed of the Wind\". This toy was made from 1936-1940.\nOne story is that the \"Dinky\" name came from a nickname that a friend gave to Frank Hornby's daughter (Simpson 2008). Another version is when one of Frank's daughters-in-law first saw the models, she called them \"dinky\", a Scottish word meaning neat or fine.[ citation needed ]\nThe legacy of vehicles[ edit ]\nIn the mid-1930s, then, six vehicles were introduced (designated 22a through f), including a sports car, a sports coupe, a truck, a delivery van, a farm tractor, and a tank. They were all cast in lead. Soon after, the first Dinky model car available individually was numbered 23 – a sports car based on the MG Magic Midget. At this early time a series 24 (a-h) were introduced and included a generic ambulance (made until the late 1940s) a grand sport open four-seater, a grand sport two-seater, a coupe and a limousine (Gardner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 46–47). The 24 series was also made in France.\nSome smaller vehicles were also produced alongside model track workers, passengers, station staff and other O scale track side accessories (Meccano Dinky 1934 p. 332). All of these early cars were inaccurate representations and had die-cast metal bodies, chassis and wheels with rubber tyres. By August 1935 there were around 200 different products in the Dinky Toys range which included die-cast ships, aeroplanes and small trains. Dinky Toys model cars were available individually in trade packs of 6 cars per pack. Most models would not be available in individual boxes until 1952.\nRAC hut and motor cycle patrol, to O scale, which was about 1/43.\nThe number of commercial vehicles expanded with the addition of Series 28 which included many delivery vans. In 1935, a new series 30 was introduced which featured accurate likenesses of specific vehicles for the first time. These included a generic ambulance, a Daimler saloon, a Vauxhall saloon, a Chrysler Airflow saloon, and a Rolls-Royce saloon (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 46–47). Smaller Matchbox-sized Austin 7 saloons and tourers were also made. About this same time, several models were also made and marketed in France. Liveries of well known companies began to decorate the commercial vehicles.\nSeries 30 included:\n30f Ambulance\nIn 1938, a new Series 36 was introduced. Most of these models were also made after World War II up to 1948. Production was halted during the war while the Binns Road factory in Liverpool produced many items for the War effort. Models in series 36, meanwhile, included a Rover Saloon, a Bentley 2 seat sports coupe, an Armstrong-Siddeley limousine, a British Salmson 4 seater convertible, a British Salmson 2 seat convertible, and a Humber Vogue coupe (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 48–49). Chassis were cast with open holes in them, saving expense and metal. Provisions were made in some models for attachment of metal drivers, but not many appeared before the war, making them more valuable (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, p. 48).\nDinkys had acute problems on early models with zinc pest also known wrongly as metal fatigue, caused by impure alloys in which corrosion happens between molecules causing cracking of the metal (Harvey 1974, p. 1997). Metal would then crumble prematurely. This was much more common before the war in the years 1938–1941, and a main reason it is rare to find surviving toys in good condition from this period (Ramsay 1993, p. 88). Some early castings have survived in numbers, while others are rare without some form of damage – such as the 28/2 Series vans. Another theory is that lead from Hornby train and Dinky Toys production, lead ties from sacks and foil from cigarettes wraping found their way into the metal, corrupting it.\nDinky 151a Medium Tank . This model was made 1937 to 1941 and reissued just after the war from 1947 till 1952 as consumer industry commenced again.\nMilitary[ edit ]\nBetween 1937 and 1939, a number of military vehicles numbered from 151 to 162 were introduced. These were painted army green and consisted of a medium and a light tank, an Austin 7 military car, a six-wheeled truck, a reconnaissance car, a searchlight lorry, an anti aircraft gun, a light Dragon tractor with limber and 19 pdr gun. Most interesting were several fairly detailed trailers, including: amler, cooker trailer and water tank trailer. The military offerings were produced through 1941 though a few select models – the clever 161b Anti-Aircraft Gun, the 151a medium tank and some of the trailers – were also made again in 1946–1955 after the war (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nPre-war models were fitted with thin dia 1.626 mm. (0.064 in.) axles and the post war axles were 2.032 mm. (0.08 in.). The pre-war hubs were smooth and after the war, there was a raised part in the center of the hub. Tracks on the tanks and the 162a Light Dragon Artillery Tractor were done with wire-link sprocket chain wrapped around the hubs. This gave a mechanical, but not very realistic, appearance to the tracks. With the Anti-Aircraft Gun, the side panels folded and not only did the gun swivel 360 degrees, but it could be moved from level to about a 50-degree angle upward. The searchlight was also adjustable in horizontal and vertical directions.\nMilitary models, however, were made up through the end of production in the late 1970s. A wide variety of military vehicles were produced, like the Jeep-like Austin Champ with driver and passengers.\nAircraft and ships[ edit ]\nIn the early days of the Dinky Toys range aeroplanes and ships formed a considerable part of the output of the Binns Road factory alongside models of cars, vans and trucks. Both civilian and military aircraft were subjects for the Dinky Toys modellers, and the model of the Spitfire was also sold in a special presentation box between 1939 and 1941 as part of The Spitfire Fund in order to raise money for the supply of a real Spitfire to the Royal Air Force. Some models were clearly identified whereas others re-issued in 1945 had generic names such as Heavy Bomber (66a) and Two Seater Fighter (66c). The reason for this is not clear and it may have been that these were not true representations of particular aircraft types, but there were rumours that some models of aircraft and ships were disguised so that enemy agents would not be able to recognise allied aircraft and shipping from the Dinky Toys models. This was of particular importance in the production of French Dinky models due to the political friction in Europe before the war and the fact that France was occupied by the Axis forces during hostilities. These theories do not stand as the models with generic names were issued in 1945 and at that time there was no enemy any more, the allies had dealt with them. (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nProduction of model aircraft resumed after the war with a mixture re-issues of pre-war and new models of civilian airliners and new jet-powered aircraft. Production of Dinky planes tailed off in 1968 but was resurgent in 1971 with a range of World War II types complete with battery-powered propellers, modern jet fighters, and even a Sea King helicopter. These large scale planes had been developed by Airfix but were made by Meccano Ltd. which had just been bought by Airfix.\nThe range included:\n999 Comet Airliner (1956) – re-issue of 702\nDinky 52a Cunard White Star Line Queen Mary. The model has significant zinc pest decay.\nAlthough the production of aircraft models continued after the war, the heyday of Dinky ships was between 1934 and 1939. The models were cast from the same unstable alloy that was used across the entire immediate pre-war Dinky range and have therefore also suffered from metal fatigue that makes survivors all the more rare. Small metal rollers were also included in the design and concealed in the underside of the hull so that the models could be moved smoothly across surfaces. Mirroring the aircraft range, both civilian and military ships were issued, and again, some were disguised. It was not until 1976 that five further models were added to the long line of maritime releases from Dinky Toys, these were in the larger scale of 1/180–1/200. The liner France was the only Dinky Toys ship made in France after the war, it was made partly of zamac and partly of plastic at the scale of 1/1200. (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nModels in the pre-war range include:\nPost-war history[ edit ]\nNo Dinky Toys models were made between 1941 and 1945. The French Meccano factory was occupied by the Germans, some of whom worked for Märklin, and the British factory was on war work but every Christmas a few models would be sold from pre-war stocks. Thus during and after the war a few 'pre-war' models survived and were sold in 1945 (Harvey 1974, p. 1997-1998) (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia). The first new models released after the war were U.S. military jeeps ref.153a in April 1946 in England and ref. 24M in France, it was the first Dinky Toy made at the scale of 1/43.\nDinky 0 Series no. 25v Bedford refuse wagon with tipping bed.\nBesides some of the military vehicles offered before and after the war, the first significant releases from Dinky in the late 1940s were the 40 series, which were all British saloons. The first new model car released was an Armstrong Siddeley Coupe (Smeed 1980, p. 31). These were the opening chapter of the \"golden age\" of Dinky Toys in the post-war era and represented far greater accuracy and detail than their pre-war relatives. These were very popular and today are often considered by collectors to be the quintessential Dinky Toys models. The 40 series cars were manufactured from better quality alloy, meaning that the survival rate is higher and although originally sold in trade boxes of six, they were renumbered in 1954 and re-coloured in two-tone paintwork in 1956, the Austin Somerset ref. 40j is probably the first model sold in its own individual yellow box. The first two models in the 40 series were in 1:48 scale, while the others were in 1:45 scale (Schellekens 2010). The Jowett Javelin saloon is an interesting case as plans were made, but the model was never issued. More recently, Odgi Models have remade the Jowett and a couple other Dinky Toys Models which were planned but never manufactured.\nThe series included :\n1963\nSupertoys no. 903 Foden Flat Truck with typical blue and white striped box.\nIn 1950, Meccano introduced in the Supertoys series a number of Guy Vans finished in appealing period liveries. Each model was an identical all metal box van with opening rear doors. The Guy cab was joined by a Bedford S cab in 1955 and a Guy Warrior cab was introduced in 1960. Later, A.E.C. and other models were also added. Supertoys were commonly packaged in white boxes with thin blue horizontal lines and were marketed all on their own – no longer were these models solely focused on railroad accessories. Still, they did not quite reach the commercial marketing level of later diecast brands like Corgi Toys or Solido .\nNumber\nBedford S Van 'Heinz'\n1955\nMeccano continued producing detailed Dinky Supertoys commercial vehicles through the fifties and sixties, including such subjects as a Mobile Television Control Room and Camera Van in both BBC and ABC Television liveries, a Leyland test chassis with removable miniature 5 ton weights, a series of military vehicles including a Corporal Erecting Vehicle and missile (a subject also modelled by Corgi Toys at the same time), a range of Thornycroft Mighty Antar heavy haulage transporters complete with loads and a Horse Box in British Railways and later in Newmarket liveries.\nPost-War Car Lines[ edit ]\nHaving been well known before the war, Dinky Toys were popular in the United Kingdom in the early 1950s. The smaller cars were in a scale of 1:45, while the larger cars and many Supertoys, as stated above, were in a scale of 1:48, which blended in with O scale railway sets, but many buses and lorries were scaled down further (Schellekens 2010). The scale of the Dinky Toys land vehicles range from 1/27 for the Lunar Roving Vehicle ref. 355 and 1/99 for the Duple Viceroy Luxury coach ref. 293 / 296. Because of the introduction of data processing, the British Dinky Toys range was reorganized in 1954 with a new numbering system – previously model numbers were commonly followed by letters and often sold in sets with several vehicles. Now each model had its own unique three digit catalogue number (with no letters), and cars were now sold in individual boxes (Smeed 1980, p. 33). The renumbering also happened in France, but in 1959 (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nA number of Dinky models from the mid-1950s. Featured prominently are a couple of no. 237 Mercedes-Benz W 196 Grand Prix cars.\nThe Dinky Toys ranges became more sophisticated throughout the 1950s. Some cars in the sporty pre-war line were carried on after the war like the Alvis sports tourer, the Sunbeam Talbot, or the Frazer-Nash BMW. These offerings then led to a magnificent line-up in the post war Dinky range, which included a Lagonda, an Armstrong-Siddeley, MG, Sunbeam Alpine, Austin Atlantic, Austin Healey 100, Aston Martin DB3S racer, Morris Oxford sedan and Triumph TR2 (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 50–51). Additionally, several models introduced were American cars, and even now still seem unique choices, such as a 1954 Packard convertible, a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere, a Cunningham, the 1953 and 1957 Studebakers (and a 1957 Packard), a Chrysler New Yorker Convertible, a 1957 Rambler, and a late model Hudson Hornet. In many cases, even domestic British / European vehicle choices for models were not everyday selections, e. g. the Connaught racing car, Maserati Sports 2000 , AC Aceca, Humber Hawk, 1954 Bristol LeMans car with large fins - and a Daimler instead of the more routine Jaguar.\nSeveral colourful gift sets of sports and racing cars were offered in the mid-1950s, usually five cars to a set. For example, Gift set no. 4 / 249 offered Cooper-Bristol in British racing green, Alfa Romeo in the Italian red, Ferrari in the blue and yellow of Argentina (Juan Manuel Fangio's country), and H.W.M. in light green, and Maserati in the red and white colours of Switzerland. No. 149, the sports car set, offered an MG, Austin-Healey, Sunbeam Alpine, Aston-Martin and Triumph TR-2 (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 22–23) (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nDinky no. 152 Austin Devon Saloon. Model appears to be stripped of paint.\nProduction of agricultural machinery and implements had occurred since the 1930s, such as the 1933 number 22e Fordson farm tractor, and such offerings were maintained post-war. One interesting model was the odd Opperman 3-wheeled Motocart , a tilting flat-bed vehicle with engine hanging off to the side of its large front wheel (Rixon 2005, pp. 122–123).\nDublo Dinky[ edit ]\nIn November 1958, Meccano Ltd introduced the Dublo Dinky range of models in 1:76 OO scale , designed to be used with the Hornby railway system (Force 1988, pp. 165–166). These were relatively cheap to produce – having a one-piece die-cast metal body, a base plate and or windows on some, and plastic wheels. There was the added bonus of being able to compete in the small-scale toy car market which, at the time was dominated by Lesney's Matchbox (see Force 1988, p. 47).\nThere were a total 15 Dublo models, although with upgrades and modifications there are possibly up to 42 variations (not including box variations) manufactured (Force 1988, p. 47). All models came boxed. There were no colour changes throughout the short life of Dublo.\nNo. 073 Dinky Dublo Land Rover. The truck was just under two inches long and originally came with a horse trailer .\nModels were well-proportioned and looked similar in style to contemporary Matchbox or Budgie Toys. For example, similar to Matchbox, the Land Rover (which came with a horse trailer) had windows, grey or black plastic wheels and a black base (see photo, Force 1988, p. 47). Wheels, however, (the Land Rover had one on the bonnet as well as one underneath) were somewhat flatter and wider than those of Matchbox and their circumference was not ribbed at the beginning but this feature was added later. The baseplate, however, was pressed steel with etched lettering (not diecast with moulded lettering as was the case with Matchbox, Budgie Toys or Lone Star vehicles). Finally, the Land Rover had a trailer hook behind which was a cut, curved extension of the baseplate. The front and rear axles were held to the vehicle differently. The front was covered by the tube of the baseplate and held pinched on each side by extensions of the diecast body. The rear axle was exposed and run through holes in rounded sections folded over on each side of the plate. The ref. 072 Bedford articulated lorry was a reproduction of the Meccano factory lorry, its articulated flat trailer was dimensioned to receive the Hornby Dublo container. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThe range met with limited success and the first model was withdrawn in October 1960 having only been on sale for 18 months – there was no replacement. Within 22 months of their launch there were price reductions to 3 models. Further models were withdrawn in May 1961, September 1962 and March 1963 until in November 1963 those models that remained were taken off the shelf six years after the Dinky Dublo line was introduced. Thus ended the production of Dublo Dinky Toys under Meccano who went into receivership two years later.\nFive of the Dublo models enjoyed a new lease on life when Meccano was purchased by Lines Brothers.\nThe range (see Force 1988, pp. 165–166) and (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia) :\n061 Ford Prefect: Introduced in March 1958 and withdrawn October 1960. Three model variations and one box variation.\n062 Singer Roadster: Introduced in March 1958 and withdrawn 1960. Two model and one box variation.\n063 Commer Van: Introduced in March 1958 and withdrawn 1960. Three model and two box variations.\n064 Austin Lorry: Introduced December 1957; withdrawn 1962. Four model variations and four box variations.\n065 Morris Pick Up: Introduced December 1957; withdrawn 1960. Two model and one box variation.\n066 Bedford Flat Truck: Introduced December 1957; withdrawn 1960. Four model variations and two box variations.\n067 Austin Taxi: Introduced March 1959; withdrawn 1966. Two model variations and two box variations.\n068 Royal Mail Van: Introduced April 1959; withdrawn 1964. Three model variations and two box variations.\n069 Massey-Ferguson Tractor: Introduced September 1959; withdrawn 1964. Five model variations and two box variations. Model was also issued with a low sided wagon as part of the Hornby Dublo railway system, no. 6494, boxed.\n070 AEC Mercury Tanker: Introduced October 1959; withdrawn 1964. Two model variations and two box variations.\n071 Volkswagen Delivery Van: Introduced March 1960; withdrawn 1964. Three model variations and two box variations.\n072 Bedford Articulated Flat Truck: Introduced June 1959; withdrawn 1964. Two model variations and no box variations.\n073 Land Rover & Horse Trailer: Introduced September 1960; withdrawn 1966. The most complex of all Dublos; three model variations and three box variations. The horse came in light, medium and dark tan.\n074 This number was never used : Land Rover was to be marketed as separate but model was never produced.\n075 This number was never used : Horse trailer was to be marketed as separate but model was never produced.\n076 Lansing Bagnall Tractor & Trailer: Introduced June 1960; withdrawn 1964. No model variation but two box variations.\n077 This number was never used : The planned model was to have been an AEC Transporter but model was never produced.\n078 Lansing Bagnall Trailer (Trade box of 6): Introduced June 1960; withdrawn 1966. Three box variations.\nCompeting with the \"Ones with Windows\"[ edit ]\nDinky offerings at this time were striking, but due to the lack of much competition, development of new models was perhaps a bit slow at least until July 1956, when Mettoy introduced a rival line of models under the Corgi brand name. The most obvious difference was the addition of clear plastic window glazing. While Corgi Toys called their vehicles, \"The Ones With Windows\", Meccano Ltd responded by updating the Dinky Toys range and the models from both companies quickly became more and more sophisticated featuring such things as working suspension, \"fingertip steering\", detailed interiors, and jewelled headlights. The first model to have jewelled headlights was the no. 196 Holden Special sedan made from 1963-1969.\nDinky Toy No. 155: Ford Anglia (issued 1961–1966)\nTruck offerings remained continuously creative including a Simca glass truck with a sheet of \"glass\" (clear plastic) and a mirror (polished aluminium), a Leyland Octopus flatbed truck complete with realistic chain around the bed, a car carrier with a car carrying trailer, a Dunlop tyre rack full of tyres, a Berliet truck hauling an electrical transformer, and an intricately detailed Brockway bridgelaying truck. One of the most astounding was the Mighty Antar truck hauling a large gold ship's propeller. A wide variety of military vehicles continued under production.\nA rival third range of model cars also appeared in 1959 called \" Spot-on \" which were manufactured in Northern Ireland and produced by Tri-ang , a division of Lines Brothers . This range was kept to one scale, 1:42, also featured mainly British makes, and were comparatively more expensive, never managing to sell as many units as Corgi or Dinky Toys. To compete with Spot-on, the scale of British Dinky Toys was increased to 1:42 in 1963 (Schellekens 2010). In 1964 Tri-ang took over the parent Meccano company (which included Hornby trains as well as Meccano itself). Since Dinky Toys were more popular, Spot-On Models were phased out in 1967, although a few cars originally designed for Spot-On were made in Hong Kong and marketed as Dinky Toys. After the take-over, Meccano continued to use the 1:42 scale for many of the English made cars and trucks until 1977. The French factory stuck to 1:43 scale, which it had used since 1947 (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThe Mattel onslaught[ edit ]\nIn 1967, Mattel's Hot Wheels entered the U.K. model car market. Their low-friction axles and bright paint schemes gave play value and appeal that Dinky and other British brands did not possess. Each manufacturer responded with its own version of this innovation – Dinky's name was \"Speedwheels\" (Force 1988, p. 8). The company continued to make innovative models, with all four doors opening (a first in British toy cars), retractable radio aerials (another first), Speedwheels, high quality metallic paint, and jewelled headlights (which were pretty, but not very realistic). Such features, however, were expensive to manufacture and the price could only be kept down if the quantities produced were sufficiently high, and in the face of Mattel's creation, Dinky was facing an uphill battle.\nThough the writing was on the wall, Dinky's offerings in the 1970s covered the entire spectrum of vehicles, both real and fictitious. Besides the normal gamut of passenger, sports and racing cars, buses, farm, emergency and military vehicles – cars, aeroplanes and spacecraft were also offered from popular (mostly British) TV shows of the time like Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , UFO , Thunderbirds , the Pink Panther , The Secret Service , and Joe 90 (Dinky Toys 1974). It could be argued, though, that it was too little too late, as Corgi Toys had already been offering for several years vehicles from far more well-known shows and movies in the United States like Batman , The Saint , Daktari , James Bond , and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Dinky's seemingly weaker standing made it all the more susceptible to Mattel's unstoppable Hot Wheels onslaught. At least the Corgi name still survives as a well-known collectible brand.\nNo. 164 Dinky Ford Zodiac made from 1966-1971. Note that all four doors opened on this model which made the subtle lines of the roof difficult to capture. As seen in the photo, the opening hood unevenly matched the grille piece and body - a common issue with later Dinkys.\nInto the 1970s, many British made Dinky vehicles lost the precision quality of detailing and proportions seen during the two previous decades. Models like no. 186 Jensen FF or no. 213 European Ford Capri were rather chunky and unrefined with thick metal door frames, imprecise grilles, and ungainly doors and bonnets painted in separate colours from the rest of the body. Many just did not look quite right. Others, like the no. 1453 Citroën DS Présidentielle saloon were still impressive – flying French flags, with driver, and battery operated lights (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, p. 23). Some of the truck and construction models remained very clever as well, with many moving features, like the Bedford refuse truck or the Taylor Excavator. At this time, Dinky also introduced \"Action Kits\" which were regular models that came disassembled with build instructions and consisted of about 40 pieces (Smeed 1980, p. 44-45). On the other hand, French Dinky Toys, which had to compete with Solido since 1957, were much more accurate with better paint and sharper details than their English counterparts. The no. 825 DUKW military truck is a good example of the quality of French Dinky Toys (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nMini-Dinky[ edit ]\nA second series of small scale models was introduced four years later in 1968, somewhat larger than the Matchbox range at 1:65. Mini-Dinky Toys, as the range was called, featured opening bonnets, doors and boots and were produced in Hong Kong and the Netherlands, with some construction models designed in Italy by Mercury to a smaller 1:130 scale.\nEach model was sold in stackable red plastic garages, with clear removable top and sides. The model would slide out of a double hinged opening door to one end. This was in place of the usual cardboard box. Some Mini-Dinkys were also blister packaged in a dark grey pack (some with garage and some not) with bright yellow lettering (Mini Dinky 2011).\nTelevision and movie tie-ins[ edit ]\nAlthough Dinky Toys were not known as widely for producing television related models as Corgi Toys, they still made a number of vehicles widely known from the small screen. Many of these models were the result of beating Corgi Toys to the signing of a licensing deal with Gerry Anderson 's Century 21 Productions , whose programmes are immensely popular in the United Kingdom. The French factory produced only one TV series related model: the 1406 Renault 4 Sinpar \"Michel Tanguy\" (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterions TV tie-in Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle.\nNo. 350 Tiny's Mini Moke (issued 1970-71)\nNumber\nFrance[ edit ]\nIn 1912 Frank Hornby set up an office in Paris on Rue Ambroise Thomas to import Meccano toys into France. By 1921, the French market had proved so successful that production of Meccano began in Paris at the newly opened factory on Rue Rebeval, with another plant opening in 1931 in Bobigny where production of the Dinky Toys range would be based. In the early days production consisted mainly of tiny model trains cast in lead, with vehicles gradually increasing in number. By the late 1930s the French Dinky Toys range had begun to diversify from that of the British parent company, concentrating on the products of the French motor manufacturers and eventually including; Citroën , Peugeot , Simca , Renault, Panhard and Ford of France (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 62–63).\nFrench Dinky Nestle's laitier (milk) truck.\nDuring the Second World War the Meccano factory was commandeered by the invading Germans and used in the Nazi war effort. The Bobigny factory was also produced an equivalent toy to the Meccano using the Märklin name. From 1945, the model vehicles were forcibly shod with solid metal wheels and the pumps did not have rubber hoses due to the shortage of rubber which was needed for the army. In the early post war period, rubber was needed badly as the French supply came from Cambodia and Laos in war against France, rubber tyres were not fitted on models until 1950. In 1951, the headquarters and offices which were still at Rue Rebeval closed and Dinky Toys production was now solely based at Bobigny. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia and Dinky Toys les modèles d'avant guerre, 1934–1940).\nIn 1951, French Meccano has been the first post-war European manufacturer to introduce 1:43 scale. Initially, the scales of French Dinky Toys were similar to those of English Dinkys. The Citroën Traction Avant (24N), released in 1949, was 1:48, while the Ford Vedette 1949 (24Q), released in 1950, was 1:45, the same scales as used in the British 40 series. But then, in 1946 Meccano France released their first car in 1:43 scale: the Jeep (24M) (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nBy the late 1950s, Italian, German and other marques, like the Dutch DAF were also offered by Dinky Toys of France (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 64–65). Focusing on export, American cars were also made like the late 1950s Studebaker, Chrysler's DeSoto, Buick Roadmaster, Plymouth Belvedere Coupe, Chrysler New Yorker convertible and Saratoga sedan, Ford Thunderbird \"Squarebird\" and Lincoln Premiere sedan (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 66–67). 1960s cars produced by Meccano France were the first Corvair sedan, a 1967 Ford Thunderbird coupe and a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 sedan.\nFrench Dinky truck and catalog from the late 1930s.\nSome models such as the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia were produced both in France as 24M / 530 and in the UK at the Binns Road plant in Liverpool as number 187. By the 1960s there was virtually no crossover of product between the two countries resulting in a fascinating range that complemented the models. The vast majority of the French Dinky range was only available in the home market, Belgium, Switzerland, U.S.A. and other non British Commonwealth countries although a few models did make it across the English Channel both before and after the war. Similarly, some examples of the British range of Dinky Toys were exported to France at the same time. The factory at Bobigny closed in 1970 and production moved to Calais where the range continued to be manufactured for another 2 years when the final single sheet catalogue spelt the domestic end for the best known name in diecast toys. A contract had been signed with the Spanish firm Auto Pilen who received some tools and produced some models both as Dinkys and Auto-Pilens. (Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia and Dinky Toys les modèles d'avant guerre, 1934–1940).\nFrench Dinky 25c Citroen 'Camionette' delivery van 1200 kg.\nSpain[ edit ]\nAs import duties were high on finished goods and reduced on components, to get into the Spanish market, Meccano s.a. (France) exported sixteen unpainted and unassembled Dinky Toys to The Novades Poch Company in Barcelona. There the models were finished and fitted with specific Pirelli tyres.\nThe models are :\n559 Taunus 17M\n560 Fourgoneta 2cv Citroën\nIn 1974 labour was getting too expensive in France, and Meccano subcontracted the manufacture of some models to Auto Pilen s.a. in Spain. These models had already been made in France and were sold exclusively under the marque Dinky. When the Calais factory closed down some of the recent tools were sent to Liverpool where the models were produced with new baseplates. Some of these tools were later sent to Auto-Pilen where they were modified or updated before; being re-issued, however it is not known if the dies were modified by Meccano or by Pilen. These models were sold in France under the marque Dinky, they were clearly identified as Dinky and as MADE IN SPAIN on the base plate. In Spain they were sold as Pilen and marked as such. Pilen models, most of which were Dinky dies, were very popular and numerous in Spain and commonly sold in El Corte Engles and Galerias Preciados department stores.\nAccording to a contract between Meccano s.a. and Pilen, the last five so called French Dinkys were in fact Pilen models designed and tooled in Algeciras and fitted with a Dinky Toys base plate. Like the previous series, they were sold in France as Dinky and are very rare and as Pilen in Spain. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThey were :\nSouth Africa[ edit ]\nMeccano Ltd exported Dinky Toys to all of the United Kingdom 's old colonies relatively cheaply because of existing Commonwealth trade agreements. South Africa was one of its big importers.\nA limited edition set of Dinky Toys from the mid-1950s shipped to the South African Defence Force.\nAround 1952 -54, Meccano Ltd shipped to South Africa a limited edition set of vehicles for the South African Defence Force . This set included a Motor Truck, a Covered Wagon, an Ambulance, a Dispatch Rider, a Van, a petrol tanker, a fire engine, a road roller, a Mechanical horse and trailer, a loudspeaker van. (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nWhen South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1961, it imposed a luxury goods import tax, making Dinky Toys very expensive – a potential loss for Meccano Ltd. To resolve this problem, Meccano Ltd began shipping Dinky Toy parts to South Africa in 1962 where models were assembled and painted locally. The import of unfinished goods was not subject to the tax. These models were sold in South Africa between 1962 and 1963 and it is believed that only one batch of each model was produced, making South African Dinky Toys very rare. South Africa also imported Dinky Toys parts from the French factory in 1966 and six models were assembled and painted locally (Binns Road website).\nSome of the distinguishing features of South African Dinky Toys are :\nThe boxes have Afrikaans lettering at the one end and \"Printed in South Africa\" on the side.\nThe colours are often different from those on the same models assembled in the UK.\nThe base plates have a glossy finish, whereas the same models released in the UK have matt black base plates.\nSouth African Dinky Toys from Liverpool.\n112 Austin Healey Sprite Mk. II\n113 MG B\nChile[ edit ]\nTraditional 1962 Lincoln Continental made in Arica, Chile. The Dinky England version was a similar colour of blue, but with a white roof.\nCirca 1967–1973, for reasons related to import substitution, some Dinky Toys were made in Arica, a tax free port at the very north of Chile. Only twelve models are known today, those which in England were packed in clear boxes and were provided in Chile with specific yellow packaging with a red 'globe' symbol. The boxes were printed with \"Armado en Arica\" (\"Assembled in Arica\"). Many of these models were painted in different colours from those made in England. The following are some of the models made in Chile:\n110 Aston Martin DB5\nIndia[ edit ]\nOriginal British-made Dinky Toys had been available in select cities in India from pre-war days until about 1955, when import curbs on toys came into effect. Old stocks of original Dinky toys continued to be available for a few years in Calcutta and other metro areas until supplies were exhausted.\nLater, similar to how Corgis became Milton Toys and Matchboxes became Maxwells in India, Dinkys eventually appeared there under a distinct name. In 1963, Meccano closed its Speke factory and sold the dies, the casting machines and remains of spare parts and yellow boxes to S. Kumar & Co. in Calcutta, India. Toys were marketed as Atamco Ltd. products. The toys were first assembled with parts made in Liverpool and packed in original yellow boxes with the Dinky Toys name. The quality was very poor and it is believed that Meccano Ltd. asked S. Kumar & Co. not to use the Dinky name. Kumar then applied stickers with the name NICKY on the boxes to hide the name DINKY. Later when the stock of original boxes ran out, NICKY TOYS boxes of poor quality were printed in India (The Dinky Toys Encyclopaedia).\nThese were selected Dinky dies, and not the whole British range – with only 32 different cars and trucks produced. Several aeroplanes were also made.\nIn September 2011, a Nicky Toys catalogue sold on eBay for $105.00.[ citation needed ]\nHong Kong[ edit ]\nBetween 1965 and 1967 six model cars were produced for Dinky Toys in Hong Kong for the lucrative U.S. market. Originally intended to be produced by Spot-On, but re-branded as Dinky Toys when the Spot-On parent company (Tri-ang) bought Meccano Ltd, they were built to the usual Spot-On scale of 1:42. These were all American vehicles:\n57-006 Rambler Classic\nDuring 1978 and 1979, production of Dinky Toys in Hong Kong was again resumed. These were poor quality models, however, compared to earlier Dinkys, and an attempt to cut production costs and possibly shift production should the Binns Road Factory close, which it eventually did. So, the last new Dinky Toys made by Meccano were Hong Kong products. These are now some of the most sought after of all Dinky Toys. A few, such as the Mk2 Ford Granada, and Steed's Jaguar from the New Avengers TV series exist as pre-production examples only.\nDemise and rebirth[ edit ]\nThe Matchbox connection[ edit ]\nChanging fashions in the toy industry, international competition and the switch to cheap labour in lower wage countries meant that the days of British-made toy vehicles like Dinky Toys were numbered. After attempts at simplifying the products as a means of saving costs, the famous Binns Road factory in Liverpool finally closed its doors in November 1979. By comparison, Corgi Toys managed to struggle on until 1983. Matchbox was taken over by Universal International of Hong Kong in 1982 (McGimpsey & Orr 1989, p. 28). Thus ended the era when UK-made die-cast toy models were dominant.\nThe Dinky trade-name changed hands many times before ending up as part of Matchbox International Ltd in the late 1980s. This seemed to be a logical and perhaps synergistic development, uniting two of the most valuable and venerated names in the British and world die-cast model car market under one roof.[ citation needed ] For a time some Matchbox vehicles were sold under the Dinky name (Stoneback 2002, p. 24). In the 1980s, Matchbox began issuing model cars of the 1950s and 1960s through the \"Dinky Collection\" – these models were marketed toward adult collectors. The models, like a Wolseley Hornet or a 1953 Buick Skylark convertible, were attractive and honoured the tradition of the Dinky name in realism. In fact these were often even more detailed than original Dinkys, instead resembling something more like Lledo 's Vanguard range. Still, production stopped after only a few years.\nThe \"Dinky Collection\" eventually was absorbed into a themed series offered by Matchbox Collectibles Inc, owned by the US giant Mattel – which portrayed little interest in any historical honoring of the Dinky brand. Mattel has preferred to occasionally re-badge normal Matchbox models with the Dinky name for some editions in certain markets. In some cases 1:43 scale models from the Matchbox era were sometimes given the Dinky name. No new \"dedicated\" Dinky castings have been created in the Mattel era since Matchbox Collectibles was shut down in 2000.\nAtlas partworks issues[ edit ]\nIn 2008 French partworks publishers, Atlas Editions, began to reissue models previously available as Dinky Toys under licence from Mattel. These models were only available by subscription in some European countries, initially France. This range is a twice monthly partwork featuring a particular Dinky Toy model complete with certificate and an information leaflet on the history of the casting and the real model. These models were from brand new tooling as the original Meccano dies had been previously sold to other toy makers worldwide or were destroyed or lost. The castings were similar to original Dinky Toys but the baseplates were marked \"Atlas Editions – Made in China\" and replacing the \"Meccano – Made in England\" (or \"France\") imprint respectively. The new range was finally also available in The UK, Denmark,The Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden.\nIn 2016, DeAgostini, the parent company of Atlas editions, launched another range of Dinky Toys in The United Kingdom and Italy. This time offerings to the general public were through selected newsagents in Dorset and Milan or by subscription. After a test run of 5 issues the range was discontinued until further notice. These appear to be castings from Atlas Editions with the baseplate now reading DeAgostini. In the United Kingdom, the first five models issued were the Triumph TR2, Bedford CA Van, Ford Thunderbird, Morris Mini Traveller and the Jaguar XK120 coupe. In Italy the first three issues were the Citroen DS, Fiat 600 and the Volkswagen beetle. Issue 6 will be issued at a later date according to a letter attached to issue 5.\nCollectors[ edit ]\nIn later times Dinky Toys became sought-after collectors' items. An auction of 3,500 models dating from 1937 to the early 1970s fetched £150,000 at auction in 2016.(BBC News, 15 June 2016)"
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What is another name for pimento | Allspice | [
"Pimento - definition of pimento by The Free Dictionary\n(Plants) another name for allspice, pimiento [C17: from Spanish pimiento pepper plant, from Medieval Latin pigmenta spiced drink, from Latin pigmentum pigment]\nPimento - definition of pimento by The Free Dictionary\nPimento - definition of pimento by The Free Dictionary\nhttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/pimento\n1. See allspice .\n2. Variant of pimiento .\n[Spanish pimiento, red or green pepper, pepper plant, from pimienta, black pepper, pepper fruit, from Late Latin pigmenta, pl. of pigmentum, vegetable juice, condiment, pigment, from Latin, pigment, from pingere, to paint; see peig- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]\npimento\n(Plants) another name for allspice , pimiento\n[C17: from Spanish pimiento pepper plant, from Medieval Latin pigmenta spiced drink, from Latin pigmentum pigment]\npi•men•to\n(pɪˈmɛn toʊ)\nn., pl. -tos.\n1. the red, mild-flavored fruit of the sweet pepper, Capsicum annuum, used esp. as a stuffing for olives.\n2. the plant itself.\n3. allspice .\n[1665–75; alter. of Sp pimiento pepper plant, masculine derivative of pimienta pepper fruit < Late Latin pigmenta spiced drink]\nThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:\nsweet pepper - large mild crisp thick-walled capsicum peppers usually bell-shaped or somewhat oblong; commonly used in salads\npaprika - a mild powdered seasoning made from dried pimientos\ngenus Capsicum , Capsicum - chiefly tropical perennial shrubby plants having many-seeded fruits: sweet and hot peppers\ncapsicum , capsicum pepper plant , pepper - any of various tropical plants of the genus Capsicum bearing peppers\n2.\nsweet pepper - large mild crisp thick-walled capsicum peppers usually bell-shaped or somewhat oblong; commonly used in salads\npaprika - a mild powdered seasoning made from dried pimientos\nTranslations\n[pɪˈmentəʊ] N (pimentos (pl)) → pimiento m, pimentón m morrón (S. Cone)\npimento\n(= allspice) → Piment m or nt, → Nelkenpfeffer m; (= tree) → Pimentbaum m\npimento\nWant to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content .\nLink to this page:\nPimenta dioica\nReferences in periodicals archive ?\n6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicken Salad Chick, the nation's only southern inspired, fast casual chicken salad restaurant concept, launched its fall menu yesterday featuring brand new menu items, such as the Cranberry Apple Salad and Chicken Tortilla Soup, and guest favorites returning for another year including the Holiday Pimento Cheeseball and Pumpkin Cheesecake.\nSay \"Hello\" to Summer with New Menu Items from Luella's Southern Kitchen\nThe hint of pimento berries, the earthy flavour of lentils and the sweet saltiness of Parmesan pair well with fragrant LINI 910 Labrusca Rosato Reggiano DOC.\nFASHION/BEAUTY NEWS - BENTLEY FOR MEN AZURE\nSPANISH HAM & PEPPER PIZZETTES Serves: 4 Preparation time: 10 mins + 15 mins proving Cooking time: 15-20 mins INGREDIENTS 500g Waitrose Ciabatta Bread Mix 4 tsp olive oil Flour, for dusting 190g jar Waitrose Spicy Sugo ai Pepperoni with roasted peppers 120g Waitrose Spanish tapas platter 210g Waitrose pimento stuffed olives with manchego Rocket salad, to serve METHOD PLACE the bread mix in a bowl, add two teaspoons of the olive oil and 260ml of warm water and bring together to make a dough.",
"Pimento | Define Pimento at Dictionary.com\nPimento definition, pimiento. See more. Dictionary.com; Word of the Day; Translate; Games; Blog; Thesaurus.com; Favorites ... another name for allspice, pimiento ...\nPimento | Define Pimento at Dictionary.com\npimento\nAlso called Chinese vermilion , Harrison red , signal red. a vivid red color.\nOrigin of pimento\nLatin\n1665-1675\n1665-75; alteration of Spanish pimiento pepper plant, masculine derivative of pimienta pepper fruit < Late Latin pigmenta spiced drink, spice, pepper, plural (taken as singular) of Latin pigmentum pigment\nDictionary.com Unabridged\nExamples from the Web for pimento\nExpand\nThe Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom P. L. Simmonds\nTo a quart of vinegar put an ounce of white pepper, an ounce of sliced ginger, a little mace and pimento, all boiled together.\nBritish Dictionary definitions for pimento\nExpand\nanother name for allspice , pimiento\nWord Origin\nC17: from Spanish pimiento pepper plant, from Medieval Latin pigmenta spiced drink, from Latin pigmentumpigment\nCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition\n© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins\nPublishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012\nWord Origin and History for pimento\nExpand\nn.\n1680s, pimiento (modern form from 1718), from Spanish pimiento \"green or red pepper,\" also pimienta \"black pepper,\" from Late Latin pigmenta, plural of pigmentum \"vegetable juice,\" from Latin pigmentum \"pigment\" (see pigment (n.)). So called because it added a dash of color to food or drink.\n[I]n med.L. spiced drink, hence spice, pepper (generally), Sp. pimiento, Fr. piment are applied to Cayenne or Guinea pepper, capsicum; in Eng. the name has passed to allspice or Jamaica pepper. [OED]\nThe piece of red sweet pepper stuffed in a pitted olive so called from 1918, earlier pimiento (1901), from Spanish. French piment is from Spanish.\nOnline Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper",
"Jamaican All Spice Pimento Seeds - Home | The leading ...\nPimento Seeds; Pimento Seeds. ... Another Name: Pimento Leaves, Pimento, ... Family Name: Myrataceae: Family Members: Pimento Officinalis:\nJamaican All Spice Pimento Seeds\nPimento Leaves, Pimento, Clove Pepper, Cravo, Tabasco, Jamaica Pepper\nProperties\nRubefacient, Stomachic, Emmenagogue, Febrifuge, Analgesic\nBody Parts Affected\nDigestive System, Blood, Teeth -- Stomach Pains, Diarrhea\nHistory/ Tradition\nAll Spice got its name because it is said to taste like a combination of the spices: cinnamon, pepper, juniper and clove. In Jamaica, it is traditionally used as a spice. The berries are used as a spice for meat, stews, hot cereals, and liquored drinks. The berries are sold in local markets, as well as, dried and exported for use overseas. -- Allspice encourages healing, and is used in mixtures to ask for money and good fortune.\nBenefits\nAll Spice is very helpful with digestion and stomach related problems. It is good in allaying pain and colds. It improves circulation and keeps the body warm especially when it is cold or someone is suffering from a cold. It is beneficial to women suffering from menstrual cramps. For persons trying to stop smoking, chewing the leaves will help to allay the urge to smoke. -- Allspice is used as a paste to soothe and relieve toothache, and as a mouthwash to freshen the breath.\nUses\nAll Spice is useful in dispelling flatulence and relieving indigestion. A tea of the leaves keeps the body warm and improves circulation. It helps to purify the stomach, aid digestion, relieve gas and stop vomiting. In Jamaica, it is used to stop chills, pneumonia and flu. All Spice is used to relieve stomachaches, menstrual pains and colds. The berries of All Spice are boiled into a paste and used as a plaster for rheumatic aches and pains. The leaves are put in baths and poultices to allay fever and pain. Chewing the leaves is said to reduce the urge for tobacco, so this will help persons trying to break the smoking habit. The oil is used to relieve toothaches. -- Stimulant, Warms Blood, Diabetes, Stomach Pains, Worms, Prevent Strokes, Warms Body, Reduces Urge for Tobacco, Seeds for Liqueurs and Spice, tea for stomach aches, good for digestion gas, indigestion, diarrhea\nNotes",
"Pimento | Definition, meaning & more | Collins Dictionary\npimento pimento | meaning of pimento in Collins Dictionaries pimento meaning, definition, what is pimento: A pimento is a small red pepper.: Learn more.\npimento | Definition, meaning & more | Collins Dictionary\nanother name for allspice , pimiento\nCollins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers\nWord origin of 'pimento'\nC17: from Spanish pimiento pepper plant, from Medieval Latin pigmenta spiced drink, from Latin pigmentum pigment\npimento in American English (pəˈmɛntoʊ ; pəmenˈtō)\nDefinitions\nnounWord forms: plural piˈmentos\n1. a sweet variety of the capsicum pepper, or its red, bell-shaped fruit, used as a relish , as a stuffing for olives , etc.\n2. allspice\nWebster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, compiled by the editors of Webster’s New World Dictionaries. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.",
"What is a Pimento? (with pictures) - wiseGEEK\nWhat is a Pimento? The Jamaican pimento ... Another entirely unrelated item is the Jamaican pimento, ... The Spanish word for pimento is spelled a little differently ...\nWhat is a Pimento? (with pictures)\nLaw\nWhat is a Pimento?\nLast Modified Date: 16 December 2016\nCopyright Protected:\n10 hilariously insightful foreign words\nThere are two distinct definitions for pimento. One is a variety of red pepper, much like a red bell pepper. The other is a spice that originated in Jamaica, also known as allspice . Although many people may think they are unfamiliar with one or both kinds of pimentos, the reality is that they may have consumed them through a variety of recipes without realizing it.\nWhen most people think of a pimento, they think of the red chunk of pepper that is in the center of a green olive; however, pimentos go far beyond that in their use. When left whole, they are large, heart-shaped peppers with a bright red color. They can range anywhere from 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.2 cm) in length and 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) in width. Depending on its variety, the pepper can be sweet or it can be spicy, but it is nearly always flavorful.\nBecause of their strong flavor, green olives are commonly stuffed with the sweet variety of pimentos. Originally, these peppers were cut into bite size pieces and squeezed into the olive by hand. Now, in most cases, they are pureed and then stuffed in with the aid of a machine, reducing the cost and making the olives more affordable.\nAd\nThere are many other uses for pimentos. They can be chopped and put into salads, or used as a flavorful addition to pasta dishes. One of the most beloved uses is in pimento cheese, a favorite in the Philippines and in the southern portion of the United States. Many people love the cheese spread on white bread, celery , crackers, baked potatoes, hot dogs , hamburgers, or grits.\nOne other favorite use of the pepper is in pickle and pimento loaf. It is a processed meat, similar to bologna , that contains pickles, and of course, pimentos. It is usually sliced and served like any deli meat. There are a few companies who make the loaf out of chicken instead of beef and pork.\nAnother entirely unrelated item is the Jamaican pimento, also known as allspice. It is comprised of two parts: the tree and the berries. The dried, unripe berries are commonly ground into a spice that tastes similar to cloves , pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg , all as a single spice. The tree is an evergreen that grows to be 19.6 to 49.2 feet (6 to 15 m) and is popular for the smoking and carving properties of its wood. Allspice is one of the major exports of Jamaica.\nAd\nloisowsley\nPost 13\nEeek! I picked some pimentos before they turned red. Will they turn red before going bad?\nahain\nPost 10\n@Tomislav - Ooh...fried eggplant slices on a burger sound heavenly! It sounds like the only big problem with eating pimento cheese for you was the large amount of mayonnaise. Have you tried using low-fat or diet Mayonnaise? it would have a similar flavor (in fact, the pimento might help improve on that \"diet\" flavor) and would have a lot less calories and fat than your regular mayonnaise pimento cheese.\nOther than the mayonnaise base, what if you tried mixing the pimento into something else that was creamy but not as fattening? How about cream cheese, or some kind of creamy salad dressing? I'll bet pimento-ranch dressing sauce would be awesome, especially with that eggplant slice!\ngimbell\nPost 9\n@VivAnne - Nice post -- I knew about the Spanish part, but certainly not the Portuguese! I guess it makes sense that Portugal would end up with Spanish stuffed olive recipes and pimentos as foods there, considering how much interaction Spain has had with Portugal over the centuries throughout history. I'll bet they have pimento-stuffed Spanish green olives in Brazil, too, since it has quite the history with Portugal.\nAnyway, I wanted to comment here for you and for anybody else reading to note that the pimento-stuffed Spanish green olives you can buy from stores here in the United States probably aren't what the Spanish were eating back then.\nThe stuffing is still made of pimentos, but in order to\nmake the olive-stuffing process work with a machine instead of doing it by hand, nowadays the pimentos are pureed and formed back into strips rather than just being cut up and stuffed into the olives.\nI'd imagine it tastes pretty close to the same, but this accounts for why many people find the texture of the pimentos stuffed into green olives to be a bit weird.\nVivAnne\nPost 8\n@hanley79 - Those are all good guesses, but pimentos are actually native to Mexico and Spain. This is why the traditional pimento-stuffed green olives are often referred to as \"Spanish olives\". Likely countries like Italy, Greece and Turkey got the pimento-stuffing recipes for their olives from the Spanish.\nThe Spanish word for pimento is spelled a little differently -- it's \"pimiento\". \"Pimento\" or \"pimentão\" are also interchangeable words in Portuguese for \"bell pepper\". Pimentos are directly related to bell peppers of all colors.\nhanley79\nPost 7\nWow -- I don't know about anybody else here, but I for one had no idea that the real name for allspice was also pimento! That's kind of cool. When you think about it for a second, the word \"pimento\" does sound kind of Jamaican.\nDoes anybody know where the \"green olive pepper\" variety of pimento comes from? Since they are traditionally served in olives, my best guess is the Mediterranean -- Turkey, Greece, possibly Italy. What do you guys think?\nandee\nPost 6\nThe nice thing about making your own pimento dips and spreads is that you can add or leave out whatever you like.\nI don't like the taste of olives so never add this to my dip. My sister never makes her dip without olives because that is her favorite part.\nI remember spreading a pimento cheese spread on celery when we were kids. It wasn't until I took a cooking class that I tasted a homemade pinto dip.\nI don't like hot things, but when the pimento is mixed in with other ingredients, I really enjoy the taste.\nhoneybees\nPost 5\nI make a pimento spread that I love on bagels. The main ingredient is cream cheese, but when you had some cheddar cheese and chopped pimento it makes a perfect bagel spread.\nOnce I put this spread on my bagel and warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds, it is the perfect breakfast or snack for me. I will also use this dip on top of baked potatoes. Sometimes I add a little bit of sour cream, but it tastes just as good plain.\nThe pimentos really add the right amount of extra flavor and zing. When I mix up this pimento spread, I keep the leftovers in the refrigerator and find all kinds of creative ways to use it up. My husband likes it best on any kind of cracker.\nLisaLou\nPost 4\nI grew up in the south, and pimento cheese is almost a staple in my family. You can't go to a family gathering without at least two different kinds of pimento cheese dips.\nIf you have never tasted homemade pimento cheese dip, there is no comparison to the homemade dip versus the prepackaged dips in the store.\nIt doesn't require very many ingredients or time to make and tastes wonderful on crackers an celery. I use sharp cheddar cheese, mayo, pimento, and whatever seasonings I prefer. Usually I will use a little bit of salt, pepper and some garlic salt. You can be as creative as you want to be with the seasonings.\nOne of my kids favorite snacks is pimento cheese dip spread on celery sticks. I think it tastes a lot better than peanut butter!\nrunner101\nPost 3\n@saraq90 - I have seen this done in a restaurant and since tried it myself since it was pimento put into one of my favorite foods - I thought how could I go wrong!\nThe food was cheese dip and what I did was I took the Velveeta cheese dip recipe that is on the box made it the way it was suggested and then added pimento at the end. It did not change the too much but added just enough flavor to make it even more enjoyable.\nEasy and delicious - two musts in my kitchen!\nTomislav\nPost 1\nI loved pimento cheese! I did not realize it was also popular in the Philippines. For a truly southern burger a diner I used to work at in Mississippi used to add pimento cheese and a slice of fried eggplant on their burger! It was incredible. Plain burgers have not looked the same at me since.\nI do not make pimento cheese now too much secondary to the amount of mayonnaise that is typically called for (and if you lessen the amount of mayo in it - it just does not feel like pimento cheese). Are there any other uses that are simple to do?\nPost your comments",
"What is Allspice, Pimento, Jamaican Pepper? | Chef and ...\nWhat is Allspice, Pimento, ... The name allspice originated from the popular notion that the pimento berry contains the characteristic flavour and aroma of cloves, ...\nWhat is Allspice, Pimento, Jamaican Pepper? | Chef and Steward®\nChef and Steward®\nWhat is Allspice, Pimento, Jamaican Pepper?\nFebruary 1, 2011\nBy chefandsteward\nOur Trinidadian friend, Cheryl, who has subscribed to this blog (over left column) wrote asking me, “Kari, what on earth is allspice or pimento and where can I get it?” I replied, “It is a native Jamaican seasoning that looks very similar to black pepper berries and outside of my cupboard, you can find it in Choithrams (I know the Jumeira store has it) as ‘Jamaican Pepper.’ ” Since she brought it up, and we have so many recipes with it, I decided to clarify the issue and post a pic. Let me know where else you can find it. I know it is also available online at St. Mary Market . According to them:\nTo most English speaking people the tree is called “pimento” and the berries “allspice”. The name allspice originated from the popular notion that the pimento berry contains the characteristic flavour and aroma of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper, all combined in one spice.",
"Allspice | Define Allspice at Dictionary.com\nAllspice definition, the dried, unripe berries of an aromatic tropical American tree, ... spice made from the berry of the Jamaican pimento, 1620s, from all + spice ...\nAllspice | Define Allspice at Dictionary.com\nallspice\nnoun\n1.\nthe dried, unripe berries of an aromatic tropical American tree, Pimenta dioica, used whole or ground as a spice .\n2.\nExamples from the Web for allspice\nExpand\nHomemade Cranberry Sauce, Plus Swiss Chard The Daily Beast November 24, 2008\nHistorical Examples\nStew it in mutton or beef gravy, with a quarter of a pint of port wine, some pepper and allspice.\nThe Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Mary Eaton\nA few drops of either will be a grateful addition to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine, or in any case where allspice is used.\nThe Hotel St. Francis Cook Book Victor Hirtzler\nIt makes a most grateful addition in all cases where allspice is used, in gravies, or to flavour and preserve potted meats.\nThe Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 108, October, 1866 Various\nAn ounce of black pepper, and the same quantity of allspice, in fine powder, added to the above will give a still higher flavour.\nIn the morning put them on to boil with fragments of fresh meat; also cloves, allspice, pepper and salt.\nThe Cookery Blue Book Society for Christian Work of the First Unitarian Church, San Francisco, California\nBritish Dictionary definitions for allspice\nExpand\na tropical American myrtaceous tree, Pimenta officinalis, having small white flowers and aromatic berries\n2.\nthe whole or powdered seeds of this berry used as a spice, having a flavour said to resemble a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg\nAlso called pimento, Jamaica pepper\nCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition\n© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins\nPublishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012\nWord Origin and History for allspice\nExpand\nn.\nspice made from the berry of the Jamaican pimento, 1620s, from all + spice (n.), \"so called because supposed to combine the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.\" [Weekley]\nOnline Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper"
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"Pomelo.txt\nPomelo\nCitrus maxima (or Citrus grandis), (Common names: pomelo, pomello, pummelo, pommelo, pamplemousse, jabong (Hawaii), shaddick, or shaddock) is a natural (non-hybrid) citrus fruit, with the appearance of a big grapefruit, native to South and Southeast Asia.\n\nEtymology\n\nCitrus maxima was originally called \"shaddick\" in English, after the captain of an East India Company ship who introduced it to Jamaica in 1696.American Heritage Dictionary, 1973. The word \"pomelo\" has become the more common name, although \"pomelo\" has historically been used for grapefruit. (The 1973 printing of the American Heritage Dictionary, for example, gives grapefruit as the only meaning of \"pomelo\".)\n\nThe etymology of the word \"pomelo\" is uncertain. It is thought to perhaps be an alteration of the Dutch pompelmoes (meaning Citrus maxima, although modern regional Dutch use may additionally refer to the yellow/white grapefruit, while the pink grapefruit may be called roze pompelmoes, and \"pomelo\" refers to Citrus maxima × Citrus × paradisi) or alternatively, perhaps an alteration of a compound of pome (\"apple\") + melon.“[http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50183647 pomelo, n.]” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [Draft revision; June 2008]\n\nCitrus maxima is native to Southeast Asia where it is known under a wide variety of names. In large parts of South East Asia, it is a popular dessert, often eaten raw sprinkled with, or dipped in, a salt mixture. It is also eaten in salads and drinks.\n\nDescription and uses\n\nIt is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh and very thick albedo (rind pith). It is a large citrus fruit, 15 - in diameter, usually weighing 1 -. Leaf petioles are distinctly winged.\n\nThe fruit tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit (which is itself believed to be a hybrid of Citrus maxima and the orange ), though the typical pomelo is much larger than the grapefruit. It has none, or very little, of the common grapefruit's bitterness, but the enveloping membranous material around the segments is bitter, considered inedible, and thus is usually discarded. The peel is sometimes used to make marmalade, can be candied, and is sometimes dipped in chocolate. In Brazil, the thick skin is often used for making a sweet conserve, while the spongy pith of the rind is discarded. Occasionally some Asian fat-heavy dishes use sliced pre-soaked pith to absorb the sauce and fat for eating. Citrus maxima is usually grafted onto other citrus rootstocks but can be grown from seed, provided the seeds are not allowed to dry out before planting.\n\nThe fruit is said to have been introduced to Japan by a Cantonese captain in the An'ei era (1772–1781). There are two varieties: a sweet kind with white flesh and a sour kind with pinkish flesh, the latter more likely to be used as an altar decoration than actually eaten. Pomelos are often eaten in Asia during the mid-autumn festival or mooncake festival.\n\nIt is one of the ingredients of \"Forbidden Fruit\", a liqueur dating back to the early 20th century that also contains honey and brandy. This liqueur is most famously used in the Dorchester cocktail.\n\nDrug interactions\n\nSome medicines may interact dangerously with pomelos and some pomelo hybrids, including grapefruit, some limes, and some oranges. \n\nVarieties\n\nPossible non-hybrid pomelos\n\n*Banpeiyu\n\nHybrids\n\nThe pomelo is one of the four original citrus species (the others being citron, mandarin, and papeda), from which the rest of cultivated citrus hybridized. In particular, the common orange and the grapefruit are assumed to be natural occurring hybrids between the pomelo and the mandarin, with the pomelo providing the bigger size and greater firmness.\n\nThe pomelo is also employed today in artificial breeding programs:\n* The common sweet orange (Citrus × sinensis) is a pomelo × mandarin hybrid\n* The bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium) is another pomelo × mandarin hybrid\n* The tangelo is any hybrid between Citrus maxima and a tangerine. It generally has a thicker skin than a tangerine and is less sweet.\n** 'K–Early' ('Sunrise Tangelo')Morton, J. 1987. Tangelo. p. 158–160. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/tangelo.html\n* Grapefruit is a pomelo backcross: pummelo × sweet orange (see above). The grapefruit is itself a parent to many hybrids:\n** 'Minneola': Bowen grapefruit × Dancy tangerine\n** 'Orlando' (formerly Take'): Bowen grapefruit × Dancy tangerine(pollen parent)\n** 'Nova': Clementine × Orlando tangelo cross\n** 'Seminole': Bowen grapefruit × Dancy tangerine\n** 'Thornton': tangerine × grapefruit, unspecified\n**'Ugli': mandarine × grapefruit, probable (wild seedling)\n* The Oroblanco and Melogold grapefruits are hybrids between Citrus maxima and the grapefruit.\n* Mandelos: pomelo × mandarine (Citrus maxima).\n* Hyuganatsu is a pomelo hybrid\n\nGallery\n\nFile:South Indian Pomello.png | Whole ripe pomelo from Kerala (South India)\nFile:South Indian Pomello cut in Half.png | South Indian pomelo cut in half\nFile:Pomelo cut one half.jpg|Sectioned pomelo\nFile:Pummelos.jpg|Pomelos\nFile:Pummelo_cut.jpg|Pomelo after being cut\nFile:Pummelo_sectioned.jpg|Sectioned pomelo\nFile:Citrus maxima0.jpg|Pomelo on tree, has fruit and blossoms in the same time\nFile:Mid-Autumn Festival 33, Chinatown, Singapore, Sep 06.JPG|Ipoh pomelos on sale at Chinatown, Singapore\nFile:Pomelo3.jpg|Fruit on tree; Philippines\nFile:Pomelo flower.jpg|Pomelo flower in early April\nFile:Citrus maxima (Pampelmuse) 004.jpg|Pomelo blossom\nFile:Citrus maxima (Pampelmuse) 001.jpg|Cluster of blossoms\nFile:Yam som-o.JPG|Yam som-o: spicy Thai pomelo salad with tamarind juice\nFile:Tam som-o nam pu.JPG|Tam som-o nam pu: spicy Thai pomelo salad with crab extract\nFile:Xiancun - pomelo orchards - DSCF4064.JPG|Fujian's Pinghe County is famous in China for its pomelos\nFile:Pummelo HBuntan Pink1 Asit.jpg|Pink pomelo\nFile:Bưởi.jpg|Pomelo in southern Vietnam.\nFile:Limonsón.jpg|As a kitchen fruit\nFile:Starr 030201-0005 Citrus maxima.jpg|In growth\nFile:Starr_070313-5664_Citrus_maxima.jpg|Pomelo in growth\nFile:Vườn bưởi.jpg|Pomelo orchard\nFile:Pomelo seedling.jpg|Pomelo seedling\nFile:Starr 071024-0003 Citrus maxima.jpg|Tree\nFile:Citrus maxima 'Honey'- top.JPG|Top view of 'Honey' cultivar\nFile:Citrus maxima 'Honey'- side.JPG|Side view of 'Honey' cultivar",
"Capsicum - Chili Peppers Wiki - Wikia\nCapsicum (or Peppers) is a[genus of flowering ... (or Peppers) is a[genus of flowering plants in the ... All other varieties of hot capsicum are called chilli.\nCapsicum | Chili Peppers Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nCapsicum\nL.\nCapsicum (or Peppers) is a[genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas, where they have been cultivated for thousands of years. In modern times, it is cultivated worldwide, and has become a key element in many regional cuisines. In addition to use as spices and food vegetables, Capsicum species have also found use in medicines.\nThe fruit of Capsicum plants have a variety of names depending on place and type. The piquant (spicy) varieties are commonly called chili peppers , or simply \"chilies\". The large, mild form is called red pepper, green pepper, or bell pepper in North America and typically just \"capsicum\" in New Zealand, Australia, and India. The fruit is called paprika in some other countries (although paprika can also refer to the powdered spice made from various capsicum fruit).\nThe generic name is derived from the Greek word κάπτω (kapto), meaning \"to bite\" or \"to swallow\". The name \"pepper\" came into use because of their similar flavour to the condiment black pepper , Piper nigrum, although there is no botanical relationship with this plant, or with Sichuan pepper . The original Mexican term, chilli (now chile in Mexico) came from the Nahuatl word chilli or xilli, referring to a larger Capsicum variety cultivated at least since 3000 BC, as evidenced by remains found in pottery from Puebla and Oaxaca.\nContents\nEdit\nTemplate:Details The fruit of most species of Capsicum contains capsaicin (methyl vanillyl nonenamide), a lipophilic chemical that can produce a strong burning sensation ( pungency or spiciness ) in the mouth of the unaccustomed eater. Most mammals find this unpleasant, whereas birds are unaffected.The secretion of capsaicin protects the fruit from consumption by insects and mammals, while the bright colours attract birds that will disperse the seeds.\nCapsaicin is present in large quantities in the placental tissue (which holds the seeds ), the internal membranes, and to a lesser extent, the other fleshy parts of the fruits of plants in this genus. The seeds themselves do not produce any capsaicin, although the highest concentration of capsaicin can be found in the white pith around the seeds.\nThe amount of capsaicin in the fruit is highly variable and dependent on genetics and environment, giving almost all types of Capsicum varied amounts of perceived heat. The most recognizable Capsicum without capsaicin is the bell pepper , a cultivar of Capsicum annuum , which has a zero rating on the Scoville scale . The lack of capsaicin in bell peppers is due to a recessive gene that eliminates capsaicin and, consequently, the \"hot\" taste usually associated with the rest of the Capsicum family. There are also other peppers without capsaicin, mostly within the Capsicum annuum species, such as the cultivars Giant Marconi, Yummy Sweets, Jimmy Nardello, and Italian Frying peppers.\nChili peppers are of great importance in Native American medicine, and capsaicin is used in modern medicine—mainly in topical medications—as a circulatory stimulant and analgesic. In more recent times, an aerosol extract of capsaicin, usually known as capsicum or pepper spray , has become widely used by police forces as a nonlethal means of incapacitating a person, and in a more widely dispersed form for riot control , or by individuals for personal defense. Pepper in vegetable oils, or as an horticultural product can be used in gardening as a natural insecticide.\nAlthough black pepper causes a similar burning sensation, it is caused by a different substance— piperine .\nCuisine\nChili peppers\nCapsicum fruits and peppers can be eaten raw or cooked. Those used in cooking are generally varieties of the C. annuum and C. frutescens species, though a few others are used, as well. They are suitable for stuffing with fillings such as cheese, meat, or rice.\nThey are also frequently used both chopped and raw in salads, or cooked in stir-fries or other mixed dishes. They can be sliced into strips and fried, roasted whole or in pieces, or chopped and incorporated into salsas or other sauces, of which they are often a main ingredient.\nThey can be preserved in the form of a jam, or by drying, pickling, or freezing. Dried peppers may be reconstituted whole, or processed into flakes or powders. Pickled or marinated peppers are frequently added to sandwiches or salads. Frozen peppers are used in stews, soups, and salsas. Extracts can be made and incorporated into hot sauces.\nThe Spanish conquistadores soon became aware of their culinary properties, and brought them back to Europe, together with cocoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tobacco, maize, beans, and turkeys. They also brought it to the Spanish Philippines colonies, whence it spread to Asia. The Portuguese brought them to their African and Asiatic possessions such as India.\nAll the varieties were appreciated, but the hot ones are particularly appreciated because they can enliven otherwise monotonous diets. This was of some importance during dietary restrictions for religious reasons, such as Lent in Christian countries.\nSpanish cuisine soon benefited from the discovery of chiles in the New World, and it would be very difficult to untangle Spanish cooking from chiles, garlic, and olive oil. Ground chiles, or paprika, hot or otherwise, are a key ingredient in chorizo, which is then called picante (if hot chile is added) or dulce (if otherwise). Paprika is also an important ingredient in rice dishes, and plays a definitive role in squid Galician style (polbo á feira). Chopped chiles are used in fish or lamb dishes such as ajoarriero or chilindrón. Pisto is a vegetarian stew with chilies and zucchini as main ingredients. They can also be added, finely chopped, to gazpacho as a garnish. In some regions, bacon is salted and dusted in paprika for preservation. Cheese can also be rubbed with paprika to lend it flavour and colour. Dried round chiles called ñoras are used for arroz a banda.\nFile:Red pepper flakes, closeup.jpg\nAccording to Richard Pankhurst , C. frutescens (known as barbaré ) was so important to the national cuisine of Ethiopia , at least as early as the 19th century, \"that it was cultivated extensively in the warmer areas wherever the soil was suitable.\" Although it was grown in every province, barbaré was especially extensive in Yejju , \"which supplied much of Showa , as well as other neighbouring provinces.\" He mentions the upper Golima River valley as being almost entirely devoted to the cultivation of this plant, where it was harvested year round.\nIn 2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed the pepper to be Britain's fourth-favourite culinary vegetable.\nIn Hungary, sweet yellow peppers – along with tomatoes – are the main ingredient of lecsó.\nIn Bulgaria, South Serbia, and Macedonia, peppers are very popular, too. They can be eaten in salads, like shopska salata; fried and then covered with a dip of tomato paste, onions, garlic, and parsley; or stuffed with a variety of products, such as minced meat and rice, beans, or cottage cheese and eggs. Peppers are also the main ingredient in the traditional tomato and pepper dip lyutenitsa and ajvar. They are in the base of different kinds of pickled vegetables dishes, turshiya.\nPeppers are also used widely in Italian cuisine , and the hot species are used all around the southern part of Italy as a common spice (sometimes served with olive oil ). Capsicum peppers are used in many dishes; they can be cooked by themselves in a variety of ways (roasted, fried, deep-fried) and are a fundamental ingredient for some delicatessen specialities, such as nduja .\nCapsicums are also used extensively in Sri Lankan cuisine as side dishes.\nThe Maya and Aztec people of Mesoamerica used Capsicum fruit in cocoa drinks as a flavouring.\nSpecies and varieties\nMain article: List of Capsicum cultivars\nCapsicum consists of 20–27 species, five of which are domesticated: C. annuum , C. baccatum , C. chinense , C. frutescens , and C. pubescens . Phylogenetic relationships between species were investigated using biogeographical, morphological, chemosystematic, hybridization, and genetic data. Fruits of Capsicum can vary tremendously in color, shape, and size both between and within species, which has led to confusion over the relationships between taxa. Chemosystematic studies helped distinguish the difference between varieties and species. For example, C. baccatum var. baccatum had the same flavonoids as C. baccatum var. pendulum, which led researchers to believe the two groups belonged to the same species.\nMany varieties of the same species can be used in many different ways; for example, C. annuum includes the \"bell pepper\" variety, which is sold in both its immature green state and its red, yellow, or orange ripe state. This same species has other varieties, as well, such as the Anaheim chiles often used for stuffing, the dried ancho chile used to make chili powder , the mild-to-hot jalapeño , and the smoked, ripe jalapeño, known as chipotle .\nMost of the capsaicin in a pungent (hot) pepper is concentrated in blisters on the epidermis of the interior ribs (septa) that divide the chambers of the fruit to which the seeds are attached. A study on capsaicin production in fruits of C. chinense showed that capsaicinoids are produced only in the epidermal cells of the interlocular septa of pungent fruits, that blister formation only occurs as a result of capsaicinoid accumulation, and that pungency and blister formation are controlled by a single locus, Pun1, for which there exist at least two recessive alleles that result in non-pungency of C. chinense fruits.\nThe amount of capsaicin in hot peppers varies significantly between varieties, and is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU). The world's current hottest known pepper as rated in SHU is the ' Carolina Reaper ' which had been measured at over 2,200,000 SHU.\nSpecies list\nMost Capsicum species are 2n=24. A few of the nondomesticated species are 2n=32.\nBreeding\nEdit\nSeveral breeding programs are being conducted by corporations and universities. New Mexico State University has released several varieties in the last few years. Cornell has worked to develop regionally adapted varieties. Many types of peppers have been bred for heat, size, and yield.\nGRAS\nOnly Capsicum frutescens L. and Capsicum annuum L. are in the GRAS.\nSynonyms and common names\nCapsicum annuum cultivars\nThe name given to the Capsicum fruits varies between English-speaking countries.\nIn Australia, New Zealand, and India, heatless varieties are called \"capsicums\", while hot ones are called \"chilli\"/\"chillies\" (double L). Pepperoncini are also known as \"sweet capsicum\". The term \"bell peppers\" is almost never used, although C. annuum and other varieties which have a bell shape and are fairly hot, are often called \"bell chillies\".\nIn Ireland and the United Kingdom, the heatless varieties are commonly known simply as \"peppers\" (or more specifically \"green peppers\", \"red peppers\", etc.), while the hot ones are \"chilli\"/\"chillies\" (double L) or \"chilli peppers\".\nIn the United States and Canada, the common heatless varieties are referred to as \"bell peppers\", \"sweet peppers\", \"red/green/etc. peppers\", or simply \"peppers\", while the hot varieties are collectively called \"chile\"/\"chiles\", \"chili\"/\"chilies\", or \"chili\"/\"chile peppers\" (one L only), \"hot peppers\", or named as a specific variety (e.g., banana pepper ).\nIn Polish and in Hungarian, the term papryka and paprika (respectively) is used for all kinds of capsicums (the sweet vegetable, and the hot spicy), as well as for dried and ground spice made from them (named paprika in both U.S. English and Commonwealth English). Also, fruit and spice can be attributed as papryka ostra (hot pepper) or papryka słodka (sweet pepper). The term pieprz (pepper) instead means only grains or ground black pepper (incl. the green, white, and red forms), but not capsicum. Sometimes, the hot capsicum spice is also called chilli.\nIn Italy and the Italian- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, the sweet varieties are called peperone and the hot varieties peperoncino (literally \"small pepper\"). In Germany, the heatless varieties as well as the spice are called Paprika while the hot types are primarily called Peperoni or Chili while in Austria, Pfefferoni is more common for these; in Dutch, this word is also used exclusively for bell peppers, whereas chilli is reserved for powders, and hot pepper variants are referred to as Spaanse pepers (Spanish peppers). In Switzerland, though, the condiment powder made from capsicum is called Paprika (German language regions) and paprica (French and Italian language region). In French, capsicum is called poivron.\nIn Spanish-speaking countries, many different names are used for the varieties and preparations. In Mexico , the term chile is used for \"hot peppers\", while the heatless varieties are called pimiento (the masculine form of the word for pepper, which is pimienta). Several other countries, such as Chile, whose name is unrelated, Perú, Puerto Rico, and Argentina, use ají. In Spain, heatless varieties are called pimiento and hot varieties guindilla. Also, in Argentina and Spain, the variety C. chacoense is commonly known as \"putaparió\", a slang expression equivalent to \"damn it\", probably due to its extra-hot flavour. In Indian English, the word \"capsicum\" is used exclusively for Capsicum annuum. All other varieties of hot capsicum are called chilli. In northern India and Pakistan, C. annuum is also commonly called shimla mirch in the local language and as \"Kodai Mozhagai\" in Tamil which roughly translates to \"umbrella chilli\" due to its appearance. Shimla, incidentally, is a popular hill-station in India (and mirch means chilli in local languages).\nIn Japanese, tōgarashi (唐辛子, トウガラシ \"Chinese mustard\") refers to hot chili peppers, and particularly a spicy powder made from them which is used as a condiment, while bell peppers are called pīman (ピーマン, from the French piment or the Spanish pimiento).\nPictures of Capsicum cultivars",
"Pesto.txt\nPesto\nPesto (;) or, in extenso, pesto alla genovese, is a sauce originating in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria, Italy. It traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese) and pecorino sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk), all blended with olive oil.\n\nEtymology \n\nThe name is the contracted past participle of the Genoese verb pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation: according to tradition, the ingredients are \"crushed\" or ground in a marble mortar through a circular motion of a wooden pestle. This same Latin root, through Old French, also gave rise to the English noun pestle. \n\nStrictly speaking, pesto is a generic term for anything that is made by pounding; that is why the word is used for several pestos in Italy. Nonetheless, pesto alla genovese (\"Genoese pesto\") remains the most popular pesto in Italy and the rest of the world. \n\nHistory \n\nPesto is thought to have two predecessors in ancient times, going back as far as the Roman age. The ancient Romans used to eat a similar paste called moretum, which was made by crushing garlic, salt, cheese, herbs, olive oil and vinegar together: the use of this paste in the Roman cuisine is even mentioned in the Appendix Vergiliana, an ancient collection of poems where the author dwells on the details about the preparation of moretum. During the Middle Ages, a popular sauce in the Genoan cuisine was agliata, which was basically a mash of garlic and walnuts, as garlic was actually a staple in the nutrition of Ligurians, especially for the seafarers.\n\nThe introduction of basil, the main ingredient of modern pesto, occurred in more recent times and is first documented only in the mid-19th century, when gastronomist Giovanni Battista Ratto published his book La Cuciniera Genovese in 1863:\n\n\"Take a clove of garlic, basil or, when that is lacking, marjoram and parsley, grated Dutch and Parmigiano cheese and mix them with pine nuts and crush it all together in a mortar with a little butter until reduced to a paste. Then dissolve it with good and abundant oil. Lasagne and troffie are dressed with this mash, made more liquid by adding a little hot water without salt.\n \n\nAlthough likely originating from and being domesticated in India, basil took the firmest root in the regions of Liguria, Italy, and Provence, France: it was abundant in this part of Italy, though only when in season; that is why marjoram and parsley are suggested as alternatives when basil is lacking. Ratto mentions Dutch cheese (\"formaggio olandese\") instead of pecorino sardo since Northern European cheeses were actually common in Genoa at the time, thanks to the centuries-long commercial trades of the maritime republic.\n\nThis recipe for pesto alla genovese was often revised in the following years (a noted revision by Emanuele Rossi occurred in 1865, only a couple of years after Ratto's Cuciniera), and it shortly became a staple in the Ligurian culinary tradition, with each family often featuring its own pesto recipe (with slight differences to the traditional ingredients). This is the main reason why pesto recipes often differ from each other.\n\nIn French Provence, the dish evolved into the modern pistou, a combination of basil, parsley, crushed garlic and grated cheese (optional); pine nuts are not included.\n\nIn 1944, The New York Times mentioned an imported canned pesto paste. In 1946, Sunset magazine published a pesto recipe by Angelo Pellegrini. Pesto did not become popular in North America until the 1980s and 1990s. \n\nIngredients and preparation \n\nPesto is traditionally prepared in a marble mortar with a wooden pestle. First, garlic and pine nuts are placed in the mortar and reduced to a cream, then the washed and dried basil leaves are added with coarse salt and ground to a creamy consistency. Only then is a mix of Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino added. To help incorporate the cheese a little extra-virgin olive oil is added. In a tight jar (or simply in an air-tight plastic container), covered by a layer of extra-virgin olive oil, pesto can last in the refrigerator up to a week, and can be frozen for later use. \n\nFile:Basilico Genovese di Prà-2.jpg|Pesto alla genovese is made from basil leaves...\nFile:Pinoli.jpg|...and pine nuts...\nFile:BasilkumPesto.jpg|... which are ground up with the other ingredients.\n\nAccompaniments \n\nPesto is commonly used on pasta, traditionally with mandilli de sæa (\"silk handkerchiefs\" in the Genoese dialect), trofie or trenette. Potatoes and string beans are also traditionally added to the dish, boiled in the same pot in which the pasta has been cooked. Pasta, mixed with pesto, has become a well-known dish in the majority of countries today, with countless recipes being posted online for \"pesto pasta\".\n\nIt is sometimes used in minestrone. Pesto is sometimes served with sliced beef tomatoes and sliced boiled potatoes.\n\nVariations \n\nPesto comes in a variety of recipes, some traditional and some modern, as the very noun pesto is a generic term for anything that is made by pounding. \n\nPesto alla genovese, the quintessential pesto recipe, is made with Genovese basil, coarse salt, garlic, Ligurian extra virgin olive oil (Taggiasco), European pine nuts (sometimes toasted) and a grated cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano and pecorino sardo or pecorino romano.\n\nA slightly different version of this sauce exists in Provence, where it is known as pistou. In contrast with pesto alla genovese, pistou is generally made with olive oil, basil and garlic only: while cheese may be added, usually no nuts are included in a traditional pistou because no pine trees grow there to provide the nuts. Pistou is used in the typical soupe au pistou, a hearty vegetable soup with pistou flavour. The sauce did not originally contain basil, however; instead, cheese and olive oil were the main constituents. \n\nSometimes almonds are used instead of pine nuts, and sometimes mint leaves are mixed in with the basil leaves. It has been pointed out that pesto is essentially a combination of flavourful leaves, oily nuts, hard cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon juice; any ingredients meeting this description can produce a pesto-like condiment. \n\nPesto alla siciliana, sometimes called pesto rosso (red pesto), is a sauce from Sicily similar to pesto alla genovese but with the addition of tomato, almonds instead of pine nuts, and much less basil. Pesto alla calabrese is a sauce from Calabria consisting of (grilled) bell peppers, black pepper and more; these ingredients give it a distinctively spicy taste. \n\nOutside Italy, the household name pesto has been used for all sorts of cold sauces or dips, mostly without any of the original ingredients: arugula (instead of or in addition to basil), black olives, lemon peel, coriander, or mushrooms. In more northern countries, ramson leaves are sometimes used instead of basil. In the 19th century, Genovese immigrants to Argentina brought pesto recipes with them. A Peruvian variety, known as \"tallarines verdes\" (meaning green noodles, from Italian tagliarini), is slightly creamier, lacks pine nuts (because of their rarity and prohibitive cost in Peru), may use spinach and vegetable oil (in place of olive oil), and is sometimes served with roasted potatoes and sirloin steak.\n\nVegan variations of pesto can include mixes of fresh basil, nuts such as walnut or pine nut, olive oil, and the addition of miso paste and nutritional yeast to provide additional flavor enhancement to the dish. \n\nNon-traditional variants of pesto\n\nFor reasons of expense or availability, walnuts, pecans, cashews or even peanuts are sometimes substituted for the traditional pine nuts. Also, while the nuts are traditionally used as is, some recipes call for prior toasting. One of the main mistakes made in the preparation of pesto is the use of walnuts, peanuts or similar nuts in place of pine nuts. Many online recipes in English for pesto will also list black pepper among the ingredients, but the while traditional Genoese recipe omits this.",
"Allspice.txt\nAllspice\nAllspice, also called Jamaica pepper, pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, Turkish Yenibahar, or newspice, is the dried unripe fruit (berries, used as a spice) of Pimenta dioica, a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name 'allspice' was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who thought it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. \n\nSeveral unrelated fragrant shrubs are called \"Carolina allspice\" (Calycanthus floridus), \"Japanese allspice\" (Chimonanthus praecox), or \"wild allspice\" (Lindera benzoin). \"Allspice\" is also sometimes used to refer to the herb costmary (Tanacetum balsamita).\n\nPreparation/form\n\nAllspice is the dried fruit of the P. dioica plant. The fruits are picked when green and unripe and are traditionally dried in the sun. When dry, they are brown and resemble large brown smooth peppercorns. The whole fruits have a longer shelf life than the powdered product and produce a more aromatic product when freshly ground before use.\n\nFresh leaves are used where available. They are similar in texture to bay leaves and are thus infused during cooking and then removed before serving. Unlike bay leaves, they lose much flavor when dried and stored, so do not figure in commerce. The leaves and wood are often used for smoking meats where allspice is a local crop. Allspice can also be found in essential oil form.\n\nUses\n\nAllspice is one of the most important ingredients of Caribbean cuisine. It is used in Caribbean jerk seasoning (the wood is used to smoke jerk in Jamaica, although the spice is a good substitute), in moles, and in pickling; it is also an ingredient in commercial sausage preparations and curry powders. Allspice is also indispensable in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly in the Levant, where it is used to flavour a variety of stews and meat dishes. In Palestinian cuisine, for example, many main dishes call for allspice as the sole spice added for flavouring. In the U.S., it is used mostly in desserts, but it is also responsible for giving Cincinnati-style chili its distinctive aroma and flavour. Allspice is commonly used in Great Britain, and appears in many dishes, including cakes. Even in many countries where allspice is not very popular in the household, as in Germany, it is used in large amounts by commercial sausage makers. It is a main flavour used in barbecue sauces. In the West Indies, an allspice liqueur called \"pimento dram\" is produced.\n\nAllspice has also been used as a deodorant. Volatile oils found in the plant contain eugenol, a weak antimicrobial agent. \n\nCultivation\n\nThe allspice tree, classified as an evergreen shrub, can reach 10 – in height. Allspice can be a small, scrubby tree, quite similar to the bay laurel in size and form. It can also be a tall, canopy tree, sometimes grown to provide shade for coffee trees planted underneath it. It can be grown outdoors in the tropics and subtropics with normal garden soil and watering. Smaller plants can be killed by frost, although larger plants are more tolerant. It adapts well to container culture and can be kept as a houseplant or in a greenhouse.\n\nTo protect the pimenta trade, the plant was guarded against export from Jamaica. Many attempts at growing the pimenta from seeds were reported, but all failed. At one time, the plant was thought to grow nowhere except in Jamaica, where the plant was readily spread by birds. Experiments were then performed using the constituents of bird droppings; however, these were also totally unsuccessful. Eventually, passage through the avian gut, whether due to the acidity or the elevated temperature, was found to be essential for germinating the seeds. Today, pimenta is spread by birds in Tonga and Hawaii, where it has become naturalized on Kauai and Maui. \n\nWestern history\n\nAllspice (P. dioica) was encountered by Christopher Columbus on the island of Jamaica during his second voyage to the New World, and named by Dr. Diego Álvarez Chanca. It was introduced into European and Mediterranean cuisines in the 16th century. It continued to be grown primarily in Jamaica, though a few other Central American countries produced allspice in comparatively small quantities.",
"Capsicum.txt\nCapsicum\nCapsicum (also known as peppers) is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas, where they have been cultivated for thousands of years. Following the Columbian Exchange, it has become cultivated worldwide, and it has also become a key element in many cuisines. In addition to use as spices and food vegetables, Capsicum species have also been used as medicines and lachrymatory agents.\n\nEtymology and Names\n\nThe generic name may come from Latin capsa 'box', presumably alluding to the pods or the Greek word κάπτω kapto 'to gulp'. The name \"pepper\" comes from the similarity of the flavor to black pepper, Piper nigrum, although there is no botanical relationship with it or with Sichuan pepper. The original term, chilli (now chile in Mexico) came from the Nahuatl word chilli, denoting a larger Capsicum variety cultivated at least since 3000 BC, as evidenced by remains found in pottery from Puebla and Oaxaca. \n\nThe fruit of Capsicum plants have a variety of names depending on place and type. The piquant (spicy) varieties are commonly called chili peppers, or simply \"chillies\". The large, mild form is called red pepper, green pepper, or bell pepper in North America and United Kingdom and typically \"capsicum\" in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and India. The fruit is called paprika in some other countries (although paprika can also refer to the powdered spice made from various capsicum fruit).\n\nGrowing conditions\n\nIdeal growing conditions for peppers include a sunny position with warm, loamy soil, ideally 21 to, that is moist but not waterlogged. Extremely moist soils can cause seedlings to \"damp-off\" and reduce germination.\n\nThe plants are sensitive to frost. For flowering, Capsicum are a non-photoperiod-sensitive crop. The flowers can self-pollinate. However, at extremely high temperature, 92 to, pollen loses viability, and flowers are much less likely to pollinate successfully.\n\nSpecies and varieties\n\nCapsicum consists of 20–27 species, five of which are domesticated: C. annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, and C. pubescens. Phylogenetic relationships between species have been investigated using biogeographical, morphological, chemosystematic, hybridization, and genetic data. Fruits of Capsicum can vary tremendously in color, shape, and size both between and within species, which has led to confusion over the relationships among taxa. Chemosystematic studies helped distinguish the difference between varieties and species. For example, C. baccatum var. baccatum had the same flavonoids as C. baccatum var. pendulum, which led researchers to believe the two groups belonged to the same species.\n\nMany varieties of the same species can be used in many different ways; for example, C. annuum includes the \"bell pepper\" variety, which is sold in both its immature green state and its red, yellow, or orange ripe state. This same species has other varieties, as well, such as the Anaheim chiles often used for stuffing, the dried ancho (also sometimes referred to as poblano) chile used to make chili powder, the mild-to-hot jalapeño, and the smoked, ripe jalapeño, known as chipotle.\n\nPeru is thought to be the country with the highest cultivated Capsicum diversity since varieties of all five domesticates are commonly sold in markets in contrast to other countries. Bolivia is considered to be the country where the largest diversity of wild Capsicum peppers are consumed. Bolivian consumers distinguish two basic forms: ulupicas, species with small round fruits including C. eximium, C. cardenasii, C. eshbaughii, and C. caballeroi landraces; and arivivis, with small elongated fruits including C. baccatum var. baccatum and C. chacoense varieties. \n\nMost of the capsaicin in a pungent (hot) pepper is concentrated in blisters on the epidermis of the interior ribs (septa) that divide the chambers, or locules, of the fruit to which the seeds are attached. A study on capsaicin production in fruits of C. chinense showed that capsaicinoids are produced only in the epidermal cells of the interlocular septa of pungent fruits, that blister formation only occurs as a result of capsaicinoid accumulation, and that pungency and blister formation are controlled by a single locus, Pun1, for which there exist at least two recessive alleles that result in non-pungency of C. chinense fruits.\n\nThe amount of capsaicin in hot peppers varies significantly among varieties, and is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU). The world's current hottest known pepper as rated in SHU is the 'Carolina Reaper,' which had been measured at over 2,200,000 SHU.\n\nSpecies list \n\n* Capsicum annuum L.\n* Capsicum baccatum L.\n* Capsicum buforum Hunz.\n* Capsicum campylopodium Sendtn.\n* Capsicum cardenasii Heiser & P. G. Sm.\n* Capsicum ceratocalyx M.Nee\n* Capsicum chacoense Hunz.\n* Capsicum chinense Jacq.\n* Capsicum coccineum (Rusby) Hunz.\n* Capsicum cornutum (Hiern) Hunz.\n* Capsicum dimorphum (Miers) Kuntze\n* Capsicum dusenii Bitter\n* Capsicum eximium Hunz.\n* Capsicum flexuosum Sendtn.\n* Capsicum friburgense Bianch. & Barboza\n* Capsicum frutescens L.\n* Capsicum galapagoense Hunz.\n* Capsicum geminifolium (Dammer) Hunz.\n* Capsicum havanense Kunth\n* Capsicum hookerianum (Miers) Kuntze\n* Capsicum hunzikerianum Barboza & Bianch.\n* Capsicum lanceolatum (Greenm.) C.V.Morton & Standl.\n* Capsicum leptopodum (Dunal) Kuntze\n* Capsicum lycianthoides Bitter\n* Capsicum minutiflorum (Rusby) Hunz.\n* Capsicum mirabile Mart. ex Sendtn.\n* Capsicum mositicum Toledo\n* Capsicum parvifolium Sendtn.\n* Capsicum pereirae Barboza & Bianch.\n* Capsicum pubescens Ruiz & Pav.\n* Capsicum ramosissimum Witasek\n* Capsicum recurvatum Witasek\n* Capsicum rhomboideum (Dunal) Kuntze\n* Capsicum schottianum Sendtn.\n* Capsicum scolnikianum Hunz.\n* Capsicum spina-alba (Dunal) Kuntze\n* Capsicum stramoniifolium (Kunth) Standl.\n* Capsicum tovarii Eshbaugh et al.\n* Capsicum villosum Sendtn.\n\nFormerly placed here\n\n* Tubocapsicum anomalum (Franch. & Sav.) Makino (as C. anomalum Franch. & Sav.)\n* Vassobia fasciculata (Miers) Hunz. (as C. grandiflorum Kuntze)\n* Witheringia stramoniifolia Kunth (as C. stramoniifolium (Kunth) Kuntze)\n\nGenetics\n\nMost Capsicum species are 2n2x\n24. A few of the non-domesticated species are 2n2x\n32. All are diploid. The Capsicum annuum and Capsicum chinense genomes were completed in 2014. The Capsicum annuum genome is approximately 3.48 Gb, making it larger than the human genome. Over 75% of the pepper genome is composed of transposable elements, mostly Gypsy elements, distributed widely throughout the genome. The distribution of transposable elements is inversely correlated with gene density. Pepper is predicted to have 34,903 genes, approximately the same number as both tomato and potato, two related species within the Solanaceae family. \n\nBreeding\n\nMany types of peppers have been bred for heat, size, and yield. Along with selection of specific fruit traits such as flavor and color, specific pest, disease and abiotic stress resistances are continually being selected. Breeding occurs in several environments dependent on the use of the final variety including but not limited to: conventional, organic, hydroponic, green house and shade house production environments.\n\nSeveral breeding programs are being conducted by corporations and universities. In the United States, New Mexico State University has released several varieties in the last few years. Cornell University has worked to develop regionally adapted varieties that work better in cooler, damper climates. Other universities such as UC Davis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oregon State University have smaller breeding programs. Many vegetable seed companies breed different types of peppers as well.\n\nProduction\n\nIn 2013, global production of both green and dried chili pepper was 34.6 million tonnes, with 47% of output coming from China alone. India was the top producer of dry peppers, producing 1.4 million tonnes.\n\nWorldwide pepper production \n\nNutrition \n\nPeppers are incredibly nutritious. They have more Vitamin C than an orange, and a typical bell pepper contains more than 100% of the daily recommended value for Vitamin C. They also have relatively high amounts of Vitamin B6. Fresh fruit is 94% water. Dried pepper fruit has a much different nutritional value due to the dehydration and concentration of vitamins and minerals.\n\nCapsaicin in Capsicum \n\nThe fruit of most species of Capsicum contains capsaicin (methyl-n-vanillyl nonenamide), a lipophilic chemical that can produce a strong burning sensation (pungency or spiciness) in the mouth of the unaccustomed eater. Most mammals find this unpleasant, whereas birds are unaffected. The secretion of capsaicin protects the fruit from consumption by insects and mammals, while the bright colors attract birds that will disperse the seeds.\n\nCapsaicin is present in large quantities in the placental tissue (which holds the seeds), the internal membranes, and to a lesser extent, the other fleshy parts of the fruits of plants in this genus. The seeds themselves do not produce any capsaicin, although the highest concentration of capsaicin can be found in the white pith around the seeds.\n\nThe amount of capsaicin in the fruit is highly variable and dependent on genetics and environment, giving almost all types of Capsicum varied amounts of perceived heat. The most recognizable Capsicum without capsaicin is the bell pepper, a cultivar of Capsicum annuum, which has a zero rating on the Scoville scale. The lack of capsaicin in bell peppers is due to a recessive gene that eliminates capsaicin and, consequently, the \"hot\" taste usually associated with the rest of the Capsicum family. There are also other peppers without capsaicin, mostly within the Capsicum annuum species, such as the cultivars Giant Marconi, Yummy Sweets, Jimmy Nardello, and Italian Frying peppers. \n\nChili peppers are of great importance in Native American medicine, and capsaicin is used in modern medicine—mainly in topical medications—as a circulatory stimulant and analgesic. In more recent times, an aerosol extract of capsaicin, usually known as capsicum or pepper spray, has become used by law enforcement as a nonlethal means of incapacitating a person, and in a more widely dispersed form for riot control, or by individuals for personal defense. Pepper in vegetable oils, or as an horticultural product can be used in gardening as a natural insecticide.\n\nAlthough black pepper causes a similar burning sensation, it is caused by a different substance—piperine.\n\nCuisine\n\nCapsicum fruits and peppers can be eaten raw or cooked. Those used in cooking are generally varieties of the C. annuum and C. frutescens species, though a few others are used, as well. They are suitable for stuffing with fillings such as cheese, meat, or rice.\n\nThey are also frequently used both chopped and raw in salads, or cooked in stir-fries or other mixed dishes. They can be sliced into strips and fried, roasted whole or in pieces, or chopped and incorporated into salsas or other sauces, of which they are often a main ingredient.\n\nThey can be preserved in the form of a jam, or by drying, pickling, or freezing. Dried peppers may be reconstituted whole, or processed into flakes or powders. Pickled or marinated peppers are frequently added to sandwiches or salads. Frozen peppers are used in stews, soups, and salsas. Extracts can be made and incorporated into hot sauces.\n\nThe Spanish conquistadores soon became aware of their culinary properties, and brought them back to Europe, together with cocoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tobacco, maize, beans, and turkeys. They also brought it to the Spanish Philippines colonies, whence it spread to Asia. The Portuguese brought them to their African and Asiatic possessions such as India.\n\nAll the varieties were appreciated, but the hot ones are particularly appreciated because they can enliven otherwise monotonous diets. This was of some importance during dietary restrictions for religious reasons, such as Lent in Christian countries.\n\nSpanish cuisine soon benefited from the discovery of chiles in the New World, and it would become very difficult to untangle Spanish cooking from chiles. Ground chiles, or paprika, hot or otherwise, are a key ingredient in chorizo, which is then called picante (if hot chile is added) or dulce (if otherwise). Paprika is also an important ingredient in rice dishes, and plays a definitive role in squid Galician style (polbo á feira). Chopped chiles are used in fish or lamb dishes such as ajoarriero or chilindrón. Pisto is a vegetarian stew with chilies and zucchini as main ingredients. They can also be added, finely chopped, to gazpacho as a garnish. In some regions, bacon is salted and dusted in paprika for preservation. Cheese can also be rubbed with paprika to lend it flavour and colour. Dried round chiles called ñoras are used for arroz a banda.\n\nAccording to Richard Pankhurst, C. frutescens (known as barbaré) was so important to the national cuisine of Ethiopia, at least as early as the 19th century, \"that it was cultivated extensively in the warmer areas wherever the soil was suitable.\" Although it was grown in every province, barbaré was especially extensive in Yejju, \"which supplied much of Showa, as well as other neighbouring provinces.\" He mentions the upper Golima River valley as being almost entirely devoted to the cultivation of this plant, where it was harvested year round. \n\nIn 2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed the pepper to be Britain's fourth-favourite culinary vegetable. \n\nIn Hungary, sweet yellow peppers – along with tomatoes – are the main ingredient of lecsó.\n\nIn Bulgaria, South Serbia, and Macedonia, peppers are very popular, too. They can be eaten in salads, like shopska salata; fried and then covered with a dip of tomato paste, onions, garlic, and parsley; or stuffed with a variety of products, such as minced meat and rice, beans, or cottage cheese and eggs. Peppers are also the main ingredient in the traditional tomato and pepper dip lyutenitsa and ajvar. They are in the base of different kinds of pickled vegetables dishes, turshiya.\n\nPeppers are also used widely in Italian cuisine, and the hot species are used all around the southern part of Italy as a common spice (sometimes served with olive oil). Capsicum peppers are used in many dishes; they can be cooked by themselves in a variety of ways (roasted, fried, deep-fried) and are a fundamental ingredient for some delicatessen specialities, such as nduja.\n\nCapsicums are also used extensively in Sri Lankan cuisine as side dishes. \n\nThe Maya and Aztec people of Mesoamerica used Capsicum fruit in cocoa drinks as a flavouring. \n\nGRAS\n\nOnly Capsicum frutescens L. and Capsicum annuum L. are GRAS. \n\nSynonyms and common names\n\nThe name given to the Capsicum fruits varies between English-speaking countries.\n\nIn Australia, New Zealand, and India, heatless varieties are called \"capsicums\", while hot ones are called \"chilli\"/\"chillies\" (double L). Pepperoncini are also known as \"sweet capsicum\". The term \"bell peppers\" is almost never used, although C. annuum and other varieties which have a bell shape and are fairly hot, are often called \"bell chillies\".\n\nIn Ireland and the United Kingdom, the heatless varieties are commonly known simply as \"peppers\" (or more specifically \"green peppers\", \"red peppers\", etc.), while the hot ones are \"chilli\"/\"chillies\" (double L) or \"chilli peppers\".\n\nIn the United States and Canada, the common heatless varieties are referred to as \"bell peppers\", \"sweet peppers\", \"red/green/etc. peppers\", or simply \"peppers\", additionally in Indiana they may be referred to as \"mangoes/mango peppers\", while the hot varieties are collectively called \"chile\"/\"chiles\", \"chili\"/\"chilies\", or \"chili\"/\"chile peppers\" (one L only), \"hot peppers\", or named as a specific variety (e.g., banana pepper).\n\nIn Polish and in Hungarian, the term papryka and paprika (respectively) is used for all kinds of capsicums (the sweet vegetable, and the hot spicy), as well as for dried and ground spice made from them (named paprika in both U.S. English and Commonwealth English). Also, fruit and spice can be attributed as papryka ostra (hot pepper) or papryka słodka (sweet pepper). The term pieprz (pepper) instead means only grains or ground black pepper (incl. the green, white, and red forms), but not capsicum. Sometimes, the hot capsicum spice is also called chilli.\n\nIn Italy and the Italian- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, the sweet varieties are called peperone and the hot varieties peperoncino (literally \"small pepper\"). In Germany, the heatless varieties as well as the spice are called Paprika and the hot types are primarily called Peperoni or Chili while in Austria, Pfefferoni is more common for these; in Dutch, this word is also used exclusively for bell peppers, whereas chilli is reserved for powders, and hot pepper variants are referred to as Spaanse pepers (Spanish peppers). In Switzerland, though, the condiment powder made from capsicum is called Paprika (German language regions) and paprica (French and Italian language region). In French, capsicum is called poivron.\n\nIn Spanish-speaking countries, many different names are used for the varieties and preparations. In Mexico, the term chile is used for \"hot peppers\", while the heatless varieties are called pimiento (the masculine form of the word for pepper, which is pimienta). Several other countries, such as Chile, whose name is unrelated, Perú, Puerto Rico, and Argentina, use ají. In Spain, heatless varieties are called pimiento and hot varieties guindilla. Also, in Argentina and Spain, the variety C. chacoense is commonly known as \"putaparió\", a slang expression equivalent to \"damn it\", probably due to its extra-hot flavour.\nIn Indian English, the word \"capsicum\" is used exclusively for Capsicum annuum. All other varieties of hot capsicum are called chilli. In northern India and Pakistan, C. annuum is also commonly called shimla mirch in the local language and as \"Kodai Mozhagai\" in Tamil which roughly translates to \"umbrella chilli\" due to its appearance. Shimla, incidentally, is a popular hill-station in India (and mirch means chilli in local languages).\n\nIn Japanese, tōgarashi (唐辛子, トウガラシ \"Chinese mustard\") refers to hot chili peppers, and particularly a spicy powder made from them which is used as a condiment, while bell peppers are called pīman (ピーマン, from the French piment or the Spanish pimiento).\n\nPictures of common cultivars\n\nImage:Capsicum annuum.JPG|C. annuum cultivars\nImage:Capsicum1.jpg|A variety of coloured Capsicum\nFile:Pickled friggitelli.jpg|Peperoncini (C. annuum)\nImage:Fefferoni.jpg|Peperoncini in kebab restaurant\nImage:Large Cayenne.jpg|Cayenne pepper (C. annuum)\nImage:Compact orange pepper plants.jpg|Compact plant of orange Capsicum\nImage:Habanero chile - fruits (aka).jpg|Habanero chili (C. chinense Jacquin)- plant with flower and fruit\nImage:HotPeppersinMarket.jpg|Scotch bonnet (C. chinense) in a Caribbean market\nImage:Scotch-bonnet.jpg|Scotch bonnet\nImage:Thai peppers.jpg|Thai peppers (C. annuum)\nImage:Green chillies.jpg|Fresh Indian green chillies in Bangalore market\nImage:African red devil peppers.jpg|Piri piri (C. frutescens 'African Devil')\nImage:Naga Jolokia Peppers.jpg|Naga jolokia pepper (bhut jolokia) (C. chinense x C. frutescens)\nImage:Capsicum_Annum_Flower.JPG|C. annuum flower\nImage:Capsicum_Annum_Flower_Closeup.JPG|C. annum flower close up\nImage:Green-Yellow-Red-Pepper-2009.jpg|Green, yellow, and red peppers\nFile:Makro Bunga Cabai.jpg|The flower of red hot bangi pepper, Malaysia\nFile:Capsicum Malaysia.jpg|A small but very hot Capsicum in Malaysia\nFile:Peperoni Cruschi.jpg|Dried and crunchy Capsicum from Basilicata",
"allspice (shrub) - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus\n\"allspice\" (shrub) definition: a ... Type of: shrub. Member... Memidex: ... a tree of the myrtle family from which allspice is obtained. |.. | an ...\nallspice (shrub) - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus\nAllspice | Jamaica pepper | pepper | myrtle pepper | pimenta | pimento | newspice | Pimenta dioica \n[species]\na spice that is the dried unripe fruit of Pimenta dioica, a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name allspice was coined as early as 1621 by the...",
"A Visual Guide to Peppers | Epicurious.com\nA Visual Guide to Peppers ... word \"pepper\" refers to members of the genus Capsicum, which includes hot varieties, also known as chile peppers, and sweet varieties, ...\nA Visual Guide to Peppers | Epicurious.com | Epicurious.com\nA Visual Guide to Peppers\nGet to know your sweet and spicy peppers\nText by Esther Sung; photos by Chris Astley\nshare\nprint\nT he word \"pepper\" refers to members of the genus Capsicum, which includes hot varieties, also known as chile peppers, and sweet varieties, such as the bell pepper. Up until the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the New World, peppers grew only in Latin America. Along with corn, tomatoes, and beans, the Europeans brought back some of the peppers and on their travels introduced the plant to the rest of the world, where it took off like wildfire. Truly international in their appeal, peppers have become integral to cuisines across the world, from Mexico to Thailand, the Congo to India, and from Hungary to Tunisia. To see when these may be in season at your local farmers' market, check out our interactive seasonal ingredient map . If you are unable to find fresh or dried chiles in your local grocery store, try an online source like pepperfool.com .\nThe heat of a pepper is measured using Scoville units: The relatively mild poblano weighs in at about 1,500 SCU, while the superhot habañero packs a whopping 250,000 SCUs or more. If you want the flavor without the mouth-scorching fire, remove the seeds and interior ribs from a chile before cooking it. It's also a good idea to have dairy products, such as milk or yogurt, on hand—they contain casein, which helps neutralize capsaicin, the chemical that gives chiles their heat. And remember: Always protect your skin by wearing gloves when handling hot peppers.\nBell Pepper\nAlternate Names: Green pepper, red pepper, sweet bell pepper, capsicum\nCharacteristics: Relatively large in size, the bell-shaped pepper in its immature state is green with a slightly bitter flavor. As it matures, it turns bright red and becomes sweeter. You can also find yellow, orange, white, pink, and even purple varieties. With their high water content, bell peppers will add moisture to any dish. They're also great for adding color. Scoville heat units: 0\nRecipe to try: Goat Cheese Ravioli with Bell Peppers and Brown Butter\nPoblano\nCharacteristics: Somewhat large and heart-shaped, the mildly hot poblano is common in Mexican dishes such as chiles rellenos. At maturity, the poblano turns dark red-brown and can be dried, at which point it's referred to as an ancho or mulato. If smoked and dried, it becomes a chipotle, which is often used in mole sauces. Scoville heat units: 1,000 to 2,000\nAnaheim\nAlternate Names: California green chile, chile verde, New Mexican chile\nCharacteristics: This long pepper is relatively mild and very versatile. When mature, the Anaheim turns deep red and are referred to a chile Colorado or California red chile. Anaheims are popular in salsas and dishes from the American Southwest. Scoville heat units: 500 to 2,500\nRecipe to try: Roasted Peppers with Nectarines\nSerrano\nCharacteristics: Just a couple of inches long, with a tapered end, this small pepper packs quite a bit of heat. Beware: The smaller the pepper, the hotter it is. When ripe, serranos are red or yellowish orange—they can be cooked in both their ripe and unripe states. Serranos are common in Mexican and Thai cooking. Scoville heat units: 6,000 to 23,000\nRecipe to try: Chile-Ginger-Mint Jellies\nHabañero\nCharacteristics: Small and bulbous, this chile, in the same family as the Scotch bonnet, is one of the hottest on the Scoville scale. If you can get past the heat, habañeros also have a fruity flavor. They're popular on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in the Caribbean, where they're used to make hot sauces. Scoville heat units: 100,000 to 350,000, and higher\nCayenne\nAlternate Names: Finger chile, Ginnie pepper, and bird pepper\nCharacteristics: Slender and tapered, this chile is probably most familiar in its dried, ground form—the powder known as cayenne pepper. Ground cayenne pepper is a main ingredient in the chili powder that flavors Tex-Mex dishes such as chili con carne. Scoville heat units: 30,000 to 50,000",
"Pio_Quinto.txt\nPio Quinto\nPio Quinto is a Nicaraguan dessert consisting of cake drenched in rum, topped with a custard, and dusted with cinnamon. Some recipes also include raisins. Pio Quinto is eaten after meals or during Christmas time. The cake is believed to have been named after Pope Pius V, but the connection is unknown.",
"pepper - definition and meaning - Wordnik\n... such as cayenne pepper, ... pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, ... These pods are the source of Cayenne pepper, ...\npepper - definition and meaning\npepper\nfrom The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition\nn. Black pepper.\nn. Any of several plants of the genus Piper, as cubeb, betel, and kava.\nn. Any of several tropical American, cultivated forms of Capsicum frutescens or C. annuum, having podlike, many-seeded, variously colored berries.\nn. The podlike fruit of any of these plants, varying in size, shape, and degree of pungency, with the milder types including the bell pepper and pimiento, and the more pungent types including the cherry pepper.\nn. Any of various condiments made from the more pungent varieties of Capsicum frutescens, such as cayenne pepper, tabasco pepper, and chili. Also called hot pepper.\nn. Baseball A warm-up exercise in which players standing a short distance from a batter field the ball and toss it to the batter, who hits each toss back to the fielders. Also called pepper game.\ntransitive v. To season or sprinkle with pepper.\ntransitive v. To sprinkle liberally; dot.\ntransitive v. To shower with or as if with small missiles. See Synonyms at barrage2.\ntransitive v. To make (a speech, for example) lively and vivid with wit or invective.\nfrom Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License\nn. A plant of the family Piperaceae.\nn. A spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe red berries of this plant.\nn. A fruit of the capsicum: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in very spicy and mild varieties.\nn. A game used by baseball players to warm up where fielders standing close to a batter rapidly return the batted ball to be hit again\nv. To add pepper to.\nv. To strike with something made up of small particles.\nv. To be covered with lots of (something made up of small things).\nv. To add (something) at frequent intervals.\nfrom the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English\nn. A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum.\nn. The plant which yields pepper, an East Indian woody climber (Piper nigrum), with ovate leaves and apetalous flowers in spikes opposite the leaves. The berries are red when ripe. Also, by extension, any one of the several hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth.\nn. Any plant of the genus Capsicum (of the Solanaceae family, which are unrelated to Piper), and its fruit; red pepper; chili pepper. These contain varying levels of the substance capsaicin (C18H27O3N), which gives the peppers their hot taste. The habanero is about 25-50 times hotter than the jalapeno according to a scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. See also Capsicum and http://www.chili-pepper-plants.com/.\nintransitive v. To fire numerous shots (at).\ntransitive v. To sprinkle or season with pepper.\ntransitive v. Figuratively: To shower shot or other missiles, or blows, upon; to pelt; to fill with shot, or cover with bruises or wounds.\nfrom The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia\nTo sprinkle with pepper; make pungent: as, mutton-chops well peppered.—2. To pelt with shot or other missiles; hit with what pains or annoys; also, to attack with bitter or pungent words.\nTo cover with small sores.\nTo pelt thoroughly; give a quietus to; do for.\nn. The product of plants of the genus Piper, chiefly of P. nigrum, consisting of the berries, which afford an aromatic and pungent condiment.\nn. Any plant of the genus Piper; especially, one that produces the pepper of commerce (see def. 1).\nn. A plant of the genus Capsicum, or one of its pods. These pods are the source of Cayenne pepper, and form the green and red peppers used in sauces, etc.\nn. A bitter, biting drink [peppermint, Morris].\nn. A pepper-caster: as, a pair of silver-mounted peppers.\nn. In the West Indies, also, other plants of the genus Xylopia.\nn. See Capsicum.\nn. Same as chilli.\nn. Same as wall-pepper.\nn. A tall shrub of the pepper family, Piper Novæ-Hollandiæ, found in dense forests where it climbs to the tops of the tallest trees. It is used in the treatment of catarrhal affections. Called also native pepper-vine.\nfrom WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.\nn. any of various tropical plants of the genus Capsicum bearing peppers\nv. add pepper to",
"allspice | Britannica.com\n... of the myrtle family ... The name allspice is applied to several other aromatic shrubs as well, ... More about allspice.\nallspice | Britannica.com\nAllspice\nAlternative Titles: Pimenta diocia, Pimenta officinalis\nRelated Topics\nangiosperm\nAllspice, tropical evergreen tree (Pimenta diocia, formerly P. officinalis) of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to the West Indies and Central America and valued for its berries, the source of a highly aromatic spice . Allspice was so named because the flavour of the dried berry resembles a combination of cloves, cinnamon , and nutmeg . It is widely used in baking and is usually present in mincemeat and mixed pickling spice. Early Spanish explorers, mistaking it for a type of pepper, called it pimenta, hence its botanical name and such terms as pimento and Jamaica pepper. The first record of its import to Europe is from 1601.\nAllspice (Pimenta dioica).\nLearn about culinary uses and health benefits of allspice.\n© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)\nThe allspice tree attains a height of about 9 metres (30 feet). The fruits are picked before they are fully ripe and then dried in the sun. During drying the berries turn from green to a dull reddish brown. The nearly globular fruit , about 5 millimetres (0.2 inch) in diameter, contains two kidney-shaped, dark-brown seeds. Its flavour is aromatic and pungent. The essential oil content is about 4 1/2 percent for Jamaica allspice and about 2 1/2 percent for that of Central America; its principal component is eugenol.\nThe name allspice is applied to several other aromatic shrubs as well, especially to one of the sweet shrubs, the Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus), a handsome flowering shrub native to the southeastern United States and often cultivated in England. Other allspices include: the Japanese allspice (Chimonanthus praecox), native to eastern Asia and planted as an ornamental in England and the United States; the wild allspice, or spicebush (Lindera benzoin), a shrub of eastern North America , with aromatic berries, reputed to have been used as a substitute for true allspice.\nLearn More in these related articles:\nspice and herb\nparts of various plants cultivated for their aromatic, pungent, or otherwise desirable substances. Spices and herbs consist of rhizomes, bulbs, barks, flower buds, stigmas, fruits, seed s, and leaves. They are commonly divided into the categories of spices, spice seeds, and herbs.\nspicebush\n(Lindera benzoin), deciduous, dense shrub of the laurel family (Lauraceae), native to eastern North America. It occurs most often in damp woods and grows about 1.5–6 m (about 5–20 feet) tall. The alternate leaves are rather oblong, but wedge-shaped near the base, and 8–13 cm...\n1 Reference found in Britannica Articles\nAssorted Reference\nSouth American crops (in South America: Specialized cash crops )\nExternal Links\nCorrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback.\nMEDIA FOR:\nYou have successfully emailed this.\nError when sending the email. Try again later.\nEdit Mode\nSubmit\nTips For Editing\nWe welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind.\nEncyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience.\nYou may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.\nAny text you add should be original, not copied from other sources.\nAt the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.)\nYour contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.\nSubmit\nThank You for Your Contribution!\nOur editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article.\nPlease note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed.\nUh Oh\nThere was a problem with your submission. Please try again later.\nClose\nDate Published: April 06, 2016\nURL: https://www.britannica.com/plant/allspice\nAccess Date: January 19, 2017\nShare"
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In astronomy, ‘The Big Dipper’ is another name for which constellation? | The Plough | [
"Big_Dipper.txt\nBig Dipper\nThe Big Dipper (US) or Plough (UK) is an asterism consisting of the seven brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them are of second magnitude and one, Megrez (δ), of third magnitude. Four define a \"bowl\" or \"body\" and three define a \"handle\" or \"head\". It is recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures.\n\nThe North Star (Polaris), the current northern pole star and the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper, can be located by extending an imaginary line from Merak (β) through Dubhe (α). This makes it useful in celestial navigation.\n\nNames\n\nOrigin\n\nThe constellation of Ursa Major has been seen as a bear by many distinct civilizations. This may stem from a common oral tradition stretching back for thousands of years. Using statistical and phylogenetic tools, Julien d'Huy reconstructs the following Palaeolithic state of the story: \"There is an animal that is a horned herbivore, especially an elk. One human pursues this ungulate. The hunt locates or get to the sky. The animal is alive when it is transformed into a constellation. It forms the Big Dipper\". \n\nNorth America\n\nIn Canada and the United States, the asterism is known as the Big Dipper because the major stars can be seen to follow the rough outline of a large ladle or \"dipper\".\n\nA widespread American Indian figuration had the bowl as a bear. Some groups considered the handle to be three cubs following their mother, while others pictured three hunters tracking the bear. The Anishinaabe or Ojibway First Nation know the Big Dipper as the \"Fisher Star\" (Ojig-anang) after the small mammal known as the fisher.\n\nEurope\n\nIn both Ireland and the United Kingdom, this pattern is known as the Plough. The symbol of the Starry Plough has been used as a political symbol by Irish Republican and left wing movements. Another former name was the Great Wain (i.e., wagon). In northern England, it is occasionally still known as the Butcher's Cleaver, and in the northeast, as Charlie's Wagon. This derives from the earlier Charles's Wain and Charles his Wain, which derived from the still older Carlswæn. A folk etymology holds that this derived from Charlemagne, but the name is common to all the Germanic languages and intended the churls' wagon (i.e., \"the men's wagon\"), in contrast with the women's wagon (the Little Dipper). An older \"Odin's Wain\" may have preceded these Nordic designations.\n\nIn German, it is known as the \"Great Wagon\" (') and, less often, the \"Great Bear\" ('). In Scandinavia, it is known by variations of \"Charles's Wagon\" (Karlavagnen, Karlsvogna, or Karlsvognen). In Dutch, its official name is the \"Great Bear\" ('), but it is popularly known as the \"Saucepan\" ('). In Italian, too, it is called the \"Great Wagon\" (').\n\nIn Romanian and most Slavic languages, it is known as the \"Great Wagon\" but, in Hungarian, it is commonly called \"Göncöl's Wagon\" (') or, less often, \"Big Göncöl\" (') after a táltos (shaman) in Hungarian mythology who carried medicine that could cure any disease. In Finnish, the figure is known as the \"Salmon Net\" (') and widely used as a cultural symbol. The brown bear in Finnish actually became known as otava, but this is claimed to stem from its resemblance to—and mythical origin from—the asterism rather than vice versa. \n\nBook XVIII of Homer's Iliad mentions it as \"the Bear, which men also call the Wain\". In Latin, these seven stars were known as the \"Seven Oxen\" (', from '). ' is a hapax legomenon, occurring only in a single passage by Varro, where he glosses it as meaning \"plough oxen\". The derivation is acceptable but the meaning, if Varro is right that it derives from terō (\"thresh grain by rubbing\"), is surely \"threshing oxen\": the seven stars wheel around the pole star like oxen on a threshing floor. The name is the origin of ' the Latin word for north, from which came the adjective septentrional (\"northern\") in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.\n\nAsia\n\nIn traditional Chinese astronomy, which continues to be used for throughout East Asia (e.g., in astrology), these stars are generally considered to compose the Right Wall of the Purple Forbidden Enclosure which surrounds the Northern Celestial Pole, although numerous other groupings and names have been made over the centuries. Similarly, each star has a distinct name, which likewise has varied over time and depending upon the asterism being constructed. The Western asterism is now known as the \"Northern Dipper\" () or the \"Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper\" (). The personification of the Big Dipper itself is also known as \"Doumu\" () in Chinese folk religion and Taoism, and Marici in Buddhism.\n\nIn Malaysian, it is known as the \"Dipper Stars\" ('); in Indonesian, as the \"Canoe Stars\" (Bintang Biduk). \n\nIn Hindu astronomy, it is referred to as the \"Collection of Seven Great Sages\" (Saptarshi Mandal), as each star is named after a mythical Hindu sage.\n\nAn Arabian story has the four stars of the Plough's bowl as a coffin, with the three stars in the handle as mourners, following it.\n\nIn Mongolian, it is known as the \"Seven Gods\" (). In Kazakh, they are known as the Jetiqaraqshi (Жетіқарақшы) and, in Kyrgyz, as the Jetigen (Жетиген).\n\nStars\n\nWithin Ursa Major the stars of the Big Dipper have Bayer designations in consecutive Greek alphabetical order from the bowl to the handle.\n\nIn the same line of sight as Mizar, but about one light-year beyond it, is the star Alcor (80 UMa). Together they are known as the \"Horse and Rider\". At fourth magnitude, Alcor would normally be relatively easy to see with the unaided eye, but its proximity to Mizar renders it more difficult to resolve, and it has served as a traditional test of sight. Mizar itself has four components and thus enjoys the distinction of being part of an optical binary as well as being the first-discovered telescopic binary (1617) and the first-discovered spectroscopic binary (1889).\n\nFive of the stars of the Big Dipper are at the core of the Ursa Major Moving Group. The two at the ends, Dubhe and Alkaid, are not part of the swarm, and are moving in the opposite direction. Relative to the central five, they are moving down and to the right in the map. This will slowly change the Dipper's shape, with the bowl opening up and the handle becoming more bent. In 50,000 years the Dipper will no longer exist as we know it, but be re-formed into a new Dipper facing the opposite way. The stars Alkaid to Phecda will then constitute the bowl, while Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe will be the handle.\n\nGuidepost\n\nNot only are the stars in the Big Dipper easily found themselves, they may also be used as guides to yet other stars. Thus it is often the starting point for introducing Northern Hemisphere beginners to the night sky:\n*Polaris, the North Star, is found by imagining a line from Merak (β) to Dubhe (α) and then extending it for five times the distance between the two Pointers.\n*Extending a line from Megrez (δ) to Phecda (γ), on the inside of the bowl, leads to Regulus (α Leonis) and Alphard (α Hydrae). A mnemonic for this is \"A hole in the bowl will leak on Leo.\"\n*Crossing the top of the bowl from Megrez (δ) to Dubhe (α) takes one in the direction of Capella (α Aurigae). A mnemonic for this is \"Cap to Capella.\"\n*Castor (α Geminorum) is reached by imagining a diagonal line from Megrez (δ) to Merak (β) and then extending it for approximately five times that distance.\n*By following the curve of the handle from Alioth (ε) to Mizar (ζ) to Alkaid (η), one reaches Arcturus (α Boötis) and Spica (α Virginis). A mnemonic for this is \"Arc to Arcturus then speed (or spike) to Spica.\"\nAdditionally, the Dipper may be used as a guide to telescopic objects:\n*The approximate location of the Hubble Deep Field can be found by following a line from Phecda (γ) to Megrez (δ) and continuing on for the same distance again.\n*Crossing the bowl diagonally from Phecda (γ) to Dubhe (α) and proceeding onward for a similar stretch leads to the bright galaxy pair M81 and M82.\n*Two spectacular spiral galaxies flank Alkaid (η), the Pinwheel (M101) to the north and the Whirlpool (M51) to the south.\n*Projecting a line from Alkaid through the pole star will point to Cassiopeia.\n\nCultural associations\n\nThe \"Seven Stars\" referenced in the Bible's Book of Amos may refer to these stars or, more likely, to the Pleiades.\n\nIn addition, the constellation has also been used in corporate logos and the Alaska flag.",
"Constellation.txt\nConstellation\nA constellation is formally defined as a region of the celestial sphere, with boundaries laid down by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). \n\nThe constellation areas mostly had their origins in Western-traditional patterns of stars from which the constellations take their names.\n\nSince 1922, there are 88 modern constellations officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union, covering the entire sky which have grown from the 48 classical Greek constellations laid down by Ptolemy in the Almagest. Constellations in the far southern sky are 18th and 19th century constructions. Out of the 88 constellations, 12 compose the zodiac signs.\n\nThe term constellation can also refer to the stars within the boundaries of that constellation. Notable groupings of stars that do not form a constellation are called asterisms. When astronomers say something is “in” a given constellation they mean it is within those official boundaries.\n\nAny given point in a celestial coordinate system can unambiguously be assigned to a single constellation (but see Argo Navis). Many astronomical naming systems give the constellation in which a given object is found along with a designation in order to convey a rough idea in which part of the sky it is located. For example, the Flamsteed designation for bright stars consists of a number and the genitive form of the constellation name.\n\nTerminology\n\nThe term \"constellation\"\n\nThe origin of the word constellation seems to come from the Late Latin term \"cōnstellātiō,\" which can be translated as \"set of stars\", and came into use in English during the 14th century. A more modern astronomical sense of the term is as a recognisable pattern of stars whose appearance is identified with mythological characters or creatures, or associated earthbound animals or objects. It also denotes 88 named groups of stars in the shape of stellar-patterns. \n \nThe Ancient Greek word for constellation was \"ἄστρον\". \n\nColloquial usage does not draw a sharp distinction between \"constellation\" in the sense of an asterism (pattern of stars) and \"constellation\" in the sense of an area surrounding an asterism. The modern system of constellations used in astronomy employs the latter concept. For example, the northern asterism known as the Big Dipper comprises the seven brightest stars in the IAU constellation (area) Ursa Major while the southern False Cross includes portions of the constellations Carina and Vela.\n\nThe term circumpolar constellation is used for any constellation that, from a particular latitude on Earth, never sets below the horizon. From the North Pole or South Pole, all constellations north or south of the celestial equator are circumpolar constellations. In the equatorial or temperate latitudes, the informal term equatorial constellation has sometimes been used for constellations that lie to the opposite the circumpolar constellations. Depending on the definition, equatorial constellations can include those that lie entirely between declinations 45° north and 45° south, or those that pass overhead between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn between declinations of 23½° north and 23½° south. They generally include all constellations that intersect the celestial equator or part of the zodiac.\n\nUsually the only thing the stars in a constellation have in common is that they appear near each other in the sky when viewed from the Earth, but in galactic space, most constellation stars lie at a variety of distances. Since stars also travel on their own orbits through the Milky Way, the star patterns of the constellations change slowly over time. After tens to hundreds of thousands of years, their familiar outlines will become unrecognisable. \n\nThe naming of constellations\n\nThe terms chosen for the constellation themselves, together with the appearance of a constellation, may reveal where and when its constellation makers lived. The Plough may illustrate this, as it is a constellation which appears in many cultures. \"Plough\" is the name in the United Kingdom, \"Big Dipper\" in the U.S.A., it was called a parrot by the Ancient Mayans, a chariot by the Chinese, and the Egyptians saw it as part of the thigh and leg of a bull. It is claimed that people who named constellations didn't do so because they thought them to be looking like e.g. a plough, but the naming was symbolic instead for something associated with e.g. a plough. \n\nHistory \n\nThe earliest direct evidence for the constellations comes from inscribed stones and clay writing tablets dug up in Mesopotamia (within modern Iraq) dating back to 3000 BC.Rogers, J. H. (1998). [http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1998JBAA..108....9R Origins of the ancient constellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions]. Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol.108, no.1, pp. 9-28. It seems that the bulk of the Mesopotamian constellations were created within a relatively short interval from around 1300 to 1000 BC. These groupings appeared later in many of the classical Greek constellations. \n\nAncient near East \n\nThe Babylonians were the first to recognize that astronomical phenomena are periodic and apply mathematics to their predictions. The oldest Babylonian star catalogues of stars and constellations date back to the beginning in the Middle Bronze Age, most notably the Three Stars Each texts and the MUL.APIN, an expanded and revised version based on more accurate observation from around 1000 BC. However, the numerous Sumerian names in these catalogues suggest that they build on older, but otherwise unattested, Sumerian traditions of the Early Bronze Age. \n\nThe classical Zodiac is a product of a revision of the Old Babylonian system in later Neo-Babylonian astronomy 6th century BC. Knowledge of the Neo-Babylonian zodiac is also reflected in the Hebrew Bible. E. W. Bullinger interpreted the creatures appearing in the books of Ezekiel (and thence in Revelation) as the middle signs of the four quarters of the Zodiac, with the Lion as Leo, the Bull as Taurus, the Man representing Aquarius and the Eagle standing in for Scorpio. The biblical Book of Job also makes reference to a number of constellations, including \"bier\", \"fool\" and \"heap\" (Job 9:9, 38:31-32), rendered as \"Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades\" by the KJV, but ‘Ayish \"the bier\" actually corresponding to Ursa Major. The term Mazzaroth , a hapax legomenon in Job 38:32, may be the Hebrew word for the zodiacal constellations.\n\nThe Greeks adopted the Babylonian system in the 4th century BC. A total of twenty Ptolemaic constellations are directly continued from the Ancient Near East. Another ten have the same stars but different names.\n\nChinese astronomy \n\nIn ancient China astronomy has had a long tradition in accurately observing celestial phenomena. Star names later categorized in the twenty-eight mansions have been found on oracle bones unearthed at Anyang, dating back to the middle Shang Dynasty. These Chinese constellations are one of the most important and also the most ancient structures in the Chinese sky, attested from the 5th century BC. Parallels to the earliest Babylonian (Sumerian) star catalogues suggest that the ancient Chinese system did not arise independently. \n\nClassical Chinese astronomy is recorded in the Han period and appears in the form of three schools, which are attributed to astronomers of the Zhanguo period. The constellations of the three schools were conflated into a single system by Chen Zhuo, an astronomer of the 3rd century (Three Kingdoms period). Chen Zhuo's work has been lost, but information on his system of constellations survives in Tang period records, notably by Qutan Xida. The oldest extant Chinese star chart dates to that period and was preserved as part of the Dunhuang Manuscripts. Native Chinese astronomy flourished during the Song dynasty, and during the Yuan Dynasty became increasingly influenced by medieval Islamic astronomy (see Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era). As maps were prepared during this period on more scientific lines they were considered as more reliable. \n \nA well known map prepared during the Song Period is the Suzhou Astronomical Chart prepared with carvings of most stars on the planisphere of the Chinese Sky on a stone plate; it is done accurately based on observations and has the suprnova of the year of 1054 in Taurus carved on it.\n\nInfluenced by European astronomy during the late Ming Dynasty, more stars were depicted on the charts but retaining the traditional constellations; new stars observed were incorporated as supplementary stars in old constellations in the southern sky which did not depict any of the traditional stars recorded by ancient Chinese astronomers. Further improvements were made during the later part of the Ming Dynasty by Xu Guangqi and Johann Adam Schall von Bell, the German Jesuit and was recorded in Chongzhen Lishu (Calendrical Treatise of Chongzhen Period, 1628). Traditional Chinese star maps incorporated 23 new constellations with 125 stars of the southern hemisphere of the sky based on the knowledge of western star charts; with this improvement the Chinese Sky was integrated with the World astronomy. \n\nIndian astronomy \n\nSome of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley Civilization, a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwest Indian subcontinent. Afterwards the astronomy developed as a discipline of Vedanga or one of the \"auxiliary disciplines\" associated with the study of the Vedas,Sarma (2008), Astronomy in India dating 1500 BC or older. The oldest known text is the Vedanga Jyotisha, dated to 1400–1200 BC\n\nAs with other traditions, the original application of astronomy was thus religious. Indian astronomy was influenced by Greek astronomy beginning in the 4th century BC and through the early centuries of the Common Era, for example by the Yavanajataka and the Romaka Siddhanta, a Sanskrit translation of a Greek text disseminated from the 2nd century. \n\nIndian astronomy flowered in the 5th–6th century, with Aryabhata, whose Aryabhatiya represented the pinnacle of astronomical knowledge at the time. Later the Indian astronomy significantly influenced medieval Islamic, Chinese and European astronomy. Other astronomers of the classical era who further elaborated on Aryabhata's work include Brahmagupta, Varahamihira and Lalla. An identifiable native Indian astronomical tradition remained active throughout the medieval period and into the 16th or 17th century, especially within the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics.\n\nClassical antiquity \n\nThere is only limited information on indigenous Greek constellations, with some fragmentary evidence being found in the Works and Days of Greek poet Hesiod, who mentioned the \"heavenly bodies\". Greek astronomy essentially adopted the older Babylonian system in the Hellenistic era, first introduced to Greece by Eudoxus of Cnidus in the 4th century BC. The original work of Eudoxus is lost, but it survives as a versification by Aratus, dating to the 3rd century BC. The most complete existing works dealing with the mythical origins of the constellations are by the Hellenistic writer termed pseudo-Eratosthenes and an early Roman writer styled pseudo-Hyginus. The basis of western astronomy as taught during Late Antiquity and until the Early Modern period is the Almagest by Ptolemy, written in the 2nd century.\n\nIn Ptolemaic Egypt, native Egyptian tradition of anthropomorphic figures representing the planets, stars and various constellations. Some of these were combined with Greek and Babylonian astronomical systems culminating in the Zodiac of Dendera, but it remains unclear when this occurred, but most were placed during the Roman period between 2nd to 4th centuries AD. The oldest known depiction of the zodiac showing all the now familiar constellations, along with some original Egyptian Constellations, Decans and Planets. Ptolemy's Almagest remained the standard definition of constellations in the medieval period both in Europe and in Islamic astronomy.\n\nIslamic astronomy \n\nParticularly during the Islamic Golden Age (8th–15th centuries) the Islamic world experienced development in astronomy. These developments were mostly written in Arabic and took place from North Africa to Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and later in the Far East and India. It closely parallels the genesis of other Islamic sciences in its assimilation of foreign material and the amalgamation of the disparate elements of that material to create a science with Islamic characteristics. These included ancient Greek astronomy, Sassanid, and Indian works in particular, which were translated and built upon. In turn, Islamic astronomy later had a significant influence on Byzantine and EuropeanSaliba (1999). astronomy (see Latin translations of the 12th century) as well as Chinese astronomy and Malian astronomy. \n\nA significant number of stars in the sky, such as Aldebaran and Altair, and astronomical terms such as alidade, azimuth, and almucantar, are still referred to by their Arabic names. A large corpus of literature from Islamic astronomy remains today, numbering approximately 10,000 manuscripts scattered throughout the world, many of which have not been read or catalogued. Even so, a reasonably accurate picture of Islamic activity in the field of astronomy can be reconstructed.Ilyas, Mohammad (1996). [http://www.worldcat.org/title/islamic-astronomy-and-science-development-glorious-past-challenging-future/oclc/35042921&referer\nbrief_results Islamic astronomy and science development : glorious past, challenging future]. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications. ISBN 9679785491.\n\nEarly Modern era \n\nThe skies around the South Celestial Pole are not observable from north of the equator and were never catalogued by the ancient Babylonians, Greeks, Chinese and Arabs. The modern constellations in this region were first defined during the age of exploration by Petrus Plancius, who used the records from observations of twelve new constellations made by the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman at the end of the sixteenth century. They were later depicted by Johann Bayer in his star atlas Uranometria of 1603. Several more were created by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in his star catalogue, published in 1756. \n\nSome modern proposals for new constellations were not successful; an example is Quadrans, eponymous of the Quadrantid meteors, now divided between Boötes and Draco in the northern sky. The large classical constellation of Argo Navis was broken up into three separate parts (Carina, Puppis and Vela), for the convenience of stellar cartographers.\n\nThe current list of 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union since 1922 is based on the 48 listed by Ptolemy in his Almagest in the 2nd century, with early modern modifications and additions (most importantly introducing constellations covering the parts of the southern sky unknown to Ptolemy) by Petrus Plancius (1592, 1597/98 and 1613), Johannes Hevelius (1690) and Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1763), who named fourteen constellations and renamed a fifteenth one. De Lacaille studied the stars of the southern hemisphere from 1750 until 1754 from Cape of Good Hope, when he was said to have observed more than 10,000 stars using a refracting telescope.\n\nIAU constellations \n\nIn 1922, Henry Norris Russell aided the IAU (International Astronomical Union) in dividing the celestial sphere into 88 official constellations. Where possible, these modern constellations usually share the names of their Graeco-Roman predecessors, such as Orion, Leo or Scorpius. The aim of this system is area-mapping, i.e. the division of the celestial sphere into contiguous fields. Out of the 88 modern constellations, 36 lie predominantly in the northern sky, and the other 52 predominantly in the southern.\n\nIn 1930, the boundaries between the 88 constellations were devised by Eugène Delporte along vertical and horizontal lines of right ascension and declination. However, the data he used originated back to epoch B1875.0, which was when Benjamin A. Gould first made his proposal to designate boundaries for the celestial sphere, a suggestion upon which Delporte would base his work. The consequence of this early date is that due to the precession of the equinoxes, the borders on a modern star map, such as epoch J2000, are already somewhat skewed and no longer perfectly vertical or horizontal. This effect will increase over the years and centuries to come.\n\nAsterisms \n\nAn asterism is a pattern of stars recognized in the Earth's night sky and may be part of an official constellation. It may also be composed of stars from more than one constellation. The stars of the main asterism within a constellation are usually given Greek letters in their order of brightness, the so-called Bayer designation introduced by Johann Bayer in 1603. A total of 1,564 stars are so identified, out of approximately 10,000 stars visible to the naked eye. \n\nThe brightest stars, usually the stars that make up the constellation's eponymous asterism, also retain proper names, often from Arabic. For example, the \"Little Dipper\" asterism of the constellation Ursa Minor has ten stars with Bayer designation, α UMi to π UMi. Of these ten stars, six have a proper name, viz. Polaris (α UMi), Kochab (β UMi), Pherkad (γ UMi), Yildun (δ UMi), Ahfa al Farkadain (ζ UMi) and Anwar al Farkadain (η UMi).\n\nThe stars within an asterism rarely have any substantial astrophysical relationship to each other, and their apparent proximity when viewed from Earth disguises the fact that they are far apart, some being much farther from Earth than others. However, there are some exceptions: almost all of the stars in the constellation of Ursa Major (including most of the Big Dipper) are genuinely close to one another, travel through the galaxy with similar velocities, and are likely to have formed together as part of a cluster that is slowly dispersing. These stars form the Ursa Major moving group.\n\nEcliptic coordinate systems \n\nThe idea of dividing the celestial sphere into constellations, understood as areas surrounding asterisms, is early modern. The currently-used boundaries between constellations were defined in 1930. The concept is ultimately derived from the ancient tradition of dividing the ecliptic into twelve equal parts named for nearby asterisms (the Zodiac). This defined an ecliptic coordinate system which was used throughout the medieval period and into the 18th century.\n\nSystems of dividing the ecliptic (as opposed to dividing the celestial sphere into constellations in the modern sense) are also found in Chinese and Hindu astronomy. In classical Chinese astronomy, the northern sky is divided geometrically, into five \"enclosures\" and twenty-eight mansions along the ecliptic, grouped into Four Symbols of seven asterisms each. Ecliptic longitude is measured using 24 Solar terms, each of 15° longitude, and are used by Chinese lunisolar calendars to stay synchronized with the seasons, which is crucial for agrarian societies. In Hindu astronomy, the term for \"lunar mansion\" is ' In Vedanga Jyotisha, which is derived from the Rik and Yajur Jyotisha treatises, and is dated before 1600 B.C, the zodiac is divided into 27 s, each nakshatra covering 13° 20'; however, Abhijit the 28th nakshatra was excluded from this treatise though its was initially one of the 28 parts of the ecliptic. Later with the Siddhanta calendar of the zodiac system coming into vogue Vedanga Jyotisha became outdated.\n\nDark cloud constellations \n\nThe Great Rift, a series of dark patches in the Milky Way, is more visible and striking in the southern hemisphere than in the northern. It vividly stands out when conditions are otherwise so dark that the Milky Way's central region casts shadows on the ground. Some cultures have discerned shapes in these patches and have given names to these \"dark cloud constellations.\" Members of the Inca civilization identified various dark areas or dark nebulae in the Milky Way as animals, and associated their appearance with the seasonal rains. Australian Aboriginal astronomy also describes dark cloud constellations, the most famous being the \"emu in the sky\" whose head is formed by the Coalsack, a dark nebulae instead of the stars. \n\nFile:Emu public.jpg|The Emu in the sky—a constellation defined by dark clouds rather than by stars. The head of the emu is the Coalsack with the Southern Cross directly above. Scorpius is to the left."
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"The Big Dipper - One-Minute Astronomer - Basic Astronomy ...\nA tour of the Big Dipper and the constellation Ursa Major. One Minute Astronomer Stargazing, Astronomy, and ... by Brian Ventrudo. The Big Dipper is perhaps the most ...\nBig-Dipper – One Minute Astronomer\nby Brian Ventrudo\nThe Big Dipper is perhaps the most famous and easy to find star group in the northern skies. While it’s not a constellation itself, the Big Dipper makes up the brightest section of the large and sprawling constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. There’s much to see for stargazers in and around the Big Dipper. Let’s take a look…\nThe stars of the Big Dipper include, from handle-tip to bowl: Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phad, Dubhe, and Merak (see image below). The dipper shape is a coincidence, but most of these stars (save for Alkaid and Dubhe), along with a few others, are moving together through space to a point in the constellation Sagittarius. The stars form a “moving group”, a loose association of stars once part of a star cluster but no longer gravitationally bound to one another. This so-called Ursa Major Moving Group is also recorded in Per Collinder’s list of star groups as Collinder 285.\n********** Highly Recommended **********\nDo you suffer from light-polluted city skies? The FREE Urban Astronomer’s Survival Guide will help you! Discover how to see even faint nebulae and galaxies, even from the center of a big city. It’s enough for a lifetime of viewing! Click here to learn more…\nThe stars of the Big Dipper and Ursa Major (click to enlarge)\nThe Big Dipper, or the “Plough” as it’s called in Great Britain, makes up the body and tail of Ursa Major, one of Ptolemy’s original 48 constellations from the 2nd century A.D. The bear’s head is marked by the star Muscida, the forepaws by Talitha, and the rear paws by Tania Borealis and Tania Australis.\nGreek, Hebrew, and some native American cultures all see this constellation as a bear. According to Iroquois legend, the bowl of the Big Dipper is a giant bear and the stars of the handle are three warriors chasing it. As the constellation is low in the autumn evening sky, legend explains the hunters had injured the bear and its blood turned the leaves of the trees to red.\nGreek legend holds the bear is the poor Callisto, a beautiful nymph who caught the eye of Zeus. His wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear and sent her into the forest. Thinking she was a fearsome beast, Callisto’s son Arcas almost killed her. To prevent this tragedy, Zeus cast them both into the sky.\nUrsa Major is circumpolar for much of the northern hemisphere, which means it never sets below the horizon. But it’s highest in the sky in the evening hours from March through early July. In the southern hemisphere, at least from South Africa and Australia, you can just glimpse the star Alkaid in the tip of the handle of the Dipper in late May on the northern horizon. From southern parts of New Zealand, alas, the Dipper is never seen.\nThe Big Dipper is an excellent base of operations for finding other stars in the northern hemisphere. Draw an imaginary line from Merak through Dubhe out of the cup of the dipper and continue through 5x their separation to find Polaris, the North Star.\nOr draw an imaginary arc along the handle of the Dipper and extend the arc around the sky. This leads you to the very bright star Arcturus in the constellation Boötes. Continue to reach Spica in Virgo. Remember: “Arc to Arcturus and Speed on to Spica.”\nOr follow the other two stars in the cup of the dipper, Megrez and Phecda, down below the cup to get to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo.\nFor advanced stargazers, Ursa Major is awash in galaxies. We’ve met the superb pair M81 and M82 before. Other Messier objects include the harder-to-find Owl Nebula (M97) and the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). Dozens more fainter galaxies await the experienced stargazer with a bigger telescope…",
"Big Dipper Constellation - Redorbit\nBig Dipper Constellation ... Its name means “Great Bear” in Latin, ... In the United Kingdom it is commonly known as the Plough, ...\nBig Dipper Constellation - Redorbit\nToggle navigation\nBig Dipper Constellation\nBig Dipper Constellation (Ursa Major) — Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in the northern hemisphere. Its name means “Great Bear” in Latin, and is derived from the legend of Callisto. Its seven brightest stars form a famous asterism known in the United States as the Big Dipper, because the major stars can be seen to follow the rough outline of a large ladle, or dipper.\nThe Big Dipper is recognized as a grouping of stars in many cultures and eras. In the United Kingdom it is commonly known as the Plough, and was sometimes formerly called King Charles’s Wain (where wain means “wagon”).\nFrom the bowl to the handle, the stars in the Big Dipper are called Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid (or Benetnash), and are given Bayer designations of Alpha to Eta Ursae Majoris, in that order. Mizar has a companion star called Alcor, just visible to the naked eye, that served as a traditional test of sight. Both stars are actually multiple in and of themselves, including the first telescopic and spectroscopic binaries.\nThe star Polaris, the Pole Star, can be found by measuring a line five times the angular distance between the two pointer stars Dubhe and Merak forming the end of the dipper cup, through those stars and up and away from the dipper. The dipper also points the way to other stars, for instance by sweeping down from the handle one reaches Arcturus (α Botis) and Spica (α Virginis). A mnemonic for this is “Follow the arc to Arcturus, and speed on to Spica.”.\nIn 1869, R. A. Proctor noticed that, except for Dubhe and Alkaid, the stars of the Big Dipper all have proper motions heading towards a common point in Sagittarius. This group, of which a few other members have been identified, formed an open cluster at some distant point in the past. Since then the sparse group has been scattered over a region about 30 by 18 light-years, centered some 75 light-years away, making it the closest cluster-like object. About 100 other stars, including Sirius, form a stream sharing approximately the same proper motion as the ex-cluster, but the exact relationship is unclear. Our solar system is in the outskirts of this stream, but is not a member, being about 40 times older.\nNotable deep sky objects\nSeveral galaxies are found in Ursa Major, including the pair M81 (one of the brightest galaxies in the sky) and M82 above the bear’s head, and M101, a beautiful spiral northwest of η Ursae Majoris. The constellation contains about 50 galaxies, most of which are below 10th magnitude.\nHistory\nIt was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy.\nThis is one of the most widely-known constellations, having been mentioned by such poets as Homer, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Tennyson. The Finnish epic Kalevala mentions them, and Vincent Van Gogh painted them.\nMythology\nMany distinct civilizations have seen this figure as a bear. In classical mythology, one of Artemis’ companions, Callisto, lost her virginity to Zeus, who had come disguised as Artemis. Enraged, Artemis changed her into a bear. Callisto’s son, Arcas, nearly killed his mother while hunting, but Zeus or Artemis stopped him and placed them both in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.\nHera was not pleased with the placement of Callisto and Arcas in the sky, so she asked her nurse, Tethys, to help. Tethys, a marine goddess, cursed the constellations to forever circle the sky and never drop below the horizon, hence explaining why they are circumpolar. To observers above 41N, these stars never seem to set.\n—–",
"Astronomy for Kids - The Big Dipper - dustbunny.com\nAstronomy for Kids is an astronomy site designed with kids in mind, ... The Big Dipper and Ursa Major Since the Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major ...\nAstronomy for Kids - The Big Dipper\nA map of Ursa Major.\nThe Big Dipper and Ursa Major\nSince the Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major (The Great Bear), it is technically not a constellation. It's what is called an asterism, which is the name given to interesting star patterns that are easily recognizable, but not one of the \"official\" constellations.\nBe that as it may, the Big Dipper is probably one of the first objects in the sky that we learn to find and identify. It's distinctive position at the top of the summer night sky and the graceful curve of its handle make it easy for almost anyone to find.\nThe link at right will take you to a map of the Ursa Major constellation where you will see where the Big Dipper is in relation to the actual constellation.\nMap of the Big Dipper\nA map of the Big Dipper.\nThe Big Dipper and its Companions\nThe Big Dipper is very impressive all by itself, but it also is very close to a number of other very interesting sights. Included in these sights, and noted on the map at right, are the Pinwheel galaxy and the Whirlpool galaxy. If you have a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope, you should be able to find these galaxies using the map we have provided. When you find them, they will usually look like a small smudge of light instead of the sharp well-defined light that you are used to seeing when you look at a star.\nThere are also several double stars in the Big Dipper, which you should be able to see using a small telescope. All in all, the Big Dipper is a very interesting place indeed.\nBig Dipper and Polaris\nA map of the Big Dipper and Polaris.\nA Compass in the Sky\nAs you spend more time watching the sky, you will learn that the stars in one constellation can help lead you to other sky landmarks. The Big Dipper is no exception as you can use two of the stars in its \"cup\" to find the North Star and you can use the arc of its handle to find the giant red star Arcturus.\nAs the Big Dipper rotates around our north sky \"pole\", in what is caled a \"circumpolar\" orbit, two of the stars in its bowl can always ppoint the way to Polaris, the North Star. Although Polaris is not often at exactly North on a compass, it's fairly close and can help you get your directions when you are outside at night.\nTerence Dickinson's book \"Nightwatch\", which we have a link to on the main Constellations page, has many examples of using constellations and their stars to find your way around the night sky. We recommend it highly.\nFollow the Drinking Gourd\nIn the United States, during the nineteenth century, African-Americans that were being held as slaves in the south made very practical use of the Big Dipper's consistent northern sky location. The Big Dipper was also known as the Drinking Gourd and slaves trying to make their way to freedom used it as a guidepost to find their way North and escape the bonds of slavery.\nThe lyrics of folk song \"Follow the Drinking Gourd\" served as guide to help them find their way north and its chorus reminded them to always follow the Drinking Gourd, or Big Dipper.\nWhen Can I See the Big Dipper?\nThe very best time to look at the Big Dipper is in the middle of the summer, when it is easily found on any clear night in the northernmost part of the night sky. Once you are outside, look in the northern sky and try to find it handle. The arc of the handle will stand out and once you have found the handle, finding the bowl is easy. Once you have found the entire Big Dipper, use the charts we have to find Polaris and Arcturus. You will be surprised at how easy it is.\nFind Out More About the Big Dipper",
"Ursa Major - UW-Madison Astronomy\nThe constellation Ursa Major contains the group of stars commonly called the Big Dipper. The handle of the Dipper is the Great Bear's tail and the Dipper's cup is the ...\nUrsa Major\nUrsa Major\nVisible between latitudes 90 and -30 degrees\nBest seen in April (at 9:00 PM)\nNamed Stars\nM40 Winecke 4 (double star)\nM81 Bode's Galaxy or Bode's Nebula (spiral galaxy)\nM82 The Cigar Galaxy (irregular galaxy)\nM97 The Owl Nebula (planetary nebula)\nM101 The Pinwheel Galaxy (spiral galaxy)\nM109 (spiral galaxy)\n(It is suspected that the galaxy that Messier recorded as M102 is actually M101)\nThe constellation Ursa Major contains the group of stars commonly called the Big Dipper. The handle of the Dipper is the Great Bear's tail and the Dipper's cup is the Bear's flank. The Big Dipper is not a constellation itself, but an asterism, which is a distinctive group of stars. Another famous asterism is the Little Dipper in the constellation Ursa Minor .\nIf you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can use the Big Dipper to find all sorts of important stars:\nIf you draw an imaginary line from Merak through Dubhe out of the cup of the dipper (see the picture above) and continue five times as far as Dubhe is from Merak, you will arrive at Polaris , the North Star.\nNow draw an imaginary line along the handle of the dipper and continue the arc across the sky. Eventually this will lead you to the very bright star, Arcturus in the constellation Boötes . If you continue the arc further, you will reach Spica in Virgo . You can remember this by saying \"Arc to Arcturus and Speed to Spica.\"\nIf you follow the other two stars in the cup of the dipper (Megrez and Phecda) down below the cup, you will get to Regulus.html , the brightest star in Leo .\nAccording to some Native American legends, the bowl of the Big Dipper is a giant bear and the stars of the handle are three warriors chasing it. The constellation is low in the sky in autumn evening sky, so it was said that the hunters had injured the bear and its blood caused the trees to change color to red.\nAlthough the whole of Ursa Major is difficult to see without very dark skies, the Big Dipper is one of the most recognizable patterns in the northern sky. In other cultures it was identified as a wagon or cart, a plow, a bull's thigh, and (to the Chinese) the government.\nThe Big Dipper was also a very important part of the Underground Railroad which helped slaves escape from the South before the Civil War. There were songs spread among the slave population which included references to the \"Drinking Gourd.\" The songs said to follow it to get to a better life. This veiled message for the slaves to flee northward was passed along in the form of songs since a large fraction of the slave population was illiterate.\nCheck out the Ursa Major page which is part of the Texas Astronomical Society 's Constellation of the Month Series.",
"The Big Dipper: A Useful Pointer in the Sky - Space.com\nThe Big Dipper is an asterism in the ... Miguel Claro recently sent Space.com this cool image of the constellation Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, ... A common ...\nThe Big Dipper: A Useful Pointer in the Sky\nThe Big Dipper: A Useful Pointer in the Sky\nBy Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor |\nNovember 12, 2014 10:38pm ET\nMORE\nMiguel Claro recently sent Space.com this cool image of the constellation Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, shining over the road to Roque de Los Muchachos on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. He used a Canon 60Da camera (ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 seconds) to capture the image.\nCredit: Miguel Claro | www.miguelclaro.com\nThe Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). One of the most familiar star shapes in the northern sky, it is a useful navigation tool.\nAsterisms are usually easy to find because the stars are close to one another and about the same brightness. In this case, the Big Dipper has eight stars in it. Seven are visible at a glance, while the eighth is a visible double star that is just detectable with the naked eye in an area with clear “seeing” and with good vision.\nThe stars making up the asterism are (from the end of the handle and around the bottom of the bowl) Alkaid, Mizar, Alcor, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak and Dubhe.\nMizar and Alcor (which is noticeably dimmer) are the double forming the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle. (The system actually contains at least six stars, but only two of them are visible to the naked eye.) According to Rick Raasch of the Texas Astronomical Society , Mizar was the first double star to be discovered through a telescope, in 1662; the first star to be photographed, in 1857; and the first star to be identified as a spectroscopic binary, in 1889.\nSky charting and history\nIn the United States and Canada, the handle of the Big Dipper is the Great Bear's tail, while the cup is the bear's flank. Some Native American legends say the bowl of the Big Dipper is a bear and the stars of the handle are three warriors chasing it.\nIn the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is called the Plough. That idea may have arisen from an old Nordic constellation that was believed to represent a wagon or chariot belonging to the chief god, Odin, said Tom Kerss, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.\nIn Danish, the constellation was called \"Karlsvogna,\" which means \"Charles' wagon\" in English. Some 19th-century texts refer to the Plough by that name, he said. In other cultures, the asterism is a ladle (China, Japan and Korea), a cleaver (northern England), a cart (Germany and Hungary), a saucepan (the Netherlands), a salmon net (Finland) and a coffin (Saudi Arabia). \nThe Big Dipper was an important part of the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Slaves escaping from the South were told to \"follow the Drinking Gourd\" to the North, according to the website The Constellations and Their Stars .\n“It's a useful navigation tool in the Northern Hemisphere,” Kerss told Space.com.\nThe Big Dipper serves as a pointer to other locations in the sky. A common expression in astronomy is “follow the Arc to Arcturus.\" The \"arc\" refers to the handle of the Big Dipper. Amateur astronomers seeking the bright red star Arcturus that anchors the constellation Boötes can find it by using the arc of the Dipper's handle to glide their eyes across the sky.\nAlso, the two stars on the outer edge of the bowl — if you use them and project the line “up” relative to the bottom of the Dipper — will point to Polaris, the North Star .\nLook high in the sky toward the northeast this time of year and you can't miss the Big Dipper. Making out the Big Bear (Ursa Major) could prove a little more challenging. This map shows them at around 8 p.m. from mid-northern latitudes this weekend.\nCredit: Starry Night software\nRecent Big Dipper news\nThe discovery of a companion star to Alcor didn't come until 2009, when astronomers using adaptive optics on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory saw an unfamiliar source of light next to the star. (Adaptive optics corrects the focus to adjust for changes in the atmosphere, allowing for a clearer picture.)\n“Right away I spotted a faint point of light next to the star,\" said Neil Zimmerman, a graduate student who was then working on his Ph.D. with the American Museum of Natural History in New York, in a previous Space.com story . \"No one had reported this object before, and it was very close to Alcor, so we realized it was probably an unknown companion star.\"",
"The Big Dipper: A Useful Pointer in the Sky - Space.com\nThe Big Dipper is an ... The stars making up the ... “It's a useful navigation tool in the Northern Hemisphere,” Kerss told Space.com. The Big Dipper serves as ...\nThe Big Dipper: A Useful Pointer in the Sky\nThe Big Dipper: A Useful Pointer in the Sky\nBy Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor |\nNovember 12, 2014 10:38pm ET\nMORE\nMiguel Claro recently sent Space.com this cool image of the constellation Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, shining over the road to Roque de Los Muchachos on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. He used a Canon 60Da camera (ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 seconds) to capture the image.\nCredit: Miguel Claro | www.miguelclaro.com\nThe Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). One of the most familiar star shapes in the northern sky, it is a useful navigation tool.\nAsterisms are usually easy to find because the stars are close to one another and about the same brightness. In this case, the Big Dipper has eight stars in it. Seven are visible at a glance, while the eighth is a visible double star that is just detectable with the naked eye in an area with clear “seeing” and with good vision.\nThe stars making up the asterism are (from the end of the handle and around the bottom of the bowl) Alkaid, Mizar, Alcor, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak and Dubhe.\nMizar and Alcor (which is noticeably dimmer) are the double forming the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle. (The system actually contains at least six stars, but only two of them are visible to the naked eye.) According to Rick Raasch of the Texas Astronomical Society , Mizar was the first double star to be discovered through a telescope, in 1662; the first star to be photographed, in 1857; and the first star to be identified as a spectroscopic binary, in 1889.\nSky charting and history\nIn the United States and Canada, the handle of the Big Dipper is the Great Bear's tail, while the cup is the bear's flank. Some Native American legends say the bowl of the Big Dipper is a bear and the stars of the handle are three warriors chasing it.\nIn the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is called the Plough. That idea may have arisen from an old Nordic constellation that was believed to represent a wagon or chariot belonging to the chief god, Odin, said Tom Kerss, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.\nIn Danish, the constellation was called \"Karlsvogna,\" which means \"Charles' wagon\" in English. Some 19th-century texts refer to the Plough by that name, he said. In other cultures, the asterism is a ladle (China, Japan and Korea), a cleaver (northern England), a cart (Germany and Hungary), a saucepan (the Netherlands), a salmon net (Finland) and a coffin (Saudi Arabia). \nThe Big Dipper was an important part of the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Slaves escaping from the South were told to \"follow the Drinking Gourd\" to the North, according to the website The Constellations and Their Stars .\n“It's a useful navigation tool in the Northern Hemisphere,” Kerss told Space.com.\nThe Big Dipper serves as a pointer to other locations in the sky. A common expression in astronomy is “follow the Arc to Arcturus.\" The \"arc\" refers to the handle of the Big Dipper. Amateur astronomers seeking the bright red star Arcturus that anchors the constellation Boötes can find it by using the arc of the Dipper's handle to glide their eyes across the sky.\nAlso, the two stars on the outer edge of the bowl — if you use them and project the line “up” relative to the bottom of the Dipper — will point to Polaris, the North Star .\nLook high in the sky toward the northeast this time of year and you can't miss the Big Dipper. Making out the Big Bear (Ursa Major) could prove a little more challenging. This map shows them at around 8 p.m. from mid-northern latitudes this weekend.\nCredit: Starry Night software\nRecent Big Dipper news\nThe discovery of a companion star to Alcor didn't come until 2009, when astronomers using adaptive optics on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory saw an unfamiliar source of light next to the star. (Adaptive optics corrects the focus to adjust for changes in the atmosphere, allowing for a clearer picture.)\n“Right away I spotted a faint point of light next to the star,\" said Neil Zimmerman, a graduate student who was then working on his Ph.D. with the American Museum of Natural History in New York, in a previous Space.com story . \"No one had reported this object before, and it was very close to Alcor, so we realized it was probably an unknown companion star.\"",
"Big Dipper | Define Big Dipper at Dictionary.com\nBig Dipper definition, ... The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major ... big dipper; big ditch, the; big do; big dog; big doolie;\nBig Dipper | Define Big Dipper at Dictionary.com\nBig Dipper\nthe group of seven bright stars in Ursa Major resembling a dipper in outline.\nExpand\nExamples from the Web for Big Dipper\nExpand\nKent Knowles: Quahaug Joseph C. Lincoln\nShe deserves a fair shake and, by the Big Dipper, she's goin' to have it!\nCy Whittaker's Place Joseph C. Lincoln\nShe hoped her mother would get home before it began, and she wished the lighthouse star would gleam out on the Big Dipper.\nCy Whittaker's Place Joseph C. Lincoln\nThen water was taken from the large vessel and thrown over the stones with a Big Dipper.\nCy Whittaker's Place Joseph C. Lincoln\nBelow the handle of the Big Dipper, and off to one side was the north star.\nBritish Dictionary definitions for Big Dipper\nExpand\nnoun\n1.\n(in amusement parks) a narrow railway with open carriages that run swiftly over a route of sharp curves and steep inclines Also called roller coaster\nBig Dipper\nthe US and Canadian name for Plough\nCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition\n© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins\nPublishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012\nWord Origin and History for Big Dipper\nExpand\nn.\nAmerican English name for the seven-star asterism (known in England as the plough; see Charles's Wain ) in the constellation Ursa Major, first attested 1833 as simply the Dipper (sometimes Great Dipper, its companion constellation always being the Little Dipper). See dipper .\nOnline Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper",
"Learn the constellations | Astronomy.com\nAstronomy for Kids / Learn the constellations; ... The most prominent figure is the Big Dipper (Note: The Big Dipper is not a constellation).\nLearn the constellations | Astronomy.com\nLearn the constellations\nLearn the constellations\nConstellations can help you sort the twinkling dots scattered across the night sky. Connect the stars to see what deep-sky wonders emerge.\nBy Glenn Chaple | Published: Monday, March 10, 2008\nThe richness of the summer sky is exemplified by the splendor of the Milky Way. Stretching from the northern horizon in Perseus, through the cross-shaped constellation Cygnus overhead, and down to Sagittarius in the south, the Milky Way is packed with riches. These riches include star clusters, nebulae, double stars, and variable stars. Michel Hersen imaged the Milky Way from Stone Canyon, Utah, in June 2006. Equipment used: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT and Tamron 20-40mm wide-angle lens, ISO 1600, for a 90-second exposure\nMichel Hersen\nIf you're a newcomer to amateur astronomy, eager to begin exploring the night sky, you'll have to overcome one of astronomy's biggest hurdles — learning to identify the constellations. After all, you can't find the Andromeda Galaxy if you can't find Andromeda. Trying to make sense of those myriad stellar specks overhead might seem intimidating, but making friends with the stars needn't be a \"mission impossible.\"\nRemember your first day of school — entering that classroom and finding yourself confronted by a roomful of unfamiliar faces? Even on that first day, you probably made a few friends. Through them, and with your day-to-day exposure to the classroom, you gradually became acquainted with all of your classmates. Learning the constellations is like that. With a little help from your friends (easy-to-find guidepost constellations) and a willingness to \"show up for class\" on successive nights, you'll soon feel comfortable in your nighttime surroundings. So relax. It's time to go to school and meet some new friends!\nNorth circumpolar constellations\nWe begin in the northern sky, realm of those always-visible star groups known as the north circumpolar constellations. The most prominent figure is the Big Dipper (Note: The Big Dipper is not a constellation). These bright stars — four forming the \"bowl,\" three more tracing out the \"handle\" — create one of the most recognizable patterns in the night sky, an ideal guide for locating surrounding constellations.\nAs any good Boy or Girl Scout will attest, you can find Polaris, the North Star, by tracing a line between the stars Dubhe and Merak at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper and extending it about five times the distance between them. When astronomical newcomers see this celebrated star for the first time, they are astonished that it isn't much brighter than the stars in the Big Dipper. Polaris is the brightest star in Ursa Minor the Little Bear, which contains the Little Dipper. Like its big brother, the Little Dipper is made up of seven stars — four in the bowl, and three in the handle. Because four of its stars are dim, the Little Dipper is hard to see in light-polluted skies.\nIf you trace a line from the bowl of the Big Dipper past the North Star and continue it an equal distance beyond, you'll arrive at an eye-catching group of stars that form a distinct letter M or W. This is Cassiopeia, Queen of Ethiopia\nWinter\nTo see the constellations that come and go with the seasons, we need to turn our backs on the north circumpolar constellations and face south. If the winter sky seems alive with stars, it's no illusion. Besides the obvious facts that the air is clear and dry then, we're looking at a star-rich region that defines one of the spiral arms of our Milky Way Galaxy. Of the twenty-one brightest stars in the entire night sky (so-called 1st-magnitude stars), seven are in this area.\nThis map shows the winter sky at 2 a.m. on December 1; midnight on January 1; and 10 p.m. on February 1.\nAstronomy: Roen Kelly\nOn a winter evening, the sky is home to what most astronomers agree is the grandest of all constellations — Orion the Hunter. A rectangle of bright stars, which includes, at opposite corners, 1st-magnitude Betelgeuse and Rigel, is bisected by a diagonal row of three bright stars (the \"belt\"). Beneath the belt hangs a row of three stars — Orion's \"sword.\" Don't be fooled by their uninspiring naked-eye appearance; the middle star in the sword isn't a star at all.\nIt's the Orion Nebula — one of the grandest telescopic showpieces the night sky has to offer. In binoculars, it appears as a fuzzy patch of light. When you gaze at this wondrous glowing cloud, you view creation itself, for within this luminous glow, stars are being born.\nOrion is the focal point of a stunning gathering of bright stars and constellations. The belt points down and to the left to a brilliant white star: Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, leader of the constellation Canis Major the Great Dog. Sirius always dazzles, but the star especially captivates when positioned near the horizon. During winter, atmospheric refraction causes Sirius to sparkle in a rainbow of colors — a beautiful sight through binoculars or a small telescope.\nReturn to Orion's belt and continue up and to the right, and you arrive at a V-shaped group of stars called the Hyades. This is the \"head\" of Taurus the Bull. The reddish-orange 1st-magnitude star at the upper-left end of the V is Aldebaran — the eye of the Bull. Each end of the V extends outward to a star that forms one of the Bull's horns. Continuing past the Hyades, you'll see a little cluster of stars — one of the loveliest naked-eye sights in the night sky. This is the Seven Sisters, or Pleiades. Six are visible to the unaided eye under average sky conditions; binoculars reveal the seventh star, plus dozens more.\nThe uppermost horn of Taurus is part of a pentagon of stars that includes the bright golden-yellow star Capella. This pentagon is the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. Auriga lies above Orion and is overhead on a midwinter evening. The fact that these five stars represent a man on a chariot carrying a goat (Capella) attests to the vivid imagination of its ancient discoverers. Oh yes, that little triangle of stars beneath Capella represents the goat's three kids!\nOrion's heavenly court includes Gemini the Twins. From Orion, extend a line upward from Rigel through Betelgeuse to this neat rectangular constellation, which contains the bright stars Pollux and Castor. In 2005, Gemini will be more aptly called the \"Triplets,\" for Pollux and Castor will be joined by a third bright \"star\" — Saturn. Midway and slightly left of a line between Sirius and the stars Pollux and Castor is the 1st-magnitude star Procyon. Procyon forms an equilateral triangle with Betelgeuse and Sirius. It's about all you'll see of Canis Minor the Little Dog.\nWinter constellation audio tours",
"Ursa Major Constellation Facts For Kids | DK Find Out\n... its name is Latin for “great bear.” ... popularly known as the Big Dipper ... Get information about the Ursa Major constellation for kids.\nUrsa Major Constellation Facts For Kids | DK Find Out\nUrsa Major\nToggle text\nUrsa Major is the third-largest constellation in the sky. It was regarded by many ancient civilizations as a bear. In fact, its name is Latin for “great bear.” As the story goes, the beautiful Callisto was transformed into a bear by the goddess Artemis. Ursa Major’s seven brightest stars form a saucepan shape, popularly known as the Big Dipper (or Plow). This is one of the best-known features of the sky.",
"Autumn Sky Tour: Polar Constellations - RocketMime\nThe Big Dipper is a polar 'constellation' ... The two most important Polar Constellations to recognize are the Big ... Another interesting galactic ...\nAutumn Sky Tour: Polar Constellations\nThe Polar Constellations\nThe autumn sky is dominated by the Great Square of Pegasus, four stars that form a huge square in the sky, which you can see if you look almost straight up. See it? The stars are a bit faint, but it's distinctive because it's in a faint portion of the sky. The earth has swung around the sun to the southern face of our galaxy so we are now looking out of the disk of the galaxy towards its south pole. As a result, the region of the Great Square has few nearby bright stars. If you follow a straight line through the two stars on the right side of the square up over the top of the sky and back down, it takes you to the North Star.\nWe start our tour by turning our attention to the North. Anybody recognize anything? If you're looking for the Big Dipper, it's there, scraping along the northern horizon. You may only be able to see parts of it over the tops of the trees. {Trace out the Big Dipper}.\nIt's really not a constellation, it's what's called an 'asterism', a highly recognizable part of a constellation. The full constellation is Ursa Major, and is hopelessly lost beneath the horizon at this time of the year.\nThe Big Dipper is a polar 'constellation' -- one that is very close to the North Pole. If stars are close enough to the pole they never set below the horizon and we can see them all year long. Can anyone spot the Pole Star? How do you find it? That's right, the two stars at the front edge of the cup are pointer stars and point to the North Star, whose actual name is Polaris. Go up from the cup to find Polaris.\nSince the earth's north pole points to Polaris and the earth rotates around its poles, all the constellations seem to rotate around Polaris, including the Big Dipper. You can tell time using the Big Dipper -- it serves as a 24-hour clock.\nClick on the little clock here\nfor more information.\nPolaris is a part of the constellation Ursa Minor, more commonly known as the Little Dipper. Polaris is at the tip of the handle. {Trace out the Little Dipper.}\nThreading his way between the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper is Draco the Dragon. {Trace out Draco.} Draco starts off with two bright yellow eyes (actually one's yellow, one's orange), and then winds around the little dipper with its tail between the two dippers. This is a very cool-looking constellation, a rare one that looks like the monster it is supposed to be, glaring yellow eyes and all. The head of Draco forms a distinct asterism, known as \"The Lozenge\". Who's got the binoculars? Use them to find Draco's eyes, then go down to find the next star in the Lozenge closest to the eyes -- n (nu) Draconis. Notice anything? That's right, it's a double star, and a very neat one in binoculars, tight together and exactly equal in brightness.\nThe two most important Polar Constellations to recognize are the Big Dipper and the Big W, and the Big Dipper is so low this time of year that it is now even more important to recognize the Big W. The Big W is Cassiopeia - roughly on the opposite side of Polaris from the Big Dipper {Trace out Cassiopeia}. Well, it's upside down now so it looks more like a big \"M\". Cassiopeia is a Queen in her chair, and even though this isn't the \"official\" way to look at her, I envision Cassiopeia's head at the left side of the \"W\", making the figure like a lounge chair with a foot rest. This is how I learned it as a kid, and it's very useful because you can easily find the North Star by going \"Up from the Seat\" of Cassiopeia's chair, in similar manner to going \"Up from the Cup\" of the Big Dipper. Since the Big W is on the opposite side of the North Star, this gives you a way to find Polaris any time of the year, even now when the Dipper likes to hide below the tree line.\nCassiopeia got herself into a lot of trouble, leading to the story of Andromeda and Perseus and involving no less than six constellations in the sky, the most involved in any of the constellation legends. You'll hear more about that story in a moment.\nThe constellation Cassiopeia lies right smack in the middle of the Milky Way , and is filled with galactic clusters, also called open clusters. These are small groups of stars, maybe a hundred or so, that formed from the same (huge) cloud of gas and dust. They are very often young stars - blue ones which are large and very hot and don't last long.\nThere are several decent examples in Cassiopeia, like Messier object #52, or \"M52\", one of many \"M\" objects named after a catalog published in the late 1700's by the Frenchman Charles Messier. Messier was a comet hunter of great renown who published a catalog of fuzzy things that might be confused with comets. These ended up being some of the most interesting objects in the sky. When you find M52 you are looking at a \"young\"cluster of about 200 stars -- young means that it is only about 100 million years old. The cluster is 10 light years in diameter and 3000 light years away from us, which is why you need the binoculars to see it.\nAnother interesting galactic cluster is NGC 663 (NGC stands for New General Catalog -- published in 1888 it's not really that new). This cluster lies about half way between the two stars on the flattened side of the \"W\", e and d Cassiopeiae. As you sweep the binoculars between the two stars, you will notice that NGC 663 is merely the largest and brightest of several clusters in this region. That may be because it is the closest, at about 3000 light years. The others in that area are 6000 - 8000 light years away. How many clusters can you spot between these two stars? You might be able to see as many as five, with NGC 663 at the center and the other four marking the corners of a diamond around it.\nM52 - Note the little box of stars around the cluster\nNGC 663 - halfway down the left side of the \"W\"\nWhile you're scoping around for clusters with the binoculars, you notice anything unusual about the brightest stars of Cassiopeia? They're not all just points of white light, are they? Some are bright yellow, some are orange, almost red, and some are blue! There, the one at the center peak of the W (g Cassiopeiae), that one's blue, then if you go to the bright one down and to the right ( a Cassiopeiae), that one's orange, and the brightest star you see between those two (h Cassiopeiae), that one's yellow. So what do the star colors mean? Why would one star be blue and another red?\nYup, that's right. Different colors show different temperatures. So which star color is the hottest? Just like a flame, blue is the hottest part, yellow is next, red is the coolest. The sun is a yellow star, about 10,000�F at the surface. A red star is about half the sun's surface temperature, whereas a blue star is three to five times as hot as the sun. White stars are somewhere between the yellow ones and blue ones.\nNow, all stars are made of pretty much the same stuff -- about 90% hydrogen and the rest is helium with some traces of other stuff. So, why would one star be burning hotter than another? The answer is in the size of the star. The more massive it is, the more pressure there is at the center and therefore the hotter - and for that matter the brighter - the star burns. So blue stars are the biggest and brightest of stars, and red stars are the smallest and dimmest.\nSo why is red a Cassiopeiae so bright? Hmmm... yeah... well, like with most rules, there are exceptions to the rule, and this rule is no exception. a Cassiopeiae is a star that is literally running out of gas. As a star burns up all the hydrogen at its center, it starts to burn helium (which is the \"ash\" from the hydrogen burning), which makes it expand, get brighter, and turn red -- it becomes a red giant. This is the time you can get a bright red star, when the star is near the end of its life.\nWhen our sun starts burning out it will expand so big it will swallow up Mercury and Venus and scorch the surface of the earth to a cinder. If you are hoping to see all that happen you will have to wait about 5 billion years.\nSo there are two reasons a star could be red -- it is massive (and once was yellow, white or even blue) and is now burning out (a red giant), or it never had enough mass to burn any hotter than red (a red dwarf).\nNotice that when we graph out the stars showing their temperature (or color) against their brightness, most of them fall along a line -- this line is called the Main Sequence, and the graph is called the \"H-R\" (for Hertzsprung-Russell) Diagram. Others are not on the main sequence, mostly stars that are either just being born (called \"T-Tauri\" stars) or stars that are near the end of life.\nSo the Big Dipper points out the North Star, and the three stars of the handle are pointers as well, but the stars they point to, while important, are below the horizon right now. Wait a minute is that really three stars in the Dipper's handle or is it four? Looky there the middle star seems to have a companion -- the bright star is Mizar and the companion is Alcor. Who can see the companion?\nThat was used by ancient Greek and Arab armies as an eye test. Some see them as a horse & rider. The Europeans saw the handle of the dipper as the tail of the Great Bear. Since bears don't have tails they danced around it by explaining that when the gods lifted the bear to the sky the tail got stretched out. Pretty lame. The Indians, who knew darn right well that bears don't have tails, saw the three stars of the handle as hunters chasing the great bear (interesting that they also saw a bear). When the constellation Ursa Major sets in the fall, the Indians explained that the hunters catch up with him and shoot him with their arrows, which is why the leaves on the trees turn red. Anyway the three stars are hunters and one of them brought his dog, so Mizar is a hunter and Alcor is his dog. Or another story is that there are three hunters pursuing the bear and one brought a pot to cook the bear in (optimistic). So Mizar is a hunter and Alcor is his pot. Yet another story involves the Pleiades. This is a star cluster in the constellation Taurus (a winter constellation -- we may see them a little later tonight). It is called \"the Seven Sisters\" and those with very sharp eyes can see seven stars but most people can only see six. So the story is that Mizar is riding off with the Seventh Sister."
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The 'Sandman' character in north European folklore, popularized/originated by Hans Christian Andersen, is said to help children? | Sleep | [
"Sandman_(Marvel_Comics).txt\nSandman (Marvel Comics)\nSandman (William Baker a.k.a. Flint Marko) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A shapeshifter endowed through an accident with the ability to turn himself into sand, he began as a villain and later became an ally of Spider-Man. The character has been adapted into various other media incarnations of Spider-Man, including animated cartoons and the 2007 film Spider-Man 3, in which he is portrayed by Thomas Haden Church.\n\nIn 2009, Sandman was ranked as IGN's 72nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. \n\nPublication history\n\nThe Sandman first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (Sept. 1963), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko as an adversary of Spider-Man. The character returned in The Amazing Spider-Man #18 and #19, and was soon depicted in other comics, such as The Incredible Hulk and The Fantastic Four.\n\nThe Sandman served as the villain of the first issue of the Spider-Man spin-off series Marvel Team-Up (March 1972), which gave him a more morally ambiguous depiction. Writer Roy Thomas later commented, \"I've been pleased to see Sandman's gradual redemption, whose seeds perhaps I helped plant in that story. He just seemed to me like a character who might have that in him ...\" Subsequent stories stuck with the character's original depiction, but a decade later the more sympathetic portrayal of the Sandman returned, starting with Marvel Two-in-One #86 (April 1982), in which the Sandman is given co-star billing with his nemesis the Thing. The Sandman was later an ally of Spider-Man, as well as a member of the Avengers and Silver Sable's \"Wild Pack\" team of mercenaries.\n\nFictional character biography\n\nWilliam Baker was born in Queens, New York. When he was three years old, his father abandoned him and his mother. In these early years she took her son to Coney Island beach. He lost himself happily in sand sculptures, a craft he would use in secondary school under the encouragement of his teacher (and first crush), Miss Flint. \n\nIn preparatory school, a boy named Vic bullied Baker until he learned to fight using an opponents' motions against themselves, a technique he performed as if he \"slipped through their fingers like sand\". Vic and his buddies eventually befriended Baker. In high school, William played on his school's football team, using the sport to channel his anger. While playing football he adopted the nickname \"Flint\", after his former teacher.\n\nAfter Vic incurs a large gambling debt to a mobster, he begs Flint to fix a football game he bet on to pay off his debt. Flint does, but is kicked off the team after the coach discovers his involvement. The coach taunts Baker, telling him that he will accomplish nothing of importance in his life. Flint hits his ex-coach, resulting in his expulsion from school and the beginning of his life of crime.\n\nHis illegal activity increases in depth and scope, turning him into a violent, bitter man. Eventually he ends up in prison on Ryker's Island where he meets his father, Floyd Baker. He is friendly to his father but does not tell him who he is. He tells Floyd his nickname, Flint, and a false surname, Marko, inspired by his former coach's taunts about not \"making a mark\" on the world. He uses the alias Flint Marko from that point on. (He changed his name also to prevent his mother from discovering he's a criminal. ) After Floyd is released from prison, Marko escapes.\n\nMarko flees to a nuclear testing site on a beach near Savannah, Georgia where he comes into contact with sand that had been irradiated by an experimental reactor. His body and the radioactive sand bond, changing Marko's molecular structure into sand. Impressed, he calls himself the Sandman after his new powers.\n\nMarko clashes with Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the first time in Peter's high school. Spider-Man defeats Marko with a vacuum cleaner and hands it over to the police. The Sandman escapes by getting through his window after turning himself to sand, but is recaptured by the Human Torch after the Torch lures the Sandman to a building by disguising himself as Spider-Man, then activating the sprinkler systems. After this Marko resurfaces as a member of the Sinister Six, led by Doctor Octopus. He battles Spider-Man inside an airtight metal box, which is activated when Spider-Man touches a card saying where the Vulture is, but the Sandman is defeated due to Spider-Man having stronger lungs than him. \n\nAlongside the Enforcers, he captures the Human Torch but later succumbs to Spider-Man and the Human Torch. \n\nAfter Spider-Man defeats Flint numerous times, Flint diverts his attention to other super heroes. He teams with the Wizard, Paste Pot Pete and Medusa to form the Frightful Four to combat the Fantastic Four, which attacks during Reed and Sue's engagement party. The Fantastic Four, with the help of a few other super heroes, defeat the group. In another battle in which he loses against the Four, he dons a diamond-patterned green costume with a purple hat, designed by Wizard. Later he and Hulk duel for the first time. Mandarin joins him in his next conflict against the Hulk. \n\nIn time Sandman discovers—-starting with his hands—-that his body can transform into glass and back again. He contracts cancer and takes over a medical research center. He battles Wonder Man but is cured of cancer by radiation. Afterward, he allies himself with Hydro-Man to battle their mutual enemy, Spider-Man. An accident merges the two villains into a monster called Mud-Thing. Spider-Man and the police are able to dehydrate the monstrosity. Months later, the supervillains manage to separate themselves and go their separate ways.\n\nThe time trapped with Hydro-Man caused Marko to question his bad life choices. The Thing, after an aborted attempt to fight Baker, urges him to straighten himself out and use his ability to do good. The story continues when he meets with the Thing for a second time to see a sports game. \n\nMarko boards with the Cassadas and teams with Spider-Man against the Enforcers. Sandman then makes sporadic appearances in Spider-Man comics assisting his former enemy. His first appearance has him coming to the rescue of Spider-Man and Silver Sable, who are outnumbered and surrounded by the Sinister Syndicate. Silver Sable is impressed by Sandman's performance and recruits him as a freelance operative. Doctor Octopus coerces him to rejoin Sinister Six, but Marko turns against them. Doctor Octopus turns him into glass for his treason. Spider-Man, however, saved the Sandman. Sandman also appears as part of The Outlaws, a group of reformed Spider-Man enemies, such as Prowler, Rocket Racer, Puma and Will o' the Wisp, on occasion that would aid Spider-Man. \n\nLater he receives a presidential pardon and briefly joins the Avengers as a reserve member. Later, he becomes a full-time mercenary in the employ of Silver Sable, as a member of her Wild Pack, serving alongside heroes such as Paladin and Battlestar. Sandman is one of the few heroes temporarily overwhelmed by their evil doubles during the Infinity War. This double almost kills them all.\n\nIn The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2, #4, Marko turns against Spider-Man and his sometimes ally Thing and declared his allegiance to evil and his former employer, the villainous Wizard. This change proved incompatible to what many fans had thought Sandman had become, what he had reformed to, a hero. . This outcry caused Marvel to rush out a story, in Peter Parker: Spider-Man vol. 2, #12, which retconned The Amazing Spider-Man #4 in which the Wizard kidnapped Sandman and used his mind control machine, the Id Machine, to control him.\n\nThe machine worked too well and Sandman went about reforming the Sinister Six to destroy both Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, only to be double-crossed by Venom, who Sandman recruited as the sixth member of the team. During Venom's brawl against Sandman, the vicious black spider's mouth rips a chunk of sand from Sandman. That missing sand destabilizes Sandman, causing him to lose his ability to maintain his human form. Before falling into the sewer (and as a nod to fans who rejected Marvel's attempt to re-villainize the character), Sandman admitted that part of the reason for his fall from grace was the trouble he had to really cope with life on the good guys' side, and asks Spider-Man to tell his mother he's sorry he didn't fulfill his promise to her, to be a force for good. Sandman washes away and slides down a sewer, from which he mixes into Jones Beach, New York and is thought dead.\n\nSandman's body and mind are scattered throughout the beach. This separation lasts too long for him, causing his mind to split into good and its opposite, evil, which when dominant created sand vortexes to ensnare beach combers. Spider-Man arrived to confront Sandman, ultimately using Sandman's mental instability to free his captives and cause him to explode.\n\nHis sand wafts throughout New York and touches down into piles forming beings that personify him: the good, the bad, the gentle and the innocent. Spider-Man locates these sandmen to convinces them to unify. Sandman's evil persona merges with his innocent and gentle personas, but Sandman's good one rebuffs the evil one. Because Sandman's mind can handle his personality in separation for only a limited time, he loses his ability to retain himself, crumbling and blowing away, leaving Spider-Man to ponder the nature of his scuddled foe. \n\nSandman is one of the villains recruited to recover the Identity Disc, but during its recovery seemingly he is killed in a mutiny. At the series' end Sandman is found alive and working with Vulture to manipulate the other villains.\n\nIn the storyline \"Sandblasted\", in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17–19 (April–June 2007), Sandman asks Spider-Man to help him redeem his father, who has been charged with and imprisoned for murdering a homeless man. He admits his father was a petty criminal but insists he wouldn't commit murder. Baker also said the victim resembles Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, who had been murdered years before then. Sandman and Spider-Man find the killer, Chameleon 2211. Chameleon 2211 kills Uncle Ben who Hobgoblin 2211 brought from an alternate universe and had been posing as him after that. Thanks to Spider-Man, Floyd Baker is switched with Chameleon 2211 and saved, for which Sandman thanks Spider-Man.\n\nSandman returned in Spider-Man: The Gauntlet storyline, which redefined the character and his powers/mental state. While investigating a series of murders and a missing girl named Keemia, whose mother is a victim of those murders, Spider-Man traces the murders and the abduction to the Sandman, the girl's father, who is hiding on Governor's Island with Keemia. Sandman's powers have evolved to where he can create duplicates of himself who have their own personalities and to Marko's shock claim they committed the murders. \n\nSpider-Man sneaks away and uses a fan to obliterate the sandmen. Originally Spider-Man believed Keemia would be handed to her grandmother, but instead she was sent to a foster home by Child Protective Services. Carlie, one of Spider-Man's friends who had been under police suspicion for tampering with evidence from the murders committed by Sandman's duplicates, is exonerated, but Sandman is at large. \n\nDuring the Origin of the Species storyline, Sandman is among the supervillains invited by Doctor Octopus to join his villains' team where he becomes involved in a plot to receive a reward and securing some specific items for him. Sandman went after Spider-Man for Menace's infant, believing that Doctor Octopus would reward him by reuniting him with Keemia. He ended up being accidentally struck with lightning by Electro, temporarily turning him into fulgurite. Spider-Man goes on a rampage against all the villains after the Chameleon stole the infant and tricked him into believing it had died. At the dock, Sandman along with Shocker and the Enforcers are hiding, however Spider-Man collapses the floor of the building, which falls into the water. Sandman attempts to rise to attack, but Spider-Man shoots him using Shocker's vibrational air-blasts. \n\nIn Big Time, he is part of the new Sinister Six, along with Mysterio, Rhino, Doctor Octopus, Chameleon and Electro. He rises up against Doctor Octopus' plan to detonate New York, saying Keemia is still there. He is later angered when, during a confrontation between the Sinister Six and the Intelligencia, Doctor Octopus teleports the Wizard into the upper atmosphere using the Intelligencia's equipment (Sandman was talking with his former Frightful Four teammate and old friend at the time). When the Mad Thinker goes after Electro, Sandman violently attacks him, claiming that he did not want to lose any more friends. \n\nWhen Doctor Octopus puts his plan into action, Sandman is satisfied with the job because of the planned two billion dollar \"compensation fee\", which he reasons will help him gain custody of Keemia. However, although sent to guard a facility in the Sahara Desert giving him complete control of the largest body of sand in the world, he is defeated by Spider-Man, Black Widow and Silver Sable when Spider-Man identifies and isolates the one grain of sand that contains his conscious mind. Spider-Man and Silver Sable then violently interrogate Sandman to reveal all of Doctor Octopus' secrets to them. \n\nFollowing the Dying Wish storyline, Sandman's captive form is later stolen from the Baxter Building by the Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Spider-Man's body) where he takes him to his underwater lab. Sandman, Chameleon, Electro, Mysterion, and the Vulture are later seen as part of a team led by Superior Spider-Man called the \"Superior Six\". Superior Spider-Man has been temporarily controlling their minds in order to redeem them for their crimes. He does this by forcing them do heroic deeds against their will some of which almost get some of them killed. Every time he is done controlling them, he puts them back in their containment cells. They eventually break free of Superior Spider-Man's control and attempt to exact revenge on the wall-crawler, while nearly destroying New York in order to do so. With the help of Sun Girl, Superior Spider-Man is barely able to stop the Superior Six. \n\nInspired by the heroism of the villains who had their moralities inverted by the events of AXIS, Sandman rejoins one of his old gangs, and breaks into Ryker's Island in search of the group's leader, Dixon. Upon reaching Dixon's cell, Sandman turns on and incapacitates him and his followers, and leaves with Dixon's cellmate, a \"good egg\" who Sandman had deemed deserving of a second chance. \n\nDuring the Secret Wars storyline, Sandman is among the villains at Kingpin's viewing party of the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610. \n\nPowers and abilities\n\nSandman has the ability to transform his body. He can will his body hardened, compacted, dispersed or shaped, or a combination of those qualities, an Earth manipulation of sand and rock particles. More often than not in combat, this ability enables him to absorb most blows with little to no ill effect other than reforming himself, a relatively fast action. His striped shirt and cargo pants are colored sand to make him appear as if he wears clothes. Even when soaked, he was able to stretch his sand molecules, growing to double his size.\n\nSandman can mold his arms and hands into shapes such as a mace or a sledgehammer to battle Spider-Man and his other enemies. His mass, strength and shape shifting ability correspond to the number of sand and rock particles that comprise him. The more he incorporates (nearby) sand grains and rock granules into his body, the more those qualities are enhanced. Even though he controls every particle in his body, his mind exists in the astral plane. He can turn himself into a sandstorm, which enables him to fly great distances and to suffocate his enemies.\n\nHis body takes on sand's chemical qualities, impervious to many, but not all, elements. Once, cement's ingredients were mixed into Sandman. That mixture turned him into cement that dried, rendering him immobile. Despite this frailty, he remained alive but in a comalike state for a while before he returned to normal. In addition to his superb endurance, the Sandman possesses superhuman strength several times more than Spider-Man's, on par with the Thing's.\n\nIn a story with the Wizard, the Wizard fashioned Sandman a suit with a belt that contained chemicals to mix into the Sandman to enable him to change himself into consistencies related to sand. The suit's composition, as Sandman's usual \"clothes\", changed with him. Eventually Sandman stopped using the suit.\n\nTemperature does alter the Sandman. At 3,400 Fahrenheit his body turns into glass, also a form he can control. Unlike Sandman's fast transformation from sand to glass, his transformation from glass to sand takes time. \n\nAlthough he is invulnerable to most physical attacks, even projectiles because they pass through him, water is a different story to him. So, too, is a rare physical attack. In combat against Venom, the villain's powerful mouth ripped cleanly and swiftly into Sandman. The amount of sand removed abruptly, and perhaps because of Venom's poisons, left the mass of Sandman in contortion, crippled beyond immediate repair. Sandman began to disintegrate, then flowed down a drain, and then washed up onto and into a beach. \n\nIt has been revealed that, while Sandman can absorb and lose sand, his body must retain one key particle of sand that contains his conscious mind, allowing Spider-Man to defeat him by isolating that one grain from the rest of the Sandman (although the difficulty involved in setting up these events in the first place makes it impractical to use regularly).\n\nOther characters named Sandman\n\nThere had been some other characters in Marvel Comics that had been named \"Sandman\":\n* In Marvel Mystery Comics, the Sandman that appears is the Sandman of legend. He lives in the Land of Dreams which is located in the Realm of Fairies within the potentially imaginary world of Nowhere. Sandman ruled over the realm and would place a blanket over it every day. Those who grabbed a dream from the dream tree would have a dream based on whatever they grabbed from the tree and awaken again when the Sandman removed the blanket over his land. Anyone who didn't grab a dream will end up in an eternal dreamless sleep. \n* In Journey into Mystery, an alien Sandman crash-landed on Earth where he ended up in Mexico. The local tribespeople thought it was an evil spirit. They took him while he was still weak from his crash and sealed him in a cave with no air and light where he remained in a state of suspended animation. By the early 1960s, a vacationing Marine named Steve Bronson and his family accidentally unleashed the alien Sandman on the world. The alien Sandman regained its consciousness and recounted its past to the Bronson family and planned to conquer the Earth. Steve Bronson tried to oppose the alien Sandman, but it proved invulnerable to physical assault. The alien Sandman ordered the Bronsons to transport him to North America, so he could observe the most powerful nation on the planet before putting his plan into action. Steve Bronson was able to alert the military to the alien Sandman's presence, but they also proved ineffective in dealing with the extraterrestrial threat. Bullets went right through him, gas was ineffectual because he does not breathe and while bombs would scatter his pieces, he proved capable of reforming himself afterwards. The alien Sandman planned to increase its size by absorbing every sand on the beaches until nothing can stop him. Steve Bronson's son Bobby heard about the plan and headed to the beach with a plan of his own. Bobby threw a pile of water over the sand which made the alien Sandman soggy to the point where he couldn't move. The military quickly transported the alien Sandman's body to a top-secret underground facility where he has remained ever since. \n* There was an android called Sandman who was created by Puppet Master and Mad Thinker to fight the Fantastic Four.\n\nOther versions\n\n1602\n\nMarvel 1602: Fantastick Four, a sequel to Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 written by Peter David, features the 1602 version of the Marvel Sandman. While he physically resembles Flint Marko, he has the pale skin and glowing eyes of Gaiman's Morpheus. He also alludes to an ability to summon nightmares. In the fourth issue he is able to send Ben Grimm to sleep by blowing a vapor or dust at him. Both the Sandman and Trapster are crushed by falling debris when Bensaylum collapses. \n\nAmazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows\n\nDuring the Secret Wars storyline, Sandman allied himself with the rebel forces at S.H.I.E.L.D. following Regent conquering the world where part of it became the Battleworld domain of The Regency. When Spider-Man exposes himself and is attacked by the Sinister Six, Sandman appears and tries to convince Spider-Man to follow him, but Spider-Man doesn't listen and assume Sandman's part of the Six. They are captured by Regent and he reads Sandman's mind to find out S.H.I.E.L.D's location. One of Spot's portals was sewn into Sandman, and as a last resort, he sacrifices himself to allow the rebels to break in using the portal in order to stop Regent and rescue Spider-Man. \n\nHouse of M: Masters of Evil\n\nSandman appears as a member of Hood's Masters of Evil. He was killed by both Rogue and Marrow during the riot at Santo Rico. \n\nJLA/Avengers\n\nSandman appears in the last issue among the Avengers fighting through Krona's stronghold, in a panel where he defeats Scorpion. \n\nMarvel Noir\n\nIn the Marvel Noir universe, Sandman exists, and exhibits slightly different powers to the mainstream Universe. Whilst he cannot externally change into sand, he can alter his internal physiology, and, as Spider-Man noted, his skin can feel like granite. He is an enforcer for the Crime Master. \n\nMarvel Zombies\n\nIn Marvel Zombies: Dead Days, the Sandman, having become a zombie, appears to attack Wolverine and Magneto alongside several other Spider-Man villains during an attempt to evacuate innocent civilians into a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. The six villains are repelled. It is shown in Marvel Zombies Return#1 that the zombie Spider-Man is responsible for infecting this universe's Flint Marko.\n\nMarvel Zombies Return\n\nA version of Sandman similar to a past version of 616 counterpart appears as part of a version of the Sinister Six. After Zombie Spider-Man teleports into this reality, the Kingpin sends the six to fight \"Spider-Man\". The other five members are violently killed by the zombie Spider-Man and Sandman flees, later encountering and killing his own reality's Spider-Man out of fear by forcing his own sand body mass down Spider-Man's throat and causing his stomach to bloat to massive proportions before violently exploding out of his chest. He is also disappointed by the seeming betrayal of his enemy, thinking that if Spider-Man is now willing to kill, then Sandman will also kill. Decades later, Sandman is infused with a nanite cure developed by Tony Stark and the Zombie Spider-Man that incorporates Wolverine's healing factor, which allows him to safely confront the Zombies. Working with a few allies that oppose the murderous zombies, the Sandman springs his trap. All zombies fall, destroyed from within. Upon his final death, Zombie Spider-Man thanks Sandman for avenging Aunt May and Mary Jane, to which Sandman replies, \"Good riddance, ya disgusting freak.\" He is later congratulated by Uatu the Watcher for his great help. \n\nMini-Marvels\n\nSandman makes a cameo in Mini-Marvels when he attacks Spider-Man and the Team Poder while they were playing in a sandbox. He is defeated and turned into a sand castle.\n\nSpider-Ham\n\nIn Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #12 Sandman appears as a manatee called Sandmanatee. He later joined the Sinister Swine and was turned to glass.\n\nSpider-Man: Reign\n\nIn Spider-Man: Reign Sandman is a part of an elderly Sinister Six which is under the control of the tyrannical power structure running New York. During the showdown between rebellious citizens at the Mayor's tower, the Sandman encounters his super-powered daughter, Susie but loses her due to wounds inflicted by the police. As such he abandons the Six and assists Spider-Man in defeating the tyrants. \n\nUltimate Marvel\n\nIn the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Flint Marko is a genetic mutation by industrialist Justin Hammer who attempts to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. Shortly after Doctor Octopus kills Hammer, S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrates Hammer's factory to obtain experiments Hammer had been working on. Marko uses this opportunity to escape and wreak havoc in New Jersey. S.H.I.E.L.D., with the help of Spider-Man, contains him and imprisons him in a S.H.I.E.L.D holding facility.\n\nThere, he meets fellow genetically altered criminals Norman Osborn (Green Goblin), Dr. Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus), Max Dillon (Electro) and Kraven the Hunter. Under the Green Goblin's and Doctor Octopus's leadership, they break free and capture Spider-Man. They tie him to a chair, unmask, and humiliate Peter for being a child and for Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius's involvement in his creation. Osborn then blackmails Peter into joining the team, forming the Ultimate Six. Marko participates with the group in an attack on the White House. However, Iron Man stops them. After the battle, S.H.I.E.L.D. seals Marko in various jars and keeps them frozen. \n\nArtist Mark Bagley, who drew the first 100+ issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, noted in his rough designs for Ultimate Sandman that he would appear \"Naked\" most of the time. As he wanted to go with the more 'realistic' feel of the Ultimate imprint, he doubted whether Flint Marko's clothing had unstable molecules like his body.\n\nAlongside the rest of the Ultimate Six, Sandman plays a role in the \"Death of Spider-Man\" storyline. Norman Osborn breaks him and the rest out of the Triskelion, and after their escape, informs them that God wishes for them to kill Peter Parker. When Electro is shot by Aunt May, an electric surge knocks out Kraven, Sandman, and Vulture. \n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\n* Sandman appears in the 1960s Spider-Man episode \"The Sands of Crime\", voiced by Tom Harvey. In the episode, he steals the Goliath Diamond and orders a $1 million ransom, and since Spider-Man gets framed for the robbery for being seen at the museum, he must defeat Sandman so that he can clear his name. Spider-Man finally defeats Sandman by dousing him with water at a quarry.\n* Sandman appears in the 1970s Fantastic Four episode \"The Frightful Four\". This version is shown in the costume that was designed by Wizard. He appears as part of the titular Frightful Four.\n* Sandman appears in the 1981 Spider-Man episode \"The Sandman is Coming,\" voiced by Neil Ross. He steals the recently obtained soil samples from Mars to increase his power. Spider-Man manages to defeat Sandman with cement and extract the soil samples from Sandman's petrified body.\n* Sandman appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode \"Spider-Man: Unmasked!\" voiced by Christopher Collins. Here, the Sandman, having recently escaped from prison, secretly discovers that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are the same person, and—upon confronting Parker—threatens to reveal his true identity to Aunt May and the Daily Bugle, hoping to intimidate him into not interfering with a planned large-scale robbery at a fundraising dinner. In the end, Parker, Iceman, Firestar—and some unwitting help from Flash Thompson—are able to foil Sandman's plans by using cement on him.\n* Sandman was the only major Spider-Man villain not to appear in Spider-Man: The Animated Series because the series did not want to interfere with the continuity of James Cameron's proposed Spider-Man movie, in which the Sandman and Electro were supposed to be the villains. Although Electro was belatedly introduced into the series when Cameron's film fell through, Sandman remained unseen (although Hydro-Man fulfilled many similar roles, and it has been stated that he was indeed essentially used as a replacement for Sandman ). Also because of Cameron's film, Sandman did not appear in the 1990s Fantastic Four cartoon, most notably the episodes featuring the Frightful Four.\n* Sandman appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by John DiMaggio. First appearing in \"Survival of the Fittest\", Marko is a petty crook working for Big Man and consistently is caught with his cohort Alex O'Hirn by Spider-Man. In the episode \"Competition\", Big Man uses Marko as a guinea pig in Oscorp's underground experiments meant to give Marko a super silicon armor, but the experiment goes awry and transforms him into the Sandman. Soon afterward Flint is offered revenge against Spider-Man. He refuses, saying he wants only a \"big score\". He severs his alliance with Hammerhead and becomes an independent criminal, the Sandman. Hammerhead still says that he will live up to his end of the bargain because his actions will inadvertently draw Spider-Man's attention. Spider-Man attacks him when he robs a bank, but he defeats the hero and escapes into a drain whose grill, however, obstructs him from taking his loot, forcing him to leave it behind. Spider-Man captures him in their next fight despite that Sandman appears to have the upper hand, when Spider-Man drops a large pile of wet Quick Drying Cement, which hardens and encases him before he has the chance to escape. In the episode \"Group Therapy\", where he alongside Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Shocker and Vulture are busted out of jail by Electro and form the Sinister Six. Sandman rekindles his partnership with Alex O'Hirn, Rhino. He, along with the rest of the Six, is defeated by a symbiote-controlled Spider-Man. In the episode \"Reinforcement\", Sandman joins the new Sinister Six, Consisting of Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Rhino, Mysterio and Vulture at Christmas Eve, but is again defeated this time by being first convert to mud then being frozen. In the episode \"First Steps\", Sandman becomes more powerful during his time in prison he learned he could absorb extra sand into his body absorbing the combined sand from a beach and the bottom of the harbor becoming a massive giant, and helps Hammerhead take down an oil tanker to make the \"big score\" he always dreamed of. However, when the ship is about to explode, Sandman helps Spider-Man rescues the crew and as a giant, wraps himself around the exploding ship to protect civilians being crystallized in the explosion. Spider-Man believes he died, only for Sandman to appear alive after the hero leaves.\n* Sandman appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode \"Snow Day\", voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Spider-Man and his team encounter Sandman on an island that Nova finds to use as a vacation spot. Sandman first appears to them in the form of a young boy named Sandy (voiced by Tara Strong) who wants to play with Spider-Man's team. Spider-Man's team finds Sandy's \"brother\" Flint who claims that Sandy always playing in the ruins (which suddenly forms). When Spider-Man's team goes on a tactical retreat, Sandy turns into sand and moves the S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet to the top of the ruins daring them to come get it. Spider-Man and his team end up attacked by Sandy and Flint who then forms a sand labyrinth for them to maneuver around. Power Man finds hieroglyphics where it said that Sandman escaped from prison and was caught in an explosion that gave him his powers. The hieroglyphics state that Nick Fury dropped Sandman on the island. Flint and Sandy combine into one Sandman which Spider-Man and his team fights. Spider-Man fights Sandman while the others try to get to the Quinjet. Nova lifts the Quinjet as Spider-Man's team flies away until they are intercepted by Nick Fury's agents. Nick Fury finds out that Spider-Man's team went to the island that Sandman was on and wants them at the Helicarrier for a full scrub-down. Nick Fury mentioned that they dropped Sandman on an island because no prison could successfully contain him. It is then shown that Sandman had stowed away in Spider-Man's outfit as he forms in the Quinjet and freezes the controls. Upon landing in the frozen Hudson River, Spider-Man and his team had to stop Sandman before he reaches land. Iron Fist cracks the ice and Spider-Man tells Nova to heat Sandman's body enough to turn him to glass. Sandman was then placed in a special containment unit (which resembles an hourglass that is always moving) that would keep him from reassembling. Spider-Man notes that Sandman's isolation on the island likely affected his sanity, which Fury admits is true; he should not have left Sandman alone, referring it to the equivalent of \"sweeping it under the rug\". In the episode \"Sandman Returns\", Awesome Android accidentally frees Sandman who ends up stopping Awesome Android and putting out the fire Awesome Android caused. Sandman stated to Spider-Man that he just wanted to help. Nick Fury mentioned that he S.H.I.E.L.D. has been working to rehabilitate Sandman and hoping to make him a hero. Spider-Man has Nick Fury let him train him to be a hero. Sandman is outfitted into a special containment suit (which resembles the suit that Wizard made him in the comics) that limits his power by Walter and Amanda Cage. While S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents observe Spider-Man's program, Spider-Man takes Sandman to battle Swarm where Sandman's containment suit is targeted by Swarm. Spider-Man is forced to get the containment suit off of Sandman who then pummels Swarm into submission. Sandman is brought into control and apologizes for his actions. With advice from Iron Fist, Spider-Man trains Sandman (whose containment suit has been replaced) into being a man first and a Sandman second. When Batroc the Leaper is in the middle of a robbery, Sandman springs into action where he attacks Batroc the Leaper. When Batroc the Leaper throws a garbage at Sandman, he ends up attacking Batroc the Leaper as J. Jonah Jameson makes a bad comment towards Sandman. Sandman loses control of his emotions and breaks out of his suit where he attacks Spider-Man with a sandstorm attack. Nick Fury sends the rest of Spider-Man's team to help Spider-Man stop Sandman. Spider-Man denies Nova's plan to turn Sandman into glass again as Spider-Man has a different plan. Spider-Man then tries to reason with Sandman until Nova arrives and Spider-Man throws Awesome Android into Sandman's mouth where he absorbs Sandman. When S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents arrive with a new containment suit, Sandman is shot into the containment suit and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. In the episode \"Contest of Champions\" Pt. 2, the Grandmaster uses Sandman's monstrous form against Spider-Man in a game of \"Capture the Flag.\" Spider-Man tries to reason with Sandman that he is not a villain to which Sandman stated that SHIELD has always keeping him locked up. The Collector places Captain America, Red Hulk, and Iron Fist into the game. With an idea from Spider-Man, Red Hulk was able to heat himself up enough to turn Sandman into glass removing him from the game. In the episode \"Beached,\" Spider-Man and Iron Spider's pursuit of Vulture takes them to a nearby island where it was discovered that Doctor Octopus has captured Sandman and cloned him from his sand samples in order to find the \"Ultimate Sandman\" that would join his Sinister Six. When Iron Spider stumbles onto Doctor Octopus' lab, he ends up imprisoned by Doctor Octopus as one of Sandman's clones wears the Iron Spider armor. As Amadeus Cho and Sandman work to get free, Spider-Man fights Doctor Octopus, his Octobots, and the Sandman Clones. Upon Iron Spider uses an electronical disruption to deactivate Doctor Octopus' remote, the Sandman Clones are rendered inert as Sandman reabsorbs them. After Doctor Octopus gets away, Spider-Man and Iron Spider allow Sandman to assume his sand form in an area near the Triskelion telling him that he will be given a chance to join the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy whenever he is ready. In the episode \"The New Sinister 6\" Pt. 2, Spider-Man awakens Sandman to fight Hydro-Man while he went after Doctor Octopus. Both Sandman and Hydro-Man were easily matched. After the destruction of Octopus Island, Sandman caught the escape pod that Spider-Man and Aunt May were in and then proceeded to defeat Hydro-Man. In the episode \"Agent Web,\" Sandman was seen at the Triskelion taking part in the beach activities with the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy cadets.\n\nFilm\n\n* Thomas Haden Church played Sandman in the 2007 feature film Spider-Man 3. In the film, Sandman's origins are similar to the comics except for his connection to Spider-Man's origin. Flint Marko steals to pay for medical treatment for his critically ill daughter, Penny. While on the run from the police after escaping from prison, he accidentally falls into an experimental particle accelerator that molecularly binds him with sand, giving him shapeshifting sand abilities and transforming him into the Sandman. A major focus of the plot involves Marko's connection to the murder of Ben Parker (Cliff Robertson), Spider-Man's uncle, in the first film. Sandman is later spotted by police officers walking down the streets of Manhattan. Sandman gets on top of a dump truck filled with huge amounts of sand. At the police station, police captain George Stacy (James Cromwell) discovers evidence Marko is Ben Parker's killer. He tells Peter and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) that the carjacker Dennis Carradine (whom Peter confronted five years earlier) was Marko's accomplice. A vengeful Spider-Man, wearing the black suit that would eventually become Venom, attacked and seemingly killed Marko but he survived and later joined forces with Venom to eliminate Spider-Man. He is ultimately defeated by Harry Osborn, and upon learning Spider-Man's true identity after witnessing the destruction of Venom, he talks with Peter at the conclusion of the film, revealing the truth about Uncle Ben's death. Flint only wanted the car from Ben, who complied and calmly talked to Flint about why he was doing what he was. Flint began to reconsider his choices, when Carradine arrived and startled Flint, causing him to accidentally fire his gun, killing Ben. Flint was shocked and regretful, and remained behind while Carradine drove away in Ben's car before getting in a run with the police. Flint stated this because he wanted Peter to understand and that his love for his daughter Penny is the only thing he has left for himself. Understanding the importance of forgiveness over vengeance, Peter forgives him. Flint, having accepted Peter's forgiveness, turns into sand and peacefully blows away.\n\nVideo games\n\n* Sandman appears in the Spider-Man Questprobe game.\n* Sandman is a boss character in the game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin. He rises from a sandbox and must be dissipated by striking him with water.\n* Sandman is the second boss in Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six for the NES.\n* Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six.\n* Sandman appeared in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, voiced by Daran Norris. He attempts to prevent Spider-Man from leaping on the Beetle's train, but is defeated. Later, he chases Spider-Man all over a construction site, and the hero must turn industrial hoses on him to disrupt his integrity.\n* In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, it is shown that Ultimate Beetle has stolen one of the vials containing Flint Marko. The ramifications have yet to be seen. Concept art for the special edition of the game shows Beetle giving the vial to Doctor Doom.\n* Sandman appears in the video game adaptation of Spider-Man 3, voiced by Thomas Haden Church.\n* Sandman appears in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, voiced by Fred Tatasciore. He appears as both a boss and a playable character. In the opening cinematics, Sandman alongside Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, and Venom are abducted by the P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s and end up under the control of Mysterio. Sandman causes a sandstorm in Cairo, Egypt and engages Spider-Man in battle at the Excavation Site. After being freed from the Control Amulet, Sandman joins Spider-Man on his quest.\n* Sandman appeared in the game Spider-Man: The Battle Within as the second boss. He was one of the two battles fought with the black suit.\n* Sandman appears in the PlayStation 2 and PSP versions of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. He appears as an assist character who attacks enemies with his sand attack. In the other versions, Sandman and the film series are mentioned in the first fight between Spider-Man and the glider-bound enemies when Spider-Man states, \"That whole Goblin thing is so six years ago. The kids are into the Sandman, and the Venom, get it?\"\n* Sandman appears as a boss for the second amazing segment in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. He is voiced by Dimitri Diatchenko. In the game, Sandman obtains a fragment of the Tablet of Order and Chaos, and augments his powers to the point where he can control any sand simply by looking at it. Spider-Man fights him in an abandoned sand quarry owned by Roxxon Industries. He has the power to create Sand Golems, form weapons out of sand, and create destructive sandstorms. Ultimately, he spreads his mind so far and so thin that it begins to fracture and his only weakness is water, which solidifies him and his Sand Golems long enough to attack him for a short time. Spider-Man manages to defeat Sandman and claim the tablet fragment. During the credits, Sandman is shown trapped in an hourglass as Spider-Man swings by in the distance.\n* Sandman is featured as a boss in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance. He has subsequently been released as an unlockable character.\n* Sandman appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.\n* Different versions of Sandman appear in Spider-Man Unlimited, voiced by Travis Willingham.",
"Ghost.txt\nGhost\nIn folklore and mythology, a ghost (sometimes known as a spectre British English, specter American English, phantom, apparition, spirit, spook, or haunt) is the soul or spirit of a dead human or animal that can appear to the living. Descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.\n\nThe belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of phantom armies, trains, ships, and even the ghosts of animals have also been recounted. \n\nTerminology\n\nThe English word ghost continues Old English gást, from a hypothetical Common Germanic *gaistaz. It is common to West Germanic, but lacking in North Germanic and East Germanic (the equivalent word in Gothic is ahma, Old Norse has andi m., önd f.). The pre-Germanic form was ', apparently from a root denoting \"fury, anger\" reflected in Old Norse geisa \"to rage\". The Germanic word is recorded as masculine only, but likely continues a neuter s-stem. The original meaning of the Germanic word would thus have been an animating principle of the mind, in particular capable of excitation and fury (compare óðr). In Germanic paganism, \"Germanic Mercury\", and the later Odin, was at the same time the conductor of the dead and the \"lord of fury\" leading the Wild Hunt.\n\nBesides denoting the human spirit or soul, both of the living and the deceased, the Old English word is used as a synonym of Latin spiritus also in the meaning of \"breath\" or \"blast\" from the earliest attestations (9th century). It could also denote any good or evil spirit, i.e. angels and demons; the Anglo-Saxon gospel refers to the demonic possession of Matthew 12:43 as se unclæna gast. Also from the Old English period, the word could denote the spirit of God, viz. the \"Holy Ghost\".\n\nThe now-prevailing sense of \"the soul of a deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form\" only emerges in Middle English (14th century). The modern noun does, however, retain a wider field of application, extending on one hand to \"soul\", \"spirit\", \"vital principle\", \"mind\", or \"psyche\", the seat of feeling, thought, and moral judgement; on the other hand used figuratively of any shadowy outline, or fuzzy or unsubstantial image; in optics, photography, and cinematography especially, a flare, secondary image, or spurious signal. \n\nThe synonym spook is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low German spôk (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via the United States in the 19th century. Alternative words in modern usage include spectre (from Latin spectrum), the Scottish wraith (of obscure origin), phantom (via French ultimately from Greek phantasma, compare fantasy) and apparition. The term shade in classical mythology translates Greek σκιά, or Latin umbra, in reference to the notion of spirits in the Greek underworld. \"Haint\" is a synonym for ghost used in regional English of the southern United States, and the \"haint tale\" is a common feature of southern oral and literary tradition. The term poltergeist is a German word, literally a \"noisy ghost\", for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects. \n\nWraith is a Scots word for \"ghost\", \"spectre\" or \"apparition\". It came to be used in Scottish Romanticist literature, and acquired the more general or figurative sense of \"portent\" or \"omen\". In 18th- to 19th-century Scottish literature, it was also applied to aquatic spirits. The word has no commonly accepted etymology; the OED notes \"of obscure origin\" only. An association with the verb writhe was the etymology favored by J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien's use of the word in the naming of the creatures known as the Ringwraiths has influenced later usage in fantasy literature. Bogey or bogy/bogie is a term for a ghost, and appears in Scottish poet John Mayne's Hallowe'en in 1780. \n\nA revenant is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated (\"undead\") corpse. Also related is the concept of a fetch, the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.\n\nTypology\n\nAnthropological context\n\nA notion of the transcendent, supernatural, or numinous, usually involving entities like ghosts, demons, or deities, is a cultural universal. In pre-literate folk religions, these beliefs are often summarized under animism and ancestor worship. Some people believe the ghost or spirit never leaves Earth until there is no-one left to remember the one who died. \n\nIn many cultures malignant, restless ghosts are distinguished from the more benign spirits involved in ancestor worship. \n\nAncestor worship typically involves rites intended to prevent revenants, vengeful spirits of the dead, imagined as starving and envious of the living. Strategies for preventing revenants may either include sacrifice, i.e., giving the dead food and drink to pacify them, or magical banishment of the deceased to force them not to return. Ritual feeding of the dead is performed in traditions like the Chinese Ghost Festival or the Western All Souls' Day. Magical banishment of the dead is present in many of the world's burial customs. The bodies found in many tumuli (kurgan) had been ritually bound before burial, and the custom of binding the dead persists, for example, in rural Anatolia. \n\nNineteenth-century anthropologist James Frazer stated in his classic work, The Golden Bough, that souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body. \n\nGhosts and the afterlife\n\nAlthough the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it appears to have been widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to clothing the person wore. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress.\n\nFear of ghosts\n\nWhile deceased ancestors are universally regarded as venerable, and often believed to have a continued presence in some form of afterlife, the spirit of a deceased person which remains present in the material world (viz. a ghost) is regarded as an unnatural or undesirable state of affairs and the idea of ghosts or revenants is associated with a reaction of fear. This is universally the case in pre-modern folk cultures, but fear of ghosts also remains an integral aspect of the modern ghost story, Gothic horror, and other horror fiction dealing with the supernatural.\n\nCommon attributes\n\nAnother widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists link this idea to early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person (the person's spirit), most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist. This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of \"breath\" in certain languages, such as the Latin spiritus and the Greek pneuma, which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as synthesising Adam, as a living soul, from the dust of the Earth and the breath of God.\n\nIn many traditional accounts, ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance (vengeful ghosts), or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death. Seeing one's own ghostly double or \"fetch\" is a related omen of death. \n\nWhite ladies were reported to appear in many rural areas, and supposed to have died tragically or suffered trauma in life. White Lady legends are found around the world. Common to many of them is the theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband or fiancé. They are often associated with an individual family line or regarded as a harbinger of death similar to a banshee.\n\nLegends of ghost ships have existed since the 18th century; most notable of these is the Flying Dutchman. This theme has been used in literature in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge.\n\nCultural\n\nThe idea of ghosts can also be considered a tradition for certain cultures. Many believe in the spirit world and often try to stay in contact with their loved ones.\n\nLocale\n\nA place where ghosts are reported is described as haunted, and often seen as being inhabited by spirits of deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property. Supernatural activity inside homes is said to be mainly associated with violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide — sometimes in the recent or ancient past. But not all hauntings are at a place of a violent death, or even on violent grounds. Many cultures and religions believe the essence of a being, such as the 'soul', continues to exist. Some religious views argue that the 'spirits' of those who have died have not 'passed over' and are trapped inside the property where their memories and energy are strong.\n\nHistory\n\nAncient Near East and Egypt\n\nThere are many references to ghosts in Mesopotamian religions – the religions of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, and other early states in Mesopotamia. Traces of these beliefs survive in the later Abrahamic religions that came to dominate the region. \nGhosts were thought to be created at time of death, taking on the memory and personality of the dead person. They traveled to the netherworld, where they were assigned a position, and led an existence similar in some ways to that of the living.\nRelatives of the dead were expected to make offerings of food and drink to the dead to ease their conditions. If they did not, the ghosts could inflict misfortune and illness on the living. Traditional healing practices ascribed a variety of illnesses to the action of ghosts, while others were caused by gods or demons.\n\nThe Hebrew Bible contains few references to ghosts, associating spiritism with forbidden occult activities cf. Deuteronomy 18:11. The most notable reference is in the First Book of Samuel (I Samuel 28:3–19 KJV), in which a disguised King Saul has the Witch of Endor summon the spirit or ghost of Samuel.\n\nThere was widespread belief in ghosts in ancient Egyptian culture in the sense of the continued existence of the soul and spirit after death, with the ability to assist or harm the living, and the possibility of a second death. Over a period of more than 2,500 years, Egyptian beliefs about the nature of the afterlife evolved constantly. Many of these beliefs were recorded in inscriptions, papyrus scrolls and tomb paintings. The Egyptian Book of the Dead compiles some of the beliefs from different periods of ancient Egyptian history. \nIn modern times, the fanciful concept of a mummy coming back to life and wreaking vengeance when disturbed has spawned a whole genre of horror stories and films. \n\nClassical Antiquity\n\nArchaic and Classical Greece\n\nGhosts appeared in Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, in which they were described as vanishing \"as a vapor, gibbering and whining into the earth\". Homer's ghosts had little interaction with the world of the living. Periodically they were called upon to provide advice or prophecy, but they do not appear to be particularly feared. Ghosts in the classical world often appeared in the form of vapor or smoke, but at other times they were described as being substantial, appearing as they had been at the time of death, complete with the wounds that killed them. \n\nBy the 5th century BC, classical Greek ghosts had become haunting, frightening creatures who could work to either good or evil purposes. The spirit of the dead was believed to hover near the resting place of the corpse, and cemeteries were places the living avoided. The dead were to be ritually mourned through public ceremony, sacrifice, and libations, or else they might return to haunt their families. The ancient Greeks held annual feasts to honor and placate the spirits of the dead, to which the family ghosts were invited, and after which they were \"firmly invited to leave until the same time next year\". \n\nThe 5th-century BC play Oresteia contains one of the first ghosts to appear in a work of fiction.\n\nRoman Empire and Late Antiquity\n\nThe ancient Romans believed a ghost could be used to exact revenge on an enemy by scratching a curse on a piece of lead or pottery and placing it into a grave. \n\nPlutarch, in the 1st century AD, described the haunting of the baths at Chaeronea by the ghost of a murdered man. The ghost's loud and frightful groans caused the people of the town to seal up the doors of the building. Another celebrated account of a haunted house from the ancient classical world is given by Pliny the Younger (c. 50 AD). Pliny describes the haunting of a house in Athens of the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus, who lived about 100 years before Pliny. Athenodorus was working late at night when he was disturbed by a ghost bound in chains. He followed the ghost outside where it indicated a spot on the ground. When Athenodorus later excavated the area, a shackled skeleton was unearthed. The haunting ceased when this was given a proper reburial. The writers Plautus and Lucian also wrote stories about haunted houses.\n\nIn the New Testament, Jesus has to persuade the Disciples that He is not a ghost following the resurrection, Luke 24:37–39 (some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term \"spirit\"). Similarly, Jesus' followers at first believe Him to be a ghost (spirit) when they see Him walking on water.\n\nOne of the first persons to express disbelief in ghosts was Lucian of Samosata in the 2nd century AD. In his tale \"The Doubter\" (circa 150 AD), he relates how Democritus \"the learned man from Abdera in Thrace\" lived in a tomb outside the city gates to prove that cemeteries were not haunted by the spirits of the departed. Lucian relates how he persisted in his disbelief despite practical jokes perpetrated by \"some young men of Abdera\" who dressed up in black robes with skull masks to frighten him. This account by Lucian notes something about the popular classical expectation of how a ghost should look.\n\nIn the 5th century AD, the Christian priest Constantius of Lyon recorded an instance of the recurring theme of the improperly buried dead who come back to haunt the living, and who can only cease their haunting when their bones have been discovered and properly reburied. \n\nMiddle Ages\n\nGhosts reported in medieval Europe tended to fall into two categories: the souls of the dead, or demons. The souls of the dead returned for a specific purpose. Demonic ghosts were those which existed only to torment or tempt the living. The living could tell them apart by demanding their purpose in the name of Jesus Christ. The soul of a dead person would divulge their mission, while a demonic ghost would be banished at the sound of the Holy Name. \n\nMost ghosts were souls assigned to Purgatory, condemned for a specific period to atone for their transgressions in life. Their penance was generally related to their sin. For example, the ghost of a man who had been abusive to his servants was condemned to tear off and swallow bits of his own tongue; the ghost of another man, who had neglected to leave his cloak to the poor, was condemned to wear the cloak, now \"heavy as a church tower\". These ghosts appeared to the living to ask for prayers to end their suffering. Other dead souls returned to urge the living to confess their sins before their own deaths. \n\nMedieval European ghosts were more substantial than ghosts described in the Victorian age, and there are accounts of ghosts being wrestled with and physically restrained until a priest could arrive to hear its confession. Some were less solid, and could move through walls. Often they were described as paler and sadder versions of the person they had been while alive, and dressed in tattered gray rags. The vast majority of reported sightings were male. \n\nThere were some reported cases of ghostly armies, fighting battles at night in the forest, or in the remains of an Iron Age hillfort, as at Wandlebury, near Cambridge, England. Living knights were sometimes challenged to single combat by phantom knights, which vanished when defeated. \n\nFrom the medieval period an apparition of a ghost is recorded from 1211, at the time of the Albigensian Crusade. Gervase of Tilbury, Marshal of Arles, wrote that the image of Guilhem, a boy recently murdered in the forest, appeared in his cousin's home in Beaucaire, near Avignon. This series of \"visits\" lasted all of the summer. Through his cousin, who spoke for him, the boy allegedly held conversations with anyone who wished, until the local priest requested to speak to the boy directly, leading to an extended disquisition on theology. The boy narrated the trauma of death and the unhappiness of his fellow souls in Purgatory, and reported that God was most pleased with the ongoing Crusade against the Cathar heretics, launched three years earlier. The time of the Albigensian Crusade in southern France was marked by intense and prolonged warfare, this constant bloodshed and dislocation of populations being the context for these reported visits by the murdered boy.\n\nHaunted houses are featured in the 9th-century Arabian Nights (such as the tale of Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad). \n\nEuropean Renaissance to Romanticism\n\nRenaissance magic took a revived interest in the occult, including necromancy. In the era of the Reformation and Counter Reformation, there was frequently a backlash against unwholesome interest in the dark arts, typified by writers such as Thomas Erastus. The Swiss Reformed pastor Ludwig Lavater supplied one of the most frequently reprinted books of the period with his Of Ghosts and Spirits Walking By Night. \n\nThe Child Ballad \"Sweet William's Ghost\" (1868) recounts the story of a ghost returning to his fiancée begging her to free him from his promise to marry her. He cannot marry her because he is dead but her refusal would mean his damnation. This reflects a popular British belief that the dead haunted their lovers if they took up with a new love without some formal release. \"The Unquiet Grave\" expresses a belief even more widespread, found in various locations over Europe: ghosts can stem from the excessive grief of the living, whose mourning interferes with the dead's peaceful rest. In many folktales from around the world, the hero arranges for the burial of a dead man. Soon after, he gains a companion who aids him and, in the end, the hero's companion reveals that he is in fact the dead man. Instances of this include the Italian fairy tale \"Fair Brow\" and the Swedish \"The Bird 'Grip'\".\n\nModern period of western culture\n\nSpiritualist movement\n\nSpiritualism is a monotheistic belief system or religion, postulating a belief in God, but with a distinguishing feature of belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world can be contacted by \"mediums\", who can then provide information about the afterlife. \n\nSpiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries.\n By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes, while the corresponding movement in continental Europe and Latin America is known as Spiritism.\n\nThe religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. Many prominent Spiritualists were women. Most followers supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear. Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational Spiritualist Churches in the United States and United Kingdom.\n\nSpiritism\n\nSpiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on the five books of the Spiritist Codification written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that he attributed to incorporeal intelligence (spirits). His assumption of spirit communication was validated by many contemporaries, among them many scientists and philosophers who attended séances and studied the phenomena. His work was later extended by writers like Leon Denis, Arthur Conan Doyle, Camille Flammarion, Ernesto Bozzano, Chico Xavier, Divaldo Pereira Franco, Waldo Vieira, Johannes Greber, and others.\n\nSpiritism has adherents in many countries throughout the world, including Spain, United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, England, Argentina, Portugal, and especially Brazil, which has the largest proportion and greatest number of followers. \n\nScientific view\n\nThe physician John Ferriar wrote An essay towards a theory of apparitions in 1813 in which he argued that sightings of ghosts were the result of optical illusions. Later the French physician Alexandre Jacques François Brière de Boismont published On Hallucinations: Or, the Rational History of Apparitions, Dreams, Ecstasy, Magnetism, and Somnambulism in 1845 in which he claimed sightings of ghosts were the result of hallucinations. \n\nDavid Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that ball lightning could cause inanimate objects to move erratically. \n\nJoe Nickell of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry wrote that there was no credible scientific evidence that any location was inhabited by spirits of the dead. Limitations of human perception and ordinary physical explanations can account for ghost sightings; for example, air pressure changes in a home causing doors to slam, or lights from a passing car reflected through a window at night. Pareidolia, an innate tendency to recognize patterns in random perceptions, is what some skeptics believe causes people to believe that they have 'seen ghosts'. Reports of ghosts \"seen out of the corner of the eye\" may be accounted for by the sensitivity of human peripheral vision. According to Nickell, peripheral vision can easily mislead, especially late at night when the brain is tired and more likely to misinterpret sights and sounds.\n\"Once the idea of a ghost appears in a household ... no longer is an object merely mislaid .... There gets to be a dynamic in a place where the idea that it's haunted takes on a life of its own. One-of-a-kind quirks that could never be repeated all become further evidence of the haunting.\"\n\nAccording to research in anomalistic psychology visions of ghosts may arise from hypnagogic hallucinations (\"waking dreams\" which are experienced in the transitional states to and from sleep). In a study of two experiments into alleged hauntings (Wiseman et al. 2003) came to the conclusion \"that people consistently report unusual experiences in ‘haunted' areas because of environmental factors, which may differ across locations.\" Some of these factors included \"the variance of local magnetic fields, size of location and lighting level stimuli of which witnesses may not be consciously aware\". \n\nSome researchers, such as Michael Persinger of Laurentian University, Canada, have speculated that changes in geomagnetic fields (created, e.g., by tectonic stresses in the Earth's crust or solar activity) could stimulate the brain's temporal lobes and produce many of the experiences associated with hauntings. Sound is thought to be another cause of supposed sightings. Richard Lord and Richard Wiseman have concluded that infrasound can cause humans to experience bizarre feelings in a room, such as anxiety, extreme sorrow, a feeling of being watched, or even the chills. Carbon monoxide poisoning, which can cause changes in perception of the visual and auditory systems, was speculated upon as a possible explanation for haunted houses as early as 1921.\n\nBy religion\n\nJudæo-Christianity\n\nThe Hebrew Torah and the Bible contain a few references to ghosts, associating spiritism with forbidden occult activities. The most notable reference is in the First Book of Samuel, in which a disguised King Saul has the Witch of Endor summon the spirit or ghost of Samuel. In the New Testament, Jesus has to persuade the Disciples that He is not a ghost following the resurrection, Luke 24:37–39 (some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term \"spirit\"). Similarly, Jesus' followers at first believe Him to be a ghost (spirit) when they see Him walking on water. \n\nMost of the Christian Church considers ghosts as beings who while tied to earth, no longer live on the material plane. Some Christian denominations teach that ghosts are beings who linger in an interim state before continuing their journey to heaven. On occasion, God would allow the souls in this state to return to earth to warn the living of the need for repentance. Jews and Christians are taught that it is sinful to attempt to conjure or control spirits in accordance with Deuteronomy XVIII: 9–12. \n\nSome ghosts are actually said to be demons in disguise, who the Church teaches, in accordance with I Timothy 4:1, that they \"come to deceive people and draw them away from God and into bondage.\" As a result, attempts to contact the dead may lead to unwanted contact with a demon or an unclean spirit, as was said to occur in the case of Robbie Mannheim, a fourteen-year-old Maryland youth. The Seventh-Day Adventist view is that a \"soul\" is not equivalent to \"spirit\" or \"ghost\" (depending on the Bible version), and that save for the Holy Spirit, all spirits or ghosts are demons in disguise. Furthermore, they teach that in accordance with (Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 12:7), there are only two components to a \"soul\", neither of which survives death - with each returning to its respective source.\n\nChristadelphians reject the view of a living, conscious soul after death. \n\nThe Talmud tells of a being called a shade שד that is similar to other creatures in that it lives and dies but consists only of a form but lacks matter that forms mass, thus rendering it invisible. Since it has no physical mass it is capable of transporting itself from one end of the world to the other.\n\nIslam\n\nAccording to Islamic teachings, there are no such thing as ghosts. Muslims believe that 'Ghosts' are in fact jinn. The Koran discusses spirits known as jinn. \n\nBuddhism\n\nIn Buddhism, there are a number of planes of existence into which a person can be reborn, one of which is the realm of hungry ghosts.\n\nBy culture\n\nAfrican folklore\n\nThe Humr people of Sudan consume the drink Umm Nyolokh, which is created from the liver and marrow of giraffes. Umm Nyolokh often contains DMT and other psychoactive substances from plants the giraffes eat such as Acacia, and is known to cause hallucinations of giraffes, believed to be the giraffes ghosts by the Humr. \n\nEuropean folklore\n\nBelief in ghosts in European folklore is characterized by the recurring fear of \"returning\" or revenant deceased who may harm the living. This includes the Scandinavian gjenganger, the Romanian strigoi, the Serbian vampir, the Greek vrykolakas, etc. In Scandinavian and Finnish tradition, ghosts appear in corporeal form, and their supernatural nature is given away by behavior rather than appearance. In fact, in many stories they are first mistaken for the living. They may be mute, appear and disappear suddenly, or leave no footprints or other traces.\n\nEnglish folklore is particularly notable for its numerous haunted locations.\n\nBelief in the soul and an afterlife remained near universal until the emergence of atheism in the 18th century. In the 19th century, spiritism resurrected \"belief in ghosts\" as the object of systematic inquiry, and popular opinion in Western culture remains divided. \n\nSouth and Southeast Asia\n\nNorth India\n\nA bhoot or bhut (भूत, ભૂત, or بهوت) is a supernatural creature, usually the ghost of a deceased person, in the popular culture, literature and some ancient texts of the Indian subcontinent. Interpretations of how bhoots come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and restless due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to transmigration, non-being, nirvana, or heaven or hell, depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals. \n\nIn Central and Northern India, Aojha spirit guides play a central role. It duly happens when in the night someone sleeps and decorates something on the wall, and they say that if one sees the spirit the next thing in the morning he will become a spirit too, and that to a skondho kata which means a spirit without a head and the soul of the body will remain the dark with the dark lord from the spirits who reside in the body of every human in Central and Northern India. It is also believed that if someone calls one from behind, never turn back and see because the spirit may catch the human to make it a spirit.\nOther types of spirits in Hindu Mythology include Baital, an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes demonic possession of corpses, and Pishacha, a type of flesh-eating demon.\n\nAustronesia\n\nThere are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by later Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim influences in the modern states of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires Pontianak and Penanggalan are shared throughout the region.\nGhosts are a popular theme in modern Malaysian and Indonesian films.\nThere are also many references to ghosts in Filipino culture, ranging from ancient legendary creatures such as the Manananggal and Tiyanak to more modern urban legends and horror films. The beliefs, legends and stories are as diverse as the people of the Philippines.\n\nThere was widespread belief in ghosts in Polynesian culture, some of which persists today.\nAfter death, a person's ghost normally traveled to the sky world or the underworld, but some could stay on earth. In many Polynesian legends, ghosts were often actively involved in the affairs of the living. Ghosts might also cause sickness or even invade the body of ordinary people, to be driven out through strong medicines. \n\nEast and Central Asia\n\nChina\n\nThere are many references to ghosts in Chinese culture. Even Confucius said, \"Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them.\"\n\nThe ghosts take many forms, depending on how the person died, and are often harmful. Many Chinese ghost beliefs have been accepted by neighboring cultures, notably Japan and southeast Asia. Ghost beliefs are closely associated with traditional Chinese religion based on ancestor worship, many of which were incorporated in Taoism. Later beliefs were influenced by Buddhism, and in turn influenced and created uniquely Chinese Buddhist beliefs.\n\nMany Chinese today believe it possible to contact the spirits of their ancestors through a medium, and that ancestors can help descendants if properly respected and rewarded. The annual ghost festival is celebrated by Chinese around the world. On this day, ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Ghosts are described in classical Chinese texts as well as modern literature and films.\n\nA recent article in the China Post stated that nearly eighty-seven percent of Chinese office workers believe in ghosts, and some fifty-two percent of workers will wear hand art, necklaces, crosses, or even place a crystal ball on their desks to keep ghosts at bay, according to the poll.\n\nJapan\n\n are figures in Japanese folklore, analogous to Western legends of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, 幽 (yū), meaning \"faint\" or \"dim\", and 霊 (rei), meaning \"soul\" or \"spirit\". Alternative names include 亡霊 (Bōrei) meaning ruined or departed spirit, 死霊 (Shiryō) meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing 妖怪 (Yōkai) or お化け (Obake).\n\nLike their Chinese and Western counterparts, they are thought to be spirits kept from a peaceful afterlife.\n\nThailand\n\nGhosts in Thailand are part of local folklore and have now become part of the popular culture of the country.\nPhraya Anuman Rajadhon was the first Thai scholar who seriously studied Thai folk beliefs and took notes on the nocturnal village spirits of Thailand. He established that, since such spirits were not represented in paintings or drawings, they were purely based on descriptions of popular traditional stories which were transmitted orally. Therefore, most of the contemporary iconography of ghosts such as Nang Tani, Nang Takian, Krasue, Krahang, Phi Hua Kat, Phi Pop, Phi Phong, Phi Phraya, and Mae Nak has its origins in Thai films that have now become classics. \nThe most feared spirit in Thailand is Phi Tai Hong, the ghost of a person who has died suddenly of a violent death. The folklore of Thailand also includes the belief that sleep paralysis is caused by a ghost, Phi Am.\n\nTibet\n\nThere is widespread belief in ghosts in Tibetan culture. Ghosts are explicitly recognized in the Tibetan Buddhist religion as they were in Indian Buddhism, occupying a distinct but overlapping world to the human one, and feature in many traditional legends. When a human dies, after a period of uncertainty they may enter the ghost world. A hungry ghost (Tibetan: yidag, yi-dvags; Sanskrit: preta, प्रेत) has a tiny throat and huge stomach, and so can never be satisfied.\nGhosts may be killed with a ritual dagger or caught in a spirit trap and burnt, thus releasing them to be reborn. Ghosts may also be exorcised, and an annual festival is held throughout Tibet for this purpose. Some say that Dorje Shugden, the ghost of a powerful 17th-century monk, is a deity, but the Dalai Lama asserts that he is an evil spirit, which has caused a split in the Tibetan exile community.\n\nAmericas\n\nMexico\n\nThere is extensive and varied belief in ghosts in Mexican culture. The modern state of Mexico before the Spanish conquest was inhabited by diverse peoples such as the Maya and Aztec, and their beliefs have survived and evolved, combined with the beliefs of the Spanish colonists. The Day of the Dead incorporates pre-Columbian beliefs with Christian elements. Mexican literature and films include many stories of ghosts interacting with the living.\n\nUnited States\n\nAccording to the Gallup Poll News Service, belief in haunted houses, ghosts, communication with the dead, and witches had an especially steep increase over the 1990s.Newport F, Strausberg M. 2001. \"Americans' belief in psychic and paranormal phenomena is up over last decade\", Gallup Poll News Service. 8 June[http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind04/c7/c7s2.htm#c7s2l5 \"Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding-Public Knowledge About S&T: Belief in Pseudoscience\"], Chapter 7 of Science and Engineering Indicators 2004, National Science Board, National Science Foundation; Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, National Science Board, National Science Foundation. A 2005 Gallup poll found that about 32 percent of Americans believe in ghosts.\n\nDepiction in the arts\n\nGhosts are prominent in the popular cultures of various nations. The ghost story is ubiquitous across all cultures from oral folktales to works of literature. While ghost stories are often explicitly meant to be scary, they have been written to serve all sorts of purposes, from comedy to morality tales. Ghosts often appear in the narrative as sentinels or prophets of things to come. Belief in ghosts is found in all cultures around the world, and thus ghost stories may be passed down orally or in written form.\n\nSpirits of the dead appear in literature as early as Homer's Odyssey, which features a journey to the underworld and the hero encountering the ghosts of the dead, and the Old Testament, in which the Witch of Endor summons the spirit of the prophet Samuel.\n\nRenaissance to Romanticism (1500 to 1840)\n\nOne of the more recognizable ghosts in English literature is the shade of Hamlet's murdered father in Shakespeare's The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In Hamlet, it is the ghost who demands that Prince Hamlet investigate his \"murder most foul\" and seek revenge upon his usurping uncle, King Claudius.\n\nIn English Renaissance theater, ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armor, as with the ghost of Hamlet's father. Armor, being out-of-date by the time of the Renaissance, gave the stage ghost a sense of antiquity. But the sheeted ghost began to gain ground on stage in the 19th century because an armored ghost could not satisfactorily convey the requisite spookiness: it clanked and creaked, and had to be moved about by complicated pulley systems or elevators. These clanking ghosts being hoisted about the stage became objects of ridicule as they became clichéd stage elements. Ann Jones and Peter Stallybrass, in Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory, point out, \"In fact, it is as laughter increasingly threatens the Ghost that he starts to be staged not in armor but in some form of 'spirit drapery'.\"\n\nVictorian/Edwardian (1840 to 1920)\n\nThe \"classic\" ghost story arose during the Victorian period, and included authors such as M. R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, Violet Hunt, and Henry James. Classic ghost stories were influenced by the gothic fiction tradition, and contain elements of folklore and psychology. M. R. James summed up the essential elements of a ghost story as, \"Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, ‘the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded...\". One of the key early appearances by ghosts was The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole in 1764, considered to be the first gothic novel. \n\nFamous literary apparitions from this period are the ghosts of A Christmas Carol, in which Ebenezer Scrooge is helped to see the error of his ways by the ghost of his former colleague Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come.\n\nModern Era (1920 to 1970)\n\nProfessional parapsychologists and \"ghosts hunters\", such as Harry Price, active in the 1920s and 1930s, and Peter Underwood, active in the 1940s and 1950s, published accounts of their experiences with ostensibly true ghost stories such as Price's The Most Haunted House in England, and Underwood's Ghosts of Borley (both recounting experiences at Borley Rectory). The writer Frank Edwards delved into ghost stories in his books of his, like \"Stranger than Science.\"\n\nChildren's benevolent ghost stories became popular, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, created in the 1930s and appearing in comics, animated cartoons, and eventually a 1995 feature film.\n\nWith the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions. Novel-length tales have been difficult to adapt to cinema, although that of The Haunting of Hill House to The Haunting in 1963 is an exception.\n\nSentimental depictions during this period were more popular in cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which was later adapted to television with a successful 1968–70 TV series. Genuine psychological horror films from this period include 1944's The Uninvited, and 1945's Dead of Night.\n\nPost-modern (1970–present)\n\nThe 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's Field of Dreams, the 1990 film Ghost, and the 1993 comedy Heart and Souls. In the horror genre, 1980's The Fog, and the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence.\n\nPopularised in such films as the 1984 comedy Ghostbusters, ghost hunting became a hobby for many who formed ghost hunting societies to explore reportedly haunted places. The ghost hunting theme has been featured in reality television series, such as Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Most Haunted, and A Haunting. It is also represented in children's television by such programs as The Ghost Hunter and Ghost Trackers. Ghost hunting also gave rise to multiple guidebooks to haunted locations, and ghost hunting \"how-to\" manuals.\n\nThe 1990s saw a return to classic \"gothic\" ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films from this period include 1999's The Sixth Sense and The Others.\n\nAsian cinema has also produced horror films about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film Ringu (remade in the US as The Ring in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film The Eye. \nIndian ghost movies are popular not just in India, but in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, and other parts of the world. Some Indian ghost movies such as the comedy / horror film Chandramukhi have been commercial successes, dubbed into several languages.\n\nIn fictional television programming, ghosts have been explored in series such as Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, and Medium.\n\nIn animated fictional television programming, ghosts have served as the central element in series such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Danny Phantom, and Scooby-Doo. Various other television shows have depicted ghosts as well. \n\nMetaphorical usages\n\nNietzsche argued that people generally wear prudent masks in company; but that an alternative strategy for social interaction is to present oneself as an absence, as a social ghost – \"One reaches out for us but gets no hold of us\" – something later echoed (if with a less positive spin) by Carl Jung. \n\nNick Harkaway considered that we all carry a host of ghosts in our heads, in the form of impressions of past acquaintances – ghosts that represent our maps of other people in the world: our reference points. \n\nObject relations theory sees our personalities as formed by splitting off aspects of ourselves we find incompatible; whereupon we may be haunted in later life by such ghosts of our alternate selves. \n\nA ghost is a term used to describe the artificial intelligence of a machine in the anime title Ghost in the Shell and likewise in the episode Ghost in the Machine (The X-Files).",
"Romanticism.txt\nRomanticism\nRomanticism (also the Romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature. It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education, and the natural sciences. It had a significant and complex effect on politics, and while for much of the Romantic period it was associated with liberalism and radicalism, its long-term effect on the growth of nationalism was perhaps more significant.\n\nThe movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe—especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature. It considered folk art and ancient custom to be noble statuses, but also valued spontaneity, as in the musical impromptu. In contrast to the rational and Classicist ideal models, Romanticism revived medievalism and elements of art and narrative perceived as authentically medieval in an attempt to escape population growth, early urban sprawl, and industrialism.\n\nAlthough the movement was rooted in the German Sturm und Drang movement, which preferred intuition and emotion to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, the events and ideologies of the French Revolution were also proximate factors. Romanticism assigned a high value to the achievements of \"heroic\" individualists and artists, whose examples, it maintained, would raise the quality of society. It also promoted the individual imagination as a critical authority allowed of freedom from classical notions of form in art. There was a strong recourse to historical and natural inevitability, a Zeitgeist, in the representation of its ideas. In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was offered as a polar opposite to Romanticism. The decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes, including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism. \n\nDefining Romanticism\n\nBasic characteristics\n\nDefining the nature of Romanticism may be approached from the starting point of the primary importance of the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on emotion is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich that \"the artist's feeling is his law\". To William Wordsworth, poetry should begin as \"the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,\" which the poet then \"recollect[s] in tranquility,\" evoking a new but corresponding emotion the poet can then mould into art. To express these feelings, it was considered that the content of the art had to come from the imagination of the artist, with as little interference as possible from \"artificial\" rules that dictated what a work should consist of. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others believed there were natural laws that the imagination—at least of a good creative artist—would unconsciously follow through artistic inspiration if left alone. As well as rules, the influence of models from other works was considered to impede the creator's own imagination, so that originality was essential. The concept of the genius, or artist who was able to produce his own original work through this process of creation from nothingness, is key to Romanticism, and to be derivative was the worst sin. This idea is often called \"romantic originality.\" \n\nNot essential to Romanticism, but so widespread as to be normative, was a strong belief and interest in the importance of nature. However, this is particularly in the effect of nature upon the artist when he is surrounded by it, preferably alone. In contrast to the usually very social art of the Enlightenment, Romantics were distrustful of the human world, and tended to believe that a close connection with nature was mentally and morally healthy. Romantic art addressed its audiences with what was intended to be felt as the personal voice of the artist. So, in literature, \"much of romantic poetry invited the reader to identify the protagonists with the poets themselves\". \n\nAccording to Isaiah Berlin, Romanticism embodied \"a new and restless spirit, seeking violently to burst through old and cramping forms, a nervous preoccupation with perpetually changing inner states of consciousness, a longing for the unbounded and the indefinable, for perpetual movement and change, an effort to return to the forgotten sources of life, a passionate effort at self-assertion both individual and collective, a search after means of expressing an unappeasable yearning for unattainable goals.\" \n\nEtymology\n\nThe group of words with the root \"Roman\" in the various European languages, such as romance and Romanesque, has a complicated history, but by the middle of the 18th century \"romantic\" in English and romantique in French were both in common use as adjectives of praise for natural phenomena such as views and sunsets, in a sense close to modern English usage but without the sexual connotation. The application of the term to literature first became common in Germany, where the circle around the Schlegel brothers, critics August and Friedrich, began to speak of romantische Poesie (\"romantic poetry\") in the 1790s, contrasting it with \"classic\" but in terms of spirit rather than merely dating. Friedrich Schlegel wrote in his Dialogue on Poetry (1800), \"I seek and find the romantic among the older moderns, in Shakespeare, in Cervantes, in Italian poetry, in that age of chivalry, love and fable, from which the phenomenon and the word itself are derived.\" \n\nIn both French and German the closeness of the adjective to roman, meaning the fairly new literary form of the novel, had some effect on the sense of the word in those languages. The use of the word did not become general very quickly, and was probably spread more widely in France by its persistent use by Madame de Staël in her De l'Allemagne (1813), recounting her travels in Germany. In England Wordsworth wrote in a preface to his poems of 1815 of the \"romantic harp\" and \"classic lyre\", but in 1820 Byron could still write, perhaps slightly disingenuously, \"I perceive that in Germany, as well as in Italy, there is a great struggle about what they call 'Classical' and 'Romantic', terms which were not subjects of classification in England, at least when I left it four or five years ago\". It is only from the 1820s that Romanticism certainly knew itself by its name, and in 1824 the Académie française took the wholly ineffective step of issuing a decree condemning it in literature. \n\nThe period\n\nThe period typically called Romantic varies greatly between different countries and different artistic media or areas of thought. Margaret Drabble described it in literature as taking place \"roughly between 1770 and 1848\", and few dates much earlier than 1770 will be found. In English literature, M. H. Abrams placed it between 1789, or 1798, this latter a very typical view, and about 1830, perhaps a little later than some other critics. Others have proposed 1780–1830. In other fields and other countries the period denominated as Romantic can be considerably different; musical Romanticism, for example, is generally regarded as only having ceased as a major artistic force as late as 1910, but in an extreme extension the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss are described stylistically as \"Late Romantic\" and were composed in 1946–48. However, in most fields the Romantic Period is said to be over by about 1850, or earlier.\n\nThe early period of the Romantic Era was a time of war, with the French Revolution (1789–1799) followed by the Napoleonic Wars until 1815. These wars, along with the political and social turmoil that went along with them, served as the background for Romanticism. The key generation of French Romantics born between 1795–1805 had, in the words of one of their number, Alfred de Vigny, been \"conceived between battles, attended school to the rolling of drums\". According to Jacques Barzun, there were three generations of Romantic artists. The first emerged in the 1790s and 1800s, the second in the 1820s, and the third later in the century. \n\nContext and place in history\n\nThe more precise characterization and specific definition of Romanticism has been the subject of debate in the fields of intellectual history and literary history throughout the 20th century, without any great measure of consensus emerging. That it was part of the Counter-Enlightenment, a reaction against the Age of Enlightenment, is generally accepted in current scholarship. Its relationship to the French Revolution, which began in 1789 in the very early stages of the period, is clearly important, but highly variable depending on geography and individual reactions. Most Romantics can be said to be broadly progressive in their views, but a considerable number always had, or developed, a wide range of conservative views, and nationalism was in many countries strongly associated with Romanticism, as discussed in detail below.\n\nIn philosophy and the history of ideas, Romanticism was seen by Isaiah Berlin as disrupting for over a century the classic Western traditions of rationality and the idea of moral absolutes and agreed values, leading \"to something like the melting away of the very notion of objective truth\", and hence not only to nationalism, but also fascism and totalitarianism, with a gradual recovery coming only after World War II. For the Romantics, Berlin says, in the realm of ethics, politics, aesthetics it was the authenticity and sincerity of the pursuit of inner goals that mattered; this applied equally to individuals and groups – states, nations, movements. This is most evident in the aesthetics of romanticism, where the notion of eternal models, a Platonic vision of ideal beauty, which the artist seeks to convey, however imperfectly, on canvas or in sound, is replaced by a passionate belief in spiritual freedom, individual creativity. The painter, the poet, the composer do not hold up a mirror to nature, however ideal, but invent; they do not imitate (the doctrine of mimesis), but create not merely the means but the goals that they pursue; these goals represent the self-expression of the artist's own unique, inner vision, to set aside which in response to the demands of some \"external\" voice – church, state, public opinion, family friends, arbiters of taste – is an act of betrayal of what alone justifies their existence for those who are in any sense creative. \n\nArthur Lovejoy attempted to demonstrate the difficulty of defining Romanticism in his seminal article \"On The Discrimination of Romanticisms\" in his Essays in the History of Ideas (1948); some scholars see Romanticism as essentially continuous with the present, some like Robert Hughes see in it the inaugural moment of modernity, and some like Chateaubriand, Novalis and Samuel Taylor Coleridge see it as the beginning of a tradition of resistance to Enlightenment rationalism—a \"Counter-Enlightenment\"— to be associated most closely with German Romanticism. An earlier definition comes from Charles Baudelaire: \"Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor exact truth, but in the way of feeling.\" \n\nThe end of the Romantic era is marked in some areas by a new style of Realism, which affected literature, especially the novel and drama, painting, and even music, through Verismo opera. This movement was led by France, with Balzac and Flaubert in literature and Courbet in painting; Stendhal and Goya were important precursors of Realism in their respective media. However, Romantic styles, now often representing the established and safe style against which Realists rebelled, continued to flourish in many fields for the rest of the century and beyond. In music such works from after about 1850 are referred to by some writers as \"Late Romantic\" and by others as \"Neoromantic\" or \"Postromantic\", but other fields do not usually use these terms; in English literature and painting the convenient term \"Victorian\" avoids having to characterise the period further.\n\nIn northern Europe, the Early Romantic visionary optimism and belief that the world was in the process of great change and improvement had largely vanished, and some art became more conventionally political and polemical as its creators engaged polemically with the world as it was. Elsewhere, including in very different ways the United States and Russia, feelings that great change was underway or just about to come were still possible. Displays of intense emotion in art remained prominent, as did the exotic and historical settings pioneered by the Romantics, but experimentation with form and technique was generally reduced, often replaced with meticulous technique, as in the poems of Tennyson or many paintings. If not realist, late 19th-century art was often extremely detailed, and pride was taken in adding authentic details in a way that earlier Romantics did not trouble with. Many Romantic ideas about the nature and purpose of art, above all the pre-eminent importance of originality, remained important for later generations, and often underlie modern views, despite opposition from theorists.\n\nRomantic literature\n\nIn literature, Romanticism found recurrent themes in the evocation or criticism of the past, the cult of \"sensibility\" with its emphasis on women and children, the isolation of the artist or narrator, and respect for nature. Furthermore, several romantic authors, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, based their writings on the supernatural/occult and human psychology. Romanticism tended to regard satire as something unworthy of serious attention, a prejudice still influential today. \n\nThe precursors of Romanticism in English poetry go back to the middle of the 18th century, including figures such as Joseph Warton (headmaster at Winchester College) and his brother Thomas Warton, Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. Joseph maintained that invention and imagination were the chief qualities of a poet. Thomas Chatterton is generally considered the first Romantic poet in English. The Scottish poet James Macpherson influenced the early development of Romanticism with the international success of his Ossian cycle of poems published in 1762, inspiring both Goethe and the young Walter Scott. Both Chatterton and Macpherson's work involved elements of fraud, as what they claimed was earlier literature that they had discovered or compiled was, in fact, entirely their own work. The Gothic novel, beginning with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764), was an important precursor of one strain of Romanticism, with a delight in horror and threat, and exotic picturesque settings, matched in Walpole's case by his role in the early revival of Gothic architecture. Tristram Shandy, a novel by Laurence Sterne (1759–67) introduced a whimsical version of the anti-rational sentimental novel to the English literary public.\n\nGermany\n\nAn early German influence came from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther had young men throughout Europe emulating its protagonist, a young artist with a very sensitive and passionate temperament. At that time Germany was a multitude of small separate states, and Goethe's works would have a seminal influence in developing a unifying sense of nationalism. Another philosophic influence came from the German idealism of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Schelling, making Jena (where Fichte lived, as well as Schelling, Hegel, Schiller and the brothers Schlegel) a center for early German Romanticism (see Jena Romanticism). Important writers were Ludwig Tieck, Novalis (Heinrich von Ofterdingen, 1799), Heinrich von Kleist and Friedrich Hölderlin. Heidelberg later became a center of German Romanticism, where writers and poets such as Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim, and Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff met regularly in literary circles.\n\nImportant motifs in German Romanticism are travelling, nature, for example the German Forest, and Germanic myths. The later German Romanticism of, for example E. T. A. Hoffmann's Der Sandmann (The Sandman), 1817, and Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff's Das Marmorbild (The Marble Statue), 1819, was darker in its motifs and has gothic elements. The significance to Romanticism of childhood innocence, the importance of imagination, and racial theories all combined to give an unprecedented importance to folk literature, non-classical mythology and children's literature, above all in Germany. Brentano and von Arnim were significant literary figures who together published Des Knaben Wunderhorn (\"The Boy's Magic Horn\" or cornucopia), a collection of versified folk tales, in 1806–08. The first collection of Grimms' Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm was published in 1812. Unlike the much later work of Hans Christian Andersen, who was publishing his invented tales in Danish from 1835, these German works were at least mainly based on collected folk tales, and the Grimms remained true to the style of the telling in their early editions, though later rewriting some parts. One of the brothers, Jacob, published in 1835 Deutsche Mythologie, a long academic work on Germanic mythology. Another strain is exemplified by Schiller's highly emotional language and the depiction of physical violence in his play The Robbers of 1781.\n\nGreat Britain\n\nEngland\n\nIn English literature, the key figures of the Romantic movement are considered to be the group of poets including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the much older William Blake, followed later by the isolated figure of John Clare. Also such novelists as Walter Scott from Scotland and Mary Shelley, and the essayists William Hazlitt and Charles Lamb. The publication in 1798 of Lyrical Ballads, with many of the finest poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge, is often held to mark the start of the movement. The majority of the poems were by Wordsworth, and many dealt with the lives of the poor in his native Lake District, or his feelings about nature—which he more fully developed in his long poem The Prelude, never published in his lifetime. The longest poem in the volume was Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which showed the Gothic side of English Romanticism, and the exotic settings that many works featured. In the period when they were writing, the Lake Poets were widely regarded as a marginal group of radicals, though they were supported by the critic and writer William Hazlitt and others.\n\nIn contrast Lord Byron and Walter Scott achieved enormous fame and influence throughout Europe with works exploiting the violence and drama of their exotic and historical settings; Goethe called Byron \"undoubtedly the greatest genius of our century\". Scott achieved immediate success with his long narrative poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel in 1805, followed by the full epic poem Marmion in 1808. Both were set in the distant Scottish past, already evoked in Ossian; Romanticism and Scotland were to have a long and fruitful partnership. Byron had equal success with the first part of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage in 1812, followed by four \"Turkish tales\", all in the form of long poems, starting with The Giaour in 1813, drawing from his Grand Tour, which had reached Ottoman Europe, and orientalizing the themes of the Gothic novel in verse. These featured different variations of the \"Byronic hero\", and his own life contributed a further version. Scott meanwhile was effectively inventing the historical novel, beginning in 1814 with Waverley, set in the 1745 Jacobite Rising, which was an enormous and highly profitable success, followed by over 20 further Waverley Novels over the next 17 years, with settings going back to the Crusades that he had researched to a degree that was new in literature. \n\nIn contrast to Germany, Romanticism in English literature had little connection with nationalism, and the Romantics were often regarded with suspicion for the sympathy many felt for the ideals of the French Revolution, whose collapse and replacement with the dictatorship of Napoleon was, as elsewhere in Europe, a shock to the movement. Though his novels celebrated Scottish identity and history, Scott was politically a firm Unionist. Several spent much time abroad, and a famous stay on Lake Geneva with Byron and Shelley in 1816 produced the hugely influential novel Frankenstein by Shelley's wife-to-be Mary Shelley and the novella The Vampyre by Byron's doctor John William Polidori. The lyrics of Robert Burns in Scotland and Thomas Moore, from Ireland reflected in different ways their countries and the Romantic interest in folk literature, but neither had a fully Romantic approach to life or their work.\n\nThough they have modern critical champions such as György Lukács, Scott's novels are today more likely to be experienced in the form of the many operas that composers continued to base on them over the following decades, such as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Vincenzo Bellini's I puritani (both 1835). Byron is now most highly regarded for his short lyrics and his generally unromantic prose writings, especially his letters, and his unfinished satire Don Juan. Unlike many Romantics, Byron's widely publicised personal life appeared to match his work, and his death at 36 in 1824 from disease when helping the Greek War of Independence appeared from a distance to be a suitably Romantic end, entrenching his legend. Keats in 1821 and Shelley in 1822 both died in Italy, Blake (at almost 70) in 1827, and Coleridge largely ceased to write in the 1820s. Wordsworth was by 1820 respectable and highly regarded, holding a government sinecure, but wrote relatively little. In the discussion of English literature, the Romantic period is often regarded as finishing around the 1820s, or sometimes even earlier, although many authors of the succeeding decades were no less committed to Romantic values.\n\nThe most significant novelist in English during the peak Romantic period, other than Walter Scott, was Jane Austen, whose essentially conservative world-view had little in common with her Romantic contemporaries, retaining a strong belief in decorum and social rules, though critics have detected tremors under the surface of some works, especially Mansfield Park (1814) and Persuasion (1817). But around the mid-century the undoubtedly Romantic novels of the Yorkshire-based Brontë family appeared, in particular Charlotte's Jane Eyre and Emily's Wuthering Heights, which were both published in 1847.\n\nByron, Keats and Shelley all wrote for the stage, but with little success in England, with Shelley's The Cenci perhaps the best work produced, though that was not played in a public theatre in England until a century after his death. Byron's plays, along with dramatizations of his poems and Scott's novels, were much more popular on the Continent, and especially in France, and through these versions several were turned into operas, many still performed today. If contemporary poets had little success on the stage, the period was a legendary one for performances of Shakespeare, and went some way to restoring his original texts and removing the Augustan \"improvements\" to them. The greatest actor of the period, Edmund Kean, restored the tragic ending to King Lear; Coleridge said that, “Seeing him act was like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning.” \n\nScotland\n\nAlthough after union with England in 1707 Scotland increasingly adopted English language and wider cultural norms, its literature developed a distinct national identity and began to enjoy an international reputation. Allan Ramsay (1686–1758) laid the foundations of a reawakening of interest in older Scottish literature, as well as leading the trend for pastoral poetry, helping to develop the Habbie stanza as a poetic form. James Macpherson (1736–96) was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation. Claiming to have found poetry written by the ancient bard Ossian, he published translations that acquired international popularity, being proclaimed as a Celtic equivalent of the Classical epics. Fingal, written in 1762, was speedily translated into many European languages, and its appreciation of natural beauty and treatment of the ancient legend has been credited more than any single work with bringing about the Romantic movement in European, and especially in German literature, through its influence on Johann Gottfried von Herder and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was also popularised in France by figures that included Napoleon. Eventually it became clear that the poems were not direct translations from the Gaelic, but flowery adaptations made to suit the aesthetic expectations of his audience. \n\nRobert Burns (1759–96) and Walter Scott (1771–1832) were highly influenced by the Ossian cycle. Burns, an Ayrshire poet and lyricist, is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and a major influence on the Romantic movement. His poem (and song) \"Auld Lang Syne\" is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and \"Scots Wha Hae\" served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Scott began as a poet and also collected and published Scottish ballads. His first prose work, Waverley in 1814, is often called the first historical novel. It launched a highly successful career, with other historical novels such as Rob Roy (1817), The Heart of Midlothian (1818) and Ivanhoe (1820). Scott probably did more than any other figure to define and popularise Scottish cultural identity in the nineteenth century. Other major literary figures connected with Romanticism include the poets and novelists James Hogg (1770–1835), Allan Cunningham (1784–1842) and John Galt (1779–1839). One of the most significant figures of the Romantic movement, Lord Byron, was brought up in Scotland until he inherited his family's English peerage. \n Scotland was also the location of two of the most important literary magazines of the era, The Edinburgh Review (founded in 1802) and Blackwood's Magazine (founded in 1817), which had a major impact on the development of British literature and drama in the era of Romanticism. Ian Duncan and Alex Benchimol suggest that publications like the novels of Scott and these magazines were part of a highly dynamic Scottish Romanticism that by the early nineteenth century, caused Edinburgh to emerge as the cultural capital of Britain and become central to a wider formation of a \"British Isles nationalism.\" \n\nScottish \"national drama\" emerged in the early 1800s, as plays with specifically Scottish themes began to dominate the Scottish stage. Theatres had been discouraged by the Church of Scotland and fears of Jacobite assemblies. In the later eighteenth century, many plays were written for and performed by small amateur companies and were not published and so most have been lost. Towards the end of the century there were \"closet dramas\", primarily designed to be read, rather than performed, including work by Scott, Hogg, Galt and Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), often influenced by the ballad tradition and Gothic Romanticism.I. Brown, The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: Enlightenment, Britain and Empire (1707–1918) (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), ISBN 0748624813, pp. 229–30.\n\nFrance\n\nRomanticism was relatively late in developing in French literature, even more so than in the visual arts. The 18th-century precursor to Romanticism, the cult of sensibility, had become associated with the Ancien regime, and the French Revolution had been more of an inspiration to foreign writers than those experiencing it at first hand. The first major figure was François-René de Chateaubriand, a minor aristocrat who had remained a royalist throughout the Revolution, and returned to France from exile in England and America under Napoleon, with whose regime he had an uneasy relationship. His writings, all in prose, included some fiction, such as his influential novella of exile René (1802), which anticipated Byron in its alienated hero, but mostly contemporary history and politics, his travels, a defence of religion and the medieval spirit (Génie du christianisme 1802), and finally in the 1830s and 1840s his enormous autobiography Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe (\"Memoirs from beyond the grave\"). \n\nAfter the Bourbon Restoration, French Romanticism developed in the lively world of Parisian theatre, with productions of Shakespeare, Schiller (in France a key Romantic author), and adaptations of Scott and Byron alongside French authors, several of whom began to write in the late 1820s. Cliques of pro- and anti-Romantics developed, and productions were often accompanied by raucous vocalizing by the two sides, including the shouted assertion by one theatregoer in 1822 that \"Shakespeare, c'est l'aide-de-camp de Wellington\" (\"Shakespeare is Wellington's aide-de-camp\"). Alexandre Dumas began as a dramatist, with a series of successes beginning with Henri III et sa cour (1829) before turning to novels that were mostly historical adventures somewhat in the manner of Scott, most famously The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, both of 1844. Victor Hugo published as a poet in the 1820s before achieving success on the stage with Hernani—a historical drama in a quasi-Shakespearian style that had famously riotous performances, themselves as much a spectacle as the play, on its first run in 1830. Like Dumas, he is best known for his novels, and was already writing The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), one of the best known works of his long career. The preface to his unperformed play \"Cromwell\" gives an important manifesto of French Romanticism, stating that \"there are no rules, or models\". The career of Prosper Mérimée followed a similar pattern; he is now best known as the originator of the story of Carmen, with his novella of 1845. Alfred de Vigny remains best known as a dramatist, with his play on the life of the English poet Chatterton (1835) perhaps his best work.\n\nFrench Romantic poets of the 1830s to 1850s include Alfred de Musset, Gérard de Nerval, Alphonse de Lamartine and the flamboyant Théophile Gautier, whose prolific output in various forms continued until his death in 1872. George Sand took over from Germaine de Staël as the leading female writer, and was a central figure of the Parisian literary scene, famous both for her novels and criticism and her affairs with Chopin and several others. \n\nStendhal is today probably the most highly regarded French novelist of the period, but he stands in a complex relation with Romanticism, and is notable for his penetrating psychological insight into his characters and his realism, qualities rarely prominent in Romantic fiction. As a survivor of the French retreat from Moscow in 1812, fantasies of heroism and adventure had little appeal for him, and like Goya he is often seen as a forerunner of Realism. His most important works are Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839).\n\nPoland \n\nRomanticism in Poland is often taken to begin with the publication of Adam Mickiewicz's first poems in 1822, and end with the crushing of the January Uprising of 1863 against the Russians. It was strongly marked by interest in Polish history. Polish Romanticism revived the old \"Sarmatism\" traditions of the szlachta or Polish nobility. Old traditions and customs were revived and portrayed in a positive light in the Polish messianic movement and in works of great Polish poets such as Adam Mickiewicz (Pan Tadeusz), Juliusz Słowacki and Zygmunt Krasiński, as well as prose writers such as Henryk Sienkiewicz. This close connection between Polish Romanticism and Polish history became one of the defining qualities of the literature of Polish Romanticism period, differentiating it from that of other countries. They had not suffered the loss of national statehood as was the case with Poland. Influenced by the general spirit and main ideas of European Romanticism, the literature of Polish Romanticism is unique, as many scholars have pointed out, in having developed largely outside of Poland and in its emphatic focus upon the issue of Polish nationalism. The Polish intelligentsia, along with leading members of its government, left Poland in the early 1830s, during what is referred to as the \"Great Emigration,\" resettling in France, Germany, Great Britain, Turkey, and the United States.\n\nTheir art featured emotionalism and irrationality, fantasy and imagination, personality cults, folklore and country life, and the propagation of ideals of freedom. In the second period, many of the Polish Romantics worked abroad, often banished from Poland by the occupying powers due to their politically subversive ideas. Their work became increasingly dominated by the ideals of political struggle for freedom and their country's sovereignty. Elements of mysticism became more prominent. There developed the idea of the poeta wieszcz (the prophet). The wieszcz (bard) functioned as spiritual leader to the nation fighting for its independence. The most notable poet so recognized was Adam Mickiewicz.\n\nZygmunt Krasinski also wrote to inspire political and religious hope in his countrymen. Unlike his predecessors, who called for victory at whatever price in Poland's struggle against Russia, Krasinski emphasized Poland's spiritual role in its fight for independence, advocating an intellectual rather than a military superiority. His works best exemplify the Messianic movement in Poland: in two early dramas, Nie-boska komedyia (1835; The Undivine Comedy) and Irydion (1836; Iridion), as well as in the later Psalmy przyszłości (1845), he asserted that Poland was the Christ of Europe: specifically chosen by God to carry the world's burdens, to suffer, and eventually be resurrected.\n\nRussia \n\nEarly Russian Romanticism is associated with the writers Konstantin Batyushkov (A Vision on the Shores of the Lethe, 1809), Vasily Zhukovsky (The Bard, 1811; Svetlana, 1813) and Nikolay Karamzin (Poor Liza, 1792; Julia, 1796; Martha the Mayoress, 1802; The Sensitive and the Cold, 1803). However the principal exponent of Romanticism in Russia is Alexander Pushkin (The Prisoner of the Caucasus, 1820–1821; The Robber Brothers, 1822; Ruslan and Ludmila, 1820; Eugene Onegin, 1825–1832). Pushkin's work influenced many writers in the 19th century and led to his eventual recognition as Russia's greatest poet. Other Russian poets include Mikhail Lermontov (A Hero of Our Time, 1839), Fyodor Tyutchev (Silentium!, 1830), Yevgeny Baratynsky (Eda, 1826), Anton Delvig, and Wilhelm Küchelbecker.\n\nInfluenced heavily by Lord Byron, Lermontov sought to explore the Romantic emphasis on metaphysical discontent with society and self, while Tyutchev's poems often described scenes of nature or passions of love. Tyutchev commonly operated with such categories as night and day, north and south, dream and reality, cosmos and chaos, and the still world of winter and spring teeming with life. Baratynsky's style was fairly classical in nature, dwelling on the models of the previous century.\n\nSpain\n\nRomanticism in Spanish literature developed a well-known literature with a huge variety of poets and playwrights. The most important Spanish poet during this movement was José de Espronceda. After him there were other poets like Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Mariano José de Larra and the dramatist José Zorrilla, author of Don Juan Tenorio. Before them may be mentioned the pre-romantics José Cadalso and Manuel José Quintana. The plays of Antonio García Gutiérrez were adapted to produce Giuseppe Verdi's operas Il trovatore and Simon Boccanegra. Spanish Romanticism also influenced regional literatures. For example, in Catalonia and in Galicia there was a national boom of writers in the local languages, like the Catalan Jacint Verdaguer and the Galician Rosalía de Castro, the main figures of the national revivalist movements Renaixença and Rexurdimento, respectively. \n\nPortugal\n\nModern Portuguese poetry develops its character from the work of its Romantic epitome, Almeida Garrett, a very prolific writer who helped shape the genre with the masterpiece Folhas Caídas (1853). This late arrival of a truly personal Romantic style would linger on to the beginning of the 20th century, notably through the works of poets such as Alexandre Herculano, Cesário Verde and António Nobre. However, an early Portuguese expression of Romanticism is found already in Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, especially in his sonnets dated at the end of the 18th century.\n\nItaly\n\nRomanticism in Italian literature was a minor movement, yet still important; it began officially in 1816 when Mme de Staël wrote an article in the journal Biblioteca italiana called \"Sulla maniera e l'utilità delle traduzioni\", inviting Italian people to reject Neoclassicism and to study new authors from other countries. Before that date, Ugo Foscolo had already published poems anticipating Romantic themes. The most important Romantic writers were Ludovico di Breme, Pietro Borsieri and Giovanni Berchet. Better known authors such as Alessandro Manzoni and Giacomo Leopardi were influenced by Enlightenment as well as by Romanticism and Classicism. \n\nSouth America\n\nSpanish-speaking South American Romanticism was influenced heavily by Esteban Echeverría, who wrote in the 1830 and 1840s. His writings were influenced by his hatred for the Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, and filled with themes of blood and terror, using the metaphor of a slaughterhouse to portray the violence of Rosas' dictatorship.\n\nBrazilian Romanticism is characterized and divided in three different periods. The first one is basically focused on the creation of a sense of national identity, using the ideal of the heroic Indian. Some examples include José de Alencar, who wrote \"Iracema\" and \"O Guarani\", and Gonçalves Dias, renowned by the poem \"Canção do Exílio\" (Song of the Exile). The second period, sometimes called Ultra-Romanticism, is marked by a profound influence of European themes and traditions, involving the melancholy, sadness and despair related to unobtainable love. Goethe and Lord Byron are commonly quoted in these works. The third cycle is marked by social poetry, especially the abolitionist movement; the greatest writer of this period is Castro Alves. \n\nUnited States\n\nIn the United States, at least by 1818 with William Cullen Bryant's \"To a Waterfowl\", Romantic poetry was being published. American Romantic Gothic literature made an early appearance with Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) and Rip Van Winkle (1819), followed from 1823 onwards by the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper, with their emphasis on heroic simplicity and their fervent landscape descriptions of an already-exotic mythicized frontier peopled by \"noble savages\", similar to the philosophical theory of Rousseau, exemplified by Uncas, from The Last of the Mohicans. There are picturesque \"local color\" elements in Washington Irving's essays and especially his travel books. Edgar Allan Poe's tales of the macabre and his balladic poetry were more influential in France than at home, but the romantic American novel developed fully with the atmosphere and melodrama of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850). Later Transcendentalist writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson still show elements of its influence and imagination, as does the romantic realism of Walt Whitman. The poetry of Emily Dickinson—nearly unread in her own time—and Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick can be taken as epitomes of American Romantic literature. By the 1880s, however, psychological and social realism were competing with Romanticism in the novel.\n\nInfluence of European Romanticism on American writers\n\nThe European Romantic movement reached America in the early 19th century. American Romanticism was just as multifaceted and individualistic as it was in Europe. Like the Europeans, the American Romantics demonstrated a high level of moral enthusiasm, commitment to individualism and the unfolding of the self, an emphasis on intuitive perception, and the assumption that the natural world was inherently good, while human society was filled with corruption. \n\nRomanticism became popular in American politics, philosophy and art. The movement appealed to the revolutionary spirit of America as well as to those longing to break free of the strict religious traditions of early settlement. The Romantics rejected rationalism and religious intellect. It appealed to those in opposition of Calvinism, which includes the belief that the destiny of each individual is preordained. The Romantic movement gave rise to New England Transcendentalism, which portrayed a less restrictive relationship between God and Universe. The new philosophy presented the individual with a more personal relationship with God. Transcendentalism and Romanticism appealed to Americans in a similar fashion, for both privileged feeling over reason, individual freedom of expression over the restraints of tradition and custom. It often involved a rapturous response to nature. It encouraged the rejection of harsh, rigid Calvinism, and promised a new blossoming of American culture. \n\nAmerican Romanticism embraced the individual and rebelled against the confinement of neoclassicism and religious tradition. The Romantic movement in America created a new literary genre that continues to influence American writers. Novels, short stories, and poems replaced the sermons and manifestos of yore. Romantic literature was personal, intense, and portrayed more emotion than ever seen in neoclassical literature. America's preoccupation with freedom became a great source of motivation for Romantic writers as many were delighted in free expression and emotion without so much fear of ridicule and controversy. They also put more effort into the psychological development of their characters, and the main characters typically displayed extremes of sensitivity and excitement. \n\nThe works of the Romantic Era also differed from preceding works in that they spoke to a wider audience, partly reflecting the greater distribution of books as costs came down during the period. The Romantic period saw an increase in female authors and also female readers.\n\nRomantic visual arts\n\nIn the visual arts, Romanticism first showed itself in landscape painting, where from as early as the 1760s British artists began to turn to wilder landscapes and storms, and Gothic architecture, even if they had to make do with Wales as a setting. Caspar David Friedrich and J. M. W. Turner were born less than a year apart in 1774 and 1775 respectively and were to take German and English landscape painting to their extremes of Romanticism, but both their artistic sensibilities were formed when forms of Romanticism was already strongly present in art. John Constable, born in 1776, stayed closer to the English landscape tradition, but in his largest \"six-footers\" insisted on the heroic status of a patch of the working countryside where he had grown up—challenging the traditional hierarchy of genres, which relegated landscape painting to a low status. Turner also painted very large landscapes, and above all, seascapes. Some of these large paintings had contemporary settings and staffage, but others had small figures that turned the work into history painting in the manner of Claude Lorrain, like Salvator Rosa a late Baroque artist whose landscapes had elements that Romantic painters repeatedly turned to. Friedrich often used single figures, or features like crosses, set alone amidst a huge landscape, \"making them images of the transitoriness of human life and the premonition of death.\" \n\nOther groups of artists expressed feelings that verged on the mystical, many largely abandoning classical drawing and proportions. These included William Blake and Samuel Palmer and the other members of the Ancients in England, and in Germany Philipp Otto Runge. Like Friedrich, none of these artists had significant influence after their deaths for the rest of the 19th century, and were 20th century rediscoveries from obscurity, though Blake was always known as a poet, and Norway's leading painter Johan Christian Dahl was heavily influenced by Friedrich. The Rome-based Nazarene movement of German artists, active from 1810, took a very different path, concentrating on medievalizing history paintings with religious and nationalist themes. \n\nThe arrival of Romanticism in French art was delayed by the strong hold of Neoclassicism on the academies, but from the Napoleonic period it became increasingly popular, initially in the form of history paintings propagandising for the new regime, of which Girodet's Ossian receiving the Ghosts of the French Heroes, for Napoleon's Château de Malmaison, was one of the earliest. Girodet's old teacher David was puzzled and disappointed by his pupil's direction, saying: \"Either Girodet is mad or I no longer know anything of the art of painting\". A new generation of the French school, developed personal Romantic styles, though still concentrating on history painting with a political message. Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) had his first success with The Charging Chasseur, a heroic military figure derived from Rubens, at the Paris Salon of 1812 in the years of the Empire, but his next major completed work, The Raft of the Medusa of 1821, remains the greatest achievement of the Romantic history painting, which in its day had a powerful anti-government message.\n\nEugène Delacroix (1798–1863) made his first Salon hits with The Barque of Dante (1822), The Massacre at Chios (1824) and Death of Sardanapalus (1827). The second was a scene from the Greek War of Independence, completed the year Byron died there, and the last was a scene from one of Byron's plays. With Shakespeare, Byron was to provide the subject matter for many other works of Delacroix, who also spent long periods in North Africa, painting colourful scenes of mounted Arab warriors. His Liberty Leading the People (1830) remains, with the Medusa, one of the best-known works of French Romantic painting. Both reflected current events, and increasingly \"history painting\", literally \"story painting\", a phrase dating back to the Italian Renaissance meaning the painting of subjects with groups of figures, long considered the highest and most difficult form of art, did indeed become the painting of historical scenes, rather than those from religion or mythology. \n\nFrancisco Goya was called \"the last great painter in whose art thought and observation were balanced and combined to form a faultless unity\". But the extent to which he was a Romantic is a complex question. In Spain, there was still a struggle to introduce the values of the Enlightenment, in which Goya saw himself as a participant. The demonic and anti-rational monsters thrown up by his imagination are only superficially similar to those of the Gothic fantasies of northern Europe, and in many ways he remained wedded to the classicism and realism of his training, as well as looking forward to the Realism of the later 19th century. But he, more than any other artist of the period, exemplified the Romantic values of the expression of the artist's feelings and his personal imaginative world. He also shared with many of the Romantic painters a more free handling of paint, emphasized in the new prominence of the brushstroke and impasto, which tended to be repressed in neoclassicism under a self-effacing finish.\n\nSculpture remained largely impervious to Romanticism, probably partly for technical reasons, as the most prestigious material of the day, marble, does not lend itself to expansive gestures. The leading sculptors in Europe, Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen, were both based in Rome and firm Neoclassicists, not at all tempted to allow influence from medieval sculpture, which would have been one possible approach to Romantic sculpture. When it did develop, true Romantic sculpture—with the exception of a few artists such as Rudolf Maison— rather oddly was missing in Germany, and mainly found in France, with François Rude, best known from his group of the 1830s from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, David d'Angers, and Auguste Préault. Préault's plaster relief entitled Slaughter, which represented the horrors of wars with exacerbated passion, caused so much scandal at the 1834 Salon that Préault was banned from this official annual exhibition for nearly twenty years. In Italy, the most important Romantic sculptor was Lorenzo Bartolini. \n\nFile:El Tres de Mayo, by Francisco de Goya, from Prado thin black margin.jpg|Francisco Goya, The Third of May 1808, 1814\nFile:JEAN LOUIS THÉODORE GÉRICAULT - La Balsa de la Medusa (Museo del Louvre, 1818-19).jpg|Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1819\nFile:Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple.jpg|Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People 1830\nFile:The Fighting Temeraire, JMW Turner, National Gallery.jpg|J.M.W. Turner, The Fighting Téméraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken up, 1839\n\nIn France, historical painting on idealized medieval and Renaissance themes is known as the style Troubadour, a term with no equivalent for other countries, though the same trends occurred there. Delacroix, Ingres and Richard Parkes Bonington all worked in this style, as did lesser specialists such as Pierre-Henri Révoil (1776–1842) and Fleury-François Richard (1777–1852). Their pictures are often small, and feature intimate private and anecdotal moments, as well as those of high drama. The lives of great artists such as Raphael were commemorated on equal terms with those of rulers, and fictional characters were also depicted. Fleury-Richard's Valentine of Milan weeping for the death of her husband, shown in the Paris Salon of 1802, marked the arrival of the style, which lasted until the mid-century, before being subsumed into the increasingly academic history painting of artists like Paul Delaroche. \n\nAnother trend was for very large apocalyptic history paintings, often combining extreme natural events, or divine wrath, with human disaster, attempting to outdo The Raft of the Medusa, and now often drawing comparisons with effects from Hollywood. The leading English artist in the style was John Martin, whose tiny figures were dwarfed by enormous earthquakes and storms, and worked his way through the biblical disasters, and those to come in the final days. Other works such as Delacroix's Death of Sardanapalus included larger figures, and these often drew heavily on earlier artists, especially Poussin and Rubens, with extra emotionalism and special effects.\n\nElsewhere in Europe, leading artists adopted Romantic styles: in Russia there were the portraitists Orest Kiprensky and Vasily Tropinin, with Ivan Aivazovsky specializing in marine painting, and in Norway Hans Gude painted secenes of fjords. In Italy Francesco Hayez (1791–1882) was the leading artist of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan. His long, prolific and extremely successful career saw him begin as a Neoclassical painter, pass right through the Romantic period, and emerge at the other end as a sentimental painter of young women. His Romantic period included many historical pieces of \"Troubadour\" tendencies, but on a very large scale, that are heavily influenced by Gian Battista Tiepolo and other late Baroque Italian masters.\n\nLiterary Romanticism had its counterpart in the American visual arts, most especially in the exaltation of an untamed American landscape found in the paintings of the Hudson River School. Painters like Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church and others often expressed Romantic themes in their paintings. They sometimes depicted ancient ruins of the old world, such as in Fredric Edwin Church’s piece Sunrise in Syria. These works reflected the Gothic feelings of death and decay. They also show the Romantic ideal that Nature is powerful and will eventually overcome the transient creations of men. More often, they worked to distinguish themselves from their European counterparts by depicting uniquely American scenes and landscapes. This idea of an American identity in the art world is reflected in W. C. Bryant’s poem, To Cole, the Painter, Departing for Europe, where Bryant encourages Cole to remember the powerful scenes that can only be found in America.\n\nSome American paintings (such as Albert Bierstadt’s The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak) promote the literary idea of the “noble savage” by portraying idealized Native Americans living in harmony with the natural world. Thomas Cole's paintings tend towards allegory, explicit in The Voyage of Life series painted in the early 1840s, showing the stages of life set amidst an awesome and immense nature.\n\nFile:Thomas Cole - The Voyage of Life Childhood, 1842 (National Gallery of Art).jpg|Thomas Cole, Childhood, one of the 4 scenes in The Voyage of Life, 1842\nFile:William Blake - Albion Rose - from A Large Book of Designs 1793-6.jpg|William Blake, Albion Rose, 1794-5\nFile:Le poeme de lAme-14-Louis Janmot-MBA Lyon-IMG 0497.jpg|Louis Janmot, from his series \"The Poem of the Soul\", before 1854\nFile:Thomas Cole - The Voyage of Life Old Age, 1842 (National Gallery of Art).jpg|Thomas Cole, 1842, The Voyage of LifeOld Age\n\nRomanticism and music\n\nMusical Romanticism is predominantly a German phenomenon—so much so that one respected French reference work defines it entirely in terms of \"The role of music in the aesthetics of German romanticism\". Another French encyclopedia holds that the German temperament generally \"can be described as the deep and diverse action of romanticism on German musicians\", and that there is only one true representative of Romanticism in French music, Hector Berlioz, while in Italy, the sole great name of musical Romanticism is Giuseppe Verdi, \"a sort of [Victor] Hugo of opera, gifted with a real genius for dramatic effect\". Nevertheless, the huge popularity of German Romantic music led, \"whether by imitation or by reaction\", to an often nationalistically inspired vogue amongst Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Czech, and Scandinavian musicians, successful \"perhaps more because of its extra-musical traits than for the actual value of musical works by its masters\". \n\nAlthough the term \"Romanticism\" when applied to music has come to imply the period roughly from 1800 until 1850, or else until around 1900, the contemporary application of \"romantic\" to music did not coincide with this modern interpretation. Indeed, one of the earliest sustained applications of the term to music occurs in 1789, in the Mémoires of André Grétry. This is of particular interest because it is a French source on a subject mainly dominated by Germans, but also because it explicitly acknowledges its debt to Jean-Jacques Rousseau (himself a composer, amongst other things) and, by so doing, establishes a link to one of the major influences on the Romantic movement generally. In 1810 E.T.A. Hoffmann named Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven as \"the three masters of instrumental compositions\" who \"breathe one and the same romantic spirit\". He justified his view on the basis of these composers' depth of evocative expression and their marked individuality. In Haydn's music, according to Hoffmann, \"a child-like, serene disposition prevails\", while Mozart (in the late E-flat major Symphony, for example) \"leads us into the depths of the spiritual world,\" with elements of fear, love, and sorrow, \"a presentiment of the infinite ... in the eternal dance of the spheres\". Beethoven's music, on the other hand, conveys a sense of \"the monstrous and immeasurable,\" with the pain of an endless longing that \"will burst our breasts in a fully coherent concord of all the passions.\" This elevation in the valuation of pure emotion resulted in the promotion of music from the subordinate position it had held in relation to the verbal and plastic arts during the Enlightenment. Because music was considered to be free of the constraints of reason, imagery, or any other precise concept, it came to be regarded, first in the writings of Wackenroder and Tieck and later by writers such as Schelling and Wagner, as preeminent among the arts, the one best able to express the secrets of the universe, to evoke the spirit world, infinity, and the absolute. \n\nThis chronologic agreement of musical and literary Romanticism continued as far as the middle of the 19th century, when Richard Wagner denigrated the music of Meyerbeer and Berlioz as \"neoromantic\": \"The Opera, to which we shall now return, has swallowed down the Neoromanticism of Berlioz, too, as a plump, fine-flavoured oyster, whose digestion has conferred on it anew a brisk and well-to-do appearance.\" \n\nIt was only toward the end of the 19th century that the newly emergent discipline of Musikwissenschaft (musicology)—itself a product of the historicizing proclivity of the age—attempted a more scientific periodization of music history, and a distinction between Viennese Classical and Romantic periods was proposed. The key figure in this trend was Guido Adler, who viewed Beethoven and Franz Schubert as transitional but essentially Classical composers, with Romanticism achieving full maturity only in the post-Beethoven generation of Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, Berlioz, and Franz Liszt. From Adler's viewpoint, found in books like Der Stil in der Musik (1911), composers of the New German School and various late-19th-century nationalist composers were not Romantics but \"moderns\" or \"realists\" (by analogy with the fields of painting and literature), and this schema remained prevalent through the first decades of the 20th century.\n\nBy the second quarter of the 20th century, an awareness that radical changes in musical syntax had occurred during the early 1900s caused another shift in historical viewpoint, and the change of century came to be seen as marking a decisive break with the musical past. This in turn led historians such as Alfred Einstein to extend the musical \"Romantic Era\" throughout the 19th century and into the first decade of the 20th. It has continued to be referred to as such in some of the standard music references such as The Oxford Companion to Music and Grout's History of Western Music but was not unchallenged. For example, the prominent German musicologist Friedrich Blume, the chief editor of the first edition of Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (1949–86), accepted the earlier position that Classicism and Romanticism together constitute a single period beginning in the middle of the 18th century, but at the same time held that it continued into the 20th century, including such pre–World War II developments as expressionism and neoclassicism. This is reflected in some notable recent reference works such as the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the new edition of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. \n\nFile:Barabas-liszt.jpg|Franz Liszt, 1847\nFile:Postcard-1910 Daniel Fransois Auber.jpg|Daniel Auber, c.1868\nImage:Giuseppe Verdi by Giovanni Boldini.jpg|Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi, 1886\nFile:Robert Schumann 1839.jpg|Robert Schumann, 1839\nFile:Hector Berlioz.jpg|Hector Berlioz, 1850\nFile:Richardwagner1.jpg|Richard Wagner, c. 1870s\nImage:Giacomo Meyerbeer nuorempana.jpg|Giacomo Meyerbeer, 1847\nFile:Mendelssohn Bartholdy.jpg|Felix Mendelssohn, 1839\n\nIn the contemporary music culture, the romantic musician followed a public career depending on sensitive middle-class audiences rather than on a courtly patron, as had been the case with earlier musicians and composers. Public persona characterized a new generation of virtuosi who made their way as soloists, epitomized in the concert tours of Paganini and Liszt, and the conductor began to emerge as an important figure, on whose skill the interpretation of the increasingly complex music depended. \n\nRomanticism outside the arts\n\nSciences\n\nThe Romantic movement affected most aspects of intellectual life, and Romanticism and science had a powerful connection, especially in the period 1800–40. Many scientists were influenced by versions of the Naturphilosophie of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and others, and without abandoning empiricism, sought in their work to uncover what they tended to believe was a unified and organic Nature. The English scientist Sir Humphry Davy, a prominent Romantic thinker, said that understanding nature required “an attitude of admiration, love and worship, [...] a personal response.” He believed that knowledge was only attainable by those who truly appreciated and respected nature. Self-understanding was an important aspect of Romanticism. It had less to do with proving that man was capable of understanding nature (through his budding intellect) and therefore controlling it, and more to do with the emotional appeal of connecting himself with nature and understanding it through a harmonious co-existence. \n\nHistoriography\n\nHistory writing was very strongly, and many would say harmfully, influenced by Romanticism. In England Thomas Carlyle was a highly influential essayist who turned historian; he both invented and exemplified the phrase \"hero-worship\", lavishing largely uncritical praise on strong leaders such as Oliver Cromwell, Frederick the Great and Napoleon. Romantic nationalism had a largely negative effect on the writing of history in the 19th century, as each nation tended to produce its own version of history, and the critical attitude, even cynicism, of earlier historians was often replaced by a tendency to create romantic stories with clearly distinguished heroes and villains. Nationalist ideology of the period placed great emphasis on racial coherence, and the antiquity of peoples, and tended to vastly over-emphasize the continuity between past periods and the present, leading to national mysticism. Much historical effort in the 20th century was devoted to combating the romantic historical myths created in the 19th century.\n\nTheology\n\nTo insulate theology from reductionism in science, 19th-century post-Enlightenment German theologians moved in a new direction, led by Friedrich Schleiermacher and Albrecht Ritschl. They took the Romantic approach of rooting religion in the inner world of the human spirit, so that it is a person's feeling or sensibility about spiritual matters that comprises religion. \n\nRomantic nationalism\n\nOne of Romanticism's key ideas and most enduring legacies is the assertion of nationalism, which became a central theme of Romantic art and political philosophy. From the earliest parts of the movement, with their focus on development of national languages and folklore, and the importance of local customs and traditions, to the movements that would redraw the map of Europe and lead to calls for self-determination of nationalities, nationalism was one of the key vehicles of Romanticism, its role, expression and meaning. One of the most important functions of medieval references in the 19th century was nationalist. Popular and epic poetry were its workhorses. This is visible in Germany and Ireland, where underlying Germanic or Celtic linguistic substrates dating from before the Romanization-Latinization were sought out. And, in Catalonia, nationalists reclaimed Catalanism from before the Hispanicization of the Catholic Monarchs in the 15th century, when the Crown of Aragon was unified with the Castilian nobility.\n\nEarly Romantic nationalism was strongly inspired by Rousseau, and by the ideas of Johann Gottfried von Herder, who in 1784 argued that the geography formed the natural economy of a people, and shaped their customs and society.\n\nThe nature of nationalism changed dramatically, however, after the French Revolution with the rise of Napoleon, and the reactions in other nations. Napoleonic nationalism and republicanism were, at first, inspirational to movements in other nations: self-determination and a consciousness of national unity were held to be two of the reasons why France was able to defeat other countries in battle. But as the French Republic became Napoleon's Empire, Napoleon became not the inspiration for nationalism, but the object of its struggle. In Prussia, the development of spiritual renewal as a means to engage in the struggle against Napoleon was argued by, among others, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, a disciple of Kant. The word Volkstum, or nationality, was coined in German as part of this resistance to the now conquering emperor. Fichte expressed the unity of language and nation in his address \"To the German Nation\" in 1806:\n\nThose who speak the same language are joined to each other by a multitude of invisible bonds by nature herself, long before any human art begins; they understand each other and have the power of continuing to make themselves understood more and more clearly; they belong together and are by nature one and an inseparable whole. ...Only when each people, left to itself, develops and forms itself in accordance with its own peculiar quality, and only when in every people each individual develops himself in accordance with that common quality, as well as in accordance with his own peculiar quality—then, and then only, does the manifestation of divinity appear in its true mirror as it ought to be. \n\nThis view of nationalism inspired the collection of folklore by such people as the Brothers Grimm, the revival of old epics as national, and the construction of new epics as if they were old, as in the Kalevala, compiled from Finnish tales and folklore, or Ossian, where the claimed ancient roots were invented. The view that fairy tales, unless contaminated from outside literary sources, were preserved in the same form over thousands of years, was not exclusive to Romantic Nationalists, but fit in well with their views that such tales expressed the primordial nature of a people. For instance, the Brothers Grimm rejected many tales they collected because of their similarity to tales by Charles Perrault, which they thought proved they were not truly German tales; Sleeping Beauty survived in their collection because the tale of Brynhildr convinced them that the figure of the sleeping princess was authentically German. Vuk Karadžić contributed to Serbian folk literature, using peasant culture as the foundation. He regarded the oral literature of the peasants as an integral part of Serbian culture, compiling it to use in his collections of folk songs, tales, and proverbs, as well as the first dictionary of vernacular Serbian. Similar projects were undertaken by the Russian Alexander Afanasyev, the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, and the Englishman Joseph Jacobs. \n\nPolish nationalism and messianism \n\nRomanticism played an essential role in the national awakening of many Central European peoples lacking their own national states, not least in Poland, which had recently lost its independence when Russia's army crushed the Polish Uprising under Nicholas I. Revival and reinterpretation of ancient myths, customs and traditions by Romantic poets and painters helped to distinguish their indigenous cultures from those of the dominant nations and crystallise the mythography of Romantic nationalism. Patriotism, nationalism, revolution and armed struggle for independence also became popular themes in the arts of this period. Arguably, the most distinguished Romantic poet of this part of Europe was Adam Mickiewicz, who developed an idea that Poland was the Messiah of Nations, predestined to suffer just as Jesus had suffered to save all the people. The Polish self-image as a \"Christ among nations\" or the martyr of Europe can be traced back to its history of Christendom and suffering under invasions. During the periods of foreign occupation, the Catholic Church served as bastion of Poland's national identity and language, and the major promoter of Polish culture. The partitions came to be seen in Poland as a Polish sacrifice for the security for Western civilization. Adam Mickiewicz wrote the patriotic drama Dziady (directed against the Russians) where he depicts Poland as the Christ of Nations. He also wrote \"Verily I say unto you, it is not for you to learn civilization from foreigners, but it is you who are to teach them civilization ... You are among the foreigners like the Apostles among the idolaters\". In \"Books of the Polish nation and Polish pilgrimage\" Mickiewicz detailed his vision of Poland as a Messias and a Christ of Nations, that would save mankind. Dziady is known for various interpretation. The most known ones are the moral aspect of part II, individualist and romantic message of part IV, as well as deeply patriotic,messianistic and Christian vision in part III of poem. Zdzisław Kępiński, however, focuses his interpretation on Slavic pagan and occult elements found in the drama. In his book Mickiewicz hermetyczny he writes about hermetic, theosophic and alchemical philosophy on the book as well as Masonic symbols.\n\nGallery\n\n;Emerging Romanticism in the 18th century\n\nFile:Shipwrec-vernet.jpg|Joseph Vernet, 1759, Shipwreck; the 18th century \"sublime\"\nFile:Joseph Wright 004.jpg|Joseph Wright, 1774, Cave at evening, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts\nFile:John Henry Fuseli - The Nightmare.JPG|Henry Fuseli, 1781, The Nightmare, a classical artist whose themes often anticipate the Romantic\nFile:Philipp Jakob Loutherbourg d. J. 002.jpg|Philip James de Loutherbourg, Coalbrookdale by Night, 1801, a key location of the English Industrial Revolution\n\n;French Romantic painting\n\nFile:GericaultHorseman.jpg|Théodore Géricault, The Charging Chasseur, c. 1812\nFile:IngresDeathOfDaVinci.jpg|Ingres, Death of Leornardo da Vinci, 1818, one of his Troubadour style works\nFile:Eugène Delacroix - Collision of Moorish Horsemen - Walters 376.jpg|Eugène Delacroix, Collision of Moorish Horsemen, 1843–44\nFile:Eugène Delacroix - The Bride of Abydos - WGA06224.jpg|Eugène Delacroix, The Bride of Abydos, 1857, after the poem by Byron\n\n;Other\n\nFile:Waterfalls at Subiaco Joseph Anton Koch.jpeg|Joseph Anton Koch, Waterfalls at Subiaco 1812–1813, a \"classical\" landscape to art historians\nFile:James Ward - Gordale Scar (A View of Gordale, in the Manor of East Malham in Craven, Yorkshire, the Property of Lord Ribblesdale) - Google Art Project.jpg|James Ward, 1814–1815, Gordale Scar\nFile:John Constable The Hay Wain.jpg|John Constable, 1821, The Hay Wain, one of Constable's large \"six footers\"\nFile:J.C. Dahl - Eruption of the Volcano Vesuvius - Google Art Project.jpg|J. C. Dahl, 1826, Eruption of Vesuvius, by Friedrich's closest follower\nFile:The Wood of the Self-Murderers.jpg|William Blake, c. 1824–27, The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides, Tate\nFile:Karl Brullov - The Last Day of Pompeii - Google Art Project.jpg|Karl Bryullov, The Last Day of Pompeii, 1833, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia\n\nFile:Turner-The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons.jpg|J. M. W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835), Philadelphia Museum of Art\nFile:Hans Gude--Vinterettermiddag--1847.jpg|Hans Gude, Winter Afternoon, 1847, National Gallery of Norway, Oslo\nFile:Hovhannes Aivazovsky - The Ninth Wave - Google Art Project.jpg|Ivan Aivazovsky, 1850, The Ninth Wave, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg\nFile:John Martin - Sodom and Gomorrah.jpg|John Martin, 1852, The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Laing Art Gallery\nFile:twilight wilderness big.jpeg|Frederic Edwin Church, 1860, Twilight in the Wilderness, Cleveland Museum of Art\nFile:Albert Bierstadt - The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak.jpg|Albert Bierstadt, 1863, The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak\n\nRomantic authors\n\nScholars of Romanticism",
"Project MUSE - Corporealizing Fairy Tales: The Body, the ...\nCorporealizing Fairy Tales: ... Fables is hardly the first comic book to utilize folklore in this fashion. Gaiman’s Sandman, which ran ... Hans Christian Andersen, ...\nProject MUSE - Corporealizing Fairy Tales: The Body, the Bawdy, and the Carnivalesque in the Comic Book Fables\nThe Body, the Bawdy, and the Carnivalesque in the Comic Book Fables\nAdam Zolkover (bio)\nAbstract\nThrough a series of inversions of the structure and content of canonical European literary fairy tales, Bill Willingham’s comic book Fables functions, at once, as parody, commentary, and as an ongoing fairy tale in its own right. The classic fairy-tale characters of the Grimms and Charles Perrault are given corporeal form—given sexuality and sensuality in the comic’s pages—and through this transformation are reshaped into a refracting lens for the moral precepts of those collections. The result is a postmodern literary endeavor that is neither condemnation nor celebration of the material from which it draws, but something in between.\nHistorically, there has been little space in the discipline of folkloristics for the study of the American comic book. This was the case in 1980 when Alex Scobie wrote that folklorists “have not evinced the same degree of interest as has been shown by their colleagues in the social sciences” (70). And it is no less true today when, despite an expansion of folkloristics into the realm of popular culture, discussion of sequential art in print remains conspicuously sparse. Aside from Scobie’s “Comics and Folkliterature,” which appeared in Fabula in 1980, the only significant writing on the topic from a folkloristic perspective is Ronald Baker’s 1975 article in the Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin, “Folklore Motifs in the Comic Books of Superheroes”. 1 Here, Baker comments on the replacement of märchen in the popular imagination with an array of mass-mediated entertainments, and then goes on to point out a set of confluences between folktale motifs and tropes from Golden Age superhero books. 2 The waxing of the latter, he suggests, makes up in part for the waning of the former. His article, and Scobie’s as well, provides little more than a few introductory remarks intended to lead us toward a more well developed interest in the topic. Unfortunately, however, folklorists have been reluctant to follow.\nThere are a number of significant reasons, as Scobie points, out, why this should be the case (70–72). Given the kinds of constraints in the past placed on folklorists engaging in the study of folklore in literature, as well as the broader [End Page 38] perception of comic books as marginal and even ultimately harmful, comics could hardly seem like an appealing subject to pursue. Richard M. Dorson’s proclamation in his 1957 article, “The Identification of Folklore in American Literature,” that authors engaging in the study of folklore and literature must be able to prove the orality and traditionality of folklore items and motifs in a given text, severely limits the horizons of scholarly inquiry into comic books. Comics, after all, tend to integrate and reinterpret folklore, or explicitly refer to literary renderings, especially of myths and folktales, leaving the role of oral influences either irrelevant or impossible to determine. And while criticism of Dorson’s methodology—explicitly from Daniel Hoffman, Alan Dundes, and Mary Ellen Brown in the 1960s and 1970s, and implicitly from literary scholars like Stephen Benson more recently—has been voluminous and persuasive, Dorson’s words do still loom large (Hoffman; Dundes, “Study of Folklore”; Lewis; Benson).\nFurther, prevailing attitudes toward comic books and their value, or lack thereof, in American culture seem to limit the possibilities for any kind of serious scholarly discussion of the subject at all. Between 1948 and 1954, psychologist Fredrick Wertham pressed and popularized his claim that comic books “are an important factor in causing juvenile delinquency”—that they are, in part at least, to blame for rising crime and declining morality among young people (Thrasher 195). Comics, he suggested, encourage racism, fascist leanings, and what he termed sexual deviancy, portraying crime, vigilante justice, and thinly veiled homoeroticism in their pages (Wertham). His arguments were (and still are) dismissed on a number of fronts, including by the comic book industry itself. But despite this, his views managed to gain such popularity that in a move similar to the 1930s introduction of the Hays Code for film, comic book producers were forced to institute their own set of governing guidelines—the Comics Code—in 1954. 3 Though comic books have made gains in their social acceptability since the 1980s, and especially since the turn of the millennium, the Wertham stigma has never fully abated. The result is that comic books tend to be perceived as a second-rate, second-tier genre of literature, hardly fitting for any academic study, much less study by a discipline already in some measure of distress.\nThis leads to a situation that is, on the whole, unfortunate. Because while folklorists have been paying little attention to comic books, comic book creators have been talking a great deal about folklore. In 2002 a comic book appeared to enormous critical acclaim starring characters out of the pages of classic literary fairy-tale collections. The book, Bill Willingham’s Fables, is among the current flagship titles of DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint—a line intended for mature readers that in the past has included well-known comics like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Grant Morrison’s Invisibles. The premise of Fables is that various characters from the fairy-tale and children’s literature canon have been forced out of their [End Page 39] homelands by a villain who is, at least through the first forty issues, unidentified; and they have been living secretly as refugees in New York for the past three hundred years. The stories themselves revolve around the day-to-day governing of the refugee community known as Fabletown. They star Snow White, who begins the series as the deputy mayor of the community; her assistant Boy Blue; Bigby, the Big Bad Wolf in a human guise, who starts out as the sheriff of Fable-town; and the erstwhile lover of many a female Fable, Prince Charming. Also in residence are Snow White’s sister—the perennial party girl Rose Red; her sometime boyfriend Jack o’ the Tales; the wealthy but lonely Bluebeard (deceased by the fourth story arc); Cinderella, who owns the Glass Slipper shoe store and moonlights as a spy; and several powerful old witches. Those individuals who for whatever reason cannot pass as Mundies (the Fables’ word for humans) live in Upstate New York on a farm that is magically warded against curious outsiders.\nFables is hardly the first comic book to utilize folklore in this fashion. Gaiman’s Sandman, which ran from 1988 until 1996, drew from an array of different mythological traditions, forming a metaphysical landscape of thought and emotion peopled by pantheons from around the world. Five years earlier, Walter Simonson drew on mythology as well, using his extensive knowledge of Norse myth and legend to reshape and reinvigorate the Marvel Comics title Thor. And more recently (1999–2005), Alan Moore, too, has done something similar with his title Promethea, dispensing nearly entirely with the conceit of an adventure story in favor of exploring cosmology through the lens of Kabbalah, ceremonial magick, and tarot (Moore and Williams). 4 The difference between these comics and Fables, obviously, is that Fables draws its subject matter from fairy-tale material rather than myth. In addition, however, whereas Gaiman and Moore seem interested in using folklore to explore issues of imagination and spirituality, and whereas Simonson is interested in using myth to enrich a pre-existing fictional landscape, Willingham’s Fables works in the opposite direction, using the comic book medium, at least in part, as a lens through which to comment on the fairy tales themselves.\nThe effectiveness of Fables, then, lies not in the mere presence of fairy-tale characters in a preestablished comic book taleworld. It cannot be usefully studied via the itemistic approach that has historically characterized scholarship on folklore in literature. Rather, the effectiveness of Fables lies in the way that characters are utilized both to tell a new and compelling story, and to reinterpret the sources from which they come. Willingham and his creative partners modify, distort, and integrate folklore in their work; they play with it and parody it; and ultimately, they transform it, coming out with a multivalent response to the fairy-tale genre as it is traditionally constructed that both aligns itself to other folkloric and literary representations and stands away from them, treating the genre with a subversive, parodic laughter. What Willingham presents here could be [End Page 40] aptly described as a fairy-tale pastiche—a postmodernist blending of elements from a variety of loci within fairy-tale discourse that serves at once as commentary, play, and a fairy tale in its own right.\nExamining Fables with this in mind, then, the most striking feature of the series—the most conspicuous way in which Willingham and his cocreators attempt to reinterpret the genre—is through the corporealization and eroticization of fairy-tale characters. Characters in the Western fairy-tale canon—in the Buchmärchen and Kunstmärchen to which Willingham directly refers—ordinarily “lack physical and psychological depth” (Lüthi 12). There is not a complete dearth of character description; as Max Lüthi suggests, “individual narrators . . . may interject a word about the hero’s sorrow or joy” or the heroine’s appearance (13). But the terms of such descriptions are usually vague at best, and rarely either revealing of the character or integral to the story itself. In the Grimms’ rendition of “Snow White,” for example, the eponymous protagonist is, at the age of seven, described as “beautiful as the day is clear and more beautiful than the queen herself,” while her rival, the Queen, is “beautiful but proud and haughty” (Grimm and Grimm 196). Both statements are strongly suggestive, but only in the vaguest terms. And even the Grimms’ famous description of Snow White as “white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair as black as ebony”—a sentiment rich in simile—yields only the most general physical description. From these accounts, we know something of Snow White’s complexion, and that she is comely, but little else.\nThis is the case with other classic literary fairy tales as well. Charles Perrault, whose collection is much more explicit about the literary quality of the retellings than is that of the Grimms, provides physical and psychological descriptions that are no more specific. Perrault, in his version of “Cinderella,” writes at his most descriptive that when the “godmother then touched [Cinderella] with her wand . . . her clothes turned into cloth of gold and silver, all beset with jewels,” and that when she entered the ball, “there was immediately a profound silence. Everyone stopped dancing, and the violins ceased to play, so entranced was everyone with the singular beauties of the unknown newcomer” (80–82). This is strong language. It is a declaration of the beauty of the character in the narrative. It is not, however, a specific description. So difficult is it to envision a dress of gold and silver, and so vague are Cinderella’s singular beauties, that the reader is left to his or her own imagination to fill in the details. What is being evoked here, as it is with the Grimms’ “Snow White,” is a set of rhetorical conventions specific to fairy tales in print. And the overarching descriptive motif among those conventions is the abstract.\nThat said, even for scholars who are more generous than Lüthi in assigning depth to fairy-tale characters, information about their physical and psychological nature is always, at best, implied. Looking, for instance, at psychoanalytic [End Page 41] approaches to this same material, while it is possible to make suggestions about the mental state of characters and the symbolic nature of their interactions, the locus of such interpretations is always with the author and the reader, and not with the texts itself. As Francisco Vaz da Silva insists in his 2000 article “Bengt Holbek and the Study of Meanings in Fairy Tales,” fairy-tale characters, being literary, have no unconscious of their own and thus no capacity for the mental mechanisms proposed by psychoanalysis (5). Writers, readers, raconteurs, and listeners all have the capacity to project psychological depth onto them, but the characters themselves are incapable of projection. Thus, coming back to “Snow White,” we can say that the relationship between the protagonist and her stepmother—the compulsion of the Queen to be the most desirable—is a case of projection and Electral fantasy. We can say that Snow White, competing with her stepmother for her father’s attentions, projects her frustration onto the Queen, insisting that she is being oppressed because she cannot act out her desire. But the projection in this case is from the interpreter, and onto the text. Nowhere in the text is there explicit motivation attributed to either female character, and nowhere is there psychological commentary within the text. Even if we can accept the validity of a psychoanalytic approach, then, it does not negate Lüthi’s reading of the fairy-tale genre: based on descriptions within the texts, fairy-tale characters remain largely abstract.\nFables, on the other hand, presents an inversion: whereas fairy-tale characters tend to be flattened, stylized, stripped of all but the most essential references to the sensual and the psychic, the characters in Fables are emotionally complex, sexually explicit, and physically present. In their transition to the comic book page, they are fleshed out, corporealized. They are given form, drapery, adornment that at once marks them as contiguous with their fairy-tale selves, and lends them a verisimilitude that allows them to pass unquestioned into human society, both ours and the fictional New York of the series. And further, as part of that same transition, they are eroticized. Through dialogue, through plot transformations, and most significantly through sequential artistic rendering, they are given psychic depth—desire—that makes manifest that which was, at best, latent in the fairy tales from which these characters come. The dramatis personae of folk narrative are transformed in the comic. They are simultaneously capsized and preserved to produce a set of characters that have walked into the realist conventions of commercial American comic books, dragging their abstract past behind them.\nThis transformation, at its most basic level, is a matter of the way in which these characters inhabit their skins. Through characterization, storytelling, and artistic rendering, their fairy-tale identities are reinscribed again and again, even as they are transformed into something new. In part, this is a matter of the nature of the comic book medium, which leads to a situation in which characters, by [End Page 42] necessity, are imbued with a body on the page. They are drawn out—represented in pencil and pen and paint—given a solid, if symbolic, form that is recognizable among readers and producers as a body. At the same time, however, in order to make that body recognizable—in order to allow readers to associate it with a particular character—it must be given regalia that provide a means by which readers can perceive its specificity. In certain ways it is not unlike the previous use of character illustrations that pervade in fairy-tale collections from the Grimms and Andrew Lang, to George Webbe Dasent’s East o’ the Sun, West o’ the Moon, to Jack Zipes’s new editions of Laura Gonzenbach’s collection (Dasent; Grimm and Grimm; Zipes and Gonzenbach, Beautiful Angiola; Zipes and Gonzenbach, Robber with a Witch’s Head). The difference is that while other collections may include sketches or paintings depicting the occasional scene—while there may be character renderings that must be recognizable in a single instant extracted from a larger narrative—the illustrations in Fables provide a cinematic and sequential series of these sorts of depictions. And as a result, the reader comes to identify certain consistently rendered forms with certain characters, in effect, assigning to each a single body. In other words, Snow White is Snow White in the first issue and in the fortieth, while in a collection of fairy tales, if she is illustrated at all, her presence is only transitory—a snapshot—her image fleeting.\nSnow White, in fact, presents an excellent example of corporealization in this sense. When we first meet the deputy mayor of Fabletown in the first issue of the series, even if we were to miss the nameplate prominently displayed on her desk, she would be almost immediately recognizable (Willingham, Fables: Legends 8). As she is illustrated, she evokes the famous description, quoted above, from the Grimms’ Kinder- und Hausmärchen. Her skin is very pale—nearly white as snow; her lips, whether through cosmetics or otherwise, are red as blood; and her hair is raven black. Further, the illustration evokes the iconic representation of Snow White from the 1937 Disney film. Though not a copy of Disney’s rendering, her chin, eyes, and lips are shaped very similarly. And she wears a sleeveless turtleneck in a shade of dark blue nearly identical to the color of her blouse in the film. Her garb, her mannerisms, and most strikingly her attitude have all been altered to fit the geography (New York), the time period (present day), and her position in the Fabletown government, but there is a definite, recognizable continuity with previous incarnations of the character.\nAnd this makes her transformation, if anything, all the more striking. Whereas the Grimms’ and Disney’s portrayals of Snow White evoke an idealized patriarchal past, a Victorian silence about sexuality and a female passivity, in Fables she is active, contemporary, and very sexually present. In the Kinder- und Hausmärchen (as in the Disney film), in return for room and board among the dwarfs, Snow White is asked to perform almost all of the functions of a good [End Page 43] middle-class wife; she must “cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit,” and “keep everything neat and orderly” (Grimm and Grimm 199). Conspicuously absent from her list of tasks is sex. Conversely, in Fables the only mention of Snow White’s dwarven exile centers on its sexual aspect. In the same scene where we first meet Snow White, we find her in the heat of an argument with Beauty, of “Beauty and the Beast” fame. She tells Beauty that she cannot help with the couple’s financial problems—that they ultimately need to learn to manage money themselves—and in response, Beauty blurts out: “And just who is she to criticize anyone’s personal life, after what I heard about her tawdry little adventure with those seven dwarves?” (Willingham, Fables: Legends 12). On this the meeting between the two is abruptly ended, and in its aftermath Boy Blue addresses Beauty reprovingly. “Take my advice,” he tells her. “Some topics are best never brought up. Never discuss personal hygiene with a bridge troll. Never trade casserole recipes with a Black Forest witch. But above all, when talking to the deputy mayor—never mention the dwarves!” (Willingham, Fables: Legends 13). Continuity, then, is still maintained with previous incarnations of Snow White: central to the scene is a reference to her fairy-tale backstory, and its sexual implications remain taboo. But rather than making the taboo a matter of narrative silence, the creators of Fables use it as a narrative device: rather than avoiding it, the comic book is explicitly, and quite loudly, mum.\nTransformation, however, does not take place only amid the maintenance of continuity. Through the creative use of tradition—through a playful reading of the literary fairy-tale canon—Snow White is transformed almost beyond the bounds of that tradition. Willingham and his cocreators seem at first to base Snow White exclusively on her depictions in the Disney film and Kinder- und Hausmärchen. Her physical appearance and certain aspects of her demeanor, as we have seen, directly reference those sources. The Snow White of tale type ATU 709, however, is not exclusively the source. As we find out early on in Fables’ first story arc, she is conflated with the Snow White of the Grimms’ “Snow White and Rose Red” (ATU 426)—clearly a different character in Kinder-und Hausmärchen (Willingham, Fables: Legends 16; Uther). The driving conflict in the first story arc of Fables, in fact, centers on the conflicted relationship between Snow White and Rose Red, and the manner and degree to which they remain close and have grown apart. The result is a kind of forking continuity in Snow White’s past in which she seems primarily to be the stepdaughter of an evil queen and the live-in companion of seven dwarfs, but in which she is also the daughter of a poor widow who aids in the metamorphosis of a bear into a prince. In practical terms, this means on the one hand that there is a degree to which character continuity is broken. But on the other hand, it allows for the further psychological development of the character through the exploration of her sororal relationship. [End Page 44]\nLooking at Rose Red, we see a different way in which character continuity is maintained amid transformation. A lack of descriptive specificity in the Grimms’ telling of “Snow White and Rose Red” requires the creators of Fables to invent a set of new corporeal signifiers, even as she—more than almost any other character—is made emblematic of the corporealizing and eroticizing project of the series. In Kinder- und Hausmärchen, the only way in which the Grimms describe Rose Red is to say that “Snow White was more quiet and gentle” than her sister, “who preferred to run around in the meadows and fields, look for flowers, and catch butterflies” (Grimm and Grimm 475). There is no physical description of the character except, perhaps, inasmuch as her name implies the color of her hair. And with the exception of a single little-known West German film adaptation in 1955, Schneeweisschen und Rosenrot, there are no obvious texts on which the creators of Fables could base their rendering of the character (Kobler). The result is that Rose Red’s adornment in the comic book is an invention of the creators, not explicitly referential to any previous rendition, but still interested in maintaining fairy-tale continuity. Rose Red has red hair. She has a tattoo of a red rose over her right shoulder blade (Willingham, Fables: Legends 106). And she tends to wear either scarlet clothing or clothing printed with her eponymous flower (Fables: Legends 98–99; Fables: Animal Farm 6, 8–9). Her look here is different from Snow White’s in that it does not—cannot—allude to previous iconic representations. At the same time, however, it does establish her identity with readers of the series, maintaining some semblance of continuity with the character’s abstract past, even as it lends her corporeal form.\nOn the other hand, as with Snow White, even as the creators of Fables work to maintain a sense of continuity with Rose Red’s fairy-tale past, they transform her, making the physicality, the sensuality, the sexuality that is, at best, implicit in the fairy tale explicit here. And moreover, more than with Snow White, Rose Red’s transformation serves as a manifesto for the subversiveness of the series, making a statement not only about a single character, but also about the fairy-tale genre as a whole. This should be obvious just by looking at the manner of her illustration. Her red hair is short, bobbed, and brightly colored, giving the impression of a kind of sexual playfulness in her manner (Willingham, Fables: Legends 39, 48–49). She is drawn almost uniformly in stylish, revealing clothes—low-cut blouses or small T-shirts revealing her arms, her midriff, or both (Fables: Legends 39, 105–07; Fables: Animal Farm 9). And over and over throughout the course of the first ten issues, she is depicted consistently in flirtatious or amorous relations with the opposite sex, or in some state of undress or half-dress. In the first story arc she is depicted, in flashback, in bed with Prince Charming and then Bluebeard (Fables: Legends 37, 49). While in the second story arc she carries on a casual conversation with her sister before bedtime while in the process of removing her pants (Fables: Animal Farm 22–23). Not [End Page 45] every scene depicting Rose Red is explicitly erotic, but the consistent foregrounding of her body makes her eroticization difficult to forget.\nFurther, there is in fact an eroticism—or at least a frank sexuality—in Rose Red’s characterization. In the way that she is described and discussed by the other Fables, as well as in her own dialogue, she brings to the fore a great deal of the sexuality that is implicitly pervasive not only in “Snow White and Rose Red,” but in the fairy-tale genre as a whole. The Grimms’ description of Rose Red as a girl “who preferred to run around in the meadows and fields” is transformed—perhaps modernized—in Fables as an image of Rose Red as party girl (Grimm and Grimm 475). Snow White describes her as “the last of the dedicated party fiends”—“the original wild child” (Willingham, Fables: Legends 17). While the sheriff of Fabletown—Bigby—contrasts her to the more conservative Snow White, commenting that Rose Red “seems to have dedicated her life to doing whatever will cause [Snow] the most embarrassment” (Fables: Legends 20). And in her own dialogue, too, Rose Red’s sexuality, and the sexuality of fairy tales in general, emerges. In the second story arc, when faced with the prospect of sharing a bed with Snow White, in response to Snow White’s comment that it would hardly be the first time, the half-naked Rose Red replies: “I’ve since grown out of the habit of sleeping with girls—except for once every year or so, as a special birthday present for Jack” (Jack o’ the Tales, her longtime lover) (Fables: Animal Farm 32). Then almost immediately she follows it with the quip: “Relax, sis. You’re safe from me. Even if I could get beyond the incest thing, you’re not my type.” Here, then, she is open not only about her former proclivity for other women and the fact that she has helped enact at least one of her lover’s fantasies, but she also makes explicit the theme of incest, which has been theorized again and again as being an implicit aspect of the fairy-tale genre all along (see Dundes, “To Love My Father All”).\nThe depiction and characterization of other characters in Fables works in much the same way, though not always in a manner that is so well developed as with Snow White and Rose Red. The creators of Fables, for example, maintain the continuity of Goldilocks’s identity by associating her, at least when she is first introduced, with the three bears (Willingham, Fables: Animal Farm 29). She, too, is transformed, however, in her translation to the comic book page. Her proclivity for the material means of the smallest, the weakest—her fairy-tale declaration that the porridge and the bed of the smallest bear are “just right”—is reshaped here as a revolutionary Marxist attitude. And the sexual implication of sharing a bed with baby Boo Bear is made explicit when, in talking about the plight of speciesism among the Fables community, she comments: “Do you think I share your son’s bed only because it happens to be ‘just right’?” Boo’s father responds: “No, it’s because Papa’s li’l boo bear is hung like a —.” And cutting him off, she responds: “I do it because it’s a vital and powerful political statement. [End Page 46] It symbolizes the fact that . . . there is no superior species . . . bear, human, or hedgehog” (Fables: Animal Farm 31).\nHer corporealization and eroticization are further evinced, later, when we find her in bed with Bluebeard. In a postcoital moment, the two of them speak casually while Bluebeard lounges stomach-down on the bed, and Goldilocks dresses herself. An empty bottle of champagne rests upside down in an ice bucket, and the two characters each have a flute, now mostly consumed (Willingham, Fables: Storybook Love 88–91). The casual state of undress here, as well as the conspicuous consumption (a sign of their sensuality, if not their sexuality) serves to solidify the pair as corporeal creatures. Any abstractness left over from their fairy-tale descriptions is roundly wiped away, leaving little to the imagination. Their nudity, the presence of the used paraphernalia of a romantic evening, and the setting of the scene in a candlelit bedroom all suggest the degree to which their corporealization is more than just a product of the fact of their illustration. It all suggests the degree to which they are given, if not psychological complexity, then at least some core sense of desire.\nEven more tellingly, this is the case with Prince Charming, too. A type rather than a character in literary fairy tales, the Prince, in Fables, is given form and rounded out through an extrapolation from his two main features: he is the rescuer of many a maiden in distress, and he is indeed charming. The result of this combination is that though he does live up to his name—though he is recognizably contiguous with the male rescuer in fairy tales like “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty”—he possesses none of the desirable qualities that we would imagine in a fairy-tale hero. Rather, he possesses a transformed version of those qualities, his implicit sexuality becoming explicit, and as a corollary, an arrogant, abrasive personality emerging. Within the first three pages of Prince Charming’s introduction, he is already abed, having sex with a woman he has just met, who does not even know his name (Willingham, Fables: Legends 18). He possesses some coital prowess, and commenting about it while in the act, he exclaims: “I’ve always believed a truly accomplished nobleman should hone his cocksmanship every bit as much as his swordsmanship. In each case, one should know when it’s better to thrust or parry or bind. When it’s time to withdraw or riposte” (Fables: Legends 18). As with Rose Red, he makes an overt connection here that comments not only on his own character, but also on fairy tales in general. He links the sexual symbolism of fairy tales—swordsmanship—with his sexual reality—cocksmanship. And in doing so, he makes a statement about the relative corporeality—the transformed visual rhetoric—of fairy tales on the comic book page.\nIn reading Fables—in examining the manner in which it uses, comments upon, and transforms fairy-tale figures—a pattern begins to emerge that is replicated throughout every other aspect of the series. The corporeal transformations found here are one significant part of a complex of inversions and subversions [End Page 47] that constitute what Peter Stallybrass and Allon White might, in their Politics and Poetics of Transgression, describe as a world upside down. The abstractness inherent in the fairy-tale genre may be useful in the creation of a discursive space, separate from the conventions of everyday life, yet capable of serving as a critical mirror for values, hopes, complaints, and desires. But the physical and psychological concreteness of Fables serves as a critical mirror of that discursive space. Through the metamorphosis of fairy-tale characters—through the exploration of their physical and psychological depth—the creators of Fables generate a carnivalesque commentary, at once lighthearted and pointed, that exposes the rigidness and prescriptive moral didacticism of fairy-tale patriarchs like Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. At the same time, through their emphasis on maintaining continuity with fairy-tale antecedents, they acknowledge the value of that canon, bringing the folkloristic nature of these texts to the fore through a negotiation of the tension between creativity and traditional constraint.\nThe result is a narrative that, though it takes place in a fictionalized “real” New York, maintains its fairy-tale nature. It positions itself, quite literally, at the crossroads between a folkloristic and literary genealogy; we learn in the first issue of the series that the Fabletown apartment complex rests on the corner of Bullfinch and Kipling streets (Willingham, Fables: Legends 5). It is populated, as we have seen, by characters from the literary fairy-tale canon, from the pages of the Grimms and Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen, and even (as we find out later in the series) the Arabian Nights. And though the series is not yet complete—though the full structure of the narrative is not yet apparent—it seems loosely to follow the fairy-tale form that Vladimir Propp lays out in his Morphology of the Folktale; it begins with an act of villainy and the establishment of a lack—the exile of the Fables community from their homelands—and will presumably end with the return of the heroes and the punishment of the villain.\nBut the fairy tale here is also recognizably inverted. The abstractness that Lüthi observes, as we have seen, is swept away in the transformation of fairy-tale characters to the comic book page. In addition, however, the roles of the various characters are complicated and reversed, with villains becoming heroes, victimizers being victimized. We find that characters like Prince Charming, Jack, and Goldilocks, heroes of their own fairy tales, are to a greater or lesser degree villainous in Fables, while if there is a single hero of the series, it is Bigby, the big bad wolf. And we find that a character like Bluebeard, who in his own narrative seduces, terrorizes, and murders wife after wife, here becomes the victim of a duplicitous marriage proposal, and is then murdered himself. 5 And further, though the series as a whole follows a loosely Proppian structure, that structure is reversed, at least in the first five issues: the act of villainy that provides the impetus for the series’ first story is a marriage proposal, while its resolution is not a wedding, but a marriage averted. The characters in Fables, perhaps because [End Page 48] of their added psychological depth, are too complex to fit neatly into any single role—they are allowed to mature as the series progresses, acting with kindness and cruelty, heroism and villainy in turn. But even in this sense the series presents an inversion of the strict roles mandated by the fairy-tale genre.\nIt seems fair to argue of Fables that the set of inversions presented in the series—the corporealization and eroticization of fairy-tale characters—is less about a subversion of the prescriptive morality presented in the classic canon than it is about the transformation of fairy-tale virgins into sluts. Certainly, looking at the history of the visual depiction of eroticized fairy tales, this has been the case often enough. But even in instances like Tex Avery’s 1943 short film Red Hot Riding Hood or his 1949 short Little Rural Riding Hood that are explicit about their objectifying intent, the elements of subversion and critique are not absent. That Avery’s films transform fairy-tale femmes into fairy-tale femmes fatales does not diminish the acuity of their commentary or the degree to which they subvert the moralizing content of the genre that they parody. And likewise, the fact that Fables literally objectifies its characters—gives them concrete form and sexually explicit behavior—does not diminish its critique. Examining the transformations present in the series and their relationship to the fairy-tale genre, we can see how Fables belongs as much to the postmodernist literary tradition of authors like John Barth, Angela Carter, and Margaret Atwood as it does to that of Tex Avery. And how, like works by these authors, it is capable of existing at once as parody, biting commentary, and a fairy tale in its own right.",
"Project MUSE - Terayama Shūji’s Red Riding Hood\n... is a radical retelling of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, ... Little Red Riding Hood said ... sandman. The sandman who is said to make children ...\nProject MUSE - Terayama Shūji’s Red Riding Hood\nTerayama Shūji’s Red Riding Hood\nTranslated by Marc Sebastian-Jones (bio)\nAbstract\nTerayama Shūji (1935–1983) is best known for his work with the experimental theater group Tenjō Sajiki. He was also a poet, photographer, essayist, filmmaker, and the author of a number critically neglected short stories that have been described as gensō dōwa—fantastic fairy tales. In addition to exploring Japanese folktales and legends, Terayama appropriated themes and motifs from the European fairy-tale canon. In 1979 he not only premièred his play Aohigekō no shiro (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle) but also published two collections of fairy tales. The first of these, Boku ga ōkami datta koro: sakasama dōwa shi (When I Was a Wolf: Topsy-Turvy Fairy Tales), is a collection of classic fairy tales and other canonical works that he “tests” by taking them apart and, as the subtitle suggests, turning them inside out and upside down before reconstructing them in his own inimitable style. “Akazukin”—translated here as “Red Riding Hood”—is taken from this collection and is the first of Terayama’s topsy-turvy fairy tales to be translated into English.\nTranslator’s Introduction\nTerayama Shūji (1935–1983) is best known for his work with the experimental theater group Tenjō Sajiki; he was also a poet, photographer, essayist, and film-maker. 1 Terayama was also the author of innovative but critically neglected short stories collected as Terayama Shūji meruhen zenshū (The Complete Märchen of Terayama Shūji). Born in the remote mountainous region of Aomori in northern Japan, Terayama frequently drew on the folk traditions, myths, and superstitions of the area, and, in addition to exploring premodern Japanese folktales and legends in plays such as Yamamba (The Mountain Witch, 1964), Aomori-ken no semushi otoko (The Hunchback of Aomori, 1967), Inugami (The Dog God, 1969), and Jashūmon (Heresy, 1971), he also borrowed openly and extensively from the European fairy-tale canon and other disparate sources. In 1968 he published an illustrated version of The Thousand and One Nights (Alf Lailah Oua Lailah: ehon senichiya monogatari) and in 1973 his skewed versions of Aesop’s fables were recorded by the popular singer and children’s entertainer Tanaka Seiji. Terayama also translated Arthur Rackham’s Mother Goose (published in three volumes as Mazā gūsu, 1977–1978), and in 1979 he not only premiered his play Aohigekō no shiro (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle) but also published two collections of fairy tales. 2\nThe first of Terayama’s 1979 fairy-tale collections, Boku ga ōkami datta koro: sakasama dōwa shi (When I Was a Wolf: Topsy-Turvy Fairy Tales), is a radical retelling of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Carlo Collodi, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Charles Perrault. These classical fairy tales are juxtaposed with revisions of fables, legends, nursery rhymes, and reconstructed [End Page 303] masterpieces by Gottfried August Bürger, Miguel Cervantes, Henrik Ibsen, and Jonathan Swift. In his postscript Terayama describes When I Was a Wolf as his “revenge” (229) on classical fairy tales. His aim with this book was, in part at least, to write an exposé that would reveal the truth about fairy-tale classics. He describes the emperor in Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” as a “metaphysician” (229), Pinocchio as “pornographic” (229), and Red Riding Hood as a “nymphomaniac” (229). Despite their at times disturbing content, Terayama is aware of and draws attention to the fact that fairy tales are used as “teaching materials” (229) to socialize children or, as he puts it, to make them more “convenient” (229) for adults. In other words, while exposing and exploring the darker and more erotic aspects of the tales, Terayama is aware of the ways in which they are used to inculcate children with accepted social and sexual mores. The very idea of using fairy tales to teach or socialize children was anathema to Terayama, who deliberately set out to disturb and disrupt social norms. The postscript goes on to warn readers to beware of the seemingly harmless fairy-tale classics that are in fact “sleeping pills” (229) or opiates that reduce rather than stimulate critical thinking.\nTerayama is quick to deny that When I Was a Wolf has anything to do with what he describes as “recent popular psychological studies of fairy tales” (229). 3 He insists that he is not proposing a new theory of the fairy-tale genre and goes on to claim that his idiosyncratic readings of the tales are the product of an “impoverished childhood” (229). He maintains that the poverty he experienced as a child deprived him of classical fairy tales and suggests that if his story were retold by Aesop, his role would be like that of the hungry fox who tries in vain to reach some grapes hanging temptingly from a vine. In the fable the fox eventually gives up trying to reach the grapes and comforts himself with the thought that they are probably sour and inedible. Terayama admits that the seemingly always-out-of-reach fairy tales also lead to feelings of “sour grapes” (229), but rather than simply dismissing the tales, his anger and frustration ultimately turned his desire to read them into a desire to “disgrace” (229) them. 4 Because of their darker elements, their use and abuse in the acculturation of children, and their potentially limiting effect on the imagination, Terayama insists that the role of fairy tales should be tested occasionally to determine whether they are actually “interesting and instructive” (230) or can be dismissed simply as “mediocre stories” (230). In When I Was a Wolf Terayama tests fairy tales and other canonical texts by taking them apart, rearranging, refocusing, renarrating, and, as the subtitle suggests, turning them inside out and upside down before reconstructing them in his own inimitable style.\n“Akazukin,” translated here as “Red Riding Hood,” is the first of Terayama’s topsy-turvy fairy tales to be translated into English. As readers will see, the title is misleading. “Akazukin” is divided into three sections, only the first of which has [End Page 304] anything to do with Perrault’s “Le Petit chaperon rouge.” The second and third sections are fragments of Perrault’s version of the Cinderella tale, “Cendrillon.” However, Terayama rejects the usual translation of Perrault’s title, “Sandorian,” in favor of “Haimusume” (The Ash Girl), which, strictly speaking, belongs to the Grimms’ version of the tale, “Aschenputtel.” It should also be noted that Terayama does not actually rewrite Perrault’s fairy tales; in fact, apart from changing Red Riding Hood’s gender, Terayama’s versions of “Le Petit chaperon rouge” and “Cendrillon” reproduce almost verbatim Eguchi Kiyoshi’s translations (published in Nemureru mori no bijo [The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood]). Terayama transforms Eguchi’s translations by deleting words and phrases and replacing them with several possible answers that the reader has to choose from; in other words, he has created what at first glance appears to be a typical multiple-choice test. But this is no ordinary test, and the headmaster responsible for setting the questions, “Terayama Shūji,” supplies answers that are permeated with incongruous and anachronistic allusions to both “serious” art and kitsch, popular culture. The catalog of real and fictitious heroes and villains includes Colonel Sanders, Humpty Dumpty, Frankenstein, Madame Ranevskaya, Abdullah the Butcher, Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant, and Jiang Qing. In addition to literature, philosophy, politics, and pro wrestling, Terayama’s miscellany includes references to baseball, sumo, herbal remedies, horse racing, fictional detectives, rōkyoku narrative ballads, manga, and anime. 5\nIn the first section of Terayama’s test the eponymous hero is doted on; however, unlike the heroine of Perrault’s seventeenth-century tale, this Red Riding Hood is adored, depending on the reader’s choice, by (a) the sandman, (b) the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel, or (c) an old woman who was afraid of being killed by her grandchild. The innocent young boy is also preyed upon, but the predator, who constitutes a threat not only to the boy but also to the accepted norms of society, again depends on the reader’s preference. The predator (or social outcast) here is either a sexually alluring young woman, a transvestite detective, or Frankenstein. Faced with these choices, it soon becomes clear that Terayama has disrupted one of the basic principles of multiple-choice tests, namely, that the correct answer is on the page staring you in the face if only you can recall it. Multiple-choice tests are after all little more than memory tests, and familiarity with and knowledge of Perrault’s tale tells us that Little Red Riding Hood’s predator is a wolf, but “wolf” is not one of the possible answers. Like the wolf, however, all three of these potential predators are quite capable of physically and sexually dominating the innocent young boy, and this clearly has implications for the tale as a parable of rape. “Akazukin” is not intended to be didactic, however; nor is it intended to impart any moral lessons. Terayama has no interest in moralizing, and he emphasizes the point by expunging Perrault’s moralités from the text. [End Page 305]\nIn the first of The Ash Girl sections, Terayama continues to disrupt the rationale of multiple-choice tests by erasing not only parts of the text itself but also all the answers. In contrast to multiple-choice tests that deaden the imagination by asking students to regurgitate memorized facts and figures, readers are simply instructed to complete the sentences with a suitable word or phrase. The headmaster does supply possible answers for some of the questions in the final section of the test, but despite the plausibility of choices such as “the Ash Girl” and “glass slippers,” there is nothing to suggest that they, rather than the seemingly implausible choices like “Abdullah the Butcher” and “enema syringes,” are correct. The reader must decide, and this problematizes the privileged position of the headmaster. Like the headmaster, the author might also be expected to guarantee or limit the meaning of his work; however, by appropriating Eguchi’s translations of Perrault, Terayama deflects attention away from himself and, in so doing, deliberately undermines his own similarly privileged position.\nUnlike Perrault, and many others who have tried to stabilize these tales by imposing morals or by otherwise restricting them to fixed—correct—meanings, Terayama opens them up to limitless interpretative possibilities by co-opting his readers into coauthorship. Although he did not believe in the death of the author, Terayama did want to question the assumption that the author can guarantee the text some kind of stable, univocal meaning. He believed that meaning and logic belonged as much to the reader as it did to the author and, like Bertholt Brecht, he wanted his readers (and his theater audiences) to be actively engaged in producing, rather than passively consuming, his work. Terayama reiterated this point in a television interview shortly before his death in May 1983. In the interview he tells Miura Masashi, “I’m not satisfied with a story that’s complete. When a story is complete, there’s no space for the audience… I create half the story and the audience completes it with their half, thus creating a whole” (NHK). In “Akazukin” Terayama opens up space for the readers and, while playfully inviting them to complete the text, provokes them into thinking critically and creatively about the topsy-turvy nature of the world around them.\nLanguage workbook (fairy-tale type) produced in accordance with the new Ministry of Education guidelines.\nRed Riding Hood\nFrom the fairy tales of Charles Perrault.\nTo the student: Answer all the questions set by the headmaster, Terayama Shūji. In addition to developing a better understanding and appreciation of the classics, these standard examination questions focus on vocabulary building, reading skills, spelling, and sentence [End Page 306] structure. Send your answers to the headmaster at the following address: 3-12-43 Motoazabu, Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan. Outstanding students will be suitably rewarded. You may begin.\nQuestion One: Red Riding Hood\nRead the following passage carefully and answer the questions below. (Time: 1 hour)\nOnce upon a time in a certain village lived the prettiest boy that anyone had ever set eyes on. Now, this beautiful boy was adored by [1], and the [2] even made him a little red riding hood for his [3]. The red hood suited the boy perfectly, so much so that everywhere he went he was known as Little Red Riding Hood.\nOne day [4], who was making some pancakes, said to the boy, “You must go and visit [5]; I’ve heard that [6] been having trouble with [7]. Here, take one of these pancakes and this little pot of butter.” Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to visit [8], who lived in another village.\nAs Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the forest, he suddenly found himself face to face with [9], who would very much liked to have [10], but didn’t dare to because [11] nearby in the forest. Instead, [12] asked Little Red Riding Hood where he was going. The poor boy had no idea that it was dangerous to linger in the forest talking to strangers, and he replied innocently, “I’m going to visit [13]. I’m taking a pancake and this little pot of butter from [14].”\n“[15] live far away?” asked [16].\n“Oh, yes,” replied Little Red Riding Hood. “Beyond the [17] that you can see over there. It’s the first [18].”\n“Well, I think I’ll go and visit [19], too. I’ll take this path and you take that one and we’ll see who gets there first.”\n[20] set off as fast as possible along the shorter path while [21] dawdled along the other path gathering hazel nuts, chasing butterflies, and picking the wild flowers that he found. It wasn’t long before [22] arrived at [23] house and rat-a-tat-tatted on the door.\n“Who is it?”\n“It’s me, Red Riding Hood,” said [24], imitating [25]. “I’ve brought you a pancake [26] and a little pot of butter from [27].” [28] sick in bed, but still managed to call out: “Pull out [29] and [30] will fall.” When [31] pulled out [32], the door flew open. In no time at all, [33], who hadn’t [34] for at least three days, leapt on [35] and [36]. Then [37] closed the door, lay down in bed, [End Page 307] and waited for Little Red Riding Hood. At last, he arrived and knocked on the door: rat-a-tat-tat.\n“Who is it?”\nWhen Little Red Riding Hood heard the voice, he was surprised to hear how feeble [38] sounded. [39] must have caught a cold he thought, and replied, “I’ve brought you a pancake [40] and a little pot of butter from [41].” [42], in a disguised voice, said, “Pull out [43] and [44] will fall.” Little Red Riding Hood pulled out [45] and [46] fell.\nWhen Little Red Riding Hood entered the room, [47] hid under the bedclothes and said: “[48].” Seeing how odd [49] looked, Little Red Riding Hood said:\n“[50], what big [51] you have!”\n“All the better to hold you with, my dear [52].”\n[53]\n“[54], what big [55] you have!”\n“All the better to run with, my dear.”\n[56]\n“[57], what a big [58] you have!”\n“All the better to hear you with, my dear.”\n[59]\n“[60], what a big [61] you have!”\n“All the better to see you with, my dear.”\n[62]\n“[63], what a big [64] you have!”\n“All the better to [65] you with, my dear.”\nAnd with that [66] pounced on Little Red Riding Hood and [67].\nLook at the choices below. Complete the sentences by putting a suitable word or phrase into the gap.\n1.\n(b). the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel\n(c). an old woman who was afraid of being killed by her grandchild\n2.\n(b). the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel\n(c). the old woman [End Page 308]\n5.\n(b). The ex-members of the Boy Detectives’ Club\n(c). Karl Marx\n(b). the ex-members of the Boy Detectives’ Club\n(c). Karl Marx\n(a). Peaches from the Turkish bath\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(c). licked him all over\n11.\n(a). an overzealous pedagogue was\n(b). that voyeuristic band, the Black Cat Family, were\n(c). the amore detective was\n12.\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(b). the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel\n(c). the old woman who is afraid of being killed by her grandchild\n15.\n(b). Do the boy detectives\n(c). Does Karl Marx\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(a). Issun Bōshi with the sandwich board\n(b). advertisement for Chūjōtō\n(c). building [End Page 309]\n19.\n(b). The transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(b). the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel\n(c). the old woman who is afraid of being killed by her grandchild\n28.\n(b). The boy detectives were\n(c). Karl Marx was\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(c). a tooth [End Page 310]\n33.\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(a). licked him/them* until he/they* passed out\n(b). murdered and hacked him/them* to pieces\n(c). shagged him/them* senseless * delete as appropriate\n37.\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(b). the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel\n(c). the old woman who is afraid of being killed by her grandchild\n42.\n(a). Peaches from the Turkish bath\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(c). his face [End Page 311]\n47.\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(a). Quickly take your clothes off\n(b). Come and lie down on the bed\n(c). Come over here\n(a). Togawa Masako brushed her teeth.\n(b). Alice got undressed.\n(c). Red Riding Hood said:\n54.\n(a). The publication of Bikkuri House was suspended.\n(b). The Destroyer arrived.\n(c). Red Riding Hood said:\n57.\n(c). Red Riding Hood said:\n60.\n(c). Herr Marx [End Page 312]\n61.\n(a). Egawa the pitcher swam.\n(b). A reader got angry.\n(c). Red Riding Hood said:\n63.\n(a). get a sniff of\n(b). make love to\n(a). Peaches from the Turkish bath\n(b). the transvestite Akechi Kogorō\n(c). Frankenstein\n(a). ate the cake that he had stolen from his pocket\n(b). made him read Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason\n(c). raped and murdered him\nQuestion Two: The Ash Girl\nComplete the sentences with a suitable word or phrase. (Time: 1 hour)\n“Cendrillon, wouldn’t you like to go to the [1], too?”\n“Ah, but you fine ladies are laughing at me. It would be no place for me.”\n“Yes, that’s very true. People would laugh to see [2] at a [3].”\nAny other girl but [4] would have made a terrible tangle of their [5], but [6] was good-natured and finished it to perfection. [7] were so excited that for nearly two days they [8]. They broke more than a dozen laces through drawing their corsets tight in order to make their waists look more slender, and they were permanently in front of the mirror.\nAt last the happy day arrived and away [9] went. [10] watched until she could no longer keep them in sight; then she wept. [11] was still crying when [12] found her and asked what was troubling her. “I would … I would very much like…” She was crying so much that she could not finish the sentence. Now this [13] was a [14], and she said, “You would like to go to the [15], wouldn’t you?”\n“Oh, yes,” said [16], sighing. [End Page 313]\n“Well,” said [17], “you’re a good child and I will arrange it for you.”\n[18] took [19] into her room and said, “Run into the garden and bring me a pumpkin.”\n[20] went at once into the garden and, wondering all the time how it might be useful in getting her to the [21], brought back the finest pumpkin that she could find. [22] scooped out the flesh of the pumpkin leaving only the outer skin; then, as she struck it with her wand, the pumpkin was instantly transformed into a beautiful gilded coach.\nThen [23] went to look in the mouse-trap where she found six mice still alive. [24] told [25] to lift the door of the trap just enough to let the mice out one at a time. As each mouse came out, she tapped it with her wand and, at that very moment, it was transformed into a coach-horse. Soon there was a fine team of six mouse-white horses.\nQuestion Three: The Ash Girl\nRead the following passage carefully and answer the questions below. (Time: 30 minutes)\n[1] leapt up as nimbly as [2]. [3] set off in pursuit but to no avail, for he could not catch up. [4a], who was [4b], dropped one of [5], which [6] tenderly picked up.\n[7] arrived home out of breath, without a carriage, without footmen, and dressed once more in ragged and dirty old clothes; nothing whatsoever remained of all the splendor except one [8] of the [9], the pair of the one that had been dropped.\n[10] asked the palace gatekeepers if they had seen [11] go out. [12] replied that nobody had left except a raggedly dressed creature who looked more like a [13] than a [14].\n1. Look at the choices below. Put the most suitable word or phrase into the gap.\n• The Ash Girl\n• Nakajima Yoshiko from class 2:A\n• Kurohimeyama\n2. Look at the choices below. Complete the sentence by putting the most suitable word or phrase into the gap.\n• Lupin III\n• a boiled egg\n• a cockroach [End Page 314]\n3. Look at the choices below. Put the most suitable word or phrase into the gap.\n• The great detective Holmés\n• The prince\n• Hitofushi Tarō\n4. Choose one of the names below and write it into gap 4a. Complete the phrase by putting a suitable expression from the box into gap 4b.\n• The Ash Girl\n• Nakajima Yoshiko from class 2:A\n• Kurohimeyama",
"Endicott Redux:\nEndicott Redux. About JoMA \"The ... In light of yesterday's discussion in the Comments section of the Hans Christian Andersen ... simplistic character. Andersen did ...\nEndicott Redux:\nHealing Tales and The Snow Queen\n \nBack in November , we profiled the work of multi-media artist Meg Fox, looking at the ways she and other writers and artists use fairy tale themes to discuss the difficult subject of child abuse. Now Meg has written to say that she's started a new blog specifically for this kind of work: Healing Through Visual, Literary and Performance Arts . The art above is one of the new pieces featured on the blog, based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen -- a writer we were speaking of just yesterday.\nIn an excellent essay titled \"In Trance of Self,\" fiction writer and playwright Deborah Eisenberg discusses the young protagonists of The Snow Queen, looking at the ways that both Gerda and Kay claim our sympathy: \"Who among us, like Gerda, has not been exiled from the familiar comforts of one's world by the departure or defection of a beloved?...Who has not been forced to accede to a longing that nothing but its object can allay? On the other hand, who has not experienced some measure or some element of Kay's despair? Who has not, at one time or another, been paralyzed and estranged as his appetite and affection for life leaches away....Who has not, at least briefly, retreated into a shining hermetic fortress from which the rest of the world appears frozen and colorless?...And who, withholding sympathy from his unworthy self, has not been ennobled by the sympathy of a loving friend?\" (To read the full essay, seek out Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales , edited by Kate Bernheimer .)\nIn light of yesterday's discussion in the Comments section of the Hans Christian Andersen post, Eisenberg's description of Kay's experience caused me to think about Kay's story in a new way: as a metaphor for depression. I'd always viewed Kay as simply cut off from love, like a lover who has turned suddenly cold when his affection has been transferred to someone else. (Sandra Gilbert's Snow Queen poem cycle is a wonderful exploration of this interpretation.) And yet, another reading of the tale is that young Kay is cut off from life itself, from all feeling and all pleasure...which evokes the painful experience described by sufferers of clinical depression.\n \nThis is what I love about fairy tales -- that there are so many different ways to read them, some of which their various tellers and authors intended, and some of which perhaps they did not. They also contain much food for thought concerning the process of healing and transformation -- not only for those who are putting their lives back together after traumatic childhoods, but for everyone who has been scarred by life in one way or another.\nHere's another essay in the Endicott archives on the healing power of myth and mythic fiction: The Dark of the Woods ; plus I'd like to recommend Midori's powerful Armless Maiden article once again.\nI'd also like to list some memorable works of contemporary fiction inspired by The Snow Queen fairy tale -- starting with\"The Snow Queen\" by Patricia McKillip, an absolutely gorgeous short story published in the Snow White, Blood Red anthology, and Kelly Link's superb \"Travels With the Snow Queen,\" published in Stranger Things Happen . Other good short stories: \"The Tale of the Brother\" by Emma Donoghue ( Kissing the Witch ), \"In the Witch's Garden\" by Naomi Kritzer (Realms of Fantasy magazine, October 2002), \"The Lady in the Ice Garden\" by Kara Dalkey ( Firebirds ), \"Ice\" by Francesca Lia Block ( The Rose and the Beast ), and \"With the Snow Queen\" by Joanne Greenberg ( With the Snow Queen ). (A.S. Byatt's fabulous story \"Cold,\" in her collection Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice , also plays with a bit of Snow Queen imagery, along with imagery from other fairy tales.)\nThe afore-mentioned Snow Queen cycle of poems by Sandra M. Gilbert can be found in her collection Blood Pressure , and Adrienne Rich's poem \"The Snow Queen\" can be found in The Fact of a Doorframe . The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan is a gentle YA novel that brings elements of Scandinavian shamanism to Andersen's tale. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman is a magical contemporary novel that draws imagery from The Snow Queen, among other fairy tales. And, of course, there's The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge, a classic work of science fiction that draws on themes from the fairy tale.\nYou can read an annotated copy of Andersen's original tale over on the Surlalune Fairy Tale Pages , and also see Snow Queen illustrations from the 19th & early-20th centuries. The art in this post is by Meg Fox, Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, Milo Winter, and W. Heath Robinson.\nChildren's Book Writers and Film\nSaturday's post on Beatrix Potter has got me thinking about two other children's book writers whose lives got the movie treatment, turning them into men rather different than the men they actually were.\nThe film Hans Christian Andersen , made in 1952 and featuring Danny Kaye in the title role, turned this difficult, enormously complex man into a gentle, simplistic character. Andersen did indeed live a rags-to-riches story straight out of one of his own fairy tales; he was born to a poor family in Odense and died a wealthy man celebrated around the world (acclaimed, during his lifetime, for his adult novels and travel writing as well as his fairy tales). But his rise was not a straight-forward one, nor was his character. He lived at a time when wealth and achievement could not entirely erase the stigma of his working class origins; he also lived at a time when his sexual passion for men could not be openly acknowledged. Had Andersen been alive today, his life — and thus his art — would have been very different. As his biographer Jackie Wullschlaeger commented: \"Without the enormous repression of his time, he could have declared himself to be a homosexual. Many people have asked me what would have become of him today. He might have taken anti-depressants and been happier, but then he would not have written his fairy tales\" -- for his fairy tales, with their distinctive strain of tragedy, were drawn from the pain of Andersen's own experience.\nModern Mythic Art\nHere's an unusual exhibition, running at the Galerie St. Etienne in New York City: Fairy Tale, Myth, and Fantasy: Approaches to Spirituality in Art . The show pulls together a wide range of Modernist, Outsider, and contemporary artists, including Emil Nolde, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Henry Dager, Minnie Evens, Leonard Baskin, and Kiki Smith.\nEarly modernists, say the curators, explored spirituality in their work to counter the materialism of modern society, although \"an arcane formal vocabulary made their spirituality less than obvious to the uninitiated. Abstract art, in particular, was open to many interpretations, and as the twentieth century progressed, these interpretations veered away from the spiritual to focus on purely formal criteria....\n\"Despite its modern-day secularization, however, art-making is still tantamount to a spiritual practice, a way of understanding and giving meaning to one’s existence. The universal archetypes preserved in Judeo-Christian theology, older or non-Western mythologies and fairy tales form the basis for a common spiritual language that many artists have dipped into. The contemporary artist Kiki Smith, for example, gravitates to the more atavistic aspects of Catholicism: its visceral connections to the human body, the practical interventions of saints, and the embodiment of the sacred in animals and the natural environment.\n\"In Haiti, many artists are vodou priests, whose paintings document religious ceremonies or trance visions. In the far reaches of the former Soviet Union and the European continent, Eastern Orthodox Christianity merged with local history and folk tales to create a rich tradition that endured despite being opposed by the Communists. Vasilij Romanenkov, working as a gardener at a Moscow hotel, uses art to connect with the spiritual roots he left behind in his native Smolensk. The Serbian artist Ilija Bosilj-Basicevic, persecuted in succession by Austro-Hungarian occupiers, Croatian fascists, Nazis and Yugoslav Communists, sought respite in his own personal paradise, a parallel universe he called Ilijada.\n\"Greek mythology is one of the best known narrative traditions, drawn upon by artists as diverse as Lovis Corinth, Pablo Picasso and Leonard Baskin. Fairy tales form another common visual heritage, used by the Austrian artist Matthias Griebler, among others.\" The Paul Klee piece above, for example, is inspired by the fairytales of the German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffman. The show also includes examples of fantastical worlds created by \"Outsider\" artists such as Henry Darger.\nThe show runs until February 7th. Visit the Galerie St. Etienne website for more information.\nThe Sunday Poem\nFor our Sunday Poem we have another fabulous piece from the Poetry 180 website (which provides a poem a day for American high school students). The poem this time is \" Gretel \" by Andrea Hollander Budy, a chilling meditation on the Grimms fairy tale Hansel and Gretel . \"A woman is born to this,\" writes the poet; \"...She won't escape that oven.\"\nAndrea Hollander Budy is the author of House Without a Dreamer (winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize), The Other Life , and a lovely new collection, Woman in the Painting . She has won the Ellipsis Poetry Award, a D. H. Lawrence Fellowship from the Taos Writers' Conference, a Pushcart Prize, the WORDS Award in Poetry, the Porter Fund Award for Literary Excellence, the Panhandler Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arkansas Arts Council. Her poems and essays have appeared in Poetry, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, Five Points, The Kenyon Review, DoubleTake, Crazyhorse, and other journals.\nThe art above is by Arthur Rackham .\nThe Real Miss Potter\nWhen I heard that a film was being made about Beatrix Potter , it seemed like a terrific idea to me -- for this famous children's book writer (and early environmentalist) led a fascinating life. The finished film, Miss Potter , is a disappointment, alas...and Anthony Lane has nailed the reasons why in his wonderfully acerbic review in The New Yorker. The film, he says, \"lapses, during the longueurs, into glorious views of the Lake District, without noticing that Potter herself, though steeped in the countryside...took care to parcel it out in tempting glimpses on the page, in the crannies of her industrious narratives. The hills and fells led her not into Wordsworthian rapture but into a social comedy as concise, and often as acidic, as Jane Austen's.\" (Read the full article here .)\nIf you'd like to know more about Beatrix Potter, forget the film and read Linda Lear's engrossing new biography Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature , which Elizabeth Hand has reviewed in The Washington Post. \"At her death in 1943,\" writes Hand, \"the elderly Mrs. Heelis, nee Potter, left an estate valued at today's equivalent of 7 million pounds -- more than $13 million. Her influence on children's literature is almost incalculable and can be seen in works by Alison Utley, Margaret Wise Brown, Tasha Tudor, Robert Lawson and Margery Sharp, to name just a few. Not bad for an empire built on what her editors called 'the bunny book'.\n\"Yet Potter herself remains something of a mystery -- not surprising, perhaps, for someone who for 16 years kept a diary written in code and whose work dealt almost exclusively with the doings of small creatures whose fictional lives and homes were cunningly hidden in hedgerows, wainscots, woodlands, farmsteads and floorboards.\" (Read the full review here .)\nAlice Hoffman's Skylight Confessions\n\"I read fairy tales early on,\" Alice Hoffman wrote a while back in an article for The Washington Post. \"They terrified, delighted, disgusted and amazed me. They were far more grown-up than any other children's books I read, scarily so at times. Like most children, I could feel the disturbing aspects of the stories even if I couldn't intellectually understand or articulate their underlying meanings. Still, I knew. I thrilled to them. I learned.\nEverything in them rang true: the unspoken sexuality (a woman loves a beast, a girl is nearly eaten by a wolf, a frog wishes to be the husband of a princess), the violence (bad mothers, absent fathers, foul murders), the greed (the house of candy, the cage of gold). I didn't realize it, of course, but the tales were allowing me to examine fear, anxiety, desire, sorrow. It was a dangerous world, but truer to reality than anything else we were allowed -- those safe books with their happy endings....\n\"Do people choose the art that inspires them -- do they think it over, decide they might prefer the fabulous to the real? For me, it was those early readings of fairy tales that made me who I was as a reader and, later on, as a storyteller.\"\nIn her many books for adults and teenagers, Hoffman has been a pioneer of contemporary American Magical Realism, writing mainstream novels that bristle with magic, folklore, and fairy tale allusions -- such as Practical Magic , The River King , The Probable Future , The Ice Queen , Green Angel , among others. Her latest book, Skylight Confessions , is a purely realist story about a fractured family in Connecticut, yet it's told using imagery and themes drawn from classic fairy tales. Here's a small bit of text from Part III of the novel (slightly edited in order to avoid a plot spoiler):\n\"The fairy tale Blanca was reading...was Hans My Hedgehog . Unloved children were everywhere in fairy tales; some survived, others did not. Hans was a sorrowful creature kept behind the stove because his father couldn't stand to see his offspring. Hans was not what his father had wanted, and so he ignored him, forgetting his disappointment, just as John Moody had forgotten his. Poor Sam had never done anything right in his father's eyes. If he'd had whiskers and a tail it would have been no different, no better and no worse.\"\nFor many centuries, fairy tales were primarily women's stories, passed down in the kitchen, the nursery, and by the fireside while the work of carding, spinning, and weaving was done. (We still speak of storytellers \"spinning a yarn\".) Women also played a large role in turning oral fairy tales into literary ones, particularly the \"salon\" writers of 17th century France, who first coined the name conte de fée, fairy tale. (You can read more about this here .) Alice Hoffman is one of a distinguished group of contemporary women writers (Kate Bernheimer, A.S. Byatt, Angela Carter, Susanna Clarke, Emma Donoghue, Carol Ann Duffy, Tanith Lee, Kelly Link, Sara Maitland, Patricia McKillip, Robin McKinley, Donna Jo Napoli, Delia Sherman, Midori Snyder, Marina Warner, Jane Yolen and numerous others ) who are the direct descendants of the salonnières, carrying on the work of passing women's stories down through the centuries.\n\"My initial exposure to storytelling,\" says Hoffman, \"even before I read fairy tales, came from the stories told to me by the most down-to-earth woman I knew -- my grandmother. The two of us might have been in the market or on the subway, we might have been walking down Jerome Avenue or drinking tea with cubes of sugar in her overheated apartment, but we were also in Russia. We were dropped into her childhood, stuck in a snowstorm, running for our lives. When I heard about the wolves that howled all night, about the rivers where the ice was so thick it didn't melt until May, about men who worked so hard that they sometimes slept for a month in the winter, like bears, I was hearing the deeper truth of my grandmother's life, the complex universe that she carried with her, a very personal once-upon-a-time. This was the beginning of my life in the world of storytelling. And, perhaps, it was not unlike the very start of storytelling itself.\"\nTo learn more about Alice Hoffman's work, visit her website , where you can read excerpts from her various books.\nThe art above is by Eleanor Vere Boyle and Ruth Sanderson . To see other fairy tale illustrations by women artists past and present, and to read about the history of women in fairy tales, visit Old Wives Tales in the Endicott gallery.\nSnow Spiral on Swan Road\nSnow in the desert? Strange but true. \"It happens about once every five years or so,\" Stu Jenks writes from Arizona. \"Warm moist air from Mexico collides with very cold air from the North, and bingo bango, we get snow on the valley floor of Tucson. The above image is of a dirt spiral just south of my apartment. Usually the spiral is kind of boring to look at, up close. (Works much better at a distance of a couple hundred yards from my bedroom window). But with a dusting of snow, the close up becomes quite fetching. This photo was taken a little after dawn on Monday.\"\nMore of Stu's spiral photographs can be seen on his website , his blog , and in the latest issue of the Mythic Passages web journal.\nKiki Smith: A Gathering\nThere are just a few weeks left now to see Kiki Smith: A Gathering: 1980 - 2005 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. This show (which has been traveling around the U.S.) is the first full-scale American museum survey of the career of one of our most innovative artists -- and one whose work often falls into the realm of the mythic and fantastic.\nKiki Smith, the daughter of the post-war artist Tony Smith, was born in Germany in 1954 and raised in New Jersey in a household where Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko, and other artists were frequent visitors. Settling in New York after one year of art school, a three month course of Emergency Medical Technician\ntraining focused her attention on the human body as a major source of inspiration for her art. Her interest in depicting the female form led, in turn, to an exploration of feminine figures in myth, folklore, and Biblical stories -- an exploration that ranged across many media, including sculpture, printmaking, and installation art.\nThe curators of the Whitney show have noted that the natural world also played a significant role in the development of Smith's art, \"with may works based on landscape, the cosmos, and the historical and spiritual connections between humans and animals. Smith has incorporated birds extensively in her work, and has also turned her attention to a wide array of other creatures, frequently depicting wolves, deer, cats, owls, bats, mice and other animals drawn from the contexts of religion, literature, and folklore.\n\"More recently, Smith has explored storytelling as a subject matter, separating characters from their traditional narratives, as she weaves together elements from fairy tales, folklore and myths to create evocative pieces that invite multiple interpretations.\"\nVisit the Whitney Museum website for more information on the artist and on the exhibition, which runs until February 11, 2007. You can also see a Flash Slide Show of the exhibition (and listen to commentary about it) on the Minneapolis Public Radio website, which profiled Smith's work when A Gathering was exhibited at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.\nI also recommend Kiki Smith: Prints, Books, & Things , a Flash Slide Show on the MoMA website, created for a previous exhibition of Smith's work. The slides are divided by subject: Early Screenprints, Anatomy, Self-portraits, Nature, and Feminine Contexts. About the latter topic, the curators write: \"Smith's feminine subjects have ranged from Egyptian goddesses and classical Greek nymphs to Biblical figures and heroines in fairy tales, reflecting her voracious study of art and culture across continents and epics.\"\nThis description could also easily be applied to Marina Warner's work, which we profiled on this blog yesterday. So it should come as no surprise that Warner, along with Siri Engberg and Linda Noclin, wrote the text for the book that accompanies the Whitney exhibition: Kiki Smith: A Gathering (1980-2005) . Also available is Kiki Smith: Prints, Books, & Things , with text by Wendy Weitman. Both books are handsomely designed and presented.\nFairies and Phantasms\nSpeaking of Marina Warner (as we were yesterday), it always amazes me what this indefatigable woman produces each year by way of books, essays, lectures, and numerous other projects besides. Friends of Jane Yolen (another wildly prolific writer) used to speculate that Jane had a magic watch capable of stopping time, putting everyone else in suspended animation while she obtained a few extra hours for herself each day. It was the only way we could account for the amount (and quality) of her creative output. Clearly Ms. Warner has one of those watches too. (Now if I only knew where to find one myself...)\nAmong Warner's recent publications , I particularly recommend Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, Media --which I received as a Christmas present and recently devoured. In previous books, Warner had looked at the cultural history of fairy tales, the dark imagination, and mythic metamorphosis, among other subjects. Now she mediates on the spirit and the soul -- a broad subject indeed! As The Washington Post noted, \"In these dense pages, she ranges from Platonic appearances to Philip K. Dick's replicants, from the camera obscura to the Internet; she cites the work of contemporary writers, artists and filmmakers on one page and the speculations of Renaissance polymaths and Victorian scientists on another. While Warner always writes clearly, she nonetheless demands attention: Her diction will test your vocabulary even as her anecdotes, illustrations and ideas will stretch your mind.\"\nIn Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the Gothic Imagination , Warner joins Christopher Frayling and Martin Myrone to examine the influence of Gothic literature and fantasy on visual art. It's an absolutely delicious look at these themes.\nWarner has contributed a fabulous introductory essay to a new edition of The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies , an absolutely classic work about the fairy folklore of the Scottish highlands, collected by Robert Kirk in the 17th century, first published by Sir Walter Scott in 1815, and re-edited by Andrew Lang in 1893. Great stuff here. \nEqually riveting are two essay collections published in the UK in 2004 that a lot of American readers seem to have missed: Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds , a terrific collection of essays (originally lectures) on the subject of metamorphoses -- from Ovid to the fantasies of Philip Pullman; and Signs and Wonders , essays exploring images of the miraculous in myth, religion, fantastic literature, fairy tales, and more.\nAnd coming up soon is Monsters of Our Own Making: The Peculiar Pleasure of Fear , which will be released by the University of Kentucky Press next month. (I've already got my pre-order in....) Visit Warner's website for futher information on her publications, projects, lecture dates, book signings, and other news.\nMemory Maps\nThe Radio Ballads project that we discussed yesterday reminded me of another ground-breaking interstitial arts project examining historical and contemporary life in Britain: Memory Maps . Created in collaboration by cultural historian (and fairy tale scholar) Marina Warner, the University of Essex, and the V&A Museum, Memory Maps is an internet-based project focused on the relationship between people and place. \nIn her introductory essay, Marina Warner writes: \"A new genre of literature has been emerging strongly in recent years. It doesn't belong automatically on any particular shelf in a bookshop, or to a particular category in a library catalogue. Writers working in this vein are exploring people and places and the relations between them, and in order to do so they combine fiction, history, traveller's tales, autobiography, anecdote, aesthetics, antiquarianism, conversation, and memoir. Mapping memories involves listening in to other people's ghosts as well as your own....Memory Maps is a website designed to inspire and foster work which will continue this approach to writing by providing focal points of interest - catalysts of thought - in the form of paintings and artifacts, alongside databases about people and places.\"\nThe Memory Maps project begins in Essex, England, one of the oldest inhabited parts of the British Isles. The project organizers began by collecting images of Essex and asking a wide range of writers for their responses -- including poet & film-maker Ian Sinclair, ecological activist Ken Worpole, musician Billy Bragg, poet Angela Livingstone, novelists Michele Roberts and Lisa Appignanesi, and numerous others (with A.S. Byatt still to come). The project then invites you, the reader, to \"respond and contribute, stitching new thoughts, dreams, history, and stories into the map.\"\nThe form of writing they are chiefly seeking, Warner explains, comes from an old, very English tradition \"of the personal, even eccentric essay, the wide-ranging, meditation, and the anecdotal almanac.The precursors of Memory Maps include Robert Burton and The Anatomy of Melancholy; John Aubrey and Brief Lives; Sir Thomas Browne who investigated local beliefs and rituals, ancient and modern; Samuel Taylor Coleridge, most aleatory of English conversationalists on paper and in person; Thomas De Quincey, who forged a new kind of impassioned personal testamentary essay; and others: this is another zone of exploration.\n\"These earlier writers in the genre contributed to a definition of belonging, and an idea of Englishness in their time by inquiring into local customs and opinions, and eavesdropping on local anecdotes. Likewise in the Scottish Highlands, at the end of the seventeenth century, the minister Robert Kirk was equally keen to convey the special character of his parishioners' beliefs in 'the secret common-wealth of fairies', as he called his book of collected lore. Today, in a country braided from different peoples, cultures, and systems of thought, inquiry of this kind can draw out even more richly coloured and densely tangled strands...\n\"As the Memory Maps grow,\" Warner concludes, \"they will go on connecting different people and places across time and in the present. Such an exchange between images and writings, past and present, memory and imagination, releases energy: the energy of stories.\"\n \n \nClick here to learn more about Memory Maps , and how to contribute to the project yourself. And click here to listen to Billy Bragg's contribution, the song \" A13, Trunk Road to the Sea \"."
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"Scandinavian_folklore.txt\nScandinavian folklore\nScandinavian folklore or Nordic folklore is the folklore of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands.\n\nCollecting folklore began when Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden sent out instructions to all of the priests in all of the parishes to collect the folklore of their area in the 1630s. They collected customs, beliefs that were not sanctioned by the church, and other traditional material.\n\nIn Scandinavia, the term 'folklore' is not often used in academic circles; instead terms such as Folketro (folk belief; older Almuetro) or Folkesagn (folktales) have been coined. In common speech, it is simply referred to as den Gamle Tro (the old belief), or perhaps sæd skik og brug (customs, the way). It evolved from Norse paganism, and it is in technical terms labelled low-mythology, while the Norse mythology is called high-mythology. High-mythology builds on low-mythology in its parts.\n\nIceland and the Faroe Islands are not part of Scandinavia (although they are Nordic countries), but should nevertheless be regarded as Scandinavian in folkloric terms. Because of their common Germanic origin, Scandinavian folklore shows a large correspondence with folklores elsewhere, such as England and Germany, among others. Most of what has survived there might be found, of a similar nature, in Finland and Sapmi and to a lesser extent in the Baltic countries.\n\nGods and goddesses\n\nIn Scandinavian folklore, belief in the old gods still exists, but not in the form they show in high mythology. Some of the ones known in both forms of mythology are Odin (Odin), who is said to lead the Wild Hunt; Thor (Tor) who still chases trolls with his thunder, both in this context regarded as \"jegere\" (hunters), and we see also Ull (as Ul) and Hœnir in this role. Loki (Loke), as a housegod of the house fire, and sometimes Freyja, show up.\n\nBeings of Scandinavian folklore\n\nThe best way to gain an understanding of Scandinavian folklore is to examine the creatures of the tales. A large number of different mythological creatures (or rather races, since few of them can be considered animals) from Norse mythology continue to live on, surprisingly little affected by Christian beliefs, even though the wicked ones at times find an ally in the Devil or had problems with Christian symbols. Nothing was surer, though, to scare these beings than a piece of iron or steel, such as a strategically placed pair of scissors or a knife, or with salt and fire. The stories about the livings and doings of these beings, and their interaction with humans, constitute the major part of Scandinavian folklore. Even the helpful tomte, nisse, gårdbo or gårdbuk could turn into a fearsome adversary if not treated with caution and respect. Many of them blend into each other when their morals and/or place of residence are similar, and equally when one moves from one region in Scandinavia to another (the same is true for Norse mythology). When the folktales were collected and printed, the illustrators started to give shape to the creatures that had hitherto lingered in obscurity. The creatures underwent a metamorphosis and became concrete figures to the people of Scandinavian countries.\n\nTrolls\n\nPerhaps most abundant are the stories about the race of trolls (Danish: trolde, Swedish/Norwegian: troll). Scandinavian trolls tend to be very big, hairy, stupid, and slow to act. Any human with courage and presence of mind can outwit a troll, and those whose faith is strong can even challenge them to mortal combat. They are said to have a temperament like a bear—which are, incidentally, their favorite pets—good-natured when they are left in peace, and savage when they are teased. Trolls come in many different shapes and forms, and are generally not fair to behold, as they can have as many as nine heads. Trolls live throughout the land, dwelling in mountains, under bridges, and at the bottom of lakes. While the trolls who live in the mountains are very wealthy, hoarding mounds of gold and silver in their cliff dwellings, the most dangerous trolls live in lonely huts in the forest. While few trolls have female trolls, trollkoner, as wives, most possess a regrettable tendency to spirit away beautiful maidens, preferably princesses, who are forced to spin by day and scratch the troll's head by night. The trolls have their own king, called Dovregubben, who lives inside the Dovre Mountains with his court. Dovregubben and his court are described in detail in Ibsen's Peer Gynt. After the integration of Christianity into Scandinavian folklore, trolls developed a hatred of church-bells and the smell of Christians.\nTrolls are often said to be able to change their appearance and did so in order to trick humans into doing what they wanted. For example, Trolls may present a beautiful appearance in order to trick a character into following them into their mountain home, then hold the character captive for years (bergatagen). (See the similarities with Irish \"elven/fiery hills.\") In older tales, the word troll/trold (trolla as a verb) may simply mean \"to badly harm/hurt someone\"; someone who is a troll is someone who may eat human flesh or engage in other socially-unacceptable acts, such as rape. Luckily, trolls are said to turn into stone when exposed to sunlight.\n\nFemale creatures\n\nHuldra\n\nThe Huldra, Hylda, Skogsrå or Skogfru (Forest wife/woman) is a dangerous seductress who lives in the forest. The Huldra is said to lure men down into endless cavesystems, that they would not be able to find their way out from, or lure them into the forest in order to secure her freedom or sometimes to suck the life out of a man. One of her methods is to appear suddenly out of the rain and mist, friendly and enticing to the point that no man can resist her charm. She has a long cow's tail that she ties under her skirt in order to hide it from men. If she can manage to get married in a church, her tail falls off and she becomes human. However, she also becomes very ugly. It is often said, however, that the young and beautiful Huldra is moody and dangerous, but when she becomes old and ugly, she also becomes gentle and caring to the man who made her Christian. She has an aquatic counterpart called \"havsfrun\" or \"Havsrå\" (sea wife/woman) who is very similar to the Sirens Odysseus meets in The Odyssey.\n\nNattmara | Nightmare\n\nIn Scandinavia, there existed the famous race of she-werewolves known with a name of Nattmara. The mara (or nightmare, as is the English word for them) appears as a skinny young woman, dressed in a night gown, with pale skin and long black hair and nails. As sand they could slip through the slightest crack in the wood of a wall and terrorize the sleeping by \"riding\" on their chest, thus giving them nightmares. They would sometimes ride cattle that, when touched by the Mara, would have their hair or fur tangled and energy drained, while trees would curl up and wilt. In some tales they had a similar role to the Banshee as an omen of death and if one were to leave a dirty doll in a family livingroom, one of the members would soon fall ill and die of tuberculosis (also called \"lung soot\", referring to how the lack of proper chimneys in old 18-19th century homes led to many contracting aforementioned disease due to inhaling smoke at a daily basis).\n\nThere is controversy as to how they came into being and in some tales the Maras are simply restless children, whose souls leave their body at night to haunt the living. If a woman were to have a horse placenta pulled over her head before giving birth, the children would be delivered safely; but all the boys will turn into werewolves, and all the girls will become Maras.\n\nTo avoid being haunted by a Mara a man could place his shoes at the front of the bed, as it is from there that the mara climbs up and seeing as something is in the way will deter her, or nail a horse shoe over it.\n\nOthers\n\nMermaids in most mythology have a bad reputation of luring men to their watery demise. In Scandinavian folklore, they are good-natured beings who sit on rocks and comb their beautiful gold hair. Quite unlike their wicked sister, Lorelei, who does lure men to their death, mermaids warn seafaring men of storms and other dangers. They can foretell the future, and because of this, there is often an air of melancholy around them.\n\nWitches in Scandinavian folklore in particular are recognized by their long noses and cats, just as in other lands. There are at least three species of witch in this branch of folklore.\n* Trollkärringar, trollpackor or trollkonor, is a troll's wife who possesses magical powers. They greatly resemble their ugly troll husbands.\n* The \"classic\" witch lives alone in a little cottage in the woods. She dabbles in magic, has a long nose and black cats, and brews mysterious potions. If one calls her \"Mother\" and presents her with tobacco and other gifts, she will do a favor in return. This species of witch can summon all the birds and all the animals in the woods; she can quell the north wind; and she will give one advice in an emergency.\n* The third kind of witch is the most dangerous, as they thrive under the power of evil. They appear to be ordinary women during the day who attend church and keep house, but at night they ride through the air, bewitching people and their livestock. They also frequently change themselves into animals in order to trick humans.\n\nWater creatures\n\nFossegrimen\n\nFossegrimen is a spirit who lives in waterfalls and is neither good nor evil. The Fossegrim is a magnificent musician who plays the fiddle day and night. If an aspiring fiddle player ventures to seek his help, the Fossegrim will gladly help, for a price of course. He must go to the waterfall and offer him a nice meal, usually a good plump joint of meat. Many stories tell of travelers who have tried to palm the Fossegrim off with an inadequate piece of meat, resulting in the him just teaching the student how to tune his fiddle rather than play it. He is said to be young and handsome though never leaves his waterfall.\n\nNøkken\n\nNøkken, näcken, or strömkarlen, is a fresh water dwelling relative of Fossegrimen, but unlike his kinsman, the nøkk is both dangerous and clever. The nøkk plays a violin to lure his victims out onto thin ice or in leaky boats and then draws them down to the bottom of the water where he is waiting for them. The nøkk is also a known shapeshifter, usually changing into a horse or a man in order to lure his victims to him.\n\nDraugen\n\nIn the depths of the sea, lives the draug or the Strandvaskare. The draug is the spirit of a person who died at sea. He sails through the sea in half a boat. If a man happens to see a draug, he is in mortal danger unless he races the draug and wins. The word Strandvaskere is found in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. It refers to a drowned person washing up on the shore.\n\nOthers\n\nWater spirits, among others the nix, are often presented in the shape of a devil. A water spirit would hide in the rapids and lure people into the water to drown. the brook horse was believed to be one and the same (bäckahästen).\n\nIn Scandinavian folklore, dragons are commonly known as lindworms, monstrous serpents with or without hind legs. In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, they typically live in the ocean, and here, tales of marine monsters appear to have the widest dissemination, although a famous specimen is also said to reside in the Swedish lake Storsjön. The Norwegian lake Seljordsvatnet is also famous for its claimed inhabitant, a serpent known as Selma. The coasts of Scandinavia are reportedly also haunted by the terrifying Kraken. Sea serpents, with their glowing eyes and long manes, are also prevalent in Scandinavian folklore, as well as their invisible kin the sea-whip.\n\nOther creatures\n\nInvisible creatures\n\nThe Nisse or tomte (in the southern Sweden and Norway and Denmark) is a good wight who takes care of the house and barn when the farmer is asleep, but only if the farmer reciprocates by setting out food for the nisse and he himself also takes care of his family, farm and animals. If the nisse is ignored or maltreated or the farm is not cared for, he can sabotage a lot of the work on the farm to teach the farmer a lesson or two. Although the nisse should be treated with respect and some degree of kindness, he should not be treated too kindly. In fact, there's a Swedish story in which a farmer and his wife enters their barn an early morning and finds the little grey old man brushing the floor. They see his clothing, which is nothing more than torn rags, so the wife decides to make him some new clothes but when the nisse finds them in the barn he now thinks he is too elegant to perform any more farm labour and thus disappears from the farm. Nisser are also usually associated with Christmas and the yule time. It is normal that farms may place bowls of rice porridge on the doorsteps in a similar manner that cookies and milk are put out for Santa Claus. In the morning the porridge would have been eaten. Some believe that the nisse brings the presents as well. In Swedish, the word Tomten (Tomte in singular) is very closely linked to the word for the plot of land where a house or cottage is built, which spells the same both in singular and plural (Tomten/tomterna) but is pronounced with slightly longer vocals. Therefore some scholars believe that the wight Tomten originates from some sort of general house god or deity from before the Asa belief. A Nisse/Tomte is said to be able to change his size between that of a 5-year-old child and a thumb, and also to have the ability to make himself invisible.\n\nA type of wight from Northern Sweden called Vittra lives underground, is invisible most of the time and has its own cattle. Most of the time Vittra are rather distant and do not meddle in human affairs, but are fearsome when enraged. This can be achieved by not respecting them properly, for example by neglecting to perform certain rituals (such as saying \"look out\" when putting out hot water or going to the toilet so they can move out of the way) or building your home to close to or, even worse, on top of their home, disturbing their cattle or blocking their roads. They can make your life very very miserable or even dangerous - they do whatever it takes to drive you away, even arrange accidents that will harm or even kill you. Even in modern days, people have rebuilt or moved houses in order not to block a \"Vittra-way\", or moved from houses that are deemed a \"Vittra-place\" (Vittra ställe) because of bad luck - although this is rather uncommon. In tales told in the north of Sweden, Vittra often take the place that trolls, tomte and vättar hold in the same stories told in other parts of the country. Vittra are believed to sometimes \"borrow\" cattle that later would be returned to the owner with the ability to give more milk as a sign of gratitude. This tradition is heavily influenced by the fact that it was developed during a time when people let their cattle graze on mountains or in the forest for long periods of the year.\n\nSome say that the dwarves of Scandinavian folklore lived on as wights (vättar or huldrefolk), although with somewhat different characteristics. Wights live underground, often right next to human settlements, and are commonly a menace to their ground-dwelling neighbors.\n\nLand creatures\n\nThe race of dwarves (or Svartálfar/dark/black elves as opposite of the light elves \"ljusalfer\") were not short in the beginning, lived underground, had dark hair and gray or pale skin, and were not very fond of the sun. They were master smiths with good knowledge in various kinds of magic and rather greedy folk - in short, not very pleasant to do business with. Some scholars believe that they may have originated from some kind of Indo-European worship of dead spirits or ancestors with great knowledge, thus their original physical appearance. Over time, they grew short and less and less ghoulish and evolved into the dwarves whom we see in Snorres Edda and later tales. The actual Dwarven size is believed by some to have originated from German tales which were in their turn influenced by Roman stories of child slave labor in mines - but this cannot be proven.\n\nElves (in Swedish, Älva if female and Alf if male, Alv in Norwegian) are in some parts mostly described as female (in contrast to the light and dark elves in the Edda), otherworldly, beautiful and seductive residents of forests, meadows and mires. They are skilled in magic and illusions. Sometimes they are described as small fairies, sometimes as full-sized women and sometimes as half transparent spirits, or a mix thereof. They are closely linked to the mist and it is often said in Sweden that, \"the Elves are dancing in the mist\". The female form of Elves may have originated from the female deities called Dís (singular) and Díser (plural) found in pre-Christian Scandinavian religion. They were very powerful spirits closely linked to the seid magic. Even today the word \"dis\" is a synonym for mist or very light rain in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. Particularly in Denmark, the female elves have merged with the dangerous and seductive huldra, skogsfrun or \"keeper of the forest\", often called hylde. In some parts of Sweden the elves also got some features from Skogsfrun, Huldra\", or Hylda\", and can seduce and bewitch careless men and suck the life out of them or make them go down in the mire and drown. But at the same time the Skogsrå exists as its own being, with other distinct features clearly separating it from the elves. In more modern tales, it isn't uncommon for a rather ugly male Tomte, Troll, Vätte or a Dwarf to fall in love with a beautiful Elven female, as the beginning of a story of impossible or forbidden love.\n\nEllepiger (alder tree girls) are the most famous of the Ellefolket (the alder tree people) in Danish folklore. The girls dance around at night, luring many a young man to join them and to never be heard of again. They are beautiful but their backs are hollow.\n\nOne of the most notable, and evil, creatures from folklore is the Devil himself, called Fanden in Scandinavian folklore. He is depicted with horns, a goatee, and a hoof instead of a left foot. He is also tall and lean and wears a top-hat. The Norwegian devil has no wife, but his great-grandmother keeps house for him. While he tends to be very cunning, it is hard for him to outwit a human, as he is extremely gullible and prideful. For example, in one story, the human escapes after betting the devil he cannot fit inside an empty nutshell (which the devil does just to prove he can).\n\nMany of the terms in Nordic beliefs are used for different kinds of creatures, and to really know what is meant, one usually needs to put them into context. That characteristics are sometimes flowing into each other does not make it easier. Vætter (evil little creatures), Underjordiske (the hidden ones/they below ground) and småfolk (little people) can be used loosely as terms for nearly all of the small beings in the old beliefs.\n\nThe myling is the ghost of a child left to die in the wilderness, and the mara is a wraith said to cause nightmares and sleep paralysis. Stories also tell of the will o' the wisp (irrbloss, lyktgubbar or lygtemænd), often assumed to be the spirits of people who had drowned in lakes and marshes. According to some stories, they could lead a lost wanderer to a death similar to their own; according to others, they could lead him home.\n\nThese are only a few of the mythical creatures, and only shortly explained.\n\nEffect of Christianity on folklore\n\nThe Christianization of Scandinavia completed by the 11th century meant that the high-mythology more or less phased out of use. This process may have been quite rapid because these never were the beliefs of the lower classes. While mythology was phased out, the gods, heroes and stories are brought to life through folklore. Folklore was a key instrument in integrating Christianity into Scandinavian society, and legends once focused on the pagan religion picked up Christian aspects. After Christian beliefs and traditions were introduced into society, there was a noticeable change in the characteristics of some of the creatures. For example, the horrid and evil trolls of the mountains developed a fear of church-bells, and the huldre preyed on good Christian men. The \"evil\" creatures of folklore began to fight the heroes and great kings over Christian symbols, such in the tale of King Olav Haraldsson and the trolls, with the Christians always appearing to prevail. Folklore also started to develop morals about being good Christian citizens. For example, only the strong of faith could defeat the draugr. \n\nScandinavian folklore in popular media\n\nThe creatures, symbols, and themes of Scandinavian folklore can be seen readily in the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R Tolkien. For example, the \"one ring\" comes from folklore, such as the famous legend, The Volsunga Saga. In this story, a magic ring owned by a dwarf named Andvari is stolen. When Loki, the god of Deseit and tricks, steals the ring, Andvari shouts \"I curse you for this! The ring will carry my curse forever. All who possesses the ring will be destroyed!\" This only leads to death and destruction, and later Fafnir morphs into a serpentdragon, whose outer body matches his inner evil created by the ring. This theme seems to carry over into the story behind the character Gollum. Also, there is a parallel between the Nordic legend of Frotha-Firth who stood as a peacemaker, and Frodo, the seeker of peace. \n\nClassic Scandinavian folk tales\n\n* The Three Billy Goats Gruff\n** A classic example of cunning, talking, and human-like animals vs. a not-so-smart troll.\n* Prince Lindworm\n** Another story of a human outwitting a creature\n* The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body\n** A great example of a hero rescuing a princess after she is kidnapped by an evil creature.\n* The Seven Foals",
"Hans_Christian_Andersen.txt\nHans Christian Andersen\nHans Christian Andersen (;; often referred to in Scandinavia as H. C. Andersen; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories, called in Danish, express themes that transcend age and nationality.\n\nAndersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include \"The Emperor's New Clothes\", \"The Little Mermaid\", \"The Nightingale\", \"The Snow Queen\", \"The Ugly Duckling\", \"Thumbelina\", and many more.\n\nHis stories have inspired ballets, both animated and live-action films, and plays. \n\nEarly life\n\nHans Christian Andersen was born in the town of Odense, Denmark, on 2 April 1805. He was an only child. Andersen's father, also Hans, considered himself related to nobility. His paternal grandmother had told his father that their family had in the past belonged to a higher social class, but investigations prove these stories unfounded. Theories suggesting that Andersen may have been an illegitimate son of King Christian VIII of Denmark persist.\n\nAndersen's father, who had received an elementary education, introduced Andersen to literature, reading to him Arabian Nights. Andersen's mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, was uneducated and worked as a washerwoman following his father's death in 1816; she remarried in 1818. Andersen was sent to a local school for poor children where he received a basic education and was forced to support himself, working as an apprentice for a weaver and, later, for a tailor. At 14, he moved to Copenhagen to seek employment as an actor. Having an excellent soprano voice, he was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre, but his voice soon changed. A colleague at the theatre told him that he considered Andersen a poet. Taking the suggestion seriously, Andersen began to focus on writing.\n\nJonas Collin, director of the Royal Danish Theatre, felt a great affection for Andersen and sent him to a grammar school in Slagelse, persuading King Frederick VI to pay part of the youth's education. Andersen had already published his first story, \"The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave\" (1822). Though not a keen student, he also attended school at Elsinore until 1827. \n\nHe later said his years in school were the darkest and most bitter of his life. At one school, he lived at his schoolmaster's home. There he was abused in order \"to improve his character\", he was told. He later said the faculty had discouraged him from writing in general, causing him to enter a state of depression.\n\nCareer\n\nEarly work\n\nA very early fairy tale by Andersen, called \"The Tallow Candle\" (), was discovered in a Danish archive in October 2012. The story, written in the 1820s, was about a candle who did not feel appreciated. It was written while Andersen was still in school and dedicated to a benefactor, in whose family's possession it remained until it turned up among other family papers in a suitcase in a local archive. \n\nIn 1829, Andersen enjoyed considerable success with the short story \"A Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager\". Its protagonist meets characters ranging from Saint Peter to a talking cat. Andersen followed this success with a theatrical piece, Love on St. Nicholas Church Tower, and a short volume of poems. Though he made little progress writing and publishing immediately thereafter, in 1833 he received a small traveling grant from the King, enabling him to set out on the first of many journeys through Europe. At Jura, near Le Locle, Switzerland, Andersen wrote the story \"Agnete and the Merman\". He spent an evening in the Italian seaside village of Sestri Levante the same year, inspiring the name, \"The Bay of Fables\". In October 1834, he arrived in Rome. Andersen's travels in Italy would be reflected in his first novel, an autobiography titled The Improvisatore () which was published in 1835, receiving instant acclaim.\n\nFairy tales and poetry\n\nHis initial attempts at writing fairy tales were revisions of stories that he heard as a child. Andersen then brought this genre to a new level by writing a vast number of fairy tales that were both bold and original. Initially they were not met with recognition, due partly to the difficulty in translating them and capturing his genius for humor and dark pathos.\n\nIt was during 1835 that Andersen published the first two installments of his immortal Fairy Tales (; lit. \"fantastic tales\"). More stories, completing the first volume, were published in 1837. The collection comprises nine tales, including \"The Tinderbox\", \"The Princess and the Pea\", \"Thumbelina\", \"The Little Mermaid\", and \"The Emperor's New Clothes\". The quality of these stories was not immediately recognized, and they sold poorly. At the same time, Andersen enjoyed more success with two novels, O.T. (1836) and Only a Fiddler (1837); the latter was reviewed by the young Søren Kierkegaard.\n\nAfter a visit to Sweden in 1837, Andersen became inspired by Scandinavism and committed himself to writing a poem that would convey the relatedness of Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians. It was in July 1839, during a visit to the island of Funen, that Andersen first wrote the text of his poem, Jeg er en Skandinav (\"I am a Scandinavian\"). Andersen composed the poem to capture \"the beauty of the Nordic spirit, the way the three sister nations have gradually grown together\", as part of a Scandinavian national anthem. Composer Otto Lindblad set the poem to music, and the composition was published in January 1840. Its popularity peaked in 1845, after which it was seldom sung. Andersen spent two weeks at the Augustenborg Palace in the autumn of 1844. \n\nAndersen returned to the fairy tale genre in 1838 with another collection, Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. First Booklet (), which consists of \"The Daisy\", \"The Steadfast Tin Soldier\", and \"The Wild Swans\".\n\nThe year 1845 heralded a breakthrough for Andersen with the publication of four different translations of his fairy tales. \"The Little Mermaid\" appeared in the periodical Bentley's Miscellany. It was followed by a second volume, Wonderful Stories for Children. Two other volumes enthusiastically received were A Danish Story Book and Danish Fairy Tales and Legends. A review that appeared in the London journal The Athenæum (February 1846) said of Wonderful Stories, \"This is a book full of life and fancy; a book for grandfathers no less than grandchildren, not a word of which will be skipped by those who have it once in hand.\"\n\nAndersen would continue to write fairy tales, and he published them in installments until 1872.\n\nTravelogues\n\nIn 1851, he published to wide acclaim In Sweden, a volume of travel sketches. A keen traveler, Andersen published several other long travelogues: Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831, A Poet's Bazaar, In Spain, and A Visit to Portugal in 1866. (The latter describes his visit with his Portuguese friends Jorge and Jose O'Neill, who were his fellows in the mid-1820s while living in Copenhagen.) In his travelogues, Andersen took heed of some of the contemporary conventions about travel writing, but always developed the genre to suit his own purposes. Each of his travelogues combines documentary and descriptive accounts of the sights he saw with more philosophical passages on topics such as being an author, immortality, and the nature of fiction in the literary travel report. Some of the travelogues, such as In Sweden, even contain fairy-tales.\n\nIn the 1840s, Andersen's attention returned to the stage, but with little success. He had better fortune with the publication of the Picture-Book without Pictures (1840). A second series of fairy tales began in 1838 and a third in 1845. Andersen was now celebrated throughout Europe, although his native Denmark still showed some resistance to his pretensions.\n\nBetween 1845 and 1864, H. C. Andersen lived at 67 Nyhavn, Copenhagen, where a memorial plaque now stands. \n\nPersonal life\n\nMeetings with Dickens\n\nIn June 1847, Andersen paid his first visit to England and enjoyed a triumphal social success during the summer. The Countess of Blessington invited him to her parties where intellectual people could meet, and it was at one such party that he met Charles Dickens for the first time. They shook hands and walked to the veranda, about which Andersen wrote in his diary: \"We had come to the veranda, I was so happy to see and speak to England's now living writer, whom I love the most.\" \n\nThe two authors respected each other's work and shared something important in common as writers: depictions of the poor and the underclass, who often had difficult lives affected both by the Industrial Revolution and by abject poverty. In the Victorian era there was a growing sympathy for children and an idealization of the innocence of childhood.\n\nTen years later, Andersen visited England again, primarily to meet Dickens. He extended a brief visit to Dickens' home at Gads Hill Place into a five-week stay, to the distress of Dickens' family. After Andersen was told to leave, Dickens gradually stopped all correspondence between them, to the great disappointment and confusion of Andersen, who had quite enjoyed the visit and never understood why his letters went unanswered.\n\nLove life\n\nIn Andersen's early life, his private journal records his refusal to have sexual relations.Recorded using \"special Greek symbols\".\n\nAndersen often fell in love with unattainable women, and many of his stories are interpreted as references. At one point, he wrote in his diary: \"Almighty God, thee only have I; thou steerest my fate, I must give myself up to thee! Give me a livelihood! Give me a bride! My blood wants love, as my heart does!\" A girl named Riborg Voigt was the unrequited love of Andersen's youth. A small pouch containing a long letter from Riborg was found on Andersen's chest when he died, several decades after he first fell in love with her, and after he supposedly fell in love with others. Other disappointments in love included Sophie Ørsted, the daughter of the physicist Hans Christian Ørsted, and Louise Collin, the youngest daughter of his benefactor Jonas Collin. One of his stories, \"The Nightingale\", was written as an expression of his passion for Jenny Lind and became the inspiration for her nickname, the \"Swedish Nightingale\". Andersen was often shy around women and had extreme difficulty in proposing to Lind. When Lind was boarding a train to go to an opera concert, Andersen gave Lind a letter of proposal. Her feelings towards him were not the same; she saw him as a brother, writing to him in 1844: \"farewell... God bless and protect my brother is the sincere wish of his affectionate sister, Jenny\". \n\nAndersen certainly experienced same-sex love as well: he wrote to Edvard Collin: \"I languish for you as for a pretty Calabrian wench... my sentiments for you are those of a woman. The femininity of my nature and our friendship must remain a mystery.\" Collin, who preferred women, wrote in his own memoir: \"I found myself unable to respond to this love, and this caused the author much suffering.\" Likewise, the infatuations of the author for the Danish dancer Harald Scharff and Carl Alexander, the young hereditary duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, did not result in any relationships.\n\nAccording to Anne Klara Bom and Anya Aarenstrup from the H. C. Andersen Centre of University of Southern Denmark, \"To conclude, it is correct to point to the very ambivalent (and also very traumatic) elements in Andersen's emotional life concerning the sexual sphere, but it is decidedly just as wrong to describe him as homosexual and maintain that he had physical relationships with men. He did not. Indeed that would have been entirely contrary to his moral and religious ideas, aspects that are quite outside the field of vision of Wullschlager and her like.\" \n\nDeath\n\nIn the spring of 1872, Andersen fell out of his bed and was severely hurt; he never recovered. Soon afterward, he started to show signs of liver cancer. \n\nHe died on 4 August 1875, in a house called Rolighed (literally: calmness), near Copenhagen, the home of his close friends, the banker Moritz Melchior and his wife. Shortly before his death, Andersen had consulted a composer about the music for his funeral, saying: \"Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps.\" His body was interred in the Assistens Kirkegård in the Nørrebro area of Copenhagen.\n\nAt the time of his death, Andersen was internationally revered, and the Danish Government paid him an annual stipend as a \"national treasure\". \n\nLegacy and cultural influence\n\nArchives, collections, and museums\n\n*The Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Solvang, California, a city founded by Danes, is devoted to presenting the author's life and works. Displays include models of Andersen's childhood home and of \"The Princess and the Pea\". The museum also contains hundreds of volumes of Andersen's works, including many illustrated first editions. \n*The Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division was bequeathed an extensive collection of Andersen materials by the Danish-American actor, Jean Hersholt. Of particular note is an original scrapbook Andersen prepared for the young Jonas Drewsen. \n\nArt, entertainment, and media\n\nFilms\n\n* \"La petite marchande d'allumettes\" (1928; in English: The Little Match Girl), film by Jean Renoir based on \"The Little Match Girl\"\n*Andersen was played by Joachim Gottschalk in the German film The Swedish Nightingale (1941), which portrays his relationship with the singer Jenny Lind.\n*Hans Christian Andersen (1952), an American musical film starring Danny Kaye that, though inspired by Andersen's life and literary legacy, was meant to be neither historically nor biographically accurate; it begins by saying, \"This is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about this great spinner of fairy tales\"\n*The Rankin/Bass Productions-produced fantasy film, The Daydreamer (1966), depicts the young Hans Christian Andersen imaginatively conceiving the stories he would later write.\n* The World of Hans Christian Andersen (1968), a Japanese anime fantasy film from Toei Doga, based on the works of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen\n* The Little Mermaid, a 1989 animated film based on The Little Mermaid produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios\n* Thumbelina, a 1994 animated film based on the \"Thumbelina\" produced by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment\n* One Fantasia 2000 segment is based off The Steadfast Tin Soldier.\n* Frozen, a 2013 animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, was initially intended to be based on The Snow Queen, though numerous changes were made until the end result bore almost no resemblance to the original story.\n\nLiterature\n\nAndersen's stories laid the groundwork for other children's classics, such as The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame and Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) by A.A. Milne. The technique of making inanimate objects, such as toys, come to life (\"Little Ida's Flowers\") would later also be used by Lewis Carroll and Beatrix Potter.\n\n* \"Match Girl,\" a short story by Anne Bishop (published in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears)\n* \"The Chrysanthemum Robe\", a short story by Kara Dalkey (based on \"The Emperor's New Clothes\" and published in The Armless Maiden)\n* The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey, lyrical adult fantasy novel set in the courts of old Japan\n* The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf by Kathryn Davis, a contemporary novel about fairy tales and opera\n* \"Sparks\", a short story by Gregory Frost (based on \"The Tinder Box\", published in Black Swan, White Raven)\n* \"The Pangs of Love\", a short story by Jane Gardam (based on \"The Little Mermaid\", published in Close Company: Stories of Mothers and Daughters)\n* \"The Last Poems About the Snow Queen,\" a poem cycle by Sandra Gilbert (published in Blood Pressure).\n* The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan, a gentle Young Adult fantasy novel that brings out the tale's subtle pagan and shamanic elements\n* The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr, a novel that brings Andersen's fairy tale to colonial and modern America\n* \"Steadfast\", a short story by Nancy Kress (based on \"The Steadfast Tin Soldier\", published in Black Swan, White Raven)\n* \"In the Witch's Garden\" (October 2002), a short story by Naomi Kritzer (based on \"The Snow Queen\", published in Realms of Fantasy magazine)\n* Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, a romantic fantasy novel, set in early Ireland (thematically linked to \"The Wild Swans\")\n* \"The Snow Queen\", a short story by Patricia A. McKillip (published in Snow White, Blood Red)\n* \"You, Little Match Girl,\" a short story by Joyce Carol Oates (published in Black Heart, Ivory Bones)\n* \"The Real Princess,\" a short story by Susan Palwick (based on \"The Princess and the Pea\", published in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears)\n* \"The Naked King\" (\"Голый Король (Goliy Korol)\" 1937), \"The Shadow\" (\"Тень (Ten)\" 1940), and \"The Snow Queen\" (\"Снежная Королева (Sniezhenaya Koroleva)\" 1948) by Eugene Schwartz, reworked and adapted to the contemporary reality plays by one of Russia's playwrights. Schwartz's versions of \"The Shadow\" and \"The Snow Queen\" were later made into movies (1971 and 1966, respectively).\n* \"The Sea Hag,\" a short story by Melissa Lee Shaw (based on \"The Little Mermaid\", published in Silver Birch, Blood Moon)\n* The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge, an award-winning novel that reworks \"The Snow Queen\"'s themes into epic science fiction\n* \"The Steadfast Tin Soldier,\" a short story by Joan D. Vinge (published in Women of Wonder)\n* [http://hazlitt.net/authors/sophia-foster-dimino \"Swim Thru Fire,\"] a comic by [http://www.hellophia.com/ Sophia Foster-Dimino] and [http://heyanniemok.com/ Annie Mok], based partially off of \"The Little Mermaid.\"\n\nMobile app\n\n* GivingTales – the storytelling app for children was created in aid of UNICEF in 2015. Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales are read by Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Joan Collins and Joanna Lumley. \n\nMonuments and sculptures\n\n*Hans Christian Andersen (1880), even before his death, steps had already been taken to erect, in Andersen's honor, a large statue by sculptor August Saabye, which can now be seen in the Rosenborg Castle Gardens in Copenhagen.\n* Hans Christian Andersen (1896) by the Danish sculptor Johannes Gelert, at Lincoln Park in Chicago, on Stockton Drive near Webster Avenue \n*Hans Christian Andersen (1956), a statue by sculptor Georg J. Lober and designer Otto Frederick Langman, at Central Park Lake in New York City, opposite East 74th Street (40.7744306°N, 73.9677972°W)\n\nMusic\n\n* Hans Christian Andersen (album), a 1994 album by Franciscus Henri\n* The Song is a Fairytale (Sangen er et Eventyr), a song cycle based on fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, composed by Frederik Magle\n\nStage productions\n\n* Sam the Lovesick Snowman at the Center for Puppetry Arts: a contemporary puppet show by Jon Ludwig inspired by The Snow Man. \n* Striking Twelve, a modern musical take on \"The Little Match Girl\", created and performed by GrooveLily. \n* The musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress is based on Andersen' work 'The Princess and the Pea'.\n\nTelevision\n\n* Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale (2001), a semi-biographical television miniseries that fictionalizes the young life of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and includes fairytales as short interludes, intertwined into the events of the young author's life\n*In the \"Metal Fish\" episode of the Disney TV series The Little Mermaid, Andersen is a vital character whose inspiration for writing his tale is shown to have been granted by an encounter with the show's protagonists\n*The Fairytaler, a 2004 Danish animated television series based on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen.\n*Young Andersen, a 2005 biographical television miniseries that tells of the formative boarding school years of fairy tale writer.\n\nWebseries\n\n* Classic Alice (2014), a YouTube webseries, had a five-episode arc based on \"The Butterfly\"\n\nAwards\n\n* Hans Christian Andersen Awards, prizes awarded annually by the International Board on Books for Young People to an author and illustrator whose complete works have made lasting contributions to children's literature. \n* Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, a Danish literary award established in 2010\n\nEvents and holidays\n\n*Andersen's birthday, 2 April, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day. \n*The year 2005, designated \"Andersen Year\" in Denmark, was the bicentenary of Andersen's birth, and his life and work was celebrated around the world.\n*In Denmark, a well-attended \"once in a lifetime\" show was staged in Copenhagen's Parken Stadium during \"Andersen Year\" to celebrate the writer and his stories.\n*The annual H.C. Andersen Marathon, established in 2000, is held in Odense, Denmark\n\nPlaces named after Andersen\n\n* Hans Christian Andersen Airport, small airport servicing the Danish city of Odense\n* Instituto Hans Christian Andersen, Chilean high school located in San Fernando, Colchagua Province, Chile\n\nPostage stamps\n\n* Andersen's legacy includes the postage stamps of Denmark and of Kazakhstan depicted above, depicting Andersen's profile.\n\nTheme parks\n\n*A $13-million theme park based on Andersen's tales and life opened in Shanghai at the end of 2006. Multi-media games and cultural contests related to the fairy tales are available to visitors. Andersen is said to have been celebrated because he was \"a nice, hardworking person who was not afraid of poverty\".\n*The Japanese city of Funabashi also has a children's theme park named after Andersen. \n\nSelected Works\n\nAndersen's fairy tales include:\n\n* The Angel (1843)\n* The Bell\n* The Emperor's New Clothes (1837)\n* The Fir-Tree (1844)\n* The Galoshes of Fortune (1838)\n* The Happy Family\n* The Ice-Maiden (1863)\n* It's Quite True!\n* Later Tales, published during 1867 & 1868 (1869)\n* The Little Match Girl (1845)\n* The Little Mermaid (1837)\n* Little Tuck\n* The Most Incredible Thing (1870)\n* The Nightingale (1843)\n* The Old House\n* The Princess and the Pea (1835)\n* The Red Shoes (1845)\n* Sandman (1841)\n* The Shadow (1847)\n* The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep (1845)\n* The Snow Queen (1844)\n* The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1838)\n* The Story of a Mother (1847)\n* The Swineherd (1841)\n* Thumbelina (1835)\n* The Tinderbox (1835)\n* The Ugly Duckling (1843)\n* The Wild Swans (1838)",
"SCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE - Scott Trimble\nSCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE: ... Scandinavian 165 (Scandinavian Folklore), ... malevolent beings and often got into battles with the land draugs at the cemetery.\nSCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE\nSCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE\nFolktales of Norway, edited by Reidar Th. Christiansen, 1964.\nScandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, Reimund Kvideland & Henning K. Sehmsdorf, 1988.\nScandinavian 165 (Scandinavian Folklore), course by John Lindow, U.C. Berkeley, Spring 1997.\nnot yet completed, under construction as of 6 March 1997\nP. Chr. Asbjörnsen Many of the folktales were collected by this guy in the mid- to late-1800s.\nBergtagning This is the term for when people are kidnapped by the huldre-folk, literally \"taking into the mountain\". This was sometimes done with a motive, but often not.\nBlack Book Also known as Cyprianus, it is the textbook of the Black School at Wittenburg, the book from which a witch or sorceror gets his spells.\nBlack School at Wittenburg In the folktales, this was a place in Germany where one went to learn the black arts. One common motif was that the teacher, the Devil, would grab the last graduating pupil, but that the student would escape by instead giving up his coat or shadow instead.\nBoundary Ghost Ownership of land was the very basis of rural life. Magic rituals accompanied the placing of boundary stones, and stealing land by moving such a stone was severely punished. According to medieval Norwegian law, anyone stealing land was declared an outlaw. In recent tradition the thief is forced to walk again after death, struggling in vain to return the boundary stone to its proper place.\nChangelings A baby or being from the other world that occupies the place of the human baby in this world. A switch is accomplished while the human baby is unattended, but usually the humans eventually are able to get the creature to take the baby back by treating the changeling poorly, getting it to reveal its name, taking it to get baptised, etc. Some signs that the child is a changeling are excessive crying, won't speak, dark or ugly, won't grow, misshapen, over-eats, sudden changes, etc. The parents could have protected their child by baptism, putting a piece of metal in the cradle, or carving a cross on the cradle's headboard. The word \"byting\" refers to an exchange.\nChurches Churches are the site for the rites of passage (see below) and are also a window between the world of the living and the dead or the invisible. It is interesting that the churches were often stone buildings while others were not trolls turned into stone when hit by sunlight. The church could often be inhabited by the supernatural usually when we are not there, an example being the Midnight Mass of the Dead (see below).\nEllevolk elves\nFinns The Finns (Laplanders, Saami) are famous in Norwegian folklore for their abilities in witchcraft. Especially they are able to to let the soul travel to foreign places while the body is in a trance.\nFoaf Friend Of A Friend, i.e. where most folklore stories and urban legends seem to originate from.\nFolklore The word itself was coined by William Thoms in 1846. feautures: oral transmission, anonymous origin, tradition, uneducated folk, group, certain forms, ownership, dynamic. Horizontal transmission --> to your peers. Vertical transmission --> to the next generation.\nGhosts Whereas revenants are dead people returning to haunt the living for various reasons, ghosts usually appear as impersonal spooks. Most often they appear at night, making their presence known by shouting or wailing, seizing hold of people, stopping horses on the road, or by other undefined movements and actions. The encounter with ghosts often causes sickness and, at times, even death.\nGiants In the oldest literature of Scandinavia, we find primordial giants identified with the origin and creation of the world. They are usually cast in the role of enemies of the gods and the human community. With the introduction of Christianity, they became enemies of the church as well. In more recent folk tradition, the giants usually appear as imaginary figures rather than as preternatural beings people actually believed in. They play a major role in fabulats and etiological legends explaining the origin of natural phenomena such as huge rock formations, lakes, and the so-called jættegryter (\"giant potholes\"). [jätte (Swedish), troll / jotun (Norwegian), jætte (Danish)]\ntrolls Often this word refers to all the mythical beings, but there really is a distinction. Trolls, which belong to a distant past, are huge and grotesque, may only have a single eye in the middle of their forehead, and very often have three heads. They are terribly strong but are also stupid and are easily tricked by a quick-witted person. They abhor the sounds of churchbells and they have a predilection for eating human flesh. Their homeland was the dark, ice-covered land of Trollebotn, the huge frozen bay which was assumed to connect Greenland to north of Scandinavia. Gyger (or Gjöger) are female trolls, giantesses.\nJakob & Wilhelm Grimm They were collectors of legends in Germany, one book of which was called \"Deutsch Sagen\". In the United States they are known for \"Grimm's Fairytales\". One of them was quoted as saying, \"Das Märchen ist poetischer, die Sage historischer.\" (The folklore is poetic, the legend historical.\"\nHealing Healing, bleeding, love potions, spells, etc. Magical, special abilities were involved with problem-solving. These acts were sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Means for healing: inanimate objects, sympathetic magic, must be done in private, exorcism, urinating in the kitchen fire, etc. Stuff that can also be done: put out or control wildfires, get rid of rat infestations, open broken locks, binding and loosing, tracking down thieves, creating wind for sailing, etc.\nHousehold Spirits They are almost always males, usually small, very old or very young, strong, loyal to the farm, and sometimes wear a little red hat and grey. Some common motifs include teasing the nisse (eating food that was meant for it, leaving feces as food for it instead, not putting the butter on top of the porridge), sending the nisse to steal from other people's farms, the heavy burden, etc. If, for some reason, the nisse is exorcised from the farm, then he takes with him all that he brought or did, thus the farm falls to ruin. [arma�ur \"hearth man\", tomte \"homestead man\"]\nnisse The nisse are related to the huldre-folk, but are not so dangerous. They are guardians of the house or farm who will defend its welfare. They are inordinately strong, but of diminutive size. The term nisse is derived from the Danish / German St. Nicholas, and the nisse themselves are thus distant relations of Santa Claus.\ngardvord From \"farm guardian\", these nisse are more sinister and are very big (some have seen them lay there elbows upon the roof). In a variation of the Lanky Tor story, the gardvord saves the guy by chasing after the trolls. [tunkall or \"yard fellow\" (common in western and northern Norway), godbonde]\nklabautermann This is spirit who guards the ship. In one story it woke up the ship's mate when the lamp went out, and in another it held the masts together.\nHug The hug is the human soul. It refers to the mental life of the individual to personality, thoughts, feelings, and desires. The hug could affect both animate and inanimate objects, including other people, either consciously or unconsciously. The deliberate manipulation of the hug is the basis of all magic. It can manifest itself invisibly or it can take on a shape. It was was movable and can preface a real appearance, exist somewhere else at the same time, be in different places, etc. Sometimes it appears just before death, just at death, or right after death. It was somewhat like a human döppelganger. Sometimes it would be in the form of a mouse that exits the person's mouth while s/he sleeps, or maybe it would be a vapor that would float around the area. [sjel (Norwegian), håg or själ (Swedish), hu or sjæl (Danish)]\ndream-soul This leaves the body during sleep, explores the world (sometimes passing some kind of treasure), and the experiences are remembered by the sleeper as a dream.\nelsk According to wide-spread belief, a person could get ill in body and mind from being longed for by someone else. Usually the longing, traditionally called elsk (love), was of an erotic nature. The lover might be a human or a supranormal being. But even the dead were known to impose an elsk on a surviving relative and thereby make him or her sick, or a living person could long for the dead and keep the loved one from finding peace in the grave.\nenvy A particularly powerful manifestation of the hug is referred to in folk tradition as \"envy\" which was feared by many people. It was believed that this emotion had a strong, adverse effect on human beings and animals, as well as on inanimate objects. [avind (Danish), ovund (Norwegian), avund (Swedish)]\nEvil Eye It was generally believed that the power of the hug could be transferred to another being or object through sight, touch, or the spoken word, often with the intent to do harm. Hence, the expressions evil eye, evil hand, evil foot, and evil tongue.\nfree-soul This is the soul sent from the body in magic flight.\nfylgje The fylgje is a projection of the hug that accompanies a person. It takes either human shpae or that of an animal. Normally, only animals or people with second sight can see the fylgje. In medieval literature, notably the Icelandic sagas, the fylgje also had a protective function, which was alter assumed by the Christian angel. In recent tradition, belief in the fylgje spills over into that of the vardoger and is often called by that name.\nvardöger or fyreferd These refer to a visual or auditory experience presaging a person's approach. [förfäl (Swedish)]\nvord The vord was a kind of presence accompanying the individual. [vård (Swedish)]\nInversion This is one theme through certain folklore stories in which there is some kind of reversal. Stuff that is part of our culture is not part of that of the huldre-folk, and vice versa. Examples: farms vs. nature, food vs. not food (people, leaves, woodchips, excrement), Christianity vs. no religion, normal vs. abnormal, alive vs. undead, etc.\nInvisible Folk There are widespread traditions in Scandinavia about preternatural beings of various kinds. Although they are invisible, from time to time they appear to ordinary people, and when they do, they are in human shape. The \"invisible folk\" constitute quite heterogenous groupings in the different geographical areas of Scandinavia and are called by a variety of names.\nhuldre They lived in the mountains (bergfolk) or hills, or even right under the ground (underjordiske), cellar (kjellerman), grave-mounds (haugfolk), house, or barn. They also sometimes lived in the seters during the off-season. The huldre are much more closely related to man than, say, the jutal or trolls, since they are very human-like in appearance. They were often mistaken for man and there were often intermarriages. They can be very beautiful or they can be grotesque. Sometimes they had a hidden feature such as a cow's tail. Despite their similarity to us, contact with them is risky and dangerous. They steal infants (see changeling above), attempt marry brides-to-be left alone at the seter, kidnap people, and might share some dangerous food or drink. Female huldre are known as hulder. [vetter or vithrar (supernatural beings that live on the edge of the area inhabited by human beings), tufte-folk (probably also related, although vaguely defined), tusse (another term for a supernatural being, often a gnome or goblin)]\nLilith Some stories say that the Bible's Adam had a first wife before Eve and that the huldre-folk are descended from her. In one legend, a tusse minister explains the Lilith story this way, \"That woman, who was created in the very beginning, was Adam's equal in every way, and would never be under him in anything. She considered herself as just as good a creation as he. But God said that it wasn't good for man and woman to be equal, and so he sent her and her offspring away, and put them into the hills to live. They are without sin, and they stay there inside the hills, except when they themselves want to be seen. But in the second chapter, God took a rib out of Adam's side and made a woman out of it, and then Adam said 'This time,' because she was taken out of the man. Her offspring have sin, and that's why God had to give them the New Testament. The tusse-folk only need the Old.\" Another variant says that the invisible folk were actually descendents of Eve's children whom God forever cursed to remain invisible after she hid them from him since she was so ashamed of how many kids she was having.\ngood relations Because the huldre were thought to live side-by-side with human beings, the work rhythms and daily needs of both groups overlapped in many ways. Thus, in many instances, legends tell us how the invisible folk help humans and vice-versa. People looked to preternatural beings for advice, special tools, and perhaps for help in emergency situations. The invisible folk requested aid from humans when, for example, a child was to be born. It was important that contact between the worlds respected certain norms and limits. And in spite of generally good and neighborly relations, there remained an element of fear based on the realization that the invisible folk were more powerful than humans.\njutal Also known as Jotuns or Jötnar, they are the giants that especially appeared in the older mythology as enemies of the gods, especially of Thor.\nfairies Charcoal burners, lumberjacks, and half-grown boys and girls tending the cattle on the outlying summer farms often experienced the preternatural beings as erotically seductive. Legends reveal that people were simultaneously attracted and afraid of these beings. A young man might throw steel over the forest woman to bind her to himself, or he might use some protective magic to be rid of her. The marriage ceremony between a girl and a fairy lover might be interrupted at the last moment. There might be an actual liaison between a human and one of the invisible folk, resulting in the birth of a child, the disappearance of the person, or, inversely, the absorption of the supranormal being into human society. Sometimes, refusal of the erotic attentions of the fairy lover caused sickness, madness, even death. One of the important functions of legends about fairy lovers was to enforce certain rules of behavior on the men and women working in isolated areas.\nThe Spirit of the Mill In Norway, and in Sweden mostly along the Norwegian border, folk traditions exist about the mill spirit. This preternatural being is known to stop the mill if it is run at night or on a holy day. The implied sanction against such inappropriate use of the mill is not unequivocal, however, because the mill sprite is invariably pacified or driven away. The mill spirit is disruptive and threatens the human who has to resolve the problem. [kvarngubben \"old man of the mill\" (Swedish), kvernknurren \"mill snarl\"]\nThe Spirit of the Mine Mining legends constitute one of the largest categories in the folk tradition of continental Europe. They are not nearly as numerous in Scandinavia because of the relative scarcity of mining activities there. In Norway and Sweden, the spirit of the mine appears most often as a solitary, female being. The spirit helps the miner find the ore and protects him while he is working in the shaft. But she is also believed to jealously guard the wealth hidden below ground, causing the loss of life and other disasters in the mine. There are also traditions about the invisible folk exploiting the mines, a tradition which has its antecedents in mythological stories about dwarfs as miners and smiths. [gruvrå \"ruler of the mine\", gruvröken, \"lady of the mine\", sølvmora \"silver mother\"]\nSpirits of the Sea The sea, like any other aspect of nature, was believed to be populated by various preternatural beings, both solitary and collective. As a group they correspond in nature and function to the invisible folk of forests, fields, rivers, and farmsteads, but they are modified to reflect the environment of the sea. They include the sjørå (\"sea ruler\"), mermaid and merman, draug, sea horses, sea monsters, and inhabitants of fabulous islands.\ndraug These ghosts (or \"living dead person\") were usually victims of drownings and didn't get a proper funeral. They are sinister, malevolent beings and often got into battles with the land draugs at the cemetery. Their appearance or their shrieking are usually omens of impending disaster. The draug may be taken aboard in the form of a moss-covered stone which will grow too heavy for the boat to stay afloat. Closeup, the face is a bundle of sea wrack. [Rawga (Lappish)]\nmermaids, mermen They are kinder people of the sea that were human-like from the waist up, but had a fish- or porpoise-like body in place of the legs. Mermen often showed gratitude for gifts, such as mittens.\nsea serpents They breed in inland lakes and, when they are old enough, eventually try to get to the open sea. One famous folktale account is one at Lake Mjösen which was killed between 1520 and 1530.\nseals The seals were actually people who had drowned in suicide attempts and were now condemned to wear seal-skins. In one story somebody manages to steal one seal-woman's skin on the one day of the year that they secretly take it off. He forced her to marry him and kept her in human-form until she was able to get her skin back.\nUtröst Group of mysterious, disappearing / reappearing islands where supernatural beings similar to the huldre-folk live.\nSkogsra forest sprite, female creature that is entirely human-like except for a hollowed-out back or sometimes a tail. The back is somewhat like a kneeding trough or a stable scoop (crude tool).\nThe Water Sprites The spirits of waterfalls, rivers, and lakes appear variously in human or horse shape. [another term besides nøkk and grim is stromkarl]\nnøkk Often a demonic being, they are water-creatures in human- or horse-like form. Often in the form of a white horse grazing by the lakeside, it tempts young boys onto its back (and it can stretch to accomodate many riders) and then jumps into the lake.. A magic word (usually its name) will make it disappear or return back to the water. [näck (Swedish), nix (English)]\nfossegrim They live in waterfalls and rivers and have taught many eminent fiddlers how to play.\ngrim Norwegian variant, also applied to the spirit of the church and graveyard in Sweden and Denmark.\nThe Wild Hunt / Spirits of the Air In Scandinavian folk tradition, there are two chief types of night riders: the hunter and his dogs pursuing a woman, and the host flying through the air especially at Christmastime. In Norway this host is usually called oskorei or jolareidi.\noskorei The \"terrible host\" of evil spirits, it sweeps through Norwegian valleys on winter nights, especially before Christmas time. It was often said that the host consisted of those who were not bad enough to go to Hell, nor good enough to go to Heaven. The oskorei were hostile and would often carry people away to some distant place or would settle down for awhile on a farm. [jolerei (another term for it, this one implies that it is particularly dangerous at Christmas), gyro (name from fiction or ancient romance), sluagh (Scotland and Ireland)]\ngangferd This term is \"the wild hunt\" of the osorei, et al. It refers to restless, unhappy ghosts who sometimes compel living persons to follow them about.\nwood sprite some say that this is a huldre that lives by itself, others say there is no difference\nJagt This is a kind of fishing boat.\nLanky Tor He lived in the mountains, wouldn't stay home in his parish, and wanted to live alone and by hunting only. He didn't know what day of the week it was, hence he had no idea when it was Sunday, the Lord's Day of Rest. On Christmas Eve, the trolls scared him by saying loudly (and as if they didn't know Lanky Tor was listening) that they would boil him for dinner. He returned back to the parish and gave up his life in the mountains.\nLegends\nMigratory Legends The story is flexible enough or non-specific enough that it can easily spread to other localities. Also known as fabulates, they can be localized, but the story no longer has the direct personal touch and instead follows a definite pattern.\nLocal Legends The story is bound by its content to a local place and cannot spread too easily. An example are the legends about Dwinelle Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus.\nHistorical Legends This possibly has its origins in a historical event.\nUrban Legends Modern folklore stories such as the Kentucky Fried Rat, the Hook, the psycho babysitter, sexual references in Disney films, the sperm on the cheek cell culture, Richard Gere and the gerbil, etc. Check out The Urban Legends Page for a good reference of types.\nMemorate This is a first- or second-hand account of a supernatural experience that are almost always connected with some landmark, locality, or person.\nLenore The dead lover returns to bring a message, to take revenge, or to respond to the grief of his beloved. The most famous interpretation of this popular motif is found in G.A. B�rger's ballad \"Lenore\".\nLiminal Status This somewhat means \"on the threshold\", as if the thing it is describing is not quite in our world but not quite in that of the supernatural either. One example are the gasts (ghosts) who aren't fully in either the world of the dead or the living. Mares and witches are partly supernatural, but also partly our friends or neighbors. There can be lots of ambiguity. Liminal Status relates to the ideas of the Rites of Passage in that the person is on the threshold between two important stages in his or her life.\nLimited Good Phenomenon or idea brought up by George Foster in which there is only so much good in the world, so that if one person is prospering he must be doing it at the expense of someone else. Nisse were household spirits that stole from a neighbor, thus increasing the prosperity of the farmer who owns that nisse. There can't be a winner without a loser. People who get ahead often make pacts with the Devil, but this can be seen as a way out of Limited Good since in this case they are not getting ahead at someone else's expense. The witches related to Limited Good in the sense that their stealing (through knife-milking, troll cats, etc.) always had to be at someone else's expense. Boundary ghosts also related to Limited Good.\nMara The dream experience commonly referred to as a nightmare was interpreted as the visitation of someone's hug. Sexual dreams play a large part in this context. The mare is usually described as a weight on the sleeper's chest. Both human beings and animals could be \"ridden\" by the mare. In time the mare developed into a separate supranormal being. It was believed that a woman could ease birth pains by crawling through the fetal membrane of a foal. But her offspring would become a mare, if female, a werewolf, if male. Mares are one of the oldest kinds of supernatural beings and can cause the person also to get cold sweats, go into paralyis, and become oppressed.\nthe master builder A common motif in Norway and Sweden was the folktale of a supernatural creature being hired to finish construction of a cathedral, usually to put on the final spire. If the minister found out the creature's name, he was saved from himself becoming payment for the work.\nMidnight Mass of the Dead The stories about the midnight mass of the dead constitute a type of migratory legend. As early as the 4th century c.e. in stories about saints' lives, the midnight mass is celebrated by angels, the blessed dead, and the saint. Another version, possibly based on popular tradition, is found in Gregory of Tours' De Gloria Confessorum (sixth century), in which the midnight mass is attended by the dead and ordinary people rather than by angels and saints. In folk legends the story is consistently focused on the fear of the dead and on the narrow escape of the unwitting observer.\nKing Olav He ruled Norway from 995 to 1030 c.e. He is the national saint of Norway and is exceedingly popular in Norwegian oral tradition, being especially well known as an adversary of trolls and giants. This trait he seems to have inherited from the pagan Norse god, Thor, who was at one time more celebrated in Norway than in any other area of Scandinavia. St. Olav was frequently the protagonist in the \"master builder\" tales.\nRites of Passage Birth (Baptism), Marriage (Wedding), Death (Funeral). These are vulnerable times when someone is susceptible to attack by a supernatural being. The parson performs the ceremonies for the rites of passage, traveling from parish to parish doing his services. Satan is a threat to these and the religious nature of the community.\nSatan Features: cloven hoof, horrible to look at, well-dressed, can change shape (fly, dog, etc.), tail, beard. Good things that the Devil can do for you: give you a ride quickly somewhere, make you rich, give you success with the opposite sex, can appear when you need him (like a Genie), success in hunting and fishing, etc. Bad things: take stuff away from you (shadow, child, soul). He requires a written letter or contract. In such, people often demand for large amounts of money. This can be a way out of Limited Good since you don't have to take from others to get ahead. Some common euphemisms for the Devil include Old Erik, Old Jerker, Old Peter, the Goat, the Evil One, the old guy, etc. The0rural view was the reading and writing were magical, and the Devil himself was skilled in such, through his use of the Black Book and the way he kept a written tally of who were not paying attention at the church sermons. Satan could be called by cursing or through inexperienced use of the Black Book. To get rid of him, the owner of the Book would make him do something that is beyond even his power, like make a rope out of sand or reverse the flow of a waterfall. Satan can be tricked by a clever person and he can even volunatarily help somebody (like the charcoal-burners). Society did not look at dancing too favorably and Satan himself would often dance somebody to death.\nChristen Pedersen and Johannes Geremiæson They were real-life people who wrote out contracts that they hoped to make with the Devil. The act of actually acting on something from folk belief such as this is known as ostension.\nPetter Dass (1647-1707) Dass was a minister, as well as the most popular Norwegian author of his time. He was best known as the author of hymns based on holy scripture and the catechism. In legendary tradition, he is characterized as the owner of the Black Book and a master magician. In one story he got a ride from the Devil on his way to preach in Copenhagen. In return the Devil would take the souls of everyone sleeping in church that day. Petter Dass, without any notes prepared ahead of time, \"preached a sermon the likes of which no one had ever heard before\", and thus Satan didn't get any souls since nobody was sleeping.\nScandinavia Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Iceland. Geographically, Finland is a part of Scandinavia, but culturally it is very different.\nSeter An outfarm n the mountains inhabited only in the summer. Unmarried women generally take care of the cattle and do churning and cheesemaking there.\nCarl Wilhelm von Sydow He was a famous folklorist who coined many terms. He's also the father of actor Max von Sydow from \"Dune\" and \"Needful Things\".\nValborg It was the evening of April 30th when people would get drunk and jump into the frozen river. Special significance to the witches.\nWerewolves and Man-Bears Throughout most of the world there are traditions about human beings changing into wolves or bears. In this instance it is not a matter of the hug separating from the body and taking on another shape; rather, the whole person is transformed, body and soul, into an animal being. The transformation may be self-induced or may be due to hostile magic. In medical context the phenomenon has been characterized as a form of insanity (lycanthropoy). Both werewolves and man-bears are well-known from medieval literature. The so-called berserks often formed the bodyguard of early Scandinavian kings and chieftains.\nWitchcraft Witches usually acquired their supernatural powers through a pact with the Devil. They live within the human community and are not so solitary, but are often social people. Some of their functions: theft (milk, brandy, cream, butter), flight (to the witches' sabbath), harm (animals and people), winds (whirlwind for travel and destruction, sailing winds), shamanic behavior (second sight). Often the witches were the \"others\" in a community through ethnicity (gypsy, Saami) , location, social status, parentage (orphans), or religion (not Christian) but they might also be very much not an \"other\" the parson's wife, or the rich and powerful mother. Witches could fly by applying salve and a spell to stuff like brooms, barrels, people, and bones. They often sent out trolls cats, bunnies, or wool to do certain chores. They did voodoo curses by sticking pins into dolls to hurt a person, and could replenish the same food over and over (i.e. the same meat returns back to the herring bone). Witches are not deterred by metal, but use it to their advantage for example, one witch could not be burned as long as a metal piece was stuck in her back.\nMarte Holon She was a famous witch from Northern Norway who had a troll cat and a Black Book. Hans Tofte found troll cat vomit around his farm, so he sealed it up in the barrel of his gun and heated it over the forge. Marta Holon came running into the smithy and desperately asked for something to drink. Hans and the blacksmith offered her a mug of their urine while Hans then hit her across the mouth with his shoe so that two teeth fell out and blood started flowing.\nknife-milking Knife-milking was sticking a knife into the wall and catching in a bucket the milk that would spout from the end of the handle. The milk is magically coming from someone else cow. If one were to knife-milk too long, blood would start to come out and then cow would die.\nmagic shot Also known as Finn shot, this was the name given to projectiles supposedly causing sickness or sudden death. They were imagined to be sent in the form of bullets, insects, clouds or vapor, and so on. Many legends are concerned with the means by which one could protect oneself against this type of magic.\nsalve The salve was made of herbs, roots, and hallucinogens. They smeared it on an object or on themselves. Often imagination and masturbation were involved.\nsei�r A specially potent and malevolent form of magic was referred to as sei�r. It was used to rob its victims of their sanity, their health, even their life, and generally to cause misfortune. This was a usually feminine form of magic that was also applied to the god Odin. Skills attributed to him are essentially the same as those identified in later tradition with the practitioners of magic, notably shape-changing, magic flight, and the use of spells to control the elements and conjure the dead.\ntroll cat When stealing from her neighbors, the witch supposedly had help from a familiar, variously referred to as a troll cat, milk rabbit, troll ball, puck, etc.\nwhirlwind In general, people regarded the whirlwind as the manifestation of the witch's or trollman's power. It was believed that the witch traveled in the whirlwind to inflict harm on people and cattle or to steal hay.\nwitches' sabbath They were often held in churches, on mountaintops (such as Blåkollen or Blue Mountain), at a mill, etc. on nights such as Easter or Valborg. The Devil was there and often the total number of participants was thirteen. There would be other witches, as well as a new initiate (and also the spy who is reporting the occurrences). The Devil is a little gray man, wears black robes and is well-dressed, and has the Black Book. The witches had to pay homage to the Devil, renew pacts, write their names in the Black Book, and have the initiate take an oath. The baptism ceremony for the initiate involved blood, consumption of menstrual blood, feast of good / bad foods, eating of human infants, etc. At the sabbaths there was dance, music, a satanic orchestra, and orgies.\nScandinavian Mythology & Folklore",
"Santa Claus - Heroes Wiki - Wikia\nSanta Claus also known as Saint Nicholas, ... a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, ... Each Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their ...\nSanta Claus | Heroes Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\n~ Santa Claus' famous catchphrase\n✔\nSanta Claus also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and simply \"Santa\", is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. The modern figure was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, which, in turn, may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure gift giver Saint Nicholas, who was said to have dropped bags of gold down poor people's chimneys. A nearly identical story is attributed by Greek and Byzantine folklore to Basil of Caesarea. Basil's feast day on January 1 is considered the time of exchanging gifts in Greece.\nContents\n[ show ]\nAppearance\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no mustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films. The North American depiction of Santa Claus as it developed in the 19th and 20th century in turn influenced the modern perceptions of Father Christmas, Sinterklaas and Saint Nicholas in European culture.\nHistory\nAccording to a tradition which can be traced to the 1820s, Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, with a large number of magical elves, and nine (originally eight) flying reindeers. Since the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\"naughty\" or \"nice\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the reindeer who pull his sleigh.\nThe modern figure of Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, which, in turn, has part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of Christian bishop and gift-giver Saint Nicholas . During the Christianization of Germanic Europe, this figure may have absorbed elements of the god Odin , who was associated with the Germanic pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. Over time, traits of this character and the British folklore character Father Christmas merged to form the modern Santa Claus known today.\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children. Images of him rarely have a beard with no mustache. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of the 1823 poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.\nSince the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\"naughty\" or \"nice\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. He is commonly portrayed as living at the North Pole and saying \"ho ho ho\" often.\nPredecessor figures\nSaint Nicholas\nSaint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes.\nThe remains of Saint Nicholas are in Italy. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Saint. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was conquered by Italian sailors and his relics were taken to Bari where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout. Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and taken to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow.\nDuring the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to the veneration of saints in many countries on the 24 and 25 December. So Saint Nicholas changed to Santa Claus. The custom of gifting of children at Christmas has been propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for the people.\nDutch folklore\nIn the Netherlands and Belgium, next to Sinterklaas, the character of Santa Claus is also known. He is known as de Kerstman in Dutch (\"the Christmas man\") and Père Noël (\"Father Christmas\") in French. But for children in the Netherlands Sinterklaas is the predominant gift-giver in December (36% of the population only give presents on Sinterklaas day), Christmas is used by another fifth of the Dutch population to give presents. (21% give presents on Christmas only). Some 26% of the Dutch population give presents on both days. In Belgium, presents are given to children only, but to almost all of them, on Sinterklaas day. On Christmas Day, everybody receives presents, but often without Santa Claus's help. In the Netherlands Sinterklass' helper is Zwarte Piet not an elf.\nScandinavian folklore\nIn the 1840s, a being in Nordic folklore called \"Tomte\" or \"Nisse\" started to deliver the Christmas presents in Denmark. The Tomte was portrayed as a short, bearded man dressed in gray clothes and a red hat. This new version of the age-old folkloric creature was inspired by the Santa Claus traditions that were now spreading to Scandinavia. By the end of the 19th century this tradition had also spread to Norway and Sweden, replacing the Yule Goat. The same thing happened in Finland, but there the more human figure retained the Yule Goat name. But even though the tradition of the Yule Goat as a bringer of presents is now all but extinct, a straw goat is still a common Christmas decoration in all of Scandinavia. Iceland has 13 Yule Lads that originate from folklore rather than Christianity and start arriving from the mountains into towns 13 days before 24 December.\nFather Christmas\nFather Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during the reign of Henry VIII, when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance was variable, with one famous image being John Leech's illustration of the \"Ghost of Christmas Present\" in Charles Dickens's festive classic A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace.\nFather Christmas is now widely seen as synonymous with the Santa Claus figure.\nOrigins\nGermanic paganism, Odin, and Christianization\nPrior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English; Old English geola or guili) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule. With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Odin and he bears the Old Norse names Jólnir, meaning \"yule figure\" and the name Langbarðr, meaning \"long-beard\" (see \"List of names of Odin\").\nThe god Odin's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (see Odin's horse Sleipnir), which was traded for reindeer in North America. Margaret Baker comments that \"The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. … Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild became a leading player on the Christmas stage.\"\nPre-modern representations of the gift-giver from church history and folklore, notably St Nicholas and Sinterklaas, merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the character known to Americans and the rest of the English-speaking world as Santa Claus.\nIn the English and later British colonies of North America, and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into \"Santa Claus\" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.\n19th century\n“\n\"December 24, 1864. This has usually been a very busy day with me, preparing for Christmas not only for my own tables, but for gifts for my servants. Now how changed! No confectionary, cakes, or pies can I have. We are all sad; no loud, jovial laugh from our boys is heard. Christmas Eve, which has ever been gaily celebrated here, which has witnessed the popping of firecrackers … and the hanging up of stockings, is an occasion now of sadness and gloom. I have nothing even to put in 8-year-old daughter Sadai's stocking, which hangs so invitingly for Santa Claus. How disappointed she will be in the morning, though I have explained to her why he cannot come. Poor children! Why must the innocent suffer with the guilty?\"\n„\nDiary of Dolly Lunt Burge, a Maine native, widow of Thomas Burge, and resident living c. 40 miles southeast of Atlanta near Covington, Georgia. This entry from Mrs. Burge's diary was five weeks after most of General T. Sherman's U.S. Army forces had passed on their blackened-earth \"march across Georgia\" toward Savanna, after the army's destruction of Atlanta in mid-November 1864. U.S. Army mop-up companies and stragglers during those intervening weeks continued to \"forage\", loot, burn, and liberate slaves, hence, the concern of Mrs. Burge and her household. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" (better known today as \"The Night Before Christmas\") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on 23 December 1823; the poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. Many of his modern attributes are established in this poem, such as riding in a sleigh that lands on the roof, entering through the chimney, and having a bag full of toys. St. Nick is described as being \"chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf\" with \"a little round belly\", that \"shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly\", in spite of which the \"miniature sleigh\" and \"tiny reindeer\" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from the old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen).\nAs the years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.\nThe story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works, which included the caption \"Santa Claussville, N.P.\" A color collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled \"Santa Claus and His Works\" by George P. Webster, who wrote that Santa Claus's home was \"near the North Pole, in the ice and snow\". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, \"If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey.\"\nThe idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in the poem \"Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride\".\n\"Is There a Santa Claus?\" was the title of an editorial appearing in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply \"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus\", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas lore in the United States and Canada.\n20th century\nL. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book, further popularized Santa Claus. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not set in stone at the time, leaving Baum to give his \"Neclaus\" (Necile's Little One) a wide variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality was earned, much like his title (\"Santa\"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.\nImages of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colors used to promote the Coca-Cola brand. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising—White Rock Beverages had already used a red and white Santa to sell mineral water in 1915 and then in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923. Earlier still, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in the first few years of the 20th century.\nThe image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.\nIn 1937, Charles W. Howard, who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously-run such school in the world.\nIn some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner.\nThe 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, \"Mrs. Santa Claus\", and the 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the popular imagination.\nSeabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the \"story\" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 9th and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter.\nIn popular culture\nBy the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives and/or managers. An excerpt from a 2004 article, from a supply chain managers' trade magazine, aptly illustrates this depiction:\nSanta has been described as a positive male cultural icon:\n“\nSanta is really the only cultural icon we have who's male, does not carry a gun, and is all about peace, joy, giving, and caring for other people. That's part of the magic for me, especially in a culture where we've become so commercialized and hooked into manufactured icons. Santa is much more organic, integral, connected to the past, and therefore connected to the future.\n„\n~ TV producer Jonathan Meath who portrays Santa, 2011.\nMany television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, a Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and \"short broads,” with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer.\nIn The Sopranos episode, \"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power\", Paulie Gualtieri says he \"Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there. ... The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids a beatin', and gave the good ones toys.\"\nIn Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared the Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan.\nThe Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Derry City, Northern Ireland. On 9 September 2007. A total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helper brought down the previous record of 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted top the world record, but failed with only 3939 Santas.\nTraditions and rituals\nChimney tradition\nThe tradition of Santa Claus entering dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In pre-Christian Norse tradition, Odin would often enter through chimneys and fire holes on the solstice. In the Italian Befana tradition, the gift-giving witch is perpetually covered with soot from her trips down the chimneys of children's homes. In the tale of Saint Nicholas, the saint tossed coins through a window, and, in a later version of the tale, down a chimney when he finds the window locked. In Dutch artist Jan Steen's painting, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, adults and toddlers are glancing up a chimney with amazement on their faces while other children play with their toys. The hearth was held sacred in primitive belief as a source of beneficence, and popular belief had elves and fairies bringing gifts to the house through this portal. Santa's entrance into homes on Christmas Eve via the chimney was made part of American tradition through the poem \"A Visit from St. Nicholas\" where the author described him as an elf. Walsh, Joseph J.. Were They Wise Men Or Kings?: The Book of Christmas Questions. Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 0-664-22312-5 .\nChristmas Eve rituals\nIn the United States and Canada, children traditionally leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies; in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer, and mince pies instead. In Sweden and Norway, children leave rice porridge. In Ireland it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies.\nIn Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) comes on the night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden colored birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve \"Little Jesus\" comes and gives gifts for everyone.\nIn Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in the evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day.\nNew Zealander, British, Australian, Irish, Canadian and American children also leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will \"put out their shoe\"—that is, leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed—sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond. The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued.\nOther Christmas Eve Santa Claus rituals in the United States include reading A Visit from St. Nicholas or other tale about Santa Claus, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated program on television (such as the aforementioned Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and similar specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among many others), and the singing of Santa Claus songs such as \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", \"Here Comes Santa Claus\", and \"Up on the House Top\". Last minute rituals for children before going to bed include aligning stockings at the mantelpiece or other place where Santa cannot fail to see them, peeking up the chimney (in homes with a fireplace), glancing out a window and scanning the heavens for Santa's sleigh, and (in homes without a fireplace) unlocking an exterior door so Santa can easily enter the house. Tags on gifts for children are sometimes signed by their parents \"From Santa Claus\" before the gifts are laid beneath the tree.\nHome\nSanta Claus's home traditionally includes a residence and a workshop where he creates—often with the aid of elves or other supernatural beings—the gifts he delivers to good children at Christmas. Some stories and legends include a village, inhabited by his helpers, surrounding his home and shop.\nIn North American tradition (in the United States and Canada), Santa lives on the North Pole, which according to Canada Post lies within Canadian jurisdiction in postal code H0H 0H0 (a reference to \"ho ho ho\", Santa's notable saying, although postal codes starting with H are usually reserved for the island of Montreal in Québec). On 23 December 2008, Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, formally awarded Canadian citizenship status to Santa Claus. \"The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete,\" Kenney said in an official statement.\nThere is also a city named North Pole in Alaska where a tourist attraction known as the \"Santa Claus House\" has been established. The US postal service uses the city's zip code of 99705 as their advertised postal code for Santa Claus. A Wendy's in North Pole, AK has also claimed to have a \"sleigh fly through\".\nEach Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their territory. Norway claims he lives in Drøbak. In Denmark, he is said to live in Greenland (near Uummannaq). In Sweden, the town of Mora has a theme park named Tomteland. The national postal terminal in Tomteboda in Stockholm receives children's letters for Santa. In Finland, Korvatunturi has long been known as Santa's home, and two theme parks, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park are located near Rovaniemi.\nParades, department stores, and shopping malls\nSanta Claus appears in the weeks before Christmas in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. The practice of this has been credited to James Edgar, as he started doing this in 1890 in his Brockton, Massachusetts department store. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actors (often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore associated with Santa. Santa's function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by listening to their wishlist while having them sit on his knee (a practice now under review by some organisations in Britain, and Switzerland). Sometimes a photograph of the child and Santa are taken. Having a Santa set up to take pictures with children is a ritual that dates back at least to 1918.\nThe area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously \"Santa's Grotto\", \"Santa's Workshop\" or a similar term. In the United States, the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City—he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. This was popularized by the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street with Santa Claus being called Kris Kringle. The Macy's Santa Claus in New York City is often said to be the real Santa. Essayist David Sedaris is known for the satirical SantaLand Diaries he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which were turned into a famous radio segment and later published.\nQuite often the Santa, if and when he is detected to be fake, explains that he is not the real Santa and is helping him at this time of year. Most young children accept this explanation. At family parties, Santa is sometimes impersonated by the male head of the household or other adult male family member.\nIn Canada, malls operated by Oxford Properties established a process by which autistic children could visit Santa Claus at the mall without having to contend with crowds. The malls open early to allow entry only to families with autistic children, who have a private visit with Santa Claus. In 2012, the Southcentre Mall in Calgary was the first mall to offer this service.\nThere are schools offering instruction on how to act as Santa Claus. For example, children's television producer Jonathan Meath studied at the International School of Santa Claus and earned the degree Master of Santa Claus in 2006. It blossomed into a second career for him, and after appearing in parades and malls.\nLetter writing to Santa\nWriting letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. Some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. Girls generally write longer but more polite lists and express the nature of Christmas more in their letters than in letters written by boys. Girls also more often request gifts for other people.\nMany postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus. These letters may be answered by postal workers and/or outside volunteers.\nAccording to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the oldest Santa letter answering effort by a national postal system. The USPS Santa letter answering effort started in 1912 out of the historic James Farley Post Office in New York, and since 1940 has been called \"Operation Santa\" to ensure that letters to Santa are adopted by charitable organizations, major corporations, local businesses and individuals in order to make children's holiday dreams come true from coast to coast. Those seeking a North Pole holiday postmark through the USPS, are told to send their letter from Santa or a holiday greeting card by 10 December to: North Pole Holiday Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998.\nIn 2006, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, France's Postal Service received the most letters for Santa Claus or \"Père Noël\" with 1,220,000 letters received from 126 countries.\nOther interesting Santa letter processing information, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, are:\nCountries whose national postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019), United Kingdom (750,000).\nIn 2006, Finland's national postal operation received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France's Postal Service from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries, and Slovakia from 20 countries.\nIn 2007, Canada Post replied to letters in 26 languages and Deutsche Post in 16 languages.\nSome national postal operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail through the national postal operators, proving that children still write letters. National postal operators offering the ability to use an on-line web form (with or without a return e-mail address) to Santa and obtain a reply include Canada Post. In France, by 6 December 2010, a team of 60 postal elves had sent out reply cards in response to 80,000 e-mail on-line request forms and more than 500,000 physical letters.\nCanada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0. Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poor communities, or from children's hospitals, and give them presents they would not otherwise receive. In 2009, 1,000 workers answered 1.1 million letters and 39,500 e-mail on-line request forms from children in 30 different languages, including Braille.\nIn Britain it was traditional for some to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However this has been found to be less efficient than the use of the normal postal service, and this tradition is dying out in modern times, especially with few homes having open fires.\nAccording to the Royal Mail website, Santa's address for letters from British children is: Santa/Father Christmas, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ.\nIn Mexico and other Latin American countries, besides using the mail, sometimes children wrap their letters to a small helium balloon, releasing them into the air so Santa magically receives them. Other nonconformist Christians condemn the materialist focus of contemporary gift giving and see Santa Claus as the symbol of that culture.\nCondemnation of Christmas was prevalent among the 17th-century English Puritans and Dutch Calvinists who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. The American colonies established by these groups reflected this view. Tolerance for Christmas increased after the Restoration but the Puritan opposition to the holiday persisted in New England for almost two centuries. In the Dutch New Netherland colony, season celebrations focused on New Year's Day.\nFollowing the Restoration of the monarchy and with Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686) Nissenbaum, chap. 1.\nRev. Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracted controversy in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a \"pagan goblin\" after Santa's image was used on fund-raising materials for a Danish welfare organization Clar, 337. One prominent religious group that refuses to celebrate Santa Claus, or Christmas itself, for similar reasons is the Jehovah's Witnesses. A number of denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus, which range from acceptance to denouncement.\nSome Christians prefer the holiday focus on the actual birth of Jesus, believing that Christmas stemmed from pagan festivals such as the Roman Saturnalia and Germanic Yule that were subsumed within ancient Christianity. An even smaller subset of Reformed Christians actually prefer the secularized version of the holiday for the same reasons, believing that to relegate Christ's birth to Christmas is wrong.\nSymbol of commercialism\nIn his book Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus, writer Jeremy Seal describes how the commercialization of the Santa Claus figure began in the 19th century. \"In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells,\" said Seal in an interview. How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory, interview with Jeremy Seal at the St. Nicholas Center.</ref> \"They are simply the actual bearings in the world from which he emerged. At that time, sleighs were how you got about Manhattan.\"\nWriting in Mothering, writer Carol Jean-Swanson makes similar points, noting that the original figure of St. Nicholas gave only to those who were needy and that today Santa Claus seems to be more about conspicuous consumption:\n“\nOur jolly old Saint Nicholas reflects our culture to a T, for he is fanciful, exuberant, bountiful, over-weight, and highly commercial. He also mirrors some of our highest ideals: childhood purity and innocence, selfless giving, unfaltering love, justice, and mercy. (What child has ever received a coal for Christmas?) The problem is that, in the process, he has become burdened with some of society's greatest challenges: materialism, corporate greed, and domination by the media. Here, Santa carries more in his baggage than toys alone!\n„\nIn the Czech Republic, a group of advertising professionals started a website against Santa Claus, a relatively recent phenomenon in that country. Hilda Hoy, The Prague Post, 13 December 2006.</ref> \"Czech Christmases are intimate and magical. All that Santa stuff seems to me like cheap show business,\" said David König of the Creative Copywriters Club, pointing out that it is primarily an American and British tradition. \"I'm not against Santa himself. I'm against Santa in my country only.\" In the Czech tradition, presents are delivered by Ježíšek, which translates as Baby Jesus.\nIn the United Kingdom, Father Christmas was historically depicted wearing a green cloak. As Father Christmas has been increasingly merged into the image of Santa Claus, that has been changed to the more commonly known red suit. One school in the seaside town of Brighton banned the use of a red suit erroneously believing it was only indicative of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign. School spokesman Sarah James said: \"The red-suited Santa was created as a marketing tool by Coca-Cola, it is a symbol of commercialism.\" Parents see red over school's green-suited santa], Olinka Koster, The Daily Mail (UK), 22 November 2007. However, Santa had been portrayed in a red suit in the 19th century by Thomas Nast among others.\nControversy about deceiving children\nVarious psychologists and researchers have wrestled with the ways that parents collude to convince young children of the existence of Santa Claus, and have wondered whether children's abilities to critically weigh real-world evidence may be undermined by their belief in this or other imaginary figures. For example, University of Texas psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley helped conduct a study that found, to the contrary, that children seemed competent in their use of logic, evidence, and comparative reasoning even though they might conclude that Santa Claus or other fanciful creatures were real:\n“\nThe adults they count on to provide reliable information about the world introduce them to Santa. Then his existence is affirmed by friends, books, TV and movies. It is also validated by hard evidence: the half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses by the tree on Christmas morning. In other words, children do a great job of scientifically evaluating Santa. And adults do a great job of duping them.\n„\nWoolley posited that it is perhaps \"kinship with the adult world\" that causes children not to be angry that they were lied to for so long. However, the criticism about this deception is not that it is a simple lie, but a complicated series of very large lies. Objections include that it is unethical for parents to lie to children without good cause, and that it discourages healthy skepticism in children. With no greater good at the heart of the lie, some have charged that it is more about the parents than it is about the children. For instance, writer Austin Cline posed the question: \"Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?\"\nOthers, however, see no harm in the belief in Santa Claus. Psychologist Tamar Murachver said that because it is a cultural, not parental, lie, it does not undermine parental trust. The New Zealand Skeptics also see no harm in parents telling their children that Santa is real. Spokesperson Vicki Hyde said, \"It would be a hard-hearted parent indeed who frowned upon the innocent joys of our children's cultural heritage. We save our bah humbugs for the things that exploit the vulnerable.\"\nDr. John Condry of Cornell University interviewed more than 500 children for a study of the issue and found that not a single child was angry at his or her parents for telling them Santa Claus was real. According to Dr. Condry, \"The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not\".\nSanta Claus in different versions\nSanta from \"Frosty the Snowman\"",
"Santa_Claus.txt\nSanta Claus\nSanta Claus, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santy, or simply Santa is a mythical figure with historical origins who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of well-behaved, \"good\" children on Christmas Eve (24 December) and the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December). The modern Santa Claus is derived from the British figure of Father Christmas, the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, and Saint Nicholas, the historical Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra. During the Christianization of Germanic Europe, this figure may also have absorbed elements of the god Odin, who was associated with the Germanic pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky.\n\nSanta Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children. Images of him rarely have a beard with no moustache. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of the 1823 poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.\n\nSanta Claus is believed to make lists of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (\"naughty\" or \"nice\") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. He is commonly portrayed as living at the North Pole and saying \"ho ho ho\" often.\n\nPredecessor figures\n\nFather Christmas\n\nFather Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during the reign of Henry VIII, when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance was variable, with one famous image being John Leech's illustration of the \"Ghost of Christmas Present\" in Charles Dickens's festive classic A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace. \n\nFather Christmas is now widely seen as synonymous with the Santa Claus figure.\n\nSaint Nicholas\n\nSaint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Empire, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes.\n\nThe remains of Saint Nicholas are in Italy. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Saint. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was conquered by Italian sailors and his relics were taken to Bari where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout. Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and taken to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow. \n\nDuring the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to the veneration of saints in many countries on the 24 and 25 December. So Saint Nicholas changed to Santa Claus. The custom of gifting of children at Christmas has been propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for the people. \n\nDutch and Belgian folklore\n\nIn the Netherlands and Belgium the character of Santa Claus has to compete with that of Sinterklaas, Santa's presumed progenitor. Santa Claus is known as de Kerstman in Dutch (\"the Christmas man\") and Père Noël (\"Father Christmas\") in French. But for children in the Netherlands Sinterklaas remains the predominant gift-giver in December; 36% of the Dutch only give presents on Sinterklaas day, whereas Christmas is used by another 21% to give presents. Some 26% of the Dutch population gives presents on both days. In Belgium, Sinterklaas day presents are offered exclusively to children, whereas on Christmas Day, all ages may receive presents. Sinterklaas' assistants are called \"Zwarte Pieten\" (in Dutch, \"Pères Fouettard\" in French), so they are not elves. \n\nGermanic paganism, Odin, and Christianization\n\nPrior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule (Old English geola or guili). With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Odin and he bears the Old Norse names Jólnir, meaning \"yule figure\" and the name Langbarðr, meaning \"long-beard\" (see list of names of Odin). \n\nThe god Odin's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (see Odin's horse Sleipnir), which was traded for reindeer in North America. Margaret Baker comments that \"The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. … Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild became a leading player on the Christmas stage.\" \n\nHistory\n\nOrigins\n\nPre-modern representations of the gift-giver from Church history and folklore, notably St Nicholas (known in Dutch as Sinterklaas), merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the character known to Americans and the rest of the English-speaking world as \"Santa Claus\" (a phonetic derivation of \"Sinterklaas\").\n\nIn the English and later British colonies of North America, and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into \"Santa Claus\" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.\n\n19th century\n\nIn 1821, the book A New-year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve was published in New York. It contained Old Santeclaus, an anonymous poem describing an old man on a reindeer sleigh, bringing presents to children. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem \"A Visit From St. Nicholas\" (better known today as \"The Night Before Christmas\") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on 23 December 1823; the poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. Many of his modern attributes are established in this poem, such as riding in a sleigh that lands on the roof, entering through the chimney, and having a bag full of toys. St. Nick is described as being \"chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf\" with \"a little round belly\", that \"shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly\", in spite of which the \"miniature sleigh\" and \"tiny reindeer\" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from the old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen). \n\nA magazine article from 1853, describing American Christmas customs to British readers, refers to children hanging up their stockings on Christmas Eve for 'a fabulous personage' whose name varies: in Pennsylvania he is usually called 'Krishkinkle' but in New York he is 'St. Nicholas' or 'Santa Claus'. The author quotes Moore's poem in its entirety, saying that its descriptions apply to Krishkinkle too. \n\nAs the years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.\n\nThomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the 3 January 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly. Santa was dressed in an American flag, and had a puppet with the name \"Jeff\" written on it, reflecting its Civil War context.\nThe story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works, which included the caption \"Santa Claussville, N.P.\" A color collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled \"Santa Claus and His Works\" by George P. Webster, who wrote that Santa Claus's home was \"near the North Pole, in the ice and snow\". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, \"If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey.\" \n\nThe idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in the poem \"Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride\".\n\n\"Is There a Santa Claus?\" was the title of an editorial appearing in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply \"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus\", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas lore in the United States and Canada.\n\n20th century\n\nL. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book, further popularized Santa Claus. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not set in stone at the time, leaving Baum to give his \"Neclaus\" (Necile's Little One) a wide variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality was earned, much like his title (\"Santa\"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.\n\nImages of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colors used to promote the Coca-Cola brand. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising—White Rock Beverages had already used a red and white Santa to sell mineral water in 1915 and then in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923. White Rock Beverages, \"[http://www.bevnet.com/news/2006/12-18-2006-white_rock_coke_santa_claus.asp Coca-Cola's Santa Claus: Not The Real Thing!],\" BevNET.com, 18 December 2006 . Retrieved 19 January 2007. Earlier still, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in the first few years of the 20th century. \n\nThe image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.\n\nIn 1937, Charles W. Howard, who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously-run such school in the world. \n\nIn some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner.\n\nThe 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, \"Mrs. Santa Claus\", and the 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the popular imagination.\n\nSeabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the \"story\" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 9th and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter.\n\nIn popular culture\n\nBy the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives and/or managers. An excerpt from a 2004 article, from a supply chain managers' trade magazine, aptly illustrates this depiction:\n\nIn the carton base, Santa has been voiced by several people, including Stan Francis, John Goodman, and Keith Wickham. \n\nSanta has been described as a positive male cultural icon:\n\nMany television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, a Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and \"short broads,” with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer. In The Sopranos episode, \"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power\", Paulie Gualtieri says he \"Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there... The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids a beatin', and gave the good ones toys.\"\n\nIn Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared the Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan. \n\nThe Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Thrissur, Kerala, India where on 27 December 2014, 18,112 Santas came overtaking the current record of Derry City, Northern Ireland. On 9 September 2007 where a total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helper which previously brought down the record of 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted to top the world record, but failed with only 3939 Santas. \n\nTraditions and rituals\n\nChimney tradition\n\nThe tradition of Santa Claus entering dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In pre-Christian Norse tradition, Odin would often enter through chimneys and fire holes on the solstice. In the Italian Befana tradition, the gift-giving witch is perpetually covered with soot from her trips down the chimneys of children's homes. In the tale of Saint Nicholas, the saint tossed coins through a window, and, in a later version of the tale, down a chimney when he finds the window locked. In Dutch artist Jan Steen's painting, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, adults and toddlers are glancing up a chimney with amazement on their faces while other children play with their toys. The hearth was held sacred in primitive belief as a source of beneficence, and popular belief had elves and fairies bringing gifts to the house through this portal. Santa's entrance into homes on Christmas Eve via the chimney was made part of American tradition through the poem \"A Visit from St. Nicholas\" where the author described him as an elf. \n\nChristmas Eve rituals\n\nIn the United States and Canada, children traditionally leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies; in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer, and mince pies instead. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, it is common for children to leave him rice porridge with cinnamon sugar instead. In Ireland it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies.\n\nIn Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) comes on the night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden colored birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve \"Little Jesus\" comes and gives gifts for everyone.\n\nIn Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in the evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day.\n\nNew Zealander, British, Australian, Irish, Canadian, and American children also leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will \"put out their shoe\" (leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed, sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond). The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued.\n\nOther Christmas Eve Santa Claus rituals in the United States include reading A Visit from St. Nicholas or other tale about Santa Claus, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated program on television (such as the aforementioned Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and similar specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among many others), and the singing of Santa Claus songs such as \"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town\", \"Here Comes Santa Claus\", and \"Up on the House Top\". Last minute rituals for children before going to bed include aligning stockings at the mantelpiece or other place where Santa cannot fail to see them, peeking up the chimney (in homes with a fireplace), glancing out a window and scanning the heavens for Santa's sleigh, and (in homes without a fireplace) unlocking an exterior door so Santa can easily enter the house. Tags on gifts for children are sometimes signed by their parents \"From Santa Claus\" before the gifts are laid beneath the tree.\n\nHo, ho, ho\n\nHo ho ho is the way that many languages write out how Santa Claus laughs. \"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!\" It is the textual rendition of a particular type of deep-throated laugh or chuckle, most associated today with Santa Claus and Father Christmas, it was connected in the 17th century with the English mythological figure of Puck.\n\nThe laughter of Santa Claus has long been an important attribute by which the character is identified, but it also does not appear in many non-English-speaking countries. The traditional Christmas poem A Visit from St. Nicholas relates that Santa has:\n\n. . . a little round bellyThat shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly\n\nHome\n\nSanta Claus's home traditionally includes a residence and a workshop where he creates—often with the aid of elves or other supernatural beings—the gifts he delivers to good children at Christmas. Some stories and legends include a village, inhabited by his helpers, surrounding his home and shop.\n\nIn North American tradition (in the United States and Canada), Santa lives on the North Pole, which according to Canada Post lies within Canadian jurisdiction in postal code H0H 0H0 (a reference to \"ho ho ho\", Santa's notable saying, although postal codes starting with H are usually reserved for the island of Montreal in Québec). On 23 December 2008, Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, formally awarded Canadian citizenship status to Santa Claus. \"The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete,\" Kenney said in an official statement. \n\nThere is also a city named North Pole in Alaska where a tourist attraction known as the \"Santa Claus House\" has been established. The US postal service uses the city's zip code of 99705 as their advertised postal code for Santa Claus. A Wendy's in North Pole, AK has also claimed to have a \"sleigh fly through\". \n\nEach Nordic country claims Santa's residence to be within their territory. Norway claims he lives in Drøbak. In Denmark, he is said to live in Greenland (near Uummannaq). In Sweden, the town of Mora has a theme park named Tomteland. The national postal terminal in Tomteboda in Stockholm receives children's letters for Santa. In Finland, Korvatunturi has long been known as Santa's home, and two theme parks, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park are located near Rovaniemi. In Belarus there is a home of Ded Moroz in Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park. \n\nParades, department stores, and shopping malls\n\nSanta Claus appears in the weeks before Christmas in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. The practice of this has been credited to James Edgar, as he started doing this in 1890 in his Brockton, Massachusetts department store. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actors (often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore associated with Santa. Santa's function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by listening to their wishlist while having them sit on his knee (a practice now under review by some organisations in Britain, and Switzerland ). Sometimes a photograph of the child and Santa are taken. Having a Santa set up to take pictures with children is a ritual that dates back at least to 1918. \n\nThe area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously \"Santa's Grotto\", \"Santa's Workshop\" or a similar term. In the United States, the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City—he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. This was popularized by the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street with Santa Claus being called Kris Kringle. The Macy's Santa Claus in New York City is often said to be the real Santa. Essayist David Sedaris is known for the satirical SantaLand Diaries he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which were turned into a famous radio segment and later published.\n\nQuite often the Santa, if and when he is detected to be fake, explains that he is not the real Santa and is helping him at this time of year. Most young children accept this explanation. At family parties, Santa is sometimes impersonated by the male head of the household or other adult male family member.\n\nIn Canada, malls operated by Oxford Properties established a process by which autistic children could visit Santa Claus at the mall without having to contend with crowds. The malls open early to allow entry only to families with autistic children, who have a private visit with Santa Claus. In 2012, the Southcentre Mall in Calgary was the first mall to offer this service. \n\nThere are schools offering instruction on how to act as Santa Claus. For example, children's television producer Jonathan Meath studied at the International School of Santa Claus and earned the degree Master of Santa Claus in 2006. It blossomed into a second career for him, and after appearing in parades and malls, he appeared on the cover of the American monthly Boston Magazine as Santa. There are associations with members who portray Santa; for example, Mr. Meath is a board member of the international organization called Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas.\n\nLetter writing to Santa\n\nWriting letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. Some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. Girls generally write longer but more polite lists and express the nature of Christmas more in their letters than in letters written by boys. Girls also more often request gifts for other people. \n\nMany postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus. These letters may be answered by postal workers and/or outside volunteers. Writing letters to Santa Claus has the educational benefits of promoting literacy, computer literacy, and e-mail literacy. A letter to Santa is often a child's first experience of correspondence. Written and sent with the help of a parent or teacher, children learn about the structure of a letter, salutations, and the use of an address and postcode. \n\nAccording to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the oldest Santa letter answering effort by a national postal system. The USPS Santa letter answering effort started in 1912 out of the historic James Farley Post Office in New York, and since 1940 has been called \"Operation Santa\" to ensure that letters to Santa are adopted by charitable organizations, major corporations, local businesses and individuals in order to make children's holiday dreams come true from coast to coast. Those seeking a North Pole holiday postmark through the USPS, are told to send their letter from Santa or a holiday greeting card by 10 December to: North Pole Holiday Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998. \n\nIn 2006, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, France's Postal Service received the most letters for Santa Claus or \"Père Noël\" with 1,220,000 letters received from 126 countries. France's Postal Service in 2007 specially recruited someone to answer the enormous volume of mail that was coming from Russia for Santa Claus.\n\nOther interesting Santa letter processing information, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, are:\n* Countries whose national postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019), United Kingdom (750,000).\n* In 2006, Finland's national postal operation received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France's Postal Service from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries, and Slovakia from 20 countries.\n* In 2007, Canada Post replied to letters in 26 languages and Deutsche Post in 16 languages.\n* Some national postal operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail through the national postal operators, proving that children still write letters. National postal operators offering the ability to use an on-line web form (with or without a return e-mail address) to Santa and obtain a reply include Canada Post (on-line web request form in English and French), France's Postal Service (on-line web request form in French), and New Zealand Post (on-line web request form in English). In France, by 6 December 2010, a team of 60 postal elves had sent out reply cards in response to 80,000 e-mail on-line request forms and more than 500,000 physical letters.\n\nCanada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0 (see also: Ho ho ho). (This postal code, in which zeroes are used for the letter \"O\" is consistent with the alternating letter-number format of all Canadian postal codes.) Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poor communities, or from children's hospitals, and give them presents they would not otherwise receive. In 2009, 1,000 workers answered 1.1 million letters and 39,500 e-mail on-line request forms from children in 30 different languages, including Braille.\n\nIn Britain it was traditional for some to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However this has been found to be less efficient than the use of the normal postal service, and this tradition is dying out in modern times, especially with few homes having open fires.\nAccording to the Royal Mail website, Santa's address for letters from British children is: Santa/Father Christmas, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ \n\nIn Mexico and other Latin American countries, besides using the mail, sometimes children wrap their letters to a small helium balloon, releasing them into the air so Santa magically receives them.'Letters to Santa Claus'. (2000). In The World Encyclopedia of Christmas. Gerry Bowler, Editor. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited. pp. 131–132.\n\nIn 2010, the Brazilian National Post Service, \"Correios\" formed partnerships with public schools and social institutions to encourage children to write letters and make use of postcodes and stamps. In 2009, the Brazilian National Post Service, \"Correios\" answered almost two million children's letters, and spread some seasonal cheer by donating 414,000 Christmas gifts to some of Brazil's neediest citizens.\n\nThrough the years, the Finnish Santa Claus (Joulupukki or \"Yule Goat\") has received over eight million letters. He receives over 600,000 letters every year from over 198 different countries with Togo being the most recent country added to the list. Children from Great Britain, Poland and Japan are the busiest writers. The Finnish Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi, however the Santa Claus Main Post Office is situated in Rovaniemi precisely at the Arctic circle. His address is: Santa Claus' Main Post Office, Santa Claus Village, FIN-96930 Arctic Circle. The post office welcomes 300,000 visitors a year, with 70,000 visitors in December alone.\n\nChildren can also receive a letter from Santa through a variety of private agencies and organizations, and on occasion public and private cooperative ventures. An example of a public and private cooperative venture is the opportunity for expatriate and local children and parents to receive postmarked mail and greeting cards from Santa during December in the Finnish Embassy in Beijing, People's Republic of China, Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland, and the People's Republic of China Postal System's Beijing International Post Office. Parents can order a personalized \"Santa letter\" to be sent to their child, often with a North Pole postmark. The \"Santa Letter\" market generally relies on the internet as a medium for ordering such letters rather than retail stores. \n\nSanta tracking, Santa websites and email to and from Santa\n\nOver the years there have been a number of websites created by various organizations that have purported to track Santa Claus. Some, such as NORAD Tracks Santa, the Airservices Australia Tracks Santa Project, the Santa Update Project, and the MSNBC and Bing Maps Platform Tracks Santa Project have endured. Others, such as the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's Tracks Santa Project, the Santa Retro Radar – Lehigh Valley Project, and the NASA Tracks Santa Project, have fallen by the wayside.\n\nIn 1955, a Sears Roebuck store in Colorado Springs, Colorado, gave children a number to call a \"Santa hotline\". The number was mistyped and children called the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) on Christmas Eve instead. The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first call for Santa and responded by telling children that there were signs on the radar that Santa was indeed heading south from the North Pole. A tradition began which continued under the name NORAD Tracks Santa when in 1958 Canada and the United States jointly created the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). This tracking can now be done via the Internet and NORAD's website.\n\nIn the past, many local television stations in the United States and Canada likewise claimed they \"tracked Santa Claus\" in their own metropolitan areas through the stations' meteorologists. In December 2000, the Weather Channel built upon these local efforts to provide a national Christmas Eve \"Santa tracking\" effort, called \"SantaWatch\" in cooperation with NASA, the International Space Station, and Silicon Valley-based new multimedia firm Dreamtime Holdings. In the 21st century, most local television stations in the United States and Canada rely upon outside established \"Santa tracking\" efforts, such as NORAD Tracks Santa. \n\nMany other websites are available year-round that are devoted to Santa Claus and purport to keep tabs on his activities in his workshop. Many of these websites also include email addresses which allow children to send email to Santa Claus. Most of these websites use volunteer living people as \"elves\" to answer email sent to Santa. Some websites, such as Santa's page on Microsoft's Windows Live Spaces, however have used or still use \"bots\" to compose and send email replies, with occasional unfortunate results. \n\nIn addition to providing holiday-themed entertainment, \"Santa tracking\" websites raise interest in space technology and exploration, serve to educate children in geography. and encourage them to take an interest in science. \n\nCriticism\n\nCalvinist and Puritan opposition\n\nSanta Claus has partial Christian roots in Saint Nicholas, particularly in the high church denominations that practice the veneration of him, in addition to other saints. In addition, he has also become a secular representation of Christmas. In light of these facts, the character has sometimes been the focus of controversy over the holiday and its meanings. Some Christians, particularly Calvinists and Puritans, disliked the idea of Santa Claus, as well as Christmas in general, believing that the lavish celebrations were not in accordance with their faith. Other nonconformist Christians condemn the materialist focus of contemporary gift giving and see Santa Claus as the symbol of that culture. \n\nCondemnation of Christmas was prevalent among the 17th-century English Puritans and Dutch Calvinists who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. The American colonies established by these groups reflected this view. Tolerance for Christmas increased after the Restoration but the Puritan opposition to the holiday persisted in New England for almost two centuries. In the Dutch New Netherland colony, season celebrations focused on New Year's Day.\n\nFollowing the Restoration of the monarchy and with Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686). \n\nReverend Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracted controversy in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a \"pagan goblin\" (translated from Danish) after Santa's image was used on fundraising materials for a Danish welfare organization Clar, 337. A number of denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus, which range from acceptance to denouncement. \n\nMary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science movement, wrote: \"the children should not be taught that Santa Claus has aught to do with this [Christmas] pastime. A deceit or falsehood is never wise. Too much cannot be done towards guarding and guiding well the germinating and inclining thought of childhood. To mould aright the first impressions of innocence, aids in perpetuating purity and in unfolding the immortal model, man in His image and likeness.\" \n\nOpposition under state atheism\n\nUnder the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of state atheism in the Soviet Union after its foundation in 1917, Christmas celebrations—along with other religious holidays—were prohibited as a result of the Soviet antireligious campaign. The League of Militant Atheists encouraged school pupils to campaign against Christmas traditions, among them being Santa Claus and the Christmas tree, as well as other Christian holidays including Easter; the League established an antireligious holiday to be the 31st of each month as a replacement. \n\nSymbol of commercialism\n\nIn his book Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus, writer Jeremy Seal describes how the commercialization of the Santa Claus figure began in the 19th century. \"In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells,\" said Seal in an interview.[http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID\n611 How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory], interview with Jeremy Seal at the St. Nicholas Center. \"They are simply the actual bearings in the world from which he emerged. At that time, sleighs were how you got about Manhattan.\"\n\nWriting in Mothering, writer Carol Jean-Swanson makes similar points, noting that the original figure of St. Nicholas gave only to those who were needy and that today Santa Claus seems to be more about conspicuous consumption:\n\nIn the Czech Republic, a group of advertising professionals started a website against Santa Claus, a relatively recent phenomenon in that country., Hilda Hoy, The Prague Post, 13 December 2006. \"Czech Christmases are intimate and magical. All that Santa stuff seems to me like cheap show business,\" said David König of the Creative Copywriters Club, pointing out that it is primarily an American and British tradition. \"I'm not against Santa himself. I'm against Santa in my country only.\" In the Czech tradition, presents are delivered by Ježíšek, which translates as Baby Jesus.\n\nIn the United Kingdom, Father Christmas was historically depicted wearing a green cloak. As Father Christmas has been increasingly merged into the image of Santa Claus, that has been changed to the more commonly known red suit. One school in the seaside town of Brighton banned the use of a red suit erroneously believing it was only indicative of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign. School spokesman Sarah James said: \"The red-suited Santa was created as a marketing tool by Coca-Cola, it is a symbol of commercialism.\" However, Santa had been portrayed in a red suit in the 19th century by Thomas Nast among others. \n\nControversy about deceiving children\n\nVarious psychologists and researchers have wrestled with the ways that parents collude to convince young children of the existence of Santa Claus, and have wondered whether children's abilities to critically weigh real-world evidence may be undermined by their belief in this or other imaginary figures. For example, University of Texas psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley helped conduct a study that found, to the contrary, that children seemed competent in their use of logic, evidence, and comparative reasoning even though they might conclude that Santa Claus or other fanciful creatures were real:\n\nWoolley posited that it is perhaps \"kinship with the adult world\" that causes children not to be angry that they were lied to for so long. However, the criticism about this deception is not that it is a simple lie, but a complicated series of very large lies.[http://atheism.about.com/od/christmasholidayseason/p/SantaMyth.htm Santa Claus: Should Parents Perpetuate the Santa Claus Myth?], Austin Cline, About.com Objections include that it is unethical for parents to lie to children without good cause, and that it discourages healthy skepticism in children. With no greater good at the heart of the lie, some have charged that it is more about the parents than it is about the children. For instance, writer Austin Cline posed the question: \"Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?\"\n\nOthers, however, see no harm in the belief in Santa Claus. Psychologist Tamar Murachver said that because it is a cultural, not parental, lie, it does not undermine parental trust. The New Zealand Skeptics also see no harm in parents telling their children that Santa is real. Spokesperson Vicki Hyde said, \"It would be a hard-hearted parent indeed who frowned upon the innocent joys of our children's cultural heritage. We save our bah humbugs for the things that exploit the vulnerable.\"\n\nDr. John Condry of Cornell University interviewed more than 500 children for a study of the issue and found that not a single child was angry at his or her parents for telling them Santa Claus was real. According to Dr. Condry, \"The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not\".",
"Donald Duck - The Disney Wiki - Wikia\nDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a US cartoon character ... name to be Donald Fauntleroy Duck ... a character named Donald Duck, the character's first ...\nDonald Duck | The Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia\nDuck\nRelatives\nLudwig Von Drake (uncle) Scrooge McDuck (uncle) Huey, Dewey, and Louie (nephews) Grandma Duck (grandmother) Bertie Duck (aunt) Della Duck (sister) Quackmore Duck (father) Hortense McDuck (mother) Duffy Duck (brother) Gus Goose (second cousin)\nDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a US cartoon character from the Walt Disney Company . Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt , cap, and a red bow tie , but no trousers (except when he goes swimming). Donald's most famous personality trait is his easily provoked and explosive temper. Donald Duck has been officially honored as the third most popular cartoon character of all time with Bugs Bunny of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies at number two and fellow Disney creation Mickey Mouse who is number one. Template:Citation needed\nAccording to the Disney canon, Donald's birthday is officially recognized as June 9, 1934, [1] the day his debut film, The Wise Little Hen , was released. However, in The Three Caballeros (1944), his birthday is given as simply \" Friday the 14th \", which is in reference to the bad luck he experiences in almost all his cartoon appearances. Donald's Happy Birthday (short) gives his birthday as March 13. The 1942 short \"Donald Gets Drafted\", as well as the Quack Pack episode All Hands on Duck, also reveals his full name to be Donald Fauntleroy Duck. [2] Donald Duck is a well-known and very popular character especially in Scandinavian countries. [3] Donald's 1942 short film, Der Fuehrer's Face , won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film .\nDonald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence \"Ducky\" Nash up to his death in 1985. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Nash's rise to stardom. Template:Citation needed In 1969, Disney On Parade which toured all over the United States and Canada, hired Valeria G. as the live voice of Donald Duck. Ms. Valeria did the voice for 3 years. Since 1985, Donald has been voiced by Tony Anselmo , who was trained by Nash for the role. Template:Citation needed\nContents\nTemplate:Details\nDonald Duck as he first appeared in The Wise Little Hen\nAccording to Adeytola in his introduction to The Chronological Donald - Volume 1, Donald was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his \"duck\" voice while reciting \" Mary had a little lamb \". Mickey Mouse had lost some of his edge since becoming a role model for children and Disney wanted a character that could portray some of the more negative character traits he could no longer bestow on Mickey.\nDonald Duck first appeared in the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934 (though he is mentioned in a 1931 Disney storybook). Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy , is similar to his modern look—the feather and beak colors are the same, as is the blue sailor shirt and hat—but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet smaller. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story.\nBurt Gillett , director of The Wise Little Hen, Template:Citation needed brought Donald back in his Mickey Mouse cartoon, Orphan's Benefit on August 11, 1934. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and Little Boy Blue , but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans heckle him, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come.\nDonald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing regularly in most Mickey Mouse cartoons. Cartoons from this period, such as the 1935 cartoon The Band Concert —in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of The William Tell Overture by playing Turkey in the Straw —are regularly hailed by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also minted the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon Mickey's Service Station.\nIn 1936, Donald was redesigned to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was the January 9, 1937 Ben Sharpsteen cartoon, Don Donald . This short also introduced a love interest of Donald's, Donna Duck, who evolved into Daisy Duck . [4] Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie , would make their first animated appearance a year later in the April 15, 1938 film, Donald's Nephews , directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip by Al Taliaferro , see below). By 1938, at most, polls showed that Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse. [5] Disney could, however, help Mickey regain popularity by redesigning him, giving him his most appealing design as production for the Fantasia segment \"The Sorcerer's Apprentice\" began in 1938.\nAfter his early appearances, he went on to become part of the famed trio Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. He appeared in many of the cartoons, includingMoving Day.\nWartime Donald\nDonald in Der Fuehrer's Face\nSeveral of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films, most notably Der Fuehrer's Face , released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in \"Nutzi Land\" ( Nazi Germany ). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Führer ( Adolf Hitler ). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey until he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a dream. At the end of the short Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1942 Academy Award for Animated Short Film . Der Fuehrer's Face was also the first of two animated short films to be set during the War to win an Oscar, the other being Tom & Jerry 's short film, The Yankee Doodle Mouse .\nOther notable shorts from this period include the Army shorts, seven films that follow Donald's life in the US Army from his drafting to his life in basic training under sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include:\nCommando Duck (June 2, 1944)\nDonald Gets Drafted also featured Donald having a physical examination before joining the army. According to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue, which is a type of color blindness . Also in this cartoon sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline.\nThanks to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of WWII Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the B-29 Superfortress . Template:Citation needed\nDonald also appears as a mascot—such as in the Army Air Corps 309th Fighter Squadron [6] and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary , which showed Donald as a fierce-looking pirate ready to defend the American coast from invaders. [7] Donald also appeared as a mascot emblem for: 415th Fighter Squadron ; 438th Fighter Squadron ; 479th Bombardment Squadron ; 531st Bombardment Squadron .\nDuring World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported into Occupied Europe . Since this cost Disney a lot of money, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South America . He decided to make a trip through various Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature length animation films. The first was Saludos Amigos , which consisted of four short segments, two of them with Donald Duck. In the first, he meets his parrot pal Jose Carioca . The second film was The Three Caballeros , in which he meets his rooster friend Panchito .\nPost-war animation\nEdit\nMany of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the chipmunks Chip 'n Dale , or by other characters such as Humphrey the Bear , Spike the Bee , Bootle Beetle , the Aracuan Bird , Louie the Mountain Lion , or a colony of ants. In effect, the Disney artists had reversed the classic screwball scenario perfected by Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the instigator of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them.\nThe post-war Donald also starred in educational films , such as Donald in Mathmagic Land and How to Have an Accident at Work (both 1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and the Disneyland television show (1959). For this latter show, Donald's uncle Ludwig von Drake was created in 1961.\nClarence Nash voiced Donald for the last time in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), making Donald the only character in the film to be voiced by his original actor. Since Nash's death in 1985, Donald's voice has been provided by Tony Anselmo , who was mentored by Nash. Anselmo's voice is heard for the first time in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? . In this movie, Donald has a piano duel scene with the Warner Brothers duck Daffy Duck voiced by Mel Blanc and wins the duel with a cartoon cannon . Many fans call this confrontation between the 2 ducks as one of the greatest duels in animation history.\nDonald has since appeared in a lot of different television shows and (short) animated movies. He played roles in Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Prince and the Pauper and made a cameo appearance in A Goofy Movie .NOTE:During a Darkwing Duck episode a star is scorned and everyone thinks Darkwing is Donald. He later dresses up like Donald to sneak in with Goslyn dressed as Huey\nDonald had a rather small part in the animated television series DuckTales . There, Donald joins the Navy, and leaves his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie with their Uncle Scrooge , who then has to take care of them. Donald's role in the overall series was fairly limited, as he only ended up appearing in a handful of episodes. Some of the stories in the series were loosely based on the comics by Carl Barks .\nDonald made some cameo appearances in Bonkers , before getting his own television show Quack Pack . This series featured a modernized Duck family. Donald was no longer wearing his sailor suit and hat, but a Hawaiian shirt. Huey, Dewey, and Louie now are teenagers, with distinct clothing, voices, and personalities. Daisy Duck has lost her pink dress and bow and has a new hairdo. Oddly enough, no other family members, besides Ludwig von Drake, appear in Quack Pack, and all other Duckburg citizens are humans, and not dogs.\nHe made a comeback as the star of the \"Noah's Ark\" segment of Fantasia 2000 , as first mate to Noah. Donald musters the animals to the Ark and attempts to control them. He tragically believes that Daisy has been lost, while she believes the same of him, but they are reunited at the end. All this to Edward Elgar 's Pomp and Circumstance Marches 1o4.\nIn an alternate opening for the 2005 Disney film Chicken Little , Donald would have made a cameo appearance as \"Ducky Lucky\". This scene can be found on the Chicken Little DVD.\nDonald also played an important role in Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse . In the latter show, he is the co-owner of Mickey's night club. He is in the TV show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as well.\nCharacterization\nEdit\nDonald's dominant personality trait is his short temper and, in contrast, his positive look on life. Many Donald shorts start with Donald in a happy mood, without a care in the world, until something comes and spoils his day. His anger is a great cause of suffering in the duck's life, and he has on multiple occasions got in over his head and lost competitions because of it. There are times when he fights to keep his temper, and he has succeeded a few times, but he always returns to his well known, aggressive self at the end of the day.\nDonald's aggressive nature is a double-edged sword however, and while it at times is a hindrance and even a handicap for him, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced against a threat of some kind, Donald may get frightened and even intimidated (mostly by Pete), but rather than getting scared, he gets mad and has taken up fights with ghosts , sharks , mountain goats and even the forces of nature . And, more often than not, Donald has come out on top.\nDonald can at times be a bit of a bully and a tease, especially against his nephews and Chip 'n Dale . As animator Fred Spencer once wrote:\nThe Duck gets a big kick out of imposing on other people or annoying them, but he immediately loses his temper when the tables are turned. In other words, he can dish it out, but he can't take it. [8]\nHowever, there is seldom any malice in Donald's pranks. He is never out to hurt anyone, and if he ever goes too far in his pranks he is always very regretful. In Truant Officer Donald , for example, when he is tricked into believing he accidentally killed Huey, Dewey and Louie he shows great remorse, blaming himself and willingly takes a kick handed out by one of the “angel” nephews. That is, of course, until he realizes he has been played a sap and directly loses his temper.\nDonald has also been shown to be a bit of a show-off. He likes to brag, especially when he is very skilled at something. This has a tendency to get him into trouble, however, as he also tends to get in over his head.\nStill, Donald has proven that he is a Jack of all Trades and are, among other things, a good fisher and hockey player.\nAmong his personality traits is his stubbornness and commitment. Even though Donald at times can be lazy, and he has stated many times that his favorite place is in the hammock , once he has committed to something he goes in for it 100%, sometimes going to extreme measures to reach his goal.\nPhrases\nEdit\nDonald has a few memorable phrases that he occasionally comes out with in given situations. \"What's the Big Idea!?\" is a common one, which Donald usually says when stumbling across other characters in the midst of planning some sort of retaliation or prank, and sometimes when certain things don't go as planned or don't work properly. \"Aw Phooey!\" is another memorable saying Donald makes, usually after giving up on a particular action or event. Another popular phrase Donald says, in particular to Daisy, is, \"Hiya, toots!\". \"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy\" is yet another common phrase Donald says, usually when he's very excited about something.\nHealth\nEdit\nA running gag in the Donald Duck comics is about his physical condition. Usually, some character close to Donald believes that because of his laziness, Donald needs to do some exercise, which annoys Donald. But, in spite of his apparent lazy condition, Donald proves that he is physically strong, as evidenced in one of his shorts, Sea Scouts, where Donald travels in a boat with his nephews, but a shark attacks the boat and Donald, after several misadventures, finally defeats the shark with a single punch.\nRivalry with Mickey Mouse\nEdit\nThrough out his career, Donald has shown that he's jealous of Mickey and wants his job as Disney's greatest star. This is very similar to the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck rivalry. In the early Disney shorts, Mickey and Donald were partners, but by the time The Mickey Mouse Club aired on television, it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight. One animated short that rivaled the famous Mickey Mouse March song was showing Huey, Dewey, and Louie as Boy Scouts and Donald as their Scoutmaster at a cliff near a remote forest and Donald leads them in a song mirroring the Mouseketeers theme \"D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K-! Donald Duck!\" The rivalry would cause Donald some problems, in a 1988 TV special , where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the kidnapping of Mickey, as he is considered to be the chief suspect, due to their rivalry. However, Donald did later get the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence. Walt Disney , in his Wonderful World of Color, would sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic birthday cake and commented how it was \"even bigger than Mickey's\", which pleased Donald. The clip was rebroadcast in November 1984 during a TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday, with Dick Van Dyke substituting for Walt.\nThe rivalry between Mickey and Donald has also been shown in Disney's House of Mouse . It was shown that Donald wanted to be the Club's founder and wanted to change the name from House of Mouse to House of Duck. However, in later episodes, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable.\nMickey Mouse has failed to realize how much Donald does not like him at times, and always counts him as one of his best friends. Despite the rivalry, Donald seems to be an honest friend of Mickey's, and will be faithful to him in tough situations, such as working with Mickey and Goofy as a team akin to The Three Musketeers . In the Kingdom Hearts games, Donald is quite loyal to Mickey, even briefly leaving Sora to follow King Mickey's orders.\nThe rivalry between Mickey and Donald is not unlike that of Warner Bros. characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck , and many animation fans have commented on the parallels present among the four characters, the main difference being that Bugs actually realises that Daffy doesn't always like him, and uses this fact to play tricks on the duck.\nNemesis\nIn the videogame Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers , he saves Daisy from Merlock .\nDonald in comics\nMain article: Donald Duck in comics\nWhile Donald's cartoons enjoy vast popularity in the United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their greatest popularity in many European countries, especially Sweden , Denmark , Norway , Finland and Iceland , but also Germany , Italy , the Netherlands , and Greece . Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the Walt Disney Company in Italy and by Egmont in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. In Germany, the comics are published by Ehapa which has since become part of the Egmont empire. Donald-comics are also being produced in The Netherlands and France. Donald also has been appeared in Japanese comics published by Kodansha and Tokyopop .\nEdit\nThough a 1931 Disney publication called Mickey Mouse Annual mentioned a character named Donald Duck, the character's first appearance in comic-strip format was a newspaper cartoon that was based on the short The Wise Little Hen and published in 1934. For the next few years, Donald made a few more appearances in Disney-themed strips, and by 1936, he had grown to be one of the most popular characters in the Silly Symphonies comic strip. Ted Osborne was the primary writer of these strips, with Al Taliaferro as his artist. Osborne and Taliaferro also introduced several members of Donald's supporting cast, including his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie .\nIn 1937, an Italian publisher named Mondadori created the first Donald Duck story intended specifically for comic books . The eighteen-page story, written by Federico Pedrocchi , is the first to feature Donald as an adventurer rather than simply a comedic character. Fleetway in England also began publishing comic-book stories featuring the duck.\nDevelopments under Taliaferro\nEdit\nA daily Donald Duck comic strip drawn by Taliaferro and written by Bob Karp began running in the United States on February 2, 1938; the Sunday strip began the following year. Taliaferro and Karp created an even larger cast of characters for Donald's world. He got a new St. Bernard named Bolivar , and his family grew to include cousin Gus Goose and grandmother Elvira Coot . Donald's new rival girlfriends were Donna and Daisy Duck . Taliaferro also gave Donald his very own automobile, a 1934 Belchfire Runabout , in a 1938 story.\nDevelopments under Barks\nCarl Barks (1994)\nIn 1942, Western Publishing began creating original comic-book stories about Donald and other Disney characters. Bob Karp worked on the earliest of these, a story called \" Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold \". The new publisher meant new illustrators, however: Carl Barks and Jack Hannah . Barks would later repeat the treasure-hunting theme in many more stories.\nBarks soon took over the major development of the comic-book version of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, the comic version of Donald diverged even further from his animated counterpart, becoming more adventurous, less temperamental, and more eloquent. Pete was the only other major character from the Mickey Mouse comic strip to feature in Barks' new Donald Duck universe .\nBarks placed Donald in the city of Duckburg , which he populated with a host of supporting players, including Neighbour Jones (1944), Uncle Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), April, May and June (1953), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), and Magica de Spell (1961) also John D. Rockerduck (1961). Many of Taliaferro's characters made the move to Barks' world as well, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Barks placed Donald in both domestic and adventure scenarios, and Uncle Scrooge became one of his favorite characters to pair up with Donald. Scrooge's popularity grew, and by 1952, the character had a comic book of his own. At this point, Barks concentrated his major efforts on the Scrooge stories, and Donald's appearances became more focused on comedy or he was recast as Scrooge's reluctant helper, following his rich uncle around the globe.\nFurther developments\nEdit\nDozens of writers continued to utilize Donald in their stories around the world.\nFor example the Disney Studio artists, who made comics directly for the European market. Two of them, Dick Kinney (1917–1985) and Al Hubbard (1915–1984) created Donald's cousin Fethry Duck .\nThe American artists Vic Lockman and Tony Strobl (1915–1991), who were working directly for the American comic books, created Moby Duck . Strobl was one of the most productive Disney artists of all time, and drew a lot of stories which Barks wrote and sketched after his retirement. In the 1990s and early 2000s, these scripts were re-drawn in a style closer to Barks' own by Dutch artist Daan Jippes .\nItalian publisher Mondadori created many of the stories that were published throughout Europe. They also introduced numerous new characters who are today well known in Europe. One example is Donald Duck's alter-ego, a superhero called Paperinik in Italian , created in 1969 by Guido Martina (1906–1991) and Giovan Battista Carpi (1927–1999).\nGiorgio Cavazzano and Carlo Chendi created Umperio Bogarto, a detective whose name is an obvious parody on Humphrey Bogart . They also created O.K Quack , an extraterrestrial Duck who landed on earth in a spaceship in the shape of a coin. He however lost his spaceship, and befriended Scrooge, and now is allowed to search through his moneybin time after time, looking for his ship.\nRomano Scarpa (1927–2005), who was a very important and influential Italian Disney artist, created Brigitta McBridge , a female Duck who is madly in love with Scrooge. Her affections are never answered by him, though, but she keeps trying. Scarpa also came up with Dickie Duck , the granddaughter of Glittering Goldie (Scrooge's possible love-interest from his days in the Klondike) and Kildare Coot , a nephew of Grandma Duck.\nItalian artist Corrado Mastantuono created Bum Bum Ghigno, a cynical, grumpy and not too good looking Duck who teams up with Donald and Gyro a lot.\nThe American artist William van Horn also introduced a new character: Rumpus McFowl , an old and rather corpulent Duck with a giant appetite and laziness, who is first said to be a cousin of Scrooge. Only later, Scrooge reveals to his nephews Rumpus is actually his half-brother. Later, Rumpus also finds out.\nWorking for the Danish editor Egmont, artist Daniel Branca (1951–2005) and script-writers Paul Halas and Charlie Martin created Sonny Seagull, an orphan who befriends Huey, Dewey and Louie, and his rival, Mr. Phelps.\nThe most productive Duck-artist today is Victor Arriagada Rios , who is better known under the name Vicar. He has his own studio where he and his assistants draw the stories sent in by Egmont. With writer/editors Stefan and Unn Printz-Påhlson, Vicar created the character Oona, a prehistoric duck princess who traveled to modern Duckburg by using Gyro's time-machine. She stayed, and is still seen in occasional modern stories.\nThe best-known and most popular Duck-artist of this time is American Don Rosa . He started doing Disney comics in 1987 for the American publisher Gladstone. He later worked briefly for the Dutch editors, but moved to work directly for Egmont soon afterwards. His stories contain many direct references to stories by Carl Barks, and he also wrote and illustrated a 12-part series of stories about the life of Scrooge McDuck , which won him two Eisner awards.\nOther important artists who have worked with Donald are Freddy Milton and Daan Jippes , who made 18 ten-pagers which experts claim were very difficult to separate from Barks' own work from the late 1940s.\nJapanese artist Shiro Amano worked with Donald on the graphic novel Kingdom Hearts based on the Disney- SquareEnix videogame.\nDonald Duck outside the United States\nDonald Duck has a slightly different character abroad. Template:Citation needed Template:How\nNordic Countries\nEdit\nTemplate:Ref improve section Donald Duck (Kalle Anka in Sweden, Anders And in Denmark, Andrés Önd in Iceland, Donald Duck in Norway and Aku Ankka in Finland) is a very popular character in Nordic countries. In the mid-1930s, Robert S. Hartman , a German who served as a representative of Walt Disney, visited Sweden to supervise the merchandise distribution of Sagokonst (The Art of Fables). Hartman found a studio called L'Ateljé Dekoratör, which produced illustrated cards that were published by Sagokonst. Since the Disney characters on the cards appeared to be exactly 'on-model', Hartman asked the studio to create a local version of the English-language Mickey Mouse Weekly . In 1937 L'Ateljé Dekoratör began publishing Musse Pigg Tidningen (Mickey Mouse Magazine), which had high production values and spanned 23 issues; most of the magazine's content came from local producers, while some material consisted of reprints from Mickey Mouse Weekly. The comic anthology ended in 1938. Hartman helped Disney establish offices in all Nordic countries before he left Disney in 1941. Donald became the most popular of the Disney characters in Scandinavia, and Scandinavians recognise him better than Mickey Mouse.{citation needed} Kalle Anka & Co, Donald's first dedicated Swedish anthology, started in September 1948. In 2001 the Finnish Post Office issued a stamp set to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of Donald's presence in Finland. By 2005 around one out of every four Norwegians read the Norwegian edition Donald Duck & Co. per week, translating to around 1.3 million regular readers. During the same year, every week 434,000 Swedes read Kalle Anka & Co. By 2005 in Finland the Donald Duck anthology Aku Ankka sold 270,000 copies per issue. Tim Pilcher and Brad Books, authors of The Essential Guide to World Comics, described the Donald anthologies as \"the Scandinavian equivalent of the UK's Beano or Dandy , a comic that generations have grown up with, from grandparents to grandchildren.\" [9]\nHannu Raittila, an author, says that Finnish people recognize an aspect of themselves in Donald; Raittila cites that Donald attempts to retrieve himself from \"all manner of unexpected and unreasonable scrapes using only his wits and the slim resources he can put his hands on, all of which meshes nicely with the popular image of Finland as driftwood in the crosscurrents of world politics.\" Finnish voters placing \"protest votes\" typically write \"Donald Duck\" as the candidate. [10]\nBy 1978, within Finland there was extensive debate over the morality of Donald Duck. Some observers criticized Donald for living with Daisy while not being married to her, for not wearing trousers, and for, in the words of the Library Journal , being \"too bourgeois \". Some observers from Finland from the same time period supported Donald, referring to him as a \"genuine proletarian...forced to sell his labor at slave rates to make a living\". The Library Journal stated that it had been revealed that, since 1950, Donald had secretly been married to Daisy. [11]\nAn annual Christmas special in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden is From All of Us to All of You , in Norway and Sweden with a title of Donald Duck and His Friends Celebrate Christmas. Segments include Ferdinand the Bull , a short with Chip 'n' Dale, a segment from Lady and the Tramp , a sneak preview of a coming Disney movie and concludes with Jiminy Cricket performing \"When You Wish Upon a Star\". To many people watching this special is a tradition as important as having a Christmas tree. Template:Citation needed\nGermany\nEdit\nDonald Duck is very popular in Germany, where Donald themed comics sell an average of 250,000 copies each week, mostly published in the kids’ weekly Micky Maus and the monthly Donald Duck Special (for adults). [12] The Wall Street Journal called Donald Duck \"The Jerry Lewis of Germany\", a reference to American star Jerry Lewis 's popularity in France. [12] Donald's dialogue in German comics tends to be more sophisticated and philosophical, he \"quotes from German literature, speaks in grammatically complex sentences and is prone to philosophical musings, while the stories often take a more political tone than their American counterparts\", [12] features especially associated with Erika Fuchs 's popular German translations of the comics created by The Good Duck Artist Carl Barks . Christian Pfeiler – president of D.O.N.A.L.D., a German acronym which stands for \"German Organization for Non-commercial Followers of Pure Donaldism\" – says Donald is popular in Germany because \"almost everyone can identify with him. He has strengths and weaknesses, he lacks polish but is also very cultured and well-read.\" [12] It is through this everyman persona that Donald is able to voice philosophical truths about German society that appeal to both children and adults. [12] Donald's writers and illustrators Carl Barks , Don Rosa and Ub Iwerks are well known in Germany, and have their own fan clubs .\nDisney theme parks\nEdit\nDonald Duck has played a major role in many Disney theme parks over the years. He has actually been seen in more attractions and shows at the parks than Mickey Mouse has. He has appeared over the years in such attractions as Mickey Mouse Revue , Mickey's PhilharMagic , Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years , Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros and the updated version of It's a Small World . He also is seen in the parks as a meet-and-greet character.\nOne long-ago-scrapped idea was also to have a bumper boat ride themed to Donald Duck. Template:Citation needed\nDonalds in children's books\nIn 2005, Donald received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd [16] joining other fictional characters such as Mickey Mouse , Bugs Bunny , Woody Woodpecker , The Simpsons , Winnie the Pooh , Kermit the Frog , Big Bird , Godzilla and Snow White .\nDonald's fame has led Disney to license the character for a number of video games, such as the Kingdom Hearts series, where Donald is the court magician of Disney Castle. He accompanies Goofy and a young boy named Sora on a quest to find King Mickey Mouse, defeat the Heartless and destroy the evil Organization XIII. He is voiced by Tony Anselmo in the English version and Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese version.\nAsteroid 12410 was named after Donald Duck.\nAppearances",
"Santa Claus:Where Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\nThe origin of Santa Claus depends on which country ... gave further impetus to the idea of presents. Santa Claus provided ... Santa Claus, or \"Father Christmas ...\nSanta Claus:Where Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\nAll comments should be directed to Michael McCann at > [email protected]\nSanta Claus:\nWhere Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?\nThe origin of Santa Claus depends on which country's story you choose to adopt. Santa Claus comes from the Dutch words \"Sinter Klaas\", which is what they call their favorite saint, St. Nicholas. He is said to have died on December 6, A.D. 342. December 6th is celebrated as his feast day, and in many countries this is the day he arrives with his presents and punishments.\nNicholas lived in what is now called Turkey. He was born about A.D. 280 in the town of Patras. His parents were wealthy and he was well educated. Nicholas seems to have had a remarkable childhood. While still a young boy he was made Bishop of Myra, and because of this he has been known ever since as the Boy Bishop. He was renowned for his extreme kindness and generosity – often going out at night and taking presents to the needy. Santa's rise to fame can be traced to two legends – the three daughters and the children at the Inn.\nThe Three Daughters\nThe first story shows his generosity. There were three unmarried girls living in Patras who came from a respectable family, but they could not get married because their father had lost all his money and had no dowries for the girls. The only thing the father thought he could do was to sell them when they reached the age to marry. Hearing of the imminent fate, Nicholas secretly delivered a bag of gold to the eldest daughter, who was at the right age for marriage but had despaired of ever finding a suitor. Her family was thrilled at her good fortune and she went on to become happily married. When the next daughter came of age, Nicholas also delivered gold to her.\nAccording to the story handed down, Nicholas threw the bag through the window and it landed in the daughter's stocking, which she had hung by the fire to dry. Another version claims that Nicholas dropped the bag of gold down the chimney.\nBy the time the youngest daughter was old enough for marriage, the father was determined to discover his daughters' benefactor. He, quite naturally, thought that she might be given a bag of gold too, so he decided to keep watch all night. Nicholas, true to form, arrived and was seized, and his identity and generosity were made known to all. As similar stories of the bishop's generosity spread, anyone who received an unexpected gift thanked St. Nicholas.\nSt. Nicholas and Children\nAnother one of the many stories told about St. Nicholas explains why he was made a patron saint of children. On a journey to Nicaea, he stopped on the way for the night at an inn. During the night he dreamt that a terrible crime had been committed in the building. His dream was quite horrifying. In it three young sons of a wealthy Asian, on their way to study in Athens, had been murdered and robbed by the innkeeper. The next morning he confronted the innkeeper and forced him to confess. Apparently the innkeeper had previously murdered other guests and salted them down for pork or had dismembered their bodies and pickled them in casks of brine. The three boys were still in their casks, and Nicholas made the sign of the cross over them and they were restored to life.\nWhere did religion come in? …\nIn newly Christianized areas where the pagan Celtic and Germanic cults remained strong, legends of the god Wodan were blended with those of various Christian saints; Saint Nicholas was one of these. There were Christian areas where Saint Nicholas ruled alone; in other locations, he was assisted by the pagan Dark Helper (the slave he had inherited from the Germanic god Wodan). In other remote areas, where the Church held little power, ancient pockets of the Olde Religion controlled traditions. Here the Dark Helper ruled alone, sometimes in a most confusing manner, using the cover name of Saint Nicholas or \"Klaus,\" without in any way changing his threatening, Herne/Pan, fur-clad appearance. (This was the figure later used by the artist Nast as the model for the early American Santa Claus.)\nThe Catholic Saint Nicholas also had a confusing past. He was a compilation of two separate saints (one from Myra in Asia Minor, the other from Pinora), both of whom were – as the Church now admits – nothing more than Christianized water deities (possibly related to the Greco-Roman god Poseidon/Neptune.)\nAfter the Vikings raided the Mediterranean, they brought the Christian Saint Nicholas cult from Italy to northern Europe, and there proceeded to build Saint Nicholas churches for the protection of their sailors. When, for instance, William the Conqueror's fleet was hit by a storm during his invasion of England, he is known to have called out for protection to Saint Nicholas. Although in those days, church services only mentioned Saint Nicholas as the protector of seafarers, they initially condoned a blending of the Mediterranean Nicholas myths with some that had been attached to the pagan Germanic god Wodan and to those of the even earlier Herne/Pan traditions.\nBy absorbing such pagan feasts and traditions, the Christian Church could subtly bring in its own theology: in this case, establishing the good Saint Nicholas, bringer of love and gifts, while grudgingly allowing the presence of the Olde Religion's Herne/Pan, but only as a slave to Saint Nicholas. Thus, in parts of Europe, the Church turned Herne into Saint Nicholas' captive, chained Dark Helper; none other than Satan, the Dark One, symbolic of all evil. His only remaining tasks now were to carry the bag, scare maidens and children into devout behavior, and drag sinners and pagans off to the Christian hell. Yet, in spite of this character assassination, the poor masses continued to see in this enslaved Dark Helper a reflection of their own enslavement. He remained their Herne, thumbing his nose at the Christian Church; a mischievous, nostalgic reminder of the days of their own free and lusty pagan past.\nIn Holland and several other European countries, the Saint Nicholas figure is still highly esteemed. He appears as a tall dignified bearded white-haired old man dressed as a Catholic bishop complete with cloak, mytre, and pastoral staff, a seemingly genuine Catholic saint, but with a bizarre quite unsaintly habit of riding through the skies on a white horse followed by his Dark Helper. It seems that our Catholic saint inherited some of these customs from the pagan Germanic god Wodan, who had also been a bearded, white-haired old man, also dressed in a hat and cloak, carried a staff (or spear), rode a holy white horse and dragged along the same dark slave/helper on a chain.\nThe Dutch Sinterklaas brings gifts to good children, while bad children are harassed by Zwarte Piet, the Dark Helper, who – brandishing his peculiar broom-like rod – threatens to put sassy young women and naughty children in the sack in which he has carried the gifts, the idea being that he will take them away to some terrible place in Spain (where Saint Nicholas, for no known historical reason, was supposed to have come from). This, of course, never happens since the good Christian Sinterklaas always intervenes on behalf of the naughty child – provided the child promises to better his or her ways. The bad (pagan) Dark Helper is then admonished by Sinterklaas and ordered to stop threatening the children.\nNext, Sinterklaas distributes gifts to all \"who have been good\" (or until the twentieth century, to all \"who knew their prayers\"). In exchange, the children are supposed to leave food offerings for the saint's horse (usually hay and carrots), placed in either a shoe or stocking. In some areas, a glass of gin is also left as an offering for the good saint himself. When, by daybreak, the offerings have disappeared and been replaced by gifts, it proves that Sinterklaas has indeed paid a visit during the night.\nWe can clearly recognize in all this the lesson taught the pagans by the Christian Church, here represented by Saint Nicholas: You may enjoy your old fall/winter feasts, as long as you have learned your prayers and become good Christians. You will then be rewarded, but if you have not done so, you will be dragged away to hell by your own fearful, pagan past and its representative, the dark Herne/Pan – who is none other than Satan himself – unless you repent, here and now!\nSt. Nicholas with a European Flair …\nNicholas' natural affinity with children led him to be adopted as their patron saint, and his generosity to the custom of giving gifts to them on his feast day. The custom became especially widespread in the Low Countries, where the Dutch seamen had carried reports home of the saint's generosity. St. Nicholas was, however, a tremendously popular saint everywhere. Both Russia and Greece adopted him as their patron saint, and there are more churches in the world named after him than any of the apostles (especially The Netherlands).\nIn the European countries, St. Nicholas is usually pictured as a bearded saint, wearing ecclesiastical robes and riding a white horse. He carries a basket of gifts for the good children and a batch of rods for the naughty ones.\nIn old Czechoslovakia, Svaty Mikulas was brought down from heaven on a golden cord by an angel. When he arrived on Christmas Day, the children rushed to the table to say their prayers. If they did well, he told the angel who came with him to give them presents.\nIn parts of the Alps, \"ghosts of the field\" cleared the way for St. Nicholas. Behind them came a man wearing a goat's head, and a masked demon with a birch switch. In Germany, twelve young men dressed in straw and wearing animal masks danced along after St. Nicholas, ringing cowbells. At each house, after gifts were given, the masked men drove the young people out and pretended to beat them!\nFor the children of the Netherlands, December 6th is still more exciting than Christmas Day, for then St. Nicholas arrives. His arrival is celebrated and this is the day when children receive their presents. The excitement begins on the last Sunday in November, where everywhere can be heard the words, \"Look there is the steamer bringing us St. Nick!\"\nSt. Nicholas traditionally arrives by sea and disembarks at Amsterdam. He then mounts a white horse for a processional ride through the streets. Clothed in a bishop's scarlet cope and mitre, he wears white gloves and an enormous bishop's ring on his left hand. Black Peter accompanies Nicholas. St. Nicholas' arrival is greeted with cheers from the thousands of children and adults who line the route. Supposedly the bishop came from Spain. This story can be traced back to the sixteenth century when the Spanish dominated the Low Countries. The doublet, puffed velvet breeches, hose and plumed berets worn by his attendants – in particular Black Peter – are another forcible reminder of that period. Black Peter carries a large sack in which he is said to put all the boys and girls who have misbehaved during the course of the last 12 months. With bad kids in his sack, Black Peter then takes them away to Spain.\nImmigrants to the New World must have recognized something familiar in the little figure of St. Nick. His fur costume suggested Pelz-Nicol to a Bavarian, and the little gnome-like figure Jule-nissen to a Scandinavian. His elfish qualities rang bells with other nationalities too, for example the Irish with their tradition of the \"little people\". In many ways, Santa was recognizable for many people, which probably helps to explain why he was adopted so readily – a new, but familiar, symbol for a new country.\nGift-Giving Comes of Age\nAs in many other European countries, if presents were exchanged at this season, it was usually done at New Year's Eve and they were between adults rather than for children. In the 1840s, however, there was an increasing emphasis on Christmas Day. This seems to have happened for several reasons. The press – which now reached a far wider audience – stressed the fact that Christmas Day was the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Birthdays had always been a day for giving presents and it was a natural step to celebrate Jesus' birth by giving gifts on that day.\nBefore Christmas had been banned by Oliver Cromwell from 1644 to 1660, there had been an old custom of giving sweets and small presents to children on Christmas Day. This had virtually stopped, but now the custom was enjoying a revival, in part because of the many articles that were being written in the Christmas editions of magazines about the \"old traditions\" of Christmas. Another influential element was that, just as in America, children were becoming a greater focus in society, and it seemed appropriate to use this time to give them greater emphasis.\nThe importation of the Christmas tree from Germany, and the accompanying rituals of gift giving on Christmas Eve, gave further impetus to the idea of presents. Santa Claus provided the final influence. By the end of the century, Christmas Day was firmly fixed – in England at least – as a children's festival and the day on which presents were given.\nSanta Claus, or \"Father Christmas\", came back into English Christmas festivities when people were reminded of him from America. This injected new life into the English Christmas and was the answer to those who prayed that Father Christmas and his customs may be restored \"to some portion of their ancient honours\".\nCelebrations around the midwinter solstice had been used for gift giving since Roman times. At the Roman winter festival – called the Saturnalia because they worshipped Saturn as the god of everything that grew – the Romans had a public holiday that lasted for a week. Everyone took part in the feasting and games. Even the slaves were made free for a day and allowed to say and do what they liked. People exchanged presents; a custom called Strenae, as a symbol of goodwill. At first, these gifts were green boughs from the grove of the goddess Strenia. Later, gifts were given of sweet pastries to ensure a pleasant year, precious stones, gold or silver coins to symbolize wealth, and, the most popular of all, candles as a symbol of warmth and light. As the Roman Empire spread, so did this custom of gift giving to other parts of the world. Since the Saturnalia marked the beginning of a new year, in most countries presents were given on New Year's Day, not Christmas Day. The advent and spread of Christianity caused the gift giving to be moved to other times of the year.\nIn Germany, the packages of Christmas gifts were called \"Christ-bundles\" and often came in bundles of three. There was something rewarding, something useful and something for discipline. In the seventeenth century, a typical bundle would contain candy, sugarplums, cakes, apples, nuts, dolls and toys. The useful things would be clothes, caps, mittens, stockings, shoes and slippers. The gifts \"that belong to teaching, obedience and discipline\" were items such as ABC tables, paper, pencils, books and the \"Christ-rod\". This rod, attached to the bundle, was a pointed reminder for good behavior. Another way of presenting gifts was the old German custom of the \"Christmas ship\", in which bundles for children were stored away. To some extent, this custom was also adopted in England, but never with the same degree of popularity.\nIn the centuries before Santa Claus was well known, and still today in many countries where he has not been widely adopted, the child Jesus is the gift-bringer. He comes with the angels during the night, trimming the tree and putting the presents underneath.\nIn Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, the child Jesus (el Nino Jesus) brings Christmas gifts for the children during Holy Night. He is found in the morning in the previously empty crib, and all the presents are arranged in front of it.\nThe German name of the Christ Child is Christkind, commonly used in its diminutive form Christkindel. His messenger, a young girl with a golden crown who holds a tiny \"Tree of Light\", brings the gifts of the Christ Child. Still today in America, \"Kriss Kringle\" – deriving from the German Christkindel – is another name used for Santa Claus.\nSanta may appear under different names and in different guises. For example, French children leave their shoes by the fireplace on Christmas Eve so that they can be filled with gifts by Pere Noel. In the morning they find that the shoes have been filled and that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have also been hung on the branches of the tree.\nIn Sweden, the children wait eagerly for Jultomten, whose sleigh is drawn by the Julbocker, the goats of the thunder god Thor. With his red suit and cap, and a bulging sack on his back, he looks much like Santa Claus as we know him. In Denmark, too, the gift-bringer Julemanden carries a sack and is brought by reindeer. Elves known as Juul Nisse come from the attic, where they live, to help with the chores during Yuletide. The children put a saucer of milk or rice pudding for them in the attic and are delighted to find it empty in the morning.\nThe children of Poland receive their gifts from the stars, while in Hungary the angels bring them. Children of Syria receive theirs from the Youngest Camel on January 6th, which is Three Kings' Day. The children of Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and South American countries also receive gifts at this time as well as on Holy Night, but from the Three Kings.\nIn Italy, an unusual figure is the gift bringer for children. It is the \"Lady Befana\" or \"Bufana\" (La Befana), the ageless wanderer. Apparently La Befana refused to go to Bethlehem with the wise men when they passed her door, and she has been searching for the Christ Child ever since. On the Eve of Three Kings' Day (Epiphany), she wanders from house to house, peering into the faces of the children and leaving gifts. On that day, the children roam the streets, blowing their paper trumpets and receiving the gifts which La Befana has given them. Her name comes from the word \"Epiphany\".\nIn Russia, Kolyada is the name for Christmas. The word is derived from the old Roman Kalends, the celebration of the New Year at the first of January. Kolyada is also the name of the white-robed woman who rides a sled drawn by a single white horse from house to house on Christmas Eve to bring gifts to the children. Kolya (Nicholas), who leaves wheat cakes on the windowsills, joins her. The gift bringer in Russia is also a legendary woman, called Babushka (Grandmother). She is said to have misdirected the Magi when they inquired their way to Bethlehem. According to another version, she refused hospitality to the Holy Family on its way to Egypt. Whatever her fault, she repented of her unkindness and, to make reparation for her sin, she now goes about the world on Christmas Eve looking for the Christ Child and distributing gifts to the children.\nSanta Invades New York\nIn Europe, after the Reformation of the seventeenth century, the feast and veneration of Saint Nicholas was abolished in many places, including England, where a figure known as Father Christmas was substituted. Father Christmas is a winter deity, white-haired and bearded, who wears a crown of holly. The German settlers brought their beliefs and stories about Saint Nicholas with them to this country during the two great waves of immigration, in the early 1700s and the middle 1800s, and Hollanders brought their Sinter Klaas to their settlement of New Amsterdam. As the English colonized New York, they adopted their Father Christmas, who did not bring gifts, to these traditions, and Santa Claus as we know him today was born.\nWashington Irving first described Santa's sleigh flying. The sleigh was said to be pulled by reindeer – giving St. Nick an exotic link with the far north – a land of cold and snow where few, if any, people traveled and was hence mysterious and remote. The reindeer, however, were not first told by Irving. In a publication called The Children's Friend, a writer had described in 1821 \"Old Sante Claus with much delight, His reindeer drives this frosty night\". Washington Irving, in A History of New York, published in 1809, helped create the Americanized version of this mythic figure when he described the saint as \"laying a finger beside his nose\" and dropping gifts down chimneys.\nClement Moore's \"An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas\" (popularly known as \"The Night Before Christmas\"} was published on December 23, 1823. Clement C. Moore told of eight reindeer and gave their names. Some scholars think that this poem was actually written by Henry Livingston, Jr., and there is compelling evidence to support this point of view. Perhaps Livingston had written a poem that Moore adapted. Whatever the case, in the now-famous poem, Santa is described as a \"jolly old elf,\" with a team of eight reindeer, who comes to children on Christmas Eve Day, rather than December 6 or New Year's Day. One story recounts that Dr. Clement Moore was inspired to draw the present day Santa Claus by a short, chubby Dutch friend of his, who had sat by the fire telling stories of St. Nicholas.\nThomas Nast is another contributor to the American development of Santa Claus. Although he was born in Bavaria in the 1840s, he came to the United States when he was six years old. He grew up to become an editorial cartoonist and illustrator with flair; he is credited with creating and popularizing the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey, the symbols of the two major political parties. He is also considered the primary source for the way we picture Santa Claus because of a series of drawings he did for Harper's Weekly between 1863 and 1886. Not having the vaguest idea what Santa Claus was supposed to look like, the Bavarian-born Nast drew Santa Claus as the winter holiday figure he remembered from the mountain villages in his Bavarian Alps; a rather scary, less-than-friendly gnome, dressed in animal skins and carrying a short broom-like rod with which to threaten girls and boys.\nOver the years, Nast's Santa became a bit friendlier, until, in 1931, the Coca-Cola Company decided that they wanted to increase their sales to children. The law at the time did not allow advertisements showing children drinking Coca-Cola, so how about showing a friendlier Santa Claus, relaxing with a Coke served to him by children? The artist Haddon Sundblom was assigned to come up with a new, more commercial Santa. Instead of Moore's elf or Nast's grumpy gnome, Sundblom came up with a large, jolly fellow in the well-known, bright red suit with white fur trim (the Coca-Cola colors).\nTogether, Irving, Moore, Nast and Sundblom are largely responsible for the way we in America envision Santa Claus.\nCopyright 2001, Michael McCann with The Business Cafe. All Rights Reserved.",
"Hans Christian Andersen on iBooks - iTunes\nPreview and download books by Hans Christian Andersen, ... Mary Rodgers' musical Once Upon a Mattress ... Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (Unabridged)\nHans Christian Andersen on iBooks\nOpen iTunes to buy and download books\nBiography\nBorn in a slum and struggling through his youth to break through Denmark's class structure, Hans Christian Andersen always considered himself an outsider. And so his plays, novels, and especially his fairy tales are populated by outsiders, some of whom do not live happily ever after. The young Andersen initially hoped to rise from his impoverishment as an actor, but a theater director instead raised money to send him to school. In 1829, he gained his first success not as an actor but as a writer, with \"A Walk From Holmen's Canal to the East Point of the Island of Amager in the Years 1828 and 1829.\" Despite its unwieldy travelogue title, this was a tale of fantasy inspired by the work of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Still attached to the theater, Andersen went on to write several plays, few of which were particularly successful. He made his name more as a novelist, with such works as The Improviser (1835) and Only a Fiddler (1837). It was during this early phase of novel writing that Andersen also began turning out original little tales in folk style. The first of what would amount to 156 stories was published in 1835 as Eventyr, or Tales Told for Children. Eventyr was expanded in 1837 and a second volume came out in 1842. Related collections of stories were regularly issued through 1852, with a last publication, New Fairy Tales and Stories, finally arriving in 1872. One key to Andersen's popularity was his style, which was colloquial rather than literary. Yet he refused to write down to children; he introduced dark feelings and sinister turns of events and expressed special sympathy for outcasts, not just heroes and princesses. Some of his tales celebrated the triumph of goodness and were, indeed, overtly Christian, but others were pessimistic in the tradition of German Romanticism. Andersen was also a poet, and his verse has been set to music by such composers as Grieg, Nielsen, and Schumann (notably Der Spielmann). But his fairy tales have made the strongest impression on composers. Among musical adaptations, sometimes quite loose, of Andersen's tales are Prokofiev's song The Ugly Duckling, Mary Rodgers' musical Once Upon a Mattress (based on \"The Princess and the Pea\"), and Disney's animated feature The Little Mermaid.\nTop Books",
"Full text of \"A History of Nursery Rhymes\" - archive.org\nFull text of \"A History of Nursery Rhymes\" See other formats ...\nFull text of \"A History of Nursery Rhymes\"\nSee other formats\nThe Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Nursery Rhymes, by Percy B. Green This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A History of Nursery Rhymes Author: Percy B. Green Release Date: December 28, 2007 [EBook #24065] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES *** Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES BY PERCY B. GREEN LONDON GREENING & CO., LTD. 20, CECIL COURT CHARING CROSS ROAD 1899 Now Reissued by Singing Tree Press 1249 Washington Blvd., Detroit, Michigan. 1968 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 68-31082 Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst significant amendments are noted at the end of the text. Archaic and dialect spellings remain as printed. Greek text appears as originally printed. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION xiii PART I. CHAP. I. Prehistoric man--His language one of signs and sounds--The story of Psammetichus and the Two Babies--Idiom of language a survival of primitive peoples 1 II. Modern types of early man--Sign-language of people living on the globe to-day--The custom of the UVINZA grandees--The \"good-morning\" of the Walunga tribe--Signs of hospitality in the sign vocabulary of the North American Indian--The \"attingere extremis digitis\" of the Romans--Clap-hands one of the first lessons of the Nursery--The modern survival of hand-clapping--\"Is it rude to shake hands, Nurse?\"--A hypercritical mother--Plato's rebuke--Agesilaus and his children--Nursery classics and critical babies--\"Lalla, lalla, lalla\" of the Roman child--The well-known baby dance of \"Crow and caper, caper and crow\" 8 III. Writers on comparative religions show that entire religious observances come down to modern peoples from heathen sources--The Bohemian Peasant and his Apple Tree--A myth of long descent found in the rhyme of \"A Woman, a Spaniel, and Walnut Tree\"; our modern \"Pippin, pippin, fly away,\" indicates the same sentiment--The fairy tale of Ashputtel and the Golden Slipper, the legend from which came our story of Cinderella--Tylor on Children's Sports--The mystery of Northern Europe at Christ's coming--The Baby's Rattle--Ancestral worship follows sun and moon worship, and gives us the tales of fairies, goblins, and elves--Boyd Dawkins' story of the Isle of Man farmer--A Scandinavian Manxman--Modernised lullaby of a Polish mother--\"Shine, Stars\"--\"Rain, rain, go away\"--Wind making--LULLABIES--Bulgarian, German, \"Sleep, Baby, Sleep\"--The lullaby of the Black Guitar--\"Baby, go to Sleep\"--English version, \"Hush thee, my Babby\"--Danish lullaby of \"Sweetly sleep, my little Child\"--\"Bye, baby bunting\" 17 IV. Elf-land--Old-time superstitions--A custom of providing a feast for the dead known in Yorkshire, North-west Ireland, and in Armenia--The Erl King of Goethe--Ballet of the Leaf-dressed Girl--The Spirit of the Waters--An Irish legend of Fior Usga--Scotch superstition--Jenny Greenteeth of Lancashire--The Merrow of the West of Ireland--Soul Cages--The German rhyme of \"O Man of the Sea, come list unto Me\"--Mysticism among uncivilised races--The Corn Spirit--The Rye-wolf--\"The Cow's in the Corn\"--\"Ring a ring a rosies\"--\"Cuckoo Cherry Tree\"--Our earliest song, \"Summer is a-coming in\"--\"Hot Cockles\" at Yorkshire funerals--\"Over the Cuckoo Hill, I oh!\"--Indian Lore 34 PART II. I. GAMES--Whipping-tops, Marbles, etc.--\"I am good at Scourging of my Toppe,\" date 15--(?)--Dice and Pitch-and-Toss--\"Dab a Prin in my Lottery Book\"--\"A' the Birds of the Air\"--Hop Scotch--\"Zickety, dickety, dock\"--\"All good Children go to Heaven\"--\"Mary at the Cottage Door.\" MARRIAGE GAMES--\"If ever I Marry I'll Marry a Maid,\" 1557 A.D.--London Street Games--A Wedding--\"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you\"--\"Rosy Apple, Lemon, and Pear\"--The King of the Barbarines--\"I've got Gold and I've got Silver\"--A Lancashire Round Game--\"Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, I do\"--Round Game of the Mulberry Bush--\"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\"--\"Mother, buy me a Milking Can\"--\"Here comes a Poor Sailor from Botany Bay\"--\"Can I get there by Candle-light?\" 58 II. NURSERY GAMES--A Game for a Wet Day--\"Cows and Horses walk on four legs\"--A Game nearly 300 years old--\"There were two birds sitting on a stone\"--A B C Game--\"Hi diddle diddle\"--\"I Apprentice my Son\"--An Armenian Child's Game, \"Jack's Alive\"--Russian Superstition 80 III. JEWISH RHYMES--\"A kid, a kid my father bought for two pieces of money--a kid! a kid!\"--\"The house that Jack built\"--The Scotch version, \"There was an old woman swept her house and found a silver penny\"--The Chad Gadyâ--\"Who knoweth One\" 89 IV. An ancient English Rhyme--\"A Frog who would a-wooing go,\" the version of same sung in Henry VIII.'s reign--Songs of London Boys in Tudor times--\"Quoth John to Joan\"--\"Good parents in good manners do instruct their child\"--\"Tom a Lin\"--\"Bryan O'Lynn\"--Four songs sung by children in Elizabeth's reign--\"We'll have a Wedding at our House\" 100 V. CAT RHYMES--\"Pussy-cat, pussy-cat\"--\"Ten little mice sat down to spin\"--\"The rose is red, the grass is green\"--\"I Love little Pussy\"--\"Three Cats sat by the Fireside\"--\"There was a Crooked Man\"--\"Ding dong bell\"--Cat tale of Dick Whittington 112 VI. A Cradle Song of the first century, \"Sleep, O son, sleep\" 117 VII. JACK RHYMES 123 VIII. RIDDLE MAKING--German riddle of \"Seven White and Seven Black Horses\"--Greek riddle of the Two Sisters; another of \"The year, months, and days\"--\"Old Mother Needle\"--\"Purple, yellow, red, and green\"--\"As round as an Apple\"--\"Humpty Dumpty\"--The Phœnix fable--\"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home\" 127 IX. NURSERY CHARMS--\"When a twister twisting twists him a twist\"--An Essex Charm for a Churn--\"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John\" Charms. MONEY RHYMES--\"How a lass gave her lover three slips for a tester\"--\"Little Mary Esther\"--\"Sing a Song of Sixpence\"--\"There was an old man in a velvet coat\"--\"See-saw\"--\"One a penny\"--\"There's never a maiden in all the town\"--\"Pinky, pinky, bow-bell\"--Numerical Nursery Rhyme--Baker's Man 134 X. SCRAPS--\"Oh, slumber, my darling, thy sire is a knight\"--\"Bye, baby bumpkin\"--\"Nose, nose, jolly red nose\"--\"I saw a man in the moon\"--A Henry VIII. Rhyme--\"Peg-Peg\"--\"Round about\"--\"Father Long-legs\"--\"Two-penny rice\"--\"Come when you're called\"--A Game--\"Nanny Natty Coat\"--\"As I was going down Sandy Lane\"--\"There was an old woman\"--\"Robert Rowley\"--\"Little General Monk\"--\"Dr. Tom Tit\"--\"Tommy Trot\"--\"Goosey Gander\"--\"The White Dove sat on the Castell Wall\"--\"This Little Pig\"--\"Little Bo Peep\"--\"See-saw, Margery Daw\"--\"Four-and-twenty Tailors\"--\"Little Moppet\"--\"Hub-a-dub, dub\"--\"Diddle Dumpling\"--\"Jack and Jyll\"--\"The Cat and the Fiddle\"--\"Baa! baa! black sheep\"--\"Here comes a poor Duke out of Spain\"--\"Ride to the market\"--\"Cross-patch\"--\"The Man of the South\"--A Lancashire Fragment--\"Dickery dock\"--\"There was an old woman toss'd up in a blanket\"--\"We're all in the dumps\"--A Proverb--A Compliment--The Reverse 141 XI. SONGS--\"Will the love that you're so rich in?\"--\"Cock-a-doodle doo\"--\"King Cole\"--\"Rowsty dowt\"--\"There was a Little Man\"--The Creole's Song--\"Dapple Grey\"--\"Blue Betty\"--\"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son\"--\"Oh dear, what can the matter be?\"--\"Simple Simon\"--\"I saw a Ship a-sailing\"--\"David the Welshman\"--\"My Father he Died\" 152 XII. SCOTCH RHYMES--\"As I went up the Brandy Hill\"--Scotch version of Bryan O'Lynn--\"Cripple Dick\"--\"Pan, Pan, Play\"--\"Gi'e a thing\"--A Gruesome Riddle--\"King and Queen of Cantelon\"--Hidee--\"Wha's your Daddie?\"--\"The Moon is a Lady\" 162 XIII. A favourite Nursery Hymn--The Latin version of the Virgin's Lullaby 169 XIV. \"There was a maid came out of Kent\"--\"Martin Smart\"--\"Great A, little B\"--A Nursery Tale--\"A duck, a drake\"--\"Hark! Hark!\"--A B C Jingles--A Catch Rhyme 173 XV. BELL RHYMES--\"Banbury Cross\"--\"Gay go up, and gay go down\"--\"Mary, Mary, quite contrary\"--The Provençal \"Ding-dong\" 178 XVI. Political Significations of Nursery Rhymes--\"Come, Jack\"--\"A man of words\"--Pastorini, Lord Grey, Lyttleton, Dan O'Connell, and Lord Brougham caricatured 185 INTRODUCTION Without advancing any theory touching the progression of the mother's song to her babe, other than declaring lullabies to be about as old as babies, a statement which recalls to mind an old story, entitled \"The Owl's Advice to an Inquisitive Cat.\" \"O cat,\" said the sage owl of the legend, \"to pass life agreeably most of all you need a philosophy; you and I indeed enjoy many things in common, especially night air and mice, yet you sadly need a philosophy to search after, and think about matters most difficult to discover.\" After saying this the owl ruffled his feathers and pretended to think. But the cat observed that it was foolish to search after such things. \"Indeed,\" she purringly said, \"I only trouble about easy matters.\" \"Ah! I will give you an example of my philosophy, and how inquiry ought to be made. You at least know, I presume,\" scoffingly exclaimed the owl, \"that the chicken arises from the egg, and the egg comes from the hen. Now the object of true philosophy is to examine this statement in all its bearings, and consider which was first, the egg or the bird.\" The cat was quite struck with the proposition. \"It is quite clear,\" went on the owl, \"to all but the ignorant, one or other appeared first, since neither is immortal.\" The cat inquired, \"Do you find out this thing by philosophy?\" \"Really! how absurd of you to ask,\" concluded the feathered one. \"And I thank the gods for it, were it as you suggest, O cat, philosophy would give no delight to inquirers, for knowing all things would mean the end and destruction of philosophy.\" With this owl's apology nursery-lore is presented to my readers without the legion of verified references of that character demanded as corroborative evidence in the schools of criticism to-day. A few leading thoughts culled from such men as Tylor, Lubbock, Wilson, McLennan, Frazer, and Boyd Dawkins, etc., the experiences of our modern travellers among primitive races, Indian and European folk-lore, the world's credulities past and present, have helped me to fix the idea that amongst the true historians of mankind the children of our streets find a place. A HISTORY OF NURSERY RHYMES PART I. CHAPTER I. \"The scene was savage, but the scene was new.\" Scientists tell us many marvellous tales, none the less true because marvellous, about the prehistoric past. Like the owl in the preface, they are not discouraged because the starting-point is beyond reach; and we, like the cat, should try to awaken our interest when evidences are presented to us that on first hearing sound like the wonderful tales of the Orient. Thousands of years ago in our own land dwelt two races of people, the River Drift-men and the Cave-dwellers. The River Drift-man was a hunter of a very low order, possessing only the limited intelligence of the modern Australian native. This man supported life much in the same way we should expect a man to do, surrounded by similar conditions; but, on the other hand, the Cave-dweller showed a singular talent for representing the animals he hunted, and his sketches reveal to us the capacity he had for seeing the beauty and grace of natural objects. Were a visit to be paid to the British Museum, his handicraft, rude when compared to modern art, could be seen in the fragments beyond all cavil recording his primitive culture. Without, then, any very great stretch of imagination we can picture to ourselves this man as belonging to one of the most primitive types of our race, having little occasion to use a vocabulary--save of a most meagre order; and indeed his language would embody only a supply of words just expressive of his few simple wants. Without daring to compare primitive culture with modern advancement, this prototype's appetites would have been possibly served for the greater part by sign-language, and the use of a few easy protophones. To-day, after the lapse of ages since this Second Stone Age, man went up and possessed the land; we with our new inventions, wants, and newly-acquired tastes have added a legion of scientifically constructed sounds, built up on the foundation he laid with his first utterances, for language is not the outcome of race, but of social contact. As an interpolation the tale of the Egyptian Psammetichus is worth telling at this stage. Desirous of finding--as the ancients then thought existed--the original language of mankind, Psammetichus isolated two babies from birth in separate apartments, and for two years they were not allowed to hear the sound of a human voice. At the end of that time they were brought together and kept for a few hours without food. Psammetichus then entered the room, and both children uttered the same strange cry, \"Becos, Becos.\" \"Ah!\" said Psammetichus, \"'Becos, Becos,' why! that is Phrygian for bread,\" and Phrygian was said to have been the ancient universal language of man. Still, however one feels disposed to imagine what took place in the Baby Kingdom of these remote ages, brief allusions only will be made to the veiled past, when either sign-language, or relics, or myths of long descent are presented to us in the form of nursery-lore. How many thousands of years have gone by since the period known to scientists as the Pleistocene was here--a time when the whole of Britain and North-West Europe wore a glistening mantle of ice, and when man could scarce exist, save on the fringe of the south-east littoral of England--none can say. At all events it may be safely assumed that not till the end of the Pleistocene Era was Britain or Scandinavia the abode of man, when the fauna and flora assumed approximately their present condition, and the state of things called Recent by geologists set in. Whether the Aryans be accepted as the first people to inhabit our ice-bound shores in the remote past matters little, and from whence they sprang (according to Max Müller \"somewhere in Asia,\" or Dr. Schrader \"European Russia,\" or Herr Penka \"from the east to the far west of the Scandinavian Peninsula\") matters still less, \"for,\" says Professor Huxley, \"the speakers of primitive Aryan may have been (themselves) a mixture of two or more races, just as are the speakers of English or of French at the present time\"; and archæology takes us no further back than into the Neolithic or Second Stone Age, when the poetry of the human voice gave a dramatic value to the hitherto primitive sign-language limitation of the Old Drift-men. At this age, the Neolithic, arithmetical questions arising in the course of life would necessarily assume a vocal value instead of a digital one. No longer would fifteen be counted by holding out ten fingers and five toes, but an idiomatic phrase, descriptive of the former sign-language, \"_of two hands and one foot's worth_\" would be used, just as to-day an African would express the same problem in a number of cows, and as the comparatively modern Roman used such pictorial phrases as \"_to condemn a person of his head_.\" From this era, centuries before the Celt traversed our shores, \"the progress of civilisation\" has gone on in one unbroken continuity from the Second Stone Age man to the present time. CHAPTER II. \"O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam et vacet annales nostrorum audire laborum. Ante diem clauso componat Vesper Olympo.\"--VERGIL, _Æneid_, Book I. 372. \"O goddess, if I were to proceed retracing them from their first origin, and thou hadst leisure to hear the records of our labours before (the end), the Evening Star would lull the day to rest, Olympus being closed.\" However, granting the scientific imagination to assume a starting-point when the vast Ice Period was vanishing and language was not the test of race, but of social contact, it must be allowed that the River Drift-man was the first of his species that touched our shores, followed by the Cave-dwellers some thousands of years later; the latter man having his abode fixed to a locality, and his wanderings within prescribed limits. He may have, this prehistoric man, this Cave-dweller, chattered like a monkey in a patois understood only by his own family; but what is more reasonable to suppose than that the Drift-men of the marshes and coastlines had only a restricted use for vocal sounds, sign-language being expressive enough to meet their few wants? Meagre social conditions, peculiar isolation, savagery, strife for life, call for no complex language, but sign-language has the authority of people living on the globe to-day, not only amongst uncivilised races, but traces are seen in our very midst. The few examples of custom and signs given below will better illustrate the force of the statement. \"Amongst the Uvinza, when two grandees meet, the junior leans forward, bends his knees, and places the palms of his hands on the ground, one on either side his feet, while the senior claps hands over him six or seven times.\" In the morning among the Walunga all the villagers turn out, and a continuous clapping is kept up to the vocalisation of a shrill \"Kwi-tata?\" or \"How do you do?\" Two special signs for \"good\" are in the sign-vocabulary of the North American Indians, and are worth recording. The person greeting holds the right hand, back up, in front of and close to the heart, with the fingers extended and pointing to the left. Another habit is that of passing the open right hand, palm downwards, from the heart, towards the person greeted. A stranger making his appearance on the frontier line of an Indian camp seldom fails to recognise the true sentiment of the chief's salutation, the extended fingers on the left side meaning-- \"You are near my heart--expect no treachery,\" a most solemn surety; while the hand sent from the heart towards the visitor seems to say-- \"I extend hospitality to you.\" The \"attingere extremis digitis\" of the Romans expressed the same temperate conduct. But greeting by gesture and hand-clapping still live, and are discovered in the first lessons given by a mother to her babe. \"Clap hands, papa comes,\" and \"Pat a cake, pat a cake, my little man, Yes, I will, mother, as fast as I can\" have a universal significance in Child Land. Unfortunately this survival of hand-clapping, a vestige of a habit belonging to primitive people, does not begin and end in our modern nursery. \"When I was a child I spake as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things,\" is a resolve daily forgotten. In the theatre, when our sentiment is awakened by the craft of the stage player, we show approbation by a round of hand-clapping not one whit less savage than the habit of the Uvinza grandee or the good-morning among the Walunga tribe. \"O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us!\" This demonstration of feeling may have more _corps d'esprit_ than the feeble \"hear, hear\" of the educated or self-restrained man, but sign-language, especially among the Anglo-Saxon race, is on the wane. Its exodus is slowly going on, lingering anon in the ritual of religions, yet in social life ever being expelled. \"It is rude to point,\" says the nursemaid to her little charge. \"Is it rude to shake hands, nurse?\" once exclaimed a child cynic. The nurse was nonplussed. The middle-class mother answers the child's question-- \"Yes, dear--with anyone in a lower position.\" \"That's a case,\" said an Irishman on hearing it, \"of twopence-halfpenny looking down on twopence,\" or by another comparison, it is a case of one English grandee clapping his hands over another grandee's head. Still, though educational influences and nine-tenths of the coterie of society wage war against sign-language, ill-mannered men and badly-behaved children must always be with us. \"'Tis rude to laugh\" is another precept of the hypercritical mother. Why? Goodness only knows!--for none but a pompous blockhead or a solemn prig will pretend that he never relaxes. But let ancient Plato, brimful as he was of philosophy, answer the question \"When not to laugh?\" Indulging one day in idle waggery, Plato, on seeing a staid disciple approach, suddenly exclaimed to his fellows, \"Let's be wise now, for I see a fool coming,\" and under hypocrisy's mask all merriment ceased. Agesilaus in mere sport romped with his children, and delighted them by riding on a stick round the nursery, possibly singing, after the manner of many a modern rollicking nursery-loving father-- \"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross.\" With men, however, kingly proclamations, laws, empires pass away and are forgotten, time obliterates their memories, but in Child Land all the inhabitants, from the tiniest crower to the ten-year-old boy, show an eager appreciation in the conservation of the pleasing lore contained in the lullabies, the jingles, the tales, the riddles, the proverbs, and the games of the nursery classics. And what terrible critics these babies are! What a perverse preference they have for the soft jingle of nonsensical melody; blank verse with its five accents and want of rhythm does not soothe: they must have the-- \"Lalla, lalla, lalla, Aut dormi, aut lacta\" of their prototype of Roman days. How they revel and delight in the mother's measured song of-- \"Dance, little baby, dance up high, Never mind, baby, mother is nigh; Crow and caper, caper and crow, There, little baby, there you go. Up to the ceiling, down to the ground, Backwards and forwards, round and round; So dance, little baby, and mother will sing, With a high cockolorum and tingle, ting ting.\" Or-- \"With a merry, gay coral, and tingle, ting ting.\"[A] FOOTNOTES: [A] First printed in a selection of nursery rhymes by Taylor, 1828. A modern well-known baby dance. CHAPTER III. \"The moon is up; by Heaven, a lovely eve! Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand.\" The Norwegian explorer, Dr. Nansen, in his address to the Royal Geographical Society on February 9th, 1897, stated:-- \"The long Arctic day was beautiful in itself, though one soon got tired of it. But when that day vanished and the long Polar night began, then began the kingdom of beauty, then they had the moon sailing through the peculiar silence of night and day. The light of the moon shining when all was marble had a most singular effect.\"[B] Writers on Comparative Religions for the most part assert that moon worship amongst the almost utterly savage tribes in Africa and America, the hunting, nomad races of to-day, is a noteworthy feature. \"It is not the sun that first attracted the attention of the savage.\"[C] \"In order of birth the worship of the night sky, inclusive of that of the moon, precedes that of the day sky and the sun. It was observed long ago that wherever sun worship existed moon worship was to be found, being a residuum of an earlier state of religion.\"[D] What the early primal melody of thousands of years ago may have been one can hardly suggest, but that the subject-matter of the song was mythical there can be very little doubt, and, like folk-lore tales, built upon and around nature worship; for as the capacity for creating language does not exhaust all its force at once, but still continues to form new modes of speech whenever an alteration of circumstances demands them, so it is with myths. The moon during a long Polar night reigning in a kingdom of crystalline beauty, when all around is silence and grandeur, would suggest to the dweller on the fringe of the ice fields--his deity. The sun, in like manner shedding forth its genial warmth, the agriculturist would learn to welcome, and to ascribe to its power the increase of his crop, and just as the limitation of reason holds the untutored man in bondage, so the myth, the outcome of his ignorance, becomes his god. Even though social advancement has made rapid strides among comparatively modern peoples and nations, not only traces of mythological, but entire religious observances, reclothed in Christian costumes, are still kept up. Praying to an apple tree to yield an abundant crop was the habit of the Bohemian peasant, until Christian teaching influenced him for the better; yet such a hold had the tradition of his ancestors over him that the custom still survives, and yearly on Good Friday before sunrise he enters his garden, and there on his knees says-- \"I pray, O green tree, that God may make thee good.\" The old form ran thus-- \"I pray thee, O green tree, that thou yield abundantly.\" In some districts the lash of the Bohemian peasant's whip is well applied to the bark of the tree, reminding one of the terse verse-- \"A woman, a spaniel, and walnut tree, The more you beat them the better they be.\" There is also something akin, in this Bohemian's former sentiment, to the wish our nursery children make while eating apples. Coming to the cores they take out the pippins and throw them over the left shoulder, exclaiming-- \"Pippin, pippin, fly away; Bring me an apple another day.\" Surely a tree hidden within its fruit. In the German fairy tale of Ashputtel, also known as the golden slipper--a similar legend is extant amongst the Welsh people--and from which our modern tale of Cinderella and her glass slipper came, a tree figured as the mysterious power. After suffering many disappointments Ashputtel, so the legend relates, goes to a hazel tree and complains that she has no clothes in which to go to the great feast of the king. \"Shake, shake, hazel tree, Gold and silver over me,\" she exclaims, and her friends the birds weave garments for her while the tree makes her resplendent with jewels of gold and silver. \"Children's sport, popular sayings, absurd customs, may be practically unimportant, but they are not philosophically insignificant, bearing as they do on primitive culture.\"[E] Trans-Alpine Europe was a greater mystery to the nations on the littoral of the Mediterranean at the time of Christ's appearance in Syria than any spot in Central Africa is to us to-day. Across the Northern mountain chains were regions unaffected by Greek or Roman culture, and the only light shed on the memorials of Northern Europe's early youth comes from the contributory and dimly illuminative rays of folk-lore. THE BABY'S RATTLE at this juncture is worth according a passing notice, though degenerated into the bauble it now is. Among the Siberian, Brazilian, and Redskin tribes it was held as a sacred and mysterious weapon. This sceptre of power of the modern nursery--the token primitive man used, and on which the Congo negro takes his oath--has lost its significance. The Red Indian of North America had his Rattle man, who, as physician, used it as a universal prescription in the cure of all disease, believing, no doubt, that its jargon would allay pain, in like manner as it attracts and soothes a cross child; and this modern type of primitive man, the Red Indian, although fast dying out, has no obscured visions of the records of childhood; they have remained since his _anno mundi_ ran back to zero. To him the great sources of religious and moral suasion which gave birth to mediæval and modern Europe, and so largely contributed to the polity of Asia and the upraising of Africa, have been a dead letter, which spell his extinction. He lived up to his racial traditions, and is fast dying with them. His language, his arts, his religious rites are of an unfamiliar past. Leaving the Red Indian moon worshipper with his death rattle awhile and harking back to Europe, Norway stands out as the richest country in legendary lore, for old-time superstitions have lingered among the simple and credulous people, living pent up on the horrid crags, where torrents leap from cliff to valley. Their tales of goblins and spirits, tales of trolls, gnomes, and a legendary host of other uncanny creatures, point to the former nature and ancestral worship of a people cut off from the advancing civilisation of their time. Luckily for the archæologist, superstitious beliefs and folk-lore tales have preserved the graves of the Stone Age inhabitants of the country from desecration. As in Norway so in the Isle of Man, and in the western districts of Ireland. In Man until the fifties many of the inhabitants believed in the Spirit of the Mountains; indeed, even in County Donegal and the West Riding of Yorkshire, up to the last twenty years, fairy superstition was rife. Boyd Dawkins gives in his chapter, \"Superstition of the Stone Age: Early Man in Britain,\" an account of an Isle of Man farmer who, having allowed investigation to be made in the interests of science on portions of his lands, becoming so awed at the thought of having sanctioned the disturbing of the dead, that he actually offered up a heifer as a burnt sacrifice to avert the wrath of the Manes. After lunar and solar worships this ancestral worship of the Isle of Man farmer ranks next in point of age, a survival of which is seen in the respect paid by country people to the fairies, the goblins, and the elves. Equally so has the spirit of former beliefs been handed down to us in the song of the nurse, and in the practices of rural people. A modernised lullaby of a Polish mother bears traces in the last stanza of a quasi-native worship-- \"Shine, stars, God's sentinels on high, Proclaimers of His power and might, May all things evil from us fly; O stars, good-night, good-night!\" Other instances of nature worshippers are amusing as well as being instructive. The Ojebway Indians believe in the mortality of the sun, for when an eclipse takes place the whole tribe, in the hope of rekindling the obscured light, keep up a continual discharge of fire-tipped arrows from their bows until they perceive again his majesty of light. Amongst the New Caledonians the wizard, if the season continue to be wet and cloudy, ascends the highest accessible peak on a mountain-range and fires a peculiar sacrifice, invoking his ancestors, and exclaiming-- \"Sun, this I do that you may be burning hot, And eat up all the black clouds of the sky,\" reminding one of the puerile cry of the weather-bound nursery child-- \"Rain, rain, go away, Come again another day.\" Wind-making among primitive people was universally adopted; even at a late period the cultured Greeks and Romans believed in a mythical wind god. It was the custom of the wind clan of the Omahas to flap their overalls to start a breeze, while a sorcerer of New Britain desirous of appeasing the wind god throws burnt lime into the air, and towards the point of the compass he wishes to make a prosperous journey, chanting meanwhile a song. Finnish wizards made a pretence of selling wind to land-bound sailors. A Norwegian witch once boasted of sinking a vessel by opening a wind-bag she possessed. Homer speaks of Ulysses receiving the winds as a present from Æolus, the King of Winds, in a leather bag. In the highlands of Ethiopia no storm-driven wind ever sweeps down without being stabbed at by a native to wound the evil spirit riding on the blast. In some parts of Austria a heavy gale is propitiated by the act and speech of a peasant who, as the demon wings his flight in the raging storm, opens the window and casts a handful of meal or chaff to the enraged sprite as a peace offering, at the same time shouting-- \"There, that's for you; stop, stop!\" A pretty romance is known in Bulgarian folk-lore. The wife of a peasant who had been mysteriously enticed away by the fairies was appealed to by her husband's mother to return. \"Who is to feed the babe, and rock its cradle?\" sang the grandmother, and the wind wafted back the reply-- \"If it cry for food, I will feed it with copious dews; If it wish to sleep, I will rock its cradle with a gentle breeze.\" How devoid of all sentiment our Englished version of the same tale reads. \"Hush-a-bye, baby, on a tree top, When the wind blows the cradle will rock, When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, Down comes the baby and cradle and all.\" No wonder this purposeless lullaby is satirised in the orthodox libretto of Punch's Opera or the Dominion of Fancy, for Punch, having sung it, throws the child out of the window. The poetic instinct of the German mother is rich in expression, her voice soothing and magnetic as she sways her babe to and fro to the melody of-- \"Sleep, baby, sleep! Thy father tends the sheep, Thy mother shakes the branches small, Whence happy dreams in showers fall. Sleep, baby, sleep! \"Sleep, baby, sleep! The sky is full of sheep, The stars the lambs of heaven are, For whom the shepherd moon doth care. Sleep, baby, sleep!\"[F] The lullaby of the Black Guitar, told by the Grimm brothers in their German fairy tales, gives us the same thought. \"Thou art sleeping, my son, and at ease, Lulled by the whisperings of the trees.\" Another German nurse song of a playful yet commanding tone translates-- \"Baby, go to sleep! Mother has two little sheep, One is black and one is white; If you do not sleep to-night, First the black and then the white Shall give your little toe a bite.\" A North Holland version has degenerated into the flabby Dutch of-- \"Sleep, baby, sleep! Outside there stands a sheep With four white feet, That drinks its milk so sweet. Sleep, baby, sleep!\" The old English cradle rhyme, evidently written to comfort fathers more than babies, is given by way of contrast, and, as is usual with our own countrymen, the versification is thoroughly British, slurred over and slovenly-- \"Hush thee, my babby, Lie still with thy daddy, Thy mammy has gone to the mill To grind thee some wheat To make thee some meat, Oh, my dear babby, do lie still!\" The Danish lullaby of \"Sweetly sleep, my little child, Lie quiet and still. The bird nests in the wood, The flower rests in the meadow grass; Sweetly sleep, my little child.\" This last recalls the esteem our Teuton ancestors had for their scalds, or polishers of language, when poetry and music were linked together by the voice and harp of minstrelsy, and when the divine right to fill the office of bard meant the divine faculty to invent a few heroic stanzas to meet a dramatic occasion. One more well-known British lullaby-- \"Bye, baby bunting, Daddy's gone a-hunting To get a little _hare skin_ To wrap the baby bunting in.\" The more modern version gives \"_rabbit skin_.\" FOOTNOTES: [B] _Times'_ report, February 10th, 1897. [C] F. SPIEGEL. [D] WELCKER, _Griechische Götterlehre_, i. 551. [E] TYLOR. [F] Wagner introduced the music to which it is sung in his _Siegfried_ idyll. CHAPTER IV. \"One very dark night, when the goblins' light Was as long and as white as a feather, A fairy spirit bade me stray Amongst the gorse and heather. The pixies' glee enamoured me, They were as merry as merry could be. \"They held in each hand a gold rope of sand, To every blue-bell that grew in the dell They tied a strand, Then the fairies and pixies and goblins and elves Danced to the music of the bells By themselves, merry, merry little selves.\" To the kingdom of elf-land few English nursery poems have any reference. Our continental neighbours have preserved a few, but the major number are found in versions of the folk-lore tales belonging to the people dwelling in the hilly districts of remote parts of Europe. Norway, Switzerland, Italy, and even Poland present weird romances, and our own country folk in the \"merrie north country,\" and in the lowlands of \"bonnie Scotland,\" add to the collection. The age to which most of them may be traced is uncertain; at all events, they bear evidences of belonging to a period when nature worship was universal, and the veneration of the mysterious in life common to our ancestors. The Second Stone Age men, it is said, cremated their dead who were worthy of reverence, and worshipped their shades, and the nursery tales of pixies and goblins and elves are but the mythical remains of their once prevailing religion--universal the world over. The inception of this ancestral worship probably took place during that period known as the Neolithic Age, when the moon, stars, and sun no longer remained the mysterious in life to be feared and worshipped. In the dreary process of evolution a gradual development took place, and nature worship and ancestral veneration evolved into the more comprehensive systems of Buddha, Confucius, and the later polytheism of Greece, Ancient Tuscany, and Rome, leaving high and dry, stranded, as it were, in Northern Europe, Ireland, and North Britain, an undisturbed residuum of ante-chronological man's superstitions. Evidences of primitive man's religion are seen in the customs and practices of our rural folk to-day. In vast forest districts, or in hilly regions far away from the refining influences of social contact, the old-time superstitions lingered, changing little in the theme, and inspiring the succeeding generations, as they unfolded in the long roll-call of life, with the same fears of the mystery of death and of a future life. One of the customs of recent practice is fitly described as follows:-- In Yorkshire and in north-west Irish homesteads, and even far away in the East amongst the Armenian peasantry, a custom was, until late years, in vogue, of providing a feast for the departed relatives on certain fixed dates. All Hallows' Eve being one of the occasions a meal was prepared, and the feast spread as though ordinary living visitants were going to sit round the \"gay and festive board.\" The chain hanging down from the centre of the chimney to the fireplace was removed--a boundary line of the domestic home--but at these times especial care was taken to remove it so that the \"pixies and goblins and elves\" could have a licence to enter the house. In spite of Christian teaching and other widening influences the belief remained fixed in the minds of the rural classes that elves, goblins, sprites, pixies, and the manes were stern realities. The Erl King of Goethe, a sprite endowed with more than human passions, elegantly portrays the modern idea of an old theme. How he haunted the regions of the Black Forest in Thuringia, snatching up children rambling in the shades of the leafed wood, to kill them in his terrible shambles. The King of the Wood and the Spirit of the Waters were both early among the terrors of old-time European peasantry's superstitions. Another surviving custom, carried out with much picturesque ceremony, is common to the peoples of the Balkan States. In time of water-famine, more particularly in Servia, the girls go through the neighbouring villages singing a Dodolo song of-- \"We go through the village, The clouds go in the sky; We go faster, Faster go the clouds; They have overtaken us, And wetted the corn and wine.\" Precisely as the hawthorn bushes were stripped of their blossoms by Maying parties in England in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, so in Servia the ballet of the leaf-dressed girl, encircled by a party of holiday-makers, proceeds through the hamlets invoking not the Fair Flora, but the Spirit of the Waters; the central figure, the girl in green, being besprinkled by each cottager. The Greeks, Bulgarians, and Roumanians observe a similar ceremony, but on the confines of Russia so intense is the belief in the superstition of the water goblin that in times of long drought a traveller journeying along the road has often been seized by the ruthless hands of the villagers and ceremoniously flung into a rivulet--a sacrifice to appease the spirit that lay in the waters. In Ireland the fairy-tale of Fior Usga--Princess Spring-water--has a kindred meaning; she, so the legend relates, sank down in a well with her golden pitcher, and the flood-gates opened and swamped the parched and barren countryside near Kinsale. In Germany, when a person is drowned, people recollect the fancies of childhood, and exclaim, \"The River Spirit claims its yearly sacrifice.\" Even the hard-reasoning Scotch, years ago, clung to the same superstitious fancy which oftentimes prevented some of the most selfish of their race from saving their drowning fellows. \"He will do you an injury if you save him from the water\" was one of their fears. In England, too, the north-country people speak of the River Sprite as Jenny Greenteeth, and children dread the green, slimy-covered rocks on a stream's bank or on the brink of a black pool. \"Jenny Greenteeth will have thee if thee goest on't river banks\" is the warning of a Lancashire mother to her child. The Irish fisherman's belief in the Souls' Cages and the Merrow, or Man of the Sea, was once held in general esteem by the men who earned a livelihood on the shores of the Atlantic. This Merrow, or Spirit of the Waters, sometimes took upon himself a half-human form, and many a sailor on the rocky coast of Western Ireland has told the tale of how he saw the Merrow basking in the sun, watching a storm-driven ship. His form is described as that of half man, half fish, a thing with green hair, long _green teeth_, legs with scales on them, short arms like fins, a fish's tail, and a huge red nose. He wore no clothes, and had a cocked hat like a sugar-loaf, which was carried under the arm--never to be put on the head unless for the purpose of diving into the sea. At such times he caught all the souls of those drowned at sea and put them in cages made like lobster pots. The child's tale of the German fisherman and his wife tells the same story-- \"O Man of the Sea, come list unto me, For Alice, my wife, the plague of my life, Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee.\" Unless such past credulities as these be considered it would be most difficult to account for many of the sayings of child-days, and the archaic ideas that have drifted into our folk-lore tales. On all hands it is admitted that it is no unusual thing to find a game or practice outliving the serious performance of which it is an imitation. The condition of a people who originally held such mystic and crude ideas is seen to-day in types of aborigines and uncivilised races. In Halmahero, a large island to the west of New Guinea, a wizard goes through a ceremony somewhat similar to the Servian village maid's. Cutting down branches, he dips them into the water and sprinkles the parched ground. In Ceram the outer barks of certain trees are cast on the surface of running streams and rivulets and dedicated to the spirits that lie in the waters, that after this offering they may arise from the depths of the deep and clothe the earth with a cloud of mist. THE CORN SPIRIT. Another spirit, dreaded by all European peoples, was the Spirit of the Corn. In Russia especially children of the rural class sing songs of a very distant age, mother handing down to child themes unexposed to foreign influence. It is true the Church has altered the application of many by dressing up afresh pagan observances in Christian costumes. There are several, but one of the songs of the Russian serf to his prattling offspring illustrates this statement. Before reading it, it should be borne in mind that Ovsen is the Teutonic _Sun God_ who possessed a boar, and that the antiquity of the song belongs to a time when the Russian peasant's forefathers worshipped the glories of the heavens, deifying the Sun for his fire and lustre. The translation of this poem of the fire worshippers is taken from Ralston's _Songs of the Russian People_, and runs as follows. Imagine the crooning voice of the old Slav woman singing it to her nurse child. \"In the forest, in the pine forest, There stood a pine tree, Green and shaggy. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen! \"The Boyars came, Cut down the pine, Sawed it into planks, Built a bridge, Fastened it with nails. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen! \"Who will go Over the bridge? Ovsen will go there, And the New Year. Oh Ovsen! Oh Ovsen!\" Another song asks-- \"On what will he come? On a dusky swine. What will he chase? A brisk little pig.\" The present singers of songs about Ovsen receive presents in lieu of the old contributions towards a sacrifice to the gods. The habit is to ask in some such words as these-- \"Give us a pig for Vasily's Eve.\" Pigs' trotters used to be offered as a sacrifice at the beginning of the New Year, and the custom still prevails in Russia of proffering such dishes at this time. The compliments of the season are commemorated by giving away the feet of the \"brisk little pig.\" The first day of the New Year was Ovsen's day, but now consecrated to the memory of St. Basil the Great. The previous evening was called St. Basil's Eve, or Vasily's Eve. In one of the little Russian songs it is said-- \"Ilya comes on Vasily's Day,\" meaning on St. Basil's, or New Year's Day, comes the Sun-god, or thunder-bearer, originally Pevan, who, under Christian influences, becomes Elijah, or Ilya. \"Ilya comes on Vasily's Day; He holds a whip of iron wire, And another of tin. Hither he comes, Thither he waves, Corn grows.\" This supports the inference that the agriculturist was a nature worshipper. But quite apart from sun worshippers, and their songs about corn-growing, the children of the rural classes in many other parts of Europe have fixed ideas, or beliefs, in the \"Spirit of the Cornfield\"; their sayings are represented by different figures, \"a mad dog in the corn,\" \"a wolf in the corn,\" are found amongst the many shibboleths of the youngsters playing in the fields prior to harvest-time. That they dread the wavy movement of the grain-laden stalks is certain, and the red poppy, the blue cornflower, the yellow dandelion, and the marguerite daisy, although plucked by tiny hands on the fringe of the fields, it is not often tiny feet trample down the golden stalks. At nightfall, in Germany, an old peasant, observing the gentle undulating motion of the ripe crop while seated before his cottage, will exclaim-- \"There goes the rye-wolf. The wolf is passing through the corn.\" In some parts the \"corn spirit\" was said to be a cow. \"The cow's in the corn.\" In one of our home counties--Hertfordshire--it is a \"mare,\" and the custom of \"crying the mare\" has allusion to the corn spirit, and is spoken of in some villages to-day. There are several rhymes that carry a notice of cornfield games. \"Ring a ring a rosies, A pocket full of posies. Hush!--The Cry?--Hush!--The Cry? All fall down.\" * * * * * \"Little boy blue come blow me thy horn, The sheep in the meadow, The cow's in the corn. Where is the boy that looks after the sheep? Under the haystack fast asleep.\" The \"Little Boy Blue\" rhyme, it has been urged, had only reference to the butcher's boy. The rhyme is very much older than the blue-smocked butcher's boy, and in truth it may be said the butcher boy of a century ago wore white overalls. The former rhyme, \"Ring a Ring a Rosies,\" is known in Italy and Germany. In the northern counties of England the children use the words, \"Hushu! Hushu!\" in the third line. The Spirit of the Cornfield is dreaded by children of all European countries. In Saxon Transylvania the children gather maize leaves and completely cover one of their playmates with them. This game is intended to prefigure death. \"CUCKOOS!\" \"Cuckoo cherrytree, catch a bird And give it to me.\"[G] The people of the Oral and Tula Governments, especially the maidens, christen the cuckoo \"gossip darlings!\" In one of the Lithuanian districts the girls sing-- \"Sister, dear, Mottled cuckoo! Thou who feedest The horses of thy brother, Thou who spinnest silken threads, Sing, O cuckoo, Shall I soon be married?\" In _Love's Labour's Lost_ a passage occurs where the two seasons, Spring and Winter, vie with each other in extolling the cuckoo and the owl. _Spring._ \"When daisies pied, and violets blue, And lady-smocks all silver white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight, The cuckoo then, on every tree, Mocks married men, for thus sings he-- Cuckoo! Cuckoo! cuckoo! O word of fear, Unpleasing to the married ear!\" Thus is cuckoo gossip perpetuated in rhyme and song; but an old belief in the mysteriously disappearing bird gave an opportunity to children to await its return in the early summer, and then address to it all kinds of ridiculous questions. \"How many years have I to live?\" is a favourite query. The other like that of the Lithuanian maid, \"Shall I soon be married?\" meets with favour amongst single girls. A German song, entitled \"The Shepherd Maiden,\" indicates this custom. The words being-- \"A shepherd maiden, one fine day, Two lambs to pasture led, To verdant fields where daisies grew, And bloomed the clover red; There spied she in a hedge close by A cuckoo, call with merry cry, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\" After chasing the immortal bird from tree to tree to have her question, \"Shall I soon be married?\" answered, the song concludes with this taunting refrain-- \"Two hundred then she counted o'er, The cuckoo still cried as before, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\" In our earliest published song, words and music composed by John of Forsete, monk of Reading Abbey, date 1225, and entitled \"Sumer is icumen in,\" the cuckoo is also extolled-- \"Summer is a-coming in, loudly sing, cuckoo; Groweth the seed, bloweth the mead, and springeth wood anew. Sing, cuckoo! Merry sing, cuckoo, Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!\" The peasantry of Russia, India, and Germany contribute to the collection of cuckoo-lore. Grimm mentions a Cuckoo Hill in Gauchsberg. The cuckoo and not the hill may have had the mystic sense. Identical with this Cuckoo Hill, in its solemn significance, there occurs a passage in the game of Hot Cockles, played formerly at Yorkshire funerals. \"Where is the poor man to go?\" the friends whine, and the mutes who are in readiness to follow the coffin beat their knees with open hands and reply-- \"Over the Cuckoo Hill, I oh!\" The association of ideas about the prophetic notes of the cuckoo's mocking voice--in matters of marriage and death--are pretty general, and there are still further many points of identity in the tales told by the children of India and Southern Russia. Like the Phœnix idea amongst the people of Egypt, Persia, and India, these traditions allegorise the soul's immortality. A WORD ON INDIAN LORE. The old prose editions of the sacred books of India--the law codes of the Aryans--were suitably arranged in verse to enable the contents to be committed to memory by the students. In these rules the ritual of the simplest rites is set forth. New and full moon offerings are given, and regulations minutely describing as to the way salutation shall be made. Much after the fashion of the grandees or the Red Indian moon worshipper of North America, it is told how a Brâhmana must salute stretching forth his right hand level with his ear, a Kshalriza holding it level with the breast, a Sûdra holding it low--all caste observances and relics of a sign-language. \"A householder shall worship gods, manes, men, goblins, and rishis,\" remains of ancestral worship. \"Adoration must be given to him who wears the moon on his forehead,\" the oldest known form of worship, possibly, of the Drift-man's period, \"and he shall offer libations of water, oblations of clarified butter, and worship the moon.\" The butter oblation was practised by the Celts! They have a lunar penance, \"he shall fast on the day of the new moon.\" These observances belonged to a people who, without doubt, migrated from the West to the East. The manes and goblins are pre-Celtic, and have likewise been preserved by those who travelled, as the journey became possible, towards Asia. Some of our nursery tales, children's games, are likewise known to them. The same legends are extant in the East and West, all of which have a common origin, and that a religious one. FOOTNOTES: [G] An old English child rhyme mentioned in BARNES' _Shropshire Folk-lore_. PART II. CHAPTER I. \"Oh, Love! young Love! bound in thy rosy band, Let sage or cynic prattle as he will, These hours, and only these, redeemed Life's years of ill!\" GAMES. The annual calendar of dates when certain of the pastimes and songs of our street children become fashionable is an uncertain one, yet games have their seasons most wonderfully and faithfully marked. Yearly all boys seem to know the actual time for the revivification of a custom, whether it be of whipping tops, flirting marbles, spinning peg-tops, or playing tip-cat or piggy. This survival of custom speaks eloquently of the child influence on civilisation, for the conservation of the human family may be found literally portrayed in the pastimes, games, and songs of the children of our streets. Curious relics of past cruelties are shadowed forth in many of the present games--some of which are not uninteresting. The barbarous custom of whipping martyrs at the stake is perpetuated by the game of whip-top. In a black-letter book in the British Museum, date 15--(?) occurs this passage-- \"I am good at scourging of my toppe, You would laugh to see me morsel the pegge, Upon one foot I can hoppe, And dance trimly round an egge.\" The apprentices of the London craftsmen followed the popular diversion of cock-throwing on Shrove Tuesday and tossing pancakes in the frying-pan--the latter custom is still kept up at Westminster School. Both bear allusion to the sufferings and torments of men who died for conscience sake. Dice and pitch-and-toss, also modern games of the present gutter children, in primitive times were the ways and means adopted by the learned to consult the oracles. Much in the same way the Scotch laddie and wee lassie play-- \"Dab a prin in my lottery-book; Dab ane, dab two, dab a' your prins awa',\" by sticking at random pins in their school-books, between the leaves of which little pictures are placed. This is the lottery-box, the pictures the prizes, and the pins the forfeits. Another favourite Scotch game is-- \"A' the birds of the air, and the days of the week.\" Girls' pleasures are by no means so diversified as those of boys. It would be considered a trifle too effeminate were the little men to amuse themselves with their sisters' game of Chucks--an enchanting amusement, played with a large-sized marble and four octagonal pieces of chalk. Beds, another girlish game, is also played on the pavement--a piece of broken pot, china or earthenware, being kicked from one of the beds or divisions marked out on the flags to another, the girls hopping on one leg while doing so. It is a pastime better known as Hop Scotch, and is played in every village and town of the British Isles, varying slightly in detail. The rhymes used by street children to decide who is to begin the game are numerous. The Scotch version of a well-known one is given below-- \"Zickety, dickety, dock, the mouse ran up the nock, The nock struck one, down the mouse ran, Zickety, dickety, dock.\" \"Anery, twaery, tickery, seven, Aliby, crackeby, ten or eleven; Pin pan, muskidan, Tweedlum, twodlum, twenty-one.\" Amongst the notable men in the world's history who have depicted children's games, St. Luke the Evangelist tells in a pleasant passage of how Jesus likened the men of His day to children sitting in the market-place and calling to their playmates-- \"We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; We have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept.\" A vivid picture, illustrating puerile peevishness. In the thousands of years that street plays have been enacted by the youngsters, no poet's, philosopher's, nor teacher's words have been more to the point. Every child wants to take the most prominent part in a game, but all cannot be chief mourners, else there will be no sympathising weepers. \"Who'll be chief mourner? I, said the dove, I'll mourn for my love.\" To-day things are better arranged, a counting-out rhyme settles the question of appointment to the coveted post. Like the \"Zickety, dickety, dock, the mouse ran up the clock\" of the north-country children. \"Whoever I touch must be he\" ends and begins the counting-out verse of the Southern youngsters, which runs as follows-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. My mother says the last one I touch must be he.\" Of the numerous variations of this rhyme the one at present in demand by London children is-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. A penny on the water, twopence on the sea, Threepence on the railway, and out goes she.\" Another and more generally known rhyme of-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, Mary at the cottage door Eating cherries off a plate, 5, 6, 7, 8,\" is also used for the same purpose. But are there no peevish children to-day? None sulking in nursery or playground over games just as the little Israelites did 1900 years ago in the market-place at Nain? Remember the lesson of old-- \"We have piped, and ye have not danced; We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.\" MARRIAGE GAMES. In India and Japan marriage ceremonies bear a feature of youthful play. Amongst the Moslems in the former country--where the doll is forbidden--the day previous to a real wedding the young friends of the bridegroom are summoned to join in a wedding game. On the eve of the day they all meet and surround the bridegroom-elect, then they make for the house of the bride's parents. On arrival at the gates the bride's relatives shut the doors and mount guard. \"Who are you,\" exclaims the bridegroom, \"to dare obstruct the king's cavalcade? Behold the bridegroom cometh! Go ye not out to meet him?\" The answer comes from within the abode. \"It is a ruse--so many thieves roam about, more than probable you and your band are of them.\" * * * * * In England in 1557 the boys of London town sang a rhyme at their mock wedding feasts of-- \"If ever I marry I'll marry a maid, To marry a widow I'm sore afraid, For maids are simple and never will grudge, But widows full oft as they say know too much.\" This song was entered at the Stationers' Hall, 1557 A.D. LONDON STREET GAMES. A WEDDING. After the preliminary rhyme of-- \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven. A penny on the water, twopence on the sea, Threepence on the railway, and out goes she,\" has been said, the lot falls on one of the girls to be the bride. A ring is formed and a merry dance begins, all the children singing this invitation-- \"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you.\" The girl bride then selects a groom from the rest of the other children. He steps into the centre of the ring, joins hands and kisses her, after which, collecting a posy from each of the others, he decorates her with flowers and green leaves. A fresh ring is now formed--figuratively the wedding ring; the whole of the children caper round singing-- \"Rosy apple, lemon and pear, Bunch of roses she shall wear, Gold and silver by her side, I know who shall be my bride.\" \"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you.\" \"Take her by her lily-white hand, Lead her across the water, Give her kisses one, two, three, Mrs. ---- daughter.\" THE KING OF THE BARBARINES. In this street game an entire regal court is appointed, the children taking the characters of king, queen, princes, and courtiers. When these preliminaries are settled two children join hands and whisper something--supposed to be a great state secret--to each other. This at once causes a rivalry amongst certain of the mock courtiers, and the dissatisfaction spreads, culminating in an open rebellion. The children take sides. Things now look serious; the prime minister tells the king he fears rebellion, and for safety his little majesty, attired in royal robes, and wearing a paper crown, retires to his palace--one of those places \"built without walls.\" The soldiers, the king's bodyguard, are summoned, and orders are given to them to suppress the insurrection and capture the little rebels. As each one is taken prisoner the soldiers ask-- \"Will you surrender? Oh, will you surrender To the King of the Barbarines?\" During the struggle reinforcements come up from the rebel camp and try to beat off the king's soldiers, exclaiming-- \"We won't surrender, we won't surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"We'll make you surrender, we'll make you surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"You can't make us surrender, you can't make us surrender To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"We'll go to the King, we'll go to the King, To the King of the Barbarines.\" \"You can go to the King, you can go to the King, To the King of the Barbarines.\" The rebels now build an imaginary castle by joining hands. The king's soldiers surround the place, and after a skirmish break it down. \"We'll break down your castle, we'll break down your castle For the King of the Barbarines.\" A LANCASHIRE ROUND GAME. Two rows of lassies and lads face each other; the boys, hand in hand, move backwards and forwards towards the girls, saying-- \"I've got gold, and I've got silver, I've got copper, and I've got brass, I've got all the world can give me, All I want is a nice young lass.\" \"Fly to the east, fly to the west, Fly to the one you love the best.\" In the scramble which takes place the young lass of each one's choice is seized. A ring is formed, and a rollicking dance takes places to the characteristic chorus of-- \"Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, I do; Fol th' riddle, I do, I do, dey.\" ROUND GAME OF THE MULBERRY BUSH. \"Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush; Here we go round the mulberry bush On a cold and frosty morning. \"This is the way we wash our hands, We wash our hands, we wash our hands; This is the way we wash our hands On a cold and frosty morning. \"This is the way we do our hair,\" etc. \"This is the way we mend our shoes,\" etc. \"This is the way we scrub our clothes,\" etc. \"This is the way we dust our room,\" etc. \"PRAY, MR. FOX, WHAT TIME IS IT?\" A child stands on a hillock, or slightly elevated ground. A party of children, hand in hand, approach him whom they denominate Mr. Fox with the question-- \"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\" \"One o'clock,\" answers Mr. Fox. They are safe and fall back to their den. Making another venture they repeat the question. \"Twelve o'clock,\" shouts Mr. Fox, at the same time bounding towards them and scattering them in all directions. Those he can catch before they get back to their den are his prisoners, and the game is played until one remains, who of course becomes the fox. \"Twelve o'clock,\" it is to be observed, is the sly, foxy answer to the question, \"Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?\" \"One,\" \"two,\" \"three,\" \"four,\" etc., are but evasive replies. \"MOTHER, BUY ME A MILKING CAN.\" A boisterous game, played by girls, especially favoured in Paddington and Marylebone. \"Mother, buy me a milking can, A, I, O. Where's the money to come from, A, I, O? Sell my father's feather bed. Where must your father sleep? Sleep in the boys' bed. Where will the boys sleep? Sleep in the cradle. Where will the baby sleep? Sleep in the thimble. What shall I sew with? Sew with the poker. Suppose I burn myself? Serve you right.\" At the time of saying \"serve you right\" all the children scamper away from the girl who acts the part of mother. It is little more than a mild reproof on the over-indulgent mother who would sell or give anything to satisfy the fancies of her children, and the \"serve you right\" is a girl's idea of what a foolish mother deserves--less impudent than corrective. * * * * * The town and country boys' game of \"Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day, One o'clock, two o'clock, three and away,\" comes into fashion with all the reckless frivolity of early years, when the old English festivities of Maying take place, reminding one of the old custom of bringing the May-pole from the neighbouring woods, when each of the eighty oxen yoked to the May-pole waggon had a nosegay of wild-flowers tied to the horns. \"HERE COMES A POOR SAILOR FROM BOTANY BAY.\" \"Here comes a poor sailor from Botany Bay; Pray, what are you going to give him to-day?\" is played as a preliminary game to decide who shall join sides in the coming tug-of-war. The chief delight of the youngsters playing \"Here comes a poor sailor,\" is in putting and answering questions. All are warned before replying. \"You must say neither 'Yes,' 'No,' 'Nay,' 'Black,' 'White,' or 'Grey.'-- Now what are you going to give him to-day?\" \"A pair of boots.\" \"What colour are they?\" \"Brown.\" \"Have you anything else to give him?\" \"I think so; I'll go and see.\" \"What colour is it?\" \"Red.\" \"What is this made of?\" pointing to a coat or other article. \"Cloth.\" \"And the colour?\" \"Brown.\" \"Have you anything else to give him?\" \"I don't think so.\" \"Would you like a sweet?\" \"Yes.\" The examination is finished, for one of the fatal replies has been given. The child who exclaimed \"Yes\" goes to a den. After taking all the children through the same form of questioning the youngsters are found divided into two classes, those who avoided answering in the prohibited terms, \"Yes,\" \"No,\" \"Nay,\" \"Black,\" \"White,\" \"Grey,\" and the little culprits in the den or prison who have failed in the examination. The tug-of-war now begins, either class being pitted against the other. No rope is used; arms are entwined round waists, skirts pulled, or coat-tails taken hold of. \"CAN I GET THERE BY CANDLE-LIGHT?\" This is one of the most universally played chain games in the British Isles. It belongs as much to the child with a rich Dublin brogue as to the Cockney boy, one thing being altered in the verse--the place, \"How many miles to Wexford or Dublin\" being substituted for Wimbledon. Coventry and Burslem take the child fancy in the North of England. It probably dates from Tudor times. The expression, \"Can I get there by candle-light?\" and \"He went out of town as far as a farthing candle would light him,\" were amongst the common sayings of the people of Elizabeth's time. \"How many miles to Wimbledon? Three score and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes! and back again. Then open the gates and let me go. Not without a beck and a bow. Here's a beck and there's a bow; Now open the gates and we'll all pass thro'.\" The chain of children first formed to play this game is re-formed into two smaller ones. Hands are then uplifted by one of the sides to form an archway; the other children, marching in single file, approach the sentinel near the gateway of arched hands and ask-- \"How many miles to Wimbledon?\" The answer is given-- \"Three score and ten,\" etc. When the gates are opened those who are alert enough pass through, but others are caught and made prisoners. CHAPTER II. NURSERY GAMES. A GAME FOR A WET DAY. \"Cows and horses walk on four legs, Little children walk on two legs; Fishes swim in water clear, Birds fly up into the air. One, two, three, four, five, Catching fishes all alive. Why did you let them go? Because they bit my finger so. Which finger did they bite? This little finger on the right.\" The enthusiasm with which children of all ages play this somewhat noisy game can hardly be imagined. Try it, you fun-loving parents, and be rewarded by the tears of joy their mirth and laughter will cause. It is played after this fashion. However, it will not be amiss to remove the tea-things before anything is attempted. All seated, the parent or nurse then places the first and second fingers of each hand on the coverlet, the youngsters imitating her. Everybody's fingers are now moved up and down in a perpendicular way, like the needle of a sewing machine. All singing-- \"Cows and horses walk on four legs.\" The next line requires a change, only one finger on each hand being used, and-- \"Little children walk on two legs\" (_sung_). * * * \"Fishes swim in water clear\" demands the waving of arms horizontally, to imitate the action of swimming in water. \"Birds fly up into the air.\" When this line is sung the hands are held up, and moved from the wrists like the wings of birds flapping in the air. \"One, two, three, four, five\" is said to the clapping of hands. \"Catching fishes all alive\" is sung to the action of grabbing at supposed fishes with the fingers. \"Why did you let them go?\" Everybody shakes their head and replies-- \"Because they bit my finger so!\" \"Which finger did they bite?\" Holding up the little finger, you answer-- \"This little finger on the right!\" \"ANOTHER NURSERY TABLE GAME, BUT NEARLY 300 YEARS OLD.\" Some of the thousands of the nursery tales in vogue come to us without a trace as to their origin. In James I.'s time the ending of ballads ran with a tuneful \"Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.\" A collection of ballads in book-form by John Hilton, and called \"Garlands,\" are also described as the \"Ayres and Fa las\" in the title-page. Halliwell gives \"The tale of two birds sitting on a stone\" the same date. It is scarcely a tale, but a game still played by all classes of children-- \"There were two birds sitting on a stone, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. One flew away, and then there was one, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. The other flew after, and then there was none, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de. And so the poor stone was left all alone, Fa, la, la, la, lal, de!\" The way boys play it may be briefly told as follows:--Pieces of paper are wetted and fixed on the fingers, the first finger of each hand. Being thus ornamented, they are placed on the table or knee, and the rhyme repeated-- \"There were two birds sitting on a stone.\" Then by a sudden upward movement, throwing the paper on one finger, as it were, over the shoulder, the next finger--the second--is substituted for it, and the hand is again brought down and placed beside the remaining paper bird-- \"Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.\" \"One flew away, and then there was one.\" The same sleight-of-hand is gone through with the other finger-- \"The other flew away, and then there was none, And so the poor stone was left all alone.\" Another but more modern game, embodying the same idea, is told in-- \"There were two blackbirds sitting on a hill, One named Jack and the other named Jyll. Fly away, Jack, fly away, Jyll. Come again, Jack, come again, Jyll\"-- to the wonderment of the child watching the quick change of fingers. It is the earliest sleight-of-hand trick taught to the nursery child. A B C GAME. A spirited game may be played after this fashion. All seated round the table or fireplace. One child sings a solo--a verse of some nursery rhyme. For instance-- \"Hi diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed to see such fine sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.\" A chorus of voices takes up the tune and the solo is repeated, after which the alphabet is sung through, and the last letter, Z, sustained and repeated again and again, to bother the next child whose turn it now is to sing the next solo. The new solo must be a nursery rhyme not hitherto sung by any of the company. If unable to supply a fresh rhyme the child stands out of the game and pays forfeit. \"I APPRENTICE MY SON.\" In another parlour game of a rather interesting kind the youngest in the room begins by saying-- \"I apprentice my son to a butcher; the first thing he sold was a pound of M.\" Each has a turn to guess what M may stand for--some kind of meat the butcher usually sells. Should the first person in the circle guess the correct meaning, it becomes his or her turn to ask the next question. Baker or grocer, chemist or draper, in fact any trade may be selected by the person whose turn it is to put the question. AN ARMENIAN CHILD'S GAME of a thousand years ago is still played by the Christian children of Asia. Like our Western street games of tops and tip-cats it perpetuates the cruelties of the persecutions which their ancestors suffered, a most terrible instance of the child's game outliving the serious performance of that which it represented. The frontier of the Armenian kingdom had been destroyed by one of the Christian Byzantine emperors, thus enabling the Seljouck Turks to pass through the Armenian kingdom, and deal out to the unoffending Asiatic Christians the terrors of pillage by firing their peaceful homesteads. England, France, and Germany have a modification of the game. In France the youngsters hand round a burning faggot, exclaiming-- \"Petit bonhomme vit encore.\" German children play a similar game with a stick instead of a firebrand, and Halliwell gives the rhyme describing the English game as-- \"Jack's alive and in very good health, If he die in your hand you must look to yourself.\" RUSSIAN SUPERSTITION. An old custom of the Russian maiden--identical with the English girl's habit on St. Valentine's Day--is still in vogue. Going into the street she asks the first man she meets his Christian name, believing that her future husband will be sure to bear the same. CHAPTER III. JEWISH RHYMES. Sports, games, and amusements were unknown until a late day in Jewish history. Within the walls of Jerusalem, or indeed throughout the whole length of Palestine, no theatre, circus, hippodrome, nor even gallery was to be found, until Jason, the Greek-Jew of the Maccabees dynasty, became ruler, and built a place of exercise under the very tower of the Temple itself. (2 Macc. iv. 10-14.) Herod subsequently completed what Jason had begun, and erected a hippodrome within the Holy City to the delight of the younger Hebrews, later building another at Cæsarea. Even the festivals were not of Mosaic appointment, and it is not difficult to understand how certain gloomy censors and theologians condemn merriment. To serve the Lord with gladness was quite an after-thought of the Israelitish leaders and teachers. But when the great fairs or wakes of the whole nation were held, pastimes and diversions crept in similar to the merry meetings of our own times, and religion, commerce, and amusement became the cardinal features of the great Jewish fairs. The Guy Fawkes Festival of Judaism, the Purim Feast, appointed by Esther and Mordecai, commemorating deliverance from massacre which Hamar had determined by lot against them, gave occasion for relaxation. Even the most austere and gloomy rejoiced, while the younger people abandoned themselves to dissolute mirth, opposite sexes dressing up in the clothes of each other; a habit at present in favour amongst the coster fraternity of East London on Bank Holidays. The Jews were a peculiar people. No old-time imagery of the older nations enchanted them; they were carefully taught to live for themselves and by themselves, but to make their profit out of others whenever possible to do so. The spoiling of the Egyptians took place more than once in their history. Whatever nation they colonised amongst had to enforce strict laws and rigid punishments in defence of their own less shrewd people. Even their nursery rhymes are distinctive, full of religious and national sentiment, and may be counted on the fingers of one hand. They necessarily know the ones in common use belonging to the country of their adoption, but so important are the two Hebrew rhymes considered to be that every pious Jew teaches his child their significance. A translation of the principal one, found in the Sepher Haggadah, a Hebrew hymn in the Chaldee language, runs thus:-- _Recitative._ \"A kid, a kid, my father bought For two pieces of money--A kid! a kid! * * * Then came the cat and ate the kid That my father bought for two pieces of money. Then came the dog and bit the cat that ate the kid that my father bought for two pieces of money. Then came the staff and beat the dog that bit the cat, etc. Then came the fire that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, etc. Then came the water and quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, etc. Then came the ox and drank the water, etc. Then came the butcher and slew the ox, that drank the water, etc. Then came the Angel of Death and killed the butcher, etc. Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He! and slew the Angel of Death, that killed the butcher, that slew the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, that my father bought for two pieces of money--A kid! a kid!\" Now for the interpretation--for it is a historical and a prophetic nursery rhyme. The kid which Jehovah the father purchased denotes the select Hebrew race; the two pieces of money represent Moses and Aaron; the cat signifies the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were taken into captivity; the dog is representative of the Babylonians; the staff typifies the Persians; the fire is Alexander the Great at the head of the Grecian Empire; the water the Roman domination over the Jews; the ox the Saracens who subdued the Holy Land and brought it under the Caliph; the butcher is a symbol of the Crusaders' slaughter; the Angel of Death the Turkish power; the last stanza is to show that God will take vengeance on the Turks when Israel will again become a fixed nation and occupy Palestine. The Edomites (the Europeans) will combine and drive out the Turks. Everyone, big and little, will recognise the source of the nursery fable of \"The house that Jack built.\" \"This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house, etc. This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt, etc. This is the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc. This is the cow with a crumpled horn that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc. This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, etc. This is the man all tatters and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, etc. This is the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn to the maiden all forlorn, etc. This is the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man, etc. This is the farmer sowing his corn, that fed the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn unto the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built.\" A Scotch and North of England nursery tale, two centuries old, is cast in the same mould, or rather built on the hymn of the Hebrews found in the Sepher Haggadah. It is given below. \"There was an old woman swept her house and found a silver penny, And she went to market and bought a kid; But when she came to drive it home kid would not go. She went a little further and met a stick, and said to it, 'Stick, stick, beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.' But the stick would not. She went a little further and met a fire. 'Fire, fire, burn stick, stick won't beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.' But the fire would not. She went a little further and met with water. 'Water, water, quench fire, fire won't burn stick,' etc. But the water would not. She went a little further and met an ox. 'Ox, ox, drink water,' etc. She went a little further and met a butcher, etc. She went a little further and met a rope, etc. She went a little further and met some grease, etc. 'Grease, grease, grease rope.' She went a little further and met a rat. 'Rat, rat, eat grease,' etc. She went a little further and met a cat. 'Cat, cat, kill rat,' etc. The cat began to bite the rat, the rat began to eat the grease, the grease began to grease the rope, the rope to hang the butcher, the butcher to kill the ox, the ox to drink the water, the water to quench the fire, the fire to burn the stick, the stick to beat the kid, and so the kid went home.\" In other accounts of the same tale the kid is a pig, the silver penny a crooked sixpence; the pig would not go over the stile, and the old woman could not get her old man's supper ready. The several prefigurations are not difficult to make out. Very many of the babblings put into the mouths of English children are of foreign origin; the story of \"The Kid\" was known in Leipsic and sung by German children in 1731, very possibly coming in this way from the Jewish colony. In Denmark it is also a favourite with the school children. The other Jewish rhyme, kept in remembrance by modern Jews, is printed at the end of their Passover Service in English and in Hebrew. ONE is known as the Chad Gadyâ. It is an arithmetical poem, and begins-- \"Who knoweth One?\" \"I know One, One is God, who is over heaven and earth!\" \"Who knoweth two?\" \"I know two, two tables of the Covenant, but One is God, who reigneth over heaven and earth!\" When the Latin of our churches was on the lips of everyone in the Middle Ages, an adaptation of this childish creed was taught to little Christians, beginning-- \"Unus est Deus,\" but with a Christian theme. CHAPTER IV. AN ANCIENT ENGLISH RHYME From which came the well-known nursery tale of-- \"A frog, who would a-wooing go. Hey, oh! says Rowly. Whether his mother would let him or no, With a Rowly Powly Gammon and Spinach, Hey, oh! says Anthony Rowly.\" In 1549 the Scottish shepherds sang a song, entitled \"The frog that came to the myl dur.\" In 1580 a later ballad, called \"A most strange wedding of a frog and a mouse,\" was licensed by the Stationers' Company. There is a second version extant in _Pills to Purge Melancholy_. The following was commonly sung in the early years of Henry VIII.'s reign:-- \"It was a frog in the well, Humbledum, humbledum, And the merry mouse in the mill, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. The frog he would a-wooing ride, Humbledum, humbledum, Sword and buckler by his side, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. When upon his high horse set, Humbledum, humbledum, His boots they shone as black as jet, Tweedle, tweedle, twino. \"Then he came to the merry mill-pin, Saying, 'Lady mouse, be you within?' Then out came the dusty mouse, Saying, 'I'm the lady of this house.' \"'Hast thou any mind of me?' asked the gallant Sir Froggy. 'I have e'en great mind of thee,' her ladyship replied. 'Who shall make our marriage?' suggested the frog. 'Our lord, the rat!' exclaimed the mouse. 'What shall we have for supper?' the thoughtful frog exclaimed. 'Barley, beans, and bread and butter!' generously replied Miss Mouse. But when the supper they were at, The frog, the mouse, and the rat, In came Gib, our cat, And caught the mouse by the back; Then did they separate. The frog leapt on the floor so flat, In came Dick, our drake, And drew the frog into the lake. The rat ran up the wall, And so the company parted all.\" The rhyming tale of \"The frog who would a-wooing go\" is similar in every way to the above. In Japan one of the most notable fairy-tales relates a story of a mouse's wedding. SONGS OF LONDON BOYS IN TUDOR TIMES. In the next two reigns, Edward VI. and Philip and Mary's, the musical abilities of the London boy were carefully looked after and cultivated. The ballads he sang recommended him to employers wanting apprentices. Christ's Blue Coat School and Bridewell Seminary offered unusual facilities for voice training. One happy illustration of the customs of the sixteenth century was the habit of the barber-surgeon's boy, who amused the customers, waiting for \"next turn\" to be shaved or bled, with his ballad or rhyming verse; and a boy with a good voice proved a rare draw to the \"bloods\" about town, and those who frequented the taverns and ordinaries within the City. In the next reign the condition of the poor was much improved; the effect of the land sales in Henry VII.'s reign, when the moneyed classes purchased two-thirds of the estates of the nobility, and spent their amassed wealth in cultivating and improving the neglected lands. This factor--as well as the cessation of the Wars of the Roses--was beginning to work a lasting benefit to the poor, as the street cries of 1557 show, for, according to the register of the Stationers' Company that year, a licence was granted to John Wallye and Mrs. Toye to print a ballad, entitled-- \"Who lyve so mery and make such sporte As they that be of the poorest sort?\" \"Who liveth so merry in all the land As doth the poor widow who selleth the sand? And ever she singeth, as I can guess, 'Will you buy my sand--any sand--mistress?' _Chorus._ \"Who would desire a pleasanter thing Than all the day long to do nothing but sing? Who liveth so merry and maketh such sport As those who be of the poorer sort?\" Even Daniel De Foe, writing one hundred and twenty years after, paid a passing tribute to Queen Elizabeth, and said \"that the faint-hearted economists of 1689 would show something worthy of themselves if they employed the poor to the same glorious advantage as did Queen Elizabeth.\" Going back to the centuries prior to the Tudor period, one is reminded that all the best efforts at minstrelsy--song, glee, or romance--came from the northern counties, or from just on either side the borders. The prevalence of a northern dialect in the compositions show this suggestion to be in a great degree real. The poems of minstrelsy, however, claim something more than dialect--the martial spirit, ever fever-heat on the borders of the kingdoms of England and Scotland; the age of chivalry furnishing the minstrel with the subject of his poem. But with the strife of war ended, on Henry VII.'s accession, ballads took the place of war-songs in the heart affections of the people, and they sang songs of peace and contentment. Bard, scald, minstrel, gleeman, with their heroic rhymes and long metrical romances, gave way in the evolution of song and harmony to the ballad-monger with his licence. However, in turn they became an intolerable nuisance, and a wag wrote of them in 1740-- \"Of all sorts of wit he's most fond of a ballad, But asses choose thistles instead of a salad.\" Another of the wayside songs of Henry VIII.'s time, sung by man, woman, and child, ran-- \"Quoth John to Joan, Wilt thou have me? I prithee, now wilt? and I'se marry with thee My cow, my calf, my house, my rents, And all my land and tenements-- Oh, say, my Joan, will that not do? I cannot come each day to woo. I've corn and hay in the barn hard by, And three fat hogs pent up in a sty; I have a mare, and she's coal black; I ride on her tail to save her back. I have cheese upon the shelf, And I cannot eat it all myself. I've three good marks that lie in a rag In the nook of the chimney instead of a bag.\" The London surgeon-barber's boy pleased his master's patrons with a whole host of similar extravagances, but he was not alone in the habit, for so usual was it for the poorest of the poor to indulge in mirth, that literary men of the day wrote against the practice. In a black-letter book--a copy of which is in the British Museum, date 1560--and entitled, \"The longer thou livest more fool thou art,\" W. Wager, the author, says in the prologue-- \"Good parents in good manners do instruct their child, Correcting him when he beginneth to grow wild.\" The subject matter of this book also gives a fair view of the customs and habits of the boys of that age. In the character of Moros, a youth enters the stage, \"counterfeiting a vain gesture and foolish countenance, singing the 'foote' or burden of many songs, as fools are wont.\" Amongst the many rhymes enumerated by Moros, which he claims were taught to him by his mother, occur: \"Broome on the hill,\" \"Robin lend me thy bow,\" \"There was a maid came out of Kent,\" \"Dainty love, dainty love,\" \"Come o'er the bourne, Bessie,\" and \"Tom a Lin, and his wife and his wife's mother, They all went over the bridge together; The bridge was broken and they fell in, 'The devil go with all,' quoth Tom a Lin.\" Another version, more particularly the Irish one, runs-- \"Bryan O'Lynn, and his wife and wife's mother, All went over the bridge together; The bridge was loose, they all fell in, 'What a precious concern,' cried Bryan O'Lynn. \"Bryan O'Lynn had no breeches to wear, So he got a sheep's skin to make him a pair.\" This rhyme is evidently much older than the Tudor age, and one is reminded of the time when cloth and woollen goods were not much used by the lower classes. The Tzigane of Hungary to-day wears his sheep-skin breeches, and hands them down to posterity, with a plentiful supply of quick-silver and grease to keep them soft and clean. \"Bye baby bunting\" and the little \"hare skin\" is the other nursery rhyme having a reference to skins of animals being used for clothing. But \"Baby bunting\" has no purpose to point to, unless indeed the habits of the Esquimaux are taken in account. In the list of nursery songs sung by children in Elizabeth's reign, the following extract from \"The longer thou livest the more foole thou art\" gives four:-- \"I have twentie mo songs yet, A fond woman to my mother; As I war wont in her lappe to sit, She taught me these and many other. \"I can sing a song of 'Robin Redbreast,' And 'My litle pretie Nightingale,' 'There dwelleth a Jolly Fisher here by the west,' Also, 'I com to drink som of you Christmas ale.' \"Whan I walke by myselfe alone, It doth me good my songs to render; Such pretie thinges would soone be gon If I should not sometime them remembre.\" To get back again to the true nursery lyrics, one more marriage game of this period is given, entitled-- \"WE'LL HAVE A WEDDING AT OUR HOUSE.\" \"A cat came fiddling out of a barn With a pair of bagpipes under her arm; She could pipe nothing but fiddle-cum-fee, The mouse hath married the bumble-bee. Pipe, cat; dance, mouse; We'll have a wedding at our house.\" CHAPTER V. CAT RHYMES. The old saying of \"A cat may look at the queen\" is thus expressed in a dialogue between a ward nurse of Elizabeth's time and a truant tom on its return to the nursery. \"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been? \"_Cat_: I've been to London to see the queen. \"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there? \"_Cat_: I frightened a little mouse from under her chair.\" No doubt the incident giving rise to this verse had to do with the terrible fright Queen Bess is supposed to have had on discovering a mouse in the folds of her dress--for it was she of virgin fame to whom pussy-cat paid the visit. It has been asked again and again, \"Why are old maids so fond of cats?\" and \"Why are their lives so linked together?\" Maybe it is to scare, as did the cat in the rhyme, \"a little mouse from under her chair.\" * * * * * \"Ten little mice sat down to spin, Pussy looked down, and she looked in. What are you doing, my little men? We're making some clothes for gentlemen. Shall I come in to cut your threads? No, kind sir, you'll bite off our heads.\" * * * * * One more rhyme of Queen Elizabeth's time begins-- \"The rose is red, the grass is green, Serve Queen Bess, our noble queen.\" * * * * * \"Kitty, the spinner, Will sit down to dinner, And eat the leg of a frog. All the good people Will look o'er the steeple And see a cat play with a dog.\" * * * * * \"I love little pussy, her coat is so warm, And if I don't hurt her she'll do me no harm; I won't pull her tail, nor drive her away, But pussy and I together will play.\" * * * * * \"Three cats sat by the fireside, In a basket full of coal-dust; One cat said to the other, 'Su pu, pell mell--Queen Anne's dead!' 'Is she?' quoth Grimalkin, 'then I'll reign in her stead.' Then up, up, up, they flew, up the chimney.\" * * * * * \"Great A, little b, The cat's in the cupboard And she can't C.\" * * * * * \"There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile; He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, she caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house.\" * * * * * \"Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well. Who put her in? Little Tommy Thin. Who pulled her out? Little Johnny Stout. What a naughty boy was that To drown poor pussy cat!\" Or-- \"What a naughty trick was that to drown my granny's pussy cat, Who never did any harm, but caught the mice in father's barn.\" CAT TALE OF DICK WHITTINGTON. This legend of Dick Whittington is of Eastern origin. The story of the poor boy whose ill-fortune was so strangely reversed by the performances of his cat and its kittens finds a parallel in a cat tale found in \"Arlott's Italian Novels,\" published 1485. The Lord Mayor of London bearing the name of Richard Whittington was a knight's son, a citizen of London, and never poor. The possible explanation of the cat in the career of Whittington of London had reference to a coal-boat known as a \"cat,\" and far more likely to make a fortune for the future Lord Mayor than a good mouser would be. CHAPTER VI. A CRADLE SONG OF THE FIRST CENTURY. Many authorities pronounce this lullaby to be of the earliest Christian era. Some believe that in times of yore the Virgin herself sang it to the infant Jesus. \"Sleep, O son, sleep, Thy mother sings to her firstborn; Sleep, O boy, sleep, Thy father cries out to his little child. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \"Sleep, my heart and my throne, Sleep, thou joy of thy mother; Let a soothing, hushed lullaby Come murmuring to thy heavenly ears. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \"May nothing be wanting to thee, With roses I will cover thee, With violet garlands I will entwine thee. Thy bed shall be among the hyacinthus, Thy cradle built up with the petals of white lilies. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands. \"If thou wishest for music I will instantly call together the shepherds. None are before them, No mortal sings more holy songs. Thousands of praises we sing to thee, A thousand thousand thousands.\" If aught be distinct in this early Christian lullaby, it is that old-time ideas of \"stars on high,\" \"the sky is full of sleep,\" and other similar figures of mythical word-pictures are wanting. A mother's sympathy and affection alone bind together the words of her song in illimitable praises--a thousand thousand thousands. Milton says-- \"But see the Virgin blest Hath laid her babe to rest.\" What a bright sanctified glory the child King brought to his baby throne. \"Thee in all children, the eternal child. Thee to whom the wise men gave adoration, and the shepherds praise.\" What countless hosts of child-bands are ever singing some dreamy lullaby of praise to their child King. In the pastoral district of Vallauria, in the heart of the Ligurian Alps, within a day's journey from the orange groves of Mentone, a yearly festival takes place, when the children of the mountains sing a stanza recalling the Virgin's song-- \"If thou wishest for music I will instantly call together the shepherds. None are before them.\" \"Lo! the shepherd band draws nigh, Horns they play, Thee, their King, to glorify, Rest thee, my soul's delight.\" No lyrics of the nursery have come down to us fashioned after the first-century song of the Virgin. The older types have survived, and in such an unvarying mould have they been cast that there is in each European country's song the same old pagan imagery obstinately repeating itself in spite of Christianity, so that the songs of the Christian Church became exclusively the hymns of her faithful people, the carols of her festivals, and in the Middle Ages the libretto of her Church mystery plays, setting forth her history and doctrines to the lower orders. If one were to remove the obstacles of idiom and grammar in the poetry of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, or even Russia, and expose the subject of the theme, a mere skeleton of past delusions would remain. Long before modern European nations received this imagery of past credulities the poets of Greece and Rome had versified the same old-time beliefs. Before Rome was founded the Etruscan race, who flourished in what is now modern Tuscany, had the Books of the Tages fashioned in rhythmical mould, from which their traditions, ordinances, and religious teachings were drawn. They believed in genii as fervently as a Persian. Here is one Etruscan legend of the nursery, recalling \"How the wondrous boy-Tages sprang out of the soil just previously turned over by the plough in the fields of Tarquinii, and communicated to Lucamones the doctrines of divination, by sacrifice, by flight of birds, and by observation of the lightning, a son of genius and grandson of Jupiter.\"--_Cic. de Divin._ ii. 23. It was the ancient tale of \"Jack and the Beanstalk.\" CHAPTER VII. JACK RHYMES. In the preceding chapter it was noted how the wondrous boy-Tages was believed in by the ancients. \"Jack and the Beanstalk,\" our modern tale, though adapted to the present age, is the same legend, and known and told in their own way by the Zulus in South Africa and by the Redskin of North America, as well as to other isolated peoples. In these tales of primitive peoples the same wonderful miracle of the soil's fertility takes place, in the one case by the birth of the boy-Tages, in the other by the marvellous growth of the twisting beanstalks which in one night reach up--up--up to the land of the gods and giants. \"Jack the Giant Killer,\" a similar legend but from a Celtic source, was known in France in the twelfth century, and at that period translated into Latin by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Both \"Jack and the Beanstalk\" and \"Jack the Giant Killer\" are found in the folk-lore tales of Scandinavia. ANOTHER JACK OF THE NURSERY CLASSICS sprang up into being after the wars of Parliament, when the pleasure-hating Puritan gained an ascendency in the land, and when the pastimes of all classes, but more especially those of the lower orders who had been so happy and contented under the Tudor sovereigns, suffered a miserable suspension. They who were in authority longed to change the robe of revel for the shroud. Not only were theatres and public gardens closed, but a war of bigotry was waged against May-poles, wakes, fairs, church music, fiddles, dancing, puppet shows, Whitsun ales--in short, everything wearing the attire of popular amusement and diversion. The rhyme recording Jack Horner's gloomy conduct was, in fact, a satire on Puritanical aversion to Christmas festivities. \"Jack Horner was a pretty lad, near London he did dwell, His father's heart he made full glad, his mother loved him well. A pretty boy of curious wit, all people spoke his praise, And in a corner he would sit on Christmas Holy-days. When friends they did together meet to pass away the time, Why, little Jack, he sure would eat his Christmas pie in rhyme, And say, 'Jack Horner, in the corner, eats good Christmas pie, And with his thumb pulls out a plum, Saying, What a good boy am I.'\" The copy of the history of Jack Horner, containing his witty pranks and the tricks he played upon people from his youth to old age, is preserved in the Bodleian Library. There are a number of men and women who recall a time when the rhymes of \"Jack Horner\" and \"Jack the Giant Killer\" appeared finer than anything in Shakespeare; but this much may be said for \"Jack Horner,\" the cavalier's song of derision at the straight-laced Puritan, that it soon lost its political signification, gradually becoming used as a mark of respect. \"Thus few were like him far and nigh, When he to age was come, As being only fourteen inches high, A giant to Tom Thumb.\" CHAPTER VIII. RIDDLE-MAKING. Riddle-making is not left alone by the purveyors of nursery yarns, though belonging to the mythologic state of thought. The Hindu calls the sun seven-horsed; so the German riddle asks-- \"What is the chariot drawn by?\" \"Seven white and seven black horses.\" The Greek riddle of the two sisters--Day and Night. Another one given by _Diog. Lært._ i. 91, _Athenagoras_ x. 451, runs-- \"One is father, twelve the children, and born to each other Maidens thirty, whose twain form is parted asunder, White to behold on the one side, black to behold on the other, All immortal in being, all doomed to dwindle and perish.\"[H] \"The year, months, and days.\" * * * * * An interesting English rhyme says-- \"Old mother needle had but one eye, A very long tail which she let fly, Every time she went through a gap She left a bit of her tail in the trap.\" \"Needle and sewing cotton.\" * * * * * \"Purple, yellow, red, and green, The king cannot reach, nor yet the queen, Nor can Old Noll, whose power's so great, Tell me this riddle while I count eight.\" \"A rainbow.\" This nursery rhyme's date is fixed by the reference to Old Noll, the Lord Protector. * * * * * \"As round as an apple, as deep as a cup, And all the king's horses can't pull it up.\" \"A well.\" * * * * * \"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; Three score men, and three score more, Cannot make Humpty Dumpty as before again.\" \"An egg.\" Or-- \"And all the king's horses, and all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.\" Plutarch says of Homer that he died of chagrin, being unable to solve a riddle. The Phœnix myth, once believed in by the Egyptian priests, is now, and had even so long ago as in Herodotus' time, degenerated into a mere child-story of a bird, who lived, and died, and rose again from its own ashes. As a relic of a mysterious faith, this fabulous bird has come down to us with diminished glory each century. Old Herodotus, the father of history, tells us that he saw it once--not the bird itself, but a painting of it--at Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, in Egypt. Even this old Greek historian could not quite believe the current story in his day concerning this bird; that it was supposed to revisit the earth after a five-hundred-year sojourn in the land of gods was to him, at least, a little strange. Pliny, the Roman, likewise gives a description of it. \"I have been told,\" he writes, \"it was as big as an eagle, yellow in colour, glittering as gold about the neck, with a body-plumage of deep red-purple. Its tail is sky-blue, with some of the pennæ of a light rose colour. The head is adorned with a crest and pinnacle beautiful to the sight.\" Another ancient retells the story somewhat different to both the Greek and Roman historians. Thus runs the Indian version. Bear in mind, however, before reading it, that, like the Second Stone Age people, it was the habit of many races in India to cremate their dead:-- \"A high funeral pyre is erected of dry wood, on which the body of the dead is laid, and in course of time after igniting the faggots the corpse is consumed. While this cineration is going on vultures and carrion fowl not infrequently pounce down upon the body, and tear away pieces of flesh from the ghastly, smoking corpse. These charred parts of the body they carry away to their nests to feast upon at leisure. But oftentimes dire results follow; the home of sun-dried sticks and litter ignites, and the bird is seen by some of the superstitious peasantry to rise up out of fire and smoke and disappear.\" Then the Phœnix fable comes to mind, \"It is the sun-god; he has thrown fire and consumed the nest, and the old bird,\" and they hastily conclude that the bird they just now beheld flying away is a new one, and has, in fact, arisen out of the ashes they witnessed falling from the branches of the tall tree. The Phœnix in truth! The German child's rhyme, given by Grimm brothers, of \"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home,\" is not out of place here. It evidences a state of mythologic thought. \"Ladybird! ladybird! pretty one, stay! Come, sit on my finger, so happy and gay. Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home, Thy house is a-fire, thy children will roam. Then ladybird! ladybird! fly away home. Hark! hark! to thy children bewailing.\" Yearly, as these harvest bugs, with their crimson or golden-coloured shields, appear in our country lanes, the village youngsters delight in capturing them, and play a game similar to the German child's. They sing-- \"Ladybird! ladybird! fly away home, Your house is on fire, your children will roam, Excepting the youngest, and her name is Ann, And she has crept under the dripping-pan.\" FOOTNOTES: [H] \"εἱς ὁ πατήρ, παῖδες δὲ δυώδεκα· τῶν δέ γ' ἑκάστῳ παῖδες ἔασι τριήκοντ' ἄνδιχα εἶδος ἔχουσαι· Ἡι μὲν λευκαὶ ἔασιν ἰδειν· ἧ δ' αὖτε μέλαιναι Ἀθάνατοι δέ τ' ἐοῦσαι αποφθίνουσιν ἅπασαι.\" CHAPTER IX. NURSERY CHARMS. To charm away the hiccup one must repeat these four lines thrice in one breath, and a cure will be certain-- \"When a twister twisting twists him a twist, For twisting a twist three twists he must twist; But if one of the twists untwists from the twist, The twist untwisting untwists all the twist.\" AN ESSEX CHARM FOR A CHURN, 1650 A.D. \"Come, butter, come; come, butter, come, Peter stands at the gate Waiting for his buttered cake; Come, butter, come.\" * * * * * The late Sir Humphry Davy is said to have learnt this cure for cramp when a boy-- \"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, ease us, I beg! The devil has tied a knot in my leg; Crosses three † † † we make to ease us, Two for the robbers and one for Jesus.\" A CHARM AGAINST GHOSTS. \"There are four corners at my bed, There are four angels there. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, God bless the bed that I lay on.\" The Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John rhymes were well known in Essex in Elizabeth's time. Ady, in his \"Candle after dark,\" 1655, mentions an old woman he knew, who had lived from Queen Mary's time, and who had been taught by the priests in those days many Popish charms. The old woman, amongst other rhymes, repeated-- \"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, The bed be blest that I lay on.\" This was to be repeated yearly, thrice on Twelfth Night, and it would act as a charm until the following year against evil spirits. In 1601 a charm in general esteem against lightning was a laurel leaf. \"Reach the bays\" (or laurel leaves), \"and wear one.\" \"I'll tie a garland here about his head, 'Twill keep my boy from lightning.\" Even Tiberius Cæsar wore a chaplet of laurel leaves about his neck. Pliny reported that \"laurel leaves were never blasted by lightning.\" MONEY RHYMES. \"How a lass gave her lover three slips for a tester, And married another a week before Easter.\" * * * * * \"Little Mary Esther sat upon a tester, Eating curds and whey; There came a big spider, and sat down beside her, And frightened little Mary Esther away!\" * * * * * \"Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie. \"When the pie was opened The birds began to sing, Was not that a dainty dish To set before the king? \"The king was in his counting-house, Counting out his money, The queen was in the parlour Eating bread and honey. \"The maid was in the garden Hanging out the clothes, Then came a little blackbird And snapped off her nose.\" In Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_ Sir Toby alludes to the \"Sing a Song a Sixpence,\" Act II., Sc. 3:-- \"Come on, there is a sixpence for you; let's have a song.\" In Beaumont and Fletcher's _Bonduca_ it is also quoted. * * * * * \"There was an old man in a velvet coat, He kiss'd a maid and gave her a groat; The groat was cracked and would not go, Ah, old man, d'ye serve me so?\" * * * * * \"See-saw a penny a day, Tommy must have a new master. Why must he have but a penny a day? Because he can work no faster.\" * * * * * \"One a penny, two a penny, hot-cross buns, If your daughters do not like them give them to your sons; But if you should have none of these pretty little elves You cannot do much better if you eat them all yourselves.\" Written about 1608:-- \"There's never a maiden in the town but she knows that malt's come down; Malt's come down, malt's come down from an old angel to a French crown. The greatest drunkards in the town are very, very glad that malt's come down.\" In New York the children have a common saying when making a swop or change of one toy for another, and no bargain is supposed to be concluded between boys and girls unless they interlock fingers--the little finger on the right hand--and repeat the following doggerel:-- \"Pinky, pinky bow-bell, Whoever tells a lie Will sink down to the bad place, And never rise up again.\" NUMERICAL NURSERY RHYME. \"One, two, buckle my shoe; Three, four, shut the door; Five, six, pick up sticks; Seven, eight, lay them straight; Nine, ten, a good fat hen; Eleven, twelve, who will delve? Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting; Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen; Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting; Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty.\" BAKER'S MAN. \"Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man. Yes, I will, master, as fast as I can. Prick it and prick it, and mark it with B, And toss it in the oven for baby and me.\" CHAPTER X. SCRAPS. \"Oh, slumber, my darling, thy sire is a knight; Thy mother a lady so lovely and bright. The hills and the dales and the towers which you see, They all shall belong, my dear baby, to thee.\" * * * * * \"Bye, baby bumpkin, where's Tony Lumpkin? My lady's on her death-bed, with eating half a pumpkin.\" * * * * * \"Nose, nose, jolly red nose. And who gave thee this jolly red nose? Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, And they gave me this jolly red nose.\" * * * * * Story-telling in the Reformation period was so prevalent that the wonderful tales were satirised in the following rhyme, dated 1588:-- \"I saw a man in the moon. Fie, man, fie. I saw a hare chase a hound. Fie, man, fie. Twenty miles above the ground. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?\" \"I saw a goose ring a hog, And a snail bite a dog! I saw a mouse catch a cat, And a cheese eat a rat. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?\" * * * * * A Henry VIII. rhyme:-- \"My pretty little one, my pretty honey one, She is a jolly one, and as gentle as can be; With a beck she comes anon, With a wink and she is gone.\" * * * * * \"Peg, Peg, with a wooden leg, Her father was a miller; He tossed a dumpling at her head, And swore that he would kill her.\" * * * * * \"Round about, round about Maggotty pie (magpie), My father loves good ale, And so do I.\" * * * * * \"Old father long-legs will not say his prayers, Take him by the left leg and throw him downstairs.\" * * * * * \"Half a pound of twopenny rice, Half a pound of treacle, Stir it up and make it nice, Pop goes the weasel.\" * * * * * In 1754 mothers used to say to their children-- \"Come when you're called, Do what you're bid, Shut the door after you, Never be chid.\" A GAME. \"A great big wide-mouth waddling frog, Two pudding ends would choke a dog.\" * * * * * \"Little Nanny Natty Coat Has a white petticoat, The longer she lives The shorter she grows.\" _Answer_--A candle. * * * * * \"As I was going down Sandy Lane I met a man who had seven wives; each wife had a bag, each bag held a cat, each cat a kit. Now riddle-me-ree, how many were going down Sandy Lane?\" _Answer_--One going down; the others were going up. * * * * * \"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, She had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread, And whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.\" * * * * * \"Robert Rowley rolled a round roll round, A round roll Robert Rowley rolled round; Round rolled the round roll Robert Rowley rolled round.\" * * * * * \"Little General Monk Sat upon a trunk Eating a crust of bread; There fell a hot coal And burnt into his clothes a hole, Now little General Monk is dead. Keep always from the fire, If it catch your attire You too, like General Monk, will be dead.\" MORE FRAGMENTS. \"With hartshorn in his hand Came Doctor Tom-tit, Saying, 'Really, good sirs, It's only a fit.'\" * * * * * \"Cowardly, cowardly custard, Eats his mother's mustard.\" * * * * * \"Tommy Trot, a man of law, Sold his bed and lay on straw, Sold the straw and slept on grass To buy his wife a looking-glass.\" * * * * * \"Goosey, goosey, gander, Whither shall I wander, Upstairs, downstairs, In my lady's chamber?\" * * * * * \"Dilly, dilly, dilly, dilly, Come here and be killed.\" A nursery-tale rhyme of Henry VIII.'s time:-- \"The white dove sat on the castell wall, I bend my bow and shoote her I shall; I put hir in my cloue, both fethers and all; I layd my bridle on the shelfe. If you will any more sing it yourself.\" * * * * * \"This little pig went to market, This one stayed at home, This one had a sugar-stick, This one had none, And this one cried out wee, wee, wee, I'll tell my mother when I get home.\" * * * * * \"Little Bo Peep she lost her sheep, And could not tell where to find them; Let them alone and they'll come home, Carrying their tails behind them.\" * * * * * \"See-saw, Margery Daw, sold her bed and lay in the straw; Was not she a dirty slut to sell her bed and lie in the dirt?\" * * * * * \"Four-and-twenty tailors went to kill a snail, The best man among them dare not touch her tail; She put out her horns like a little Kyloe cow, Run, tailors, run, or she'll kill you all e'en now.\" * * * * * \"I had a little moppet, I put it in my pocket, And fed it on corn and hay, There came a proud beggar And swore he would wed her, and stole my little moppet away.\" * * * * * \"Hub-a-dub dub, Three men in a tub, The butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker, They all jumped out of a rotten potato.\" * * * * * \"Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John Went to bed with his stockings on; One shoe off, one shoe on, Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John.\" * * * * * \"Jack and Jyll went up the hill To fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jyll came tumbling after.\" * * * * * \"Hi diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon, The little dog laughed to see such fine sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.\" * * * * * \"Baa! baa! black sheep, have you any wool? Yes, sir; yes, sir, three bags full, One for the master, another for the maid, And one for the little child that cried in the lane.\" * * * * * \"Here comes a poor duke out of Spain, He comes to court your daughter Jane.\" * * * * * \"Ride to the market to buy a fat pig, Home again, home again, jiggerty-jig. Ride to the market to buy a fat hog, Home again, home again, jiggerty-jog.\" * * * * * \"Cross-patch, draw the latch, Sit by the fire and spin; Take a cup and drink it up, And call your neighbours in.\" * * * * * \"The man of the _South_[I] he burnt his mouth By eating cold plum porridge, The man in the moon came down too soon To ask the way to Norwich.\" A LANCASHIRE FRAGMENT. \"Dance a babby diddy, What'll th' mammy do wi' thee? Come sit on her lap, theart rosy and fat, Dance a babby diddy.\" * * * * * \"Dickery, dickery, dock, The mouse ran up the clock, The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Dickery, dickery, dock. The clock struck three, The mouse ran away, Dickery, dickery, dock. The clock struck ten, The mouse came again, Dickery, dickery, dock.\" * * * * * \"There was an old woman toss'd up in a blanket Ninety-nine times as high as the moon, But where she was going no mortal could tell, For under her arm she carried a broom. 'Old woman, old woman, old woman,' said I, 'Whither, ah! whither, whither so high?' 'Oh, I'm sweeping the cobwebs off the sky, And I'll be with you by-and-by!'\" The wildest idea is suggested by the rhyme of-- \"We're all in the dumps, for diamonds are trumps, And the kittens are gone to St. Paul's; All the babies are bit, and the moon's in a fit, And the houses are built without walls.\" The economy of the little boy who lived all alone is seen in-- \"When I was a little boy I lived by myself, All the bread and cheese I got I put upon the shelf.\" * * * * * \"Draw a pail of water For my lady's daughter, My father's a king and my mother's a queen, My two little sisters are dressed up in green.\" The baby game of tickling the palm of the hand will be remembered in-- \"Round about, round about, runs the little hare, First it runs that way, then it runs up there.\" A PROVERB. \"Needles and pins, needles and pins, When you get married your trouble begins; Trouble begins, trouble begins, When you get married your trouble begins.\" A COMPLIMENT. \"The rose is red, the violet's blue, Pinks are sweet, and so are you.\" THE REVERSE. \"The rose is red, the violet's blue, The grass is green, and so are you.\" * * * * * \"Little Tommy Tupper, waiting for his supper, What must he have? Some brown bread and butter.\" FOOTNOTES: [I] _South Devon._ CHAPTER XI. SONGS. \"WILL THE LOVE THAT YOU'RE SO RICH IN.\" \"There was a little man and he woo'd a little maid, And he said, 'Little maid, will you wed--wed--wed? I have little more to say than will you--Yea or Nay? For the least said is soonest mended--ded--ded--ded.' \"The little maid replied, some say a little sighed, 'But what shall we have for to eat--eat--eat? Will the love that you're so rich in Make a fire in the kitchen, Or the little God of Love turn the spit, spit, spit?'\" * * * * * \"Cock-a-doodle doo, my dame has lost her shoe; My master's lost his fiddling stick and doesn't know what to do. Cock-a-doodle doo, what is my dame to do? Till master finds his fiddling stick she'll dance without her shoe. \"Cock-a-doodle doo, my dame has found her shoe, and master's found his fiddling stick. Sing doodle, doodle doo--Cock-a-doodle doo, My dame will dance with you, While master fiddles his fiddling stick For dame and doodle doo.\" The third-century monarch, King Cole, is seriously libelled in the nursery jingle of-- \"Old King Cole was a merry old soul, A merry old soul was he, He called for his glass, he called for his pipe, He called for his fiddlers three.\" * * * * * \"Rowsty dowt, my fire's all out, My little Dame Trot is not at home! Oh my! But I'll saddle my cock and bridle my hen, And fetch my little dame home again! Home again! Home she came, tritty-ti-trot, She asked for some dinner she left in the pot; Some she ate and some she shod, And the rest she gave to the truckler's dog. She took up the ladle and knocked its head, And now poor dapsy dog is dead!\" * * * * * \"There was a little man and he had a little gun, And his bullets they were made of lead, He went to the brook and shot a little duck Right through its head, head, head. \"He took it home to his wife Joan And bade her a good fire to make, While he went to the brook where he shot the little duck To see if he could shoot the little drake. \"The drake was a-swimming With its curly tail, The little man made it his mark, He let off his gun But fired too soon, And the drake flew away with a quack, quack, quack.\" The Creole's slave-song to her infant is built on the same lines, and runs-- \"If you were a little bird And myself a gun, I would shoot you. Bum! Bum! Bum! \"Oh! my precious little jewel Of mahogany, I love you As a hog loves mud.\" * * * * * \"Some say the devil's dead, And buried in cold harbour; Some say he's alive again, And 'prenticed to a barber.\" * * * * * \"I had a little pony, his name was Dapple Grey; I lent him to a lady, to ride a mile away. She whipped him and she lashed him, She rode him through the mire; I would not lend my pony now For all that lady's hire.\" * * * * * \"Little Blue Betty, she lived in a den, She sold good ale to gentlemen. Gentlemen came every day, And little Blue Betty she skipped away. She hopped upstairs to make her bed, But tumbled down and broke her head.\" TOM, TOM, THE PIPER'S SON. \"Tom, he was a piper's son, He learned to play when he was young; But the only tune that he could play Was 'Over the hills and far away.' Over the hills and a great way off, And the wind will blow my top-knot off. \"Now Tom with his pipe made such a noise That he pleased both the girls and boys, And they stopped to hear him play 'Over the hills and far away.' \"Tom on his pipe did play with such skill That those who heard him could never keep still; Whenever they heard him they began to dance, Even pigs on their hind legs would after him prance. \"As Dolly was milking the cows one day Tom took out his pipe and began to play; So Doll and the cows danced the Cheshire cheese round, Till the pail was broke and the milk spilt on the ground. \"He met old Dame Trot with a basket of eggs, He used his pipe, she used her legs. She danced, he piped, the eggs were all broke; Dame Trot began to fret, Tom laughed at his joke. \"He saw a cross fellow beating an ass Laden with pots, pans, dishes, and glass; Tom took out his pipe and played a tune, And the jackass's load was lightened full soon.\" \"OH DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE?\" \"Oh dear, what can the matter be? Oh dear, what can the matter be? Oh dear, what can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons To tie up my bonny brown hair.\" SIMPLE SIMON. \"Simple Simon went a-fishing For to catch a whale, All the water he had got Was in his mother's pail. \"Simple Simon went to look If plums grew on a thistle, He pricked his fingers very much, Which made poor Simon whistle. \"Simple Simon went to town To buy a piece of meat, He tied it to his horse's tail To keep it clean and sweet.\" \"I SAW A SHIP A-SAILING.\" \"I saw a ship a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea, And it was filled with pretty things For baby and for me. There were raisins in the cabin, Sugar kisses in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold. Gold--gold--gold! The masts were made of gold. \"There were four-and-twenty sailors A-sitting on the deck, And these were little white mice, With rings around their neck. The captain was a duck, With a jacket on his back, And when the ship began to sail The captain cried 'Quack! quack!' Quack!--quack!--quack! The captain cried 'Quack! quack!'\" DAVID THE WELSHMAN. \"Taffy was a wicked Welshman, Taffy was a wicked thief, Taffy came to my house And stole a piece of beef. I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed, I got the poker And hit him on the head.\" Sung in derision along the Welsh borders on St. David's Day. Formerly it was the custom of the London mob on this day to dress up a guy and carry him round the principal thoroughfares. The ragged urchins following sang the rhyme of \"Taffy was a wicked Welshman.\" \"MY FATHER HE DIED.\" The historical value of nursery rhymes is incapable of being better illustrated than in the following old English doggerel:-- \"My father he died, I cannot tell how, He left me six horses to drive out my plough, With a wimmy lo! wommy lo! Jack Straw, blazey boys. Wimmy lo! wimmy lo! wob, wob, wob.\" Mr. Halliwell dates it as of Richard II.'s time, and this much may be said for this opinion, that there is no greater authority than he on the subject of early English rhymes and carols. Mr. Halliwell also believes that of British nursery rhymes it is the earliest extant. There are those, however, who dissent from this view, holding that many of the child's songs sung to-day were known to our Saxon forefathers. In 1835 Mr. Gowler, who wrote extensively on the archæology of English phrases and nursery rhymes, ingeniously attempted to claim whole songs and tales, giving side by side the Saxon and the English versions. There certainly was a phonetic similarity between them, but the local value of the Saxon, when translated, reads in a strange way, being little more than a protest against the Church's teaching and influence. \"Who killed Cock Robin?\" is given at length by Mr. Gowler, as well as many scraps of other nursery rhymes. Mr. Gowler seemed to claim that though the lettered language of each succeeding age fashions afresh, the Baby Kingdom knows no such vocal revolutions. CHAPTER XII. SCOTCH RHYMES. The great and alluring exercise of \"Through the needle-e'e, boys\" has this immemorial rhyme:-- \"As I went up the Brandy Hill I met my father wi' gude will; He had jewels, he had rings, He had many braw things, He'd a cat-and-nine-tails, He'd a hammer wantin' nails. Up Jock, down Tam, Blaw the bellows, auld man, Through the needle-e'e, boys! Brother Jock, if ye were mine, I would give you claret wine; Claret wine's gude and fine, Through the needle-e'e, boys!\" THE SCOTCH VERSION OF BRYAN O'LYNN. \"Tam o' the Lin and a' his bairns Fell n' i' the fire in other's arms! Oh, quo' the bunemost, I ha'e a het skin!! It's hetter below, quo' Tam o' the Lin.\" * * * * * \"Cripple Dick upon a stick, Sand your soo, ride away To Galloway To buy a pound o' woo.\" * * * * * \"Pan, pan, play, Pan, pan, play, And gi'e the bairn meal, It's gotten nane the day.\" * * * * * \"The robin and the wren Are God's cock and hen.\" * * * * * \"Gi'e a thing, tak' a thing, Auld man's deid ring; Lie butt, lie ben, Lie amang the dead men.\" The above is said by Scotch children as a reproach to one who takes back what he gave. A GRUESOME RIDDLE. \"I sat wi' my love and I drank wi' my love, And my love she gave me licht; I'll gi'e any mon a pint o' wine That'll read my riddle right.\" A person sitting in a chair made of the bones of a relation, drinking out of the skull, and reading by the light of a candle made from the marrow-bones. * * * * * Street game rhyme, something like the well-known \"How many miles to Wimbledon?\":-- \"King and Queen of Cantelon, How many miles to Babylon? It's eight and eight and other eight, Try to win these wi' 'candle licht.'\" To discover a particular person in the company wearing a ring, Scotch children of last century used to say-- \"Two before 1, and 3 before 5, Now 2, and then 2, and 4 come _belive_. Now 1, and then 1, and 3 at a cast, Now 1, and _twise_ 2, and Jack up at last.\" In the game of Hidee the laddies and lassies cry-- \"Keep in, keep in, where'ver ye be, The greedy gled's seekin' ye.\" \"WHA'S YOUR DADDIE?\" \"Little wee laddie, Wha's your daddie? I cam out o' a buskit, lady, A buskit, lady's owre fine; I cam out o' a bottle o' wine, A bottle o' wine's owre dear; I cam out o' a bottle o' beer, A bottle o' beer's owre thick; I cam out o' a gauger's stick, A gauger's stick's butt and ben; I cam out o' a peacock hen.\" In Lancashire, where this rhyme is a popular one, the reading differs, \"candlestick\" being used for \"gauger's stick.\" \"A candlestick is over-fat, I came out of a gentleman's hat; A gentleman's hat is over-tall, I came over the garden wall; The garden wall is over-high, An angel dropped me from the sky.\" The Scotch \"Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe\" is a sad jumble of \"Old Mother Hubbard\" and \"Little Blue Betty.\" \"There was a wee bit wifie Who lived in a shoe, She had so many bairns She kenn'd na what to do. \"She gaed to the market To buy a sheep's head, When she came back They were a' lying dead. \"She went to the wright To get them a coffin, When she came back They were a' lying laughin'. \"She gaed up the stair To ring the bell, The bell-rope broke, And down she fell.\" \"THE MOON IS A LADY.\" \"The moon is a lady who reigns in the sky As queen of the kingdom of night; The stars are her army she leads forth on high As bright little soldiers of light. \"Her captains are Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, Three glittering warriors bold; And the Milky Way's studded with forces of stars In numbers that cannot be told. \"When Aurora comes up through the Orient gate, And chanticleer crows to the sun, The moon will retire, and the stars in her wake Will follow their queen every one.\" R. A. FOSTER.[J] FOOTNOTES: [J] When I asked my friend, Robert Adams Foster, whose _Boy Ballads_ are being read with unusual interest in Scotland, to write a Scotch lullaby, he sent me the above verses. CHAPTER XIII. A FAVOURITE NURSERY HYMN. Known to the rustics of England, France, and Italy since the days of the great Charlemagne, has a peculiar history. Like many other rhymes of yore it is fast dying out of memory. The educational influences of the National Schools in the former part of this century, and the Board Schools at a later date, have killed this little suppliant's prayer, as well as most of the other rural rhymes and folk-lore tales handed down by mother to child. The hymn, though still used in some parts of Northern England, and especially amongst the Nonconformists, as a child's evening ode of praise, runs-- \"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon this little child; Pity my simplicity, Suffer me to come to Thee.\" The next verse, a more modern addition, is-- \"Fain I would to Thee be brought, Lamb of God, forbid it not; In the kingdom of Thy grace Give this little child a place.\" Leo III. is the supposed author of the book in which it is found, viz., _Enchiridion Leonis Papae_. However, the _Enchiridion_ was a book of magic, and not authorised by the Church of Rome, but used by spurious monks and charlatans, wizards and quacks, in their exploits amongst the credulous rural folk. It was full of charms, prayers, and rhymes to ward off evil spirits. The Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John verses are part of the same \"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.\" The _Enchiridion_ was first published in 1532. This hymn was, in the main, derived from the White Paternoster, and handed down to posterity and preserved by the rustics. THE LATIN VERSION OF THE VIRGIN'S LULLABY. \"Dormi fili, dormi! mater Cantat unigenito, Dormi, puer, dormi! pater Nato clamat parvulo: Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \"Dormi cor, et meus thronus, Dormi matris jubilum; Aurium cœlestis sonus. Et suave sibilum! Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \"Ne quid desit, sternam rosis Sternam fœnum violis, Pavimentum hyacinthis Et praesepe liliis Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies. \"Si vis musicam, pastores Convocabo protinus Illis nulli sunt priores; Nemo canit castius Millies tibi laudes canimus Mille, mille, millies.\" CHAPTER XIV. \"THERE WAS A MAID CAME OUT OF KENT.\" \"There was a maid came out of Kent, Dangerous be, dangerous be; There was a maid came out of Kent, Fayre, propre, small, and gent As ever upon the ground went, For so should it be.\" Of authentic currency in Mary's time. * * * * * \"Martin Smart and his man, fodledum, fodledum; Martin Smart and his man, fodledum, bell.\" Same date. * * * * * \"I see the moon, and the moon sees me; God bless the moon, and God bless me.\" Child's saying. * * * * * \"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I caught a hare alive; 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, I let her go again.\" Counting-out rhyme. * * * * * \"Great | A was a | larm'd at | B's bad be | haviour, Be | cause C | D, E, F de | nied G a | favour; H had a | husband with | I, J, | K and L; M married | Mary, and | taught | her scholars | how to spell A B C, D E F G, H I J K L M, N O P Q, R S T U, V W X Y Z, Z, Z.\" * * * * * \"Hush-a-by, baby, on a green bock (Saxon for bough); When the wind blows the cradle will rock.\" A NURSERY TALE. \"I saddled my sow with a sieve of butter-milk, put my foot into the stirrup, and leaped up nine miles beyond the moon into the land of temperance, where there was nothing but hammers and hatchets and candlesticks, and there lay bleeding Old Noll. I let him lie and sent for Old Hipper Noll, and asked him if he could grind green steel five times finer than wheat flour. He said he could not. Gregory's wife was up a pear tree gathering nine corns of buttered beans to pay St. James's rent. St. James was in a meadow mowing oat cakes; he heard a noise, hung his scythe to his heels, stumbled at the battledore, tumbled over the barn door ridge, and broke his shins against a bag of moonshine that stood behind the stairs-foot door; and if that isn't true, you know as well as I all about it.\" * * * * * \"A duck, a drake, a barley cake, A penny to pay the baker; A hop, a scotch, another notch-- Slitherum, slitherum, take her.\" A verse repeated when playing at skimming shells or stones on the water of a pond or lake. * * * * * \"Hark! hark! the dogs do bark, The beggars are coming to town. There are some in rags, There are some in tags, And one in a velvet gown.\" * * * * * \"Bow-wow-wow, Whose dog art thou? I'm Tommy Tucker's dog, Bow-wow-wow!\" Pope wrote an epigram which he had engraved on the collar of a dog, and gave it to H.R.H.:-- \"I am his Highness' dog at Kew; Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?\" A B C JINGLES. \"A was an Archer that shot at a frog, B was a Butcher--he had a big dog, C was a Captain all covered with lace, D was a Dunce with a very long face.\" \"A was an apple pie; B bit it, C cut it, D danced for it, E eat it, F fought for it, G got it, H hid it,\" etc. etc. A CATCH RHYME. \"Tottle 'em, bottle 'em, bother aboo, Who can count from one to two?\" \"I can, I can!\" \"Do, do.\" \"One and two----\" \"See, calf, see, That's not two, but three, three.\" \"Three or two's all one to me.\" CHAPTER XV. BELL RHYMES. The jingle of the bells in nursery poetry is certainly the prettiest of all the features in the poetical fictions of Baby-land. The oft-repeated rhyme of-- \"Ride a cock-horse to _Banbury Cross_,[K] To see a _fair_[L] lady upon a white horse; _Bells_[M] on her fingers and bells on her toes, She will have music wherever she goes,\" has a charm with every child. The ride of my Lady of Godiva is fancifully suggested by the Coventry version. * * * * * \"Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day? One o'clock, two o'clock, three and away.\" * * * * * \"_Gay go up and gay go down_ To ring the bells of London town. \"Bull's-eyes and targets, say the bells of St. Marg'-ret's; Brick-bats and tiles, chime the bells of St. Giles'; Halfpence and farthings, ring the bells of St. Martin's; Oranges and lemons, toll the bells of St. Clement's; Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's; Two sticks and an apple, say the bells of Whitechapel; Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate; You owe me ten shillings, say the bells of St. Helen's; When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey; When I grow rich, chime the bells of Shoreditch; Pray when will that be? ask the bells of Stepney; I'm sure I don't know, tolled the big bell at _Bow_. \"Gay go up and gay go down To ring the bells of London town.\" This almost forgotten nursery song and game of \"The Bells of London Town\" has a descriptive burden or ending to each line, giving an imitation of the sounds of the bell-peals of the principal churches in each locality of the City and the old London suburbs. The game is played by girls and boys holding hands and racing round sideways, as they do in \"Ring a Ring a Rosies,\" after each line has been sung as a solo by the children in turns. The \"Gay go up and gay go down To ring the bells of London town\" is chorussed by all the company, and then the rollicking dance begins; the feet stamping out a noisy but enjoyable accompaniment to the words, \"Gay go up, gay go down.\" The intonation of the little vocal bell-ringers alters with each line, \"Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's,\" being sung to a quick tune and in a high key; \"Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate,\" suggesting a very slow movement and a deep, low tone. The round singing of the ancients, of which this game is a fitting illustration, is probably a relic of Celtic festivity. The burden of a song, chorussed by the entire company, followed the stanza sung by the vocalist, and this soloist, having finished, had licence to appoint the next singer, \"canere ad myrtum,\" by handing him the myrtle branch. At all events round singing was anciently so performed by the Druids, the Bardic custom of the men of the wand. * * * * * In Lancashire-- \"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With cockle shells and silver bells, And pretty maids all in a row,\" is one of the songs the cottage mother sings to her child. The Provençal-- \"Ding dong, ding dong, Ring the bells of St. John's. Now they are saying prayers. Why ring so high? 'Tis the little children in the sky!\" * * * * * \"Maids in white aprons, say the bells of St. Catherine's.\" * * * * * Every locality furnishes examples of bell rhymes. Selling the church bells of Hutton, in Lincolnshire, gave rise to this satire of the children-- \"The poor Hutton people Sold their bells to mend the steeple. Ah! wicked people, To sell their bells To build the steeple.\" In 1793 Newington Church, London, was pulled down, the bells sold, and the sacred edifice rebuilt without a belfry. The children of the neighbouring parishes soon afterwards jeered at the Newingtonians. \"Pious parson\" (they sang), \"pious people, Sold their bells to build a steeple. A very fine trick of the Newington people To sell their bells and build no steeple.\" In Derbyshire a large number of the churches have bells with peculiar peals-- \"Crich has two roller-boulders, Wingfield ting-tangs, Alfreton kettles, And Pentrich pans. Kirk-Hallan candlesticks, Corsall cow-bells, Denby cracked puncheons, And Horsley merry bells.\" The bells of Bow Church ringing out the invitation to Dick Whittington to return to his master's house should not be forgotten-- \"Turn again, Whit-ting-ton, Lord-Mayor-of London.\" In New York, U.S.A., the little school urchins sing a bell rhyme of-- \"Hark, the merry bells from Trinity Charm the ear with their musical din, Telling all throughout the vicinity Holy-day gambols are now to begin.\" FOOTNOTES: [K] Or Coventry Cross. [L] Fine. [M] Rings. CHAPTER XVI. POLITICAL SIGNIFICATIONS OF NURSERY RHYMES. In 1660, when the Restoration of Charles II. took place, the great procession of State to St. Paul's Cathedral called forth this rhyme:-- \"Come, Jack, let's drink a pot of ale, And I shall tell thee such a tale Will make thine ears to ring. My coin is spent, my time is lost, And I this only fruit can boast, That once I saw my king!\" A Roundhead sneer at the man in the street, after the Royalist rejoicings were over. In a copy of rhyming proverbs in the British Museum, written about the year 1680, occurs the following Puritan satire on Charles II.'s changeability:-- \"A man of words and not of deeds, Is like a garden full of weeds; And when the weeds begin to grow, It's like a garden full of snow; And when the snow begins to fall, It's like a bird upon the wall; And when the bird away does fly, It's like an eagle in the sky; And when the sky begins to roar, It's like a lion at your door; And when the door begins to crack, It's like a stick across your back; And when your back begins to smart, It's like a penknife in your heart; And when your heart begins to bleed, You're dead, you're dead, and dead indeed.\" Among Marvel's works (vol. i. pp. 434-5) a witty representation of the king's style of speech is given with the _jeu d'esprit_ so distinctively peculiar to Marvel:-- \"My proclamation is the true picture of my mind. Some may perhaps be startled and cry, 'How comes this sudden change?' To which I answer, 'I am a changeling, and that's sufficient, I think. But, to convince men further that I mean what I say, these are the arguments. First, I tell you so, and you know I never break my word; secondly, my Lord Treasurer says so, and he never told a lie in his life; thirdly, my Lord Lauderdale will undertake it for me. I should be loath by any act of mine he should forfeit the credit he has with you.'\" In England Charles gave his Royal Indulgence to Dissenters, and granted them full liberty of conscience. They who had been horribly plundered and ill-treated now built meeting-houses, and thronged to them in public. Shaftesbury, who afterwards became a Papist, exclaimed, \"Let us bless God and the king that our religion is safe, that parliaments are safe, that our properties and liberties are safe. What more hath a good Englishman to ask, but that the king may long reign, and that this triple alliance of king, parliament, and the people may never be dissolved?\" But Charles had a standing army in Scotland, with the Duke of Lauderdale as Lord High Commissioner, and all classes of people in that country were obliged to depose on oath their knowledge of persons worshipping as Dissenters, on penalty of fine, imprisonment, banishment, transportation, and of being sold as slaves. Persecutions of former times were surpassed, the thumbscrew and the boot were used as mild punishments, the rack dislocated the limbs of those who respected conscience, and the stake consumed their bodies to ashes. Villagers were driven to the mountains, and eighteen thousand Dissenters perished, not counting those who were accused of rebellion. He was \"a man of words,\" and the rhyme of this period depicts his whole character. * * * * * Two of the courtezans of Charles II.'s time were Lucy Locket and Kitty Fisher. The following rhyme suggests that Kitty Fisher supplanted Lucy Locket in Charles' fickle esteem-- \"Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Nothing in it, nothing in it, But the binding round it.\" On his death-bed the monarch commended the Duchesses of Cleveland and Portsmouth to his successor, and said to James, \"Do not let poor Nelly (Nell Gwynne) starve!\" Even their pockets were as badly lined as Lucy Locket's. The hatred of the Roman Catholic religion \"had become,\" said Macaulay, \"one of the ruling passions of the community, and was as strong in the ignorant and profane as in those who were Protestants from conviction.\" Charles II. was suspected by many of leaning towards the Roman Catholic religion. His brother, and heir presumptive, was discovered to be a bigoted Catholic, and in defiance to the remonstrances of the House of Commons had married another papist--Mary of Modena. The common people apprehended a return of the times of her whom they unreasonably called Bloody Mary. Sons of this marriage, they feared, meant a long succession of princes and kings hostile to the Protestant faith and government by the people. In 1689, when William of Orange became king in James II.'s place, a political squib went off in the style of a nursery lullaby, entitled \"Father Peter's policy discovered; or, the Prince of Wales proved a Popish Perkin\"-- \"In Rome there is a fearful rout, And what do you think it's all about? Because the birth of the Babe's come out! Sing, Lalla by babee, by, by, by.\" The Douce MS. contains-- \"See-saw, sack a day, Monmouth is a pretie boy, Richmond is another; Grafton is my onely joy, and why should I these three destroy To please a pious brother?\" At the beginning of this present century the renowned Pastorini contributed his share to simple rhyming. A writer in the _Morning Chronicle_ of that period points out Pastorini as being no less a personage than the Right Rev. Charles Walmesley, D.D., a Roman Catholic prelate, whose false prophecies under the name of Pastorini were intended to bring about the events they pretended to foretell--the destruction of the Irish Protestants in 1825. Just previous to this year every bush and bramble in Ireland had this remarkable couplet affixed to it-- \"In the year eighteen hundred and twenty-five There shall not be a Protestant left alive.\" In 1835, when the efforts of the Whig Ministry to despoil the Irish Church proved so strong, a writer in the Press caricatured Lord Grey, Lyttleton, Dan O'Connell, and Lord Brougham in the following nursery rhymes. The attempt was ingenious, but only of small value as showing the rhymes to be the popular ones of that day. \"There was an old woman, as I've heard tell, She went to the market her eggs to sell.\" And-- \"Robbin, a bobbin, the big-bellied Ben, He ate more meat than threescore men; He eat a cow, he eat a calf, He eat a butcher and a half; He eat a church, he eat a steeple, He eat the priest and all the people.\" The other rhymes were-- \"There was an old woman went up in a basket Ninety-nine times as high as the moon, Where she was going I couldn't but ask it, For in her hand she carried a Brougham! Old woman, old woman, old woman, said I, Why are you going up so high? To sweep the cobwebs off the sky, But I'll be with you by-and-by.\" * * * * * \"Old Mother Bunch, shall we visit the moon? Come, mount on your broom, I'll stride on the spoon; Then hey to go, we shall be there soon!\" This rhyme was sung at the time in derision to Earl Grey's and Lord Brougham's aerial, vapoury projects of setting the Church's house in order. \"Lord Grey,\" said the satire-monger, \"provided the cupboards and larders for himself and relatives. He was a paradoxical 'old woman' who could never keep quiet.\" \"There was an old woman, and what do you think, She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink; Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet, And yet this old woman could never keep quiet.\" As a prototype of reform this old woman was further caricatured as Madame Reform. The going \"up in a basket ninety-nine times as high as the moon\" referred to Lord Grey's command to the English bishops to speedily set their house in order. The ascent was flighty enough, \"ninety-nine times as high as the moon, to sweep the cobwebs off the sky\"--in other words, to set the Church, our cathedrals and bishops' palaces in order--and augured well; but this old woman journeyed not alone, in her hand she carried a broom (Brougham). It may have been a case of ultra-lunacy this journey of ninety-nine times as high as the moon, and \"one cannot help thinking,\" said a writer of that period, \"of the song, 'Long life to the Moon'; but this saying became common, 'If that time goes the coach, pray what time goes the basket?'\" The \"Robbin, a bobbin, the big-bellied Ben\" parody alluded to Dan O'Connell; the butcher and a half to the Northamptonshire man and his driver; eating \"church\" and \"steeple\" meant Church cess. O'Connell certainly did cut the Church measure about. In his curtailment he would not leave a room or a church for Irish Protestants to pray in. \"Little dog\" refers to Lyttleton in the nursery rhyme, for when the under-trafficing came to light, Lord Grey, it is said, was so bewildered at his position that he doubted his own identity, and exclaimed-- \"If I be I, as I suppose I be, Well, I've a 'Little dog,' and he'll know me!\" FINIS Transcriber's Endnote: The following amendments have been made to the original text: P. 96. _But the stick would not._ has been added as line 6 of the poem beginning \"There was an old woman swept her house ...\" End of Project Gutenberg's A History of Nursery Rhymes, by Percy B. 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"The_Ugly_Duckling.txt\nThe Ugly Duckling\n\"The Ugly Duckling\" (Danish: Den grimme ælling) is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805 – 1875). The story tells of a homely little bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from the others around him until, much to his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a beautiful swan, the most beautiful bird of all. The story is beloved around the world as a tale about personal transformation for the better. “The Ugly Duckling” was first published 11 November 1843, with three other tales by Andersen in Copenhagen, Denmark to great critical acclaim. The tale has been adapted to various media including opera, musical, and animated film. The tale is completely Andersen's invention and owes no debt to fairy tales or folklore.\n\nPlot summary\n\nWhen the tale begins, a mother duck's eggs hatch. One of the little birds is perceived by the other birds and animals on the farm as a homely little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse from them. He wanders sadly from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. He finds a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen tease him mercilessly and again he sets off on his own.\n\nThe duckling sees a flock of migrating wild swans. He is delighted and excited, but he cannot join them, for he is too young and cannot fly. Winter arrives. A farmer finds and carries the freezing little duckling home, but the foundling is frightened by the farmer’s noisy children and flees the house. He spends a miserable winter alone in the outdoors, mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over. When spring arrives a flock of swans descends on the now thawing lake.\n\nThe ugly duckling, now having fully grown and matured, unable to endure a life of solitude and hardship any more and decides to throw himself at the flock of swans deciding that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness and misery. He is shocked when the swans welcome and accept him, only to realize by looking at his reflection in the water that he has grown into one of them. The flock takes to the air, and the ugly duckling spreads his beautiful large wings and takes flight with the rest of his new family.\n\nComposition and publication history\n\nAndersen first conceived the story in 1842 while enjoying the beauty of nature during his stay at the country estate of Bregentved, and lavished a year's worth of attention upon it. He initially considered \"The Young Swans\" as the tale's title but, not wanting to spoil the element of surprise in the protagonist’s transformation, discarded it for \"The Ugly Duckling\". He later confessed that the story was \"a reflection of my own life\", and, when the critic Georg Brandes questioned Andersen about whether he would write his autobiography, the poet claimed that it had already been written — \"The Ugly Duckling\". \n\n“The Ugly Duckling” was first published in Copenhagen, Denmark 11 November 1843 in New Fairy Tales. First Book. First Collection. 1844. (Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Første Samling. 1844.). For the first time the phrase \"told for children\" was not part of the title—an omission Andersen scholar Jackie Wullschlager believes exhibited a new confidence on Andersen's part: \"These [tales] were the most mature and perfectly constructed tales he had written, and though some of them at once became, and have remained, favorites of children, Andersen here melds together the childlike and the profound with exceptional artistry.\" The first edition of 850 was sold out by December 18, and Reitzel planned another 850. \n\nThe tale was fourth and last in the volume that included (in contents order), \"The Angel\" (\"Englen\"), \"The Nightingale\" (\"Nattergalen\"), and \"The Sweethearts; or, The Top and the Ball\" (\"Kjærestefolkene [Toppen og bolden]\"). The volume sold out almost immediately and Andersen wrote on December 18, 1843: “The book is selling like hot cakes. All the papers are praising it, everyone is reading it! No books of mine are appreciated in the way these fairy tales are!” Andersen promoted the tale by reading it aloud at social gatherings. The tale was republished 18 December 1849 in Fairy Tales. 1850. (Eventyr. 1850.) and again 15 December 1862 in Fairy Tales and Stories. First Volume. 1862. (Eventyr og Historier. Første Bind. 1862.) The tale has since been translated into various languages and published around the world and has become the most famous story by Andersen.\n\nCommentaries and criticism\n\nIn reviewing Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life by biographer Jens Andersen, British journalist Anne Chisholm writes “Andersen himself was a tall, ugly boy with a big nose and big feet, and when he grew up with a beautiful singing voice and a passion for the theater he was cruelly teased and mocked by other children\". The ugly duckling is the child of a swan whose egg accidentally rolled into a duck's nest. \n\nSpeculation suggests that Andersen was the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederik (later King Christian VIII of Denmark), and found this out some time before he wrote the book, and then that being a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for inner beauty and talent but also for secret royal lineage. \n\nBruno Bettelheim observes in The Uses of Enchantment that the Ugly Duckling is not confronted with the tasks, tests, or trials of the typical fairy tale hero. “No need to accomplish anything is expressed in “The Ugly Duckling”. Things are simply fated and unfold accordingly, whether or not the hero takes some action.” In conjunction with Bettelheim’s assessment, Maria Tatar notes in ’’The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen’’ that Andersen suggests the Ugly Duckling‘s superiority resides in the fact that he is of a breed different from the barnyard rabble, and that dignity and worth, moral and aesthetic superiority are determined by nature rather than accomplishment.\n\nAccording to Carole Rosen, the story was inspired in part by Andersen's friend Jenny Lind. \n\nAdaptations\n\n\"The Ugly Duckling\" became one of Andersen's best loved tales and was reprinted around the world. The tale was adapted to a variety of media. Films based on the tale include two Silly Symphonies animated shorts produced by Walt Disney called The Ugly Duckling. The first was produced in 1931 in black and white, and a remake in 1939 in Technicolor. The latter film won the 1939 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), and was the last Silly Symphony to be made. The main difference between the Andersen story and the Disney version is that, in the latter, the little bird's ordeal lasts for only a few minutes, not for months. In 1936, the Fleischer brothers adapted the story for their animated short \"The Little Stranger\", reversing the story by having an odd chick born into a family of ducks. In 1956 the Soviet animation studio Soyuzmultfilm produced its own 19 minutes version of The Ugly Duckling. The anime Princess Tutu is about a duck that turns into a swan-like ballerina. In 2006, the Danish animation studio A. Film produced a spin-off CG feature called The Ugly Duckling and Me!, and later produced a children's CG television series Ugly Duckling Junior which featured the same characters as the movie. The 1954 Tom and Jerry cartoon Downhearted Duckling is also based on the famous story.\n\nThe tale has seen various musical adaptations. In 1914, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev composed a work for voice and piano based on Nina Meshcherskaya's adaptation of the tale and, in 1932, arranged the work for voice and orchestra. This was transcribed by Lev Konov in 1996, and his opera was a great success in Russia. Other musical versions include the song “The Ugly Duckling” composed by Frank Loesser and sung by Danny Kaye for the 1952 Charles Vidor musical film Hans Christian Andersen, and Honk!, a musical based on the tale which was produced in Britain and won an Olivier Award. The tale was adapted to a musical by Gail Deschamps and Paul Hamilton with a planned United States tour 2002-2003. In 1998, the musical played the Piccolo Spoleto for seventeen days. \n\nIn 2009, the Dance Theatre of Bradenton, Florida, presented the ballet version of the popular tale (Allison Norton: The Ugly Duckling).\n\nIn 2010, Garri Bardin directed a feature-length stop-motion musical of the story set to Tchaikovsky's ballet music.\n\nIn 2012, a musical adaptation of the story, with ten original songs, was released by JJ’s Tunes & Tales. The album, titled “The Ugly Duckling: Story with Songs” contains both songs and spoken narration, and was released independently on CD Baby and iTunes. Examples of song titles include: Hatching of the Eggs; A Better Place; Song of the Swans; What’s the Matter with You; It’s a Big, Big World; Pretty Good Place to Live.\n\nGivingTales – in 2015 a storytelling app for children was created in aid of Unicef. The Ugly Duckling read by Stephen Fry is included in this collection of fairy tales, along with other Hans Christian Andersen stories."
] |
The metric prefix femto is shown as ten to the power of minus what? | 15 | [
"Femto-.txt\nFemto-\nFemto- (symbol f) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−15 or . Adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures, it was added in 1964 to the SI. It is derived from the Danish word , meaning \"fifteen\".\n\nExamples of use:\n* The HIV-1 virus weighs about 1 x 10−18 kg or 1 fg. Orders of magnitude (mass)\n* a proton has a diameter of about 1.6 to 1.7 femtometres.\n* More examples available.\n \nThe femtometre shares the unit symbol (fm) with the older non-SI unit fermi, to which it is equivalent. The fermi, named in honour of Enrico Fermi, is often encountered in nuclear physics.",
"10_(number).txt\n10 (number)\n10 (ten) is an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. The reason for the choice of ten is assumed to be that humans have ten fingers (digits). \n\nCommon usage and derived terms \n\n* A collection of ten items (most often ten years) is called a decade.\n* The ordinal adjective is decimal; the distributive adjective is denary.\n* Increasing a quantity by one order of magnitude is most widely understood to mean multiplying the quantity by ten.\n* To reduce something by one tenth is to decimate. (In ancient Rome, the killing of one in ten soldiers in a cohort was the punishment for cowardice or mutiny; or, one-tenth of the able-bodied men in a village as a form of retribution, thus causing a labor shortage and threat of starvation in agrarian societies.)\n\nIn mathematics\n\nTen is a composite number, its proper divisors being , and . Ten is the smallest noncototient, a number that cannot be expressed as the difference between any integer and the total number of coprimes below it. \n\nTen is the second discrete semiprime (2 × 5) and the second member of the (2 × q) discrete semiprime family. Ten has an aliquot sum σ(n) of 8 and is accordingly the first discrete semiprime to be in deficit. All subsequent discrete semiprimes are in deficit. The aliquot sequence for 10 comprises five members (10,8,7,1,0) with this number being the second composite member of the 7-aliquot tree.\n\nTen is the smallest semiprime that is the sum of all the distinct prime numbers from its lower factor through its higher factor (10 2 + 3 + 5 \n 2 . 5) Only three other small semiprimes (39, 155, and 371) share this attribute.\n\nIt is the aliquot sum of only one number the discrete semiprime 14.\n\nTen is a semi-meandric number.\n\nTen is the sum of the first three prime numbers, of the four first numbers (1 + 2 + 3 + 4), of the square of the two first odd numbers and also of the first four factorials (0! + 1! + 2! + 3!). Ten is the eighth Perrin number, preceded in the sequence by 5, 5, 7.\n\nA polygon with ten sides is a decagon, and 10 is a decagonal number. Because 10 is the product of a power of 2 (namely 21) with nothing but distinct Fermat primes (specifically 5), a regular decagon is a constructible polygon.\n\nTen is also a triangular number, a centered triangular number, and a tetrahedral number. \n\nTen is the number of n queens problem solutions for n = 5.\n\nTen is the smallest number whose status as a possible friendly number is unknown.\n\nIn numeral systems\n\nDecimal system \n\nAs is the case for any base in its system, ten is the first two-digit number in decimal and thus the lowest number where the position of a numeral affects its value. Any integer written in the decimal system can be multiplied by ten by adding a zero to the end (e.g. 855 × 10 = 8550).\n\nRoman numerals \n\nThe Roman numeral for ten is X (which looks like two V's [the Roman numeral for 5] put together); it is thought that the V for five is derived from an open hand (five digits displayed), and X for ten from both hands. Incidentally, the Chinese word numeral for ten, is also a cross: .\n\nPositional numeral systems other than decimal \n\nThe digit '1' followed by '0' is how the value of p is written in base p. (E.g. 16 in hexadecimal is 10.)\n\nProperties:\n* Ten is a Harshad number in bases 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and all others above.\n* In bases 15, 18 and 30, ten is a 1-automorphic number (displayed as the numeral 'A')..\n\nList of basic calculations\n\nIn science\n\nThe SI prefix for 10 is \"deca-\".\n\nThe meaning \"10\" is part of the following terms:\n* decapoda, an order of crustaceans with ten feet\n* decane, a hydrocarbon with 10 carbon atoms\n\nAlso, the number 10 plays a role in the following: \n* The atomic number of neon.\n* The number of hydrogen atoms in butane, a hydrocarbon.\n* The number of spacetime dimensions in some superstring theories.\n\nAstronomy\n\n* The New General Catalogue [http://www.ngcicproject.org/ object] NGC 10, a magnitude 12.5 spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor.\n* The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEsaros/SEsaroscat.html number] of the solar eclipse series which began on February 28, 2467 BC and ended on April 18, 1169 BC. The duration of Saros series 10 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 solar eclipses.\n* The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html number] of the lunar eclipse series which began on June 17, 2454 BC and ended on August 15, 1138 BC. The duration of Saros series 10 was 1316.2 years, and it contained 74 lunar eclipses.\n* Messier object M10, a magnitude 6.4 globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.\n\nIn religion and philosophy\n\n* References in the Bible, Judaism and Christianity:\n** The Ten Commandments of Exodus and Deuteronomy are considered a cornerstone of Judaism and Christianity.\n** People traditionally tithed one-tenth of their produce. The practice of tithing is still common in Christian churches today, though it is disputed in some circles as to whether or not it is required of Christians.\n** In Deuteronomy 26:12, the Torah commands Jews to give one-tenth of their produce to the poor (Maaser Ani). From this verse and from an earlier verse (Deut. 14:22) there derives a practice for Jews to give one-tenth of all earnings to the poor. \n** Ten Plagues were inflicted on Egypt in \n** Jews observe the annual Ten Days of Repentance beginning on Rosh Hashanah and ending on Yom Kippur.\n** In Jewish liturgy, Ten Martyrs are singled out as a group.\n** There are said to be Ten Lost Tribes of Israel (those other than Judah and Benjamin)\n** There are Ten Sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life\n** In Judaism, ten men are the required quorum, called a minyan, for prayer services.\n** Interpretations of Genesis in Talmudic and Midrashic teachings suggest that on the first day, God drew forth ten primal elements from the abyss in order to construct all of Creation: Heaven (or Fire), Earth, Chaos, Void, Light, Darkness, Wind (or Spirit), Water, Day, and Night. See also Bereshit (parsha).\n** Jesus tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins in .\n* In Pythagoreanism, the number 10 played an important role and was symbolized by the tetractys.\n* In Hinduism, Lord Vishnu appeared on the earth in 10 incarnations.\n\nIn money\n\nMost countries issue coins and bills with a denomination of 10 (See e.g. 10 dollar note). Of these, the U.S. dime, with the value of ten cents, or one tenth of a dollar, derives its name from the meaning \"one-tenth\" − see Dime (United States coin)#Denomination history and etymology.\n\nIn music\n\n* The interval of a major tenth is an octave plus a major third.\n* The interval of a minor tenth is an octave plus a minor third.\n* The title of quite a few albums. See Ten (album).\n* \"Ten lords a-leaping\" is the gift on the tenth day of Christmas in the carol \"The Twelve Days of Christmas\"\n\nIn sports and games\n\nThe meaning \"10\" is part of the following terms:\n* decathlon, a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events.\n\nAlso, the number 10 plays a role in the following: \n* In American football, the end zones are 10 yards deep.\n* In association football, the number 10 is traditionally worn by the team's advanced playmaker. This use has led to \"Number 10\" becoming a synonym for the player in that particular role, even if he or she does not wear that number.\n* In Australian rules football, considered the break even amount of games won in a regular 22 game season.\n* In baseball, 10 is the minimum number of players on the field at any given time during play (including the batter).\n* In basketball:\n** The top of the rim (goal) is 10 feet from the floor.\n** In standard full-court basketball, there are 10 players on the court (5 on each team).\n* In blackjack, the Ten, Jack, Queen and King are all worth 10 points.\n* In boxing, if the referees counts to 10 whether the boxer is unconscious or not, it will declare a winner by knockout. \n* In cricket, 10 is the number of wickets required to be taken by the bowling side for the batting side to be bowled out.\n* In gridiron football, 10 is the number of yards the offense must advance to maintain possession in a single set of downs—four in American and three in Canadian.\n* In most rugby league competitions, the number 10 is worn by one of the two starting props. (One exception to this rule is the European Super League, which uses static squad numbering.)\n* In rugby union, the starting fly-half wears the 10 shirt.\n* In ten-pin bowling, 10 pins are arranged in a triangular pattern and there are 10 frames per game.\n* The highest score possible in Olympics gymnastics competitions.\n* Driving a racing car at ten-tenths is driving as fast as possible, on the limit.\n*Danica Patrick's car number in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.\n\nThe jersey number 10 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL.\n\nIn technology\n\n* Ten-codes are commonly used on emergency service radio systems.\n* Ten refers to the \"meter band\" on the radio spectrum between 28 and 29.7 MHz, used by amateur radio.\n* ASCII and Unicode code point for line feed\n* In MIDI, Channel 10 is reserved for unpitched percussion instruments.\n* In the Rich Text Format specification, all language codes for regional variants of the Spanish language are congruent to 10 mod 256.\n* In OS X, the F10 function key tiles all the windows of the current application and grays the windows of other applications.\n* The IP addresses in the range 10.0.0.0/8 (meaning the interval between 10.0.0.0 and 10.255.255.255) is reserved for use by Private networks by RFC 1918.\n\nIn other fields\n\n* Blake Edwards' 1979 movie 10.\n* Series on HBO entitled 1st & Ten which aired between December 1984 and January 1991.\n* Series on ESPN and ESPN2 entitled 1st and 10 which launched on ESPN in October 2003 to 2008 and moved to ESPN2 from 2008 to present.\n* In astrology, Capricorn is the 10th astrological sign of the Zodiac.\n* In Chinese astrology, the 10 Heavenly Stems, refer to a cyclic number system that is used also for time reckoning.\n* A 1977 short documentary film Powers of Ten depicts the relative scale of the Universe in factors of ten (orders of magnitude).\n* CBS has a game show called Power of 10, where the player's prize goes up and down by either the previous or next power of ten.\n* \"Ten Chances\" is one the pricing games on The Price is Right.\n* There are ten official inkblots in the Rorschach inkblot test.\n* The traditional Snellen chart uses 10 different letters.\n* Ten is an Australian television network. The Sydney member of the network has the three-letter call-sign TEN and used to broadcast in analogue on VHF Channel 10.\n* Number Ten (also called Ella) is a character in the book series Lorien Legacies\n* The ten-code may be used in law-enforcement brevity communications.\n\nTen is:\n* Number of kingdoms in Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period\n* House number of 10 Downing Street.\n* The number of Provinces in Canada.\n* The designation of United States Interstate 10, a freeway that runs from California to Florida.\n* Number of dots in a tetractys.\n* The number of the French department Aube.\n* The number of regions in Ghana.\n* The state number of Virginia."
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"2281"
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"SI prefixes for decimal multiples - Optus\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples. ... (the sixth power of 10 3) ... The names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, ...\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nThere are 20 internationally accepted prefixes to denote 10n multiples of units. 10 of these prefixes denote (n>0) multiples, and other 10 denote (n<0) submultiples:\nSI Prefixes for decimal multiples\nNumber\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1024\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1021\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1018\n1 000 000 000 000 000\n1015\n1 000 000 000 000\n1012\n0.000 000 000 000 001\n10-15\n0.000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-18\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-21\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-24\nyocto\ny\nEach prefix is represented by its own symbol. The symbols are case sensitive. Thus, m means milli and M means mega.\nPrefixes ranging from milli to kilo were first introduced in 1793 by the French Academy of Sciences under direction of French National Assembly as part of the Metric System. Greek prefixes were used for multiples of 10 and Latin prefixes for submultiples of 10. In 1874 BAAS adapted these prefixes as part of their CGS system, and added prefixes micro and mega. Later, 12 prefixes ranging from pico to tera were defined as part of the International System of Units — SI , which was adopted in 1960. SI is maintained by BIPM under exclusive supervision of CIPM and resolutions made by CGPM . Further 8 prefixes were added to SI in years 1964 (femto, atto), 1975 (peta, exa) and 1991 (zetta, zepto, yotta, yocto).\nThe prefixes have the following etymology:\nexa — alteration of hexa from Greek hex meaning “six” (the sixth power of 103)\npeta — alteration of penta from Greek pente meaning “five” (the fifth power of 103)\ntera — from Greek teras meaning “monster”\ngiga — from Greek gigas meaning “giant”\nmega — from Greek megas meaning “great”\nkilo — from Greek khilioi meaning “thousand”\nhecto — French, alteration of Greek hekaton meaning “hundred”\ndeca — from Greek deka meaning “ten”\ndeci — from Latin decimus meaning tenth, from decem meaning “ten”\ncenti — from Latin centi-, from centum meaning “hundred”\nmilli — from Latin mille meaning “thousand”\nmicro — from Greek mikros meaning “small”\nnano — from Greek nannos meaning “dwarf”\npico — from Spanish pico meaning “small quantity”\nfemto — from Danish, or Norwegian word femten meaning “fifteen”\natto — from Danish, or Norwegian word atten meaning “eighteen”\nThe names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, from Latin septem which means seven (the seventh power of 103) and the letter ‘z’ is substituted for the letter ‘s’ to avoid the duplicate use of the letter ‘s’ as a symbol in SI . The names yocto and yotta are derived from Latin octo which means eight (the eighth power of 103); the letter ‘y’ is added to avoid the use of the letter ‘o’ as a symbol because it may be confused with the number zero. The CGPM has decided to name the prefixes, starting with the seventh power of 103, with the letters of the Latin alphabet, but starting from the end. Therefore the choice of letters ‘z’ and ‘y’. The initial letter ‘h’ of the word hexa in standard French is silent, so it was removed in order to simplify things.",
"SI prefixes for decimal multiples - Optus\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples. ... 10-6: micro: µ: 0.000 000 001: 10-9: nano: n: 0.000 000 000 001: ... (the eighth power of 10 3); ...\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nSI prefixes for decimal multiples\nThere are 20 internationally accepted prefixes to denote 10n multiples of units. 10 of these prefixes denote (n>0) multiples, and other 10 denote (n<0) submultiples:\nSI Prefixes for decimal multiples\nNumber\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1024\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1021\n1 000 000 000 000 000 000\n1018\n1 000 000 000 000 000\n1015\n1 000 000 000 000\n1012\n0.000 000 000 000 001\n10-15\n0.000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-18\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-21\n0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001\n10-24\nyocto\ny\nEach prefix is represented by its own symbol. The symbols are case sensitive. Thus, m means milli and M means mega.\nPrefixes ranging from milli to kilo were first introduced in 1793 by the French Academy of Sciences under direction of French National Assembly as part of the Metric System. Greek prefixes were used for multiples of 10 and Latin prefixes for submultiples of 10. In 1874 BAAS adapted these prefixes as part of their CGS system, and added prefixes micro and mega. Later, 12 prefixes ranging from pico to tera were defined as part of the International System of Units — SI , which was adopted in 1960. SI is maintained by BIPM under exclusive supervision of CIPM and resolutions made by CGPM . Further 8 prefixes were added to SI in years 1964 (femto, atto), 1975 (peta, exa) and 1991 (zetta, zepto, yotta, yocto).\nThe prefixes have the following etymology:\nexa — alteration of hexa from Greek hex meaning “six” (the sixth power of 103)\npeta — alteration of penta from Greek pente meaning “five” (the fifth power of 103)\ntera — from Greek teras meaning “monster”\ngiga — from Greek gigas meaning “giant”\nmega — from Greek megas meaning “great”\nkilo — from Greek khilioi meaning “thousand”\nhecto — French, alteration of Greek hekaton meaning “hundred”\ndeca — from Greek deka meaning “ten”\ndeci — from Latin decimus meaning tenth, from decem meaning “ten”\ncenti — from Latin centi-, from centum meaning “hundred”\nmilli — from Latin mille meaning “thousand”\nmicro — from Greek mikros meaning “small”\nnano — from Greek nannos meaning “dwarf”\npico — from Spanish pico meaning “small quantity”\nfemto — from Danish, or Norwegian word femten meaning “fifteen”\natto — from Danish, or Norwegian word atten meaning “eighteen”\nThe names zepto and zetta are derived from septo, from Latin septem which means seven (the seventh power of 103) and the letter ‘z’ is substituted for the letter ‘s’ to avoid the duplicate use of the letter ‘s’ as a symbol in SI . The names yocto and yotta are derived from Latin octo which means eight (the eighth power of 103); the letter ‘y’ is added to avoid the use of the letter ‘o’ as a symbol because it may be confused with the number zero. The CGPM has decided to name the prefixes, starting with the seventh power of 103, with the letters of the Latin alphabet, but starting from the end. Therefore the choice of letters ‘z’ and ‘y’. The initial letter ‘h’ of the word hexa in standard French is silent, so it was removed in order to simplify things.",
"Units: Metric Prefixes - The University of North Carolina ...\nMetric Prefixes. To help the SI units ... nano- (n-) 10-9. 1 billionth. pico- (p-) 10-12. ... The last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the ...\nUnits: Metric Prefixes\nUsing the Dictionary\nMetric Prefixes\nTo help the SI units apply to a wide range of phenomena, the 19th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1991 extended the list of metric prefixes so that it reaches from yotta- at 1024 (one septillion) to yocto- at 10-24 (one septillionth). Here are the metric prefixes, with their numerical equivalents stated in the American system for naming large numbers :\nyotta- (Y-)\n \nNotes:\nI am often asked about prefixes for other multiples, such as 104, 105, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was formerly used for 104, but it is now considered obsolete and it is not accepted in the SI. To the best of my knowledge, no prefixes were ever accepted generally for 105, 10-4, or 10-5.\nThere is a widespread misconception that prefixes for positive powers of ten are all capitalized, leading to the use of K- for kilo- and D- for deca-. Although this does seem like a useful idea, it is not correct.\n**The SI Brochure spelling of this prefix is deca-, but the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends deka-. National variations in spelling of the prefixes are allowed by the SI . In Italian, for example, hecto- is spelled etto- and kilo- is spelled chilo-. The symbols, however, are the same in all languages, so dam (not dkm) is the symbol for the dekameter and km is the symbol for the Italian chilometro.\nThe prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.\nThe last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the unit name is a vowel, causing the combination to be hard to pronounce otherwise. Thus 100 ares is a hectare and 1 million ohms is a megohm. However, the last letter of the prefix is not omitted if pronunciation is not a problem, as in the case of the milliampere. The letter \"l\" is sometimes added to prefixes before the erg, so 1 million ergs is a megalerg (sounds odd, but better than \"megerg\").\nBinary prefixes\nIn computing, a custom arose of using the metric prefixes to specify powers of 2. For example, a kilobit is usually 210 = 1024 bits instead of 1000 bits. This practice leads to considerable confusion. In an effort to eliminate this confusion, in 1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission approved new prefixes for the powers of 2. These prefixes are as follows:\nkibi-\nEi-\n260 = 1 152 921 504 606 846 976\nThe Commission's ruling is that the metric prefixes should be used in computing just as they are used in other fields. Thus, 5 gigabytes (GB) should mean exactly 5 000 000 000 bytes, and 5 gibibytes (GiB) should mean exactly 5 368 709 120 bytes.\nThe fate of this innovation is uncertain. So far, very few people are using the IEC binary prefixes. Searches for them on the Internet turn up, for the most part, complaints by people who don't want to use them.\nReturn to the Dictionary Contents page .\nYou are welcome to email the author ([email protected]) with comments and suggestions.\nAll material in this folder is copyright © 2005 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Permission is granted for personal use and for use by individual teachers in conducting their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to make links to this page, but please do not copy the contents of any page in this folder to another site. The material at this site will be updated from time to time.\nApril 16, 2005",
"Units: Metric Prefixes - The University of North Carolina ...\nMetric Prefixes. To help the SI units ... zetta- (Z-) 10 21. 1 sextillion. exa- (E-) 10 18. ... such as 10 4, 10 5, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was ...\nUnits: Metric Prefixes\nUsing the Dictionary\nMetric Prefixes\nTo help the SI units apply to a wide range of phenomena, the 19th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1991 extended the list of metric prefixes so that it reaches from yotta- at 1024 (one septillion) to yocto- at 10-24 (one septillionth). Here are the metric prefixes, with their numerical equivalents stated in the American system for naming large numbers :\nyotta- (Y-)\n \nNotes:\nI am often asked about prefixes for other multiples, such as 104, 105, 10-4, and 10-5. The prefix myria- (my-) was formerly used for 104, but it is now considered obsolete and it is not accepted in the SI. To the best of my knowledge, no prefixes were ever accepted generally for 105, 10-4, or 10-5.\nThere is a widespread misconception that prefixes for positive powers of ten are all capitalized, leading to the use of K- for kilo- and D- for deca-. Although this does seem like a useful idea, it is not correct.\n**The SI Brochure spelling of this prefix is deca-, but the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends deka-. National variations in spelling of the prefixes are allowed by the SI . In Italian, for example, hecto- is spelled etto- and kilo- is spelled chilo-. The symbols, however, are the same in all languages, so dam (not dkm) is the symbol for the dekameter and km is the symbol for the Italian chilometro.\nThe prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.\nThe last letter of a prefix is often omitted if the first letter of the unit name is a vowel, causing the combination to be hard to pronounce otherwise. Thus 100 ares is a hectare and 1 million ohms is a megohm. However, the last letter of the prefix is not omitted if pronunciation is not a problem, as in the case of the milliampere. The letter \"l\" is sometimes added to prefixes before the erg, so 1 million ergs is a megalerg (sounds odd, but better than \"megerg\").\nBinary prefixes\nIn computing, a custom arose of using the metric prefixes to specify powers of 2. For example, a kilobit is usually 210 = 1024 bits instead of 1000 bits. This practice leads to considerable confusion. In an effort to eliminate this confusion, in 1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission approved new prefixes for the powers of 2. These prefixes are as follows:\nkibi-\nEi-\n260 = 1 152 921 504 606 846 976\nThe Commission's ruling is that the metric prefixes should be used in computing just as they are used in other fields. Thus, 5 gigabytes (GB) should mean exactly 5 000 000 000 bytes, and 5 gibibytes (GiB) should mean exactly 5 368 709 120 bytes.\nThe fate of this innovation is uncertain. So far, very few people are using the IEC binary prefixes. Searches for them on the Internet turn up, for the most part, complaints by people who don't want to use them.\nReturn to the Dictionary Contents page .\nYou are welcome to email the author ([email protected]) with comments and suggestions.\nAll material in this folder is copyright © 2005 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Permission is granted for personal use and for use by individual teachers in conducting their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to make links to this page, but please do not copy the contents of any page in this folder to another site. The material at this site will be updated from time to time.\nApril 16, 2005",
"Lessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I (DC) - Chapter 4\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I ... (from 10 to the 6th power to 10 to the -3rd power ... All the user has to do is memorize a few prefix/power combinations, ...\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I (DC) - Chapter 4\nLessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume I\nChapter 4\nScientific notation\nIn many disciplines of science and engineering, very large and very small numerical quantities must be managed. Some of these quantities are mind-boggling in their size, either extremely small or extremely large. Take for example the mass of a proton, one of the constituent particles of an atom's nucleus:\nProton mass = 0.00000000000000000000000167 grams\nOr, consider the number of electrons passing by a point in a circuit every second with a steady electric current of 1 amp:\n1 amp = 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second\nA lot of zeros, isn't it? Obviously, it can get quite confusing to have to handle so many zero digits in numbers such as this, even with the help of calculators and computers.\nTake note of those two numbers and of the relative sparsity of non-zero digits in them. For the mass of the proton, all we have is a \"167\" preceded by 23 zeros before the decimal point. For the number of electrons per second in 1 amp, we have \"625\" followed by 16 zeros. We call the span of non-zero digits (from first to last), plus any zero digits not merely used for placeholding, the \"significant digits\" of any number.\nThe significant digits in a real-world measurement are typically reflective of the accuracy of that measurement. For example, if we were to say that a car weighs 3,000 pounds, we probably don't mean that the car in question weighs exactly 3,000 pounds, but that we've rounded its weight to a value more convenient to say and remember. That rounded figure of 3,000 has only one significant digit: the \"3\" in front -- the zeros merely serve as placeholders. However, if we were to say that the car weighed 3,005 pounds, the fact that the weight is not rounded to the nearest thousand pounds tells us that the two zeros in the middle aren't just placeholders, but that all four digits of the number \"3,005\" are significant to its representative accuracy. Thus, the number \"3,005\" is said to have four significant figures.\nIn like manner, numbers with many zero digits are not necessarily representative of a real-world quantity all the way to the decimal point. When this is known to be the case, such a number can be written in a kind of mathematical \"shorthand\" to make it easier to deal with. This \"shorthand\" is called scientific notation.\nWith scientific notation, a number is written by representing its significant digits as a quantity between 1 and 10 (or -1 and -10, for negative numbers), and the \"placeholder\" zeros are accounted for by a power-of-ten multiplier. For example:\n1 amp = 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second\n. . . can be expressed as . . .\n1 amp = 6.25 x 1018 electrons per second\n10 to the 18th power (1018) means 10 multiplied by itself 18 times, or a \"1\" followed by 18 zeros. Multiplied by 6.25, it looks like \"625\" followed by 16 zeros (take 6.25 and skip the decimal point 18 places to the right). The advantages of scientific notation are obvious: the number isn't as unwieldy when written on paper, and the significant digits are plain to identify.\nBut what about very small numbers, like the mass of the proton in grams? We can still use scientific notation, except with a negative power-of-ten instead of a positive one, to shift the decimal point to the left instead of to the right:\nProton mass = 0.00000000000000000000000167 grams\n. . . can be expressed as . . .\nProton mass = 1.67 x 10-24 grams\n10 to the -24th power (10-24) means the inverse (1/x) of 10 multiplied by itself 24 times, or a \"1\" preceded by a decimal point and 23 zeros. Multiplied by 1.67, it looks like \"167\" preceded by a decimal point and 23 zeros. Just as in the case with the very large number, it is a lot easier for a human being to deal with this \"shorthand\" notation. As with the prior case, the significant digits in this quantity are clearly expressed.\nBecause the significant digits are represented \"on their own,\" away from the power-of-ten multiplier, it is easy to show a level of precision even when the number looks round. Taking our 3,000 pound car example, we could express the rounded number of 3,000 in scientific notation as such:\ncar weight = 3 x 103 pounds\nIf the car actually weighed 3,005 pounds (accurate to the nearest pound) and we wanted to be able to express that full accuracy of measurement, the scientific notation figure could be written like this:\ncar weight = 3.005 x 103 pounds\nHowever, what if the car actually did weigh 3,000 pounds, exactly (to the nearest pound)? If we were to write its weight in \"normal\" form (3,000 lbs), it wouldn't necessarily be clear that this number was indeed accurate to the nearest pound and not just rounded to the nearest thousand pounds, or to the nearest hundred pounds, or to the nearest ten pounds. Scientific notation, on the other hand, allows us to show that all four digits are significant with no misunderstanding:\ncar weight = 3.000 x 103 pounds\nSince there would be no point in adding extra zeros to the right of the decimal point (placeholding zeros being unnecessary with scientific notation), we know those zeros must be significant to the precision of the figure.\nArithmetic with scientific notation\nThe benefits of scientific notation do not end with ease of writing and expression of accuracy. Such notation also lends itself well to mathematical problems of multiplication and division. Let's say we wanted to know how many electrons would flow past a point in a circuit carrying 1 amp of electric current in 25 seconds. If we know the number of electrons per second in the circuit (which we do), then all we need to do is multiply that quantity by the number of seconds (25) to arrive at an answer of total electrons:\n(6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second) x (25 seconds) =\n156,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons passing by in 25 seconds\nUsing scientific notation, we can write the problem like this:\n(6.25 x 1018 electrons per second) x (25 seconds)\nIf we take the \"6.25\" and multiply it by 25, we get 156.25. So, the answer could be written as:\n156.25 x 1018 electrons\nHowever, if we want to hold to standard convention for scientific notation, we must represent the significant digits as a number between 1 and 10. In this case, we'd say \"1.5625\" multiplied by some power-of-ten. To obtain 1.5625 from 156.25, we have to skip the decimal point two places to the left. To compensate for this without changing the value of the number, we have to raise our power by two notches (10 to the 20th power instead of 10 to the 18th):\n1.5625 x 1020 electrons\nWhat if we wanted to see how many electrons would pass by in 3,600 seconds (1 hour)? To make our job easier, we could put the time in scientific notation as well:\n(6.25 x 1018 electrons per second) x (3.6 x 103 seconds)\nTo multiply, we must take the two significant sets of digits (6.25 and 3.6) and multiply them together; and we need to take the two powers-of-ten and multiply them together. Taking 6.25 times 3.6, we get 22.5. Taking 1018 times 103, we get 1021 (exponents with common base numbers add). So, the answer is:\n22.5 x 1021 electrons\n. . . or more properly . . .\n2.25 x 1022 electrons\nTo illustrate how division works with scientific notation, we could figure that last problem \"backwards\" to find out how long it would take for that many electrons to pass by at a current of 1 amp:\n(2.25 x 1022 electrons) / (6.25 x 1018 electrons per second)\nJust as in multiplication, we can handle the significant digits and powers-of-ten in separate steps (remember that you subtract the exponents of divided powers-of-ten):\n(2.25 / 6.25) x (1022 / 1018)\nAnd the answer is: 0.36 x 104, or 3.6 x 103, seconds. You can see that we arrived at the same quantity of time (3600 seconds). Now, you may be wondering what the point of all this is when we have electronic calculators that can handle the math automatically. Well, back in the days of scientists and engineers using \"slide rule\" analog computers, these techniques were indispensable. The \"hard\" arithmetic (dealing with the significant digit figures) would be performed with the slide rule while the powers-of-ten could be figured without any help at all, being nothing more than simple addition and subtraction.\nREVIEW:\nSignificant digits are representative of the real-world accuracy of a number.\nScientific notation is a \"shorthand\" method to represent very large and very small numbers in easily-handled form.\nWhen multiplying two numbers in scientific notation, you can multiply the two significant digit figures and arrive at a power-of-ten by adding exponents.\nWhen dividing two numbers in scientific notation, you can divide the two significant digit figures and arrive at a power-of-ten by subtracting exponents.\nMetric notation\nThe metric system, besides being a collection of measurement units for all sorts of physical quantities, is structured around the concept of scientific notation. The primary difference is that the powers-of-ten are represented with alphabetical prefixes instead of by literal powers-of-ten. The following number line shows some of the more common prefixes and their respective powers-of-ten:\nLooking at this scale, we can see that 2.5 Gigabytes would mean 2.5 x 109 bytes, or 2.5 billion bytes. Likewise, 3.21 picoamps would mean 3.21 x 10-12 amps, or 3.21 1/trillionths of an amp.\nOther metric prefixes exist to symbolize powers of ten for extremely small and extremely large multipliers. On the extremely small end of the spectrum, femto (f) = 10-15, atto (a) = 10-18, zepto (z) = 10-21, and yocto (y) = 10-24. On the extremely large end of the spectrum, Peta (P) = 1015, Exa (E) = 1018, Zetta (Z) = 1021, and Yotta (Y) = 1024.\nBecause the major prefixes in the metric system refer to powers of 10 that are multiples of 3 (from \"kilo\" on up, and from \"milli\" on down), metric notation differs from regular scientific notation in that the mantissa can be anywhere between 1 and 999, depending on which prefix is chosen. For example, if a laboratory sample weighs 0.000267 grams, scientific notation and metric notation would express it differently:\n2.67 x 10-4 grams (scientific notation)\n267 µgrams (metric notation)\nThe same figure may also be expressed as 0.267 milligrams (0.267 mg), although it is usually more common to see the significant digits represented as a figure greater than 1.\nIn recent years a new style of metric notation for electric quantities has emerged which seeks to avoid the use of the decimal point. Since decimal points (\".\") are easily misread and/or \"lost\" due to poor print quality, quantities such as 4.7 k may be mistaken for 47 k. The new notation replaces the decimal point with the metric prefix character, so that \"4.7 k\" is printed instead as \"4k7\". Our last figure from the prior example, \"0.267 m\", would be expressed in the new notation as \"0m267\".\nREVIEW:\nThe metric system of notation uses alphabetical prefixes to represent certain powers-of-ten instead of the lengthier scientific notation.\nMetric prefix conversions\nTo express a quantity in a different metric prefix that what it was originally given, all we need to do is skip the decimal point to the right or to the left as needed. Notice that the metric prefix \"number line\" in the previous section was laid out from larger to smaller, left to right. This layout was purposely chosen to make it easier to remember which direction you need to skip the decimal point for any given conversion.\nExample problem: express 0.000023 amps in terms of microamps.\n0.000023 amps (has no prefix, just plain unit of amps)\nFrom UNITS to micro on the number line is 6 places (powers of ten) to the right, so we need to skip the decimal point 6 places to the right:\n0.000023 amps = 23. , or 23 microamps (µA)\nExample problem: express 304,212 volts in terms of kilovolts.\n304,212 volts (has no prefix, just plain unit of volts)\nFrom the (none) place to kilo place on the number line is 3 places (powers of ten) to the left, so we need to skip the decimal point 3 places to the left:\n304,212. = 304.212 kilovolts (kV)\nExample problem: express 50.3 Mega-ohms in terms of milli-ohms.\n50.3 M ohms (mega = 106)\nFrom mega to milli is 9 places (powers of ten) to the right (from 10 to the 6th power to 10 to the -3rd power), so we need to skip the decimal point 9 places to the right:\n50.3 M ohms = 50,300,000,000 milli-ohms (mΩ)\nREVIEW:\nFollow the metric prefix number line to know which direction you skip the decimal point for conversion purposes.\nA number with no decimal point shown has an implicit decimal point to the immediate right of the furthest right digit (i.e. for the number 436 the decimal point is to the right of the 6, as such: 436.)\nHand calculator use\nTo enter numbers in scientific notation into a hand calculator, there is usually a button marked \"E\" or \"EE\" used to enter the correct power of ten. For example, to enter the mass of a proton in grams (1.67 x 10-24 grams) into a hand calculator, I would enter the following keystrokes:\n[1] [.] [6] [7] [EE] [2] [4] [+/-]\nThe [+/-] keystroke changes the sign of the power (24) into a -24. Some calculators allow the use of the subtraction key [-] to do this, but I prefer the \"change sign\" [+/-] key because its more consistent with the use of that key in other contexts.\nIf I wanted to enter a negative number in scientific notation into a hand calculator, I would have to be careful how I used the [+/-] key, lest I change the sign of the power and not the significant digit value. Pay attention to this example:\nNumber to be entered: -3.221 x 10-15:\n[3] [.] [2] [2] [1] [+/-] [EE] [1] [5] [+/-]\nThe first [+/-] keystroke changes the entry from 3.221 to -3.221; the second [+/-] keystroke changes the power from 15 to -15.\nDisplaying metric and scientific notation on a hand calculator is a different matter. It involves changing the display option from the normal \"fixed\" decimal point mode to the \"scientific\" or \"engineering\" mode. Your calculator manual will tell you how to set each display mode.\nThese display modes tell the calculator how to represent any number on the numerical readout. The actual value of the number is not affected in any way by the choice of display modes -- only how the number appears to the calculator user. Likewise, the procedure for entering numbers into the calculator does not change with different display modes either. Powers of ten are usually represented by a pair of digits in the upper-right hand corner of the display, and are visible only in the \"scientific\" and \"engineering\" modes.\nThe difference between \"scientific\" and \"engineering\" display modes is the difference between scientific and metric notation. In \"scientific\" mode, the power-of-ten display is set so that the main number on the display is always a value between 1 and 10 (or -1 and -10 for negative numbers). In \"engineering\" mode, the powers-of-ten are set to display in multiples of 3, to represent the major metric prefixes. All the user has to do is memorize a few prefix/power combinations, and his or her calculator will be \"speaking\" metric!\nPOWER METRIC PREFIX ----- ------------- 12 ......... Tera (T) 9 .......... Giga (G) 6 .......... Mega (M) 3 .......... Kilo (k) 0 .......... UNITS (plain) -3 ......... milli (m) -6 ......... micro (u) -9 ......... nano (n) -12 ........ pico (p)\nREVIEW:\nUse the [EE] key to enter powers of ten.\nUse \"scientific\" or \"engineering\" to display powers of ten, in scientific or metric notation, respectively.\nScientific notation in SPICE\nThe SPICE circuit simulation computer program uses scientific notation to display its output information, and can interpret both scientific notation and metric prefixes in the circuit description files. If you are going to be able to successfully interpret the SPICE analyses throughout this book, you must be able to understand the notation used to express variables of voltage, current, etc. in the program.\nLet's start with a very simple circuit composed of one voltage source (a battery) and one resistor:\nTo simulate this circuit using SPICE, we first have to designate node numbers for all the distinct points in the circuit, then list the components along with their respective node numbers so the computer knows which component is connected to which, and how. For a circuit of this simplicity, the use of SPICE seems like overkill, but it serves the purpose of demonstrating practical use of scientific notation:\nTyping out a circuit description file, or netlist, for this circuit, we get this:\nsimple circuit v1 1 0 dc 24 r1 1 0 5 .end\nThe line \"v1 1 0 dc 24\" describes the battery, positioned between nodes 1 and 0, with a DC voltage of 24 volts. The line \"r1 1 0 5\" describes the 5 Ω resistor placed between nodes 1 and 0.\nUsing a computer to run a SPICE analysis on this circuit description file, we get the following results:\nnode voltage ( 1) 24.0000\nvoltage source currents name current v1 -4.800E+00 total power dissipation 1.15E+02 watts\nSPICE tells us that the voltage \"at\" node number 1 (actually, this means the voltage between nodes 1 and 0, node 0 being the default reference point for all voltage measurements) is equal to 24 volts. The current through battery \"v1\" is displayed as -4.800E+00 amps. This is SPICE's method of denoting scientific notation. What its really saying is \"-4.800 x 100 amps,\" or simply -4.800 amps. The negative value for current here is due to a quirk in SPICE and does not indicate anything significant about the circuit itself. The \"total power dissipation\" is given to us as 1.15E+02 watts, which means \"1.15 x 102 watts,\" or 115 watts.\nLet's modify our example circuit so that it has a 5 kΩ (5 kilo-ohm, or 5,000 ohm) resistor instead of a 5 Ω resistor and see what happens.\nOnce again is our circuit description file, or \"netlist:\"\nsimple circuit v1 1 0 dc 24 r1 1 0 5k .end\nThe letter \"k\" following the number 5 on the resistor's line tells SPICE that it is a figure of 5 kΩ, not 5 Ω. Let's see what result we get when we run this through the computer:\nnode voltage ( 1) 24.0000\nvoltage source currents name current v1 -4.800E-03 total power dissipation 1.15E-01 watts\nThe battery voltage, of course, hasn't changed since the first simulation: its still at 24 volts. The circuit current, on the other hand, is much less this time because we've made the resistor a larger value, making it more difficult for electrons to flow. SPICE tells us that the current this time is equal to -4.800E-03 amps, or -4.800 x 10-3 amps. This is equivalent to taking the number -4.8 and skipping the decimal point three places to the left.\nOf course, if we recognize that 10-3 is the same as the metric prefix \"milli,\" we could write the figure as -4.8 milliamps, or -4.8 mA.\nLooking at the \"total power dissipation\" given to us by SPICE on this second simulation, we see that it is 1.15E-01 watts, or 1.15 x 10-1 watts. The power of -1 corresponds to the metric prefix \"deci,\" but generally we limit our use of metric prefixes in electronics to those associated with powers of ten that are multiples of three (ten to the power of . . . -12, -9, -6, -3, 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.). So, if we want to follow this convention, we must express this power dissipation figure as 0.115 watts or 115 milliwatts (115 mW) rather than 1.15 deciwatts (1.15 dW).\nPerhaps the easiest way to convert a figure from scientific notation to common metric prefixes is with a scientific calculator set to the \"engineering\" or \"metric\" display mode. Just set the calculator for that display mode, type any scientific notation figure into it using the proper keystrokes (see your owner's manual), press the \"equals\" or \"enter\" key, and it should display the same figure in engineering/metric notation.\nAgain, I'll be using SPICE as a method of demonstrating circuit concepts throughout this book. Consequently, it is in your best interest to understand scientific notation so you can easily comprehend its output data format.\nContributors to this chapter are listed in chronological order of their contributions, from most recent to first. See Appendix 2 (Contributor List) for dates and contact information.\nJason Starck (June 2000): HTML document formatting, which led to a much better-looking second edition.\nLessons In Electric Circuits copyright (C) 2000-2015 Tony R. Kuphaldt, under the terms and conditions of the Design Science License .",
"What is Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that ...\nzetta-Z: 10 21 * 2 70: ... Examples of quantities or phenomena in which power-of-10 prefix multipliers apply ... What's the largest amount of data we'll be able to ...\nWhat is Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that? - Definition from WhatIs.com\nAlso see Kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi, pebi, and all that , which are relatively new prefixes designed to express power-of-two multiples.\nKilo, mega, giga, tera, and peta are among the list of prefixes that are used to denote the quantity of something, such as, in computing and telecommunications, a byte or a bit . Sometimes called prefix multipliers, these prefixes are also used in electronics and physics. Each multiplier consists of a one-letter abbreviation and the prefix that it stands for.\nDownload this free guide\nLetters from the Editor: 2016 State of Storage\nRich Castagna – the VP of Editorial, Storage – shares his candid, expert, and often very funny view on today’s storage market. In these six “Letters from the Editor,” originally featured in our monthly Storage magazine, Rich covers topics such as flash, data storage, SDS, storage hardware, data protection, convergence, and more.\nStart Download\nYou forgot to provide an Email Address.\nThis email address doesn’t appear to be valid.\nThis email address is already registered. Please login .\nYou have exceeded the maximum character limit.\nPlease provide a Corporate E-mail Address.\nBy submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.\nBy submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers.\nYou also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy .\nIn communications, electronics, and physics, multipliers are defined in powers of 10 from 10-24 to 1024, proceeding in increments of three orders of magnitude (103 or 1,000). In IT and data storage , multipliers are defined in powers of 2 from 210 to 280, proceeding in increments of ten orders of magnitude (210 or 1,024). These multipliers are denoted in the following table.\n \n* Not generally used to express data speed\n** k = 103 and K = 210\nExamples of quantities or phenomena in which power-of-10 prefix multipliers apply include frequency (including computer clock speeds), physical mass, power, energy, electrical voltage, and electrical current. Power-of-10 multipliers are also used to define binary data speeds. Thus, for example, 1 kbps (one kilobit per second) is equal to 103, or 1,000, bps (bits per second); 1 Mbps (one megabit per second) is equal to 106, or 1,000,000, bps. (The lowercase k is the technically correct symbol for kilo- when it represents 103, although the uppercase K is often used instead.)\nWhen binary data is stored in memory or fixed media such as a hard drive, diskette, ZIP disk, tape, or CD-ROM , power-of-2 multipliers are used. Technically, the uppercase K should be used for kilo- when it represents 210. Therefore 1 KB (one kilobyte) is 210, or 1,024, bytes; 1 MB (one megabyte) is 220, or 1,048,576 bytes.\nThe choice of power-of-10 versus power-of-2 prefix multipliers can appear arbitrary. It helps to remember that in common usage, multiples of bits are almost always expressed in powers of 10, while multiples of bytes are almost always expressed in powers of 2. Rarely is data speed expressed in bytes per second, and rarely is data storage or memory expressed in bits. Such usages are considered improper. Confusion is not likely, therefore, provided one adheres strictly to the standard usages of the terms bit and byte.\nThis was last updated in April 2008\nContinue Reading About Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, and all that",
"(M-14) Powers of Numbers - NASA\nRaising a numbers to the power which is a positive whole number The concept of logarithms arose from that of powers of numbers. ... Most square roots ...\nThe Powers of a Number\n\"Two to the 6th power\" or simply \"2 to the 6th\"\"\n and so on...\n The number in the subscript is known as an \"exponent.\" The special names for \"squared\" and \"cubed\" come because a square of side 2 has area 22 and a cube of side 2 has volume 23. Similarly, a square of side 16.3 has area (16.3)2 and a cube of side 9.25 has volume (9.25)3. Note the use of parentheses--they are not absolutely needed, but they help make clear what is raised to the second of 3rd power.\nQuick Quiz:\nThe Greek Pythagoras showed (about 500 BC) that if (a,b,c) are lengths of the sides of a right-angled triangle, with c the longest, then a2 + b2 = c2 In a right angles triangle, a = 12, b = 5. Can you guess c?\nWhich is larger--23 or 32? 27 or 53?\nAn slight modification of and old riddle goes:\nAs I was going to St. Ives\nI met a man with seven wives\nEach wife had seven sacks\nEach sack had seven cats\nEach cat had seven kits\nKits, cats, man, wives--how many were coming from St. Ives?\nIt all involves powers of 7:\nMan -- 70 = 1\nNote that\n(23).(22) = 25\nsince the first term contributes three factors of 2 and the second term contributes two--together, 5 multiplications by 2. The same will hold is \"2\" is replaced by any number. So, if that number is represented by \"x\" we get\n(x3).(x2) = x5\nand in general (since there is nothing special about 2 and 3 which will not hold for other whole numbers)\n(xa).(xb) = x(a+b)\nwhere a and b are any whole numbers.\n The most widely used powers by whole numbers, for users of the decimal system, are of course those of 10\n101 = 10 (\"ten\")\n105 = 100,000 (\"a hundred thousand\")\n106 = 1,000,000 (\"a million\")\n Note that here the \"power index\" also gives the number of zeros. For larger numbers, it used to be that in the US 109 = 1,000,000,000 was called \"a billion\" while in Europe it was called a \"milliard\" and one had to advance to 1012 to reach a \"billion.\" These days the US convention is gaining ground, but the world remains divided between nations where the comma denotes what we call \"the decimal point\", while the point divides large numbers, e.g. 109 = 1.000.000.000 (in the US commas would be used).\n It also should be noted that some cultures have assigned names to some other powers of 10--e.g. the Greeks used \"myriad\" for 10,000 while the Hebrew Bible named it \"r'vavah,\" and in India \"Lakh\" still means 100,000. A 9-year old in 1920 coined the name \"Googol\" for 10100, but the word found little use beyond inspiring the name of a search engine on the world-wide web.\nDividing one power by another\nIn a manner very similar to the above, we can write\n(25) / (22) = 23\nsince dividing a power of 2 by some smaller power means canceling from the numeraor a number of factors equal to those in the denominator. Writing it out in detail\n(2.2.2.2.2) / (2.2) = 2.2.2\nHere too the number raised to higher power need not be 2--again, denote it by x--and the powers need not be 5 and 2, but can be any two whole numbers, say a and b:\n(xa) / (xb) = x(a–b)\nHere however a new twist is added, because subtraction can also yield zero, or even negative numbers. Before exploring that direction, it helps outline a general course to follow.\nExpanding the meaning of \"Number\"\n Back at the dim beginnings of humanity, \"numbers\" simply meant positive whole numbers (\"integers\"): one apple, two apples, three apples...\nSimple fractions were also found useful--1/2, 1/3 and so on.\nThen zero was added, originally from India.\nThen negative numbers were given full status--rather than view subtraction as a separate operation, it was re-interpreted as addition of a negative number.\n Similarly, to every integer x there corresponded an \"inverse\" number (1/x) (many calculators have a 1/x button too). In ancient Egypt, 5000 years ago, these were the only fractions recognized, and they are therefore still sometimes called \"Egyptian fractions.\" When an Egyptian of that time wanted to express 3/4, it was presented as (1/2 + 1/4). Sometimes long expressions were needed, e.g\n99/100 = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/25\nbut it always worked.\n The ancient Greeks went further and defined as \"rational number\" (or \"logical\" numbers--\"rational\" comes from Latin) any multiple of such an inverse, for instance 4/13, 22/7 or 355/113. Rational numbers are dense: no matter how close two of them are to each other, one could always place another rational number between them--for instance, half their sum is one choice among many. Decimal fractions which stop at some length are rational numbers too, though decimal fractions having infinite length but with a repeating pattern (0.33333..., 0.575757... etc.) can always be expressed as rational fractions.\n Greek philosophers in the early days of mathematics were therefore surprised to find that in spite of that density, some extra numbers could still \"hide\" between rational ones, and could not be represented by any rational number. For instance, √2 is of this class, the number whose square equals 2. Most square roots and solutions of equations are also of this kind, as is π, the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter (denoted by the Greek letter \"pi\"). Pi has a fair approximation in 22/7 and a much better one in 355/113, but its exact value can never be represented by any fraction. Mathematicians view all the preceding types of number as a single class of \"real numbers\".\nLogarithms of positive numbers are real numbers, too. When one writes\n2 = 100.3010299.. so that 0.3010299.. = log 2\n(the dots represent an irregular continuation) one views it as 10 raised to a power which is some real number.Earlier, powers were integers, denoting the number of times some number was multiplied by itself. To make the above expression meaningful, it is therefore necessary to generalize the concept of raising a number to some power to where any real number can be the power index.\nLogarithms of powers of 10\nThese are all whole numbers::\n101 = 10\nThese logarithms also satisfy the rules we found\n(xa).(xb) = x(a+b)\n U = (10a) V = (10b) W = (10(a+b)) = U.V\nthen since\n a = log U b = logV (a+b) = log W\nwe have\n logV + log U = log (U.V)\n This relation holds whenever U and V are powers of 10:\nThe logarithm of the product is the sum of the logarithms\nof the multiplied numbers.\n as demonstrated in the overview in the preceding section.\n As the concept of logarithm is broadened, that property always remains. That is what originally made logarithms useful: converting multiplication into addition. Instead of having to multiply U and V, we only need add their logarithms and then look for the number whose logarithm equals that sum: that will be the product (U.V).\nSimilarly,\n U = (10a) V = (10b) W = (10(a–b)) = U/V\nthen in the division we have\nlogV – log U = log (U/V)\nor \"the logarithm of the quotient is the difference between the logarithms of the divided numbers,\" e.g. 107 / 104 = 103 which agrees with 7 – 4 = 3. Division, though, opens up a new territory: by the same rule, for instance\n 1040 / 1043 = 10–3 = 0.001\nAnd\n 104 / 104 = 100 = 1\nsince a number is being divided by itself must equal 1. Indeed, this is consistent with the rule, the adding or subtracting 1 to the logarithm moves its number one decimal to the right of left. Earlier\n106 = 1,000,000\nq = 1.60219 10–19 coulomb\n If this were to be written as a decimal fraction, the expression would take about half a line, with 18 zeros following the decimal point in front of the significant digits--and a quick look at it would not give much information, one still would have had to count the zeros. The mass of the electron is similarly small\nm = 9.1095 10–29 kg\nScientific notation simplifies writing such numbers. Yet another example is the speed of light\nc = 2.99792 108 meter/second\n Scientific notation also makes multiplication and division easier and less error prone. One multiplies or divides separately the numerical factors, each between 1 and 10, and usually sees at a glance if the result is of the right range of magnitude. Separately, one adds together all power exponents of multiplied factors, and subtracts those of divided ones, to get the appropriate power of 10 which then appears in scientific notation.\n Of course, in any calculation, one must use consistent units--it would not do to mix meters and inches, or pounds and grams (such inconsistent use apparently led to an error which caused a space probe to Mars to miss the planet and get lost). The most common consistent system in physics and technology is the MKS system, measuring distance in meters, mass in kilograms and time in seconds. All other units are determined by the choice of these three standards, and as long as one stays in the MKS system, results conform to units of that system too (e.g. if energy is being calculated, it always comes out in joules ).\nAn example\n Electrons of the polar aurora (\"northern lights\") move at about 1/5 the velocity of light, in a magnetic field B which near the ground is about 5 10–5 Tesla (the Tesla is the MKS unit of magnetic field: at the pole of an iron magnet you get about 1 Tesla). The magnetic field causes an electron to spiral around the direction of the magnetic force (\"magnetic field line\") with a radius of\nr = mv/(qB)\nwhere v is the part of the velocity perpendicular to the direction of B. If v--the component perpendicular to B--is half the total velocity, what is r?\nWe have",
"Metric_prefix.txt\nMetric prefix\nA metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or fraction of the unit. While all metric prefixes in common use today are decadic, historically there have been a number of binary metric prefixes as well. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol. The prefix kilo-, for example, may be added to gram to indicate multiplication by one thousand: one kilogram is equal to one thousand grams. The prefix milli-, likewise, may be added to metre to indicate division by one thousand; one millimetre is equal to one thousandth of a metre.\n\nDecimal multiplicative prefixes have been a feature of all forms of the metric system with six dating back to the system's introduction in the 1790s. Metric prefixes have even been prepended to non-metric units. The SI prefixes are standardized for use in the International System of Units (SI) by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in resolutions dating from 1960 to 1991. Since 2009, they have formed part of the International System of Quantities.\n\nList of SI prefixes\n\nThe BIPM specifies twenty prefixes for the International System of Units (SI).\n\nEach prefix name has a symbol which is used in combination with the symbols for units of measure. For example, the symbol for kilo- is 'k', and is used to produce 'km', 'kg', and 'kW', which are the SI symbols for kilometre, kilogram, and kilowatt, respectively.\n\nPrefixes may not be used in combination. This also applies to mass, for which the SI base unit (kilogram) already contains a prefix. For example, milligram (mg) is used instead of microkilogram (µkg).\n\nIn arithmetic of measurements having prefixed units, the prefixes must be expanded to their numeric multiplier, except when adding or subtracting values with identical units.\nHence, × × \n = .\n\nPrefixes corresponding to an integer power of one thousand are generally preferred. Hence 100 m is preferred over 1 hm (hectometre) or 10 dam (decametres). The prefixes hecto, deca, deci, and centi were commonly used for everyday purposes, especially the centimetre (cm) is common. However, some modern building codes require that the millimetre be used in preference to the centimetre, because \"use of centimetres leads to extensive usage of decimal points and confusion\". \n\nWhen units occur in exponentiation, for example, in square and cubic forms, the multiplication prefix must be considered part of the unit, and thus included in the exponentiation.\n* 1 km2 means one square kilometre, or the area of a square of by and not square metres.\n* 2 Mm3 means two cubic megametres, or the volume of two cubes of by by or , and not cubic metres ().\n\n;Examples\n* \n = 0.05 m\n* \n \n = \n* 3 MW \n 3 × = \n\nApplication to units of measurement\n\nThe use of prefixes can be traced back to the introduction of the metric system in the 1790s, long before the 1960 introduction of the SI. The prefixes, including those introduced after 1960, are used with any metric unit, whether officially included in the SI or not (e.g. millidynes and milligauss). Metric prefixes may also be used with non-metric units.\n\nThe choice of prefixes with a given unit is usually dictated by convenience of use. Unit prefixes for amounts that are much larger or smaller than those actually encountered are seldom used, though they remain valid combinations. In most contexts only a few most common combinations are established as standard.\n\nMetric units \n\nMass\n\nIn use, the kilogram, gram, milligram, microgram, and smaller are fairly common. However, megagram (and gigagram, teragram, etc.) are rarely used; tonnes (and kilotonnes, megatonnes, etc.) or scientific notation are used instead. Megagram is occasionally used to disambiguate the metric tonne from the various non-metric tons. An exception is pollution emission rates, which are typically on the order of Tg/yr. Sometimes only one element is denoted for an emission, such as Tg C/yr or Tg N/yr, so that inter-comparisons of different compounds are easier.\n\nUniquely among SI units, the base unit of mass, the kilogram, already includes a prefix. The prefixes do not, therefore, indicate corresponding multiples of the base unit in the case of mass; for example, a megagram is kg, whereas mega- indicates a multiple of .\n\nVolume\n\nThe litre (equal to a cubic decimetre), millilitre (equal to a cubic centimetre), microlitre, and smaller are common. In Europe, the centilitre is often used for packaged products (such as wine) and the decilitre less frequently. (The latter two items include prefixes corresponding to an exponent that is not divisible by three.)\n\nLarger volumes are usually denoted in kilolitres, megalitres or gigalitres, or else in cubic metres (1 cubic metre 1 kilolitre) or cubic kilometres (1 cubic kilometre \n 1 teralitre). For scientific purposes the cubic metre is usually used.\n\nLength\n\nThe kilometre, metre, centimetre, millimetre, and smaller are common. (However, the decimetre is rarely used.) The micrometre is often referred to by the non-SI term micron. In some fields such as chemistry, the angstrom (equal to 0.1 nm) historically competed with the nanometre. The femtometre, used mainly in particle physics, is usually called a fermi. For large scales, megametre, gigametre, and larger are rarely used. Instead, non-metric units are used, such as astronomical units, light years, and parsecs; the astronomical unit is mentioned in the SI standards as an accepted non-SI unit.\n\nTime and angles\n\nThe second, millisecond, microsecond, and shorter are common. The kilosecond and megasecond also have some use, though for these and longer times one usually uses either scientific notation or minutes, hours, and so on.\n\nOfficial policies about the use of these prefixes vary slightly between the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); and some of the policies of both bodies are at variance with everyday practice. For instance, the NIST advises that \"to avoid confusion, prefix symbols (and prefixes) are not used with the time-related unit symbols (names) min (minute), h (hour), d (day); nor with the angle-related symbols (names) ° (degree), ′ (minute), and ″ (second).\" \n\nThe BIPM’s position on the use of SI prefixes with units of time larger than the second is the same as that of the NIST but their position with regard to angles differs: they state \"However astronomers use milliarcsecond, which they denote mas, and microarcsecond, µas, which they use as units for measuring very small angles.\" The SI unit of angle is the radian, but, as mentioned above, degrees, minutes and seconds see some scientific use.\n\nTemperature\n\nOfficial policy also varies from common practice for the degree Celsius (°C). NIST states:[http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP811/sec06.html] \"Prefix symbols may be used with the unit symbol °C and prefixes may be used with the unit name 'degree Celsius'. For example, 12 m°C (12 millidegrees Celsius) is acceptable.\" In practice, it is more common for prefixes to be used with the kelvin when it is desirable to denote extremely large or small absolute temperatures or temperature differences. Thus, temperatures of star interiors may be given in units of MK (megakelvins), and molecular cooling may be described in mK (millikelvins).\n\nEnergy\n\nThere exist a number of definitions for the non-SI unit, the calorie. There are gram calories and kilogram calories. One kilogram calorie, which equals one thousand gram calories, often appears capitalized and without a prefix (i.e. 'Cal') when referring to \"dietary calories\" in food. It is common to apply metric prefixes to the gram calorie but not to the kilogram calorie: thus, for example, 1 kcal 1000 cal \n 1 Cal.\n\nNon-metric units\n\nMetric prefixes are widely used outside the system of metric units. Common examples include the megabyte and the decibel. Metric prefixes rarely appear with imperial or US units except in some special cases (e.g., microinch, kilofoot, kilopound or 'kip'). They are also used with other specialized units used in particular fields (e.g., megaelectronvolt, gigaparsec, millibarn). They are also occasionally used with currency units (e.g., gigadollar), mainly by people who are familiar with the prefixes from scientific usage. In geology and paleontology, the year, with symbol a (from the Latin annus), is commonly used with metric prefixes: ka, Ma, and Ga.\n\nPresentation\n\nPronunciation\n\nThe prefix giga is usually pronounced but sometimes. According to the American writer Kevin Self, in the 1920s a German committee member of the International Electrotechnical Commission proposed giga as a prefix for 109, drawing on a verse (evidently \"Anto-logie\") by the humorous poet Christian Morgenstern that appeared in the third (1908) edition of Galgenlieder (Gallows Songs). \n\nThis suggests a hard German g was originally intended as the pronunciation. Self was unable to ascertain when the (soft g) pronunciation was accepted, but as of 1995 current practice had returned to (hard g). \n \n\nWhen an SI prefix is affixed to a root word, the prefix carries the stress, while the root drops its stress but retains a full vowel in the syllable that is stressed when the root word stands alone. For example, gigabyte is, with stress on the first syllable. However, words in common use outside the scientific community may follow idiosyncratic stress rules. In English speaking countries kilometre is often pronounced, with reduced vowels on both syllables of metre.\n\nTypesetting\n\nThe LaTeX typesetting system features an SIunitx package, in which the units of measurement are spelled out, for example, \\SI{3}{\\tera\\hertz} formats as \"3 THz\".\n\nNon-standard prefixes\n\nObsolete metric prefixes\n\nSome of the prefixes formerly used in the metric system have fallen into disuse and were not adopted into the SI. The decimal prefix myria- (sometimes also written as myrio-) (ten thousand) as well as the binary prefixes double- and demi-, denoting a factor of 2 and (one half), respectively, were parts of the original metric system adopted by France in 1795. These were not retained when the SI prefixes were internationally adopted by the 11th CGPM conference in 1960. The halving and doubling prefixes were dropped because they were neither decimal nor symmetrical.\n\nDouble prefixes\n\nDouble prefixes have been used in the past, such as micromillimetres or \"millimicrons\" (now nanometres), micromicrofarads (now picofarads), kilomegatons (now gigatons), hectokilometres (now 100 kilometres) and the derived adjective hectokilometric (typically used for qualifying the fuel consumption measures). These were disallowed with the introduction of the SI.\n\nOther obsolete double prefixes included \"decimilli-\" (10−4), which was contracted to \"dimi-\" (a translation of the French original Esprit et bon usage du systeme metrique, 1965) and standardized in France up to 1961.\n\n\"Hella\" prefix proposal\n\nIn 2010, UC Davis student Austin Sendek started a petition to designate \"hella\" as the SI prefix for one octillion (1027). The petition gathered over 60,000 supporters by circulating through Facebook and receiving a significant amount of media coverage. Although the Consultative Committee for Units considered the proposal, it was ultimately rejected. However, hella has been adopted by certain websites, such as Google Calculator and Wolfram Alpha. \n\nX, W and V\n\nBrian C. Lacki follows Z and Y with the adopted prefixes X, W and V to mean , and respectively, thus continuing the inverse alphabetical order.\n\nSimilar symbols and abbreviations\n\nIn written English, the symbol K is often used informally to mean a multiple of thousand in many contexts. For example, one may talk of a 40K salary (), or call the Year 2000 problem the Y2K problem. In these cases an uppercase K is often used (although it should not, the uppercase K being the symbol for Kelvin). This informal postfix is read or spoken as \"thousand\" or \"grand\", or just \"k\", but never \"kilo\" (despite that being the origin of the letter).\n\nThe financial and general news media mostly use m/M, b/B and t/T as abbreviations for million, billion (109) and trillion (1012) for large quantities, typically currency and population.\n \n\nThe medical and automotive fields in the United States use the abbreviations \"cc\" or \"ccm\" for cubic centimetres. 1 cubic centimetre is equivalent to 1 millilitre. Most nations use millilitres in preference to cubic centimetres.\n\nFor nearly a century, the electrical construction industry used the abbreviation \"MCM\" to designate a \"thousand circular mils\" in specifying thicknesses of large electrical cables. Since the mid-1990s, \"kcmil\" has been adopted as the \"official\" designation of a thousand circular mils, but the designation \"MCM\" still remains in wide use. A similar system is used in natural gas sales in the United States: m (or M) for thousands and mm (or MM) for millions of British thermal units or therms, and in the oil industry, where 'MMbbl' is the symbol for 'millions of barrels'.\n\nBinary prefixes\n\nIn some fields of information technology it has been common to designate non-decimal multiples based on powers of 1024, rather than 1000, for some SI prefixes (kilo, mega, giga), contrary to the definitions in the International System of Units (SI). This practice has been sanctioned by some industry associations, including JEDEC. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standardized the system of binary prefixes (kibi, mebi, gibi, etc.) for this purpose. The names and symbols of the binary prefixes proposed by the IEC include\n* kibi (Ki) 210 \n \n* mebi (Mi) 220 \n 2 = \n* gibi (Gi) 230 \n 3 = \netc.",
"SI Prefixes List - Unit Converter - unitarium.com\nList of SI-Prefixes (..., mili, centy, decy, kilo, ... 10 6: Million/Million: kilo ... In long scale Billion prefix (10 12) is tera, Trillion prefix (10 18) ...\nSI Prefixes List\nSI Prefixes List\nAn SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple. The abbreviation SI is from the French language name Système International d’Unités (also known as International System of Units). SI prefixes are used to reduce the quantity of zeroes in numerical equivalencies. Twenty SI prefixes are available to combine with units of measure. On this page you can see SI Prefix Chart\nInfo from wikipedia.org\nNews & Info\nIf you have found any bugs please report it to: bugs [AT] unitarium.com\nWe will appreciate any comments and suggestions for improving this site. Send them please to: admin [AT] unitarium.com\n \n \nBelow, you can find the chart of 24 prefixes introduced and governed by Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (eng. International Bureau of Weights and Measures ) .The abbreviation SI is from the French language name Système International d’Unités (eng: International System of Units )\nSI Prefixes List\nQuadrillionth/Septillionth\nShort And Long Scale\nIn most English-speaking countries short scale is used. In short scale Billion prefix (109) is giga, Trillion prefix (1012) is tera, Billionth prefix (10-9) is nano, Trillionth prefix (10-12 is pico, and so on.\nIn most European countries long scale is used. In long scale Billion prefix (1012) is tera, Trillion prefix (1018) is eksa, Billionth prefix (10-12) is pico, Trillionth prefix (10-18) is atto, and so on.\nPrefixes In Computing\nPrefixes k,M,G,T,P (kilo,mega,giga,tera,peta) are commonly used in computing, where they are applied to information and storage units. Since informational systems are based on power of 2, this led to following meaning of prefixes in computer science:\nPrefix",
"Definitions of the SI units: The twenty SI prefixes\n10 21: zetta: Z: 10 18: exa: E: ... in the case of the kilogram the prefix names of Table 5 are used with ... Because the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10, ...\nDefinitions of the SI units: The twenty SI prefixes\nConsider the earlier example of the height of the Washington Monument. We may write\nhW = 169 000 mm = 16 900 cm = 169 m = 0.169 km\nusing the millimeter (SI prefix milli, symbol m), centimeter (SI prefix centi, symbol c), or kilometer (SI prefix kilo, symbol k).\nBecause the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10, they should not be used to represent powers of 2. Thus, one kilobit, or 1 kbit, is 1000 bit and not\n210 bit = 1024 bit.\nTo alleviate this ambiguity, prefixes for binary multiples have been adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for use in information technology."
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What name is given to the concept that an animal hitting keys at random on a typewriter for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare? | Infinite monkey theorem | [
"Infinite_monkey_theorem.txt\nInfinite monkey theorem\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\n\nIn this context, \"almost surely\" is a mathematical term with a precise meaning, and the \"monkey\" is not an actual monkey, but a metaphor for an abstract device that produces an endless random sequence of letters and symbols. One of the earliest instances of the use of the \"monkey metaphor\" is that of French mathematician Émile Borel in 1913, but the first instance may be even earlier. The probability of a universe full of monkeys typing a complete work such as Shakespeare's Hamlet is so tiny that the chance of it occurring during a period of time hundreds of thousands of orders of magnitude longer than the age of the universe is extremely low (but technically not zero).\n\nVariants of the theorem include multiple and even infinitely many typists, and the target text varies between an entire library and a single sentence. The history of these statements can be traced back to Aristotle's On Generation and Corruption and Cicero's De natura deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), through Blaise Pascal and Jonathan Swift, and finally to modern statements with their iconic simians and typewriters. In the early 20th century, Borel and Arthur Eddington used the theorem to illustrate the timescales implicit in the foundations of statistical mechanics.\n\nSolution\n\nDirect proof\n\nThere is a straightforward proof of this theorem. As an introduction, recall that if two events are statistically independent, then the probability of both happening equals the product of the probabilities of each one happening independently. For example, if the chance of rain in Moscow on a particular day in the future is 0.4 and the chance of an earthquake in San Francisco on any particular day is 0.00003, then the chance of both happening on the same day is , assuming that they are indeed independent.\n\nSuppose the typewriter has 50 keys, and the word to be typed is banana. If the keys are pressed randomly and independently, it means that each key has an equal chance of being pressed. Then, the chance that the first letter typed is 'b' is 1/50, and the chance that the second letter typed is a is also 1/50, and so on. Therefore, the chance of the first six letters spelling banana is\n(1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) (1/50)6 \n 1/15 625 000 000 ,\nless than one in 15 billion, but not zero, hence a possible outcome.\n\nFrom the above, the chance of not typing banana in a given block of 6 letters is 1 − (1/50)6. Because each block is typed independently, the chance Xn of not typing banana in any of the first n blocks of 6 letters is\n\nX_n=\\left(1-\\frac{1}{50^6}\\right)^n.\n\nAs n grows, Xn gets smaller. For an n of a million, Xn is roughly 0.9999, but for an n of 10 billion Xn is roughly 0.53 and for an n of 100 billion it is roughly 0.0017. As n approaches infinity, the probability Xn approaches zero; that is, by making n large enough, Xn can be made as small as is desired, This shows that the probability of typing \"banana\" in one of the predefined non-overlapping blocks of six letters tends to 1. In addition the word may appear across two blocks, so the estimate given is conservative. and the chance of typing banana approaches 100%.\n\nThe same argument shows why at least one of infinitely many monkeys will produce a text as quickly as it would be produced by a perfectly accurate human typist copying it from the original. In this case Xn = (1 − (1/50)6)n where Xn represents the probability that none of the first n monkeys types banana correctly on their first try. When we consider 100 billion monkeys, the probability falls to 0.17%, and as the number of monkeys n increases, the value of Xn – the probability of the monkeys failing to reproduce the given text – approaches zero arbitrarily closely. The limit, for n going to infinity, is zero. So the probability of the word banana appearing at some point after an infinite number of keystrokes is equal to one.\n\nInfinite strings\n\nThis can be stated more generally and compactly in terms of strings, which are sequences of characters chosen from some finite alphabet:\n* Given an infinite string where each character is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a substring at some position.\n* Given an infinite sequence of infinite strings, where each character of each string is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a prefix of one of these strings.\n\nBoth follow easily from the second Borel–Cantelli lemma. For the second theorem, let Ek be the event that the kth string begins with the given text. Because this has some fixed nonzero probability p of occurring, the Ek are independent, and the below sum diverges,\n\\sum_{k1}^\\infty P(E_k) \n \\sum_{k1}^\\infty p \n \\infty,\nthe probability that infinitely many of the Ek occur is 1. The first theorem is shown similarly; one can divide the random string into nonoverlapping blocks matching the size of the desired text, and make Ek the event where the kth block equals the desired string.The first theorem is proven by a similar if more indirect route in \n\nProbabilities\n\nHowever, for physically meaningful numbers of monkeys typing for physically meaningful lengths of time the results are reversed. If there were as many monkeys as there are atoms in the observable universe typing extremely fast for trillions of times the life of the universe, the probability of the monkeys replicating even a single page of Shakespeare is unfathomably minute.\n\nIgnoring punctuation, spacing, and capitalization, a monkey typing letters uniformly at random has a chance of one in 26 of correctly typing the first letter of Hamlet. It has a chance of one in 676 (26 × 26) of typing the first two letters. Because the probability shrinks exponentially, at 20 letters it already has only a chance of one in 2620 19,928,148,895,209,409,152,340,197,376 (almost 2 × 1028). In the case of the entire text of Hamlet, the probabilities are so vanishingly small as to be inconceivable. The text of Hamlet contains approximately 130,000 letters.Using the Hamlet text [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws2611.txt from gutenberg], there are 132680 alphabetical letters and 199749 characters overall Thus there is a probability of one in 3.4 × 10183,946 to get the text right at the first trial. The average number of letters that needs to be typed until the text appears is also 3.4 × 10183,946,\n\nFor any required string of 130,000 letters from the set a-z, the average number of letters that needs to be typed until the string appears is (rounded) 3.4 × 10183,946, except in the case that all letters of the required string are equal, in which case the value is about 4% more, 3.6 × 10183,946. In that case failure to have the correct string starting from a particular position reduces with about 4% the probability of a correct string starting from the next position (i.e., for overlapping positions the events of having the correct string are not independent; in this case there is a positive correlation between the two successes, so the chance of success after a failure is smaller than the chance of success in general). The figure 3.4 × 10183,946 is derived from n 26130000 by taking the logarithm of both sides: log10(n) \n 1300000×log10(26) 183946.5352, therefore n \n 100.5352 × 10183946 = 3.429 × 10183946.\n\n or including punctuation, 4.4 × 10360,783.26 letters ×2 for capitalisation, 12 for punctuation characters \n 64, 199749×log10(64) = 4.4 × 10360,783 (this is generous as it assumes capital letters are separate keys, as opposed to a key combination, which makes the problem vastly harder).\n\nEven if every proton in the observable universe were a monkey with a typewriter, typing from the Big Bang until the end of the universe (when protons no longer exist), they would still need a still far greater amount of time – more than three hundred and sixty thousand orders of magnitude longer – to have even a 1 in 10500 chance of success. To put it another way, for a one in a trillion chance of success, there would need to be 10360,641 universes made of atomic monkeys.\n\nThere are ~1080 protons in the observable universe. Assume the monkeys write for 1038 years (1020 years is when all stellar remnants will have either been ejected from their galaxies or fallen into black holes, 1038 years is when all but 0.1% of protons have decayed). Assuming the monkeys type non-stop at a ridiculous 400 words per minute (the world record is 216wpm for a single minute), that's about 2000 characters per minute (Shakespeare's average word length is a bit under 5 letters). There are about half a million minutes in a year, this means each monkey types half a billion characters per year. This gives a total of 1080×1038×10910127 letters typed – which is still zero in comparison to 10360,783. For a one in a trillion chance, multiply the letters typed by a trillion: 10127×1015\n10145. 10360,783/10145=10360,641.\n\n As Kittel and Kroemer put it in their textbook on thermodynamics, the field whose statistical foundations motivated the first known expositions of typing monkeys, \"The probability of Hamlet is therefore zero in any operational sense of an event...\", and the statement that the monkeys must eventually succeed \"gives a misleading conclusion about very, very large numbers.\"\n\nIn fact there is less than a one in a trillion chance of success that such a universe made of monkeys could type any particular document a mere 79 characters long.As explained at http://www.nutters.org/docs/more-monkeys, the problem can be approximated further. 10145/log10(64)\n78.9 characters.\n\nAlmost surely\n\nThe probability that an infinite randomly generated string of text will contain a particular finite substring is 1. However, this does not mean the substring's absence is \"impossible\", despite the absence having a prior probability of 0. For example, the immortal monkey could randomly type G as its first letter, G as its second, and G as every single letter thereafter, producing an infinite string of Gs; at no point must the monkey be \"compelled\" to type anything else. (To assume otherwise implies the gambler's fallacy.) However long a randomly generated finite string is, there is a small but nonzero chance that it will turn out to consist of the same character repeated throughout; this chance approaches zero as the string's length approaches infinity. There is nothing special about such a monotonous sequence except that it is easy to describe; the same fact applies to any nameable specific sequence, such as \"RGRGRG\" repeated forever, or \"a-b-aa-bb-aaa-bbb-...\", or \"Three, Six, Nine, Twelve…\".\n\nIf the hypothetical monkey has a typewriter with 90 equally likely keys that include numerals and punctuation, then the first typed keys might be \"3.14\" (the first three digits of pi) with a probability of (1/90)4, which is 1/65,610,000. Equally probable is any other string of four characters allowed by the typewriter, such as \"GGGG\", \"mATh\", or \"q%8e\". The probability that 100 randomly typed keys will consist of the first 99 digits of pi (including the separator key), or any other particular sequence of that length, is much lower: (1/90)100. If the monkey's allotted length of text is infinite, the chance of typing only the digits of pi is 0, which is just as possible (mathematically probable) as typing nothing but Gs (also probability 0).\n\nThe same applies to the event of typing a particular version of Hamlet followed by endless copies of itself; or Hamlet immediately followed by all the digits of pi; these specific strings are equally infinite in length, they are not prohibited by the terms of the thought problem, and they each have a prior probability of 0. In fact, any particular infinite sequence the immortal monkey types will have had a prior probability of 0, even though the monkey must type something.\n\nThis is an extension of the principle that a finite string of random text has a lower and lower probability of being a particular string the longer it is (though all specific strings are equally unlikely). This probability approaches 0 as the string approaches infinity. Thus, the probability of the monkey typing an endlessly long string, such as all of the digits of pi in order, on a 90-key keyboard is (1/90)∞ which equals (1/∞) which is essentially 0. At the same time, the probability that the sequence contains a particular subsequence (such as the word MONKEY, or the 12th through 999th digits of pi, or a version of the King James Bible) increases as the total string increases. This probability approaches 1 as the total string approaches infinity, and thus the original theorem is correct.\n\nCorrespondence between strings and numbers\n\nIn a simplification of the thought experiment, the monkey could have a typewriter with just two keys: 1 and 0. The infinitely long string thusly produced would correspond to the binary digits of a particular real number between 0 and 1. A countably infinite set of possible strings end in infinite repetitions, which means the corresponding real number is rational. Examples include the strings corresponding to one-third (010101…), five-sixths (11010101…) and five-eighths (1100000…). Only a subset of such real number strings (albeit a countably infinite subset) contains the entirety of Hamlet (if the text is translated from ASCII to binary).\n\nMeanwhile, there is an uncountably infinite set of strings which do not end in such repetition; these correspond to the irrational numbers. These can be sorted into two uncountably infinite subsets: those which contain Hamlet and those which do not. However, the \"largest\" subset of all the real numbers are those which not only contain Hamlet, but which contain every other possible string of any length, and with equal distribution of such strings. These irrational numbers are called normal. Because almost all numbers are normal, almost all possible strings contain all possible finite substrings. Hence, the probability of the monkey typing a normal number is 1. The same principles apply regardless of the number of keys from which the monkey can choose; a 90-key keyboard can be seen as a generator of numbers written in base 90.\n\nHistory\n\nStatistical mechanics\n\nIn one of the forms in which probabilists now know this theorem, with its \"dactylographic\" [i.e., typewriting] monkeys (; the French word singe covers both the monkeys and the apes), appeared in Émile Borel's 1913 article \"Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité\" (Statistical mechanics and irreversibility), and in his book \"Le Hasard\" in 1914. His \"monkeys\" are not actual monkeys; rather, they are a metaphor for an imaginary way to produce a large, random sequence of letters. Borel said that if a million monkeys typed ten hours a day, it was extremely unlikely that their output would exactly equal all the books of the richest libraries of the world; and yet, in comparison, it was even more unlikely that the laws of statistical mechanics would ever be violated, even briefly.\n\nThe physicist Arthur Eddington drew on Borel's image further in The Nature of the Physical World (1928), writing:\n\nThese images invite the reader to consider the incredible improbability of a large but finite number of monkeys working for a large but finite amount of time producing a significant work, and compare this with the even greater improbability of certain physical events. Any physical process that is even less likely than such monkeys' success is effectively impossible, and it may safely be said that such a process will never happen. It is clear from the context that Eddington is not suggesting that the probability of this happening is worthy of serious consideration. On the contrary, it was a rhetorical illustration of the fact that below certain levels of probability, the term improbable is functionally equivalent to impossible.\n\nOrigins and \"The Total Library\"\n\nIn a 1939 essay entitled \"The Total Library\", Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges traced the infinite-monkey concept back to Aristotle's Metaphysics. Explaining the views of Leucippus, who held that the world arose through the random combination of atoms, Aristotle notes that the atoms themselves are homogeneous and their possible arrangements only differ in shape, position and ordering. In On Generation and Corruption, the Greek philosopher compares this to the way that a tragedy and a comedy consist of the same \"atoms\", i.e., alphabetic characters. Three centuries later, Cicero's De natura deorum (On the Nature of the Gods) argued against the atomist worldview:\n\nBorges follows the history of this argument through Blaise Pascal and Jonathan Swift, then observes that in his own time, the vocabulary had changed. By 1939, the idiom was \"that a half-dozen monkeys provided with typewriters would, in a few eternities, produce all the books in the British Museum.\" (To which Borges adds, \"Strictly speaking, one immortal monkey would suffice.\") Borges then imagines the contents of the Total Library which this enterprise would produce if carried to its fullest extreme:\n\nBorges' total library concept was the main theme of his widely read 1941 short story \"The Library of Babel\", which describes an unimaginably vast library consisting of interlocking hexagonal chambers, together containing every possible volume that could be composed from the letters of the alphabet and some punctuation characters.\n\nReal monkeys\n\nIn 2003, lecturers and students from the University of Plymouth MediaLab Arts course used a £2,000 grant from the Arts Council to study the literary output of real monkeys. They left a computer keyboard in the enclosure of six Celebes crested macaques in Paignton Zoo in Devon in England for a month, with a radio link to broadcast the results on a website. \n\nNot only did the monkeys produce nothing but five total pages largely consisting of the letter S, the lead male began by bashing the keyboard with a stone, and the monkeys continued by urinating and defecating on it. Mike Phillips, director of the university's Institute of Digital Arts and Technology (i-DAT), said that the artist-funded project was primarily performance art, and they had learned \"an awful lot\" from it. He concluded that monkeys \"are not random generators. They're more complex than that. ... They were quite interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter, something happened. There was a level of intention there.\" \n\nApplications and criticisms\n\nEvolution\n\nIn his 1931 book The Mysterious Universe, Eddington's rival James Jeans attributed the monkey parable to a \"Huxley\", presumably meaning Thomas Henry Huxley. This attribution is incorrect. Today, it is sometimes further reported that Huxley applied the example in a now-legendary debate over Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species with the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, held at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford on June 30, 1860. This story suffers not only from a lack of evidence, but the fact that in 1860 the typewriter itself had yet to emerge. \n\nDespite the original mix-up, monkey-and-typewriter arguments are now common in arguments over evolution. For example, Doug Powell argues as a Christian apologist that even if a monkey accidentally types the letters of Hamlet, it has failed to produce Hamlet because it lacked the intention to communicate. His parallel implication is that natural laws could not produce the information content in DNA. A more common argument is represented by Reverend John F. MacArthur, who claims that the genetic mutations necessary to produce a tapeworm from an amoeba are as unlikely as a monkey typing Hamlet's soliloquy, and hence the odds against the evolution of all life are impossible to overcome. \n\nEvolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins employs the typing monkey concept in his book The Blind Watchmaker to demonstrate the ability of natural selection to produce biological complexity out of random mutations. In a simulation experiment Dawkins has his weasel program produce the Hamlet phrase METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL, starting from a randomly typed parent, by \"breeding\" subsequent generations and always choosing the closest match from progeny that are copies of the parent, with random mutations. The chance of the target phrase appearing in a single step is extremely small, yet Dawkins showed that it could be produced rapidly (in about 40 generations) using cumulative selection of phrases. The random choices furnish raw material, while cumulative selection imparts information. As Dawkins acknowledges, however, the weasel program is an imperfect analogy for evolution, as \"offspring\" phrases were selected \"according to the criterion of resemblance to a distant ideal target.\" In contrast, Dawkins affirms, evolution has no long-term plans and does not progress toward some distant goal (such as humans). The weasel program is instead meant to illustrate the difference between non-random cumulative selection, and random single-step selection. In terms of the typing monkey analogy, this means that Romeo and Juliet could be produced relatively quickly if placed under the constraints of a nonrandom, Darwinian-type selection because the fitness function will tend to preserve in place any letters that happen to match the target text, improving each successive generation of typing monkeys.\n\nA different avenue for exploring the analogy between evolution and an unconstrained monkey lies in the problem that the monkey types only one letter at a time, independently of the other letters. Hugh Petrie argues that a more sophisticated setup is required, in his case not for biological evolution but the evolution of ideas:\n\nJames W. Valentine, while admitting that the classic monkey's task is impossible, finds that there is a worthwhile analogy between written English and the metazoan genome in this other sense: both have \"combinatorial, hierarchical structures\" that greatly constrain the immense number of combinations at the alphabet level. \n\nLiterary theory\n\nR. G. Collingwood argued in 1938 that art cannot be produced by accident, and wrote as a sarcastic aside to his critics,\n\nNelson Goodman took the contrary position, illustrating his point along with Catherine Elgin by the example of Borges' \"Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote\",\n\nIn another writing, Goodman elaborates, \"That the monkey may be supposed to have produced his copy randomly makes no difference. It is the same text, and it is open to all the same interpretations....\" Gérard Genette dismisses Goodman's argument as begging the question. \n\nFor Jorge J. E. Gracia, the question of the identity of texts leads to a different question, that of author. If a monkey is capable of typing Hamlet, despite having no intention of meaning and therefore disqualifying itself as an author, then it appears that texts do not require authors. Possible solutions include saying that whoever finds the text and identifies it as Hamlet is the author; or that Shakespeare is the author, the monkey his agent, and the finder merely a user of the text. These solutions have their own difficulties, in that the text appears to have a meaning separate from the other agents: what if the monkey operates before Shakespeare is born, or if Shakespeare is never born, or if no one ever finds the monkey's typescript? \n\nRandom document generation\n\nThe theorem concerns a thought experiment which cannot be fully carried out in practice, since it is predicted to require prohibitive amounts of time and resources. Nonetheless, it has inspired efforts in finite random text generation.\n\nOne computer program run by Dan Oliver of Scottsdale, Arizona, according to an article in The New Yorker, came up with a result on August 4, 2004: After the group had worked for 42,162,500,000 billion billion monkey-years, one of the \"monkeys\" typed, \"VALENTINE. Cease toIdor:eFLP0FRjWK78aXzVOwm)-‘;8.t\" The first 19 letters of this sequence can be found in \"The Two Gentlemen of Verona\". Other teams have reproduced 18 characters from \"Timon of Athens\", 17 from \"Troilus and Cressida\", and 16 from \"Richard II\". \n\nA website entitled The Monkey Shakespeare Simulator, launched on July 1, 2003, contained a Java applet that simulated a large population of monkeys typing randomly, with the stated intention of seeing how long it takes the virtual monkeys to produce a complete Shakespearean play from beginning to end. For example, it produced this partial line from Henry IV, Part 2, reporting that it took \"2,737,850 million billion billion billion monkey-years\" to reach 24 matching characters:\nRUMOUR. Open your ears; 9r\"5j5&?OWTY Z0d...\n\nDue to processing power limitations, the program used a probabilistic model (by using a random number generator or RNG) instead of actually generating random text and comparing it to Shakespeare. When the simulator \"detected a match\" (that is, the RNG generated a certain value or a value within a certain range), the simulator simulated the match by generating matched text. \n\nMore sophisticated methods are used in practice for natural language generation. If instead of simply generating random characters one restricts the generator to a meaningful vocabulary and conservatively following grammar rules, like using a context-free grammar, then a random document generated this way can even fool some humans (at least on a cursory reading) as shown in the experiments with SCIgen, snarXiv, and the Postmodernism Generator.\n\nTesting of random-number generators\n\nQuestions about the statistics describing how often an ideal monkey is expected to type certain strings translate into practical tests for random-number generators; these range from the simple to the \"quite sophisticated\". Computer-science professors George Marsaglia and Arif Zaman report that they used to call one such category of tests \"overlapping m-tuple tests\" in lectures, since they concern overlapping m-tuples of successive elements in a random sequence. But they found that calling them \"monkey tests\" helped to motivate the idea with students. They published a report on the class of tests and their results for various RNGs in 1993. \n\nIn popular culture\n\nThe infinite monkey theorem and its associated imagery is considered a popular and proverbial illustration of the mathematics of probability, widely known to the general public because of its transmission through popular culture rather than through formal education.Examples of the theorem being referred to as proverbial include: Why Creativity Is Not like the Proverbial Typing Monkey. Jonathan W. Schooler, Sonya Dougal, Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 10, No. 4 (1999); and The Case of the Midwife Toad (Arthur Koestler, New York, 1972, page 30): \"Neo-Darwinism does indeed carry the nineteenth-century brand of materialism to its extreme limits—to the proverbial monkey at the typewriter, hitting by pure chance on the proper keys to produce a Shakespeare sonnet.\" The latter is sourced from [http://www.angelfire.com/in/hypnosonic/Parable_of_the_Monkeys.html Parable of the Monkeys], a collection of historical references to the theorem in various formats.\n\nIn The Simpsons episode \"Last Exit to Springfield,\" Mr. Burns shows Homer \"a room with a thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters. Someday one of them will write the great American novel.\"\n\nIn his 1978 radio play, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams invoked the theorem to illustrate the power of the 'Infinite Improbability Drive' that powered a spaceship. From Episode 2: \"Ford\", there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out.\"\n\nA quotation attributed to a 1996 speech by Robert Wilensky stated, \"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.\"\n\nThe enduring, widespread popularity of the theorem was noted in the introduction to a 2001 paper, \"Monkeys, Typewriters and Networks: The Internet in the Light of the Theory of Accidental Excellence\" (Hoffmann & Hofmann, 2001). In 2002, an article in The Washington Post said, \"Plenty of people have had fun with the famous notion that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters and an infinite amount of time could eventually write the works of Shakespeare.\"\n In 2003, the previously mentioned Arts Council funded experiment involving real monkeys and a computer keyboard received widespread press coverage. In 2007, the theorem was listed by Wired magazine in a list of eight classic thought experiments.",
"Make Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners ...\n... a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter ... will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\" ...\nMake Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners are... | Smashboards\nMake Your Move! Super Smash Boards Brawl - And the winners are...\n-The Infinite Sakurai Theorem-\nThe Idea\n\"The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a particular chosen text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\"-Wikipedia\nNow if we assume that there is an infinite number of alternate universes, that means there's also an infinite number of Sakurais, which means that there's an infinite number of Brawls, which means that every character who has ever existed will somehow make it into Brawl!\nNow let's bring this totally scientific theorem to its completely illogical conclusion, right?\n-Make Your Move-\nThe Thread\nBrawl is out. By now, you all know the roster. By now, you all know that it lacks something.\nFor instance, it lacks all the shoe-ins that we defended so much in our spare time!\nBut, actually, it also lacks some less likely characters as well.\nIn fact, it shows a remarkable lack of completely obscure characters.\nIn fact, Brawl would be the best game ever if it had the hero from my favourite cartoon, or the antagonist from that novel I'm writing, or even better, myself!\nSo thinks the Smash fanatic and giggles to himself.\nThis thread welcomes all crazy Smash fanatics who like to let their imagination run wild! If you love a certain fictional character, person, animal or inanimate object, and you want to show the world how awesome they'd look in Smash, here's the place to do it.\nJust show us the character and give them some moves!\nAny submission with a bit of effort put into it will join the list of current submissions in the appropriate category, with the name and author, a snazzy avatar, and a rating on a three-star-scale, plus a link to the respective post that will allow people browsing the first post to check out what you wrote!\nAssist Trophy/Secondary Character Section:\nYou can also enter Assist Trophies, or Secondary Characters, whatever you want to call them!\nIf you have a character idea that doesn't have as much potential as some of your others, or if you're not willing to put too much effort into a character, here's your section.\nThis also opens up possibilities for a possible Subspace Emissary plot: Give your character a non-playable boss... or maybe a non-playable ally!\nAs I said, no limits.\nCHARACTER IMAGE SHOP:\nAs a little addition, if you don't have an image of your character, you can ask me to draw one for you. I'm not an extremely good artist, but I get better.\nAnd that's all you need to know about this part!\n-Super Smash Boards Brawl-\nThe Contest\nThe Super Smash Boards Brawl contest is a contest held within the thread of Make Your Move.\nWhen the thread was born, the goal was to amass at least enough high-quality submissions to be able to create a mock Brawl character select screen after the image of the true select screen.\nBy now, the deadline is over, and over 120 characters from all manners of origin have qualified to participate. It's truly amazing to look back at it to see some of the fantastic work people have delivered.\nOf course, such awesomeness cannot possibly be contained within 35 character slots.\nThe final Super Smash Boards Brawl character select screen will hold 50 characters!\nBut that's not all.\nWith the help of Comrade Canada's flash skills, the select screen will become interactive, to show all the 50 winners in all their splendor.\nFor a unified style, all winners will be drawn by me.\nAn announcer will emphatically shout out their names when selected.\nIt will be awesome.\nAnd even until that select screen is finally completed, a complete Adventure Mode plot will be written starring the winners and all their related characters.\nNow, the question is... who will the winners be?\n-The Voting-\nThe voting!\nTo qualify for the contest, characters had to have gained a 3-star rating before the end of the deadline.\nNow, the rest depends on you. Vote for the ones you deem worthy. Here are the rules:\nOut of the list of eligible characters, you may choose up to 50 to give normal votes to.\nYou don't have to make a full list. You can also vote for just a handful of characters who caught your attention if you like. You may also vote for your own submissions.\nYou can turn a normal vote into a Super Vote with more influence on the final result. The condition is that you have to write a review of at the very least three whole lines for the submission in question. Turning a normal vote into a Super Vote does not give you any more normal votes. In the end, you can only have 50.\nThe review must contain valid points regarding the quality of the post. \"I like the character\" is not a valid point. \"I like the character and the post has managed to perfectly capture the reason I like him because...\" is a valid point.\nSince you obviously can't review your own submissions, giving yourself a Super Vote is out of the question.\nIf you chose 50 characters and there are still some submissions that you think deserve some recognition, you may list them as runners-up, which gives them votes with less effect on the final outcome.\nThe deadline for voting is March 14, the same time the Dojo! updates go up. Until then, no votes are final. You may post to list your current list of votes, give feedback to those you are unsure about, do whatever you like. Until March 14, no votes are counted. Keep checking back here to see whether anyone updated their submissions!\nAdditionally, please take into account these guidelines:\nPlease respect Original Creations. While you probably didn't know them before coming to this thread since they were made up by other members of these forums, coming up with an Original Creation takes far more creativity than just grabbing someone from an already existing story and coming up with stuff for them. If you see a potentially interesting OC in the list, go ahead and check them out. Chances are they're more interesting than characters you already knew.\nVote for quality! It's only natural for you to vote for characters you love. But please take into account that there are authors around here who spent a good few hours working hard on their submissions. Be nice to them.\nYou are encouraged to give feedback. Giving feedback does not automatically mean you're giving someone a Super Vote. The review rule was introduced to ensure that effort is more important than popularity. Simple feedback serves to give an author the chance to improve, or to simply make them a little bit happier.\nNow to get to the actual list of characters.\n-The Index-\nWhere you'll find all the shiny characters.\nFirst, let me explain some things about those images.\nCategories: There are several categories. A character will always have a line inserted in one of the new, big category images. Fact: This is awesome. It allows for all characters to be displayed adequately, thus blasting away all previous boundaries, it allows for casual passers-by to look for what they're interested in in characters, makes the thread prettier and allows for me to update more easily and with less stress, which means more updates. Hooray!\nStar ratings:\n3 Stars: Movesets with 3 stars are solid and definitely worthy of a read-through. Submissions with this rating will participate in the final voting.\n2 Stars: The line is often quite blurry between what is complete and what isn't. 2 star ratings mean that there is still something missing to make the submission complete.\n1 Star: For very incomplete submissions.\nNo Star: ...\n!Exlamation mark!\nThis sexy little sign denotes characters who are outstanding in some way. Got a backstory the size of a small novel? 5 movesets in one? Is it FUN to read? There are many things that make a submission outstanding.\nThe exclamation mark has no bearing on the contest, it's just a sort of trophy that draws attention to those who had original ideas or put a special kind of effort into their work. This piece is what all true warriors strive for! If you think you deserve an exclamation mark, go ahead and argue with me, and I'll listen and see what I can do about it. After all, I never claimed to be able to keep track of a hundred small pieces of art.\nOC\nThe green OC sign denotes Original Characters, which were created by the writer himself. These deserve a special kind of attention, I believe.\nAnd now that that's done with, let's get to the good stuff.\nSECONDARY CHARACTERS: ( to be updated soon )\nantimatter:\nTycho & Gabe (Penny Arcade) ( page 20, post 291 )\nCopperpot:\nFerver and the 100 Wolf Armada ( page 3, post 36 )\nGreatClayMonkey:\nBump! I will update this with mine when I have the time.\n \n-Taga-\nDescription:\nYes, the very character that Eaode created that you did not know about joins the Brawl!!!\nTaga is a Bouxrie (Booh-Ree) Dragon, a Bipedal Species of Reptile that has unique attributes such as the ability to speak, a human level intelligence, and the ability to summon electricity at will.\nStats:\nTaga is average height compared to the rest of the cast.\nWeight: **\nTaga's weight is a little bit below average.\nSpeed: ****\nTaga is decently speedy, having a fast running speed and relatively speedy attack execution\nPower: ***\nTaga doesn't have too much power, but enough to be able to rack up damages and get kills at around 100%\nRange: ***\nTaga has average range on his regular atacks, but gets more range when using electricity.\nFall Speed: ****\nTaga falls a bit faster than most characters, increasing his combo ability and his ability to get comboed.\nAttacks:\nA: Taga jabs out with his left hand. No knockback.\nAA: Taga Spins counter-clockwise, hitting opponents with his tail. If A is not pressed again he will stay facing the other direction. Low knockback\nAAA: Taga completes the spin with a right hook. Has knockback equal to Mario's AAA, and hits enemies up and away.\nForward Tilt: Taga jumps in the air, spinning clockwise, striking with his tail and kicking immediately after with his right foot. Has decent knockback but a little bit of lag afterward.\nUp Tilt: Taga quickly thrusts his right fist staright above him while clenching his left in anger.\nDown Tilt: Taga quickly does a crouching spin and sweeps the ground with his tail. Pops the opponent up in the air with knockback like Roy's Dtilt in Melee.\nForward Smash: Taga brings his arms back quickly and then thrusts them forward in a kamehameha-like stance, unleashing a small explosion of electricity in his hands kncoking opponents up and away. this move won't kill outright on most characters until about 125% but you can at least knock them off and edgeguard.\nDown Smash: Taga turns and jerks both his arms at a downward angle toward the ground, releasing small lightning bolts quickly downward with decent knockback. If the lightning does not hit the ground, it will continue downward at it's predetermined angle until it hits something. But it will lose knockback the more distance it covers. This move is great for edgeguarding because it will shoot down off the stage at a 45 degree angle and hit recovering opponents.\nUp Smash: Taga crouches down and then launches himself into the air doing a barrel roll. He hits the opponents with a double kick and his tail (if the kicks don't connect). The final tail hit only connects if the kicks do not,m and the tail doesn't have as much knockback as the second kick. This move combos well at low percents, and at higher percents if you hit with the tail instead.\nForward Aerial: Starts out like Mario's Fair in SSB64, Taga spins and kicks with his left foot and then flips and delivers a second kick with his right foot at an upward angle. This move is great for combos because if knocks them upward without to much knockback and has decent stun.\nUp Aerial: Taga does a backflip and kicks the enemy twice and then lands. The end of this move has an additional hit from his tail in the back that sends people at a slightly downward horizontal angle with weak knockback. The regular part of this move if just like Mario's or Falcon's in that it can continue combos well.\nNeutral Aerial: Sex Kick with decent knocback.\nBack Aerial: Taga spins back and extend a kick with good reach. Works like Samus's Bair in Melee but not quite as strong.\nDown Aerial: Taga lifts up his legs and swipes downward with his tail like Mewtwo's Dair without the flip, and a little faster. This is a meteor smash.\nSpecials:\nUp Special: Cloud Strike. A Cloud Zips by Taga's head and he grabs onto it's tail, hanging onto it for a little while before jumping off with a kick forward.\nDemonstration:\nNeutral Special: Taga puts his hands together very briefly and summons a ball of electricity in his hand. This acts like an item, he can throw it in any direction with warying degrees of strength. Once he throws it, it will elongated and travel in a straight path (if sent up/down) or in an arc (if thrown to the side). It gives decen damage and a bit of knockback. It can be followed up because it has a little stun like YLink's arrows in Melee.\nDemonstration:\nForward Special: Taga reaches one hand out and Summons electromagnetic force to pull distant enemies toward him. Has little lag so it can be followed up by a grab, attack, etc. Does not damage opponent. (this could be great for saving your teammate as well :D)\nDemonstration:\nDown Special: Taga summons a huge lightningbolt down from the heavens to strike himself. If the opponent is hit by the bolt above Taga they will receive decent damage but barely any knockback. However, when the Lightning Bolt hits Taga, he will redirect it through his body and out of his hands on both sides of him. This delivers good knockback and damage, and has good range, but is very laggy afterwards.\nIllustration:\nGrab: Taga reaches out his right arm and grabs the opponents.\nGrab Attack: Taga jerks the opponents by their neck while jolting electric current through them.\nForward Throw: Taga holds the enemy in place and kicks them away, like Link's Fthrow but more powerful.\nDown Throw: Slams the enemy into the ground and then stomps them, popping them into the air a little bit. Good for starting combos\nBack Throw: Heaves the opponent into the air behind him and then sends out a Thunderbolt to intercept them, giving additional knockback and damage.\nUp Throw: Just tosses them up into the air. Can be followed up at lower percents.\nGet up Attacks:\n< 100%: Taga pushes himself into a backflip and land on his feet.\n> 100%: Taga Struggles to get up, and then punches in both directions.\nLedge attack:\n< 100%: Taga springs himself up like a gymnast and kicks his enemies out of the way\n> 100%: Taga gets one le back on the stage, swipes his tail, and gets up.\nTaunts:\nUp: Taga raises his head toward the sky and laughs\nSide: Taga motions with his hands toward the side with a \"WTF\" motion\nDown: Taga makes an open hand gesture and says \"Of Course.\" in a sigh.\nFINAL SMASH: IONIZATION\nTaga Takes a powerful stance and stomps onto the ground. Electricty flows through the stage as all solid platforms and sage elements become an electrical hazard. Characters that touch the ground will take 10% damage and be knocked into the air with a bit of stun. Taga is immune to the danger and can roam the stage dealing additional damage to his enemies. This effect lasts for 15 seconds.\n \nCloud Strike Is Taga's Up-B :D\n \nThis character is entirely made up by me. He's the character I use in the RP I do with my girlfriend.\nName: Kurai Scaten-Oscuro\nAge: 20 (although his body was affected by some sort of magic, so he's physically 15)\nSex: Male\nPrimary Weapon: Sword\nWorld Icon:\nPicture of Kurai Oscuro (picture drawn by the IRL peofun1) His skin is actually a dark blackish color, what with him being of a dark race and all that.\n\"When the Red Shadow has all but consumed the land, a hybrid will come. This hybrid will have a power unlike any other. He shall have a form of a dark angel, and he, with the help of his light, shall bring down the furious thunder unto the Source, and return Nallthen to the age it was once in.\"\nThis is the Prophecy of the Dark Angel. The prophecy speaks of Kurai Oscuro, a boy who was born a hybrid between a normal Nallen woman, and an Elite Nallen. Kurai attempted to save his home planet of Nallthen from a dark substance known as the \"Red Shadow\" when he was fourteen, but he failed. He was forced to kill the girl he loved, and he fled to an alternate dimension, to a planet called \"Earth\".\nKurai saw Earth as a very strange planet. It seemed to mirror Nallthen. The terrain was nearly identical.\nEarth also seemed to be the opposite of Nallthen. Nallthen, while beautiful in its own right, was very dark and depressing. Earth was a brighter planet.\nThe process of crossing dimensions seemed to have affected Kurai physically. His body became five years younger. He went from being fourteen to being nine.\nKurai also had very limited power to alter the minds of humans. Although he couldn't use it much. He was able to alter the minds of a human family to cause them to believe that he was their son. Kurai was known as \"Matt\" on Earth.\nBy the time he was physically 14 again, Kurai had fallen in love with a girl on Earth named Christine. Kurai never shared his true identity with Christine.\nOne day, however, Kurai's most hated enemy, Nerez Scaten, came to Earth from Nallthen in search of him. Kurai and Christine were attacked, and Kurai was forced to reveal his identity in front of Christine.\nHowever, Christine also had an identity to reveal. She was not human either. She was of a species called \"Linck\". Lincks were creatures that had different \"kinds\". Christine was a cat-Linck named peofun1 Akiuri.\nScaten was not the only danger to them. A witch named Illismerillia had followed peo to this dimension with intentions to torture her, both physically and mentally, and then kill her.\nThe more Kurai and peo fought alongside each other, the stronger they became, and the stronger their love became. They see each other as motivation to fight their hardest to survive.\nA day would come when it was finally time to save Nallthen from the Red Shadow. Kurai, peo, peo's twin sister Negi, Kurai's female clone Kalah, and even Illismerillia (who seemed to also be in danger because of the Red Shadow) traveled to Kurai's home planet where they fought Nerez Scaten. Scaten was stabbed through the stomach, and thrown through the window of a building, plummeting to the ground below. It wasn't long until the group found the Source, a dark being that seemed to have created the Red Shadow.They fought the source, and defeated it. But the Red Shadow did not disappear. It was not tied to the Source, it was instead tied to Nerez Scaten, who had somehow survived the earlier battle. Scaten did not fight the entire group. He would only fight Kurai and peo, he formed a barrier keeping everyone else out. It was an intense fight, but Kurai and peo eventually won. Scaten apparantly died, and the Red Shadow disappeared forever.\nIllismerillia disappeared after the battle, swearing that this partnership was a one time deal, and she still wanted to kill peo, and Kurai.\npeo and Negi returned to Earth, but Kurai still had things he needed to do. He returned to Earth one month later, with a scar over his left eye, and his left arm replaced with a mechanical one.\nIllismerillia held up her promise that she would return. She was not especially unkind to Kurai as well as peo. One day, Illismerillia even ***** Kurai and got pregnant. The witch went to another dimension known as \"Oblivion\". She controlled the passage of time, so she gave birth and raised Kurai's son, Kraken, for twelve years before a week on Earth passed. Once Kraken was twelve years old, Illismerillia sent Kraken to kill Kurai without telling him that he was his father. Kraken eventually learned the truth, and turned on his mother. Kraken then returned to Oblivion, where he slowed time so that time would move faster on Earth.\nIn time, Kurai would face his path, and learn horrible truths about it. Kurai's own father, Nifun Oscuro, who treated him like crap when he was young and even killed his mother, fell in love with the witch. Illismerillia became pregnant again, but Nifun was soon killed by peo. The witch was not going to let them off easy though. six \"years\" later, Illismerillia sent her daughter, Karmen, to kill Kraken. Upon learning of his son's death, Kurai hated the witch more than ever before. He also wanted to hate Karmen, but he couldn't, as Kraken's dying wish was for him to \"save her, like you saved me\". Kurai and peo soon confronted the witch one last time in a final battle to the death. At the end of the battle, Illismerillia revealed a horrible secret that answered many questions about Kurai's past: Nifun was not Kurai's father. Kurai's father was really his most hated enemy; Nerez Scaten.\nStatistics\nHe's based off me. And I'm overweight. So I made him a bit heavier.\n...yeah.\nOne of the faster characters, but far from the fastest.\nPower: **\nKurai relies more on speed than power.\nRange: ***\nAAA: Finishes with a stab.\nForward tilt: A kick\nUp tilt: Uppercut punch (like Mario's)\nDown tilt: Spins with his sword facing outright at a downward angle\nForward Smash: Holds the sword by the top of the hilt, and hits the enemy with the hilt. Doesn't have good range or knockback, but good damage.\nUp Smash: Holds hand left hand in the air and fires a column of flames into the air.\nDown Smash: Summons shadows up from the ground around him that damage the enemy.\nNeutral air: Spins in the air with his sword facing outright\nForward air: Dives forward with sword facing in front of him. Does strong damage if it hits. Kurai is unable to move until he lands after this attack. (think Falcon's forward B)\nUp air: A sword slice above him\nBack air: Turns around and slices with his sword. He stays turned around after this.\nDown air: Holds sword in front of him and stays like that until he lands (think of how Ike holds his sword while coming down during Aether)\nGrab: Kurai grabs the enemy with his left hand.\nGrab attack: Kurai forms a flame with his left hand which burns the enemy\nForward throw: Lets go of the opponent and quickly fires a Nova beam (see below) at them, knocking them away from him.\nDown throw: Hits the enemy on the head with his sword, knocking them out of his grip and to the ground.\nUp throw: A simple throw into the air\nBack throw: Throws the enemy backwards and fires dark energy at them while they're in the air.\nSpecial Moves\nStandard: Nova\n\"Nova\" is a beam of green energy. It comes from his palm, and goes straight until it hits something. It has strong knockback, but does little damage.\nSide: Shadow Sword\nKurai throws his sword and it spins (if you've played Star Wars Battlefront II, then it spins like when you throw the lightsaber). After it lands on the ground, it sinks into the shadows. It then comes out from the shadows under Kurai's right sleeve and into his right hand.\nDown: Hypermode\nBased off of hypermode from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the gauntlet on Kurai's right hand glows red, and he now does double damage and knockback. However, Kurai gains 5% damage for every second Hypermode is active. Hypermode can be disabled the same way it was activated, and that is the only way it's deactivated.\nUp: Shadow Grab (tether recovery)\nKurai shoots a shadow from his arm, which grabs the ledge and pulls him up.\nFinal Smash\nDark Angel\nWhen it begins, Kurai grows black angel wings and his eyes turn cyan. Shadows fly from him in one direction towards another player, similar to how Link's FS is activated. Then, using his enhanced speed, he flies to the player trapped in the shadows and grabs them. Kurai then fires several Novas in to the player's stomach. He then throws the other player high into the air, and flies into the air after them and meteor-smashes them into the ground with his sword. He finishes by shooting a fireball out of his left hand at them while they're on the ground. Visually, it would be one of the more impressive Final Smashes in the game.\nTaunts\n1. Kurai spins his sword around at his side.\n2. Kurai shouts \"BISHAAN!!\"\n3: Kurai forms a fireball in his left hand, looks at it for a moment, and it disappears.\nVictory Poses\n1. Kurai tosses his sword into the air and the hilt hits him on the head, knocking him out.\n2. Kurai stands in his Dark Angel form, glaring at the camera.\n3. Kurai licks the blood off of his sword.\nAssist Trophy:\npeofun1 Akiuri\nPicture: Here (drawn by the IRL peofun1) (lol chibi)\npeofun1 is a Linck from an alternate dimension. When her home was wiped out by the witch, Illismerillia, she came to Earth. peo, as a Linck, has many useful abilities that could be used. But unfortunately, like with most Assist Trophies, she gets the \"run in and slash wildly\" treatment.\npeo wields dual blades. She runs in and does devastating damage, but little knockback. She can jump onto platforms to attack enemies. Before she disappears, she licks blood off of her sword.\n \nSan Antonio, TX\nThat's right ladies and gentlemen, Waldo of Where's Waldo book fame joins the brawl! :O *gazes out at the startled and horrified faces*\nUtilizing mad trickery skills, he annoys and confuses his opponents until they inevitably homerun themselves to escape the voices in their brain!\nUp Smash - Clone Flipkick - Waldo stuffs his hands into his pockets at the beginning of the move, then when released he pulls them out and performs a majestic flying kick straight upwards, but somehow he's still standing where he was looking as if he's thrown himself into the air. When he lands they conjoin into one person again, but during the move both can be hit to interrupt / cause damage.\nDown Smash - Book Burst - He holds out a big book and waits until the release where he drops it and drives his heel into the binding, causing a burst of pages on either side of him that cause rapid light hits based on how many pages touch the enemy.\nForward Smash - Tricky Fists - Leaning back with a fist ready, Waldo appears as though he's going to deck someone directly in front of him. However when he pulls the move off he suddenly pulls the held back arm into his shirt and punches with both hands through the same sleeve.\nSpecial Moves:\nUp B - Hat Trick - Tossing his little striped cap into the sky, Waldo magically flies up and reconnects it to his head as if he were a powerful magnet. His enemies are left shaking their cracked and bleeding fists at the sky in hopes that he will fall back to them.\nSide B - Scroll of Doom - Waldo chunks an indistinct bound scroll in front of him. When an enemy collides with it, a random character from his books will briefly poof into existence long enough to make players cry.\nDown B - Lost Shoe - The most notorious of all Waldo skills, he not so accidentally drops one of his loafers which can then be stepped upon by a foe, ensnaring their leg and making them walk half as fast as it clunks along.\nStandard B - Blinding Spectacles - Holding his glasses at just the right angle, Waldo momentarily blinds any opponent directly in front of him, causing them to hold their eyes in distress while he proceeds to cold clock them.\nFinal Smash: One Versus One Hundred - In an epic move, Waldo plasters the screen in a red and white striped haze as many versions of himself suddenly come running in along the stripes with canes ready to clobber those who would try and find the original!\nStats:\nSize - Medium (Extremely thin but almost as tall as Mewtwo.)\nWeight / Falling - Very Light (Almost appears to drift as he falls from lightness.)\nSpeed - Medium (Looks like an average human when performing attacks.)\nReach - Long (Longer than the common fool due to height.)\nPower - Weak (Has little to back up his swings with.)\n \nHoly crap, Eaode. You came prepared, didn't you? That was impressive. o_o\nDarkurai said: ↑\n[Kurai Oscuro]\nClick to expand...\nAlright, I added yours as well. I gave you a placeholder avatar for now, tell me when you have any better images available!\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nNot in my game you won't!\n... actually, that's kinda brilliant.\nI'll add him later. Keeping this thread updated turned out to be more work than expected. ^^;\n \nFawriel said: ↑\nHoly crap, Eaode. You came prepared, didn't you? That was impressive. o_o\nAlright, I added yours as well. I gave you a placeholder avatar for now, tell me when you have any better images available!\nNot in my game you won't!\n... actually, that's kinda brilliant.\nI'll add him later. Keeping this thread updated turned out to be more work than expected. ^^;\nClick to expand...\nHaha, thanks for taking it seriously because the more I thought about it the more I thought \"hey... he'd actually kind of work.\" Plus I do believe there was one crappy Waldo game for SNES or something.\nIt was an NES game, and my thread for Waldo got shutdown but at least the dream can live on.\n \nThe Eternal Will of the Swarm\nPremium\nNNID:\nPsychoIncarnate\nI got a character pic, but it would take me a while to think up what exactly his moves would be...\n \nCool... a very interesting design. I'll anticipate a moveset!\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nHaha, thanks for taking it seriously because the more I thought about it the more I thought \"hey... he'd actually kind of work.\" Plus I do believe there was one crappy Waldo game for SNES or something.\nIt was an NES game, and my thread for Waldo got shutdown but at least the dream can live on.[/QUOTE]\nHey, I encourage you to be as crazy as you want here. Add some smashes or so and he's a perfectly viable choice.\nClick to expand...\nSan Antonio, TX\nFawriel said: ↑\nHey, I encourage you to be as crazy as you want here. Add some smashes or so and he's a perfectly viable choice.\nClick to expand...\nAlright, I added the regular smash attacks and some basic statistics for him. I truthfully can't think of all the regular moves cause they'd probably just be random punches and kicks, hope it's ok to leave those out.\n \nEaode said: ↑\nFINAL SMASH: IONIZATION\nTaga Takes a powerful stance and stomps onto the ground. Electricty flows through the stage as all solid platforms and sage elements become an electrical hazard. Characters that touch the ground will take 10% damage and be knocked into the air with a bit of stun. Taga is immune to the danger and can roam the stage dealing additional damage to his enemies. This effect lasts for 15 seconds.\nClick to expand...\nI like your entire concept frankly but the Final Smash stood out as being totally awesome. Turning the stage against the enemies without giving Taga any other super power, pretty cool idea. Makes their life hell and lets you laugh... and laugh... and laugh.\n \nyep. It finally happened. EDDIE from \"Iron Maiden\" has joined the Brawl!!!\nSpecials:\nB: Guitar Solo\n-Eddie whips out his guitar and proceeds to shred through a face-melting solo. All within Eddies awesomeness get their faces melted.\nVB: Eat Brains.\n-Eddie chomps the brains of the guy in front of him, turning him into a brainless minion of METAL\n>B: Shoot with a Gun\n-Eddie whips out his gun from \"Ed Hunter\" and blows the guy standing far away into a skinless heap\n^B: Flaming Horns\n-Eddie flashes the Flaming Horns of the Goat and rises upward, as if lifted by the most excellent music. Anyone caught in his path is impaled and lit in flame with rock and roll.\nFinal Smash: Iron Maiden in Concert!\n-Iron Maiden is shown playing in the background of the stage. Eddie is jamming right with them. Everybody who is a slave to the man dies.\nAll of his other attacks involve brains, spears, and riffs. And beating people with a guitar.\nEDDIE FOR BRAWL!!!\nGark430\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nThat's right ladies and gentlemen, Waldo of Where's Waldo book fame joins the brawl! :O *gazes out at the startled and horrified faces*\nUtilizing mad trickery skills, he annoys and confuses his opponents until they inevitably homerun themselves to escape the voices in their brain!\nUp Smash - Clone Flipkick - Waldo stuffs his hands into his pockets at the beginning of the move, then when released he pulls them out and performs a majestic flying kick straight upwards, but somehow he's still standing where he was looking as if he's thrown himself into the air. When he lands they conjoin into one person again, but during the move both can be hit to interrupt / cause damage.\nDown Smash - Book Burst - He holds out a big book and waits until the release where he drops it and drives his heel into the binding, causing a burst of pages on either side of him that cause rapid light hits based on how many pages touch the enemy.\nForward Smash - Tricky Fists - Leaning back with a fist ready, Waldo appears as though he's going to deck someone directly in front of him. However when he pulls the move off he suddenly pulls the held back arm into his shirt and punches with both hands through the same sleeve.\nSpecial Moves:\nUp B - Hat Trick - Tossing his little striped cap into the sky, Waldo magically flies up and reconnects it to his head as if he were a powerful magnet. His enemies are left shaking their cracked and bleeding fists at the sky in hopes that he will fall back to them.\nSide B - Scroll of Doom - Waldo chunks an indistinct bound scroll in front of him. When an enemy collides with it, a random character from his books will briefly poof into existence long enough to make players cry.\nDown B - Lost Shoe - The most notorious of all Waldo skills, he not so accidentally drops one of his loafers which can then be stepped upon by a foe, ensnaring their leg and making them walk half as fast as it clunks along.\nStandard B - Blinding Spectacles - Holding his glasses at just the right angle, Waldo momentarily blinds any opponent directly in front of him, causing them to hold their eyes in distress while he proceeds to cold clock them.\nFinal Smash: One Versus One Hundred - In an epic move, Waldo plasters the screen in a red and white striped haze as many versions of himself suddenly come running in along the stripes with canes ready to clobber those who would try and find the original!\nStats:\nSize - Medium (Extremely thin but almost as tall as Mewtwo.)\nWeight / Falling - Very Light (Almost appears to drift as he falls from lightness.)\nSpeed - Medium (Looks like an average human when performing attacks.)\nReach - Long (Longer than the common fool due to height.)\nPower - Weak (Has little to back up his swings with.)\nClick to expand...\nOh my god, that's worse than Bill nye the Science guy (yes, I saw it on another forum).\n \nWarning: Spoilers for Metroid Prime 3 ahead!\nPhaaze\nThat's right. Phaaze, the sentient planet from Metroid Prime 3! It enters the roster as the largest and heaviest character in the game!\nSpecial Moves\nPhaaze explodes. The match then ends. Everyone dies and the stage is completely obliterated.\nSide: Leviathan\nPhaaze sends a Leviathan seed to strike the stage, obliterating the stages and killing everyone.\nDown: Crush\nPhaaze crushes the stage, obliterating it and killing everyone.\nUp: Out of Orbit\nPhaaze exits the stage and dies.\nFinal Smash\nPhazon corrupts all the fighters, killing them.\n \noblivion~\nTidalSpiral said: ↑\nAlright, I added the regular smash attacks and some basic statistics for him. I truthfully can't think of all the regular moves cause they'd probably just be random punches and kicks, hope it's ok to leave those out.\nClick to expand...\nThose are some really imaginative moves. I like them. ^^\nZ. Hoot said: ↑\n[Eddie]\nClick to expand...\nThe idea is kinda awesome, but the moves.. don't really work. Oh well, I won't be picky for now. =P\nCommander Blitzkrieg said: ↑\nOh my god, that's worse than Bill nye the Science guy (yes, I saw it on another forum).\nClick to expand...\nIf that idea wasn't so completely idiotic, I'd reject it.\nThose moves... totally don't work, though. But you knew that. =P\nAdded everyone, by the way.\nFor now, the bar is set low for new entries, but once I get more, I'll have to get more critical. Keep 'em coming! *shakes fist*\n \nGreat idea, I'll add mine when I think of it.\n \nFawriel said: ↑\nThose are some really imaginative moves. I like them. ^^\nThe idea is kinda awesome, but the moves.. don't really work. Oh well, I won't be picky for now. =P\nNo it isn't.\nIf that idea wasn't so completely idiotic, I'd reject it.\nThose moves... totally don't work, though. But you knew that. =P\nAdded everyone, by the way.\nFor now, the bar is set low for new entries, but once I get more, I'll have to get more critical. Keep 'em coming! *shakes fist*\nClick to expand...\nIt was a stupid idea, but Phaaze is alive, so it's technically a character. I couldn't resist.\nIt's not easy thinking up a moveset for a planet...\n \nViewtiful Joe is my character.\n \nhttp://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn...images/LenerdnervsurNintendo_143A3/ASSSS1.jpg\nThis is a movelist/description of the Angry Video Game Nerd, the angriest gamer there is. If you don't know this guy, I can't do him justice, but you may want to consider watching one of his videos, because they're hilarious. A list of his videos, with a couple missing. Lots of profanity. http://www.screwattack.com/AngryNerdMain.html\nThe Foulest, most perverse, angriest guy known to game-kind storms into brawl to take bad videogame characters by the throat, ending their lives as efficiently as he has some of the older games. Poorly thought out ideas and sub-par gameplay, beware, for he's come prepared, with Power Glove and Zapper!\nSTATS:\nPower: 4 The Nerd may not be amazingly strong physically, but his wrath makes up for that.\nSpeed: 2 He's a Nerd. He's not the fastest of guys, but he can run when he really needs to.\nWeight: 3 He's average weight, and falls only a little faster than Mario.\nTraction: 4 He has good shoes, oddly enough. However, it isn't anything really special, and ice will still cause him to slip around.\nSize: 3.5 He's around Link's height.\nThe Nerd stands perfectly still in combat, a tribute to the times when characters didn't move from the 8-bit era. He stands perfectly straight, and is walk is merely a straight walk, the leg movements slightly choppy. His dash reduces his height very little, and his legs get reasonably far apart at the apex. As far as dashes go, it lands between Mario and Links, probably just a hair faster than Samus. His run is much more fluent than his walk.\nHis jumps are roughly average, but he does next to no flips, maximum of one each jump. He doesn't appear at home in the air, his stance less confident appearing than the one on the ground. His duck cuts his height by about half. He crouches on one knee.\nGROUND MOVES\nStandard Combo: He quick, weak jab. Not much range, although for an A attack it is decent. There is no second hit, but the lag both on the start-up and after-delay is minimal. He says D amn while using this tech.\nForward tilt: He uses Simon's Whip, sending it out quickly before taking it back in. This attack is extremely quick, and has good range, but very little damage and knockback, not enough to make a fan-like effect. Primarily used for a tactic to stop other people from charging in. The Whip is brown normally, but there's a 5% chance it'll be a flame whip, which is the same speed, but much more damage and knockback, although not enough to be a cool move. He gives a cry of frustration when he uses this tech.\nDown tilt: His uses the silver surfer board to jab at his enemies feet. Decent Damage and knockback, but has a second worth of delay after using it where he's vulnerable.\nUp tilt: He raises his hand slightly and a ghost from ghost busters flies out directly above him for a second. This attack's hitbox is very large, covering his entire upper body for a couple seconds while the ghost appears. However, the ghost does very little damage, unless timed so that they are beneath him while the ghost goes up. In this case it launches them in the air at the end of the attack, and they take weak damage during it. However, the Nerd's lower half is completely vulnerable during the attack. It can be guard canceled half-way through, reducing vulnerability. The trade-off is that if someone is caught in the attack while you do this, they are simply let go. During the full attack, he says: \"They might as well have just called it Boo! Haunter house.\"\nForward Smash: Rolling Rock bottle. This is a very fast smash attack, with little start up lag. There's one frame that appears before the charge, and one that appears before the actual attack, meaning this can be a quick smash. He pulls back a Rolling Rock Bottle, and at the charge, lets go. This does a decent damage, although a little sub-par for a Smash, and knocks them into the air, but not far back. Generally considered good for combos. If it is charged for more than a six seconds, Nerd yells @#$%! and has a little wind-up for his swing, which does much more damage and knockback than normal, and is an excellent kill move.\nDown Smash: He pulls out either Bugs Bunny or Roger Rabbit by the ears, and swings them around on the floor similar to Mario's Forward Throw. At the end of it he doesn't throw them, however, they just disappear. There is a difference between Roger Rabbit and Bugs Bunny. Bugs does more damage, but Roger has more range. He yells the name of whatever character he used.\nUp Smash: He clenches his fist, and shoots the power glove up when released. It lacks a great amount of range, but does good damage. It also has a bit of delay before he puts his fist down, but during this delay his fist is still a hitbox that does a tiny amount of electric damage and knockback.\nDash Attack: His pulls out a ghostbusting vacuum, which gives the attack good range, and a large hitbox directly in front of him, but once the attack is down, there is a two second lag, which can be fatal. Pro AVGN players avoid this attack.\nAIR MOVES\nNeutral Aerial: Text block. The Nerd freezes in place for a second, while a text block surrounds him, saying something from Castlevania 2, Simon's Quest. It lasts two and a half seconds, and is not cancelable. It does good damage if the person is in the box while it appears but no knockback(one frame) and mediocre damage but a ton of knockback if they hit it after it appears, from the outside. IF someone hits him during this attack it does damage, but the actual attack bestows super armor.\nUp Aerial: 32X Add on. He holds a 32X for the Sega Genesis up above him, while saying 'another #$^*ing power adapter!' Does stun if it hits, with moderate damage and knockback. It has a disjointed hitbox from the Nerd, and goes out and in quickly as well. All in all, a quick attack for comboing.\nForward Aerial: He swings the massive Atari 5200 straight down. This is a meteor spike if hit in the right location, at the center of gravity for the 5200. The rest is just mediocre damage and knockback. Also, the lag after the attack is longer than most aerials, and it takes him a couple seconds to right himself. However, this attack is insanely powerful if it hits, on par with the knee.\nBack Aerial: Nintendo Power! He pulls an issue of Nintendo power and hits the person behind him at fan-speed. This can be repeated as quickly as the fan can, and shares the same basic attributes, except due to the fact it is in mid-air, it is difficult to use it as one normally would the fan. It is a favourite of edge-guarders who dislike the 5200.\nDown Aerial: ***! He goes down butt first. This attack speeds his decent, forces him in a much more linear direction, nearly straight down, and has no range. However, if they get hit by it, they take quite a bit of damage, and are poisoned, similar to the effect the Lip Stick gives.\nGRABS\nHe can uses a NES controller like a hookshot, and uses them to grab. This is different from the /\\B he uses, as it actually leads to him grabbing and throwing them. Once he gets them with the controller he reels them in quickly, and grabs them by the neck with his power glove. His attack during this is shooting them with the Zapper.\nForward Throw: He grabs their head, and shoots them through the stomach with the Zapper, sending them flying away. Decent damage, and a reliable throw, especially near an edge if facing the right way.\nUp Throw: He throws them somewhat, catching their leg in the air, and spinning, hitting them against the ground twice before shooting them straight into the air with the Zapper.\nBack Throw: He drops them behind him, and tries to take a dump while their head is right there. This is one, single decent hit with low knockback and damage, but has the same effect as his down aerial.\nDown Throw: He holds them to the ground, less than an inch away, and then his power glove goes berzerk, vibrating madly doing a lot of hits for 1 damage each before just dropping them. This attack's length is based on two things - how fast you can hit A, and how fast they can escape grabs. They can speed it up, while you slow it down. It automatically ends after they've taken 30 damage, however, and The Nerd takes some as well due to the electricity.\nSPECIAL MOVES\nNeutral Special: Lightgun. This attack is a simple shot, which can be aimed by holding B and moving the joystick. It gains some power when charged, but not very much in comparison to other charged attacks. However, he can shoot from straight up to a 70 degree angle, meaning it is good for keeping people at bay, annoying them. It has slow charge time. In midair he shoots it in whatever direction you happen to be pressing, and it cannot be charged.\nSide Special: He Shouts a loud, obnoxious swearword that does damage but no knockback to all within a small radius of him. This attack has a second of delay and start up, but is good to punish people with attacks like that of their own, as it does a fair bit of damage quickly.\nUp Special: He throws a NES controller in the air, which goes in a wide arc, while he keeps the chord. If it grabs a ledge or person, it wraps around them and he jumps next to them. This attack does little damage to the person, and also pulls them into the Nerd's direction. They can still move about freely during this period, but the Nerd can speed or slow his approach by using A and B, A making him get there in an instant, and B stopping him. This can lead to a mindgame of it's own, because the Nerd can use aerial attacks after using this.\nDown Special: He pulls out a game he's reviewed, and can throw it as an item, each one doing different damage and a special effect. Friday the 13 does no damage, but good knockback. Silver Surfer flies in a perfectly straight line, and never falls, but does little damage and knockback. Top Gun explodes. Bart Simpson Games do poison damage, Ghostbusters hit them in the opposite direction of whatever way they were supposed to go normally, and the rarest and most fiendish one of all, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde do no knockback, but 50 damage. It is extremely rare, however.\nTaunts:\n1 Turns to the screen, and pretends to shoot as his fingers on the power glove until only the middle finger remains.\n2 He looks directly at the screen and says 'You and your friends are Dead. Game Over. '\n3 Takes out a Roland Rock and takes a drink.\nEntrance: The tangled mess of wires as big as bowser burst into pieces, as the Nerd emerges from the ooze, a stream of swearwords emerging from his mouth as the wires fall to the side and he stands up, prepared for another battle!\nAlt. Costumes:\nNormal Nerd: He wears a white, short-sleeved dress shirt, has brown hair with normal glasses, and brown pants.\n'Emo' Nerd: He wears a black short-sleeved dress shirt, has black hair with thick glasses, is much paler than usual, and has black dress pants.\n'Sega' Nerd: He wears a blue, short-sleeved dress shirt with white arms, has blond-ish hair, and normal glasses. Has black pants.\n'Nintendo' Nerd: He wears a red, short-sleeved dress shirt with white arms, has brown hair with normal glasses, and gray pants.\n'Legend of Zelda' Nerd: He wears an emerald green short-sleeved dress shirt, with dark-green pants. His hair is slightly lighter.\n'Mario' Nerd: He wears a red short-sleeved dress shirt, and blue pants. He has slightly darker hair with this one.\nFINAL SMASH: TOP GUN\nThis cruel technique summons a word box at the bottom of the screen. If anyone besides the Nerd touches this, they take good damage. The Nerd can stand on it as he wishes. In the box, commands appear. All other characters must comply with this, and every frame they don't they take 3% damage. The command changes every second, and they can do whatever else they want so long as they did the command once. This lasts for 10 seconds before disappearing, and the commands are random. The AV Nerd is free to do whatever he wants during this period. The possible commands are: Up! Down! Left! Right! A! B! Taunt! Shield! Up, down left and right can be dealt with the C-Stick, Joystick, or D-pad.\nItem Moves: While the Angry Videogame Nerd holds a baseball bat, beam-sword, or anything of the sort, his movelist changes slightly. Below are all the changes.\nStandard Combo: He swings in a small arc relatively close to him. It doesn't do much damage or potential knockback, nor does it have range. It is faster than his normal A, however, although it has worse delay after the attack.\nForward Smash: He charges by holding the Rolling Rock Bottle as usual, but when it hits, they stay where they are, and he brings the other weapon up to send them straight in the air doing moderate damage. The second hit only sends them flying if they're hit by the first attack, otherwise it does weak damage and knockback. It has a slower start-up time than his original smash.\nDash Attack: He swings vertically, with an attack that, although slow both starting and ending, has impressive range and disjointed hit-box, making it a useful attack when you get an item. It also does fairly good damage, and is unusually good for a dash attack with a weapon.\nStage: Castlevania 2, Simon's Quest\nhttp://sydlexia.com/imagesandstuff/nes100/castlevania2.png\nThis? What is this? This is a screen shot from the very first videogame The Angry Video Game Nerd ever reviewed, Castlevania 2. In many ways, it was the grounds where he learned how to be an Angry Video Game Nerd. He returns there now to kick the *** of anyone who dares challenge him!\nThis is a medium sized walk-off level. The wall at the top right corner of the screen is not there, and that platform is raised, as well as the ones which the stairs go to, although not very much. The stairs themselves are just decoration. During the level, Simon Belmont occasionally appears on the right hand side underneath the platform, on the raised ledge. He throws knives, axes, and occasionally just uses a flaming whip. He cannot be destroyed, and stays for 15-20 seconds before retreating back off stage.\nSound: The choice for his music is clear: The AVGN theme that plays at the start of most of his episodes. However, it isn't exactly conductive to battling on it's own. However, the Spiderman episode has a good instrumental version. Therefor, his Brawl music is simple: that style of the complete version, viewable in Sega CD, with the lyrics there, but reduced to increase the guitar, and a slight increase in the tempo to make the perfect music to fight to!\n \n3. Big + Heavy = easier to combo\n4. Low floatiness makes aerial combos hard to do.\n5. Bad throws\nEntrance: Falls down from the top of the screen\nJab: A punch followed by a scimitar swing\n5%/8%\nDash Attack: A lunging knee attack\n13%\nFtilt: A short ranged, weak punch. Setup for F-Smash\n7%\nUtilt: A weak uppercut. Setup for U-Smash\n7%\nDtilt: His most powerful tilt. A downwards jab of the sword.\n12%\nF-Smash: The Kick. Y'know, THE kick.\n19% (sweetspot at heel does 25%) Full charge = 23%/25%\nU-Smash: Leonidas jumps into a powerful uppercut. And, by powerful, I mean you don't want to get hit by it. Srsly.\n25%, Full charge = 30%\nD-Smash: The two sided sword swipe that all human swordsmen have.\n12%/17%; Full charge = 15%/20%\nNair: A sex kick\nFair: A sword slash with forwards momentum. Can be used in recoveries.\n15% (no sweetspot)\nBair: Leonidas jabs backwards with his sword.\n11% normal, 17% tipped\nUair: Mid-air uppercut\n11%\nDair: Leonidas curls up into a ball and does to strong punch downwards. Meteor smash and most powerful aerial move, however its lag prevents it from being overused.\n22%\nGrab jab: A punch to the face\n7%\nFthrow: Tossing the opponent forwards. F-Smash setup\n7%\nBthrow: Throwing the opponent backwards into a sword slash\n13%\nUthrow: Tossing the opponent up followed by a strong uppercut\n15%\nDthrow: Throwing the opponent into the ground and jabbing them with the sword\n10%\nGet-up Attack: Punches both sides.\n7% each\nLedge Attack (<100%): A weak sword swing. Avoid using it.\n2%\nLedge Attack (100%+): Leonidas PUUUUUNCH. Do use this move.\n15%\nJabs his sword forward and poses. This move effectively has two hitboxes.\nThe first one is the actual sword which does some damage and medium knockback.\nThe second one is a small area beyond the sword's edge. If the oppnent is in that hitbox, they stop moving and any attack they were going to do is canceled.\nHas just enough lag so that it's not spammable, but not so much that it's unusable.\n5%\n>B: Epic Spear Throw\nIf I have to explain this, you didn't watch 300. It also does massive damage to shields and has good priority.\n10%\n^B: \"THIS IS SPARTA!!!!\"\nYells \"THIS IS SPARTA!!!!\" downward. The sheer force propels him upwards and knocks anyone under him downwards. No damage.\nVB: Fighting in the Shade\nLeonidas cloaks himself with darkness to avoid attacks. Length of time the cloak lasts depends on time of day. You are also immobile when cloaked, so using >B is the best way to get opponents away from you.\nDon't let your opponent get behind you.\nFS: 300\nSummons his 299 comrades, who swarm the stage and attack everyone.\nTaunts:\n1. Beats his sword against his shield thrice\n2. Does the pose in the above pic.\n3. Looks up at the sky\nVictory Poses\n2. Drops his shield and sword, and looks directly at the players\n3. Jabs the spear in the ground, crosses his arms, and glares\nCombos:\nUtilt -> Usmash -> Nair -> Dash attack\nPseudo-Ken Combo\nLeonidas also has an alt. costume...\nStage: Thermopylae Pass\nHazards: A walk-off edge on the right side\nStage Music\nFrom the 300 Soundtrack: To Victory, The Hot Gates, Fight In The Shade, Immortals Battle, Fever Dream, Glory",
"Travis' Security Concepts - www.subspacefield.org\nI am comfortable with certain derivative works, such as translation ... programs” an absurd amount of the time; ... for binding text and tests to a name. ...\nSecurity Concepts\nSecurity Concepts\[email protected]\nAbstract\nThis is an online book about computer, network, technical, physical, information and cryptographic security. It is a labor of love, incomplete until the day I am finished.\nTable of Contents\n1 Metadata\nThe books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.\n-- Theodore Parker\n1.1 Copyright and Distribution Control\nKindly link a person to it instead of redistributing it, so that people may always receive the latest version. However, even an outdated copy is better than none. The PDF version is preferred and more likely to render properly (especially graphics and special mathematical characters), but the HTML version is simply too convenient to not have it available. The latest version is always here:\nhttp://www.subspacefield.org/security/security_concepts.html\nThis is a copyrighted work, with some rights reserved. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . This means you may redistribute it for non-commercial purposes, and that you must attribute me properly (without suggesting I endorse your work). For attribution, please include a prominent link back to this original work and some text describing the changes. I am comfortable with certain derivative works, such as translation into other languages, but not sure about others, so have yet not explicitly granted permission for all derivative uses. If you have any questions, please email me and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you.\n1.2 Goals\nI wrote this paper to try and examine the typical problems in computer security and related areas, and attempt to extract from them principles for defending systems. To this end I attempt to synthesize various fields of knowledge, including computer security, network security, cryptology, and intelligence. I also attempt to extract the principles and implicit assumptions behind cryptography and the protection of classified information, as obtained through reverse-engineering (that is, informed speculation based on existing regulations and stuff I read in books), where they are relevant to technological security.\n1.3 Audience\nWhen I picture a perfect reader, I always picture a monster of courage and curiosity, also something supple, cunning, cautious, a born adventurer and discoverer.\n-- Friedreich Nietzsche\nThis is not intended to be an introductory text, although a beginner could gain something from it. The reason behind this is that beginners think in terms of tactics, rather than strategy, and of details rather than generalities. There are many fine books on computer and network security tactics (and many more not-so-fine books), and tactics change quickly, and being unpaid for this work, I am a lazy author. The reason why even a beginner may gain from it is that I have attempted to extract abstract concepts and strategies which are not necessarily tied to computer security. And I have attempted to illustrate the points with interesting and entertaining examples and would love to have more, so if you can think of an example for one of my points, please send it to me!\nI’m writing this for you, noble reader, so your comments are very welcome; you will be helping me make this better for every future reader. If you send a contribution or comment, you’ll save me a lot of work if you tell me whether you wish to be mentioned in the credits (see 39↓ ) or not; I want to respect the privacy of anonymous contributors. If you’re concerned that would be presumptuous, don’t be; I consider it considerate of you to save me an email exchange. Security bloggers will find plenty of fodder by looking for new URLs added to this page, and I encourage you to do it, since I simply don’t have time to comment on everything I link to. If you link to this paper from your blog entry, all the better.\n1.4 About This Work\nI have started this book with some terminology as a way to frame the discussion. Then I get into the details of the technology. Since this is adequately explained in other works, these sections are somewhat lean and may merely be a list of links. Then I get into my primary contribution, which is the fundamental principles of security which I have extracted from the technological details. Afterwards, I summarize some common arguments that one sees among security people, and I finish up with some of my personal observations and opinions.\n1.5 On the HTML Version\nSince this document is constantly being revised, I suggest that you start with the table of contents and click on the subject headings so that you can see which ones you have read already. If I add a section, it will show up as unread. By the time it has expired from your browser’s history, it is probably time to re-read it anyway, since the contents have probably been updated.\nSee the end of this page for the date it was generated (which is also the last update time). I currently update this about once every two weeks.\nSome equations may fail to render in HTML. Thus, you may wish to view the PDF version instead.\n1.6 About Writing This\nPart of the challenge with writing about this topic is that we are always learning and it never seems to settle down, nor does one ever seem to get a sense of completion. I consider it more permanent and organized than a blog, more up-to-date than a book, and more comprehensive and self-contained than most web pages. I know it’s uneven; in some areas it’s just a heading with a paragraph, or a few links, in other places it can be as smoothly written as a book. I thought about breaking it up into multiple documents, so I could release each with much more fanfare, but that’s just not the way I write, and it makes it difficult to do as much cross-linking as I’d like.\nThis is to my knowledge the first attempt to publish a computer security book on the web before printing it, so I have no idea if it will even be possible to print it commercially. That’s okay; I’m not writing for money. I’d like for the Internet to be the public library of the 21 st century, and this is my first significant donation to the collection. I am reminded of the advice of a staffer in the computer science department, who said, “do what you love, and the money will take care of itself”.\nThat having been said, if you wanted towards the effort, you can help me defray the costs of maintaining a server and such by visiting our donation page . If you would like to donate but cannot, you may wait until such a time as you can afford to, and then give something away (i.e. pay it forward).\n1.7 Tools Used To Create This Book\nI use LyX , but I’m still a bit of a novice. I have a love/hate relationship with it and the underlying typesetting language LaTeX .\n2 Security Properties\nWhat do we mean by secure? When I say secure, I mean that an adversary can’t make the system do something that its owner (or designer, or administrator, or even user) did not intend. Often this involves a violation of a general security property. Some security properties include:\nconfidentiality refers to whether the information in question is disclosed or remains private.\nintegrity refers to whether the systems (or data) remain uncorrupted. The opposite of this is malleability, where it is possible to change data without detection, and believe it or not, sometimes this is a desirable security property.\navailability is whether the system is available when you need it or not.\nconsistency is whether the system behaves the same each time you use it.\nauditability is whether the system keeps good records of what has happened so it can be investigated later. Direct-record electronic voting machines (with no paper trail) are unauditable.\ncontrol is whether the system obeys only the authorized users or not.\nauthentication is whether the system can properly identify users. Sometimes, it is desirable that the system cannot do so, in which case it is anonymous or pseudonymous.\nnon-repudiation is a relatively obscure term meaning that if you take an action, you won’t be able to deny it later. Sometimes, you want the opposite, in which case you want repudiability (“plausible deniability”).\nPlease forgive the slight difference in the way they are named; while English is partly to blame, these properties are not entirely parallel. For example, confidentiality refers to information (or inferences drawn on such) just as program refers to an executable stored on the disk, whereas control implies an active system just as process refers to a running program (as they say, “a process is a program in motion”). Also, you can compromise my data confidentiality with a completely passive attack such as reading my backup tapes, whereas controlling my system is inherently detectable since it involves interacting with it in some way.\n2.1 Information Security is a PAIN\nYou can remember the security properties of information as PAIN; Privacy, Authenticity, Integrity, Non-repudiation.\n2.2 Parkerian Hexad\nThere is something similar known as the “Parkerian Hexad”, defined by Donn B. Parker, which is six fundamental, atomic, non-overlapping attributes of information that are protected by information security measures:\nconfidentiality\n2.4 Security Equivalency\nI consider two objects to be security equivalent if they are identical with respect to the security properties under discussion; for precision, I may refer to confidentiality-equivalent pieces of information if the sets of parties to which they may be disclosed (without violating security) are exactly the same (and conversely, so are the sets of parties to which they may not be disclosed). In this case, I’m discussing objects which, if treated improperly, could lead to a compromise of the security goal of confidentiality. Or I could say that two cryptosystems are confidentiality-equivalent, in which case the objects help achieve the security goal. To be perverse, these last two examples could be combined; if the information in the first example was actually the keys for the cryptosystem in the second example, then disclosure of the first could impact the confidentiality of the keys and thus the confidentiality of anything handled by the cryptosystems. Alternately, I could refer to access-control equivalence between two firewall implementations; in this case, I am discussing objects which implement a security mechanism which helps us achieve the security goal, such as confidentiality of something.\nThere is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.\n-- General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)\nThese are important concepts which appear to apply across multiple security domains.\n4.1 The Classification Problem\nMany times in security you wish to distinguish between classes of data. This occurs in firewalls, where you want to allow certain traffic but not all, and in intrusion detection where you want to allow benign traffic but not allow malicious traffic, and in operating system security, we wish to allow the user to run their programs but not malware (see 16.7↓ ). In doing so, we run into a number of limitations in various domains that deserve mention together.\n4.1.1 Classification Errors\nFalse Positives vs. False Negatives, also called Type I and Type II errors. Discuss equal error rate (EER) and its use in biometrics.\nA more sophisticated measure is its Receiver Operating Characteristic curve, see:\nInformation Awareness: A Prospective Technical Assessment\n4.1.2 The Base-Rate Fallacy\nIn The Base Rate Fallacy and its Implications for Intrusion Detection , the author essentially points out that there’s a lot of benign traffic for every attack, and so even a small chance of a false positive will quickly overwhelm any true positives. Put another way, if one out of every 10,001 connections is malicious, and the test has a 1% false positive error rate, then for every 1 real malicious connection there 10,000 benign connections, and hence 100 false positives.\n4.1.3 Test Efficiency\nIn other cases, you are perfectly capable of performing an accurate test, but not on all the traffic. You may want to apply a cheap test with some errors on one side before applying a second, more expensive test on the side with errors to weed them out. In medicine, this is done with a “screening” test which has low false negatives, and then having concentrated the high risk population, you now diagnose with a more complex procedure with a low false positive rate because you’re now diagnosing a high-prevalence population. This is done in BSD Unix with packet capturing via tcpdump, which uploads a coarse filter into the kernel, and then applies a more expensive but finer-grained test in userland which only operates on the packets which pass the first test.\n4.1.4 Incompletely-Defined Sets\nAs far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.\n-- Albert Einstein\nStop for a moment and think about the difficulty of trying to list all the undesirable things that your computer shouldn’t do. If you find yourself finished, then ask yourself; did you include that it shouldn’t attack other computers? Did you include that it shouldn’t transfer $1000 to a mafia-run web site when you really intended to transfer $100 to your mother? Did you include that it shouldn’t send spam to your address book? The list goes on and on.\nThus, if we had a complete list of everything that was bad, we’d block it and never have to worry about it again. However, often we either don’t know, or the set is infinite.\nIn some cases, it may be possible to define a list of good things (see 34.1↓ ); for example, the list of programs you might need to use in your job may be small, and so they could be enumerated. However, it is easy to imagine where whitelisting would be impossible; for example, it would be impractical to enumerate all the possible “good” network packets, because there’s just so many of them.\nIt is probably true that computer security is interesting because it is open-ended; we simply don’t know ahead of time whether something is good or bad.\n4.1.5 The Guessing Hazard\nSo often we can’t enumerate all the things we would want to do, nor all the things that we would not want to do. Because of this, intrusion detection systems (see 16↓ ) often simply guess; they try to detect attacks unknown to them by looking for features that are likely to be present in exploits but not in normal traffic. At the current moment, you can find out if your traffic is passing through an IPS by trying to send a long string of 0x90 octets (x86 NOPs) in a session. This isn’t malicious by itself, but is a common letter with which people pad exploits (see 24.6↓ ). In this case, it’s a great example of a false positive, or collateral damage, generated through guilt-by-association; there’s nothing inherently bad about NOPs, it’s just that exploit writers use them a lot, and IPS vendors decided that made them suspicious. I’m not a big fan of these because I feel that it breaks functionality that doesn’t threaten the system, and that it could be used as evidence of malfeasance against someone by someone who doesn’t really understand the technology. I’m already irritated by the false-positives or excessive warnings about security tools from anti-virus software; it seems to alert to “potentially-unwanted programs” an absurd amount of the time; most novices don’t understand that the anti-virus software reads the disk even though I’m not running the programs, and that you have nothing to fear if you don’t run the programs. I fear that one day my Internet Service Provider will start filtering them out of my email or network streams, but fortunately they just don’t care that much.\n4.2 Security Layers\nI like to think of security as a hierarchy. At the base, you have physical security. On top of that is OS security, and on top of that is application security, and on top of that, network security. The width of each layer of the hierarchy can be thought of as the level of security assurance, so that it forms a pyramid.\nYou may have an unbeatable firewall, but if your OS doesn’t require a password and your adversary has physical access to the system, you lose. So each layer of the pyramid can not be more secure (in an absolute sense) as the layer below it. Ideally, each layer should be available to fewer adversaries than the layer above it, so that one has a sort of balance or risk equivalency.\nnetwork security\nhardware security\nphysical security\nIn network security, we concern ourselves with nodes in networks (that is, individual computers), and do not distinguish between users of each system. In some sense, we are assigning rights to computers and not people. We are defining which computers may talk to which other computers, or perhaps even to which applications. This is often justified since it is usually easier to leverage one user’s access to gain another’s within the same system than to gain access to another system (but this is not a truism).\nIn application or database security, we are concerned about how software applications handle security. For example, most databases have notions of users, and one may allow certain users to access certain databases, tables, or rows and not others. It is assumed that the adversary is one of the users of the system, and the discussion centers around what that user can or cannot do within the application, assuming that the user cannot\nIn operating system security, we distinguish between users of the system, and perhaps the roles they are fulfilling, and only concern ourselves with activities within that computer. It is assumed that the adversary has some access, but less than full privileges on the system.\nHardware security receives little discussion in security circles, but as processors and chipsets get more complex, there are more vulnerabilities being found within them. In hardware security, we assume that the adversary has root-level access on the system, and discuss what that enables the adversary to do.\nWhen we discuss physical security, we assume that the adversary may physically approach the campus, building, room, or computer. We tend to create concentric security zones around the system, and try to keep adversaries as far away from it as possible. This is because if an adversary gains physical, unmonitored access to the computer system, it is virtually impossible to maintain the security of the system. This kind of discussion is particularly interesting to designers of tamper-resistant systems, such as digital satellite TV receivers.\nHere’s a taxonomy of some commonly-useful privilege levels.\nAnonymous, remote systems\nKernel (privileged mode, ring 0)\nHardware (TPM, ring -1, hypervisors, trojaned hardware)\nActual systems may vary, levels may not be strictly hierarchical, etc. Basically the higher the privilege level you get, the harder you can be to detect. The gateways between the levels are access control devices, analogous with firewalls.\n4.4 What is a Vulnerability?\nNow that you know what a security property is, what constitutes (or should constitute) a vulnerability? On the arguable end of the scale we have “loss of availability”, or susceptibility to denial of service (DoS). On the inarguable end of the scale, we have “loss of control”, which usually arbitrary code execution, which often means that the adversary can do whatever he wants with the system, and therefore can violate any other security property.\nIn an ideal world, every piece of software would state its assumptions about its environment, and then state the security properties it attempts to guarantee; this would be a security policy. Any violation of these explicitly-stated security properties would then be a vulnerability, and any other security properties would simply be “outside the design goals”. However, I only know of one piece of commonly-available software which does this, and that’s OpenSSL ( http://oss-institute.org/FIPS_733/SecurityPolicy-1.1.1_733.pdf ).\nA vulnerability is a hole or a weakness in the application, which can be a design flaw or an implementation bug, that allows an attacker to cause harm to the stakeholders of an application. Stakeholders include the application owner, application users, and other entities that rely on the application. The term “vulnerability” is often used very loosely. However, here we need to distinguish threats, attacks, and countermeasures.\n-- OWASP Vulnerabilities Category ( http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:Vulnerability )\nVulnerabilities can be divided roughly into two categories, implementation bugs and design flaws. Gary McGraw ( http://www.cigital.com/~gem/ ), the host of the Silver Bullet Security Podcast ( http://www.cigital.com/silverbullet/ ), reports that the vulnerabilities he finds are split into these two categories roughly evenly.\n4.5 Vulnerability Databases\n4.5.1 National Vulnerability Database\nNVD is the U.S. government repository of standards based vulnerability management data represented using the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). This data enables automation of vulnerability management, security measurement, and compliance. NVD includes databases of security checklists, security related software flaws, misconfigurations, product names, and impact metrics.\n-- NVD Home Page\nNational Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ )\n4.5.2 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures\nInternational in scope and free for public use, CVE is a dictionary of publicly known information security vulnerabilities and exposures.\nCVE’s common identifiers enable data exchange between security products and provide a baseline index point for evaluating coverage of tools and services.\n-- CVE Home Page\nCommon Vulnerabilities and Exposures ( http://cve.mitre.org/ )\n4.5.3 Common Weakness Enumeration\nThe Common Weakness Enumeration Specification (CWE) provides a common language of discourse for discussing, finding and dealing with the causes of software security vulnerabilities as they are found in code, design, or system architecture. Each individual CWE represents a single vulnerability type. CWE is currently maintained by the MITRE Corporation with support from the National Cyber Security Division (DHS). A detailed CWE list is currently available at the MITRE website; this list provides a detailed definition for each individual CWE.\n-- CWE Home Page\nCommon Weakness Enumeration ( http://cwe.mitre.org/ )\n4.5.4 Open Source Vulnerability Database\nOSVDB is an independent and open source database created by and for the community. Our goal is to provide accurate, detailed, current, and unbiased technical information.\n-- OSVDB Home Page\nThe Open Source Vulnerability Database ( http://osvdb.org/ )\n4.6 Accuracy Limitations in Making Decisions That Impact Security\nOn two occasions I have been asked, “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?” In one case a member of the Upper, and in the other a member of the Lower, House put this question. I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.\n-- Charles Babbage\nThis is sometimes called the GIGO rule (Garbage In, Garbage Out). Stated this way, this seems self-evident. However, you should realize that this applies to systems as well as programs. For example, if your system depends on DNS to locate a host, then the correctness of your system’s operation depends on DNS. Whether or not this is exploitable (beyond a simple denial of service) depends a great deal on the details of the procedures. This is a parallel to the question of whether it is possible to exploit a program via an unsanitized input.\nYou can never be more accurate than the data you used for your input. Try to be neither precisely inaccurate, nor imprecisely accurate. Learn to use footnotes.\n4.7 Rice’s Theorem\nThis appears to relate to the undecidability of certain problems related to arbitrary programs, of certain issues related to program correctness, and has important consequences like “no modern general-purpose computer can solve the general problem of determining whether or not a program is virus free”. A friend pointed out to me that the entire anti-virus industry depends on the public not realizing that this is proven to be an unsolvable (not just a difficult) problem. The anti-virus industry, when it attempts to generate signatures or “enumerate badness” (see 34.1↓ ), is playing a constant game of catch-up, usually a step or two behind their adversaries.\nUnfortunately, really understanding and (even moreso) explaining decidability problems requires a lot of thinking, and I’m not quite up to the task at the moment, so I’ll punt.\nWikipedia article on Rice’s Theorem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice%27s_theorem )\n5 Economics of Security\n5.1 How Expensive are Security Failures?\nHere are some of the examples I could dig up.\n5.1.1 TJ Maxx\nTJ Maxx was using WEP at their stores and suffered a major loss of data, and large fines:\n5.1.5 Egghead Software\nEgghead was hurt by a December 2000 revelation that hackers had accessed its systems and potentially compromised customer credit card data. The company filed for bankruptcy in August 2001. After a deal to sell the company to Fry’s Electronics for $10 million fell through, its assets were acquired by Amazon.com for $6.1 million.\n…\nIn December 2000, the company’s IIS-based servers were compromised, potentially releasing credit card data of over 3.6 million people. In addition to poor timing near the Christmas season, the handling of the breach by publicly denying that there was a problem, then notifying Visa, who in turn notified banks, who notified consumers, caused the breach to escalate into a full blown scandal.\n-- Wikipedia\nhttp://securityblog.verizonbusiness.com/2009/04/15/2009-dbir/\n5.2 Abuse Detection and Response: A Cost-Benefit Perspective\nAs I mentioned earlier, abuse detection is a kind of classification problem (see 4.1↑ ), which will forever be an imprecise science.\nIn general, you want to balance the costs of false positives and false negatives. If we assume “rate” means “per unit of time”, or “per number of interactions with the outside world”, then the equation would be:\nfprate*fpcost = fnrate*fncost\nNote that the definitions are very important to the equation! The ratio of abuse or intrusion attempts to legitimate traffic is usually rather low, and so naively substituting “the chance of failing to recognize a valid abuse attempt” as the fprate above will give an incorrect result. This is related to the base-rate fallacy described above (see 4.1.2↑ ). What you probably want then is to define the abuse ratio (abrat) as the number of abuse attempts per incoming requests, and you get:\nfprate = abrat*fpchance\nfnrate = (1 − abrat)*fnchance\nThus, if we wish to avoid the term “rate” as being misleading, then the equation should really be:\nabrat*fpchance*fpcost = (1 − abrat)*fnchance*fncost\nAbuse detection (see 16↓ ) is all about the failure chances (and thus, rates as defined above). Abuse response choices (see 17↓ ) determine the cost. For example, anomaly detection will give a higher false positive rate (and lower false negative rate) than misuse detection (see 16.2↓ ).\nIf your response to abuse causes an alert (see 17.1↓ ) to be generated, and a human must investigate it, then the false positive cost will be high, so you might want to (for example) do some further validation of the detection event to lower the false positive rate. For example, if your IDS detected a Win32 attack against a Linux system, you might want to avoid generating an alert.\nOn the other hand, if you can cheaply block an abuser, and suffer no ill effects from doing so even if it was a false positive, then you can take a liberal definition of what you consider abusive. To use the above example, one might wish to taint the source (see 17.2.2↓ ) and shun him, even if the Win32 attack he launched could not have worked against the Linux box.\nIntrusion detection is merely a subset of abuse detection, since an intrusion is only one kind of abuse of a system.\n6 Adversary Modeling\nIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.\nIf you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.\nIf you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.\n-- Sun Tzu, The Art of War ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War )\nAfter deciding what you need to protect (your assets), you need to know about the threats you wish to protect it against, or the adversaries (sometimes called threat agents) which may threaten it. Generally intelligence units have threat shops, where they monitor and keep track of the people who may threaten their operations. This is natural, since it is easier to get an idea of who will try and do something than how some unspecified person may try to do it, and can help by hardening systems in enemy territory more than those in safer areas, leading to more efficient use of resources. I shall call this adversary modeling.\nIn adversary modeling, the implicit assumptions are that you have a limited budget and the number of threats is so large that you cannot defend against all of them. So you now need to decide where to allocate your resources. Part of this involves trying to figure out who your adversaries are and what their capabilities and intentions are, and thus how much to worry about particular domains of knowledge or technology. You don’t have to know their name, location and social security number; it can be as simple as “some high school student on the Internet somewhere who doesn’t like us”, “a disgruntled employee” (as opposed to a gruntled employee), or “some sexually frustrated script-kiddie on IRC who doesn’t like the fact that he is a jerk who enjoys abusing people and therefore his only friends are other dysfunctional jerks like him”. People in charge of doing attacker-centric threat modeling must understand their adversaries and be willing to take chances by allocating resources against an adversary which hasn’t actually attacked them yet, or else they will always be defending against yesterday’s adversary, and get caught flat-footed by a new one.\n6.1 Common Psychological Errors\nThe excellent but poorly titled [A] [A] Stumbling on Happiness is actually a book of psychological illusions, ways that our mind tends to trick us, and not a self-help book. book Stumbling on Happiness tells us that we make two common kinds of errors when reasoning about other humans:\nOverly different; if you looked at grapes all day, you’d know a hundred different kinds, and naturally think them very different. But they all squish when you step on them, they are all fruits and frankly, not terribly different at all. So too we are conditioned to see people as different because the things that matter most to us, like finding an appropriate mate or trusting people, cannot be discerned with questions like “do you like breathing?”. An interesting experiment showed that a description of how they felt by people who had gone through a process is more accurate in predicting how a person will feel after the process than a description of the process itself. Put another way, people assume that the experience of others is too dependent on the minor differences between humans that we mentally exaggerate.\nOverly similar; people assume that others are motivated by the same things they are motivated by; we project onto them a reflection of our self. If a financier or accountant has ever climbed mount Everest, I am not aware of it. Surely it is a cost center, yes?\n6.2 Cost-Benefit\nOften, the lower layers of the security hierarchy cost more to build out than the higher levels. Physical security requires guards, locks, iron bars, shatterproof windows, shielding, and various other things which, being physical, cost real money. On the other hand, network security may only need a free software firewall. However, what an adversary could cost you during a physical attack (e.g. a burglar looting your home) may be greater than an adversary could cost you by defacing your web site.\n6.3 Risk Tolerance\nWe may assume that the distribution of risk tolerance among adversaries is monotonically decreasing; that is, the number of adversaries who are willing to try a low-risk attack is greater than the number of adversaries who are willing to attempt a high-risk attack to get the same result. Beware of risk evaluation though; while a hacker may be taking a great risk to gain access to your home, local law enforcement with a valid warrant is not going to be risking as much.\nSo, if you are concerned about a whole spectrum of adversaries, known and unknown, you may wish to have greater network security than physical security, simply because there are going to be more remote attacks.\n6.4 Capabilities\nYou only have to worry about things to the extent they may lie within the capabilities of your adversaries. It is rare that adversaries use outside help when it comes to critical intelligence; it could, for all they know, be disinformation, or the outsider could be an agent-provocateur.\n6.5 Sophistication Distribution\nIf they were capable, honest, and hard-working, they wouldn’t need to steal.\nAlong similar lines, one can assume a monotonically decreasing number of adversaries with a certain level of sophistication. My rule of thumb is that for every person who knows how to perform a technique, there are x people who know about it, where x is a small number, perhaps 3 to 10. The same rule applies to people with the ability to write an exploit versus those able to download and use it (the so-called script kiddies). Once an exploit is coded into a worm, the chance of a compromised host having been compromised by the worm (instead of a human who targets it specifically) approaches 100%.\n6.6 Goals\nWe’ve all met or know about people who would like nothing more than to break things, just for the heck of it; schoolyard bullies who feel hurt and want to hurt others, or their overgrown sadist kin. Vandals who merely want to write their name on your storefront. A street thug who will steal a cell phone just to throw it through a window. I’m sure the sort of person reading this isn’t like that, but unfortunately some people are. What exactly are your adversary’s goals? Are they to maximize ROI (Return On Investment) for themselves, or are they out to maximize pain (tax your resources) for you? Are they monetarily or ideologically motivated? What do they consider investment? What do they consider a reward? Put another way, you can’t just assign a dollar value on assets, you must consider their value to the adversary.\n7 Threat Modeling\nMen of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war.\n-- Aristophanes\nIn technology, people tend to focus on how rather than who, which seems to work better when anyone can potentially attack any system (like with publicly-facing systems on the Internet) and when protection mechanisms have low or no incremental cost (like with free and open-source software). I shall call modeling these threat modeling ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threat_model ).\n7.1 Common Platform Enumeration\nCPE is a structured naming scheme for information technology systems, software, and packages. Based upon the generic syntax for Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI), CPE includes a formal name format, a method for checking names against a system, and a description format for binding text and tests to a name.\n-- CPE Home Page\nThe first part of threat modelling should be, what is it I want to protect? And once you start to compile a list of things you wish to protect, you might want a consistent naming system for your computer assets. The CPE may help you here.\nCommon Platform Enumeration ( http://cpe.mitre.org/ )\n7.2 A Taxonomy of Privacy Breaches\nA Taxonomy of Privacy ( http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/03/a_taxonomy_of_p.html )\nIn the above article, Daniel Solove suggests that breaches of privacy are not of a single type, but can mean a variety of things:\nsurveillance\nGnothi Seauton (“Know Thyself”)\n-- ancient Greek aphorism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself )\nWhen discussing security, it’s often useful to analyze the part which may interact with a particular adversary (or set of adversaries). For example, let’s assume you are only worried about remote adversaries. If your system or network is only connected to outside world via the Internet, then the attack surface is the parts of your system that interact with things on the Internet, or the parts of your system which accept input from the Internet. A firewall, then, limits the attack surface to a smaller portion of your systems by filtering some of your network traffic. Often, the firewall blocks all incoming connections.\nSometimes the attack surface is pervasive. For example, if you have a network-enabled embedded device like a web cam on your network that has a vulnerability in its networking stack, then anything which can send it packets may be able to exploit it. Since you probably can’t fix the software in it, you must then use a firewall to attempt to limit what can trigger the bug. Similarly, there was a bug in Sendmail that could be exploited by sending a carefully-crafted email through a vulnerable server. The interesting bit here is that it might be an internal server that wasn’t exposed to the Internet; the exploit was data-directed and so could be passed through your infrastructure until it hit a vulnerable implementation. That’s why I consistently use one implementation (not Sendmail) throughout my network now.\nIf plugging a USB drive into your system causes it to automatically run things like a standard Microsoft Windows XP installation, then any plugged-in device is part of the attack surface. But even if it does not, then by plugging a USB device in you could potentially overflow the code which handles the USB or the driver for the particular device which is loaded; thus, the USB networking code and all drivers are part of the attack surface if you can control what is plugged into the system.\nMalware Distribution through Physical Media a Growing Concern ( http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/13/1533243 )\nusbroken, a USB fuzzer based on Arduino ( http://code.google.com/p/usbroken/ )\nSchneier Hacking Computers over USB ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/06/hacking_compute.html )\nUSB Devices can Crack Windows ( http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/USB-Devices-Can-Crack-Windows/ )\npsgroove, a jailbreak exploit for PS3 ( http://github.com/psgroove/psgroove )\nMoreover, a recent vulnerability ( http://it.slashdot.org/it/08/01/14/1319256.shtml ) illustrates that when you have something which inspects network traffic, such as uPNP devices or port knocking daemons, then their code forms part of the attack surface.\nSometimes you will hear people talk about the anonymous attack surface; this is the attack surface available to everyone (on the Internet). Since this number of people is so large, and you usually can’t identify them or punish them, you want to be really sure that the anonymous attack surface is limited and doesn’t have any so-called “pre-auth” vulnerabilities, because those can be exploited prior to identification and authentication.\n7.6 Attack Trees\nThe next logical step is to move from defining the attack surface to modeling attacks and quantify risk levels.\nWikipedia on Attack Tree ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_tree )\nSchneier on Attack Trees ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-attacktrees-ddj-ft.html )\nMicrosoft on Attack Trees ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff648644.aspx )\n7.7 The Weakest Link\nAmdahl’s law, also known as Amdahl’s argument, is named after computer architect Gene Amdahl, and is used to find the maximum expected improvement to an overall system when only part of the system is improved.\nYou are the weakest link, goodbye!\n-- The Weakest Link (TV series)\nLet us think of our security posture for whatever we’re protecting as being composed of a number of systems (or groups of systems possibly offering defense-in-depth). The strength of these systems to attack may vary. You may wish to pour all your resources into one, but the security will likely be broken at the weakest point, either by chance or by an intelligent adversary.\nThis is an analogy to Amdahl’s law, stated above, in that we can only increase our overall security posture by maintaining a delicate balance between the different defenses to attack vectors. Most of the time, your resources are best spent on the weakest area, which for some institutions (financial, military) is usually personnel.\nThe reasons you might not balance all security systems may include:\nEconomics matter here; it may be much cheaper and reliable to buy a firewall than put your employees through security training. Software security measures sometimes have zero marginal cost, but hardware almost always has a marginal cost.\nExposure affects your risk calculations; an Internet attack is much more likely than a physical attack, so you may put more effort into Internet defense than physical defense.\nCapability implies in that organizations have varying abilities. For example, the military may simply make carrying a thumb drive into the facility a punishable offense, but a commercial organization may find that too difficult or unpopular to enforce. An Internet company, by contrast, may have a strong technical capability, and so might choose to write software to prevent the use of thumb drives.\n8 Physical Security\nWhen people think of physical security, these often are the limit on the strength of access control devices; I recall a story of a cat burglar who used a chainsaw to cut through victim’s walls, bypassing any access control devices. I remember reading someone saying that a deep space probe is the ultimate in physical security.\nWikipedia article on Physical Security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_security )\n8.1 No Physical Security Means No Security\nWhile the locks are getting tougher, the door and frame are getting weaker. A well-placed kick usually does the trick.\n-- a burglar\nA couple of limitations come up without physical security for a system. For confidentiality, all of the sensitive data needs to be encrypted. But even if you encrypt the data, an adversary with physical access could trojan the OS and capture the data (this is a control attack now, not just confidentiality breach; go this far and you’ve protected against overt seizure, theft, improper disposal and such). So you’ll need to you protect the confidentiality and integrity of the OS, he trojans the kernel. If you protect the kernel, he trojans the boot loader. If you protect the boot loader (say by putting on a removable medium), he trojans the BIOS. If you protect the BIOS, he trojans the CPU. So you put a tamper-evident label on it, with your signature on it, and check it every time. But he can install a keyboard logger. So suppose you make a sealed box with everything in it, and connectors on the front. Now he gets measurements and photos of your machine, spends a fortune replicating it, replaces your system with an outwardly identical one of his design (the trojan box), which communicates (say, via encrypted spread-spectrum radio) to your real box. When you type plaintext, it goes through his system, gets logged, and relayed to your system as keystrokes. Since you talk plaintext, neither of you are the wiser.\nThe physical layer is a common place to facilitate a side-channel attack (see 31.2↓ ).\n8.2 Data Remanence\nI know what your computer did last summer.\nData remanence is the the residual physical representation of your information on media after you believe that you have removed it (definition thanks to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_remanence ). This is a disputed region of technology, with a great deal of speculation, self-styled experts, but very little hard science.\nA Guide to Understanding Data Remanence in Automated Information Systems (Ver.2 09/91) ( http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/rainbow/tg025-2.htm )\nNational Security Agency/CSS Degausser Products List 25 Sep 2001 ( http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/degausse.pdf )\nLast time I looked most of the degaussers require 220V power and may not work on hard drives, due to their high coercivity.\nAs of 2006, the most definitive study seems to be the NIST Computer Security Division paper Guidelines for Media Sanitization ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-88/NISTSP800-88_rev1.pdf ). NIST is known to work with the NSA on some topics, and this may be one of them. It introduces some useful terminology:\ndisposing is the act of discarding media with no other considerations\nclearing is a level of media sanitization that resists anything you could do at the keyboard or remotely, and usually involves overwriting the data at least once\npurging is a process that protects against a laboratory attack (signal processing equipment and specially trained personnel)\ndestroying is the ultimate form of sanitization, and means that the medium can no longer be used as originally intended\n8.2.1 Magnetic Storage Media (Disks)\nThe seminal paper on this is Peter Gutmann’s Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/secure_del.html ). In early versions of his paper, he speculated that one could extract data due to hysteresis effects even after a single overwrite, but on subsequent revisions he stated that there was no evidence a single overwrite was insufficient. Simson Garfinkel wrote about it recently in his blog ( https://www.techreview.com/blog/garfinkel/17567/ ).\nThe NIST paper has some interesting tidbits in it. Obviously, disposal cannot protect confidentiality of unencrypted media. Clearing is probably sufficient security for 99% of all data; I highly recommend Darik’s Boot and Nuke ( http://dban.sourceforge.net/ ), which is a bootable floppy or CD based on Linux. However, it cannot work if the storage device stops working properly, and it does not overwrite sectors or tracks marked bad and transparently relocated by the drive firmware. With all ATA drives over 15GB, there is a “secure delete” ATA command which can be accessed from hdparm within Linux, and Gordon Hughes has some interesting documents and a Microsoft-based utility ( http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml ). There’s a useful blog entry about it ( http://storagemojo.com/2007/05/02/secure-erase-data-security-you-already-own/ ). In the case of very damaged disks, you may have to resort to physical destruction. However, with disk densities being what they are, even 1/125” of a disk platter may hold a full sector, and someone with absurd amounts of money could theoretically extract small quantities of data. Fortunately, nobody cares this much about your data.\nNow, you may wonder what you can do about very damaged disks, or what to do if the media isn’t online (for example, you buried it in an underground bunker), or if you have to get rid of the data fast. I would suggest that encrypted storage (see 28.7↓ ) would almost always be a good idea. If you use it, you merely have to protect the confidentiality of the key, and if you can properly sanitize the media, all the better. Recently Simson Garfinkel re-discovered a technique for getting the data off broken drives; freezing them. Another technique that I have used is to replace the logic board with one from a working drive.\nHard drive’s data survives shuttle explosion ( http://blocksandfiles.com/article/5056 )\nGerman firm probes final World Trade Center deals ( http://www.prisonplanet.com/german_firm_probes_final_world_trade_center_deals.htm )\nWikipedia entry on Data Recovery ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_recovery )\n200 ways to recover your data ( http://btjunkie.org/torrent/200-Ways-To-Recover-Revive-Your-Hard-Drive/4358cd27083f53a0d4dc3a7ec8354d22b61574534c96 )\nData Recovery blog ( http://datarecovery-hddrecovery.blogspot.com/ )\n8.2.2 Semiconductor Storage (RAM)\nPeter Gutmann’s Data Remanence in Semiconductor Devices ( http://www.cypherpunks.to/~peter/usenix01.pdf ) shows that if a particular value is held in RAM for extended periods of time, various processes such as electromigration make permanent changes to the semiconductor’s structure. In some cases, it is possible for the value to be “burned in” to the cell, such that it cannot hold another value.\nCold Boot Attack\nRecently a Princeton team ( http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/ ) found that the values held in DRAM decay in predictable ways after power is removed, such that one can merely reboot the system and recover keys for most encrypted storage systems ( http://citp.princeton.edu/pub/coldboot.pdf ). By cooling the chip first, this data remains longer. This generated much talk in the industry. This prompted an interesting overview of attacks against encrypted storage systems ( http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9876060-38.html ).\nBoingBoing video demonstration ( http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/12/bbtv-hacker-howto-co.html )\nDirect Memory Access\nIt turns out that certain peripheral devices, notably Firewire, have direct memory access.\nThis means that you can plug something into the computer and read data directly out of RAM.\nThat means you can read passwords directly out of memory:\nReading RAM With A Laser\nOn A New Way to Read Data from Memory ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/SISW02.pdf )\n8.3 Smart Card Attacks\nThis section deserves great expansion.\nInstead I’ll punt and point you at the latest USENIX conference on this:\n9.1 Introduction\nHardware security is a term I invented to describe the security models provided by a CPU ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit ), associated chipset ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipset ) and peripheral hardware. The assumption here is that the adversary can create and execute program code of his own choosing, possibly as an administrator (root). As computer hardware and firmware ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware ) becomes more complex, there will be more and more vulnerabilities found in it, so this section is likely to grow over time.\nEach computer hardware architecture is going to have its own security models, so this discussion is going to be specific to the hardware platform under consideration.\n9.2 Protection Rings\nMost modern computer systems have at least two modes of operation; normal operation and privileged mode. The vast majority of software runs in normal mode, and the operating system, or more accurately the kernel, runs in privileged mode. Similarly, most of the functionality of the CPU is available in normal mode, whereas a small but significant portion, such as that related to memory management and communicating with hardware, is restricted to that operating in privileged mode.\nSome CPU architectures, go farther and define a series of hierarchical protection domains that are often called protection rings ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_(computer_security) ). This is a simple extrapolation of the two-level normal/privileged mode into multiple levels, or rings.\n9.3 Operating Modes\nThe Intel architectures in particular has several operating modes. These are not privilege rings, but rather represent the state that the CPU is in, which affects how various instructions are interpreted\n9.4 NX bit\nThe NX bit, which stands for No eXecute, is a technology used in CPUs to segregate areas of memory for use by either storage of processor instructions (or code) or for storage of data, a feature normally only found in Harvard architecture processors. However, the NX bit is being increasingly used in conventional von Neumann architecture processors, for security reasons.\nAn operating system with support for the NX bit may mark certain areas of memory as non-executable. The processor will then refuse to execute any code residing in these areas of memory. The general technique, known as executable space protection, is used to prevent certain types of malicious software from taking over computers by inserting their code into another program’s data storage area and running their own code from within this section; this is known as a buffer overflow attack.\n-- Wikipedia\n10 Distributed Systems\n10.1 Network Security Overview\nThe things involved in network security are called nodes. One can talk about networks composed of humans (social networks), but that’s not the kind of network we’re talking about here; I always mean a computer unless I say otherwise. Often in network security the adversary is assumed to control the network in whole or part; this is a bit of a holdover from the days when the network was radio, or when the node was an embassy in a country controlled by the adversary. In modern practice, this doesn’t seem to usually be the case, but it’d be hard to know for sure. In the application of network security to the Internet, we almost always assume the adversary controls at least one of the nodes on the network.\nIn network security, we can lure an adversary to a system, tempt them with something inviting; such a system is called a honeypot, and a network of such systems is sometimes called a honeynet. A honeypot may or may not be instrumented for careful monitoring; sometimes systems so instrumented are called fishbowls, to emphasize the transparent nature of activity within them. Often one doesn’t want to allow a honeypot to be used as a launch point for attacks, so outbound network traffic is sanitized or scrubbed; if traffic to other hosts is blocked completely, some people call it a jail, but that is also the name of an operating system security technology used by FreeBSD, so I consider it confusing.\nTo reduce a distributed system problem to a physical security (see 8↑ ) problem, you can use an air gap, or sneakernet between one system and another. However, the data you transport between them may be capable of exploiting the offline system. One could keep a machine offline except during certain windows; this could be as simple as a cron job which turns on or off the network interface via ifconfig. However, an offline system may be difficult to administer, or keep up-to-date with security patches.\n10.2 Network Access Control: Packet Filters, Firewalls, Security Zones\nMost network applications use TCP, a connection-oriented protocol, and they use a client/server model. The client initiates a handshake with the server, and then they have a conversation. Sometimes people use the terms client and server to mean the application programs, and other times they mean the node itself. Other names for server applications include services and daemons. Obviously if you can’t speak with the server at all, or (less obviously) if you can’t properly complete a handshake, you will find it difficult to attack the server application. This is what a packet filter does; it allows or prevents communication between a pair of sockets. A packet filter does not generally do more than a simple all-or-nothing filtering. Now, every computer can potentially have a network access control device, or packet filter, on it. For security, this would be the ideal; each machine defends itself, opening up the minimum number of ports to external traffic. However, tuning a firewall for minimum exposure can be a difficult, time-consuming process and so does not scale well. It would be better for network daemons to not accept connections from across the network, and there definitely has been a move this direction. In some cases, a packet filter would merely be redundant to a system which does not have any extraneous open ports.\nThe firewall was originally defined as a device between different networks that had different security characteristics; it was named after the barrier between a automobile interior and the engine, which is designed to prevent a engine fire from spreading to the passenger cabin. Nowadays, they could be installed on every system, protecting it from all other systems.\nAs our understanding of network security improved, people started to define various parts of their network. The canonical types of networks are:\nTrusted networks were internal to your corporation.\nAn untrusted network may be the Internet, or a wifi network, or any network with open, public access.\nDemilitarized zones (DMZs) were originally defined as an area for placing machines that must talk to nodes on both trusted and untrusted networks. At first they were placed outside the firewall but inside a border router, then as a separate leg of the firewall, and now in are defined and protected in a variety of ways.\nWhat these definitions all have in common is that they end up defining security zones (this term thanks to the authors of Extreme Exploits). All the nodes inside a security zone have roughly equivalent access to or from other security zones. I believe this is the most important and fundamental way of thinking of network security. Do not confuse this with the idea that all the systems in the zone have the same relevance to the network’s security, or that the systems have the same impact if compromised; that is a complication and more of a matter of operating system security than network security. In other words, two systems (a desktop and your DNS server) may not be security equivalent, but they may be in the same security zone.\n10.3 Network Reconnaissance: Ping Sweeps, Port Scanning\nTypically an adversary needs to know what he can attack before he can attack it. This is called reconnaissance, and involves gathering information about the target and identifying ways in which he can attack the target. In network security, the adversary may want to know what systems are available for attack, and a technique such as a ping sweep of your network block may facilitate this. Then, he may choose to enumerate (get a list of) all the services available via a technique such as a port scan. A port scan may be a horizontal scan (one port, many IP addresses) or vertical scan (one IP address, multiple ports), or some combination thereof. You can sometimes determine what service (and possibly what implementation) it is by banner grabbing or fingerprinting the service.\nIn an ideal world, knowing that you can talk to a service does not matter. Thus, a port scan should only reveal what you already assumed your adversary already knew. However, it is considered very rude, even antisocial, like walking down the street and trying to open the front door of every house or business that you pass; people will assume you are trying to trespass, and possibly illicitly copy their data.\nTypical tools used for network reconnaissance include:\nfirewalk ( http://www.packetfactory.net/projects/firewalk/ )\n10.4 Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention\nMost security-conscious organizations are capable of detecting most scans using [network] intrusion detection systems (IDS) or intrusion prevention systems (IPS); see 16↓ .\nSnort IDS ( http://www.snort.org/ )\n10.5 Cryptography is the Sine Qua Non of Secure Distributed Systems\nAll cryptography lets you do is create trust relationships across untrustworthy media; the problem is still trust between endpoints and transitive trust.\n-- Marcus Ranum\nPut simply, you can’t have a secure distributed system (with the normal assumptions of untrusted nodes and network links potentially controlled by the adversary) without using cryptography somewhere (“sine qua non” is Latin for “without which it could not be”). If the adversary can read communications, then to protect the confidentiality of the network traffic, it must be encrypted. If the adversary can modify network communication, then it must have its integrity protected and be authenticated (that is, to have the source identified). Even physical layer communication security technologies, like the KLJN cipher, quantum cryptography, and spread-spectrum communication, use cryptography in one way or another.\nI would go farther and say that performing network security decisions on anything other than cryptographic keys is never going to be as strong as if it depended on cryptography. Very few Internet adversaries currently have the capability to arbitrarily route data around. Most cannot jump between VLANs on a tagged port. Some don’t even have the capability to sniff on their LAN. But none of the mechanisms preventing this are stronger than strong cryptography, and often they are much weaker, possibly only security through obscurity. Let me put it to you this way; to support a general argument otherwise, think about how much assurance a firewall has that a packet claiming to be from a given IP address is actually from the system the firewall maintainer believes it to be. Often these things are complex, and way beyond his control. However, it would be totally reasonable to filter on IP address first, and only then allow a cryptographic check; this makes it resistant to resource consumption attacks from anyone who cannot spoof a legitimate IP address (see 4.1.1↑ ).\n10.6 Hello, My Name is 192.168.1.1\nHumans are incapable of securely storing high-quality cryptographic keys, and they have unacceptable speed and accuracy when performing cryptographic operations. (They are also large, expensive to maintain, difficult to manage, and they pollute the environment. It is astonishing that these devices continue to be manufactured and deployed. But they are sufficiently pervasive that we must design our protocols around their limitations).\n-- Network Security / PRIVATE Communication in a PUBLIC World by Charlie Kaufman, Radia Perlman, & Mike Speciner (Prentice Hall 2002; p.237)\nBecause humans communicate in slowly, in plaintext, and don’t plug into a network, we consider the nodes within the network to be computing devices. The system a person interacts with has equivalency with them; break into the system administrator’s console, and you have access to anything he or she accesses. In some cases, you may have access to anything he or she can access. You may think that the your LDAP or Kerberos server is the most important, but isn’t the node of the guy who administers it just as critical? This is especially true if OS security is weak and any user can control the system, or if the administrator is not trusted, but it is also convenient because packets do not have user names, just source IPs. When some remote system connects to a server, unless both are under the control of the same entity, the server has no reason to trust the remote system’s claim about who is using it, nor does it have any reason to treat one user on the remote system different than any other.\n10.7 Source Tapping; The First Hop and Last Mile\nOne can learn a lot more about a target by observing the first link from them than from some more remote place. That is, the best vantage point is one closest to the target. For this reason, the first hop is far more critical than any other. An exception may involve a target that is more network-mobile than the eavesdropper. The more common exception is tunneling/encryption (to include tor and VPN technologies); these relocate the first hop somewhere else which is not physically proximate to the target’s meat space coordinates, which may make it more difficult to locate.\nThings to consider here involve the difficulty of interception, which is a secondary concern (it is never all that difficult). For example, it is probably less confidential from the ISP to use an ISP’s caching proxy than to access the service directly, since most proxy software makes it trivial to log the connection and content; however, one should not assume that one is safe by not using the proxy (especially now that many do transparent proxying). However, it is less anonymous from the remote site to access the remote site directly; using the ISP’s proxy affords some anonymity (unless the remote site colludes with the ISP).\n10.8 Security Equivalent Things Go Together\nOne issue that always seems to come up is availability versus other goals. For example, suppose you install a new biometric voice recognition system. Then you have a cold and can’t get in. Did you prioritize correctly? Which is more important? Similar issues come up in almost every place with regard to security. For example, your system may authenticate users versus a global server, or it may have a local database for authentication. The former means that one can revoke a user’s credentials globally immediately, but also means that if the global server is down, nobody can authenticate. Attempts to get the best of both worlds (“authenticate locally if global server is unreachable”) often reduce to availability (adversary just DOSes link between system and global server to force local authentication).\nMy philosophy on this is simple; put like things together. That is, I think authentication information for a system should be on the system. That way, the system is essentially a self-contained unit. By spreading the data out, one multiplies potential attack targets, and reduces availability. If someone can hack the local system, then being able to alter a local authentication database is relatively insignificant.\n10.9 Man In The Middle\nHow do we detect MITM or impersonation in web, PGP/GPG, SSH contexts?\nThe typical process for creating an Internet connection involves a DNS resolution at the application layer (unless you use IP addresses), then sending packets to the IP address (at the network layer), which have to be routed; at the link layer, ARP typically is used to find the next hop at each stage, and then bits are marshalled between devices at the physical layer. Each of these steps creates the opportunity for a man-in-the-middle attack.\n10.9.1 DNS MITM Issues\nWikipedia article on DNS cache poisoning ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_cache_poisoning )\nSpoofing replies - transaction ID predictability ( http://www.net-security.org/dl/articles/Attacking_the_DNS_Protocol.pdf , http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30131 )\nMaybe you are querying a DNS server the adversary controls (i.e. your ISP)\n10.9.2 IP Routing MITM Issues\nThe adversary could announce bogus BGP routes ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4272 ).\nThe adversary could naturally sit between you and the remote system.\n10.9.3 Link Layer MITM Issues\nThe adversary could use ARP spoofing or poisoning, such as with these tools:\n10.9.4 Physical Layer MITM Issues\nTapping the wire (or listening to wireless)\nThere is something used by the military called an identification friend or foe (IFF) device. You can read about it on the Wikipedia page ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identification_friend_or_foe ). What is interesting is that it can be defeated using a MITM attack; the challenger sends his challenge towards the adversary, and the adversary relays the challenge to a system friendly to the challenger, and relays the response back. What is interesting here is that, in this case, the IFF device can enforce a reasonable time limit, so that a MITM attack fails due to speed-of-light constraints. In this case, it could be considered a kind of “somewhere you are” authentication factor (see 11.8↓ ).\nAT&T Invents Programming Language for Mass Surveillance ( http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/att-invents-pro.html )\n10.11 Push vs. Pull Updates\nWhen moving data between systems on a regular basis, I find myself wondering whether it is better to push data or to have the system pull it. In a push model, the pushing system connects to an open port on the destination, which implies that there is the possibility that the destination system could have data pushed to it from another machine. In a pull model, the machine asks for the data it wants, and the sender of the data must have an open port. This is a complex subject. Sometimes push models are inadequate because one of the recipient machines may be unreachable when you are doing the push. Sometimes pull models are inadequate because the pull may come too late for an important security update. Sometimes you need both, where you push to a class of systems and any which are down automagically request the data when they come back up. With SSH, rsync, and proper key management, this is not really a significant security issue, but with other systems implementing their own file distribution protocols, this could be a major security hole. Be careful that any file transfer you establish is a secure one.\n10.12 DNS Issues\nDNS is perhaps the most widely deployed distributed system, and it can be abused in many ways. The main investigator of DNS abuse is Dan Kaminsky; he can tunnel SSH sessions over DNS, store data in DNS like a very fast FTP server, use it to distribute real-time audio data, and snoop on caches to see if you’ve requested a certain DNS name.\nDan Kaminski’s web site ( http://www.doxpara.com/ )\n10.13 Network Topology\nOrganizational systems prone to intrusion, or with porous perimeters, should make liberal use of internal firewalls. This applies to organizational structures as well, so that organizations prone to personnel infiltration, should make use of the revolutionary cell structure for their communication topology.\nIt is possible to triangulate the location of a system using ping times from three locations. Note that it’s not the physical locations that you use to triangulate, but the network locations; it’s no good if all three share the same long pipe to the target. You need separate paths that converge as close to the target as possible.\n11 Identification and Authentication\nIdentification is necessary before making any sort of access control decisions. Often it can reduce abuse, because an identified individual knows that if they do something there can be consequences or sanctions. For example, if an employee abuses the corporate network, they may find themselves on the receiving end of the sysadmin’s luser attitude readjustment tool (LART). I tend to think of authentication as a process you perform on objects (like paintings, antiques, and digitally signed documents), and identification as a process that subjects (people) perform, but in network security you’re really looking at data created by a person for the purpose of identifying them, so I use them interchangeably.\nSometimes I suspect I’m not who I think I am.\n-- Ghost in the Shell\nAn identity, for our purposes, is an abstract concept; it does not map to a person, it maps to a persona. Some people call this a digital ID, but since this paper doesn’t talk about non-digital identities, I’m dropping the qualifier. Identities are different from authenticators, which are something you use to prove your identity. An identifier is shorthand, a handle; like a pointer to the full identity.\nTo make this concrete, let us take the Unix operating system as an example. Your identity corresponds to a row in the /etc/passwd file. Your identifier is your username, which is used to look up your identity, and your password is an authenticator.\n11.2 Identity Management\nIn relational database design, it is considered a good practice for the primary key ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_key ) of a table to be an integer, perhaps a row number, that is not used for anything else. That is because the primary key is used as an identifier for the row; it allows us to modify the object itself, so that the modification occurs in all use cases simultaneously (for a normalized database). Most competent DBAs realize that people change names, phone numbers, locations, and so on; they may even change social security numbers. They also realize that people may share any of these things (even social security numbers are not necessarily unique, especially if they lie about it). So to be able to identify a person across any of these changes, you need to use a row number. The exact same principle applies with security systems; you should always keep the identifiers separate from identities and authenticators.\nThis is good, because the authenticator (password) may be changed without losing the idea of the identity of the person. However, there are subtle gotchas. In Unix, the username is mapped to a user ID (UID), which is the real way that Unix keeps track of identity. It isn’t necessarily a one-to-one mapping. Also, a poor system administer may reassign an unused user ID without going through the file system and looking for files owned by the old user, in which case their ownership is silently reassigned.\nPGP/GPG made the mistake of using a cryptographic key as an identifier. If one has to revoke that key, one basically loses anything (such as signatures) which applied to that key, and the trust that other people have indicated towards that key. And if you have multiple keys, friends of yours who have all of them cannot treat them all as equivalent, since GPG can’t be told that they are associated to the same identity, because the keys are the identity. Instead, they must manage statements about you (such as how much they trust you to act as an introducer) on each key independently.\nSome web sites are using email addresses as identities, which makes life difficult when it changes; in some cases, you are effectively a different person if you change email addresses. In my opinion, identifiers like email addresses should only serve to look up an identity; it should not be the identity.\nFor an excellent paper on identity in an Internet context, see:\nKim Cameron’s “The Laws of Identity” ( http://www.identityblog.com/?p=354 )\nBen Laurie’s “Selective Disclosure” ( http://www.links.org/files/selective-disclosure.pdf )\n11.3 The Identity Continuum\nIdentification can range from fully anonymous to pseudonymous, to full identification. Ensuring identity can be expensive, and is never perfect. Think about what you are trying to accomplish. Applies to cookies from web sites, email addresses, “real names”, and so on.\n11.4 Problems Remaining Anonymous\nIn cyberspace everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes.\n-- Graham Greenleaf\nWhat can we learn from anonymizer, mixmaster, tor, and so on? Often one can de-anonymize. Some people have de-anonymized search queries this way, and census data, and many more data sets that are supposed to be anonymous.\n11.5 Problems with Identifying People\nRandomly-Chosen Identity\n11.6 What Authority?\nDoes it follow that I reject all authority? Far from me such a thought. In the matter of boots, I refer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult that of the architect or the engineer.\n-- Mikhail Bakunin, What is Authority? 1882 ( http://www.panarchy.org/bakunin/authority.1871.html )\nWhen we are attempting to identify someone, we are relying upon some authority, usually the state government. When you register a domain name with a registrar, they record your personal information in the WHOIS database; this is the system of record ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_of_record ). No matter how careful we are, we can never have a higher level of assurance than this authority has. If the government gave that person a false identity, or the person bribed a DMV clerk to do so, we can do absolutely nothing about it. This is an important implication of the limitations of accuracy (see 4.6↑ ).\n11.7 Goals of Authentication\nAuthentication serves two related goals; it is designed to allow us in while keeping other people out. These goals are two sides of the same coin, but have different requirements. The goal to allow us in requires that authentication be convenient, while the goal of keeping others out requires that authentication be secure. These goals are often in direct conflict with each other and an example of a more general trade-off between convenience and security.\n11.8 Authentication Factors\nThere are many ways you can prove your identity to a system. They may include one or more authentication factors such as:\nsomething you are like biometric signatures such as the pattern of capillaries on your retina, your fingerprints, etc.\nsomething you have like a token, physical key, or thumb drive\nsomething you know like a passphrase or password\nsomewhere you are if you put a GPS device in a computer, or did direction-finding on transmissions, or simply require a person to be physically present somewhere to operate the system\nsomewhere you can be reached like a mailing address, network address, email address, or phone number\nAt the risk of self-promotion, I want to point out that, to my knowledge, the last factor has not been explicitly stated in computer security literature, although it is demonstrated every time a web site emails you your password, or every time a financial company mails something to your home.\nMy voice is my passport; verify me.\n-- Sneakers, the motion picture\nThe oldest and still most common method for authenticating individuals consists of using passwords. However, there are many problems with using passwords, and I humbly suggest that people start to design systems with the goal of minimizing the use of passwords, passphrases, and other reusable authenticators.\nStrong Passwords Not As Good As You Think ( http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/13/1336235 )\nStrong Web Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/07/strong_web_pass.html )\nDo Strong Web Passwords Accomplish Anything? ( http://www.usenix.org/event/hotsec07/tech/full_papers/florencio/florencio.pdf )\n11.9.1 People Pick Lousy Passwords\nThe first and most important issue is that people pick lousy passwords.\nReal World Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/12/realworld_passw.html )\nA current plague of security problems stems from rampant password guessing for remote services (specifically, ssh). There have been a number of suggestions for dealing with this, as we shall see.\n11.9.2 Picking Secure Passwords\nOne thing that most people could do to improve their security is to pick better passwords:\nChoosing Secure Passwords ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/01/choosing_secure.html )\n11.9.3 Preventing Weak Passwords\nOne invaluable tool for dealing with password guessing involves weeding out weak passwords. No password lockouts will help you when your users pick passwords such as “password” and an adversary guesses that on the first try.\nThere are two ways of doing this; in the older post facto method, one tries to crack the password hashes. However, it is desirable to store passwords only after they have been passed through a one-way function, or hash. In this case, it’s often much more efficient to check them before hashing than to try to crack them post-facto; however, you must locate and guard all the places passwords can be set.\n11.9.4 Remembering Passwords\nThe problem with preventing weak passwords is that if the passwords are hard to guess, they are hard to remember, and users may write them down on post-it notes or simply forget them more often. More sophisticated users may store them in their wallets, or in a password database program like Password Safe:\nhttp://www.schneier.com/passsafe.html\n11.9.5 Password Guessing Lockouts\nMost systems employ some sort of abuse detection (lockout) to prevent guessing passwords. In the naive model, this checks for multiple guesses on a single username. For example, the Unix console login has you enter a username, and then prompts for a password; if you get the password wrong three times, it freezes the terminal for a period of time. Guessing multiple passwords for one username is sometimes called the forward hack. Some network login programs like SSH do the same thing, with the sshd_config entry MaxAuthTries determining how many guesses are possible. As a result, some SSH brute-forcing programs try the same password on multiple accounts, the so-called reverse hack.\nIt also opens up the door for a denial-of-service attack; the adversary can try various passwords until the account gets locked, denying the legitimate owner in.\nOne other problem with this is that unless one can centralize all authentication in something like PAM (pluggable authentication modules), then an adversary may simply multiplex guesses over different services which all consult the same authentication information. One such example is THC’s Hyda:\nhttp://freeworld.thc.org/thc-hydra/\n11.9.6 Limited Password Lifetimes\nSome systems require you to change your password frequently, minimizing the amount of time it is good for if it is guessed, ostensibly making it less valuable. The problem with this is that once a password is guessed, the adversary is likely to use it right away, and perhaps set up a back door for later entry into the system. It’s very difficult to detect a well-placed back door. This is also extremely inconvenient to users, and they often end up varying their passwords by some predictable mechanism.\nThere is another advantage to limited password lifetimes; if the passwords take a long time to guess or crack, then rotating them with a shorter time frame means that a cracked password is no longer valuable. This was more appropriate when any user could read the hashed passwords from the file /etc/passwd; modern systems keep them in another file and don’t make it readable to anyone but root, meaning that cracking password hashes would have to occur after cracking the root account, for later access to the same system or to other systems where the users might have the same passwords.\n11.9.7 Password Reset Procedure\nEnforcing difficult-to-guess passwords and limited password lifetimes increases the chance that users will forget their passwords. This means more users having to reset their passwords, resulting in increased administrative burden and inconvenience to users. In the most secure case, the procedure to reset passwords should be as secure as the mechanism to create accounts; I have worked in places where this required a physical visit and presentation of ID. In most cases, the password reset procedure is as simple as a phone call.\n11.9.8 Security Questions\nIn many cases, this burden is too high or impractical, particularly for web sites. In these situations, the user is often asked to select certain security questions which will allow them to reset their password. The traditional method was to require their mother’s maiden name, but nowadays there are wide variety of questions, many of which are (unfortunately) easy to guess, especially for people who know the user in question personally.\n11.9.9 Disabling Root Logins\nSome security pundits have suggested that you disable logins for root to avoid someone getting in as the administrator; then one must guess the user name of a specific administrator as well, but this really isn’t all that hard, and makes it impossible to, say, rsync an entire file system over ssh (since one cannot log in directly as root, one cannot directly access files as root).\nI find it simpler and safer to disallow password-based authentication altogether, wherever possible.\nFor remote administration, let’s compare the scenario they are suggesting (reusable passphrases but no direct root logins), with my scenario (cryptographic logins, direct root access). My scenario has the following obvious attack vectors:\nThe adversary takes control of the system you’re sitting at, where your ssh key is stored, in which case he could impersonate you anyway (he may have to wait for you to log in to sniff the reusable passphrase, or to hijack an existing connection, but I think it’s not worth worrying about the details; if they have root on your console, you’re hosed).\nThe adversary guesses your 4096-bit private RSA key, possibly without access to the public key. In this case, he could probably use the same technique against the encryption used to protect the SSH or IPsec sessions you’re using to communicate over anyway (host keys are often much smaller than 4096-bit), and in the alternate scenario (no direct root logins, but allowing reusable passphrases) he would get access to the reusable passphrases (and all other communication).\nBy contrast, their scenario has the same vulnerabilities, plus:\nSomeone guesses the login and password. Login names are not secrets, and never have been treated as secrets (e.g. they’re often in your email address). They may not even be encrypted in the SSH login procedure. Passwords may be something guessable to your adversary but not you; for example, a word in a dictionary you don’t have, an “alternative spelling” that you didn’t think of, or perhaps the user uses the same passphrase to access a web site (perhaps even via unencrypted HTTP).\n11.9.10 Eliminating Reusable Authenticators\nThus, it is undesirable to use re-usable authentication over the network. However, these other kinds of authentication present difficulties:\nEncrypted storage; this is like using encryption to communicate with your future self. Obviously, you must reuse the same key, or somehow re-encrypt the disk. One could, theoretically, disallow direct access to the key used to encrypt the storage, and re-encrypt it each time with a different passphrase, but to protect it from the administrator you’d need to use some sort of hardware decryption device, and to protect it against someone with physical access you’d need tamper-resistant hardware (e.g. TPM).\nAuthenticating to the system you’re sitting at; even then, one could use S/Key or another system for one-time authenticators written down and stored in your wallet, combined with a memorized passphrase.\n11.10 Biometrics\nEntire books have been written about biometrics, and I am not an expert in the field. Thus, this section is just a stub, waiting for me to flesh it out.\nAuthenticating People By Their Typing Patterns ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/authenticating.html )\nPSYLock: a typing behavior based psychometrical authentication method ( http://pc50461.uni-regensburg.de/ibi/de/leistungen/research/projekte/risk/psylock_english.htm )\n11.11 Authentication Issues: When, What\nIn Unix, a console login or remote login (via e.g., SSH) requires authentication only once, and then all commands issued in the session are executed without additional authentication. This is the traditional authentication scheme used by most multi-user systems today.\nThere historically was a system whereby rsh (and later, SSH) could be configured to trust other systems; the current system trusted the other system to only make such a request on behalf of a duly authorized user, and presumably both systems were in the same administrative domain. However, this turned out to be problematic; the adversary or his software could easily exploit these transitive trust relationships to seize control of multiple, sometimes all, systems in the administrative domain. For this reason, this system authentication method is rarely used, however, it is implicitly the model used in network security. A somewhat weaker model is used by firewalls, which only use the IP address (somewhere you claim to be reachable) as the authenticator.\nChanging a user’s password is a significant change; it can lock someone out of their account unless and until the person can convince an administrator to reset it. For this reason, the passwd command (and it alone) required entering the old password before you could change it; this prevented someone from sitting down at a logged-in terminal and locking the person out of their own account (and potentially allowing the adversary in from another, safer, location).\nAs another example, there is also a relatively standard way to perform actions as the root, or most privileged user called sudo. The sudo program allows administrators to operate as normal users most of the time, which reduces the risk of accidentally issuing a privileged command, which is a good thing. In this sense, it is similar to role-based access control (see 12.3↓ ). However, the relevant point here is that it started by requiring your account password with each command issued through it. In this way, it prevented accidental issuance of commands by oneself, but also prevented someone from using an administrator’s console to issue a command. This is authentication of an individual transaction or command. Later this was found to be too inconvenient, and so the authentication was cached for a short period of time so that one could issue multiple commands at once while only being prompted for a password once.\nThis suggests that Unix has evolved a rather hybrid authentication scheme over the years; it authenticates the session only for most things, but in certain cases it authenticates individual commands.\nSo when designing a system, it seems useful to ask ourselves when we want to authenticate; per session, or per transaction. It is also worth asking what is being authenticated; remote systems, transactions, or people.\n11.12 Remote Attestation\nA concept in network security involves knowing that the remote system is a particular program or piece of hardware is called remote attestation. When I connect securely over the network to a machine I believe I have full privileges on, how do I know I’m actually talking to the machine, and not a similar system controlled by the adversary? This is usually attempted by hiding an encryption key in some tamper-proof part of the system, but is vulnerable to all kinds of disclosure and side-channel attacks, especially if the owner of the remote system is the adversary.\nThe most successful example seems to be the satellite television industry, where they embed cryptographic and software secrets in an inexpensive smart card with restricted availability, and change them frequently enough that the resources required to reverse engineer each new card exceeds the cost of the data it is protecting. In the satellite TV industry, there’s something they call ECMs (electronic counter-measures), which are program updates of the form “look at memory location 0xFC, and if it’s not 0xFA, then HCF” (Halt and Catch Fire). The obvious crack is to simply remove that part of the code, but then you will trigger another check that looks at the code for the first check, and so on.\nThe sorts of non-cryptographic self-checks they request the card to do, such as computing a checksum (such as a CRC) over some memory locations, are similar to the sorts of protections against reverse engineering, where the program computes a checksum to detect modifications to itself.\n11.13 Advanced Authentication Tools\nSimple Authentication and Security Layer ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Authentication_and_Security_Layer ) is a three-layer library (interface, mechanism, method) that supports multiple authentication methods for various systems; LDAP, SMTP AUTH, etc.\n12 Authorization - Access Control\n12.1 Privilege Escalation\nIdeally, all services would be impossible to abuse. Since this is difficult or impossible, we often restrict access to them, to limit the potential pool of adversaries. Of course, if some users can do some things and others can’t, this creates the opportunity for the adversary to perform an unauthorized action, but that’s often unavoidable. For example, you probably want to be able to do things to your computer, like reformat it and install a new operating system, that you wouldn’t want others to do. You will want your employees to do things an anonymous Internet user cannot (see 4.3↑ ). Thus, many adversaries want to escalate their privileges to that of some more powerful user, possibly you. Generally, privilege escalation attacks refer to techniques that require some level of access above that of an anonymous remote system, but grant an even higher level of access, bypassing access controls.\nThey can come in horizontal (user becomes another user) or vertical (normal user becomes root or Administrator) escalations.\n12.2 Physical Access Control\nThese include locks. I like Medeco, but none are perfect. It’s easy to find guides to lock picking:\nGuide to Lock Picking http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html\nFree Lock Picking Guide http://www.free-lock-picking-guide.com/\n12.3 Operating System Access Control\n12.3.1 Discretionary Access Control\nDiscretionary Access Control, or DAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discretionary_access_control ) is up to the end-user. They can choose to let other people write (or read, etc.) to their files, if they wish, and the defaults tend to be global. This is how file permissions on classic Unix and Windows work.\n12.3.2 Mandatory Access Control\nA potentially more secure system often involves Mandatory Access Control, or MAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_access_control ), where the security administrator sets up the permissions globally. Some examples of MAC types are Type Enforcement and Domain Type Enforcement. Often they are combined, where the access request has to pass both tests, meaning that the effective permission set is the intersection of the MAC and DAC permissions. Another way of looking at this configuration is that MAC sets the maximum permissions that can be given away by a user with DAC.\nSecurity Modes of Operation in MAC systems ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Modes )\nDan Walsh’s blog ( http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/ )\n12.3.3 Role-Based Access Control\nRole-Based Access Control, or RBAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-based_access_control ) could be considered a form of MAC. In RBAC, there are roles to whom permissions are assigned, and one switches roles to change permission sets. For example, you might have a security administrator role, but you don’t need that to read email or surf the web, so you only switch to it when doing security administrator stuff. This prevents you from accidentally running malware (see 16.7↓ ) with full permissions. Unix emulates this with pseudo-users and sudo.\nNote that it may not be possible to prevent a user from giving his own access away; as a trivial example, on most operating systems, it is possible for a user to grant shell access with his permissions by creating a listening socket that forwards commands to a shell (often via netcat). It is also very easy for a user to install a listening service that, unbeknownst to him, has a vulnerability that allows remote code execution, or fails to do proper authentication/authorization.\n12.3.4 Other OS Access Control Techniques\nAn operating system authorization usually depends on:\nBeing root or Administrator (uid=0 in Unix)\nThe identity of the user, this being the effective UID (or EUID in Unix)\nThe group(s) in which that user participates\nTags, labels, and other things related to advanced topics (see 12.3↑ )\nThere are other factors involved in authorization decisions but these are just examples. Instead of tying things to one system, let’s keep it simple and pretend we’re allowing or denying natural numbers, rather than usernames or things of that nature. Let’s also define some access control matching primitives such as:\nodd\nless than x\ngreater than y\nIn a well-designed system these primitive functions would be rather complete and not the few we have here. Further, there should be some easy way to compose these tests to achieve the desired access control:\nAND\nOR\nNOT\nSystems which do not do this kind of authorization are necessarily incomplete, and cannot express all desired combinations of sets.\n12.4.1 Standard Whitelist and Blacklist\nIn this configuration, there’s a blacklist of bad guys, and a whitelist of guys we know (or must assume) to be good, and the whitelist always takes precedence. The rule is “you may communicate with us unless you’re on the blacklist, unless you’re also on the whitelist”. Anything whitelisted can always communicate with us, no matter what.\nIn the context of IPs and firewalls, this allows us to blacklist people trying to exploit us using UDP attacks, which area easily forged, but keep our default gateway and root DNS servers, which we really do want to be able to communicate with, even if forged attacks appear to come from them.\nIn the context of domains, for example in a web proxy filter, we may whitelist example.com, but be unable to blacklist badguy.example.com, because whitelists always take precedence over blacklists, and both match. Similar issues come up when we want to blacklist CIDR blocks instead of individual IP addresses. In these cases, it seems you want a more complex access control mechanism to capture the complexity of the sets you are describing.\nAnd remember, blacklisting is always playing catch-up. It’s a good example of starting off by giving people too much privilege (see 34.1↓ ), but may be necessary in today’s web world, where everyone is a desired customer.\n12.4.2 Apache Access Control\nApache has three access control directives\nAllow specifies who can use the resource\nDeny specifies who can not use the resource\nOrder specifies the ordering of evaluation of those directives as either ’deny, allow’, ’allow, deny’, or mutual-failure.\ndeny, allow means that the deny directives are evaluated first, and is the default. This basically is an example of enumerating badness ( 34.1↓ ). This may make sense for a public webserver where anyone on the Internet should be able to browse, but blacklisting is not an effective way to run a secure operation.\nallow, deny is the more secure option, only allowing those who pass the allow operation to continue, but it still processes the deny section and anyone who was allowed in and then later denied is still rejected.\nmutual-failure means hosts that appear on the allow list but not appear on the deny list are granted access. This seems to be redundant with “allow, deny”.\nThis is unfortunately quite confusing, and it’s hard to know where to start. By having an allow list and a deny list, we have four sets of objects defined:\nThose that are neither allowed nor denied\nThose that are allowed\nThose that are denied\nThose that are both allowed and denied\nThe truth table for this is as follows (D means default, O means open, X means denied):\n1\nX\nX\nDo you see what I mean? AD and MF are essentially the same, unless I misread this section in the O’Reilly book.\nNow, suppose we wish to allow in everyone except the naughty prime numbers. We would write:\ndeny primes\nallow all\norder deny, allow\nSo far so good, right? Now let’s say that we want to deny the large primes but allow the number 2 in. Unless our combiners for access-control primitives were powerful enough to express “primes greater than two”, we might be stuck already. Apache has no way to combine primitives, so is unable to offer such access control. But given that it’s the web, we can’t rail on it too harshly.\nWhat we really want is a list of directives that express the set we wish very easily. For example, imagine that we didn’t have an order directive, but we could simply specify what deny and allow rules we have in such a way that earlier takes precedence (the so-called “short circuit” evaluation)\nallow 2\ndeny primes\nallow all\nHowever, we’re unable to do that in Apache. Put simply, one can’t easily treat subsets of sets created by access control matching in a different manner than the set they reside in. We couldn’t allow in “2” while denying primes, unless the access control matching functions were more sophisticated.\nSquid has one of the more powerful access control systems in use.\nPrimitives\nThey may then be allowed or denied to certain resources.\n12.5 IPTables, IPChains, Netfilter\nAside from the bad user interface of having numbers, netfilter has a number of problems when compared to pf that have always bothered me. I’m going to try and describe some things you just can’t do with netfilter’s rule set when I get the time.\n12.6 PF\nMy main complaint with pf is that it rearranges the order of your rules such that certain types all get processed before others. It supports the “quick” modifier to any rule which means that if the rule matches, that is the final answer. By leaving off quick rules, one gets the default of “last matched rule applies”, but with the inefficiency of going through all the rules. I have not yet seen a case where the config file couldn’t be written using quick rules, and presumably at much higher efficiency. Still, it is my favorite language for explaining firewall rules.\n12.7 Keynote\nKeynote, or something like it, is definitely the best authorization (trust management) framework I have found. OpenBSD has incorporated it into their IPsec keying daemon, isakmpd. If your program makes complicated access decisions, or you want it to be able to do so, you should check it out.\n13.4 Change Management\nChange management is the combination of both pro-active declaring and approving of intended changes, and retroactively monitoring the system for changes, comparing them to the approved changes, and altering and escalating any unapproved changes. Change management is based on the theory that unapproved changes are potentially bad, and therefore related to anomaly detection (see 16.2↓ ). It is normally applied to files and databases.\n13.5 Self-Healing Systems\nThere is a system administration tool called cfengine ( http://www.cfengine.org/ ) which implements a concept called “self-healing systems”, whereby any changes made on a given machine are automatically reverted to the (ostensibly correct and secure) state periodically. Any change to these parameters made on a given system but not in the central configuration file are considered to be accidents or attacks, and so if you really want to make a change it has to be done on the centrally-managed and ostensibly monitored configuration file. You can also implement similar concepts by using a tool like rsync to manage the contents of part of the file system.\n13.6 Heterogeneous vs. Homogeneous Defenses\nOften homogeneous solutions are easier to administer. Having different systems requires more resources, in training yourself, learning to use them properly, keeping up with vulnerabilities, and increases the risk of misconfiguration (assuming you aren’t as good at N systems as you would be at one). But there are cases where heterogeneity is easier, or where homogeneity is impossible. Maybe a particular OS you’re installing comes with Sendmail as the default, and changing it leads to headaches (or the one you want just isn’t available on it, because it is a proprietary platform). Embedded devices often have a fixed TCP/IP stack that can’t be changed, so if you are to guard against things like such things, you must either run only one kind of software on all Internet-enabled systems, denying yourself the convenience of all the new network-enabled devices, or you must break Internet-level connectivity with a firewall and admit impotency to defend against internal threats (and anyone who can bypass the perimeter).\nSee the principle of uniform fronts ( 34.8↓ ) and defense-in-depth ( 34.7↓ ) for more information.\n14.1 Synchronized Time\nIt is absolutely vital that your systems have consistent timestamps. Consistency is more important than accuracy, because you are primarily going to be comparing logs between your systems. There are a number of problems comparing timestamps with other systems, including time zones and the fact that their clocks may be skewed. However, ideally, you’d want both, so that you could compare if the other systems are accurate, and so you can make it easier for others to compare their logs with yours. Thus, the Network Time Protocol (NTP) is vital. My suggestion is to have one system at every physical location that act as NTP servers for the location, so that if the network connections go down, the site remains consistent. They should all feed into one server for your administrative domain, and that should connect with numerous time servers. This also minimizes network traffic and having a nearby server is almost always better for reducing jitter.\nSee the SAGE booklet on “Building a Logging Infrastructure”.\n14.3 Cryptographically Untamperable Logs\nBruce Schneier has a paper on cryptographically secure logs, whereby a system’s logs cannot be altered without being noticed (merely erased). The basic premise is that they form a hash chain, where each line includes a hash of the last line. These systems can be linked together, where one periodically sends its hash to another, which makes the receiving system within the detection envelope. They can even cross-link, where they form a lattice, mutually supporting one another.\nCryptographic Support for Secure Logs on Untrusted Machines ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-secure-logs.html )\n15.1 Change Reporting\nI spend a lot of time reading the same things over and over in security reports. I’d like to be able to filter things that I decided were okay last time without tweaking every single security reporting script. What I want is something that will let me see the changes from day to day. Ideally, I’d be able to review the complete data, but normally I read the reports every day and only want to know what has changed from one day to the next.\n15.2 Artificial Ignorance\nTo be able to specify things that I want to ignore in reports is what perhaps Marcus Ranum termed “artificial ignorance” back around 1994 (described here: http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/papers/ai/index.html ). Instead of specifying what I want to see, which is akin to misuse detection, I want to see anything I haven’t already said was okay, which is anomaly detection. Put another way, what you don’t know can hurt you (see 32.7↓ ), which is why “default deny” is usually a safer access control strategy (see 34.1↓ ).\n15.3 Dead Man’s Switch\nIn some movies, a character has a switch which goes off if they die, which is known as a dead man’s switch, which can be applied to software ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man’s_switch#Software_uses ) I want to see if some subsystem has not reported in. If an adversary overtly disables our system, we are aware that it has been disabled, and we can assume that something security-relevant occurred during that time. But if through some oversight on our side, we allow a system to stop monitoring something, we do not know if anything has occurred during that time. Therefore, we must be vigilant that our systems are always monitoring, to avoid that sort of ambiguity. Therefore, we want to know if they are not reporting because of a misconfiguration or failure. Therefore, we need a periodic heartbeat or system test, and a dead man’s switch.\n-- Russian Proverb ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_Verify )\nIt is becoming apparent that there’s more to computers than shell access nowadays. One wants to allow benign email, and stop unsolicited bulk email. For wikis and blogs, one wants to allow collaboration, but doesn’t want “comment spam”. Some still want to read topical USENET messages, and not read spam (I feel that’s a lost cause now). If you’re an ISP, you want to allow customers to do some things but don’t want them spamming or hacking. If you have a public wifi hot-spot, you’d like people to use it but not abuse it. So I generalized IDS, anti-virus, and anti-spam as abuse detection.\n16.1 Physical Intrusion Detection\nTrust not in fences, but neighbors.\n-- old saying\nBurglar Alarms ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burglar_alarm )\n16.2 Misuse Detection vs. Anomaly Detection\nMost intrusion detection systems categorize behavior, making it an instance of the classification problem (see 4.1↑ ). Generally, there are two kinds of intrusion detection systems, commonly called misuse detection and anomaly detection. Misuse detection involves products with signature databases which indicate bad behavior. By analogy, this is like a cop who is told to look for guys in white-and-black striped jumpsuits with burlap sacks with dollar signs printed on them. This is how physical alarm sensors work; they detect the separation of two objects, or the breaking of a piece of glass, or some specific thing. The second is called anomaly detection, which is like a cop who is told to look for “anything out of the ordinary”. The first has more false negatives and fewer false positives than the second. The first (theoretically) only finds security-relevant events, whereas the second (theoretically) notes any major changes. This can play out in operating system security (as anti-virus and other anti-malware products) or in network security (as NIDS/IPS). The first is great for vendors; they get to sell you a subscription to the signature database. The second is virtually non-existent and probably rather limited in practice (you have to decide what to measure/quantify in the first place).\nIn misuse detection, you need to have a good idea of what the adversary is after, or how they may operate. If you get this guess wrong, your signature may be completely ineffective; it may minimize false positives at the risk of false negatives, particularly if the adversary is actually a script that isn’t smart enough to take the bait. In this sense, misuse detection is a kind of enumerating badness, which means anything not specifically listed is allowed, and therefore violates the principle of least privilege (see 34.1↓ ).\n16.3 Computer Immune Systems\nThis is an interesting research direction which draws inspiration from biological systems which distinguish self from non-self and destroy non-self objects.\n16.4 Behavior-Based Detection\nMost anti-virus software looks for certain signatures present in virii. Instead, they could look at what the virii is attempting to do, by simulating running it. This would be called “behavior-based detection”, and it is slow to emulate running something. Perhaps virtual machines may help to run a quarantined virus at nearly real speed.\n16.5 Honey Traps\nTart words make no friends; a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.\n-- Benjamin Franklin\nNoted security expert Marcus Ranum gave a talk on burglar alarms once at Usenix Security, and had a lesson that applies to computer security. He said that when a customer of theirs had an alarm sensor that was disguised as a jewelry container or a gun cabinet, it was almost always sure to trick the burglar, and trigger the alarm. Criminals, by and large, are opportunistic, and when something valuable is offered to them, they rarely look a gift horse in the mouth. I also recall a sting operation where a law enforcement agency had a list of criminals they wanted to locate but who never seemed to be home. They sent winning sweepstakes tickets to wanted criminals who dutifully showed up to claim their “prize”. So a honey trap may well be the cheapest and most effective misuse detection mechanism you can employ.\nOne of the ways to detect spam is to have an email address which should never receive any email; if any email is received, then it is from a spammer. These are called spamtraps. Unix systems may have user accounts which may have guessable passwords and no actual owners, so they should never have any legitimate logins. I’ve also heard of banks which have trap accounts; these tend to be large accounts which should never have a legitimate transaction; they exist on paper only. Any transaction on such an account is, by definition, fraudulent and a sign of a compromised system. One could even go farther and define a profile of transactions, possibly pseudo-random, any deviation from which is considered very important to investigate. The advantage of these types of traps are the extremely low false-positive rate, and as a deterrent to potential adversaries who fear being caught and punished. Similarly, databases may have honey tokens, or a row of some unique data that shouldn’t normally be pulled out of the database system.\nkojoney, a honey pot that emulates sshd ( http://kojoney.sourceforge.net/ )\nshark, a spy honey pot with advanced redirection kit ( http://www.laas.fr/MonAM2007/Ion_Alberdi.pdf )\n16.6 Tripwires and Booby Traps\nOther misuse detection methods involve detecting some common activity after the intrusion, such as fetching additional tools (outbound TFTP connections to servers in Eastern Europe are not usually authorized) or connecting back to the adversary’s system to bypass ingress rules on the firewall (e.g. shoveling application output to a remote X server). Marcus Ranum once recompiled “ls” to shut down the system if it was run as root, and he learned to habitually use “echo *” instead. One may wish to check that it has a controlling tty as well, so that root-owned scripts do not set it off. In fact, having a root-owned shell with no controlling tty may be an event worth logging.\n16.7 Malware and Anti-Malware\n16.7.1 Terminology\nmalware is a general term for software that does something that the user did not wish to have done. See Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware ) for more details.\nvirus is a term for a program that replicates itself by infecting objects (e.g. executable files, or possibly computers). See Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus ) for more details.\nworm is a term for a program which propagates between computers on its own, locating and infecting victim computers (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_worm for more details).\nrootkit is a term for a program which is installed at the same level as the operating system, such that it can hide itself (or other malware) from detection. See the Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit ) for more details.\ntrojan is a term for a program which appears to do one thing that the user desires, but covertly performs some action that the user does not desire (e.g. infect their system with a virus). For more information, read the Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing) ).\nspyware is a term for software that invades your privacy and collects what should be private information (for more details, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware )\nThese terms are not mutually exclusive; a given piece of malware may be a trojan which installs a rootkit and then spies on the user.\nIf you find malware on your system, there are few good responses (see 20.2↓ ).\n16.7.2 Anti-Virus\nThere are a wide variety of anti-virus products out there, and it’s hard for consumers to evaluate them. Unfortunately, it seems that virus authors test their viruses against the more popular scanners and tweak them until they don’t get caught any more. Therefore, it may be wise to avoid the big names. Here are some tools that I find particularly good.\nKaspersky Anti-Virus ( http://www.kaspersky.com/kaspersky_anti-virus ) regularly gets better detection rates than any other.\nVexira Anti-Virus ( http://www.centralcommand.com/ ) is available for nearly every operating system (including many flavors of Unix!)\nAvira ( http://www.avira.com/en/products/index.php ) produces a number of anti-virus products, and appears to offer them for Linux as well as Microsoft Windows.\nAVG Free ( http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition ) is a free anti-virus tool you can use on Windows computers. It’s not as effective as the for-pay products, but it is pretty good compared to nothing, and it costs nothing!\nClam AV ( http://www.clamav.net/ ) is an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways.\n16.8.3 Velocity Checks\nThis is an application of anomaly detection to differentiate computers and humans, or to differentiate between use and abuse. You simply look at how many transactions they are doing. You can take a baseline of what you think a human can do, and trigger any time an entity exceeds this. Or, you can profile each entity and trigger if they exceed their normal statistical profile, possibly applying machine learning algorithms to adjust expectations over time.\n16.8.4 Typing Mistakes\nThe kojoney honey pot ( http://kojoney.sourceforge.net/ ) emulates an SSH server in order to gather intelligence against adversaries. Regarding how it separates bots from humans, it says:\nWe, the humans, are clumsy. The script seeks for SUPR and BACKSPACE characters in the executed commands.\nThe script also checks if the intruder tried to change the window size or tried to forward X11 requests.\n16.9 Host-Based Intrusion Detection\nThat’s it man, game over man, game over!\n-- Aliens, the motion picture\nOne important thing is that you really can’t defend against an intruder with full privileges. First discussed in Ken Thompson’s 1984 classic, Reflections on Trusting Trust ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html ), these stealthy backdoors became known as rootkits, which were installed on a compromised system (requiring root privileges) and hid the existence of various things which would give away the adversary’s presence. These evolved from simple log cleaners to trojan system programs, and have now burrowed deeper into the system as LKMs (loadable kernel modules). I have heard rumors of some which reside in flash memory on graphics cards, and run on the GPU (which has DMA, direct memory access), completely bypassing the main CPU. Notice I say “full privileges” instead of “administrator rights” or “root access”, because various people are experimenting with limiting these levels of access in various ways (including BSD securelevel, MAC, and tamper-proof hardware like the TPM).\nSome HIDS (host-based intrusion detection) systems that detect corruption, like tripwire, compare cryptographic hashes (checksums, or more generally “fingerprints”) against saved values to detect modification of system files. However, this strategy has a number of limitations:\nSome files (e.g. log files) change all the time.\nYou may update your system frequently, and so must distinguish expected changes from unexpected.\nThe place where the hashes are stored might be modifiable (if not, how do you update the baseline to ignore expected changes?) and if so, the intruder could update the stored hashes so that they match the corrupted (trojaned) files.\nThe attacker could simply alter the HIDS system itself.\nThe first two problems are soluble in fairly obvious ways. The advice experts give on the third problem is to store the hashes on another system, or on removable media. However, if the intruder has full privileges and knows how you get the hashes onto the system (i.e. what programs are used), they could alter the programs (or kernel routines) used to alter the hashes on the way in, and you’d have no way of knowing. They could also alter them on the way back out, so that printing them on another system and comparing wouldn’t help. Similarly, if you detect the intrusion, you shouldn’t simply log it to a file, or send it to a local email address, since the intruder could simply erase it. This brings up a couple of interesting issues that led me to the following principles.\n16.10 Intrusion Detection Principles\nIntrusions present a slightly more difficult issue than other abuse detection, because the intruder is has got control of the system, and thus may attempt to interfere with alerting and response.\nYou should keep your detection mechanism(s) a secret, just like a cryptographic key.\nThe intrusion creates changes in data (unprocessed logs as well as intrusion alerts per se) that move away from the intruder, creating what I call a detection envelope. The intruder tries to acquire privileges to expand his reach. It is not enough to detect and report an intrusion; you must get that information to a place where the adversary cannot be alter it to hide his tracks, which I call out-of-reach (OOR) or the point of no revocation.\nYou have a window of time I call the detection window where the adversary has not yet figured out how you are going to detect his presence and pass the alert beyond his reach. You can think of the detection envelope expanding, and the adversary attempting to catch up with it. Often he need not compromise every system along the way, merely the one at the edge of the envelope, to stop the propagation.\nOffline is usually out of reach, but may not be when the facility is not physically secure or if the adversaries include an insider.\n16.11 Intrusion Information Collection\nSo when you detect an intrusion, you usually have a single datum; an IP address, or a UID, something like that. This might be a good time to collect more data about the intrusion for later analysis. For example, you might pull DNS records and WHOIS associated with that IP, because the databases might be under the control of the adversary, or they may change for other reasons before you collect the information. This may tip off a very clever opponent that you have detected them, but chances are that they are more worried about being detected than you need to worry about them detecting you detecting them, since conducting an intrusion is frowned upon, if not outright illegal.\n17 Abuse Response\nSuppose you’ve detected attempted abuse; now what? If you didn’t intend to do something about it, then why did you bother to detect it in the first place? Suppose further that you detect someone doing a network scan, or worse, trying to exploit your code. This is an obvious example of I&Ws (see 33.1↓ ), and if you detect this kind of behavior, but fail to do anything to prevent exploitation, you may not be lucky enough to detect a successful attempt, leading to a silent failure. Thus, because the set of successful attacks is incompletely-defined (see 4.1.4↑ ), you cannot guarantee detection, so it is often desirable to attempt to thwart the attack by identifying and shunning the adversary (as opposed to blocking the individual attempts themselves).\nRelated work:\n17.1 Abuse Alerting\nAll alerting systems are vulnerable to flooding, whereby the adversary causes many to be generated, and analyzing them consumes resources and takes time. In theory, this could buy the adversary some time (expanding the detection window), whereby he can get access to a system without generating an alert, and cover his tracks, so that when all the alerts are handled, he’s still left with covert control of a system.\nIt is often easier to flood once you have control of a system, which would suggest a preference for a system which never overwrites alerts (until read or passed on). However, it should be checked, read, and emptied on a regular basis.\nAlerting systems tend to be less vulnerable to running out of space since they are less voluminous than logs, and also because the intruder gives up surprise.\nYou can see an obvious problem if your false positives (failed attacks) or informational alerts (attacks which are blocked at the border) are mixed in with alerts about successful attacks (actual penetrations into the network). While I can see the value in determining adversary intentions, when the bullets start to fly, the intent is obvious and you want to focus on real threats, not diversions.\nAll alert recording systems may run out of space. If you overwrite old data (a circular buffer), you know the last system(s) compromised, where the adversary may not have had time to cover his tracks. A system which does not overwrite will show the original entry point into your systems. A system which does overwrite will show the last few systems intruded upon.\n17.1.1 Possible Abuse Alerting Solutions\nTsutomu Shimomura emailed his logs to another system, which means that in order to hide his tracks the adversary must compromise that other system. Thus the detection envelope expanded to include that remote system. Ideally, it should be as different a system as possible (i.e. different OS, so the combination requires more skills by the adversary to compromise), and should be as protected as possible (in this case, it should only allow email access, but if we were using syslog then only syslog access). Similarly, he had his sniffer send alerts to a pager, which is effectively irrevocable.\nOthers have suggested printing logs on a printer (logs until it runs out of paper), or over a serial port connection to a MS-DOS system running a terminal program with a scrollback buffer enabled (logs are preserved until they are overwritten, and it’s better than paper since “you can’t grep dead trees”).\nOne method I thought of would be to export the file system via read-only NFS, and check it from another system. Another method involves a removable hard drive which is analyzed periodically on another system.\nAlso see 14.3↑ .\n17.1.2 Confidentiality vs Availability Tradeoffs\nAbuse alerting is an interesting case where the tradeoffs between privacy and reliability aren’t clear. What good is alerting if it doesn’t alert you when you need it?\nI have heard of one company that uses IRC internally to do their security alerting. While not the most confidential of systems, it has been designed in a very hostile network environment subject to lots of availability attacks.\n17.2 How to Respond to Abuse\n17.2.1 On Observable Responses\nA side-effect of taking an observable response to an adversary’s stimulus is that they know that you are monitoring it, and based on attempts and responses, can map out your detection signatures, allowing them to form a feedback loop. They can spew random data at your system and detect when you terminate the connection, and the signature is then known to be in the last few packets. They also know when that their successes have bypassed the reactive mechanism, since the connection is not terminated. Of course, the same is true of a “passive” firewall; they simply try connecting to every possible port, and any attempts that succeed obviously imply one has bypassed the access control.\nOne amusing anecdote I heard was of someone in Ireland who was organizing political rallies; he suspected his phone was tapped, so he called a co-conspirator and let him know about a big rally at a local pub; they went to the pub at the appropriate time and found a large number of police in the area, which confirmed his suspicion about the tapping. In this case, he was observing a reaction of people observing his communication, and was thus able to determine the line was tapped indirectly. This is an example of inference (see 18.8↓ ).\n17.2.2 Tainted Sources\nAn adversary usually starts an attack by enumerating the attack surface (see 7.5↑ ). During this stage, some of his probes may be indistinguishable from allowed traffic, and some may be identifiable as abusive, simply by the fact that such probes or requests are not normally allowed (see 16↑ ). Once one has identified that a given source is tainted as abusive, one can decide to thwart his enumeration by engaging in a sticky defense; that is, every probe/query/request from that source address is considered abusive. This is very effective at making network scans expensive; they will have to figure out where the probe responses ceased being legitimate and started being abuse responses in order to get an accurate enumeration.\nI happen to like automated responses, because I’m lazy. For example, my dynamic firewall daemon ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/dfd/ ) is an example of me trying to automate some parts of this problem.\n17.2.3 Possible Responses to Network Abuse\nThere are a couple of strategies one can take with regard to responding to stimuli:\nHonest Rejection\nMost systems may respond to abuse attempts with an honest rejection message, which may optionally be offensive if a human reads it. The down side of this is that it gives the intruder a feedback loop, and they may become more interested in your site than if you remained silent. For example, if someone sends a SYN packet to a TCP port which isn’t open, the OS usually sends back a TCP RST (reset).\nThe Silent Treatment\nSilence is the obvious response. In network security, dropping all unauthorized packets without any response is known as the black hole strategy, and prevents the adversary from even knowing if you are listening to that IP address. Permanently ignoring the host is called shunning, though terms vary. The adversary must at this point go back to the last successful response and start over again from a different source address.\nFaux Positives\nA false positive is when a person makes an error in classification. Faux positives involve intentionally giving the adversary what they were hoping to hear, instead of the correct answer. For example, a network scan could receive a SYN-ACK for every SYN it sends, making it look like every port is open. This technique means that the adversary must do a more extensive test to determine which ports are really open or not; effectively this negates the value of the original test by forcing it to return positive all the time.\nRandom Response\nRandom responses may confuse the adversary; he may try something abusive (like connecting to a port he isn’t supposed to, or (in a more advanced system) attempting an exploit, and it only appears to succeed some of the time. What is nasty about this is that he doesn’t get “all yes” or “all no”, but rather a more complicated result.\nWhen a game of chance pays out on a random schedule, this is known as “random reinforcement” and has been demonstrated to increase the number of times that a person plays the game. It may even make them do it compulsively, trying to figure out what the pattern is. It may also lead to “magical ideation”, whereby the person makes up a fanciful reason to explain the results (“I always roll seven after rolling five”). This is misinformation (see 32.11↓ ).\nWhen one does this in a “sticky” manner - that is, once you detect an adversary, you always return a random response, even to non-abusive queries (like connecting to port 80 on a public web server), you can cause the opponent to enter a very strange and frustrating scenario, and even if they figure out what is going on, they do not know exactly when it started, so have to verify their scan results - but attempting the same scan will generally get them detected in the same place!\nResource Consumption Defenses\nIn these, one attempts to make the adversary spend as many resources as possible. Most frequently, this involves time, so this is a delaying tactic.\nTarpit / Teergrube ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarpit_%28networking%29 )\nThe Simulation Defense\nSimulation is the most sophisticated and subtle technique; you allow the target to think that they have done something they have not. If you determine that someone has infiltrated your organization, you can assign them to tasks that give your adversary a misleading view of your organization. This is disinformation (see 32.11↓ ).\nIn an authentication system which re-uses guessable passwords (see 11.9↑ ), you could strengthen it by connecting them not to the real system, but to a honeypot system. Similarly, a web site could fake a successful login and give the adversary a GUI which appears to work but actually does nothing. One of the implications of the base-rate fallacy (see 4.1.2↑ ) is that if you give a false positive at a very low rate (say .1%), then someone who has a small chance of succeeding (say .01%) is going to have 10 false positives for every correct password. However, a user who gets their password correct 50% of the time (a very poor typist) has only one false positive for every 1000 correct password entries. Thus, adversaries are much more likely to be redirected to the simulation than real users. The purpose of this could be to confuse, delay, trace, or feed disinformation (see 32.11↓ ) to the adversary. For example, if the person is using your system to steal money, you may have some plausible-sounding reason why you cannot get it to them in the way they expected, and by catching them off-guard, get them to give you some identifying information which could allow you to have them arrested.\nhttp://ha.ckers.org/blog/20071216/matrix-re-loaded/\nFishbowls\nIf you prevent an attack, you learn very little about the goals and intentions of the adversary. IDS systems alert you to an adversary, and so you can monitor and learn about them. By contrast, an IPS terminates the connection and possibly blocks the adversary, so you prevent the attack but learn very little about their intentions. Transparently redirecting them to a fishbowl seems to get the both of best worlds; they interact with a simulated system, and you monitor them to gain intelligence about their motives, and possibly about their identity. The earliest example of this kind of virtualized monitoring I know of is recounted in An Evening with Berferd ( http://www.all.net/books/berferd/berferd.html ). Usually people refer to these systems as honeypots (see 16.5↑ ), but I call them fishbowls here to make a distinction between drawing in the adversary and covertly monitoring them.\nHack-Back\nFirst, let me say don’t do this, since it is probably illegal. I include it only for completeness.\nReverse-Hack\nIf they try guessing accounts and passwords on you, simply try them against the remote peer.\nMirror Defense\nMarcus Ranum suggested simply swapping the destination and source IPs, and send the packet back out. That way, they end up scanning or hacking themselves. This could be a bit tricky to get the return traffic back to them though.\nCounterhack\nWho knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?\nThe Shadow knows!\n-- The Shadow radio drama ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow )\nCounterhacking is using hacking techniques against hackers. It is possible to exploit vulnerabilities in malware and exploit code ( http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/researcher-demo.html ). In fact, many PoC exploits are written in C and have buffer overflows in them, and it would be relatively trivial to exploit the exploit. One can imagine systems that listen for network attacks generated by vulnerable exploit code and automatically respond in kind, which despite usually being illegal, has a certain symmetry and poetic justice to it. Do such systems exist? Only the shadow knows.\n17.3 Identification Issues\nSo when someone is abusing your system, you may be limited in your ability to identify the principal involved. It may be malware on a user’s machine, someone using a sniffed or stolen password, someone at an Internet café, someone on a shared system, etc. Also, people who abuse your system tend to take measures to anonymize themselves. Therefore, your identification will run a spectrum like this:\nA network address\nA user on a remote host\nA particular account within your system (via key, passphrase, etc.)\nA person (via biometrics)\nThus, when you detect abuse, one or more of these identities may accumulates “negative karma”. For example, a particular IP may hammer your system. You could block that particular IP, but you may also wish to see which accounts have logged in from that IP recently and apply some sort of mild punishment there as well, like rate-limiting or something like that.\n17.4 Resource Consumption Defenses\nA resource consumption attack is often called Denial of Service or DoS. In this case, the adversary tries to deprive the rightful users of some system some critical resource.\nThe best way to defend against these is to set a limit or quota to some entity that you can identify (see 17.3↑ ). Often times you can’t identify people or groups, but merely some address, like an email address or an IP address. If any anonymous user can access your service, for example because it is a public web site, then the adversary may be able to respond to quotas by simply using more identities (e.g. coming from multiple IPs by using a botnet). Therefore, you want your site to be scalable.\nBasically, DoS is a numbers game. What you want to do is identify malicious requests from legitimate ones via some signature, and do as little work as possible on the malicious ones before deciding to ignore them. So ideally, you do the cheap tests first; there are a number of little tricks that fall into this category:\nBefore letting a packet in, your firewall decides if the IP address is allowed in, otherwise it blocks it\nBefore letting a packet in, your firewall might be able to tell if the packet is from an IP address that you can respond to, otherwise (e.g. bogon list, http://www.cymru.com/Documents/bogon-list.html ) you reject it.\nDigital signatures are expensive, so before computing one, see if the key used to sign it is one that you trust; otherwise, why check the digital signature? Of course, this means an API where you can tell it what keys are trusted before any operations take place.\nIf you have a list of authorized users, do as little work as you can before identifying them. For example, the secure networking protocol Photuris ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2522 ) sends an “anti-clogging token”, or cookie, to the remote peer and waits for the peer to send it back before doing any more work. Of course this can add a round-trip to some protocols, but if it prevents doing an expensive operation it may be worth it.\n17.5 Proportional Response\nDue to the risk of false positives in detection, the difficulty of identification, legal ramifications, and the possibility of collateral damage, you want to have a flexible response. Responding with “overwhelming force”, while tempting, may hurt more than it helps:\nYou may lose the “moral high ground”, and the public may turn against you.\nYou may lose the sympathy of a jury, or judge, or someone whose opinion you cherish.\nYou may cause your adversaries to hate you, at which point they may decide that instead of wanting to maximize their gain, they want to maximizing your pain. They may even decide that they would give up everything in order to harm you, in which case they will almost certainly succeed. Even if they don’t, you will spend more resources defending yourself than if you had merely thwarted their plans in a way that didn’t arouse such enmity.\nHere is a sample spectrum of responses, ranging from trivial to emphatic:\nLog the event for manual audit but take no other action\nTemporarily lock the account\nCut power to the data center\nSend a team of ventilation engineers to the adversary’s geographical location to aspirate them\nLaunch an anti-radiation missile ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-radiation_missile ) in the general direction of their signal as indicated by the direction-finding ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direction_finding ) equipment [B] [B] This is the standard response to people who set up jammers in military engagements. Don’t try that at home.\nNot all detection events are created equal! You may want to respond to some in one way, and others in another way.\nPerhaps someone should apply a scoring mechanism (like those of spam signatures) to network events to decide when to shun or do other things.\n-- Scientific Adage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance )\nForensics has limits. For example, it’s not uncommon when dealing with skilled intruders to find that they’ve symlinked a shell history file to /dev/null, or that the last line of a log file is something like rm /var/log/sudo or bash -i. It is even possible that a very skilled and disciplined adversary would leave the system in a state that the forensics indicate one thing, but is disinformation; I’ve never heard of anything that subtle in practice, but then again, what are the chances I would? When you’re compromised, you don’t know when it originally happened, and so backups are of little use; one can’t be sure if the backups contain back doors. Thus, it seems like the only way to be sure of extermination is to wipe the state of any machines that might be compromised or corrupted, and start from scratch. However, before doing so, you should do your best to make a full backup of the compromised system for forensic analysis. You’d like to identify any possible intrusion vectors and make sure the new system doesn’t have the same vulnerabilities, lest the situation repeat itself.\n18.3 Ephemeral Data\nSuch as the data in a page file. It’s valuable because people usually don’t realize it’s there, and so fail to wipe it.\n18.4 Remnant Data\nSuch as the recently-deleted data in Word documents. Apparently it’s just a memory dump, eww. It’s interesting because it’s not normally visible.\n18.5 Hidden Data\nSuch as UUIDs embedded in any MS Office document. It is even possible to identify computers remotely by their TCP clock skew ( http://www.caida.org/publications/papers/2005/fingerprinting/ ).\nSuch as access times. Shimomura used access times to figure out what Mitnick compiled.\nThe Coroner’s Toolkit ( http://www.porcupine.org/forensics/tct.html )\nThe Sleuth Kit ( http://www.sleuthkit.org/ )\n18.8 Forensic Inference\nOften, what qualifies as proof in a courtroom isn’t the same thing a mathematician considers proof. Further, in civil cases in the US you don’t need proof, just a preponderance of evidence. And intelligence (or now, terrorism) investigations usually have far less of a burden of proof. And even if you are going for solid proof, you hardly ever begin an investigation with it; that’s why it’s called investigation. Thus, hunches are quite valuable.\nIf you believe that a person murdered someone in his kitchen, and there’s a spot of bleach residue on the floor but in a blood spatter pattern, then you can reasonably assume that he did not spatter bleach on his kitchen floor, although that is possible in theory. Thus, if doing thing A implies B, and one is unlikely to do B alone, then if B is indicated, one may infer a likelihood of A.\n“You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”\n-- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 21 Jan 1999\n19.1 Mix-Based Systems\nMix-based systems essentially rely on a node having multiple inputs and outputs, and an outside observer cannot tell which maps to which because they are encrypted on one or (ideally) both sides, and there may be a random delay between input and output. Sometimes mixes operate with one output coincident with one input, so a certain amount of traffic is required to keep it “alive”. The job of the mix is to hide the correlation between input of a message and its output. Generally the communication exits the mix system unencrypted, which means the exit nodes have more privilege to see traffic than other nodes in the “cloud”.\n19.1.1 Anonymous Remailers\nAnonymous remailers attempted to mail things through a confusing network in an attempt to hide who originally sent an email.\n20 Intrusion Response\nI say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.\n-- Aliens, the motion picture\n20.1 Response to Worms and Human Perpetrators\nDue to the limitations of forensics and our ability to know what a particularly clever intruder did while in our network, and the possibility of the intruder leaving back doors or covert channels, my philosophy favors the extreme method of reinstalling every system which you believe may have been affected by the intruder. This is one reason why I favor prevention over detection.\nEven that may be insufficient, in certain cases.\nNevertheless, that is far too extreme for many people, and the vast majority of intruders are “script kiddies”, whose modus operandi are obvious, especially if you can acquire their script. The trend now seems to be low-level intrusion with no privilege escalation, because acquiring root tends to draw the attention of the system administrators, whereas non-root users are sufficient for sending spam, performing DoS, and logging into IRC. Thus, in some ways, the evolution of intrusions mirrors that of infections diseases, in that things which elicit a lethal response from the host are evolutionary disadvantages.\n20.2 Response to Malware\nBack in the early days of virii, it was possible to find out what the virus did and cure the computer of the infection by undoing whatever it did.\nHowever, now the trend seems to be that an initial malware installation is a “bot” that acquires a communication channel to the “botmaster”, who can then direct the malware to download other programs, possibly rootkits, so it becomes difficult to know what exactly has happened to the computer.\nFurthermore, some malware will download and install some easily-found malware, which is there to give the system administrator something to find, while the real bot and malware remain hidden.\nAnother trend is the development of targeted malware to infect certain systems. This malware may not have been seen by the anti-virus vendor, and therefore is unlikely to be caught.\nThus, the recommended solution is to recover an uninfected system from backups. One can not simply rely on anti-malware tools to do the job.\nThere are also web pages out there that purport to tell you how to remove a virus, but in doing so, you install another virus. Caveat emptor!\n21 Network Security\n21.1 The Current State of Things\nAt this point, I have just read the intrusion detection section of Extreme Exploits and find myself unable to add anything to it. What follows is what I wrote prior to reading that, and rather than paraphrase their excellent work, I’m going to punt and just refer you to it. I hope readers understand that I want to focus on adding value, not just repeating what has already been said, and so my time is better spent on other topics until I have something novel to say. What follows is a rough outline I wrote earlier.\nThe current state of network security detection tools breaks down as follows; network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) sit at choke points and look at traffic and alert for what it thinks are intrusions. If they take steps to tear down the connection, it is called a reactive NIDS. If it sits in-line and stops passing data for connections deemed to be malicious, it is called an intrusion prevention device (IPS).\nNetwork security access control devices break down as follows. Firewalls are the most familiar and come as packet filters or proxy-based firewalls. They are starting to get more and more complex, going from stateless (e.g. assumes a TCP ACK corresponds to a valid connection, has difficulty telling valid UDP responses from unsolicited UDP packets) to stateful (tracks valid connections, can firewall UDP effectively) and now the new buzzword is deep packet inspection. That just means it’s looking at layer 7 (application layer) data and making access control decisions on that, so it can block certain kinds of HTTP traffic but not others; this is a natural evolution for packet filters and provides them with most of the benefits of proxy-based firewalls. Virtual Private Network Concentrators (VPN endpoints) basically handle the encryption and decryption for remote systems with VPN connections.\nI can’t think of a good reason why these all need to be separate hardware devices, and suspect that as general-purpose computer performance increases the low end of the market will be increasingly converting to software-based solutions running on commodity hardware. One argument is that dedicated hardware is more reliable, but it will inevitably be cheaper and more effective to ensure reliability and availability with redundancy than with premium hardware. The general belief is that Google’s secret to financial success is “smart software, cheap hardware”. Hardware costs don’t amortize the way software development costs do.\n21.2 Traffic Identification: RPC, Dynamic Ports, User-Specified Ports and Encapsulation\n21.2.1 RPC\nBack in the day, a number of network services used remote procedure calls (RPC). When these services start up, they bind to a port (often in a certain range but not always the same port). They then register themselves with a program called the portmapper. To talk to an RPC service, you first ask the portmapper (on port 111) what port that RPC service is listening on, then you talk to the RPC service. Needless to say, this is extremely difficult to firewall, and even if you could do it right, an internal machine might reboot, and when it comes back up the RPC service might be on a different port. So the normal policy is to simply not allow access to these ports through the firewall, which is easy when the policy is default deny; you just ignore them.\n21.2.2 Dynamic Port Numbers\nOther protocols, like SIP and FTP, use dynamic port numbers. Some fancy packet filters do layer-7 inspection to respond to these, which has the following problem. A user connects to a web site, and the web site has a java applet which connects back to the web site, but on port 20 (FTP control channel). This is allowed because the java applet security model assumes it’s okay for an applet to phone home. The applet then emulates a real FTP connection, but sends an interesting port number as the data channel (say, port 22). The firewall then allows the web site to make another connection back to the internal node’s port 22, thinking that it is part of an FTP transfer. The solution is to use application-layer proxies.\nNow some network administrators would like to give low priority (QoS, DSCP) values to certain traffic (especially bittorrent), or block it entirely. Normally this would be done by classifying the traffic on the canonical port numbers as bittorrent, and assigning it to the bulk queue. However, the end user may not desire that, and so may configure bittorrent to talk on a different port. This is a perfect example of an “insider threat”, though not a particularly malicious one.\n21.2.3 Encapsulation\nA similar issue exists with encapsulation within another protocol, especially HTTP/HTTPS. Although normal HTTP requests for HTML documents are considered essential to business and not a significant network security threat, there are other data transfers done through HTTP, such as WebDAV or streaming media or especially skype, which may have significantly different or unknown security implications. Or the system may be too new to know to the administrator’s satisfaction; security is a process of breaking systems and learning about the flaws we find. Thus “new” means we’re just starting to learn about it, but it does not mean that the security is worse, or that we know less about it than some older system. Take care that you don’t get so lazy that new becomes synonymous with risk, or that risk means undesirable; it may well be that the upside potential is greater than the downside, or that the goodwill it earns you with the users is worth the risk of more security incidents; it all depends on your resources, risk tolerance, consequences of a security breach, and other non-technical factors.\n21.2.4 Possible Solutions\nI suspect that the solution to this mess is twofold; first, we do our network data inspection prior to encryption, which means on the sending machine, where that is possible. It is logical (or at least common) to trust such systems more than systems without such a host-based agent, and to trust those more than systems belonging to other parties (e.g. an ISP’s customers or a business partner), and to trust those less than systems belonging to unidentified parties (wifi, Internet).\nThe second prong would be network security systems which look at network traffic and classify the protocol in use based on the data it contains (like fingerprinting a network service, or like using file(1) to identify what kind of data a file contains). It is not necessary to narrow it down to one protocol; if we say that a certain network flow has permission to pass through the firewall to host X Y or Z, then the stream can be treated as though it had the intersection of the permissions for all possible protocols. For example, if FTP should never pass to anything but port 21, and HTTP can pass only to hosts X and Z, then a stream which may be either may only pass to port 21 on hosts X and Z; this convention prevents violation of any network flow security policy. If our classification is only guesswork, then we need not be so strict, because we can’t end up with more certainty than we started, and it may be reasonable to allow the union of all permissions (so as to avoid stopping legitimate traffic), or some other combination.\n21.3 Brute-Force Defenses\nBrute-force attacks simply try common passwords and other identifiers. They are a major nuisance on the net right now. They are primarily focused at SSH and email services, where users may choose their own passwords. Brute-forcing is usually ineffective at systems which use cryptographic keys to protect a service (see 11.9↑ ).\n21.4 Federated Defense\nIf the same intruder tried something malicious against one machine, and you control two of them, wouldn’t it be prudent to block access to both machines instead of just the one? The same goes with sites, or corporations. DenyHosts ( http://denyhosts.sourceforge.net/ ) can be used in this mode, but I don’t know of any other federated defense systems.\n21.5 VLANs Are Not Security Technologies\n21.6 Advanced Network Security Technologies\nVery cool, but not for the novice. I will annotate these links later.\nPort Scan Auto Detector ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/psad/ ) is a Linux tool that allows you to detect port scans and block them, even if the firewall blocked all of the packets in the scan.\nThe fwsnort program ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/fwsnort/ ) takes snort rules and generates iptables log file patterns which would detect the same things as snort would, but works whether or not iptables blocks the packets.\nThe fwknop program ( http://www.cipherdyne.com/fwknop/ ) allows you to do single-packet authentication (SPA), which is like port knocking, on Linux-based systems.\nThe Dynamic Firewall Daemon ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/dfd/ ) allows you to programmatically access and change firewall rules.\nThe grok project ( http://www.semicomplete.com/projects/grok/ ) parses files and automagically blocks malicious hosts.\n22 Email Security\n22.1 Unsolicited Bulk Email: Email Spam\nSpamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam and junk fax transmissions.\n-- Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_ )\nEvery program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.\n-- Zawinski’s Law ( http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/Z/Zawinskis-Law.html )\nFiltering happens as or after the message has been accepted. There are many kinds of filtering.\nHow to Beat an Adaptive Spam Filter ( http://www.jgc.org/SpamConference011604.pps )\nSignature Matching\nLooks for certain signatures of spam and filters them out.\nBayesian Filtering\ncrm114 ( http://crm114.sourceforge.net/ )\nLimitations\nOnce you’ve accepted an email, it’s on your system. If you now decide it’s spam, you can either choose to drop it silently (incurring the possibility of silent failures for false positives) or bounce it possibly causing backscatter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_%28e-mail%29 ).\nWith Bayesian filtering, spammers increasingly just add a bunch of non-spammy words to their email. It looks like gibberish.\n22.1.2 Throttling and Delays\nGreylisting is my favorite anti-spam technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylisting )\nLimitations\nSpammers just wait a while and retry from the same IP address. Hopefully by that time, they’re blacklisted.\nThere are incompatible senders - for example, they may try delivery once and that’s it, or many systems may work from the same queue and thus the same IP will never retry the send.\n22.1.3 Blocking Known Offenders\nDNS blacklisting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNSBL )\nLimitations\nWhere’s the money in keeping such lists up to date, and defending against spammer lawsuits?\n22.1.4 Authentication for Sending Email\nSMTP-AUTH email authentication ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMTP-AUTH )\nThis makes people prove who they are before they are allowed to send mail via SMTP.\n22.1.5 Network-Level Authentication Techniques\nSender Policy Framework ( http://www.openspf.org/ )\nDomain Keys Identified Mail ( http://www.dkim.org/ ) helped to knock E-Bay and Paypal down from being the number one phishing target\nThese are designed to prove that one’s email is legitimately from your organization, but do not actually say anything about whether it is spam or not.\n22.1.6 Message-Level Authentication Techniques\nS/MIME ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME )\nThese prove that an email is from an individual, but do not actually say anything about whether it is spam or not.\nJeremiah Grossman’s blog ( http://jeremiahgrossman.blogspot.com/ )\nZalweski’s Browser Security Handbook ( http://code.google.com/p/browsersec/ )\n23.2 Indirect Browser Attacks\nThere are many attacks which don’t try to execute arbitrary code in the browser, but instead attack the logic in the browser in order to get the browser to do something for the user which the user didn’t intend. This is a specific instance of something called the confused deputy problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confused_deputy_problem ), first described by Norm Hardy.\n23.2.1 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)\nA good example of the confused deputy problem is cross-site request forgery, also known as CSRF ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSRF ), where the user’s browser is tricked into visiting a URL for a site, and if the user’s cookies are sufficient to authorize the request (i.e. they are logged in at that moment), then the user has actually authorized something without knowing it.\n23.2.2 Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)\nA similar attack is Cross-Site Scripting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_site_scripting ), also known as XSS. In this, the adversary tricks a web site that you trust into displaying some malicious HTML. That is, it exploits your trust for the website, by getting his attack code to appear on the trusted website. This is a good example of a possible vulnerability in giving some subjects more privileges than others; the adversary may be able to masquerade as the privileged entity (i.e. by doing DNS hijacking and presenting a fake SSL certificate), or in this case trick it into doing his bidding.\nThis attack is particularly devastating due to the same origin policy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_origin_policy ), which states that code displayed from one origin can do whatever it wants to the HTML that comes from the same origin. In effect, it gives an attacker near-total control of what happens on that site in the user’s browser, allowing him to steal cookies, capture login credentials, and so on. In fact, it completely neutralizes any CSRF countermeasures the site may deploy.\nThis attack is often used for credential theft.\nStay Ahead of Web 2.0 Worms - XSS Marks the Spot ( http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/01/07/xss_tactics_strategy/ )\nRsnake’s XSS filter evasion ( http://ha.ckers.org/xss.html )\n23.2.3 Session Fixation\nWikipedia article on Session Fixation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_fixation )\nRsnake points out that session fixation could be its own class of attack, as I have indicated here, but that it usually occurs in the context of a cross-site scripting attack.\n23.2.4 UI Attacks\nThese attacks focus on tricking the user by manipulating what he or she sees on the screen.\nClickjacking ( http://www.sectheory.com/clickjacking.htm ), another instance of confused deputy problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confused_deputy_problem )\n23.5 Crawler Attacks\nCrawlers and indexers can be vulnerable to parsing and codec overflows. And if they follow links, they can be tricked into executing some web-based attacks.\n23.6 SSL Certificates Made Redundant\nWe just certified our x.509 SSL certs with the Department of Redundancy Department’s CA certificate.\nWhen you pay a Certification Authority [C] [C] They are a certification authority; not a certificate authority. They are not selling certificates, they are selling the certification process. Anyone can make a certificate. a large sum of money to certify you (and issue a certificate as a by-product of that certification process), they check your information against the system of record to make sure you are the person who owns the domain. Therefore, unless they check something else, they can never give higher assurance than the registrar, which makes you wonder why they even exist; you could just get a certificate from the registrar, and that would, in theory, give us more security. As Lynn Wheeler puts it, these are basically offline checks, derived from letters of credit ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_of_credit ) in the sailing ship days. They are significantly less secure than an online system. To allow for revocation, all clients must check them against a certificate revocation list (CRL). To allow for instant revocation, you have to be online with the source of the CRL. Of course, if you’re already doing that, why use certificates at all? Just ask the person who would have issued the certificate for the appropriate public key (see 11.6↑ ).\n24 Software Security\n24.1 Security is a Subset of Correctness\nIf we make the (rather large) assumption that the design is secure, then one is left with implementation vulnerabilities. These are exploitable bugs. Correct code has no bugs. Thus, we should shoot for correct code, and we will get secure code as a happy side-effect. It is possible to design code so that you can formally verify correctness ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_verification ), but you cannot generally prove correctness for arbitrarily-structured programs.\nAny software system which has not been proven correct may have implementation vulnerabilities. Put another way, any system which processes data which may be controlled or affected by the adversary could be compromised. This includes security monitoring systems; there have been a number of bugs in tcpdump’s decoding routines. If the system can be compromised non-interactively, then even a system which passively records data, and analyzes it offline, could be vulnerable.\nCERT Secure Coding Standards ( http://www.securecoding.cert.org/ )\n24.3 Malware vs. Data-Directed Attacks\nEven though any software could have an implementation bug that causes it to be controlled remotely, a surprising amount of software can be controlled remotely by design. Files and data that are meant to be interpreted by such software are called active content, but it doesn’t mean that it has to be interpreted; one can still view it with a hex editor and do no interpretation whatsoever. Examples of active content include executable files, javascript, flash, Microsoft Office documents, and so forth. Many of these started with the assumption that the authors of such files would always be trustworthy, which eroded over time, until now people routinely download these things and run them without even realizing they are giving control of that software to an anonymous person.\nWhen active content is malicious, it is called malware. When someone exploits software that doesn’t normally allow the data to control it, it is called a data-directed attack. Computer security experts typically have a very good understanding of the difference, and so don’t bother to check documents with anti-virus software unless they use a program which offers control to the document. People act like working with computer virii is risky, but it’s a bit like working with E. Coli; you simply make sure never to ingest it, and you’re fine. And computers only do the things we tell them to, so there’s no risk of accidentally ingesting it if you know what you’re doing.\n24.4.1 C\nC is one the most difficult language in which to write secure code. The primary culprits in this language are:\nThe lack of standard buffer management routines leads to buffer overflows (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_overflow ).\nThere are also format string attacks (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_string_attack ) which deal with being able to control the format string to sprintf and the fact that it can do some weird things when used in bad ways.\nThe string handling routines are notoriously tricky to get right (not to mention not being 8-bit clean, since they treat \\0 as a sentinel value). There is an explanation of the gotchas and an attempt to deal with the trickiness problem by writing easier-to-use routines such as strlcat and strlcpy (see http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix99/millert.html ). Please, every C programmer go read that. Also you may wish to take advantage of the astring library (see http://www.mibsoftware.com/libmib/astring/ ).\nI would argue that unless there’s a good reason for you to use C, you should use C++ instead.\n24.4.2 C++\nC++ is definitely a step up from C. Strings are no longer character arrays, but now first-class objects, making their handling significantly better. Most flaws in C++ code that are dependent on the language tend to be:\nDynamic memory allocation and deallocation problems, leading to heap mismanagement, double-free, and possibly heap overflows\nPointer mismanagement\nI would argue that unless there’s a good reason for you to use C++, you should use Java or Python instead.\n24.4.3 Perl\nPerl is a pretty good tool, but it has some shortcomings as well:\nThe file open call lets you specify a mode in the same parameter as the filename. In most cases, if an attacker can control which file was intended to be opened, he can also start a shell pipeline. This is what happens when you mix control and data together.\nThe system command and backticks provide an easy way for the adversary to do shell injection.\n24.4.4 PHP\nPHP is incredibly difficult to write securely and yet very popular. There have been many security-relevant bugs found in the language itself, and every day seems to be a new vulnerability in PHP code.\nI won’t go into details here right now but let’s just say that you should start with register_globals and allow_url_fopen turned off in your configuration files.\n24.5 Reverse Engineering\nReverse engineering is similar to forensics, except that in forensics you’re looking for evidence, usually data left over by a person, whereas a reverse engineer seeks to understand a system or program in question.\n24.5.1 Tutorials\nSo far, all I’ve read is Fravia’s tutorials (You can find an archive of Fravia’s tutorials here: http://web.archive.org/web/20041119084104/http://fravia.anticrack.de/ ).\n24.5.2 Analyses\nSilver Needle in the Skype ( http://www.secdev.org/conf/skype_BHEU06.pdf ) is an awesome paper that shows what a talented reverse engineer can do.\n24.6 Application Exploitation\nFor arbitrary code execution (the worst kind of vulnerability), one method is to get executable code, such as shellcode ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellcode ) into the memory space of the process. This is called code injection ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_injection ). This can happen through a buffer overflow or a similar technique, such as passing it in an environment variable. Then, transfer control to it by overwriting a function pointer, GOT entry, or return address on the stack. That’s it.\nThere are other forms of vulnerabilities; in some cases, the attacker controls the instructions but not the data (see 24.6.2↓ below), and in other cases, the data but not the instructions (see.\n24.6.4 SQL Injection\nThis is a slightly different class of attack, in that it doesn’t involve arbitrary code execution, but it is remarkably common at the moment (early 2010).\nhttp://projects.webappsec.org/SQL-Injection\n24.7 Application Exploitation Defenses\nThere are a few systems for stopping exploitation without fixing the underlying problems, but obviously each has limitations.\n24.7.1 Stack-Smashing Protection\nStack-smashing protection is described pretty well on the Wikipedia page ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack-smashing_protection ) and its most obvious limitation is that it only works against stack buffer overflows. Particular defenses may have other drawbacks. I’ll expand on this later.\n24.7.2 Address-Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)\nIn the ASLR technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASLR ), the system lays out the regions of memory in an unpredictable way. This is usually done by loading different contiguous sections into different areas of address space at load time, and the loader fixes up the executable (usually via some kind of offset table that maps symbols to addresses) such that it can find other parts of itself. This means that an adversary may overflow a buffer, but they do not know a priori where it resides in memory, so can’t easily transfer control to it. The advantage to this is that you can often do it with a simple recompilation. The disadvantage is that the adversary can sometimes run the program over and over until he lucks out, or he may be able to use a memory disclosure vulnerability to figure out the correct address.\n24.7.3 Write XOR Execute\nIn some processor architectures, memory pages may have access control flags such as “writable” or “executable”. An operating system like OpenBSD may enforce W⊗X ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W^X ) which means that only one of the two flags may be set, so that an adversary may either be able to overflow a buffer, or execute its contents, but not both. The limitation is that the adversary may be able to find a way to write to the buffer and then change the flag to be executable, or that he may not need to run arbitrary code, merely to pass data under his control to an existing routine.\n24.7.4 PaX\nPaX flags data memory as non-executable, program memory as non-writable and randomly arranges the program memory. This effectively prevents many security exploits, such as some kinds of buffer overflows. The former prevents direct code execution absolutely, while the latter makes so-called return-to-libc (ret2libc) attacks difficult to exploit, relying on luck to succeed, but doesn’t prevent variables and pointers overwriting.\n-- Wikipedia\n24.8 Software Complexity\n24.8.1 Complexity of Network Protocols\nWhen evaluating the security of a network application, a good question is how likely is the software to lead to a remotely exploitable compromise? How much code is devoted to interpreting it, and how much other stuff does it interact with? For example, the reason why packet filters are valuable is that it doesn’t take much code to check that a packet isn’t allowed in. This basically is a question designed to evaluate design vulnerabilities. Protocol-level design vulnerabilities are often more obvious than implementation vulnerabilities because simple protocols have less to understand than the source code of the programs that speak them, but only if the protocol is documented. If you have to extract it from source code alone (or worse, reverse-engineer it from executables), then this is more difficult. Of course, if the designers hadn’t thought of the protocol design before writing code, then it probably has plenty of holes. A fellow with the handle “Hobbit” wrote a paper Common Insecurities Fail Scrutiny ( http://insecure.org/stf/cifs.txt ) that details a number of flaws he found in the Microsoft NetBIOS file sharing protocols. Later, a Microsoft representative asked (in mild awe) how he found them, and his response was effectively that he didn’t use their toolset. He reverse-engineered the whole thing from scratch, and that allowed him to see the protocol as it really was, and not as their software intended it to be. This illustrates an interesting point in that software or incomplete descriptions of things can color one’s view of it, and prevent you from seeing something that someone with a lower-level view can see. But really the problem seems to be that the protocol had grown organically and was without coherent design and only appeared secure due to obscurity. To this day, it is considered unsafe to allow an adversary to talk to NetBIOS services.\nThe only solution seems to be to design the protocol independent of the software, because it represents an attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) that requires analysis. Just because your software doesn’t generate a particular message sequence doesn’t mean an adversary will not! Adversaries are not kind enough to always use our tools.\n24.8.2 Polymorphism and Complexity\nIn order to allow any computer to access things on the web, it was decided to allow a restricted character set in HTTP. For example, if your computer could not properly transmit a tilde, or store a file with a tilde in the name, it could use what is called “URI escaping”. In URI escaping, the tilde is %7F, and the space character is %20. This seemed like a good idea for interoperability, but has actually made intrusion detection more complex and less reliable, and it has also become a security problem in a number of cases. The basic problem is that there’s more than one representation (syntax, or encoding) for some meanings (semantics), so it is called polymorphic. So if some piece of software wants to make sure a string that will be URI-decoded doesn’t contain a character (such as a space), it also has to make sure it doesn’t contain the URI-escaped version of it (%20). These sorts of checks end up all over the place, and sooner or later a programmer is going to forget about it, and you’ll end up with a security hole.\nThe only solution seems to be to either avoid polymorphism, avoid having special characters which will need to be checked for, or to come up with a software design that makes sure that you always work with the canonical representation of your data.\n24.9 Failure Modes\nA piece of software, subsystem, or component may fail to do its job properly for various reasons. Its failure mode is the implication of that failure. Sometimes we may classify these failures as erring on the side of safety or security, which is known as fail-safe or fail-secure ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail-safe ). Sometimes the result is safe but not secure, like a door held closed by electromagnetism; in the event of a power failure, it becomes unlocked, which is safe (to people) but not secure (to whatever the door protects). [D] [D] For some wonderful information on safety engineering, see the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_engineering\n“There is no limit to stupidity.”\n-- Dario V. Forte\nUnderstanding Scam Victims: Seven Principles for Systems Security ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-754.pdf )\n25.3 Security Should Be Obvious, and the Default\nBy several of the security design principles described later (see 34↓ ):\nIf code compiles, the programmer assumes he is done. So design security APIs that you can’t successfully compile unless you get it right.\nIf the end user might want something to not be secure, make that harder than normal secure configuration. For example, don’t turn NFS or any other service on by default.\nMake security obvious to the end user; the padlock icons and things of that nature are a good idea. Make the not-secure state as obvious as the secure state, so the user knows which he is in.\n25.4 Security Should Be Easy to Use\nAlma Whitten, Why Johnny Can’t Encrypt: A Usability Evaluation of PGP 5.0 ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~tygar/papers/Why_Johnny_Cant_Encrypt/OReilly.pdf , http://gaudior.net/alma/johnny.pdf )\n25.5 No Hidden Data\nIn tar files, they store the user and group IDs. When system administrator untars these, they remain owned by those UIDs even when the machines making and using the tarfile were not the same. For widespread file distribution, one should not use a format that retains metadata that will not be useful between machines. At least one case of this being a security hole has been documented in a very silly way here:\nhttp://attrition.org/security/advisory/gobbles/GOBBLES-16.txt\nFurthermore, the lists of Iranians who helped the US in depose the Shah was revealed by a NY Times reporter who made the PDF available. He had blocked out the names, but on a different layer. On some slow computers, you could read the names before the layer with the blocks loaded:\n26.1 Attack Taxonomy\nlogic level attacks are usually against applications. For example, a banking application may allow you to transfer a negative amount of money to someone without getting their permission (this is not a made-up example).\napplication protocol level attacks are against the daemon itself, by doing things in an unexpected order, or by in some way violating the intent of the protocol. For example, a daemon may be vulnerable if a string in the attack is too long. Protocol fuzzing helps find these kinds of attacks.\nnetwork protocol level attacks are against the network software (usually the TCP/IP stack), which may or may not be part of the operation system itself. Long ago, some TCP/IP stacks would stop working if you sent it a packet with the same source and destination IP address (this was called the “land” attack).\nidentity spoofing attacks simply try to get access as a legitimate user\nauthorization attacks try to do more with a legitimate user’s privileges than was intended by the owner\nman in the middle attacks involve interposing between two parties that are communicating normally (see 10.9↑ )\n26.2 Attack Properties\nAll attacks are not created equal. They may sometimes be grouped together in various ways, though, and so that leads us to ask whether there are any dimensions, or characteristics, by which we may classify known attacks.\naccess required to execute the attack varies; some attacks require a system account, while others can be exploited by anyone on the Internet.\ndetectability usually means that the attack involves a non-standard interaction with us, and therefore involves something which we could (in theory) look for and recognize. Passive attacks, typically eavesdropping, are very difficult or impossible to detect.\nrecoverability refers to whether we may, after detecting or suspecting an attack, restore the state of the system to a secure one. Usually once an adversary has complete control of a system, we cannot return it to a secure state without some unusual actions, because they may have tampered with any tools we may be using to inspect or fix the system.\npreventability refers to whether there exists a defense which allows us to prevent it, or whether we must be content with detecting it. We can sometimes prevent attacks we cannot detect; for example, we can prevent someone from reading our wireless transmissions by encrypting them properly, but we can’t usually detect whether or not any third party is receiving them.\nscalability means the same attack will probably work against many systems, and does not require human effort to develop or customize for each system.\noffline exploitability means that the attack may be conducted once but exploited several times, as when you steal a cryptographic key.\nsophistication refers to the property of requiring a great deal of skill, versus an unsophisticated attack like guessing a password to a known system account.\nMuch of this list is thanks to the Everest voting machine report ( http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/info/EVEREST/14-AcademicFinalEVERESTReport.pdf ).\nPutting a key in a smart card or TPM or HSM prevents it from being copied and reused later, offline, but it doesn’t prevent it from being abused by the adversary while he has control of its inputs. For example, a trojan can submit bogus documents to a smart card to have them signed, and the user has no way of knowing. Similarly, sometimes techniques like putting passphrases on SSH keys can prevent them from being stolen right away, requiring a second visit (or at least an exfiltration at a later date). However, each interaction with the system by the adversary risks detection, so he wants to do so once only, instead of multiple times.\nFor example, your adversary could pilfer your SSL cert, and then use it to create a phishing site (see 22.2↑ ) elsewhere. This is a single loss of confidentiality, then an authentication attack (forgery) not against you, but against your customers (third parties). Or he could pilfer your GPG key, then use it to forge messages from you (a similar detectable attack) or read your email (passive attack, undetectable). Or he might break in, wanting to copy your SSH key, find that it’s encrypted with a passphrase, install a key logger, and come back later to retrieve the passphrase (two active attacks). Alternately, the key logger could send the data out automatically (exfiltration).\nThis is well discussed in the canonical system-cracking book, Hacking Exposed.\nFootprint - gather information about the target without touching the target\nScan - identify live targets and services\nEnumerate - obtain as much information as you can from the system\nExploit - crack into the system\nEscalate Privileges - if you aren’t already all-powerful, try and become root or Administrator (or whatever)\nPilfering - using your maximum privileges, look for things of value, like saved passwords or access codes\nAfter all that, you’ll probably be able to use that system as an attack platform (this is sometimes called pivoting off the host), repeating steps 2-6 on another target.\n26.4 Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification\nMitre’s CAPAC ( http://capec.mitre.org/ )\n27 Trust and Personnel Security\n27.1 Trust and Trustworthiness\nIn my view, to have real trust, there must be consequences for betrayal. The extent of the consequences defines the extent of trust.\n-- Terry Ritter (personal correspondence)\nTerry and I disagree on our definition of the word “trust”, but there is some truth in what he says. A trusted person is one upon whom our security depends. A trusted part of a system is one which must operate properly to ensure the security of the system. A trustworthy person will look out for your interests even though there would be no consequences if they did not do so (apart from the effect it would have on their conscience and your relationship); in fact, a completely trustworthy person would never betray your interests regardless of the consequences to himself. In any case, trust depends on free will; a person may be trustworthy or untrustworthy, but a business or organization cannot, because they do not make decisions; people within them do. Executives of a publicly-owned corporation are legally liable if they make decisions that they know will not maximize shareholder profit, which generally means that they usually act in the corporation’s financial self-interest, which may diverge from yours. Unfortunately, some people are also like this.\nAs a consequence of this, corporations routinely breach the privacy of customers and third parties by discarding hard drives with their data on it (A Remembrance of Data Past, http://www.computer.org/portal/cms_docs_security/security/v1n1/garfinkel.pdf ). They almost never take the time to encrypt laptop hard drives, even though that software is totally free (see 28.7.5↓ ). Thus, it is often desirable to use take measures to ensure that the other party’s interest and your own overlap as much as possible, and to minimize your dependence on them when your interests diverge. Now would be a good time to re-evaluate anywhere your security relies on a publicly-held corporation, especially when it is a free service.\nSome people would think that paying money is enough, but it may not be; that kind of reasoning (that you can buy security) may work in practice but is not the kind of argument that an “absolute security” person would make (see 35.2↓ ). Would you trust your life to someone merely because you paid them? You would probably want to know if they are qualified, if they are a sociopath, and a number of other things.\n27.2 Who or What Are You Trusting?\nI may know a person who is trustworthy; my grandmother, my friend, or someone else. But in network security, our trust decisions are based on their agents, specifically their computer. In that case, to trust the computer, not only must the person be trustworthy, but they must also be competent enough that their computer does only what they desire it to do. That is simply not often the case except among computer security experts. When someone emails me an executable program to run, I do not run it unless I am expecting it, because too many people’s computers get infected with email viruses that use email to propagate themselves. Again, the person’s computer is not doing what the person wanted in this case. I may receive a cryptographically-signed email from a person, but there are a number of ways that they might not have authorized the signature on the contents:\nThey failed to protect the confidentiality of their private key\nThey lost control of their system when someone hacked in\nTheir system’s integrity was lost when someone modified their message after composition but prior to signing\nThey made a mistake operating the crypto software\nThey failed to maintain physical security of their system, and someone installed a keylogger (and procured a copy of their passphrase-protected private key)\n27.3 Code Provenance: Signed Programs and Trusted Authors\nNo signature? No execute!\n-- Mike Acker\nMost people who aren’t as well-versed in security as we are often mistakenly believe that one can ensure security by only running a small, fixed list of programs that are presumed to be safe, or only visiting certain well-known web sites. You should first remember that the mere fact that something is dangerous to process suggests that our systems may not be properly designed in the first place, but operating systems which don’t allow us to run new programs are pretty boring, so let’s discuss the limitations of author policies. Even a well-known web site can be vulnerable to cross-site scripting (see 23.2↑ ), where they display potentially-malicious content which they did not create. What, exactly, is the criteria to determine if an author, program, or web site is safe or unsafe (see 4.1↑ )?\nMicrosoft has developed several signed ActiveX controls which turned out to be exploitable ( http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/753044 , http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/713779 http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/999 ), so if you indicated that you trusted anything signed by Microsoft, any other programs could call these controls to violate your security. IBM was discovered recently by eEye to have a similarly buggy ActiveX control ( http://osdir.com/ml/security.vulnerabilities.watch.announce/2006-08/msg00005.html ). So clearly, even if the author is trustworthy, we cannot be sure the program cannot violate our security. Nor can we be sure that everyone in a given organization is trustworthy; surely in a company that size, someone is untrustworthy! Knowing who the author is helps, because it increases the likelihood of punishment or retaliation in the case of misbehavior, but can’t prevent incompetence. Signing code does not make it secure; even with signed code, we still have to learn to create and maintain secure systems.\nIn fact, it’s even worse than that. Some SSL certificates were issued in Microsoft’s name and authorized by VeriSign to an individual not associated with Microsoft ( http://www.csl.sri.com/users/neumann/insiderisks.html#132 ). So now, when you trust things signed by Microsoft, you’re also trusting things signed by some talented third party who isn’t afraid of committing some fraud.\nSince many commercial products link against libraries provided by other companies, simply having a signature doesn’t mean that company really wrote a particular piece of code. Similarly, many web sites use content derived from other sources, so the domain may tell us nothing about who created a particular image, or even web page. Did Youtube create all the video content on its site? If not, why should we trust (the motives of) the authors of that content as much as we trust (the motives of) the company that owns the servers and domain name?\nLimiting our list of acceptable software authors to a single company may help that company’s profits, but it won’t necessarily make us secure. One unasked question of signed code is “how do you know who to trust?”, and the answer to that is “those who are trustworthy and write secure code”. The more important unasked question is “given that our software may be vulnerable, how do we know what is safe?”, but the answer is “until you enumerate all the vulnerabilities, you don’t” (see 4.1↑ ).\n27.4 The Incompetence Defense\nNever attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.\n-- Hanlon’s Razor ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon )\nAny sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.\n-- Grey’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey )\nSo suppose that due to a flaw in a vendor’s product, you suffered a serious intrusion. Since most pieces of commercial software come with end-user licensing agreements (EULA) that specifically disclaim any liability, what are you going to do? Even if you knew it was malice, you probably couldn’t prove it. This is an example where you are unable to apply the principle of removing excuses ( 34.13↓ ).\n27.5 Limiting Damage Caused by Trusted People\nAt first glance, it would seem that you could simply replace trusted people with computers. In fact, that often merely increases the number of trusted people; now you must trust the designers, implementers, programmers, installers, and administrators of the hardware, software, and network. There are however a few steps you can take to limit damage caused by trusted people:\nLimit how many people have access. This is the Principle of Minimal Assumptions (see 34.3↓ ).\nLimit how much access each person has according to the Principle of Least Privilege (see 34.1↓ ).\nSplit the security operation between two or more people. This is the Principle of Split Control (see 34.9↓ ).\nTry to establish whether the trusted people are trustworthy. This includes various kinds of background checks. This is the Principle of Personality (see 34.16↓ ).\nDetect breaches of trust and prosecute offenders. This is the Principle of Retaining Control (see 34.15↓ ).\nPay key people well; try to make all employees happy and loyal. Make sure that the trusted few have fates that are tied in with that of the company, perhaps by generous stock options. Avoid making people disgruntled. Have a sensible Human Resources policy.\n28 Cryptography\nCrypto ergo sum.\nIf you have any questions about cryptologic terms, first check Terry Ritter’s excellent glossary: http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/GLOSSARY.HTM\nYou may also wish to view Peter Gutmann’s “Godzilla Crypto Tutorial”: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/tutorial/\nA Survey of the Mathematics of Cryptography ( http://crypto.cs.mcgill.ca/~gsavvi1/547/gebbie.pdf )\n28.1 Things To Know Before Doing Crypto\nThe ratio of unique Greek symbols to numerical constants in any scientific equation is inversely proportional to the comprehensibility.\n-- Dolan’s Law\nAnd, directly proportional to the strength of the argument of the said scientific equation.\n-- Klofa’s Corollary\n28.1.1 Dramatis Personae\nFor the purposes of cryptologic discussions, Alice, Bob, and Charlie are the canonical names of the usual, friendly, players.\nBy convention, when an imaginary cryptographic adversary is only capable of passive attacks (eavesdropping), the adversary is named Eve. When the imaginary adversary is capable of modifying data, the adversary is named Mallory.\nNow that we’re naming imaginary adversaries, you can see how this may lead to paranoid delusions.\n28.1.2 Cryptologic Jargon\nA computationally-bounded adversary has limits to the amount of computation he or she can perform. There is no hard limit defined for this, but for right now (2007) perhaps something on the order of 232 or 264 cryptographic operations might be reasonable. Basically we usually assume this so that we can talk about systems without having to worry about brute-force attacks.\nThus, for most systems, we talk about a computationally-secure level of security, which would be useful against a computationally-bounded adversary. There is a “perfect” security, which is the information-theoretic level of security, but it doesn’t get much discussion because it’s trivial and usually impractical, since the key for each message must be as long as the message you wanted to send.\nAn oracle is something which can perform a cryptographic operation on your behalf, when you cannot do so yourself.\nAn interrogative adversary may ask your system for answers, using it as an oracle.\nSemantic security applies to asymmetric crypto systems, and holds true when a computationally-bounded adversary cannot obtain any information when given an encrypted message and the public key it was encrypted with.\nAn ephemeral key is one that you intend to use for a short period of time. For example, it could be the symmetric key used to encrypt a packet of data, or a single message. In security protocols, these are often negotiated, or derived by consensus between the endpoints.\nForward Secrecy (or security) means that a compromise of a private key today won’t reveal the negotiated message keys of prior communications; as soon as the conversation is done and the ephemeral keys are wiped, nobody can decrypt the old conversation. Though the term is controversial, in one case Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) goes a step further and says this holds true if an older negotiated key will not be compromised even if the negotiated keys are derived from the same long-term keying material. These are sometimes refered to as time-compartmentalized protocols. This can also apply to cryptographically-strong pseudo-random number generators, where compromise of the seed at a given time will not allow the adversary to know the previous values it contained.\n28.1.3 Historical Use of Cryptography\nHistorically, if one physically controlled the communication lines (linesec - see 32.1↓ ), one generally didn’t worry about cryptography. The historical practical use of cryptography was in messages to embassies, which might be intercepted. Then it was used in telegraphic communication where the lines may be subject to eavesdropping. Then it was used in radio communication. Now it is used in wifi networks.\nThere was a time when people thought that switches would control security sufficiently that they didn’t have to encrypt data on their LAN; however, tools like dsniff (see 10.9.3↑ ) have demonstrated that to have been ignorance on the part of network engineers.\nHowever, this is changing. Now, powerful cryptographic systems are available for many kinds of computer-to-computer communication. In fact, most secure distributed systems for use over the Internet involve cryptographic protocols. The ubiquity of the software is demonstrating a trend towards encrypting everything. For example, most system administrators use SSH to control remote systems, even if they are located on a local LAN.\n28.1.4 How Strong Should My Cryptography Be?\nAs always, I think the right rule is “encrypt until it hurts, then back off until it stops hurting”.\n-- Perry Metzger (correspondence to cryptography mailing list)\nNobody knows for sure how much is enough. What seemed good enough yesterday is not today, and might not actually have been yesterday. How much can you afford? How much would it cost you if it were broken?\nIf you don’t have linesec (see 32.1↓ ), then a common assumption is that the adversary may eavesdrop on your communication. And if the adversary can eavesdrop, they can record encrypted conversations. Then, if your cryptography turns out to be weak, or your random number generation turns out to be weak (see 30.6↓ ), your communications are disclosed retroactively.\nIn other words, you can’t just fix your cryptography when it is found to be broken; a prudent designer will build in more cryptographic strength than he needs to prevent against future developments in cryptography.\n28.1.5 Key Lengths\nKey lengths between different algorithms are not directly comparable. Definitely not between public-key and secret-key; they tend to be orders of magnitude different.\nhttp://www.keylength.com\n28.1.6 Eight Bit Clean Handling\nCryptographic keys, encrypted messages, and many other crypto products are binary data. This means that they may contain characters such as 0x00, which means that you can’t store them in normal C strings. What you really need is an eight-bit clean data path. That means no sentinels; instead, you need buffers with associated size fields in order to handle this.\n28.1.7 Encoding Binary Data\nThere are tricks such as using hexadecimal or base64, but please don’t do this in your code because you’ll waste time encoding and decoding every time the data is handled. On the other hand, encoding in hex or base64 is great for giving to humans or pasting into email or any other mostly-text channel, since that channel is likely to NOT be 8-bit clean. I personally prefer hex when giving keys to people, and base64 when giving a computer big blobs of encrypted data (i.e. via XML or HTTP).\n28.1.8 Avoiding Ambiguity\nAnother potential problem comes when we try to combine cryptographic data with other data, or combine datums prior to feeding it to a cryptographic algorithm. In either case, to remain secure, we want an unambiguous representation of the combined data. For example, if we want to digitally sign two datums, “12” and “3”, we can’t just concatenate them; otherwise, the code doesn’t know whether we signed “12” and “3” or “1” and “23”. This sounds obvious but perhaps a real-world example will illustrate the trickiness.\nThere was a Wordpress 2.5 vulnerability lately where they took the user’s name, appended a timestamp in seconds since the epoch, and then encrypted it to create a login authenticator. Unfortunately, this means you could create an account named “admin0”, and you get an authenticator. Next, you try to be admin, provide the same authenticator, and after removing the prospective user’s name, the extra zero becomes part of the timestamp. So here the parser could not tell between the two cases.\nWordpress 2.5 cookie integrity protection vulnerability ( http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2008/04/25/wordpress-25-cookie-integrity-protection-vulnerability/ )\nFurthermore, most cryptographic data can hold any value, making it tricky to combine it (see 28.1.7↑ ). Thus, you can’t just stick a weird character like NUL (0x00) between two cryptographic results and be sure that it will decode properly, because any character might be valid inside the results of a cryptographic operation. There are ways of encoding data unambiguously, however, and we will cover that in a later section (see 28.5.5↓ ).\n28.1.9 End-to-End vs. Hop-by-Hop\nIn courses or books about networking, they often study the ISO OSI model [E] [E] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model . This model shows that it is possible to think about networking between two entities at multiple levels. This is relevant to cryptography as well. For example, wireless networks (so-called wifi or WLAN networks) are sometimes secured with cryptography in the form of WEP [F] [F] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy or WPA [G] [G] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access . These encrypt the network data at the link layer, or the radio link between a wifi client and the wifi access point. In networking parlance, only the first hop is protected. When the cryptographic protections are strong enough, this secures the data between these two nodes, but it does not protect the application-layer data if it travels beyond the WLAN. That is, if you sit in a coffee shop and use your laptop to access a web site on another continent, your data is not protected once it passes the access point and goes across the Internet at large. To do that, you need encryption at a higher level. A common way to protect this data is using TLS [H] [H] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security , historically called SSL. In this case, the data is protected from your browser to the secure web site.\nHowever, even this can sometimes be seen as hop-by-hop security. For example, if that web site passes the data to another web site, that link would need to be secured. Also, if it communicates that data to another server, for example a credit card payment gateway, it is not protected by TLS (that was the point of protocols such as SET [I] [I] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_electronic_transaction ). If using only TLS, one would desire the second link to be secured as well. In fact, if the web server stores your credit card information in a database, one could consider the database, and not the web server, as the true endpoint of the communication.\nThat is not the only case where layers of software and hardware come into the equation. For example, if one wanted to encrypt data on disk, you could do your encryption in the operating system right before data is written to disk (see 28.7↓ ), in the database software, or in the application (for example, in GPG [J] [J] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard ). Encrypting at the database or operating system level allows the data to be intercepted on the way down the stack towards these lower levels; encrypting in the application leaves the smallest attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) available to the adversary. However, one should remember that it often requires administrator-level privileges to intercept this data, and in this case the adversary with administrator privileges could, in theory, peek at the data inside the application.\nIn general, end-to-end encryption is to be preferred to hop-by-hop encryption, because in hop-by-hop encryption one relies on more systems to be secure than in end-to-end encryption, and often, there are different opinions on what constitutes the endpoint of the communication.\n28.2 Limits of Cryptography\nSecure web servers are the equivalent of heavy armored cars. The problem is, they are being used to transfer rolls of coins and checks written in crayon by people on park benches to merchants doing business in cardboard boxes from beneath highway bridges. Further, the roads are subject to random detours, anyone with a screwdriver can control the traffic lights, and there are no police.\n-- Eugene Spafford ( http://homes.cerias.purdue.edu/~spaf/quotes.html )\n28.2.1 The Last Foot of the Communication\nHumans are limited at cryptography and thus read and type plaintext to their computers (see 10.6↑ ). Thus, the protection stops where the encryption stops. We would normally want complete end-to-end encryption, so that it is protected the entire way; however, the endpoints are usually people, so we compromise by doing the encryption on a computer and decryption on another computer, leaving the last “hop” unprotected.\nIf you wish to be able to effectively monitor what a computer user does, there isn’t a much better way than by being the administrator of the machine at which he sits, and relegating him to the role of “simple user”. This means that he is effectively unable to determine what activities are being monitored, and hampers his ability to communicate confidentially with a remote system (to include exfiltrating data). Even if it is impossible to prevent him from recognizing that he is being monitored, sudden changes in furtive activity correlated with other events may be very instructive. This is also one of the reasons why physical-layer side channel attacks (see 31.2.1↓ ) can be so devastating.\nThis brings up an interesting point regarding personnel security, and that is that it is difficult (and very risky to attempt) to conspire with an anonymous monitor that you have never met. By having groups unknown to one another watch each other, you effectively inhibit their ability to conspire. By adding an element of doubt - for example, by making it known that you occasionally test the trustworthiness of personnel - you make it very risky to accept any conspiratorial proposals.\n28.2.2 Limitations Regarding Endpoint Security\nAnother issue is that if we are using cryptography to protect data communications, then we must consider strongly the endpoint security. Perhaps the most secure communication would be protected offline using a non-interactive cryptosystem (i.e. GPG), and transferred via sneakernet to a network-connected machine, and then transmitted. It could potentially be transmitted using an interactive protocol to prevent replay and such.\nOf course, a person can be considered an endpoint as well, and untrustworthy people or rubber hoses may compromise the security of the messages.\n28.2.3 The Secure Bootstrapping Problem\nSuppose for a moment that you wanted to set up a computer to perform some cryptographic operation. You must purchase the computer hardware, download and install an operating system, and download and install the cryptographic software. You should be aware that each step in this process is susceptible to attack. For example, the motherboard could have a transmitter covertly placed in it, the operating system or cryptographic software could have a backdoor in it, etc. In some cases, the product of one step can be used to verify the integrity of the next step; for example, you may install Ubuntu as the operating system and Ubuntu can verify the integrity of a packaged OpenSSH binary to make sure it was not tampered with. However, it is difficult be sure that the original, untampered version of the software does not have a backdoor or security flaw. In general, it is difficult to determine whether a given component can be trusted unless you created it yourself.\n28.2.4 Keys Must Be Exchanged\nImagine that Alice wants to talk securely over the Internet to Bob. How can she verify Bob’s identity? If they don’t share any common information about themselves, Alice can’t identify Bob from some random person Charlie.\nIf they pick a simple question about Bob’s life, someone might already know it (or be able to find it out), and they could only use it once before eavesdropper Eve learns the correct answer. Of course Bob would need to ask Alice something only she would know too, so it destroys two shared secrets in the process of being used.\nGenerally, in order to be effective, they must share a secret (key), and they must not reveal that key to anyone else. Establishing this secret is the Achilles Heel of cryptography, and is discussed later (see 28.9.2↓ ).\n28.2.5 In Practice\nRoss Anderson has an excellent paper called Why Cryptosystems Fail ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/wcf.html ). The main point is that it’s not usually the cryptography that is broken, but rather some other part of the system.\n28.2.6 The Complexity Trap\nSecurity’s worst enemy is complexity.\n-- The Complexity Trap, ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-IPsec.pdf )\nFerguson and Schneier’s A Cryptographic Evaluation of IPsec ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-ipsec.pdf )captures the main argument against IPsec, which is that it is too complex. Alas, this may well be true of any protocol involving cryptography.\n28.3 Cryptographic Algorithms\nThe multiple human needs and desires that demand privacy among two or more people in the midst of social life must inevitably lead to cryptology wherever men thrive and wherever they write.\n-- David Kahn\nTheir proper use; what they guarantee, what they don’t. These are your building blocks. Already covered elsewhere (esp. Ritter’s crypto glossary, http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/GLOSSARY.HTM ).\n28.3.1 Ciphers\nThese are what most people think of when they think of cryptography. The cipher maps any single input (plaintext) to a single output (ciphertext) in a one-to-one manner. Ciphers are usually keyed, meaning the mapping is dependent on the key. The same key must be supplied to encrypt and decrypt in order to give the correct results. Except in very rare cases, the input and output must be of the same cardinality (number of possible values), and the cipher is one-to-one, so that you can encrypt anything and then decrypt it unambiguously.\nAnother way of stating things which may appeal to the mathematicians out there is that a cipher defines a set of permutations, and each key selects one from that family. Thus, if we assume the key is fixed, the encryption function is a permutation of the inputs. For example, the input set may be the four possible symbols “A B C D”. One key could those symbols to “D A C B”, and another key might map them to “B D A C”. This means that ciphers are keyed permutations. You’ll often see something like EK(plaintext) which means that the author is considering the key K to be fixed.\nFigure 1 Block Cipher Encryption\nNow, if we think of all possible permutations of a set consisting of even 256 elements (input values), the number is the factorial of 256, which is very, very large:\n857817775342842654119082271681232625157781520279485619\n408424615936000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\n000000000000000000000\nObviously, we’d need a huge key to be able to select from all those permutations; a key with 256 bits in it will have many fewer values:\n2 256 = 115792089237316195423570985008687907853269984665640564039457584007913129639936\nSince modern block ciphers have block sizes in the 128-bit range, not 8 as above, you’ll see that the number of permutations for a modern-sized cipher input block will be so large that they exceed the number of atoms in the universe. Thus, a cipher defines a very small subset of all possible permutations.\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher\n28.3.2 Block Cipher vs. Stream Cipher\nBlock ciphers operate on a block of text at once. In order to use one, you need to figure out a padding scheme to pad out to the next block boundary. Stream ciphers operate by generating a keystream of arbitrary length which is combined with the plaintext, usually by something simple like XOR.\n28.3.3 Public-Key vs. Private-Key\nUp until the 1970s, the only encryption algorithms publicly known were what we now call private key algorithms, which are also known as secret key or symmetric algorithms, because the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt.\nThen, at several places within the same decade, various parties stumbled on public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric algorithms. These allow encryption to be performed with one key, and decryption to be performed with a different, but related key. In public-key cryptosystems, numerical methods are used to create a key pair; one of the keys is (perhaps confusingly) known as the private key, because you keep it private, and the other key is known as the public key. They are similar to what a chemist would call enantiomers (optical isomers), in that they are a structurally related, but not identical, pair. Others have compared them to a key and the lock which it opens.\nA fairly important but subtle distinction between asymmetric algorithms and their symmetric counterparts is that it is always possible to derive a private key from a public key using numerical methods, but (barring any cryptanalytic shortcuts) a symmetric algorithm must be attacked by trying every possible key. Also, asymmetric algorithms are much, much slower than symmetric ones, so for practical key lengths, the asymmetric key algorithms tend to be weaker than symmetric ones.\nThere is much to be said about the mathematical structures of public-key algorithms, and entire books have been written on single public-key cryptosystems. For that reason, I’m going to punt and refer you to other books for the deep math.\n28.3.4 Cryptographic Hashes\nFigure 2 Hash Functions\nCryptographic hashes ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function ) basically model a random function. That is, each input, or pre-image, is mapped to an output value (known as the image) of some fixed length, and there is no apparent structure to this mapping. Note that they are very unlikely to be a one-to-one function; they are usually many-to-one. When two inputs map to the same output, that is called a collision. All hashes I am aware of have a fixed size, and so many are of the Merkle-Damgård construction ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle-Damgard ).\nFigure 3 Merkle-Damgård Construction\nYou use hashes where you want to represent a large thing with a fixed-size thing. For example a Cyclic Redundancy Check ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check ) may suffice.\nYou use a cryptographic hash function when you want one of the following properties:\ncollision resistance You cannot find two pre-images with the same image. That is, you cannot easily find x ≠ y such that h(x) = h(y).\npreimage resistance Given the image, you cannot compute the pre-image. This is sometimes called the one-way property. That is, given hash z, you cannot find x such that h(x) = z.\nsecond preimage resistance Given a pre-image, you cannot find another pre-image with the same image. You can call this the chosen-collision attack. Stated formally, given x, you cannot find x ≠ y such that h(y) = h(x).\nIn practice, the first two properties are usually what you care about. At first I thought collision resistance implied second preimage resistance, but that’s not the case.\nYou Can’t Hash Small Input Spaces\nSuppose someone wanted to pick between two values, zero and one. Trying to put them through a one-way function, or hash, because the adversary can just try hashing all the possible values himself. Using a fixed, known IV doesn’t help, either, except to make most non-customized rainbow tables useless; the adversary can still hash each guess once and compare it to all the hash values. By varying the IVs, you make the adversary have to hash each unique IV with his guess, and compare against the hash values with the same IV.\n28.3.5 Message Integrity Checks\nWhen you send a message, sometimes you want to make sure that it arrived without alteration. This is called a Message Integrity Check, or MIC. Oftentimes, this is a simple cryptographic hash function (see 28.3.4↑ ). However, if you don’t need the security properties of cryptographic hashes - for example if you are not trying to protect against malicious tampering by an intelligent adversary, this can be wasteful. In those cases, you can use something as simple as a Cyclic Redundancy Check [K] [K] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check or a Universal Hash Function [L] [L] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_hashing .\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_Integrity_Check\n28.3.6 Message Authentication Codes\nNote that if you want to transmit or store data and are concerned about malicious adversaries, you can’t just transmit or store a message integrity check in the same way you transmitted or stored the data itself; Mallory could just substitute her own data and calculate her own message integrity check. Or, she could flip some bits in a way that she knows doesn’t alter the checksum. What you’re really looking for is some kind of keyed checksum. We call this a Message Authentication Code, or MAC. They typically use a hash algorithm as a basis, and a secret key to compute the hash. This is almost like a digital signature, but we use the same key to create and verify the message, so it’s like the symmetric counterpart to the public-key digital signature, which uses different keys at each end.\nHMAC\nMany people have tried to construct these in the obvious ways, such as prepending a secret to the message, or appending it, or doing both, before hashing, and they’ve all been broken. What we’re left with was HMAC (see Figure 1):\nHMACK = h((K⊗opad)||h(K⊗ipad)||m), where\nopad = 0x5c5c5c...5c5c\n28.3.7 Digital Signatures\nWhile some lawmakers define a digital signature to mean any electronic means of saying “okay” to a document, cryptographers always mean a public-key signing algorithm. This is a way of using the private key of a key pair to sign data such that the public key can verify the signature.\nWhat Does A Digital Signature Mean?\nWith data structures, one must decide what to sign; if there is more than one way to represent the data, which one will you choose? Generally you need some kind of canonicalization and serialization and encoding (see 28.5.5↓ ).\nWhat does it mean to sign some data in an application? What does it mean to sign data going between two points in a network? Should you protect the data in the application or at a lower level (see 28.1.9↑ )?\nGenerally, a signature or HMAC attests to the integrity of the data between the point where it is signed to where it is verified. It usually does not mean that a person sent it to you; that is a mistake humans make that leads to the sign-then-encrypt problem (see 28.5.2↓ ).\n28.4 Cryptographic Algorithm Enhancements\nThese are basically slight changes to basic algorithms that are not cryptographic in themselves, but act as a defense against an analytical attack.\n28.4.1 Block Cipher Modes\nWikipedia on Block Cipher Modes of Operation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_cipher_modes_of_operation )\nIn these sections, C is the ciphertext, P is the plaintext, K is the key, and i is the index of the block you are working on; by convention, we start numbering them with 1.\nRegarding the block cipher block size, if you have a n bit block size, then you can only safely encrypt 2(n)/(2) blocks with the same key (this does not apply to ECB mode of course, which is weak after one block).\nElectronic Code Book (ECB)\nThis is the simplest mode; it is the mode most people think of when first doing encryption, and it is the only non-chained mode. In ECB, you simply encrypt each block of the plaintext with the key, and that forms the plaintext block. The trouble with ECB is that macroscopic patterns in the plaintext remain undisturbed in the ciphertext:\nPlaintext image of Tux\nImage of Tux encrypted in other (chained) modes\nEncryption:\nPropagating Cipher Block Chaining (PCBC)\nEncryption:\nCi = EK(Pi⊕Pi − 1⊕Ci − 1)\nDecryption:\nPi = DK(Ci)⊕(Pi − 1⊕Ci − 1)\nCounter (CTR)\nCTR mode turns a block cipher into a stream cipher. This is a very fast, easy to use block cipher mode that allows you to encrypt blocks in parallel, or (equivalently) to encrypt/decrypt blocks at random offsets within the stream, which might be useful for things like encrypted storage (however, there are better modes for that, since encrypted storage has different threat models than most encryption use cases; see 28.7↓ ).\nEncryption:\nc is an arbitrary constant\nDecryption\nPi = Ci⊕DK(c + i)\nIn the case of c = 0, we are using the block number as a counter. It is, however, possible to chose any constant c. In some texts you will see them using a nonce concatenated with a counter, but this is equivalent to picking a non-zero c.\nCipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code (CBC-MAC)\nProvides authentication (not encryption) for a message. To perform CBC-MAC, you encrypt a message in CBC mode and take the last ciphertext block as your MAC.\nWikipedia on CBC-MAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBC-MAC )\nThe Security of the Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/research/tech-reports/1997/CSE-97-15.pdf )\nCipher-Based MAC (CMAC)\nThis algorithm also uses block ciphers to create a MAC.\nWikipedia on CMAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMAC )\nThis algorithm takes a block cipher and produces a MAC. Patent pending.\nWikipedia on PMAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMAC_(cryptography) )\nPMAC Homepage ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/ocb/pmac.htm )\nCounter With CBC-MAC (CCM)\nThis is an “authenticated encryption with associated data” mode, because it provides both authentication and encryption. It combines the CTR mode encryption with CBC-MAC to accomplish these goals. The third link below is the proof of security, based on the security of the underlying block cipher. It requires two block cipher operations per block of plaintext.\nWikipedia on CCM ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCM_mode )\nRFC 3610 on CCM with AES ( http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3610 )\nOn the Security of CTR + CBC-MAC ( http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/BCM/documents/proposedmodes/ccm/ccm-ad1.pdf )\nA Critique of CCM ( http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/BCM/documents/comments/800-38_Series-Drafts/CCM/RW_CCM_comments.pdf )\nNIST Special Publication 800-38C ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38C/SP800-38C_updated-July20_2007.pdf )\nCWC Mode\nThis algorithm is also an authenticated encryption mode. The homepage claims is patent-free, parallelizable, and provably secure and claims it unique among its kind.\nWikipedia on CWC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CWC_mode )\nCWC: A high-performance conventional authenticated encryption mode ( http://eprint.iacr.org/2003/106 )\nGalois/Counter Mode (GCM)\nThis mode uses CTR mode and the Galois method of authentication to create an authenticated encryption algorithm. It was designed as an improvement to the CWC mode. It requires one block cipher encryption and one 128-bit multiplication in the Galois field per 128-bit block of plaintext. Patent-free.\nWikipedia on GCM ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galois/Counter_Mode )\nNIST Special Publication 800-38D (November, 2007) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38D/SP-800-38D.pdf )\nEAX Mode\nThis mode is an authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) algorithm. It was designed as a replacement to CCM. It requires two passes over the data. It is public-domain, patent free.\nWikipedia on EAX ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EAX_mode )\nNIST: proposed modes of operation ( http://csrc.nist.gov/CryptoToolkit/modes/proposedmodes/index.html )\nEAX: A Conventional Authenticated-Encryption Mode ( http://eprint.iacr.org/2003/069 )\nThe EAX Mode of Operation ( http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/papers/eax.html )\nANSI C12 22 site ( http://www.c1222.net/ )\nOffset Codebook (OCB)\nThis mode provides authenticated encryption as well. It is patented, but the patent has a special exemption for code released under the GNU General Public License.\nWikipedia on OCB ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCB_mode )\nWikipedia on LRW ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#LRW )\nXEX\nWikipedia on XEX ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#XEX )\nCMC\nWikipedia on CMC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#CMC_and_EME )\nEME\nWikipedia on EME ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#CMC_and_EME )\nESSIV\nWikipedia on ESSIV ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#ESSIV )\nXTS\nWikipedia on XTS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory#XTS )\n28.4.2 Speed of Algorithms and the Hybrid Encryption Scheme\nA hash routine with a given output size is usually much slower than an encryption routine with the same block size. However, public-key operations are almost always much more expensive (slower) than symmetric operations. Even the fast ECC encryption routines may take several hundred times (200-400x) longer than symmetric operations such as AES-256.\nTherefore, a good engineer may do more symmetric operations and fewer PK operations, and some CSPRNGs such as Yarrow use block ciphers rather than hashes. In fact, every major asymmetric cryptosystem that the author is aware of uses asymmetric algorithms to either encrypt a symmetric key, or digitally sign a hash of a message, rather than operate on the message itself.\n28.4.3 Hashing Stored Authentication Data\nWhen storing authentication data such as a password or passphrase, it usually is neither desirable nor necessary to store it in the clear, because then an intruder who pilfered the list could use it to authenticate himself directly. It is better to store the result of an application of a one-way-function (OWF) on the data, which people frequently refer to as hashing. Since I lack a verb for “apply a OWF to” I will sometimes call it hashing as well. The input is called the pre-image, and the result is called the image. To authenticate the person, you apply a OWF to the input they send and compare it to the image. That way, they will find it difficult to generate the input which generates the correct output. This property is called pre-image resistance.\nThis also has the nice side effect of not giving the adversary in this case the ability to use that authentication string (passphrase) on other systems, which enhances the user’s privacy, which is a good example of storing only what you need. Note however that if the adversary gets control of the system, they can record all the authentication data. Thus this technique only protects the end user against loss of confidentiality, not all attacks.\nNote that this does not help prevent eavesdropping attacks on network protocols; if the protocol sends the authentication string in the clear, then the adversary sees the pre-image, and can simply replay it to generate the appropriate image. If you apply the OWF on the client side prior to sending, then it is the image that authenticates a person, and he sees the image, and can merely replay it over the network. If you apply the OWF on both the client side and the server side, the adversary can still replay the network data (the results of the first OWF) and when run through the second OWF it would generate the desired value. In summary, applying a OWF to provided authentication data does not help if the adversary can see the input to the system (violating confidentiality), and replay it. Ideally you should never send reusable authentication data across the network (see 11.9↑ ).\n28.4.4 Offline Dictionary Attacks and Iterated Hashes\nIf you are storing the hash of data which was supplied by a human, it may be somewhat predictable in the sense that it is chosen from the set of all possible passphrases non-uniformly. For example, people tend to pick easy-to-remember things, like dictionary words. Thus, the offline dictionary attack involves obtaining the hashes and hashing each dictionary word, and comparing them to see if any match. This is annoying because it can be done without interacting with the system, and is therefore undetectable. This also works against when someone sends hashes of authentication data sent over the network; the adversary captures them, and then attacks them offline.\nOne countermeasure is to iterate the hash a number of times, to make attempting possible inputs take longer. If your iterated algorithm uses only the output from the last round as the input to the next round, then by storing the iteration count as part of the hash you can increase it in the future as computers get faster, without having the original input (just hash N more times, and add N to the iteration count).\nIdeal hashes are modeled as random functions; that is, they have no discernible pattern, and you can think of them as a giant lookup table, where the input is used as an index, and whose contents were randomly-generated. This means that they are not likely to be one-to-one, and so repeated hashing will cause you to enter a cycle of some kind, but this is unlikely to be a problem (consult the Handbook of Applied Cryptography, http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ , for more details). The traditional Unix crypt(3) function used the input as a key to DES, and encrypted a constant (the null vector) as its “hash”. I believe OpenBSD may do something similar for its password encryption, but using Blowfish. In either case, block ciphers are believed to be stronger than hashes, because the community has had more time to analyze them, and they are definitely faster, but it seems like the design criteria of a hash is a more natural fit for this problem.\n28.4.5 Salts vs. Offline Dictionary Attacks and Rainbow Tables\nAnother problem is that an adversary may go through the hashing process once for a given word, and compare it to multiple hashes. A rainbow table ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_tables ) is essentially a clever way to store a bunch of hashes of a certain dictionary (or character set). It still takes the same amount of time to create as a full table, but is smaller, at a small run-time expense.\nTo prevent these kind of attacks, we make each hash a slightly different operation, which means that each must be attacked independently. This is easily done by incorporating an individuating datum known as a salt, so named due to the analogy with adding salt to a food product when cooking it. This datum should be (relatively) unique to different entries, but it can’t remain confidential, since it must be known in order to perform the authentication function. Using a counter is easy, but if an adversary gets lists from different computers, there will be a significant overlap between the salts, so he may attack the lists in parallel. An easy way to prevent this is to simply use random data for the salt. This has a very small chance of a collision; due to the birthday paradox, if you have n2 possible salts, you will statistically have a duplicate 50% of the time after n entries. Another method is to a block cipher in CTR (“counter”) mode, which simply involves encrypting a counter. This will not repeat until the counter repeats. You should obviously use a different key on each system, or they will generate the same sequence. With different keys, the sequences should be statistically unrelated to each other.\n28.4.6 Offline Dictionary Attacks with Partial Confidentiality\nEven if you do all of this, an adversary may still try common choices against each hash. Since an authentication system is a deterministic system which generates a simple yes or no to a given input, there’s nothing you can do to increase the unpredictability of the input. However, if it were possible to keep a certain amount of data away from an adversary (for example, by storing it separately from the hashes, perhaps in a hardware security module), then you could use that data as the key for HMAC instead of using a hash. Since the adversary has no idea which of the n values you’ve chosen, you’ve multiplied the work factor by n.\n28.4.7 Passphrase Handling\nHuman beings are very poor at picking high-entropy values. If you use passphrases (or worse, passwords), you need to hash them before using them as keys because otherwise you will have a very small keyspace; you’ve probably already reduced it to the printable subset of the keyspace. You should think of keys as needing to have a nearly perfect Shannon entropy (see 29.6↓ ), and a simple way to do that is to hash a long passphrase down to a small hash image.\nBut there are substantially better ways of doing this. RSA has a nice standard on how to deal with passwords in cryptographic applications:\nPKCS #5 v2.1 Password Based Cryptography Standard ( ftp://ftp.rsasecurity.com/pub/pkcs/pkcs-5v2/pkcs5v2_1.pdf )\nPBKDF2 - Password-Based Key Derivation Function ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBKDF2 )\nscrypt ( http://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt.html )\n28.4.8 Run Algorithm Inputs through OWF\nIf the adversary discovers that a given algorithm input can break the security of the system, you can prevent him from controlling inputs directly. If you run everything through a one-way function (OWF), the adversary cannot feed that number to the system directly; he must first invert the one-way function to figure out what to give it. So a cheap way of adding security would be to hash all inputs from untrusted sources before use, since a hash is an available one-way function.\n28.5 Cryptographic Combinations\nThese are how the algorithms are combined. Their proper construction from algorithms, rules of thumb, pitfalls to avoid. This is where you stack the blocks together to accomplish some higher-level task. This should not be an experimental science; the rules of combination should be clear and unambiguous; it should be as simple as building a machine with Legos, or simplifying a logic expression. Unfortunately, it’s not… yet.\n28.5.1 Combiners\nCombine two eight bit chunks of data and have eight bits of data as output, but the combination is still in there. Pull one out and the other is what’s left. Look at how Feistel networks work, it’s a trip! Of course it’s not just XOR that can do it; XOR is just addition (without carry) modulo 2, and you could do it with any other modulus, like 28(add octets without carry) or 232. Latin squares can be used too, as can some other finite field operations (see network coding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_coding/ ). They are the simplest element of an encryption scheme and may be used inside certain ciphers.\n28.5.2 The Sign then Encrypt Problem\nBasically, if you (Alice) sign then encrypt something to Bob, he can strip off the encryption (like an “envelope”), then re-encrypt the still-signed message to Charlie, making it look like you sent it (see http://world.std.com/~dtd/sign_encrypt/sign_encrypt7.html ). Really, the problem is not a technical one, but interpretation; we assume that the entity which encrypted it to us is the same as the entity who signed it, when that is not necessarily the case.\n28.5.3 Encrypt-then-MAC\nColin Percival’s blog post on Encrypt-then-MAC ( http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2009-06-24-encrypt-then-mac.html )\nUsing HMAC to authenticate prior to decryption also neatly avoids the PKCS#7 Padding Oracle attack (see 30.5↓ ).\n28.5.4 Key Derivation Functions\nKey derivation functions (KDFs) involve taking a single datum and deriving several independent keys from it. Typically you might use one for signing and one for encryption, or you might use them for different data streams. Many people get this wrong, since there aren’t any standards for it. They are typically very similar to computationally-strong pseudo-random number generators (CSPRNGs), in that you need both sides to generate the same values given the initial seed, and you don’t want a person who gets access to one to be able to determine anything about any other key that was derived from the same source. Simple answers involve using the datum as a key for CTR mode encryption, or using it as a MAC key on some fixed strings.\n28.5.5 Serialization, Record Layers and Encoding\nWhenever you protect the integrity of data (using MIC, MAC, or digital signatures), you will have data about the data, or metadata (data about the data). This extra information is distinct from the data. They are fundamentally different things, and if you want to put them together in a single stream, you’ll have to chop it up and use a record (data structure, message, etc.) with at least two fields; the data and the metadata. Since most cryptographic systems care about the integrity of the data, they also have to perform operations on records of data, instead of streams. That means that if you’re using streams of data, like a file or a TCP connection, you’ll have to implement a record layer on top of it.\nAnd if you have a record with at least two types of data in it, and you want to put it in a stream, you’ll need to figure out how to serialize it, or decide which field goes first. When there are just two kinds of data, this is simple. However, when you’re dealing with large data structures, perhaps with data related to data related to data, this can get tricky.\nFor example, you may want to use an asymmetric algorithm to encrypt a symmetric key for the message, and then use that symmetric key for encrypting the message (see 28.4.2↑ ), and then you may want a MAC (see 28.3.6↑ ). Now you’ll need to start thinking about mixing different kinds of data. If you’re never going to change the data format or protocol, then you can just pick an order to serialize them in, and stick with that. However, most forward-thinking cryptographers know that they may want to change the format of the data, so you need a way to encode the data so that your software knows whether it is looking at a MAC, or a symmetric key, or so on.\nA common way to mix different kinds of data is with type-length-value (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type-length-value ), and it has the nice feature that you can add optional sections later that earlier implementations may skip. Other methods include KLV, or key-length-value ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLV ).\nASN.1 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASN.1 ) is a common but very complex system for serializing and encoding data. It is an abstract notation, meaning that it specifies that certain objects are encoded as sequences of other kinds of objects, but it doesn’t give a way to encode these primitive objects. That is the job of the encoding rules such as BER and DER. Two of its encoding rules are TLV-based and two are not. Cryptographers tend to use DER, because it gives an unambiguous way to encode data. It is used in everything from SNMP to X.509 certificates. It has the advantage of being very compact, and the disadvantage of not being human-readable. If you wish to become versed in the arcana of ASN.1, it may help to start with this (give yourself two readings before you give up):\nA Layman’s Guide to a Subset of ASN.1, BER, and DER ( http://luca.ntop.org/Teaching/Appunti/asn1.html )\nXML ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML ), particularly the XML Signature ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML_Signature ), seems like a good contender to displace ASN.1 but it is still too complicated. Its original job was to mark up text, but it’s much easier to debug since it’s all printable, but it is by no means compact.\n28.5.6 Polymorphic Data and Ambiguity\nJust as an image may be represented in a bitmap, a GIF, or a JPEG, so too may data appear in many forms. It may be necessary, for example, to use printable encoding techniques a la base64 to pass in an HTTP request. Such polymorphic data schemes produce two problems; one, it is necessary to specify (and convert to) a canonical form for authentication (see 28.6.7↓ ) and another in that some choices of encoding may be ambiguous.\nSome very fascinating work is being done on this right now in the XML Signature group ( http://www.w3.org/Signature/ ), but canonicalization is turning out to be full of pre-authentication complexity, which provides a large anonymous attack surface (see 7.5↑ ).\nThis is an evolution of the former section to cover freshness and other communication security concepts.\n28.6.1 DoS and Anti-Clogging Tokens\nSo most of the time, one of the first things a protocol will do is a public-key cryptographic operation of some kind, which is expensive. So this opens up a DoS vector; the client connects to the server, costing little or nothing, and the server has to do a PK operation. The same is possible the other way, but it’s usually more difficult to force a client to connect to you. Regardless, the answer to this is to force the peer to have to receive and respond to a packet, which Photuris ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photuris_%28protocol%29 ) called an anti-clogging cookie; this requires that the first packet to the peer be unpredictable (see 29↓ ). A normal TCP/IP handshake may often fill this purpose since the sequence number should be unpredictable, but it is not required to be so, nor may it be relied upon to be so, and so a very cautious designer would avoid using it as such.\n28.6.2 The Problem with Authenticating within an Encrypted Channel\nSuppose you use Diffie-Hellman to encrypt a channel. Trillian does just this, which is fine against a passive eavesdropper but doesn’t prevent MITM (see 10.9↑ ) since you have no idea to whom you’re encrypting your messages. The naive countermeasure is to authenticate within the channel, but again this does not prevent a MITM; the adversary simply establishes an encrypted channel with you and the remote end, then passes your authentication messages back and forth like the messages themselves. So the authentication messages must also be tied to the parameters of the encrypted tunnel. This is isomorphic to the sign-then-encrypt problem (see 28.5.2↑ ).\n28.6.3 How to Protect the Integrity of a Session\nIn his excellent book Practical Cryptography ( http://www.schneier.com/book-practical.html ), Bruce Schneier suggests that the sender should send a hash of everything it has sent so far with every message. With most hash constructions (i.e. Merkle-Damgård) this is easy, since you can maintain a fixed-size context, and send a finalization every message. The receiver should check the hash every time it receives a message. You do this regardless of whether or not you have negotiated a secure session already. This very simple design principle allows you to detect tampering at the earliest opportunity.\n28.6.4 Freshness and Replay Attacks\nSuppose you had a protocol which allowed for certain operations, like “transfer $1000 from my account to [email protected]”. If Mallory was able to record this message, she could send it a second time to perform what is called a replay attack, even if she wasn’t able to read the message. This may be just an annoyance, but imagine that the messages were actually tactical directives sent to military units; the confusion they caused would be dramatic indeed. If the messages have less context, like “yes”, or “transaction authorized”, then the potential for mischief goes up significantly. What we want to do is ensure freshness, or liveness, of the connection. All of the methods involve a nonce (short for “number used once”), and require that the recipient be able to determine if the number has been used before. All of them also detect re-ordering. Further, the nonces must be combined with the message such that the integrity of both is protected, or else the adversary could simply attach a new nonce to an old message.\nglobal timestamps\nThe obvious method used on military directives is to include a timestamp in each one. You generally want to include a timestamp that is unambiguous, so human-readable dates generally don’t work due to leap years, daylight savings time and time zone differences; I prefer to use a normal Unix timestamp, which is measured in seconds since the epoch. [M] [M] The epoch is the beginning of Jan 1, 1970, universal coordinated time (UTC), and is the de facto standard for Unix timekeeping. This is the only method which does not require keeping state about the peer between messages, but it does require everyone to have an accurate clock. This is also the only method which can detect a delayed message, but if you care about this usually you’d solve this by putting a timestamp in the message itself, and not doing it in the protocol.\nlocal timestamps\nIn this method, you don’t need everyone to have an accurate clock, but merely have one that never goes backwards, which is called monotonically increasing. In this case, each node has to keep the last timestamp from each peer to make sure that each new timestamp is greater to the last, and you need enough resolution to make sure that you don’t send two messages with the same stamp.\nserial numbers\nThis is basically a derivative of local timestamps, but instead of using a clock you just use a counter. It seems preferable to local timestamps in every way.\nchaining\nEach message includes some piece of information derived from prior messages that varies unpredictably. For example, you could use the hash of all previous messages.\nchallenge-response\nIn this method, the peer challenges you with a nonce, and you send it back with the message. This does not require any persistent storage, but does require an interactive protocol (instead of “store and forward”), and a source of unpredictable numbers, and requires an extra half round-trip (which I call a half-trip) in the exchange. This latency may be masked sometimes by overlapping this handshake with another stage of the protocol.\n28.6.5 Preventing Feedback\nIn order to prevent feedback from one part of the protocol to another, the input to each hash function, PRF function, KDF function and signature operation should be extended with a field that uniquely identifies that stage of the protocol.\n28.6.6 Identification\nFor a regular client-server opening, all mutual “authentication” protocols involve at least three half-trips. A simultaneous-open between two peers can occur in two half trips (i.e., a single round trip), but these are rare.\nThe protocol should authenticate what is meant, not what is said.\n-- The Horton Principle ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-ssl.html )\nThis quote suggests that you should authenticate plaintext, not ciphertext. In fact, if the plaintext has more than one encoding (see 28.5.5↑ ), you should pick one to be canonical and authenticate that. Having to convert the data to canonical form before authentication is unfortunate but one of the consequences of multiple encodings.\nMutual Authentication Protocols\nI once took all the mutual authentication protocols in Schneier’s Applied Cryptography and factored out the trusted third party to create simple two-party mutual authentication protocols (apparently those are so trivial he didn’t bother to mention them). It was an interesting exercise, and I noticed that all of the results had three half-trips (1.5 RTTs). Except in the case of a mutual open, it seems like this is the minimum, and probably not coincidentally is the number of half trips needed in the TCP three-way handshake. It seems pretty intuitive to me, but I haven’t seen a proof that this is indeed the minimum.\nSimplest MAP: A->B Ch1, B->A R1Ch2, A->B R2.\n28.6.8 Eschew Multiple Encoding Schemes Unless Necessary\nPolymorphic data (data having multiple encoding schemes) is quite difficult to filter properly; this came up when people learned you could use HTML entity encoding to bypass filters for detecting “bad” things on web servers. Anything, especially middle-boxes like NIDS, have trouble when the number of encodings is too high, and inevitably the false positive goes up. This is also what Ptacek described in Insertion, Evasion, and Denial of Service: Eluding Network Intrusion Detection ( http://cerberus.sourcefire.com/~jeff/papers/Ptacek_and_Newsham/idspaper.html ).\n28.6.9 Key Exchange and Hybrid Encryption Schemes\nTypically at some point the peers will do some public key operations in a key exchange order to get some session keys. By analogy, in data formats such as OpenPGP, they use a hybrid encryption scheme which does a single PK operation to encrypt or decrypt a symmetric message key. One engineering trick is that if you use a KDF to generate two independent keys for each direction during your key exchange, you can use one for MAC and one for encryption, which means that you can do cheap symmetric MAC operations instead of digital signatures, which are expensive public-key operations.\n28.7 Encrypted Storage\nI think it’s a good idea, so you don’t have to worry about someone copying or tampering with your data as they sit on the storage media. If you take this step before using media, apart from the inconvenience of entering a passphrase (possibly as infrequently as once every time you reboot, which can be as little as once a year on Unix), you won’t ever have to worry about “secure deletion”, or losing physical possession of it due to any of the following reasons:\nTheft, loss, or confiscation (see http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/how_to_secure_y.html )\nDrive failure and disposal or returning it under warrantee\nFire, hurricane, flood, or any other disaster\nOwner runs short on funds and wants to liquidate some assets quickly\nIn this case, the confidentiality guarantee is the greater of the confidentiality levels on the key and the media. A randomly-generated key is useless, and the media alone gives a confidentiality guarantee equal to that of the cipher used. Just think of the peace of mind you’ll have not having to worry about loss of physical possession of your storage devices!\nIf you want more information on how to actually set this up, I have given a presentation on it ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/encrypted_storage_slides.pdf ).\nNote that while network encryption protects the data between to positions in space, encrypted storage is protecting the data between two positions in time; in essence, you are encrypting it to your future self.\n28.7.1 Key Escrow for Encrypted Storage\nIn corporate environments it’s often a requirement that you be able to recover the data if the employee forgets their passphrase, leaves the company, and so on. Even with individuals, the idea of losing all your data can be intimidating. The naive and error-prone way of handling this is to simply ask them to submit the passphrase to an escrow account of some kind, and make a policy against not doing so; this makes reminding them to do so sound less like being the security Nazi and more like you are protecting them. However, there is a clever method for avoiding having to do this that uses key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ). In this case the data encryption key is randomly generated, and it is encrypted with the user’s passphrase. However, the tool also encrypts it with a public key for the organization and stores the result of that computation as well. An individual could use the same technique and simply store the private half of the recovery key in a secure second location, like a safety deposit box. This worries some people, but it’s definitely better than not using encryption at all.\n28.7.2 Evolution of Cryptographic Storage Technologies\nUserland applications which require user to manually run them, which are tedious to use and prone to human error.\nFile systems which encrypt files and directories individually and automatically, which turn out to be overly complex due to the complex filesystem APIs in most operating systems.\nBlock devices which encrypt blocks of data, which allow you to put any filesystem on them.\n28.7.3 Filesystem Crypto Layers\nThese basically encrypt the data before storing it on the disk. They are often created as layers over a regular filesystem. If layered over a network file system like NFS, you can store stuff on a remote system without having to trust the confidentiality of the remote system.\nCFS\nTCFS\nOne advantage of this kind of design is that you can build secure delete into the system, as in Radia Perlman’s paper File System Design with Assured Delete ( http://ieeeia.org/sisw/2005/PreProceedings/09.pdf ).\n28.7.4 File Systems with Optional Encryption\nMicrosoft’s Encrypting File System (EFS) is a bit of a black box; the only analysis I have seen of it is in a Black Hat presentation ( http://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-europe-03/bh-europe-03-malyshev.pdf )\nZFS will have some optional encryption\n28.7.5 Block Device Crypto\nNot long ago the US had a SIGINT plane which was forced down in China. They tried to destroy the data they had collected, but were unable to. If only they had used one of these free alternatives, they wouldn’t have had to worry:\nTrueCrypt (highly recommended) ( http://www.truecrypt.org/ )\nFreeOTFE ( http://www.freeotfe.org/ )\nThe Debian installer (and Ubuntu alternate install CD) now let you encrypt the root partition, so only /boot is left in the clear.\nFor more discussion, please read these articles:\nMarcus Ranum reviews TrueCrypt ( http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/diskcrypt/index.html )\nBruce Schneier recommends PGP Disk ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/how_to_secure_y.html )\nUS Government to require full disk encryption ( http://www.full-disk-encryption.net/fde_govt.html )\nWikipedia on Disk Encryption Theory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_encryption_theory )\n28.7.6 The Cryptographically-Strong Pseudo-random Quick Fill\nMany places tell you to pre-fill the lower layer of your encrypted disk device with pseudo-random (/dev/urandom) output before mounting the upper layer, but this is VERY slow, since SHA-1 only generates 160 bits of output per iteration. It’s much faster and almost as good in this context to mount with a random key, write zeroes (/dev/zero) to the upper layer, unmount, remount with another key, then use that as your file system, because then you’re using a cipher to generate your data, and ciphers are quite fast.\n28.7.7 Backups\nWhy don’t you just pipe your backups through something like gpg or any other encryption filter before writing them to tape? Then you could store them anywhere, even a public FTP site. You could also use the program duplicity ( http://www.nongnu.org/duplicity/ ) for secure remote backups.\n28.7.8 Threat Models Against Encrypted Storage\nRemote Access While Mounted The adversary cracks the system’s security while the drive is mounted and thus available in unencrypted form.\nPhysical Seizure The adversary seizes or steals the system, but has to power it off to do so. This is equivalent to one-time physical access.\nPhysical Access While Mounted The adversary gains physical access to the computer while the encrypted storage is mounted (or shortly thereafter) and performs a cold boot attack or direct memory access to recover the encryption keys (see 1↑ , 2↑ ).\nWatermarking The adversary gets your system to store a specific chunk of plaintext on your encrypted disk, and then can prove from the encrypted image that you have that data stored.\n28.8 Deniable Storage\nDeniable storage is a system for hiding the fact that certain data exists. This is similar to, but different from, encrypted storage which merely makes the data unintelligible. This encompasses deniable encryption and steganographic file systems.\n28.8.1 Deniable Encryption\nIn cryptography and steganography, deniable encryption is encryption that allows its users to convincingly deny the fact that the data is encrypted or, assuming that the data is obviously encrypted, its users can convincingly deny that they are able to decrypt it. Such convincing denials may or may not be genuine, e.g., although suspicions might exist that the data is encrypted, it may be impossible to prove it without the cooperation of the users. In any case, even if the data is encrypted then the users genuinely may not have the ability to decrypt it. Deniable encryption serves to undermine an attacker’s confidence either that data is encrypted, or that the person in possession of it can decrypt it and provide the associated plaintext.\n-- Wikipedia\nRubberhose ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberhose_%28file_system%29 )\n28.8.4 Threats Models Against Deniable Storage\nThese are taken from Bruce Schneier’s paper titled Defeating Encrypted and Deniable File Systems: TrueCrypt v5.1a and the Case of the Tattling OS and Applications ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-truecrypt-dfs.html ).\nOne-Time Access The adversary gets a single image of the disk. This might happen if the adversary seizes or steals the computer.\nIntermittent Access The adversary gets multiple snapshots of the disk at different times. This can happen if you cross a border and the border guards are adversaries who take images of the disk each time.\nRegular Access The adversary gets many images of the disk taken at short intervals. This may happen if the adversary gets repeated access to the drive; for example, the secret police may break into someone’s residence and take a drive image each time.\nThree Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,\nSeven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,\nNine for Mortal Men doomed to die,\nOne for the Dark Lord on his dark throne\nIn the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.\nOne Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,\nOne Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them\nIn the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.\n-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring )\nKey management is a term that encompasses a wide variety of problems and solutions:\nKey generation\n28.9.1 Key Generation\nFor symmetric keys, key generation usually amounts to the random generation of a fixed number of bits. You could use a password for a key, since all bitstrings are valid symmetric keys, but you want these bits to be completely unpredictable to an adversary (see 29↓ ). Therefore, I recommend using randomly-generated keys unless a human must enter them. For example, it may require a human to enter a key to decrypt an encrypted storage device (see 28.7↑ ). In that case you should use a cryptographic hash of suitable size (equal to or greater than the key size) to hash a user-supplied passphrase, and then use (as many as possible of) those bits as a key. In many cases where passphrases are used, it may be wise to use a level of key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ) to allow for the passphrase to be changed without changing the underlying key.\nFor asymmetric keys, the process is more involved, usually involving much larger quantities of random numbers in number-theoretic algorithms.\n28.9.2 Key Distribution\nOnce you have generated keys, you need to share them, in whole (symmetric) or part (asymmetric) with anyone you wish to communicate with. This has always been the part of cryptography which involves the most handwaving and impractical solutions.\nDistributing Symmetric Keys\nIn symmetric cryptography, you have to share the key with any intended recipients while not disclosing the key to anyone else (i.e. confidentially). Once you have done this, you will be able to communicate with them securely. Unfortunately, this suffers from a bootstrapping problem; you need a confidential channel in order to distribute the keys.\nOne thing you could do is send them the key and simply hope nobody eavesdrops on it. You could do this via an out-of-band communication channel such as the phone. One could also trade keys on a portable storage medium via the postal service, trusted couriers, or in person. Fortunately, portable data storage devices have such large capacity now that one need only do a physical exchange of keys once.\nIn theory, one could give multiple parties the same key material. Also, since more than one system has the credential, this violates the Principle of Least Privilege ( 34.1↓ ), and now one system may impersonate another, which violates the Principle of Unique Identifiers (see 34.5↓ ). Thus, you will usually want to share a separate key with every party with which you wish to communicate. This means that for n parties, there must be n2 keys.\nDistributing Asymmetric Keys\nEnter asymmetric cryptography. In asymmetric cryptography, you have to share the public key with your intended recipients; by design, you can share the same key with all parties. In this case, you do not need the key exchange to be confidential; your public key may be disclosed to the world; only your private key need be kept confidential. In some cases, people may post a GPG key on their web page. It is also possible to publish those keys into global key servers, which can store and retrieve keys as needed. However, these systems have a flaw; how does one know that the key one retrieved from a web page or key server is the correct key? An adversary could conduct a MITM attack (see 10.9↑ ) by substituting his own key for the one you intended to download. That would set up the preconditions for conducting other MITM attacks against encrypted communications later on. Note that this is a detectable attack, since it is not passive.\nDuckling Model\nIn this model, keys are exchanged upon the first communication, much like a duckling imprints on the first object it sees as its mother (i.e. trusted). It is hoped by the parties involved that the adversary is not conducting a MITM attack during this first communication. This model is often used with key continuity checks (see 57↓ ).\nhttp://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fms27/papers/2001-Stajano-duckling.pdf\nOn-Air Keying (OAK)\nOn-Air Keying is a method for key exchange that involves signalling the next key to use during a secure transmission. This allows for key exchange without a separate, secure key distribution channel. Needless to say, if the adversary has that signal and can find the current key, the next one can be decrypted. It also means that one must get positive verification that the other end got the transmission, lest you lose them forever.\nNormally on-air keying is considered unsafe, because it uses the communication channel as a key exchange channel. However, these conditions may make it acceptable:\nIntegrity protected: Double-check that other side got information properly\nTactical information: information may be valuable for an amount of time smaller than the time it takes to guess the key\nEnemy may not be receiving the information at the key exchange time (mostly for radio nets)\nKey exchange times are laid out in advance with initial, secure key exchange time (mostly for radio nets)\nThere is nothing else available\nThe Broadcast Channel\nOne method for doing this is to publish the key (or its fingerprint) as widely as possible. For example, you could put your GPG fingerprint in your email headers or .signature file, so that anyone can check the key they retrieved against any email they may have received from you. The theory here is that any adversary wishing to conduct a MITM attack (see 10.9↑ ) would have to have started such an attack before you sent the email containing the fingerprint to the recipient.\nIf the recipient has never received an email from you, they could in theory retrieve one from the web, under the theory that an adversary would not be conducting MITM attacks against the recipient by substituting his own fingerprints for yours while he is doing this.\nWeb of Trust\n28.9.3 Key Verification\nThis term refers to the process of ascertaining whether a given (public) key corresponds to the person we believe it to.\nKey Continuity\nIn this case, the cryptographic protocol caches the keys (usually public) from a remote system between uses, and informs the user if they ever change, since that is indicative of a man-in-the-middle attack (either in progress or up until now). This is usually done when using the Duckling model of key distribution (see 53↑ ).\nCertification Authorities\nSoftware like web browsers often come with a cache of certificates (which include public keys) from various CAs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority ). Upon connecting to an SSL-secured web server, the web server’s certificate is sent to the browser. The CA keys bundled with the browser can then be used to check signatures on the web server’s certificate. This is just a form of key indirection (see 28.9.7↓ ); instead of having to securely obtain keys from all possible endpoints, you merely have to securely obtain the CA’s key which signed the keys of the endpoints.\nIt turns out that CAs and PKI are very complex subjects, and I cannot do them justice here.\nIt’s worth noting that anyone can generate a certificate; what CAs are really doing is selling the process of certification, so I’ve chosen to call them this rather than “certificate authorities”; be warned that I am in the minority.\nOut-of-Band Comparison\nOne can compare fingerprints of keys over a different, low-bandwidth communication medium (i.e. the phone, postal mail). CAs are basically this but done through middlemen.\nParallel Paths\nOOB comparison is really an example of creating two disjoint paths between two entities and making sure that they give the same results. This can occur in multiple contexts. For example, it can be used for the bootstrapping problem; how can I trust the first connection? By creating two paths I can compare the identities of the peer both places. I once used this to check the integrity of my PGP downloads by downloading it from home and from another location, and comparing the results.\nFormatting\nImagine that the adversary is conducting a MITM against, say, an SSH session, so instead of A<->B it is A<->O<->B. Your countermeasure as A may be to check the IP addresses of the peer at B, so that the adversary would have to spoof IPs in both directions (this is often printed automatically at login). Another technique is to check the host key fingerprint as part of your login sequence, sending the fingerprint through the tunneled connection. The adversary may modify the data at the application layer automatically, to change the fingerprint on the way through. But what if you transformed (e.g. encrypted) the fingerprint using a command-line tool, and represented it as printable characters, and printed them through the tunnel, and inverted the transformation at the local end? Then he’d have a very difficult time writing a program to detect this, especially if you kept the exact mechanism a secret. You could run the program automatically through ssh, so it isn’t stored on the remote system.\n28.9.4 Key Management and Scalability\nKey management is a scalability issue. In a single-person organization, you can trust yourself with all the data. As the organization grows, your risk increases proportionally, and so you want to enforce need-to-know. Then you encrypt data and only give the keys out to those who need them, and tightly control the keys.\nA key server centralizes and hands out keys. A cryptologic server holds the keys and performs encryption or authentication on data provided by other systems. There are hardware security devices like this and they call them hardware security modules, or HSMs.\nIf N participants had to use symmetric cryptography, each person would have to have a key for talking to every other person, or O(N2) keys. Asymmetric cryptosystems let us bring this under control and have only N keys again.\n28.9.5 One Key, One Purpose\nReusing keys in different algorithms may lead to weaknesses. For example, if an encryption algorithm is so weak that (e.g.) a known-plaintext attack could recover the key, then it could compromise every other security property ensured by that key.\nAlternately, a person may be able to use one part of a protocol to act as an oracle to perform cryptographic operations using a key, and then use the result in another part of the algorithm. There is an attack known as the mirror attack where the server takes a challenge, encrypts it with a key, and sends the result back as a response (to prove it knows the key without actually showing it), with its own challenge. The client then creates a second connection, and sends the server’s challenge as its own challenge, and take the response and use it in the original connection. If the same key is used in both directions, you lose. Similar problems exist when the keys are strongly related (i.e. only one bit different), or other trivial modifications.\nIn general, if you are using the same key in two different cryptographic algorithms, that is usually a mistake. You should probably be using a KDF (see 28.5.4↑ ) to derive multiple keys from the datum you’re currently using directly.\nFurthermore, by using different keys in different places, you limit the value of obtaining one key, so that the amount of resources required to recover it exceed its value. If this is known, then it will reduce the total number of attacks on the system and thus the amount you have to spend defending it (or analyzing the intrusions).\nFinally, key should be used in as few places as possible to allow for easy revocation or rotation.\nThis is similar to the principle of unique identifiers (see 34.5↓ ).\n28.9.6 Time Compartmentalization\nForward security in symmetric cipher by running keys through a OWF periodically, and destroying old value. For asymmetric, renegotiate encryption keys in a way that cannot be reconstructed later, even with the authentication keys (e.g. anonymous Diffie-Hellman session key negotiation).\n28.9.7 Key Indirection\nA common problem has to do with key revocation; how do we revoke a key which must be used by many people? I am told that in one part of Fort Meade, each day employees swipe their badges through a sort of vending machine which dispenses physical keys. The physical keys are used by many people, and re-keying a physical lock is hard, so this system allows them to revoke the authorization on the badge without re-keying the locks. By analogy, if the end-user enters one key which unlocks a (secret) encryption key which can decrypt the data (which could be done with a hardware security module), then we can change or revoke the first key without having to change the second. This first key is called a key-encrypting-key (KEK). It is particularly useful in storage crypto, where it may be difficult or impossible to re-encrypt all the encrypted data in a timely manner.\nThe same thing occurs in most public key systems because PK algorithms are so slow. Public key is too slow to perform on all but very small messages; thus, they encrypt a message key with the public-key algorithms, and then use the message key to encrypt the bulk of the data using a fast symmetric cipher. This is called a hybrid crypto system. Almost all network protocols do the same thing, only there the symmetric key is called a session key.\nYou can imagine attacking a KEK system like this; there are two locked doors made of different substances, arranged in parallel (see 34.8↓ ). Behind the first door is a key that unlocks the second. The prize is behind the second door. Obviously, you can either attack the first door or the second and get the prize. However, since PK is usually weaker than symmetric encryption, and since users generally pick poor passwords, the first door is usually easier. Also, since there will be other pairs of doors with the same lock on the first door, finding the key for the first door is more valuable than the second. However, if the first door is made of adamantine and the second door is made of wood, then you might be able to smash through all the second doors without keys, in which case you need never bother with the adamantine doors. If the doors are arranged vice-versa, you can always smash through the first door and get the key to the second.\n28.9.8 Secret Sharing\nSecret sharing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_sharing ) involves requiring a certain number of shares to be combined to reconstruct any of the information. The easiest way to do this is with one-time pads. However, if you wish to do this more than once, you usually have to have a dealer which reconstructs the secret out of the reach of any of the participants (a well-protected system, or perhaps a hardware security module).\nWikipedia Threshhold Cryptosystem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_cryptosystem )\nIntrusion Tolerance via Threshhold Cryptography ( http://www.stanford.edu/~dabo/ITTC/ )\nThere are, however, schemes similar to secret sharing that do not require trusted dealers; these are called threshhold cryptosystems.\n28.10 Cryptographic Standards\n28.10.1 RSA Security Public Key Cryptography Standards\nMore commonly known as PKCS, these standards are the most important to anyone implementing public key cryptographic systems.\nPKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2125 )\nPKCS #3: Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2126 )\nPKCS #5: Password-Based Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2127 )\nPKCS #6: Extended-Certificate Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2128 )\nPKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2129 )\nPKCS #8: Private-Key Information Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2130 )\nPKCS #9: Selected Attribute Types ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2131 )\nPKCS #10: Certification Request Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2132 )\nPKCS #11: Cryptographic Token Interface Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2133 )\nPKCS #12: Personal Information Exchange Syntax Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2138 )\nPKCS #13: Elliptic Curve Cryptography Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2139 )\nPKCS #15: Cryptographic Token Information Format Standard ( http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2141 )\n28.10.2 Federal Information Processing Standards\nMore commonly known as FIPS, these are government standards, some of which cover security-relevant material.\nWikipedia entry on FIPS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Information_Processing_Standard )\nWikipedia entry on FIPS-140 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS_140 )\nFederal Information Processing Standards Publications ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/ )\nFIPS 140-2 Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips140-2/fips1402.pdf )\nFIPS 180-3 Secure Hash Standard (SHA) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-3/fips180-3_final.pdf )\nFIPS 181 Automated Password Generator (APG) ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip181.htm )\nFIPS 185 Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES) ( http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip185.htm )\nFIPS 186-2 Digital Signature Standard (DSS) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips186-2/fips186-2-change1.pdf )\nFIPS 196 Entity Authentication Using Public Key Cryptography ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips196/fips196.pdf )\nFIPS 197 Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips197/fips-197.pdf )\nFIPS 198-2 The Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips198-1/FIPS-198-1_final.pdf )\n28.10.3 National Institute of Standards Special Publications\nThis includes the NIST 800 series. There are too many to list individually, so here is the link:\nNIST Special Publications (800 series) ( http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html )\n28.10.4 PGP and GPG\n“The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.”\n-- Robert R. Coveyou of Oak Ridge National Laboratory\nCryptographic Random Numbers ( http://www.std.com/~cme/P1363/ranno.html )\nThe Efficient Generation of Cryptographic Confusion Sequences ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/ARTS/CRNG2ART.HTM )\nRFC 4086: Randomness Recommendations for Security ( http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4086.txt )\nDavid Wagner’s Randomness for Crypto ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/rnd/ )\n29.1 Types of Random Number Generators\nA pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) is an algorithm that starts with a “seed” of unpredictable bits and generates a stream of bits using a deterministic algorithm. These can come in varying strengths, so those meant for use in cryptography are sometimes called cryptographically strong pseudo-random number generators (CSPRNG)\nPRNGs are opposed to “true” random number generators (TRNG), which is one that creates bits via some (analog) noise source. These are sometimes called hardware random number generators (HWRNG), since they usually exist as hardware to be attached to a regular, deterministic computer system.\nWikipedia article on PRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-random_number_generator )\nWikipedia article on CSPRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographically_secure_pseudorandom_number_generator )\nWikipedia article on HWRNGs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generator )\n29.2 Pseudo-Random Number Generators\n29.2.1 Yarrow\nYarrow is a pretty neat CSPRNG because it uses a block cipher to “stretch” a seed significantly. This introduces some slight predictability, but is very fast.\nYarrow: A secure pseudorandom number generator ( http://www.schneier.com/yarrow.html )\n29.3 An Ideal Random Number Generator\nPeriodically, some event happens within an ideal random number generator (IRNG); for example, a photon is shot at a half-silvered mirror. The outcome of each event is one of a finite number of states n; in this example, it is reflected or transmitted through the mirror. The RNG represents measures the outcome, and then encodes it for use by a discrete-logic computer.\nIn an ideal random number generator, the outputs are independent and uniformly distributed among the states. Furthermore, it is unpredictable. Just what constitutes unpredictability? That is the subject we shall now cover.\n29.4 Definitions of Unpredictability\n[W]e will be able to interpret the laws of probability and quantum physics as being the statistical results of the development of completely determined values of variables which are at present hidden from us … The idea of chance … comes in at each stage in the progress of our knowledge, when we are not aware that we are on the brink of a deeper level of reality which still eludes us.\n-- De Broglie ( http://www.eequalsmcsquared.auckland.ac.nz/sites/emc2/tl/philosophy/dice.cfm )\nAssume there is no information that is available to help anyone predict the outcome of an event prior to the event’s occurrence, and the event outcomes are independent and uniformly distributed. Then if there are n states, then anyone’s chance of guessing the outcome prior to the event is exactly (1)/(n). It obviously must not be more, but neither can it be less, because if the probability of one guess being correct were worse than that, then another must necessarily be greater. This is what I call ideally unpredictable.\nIn cryptography, we really only care if the adversary can predict the outcomes. If it is impossible for the adversary to improve his odds at guessing the outcome over pure chance, then the RNG is effectively unpredictable, even if it were possible for us to guess the state (perhaps by observing some physical process hidden from the adversary).\nThe famous physicist De Broglie suggests in the quote above that unpredictability and chance are illusions caused by our ignorance (epistemology), and not related to the nature of the universe itself (ontology). When two people can finish each other’s sentences but someone else cannot, we have proof that what is unpredictable to one person may not be unpredictable to another. Similarly, a randomly-generated number may be stored, as in the RAND corporation’s famous book “A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates”. The transmission of random outcomes may be delayed as in the motion picture The Sting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sting ), and anyone with access to the generated value may know it whereas it remains unpredictable to everyone else.\n29.5 Definitions of Randomness\nThere are many definitions of randomness, but the only one that matters is the definition of effective unpredictability given above. Other fields of thought, such as physics or philosophy, may deal with issues such as determinism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism ). There are multiple kinds of determinism, such as causal determinism (an ontological argument that “what comes before causes what comes after”), and predictive determinism (the universe is causally deterministic, and furthermore we can use our knowledge about the universe and its present state to predict the future). Thus, we can have an IRNG if the universe is causally deterministic, but not if it is predictively deterministic. However, we can have effective unpredictability even if the universe is predictively deterministic.\nThe Several Types of Random ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS3/GLOSRAND.HTM )\n29.6 Types of Entropy\nIf you’re an aspiring cryptologist, the measures of entropy are worth studying, because they are appropriate in different situations and analyses.\nIt’s worth noting that information theoretic calculations of entropy are based on “ensembles” (infinite numbers of streams) of infinite length, for mathematical reasons. This makes reading the works somewhat intimidating for those without adequate mathematical training, and leads to minor problems when applying them to single streams of symbols (especially those of finite length). They also require a priori knowledge about “the source” - one cannot strictly derive a model for a source based on the output (see 29.10↓ ).\n29.6.1 Shannon Entropy\nWhen most computer scientists or cryptologists talk about entropy, they normally are referring to the so-called Shannon Entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_entropy ). It is useful for discussing one-time pads, secret sharing, compression, and some other aspects of computer science.\nIt is calculated by the following formula:\nH(X) = − ⎲⎳ni = 1p(xi)lg p(xi)\nWhere p is the probability mass function (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_mass_function ) for random variable X.\nMore links about Shannon and Entropy:\nA Mathematical Theory of Communication by Claude E. Shannon ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/paper.html )\nThe Many Faces of Entropy ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/talks/JZ.ps.gz )\nShannon Theory and Contemporary Cryptology ( http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/talks/JLM.ps.gz )\n29.6.2 Min-entropy\nThere is another type of entropy measurement called min-entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min-entropy ). This is useful for analyzing random number generators. This entropy measure has the following formula:\nHinf(X) = − lg maxipi\n29.6.3 Rényi Entropy\nRényi entropy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9nyi_entropy ) is yet another way to measure entropy. It has the following formula:\nHα(X) = (1)/(1 − α) lg (n⎲⎳i = 1pαi)\nThe Rényi entropy is a generalized form of the Shannon (α = 1) and Min-entropy (α = infinity). This measure of entropy (with α = 2) is useful when analyzing the possibility of hash collisions.\nThe Rényi entropy is a non-increasing function of α, so min-entropy is always the most conservative measure of entropy and usually the best to use for cryptographic evaluation.\nLuby, M., “Pseudorandomness and Cryptographic Applications”, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691025460, 8 Jan 1996 ( http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5154.html )\n29.6.4 Guessing Entropy\nThe “guessing entropy” is the work required by an adversary who knows the distribution of your keys to guess the correct key. It is assumed that the probabilities are summed from largest (i = 0) to smallest (i = n). It is useful when figuring out the amount of work necessary when the keys are non-uniformly distributed.\nHG(X) = lg ⎲⎳ii p(i)\nChristian Cachin, Entropy Measures and Unconditional Security in Cryptography, PhD thesis, ETH Zurich, May 1997 ( ftp://ftp.inf.ethz.ch/pub/publications/dissertations/th12187.ps.gz )\n29.7 Why Entropy and Unpredictability Are Not the Same\nSometimes people use the term entropy to mean unpredictability (information, the amount of surprise we have at seeing the symbol), and it is nice that it is quantitative, however it is not really the best term to use. There are several problems with using this term to mean unpredictability:\nThe term is widely used in physics and is overloaded with a a number of associations that are rather confusing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy ). There is strong debate as to whether the concepts are related in any useful way.\nMost computer scientists use the term in the same sense as Claude Shannon ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_entropy ), but there are several other measures of entropy in information theory (see 29.6↑ ).\nIt takes precise and quantifiable terminology (that is, jargon), and uses it in a general, unquantified, imprecise way.\nSee next section.\n29.7.1 An Argument Against Entropy as Unpredictability\nWhat is the information content of source generating an alternating series of two symbols?\nIf one uses the Shannon entropy formula, one uses a probability mass function (PMF), and the way this is tallied in many cases is to simply count the proportion of events that have a given outcome (the other entropy measurements give identical answers in this case).\nThus, if the random number generator had a binary event (n = 2), and it always came up alternating ones and zeroes (i.e. it is completely correlated), the probability mass function would still be uniform, and entropy would be maximized (H = 1).\nIf, on the other hand, we define a symbol to be represented by “01”, then we can do a simple change of symbols (or binning) and come up with a completely different measurement (H = 0). Thus, the measurement is not stable across a simple substitution of symbols; equating the two would imply changing symbols drastically affects the amount of information in the sequence, which goes against my intuition about the meaning of “information”.\nIn other words, probability mass function is generally ignorant of the adversary’s ability to predict the outcome beyond simple unigram frequencies. Even amateur cryptanalysts use bigrams (Markov models) or higher-powered predictive models to solve the cryptograms in newspapers.\nEven Shannon uses the term loosely; in one study he measures the entropy of English to be about 1-2 bits per character, because humans can guess the letter 25-50% of the time. However, this is not the result of application of strict application of his formula using the PMF, but instead he is using the human as an oracle to estimate a tighter lower bound on the entropy. This suggests that the measure of entropy is not a completely objective measure, but rather depends on the ability of something to predict the next symbol. He did note that it varies with the intelligence of the person making the predictions (and, presumably, the similarity of the person to the author, in terms of writing style and knowledge of the subject).\nFor another example, the digits (decimal or binary) of π are easily computable in non-sequential order (see the BBP formula, http://crd.lbl.gov/~dhbailey/pi/ ), and thus totally predictable, but would also have maximal entropy. Indeed, mathematicians believed the digits not to have a pattern for a very long time.\n29.8 Unpredictability is the Sine Qua Non of Cryptography\nIf you can’t pick crypto keys your adversary can’t guess, there’s little point in using cryptography.\n29.9 Predictability is Provable, Unpredictability is Not\nThere is no such thing as a random number, only a randomly-generated number.\nFor an adversary who only has access to the output of the random number generator (RNG), one assumes that predictability takes the form of a pattern in the output. Any pattern at all means that it is somewhat predictable; for example, if it generates slightly more ones than zeroes, the “DC bias” is off and it is not entirely predictable. But how can we prove there are no patterns, when the number of patterns is infinite? We cannot do this through testing any finite number of patterns at a time.\nThis is what lawyers mean by not being able to prove a negative, but it’s easy to prove some negatives; to prove that there aren’t any pennies in my hand, you can look. It’s negations of claims of existence (it’s not the case that there exists an x such that x is a unicorn) that are hard to prove, because they are universal claims (for all things x, x is not a unicorn). It’s just as difficult to prove a simple positive universal claim, such as “bodies in motion stay in motion”, or that the normal physical laws hold the same everywhere and in all situations.\nThis quandary was summed up in a pithy way in a Dilbert comic ( http://web.archive.org/web/20011027002011/http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2001182781025.gif ).\n29.10 Randomly-Generated Samples Are No Different Than Any Other Sample\nA monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type the complete works of William Shakespeare.\n-- Infinite Monkeys Theorem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem )\nSuppose the output is 01110011; is that more or less random than 00000000? Each sequence is just as likely if the source is random (1 in 256). Looking at either, can we tell whether the source is random? No, we cannot. The output alone says nothing definitive about the source. However, if we have a model of the source, and an output, we can say how likely the source would be to generate that output, but we cannot say how likely an output was to be generated by a particular model of a source, since the number of potential models is infinite.\nXKCD did a funny comic about this ( http://xkcd.org/221/ ).\n29.11 Testing Samples For Predictability\nSo we’ve established that you can’t prove something is randomly-generated, nor can you prove that something is not randomly-generated. However, you can test to see if it is unlikely to be randomly-generated. A good suggestion to test your own random numbers is to upload them to the random number testing service ( http://www.cacert.at/random/ ) and see how they compare to other RNGs ( http://www.cacert.at/cgi-bin/rngresults ).\nRandomness Tests: A Literature Survey ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/RES/RANDTEST.HTM )\n29.12 Testing Noise Sources\nhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E4D61F38F937A3575BC0A96E958260\n29.13.2 Looking Only at 0/1 Bias\nHow you count the values matters. For example, if the RNG always generates one of the octets (“bytes”) 00000000 or 11111111 with equal probability, then the bit distribution is uniform, but the distribution of octets is not. A number of things may be happening here:\nThe RNG is performing some event and sampling an analog result with eight (or more) bits of precision. However, the distribution is not uniform (flat), so there’s only two observed outcomes, each with 50% probability. This may happen if the analog portion has the gain set too high on the amplifier, or there is some other problem sampling the analog event.\nThe RNG is performing some binary event and the outcomes are correlated, meaning that they are not independent of each other. This may happen if there is a resonance or cycle inside the analog portion, if the analog portion is picking up an external signal (i.e. a radio station), or if the outputs of the generator are being incorrectly processed (for example, they may have been transferred as text files between machines with different end-of-line conventions).\nNothing is wrong, it is just a coincidence, and if you wait long enough, it may stop happening. Or maybe not.\n29.13.3 Trying to Correct Bias or Correlation\nThese two things are related and I really need to research this again so I can remember all the issues.\nOne method is to combine (e.g., via XOR) the HWRNG with a PRNG, such as the Mersenne Twister ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_twister ). This is sometimes called whitening. However, in that case, you need to keep the other source unpredictable to the adversary, or else he can cancel out the effects. I advise anyone creating a HWRNG not to do this in a way that is hidden from the end user, lest the biases be hidden from the user but not an intelligent adversary.\nRandom Number Machines: A Literature Survey ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/RES/RNGMACH.HTM )\nThe Hardware Random Number Generator ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/HARDRAND.HTM )\nThe Pentium III RNG ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/PENTRAND.HTM )\nRandom Numbers From A Sound Card ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS4/RANDSND.HTM )\nFM Radio Noise ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS5/FMRNG.HTM )\n29.14.1 Random Numbers From Deterministic Machine Measurements\nAnyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is, of course, living in a state of sin.\n-- John von Neumann\nSince hardware random number generators are expensive, most people do without them. There are a few ways of doing this, involving making measurements of internal state of the system that should be difficult or impossible for the adversary to guess. There is some controversy over the practice (hence my inclusion of the quote above), as the adversary may have some insight into some of these sources, and we don’t know how random they really are.\nSoftware Generation of Practically Strong Random Numbers ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/usenix98.pdf )\nUnix /dev/random\nMost Unix systems have something similar to /dev/random.\nWikipedia on /dev/random ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//dev/random )\nLinux /dev/random\nThe Linux /dev/random driver manages an area of kernel memory known as the entropy pool. It gathers measurements of low-level system functions such as the amount of time between interrupts and other difficult-to-predict events. It mixes these measurements into the pool in a non-destructive way. It also maintains an estimate of the amount of entropy in the pool. When a program reads from /dev/random, it gets a one-way hash of part of the pool’s contents, and the estimate of the amount of entropy left is reduced by the number of bits read. If the estimated entropy in the pool does not allow for a full hash of data to be read, it blocks until it can gather more information. This is designed to be used as a true random number generator (TRNG).\nThe /dev/random device has a counterpart, called /dev/urandom. This device will not block; instead, if the entropy of the pool runs low, it degrades into a pseudo-random number generator.\nWikipedia article on Linux /dev/random ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//dev/random#Linux )\n/dev/random ( http://everything2.com/title/%252Fdev%252Frandom )\nLinux /dev/erandom\nThis is a provably secure PRNG currently for Linux. As part of improving the PRNG, Seth Hardy is also rewriting the PRNG framework to make it separate from the entropy harvester and to allow for it to be much more extensible and flexible.\nSource code link ( http://www.aculei.net/~shardy/projects/erandom-0.1.tgz )\nLinux /dev/frandom\nfrandom ( http://www.billauer.co.il/frandom.html )\nFreeBSD /dev/random\nThe FreeBSD operating system implements a 256-bit variant of the Yarrow algorithm to provide a pseudorandom stream — this replaced a previous Linux style random device. Unlike the Linux /dev/random, the FreeBSD /dev/random never blocks. It is similar to the Linux /dev/urandom, intended to serve as a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator rather than based on a pool of entropy (FreeBSD links urandom to random).\nFor more information on Yarrow, see 29.2.1↑ . This is not a TRNG, but rather a CSPRNG.\nEntropy Gathering Daemon\nEGD is used on systems that don’t have a convenient source of random bits. It is a user-space program that runs programs like vmstat, w, and last to gather information which may not be knowable by an adversary. It stirs the information it gathers into a pool of entropy, much like the Linux /dev/random, and allows other programs to read out of this pool. It is meant to be used with GPG, but can be used with other programs. It is written in Perl.\nEGD: The Entropy Gathering Daemon ( http://egd.sourceforge.net/ )\nPseudo Random Number Generation Daemon\nThis piece of software (PRNGD) offers the same interface as EGD and is designed to be used as a randomly-generated number source for other programs, especially OpenSSL. Like EGD, it calls system programs to collect unpredictable information. Unlike EGD, it does not create a pool of random bits that can be tapped by other software. Instead, it feeds the unpredictable bits directly to OpenSSL’s PRNG which other tools can call to get randomly-generated bits. This way, the PRNGD is never drained and can never block, so it is also suitable to seed inetd-started applications. It saves its state across reboots so that it can start up fully active on reboot.\nPRNGD - Pseudo Random Number Generator Daemon ( http://prngd.sourceforge.net/ )\n29.14.2 CCD Noise\nLavaRND is a cryptographically strong random number generator. It appears to use a CCD with the gain all the way up in a darkened chamber they call the “LavaCan”. The name is a holdover from the original model which used a camera pointed at a lava lamp.\nTurbid ( http://www.av8n.com/turbid/paper/turbid.htm )\n29.14.4 Quantum Mechanical Random Number Generators\nPerhaps the cleanest solution is to use a single quantum event to create your bits. That is what these HWRNGs do:\nQRBG121 ( http://qrbg.irb.hr/ )\n29.15 The Laws of Unpredictability\nShannon’s entropy experiments showed that the entropy of English was about one bit per letter, but it varies depending on the intelligence of the speaker. So the entropy is defined relative to a predictive model (in the person’s head). What most people call Shannon entropy is the entropy relative to a memory-less predictive model, or zero-order Markov model. Essentially this means that each symbol is treated as the outcome of an independent trial, with no context based on prior symbols. By using bigram or trigram frequencies, or word lists, one can get much better. An intelligent person is the best predictor that we have so far, but that doesn’t prove it is the best. Let me put it to you another way; unless I tell you the algorithm and key, you will probably not be able to distinguish a strongly-encrypted version of the Holy Bible from a random data stream. That is, if you don’t know the hidden pattern, it seems completely unpredictable to you, but that doesn’t mean it’s randomly-generated, nor does it mean it’s unpredictable to someone who is intelligent enough to see the pattern.\nI will call the lowest limit the absolute entropy, and I will measure it in unbits, which are absolutely unpredictable bits. The absolute entropy never changes, no matter what you do to the output of your RNG; if your unpredictability source can only pick n of m states, then encrypting its output (or hashing, or any other deterministic operation) can’t increase the number of states it could be in.\nLet me illustrate this point by an example. Suppose I have a very poor random number generator; it gets into one of two states upon power-up with equal probability; in one state, it always generates ones, and in the other, it always generates zeroes. Since there are two equally-probable states, then it produces one unbit. Regardless of how many bits I have it generate, they must all be either ones or zeroes. If I then encrypt or hash that data, it can still be in only one of two states, though I no longer know what states those are. Thus, it is unpredictable to someone who does not know the transformation, but it still has only one unbit. In a sense, the encryption or hashing obscures the initial state (by making it confidential with a computational level of security), but it does not increase the number of streams the random number could produce. That is because encryption and hashing are deterministic operations, and that deterministic operations cannot introduce unpredictability.\n29.15.1 The First Law of Unpredictability\nIn a closed, deterministic system, unpredictability never increases.\nThus, my first law of unpredictability (by analogy with the second law of thermodynamics) states that in a deterministic system, unpredictability never increases. Put another way, the unpredictability of a completely deterministic system tends to decrease over time; if my pseudo-random number generator is seeded with a certain amount of unpredictability, unless it is carefully designed, it may lose unpredictability over time by mapping n states at time t to the same state at time t+1. For example, if you repeatedly hash a value, since hash functions are designed to be indistinguishable from random functions, and since random functions tend to not to be one-to-one, this system will tend degrade in unpredictability over time and eventually enter a cycle; see The Handbook of Applied Cryptography for an analysis. The analogy we may use here is that mapping n states to a smaller number in a random number generation system is a wasteful operation, analogous to friction, and should be avoided.\n29.15.2 Landauer’s Principle\nAny logically irreversible manipulation of information, such as the erasure of a bit or the merging of two computation paths, must be accompanied by a corresponding entropy increase in non-information bearing degrees of freedom of the information processing apparatus or its environment.\n-- Landauer’s Principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landauer%27s_principle )\nIt is probably no accident that only reversible computations ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_computing ) maintain the unpredictability of the system, and any time we destroy unpredictability (information) by reducing the number of states of the system, we must dissipate energy (in the literal physics sense). This does imply some kind of fundamental connection between entropy and unpredictability (but see 29.7↑ ).\n29.15.3 The Second Law of Unpredictability\nUnpredictability may rise in a deterministic system, but by no more than the amount added, nor may it exceed the state capacity of the deterministic system to which it is added.\nBy extension, when we feed unbits into a deterministic system, we may increase the unbits of the output, but only up to the number of bits total. That is, if I have a sample which has x unbits and y bits total (where x ≤ y) then I may encrypt it using a key of k unbits, and the output may still have y bits, but the number of unbits x’ may have increased by up to k unbits (that is, x ≤ x’ ≤ x + k ≤ y). Thus, the second law of unpredictability is that an increase in the unpredictability of a deterministic system is less than or equal to the amount of unpredictability added. It is certainly possible to throw away unpredictability by mapping two input states onto a single output state, but if we choose our operations carefully, we may retain most of it.\nCommon ways to mix the unpredictability of multiple inputs into a single output involve using:\nhash functions\na combiner like XOR (or addition modulo some other convenient power of two)\na cipher, because encryption is one-to-one (making it conserve unpredictability better than a hash), which has an avalanche effect (making it better than simple XOR)\nI am contemplating doing something like this in a configurable userland daemon.\nThe Linux /dev/random ( 63↑ ) does an interesting thing; it mixes unpredictability by XORing into the “entropy pool” at multiple locations (called taps) whose position within the pool changes irregularly.\n29.15.5 Extracting Unpredictability\nIt is also possible to extract the randomness from weakly-random sources. This is sometimes referred to as compression. There are a few ways to do this:\nCompression Algorithm\nYou can compress a large sample of the randomly-generated numbers using a compression algorithm. However, if you do this, make sure that your compression routine is not adding some non-random headers or “magic numbers” to the output (many compression tools do this to identify the compression scheme in use, or identify the stream as a compressed stream).\nCryptographic Hashing\nYou can take a large pool of weakly-random numbers and run a hash algorithm over it; this is what most Unixes do for their /dev/random and related RNG “devices”. This works but cryptographic hashes are relatively slow in terms of CPU time for the amount of output they create.\nVon Neumann’s Corrector\nIn Von Neumann’s approach, you take two bits from the RNG at a time. If they match, no output is generated. If they are different, the first bit is used. This produces a uniform output even if the distribution of the input bits is not uniform so long as they have the same chance of being 1 and there is no correlation between them. However, those are important conditions; if there is correlation between the bits, you will magnify the correlation.\nVon Neumman Corrector ( http://everything2.com/title/von+Neumann+corrector )\nRFC 4086 Section 4.2 ( http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4086.txt )\nOther Randomness Extractors\nYou can take many weakly-random bits and some strongly-random bits and produce more strongly-random bits. This is done through the use of extractors:\nWikipedia article on extractors ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extractor )\nWikipedia article on randomness extractors ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randomness_extractor )\nDavid Zuckerman’s papers on extractors ( http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/diz/pubs/#extractor )\n30 Cryptanalysis\n30.1 Cryptographic Attack Patterns\nKnown ciphertext attacks assume only that the adversary can obtain (encrypted) ciphertext. All cryptographic systems must prevent these attacks.\nKnown plaintext attacks assume that the adversary knows that the encrypted data corresponds to a known piece of plaintext. All cryptographic systems should prevent these attacks.\nChosen plaintext attacks assume the adversary can choose plaintext; this may happen if he can manage to send data over an encrypted link, or give a statement to a diplomat who will necessarily transmit it back to his home country verbatim.\nAdaptive chosen plaintext attacks assume the adversary can choose plaintexts at will in an attempt to break the security of the system; such attacks are present in smart cards or any oracle [N] [N] In computer security circles, an oracle is an entity that can perform a computation that the adversary cannot., where the oracle will respond with the ciphertext associated with any plaintext.\n30.2 A Priori Knowledge\nThe more you know about the plaintext, the less you have to guess. For example the entropy ( 29.6↑ ) of the data might be a clue as to the source; key material generated by computers, encrypted, hashed, and compressed data have a Shannon entropy (H) nearly equal to one, whereas spoken languages and compiled programs have different ranges.\nIn classic cryptanalysis, a knowledge of the language gives you symbol frequencies of various kinds, and certain patterns that may be useful for breaking classic ciphers. Alan Turing once imagined that one would be able to have a computer “make guesses” about the ciphertext and go on until it reached a contradiction, at which point it would stop and alter one of the guesses. That would be worthless for a modern cipher, but it is essentially still how people solve simple substitution cryptograms like you find in the newspaper. Where do those guesses come from? They come from a priori knowledge. The more of it you have, the better your guesses are.\nA few laws may help.\nZipf’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipf’s_law ) states that many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian distribution, one of a family of related discrete power law probability distributions. For cryptanalysis in particular, it suggests that the frequency distribution of words in a language may be approximated with one of these curves.\nBenford’s Law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benfords_law ) states that in a table of statistics, a given statistic has a 30% chance of starting with a 1, which is a great way to decrypt encrypted betting records made by bookies using simple substitution. It also says that you should drop off the first digit if you want to get really random data, but that will be discussed in the section on Randomness (see 29↑ ).\n30.3 Length Extension Attacks\nMany modern hash functions have a weakness against something known as the length-extension attack. For cryptographic hashes with this weakness, if you are given the hash (h(m)) and length of the message, but not the message m itself, it is possible to select another message m’ and compute h(m|m’).\nThis attack can be used to break many naive authentication schemes based on hashes, such as those that attempt to use h(S|m) as an unforgeable value:\nThai Duong, Juliano Rizzo - Flickr API Signature Vulnerability ( http://netifera.com/research/flickr_api_signature_forgery.pdf )\nTravis H. - Web 2.0 Cryptography ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/web_20_crypto/web_20_crypto.pdf )\nThese occur because Merkle-Damgård hashes typically have a “finalization” of just appending some known padding and a 64-bit length to the block before running it through the compression function.\nOther schemes have been proposed, such as h(m|S) and even h(S|m|S), but those are overly malleable; one can often substitute either partner to a hash collision (see 30.4↓ ) with each other.\nThe HMAC function (see 22↑ ) works around these problems.\nBruce Schneier suggests always using h2(x) ≡ h(h(x)) instead of a regular hash function; it essentially says “hash it again” as part of the finalization.\n30.4 Hash Collisions\nAs discussed in the section on cryptographic hash functions (see 28.3.4↑ ), one of the properties of cryptographic hash functions is collision-resistance, namely that it is difficult to find two inputs that have the same hash value. This section includes links to work that finds or applies hash collisions.\nSlashdot - New Crypto Attack Affects Millions of ASP.NET Apps ( http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/09/13/167239/New-Crypto-Attack-Affects-Millions-of-ASPNET-Apps )\nThreatpost - New Crypto Attack Affects Millions of ASP.NET Apps ( http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/new-crypto-attack-affects-millions-aspnet-apps-091310 )\nThe root cause of the problem, like Netifira’s earlier Flickr API Signature Forgery vulnerability (see 30.3↑ ), is web developers used encryption when they should have used MAC.\nMAC prevents a client from forging a valid value. You can think of it like a digital signature, except that it’s much faster and the same key creates and verifies the data. Given an oracle, this vulnerability does make decrypting a token - and thus getting the plaintext - O(n), instead of O(2n) as brute force would dictate. It doesn’t require plaintext, just a ciphertext, and the attack finds the plaintext a byte at a time, from the end. Their paper doesn’t actually describe the attack (it refers to Vaudenay), but rather just describes how to test for the presence of the vulnerability.\nAnyway, the oracle condition typically occurs when you hand something to the client and check it later, which is really a sign you should be using MAC (specifically HMAC). You can also use encryption if you want to hide the value, but for random nonces and session IDs, it doesn’t usually matter (doesn’t hurt, either). You’ll want to encrypt-then-MAC if you do both.\nPKCS#5 Padding\nIf your input is a multiple of the block length, add a full block of padding. Otherwise, add enough octets to pad to a block length. Each octet of the pad always has the number of octets of padding used. So for example, the plaintext ALWAYS ends with either 01, 02 02, 03 03 03, and so on.\nIn CBC mode\nFlipping bits in the previous ciphertext block flips the same bits in the next plaintext block after decryption (see http://www.subspacefield.org/security/web_20_crypto/web_20_crypto.pdf for a good picture).\nPKCS#5 Oracle Attack\nSuppose your plaintext ends in 04 04 04 04. If I twiddle the last octet of the (previous block of) ciphertext, only one value will give valid padding in the plaintext (01). Now I fix the last octet to 02 (by flipping the two least significant bits), and go to work on the previous octet, trying to make the plaintext end in 02 02. As a side effect, if I know what bits I had to flip to get the valid padding values, I know that your plaintext differs from the valid padding value in exactly those bits. This discloses your plaintext to me, but as a side-effect of being able to forge ciphertexts that will be accepted as valid.\nOptimization\nOnce you learn one padding octet, you know them all (and their value).\nFor Fun\nIf the padding was not 01, then there are two final octets which are valid, but if it was 01, then there is only one. For fun, try and specify the above algorithm formally, then compare to Vaudenay.\n30.6 Cryptanalysis of Random Number Generators\nWikipedia article on Random Number Generator Attacks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_number_generator_attack )\nCryptanalytic Attacks on Pseudorandom Number Generators ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-prngs.html )\n30.6.1 Netscape SSL flaw (1995)\nRandomness and the Netscape Browser ( http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~daw/papers/ddj-netscape.html )\n30.6.2 MS CryptGenRandom (Nov 2007)\nAn optimist sees the glass as half full.\nA pessimist sees the glass as half empty.\nAn engineer sees the glass as twice as big as it needs to be.\n-- Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert comic strip\nOne of the signs of genius is when a person can look at a previously-intractable problem in a new and profitable way. There is a legend that an oracle prophesied that the person who could untie an especially knot ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot ) would become king of all of Asia Minor. It is said that Alexander the Great, unable to find the ends of the rope, pulled out his sword and cut the knot, producing the required ends.\n31.1 Traffic Analysis\nThe field of traffic analysis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_analysis ) concerns itself with everything except the content of the communication. If you just take a regular human-readable protocol and encrypt it, the length of the messages could give it away (“yes” and “no” are of different length). This has been done to fingerprint encrypted web connections:\nFingerprinting Web Sites with Traffic Analysis ( http://guh.nu/projects/ta/safeweb/safeweb.html )\nHere are a couple of ideas:\nMany people use tor ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network) ) for anonymity.\nPosting encrypted messages to Usenet (provides for receiver anonymity)\nSending messages disguised as spam (see spam mimic)\nBroadcasting them on a numbers station, for recipient anonymity.\nKeeping a constant encrypted stream flowing at maximum bandwidth all the time to prevent analysis.\nTime correlation; if Alice sends a message every Sunday at 4-5pm, and Bob receives one every Sunday evening, they might just be related!\nTiming Analysis of Keystrokes and Timing Attacks on SSH ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/papers/ssh-use01.pdf )\n31.2 Side Channels\nSometimes an adversary may have a method to obtain information from your system which you did not anticipate, which allows him to infer things about the system. These are called side-channel attacks in that they differ from the expected methods of communication that an adversary would have with a system. In essence, they create an unexpected channel of communication to the adversary from your monitor, your modem, your power line, or some other component of your system.\n31.2.1 Physical Information-Gathering Attacks and Defenses\nMiscellaneous\nReading RAM with Firewire ( http://md.hudora.de/presentations/#firewire-pacsec , http://www.storm.net.nz/projects/16 )\nElectrical Emanations\nKeyboard Acoustic Emanations Revisited ( http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~zf/papers/keyboard-ccs05.pdf )\nAcoustic Cryptanalysis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_cryptanalysis ) of general computer noise ( http://people.csail.mit.edu/tromer/acoustic/ )\nRoom audio modulated onto A/C power via incandescent lights ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphonics )\nAcoustic analysis of dot-matrix printers: R. Briol, Emanation: How to keep your data confidential, In Symposium on Electromagnetic Security for Information Protection, SEPI’91, Rome, Italy, Nov 1991\n31.2.2 Signal Injection Attacks and Defenses\nThis does not have to be a read-only channel; many smart card attacks are based on modifying these parameters to affect the system adversely. Glitching the power to a smart card, or putting it in the microwave...\nTamper Resistance: A Cautionary Note ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/tamper.pdf )\n31.2.4 Timing Side-Channels\nOften can be done remotely. Timing attacks don’t necessarily have to be related to cryptography. Back in the 1970s, some hackers on the TENEX system noticed that one could tell if the system paged in something from disk by measuring the amount of time it took to access a page; by arranging a password to cross a page boundary and then calling the system command which checked the password (with a linear scan of the characters), they could tell if the password was correct up until the page boundary ( http://www.securitytechnique.com/2003/11/passwords.html , http://www.st.cs.uni-sb.de/edu/secdesign/coding.pdf ). In a modern context, a database lookup or cryptographic operation may be sufficiently time-consuming as to provide a “tell”, so one could determine if a given web application had performed such an operation or not; such things could tell you if a username or password (but not both) were correct, despite getting an unhelpful error message.\nTENEX Password Timing Attack Hack (see Practical Unix and Internet Security)\nExecution Path Timing Analysis (of Unix Daemons) ( http://ouah.org/epta.pdf )\nCAN-2003-0190 OpenSSH timing flaw with PAM ( http://lab.mediaservice.net/advisory/2003-01-openssh.txt )\nCAN-2003-0078 OpenSSL timing vulnerabilities in CBC mode ( http://www.openssl.org/news/secadv_20030219.txt )\nSide Channel Cryptanalysis of Product Ciphers ( http://www.schneier.com/paper-side-channel.html )\nRecent timing attack versus AES (see AES timing attack: http://cr.yp.to/antiforgery/cachetiming-20050414.pdf , AES timing attack discussion: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/05/aes_timing_atta_1.html , AES timing variability at a glance: http://cr.yp.to/mac/variability1.html )\nKocher’s 1996 Timing Attacks on Implementations of Diffie-Hellman, RSA, DSS and Other Systems ( http://www.cryptography.com/timingattack/paper.html )\nFelten & Schneider (2000) Timing Attacks on Web Privacy ( http://www.cs.princeton.edu/sip/pub/webtiming.pdf )\nBrumley & Boneh (2003) Remote Timing Attacks are Practical ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/~dabo/abstracts/ssl-timing.html )\nChris Karlof , David Wagner , Chris Karlof , David Wagner (2003) Hidden Markov Model Cryptanalysis ( http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/696493.html )\nBortz (2007) XSRT (Cross-Site Request Timing)\nBortz, Boneh, Nandy (2007) Exposing Private Information by Timing Web Applications ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/~abortz/papers/timingweb.pdf )\nLawson 2009, Timing Attack in Google Keyczar Library ( http://rdist.root.org/2009/05/28/timing-attack-in-google-keyczar-library/ )\nHow do we avoid leaking information?\nfixed time implementations are invulnerable to timing side channels, but very hard to do, depending on the resolution of the measurement and the control over the computing environment that the adversary has. The most important part of this is to write branch-free code (note that comparisons for equality are almost always implemented as branches).\nDan Bernstein’s AES timing attacks show that table lookups are not constant-time, and with sufficient number and accuracy of measurements and powerful statistical tools in the hands of the adversary, it would be hard to really know that one has actually performed this task sufficiently well. Therefore, here are some ideas that may or may not be good, but attempt to address this difficulty at the risk of adding complexity:\nadd randomly generated delays which, unfortunately, the adversary can average out over time. This increases number of samples necessary, making attack take longer.\nquantize delay makes the amount of time a multiple of some value, reducing the amount of information gained with each measurement. This is the general case of “wait after computation so that everything takes the same amount of time”. This is hard since precise measurements are hard, sleeping a precise amount of time is hard, and knowing how long is the longest it could take is hard.\nadd unpredictable delays by adding to the delay a cryptographic function of the guess made by an adversary which must be constant over time, yet unpredictable by the adversary (for example, td = g(x, k), where perhaps g(x, k) = HMAC(x, k) ⁄ c). This is the logical improvement over a randomly-generated value, since it cannot be averaged out by repeated measurements with the same guess. If we represent the delay seen as t = tf(x) + tg(x, k) + td, then it seems clear that the adversary has two, possibly three unknowns in one linear equation. This might be soluble if the computed delay has a high enough granularity or low enough range (it is a discrete variable) that it could be separated from the other delays.\nblinding involves not operating on the data, but instead a function of the data, then computing some sort of inverse on the results. Similar to unpredictable delays. Tends to be done with RSA due to the multiplicative identity; unclear if it could be done with other algorithms (possibly Diffie-Hellman).\nhashing involves never operating on user data directly, but instead taking the hash of it before, say, a comparison to a known value (which is also hashed first). Similar to blinding.\nIt’s worth noting that many of the obvious ideas, such as adding delay, are somewhat difficult to do accurately (due to timer availability and scheduling). It also presents problems when the distribution has a long tail (for example, 1% of the time, it takes 100x longer than average); that is why I suggest quantizing the delay rather than waiting for the maximum possible time. Also many of the long output times would be in cases where the machine is in a strange state, such as overloaded by a surge of requests, or in the process of crashing, etc. It is often hard to reproduce these states in testing.\nConstructive Use of Side Channels ( http://crypto.stanford.edu/seclab/sem-09-10/becker.html )\n32 Information and Intelligence\nOne gathers data in a process called collection, and significant data is called information (“information is a difference that makes a difference”, as the saying goes). That may further be processed or refined into stuff you can use called intelligence, or more generally product. Confusingly, intelligence has also come to mean the entire lifecycle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence(information_gathering) ), from gathering to distributing the product. Sometimes intelligence is referred to as “the great game”, but this should be taken in the sense of game theory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory ), and not triviality. In wartime, intelligence can equate to tens of thousands of deaths, possibly more. Spies, saboteurs, terrorists and other criminals can look forward to lifetime imprisonment or execution if caught. In the excellent book Between Silk and Cyanide ( http://books.google.com/books?id=I4zP8hSxIFIC&dq=&pg=PP1&ots=Jisjo9wtgm&sig=tJlaJ77oqyz3r2Th8QNeKo0CNi0 ), Marks of the UK’s SOE states that during WWII the average operational lifetime of a spy in occupied Europe was approximately two weeks.\nSome people see a natural synergy between computer security and warfare, or between computer security and terrorism. The general definitions of information warfare ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare ) and cyberterrorism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberterrorism ) denote the fact that a network intrusions are almost incidental to the actual goal. However, the combination of computer security and espionage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-warfare ) is a perfect fit, since one may directly attain the goal (collecting intelligence) remotely with a computer.\nIn the classified world, spy is a dirty word, virtually synonymous with traitor. People like James Bond, were they to exist, would be referred to as agents, whereas someone on the other side who works for you is called an asset. When something happens in secret, it is clandestine. When appears to happen for one reason (the cover) but actually happens for a secret (“covert”) reason, it is a covert operation. The apparent (“overt”) reason is referred to as the cover story, or simply the cover. Not using the proper euphemisms is considered insensitive, like referring to killing an enemy soldier as murdering or killing him rather than “neutralizing” him. [O] [O] I have often wondered why people consider “liquidation” a euphemism, as it sounds rather unpleasant to me.\nintel is short for intelligence, obviously\nopsec is operational security, a five step process described at Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_security )\ninfosec is information technology security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INFOSEC )\ncomsec is communication security, covering all non-IT forms of communication ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COMSEC )\ntransec is transmission security, a subclass of comsec, focused on keeping transmissions from being intercepted by the adversary ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRANSEC )\nlinesec is line security, making sure that your communication lines go where you want and don’t cause crosstalk or become unintentional radiators\nelectronic warfare is use of the E/M spectrum to improve your own use of the spectrum and deny the adversary use of it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_warfare , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Old_Crows )\nsigsec is signal security, a generic term that includes both communications security and electronics security\nEEFI are the essential elements of friendly information; the things you don’t want to give away to the enemy\n32.2 Controlling Information Flow\nThe only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards - and even then I have my doubts.\n-- Eugene Spafford ( http://homes.cerias.purdue.edu/~spaf/quotes.html )\nIf we can prevent an adversary from sending any information to a system (infiltration), then it becomes clear that this is the ultimate security from active attacks. If we can prevent an adversary from getting any information out of a system (exfiltration), then it prevents all passive attacks. Combined, this amounts to Marcus Ranum’s Ultimate Firewall (see http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/papers/a1-firewall/ ), which is also sold under the more common name “scissors” ( http://www.dumbentia.com/pdflib/scissors.pdf ). Similarly, with communication, if you can keep the communication out of reach of the adversary (for example by using wires instead of radio, or a trustworthy courier to hand-deliver it), then they can’t do a darn thing to break the confidentiality. Once he has a copy, you have only passive information defenses such as cryptography to protect it. Note that passive defenses like cryptography cannot alert you to attempts to defeat them, so the attacks against them are also passive, and thus their failures are silent. Also, once encrypted information falls into the adversary’s hands, you cannot perform key rotations, or meaningfully revoke the key used to encrypt it, or anything along those lines.\n32.3 Labeling and Regulations\nIn certain environments, you may find that documents, or even IP packets, are classified as “proprietary”, “confidential”, “secret”, or something like that (for an example of what those terms mean to the US government, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information_in_the_United_States ). My first reaction is to wonder why people would clearly mark this data, because it makes it easy for an adversaries to identify and collect something that has obvious value. That is a drawback, but there are other, less obvious advantages that dramatically outweigh it.\nThe first advantage of properly labeling information is that it enables a conscientious employee to know the information shouldn’t be casually discarded, and thereby end up in the adversary’s possession. One cannot overstate the importance of this; if the adversary can get ahold of unencrypted information in the first place, you have lost your ability to protect it. Simply hoping that he won’t recognize the importance of it is a very weak defense; it’s essentially security through obscurity.\nThe second advantage of properly labeling information and having well-understood regulations regarding the disposal of classified information, they will not be able to ignore them under the defense that they didn’t know it was sensitive; this is an example of the principle of removing excuses (see 34.13↓ ). Ideally, everyone who handles the information should have as much interest in protecting it as anyone else who has an interest in it. If not, they may decide it’s too much trouble to handle properly, lose control of it, and someone else winds up paying the consequences. Training should also include examples of bad things which happened to a person because an employee failed to follow the regulations. Here you want to make an impact on the person’s conscience, because it is far better to have an employee who truly wants to protect the organization’s information (and other people) than one who merely wants to not get caught failing to protect it.\nThe third advantage of properly labeling information is that it deprives a malicious insider of the ability to improperly dispose of the information with the intention of giving it to the adversary, and then claiming that he didn’t know that it was sensitive. This is sometimes called the “accidentally on-purpose” threat. For this to be effective, the threat of punishment must be credible, and that means making it known that you monitor for leaks. In this case, it is desirable that at least some of your monitoring be done in such a way that the employees do not know when it is happening. The education about the regulations should include examples of punishments given to malicious insiders who deliberately failed to follow regulations; pictures of unhappy-looking traitors in stark cells, prison gear, shackles, and leg irons are usually more effective at influencing a person than repeating the number of years of the sentence. Intentionally removing the label from information without going through proper procedures is obviously a willful violation, puts the person in the “malicious insider” category automatically. I’m not sure why Daniel Ellsberg did this with the Pentagon papers, because removing the label doesn’t make it unclassified.\nFinally, with properly labeled information, it makes it easy to check for accidental leaks; you merely look for the labels in any outbound data. The adversary no better at finding this data than you are, so proper labeling helps you find it at least as much as it helps him.\n32.4 Knowledge is Power\nScientia potentia est.\n-- Sir Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacrae, 1597 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientia_potentia_est )\nUnderstand that information is always on the side of the investigator. One of the national labs used to record every packet that came over their WAN link. It can also help in unexpected ways; for example, if someone calls you up on your VoIP phone, and you record all your VoIP calls to hard disk (only one side needs to be informed in some states), you could happen to record a threatening phone call or someone who defrauds you, and use it as evidence against them later. Note that the person storing the information and the investigator need not be on the same side; during Microsoft’s anti-trust trial, Bill Gates was impugned by emails he sent stored on his own company’s system that contradicted what his sworn testimony.\n32.5 Secrecy is Power\nOccultia potentia est.\nThere is a purported NSA employee security manual on the web [P] [P] The NSA manual may be found here: http://www.tscm.com/NSAsecmanual1.html or here: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/nsaman.pdf , and if it is correct, the very first thing you learn is to remain anonymous. Why? It’s hard for an adversary to target you for anything if he doesn’t know you exist, or if what he knows about you (for example, the name and purpose of your organization) can’t be translated into something he can attack (often an address, like the geographic location of your underground command center, or the netblock for your corporate LAN).\nBy way of example, if you had a secret FEMA bunker (for use in a national emergency) whose location remains unknown to any adversary, you need only worry about people stumbling across it either through curiosity or accident. Thus, if the address of something you are trying to defend remains secret, then you only need to worry about casual (untargeted) attacks. You can reduce the change of accidental intrusion by placing it in a remote location and giving it defenses appropriate to discouraging the passer-by (for example, barbed wire fences). You can prevent people from becoming curious about it by giving it a mundane cover. The rumor is that the new aircraft test location now that Area 51 has closed down is located on a testing range for biological and chemical weapons, which would be a good way of discouraging curious explorers.\nDoes secrecy therefore imply that you are doing something you shouldn’t? That depends; are you the sort of person who plays poker with his cards face up on the table? Given the choice between asking people to keep quiet and asking them to lie, I would prefer they simply keep quiet; having to lie is an unreasonable request to demand of an ethical person, lying undermines your credibility, and the more a person lies, cheats and steals, the more inured they are to the feelings they provoke and the more likely they are to do so in the future. It is a slippery moral slope that ends in disaster. Many revolutionary organizations have self-destructed because the participants go from stealing to fund the cause to stealing and killing for personal gain.\nSo, here are a few questions to consider:\nWhy do you keep passphrases secret?\nWhy do you keep your credit card number a secret?\nWhy do you seal letters in envelopes?\nWhy do you wear clothes?\nWhat is your social security number, full name, and address?\nWhy are many security cameras in “domes of wine-dark opacity” or completely hidden?\nWhy are the locations of data centers, or government offices, often not published?\nWhy do soldiers wear camouflage?\n32.6 Never Confirm Guesses\nPeople will make speculation about secret information, and publish them. It’s generally a policy to never confirm any of them, because the adversary reads the same papers, and probably was already aware of the speculation. Intelligence agencies may well pay people to publish incorrect speculation. Also, it’s possible the person who published the speculation is an adversary, and is attempting to bait you into a public admission!\n32.7 What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You\nYou only get nasty surprises if you don’t expect them.\n-- Thomas Ptacek\nNow that we have established that secrecy is not immoral, let’s discuss practical issues. Prior to the advent of the web, there was a world-wide bulletin board system called Usenet. They had various forums, called news groups, which numbered in the tens of thousands, depending on how you counted them. Now, imagine that you posted under your real name to a support group for dealing with homosexuality, or recovering from mental illness; you had every reason to believe that (by and large) only people dealing with those issues would ever see that article for the week or so it stayed on the news server. Flash forward ten years, and now an Internet search engine like Deja News or Google Groups has indexed it by your real name, making it trivially accessible to a potential employer or anyone with a grudge against you. I avoid using personally-identifying information unless necessary, not because I’m ashamed of anything I do, but because I simply don’t know what the unintended consequences of information disclosure will be. It may be taken out of context. Once disseminated, information cannot effectively be revoked, so it’s always safer to say nothing than to say something. Thus, NSA is sometimes said to stand for “Never Say Anything”.\nIf your opponent knows you know, they can take action to remediate it (see 34.2↓ ). Conversely, if they don’t know you know, they can’t do anything about it. Therefore, silent security failures are the most dangerous kind. Therefore, secret attacks are the most dangerous. Therefore, passive attacks are worrisome. Thus do we find policies such as “need to know”, “default deny”, and so on (see 34.1↓ ).\n32.8 How Secrecy is Lost\nHere I should discuss the bit in The Wizard War ( http://www.vectorsite.net/ttwiz.html ) where the author describes how classified information ends up in unauthorized hands.\n32.9 Costs of Disclosure\nImagine the consequences of leaking a classified document containing the name of an active spy or mole within a foreign government. Alternately, imagine the disclosure of details regarding a clandestine tunnel full of monitoring equipment under the Kremlin; it would be almost impossible to compensate for the disclosure; apart from millions of dollars in sunk costs, people probably risked their freedom and possibly lives to make it possible. And the presence of the tunnel would not have to be disclosed directly; it may merely be that intelligence gained from the tunnel intercepts is used in a careless manner, and that they search for and find the tunnel.\n32.10 Dissemination\nBe careful about leaks and dissemination. In the intelligence business, one does not redistribute information to a third party without explicit permission of the sender; this is called second-sourcing, is considered extremely unprofessional and downright rude. If the source would not give it to the third party, and you do, you’re basically taking a present from them and slapping them with it; it’s a betrayal of trust, it seriously damages the relationship, and you may never get anything from them again. If you were an employee of an intelligence agency and did this without orders to do so, you would likely be fired, and possibly charged with treason.\nSuppose you offer information to customers. It’s virtually impossible to stop a competitor from using an account or front and acquiring your information and using it in some way you didn’t desire. The only leverage you have is being able to be able to terminate the account, which isn’t much leverage if it’s free. One possible countermeasure involves watermarking, or otherwise altering the data imperceptibly so that you can perform traitor-tracing if you get a copy of a leaked document to determine who leaked it.\n32.11 Information, Misinformation, Disinformation\nI don’t let things slip, Hank... I place information.\n-- Dale, King of the Hill (television series)\nYour adversary seeks information. Someone who gives him the wrong answers to his questions is merely spreading misinformation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation ), while someone who is actively thwarting him is feeding him disinformation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation ). If your adversary seeks confidential information, placing some disinformation will make them unsure of anything they get through espionage. It is said ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jesus_Angleton#Increasing_paranoia ) that James Angleton was so shaken by the revelation that Kim Philby (a childhood friend) was a Soviet agent that he became convinced that every defector from the Soviet Union was a plant, and that it essentially prevented the CIA from making use of anything they could learn from the defectors, and made many of his subordinates wonder what they should be doing instead. It is also said (reference needed) that Einstein spent some time coming up with disinformation (equations/theory and research results) about atomic energy that were subtly designed so that they would waste many resources before they were revealed to be bogus. These were then printed in international physics journals. It is also said that the CIA spends half its budget on disinformation and deception, but if that is true, then it is only 50% likely to be true. The only thing I can say about it is that 50% seems the ideal ratio for an adversary to believe, since their gut reaction is that any yes/no question is much cheaper to “answer” just as reliably with a coin toss. However, I suspect that a deception operation is usually much cheaper than a real operation, because you don’t have to really do something, you just have to appear to do it, so the ratio should be lower. My suspicion is that the reported interest in psychic phenomena, mind control, and remote viewing are likely to be like Einstein’s equations; fruitless time sinks for foreign consumption. [Q] [Q] If you doubt this, check out The Amazing Randi’s $1M prize for anyone capable of proving a supernatural ability; he is an extremely clever fellow when it comes to uncovering deception. And as for psychic channeling, how come none of these presumably very advanced entities can provide a proof or disproof of, say, Goldbach’s Conjecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldbach’s_conjecture ?\n33 Conflict and Combat\nNever interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.\n-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)\nOnce is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.\n-- Ian L. Fleming, Goldfinger\nSuppose you’re the secret service, chartered to protect a president. You could do nothing except saturate the area with snipers and hope to notice someone pulling a gun and shoot them, but that’s not likely to be a safe and effective policy. Now suppose that someone belonging to a militant anti-government organization lives in a town the president will visit, buys a hunting rifle shortly before the visit, rents a room along the parade route, and so on. These are not necessarily hard evidence that they will go through with it, but they are indicators and warnings (I&W) of foul intentions, and you’d be remiss in your duties if you didn’t investigate this a little further, and make some preparations to stop this particular event from reaching a point where you might be faced with only undesirable choices. This line of reasoning may apply just as well to network security scans or other forms of reconnaissance (see 17↑ ).\nThe same thing happens in security all the time. Our firewalls are being pounded on, and we do nothing about it.\n33.2 Attacker’s Advantage in Network Warfare\nBut know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.\n-- Matthew 24:43 (English Standard Version)\nIn network warfare, there is only one defender (organization), and potentially a billion independent attackers (for an Internet-facing system). The defender is assumed to be known (e.g. we know who owns Microsoft.com), but not the attacker. The attacker knows, or can trivially enumerate, the attack surface (see 7.5↑ ) on which he must make his attack. The attacker need only make one successful attack to accomplish his objective, whereas the defender successfully thwart all attacks. I call this the attacker’s advantage.\nBruce Schneier points out that cryptography is the exception to the general rule, in that adding a single bit to your key size doubles the adversary’s work factor, while only increasing your work slightly. Thus, absent any new cryptanalytic attacks or advances such as quantum computers (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor ), the defenders may simply pick algorithms with sufficiently large key sizes that a direct attack is infeasible. However, on the Internet they may still often attack the end point directly, or use side channel attacks ( 31.2↑ ).\n33.3 Defender’s Advantage in Network Warfare\nSuspicion always haunts the guilty mind.\n-- William Shakespeare\nThe defenders have an advantage in that they are not breaking the law, and can thus organize openly. To date, I am not aware of commercial corporations federating in any way to protect themselves, but it could be a very powerful strategy. For example, several organizations could agree that an attack on any of them will trigger all of them to shun that network address globally. Or, they could share information related to intrusion, perhaps my having a security monitoring company which monitors network traffic for all of them. Such an organization could become aware of new attacks very early and take measures to reduce or eliminate the vulnerability of all participants before the attack hits them individually. The defenders also have an advantage in that the attackers may organize openly and share ideas and information. This means that defenders may receive the same information at the same time (see 36.10↓ ). Then, we are in a race to see who can fix it or exploit it first (see 33.4↓ ).\nMore generally, if you cannot defend everywhere, all the time, you probably want to defend where and when your adversary attacks. He doesn’t want you to know, and if you want to catch him in the act, you don’t want him to know that you know. Thus, the attacker wants to keep his targets unknown, and the defender wants to keep his collection efforts unknown. This may have implications when deciding between prevention and monitoring (see 35.7↓ ).\n33.4 OODA Loops\nSun Tzu discussed the importance of recognizing opportunities in battle and exploiting them quickly, but John Boyd performed a detailed analysis of feedback loops, breaking them down into four stages; observe, orient, decide, and act. They are called Boyd loops, or OODA loops ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA ), and the basic premise was that if you can make this cycle shorter than your opponent’s, you can react to unfolding events faster than they can, like a person balancing an upright stick on top of their finger.\nAt first, this may not seem to have any application to computer security. However, it has a great deal more relevance than one might think. For example, consider that you are head of computer security at an online financial institution, and your adversaries are everybody who wants to steal money from it. Now, you would be incredibly foolish to simply stick your head in the sand and hope that nobody hacks you, right? Anybody with two neurons connected together can tell that it would be a good idea to know what the adversaries are doing so that you could take countermeasures.\nAlso, it should be clear that you want to know as soon as possible; so, you will want abuse detection systems (see 16↑ ), and it would be ever better for you to monitor computer security web sites, even the gray-hat and black-hat sources, and possibly phishing and fraud-related forums primarily populated by criminals. The fact of the matter is that respectable groups like CERT often don’t tell you the information as quickly as you would like, because they don’t want it getting in the wrong hands. But you are the right hands, and you want to get it as quickly as possible, so it’s in your best interest to do so. The people who will succeed in this endeavor are the ones who are the most connected.\nFinally, you want to be able to evaluate the information and react quickly to limit the exposure or damage; thus, this is related to the principle of agility (see 34.2↓ ). Combined, this forms your OODA loop. In an ideal world, you would be so tapped into your adversary’s thinking process, and so agile, that you could deploy a countermeasure before he was able to field the attack. You can’t do that with your eyes closed. You aren’t going to be able to do that if all you know about your adversary is that they hate freedom, or that they are evil, or similar slogans that subtly imply good people stop thinking at this point. Understanding is not the problem; understanding is the solution (see the quote in 6↑ ). Ideally you would like to avoid conflict, to win without fighting, but most conflicts arise because of lack of understanding or simple callousness.\n33.5 Courses of Action\nA standard military procedure is to develop Courses of Action (CoA) for personnel. This aids in making sure that they take appropriate action in response to stimuli.\nCourse of Action Development and Analysis ( http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/call/call_93-3_ch4.htm )\nObey the principles without being bound by them.\n-- Bruce Lee\nNow that we have an understanding of the issues “in the wild”, I can attempt to extract from them some common lessons, and reformulate them as general principles which may help you build more secure systems.\nOWASP Application Security Principles ( http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:Principle )\nSaltzer & Schroeder’s The Protection of Information in Computer Systems ( http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/protection/ , http://www.ece.rutgers.edu/~parashar/Classes/03-04/ece572/papers/protection.pdf ) Section 1A3\n34.1 The Principle of Least Privilege\nOne basic and obvious tenet is to give every part of the system just enough privileges to get its job done, but no more. It takes a number of forms:\nleast privilege is where you authorize a program or system to do only what it needs to do to accomplish its objectives ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_privilege )\nneed-to-know (NTK) is the personnel security principle to protect confidentiality where you only tell people what they need to know to get their job done\ndefault deny is the access-control principle which states “anything which is not explicitly allowed is denied”\nanomaly detection is when you alert whenever something is out of the ordinary (see 16.2↑ )\nartificial ignorance is when you remove things you know to be alright from your log files and only look at what doesn’t match (see 15.2↑ )\nThe best illustration of this principle that I have found is in Marcus Ranum’s The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security ( http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/dumb/ ). It’s also quite amusing, so you should read it now. He says calls the opposite of this principle “enumerating badness”, because you have to pay someone to sit around and guess or research what bad guys are doing, and you thus always caught flat-footed by a new kind of bad thing. This was described as a bad idea in computer security as early as 1965, by E. Glaser. Saltzer & Schroeder call this principle “fail-safe defaults” or “least privilege”.\nHowever, there are many problems with implementing such a design. First, many systems allow only a certain granularity of privileges. For example, most OSes give each user a privilege set, and any program run as that user inherits that privilege set. To get finer-grained permissions, you usually need a change to the OS, such as MAC (see 12.3↑ ). This requires a much deeper level of knowledge than you would need otherwise. Similarly, most firewalls block on individual ports; blocking on the kind of traffic depends on deeper understanding of the network data (the buzzwords for this change, but may include “layer 7 firewalling” and “deep packet inspection”). But even that may not be enough; some operations within the protocol may be safe, and others not; for example, you may wish to allow someone to read a file with FTP, but not to write. With an undocumented protocol like Microsoft’s SMB/CIFS, you generally must block it entirely because it’s a black box and therefore you can’t know that it is safe. With programs, you must currently grant privileges to the entire program at once, or not at all; if one part of the code can do it, so can another. This means that to remain secure, the program must often be split into multiple pieces (this is the strategy used by the secure mailer Postfix, and it has worked rather well).\nNobody has yet done any work on automatically determining the privileges software needs automatically, because it’s a code coverage (for application security) and generalization problem. For example, the code read “/tmp/aaa”, and “/tmp/aab”; I can create rules which allow this, but it won’t be able to read “/tmp/aac”. But how far do I generalize? Does it need to be able to read “/tmp/bar”?\n34.2 The Principle of Agility\nThe best system is to use a simple, well understood algorithm which relies on the security of a key rather than the algorithm itself. This means if anybody steals a key, you could just roll another and they have to start all over.\n-- Andrew Carol\nMy friend does penetration testing, and tells me that having zero-day exploits (or any exploit with no vendor patch) does him no good because if he reports the customer as being vulnerable, the customer can’t do anything about it. Technically, they could, but they’d probably need to switch technologies, like operating systems. Unfortunately, most are too wed to the relevant technologies to be able to do that.\nAlso, recently some companies have tried to make media only playable on certain devices, and they call this Digital Rights Management (DRM). This usually involves having a secret embedded in the device. Of course consumers wanted to be able to play media they purchased with whatever player they wanted, which is totally reasonable, and so a war ensued. In the first few iterations of this, people extracted the secrets from players and then were able to play the media on whatever they wanted, and the media companies were unable to respond because all the players had secrets in them which could not be changed.\nIn both of these cases, the subjects were unable to deal with a piece of information because they were not agile; they could not react to the new information.\nTo be agile, you want to avoid lock-in to a vulnerable technology. It can happen when a component you depend on has a design vulnerability, or the implementation of that component has a vulnerability but you depend on implementation-specific additions. It seems the key here is to write portable code that adheres to open, well-defined standards, so that you can switch implementations any time you wish. It also militates against “package deals”, or “bundles”, where you can’t change one component without changing the entire bundle.\nOf course, greedy vendors hate this, because having low switching costs means they can’t charge you nearly as much. That may well be the drive behind the Unix workstation fragmentation and Microsoft’s “embrace, extend and extinguish” principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish ). But by being able to switch to a competing product any time you want, you are financially secure. It’s not the smart customer that made them self an enemy; it’s the fact that the vendor’s interest diverged from that of the customer, and so it made the customer their enemy. When companies stop trying to take advantage of their customers by locking them in, and just focus on giving the customer the best value for their money, they will no longer see their customers, smart or otherwise, as enemies.\nSimilarly, it would be nice to identify assumptions about the security environment that may be subject to change, and pick a solution that is not require this assumption to be true to give the desired result. Put another way, one should prefer flexible solutions over brittle ones. In practice, security systems that were properly designed but failed in practice often depend on an assumption that was erroneously believed to be true, or was true initially but ceased to be true over time. So using flexible solutions is also a way to stay agile.\nIn the ancient board game the Japanese call Go ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game) ), there is a strategic concept called aji, which literally means “taste”, but is best translated as “latent potential”. [R] [R] For more Go terms, see the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_terms One can imagine it being similar to an army you hold in reserve in the rear which may be quickly deployed at any location along the front line. Because it stays back there, the adversary cannot easily commit all his troops to a certain part of the front line without you then being able to deploy yours to a weak point along the front line. Similar concepts can exist within security systems; you may not be able to audit all events within the system, but you may choose to audit a set which you believe to be relevant. If you learn information that causes you to change that set, perhaps because of information gathered by forensic examinations of adversary actions, it would be desirable to be agile enough to change it with minimal effort.\nBy way of example, consider if you had standardized on a Windows 1.0 multimedia program. How would you run it? You laugh, but I’ve seen companies with obsolete systems who continue to pay exorbitant costs because the cost of switching to (rewriting for) another system is too prohibitive. As long as the costs increase gradually, there is never sufficient immediate cause to invest in the fix that would provide best long-term gains. Database vendors have long known the vendor lock-in principle, and if you think it’s unimportant, look at IBM, or Oracle (who, as of this writing, recently acquired Sun Microsystems).\n34.3 The Principle of Minimal Assumptions\nPerfection is reached, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.\n-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery\nRoughly speaking, the stronger the defense is, the less assumptions are necessary for it to be effective. It would be nice to minimize the secrecy requirements to keep the defense effective. In cryptography, we want to have the system remain secure when only the key is unknown; this is Kerckhoff’s Second Principle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerckhoffs’_principle ), described in la cryptographie militaire ( http://petitcolas.net/fabien/kerckhoffs/ ), and it’s valuable because confidentiality is difficult to maintain, or assure, and loss of it is often undetectable, and if someone did compromise the design of the system, it would be difficult or impossible to change. One can also design a system starting with the assumption that the system is known to the adversary, and when stated that way it is known as Shannon’s maxim, but was also discussed in Saltzer and Schroeder as the principle of open design. In actuality, the real thrust behind Kerckhoff’s Principle is that of agility (see 34.2↑ ); the users can react to disclosure merely by changing keys, and don’t have to redesign the system. Of course if your keys are buried in offline devices and you can’t securely update the keys, then you’re still pretty hosed. Security or strength built on openness are more durable, because there is no secret which may be lost which may compromise that strength.\nPut another way, security which depends on too many things is built on a shaky foundation, because your adversary may target the weakest of those things. Another formulation of this could be called the principle of small numbers, which states that no sufficiently large thing is uniformly good. It basically states that it is difficult to ensure consistency across large numbers of people or other complex systems, and that when the security relies on all of them, then it is best to minimize the number of them involved. My friends who are penetration testers tell me that the larger the organization, the easier it is to find a single weak link in the perimeter. This ties into the principle of uniform fronts (see 34.8↓ ).\nThere is a significant analogy in cryptographic and mathematical proofs; that the more (and stronger) assumptions on which a proof rests, the less important/valuable the result (note that a stronger assumption is one less likely to be true). It is actually very, very common to base proofs on unproven postulates; a common one is that P is not equal to NP. It is often valuable to revisit those parts of the system and see if we can reduce the strength of those assumptions. It is also valuable to ask if we can design a system which is no worse than the current system, but which performs better under additional conditions; one can say that such a system weakly dominates ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_dominance ) the current system.\n34.4 The Principle of Fail-Secure Design\nIt is sometimes suggested that mechanisms that reliably record that a compromise of information has occurred can be used in place of more elaborate mechanisms that completely prevent loss. For example, if a tactical plan is known to have been compromised, it may be possible to construct a different one, rendering the compromised version worthless. An unbreakable padlock on a flimsy file cabinet is an example of such a mechanism. Although the information stored inside may be easy to obtain, the cabinet will inevitably be damaged in the process and the next legitimate user will detect the loss. For another example, many computer systems record the date and time of the most recent use of each file. If this record is tamper-proof and reported to the owner, it may help discover unauthorized use. In computer systems, this approach is used rarely, since it is difficult to guarantee discovery once security is broken. Physical damage usually is not involved, and logical damage (and internally stored records of tampering) can be undone by a clever attacker.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\nIf you system can, fail secure; if you can’t, fail obviously.\nIn A First Tour Like No Other ( https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v41i5a01p.htm ), CIA agent William J. Daugherty recounts what happened when the US Embassy was overrun in Iran. They were under orders not to retain more classified documents than could be destroyed in 30 minutes, which was the rating against forced entry of the vault. However, the document shredder/incinerator was a finicky beast, and shut down within a few minutes, and many documents were disclosed [S] [S] The documents seem rather uninteresting to me, but can be found in the series of books called Documents From the US Espionage Den: http://www.thememoryhole.com/espionage_den/index.htm .\nThus, the general design principle is that a system should fail in such a way that the desired security properties remain intact. For example, if one wants to preserve confidentiality, one should keep the data encrypted whenever practical. That way, if the system fails in foreseeable ways (power loss, theft, etc.) minimal amounts of plaintext are disclosed. This is also a wise thing to do given that emergency procedures hardly ever work as designed. In a crisis, there is confusion, and people act unpredictably (or may be dead). Thus, if one can do a little more work in non-crisis situations to reduce the amount of work required in crisis situations, as you can with encrypted storage (see 28.7↑ ), that is often an excellent trade-off.\nThe converse of this principle is that when it can’t give security, it fails in a glaringly obvious way. Most programmers work on their code until it works, and then stop. Often people assume that if they don’t see an indication of failure, then it must be safe. You should at least give obvious warnings when something is unsecure (repeated warnings are annoying, which is why most browsers allow you to accept a certificate which cannot be guaranteed to be safe for one reason or another; see 34.14↓ ).\nMore generally, if we cannot guarantee fail-secure, we should strive to have a “tamper evident” design; if it fails, the failure is recorded in some way (see 16↑ ).\n34.5 The Principle of Unique Identifiers\nSuppose you are setting up a Unix system, and you set up the root account, and you give out the password to six people. One day you find out that root logged in and ran something which compromised security. You can’t figure out which user did it unless you have some auxiliary information; if they logged in over the network, you can check the logs and see if you can identify who was logged in there at the time, but you may find the same problem there, or that the account credentials were stolen. If they logged in on the console, you can check badge records for the facility and see who was in the area at the time. But ultimately, your ability to know what you want to know depends on factors outside of your control, which is always a bad state of affairs.\nSimilarly, if you have shared accounts on a web server, if someone starts mirroring your server (or otherwise causing mischief), you don’t know who is doing it, or if someone shared (or failed to protect) their account information. Thus, shared accounts are always bad for audit and accountability. You really want each unique identifier (email address, username, etc.) to map to one subject (although it’s okay for a single subject to have multiple identifiers).\nWith cryptography, it gets even more interesting. Suppose you have a network with a shared key, like WEP. Now, everyone who is a member of that network is essentially equal, in the sense that any of them may impersonate the others. If Alice and Bob and Mallory are on the network, Alice can’t know she’s talking to Bob without additional information, because Mallory has the same privileges that Bob does (she could spoof Bob’s IP and MAC address, for example). This is the technique used by airpwn ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/airpwn ), which is capable of doing some amusing things with unencrypted web traffic ( http://www.evilscheme.org/defcon/ ).\nThus, the set of all subjects (active parties which wish to do things with or to our system) who may obtain a specific identity should be as small as possible; ideally, such sets will always be singletons ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_ ); that is, only one subject will be able to obtain the identity (see 11.1↑ ).\n34.6 The Principles of Simplicity\nEverything should be as simple as it can be, but no simpler.\n-- Albert Einstein\nIf one looks around at other engineering disciplines, none has the complexity of computer science. If you told a mechanical engineer that you wanted to have a reliable, safe car with a billion moving parts, he’d think that you were nuts, and yet our CPUs alone have that many transistors. In particular, the brake column on a car is made of a single, solid piece of metal. Thus, for reliability you want as simple a system as possible.\nI have heard that in the US embassy in Moscow, they have a conference room made of plexiglass called “the bubble” inside one of the rooms, and they have their most sensitive discussions there. People who make a living sweeping for bugs, despite all the fancy gadgets, acknowledge that the physical search is the foundation of their craft. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense; it is trivially to visually identify any listening devices placed within such a room. Nobody who goes in there can leave anything without it being easily detected. So they can inspect it constantly, and trivially, without any fancy procedures. Thus, you want a system whose security is as easy to verify as possible.\nThere was a television show about the NSA recently, and one of the employees was discussing a possible use of virtual machines to enforce multi-level security. He said they were trying to come up with a way to make sure that any communication between systems only happened in very carefully-controlled ways. He said, “we have a saying; the more complex the problem we have, the simpler a solution we need.” If you think of the US government as the largest corporation on Earth, then you understand that in order to keep it secure, you need security mechanisms that can be understood by the average eighteen-year-old. If you have a security device that’s complicated to understand, it won’t be used properly or consistently. Thus, you want security mechanisms that are as easy to understand and operate as possible.\nThe earliest description of this principle I have found in this application is Saltzer & Schroeder, where they call it “economy of mechanism”.\n34.7 The Principle of Defense in Depth\nIn the middle ages, a castle might have a large set of walls around it, and then a central keep inside the outer walls; the adversaries needed to breach the outer wall, then the walls of the central keep. Thus, different parts of a security system may be arranged in series, meaning that you have to defeat all of them to defeat the system; this is called defense in depth ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_in_depth ). If the security of a given resource R is protected by two security systems A and B arranged in series, then an adversary must defeat A and B in order to defeat the system; thus R = AxB. If we’d like to analyze how often this combination of systems fail due to random chance, we simply multiply the probabilities.\nHowever, against an intelligent adversary, we’d like to ensure that a given type of attack does not bypass both systems, which we do by making them structurally different. For example, you may use a normal key to pass through an outer layer of access control, and then use a biometric of some kind to pass through an inner layer of access control; this prevents someone who can pick locks from being able to pass through both using the same skill. A similar principle is used by those who employ both humans and dogs in combination as guards; the senses of dogs neatly complement those of humans, so the combination will likely be better than either humans or dogs alone.\nYou might consider defense-in-depth (a/k/a “layered defense”) of the security-critical systems; if one were able to, say, bypass Kerberos security, one might not want the Kerberos server to depend upon the security of Kerberos, because that’s a little like begging the question (assuming something is true and using that assumption to prove that it is true). So perhaps only allow people to SSH into the Kerberos server from one host, and then protect that host with Kerberos. So now, the adversary must compromise the Kerberos-protected host, then compromise the Kerberos server over SSH.\n34.8 The Principle of Uniform Fronts\nA risk accepted by one is shared by all.\n-- USAF IA slogan\nAlternately, a castle may have two gates which grant access to the inside of a restricted area, then you have two access control devices arranged in parallel. In this case, either gate is a single point of failure for the protected area; the adversary need only defeat one to defeat either, thus R = A + B. If we’d like to know the rate of failure due to random chance, we simply add the rates of failure for each system together.\nAn intelligent adversary will analyze each security system and pick the one with which they will have the most success. You’d like to make sure that no particular system in this combination is weaker to them than any other, so the easiest way to do this is to make them homogeneous. I call this the principle of uniform fronts.\nIf you think this is all too simple, ask yourself what principles are being followed with the DNS root name servers. The DNS root name servers are heterogeneous, and all exposed to the public. Are they violating good design principles by applying heterogeneity in parallel?\nIf you think about it (or even if you don’t), the DNS root name servers aren’t defeated by a DoS attack unless the whole system becomes unavailable; in this respect we see that they are actually in a series arrangement, and that they are applying defense-in-depth. They are not worried about confidentiality, because they are providing information to the public. Instead, they want availability, and the system as a whole is still available as long as a sufficient number of the root servers are functioning properly. So again it is important to have in mind what our security goals are, as they affect our analysis and our definitions.\nThis is a slight tightening of “the principle of complete mediation” proposed by Saltzer and Schroeder, who suggest that all accesses be mediated, and that any remembered access decision must be updated systematically if a change in authority (authorization) occurs.\n34.9 The Principle of Split Control\nOne of the principles of creating highly reliable systems is that you shouldn’t allow for a single point of failure (SPOF) in your design. For example, if a disk drive fails, you want enough redundancy (from, e.g. RAID) that the system continues functioning properly. When you’re developing code, you generally copy the code to a second location periodically (such as a version-control repository like subversion) so that you don’t accidentally lose some of it. I believe that this general pattern can be usefully applied to some security systems as well in a way that I call split control. Saltzer and Schroeder called it separation of privilege though according to the folks over at CERIAS ( http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/weblogs/pmeunier/infosec-education/post-139/confusion-of-separation-of-privilege-and-least-privilege/ ), people tend to confuse it with least privilege (see 34.1↑ ), so I try to avoid that term.\nOne of my friends performs security audits and he had a customer who had a data center with a red button near the exit which was the emergency cut-off switch for the power. One of the people leaving the data center thought it was to open the door and pressed it, causing untold losses to their customers. Back in the days of mainframes, a programmer’s toddler daughter named Molly hit the big red switch (BRS) on an IBM 4341 mainframe twice in one day, so they created plexiglass covers for the switch, which is called a “molly guard” to this day. An investment of a few dollars may save many thousands. So by requiring two changes to implement one change, you reduce the chance of it happening accidentally.\nYou are probably also familiar with this principle when you’ve had to wait on a checker to call another person with a special key to authorize a transaction, usually removing an item from your purchase. The idea there is that a checker cannot void off items and pocket the cash without getting the attention of the second person. Similarly, you may have seen movies of missile silos where two keys must be turned simultaneously to launch a missile. Banks often require a manager to authorize transactions over a certain amount. So by requiring two people to implement one change, you reduce the chance of it happening fraudulently.\nIf you had no packet filters or firewalls, than any program which anybody started which listened on a socket would become immediately vulnerable to anyone on the Internet. And when you first installed a computer on your network, it would be similarly vulnerable until you had installed all your patches, turned off services, and otherwise hardened it. So by applying defense in depth (see 34.7↑ ), you decrease the chance that someone may get unintended access to a network service.\nWhen authenticating to an online system, they sometimes require more than one way of verifying the identity of a person (called two-factor authentication). If identifying yourself to the system involves something you have and something you know, then the adversary must get both in order to authenticate himself as you. Thus, by splitting the identity information into two pieces, you reduce the chance of the adversary getting both pieces.\nThe cryptographic technique called secret sharing (see 28.9.8↑ ) involves splitting a secret into multiple pieces and storing them in different places, perhaps controlled by different people. When encrypting financial data for storage, institutions are encouraged to store the encryption keys separately from the information itself (even if the keys themselves are encrypted with a master key), so that loss of one will not compromise the other. So by splitting the secret information into multiple pieces, the chances of an adversary getting the protected information are reduced.\nThe obvious drawback that any controlled change requires manipulating things in two places, and so it increases the amount of effort required to make the change. Since this is integral to the way it protects the system against accidents, this is unavoidable. As a result, you usually wouldn’t want to use this principle on things you will have to change often.\n34.10 The Principle of Minimal Changes\nSo suppose you decide to give a DNS slave a new IP address temporarily. You also have to change your DNS master server’s config file to allow the new IP address to request zone transfers. Now suppose you change the IP address back on the slave, but forget to change the name server configuration file. You’ve now got a hole in your security; if another system gets that IP address, it will be able to do zone transfers.\nThis is a relatively minor example where your security information has to be updated separately from what you intend to be changing. Also it’s an example where the access control is in each individual application, which is a bad design, as you can’t easily audit your access control policies without examining every possible application.\nThis principle may appear superficially to conflict with the principle of split control (see 34.9↑ ), but there is an important but subtle difference. In split control, both places have to be changed to allow the adversary to compromise security. In these examples, only one of the change points needs to allow the adversary access. Thus, there is a similar distinction between split control and minimal change points as between defense in depth and the principle of uniform fronts (see 34.8↑ ); when the systems are arranged in series, you want split control, and when the systems are arranged in parallel you want minimal change points.\nThis is essentially the DRY principle:\nWikipedia on Don’t Repeat Yourself ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself )\n34.11 The Principle of Centralized Management\nWhen you only have to administer one system, you may think that keeping up with it in the available amount of time is easy. However, as you start to manage more and more systems, you will have proportionally less time to spend on understanding and controlling any given system’s state. To maintain the same level of security, you need tools that allow you to understand it faster and control it with less effort. Thus, you will probably want to centralize management of the systems in some way.\nOne of the challenges you face in system administration is making sure people don’t accidentally change the state of things. For example, you may have a publicly-writable directory available via NFS where developers can install libraries and other important data, but sooner or later someone will delete something that another person needs. One strategy is to make the NFS-exported directory world-readable, and only allow writes to the filesystem from a single machine, possibly via a different path name. That way, the chances of someone accidentally deleting it are slim, and if it is deleted, you will more easily be able to determine who did so (and thus, why).\nThere are a number of systems for centralizing control of user accounts, such as NIS and LDAP. Systems like Kerberos do this and also allow you to perform centralized key management for network traffic.\n34.12 The Principle of Least Surprise\nThe principle of least surprise states that the system should do what you intended it to do. If you were to turn off “file sharing”, you wouldn’t expect it to also turn off your firewall; that would be an unpleasant surprise. An implication of this is that the system should have a degree of transparency to the end-user, such that they can verify that the effect of their actions is what they intended. A certain software vendor in Redmond keeps adding complexity to their operating system, despite no customer demand for it, with the sole intention of using this occult knowledge to drive their competitors out of business. As a side effect of this, there are many nooks and crannies in which spyware can hide, and many ways a user can unknowingly reduce their security. Also, it means that developers must continue to buy libraries and development tools from that vendor to make the complexity manageable. However, at least one of their employees has a clue; in Kim Kameron’s Laws of Identity ( http://www.identityblog.com/?p=354 ), he suggests that we “thingify” digital identities, and make them “things” on the desktop that the user can add and delete, select and share. That’s an excellent idea; the user should be able to see at a glance what she is doing with her identity. I say that we should go further and make all security-relevant information easily visible and intelligible to the end-user. That vendor recently acquired “sysinternals” ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx ), a company which was able to develop better tools for understanding their operating system than they were able to develop themselves. One tool in particular, called autoruns ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx ), is able to find all the programs which are automatically run when you start the system. If I recall correctly, there’s more than ten ways in which a program can set itself to be run automatically at start-up, and if you’ve ever wondered why it takes so long for your system to boot, it’s because you have at least a dozen programs starting automatically that don’t need to. As a general rule, when your system is so complex you need specialized tools to understand it, that’s a sign that you’ve screwed up, and you need to go back and refactor your system to make it simpler.\n34.13 The Principle of Removing Excuses\nIf you wanted to run a secure facility, you’d want to put restrooms and perhaps a conference room up in the front, before the security checkpoint. If you didn’t do this, then there may come a time where the security guard must either tell a person they can’t use the restroom, or allow someone to violate the desired physical security properties. It’s a good idea to anticipate any needs like this and allow for them in the design of the system, and therefore avoid any conflict between the desire to be secure and the desire to be a likeable and decent person. By putting the restrooms up front, you’ve also eliminated a possible excuse for someone who was found in the secure area without the proper credentials that they were merely lost and looking for the restroom. Proper application of this technique has two advantages; it prevents violation of the security properties whether the person is an adversary who seeks a cover, or not.\nSimilarly, if you are concerned that someone may do something heinous and then deny responsibility, you’d like to take away that excuse. For example, if you use an access card or other device to protect something very sensitive, then an employee may use it but claim that it was stolen, and it would be difficult to prove otherwise. You’d want to have a camera on the location or use biometrics to verify his identity to remove his ability to use this excuse.\n34.14 The Principle of Usability\nIt is essential that the human interface be designed for ease of use, so that users routinely and automatically apply the protection mechanisms correctly. Also, to the extent that the user’s mental image of his protection goals matches the mechanisms he must use, mistakes will be minimized. If he must translate his image of his protection needs into a radically different specification language, he will make errors.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\nIf the system involves human beings at all, whether as direct users, administrators, implementors, and so on, one should involve a model of a person into the design. That is, if it relies on a human being to use it, is it usable? There is a field of human-computer interaction called security usability which deals with this very issue (see 25↑ ). Also, will the humans who have control over it be tempted to bypass it? It is important to consider the procedural and administrative controls over this part of the process. Saltzer & Schroeder called it the principle of psychological acceptability.\n34.15 The Principle of Retaining Control\nThe government can have my crypto key when it pries it from my cold, dead neurons.\n-- John Perry Barlow, ca. 1991\nThis principle states that any decisions affecting the security of the system should remain in your hands. For example, if your home has no locks on the door, and you buy a lot of expensive electronic equipment from a store, and that store decides to publish customer purchasing history and home address, then you’ve lost your physical security. If you rely on another entity to protect your security, but you have no ability to make sure they do so, you’ve lost control (see 27.1↑ ). As a refinement, let me discuss the hierarchy of assurance by which one may retain control of the security of a system:\nAbsolutely impossible - compromise of the system requires breaking laws of physics or mathematics that are currently considered impossible to break, even in theory. Examples of this level of security include information-theoretic security in cryptographic systems, and trying to hack into a computer on a deep-space probe travelling away from you at nearly the speed of light.\nTechnically infeasible - compromise of the system is possible in theory but requires resources which are considered well outside the realm of feasibility. Examples of this level of security include computational security in cryptographic systems, and conquering all of Asia with ground forces in a land war.\nPractically unbreakable - compromise of the system is possible but the chances of it are remote. Examples include infiltrating and destroying NORAD headquarters in Cheyenne mountain, launching a direct attack against OpenSSH, and penetrating a very secure network.\nPunitively secure - compromise of the system is possible, but you could detect the person responsible and punish them, either militarily, physically or legally. Examples include any system which uses law to enforce it, such as Digital Rights Management (DRM). Classified information has this kind of protection, as does anything involving international law. This system costs money to investigate and punish offenders, so unless the punishment is sufficiently harsh to deter the crime (“punish one, teach a thousand”), it may not be cost-effective. Also, it may be that the person in question was just careless with their computer, and the real offender remains untraceable. Most bank robbers use stolen cars for a reason, you know.\nSpeculatively secure - compromise of the system is possible, but you don’t think anyone would want to break it and you rely on the good will of people to protect it. Examples include anything which relies on security through obscurity (see 35.4↓ ).\nNow, a few points about retaining control. Basically, anything which occurs independently of you is outside your control. Offline abuses (i.e. passive attacks) are undetectable, and thus you cannot react to them, which violates the principle of agility (see 34.2↑ ). Thus, the principle of retaining control implies that you should prefer systems which minimize passive attacks.\nAlso, this principle also implies that since users have varying security needs (since what they are protecting varies in value to them), then users should not be “stuck” with a “one size fits all” security mechanism; instead, they should choose vendors who allow them to retain control over the decisions of mechanisms (see 34.17↓ ).\n34.16 The Principle of Personality\nI’m finding it difficult to establish a good name for this principle, but it ties together a lot of observations about how bad things occur in clusters, and about how the past can sometimes be used predict the future.\nPeople who commit criminal acts tend to have criminal records. This is why companies perform background checks on employees before hiring them.\nPeople with poor secure programming skills, or companies with poor security awareness, tend to create software with more vulnerabilities than those with a more security-conscious attitude. For example, compare the security history of a randomly-selected program against one written by Dan Bernstein, Wietse Venema, or the OpenBSD project.\nSoftware that has had a poor security history tends to have more vulnerabilities discovered over time. I tend to search the National Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ ) before I expose any piece of software to potentially hostile input. If a vulnerability was found every week for the last month, chances are that there are many more that lay dormant.\nThat is, to a certain extent, you can have some insight into future behavior based on the past. This is certainly not a hard and fast rule, and potentially unfair, but it is an easy one that gives pretty good results.\n34.17 The Principle of Least Common Mechanism\nMinimize the amount of mechanism common to more than one user and depended on by all users. Every shared mechanism (especially one involving shared variables) represents a potential information path between users and must be designed with great care to be sure it does not unintentionally compromise security. Further, any mechanism serving all users must be certified to the satisfaction of every user, a job presumably harder than satisfying only one or a few users. For example, given the choice of implementing a new function as a supervisor procedure shared by all users or as a library procedure that can be handled as though it were the user’s own, choose the latter course. Then, if one or a few users are not satisfied with the level of certification of the function, they can provide a substitute or not use it at all. Either way, they can avoid being harmed by a mistake in it.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder, The Protection of Information in Computer Systems, http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/protection/\nThat pretty much says it clearly. The first point has to do with covert channels, and the second has to do with allowing the users to retain control.\n34.18 The Principle of Practice\nAny part of the security design which is not exercised on a regular basis is not actually part of the security system.\nIf you’ve ever been in an emergency situation, you’ll know that things don’t work the way you expect; the batteries in the flashlight haven’t been changed, the door sticks and won’t open, the script which is supposed to work has succumbed to bit rot, security alerts don’t go out, and so on. This is why people hold fire drills.\nSo, for any technical security feature, it must be exercised periodically, and ideally in conditions as similar to those as the situation you’re trying to test as possible. This is most important in abuse detection, response, and alerting (see 16↑ , 17↑ , 17.1↑ ). It is also relevant in access control; generally, consider any code path which isn’t taken often, and make sure it gets tested - that it gets taken, and functions properly. This exercise plan should be considered part of the security design.\nFor any security feature involving people, they should be forced to do perform the required tasks periodically. In some cases, you don’t tell them when, but you probably do want to tell them that it’s a drill when it happens. You should make their compensation dependent on proper execution of their emergency duties, but always apply common sense.\n34.19 Work Factor Calculation\nCompare the cost of circumventing the mechanism with the resources of a potential attacker. The cost of circumventing, commonly known as the \"work factor,\" in some cases can be easily calculated. For example, the number of experiments needed to try all possible four letter alphabetic passwords is 264 = 456 976. If the potential attacker must enter each experimental password at a terminal, one might consider a four-letter password to be adequate. On the other hand, if the attacker could use a large computer capable of trying a million passwords per second, as might be the case where industrial espionage or military security is being considered, a four-letter password would be a minor barrier for a potential intruder. The trouble with the work factor principle is that many computer protection mechanisms are not susceptible to direct work factor calculation, since defeating them by systematic attack may be logically impossible. Defeat can be accomplished only by indirect strategies, such as waiting for an accidental hardware failure or searching for an error in implementation. Reliable estimates of the length of such a wait or search are very difficult to make.\n-- Saltzer & Schroeder\n34.20 Availability Principles\nObviously, you want to minimize complexity, which is good for security generally, because as humans our brains are very limited in their ability to do combinatorial testing. This could be minimizing the number of moving parts, minimizing the amount of software, minimizing the amount of activity on it. Secondly, you want to minimize changes to that system. Basically, try to separate the things that require changes to other systems. Unfortunately, this means you can’t patch the system very frequently, which may leave it vulnerable. When you do change, you want to test the change on another system, and then do it to the live system. Virtual machines are very handy for this. This can be summarized as “test twice, change once”.\n35 Common Arguments\nI’m starting to summarize common arguments here so that we can just agree, or agree to disagree, and get on with more interesting discussion.\n35.1 Disclosure: Full, Partial, or None?\nThis is such a common debate, and it has been going on since at least the 1850s. The goal here is not to take a position, but to summarize the arguments thus far so that we can avoid fruitless rehashing of old positions.\nFull Disclosure Debate Bibliography, by date ( http://www.wildernesscoast.org/bib/disclosure-by-date.html )\nSchneier: Full Disclosure and the Window of Exposure ( http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0009.html#1 )\n35.1.1 Terminology\nfull when you find a vulnerability, talk openly about it, even publish exploits ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_disclosure )\nlimited when you find a vulnerability, talk only about the vulnerability and attempt to help people protect themselves, but try to avoid giving out details that would help people exploit it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_disclosure#Various_interpretations )\nnone never talk about vulnerabilities; discussing them helps the adversaries\nsecurity through obscurity hoping that nobody knows about, finds out about, or discusses vulnerabilities (see 35.4↓ )\ntime-bounded contact the vendor, give them a finite amount of time to fix it (my term)\ntime-unbounded contact the vendor, give them as long as they need to fix it (my term)\nresponsible can mean a variety of things, meaning “limited” for some, and “time-bounded” for others ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsible_disclosure ). Controversial because it suggests that other methods are irresponsible.\ncoordinated vulnerability disclosure full disclosure after attacks start, no disclosure prior to attacks ( http://blogs.technet.com/b/ecostrat/ ). Seems likely to shift the debate towards what is being exploited.\nRFPolicy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFPolicy )\n35.1.3 Arguments For Disclosure\nA commercial, and in some respects a social doubt has been started within the last year or two, whether or not it is right to discuss so openly the security or insecurity of locks. Many well-meaning persons suppose that the discussion respecting the means for baffling the supposed safety of locks offers a premium for dishonesty, by showing others how to be dishonest. This is a fallacy. Rogues are very keen in their profession, and know already much more than we can teach them respecting their several kinds of roguery.\nRogues knew a good deal about lock-picking long before locksmiths discussed it among themselves, as they have lately done. If a lock, let it have been made in whatever country, or by whatever maker, is not so inviolable as it has hitherto been deemed to be, surely it is to the interest of honest persons to know this fact, because the dishonest are tolerably certain to apply the knowledge practically; and the spread of the knowledge is necessary to give fair play to those who might suffer by ignorance.\nIt cannot be too earnestly urged that an acquaintance with real facts will, in the end, be better for all parties. Some time ago, when the reading public was alarmed at being told how London milk is adulterated, timid persons deprecated the exposure, on the plea that it would give instructions in the art of adulterating milk; a vain fear, milkmen knew all about it before, whether they practiced it or not; and the exposure only taught purchasers the necessity of a little scrutiny and caution, leaving them to obey this necessity or not, as they pleased.\n-- Locks and Safes: The Construction of Locks (1853), http://www.crypto.com/hobbs.html\nOn Responsible Disclosure: Stripping the Veil From Corporate Censorship ( http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/133 )\nA Model for When Disclosure Helps Security: What is Different About Computer and Network Security? ( http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=531782 )\nSecurity Experts\nIf this lock is of any value, it should be known; if it has weak points, let them be pointed out, and they may admit of a remedy; for we ought not to be led to believe a lock is safe which is not so.\n-- A treatise on fire and thief-proof depositories, and locks and keys, George Price\nIf nobody ever disclosed, vendors would never put in the effort to make secure software. Look at the state of security before the Morris worm, or perhaps before about 1997, when stack overflows and the dot-com boom converged. Like physical exercise, it may hurt in the short term, but in the long term it helps.\nIt keeps life interesting. Without (discussion of) vulnerabilities, there would be nothing to study in security; there would be no industry, no science, no magazines or blogs.\nIt keeps us in business.\nIf it exists, then it’s possible someone else already knows about it, or will find it. Whether it has been publicly-discussed or not is irrelevant. Attacks are meant to be stealthy, so whether it has been detected in the wild or not is irrelevant. If it’s possible, it is an unnecessary risk.\nThe number of implementation errors in a finite-sized program is finite, so every one we fix will reduce the amount left.\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t devise protection schemes and countermeasures.\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t devise a way to detect it.\nI’d rather everyone know than just a select few, with vested interests one way or another; putting everyone on the same footing is more civic-minded.\nEconomists\nWithout disclosure, there would be no financial reason for them to put any effort into security, and much reason against it. Officers of publicly-traded companies in the US must act to maximize profit, or else they can be held personally liable, so if you want secure software, you must make it in their (vendors and officers) financial best interest to write secure software.\nWithout perfect information, the market is inherently inefficient.\nEnd Users\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t avoid the vulnerable software.\nIf we don’t know about threats, we can’t do a proper risk assessment. Having an inaccurate view of risks can only hurt us, our customers, and shareholders.\nI’d rather know it’s not secure than mistakenly think it is (similar to risk assessment argument).\nIn other industries, companies are liable if they put out a defective product. A car company can’t simply stick an EULA on your car and say whatever happens is not their fault.\n35.1.4 Arguments Against Disclosure\nIt is extremely important that the information contained in this book be faithfully guarded so as not to fall into the hands of undesirables.\nWe also suggest after you become proficient in the art of manipulation to destroy this book completely, so as to protect yourself and our craft.\n-- From Clyde Lentz and Bill Kenton, The Art of Manipulation, (privately published in 1953), http://www.crypto.com/hobbs.html\nMatt Mecham: Why Full Disclosure is Bad ( http://ips2.blogs.com/matts_blog/2004/09/why_full_disclo.html )\nVendor\nWhile we both know our product was defective, thanks to you everyone knows about it and so we have to fix it.\nYou didn’t give us time to fix it in our normal release cycle, so now we have to ship something fast and can’t test it properly.\nVendor’s Employees\nI didn’t write this code and would rather not have had to cancel my plans for the weekend so that I can figure it out. I’m salaried, so I don’t get paid overtime, so there’s no upside to this for me.\nI can’t stop programmers from writing vulnerable code, but I end up having to fix it.\nI didn’t make the decision to use this library/code/program, but I’m stuck with the vulnerabilities in it.\nEconomists\nWriting secure software is (impractical, hard, expensive). If you make vendors do it, you’d (pay more, have less software).\nResources spent defending are not spent on more constructive pursuits.\nEnd User\nWe now have to patch our systems but I wanted to sleep tonight. I’m salaried and don’t get paid overtime.\nThe vendor has no solution.\nThe vendor’s solution can’t be tested thoroughly and may cause our operations to grind to a halt.\nI didn’t choose these systems, but I have to maintain them and keep them as secure as I can.\nI would prefer that nobody know these things. Since that’s impossible, I want to squash discussion of them. Discussion of these things puts everyone at risk.\n35.2 Absolute vs. Effective Security\nIn theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.\n-- Yogi Berra (or Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut) [T] [T] For some humor on theory versus practice, see: http://www.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/theory.html\nIn the design of cryptosystems, we must design something now for use in the future. We have only the published facts of the past to stand against all the secret research of the past and future for as long as a cipher is used. It is therefore necessary to speculate on future capabilities. It is not acceptable to wait for a published attack before a weakness is considered in cipher design. It is instead necessary to try to perceive weaknesses which have not yet contributed to full attacks, and close them off.\n-- Terry Ritter\nWhen discussing security, I find two, usually exclusive schools of thought:\ntheorists or absolute security types, believe that we should secure the systems by proving their correctness, and reviewing their design goals and such, and that anything else is doomed to failure, or a waste of time, or a never-ending arms race. They believe that we should only run that which we know to be safe, and nothing else. They are at home with the “default deny” policy (see 34.1↑ ). They prefer to focus on what is possible, not what is probable. When you say “adversary” they think NSA or KGB (or both). They defend this line of reasoning by pointing out that if you prepare for the most skilled adversaries, the less skilled are doubly thwarted. They worry about worst-case scenarios. This school is popular among academicians, intelligence agents, cryptographers, and people suffering from paranoid delusions (there is significant overlap between these groups). They sometimes earn nicknames like “Dr. No”, or “the security Nazi”, because their favorite answer for everything is “no”. They believe that which is not proven (or tested) may not be assumed to be true. They prefer open-source software. Often they are very intelligent or knowledgeable about security, and rarely have an incident, because they’re very careful. They are prone to false positives, because they want to err on the side of safety.\npragmatists or effective security adherents, believe that the theorists will never run anything but toy programs, and that we should identify the major threats or threat agents and deal with them. This school endorses the misuse-detection technologies like signature-based NIDS and anti-virus. When you say adversary, they think of a sixteen-year-old script kiddie. They worry about only the most likely scenarios. They defend this line of reasoning by pointing out that the NSA and KGB have no (additional) reason to spy on them, and that they couldn’t stop them anyway, so there’s no point in worrying about it. They believe that which hasn’t been broken in practice may be assumed to be secure. They are comfortable with commercial software. They are often successful with people and in business, because they’re concerned with helping other people do what they want to do.\nThe problem that theorists should understand is that there may not be a perfectly secure solution. It’s almost impossible to defend a web site against abuse or DoS, for example, especially when the adversary may have thousands of zombie computers at his disposal. The only way to not be vulnerable to DoS would be to not have a site on the Internet. The only way to be sure you never receive unwanted email would be to never receive any email at all. If you cut off all external communication, then you’d have an extremely secure but completely useless system.\nAnd provably secure systems aren’t perfect either; most mathematical proofs start with assumptions, and then how do you prove the proof is correct? Tomorrow may bring a threat you couldn’t have predicted, and which wasn’t a design goal or security property for the system. So, now that we’ve established that there’s no way to know for sure whether there’s a perfect solution or not, it’s out of the black-and-white realm and into gray scale. Don’t worry; if you could predict everything in advance, and thus there was no risk, you’d be astoundingly bored. To eliminate risk entirely, you’d have to start out knowing everything, so that you never received a surprise, and thus you could never learn anything, which would make awfully boring, wouldn’t it?\nFinally, security may simply not be the most important factor; you may care more about security than anyone else. If you’re in business, you’re there to provide for other people, whether they be your boss or customers. If you have to decide between using an AJAX-based but possibly unsecure web site, and not using javascript but having some users experience delays of ten seconds or longer, your users and boss may prefer the latter. After all, if you care more about security than anything else, why turn the computers on at all?\nThe pragmatists often don’t understand that what is merely possible today may become ubiquitous tomorrow. Perhaps it just isn’t being exploited today because nobody is aware of it. Maybe it’s being exploited but nobody knows it. And maybe people don’t have the expertise, but all it takes is an expert to use information technology to encapsulate some of their expertise in a program that anyone can run, or to write a simple “how-to”, and this can happen overnight, without warning. A bit of study of the history of computer security will show that this happens all the time. What’s worse is that it could have already happened, and you don’t know it. They should read about the principle of retaining control (see 34.15↑ ).\nIf you only plan on defending against today’s common attacks, you will always be fighting the last war, instead of the current one. Every new trend and attack will catch you unaware, merely because it’s new. Sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of remediation. Plus, you will usually not be able to get good statistics on intrusions, because many go undetected, and most go unreported.\n35.3 Quantification and Metrics vs. Intuition\nEverything that can be counted doesn’t necessarily count; everything that counts can’t necessarily be counted.\n-- Albert Einstein\nThere’s no sense in being precise when you don’t even know what you’re talking about.\n-- John von Neumann\nProbability is difficult to apply to security. Sometimes people misuse the notion of probability, by asking things like, “what is the probability of that this system has been compromised?”. This is a nonsense question; it is either true or not. Probability refers to a group of similar events. The correct question would be “knowing nothing else, what is the probability that any given system on the Internet has been compromised?”. The implicit assumption here is that these systems are similar enough that this question is meaningful. Often having knowledge about the systems helps; for example, we may ask what the probability that a given object in the sky will appear again will be, and the answer depends heavily on whether that object is a celestial object, a migratory bird, or a baseball. Collecting statistics on all objects in the sky as a group wouldn’t be nearly as useful as classifying them correctly.\nBut what is the chance that someone is covertly monitoring your traffic? The very nature of the event is that it is supposed to remain secret. How can you get good metrics on something like that? You can’t quantify most of the risks you face, and you probably can’t even measure the some that matter (especially passive attacks), and in many cases quantification is slower and costs more than prevention. On the other hand, intuition is highly vulnerable to sampling bias and various cognitive biases; for example I think about security vulnerabilities and intrusions a lot, so I probably think they are more common than they really are.\nThere is a fundamental problem with quantification; we don’t know about the intrusions we don’t know about (see 18.1↑ ), so we always will err on the side of underestimating the risks. On the other hand, as security experts, we are likely to presume a higher level of “interesting” attacks than there actually are, because that’s what we think about all day. That all having been said, if you can get good metrics, then by all means use them; otherwise you are likely to be operating on prejudice. After you do that, put some energy into understanding their limitations, which usually means a thorough understanding of how they are collected and counted.\nSecurity Metrics Mailing List ( http://www.securitymetrics.org/ )\n35.4 Security Through Obscurity\nNote to amateur cryptographers: simple analysis is a good thing, if it doesn’t weaken the cipher … It’s better to be able to prove that an attack won’t work than to have to guess that it won’t because it’s too much work.\n-- Colin Plumb\nMost arguments involving security through obscurity seems to center around different definitions of what the term means. I believe the meaning intended by most security experts is that the information necessary for the security of the system does not have its confidentiality protected other than by being obscure (that is, not impossible to find, but merely difficult, perhaps because few people know it). What this means is that anyone with the interest will probably be able to figure it out if they get lucky. It could be that someone posts the previously-obscure design to the Internet, or it is published in a trade journal, that it’s similar enough to another related system that the adversary figures it out, or that they merely experiment with the system until they figure it out, etc. This does not refer to systems whose strength is protected with some sort of technical measure, such as a cryptographic key, port knock sequence ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_knocking ), or passphrase (see the discussion of Kerckhoff’s Principle in 34.3↑ ). Nor does it refer to the key or passphrase itself, which is protected from disclosure as part of the design. It does refer to a system whose security depends on adversaries being unlucky or unmotivated.\nWikipedia on STO ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_through_obscurity )\n35.5 Security of Open Source vs. Closed Source\nIn God we trust; from all others, we need source code.\nOpen source means defenders and users (who may be customers) can all look for vulnerabilities in the software. Open-source is to closed-source what transparent boxes are to black boxes. Closed source implicitly means that you must trust the vendor that it is secure, but since you can’t hold them liable if it isn’t, so this is what I call “faith-based security”. Only in open-source does an end-user have the ability, if only theoretical, to make an informed decision on the quality of the product before deciding to let his security depend on it. Of course, adversaries may also look at the source, and have more incentive to do so, but properly designed and implemented code does not have exploitable bugs (see 24.1↑ ). Cryptographers have long advocated Kerckhoff’s (second) principle, which is to not rely on the secrecy of the design for the security of the system (see 34.3↑ ).\nGiven the choice between a system I can inspect to be secure, or one I can’t tell, I’ll usually choose the one I can inspect, even if I don’t personally inspect it, because of the psychological impact; the vendor knows he can’t hide any flaws, and so he generally won’t make it open-source unless he’s pretty confident he won’t be embarrassed. I feel that withholding source code may be slightly effective in practice, like all security through obscurity (see 35.4↑ ), but that it’s not as reliable a strategy as looking for and fixing all the problems. Given the choice between an open and closed format, the open format or open-source provides you more security. It’s like having a guarantee if the author gets hit by a bus, or stops making the product, or decides you’re locked in and jacks up rates (see 34.2↑ ).\nThe other side says that adversaries may have more motivation to look for vulnerabilities than a typical end-user. This means the faster bugs are found, the fewer will remain, so highly-inspected code matures more quickly. Code that isn’t inspected much may have dormant bugs which lurk for a long time before being publicized, or they may never become publicly known, but this does not change the fact that they were vulnerable the whole time. Nevertheless, vendors of security software seem to be pretty keen to vulnerabilities, and so their products are usually solid. It’s the vendors who do not know anything about security, or who designed and coded their systems before they learned about security, that are suspect. And most of the time, the kinds of vulnerabilities that worry security agencies and privacy advocates (namely back doors and trojans) don’t appear in commercial software. The other side also says that if you use commercial software, often the vulnerabilities are found internally, and corrected quietly without public disclosure.\nRoss Anderson has a paper on this topic ( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/toulouse.pdf ), and he concludes open-source and closed-source have the same security assurance. I haven’t read the paper yet but I figured I’d include it here for balance. In an interesting quantification, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has commissioned coverity to perform a study which found that both open-source software and commercial software have about 1 security bug for every 1000 lines of code ( http://scan.coverity.com/ ).\n35.6 Insider Threat vs. Outsider Threat\nEssentially, perimeter defenses protect against most adversaries, whereas distributed defenses on each host protect against all adversaries (that is, remote systems; local users are the domain of OS security). The idea of pointing outward versus pointing inward is a well-known one in alarm systems. Your typical door and window sensors are perimeter defenses, and the typical motion detector or pressure mat an internal defense. As with alarm systems, the internally-focused defenses are prone to triggering on authorized activity, whereas the perimeter defenses are less so.\nA hardware security module (HSM) basically makes everyone but the vendor an outsider; insurance companies love this because they defend against insider threats as well as outsiders. Financial institutions and the military also focus on insiders, primarily because if they can protect against insiders they can also usually protect against outsiders. However, such environments are no fun to work in. Everyone trusts themselves implicitly, and so when employees are told to implement defenses against themselves, not only does it send the message that management doesn’t trust them, they usually do so with little enthusiasm.\nDave G. of Matasano has published an interesting piece on the insider threat ( http://www.matasano.com/log/984/the-insidious-insider-threat/ ). So does Richard Bejtlich ( http://taosecurity.blogspot.com/2009/05/insider-threat-myth-documentation.html ).\n35.6.1 In Favor of Perimeter Defenses\nMost organizations consider the unauthenticated and unauthorized people on the Internet to be the largest threat (see the definition of anonymous attack surface in 7.5↑ ). Despite hype to the contrary, I believe this is correct. Most people are trustworthy for the sorts of things we trust them for, and if they weren’t, society would probably collapse. The difference is that on the Internet, the pool of potential adversaries is much larger, and while a person can only hold one job, they can easily hack into many different organizations. The veterans (and critics) of Usenet and IRC are well aware of this, where the unbalanced tend to be most vocal and most annoying. Some of them seem to have no goal other than to irritate others.\nIn the real world, people learn to avoid these sorts, and employers choose not to hire them, but on the Internet, it’s a bit more difficult to filter out the chaff, so to speak. Also, if we detect a misbehaving insider, we can usually identify and therefore punish them; by contrast, it is difficult to take a simple IP address and end up with a successful lawsuit or criminal case, particularly if the IP is in another country. Furthermore, most people feel some loyalty towards their employer, and it is easier for an outsider to avoid humanizing the people who work there.\n35.6.2 What Perimeter?\nThe perimeter is not here nor there, but it is inside you, and among you.\nAn interesting point is that when a user on a client machine inside our network accesses a malicious web page, or loads a malicious file, and the system gets compromised, and now that internal node becomes an attacker.\nAnother important issue to consider is series versus parallel defenses (see 34.8↑ ). Suppose the gateway, firewall, and VPN endpoint for your organization’s main office uses the pf firewall (IMHO, the best open-source firewall out there). Now, suppose a remote office wants to connect in from Linux, so they use iptables. Now, should there be an exploitable weakness in iptables, then they might be able to penetrate the remote office, making them inside the perimeter. Courtesy of the VPN tunnel, they are now inside the perimeter of the main office as well, and your perimeter security is worthless. Given the trend towards a more complex and convoluted perimeter, I think this suggests moving away from perimeter defenses and towards distributed defenses; we can start by creating concentric perimeters, or firewalls between internal networks, and move towards (the ideal but probably unreachable goal of) a packet filter on every machine, implementing least privilege on every system.\nSpecifically, the notion of a security perimeter is challenged by the following developments in our computing environments:\nClient-side attacks by malicious servers\nData-driven attacks by malicious files or web pages\nRunning untrustworthy code\n35.6.3 Performance Issues\nI am beginning to think that perimeter defenses are insufficient. As we become more networked, we will have more borders with more systems. End-to-end protocol encryption and VPNs prevent any sort of application-layer data inspection by NIDS devices located at choke points and gateways. High-speed networks, particularly fiber to the desktop, challenge our ability to centralize, inspect, and filter traffic, and requires expensive, high-performance equipment. Encryption (SSL) and firewall-penetrating technologies like skype create tunnels (some may say covert channels) through the firewall. Put simply, the perimeter is everywhere, and the forward-looking should consider how to distribute our security over our assets. For example, everything that is done by a NIDS can be done on the endpoint, and it doesn’t suffer from many of the typical problems that a separate device does (including evasion techniques and interpretation ambiguities). Also, this means each internal node pays for its own security; if I am downloading 1Gbps, I am also inspecting it, whereas an idle system isn’t spending any cycles inspecting traffic. With the proper design, no packets get lost, dropped, or ignored, nor is it necessary to limit bandwidth because of limited inspection capacity at the perimeter. And we can use commodity hardware (the hardware we already have) to do the work.\n35.7 Prevention vs. Detection\nAn ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.\n-- Henry de Braxton\nThose who emphasize monitoring and intrusion detection make the point that no matter how much effort you put into prevention, some (fraction of the) attacks will succeed, and so you should put some effort into detection. I agree with the premise. I would go farther with the argument, and say that no matter how much you put into detection, some successful intrusion will go undetected, especially if the detection system involves human judgment (see the motion picture Andromeda Strain as a good example). So let me use a very contrived numerical example to show that putting resources into detection may not always improve your security. Consider two cases:\nI prevent 99% of the intrusions, and detect 0% of the remainder. For every 100 attempts, one is successful and it always remains undetected.\nI prevent 50% of the intrusions, and detect 50% of the remainder. For every 100 attempts, 50 are successful and 25 remain undetected.\nIn this case, had you chosen the allocation which favors prevention, you do no incident response and you got 25 times fewer undetected intrusions, even though you did no detection. This is an application of the base-rate fallacy (see 4.1.2↑ ). So it’s not clear what is the right mix.\nI would say that the relative value of monitoring depends in part on how effective your prevention mechanisms are. If you are not in the business of providing network services then you should spend almost all of your resources on prevention, and a very little on monitoring (but make sure you monitor those systems very closely). On the other hand, if there are a number of services with bad security histories that you are not able to turn off for business reasons, or you run an intelligence agency, then perhaps the allocation should be reversed. I find this position to be undesirable, though, because if you only detect intrusions, you’re going to spend a lot of resources cleaning up after them, and second-guessing yourself about what they may have done. On the other hand, preventative systems like a packet filter require almost no resources to maintain (in reality you have to adjust them from time to time, but the resources necessary are small by comparison).\nAdditionally, in operating system security, all bets are off once the adversary gets full privileges. At that point, any local logs and tools are suspect. I believe there are often machines which can be similarly critical to network security, such as authentication servers and file servers, but they are less clearly so. My contention is that you should do your best to keep the adversary out, as once they’re in you’re on even terms and thus have lost the most important advantage you have - namely, having more privilege than they.\n35.7.2 Detection over Prevention\nThe more of these are true in your particular situation, the more you’ll want to emphasize detection over prevention.\nPrevention is hard, expensive, or impossible\nDetection is easy\nCleanup is relatively easy (i.e. reimage the system)\nLosses are minimal or limited (i.e. you have no interesting assets or secrets to protect)\n35.7.3 Impact on Intelligence Collection\nIf you are a typical business, you probably want to prevent attacks and intrusions, because you aren’t interested in the motivations of your adversaries, or if you were, you wouldn’t have time to do forensics and analyze their intentions, so you’ll almost always want to block first and ask questions later. But if you were an intelligence agency with lots of resources and were very interested in adversary intentions, you might allow an attack against a non-critical system to occur just to analyze their collection goals and intentions. For example, if India were to allow an intrusion to happen, and learned that the adversary was after force deployments in the disputed region of Kashmir, they could reasonably conclude that Pakistan might have some sort of intention to move into the region, and thus could ready themselves for a rapid response. It is not likely to be important who the actual intruder was, if the information they are after is only useful to one entity. In this case, knowing the adversary’s intentions could be much more valuable than the information the intruder would obtain.\n35.8 Audit vs. Monitoring\nIf you have leverage, even after a security breach takes place, you could substitute audit for monitoring. Banks, the IRS, and other financial institutions may decide to do audits rather than monitoring, because auditing samples takes much less effort than continual monitoring. For example, the IRS requires forms for cash transactions over a few thousand dollars, which is one reason why you can’t pay cash for a new car. Even if you monitor everything, you probably don’t have the human resources to review it all, so you necessarily decide what samples to check. If your adversary knows what rules you use to sample, he will probably try to not be in your sample, so you should probably do a little random sampling too, looking for people trying to fly under the RADAR.\nIt also works with physical security; if I know that I can see whatever went on in a facility at any later time, I may only do spot-checks.\nIf you do want a human to monitor or audit something, it’s a good idea to make sure they know what to look for. I recall a story by a security guru who once saw a terminal with a US Marine guarding it. He wondered if the Marine knew what to look for. However, I think the Marine was there to prevent physical tampering with the computer and not tasked with understanding what the person was doing when typing. In any case, if you’re paying someone to monitor something, it would help if they knew what they’re looking for.\n35.9 Early vs. Late Adopters\nIt seems that different cryptographers have different risk thermostats, especially when it comes to how early to adopt. For example, suppose a new cipher XYZ comes out to replace cipher ABC. The best attacks against it are much less successful than the best attacks against the old cipher. However, there is a discrepancy here; the old cipher has probably had much more study. The early adopters are essentially hopeful that the new cipher will prove to be stronger, often due to a larger key size, due to the fact that it is designed against the known attacks, or simply due to the fact that it’s less well-studied, though the latter is a form of security through obscurity (see 35.4↑ ). The late adopters let other people take the risk that the new cipher will be discovered to be weak, knowing that it is much less likely to have a new, devastating attack discovered against it such as the one discovered against Shamir’s knapsack algorithm demonstrated at CRYPTO ’83 ( http://www.ics.uci.edu/~mingl/knapsack.html ). No one will argue that the uncertainty is often greater in the new cipher than the old, especially when they are structurally different.\n35.10 Sending HTML Email\nI’m sorry, you sent me a web page instead of an email. I don’t use a browser to read email. Please re-submit.\nThe people who don’t understand security (see 23↑ ) see no problem with sending HTML email. “Get in the right century”, they say. The people who understand security hate it, but they also tend to appreciate aesthetics less. Certainly it causes a problem with phishing (see 22.2↑ ).\n36 Editorials, Predictions, Polemics, and Personal Opinions\nThis is basically where I put all the stuff that’s not quite as objective as everything else.\n36.1 So You Think You’re Old School?\nComputer crime has become the “glamor crime” of the 1970s - and experts agree most facilities are unprepared to stop it. Reviewing more than 100 major cases, John M. Carroll concludes that known computer crime is only the tip of the iceberg. And he adds, “There is no computer system in existence that has not been penetrated.”\n-- book flap for Computer Security, John M. Carroll, 1977\n36.2 Security is for Polymaths\nWhen hackers are hacking, they don’t mess around with the superficial world of Metaverses and avatars. They descend below this surface layer and into the netherworld of code and tangled nam-shubs that support it, where everything that you see in the Metaverse, no matter how lifelike and beautiful and three-dimensional, reduces to a simple text file: a series of letters on an electronic page. It is a throwback to the days when people programmed computers through primitive teletypes and IBM punch cards.\n-- Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash\nA human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.\n-- Robert A. Heinlein\nThe best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt on any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man, and punches too good for a Judo man.\n-- Bruce Lee ( http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee )\nWikipedia article on polymaths ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath )\nIf you’ve read up until here, you will likely notice the breadth of topics covered, and it’s far from comprehensive. This started as a paper, but wound up a book; if you include all the papers and pages it references, it would probably end up being a library. Almost every technology has a security component to it, and so if you are to be a master of security you must master all of the fields in which you practice. To be able to write shellcode, you need to know assembly language, even machine language, which is extremely rare knowledge, even among professional programmers. To master cryptology, you will have to understand discrete mathematics. To find bugs, you will need to be an extremely careful programmer. To reverse engineer, you will have to understand compilers. To be able to grok an application, you need to be able to look through the GUI that most people recognize and imagine the code behind it, like the characters in The Matrix. A true hacker realizes that the GUI is a side-effect of the code, and not vice-versa, and that therefore, a GUI can deceive. Thus, it is an excellent place for people who like to learn and truly understand.\nJust as water seeks its own level, system crackers (that is, “black hats”) often seek the easiest way to compromise a system, organization, network, etc. To specialize in one subfield of security is akin to being able to just build moats, walls, arrow slits, or murder-holes. To focus on one area of security to the exclusion of others is akin to building a tall fencepost, rather than a wall.\n36.3 A Proposed Perimeter Defense\nI believe the following design would be a useful design for perimeter defenses for most organizations and individuals.\nFirst, there would be an outer layer of reactive prevention that performs detection of abuse ( 16↑ ) with a very liberal definition of “abuse” (anything that could be abuse is considered one), and then marks the source tainted ( 17.2.2↑ ). Second, there is an inner layer of prevention and detection that acts as a fail-safe mechanism; if the outer preventative defense should fail for some reason (hardware, software, configuration) then incoming connections will be stopped (prevented) by the inner layer and the detection system will alert us (see 17.1↑ ) that something is very wrong.\nThis way, the outer layer may taint the source if it looks slightly hostile. We only get notified if the outer layer failed in some unexpected way; we do not have to worry about the outer layer blocking or detecting adversaries. In other words, it doesn’t require having a human monitor traffic blocked by the outer layer, and therefore the outer layer does not have to put any effort into validating that it is a valid attack.\nThe idea of a dual layer of firewalling is already becoming popular with financial institutions and military networks, but really derives itself from the lessons learned trying to guarantee high availability and specifically the goal of eliminating single points of failure. However, if the outer layer were not reactive, then we would effectively be discarding any useful intelligence that is gained by detecting probes (that is, a failed connection/query/probe/attack is still valuable in determining intent). With a reactive firewall as the outer layer, when an adversary probes our defenses looking for holes or weak spots, we take appropriate action, usually shunning that network address, and this makes enumeration a much more difficult process. With a little imagination, we can construct more deceptive defensive measures, like returning random responses, or redirection to a honey-net (which is essentially just a consistent set of bogus responses, plus monitoring). Since enumeration is strictly an information-gathering activity, the obvious countermeasure is deception. The range of deceptive responses runs from none (that is, complete silence, or lack of information) through random responses (misinformation) to consistent, strategic deception (disinformation). Stronger responses are out of proportion to the provocation (network scans are legal in most countries), and often illegal in any circumstances.\n36.4 Linear Order Please!\nI personally think that directives should be processed in the order they are listed in cases like Apache’s config file, and that would eliminate a need for the order directive at all. Certainly there is room for confusion if it is not near the allow and deny directives that it so explicitly controls, and I suspect it might be easy to pay attention to the first order directive in a stanza, and not a second one which appeared later in the stanza. Already we have an ordering issue, that either defaults to “earlier takes precedence” vs. “later takes precedence”. Let’s not make interpreting the rule sets more complex than that.\n36.5 Computers are Transcending our Limitations\nA human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.\n-- Robert Heinlein\nThe future masters of technology will have to be lighthearted and intelligent. The machine quickly masters the grim and the dumb.\n-- Marshall McLuhan\nAt one time, a single person could know all of the code in the Unix kernel. Now, operating systems may have several million lines of code. At one time, a human could perform encryption; now it is too time-consuming to do anything of significance. At one time, people memorized IP addresses, but with IPv6, they will be too long to remember, or even type comfortably. At one time, a password could be something simple. Now, you need a passphrase. Soon, anything that a human can imagine and remember is going to be too predictable; it will be possible to simply enumerate most, if not all, of the possibilities. Our symmetric ciphers have 256-bit keys, which would require (on average) a 256-character English passphrase to be hashed to give enough unpredictability to max out the input space. Our hashes are so long that it takes at least 40 hex digits to represent the smallest one considered secure, and we’re already using 512-bit hashes which will take 128 hex digits. And some algorithms like RSA use keys which are 8192 bits long, which would take 2048 hex digits to represent.\nMy point in all this is that if a human can reliably do it, remember it, generate it, enter it without a mistake, or tell it to someone else, it is probably not secure. Furthermore, though no single thing is incomprehensible, the whole system is probably already too complex for one person to understand it all. This doesn’t mean that we don’t control them, or that we will inevitably lose control, any more than a manager who cannot lift heavy objects will be replaced by a worker who can. It simply means that you need to stop thinking of people as being participants in the system, and think more of the participant as a computer and a human being forming a symbiotic relationship, each complementing the other. Stop practicing arithmetic and start studying mathematics. If a computer can do it, it’s not an effective use of your time, and it’s probably boring. Furthermore, you need to stop thinking of typing security data to a computer, since it will be too long.\n36.6 Password Length Limits Considered Harmful\nYour password must be seven characters in length, include an prime number greater than three of the following character classes; digits, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, white space, and unprintable characters. It must not begin with a digit, end with a letter, have an even number of letters, have a prime number of digits greater than the sum of the number of white space and unprintable characters, or have a non-decreasing number of elements from the classes mentioned before, were they to be listed in reverse alphabetical order.\nLook, if you hash your darn passphrases, I can pick a normal English sentence which will have plenty of unpredictability (one unbit per letter), and you can stop complaining that it’s too long because hashes can be stored in fixed-size fields, and if the password database is stolen it won’t compromise my passphrase.\n36.7 Everything Will Be Encrypted Soon\nWhen cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.\n-- Anonymous, courtesy of Cryptography Quotes ( http://www.amk.ca/quotations/cryptography/ )\nAccidents happen, and data is leaked. You’re going to want that to be encrypted. Already this is required in many places, but I predict that encryption will be ubiquitous very soon. Right now most storage devices are unencrypted; that will be a thing of the past. Data will be encrypted on the disk, and the documents or emails themselves may be encrypted, with the applications merely requesting keys temporarily. Even bus lines will be encrypted, if the Trusted Computing folks have their way; this may worry reverse-engineers, but it also means that you have less to worry about some compromising emanations. I suspect even data in memory will be encrypted soon. Plaintext will be the exception, not the norm. I suggest you learn to be your own key master.\n36.8 How Universal Digital Signing Will Affect Things\nEverything will be digitally signed, but what do those signatures mean? I propose that we think of objects as having lifetimes, and that they are born unsigned, and get signed with one of several kinds of signatures\nprovenance signatures mean that the signator is the author\ntransmission signatures mean that the signature assures us that the object hasn’t been manipulated by later-acting forces\ncertification signatures bind a key to some other kind of identity (for example, a company name, domain name, email address, legal name)\nEach signature is made at a certain time. Provenance signatures would tend to not include other signatures, whereas transmission signatures would tend to include other signatures. Note that a signature can only include another one if it is made after the first one.\n36.9 Error Propagation Characteristics Usually Don’t Matter\nDiscussion of block cipher modes often includes an analysis of error propagation properties. Who cares? On the Internet and most modern networks, error detection and correction is done at another layer, even if it’s a very weak 16-bit checksum. If you care about your data, you should do a real integrity check, and not rely on half-baked measures like trying to decrypt something and hoping that a corrupted ciphertext will not decrypt to a valid plaintext.\nUsually, it’s safer for computers to discard corrupted messages than to try to guess about what they’re supposed to say. Only if the cost of transmissions is so high that you would rather deal with partial plaintext than retransmit do you want to process incomplete messages. In that case you’d probably want some forward-error correction ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_error_correction ), so that you’d have some redundancy and be able to correct errors.\nI recommend you think of integrity protection, error correction, and encryption as completely separate operations, and don’t mix them all together in your head. If you can’t identify these three things as having different goals, you shouldn’t be designing cryptographic systems. However, I won’t leave you hanging in suspense.\nintegrity protection involves detecting any corruption, however minor, by an intelligent adversary\nerror correction attempts to correct any changes caused by a noisy channel, and is almost the opposite of integrity protection\nencryption attempts to keep your adversary from understanding the meaning of what he intercepts\n36.10 Keep it Legal, Stupid\nIn the days when Sussman was a novice, Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6.\n“What are you doing?” asked Minsky.\n“I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-tac-toe,\" Sussman replied.\n“Why is the net wired randomly?\", asked Minsky.\n“I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play,\" Sussman said.\nMinsky then shut his eyes.\n“Why do you close your eyes?\" Sussman asked his teacher.\n“So that the room will be empty.\"\nAt that moment, Sussman was enlightened.\n-- AI koan in The Jargon File ( http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/index.html )\nI have held what many would consider to be respectable jobs doing computer security in the defense, financial, and information technology industries, yet attended DEF CON ( http://www.defcon.org/ ) frequently, and still read 2600 ( http://www.2600.com/ ), and I don’t find it anything to be ashamed of. I have been reading about computer security since Out of the Inner Circle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Inner_Circle ) was published in 1985 (by Microsoft Press, if you can believe that), I know people who were convicted of felonies and banned from using the Internet, and yet I’ve never broken a computer crime law, nor have I ever victimized anyone. Technology and information, like skill with martial arts, or duct tape ( http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/ducttape.txt ), is a tool that can be used for good or evil.\nFortunately I’m in a position that I can reasonably and ethically justify seeking and having this information, but I fear that cynical fear-mongers, the ignorant and easily-scared fools which follow them, and the minions of greed are already attempting to quash open discussion of security topics. The list of examples is growing long, but includes the MPAA’s suppression of DeCSS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS ), the DMCA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA ), the AACS key controversy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACS_encryption_key_controversy ), and so on. In some cases it’s illegal to put a URL to certain information on your web site, even though you have no control the information at the other end of the URL. It is only a short step away to making it illegal to discuss these things outside of certain tightly-regulated areas, and countries with a history as police states seem to be fond of this kind of this speech suppression.\nIt’s a sign of insecurity, and by that I mean psychologically and not in the technical sense. The irony is that further suppression will only make it more difficult to secure the systems, which will make the adversary even more threatening, and thus justify more draconian laws, and take away more freedoms, earn the enmity of more people, and we end up with a very polarized situation that should be familiar to most people. Not trusting your fellow human beings, and seeking to coerce them is a very contagious attitude, and it will not make you more secure in the long run. Tyrants live with a sword of Damocles ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles ) hanging over their head. Where will this madness end? I think the combination of the DMCA and Trusted Computing may end up something like the movie Brazil ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(film) ), where the government strictly regulates air conditioning repairmen, all of whom are incompetent, and unlicensed HVAC workers who simply want to fix the things are labeled and treated as terrorists.\nHow do you think we learn what the threats are that we need to defend against? How do we learn any lessons from past failures if we can’t openly discuss them? How do you think anyone gains the information, education, and skill to get their first job defending against crime in the first place? How can we test our systems to see if they are vulnerable to something if we can’t get a copy of it?\nThe problem is not information; information is the solution. That’s why I’m publishing this paper. If we know that the systems are not secure, we can possibly fix them. If they can’t be made secure, we can stay educated about those risks to manage them properly. Democracy can’t function if the people voting aren’t allowed to have make informed choices. Capitalism can’t function efficiently unless the parties involved have full information about their purchasing decision. Information is on the side of the people making decisions; when you vote to withhold information, you are depriving people of the ability to make informed decisions, which is a way to take power away from them. It actually behooves the defenders to know exactly what the adversaries are doing; it allows us to get inside their OODA loop (see 33.4↑ ).\nNote that I’m not saying anything about punishing or not punishing pickpockets and leg-breakers, but when it’s merely a matter of discussing something without directly victimizing anyone, I think you should appeal to their conscience and not to a judge. On the other hand, if you’re thinking about publishing detailed plans that could be used to victimize someone, just stop and think about how bad you’ll feel if it really is used to victimize someone. You don’t want that on your conscience. What exactly constitutes “detailed plans” isn’t so much the question as how you would feel about it.\n36.11 Should My Employees Attend “Hacker” Conferences?\nWell first off you should know that these are not criminal events. Penetration testing is a legitimate career, and the talks are typically given by people who do that for a living. Generally speaking, there are not many crimes being committed there; intelligent criminals are too paranoid of being busted, and so tend to remain quiet. Unintelligent criminals don’t attend conferences. Law enforcement is usually fully aware of the conferences, is often present, and would never allow chaos to reign. They have the power to shut them down at a moment’s notice, or arrest people on the spot. There is some allure there of being able to discuss normally-forbidden topics, but that’s about it. This allure often brings the media as well. There’s plenty of openness about it.\nSo if you care about securing your systems, the answer is yes. What, exactly, are you afraid of?\nThe people who attend these events fully expect the defenders to be there. They have a vested interest in keeping apprised of their adversaries. I have made a point of using the term “adversary” instead of “enemy”, because that’s the way you should think about them. If you have no presence there, it makes your organization look ignorant, and if you do have people there, it makes you look savvy. Many of them have no intention of stealing from anyone, and one day aspire (perhaps secretly) to work at savvy companies. The rest are typically no more malicious than your typical “merry prankster”. If there are no people there to provide positive role-models, no “upgrade path” for them, they may become frustrated. It’s no coincidence that a lot of the adversaries on the Internet seem to be coming from Eastern European countries, and seem to have a lot of time on their hands.\n36.12 I’m a Young Hacker, Should I Sell Out and Do Security for a Corporation?\nI recall hearing someone say, “if you’re twenty and you work for a corporation, you’re a loser, but if you’re thirty and you don’t work for a corporation, you’re a loser”. I’m not sure I’d put it quite like that, but let me spell out some common concerns and trade offs for you.\nFirstly, if it’s what you love, then you’re going to want to spend time on it. Who would want to spend eight hours a day doing telemarketing if they could spend it doing something they loved? And if you don’t like what you’re doing for a living, you’re not going to be good at it, and so you will find yourself saying “would you like fries with that?” far more than anyone should have to. Secondly, a person who wants to get good at something and can do it at work and home will be much better at it than someone who does it only at home. I recall hearing of someone working for an Allied spy agency who had to get fake documents made to move around in Europe during WWII; his forger was a document examiner prior to the war, and his documents were superb, absolutely flawless. In most contexts, professionals usually beat amateurs.\nSometimes the person is paranoid that one day he’ll pull off the ultimate heist and he’s concerned that the prosecution would be able to prove he knew something about security. In most cases, all it would take to establish that you knew something about security would be for some casual acquaintance to say that you were really good with computers. It would be difficult to make the case that you actually knew nothing about computers when there’d be so much circumstantial evidence supporting it; you’d have to show it was misleading, and would likely involve a lot of lying. But really, if there’s evidence against you, pretending to not understand computers is unlikely to help. But what you need to do most is stop worrying. In theory, the ultimate heist wouldn’t have a suspect. It wouldn’t have evidence.\nFurthermore, most hacker fantasies about ultimate heists avoid thinking about victims. A good ultimate heist fantasy has some evil, faceless organization as the enemy who has the valuable object. It’s important to the fantasy that you not be stealing a Rembrandt from a feeble but kind senior citizen who has had it in his family for three generations, or a valuable heirloom from a person’s deceased parent, because humanizing the victim allows you to actually feel about it.\nGenerally, if a person did something like that, it’s either for the money, or for the challenge of it. In 1978, a computer programmer named Stanley Rifkin who worked for Security Pacific Bank ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Pacific_Bank ) managed to transfer $10,200,000 out of the bank and use it to buy Russian diamonds. In the version of the story I heard, he contacted a close friend and told him about the crime, but the friend turned him in. [U] [U] That’s not the version described here, though: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/stanley-mark-rifkin-wcs/\nThe crux of the story was that he had apparently done it more for bragging rights than for the money, and by not knowing why he was doing it, he managed to get himself caught. It’s typical for system crackers to get convicted by their own statements (“loose lips sink ships”, as the wartime OPSEC poster says). So either you are contemplating the ultimate heist for the challenge and bragging rights, in which case you should pick something legal, or you’re doing it for the filthy lucre. And if you’re doing the ultimate heist for the money, then what exactly is your objection to getting a job doing security in the first place?\nTrust me, you’re better off staying legit, and if you plan on staying legit, then you should get a job and some respect. Not just any job, but one for a company that appreciates your talents. If you can’t find one, you may have to start it yourself, but there are many security companies out there these days. Computer security is a pretty high-demand talent.\n36.13 Anonymity is not a Crime\nIt’s people like that who give anonymity a bad name.\nAlmost every criminal wants to remain anonymous, but so should non-criminals. Would you publish the name of your eight-year-old daughter, which school she attends, when it gets out, and what her favorite candy is? I could put my full name, social security number, home phone number and address on my emails and web pages, but the world is full of spammers, stalkers, scammers and sick people who really don’t need to have it. Simson Garfinkel tells me he gets death threats for writing books on computer security not unlike this one. Many of the people who write about a certain Internet worm are having their web sites DoSed in retaliation ( http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/102407-storm-worm-security.html ). I know that ultimately they will see judgment, but I’d still rather not be one of their victims. I understand your connotation of anonymity with criminality, but I don’t think it applies in all cases. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has ruled numerous times that anonymous speech is constitutionally protected, and for security reasons I give out personally-identifying information on a need-to-know basis (see 34.1↑ , 32.5↑ and 32.7↑ ). If you have a lawful need for it, you’ll be able to get it.\n36.13.1 Example: Sears Makes Customer Purchase Information Available Online, Provides Spyware to Customers\nWhy should you care? Well, in a recent case, it turns out that Sears made its customer purchase information available to anyone online who can obtain your name and address ( http://www.managemyhome.com/ ). Aside from the simple invasion of privacy, in one blog’s comments ( http://reddit.com/goto?rss=true&id=t3_64jye ), a poster claiming to be a professional burglar states that he finds it rather handy as a way of finding homes with all the latest appliances (and gives name and address information for a person who has such).\nThis is a well-known example of the fact that you can’t trust other parties to protect your security (see 27.1↑ ). What can you do about it? Well, one person mentioned that you can pay cash, or simply not shop at Sears. This is an example of controlling information flow (see 32.2↑ ); if you never give out your home address, nobody can disseminate it. However, if you give it out to even one party, such as Sears, or your credit card company, then they can disseminate it to third parties (see 32.10↑ ) and such dissemination is done “offline” relative to you, in that you can’t approve or disapprove. You could potentially rely on legal remedies to punish someone who got caught violating an agreement, but most of the time you wouldn’t know about it, and most of the remainder you wouldn’t be able to quantify damages.\n36.14 Monitoring Your Employees\nOf all the possible defenses, the cheapest and most effective is to be loved. The best way to be loved is to vanquish your own fear of trusting people.\nThe most effective monitoring involves only hiring people you trust, and who you feel are willing to understand and internalize company policies. Usually, the feeling that your employees might be doing something nefarious online says more about the work environment and the manager than the employee. The manager is insecure because he does not know how his employees spend their time, and he feels that there is a certain amount of hostility between management and employee, and he probably feels like he doesn’t pay them enough to make them want to work there. He feels that the employees, left to themselves, would rob the company, and that he must keep them in fear to keep them in line. This is a self-fulfilling attitude; if you treat them that way, you will find your fears justified. Do managers keep track of what their subordinates spend their time on, and do they get it done, and do they spend enough time them to make sure they aren’t goofing off? Is the environment one where peer pressure would prevent someone from goofing off extensively? Apart from your fears, have there been no incidents where online activity has hurt the company in any significant way? Then do some spot checks, maybe review the web proxy logs occasionally, and otherwise spend your energy on more important things, like making money. Why create a problem where there isn’t one?\n36.15 Trust People in Spite of Counterexamples\nIf, while building a house, a carpenter strikes a nail and it proves faulty by bending, does the carpenter lose faith in all nails and stop building his house?\n-- The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom\nThroughout most of this book, I’m sure I’ve given the impression that I don’t trust anyone. Were you to try to not trust anyone, you would never be able to do anything; it’s as futile as trying to completely eliminate risk. There are significant but non-obvious advantages to trust. Humanity as a whole, corporations, and individuals have a limited amount of resources available to them. Lack of trust is like friction, or antagonistic tension in a muscle; it forces us to spend resources protecting ourselves from others, instead of what we’d really like to be doing. Thus, the logical strategy is to strive to be trustworthy, and to promote and otherwise help those that demonstrate themselves to be so. To the extent that an organization is composed of trustworthy people who look out for each other, the people within it may expend their full resources on the tasks at hand. In short, the benefits of trust vastly outweighs the risks.\n36.16 Do What I Mean vs. Do What I Say\nOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”\n-- Mark 2:23-27\nMost of the security people I know are people who try to understand the reasoning behind things, and spend most of their time trying to figure out how doing what a programmer said (in the form of software) differs from doing what the programmer meant for it it do. Thus, I believe that it is natural for them to assume that everyone thinks the same way. A recent conversation I overheard illustrates the opposite viewpoint.\nThe conversation occurred between two US military personnel, who shall go nameless. One of them was explaining that he had called the troops under him together for a readiness inspection; apparently in this drill, they were to pretend that they were preparing to go into the field and rapidly put together all of their gear and present it for inspection. He explained that one of the people under him shaved his head, and that during this inspection he had failed to include his comb and shampoo, and that he (the speaker) had punished him for this. The other speaker asked the obvious question as to why he would punish a person for failing to bring something he obviously didn’t need, and the speaker stated that, “it’s a test to see if you can follow simple instructions, and he did not”.\nThere may be good reasons why the “do what I say, not what I mean” attitude prevails; it may be that the officers don’t give the enlisted people enough information to understand the meaning, or they may not be mature or intelligent enough, or it may be that the officers don’t trust the people under them enough to give them any “wiggle room”. However, I think the reason is simpler; the speaker simply wanted people below him to obey him. My view is that if you teach people that trying to understand and optimize is a punishable offense, you will end up with people who will never try to understand or improve anything, and the entirety of the organization will suffer.\nFrom my experience, the US military and government is dominated by these kinds of thinkers. I have been told that not all militaries are like this; in particular, the Israeli Defense Forces are said to teach their recruits to try to understand and observe the spirit of their instructions, where they differ from the letter, and they seem to be able to improve upon any military hardware that the US sells them, perhaps for just that reason.\n36.17 You Are Part of the Problem if You…\nIf you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.\n-- Henry J. Tillman ( http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1141.html )\nYou are part of the problem if you:\nUse a mail client that can’t read cryptographically signed email (look Out for a common one) because this prevents people from doing sensible things like using S/MIME to securely sign their emails. This goes double if you receive email for a company.\nDon’t sign emails. This encourages phishing; it would be easy to link into the chrome to show if a message from, say, E-Bay is legit or not. If you don’t sign your emails, people do not expect signatures, and so they fall for phishing. This can be done with S/MIME or Domain Keys, which is probably best if you want all emails signed.\nLet your system stay hacked. This allows system crackers to send SPAM and host malware on your system, so that other people get affected. Clean up your act and get unhacked. Saying “it doesn’t hurt me so I don’t care” is not a valid response here. You are part of the problem.\nMake software that isn’t secure. Doing things like allowing executables in too many places makes it difficult to give security advice. Security should be a simple ritual, but if you’ve ever seen a highly-infected Windows machine you’ll know that’s not true.\nDon’t have a webmaster or postmaster email address. You are required to have a postmaster address.\nSend executables to friends. Don’t inure them to the danger of running programs.\nMany of these have to do with network effects ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_externality )\n36.18 What Do I Do to Not Get Hacked?\n36.18.1 For Computer Users Running Microsoft Windows\nEveryone who uses a Microsoft Windows computer should probably read this. It is quite thoughtful, although I’m not sure it is described at a basic enough level for everyone.\nTerry Ritter’s Basic PC Security ( http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/COMPSEC/BASPCSEC.HTM )\n36.18.2 For System Administrators and Advanced Users\nBefore you start running software, look it up in the National Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov/ ). Look up a few competing solutions. Filter out any which don’t have all the features you need. Pick the one with the lowest rate of vulnerability discovery. If it has none, it is either written by a security guru, or it simply hasn’t had enough attention yet. You can tell how popular they are by searching for them on Google and seeing how many hits there are. You might also look at CVE ( http://cve.mitre.org/ ).\n37 Resources\nI make no attempt to be fair or comprehensive here; these reflect my personal biases as to what I think is interesting, useful, comprehensive, or simply the first that come to mind. If you want a comprehensive list, you can just search the web and read every link or book you find; it should only take a century or two.\n37.1 My Other Stuff\nHere’s an outstanding list of important publications:\nWikipedia’s List of Important Publications in Networks and Security ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_important_publications_in_networks_and_security )\n37.3 Conferences\nEven if you can’t go, you can learn a lot by searching the web for proceedings from these conferences. You should try to go though, they’re fun. Seriously, the first security conference I went to, I was so intellectually stimulated, I was buzzing the whole time.\nDEF CON ( http://www.defcon.org/ ) is best when you want to get the low-down on how to defeat security systems. You can view some of them on Google video or youtube. In my opinion, the best presentation I’ve ever seen is “No-tech Hacking” by Johnny Long ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2160824376898701015 ), and the wonderful part of it is that even someone who knows nothing about computer security can enjoy it.\nUSENIX Symposium on Security ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/security.html ) is best when you want to know about cutting-edge computer security defense research. All their proceedings are free online, so definitely check those out.\nUSENIX Symposium on Hot Topics in Security ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/hotsec.html ) is a forum for lively discussion of aggressively innovative and potentially disruptive ideas in all aspects of systems security.\nUSENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies ( http://www.usenix.org/events/bytopic/woot.html ) aims to bring together researchers and practitioners in system security to present research advancing the understanding of attacks on operating systems, networks, and applications.\nBlack Hat ( http://www.blackhat.com/ ) which is the commercial version of DEF CON, which makes it more appealing to employers.\n37.4 Books\nWhen I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.\n-- Deciderius Erasmus\nI cannot live without books.\n-- Thomas Jefferson\nBooks are fairly common, and have a lot of useful information, but can’t be shared, are hard to grep, can’t easily be referred to, and take up space. If you’re a younger reader, they’re like PDFs, but printed onto flattened pieces of dead trees. Nevertheless, I find them indispensable.\nFree Computer Security Books ( http://freecomputerbooks.com/compscspecialSecurityBooks.html )\n37.4.1 Publishers\nYou can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but you can often get a good approximation from its publisher.\nSAMS and QUE waste of money/space/trees/time\nO’Reilly my favorite for in-depth coverage of practical stuff\nAddison-Wesley and Prentice-Hall Technical Reference good for theory or technical material\nSpringer-Verlag the prestige publisher among academics\nNo Starch Press a recent entrant which is now publishing some excellent security titles\n37.4.2 Titles\nI should probably start a webpage on this, since I have so many ( http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/recommended_books.jpg ).\nOne day I’ll link to places to buy these, but until then I will assume you know how to locate and purchase books.\nPractical Unix and Internet Security - the de facto standard for defensive operations\nSilence on the Wire - the most novel book on security, covering information disclosure and network forensics ( http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/silence.shtml )\nHacking Exposed - the de facto standard for penetration testing\nPractical Cryptography - this should be your first book on cryptography\nApplied Cryptography - the de facto standard on cryptology; the section on protocols and block cipher modes are outstanding\nHandbook of Applied Cryptography - arguably more useful than AC, and available free online ( http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ )\nThese are often where experts read of stuff first.\nUninformed Journal ( http://www.uninformed.org/ ) has got a lot of stuff about reverse engineering\nMatasano Chargen ( http://www.matasano.com/log/ ) is a good all-around technical blog on security\nSchneier on Security ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/ ) is about the intersection of technology and security, especially “Homeland Security”\nMatt Blaze’s Exhausive Search ( http://www.crypto.com/blog/ )\nMy security blog list ( http://www.subspacefield.org/security/security_feeds.opml ) in OPML format suitable for import into akregator\nDo not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.\n-- J. R. R. Tolkien\nThis is where experts discuss and develop things. Lurk, but if I were you I wouldn’t speak unless you’re spoken to.",
"SwissToni's Place: god is a concept by which we can ...\ngod is a concept by which we can ... keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of ...\nSwissToni's Place: god is a concept by which we can measure our pain....\ngod is a concept by which we can measure our pain....\nI really shouldn't waste my time getting irritated by stuff like this, but....\n**deep breath**\nRemember the atheist bus advertising campaign?\nYou know, the advertising campaign sponsored by the British Humanist Association from an original idea by Ariane Sherine , who had been appalled by some of the religious messages she saw on buses. I'll quote her directly:\n\"Yesterday I walked to work and saw not one, but two London buses with the question: \"When the Son of Man comes, will He find Faith on the earth?\" (Luke 18:8). It seems you wait ages for a bus with an unsettling Bible quote, then two come along at once....There was also a web address on the ad, and when I visited the site, hoping for a straight answer to their rather pressing question, I received the following warning for anyone who doesn't \"accept the word of Jesus on the cross\": \"You will be condemned to everlasting separation from God and then you spend all eternity in torment in hell. Jesus spoke about this as a lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and all his angels (demonic spirits)\" (Matthew 25:41). Lots to look forward to, then. Now, if I wanted to run a bus ad saying \"Beware – there is a giant lion from London Zoo on the loose!\" or \"The 'bits' in orange juice aren't orange but plastic – don't drink them or you'll die!\" I think I might be asked to show my working and back up my claims. But apparently you don't need evidence to run an ad suggesting we'll all face the ire of the son of man when he comes, then link to a website advocating endless pain for atheists.\"\nDetermined to do something about this, Sherine then set about raising enough money to run some atheist adverts on buses... and aren't they a whole lot more uplifting than the usual crap you see on the side of a bus. It makes me smile. It's not saying that there definitely isn't a God, it's just saying that maybe you should be worrying about something else instead.\nRichard Dawkins , as you might imagine, and as pictured on the bus above, thought this was a brilliant idea, but so did lots of other people, and they soon raised £140,000 to run the campaign as widely as possible.\nBrilliant. You'd have to be completely humourless not to see the funny side, wouldn't you?\nOh, apparently The Christian Voice has complained to the Advertising Standards Agency . Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, said:\n\"There is plenty of evidence for God, from people's personal experience, to the complexity, interdependence, beauty and design of the natural world. But there is scant evidence on the other side, so I think the advertisers are really going to struggle to show their claim is not an exaggeration or inaccurate, as the ASA code puts it.\"\nSo you're suggesting that there is more evidence for the existence of God than there is evidence that God doesn't exist? Where exactly?\nWell, the complaint goes on, \"According to growing numbers of scientists, the laws and constants of nature are so \"finely-tuned,\" and so many \"coincidences\" have occurred to allow for the possibility of life, the universe must have come into existence through intentional planning and intelligence. In fact, this \"fine-tuning\" is so pronounced, and the \"coincidences\" are so numerous, many scientists have come to espouse \"The Anthropic Principle,\" which contends that the universe was brought into existence intentionally for the sake of producing mankind. Even those who do not accept The Anthropic Principle admit to the \"fine-tuning\" and conclude that the universe is \"too contrived\" to be a chance event....\"\nThe Anthropic Principle? What about the infinite monkey theorem that states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. That being so, why is it so hard to believe that, in an infinite universe, it might be possible for a series of absurdly unlikely accidents and coincidences to happen and create life? Or is God an infinite monkey? Why am I even attempting a rational argument?\nI'd go on with the detail of their complaint, but I'm rather losing the will to live. You can read the whole thing here , but it cites various scientists, including Sir Fred Hoyle and Stephen Hawking, as apparently all being forced to conclude that God does, indeed, obviously exist.\nBollocks.\nBollocks, bollocks, bollocks.\nActually, that might just be the funniest thing I've ever heard.\nAs I drove home this evening, there was a big sign outside the church just around the corner boldly proclaiming \"JESUS IS HOPE\". No caveat there, is there? Jesus isn't probably hope, he is HOPE. Definitely.\nThe atheist message was originally intended to be \"There is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.\" The Advertising Standards Agency would only allow them to run the campaign if they added the word \"probably\" . Possessing previously unheralded metaphysical authority, the ASA determined that the advert had to leave room for doubt, and they insisted that it acknowledged that there is \"a grey area\".\nSo if the atheists are forced to put in a caveat, how come the christians aren't?\nAnyway, why are christians getting so agitated about this? Why do they feel so threatened by atheists? Why are they so interested in anyone \"proving\" whether God exists or not? I thought the whole point of their religion, and the source of all their smugness and immunity to rational debate, was that it was based upon FAITH. Not hard evidence. After all, there can be no hard evidence that a made up mystical, all powerful being exists, can there? The whole thing is based upon the blind belief that there is something guiding our miserable lives and that there might be somewhere better for us to go once we had died, as long as we'd lived a good and worthy life. Why should they give a shit about proof? And actually, why should they feel that they're a special case, somehow worthy of special treatment, with a right to leave things like copies of their hubristic and mostly fictional propaganda material in every hotel drawer? Who do they think they are? God's chosen people?*\nI realise it's a waste of time being angry about this, but I simply cannot help myself. I pride myself on being a rational, tolerant and reasonably intelligent human being, and I find this kind of bullshit infuriating. Everyone has the right to believe what they want, of course they do, and I know that lots of people draw huge comfort and solace from their faith. I also realise that the silent majority of christians probably aren't in the least bit worried or threatened by these atheist adverts. It's a small but vocal and high profile minority that are kicking up this fuss, and it's them that have annoyed me. Why do they feel the need to inflict themselves on everyone? Why can't they respect anyone else's views or opinions when they don't agree with their own? Why do they have to be so fucking self-righteous about everything?\nGAH!",
"Infinite monkey theorem - Example Problems\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter ... works of William Shakespeare. ... amount of time will produce a given text.\nInfinite monkey theorem - Example Problems\nInfinite monkey theorem\nFile:Monkey-typing.jpg\nAccording to the second Borel-Cantelli lemma , given enough time, a chimpanzee like this one typing at random will almost certainly eventually type out a copy of one of Shakespeare 's plays.\nThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard will almost surely eventually type every book in France 's Bibliothèque nationale de France ( National Library ). In the restatement of the theorem most popular among English speakers, the monkeys eventually type out the collected works of William Shakespeare .\nThe original image was presented in Émile Borel 's 1913 book \"Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité,\" J. Phys. 5e série, vol. 3, 1913, pp.189-196. These \"monkeys\" are not actual monkeys; rather, they were a vivid metaphor for an imaginary way to produce a large, random sequence of letters. Borel said that if a million monkeys typed ten hours a day, it was extremely, extremely unlikely that their output would exactly equal all the books of the richest libraries of the world; and yet, in comparison, it was even more unlikely that the laws of statistical mechanics would ever be violated, even briefly. For Borel, the purpose of the monkey image was to illustrate the magnitude of an extraordinarily unlikely event.\nAfter about 1970, popular statements of the monkey image draw upon infinity, saying that an infinite number of monkeys typing for an infinite amount of time will produce a given text. To insist on both infinities, however, is excessive. A single immortal monkey who executes infinitely many keystrokes will almost surely eventually type out any given text, and an infinite number of monkeys will almost surely begin producing all possible texts immediately, with no wait. In fact, in both cases, the text will almost surely be produced an infinite number of times.\nContents\n8 External links\nIntuitive proof sketch\nThe infinite monkey theorem is straightforward to prove, even without appealing to more advanced results. If two events are statistically independent , meaning neither affects the outcome of the other, then the probability of both happening equals the product of the probabilities of each one happening on its own. For example, if the chance of rain in Sydney on a particular day is 0.3 and the chance of an earthquake in San Francisco on that day is 0.8, the chance of both happening on that same day is 0.3 × 0.8 = 0.24.\nNow, suppose the typewriter has 50 keys, and the word to be typed is \"banana\". Typing at random, the chance that the first letter typed is b is 1/50, as is the chance that the second letter typed is a, and so on. These events are independent, so the chance of the first six letters matching \"banana\" is 1/506. For the same reason, the chance that the next 6 letters match \"banana\" is also 1/506, and so on.\nNow, the chance of not typing \"banana\" in each block of 6 letters is 1 − 1/506. Because each block is typed independently, the chance, X, of not typing \"banana\" in any of the first n blocks of 6 letters is X = (1 − 1/506)n. As n grows, X gets smaller. For an n of a million, X is 99.99%, but for an n of 10 billion it is 53% and for an n of 100 billion it is 0.17%. As n approaches infinity, the probability X approaches zero; that is, by making n large enough, X can be made as small as one likes. If we were to count occurrences of \"banana\" that crossed blocks, X would approach zero even more quickly. The same argument applies if the monkey were typing any other string of characters of any length.\nThe same argument shows why infinitely many monkeys (almost surely) produce a text as quickly as it would be produced by a perfectly accurate human typist copying it from the original. In this case X = (1 − 1/506)n where X represents the probability that none of the first n monkeys types \"banana\" correctly on their first try. When we consider 100 billion monkeys, the probability falls to 0.17%, and as the number of monkeys, n increases to infinity the value of X (the probability of all the monkeys failing to reproduce the given text) decreases to zero. This is equivalent to stating that the probability that one or more of an infinite number of monkeys will produce a given text on the first try is 100%, or that it is almost certain they will do so. The only difficulty remaining is in locating a successful monkey.\nFormal statements\nAlthough the infinite monkey theorem is usually stated informally, a precise formal statement clarifies its exact meaning. It is easiest to state in the computer science theory of strings , which are sequences of characters chosen from some finite alphabet. In this setting, the two statements above would be stated formally as follows:\nGiven an infinite string where each character is chosen uniformly at random , any given finite string almost surely (with probability 1) occurs as a substring at some position (and indeed, infinitely many positions).\nGiven an infinite sequence of such infinite strings, where each character of each string is chosen uniformly at random, any given finite string almost surely occurs as a prefix of one these infinite strings (and indeed, as a prefix of infinitely many of these strings in the sequence).\nBoth follow easily from the second Borel-Cantelli lemma . Suppose our desired text has length n. For the second theorem, let Ek be the event that the kth string begins with the given text. Because this has some fixed nonzero probability p of occurring, the Ek are independent, and the below sum diverges, the probability that infinitely many of the Ek occur is 1. The first theorem is shown the same way, except that we divide the random string into nonoverlapping blocks of n characters each, and make Ek the event where the kth block equals the desired string.\nIn fact, even going to infinity may be excessive. If the alphabet has size a, then it can be shown that the probability that one of the first an events occurs is at least 1/2. Thus, 20an tries would suffice to type the given text with probability very close to 1. The problem also parallelizes well; k monkeys can type the text k times as quickly ( linear speedup ). For small n this isn't too bad; for example, a thousand monkeys typing random letters at 100 characters per minute would very likely type the word \"banana\" within 6 weeks.\nThe theorem is an instance of Kolmogorov 's zero-one law .\nBecause we need to be precise about whether it is the number of monkeys or the time available which is infinite, the name \"infinite monkey theorem\" is a misnomer ; each individual monkey is finite. Mathematicians would say \"infinite monkeys\" only if they mean each monkey alone is infinite, and \"infinitely many monkeys\" if they mean that.\nProbabilities\nIgnoring punctuation , spacing, and capitalization, and assuming a uniform distribution of letters, a monkey has one chance in 26 of correctly typing the first letter of Hamlet . It has one chance in 676 (26 times 26) of typing the first two letters. Because the probability shrinks exponentially , at 20 letters it already has only one chance in 2620 = 19,928,148,895,209,409,152,340,197,376, roughly equivalent to the probability of buying 4 lottery tickets consecutively and winning the jackpot each time. In the case of the entire text of Hamlet, the probabilities are so vanishingly small they can barely be conceived in human terms. The text of Hamlet, even stripped of all punctuation, contains well over 130,000 letters.\nThe mere fact that there is a chance, however unlikely, is the key to the \"infinite monkey theorem\", because Kolmogorov's zero-one law says that such an infinite series of independent events must have a probability of zero or one. Since we have shown above that the chance is not zero, it must be one. To consider that an event this unlikely is almost guaranteed to occur given infinite time can give a sense of the vastness of infinity .\nGian-Carlo Rota wrote in a textbook on probability (unfinished when he died):\n\"If the monkey could type one keystroke every nanosecond , the expected waiting time until the monkey types out Hamlet is so long that the estimated age of the universe is insignificant by comparison ... this is not a practical method for writing plays. (We cannot resist the temptation to quote from A.N. Whitehead , \"I will not go to infinity\".)\"\nIn The Nature of the Physical World: The Gifford Lectures (Macmillan, New York, 1929, page 72) the physicist Arthur Eddington wrote:\n\"If I let my fingers wander idly over the keys of a typewriter it might happen that my screed made an intelligible sentence. If an army of monkeys were strumming on typewriters they might write all the books in the British Museum. The chance of their doing so is decidedly more favourable than the chance of the molecules returning to one half of the vessel.\"\nIn physics, then, the force of the \"monkeys argument\" lies not in the probability that the monkeys will \"eventually\" produce something intelligible, but in the practical reality that they will not. Any physical process that is even less likely than such monkeys' success is effectively impossible; this is the statistical basis of the second law of thermodynamics .\nMyth about origins\nIt is sometimes reported, though nearly impossible, that Borel's use of monkeys and typewriters in his theorem was inspired by an argument used by Thomas Henry Huxley on June 30 , 1860 . Huxley was involved in a debate with the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce , held at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford, of which Wilberforce was a vice-president, and was sparked by the publication of Charles Darwin ’s Origin of Species seven months earlier, in November 1859. No transcript of the debate exists, but neither contemporary accounts of it nor Huxley's later recollections include any reference to the infinite monkey theorem. The association of the debate with the infinite monkey theorem is probably an urban myth triggered by the fact that the debate certainly did include some byplay about apes: the bishop asked whether Huxley was descended from an ape on his grandmother's or his grandfather's side, and Huxley responded that he would rather be descended from an ape than from someone who argued as dishonestly as the bishop. It is most unlikely that Huxley would have referred to a typewriter. Although patents for machines resembling modern typewriters were granted as early as 1714 , commercial production of typewriters did not begin until 1870 , and a skilled debater like Huxley would hardly have let his point depend on a device whose existence would have been unknown to most of his audience.\nLiterature and popular culture\nJonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels (1782) anticipates the central idea of the theorem, depicting a professor of the Grand Academy of Lagado who attempts to create a complete list of all knowledge of science by having his students constantly create random strings of letters by turning cranks on a mechanism (Part three, Chapter five).\nIn \" Inflexible Logic \" by Russell Maloney , a short story that appeared in The New Yorker in 1940 , the protagonist felt that his wealth put him under an obligation to support the sciences , and so he tested the theory. His monkeys immediately set to work typing, without error, classics of fiction and nonfiction. The rich man was amused to see unexpurgated versions of Samuel Pepys ' diaries, of which he owned only a copy of a bowdlerized edition.\nA similar theme was struck in the story \" The Library of Babel \" by Jorge Luis Borges , which contains a potentially unlimited number of volumes filled with random strings of characters. The narrator notes that every great work of literature is contained in the library; but these are outnumbered by the flawed works (which are vastly outnumbered by the gibberish).\nPopular culture references to this theorem include The Simpsons (in one episode, Montgomery Burns has his own room with 1000 monkeys at typewriters, one of which is chastised for mistyping a word in the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities — \"Blurst of times? You stupid monkey!\"), Family Guy (a group of monkeys is shown collaborating on a line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in a cut scene) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ( Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent , under the influence of the Infinite Improbability Drive , are ambushed by an infinite number of monkeys who want their opinion on the monkeys' script for Hamlet). In the comic strip Dilbert , Dogbert tells Dilbert that his report would take \"three monkeys, ten minutes\". The debut album by Leeds punk rock band the Mekons is called \"The Quality of Mercy is Not Strnen.\" Originally released on Virgin Records in the UK in 1979, its cover features a photo of a typing chimp (which, of course, is not a monkey at all).\nThe theorem is also the basis of a one-act play by David Ives called \"Words, Words, Words\", which appears in his collection All in the Timing . In the one-act, three monkeys named Milton , Swift , and Kafka have been confined to a cage by a scientist until they can write Hamlet. There is a humorous short story by R.A. Lafferty entitled \"Been a Long, Long Time\", in which an angel is punished by having to proofread all the output text until some future time (after trillions of Universes have been created and died) when the monkeys produce a perfect copy of Shakespeare's works.\nIn Tom Stoppard 's play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead , one character says, \"If a million monkeys...\" and then cannot continue, as the characters are actually within Hamlet , one possible topic of this rule. He then finishes the sentence on a different topic.\nIn 2000 , the IETF Internet standards committee's April 1st RFC proposed an \"Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)\", a method of directing a farm of infinitely many monkeys over the Internet.\nWWDN , the blog of author and actor Wil Wheaton , uses the slogan, \"50,000 monkeys at 50,000 typewriters can't be wrong.\" His witticism won him a Bloggie in 2002 for the category \"Best Tagline of a Weblog.\"\nRobert Wilensky once jocularly remarked \"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.\"\nComedian Bob Newhart has a stand-up routine in which a lab technician monitoring an \"infinitely many monkeys\" experiment discovered that one of the monkeys has typed \"To be, or not to be; that is the gezortenblatt.\"\nGoats , a popular webcomic illustrated by Jonathan Rosenberg , featured a story line named infinite typewriters where several characters accidently teleport to an alternate dimension. There they find that this dimension is populated by monkeys with typewriters, presumable typing the scripts of many other dimensions.\nInfinite monkey experiments\nThis is a thought experiment which clearly cannot be carried out in practice, since it calls either for infinite time or infinite resources. Nonetheless, it has inspired efforts in finite random text generation.\n\"The Monkey Shakespeare Simulator\" website, launched on July 1 , 2003 , contains a Java applet that simulates a large population of monkeys typing randomly, with the stated intention of seeing how long it takes the virtual monkeys to produce a complete Shakespearean play from beginning to end. Though it does not update its records anymore, the generator has generated sequences up to 30 letters long (Example: \"Suffolke. As by your high ImpeKnCmV\"WLC3s\"IvWzSCLviA2:tjbh[,s...\" from Henry VI, Part II.) Due to processing power limitations, the program uses a probabilistic model (by using a random number generator ) instead of actually generating random text and comparing it to Shakespeare. When the simulator \"detects a match\" (that is, the RNG generates a certain value or a value within a certain range), the simulator simulates the match by generating matched text.\nIn 2003 , scientists at Paignton Zoo and the University of Plymouth , in Devon in England reported that they had left a computer keyboard in the enclosure of six Sulawesi Crested Macaques for a month; not only did the monkeys produce nothing but five pages ( PDF ) consisting largely of the letter S , they started by attacking the keyboard with a stone, and continued by urinating and defecating on it.\nReferences\nMonkey Theory Proven Wrong (9 May 2003) CBS News\nRFC 2795 — The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)\nExternal links",
"My Take: The Batman killings and the evil that we do – CNN ...\nEditor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of \"The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation ...\nMy Take: The Batman killings and the evil that we do – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs\nWow .... that was a Mike Tyson KO response.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:45 am |\nBetty\nDont believe this tragedy had anything to do with evil or religion at all. It is about serious mental illness. That man is mentally ill. Nothing more, nothing less.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:40 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nNo, it was planned. Perhaps I am incorrect, but the pattern of gradual purchases indicates a long-term plan to me.\nHe knew what he was doing and that what he was doing was morally wrong – as wrong as can be. I think it is sufficiently bad to be considered evil.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm |\nVoice of Reason\nBetty, I agree with you, the guy is messed-up. As far as the gop nut goes, yes it was planned by a guy that is messed-up. Hello?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:06 am |\nLame\nI am quite curious as to why so many people cannot understand how insane people can actually make and enact very complicated plans, that the existence of a plan is no indication of sanity or insanity. In fact, many do create elaborate scheme. Ted Bundy was insane, but he was very effective at staying hidden because of planning and technique.\nInsane does not necessarily mean incapacitated.\nBasically, Betty is right. It's really about insanity. Not guns or religion or \"society's to blame\", but one guy who by all accounts rapidly deteriorated and did something . . . insane.\nDon't worry. He's not going to get out of punishment.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:36 am |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Lame, etc\nSo you don't think what this person did was evil? ... because he was insane?\nThat was the whole point of the topic.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:45 pm |\nBob\nMoney is the root of all evil, and we live in a land where money is the measure of all things. We are the type of society that Jesus Christ preached against. We have abandoned Christian charity (helping those less fortunate than ourselves) and replaced it with usury (loaning money to those at need and charging them interest on it). When a practice that was forbidden by the ancient religions (and was by Christianity until the reformation) becomes the basis of a nation's economy it is only a matter of time till if collapses. When you have a nation that is one of the wealthiest in the world and has the richest rich people in the world but still has a large percentage of its people living in poverty and without health care because those who have most of the wealth are too greedy to share with the less fortunate, it's a sure sign that the teachings of Jesus Christ have been long forgotten. That our laws protect greed and the acquisition of wealth at the expense of our weakest citizens goes against the teaching of not only Jesus Christ, but also against the teachings of Confucius, who said that the measure of a society was not how well its mightiest members lived, but how well it's weakest members lived. We have a system based on the philosophy of the Teutonic warlords, dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all, might is right, etc. It favors the strong and disregards the weak. What passes for Christianity in the minds of people like Romney is really a form of Paganism. Jesus Christ cautioned his disciples against admitting gentiles (Pagan Romans) into the church, probably for fear that there were so many more Pagans than Christians that his teaching would become watered down or eventually discarded as the Pagan influence became stronger. Nietzsche refers to the apostle Paul as the anti Christ because he chose to disobey the teachings of Christ and welcomed Pagans into the church. Eventually it became the official religion of Pagan Rome, with a few modifications. I think Christ was right to want to steer clear of the Pagans. Over the centuries his teaching have been lost and we now worship money more than God. The Ten Commandments are long forgotten. We kill more of each other every day than citizens of former Pagan lands that have since rejected Paganism and gone back to the ancient religions or adopted secular humanism. No matter how you look at it, we are the greediest, most blood-thirsty land to come out of the merger of Paganism and Christianity. Statistics show that we have more purported Christians per capita than any European country. Yet we have more guns per capita, more gun deaths, more crime, more people in prison and more poverty. We have people living in the streets because our wealthy refuse to pay taxes to help them. All of the things that the average American perceives as being wrong with this country are a reflection of our values. Face it, the Christianity of Jesus Christ is gone. What flies under the banner of Christianity in this country is almost pure Paganism, from it's glorification of wars, weapons and killing, to it's worship and adoration of the greedy and the profane. I could be wrong, of course. There could be another explanation for the rich refusing to pay taxes, for the Republicans refusing to pass legislation that would help the poor, and all the while waving their Bibles and assuring us of their Christian bona fides, but I doubt it. Maybe Heston really thought he was doing God's work by shilling for the NRA, but after reading what Jesus Christ had to say about killing and violence it's hard to picture him waving a six gun and saying he will only give it up when they pry it out of his cold, dead hands. I don't think Christ would have picked up a gun even is his life was threatened. I could be wrong, of course, but I'd rather be wrong than subscribe to a religion that advocates killing and violence and leaving the weak and poor to fall by the wayside while the rich grow ever richer.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:37 pm |\nChuck\nThat awkward moment when Bob the commenter articulates a greater theological claim than the article's own author, a professor of religion at a major university.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:41 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nS ex is actually the root of all evil. People seek money and power to get better s ex. (stupid CNN censors!)\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:47 pm |\nWhoa Dude\nThat block of text looks like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.\nAnd that is about as much interest as I have in it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:54 pm |\nBill P\n“Money is the root of all evil” – not correct. It is the “love of money” which is the root of all kinds of evil. Hence, money is OK, it is the love of it that is the problem. And, the love of it is not the root of ALL evil. Thus, you would be in complete error if you thought someone that was poor could not be evil. (1 Tim 6:10)\nThe charging of interest in the loaning of money was ONLY an issue of loaning amongst the Isra.elites. Charging interest to others was OK. Even Jesus pointed that out in one of His parables.\nI cannot tell what you are saying about Nietzsche and the Apostle Paul as the anti-Christ, about Jesus wanting to keep the gentiles out of the church, etc., but I get the impression that you have no idea what you are talking about.\nThe “rich refusing to pay the taxes”? You are kidding aren’t you?\nRecommendation: stop reading “religious” interpretations and commentaries. Read only the Bible if you want to know what the Bible says.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:04 am |\nVoice of Reason\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:07 am |\nWow?\n\"Yet we have more guns per capita, more gun deaths, more crime, more people in prison and more poverty\"\nI have to tell you I really hate negative people, they are the worse.\nmore gun deaths – Actually we don’t we are ranked around #4 but we are also one of the freest countries out there. Africa, Columbia and Thailand are ahead of us.\nBy the way when it comes to Murder per capita, we aren’t even in the top 25. 😉\nAs for the poverty part, are you JOKING! We’re are ranked 131st when it comes to other countries.\nLet’s guess you’re a conservative right wing nut bag!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:01 pm |\nConvert or go to hell\nFvck all non-Christians.... you will all end up in hell for sure.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:09 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nTroll-la-lol-la-lol-la-lol-lol-lol.\nYour post is not worth any other response.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:12 pm |\nAlan S\nConvert: I can only conclude you intended your comment tongue-in-cheek. A person would have to be absolutely blind to irony to write such a comment seriously.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:15 pm |\nken\nI guess I'd better warm up my rocket sled since thats my choice of transport to that place.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:20 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Alan,\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:21 pm |\nsam stone\nconvert: don't forget to thank jeebus when he sprays his gooey goodness all over your face\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:45 am |\nAverageJoe76\nStill gonna be my roomie in H_ell, right? Like we agreed upon..?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:35 pm |\nShory\nThe Batman killer was an atheist and did it because of his religious cult !!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:08 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nTroll-la-lol-la-lol-la-lol-lol-lol.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:13 pm |\nWhoa Dude\nOh no! Was it the Riddler?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:57 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nTHANK GOD ALL THE TIME\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:05 pm |\nKelly\nI am not posting about gun control. Is anyone else amazed that a whopping 1 in 200 people say they believe they are going to hell? That to me is scary. That's an incredibly large percentage of our society that believes in hell and furthermore thinks they are going there. I'm not judging one way or another a person's religious beliefs, but sometimes I feel like we are living in medieval ages here in America. That sort of question would be ridiculous to a European (and they have much less crime in their cities btw) I don't think this was a well written op ed anyway.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Kelly\nHuh? 70% believe in hell (according to Mr. P.) That's 140 in 200. Only 1 in the 140 who believe in hell, think they are going there. That's not very many.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:59 pm |\nKelly\nyes, bad math. But I guess I can't believe 70% believe in Hell and of those, 1 in 200 believe they are going to hell. In a metropolitan area of 10 million that means 35,000 people believe they are going to hell right?. What are they gonna do with their lives if they really think they are going to hell? I'm saying all this sort of off the cuff, but I'm constantly amazed with how religion affects our policy and our decision making here in America. I should not be surprised.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:09 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nActually it means 50,000 in a population of 10,000,000.\nIt is still a small number. It's smaller than the number of incarcerated inmates for example (73,000 / 10 million). Numerically it means there are lots of inmates who don't believe they are going to hell.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:18 pm |\nGeoff\nSo, let me understand your logic. Europeans would find the question, Is there a heaven, is there a hell?\", rediculous. Is that right? Thus the opinion of Europeans makes the question less than credible. Tell me Kelly, how does the Asians feel? how does that impact the validity of the question? And, Africans? South Americans?\nYou are suggesting that the Europeans are more deeply informed in matters of the spirit? Or, are you suggestiing that you believe what you beleive because of their enlightened vision?\nKelly, let me know when you know for sure because you have been to either heven or hell. Or, have you looked everwhere and found neither and assume because you haven't found them they do not exist?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:20 am |\nCharles Darwin\nWow, it's pretty sad when you can't post the word \"const!tutional\" because it gets censored by the prudes at CNN. Guess they're afraid you're gonna say t!ts. It's pathetic.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:20 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nYup. Horrible naughty words like Constitution, institute, cumulative and Japan.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm |\nLinCA\nCNN uses WordPress blogs for their opinion pieces, and they use automated censoring that looks for words, or fragments of words, that are considered offensive. If your post doesn't show up, it most likely had a forbidden word in it.\nOn the Belief Blog, repeat posts, even those that were previously censored and not displayed, will show a message stating that you posted it before.\nThe following words or word fragments will get your post censored (list is incomplete):\n arse as in Arsenal\n tit as in constitution or title\n twat\n whore\n wtf\nTo circumvent the filters you can break up the words by putting an extra character in, like: consti.tution (breaking the oh so naughty \"tit\").\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\nLOL\n@LinCA, brilliant, you compiled the list.\nThey need better filtering logic. I recommend to their developers:\nIf IsBadWord(aWord.Replace(\" \", \"\")) = True Then RemoveBadWord() Else Exit Sub End If\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:58 pm |\nAlan S\nTo LinCA: Then why wasn't your message, listing all the forbidden words, censored by the program?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:17 pm |\nVoice of Reason\nThat's a tough one for you to figure out, right?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:12 am |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nLinCA's method is known only to atheists. 🙂\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:17 am |\nVoice of Reason\n@0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nBecause we are all evil.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:38 am |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nSorry, can't agree. To be evil you must be a believer like several of the regulars here.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:45 am |\n@LOL\nYou said, \"@LinCA, brilliant, you compiled the list.\"\nI didn't compile the original list. I think it was put together by a poster under the name SumDude. It's been re-posted by others too. Most recently Helpful Hints has also been sharing it. I do try to maintain it (latest addition was smut).\n@Alan S\nYou said, \"Then why wasn't your message, listing all the forbidden words, censored by the program?\"\nPFM\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:45 am |\nHadenuffyet\nWhy , don't you all know , there is no such thing as evil. We'll just wait for those expert pseudo scientists to explain all this destructive behavior in some brain malfunction or such...right?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:37 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nWell, they say that Jared Loughner is mentally ill and not just a teabigot trying to take out a Democrat.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:24 pm |\nLarry Bob\nWell, this will probably chum up a shouting match, but it's already out there, so lets talk about gun control.\nFirst question: Would gun control have stopped this? Maybe, but with this guy in particular, probably not. Assuming that the reports are correct (a dangerous assumption I readily admit), then this guy was capable of creating alternate devices that might well have been even deadlier. I won't mention by name one I am thinking of, but it is very simple to make, uses commonly available materials that no oversight system would be able to discern and which the government could not make unavailable even if they wanted to. Worse, he could have made any number of them, put them on simple timers, and put them all over the place.\nThere are more than just knives out there.\nNow, as to guns themselves, will controlling them work? Or will we just create another black market opportunity for gangs? I don't have the answer, as it probably lies somewhere in between.\nCan we just limit some of them and reduce crime? The answer here is actually no (we will deal with the assault rifle question separately in a moment).\nIs the benefits of removing guns worth the loss of Constitutional liberty, especially as those most hurt would be the law-abiding gun owners? Americans really don't like to remove Constitutional liberties, and for good reason.\nNow, it's going to get really problematic. Does anyone feel it is okay for almost anybody to have ready access to a submachine gun? How about hand grenades? Shoulder-launched ground-to-air missile? 100 round per second Vulcan machine cannon? Thermonuclear warhead? I doubt even the worst NRA zealot would want those. So the question is really, where should the line be drawn? What is okay and what isn't? What is the defining aspects that are okay, and what are not?\nThis is the real debate, because honestly, a full ban probably won't be any more effective than the ban on heroin is, and full access to anything is way too dangerous.\nCan the Constitution and the debates of the Founding Fathers help us? No. All were strongly for unrestricted access to arms, and that is what is in the Constitution. Arms, not just firearms. If you wanted to own your own ship full of cannons, it was fine with them, because that fit into the militia concept of the time. You could own any form of arms at all.\nYou see, the Founding Fathers never imagined that arms would go though the advances they have. High explosives did not even exist yet. The Second Amendment really does not fit the modern world because of that. You are supposed to be able to own everything if you want; that was the intent. It's the right to bear arms, no limits, not just firearms.\nThat is why the Supreme Court has avoided anything but the narrowest, most oblique cases like the plague – because they know that it allows everything, and they really don't want that (and neither do you). Everyone thinks the troublesome word is militia. It isn't. It's \"arms\". This is why a paranoid organization like the NRA has done so well – the Constitution actually allows more than even they would ask for.\nThe Second Amendment is actually the one amendment that needs a rewrite, but it is such a political hot issue that no one wants to touch it. It would make the Health Care act look like a happy interparty picnic.\nSo where is the line, and how do you do it? How do you define something like that when attempts to define what an assault rifle is have failed miserably – too many ways around any definition. If assault rifles are a step too far, how do you ban them when the NRA can and will push it through the courts, to the Supreme Court if necessary, and win again?\nIt's a Constitutional mess, really. I see nothing simple about it.\nIdeas anyone (ducks for cover)?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:34 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Larry Bob,\nIn the current climate of an election year, gun control is way off the table. Regrettably, this debate won't do anything right now.\nThe intent of the 2nd ammendment ended during the War of 1812* when the myth of superiority of a civilian militia over the realities of a standing army was debunked. (It was only 23 years old at the time.) The final erasure of the intent of the 2nd ammendment occured in the civil war. It remains irredeemably perverted into something the founders would not recognize.\nGod, guns, money and exceptionalism are the American pantheon. As a result of the Aurora tragedy, people are more likely to vote for warning labels and age-based purchasing (like 18 and over) for comic books rather than any more gun control.\n* By the way, anyone realize this year is the bicentennial of the War of 1812? Can anyone suggest who won the war of 1812?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:56 pm |\nHadenuffyet\nThe 2nd amendment ended with the war of 1812? I suggest you google \"The Battle of Athens\" an incident that occurred in 1946 in the town of Athens , Tennessee. Government oppression is omnipresent , even on a local level.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:03 pm |\nVoice of Reason\n\"The British won due to the fact that they completed their objectives; defend Canada by killing the Americans who tried to invade.\nAmerican Deaths:11,300 killed, wounded or missing in action.\nBritish Deaths: 8,600 killed, wounded or missing in action.\"\nSource: Answers.com\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:05 pm |\nCharles Darwin\nGun control would probably not have stopped this guy. We have gun control now in some states. Most states require background checks, at least for handguns. I haven't heard anything about this guy having a police record so he would have passed a background check okay. I believe we should have \"reasonable\" gun control, like background checks but I also believe that honest citizens should have the right to own guns. By the way, I'm a Democrat but I believe in all of the amendments to the const!tion.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:14 pm |\nPat Jay\nWell, I think you can't. We have about the best system you can get and still have some from of personal freedom. its sad that people temd to blame objects for the actions of humans. our homes are chuck full of deadly items, our cars are mass murders just look at the highway death toll for just one year. yet no one is saying its time to take big trucks off our roads and put the frate back on the rails roads. witch by the way would save 40% of out imported oil and save up too tens of thousands of lifes. so if I get this right because of a few sickos we rip the freedoms from 500 million Americans to save a few inocents? most muders are thug on thug and helps the reast of us by weeding out the bad actors. in a way its all most like an eivl lottery where the odds of a sicko killing you is very very low but man it makes good head lines. sadder still more loved ones in pain. the truth is freedom is not free it comes with the price of innocent blood. have you all forgoten abortion? the death toll is in the Millions and Millions. I wish I was like your fairy tail Christ or budda and could for give this guys. but freedoms price calls for a price to be payed, and when it comes to this killer it should be payed in blood. but only the guilty should pay for they're sins not the reast of us.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:16 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Voice of Reason, nice anwer – here's my version:\nYes, the British suceeded in protecting their interests in Canada and stopped Madison's expansionism to the north – you could claim that as victory – but at great cost, gaining nothing that they did not have prior to the conflict.\nThe US gained nothing. The US was driven to the brink of bankruptcy and New England was close to secession from the Union.\nThe biggest losers were natives – both in the US and in Canada. The only winners (if you could call it that) were the political careers of James Munroe and Andrew Jackson.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:19 pm |\nTrivia\nMany people don't realize that The Star Spangled Banner was written during the war of 1812 (The Defence of Ft. Henry in 1814), and not during the Revolutionary War.\nAlthough there was not an overwhelming winner/loser of the war, it did affirm that the \"flag was still there\", even after the challenge.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:24 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nEric,\nThat is the dumbest thing anyone has said here in a long time. Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:27 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Hadenuffyet,\nand armed conflict was really necessary in Athens, TN? That's just Hatfields & McCoys Appalachian thinkin' fer ya!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:31 pm |\nEric\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq I agree space time began during the big bang I buy into that theory. However for a mass to be expanding it has to be expanding into something. When the big bang happened...the moment of creation space time was also created. So I do not see how that is stupid. There was a begining a creation point.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:32 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Trivia,\ntrue enough. It's amazing how propaganda works isn't it.\nIt's Fort McHenry by the way. It defended Baltimore from naval attack up the Chesapeake Bay. Mostly, the attack was defended by ships sunk in advance of the British squadron creating a navigational hazard that prevented a close approach to the city.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:36 pm |\nEric\nStupid would be to assume our universe is it. Our observations are limited to our universe we are within it and are stuck. Which is where the word of GOD comes in. If you really read and have an open mind you might learn something.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:36 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nThe Big Bang is expanding into nothing. Space is not nothing. A vacuum is not nothing (excuse the double negative but in this sense, it's correct). Space is something space/time is expanding into nothingness. Nothing is the absence of ANYTHING, including space. It's non-existence. Hard to fathom but that's the way it is.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:39 pm |\nEric\nHow can something come from nothing?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:41 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nEric, I accept there may be more than one universe, but even if there are, that does not mean that there are any gods. But here's your big chance to educate an atheist. Please provide evidence for any god.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nHow can God come from nothing? If you don't believe in the Big Bang because something can't come from nothing, then how did an invisible, supernatural fairytale man in the sky come from nothing?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nEric, you might want to read \"A Universe From Nothing\" by Lawrence Krauss. It's way more factual than The Babble but without the killing and sex.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:48 pm |\nEric\n@Josef Bleaux I can type to my fingers fall off, this is not the best forum for this. However please read the 1st few chapters of genesis and compare it to todays theories you will find that they agree. Let there be light (big bang) seperate the light from darkness(the early universe had a glow due to electrons not attached to atoms) when seperated we entered the age of stars. I can keep going you will find if you really want to know the truth.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:49 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\nWe've crossed the beams on these threads but what the heck.\n@Eric,\nI'm very happy that you believe God is the creator of the universe. Good for you. But because you believe that, doesn't mean I should. You believe this based on faith, not reason.\nSomething doesn't have to come from nothing. We don't know what was there before the big bang. Maybe a big blob of high enthalpy stuff that reached a critical state. The old concept of expanding then compressing universes (that Douglas Adams jokingly called a gnab gib) works too. Rinse and repeat from one universe to the next.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nEric – I've read the bible from cover to cover. You didn't answer my question.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm |\nEric\nI believe the big bang occured, I believe it to be the moment of GODs creation. They go together not against. Yes you will find believers that think the world is 6000 years old, well to each ther own it isnt a salvation point.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:52 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nEric – but where did your invisible fairytale man in the sky come from? Did he magically poof himself into existence?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:53 pm |\nEric\nKinda hard to buy the big crunch theory since the rate of universal expansion is increasing.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:54 pm |\nEric\nI cant answer that question for now we know in part. One day we will know fully. He was, is and is yet to come that statement right there goes well behind the comprehension of man thousands of years ago, but there it is. To exist outside space time.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nEric – That's a cop out and you know it. You say you don't believe the Universe could come from nothing but your invisible fairytale man did? That's a contradiction. If a sentient, omnipotent being could suddenly \"poof\" into existence then why not a non-sentient Universe?\nYou believe in the bible because you were indoctrinated to believe it practically since birth. You believe in it because of where you were born. If you'd been born in India, you'd be arguing just as strongly for the Hindu gods. Ditto for China and Buddahism, etc. etc. etc. They're all just ancient mythology. Some of them make a lot more sense than Christianity. Ancient people made up gods and miracles to explain existence and comfort people in the face of their mortality. An intelligent person who uses logic, reason and objectivity sees this immediately.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:01 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Eric,\nthe idea of the 'big crunch' is that at some point the forces driving the universe stop being effective, then gravitation takes over and everything coalesces again.\nProven? No. It's just a theory and it's not much in vogue these days.\nCombining a belief in God and scientific principles is a reasoned approach. Lots of people do this and it is far more rational than thinking the earth is 6,000 years old. I'm glad it works for you, but it still doesn't prove anything.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:03 pm |\nLarry Bob Changes Direction\nEric: The rate of universal expansion cannot be increasing. This is actually where the Second Law of Thermodynamics DOES apply (we finally have true use for it!). What you mean to say is that you think the rate of universal expansion is faster than the gravitational forces can ultimately overcome and reverse.\nThat is all still very theoretical. And it has nothing at all to say or even imply about the existence of a deity.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:08 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nLarry Bob – Eric is correct. Recent studies have shown that the rate of expansion is \"accelerating\". Scientists don't like that answer but it's been proven. They've invented \"dark energy\" in an attempt to explain it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:10 pm |\nPRISM 1234\n\"The heavens declare the glory of God;\nAnd the firmament shows His handiwork.\nDay unto day utters speech,\nAnd night unto night reveals knowledge.\nThere is no speech nor language\nWhere their voice is not heard.\n4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,\nAnd their words to the end of the world.\nIn them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,\nWhich is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,\nAnd rejoices like a strong man to run its race.\nIts rising is from one end of heaven,\nAnd its circuit to the other end;\nAnd there is nothing hidden from its heat.\nThe law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;\nThe testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;\nThe statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;\nThe commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;\nThe fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;\nThe judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.\nMore to be desired are they than gold,\nYea, than much fine gold;\nSweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.\nMoreover by them Your servant is warned,\nAnd in keeping them there is great reward.\nWho can understand his errors?\nCleanse me from secret faults.\nKeep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;\nLet them not have dominion over me.\nThen I shall be blameless,\nAnd I shall be innocent of great transgression.\nLet the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart\nBe acceptable in Your sight,\nO Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.\nPsalm 19\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:22 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\n@PRISM 1234 – Ok... blah blah blah blah blah mumbo jumbo oogah boogah to you too.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:29 pm |\nLarry Bob\nOh! So it is! The Nobel went out last year to the guys who unravelled it. I stand corrected.\nApologies, Eric.\nThough it still doesn't even remotely hint at the existence of a deity.\nAstrophysics is fascinating! I think I just found my new hobby! Never studied it much in university.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:35 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\n@Larry Bob – I agree, it doesn't prove the existence of a deity. But that's really a moot point. You can't disprove it either, like you can't prove or disprove the existence of invisible pink and purple polka-dotted unicorns either. :-).\nBut astrophysics is a good hobby. Science in general is my hobby, but especially astronomy and astrophysics.\nPersonally, I kinda go along with Einstein in believing in \"something like\" Spinoza's god. (which is not really a god at all). But I'm open minded. 🙂\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:42 pm |\nEric\nhuh guess i typed something i shouldnt have my post didnt make it\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:46 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\n@Eric – See LinCA's list of banned words on this blog in the post near the top.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm |\nEric\nDo i have imperical evidence no, i can not provide. Faith is what is required. At some point all of us take something on faith. Some believe the universe is expanding into nothing, still a belief. I do not believe we are an accident. At some point what we can currently observe ends. Maybe in the future we will be able to observe more. I perfer logic and reason and if truly you are looking for the answer you will find it. The main point of christianity is faith if we know like the angels do then how can we believe.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:56 pm |\nJosef Bleaux\nI have faith as well. Faith in science. But I don't have faith in ancient mythology and I never will. Science can't explain everything – yet. But given enough time, it will.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:58 pm |\nEric\nI would like to thank you guys for intelligent respectfull conversation. usually its hard to have a discussion through the trolls and haters of every side of a discussion.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:59 pm |\nblah blah blah blah blah\n@Josef\n....and he can't understand one word because in his B-L-A-H mind all he hears is blah blah blah blah..............\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:00 am |\nLarry Bob\nNo invisible pink and purple polka-dotted unicorns? 😥\nWhat have I done? I despise emoticons!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:02 am |\nEric\nwell said you will find we agree on most points. I wasnt very different still am not. I was very anti religion I had some very rough times as a teen. Lost both parents and more bad stuff. Im about 40 now and blamed GOD for all my problems then denied his existance. Now many years later I can look back and see.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:03 am |\nJosef Bleaux\nThanks Eric, same to you. I'm retired so I don't have to work tomorrow but I'm going to hit the sack now. Enjoyed our discussion.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:04 am |\nEric\nThe one thing about todays world view is the assumption the universe is all that there is and many people place GOD within the universe. God is outside the box. we are in the box. even if we could observe outside the box we would have no clue what we are seeing. You ever read flatlanders? that is a good example.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:09 am |\nLarry Bob\nCan I point out a paradox, Eric? You just spent quite a bit of time trying to provide evidence of God, and when it fell apart and you accepted that there is no empirical evidence, you said that faith is required.\nIf you are thinking about evidence and proof and support, then you have subconsciously abandoned faith. You didn't believe in faith, and looked quite extensively for those arguments you provided.\nSo, does this mean that on some level you don't believe? You must not be sure if you have sought evidence.\nAnd the search for evidence must always disappoint you if you are searching for God via anything but your imagination; theologically, God must hide all evidence for there to be faith, and if no God, no evidence.\nEither way, no evidence.\nJust food for thought. No need to answer.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:10 am |\nEric\nLarry that was pretty circular, I am a man yes at times I struggle. There is still always temptation and doubt. As I become stronger in my faith it becomes less and less. I am just the same as you I just believe something different.\nThanks for your time wife calling me to bed.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:19 am |\nVoice of Reason\nLarry Bob, you're a good man and a friend!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:26 am |\nAtheism is not healthy for children and other living things\nPrayer changes things,\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm |\nObserver\nAnd drunk driving does too.\nStill afraid to have to defend your thoughtless blog name?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:05 pm |\njust wondering\nspeaking from personal experience or are you just wishful thinking.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:07 pm |\nParis\nLike that other guy said, yeah, prayer makes you hoard cats.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:28 pm |\nCharles Darwin\nThis guy trolls around here all the time. Ignore him.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:19 pm |\nFluffy the Gerbil of Doom\nPrayer makes you buy ozone depleting hair products.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:20 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nEric,\nYou have not a shred of evidence. You can say anything you NEED to. Doesn't make it true. Show me the money.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:30 pm |\nEric\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq Um ok I have a question. Does darkness exist?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm |\nEric\nOr Cold does cold exist\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:39 pm |\nLarry Bob\n\"Does darkness exist? Does cold exist?\"\nYou are copping out to semantic games here by using unscientific terms that actually refer conditions where energy is low or not there at all. Do conditions of those energy states exist? Of course.\nLet's hear how you were going to use this as proof of God. Go for it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:47 pm |\nJesus\nPrayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.\nAn article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.\nThe statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!|..\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:25 am |\nReligion is not healthy for children and other living things\nPrayer is a complete waste of time.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:36 pm |\nChad\nObviously you think there is something to it, for it to threaten to the point of spending endless time on this blog decrying it's truth.\n\"To \"protest too much\" is to insist so strongly about something not being true that people begin to suspect maybe it is true. Example: \"You do like that girl, don't you?\" Answer: \"No! I don't! Not at all! Why do you think so?\" Reply: \"You protest too much.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:58 pm |\nNo Truth, Just Claims\nHey Chad,\nYou protest too much as well, so I guess you must have concern you are wrong.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:18 pm |\nChad\nI am convinced that the God of Abraham exists, created the world, and sent His Son Jesus Christ.\nSince I have a strong positive belief, I seek to defend erroneous statements about it.\nI spend no time on muslimforum.org, or hinduforum.org because I couldnt care less what they think..\nWhy do YOU spend so much time here?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:48 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Chad,\n\"I am convinced that the God of Abraham exists, created the world, and sent His Son Jesus Christ.\"\nFrom your perspective, I'm curious what you think distinguishes you from people that are convinced that aliens are in communication with them, or paranoid delusional folk who are convinced the government is spying on their actions?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:06 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nSince PATRIOT the government are spying on our actions.\nAlso Chad, Allah is the god of Abraham.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:11 pm |\nNatasha\nI would like to know why nobody is commenting on the fact that there was a 6 year old in the theatre watching an adult themed movie. Pshcho killers like this young guy is a result of this society. Shame to those parents and to AMC theatres for allowing those children in. No 6 year old should be exposed to such violence in movies. And you wonder why we end up with a situation like this!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:11 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:12 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Natasha, I think there are some good blog forums out there for parenting advice. I don't feel it's appropriate or relevant to this particular topic.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm |\nChad\nThe God of Abraham is real, Aliens arent.\nFrom your perspective, what differentiates you from people that believe we have never been to the moon?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nThe evidence for gods and aliens Is exactly the same – none!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:23 pm |\nGodFreeNow\nWell Chad, it's something called evidence. There's amount of it including the little known fact that we left 2-foot panel with 100 mirrors there that acts as a lunar laser ranging retroreflector array which we still use today.\nThere is also more mathematical evidence to suggest that intelligent aliens are real than the god of abraham. However, I will ask again... What distinguishes your claim from theirs? Just saying mine is real and theirs isn't doesn't distinguish you. They also claim their experience is real. What distinguishes your claim from theirs? I ask again, because you are not answering the question.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:25 pm |\ntallulah13\nGiven the sheer numbers of planets in the universe, there is little doubt that there is life on other planets. It seems unlikely that they are visiting this one, but it is more likely they are than that an all-seeing, all-powerful being is listening to every thought of the relatively insignificant beings on this relatively insignificant planet to make sure they are obeying a list of bronze-age rules.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:27 pm |\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:53 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nUnknown of course is completely wrong...\nGiven that we are not making an extraordinary claim (about some invisible imaginary being) we don't need any evidence for what we believe. Theists on the other hand have been talking about, but but not delivering on, their line of bullsh!t for centuries. So Unknown, get back to us when you have more than just talk.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:00 pm |\nYou already did but you ran away like a little coward that you are.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:01 pm |\nObserver\n@Unknown,\n“It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”\n– Mark Twain\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:09 pm |\nChad\n@GodFreeNow \"I will ask again... What distinguishes your claim from theirs? Just saying mine is real and theirs isn't doesn't distinguish you. They also claim their experience is real. What distinguishes your claim from theirs? I ask again, because you are not answering the question.\"\n@Chad: \"well GodFreeNow, it's something called evidence..\n1. Origin of the universe\n2. Origin of life on earth\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\n4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\n5. The empty tomb\n6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:10 pm |\nNo Truth, Just Claims\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:12 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nChad must think he has a new audience that he might be able to fool. That list has been shredded at least 5 times...\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:13 pm |\nThis is blog is not about the religion of non-belief yet atheists storm the blog.\nGrow a pair.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:14 pm |\nEileen\nSo, Chad, not much of a god you've got there if he expects us to believe tales handed down many times about something that might have happened 2000 years ago. Reasonable doubt is more than justified, so either your god is stupid or he doesn't exist. Present modern proof or stop hawking your religion here.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:15 pm |\n\"Modern proof\".A stupid excuse for atheists.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\nEileen\nUnknown, you not only lack a pair. You lack intelligence.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\nEileen\nUnknown, if you can't rebut the statement, just be silent.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm |\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:18 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nUnknown, show us how big your pair is – show us your evidence for your useless god. Come on now – no excuses!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:21 pm |\nNo Truth, Just Claims\nMany people have met a 'resurrected' Elvis......proves nothing.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:22 pm |\nI already admitted I can't.Seems like I got the pair.You don't.Atheism weaks you weak not smart.\n•Facepalm•\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:23 pm |\nEileen\nUnknown, if you can't rebut the statement, please just be silent. Your insults aren't helping your case, which was very weak to begin with, and they also demonstrate how hateful and bigoted your religion is.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:26 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nInteresting believer thinking – you can't prove your point which means atheist views are (more) correct and that make atheists weak. Fantastic demonstration of believer mental illness!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:27 pm |\nHadenuffyet\nAs is hope , faith , and love.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:57 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Chad, I expect so much more from you.\n1. Origin of the universe – You, nor anyone else know how the universe began for certain. There are theories. The difference is, scientific theories must be verifiable. Religious ones must be taken on faith. Even if this were evidence of a god, it in no way is evidence of that god being the god of Abraham. Fail.\n2. Origin of life on earth – Explainable by science without deities... and also even if it did point to a deity, again.. no evidence of that deity not being a magical bunny rabbit or a leprechaun. Fail.\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life – Really? where is the evidence that the universe was fine-tuned by a deity and no by the natural forces of entropy, gravity, etc? Fail.\n4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed – No evidence for this claim. At all. Baseless conjecture. Fail.\n5. The empty tomb – Really? This is embarrassing for me to even respond to. There are tons of empty tombs and graves. Dig a hole in the ground, call it Chopin's tomb and tell everyone how he magically disappeared. You don't even have to be as talented a David Copperfield to pull this one off. Glad you're so easily convinced by the empty space in a cave. Epic, epic Fail.\n6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it. Again, not a distinguishing qualifier for my original question. Name one person who claims to have been visited by aliens who doesn't have their own mountain of refutable evidence. They report meeting aliens, getting probed, etc. Fail.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:59 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nStrickly speaking Chad, there is MORE evidence to prove that the Salem women were actually witches, than there is for you resurrection. The Anthropic Principle is debunked, many places. The universe is not fine tuned, (to 80 decimal places the life of black hole/stars =0), the followers of Islam died going into the towers, the empty tomb proves nothing, the origin of the universe in no way proves YOUR god is true, scientists know in general how life arose, or cold have, there are no \"sudden species\", (name one), the followers is the argumentum ad populum. Thus, you have a delusion. Too bad.\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZY2eeozdo8&w=640&h=390]\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xv_Iklb1V4&w=640&h=390]\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:03 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@Godfreenow,\nChad's next arguement will be to tell you to read the bible to find his 'evidence'.\nYou won't convince him and he won't acknowledge the rationality of your argument.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:07 pm |\nEric\n@GodFreeNow Um the bible I cant recall any ancient texts that discuss aliens.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:15 pm |\nEric\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq Scientiest have a theory on the physical process that lead to life. They may even be correct, that isnt the point. Even if all the modern theories are correct does not in the least take anything away from creation. GOD existed before the universe. He created everything all the matter, energy space time. All the laws of physics, chemistry, you get the point. No matter what we think we know it still all goes back to GOD if you look deep enough. Lets say Darwin is correct it still doesnt mean it is random the design very well may be devine in nature.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:22 pm |\nYou said, \"it's something called evidence..\n1. Origin of the universe\"\nEven if there is no absolute proof of how the universe got started, that doesn't in any way lend any credibility to your bullshit story of the Tooth Fairy poofing it into existence. Even your pet hypothesis doesn't answer the question as it only pushes it back to \"where did the Tooth Fairy come from?\".\nYou said, \"2. Origin of life on earth\"\nSame as above. Just because you elect to reject out of hand any theory that is different from your little brain fart, doesn't mean that it make the existence of your imaginary friend any more likely.\nYou said, \"3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\"\nAgain, not evidence of a creator. It is simply a prerequisite for life. Had it been any different, we wouldn't have been around to know the difference.\nYou said, \"4. Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\"\n*Stasis is part of evolution and doesn't in any way support your delusion, and sudden appearance of fully formed new species doesn't happen. A lack of fossil evidence of transition species doesn't prove there is a magic man.\nYou said, \"5. The empty tomb\"\nPlenty of empty tombs around. You have to be particularly dense to believe that the absence of evidence proves anything.\nYou said, \"6. The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it.\"\nThat must mean that currently the muslim faith is more true than the christian, as there appear to be more of them willing to kill and die for their beliefs.\nJust because people believe something, even if millions do, that doesn't mean it's true. Indoctrination is a very powerful force (just look at yourself), and questioning authority, for those that have the ability to rationally evaluate the bullshit, can be very hazardous to your health. The only difference between a belief in gods and belief in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy is that when children start to question the latter they aren't told to shut up and believe.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:22 pm |\nllɐq ʎʞɔnq\nlEric,\nThat is the dumbest thing anyone has said here in a long time. Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:28 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, goblins or ghouls\nFor believers, it's not about acquiring new knowledge and adapting their world view, it's about conjuring up more bullsh!t to defend their childish, and unsupported by facts, beliefs.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:35 pm |\nJohn P\nNot so. I know a number of Christians who pray openly and quite visibly at their place of worship and they are gladdened in the great abundance it has brought them.\nWho, in the real world, stays awake at night thunderstruck by that image of a Mercury Mariner SUV they just can't erase from the inside of their forehead? Nobody. Ever. But if you know a car salesman in the congregation who really prays good and then tells you they'll cut you a special deal, you'll purchase that vapid vehicle at sticker and believe God would have wanted it that way. That's how a lot of crap is marketed and how people who can't do anything become \"blessed\".\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:41 pm |\n¡sʎʞɔnq ןןɐ buıןןɐɔ ¡sʎʞɔnq ןןɐ buıןןɐɔ\nWell, you are onto something I don't really understand particularly well (okay, I don't even pretend to understand it), and there seems to be interest, so here goes: You said \"Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins.\"\nThere is a major paradox with that. If time is fully stopped at singularity and there is no \"before\", there cannot be an \"after\" either. If it is possible for energy to flow out of singularity and change to matter and do all that other amazing universe stuff, then it also has to be possible for energy to flow in as well.\nWhat I am getting at is that time, while it probably behaves very strangely, does not fully absolutely stop. Indeed, if I understand Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems (which I probably do not), then time is ceasing to be linear but becomes a manifold curvature for the duration of the singularity.\nAlso, singularity seems to require infinite mass – but the mass of the universe is finite, so the condition of the universe at the event of Big Bang beginning may not have been fully singular. Hawkings himself says as much: \"There was in fact no singularity at the beginning of the universe\". Time, while distorted, could have still been moving (in some way I will never hope to understand).\nI looked at some stuff, and here is a hypersimplification from an astrophysicist at NASA, who mentions alternative theories (about which I am clueless). http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/060629a.html\nAm I missing something? It does seem that there is no certainty that there was not something before Big Bang, that this is very theoretical stuff hindered by great distance,great time, and physical conditions we may never have the opportunity to\nThe one thing I do not see in these theories is the \"something came from nothing\" argument that the religious apologists keep trying to say we believe in.\nAm I missing something?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 11:31 pm |\nsam stone\nchad: how can anyone but you make erroneous statements about YOUR belief? do others speak for you?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:51 am |\nTruthPrevails :-)\n\"GOD existed before the universe. He created everything all the matter, energy space time. All the laws of physics, chemistry, you get the point. No matter what we think we know it still all goes back to GOD if you look deep enough\"\nSo if everything needs a creator, what created your god Eric? If you are unable to answer that than your whole claim falls to pieces. The fact is that nothing existed before the universe that anyone can make valid claims to and given that there is not an answer and may never be does not mean you get to plug the 'god of the gaps' in to it. Try reading some actual science books, not creation science...you might actually grow another brain cell or two.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 7:06 am |\nChad\n@GodFreeNow “Origin of the universe – You, nor anyone else know how the universe began for certain”\n@Chad “true, but we do know that it requires a force that existed outside our current universe.\n=============\n@GodFreeNow “. Origin of life on earth – Explainable by science without deities...\n@Chad “really? How? RNA world is out.. What else is there being proposed?\nWhile the experiments carried out by Stanley Miller and others who have built upon his work show that life may have arisen from a primordial soup, that possibility remains theoretical. There is no evidence for pre-cellular life on Earth; what's more, critics of the RNA world hypothesis point out that the experiments that support the concepts were conducted with biologically created RNA. RNA can act as both a template for self-replication and an enzyme for carrying out that process, but these findings have been carried out in controlled laboratory experiments. This doesn't necessarily prove such delicate actions could happen in the seas of the ancient Earth.\nFor reasons like these, the RNA world hypothesis has been largely abandoned by proponents of abiogenesis in favor of other hypotheses, like the simultaneous development of both proteins and genetic templates or the development of life around undersea vents similar to those currently inhabited by today's extremophiles. But there is one criticism that any abiogenesis hypothesis has difficulty overcoming: time. DNA-based life is thought to have developed on Earth beginning around 3.8 billion years ago, giving pre-cellular life forms about 1 billion years to carry out random processes of encoding useful proteins and as sembling them into the precursors of cellular life . Critics of abiogenesis say that simply isn't enough time for inorganic matter to become the theorized precellular life. One estimate suggests it would take 10^450 (10 to the 450th power) years for one useful protein to be randomly created .\nThis is one obstacle that makes panspermia an attractive explanation: It doesn't explain the origin of life, merely the origin of life on Earth. Panspermia hypotheses don't necessarily contradict abiogenesis; they merely shift the origin elsewhere. Yet the jury is still out on several important factors that must be in place for panspermia to be correct. Is it possible, for example, for microbial life to survive during the harsh conditions found in the trip through space, the entrance to Earth's atmosphere and the impact on Earth's surface?\nSome recent hypotheses suggest that it needn't survive. One researcher postulates that dead scraps of DNA could have arrived on Earth via ballistic panspermia and were replicated through a kickstarted process similar to RNA world . Other researchers aim to scour Mars for fossil life and compare any genetic material to that found universally on Earth to determine relation .\nYet if life on Earth did begin elsewhere and travel to our planet the question still remains: What is life's origin?\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life – Really? where is the evidence that the universe was fine-tuned by a deity and no by the natural forces of entropy, gravity, etc? Fail.”\n@Chad “ah.. the confidence of not knowing anything 😉\nNatural forces that allow life is exactly what fine tuning is (not what caused it). You need to explain how those natural forces came into being such that they are precisely designed to allow life.\nYou are confusing cause and effect 🙂\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ Stassis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed – No evidence for this claim. At all. Baseless conjecture. Fail.\n@Chad “ah.. the confidence of not knowing anything 😉\nIt is an accepted fact, see\nEldredge, Niles and S. J. Gould (1972). \"Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism\"\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ The empty tomb – Really? This is embarrassing for me to even respond to. There are tons of empty tombs and graves. Dig a hole in the ground, call it Chopin's tomb and tell everyone how he magically disappeared. “\n@Chad “you forgot to explain HOW it came to be empty…\n“Jesus wasn’t buried there” has been thoroughly debunked and is never even attempted to be put forth as an solution by any “Jesus doubter”\n==============\n@GodFreeNow “ The fact that many people, followers and enemies alike, reported meeting a resurrected Jesus. A belief they held so strongly that they were willing to die for the truth of it. Again, not a distinguishing qualifier for my original question. Name one person who claims to have been visited by aliens who doesn't have their own mountain of refutable evidence. They report meeting aliens, getting probed, etc. Fail.”\n@Chad “couple problems with that:\na. would they be willing to go to their death proclaiming the truth of that fact?\nb. do you have many different people all claiming the same alien encounter, by the same alien?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:08 pm |\nChad\n@LinCA, believe I hit all of your objections in my response to GodFreeNow. Let me know if that is not the case.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:14 pm |\nChad\n@TruthPrevails 🙂 \"So if everything needs a creator, what created your god Eric?\"\n@Chad \"everything that has a beginning needs a creator, our universe had a beginning, we know that.. So it needs some force external to our universe to have \"triggered\" it.\nGod alone has no beginning and no end, so no creator. He is the \"uncaused cause\". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument for an overview of the philosophical argument.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:19 pm |\nChad\n@llɐq ʎʞɔnq \"Spacetime began at the Big Bang. There is no \"before\" time begins. And grade schooler knows that. Take a Physics course.\"\n@Chad \"I see a few folks attempt to argue that since time began at the singularity, it is impossible to discuss what \"triggered\" the big bang, what was the source external to the universe that triggered it, because there can be no \"before\" by definition.\nit's a lame argument, which is why serious cosmologists dont make it.\nCosmologists attempt to investigate what triggered the big bang because something must have. Everything can't have arisen from nothing (\"nothing\" being the absence of everything including the laws of nature, the condition \"before\" the big bang singularity).\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:25 pm |\nHuh?\n\"Everything can't have arisen from nothing \"\nChad just prove why there is no God and why the bible is a fake, nice job.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:28 pm |\nChad\n@Huh? \"Everything can't have arisen from nothing \" @Chad just proved why there is no God and why the bible is a fake, nice job.\"\n@Chad \"God didnt arise, He alone has no beginning and no end. The universe had a beginning, and cant have \"arisen\" from nothing (where nothing is the absence of everything)\"\nhope that helps clarify..\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:39 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nYour say-so doesn't make it a fact. Neither does the bible.\nThanks for playing, Chard.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:44 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nWhy do you pretend that because we don't know what triggered the big bang it \"must have been God\"?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 1:45 pm |\n.\n\"See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument for an overview of the philosophical argument.\"\nChad you've been told over and over again wiki is unreliable, the schools have banned students from using it. It's garbage.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:11 pm |\nJuan\n\"He alone has no beginning and no end. \"\n– If God created the Universe, why did He create it in a precise moment, not sooner or later? It doesn' make sense.\n– If Time didn't exist then God is not everlasting and the Universe didn't have a beginning. God could have not possibly created the Universe in that case because then both God and the Universe emerged simultaneously.\n– If the Universe was eternal like God, then God could have not possibly created the Universe because, like in the previous case, they would have emerged simultaneously.\n– If God was not everlasting then who created Him? We must admit that if God exists, unless the Universe created Him, He must be eternal. If the Universe created God anyway, he could have not created the Universe.\nSo at the end the scenario where God could have possibly created the Universe doesn't seem to exist, does it?\nDo you think that God created the Universe? And how could that happen?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:13 pm |\nChad\n@. \"you've been told over and over again wiki is unreliable, the schools have banned students from using it. It's garbage.\"\n=>:-)\nWikipedia is about as good a source of accurate information as Britannica, the venerable standard-bearer of facts about the world around us, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature.\nFor its study, Nature chose articles from both sites in a wide range of topics and sent them to what it called \"relevant\" field experts for peer review. The experts then compared the competing articles–one from each site on a given topic–side by side, but were not told which article came from which site. Nature got back 42 usable reviews from its field of experts.\nIn the end, the journal found just eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles. Of those, four came from each site. They did, however, discover a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. All told, Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123.\nThat averages out to 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia.\nWhat is your source for \"the schools have banned students from using it\"?\nnow, keep in mind, to support your argument, the ban must have been for reasons of content unreliability, NOT simply because the school wanted kids to do their own research and not use a database like Wikepedia as a shortcut.\n😉\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:23 pm |\nChad\n@Juan, your logic is flawed because it assumes that everything that can have an existence, must exist in this universe.\nSince God exists outside of this universe, He can be eternal.\nOur universe does have a beginning, it is not eternal in the past (see Hoyle red shift and the big bang singularity)\nJuly 23, 2012 at 2:55 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nWow, you're still using these tired ass refuted arguments that are all based on fallacies and unjustified assumptions. Good job, you really do have nothing of substance to offer.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm |\nhuh!\n\"Since God exists outside of this universe,\" I see nothing but a man talking out of his a$$..\nHere is a small experiment.. I am gonna claim that I am your god, existing outside this universe, commenting on this site through a wormhole I made here in the US to guide blind heretics like you.. disprove me!\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm |\nWow?\nChad, even the wiki founder has stated he is under staffed to keep it maintained properly. Wiki is for lazy uneducated morons. Just google why should wikipedia not be used for research.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:30 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"Wow, you're still using these tired ass refuted arguments that are all based on fallacies and unjustified assumptions.\"\n=>any chance that this time you'll state exactly what fallacies, and demonstrate how the arguments are unjustified or have ever been refuted?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 3:47 pm |\nChad\nIs this what you meant?\n😉\nWikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is quite clear about the uses of Wikipedia. Asked, \"Do you think students and researchers should cite Wikipedia? during an interview with Business Week in 2005, he replied, \"No, I don't think people should cite it, and I don't think people should cite Britannica, either... People shouldn't be citing encyclopedias in the first place. Wikipedia and other encyclopedias should...give good, solid background information to inform your studies for a deeper level.\"\nWikipedia entries are generally in the forefront of preliminary web research on almost any topic. And teaching students to look critically at the reliability and credibility of any information source is fundamental to the educational process. Figuring out how to evaluate the encyclopedia, then, is one excellent starting point for teaching students how to assess massive amounts of information they're likely to encounter online both for school work and personal exploration.\nWikipedia itself is strong on self-assessment. Encyclopedia editors address accuracy in the entry Reliability of Wikipedia, compiling the results of international third-party assessments across a variety of disciplines. The consensus: the encyclopedia is as accurate as other encyclopedias. And as Cathy Davidson, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, points out in We Can't Ignore the Influence of Digital Technologies (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 23, 2007), unlike comparable print sources, Wikipedia errors can be corrected and often are in a matter of hours after publication.\nhttp://teachinghistory.org\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nTry to stay honest this time Chad. You have plenty of responses to your idiotic points above, and on every other thread you've posted them on. As for the fallacies, I'll go point by point for you.\n1) Begging the question, argument from ignorance\n2) Same\n4) Irrelevant conclusion fallacy\n5) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence.\n6) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence to support the assertion that people saw a resurrected Jesus.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:15 pm |\nChad\napparently you havent actually looked at the fallacy you are claiming.. as they dont bear any similarity to my arguments.. You probably just thought the t itle looked close?\nin any case, one by one:\n============================\n@hawaiiguest \"1 & 2 Begging the question, argument from ignorance\"\n@Chad \"??\nHow exactly to do figure that?\nas a reminder, my statements then the description of the fallacy.. Please demonstrate how your claim is true 🙂\nGood luck!\n1. Origin of the universe [must have come from a force external to our universe]\n2. Origin of life on earth [there are no credible, purely naturalistic, explanations]\nbegging the question\", is committed \"when a proposition which requires proof is a ssumed without proof\", or more generally denotes when an as sumption is used, \"in some form of the very proposition to be proved, as a premise from which to deduce it\"\nargument from ignorance : as serts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false\n==============\n@hawaiiguest \"3) Argument from probability\"\n@Chad \"?? again, please demonstrate how the statement commits the claimed fallacy.\n3. Fine tuning of the universe for the building blocks of life\nAn appeal to probability is a justification based on probability, sometimes regarded as a logical fallacy,[1][2] when an unwarranted as sumption that something will happen, because it can happen, or when the odds of an occurrence are unrealistically played down in lieu of appropriate precaution\nexample: The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.\nactually, atheists use this all the time (\"well of course it's possible that we just were created from nothing, after all, we're here arent we??\"), thanks for letting me know there was a name for this particular fallacy.\n==============\n@hawaiiguest \"4) Irrelevant conclusion fallacy\"\n@Chad \"another one where you didnt read the definition of the fallacy..\nPlease demonstrate how exactly..\n\"4. Stas sis and sudden appearance of new species fully formed\"\n\"irrelevant conclusion is the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question. Arguments which shift the focus of debate to \"safer\" but less relevant ground fall into this category\n==============\n@hawaiiguest 5) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence. 6) No fallacy, but also no contemporary, extrabiblical evidence to support the as sertion that people saw a resurrected Jesus.\"\n@Chad \"define what you mean by \"contemporary\". You mean like \"the people who claim to have seen Jesus alive arent here any more\", is that what you mean?\n=================\nyou really should have read the fallacy descriptions and examples first...\nJuly 23, 2012 at 4:58 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nPerhaps if you actually put your arguments down it would make sense. You make a case for your god with these points, and yet, you avoid actually putting the argument into those words so you can pretend you have no burden of proof, then shift it over by just listing things, that if put into any kind of argumentative format, would fit those fallacies.\nOrigins, we don't know, and to demand something other than that is begging the question, or saying that since we don't know, therefor your god, then that's an argument from ignorance.\nThe entire fine tuning argument is based on probability, and using it as any kind of argument for the existence of god makes it an appeal to probability.\nAs for the irrelevant conclusion, even if your stasis thing were true, then how would that even matter?\nI hoped you would be somewhat honest Chad, but I guess it's to much to ask from you.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:05 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"Origins, we don't know, and to demand something other than that is begging the question, or saying that since we don't know, therefor your god, then that's an argument from ignorance.\"\n@Chad \"ahh.. no\nA. We know that it had to come from a force external to our universe\nB. Which is all I have EVER claimed can be proved, I have said that a million times\nC. your claim of a fallacious argument is incorrect,\nYou see, the thing is, that when you say some thing is a fallacious argument, you need to show how.\nExample: your statement \"since we don't know, therefor your god,\" is a strawman.\nI never said that,\nyou are attacking something that I never said\n.. so it's a strawman, a fallacious argument.\nA straw man is a type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position\nthe trick is, the accusation has to correspond to the argument... 😉\n===============\n@hawaiiguest \"The entire fine tuning argument is based on probability, and using it as any kind of argument for the existence of god makes it an appeal to probability.\"\n@Chad \"ah.. no.. scroll up, read the definition and the example again. you are just looking at the ti tle 🙂\nnot all arguments that include probability are fallacious \"appeals to probability\"\n===============\n@hawaiiguest \"As for the irrelevant conclusion, even if your stasis thing were true, then how would that even matter?\n@Chad \"ah.. no.. same answer as above.. scroll up, read the definition and the example again. you are just looking at the t itle 🙂\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:31 pm |\n@Chad\nAn external creator has not been shown to be a necessity you moronic fuckstick.\nYou have made a claim the god of abraham is real, and when asked what distinguishes your claim from others, you give these points. They are directly tied to your claim of a specific god. You are so incredibly dishonest Chad, I don't know how you can function in a societal setting.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:41 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"An external creator has not been shown to be a necessity\"\n@Chad \"so, you are going with the \"we came from nothing, as a result of nothing\" theory?? where \"nothing\" is truly nothing, as in the absence of everything (not Kraus' nothing which has laws, virtual particles, etc..).\nSorry, every cosmological proposal for the origin of our universe (that I know of) requires an external force. That force may be a multi-verse, etc.. But its a force external to the entirety of our current universe.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 5:56 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nLOL, now that's a straw man if ever I've seen one. I pointed to where you made your claim of a god, and even tied it to your points, but I said nothing about believing everything came from nothing. The rejection of X, does not mean acceptance of Y, or is that too complicated for you? Oh man Chad, keep going, and show everyone how dishonest you can be.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:00 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"LOL, now that's a straw man if ever I've seen one. \"\n=>fair enough, so you are saying that the creation of our universe was neither:\na. due to a force external to it\nb. created out of nothing, by nothing.\nI would have thought that covered every possible solution.. but apparently you have another.. what is it?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:12 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nWhat's wrong with the option of \"we don't yet know\", Chad? Or does that just upset you too much? Why is it you so desperately need an answer? Why can't you accept that we don't yet know all?\nAre you so insecure that you have to have an immediate answer to every problem and will therefore grab \"god\" as the default when you don't have one?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:17 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nI can predict the future. Watch! Chad won't respond to my post.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:19 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nThose two are the only possibilities, yes, but once again, not accepting one is not accepting the other. I am non-commital on the issue, and you've once again not addressed my other point.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 7:13 pm |\nChad\n@hawaiiguest \"Those two are the only possibilities, yes, but once again, not accepting one is not accepting the other. I am non-commital on the issue\"\n@Chad \"ah.. I see 🙂\nactualy, i'm very happy getting atheists to the point where the only answer they have is \"I realize there are only two choices, but as I reject one of hand, and I realize the other is completely untenable, I refuse to comment.\"\n@TTTPS: \"we dont know\" as an answer, when we actually DO know a great deal (like the universe had a beginning), is just one notch below the above statement in terms of refusing to look at reality..\n=======\n@hawaiiguest \", and you've once again not addressed my other point.\"\nI assume it is this one \"You have made a claim the god of abraham is real, and when asked what distinguishes your claim from others, you give these points. They are directly tied to your claim of a specific god.\"\nagain, I dont make the claim that acknowledging the reality that the trigger for the creation of our universe had to exist outside the universe conclusively proves that God exists. What I do say is that it certainly supports the existence of God.\nThe God of Abraham as creator is the best explanation for the facts as we know them.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:35 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nChard, you ninny, if we KNEW, you wouldn't be here blowing your brain-farts all over the place. We don't know and there is no evidence that an invisible being exists, much less that it created anything.\nWhy do you have to lie? If you have faith, why aren't you able to admit that you believe in spite of uncertainty, instead of lying and pretending you have facts?\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:39 pm |\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nAnother strawman. I do not dismiss one out of hand, I dismiss one because it has no evidence to back it you dishonest little prick. There is no evidence for either, and until there is, a noncommital stance is the only logical one to take. The thought that the universe HAD to have an external cause is not a consensus, and to present it as such is another lie of yours.\n\"\"we dont know\" as an answer, when we actually DO know a great deal (like the universe had a beginning), is just one notch below the above statement in terms of refusing to look at reality..\"\nThe current state of the universe had a beginning, and to postulate anything before that is to rely purely on speculation, so your statement is false.\nI really do wonder how you can even look yourself in the mirror when you are such a dishonest person.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:43 pm |\nChad\nThomas Edison once said \"“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”\nNow, the notion that the God of Abraham created the universe, isnt true merely because we have no other known trigger. That would be a fallacious argument.\nHowever, at the same time, what we know of the origin of the universe being consistent with the biblical description, and requiring an ent ity outside our time/space, is powerful support for the reality of God.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:45 pm |\nTom, Tom, the Piper's Son\nNo, it's not, Chard. No matter how many times you click those ruby slippers together, it still won't be a fact.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 8:47 pm |\nChad\neasy to read overview of the schools of thought regarding the origin of the universe:\nthere are two schools: one says that the beginning happened when the universe transitioned from a timeless quantum fluctuation into the expanding blob we live in. History starts at the bang, so to speak. Another says that we live in a multiverse, a possibly infinite assembly of all kinds of disconnected universes, with different properties. Ours would be but one of these. In this case, the universe, big bang and all, would be a tiny piece of a timeless cosmic entity\nhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/01/11/144958094/what-happened-before-the-big-bang-and-other-weird-cosmic-questions\nAs you can see, cosmologists investigate origins of our universe from forces external to our current universe every day.\nSo many atheists are terrified of acknowledging that indeed cosmologist agrees that there was a beginning of our universe, and a \"before\" our universe. They do so just because they are unfamiliar with cosmology, and to acknowledge that seems to be an acknowledgement of the theistic position.\nWhich goes to a central atheist truth. They believe what they believe in spite of the evidence around them. If at any point the data points to what they think might be a theistic origin, they immediately shut down and refuse further investigation in that direction, that's when \"we dont know\" kicks in.\n\"Open minded\" indeed 😉\nhawaiiguest\n@Chad\nStill as dishonest as ever Chad. Point to something that states accurately, that all cosmologists are only studying external causes for the current state of the universe, and that there is a unanimous consent among them that there must be an external cause.\nAll you ever do is toss out some random article that in no way says that, and then generalize it. You are incapable of honesty Chad, and you continue to show it.\nJuly 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm |\njust sayin\nChad is no different than most christians.....dishonest to the core.\nJuly 24, 2012 at 2:14 pm |\nReality\nAccomplice #1- the Colorado state government which still does not have strict and enforced gun ownership laws.\nAccomplice #2:\nThe movie theater management which apparently had no security and/or no manned security cameras. Said nut job propped open an emergency exit door and re-entered with his weapons and garb. Why didn't this activate alarms? Or did it activate a silent alarm and what security was present did not respond?\nOpening up an emergency exit door apparently is a typical way to allow non-paying friends into movie theaters. This is done as the paying customers are leaving the normal exits. A friend walks out the emergency exit and his/her friends walk in giving them immediate access to any movie playing in the typical modern multiplex movie theater. Observing this scenario once, I followed the non-paying person to the lobby and reported him to the manager. There were no security personnel there that I could see as they were my first choice.\nI highly recommend reviewing the security at your movie theaters before going again.\nAccomplice #3:\nHomeland Security/FBI. The taxpayers assume that part of our taxes are used to track anyone buying large amounts of ammunition. 6000 rounds of ammunition should have raised red flags in all of the government surveillance computers. Why didn't it???????????????\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:47 pm |\nReality loves her Big Brother\nBlame blame blame.\nAmerica would be a lockdown police state if we responded to every bit of violence as you suggest.\nMaybe we could have Homeland Security check points like at airports everywhere! Stores! Buildings!\nAnd total police scrutiny of every electronic transaction and e-mail and text and all of it! Cameras everywhere.\nWhat fun.\nThere is already way too much of that.\n\"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety\" Benjamin Franklin\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:19 pm |\nObserver\nGuess you skipped the NRA on purpose.\nAccomplice #1 – NRA\nThey constantly fight to enable people to stockpile weapons capable of killing many people in seconds.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:28 pm |\nCurious\nI wonder what you expect the theater security to do when the alarm goes off and they find themselves face to face with a guy in a bulletproof vest, full riot gear, carrying an assault rifle with a 100 round drum magazine?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:46 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nThe only person to blame is the gunman. All this reactionary BS about gun control is just hysterical left wing drivel.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:54 pm |\nObserver\nRational Libertarian,\nPretending that the NRA's efforts to support people to have weapons shooting 40 rounds without a reload didn't affect things it typical hysterical rightwing drivel.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:12 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nI know you won't be happy until America is a totalitarian dystopia, so why don't you go live in Cuba or North Korea in the meantime.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:17 pm |\nGodFreeNow\nWhile I understand the desire to not blame, I do think it's important to discuss all of the factors at play. If this man were armed with only a knife it would be a completely different story. My father is a US marine, avid hunter and life member of the NRA. He loves to quote \"guns don't kill people, people kill people.\" This is such an immature argument. It's like saying bombs don't kill people, people kill people. While it is true on its face value, it is lazy in its attempt to gloss over the ease at which it makes killing capable.\nGuns are wonderful. I grew up around them, and I even owned a few myself. However, I don't think they should be in the hands of 97% of the people out there and that include the police. I now live in a country where guns are illegal. If you live in a country where you cannot control your appeti.te to eat foods to the point of obesity, education is one of the lowest in the 1st world, 1% of your population resides in prisons and 45% of your population believes the earth is less than 10k years old, you don't have the maturity to own such a destructive killing instrument. You can't be trusted to make critical and complex decisions about using that weapon. You're barely above the state of animal.\nBut if a bible verse could penetrate your lizard brain and trigger some conscious response, I would submit:\nMatthew 26:52\n\"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.\"\nWelcome to America... this is the reality you've created from your paranoia and lack of critical reasoning.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:19 pm |\nMark from Middle River\nObserver. Can you tell of one Gun Law that can stop such a Criminal as this. If he is willing to break the law and setup explosives in his apartment would he just break the law on getting a fire arm as well?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:20 pm |\nGodFreeNow\n@Mark from Middle River, I think @Reality already suggested it in the last paragraph. Buying 6k rounds of ammunition should be a red flag just like buying 2 tons of fertilizer would be.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:29 pm |\nObserver\nMark from Middle River,\nObviously, we can never stop people from going crazy or killing others but we can make laws to limit the amount of damage they can do. There is ZERO reason why anyone (outside of the military or law enforcement) NEEDS a weapon that can kill 40 people in seconds before reloading. The NRA cannot justify it without a dosage of paranoia.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:06 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>”but we can make laws to limit the amount of damage they can do. There is ZERO reason why anyone”\nOk, say the police had gone through the front door of his house and the multiple bombs that he set had gone up. There are laws that say that you can not build bombs inside of your home and they did not “limit” this killer from building and setting these devices. So, can you propose a law that can do what the “bomb”laws could not.\nThe NRA has gained all of its ground by just arguing that any law will only work for those that obey the law. The manufacture of firearms and bullets are world wide and beyond the powers of the United States. Basically the same as illegal drugs and they have not been able to stop the movement of that product back and forth across the border.\nAlso, what you and me might consider not a “need” is not always a universal belief. Only thing that I feel we should do is register all firearms and impose almost to execution, draconian punishments for the use of one in a crime. Maybe even every so many years, you have to appear in front a board or committee to decertify a citizens ownership of fire arms.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:07 pm |\nInigo Montoya\nUh, Rational? Left-wingers cannot, by definition, be reactionary.\nYou keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:22 am |\nObserver\nMark from Middle River,\nIf you have a neighbor who acts very odd, lives alone, curses all the neighbors and constantly talks to himself, would you have any problem if he owned a bazooka? After all, where you draw the line is just subjective according to you.\nJuly 23, 2012 at 12:33 am |\nKarllinen\nIn the perspective of most Americans, this killer in Aurora probably seems insane and evil, but as Mr. Prothero points out, this goes on every hour of every day in the world.\nWe justify killing by calling it war.\nWe justify injustices of all kinds with corrupt laws that allow people to exploit the weak in society, and though we call this Capitalism and free-enterprise, it is, in fact, perpetuation of a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. If we continue to live with these ideals, we will have more Auroras.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:28 pm |\nReality\nOur Defense Against Terror and Aggression:\nAn update (or how we are spending or how we have spent the USA taxpayers’ money to eliminate global terror and aggression)\nThe terror and aggression via a Partial and Recent and Not So Recent Body Count\nAs the koranic/mosque driven acts of terror and horror continue:\nThe Muslim Conquest of India – 11th to 18th century\n■\"The likely death toll is somewhere between 2 million and 80 million. The geometric mean of those two limits is 12.7 million. \"\nand the 19 million killed in the Mideast Slave Trade 7C-19C by Muslims.\nand more recently\n1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured\n1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh\n2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured\n3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US troops killed in action, 3,480 and 928 in non combat roles. 102,522 – 112,049 Iraqi civilians killed as of 9/16/2011/, mostly due to suicide bombers, land mines and bombs of various types, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf\n4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]\n5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.\n6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.\n7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.\n8. UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.\n9) The execution of an eloping couple in Afghanistan on 04/15/2009 by the Taliban.\n10) – Afghanistan: US troops 1,385 killed in action, 273 killed in non-combat situations as of 09/15/2011. Over 40,000 Afghan civilians killed due to the dark-age, koranic-driven Taliban acts of horror\n11) The killing of 13 citizen soldiers at Ft. Hood by a follower of the koran.\n12) 38 Russian citizens killed on March 29, 2010 by Muslim women suicide bombers.\n13) The May 28, 2010 attack on a Islamic religious minority in Pakistan, which have left 98 dead,\n14) Lockerbie is known internationally as the site where, on 21 December 1988, the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 crashed as a result of a terrorist bomb. In the United Kingdom the event is referred to as the Lockerbie disaster, the Lockerbie bombing, or simply Lockerbie. Eleven townspeople were killed in Sherwood Crescent, where the plane's wings and fuel tanks plummeted in a fiery explosion, destroying several houses and leaving a huge crater, with debris causing damage to a number of buildings nearby. The 270 fatalities (259 on the plane, 11 in Lockerbie) were citizens of 21 nations.\n15 The daily suicide and/or roadside and/or mosque bombings in the terror world of Islam.\n16) Bombs sent from Yemen by followers of the koran which fortunately were discovered before the bombs were detonated.\n17) The killing of 58 Christians in a Catholic church in one of the latest acts of horror and terror in Iraq.\n18) Moscow airport suicide bombing: 35 dead, 130 injured. January 25, 2011.\n19) A Pakistani minister, who had said he was getting death threats because of his stance against the country's controversial blasphemy law, was shot and killed Wednesday, 3/2/2011\n20) two American troops killed in Germany by a recently radicalized Muslim, 3/3/2011\n21) the kidnapping and apparent killing of a follower of Zoraster in the dark world of Islamic Pakistan.\n22) Shariatpur, Bangladesh (CNN 3/30/2011) - Hena Akhter's last words to her mother proclaimed her innocence. But it was too late to save the 14-year-old girl. Her fellow villagers in Bangladesh's Shariatpur district had already passed harsh judgment on her. Guilty, they said, of having an affair with a married man. The imam from the local mosque ordered the fatwa, or religious ruling, and the punishment: 101 lashes delivered swiftly, deliberately in public. Hena dropped after 70 and died a week later.\n23) \"October 4, 2011, 100 die as a truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded Tuesday at the gate of compound housing several government ministries on a busy Mogadishu street. It was the deadliest single bombing carried out by the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in Somalia since their insurgency began. \"\no 24) Mon Jun 4, 2012 10:18am EDT\nBAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed car outside a Shi'ite Muslim office in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 190 in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Iraq's al Qaeda affiliate.\nThe bombing on a Shi'ite religious office comes at a sensitive time, with the country's fractious Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs locked in a crisis that threatens to unravel their power-sharing deal and spill into sectarian tensions.\"\n25) Last week's bombing of a bus in Bulgaria.\nContinued below:\nOther elements of our War on Terror and Aggression:\n-Operation Iraqi Freedom- The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops killed in action, 3,480 and 928 in non combat roles as of 09/15/2011/, 102,522 – 112,049 Iraqi civilians killed as of 9/16/2011/, mostly due to suicide bombers, land mines and bombs of various types, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf\n– Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan: US troops 1,385 killed in action, 273 killed in non-combat situations as of 09/15/2011. Over 40,000 Afghan civilians killed mostly due to the dark-age, koranic-driven Taliban acts of horror,\n– Sa-dd-am, his sons and major he-nchmen have been deleted. Sa-dd-am's bravado about WMD was one of his major mistakes. Kuwait was saved.\n– Iran is being been contained. (beside containing the Sunni-Shiite civil war in Baghdad, that is the main reason we are in Iraq. And yes, essential oil continues to flow from the region.)\n– North Korea is still u-ncivil but is contained.\n– Northern Ireland is finally at peace.\n– The Jews and Palestinians are being separated by walls. Hopefully the walls will follow the 1948 UN accords. Unfortunately the Annapolis Peace Conference was not successful. And unfortunately the recent events in Gaza has put this situation back to “squ-are one”. And this significant stupidity is driven by the mythical foundations of both religions!!!\n– – Fa-na–tical Islam has basically been contained to the Middle East but a wall between India and Pakistan would be a plus for world peace. Ditto for a wall between Afghanistan and Pakistan.\n– Timothy McVeigh was exe-cuted. Terry Nichols escaped the death penalty twice because of deadlocked juries. He was sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole,[3][7] and is incarcerated in ADX Florence, a super maximum security prison near Florence, Colorado. He shares a cellblock that is commonly referred to as \"Bombers Row\" with Ramzi Yousef and Ted Kaczynski\n– Eric Ru-dolph is spending three life terms in pri-son with no par-ole.\n– Jim Jones, David Koresh, Kaczynski, the \"nuns\" from Rwanda, and the KKK were all dealt with and either eliminated themselves or are being punished.\n– Islamic Sudan, Dar-fur and So-malia are still terror hot spots.\n– The terror and tor-ture of Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Kuwait were ended by the proper application of the military forces of the USA and her freedom-loving friends. Ra-dovan Karadzic was finally captured on 7/23/08 and is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the law of war – charges related to the 1992-1995 civil war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia.\nThe capture of Ratko Mladić: (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратко Младић, pronounced [râtkɔ mlǎːditɕ], born 12 March 1943[1][2]) is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).[3] His trial began on 3 June 2011.\n– the bloody terror brought about by the Ja-panese, Na-zis and Co-mmunists was with great difficulty eliminated by the good guys.\n– Bin Laden was executed for crimes against humanity on May 1, 2011\n– Ditto for Anwar al-Awlaki on September 30, 2011\n– Ditto for Abu Yahya al-Libi on June 5, 2012\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:52 pm |\nThe Ole Bullsh!t Detector Is Going Off Again\nYour theory falls apart the moment you realize that every other system ever tried also had war and injustice and oppression, and often worse.\nEquating survival of the fittest with capitalism is Social Darwinism, an ugly and thoroughly discredited perversion of what Darwin was really saying. Know who else did it? The Nazis. No joke.\nHere is what you are saying: Capitalism caused Holmes to shoot up a theater. The theory of evolution caused Holmes to shoot up a theater.\nTotally ridiculous. And what is with everyone using that condescending King's We today?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:30 pm |\nRational Libertarian\nNorthern Ireland is in no way at peace.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:59 pm |\nAtheism is not healthy for children and other living things\nPrayer changes things .\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:20 pm |\nObserver\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\njust wondering\nspeaking from experience or wishful thinking?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:48 pm |\nObserver\nThe answer to your ignorant question is \"neither\".\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:08 pm |\njust wondering\nConsider then your ignorant comment responded to.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm |\nJesus\nPrayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.\nAn article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.\nThe statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!|. .\nJuly 23, 2012 at 10:26 am |\nTsu Tzu\none one said:\n\"I just read on USA Today that a recent Pew pole reports the percentage of people who say they have no religious affiliation (i.e. the \"nones\") has hit 19%.\"\nMeanwhile, the percentage of people who say that they are atheists, stagnates in between 1 & 4%.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:05 pm |\nObserver\nThat tells you that people are becoming more disatisfied with organized religions and may be more headed towards atheism whether they are ready to admit that or not.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\nGodFreeNow\nI think it also speaks to how strong the addiction and fear is as well. People know what they're doing doesn't make sense, but they're still afraid to let go of their fantasies.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:10 pm |\nAnalyzer\nYou really are good in observing but terribly way off the mark when it comes to analysis.\nYes, it tells us that people are becoming more disatisfied with organized religions\nBUT!\nHow on earth you can you say that \"maybe there is more headed towards atheism\" when atheism rate is not moving?\nI told you to not just OBSERVE but ANALYZE!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:15 pm |\nObserver\nAnalyzer,\nIf you had analyzed things more, you'd realize that religious people who leave towards atheism are going to be very reticent to tell their probably Christian friends, especially when they aren't 100% certain.\nYou need to do more observation.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:21 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\nDoes anybody have a link to the latest survey data? I can't find it at USA Today or Pew.\nWithout the current data, I don't think anyone should take the number thrown out for atheism as fact.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:21 pm |\nReally-O?\n@0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\nHere you go –\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:37 pm |\n0G-No gods, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or guns\nThanks but that's a link to the USA Today story, not the Pew data the story was based on. USA Today does not provide additional detail such as what the percentage of atheists is. I can't find the data collected in 2011 and reported on in 2012 at Pew...\nWhile searching, I did come across an article, based on a different survery, that says in confidence in religion is at an all time low – http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/54505319-80/religion-americans-confidence-percent.html.csp.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:45 pm |\nCurious\nWhere are you gettting your data, Ana.lyzer? Every survey I found showed that atheism doubled over the last decade.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm |\nOne one\nIt's just a matter of time.\nStudy finds that religion is heading toward extinction.\nAmong other things it concludes:\n\"religion may become extinct in Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.\"\n\"In 2008 those claiming no religion rose to 15 percent nationwide, with a maximum in Vermont at 34 percent,\".\n\"The study also found that \"Americans without affiliation comprise the only religious group growing in all 50 states.\"\nSource: Foxnews.com, march 23, 2011\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm |\nAnalyzer\nThat was like claiming that Obama was a closet atheist.\nIt's nothing butn raw as.sumptions and has no historical, statistical and factual basis.\nDo some more analysis.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm |\nCurious\nHere's another weird detail. Depending on the survey, 6-9% of Americans say they do not believe in any god or universal spirit. However, only .7% of Americans will label themselves an atheist.\nThat means that only about 1 in 10 people who are atheists will identify themselves as such. Doesn't that speak volumes about the ugly social stigma that has been put upon us!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm |\nObserver\n\"It has no factual basis.\"\nlol.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:58 pm |\nOne one\n@curious. Your point in right on target. What people say and what they really think may be very different. Especially in a society where a majority constantly preaches that the minority deserve to burn in hell for their beliefs.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:06 pm |\nOne one\nHere is another thought. Atheism existed long before the desert religions. It existed along side of all the other religions as they were created, flourished, and became extinct. And it will still be around after Christianity becomes extinct. You could say it transcends all other religious belief systems.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:13 pm |\nI'm not a GOPer, nor do I play one on TV\n@One one,\nwhat Pew poll says that \"unaffiliated is now 19%? Their last US Religions Landsape Survey at pewforum.org still says 16.1% including a total of 4% atheist + agnostic.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 10:00 pm |\nOne one\nJuly 23, 2012 at 6:06 am |\nJohnny Blammo\nYou know, Stephen Prothero is probably a nice guy who wouldn't be a drag to be around, but he isn't much of a writer. His ideas tend to be in the shallow end of the pool, odd conclusions based on lackluster news analysis combined with a theology that never seems to have been subjected to serious critical thought.\nVery tough to take a guy seriously who perceives \"original sin\" to be empirically verifiable, or whose insight into the Aurora Shooting is a very shallow, distorted, and almost totally irrelevant \"we all are part evil.\"\nI would love to chat with Stephen about whether it is even possible for an insane person to be considered evil. Maybe the complexity of that will make him aware that his conclusions are very shallow and unsupportable platitudes.\nI don't know how anyone can draw parallels between the extreme actions of a mentally deranged individual and the vague complacency of otherwise good people who choose to not focus on being involved in easing social ills.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:36 pm |\nMark from Middle River\nI have always thought that Stephen's biggest problem is that he is a professor at a college. Sadly often times when you spend years and decades “talking to” a captive audience, which are dependent on your good graces for a grade, then you go through life never having “listened” to and acknowledged views that are not of your own. The possibility is that unless any of us are tenured Professors, then to Stephen, we are ones meant to be “talked to” not acknowledged.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:48 pm |\nbaby jimmy\nJuly 22, 2012 at 5:27 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>“If evil is readily identifiable, it would never get any traction. It would be easily identified and put down.”\nThat is a very deep thought but, would it really be automatically put down? Maybe if we all had a united definition of what was and was not evil or evil actions. Politicians are fast to throw around the evil definition against those who simply voted against one of their bills. Last election I choose not to vote and by the end of the night my cell phone was filled with negative messages from my African American friends and family because I did not vote for Obama and from my Conservative Republican friends for not voting for McCain.\nEither way, I do not know that as we get more of these killings, Ones that target no specific demographic. We are getting closer.\nTry this....\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtAXRygVZFM&w=640&h=390]\nMaybe the answer was in the Batman movies after all.\n“Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn. “\nAnd unless you are ready to go forward with how Alfred finally was able to stop that guy.... We will be seeing more of this in our future.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:26 pm |\nLame\nProbably not a great idea to take your philosophy from a Batman movie.\nAlfred's \"watch the world burn\" sounds nice, but it is super simplistic. In the real world, people who just like to watch the world burn are insane. And \"burning down the forest\" is hardly a realistic solution to anything. And Alfred believes that money is logical.\nIn the future, when you are looking for philosophy, you might actually want to leave the comic book section.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:47 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>“Alfred's \"watch the world burn\" sounds nice, but it is super simplistic. “\nOver the next few weeks the news services will have this speaker and that speaker. All will show their credentials and declare that they know why guys like this do such horrible acts. Some might even stress that we should greatly divert Government funding to their area of study so that they can finally find out why this happened. The political camps of Oba and Rom are disparately hoping that they can spin this tragedy to ether hold on to the White House or retake the White House.\nInsanity, possibly but maybe not. If you use the actual definition, this guy was calculating in his actions that day. The trip wire at his house just showed that he really thought this out. The Gabriel Giffords shooter, vs this guy, would possibly be a better comparison between insanity and just a calculating killer.\nI point to this clip because it is simple. It is not complex and is free from the clinical babble and political spin that we will have shoved down our throats, in the coming weeks. It comes to a point that we in society are too afraid to accept. We believe that these types of folks can be fixed. That if their own political party was in power that this type of event would not happen. We as a society are looking for purpose in such an event and fail to acknowledge that some members of our society just want to see death on a massive scale for no other purpose than it pleases them.\nSome times you do not need DSM-V to explain in tens of thousands of word, an event such as this. It is maybe something that you can get simply from the comic book section.\n>>>”And \"burning down the forest\" is hardly a realistic solution to anything.”\nExactly... Which is why I said “unless” and finished with … “We will be seeing more of this in our future.”And since he did not target a specific race or other demographic should scare us even more, because now any of us can be the target.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:21 pm |\nLame\nYour first paragraph is nothing but a political rant, filled with hyperbole and irrelevant to the discussion.\nPsychotics, schizophrenics, and others with antisocial personality disorders are capable of planning. It took extensive planning for Jim Jones to have the necessary supplies for a mass suicide that occured on short notice. There are many many other examples.\n\"We believe that these types of folks can be fixed. That if their own political party was in power that this type of event would not happen. \" I have never ever EVER heard anyone of any political persuasion say that; I have never run across anyone foolish enough to believe it. Why do you keep dragging partisan politics into something where it is totally irrelevant?\n\"We . . . fail to acknowledge that some members of our society just want to see death on a massive scale for no other purpose than it pleases them.\" Utter nonsense, and totally unsupportable. And there's that weird \"we\" again. I never met any of these \"we\"s you are talking about.\n\"It is maybe something that you can get simply from the comic book section.\" You don't relly want to stand by that comment, do you?\n\"should scare us even more\" Sorry, but I refuse to live in fear, especially over a type of occurance which, while shocking, is actually very rare and incredibly unlikely to affect me or my loved ones. You can live in fear if you like. Go for it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:46 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>”Your first paragraph is nothing but a political rant, filled with hyperbole and irrelevant to the discussion.”\nWell, I will admit that it is a rant but it is in response to your post so it is relevant.\n>>>”It took extensive planning for Jim Jones to have the necessary supplies for a mass suicide that occured on short notice.”\nJim Jones did that all on his own? I am partially familiar with the Jones town mass suicides and that was not a one man job. Not even in the leadership capsity. He might have been the lead player but there were others in the band. I would put him with Charles Mason and in some ways, I would say they are more dangerous than this type of shooter.\nWhen I look at the Gabriel Giffords shooter you do not see the level of planning that this guy had. This guy was more along the lines of the Breivik but to me scarier because Breivik targeted a specific group.\n>>>”I have never ever EVER heard anyone of any political persuasion say that; I have never run across anyone foolish enough to believe it. “\nThis morning, I listened to C-Span radio. They replay the early Sunday morning network talk shows. Diane Fienstien could not help herself from saying over and over that her gun control bill, which expired a few years back, would have stopped this guy from getting the weapons that he used to carry out this attack. I then listened to democratic senator after senator point to other members of their party as everything from lacking backbone or just turning their backs on the citizens of America, for not supporting gun control bills.\nI do not need to politicize this issue. Those who are seeking political power are doing it enough. So because they are slowly dragging partisan politics in, should not we call it, when we see it?\nFor the record, I might be a Republican but the crap that both are offering us these days, is appalling.\n>>>”Utter nonsense, and totally unsupportable. “\nAgain, listen to the news reports and commentary. People over and over … “I don't know why he did it...” , “why would he do such a thing” …. “what made him a killer” ….\nMy point is that maybe just like folks are born Gay or Straight, Black or White, etc... maybe he was just born this way. I fear my comment stands every time you hear some one ask why a person “becomes” a killer. The answer is that he or she might have always been a killer.\nWhat was this guys mom's first words that night when the police woke her up … “I think you have the right guy....”\n“You don't really want to stand by that comment, do you? “... Shakespeare, Clemons and a host of other writers are often seen these days as having remarkable insight into the human condition. Also, this is a movie my friend and not a comic book. The dialogue is substantially more. It is art and if it does suit you then no harm but do not discount a film just because it was based on a comic book.\n>>>”You can live in fear if you like. Go for it.”\nMaybe was a wrong. I will give that lone point but I will say that it concerns folks a bit more when killers do not target specific groups. Remember the DC Sniper shootings? What made that scary … other then them being incredible shots... was that they killed anyone. Including shooting a child being dropped off by mother to school. Many are used to hearing the news report that a certain demographic are the intended targets. Maybe because they were Black, or that they were women of a certain age. For many if they personally did not fit or anyone they knew didn't fit then the worry is diminished. That killers are starting to target anyone breathing is, what I feel a new chapter or rise of a old chapter in such crimes.\nGood post, Lame 🙂\nJuly 22, 2012 at 6:07 pm |\nOne one\nMark, how do you embed YouTube videos into a post in the comment section ?\nJuly 22, 2012 at 7:31 pm |\nLame\nWe'll agree to disagree and let others decide what rings true for them, but yes, a good conversation.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 8:55 pm |\nEd\nI would tend instead to refer to acts like this as \"ultimate evil\" referring to murder and premeditated murder of unknown people in particular. We all have evil in us. The difference is that we are in control of our actions and our both our rational thinking and conscience prevents evil thoughts from outweighing other thoughts and turning to action. It disturbed me greatly when President Bush used the term evildoers over and over again as if we are righteous and devoid of evil and they are not. The image never sat well with me.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 2:56 pm |\n\"Evil\" is a very misleading word\nI generally agree, but remember that what we all have in us is the capacity to do bad if the right triggers are pulled. I think it is erroneous to say there is evil lurking in us.\nPart of the problem is that to secular people, evil is \"really bad behavior\", but to religious people, it is a supernatural force. To a secular person, you can choose to not respond to the desire to do something bad, but to a religious person, only God can stop it.\nBut you are correct that religious people like Bush often presume that because they assume they are in God's grace, their actions are all God-inspired and inherently good. And not surprisingly, that is where evil becomes possible. Because many if not most of the world's worst atrocities occurred as an enactment of some morality, whether religious or ideological.\nIf you are certain that you are good, you are blind to all bad that you do.\nGood post, Ed.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:14 pm |\nMark from Middle River\n>>>”To a secular person, you can choose to not respond to the desire to do something bad, but to a religious person, only God can stop it. “\nYes, good post but I would offer this. My thought is that the Religious ones in question are not of the thought that God can stop it. If your premise was true then folks would see something negative and go to God in prayer and let that be the end of it. What we get are ones that believe themselves to be God's active avenging hand on Earth. Think about, if your view were wholly correct then it puts your “enactment” position on shaky grounds.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 3:42 pm |\n\"Evil\" is a very misleading word\nInteresting point, but no. That people commit atrocities in the name of morality, whether based on religion or ideology, is historical fact, strongly evidenced in many many occurances. Far from being shaky, it is verifyable with massive amounts of evidence.\n\"Folks would see something negative and go to God in prayer and let that be the end of it\" No. I did not say anything of the sort. It is obvious that God does not act in the face of identified evil. I said that \"to a religious person, only God can stop it\", not that God would automatically stop it without fail.\n\"What we get are ones that believe themselves to be God's active avenging hand on Earth\" – totally agree. That is my point about \"enacting morality\" – they are the ones doing it.\nJuly 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm |\nLeonidasMaximus\nSuch a bland and ill written article!\nJuly 22, 2012 at 2:52 pm |",
"The CRPG Addict: NetHack: The Blurst of Times\nThe saying goes that given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pounding at a typewriter will eventually produce Hamlet. It's too bad I know it's not true ...\nThe CRPG Addict: NetHack: The Blurst of Times\nNetHack: The Blurst of Times\nNo, I don't want my #$&*@ possessions identified.\nThe saying goes that given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pounding at a typewriter will eventually produce Hamlet. It's too bad I know it's not true. Otherwise, it might give me hope that some random key combination will eventually produce a winning NetHack screen.\nLet's begin by analyzing why the old monkey adage isn't true. First of all, it doesn't matter whether you phrase it as a single monkey on a single typewriter given infinite time or an infinite number of monkeys given a finite amount of time, or whatever. As long as any one of the dimensions of the problem is infinite, the mathematics are essentially the same as if they all are.\nBut if you're going to rest the argument on mathematics, you have to recognize two things:\n1. There isn't enough energy in the universe for the monkey to type long enough to have even a one-in-a-trillion probability of even typing \"the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.\"\n2. Just because a series of events have a cumulative probability of 1 doesn't guarantee that it will ever happen, since each trial is independent. It violates no laws of probability for that monkey to bang at the typewriter for a billion years and never type the letter a, let alone \"This above all: to thine own self be true.\"\nSo while it would be nice to think that all the time I've spent on NetHack will eventually produce an ascension, it's really just a gambler's fallacy. I could easily never ascend. It's entirely possible for none of my characters to get past Level 1 from now on, even.\nI was reminded of this a couple months ago, when a reader wrote to me about his NetHack experience. At first, I thought it was a little odd that he was telling me, but then I realized that when your Level 20 character dies on Level 26 with two dozen active intrinsics and a blessed scroll of genocide you never got to use, who else are you going to tell? Your co-workers? Your spouse? The bartender at Applebee's? No, you have to write to someone who will empathize with that tragedy, and that's a service I'm happy to provide.\nAnyway, my correspondent started his posting with: \"I had some time off this week, and was resolved to finally ascend in NetHack after 25 years of intermittent tries.\"\nTemporary insanity is really the only explanation for this statement. Anyone who's played the game for more than 25 hours, let alone 25 years, should know that you can't simply \"decide\" to ascend no matter how much time you're willing to put into it. It's like saying, \"I had a week off so I decided to go to Vegas and make $20,000.\" (Actually, I think that might be easier.)\nThis is just a random image to show how much a loose NPC dwarf can mess up a level with his pick-axe.\nIt's been a while since I posted on NetHack, but that isn't because I haven't been playing. To the contrary, I've fielded almost four dozen characters in the past six months. But I wanted to wait until I had something more significant to report than I did last time, when Haran the Barbarian reached the castle and upper levels of Hell, although without much of a plan, and without having really explored the castle.\nShortly after Haran's discouraging death, I decided that you were all right: there was no way I was ever going to win the game without looking at spoilers. Not unless I was willing to jettison the rest of my blog and spend all my time on NetHack. My posting on \" The Great Heist \"--and I admit it wasn't all that clear in this regard--was supposed to convey that I had, in fact, looked at spoilers, had seen what major steps \"ascending\" required, and was assembling a master plan to reach that point--a plan that included a detailed \"shopping list\" of items and intrinsics needed before hitting the castle. Experienced players call this their \" ascension kit .\"\nBased on the intrinsics that I wanted in my kit, I decided to spend the rest of NetHack 3.0.9 playing an elf. The elf starts with reasonably decent statistics--not as good as the barbarian, but decent. More important, he comes with several intrinsics: automatic searching, see invisibility, sleep resistance, and speed. Some of these are hard to obtain through the normal mechanism of eating corpses. Automatic searching, for instance, is not available through any corpse-eating; you have to be a archaeologist or tourist at Level 10 (monks and rangers aren't in this version) or an elf at any level or find a Ring of Searching (thus wasting a ring slot). Seeing invisibility only comes from one creature--the stalker--and you have to already be invisible when you eat it. Sleep resistance is another intrinsic that only comes from one monster: an orange dragon.\nThe many benefits of being an elf.\n \nThe second reason I decided to stick to the elf is that it's not available as a class in later versions. Somewhere around version 3.2, races and classes are separated, and the elf's abilities are absorbed by the ranger class.\nThus I have since December thrown a company of elves into the Mazes of Menace, most of them dying around Level 8 or 9, often at the jaws of soldier ants. (Man, I know I'm supposed to save Scrolls of Genocide for higher-level creatures, but I sure would love to use them on soldier ants)\nFor a while, I gave all my elf characters different names, but I got sick of thinking them up, so I eventually settled on Ellasar and used it over and over. The one I'm about to describe might have been my 20th or so. I didn't really start taking notes about his adventures until he made it to duungeon level 15. At that point, he was at character level 10.\nThe first screenshot I took of this Ellasar. He's just eaten a hill giant corpse and increased his strength to 17.\nI'd been playing him on and off for about four days at this point. Of his adventures, only a few things stand out:\n1) On an early level, I'd taken a chance drinking from a fountain and a water demon offered me a wish. I asked for a Scroll of Genocide, one of the top things for any ascension kit. Later, I found another one. By the time I reached level 15, I had two potions of water in my inventory, and I was just waiting for an alignment-friendly altar to turn them into holy water and bless the Scrolls of Genocide. Blessed Scrolls of Genocide wipe out entire monster classes rather than individual monsters, and my plan was to use them on some of the more troublesome creatures at higher levels--probably liches and mind flayers.\n2) Up to Level 15, I hadn't found a single store. I was walking around with a ton of cash--more than 4,000 gold pieces.\n3) I don't think I encountered any soldier ants, either.\n4) The only altar I found was back on Level 3. I kept trekking back up there from lower levels to test whether certain items in my inventory were cursed.\n5) It took me a long time to improve my weapons and armor. I never found a good replacement for the blessed elven short sword that my elf started with, nor the elven mithril coat he was wearing. It took me until about Level 13 when I killed some soldiers to get some good supplementary armor, including a +1 small shield, a pair of fencing gloves, a pair of hard shoes, and--best of all--a cloak of displacement. Also on the same level, I found what turned out to be a blessed scroll of enchant weapon, which turned my +1 short sword into a +4.\nI really like the cloak of displacement.\nMy inventory at this point was pretty good. I was wearing a circular amulet whose purpose I didn't know at the time (it later turned out to be a resist poison amulet, which was redundant with my intrinsic resistance), plenty of food, a ring of fire resistance and a ring of protection, two wands of cancellation (very effective against magic monsters), a wand of lightning for engraving ELBERETH, two unicorn horns (for dispelling blindness, confusion, etc.), a lizard corpse in case a cockatrice hissed at me, and a pick axe for carving my own paths. The major item lacking from my desired \"kit\" at this point was a blindfold. I had the \"telepathic\" intrinsic from eating a floating eye, and in previous games I found the combination of that and a blindfold almost essential.\nPart of Ellasar's Level 15 inventory.\nFor other intrinsics, thanks to careful eating of the right monsters, I was poison resistant, fire resistant, cold resistant, and sleep resistant. I had hoped to find a Ring of Teleport Control so I could then eat something that granted teleportitis; other than that, shock resistance was the only thing on my shopping list.\n \nAt this point, I was still cautious. I'd been here before, plenty of times. My last Ellasar, in fact, had died at Level 20.\nThe level featured a barracks of soliders, which I defeated one-by-one, then spent a ridiculous amount of time--like all day one day--carefully testing much of their gear. But when I was done, I had an armor class of -17, so it was well worth it.\nAnd to think I nearly fled when I saw this many soldiers.\nHighlights from the next few levels included:\nI found an identify spellbook on Level 18. I was delighted when I saw what it was. Unfortunately, none of my castings worked, and I ended up wearing it out without identifying a single thing.\nEllasar's spell list is a little paltry.\nOn Level 20, I ran into a stone giant. I was satiated at the time, so I retreated to the stairs and waited upstairs until I was hungry so I could eat it and get a point of strength from. While I was waiting upstairs, I made the rookie mistake of holding down the SPACE bar too long (instead of just typing in a number of turns, which is like NetHack 101) and nearly got killed by something called a \"baluchitherium.\"\nLater on Level 20, I finally found my blindfold! This is when I started to think Ellasar might be going places.\nThis is that weird \"fungus level\" I don't really understand.\nOn Level 21, I killed my first dragon of the game--a blue one. I was pissed. I needed to eat a blue dragon for shock resistance, but I was already satiated. I decided not to risk choking and moved on.\nLevel 22 brought an altar with a priestess. I gave her the huge pile of gold I was carrying, and she gave me the \"protected\" intrinsic. I tried to convert my potions of water to holy water, but it didn't work. It turns out the altar was \"neutral\" and I was lawful. I started to despair of ever getting holy water.\nEllasar fails the \"atheist\" conduct.\nBut Level 23 brought an altar to a chaotic god, so I started to have hope about Level 24. Then I stepped on a teleport trap and ended back on Level 6. It took me a while to work my way back down. I killed a wraith on the way, ate its corpse, and rose to Level 14.\nI finally found a lawful altar on Level 25, made 4 potions of holy water, and dipped my Scrolls of Genocide within them. Bring on the liches!\nThe power is mine! Bwu-ha-ha-ha-ha!\nOn Level 26, a bunch of statues clued me in as to the presence of a medusa. I put on my blindfold and took care of her. There was also a \"treasure zoo\" on the level, which I dismantled with rapidity. With my 18+ strength, -18 AC, and pile of wands, I was feeling pretty invincible. I at last descended below the Dungeons of Doom for perhaps only the third time since December.\nIn the maze levels that followed, I stopped and searched for traps a couple of times between steps, checked my blindfold frequently, and walked slowly. It was tedious, and I forced myself to take breaks when it seemed like I was getting impatient and going too quickly. The way to play NetHack at all levels, but especially at these levels, is step, pause, scan, search, think, step.\nI'm glad I didn't step on that.\nAt length, I arrived at the \"castle\" level, and unlike usual, I had a way to cross the moat: a pair of \"boots of water walking\" I'd found a few levels prior. I skirted the castle, dealing with the eels in the moat, the xans on the rampart, and the assorted minotaur. After that, it took me a while to get in. The wiki says something about playing a tune on a musical instrument, but that must have come in a later version because I've never found a musical instrument in this game. What worked for me was a Wand of Striking on the drawbridge.\nThe center of the castle was full of liches, who immediately tried to start cursing my stuff. It was time to shine. I read the Scroll of Genocide and wiped the entire lich race from the dungeon!\nI really wish I could use this on cliff racers.\nAt last--for the first time--I had the fabled Wand of Wishing from the castle. Because I hadn't otherwise found one, and I needed it to progress, I made my first wish for a Ring of Teleport Control. Unfortunately, that was my only wish: the Wand had no more charges. I held onto it in case I found a Scroll of Charging later.\nYou've probably been reading all of this wondering how Ellasar ultimately died, so here's the twist: he's not dead. But he's stuck. As experienced NetHack players know, there are no \"down\" stairs after the castle; you have to get to the levels in Hell by teleporting. The options for doing so are limited. I need either a level teleport trap (they disappear when you first trigger them, though, and I can't find any more), a cursed potion of gain level, or a cursed scroll of teleportation. Actually, since I have some unholy water, regular versions of those items would work, too. Or a Scroll of Charging to recharge my Wand of Wishing.\nThus, for the last few days, for an hour or so a day, I've had Ellasar mincing about the lower levels, fighting random encounters, hoping to run into some foe that has one of these items. But there's a palpable sense of impending doom as I do so; it seems all but inevitable that something will eventually kill me, or rust monsters will slowly ruin all my equipment, or I'll accidentally walk into a patch of water and drown.\nI'll let you know how Ellasar ultimately fares, but however it ends, I suspect he'll be my last character in this version.\nPosted by CRPG Addict at 6:45 AM"
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"Typewriter.txt\nTypewriter\nA typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for writing in characters similar to those produced by printer's movable type by means of keyboard-operated types striking a ribbon to transfer ink or carbon impressions onto paper. Typically one character is printed on each keypress. The machine prints characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the sorts used in movable type letterpress printing.\n\nAt the end of the nineteenth century the term typewriter was also applied to a person who used such a machine. \n\nAfter their invention in the 1860s, typewriters quickly became indispensable tools for practically all writing other than personal correspondence. They were widely used by professional writers, in offices, and for business correspondence in private homes. By the end of the 1980s, word processors and personal computers had largely displaced typewriters in most of these uses in the Western world, but as of the 2010s the typewriter is still prominent in many parts of the world, including India. \n\nNotable typewriter manufacturers included E. Remington and Sons, IBM, Imperial Typewriters, Oliver Typewriter Company, Olivetti, Royal Typewriter Company, Smith Corona, Underwood Typewriter Company, Adler Typewriter Company and Olympia Werke.Article about Olympia Werke is available only in German Wikipedia.\n\nHistory\n\nAlthough many modern typewriters have one of several similar designs, their invention was incremental, developed by numerous inventors working independently or in competition with each other over a series of decades. As with the automobile, telephone, and telegraph, a number of people contributed insights and inventions that eventually resulted in ever more commercially successful instruments. Historians have estimated that some form of typewriter was invented 52 times as thinkers tried to come up with a workable design. \n\nEarly innovations\n\nSome of the early typing instruments: \n*In 1575 an Italian printmaker, Francesco Rampazzetto, invented the scrittura tattile, a machine to impress letters in papers.\n*In 1714, Henry Mill obtained a patent in Britain for a machine that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a typewriter. The patent shows that this machine was actually created: \"[he] hath by his great study and paines & expence invented and brought to perfection an artificial machine or method for impressing or transcribing of letters, one after another, as in writing, whereby all writing whatsoever may be engrossed in paper or parchment so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print; that the said machine or method may be of great use in settlements and public records, the impression being deeper and more lasting than any other writing, and not to be erased or counterfeited without manifest discovery.\" \n*In 1802 Italian Agostino Fantoni developed a particular typewriter to enable his blind sister to write.\n*In 1808 Italian Pellegrino Turri invented a typewriter. He also invented carbon paper to provide the ink for his machine.\n*In 1823 Italian Pietro Conti di Cilavegna invented a new model of typewriter, the tachigrafo, also known as tachitipo.\n\n*In 1829, William Austin Burt patented a machine called the \"Typographer\" which, in common with many other early machines, is listed as the \"first typewriter\". The Science Museum (London) describes it merely as \"the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented,\" but even that claim may be excessive, since Turri's invention pre-dates it. Even in the hands of its inventor, this machine was slower than handwriting. Burt and his promoter John D. Sheldon never found a buyer for the patent, so the invention was never commercially produced. Because the typographer used a dial, rather than keys, to select each character, it was called an \"index typewriter\" rather than a \"keyboard typewriter.\" Index typewriters of that era resemble the squeeze-style embosser from the 1960s more than they resemble the modern keyboard typewriter.\nBy the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had created a need for mechanization of the writing process. Stenographers and telegraphers could take down information at rates up to 130 words per minute, whereas a writer with a pen was limited to a maximum of 30 words per minute (the 1853 speed record). \n\nFrom 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production. \n*Charles Thurber developed multiple patents, of which his first in 1843 was developed as an aid to the blind, such as the 1845 Chirographer.\n*In 1855, the Italian Giuseppe Ravizza created a prototype typewriter called Cembalo scrivano o macchina da scrivere a tasti (\"Scribe harpsichord, or machine for writing with keys\"). It was an advanced machine that let the user see the writing as it was typed.\n*In 1861, Father Francisco João de Azevedo, a Brazilian priest, made his own typewriter with basic materials and tools, such as wood and knives. In that same year the Brazilian emperor D. Pedro II, presented a gold medal to Father Azevedo for this invention. Many Brazilian people as well as the Brazilian federal government recognize Fr. Azevedo as the inventor of the typewriter, a claim that has been the subject of some controversy. In 1865, John Pratt, of Centre, Alabama, built a machine called the Pterotype which appeared in an 1867 Scientific American article and inspired other inventors. Between 1864 and 1867 , a carpenter from South Tyrol (then part of Austria) developed several models and a fully functioning prototype typewriter in 1867. \n*1895 saw brief production of the Ford typewriter, which featured the first typewriter with aluminum construction and forward-thrust key movement.\n\nHansen Writing Ball\n\nIn 1865, Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen of Denmark invented the Hansen Writing Ball, which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and was reported as being used in offices in London as late as 1909. Malling-Hansen used a solenoid escapement to return the carriage on some of his models which makes him a candidate for the title of inventor of the first \"electric\" typewriter. \n\nAccording to the book Hvem er skrivekuglens opfinder? (English: Who is the inventor of the Writing Ball?), written by Malling-Hansen's daughter, Johanne Agerskov, in 1865, Malling-Hansen made a porcelain model of the keyboard of his writing ball and experimented with different placements of the letters to achieve the fastest writing speed. Malling-Hansen placed the letters on short pistons that went directly through the ball and down to the paper. This, together with the placement of the letters so that the fastest writing fingers struck the most frequently used letters, made the Hansen Writing Ball the first typewriter to produce text substantially faster than a person could write by hand. \n\nThe Hansen Writing Ball was produced with only upper-case characters. The Writing Ball was used as a template for inventor Frank Haven Hall to create a derivative that would produce letter prints cheaper and faster. \n\nMalling-Hansen developed his typewriter further through the 1870s and 1880s and made many improvements, but the writing head remained the same. On the first model of the writing ball from 1870, the paper was attached to a cylinder inside a wooden box. In 1874, the cylinder was replaced by a carriage, moving beneath the writing head. Then, in 1875, the well-known \"tall model\" was patented, which was the first of the writing balls that worked without electricity. Malling-Hansen attended the world exhibitions in Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1878 and he received the first-prize for his invention at both exhibitions. \n\nSholes and Glidden Type-writer\n\nThe first typewriter to be commercially successful was invented in 1868 by Americans Christopher Latham Sholes, Frank Haven Hall, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although Sholes soon disowned the machine and refused to use, or even to recommend it. It looked \"like something like a cross between a piano and a kitchen table.\" The working prototype was made by the machinist Matthias Schwalbach. The patent (US 79,265) was sold for $12,000 to Densmore and Yost, who made an agreement with E. Remington and Sons (then famous as a manufacturer of sewing machines) to commercialize the machine as the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. \n\nThis was the origin of the term typewriter. Remington began production of its first typewriter on March 1, 1873, in Ilion, New York. It had a QWERTY keyboard layout, which because of the machine's success, was slowly adopted by other typewriter manufacturers. As with most other early typewriters, because the typebars strike upwards, the typist could not see the characters as they were typed.\n\nStandardization\n\nBy about 1910, the \"manual\" or \"mechanical\" typewriter had reached a somewhat standardized design. There were minor variations from one manufacturer to another, but most typewriters followed the concept that each key was attached to a typebar that had the corresponding letter molded, in reverse, into its striking head. When a key was struck briskly and firmly, the typebar hit a ribbon (usually made of inked fabric), making a printed mark on the paper wrapped around a cylindrical platen. The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved left or right, automatically advancing the typing position horizontally after each character was typed. The paper, rolled around the typewriter's platen, was then advanced vertically by the \"carriage return\" lever (at the far left, or sometimes on the far right) into position for each new line of text. A small bell was struck to warn the operator when the side lever had to be used to shift the paper back to the beginning of each line. \n\nFrontstriking\n\nIn most of the early typewriters, the typebars struck upward against the paper, pressed against the bottom of the platen, so the typist could not see the text as it was typed. What was typed was not visible until a carriage return caused it to scroll into view. The difficulty with any other arrangement was ensuring the typebars fell back into place reliably when the key was released. This was eventually achieved with various ingenious mechanical designs and so-called \"visible typewriters\" which used frontstriking, in which the typebars struck forward against the front side of the platen, became standard. \n\nOne of the first was the Daugherty Visible, introduced in 1893, which also introduced the four-bank keyboard that became standard, although the Underwood which came out two years later was the first major typewriter with these features. However, older \"nonvisible\" models continued in production to as late as 1915.\n\nShift key\n\nA significant innovation was the shift key, introduced with the Remington No. 2 in 1878. This key physically \"shifted\" either the basket of typebars, in which case the typewriter is described as \"basket shift\", or the paper-holding carriage, in which case the typewriter is described as \"carriage shift\". Either mechanism caused a different portion of the typebar to come in contact with the ribbon/platen. The result is that each typebar could type two different characters, cutting the number of keys and typebars in half (and simplifying the internal mechanisms considerably). The obvious use for this was to allow letter keys to type both upper and lower case, but normally the number keys were also duplexed, allowing access to special symbols such as percent (%) and ampersand (&). \n\nBefore the shift key, typewriters had to have a separate key and typebar for upper-case letters; in essence, the typewriter had two keyboards, one above the other. With the shift key, manufacturing costs (and therefore purchase price) were greatly reduced, and typist operation was simplified; both factors contributed greatly to mass adoption of the technology. Certain models, such as the Barlet, had a double shift so that each key performed three functions. These little three-row machines were portable and could be used by journalists.\n\nHowever, because the shift key required more force to push (its mechanism was moving a much larger mass than other keys), and was operated by the little finger (normally the weakest finger on the hand), it was difficult to hold the shift down for more than two or three consecutive strokes. The \"shift lock\" key (the precursor to the modern caps lock) allowed the shift operation to be maintained indefinitely.\n\nTab key\n\nTo facilite typewriter use in business settings, a tab (tabulator) key was added in the late nineteenth century. Before using the key, the operator had to set mechanical \"tab stops\", pre-designated locations to which the carriage would advance when the tab key was pressed. This facilitated the typing of columns of numbers, freeing the operator from the need to manually position the carriage. The first models had one tab stop and one tab key; later ones allowed as many stops as desired, and sometimes had multiple tab keys, each of which moved the carriage a different number of spaces ahead of the decimal point (the tab stop), to facilitate the typing of columns with numbers of different length ($1.00, $10.00, $100.00, etc.)\n\nCharacter sizes\n\nIn English-speaking countries, the commonplace typewriters printing fixed-width characters were standardized to print six horizontal lines per vertical inch, and had either of two variants of character width, called \"pica\" for ten characters per horizontal inch and \"elite\" for twelve. This differed from the use of these terms in printing, where they refer to the height of the characters on the page (\"pica\" designating ten horizontal lines per vertical inch).\n\nSome typewriters were designed to print extra large type (commonly double height, double width) for labelling purposes. Classification numbers on books in libraries could be done this way.\n\nColor\n\nSome ribbons were inked in black and red stripes, each being half the width and running the entire length of the ribbon. A lever on most machines allowed switching between colors, which was useful for bookkeeping entries where negative amounts were highlighted in red. The red color was also used on some selected characters in running text, for emphasis. When a typewriter had this facility, it could still be fitted with a solid black ribbon; the lever was then used to switch to fresh ribbon when the first stripe ran out of ink. Some typewriters also had a third position which stopped the ribbon being struck at all. This enabled the keys to hit the paper unobstructed, and was used for cutting stencils for stencil duplicators (aka mimeograph machines).\n\n\"Noiseless\" designs\n\nIn the early part of the 20th century, a typewriter was marketed under the name \"Noiseless\" and advertised as \"silent.\" It was developed by Wellington Parker Kidder and the first model was marketed by the Noiseless Typewriter Company in 1917. An agreement with Remington in 1924 saw production transferred to Remington, and a further agreement in 1929 allowed Underwood to produce it as well.[http://web.archive.org/web/20091028054256/http://www.geocities.com/wbd641/UndNoiselessAd.html OOcities.com] Reproduction of advertisement for Noiseless typewriters, with list of models and diagram of typebar mechanism Noiseless portables sold well in the 1930s and 1940s, and noiseless standards continued to be manufactured until the 1960s.\n\nIn a conventional typewriter the typebar reaches the end of its travel simply by striking the ribbon and paper. A \"noiseless\" typewriter has a complex lever mechanism that decelerates the typebar mechanically before pressing it against the ribbon and paper in an attempt to dampen the noise. It certainly reduced the high-frequency content of the sound, rendering it more of a \"clunk\" than a \"clack\" and arguably less intrusive, but such advertising claims as \"A machine that can be operated a few feet away from your desk — And not be heard\" were not true.\n\nElectric designs\n\nAlthough electric typewriters would not achieve widespread popularity until nearly a century later, the basic groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by the Universal Stock Ticker, invented by Thomas Edison in 1870. This device remotely printed letters and numbers on a stream of paper tape from input generated by a specially designed typewriter at the other end of a telegraph line.\n\nEarly electric models\n\nThe first electric typewriter was produced by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company, of Stamford, Connecticut, in 1902. Like the manual Blickensderfer typewriters, it used a cylindrical typewheel rather than individual typebars. It was not a commercial success, which may have been because at the time electricity had not been standardized and voltage differed from city to city. The next step in the development of the electric typewriter came in 1910, when Charles and Howard Krum filed a patent for the first practical teletypewriter. The Krums' machine, named the Morkrum Printing Telegraph, used a typewheel rather than individual typebars. This machine was used for the first commercial teletypewriter system on Postal Telegraph Company lines between Boston and New York City in 1910. \n\nThe first Olympia typewriter was invented in 1903, but the first successful Olympia model, the Model 3, was released in 1923. Olympia typewriters were most successful in Germany, the country of invention, but between 1950 and 1970, manufacturing facilities were opening in Canada, Ireland, Mexico, and Chile. The Olympia portable typewriters were the most popular out of all the different models that Olympia produced. Olympia typewriters were known for their \"craftsmanship, eye-catching design, and continuous innovation.\" Some of the Olympia typewriter’s novel features were individually spring-loaded keys, which provided extra comfort and cushioning; different colors like caramel, mint aquamarine, and pink; and script-typing options. There was even a one-handed version of an Olympia typewriter, the Model 8, for disabled users.\n\nJames Fields Smathers of Kansas City invented what is considered the first practical power-operated typewriter in 1914. In 1920, after returning from Army service, he produced a successful model and in 1923 turned it over to the Northeast Electric Company of Rochester for development. Northeast was interested in finding new markets for their electric motors and developed Smathers's design so that it could be marketed to typewriter manufacturers, and from 1925 Remington Electric typewriters were produced powered by Northeast's motors.\n\nAfter some 2,500 electric typewriters had been produced, Northeast asked Remington for a firm contract for the next batch. However, Remington was engaged in merger talks which would eventually result in the creation of Remington Rand and no executives were willing to commit to a firm order. Northeast instead decided to enter the typewriter business for itself, and in 1929 produced the first Electromatic Typewriter.\n\nIn 1928, Delco, a division of General Motors, purchased Northeast Electric, and the typewriter business was spun off as Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. In 1933, Electromatic was acquired by IBM, which then spent on a redesign of the Electromatic Typewriter, launching the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 in 1935. By 1958 IBM was deriving 8% of its revenue from the sale of electric typewriters.\n\nIn 1931, an electric typewriter was introduced by Varityper Corporation. It was called the Varityper, because a narrow cylinder-like wheel could be replaced to change the font. \n\nElectrical typewriter designs removed the direct mechanical connection between the keys and the element that struck the paper. Not to be confused with later electronic typewriters, electric typewriters contained only a single electrical component: the motor. Where the keystroke had previously moved a typebar directly, now it engaged mechanical linkages that directed mechanical power from the motor into the typebar.\n\nIn 1941, IBM announced the Electromatic Model 04 electric typewriter, featuring the revolutionary concept of proportional spacing. By assigning varied rather than uniform spacing to different sized characters, the Type 4 recreated the appearance of a printed page, an effect that was further enhanced by a typewriter ribbon innovation that produced clearer, sharper words on the page. The proportional spacing feature became a staple of the IBM Executive series typewriters.\n\nIBM Selectric\n\nIBM and Remington Rand electric typewriters were the leading models until IBM introduced the IBM Selectric typewriter in 1961, which replaced the typebars with a spherical element (or typeball) slightly smaller than a golf ball, with reverse-image letters molded into its surface. The Selectric used a system of latches, metal tapes, and pulleys driven by an electric motor to rotate the ball into the correct position and then strike it against the ribbon and platen. The typeball moved laterally in front of the paper, instead of the previous designs using a platen-carrying carriage moving the paper across a stationary print position.\n\nDue to the physical similarity, the typeball was sometimes referred to as a \"golfball\". The typeball design had many advantages, especially the elimination of \"jams\" (when more than one key was struck at once and the typebars became entangled) and in the ability to change the typeball, allowing multiple fonts to be used in a single document.\n\nThe IBM Selectric became a commercial success, dominating the office typewriter market for at least two decades. IBM also gained an advantage by marketing more heavily to schools than did Remington, with the idea that students who learned to type on a Selectric would later choose IBM typewriters over the competition in the workplace as businesses replaced their old manual models. By the 1970s, IBM had succeeded in establishing the Selectric as the de facto standard typewriter in mid- to high-end office environments, replacing the raucous \"clack\" of older typebar machines with the quieter sound of gyrating typeballs.\n\nLater models of IBM Executives and Selectrics replaced inked fabric ribbons with \"carbon film\" ribbons that had a dry black or colored powder on a clear plastic tape. These could be used only once, but later models used a cartridge that was simple to replace. A side effect of this technology was that the text typed on the machine could be easily read from the used ribbon, raising issues where the machines were used for preparing classified documents (ribbons had to be accounted for to ensure that typists did not carry them from the facility). \n\nA variation known as \"Correcting Selectrics\" introduced a correction feature, where a sticky tape in front of the carbon film ribbon could remove the black-powdered image of a typed character, eliminating the need for little bottles of white dab-on correction fluid and for hard erasers that could tear the paper. These machines also introduced selectable \"pitch\" so that the typewriter could be switched between pica type (10 characters per inch) and elite type (12 per inch), even within one document. Even so, all Selectrics were monospaced—each character and letterspace was allotted the same width on the page, from a capital \"W\" to a period. Although IBM had produced a successful typebar-based machine with five levels of proportional spacing, called the IBM Executive, proportional spacing was not provided with the Selectric typewriter or its successors the Selectric II and Selectric III.\n\nThe only fully electromechanical Selectric Typewriter with fully proportional spacing and which used a Selectric type element was the expensive Selectric Composer, which was capable of right-margin justification and was considered a typesetting machine rather than a typewriter.\n\nIn addition to its electronic successors, the Magnetic Tape Selectric Composer (MT/SC), the Mag Card Selectric Composer, and the Electronic Selectric Composer, IBM also made electronic typewriters with proportional spacing using the Selectric element that were considered typewriters or word processors instead of typesetting machines.\n\nThe first of these was the relatively obscure Mag Card Executive, which used 88-character elements. Later, some of the same typestyles used for it were used on the 96-character elements used on the IBM Electronic Typewriter 50 and the later models 65 and 85.\n\nBy 1970, as offset printing began to replace letterpress printing, the Composer would be adapted as the output unit for a typesetting system. The system included a computer-driven input station to capture the key strokes on magnetic tape and insert the operator's format commands, and a Composer unit to read the tape and produce the formatted text for photo reproduction.\n\nAdvantages:\n\n* reasonably fast, jam-free, and reliable\n* relatively quiet, and more importantly, free of major vibrations\n* could produce high quality lower- and upper-case output, compared to competitors such as Teletype machines\n* could be activated by a short, low-force mechanical action, allowing easier interfacing to electronic controls\n* did not require the movement of a heavy \"type basket\" to shift between lower- and upper-case, allowing higher speed without heavy impacts\n* did not require the platen roller assembly to move from side to side (a problem with continuous-feed paper used for automated printing)\n\nThe IBM 2741 terminal was a popular example of a Selectric-based computer terminal, and similar mechanisms were employed as the console devices for many IBM System/360 computers. These mechanisms used \"ruggedized\" designs compared to those in standard office typewriters.\n\nLater electric models\n\nSome of IBM's advances were later adopted in less expensive machines from competitors. For example, Smith-Corona electric typewriters of the 1970s used interchangeable ribbon cartridges, including fabric, film, erasing, and two-color versions. At about the same time, the advent of photocopying meant that carbon copies and erasers were less and less necessary; only the original need be typed, and photocopies made from it.\n\nTypewriter/printer hybrids\n\nTowards the end of the commercial popularity of typewriters in the 1970s, a number of hybrid designs combining features of printers were introduced. These often incorporated keyboards from existing models of typewriters and printing mechanisms of dot-matrix printers. The generation of teleprinters with impact pin-based printing engines was not adequate for the demanding quality required for typed output, and alternative thermal transfer technologies used in thermal label printers had become technically feasible for typewriters.\n\nIBM produced a series of typewriters called Thermotronic with letter-quality output and correcting tape along with printers tagged Quietwriter. Brother extended the life of their typewriter product line with similar products. The development of these proprietary printing engines provided the vendors with exclusive markets in consumable ribbons and the ability to use standardized printing engines with varying degrees of electronic and software sophistication to develop product lines. Although these changes reduced prices—and greatly increased the convenience—of typewriters, the technological disruption posed by word processors left these improvements with only a short-term low-end market. To extend the life of these products, many examples were provided with communication ports to connect them to computers as printers.\n\nElectronic typewriters\n\nThe final major development of the typewriter was the \"electronic\" typewriter. Most of these replaced the typeball with a plastic or metal daisy wheel mechanism (a disk with the letters molded on the outside edge of the \"petals\"). The daisy wheel concept first emerged in printers developed by Diablo Systems in the 1970s. In 1981, Xerox Corporation, who by then had bought Diablo Systems, introduced a line of Electronic Typewriters incorporating this technology (the Memorywriter product line). For a time, these products were quite successful as their plastic daisy-wheel was much simpler and cheaper than the metal typeball and their electronic memory and display allowed the user to easily see errors and correct them before they were actually printed. One problem with the plastic daisy wheel was that they were not always durable. To solve this problem, more durable metal daisy wheels were made available (but at a slightly higher price). \n\nThese and similar electronic typewriters were in essence dedicated word processors with either single-line LCD displays or multi-line CRT displays, built-in line editors in ROM, a spelling and grammar checker, a few kilobytes of internal RAM and optional cartridge, magnetic card or diskette external memory-storage devices for storing text and even document formats. Text could be entered a line or paragraph at a time and edited using the display and built-in software tools before being committed to paper. \n\nUnlike the Selectrics and earlier models, these really were \"electronic\" and relied on integrated circuits and multiple electromechanical components. These typewriters were sometimes called display typewriters, dedicated word processors or word-processing typewriters, though the latter term was also frequently applied to less sophisticated machines that featured only a tiny, sometimes just single-row display. Sophisticated models were also called word processors, though today that term almost always denotes a type of software program. Manufacturers of such machines included Brother (Brother WP1 and WP500 etc., where WP stood for word processor), Canon (Canon Cat), Smith-Corona (PWP, i.e. Personal Word Processor line) and Philips/Magnavox (VideoWriter).\n\nImage:type.jpg|Electronic typewriter – the final stage in typewriter development. A 1989 Canon Typestar 110\nFile:Brother WP1-IMG 6991.jpg|The Brother WP1, an electronic typewriter complete with a small screen and a floppy disk reader\n\nEnd of an era\n\nThe 1970s and early 1980s were a time of transition for typewriters and word processors. At one point in time, most small-business offices would be completely 'old-style', while large corporations and government departments would already be 'new-style'; other offices would have a mixture. The pace of change was so rapid that it was common for clerical staff to have to learn several new systems, one after the other, in just a few years. While such rapid change is commonplace today, and is taken for granted, this was not always so; in fact, typewriting technology changed very little in its first 80 or 90 years.\n\nDue to falling sales, IBM sold its typewriter division in 1991 to Lexmark, completely exiting from a market it once dominated.\n\nThe increasing dominance of personal computers, desktop publishing, the introduction of low-cost, truly high-quality laser and inkjet printer technologies, and the pervasive use of web publishing, e-mail and other electronic communication techniques have largely replaced typewriters in the United States. Still, , typewriters continued to be used by a number of government agencies and other institutions in the USA, where they are primarily used to fill preprinted forms. According to a Boston typewriter repairman quoted by The Boston Globe, \"Every maternity ward has a typewriter, as well as funeral homes\". \nA fairly major typewriter user is the City of New York, which in 2008 purchased several thousand typewriters, mostly for use by the New York Police Department, at the total cost of $982,269. Another $99,570 was spent in 2009 for the maintenance of the existing typewriters. New York police officers would use the machines to type property and evidence vouchers on carbon paper forms. \n\nA rather specialized market for typewriters exists due to the regulations of many correctional systems in the USA, where prisoners are prohibited from having computers or telecommunication equipment, but are allowed to own typewriters. The Swintec corporation (headquartered in Moonachie, New Jersey), which, as of 2011, still produced typewriters at its overseas factories (in Japan, Indonesia, and/or Malaysia), manufactures a variety of typewriters for use in prisons, made of clear plastic (to make it harder for prisoners to hide prohibited items inside it). As of 2011, the company had contracts with prisons in 43 US states. \n\nIn April 2011, Godrej and Boyce, a Mumbai-based manufacturer of mechanical typewriters, closed its doors, leading to a flurry of erroneous news reports that the \"world's last typewriter factory\" had shut down. The reports were quickly debunked. \n\nIn November 2012, Brother's UK factory manufactured what it claimed to be the last typewriter ever made in the UK; the typewriter was donated to the London Science Museum. \n\nRussian typewriters use Cyrillic, which has made the ongoing Azerbaijani reconversion from Cyrillic to Roman alphabet more difficult. In 1997, the government of Turkey offered to donate western typewriters to the Republic of Azerbaijan in exchange for more zealous and exclusive promotion of the Roman alphabet for the Azerbaijani language; this offer, however, was declined.\n\nIn Latin America and Africa, mechanical typewriters are still common because they can be used without electrical power. In Latin America, the typewriters used are most often Brazilian models – Brazil continues to produce mechanical (Facit) and electronic (Olivetti) typewriters to the present day. \n\nThe 21st century has seen a revival of interest in typewriters among certain subcultures, including makers, steampunks, hipsters, and street poets. \n\nCorrection technologies\n\nAccording to the standards taught in secretarial schools in the mid-20th century, a business letter was supposed to have no mistakes and no visible corrections. Accuracy was prized as much as speed. Indeed, typing speeds, as scored in proficiency tests and typewriting speed competitions, included a deduction of ten words for every mistake. Corrections were, of course, necessary, and many methods were developed.\n\nIn practice, several methods would often be combined. For example, if six extra copies of a letter were needed, the fluid-corrected original would be photocopied, but only for the two recipients getting \"c.c.\"s; the other four copies, the less-important file copies that stayed in various departments at the office, would be cheaper, hand-erased, less-distinct bond paper copies or even \"flimsies\" of different colors (tissue papers interleaved with black carbon paper) that were all typed as a \"carbon pack\" at the same time as the original.\n\nIn informal applications such as personal letters where low priority was placed on the appearance of the document, or conversely in highly formal applications in which it was important that any corrections be obvious, the backspace key could be used to back up over the error and then overstrike it with hyphens, slashes, Xs, or the like.\n\nTypewriter erasers\n\nThe traditional erasing method involved the use of a special typewriter eraser made of hard rubber that contained an abrasive material. Some were thin, flat disks, pink or gray, approximately 2 in in diameter by ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick, with a brush attached from the center, while others looked like pink pencils, with a sharpenable eraser at the \"lead\" end and a stiff nylon brush at the other end. Either way, these tools made possible erasure of individual typed letters. Business letters were typed on heavyweight, high-rag-content bond paper, not merely to provide a luxurious appearance, but also to stand up to erasure. \n\nTypewriter eraser brushes were necessary for clearing eraser crumbs and paper dust, and using the brush properly was an important element of typewriting skill; if erasure detritus fell into the typewriter, a small buildup could cause the typebars to jam in their narrow supporting grooves.\n\nEraser shield\n\nErasing a set of carbon copies was particularly difficult, and called for the use of a device called an eraser shield (a thin stainless-steel rectangle about 2 by with several tiny holes in it) to prevent the pressure of erasing on the upper copies from producing carbon smudges on the lower copies. To correct copies, typists had to go from carbon copy to carbon copy, trying not to get their fingers dirty as they leafed through the carbon papers, and moving and repositioning the eraser shield and eraser for each copy.\n\nErasable bond\n\nPaper companies produced a special form of typewriter paper called erasable bond (for example, Eaton's Corrasable Bond). This incorporated a thin layer of material that prevented ink from penetrating and was relatively soft and easy to remove from the page. An ordinary soft pencil eraser could quickly produce perfect erasures on this kind of paper. However, the same characteristics that made the paper erasable made the characters subject to smudging due to ordinary friction and deliberate alteration after the fact, making it unacceptable for business correspondence, contracts, or any archival use.\n\nCorrection fluid\n\nIn the 1950s and 1960s, correction fluid made its appearance, under brand names such as Liquid Paper, Wite-Out and Tipp-Ex; it was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham. Correction fluid was a kind of opaque, white, fast-drying paint that produced a fresh white surface onto which, when dry, a correction could be retyped. However, when held to the light, the covered-up characters were visible, as was the patch of dry correction fluid (which was never perfectly flat, and frequently not a perfect match for the color, texture, and luster of the surrounding paper). The standard trick for solving this problem was photocopying the corrected page, but this was possible only with high quality photocopiers.\n\nA different fluid was available for correcting stencils. It sealed up the stencil ready for retyping but did not attempt to color match.\n\nDry correction\n\nDry correction products (such as correction paper) under brand names such as \"Ko-Rec-Type\" were introduced in the 1970s and functioned like white carbon paper. A strip of the product was placed over the letters needing correction, and the incorrect letters were retyped, causing the black character to be overstruck with a white overcoat. Similar material was soon incorporated in carbon-film electric typewriter ribbons; like the traditional two-color black-and-red inked ribbon common on manual typewriters, a black and white correcting ribbon became commonplace on electric typewriters. But the black or white coating could be partly rubbed off with handling, so such corrections were generally not acceptable in legal documents.\n\nThe pinnacle of this kind of technology was the IBM Electronic Typewriter series. These machines, and similar products from other manufacturers, used a separate correction ribbon and a character memory. With a single keystroke, the typewriter was capable of automatically backspacing and then overstriking the previous characters with minimal marring of the paper. White cover-up ribbons were used with fabric ink ribbons, or an alternate premium design featured plastic lift-off correction ribbons which were used with carbon film typing ribbons. This latter technology actually lifted the carbon film forming a typed letter, leaving nothing more than a flattened depression in the surface of the paper, with the advantage that no color matching of the paper was needed.\n\nLegacy\n\nKeyboard layouts\n\nQWERTY\n\nThe 1874 Sholes & Glidden typewriters established the \"QWERTY\" layout for the letter keys. During the period in which Sholes and his colleagues were experimenting with this invention, other keyboard arrangements were apparently tried, but these are poorly documented. The QWERTY layout of keys has become the de facto standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards. Other languages written in the Latin alphabet sometimes use variants of the QWERTY layouts, such as the French AZERTY, the Italian QZERTY and the German QWERTZ layouts.\n\nThe QWERTY layout is not the most efficient layout possible for the English language, since it requires a touch-typist to move his or her fingers between rows to type the most common letters. Although the QWERTY keyboard was the most commonly used layout in typewriters, a better, less strenuous keyboard was being searched for throughout the late 1900s. \n\nOne popular but widely debunked[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-the-legend-of-the-qwerty-keyboard-49863249/?no-ist Fact of Fiction? The Legend of the QWERTY Keyboard | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian] explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine. \n\nAnother story is that the QWERTY layout allowed early typewriter salesmen to impress their customers by being able to easily type out the example word \"typewriter\" without having learned the full keyboard layout , because \"typewriter\" can be spelled purely on the top row of the keyboard. However, there is no evidence to support these claims.\n\nOther layouts\n\nA number of radically different layouts such as Dvorak have been proposed to reduce the perceived inefficiencies of QWERTY, but none have been able to displace the QWERTY layout; their proponents claim considerable advantages, but so far none has been widely used. The Blickensderfer typewriter with its DHIATENSOR layout may have possibly been the first attempt at optimizing the keyboard layout for efficiency advantages. \n\nMany non-Latin alphabets have keyboard layouts that have nothing to do with QWERTY. The Russian layout, for instance, puts the common trigrams ыва, про, and ить on adjacent keys so that they can be typed by rolling the fingers. The Greek layout, on the other hand, is a variant of QWERTY.\n\nTypewriters were also made for East Asian languages with thousands of characters, such as Chinese or Japanese. They were not easy to operate, but professional typists used them for a long time until the development of electronic word processors and laser printers in the 1980s (See the gallery at the end of this article for pictures of East Asian mechanical typewriters).\n\nOn modern keyboards, the exclamation point is the shifted character on the 1 key, a direct result of the historical fact that these were the last characters to become \"standard\" on keyboards. Holding the spacebar pressed down usually suspended the carriage advance mechanism (a so-called \"dead key\" feature), allowing one to superimpose multiple keystrikes on a single location. The ¢ symbol (meaning cents) was located above the number 6 on electric typewriters, while ASCII computer keyboards have ^ instead.\n\nTypewriter conventions\n\nA number of typographical conventions originate from the widespread use of the typewriter, based on the characteristics and limitations of the typewriter itself. For example, the QWERTY keyboard typewriter did not include keys for the en dash and the em dash. To overcome this limitation, users typically typed more than one adjacent hyphen to approximate these symbols. This typewriter convention is still sometimes used today, even though modern computer word processing applications can input the correct en and em dashes for each font type. \n\nOther examples of typewriter practices that are sometimes still used in desktop publishing systems include inserting a double space at the end of a sentence, and the use of straight quotes (or \"dumb quotes\") as quotation marks and prime marks. The practice of underlining text in place of italics and the use of all capitals to provide emphasis are additional examples of typographical conventions that derived from the limitations of the typewriter keyboard that still carry on today. \n\nMany older typewriters did not include a separate key for the numeral 1 or the exclamation point, and some even older ones also lacked the numeral zero. Typists who trained on these machines learned the habit of using the lowercase letter l (\"ell\") for the digit 1, and the uppercase O for the zero. A cents symbol (¢) was created by combining (over-striking) a lower case 'c' with a slash character (typing 'c', then backspace, then '/'). \n\nSimilarly, the exclamation point was created by combining an apostrophe and a period. These characters were omitted to simplify design and reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs; they were chosen specifically because they were \"redundant\" and could be recreated using other keys.\n\nComputer jargon\n\nSome terminology from the typewriter age has survived into the personal computer era. Examples include:\n* backspace (BS) – a keystroke that moved the cursor backwards one position (on a physical platen, this is the exact opposite of the space key), for the purpose of overtyping a character. This could be for combining characters (e.g. an apostrophe, backspace, and period make an exclamation point—a character missing on some early typewriters), or for correction such as with the correcting tape that developed later.\n* carriage return (CR) – return to the first column of text and, in some systems, switch to the next line.\n* cursor – a marker used to indicate where the next character will be printed. The cursor, however, was originally a term to describe the clear slider on a slide rule.\n* cut and paste – taking text, a numerical table, or an image and pasting it into a document. The term originated when such compound documents were created using manual paste up techniques for typographic page layout. Actual brushes and paste were later replaced by hot-wax machines equipped with cylinders that applied melted adhesive wax to developed prints of \"typeset\" copy. This copy was then cut out with knives and rulers, and slid into position on layout sheets on slanting layout tables. After the \"copy\" had been correctly positioned and squared up using a T-square and set square, it was pressed down with a brayer, or roller. The whole point of the exercise was to create so-called \"camera-ready copy\" which existed only to be photographed and then printed, usually by offset lithography.\n* dead key – describes a key that when typed, does not advance the typing position, thus allowing another character to be overstruck on top of the original character. This was typically used to combine diacritical marks with letters they modified (e.g. è can be generated by first pressing ` and then e). The dead key feature was often implemented mechanically by having the typist press and hold the space bar while typing the characters to be superimposed.\n* line feed (LF), also called \"newline\" – moving the cursor to the next on-screen line of text in a word processor document.\n*shift – a modifier key used to type capital letters and other alternate \"upper case\" characters; when pressed and held down, would shift a typewriter's mechanism to allow a different typebar impression (such as 'D' instead of 'd') to press into the ribbon and print on a page. The concept of a shift key or modifier key was later extended to Ctrl, Alt, and Super (\"Windows\" or \"Apple\") keys on modern computer keyboards. The generalized concept of a shift key reached its apotheosis in the MIT space-cadet keyboard.\n* tab (HT), shortened from \"horizontal tab\" or \"tabulator stop\" – caused the print position to advance horizontally to the next pre-set \"tab stop\". This was used for typing lists and tables with vertical columns of numbers or words. The related term \"vertical tab\" (VT) never came into widespread use.\n* tty, short for teletypewriter – used in Unix-like operating systems to designate a given \"terminal\".\n\nIn the above listing, the two-letter codes in parentheses are abbreviations for the ASCII characters derived from typewriter usage.\n\nEarly social effects\n\nWhen Remington started marketing typewriters, the company assumed the machine would not be used for composing but for transcribing dictation, and that the person typing would be a woman. The 1800s Sholes and Glidden typewriter had floral ornamentation on the case. \n\nDuring World War I and II, increasing numbers of women were entering the workforce. In the United States, women often started in the professional workplace as typists. Questions about morals made a salacious businessman making sexual advances to a female typist into a cliché of office life, appearing in vaudeville and movies. Being a typist was considered the right choice for a \"good girl\" meaning women who present themselves as being chaste and having good conduct. According to the 1900 census, 94.9 percent of stenographers and typists were unmarried women. \n\nThe \"Tijuana bibles\" — adult comic books produced in Mexico for the American market, starting in the 1930s — often featured women typists. In one panel, a businessman in a three-piece suit, ogling his secretary’s thigh, says, \"Miss Higby, are you ready for—ahem!—er—dictation?\"[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage\nall Newyorker.com] Acocella, Joan, \"The Typing Life: How writers used to write\", The New Yorker, April 9, 2007, a review of The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting (Cornell) 2007, by Darren Wershler-Henry\n\nAuthors and writers who had notable relationships with typewriters\n\nEarly adopters\n\n*Henry James dictated to a typist.\n*Mark Twain claimed in his autobiography that he was the first important writer to present a publisher with a typewritten manuscript, for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Research showed that Twain's memory was incorrect and that the first book submitted in typed form was Life on the Mississippi (1883, also by Twain). \n\nOthers\n\n*William S. Burroughs wrote in some of his novels—and possibly believed—that \"a machine he called the 'Soft Typewriter' was writing our lives, and our books, into existence,\" according to a book review in The New Yorker. And, in the film adaptation of his novel Naked Lunch, his typewriter is a living, insect-like entity (voiced by North American actor Peter Boretski) and actually dictates the book to him. \n*Writer Zack Helm and director Mark Forster explored the potential mechanics of the \"Soft Typewriter\" philosophy in the movie Stranger than Fiction, in which the very act of typing up her handwritten notes gives a fiction writer the power to kill or otherwise manipulate her main character in real life.\n*Ernest Hemingway used to write his books standing up in front of a Royal typewriter suitably placed on a tall bookshelf. This typewriter, still on its bookshelf, is kept in Finca Vigia, Hemingway's Havana house (now a museum) where he lived until 1960, the year before his death.\n*J. R. R. Tolkien was likewise accustomed to typing from awkward positions: \"balancing his typewriter on his attic bed, because there was no room on his desk\". In his Foreword to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien stated that \"the whole story ... had to be typed, and re-typed: by me; the cost of professional typing by the ten-fingered was beyond my means.\"\n*Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper. Within two weeks of starting to write On the Road, Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, 120 feet long. Some scholars say the scroll was shelf paper; others contend it was a Thermo-fax roll; another theory is that the roll consisted of sheets of architect’s paper taped together. His rapid work earned the famous rebuke from Truman Capote, \"That's not writing, it's typing.\"\n*Another fast typist of the Beat Generation was Richard Brautigan, who said that he thought out the plots of his books in detail beforehand, then typed them out at speeds approaching 90 to 100 words a minute. \n*Tom Robbins waxed philosophical about the Remington SL3, a typewriter that he bought to write Still Life with Woodpecker. He eventually did away with it because it is too complicated and inhuman for the writing of poetry.\n*After completing the novel Beautiful Losers, Leonard Cohen is said to have flung his typewriter into the Aegean Sea.\n*Don Marquis purposely used the limitations of a typewriter (or more precisely, a particular typist) in his archy and mehitabel series of newspaper columns, which were later compiled into a series of books. According to his literary conceit, a cockroach named \"Archy\" was a reincarnated free-verse poet, who would type articles overnight by jumping onto the keys of a manual typewriter. The writings were typed completely in lower case, because of the cockroach's inability to generate the heavy force needed to operate the shift key. The lone exception is the poem \"CAPITALS AT LAST\" from archys life of mehitabel, written in 1933.\n*Author Ray Bradbury used a typewriter for rent at the library to write his work known as \"Fahrenheit 451\", which was published in 1953. \n\nLate users\n\n*Andy Rooney and William F. Buckley Jr. (1982) were among many writers who were very reluctant to switch from typewriters to computers.\n*David McCullough bought a second-hand Royal typewriter in 1965 and has used it to compose every book he has published.\n*Hunter S. Thompson kept a typewriter in his kitchen and is believed to have written his \"Hey, Rube!\" column for ESPN.com on a typewriter. He used a typewriter until his suicide in 2005.\n*Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, wrote his manifesto as well as his letters on a manual typewriter.\n*David Sedaris used a typewriter to write his essay collections through Me Talk Pretty One Day at least.\n*Richard Polt, a philosophy professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati who collects typewriters, edits ETCetera, a quarterly magazine about historic writing machines, and is the author of the book [http://typewriterrevolution.com The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century].\n*William Gibson used a Hermes 2000 model manual typewriter to write Neuromancer and half of Count Zero before a mechanical failure and lack of replacement parts forced him to upgrade to an Apple IIc computer. \n*Harlan Ellison has used typewriters for his entire career, and when he was no longer able to have them repaired, learned to do it himself; he has repeatedly stated his belief that computers are bad for writing, maintaining, \"Art is not supposed to be easier!\" \n*Author Cormac McCarthy continues to write his novels on an Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter to the present day. In 2009, the Lettera he obtained from a pawn shop in 1963, on which nearly all his novels and screenplays have been written, was auctioned for charity at Christie's for $254,500 USD; McCarthy obtained an identical replacement for $20 to continue writing on. \n*Will Self explains why he uses a manual typewriter: \"I think the computer user does their thinking on the screen, and the non-computer user is compelled, because he or she has to retype a whole text, to do a lot more thinking in the head.\" \n\nTypewriters in popular culture\n\nIn music\n\n* The composer Pablo Sorozábal includes in a scene of his zarzuela La eterna canción (1945) a typewriter, accompanied by an orchestra and vocal soloists: the scene is in a police station, where a policeman is deposing witnesses, and is singing while he types the report.\n* The composer Leroy Anderson wrote The Typewriter (1950) for orchestra and typewriter, and it has since been used as the theme for numerous radio programs. The solo instrument is a real typewriter played by a percussionist. The piece was later made famous by comedian Jerry Lewis as part of his regular routine both on screen and stage, most notably in the 1963 film Who's Minding the Store?.\n* Pink Floyd used a typewriter, complete with carriage return bell, as a percussion instrument on their song \"Money\" (1973)\n* The clacking of typewriter keys can be heard at the beginning of Dolly Parton's song 9 to 5. Parton has said in interviews that when writing the song, to mimic the typing keys sound, she would run her acrylic fingernails back and forth against each other. \n* The song \"Embassy Lament\" from the 1986 Musical Chess mimics the sound of typing in the bridge.\n* A typewriter provides the percussive backing for Stereo Total's \"Dactylo Rock\" - the first song from their debut album (1995)\n* An Estonian prog-rock band In Spe features typewriters as a rhythmic instruments in their album Typewriter Concerto in D Major (1994)\n* A suite of songs entitled \"Green Typewriters\" is on The Olivia Tremor Control's album Dusk At Cubist Castle (1996), and the sounds of typewriters can be heard in a few of the sections.\n* Guster's 1999 song Barrel of a Gun features a typewriter as percussion.\n* American singer-songwriter Marian Call accompanies herself on a typewriter on \"Nerd Anthem\" (c. 1998)\n* American musician Beck's 2005 music video for \"Black Tambourine\" features typewriter characters to animate Beck's moving and playing guitar.\n* The title track of Heernt's 2006 album Locked in a Basement prominently features the typewriter as a percussion instrument.\n* The Boston Typewriter Orchestra (BTO) has performed at numerous art festivals, clubs, and parties since at least 2008. The group consists of a half-dozen performers who use typewriters as percussive musical instruments, under the slogan, \"The revolution will be typewritten\".\n*South Korean improviser Ryu Hankil frequently performs typewriters, most prominently in his 2009 album\"Becoming Typewriter\". \n* Lead singer/songwriter Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam types many of the band's lyrics on vintage typewriters.\n\nOther\n\n*In the film The History of the Typewriter recited by Michael Winslow, voice sound effect performer Michael Winslow recreates the sounds of 32 typewriters from history.\n* The word \"typewriter\" is often cited as the longest English word that can be typed using only one row of keys of a QWERTY keyboard. This is untrue, since \"rupturewort\" (a kind of flowering plant) has 11 letters, while \"typewriter\" has only 10. Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary defines \"uropyoureter\" (12 letters).\n* A sentence which uses every letter of the alphabet (a pangram), \"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog\" can be used to check typewriters quickly.\n* The early Resident Evil video games used a typewriter as the save feature, and used one ink ribbon per save.\n* The opening title sequence of Murder She Wrote prominently features Jessica Fletcher touch-typing a manuscript with a 1940s Royal KMM Manual Typewriter. Although in one episode Fletcher rejects a character's offer to sell her a computer to replace the old Royal (which he calls a \"dinosaur\"), towards the series end, she, too begins using a computer and word-processing typewriter.\n* In Rome the Altare della Patria, National Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II, used to be nicknamed \"the typewriter\" (la macchina per scrivere in Italian) because of its strange shape and popular dislike toward it.\n* The 2012 French comedy movie Populaire, starring Romain Duris and Déborah François, centers around a young secretary in the 1950s striving to win typewriting speed competitions. \n* 2012 AU Education Research claimed that proper typing position and distance to the screen are the main factors of typing faster.\n\nForensic examination\n\nTypewritten documents may be examined by forensic document examiners. This is done primarily to determine 1) the make and/or model of the typewriter used to produce a document, or 2) whether or not a particular suspect typewriter might have been used to produce a document. In some situations, an ink or correction ribbon may also be examined.\n\nThe determination of a make and/or model of typewriter is a 'classification' problem and several systems have been developed for this purpose. These include the original Haas Typewriter Atlases (Pica version) and (Non-Pica version) and the TYPE system developed by Dr. Philip Bouffard, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Termatrex Typewriter classification system, and the Interpol's Typewriter classification system, among others.\n\nBecause of the tolerances of the mechanical parts, slight variation in the alignment of the letters and their uneven wear, each typewriter has an individual \"signature\" or \"fingerprint\", which may permit a typewritten document to be traced back to the typewriter on which it was produced. For devices utilizing replaceable components, such as a typeball element, any association may be restricted to a specific element, rather than to the typewriter as a whole.\n\nThe earliest reference in fictional literature to the potential identification of a typewriter as having produced a document was by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote \"A Case of Identity\" in 1891. In non-fiction, the first document examiner to describe how a typewriter might be identified was William E. Hagan who wrote, in 1894, \"All typewriter machines, even when using the same kind of type, become more or less peculiar by use as to the work done by them\". Other early discussions of the topic were provided by A. S. Osborn in his 1908 treatise, Typewriting as Evidence, and again in his 1929 textbook, Questioned Documents.\n A modern description of the examination procedure is laid out in ASTM Standard E2494-08 (Standard Guide for Examination of Typewritten Items). \n\nTypewriter examination was used in the Leopold and Loeb and Alger Hiss cases. In the Eastern Bloc, typewriters (together with printing presses, copy machines, and later computer printers) were a controlled technology, with secret police in charge of maintaining files of the typewriters and their owners. In the Soviet Union, the First Department of each organization sent data on organization's typewriters to the KGB. This posed a significant risk for dissidents and samizdat authors. In Romania, according to State Council Decree No. 98 of March 28, 1983, owning a typewriter, both by businesses or by private persons, was subject to an approval given by the local police authorities. People previously convicted of any crime or those who because of their behaviour were considered to be \"a danger to public order or to the security of the state\" were refused approval. In addition, once a year, typewriter owners had to take the typewriter to the local police station, where they would be asked to type down a sample of all the typewriter's characters. It was also forbidden to borrow, lend, or repair typewriters other than at the places that had been authorized by the police.\n\nThe ribbon can be read vertically, although only if it has not been typed over more than once. This can be very hard to do as it does not include spaces, but can be done, giving even a typewriter a \"memory\".\n\nGallery\n\nFile:Azevedotw.jpg|Fr. Francisco Azevedo's 1861 typewriter\nFile:1864 Schreibmaschine Peter Mitterhofer.jpg|Peter Mitterhofer 1864 typewriter\nFile:Skrivekugle 1870.jpg|Hansen Writing Ball, invented in 1865 (1870 model)\nFile:TypewriterPatent1868.jpg|1868 patent drawing for the Sholes, Glidden, and Soule typewriter\nFile:Hammond 1B typewriter.png|Hammond 1B typewriter, invented 1870s, manufactured 1881\nFile:1910s typewriter.jpg|Hammond 1B, as used by a newspaper office in Saskatoon around 1910\nFile:Typewriters.jpg|Typebars in a 1920s typewriter\nFile:Chinese typewriter.jpg|Chinese typewriter produced by Shuangge, with 2,450 characters\nFile:Japanese typewriter SH-280.jpg|Japanese typewriter SH-280, a small machine with 2,268 characters\nFile:Typemachine binnenkant.JPG|Hermes 3000 typewriter\nFile:1920s Underwood SE layout.JPG|1920s Underwood typewriter with Swedish layout\nFile:Chinese typewriter at Deutsche Technikmuseum.jpg|Chinese typewriter at Deutsches Technikmuseum",
"Look at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it ...\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY ... QWERTY is the only ... ‘typewriter’ is the longest word you can spell with the top line of a qwerty keyboard. ...\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word? | Dictionary.com Blog\nHome » Science and Technology » Look at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word?\nLook at your keyboard ― What does QWERTY stand for? Is it a word?\nSeptember 20, 2010 by: Dictionary.com 173 Comments\nMost of us take our keyboards for granted. If we’re touch typists , we automatically position our fingers above the same eight keys and our muscle memory takes over. We just type !\n( What are those eight keys called? And what do they have to do with a popular Google search? Read about that here .)\nBut our keyboards have an interesting history. Most English language keyboards have a QWERTY layout. And QWERTY isn’t an acronym or neologism . The name is simply the first six characters in the top far left row of letters. A Milwaukee newspaper editor and printer named Christopher Sholes invented the QWERTY layout. He sold the design to Remington in 1874, the year the format debuted on typewriters.\nSholes was also one of the inventors of the “ Type Writer ,” an early text-producing machine. The first version had problems caused by type bar jamming . In an effort to resolve the problem, Sholes eventually ditched the machines’ original alphabetical key arrangement and moved toward the QWERTY layout. Did you know that with the QWERTY keyboard thousands of English words can be spelled using only the left hand, but only a couple hundred can be composed with the right?\nDo you use an alternative to QWERTY, such as Colemak or Dvorak Simplified Keyboard? Let us know which you prefer.",
"Dumb Facts » Language\nDumb Facts » Language. ... typed with only the left hand. The longest words that can be typed using only the right hand in proper typing form are ”lollipop” and ...\nDumb Facts » Language\nDumb Facts » Language\nOn average, a secretary’s left hand does 56% of the typing.\nThe words ”stewardesses” and ”reverberated” are the longest words (12 letters) typed with only the left hand.\nThe longest words that can be typed using only the right hand in proper typing form are ”lollipop” and “monopoly”.\nCheck this out, look at your keyboard, the only ten letter word that you can spell with the top row of letters is “typewriter”.\nSkepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing.\nThe first novel ever written on a typewriter was “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”\nDr. Seuss coined the word “nerd” in his 1950 book “If I Ran the Zoo”.\nIt’s estimated that more than 6 billion copies of The Bible have been printed.\nThe Bible is the most shoplifted book in the United States.",
"Rube_Goldberg_machine.txt\nRube Goldberg machine\nA Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption, invention, device, or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883–1970).\n\nOver the years, the expression has expanded to mean any confusing or complicated system. For example, news headlines include \"Is Rep. Bill Thomas the Rube Goldberg of Legislative Reform?\" and \"Retirement 'insurance' as a Rube Goldberg machine\". \n\nOrigin\n\nRube Goldberg's cartoons became well known for depicting complicated devices that performed simple tasks in indirect convoluted ways. The example on the right is Goldberg's \"Professor Butts and the Self-Operating Napkin\", which was later reprinted in a few book collections, including the postcard book Rube Goldberg's Inventions! and the hardcover Rube Goldberg: Inventions, both compiled by Maynard Frank Wolfe from the Rube Goldberg Archives. The \"Self-Operating Napkin\" is activated when soup spoon (A) is raised to mouth, pulling string (B) and thereby jerking ladle (C), which throws cracker (D) past parrot (E). Parrot jumps after cracker and perch (F) tilts, upsetting seeds (G) into pail (H). Extra weight in pail pulls cord (I), which opens and ignites lighter (J), setting off skyrocket (K), which causes sickle (L) to cut string (M), allowing pendulum with attached napkin to swing back and forth, thereby wiping chin.\n\nIn 1931, the Merriam-Webster dictionary adopted the word \"Rube Goldberg\" as an adjective defined as accomplishing something simple through complicated means. \n\nSimilar expressions worldwide\n\n* Australia — cartoonist Bruce Petty depicts such themes as the economy, international relations or other social issues as complicated interlocking machines that manipulate, or are manipulated by, people.\n* Austria — Franz Gsellmann worked for decades on a machine that he named the Weltmaschine (\"world machine\"), having many similarities to a Rube Goldberg machine.\n* Denmark — called Storm P maskiner (\"Storm P machines\"), after the Danish inventor and cartoonist Robert Storm Petersen (1882–1949).\n* France — a similar machine is called usine à gaz, or gas refinery, suggesting a very complicated factory with pipes running everywhere and a risk of explosion. It is now used mainly among programmers to indicate a complicated program, or in journalism to refer to a bewildering law or regulation.\n* Germany — such machines are often called \"Was-passiert-dann-Maschine\" (\"What happens next machine\") for the German name of similar devices used by Kermit the Frog in the children's TV show Sesame Street.\n* United Kingdom — a \"Heath Robinson contraption\", named after the fantastical comic machinery illustrated by British cartoonist W. Heath Robinson, has a similar meaning but predates the Rube Goldberg machine, originating in the UK in 1912. Though Heath Robinson's drawings are extremely similar to the example shown and described above, the expression has gained more a sense of a ramshackle solution to a problem that nevertheless works (though with the implication that it might not do so for long, unlike the 'proper' solution), rather than something needlessly complicated, though it shared that sense initially.\n* India — the humorist and children's author Sukumar Ray, in his nonsense poem \"Abol tabol\", had a character (Uncle) with a Rube Goldberg-like machine called \"Uncle's contraption\"(khuror kol). This word is used colloquially in Bengali to mean a complicated and useless object.\n* Japan — \"Pythagorean devices\" or \"Pythagoras switch\". PythagoraSwitch (ピタゴラスイッチ, \"Pitagora Suicchi\") is the name of a TV show featuring such devices. Another related genre is the Japanese art of chindōgu, which involves inventions that are hypothetically useful but of limited actual utility.\n* Norway — cartoonist and storyteller Kjell Aukrust created a cartoon character named Reodor Felgen, who constantly invented complicated machinery. Though it was often built out of unlikely parts, it always performed very well. Felgen stars as the inventor of an extremely powerful but over-complicated car, Il Tempo Gigante, in the Ivo Caprino animated puppet film Flåklypa Grand Prix (1975).\n* Spain — devices akin to Goldberg's machines are known as Inventos del TBO (tebeo), named after those that several cartoonists (Nit, Tínez, Marino Benejam, Frances Tur and finally Ramón Sabatés) made up and drew for a section in the TBO magazine, allegedly designed by some \"Professor Franz\" from Copenhagen.\n* Turkey — such devices are known as Zihni Sinir Projeleri, allegedly invented by a certain Prof. Zihni Sinir (\"Crabby Mind\"), a curious scientist character created by İrfan Sayar in 1977 for the cartoon magazine Gırgır. The cartoonist later went on to open a studio selling actual working implementations of his designs.\n\nMany of his ideas were utilized in movies and TV shows for the comedic effect of creating such rigmarole for such a simple task such as the breakfast machine on television's 'Pee Wee's Playhouse'. In 'Ernest Goes to Jail' , Ernest P. Worrell uses his invention to simply turn his TV on. Plus other movies such as 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and 'Diving into the Money Pit' have featured Goldberg's idea.\n\nProfessional artists\n\n* Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist and illustrator best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines for achieving simple objectives.\n* Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Swiss artists known for their art installation movie Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things Go, 1987). It documents a 30-minute long causal chain assembled of everyday objects, resembling a Rube Goldberg machine.\n* Tim Hawkinson has made several art pieces that contain complicated apparatuses that are generally used to make abstract art or music. Many of them are centered on the randomness of other devices (such as a slot machine) and are dependent on them to create some menial effect.\n\nCompetitions\n\nIn early 1987, Purdue University in Indiana started the annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, organized by the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau, a national engineering fraternity. In 2009, the Epsilon Chapter of Theta Tau established a similar annual contest at the University of California, Berkeley. \n\nSince around 1997, the kinetic artist Arthur Ganson has been the emcee of the annual \"Friday After Thanksgiving\" (FAT) competition sponsored by the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Teams of contestants construct elaborate Rube Goldberg style chain-reaction machines on tables arranged around a large gymnasium. Each apparatus is linked by a string to its predecessor and successor machine. The initial string is ceremonially pulled, and the ensuing events are videotaped in closeup, and simultaneously projected on large screens for viewing by the live audience. After the entire cascade of events has finished, prizes are then awarded in various categories and age levels. Videos from several previous years' contests are view-able on the MIT Museum website.\n\nThe [http://www.chainreactioncontest.org/ Chain Reaction Contraption Contest] is an annual event hosted at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA where high school teams each build a Rube Goldberg machine to complete some simple task (which changes from year to year) in 20 steps or more (with some additional constraints on size, timing, safety, etc.).\n\nOn the TV show Food Network Challenge, competitors in 2011 were once required to create a Rube Goldberg machine out of sugar.\n\nAn event called [http://www.soinc.org/mission_c Mission Possible] in Science Olympiad involves students building a Rube Goldberg-like device to perform a certain series of tasks.\n\nIn April 2012, the Bosch company hosted an event called the \"Playground of Engineers\" in Hungary where the participant teams had to perform a series of tasks wherein they collected coins. Later that day, the main challenge was to build an over-complicated Goldberg Machine, the goal of which was to switch on a car dashboard. The teams were able to buy additional items with their collected coins above the standard issue equipment to make their machine more complicated. The main criteria of the judges were complexity, operating time and the number of components used.",
"Touch_typing.txt\nTouch typing\nTouch typing (also called touch type or touch keyboarding) is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory. Touch typing typically involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the home row) and having them reach for other keys. Both two-handed touch typing and one-handed touch typing are possible.\n\nFrank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City, Utah who taught typing classes, reportedly invented touch typing in 1888.\nOn a standard keyboard for English speakers the home row keys are: \"ASDF\" for the left hand and \"JKL;\" for the right hand. The keyboard is called a QWERTY keyboard because these are the first six letters on the keyboard. Most modern computer keyboards have a raised dot or bar on the home keys for the index fingers to help touch typists maintain and rediscover the correct position on the keyboard quickly with no need to look at the keys. More recently, the ability to touch type on touchscreen phones has been made possible with the use of specialized virtual keyboard software for touch typing.\n\nHistory \n\nOriginal layouts for the first few mechanical typewriters were in alphabetical order (ABCDE etc.) but the frequent jams suffered by experienced typists forced the manufacturers to change the layout of the letters, placing keys that are often pressed in a sequence as far as possible from each other. This allows engaging the second printing bar of the typewriter before the first falls down, increasing the speed of the mechanism. Equal distribution of the load over most of fingers also increased the speed as the keys of the mechanical typewriter are more difficult to press.\n\nThe calculations for keyboard layout were based on the language being typed and this meant different keyboard layouts would be needed for each language. In English speaking countries for example the first row is QWERTY, but in French speaking countries it is AZERTY. Though mechanical typewriters are now rarely used, moves to change the layout to increase speed have been largely ignored or resisted due to familiarity with the existing layout among touch typists.\n\nOn July 25, 1888, McGurrin, who was reportedly the only person using touch typing at the time, won a decisive victory over Louis Traub (operating Caligraph with eight-finger method) in a typing contest held in Cincinnati. The results were displayed on the front pages of many newspapers. McGurrin won US$500 (equivalent to $12,580 in 2012 USD) and popularized the new typing method.\n\nWhether McGurrin was actually the first person to touch type or simply the first to be popularly noticed, is disputed. Speeds attained by other typists in other typing competitions at the time suggest that they must have been using similar systems. \n\nIn 1889 Bates Torrey coined the words \"writing by touch\" in his article. In 1890 Lovisa Ellen Bullard Barnes defined the words \"write by touch\" in her book as follows: \n\nThe most common other form of typing is search and peck typing (or two-fingered typing). This method is slower than touch typing because instead of relying on the memorized position of keys, the typist is required to find each key by sight and move fingers a greater distance. Many idiosyncratic styles in between those two exist — for example, many people will type blindly, but using only two to five fingers and not always in a systematic way.\n\nAdvantages \n\nSpeed \n\nTouch type training can improve any individual's typing speed and accuracy dramatically. The accepted average typing speed is 41 WPM (words per minute), and professional career typists can exceed 100 WPM repeatedly and continuously (secretarial, data entry, etc.). Every individual learns at a different pace, and routine practice is required to maintain a high typing speed and accuracy.\n\nReduced switching of attention \n\nA touch typist does not need to move the sight between the keyboard (that is obscured with fingers and may be poorly lit) and other areas that require attention. This increases productivity and reduces the number of errors.\n\nDisputes over advantages \n\nThere are many idiosyncratic typing styles in between novice-style \"hunt and peck\" and touch typing. For example, many \"hunt and peck\" typists have the keyboard layout memorized and are able to type while focusing their gaze on the screen. One study examining 30 subjects, of varying different styles and expertise, has found minimal difference in typing speed between touch typists and self-taught hybrid typists. \n\nAccording to the study, \"The number of fingers does not determine typing speed... People using self-taught typing strategies were found to be as fast as trained typists... instead of the number of fingers, there are other factors that predict typing speed... fast typists... keep their hands fixed on one position, instead of moving them over the keyboard, and more consistently use the same finger to type a certain letter.\" To quote doctoral candidate Anna Feit: \"We were surprised to observe that people who took a typing course, performed at similar average speed and accuracy, as those that taught typing to themselves and only used 6 fingers on average\"\n\nTraining \n\nA touch typist starts by placing their fingers on the \"start position\" in the middle row and knows which finger to move and how much to move it for reaching any required key. Learning typically includes first printing exercises containing only letters on or near the standard position and then gradually mastering other rows. It is important to learn placing fingers into the start position blindly as the hands are frequently raised from the keyboard to operate the line feed lever (in the past) or (more recently) the computer mouse. The keys F and J frequently contain some surface features that allow the typist to recognize them by touch alone, thus removing the need to look down at the keys to reset the fingers at the home row.\n\nThe typing speed can be increased gradually and speeds of 60 WPM or higher can be achieved. The rate of speed increase varies between individuals. Many websites and software products are available to learn touch typing and many of these are free. Learning touch typing can be stressful both to the fingers as well as the mind in the beginning, but once it is learned to a decent level, it exerts minimal stress on the fingers. For individuals with past typing experience, learning to touch type is particularly difficult due to motivational reasons: the initial performance level in touch typing is far lower than in visually guided typing; therefore it does not initially seem worthwhile to study touch typing. \n\nTyping speed generally improves with practice. While practicing, it is important to ensure that there are no weak keys. Typing speed is typically determined by how slow these weak keys are typed rather than how fast the remaining keys are typed. If a stage is reached where irrespective of the amount of practice, typing speed is not increasing, it is advisable to let some time pass and continue serious practice thereafter as typing speeds typically tend to increase with time even when no serious practice is done.\n\nHome row \n\nThe \"home row\" is the center row of keys on a typewriter or computer keyboard. On the most common type of English language keyboard, the QWERTY layout, \" \" are the home keys on the home row. \n\nThe middle row of the keyboard is termed \"home row\" because typists are trained to keep their fingers on these keys and/or return to them after pressing any other key that is not on the home row.\n\nSome keyboards have a small bump on certain keys of the home row. This helps returning the fingers to the home row for touch typing.\n\nFor instance, to type the word poll on a QWERTY keyboard, one would place all of one's fingers on the home row. (The right hand should be covering \" \" with the thumb on the while the left hand covers \" \".) The typist will then use their little finger to reach for the \"\" key located just above the semicolon and then return the pinky back to the semicolon key from which it originated. The ring finger, located on the \"\" key will be moved directly upwards to press the \"\" key and then back. Finally, the same ring finger will remain on the \"\" key and press it twice. Experienced typists can do this at speeds of over 100 words per minute, but the method is that they always return their fingers to the home row when they are not in use. This provides for quick, easy access to all of the keys on the keyboard.\n\nRepetitive stress injuries \n\nTyping regularly can put a user at risk for repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis. Proper posture can greatly reduce risk of injury. \n\nOther methods \n\nA method taught since the 1960s (and perhaps earlier): The left little finger is used for the keys , the ring finger for , the middle — , the left index finger is responsible for and . On the right side of the keyboard: index — and , middle — , ring — and the little — all other keys on the right side of the upper row. Probably these two methods reflect the layout of the typewriters from early days when some of them had no and/or keys.\n\nThere exist special ergonomic keyboards designed for both typing methods. The keyboard is split between the keys and or and .\n\nSome specialized high-end computer keyboards are designed for touch typists. For example, many manufacturers provide blank mechanical keyboards. A trained touch typist should not mind using a blank keyboard. This kind of keyboard may force hunt and peck users to type without looking, similar to Braille keyboards used by the visually impaired.",
"Philosophy | Cambridge Forecast Group Blog | Page 13\n... sets out to attribute an ... In his memoirs he also developed a curious theory about the economic causes of World War II, ... future leaders of Third World ...\nPhilosophy | Cambridge Forecast Group Blog | Page 13\nCambridge Forecast Group Blog\nMan lebt nicht einmal einmal\n(you don’t even live once)\nKarl Kraus – Aphorisms\nSprüche und Widersprüche 1909\n(Sayings and Gainsayings)\nKarl Kraus (1874-1936) is widely regarded as one of the most talented and influential satirists of the twentieth century. He was an enormously productive writer of poetry, critical essays, and aphorisms, and spent the bulk…\nKarl Kraus\nKarl Kraus (April 28, 1874 – June 12, 1936) was an eminent Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is generally considered one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially known for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics.\nEarly life\nKraus was born into a wealthy Jewish family of Jacob Kraus, a papermaker, and his wife Ernestine, née Kantor, in Gitschin, Bohemia (now Jičín in the Czech Republic). The family moved to Vienna in 1877. His mother died in 1891.\nKraus enrolled as a law student at the University of Vienna in 1892. Beginning in April of the same year he began contributing to the paper Wiener Literaturzeitung, starting with a critique of Gerhart Hauptmann’s Die Weber. Around that time, he unsuccessfully tried to perform as an actor in a small theater. In 1894 he changed his field of studies to philosophy and German literature. He discontinued his studies in 1896. His friendship to Peter Altenberg originated in this time.\nWriting\nIn 1896 he left university without a diploma to begin work as an actor, stage-director and performer, joining the Jung Wien (Young Vienna) group, which included Peter Altenberg, Leopold Andrian, Hermann Bahr, Richard Beer-Hofmann, Felix Dörmann, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Felix Salten. In 1897, however, Kraus broke from this group with a biting satire Die demolierte Literatur [Demolished Literature], and was named Vienna correspondent for the newspaper Breslauer Zeitung. One year later, as an uncompromising advocate of Jewish assimilation, he attacked the Zionist Theodor Herzl with his polemic Eine Krone für Zion [A Crown for Zion] (1898).\nOn April 1, 1899, he renounced Judaism and in the same year founded his own newspaper, Die Fackel (The Torch), which he continued to direct, publish, and write until his death, and from which he launched his attacks on hypocrisy, psychoanalysis, corruption of the Habsburg empire, nationalism of the pan-German movement, laissez-faire economic policies, and numerous other bêtes noires. In 1901, Kraus was sued by Hermann Bahr and Emmerich Bukovics, who felt they had been attacked by Die Fackel. Many lawsuits by diverse offended parties would follow in later years. Also in 1901, Kraus found out that his publisher, Moriz Frisch, had taken over his magazine while he was absent on a months-long journey: Moriz Frisch had registered the magazine’s front cover as a trademark and published the Neue Fackel (New Torch). Kraus sued and won. From that time, Die Fackel was published (without a cover page) by the printer Jahoda & Siegel\nWhile at the beginning Die Fackel was similar to journals like the magazine Weltbühne, it became more and more a magazine that was privileged in its editorial independence, which Kraus could provide by his funding. Die Fackel printed what Kraus wanted to be printed. In its first decade, contributors included many well-known writers and artists such as Peter Altenberg, Richard Dehmel, Egon Friedell, Oskar Kokoschka, Else Lasker-Schüler, Adolf Loos, Heinrich Mann, Arnold Schönberg, August Strindberg, Georg Trakl, Frank Wedekind, Franz Werfel, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Oscar Wilde. After 1911, however, Kraus was usually the sole author. Kraus’ work was published nearly exclusively in Die Fackel, of which 922 irregularly-issued numbers appeared in total.\nAuthors who were supported by Kraus include Peter Altenberg, Else Lasker-Schüler, and Georg Trakl.\nDie Fackel targeted corruption, journalists and brutish behaviour. Notable enemies were Maximilian Harden (in the mud of the Harden-Eulenburg affair), Moriz Benedikt (owner of the newspaper Neue Freie Presse), Alfred Kerr, Hermann Bahr, Imre Bekessy and Johannes Schober.\nIn 1902, Kraus published Sittlichkeit und Kriminalität (Morality and Crimical Justice), for the first time commenting on what was to become one of the main issues in his writings: the allegedly necessary defense of sexual morality by means of criminal justice (Der Skandal fängt an, wenn die Polizei ihm ein Ende macht, The scandal starts when the police is stopping it)[1].\nStarting in 1906, Kraus published the first of his aphorisms in Die Fackel; they were collected in 1909 in the book Sprüche und Widersprüche (Sayings and Gainsayings).\nIn addition to his writings, Kraus gave numerous highly influential public readings during his career – between 1892 and 1936 he put on approximately 700 one-man performances, reading from the dramas of Bertolt Brecht, Gerhart Hauptmann, Johann Nestroy, Goethe, and Shakespeare, and also performing Offenbach’s operettas, accompanied by piano and singing all the roles himself. Elias Canetti, who regularly attended Kraus’ lectures, titled the second volume of his autobiography “Die Fackel im Ohr” (translation : The Torch in the Ear) in reference to the magazine and its author.\nIn 1907, Kraus attacked his erstwhile benefactor Maximilian Harden because of his role in the Eulenburg trial in the first of his spectacular Erledigungen (dispatches).\nAfter an obituary for Franz Ferdinand who had been assassinated in Sarajevo, Die Fackel was not published for many months. In the December of 1914, it appeared again with an essay titled\nIn dieser großen Zeit (In this grand time): „In dieser großen Zeit, die ich noch gekannt habe, wie sie so klein war; die wieder klein werden wird, wenn ihr dazu noch Zeit bleibt; […] in dieser lauten Zeit, die da dröhnt von der schauerlichen Symphonie der Taten, die Berichte hervorbringen, und der Berichte, welche Taten verschulden: in dieser da mögen Sie von mir kein eigenes Wort erwarten.“[2]\n(In this grand time that I still know from when it was very small; that will become small again if it has the time; […] in this loud time that resounds from the ghastly symphony of deeds that spawn reports, and from reports that are to blame for deeds: in this one, you may not expect any word of my own. In the subsequent time, Kraus wrote against the World War, and editions of Die Fackel were repeatedly confiscated or obstructed by censors.\nKraus’ masterpiece is generally considered to be the massive satiric play about the First World War, Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind), which combines dialogue from contemporary documents with apocalyptic fantasy and commentary from two characters called “the Grumbler” and “the Optimist”. The play was begun in 1915 and first published as a series of special Fackel issues in 1919. Its epilogue, Die letzte Nacht (The last night) had already been published in 1918 as a special issue. Edward Timms has called the work a “faulted masterpiece” and a “fissured text” because the evolution of Kraus’ attitude during the time of its composition (from aristocratic conservative to democratic republican) means that the text has structural inconsistencies resembling a geological fault.[cite this quote] Also in 1919, Kraus published his collected war texts under the title Weltgericht (World court of justice). In 1920, he published the satire Literatur oder Man wird doch da sehn (Literature or One will see there) as a reply to Franz Werfel’s Spiegelmensch (Mirror man), an attack against Kraus.\nDuring January of 1924, he started to fight against Imre Békessy, publisher of the tabloid Die Stunde (The hour). Békessy retaliated with a libel campagne against Kraus, who in turn launched an Erledigung with the catchphrase Hinaus aus Wien mit dem Schuft! (Throw the scoundrel out of Vienna). In 1926, Békessy indeed fled Vienna in order to avoid his being arrested. In the following year, Kraus unsuccessfully tried a similar undertaking against Johann Schober, police prefect during the forcefully suppressed July Revolt.\nIn 1928, the play Die Unüberwindlichen (The insurmountables) was published. It included allusions to the fights against Békessy and Schober. During that same year, Kraus also published the records of a lawsuit that Kerr had filed against him after Kraus had published Kerr’s war poems in Die Fackel.\nIn 1932, Kraus re-translated Shakespeare’s sonnets. He supported Engelbert Dollfuß, hoping Dollfuß could prevent Nazism from engulfing Austria. This estranged him from some of his followers. When asked why he never said anything about Hitler, he reportedly answered: “I cannot think of anything to say about Hitler.”\nHis last work, which he declined to publish for fear of Nazi reprisals, was the verbally rich, densely allusive anti-Nazi polemic Die Dritte Walpurgisnacht (The Third Walpurgisnacht). However, lengthy extracts appear in his apologia for his silence at Hitler’s coming to power, Warum die Fackel nicht erscheint (Why the Fackel Does Not Appear), a 315-page edition of his periodical. The last issue of the Fackel appeared in February of 1936. Karl Kraus died of an embolism of the heart in Vienna on June 12th, 1936 after a short illness.\nKraus never married, but from 1913 until his death, he had a conflict-prone but close relationship with the Baroness Sidonie Nádherný von Borutin (1885-1950). Many of his works were written in Janowitz castle, Nádherny family property. Sidonie Nádherny became an important pen-friend and addressee of books and poems.\nIn 1911 he was baptized as a Catholic, but in 1923 he left the Catholic Church, because he disapproved of the revival of the Salzburg Festival. He is buried in the Zentralfriedhof cemetery outside Vienna.\nKraus was the subject of two books written by noted libertarian author Dr.Thomas Szasz. Karl Kraus and the Soul Doctors and Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus’s Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry portrayed Kraus as a harsh critic of Sigmund Freud and of psychoanalysis in general. Other commentators, such as Edward Timms (Karl Kraus – Apocalyptic Satirist) have argued that Kraus respected Freud, though with reservations about the application of some of his theories, and that his views were far less black-and-white than Szasz suggests.\nPerson\nKarl Kraus has been a subject of opposing opinions throughout his lifetime. This polarisation was undoubtedly strengthened by his immense awareness of his own importance. This self-image was not completely unfounded: those who attended his performances were fascinated by his personality. His followers saw in him an infallible authority, someone who would do anything to help those he supported.\nTo the numerous enemies he made due to the inflexibility and intensity of his partisanship, however, he was a bitter misanthrope and poor would-be (Alfred Kerr). He was accused of wallowing in hateful denouncements and Erledigungen.\nKarl Kraus and language\nKarl Kraus was convinced that every little error, albeit of an importance that was seemingly limited in time and space, shows the great evils of the world and era. Thus, he could see in a missing comma a symptom of that state of the world that would allow a world war. One of the main points of his writings was to show the great evils inherent in such seemingly small errors.\nLanguage was to him the most important tell-tale for the wrongs of the world. He viewed his contemporaries’ careless treatment of language as a sign for their careless treatment of the world as a whole.\nErnst Křenek reported the following typical episode:\nAls man sich gerade über die Beschießung von Shanghai durch die Japaner erregte und ich Karl Kraus bei einem der berühmten Beistrich-Problemen antraf, sagte er ungefähr: Ich weiß, daß das alles sinnlos ist, wenn das Haus in Brand steht. Aber solange das irgend möglich ist, muß ich das machen, denn hätten die Leute, die dazu verpflichtet sind, immer darauf geachtet, daß die Beistriche am richtigen Platz stehen, so würde Shanghai nicht brennen.“[3]\n(At a time when one was generally decrying the bombardment of Shanghai by the Japanese, I met Karl Kraus struggling over one of his famous comma problems. He said something like: I know that everything is futile when the house is burning. But I have to do this, as long as it is at all possible; for if those who are obliged to look after commas had always made sure they were in the right place, then Shanghai would not be burning.)\nHe accused people — and most of all journalists and authors — of using language as a means that they believed to command rather than serving it as an end. To Kraus, language is not a means to distribute ready-made opinions, but rather the medium of thought itself. As such, it is in need of critical reflection. Therefore, dejournalising his readers was an important concern of Kraus in “a time that is thoroughly journalised, that is informed by the spirit but is deaf to the unity of form and contents”. He wanted to educate his readers to an “understanding of the cause of the German language, to that height at which the written word is understood as a necessary incarnation of the thought, and not simply a shell demanded by society around an opinion.”\nKraus maintained that language may not be entirely subjected to man’s wishes. Even in its most maimed state, it will still show the true state of the world. Even war enthusiasts will unwittingly point out the cruel butchery during the war when calling it Mordshetz (an Austrian word for great fun that can also be read as murderous chase).\nKraus saw the press as his supreme enemy and the “nether regions” of literature: his views on societal and cultural issues were less clearly defined, and his political preferences were shifting. He sympathized now with Social Democrats, now with Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In some ways, Kraus’ criticism prefigured contemporary critics of the press such as Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman. But it must not be forgotten that Kraus’ criticism was primarily moral, not political. Moreover, his cultural background was not that of the ‘New Left’ but instead that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: his emphasis on precision, and his dislike of rhetoric and the baroque demonstrates links between his views and those of Ludwig Wittgenstein (in his early works) and Adolf Loos, amongst others.\nSelected works:\nDie demolirte Literatur [Demolished Literature] (1897)\nEine Krone für Zion [A Crown for Zion] (1898)\nSittlichkeit und Kriminalität [Morality and Crimical Justice] (1908)\nSprüche und Widersprüche [Sayings and Contradictions] (1909)\nDie chinesische Mauer [The Wall of China] (1910)\nPro domo et mundo [For Home and for the World] (1912)\nNestroy und die Nachwelt [ Nestroy and Posterity](1913)\nWorte in Versen (1916-30)\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit (1918)\nWeltgericht [World Court] (1919)\nUntergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie [The End of the World Through Black Magic](1922)\nLiteratur (1921)\nTraumstück [Dream Piece] (1922)\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit: Tragödie in fünf Akten mit Vorspiel und Epilog [The Last Days of Mankind: Tragedy in Five Acts with Preamble and Epilogue] (1922)\nWolkenkuckucksheim [Cloud Cuckoo Land] (1923)\nTraumtheater [Dream Theatre] (1924)\nDie Unüberwindlichen [The Insurmountables] (1928)\nLiteratur und Lüge [Literature and Lies] (1929)\nShakespeares Sonette (1933)\nDie Sprache [Language] (posthumous, 1937)\nDie dritte Walpurgisnacht [The Third Walpurgis Night] (posthumous, 1952)\nSome work has been re-issued in recent years:\nDie letzten Tage der Menschheit, Bühnenfassung des Autors, 1992 Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-22091-8\nDie Sprache, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37817-1\nDie chinesische Mauer, mit acht Illustrationen von Oskar Kokoschka, 1999, Insel, ISBN 3-458-19199-2\nAphorismen. Sprüche und Widersprüche. Pro domo et mundo. Nachts, 1986, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37818-X\nSittlichkeit und Krimininalität, 1987, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37811-2\nDramen. Literatur, Traumstück, Die unüberwindlichen u.a., 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37821-X\nLiteratur und Lüge, 1999, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37813-9\nShakespeares Sonette, Nachdichtung, 1977, Diogenes, ISBN 3-257-20381-0\nTheater der Dichtung mit Bearbeitungen von Shakespeare-Dramen, Suhrkamp 1994, ISBN 3-518-37825-2\nHüben und Drüben, 1993, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37828-7\nDie Stunde des Gerichts, 1992, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37827-9\nUntergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie, 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37814-7\nBrot und Lüge, 1991, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37826-0\nDie Katastrophe der Phrasen, 1994, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37829-5\nWorks in English translation\nThe Last Days of Mankind: a Tragedy in Five Acts (1974), an abridgement tr. Alexander Gode and Sue Allen Wright\nIn These Great Times: A Karl Kraus Reader (1984), ed. Harry Zohn, contains translated excerpts from Die Fackel, including poems with the original German text alongside, and a drastically abridged translation of The Last Days of Mankind.\nAnti-Freud: Karl Kraus’ Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry (1990) by Thomas Szasz contains Szasz’s translations of several of Kraus’ articles and aphorisms on psychiatry and psychoanalysis.\nDicta and Contradicta, tr. Jonathan McVity (2001), a collection of aphorisms.\nHalf Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths: selected aphorisms translated by Hary Zohn. Chicago (1990) ISBN 0226452689.\nReferences:\nquoted following Sprüche und Widersprüche (Sayings and Gainsayings), Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M. 1984, p. 42\nDie Fackel No. 404, December 1914, p. 1\nWeigel, Kraus oder die Macht der Ohnmacht (Kraus or the power of powerlessness), p. 128\nKarl Kraus by L. Liegler (1921)\nKarl Kraus by W. Benjamin (1931)\nKarl Kraus by R. von Schaukal (1933)\nKarl Kraus in Sebstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten by P. Schick (1965)\nThe Last Days of Mankind: Karl Kraus and His Vienna by Frank Field (1967)\nKarl Kraus by W.A. Iggers (1967)\nKarl Kraus by H. Zohn (1971)\nWittgenstein’s Vienna by A. Janik and S. Toulmin (1973)\nKarl Kraus and the Soul Doctors by T.S. Szasz (1976)\nMasks of the Prophet: The Theatrical World of Karl Kraus by Kari Grimstad (1981)\nMcGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, vol. 3, ed. by Stanley Hochman (1984)\nKarl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: Culture and Catastrophe in Habsburg Vienna by Edward Timms (1986) Yale University Press ISBN 0300044836 reviews: [1] [2] [3] [4]\nKarl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: The Post-War Crisis and the Rise of the Swastika by Edward Timms (2005)\nAnti-Freud: Karl Kraus’s Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry by Thomas Szasz (1990)\nThe Paper Ghetto: Karl Kraus and Anti-Semitism by John Theobald (1996)\nKarl Kraus and the Critics by Harry Zohn (1997)\nOtto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna by Chandak Sengoopta pp.6, 23, 35-36, 39-41, 43-44, 137, 141-45\nKarl Kraus (1874-1936)\nMay 6, 2008 at 10:03 pm | Posted in Books , Globalization , History , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , United Kingdom | Leave a comment\nCarlyle, “Signs of the Times”\nIn his essay “Signs of the Times” (1829), Thomas Carlyle declares his time to be a “Mechanical Age”–an age likely to produce “a mighty change in our whole manner of existence”\nThomas Carlyle:\nSigns of the Times: The “Mechanical Age”\n1829\nWere we required to characterise this age of ours by any single epithet, we should be tempted to call it, not an Heroical, Devotional, Philosophical, or Moral Age, but, above all others, the Mechanical Age.\nIt is the Age of Machinery, in every outward and inward sense of that word; the age which, with its whole undivided might, forwards, teaches and practises the great art of adapting means to ends. Nothing is now done directly, or by hand; all is by rule and calculated contrivance. For the simplest operation, some helps and accompaniments, some cunning abbreviating process is in readiness. Our old modes of exertion are all discredited, and thrown aside. On every hand, the living artisan is driven from his workshop, to make room for a speedier, inanimate one. The shuttle drops from the fingers of the weaver, and falls into iron fingers that ply it faster. The sailor furls his sail, and lays down his oar; and bids a strong, unwearied servant, on vaporous wings, bear him through the waters. Men have crossed oceans by steam; the Birmingham Fire-king has visited the fabulous East; and the genius of the Cape, were there any Cameons now to sing it, has again been alarmed, and with far stranger thunders than Gamas. There is no end to machinery. Even the horse is stripped of his harness, and finds a fleet firehorse yoked in his stead. Nay, we have an artist that hatches chickens by steam; the very brood-hen is to be superseded! For all earthly, and for some unearthly purposes, we have machines and mechanic furtherances; for mincing our cabbages; for casting us into magnetic sleep. We remove mountains, and make seas our smooth highway; nothing can resist us. We war with rude Nature; and, by our resistless engines, come off always victorious, and loaded with spoils.\nWhat wonderful accessions have thus been made, and are still making, to the physical power of mankind; how much better fed, clothed, lodged and, in all outward respects, accommodated men now are, or might be, by a given quantity of labour, is a grateful reflection which forces itself on every one. What changes, too, this addition of power is introducing into the Social System; how wealth has more and more increased, and at the same time gathered itself more and more into masses, strangely altering the old relations, and increasing the distance between the rich and the poor, will be a question for Political Economists, and a much more complex and important one than any they have yet engaged with.\nBut leaving these matters for the present, let us observe how the mechanical genius of our time has diffused itself into quite other provinces. Not the external and physical alone is now managed by machinery, but the internal and spiritual also. Here too nothing follows its spontaneous course, nothing is left to be accomplished by old natural methods. Everything has its cunningly devised implements, its preestablished apparatus; it is not done by hand, but by machinery. Thus we have machines for Education: Lancastrian machines; Hamiltonian machines; monitors, maps, and emblems. Instruction, that mysterious communing of Wisdom with Ignorance, is no longer an indefinable tentative process, requiring a study of individual aptitudes, and a perpetual variation of means and methods, to attain the same end; but a secure, universal, straightforward business, to be conducted in the gross, by proper mechanism, with such intellect as comes to hand. Then, we have Religious machines, of all imaginable varieties; the Bible-Society, professing a far higher and heavenly structure, is found, on inquiry, to be altogether an earthly contrivance: supported by collection of moneys, by fomenting of vanities, by puffing, intrigue and chicane; a machine for converting the Heathen. It is the same in all other departments. Has any man, or any society of men, a truth to speak, a piece of spiritual work to do; they can nowise proceed at once and with the mere natural organs, but must first call a public meeting, appoint committees, issue prospectuses, eat a public dinner; in a word, construct or borrow machinery, wherewith to speak it and do it. Without machinery they were hopeless, helpless; a colony of Hindoo weavers squatting in the heart of Lancashire.\nRICARDO:\nOn the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation\n“On Machinery” Chapter 31\nIn his famous Chapter 31 “On Machinery” (added in 1821 to the third edition of his Principles), he noted that technical progress requires the introduction of labor-saving machinery. This is costly to purchase and install, and so will reduce the wages fund. In this case, either wages must fall or workers must be fired. Some of these unemployed workers may be mopped up by the greater amount of accumulation that the extra profits will permit, but it might not be enough. A pool of unemployed might remain, placing downward pressure and wages and leading to the general misery of the working classes.\nTitle: On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation\nPublished: London: John Murray, 1821. Third edition.\nFirst published: 1817\nto the Third Edition\nPublished: London: John Murray, 1821. Third edition.\nIn this Edition I have endeavoured to explain more fully than in the last, my opinion on the difficult subject of VALUE, and for that purpose have made a few additions to the first chapter. I have also inserted a new chapter on the subject of MACHINERY, and on the effects of its improvement on the interests of the different classes of the State.\nMarch 26, 1821\n1822 Charles Babbage\nCharles Babbage FRS ( 26 December 1791 London , England – 18 October 1871 Marylebone , London , England ) was an English mathematician , philosopher , and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer . Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum . In 1991 a perfectly functioning difference engine was constructed from Babbage’s original plans. Built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage’s machine would have worked. Nine years later, the Science Museum completed the printer Babbage had designed for the difference engine, an astonishingly complex device for the 19th century. Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs.\nThe Difference Engine was designed to tabulate polynomial functions , and as both logarithmic and trigonometric functions can be approximated by polynomials, such a machine is more general than it appears at first.\nIn 1822, Charles Babbage proposed the use of such a machine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society on 14 June entitled “Note on the application of machinery to the computation of very big mathematical tables.” This machine used the decimal number system and was powered by cranking a handle. The British government initially financed the project, but withdrew funding when Babbage repeatedly asked for more money whilst making no apparent progress on building the machine. Babbage went on to design his much more general analytical engine but later produced an improved difference engine design (his “Difference Engine No. 2”) between 1847 and 1849. Inspired by Babbage’s difference engine plans, Per Georg Scheutz built several difference engines from 1855 onwards; one was sold to the British government in 1859. Martin Wiberg improved Scheutz’s construction but used his device only for producing and publishing printed logarithmic tables.\nBased on Babbage’s original plans, the London Science Museum constructed a working Difference Engine No. 2 from 1989 to 1991, under Doron Swade , the then Curator of Computing. This was to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Babbage’s birth. In 2000, the printer which Babbage originally designed for the difference engine was also completed. The conversion of the original design drawings into drawings suitable for engineering manufacturers’ use revealed some minor errors in Babbage’s design, which had to be corrected.\nOnce completed, both the engine and its printer worked flawlessly, and still do. The difference engine and printer were constructed to tolerances achievable with 19th century technology, resolving a long-standing debate whether Babbage’s design would actually have worked. (One of the reasons formerly advanced for the non-completion of Babbage’s engines had been that engineering methods were insufficiently developed in the Victorian era.) In addition to funding the construction of the output mechanism for the Science Museum’s Difference Engine No. 2, Nathan Myhrvold commissioned the construction of a second complete Difference Engine No. 2, which will be on exhibit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California from 10 May 2008 through April 2009\nFrom 1828 to 1839 Babbage was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. He contributed largely to several scientific periodicals, and was instrumental in founding the Astronomical Society in 1820 and the Statistical Society in 1834. However, he dreamt of designing mechanical calculating machines.\n“… I was sitting in the rooms of the Analytical Society, at Cambridge, my head leaning forward on the table in a kind of dreamy mood, with a table of logarithms lying open before me. Another member, coming into the room, and seeing me half asleep, called out, “Well, Babbage, what are you dreaming about?” to which I replied “I am thinking that all these tables” (pointing to the logarithms) “might be calculated by machinery. “\n \nApril 22, 2008 at 2:18 am | Posted in Books , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology | Leave a comment\nMind in Life\nEvan Thompson\nNeurophenomenology\nHow is life related to the mind? The question has long confounded philosophers and scientists, and it is this so-called explanatory gap between biological life and consciousness that Evan Thompson explores in Mind in Life.\nThompson draws upon sources as diverse as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, artificial life, complex systems theory, neuroscience, psychology, Continental Phenomenology, and analytic philosophy to argue that mind and life are more continuous than has previously been accepted, and that current explanations do not adequately address the myriad facets of the biology and phenomenology of mind. Where there is life, Thompson argues, there is mind: life and mind share common principles of self-organization, and the self-organizing features of mind are an enriched version of the self-organizing features of life. Rather than trying to close the explanatory gap, Thompson marshals philosophical and scientific analyses to bring unprecedented insight to the nature of life and consciousness. This synthesis of phenomenology and biology helps make Mind in Life a vital and long-awaited addition to his landmark volume The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (coauthored with Eleanor Rosch and Francisco Varela).\nEndlessly interesting and accessible, Mind in Life is a groundbreaking addition to the fields of the theory of the mind, life science, and phenomenology.\nDr. Thompson is currently writing a new book entitled Buddha and the Brain: Contemplative Neuroscience and the Nature of Consciousness, which explores how Asian contemplative traditions and Western mind-brain science can collaborate beyond the science/religion divide in order to create new ways of scientifically investigating human consciousness and of fostering contemplative wisdom and cognitive spirituality.\nEditorial Reviews\nReview\nThe overarching topic of Thompson’s book is nothing less than the nature of life and mind, where life and mind are conceived not as they often are–that is, as fundamentally separate subjects in need of largely nonintersecting theoretical frameworks–but rather as tightly intertwined phenomena in need of a common explanatory language. The long-anticipated follow-up to The Embodied Mind, this book is even better–clear, lively, original, and compelling. Mind in Life is a work for which a great number of thinkers in philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences have been eagerly waiting.\n–Michael Wheeler, author of Reconstructing the Cognitive World: The Next Step\nEvan Thompson has emerged as a major presence in the science of the mind. His new book is quite wonderful to read, and I found it impossible to put down. In particular, his discussion of Husserl’s phenomenology is a revelation, as are his reasons for reversing his former criticisms of Husserl. His discussion of one of the central issues driving modern cognitive neuroscience, the binding problem, is particularly valuable and should compel a major reexamination of experiments being carried out in this field. Evan Thompson is doing important work in re-framing the very questions that define cognitive science.\n–Merlin Donald, Case Western Reserve University\nThere is no deeper prison of the modern mind than the Cartesian legacy that splits mind from life, and no more arduous climb to escape. Thompson provides a topo map–rich, multifaceted, superbly documented–by detailing the work of the many (but relatively few among contemporary scientists and philosophers) who recognize the impasse and strive to transcend it.\n–Walter J. Freeman, author of How Brains Make Up Their Minds\nNeurophenomenology is the majestic method we naturalists have been seeking to blend experience, behavior, and the brain. This long-awaited book will open up the discussion of what experience is and where it is, and how we explain the connection between the objective world of physical activity and that of pain, love, and imagining. Thompson enacts the method he espouses, neurophenomenology, in each chapter with in-depth examples that mind scientists will find compelling. A tour de force!\n–Owen Flanagan\nIs Mind continuous with Life? Can better phenomenology improve our scientific understanding of consciousness and cognition? In this elegant and thought-provoking treatment, Evan Thompson explores a vision of mind and life that traces a path from simple cellular organizations all the way to consciousness, intersubjectivity, and culture. A wonderful and important journey, and a compulsory trip for all those interested in the explanation of mind and experience.\n–Andy Clark, author of Being There: Putting Brain, Body and World Together Again\nThough modesty prevents him from claiming an original theory or dramatic new synthesis, in Mind in Life, one of the world’s top philosophers offers a brilliant and inspired treatise into the so-called “explanatory gap” between life and mind, nature and consciousness. Thompson stands apart in his ability to link objective descriptions of life and mind with our subjective experience of them. Here he weaves the phenomenological analysis of experience and the latest developments in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and biology into a rich coordinated whole in which life and mind are seen to be intrinsically and essentially dynamic and self-organizing. Curious people who want to appreciate this hard won insight and better understand the deep continuity of life and mind will want to read this unique and illuminating book.\n–J.A. Scott Kelso, author of Dynamic Patterns: the Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior and (with David A. Engstrom) co-author of The Complementary Nature.\nBook Description\nHow is life related to the mind? The question has long confounded philosophers and scientists, and it is this so-called explanatory gap between biological life and consciousness that Evan Thompson explores in Mind in Life.\nThompson draws upon sources as diverse as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, artificial life, complex systems theory, neuroscience, psychology, Continental Phenomenology, and analytic philosophy to argue that mind and life are more continuous than has previously been accepted, and that current explanations do not adequately address the myriad facets of the biology and phenomenology of mind. Where there is life, Thompson argues, there is mind: life and mind share common principles of self-organization, and the self-organizing features of mind are an enriched version of the self-organizing features of life. Rather than trying to close the explanatory gap, Thompson marshals philosophical and scientific analyses to bring unprecedented insight to the nature of life and consciousness. This synthesis of phenomenology and biology helps make Mind in Life a vital and long-awaited addition to his landmark volume The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (coauthored with Eleanor Rosch and Francisco Varela).\nEndlessly interesting and accessible, Mind in Life is a groundbreaking addition to the fields of the theory of the mind, life science, and phenomenology.\nProduct Details:\nApril 14, 2008 at 3:35 am | Posted in Books , History , Philosophy | Leave a comment\nOverdetermination\nOverdetermination, the idea that a single observed effect is determined by multiple causes at once (any one of which alone might be enough to account for the effect), was originally a key concept of Sigmund Freud ‘s psychoanalysis .\nFor Freud and Psychoanalysis\nFreud wrote in The Interpretation of Dreams that many features of dreams were usually “overdetermined,” in that they were caused by multiple factors in the life of the dreamer, from the “residue of the day” (superficial memories of recent life) to deeply repressed traumas and unconscious wishes, these being “potent thoughts”. Freud favored interpretations which accounted for such features not only once, but many times, in the context of various levels and complexes of the dreamer’s psyche.\nThe concept was later borrowed for a variety of other realms of thought.\nIn the Philosophy of Causation\nIn contemporary analytic philosophy an event or state of affairs is said to be overdetermined if there are more than one distinct, sufficient causes of it. Whereas there may unproblematically be recognised many different necessary conditions of the event’s occurrence, no two distinct events may lay claim to be sufficient conditions, since this would lead to overdetermination. A much used example is that of firing squads, the members of which simultaneously firing at and ‘killing’ their targets. Apparently, no one member can be said to have caused the victims’ deaths, since they would have been killed anyway. Overdetermination is problematic in particular from the viewpoint of a standard counterfactual understanding of causation, according to which an event is the cause of another event if and only if the latter would not have occurred, had the former not occurred. In order to employ this formula to actual complex situations, implicit or explicit conditions need to be accepted to be circumstantial, since the list of counterfactually acceptable causes would otherwise be impractically long (e.g. the earth’s continued existence could be said to be the (necessary) cause of one drinking one’s coffee). Unless a circumstance-clause is included, the putative cause to which one wishes to draw attention could never be considered sufficient, and hence not comply with the counterfactual analysis.\nFor Richards and literature\nThe New Critic I.A. Richards used the idea of overdetermination in order to explain the importance of ambiguity : in rhetoric , the philosophy of language , and literary criticism .\nFor Althusser and Structuralist Marxism\nThe Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser imported the concept into Marxist politics in an influential essay, “Contradiction and Overdetermination”. Drawing, in an unusual combination, from both Freud and Mao Zedong , Althusser used the idea of overdetermination as a way of thinking about the multiple, often opposed, forces active at once in any political situation, without falling into an over-simple idea of these forces being simply “contradictory.” Brewster, in Althusser et al’s Reading Capital defines overdetermination as such:\n“the representation of dream thoughts in images privileged by their condensation of a number of thoughts in a single image (condensation), or by the transference of psychic energy from a particularly potent thought to apparently trivial things … [For Althusser] overdetermination of a contradiction is the reflection in it of its conditions of existence within the complex whole.”\nThus, for Althusser’s reiterating of Marxist thought, overdetermination is what [concealed/unaccepted] “determinant contradictions”, or capital-economic incongruities (i.e., abstract labour resulting in “isolation” — the class struggle), which are analogous to Freud’s “potent thoughts”, apply to instances that are more really, slight, understandable. An instance of a popular riot calling for revolution could exemplify this. The event has to it, in capitalist culture, an over-application (determination) of agitation. The determinant contradictions (the reasons for popular revolt) are not addressed and so their great mass is “displaced” onto the singular event.\nFor Baudrillard and Theoretical Sociology towards a Theory of Hyperreality\nAnother conception of overdetermination is present in the later writings of Jean Baudrillard . His derives from Althusser’s conception, but breaks with it just as Baudrillard breaks with structural Marxism in general.\nReferences\nLouis Althusser. “Contradiction and Overdetermination.” In For Marx Verso 1985 ISBN 0-902308-79-3\nLouis Althusser et al. Reading Capital Verso 1993 ISBN 1-85984-164-3\nSigmund Freud. The Interpretation of Dreams HarperCollins 1976 ISBN 0-89966-441-5 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-380-01000-3 (Paperback)\nI.A. Richards. The Philosophy of Rhetoric Oxford University Press 1965 ISBN 0-415-21738-5 (Library Binding) ISBN 0-19-500715-8 (Paperback)\nOverdetermination\nApril 12, 2008 at 2:02 am | Posted in Asia , Books , Germany , Globalization , Japan , Philosophy | Leave a comment\nTetsuro Watsuji\n( March 1 , 1889 – December 26 , 1960 )\nLife\nWatsuji was born in Himeji , Hyōgo Prefecture to a physician. During his youth he enjoyed poetry and had a passion for Western literature. For a short time he was the coeditor of a literary magazine and was involved in writing poems and plays. His interests in Philosophy came to light while he was a student at First Higher School in Tokyo, although his interest in literature would always remain strong throughout his life. In his early writings (between 1913 and 1915) he introduced the work of Soren Kierkegaard to Japan, as well as working on Friedrich Nietzsche , but in 1918 he turned against this earlier position, criticizing Western philosophical individualism , and attacking its influence on Japanese thought and life. This led to a study of the roots of Japanese culture, including Japanese Buddhist art , and notably the work of the mediæval Zen Buddhist Dogen . Watsuji was also interested in the famous Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki , whose books were influential during\nWatsuji’s early years.\nIn 1925 Watsuji became professor of ethics at Kyoto University , joining the other leading philosophers of the time, Nishida Kitaro and Tanabe Hajime . He held the university’s chair in ethics from 1934 until 1949. During World War II his ethical theories (which claimed the superiority of Japanese approaches to and understanding of human nature and ethics, and argued for the negation of self) provided support for certain nationalistic, military factions — a fact which, after the war, he said that he regretted.\nWatsuji died at the age of seventy-one, his philosophical influence in Japan continuing long after his death.\nWork\nWatsuji’s three main works were his two-volume 1954 History of Japanese Ethical Thought, his three-volume Rinrigaku (Ethics), first published in 1937, 1942, and 1949, and his 1935 Fudo. The last of these develops his most distinctive thought. In it, Watsuji argues for an essential relationship between climate and other environmental factors and the nature of human cultures, and he distinguished three types of culture: pastoral, desert, and monsoon. (The French philosopher Montesquieu had developed a theory along similar lines, though with very different conclusions.)\nWritings\n1961–1963: Watsuji Tetsurō Zenshū (Complete Works of Tetsuro Watsuji) 20 volumes (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten)\nEnglish translations\n1988: Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study trans. from Fudo by Geoffrey Bownas (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press)\n1996: Watsuji Tetsurō’s Rinrigaku: Ethics in Japan trans. from Rinigaku by Seisaku Yamamoto & Robert Carter (Albany: State University of New York Press)\nIn this Japanese name , the family name is Watsuji.\nName\nb. Mar 22, 1914 in Osaka, Japan – d. Aug 15, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan\ncountry/nation/culture: Japanese\nfield of study: history of political thought, history of philosophy, history of social institutions\nMain Works\nNihon seiji shisôshi kenkyû, 1952 (Studies in the Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan, 1974)\nSeiji no sekai [The World of Politics], 1952\nGendai seiji no shisô to kôdô, 2 vols., 1956 (Thought and Behavior in modern Japanese Politics, 1963; enlarged edition 1969)\nNihon no shisô, 1957 (Japanese Thought, 1964)\nKindai Nihon no shisô to bungaku – Hitotsu no kêsu sutadi to shite [Thought and Literature in modern Japan], 1959\nChûsei to Hangyaku, 1960 (Loyalty and Rebellion, 1996)\nRekishi ishiki no ‘kosô [The old Substrata of historical Consciousness], 1972\nBiography\nMasao Maruyama was the son of the journalist Kanji Maruyama. He took all his degrees from Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied from 1934. Upon receiving his doctorate 1937, Maruyama started teaching. In 1940, he was named professor at the Faculty of Law, then a prestigious school that trained the political and economic elite of Japan. Though first posted to northern Korea in 1944, he was then sent to Hiroshima, where he remained until the end of the war. In 1950 Maruyama became the first holder of the chair in history of political ideas. He resigned in 1971 for health reasons. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences of Japan, a foreign member of the Royal Society of Great Britain, and Doctor honoris causa of both Harvard and Princeton Universities.\nCharacterization\nBefore and during the Second World War, much intellectual discussion in Japan sought to find a basis for an irrational rejection of Western values, by promoting the notion of overcoming modernity. In that climate, Maruyama published three articles, brought together into Nihon seiji shisôshi kenkyû. With unrivaled erudition, Maruyama set out here the problematic that would constitute the principal direction of all his work: the question of modernity, or rather non-modernity, of Japan.\nMaruyama found significant how the dominant neo-Confucianism of the School of Zhuxi (1130-1200) was questioned by the Confucian circles of the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868). The innovators preferred a new mode of thought, brilliantly set out by Ogyû Sorai (1666-1728), founded upon the absolutization of the Confucian saints (in parallel with European absolutism in politics). Maruyama saw in Sorai’s thought a progressive dissolution of a continuist, naturalist mode of thought, which set out a mode of social relations analogous to that of Gemeinschaft, moving toward the birth of a new type of reflection which promoted historical consciousness, itself the precursor of modern consciousness. Maruyama also showed that the thought of the Tokugawa Period could be seen as a part of a continuous evolution toward modernity. However, Maruyama saw that despite the sometimes brilliant application of Sorai’s methodology in his school, especially in the work of Moto’ori Noringa (1730-1801), the evolution toward modernity and the values that it carries (universalism, democracy and nationalism) was aborted, and made Japanese modernity a very particular combination of ultra-modernity and pre-modernity, hence precipitating the catastrophe that is all too well known.\nIn an article “Chôkokkashugi no ronri to shinri” [Theory and Psychology of Ultra-Nationalism] (reprinted in: Gendai seiji no shisô to kôdô) Maruyama showed in 1946 that Japanese fascism, far from representing an accidental deviation, constituted the logical endpoint of an evolution that had begun in the Meiji Period, when imperial power had arrogated to itself all power to create values, leaving the society in a psychological paralysis that produced a generalized irresponsibility.\nNihon no shisô, a concise and penetrating essay, has become one of Maruyama’s most famous. He understands the state of thought in Japan as a space in which many disparate ways of thought exist together without orderly relation, a result of an unstructured tradition. In the various essays published as Gendai seiji no shisô to kôdô, the author, in setting out the methodological foundations of research on Japanese fascism, sets out to attribute an intellectual autonomy to the history of political ideas. Maruyama engages in his own revision of his initial theory on the history of modernization, especially in Chusei to Hangyaku, where he carries out a critique of his own work: the notion of loyalty at the outset of the Tokugawa Period referred to a loyalty toward the system, but the regime of the late nineteenth century would reinterpret it in terms of loyalty to origins, which is to say to the imperial house, allowing the imperial party to be the key element in overcoming the rule of the shoguns. Maruyama would later admit to a 180-degree turn in his understanding of the history of ideas of the Tokugawa Period.\nMethod\nMaruyama never ceased to assert the importance of method, including this term (hōhō) in the very title of some essays. Like the great majority of Japanese intellectuals of his time, Maruyama was greatly influenced by Marxist thought, but, as Maruyama himself points out, the influence of Marxism as an intellectual movement is not at all limited to the ideology of the left. When Marxism identifies a base or infrastructure that underlies many substructures, it also proposes an exhaustive explanation of changes that affect social systems. If the Japanese threw themselves into great leaps of thought, it was through the influence of Marxism that they had been able to meet the universalism of the Renaissance and the critical spirit of the Enlightenment.\nMaruyama, who was deeply imbued with German thought, read Marxist philosophy in a way that was profoundly tributary to the neo-Kantian philosophers of Heidelberg like Wilhelm Windelband (whom he cites often) and Heinrich Rickert, who both attempted to reconcile history and science, and to find an adequate place for consciousness, ethics and values inside the process of scientific knowledge. Hence, considered in a humanist perspective, alienation represents the sacrifice of personal autonomy. Maruyama also feels indebted to Karl Mannheim for discussing the autonomous existence of history as a discipline, thanks to the positive status he gives to the facts of consciousness.\nMaruyama even claimed an idealist vision of things: idealism, by his account, does not in itself imply a lack of realism. It is, on the contrary, the failure to adhere to values that transcend reality that makes us become the plaything of circumstances, and which permitted the triumph of fascism and state repression. Reality is not objective but derives from a ceaseless creation of values: it is no more than a construction emanating from autonomous personalities, taking on the responsibility for attributing values: Confucian saints, a certain period, the promoters of pacifism in the aftermath of World War Two.\nImpact\nThe influence of Maruyama’s work was, and remains today, immense in Japan. Besides determining the direction of future studies on the Tokugawa Period, his writing renewed the question of modernity in Japan. In the aftermath of the war, Maruyama was not content with the sham democracy imposed by the occupying power. Often compared to Sartre in his influence over young people, he played an important role as an opinion leader in postwar democratic Japan. He participated actively in debating such questions as the responsibility of Emperor Hirohito or of the Communist Party during the war, and above all, the question of renewing the Treaty of Peace and Security with the USA. This last debate gave him much opportunity to plead for Japanese pacifism, of which he was one of the great theoreticians.\nJapanization of Mostly German Ideas:\nWatsuji Tetsuro & Maruyama Masao\nDr. Alois Hudal, Roman Catholic\nbishop – and, during the 1930s, a\nTitle page of the book\nThe Foundations of National Socialism\n(1937)\nPicture of Theodor Kardinal Innitzer above\nHUDAL:\nAlois Hudal (also known as Luigi Hudal; born 31 May 1885 in Graz, Austro-Hungarian Empire; died 13 May 1963 in Rome, Italy) was a Rome-based bishop of Austrian descent. He is famous for his 1937 book The Foundations of National Socialism, in which he praised Hitler and some of his policies, and for the “ratline” he helped to establish after the end of World War II, allowing prominent Nazi war criminals to escape trial.\nBiography\nA career in Rome\nBishop Alois Hudal was born on 31 May 1885, the son of a shoemaker in the Austrian city of Graz, where he studied theology (1904-1908) and was ordained to the priesthood in July 1908. Though the professorate promised to him at Vienna’s university was never given, Hudal became a noted specialist on the liturgy, doctrine and spirituality of the Slavic-speaking Eastern Orthodox Churches. He ministered as a parish chaplain in Kindberg, before leaving to study in Rome. In 1911 he became a Doctor in Theolgy in Graz. After completing his doctorate studies, he entered the Pontifical College of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome where he was a chaplain (1911-1913), attending courses in Old Testament at the Biblical Institute. There he took his second doctoral degree, on Die religioesen und sittlichen Ideen des Spruchbuches (“The religious and moral ideas of the Book of Proverbs”). This dissertation was published in 1914. He took residency in the faculty for Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz in 1914. He was an assistant military chaplain during a period of service in the First World War. In 1917 he published his sermons to the soldiers, Soldatenpredigten (see below his selected works), in which he expressed the idea that “loyalty to the flag is loyalty to God”, though also warning against “national chauvinism” at that time [1]. In 1923 he was nominated rector of the Collegio Teutonico di Santa Maria dell’Anima (or simply “Anima”) in Rome, a theological seminary for German and Austrian priests where he had lodged as a doctorate student[2]. In 1930 he was appointed a consultant to the Holy Office by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, whom Hudal in his memoirs considered a “grand seigneur of the Church” [3]. In June 1933 Hudal was ordained Titular Bishop of Aela by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who succeeded Merry del Val as the cardinal protector of the German national church at Rome [4]. Hudal was also a protégé of Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, ten years his elder and Archbishop of Vienna from 1932 to 1955.\nWinds of nationalism and anti-Semitism\nFrom 1933 on, Hudal embraced publicly the pan-Germanic nationalism he had previously condemned, proclaiming on July of that year that he always wished to be a “servant and herald” of “the total German cause” [5]. His invectives against the Jews also became more frequent, linking the so-called “Semitic race” – which allegedly “sought to set itself apart and dominate” – with the nefarious movements of democracy and cosmopolitanism and even denouncing an alleged Jewish conspiracy to become “the financial masters of the Eternal City” [6]. His opportunism and duplicity are patent in several moves he made at the time. For example, he was capable of writing a preface to an Italian biography of Engelbert Dollfuss in 1935 without mentioning that the Austrian politician with whom he sympathized had been murdered by Austrian Nazis in the previous year. [7]\nBolshevism and Liberalism as enemies\nHudal was a committed anti-Communist, but he also vehemently opposed Liberalism. Before Nazism, he was already highly critical of Parliamentary Democracy. His ideas were most similar to the political and economic ideas of his fellow Austrians Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg, as well as Franz von Papen in Germany, Salazar in Portugal and, in a less clear way, of Benito Mussolini in Italy. According to Greg Whitlock, “Hudal squarely fitted into a formula current at the time, the category of Clero-Fascism.”[8] Don Luigi Sturzo, the exiled Italian Catholic priest and Christian Democrat leader coined the term ‘Clerical-Fascism’ in the mid-20s to refer specifically to the faction of the Catholic party Italian People’s Party (Partito Popolare Italiano-PPI) who chose to support Mussolini. It was used afterwards to describe various authoritarian situations and regimes supported by members of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, including Dollfuss’s politics (Clerical Fascism and Austrofascism).\nHudal was most concerned about the class conflict tearing apart European society, in particular the rise of the international Communist movement and worker parties in Austria. Fear of “Bolshevism”, as he called it, was his starting point, but this feeling turned into an aggressive political doctrine towards Russia: “Essential to understanding Hudal’s politics is his fear that Bolshevist military forces would invade Italy through Eastern Europe or the Balkans and would be unstoppable until they destroyed the Church. Like many within the Church, he embraced the bulwark theory, which placed hope in a strong German-Austrian military shield to protect Rome. This protection involved a pre-emptive attack on godless Communism, Hudal believed, and so he felt an urgent need for a Christian army from Central Europe to invade Russia and eliminate the Bolshevist threat to Rome” [9].\nHowever, Communism was not his sole (and surely not his oldest) concern about Russia, since he was aiming at Eastern Christianity as well. In fact, Hudal’s long-term goals were also “the reunification of Rome with the Eastern Orthodox Church and the conversion of the Balkans from the Serbian Orthodox Church to Catholicism” [10]. He expected that the invasion of the Soviet Union would also serve these fundamental aims. Especially since Pope Benedict XV and the Russian Revolution of 1917, which crushed the Russian Orthodox Church and was regarded by Catholics as a historical opportunity, Rome was anxious about ending the thousand-year East-West Schism that separated Christianity [11].\n“Good” and “bad” National Socialism\nHudal is said to have received a Golden Nazi Party membership badge [12], but the fact is disputed. In 1937, in Vienna, Hudal published a book entitled The Foundations of National Socialism, with an imprimatur from Archbishop Innitzer, which was an enthusiastic endorsement of Hitler. Hudal sent Hitler a copy with a handwritten dedicacy praising him as “the new Siegfried of Germany’s greatness” [13]. Nevertheless, the book was not allowed to circulate freely in Germany by the Nazis — who generally detested the Roman Catholic Church and did not wish its leading members to “clericalize” their ranks — though it was not banned. During the Nuremberg trials, Franz von Papen declared that, at first, Hudal’s book had “very much impressed” Hitler, whose “anti-Christian advisers” were allegedly to blame for not allowing a free German edition. “All I could obtain was permission to print 2,000 copies, which Hitler wanted to distribute among leading Party members for a study of the problem”, Von Papen said.[14]\nHudal was highly critical of the works of several Nazi ideologues, like Alfred Rosenberg or Ernst Bergmann, who despised Christianity and considered it “alien to Germanic genius” [15]. The condemnation in 1934 by the Holy Office of Reich secretary Alfred Rosenberg’s The Myth of the Twentieth Century and, shortly thereafter, of Ernst Bergmann’s The German National Church had in fact been based on Hudal’s secret assessment of both works [16] In his own 1937 book, Alois Hudal proposed a reconciliation and a compromise between Nazism and Christianity, leaving the education of the youth to the Churches, while the latter would leave politics entirely to National Socialism. This had been the line followed by prominent German Catholic politician and former Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen too. In the autumn of 1934, Hudal had already explained this strategy to Pius XI, who received him in audience: the “good” ought to be separated from the “bad” in Nazism. The bad – that is Rosenberg, Bergmann and others – according to Hudal represented the “left wing” of the Nazi party. The “conservatives” – headed, he believed, by Hitler – should be redirected toward Rome, Christianized and used against the Communists and the Eastern danger [17]. This may help explain why Hitler’s hate-filled book, Mein Kampf was never put on the Index by Rome, as censors continually postponed and eventually terminated its examination, balking at taking on the “legal” chancellor of Germany [18]. Hudal saw the danger in Hitler’s entourage, not in his person. More than Hitler, he feared Baldur von Schirach’s influence over the German youth.\nThe reaction of Rosenberg to Hudal’s ideas was violent, and eventually the circulation of the Foundations of National Socialism was restricted in Germany. “We do not allow the fundaments of the Movement to be analyzed and criticized by a Roman Bishop” – said Rosenberg [19]. In 1935, even before he wrote the Foundations of National Socialism, Hudal had said about Rosenberg: “If National Socialism wants to replace Christianity by the notions of race and blood, we will have to face the greatest heresy of the twentieth century. It must be rejected by the Church as decisively as, if not more severely than […] the Action Française, with which it shares some errors. But Rosenberg’s doctrine is more imbued with negation and creates, above all in the youth, a hatred against Christianity greater than that of Nietzsche” [20].\nDespite the restrictions imposed on his book, and despite many harsh National Socialist restrictions against German monasteries and parishes, and effective attempts by the Nazi government to forbid Catholic education at schools, going as far as banning the crucifix in schools and other public areas (see the Oldenburg crucifix struggle of November 1936), even despite the Nazi dissolution and confiscation of Austrian monasteries and the official banning of Catholic newspapers and associations in annexed Austria (“Ostmark”), Bishop Hudal remained close to some of the Nazi regime’s officials, as he was convinced that the Nazi new order would nevertheless prevail. Hudal was particularly close to Franz von Papen, who as the Reich’s ambassador in Vienna prepared the German-Austrian agreement of 11 July 1936, which paved the way for the Anschluss. This agreement was enthusiastically backed by Hudal in the Austrian press, against the position of several Austrian Bishops.[21] The former Centre politician Von Papen, who was considered dangerous and disliked by the Nazis for his Catholicism, was later on sent to the German Embassy in Ankara.\nRatline organizer\nAt the end of the war, Hudal, who was already “Commissioner of the Episcopate for German speaking Catholics in Italy, as well as Father Confessor to Rome’s German community”[22], became involved with processing displaced persons. In 1944, when the Pope’s Pontifical Commission of Assistance (PCA) was divided into some 20 regional subcommittees, the Austrian section (Assistenza Austriaca) was placed under Hudal’s control.[23] This allowed him and other PCA priests to piece together their network and organise the escape of war criminals such as Franz Stangl, commanding officer of Treblinka. Stangl himself told Gitta Sereny [24] that he went looking for Hudal in Rome, because he had heard that the bishop was helping the Germans. Hudal arranged quarters in Rome for him till his papers came through, then gave him money and a Red Cross passport with a visa to Syria. Stangl then left for Damascus, where the bishop had found him a job in a textile factory[25]. Other highly prominent Nazi war criminals helped by the Hudal network were SS captain Edward Roschmann, known as the “Butcher of Riga”, doctor Josef Mengele, known as the “Angel of Death” at Auschwitz, Gustav Wagner, commanding officer of Sobibor, Alois Brunner, organizer of deportations from France and Slovakia to German concentration camps, and above all Adolf Eichmann, the man who had been put in charge of implementing the murder of European Jewry[26]. In 1994 Erich Priebke, a former SS captain, told Italian journalist Emanuela Audisio, of La Repubblica, that bishop Hudal helped him reach Buenos Aires, which was later admitted by Vatican historian Robert Graham SJ [27].\nIn 1945 Hudal gave refuge in Rome to Otto Wächter, who had played a leading role in the July Putsch of 1934 in Austria, which led to the assassination of Dollfuss. In 1938-1939, he headed the “Wächter-Kommission”, the government body named after him that was responsible for the dismissal and/or compulsory retirement of all Jewish officials in Austria.[28]. From 1939 on, as governor of the Cracow district, Wächter organized the persecution of the Jews and ordered the establishment of the Cracow Ghetto in 1941. Wächter is mentioned as one of the leading advocates in the General Government who were in favor of the Jewish extermination by gassing and as a member of the SS team who under Himmler’s supervision and Odilo Globocnik’s direction planned Operation Reinhard, the first phase of the Final Solution, leading to the death of more than 2,000,000 Polish Jews[29]. After the war Wächter lived in a Roman monastery “as a monk”[30], under the protection of Bishop Hudal. He died on July 14, 1949, in the Roman hospital of Santo Spirito “in the arms” of Bishop Hudal[31].\nResignation and death\nHudal’s activities caused a press scandal in 1947, after he was accused of leading a Nazi smuggling ring by the Passauer Neue Presse, a Catholic newspaper, but he only resigned as rector of Santa Maria dell’Anima in 1952, under pressure from the German and Austrian bishops and the Holy See. In January 1952, the Bishop of Salzburg told Hudal that the Holy See wanted to dismiss him. In June Hudal announced to the cardinal protector of Santa Maria dell’Anima that he had decided to leave the College, though disapproving of the Church allegedly being governed by the Allies.[32] He resided afterwards in Grottaferrata, near the city of Rome, where in 1962 he wrote his embittered memoirs called Römische Tagebücher. Lebensbeichte eines alten Bischofs (Diaries of Rome. The Confession of Life of an Old Bishop), published posthumously in 1976. Until his death in 1963, he never gave up in trying to obtain an amnesty to Nazis.[33] Despite his protests against anti-Semitism in the 1930s, in his memoirs, with full knowledge of the Holocaust as of 1962, the “Brown Bishop” [34] said of his actions in favour of war criminals and genocide perpetrators and participants: “I thank God that He opened my eyes and allowed me to visit and comfort many victims in their prisons and concentration camps and [to help] them escape with false identity papers” — where these so-called “victims” were in fact Axis prisoners of war and their “concentration camps” Allied detention camps.[35]\nCloseness to the Vatican\nHudal’s promotion to Bishop has been cited as evidence that he had close ties to members of the Roman Curia, particularly Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (an ex-Secretary of State who died as early as 1930), and Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pius XII who had previously been Papal Nuncio in Germany. Given Hudal’s open sympathy for National Socialism since the 1930s, it is very meaningful that he was given work with refugees after the war, and that he was chosen to minister to German internees in Italy. The Vatican, which was involved in a great deal of post-war humanitarian work concerning displaced persons, arranged for him to have an Allied travel pass for this purpose. One may wonder why the head of a Roman college would be given this task. Hudal’s successor as rector of the Anima in 1952, Father Jakob Weinbacher, future Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna (1962-1985), recalled in an interview with Gitta Sereny that “Hudal was very close to Pius XII… they were friends”.[36] A more recent rector, Dr. Johannes Nedbal admitted instead that Hudal was very close to Pius XI.[37]\nSome historians take the view that Hudal was only a small player whose Ratline activities did not reflect any official policy at all. In particular, Catholic historians like Robert A. Graham (1913-1997) – an American Jesuit and a longtime Vatican operative who was co-editor of the 11-volume Acts and Documents of the Holy See relative to the Second World War[38] – estimated Hudal as “small fish” and as someone who was acting on his own behalf.\nIn 1999, however, Italian researcher Matteo Sanfilippo revealed a letter drafted on 31 August 1948 by Bishop Hudal to Argentinian President Juan Perón, requesting 5,000 visas, 3,000 for German and 2,000 for Austrian «soldiers» [39]. In the letter Hudal explained that these were not (Nazi) refugees, but anti-Communist fighters whose wartime «sacrifice» had saved Europe from Soviet domination. [40] According to Argentine researcher Uki Goñi, the documents he uncovered in 2003 show the Roman Catholic Church was also deeply involved in the secret network. “The Perón government authorized the arrival of the first Nazi collaborators [in Argentina], as a result of a meeting in March 1946 between Antonio Caggiano, a [newly elevated] Argentine cardinal, and Eugène Tisserant, a French cardinal attached to the Vatican”.[41]\nA French Jesuit historian, Fr. Pierre Blet, another co-editor of the above-cited Acts and Documents, only mentioned Hudal to signal his role, at the direct request of the pope’s nephew Carlo Pacelli, for the contacts of the Vatican with the Nazi authorities in October 1943, in order to end the razzias and spare the life of thousands of Jews sheltered in the priories and convents of Rome, after the city was occupied by the Germans in September of that year. His intervention, which was preceded by diplomatic contacts between Cardinal Maglione and German ambassador in Rome Weizsäcker, was apparently successful. Several thousand Jewish lives were saved by this initiative of the pope, according to Blet. According to another author, however, the idea of Hudal’s intervention came from the German ambassador himself, who asked the rector of the Anima to sign a letter to the military commander of Rome, General Reiner Stahel, requesting that the arrests be halted, otherwise the pope would take a position in public as being against the razzias.[42] Ambassador Weizsäcker argued that he opted for this ruse because Hitler might have reacted against the Vatican and the pope if it had been the German embassy to convey the warning, instead of the Nazi friendly bishop.[43]\nAccording to several sources, Hudal may at the same time have been a Vatican-based informer of German intelligence under the Nazi regime. Vatican historian Fr. Robert Graham SJ held that view more categorically in his book Nothing Sacred.[44] [45] Several other authors mention his contacts in Rome with SS intelligence chief Walter Rauff, the developer of the mobile extermination with gas vans[46]. In September 1943, Rauff was sent to Milan, where he took charge of all Gestapo and SD operations throughout northwest Italy[47]. Hudal is said to have met Rauff then and to have begun some cooperation with him that was useful afterwards in the setting up of an escape network for Nazis, including for Rauff himself. After the war Rauff escaped from a prisoner camp in Rimini and “hid in a number of Italian convents, apparently under the protection of Bishop Alois Hudal”[48], eventually finding safe haven in Syria and later in Chile.\nAfter the war Hudal was in fact one of the main Catholic organizers of the Ratline nets, along with Monsignor Karlo Petranovic, an Ustasha war criminal who fled to Austria and then to Italy after 1945[49], Father Edoardo Dömöter, the Franciscan of Hungarian origin who forged the identity of Eichmann’s passport, issued by the Red Cross in the name of Riccardo Klement [50], and Father Krunoslav Draganović, a Croatian professor of Theology [51]. Draganović, a smuggler of fascist (ustasha) war criminals who had also been involved in pro-Fascist espionage, was recycled by the U.S. during the Cold War – his name appears in the Pentagon payrolls in the late 1950s and early 1960s – and was eventually granted immunity in Tito’s Yugoslavia, where he died in 1983 at 79. Monsignor Karl Bayer, the Rome Director of Caritas International after the war, also cooperated with this ring. Interviewed in the 70s by Gitta Sereny, Monsignor Bayer recalled how he and Hudal had helped Nazis to Southern America with the Vatican’s support: “The Pope [Pius XII] did provide money for this; in driblets sometimes, but it did come” [52] Hudal’s Ratline was also supposedly financed by his friend Walter Rauff, with some funds allegedly coming from Giuseppe Siri, the recently appointed Auxiliary Bishop (1944) and Archbishop (1946) of Genoa [53]. Siri however was “a hero of the Resistance movement in Italy” during the German occupation of northern Italy.[54] Siri’s involvement remains unproven.\nAccording to Uki Goñi, “some of the financing for Hudal’s escape network came from the United States”, precising that the Italian delegate of the American National Catholic Welfare Conference provided Hudal “with substantial funds for his ‘humanitarian’ aid”.[55]\nFurthermore, since the works of Graham and Blet were published, historian Michael Phayer, a professor at Marquette University (a Catholic, Jesuit University), has alleged the close collaboration between the Vatican (Pope Pius XII and Giovanni Battista Montini, then “Substitute” of the Secretariat of State, and later Paul VI), on the one side and Draganović and Hudal on the other, and has sustained that Pius XII himself was directly engaged in ratline activity. Against these allegations of the direct involvement of Pope Pius XII and his staff there are some opposing testimonies and the denial by Vatican officials of any involvement of Pius XII himself. But according to Michael Phayer, the American Bishop Aloisius Muench, Pius XII’s own envoy to occupied western Germany after the war, “wrote to the Vatican warning the pope to desist from his efforts to have convicted war criminals excused”. The letter, written in Italian, “is available in the archives of the Catholic University of America”, according to Michael Phayer [56].\nIn his posthumously published memoirs, Hudal instead recalls with bitterness the lack of support he found the Holy See to give to Nazi Germany’s battle against “godless Bolshevism” at the Eastern Front. Hudal several times in this work claims to have received criticism of the Nazi system rather than support for it from the Vatican diplomats under Pius XII. He assumed that the Holy See’s policy during and after the war was entirely controlled by the western Allies. Until his death Hudal was convinced he had done the right thing, and said that he considered saving German and other fascist officers and politicians from the hands of Allied prosecution, a “just thing” and “what should have been expected of a true Christian”, adding: “We do not believe in the eye for an eye of the Jew”.[57] He said that the justice of the Allies and the Soviets had resulted in show trials and lynchings, including the major trials at Nuremberg.[58] In his memoirs he also developed a curious theory about the economic causes of World War II, which allowed him to plainly justify for himself his acts in favour of Nazi and Fascist war criminals: «The Allies’ War against Germany was not a crusade, but the rivalry of economic complexes for whose victory they had been fighting. This so-called business … used catchwords like democracy, race, religious liberty and Christianity as a bait for the masses. All these experiences were the reason why I felt duty bound after 1945 to devote my whole charitable work mainly to former National Socialists and Fascists, especially to so-called ‘war criminals’».[59]\nNotes\nPeter Godman, Hitler and the Vatican, New York, 2004, p. 44\nSee “Collegio Teutonico di Santa Maria dell’Anima” (in German) [1].\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, p. 41, cited by Philippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme”, RSCI, January 2003.\nSee “Hudal, Alois C.” in BBKL [2] and Peter Godman, op. cit.\nPeter Godman, op. cit., p. 45, citing Hudal’s Ecclesiae et nationi…, 1934, see below his works.\nIbid., p. 45, quoting Hudal’s Vom deutschen Schaffen in Rom…, 1933, see below his works.\nIbid., p. 46.\nGreg Whitlock, “Alois Hudal: Clero-Fascist Nietzsche critic”, Nietzsche-Studien, volume 32, 2003.\nIbid.\nHansjakob Stehle, Eastern Politics of the Vatican 1917-1979. Athens, Ohio University Press, 1981\nKarlheinz Deschner, Ein Jahrhundert Heilsgeschichte, vol. II, Leck, 1983, pp. 135, 139.\nErnst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe, Frankfurt, 1991 (see below the Bibliography)\nNuremberg Trials Proceedings, vol. 16, p. 285 [3].\nE. Bergmann, Die deutsche Nationalkirche (The German National Church), Breslau, 1933, cited by Peter Godman, op. cit., p. 51.\nPeter Godman, op. cit.\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, cited by Peter Godman, op. cit., p. 53.\nTom Heneghan, “Secrets Behind The Forbidden Books”, America, February 7, 2005 [4]\nCited by Mark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, New York, 1991, p. 31.\nA. Hudal, Das deutsche Volk und christliches Abenland, p. 24, cited by Greg Whitlock, op. cit\nPhilippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme (1933-1938)”, see below the Bibliography.\nMark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, p 25.\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, London, 2002, p.229-251.\nGitta Sereny, Into that Darkness, London, 1974.\nIbid., p. 289.\nSee Michael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Cold War, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2007, pp. 195ff, and Uki Goñi, op. cit.\nGraham statements to ANSA news agency, 10 May 1994, cited by Uki Goñi, op. cit., p. 261 and note 453.\n“1938: NS-Herrschaft in Österreich” (1938: The Nazi Rule in Austria) [5]\nRobin O’Neil, Belzec: Prototype for the Final Solution, chapters 5 and 10[6].\n“Axis Biographical Research”, page “Generalgouvernment” [7]\nErnst Klee, Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945, S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2003, and Alois Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, pp. 162-163.\nMatteo Sanfilippo, “Los papeles de Hudal como fuente para la historia de la migración de alemanes y nazis después de la segunda guerra mundial”, Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos, 43, 1999, p. 185-209).\nIn 1959-1960, for example, Hudal’s correspondence shows his efforts to obtain an amnesty in Greece and West Germany (Matteo Sanfilippo, op. cit.)\nIn 1949, Hudal was labeled in German “church circles” as the “brauner Bischof”, according to the German newspapers Nord Press (December 6, 1949, p. 4) and the above cited Passauer Neue Press (December 13, 1949, p. 3).\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, English translation quoted in Greg Whitlock, op. cit.\nGitta Sereny, op. cit., p. 305, cited by Aarons and Loftus, op. cit.\nAarons and Loftus, op. cit., p. 32.\nVatican City, 1965-1981\nMatteo Sanfilippo, op. cit. Argentinian author Uki Goñi also mentions the fact in The Real Odessa, op. cit., p. 229\nIbid.\nLarry Rohter, “Argentina, a Haven for Nazis, Balks at Opening Its Files”, New York Times, March 7, 2003 [8].\nDan Kurzman, A Special Mission, Da Capo Press, 2007, pp. 183-185.\nDan Kurzman, Id.\nRobert Graham and David Alvarez, Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945, London, 1998.\nOn Hudal as a German spy, see also Klaus Voigt, Zuflucht auf Widerruf. Exil in Italien 1933-1945 (Precarious refuge. Exile in Italy 1933-1945), vol. I, Stuttgart, Klett-Cotta, 1989.\n“The Development of the Gas-Van in the Murdering of the Jews”, in Jewish Virtual Library [9].\n“5 September 2005 releases: German intelligence officers”, in Security Service, MI5, [10].\n“Opening of CIA Records under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act”, in The National Archives, Press Release, May 8, 2002 [11]\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, op. cit., p. 235-236. According to this author, Monsignor Petranovic “was himself a war criminal and Ustasha captain who had been deputy to the local Ustasha leader at Ogulin, a district that saw the extermination of some 2,000 Serbs during the war.” He adds: “The Monsignor organized and instigated many of these murders, personally directing the arrest and execution of 70 prominent Serbs.” A request for his extradition by Yugoslavia “was ignored by the British authorities in 1947” (ibid., p. 235).\n“Un frate francescano firmò la fuga di Genova di Eichmann”, Il Secolo XIX, August 14, 2003, p. 4. [12]\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa, chapter “A Roman ‘Sanctuary'”, pp. 229-251.\nGitta Sereny, op. cit., p. 289.\nMark Aarons and John Loftus, Unholy Trinity, p. 39-40.\n“24 Hats”, Time Magazine [December 8, 1952 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817551-2,00.html ]\nUki Goñi, op. cit., p. 230.\nM. Phayer, “The Author replies”, Commonweal, June 6, 2003 [13]\nA. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, pp. 21.\nIbid., pp. 220-254.\nSelected works of Alois Hudal\nSoldatenpredigten (Graz, 1917) – Sermons to the Soldiers.\nDie serbisch-orthodoxe Nationalkirche (Graz, 1922) – The Serbian Orthodox National Church.\nVom deutschen Schaffen in Rom. Predigten, Ansprachen und Vorträge, (Innsbruck, Vienna and München, 1933) – On the German Work in Rome. Sermons, Speeches and Lectures.\nDie deutsche Kulturarbeit in Italien (Münster, 1934) – The German Cultural Activity in Italy.\nEcclesiae et nationi. Katholische Gedanken in einer Zeitenwende (Rome, 1934) – The Church and the Nations. Catholic Thoughts in the Turn of an Era.\nRom, Christentum und deutsches Volk (Rome, 1935) – Rome, the Christendom and the German People.\nDeutsches Volk und christliches Abendland (Innsbruck, 1935) – The German People and the Christian Occident.\nDer Vatikan und die modernen Staaten (Innsbruck, 1935) – The Vatican and the Modern States.\nDas Rassenproblem (Lobnig, 1935) – The Race Problem.\nDie Grundlagen des Nationalsozialismus (Leipzig and Vienna, 1936-37 and facsimile edition Bremen, 1982) – The Foundations of National Socialism.\nNietzsche und die moderne Welt (Rome, 1937) – Nietzsche and the Modern World.\nEuropas religiöse Zukunft (Rome, 1943) – The Religious Future of Europe.\nRömische Tagebücher. Lebensbeichte eines alten Bischofs (Graz, 1976) – Diaries of Rome. The Confession of Life of an Old Bishop.\nBibliography\nRobert Graham and David Alvarez, Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945, London: Frank Cass, 1998.\nMichael Phayer, The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1965, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2000.\nMichael Phayer, “Canonizing Pius XII. Why did the pope help Nazis escape?”, Commonweal, May 9, 2003 / Vol. CXXX (9) [14].\nMichael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 2007. Hudal is mentioned throughout the book, and especially in chapter 8, “Bishop Hudal’s Ratline”, pp. 195-207.\nPierre Blet, Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican, New York, Paulist Press, 1997.\nGreg Whitlock, “Alois Hudal: Clero-Fascist Nietzsche critic”, Nietzsche-Studien, volume 32, 2003.\nGitta Sereny, Into that Darkness, London, Deutsch, 1974.\nErnst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe. Wie die Kirchen den Nazis halfen (Whitewash Certificates and False Passports. How the Churches Helped the Nazis), Frankfurt, Fischer Geschichte, 1991.\nErnst Klee, Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945, S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2003.\nRobert Katz, Dossier Priebke. Anatomia di un processo, Milano, Rizzoli, 1996.\nUki Goñi, The Real Odessa. How Perón Brought the Nazi War Criminals to Argentina, London, Granta, 2002 (with many valuable references to Hudal and the “Ratlines”, including new details on Hudal’s role in Eichmann’s escape to Argentina).\nPeter Godman, Hitler and the Vatican, New York, Free Press, 2004 (one of the most reliable and up-to-date sources on Hudal).\nMarcus Langer, Alois Hudal, Bischof zwischen Kreuz und Hakenkreuz. Versuch eine Biographie (Bishop Alois Hudal : Between Cross and Swastika. Attempt at a biography), PhD thesis, Vienna, 1995.\nDan Kurzman, A Special Mission : Hitler’s Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius XII, Cambridge, Da Capo Press, 2007.\nMatteo Sanfilippo, “Los papeles de Hudal como fuente para la historia de la migración de alemanes y nazis después de la segunda guerra mundial” (Hudal’s papers as a source for the history of the migration of Germans and Nazis after World War II), Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos, 43, 1999, p. 185-209.\nPhilippe Chenaux, “Pacelli, Hudal et la question du nazisme 1933-1938”, Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia, January/July 2003, p.133-154.\nMark Aarons and John Loftus Ratlines: How the Vatican’s Nazi Networks Betrayed Western Intelligence to the Soviets, London, Heinemann, 1991 (republished in the U.S. as Unholy Trinity, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1991).\nCOMMENT: See the 1963 film, “The Cardinal” directed by Otto Preminger. Cardinal Innitzer of Vienna, mentioned above, figures in this film.\nFather Tiso of Slovakia is the customary exemplar of WW II clerico-fascism.\nApril 3, 2008 at 11:41 am | Posted in Books , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , United Kingdom | Leave a comment\nMichael Faraday (1791-1867)\nThe Chemical History of A Candle,\n1860\nThe Chemical History of a Candle was the title of a series of lectures on the chemistry and physics of flames given by Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution . This was the origin of the Christmas lectures for young people that are still given there every year and bear his name.\nThe lectures were first printed as a book in 1861.\nThe Global History of 1919\nand the Replacement of the\nEuropean Lens by a Global Lens\nAnother artifact of the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is often viewed is the common conceptualization of that moment as a clash of two opposing visions of world order: liberal internationalism vs. communist internationalism, or “Wilson vs. Lenin,” to use Arno Mayer’s memorable phrase.\nOnce we remove the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is most often written, it becomes clear that the significance of the “brief interval” of Wilson’s ascendance far transcended the confines of Europe. An examination of how the ascendance of Wilson and the United States during this period was interpreted by leading intellectuals and refracted in public discourses in Asian societies would expand our view of the international history of 1919.\nInternational historians, however, have tended to leave in the shadows the very same issues that were marginalized or ignored, whether by design or neglect, by the Great Power leaders themselves in their deliberations. Foremost among these issues were the demands for self-determination of representatives of peoples outside Europe, most especially in those cases—China, Korea, Egypt, Tunisia, India, Indochina, and others—in which the interests of one or more of the victorious Allied powers stood to be compromised if the demands were entertained. The spring of 1919 saw the launching of revolts against empire in numerous non-European societies and the expansion of anticolonial nationalism to unprecedented intensity and scope, and a few international historians have indeed noted in passing the significance of 1919 in the world outside Europe and identified it as a watershed in the rise of anticolonial nationalism as a broad, international phenomenon. 7\nWhen Woodrow Wilson landed in the harbor of Brest on the French Atlantic coast on Friday, December 13, 1918, the city’s mayor met him at the dock and greeted him as an apostle of liberty, come to release the peoples of Europe from their suffering. The next morning, Wilson drove along the streets of Paris through cheering throngs, and the French press across the political spectrum hailed him as “the incarnation of the hope of the future.” The U.S. president met similar receptions in England and Italy over the next several weeks. 2 H. G. Wells captured the essence of popular sentiments a few years later, when he noted the intense yet fleeting nature of Wilson’s apotheosis:\n“For a brief interval, Wilson stood alone for mankind. And in that brief interval there was a very extraordinary and significant wave of response to him throughout the earth … He ceased to be a common statesman; he became a Messiah.” 3\nDespite such high passions, however, the story of the ecstatic reception accorded the U.S. president in Europe is remembered today as little more than an ironic footnote to the history of the Great War. Most of the hopes and expectations associated with Wilson were quickly disappointed, and the widespread reverence of the U.S. leader in Europe and elsewhere quickly turned into bitter disillusionment. 4\nThe terms of the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, fell far short of the expectations that Wilson had inspired, and it was repudiated by most of his former admirers around the world, and also by the U.S. Senate and the American public, who were eager to return to the comforting embrace of “normalcy.” 51\nThere is, of course, voluminous historiography on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the U.S. role in it, but it has remained rather single-mindedly focused on Europe, and specifically on the policies, decisions, and leaders of the Great Powers. 6\nMuch of the literature, in fact, seems to follow closely the Great Power agenda at the negotiation table, with the volume of writings on specific issues and regions often matching the attention that the major Allied leaders paid to them at the time. This is hardly surprising, since many of the issues debated in Paris were indeed of momentous import, both for the immediate shape of the peace settlement and, in some cases, for the subsequent history of Europe.\nInternational historians, however, have tended to leave in the shadows the very same issues that were marginalized or ignored, whether by design or neglect, by the Great Power leaders themselves in their deliberations. Foremost among these issues were the demands for self-determination of representatives of peoples outside Europe, most especially in those cases—China, Korea, Egypt, Tunisia, India, Indochina, and others—in which the interests of one or more of the victorious Allied powers stood to be compromised if the demands were entertained. The spring of 1919 saw the launching of revolts against empire in numerous non-European societies and the expansion of anticolonial nationalism to unprecedented intensity and scope, and a few international historians have indeed noted in passing the significance of 1919 in the world outside Europe and identified it as a watershed in the rise of anticolonial nationalism as a broad, international phenomenon. 7\nHowever, these movements and the goals and perceptions that drove them, though of course prominent in their respective national and regional histories, have received little sustained or detailed attention in the international histories of 1919. 82\nOnce we remove the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is most often written, it becomes clear that the significance of the “brief interval” of Wilson’s ascendance far transcended the confines of Europe. An examination of how the ascendance of Wilson and the United States during this period was interpreted by leading intellectuals and refracted in public discourses in Asian societies would expand our view of the international history of 1919; at the same time, it would illuminate the connections between the transformative events that took place in Asian societies during this period, which have typically been studied within historiographical disciplines that have remained separate and distinct, and the wider international context of the period. Though no single essay could capture the full story of Asian responses to Wilson, there is nevertheless a strong argument for a transnational approach, since an inquiry limited to a single Asian society, however valuable, would still produce a narrative confined within the enclosure of national history, one that would have persisted in naturalizing the nation “as the skin that contains the experience of the past.” 10 By examining responses to Wilson’s rhetoric and the construction of his image within two major Asian societies—China and India—we can better capture the broad scope of the “Wilsonian moment” in Asia. 3\nThere were, of course, myriad differences in the historical experiences and circumstances of these two societies in 1919, not least in the specific characters of their respective relationships with empire. India had long been the crown jewel of the British imperial edifice and, despite some minor political reforms in the years immediately before the war, continued to be ruled directly and autocratically by a British-led bureaucracy. China, on the other hand, was recognized as an independent state in theory. In practice, however, China existed in a state of semicolonial subjugation, severely limited in the exercise of its sovereignty by a web of “unequal treaties” with the major powers; and Chinese intellectuals in 1919, like their Indian counterparts, viewed their struggle for self-determination as part of a broader revolt against imperialism. 11 Thus, the war and its immediate aftermath saw similar developments in China and India. Both societies at the time had emergent nationalist movements and leaders that were engaged in a search for a greater measure of sovereignty in domestic and international affairs. In the heady months from the fall of 1918, when Allied victory was in sight, to the spring of 1919, when the actual terms of the peace began to emerge, leaders and publics in the two societies paid close attention to the shifts in the discourses of international power and legitimacy that Wilson’s rise appeared to herald, and strove to interpret and shape the significance of these shifts for their specific circumstances. 4\nHistorians have often noted how the spectacle of material destruction and moral degeneration that was the Great War helped launch a broad critique among Afro-Asian intellectuals of the West’s claim to superior civilization. 12\nThis insight, important as it is, elides the widespread if short-lived adulation in Asia of that quintessential product of the “West,” Woodrow Wilson. The war itself, to be sure, brought dislocation and suffering and showcased European savagery, but it also inspired great expectations for a postwar transformation in which a chastened Europe would change its ways, and for a new international order that would accord non-European peoples their rightful place among nations. The war could be seen as evidence for the degeneracy of Europe, but Europe did not encompass the “West” in its entirety; the United States could still appear as a rising force that would salvage and fulfill the promise of “Western civilization.” Indeed, it is arguable that during the 1918–1919 period, the United States appeared to Chinese and Indians to hold greater promise than at any time before or since. 13 The disappointments of the peace, rather than the devastations of the war as such, sealed the postwar indictment of Asian intellectuals against the West. 5\nAnother artifact of the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is often viewed is the common conceptualization of that moment as a clash of two opposing visions of world order: liberal internationalism vs. communist internationalism, or “Wilson vs. Lenin,” to use Arno Mayer’s memorable phrase. 14\nMayer, however, coined the phrase specifically to describe the wartime struggle between Bolshevism and Wilsonian reformism over the hearts and minds of the European left, and in the context of the world outside Europe, that parallel opposition is less applicable. 15 At least until the spring of 1919, when evidence of Wilson’s failure to implement his vaunted principles began to emerge from Paris, it was Wilson, not Lenin, who loomed far larger in the imaginations of Asian intellectuals, both as an inspiration for expectations and rhetoric and as a putative source of practical support for self-determination. It was only after the collapse of the Wilsonian moment in mid-1919 that Lenin and Russian Bolshevism began to gain importance as a potential model and ally for many movements for self-determination in Asia. 6\nWhile the moment lasted, however, many in Asia believed that President Wilson had both the intent and the power to construct a new mode of international relations predicated on the principles of “self-determination” and “the equality of nations,” in which the prewar imperial arrangements, with Asian nations consigned to various forms of subjugation and subordination, would be rendered illegitimate. Along with the millions in Europe who cheered Wilson upon his arrival there, Indians and Chinese saw Wilson’s wartime rhetoric as a blueprint for a more peaceful and inclusive international order, one in which Asian nations could achieve a greater measure of equality and sovereignty. Asian intellectuals pondered not only the responses that Wilson’s arrival on the continent would have elicited, as Srinivasa Sastri did, but also, much more importantly, how his plans for the postwar world, as they understood them, might mediate the chasm in international relations between “East” and “West” and allow Asian peoples to put their relationships with the West on a footing of equality and mutual respect. In order to better understand that transformative juncture in international history, historians must imagine Woodrow Wilson in Asia, just as many of his contemporaries there did. 7\nDespite the perception of Wilson in the minds of many at the time and later as the leading champion of a postwar order based on a right to “self-determination,” it was the Russian Bolsheviks, not Wilson, who introduced this term into the wartime international discourse. The principle of “national self-determination” and its relationship to socialist revolution had long been a staple of debate among European socialists, and some saw nationalism as a barrier to class solidarity and a dangerous diversion from the revolutionary mission. For Lenin, however, support for colonial liberation was an important tool for undermining the capitalist-imperialist world order. 16\nEven before his return to Russia in April 1917, Lenin declared that when the Bolsheviks came to power, their peace plan would include “the liberation of all colonies” and of “all dependent, oppressed, and unequal nations.” Shortly thereafter, the Provisional Government in Russia, under pressure from the Bolshevik-controlled Petrograd Soviet, became the first among the belligerent governments to call officially for a peace settlement “on the basis of self-determination of peoples.” 17 After the Bolsheviks took control of the revolution in November, the newly appointed commissar of foreign affairs, Leon Trotsky, immediately demanded that the Allied powers “give the right of self-determination to the peoples of Ireland, Egypt, India, Madagascar, Indochina, et cetera.” Otherwise, their claim to be fighting the war for the freedom of small nations would be little more than “the most naked, the most cynical imperialism.” 18 8\nThe Bolshevik calls in late 1917 for a settlement based on national self-determination found great resonance within the anti-imperialist left in Europe. In Britain, it helped inflame the dissatisfaction of the Labour Party opposition with the vagueness of their government’s war aims, a sentiment already stoked, after the American entry into the war in April 1917, by Wilson’s repeated calls for a postwar settlement based on “the consent of the governed.” Prime Minister David Lloyd George, concerned that the enthusiasm of the left in Britain and other Allied countries for the rhetorics of Wilson and Lenin would compromise popular support for the war effort, moved quickly to redefine British war aims in more progressive terms. 19\nSpeaking before the British Trades Union League on January 5, 1918, Lloyd George performed an act of rhetorical legerdemain, merging the divergent discourses of Wilson and Lenin into one: the peace, he said, must be based “on the right of self-determination or the consent of the governed.” 20 By equating the Bolshevik call for “national self-determination” for ethnic minorities to Wilson’s notion of a peace based on the principle of popular consent, Lloyd George managed to obfuscate the differences between the revolutionary agenda of the former and the liberal reformism implied in the latter. 9\nWilson himself completed this conflation in the following months. Although he had never before uttered, or perhaps even encountered, the term “self-determination,” he quickly adopted it as his own, with growing fervor and emphasis. Despite popular conceptions to the contrary, the term itself was nowhere to be found in the Fourteen Points address. Several of the points, however—the resurrection of Poland, the evacuation of Belgium, and his call for the “autonomous development” of the peoples of the Ottoman and Habsburg empires—seemed to imply that peace depended on the rollback of imperial rule and conquest, at least in some cases. 21\nThe following month, Wilson spoke explicitly for the first time of a right of “self-determination” in international affairs. The coming world settlement, he said in another address to Congress, must respect the voices of the people: “national aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent.” Although he was introducing a new phrase into his political vocabulary, he was quite emphatic in advocating it: “‘Self-determination’ is not a mere phrase. It is an imperative principle of action, which statesmen will henceforth ignore at their peril.” 22\nWilson, then, did not present this principle as a theoretical construct that he wished to implement, but as an independent force already at work in world politics, one that must be recognized and accommodated. 10\nIn Wilson’s usage, however, the meaning of “self-determination” was far vaguer and more elastic than it was in Lenin’s. For the Bolsheviks, who almost always preceded the term with the adjective “national,” it was a call for the revolutionary overthrow of imperial rule through an appeal to the national identity and aspirations of subject peoples. Wilson, on the other hand, rarely if ever uttered the specific term “national self-determination”; he used the more general, vaguer phrase “self-determination,” and usually equated the term with popular consent, conjuring an international order based on democratic forms of government. He did at times advocate redrawing borders along ethnic lines, as in the cases of Poland and Italy, but he saw the independence of ethnic or national units as only one among several ways to implement self-determination. In the case of the peoples of Austria-Hungary, for example, Wilson supported autonomy rather than full independence as compatible with the principle of self-determination until the collapse of the Vienna government made that option impractical. If Lenin saw self-determination as a revolutionary principle and sought to use it as a wrecking ball against the reactionary multiethnic empires of Europe, Wilson hoped that self-determination would serve precisely in the opposite role: as a bulwark against radical, revolutionary challenges to existing orders. If revolution, as Wilson and other Progressives believed, was a reaction to oppression by autocratic, unaccountable regimes, then the application of self-determination, defined as government by consent, would help to remove the revolutionary impulse and promote change through gradual reforms. 23 11\nWilson, then, grafted the new term onto his old ideas, and used it in his addresses as essentially synonymous with the notions of popular sovereignty and government by consent, which had long been central in his wartime rhetoric, and indeed in the tradition of Anglo-American political thought. If he saw any distinction between the new principle of “self-determination” and the old one of government by consent, the documentary record gives us no such clue. And like his old notions of consent, this new principle was phrased in universal language; theoretically, at least, it applied to all peoples everywhere. But if Wilson, in his speeches, did not explicitly limit the application of the principle to Europe, it is clear that as a practical matter, he saw it as immediately relevant only to the European territories of the defeated empires—German, Austrian-Hungarian, and Ottoman. Eventually, he imagined, it might apply in other colonial situations, but if so, it would be through gradual processes of tutelage and reform such as he himself had initiated in the U.S. colonial administration of the Philippines—not, if he could help it, through the violent overthrow of colonial rule. 24 12\nIn the final months of the war, calls for a peace based on “self-determination” recurred regularly and with increasing emphasis alongside references to the “consent of the governed” in Wilson’s public rhetoric. In his Independence Day address in July 1918, the U.S. president described the war as an epic struggle between oppressive regimes whose time had passed and the progressive ideals to which the future belonged. In the aftermath of the struggle, he said, American ideals of government by consent must extend over the entire globe, encompassing people of many races and regions.\nThe postwar settlement must include “the settlement of every question, whether of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrangement, or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned.” 25\nIn the end, Wilson’s incorporation of Bolshevik rhetoric may not have significantly altered the essence of his vision in his own mind, but it lent his pronouncements a more radical tone, amplifying their impact on the imaginations of colonial peoples worldwide who heard them. 13\nOnce Wilson adopted the rhetoric of “self-determination” as his own, it spread quickly around the world, and by the time of the armistice it was intimately identified with the figure of the U.S. president. Wilson’s proclamations were carried across Asia on the infrastructure for the production and dissemination of news about international events that was in place across much of the globe by the time of the war. It included the cable and wireless telegraph networks that disseminated the information, 26 but also, no less importantly, the global press agencies that often provided the content of the news and the local newspapers that carried it. As early as 1905, India already had more than 1,300 newspapers in English and in Indian languages, which were estimated to reach 2 million subscribers and an unknowable number of additional readers. 27\nIn China, the popular press, launched in the coastal cities in the 1890s, also burgeoned in the first decades of the twentieth century. Those with access to such information remained, to be sure, a small minority; nevertheless, by 1918 there had emerged in both societies nationally aware, articulate publics who were interested in and informed about international developments. 28 14\nBy the last year of the war, the U.S. president’s words were widely available in the print media across Asia, echoing far beyond the American and European audiences to whom they were primarily addressed. Partly, this was due to the global propaganda campaign, entirely unprecedented in its scale and purpose, that the Wilson administration had launched after the United States entered the war. The campaign, carried out by the Committee for Public Information (CPI) that Wilson established in 1917, aimed “to drive home the absolute justice of America’s cause, the absolute selflessness of America’s aims.” CPI propaganda, reported its chairman, made use of the recent advances in communication and media technologies, such as wireless telegraphy and moving pictures, in pursuit of that goal: “The printed word, the spoken word, the motion picture, the poster, the signboard—all these were used in our campaign.” 29\nWilson’s public addresses and declarations, from the Fourteen Points on, were the linchpin of CPI propaganda, especially in its foreign operations. Although the focus of the committee’s work abroad was Europe and Latin America, it also opened a branch in China, where CPI agents distributed news summaries, posters, and newsreels. 30 15\nBut the impact of the CPI in creating and disseminating Wilson’s image in Asia was not nearly as decisive as its boosters imagined. Far more important was the role of the global commercial news agencies, especially the British agency Reuters. In both China and India, indeed in most of Asia at the time, the “foreign news” sections of mainstream newspapers, which usually lacked the funds to employ foreign correspondents of their own, consisted primarily of copy from pro-Allied news services. 31\nNews and analyses sympathetic to the Allied cause dominated the global flows of information, and Wilson’s wartime addresses and proclamations were widely and favorably reported in Asia. In India, where no significant American propaganda machinery existed, knowledge of Wilson’s words spread no less rapidly than in China, and his major addresses were prominently featured in the press, often verbatim. Interest among educated Indians and Chinese in the U.S. president and his plans for the postwar world, as reflected in press reports and editorials, grew steadily during the first part of 1918, and then increased exponentially in the last months of that year, as Allied victory began to appear imminent and news spread that the peace would be based on Wilson’s principles. 32 16\nNationalists in Asia quickly recognized the potential utility of Wilson’s rhetoric for their causes, even if its scope and intent remained unclear. A leading nationalist paper in Calcutta, commenting in February 1918 on the address in which Wilson first used the term “self-determination,” immediately probed the possible application of his words to India. The American president, it noted, had declared that the “whole world” was affected by the issues at hand, but it remained unclear whether India, and the rest of Asia and Africa, was to be included in the postwar reconstruction of world order.\nThe real cause of wars was the condition of “the helpless and unprotected regions and peoples of Asia and Africa,” and peace would not come “until Asia and Africa have secured full national autonomy.” 33\nIn China, too, the publication of Wilson’s important speeches was accompanied by commentary that related his rhetoric to Chinese concerns. A major Shanghai daily accompanied the text of the Fourteen Points with an editorial comment noting that the U.S. president’s ideas for peace were “a beacon of light for the world’s peoples.” They were credible, too, the editorial added: the United States already had enough resources to become the most powerful nation in the world, and therefore Wilson could not be suspected of ulterior motives in promoting these ideals. 34 17\nShortly after the armistice, Ganesh, a prominent nationalist press in India, published a collection of the U.S. president’s addresses under the rousing title President Wilson: The Modern Apostle of Freedom. In numerous ads that ran in the Indian press in early 1919, the book prominently headlined Ganesh’s list of patriotic publications. The text of the ads described the U.S. president as “the most striking personality in the world” and a “man of destiny,” whose speeches, “one of the finest and sweetest fruits of the deadly war,” would “bring solace to a war-weary world and hope to small and weak nationalities.” 35\nSuch glowing copy was surely, at least in part, an adman’s pitch, but the publisher clearly believed that it would strike patriotic Indians as plausible. Indeed, one reviewer exclaimed that “the eloquent addresses of this great inspiring apostle of Modern Freedom … must find a place in every household of a true patriot,” and would enormously help the “itinerant Home Rule propagandist to advocate, in sober but clear and emphatic terms, the cause of liberty before his countrymen.” 36\nIn Shanghai, the venerable Commercial Press published a similar volume that compiled the texts of Wilson’s wartime speeches. The book was published in two editions: one in Chinese translation only, and a second, more costly edition containing the original English texts with their Chinese translations alongside. This collection, too, was widely advertised in the press and became something of a bestseller, going through several printings. 37\nDescription\nDuring the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, while key decisions were debated by the victorious Allied powers, a multitude of smaller nations and colonies held their breath, waiting to see how their fates would be decided. President Woodrow Wilson, in his Fourteen Points, had called for “a free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims,” giving equal weight to the opinions of the colonized peoples and the colonial powers. Among those nations now paying close attention to Wilson’s words and actions were the budding nationalist leaders of four disparate non-Western societies–Egypt, India, China, and Korea. That spring, Wilson’s words would help ignite political upheavals in all four of these countries.\nThis book is the first to place the 1919 Revolution in Egypt, the Rowlatt Satyagraha in India, the May Fourth movement in China, and the March First uprising in Korea in the context of a broader “Wilsonian moment” that challenged the existing international order. Using primary source material from America, Europe, and Asia, historian Erez Manela tells the story of how emerging nationalist movements appropriated Wilsonian language and adapted it to their own local culture and politics as they launched into action on the international stage. The rapid disintegration of the Wilsonian promise left a legacy of disillusionment and facilitated the spread of revisionist ideologies and movements in these societies; future leaders of Third World liberation movements–Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, and Jawaharlal Nehru, among others–were profoundly shaped by their experiences at the time.\nThe importance of the Paris Peace Conference and Wilson’s influence on international affairs far from the battlefields of Europe cannot be underestimated. Now, for the first time, we can clearly see just how the events played out at Versailles sparked a wave of nationalism that is still resonating globally today.\nNotes:\n1 Woodrow Wilson’s Message for Eastern Nations, Selected by Himself from His Public Addresses, Foreword by the Rt. Hon. V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (Calcutta, 1925), iv–v. Sastri (1860–1946) was a leading liberal intellectual and politician in pre-independence India. See Ray T. Smith, “V. S. Srinivasa Sastri and the Moderate Style in Indian Politics,” South Asia 2 (1972): 81–100.\n2 “Two Million Cheer Wilson,” New York Times, December 15, 1918, 1; Charles T. Thompson, The Peace Conference Day by Day: A Presidential Pilgrimage Leading to the Discovery of Europe (New York, 1920), 6, 55–56, 67–68. Also Arthur Walworth, Woodrow Wilson, 3rd ed. (New York, 1978), 2: 221–234.\n3 H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come (New York, 1933), 82.\nComment: See earlier Cambridge Forecast Group Blog for post on Wells book and movie.\n4 Wilson himself seems to have foreseen this, telling his adviser George Creel that the expectations of the United States were so unrealistic that they would inevitably lead to a “tragedy of disappointment.” Creel, The War, the World and Wilson (New York, 1920), 161–162. Another instance showing Wilson to be “very nervous” that the inflated expectation would lead to “revulsion” when people discovered that he could not do all they had hoped is recorded in the Diary of Edith Benham, February 2, 1919, in Woodrow Wilson, The Papers of Woodrow Wilson [hereafter PWW], ed. Arthur S. Link et al., 69 vols. (Princeton, N.J., 1966–1994), 54: 432–433.\n5 John Milton Cooper, Jr., Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations (Cambridge, 2001); Lloyd E. Ambrosius, Woodrow Wilson and the American Diplomatic Tradition: The Treaty Fight in Perspective (Cambridge, 1987).\n6 Leading works include Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York, 2002); Manfred F. Boemeke et al., eds., The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Years (Cambridge, 1998); Erik Goldstein, Winning the Peace: British Diplomatic Strategy, Peace Planning, and the Paris Peace Conference, 1916–1920 (New York, 1991); Arthur Walworth, Wilson and His Peacemakers: American Diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 (New York, 1986); Marc Trachtenberg, “Versailles after Sixty Years,” Journal of Contemporary History 17 (1982): 487–506; Arno J. Mayer, Politics and Diplomacy of Peacemaking: Containment and Counterrevolution at Versailles, 1918–1919 (New York, 1967); Seth P. Tillman, Anglo-American Relations at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (Princeton, N.J., 1961).\n7 Geoffrey Barraclough, An Introduction to Contemporary History (New York, 1964), 151–155; Henri Grimal, Decolonization: The British, French, Dutch and Belgian Empires, 1919–1963 (Boulder, Colo., 1978), 17–18.\n8 Macmillan, Paris 1919, devotes more attention than previous accounts to some of the demands for self-determination ignored by the conference, but even so, the topic takes up no more than a few pages in the book (see 322–325, 339–341, 402–403). Erez Manela, The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism (New York, 2007, forthcoming), aims to begin closing this historiographical gap.\n9 E.g., on China see Chow Tse-tsung, The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China (Cambridge, Mass., 1960), and Andrew J. Nathan, Peking Politics, 1918–1923 (Berkeley, Calif., 1976). On India, see Judith M. Brown, Gandhi’s Rise to Power: Indian Politics, 1915–1922 (Cambridge, 1972), and DeWitt C. Ellinwood and S. D. Pradhan, eds., India and World War 1 (New Delhi, 1978). On Indochina, see Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Radicalism and the Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution (Cambridge, Mass., 1992). On Korea, see Michael Edson Robinson, Cultural Nationalism in Colonial Korea, 1920–1925 (Seattle, Wash., 1988).\n10 Prasenjit Duara, “Transnationalism and the Challenge of National Histories,” in Thomas Bender, ed., Rethinking American History in a Global Age (Berkeley, Calif., 2002), 25. A number of leading international historians have written on the importance of eschewing what Akira Iriye has called a “uninational” approach to international history. See, e.g., Iriye, “Internationalizing International History,” in Bender, Rethinking American History, 47–62; Michael H. Hunt, “Internationalizing U.S. Diplomatic History: A Practical Agenda,” Diplomatic History 15, no. 1 (1991): 1–11.\n11 Madeleine Chi, “China and Unequal Treaties at the Paris Conference of 1919,” Asian Profile 1, no. 1 (1973): 49–61. For China’s place in the prewar international system and its impact on intellectual developments there, see Zhang Yongjin, China in the International System, 1918–1920: The Middle Kingdom at the Periphery (Oxford, 1991), 15–38.\n12 Michael Adas, “Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault on the Civilizing Mission Ideology,” Journal of World History 15, no. 1 (2004): 31–63. Such critiques of Western modernity were, of course, also common in the West itself in the postwar period.\n13 The American pursuit of a revised Wilsonian program in the wake of World War II was much more circumspect, and could not replicate the sense of possibility of 1918–1919. See Elizabeth Borgwardt, A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights (Cambridge, Mass., 2005).\n14 Arno Mayer, Wilson vs. Lenin: Political Origins of the New Diplomacy, 1917–1918 (New York, 1967).\n15 Ibid., 245–266.\n16 V. I. Lenin, “Theses on the Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination,” in Lenin, Collected Works, 45 vols. (Moscow, 1960–1970), 22: 143–156. This essay, completed in March 1916 and first published in October 1916, expressed ideas that Lenin formed in 1915–1916, in the course of writing his treatise Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. For a detailed analysis of the early socialist and Bolshevik debates on the national question, see Jeremy Smith, The Bolsheviks and the National Question, 1917–1923 (London, 1999), 3–22.\n17 V. I. Lenin, “Fourth Letter from Afar,” March 25, 1917, in Lenin, Collected Works, 23: 338; “Statement by the Provisional Government regarding the War,” April 9, 1917, in C. K. Cumming and Walter W. Pettit, eds., Russian-American Relations, March 1917–March 1920 (New York, 1920), 9–10.\n18 Address from the Bolsheviks “To Peoples and Governments of Allied Countries,” December 31, 1917, PWW, 45: 412–413. See also John M. Thompson, Russia, Bolshevism, and the Versailles Peace (Princeton, N.J., 1966), chap. 1.\n19 Mayer, Wilson vs. Lenin, 385–387; Tillman, Anglo-American Relations, 26; George W. Egerton, Great Britain and the Creation of the League of Nations: Strategy, Politics and International Organization, 1914–1919 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1978), 57–59.\n20 David Lloyd George, British War Aims: Statement by the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable David Lloyd George, on January 5, 1918 (London, 1918). See also Thomas J. Knock, To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order (New York, 1992), 143.\n21 Address to a Joint Session of Congress, January 8, 1918, PWW, 45: 534–539.\n22 Address to Congress, February 11, 1918, PWW, 46: 321.\n23 For more extended discussion of Wilson’s usage of “self-determination,” see Michla Pomerance, “The United States and Self-Determination: Perspectives on the Wilsonian Conception,” American Journal of International Law 70 (1976): 1–27; Betty Miller Unterberger, “The United States and National Self-Determination: A Wilsonian Perspective,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 26 (1996): 926–941; Lloyd E. Ambrosius, “Dilemmas of National Self-Determination: Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy,” in Ambrosius, Wilsonianism: Woodrow Wilson and His Legacy in American Foreign Relations (New York, 2002), 125–143; William R. Keylor, “Versailles and International Diplomacy,” in Boemeke et al., The Treaty of Versailles, 475 and n. 12.\n24 N. Gordon Levin, Woodrow Wilson and World Politics: America’s Response to War and Revolution (New York, 1968), 247–251. The literature on Wilson’s policy in the Philippines is surprisingly sparse, but see William Christopher Hamel, “Race and Responsible Government: Woodrow Wilson and the Philippines” (Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 2002), esp. chap. 6.\n25 Address at Mount Vernon, July 4, 1918, PWW, 48: 515–516.\n26 On the expansion of telegraphy into Asia, see Daniel R. Headrick, The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851–1945 (New York, 1991), esp. chap. 4.\n27 On the rise of the popular press in India, see S. Natarajan, A History of the Press in India (Bombay, 1962), 147–225; Nadig Krishna Murthy, Indian Journalism: Origin, Growth and Development of Indian Journalism, from Asoka to Nehru (Mysore, 1966), chap. 8; Judith M. Brown, Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1994), 139.\n28 Leo Lee and Andrew J. Nathan, “The Beginnings of Mass Culture,” in David Johnson et al., eds., Popular Culture in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, Calif., 1985), 368–378; Stephen R. MacKinnon, “Toward a History of the Chinese Press in the Republican Period,” Modern China 23, no. 1 (1997): 3–32. Benedict Anderson famously identified mass print media as agents of national identity construction, delineating the boundaries of the nation while at the same time locating it within the context of a wider world of structurally equivalent and morally equal national entities. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, rev. ed. (London, 1991), esp. chaps. 2–3. For a development of these ideas in the specific context of the rise of nationalism and of global historical consciousness in early-twentieth-century China, see Rebecca E. Karl, Staging the World: Chinese Nationalism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Durham, N.C., 2002); and Karl, “Creating Asia: China in the World in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century,” AHR 103, no. 4 (October 1998): 1096–1118.\n29 George Creel, Complete Report of the Chairman of the Committee on Public Information (Washington, D.C., 1920), 1–2. For accounts of the CPI and its activities during the war, see Gregg Wolper, “The Origins of Public Diplomacy: Woodrow Wilson, George Creel, and the Committee on Public Information” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1991); James R. Mock and Cedric Larson, Words That Won the War: The Story of the Committee on Public Information, 1917–1919 (Princeton, N.J., 1939); and Creel’s own celebratory account, How We Advertised America: The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe (New York, 1920).\n30 Carl Crow, “The Great War on the China Front,” unpublished typescript, Carl Crow Papers, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Columbia. Also Hans Schmidt, “Democracy for China: American Propaganda and the May Fourth Movement,” Diplomatic History 22, no. 1 (1998): 1–28; Kazuyuki Matsuo, “American Propaganda in China: The U.S. Committee on Public Information, 1918–1919,” Journal of American and Canadian Studies 14 (1996): 19–42.\n31 On the role of Reuters as the main supplier of international news across the British Empire and East Asia during this period, see Donald Read, The Power of News: The History of Reuters, 2nd ed. (New York, 1999), chaps. 3–6.\n32 See, e.g., “America Asks for War,” Amrita Bazar Patrika [hereafter ABP], April 5, 1917; “President Wilson’s Speech and Needed Change in British Policy,” Mahratta, October 6, 1918, 473–474. The Amrita Bazar Patrika was a major nationalist daily, published in Calcutta but read widely across India. See Murthy, Indian Journalism, 81. Mahratta was a weekly magazine published in Pune by the scholar, journalist, and nationalist leader B. G. Tilak. The New York Times boasted at the time: “Extracts from President Wilson’s speeches are being quoted by villagers in the remotest part of India,” and his words “have gripped their hearts as nothing else has done since the war began.” See “Wilson’s Words in India,” New York Times, October 5, 1918, 12.\n33 Wilson’s speech, made on February 11, was reported with extensive excepts by Reuters and carried in “President Wilson, Address to Congress, Situation Reviewed,” ABP, February 14, 1918; the paper’s editorial analysis appeared two days later, “Dr. Wilson’s Peace Pronouncement,” ABP, February 16, 1918. See also Natarajan, Press in India, 183.\n34 “Mei zongtong zhi yihe tiaojian,” Shibao, January 11, 1918, 2. Also see “Mei zongtong yanshuo heping tiaojian,” Dagongbao, January 11, 1918, 3. Shibao was a major Shanghai daily; on its emergence and impact, see Joan Judge, Print and Politics: “Shibao” and the Culture of Reform in Late Qing China (Stanford, Calif., 1996). Dagongbao was a major daily published in Tianjin.\n35 The advertisement appeared numerous times in January and February 1919, e.g., in New India, January 6 and 11, 1919; ABP, February 18, 1919. Other books advertised in the same list, below the Wilson collection, included volumes by such luminaries of the national movement as C. R. Das and Sarojini Naidu and a biography of Mahatma Gandhi. New India was published daily in Madras and associated with Annie Besant’s India Home Rule League.\n36 “Reviews and Notices,” Mahratta, February 2, 1919, 59.\n37 “Meiguo zongtong Wei-er-xun canzhan yanshuo chuban,” Shibao, November 16, 1918, 1; the advertisement appeared several more times in this newspaper over the next weeks. Also in Shenbao, November 21, 1918, 1. Shenbao was a major daily published in Shanghai but read across China. On its reach into the countryside during this period, see Henrietta Harrison, “Newspapers and Nationalism in Rural China 1890–1929,” Past & Present 166 (2000): 181–204.\n38 See Shibao, December 24, 1918, 1, on the degree from the Sorbonne; Shibao, December 29, 1918, 1, on the welcome in London. Also “Yingwang yu Mei zongtong zhi yanshuo,” Shenbao, December 30, 1918. In India, “President Wilson Visits His Mother’s Birthplace,” ABP, January 3, 1919; “Wilson’s Address to Italian Parliament,” ABP, January 7, 1919.\n39 “President Wilson’s Speech,” Mahratta, October 6, 1918, 473–474. For the impact of the war on the Indian nationalist movement, see Ellinwood and Pradhan, India and World War 1, esp. the essays by Brown, Barrier, Bose, and Wolpert.\n40 “The Lesson of the War,” Tribune (Lahore), December 20, 1918, L/R/5/201, 3; “India after the War,” Kesari (Pune), n.d., L/R/5/200, 596. India Office Records, British Library, London.\n41 “India and the Peace Conference,” Mahratta, December 1, 1918, 559.\n42 “Cejin yongjiu hepinghui xuanyan shu,” Shibao, December 16, 1918; Hollington K. Tong, “What Can President Wilson Do for China?” Millard’s Review, November 16, 1918, 431–434. This article was reprinted in Chinese translation as “Zhongguo yu heping huiyi,” Shibao, December 18, 1918.\n43 Editorial in Meizhou pinglun, December 22, 1918, in Chen Duxiu, Duxiu wencun (Hefei, 1987), 388. On Chen, see Lee Feigon, Chen Duxiu, Founder of the Chinese Communist Party (Princeton, N.J., 1983).\n44 “Jielu Wei-er-xun `xunci,'” in Hu Shi, Hu Shi liuxue riji (Changsha, 2000), 334. On Hu Shih and his role in the May Fourth movement, see Jerome B. Grieder, Hu Shih and the Chinese Renaissance: Liberalism in the Chinese Revolution, 1917–37 (Cambridge, Mass., 1970).\n45 Stephen N. Hay, Asian Ideas of East and West: Tagore and His Critics in Japan, China, and India (Cambridge, Mass., 1970), 126–143.\n46 Hu, “Wei-er-xun,” July 12, 1914, and Hu Shih liuxue riji, 208.\n47 Tagore to Wilson, May 9, 1918, and Tagore interview with Gertrude Stevenson, Boston Journal, December 2, 1916, cited in Stephen N. Hay, “Rabindranath Tagore in America,” American Quarterly 14, no. 3 (1962): 449, 451. Tagore’s publisher, Macmillan, wrote the president requesting his permission for the dedication, but Wilson’s adviser, Colonel Edward M. House, counseled against it because his British contacts had warned him that Tagore was involved with Indian revolutionaries living in the United States. When news of this reached Tagore, he wrote Wilson a long, outraged letter of protest against such “lying calumny.” The letter was shuffled around at the Department of State; Wilson probably never saw it. Woodrow Wilson to Macmillan and Company, April 9, 1917, PWW, 42: 21; Rabindranath Tagore, The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore, ed. Sisir Kumar Das, 3 vols. (New Delhi, 1994–1996), 2: 770–771; Hay, “Tagore in America,” 451–452.\n48 The phrase “League of Nations” was commonly rendered into Chinese at the time using the term datong, e.g., as “wanguo datong meng” or “guoji datong meng.” Like other terms in Confucian philosophy, datong has no single accepted translation into English. Laurence G. Thomson, who translated Kang’s book, rendered it as “One World,” but noted more than a dozen other possibilities. Jonathan D. Spence translated it as “Great Community,” and Kang Youwei himself rendered the term into English literally as “Great Concord.” See Kang Youwei, Ta T’ung Shu: The One-World Philosophy of K’ang Yu-wei, trans. Laurence G. Thompson (London, 1958), esp. 29–30; Jonathan D. Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution (New York, 1981), 64–73; Chow, The May Fourth Movement, 97–98 and note n there. For more on Kang and his ideas, see Prasenjit Duara, “Transnationalism and the Predicament of Sovereignty: China, 1900–1945,” AHR 102, no. 4 (October 1997): 1034–1035; Kung-chuan Hsiao, A Modern China and a New World: Kang Yu-wei, Reformer and Utopian, 1858–1927 (Seattle, Wash., 1975), esp. pt. 4; Jung-pang Lo, ed., K’ang Yu-wei: A Biography and a Symposium (Tucson, Ariz., 1967), esp. 341–354.\n49 “Cu Nan Bei su yihe yi ying Ouzhou heju dian,” Shibao, December 30, 1918, reprinted in Kang Youwei, Kang Youwei zhenglun ji, ed. Yang Zhijun, 2 vols. (Beijing, 1981), 2: 1061–1063; Hollington Tong, “Kang Yu-wei as Chinese Advocate of League of Nations,” Millard’s Review, February 8, 1919, 342–345.\n50 In 1919, Kang noted that when he had written his book on datong in the 1880s, he had hoped that its principles would be realized “in the century to come,” and was surprised to see them realized so soon. Lo, K’ang Yu-wei, 238.\n51 Tagore to Rothenstein, April 1(?), 1913, in Mary M. Lago, ed., Imperfect Encounter: Letters of William Rothenstein and Rabindranath Tagore, 1911–1941 (Cambridge, Mass., 1972), 106–107.\n52 Portland Telegram, September 26, 1916, cited in Hay, “Tagore in America,” 447.\n53 E.g., “Mei zhi duli jinian,” Shenbao, July 4, 1918, 11, which emphasized the United States’ “democratic spirit” and its commitment to “uphold justice and humanity in the world.”\n54 Luo Jialun, “Jinri shijie zhi xinchao,” Xinchao 1, no. 1 (January 1, 1919): 19–23.\n55 Woodrow Wilson, “Democracy and Efficiency,” Atlantic Monthly 87 (March 1901): 289–299.\n56 Address to a Joint Session of Congress, January 8, 1918, PWW, 45: 537.\n57 The Wilson administration’s policies on race and their broader context are explored in Michael Dennis, “Looking Backward: Woodrow Wilson, the New South, and the Question of Race,” American Nineteenth Century History 3, no. 1 (2002): 77–104; Nicholas Patler, Jim Crow and the Wilson Administration: Protesting Federal Segregation in the Early Twentieth Century (Boulder, Colo., 2004). For the encounters with Wilson of two prominent African American leaders at the time, see Christine A. Lunardini, “Standing Firm: William Monroe Trotter’s Meetings with Woodrow Wilson, 1913–1914,” Journal of Negro History 64, no. 3 (1979): 244–264; Kenneth M. Glazier, “W. E. B. Du Bois’ Impressions of Woodrow Wilson,” Journal of Negro History 58, no. 4 (1973): 452–459.\n58 Lala Lajpat Rai, The United States of America: A Hindu’s Impressions and a Study (Calcutta, 1916), 77–172; Tagore quoted in “Rabindranath Tagore in America,” Modern Review 21, no. 6 (1917): 663.\n59 On the boycott, see Guanhua Wang, In Search of Justice: The 1905–1906 Chinese Anti-American Boycott (Cambridge, Mass., 2001). On Chinese views on U.S. conquest and rule in the Philippines, see also Karl, Staging the World, chap. 4; Michael H. Hunt, The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy (New York, 1996), 90.\n60 Kang Youwei, “Jiu wang lun,” in Kang, Kang Youwei zhenglun ji, 2: 653.\n61 “Greatest Living Poet of Hindustan Arrives,” Los Angeles Times, September 19, 1916, 11. Tagore laid out his opposition to nationalism in the book Nationalism (New York, 1917), which he unsuccessfully attempted to dedicate to Wilson (see n. 47 above). Since Wilson understood his advocacy of “self-determination” as a step toward international cooperation rather than as a call to ethnic exclusivism, Tagore’s wish was perhaps not as ironic as it might initially appear.\n62 See, e.g., “Educational Policy in the Philippines,” Mahratta, June 11, 1916, 281; “America’s Work in the Philippines,” pts. 1 and 2, Modern Review 21, no. 3 (March 1917): 328–336, and no. 4 (April 1917): 455–460; “Parallel between India and the Philippines,” ABP, February 22, 1919; Lajpat Rai, The United States, 296–325. In its favorable review of the latter book, the Mahratta (December 17, 1916) noted that the chapter that dealt with U.S. rule in the Philippines should be studied by every Indian, and especially by “our rulers,” but that the topic was so well-known to readers that it need not be elaborated.\n63 Zhi Fei, “Zhimin de wenti,” Guomingongbao, December 6, 1918, 5. Guomingongbao was a major Beijing daily and considered a venue for “liberal opinion”; see Hu Shi, “Intellectual China in 1919,” The Chinese Social and Political Science Review 4, no. 4 (December 1919): 345–355.\n64 Open letter to Wilson, written in late 1917, in M. N. Roy, Selected Works of M. N. Roy, ed. Sibnarayan Ray, 4 vols. (Delhi, 1987), 1: 67–83.\n65 Li Dazhao, “Bolshevism de shengli,” Xin qingnian 5, no. 5 (November 1918): 442–448. The word “Bolshevism” appeared in English in the title of the piece. Li nevertheless noted elsewhere Wilson’s “deep love of world peace,” praised the United States as the leading example of a successful federal system, and described the League of Nations as leading toward the ideal of world federation. Li Dazhao, “Wei-er-xun yu pinghe,” February 11, 1917, in Li Dazhao, Li Dazhao wenji, 5 vols. (Beijing, 1999), 1: 271; Li Dazhao, “Lianzhizhuyi yu shijie zuzhi,” Xinchao 1, no. 2 (February 1, 1919): 151–156. On Li’s role as a pioneering Chinese Marxist, see Maurice Meisner, Li Ta-chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism (Cambridge, Mass., 1967); Li Danyang, “Makesi xueshuo yanjiuhui yu Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi zuzhi de qiyuan,” Shixue yuekan 6 (2004): 51–59.\n66 “Pining for the Perfect Day,” Mahratta, April 22, 1917.\n67 For India, see, e.g., ABP, July 6, 1918, 3, where a laudatory report of Wilson’s July Fourth address sat next to headlines announcing “Further Bolshevik Submission to Germany” and reporting on the march of White forces on Moscow. ABP, January 16, 1919, “Reuters Telegrams” section, reported on “Bolshevik Destruction” in Poland and losses in Estonia; a separate item associates the spread of Bolshevism in Germany with riots and criminality. New India, January 15, 1919, also reported on the “Bolshevist Peril” in numerous items on p. 9. In China, see similar themes in “Eguo geming xiaoxi,” Shibao, January 8, 1918, 2, and January 15, 1918, 2; and items on the Russian Bolsheviks in Shibao, December 17, 1918, 1; December 30, 1918, 1; and January 7, 1919, 2. Shenbao, January 13, 1919, 6, reported on the “miserable conditions” of Chinese laborers in Russia who were being conscripted into the Red Army. See also “Full Story of How China Is Menaced by the Bolsheviki; Horrors in Russian Turkistan,” Peking Leader, July 12, 1918, 3. On Lenin as a “mysterious” figure, see Sudhindra Bose, “The Russian Situation,” Modern Review 25 (1919): 131; “Lenin,” Mahratta, February 3, 1918, 60.\n68 Michael Weiner, “Comintern in East Asia, 1919–39,” in Kevin McDermott and Jeremy Agnew, eds., The Comintern: A History of International Communism from Lenin to Stalin (London, 1996), 158–163. Weiner notes that at the First Comintern Congress in March 1919, “very little time or discussion was devoted to the `colonial’ question,” and that Asian representation there was insignificant. By the Second Comintern Congress in the summer of 1920, however, the failure of the European revolutions, on the one hand, and the eruption of mass anticolonial protests in Asia, on the other, gave Asian communists a more substantial role, which was reflected in M. N. Roy’s forceful contestation of Lenin’s views on the colonial question. On the Roy-Lenin debate, see John P. Haithcox, “The Roy-Lenin Debate on Colonial Policy: A New Interpretation,” Journal of Asian Studies 23, no. 1 (1963): 93–101. Although many Indian and Chinese intellectuals had some general familiarity with socialist ideas before the war, specific interest in Marxist-Leninist doctrine and its potential relevance for India and China began to develop only in late 1919, after expectations for the peace conference collapsed and the Bolsheviks began to consolidate their regime. See Arif Dirlik, The Origins of Chinese Communism (Oxford, 1989), 23–25; Sankar Ghose, Socialism and Communism in India (Bombay, 1971), 8–16.\n69 Thirty-third Indian National Congress Session, Delhi, December 1918, All-India Congress Committee Papers [hereafter AICC], File 1, pt. 2, p. 347, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi [hereafter NMML].\n70 Memorandum, dated London, December 11, 1918, enclosed in Tilak to Khaparde, December 18, 1918, G. S. Khaparde Papers, File 1, pp. 1–2, National Archives of India, New Delhi [hereafter NAI]; Tilak to D. W. Gokhale, dated London, January 23, 1919, Khaparde Papers, File 1, pp. 4–7, NAI.\n71 Burma Provincial Congress Committee [hereafter PCC] to secretary of AICC, January 15, 1919, AICC Papers, File 7, pp. 3–5; secretary of Bihar & Orissa PCC to secretary of AICC, February 1, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 171; secretary of Bengal PCC to secretary of AICC, February 7, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 183; secretary of Madras PCC to AICC, February 13, 1919, AICC Papers, File 6, p. 193, all in NMML.\n72 Tilak to Wilson, January 2, 1919, Series 5F, Reel 446, Woodrow Wilson Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Wilson’s personal secretary acknowledged receipt of this missive and implied that the president had seen it, but upon receiving word of the exchange, an official at the British Foreign Office commented: “not much attention need be paid to Pres. Wilson’s acknowledgement.” Still, in the Indian press, Wilson’s terse acknowledgment was a topic of much hopeful discussion and speculation. Close to Tilak, January 14, 1919, cited in Foreign Office memo, February 12, 1919, FO 608/211, fol. 124–125, UK National Archives, Kew; “India before the U.S.A. Senate,” Mahratta, October 19, 1919, 499; “International Forum,” Mahratta, November 9, 1919, 518.\n73 See, e.g., Wilson to Tumulty, June 27, 1919, PWW, 61: 291. Other claims for self-determination that Wilson and the peace conference ignored include those of Koreans and Egyptians, but also of Irish and Catalan nationalists. The story is recounted in detail in Manela, The Wilsonian Moment.\n74 “Ouzhan hehui yu woguo guanxi,” Shenbao, November 22, 1918, 6; Wunsz King, China at the Peace Conference in 1919 (Jamaica, N.Y., 1961), 3.\n75 V. K. Wellington Koo and Cheng-ting T. Wang, China and the League of Nations (London, 1919), 2.\n76 For the Supreme Council discussions on Shandong, see Paul Mantoux, The Deliberations of the Council of Four (March 24–June 28, 1919): Notes of the Official Interpreter, trans. and ed. Arthur S. Link, 2 vols. (Princeton, N.J., 1992), 1: 399–408, 425–427.\n77 From an interview with a student at Beijing University, quoted in Tsi C. Wang, The Youth Movement in China (New York, 1928), 161–162.\n78 On the central role of the May Fourth movement in the history of modern China, see Rana Mitter, A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World (New York, 2004).\n79 On the impact of the events of the spring of 1919 on the course of the nationalist movement in India, see R. Kumar, ed., Essays on Gandhian Politics: The Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919 (Oxford, 1971), esp. 1–16.\n80 See, e.g., Shibao, April 23–26 and 29, 1919, for numerous reports of “riots” and “chaos” in India, as well as in Egypt and Korea. In India, see, e.g., Mahratta, October 19, 1919, which reports on “President Wilson’s Betrayals” of numerous nations, including Korea, Ireland, and Egypt.\n81 Mao Zedong, “Afghanistan Picks Up the Sword” and “So Much for National Self-Determination!,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Stuart R. Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912–1949, 7 vols. (Armonk, N.Y., 1992– ), 1: 335, 337. Mao added with characteristic sarcasm that he “felt sorry” for “poor Wilson,” who was in Paris “like an ant on a hot skillet,” and “could not speak his mind.” Mao Zedong, “Poor Wilson,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Schram, Mao’s Road to Power, 1: 338.\n82 Incomplete and unpublished review of Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom: Socialism, Anarchism, and Syndicalism (London, 1918), undated but written sometime in the summer of 1919. Jawaharlal Nehru Papers, Writings and Speeches, serial no. 21, NMML.\n83 Ibid.; Mao Zedong, “Study of the Extremist Party,” Xiangjiang pinglun, July 14, 1919, reprinted in Schram, Mao’s Road to Power, 1: 332 and n. 1.\n84 The full intellectual genealogy of Wilson’s thinking on self-determination ideas is traced in Pomerance, “The United States and Self-Determination.” But compare Knock, To End All Wars, esp. chaps. 2–4.\n85 On the evolution of international society toward the inclusion of non-Western nations, see Hedley Bull, “The Emergence of Universal Society” and “The Revolt against the West,” both in Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, eds., The Expansion of International Society (New York, 1984), 117–126, 217–228; Gerrit W. Gong, The Standard of “Civilization” in International Society (Oxford, 1984), esp. chaps. 2–4.\nFeatures\nHow the Wilsonian moment sparked movements for self-determination around the world\nReviews\n“Trawling through four national archives, Manela has produced an immensely rich and important work of comparative politics.”–Pankaj Mishra, London Review of Books\n“A probing historical study. Manela presents an enlightening analysis of a shortsighted failure whose convulsive effects are still with us.”–Publishers Weekly\n“…an important work.”–The Independent\n“…sophisticated in its analysis…. Manela’s work rests on extensive archival research in many countries and languages….”–The Weekly Standard\n“The international relations at the end of World War I have been much studied by historians but, as Erez Manela points out, mainly from the perspective of the center. Manela examines the periphery and shows how ideas, actions, and decisions taken by the powers interacted with local conditions and players. The Wilsonian Moment is a much-needed reminder that the non-European world was moving along its own tracks, which were affected but not necessarily determined by the center, and a significant contribution to our understanding of a crucial period.”–Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World\n“Manela provides an impressive demonstration of the adoption of Wilsonian rhetoric by nationalist movements in China, Egypt, India, and Korea–and of their responses to the betrayal of their hopes and expectations at Versailles. His analysis goes a long way toward revealing the roots of anti-Americanism among African and Asian intellectuals.”–Warren I. Cohen, University of Maryland, Baltimore County\n“Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawharlal Nehru, Syngman Rhee–they all responded to the ‘Wilsonian Moment’–the dream of self-determination of subject people inspired, often in spite of himself, by the American president and the dashing of that dream at the end of World War I. Erez Manela shows with great sensitivity and insight how this moment affected different indigenous leaders and followers in the Middle East and South and East Asia. He shows how the outcome of this moment shaped much of the course of the twentieth century. This is the new ‘international history’ at its best.”–John Milton Cooper, author of Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations\n“Woodrow Wilson belonged to the tradition of colonial reform, not liberation, but nationalists everywhere used his slogan of self-determination to advance their own causes. The Wilsonian Moment will be indispensable to all scholars seeking to understand the political transformation of the colonial world in the aftermath of World War I.”–Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas at Austin\n“Erez Manela does a superb job both of telling stories that need to be told and changing his readers’ understanding both of Wilson and the world. And given its emphasis on the tragedy of disappointed expectations raised by universalist rhetoric, this book should be read more by anyone interested not only in history, but in American foreign policy.”–Anne-Marie Slaughter, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University\nProduct Details\n352 pages; 20 halftones; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN 13: 978-0-19-517615-5 ISBN 10: 0-19-517615-4\nAbout the Author(s)\nErez Manela is Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History at Harvard University.\nThis book is the first to place the 1919 Revolution in Egypt, the Rowlatt Satyagraha in India, the May Fourth movement in China, and the March First uprising in Korea in the context of a broader “Wilsonian moment” that challenged the existing international order.\nMarch 28, 2008 at 6:16 am | Posted in Asia , Books , Globalization , Japan , Literary , Philosophy , Research , Science & Technology , Third World , World-system | Leave a comment\nThe Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy oscillated between complex analyses of human existence in the Heidegger fashion and parallel analyses of world history, imperialism, and Japan’s role in the world-system.\nIt should be noted that some Western writers think most criticism misplaced, and have defended the school and its major thinkers as fundamentally right in their reading of the historical logic of Japan’s long war against the imperialist ‘White’ world.\n(KU Philosophy Dept. ?, Chair, 1928-35?)\n \n \n(KU Philosophy Dept. 1928-35, Chair 1935-63)\nThe Kyoto School is the name given to the Japanese “philosophical movement centered at Kyoto University that assimilated Western philosophy and religious ideas and used them to reformulate religious and moral insights unique to the East Asian cultural tradition.” [1] . It is used however also of the many postwar scholars from various disciplines who have taught at the same university, been influenced by the foundational thinkers of Kyoto school philosophy, and who have developed distinctive theories of Japanese uniqueness. Therefore, thinkers and writers covered by this second sense will be treated under The Kyoto University Research Centre for the Cultural Sciences .\nBeginning roughly in 1913 with Nishida Kitaro , it survived the serious controversy it garnered after W.W.II to develop into a moderately well-known and active movement today. However, it is not a “school” of philosophy in the traditional sense of the phrase, such as with the Frankfurt School or Plato’s Academy . Instead, the group of academics gathered around Kyoto University as a de facto meeting place, and as its founder, Kitaro steadfastly encouraged independent thinking. According to James Heisig, the name “Kyoto School” was first used in 1932 by a student of Kitaro and Tanabe, Tosaka Jun (1900-45) – himself considered to be part of the ‘ marxist left-wing ‘ of the school. [2] Afterwards, the media and other academic institutions outside of Japan began to use the moniker, and by the 1970s it had become a universal title – practically by default.\n Shizuteru Ueda\nHistory\nMasao Abe writes in his introduction to a new English translation of Nishida’s magnum opus, that if one thinks of philosophy in terms of Kant and Hegel , then there is no philosophy taking place in Japan. But if it is instead thought of in terms of the tradition carried out by Augustine and Kierkegaard , then Japan has a rich philosophical history, composed of the great thinkers Kūkai , Shinran , Dogen and others. [3]\nThe group of philosophers involved with the Kyoto School in its nearly 100 year history (so far), is a diverse one. Individual members would sometimes come from very different backgrounds, and were not hesitant to criticise each others’ work. However, to be formally accepted as a member of the movement, one had to:\neither be teaching at Kyoto University or at a nearby affiliated school,\nshare Nishida’s basic assumptions regarding metaphysics and the concept of “ nothingness “, and\nuse the same philosophical vocabulary as Nishida. [4]\nGenerally, most were strongly influenced by the German philosophical tradition, especially through the thought of Nietzsche and Heidegger . In addition, all had strong ties to the Buddhist religion, and while their work was not expressly religious, it was informed significantly by it.\nAlthough the group was fluidic and largely informal, traditionally whoever occupied the Chair of the Department of Modern Philosophy at the university was considered its leader. Nishida was the first, from 1913 to 1928. Hajime Tanabe succeeded him until the mid-1930s. By this time, Nishitani had graduated from Kyoto University, studied with Martin Heidegger for two years in Germany , and returned to a teaching post since 1928. From 1955 to 1963, Nishitani officially occupied the Chair and since his departure, leadership of the school has crumbled – turning the movement into a very decentralized group of philosophers with common beliefs and common interests.\n \nSignificance of its notable members\nThe significance of the group continues to grow, especially in American departments of religion and philosophy. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a growing interest in East/West dialogue , especially inter-faith scholarship. Masao Abe , now the most well-known living member, has traveled to both coasts of the United States on professorships, and lectured to many groups on Buddhist-Christian relations.\nIn addition, although Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was closely connected to the Kyoto school and in some ways critical to the development of thought that occurred there—indeed, Suzuki personally knew Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani—he is not considered a true member of the group. [5]\n \nNishida Kitaro\nNishida, the school’s founder, is most known for his groundbreaking work An Inquiry into the Good and later for his elucidation of the “logic of basho” (Japanese: basho; usually translated as place or topos) – which brought him fame outside of Japan, and contributed largely to the attention later paid to philosophers from the Kyoto School.\n \nNishida’s work is notable for a few reasons, chief among them however is how much they are related to the German tradition of philosophy since Schopenhauer . The logic of Basho is a non-dualistic ‘concrete’ logic, meant to overcome the inadequacy of the subject-object distinction essential to the subject logic of Aristotle and the predicate logic of Kant , through the affirmation of what he calls the ‘absolutely contradictory self-identity’, a dynamic tension of opposites that, unlike the dialectical logic of Hegel, does not resolve in a synthesis, but rather defines its proper subject by maintaining the tension between affirmation and negation as opposite poles or perspectives.\nNishitani describes East Asian philosophy as something very different from what the Western tradition of Descartes , Leibniz or Hume would indicate,\nIt is ‘intuitive and practical,’ with its emphasis on religious aspects of expereince not lending themselves readily to theoretical description. True wisdom is to be distinguished from intellectual understanding of the kind appropriate to the sciences. The ‘appropriation’ of Nishida’s thought,…’embraces difficulties entirely different from those of intellectual understanding’…and those who ‘pretend to understand much but do not really understand, no matter how much they intellectually understand’ are the object of his scorn. [6]\nBefore his death, Nishida wrote The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview, developing more fully the religious implications of his work and philosophy through “Absolute Nothingness.” God or the Absolute, he says, is best understood by absolute nothingness because it “contains its own absolute self-negations within itself.” [7] Meaning, that while the divine is dynamically paradoxical, it should not be construed as pantheism , or transcendent theism . Both Nishitani and Abe have spent much of their academic lives dedicated to this development of nothingness and the Absolute, leading on occasion to panentheism\n \nA disciple of Keiji Nishitani.\n \nCriticism of the Kyoto School\nToday, there is a great deal of critical research into the school’s role prior to and during the Second World War . Hajime Tanabe bears the greatest brunt of the criticism for bringing his work on “The Logic of Species” into Japanese politics, supporting the intellectual culture in being prepared for a modified version of colonialism and “manifest destiny” beliefs. [8] [9] However, it should be noted that some Western writers think this criticism misplaced, and have defended the school and its major thinkers as fundamentally right in their reading of the historical logic of Japan’s long war against the imperialist ‘White’ world. [10]\nMembers\nSuggested Reading\nScholarly Books\nThe Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School. Edited by Frederick Franck. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1982.\n—Seventeen essays, most from The Eastern Buddhist , on Zen and Pure Land Buddhism.\nThe Philosophy of the Kyoto School, edited by Fujita Masakatsu. 2001.\n—Anthology of texts by Kyoto scholars themselves, with additional biographical essays.\nThe Thought of the Kyoto School, edited by Ohashi Ryosuke. 2004.\n—Collection of essays dealing with the history of its name, and its members contributions to philosophy.\nPhilosophers of Nothingness by James Heisig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8248-2481-4\n—Excellent introduction to the School’s history and content; includes rich multilingual bibliography.\nAbsolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, Hans Waldenfels. New York: Paulist Press, 1980.\n—Good early work, focuses mostly on Nishitani’s relevance for the perspective of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.\nJournal Articles\n“The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School: An Overview,” by James Heisig. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Vol.17, No.1, (1990), p51-81.\n“Heidegger and Buddhism,” by T. Umehara. Philosophy East and West, Vol.20 (1970), p271-281.\n“Nishida’s Philosophy of ‘Place’,” by Masao Abe, International Philosophical Quarterly Vol.28, No.4 (Winter 1988), p.355-371.\n“In Memoriam: Keiji Nishitani (1900-1990),” by E. Kawamura-Hanoka. Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol.12 (1992), p241-245.\n \nFor further information, see the Nanzan Institute’s Complete Bibliography for all Kyoto School members\nKitaro Nishida, An Inquiry into the Good, Translated by Masao Abe and Christopher Ives. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987 (1921).\n——, Art and Morality, Translated by D. Dilworth and Valdo Viglielmo. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.\n——, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Translated by Robert Schinzinger. Westport: 1958.\nHajime Tanabe, Philosophy as Metanoetics, translated by Yoshinori Takeuchi. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.\n——, Logic of the Species (no English translation yet)\nKeiji Nishitani, Religion and Nothingness, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. ISBN 0-520-04946-2\n——, The Self-overcoming of Nihilism, translated by Graham Parkes and Setsuko Aiharo. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.\nYoshinori Takeuchi, The Heart of Buddhism, translated by James Heisig. New York: 1983.\n \nSecondary sources on individual members\nNishida Kitaro, by Nishitani Keiji, translated by Yamamoto Sesaku and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.\nThe Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, edited by Taitetsu Unno and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.\nThe Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji, edited by Taitetsu Unno. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.\nReferences\nRelated Entries\n1. Introduction\nThe unintentional founder of the Kyoto School is Nishida Kitarô[ 1 ] (1870–1945), who is generally considered to be modern Japan’s greatest philosopher. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), when Japan reopened itself to the world after more than two centuries of national isolation, a generation of scholars devoted themselves to importing Western academic fields of inquiry, including “philosophy.” After many years of studying Western philosophy and Eastern classics, and after a decade of intense practice of Zen Buddhism, Nishida was the first modern Japanese thinker to go beyond learning from the West to construct his own original system of thought. This he began to do in his maiden work, An Inquiry into the Good, published in 1911 (see Nishida 1990). On the basis of this work he obtained a position in the Philosophy Department of Kyoto University, where he went on to ceaselessly develop his thought and to decisively influence subsequent generations of original philosophers, including the two other most prominent members of the Kyoto School, Tanabe Hajime (1885–1962) and Nishitani Keiji (1900–1990).\nAs is reflected in the name of the School, its founding members were associated with Kyoto University, the most prestigious university in Japan next to Tokyo University. It is perhaps no coincidence that the school formed in Kyoto, the ancient capital and center of traditional Japanese culture, rather than Tokyo, the new capital and center of modernization, i.e., Westernization. While the Kyoto School philosophers all devoted themselves to the study of Western philosophy (indeed they made lasting contributions to the ongoing effort to introduce Western philosophy into Japan), they also kept one foot firmly planted in their own traditions of thought. One scholar of the Kyoto School writes in this regard: “The keynote of the Kyoto school, as persons educated in the traditions of the East despite all they have learned from the West, has been the attempt to bring the possibilities latent in traditional culture into encounter with Western culture” (Minamoto 1994, 217).\nIt would be misleading, however, if we were to think of the Kyoto School as merely ‘putting a Western rational mask over Eastern intuitive wisdom’. Nor would it be entirely accurate to think of them as simply ‘using Western philosophical idioms and modes of thought to give modern expression to East Asian Buddhist thought’. For not only is the Western influence on their thought more than skin deep, their philosophies are far too original to be straightforwardly equated with traditional Eastern thought. Insofar as they can be identified as East Asian or Mahâyâna Buddhist thinkers, this must be understood in the sense of having critically and creatively developed these traditions in philosophical dialogue with Western thought. It should be kept in mind that their primary commitment is not to a cultural self-expression, or even to a dialogue between world religions, but rather to a genuinely philosophical search for truth.\nThe Kyoto School has become most well known, especially in the West, for its philosophies of religion. Indeed the reception of the Kyoto School in North America in particular has more often than not taken place in university departments of Religious Studies, where their philosophies of religion have frequently been viewed as representative of Mahâyâna Buddhism, specifically of the latter’s Zen and Shin (True Pure Land) forms.[ 2 ] While the exchange on these terms has been fruitful, this view can be misleading in two respects. First of all, even if for most of the Kyoto School thinkers a philosophy of religion is the ultimate arche and telos of their thought, it is hardly their sole concern. They address a full array of philosophical issues: metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, logic, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of history, philosophy of culture, ethics, political theory, philosophy of art, etc.\nSecondly, even when their focus is on the philosophy of religion, they approach this topic in a non-dogmatic and often surprisingly non-sectarian manner, drawing on and reinterpreting, for example, Christian sources along with Buddhist ones. Even Nishitani, who did in fact come to identify his thought with “the standpoint of Zen,” adamantly refused the label of a “natural theologian of Zen.” He claimed that: “If I have frequently had occasion to deal with the standpoints of Buddhism, and particularly Zen Buddhism, the fundamental reason is that [the original form of reality and the original countenance of human being] seem to me to appear there most plainly and unmistakably” (NKC X, 288; Nishitani 1982, 261).\nThe legacy of the Kyoto School, therefore, should be understood neither as Buddhist thought forced into Western garb, nor as universal discourse (which the West happened to have invented or discovered) dressed up in Japanese garb. Rather, it is best understood as a set of unique contributions from the perspective of modern Japan—that is, from a Japan that remains fundamentally determined by its historical layers of traditional culture at the same time as being essentially conditioned by its most recent layer of contact with the West—to a nascent worldwide dialogue of cross-cultural philosophy.\nIn conclusion to this introductory section, let me briefly sketch the content of the remaining sections of this article. In the following section, I will consider the preliminary issues of how to define the Kyoto School and who to include as its members. The name “Kyoto School” has been used in the past, in some cases rather loosely, to refer to a variety of sets of thinkers. It is therefore necessary to begin by discussing the question: Just who belongs to exactly what? The third and central section of this article will treat what is generally considered to be the central philosophical contribution of the Kyoto School, namely, the idea of “Absolute Nothingness.” After discussing the ostensible contrast between “Western Being” and “Eastern Nothingness,” and after looking at some of the Eastern sources of the idea of Absolute Nothingness, I will discuss the topological, dialectical, phenomenological and existential philosophies of Absolute Nothingness developed by Nishida Kitarô, Tanabe Hajime, Nishitani Keiji, and most recently by Ueda Shizuteru (1926–). The fourth section will address the political controversy surrounding the wartime writings and activities of the Kyoto School. The first wave of attention paid to the Kyoto School in the West in the 1980s largely ignored the political controversy that had long surrounded the School in Japan. While this lacuna in Western scholarship was amended in the 1990s, notably with the publication of Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School and the Question of Nationalism (Heisig/Maraldo 1994), the political ventures and misadventures of the Kyoto School remain a highly debated subject. In the final section of this article I will return to the question of the cross-cultural legacy of the Kyoto School as a group of thinkers that stood between—or perhaps moved beyond—East and West.\n2. Identity and Membership: Who Belongs to What?\n2.1 A History of External Naming\nThere has been considerable debate surrounding the question of how to define the “Kyoto School,” and who to include as its members. By all accounts Nishida Kitarô is considered its originator. Yet it was never his intention to institute a “school” based on his own thought; in fact he is reported to have always encouraged independent thinking in his students. Moreover, unlike Plato’s Academy or the Frankfurt School, the Kyoto School never founded an academic institution, its relation with Kyoto University being a de facto one. Indeed the name “Kyoto School” only came into use by the “members” themselves much later, when at all.\nNames do not only tell us who or what something is; they also tell us who or what something is not. Definitions not only seek to reveal an internal essence; they also draw a line of demarcation between inside and outside. It is thus not surprising that names and definitions often have their origin in labels appended from without. These labels may subsequently degenerate into stereotypes; or, conversely, they may be positively appropriated and redefined by the group itself. Both of these processes can be seen in the history of the “Kyoto School.”\nThe name “Kyoto School,” in fact, originated from without; or, more precisely speaking, it originated from the fringes of the School itself. Tosaka Jun (1900–1945), a student of Nishida and Tanabe, coined the expression in 1932 in reference to Nishida, Tanabe and Miki Kiyoshi (1897–1945) as purportedly representative of the epitome of “bourgeois philosophy in Japan” (see Heisig 2001, 4). Tosaka’s own developing thought had an explicitly materialist and Marxist orientation, and in his article he criticized the School as promulgating a bourgeois idealism that ignores material historical conditions and issues of social praxis. While Tosaka’s critique undoubtedly had an impact on the subsequent development of the Kyoto School’s philosophies, ironically Tosaka himself is often considered today, together with Miki, to be a member of the “left wing” of the Kyoto School (see Hattori 2004).\nThe second significant moment in the naming (or “labeling”) of the “Kyoto School” came more clearly from without, and in an even more politically charged context. As Nishitani was to recollect years later: “The name ‘Kyoto School’ is a name journalists used in connection with discussions that friends of mine and I held immediately before and during the war” (NKC XI, 207; see Heisig 2001, 277). Nishitani is referring here to two symposia that addressed the question of the meaning and direction of the Pacific War and the question of “overcoming modernity.” These two controversial symposia will be discussed in section 4.3 of this article.\nIn these comments, written in 1977, Nishitani goes on to say that by that time the name “Kyoto School” had come to be used by Americans and others to “indicate purely a school of thought.” Since the 1970s the name “Kyoto School” has gradually recovered its underlying philosophical ring, which for several decades in Japan (especially outside of Kyoto) had been drowned out by its political overtones. This recovery happened first of all in the West, where scholars neglected the political controversies in their enthusiastic reception of the School’s philosophies of religion. While the political controversies returned with a vengeance to Western academia a couple of decades later, in a kind of pendulum swing to the hyper-critical, the initial positive attention from without had by then helped to rehabilitate the image of the “Kyoto School” back home in Japan.\nFujita Masakatsu suggests that the question of defining the identity of the Kyoto School has often been a more pressing issue for Western scholars than for the Japanese themselves. He speculates that this has two reasons. One is that the Kyoto School never really had any noteworthy competing schools of original thought within Japan with which to contrast itself, and over against which to explicitly define its own identity. The second reason is that, while Westerners tend to draw out and focus on the shared general characteristics of the School’s members, usually in contrast with the general characteristics of Western thought, for Japanese scholars of the Kyoto School the differences between the various members often appear in sharper relief than do their shared commonalities (Fujita 2001, ii).\nIn any case, just as the formation of the Kyoto School’s ideas took place between Western and Eastern horizons of thought, so has the scholarly study and, to some extent, even the defining of the “Kyoto School” taken place between scholars in Japan on the one hand and those in Europe and North America on the other. Since one of the defining characteristics of the Kyoto School philosophers is their attempt to set Japan and their own thought in the context of the wider world, it is fitting that, with the increasingly international study of the Kyoto School, their thought is finally becoming what it always intended to be, namely, “Japanese philosophy in the world” (see Heisig 2004; Fujita/Davis 2005).\n2.2 The Question of Definition\nRecently in Japan two important volumes have appeared with the name “Kyoto School” in their titles: The Philosophy of the Kyoto School, edited by Fujita Masakatsu (2001), which consists of an anthology of texts by eight Kyoto School thinkers together with an essay on each one by a contemporary scholar; and The Thought of the Kyoto School, edited by Ôhashi Ryôsuke (2004), which contains five essays detailing the controversial history of the name “Kyoto School” as well as seven essays on potential contributions of their thought to various fields of contemporary philosophy. While the two books complement one other in many respects, they nevertheless each suggest a somewhat different approach to defining the school.\nFujita agrees with Takeda Atsushi’s working definition of the Kyoto School as: “the intellectual network that was centered on Nishida and Tanabe, and mutually formed by those who were directly influenced in both a personal and scholarly manner by them” (Fujita 2001, ii and 234–35). Accordingly, Fujita’s book features such thinkers as Tosaka and Miki, as well as more unanimously accepted figures such as Hisamatsu Shinichi (1889–1980) and Nishitani. As Fujita points out, the relatively open definition of the Kyoto School as such a scholarly and interpersonal “network” has the advantage of highlighting the mutuality of the flow of influence between its members, as well as the fact that “membership” in the unofficial group did not preclude serious disagreement with the thought of Nishida or Tanabe. While critical exchanges did sometimes lead to severed personal relations (Nishida and Tanabe infamously stopped speaking to one another), this was not always the case (Nishitani and Tosaka remained on good personal terms despite their political and philosophical differences). And in either case mutual criticism was philosophically taken seriously, and it frequently provided impetus to further developments in each member’s thought. In this sense, according to Fujita, an acceptance of mutual criticism could well be considered one of the defining characteristics of the School.\nOne point that Tosaka made early on, which often gets repeated still today, is that without Tanabe’s critical appropriation of Nishida’s thought there would be no tradition of the Kyoto School; we would have only successors of “Nishida Philosophy” and not a genuine school of mutually related yet independent thinkers. The question remains, however, just how independent a thinker can be with respect to Nishida’s thought and still be considered a member of the School. For even when subsequent figures in the School sharply questioned certain aspects of Nishida’s thought, they tended at the same time to appropriate and creatively develop other shared concepts and motifs. (A movement of self-critical development can in fact be seen in the ceaseless progression of Nishida’s own thought. Nishida thought of himself as a “miner” who never managed to stay put in one place long enough to “refine the ore” he had unearthed.)\nHence the Kyoto School, perhaps like any vibrant school of thought, should be seen as a cluster of original thinkers who, while not uncritically subscribing to any prescribed dogma, nevertheless came to share, and dispute, a number of common concerns as well as basic concepts and terminology. As we shall see, the most fundamental of their shared and disputed concepts is that of “Absolute Nothingness,” a notion that has, in fact, most often been used as a point of reference for defining the School.\nÔhashi explicitly questions the appropriateness of defining the Kyoto School merely in terms of a network of personal and scholarly relations. According to Ôhashi, in order for a group of thinkers to form a genuine “school” of philosophy, “there must be the common possession or formation of a thought” (Ôhashi 2004, 9). For Ôhashi, this common thought of the Kyoto School is “Absolute Nothingness,” and he accordingly suggests the following as a definition of the School: “a group of philosophers spanning several generations who developed their thought in several areas of philosophy with the idea of ‘Nothingness’ as a basis” (ibid., 10; see Ôhashi 2001, 13). While he does include Hattori Kenji’s essay on the “left wing of the Kyoto School” as the opening chapter of his The Thought of the Kyoto School, previously Ôhashi explicitly excluded Miki from the School on account of his principally Marxists orientations (Ôhashi 1990, 12). (We might note here in passing that, in his major later period work, The Logic of Imagination, Miki does affirm the Nishida inspired idea that “Nothingness is what transcends the subjective and the objective and envelopes them” (quoted in Fujita 2004, 125).)\nAmong Western scholars, John Maraldo has most thoroughly probed the question of Kyoto School identity and membership. He isolates six criteria that scholars have used to include and exclude thinkers from the Kyoto School: (1) connection with Nishida; (2) association with Kyoto University; (3) stance toward Japanese and Eastern intellectual traditions; (4) stance toward the interrelated matters of Marxism, the nation state, and the Pacific War; (5) stance toward Buddhism and toward religion in general; and (6) stance toward the notion of Absolute Nothingness. Maraldo shows how each one of these criteria have been used in various ways, consciously or unconsciously, since the 1930s to either promote the philosophical significance or disparage the political ideology of the Kyoto School (Maraldo 2005, 33–38).\nI would add two more related and interrelated criteria. One is an essentially ambivalent stance (i.e., neither simple rejection nor simple acceptance) toward Western philosophy and the West in general. For example, Nishida and others undertake a critical reception of Western ontology in order to develop an Eastern meontology or “logic of Nothingness,” and attempt to combine a Western “logic of things” with an Eastern “logic of heart-mind.” I will discuss such issues in section 3 of this article.\nAnother criterion that could be used to define the School is an essentially ambivalent attitude toward Western modernity (or toward modernization as Westernization). A critical stance toward a unilateral globalization of Western modernity, a stance which at the same time accepts in part its unavoidability and in some respects even affirms its necessity, gave rise to the idea of “overcoming modernity”—an overcoming that would take place not by retreating from Western modernity, but by going through and beyond it. This going through and beyond, moreover, would not simply be a matter of going further down the road of linear progress; it would entail a hermeneutical as well as ultimately a (me)ontological and existential re-gress, a radical “step back.” For the Kyoto School, a critical and creative retrieval of the traditions of the East, those of East Asian Mahâyâna Buddhism in particular, is thought to enable the radical religious and philosophical “trans-descendence” necessary to move through and beyond the limits and problems of Western modernity.\nThis idea of “overcoming modernity” has proven to be both one of the more stimulating and one of the more controversial aspects of their thought. For some it promises to contribute an important new East Asian perspective to the current debates over post-modernism in philosophy and post-colonialism in culture studies. Yet because the Kyoto School’s ideas of “overcoming modernity” developed in conjunction with their wartime political theories, theories which typically saw the nation of Japan as playing a key role in the historical movement through and beyond Western modernity, it has also proven to be one of the more often criticized aspects of their thought. (It is noteworthy in this regard that contemporary Japanese epigones of (Western) post-modernism have for the most part eschewed making the connection between their adoption of recent Western self-criticism of modernity/Eurocentrism and the Kyoto School’s earlier critique of these.) In any case, it is true that even after the Kyoto School ceased formulating the idea of overcoming modernity in political terms, the idea lives on in their postwar philosophies of religion and culture. Hence, a radical problematization of Western modernity can be considered an important aspect of their identity as a school of thought.\nAnother significant Western contributor to the question of the Kyoto School’s identity is James Heisig, who succeeded Jan Van Bragt as the head of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, an institute which has for several decades now been at the center of international research on the Kyoto School. In his recent book, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Heisig suggests that we follow the lead of Takeuchi Yoshinori (1913–2002) and define the School by “triangulating” it around the three leading figures of Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani (Heisig 2001, 3–7 and 275–78).\nIt is indeed these three figures that form the core of what has become known as the Kyoto School, and in this article I will accordingly focus my attention primarily on them, if also at times on Ueda Shizuteru as the current leading figure of the School. It should nevertheless be kept in mind that these are only three or four of a much wider group of original thinkers, some squarely within and some on the fringes of the Kyoto School.\n2.3 Members, Associate Members, and Related Thinkers\nÔhashi Ryôsuke’s thesis, advanced already in his landmark German anthology, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule (1990), is that the Kyoto School should be understood as a group of thinkers involved in a pluralistic yet cooperative and sustained attempt to think on the basis of an idea of “Nothingness” or “Absolute Nothingness.” This distinguishes their thought from that of traditional Western onto-logy with its basis of “being.” With this definition in mind, Ôhashi lists the central members of the Kyoto School according to generation as follows: Nishida and Tanabe make up the first generation; Hisamatsu, Nishitani, Kôsaka Masaaki (1900–1969), Shimomura Toratarô (1900–1995), Kôyama Iwao (1905–1993), and Suzuki Shigetaka (1907–1988) make up the second generation; and Takeuchi Yoshinori, Tsujimura Kôichi (1922–), and Ueda Shizuteru make up the third generation. Elsewhere he also suggests that the psychologist Kimura Bin (1931–) could be considered part of the third generation of the School, particularly if we shift the criterion of definition from interpersonal relations to a genealogy of thought (Ôhashi 2004, 9).\nOf the third generation, Ueda Shizuteru, who has done extensive original work on Meister Eckhart, Zen, and Nishida, is considered by most to be the central figure of the Kyoto School active today. Tsujimura Kôichi, who studied under Heidegger as well as under Hisamatsu and Nishitani, has provocatively and influentially written on Heidegger’s thought from a Zen and Kyoto School perspective. Abe Masao (1915–), a former student of Hisamatsu, has been an important representative of the Kyoto School and an inter-religious dialogue catalyst in North America, although he is less well known in Japan itself. If we were to view the Kyoto School as living past its third generation, Ôhashi Ryôsuke (1944–), a prolific philosopher in his own right, whose works in both Japanese and German address a broad range of philosophical issues, would undoubtedly count as a central figure of its fourth generation. Other contemporary active affiliates of the School, who could be seen as belonging to its fourth generation, include Hase Shôtô, Horio Tsutomu, Ômine Akira, Fujita Masakatsu, Mori Tetsurô, Kawamura Eiko, Matsumura Hideo, Nakaoka Narifumi, Okada Katsuaki, and Keta Masako. If the School shows promise of living on to future generations, it is with young scholars such as Minobe Hitoshi and Akitomi Katsuya, with advanced doctoral candidates in Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University such as Mizuno Tomoharu and Sugimoto Kôichi, as well as with a handful of non-Japanese philosophers who have studied with members of the third and fourth generations of the School.\nYet we appear to be at a turning point in the history of the Kyoto School, as is reflected in current retrospective attempts to define it. With Ueda’s and then Hase’s retirements from Kyoto University, on the one hand, and with the recent creation in 1998 of a Department of the History of Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University[ 3 ] (see the web site listed below) under the head of Fujita Masakatsu on the other, the Kyoto School is perhaps becoming, for better and for worse, more an object of scholarship than a predominantly living tradition. However, as with most schools of philosophy, the line between critical scholarship and creative appropriation is hardly a clear one, and in practice the retrospective study of the Kyoto School often blends together with its further development as a vibrant school of thought.\nIt is also important to point out that today in Japan the Kyoto School is not only studied in Kyoto. Since the appearance of Tokyo based philosopher Nakamura Yûjiô’s first book on Nishida in 1983, Nishida and the Kyoto School have steadily began receiving serious attention once again from scholars and students in areas of Japan outside of Kyoto. Worth special mention in this regard is Kosaka Kunitsugu, whose lucid and prolific scholarship on Nishida and others has done a great deal for the sympathetic yet sober textual analysis of the Kyoto School. The recent creation of the Nishida Philosophy Association (see the website listed below) promises to bring about a new era of cooperative exchange between Tokyo based and Kyoto based scholars of the School.\nTo return to the question of membership, consideration should also be given to those who could be referred to as “related thinkers” or “associate members” of the Kyoto School. The widest understandings (or misunderstandings[ 4 ]) of the Kyoto School include in it a number of thinkers who have a more or less occasional relation to the inner circle of the School. On the one hand, there is the case of D. T. Suzuki (Suzuki Daisetsu) (1870–1966). Suzuki maintained a long personal relationship with Nishida since their days as schoolmates. He not only helped introduce the young Nishida to the practice of Zen, his articulation of Mahâyâna Buddhist thought is also acknowledged as having influenced the formation of certain key ideas in Nishida’s last essay on the philosophy of religion. But Suzuki—who is justifiably famous in his own right for, among other things, helping introduce Zen to the West—was neither trained as a philosopher nor was he associated with Kyoto University; and thus he is perhaps best thought of as a “closely related thinker” to the School.\nThen there are the cases of Watsuji Tetsurô (1889–1960) and Kuki Shûzô (1888–1941). Both of these philosophers were brought to Kyoto University by Nishida, and both developed philosophies which were more or less influenced by Nishida’s thought (see Maraldo 2005, 34 and 52). And yet, both their thought and their activities remained too independent to count them among the inner circle of the School. It should be kept in mind, however, that these two “associate members” in particular are first rate philosophers in their own right, whose original work outshines that of many of the less original though full-fledged members of the School. Watsuji’s novel theory of “culture and climate” (fûdo), together with his major work on the ethics of “betweenness” (aidagara), and Kuki’s combination of logical rigor and existential insight in his major writings on the problem of contingency, together with his provocative works on Japanese aesthetics (notably his hermeneutical phenomenology of “iki”), have each made lasting contributions to philosophy and are worthy of international scholarly attention.\nFinally, there is the matter of thinkers who have developed their ideas more or less under the influence of Nishida and other members of the Kyoto School. A complete list of this group of “influenced thinkers” would be long, but it would include such names as Takahashi Satomi, Takizawa Katsumi, Mutai Risaku, Yuasa Yasuo, Kimura Bin, Sakabe Megumi, and Nakamura Yûjirô. A number of non-philosophers, such as the world-famous architect Andô Tadao (Tadao Ando), who designed the Ishikawa Nishida Kitaro Museum of Philosophy (see the website listed below), have also been influenced by Nishida and the Kyoto School.\n3. Absolute Nothingness: Giving Philosophical Form to the Formless\nHave discussed issues of definition and membership of the Kyoto School, we are now prepared to pursue the question of what unifies their thought as a school of philosophy. I will here follow the suggestion of Ôhashi, Nishitani, and other representatives of the Kyoto School itself, and focus on the shared—and at times disputed—idea of “Absolute Nothingness” (zettai-mu).[ 5 ]\n3.1 Western Being vs. Eastern Nothingness? Ontology vs. Meontology?\nNishitani wrote the following with regard to Nishida and Tanabe: “[Their] philosophies share a distinctive and common basis that sets them apart from traditional Western philosophy: Absolute Nothingness. … Clearly the idea of Absolute Nothingness came to awareness in the spirituality of the East; but the fact that it has also been posited as a foundation for philosophical thought represents a new step virtually without counterpart in the history of Western philosophy” (NKC IX, 225–26; Nishitani 1991, 161).\n“First philosophy” in the Western tradition is ontology, which asks the question of “being qua being,” and tends to answer this question either in terms of the most universal “being-ness” or in terms of the “highest being.” For Aristotle, the essence of being was “substance,” ambiguously thought either as the particular (Socrates) or the concrete universal form (human being), and the highest being was the “unmoved mover.” Greek ontology later influenced the Christian theological tradition to think of God as the “highest being,” such that the dual threads of the Western tradition as a whole took shape as what Heidegger calls “onto-theology.” Hence, the fundamental philosophical question of the onto-theological mainstream of the West is, “What is being?” On the other hand, the counter-question which the Kyoto School finds in the East is, “What is Nothingness?” In place of an ontology, first philosophy in the East is more often a “meontology”: a philosophy of non-being or Nothingness.\nPerhaps we should say “mu-logy” rather than “meontology”; for, strictly speaking, the Greek meon, “non-being,” should be translated into Japanese as hi-u. What I am translating as “Nothingnesss,” mu, is written with a single character rather than as a negation (hi) of being (u). This is crucial since the Nothingness with which they are concerned is not the simple negation or privation of being. It is closer to Heidegger’s “question of being,” which, attentive to what he calls the “ontological difference” between being (das Sein) and beings (das Seiende), asks after that which can only appear as “no-thing” when we think only in terms of things, that is, when we think (or calculate) merely in terms of determinate beings. Heidegger thus calls “the Nothing” (das Nichts) the “veil of being.” Das Sein or das Nichts is for Heidegger that which grants an open place, a clearing (Lichtung), for beings to show themselves. Just as “nature (phusis) loves to hide” (Heraclitus), being lets beings come to presence by itself withdrawing into absence or self-concealment (see Heidegger 1975, Vol. 9, 103–22; and Vol. 65, 246–47).\nTanabe studied with Heidegger in the early 1920s. (In fact, upon returning to Japan in 1924, Tanabe was the first scholar in the world to write an article on Heidegger’s thought.) When he later wrote the following, Tanabe no doubt had Heidegger’s 1929 “What is Metaphysics?” lecture in mind: “All science needs to take some entity or other as its object of study. The point of contact is always in being, not in nothing. The discipline that has to do with Nothingness is philosophy” (THZ VI, 156; see Heisig 2001, 121).\nHeidegger was of course not the first Western philosopher to ask after that which is radically other than beings, or even “beyond being” as such.[ 6 ] For example, Tanabe could have also found support for the idea that philosophy investigates Nothingness in the following passage from Hegel: “Das Erste der Philosophie aber ist, das absolute Nichts zu erdenken” [Yet the first task of philosophy is to conceive of absolute Nothingness] (quoted from Hegel’s “Glauben und Wissen” in Ôhashi 1984, 203). The Kyoto School might even be thought of as recovering a suggestion from one of the first Presocratic philosophers, Anaximander: namely, to think finite beings as determinations, or delimitations, of “the Indefinite” or “the Unlimited” (to apeiron).\nMoreover, as Kyoto School thinkers frequently do point out, Christian negative theologians and mystics, most notably Meister Eckhart, at times make use of the notion of “the Nothing” to refer to that which transcends all concepts and all oppositions. For Eckhart, “Nothing” (niht) was one way of indicating the “Godhead” (gôtheit) beyond “God” delimited as a personal being (see Eckehart 1963, 328). Niht here is an expression, at the limits of language, which attempts to indicate “the nothingness of indistinct fullness from which flow … all oppositions and relations” (Schürmann 1978, 168). Eckhart speaks of a breakthrough, not only beyond the ego, but also beyond God Himself, a breakthrough, that is, to an abyssal Godhead understood as “the silent desert into which no distinction ever gazed, of Father, Son, or Holy Ghost” (Eckehart 1963, 316). Analogously, Nishida writes that “when we truly enter thoroughly into the consciousness of Absolute Nothingness, there is neither I nor God” (NKZ V, 182; see Nishida 1958, 137).\nNishitani affirms Eckhart’s intimations of a Godhead of Absolute Nothingness, even though he notes that this is “markedly distant from orthodox Christian faith,” which limits the concept of nothingness to the relative nothingness expressed in the nihilum of creatio ex nihilo, that is, to the absolute privation of being out of which the highest being creates lesser beings (NKC X, 75; Nishitani 1982, 66; also see NKC VII). Yet Nishitani’s student and Eckhart scholar Ueda Shizuteru, despite profound appreciation for Eckhart’s thought and its nearness to Zen, argues in the end that Eckhart’s Nothingness, like that of negative theology in general, still points to an inexpressibly higher being (see USS VIII, 146). Critically adapting Heidegger’s expression, we might say that the Nothing is still understood as “the veil” of this inexpressibly higher being. Both Nishitani and Ueda ultimately look to Zen for a Nothingness so absolute that, in thoroughly negating any traces of opposition to beings (i.e., as a higher being transcending worldly beings), it is paradoxically found fully in the concrete facts and activities of the here and now (see USS VIII, 5ff.).\nÔhashi stresses, however, that neither the Buddhist tradition nor the Kyoto School should be thought of as having a patent on the radical “thinking of Nothingness.” In fact, he argues, “this thought slowly came to the fore within Western philosophy itself,” a process that indeed set the stage for Kyoto School contributions to contemporary philosophy (Ôhashi 2004, 12–13). Nishitani had in fact explored a number of resonant notions of Nothingness, not only in the Neoplatonic and Christian mystical traditions, but also in 19th and 20th century Western philosophers such as Nietzsche and Heidegger (see NKC VIII; Nishitani 1990). And yet, here again Nishitani finds residues of an ontological bias, where a kind of “relative nothingness” is posited as either a simple negation of or as a veil for being. Nishitani ultimately concludes that Nietzsche succeeded only in expressing a “standpoint of relative absolute nothingness”; and even in Heidegger, he critically suggests, “traces of the representation of nothingness as some ‘thing’ that is nothingness still remain” (NKC X, 75 and 108; Nishitani 1982, 66 and 96).[ 7 ]\nIn any case, it is fair to say that the Kyoto School thinkers generally consider the purest sources for the idea of Absolute Nothingness to lie in the traditions of the East. Hisamatsu went so far as to speak of Absolute Nothingness as “Oriental Nothingness” (Hisamatsu 1960); though it is important to bear in mind that his claim is that this idea was first clearly discovered in the traditions of East. Absolute Nothingness is by no means only relevant to Eastern cultures, anymore than in 1500 CE the earth was only round in the West. Moreover, if the idea of Absolute Nothingness “came to awareness in the spirituality of the East,” as Nishitani says, the philosophy of Absolute Nothingness is generally considered to be the Kyoto School’s own contribution to the contemporary world of thought opened up by the meeting of East and West.\nNishida—who could hardly be accused of underestimating what Japan had to learn from Western philosophy—also spoke at times in very general terms of Eastern Nothingness in contrast with Western being. In his essay, “The Types of Culture of the Classical Periods of East and West Seen from a Metaphysical Perspective,” he wrote: “How then are we to distinguish between the types of culture of the West and East from a metaphysical point of view? I think we can do this by dividing them into that [i.e., the culture of the West] which considers the ground of reality to be being, and that [i.e., the culture of the East] which considers this ground to be Nothingness.” In Greek philosophy, he goes on to say, “that which has form and determination was regarded as the real”; or even, as in Plato, reality, that which has true being, was understood as the Forms. Judeo-Christian culture, however radically different in various ways it was from Greek culture, and despite negative theology’s indications of a Deus absconditus as a kind of Nothingness, nevertheless primarily considered the person of God as “the most perfect being” to be the basis of reality. In radical contrast to both the Greek and Judeo-Christian origins of Western culture, Indian culture, like that of China and Japan, took “the profoundest idea of Nothingness as its basis” (NKZ VII, 429–33; see Nishida 1970, 21–23).\nIn the closing lines of the preface to his 1926 book, From That Which Acts to That Which Sees, a book many scholars view as the beginning of “Nishida Philosophy” proper, we find the following famous and programmatic lines: “It goes without saying that there is much to admire, and much to learn from, in the impressive achievements of Western culture, which thought form as being and the giving of form as good. However, does there not lie hidden at the base of our Eastern culture, preserved and passed down by our ancestors for several thousand years, something which sees the form of the formless and hears the voice of the voiceless? Our hearts and minds endlessly seek this something; and it is my wish to provide this quest with a philosophical foundation” (NKZ IV, 6).\n3.2 The Eastern Background for the Idea of Absolute Nothingness\nBefore looking more specifically at how Nishida and other members of the Kyoto School attempt to give philosophical form to the formless, it will be helpful to look at some of the threads in Eastern traditions on which the Kyoto School thinkers are explicitly and implicitly drawing as they weave their texts on Absolute Nothingness.\nTheir explicit references are primarily to Mahâyâna Buddhism, especially to the East Asian schools of Zen and/or Pure Land (predominantly Shinran’s Shin) Buddhism. The key Sanskrit term in Mahâyâna Buddhism here is śûnyatâ (“Emptiness”; kû in Japanese). With the noteworthy exception of the later Nishitani, however, the Kyoto School tends to favor the Chinese glyph mu (“Nothingness”; wu in Chinese), which is found predominantly in Zen, and which reflects the early attempt to “match terms” with Daoism in the translation and interpretive development of Buddhism in China. Let us briefly examine both of these Asian sources for the Kyoto School’s philosophies of Absolute Nothingness, śûnyatâ and wu/mu.[ 8 ]\nIn Mahâyâna Buddhism śûnyatâ refers first of all to the fact that all things come into being in “interdependent origination” (Sanskrit: pratîtya-samutpâda; Japanese: engi), and they are therefore “empty” of any independent substantial self-nature or “own-being” (Sanskrit: svabhâva). This thought is closely tied to the basic Buddhist thesis of “no-self” or “non-ego” (Sanskrit: anâtman; Japanese: muga). All beings, including the ego, are interconnected and in flux. Psychologically, śûnyatâ refers also to the releasement from all attachment to beings, from all reification and willful appropriation of them. Such attachments are both based on and in turn support the primary attachment to the fabricated ego, since the ego both strives to possess and is unwittingly possessed by its reification of beings. Awakening to the emptiness of all things, to their lack of substantial own-being or egoity (Japanese: shogyômuga), thus frees one both from an ego-centered and reified view of things, and from the illusion of the substantial ego itself.\nHowever, if the movement of negation stops here at a one-sided negation of being (i.e., at negation of the independent substantial reality of things and the ego), and if the idea of “Emptiness” is not itself emptied,[ 9 ] then we are left either with a pessimistic nihilism or with an ironically reified view of śûnyatâ. These are what the Buddhist tradition calls “śûnyatâ-sickness” (Japanese: kûbyô). True śûnyatâ must be understood to dynamically negate the very opposition of being and (relative) nothingness (see Nakamura 1975, Vol. 1, 278). Hence, in Mahâyâna we find an explicit return—through a “great negation” of reification and attachment to being—to a “great affirmation” of a non-reified understanding of being. Emptiness thoroughly understood is nothing separate from or opposed to “being” properly understood. As the often chanted lines of the Heart Sutra put it: “[phenomenal] form is emptiness; emptiness is also [phenomenal] form; emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness” (see Bercholz/Kohn 1993, 155). The famous Mahâyâna Buddhist philosopher of śûnyatâ Nâgârjuna (ca. 150–250 CE) went so far as to provocatively state: “The limits (i.e., realm) of nirvâna are the limits of samsâra. Between the two, also, there is not the slightest difference whatsoever” (Inada 1993, 158). In other words, nirvâna is neither a nihilistic extinction of nor a transcendent escape from the phenomenal world (samsâra); it is rather an enlightened manner of being-in-the-world here and now (see Garfield 1995, 332). This radical reaffirmation of the phenomenal world was particularly stressed in East Asian developments of Mahâyâna Buddhism, where we find such remarkably affirmative phrases as: “true Emptiness, marvelous being” (Japanese: shinkû-myôu).\nIn his mature writings Nishitani explicitly employs the Mahâyâna term śûnyatâ (even though he never disavows the term Nishida coined, “Absolute Nothingness”) in his attempt to think a way beyond both the exacerbated attachment to being and the reactive nihilism that together plague the modern world. Nishitani writes as follows: On the one hand, śûnyatâ or Emptiness can be termed “an absolute negativity, inasmuch as it is a standpoint that has negated and thereby transcended nihility, which was itself the transcendence-through-negation of all being.” In this sense, “Emptiness can well be described as ‘outside’ of and absolutely ‘other’ than the standpoint shackled to being, provided we avoid the misconception that Emptiness is some ‘thing’ distinct from being and subsisting ‘outside’ it.” On the other hand, then, Emptiness is truly Emptiness “only when it empties itself even of the standpoint that represents it as some ‘thing’ that is Emptiness. … [True Emptiness] is to be realized as something united to and self-identical with being” (NKC X, 109–10; Nishitani 1982, 97). Following in the wake of Nishida’s topological thinking of Absolute Nothingness (see section 3.3 below), Nishitani also thinks of śûnyatâ as a “place” or “field” wherein beings can appear as they truly are in their proper basis or “home-ground” (moto).\nThe idea of a Nothingness that radically transcends, or underlies, both being and its simple negation can also be traced back to pre-Buddhist Chinese thought. A recent Chinese scholar laments the philosophical ambiguity inherent in the Chinese character wu (Nothingness). He writes that “in Chinese ‘wu’ can mean both the contrasting pair of ‘you’ [i.e., ‘being’] and the metaphysical source of both ‘you’ and ‘wu’” (Zhang 2002, 150). In the terminology of the Kyoto School, the former sense of wu (mu in Japanese) is a matter of “relative nothingness,” while the latter sense is akin to what they call “Absolute Nothingness.” The latter sense of wu is expressed in chapter 40 of the Laozi (Daodejing) as follows: “The myriad things under heaven are generated from being. Being is generated from Nothingness (wu).” This unnamable non-dualistic source of all being and relative non-being is also referred to as the Way (dao). Of the latter it is said, in chapter 14 of the Laozi: “It is called the shapeless shape, the image of no-thing” (see Izutsu 2001, 50–51 and 104). It is not hard to link this thought with Nishida’s professed intention of giving philosophical foundation to the “form of the formless” that lies at the heart of the traditions of the East.\nIn the Daoist tradition we also find an idea of Nothingness used in the context of radically emptying the mind in order to attune the finite self to the in-finite[ 10 ] rhythm of the Way. The Zhuangzi speaks in this regard of the practice of “sitting down and forgetting everything” and of “being empty like a mirror” (see Watson 1968, 90 and 97). When Zen talks of returning to one’s “original face before one’s parents were born,” we find the Daoist ideas of “forgetting the ego” and “returning to the root” linked together with the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of the “original purity of the mind.” The original brightness and purity of the mind, which lies hidden beneath the clouds of defiling passion, is also frequently expressed in Mahâyâna texts with the analogy of a mirror that is able to spontaneously reflect the world without egoistic discriminations.\nZen presumably inherits this analogy of the original mind as mirror from both Mahâyâna and Daoist sources. In the traditional edition of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, however, all residues of dualistic discrimination—including those that remain even in the notion of a mirror that needs to be continually wiped clean of impurities—are swept away in the famous lines: “Originally there is not a single thing” (Chinese: benlai wu-yi-wu; Japanese: honrai mu-ichi-motsu). In this quintessential Zen expression are wedded together the meontological and psychological senses of wu/mu: a metaphysical assertion of the aboriginality of a non-dualistic Nothingness, and an expression of the non-ego’s radical freedom from attachment and freedom for spontaneous creativity and compassion.\nIn Zen we discover the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of Emptiness and the Daoist notion of Nothingness fully intertwined and developed into a practice of living both completely unattached and completely engaged in the world of “true Emptiness, marvelous being.” In the famous Wu or Mu kôan that opens the Gateless Barrier, Wumen (Mumon) urges those who wish to reach enlightenment, that is, those who wish to pass through the “barrier of the gate of Nothingness,” to concentrate their entire life force on this Wu (Mu), taking care to understand it neither as “nihilistic nothingness” nor “in terms of being and non-being” (Nishimura 1994, 22; see Cleary 1999, 71). This was the kôan that Nishida finally passed after nearly a decade of intense practice of Zen (see Yusa 2002, 45ff.). And as Nishida confided many years later to Nishitani, it was from early on his “impossible desire” to somehow bring Zen and philosophy together (NKZ XIX, 224–25; see Davis 2004b, 256ff.).\n3.3 Nishida’s Topology of Absolute Nothingness\nBesides contrasting Western Being with Eastern Nothingness, in his later writings Nishida also at times makes a broad distinction between a Western “logic of things” and an Eastern “logic of the heart-mind (kokoro).” While Western thought tends to begin with an objective logic of substances (be these physical or mental), he claims that in Buddhism one can find the germ of a logic of the heart-mind, even if traditionally this remained largely at the level of an expression of personal experience rather than being fully developed into a genuinely philosophical logic (see Nishida 1964, 356). (Scholars of Buddhism may want to argue that it was Nishida’s own knowledge of Buddhism that remained too much at the level of personal experience, rather than the sophisticated teachings of the Mâdhyamaka, Yogâchâra, Tiantai, and Huayan traditions of Mahâyâna philosophy.)\nIn any case, in the development of Nishida’s logic of Nothingness, “being” is thought of in terms of the objectivity of determinate things, “relative nothingness” is understood as a mere privation or simple negation of being, and an enveloping sense of “Nothingness” is initially associated with a kind of transcendental subjectivity of consciousness or the heart-mind. Ultimately, however, Nishida comes to posit Absolute Nothingness as the “place” (basho) that embraces both subjective (noetic) and objective (noematic) polarities of reality. Thus, in the end he thus relegates not only privation of being but also subjective nothingness, in the sense of the “field of consciousness,” to a type of “relative nothingness.”[ 11 ]\nIn 1934 Nishida writes: “Reality is being and at the same time nothingness; it is being-and-nothingness [u-soku-mu], nothingness-and-being; it is both subjective and objective, noetic and noematic. Reality is the unity of subjectivity and objectivity, and thus the self-identity of what is absolutely contradictory. Or rather, it is not that [the separate spheres of] subjectivity and objectivity come to unite, and then we first have reality. [The opposition of] subjectivity and objectivity must instead be thought from out of a dynamically dialectical reality that is self-determining” (NKZ VII, 441; see Nishida 1970, 29). Reality, as the dialectical “self-determination of Absolute Nothingness,” is in Nishida’s later works understood as a dynamic “identity of the absolute contradiction” between subjective (relative) nothingness and objective being. Absolute Nothingness is the temporal and spatial “place” wherein individual persons and things determine one another in their mutual interactions.\nThe “place of Absolute Nothingess” (zettai-mu no basho) first became the central concept of Nishida’s thought in the mid-1920s, though he continued to develop and rethink the idea up until his last completed essay in 1945, “The Logic of Place and the Religious World-View.” Nishida first explicitly worked out an idea of Absolute Nothingness in his 1926 book, From That Which Acts to That Which Sees (NKZ IV), a book which inaugurated his middle-period of thought. In this work, which includes an important essay entitled “Place” (“Basho”), Nishida’s topological reasoning develops in rough outline as follows 12 ]:\nJust as all events must “take place” somewhere, all beings must be situated in some place. Beings always exist in relation to other beings, and any relation requires a third term, namely, the place wherein they are related. In other words, for A and B to be related, there must be some place, C, in which their relation is situated. To begin with, we can understand this C as the spatial “context” in which objects are situated in relation to one another. But the context in which things are defined is more than spatial; a thing is not only here as opposed to there. Things are determined according to a number of criteria, each of which operates within its own field of judgment. Hence, the place C can be further understood as a “category” of judgment, such as “color.” Red and blue are revealed, and contrasted with one another, as colors within the category field of color.\nIn order to let concrete things reveal themselves yet more fully, however, we should think of C as “consciousness.” Our minds are able to correlate various categories of judgment, such as color, size, shape, location, etc., and therefore to perceive individual things as composed of unique combinations of various qualities. For example, we are conscious of a certain thing as a round, soft, red, sweet, apple sitting on a table. The field of consciousness is the field in which these different categories are unified in the perception and judgment of a particular thing in relation to other particular things and their qualities.\nUltimately, however, there is a crucial limit to the subjective “field of consciousness.” As Kant demonstrated, subjective consciousness cannot reflect things as they are in themselves, but only as they appear under the projection of subjective categories. What, then, is the ultimate place wherein not only objects but subjects too exist? According to Nishida, this must be the place where persons and things not only undergo changes in accidental categorical qualities, but essentially and existentially “come to be and pass away.” It is the place, not just of intellectual judgments, but of birth and death. This ultimate “groundless ground,” which “envelopes” all beings, yet which does so in such a way that lets them contain their own principle of self-determination, Nishida calls “the place of true Nothingness.” Although in no sense a determinate being, neither is this place of true or absolute Nothingness a mere static vacuity. In some sense, it must be thought of as both the source of consciousness, and as the metaphysically creative origin of beings.\nAlthough Nishida comes to the idea of the place of Absolute Nothingness most directly through his confrontations with Kant and Neo-Kantianism, he does not shy from thinking this place in metaphysical as well as epistemological terms: Nothingness is not merely a reflective, but is also a creative principle (NKZ IV, 238–39). As he writes much later, “Absolute Nothingness at once transcends everything and is that by which everything is constituted” (NKZ IX, 6). And yet, Nishida repeatedly tells us that, as no-thing outside of or other than the place of the coming to be and passing away of truly individual beings, Absolute Nothingness is not to be thought of as a “transcendent being.” Nor is it to be understood as the processional unfolding of a “potential being,” that is to say, as a kind of Hegelian “world Spirit” with its own cunning reason at work behind the scenes of its historical march toward self-realization. The Absolute, according to Nishida, must be thought of as Nothingness in order to distinguish it from all ontologies that would reduce the uniqueness and autonomy of truly individual beings either to a transcendent being or to an underlying teleological process.\nOne of the driving concerns behind Nishida’s repeated insistence that the Absolute be thought of in the meontological terms of a formless, indeterminate place of Absolute Nothingness, is that only therein can the irreducible and self-determining singular individual be given its due. All ontologies of universal being fail to allow for the existence of the true individual, or for the genuine encounter between individuals. Since “there is no universal [of being] whatsoever that subsumes the I and the thou” (NKZ VI, 381), the locus of genuine interpersonal encounter must be thought of in terms of the place of Absolute Nothingness.\nIt should be pointed out that the Japanese term for “absolute,” zettai, literally means a “severing of opposition,” which implies the sense of “without an opposing other.” The contrasting term is sôtai, which indicates “relativity” in the sense of “mutual opposition.” The true Absolute must embrace, rather than stand over against, the relative. The Absolute, therefore, must not oppose itself to relative beings; rather, its self-determination must be such as to allow their mutual autonomous relations to take place. According to Nishida, it is only a philosophy of the place of Absolute Nothingness that can do justice to the notion of the Absolute as well as account for both the autonomy and the mutual relativity of individuals.\nWhile on the one hand Nishida becomes increasingly concerned with allowing for radical interpersonal alterity within the place of Absolute Nothingness, on the other hand he also consistently argues from early on that “consciousness” should not be thought to necessarily entail an unbridgeable epistemological subject-object split. Although he initially adopted, and adapted, the notion of “pure experience” from William James and others to express this non-dual basis of knowledge, Nishida later drops this expression in favor of the notion of “self-awareness” (jikaku). According to Nishida, self-awareness can be defined as a “self reflecting itself within itself” (NKZ IV, 215).[ 13 ] Since Absolute Nothingness is not a “self” in the sense of a subject standing over against an object, any more than it is an ego with its own interested categories of perception, the self-awareness of Absolute Nothingness must be that of a “seeing without a seer” or a “knowing without a knower.” “Since there is no-thing that reflects, it is like a mirror reflecting the mirror itself” (ibid., 181).\nIn Nishida’s middle period, the paradigm for knowing is a “pure seeing” (tada miru) beyond all acting and volition. Nishida claims that as finite individuals we can approach this ideal by way of thoroughly negating or emptying the ego. “By truly emptying the self, the field of consciousness can reflect an object just as it is” (NKZ IV, 221). The self reaches the place of Absolute Nothingness, and therefore first truly comes into contact with other beings, by way of thoroughly emptying itself in a movement of “immanent transcendence” that takes it back through the depths of the field of consciousness.\nIn his last completed text, “The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview,” Nishida most fully developed the religious implications of the idea of Absolute Nothingness. There he thinks Absolute Nothingness as the best way to understand God or the Absolute, which he defines as that which “contains its own absolute self-negation within itself” (NKZ XI, 397). As Absolute Nothingness, God is the dynamic principle of affirmation by way of absolute self-negation. The true Absolute essentially negates its transcendent divinity and expresses itself in the forms of the relative.[ 14 ]\nYet Nishida insists that this idea of God can be understood no more in terms of an immanent pantheism than in terms of a transcendent theism. It may perhaps best be called “panentheism”; but for Nishida this too remains a static term of “objective logic” and fails to capture the necessity of thinking God as both irreducibly transcendent and thoroughly immanent. As Nishida is fond of saying, God or the Buddha is “immanently transcendent.” It is the paradoxical logic one finds in the Prajñâpâramitâ Sutras of Mahâyâna Buddhism (i.e., what D. T. Suzuki called the “logic of soku-hi,” a logic of “is and is not”) that Nishida thinks most profoundly expresses the “absolute dialectic” of the divine as the dynamic principle of Absolute Nothingness (NKZ XI, 399; see Nishida 1987, 69–71).\nIf we as finite relative beings can and do touch the Infinite Absolute, it is only by way of a mutual self-negation. Nishida calls this mutual self-negation “inverse correspondence” (gyakutaiô). By way of radically emptying ourselves, we can touch that which is the radical origin of self-emptying, the Absolute as an essentially self-negating Absolute Nothingness. According to Nishida, an immanent principle of self-negation is, in fact, the very essence of life. “True life (seimei) must contain within itself an Absolute Nothingness, a [principle of] absolute negation” (NKZ VIII, 341). It is such a life that can truly be self-determining as a “creative element of a creative world.”\nIn his middle period, inaugurated by the first formulations of the idea of “the place of Absolute Nothingness” in From That Which Acts to That Which Sees, Nishida’s thought was characterized by a shift from his earlier voluntarism to a kind of intuitionism of pure seeing without a seer (see NKZ IV, 3–6). In his later period, however, Nishida’s epistemology became much more dynamic and dialectical; rather than “pure seeing,” his key epistemological phrase then becomes “active-intuition.” Although self-emptying still plays a vital role, this is understood not as preparation for a passive intuition, but rather as an active process of “seeing a thing by becoming it.” In other words, intuition happens only in the process of acting upon and in turn being acted upon by things.\nIn his later period, the place of Absolute Nothingness is accordingly reconceived much more dynamically as the “self-determination of the dialectical world,” a world which continually moves according to the principle of “from created to creating.” The Absolute finds expression now only in the midst of the mutual interaction of individuals and things, and true individuals are both determined by and “counter-determine” (gyaku-gentei suru) the movement of the dialectical world (see NKZ VII, 305ff.; VIII, 313–14). Although one can to some extent trace an immanent unfolding of Nishida’s thought in this direction, it is also undeniable that a major impetus for his dialectical development of the idea of Absolute Nothingness can be found in the criticism he received from his junior colleague, Tanabe Hajime.\n3.4 Tanabe’s Absolute Nothingness as the Other-Power of Absolute Mediation\nIt is Tanabe’s declaration of partial independence from Nishida’s thought in an essay written in 1930, “Looking up to Professor Nishida” (THZ IV, 305–328), that many see as the origin of the Kyoto School as more than a group of disciples of “Nishida Philosophy.” In this essay Tanabe sharply criticizes Nishida’s middle-period philosophy of the “place of Absolute Nothingness,” claiming that it falls into kind of Plotinian “emanationism” that ultimately rests on a religious or mystical intuition. For Tanabe, this posed two serious problems for a genuine philosophy of Absolute Nothingness.\nTo begin with, in crossing the line between philosophical reason, based on ordinary experience, and supra-rational intuition, based on extra-ordinary religious experience, Nishida had purportedly committed a methodological transgression. Here Tanabe poses a question that still resounds in (some would say haunts) the halls of Kyoto School studies to this day. As James Heisig puts it, the Kyoto School thinkers in general do not share an important assumption of Western philosophy as a whole, namely, a “clear delineation between philosophy and religion” (Heisig 2001, 13–14). This is a complex issue, since the Western concept of “religion” was just as much an import to Japan as was “philosophy.” The problems faced and the possibilities opened up by a Zen Buddhist “philosophy of religion” in particular differ in significant ways from a Judeo-Christian one, insofar as the former calls for extending rational thought in the direction of a “practice of awakening,” rather than in the direction of a leap of faith.\nI have addressed the provocative methodological ambivalences involved in Nishida’s and Nishitani’s philosophies of Zen in detail elsewhere (Davis 2004b; and Davis 2006). Let it suffice to say in this context that Tanabe too later crisscrosses the line between philosophy and religion as much as any Kyoto School thinker, although his Shin Buddhist inclinations took him in the direction of “faith” rather than “intuition.”[ 15 ] After this religious turn in his thinking, Tanabe claimed that philosophy and faith must be mediated by a personal act of metanoesis (Tanabe 2000, 34; Tanabe 1986, 29), and that, in order to develop a genuine philosophy of religion, “in the end one must have faith and become self-aware by means of religious faith” (Tanabe 2003, 27).\nFor his part, Nishida responded to Tanabe’s early critique by affirming that his idea of the self-awareness of Absolute Nothingness does indeed entail the profound significance of religious experience. Yet he claims that this is neither mystical in the sense of “religious ecstasy” nor “is it thought in the direction of substance, as is Plotinus’ One.” He denied the charge of emanationism, claiming that in his thought “it is not a matter of the self-determination of being, but rather the self-determination of Nothingness” (NKZ VI, 154). For Nishida, only if the Absolute is thought in terms of a self-negating Nothingness, rather than in terms of a transcendent plenum of the One, is it possible to truly affirm the world of the many. The Absolute is found in the very midst of beings, not beyond them. It is “because this is Absolute Nothingness,” Nishida writes in the parlance of Zen, “that the mountain is mountain, the river is river, and all beings are just as they are” (NKZ V, 182; see Nishida 1958, 137).\nBut the other major concern of Tanabe’s critique of Nishida was that, insofar as Absolute Nothingness is made into an unchanging basis or enveloping “place” of a system of reality, and insofar as it is seen as transcending the dialectical interactions among beings, then such a philosophy ends up falling back into a metaphysics of being after all. In order to radically think the idea of Absolute Nothingness, Tanabe argues, we must conceive of it rather in terms of “absolute mediation” or “absolute dialectic.” Absolute Nothingness must be thought, not as an enveloping place, but as the very movement of “absolute negation,” a movement which originates in the self-negation of Absolute Nothingness itself. Tanabe writes: “Since the Absolute, as Nothingness, must act as an absolute mediating force, it presupposes relative being as its medium. In contrast with the doctrine of the creation of the world maintained by the theist, or the theory of emanation propounded by the pantheist, [for] historical thinking the Absolute and the relative, Nothingness and being, are interrelated each with the other as indispensable elements of absolute mediation” (Tanabe 2000, 27; Tanabe 1986, 23).\nIn this later text, Philosophy as Metanoetics, written around the same time as Nishida was elaborating his own kenotic idea of a self-negating Absolute Nothingness, Tanabe, in a putative critique of Nishida, also writes: “Because the absolute subject of Other-power is Absolute Nothingness … it must be thoroughly mediated by the relative self. In contrast to a mere ‘self-identity of absolute contradictories’, only that which entails the absolute existential mediation of the death and resurrection of the self can be called Absolute Nothingness” (Tanabe 2000, 13; Tanabe 1986, 8). Tanabe’s passing dismissal of Nishida’s terminology here is hardly convincing, since in fact Nishida too speaks of the absolute self-negation of Absolute Nothingness and of the existential death and resurrection of the finite self. In any case, Tanabe’s philosophy as the “way of metanoetics” (zangedô) entails the ceaseless movement of what he calls “absolute critique,” where the self-power of finite reason again and again runs up against antinomies, and is reborn only by way of Absolute Nothingness as what he calls, in the parlance of Shinran’s Shin Buddhism, the workings of Other-power (tariki).\nAs Nishitani and others have pointed out (see NKC IX, 212ff.; Nishitani 1991, 161ff.), Tanabe’s criticisms often fail to do justice to Nishida’s thought, and we should not forget the impetuses Tanabe acknowledges having received from his erstwhile mentor. Yet, on the other hand, his criticisms were frequently not without their point, and his provocations certainly did serve as counter-impetuses that spurred Nishida on, not just to clarify, but also to further develop his philosophy of Absolute Nothingness (see Sugimoto 2004; Kopf 2004). No doubt in large part due to the persistent attention given by Tanabe to the historical world, to the irrational element of the specific through which the individual and the universal must be mediated, and to the dialectical relations between finite beings, Nishida gradually moved away from an at times static and individualistic conception of an artistic or religious intuition of the place of Absolute Nothingness, and toward a much more dynamic conception of Absolute Nothingness as the self-determination of the dialectical world, a self-determination which takes place only by way of the mutual interactions between individual persons and things.\n3.5 Nishitani’s Fields of Nihility and Śûnyatâ, and Ueda’s Two-Layered-World\nIn the tradition of the Kyoto School, Tanabe’s role has often been seen, justly or unjustly, as a less significant if albeit highly original counterpoint to Nishida. While such thinkers as Takeuchi Yoshinori and Hase Shôtô have been profoundly influenced by Tanabe’s approach to Absolute Nothingness in Shin Buddhist terms of the absolute mediation of Other-power, on the other hand Nishitani, Ueda and others have drawn their primary inspiration for thinking Absolute Nothingness from Nishida’s more topological approach, as well as from his primary orientation to and from Zen Buddhism. Following the lead of Nishida’s own creative appropriation of Tanabe’s critique of his middle-period philosophy of place, subsequent Kyoto School figures have often tended to incorporate Tanabe’s dialectical thinking into, rather than seeing it as a replacement for, Nishida’s topological thinking of Absolute Nothingness.\nTanabe’s method of thinking was intensely dialectical, a method he developed through his prolonged study of Hegel. Nishitani, on the other hand, began his study of Western thought by focusing on Bergson, Schelling, Nietzsche and the German Mystics. Between 1937 and 1939, Nishitani studied with Heidegger, who was at the time beginning to grapple with the question of nihilism, and whose phenomenology had developed into a thinking of the “clearing of being” or what he would later characterize as a “topology of being” (Heidegger 1975, Vol. 15, 335). Influenced no doubt in part by his contact with Heidegger (and perhaps in turn influencing Heidegger, who frequently invited him to his house to learn about Zen), Nishitani developed, in his own highly original manner, existential and phenomenological aspects of Nishida’s topology of Absolute Nothingness.\nThe problem of nihilism gradually became the major focus of Nishitani’s personal and scholarly attention. The historical phenomenon of nihilism was understood by Nishitani in terms of a vacuous nothingness that assaults the modern world, a world bereft of its ethical and religious moorings. Despite the profundity of his mentor Nishida’s philosophy, it failed to adequately address this crucial modern problem. According to Nishitani, Nishida’s philosophy, whether it be his early thought of “pure experience” or the later notion of “active-intuition,” begins already from a standpoint where the dualistic consciousness of the ego has already been broken though (see NKC IX 247–48; Nishitani 1991, 184–85). For his part, Nishitani was concerned with the question of how to think the topological pathway leading to such a breakthrough to non-duality.\nThe question of how to open up an existential pathway to the place of Absolute Nothingness was particularly acute given the prevalence of the pendulum swing between two extremes endemic to modernity: on the one hand, an extreme reification of the subjective ego together with a corresponding objectification and technological manipulation of things; and, on the other hand, a reactive nihilism which threatens to nullify the very reality of both the self and things. For Nishitani, humanism and science were incapable of overcoming this dilemma of reification/nullification; in fact, they had helped create it. In an age of secular egoism and nihilism, how could an experience of the place of Absolute Nothingness take place?\nTo begin with, we must heed the call of Nietzsche’s madman and cease fleeing from the experience of nihilism. God as the highest being is dead, and it remains an open question whether he can be reborn as Absolute Nothingness. In any case, the venture of Nishitani’s philosophy of Zen is more concerned with the existential imperative of letting go of attachments than it is with immediately grasping hold of a new concept for God. In order to finally free humans from their egoistic obsessions and manipulative objectifications in the experiential “field of being and consciousness,” Nishitani argued for the necessity of first boldly stepping back into the “field of nihility.”\nYet the real breakthrough to a non-dualistic reaffirmation of the self and the world only occurs when the relative nothingness of nihility is in turn broken through to a genuine experience of Absolute Nothingness or true Emptiness on the “field of śûnyatâ.” Nishitani thus explained the personal encounter with nihilism as an experience of the extreme relative nothingness of “nihility” or “vacuous nothingness” (kyomu), and for him the central task of “overcoming nihilism by passing through nihilism” entailed transgressing beneath (i.e., “trans-descending”) the “field of nihility” to the “field of śûnyatâ” (see NKC X, 109 and 122ff.; Nishitani 1986, 97 and 108ff.).[ 16 ] As mentioned earlier (section 3.2), the “field of śûnyatâ” is not a vacuum of relative nothingness that assaults beings from without; it is an open clearing wherein beings are neither nullified nor reified, but rather let be in the mutual freedom of their coming to be and passing away.\nWhile Nishitani’s “field of śûnyatâ” (kû no ba) corresponds in many respects to what Nishida calls the “place of Absolute Nothingness” (zettai-mu no basho), Nishitani takes the peculiar problems that beset the modern secular and technological world, as well as postmodern critiques of metaphysics and subjectivity (especially those of Nietzsche and Heidegger), far more seriously than did Nishida. Nishitani also connects his thought much more closely with the tradition of Mahâyâna Buddhism than did Nishida, explicitly writing on, and writing from, what he calls the “standpoint of Zen” (see NKC XI).\nUeda Shizuteru—a student of Nishitani who has since the 1980s been at the center of the revival of Nishida studies—also takes a topological, phenomenological, and existential approach to the idea of Absolute Nothingness; and he too explicitly orients himself to and from the standpoint of Zen. Following in the tradition of the Kyoto School’s dialogue with Western philosophers, in one of his influential works Ueda engages the work of Husserl, Heidegger and other phenomenologists to articulate a religiously charged philosophy of what he calls “twofold being-in-the-world” (nijûsekainaisonzai).\nWhile the first layer in which the self is located is the historical horizon of the everyday life-world, this horizon itself is ultimately found to rest in an absolutely “empty-expanse,” a place of Absolute Nothingness that both enfolds the everyday world as well as grounds the radical freedom of the individual “self-negating self” (see USS IX, 22–24 and 324ff.). Ueda finds this idea of returning, by way of absolute self-negation, to a primordial wellspring of existence that is “empty and free” (ledig und frei) in Meister Eckhart, and, in an even more rarified form, in Zen Buddhism. It is from the latter that he borrows the term “empty-expanse” (kokû) as a topological expression for śûnyatâ.\nFor Ueda, then, the two-layered-world is inhabited by a two-layered-self, or, more precisely, by a “self that is not a self.” The self, as being-in-the-world, ultimately realizes itself in a moment of absolute self-negation where it dies to itself and stands as a “non-ego” or “empty-being” in the “empty-expanse” which envelopes the horizonal life-world. The true self, as a self that becomes itself by passing through the absolute negation of its ego, is a two-layered being-in-and-beyond-the-world; it stands in the horizon of the world which, in turn, rests in the empty-expanse of Absolute Nothingness.\n3.6 The “Self that is not a Self” and the Nothingness of Radical Subjectivity\nUeda argues that both the ego of the Cartesian cogito, as well as the non-ego (Sanskrit: anâtman; Japanese: muga) of Buddhism, must ultimately be comprehended on the basis of an understanding of the self as a repeated movement through a radical self-negation to a genuine self-affirmation. Ueda’s formula for this movement is: “I, not being I, am I.” Even when one says “I am I,” if we listen closely there is a pause, a breath, between the first and the second “I.” Precisely that opening—which necessarily occurs as a moment in the ceaseless movement by which the identity of the self is constituted—is the “ecstatic space” wherein an open encounter with another person is possible.\nSuch a genuine encounter with another person no longer takes place simply within my, or your, or even our world-horizon. Ueda uses the greeting of the bow as a concrete example to illustrate how mutual self-negation—the emptying of all ego-centered presumptions and agendas—returns us to a communal place where we, paradoxically, share Nothing in common. “There, by way of making oneself into a Nothingness, one returns into the infinite depths of that ‘between’ where there is neither an I nor a you. … Then, when we rise again so as to come back to life anew and face one another, this becomes a matter of, as Dôgen puts it: thus am I; thus are you” (Ueda 1991, 67; see USS X, 107ff.). Open to the other, and to the empty-expanse in which together we dwell, I am I (USS X, 23–24).\nNishitani had earlier used the expression, “the self that is not a self,” to characterize the shared endeavor of Nishida and Tanabe to think “a ‘self that is not a self’ turning on the axis of Absolute Nothingness” (NKC IX, 238; Nishitani 1991, 175). The idea of the true self as a “self that is not a self” expresses an essential aspect of what Nishida and other Kyoto School thinkers call—following D. T. Suzuki, who in turn gleaned the idea from the Diamond Sutra—the “logic of soku-hi,” a logic of “is and is not” or affirmation by way of negation (see Akizuki 1996, 109–152; NKZ XI, 398–99; Nishida 1987, 70). The self finds its most originary freedom, and its most open engagement with others, through a radical self-negation which returns it, not to a higher Will or encompassing Being, but to an essentially self-negating Absolute Nothingness that, in turn, finds expression only in the interaction of truly self-determining individuals. For Nishida, the true individual is an interpersonal self-determining focal point of the self-determination of Absolute Nothingness, in other words, an interactive and creative element in a creative world (see NKZ VIII, 343ff.).\nNishitani’s first book, The Philosophy of Radical Subjectivity, sought a more originary conception of the human subject than had been developed in modern Western philosophy. In general, for Nishitani, modern “subjectivity” remains bound by a reifying attachment to things and ultimately to the ego. Nishitani did recognized certain advances in the direction of a truly “radical subjectivity” in modern ideas such as that of individual “autonomy.” For example, the Kantian idea of the ethical “person,” which opens itself to a universal standpoint by way of a negation of the self-will of the ego, suggested for Nishitani a “kind of standpoint of ‘non-ego’” (see NKC I, 60). However, the autonomy of the Kantian ethical subject can also be seen as asserting a sublated form of self-will, namely in its will to form as well as to conform to the universal. Nishitani finds profounder intimations of a truly radical subjectivity in both Meister Eckhart’s mystical theology and Nietzsche’s radical atheism, which each in their own way go beyond, or dig beneath, attachments to and sublations of egoity. Ultimately Nishitani returns to the language of Zen Buddhism to express his conception of the “radical subjectivity of non-ego [muga]” as a “subjective Nothingness” (shutai-teki mu) (NKC I, 88).\nThis radical subjective Nothingness is not to be confused with the relative nothingness of a “subjective consciousness” which sets itself over against, and objectifies, the world. As with Zen’s kôan of Nothingness (mu), a realization of the radical subjectivity of non-ego (mu-ga) entails breaking through the dualistic barrier that artificially separates self and world. For Nishitani, this breakthrough is expressed as “the self-awareness of the bottom dropping out” (NKC I, iii). It is a radical return, or “trans-descendence,” to “the background of our own selves,” to the Ungrund on which we originally possess “not a single thing” (mu-ichi-motsu) (NKC XI, 243).\nWith Nishitani’s conception of a radical “subjective Nothingness,” understood as a “standpoint of śûnyatâ” realized on the “field of śûnyatâ,” we find an explicit appropriation of both the psychological and the meontological (or mu-logical) paradigms of Nothingness found in the traditions of East Asian. The notions of non-ego (muga) and “no-mind” or “mind of Nothingness” (mushin) are thought in terms of the spontaneous openness of the heart-mind which stands within the field of Emptiness, an open place which grants beings the free space for their unobstructed (muge) interactivity.\nAs we have seen, Nishida, Nishitani, and Ueda each conceived of Absolute Nothingness in both an existential and a topological sense. Although Tanabe eschewed the topological conception of Absolute Nothingness, by understanding both the relative self and the Absolute in terms of a ceaseless movement of affirmation by way of radical negation, he too, in his own way, philosophically appropriated the East Asian paradigms of psychological and meontological Nothingness.\n4. Political Ventures and Misadventures\nAs we have seen, the philosophical stakes involved in the Kyoto School’s thought are high—indeed they invite us to rethink some of our most basic concepts and ways of experiencing the world and ourselves. For this very reason Kyoto School thinkers promise to be especially valuable partners in any post-Eurocentric forum of philosophical dialogue. Genuine philosophy, after all, thrives on the opportunity to call its fundamental presuppositions into question. Unfortunately, however, the world of politics tends to be a far less “dialogical” forum of intercultural relations. The history of Western imperial domination of Asia is well documented (see Panikkar 1969). Yet, in the field of Kyoto School studies, just as often criticized are the purported contributions of these thinkers in the 1930s and early 1940s to the political ideology of the Japanese Empire. However, we need to carefully examine whether and to what extent the political thought of the Kyoto School is deserving of its tainted reputation in this regard.\n4.1 The Razor’s Edge of “Cooperative Resistance”\nThe political ventures and misadventures of philosophers—from Socrates and Plato to Marx and Heidegger in the West, and from Confucius and Hanfeizi to Gandhi and Nishida in the East—represent an enduring and frequently problematic aspect of the histories of thought. Relating the “ideal” world of philosophy to the “real” world of political action is a perilous, if arguably obligatory, undertaking.\nThe pitfalls of political intervention are particularly deep when philosophers find themselves in a nation headed down a road toward injustice and disaster. What is a philosopher to do in such a situation? Barring straightforward complicity, there appear to be three choices: withdraw into reclusion, stand up in overt resistance, or negotiate a reorientation by means of immanent critique or cooperative correction. While many intellectuals in wartime Japan took the first course, a number of courageous Leftists braved the second course. Both Tosaka Jun and Miki Kiyoshi, the central members of the so-called “left wing of the Kyoto School,” died in prison in 1945 as a result of their intellectual resistance. The majority of the Kyoto School thinkers, however, including Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani, took the third course of action.\nIn retrospect Nishitani wrote: “My attempt was, on the one hand, to explain where Japan was situated within the world to those intellectuals remaining on the sidelines [of politics]; and, on the other hand, with respect to the extremely nationalistic thought that was becoming increasingly prevalent at the time, I attempted from within to open up a path for overcoming this extreme nationalism” (NKC IV, 384). Rather than either stand up and die, or sit out and wait, Nishitani and other members of the Kyoto School attempted to walk the razor’s edge of what Ôhashi Ryôsuke has called “anti-establishment cooperation” or “cooperative resistance” (hantaiseiteki kyôryoku) (see Ôhashi 2001, 20ff.).\nTo be sure, the question of how successfully the Kyoto School managed to carry out this “cooperative resistance” (and the question of whether they cooperated more than resisted, or vice versa) is debatable, especially given the fact that they hardly succeeded in altering the disastrous orientation of the regime. Their intentions of cooperative resistance notwithstanding, the fact is that their political writings were more successfully co-opted by the very extreme nationalism that they were trying to reorient or overcome from within. Nevertheless, we must take care to separate their ideals from the reality they were attempting to influence, and bear in mind the constraints of their chosen path of critique from within.\nWhatever their failings, it is clear that certain crudely one-sided condemnations are at least as simplistic and misleading as are the occasional attempts of overzealous acolytes to whitewash everything that was ever said and done by a Kyoto School forefather. It is, for example, highly misleading to refer to the Kyoto School’s philosophy of history as “a thinly disguised justification … for Japanese aggression and continuing imperialism,” or to claim that “no group helped defend the state more consistently and enthusiastically … and none came closer … to defining the philosophic contours of Japanese fascism” (Najita/Harootunian 1998, 238–39; for a severe critique of such polemical claims, see Parkes 1997). The latter dishonor, namely that of attempting to give quasi-philosophical expression to Japanese fascism, surely goes to the proponents of “Imperial Way Philosophy,” who in fact harshly attacked the “world-historical philosophy” of the Kyoto School for being insufficiently Japan-centric (see Ôhashi 2001, 71–72).\nJudicious critics of the wartime political writings of the Kyoto School must surely try to steer a middle course between and beyond what James Heisig aptly calls the “side-steppers and the side-swipers” (see Heisig 1990, 14). With this balance in mind, in the following sections let me highlight some of the key points and episodes of the Kyoto School’s wartime political ventures and misadventures.\n4.2 Nishida’s Reluctant “War over Words” and his Ambivalent Universalism\nIn 1943 Yatsugi Kazuo, a member of the Center for National Strategy, approached Nishida and asked him to contribute a scholarly account of Japan’s role in East Asia, that is, to help provide a rationale for the creation of the so-called “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” Nishida is said to have burst out in anger, shouting something like: “What on earth do government officials and militarists think these days, that scholars are like artisans from whom they can order something to be tailor made?” And yet Yatsugi apparently countered to the effect that not only prominent Japanese scholars, such as Fukuzawa Yukichi, but also Western philosophers, such as Kant and Adam Smith, did not neglect to apply their theoretical insights to practical social and political circumstances (see Ôhashi 2001, 47). In the end Nishida did agree to write an essay, “Principles for a New World Order” (NKZ XII, 426–434; see Arisaka 1996), though his original text had to be edited and “simplified” by a sociologist serving as a go-between. Nishida was even then disappointed that his attempt to “bring out the dimension of universality present in the Japanese spirit” seemed to have had no effect on Prime Minister Tôjô Hideki and his bellicose regime (see Yusa 1994, 124).\nFrom today’s vantage point, Nishida’s political writings appear highly ambivalent. On the one hand, his resistance to fascism and totalitarianism is unmistakable. Indeed it comes as no surprise that he was in danger of being arrested—and apparently only his public stature and the fact that he had influential sympathizers within the moderate ranks of the government kept this from happening—when one reads the warning given in his 1941 speech directly to the emperor: “Any totalitarian system that negates outright the role of the individual is but an anachronism” (NKZ XII, 271; see Yusa 1994, 111). Even in his most compromised text, “Principles for a New World Order,” Nishida urgently claims that the “co-prosperity sphere” must not entail either ethnocentrism, expansionism, imperialism, colonialism, or totalitarianism (see NKZ XII, 432–33). Elsewhere Nishida made clear that his vision was of a multicultural world where neither the West would subsume the East, nor vice versa (NKZ XIV, 404–5), where “various cultures, while maintaining their own individual standpoints, would develop themselves through the mediation of the world” (NKZ VII, 452–53).\nOn the other hand, Nishida did see a special role for the nation—and in particular for the Japanese nation with the emperor at its spiritual center—in the historical formation of this truly “worldly world” (sekai-teki sekai). Moreover, in his writings he did affirmatively employ such problematic phrases as “all the world under one roof” (hakkô-ichiu) and the “imperial way” (kôdô). While there is certainly room for criticism here in light (and hindsight) of the historical record of Japan’s political and cultural “leadership” in Asia at this time, the issue of how to critically evaluate Nishida’s theoretical interventions is complicated by the hermeneutical fact that today we read such catchwords and phrases through the semantic lenses of the right wing ideologues who in the end succeeded in carving their definitions into the annals of history. It must be kept in mind that, at the time, the precise meaning of these phrases was still in dispute. Ueda Shizuteru has aptly spoken of Nishida’s “tug-of-war over meaning,” a struggle which he ultimately lost (Ueda 1994, 97; also see Goto-Jones 2005). Yusa Michiko writes in this regard: “Rather than invent a new vocabulary that would rise above the fray, [Nishida] took up the jargon and slogans of the day and sought to redeem them from their petty provincialism by opening them up to a more universal perspective” (Yusa 1994, 131).\nNevertheless, even after we have carried out a hermeneutically sensitive reconstruction of the context, and after we have finished reading between and behind the lines of his political texts, there no doubt remain a number of controversial aspects of Nishida’s political thought. Affirming the central place of the emperor in Japan as “an identity of contradictions,” Nishida cryptically writes: “Our [i.e., Japan’s] national polity is not simply a totalitarianism. The Imperial House is the beginning and the end of our world, as the absolute present that embraces past and future” (NKZ XII, 430).[ 17 ] And with regard to the central role of Japan in Asia, he claims that “in order to build a particular world, a central figure that carries the burden of the project is necessary. In East Asia today there is no other but Japan” (NKZ XII, 429; Arisaka 1996, 102).\nCritics may argue that Nishida’s universalism is still plagued by an exemplary particularism,[ 18 ] and that he succeeds in questioning Eurocentrism only by way of shifting the locus of the concrete universal to Japan. Yoko Arisaka argues that “the chief claim of the defenders—that Nishida’s philosophical ‘universalism’ is incompatible with nationalist ideology—fails because universalist discourse was used both as a tool of liberation and oppression in Japan’s case” (Arisaka 1999, 242). Arisaka critically adds, however, that “the idea that a particular nation may be the bearer of a universal principle, such as freedom or democracy, and that, therefore, its actions in history serve a higher end, should be familiar from recent American experience” (ibid., 244; also see Maraldo 1994, 355).\nTo be fair to Nishida, we should confess that we today have yet to solve the post-Enlightenment aporia of how to reconcile universal humanism with cultural particularity (a debate we inherit in part from the Kant-Herder controversy). In other words, the question remains of how to configure a multicultural world of dialogue instead of either an imperialistic monoculture or a clash of civilizations. In our search for an answer to this urgent question, we may indeed have much yet to learn from a critical appropriation of Nishida’s thought (see Feenberg 1995; Maraldo 1995; Dallmayr 1996; Davis 2001; and Goto-Jones 2005).\n4.3 Two Controversial Wartime Symposia, and Nishitani’s Nation of Non-Ego\nNishida’s ambivalent political stance—between a post-imperialistic cosmopolitan vision on the one hand, and an affirmation of Japan’s destined world-historical role in realizing this vision on the other—was taken up into even more entangled political engagements by his students Nishitani Keiji, Kôyama Iwao, Kôsaka Masaaki, Suzuki Shigetaka, and to a lesser extent Shimomura Toratarô. As mentioned above, a significant, if stigmatizing, stage in the formation of the identity of the Kyoto School involved the participation of several of its members in two wartime symposia, the Literary World‘s 1942 symposium on “Overcoming Modernity” (reprinted in Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979) and the 1941–43 roundtable discussions published in the pages of Chûôkôron and later as a monograph, The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan (Kôsaka et al 1943).\nThe Overcoming Modernity symposium has been aptly characterized as “a premature challenge to the questions that have yet to be answered today” (Minamoto 1994, 200). Even one of the most critical recent accounts of this symposium—an account which argues that the “only destination reached by the symposium on overcoming modernity was the place where Japan itself had been overcome by modernity”—concedes that: “It is, nevertheless, important to point out that the very critique mounted by Japanese against modernity prefigured precisely all of those doubts and obsessions concerning subjectivity, cultural difference, and even racism that have become the signatures of a Western and putatively global discourse that marks our own historical conjuncture today” (Harootunian 2000, 94).\nAs discussed above (section 2.2), the Kyoto School participants spoke of an overcoming of modernity that can take place only by way of passing through modernity, a stance that represented a countertendency to the simple rejection of modern Western rationality by the Japanese Romantic School and other participants in the symposium. In other words, the Kyoto School participants did not lament the modernization/Westernization of Japan, nor did they nostalgically plea for a return to a pre-modern age; rather, they called for a further step forward, but one that would involve creatively recovering viable elements of Japanese tradition at the same time as building on the best of what could be learned from the West. This stance shows up clearly in Nishitani’s debate with Kobayashi Hideo, who argued for a rejection of modernity and a return to the pre-modern Japanese classics (see Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979, 217ff.). Throughout his career Nishitani consistently spoke of overcoming of modernity only by way of passing through it, and in this process tradition was to be creatively appropriated, not conservatively retreated to. As he later wrote: “There is no turning back to the way things were. … Our tradition must be appropriated from the direction in which we are heading, as a new possibility” (NKC VIII, 183; Nishitani 1990, 179); and: “Simply put, the backward looking return to tradition is straightaway to be forward looking” (NKC XIX, 104; see Davis 2004a, 144ff.).\nIn the Chûôkôron discussions as well the Kyoto School resolutely attempted to think from the “standpoint of world history.” Problematically, however, they asserted a leadership role for Japan in the present moment, which they viewed as a turning point in world history. If the standpoint of world history had indeed been first opened up by both Western universalism and imperialism, it was the non-Western nation of Japan that was purportedly in a unique position to free the world from the chains of the latter in order to realize the true potential of the former.\nIn his book written around the same time, View of the World and the Nation, Nishitani went so far as to claim that this was the moment in time where the “focal point of world history” was to become the Japanese nation, just as previously world history had centered on the Roman Empire and then later on the British Empire. However, Nishitani argued that unlike the former two empires, Japan’s historical mission was to bring about a world that has “no specific center” but rather consists of various “politically and culturally unified spheres” (NKC IV, 298–300). The Japanese nation would be able to carry out this mission, he crucially adds, only if it incorporates a religious moment of self-negation, thus becoming what he calls a “nation of non-ego” rather than a self-centered aggressive empire (NKC IV, 285–86). In this idealistic vision, which unfortunately had little to do with the cruel realities of Japanese expansionism, Japan was to be an altogether new kind of empire, a self-negating and compassionate one that would help other nations to cooperatively form their own identities, rather than an aggressive and “imperialistic” one that would remold others into inferior replicas of itself. (It remains for us to ask how best to characterize today’s political superpowers and economic empires, and how to relate their ideologies to their realities.)\nIf there is a lasting merit to Nishitani’s wartime political writings and the Chûôkôron discussions, it might be found in part in their critique of the contradictions and hypocrisies of Western imperialism (see, for example, Kôsaka et al. 1943, 348ff.), together with their insistence that Japan’s “leading role” in Asia not become that of an imperialist or colonizer (see ibid., 204–5; also see Nishitani’s “My View of ‘Overcoming Modernity’,” reprinted in Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979, 32). The lasting infamy of the Chûôkôron discussions, on the other hand, can be found not only in their general political naïveté, but also in their idealization and even “whitewashing” of political realities, as well as in such disturbing specific suggestion as that of “Japanizing” or “half-Japanizing” some of the “more superior” ethnic groups in Asia in order to assist in instituting the Japanese led “Co-Prosperity Sphere” (Kôsaka et al. 1943, 262–63, 337).\n4.4 The “Ôshima Memos”: Record of a Think Tank for Navy Moderates\nIt has recently been made evident that the political activities of the Kyoto School during the war were even more involved—and even more filled with ambiguity—than was previously thought. Ôhashi Ryôsuke discovered and published in 2001 some wartime notebooks of Ôshima Yasuma, a student of Tanabe. These notebooks document in detail secret meetings regularly held by Kyoto School members at the bequest of the Japanese navy between February 1942 and just before the end of the war (Ôhashi 2001). While on the one hand the existence of these secret meetings demonstrates the existence of an even more intimate connection between the Kyoto School and the military than was previously known, on the other hand it is crucially significant that they were in cooperation with a certain moderate faction of the navy, a faction that was opposed to the extremists that dominated the army. There had long existed a significant tension between the bellicose arrogance of the army and the comparatively more moderate and worldly stance of the navy. As the politically more powerful army was setting a war-bound course for Pearl Harbor, some reticent navy officials evidently petitioned the Kyoto School to shed light on the political situation from their “world-historical standpoint,” presumably in order to sway public sentiment in a more prudent direction.\nIn short, the “Ôshima Memos” help reveal how the Kyoto School found themselves in a position where they were called on to fight a “war of thought” on two fronts: against Western imperialism, they felt themselves called on to determine a world-historical role for Japan in freeing itself and other Asian peoples from colonization and exploitation by the Western empires; and, against Japanese ultra-nationalism, they felt that it was up to them to convince the public and the military of the illegitimacy of an imperialistic response to the problem of imperialism.\nÔshima Yasuma had in fact previously published, in 1965, an often overlooked account of these meetings under the title, “The Pacific War and the Kyoto School: On the Political Participation of Intellectuals” (Ôshima 2000, 274–304; also see Horio 1994, 301ff.). In this article Ôshima summarized the purpose of the secret Kyoto School meetings in three stages: In the very first meetings (which apparently took place prior to those documented in the recovered notebooks), the main theme was “how to avoid the outbreak of war.” Since war in fact broke out very soon thereafter, the theme quickly switched to “how to bring the war to a favorable end as soon as possible, by way of rationally convincing the army.” To do this the Kyoto School reportedly agreed that it would be necessary to overthrow the cabinet of Tôjô Hideki. However, according to Ôshima, all criticism of Tôjô and the army had to be expurgated in the discussions published in the pages of Chûôkôron, and the expressions of the Kyoto School had to be “veiled in two or three layers of cloth” in order to avoid censorship and persecution. Towards the end of the war, the theme of the secret meetings is said to have changed to that of “how to handle the postwar situation.”\nAmong these three themes only the second is recorded in any detail in the notebooks that were recently discovered and published by Ôhashi as the “Ôshima Memos.” Although there may well have been preliminary discussions on how to avoid war, more explicit references to overthrowing Tôjô Hideki, and more lengthy discussions about postwar issues, these do not in fact show up in the recovered notebooks. Nevertheless, the “Ôshima Memos” do show us a more detailed and uncensored account of the “war of thought” on two fronts during a tumultuous and tragic time of what was, in fact, Japan’s imperialistic response to the threat of imperialism.\n4.5 After the War: Tanabe’s Metanoetic Turn and Nishitani’s Other Cheek\nTheir ambivalent wartime stance between supporting the nationalistic ideology and subjecting it to a cosmopolitan critique—in other words, their attempt to walk a razor’s edge of “cooperative resistance”—ironically earned the Kyoto School a suspect reputation in Japan both before and after the end of the war. As Nishitani confided later to a student: “During the war we were struck on the cheek from the right; after the war we were struck on the cheek from the left.”\nDuring the war, the stance of the Kyoto School was considered too cosmopolitan and insufficiently nationalistic, even anti-war. The discussions published in The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan were branded by the “Imperial Way” ideologues as “ivory-tower speculations that risked reducing the Empire to simply one more category of world history,” and further printings of the book were reportedly stopped by the government censors (see Horio 1994, 291). After the war, the Kyoto School’s idealistic attempts to impart meaning and direction to Japan’s “world historical mission” were seen—especially by the emerging Left that had at long last been freed from repression and persecution—as support for its de facto militaristic fascism. Nishitani and others were purged for several years from their university positions. Even when they were later reinstated, the stigma of the Kyoto School as having “cooperated in the war” was hardly lifted. Their political thought in particular was dismissed in toto, and it was not until decades later that the topic of “overcoming modernity” was once again given serious critical attention (see Kawakami/Takeuchi 1979; Hiromatsu 1989; and Ôhashi 1992, 143ff.).\nThe Kyoto School thinkers rarely directly responded to their critics after the war; and we can only speculate on the reasons for this (see Horio 1994, 300). They accepted suspension from their posts without comment or complaint, and continued on with their philosophizing, albeit without the overtly political element of their thought. Nishitani, for example, came into his own as a philosopher of religion in the postwar era. He continued to philosophically develop Eastern ideas, those of Zen Buddhism in particular, in dialogue with medieval Christian mysticism and postmodern existentialism and phenomenology, and in response to what he saw as the central problem of modernity, namely, nihilism. In his mature attempts to “overcome nihilism by way of passing through nihilism” (NKC XX, 192), we find a marked thread of continuity with his pre-war and wartime attempts to overcome (Western) modernity by way of passing through it. But it is nevertheless possible to mark a crucial and self-critical “turn” in his thinking with regard to the question of the political role—or, as it turns out, the lack of one—to be played by the Japanese state in this overcoming of modernity and nihilism by way of passing through them (see Davis 2003).\nTanabe got a head start on the postwar critics, and towards the end of the war began thinking his way through a radical crisis of self-critique. Hardly less controversial than the roundtable discussions of the younger members of the Kyoto School have been Tanabe’s application—or misapplication—of his “logic of the specific” to a discourse on the legitimacy of the self-assertion of the Japanese nation as an archetype for others. The “logic of the specific” had originally been conceived, in critique of Bergson and Nishida, as a reappraisal of the logical and ethical role that ethnic specificity plays in mediating the particular individual and universal humanity. Adapting Hegel’s political philosophy, Tanabe thought that the nation state could both embody the ethnic specificity of the people and raise it out of its inherent irrationality. As a concrete universal, the nation was, if not the Absolute itself, in some sense the dialectical manifestation of the\nAbsolute on earth.\nThe critical lapse came when Tanabe irrationally proposed that the “relative absolute” of the Japanese nation could serve as a kind of “supreme archetype” for other nations (see THZ VI, 232–33). James Heisig writes that, in so doing, Tanabe “took a step that was fatal but really unnecessary, if not outright inconsistent with the principles of his logic…. According to his own logic, the community of the human race is to be made up of a community of nations that have found a way to transcend their specificity without transcending time and culture. Each nation may come about as an instance of the generic universal, but nothing in the logic of the specific allows any one instance to become an archetype for the others. It is as if Tanabe were quoting himself out of context” (Heisig 2001, 136–37; also see Heisig 1994).\nTanabe finally came to his senses and, in a striking metanoetic turn, renounced these political assertions and dove into the philosophy of religion. Philosophy as Metanoetics, the first parts of which were delivered as lectures before the end of the war in 1944, was composed not only as a personal self-critique, but also as a call to self-critique on the part of the entire nation, and indeed ultimately as a call for an “absolute critique” of human rationality as such (see the Preface to THZ X; Tanabe 1986). It is the last of these that is the central theme of the book: the idea that the human reason is inevitably driven to antinomies through which it must repeatedly die to its own self-power in order to be reborn again through the workings of an Other-power. It is nevertheless true that “one looks through that work in vain for any admission of guilt for particular actions or statements that he had made” (Heisig 2001, 151). In any case, Tanabe’s open (if vague) repentance was no more successful than the silence of other Kyoto School thinkers in convincing the majority of postwar Japanese academics to refrain from throwing out the baby of their philosophical insights with the bathwater of their political misadventures.\nOnly in the past two or three decades has the reputation of the Kyoto School begun to be significantly rehabilitated in Japan, due in part to a general recovery of the nation from immersion in the march of postwar economic progress and evasion of unresolved cultural aporias, in part to a general reaffirmation of cultural identity (including all too often a pendulum swing back to reassertion of “Japanese uniqueness”), and in part to the positive attention the School has received from the West. It is worthwhile noting, as Fujita Masakatsu does in his preface to The Philosophy of the Kyoto School, that prior to 2001 surprisingly few articles or books had appeared in Japan with a thematic focus on the “Kyoto School” as such, even though hundreds of studies had treated “Nishida Philosophy.” Yet there are promising signs that we are standing on the brink of a new academic era in which critical yet appreciative work on the Kyoto School can be cooperatively undertaken in Japan, in the West, and recently even in other parts of East Asia (see Fujita et al. 2003; Heisig 2004; Synthesis Philosophica 2004; and Fujita/Davis 2005).\nDespite the persistence of a faction of polemical intellectual historians, perhaps we are reaching a point where philosophers worldwide are beginning to see the political misadventures of the Kyoto School as questionable footnotes to their central philosophical endeavors, rather than the other way around. While research into their political thought—regarding what it tried to say then and regarding what it can or cannot help us to think today—remains necessary and important, at the end of the day many are likely to agree with James Heisig when he emphatically writes: “One has…to ignore the greatest bulk of the writings of these thinkers to arrive at the conclusion that anything approaching or supporting the imperialistic ideology of wartime Japan belongs to the fundamental inspiration of their thought” (Heisig 2001, 6). The philosophical and cross-cultural legacy of the Kyoto School lies elsewhere.\n5. The Cross-Cultural Legacy of the Kyoto School\n5.1 Between or Beyond East and West?\nIn this concluding section, let us return to the question of the legacy of the Kyoto School with regard to comparative or cross-cultural philosophy. As mentioned at the outset, the Kyoto School thinkers were all dedicated scholars of various fields and figures of Western philosophy; and yet, at the same time they kept one foot firmly in touch with their native East Asian traditions, those of Mahâyâna Buddhism in particular. This bipedal stance placed them in an extraordinary position “between East and West.”\nHowever, their philosophies do not simply drift impartially on the seas of academic comparison, nor do they see themselves as primarily mediators of inter-religious dialogue. As existentially engaged philosophers, they are above all seekers after truth, and they argue passionately for the validity of seeing the self and the world in certain ways. As we have seen, while each member of the Kyoto School has his own vision of the truth, they share certain fundamental ideas, such as one or another version of the core notion of Absolute Nothingness and the idea of coming to a genuine self-awareness by way of emptying the ego. And however much the methods and contents of their texts do indeed reflect their intimate dialogue with, and critical appropriation of Western philosophy, one could well argue that many of their fundamental theses nevertheless reflect a predominantly Eastern influence.\nTo be sure, this does not mean that they merely gave modern expression to traditional East Asian Buddhist thought. It would be less inaccurate to say that their philosophies are critical and creative developments of that tradition. But even this way of putting it would not do justice to the substantial (i.e., not just formal) influence on their thought by the Western philosophies with which they grappled so intensely. Although Hisamatsu, Nishitani, and Ueda do explicitly philosophize from the standpoint of Zen, and although Takeuchi, Hase, and others do so from the standpoint of Shin Buddhism, it would be misleading to simply and without qualification characterize either Nishida’s or Tanabe’s multifaceted philosophies as “Eastern” or “Buddhist.”\nFor example, Tanabe’s early “logic of the specific,” with its concern for the manner in which irrational ethnic specificity mediates the particular individual and universal humanity, can be read more as a critical appropriation of Hegelian dialectical logic and political philosophy than as a straightforward development of Eastern or Buddhist thought. And in his various later writings on the philosophy of religion, Tanabe wavers between a preference for Shin Buddhism, Christianity, and finally Zen Buddhism (see Himi 1990, 129–341). With regard to Nishida, an acute concern with questions of epistemology, logic, individual autonomy, creativity, and the historicity of the world are essential to his thought in ways that are more “modern Western” than “traditional Eastern”; and Nishida at times explicitly indicates his dissatisfaction with what he sees as related weaknesses in traditional Buddhist thought.\nNevertheless, one might respond: even if Nishida methodologically takes his questions from Western philosophy, his responses to these questions reflect his East Asian roots at least as much as his Western studies. To the Western ontological question of being, his answer is a meontology of Absolute Nothingness. And even if his systematic philosophical articulations of the idea of Absolute Nothingness owe more to Western than Eastern texts, he nevertheless understands himself to have autonomously (i.e., in the process of engaging in a nonsectarian philosophical search for truth) given expression to the Formless that is harbored in the traditions of the East. In retrospect Nishida wrote: “It is not that I conceived of my way of thinking in dependence on Mahâyâna Buddhism; and yet it has come into accord with it” (NKZ XIV, 408). Nishitani might say something similar of his career through the study of Western philosophy and mysticism and “back” to the standpoint of Zen. Other Kyoto School thinkers took even less of an Occidental excursion before making what Hölderlin called a “homecoming though the foreign.” And some, like Hisamatsu and Takeuchi, began their scholarly pursuits with a self-understanding as a Zen or Shin Buddhist thinker.\nWhat is perhaps most provocative, and questionable, from a cross-cultural politics point of view, is Nishida’s and other Kyoto School thinkers’ suggestion that it is modern Japanese culture and philosophy that, to some extent uniquely, has the potential to be developed so as to make room for the cooperative meeting of the strengths of East and West (see NKZ XIV, 416–17; also Nishida 1964, 365). What are we to make of such bold claims? There appear to be two problematic assertions involved: first, an overly generalized, if not at times hypostatized, split of cultural spheres into “East” and “West”; and second, a claim that an idea with deeper roots in the East, namely Absolute Nothingness, can be developed so as to provide the philosophical meeting place of both East and West.[ 19 ]\nThe Kyoto School’s occasionally sweeping division of cultures spheres into “East” and “West” no doubt both reveals and conceals as much as does, for example, Heidegger’s claim that the entire Western tradition is uniquely founded on philosophy as onto-theology, and that the expression “Western philosophy” is therefore a tautology (Heidegger 1956, 6).[ 20 ] Even sympathetic readers of the Kyoto School are often highly critical of this type of comparative thinking in terms of “East” and “West.” Although he affirms that “the Kyoto-school philosophers give the west a way into the east like none other,” James Heisig complains that “the East” which the Kyoto School sets up over against “the West” was something of an invention: “At best, it is one constellation of a heritage too long and too plural to be represented fairly by Japan” (Heisig 2001, 271–72). John Maraldo goes further and claims that “the problems Nishida deals with are universal, and his way of dealing with them contrasts as much with other Asian philosophers as with philosophers of the so-called West” (Maraldo 1995, 196). Is it necessary and are we ready to do as Maraldo suggests, and “put ‘East’ and ‘West’ to rest”?\nI myself am highly ambivalent regarding this complex issue. While I certainly agree with the wish to avoid overgeneralizations and politically charged polarizations, and while I think the writings of the Kyoto School do need to be read critically in this regard, I am equally wary of a “globalization of thought” that amounts to a colonization of “non-Western” traditions by “Western” methods and categories of thinking. I also continue to believe that the threads of the Greco-Roman-Judeo-Christian-Euro-American tradition are woven tightly enough to warrant provisionally and in certain contexts speaking of “the West.” It is true that “the East” may be a less tightly woven tradition or set of traditions, especially from the perspective of India (which, of course, did not appropriate Chinese traditions the way China appropriated Buddhism). From Japan’s perspective, however, especially from a Japanese Buddhist perspective which intimately weaves together Indo-Sino-Japanese threads, it may indeed make sense provisionally and in certain contexts to speak in terms of “the East.”\nWe cannot think without abstractions, and it is no doubt a matter of “practical wisdom” (phronesis) to know when to construct and when to deconstruct generalizations. Thus, even though we must be careful to discern the appropriate contexts in which it makes sense to speak in such vast categories, it is no more advisable to unequivocally annihilate the categories of “West” and “East” than it is to narrowly define or absolutize their respective coherences and mutual differences.\nWith regard to the hermeneutics of modern cross-cultural thinking, in general I believe that the attempt to completely flatten out the borders that separate cultural differences is as pernicious as the attempt to hermetically seal them up. Of course, this goes for intra- as well as inter-traditional differences. Needless to say, defining, comparing, contrasting, and above all evaluating the relative worth of various traditions, remain undertakings fraught with theoretical, ethical and political pitfalls. The theoretical and cultural legacies of colonialism and Orientalism remain with us long after the political Empires have receded. Moreover, in these postcolonial times we all too often see reactive fabrications of identity and assertions of counter-superiority, reactions which ironically reinforce the same kind of colonial divisions and obsessions with unadulterated self-identity that were imposed by, or imported from, the worst of the West.\nIn Japan, certain retroactive constructions of identity and reactive counter-assertions of superiority have taken the form of what is called nihonjin-ron or theories of “Japaneseness” or “Japanese uniqueness” (see Dale 1986). In modern Japanese history, such reactive cultural assertion has taken either the form of denying Japan’s deep-rooted traditional connections with its East Asian neighbors, or the form of claiming that Japan has uniquely embodied and perfected “the essence of the East.” If the former type of claim is most in evidence in postwar and contemporary Japan, the latter is found, for example, in the Meiji thinker Okakura Tenshin’s declaration that, while “Asia is one,” Japan alone is “the real repository of the trust of Asiatic thought and culture” (Okakura 2000, 1 and 5).\nWhere do the Kyoto School thinkers stand with respect to such culture wars? To be sure, the Chûôkôron discussions in particular often asserted that modern Japan was uniquely suited to institute and represent the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,” and this undoubtedly reflected a widespread post-Meiji Japanese conflation of political, industrial, and military development with cultural superiority. Nishida also felt that modern Japan was in a rather unique political and cultural position to host a fruitful marriage of East and West, and Tanabe went so far as to set the nation of Japan up as an archetype for others. In the Kyoto School’s wartime political writings, there indeed remains much grist for the mills of contemporary cultural critics, especially for those with hermeneutical blindfolds or allegedly perfect hindsight vision. Yet a critique of their political misadventures, as necessary as it is, may in fact reveal something more peripheral than central to the cross-cultural thinking of the Kyoto School. It is at least necessary to keep both eyes open: one ready to criticize and one willing to learn.\nWe should note that even when Nishida broadly contrasts “Western Being” with “Eastern Nothingness,” he in fact immediately goes on to explore finer distinctions between the Greek, Roman, and Judeo-Christian threads of the Western tradition, and between the Indian, Chinese, and Japanese threads of the Eastern tradition. If his essentializing or overgeneralizing of these threads does remain in various respects problematic, it is nevertheless hardly the case that he and the other Kyoto School thinkers never questioned the homogeneity of either “the East” or “the West.” Secondly, although they have been accused both of contributing to the “myth of Japanese uniqueness” and of “reverse Orientalism” (see Faure 1995), the case is far from this simple. In a time of uncritical cultural self-adulation by the Japanese ultranationalists in power, Nishida boldly urged that “both the strong points and weaknesses of our culture should be openly and honestly pointed out,” for “we cannot take any one culture and call it the culture” (Nishida 1964, 351 and 353).\nFighting a conceptual war simultaneously on two fronts, against Western and Japanese ethnocentrisms, Nishida wrote that “until now Westerners have thought that their own culture is the most superior human culture that exists, and that human culture inevitably develops in the direction of their own culture—hence, as Easterners and other peoples who are lagging behind advance forward, they must become the same as [Westerners].” Even some Japanese, he regrets, think this way. And yet, he objects, “there is something radically different in [the culture of] the East.” According to Nishida, the development of the West will subsume this difference no more than the East will subsume the West. Even if humanity does share a common root (what he calls, adapting an expression from Goethe, an “ur-culture” of multiple possibilities), the development of its branches and leaves is a matter of diversification, not homogenization. Globalization should thus be thought of, in Nishida’s vision, as many branches of the same tree supplementing one other on the basis of both their deep-rooted commonality and their irreducible diversity (NKZ XIV, 402–6 and 417).\nTo be sure, there inevitably remains for us the question of the “place” in which this global communication between cultures should take place. But without a “view from nowhere,” can we not only ever attempt to critically and creatively take up ideas that have particular genealogies and dialogically develop them into what are provisionally more universally viable forms? Just as democracy, hermeneutics, and indeed philosophia itself have particular cultural lineages, so do the ideas of śûnyatâ, mu, and the true self as a non-ego that opens itself to an encounter with others by radically emptying itself. Nevertheless, all of these ideas may very well contribute something to an intercultural dialogue concerning the very place in which a genuine encounter between cultures and individuals can and should take place.\n5.2 Japanese Philosophy in the World\nIt is not, then, necessarily ethnocentric for Japanese thinkers to suggest the potential efficacy of Japanese and Eastern originated ideas in a global dialogue of philosophy. The “Japanese philosophy” of the Kyoto School is best understood as a contribution to such a global dialogue, and not as a reactive opposition to philosophical Eurocentrism. We must be careful, therefore, how we understand the noun “philosophy” and the modifier “Japanese” when we speak of “Japanese philosophy.”\nThe Kyoto School never doubted that “philosophy,” in the narrow sense, was a cultural product of the West. But they also recognized that it, like Western science and technology, had universal implications. This does not mean that they thought Western philosophy was free of unrecognized cultural biases and limitations, or that traditional Eastern thought had nothing essential to offer the development of philosophy in a post-Eurocentric world. They recognized the difference between the potentiality and the actuality of philosophy, and their Japanese contributions aimed to make philosophy more, not less, worldly.\nIn an illuminating study of the debate surrounding the concept of “philosophy” in Japan since the Meiji period (1868–1912), John Maraldo has isolated four senses in which the notion of “Japanese philosophy” has been used: (1) Western philosophy as it happens to be practiced by Japanese scholars; (2) traditional Japanese thought (Confucian, Nativist, Buddhist, etc.) as it was formulated prior to the introduction of Western philosophy; (3) a form of inquiry which has methods and themes that are Western in origin, but that can be applied to pre-modern, pre-Westernized, Japanese thinking; and (4) a kind of reverse Orientalism that asserts the superiority of specifically Japanese ways of thinking.\nMaraldo argues for the superior viability of the third of these conceptions, in part because it pays due hermeneutical attention to the Greek origins of the heretofore methods and themes of “philosophy.” And yet, crucially, he also stresses that the very methods and themes of philosophy are essentially always “in the making,” and that the production of “Japanese philosophy” will have to “strike a balance between reading (pre-defined) philosophy into [Japan’s traditional] texts and reading alternatives out of them, constructing contrasts to that [pre-defined] philosophy [of the West]” (Maraldo 2004, 238–44). The Kyoto School in particular can be understood to have taken up the challenge of critically and creatively appropriating philosophy so as to free up for questioning many of its pre-defined Western conceptions.\nA text by Ueda on Nishitani’s philosophy insightfully addresses the question of the adjective, “Japanese,” as follows: “If we are to use the characterization ‘Japanese’, this does not signify merely a particularity of Japan, but rather must be understood in the sense that a certain area of universal primal human possibility has been historically realized particularly in Japan. Hence, ‘European’ does not straightaway mean ‘global’, but rather that a certain area of universal primal human possibility has been historically realized particularly in Europe. … If we understand ourselves as the particularization of something universal, this means, at the same time, that we can understand others as different particularizations of something universal. Only then, within the communication between particular and particular, can something universal come to be realized” (Ueda 1996, 309).\nIn this passage, which recalls Nishida’s vision of communication between diversely determined branches of a shared yet indeterminate root ur-culture, Ueda gives us a clue as to how we might best understand the cross-cultural contributions of the Kyoto School. They are philosophers who strive to express something universal from a particular standpoint. But this does not at all mean that they attempt to reduce universality to their own particularity; for the latter is in turn understood as one particular expression of the formless ur-culture, the indeterminate source of possibilities for individual and cultural determination, that is to say, the originary Nothingness that we all share. The Kyoto School thus presents us with a unique set of attempts to give philosophical form to this formless wellspring of both commonality and uniqueness.\nThe degree to which the Kyoto School thinkers were successful in their boldly paradoxical quest to give philosophical form to the Formless can be debated. It is less easy to deny the exigency of the quest itself. If philosophy today is to mature beyond its Eurocentric pubescence, then it is necessary to deepen its quest for universality by way of radically opening it up to a diversity of cultural perspectives. If cultural pluralism, for its part, is to avoid falling into a relativistic perspectivism, it must call for a metamorphosis rather than an abandonment of the philosophical quest for universality. In any case, we should understand the thought of the Kyoto School, not as Japanese versions of philosophy, but rather as Japanese contributions to the content of—and indeed to the very formation of the forum of—a global dialogue of philosophy in the making.\nBibliography\nWorks Cited\nAbbreviations Used in this Article\nNKC Nishitani Keiji chosakushû [Collected Works of Nishitani Keiji], Tokyo: Sôbunsha, 1986–95. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\nNKZ Nishida Kitarô zenshû [Complete Works of Nishida Kitarô], Tokyo: Iwanami, 1987–89. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\nTHZ Tanabe Hajime zenshû [Complete Works of Tanabe Hajime], Tokyo: Chikuma Shobô, 1964. (Volume numbers are given in Roman numerals.)\nUSS Ueda Shizuteru shû [Collected Writings of Ueda Shizuteru], Tokyo: Iwanami, 2002. 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Heisig (eds.), Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.\nWargo, Robert J. J., 2005, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\nWatson, Burton, 1968, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, New York: Columbia University Press.\nWilliams, Paul, 1989, Mahâyâna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, London/New York: Routledge.\nYusa, Michiko, 1994, “Nishida and Totalitarianism: A Philosopher’s Resistance,” in Heisig/Maraldo 1994.\nZhang, Dainian, 2002, Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, Edmund Ryden (trans.), New Haven and London: Yale University Press.\nSelected Kyoto School Works available in English and other Western languages\nAnthologies containing works by more than one Kyoto School author. The texts contained in these anthologies are not listed here separately. (For a complete list of Western language translations of works by Nishida, Tanabe, Nishitani, Takeuchi, and Ueda, see the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture website listed below.)\nDilworth, David A. and Valdo H. Viglielmo with Agustín Jacinto Zavala (eds.), 1998, Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents. Westport: Greenwood Press. (A valuable anthology containing translations of selected works by Nishida, Tanabe, Kuki, Watsuji, Miki, Tosaka, and Nishitani, together with helpful editorial material.)\nFrank, Fredrick (ed.), 1982, The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School, New York: Crossroad. (While somewhat misnamed as an anthology of the Kyoto School, this collection does include a good selection of essays by Nishitani, Ueda, and other modern Japanese religious thinkers.)\nJacinto Zavala, Augustín (ed.), 1995, Textos de la filosofía japonesa, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán.\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke (ed.), 1990, Die Philosophie der Kyôto-Schule, Freiburg: Karl Alber. (This remains the most important anthology of the Kyoto School in a Western language. It contains valuable introductions by the editor, as well as translations of key essays by Nishida, Tanabe, Hisamatsu, Nishitani, Kôyama Iwao, Kôsaka Masaaki, Shimomura Toratarô, Suzuki Shigetaka, Takeuchi Yoshinori, Tsujimura Kôichi, and Ueda Shizuteru.)\nOther Kyoto School Works\nAbe, Masao, 1985, Zen and Western Thought, William R. LaFleur (ed.), London: Macmillan Press (published in North America by University of Hawaii Press).\n–––––, 1990, “Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata,” in The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, John B. Cobb, Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\n–––––, 1997, Zen and Comparative Studies, Steven Heine (ed.), London: Macmillan Press (published in North America by University of Hawaii Press).\n–––––, 2003, Zen and the Modern World, Steven Heine (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (Includes Abe’s articles on Nishida.)\nHisamatsu, Shin’ichi, 1960, “The Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness,” Richard DeMartino (trans.), Philosophical Studies of Japan 2: 65–97.\n–––––, 2002, Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition, Christopher Ives and Tokiwa Gishin (ed. and trans.), New York: Palgrave.\nKuki, Shûzô, 2004, A Philosopher’s Poetry and Poetics, Michael F. Marra (trans. and ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\n–––––, 2004, The Stucture of Iki, in The Structure of Detachment: The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Shûzô, Hiroshi Nara (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\nNishida, Kitarô, 1958, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness, Robert Schinzinger (trans.), Honolulu: East-West Center Press. (Contains translations of three important essays.)\n–––––, 1964, “The Problem of Japanese Culture,” Masao Abe (trans.), in Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2, Ryusaku Tsunoda et al. (eds.), New York: Columbia University Press.\n–––––, 1970, Fundamental Problems of Philosophy, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Tokyo: Sophia University Press.\n–––––, 1986, “The Logic of Topos and the Religious Worldview,” Michiko Yusa (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 19/2: 1–29 & 20/1: 81–119.\n–––––, 1987, Intuition and Reflection in Self-Consciousness, Valdo Viglielmo et al. (trans.), New York, SUNY.\n–––––, 1987, Last Writings: Nothingness and the Religious Worldview, David A. Dilworth (trans.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (Also contains introductory and critical essays by the translator.)\n–––––, 1990, An Inquiry into the Good, Masao Abe and Christopher Ives (trans.), New Haven: Yale University Press.\n–––––, 1990, La culture japonaise en question, Pierre Lavelle (trans.), Paris: Publications Orientalistes de France.\n–––––, 1999, Logik des Ortes. Der Anfang der modernen Philosophie in Japan, Rolf Elberfeld (trans.), Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. (Contains translations of Nishida’s prefaces to his books and of three of his key essays.)\n–––––, 1999, Logique du lieu et vision religieuse de monde, Sugimura Yasuhiko and Sylvain Cardonnel (trans.), Paris: Editions Osiris.\n–––––, 2005, “General Summary” from The System of Self-Consciousness of the Universal, in Robert J. J., Wargo, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp. 186–216.\nNishitani, Keiji, 1982, Religion and Nothingness, Jan Van Bragt (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\n–––––, 1984, “The Standpoint of Zen,” John C. Maraldo (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 18/1: 1–26.\n–––––, 1986, Was is Religion?, Dora Fischer-Barnicol (trans.), Frankfurt: Insel Verlag.\n–––––, 1990, The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism, Graham Parkes with Setsuko Aihara (trans.), Albany: SUNY.\n–––––, 1991, Nishida Kitarô, Yamamoto Seisaku and James W. Heisig (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\n–––––, 1999, “Emptiness and Sameness,” in Modern Japanese Aesthetics, Michele Marra (ed.), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.\n–––––, 1999, La religión y la nada, Raquel Bouso García (trans.), Madrid: Ediciones Siruela.\nTakeuchi, Yoshinori, 1983, The Heart of Buddhism, James W. Heisig (ed. and trans.), New York: Crossroad.\nTanabe, Hajime, 1959, “Todesdialektik,” in Martin Heidegger zum siebzigsten Geburtstag: Festschrift, Günther Neske (ed.), Pfullingen: Neske.\n–––––, 1969, “The Logic of Species as Dialectics,” David Dilworth and Satô Taira (trans.), Monumenta Nipponica 24/3: 273–88.\n–––––, 1986, Philosophy as Metanoetics, Takeuchi Yoshinori (trans.), Berkeley: University of California Press.\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1965, Die Gottesgeburt in der Seele und der Durchbruch zu Gott. Die mystische Anthropologie Meister Eckharts und ihre Konfrontation mit der Mystik des Zen Buddhismus. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.\n–––––, 1989, “Eckhart und Zen am Problem ‘Freiheit und Sprache’,” in Beihefte der Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 31, Köln: E. J. Brill.\n–––––, 1993, “Pure Experience, Self-Awareness, ‘Basho’,” Etudes Phénoménologiques 18: 63–86.\n–––––, 1995, “Nishida’s Thought,” Jan Van Bragt (trans.), The Eastern Buddhist 28/1: 29–47.\n–––––, 2004, Zen y la filosofia, Raquel Bouso (ed.), Barcelona: Editorial Herder.\nWatsuji, Tetsurô, 1988, Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study, Geoffrey Bownas (trans.), New York: Greenwood Press.\n–––––, 1996, Watsuji Tetsurô’s Rinrigaku: Ethics in Japan, Yamamoto Seisaku and Robert Carter (trans.), Albany: SUNY Press.\nFurther Reading\nSpecial Issue Journals\nThe Eastern Buddhist New Series 25/1, 1992. (A special edition, “In Memoriam Nishitani Keiji 1900–1990.”)\nThe Eastern Buddhist New Series 28/2, 1995. (A “Nishida Kitarô Memorial Issue.”)\nÉtudes phénoménologique 18, 1993. (A special issue devoted to “L’école de Kyôto.”)\nRevue philosophique de Louvain, 1994 (no. 4, Novembre). (A special issue devoted to the theme: “La réception européenne de l’école de Kyôto.”)\nSynthesis Philosophica 37, 2004, Zagreb, Croatia. (A special issue devoted to “Japanese Philosophy,” with articles in German, English, and French, many of which are written by leading Japanese scholars of the Kyoto School.)\nZen Buddhism Today 14, 1997. (An important collection of articles on the theme: “Religion and the Contemporary World in Light of Nishitani Keiji’s Thought.”)\nZen Buddhism Today 15, 1998. (An important collection of articles on the theme: “Nishida’s Philosophy, Nishitani’s Philosophy, and Zen.”)\nOther Works\nAbe, Masao, 1997, “Buddhism in Japan,” in Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Brian Carr and Indira Mahalingam (eds.), London and New York: Routledge. (Provides an overview of the history of Japanese Buddhism, ending with D. T. Suzuki as a modern Buddhist thinker and Nishida as a Buddhism-inspired philosopher.)\nArisaka, Yoko, 1999, “Beyond East and West: Nishida’s Universalism and Postcolonial Critique,” in Border Crossings: Toward a Comparative Political Theory, Fred Dallmayr (ed.), New York: Lexington Books. (An insightful critical treatment of the ambiguities in Nishida’s cultural and political philosophy.)\nBerque, Augustin (ed.), 2000, Logique du lieu et dépassemente de la modernité, two volumes, Bruxelles: Ousia.\nBowers, Russell H. Jr., 1995, Someone or Nothing: Nishitani’s “Religion and Nothingness” as a Foundation for Christian-Buddhist Dialogue, New York: Peter Lang.\nBuchner, Harmut (ed.), 1989, Japan und Heidegger, Sigmaringen: Thorbecke. (Contains chapters on and documents of the relation between Heidegger and the Kyoto School.)\nBuri, Fritz, 1997, The Buddha-Christ as the Lord of the True Self: The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School and Christianity, Macon: Mercer University Press.\nCarter, Robert E., 1997, The Nothingness Beyond God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Nishida Kitarô, second edition, St. Paul: Paragon House.\nCobb, John B. Jr. and Christopher Ives (eds.), 1990, The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe on God, Kenosis, and Sunyata, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.\nDale, Peter, 1986, The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, New York: St. Martin’s Press. (A highly critical study of Japanese cultural nationalism.)\nDavis, Bret W., 2002, “Introducing the Kyoto School as World Philosophy,” The Eastern Buddhist, 3 4/2: 142–170. (Critically examines the interpretive theses of James Heisig’s important work, Philosophers of Nothingness.)\n–––––, 2004, “The Step Back through Nihilism: The Radical Orientation of Nishitani Keiji’s Philosophy of Zen,” Synthesis Philosophica 37: 139–59. (An introduction to the central themes of Nishitani’s thought, focusing on his topological phenomenology of a “trans-descendence” through nihilism to the “field of śûnyatâ.”)\n–––––, 2004, “Provocative Ambivalences in Japanese Philosophy of Religion: With a Focus on Nishida and Zen,” in Heisig 2004. (Addresses the relation between “philosophy” and “religion” in the Kyoto School, and argues that Nishida and others provoke us to radically rethink both of these terms as well as the relation between them.)\n–––––, 2005, “Kami no shi kara ishi no daishi e: Posuto-Niiche no tetsugakusha toshite no Nishitani Keiji” [From the Death of God to the Great Death of the Will: Nishitani Keiji as a Post-Nietzschean Philosopher], in Fujita/Davis 2005. (Examines Nishitani’s critique of Nietzsche with regard to the role of the will in nihilism and its overcoming.)\n–––––, 2006, “Rethinking Reason, Faith, and Practice: On the Buddhist Background of the Kyoto School,” Kyoto: Shûkyô-tetsugaku Kenkyû (Studies in the Philosophy of Religion) No. 23.\nDöll, Steffen, 2005, Wozu also suchen? Zur Einführung in das Denken von Ueda Shizuteru, Munich: iudicium. (Contains a scholarly and informative introduction to Ueda’s thought, together with an annotated translation of his “The Place of Self-Awareness.”)\nElberfeld, Rolf, 1999, Kitarô Nishida (1870-1945). Moderne japanische Philosophie und die Frage nach der Interkulturalität, Amsterdam: Rodopi. (Compellingly argues for Nishida’s significance as a cross-cultural philosopher.)\nFaure, Bernard, 1995, “The Kyoto School and Reverse Orientalism,” in Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives, Charles Wei-Hsun Fu and Steven Heine (eds.), New York: SUNY Press. (A severely critical treatment of the nationalistic aspects of the Kyoto School.)\nFujita, Masakatsu (ed.), 1997, Nihon kindai shisô o manabu hito no tame ni [For Students of Modern Japanese Thought], Kyoto: Sekaishisôsha. (Contains helpful introductory chapters on members of the Kyoto School and other key thinkers in modern Japan.)\n–––––, 1998, Gendaishisô toshite no Nishida Kitarô [Nishida Kitarô as Contemporary Thought], Tokyo: Kôdansha. (An introduction to Nishida, focusing on the idea of pure experience, the critique of dualism, and the question of language in his early writings.)\n––––– (ed.), 2000ff., Nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (An annual journal published by the Department of Japanese Philosophy at Kyoto University.)\n––––– (ed.), 2001, Kyôtogakuha no tetsugaku [The Philosophy of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (Contains primary texts from, and critical essays on, eight Kyoto School philosophers.)\nFujita, Masakatsu and Bret W. Davis (eds.), 2005, Sekai no naka no nihon no tetsugaku [Japanese Philosophy in the World], Kyoto: Shôwadô. (A collection of articles by Western, Chinese and Japanese scholars attempting to hermeneutically situate and critically evaluate the significance of modern Japanese philosophy in the world.)\nGoto-Jones, Christopher S., 2005, Political Philosophy in Japan: Nishida, The Kyoto School, and Co-Prosperity, London: Routledge. (A provocative new interpretation of the political dimensions of Nishida’s philosophy, which argues that Nishida’s political thought should be understood neither in terms of Japanese ultranationalism, nor in terms of Western liberalism, but rather as a modern development of Eastern and in particular Mahâyâna Buddhist thought.)\nHashi, Hisaki, 1999, Die Aktualität der Philosophie. Grundriss des Denkwegs der Kyoto-Schule, Wien: Doppelpunkt.\nHeisig, James W. and John C. Maraldo (eds.), 1994, Rude Awakenings: Zen, The Kyoto School, and the Question of Nationalism, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A well-rounded landmark collection of articles on the political controversy surrounding the Kyoto School.)\nHeisig, James W., 1998, “Kyoto School,” in E. Craig (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London: Routledge.\n–––––, 1999, “Philosophy as Spirituality: The Way of the Kyoto School,” in Buddhist Spirituality: Later China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World, Takeuchi Yoshinori (ed.), New York: Crossroad.\n–––––, 2001, Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A thorough and lucid introduction to the Kyoto School, focusing on key ideas of Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani; includes a wealth of valuable references to the debates that have surrounded the School, and an extensive multilingual bibliography.)\n––––– (ed.), 2005, Japanese Philosophy Abroad, Nagoya: Nanzan. (A valuable collection of scholarly articles presented at an international conference on the past and future of studies of “Japanese philosophy” in the various regions of the world.)\nHimi, Kiyoshi, 1990, Tanabe tetsugaku kenkyû: Shûkyôgaku no kanten kara [Studies of the Philosophy of Tanabe: From the Perspective of Religious Studies], Tokyo: Hokujushuppan. (The most comprehensive single-author work on Tanabe’s thought, with a predominant focus on the several stages of his later philosophy of religion.)\nJacinto Zavala, Agustín, 1989, Filosofía de la transformación del mundo: Introducción a la filosofía tardía de Nishida Kitarô, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán. (One of many valuable texts and translations by the premier Spanish-speaking Nishida and Kyoto School scholar.)\nKasulis, T. P., 1981, Zen Action/Zen Person, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A classic philosophical introduction to Zen Buddhism by one of the leading scholars of Japanese thought.)\n–––––, 1982, “The Kyoto School and the West,” The Eastern Buddhist 15/2: 125–45. (An early review article which includes insightful critical responses to the literature on the Kyoto School that had appeared in the West prior to 1982.)\nKopf, Gereon, 2001, Beyond Personal Identity: Dôgen, Nishida, and a Phenomenology of No-Self, Richmond, Surry: Curzon Press.\n–––––, 2004, “Between Identity and Difference: Three Ways of Reading Nishida’s Non-Dualism,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/1: 73–103. (A good account of how Nishida’s dialogue with his critics, Takahashi Satomi and Tanabe Hajime, assisted him in the pursuit of a philosophy of non-dualism that does not reduce difference to identity.)\nKosaka, Kunitsugu, 1997, Nishida Kitarô o meguru tetsugakusha gunzô [The Group of Philosophers Surrounding Nishida Kitarô], Kyoto: Minerva. (Contains clear presentations of Nishida’s thought in relation to that of Tanabe, Takahashi Satomi, Miki, Watsuji, and Hisamatsu.)\nLaube, Johannes, 1984, Dialektik der absoluten Vermittlung. Hajime Tanabes Religionsphilosophie als Beitrag zum “Wettstreit der Liebe” zwischen Buddhismus und Christentum, Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder.\nLight, Steven, 1987, Shûzô Kuki and Jean-Paul Sartre: Influence and Counter-Influence in the Early History of Existential Phenomenology, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.\nMaraldo, John, 1997, “Contemporary Japanese Philosophy,” in Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Brian Carr and Indira Mahalingam (eds.), London and New York: Routledge. (A rich overview that situates the Kyoto School in the wider context of modern and contemporary Japanese philosophy.)\n–––––, 2003, “Rethinking God: Heidegger in the Light of Absolute Nothingness, Nishida in the Shadow of Onto-Theology,” in Religious Experience and the End of Metaphysics, Jeffery Bloechl (ed.), Bloomington: Indiana University Press.\n–––––, 2004, “Defining Philosophy in the Making,” in Heisig 2004. (An informative and thought-provoking essay on the question of what “Japanese philosophy” has meant and should mean.)\n–––––, 2005, “Ôbei no shiten kara mita Kyôtogakuha no yurai to yukue” [The Whence and Whither of the Kyoto School from a Western Perspective], Azumi Yurika (trans.), in Fujita/Davis 2005. (An excellent critical essay on the question of defining the “Kyoto School,” which unfortunately has yet to be published in English.)\nMarchianò, Grazia, (ed.), 1996, La Scuola di Kyôto: Kyôto-ha, Messina: Rubberttino.\nMitchell, Donald W., 1998, Masao Abe: A Zen Life of Dialogue, Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Co. (Consists of thirty-five chapters by different authors reflecting on the significance of Abe’s dialogues with philosophers and theologians in the West.)\nNagatomo, Shigenori, 1995, A Philosophical Foundation of Miki Kiyoshi’s Concept of Humanism, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.\nÔhashi, Ryôsuke, 1984, Zeitlichkeitsanalyse der Hegelschen Logik. Zur Idee einer Phänomenologie des Ortes, Munich: Karl Alber. (A provocative Kyoto School oriented reading of Hegel.)\n–––––, 1992, Nihon-tekina mono, Yôroppa-tekina mono [Things Japanese, Things European], Tokyo: Shinchôsha. (Insightfully treats a range of cultural and philosophical issues relating to modern Japan, the Kyoto School and associated thinkers.)\n–––––, 1994, Das Schöne in Japan. Philosophisch-ästhetische Reflexionen zu Geschichte und Moderne, Rolf Elberfeld (trans.), Köln: DuMont Buchverlag. (A classic philosophical interpretation of Japanese aesthetics.)\n–––––, 1995, Nishida-tetsugaku no sekai [The World of Nishida Philosophy], Tokyo: Chikuma.\n–––––, 1998, Hi no genshôron josetsu: Nihontetsugaku no roku têze yori [Prolegomenon to a Phenomenology of Compassion: From Six theses of Japanese Philosophy], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (Includes chapters on the contemporary relevance of key ideas of Nishida, Tanabe, Nishitani, and Hisamatsu.)\n–––––, 1999, Japan im interkulturellen Dialog, München: Iudicium. (Contains a range of essays on Japan’s relation to the West, with chapters on and frequent reference to the Kyoto School.)\n––––– (ed.), 2004, Kyôtogakuha no shisô [The Thought of the Kyoto School], Kyoto: Jinbunshoin. (Contains five chapters that critically examine past and present images of the “Kyoto School,” and seven chapters that explore the potential of Kyoto School thought in various areas of contemporary philosophy.)\nParkes, Graham, 1997, “The Putative Fascism of the Kyoto School and the Political Correctness of the Modern Academy,” Philosophy East and West 47/3: 305–336. (A critical response to polemical treatments of the nationalistic aspects of the Kyoto School, including those by Pincus 1996 and Faure 1995.)\nPincus, Leslie, 1996, Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan: Kuki Shûzô and the Rise of National Aesthetics, Berkeley: University of California Press. (A highly critical treatment of the implications of cultural nationalism in Kuki’s aesthetics.)\nPiovesana, Gino K., 1994, Recent Japanese Philosophical Thought, 1862-1996: A Survey, revised edition including a new survey by Naoshi Yamawaki: “The Philosophical Thought of Japan from 1963 to 1996,” Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library (Curzon Press Ltd). (A classic survey of modern Japanese philosophy.)\nStambaugh, Joan, 1999, The Formless Self, Albany: SUNY Press. (Insightfully discusses Dôgen, Hisamatsu, and Nishitani.)\nStevens, Bernard, 2000, Topologie du néant: Une approche de l’école de Kyôto, Paris: Éditions Peeters.\nTakeda, Atsushi, 2001, Monogatari “Kyôto-gakuha” [The Story of the “Kyoto School”], Tokyo: Chûôkôron Shinsha. (An engaging biographical account of the interpersonal relations and scholarly activities of the Kyoto School.)\nTanaka, Kyûbun, 2000, Nihon no “tetsugaku” o yomitoku [Reading Japanese “Philosophy”], Tokyo: Chikuma Shinsho. (Consists of introductory chapters on Nishida, Watsuji, Kuki, and Miki.)\nTremblay, Jacynthe, 2000, Nishida Kitarô: Le jeu de l’individuel et de l’universel, Paris: CNRS Editions.\nTsunetoshi, Sôzaburô, 1998, Nihon no tetsugaku o manabu hito no tame ni [For Students of Japanese Philosophy], Kyoto: Sekaishisôsha. (Consists of introductory chapters mostly on Kyoto School philosophers.)\nUeda, Shizuteru, 1992, Nishida Kitarô o yomu [Reading Nishida Kitarô], Tokyo: Iwanami. (The first of many influential books on Nishida by Ueda, in which Ueda develops his own thought by way of carefully reading Nishida’s texts, beginning with An Inquiry into the Good.)\n––––– (ed.), 1992, Jôi ni okeru kû [Emptiness in Passion], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (An important collection of essays on Nishitani.)\n––––– (ed.), 1994, Nishida-tetsugaku [Nishida Philosophy], Tokyo: Sôbunsha. (An important collection of essays on Nishida.)\nUeda, Shizuteru and Horio Tsutomu (eds.), 1998, Zen to gendaisekai [Zen and the Modern World], Kyoto: Zenbunka Kenkyûsho. (Consists of chapters on Nishida, D. T. Suzuki, Nishitani, and Hisamatsu, addressing the relation of their thought to Zen.)\nUnno, Taitetsu (ed.), 1989, The Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. (A landmark collection of responses to Nishitani’s philosophy of religion.)\nUnno, Taitetsu and James W. Heisig (eds.), 1990, The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. (A landmark collection of responses to Tanabe’s philosophy of religion.)\nUnno, Taitetsu, 1998, River of Fire, River of Water: An Introduction to the Pure Land Tradition of Shin Buddhism, New York: Double Day. (An accessible and engaging introduction to Shin Buddhist thought.)\nWaldenfels, Hans, 1980, Absolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, J. W. Heisig (trans.), New York: Paulist Press. (An important early Western work focusing on Nishitani from the perspective of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.)\nWargo, Robert J. J., 2005, The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A landmark philosophical study which traces the early development of Nishida’s thought from out of the context of Japanese philosophy in the Meiji period, and which focuses in particular on the subsequent development of his unique “logic of basho.”)\nWilliams, David, 2005, Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power, London/New York: Routledge. (A highly provocative revisionist account of the Pacific War and defense of the Kyoto School’s wartime political thought, which centers on an interpretation of Tanabe as a pioneer “post-White” political philosopher.)\nYusa, Michiko, 1997, “Contemporary Buddhist Philosophy,” in A Companion to World Philosophies, Eliot Deutsch and Ron Bontekoe (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell.\n–––––, 2002, Zen & Philosophy: An Intellectual Biography of Nishida Kitarô, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (A very informative and lucid account of Nishida’s personal and scholarly life, including his relations with other Kyoto School thinkers.)\nOther Internet Resources\nDefending Japan’s Pacific War:\nThe Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power (review)\nThe Journal of Japanese Studies – Volume 32, Number 2, Summer 2006, pp. 428-433\nSociety for Japanese Studies\nBen-Ami Shillony – Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power (review) – The Journal of Japanese Studies 32:2 The Journal of Japanese Studies 32.2 (2006) 428-433 Defending Japan’s Pacific War: The Kyoto School Philosophers and Post- White Power. By David Williams. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2004. xxvi, 238 pages. $125.00, cloth; $40.95, paper. David Williams may be right. We should reexamine, as some of us have already done, the image of Japan in World War II. The conventional picture of a fascist and aggressive state is only partially correct. The other side of the coin is the idealistic streak that accompanied Japanese conquests, according to which Japan was liberating Asia from Western imperialism. This alleged goal was dismissed by postwar historians as propaganda, but many Japanese at the time believed in it. Moreover, that propaganda, which camouflaged aggressive intentions, was not different from the wartime declarations of the allied powers, which asserted that they were liberating Asia while they were trying to regain their prewar colonial possessions. The book focuses on the Kyoto School philosophers, who were disciples of the “father of Japanese philosophy,” Nishida Kitaro at Kyoto University. They included Tanabe Hajime, Koyama Iwao, Suzuki Shigetaka, Kosaka Masaaki, and Nishitani Keiji. In a series of symposia in the monthly magazine Chuokoron in the years 1941- 42, they hailed the Greater East Asia…\nThe Kyoto School Philosophers and Post-White Power\nThe film stars Raymond Massey , Ralph Richardson , Margaretta Scott , and Cedric Hardwicke .\nChristopher Frayling of the British Film Institute calls Things to Come “a landmark in cinematic design.”\nA global war begins in 1940. This war drags out over many decades until most of the people still alive (mostly those born after the war started) do not even know who started it or why. Nothing is being manufactured at all any more and society has broken down into primative localized communities. In 1966 a great plague wipes out most of what people are left but small numbers still survive. One day a strange aircraft lands at one of these communities and its pilot tells of an organisation which is rebuilding civilization and slowly moving across the world re-civilizing these groups of survivors. Great reconstruction takes place over the next few decades and society is once again great and strong. The world’s population is now living in underground cities. In the year 2035, on the eve of man’s first flight to the moon, a popular uprising against progress (which some people claim has caused the wars of the past) gains support and becomes violent.\nSynopsis\nThings to Come sets out a future history for the century following 1936. It is set in the fictional English city of ‘Everytown’ (based on London , St Paul’s Cathedral is in the background) and, rather prophetically, begins in 1940 just as a global world war breaks out.\nIn one scene, the pilot of a biplane shoots down a more advanced single-seater enemy bomber whom he stealthily caught from behind. The biplane pilot also happens to be a doctor. He lands his own plane and pulls the enemy pilot from the wreckage. Dwelling on the madness of war they hurry to put on their masks since poison gas is leaking from the bombs in the wreckage. A little girl joins them and the enemy pilot insists she wear his mask. The biplane pilot then hurries to get the girl and himself out of the danger zone, pausing to leave the enemy pilot a gun. The man dwells on the irony that he may have gassed the little girl’s whole family and yet he has saved her. He then commits suicide .\nThe war lasts for decades, long enough for the remaining survivors to have forgotten the reasons for it in the first place. Strategic bombing is so successful that civilisation on both sides is totally devastated. Humanity falls into a new Dark Age where the technology level is reduced to that of medieval times, symbolised with a car being drawn like a cart by a horse. There is even a medieval-type plague sweeping through the land, known as “the wandering sickness”, which was spread by the enemy, who dropped bombs containing the virus from their few remaining aircraft.\nIn 1970, Everytown is run by a local warlord called Rudolf, a.k.a ‘The Boss’ or ‘The Chief’ (played by Ralph Richardson ), who is at constant war with the “Hill People” and obsessed with repairing the remaining biplanes and capturing coal mines in order to convert the coal to petroleum for the aircraft. The Chief consolidated his power over Everytown after having eradicated “the wandering sickness” by shooting all those infected with the disease.\nOne day, a futuristic aeroplane lands outside the town. The Chief and the townspeople are incredulous when the pilot John Cabal (played by Raymond Massey) proclaims that the last surviving band of scientists have formed a society known as ‘ Wings over the World ‘. They are building a civilisation, based in Basra , Iraq , that has renounced war and outlawed independent nation-states. The Chief resists by making the pilot his prisoner, but the Chief’s mechanic (whom he was using to repair biplanes from the war) escapes to Basra in a plane he was testing, and alerts Cabal’s scientist friends to his capture.\n \nWings Over the World mount an attack upon Everytown, and the skies fill with futuristic aeroplanes and bomb the town with a sleeping gas known as “the Gas of Peace” to pacify it. The Chief orders his few biplanes to attack them, but they are all shot down.\nThe populace of Everytown awakens shortly thereafter, to find it occupied by the Airmen, and their Chief dead — presumably from a heart attack brought on by the belief that the gas was deadly, or maybe by suicide in the face of defeat. The mechanic who had escaped to bring the Airmen comments on the Chief’s death, to which Cabal replies, “Yes, dead. And his world with him – and so the New World begins!”.\nA montage sequence follows showing decades of technological progress and human achievement, beginning with Cabal explaining the plans of the Global Conquest by the Airmen of Wings Over the World (“First this zone, then that!”).\nBy 2036, mankind lives in underground cities. Everytown is one of them (the only one shown, with no information given on any others – or if there even are others), and the first flight to the Moon is about to be launched from a space gun nearby. However, Luddites among the population fear this new technology, led by a sculptor who claims mankind needs a “rest” from further technological development, and that shooting people into the cold of space is not “natural”. They start a riot, trying to destroy the space gun before it can be fired. The head scientist Cabal (the great grandson of the pilot in the previous section of the film, and also played by Massey) explains that the crowds are misguided and that technology has in fact saved humanity. He launches the space ship with his daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend as the crew, and the blast from the launch knocks the crowd back.\nThe film ends with Massey’s character delivering a speech to the idea of\nProgress and humanity’s quest for knowledge, claiming that “if Man is merely an Animal then he must fight for every scrap of happiness he can, but if he is something more, then he must strive for more — the Universe or nothing – which shall it be?”\nCast\nH. Fisher White – Extra\nBehind the scenes\nWells is assumed to have had a degree of control over the project that was unprecedented for a screenwriter, and personally supervised nearly every aspect of the film. Posters and the main title bill the film as “H. G. Wells’ THINGS TO COME”, with “an Alexander Korda production” appearing in smaller type. Wells’s film treatment and selected production notes were published in book form in 1935, and was reprinted in 1975. An academic edition annotated by Leon Stover was published in 2007.\nIn fact, Wells ultimately had no control over the finished product, with the result that many scenes, although shot, were either truncated or not included in the finished film. The rough-cut reputedly ran to 130 minutes; the version submitted to the British Board of Film Censors was 117m 13s; it was released as 108m 40s (later cut to 98m 06s) in the UK, and 96m 24s in the United States. The standard version available today is just 92m 42s, although some prints are in circulation in the United States – where the film is in the Public Domain – that retain the additional scenes that constitute the original American release.\nWells originally wanted the music to be recorded in advance, and have the film constructed around the music, but this was considered too radical and so the score, by Arthur Bliss , was fitted to the film afterwards in a more conventional way. A concert suite drawn from the film has remained popular; as of 2003 , there are about half-a-dozen recordings of it in print.\nAfter filming had already begun, the Hungarian abstract artist László Moholy-Nagy was commissioned to produce some of the effects sequences for re-building of Everytown. Moholy-Nagy’s approach was partly to treat it as an abstract light show but only some 90 seconds of material was used (e.g. a protective-suited figure behind corrugated glass), although in the autumn of 1975 a researcher found a further four discarded sequences. [1]\nHistorical parallels\nThe film, written throughout 1934, is notable for predicting World War II , being only 16 months off by having it start on 23 December 1940, rather than 1 September 1939. Its graphic depiction of strategic bombing in the scenes in which Everytown is flattened by air attack and society collapses into barbarism, echo pre-war concerns about the threat of the bomber and the apocalyptic pronouncements of air power prophets. Wells was an air power prophet of sorts, having described aerial warfare in Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908).\nThe use of gas bombs is very much part of the film, from the poison gas used early in the war to the sleeping gas used by the airmen of Wings Over the World. In real life, in the build-up to the World War , there was much concern that the Germans would use poison gas, which they had done during the Great War . Civilians were required to carry gas masks and were trained in their use. When war did break out, however, the Germans did not use gas for military purposes.\nWings Over the World is based in Basra , in southern Iraq , from where it begins a new civilisation. Southern Iraq was also the home of one of the world’s first known civilisations, Sumer .\n \nDuration history and surviving versions\nKnown versions\nThe rough-cut of the film was 130 minutes in length, while the version submitted for classification by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) was 117m 13s. [2] By the time of the 21 February 1936 UK premiere and initial release, this had been reduced to 108m 30s, [3] while the American print premiered on 18 April 1936 was further cut to 96m 24s. By late-1936 a 98m 06s print was in circulation in the UK, [4] and a 72m 13s print was resubmitted for classification by the BBFC and was passed after further cuts for reissue in 1943. A 92m 42s print – cut down from the 96m 24s American print by the removal of four sections of footage – was subsequently reissued in America and the UK in 1947 and 1948 respectively. A continuity script exists for a 104m 41s version of the film, which contains all the material in the 96m 24s and 92m 42s versions, plus a number of other sequences. It is not known if a version of this duration was actually in circulation at any time.\nReferences:\nThe History of the British Film 1929-1939, Rachel Low (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985)\nThe History of the British Film 1929-1939, Rachel Low (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985\nThis early sci-fi masterwork by Herbert George Wells with music by Arthur Bliss is a powerful piece of film-making. Adapted from Wells’ somewhat different work by the author, it presents a look at the human future with the subject of periods of war as versus periods of ‘peace’. The structure is that after a contrasted-pair of episodes of normalcy and gathering clouds of war, the script allows the war to happen. Two families, the Cabells and the Passworthys disagree about what may happen; Passworthy takes a hopeful view of civilization’s “automatic” progress; Cabell is the thinker, the doubter. Their city Everytown–obviously London— becomes wrecked by a war featuring tanks, a magnificent war march by Bliss, and the end of civilization. The second portion finds people living in the wreckage of what had been the city under a “Boss”, played with bravura by Ralph Richardson, whose woman, lovely Margaretta Scott, is as fascinating a dreamer as he is a concrete-bound dictator type. He is trying to rebuild old WWI airplanes so he can attack a nearby hill tribe to complete his petty kingdom; a young scientist complains about having his work continually interrupted demands for planes–etc.–everlastingly; this is Wells’ comment on war versus progress. The survivors are subject to a plague called “The Wandering Sickness” also. Enter a modern flying machine piloted by the Cabell of the first section of the film, now part of Wings Over the World, an International Scientists’ Coalition, who are planning to end warfare forever. This flight-suited modernist has fascinating conversations with the Boss and his woman, their attraction being evident; then Boss sends up his aircraft against them, the Scientists come with huge numbers of planes and drop the “Gas of Peace” onto the ruins of Everytown. Only the Boss dies, fighting too hard against the pacifying. The film then shows ore being mined and by slow steps being made into the girders of a magnificent new futuristic city of towers. In section three, a future Cabell argues with a future Passworthy over the morality of human science. Passworthy wonders if they have a right to send men to the Moon; Cabell champions man’s right to advancement and the need to expand his horizons. The son of Passworthy and Cabell’s daughter, are the astronauts being sent. Theotocopulos, a religious-minded Luddite, makes a fiery speech on a huge screen in the city’s Forum and leads an attack on the ‘space gun’ that is to fire the new rocket free of Earth’s gravity. The climax of the plot is the firing of the space gun successfully; the denouement and ending is a speech by Cabell praising worth and science that is universally considered to be the most profound defense of the mind ever penned. “It is all the universe–or nothing!” Cabell tells Passworthy. “Which shall it be?” As Cabell, Raymond Massey gives perhaps his greatest screen performance; he is thoughtful, compassionate, and reasonable, a true scientist. As the rabble-rouser who wants to end the Age of Science, Cedric Hardwicke is perfect and powerful. Edward Chapman playing Passworthy does admirably impersonating the voice of convention and fear. The storyline is logical, frequently beautiful and always interesting. Given the near-extinction of mankind, the idea of a civilization run by rebuilder scientists is rendered plausible and credible to the viewer. This is a triumph for the director, William Cameron Menzies, for Bliss and for all concerned. Listen to the dialogue with someone you love; within its constructed limits, this is a thinking man’s drama debating two possible human futures–progress or its reactionary opposite.\nThe Book:\nThe Shape of Things to Come\nThe Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells , published in 1933, which speculates on future events from 1933 until the year 2106. It is not a novel, but rather a fictional history book or chronicle , similar in style to Star Maker and Last and First Men , both by Olaf Stapledon .\nWells’ book also shared with Stapledon’s an understanding of the change wrought in the nature of war by the development of air power; both writers included harrowing depictions of cities destroyed in aerial bombardments, which proved an all too accurate prediciton of what was to happen in the actual second World War.\nWells creates a framing device by claiming that the book is his edited version of notes written by an eminent diplomat, Dr Philip Raven, who had been having dream visions of a history textbook published in 2106, and wrote down what he could remember of it.\nThe book is dominated by Wells’s belief in a world state as the solution to mankind’s problems. Wells successfully predicted the Second World War , although he envisaged it dragging on into the 1960s, being finally ended only by a devastating plague that almost destroys civilisation. Wells then envisages a benevolent dictatorship – ‘The Dictatorship of the Air’ (a term obviously modeled on ‘The Dictatorship of the proletariat ‘) – arising from the controllers of the world’s surviving transportation systems (the only people with global power). This dictatorship promotes science, enforces Basic English as a global lingua franca , and eradicates all religion, setting the world on the route to a peaceful utopia . When the dictatorship finds it necessary to kill political opponents, the condemned persons are given a chance to emulate the ancient philosophers Socrates and Seneca and take a poison tablet in a congenial environment of their choice.\nEventually, after a century of re-shaping humanity, the dictatorship is overthrown in a completely bloodless coup, the former rulers are sent into a very honourable retirement, and the world state “withers away” as was predicted by Marx . The last part of the book is a detailed description of the Utopian world which emerges, in some way reminiscent of Edward Bellamy ‘s Looking Backward .\nPredictions:\nPolish Corridor as cause for World War II\nH. G. Wells criticized the Polish Corridor as one of the future Causes of World War II :\nAnd to keep the waters of the Vistula as pure and sweet for Poland as the existence of Danzig at the estuary allowed, the peace-makers ran the Vistula boundary between Poland and east Prussia, not in the usual fashion midway along the stream, but at a little distance on the east Prussian side (Jacques Kayser, La Paix en Péril, 1931). So that the east German population, the peasant cultivator, the erstwhile fisherman, the shepherd with his flocks to water, was pulled up by a line of frontier posts and a Polish rifle within sight of the stream.\nWithin a dozen years of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles the Polish Corridor was plainly the most dangerous factor in the European situation. It mocked every projection of disarmament. It pointed the hypnotized and impotent statescraft of Europe straight towards a resumption of war.\nSubmarine Launched Ballistic Missiles\nWells’s book can be credited with an accurate prediction of the submarine launched ballistic missile , which was to assume a crucial role in the Cold War period. Though the warheads of what he termed “air torpedoes” were envisaged as chemical rather than nuclear, Wells fully grasped – two decades ahead of the military planners – the strategic implications of combining submarines with weapons of mass destruction .\nThe relevant passage (chapter four of the second book) reads:\n“The raider submarines were specially designed as long-distance bases for gas warfare. They carried no guns nor ordinary fighting equipment. They had practically unlimited cruising range, and within them from five to nine aeroplanes were packed with a formidable supply of gas bombs. One of them carried thirty long-range air torpedoes with all the necessary directional apparatus. The smallest of these raiders carried enough of such stuff to ‘prepare’ [euphemism in the original] about eight hundred square miles of territory. Completely successful, it could have turned the most of the London or New York of that time, after some clamour and running and writhing and choking, into a cityful of distorted corpses. These vessels made London vulnerable from Japan, Tokyo vulnerable from Dublin; they abolished the last corners of safety in the world.”\nAs well as predicting this application of submarines, Wells correctly predicted that these fearsome weapons would not be fully utilised and would be mainly used to create deterrence between the various powers holding them.\nThe book displays one of the earliest uses of the C.E. (“ Common Era “) calendar abbreviation after A.D. year dates; Wells preferred the English C.E. in place of the traditional Western Latin A.D. (“ Anno Domini “).\nThe Kipling connection\nWells’s “Air and Sea Control”, the association of pilots and technicians which controls the world’s communications and eventually develops into a world government, seems a clear literary descendant of an institution called the Aerial Board of Control (A.B.C.) in the short stories “ With the Night Mail ” and “ Easy as A.B.C. “, by Rudyard Kipling , with which Wells was certainly familiar. The Kipling stories are set in a post-apocalyptic world where airships are commonly used both for freight and passenger service, as well as for preventing civil unrest using powerful sonic weapons:\n“The A.B.C., that semi-elected, semi-nominated body of a few score persons, controls the Planet. Transportation is Civilisation, our motto runs. Theoretically we do what we please, so long as we do not interfere with the traffic and all it implies. Practically, the A.B.C. confirms or annuls all international arrangements, and, to judge from its last report, finds our tolerant, humorous, lazy little Planet only too ready to shift the whole burden of public administration on its shoulders.”\nThe above description, from Kipling’s “ With the Night Mail “, seems very applicable to the world-wide institution depicted by Wells. However, Kipling’s stories contain dystopian elements.\nComment:\nWells was an air power prophet of sorts, having described aerial warfare in Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908).\nWells’s book can be credited with an accurate prediction of the submarine launched ballistic missile , which was to assume a crucial role in the Cold War period. Though the warheads of what he termed “air torpedoes” were envisaged as chemical rather than nuclear, Wells fully grasped – two decades ahead of the military planners – the strategic implications of combining submarines with weapons of mass destruction .\nWings Over the World is based in Basra , in southern Iraq , from where it begins a new civilisation. Southern Iraq was also the home of one of the world’s first known civilisations, Sumer .\nThe book is dominated by Wells’s belief in a world state as the solution to mankind’s problems.\nThe film ends with Massey’s character delivering a speech to the idea of\nProgress and humanity’s quest for knowledge, claiming that “if Man is merely an Animal then he must fight for every scrap of happiness he can, but if he is something more, then he must strive for more — the Universe or nothing – which shall it be?”",
"Palindrome.txt\nPalindrome\nA palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of characters which reads the same backward or forward. Allowances may be made for adjustments to capital letters, punctuation, and word dividers. Examples in English include \"A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!\", \"Amor, Roma\", \"race car\", \"stack cats\", \"step on no pets\", \"taco cat\", \"put it up\", \"Was it a car or a cat I saw?\" and \"No 'x' in Nixon\".\n\nComposing literature in palindromes is an example of constrained writing.\n\nThe word \"palindrome\" was coined by the English playwright Ben Jonson in the 17th century from the Greek roots ' (; \"again\") and ' (; \"way, direction\").\n\nHistory\n\nPalindromes date back at least to 79 AD, as a palindrome was found as a graffito at Herculaneum, a city buried by ash in that year. This palindrome, called the Sator Square, consists of a sentence written in Latin: \"Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas\" (\"The sower Arepo holds with effort the wheels\"). It is remarkable for the fact that the first letters of each word form the first word, the second letters form the second word, and so forth. Hence, it can be arranged into a word square that reads in four different ways: horizontally or vertically from either top left to bottom right or bottom right to top left. As such, they can be referred to as palindromatic. \n\nA palindrome with the same property is the Hebrew palindrome, \"We explained the glutton who is in the honey was burned and incinerated\", (פרשנו רעבתן שבדבש נתבער ונשרף; perashnu: ra`avtan shebad'vash nitba'er venisraf), by Abraham ibn Ezra, referring to the halachic question as to whether a fly landing in honey makes the honey treif (non-kosher).\n\nThe palindromic Latin riddle \"In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni\" (\"we go wandering at night and are consumed by fire\") describes the behavior of moths. It is likely that this palindrome is from medieval rather than ancient times.\n\nByzantine Greeks often inscribed the palindrome, \"Wash [the] sins, not only [the] face\" (\"Nīpson anomēmata mē mōnan ōpsin\", engraving \"ps\" with the single Greek letter Ψ, psi), on baptismal fonts. This practice was continued in many English churches. Examples include the font at St. Mary's Church, Nottingham and also the font in the basilica of St. Sophia, Constantinople, the font of St. Stephen d'Egres, Paris; at St. Menin's Abbey, Orléans; at Dulwich College; and at the following churches: Worlingworth (Suffolk), Harlow (Essex), Knapton (Norfolk), St Martin, Ludgate (London), and Hadleigh (Suffolk).\n\nTypes\n\nCharacters, words, or lines\n\nThe most familiar palindromes in English are character-unit palindromes. The characters read the same backward as forward. Some examples of palindromic words are redivider, noon, civic, radar, level, rotor, kayak, reviver, racecar, redder, madam, and refer.\n\nThere are also word-unit palindromes in which the unit of reversal is the word (\"Is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?\"). Word-unit palindromes were made popular in the recreational linguistics community by J. A. Lindon in the 1960s. Occasional examples in English were created in the 19th century. Several in French and Latin date to the Middle Ages. \n\nThere are also line-unit palindromes. \n\nSentences and phrases\n\nPalindromes often consist of a sentence or phrase, e.g., \"Eva, can I stab bats in a cave?\", \"Mr. Owl ate my metal worm\", \"Was it a car or a cat I saw?\", \"A nut for a jar of tuna\", \"Do geese see God?\", \"Ma is as selfless as I am\", \"On a clover, if alive erupts a vast pure evil, a fire volcano\", \"Dammit, I'm mad!\",\"Dog, as a devil deified, lived as a god.\", \"A Toyota's a Toyota\", \"Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog\", \"A Santa lived as a devil at NASA\", and \"An igloo! Cool, Gina!\".\n\nPunctuation, capitalization, and spaces are usually ignored. Some, such as \"Rats live on no evil star\", \"Live on time, emit no evil\", and \"Step on no pets\", include the spaces.\n\nSemordnilap\n\nSemordnilap (palindromes spelled backward) is a name coined for words that spell a different word in reverse. The word was coined by Martin Gardner in his notes to C.C. Bombaugh's book Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature. \n\nAn example of this is the word repaid, which is diaper spelled backward.\n\nThe longest examples of a semordnilap contain eight letters:\n\n* \"stressed\" (\"desserts\")\n* \"rewarder\" (\"redrawer\", one who redraws)\n* \"dioramas\" (\"samaroid\", resembling a samara)\n\nShorter examples are \"deliver\" (\"reviled\"), Zeus (\"Suez\"), and \"swap\" (\"paws\").\n\n\"Noon\" is a palindrome but not a semordnilap because it is the same word whether spelled backward or forward.\n\nSemordnilaps are also known as word reversals, reversible anagrams, heteropalindromes, semi-palindromes, half-palindromes, reversgrams, mynoretehs, or anadromes. They have also sometimes been called antigrams, though this term usually refers to anagrams which have opposite meanings.\n\nFamous English palindromes\n\nSome well-known English palindromes are, \"Able was I ere I saw Elba\", \"A man, a plan, a canal - Panama!\", \"Madam, I'm Adam\" or \"Madam in Eden, I'm Adam\", \"Doc, note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod\" and \"Never odd or even\".\n\nScots poet Alastair Reid is credited with a palindrome of truly stunning length and elegance: \"T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad; I'd assign it a name: gnat dirt upset on drab pot toilet.\" \n\n\"Rise to vote, sir\" was featured in an episode of The Simpsons. \n\nNames\n\nSome names are palindromes. Some examples: given names (Ada, Anna, Bob, Aviva), surnames (Harrah, Renner, Salas, Arora) or both (Eve, Hannah, Maham, Otto). Lon Nol (1913–1985) was Prime Minister of Cambodia. Nisio Isin is a Japanese novelist and manga writer, whose pseudonym (西尾 維新, Nishio Ishin) is a palindrome when romanized using the Kunrei-shiki or the Nihon-shiki systems. (It is often written as NisiOisiN to emphasize this). Some people have changed their name in order to make of it a palindrome (one example is actor Robert Trebor), while others were given a palindromic name at birth (such as the philologist Revilo P. Oliver or the flamenco dancer Sara Baras). Some names can be made part of a larger palindrome, like: \"You have no name, Manon Eva Huoy!\"\n\nPalindromic names are very common in Finland. Examples include Olavi Valo, Emma Lamme, Sanna Rannas, Anni Linna and Asko Oksa.\n\nThere are also palindromic names in fictional media. \"Stanley Yelnats\" is the name of a character in Holes, a 1998 novel and 2003 film. Four of the fictional Pokémon species have palindromic names in English (Eevee, Girafarig, Ho-Oh, and Alomomola).\n\nThe 1970s pop band ABBA is a palindrome using the starting letter of the first name of each of the four band members.\n\nMolecular biology\n\nRestriction enzymes recognize a specific sequence of nucleotides and produce a double-stranded cut in the DNA. While recognition sequences vary widely, with lengths of between 4 and 8 nucleotides, many of them are palindromic, which correspond to nitrogenous base sequences between complementary strands, which, when read from the 5' to 3' direction, are identical sequences.\n\nNumbers\n\n \nA palindromic number is a number whose digits, with decimal representation usually assumed, are the same read backward, for example, 5885. They are studied in recreational mathematics where palindromic numbers with special properties are sought. A palindromic prime is a palindromic number that is a prime number, for example, 191 and 313.\n\nThe continued fraction of + ⌊⌋ is a repeating palindrome when n is an integer, where essentially, for any positive x, ⌊x⌋ denotes the integer part of x.\n\nAcoustics\n\nA palindrome in which a recorded phrase of speech sounds the same when it is played backward was discovered by composer John Oswald in 1974 while he was working on audio tape versions of the cut-up technique using recorded readings by William S. Burroughs. Oswald discovered in repeated instances of Burroughs speaking the phrase \"I got\" that the recordings still sound like \"I got\" when played backward. \n\nIn France, a more complex example has been identified with\n\"Une slave valse nue\"\n(a Slavic girl waltzes naked).\n\nClassical music\n\nJoseph Haydn's Symphony No. 47 in G is nicknamed \"the Palindrome\". The third movement, minuet and trio is a musical palindrome. The second half of the piece is the same as the first but backwards.\n\nThe interlude from Alban Berg's opera Lulu is a palindrome, as are sections and pieces, in arch form, by many other composers, including James Tenney, and most famously Béla Bartók. George Crumb also used musical palindrome to text paint the Federico García Lorca poem \"¿Por qué nací?\", the first movement of three in his fourth book of Madrigals. Igor Stravinsky's final composition, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, is a palindrome.\n\nThe first movement from Constant Lambert's ballet Horoscope (1938) is entitled \"Palindromic Prelude\". Lambert claimed that the theme was dictated to him by the ghost of Bernard van Dieren, who had died in 1936. \n\nBritish composer Robert Simpson also composed music in the palindrome or based on palindromic themes; the slow movement of his Symphony No. 2 is a palindrome, as is the slow movement of his String Quartet No. 1. His hour-long String Quartet No. 9 consists of thirty-two variations and a fugue on a palindromic theme of Haydn (from the minuet of his Symphony No. 47). All of Simpson's thirty-two variations are themselves palindromic.\n\nHin und Zurück (\"There and Back\": 1927) is an operatic 'sketch' (Op. 45a) in one scene by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer. It is essentially a dramatic palindrome. Through the first half, a tragedy unfolds between two lovers, involving jealousy, murder and suicide. Then, in the reversing second half, this is replayed with the lines sung in reverse order to produce a happy ending.\n\nThe music of Anton Webern is often palindromic. Webern, who had studied the music of the Renaissance composer Heinrich Isaac, was extremely interested in symmetries in music, be they horizontal or vertical. An example of horizontal or linear symmetry in Webern's music is the first phrase in the second movement of the symphony, Op. 21. A striking example of vertical symmetry is the second movement of the Piano Variations, Op. 27, in which Webern arranges every pitch of this dodecaphonic work around the central pitch axis of A4. From this, each downward reaching interval is replicated exactly in the opposite direction. For example, a G3—13 half-steps down from A4 is replicated as a B5—13 half-steps above.\n\nJust as the letters of a verbal palindrome are not reversed, so are the elements of a musical palindrome usually presented in the same form in both halves. Although these elements are usually single notes, palindromes may be made using more complex elements. For example, Karlheinz Stockhausen's composition Mixtur, originally written in 1964, consists of twenty sections, called \"moments\", which may be permuted in several different ways, including retrograde presentation, and two versions may be made in a single program. When the composer revised the work in 2003, he prescribed such a palindromic performance, with the twenty moments first played in a \"forwards\" version, and then \"backwards\". Each moment, however, is a complex musical unit, and is played in the same direction in each half of the program. By contrast, Karel Goeyvaerts's 1953 electronic composition, Nummer 5 (met zuivere tonen) is an exact palindrome: not only does each event in the second half of the piece occur according to an axis of symmetry at the centre of the work, but each event itself is reversed, so that the note attacks in the first half become note decays in the second, and vice versa. It is a perfect example of Goeyvaerts's aesthetics, the perfect example of the imperfection of perfection. \n\nIn classical music, a crab canon is a canon in which one line of the melody is reversed in time and pitch from the other.\nA large-scale musical palindrome covering more than one movement is called \"chiasic\", referring to the cross-shaped Greek letter \"χ\" (pronounced /ˈkaɪ/.) This is usually a form of reference to the crucifixion; for example, the ' movement of Bach's Mass in B minor. The purpose of such palindromic balancing is to focus the listener on the central movement, much as one would focus on the center of the cross in the crucifixion. Other examples are found in Bach's cantata BWV 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden, Handel's Messiah and Fauré's Requiem. \n\nA table canon is a rectangular piece of sheet music intended to be played by two musicians facing each other across a table with the music between them, with one musician viewing the music upside down compared to the other. The result is somewhat like two speakers simultaneously reading the Sator square from opposite sides, except that it is typically in two-part polyphony rather than in unison.\n\nLong palindromes\n\nThe longest palindromic word in the Oxford English Dictionary is the onomatopoeic tattarrattat, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses (1922) for a knock on the door. The Guinness Book of Records gives the title to detartrated, the preterite and past participle of detartrate, a chemical term meaning to remove tartrates. Rotavator, a trademarked name for an agricultural machine, is often listed in dictionaries. The term redivider is used by some writers, but appears to be an invented or derived term—only redivide and redivision appear in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. Malayalam, an Indian language, is of equal length.\n\nIn English, two palindromic novels have been published: Satire: Veritas by David Stephens (1980, 58,795 letters), and Dr Awkward & Olson in Oslo by Lawrence Levine (1986, 31,954 words). What is more well known is the 224 word long poem \"Dammit I'm Mad\" by Demetri Martin. \n\nBiological structures\n\nIn most genomes or sets of genetic instructions, palindromic motifs are found. The meaning of palindrome in the context of genetics is slightly different, however, from the definition used for words and sentences. Since the DNA is formed by two paired strands of nucleotides, and the nucleotides always pair in the same way (Adenine (A) with Thymine (T), Cytosine (C) with Guanine (G)), a (single-stranded) sequence of DNA is said to be a palindrome if it is equal to its complementary sequence read backward. For example, the sequence ACCTAGGT is palindromic because its complement is TGGATCCA, which is equal to the original sequence in reverse complement.\n\nA palindromic DNA sequence may form a hairpin. Palindromic motifs are made by the order of the nucleotides that specify the complex chemicals (proteins) that, as a result of those genetic instructions, the cell is to produce. They have been specially researched in bacterial chromosomes and in the so-called Bacterial Interspersed Mosaic Elements (BIMEs) scattered over them. Recently a research genome sequencing project discovered that many of the bases on the Y-chromosome are arranged as palindromes. A palindrome structure allows the Y-chromosome to repair itself by bending over at the middle if one side is damaged.\n\nIt is believed that palindromes frequently are also found in proteins, but their role in the protein function is not clearly known. It has recently been suggested that the prevalence existence of palindromes in peptides might be related to the prevalence of low-complexity regions in proteins, as palindromes frequently are associated with low-complexity sequences. Their prevalence might also be related to an alpha helical formation propensity of these sequences, or in formation of proteins/protein complexes. \n\nComputation theory\n\nIn the automata theory, a set of all palindromes in a given alphabet is a typical example of a language that is context-free, but not regular. This means that it is impossible for a computer with a finite amount of memory to reliably test for palindromes on one pass. (For practical purposes with modern computers, this limitation would apply only to incredibly long letter-sequences.)\n\nIn addition, the set of palindromes may not be reliably tested by a deterministic pushdown automaton which also means that they are not LR(k)-parsable or LL(k)-parsable. When reading a palindrome from left-to-right, it is, in essence, impossible to locate the \"middle\" until the entire word has been read completely.\n\nIt is possible to find the longest palindromic substring of a given input string in linear time. \n\nThe palindromic density of an infinite word w over an alphabet A is defined to be zero if only finitely many prefixes are palindromes; otherwise, letting the palindromic prefixes be of lengths nk for k=1,2,... we define the density to be\n\n d_P(w) = \\left( { \\limsup_{k \\rightarrow \\infty} \\frac{n_{k+1}}{n_k} } \\right)^{-1} \\ . \n\nAmong aperiodic words, the largest possible palindromic density is achieved by the Fibonacci word, which has density 1/φ, where φ is the Golden ratio.\n\nA palstar is a composition of palindromic strings.\n\nNon-English palindromes\n\nAccording to Guinness World Records, the Finnish 19-letter word saippuakivikauppias (a soapstone vendor), is claimed to be the world's longest palindromic word in everyday use. A meaningful derivative from it is the word saippuakalasalakauppias (a soapfish bootlegger). An even longer effort is saippuakuppinippukauppias (a soap dish wholesale vendor), albeit somewhat contrived in its meaning (literally \"a soap dish bundle vendor\").\n\nNotable palindromists\n\n*Simo Frangén & Pasi Heikura (Alivaltiosihteeri)\n*Howard Bergerson\n*Hugo Brandt Corstius\n*Su Hui (poet)\n*J. A. Lindon\n*Leigh Mercer\n*Mark Saltveit\n*Dmitry Avaliani\n*Velimir Khlebnikov\n*Risto Rekola",
"Pangram.txt\nPangram\nA Pangram (, pan gramma, \"every letter\") or holoalphabetic sentence for a given alphabet is a sentence using every letter of the alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and keyboarding.\n\nThe best known English pangram is \"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\" It has been used since at least the late 19th century, was utilized by Western Union to test Telex / TWX data communication equipment for accuracy and reliability, and is now used by a number of computer programs (most notably the font viewer built into Microsoft Windows) to display computer fonts. An example in another language is ', containing all letters used in German , including every umlaut (ä, ö, ü) plus the ß. It has been used since before 1800.\n\nShort pangrams in English are more difficult to come up with and tend to use uncommon words. A perfect pangram contains every letter of the alphabet only once and can be considered an anagram of the alphabet; it is the shortest possible pangram. An example is the phrase \"Cwm fjord bank glyphs vext quiz\" (', a loan word from Welsh, means a steep-sided valley, particularly in Wales). However, such examples are not usually understood even by native English speakers, and so arguably are not really English pangrams. \n\nHere are some short pangrams using standard written English, not involving abbreviations or proper nouns:\n# \"Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.\" (32 letters)\n# \"Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz.\" (31 letters)\n# \"The five boxing wizards jump quickly.\" (31 letters)\n# \"How vexingly quick daft zebras jump!\" (30 letters)\n# \"Bright vixens jump; dozy fowl quack.\" (29 letters)\n\nLonger pangrams may afford more opportunity for humor, cleverness, or thoughtfulness. \n\nIn a sense, the pangram is the opposite of the lipogram, in which the aim is to omit one or more letters.\n\nLogographic scripts \n\nLogographic scripts, that is, writing systems composed principally of logograms, cannot be used to produce pangrams in the literal sense, since they are radically different from alphabets or other phonetic writing systems. In such scripts, the total number of signs is large and imprecisely defined, so producing a text with every possible sign is impossible. However, various analogies to pangrams are feasible, including traditional pangrams in a romanization. In Japanese, although typical orthography uses kanji (logograms), pangrams are required to contain every kana (syllabic character) when written out in kana alone: the Iroha is a classic example.\n\nIn addition, it is possible to create pangrams that demonstrate certain aspects of logographic characters.\n\nIn Chinese, the Thousand Character Classic is a 1000-character poem in which each character is used exactly once; however, it does not include all Chinese characters. The single character (permanence) incorporates every basic stroke used to write Chinese characters exactly once, as described in the Eight Principles of Yong.\n\nSelf-enumerating pangrams \n\nA self-enumerating pangram is a pangrammatic autogram, or a sentence that inventories its own letters, each of which occurs at least once. The first example was produced by Rudy Kousbroek, a Dutch journalist and essayist, who publicly challenged Lee Sallows, a British recreational mathematician resident in the Netherlands, to produce an English translation of his Dutch pangram. In the sequel, Sallows built an electronic \"pangram machine\", that performed a systematic search among millions of candidate solutions. The machine was successful in identifying the following 'magic' translation: \nThis pangram contains four As, one B, two Cs, one D, thirty Es, six Fs, five Gs, seven Hs, eleven Is, one J, one K, two Ls, two Ms, eighteen Ns, fifteen Os, two Ps, one Q, five Rs, twenty-seven Ss, eighteen Ts, two Us, seven Vs, eight Ws, two Xs, three Ys, & one Z.\n\nChris Patuzzo, a British computer scientist was able to reduce the problem of finding a self-enumerating pangram to the Boolean satisfiability problem. He did this by using a bespoke Hardware description language as a stepping stone and then applied the Tseitin transformation to the resulting chip. \n\nPangrams in literature\n\nThe pangram \"The quick brown fox...\" and searches for a shorter pangram are the cornerstone of the plot of the novel Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. The search successfully comes to an end when the phrase \"Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs\" is discovered.",
"Longest_word_in_English.txt\nLongest word in English\nThe identity of the longest word in English depends upon the definition of what constitutes a word in the English language, as well as how length should be compared. In addition to words derived naturally from the language's roots (without any known intentional invention), English allows new words to be formed by coinage and construction; place names may be considered words; technical terms may be arbitrarily long. Length may be understood in terms of orthography and number of written letters, or (less commonly) phonology and the number of phonemes.\n\nMajor dictionaries \n\nThe longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis. The word was deliberately coined to be the longest word in English, and has since been used in a close approximation of its originally intended meaning, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim. \n\nThe Oxford English Dictionary contains pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters).\n\nMerriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary does not contain antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters), as the editors found no widespread, sustained usage of the word in its original meaning. The longest word in that dictionary is electroencephalographically (27 letters). \n\nThe longest non-technical word in major dictionaries is floccinaucinihilipilification at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of Latin words meaning \"nothing\" and defined as \"the act of estimating something as worthless\"; its usage has been recorded as far back as 1741. \n\nRoss Eckler has noted that most of the longest English words are not likely to occur in general text, meaning non-technical present-day text seen by casual readers, in which the author did not specifically intend to use an unusually long word. According to Eckler, the longest words likely to be encountered in general text are deinstitutionalization and counterrevolutionaries, with 22 letters each. \n\nA computer study of over a million samples of normal English prose found that the longest word one is likely to encounter on an everyday basis is uncharacteristically, at 20 letters. \n\nThe words Internationalization and localization are abbreviated \"i18n\" and \"l10n\", respectively, the embedded number representing the number of letters between the first and the last.\n\nCreations of long words \n\nCoinages \n\nIn his play Assemblywomen (Ecclesiazousae), the ancient Greek comedic playwright Aristophanes created a word of 171 letters (183 in the transliteration below), which describes a dish by stringing together its ingredients:\n\nLopadotemakhoselakhogaleokranioleipsanodrimypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakekhymenokikhlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptokephalliokigklopeleiolagōiosiraiobaphētraganopterýgōn.\n\nHenry Carey's farce Chrononhotonthologos (1743) holds the opening line: \"Aldiborontiphoscophornio! Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?\"\n\nThomas Love Peacock put these creations into the mouth of the phrenologist Mr. Cranium in his 1816 romp Headlong Hall: osteosarchaematosplanchnochondroneuromuelous (44 characters) and osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary (51 characters).\n\nJames Joyce made up nine 100-letter words plus one 101-letter word in his novel Finnegans Wake, the most famous of which is Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk. Appearing on the first page, it allegedly represents the symbolic thunderclap associated with the fall of Adam and Eve. As it appears nowhere else except in reference to this passage, it is generally not accepted as a real word. Sylvia Plath made mention of it in her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, when the protagonist was reading Finnegans Wake.\n\n\"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious\", the 34-letter title of a song from the movie Mary Poppins, does appear in several dictionaries, but only as a proper noun defined in reference to the song title. The attributed meaning is \"a word that you say when you don't know what to say.\" The idea and invention of the word is credited to songwriters Robert and Richard Sherman.\n\nAgglutinative constructions \n\nThe English language permits the legitimate extension of existing words to serve new purposes by the addition of prefixes and suffixes. This is sometimes referred to as agglutinative construction. This process can create arbitrarily long words: for example, the prefixes pseudo (false, spurious) and anti (against, opposed to) can be added as many times as desired. A word like anti-aircraft (pertaining to the defense against aircraft) is easily extended to anti-anti-aircraft (pertaining to counteracting the defense against aircraft, a legitimate concept) and can from there be prefixed with an endless stream of \"anti-\"s, each time creating a new level of counteraction. More familiarly, the addition of numerous \"great\"s to a relative, e.g. great-great-great-grandfather, can produce words of arbitrary length. In musical notation, a 8192nd note may be called a semihemidemisemihemidemisemihemidemisemiquaver.\n\nAntidisestablishmentarianism is the longest common example of a word formed by agglutinative construction.\n\nTechnical terms \n\nA number of scientific naming schemes can be used to generate arbitrarily long words.\n\nThe IUPAC nomenclature for organic chemical compounds is open-ended, giving rise to the 189,819-letter chemical name Methionylthreonylthreonyl...isoleucine for the protein also known as titin, which is involved in striated muscle formation. In nature, DNA molecules can be much bigger than protein molecules and therefore potentially be referred to with much longer chemical names. For example, the wheat chromosome 3B contains almost 1 billion base pairs, so the sequence of one of its strands, if written out in full like Adenilyladenilylguanilylcystidylthymidyl..., would be about 8 billion letters long. The longest published word, Acetylseryltyrosylseryliso...serine, referring to the coat protein of a certain strain of tobacco mosaic virus, was 1,185-letters long, and appeared in the American Chemical Society's Chemical Abstracts Service in 1964 and 1966.Chemical Abstracts Formula Index, Jan.-June 1964, Page 967F; Chemical Abstracts 7th Coll. Formulas, C23H32-Z, 56-65, 1962–1966, Page 6717F In 1965, the Chemical Abstracts Service overhauled its naming system and started discouraging excessively long names.\n\nJohn Horton Conway and Landon Curt Noll developed an open-ended system for naming powers of 10, in which one sexmilliaquingentsexagintillion, coming from the Latin name for 6560, is the name for 103(6560+1) 1019683. Under the long number scale, it would be 106(6560) \n 1039360. Sbiis Sabian's \"Large Numbers\" website states that the largest number to say (nine hundred ninety nine novemnonagintinongenti-enneennaconteennahectenonecxenaenneennaconteennahecte...nine hundred ninety-nine billion nine hundred ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine) would take 10^{10^{3000}} years to say out, which would be the same amount of characters.\n\nGammaracanthuskytodermogammarus loricatobaicalensis is sometimes cited as the longest binomial name—it is a kind of amphipod. However, this name, proposed by B. Dybowski, was invalidated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.\n\nParastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides is the longest accepted binomial name. It is a species of soldier fly. \n\nAequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic, at 52 letters, describing the spa waters at Bath, England, is attributed to Dr. Edward Strother (1675–1737). The word is composed of the following elements:\n* Aequeo: equal (Latin, aequo )\n* Salino: containing salt (Latin, salinus)\n* Calcalino: calcium (Latin, calx)\n* Ceraceo: waxy (Latin, cera)\n* Aluminoso: alumina (Latin)\n* Cupreo: from \"copper\"\n* Vitriolic: resembling vitriol\n\nNotable long words \n\nPlace names \n\nThere is some debate as to whether a place name is a legitimate word.\n\nThe longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country is\nTaumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters), which is a hill in New Zealand. The name is in the Māori language.\n\nIn Canada, the longest place name is Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde, a township in Ontario, at 61 letters or 68 non-space characters. \n\nThe 58-letter name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a town on Anglesey, an island of Wales. In terms of the traditional Welsh alphabet, the name is only 51 letters long, as certain digraphs in Welsh are considered as single letters, for instance ll, ng and ch. It is generally agreed, however, that this invented name, adopted in the mid-19th century, was contrived solely to be the longest name of any town in Britain. The official name of the place is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, commonly abbreviated to Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG.\n\nThe longest non-contrived place name in the United Kingdom which is a single non-hyphenated word is Cottonshopeburnfoot (19 letters) and the longest which is hyphenated is Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe (29 characters).\n\nThe longest place name in the United States (45 letters) is Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, a lake in Webster, Massachusetts. It means \"Fishing Place at the Boundaries – Neutral Meeting Grounds\" and is sometimes facetiously translated as \"you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle\". The lake is also known as Webster Lake. The longest hyphenated names in the U.S. are Winchester-on-the-Severn, a town in Maryland, and Washington-on-the-Brazos, a notable place in Texas history.\n\nThe longest official geographical name in Australia is Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya. It has 26 letters and is a Pitjantjatjara word meaning \"where the Devil urinates\". \n\nIn Ireland, the longest English placename at 22 letters is Muckanaghederdauhaulia (from the Irish language, Muiceanach Idir Dhá Sháile, meaning \"pig-marsh between two saltwater inlets\") in County Galway. If this is disallowed for being derived from Irish, or not a town, the longest at 19 letters is Newtownmountkennedy in County Wicklow.\n\nPersonal names \n\nGuinness World Records formerly contained a category for longest personal name used.\n* From about 1975 to 1985, the recordholder was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffvoralternwarengewissenhaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeundsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvonangreifendurchihrraubgierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolftausendjahresvorandieerscheinenwanderersteerdemenschderraumschiffgebrauchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlangefahrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchenachdiesternwelchegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinderneurassevonverstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefortplanzenundsicherfreuenanlebenslanglichfreudeundruhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvonandererintelligentgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraum, Senior (746 letters), also known as Wolfe+585, Senior.\n* After 1985 Guinness briefly awarded the record to a newborn girl with a longer name. The category was removed shortly afterward.\n\nLong birth names are often coined in protest of naming laws or for other personal reasons.\n* The naming law in Sweden was challenged by parents Lasse Diding and Elisabeth Hallin, who proposed the given name \"Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116\" for their child (pronounced, 43 characters), which was rejected by a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden.\n\nWords with certain characteristics of notable length \n\n* Schmaltzed and strengthed (10 letters) appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in The Oxford English Dictionary, while scraunched and scroonched appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in Webster's Third New International Dictionary; but squirrelled (11 letters) is the longest if pronounced as one syllable only (as permitted in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary at squirrel, and in Longman Pronunciation Dictionary). Schtroumpfed (12 letters) was coined by Umberto Eco, while broughammed (11 letters) was coined by William Harmon after broughamed (10 letters) was coined by George Bernard Shaw.\n* Strengths is the longest word in the English language containing only one vowel.\n* Euouae, a medieval musical term, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and the word with the most consecutive vowels. However, the \"word\" itself is simply a mnemonic consisting of the vowels to be sung in the phrase \"seculorum Amen\" at the end of the lesser doxology. (Although u was often used interchangeably with v, and the variant \"Evovae\" is occasionally used, the v in these cases would still be a vowel.)\n* The longest words with no repeated letters are dermatoglyphics, misconjugatedly and uncopyrightables. \n* The longest word whose letters are in alphabetical order is the eight-letter Aegilops, a grass genus. However, this is arguably both Latin and a proper noun. There are several six-letter English words with their letters in alphabetical order, including abhors, almost, begins, biopsy, chimps and chintz.\n* The longest words recorded in OED with each vowel only once, and in order, are abstemiously, affectiously, and tragediously (OED). Fracedinously and gravedinously (constructed from adjectives in OED) have thirteen letters; Gadspreciously, constructed from Gadsprecious (in OED), has fourteen letters. Facetiously is among the few other words directly attested in OED with single occurrences of all five vowels and the semivowel y.\n* The longest single palindromic word in English is rotavator, another name for a rotary tiller for breaking and aerating soil.\n\nTyped words \n\n* The longest words typable with only the left hand using conventional hand placement on a QWERTY keyboard are tesseradecades, aftercataracts, and the more common but sometimes hyphenated sweaterdresses. Using the right hand alone, the longest word that can be typed is johnny-jump-up, or, excluding hyphens, monimolimnion and phyllophyllin.\n* The longest English word typable using only the top row of letters has 11 letters: rupturewort. Similar words with 10 letters include: pepperwort, perpetuity, proprietor, requietory, repertoire, tripertite, pourriture and typewriter. The word teetertotter (used in North American English) is longer at 12 letters, although it is usually spelled with a hyphen.\n* The longest using only the middle row is shakalshas (10 letters). Nine-letter words include flagfalls, galahads and alfalfas.\n* Since the bottom row contains no vowels, no standard words can be formed. Exceptions might include Zzz, seen in some dictionaries to denote sleep, or m, the clitic form of my. \n* The longest words typable by alternating left and right hands are antiskepticism and leucocytozoans respectively.\n* On a Dvorak keyboard, the longest \"left-handed\" words are epopoeia, jipijapa, peekapoo, and quiaquia. Other such long words are papaya, Kikuyu, opaque, and upkeep. Kikuyu is typed entirely with the index finger, and so the longest one-fingered word on the Dvorak keyboard. There are no vowels on the right-hand side, and so the longest \"right-handed\" word is crwth.",
"Letter-by-Letter Word Games - Panix\nThis is an attempt to list the letter-by-letter word games ... up words before we play. Other Scrabble ... a word which contain these three consonants moves ...\nLetter-by-Letter Word Games\nLetter-by-Letter Word Games\nCompiled by Steffan O'Sullivan\nThis page last updated September 14, 1997 [Yikes! I'm way behind! Folks have been sending more titles, and I haven't gotten to entering them yet - bad me. No excuse. Real Soon Now.]\n[Note as of December 24, 1999: no, I never did get around to updating this file. But someone did volunteer to take over! Graham Toal has kindly taken over the task of collating all the notes I had for over two years. The enlarged, updated list can be found at http://www.gtoal.com/wordgames/ .\nI recommend you head there now, as it contains everything that's in this page, plus much more! He's not only added games, but also information and letter distributions for some of the games listed. He's also interested in computer simulations of word games, and has a whole section devoted to that.]\nIf you have information to contribute to this project, you should e-mail it to Graham Toal .\nThe rest of this page has not been updated since 1997.\nBack to Steffan O'Sullivan's Home Page\nThis is an attempt to list the letter-by-letter word games that have been published, that work with the English language. (And the language of the U.S.A., too, for you UK readers...)\nThe phrase \"letter-by-letter\" is used simply to distinguish such word games from word games which use whole words, phrases, sentences, etc. Examples of the latter include Taboo, Guestures, Trivial Pursuit, Charades, etc., all of which can be considered \"word games\", but are outside the scope of this list. Instead, this list focuses on games in which the basic element is a letter, and words are built up from there. Scrabble is probably the best-known letter-by-letter word game today, so think of games similar to that - at least vaguely similar, at any rate.\nThis list is not done yet - there have been an astonishing number of such games published. However, I'm burned out on it - I'm no longer seeking other titles of such games, but still am seeking comments for any game listed which lacks them. I'm also asking for corrections to any misinformation below! Send any such suggestions to gtoal @ gtoal.com .\nContributors: Comments are by:\nCompiled by Steffan O'Sullivan\nAd Lib published by Lowe. A remake of Scribbage (below). [SOS]\nAddiction published by Waddingtons. Choosing one die at a time, place them in a 5x5 grid, making as many words as you can, crossword fashion. [SOS]\nAdministrative Waltz published by Ariel. This is a satirical board game about rising to the top of various bureaucracies (the military, politics, etc.) in the UK, but in some way it incorporates the making of words from letter tiles. [DB]\nAlfred's Other Game published by Selchow & Righter. This tile games is for 1-4 players, and is basically solitaire, whether played alone or with others. Each player has three areas: a place where tiles are laid out randomly at start, a place where completed words are spelled, and a place for leftovers. You form words from each line of six tiles - unused letters go to the leftover area, and can be reused later. Not a great game, unless multi-player solitaire is your thing. By Alfred E. Butts, the creator of Scrabble. [SOS]\nAnagrams published by Selchow & Righter. 200 tiles, build words from them. You can steal your opponents words if you can add one or more letters to make an anagram of their words. I like it. [SOS]\nBali published by Avalon Hill, 1980. Kind of similar to rummy where you build words as melds and they can be stolen with anagrams. [RI]. A word is built out of the players' cards on a common area; by adding letters from one's hand, one hand can steal the word. Numerous variants exist. [DT]\nBits & Pieces published by Samuel Ward. Some of the dice sides have individual letters, some have letter combinations. Race against time. [SOS]\nBoggle (& variants) published by Parker Brothers. Boggle has 16 dice in a 4x4 pattern (Big Boggle, now called Boggle Master, has 25 in a 5x5 pattern). Shake the holder, the dice settle into place with a single side up, and start the timer. You have 3 minutes to find as many words as you can. A word can be spelled by moving from die to die, orthogonally or diagonally, without hitting the same die twice. Each die can only be used once in spelling a given word, but may be used over and over again for each new word. Words must be a minimum of three letters. Very good game. [SOS]\nBuzzle published by Fanjos in 1994. This is the German rerelease of Runes (see below). I believe it was nominated for Spiel des Jahres. [KM]\nBuzzword(s?) published by ??? -- You roll a cup full of dice and put them on a scrabble like board. Recent game (a few years). Not as good as it sounds. Reviewed in Games, maybe in The Game Report (check out online). I have a copy, so if you bug me about it I can find company and year. [BB]\nCampbell's Alphabet Scoop & Spell published by Warren Industries. Scoop piles of letters out of the Campbell's alphabet soup can to spell words. [SOS]\nCatchword published by International Games. Consonants on cards, vowels on dice, which are thrown anew each turn. Variations given. [SOS]\nChessword published by Waddington's House of Games, 1972. Played on an elongated chessboard where the white squares have the alphabet on them, and using only the non-pawn pieces. Each player tries to maneuver any one of his pieces onto the letter he needs for his word, whilst preventing the opponent from doing the same. [DT]\nCountdown published by Piatnik (Austria), designed by frederic Leygonie, 2-6 players aged 10+, pub March '97. Make words by playing letter cards: longest wins. [PE]\nCrash published in the Feb 1971 issue of Word Ways. Related to Jotto, but in this game, you only score crashes: a crash is an instance of the same letter *in the same position* in the target word. Thus shine/canoe scores 1, parse/spear scores 0. This gave rise to a number of variants. [TU]\nCross Cubes published by Baron Scott. 19 letter cubes, 6 black cubes to use as blanks, as in crossword puzzles. Place the black cubes first, then shake the letter dice and start a timer. [SOS]\nCrossCheck published by TSR. A crossword game, something like 'Swoggle, but here you are actually answering clues. [DB]\nCrossword published by MB, 1978. Nearly identical to Scribbage. [AM]\nCrossword Bingo published by Skor-Mor/Samuel Ward. 240 letter tiles. Words must be formed before you can place tiles on bingo cards. Timer, simultaneous play. [SOS]\nCrossword Cubes published by Selchow & Righter. 14 dice, you get two to four tosses (as in Yahtzee), forming words in crossword fashion. You can only score one word of each length from 2-8 letters. [SOS]\nCrossword Dominoes published by Selchow & Righter. These domino-shaped tiles contain two letters. On one side, they are horizontally adjacent, on the other, the same two letters are vertically adjacent. You try to spell words with them, crossword fashion. Each player must link on to a tile played by a previous player - there's a bonus for playing all five tiles in one hand, but they must all touch each other. Excellent game. [SOS]\nCrossword Lexicon published by Parker Bros., 1937. I haven't seen it, but I suspect it is the same as Waddington's Lexcion, below. [SOS]\nCrozzle published by Cadaco. Paper in special holders form crossword frames. Letters are drawn one at a time, and all players fill their own in at the same time, one letter at a time. Try to have the most words when the puzzle is full. [SOS]\nDig-It published by Cadaco. 378 letter tiles, many cards with a subject printed on each. Deal out subject cards, players simply dig into the common pile of letter tiles, spelling words relating to their subject. [SOS]\nDixit published by Waddingtons. [Description needed.]\nDizzy Spell published by Gabriel, 1978. The board is 5x5 with holes which are initially covered with reversible O/X pieces, all on the O side. Then a card with letters which align with the holes is inserted in the base. The first player uncovers two letters, making sure his opponent sees them too, then replaces the plugs, X side up. Play continues with the players alternating. After the third pair of letters has been revealed, each player may guess a word every turn. To do so, announce the word, then expose the letters (from the Xs) in the correct order. If correct, the player keeps the pieces removed and those letters can no longer be used. If incorrect, remove 2 points from the guesser's score. Once all letters are X side up, continue the process but flip the pieces back to the O side. Play continues until all the pieces are back to the O side or both players decide to give up. Score 1 point per piece. [DT]\nEureka published by Amigo Spiel (Germany), designed by Haim Shafir, 2-6 players aged 10+, pub April '97. A word is hidden in the mechanism, players roll dice to enable them to open flaps, revealing letters. When they guess the word they score the values of the closed flaps. [PE]\nFoil published by 3M, 1968. Players score points for forming one or more words from the hand of letter-cards they're dealt. They then scramble the word(s) and show it (them) to their opponents. The latter score bonus points for unscrambling the word(s) within one-minute. [DT]\nForesight (4Cyte) published by MB. Tiles. [Description needed.]\nFour Letter Words published by Lakeside, 1975. Using a 4x4x4 3D tic-tac-toe board, players try to make four letter words. [DT]\nGot a Minute published by Selchow & Righter(?). Seven cubes with letters are ecased in a clear cube & with a minute sand timer. You have 1 minute to find as many words using the 7 letters. [RI]\nGrid Word published by Waddingtons. Cards with two letters on them, must be played with other cards to make four-letter words. [SOS]\nHangman published by MB. Each player's word is kept hidden from the opponent - simultaneous classic hangman, basically. [SOS] When a player missed, a dial on the case showing a hangman was turned adding another \"body part\" until you were hung. The only problem is there were far too many misses allowed (something like 12). [RI]\nHearts published by MB (old). Dice. [Description needed.]\nInVerse: The Poetry Game, unpublished, written by Stan Anderson. Link to description . [SA]\nIpswich published by Selchow & Righter, 1983. Each of the up to 4 players has a board with crossword spaces on it (4 intersecting word tracks). Each player draws 14 tiles and arranges as many of them as possible to make up words on his board within 10 minutes. Within the first minute, you have the option of trading tiles in for new ones (this costs score). There are bonuses for making words that intersect. After this first round, players retain any 4 tiles of their choice and then pass the boards, with their remaining tiles, to the left. Each player draws 2 more tiles. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds. [DT]\nJarnac published by Chieftain in Canada (also published in France by a different company). An outstanding and heady Anagrams game in which two players build words on individual boards but have the option to steal letters from their opponents. Superb scoring system. [MT] My favorite word game. [BF]\nJitters published by MB. Jitters has dice with letters and cards with crossword patterns. Start the (noisy) timer, turn over a card, throw the dice, and then use some or all of the dice to form a word pattern that matches the card. If you're stumped you can reroll all the dice. When you succeed, you have the choice of stopping the timer or turning another card and rerolling. If the timer goes off by itself, you lose credit for all the cards you finished that turn. Some of the patterns are easier than others. The harder the card, the more points it's worth. [DW]\nJotto published commercially in 1957 by The Jotto Corporation, later Selchow & Righter. [MK] Basically Mastermind with letters - an excellent game, especially while waiting for your food in a crowded restaraunt - you just need two pieces of paper and two pencils. Here are the rules as I learned them. [SOS]\nKan-U-Go published by Waddingtons. Old (50s, 60s?) card game. Players make words from the cards in their hand, adding them to what's on the table in crossword style. If you can't go you pick up a card, first to get rid of all their cards ends the hand. Score is values of cards left in hand, which count against you. Games ends when someone reaches 100 points and player with fewest points wins. [PE]\nKeep Quiet published by Kopptronix. Letter dice with the manual alphabet for the deaf on them. One game is crossword-style, another longest word. [SOS]\nKeep Quiet Reword published by Kopptronix. Cards are played four or five at a time to make words, then words can be partially covered up to make new words, as in Up Words. The cards have the English alphabet on the reverse side of manual alphabet. [SOS]\nKeyword published by Parker Brothers. Similar to Scrabble, but each letter is 5 points unless played on your color, in which case it's 10 points. There are also keyword squares, which are worth +20 points. And keyword cards, which are turned over one at a time until claimed - if you spell the keyword, claim the card which will add 50 points to your score at the end of the game. The board has four colors of tiles, mostly clumped together in each of the corners. I have fond memories of this game, as it was my grandmother's favorite game, and I played many times with her while growing up. [SOS]\nKontrast published by Matthews & Marshall. 112 cards - empty hand by spelling words. [SOS]\nLast Word published by Milton-Bradley, 1985. A 10x10 board is loaded with tiles, randomly. Players then walk their piece across the board, picking up tiles as they go, trying not to become stranded. On your turn, you get to pick up an entire word, so this goes pretty fast. The board is treated as wrap-around (toroidal continuity), which keeps the edges from being traps. Bonus points for isolating an opponent and for being the last to pick up a word. [DT]\nLast Word by Sid Sackson, published in the book A Gamut of Games by Random House (1969), Pantheon (1982), & Dover (1992). Pencil and paper game of filling in a 9x9 grid. Start with the middle 9 spaces filed with letters taken from a random sentence, then play one letter at a time in an empty space, adjacent to at least two other letters already played. Score for words formed - you may rearrange the letters, but not skip any, when scoring. [SOS]\nLetter Pile publisher unknown. Stylized letters are printed on clear plastic cards. Players gather the letters of their secret words into stacks; opponents try to guess the words by examining the lines and curves on the pile of overlapping cards.[BB2]\nLexicon published by Waddingtons. First published in 1933, this game uses cards, crossword fashion. Cards left in hand when someone goes out count against you - low score wins. Combine two sets to play with up to eight. [SOS]\nLewis Carroll's Chess Wordgame published by Kadon. Played on a chess board, each player starts with a letter in each of his first rank squares. You try to spell words on your fifth rank, moving letters one at a time as if they were queens. You may not stop on your fourth or eighth rank, but may move to your sixth or seventh, in an attempt to block your opponent. Despite the name, it's actually by Martin Gardner, based on a brief mention of the idea in one of Lewis Carroll's notebooks. It's okay - neither great nor bad. [SOS]\nLingo published by Lingo Games. Words are built on a 5x5 grid, any direction, even diagonally. [SOS]\nLogomachy, or War of Words published by F.A. Wright Co., 1874. Mentioned in Sid Sackson's book, A Gamut of Games. [SOS]\nMontage published by Gamut of Games, designed by Prince Djoli Kansil. You form a word on a board with chips, each color of which signifies several different letters, and give a clue to it; your partner tries to guess it before either opponent can. Whichever side gets it owns those chips. [TU]\nMy Word published by Gamut of Games (similar to Jotto) [MK]\nMy Word published by Waddingtons. I think this is a different game than the above - anyone know for sure? [Description needed.] [SOS]\nNexus published by Lodestone Games. Contains many games, some similar to Anagrams. Some tiles have letters, others syllables, the latter scoring more points. [SOS]\nOption published by Parker Brothers, 1983. A crossword game using prisms. Play includes flipping prisms already on the board to switch them to the alternate letter. Players score extra if the word is all in one color. Why they didn't use all three sides of the prisms is a mystery. [DT]\nOverturn published by Pressman. The letters are printed right on the board in this game. The board for a single game is made up of 9 small squares, each with four letters on them. There are 18 squares included - rotate and shuffle them after each play, and you'll get a different set-up each time. There are circles (green on one side, silver on the other) which fit over the letters. Spell a word as in Boggle and claim those letters by placing circles around them, your color up. The next player must use at least one new letter and one used letter, flipping any circles around letters used to his color. Very good game. I have an article on three-player Overturn . [SOS]\nPalabra published by Kondrick. Seven-card hands. Two or three stars on some cards serve as multipliers so you can score 2*2*3*3*3 times the base score if lucky and careful. Player interaction is minor. [TU]\nPass the Bomb published by Gibsons Games, 1996 (box text: \"Invented by Los Rodriguez and licenced by Weekend Games; Made in Austria by Piatnik, 1994\"). Like Hot Potato, you don't want to be the one holding the bomb when it explodes. In order to pass it to the next person, however, you must first say a valid word containing a given sequence of letters (or, since bluffing is encouraged, make people _think_ you did...). [BB2]\nPerfect 10 published by Smethport. Identical to Anagrams (above), but with only 100 tiles. [SOS]\nPerquackey published by Pressman. Players roll 7 dice, then rattle off all 3+ letter words. You can only get points for the first 5 words with the same # of letters (5 3 letter words, 5 4 letter words). Point scoring is based on number of words of each type. Once you are vulnerable, you add a few red dice (with more obscure letters) and must start with 4 letter words. Solitairish (take turns, race point score). [BB]\nPhlounder published by 3M, 1962. Letters are fed randomly through chute-like troughs; players try to make words out of what comes out. [DT]\nPick Two published by Tah Dah. Form words with cards as quickly as possible. When you form one the other players have to take two more cards and continue. [RI]\nPlay On Wordz published by Milton Bradley, 1986. It has a plastic case with 9 dice (called a dice roller). There are 6 dice in an outer circle and 3 dice in the middle. Each die is in a cavity and can't be removed. A player rubs his hand over the dice, rotating them, and places the game on the table for everyone to see. The object is to use the letters shown to make words of 4 or more letters. Letters do not have to be adjacent. First player to make 10 words says STOP and players compare lists. Duplicate words are eliminated. Each remaining word counts one point. Words with more than 4 letters get an extra point for each letter over 4. We like it a lot, and adjust the rules for younger players or poor spellers as needed. [CK]\nProbe published by PB. Word guessing game like Hangman. [RI]. Sort of simultaneous Hangman. [DT]\nPronto published by Selchow and Righter in the late 1970's or early 1980's. A letter dice game, where you receive credit for various combinations. Similar to word yahtzee but with different scoring possibilities. Excellent solitaire. [MT]\nQuadtriple published by Eltron. [Description needed.]\nQue published by Knots. Cards with letters - some have one letter, others two-letters, and there are two wild-cards. Many variants given. [SOS]\nQuibble published by Just Games. Ten wooden sticks have 10 letters on each edge. Randomly place them to make a 10x10 square of letters. Some variants require finding words in a given row, others in the whole array. [SOS]\nQuizzle published by Copp Clark Games, Canada, 1978. There are four plastic crossword grids, a supply of cardboard letter tiles (also wild blanks and black squares) and a special die marked (1 1 2 2 3 *). On a player's turn, he rolls the die and places that many letters of his choice on the grid (other players simultaneously draw the same tiles but place them on their own grids as they choose). A Joker (*) counts for either 3 tiles or the replacement of an already-played tile. The game ends once the grid is filled. Only completed words count for score. [DT]\nQwink published by Selchow & Righter. [Description needed.]\nRätsel Turm, a game by Heinz Meister, published by FX Schmid, 1992. The aim of the game is to build towers with coloured blocks, the lowest block representing the first letter of a word, etc. There are blocks of different colours: green means A, B or C; yellow D, E or F, etc. Five different games use this basic system. For example, each player on his turn builds a tower, and the first other player who finds a corresponding word scores 1 point. Another example: The first player chooses a block, and each player on his turn must add a block on the top of the tower, or accuse the former player of bluffing when he cannot name a corresponding word. [BF]\nRazzle published by Parker Bros. Try to move a carriage towards your opponent. The carriage has six letter dice which rotate when the carriage is moved. First to find a word formed with the letters showing moves the carriage towards his opponent, which then rotates the dice to reveal different letters. [SOS]\nRed Letter published by Games Gang. Like Scrabble, except all letters are worth 1 pt. Letters can be either upper or lower case allowing proper nouns, bonuses for using all red letters (especially in the red zone -- outmost 5 rows/columns of the board) and bonuses for using words that fit a category listed on a card and with so many letters. [RI]\nRondo published by Ravensburger/FX Schmidt (Germany), designed by Abrahami/Netz, 2-4 players aged 12+, pub 97. Stand holds letter cards and can be extended as the length of the word increases. Players make words by adding, changing or blanking out a letter in the word that's already there. [PE]\nRoyalty published by US Games. Similar to Word Rummy except you only score if no one can steal your word in one round. [RI]\nRPM published by Selchow ↦ Righter(?). The board is round and it winds up and revolves. You spell words with wood letter tiles as the board rotates into your area. [CL]\nRSVP published by Selchow & Righter. You have an upright grid, in which letters can be placed from either side. A letter placed shows on both sides - but if one reads \"BY\" on one side of the grid, it reads \"YB\" on the other. Object is to score more words than your opponent, taking turns placing one letter at a time. [SOS]\nRunes published by Eon. The basic component of this game is actually the letter element: a small straight, a large straight, a small curve and a large curve. Each player's board lists each letter with the one legal way to create the letter using the letter elements. Think of a secret word (five or six letters, determine before starting), and the others try to guess first what elements compose a given letter, then which letter it is, then which word. Excellent game with four players, a bit lacking with less. Longer review. [SOS]\nScoring Anagrams published by Selchow & Righter. Similar to Anagrams, with a scoring system instead of final goal. [SOS]\nScrabble designed by Alfred E. Butts, published by Selchow & Righter, later MB. Originally published in 1931 as Criss Cross. 15x15 board with 104 tiles. The letters are given a value (not always in keeping with their frequency - \"H\" is worth far too much, for example - Alfred got his original distribution by counting letters on the front page of an issue of the New York Times!), and some spaces are special: double-letter, double-word, triple-letter, triple-word scoring spaces. We play with the official Scrabble Dictionary, and are allowed to look up words before we play. Other Scrabble players find this practice blasphemous, but I suspect they haven't tried it - it makes it a better game, at least from our worldview. This is definitely the classic wordgame - one of the best. R. Wayne Schmittberger has a Scrabble variant with no luck involved: you lay out the tiles at the beginning of the game, randomly, face-up, around the board, so that there are two distinct ends to the line of tiles. After you play, you may draw from either end - but all letters taken in one turn must be from the same end. [SOS]\nScrabble Duplicate published by Selchow & Righter. 7 cards were displayed in a rack. Each player using their own scorepad (with Scrabble board on it) would write in the word they used. And then 7 new letters would be displayed. This way everyone would get the same rack on every turn. [RI]\nScrabble for Juniors published by Selchow & Righter. Actually the side of the board where you could make your own words would count as a legitimate game. [RI] (I had originally requested no pure children's game, listing this game as an example, but Rich Irving rightly points out that it should be included.) [SOS]\nScrabble Overturn(?) published by Selchow & Righter. The letters were on cylindars which could be rotated to change the color of the player getting credit for it. Different than the Pressman game. [RI]\nScrabble Up published by MB. Build words up a rack while the letter come sliding down another track. [RI]\nScribbage published by Lowe. Archetypal game of shake the dice, roll them out, you have X minutes to create words in a crossword pattern using as many dice as you can, pass the dice and cup to the next player, etc. The dice in Scribbage have both letters and a value for each letter on the faces - many dice games have just letters. [SOS]\nShoot & Spell published by Tiger Games, 1989. Letters are shot out of dispensers at each corner of the boxing-ring-like board. Players must make a word as quickly as possible from the displayed letters. [DT]\nSI (Sports Illustrated Words) published by Parker Bros. I own this, but no rules, so am not 100% certain that what follows is correct. There are 30 dice, each side a letter, and a number of cards. The cards are specific to a given sport, and have Bonus Words on them. I'm assuming you draw a card, roll the dice, and have X minutes to form as many words as you can related to the sport - scoring extra if you can spell the Bonus Words. [SOS] [Description needed.]\nSkirmish published by KDS Industries. Battleship with letters. Really. You make a word using pegs to form the letters, and try to hit the other player's pegs and guess the word. [DB]\nSpeed Scrabble, unpublished, uses Scrabble tiles. Heath Haley sent me the rules, but does not know who wrote them. I'm reluctant to post them without being able to credit the author. Anyone know who wrote this variant of Scrabble which is played without the board, simultaneously, to your own crossword-shaped words in front of each player?\nSpellbinder published by Mattell. [Description needed]\nSpellbound published by Lakeside. Letter dice fall into an upright stand which shows letters vertically, on four different sides at once. Each side requires players to find a different type of word formation. Timer. [SOS]\nSpellwell published by Value Wargames. Mostly a table using a percentile dice - roll the dice X times, make words. Then make sentences with your words. [SOS]\nSpill & Spell published by Parker Bros. 15 dice, timer, make crossword-type words, longer words score more; variants included. [SOS]\nSum-Words published by MPH Games. [Description needed.]\n'Swoggle published by Chieftan Products (Canada). One of my favorite games and good to play with just two players. One problem is there's a little too much luck for my taste. On your turn, you roll one die and whatever you roll is how many letters (of your choice) you can add to the board. If you roll a one you're really screwed. The best house rule we found to fix this is to just let the player roll again and add it to the 1. [JG]\nTake A Letter published by Rainbow Games, 1985. The board is a 17 x 17 grid with two corners taken out, with a variety of markings on it. There is also a track going around the board featuring letters and a few other squares. Players strive to make words of certain lengths or containing specific letters, as designated by their Word Play cards. The letter track is used to garner the required letters; Word Play cards also allow letters to be stolen from other players. [DT]\nThat's Incredible published by MPH Games. Actually nine games, only the first one, Zenith, is a word game. Using 81 letter cards, build a 9x9 crossword puzzle. [SOS]"
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What country, including land from subtropical plains to sub-alpine peaks of over 7,000m (23,000 ft), and currently a monarchy, was rated in 2006 as the eighth happiest country in the world? | Bhutan | [
"Quality_of_life.txt\nQuality of life\nQuality of life (QOL) is the general well-being of individuals and societies, outlining negative and positive features of life. It observes life satisfaction, including everything from physical health, family, education, employment, wealth, religious beliefs, finance and the environment. QOL has a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, politics and employment. It is important not to mix up the concept of QOL with a more recent growing area of health related QOL (HRQOL ). When we look at HRQOL we in effect look at QOL and its relationship with health.\n\nQuality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of living, which is based primarily on income.\n\nOverview\n\nStandard indicators of the quality of life include not only wealth and employment but also the built environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, and social belonging. \n\nAccording to ecological economist Robert Costanza:\n\nOne approach, called engaged theory, outlined in the journal of Applied Research in the Quality of Life, posits four domains in assessing quality of life: ecology, economics, politics and culture. In the domain of culture, for example, it includes the following subdomains of quality of life:\n\n* Identity and engagement\n* Creativity and recreation\n* Memory and projection\n* Belief and ideas\n* Gender and generations\n* Enquiry and learning\n* Wellbeing and health\n\nAlso frequently related are concepts such as freedom, human rights, and happiness. However, since happiness is subjective and difficult to measure, other measures are generally given priority. It has also been shown that happiness, as much as it can be measured, does not necessarily increase correspondingly with the comfort that results from increasing income. As a result, standard of living should not be taken to be a measure of happiness. Also sometimes considered related is the concept of human security, though the latter may be considered at a more basic level and for all people.\n\nQuantitative measurement\n\nUnlike per capita GDP or standard of living, both of which can be measured in financial terms, it is harder to make objective or long-term measurements of the quality of life experienced by nations or other groups of people. Researchers have begun in recent times to distinguish two aspects of personal well-being: Emotional well-being, in which respondents are asked about the quality of their everyday emotional experiences—the frequency and intensity of their experiences of, for example, joy, stress, sadness, anger, and affection— and life evaluation, in which respondents are asked to think about their life in general and evaluate it against a scale. Such and other systems and scales of measurement have been in use for some time. Research has attempted to examine the relationship between quality of life and productivity. There are many different methods of measuring quality of life in terms of health care, wealth and materialistic goods. However, it is much more difficult to measure meaningful expression of one's desires. One way to do so is to evaluate the scope of how individuals have fulfilled their own ideals. Quality of life can simply mean happiness, the subjective state of mind. By using that mentality, citizens of a developing country appreciate more since they are content with the basic necessities of health care, education and child protection. \n\nHuman Development Index\n\nPerhaps the most commonly used international measure of development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines measures of life expectancy, education, and standard of living, in an attempt to quantify the options available to individuals within a given society. The HDI is used by the United Nations Development Programme in their Human Development Report.\n\nWorld Happiness Report\n\nThe World Happiness Report is a landmark survey on the state of global happiness. It ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, reflecting growing global interest in using happiness and substantial well-being as an indicator of the quality of human development. Its growing purpose has allowed governments, communities and organizations to use appropriate data to record happiness in order to enable policies to provide better lives. The reports review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness. Also developed by the United Nations and published recently along with the HDI, this report combines both objective and subjective measures to rank countries by happiness, which is deemed as the ultimate outcome of a high quality of life. It uses surveys from Gallup, real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, and generosity to derive the final score. Happiness is already recognised as an important concept in global public policy. The World Happiness Report indicates that some regions have in recent years have been experiencing progressive inequality of happiness. Without life, there is no happiness to be realised. \n\nOther measures\n\nThe Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) is a measure developed by sociologist Morris David Morris in the 1970s, based on basic literacy, infant mortality, and life expectancy. Although not as complex as other measures, and now essentially replaced by the Human Development Index, the PQLI is notable for Morris's attempt to show a \"less fatalistic pessimistic picture\" by focusing on three areas where global quality of life was generally improving at the time, and ignoring gross national product and other possible indicators that were not improving. \n\nThe Happy Planet Index, introduced in 2006, is unique among quality of life measures in that, in addition to standard determinants of well-being, it uses each country's ecological footprint as an indicator. As a result, European and North American nations do not dominate this measure. The 2012 list is instead topped by Costa Rica, Vietnam and Colombia. \n\nGallup researchers trying to find the world's happiest countries found Denmark to be at the top of the list. uSwitch publishes an annual quality of life index for European countries. France has topped the list for the last three years. \n\nA 2010 study by two Princeton University professors looked at 1,000 randomly selected U.S. residents over an extended period. It concludes that their life evaluations – that is, their considered evaluations of their life against a stated scale of one to ten – rise steadily with income. On the other hand, their reported quality of emotional daily experiences (their reported experiences of joy, affection, stress, sadness, or anger) levels off after a certain income level (approximately $75,000 per year); income above $75,000 does not lead to more experiences of happiness nor to further relief of unhappiness or stress. Below this income level, respondents reported decreasing happiness and increasing sadness and stress, implying the pain of life’s misfortunes, including disease, divorce, and being alone, is exacerbated by poverty. \n\nGross national happiness and other subjective measures of happiness are being used by the governments of Bhutan and the United Kingdom. The World Happiness report, issued by Columbia University is a meta-analysis of happiness globally and provides an overview of countries and grassroots activists using GNH. The OECD issued a guide for the use of subjective well-being metrics in 2013. In the U.S., cities and communities are using a GNH metric at a grassroots level. \n\nThe Social Progress Index measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. Fifty-two indicators in the areas of basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity show the relative performance of nations. The index uses outcome measures when there is sufficient data available or the closest possible proxies.\n\nDay-Reconstruction Method was another way of measuring happiness, in which researchers asked their subjects to recall various things they did on the previous day and describe their mood during each activity. Being simple and approachable, this method required memory and the experiments have confirmed that the answers that people give are similar to those who repeatedly recalled each subject. The method eventually declined as it called for more effort and thoughtful responses, which often included interpretations and outcomes that do not occur to people who are asked to record every action in their daily lives. \n\nLivability\n\nThe term quality of life is also used by politicians and economists to measure the livability of a given city or nation. Two widely known measures of livability are the Economist Intelligence Unit's Where-to-be-born Index and Mercer's Quality of Living Reports. These two measures calculate the livability of countries and cities around the world, respectively, through a combination of subjective life-satisfaction surveys and objective determinants of quality of life such as divorce rates, safety, and infrastructure. Such measures relate more broadly to the population of a city, state, or country, not to individual quality of life. Livability has a long history and tradition in urban design, and neighborhoods design standards such as LEED-ND are often used in an attempt to influence livability. \n\nCrimes\n\nSome crimes against property (e.g., graffiti and vandalism) and some \"victimless crimes\" have been referred to as \"quality-of-life crimes.\" American sociologist James Q. Wilson encapsulated this argument as the Broken Window Theory, which asserts that relatively minor problems left unattended (such as litter, graffiti, or public urination by homeless individuals) send a subliminal message that disorder in general is being tolerated, and as a result, more serious crimes will end up being committed (the analogy being that a broken window left broken shows an image of general dilapidation).\n\nWilson's theories have been used to justify the implementation of zero tolerance policies by many prominent American mayors, most notably Oscar Goodman in Las Vegas, Richard Riordan in Los Angeles, Rudolph Giuliani in New York City and Gavin Newsom in San Francisco. Such policies refuse to tolerate even minor crimes; proponents argue that this will improve the quality of life of local residents. However, critics of zero tolerance policies believe that such policies neglect investigation on a case-by-case basis and may lead to unreasonably harsh penalties for crimes.\n\nPopsicle index\n\nThe Popsicle Index is a quality of life measurement coined by Catherine Austin Fitts as the percentage of people - in a community who believe that a child in their community can safely leave their home, walk to the nearest possible location to buy a popsicle, and walk back home. \n\nIn healthcare\n\nWithin the field of healthcare, quality of life is often regarded in terms of how a certain ailment affects a patient on an individual level. This may be a debilitating weakness that is not life-threatening; life-threatening illness that is not terminal; terminal illness; the predictable, natural decline in the health of an elder; an unforeseen mental/physical decline of a loved one; or chronic, end-stage disease processes. Researchers at the University of Toronto's Quality of Life Research Unit define quality of life as \"The degree to which a person enjoys the important possibilities of his or her life\" (UofT). Their Quality of Life Model is based on the categories \"being\", \"belonging\", and \"becoming\"; respectively who one is, how one is not connected to one's environment, and whether one achieves one's personal goals, hopes, and aspirations. \n\nIn international development\n\nQuality of life is an important concept in the field of international development, since it allows development to be analyzed on a measure broader than standard of living. Within development theory, however, there are varying ideas concerning what constitutes desirable change for a particular society, and the different ways that quality of life is defined by institutions therefore shapes how these organizations work for its improvement as a whole.\n\nOrganisations such as the World Bank, for example, declare a goal of \"working for a world free of poverty\", with poverty defined as a lack of basic human needs, such as food, water, shelter, freedom, access to education, healthcare, or employment. In other words, poverty is defined as a low quality of life. Using this definition, the World Bank works towards improving quality of life through neoliberal means, with the stated goal of lowering poverty and helping people afford a better quality of life.\n\nOther organizations, however, may also work towards improved global quality of life using a slightly different definition and substantially different methods. Many NGOs do not focus at all on reducing poverty on a national or international scale, but rather attempt to improve quality of life for individuals or communities. One example would be sponsorship programs that provide material aid for specific individuals. Although many organizations of this type may still talk about fighting poverty, the methods are significantly different.\n\nImproving quality of life involves action not only by NGOs, but also by governments. Global health has the potential to achieve greater political presence if governments were to incorporate aspects of human security into foreign policy. Stressing individuals’ basic rights to health, food, shelter, and freedom addresses prominent inter-sectoral problems negatively impacting today’s society and may lead to greater action and resources. Integration of global health concerns into foreign policy may be hampered by approaches that are shaped by the overarching roles of defense and diplomacy.",
"Bhutan.txt\nBhutan\nBhutan ( or; Dzongkha Dru Ü,), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a sovereign state in South Asia. A landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas, Bhutan borders the People's Republic of China to the north and India to the south, east and west. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim; and further south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu.\n\nAlong with Mongolia, Bhutan is one of two countries where the Vajrayana sect of Buddhism is dominant.\nThe King of Bhutan is known as the Druk Gyalpo, meaning the \"Thunder Dragon King\". The country's landscape ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan mountains in the north, where there are peaks in excess of . The highest mountain in Bhutan is the Gangkhar Puensum. \n\nBhutan enjoyed strong cultural links with Tibet and was located on the Silk Road between China and the Indian subcontinent. Its territory was composed of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century. At the time the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the first Zhabdrung Rinpoche, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. In the early 20th century, Bhutan established relations with the British Empire. During the rise of Chinese communism and its spread to Tibet, Bhutan signed a friendship treaty with newly independent India in 1949. The country departed from its historic isolation under the fourth Druk Gyalpo. In 2008, Bhutan transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy and held its first general election. During the same year, the throne passed to the fifth Druk Gyalpo. Bhutanese democracy has evolved with a bicameral parliament.\n\nA member of the United Nations, Bhutan has diplomatic relations with 52 countries and the European Union. It has a close strategic partnership with neighboring India and is a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It is also a member of BIMSTEC and the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Initiative. The economy of Bhutan depends greatly on hydropower exports. Tourism, mining and fruit production are other key sectors of the economy. Bhutan's per capita income is the second-highest in SAARC after the Maldives.\n\nEtymology\n\nThe precise etymology of \"Bhutan\" is unknown, although it is likely to derive from the Tibetan endonym \"Bod\" used for Tibet. Traditionally, it is taken to be a transcription of the Sanskrit Bhoṭa-anta (भोट-अन्त, \"end of Tibet\"), a reference to Bhutan's position as the southern extremity of the Tibetan plateau and culture. \n\nSince the 17th century the official name of Bhutan has been Dru Ü (country of the Drukpa Lineage, the Dragon People, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a reference to the country's dominant Buddhist sect) and Bhutan only appears in English-language official correspondence.\n\nNames similar to Bhutan — including Bottanthis, Bottan and Bottanter — began to appear in Europe around the 1580s. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier's 1676 Six Voyages is the first to record the name Boutan. However, in every case, these seem to have been describing not modern Bhutan but the Kingdom of Tibet. The modern distinction between the two did not begin until well into the Scottish explorer George Bogle's 1774 expedition — realizing the differences between the two regions, cultures and states, his final report to the East India Company formally proposed labelling the Druk Desi's kingdom as \"Boutan\" and the Panchen Lama's as \"Tibet\". The EIC's surveyor general James Rennell first anglicized the French name as Bootan and then popularized the distinction between it and greater Tibet. \n\nLocally, Bhutan has been known by many names. One of the earliest Western records of Bhutan, the 1627 Relação of the Portuguese Jesuits Estêvão Cacella and João Cabral, records its name variously as Cambirasi (among the Koch Biharis ), Potente, and Mon (an endonym for southern Tibet). The first time a separate Kingdom of Bhutan did appear on a western map, it did so under its local name as \"Broukpa\". Others including Lho Mon (\"Dark Southland\"), Lho Tsendenjong (\"Southland of the Cypress\"), Lhomen Khazhi (\"Southland of the Four Approaches\") and Lho Menjong ( \"Southland of the Herbs\"). \n\nHistory\n\nStone tools, weapons, elephants, and remnants of large stone structures provide evidence that Bhutan was inhabited as early as 2000 BC, although there are no existing records from that time. Historians have theorized that the state of Lhomon (literally, \"southern darkness\"), or Monyul (\"Dark Land\", a reference to the Monpa, the aboriginal peoples of Bhutan) may have existed between 500 BC and AD 600. The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (Sandalwood Country), and Lhomon Khashi, or Southern Mon (country of four approaches), have been found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles. \n\nBuddhism was first introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–649), a convert to Buddhism, who actually had extended the Tibetan Empire into Sikkim and Bhutan, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu (near Paro) in the Paro Valley. Buddhism was propagated in earnest in 746 under King Sindhu Rāja (also Künjom; Sendha Gyab; Chakhar Gyalpo), an exiled Indian king who had established a government in Bumthang at Chakhar Gutho Palace. \n\nMuch of early Bhutanese history is unclear because most of the records were destroyed when fire ravaged the ancient capital, Punakha, in 1827. By the 10th century, Bhutan's political development was heavily influenced by its religious history. Various subsects of Buddhism emerged that were patronized by the various Mongol warlords. After the decline of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century, these subsects vied with each other for supremacy in the political and religious landscape, eventually leading to the ascendancy of the Drukpa Lineage by the 16th century.\n\nUntil the early 17th century, Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms, when the area was unified by the Tibetan lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, who had fled religious persecution in Tibet. To defend the country against intermittent Tibetan forays, Namgyal built a network of impregnable dzongs or fortresses, and promulgated the Tsa Yig, a code of law that helped to bring local lords under centralized control. Many such dzong still exist and are active centers of religion and district administration. Portuguese Jesuits Estêvão Cacella and João Cabral were the first recorded Europeans to visit Bhutan, on their way to Tibet. They met Ngawang Namgyal, presented him with firearms, gunpowder and a telescope, and offered him their services in the war against Tibet, but the Zhabdrung declined the offer. After a stay of nearly eight months Cacella wrote a long letter from the Chagri Monastery reporting on his travels. This is a rare extant report of the Shabdrung. \n\nAfter Ngawang Namgyal's death in 1651, his passing was kept secret for 54 years; after a period of consolidation, Bhutan lapsed into internal conflict. In the year 1711 Bhutan went to war against the Mughal Empire and its Subedars, who restored Koch Bihar in the south. During the chaos that followed, the Tibetans unsuccessfully attacked Bhutan in 1714.\n\nIn the 18th century, the Bhutanese invaded and occupied the kingdom of Cooch Behar to the south. In 1772, Cooch Behar appealed to the British East India Company which assisted them in ousting the Bhutanese and later in attacking Bhutan itself in 1774. A peace treaty was signed in which Bhutan agreed to retreat to its pre-1730 borders. However, the peace was tenuous, and border skirmishes with the British were to continue for the next hundred years. The skirmishes eventually led to the Duar War (1864–65), a confrontation for control of the Bengal Duars. After Bhutan lost the war, the Treaty of Sinchula was signed between British India and Bhutan. As part of the war reparations, the Duars were ceded to the United Kingdom in exchange for a rent of Rs. 50,000. The treaty ended all hostilities between British India and Bhutan.\n\nDuring the 1870s, power struggles between the rival valleys of Paro and Tongsa led to civil war in Bhutan, eventually leading to the ascendancy of Ugyen Wangchuck, the ponlop (governor) of Tongsa. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions during 1882–85.\n\nIn 1907, an epochal year for the country, Ugyen Wangchuck was unanimously chosen as the hereditary king of the country by an assembly of leading Buddhist monks, government officials, and heads of important families. John Claude White, British Political Agent in Bhutan, took photographs of the ceremony. The British government promptly recognized the new monarchy, and in 1910 Bhutan signed the Treaty of Punakha, a subsidiary alliance which gave the British control of Bhutan's foreign affairs and meant that Bhutan was treated as an Indian princely state. This had little real effect, given Bhutan's historical reticence, and also did not appear to affect Bhutan's traditional relations with Tibet. After the new Union of India gained independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, Bhutan became one of the first countries to recognize India's independence. On 8 August 1949, a treaty similar to that of 1910, in which Britain had gained power over Bhutan's foreign relations, was signed with the newly independent India.\n\nIn 1953, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the country's legislature – a 130-member National Assembly – to promote a more democratic form of governance. In 1965, he set up a Royal Advisory Council, and in 1968 he formed a Cabinet. In 1971, Bhutan was admitted to the United Nations, having held observer status for three years. In July 1972, Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended to the throne at the age of sixteen after the death of his father, Dorji Wangchuck.\n\nPolitical reform and modernization\n\nBhutan's political system has recently changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck transferred most of his administrative powers to the Council of Cabinet Ministers and allowing for impeachment of the King by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. \n\nIn 1999, the government lifted a ban on television and the Internet, making Bhutan one of the last countries to introduce television. In his speech, the King said that television was a critical step to the modernisation of Bhutan as well as a major contributor to the country's gross national happiness (Bhutan is the only country to measure happiness), but warned that the \"misuse\" of television could erode traditional Bhutanese values. \n\nA new constitution was presented in early 2005. In December 2005, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck announced that he would abdicate the throne in his son's favour in 2008. On 14 December 2006, he announced that he would be abdicating immediately. This was followed by the first national parliamentary elections in December 2007 and March 2008.\n\nOn 6 November 2008, 28-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, eldest son of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, was crowned King. \n\nGeography\n\nBhutan is located on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas, landlocked between the Tibet Autonomous Region to the north and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to the west and south. It lies between latitudes 26°N and 29°N, and longitudes 88°E and 93°E. The land consists mostly of steep and high mountains crisscrossed by a network of swift rivers, which form deep valleys before draining into the Indian plains. Elevation rises from 200 m in the southern foothills to more than 7000 m. This great geographical diversity combined with equally diverse climate conditions contributes to Bhutan's outstanding range of biodiversity and ecosystems.\n\nThe northern region of Bhutan consists of an arc of Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows reaching up to glaciated mountain peaks with an extremely cold climate at the highest elevations. Most peaks in the north are over 7000 m above sea level; the highest point in Bhutan is Gangkhar Puensum at 7570 m, which has the distinction of being the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The lowest point, at 98 m, is in the valley of Drangme Chhu, where the river crosses the border with India. Watered by snow-fed rivers, alpine valleys in this region provide pasture for livestock, tended by a sparse population of migratory shepherds.\n\nThe Black Mountains in the central region of Bhutan form a watershed between two major river systems: the Mo Chhu and the Drangme Chhu. Peaks in the Black Mountains range between 1500 and above sea level, and fast-flowing rivers have carved out deep gorges in the lower mountain areas. The forests of the central Bhutan mountains consist of Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests in higher elevations and Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests in lower elevations. Woodlands of the central region provide most of Bhutan's forest production. The Torsa, Raidak, Sankosh, and Manas are the main rivers of Bhutan, flowing through this region. Most of the population lives in the central highlands.\n\nIn the south, the Shiwalik Hills are covered with dense Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, alluvial lowland river valleys, and mountains up to around 1500 m above sea level. The foothills descend into the subtropical Duars Plain. Most of the Duars is located in India, although a 10 to wide strip extends into Bhutan. The Bhutan Duars is divided into two parts: the northern and the southern Duars.\n\nThe northern Duars, which abut the Himalayan foothills, have rugged, sloping terrain and dry, porous soil with dense vegetation and abundant wildlife. The southern Duars has moderately fertile soil, heavy savannah grass, dense, mixed jungle, and freshwater springs. Mountain rivers, fed by either the melting snow or the monsoon rains, empty into the Brahmaputra River in India. Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the country had a forest cover of 64% as of October 2005.\n\n File:082 - Gangkar Puensum - 7,570m (Dochula pass) (4677022812).jpg|Gangkar Puensum, the highest mountain in Bhutan\n File:Himalayan Landscape.jpg|Sub-alpine Himalayan landscape \n File:Himalayan peak from Bumthang.jpg|A Himalayan peak from Bumthang\n File:Jigme Dorji National Park, Bhutan.JPG|Jigme Dorji National Park\n File:HaaValley.jpg|thumb|The Haa Valley in Western Bhutan\n\nClimate \n\nThe climate in Bhutan varies with elevation, from subtropical in the south to temperate in the highlands and polar-type climate, with year-round snow in the north. Bhutan experiences five distinct seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. Western Bhutan has the heavier monsoon rains; southern Bhutan has hot humid summers and cool winters; central and eastern Bhutan is temperate and drier than the west with warm summers and cool winters.\n\nBiodiversity\n\nBhutan signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and became a party to the convention on 25 August 1995. It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with two revisions, the most recent of which was received by the convention on 4 February 2010.\n\nAnimals\n\nBhutan has a rich primate life, with rare species such as the golden langur. A variant Assamese macaque has also been recorded, which is regarded by some authorities as a new species, Macaca munzala. \n\nThe Bengal tiger, clouded leopard, hispid hare and the sloth bear live in the lush tropical lowland and hardwood forests in the south. In the temperate zone, grey langur, tiger, goral and serow are found in mixed conifer, broadleaf and pine forests. Fruit-bearing trees and bamboo provide habitat for the Himalayan black bear, red panda, squirrel, sambar, wild pig and barking deer. The alpine habitats of the great Himalayan range in the north are home to the snow leopard, blue sheep, marmot, Tibetan wolf, antelope, Himalayan musk deer and the takin, Bhutan's national animal. The endangered wild water buffalo occurs in southern Bhutan, although in small numbers. \n\nMore than 770 species of bird have been recorded in Bhutan. The globally endangered white-winged duck has been added recently to Bhutan's bird list. \n\nPlants\n\nMore than 5,400 species of plants are found in Bhutan. Fungi form a key part of Bhutanese ecosystems, with mycorrhizal species providing forest trees with mineral nutrients necessary for growth, and with wood decay and litter decomposing species playing an important role in natural recycling.\n\nConservation \n\nThe Eastern Himalayas have been identified as a global biodiversity hotspot and counted among the 234 globally outstanding ecoregions of the world in a comprehensive analysis of global biodiversity undertaken by WWF between 1995 and 1997.\n\nAccording to the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bhutan is viewed as a model for proactive conservation initiatives. The Kingdom has received international acclaim for its commitment to the maintenance of its biodiversity. This is reflected in the decision to maintain at least sixty percent of the land area under forest cover, to designate more than 40% of its territory as national parks, reserves and other protected areas, and most recently to identify a further nine percent of land area as biodiversity corridors linking the protected areas. All of Bhutan's protected land is connected to one another through a vast network of biological corridors, allowing animals to migrate freely throughout the country. Environmental conservation has been placed at the core of the nation's development strategy, the middle path. It is not treated as a sector but rather as a set of concerns that must be mainstreamed in Bhutan's overall approach to development planning and to be buttressed by the force of law. The country's constitution mentions environment standards in multiple sections. \n\nEnvironmental issues\n\nAlthough Bhutan's natural heritage is still largely intact, the government has said that it cannot be taken for granted and that conservation of the natural environment must be considered one of the challenges that will need to be addressed in the years ahead. Nearly 56.3% of all Bhutanese citizens are involved with agriculture, forestry or conservation. The government aims to promote conservation as part of its plan to target Gross National Happiness. It currently has net zero greenhouse gas emissions because the small amount of pollution it creates is absorbed by the forests that cover most of the country. The entire country collectively produces 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. Yet the immense forest covering 72% of the country acts as a carbon sink, absorbing more than four million tons of carbon dioxide every year.\n\nBhutan has a number of progressive environmental policies that have caused the head of the UNFCCC to call it a \"inspiration and role model for the world on how economies and different countries can address climate change while at the same time improving the life of the citizen.\" For example, electric cars have been pushed in the country and make up a tenth of all cars. Because the country gets most of its energy from hydrolelectric power, it does not emit significant greenhouse gases for energy production.\n\nPressures on the natural environment are already evident and will be fuelled by a complex array of forces. They include population pressures, agricultural modernisation, poaching, hydro-power development, mineral extraction, industrialisation, urbanisation, sewage and waste disposal, tourism, competition for available land road construction and the provision of other physical infrastructure associated with social and economic development. \n\nIn practice, the overlap of these extensive protected lands with populated areas has led to mutual habitat encroachment. Protected wildlife has entered agricultural areas, trampling crops and killing livestock. In response, Bhutan has implemented an insurance scheme, begun constructing solar powered alarm fences, watch towers, and search lights, and has provided fodder and salt licks outside human settlement areas to encourage animals to stay away. \n\nThe huge market value of the Ophiocordyceps sinensis fungus crop collected from the wild has also resulted in unsustainable exploitation which is proving very difficult to regulate. \n\nGovernment and politics\n\nBhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. The reigning monarch is Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. The current Prime Minister of Bhutan is Tshering Tobgay, the leader of the People's Democratic Party.\n\nThe Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) is the head of state. The political system grants universal suffrage. It consists of the National Council, an upper house with 25 elected members; and the National Assembly with 47 elected lawmakers from political parties.\n\nExecutive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers led by the prime minister. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. Judicial power is vested in the courts of Bhutan. The legal system originates from the semi-theocratic Tsa Yig code and has been influenced by English common law during the 20th century. The chief justice is the administrative head of the judiciary.\n\nPolitical culture \n\nThe first general elections for the National Assembly were held on 24 March 2008. The chief contestants were the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party (DPT) led by Jigme Thinley and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) led by Sangay Ngedup. The DPT won the elections by taking 45 out of 47 seats. Jigme Thinley served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013.\n\nThe People's Democratic Party came to power in the 2013 elections. It won 32 seats with 54.88% of the vote. PDP leader Tshering Tobgay assumed the office of Prime Minister.\n\nForeign relations\n\nIn the early 20th century, Bhutan's principal foreign relations were with the British Empire and Tibet. The government of British India managed relations with the kingdom from the Bhutan House in Kalimpong. Fearful of Chinese communist expansion, Bhutan signed a friendship treaty with the newly independent Republic of India in 1949. Its concerns were exacerbated after the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Relations with Nepal remained strained due to Bhutanese refugees. Bhutan joined the United Nations in 1971. It was the first country to recognize Bangladesh's independence in 1971. It became a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985. The country is a member of 150 international organizations, including the Bay of Bengal Initiative, BBIN, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Group of 77.\n\nBhutan maintains strong economic, strategic and military relations with neighbouring India. In 2007, Bhutan and India revised their friendship treaty which clarified Bhutan's full control of its foreign relations, including its border with Tibet. Bhutan has very warm relations with Japan, which provides significant development assistance. The Bhutanese royals were hosted by the Japanese imperial family during a state visit in 2011. Japan is also helping Bhutan cope with glacial floods through developing an early warning system.\n\nBhutan enjoys strong political and diplomatic relations with Bangladesh. The Bhutanese king was the guest of honour during celebrations for Bangladesh's 40th anniversary of independence. A 2014 joint statement by the prime ministers of both countries announced cooperation in areas of hydropower, river management and climate change mitigation. \n\nBhutan has diplomatic relations with 52 countries and the European Union and has missions in India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Kuwait. It has two UN missions, one in New York and one in Geneva. Only India and Bangladesh have residential embassies in Bhutan, while Thailand has a consulate office in Bhutan. Other countries maintain informal diplomatic contact via their embassies in New Delhi and Dhaka.\n\nBy a long-standing agreement, Indian and Bhutanese citizens may travel to each other's countries without the need for a passport or visa but only their national identity cards. Bhutanese citizens may also work in India without legal restriction. Bhutan does not have formal diplomatic ties with its northern neighbour, China, although exchanges of visits at various levels between the two have significantly increased in recent times. The first bilateral agreement between China and Bhutan was signed in 1998 and Bhutan has also set up honorary consulates in the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Bhutan's border with China is largely not demarcated and thus disputed in some places. Approximately 269 square kilometers remain under discussion between China and Bhutan. \n\nOn 13 November 2005, Chinese soldiers crossed into the disputed territories between China and Bhutan, and began building roads and bridges. Bhutanese Foreign Minister Khandu Wangchuk took up the matter with Chinese authorities after the issue was raised in the Bhutanese parliament. In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang of the People's Republic of China has said that the border remains in dispute and that the two sides are continuing to work for a peaceful and cordial resolution of the dispute. An Indian intelligence officer has said that a Chinese delegation in Bhutan told the Bhutanese that they were \"overreacting\". The Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel has said that China might use the roads to further Chinese claims along the border.\n\nIn February 2007 the Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty was substantially revised. The Treaty of 1949, Article 2 states: \"The Government of India undertakes to exercise no interference in the internal administration of Bhutan. On its part the Government of Bhutan agrees to be guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations.\" The revised treaty now states \"In keeping with the abiding ties of close friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and India, the Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Government of the Republic of India shall cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.\" The revised treaty also includes this preamble: \"Reaffirming their respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity\", an element that was absent in the earlier version. The Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty of 2007 clarifies Bhutan's status as an independent and sovereign nation.\n\nBhutan maintains formal diplomatic relations with several Asian and European nations, Canada, and Brazil. Other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, have no formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan, but maintain informal contact through their respective embassies in New Delhi and Bhutanese honorary consulate in Washington DC. The United Kingdom has an honorary consul resident in Thimphu. \n\nMilitary \n\nThe Royal Bhutan Army is Bhutan's military service. It includes the royal bodyguard and the Royal Bhutan Police. Membership is voluntary and the minimum age for recruitment is 18. The standing army numbers about 16,000 and is trained by the Indian Army. It has an annual budget of about US$13.7 million (1.8 percent of GDP). Being a landlocked country, Bhutan has no navy. It also has no air force or army aviation corps. The Army relies on the Eastern Air Command of the Indian Air Force for air assistance.\n\nHuman rights\n\nEthnic conflict\n\nIn the 1990s, Bhutan expelled or forced to leave most of its ethnic Lhotshampa population, one-fifth of the country's entire population, demanding conformity in religion, dress, and language. The decision was motivated by the concern that the fast-growing Nepali minority were starting to revolt for a separate independent state, recalling similar events that caused the collapse of the nearby kingdom of Sikkim in 1975. Lhotshampas were arrested and expelled from the country and their property was expropriated. \n\nA harassment campaign escalating in the early 1990s ensued, and afterwards Bhutanese security forces began expelling people. According to the UNHCR, more than 107,000 Bhutanese refugees living in seven camps in eastern Nepal have been documented . Whether all inhabitants are in fact refugees is questionable because the UNHCR did not check the initial inhabitants of the refugee camps adequately. The facilities inside the camp, which were reportedly better than in the surroundings, provided a strong motivation for Nepalese to seek admittance. After many years in refugee camps, many inhabitants are now moving to host nations such as Canada, Norway, the UK, Australia, and the US as refugees. The US has admitted 60,773 refugees from fiscal years 2008 through 2012. \n\nThe Nepalese government does not permit citizenship for Bhutanese refugees, so most of them have become stateless. Careful scrutiny has been used to prevent their relatives from getting ID cards and voting rights. Bhutan considers the political parties of these refugees illegal and terrorist in nature. Human rights groups initially claimed the government interfered with individual rights by requiring all citizens, including ethnic minority members, to wear the traditional dress of the ethnic majority in public places. The government strictly enforced the law in Buddhist religious buildings, government offices, schools, official functions, and public ceremonies.[http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/sca/136086.htm 2009 Human Rights Report: Bhutan], U.S. Department of State, 25 February 2009\n\nPolitical divisions\n\nBhutan is divided into twenty dzongkhags (districts), administered by a body called the Dzongkhak Tshokdu. In certain thromdes (urban municipalities), a further municipal administration is directly subordinate to the Dzongkhak administration. In the vast majority of constituencies, rural geos (village blocks) are administered by bodies called the Geo Tshokde.\n\nThromdes (municipalities) elect Thrompons to lead administration, who in turn represent the Thromde in the Dzongkhag Tshogdu. Likewise, geos elect headmen called gaps, vice-headmen called mangmis, who also sit on the Dzongkhak Tshokdu, as well as other members of the Geo Tshokde. The basis of electoral constituencies in Bhutan is the chiwog, a subdivision of gewogs delineated by the Election Commission.\n\n# Bumthang\n# Chukha (Chhukha)\n# Dagana\n# Gasa\n# Haa\n# Lhuntse\n# Mongar\n# Paro\n# Pemagatshel (Pemagatsel)\n# Punakha\n# Samdrup Jongkhar\n# Samtse (Samchi)\n# Sarpang (Sarbhang)\n# Thimphu\n# Trashigang (Tashigang)\n# Trashiyangtse\n# Trongsa (Tongsa)\n# Tsirang (Chirang)\n# Wangdue Phodrang (Wangdi Phodrang)\n# Zhemgang (Shemgang)\n\nEconomy\n\nBhutan's currency is the ngultrum, whose value is fixed to the Indian rupee. The rupee is also accepted as legal tender in the country.\n\nThough Bhutan's economy is one of the world's smallest, it has grown rapidly in recent years, by eight percent in 2005 and 14 percent in 2006. In 2007, Bhutan had the second-fastest-growing economy in the world, with an annual economic growth rate of 22.4 percent. This was mainly due to the commissioning of the gigantic Tala Hydroelectric Power Station. , Bhutan's per capita income was US$2,420. \n\nBhutan's economy is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sale of hydroelectric power to India. Agriculture provides the main livelihood for 55.4 percent of the population. Agrarian practices consist largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Handicrafts, particularly weaving and the manufacture of religious art for home altars, are a small cottage industry. A landscape that varies from hilly to ruggedly mountainous has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive.\n\nThis, and a lack of access to the sea, has meant that Bhutan has not been able to benefit from significant trading of its produce. Bhutan has no railways, though Indian Railways plans to link southern Bhutan to its vast network under an agreement signed in January 2005. Bhutan and India signed a 'free trade' accord in 2008, which additionally allowed Bhutanese imports and exports from third markets to transit India without tariffs. Bhutan had trade relations with the Tibet region until 1960, when it closed its border with China after an influx of refugees. \n\nThe industrial sector is in a nascent stage, and though most production comes from cottage industry, larger industries are being encouraged and some industries such as cement, steel, and ferroalloy have been set up. Most development projects, such as road construction, rely on Indian contract labour. Agricultural produce includes rice, chilies, dairy (some yak, mostly cow) products, buckwheat, barley, root crops, apples, and citrus and maize at lower elevations. Industries include cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages and calcium carbide.\n\nBhutan has seen recent growth in the technology sector, in areas such as green tech and consumer Internet/e-commerce. In May 2012, Thimphu TechPark launched in the capital and incubates start-ups via the Bhutan Innovation and Technology Centre (BITC). \n\nIncomes of over Nu 100,000 per annum are taxed, but very few wage and salary earners qualify. Bhutan's inflation rate was estimated at about three percent in 2003. Bhutan has a Gross Domestic Product of around US$5.855 billion (adjusted to purchasing power parity), making it the 158th-largest economy in the world. Per capita income (PPP) is around $7,641, ranked 144th. Government revenues total $407.1 million, though expenditures amount to $614 million. 25 percent of the budget expenditure, however, is financed by India's Ministry of External Affairs.India's Ministry of External Affairs provides financial aid to neighbouring countries under \"technical and economic cooperation with other countries and advances to foreign governments.\" \n\nBhutan's exports, principally electricity, cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones and spices, total €128 million (2000 est.). Imports, however, amount to €164 million, leading to a trade deficit. Main items imported include fuel and lubricants, grain, machinery, vehicles, fabrics and rice. Bhutan's main export partner is India, accounting for 58.6 percent of its export goods. Hong Kong (30.1 percent) and Bangladesh (7.3 percent) are the other two top export partners. As its border with Tibet is closed, trade between Bhutan and China is now almost non-existent. Bhutan's import partners include India (74.5 percent), Japan (7.4 percent) and Sweden (3.2 percent).\n\nAgriculture\n\nThe share of the agricultural sector in GDP declined from approximately 55% in 1985 to 33% in 2003. In 2013 the government announced that Bhutan will become the first country in the world with 100 percent organic farming. \n\nEnergy\n\nBhutan's largest export is hydroelectricity. , it generates 5,000 MW of hydropower from Himalayan river valleys. The country has a potential to generate 30,000 MW of hydropower. Power is supplied to various states in India. Future projects are being planned with Bangladesh. Hydropower has been the primary focus for the country's five-year plans. , the Tala Hydroelectric Power Station is its largest power plant, with an installed capacity of 1,020 MW. It has received assistance from India, Austria and the Asian Development Bank in developing hydroelectric projects.\n\nFinancial sector\n\n \nThe two main financial institutions are the Bank of Bhutan, which is based in the southern city of Phuntsholing and is the retail wing of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, and the Bhutan National Bank, which is based in Thimphu. The Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan is the main stock exchange.\n\nThe SAARC Development Fund is based in Thimphu. \n\nTourism\n\nIn 2014, Bhutan received 133,480 international visitors. Seeking to become a high value destination, it imposes a daily fee of US$250 on tourists that covers touring and hotel accommodation. The industry employs 21,000 people and accounts for 1.8% of GDP. \n\nThe country currently has no UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but it has eight declared tentative sites for UNESCO inclusion since 2012. These sites include Ancient Ruin of Drukgyel Dzong, Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, Dzongs: the centre of temporal and religious authorities (Punakha Dzong, Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, Paro Dzong, Trongsa Dzong and Dagana Dzong), Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP), Royal Manas National Park (RMNP), Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo and his descendants, Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS), and Tamzhing Monastery. Bhutan also has numerous tourist sites that are not included in its UNESCO tentative list. Bhutan has one element, the Mask dance of the drums from Drametse, registered in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. \n\nBhutan is also well known for mountain adventure trekking and hiking. Jhomolhari Base Camp Trek, Snowman Trek, Masagang trek are some of the popular treks in Bhutan.\n\nTransport \n\nAir\n\nParo Airport is the only international airport in Bhutan. Yongphulla Airport in Trashigang is a small domestic airport that underwent upgrades through 2010. Yongphulla Airport was scheduled for completion in January 2010 but as of January 2015, the airport remains closed due to ongoing runway repair. National carrier Druk Air operates flights between Paro Airport and airports in Jakar (Bumthang Dzongkhag) and Gelephu (Sarpang Dzongkhag) on a weekly basis. \n\nRail\n\nBhutan has no railways, though it has entered into an agreement with India to link southern Bhutan to India's vast network by constructing an 18 km-long broad gauge rail link between Hashimara in West Bengal and Toribari in Bhutan. The construction of the railway via through Satali, Bharna Bari and Dalsingpara by Indian railways is being funded by India. \n\nRoad\n\nThe Lateral Road is Bhutan's primary east–west corridor, connecting Phuentsholing in the southwest to Trashigang in the east. In between, the Lateral Road runs directly through Wangdue Phodrang, Trongsa and other population centres. The Lateral Road also has spurs connecting to the capital Thimphu and other major population centres such as Paro and Punakha. As with other roads in Bhutan, the Lateral Road presents serious safety concerns due to pavement conditions, sheer drops, hairpin turns, weather and landslides. \n\nDemographics\n\nBhutan has a population of 770,000 people in 2015. Bhutan has a median age of 24.8 years. There are 1,070 males to every 1,000 females. The literacy rate in Bhutan is 59.5 percent. \n\nEthnic groups \n\nBhutanese people primarily consist of the Ngalops and Sharchops, called the Western Bhutanese and Eastern Bhutanese respectively. The Lhotshampa, meaning \"southerner Bhutanese\", are a heterogeneous group of mostly Nepal ancestry. It was claimed they constituted 45% of the population in 1988 census, and include migrants from as early as the 1890s to as recent as the 1980s, who have fought a bitter war with Bhutan over rights to abode, language, and dress. Consequently, there has been mass emigration from Bhutan (both forced and voluntary) resulting in hundreds of thousands of people left stateless in refugee camps of Nepal.\n\nThe Ngalops primarily consist of Bhutanese living in the western part of the country. Their culture is closely related to that of Tibet. Much the same could be said of the Sharchops the dominant group, who traditionally follow the Nyingmapa rather than the official Drukpa Kagyu form of Tibetan Buddhism. In modern times, with improved transportation infrastructure, there has been much intermarriage between these groups. In the early 1970s, intermarriage between the Lhotshampas Bhutanese and mainstream Bhutanese society was encouraged by the government, but after the late 1980s, the Bhutanese government forced about 108,000 Lhotshampas from their homes, seized their land, and expelled them to refugee camps.\n\nCities and towns\n\n* Thimphu, the largest city and capital of Bhutan.\n* Damphu, the administrative headquarters of Tsirang District.\n* Jakar, the administrative headquarters of Bumthang District and the place where Buddhism entered Bhutan.\n* Mongar, the eastern commercial hub of the country.\n* Paro, site of the international airport.\n* Phuentsholing, Bhutan's commercial hub.\n* Punakha, the old capital.\n* Samdrup Jongkhar, the southeastern town on the border with India.\n* Trashigang, administrative headquarters of Trashigang District, the most populous district in the country.\n* Trongsa, in central Bhutan, which has the largest and the most magnificent of all the dzongs in Bhutan.\n\nReligion\n\n]\n\nIt is estimated that between two-thirds and three-quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one-quarter to one-third are followers of Hinduism. Other religions account for less than 1% of the population. The current legal framework, in principle guarantees freedom of religion; proselytism, however, is forbidden by a royal government decision and by judicial interpretation of the Constitution. \n\nBuddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–649), a convert to Buddhism, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu Lhakhang (near Paro) in the Paro Valley.\n\nLanguages\n\nThe national language is Bhutanese (Dzongkha), one of 53 languages in the Tibetan language family. The script, here called Chhokey (\"Dharma language\"), is identical to classical Tibetan. In the schools English is the medium of instruction and Dzongkha is taught as the national language. Ethnologue lists 24 languages currently spoken in Bhutan, all of them in the Tibeto-Burman family, except Nepali, an Indo-Aryan language.\n\nUntil the 1980s, the government sponsored the teaching of Nepali in schools in southern Bhutan. With the adoption of Driglam Namzhag and its expansion into the idea of strengthening the role of Dzongkha, Nepali was dropped from the curriculum. The languages of Bhutan are still not well-characterized, and several have yet to be recorded in an in-depth academic grammar. Before the 1980s, the Lhotshampa (Nepali-speaking community), mainly based in southern Bhutan, constituted approximately 30% of the population. However, after conducting the purge of Lhotshaampas from 1990-1992 this number might not accurately reflect the current population.\n\nDzongkha is partially intelligible with Sikkimese and spoken natively by 25% of the population. Tshangla, the language of the Sharchop and the principal pre-Tibetan language of Bhutan, is spoken by a greater number of people. It is not easily classified and may constitute an independent branch of Tibeto-Burman. Nepali speakers constituted some 40% of the population . The larger minority languages are Dzala (11%), Limbu (10%), Kheng (8%),and Rai (8%). There are no reliable sources for the ethnic or linguistic composition of Bhutan, so these numbers do not add up to 100%.\n\nHealth \n\nBhutan has a life expectancy of 62.2 years (61 for males and 64.5 for females) according to the latest data from the World Bank.\n\nEducation\n\nBhutan has one decentralised university with eleven constituent colleges spread across the kingdom, the Royal University of Bhutan. The first five-year plan provided for a central education authority—in the form of a director of education appointed in 1961—and an organised, modern school system with free and universal primary education.\n\nEducation programmes were given a boost in 1990 when the Asian Development Bank (see Glossary) granted a US$7.13 million loan for staff training and development, specialist services, equipment and furniture purchases, salaries and other recurrent costs, and facility rehabilitation and construction at Royal Bhutan Polytechnic.\n\nCulture and society\n\nBhutan has a rich and unique cultural heritage that has largely remained intact because of its isolation from the rest of the world until the mid-20th century. One of the main attractions for tourists is the country's culture and traditions. Bhutanese tradition is deeply steeped in its Buddhist heritage. Hinduism is the second most dominant religion in Bhutan, being most prevalent in the southern regions. The government is increasingly making efforts to preserve and sustain the current culture and traditions of the country. Because of its largely unspoiled natural environment and cultural heritage, Bhutan has been referred to as The Last Shangri-la. \n\nWhile Bhutanese citizens are free to travel abroad, Bhutan is viewed as inaccessible by many foreigners. Another reason for it being an unpopular destination is the cost, which is high for tourists on tighter budgets. Entry is free for citizens of India, Bangladesh, and the Maldives, but all other foreigners are required to sign up with a Bhutanese tour operator and pay around US$250 per day that they stay in the country, though this fee covers most travel, lodging and meal expenses. Bhutan received 37,482 visitor arrivals in 2011, of which 25% were for meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions. \n\nBhutan is the first nation in the world to ban smoking. It has been illegal to smoke in public or sell tobacco, according to Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010. Violators are fined the equivalent of $232—more than two months' salary in Bhutan.\n\nDress\n\nThe national dress for Bhutanese men is the gho, a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt known as the kera. Women wear an ankle-length dress, the kira, which is clipped at the shoulders with two identical brooches called the koma and tied at the waist with kera. An accompaniment to the kira is a long-sleeved blouse, the wonju which is worn underneath the kira. A long-sleeved jacket-like garment, the toego is worn over the kira. The sleeves of the wonju and the tego are folded together at the cuffs, inside out.\n\nSocial status and class determine the texture, colours, and decorations that embellish the garments. Differently coloured scarves, known as rachu for women (red is the most common colour) and kabney for men, are important indicators of social standing, as Bhutan has traditionally been a feudal society. Jewellery is mostly worn by women, especially during religious festivals (tsechus) and public gatherings. To strengthen Bhutan's identity as an independent country, Bhutanese law requires all Bhutanese government employees to wear the national dress at work and all citizens to wear the national dress while visiting schools and other government offices though many citizens, particularly adults, choose to wear the customary dress as formal attire.\n\nArchitecture\n\nBhutanese architecture remains distinctively traditional, employing rammed earth and wattle and daub construction methods, stone masonry, and intricate woodwork around windows and roofs. Traditional architecture uses no nails or iron bars in construction. Characteristic of the region is a type of castle fortress known as the dzong. Since ancient times, the dzongs have served as the religious and secular administration centres for their respective districts. The University of Texas at El Paso in the United States has adopted Bhutanese architecture for its buildings on campus, as have the nearby Hilton Garden Inn and other buildings in the city of El Paso. \n\nPublic holidays\n\nBhutan has numerous public holidays, most of which centre around traditional, seasonal, secular and religious festivals. They include the Dongzhi or winter solstice (around 1 January, depending on the lunar calendar), Lunar New Year (February or March), the King's birthday and the anniversary of his coronation, the official end of monsoon season (22 September), National Day (17 December), and various Buddhist and Hindu celebrations.\n\nFilm industry\n\nMusic and dance\n\nMasked dances and dance dramas are common traditional features at festivals, usually accompanied by traditional music. Energetic dancers, wearing colourful wooden or composition face masks and stylized costumes, depict heroes, demons, dæmons, death heads, animals, gods, and caricatures of common people. The dancers enjoy royal patronage, and preserve ancient folk and religious customs and perpetuate the ancient lore and art of mask-making.\n\nThe music of Bhutan can generally be divided into traditional and modern varieties; traditional music comprises religious and folk genres, the latter including zhungdra and boedra. The modern rigsar is played on a mix of traditional instruments and electronic keyboards, and dates back to the early 1990s; it shows the influence of Indian popular music, a hybrid form of traditional and Western popular influences. \n\nFamily structure\n\nIn Bhutanese families, inheritance generally passes through the female rather than the male line. Daughters will inherit their parents' house. A man is expected to make his own way in the world and often moves to his wife's home. Love marriages are common in urban areas, but the tradition of arranged marriages is still common in the villages. Although uncommon, polygamy is accepted, often being a device to keep property in a contained family unit rather than dispersing it. The previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who abdicated in 2006, had four queens, all of whom are sisters. The current king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, wed Jetsun Pema, 21, a commoner and daughter of a pilot, on 13 October 2011.\n\nCuisine\n\nRice (red rice), buckwheat, and increasingly maize, are the staples of Bhutanese cuisine. The local diet also includes pork, beef, yak meat, chicken, and lamb. Soups and stews of meat and dried vegetables spiced with chilies and cheese are prepared. Ema datshi, made very spicy with cheese and chilies, might be called the national dish for its ubiquity and the pride that Bhutanese have for it. Dairy foods, particularly butter and cheese from yaks and cows, are also popular, and indeed almost all milk is turned into butter and cheese. Popular beverages include butter tea, black tea, locally brewed ara (rice wine), and beer. Bhutan is the first country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco under its Tobacco Act of 2010.\n\nSports\n\nBhutan's national and most popular sport is archery. Competitions are held regularly in most villages. It differs from Olympic standards in technical details such as the placement of the targets and atmosphere. There are two targets placed over 100 meters apart and teams shoot from one end of the field to the other. Each member of the team shoots two arrows per round. Traditional Bhutanese archery is a social event, and competitions are organized between villages, towns, and amateur teams. There is usually plenty of food and drink complete with singing and dancing. Attempts to distract an opponent include standing around the target and making fun of the shooter's ability. Darts (khuru) is an equally popular outdoor team sport, in which heavy wooden darts pointed with a 10 cm nail are thrown at a paperback-sized target 10 to 20 meters away.\n\nAnother traditional sport is the Digor, which resembles the shot put and horseshoe throwing.\n\nAnother popular sport is basketball. In 2002, Bhutan's national football team played Montserrat, in what was billed as The Other Final; the match took place on the same day Brazil played Germany in the World Cup final, but at the time Bhutan and Montserrat were the world's two lowest ranked teams. The match was held in Thimphu's Changlimithang National Stadium, and Bhutan won 4–0. A documentary of the match was made by the Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer. Bhutan won its first two FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches, beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in Sri Lanka and 2-1 in Bhutan, taking the aggregate at 3–1. Cricket has also gained popularity in Bhutan, particularly since the introduction of television channels from India. The Bhutan national cricket team is one of the most successful affiliate nations in the region."
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"Top 30 Poorest Countries in the World - Home\n... armies and is sometimes referred to as the \"African World War\". [4] ... The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people ...\nTop 30 poorest countries - Top 30 Poorest Countries in the World\nTop 30 Poorest Countries in the World\nHere are some countries that have been affected by poverty. We built a little information about these 30 countries. Please enjoy our website. Thank you for visiting our website.\n1.Liberia\n( help · info )\n, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa , bordered by Sierra Leone , Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , and the Atlantic Ocean . As of the 2008 Census, the nation is home to 3,476,608 people and covers 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi). [3]\nLiberia's capital is Monrovia . Liberia has a hot equatorial climate with most rainfall arriving in summer with harsh harmattan winds in the dry season. Liberia's populated Pepper Coast is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the sparsely populated inland is forested, later opening to a plateau of drier grasslands.\nThe history of Liberia is unique among African nations because of its relationship with the United States . It is one of the few countries in Africa, and the only country in West Africa , without roots in the European Scramble for Africa . It was founded and colonized by freed American slaves with the help of a private organization called the American Colonization Society in 1821-22, on the premise American slaves would have greater freedom and equality there. [4]\nSlaves freed from slave ships also were sent there instead of being repatriated to their countries of origin. [5] These colonists formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, they founded the Republic of Liberia, establishing a government modeled on that of the United States, naming Monrovia, their capital city, after James Monroe , the fifth president of the United States and a prominent supporter of the colonization.\nA military-led coup in 1980 overthrew then-president William R. Tolbert , which marked the beginning of a period of instability that eventually led to a civil war that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and devastated the country's economy . Today, Liberia is recovering from the lingering effects of the civil war and related economic dislocation.\n2.Haiti\n[a.iti] ; Haitian Creole : Ayiti,\nHaitian Creole pronunciation: \n[ajiti] ), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti ; Repiblik Ayiti) is a Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic , it occupies the island of Hispaniola , in the Greater Antillean archipelago. Ayiti (land of high mountains) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the mountainous western side of the island. The country's highest point is Pic la Selle , at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi ) and its capital is Port-au-Prince . Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.\nHaiti's regional, historical and ethnolinguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America and the first black -led republic in the world when it gained independence as part of a successful slave rebellion in 1804. [4] Despite having common cultural links with its Hispano-Caribbean neighbors, Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada ) that designate French as an official language ; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements , or collectivités , of France.\nHaiti is the poorest country in the Americas . Contrary to popular belief, however, it is not the poorest in the Western Hemisphere . On various occasions, it has experienced political violence throughout its history. Most recently, in February 2004, an armed rebellion forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide , and a provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Rene Preval , the current president, was elected in the Haitian general election, 2006 .\n3.Zimbabwe\n-bwe ; officially the Republic of Zimbabwe and formerly Southern Rhodesia , the Republic of Rhodesia , and Zimbabwe Rhodesia ) is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa , between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three official languages : English , Shona (a Bantu language ), and Ndebele .\nZimbabwe began as a part of the British crown colony of Rhodesia . Today, Zimbabwe is governed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's administration, with President Robert Mugabe as Head of State. Mugabe has been in power since the country's long war for independence . Although initially during the 1980s his administration was credited with improving the standard of living and the economy; his rule has been characterized by gross economic mismanagement, hyperinflation , and widespread reports of human rights abuses. [3] The collapse of the nation's economy and widespread poverty and unemployment has increased support for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change , which in late 2008 agreed to share power with Mugabe.\n4.Chad\nChad ( French : Tchad, Arabic :\nتشاد\n Tshād), officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa . It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the \"Dead Heart of Africa\".\nChad is divided into three major geographical regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad , after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara , and N'Djamena , (formerly Fort-Lamy), the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups . Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.\nBeginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa .\nIn 1960 Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye . Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby . Recently, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation , with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.\nWhile many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement . Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état (see Battle of N'Djamena (2006) and Battle of N'Djamena (2008) ).\nThe country is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most Chadians live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers . Since 2003 crude oil has become the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry.\n5.Gaza Strip\n Qiṭāʿ Ġazza/Qita' Ghazzah,\nArabic pronunciation: \n[qitˤaːʕ ɣazza] ) lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea . It borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about 41 kilometers (25 mi ) long, and between 6 and 12 kilometers (4–7.5 mi) wide, with a total area of 360 square kilometers (139 sq mi ). This small piece of land is home to about 1.5 million Palestinians. Many of these people lived in other parts of Palestine prior to the 1947 - 49 Israeli War of Independence, when they had to flee. These Palestinians have not been allowed to return to their former villages. The area is recognized internationally as part of the Palestinian territories . [1] [2] [3] [4] Actual control of the area within the Gaza Strip borders are in the hands of Hamas , an organization that won civil parliamentary Palestinian Authority elections in 2006 and took over de facto government in the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority by way of its own political maneuvering and armed militia in July 2007, while consolidating power by violently removing the Palestinian Authority's security forces and civil servants from the Gaza Strip.\nThe Gaza Strip, having previously been a part of the Ottoman Empire and then the British Mandate of Palestine, was occupied by Egypt from 1948–67, and then by Israel following the 1967 war . Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in 1993, the Palestinian Authority was set up as an interim administrative body to govern populated Palestinian centers - with Israel maintaining military control of the Gaza Strip's airspace , some of its land borders and its territorial waters - until a final agreement could be reached. As agreement remained elusive, Occupying Power . [5]\nThe territory takes its name from Gaza , its main city. The population speak a Western Egyptian dialect of Arabic and are estimated by some sources at as high as 1.5 million (July 2009). [6] Refugees of the 1948 Palestinian exodus and their descendants made up 85% of the population as of March 2003. [7]\n6.Sierra Leone\nSierra Leone ( [sieɪrə liˈoːn] ), officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa . It is bordered by Guinea in the north, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi) [4] and has a population estimated at 6.4 million. The country is a constitutional republic comprising three provinces and the Western Area , which are further divided into fourteen districts .\nThe country has a tropical climate , with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests . [5] Freetown is the capital, largest city and economic center. [4] . English is the official language , [6] spoken at schools , government administration and by the media . However, the Krio language (a language derived from English and several African languages and native to the Sierra Leone Krio people ) is the most widely spoken language in virtually all parts of the country. The Krio language is spoken by 97% of the country's population [2] and unites all the different ethnic groups , especially in their trade and interaction with each other. [1] Despite its common use throughout the country, the Krio language has no official status. In December 2002, Sierra Leone’s President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah named Bengali as an \"official language\" in recognition of the work of 5,300 troops from Bangladesh in the peace-keeping force. [7] [8]\nThe Sierra Leone government officially recognizes fifteen ethnic groups , [9] each with its own language and customs. The two largest and most influential are the Mende and Temne peoples, with each comprising 30% of the population.[ citation needed ]\nSierra Leone is very rich in minerals and has relied on mining , especially diamonds, for its economic base. The country is among the top 10 diamond producing nations in the world, and mineral exports remain the main foreign currency earner. Sierra Leone also claims to be home to the third largest natural harbour in the world, the Queen Elizabeth II Quay (also known as the QE II Quay and locally as the Deep Water Quay or Government Warf) [10] [11] .\nEarly inhabitants of Sierra Leone included the Sherbro , Temne and Limba , and Tyra [ disambiguation needed ] peoples, and later the Mende , [12] who knew the country as Romarong, and the Kono who settled in the East of the country. [13] In 1462, it was visited by the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra , who gave it its name Serra de Leão, meaning 'Lion Mountains'. [14] [15] Sierra Leone later became an important centre of the transatlantic trade in slaves until 1792 when Freetown was founded by the Sierra Leone Company as a home for formerly enslaved African Americans . [16] In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown Colony , and in 1896, the interior of the country became a British Protectorate ; [13] in 1961, the two combined and gained independence .\nOver two decades of government neglect of the interior followed by the spilling over of the Liberian conflict into its borders eventually led to the Sierra Leone Civil War , [17] which began in 1991 and was resolved in 2000 after the struggling Nigerian led United Nations troops were heavily reinforced by a British force spearheaded by 42 Commando of the Royal Marines as well as several British Army units. The arrival of this force in what was codenamed OPERATION PALLISER resulted in the defeat of rebel forces and restored the civilian government elected in 1998 to Freetown. Since then, almost 72,500 former combatants have been disarmed [18] and the country has reestablished a functioning democracy . [2] The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002 to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 1996. [19] Sierra Leone is the third-lowest-ranked country on the Human Development Index and seventh-lowest on the Human Poverty Index , suffering from endemic corruption [20] and suppression of the press . [21]\n7.Suriname\nSuriname [5] ( Dutch : Suriname; Sarnami : शर्नम् Sarnam, Sranan Tongo : Sranangron), officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America .\nSuriname is situated between French Guiana to the east and Guyana to the west. The southern border is shared with Brazil and the northern border is the Atlantic coast. The southernmost borders with French Guiana and Guyana are disputed along the Marowijne and Corantijn rivers, respectively; while a part of the disputed maritime boundary with Guyana was arbitrated by the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea on September 20, 2007.\nSuriname is the smallest sovereign state in terms of area and population in South America. The country is the only Dutch-speaking region in the Western Hemisphere that is not a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . Suriname has a typical multicultural society with extreme ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity. Suriname's geographical size is just under 165,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of about 470,000 people. About a quarter of the population live on less than US$ 2 a day. [6]\n8.Mozambique\nMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique ( Portuguese : Moçambique or República de Moçambique,\npronounced \n[ʁɛˈpublikɐ di musɐ̃ˈbiki] ), is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest.\nThe area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonized by Portugal in 1505. Mozambique became independent in 1975, to which it became the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly after, and was the scene of an intense civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992. The country was named Moçambique by the Portuguese after the Island of Mozambique , derived from Musa Al Big or Mossa Al Bique or Mussa Ben Mbiki, an Arab trader who first visited the island and later lived there.\nMozambique is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Commonwealth of Nations and an observer of the Francophonie . Mozambique's life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst ranked in the world due to the excessive malaria carrying mosquitoes . Its Human Development Index is one of the lowest on earth .\n9.Angola\nAngola, officially the Republic of Angola ( Portuguese : República de Angola,\npronounced \n[ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈɡɔlɐ] ; Kongo : Repubilika ya Ngola), is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean . The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nAngola was a Portuguese overseas territory from the 16th century to 1975. After independence, Angola was the scene of an intense civil war from 1975 to 2002 . The country is the second-largest petroleum and diamond producer in sub-Saharan Africa; however, its life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst ranked in the world [3] . In August 2006, a peace treaty was signed with a faction of the FLEC , a separatist guerrilla group from the Cabinda exclave in the North, which is still active. [4] About 65% of Angola's oil comes from that region.\n10.Nigeria\nNigeria (pronounced /naɪˈdʒɪəriə/ ), officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and its Federal Capital Territory , Abuja . The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean . The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa , Igbo and Yoruba . In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religions.\nThe people of Nigeria have an extensive history . Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BC. [4] The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium .\nThe name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw , the future wife of Baron Lugard , a British colonial administrator, in the late 19th century.\nNigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the eighth most populous country in the world , and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is ' black '. It is listed among the \" Next Eleven \" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world , with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. [5] [6] [7] [8] It is the second largest economy in Africa , and is a regional power that is also the hegemon in West Afri\n11.Swaziland\nThe Kingdom of Swaziland (Umbuso weSwatini), sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa , and to the east by Mozambique . The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II .\nSwaziland is a small country, no more than 200 km north to south and 130 km east to west. The western half is mountainous, descending to a lowveld region to the east. The eastern border with Mozambique and South Africa is dominated by the escarpment of the Lebombo Mountains . The climate is temperate in the west, but may reach 40 degrees in summer in the lowveld. Rainfall occurs mainly in the summer and may reach 2 m in the west.\nThe area that Swaziland now covers has been continuously inhabited since prehistory. Today, the population is primarily ethnic Swazis whose language is siSwati , though English is spoken as a second language. The Swazi people descend from the southern Bantu who migrated from Central Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Anglo Boer war saw Britain make Swaziland a protectorate under its direct control. Swaziland gained independence in 1968. Swaziland is a member of the Southern African Development Community , the African Union , and the Commonwealth of Nations . The head of state is the king, who appoints the prime minister and a small number of representatives for both chambers of parliament. Elections are held every five years to determine the majority of the representatives. A new constitution was adopted in 2005.\nSwaziland's economy is dominated by the service industry, manufacturing and agriculture. Some 75% of the population are employed in subsistence farming, and 60% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day. [3] Swaziland's main trading partner is South Africa, and its currency is pegged to the South African rand.\nSwaziland's economic growth and societal integrity is highly endangered by its disastrous HIV epidemic, to an extent where the United Nations Development Program has written that if it continues unabated, the \"longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened.\" [4] The infection rate in the country is unprecedented and the highest in the world at 26.1% of adults [5] and over 50% of adults in their 20s. [4]\n12.Burundi\nBurundi (pronounced [buˈɾundi] ), officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its size is just under 28,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,700,000. Its capital is Bujumbura . Although the country is landlocked , much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika .\nThe Twa , Tutsi , and Hutu peoples have occupied Burundi since the country's formation five centuries ago. Burundi was ruled as a kingdom by the Tutsi for over two hundred years. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Germany and Belgium occupied the region, and Burundi and Rwanda became a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi .\nPolitical unrest occurred throughout the region because of social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, provoking civil war in Burundi throughout the middle twentieth century. Presently, Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic. Sixty-two percent of Burundians are Roman Catholic , eight to ten percent are Muslims and the rest follow indigenous beliefs and other Christian denominations.\nBurundi is one of the ten poorest countries in the world . It has the lowest per capita GDP of any nation in the world. [4] Burundi has a low gross domestic product largely due to civil wars, corruption, poor access to education, and the effects of HIV/AIDS. Burundi is densely populated, with substantial emigration . Cobalt and copper are among Burundi's natural resources. Some of Burundi's main exports include coffee and sugar.\n13.Tajikistan\nTajikistan (pronounced /təˈdʒɪkɨstæn/ or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/; Тоҷикистон\nIPA: \n[tɔd͡ʒikɪsˈtɔn] ), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( Tajik : Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia . Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor .\nMost of Tajikistan's population belongs to the Persian-speaking Tajik ethnic group, who share language, culture and history with Afghanistan and Iran . Once part of the Samanid Empire , Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR). Mountains cover over 90% of this Central Asian republic.\nAfter independence, Tajikistan suffered from a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. Trade in commodities such as cotton and aluminium wire has contributed greatly to this steady improvement. In Tajikistan about 20% of the population lives on less than US$1.25 per day. [7]\n14.Bolivia\nBolivia, officially The Plurinational State of Bolivia, [7] [8] is a landlocked country in central South America . It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west. Prior to European colonization, the Bolivian territory was a part of the Inca Empire , which was the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called \"Upper Peru\" or \"Charcas\" and was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of Spain's South American colonies. After declaring independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on August 6, 1825. Bolivia has struggled through periods of political instability, dictatorships and economic woes.\nBolivia is a democratic republic, divided into nine departments. Its geography is varied from the peaks of the Andes in the west, to the eastern lowlands, situated within the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country, with a medium Human Development Index score, and a poverty level around 60%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, and fishing, mining and manufacturing goods such as textiles, clothing, refined metals, and refined petroleum. Bolivia is very wealthy in minerals especially tin .\nThe Bolivian population, estimated at 9 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians and Africans. The main language spoken is Spanish, although the Aymara and Quechua languages are also common. The large number of different cultures within Bolivia has contributed greatly to a wide diversity in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.\n15.Rwanda\n[ɾɡwanda] ), known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, is a landlocked country located in the Great Lakes region of eastern-central Africa , bordered by Uganda , Burundi , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania .\nAlthough close to the equator , the country has a cool temperate climate due to its high elevation. The terrain consists mostly of grassy uplands and gently rolling hills. Abundant wildlife, including rare mountain gorillas , have resulted in tourism becoming one of the biggest sectors of the country's economy.\nRwanda has received considerable international attention due to its 1994 genocide , in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed. [4] Since then the country has made a recovery and is now considered as a model for developing countries. In 2009 A CNN report labeled Rwanda as Africa's biggest success story, having achieved stability, economic growth (average income has tripled in the past ten years) and international integration. [5] The government is widely seen as one of the more efficient and honest ones in Africa. Fortune magazine published an article recently titled \"Why CEOs Love Rwanda.\" [6] The capital, Kigali , is the first city in Africa to be bestowed with the Habitat Scroll of Honor Award in the recognition of its \"cleanliness, security and urban conservation model.\" [7] In 2008, Rwanda became the first country to elect a national legislature in which a majority of members were women. [8] Rwanda is, as of November 2009, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , making the country one of only two in the Commonwealth without a British colonial past . [9]\n16.Congo\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo ( French : République démocratique du Congo), known until 1997 as Zaire , is a country located in Central Africa , with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country (by area) in Africa . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is, with the population more than 68 million, the eighteenth most populous nation in the world, and the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous country where French is an official language . In order to distinguish it from the neighbouring Republic of the Congo , the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as DR Congo, DROC, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo- Brazzaville for its neighbour).\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo was formerly, in order, the Congo Free State , Belgian Congo , Congo-Léopoldville , Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire (Zaïre in French). Though it is located in the Central African UN subregion , the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo borders the Central African Republic and Sudan to the north; Uganda , Rwanda , and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Republic of the Congo to the west; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika in the east. [1] The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (24.9 mi) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometre wide mouth of the Congo River which opens into the Gulf of Guinea .\nThe Second Congo War , beginning in 1998, devastated the country, involved seven foreign armies and is sometimes referred to as the \"African World War\". [4] Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. In eastern Congo, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. [5] The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II , killing 5.4 million people. [6] [7]\n17.Guatemala\nGuatemala ( Spanish : República de Guatemala,\nSpanish pronunciation: \n[reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala] ) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its area is 108,890 km² (42,043 mi²) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.\nA representative democracy , its capital is Guatemala City . Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica 's designation as a biodiversity hotspot . [3]\n18.Malawi\nThe Republic of Malawi (pronounced /məˈlɑːwi/ ; Chichewa [malaβi] [ need tone ]) is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland . It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi . Its size is over 118,000 km2 (45,560 sq mi) with an estimated population of more than 13,900,000. Its capital is Lilongwe , the biggest city is Blantyre . The name Malawi comes from the Maravi , an old name of the Nyanja people that inhabit the area.\nMalawi was first settled during the 10th century and remained under native rule until 1891 when it was colonized by the British , who ruled the country until 1964. Upon gaining independence it became a single-party state under the presidency of Hastings Banda , who remained president until 1994, when he was ousted from power. Bingu Mutharika , elected in 2004, is the current president. Malawi has a democratic , multi-party government . Malawi has a small military force that includes an army , a navy and an air wing . Malawi's foreign policy is pro-Western and includes positive diplomatic relations with most countries and participation in several international organizations .\nMalawi is among the world's least developed and most densely populated countries . The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population. The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000. The Malawian government faces challenges in growing the economy, improving education, health care and the environmental protection and becoming financially independent. Malawi has several programs developed since 2005 that focus on these issues, and the country's outlook appears to be improving, with improvements in economic growth, education and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008.\nMalawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality . There is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS , which is a drain on the labor force and government expenditures, and is expected to have a significant impact on gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010. There is a diverse population of native peoples , Asians and Europeans , with several languages spoken and an array of religious beliefs. Although there was tribal conflict in the past, by 2008 it had diminished considerably and the concept of a Malawian nationality had begun to form. Malawi has a culture combining native and colonial aspects, including sports, art, dance and music.\n19.Senegal\nSenegal ( French : le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal (République du Sénégal), is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa .It owes its name to the river that borders it to the East and North and that originates from the Fouta Djallon in Guinea . Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds The Gambia , namely on the north, east and south, exempting Gambia's short Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 km², and has an estimated population of about 13.7 million.The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.\nDakar the capital city of Senegal,is located to the westernmost tip of the country, about 300 miles away the Cape Verde Island, off the Atlantic Ocean. During colonial times, a lot of trading Counters, belonging to various colonial empires were established along the coast.The town of St Louis became the capital of French Western Africa( Afrique Occidentale Francaise or AOF) before it was moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France.\n20.Sao Tome and Principe\nSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea , off the western equatorial coast of Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe , located about 140 kilometres (87 mi) apart and about 250 and 225 kilometres (155 and 140 mi), respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon . Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range . São Tomé, the sizable southern island, is situated just north of the equator . It was named in honour of Saint Thomas by Portuguese explorers who happened to arrive at the island on his feast day .\nSão Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest African country in terms of population (the Seychelles being the smallest). It is the smallest country in the world that is not a former British overseas territory , a former United States trusteeship , or one of the European microstates . It is also the smallest Portuguese -speaking country.\nThe name in Portuguese, São Tomé e Príncipe, is pronounced [sɐ̃ũ tuˈmɛ i ˈpɾĩsɨpɨ] . Pronunciation of São Tomé and Príncipe in English varies, with dictionaries citing the most common pronunciations as /ˌsaʊ toʊˈmeɪ ən ˈprɪnsɨpə/\n-sə-pay .\n21.Afghanistan\nThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South - Central Asia . It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, Western Asia , or the Middle East . It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.\nAfghanistan has a long history, and has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and migration . It is an important geostrategic location, connecting East and West Asia or the Middle East. The land has been a target of various invaders, as well as a source from which local powers invaded neighboring regions to form their own empires. Ahmad Shah Durrani created the Durrani Empire in 1747, which is considered the beginning of modern Afghanistan. Its capital was shifted in 1776 from Kandahar to Kabul and most of its territories ceded to neighboring empires. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in \" The Great Game \" played between the British Empire and Russian Empire .\n22.Honduras\nHonduras ( Spanish : República de Honduras,\npronounced \n[reˈpuβlika ðe onˈduɾas] ) is a republic in Central America . It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras (now Belize ). [4] The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala , to the southwest by El Salvador , to the southeast by Nicaragua , to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca , and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras , a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea .\nIts size is just over 112,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,000,000. Its capital is Tegucigalpa . [5]\n23.Kenya\nThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa . Lying along the Indian Ocean , at the equator , Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia (north), Somalia (northeast), Tanzania (south), Uganda plus Lake Victoria (west), and Sudan (northwest). The capital city is Nairobi . The population has grown rapidly in recent decades to nearly 38 million. Kenya has numerous wildlife reserves, containing thousands of animal species.\nThe country is named after Mount Kenya , a significant landmark and the second among the highest mountain peaks of Africa , [4] [5] and both were originally usually pronounced /ˈkiːnjə/ [6] in English, though the native pronunciation and the one intended by the original transcription Kenia was [ˈkɛnja] . [7] During the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta in the 1960s, the current English pronunciation of /ˈkɛnjə/ became widespread because his name retained the native pronunciation. [8] Before 1920, the area now known as Kenya was known as the British East Africa Protectorate and so there was no need to mention mount when referring to the mountain. [4]\n24.Namibia\nNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia ( Afrikaans Republiek van Namibië, German : Republik Namibia), is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean . It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990 following the Namibian War of Independence . Its capital and largest city is Windhoek ( German : Windhuk).\nNamibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the Commonwealth of Nations and many other international organisations. It has been given many names: the land of contrasts, the land God made in anger, the ageless land. For many years it was known only as South West Africa , but it adopted the name Namibia, after the Namib Desert . It is the second least densely populated country in the world, after Mongolia .\nThe dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by Bushmen , Damara , Namaqua , and since about the 14th century AD, by immigrating Bantu who came with the Bantu expansion . It was visited by the British and Dutch missionaries during the late 18th century. It was also visited by Dorsland trekkers (also known as Junker Boers) in 1879, [3] but became a German Imperial protectorate in 1884. In 1920, the League of Nations mandated the country to South Africa, which imposed their laws and from 1948, their apartheid policy.\nIn 1966, uprisings and demands by African leaders led the United Nations to assume direct responsibility over the territory, and recognizing South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) as official representative of the Namibian people in 1973. Namibia, however, remained under South African administration during this time. Following internal violence, South Africa installed an interim administration in Namibia in 1985. Namibia obtained full independence from South Africa in 1990 (with the exception of Walvis Bay - a city that remained under South African control until 1994). The country also officially changed its name from South West Africa to Namibia in 1990.\nNamibia has a population of 2.1 million people and a stable multiparty parliamentary democracy . Agriculture , herding , tourism and mining of precious stones and metals form the backbone of Namibia's economy . Approximately half the population live below the international poverty line of U.S.$1.25 a day, [4] and the nation has suffered heavily from the effects of HIV/AIDS , with 15% of the adult population infected with HIV in 2007. [5]\n25.Ethiopia\nEthiopia (pronounced /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/ ) ( ʾĪtyōṗṗyā), a landlocked state in the Horn of Africa , is one of the most ancient countries in the world.[ citation needed ] Officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, it is the second most populous nation in Africa with over 79.2 million people [5] and the tenth largest by area. The capital is Addis Ababa . Ethiopia is bordered by Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, Eritrea to the north and Sudan to the west.\nThough most African countries are far less than a century old[ citation needed ], Ethiopia has been an independent country since ancient times. A monarchical state for most of its history, the Ethiopian dynasty traces its roots to the 10th century BC. [6] Besides being an ancient country, Ethiopia is one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today—having yielded some of humanity's oldest traces, [7] it might be the place where Homo sapiens first set out for the Middle East and points beyond. [8] [9] [10] When Africa was divided up by European powers at the Berlin Conference , Ethiopia was one of only two countries that retained its independence . It was one of only three African members of the League of Nations , and after a brief period of Italian occupation , Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations . When other African nations received their independence following World War II , many of them adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag , and Addis Ababa became the location of several international organizations focused on Africa.\nThe Modern Ethiopian state, and its current borders, are a result of significant territorial reduction in the north and expansion in the south, toward its present borders, owing to several migrations and commercial integration as well as conquests, particularly by Emperor Menelik II and Ras Gobena . In 1974, the dynasty led by Haile Selassie was overthrown as civil wars intensified. Since then, Ethiopia has been a secular state with a variety of governmental systems. Ethiopia is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), G-77 and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Today, Addis Ababa is still the site of the headquarters of the African Union and [11] UNECA . The country has one of the most powerful militaries in Africa. Ethiopia is the only African country with its own alphabet. [12] Ethiopia also has its own time system and unique calendar, seven to eight years behind the Gregorian Calendar. It has the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. [13]\nThe country is a land of natural contrasts, with spectacular waterfalls and volcanic hot springs. Ethiopia has some of Africa's highest mountains as well as some of the world's lowest points below sea level. The largest cave in Africa is located in Ethiopia at Sof Omar , and the country's northernmost area at Dallol is one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth. There are altogether around 80 different ethnic groups in Ethiopia today, with the two largest being the Oromo and the Amhara , both of which speak Afro-Asiatic languages . The country is also famous for its Olympic gold medalists, rock-hewn churches and as the place where the coffee bean originated. Currently, Ethiopia is the top coffee and honey-producing country in Africa, and home to the largest livestock population in Africa.\nEthiopia has close historical ties to all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions . It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. It still has a Christian majority, but a third of the population is Muslim . Ethiopia is the site of the first hijra in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash . Until the 1980s, a substantial population of Ethiopian Jews resided in Ethiopia. The country is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari religious movement , which is influenced by Pan-Africanism . Ethiopia is the source of over 85% of the total Nile waters flow but it underwent a series of tragic famines in the 1980s, exacerbated by adverse geopolitics and civil wars, resulting in perhaps a million deaths. Slowly, however, the country has begun to recover, and today Ethiopia has the biggest economy in East Africa (GDP) [14] as the Ethiopian economy is also one of the fastest growing in the world and it is a regional powerhouse in the Horn and east Africa. [15] [16] [17] [18]\n26.Madagascar\nMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic, French : République malgache), is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa . The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world , and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to Madagascar.[ citation needed ] They include the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa , three bird families and six baobab species. Two thirds of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. [4]\n27.Eritrea\nEritrea (pronounced /ˌɛrɪˈtreɪə/ , /ˌɛrɪˈtriːə/ ) [4] ( Arabic : إرتريا Iritriya), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa . It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea , directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen . The Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands are part of Eritrea. Its size is just under 118,000 km2 (45,560 sq mi) with an estimated population of 5 million. The capital is Asmara .\n28.South Africa\nThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa , with a 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) coastline [7] [8] on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans . [9] To the north lie Namibia , Botswana and Zimbabwe ; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland ; while Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory. [10] Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for more than 100,000 years. At the time of European contact, the dominant indigenous peoples were tribes who had migrated from other parts of Africa about one thousand years before. From the 4th-5th century CE , Bantu -speaking tribes had steadily moved south, where they displaced, conquered and assimilated original Khoikhoi and San peoples of southern Africa. At the time of European contact, the two major groups were the Xhosa and Zulu peoples.\nIn 1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the Cape Sea Route, the Dutch East India Company founded a refreshment station at what would become Cape Town . [11] Cape Town became a British colony in 1806. European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers (original Dutch , Flemish , German and French settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose among the Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaner groups who competed for territory.\nThe discovery of diamonds and later gold triggered the 19th-century conflict known as the Anglo-Boer War , as the Boers and the British fought for the control of the South African mineral wealth. Although the British defeated the Boers, they gave limited independence to South Africa in 1910 as a British dominion. Within the country, anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation were enacted to control the settlement and movement of native people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws . [12] [13] [14] Power was held by the European colonists.\nIn the Boer republics, [15] from as early as the Pretoria Convention (chapter XXVI), [16] and subsequent South African governments, the system became legally institutionalised segregation , later known as apartheid . The government established three classes of racial stratification: white , coloured , and black , with rights and restrictions for each.\nSouth Africa achieved the status of a republic in 1961. Despite opposition both in and outside of the country, the government legislated for a continuation of apartheid. As the 20th century went on, some Western nations and institutions began to boycott doing business with the country because of its racial policies and oppression of civil rights . After years of internal protests, activism and insurgency by black South Africans and their allies, finally in 1990, the South African government began negotiations that led to dismantling of discriminative laws, and democratic elections in 1994 . The country then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations .\nSouth Africa is known for a diversity in cultures, languages, and religious beliefs. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution . [9] English , despite having a large role in public and commercial life, is only the fifth most-spoken home language. [9] South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest European , Indian , and racially mixed communities in Africa. Although 79.5% of the South African population is black, [4] the people are from a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages , nine of which have official status. [9] About a quarter of the population is unemployed [17] and lives on less than US $1.25 a day. [18]\nSouth Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union , and has the largest economy of all the members. It is also a founding member of the United Nations and NEPAD . South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , Antarctic Treaty System , Group of 77 , South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone , Southern African Customs Union , World Trade Organization , International Monetary Fund , G20 and G8+5 .\n29.Colombia\nColombia (pronounced /kəˈlʌmbiə/ ), officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish : República de Colombia,\npronounced \n ( listen )\n), is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America . Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela [7] and Brazil ; [8] to the south by Ecuador and Peru ; [9] to the north by the Caribbean Sea ; to the northwest by Panama ; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean . Colombia also shares maritime borders with Jamaica , Haiti , the Dominican Republic , Honduras , Nicaragua and Costa Rica . [10] [11] With a population of nearly 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil . Colombia has the third largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico and Spain.\nThe territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous nations including the Muisca , Quimbaya , and Tairona . The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization killing or taking as slaves almost 90% of that native population, and then creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada (comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the northwest region of Brazil and Panama) with its capital in Bogotá . [12] Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 \" Gran Colombia \" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada . The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. [2] Panama seceded in 1903 under pressure to fulfill financial responsibilities towards the United States government to build the Panama Canal.\nColombia has a long tradition of constitutional government. The Liberal and Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849 respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. However, tensions between the two have frequently erupted into violence, most notably in the Thousand Days War (1899–1902) and La Violencia , beginning in 1948. Since the 1960s, government forces , left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries have been engaged in the continent's longest-running armed conflict . Fuelled by the cocaine trade , this escalated dramatically in the 1980s. However, the insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government, and in the recent decade (2000s) the violence has decreased significantly. Many paramilitary groups have demobilized as part of a controversial peace process with the government, and the guerrillas have lost control in many areas where they once dominated. [2] Meanwhile Colombia's homicide rate , for many years one of the highest in Latin America, has almost halved since 2002. [13]\nColombia is a standing middle power [14] with the fourth largest economy in Latin America and a major impact of poverty. It is very ethnically diverse, and the interaction between descendants of the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans brought as slaves and twentieth-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's varied geography. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains , but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest , tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia is one of the world's 18 megadiverse countries (the most biodiverse per unit area). [15]\n30.Lesotho\n ( listen )\n), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave —entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa . It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size with an estimated population of almost 1,800,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru . Lesotho is the southernmost landlocked country in the world. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . The name \"Lesotho\" translates roughly into \"the land of the people who speak Sesotho \". [4] About 40% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. [5]\nCreate a free website",
"Trekking In Nepal | Trek Nepal - W-Adventures Nepal\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal ... The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point.\nTrekking In Nepal | Trek Nepal - W-Adventures Nepal\nTrekking In Nepal\nSearch by keywords\nMount Everest, Nepal\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level and is the 5th furthest summit from the center of Earth. The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point. Its massif includes neighboring peaks Lhotse, 8,516 m (27,940 ft); Nuptse, 7,855 m (25,771 ft) and Changtse, 7,580 m (24,870 ft).\nPanoramic View, Nepal\nNepal is a beautiful landlocked country with huge white smiling mountains, green hills, flora-fauna, rivers, culture etc. It is a small paradise for the people who loves nature and natural resources.\nPotala Palace, Tibet\nTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas, in China. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 meters (16,000 ft).\n \nTashichoedzong, Bhutan\nBhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, who was fleeing religious persecution in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later, in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, based on a global survey, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world.\nTaj Mahal, India\nBhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, who was fleeing religious persecution in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later, in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, based on a global survey, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in India officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.sia and the eighth-happiest in the world.\nAbout Nepal Trek\nNepal officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 27 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Specifically, the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim border Nepal, whereas across the Himalayas lies the Tibet Autonomous Region. Nepal is separated from Bangladesh by the narrow Indian Siliguri Corridor. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and largest metropolis.\nThe mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in the Nepali language. More than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level are located in Nepal. The southern Terai region is fertile and humid.\nHinduism is practiced by about 81.3% of Nepalis, making it the country with the highest percentage of Hindus. Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal and is practiced by 9%, Islam by 4.4%, Kiratism 3.1%, Christianity 1.4%, and animism 0.4% [citation needed]. A large portion of the population, especially in the hill region, may identify themselves as both Hindu and Buddhist, which can be attributed to the synergetic nature of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal.\nA monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768 - when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms until 2008. A decade-long Civil War involving the Communist Party of Nepal and several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties led to the 12-point agreement of 22 November 2005. The ensuing elections for the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly on 28 May 2008 overwhelmingly favored the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a federal multiparty representative democratic republic.\nThe political parties of Nepal agreed to form an interim government under the leadership of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi in order to hold elections for the Constituent Assembly by 19 November 2013 to end a political deadlock. The election was held successfully and the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly was sworn in, with Sushil Koirala appointed as the new prime minister.\nIn 2014, Nepal ranked 145th of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) and despite several challenges, Nepal has been making steady progress and the Government of Nepal have made commitment to help the nation to graduate towards one of the more developed nations by 2022.",
"The Largest Countries in the World - WorldAtlas.com\nThe Largest Countries in ... The massive Algerian Sahara extends all the way to the south of the country past its borders with ... The largest country in South ...\nThe Largest Countries in the World - WorldAtlas.com\nThe Largest Countries in the World\nThe worlds largest nations, measured in square kilometers of land area.\nRolling Hills and Vast Vistas in Tuscany, Italy\nFrom Cape Horn all the way to the Arctic Circle, the world’s largest countries provide a beautiful snapshot of the variety of geography, climate and wildlife on the planet. Collectively, the world’s largest countries contain rainforest and tundra, mountains and valleys, coastline and desert.\nAs this we explore the largest nations, we visit five different continents, some of the world’s most spectacular geography, and every type of climate imaginable.\nExcitingly, it’s always changing, too: history has taught that geopolitical boundaries shift dramatically as centuries pass. In the next decades, who’s to say which countries will become the world’s largest?\nWhen 11.5 percent of all the land in the entire world is claimed by just one country, it’s not surprising to learn that the tenth largest country ( Algeria ) could fit into the largest ( Russia ) seven times over. When all 10 of the world's largest countries are taken together, they total 49% of the earth's entire 149 million square kilometres of land.\n10 – Algeria\nThe Algerian Sahara, the largest expanse of Saharan dessert\nAlgeria , at 2.38 million square kilometers, is the tenth-largest country in the world by area and the only African country in the top 10.\nSituated in Northern Africa, Algeria has a Mediterranean coastline 998 km long. 90 percent of the country is desert, and much of its desert regions are highly elevated. The Tell Atlas mountain range runs along the country’s northern border, while the interior, much of it hundreds of meters above sea level, contains the Algerian portion of the Sahara desert. The massive Algerian Sahara extends all the way to the south of the country past its borders with Niger and Mali .\n9 – Kazakhstan\nKazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country\nKazakhstan’s 2.72 million square kilometers stretch over vast plains and highlands. A cool and dry, but not quite desert-like, climate prevails for most of the year. Kazakhstanis experience a great range of temperatures throughout the year, though it doesn’t get as cold in Kazakhstan as it does in parts of its northern neighbor, Russia .\nFormerly part of the USSR, the largest nation in the world for most of the 20th century, Kazakhstan’s current main claim to fame is its status as the largest landlocked country in the world—and the only landlocked country in the top 10.\n8 – Argentina\nMount Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Argentina\nArgentina , the world’s 32nd most populous country, is the world’s eighth largest, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world by area. Its 2.78 million square kilometers include some of the most varied geography and climate in the world.\nSwampy, tropical conditions in the very north give way to freezing glacial regions in the south. Patagonia, one of the most spectacular and dangerous places on the planet, stretches from the southern Andes in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. The southern tip of Argentina, known as Cape Horn, is one of the stormiest locations on the globe.\n6 – Australia\nThe Twelve Apostles, Victoria State, Australia\nThe approximately 4.4 million square kilometer difference between Australia and India represents the second-largest size difference between countries ranked consecutively in the top 10. Australia, at around 7.69 million square kilometers, is over twice the size of India .\nIt’s the largest country in Oceania by far. Technically it is so large that it doesn’t even qualify as an island, it is a continental landmass.\nThe vast majority of its population live in coastal cities like Sydney in the east and Perth in the west, and with good reason: the Australian Outback is one of the world’s driest and hottest regions. Along with extreme climate and geography, Australia is known for its spectacular—and often deadly—wildlife.\n5 – Brazil\nCopacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil\nThe largest country in South America at over 8.51 million square kilometers, Brazil plays home to much of the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon. The Amazon is so dense and vast that explorers and scientists have found human civilizations within—small tribes—that had never made contact with the outside world. Even still, these same experts believe there may be more undiscovered tribes living there unfound still.\nBrazil also has a lengthy Atlantic coastline on the eastern side, which stretches approximately 8,000 km. Most of its major cities, including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, were built along this coastline, detouring the thick Amazon jungle.\n4 – People’s Republic of China\nThe Great Wall of China stretches along a long stretch of the northern border of China\nChina , the United States of America , and Canada each occupy just under seven percent of the globe’s surface. Of these three, China is the smallest—just barely—at approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. It shares a border with 14 different countries, including Afghanistan to the east, Russia to the north, and Vietnam to the south.\nIts climate and its people vary dramatically. In the north, temperatures drop to subarctic levels, the center of the nation holds the Gobi, the world’s 4th largest desert, and in the south temperatures reach tropical levels regularly. With over 1.35 billion citizens, China is home to 56 recognized ethnic groups, has the world’s 18th largest Muslim population, the 19th largest Christian population, and with 1.9 doctors per 1000 people, China has more doctors than the entire population of Qatar .\n3 – United States of America\nLong meandering rivers of North Dakota cut through plains and canyons\nThe United States , just bigger than China but slightly smaller than Canada , occupies 9.63 million square kilometers. Bordered by Mexico to the south, and Canada to the north, the United States is home to a diverse array of geography and wildlife.\nTwo North-South features split the nation into three distinct pieces. West of the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific states are known for year round temperate weather and long expanses of beach along the California coast. Sandwiched between the Rockies and the Mississippi River, the great plains stretch from Canada to Mexico, giving the United States one of the world's most fertile growing areas. Lastly, the third of the nation east of the Mississippi is the industrial and economic hub of America, with major cities spread all along the Eastern seaboard.\n2 – Canada\nThe vast wilderness of Canada is popular for outdoor activity\nCanada’s 9.984 million square kilometers make it the largest country in the western hemisphere, and its 202,080 kilometer coastline means that it has a longer shoreline than any other nation. With a population density of 4 people per square kilometer, this means that each of Canada's 35 million people could have 61 acres for themselves.\nPositioned between the Arctic and the United States, Canada’s massive frozen tundra extends into the Arctic Circle. Split similar to the USA; in the western half of the country, the Rocky Mountains run north to south, and prairies provide huge grain and canola growing areas. Eastern Canada is the traditional heart of the nation, with Toronto, Montreal, and the national capital of Ottawa, all located in the East.\n1 – Russia\nThe Trans-Siberian Railroad is the world's longest railroad\nRussia’s 17.1 million square kilometres easily make it the world’s largest by area. In fact, if Russia were to lop off 7 million square kilometers, it would still be the largest—and the lopped-off section would rank seventh overall!\nLike China , Russia borders 14 different countries. Unlike China, none of Russia is tropical, though humid summers prevail in much of southern Russia. The Taiga, the world’s largest terrestrial biome, extends all the way from Eastern Canada throughout the vast majority of northern Russia. Massive oil reserves exist underneath Russia’s frozen forests and tundra; however, due to the expense and difficulty of extracting it, much of Russia’s oil wealth remains untapped.\n50 Largest Countries in the World By Area\nRank",
"Monarchy.txt\nMonarchy\nA monarchy is a form of government in which a group, usually a family called the dynasty, embodies the country's national identity and one of its members, called the monarch, exercises a role of sovereignty. The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolical (crowned republic) to partial and restricted (constitutional monarchy) to completely despotic (absolute monarchy). Traditionally and in most cases, the monarch's post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, but there are also elective monarchies where the monarch is elected. Each of these has variations: in some elected monarchies only those of certain pedigrees are eligible, whereas many hereditary monarchies impose requirements regarding the religion, age, gender, mental capacity, and other factors. Occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a monarch's reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved: an invasion being repulsed, for instance. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy.\n\nMonarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Where it exists, it is now usually a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch retains a unique legal and ceremonial role, but exercises limited or no official political power: under the written or unwritten constitution, others have governing authority. Currently, 44 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. All European monarchies are constitutional ones, with the exception of the Vatican City which is an elective monarchy, but sovereigns in the smaller states exercise greater political influence than in the larger. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia \"reign, but do not rule\" although there is considerable variation in the degree of authority they wield. Although they reign under constitutions, the monarchs of Brunei, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland appear to continue to exercise more political influence than any other single source of authority in their nations, either by constitutional mandate or by tradition.\n\nEtymology \n\nThe word \"monarch\" () comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs (from μόνος monos, \"one, singular\", and ἄρχω árkhō, \"to rule\" (compare ἄρχων arkhon, \"leader, ruler, chief\")) which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word monarchy usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule, as elective monarchies are rare nowadays.\n\nHistory \n\n \nTribal kingship is often connected to sacral functions, so that the king acts as a priest, or is considered of Divine ancestry. The sacral function of kingship was transformed into the notion of \"Divine right of kings\" in the Christian Middle Ages, while the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period.\nSince antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where executive power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome (Roman Republic, 509 BC), and Athens (Athenian democracy, 500 BC).\n\nIn Germanic antiquity, kingship was primarily a sacral function, and the king was either directly hereditary for some tribes, while for others he was elected from among eligible members of royal families by the thing.\n\nSuch ancient \"parliamentarism\" declined during the European Middle Ages, but it survived in forms of regional assemblies, such as the Icelandic Commonwealth, the Swiss Landsgemeinde and later Tagsatzung, and the High Medieval communal movement linked to the rise of medieval town privileges.\n\nThe modern resurgence of parliamentarism and anti-monarchism began with the temporary overthrow of the English monarchy by the Parliament of England in 1649, followed by the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1792. One of many opponents of that trend was Elizabeth Dawbarn, whose anonymous Dialogue between Clara Neville and Louisa Mills, on Loyalty (1794) features \"silly Louisa, who admires liberty, Tom Paine and the USA, [who is] lectured by Clara on God's approval of monarchy\" and on the influence women can exert on men. Much of 19th century politics was characterized by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism.\n\nMany countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, especially in the wake of either World War I or World War II. Advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism.\n\nCharacteristics and role \n\nMonarchies are associated with political or sociocultural hereditary rule, in which monarchs rule for life (although some monarchs do not hold lifetime positions: for example, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia serves a five-year term) and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their child or another member of their family when they die. Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the center of the royal household and court. Growing up in a royal family (called a dynasty when it continues for several generations), future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule.\n\nDifferent systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority (Salic law). While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history; the term queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, while a queen consort refers to the wife of a reigning king. Rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. \n\nThe principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of leadership (as seen in the classic phrase \"The King is dead. Long live the King!\").\n\nSome monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected, or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period, but otherwise serve as any other monarch. Three elective monarchies exist today: Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are 20th-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient.\n\nA self-proclaimed monarchy is established when a person claims the monarchy without any historical ties to a previous dynasty. Napoleon I of France declared himself Emperor of the French and ruled the First French Empire after previously calling himself First Consul following his seizure of power in the coup of 18 Brumaire. Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic declared himself \"Emperor\" of the Central African Empire. Yuan Shikai crowned himself Emperor of the short-lived \"Empire of China\" a few years after the Republic of China was founded.\n\nPowers of the monarch \n\nToday, the extent of the monarch's powers varies:\n* In an absolute monarchy, the monarch rules as an autocrat, with absolute power over the state and government — for example, the right to rule by decree, promulgate laws, and impose punishments. Absolute monarchies are not necessarily authoritarian; the enlightened absolutists of the Age of Enlightenment were monarchs who allowed various freedoms.\n* In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is subject to a constitution. The monarch serves as a ceremonial figurehead symbol of national unity and state continuity. The monarch is nominally sovereign but the electorate, through their legislature, exercise (usually limited) political sovereignty. Constitutional monarchs have limited political power, except in Japan and Sweden, where the constitutions grant no power to their monarchs. Typical monarchical powers include granting pardons, granting honours, and reserve powers, e.g. to dismiss the prime minister, refuse to dissolve parliament, or veto legislation (\"withhold Royal Assent\"). They often also have privileges of inviolability, sovereign immunity, and an official residence. A monarch's powers and influence may depend on tradition, precedent, popular opinion, and law.\n* In other cases the monarch's power is limited, not due to constitutional restraints, but to effective military rule. In the late Roman Empire, the Praetorian Guard several times deposed Roman Emperors and installed new emperors. The Hellenistic kings of Macedon and of Epirus were elected by the army, which was similar in composition to the ecclesia of democracies, the council of all free citizens; military service was often linked with citizenship among the male members of the royal house. Military domination of the monarch has occurred in modern Thailand and in medieval Japan (where a hereditary military chief, the shogun, was the de facto ruler, although the Japanese emperor nominally ruled). In Fascist Italy the Savoy monarchy under King Victor Emmanuel III coexisted with the Fascist single-party rule of Benito Mussolini; Romania under the Iron Guard and Greece during the first months of the Colonels' regime were much the same way. Spain under Francisco Franco was officially a monarchy, although there was no monarch on the throne. Upon his death, Franco was succeeded as head of state by the Bourbon heir, Juan Carlos I, who proceeded to make Spain a democracy with himself as a figurehead constitutional monarch.\n\nPerson of monarch \n\nMost states only have a single person acting as monarch at any given time, although two monarchs have ruled simultaneously in some countries, a situation known as diarchy. Historically this was the case in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta or 17th-century Russia, and there are examples of joint sovereignty of spouses or relatives (such as William and Mary in the Kingdoms of England and Scotland). Other examples of joint sovereignty include Tsars Peter I and Ivan V of Russia, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Joanna of Castile of the Crown of Castile.\n\nAndorra currently is the world's sole constitutional diarchy or co-principality. Located in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, it has two co-princes: the Bishop of Urgell (a prince-bishop) in Spain and the President of France (inherited ex officio from the French kings, who themselves inherited the title from the counts of Foix). It is the only situation in which an independent country's (co-)monarch is democratically elected by the citizens of another country.\n\nIn a personal union, separate independent states share the same person as monarch, but each realm has its own crown or monarchy. The sixteen separate Commonwealth realms are sometimes described as being in a personal union with Queen Elizabeth II as monarch, however, they can also be described as being in a shared monarchy.\n\nA regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, absent, or debilitated.\n\nA pretender is a claimant to an abolished throne or to a throne already occupied by somebody else.\n\nAbdication is when a monarch resigns.\n\nMonarchs often take part in certain ceremonies, such as a coronation.\n\nRole of monarch \n\nMonarchy, especially absolute monarchy, sometimes is linked to religious aspects; many monarchs once claimed the right to rule by the will of a deity (Divine Right of Kings, Mandate of Heaven), a special connection to a deity (sacred king) or even purported to be divine kings, or incarnations of deities themselves (imperial cult). Many European monarchs have been styled Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith); some hold official positions relating to the state religion or established church.\n\nIn the Western political tradition, a morally-based, balanced monarchy is stressed as the ideal form of government, and little reverence is paid to modern-day ideals of egalitarian democracy: e.g. Saint Thomas Aquinas unapologetically declares: \"Tyranny is wont to occur not less but more frequently on the basis of polyarchy [rule by many, i.e. oligarchy or democracy] than on the basis of monarchy.\" (On Kingship). However, Thomas Aquinas also stated that the ideal monarchical system would also have at lower levels of government both an aristocracy and elements of democracy in order to create a balance of power. The monarch would also be subject to both natural and divine law, as well, and also be subject to the Church in matters of religion.\n\nIn Dante Alighieri's De Monarchia, a spiritualized, imperial Catholic monarchy is strongly promoted according to a Ghibelline world-view in which the \"royal religion of Melchizedek\" is emphasized against the sacerdotal claims of the rival papal ideology.\n\nIn Saudi Arabia, the king is a head of state who is both the absolute monarch of the country and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of Islam (خادم الحرمين الشريفين).\n––\n\nTitles of monarchs \n\nMonarchs can have various titles. Common European titles of monarchs are emperor or empress (from Latin: imperator or imperatrix), king or queen, grand duke or grand duchess, prince or princess, duke or duchess (in that hierarchical order of nobility). Some early modern European titles (especially in German states) included elector (German: Kurfürst, literally \"prince-elector\"), margrave (German: Markgraf, equivalent to the French title marquis), and burgrave (German: Burggraf, literally \"count of the castle\"). Lesser titles include count, princely count, or imam (Use in Oman). Slavic titles include knyaz and tsar (ц︢рь) or tsaritsa (царица), a word derived from the Roman imperial title Caesar.\n\nIn non-Europe, monarchs can have various titles too. Muslim worlds titles of monarchs include caliph (successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community), padishah (emperor), sultan or sultana, shâhanshâh (emperor), shah, malik (king) or malikah (queen), emir (commander, prince) or emira (princess), sheikh or sheikha. East Asian titles of monarchs include huángdì (emperor or empress regnant), tiānzǐ (son of heaven), tennō (emperor) or josei tennō (empress regnant), wang (king) or yeowang (queen regnant), hwangje (emperor) or yeohwang (empress regnant). South Asian and South East Asian titles included mahārāja (emperor) or maharani (empress), raja (king) and rana (king) or rani (queen) and ratu (South East Asian queen). Historically, Mongolic or Turkic monarchs have used the title khan and khagan (emperor) or khatun and khanum and Ancient Egypt monarchs have used the title pharaoh for men and women. In Ethiopian Empire, monarchs used title nəgusä nägäst (king of kings) or nəgəstä nägäst (queen of kings).\n\nMany monarchs are addressed with particular styles or manners of address, such as \"Majesty\", \"Royal Highness\", \"By the Grace of God\", Amīr al-Mu'minīn (\"Leader of the Faithful\"), Hünkar-i Khanedan-i Âl-i Osman, \"Sovereign of the Sublime House of Osman\"), Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda (\"Majesty\"), Jeonha (\"Majesty\"), Tennō Heika (literally \"His Majesty the heavenly sovereign\"), Bìxià (\"Bottom of the Steps\").\n\nSometimes titles are used to express claims to territories that are not held in fact (for example, English claims to the French throne), or titles not recognized (antipopes). Also, after a monarchy is deposed, often former monarchs and their descendants are given titles (the King of Portugal was given the hereditary title Duke of Braganza).\n\nDependent monarchies \n\nIn some cases monarchs are dependent on other powers (see vassals, suzerainty, puppet state, hegemony). In the British colonial era indirect rule under a paramount power existed, such as the princely states under the British Raj.\n\nIn Botswana, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda, the ancient kingdoms and chiefdoms that were met by the colonialists when they first arrived on the continent are now constitutionally protected as regional and/or sectional entities. Furthermore, in Nigeria, though the dozens of sub-regional polities that exist there are not provided for in the current constitution, they are nevertheless legally recognised aspects of the structure of governance that operates in the nation. In addition to these five countries, peculiar monarchies of varied sizes and complexities exist in various other parts of Africa. \n\nSuccession \n\nThe rules for selection of monarchs varies from country to country. In constitutional monarchies the rule of succession is generally embodied in a law passed by a representative body, such as a parliament.\n\nHereditary monarchies \n\nIn a hereditary monarchy, the position of monarch is inherited according to a statutory or customary order of succession, usually within one royal family tracing its origin through a historical dynasty or bloodline. This usually means that the heir to the throne is known well in advance of becoming monarch to ensure a smooth succession.\n\nPrimogeniture, in which the eldest child of the monarch is first in line to become monarch, is the most common system in hereditary monarchy. The order of succession is usually affected by rules on gender. Historically \"agnatic primogeniture\" or \"patrilineal primogeniture\" was favoured, that is inheritance according to seniority of birth among the sons of a monarch or head of family, with sons and their male issue inheriting before brothers and their issue, and male-line males inheriting before females of the male line. This is the same as semi-Salic primogeniture. Complete exclusion of females from dynastic succession is commonly referred to as application of the Salic law (see Terra salica).\n\nBefore primogeniture was enshrined in European law and tradition, kings would often secure the succession by having their successor (usually their eldest son) crowned during their own lifetime, so for a time there would be two kings in coregency – a senior king and a junior king. Examples include Henry the Young King of England and the early Direct Capetians in France.\n\nSometimes, however, primogeniture can operate through the female line. In some systems a female may rule as monarch only when the male line dating back to a common ancestor is exhausted.\n\nIn 1980, Sweden became the first European monarchy to declare equal (full cognatic) primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne. Other kingdoms (such as the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991, and Denmark) have since followed suit. The United Kingdom adopted absolute (equal) primogeniture on April 25, 2013, following agreement by the prime ministers of the sixteen Commonwealth Realms at the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.\n\nSometimes religion is affected; for example the British monarch, as head of the Church of England, is required to be in communion with the Church, although all other former rules forbidding marriage to non-Protestants were abolished when equal primogeniture was adopted in 2013.\n\nIn the case of the absence of children, the next most senior member of the collateral line (for example, a younger sibling of the previous monarch) becomes monarch. In complex cases, this can mean that there are closer blood relatives to the deceased monarch than the next in line according to primogeniture. This has often led, especially in Europe in the Middle Ages, to conflict between the principle of primogeniture and the principle of proximity of blood.\n\nOther hereditary systems of succession included tanistry, which is semi-elective and gives weight to merit and Agnatic seniority. In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (agnatic seniority).\n\nElective monarchies \n\nIn an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected, or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period, but otherwise serve as any other monarch. There is no popular vote involved in elective monarchies, as the elective body usually consists of a small number of eligible people. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors (chosen by prince-electors, but often coming from the same dynasty), and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. For example, Pepin the Short (father of Charlemagne) was elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish leading men; Stanisław August Poniatowski of Poland was an elected king, as was Frederick I of Denmark. Germanic peoples had elective monarchies.\n\nFour forms of elective monarchies exist today. The pope of the Roman Catholic Church (who rules as Sovereign of the Vatican City State) is elected to a life term by the College of Cardinals. In Malaysia, the federal king, called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected for a five-year term from and by the hereditary rulers (mostly sultans) of nine of the federation's constitutive states, all on the Malay peninsula. The United Arab Emirates also has a procedure for electing its monarch. Furthermore, Andorra has a unique constitutional arrangement as one of its heads of state is the President of the French Republic in the form of a Co-Prince. This is the only instance in the world where the monarch of a state is elected by the citizens of a different country.\n\nAppointment by the current monarch is another system, used in Jordan. It also was used in Imperial Russia; however, it was changed to semi-Salic soon, because the unreliable realization of the appointment system resulted in an age of palace revolutions. In this system, the monarch chooses the successor, who is always his relative.\n\nCurrent monarchies \n\nCurrently there are 43 nations in the world with a monarch as head of state. They fall roughly into the following categories:\n* Commonwealth realms. Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch of sixteen Commonwealth realms (Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). They have evolved out of the British Empire into fully independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations that retain the Queen as head of state, unlike other Commonwealth countries that are either dependencies, republics or have a different royal house. All sixteen realms are constitutional monarchies and full democracies where the Queen has limited powers or a largely ceremonial role. The Queen is head of the established Protestant Christian Church of England in the United Kingdom, while the other 15 realms do not have an established church.\n* Other European constitutional monarchies.\nThe Principality of Andorra, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom of Sweden are fully democratic states in which the monarch has a limited or largely ceremonial role.\n\nThere is generally a Christian religion established as the official church in each of these countries. This is the Lutheran form of Protestantism in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, while Belgium and Andorra are Roman Catholic countries. Spain and the Netherlands have no official State religion. Luxembourg, which is very predominantly Roman Catholic, has five so-called officially recognized cults of national importance (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Greek Orthodoxy, Judaism and Islam), a status which gives to those religions some privileges like the payment of a state salary to their priests.\n\nAndorra is unique among all existing monarchies, as it is, by definition, a diarchy, with the Co-Princeship being shared by the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell. This situation, based on historic precedence, has created a peculiar situation among monarchies, as a) both Co-Princes are not of Andorran descent, b) one is elected by common citizens of a foreign country (France), but not by Andorrans as they cannot vote in the French Presidential Elections, c) the other, the bishop of Urgel, is appointed by a foreign head of state, the Pope.\n* European constitutional/absolute monarchies. Liechtenstein and Monaco are constitutional monarchies in which the Prince retains many powers of an absolute monarch. For example, the 2003 Constitution referendum which gives the Prince of Liechtenstein the power to veto any law that the Landtag (parliament) proposes and the Landtag can veto any law that the Prince tries to pass. The Prince can hire or dismiss any elective member or government employee from his or her post. However, what makes him not an absolute monarch is that the people can call for a referendum to end the monarchy's reign. The Prince of Monaco has simpler powers but cannot hire or dismiss any elective member or government employee from his or her post, but he can elect the minister of state, government council and judges. Both Albert II and Hans-Adam II have quite a bit of political power, but they also own huge tracts of land and are shareholders in many companies.\n* Islamic monarchies. These Islamic monarchs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Kuwait, Malaysia, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates generally retain far more powers than their European or Commonwealth counterparts. The Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remain absolute monarchies; the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait and United Arab Emirates are classified as mixed, meaning there are representative bodies of some kind, but the monarch retains most of his powers. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Malaysia and the Kingdom of Morocco are constitutional monarchies, but their monarchs still retain more substantial powers than European equivalents.\n* East Asian constitutional monarchies. The Kingdom of Bhutan, the Kingdom of Cambodia, Japan, the Kingdom of Thailand have constitutional monarchies where the monarch has a limited or ceremonial role. The Kingdom of Bhutan, Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand are countries that were never colonized by European powers, but Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand have changed from traditional absolute monarchies into constitutional ones during the twentieth century, while the Kingdom of Bhutan changed in 2008. The Kingdom of Cambodia had its own monarchy after independence from the French Colonial Empire, which was deposed after the Khmer Rouge came into power and the subsequent invasion by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The monarchy was subsequently restored in the peace agreement of 1993.\n* Other monarchies. Five monarchies do not fit into one of the above groups by virtue of geography or class of monarchy: the Kingdom of Tonga in Polynesia; the Kingdom of Swaziland and the Kingdom of Lesotho in Africa; the Vatican City State; the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Europe. Of these, the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Kingdom of Tonga are constitutional monarchies, while the Kingdom of Swaziland and the Vatican City State are absolute monarchies. The Kingdom of Swaziland is also unique among these monarchies, often being considered a diarchy. The King, or Ngwenyama, rules alongside his mother, the Ndlovukati, as dual heads of state originally designed to be checks on political power. The Ngwenyama, however, is considered the administrative head of state, while the Ndlovukati is considered the spiritual and national head of state, a position which more or less has become symbolic in recent years. \nThe Pope is the absolute monarch of the Vatican City State (different entity from the Holy See) by virtue of his position as head of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome; he is an elected rather than hereditary ruler and has not to be a citizen of the territory prior to his election by the cardinals.\n\nCurrent reigning monarchies",
"Meet the world’s other 25 royal families - The Washington Post\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families. ... The al-Khalifa family, which is Sunni, has ruled over this small and majority-Shiite island nation since 1783.\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families - The Washington Post\nMeet the world’s other 25 royal families\nThe inside track on Washington politics.\nBe the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published.\nYou’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published.\nYou’re all set!\nGot it\nBy Caitlin Dewey and Max Fisher July 22, 2013\nThis map shows the world's monarchies, divided into those that rule directly and those that simply reign. (Max Fisher/Washington Post)\nWith all the attention around Britain’s forthcoming Royal Baby, you’d think the U.K. had a monopoly on monarchs -- infant or otherwise. In reality, there are 26 monarchies in the world, a fascinating network of kings, queens, sultans, emperors and emirs who rule or reign over 43 countries in all.\nIt goes without saying, of course, that most royal families have a considerably lower international profile than the Windsors. That has a lot to do with Britain’s imperial history: Sixteen countries, including Canada and Australia, are still technically subjects of the British monarchy, which also once ruled much of the world.\nBeyond Queen Elizabeth II, the other monarchies vary widely in how much power they hold, how they're seen, how their family got there and even in what they're called. Here’s a quick tour of the world's 25 other royal families, plus its two elected monarchies, in Malaysia and the Vatican. We've divided them into monarchs who rule -- who have real, direct political power -- and those, like the Windsors, who merely reign.\nMonarchs who rule\nSaudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, which makes Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz the king and prime minister. His deputies, Salman and Muqrin, are also from the ruling House of Saud, and the king-appointed cabinet includes more members of the royal family. While the monarchy is hereditary now, future Saudi kings will be chosen by a committee of Saudi princes, per a 2006 decree. (There are plenty of them: according to some estimates, the ruling family includes as many as 30,000 people .)\nKuwait: Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, age 84, has ruled Kuwait since 2006, when the previous emir died, setting off a minor succession crisis because the next-in-line was physically unable to recite the oath of office, possibly because of age-related health issues. Sabah took over instead; he rules the oil-rich nation as emir and head of the royal family, which has been in some form of power since the early 1700s.\nThen-Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of Qatar at the opening of the 33rd Gulf leaders summit in Bahrain. (EPA)\nQatar: Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is a recent addition to this list, having taken over in June after his father's peaceful abdication. The al-Thani family is known for ostentatious wealth and for working aggressively to expand their country's regional, oil-funded influence. They've ruled Qatar since 1825 and underwent a series of forced abdications in the 20th century, typically instigated by sons or nephews eager to take the throne.\nUnited Arab Emirates: As its name suggests, the United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven districts, each of which is governed by a hereditary monarch who bears the title of emir. Traditionally, the emir of Abu Dhabi is also the federation president. Today that's Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who's been in charge since his father died in 2004. He is thought to have personal wealth of about $5 billion .\nKing Mswati III of Swaziland (AFP/Mohd Rasfanmohd)\nSwaziland: King Mswati III has been the absolute monarch of this small southern African country since inheriting the crown from his father in 1986, when he was barely 18 years old. His formal title is Ngwenyama, an honorific that also means lion.\nBrunei: Sir Hassanal Bolkiah has been Brunei’s sultan and prime minister since 1967, and he appoints virtually all of Brunei’s ruling bodies, including the Legislative Council and the Supreme and Sharia Courts. His 1,800-room palace, the Istana Nurul Iman , is considered the world’s largest private residence.\nOman: Sultan Qaboos bin Said has ruled Oman, its government, its treasury and its military since he overthrew his father in a 1970 palace coup. His family has ruled since the 1700s, although it lost its East African territory in the 1800s.\nBahrain: The al-Khalifa family, which is Sunni, has ruled over this small and majority-Shiite island nation since 1783. The current monarch, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, took over in 1999 and in 2002 changed his title from emir to king. Though the constitutional monarchy grants Shiites some role in the government, it's not much, and pro-democracy protests have roiled the country since 2011.\nJordan: King Abdullah II has ruled since 1999, and though he isn’t technically the head of government -- Jordan has an appointed prime minister -- he has very real political powers, including the ability to veto any law and dissolve parliament at will. His successor, Crown Prince Hussein, is 19 years old.\nMorocco: King Mohammed VI voluntarily shrank some of his powers when, in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, he enacted a series of reforms to Morocco’s government, a constitutional monarchy. While he still has significant powers -- including appointing the prime minister and members of the government -- he can no longer dissolve the parliament or call for new elections.\nThe Vatican: Yes, the pope is considered the monarch of this European city-state. Here's a video explaining it:\nMonarchs with some political power\nMonaco: Prince Albert II has ruled since 2005 and holds a large political role, despite the fact that Monaco has an elected legislature. He gets to appoint the minister of state, for instance, but only from a list of three preselected candidates.\nThailand's King Bhumibol is the world's longest-reigning monarch. (Pairoj/AFP/Getty Images)\nThailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej has reigned for a remarkable 67 years, beating England’s Queen Elizabeth, who has served since 1952. He holds a number of little-used, but still important, constitutional powers, including the ability to veto legislation and pardon criminals. Bhumibol is also an interesting figure on his own merits: The 85-year-old king is an accomplished jazz musician and has patented a waste water aerator.\nLiechtenstein: In a rare move among Western European countries, Liechtenstein actually voted to increase the powers of Prince Hans Adam II in the early aughts. The prince can veto any legislation and dissolve the parliament at will, among other powers. Technically, these official duties have been transferred to his son, Prince Alois, but Hans Adam remains chief of state.\nTonga: King George Tupou V took the throne from his father in 2006 and promptly promised to cede most of his powers to the country’s prime minister. Tonga had been an absolute monarchy, but violent, pro-democracy rallies shortly before Tupou’s coronation caused huge damage in the capital and killed eight people.\nBhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk married the non-royal Jestun Pema in October 2011. (AP Photo)\nBhutan: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk is the Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan, which means Dragon King. Jigme formally took the throne in 2008, two years after his father’s abdication. The coronation was delayed to give 26-year-old Jigme more administrative experience. Reforms in the late 1990s reduced the king's powers. The Wangchuck monarchy is just over 100 years old, having unified the small Himalayan country under its rule with help from the British Empire.\nCeremonial or figurehead monarchs\nNorway: Norway’s King Harald V has a number of important-sounding but entirely ceremonial roles, including appointing the Norwegian cabinet and the prime minister -- with the approval of the parliament, of course. The monarchy is hereditary, and 40-year-old crown prince Haakon Magnus will take over from his father.\nFrom left: Swedish Queen Silvia, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel and their daughter, Princess Estelle. (EPA/Jonas Ekstromer)\nSweden: Sweden is one of the few monarchies that allows female succession, which means Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree will become queen at the end of her father’s reign, so far of 40 years. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the current monarch, is a ceremonial figure.\nThe Netherlands: The Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander took the throne only three months ago, after his mother Beatrix gave up her reign of 33 years. The Netherlands has a bicameral parliament, so the monarch doesn’t rule directly. But King Willem-Alexander still has an important role as the president of the Council of State, an advisory body with roots in the 16th century. No law may be submitted to parliament unless it goes to the council first.\nSpain: Spain's 75-year-old King Juan Carlos I has little power now, but he was instrumental in bringing democracy to Spain. The dictator Francisco Franco named Juan Carlos to succeed him, but shortly after Franco's death, the new king dismantled the Francoist regime and kickstarted the process that would lead to Spain's 1978 constitution. Three years later, Juan Carlos also gave a televised address that shut down the attempted \"23-F\" coup.\nGreenland: Greenland is part of a the Kingdom of Denmark, though it has governed itself through an elected parliament since 1979. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II is still the queen in name there, however; the 73-year-old queen has reigned since 1972 and is to eventually pass the throne to her son Frederik.\nLuxembourg: Luxembourg styles itself as a “Grand Duchy,” not a kingdom, so Henri Guillaume goes by the title Grand Duke Henri. He represents, in the words of the official government Web site , “a symbol of stability, a single figure at the head of state, above the daily political business.”\nThen-Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his wife, Mathilde, arrive at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010. (EPA/Jochen Luebke)\nBelgium: Belgium’s 53-year-old King Philippe inherited a divided country when he was sworn in July 21 , hours after his father abdicated. His position is symbolic but important, given Belgium’s current political climate: Philippe has advocated for greater unity between the country’s warring Flemings and Francophones.\nLesotho: King Letsie III has reigned formally since 1996, and informally since 1990, when his father was in exile. He is a “living symbol of national unity,” per the national constitution, and he has no political powers.\nCambodia: King Norodom Sihamoni was tapped to take over from his father in 2004, when Thailand’s Royal Throne Council picked him from a pool of eligible male royals. Sihamoni's post is a symbolic one, but he had earlier served in real political roles, including as Cambodia’s ambassador to UNESCO.\nMalaysia: The structure of the monarchy in Malaysia is ceremonial and unique. Each state has a hereditary leader, called a sultan; every five years, the sultans elect one of their members to serve as king. Since 2011, Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah has held the throne.\nJapanese Crown Princess Masako, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attend an orchestra concert on July 7 in which Crown Prince Naruhito played viola. (AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)\nJapan: Japan's Yamato dynasty traces its origins back to 660, making it the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The 79-year-old Emperor Akihito has reigned since 1989 and is, according to legend, the 125th emperor in his line, though there's some debate as to the exact count of emperors. His seat is called the Chrysanthemum Throne and sits in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.\nworld",
"Mountains and Mountain Ranges - 8 | Britannica.com\nThe volcano erupted for several weeks starting in August 1976 ... in the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, ... mountain range in Western Cape province, ...\nMountains and Mountain Ranges - 8 | Britannica.com\nMountains and Mountain Ranges\nlandform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief.\nDisplaying 601 - 700 of 753 results\nSatpura Range range of hills, part of the Deccan plateau, western India. The hills stretch for some 560 miles (900 km) across the widest part of peninsular India, through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states. The range, the name of which means “Seven Folds,” forms...\nSavoy Alps northwestern spurs of the Graian Alps in southeastern France between Lake Geneva (north), the middle Rhône River (west), and the Arc and Isère river valleys (south). The highest peak is Pointe de la Grande Casse (12,631 feet [3,850 m]), a part of the...\nSawatch Range segment of the southern Rocky Mountains in central Colorado, U.S., extending southeastward for 100 miles (160 km) from the Eagle River to the city of Saguache (a variant spelling of Sawatch). Bounded by the Arkansas River (east) and the Elk Mountains...\nSawdāʾ, Qurnat al- peak situated within the Lebanon Mountains in northern Lebanon, 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Beirut. At 10,131 feet (3,088 metres), it is the highest peak in Lebanon.\nSayan Mountains large upland region lying along the frontiers of east-central Russia and Mongolia. Within Russia the mountains occupy the southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk kray (territory) and Irkutsk oblast (region), the northern part of Tyva (Tuva), and the west of...\nSelkirk Mountains major subdivision of the Columbia Mountains, extending for 200 miles (320 km) in a southeasterly arc, mostly in British Columbia, Canada, and just across the U.S. border into northern Idaho and Washington. Bounded by the Purcell Mountains (east) and...\nSelwyn Mountains mountain range in Yukon and Northwest Territories, northwestern Canada. Part of the Rockies, they trend northwest-southeast and rise to 9,750 feet (2,972 metres) in Keele Peak.\nSeshachalam Hills hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats, southern Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. Formed during Precambrian time (i.e., earlier than about 540 million years ago), the ranges contain sandstone and shale interbedded with limestone and are highly dissected,...\nShaʿnabī, Mount Ash- mountain (5,066 feet [1,544 m]) that is the highest in Tunisia. It is part of a spur of the Tebéssa (Tabassah) Mountains, which are part of the Saharan Atlas Mountains. The mountain lies near the Algerian border, 6 miles (10 km) west-northwest of Al-Qaṣrayn...\nShasta, Mount peak (14,162 feet [4,317 metres]) of the Cascade Range in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, northern California, U.S. The peak lies 77 miles (124 km) north of the city of Redding. An impressive double-peaked dormant volcano, it dominates the landscape...\nShebshi Mountains mountain range in eastern Nigeria, extending approximately 100 miles (160 km) in a north-south direction between the Benue and Taraba rivers. Its Dimlang (Vogel) Peak is one of the highest points—with an elevation of 6,699 feet (2,042 metres)—in Nigeria,...\nShevaroy Hills outlying range of the Eastern Ghats, north-central Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The Shevaroy Hills occupy an area of about 150 square miles (390 square km). The highest peaks are in the southwest, reaching 5,231 feet (1,594 metres) at Sanyasimalai...\nShip Rock volcanic neck with radiating dikes located in the northwestern corner of New Mexico, U.S. The landmark stands 1,400 feet (420 metres) above the surrounding area and is the basis of local Navajo legends. Solidified in the vent of an ancient volcano, the...\nSierra Madre mountain system of Mexico. It consists of the Sierra Madre Occidental (to the west), the Sierra Madre Oriental (to the east), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (to the south). These ranges enclose the great central Mexican Plateau, which itself is a part...\nSierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range in Chiapas state, southern Mexico. The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is a crystalline range of block mountains extending to the southeast along the Pacific coast from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into western Guatemala (where it is called the...\nSierra Nevada major mountain range of western North America, running along the eastern edge of the U.S. state of California. Its great mass lies between the large Central Valley depression to the west and the Basin and Range Province to the east. Extending more than...\nSierra Nevada mountain range in southeastern Spain, near the Mediterranean coast, the highest division of the Baetic Cordillera. The range itself is a domed mountain elongated for about 26 miles (42 km) from east to west. It is clearly defined by the faulted troughs...\nSierra San Pedro Mártir mountain range in central Baja California state, northwestern Mexico. The range stretches southward about 90 miles (145 km) from southeast of Ensenada to San Fernando. Farther south the range becomes the Sierra de San Borja. The rugged, granitic mountains,...\nSikhote-Alin mountain complex in the Russian Far East, fronting the Tatar Strait and the Sea of Japan for 750 miles (1,200 km) northeast-southwest. Major geologic fault lines bound the area, and the structural trench of the Ussuri River valley lies along the northwest....\nSilvretta Group mountain range of the Rhaetian Alps along the Austrian-Swiss border, extending eastward from near Klosters to north of Schuls, both in Switzerland. The glacier-covered range rises to Linard Peak (11,191 feet [3,411 metres]) in Switzerland and to Buin...\nSimien Mountains mountains in northern Ethiopia, northeast of Gonder. In the range is Ras Dejen (or Dashen), the highest peak in Ethiopia at 14,872 feet (4,533 metres). The region is the site of Simien National Park, which is home to a number of very rare species that...\nSinai, Mount granitic peak of the south-central Sinai Peninsula, Janūb Sīnāʾ (South Sinai) muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Egypt. Mount Sinai is renowned as the principal site of divine revelation in Jewish history, where God is purported to have appeared to Moses and given...\nSintra Mountains mountain range, Lisboa distrito (“district”), western Portugal. It extends about 10 miles (16 km) from the resort of Sintra to the Cape da Roca on the Atlantic Ocean, reaching its highest point (1,736 feet [529 m]) just south of Sintra. The lush vegetation...\nSiwalik Range sub-Himalayan range of the northern Indian subcontinent. It extends west-northwestward for more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the Tista River in Sikkim state, northeastern India, through Nepal, across northwestern India, and into northern Pakistan....\nSlieve Croob mountain in Banbridge district, N.Ire., the highest point (1,755 feet [535 metres]) of the Slieve Croob or Mid-Down group. It lies between the lower Lagan lowlands to the north and the Mourne Mountains to the south. The uplands are of igneous origin,...\nSlieve Donard highest peak (2,796 feet [852 metres]) in the Mourne Mountains at the border of Down district and Newry and Mourne district, N.Ire. It is near the coast at the northeastern end of the Mournes. Intensive glacial and periglacial action has produced bare...\nSlovak Ore Mountains segment of the Carpathian Mountains, in south-central Slovakia. The mountains extend (west-east) for about 90 miles (145 km) between Zvolen and Košice and rise to 4,846 feet (1,477 m) in Stolica. They are noted for their mineral resources, especially...\nSneeuberg mountain range in south-central South Africa. The range lies on the northeastern edge of the Great Karoo and stretches roughly east-west for 30 miles (48 km) with a slight curve southward at the eastern end. The highest point in the Sneeuberg (“Snow...\nSnowdon mountain in northern Wales that is the highest point in England and Wales and the principal massif in the Snowdonia mountains. It is located in the county of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarvonshire. Snowdon consists of about five main peaks...\nSnowy Mountains range in the Australian Alps, southeastern New South Wales, including several peaks that exceed 7,000 feet (2,100 metres)—notably Mount Kosciuszko, the highest in Australia. On their slopes rise the Murray, Murrumbidgee, and Tumut rivers, which flow...\nSobaek Mountains largest range of mountains in southern South Korea. The range, 220 mi (350 km) long, stretches southwest from north of T’aebaek Mountain (5,121 ft [1,561 m]) in Kangwŏn Province to the Kohŭng Peninsula near Yŏsu. Its high mountains, Sobaek (4,760 ft),...\nSoufrière active volcano on the island of Saint Vincent, in the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which lies within the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The volcano rises to peaks of 3,864 feet (1,178 metres) and 4,048 feet (1,234 metres) north...\nSoufrière (French: “Sulfur Mine”), active volcano on southern Basse-Terre island, Guadeloupe, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It rises to 4,813 feet (1,467 metres) and is the highest point of Guadeloupe. The volcano erupted for several weeks starting in August 1976...\nSouth Mountain northernmost section of the Blue Ridge in the Appalachian Mountains, extending southwestward for 65 miles (105 km) from southern Pennsylvania to northern Virginia, U.S. Quirauk Mountain (2,145 feet [654 m]) in Maryland is the highest point. It is crossed...\nSouthern Alps mountain range on South Island, New Zealand. It is the highest range in Australasia. Making up the loftiest portion of the mountains that extend the length of the island, the Alps extend from Haast Pass, at the head of Wanaka Lake, northeastward to Arthur’s...\nSperrin Mountains mountain range disposed along an arc about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Londonderry city, Northern Ireland. The highest peaks—Sawel, Mullaclogher, and Mullaghaneany—all exceed 2,000 feet (608 m) and are capped with crystalline limestone. The Sperrins...\nSpīn Ghar Range Pashto “White Mountains” mountain range forming a natural frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, extending westward for 100 miles (160 km) from the Vale of Peshāwar (Pakistan) to the Lowrah Valley (Afghanistan). The boundary between the two countries...\nSpruce Knob highest point in West Virginia, U.S., located in the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern part of the state, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Elkins. Spruce Knob lies at an elevation of 4,863 feet (1,482 metres) at the southern end of Spruce Mountain,...\nSredna Mountains range in central Bulgaria, a discontinuous range south of the Balkan Mountains and having a similar east-west orientation. Structurally, the Sredna range is a part of the Rhodope Mountains, from which it is separated by the Thracian Plain. Between the...\nSt. Elias Mountains segment of the Pacific Coast Ranges of northwestern North America. The mountains extend southeastward for about 250 miles (400 km) from the Wrangell Mountains to Cross Sound along the border between Canada (Yukon territory) and the United States (Alaska)....\nStanley, Mount part of the Ruwenzori Range on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, in east- central Africa. Stanley contains 9 of the 10 peaks that rise above 16,000 feet (4,900 metres), including the highest in the range, Margherita...\nStanovoy Range mountain range along the boundary between Amur oblast (province) and Sakha, Russia. It trends east to west, linking the mountains of Transbaikalia to the Dzhugdzhur Mountains, and is part of the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating...\nStirling Range mountains in southwestern Western Australia. They rise from a low plateau 40 miles (65 km) north of Albany and run parallel to the coast for 50 miles (80 km). The range reaches its highest point at Bluff Knoll, 3,596 feet (1,096 m). Sighted in 1802 by...\nSudeten system of east-west mountain ranges of northeastern Bohemia and northern Moravia, Czech Republic, bordering on Poland. The system has three subgroups: the West Sudeten range is composed of the Lusatian Mountains, the Jizera Mountains, and the Giant (Krkonoše)...\nSudirman Range western section of the Maoke Mountains of the central highlands of New Guinea. The Sudirman Range is located in the Indonesian province of Papua. The rugged range, which may have no pass lower than 13,000 feet (4,000 metres), rises to Jaya Peak (formerly...\nSugar Loaf landmark peak overlooking Rio de Janeiro and the entrance of Guanabara Bay, in southeastern Brazil. Named for its shape, the conical, granitic peak (1,296 feet [395 metres]) lies at the end of a short range between Rio de Janeiro and the Atlantic Ocean....\nSulaiman Range mountain mass in central Pakistan, extending southward about 280 miles (450 km) from the Gumal Pass to just north of Jacobabad, separating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab from Balochistan. Its heights gradually decrease toward the south, with summits averaging...\nSulitelma mountain range in Lapland extending for 30 miles (48 km) along the Swedish–Norwegian border. It rises to 6,279 feet (1,914 m), is permanently snow-clad, and gives rise to several glaciers, notably the 10-mile-long Blåmannsisen, which extends north from...\nSuthep, Mount mountain peak of northwestern Thailand, overlooking the city of Chiang Mai and rising to 5,528 feet (1,685 metres). Mount Suthep is the site of the royal resort palace and of a temple complex, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The mountain and temple complex...\nSwartberg mountain range in Western Cape province, South Africa, extending east-west for 150 mi (240 km) from near the town of Willowmore to the edge of the Witteberge, roughly parallel with the Indian Ocean coast. The Swartberg is the barrier dividing the semiarid...\nŚwiętokrzyskie Mountains mountain range, part of the Little Poland Uplands, in south-central Poland, surrounding the city of Kielce. The highest peaks are Łysica (2,008 feet [612 m]) and Łysa Mountain (1,946 feet [593 m]), both in the Łysogóry range. The Świętokrzyskie Mountains...\nTable Mountain flat-topped mountain in southwestern South Africa, overlooking Cape Town and Table Bay and dominating the northern end of the high, rocky Cape Peninsula. Its tabular shape results from nearly horizontal layers of sandstone exposed by vigorous wind and...\nTabor, Mount historic elevation of northern Israel, in Lower Galilee near the edge of the Plain of Esdraelon (ʿEmeq Yizreʿel). Though comparatively low (1,929 feet [588 m]), it dominates the level landscape around it, leading to the biblical expression “like Tabor...\nTaconic Range part of the Appalachian mountain system, U.S., extending southward for 150 miles (240 km) from a point southwest of Brandon, Vt., to northern Putnam county, New York. It rises to Mount Equinox (3,816 feet [1,163 m]) in Vermont and includes Mount Frissell...\nT’aebaek Mountains main ridge of the Korean Peninsula, stretching along the coast of the Sea of Japan (East Sea), north to Hwangnyong Mountain (4,160 feet [1,268 m]), North Korea, and continuing south as the Kyŏngsang Range to Tadae-p’o, a suburb of Pusan, South Korea....\nTahan, Mount highest peak of the Malay Peninsula (7,175 feet [2,187 m]), in the Tahan Range, West Malaysia. Mount Tahan is the central feature of Taman Negara National Park and a destination for mountaineers who begin their ascent from nearby Kuala Tahan, headquarters...\nTai, Mount mountain mass with several peaks along a southwest-northeast axis to the north of the city of Tai’an in Shandong province, eastern China. Mount Tai consists of a much-shattered fault block, mostly composed of archaic crystalline shales and granites and...\nTaihang Mountains mountain range of northern China, stretching some 250 miles (400 km) from north to south and forming the boundary between Shanxi and Hebei provinces and between the Shanxi plateau and the North China Plain. Some Western writers have erroneously called...\nTaïyetos Mountains mountain range, southern Peloponnese (Modern Greek: Pelopónnisos), Greece. The maximum elevation is approximately 7,874 feet (2,400 m) in the range, which imposes a barrier between the regions of Laconia (Lakonía) and Messenia (Messinía). Called the...\nTajumulco Volcano mountain peak in southwestern Guatemala. The highest peak in Central America, Tajumulco rises essentially from sea level to an elevation of 13,845 feet (4,220 metres). The peak is part of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, a mountain range that extends into...\nTalamanca, Cordillera de range in southern Costa Rica, extending to the border with western Panama. Its highest peak, Chirripó Grande, rises to 12,530 feet (3,819 metres). Poor transportation facilities limit access to the Talamanca region, where several national parks and Indian...\nTalas Alataū Range mountain range, a branch of the Tien Shan system that rises to 13,200 feet (4,023 metres) and forms part of the watershed of the upper Talas River in Kyrgyzstan.\nTalish Mountains mountain chain, northwestern Iran, in the northwest section of the Elburz Mountains, extending southeastward from the Azerbaijan border to the lower part of the Safīd Rūd (Safid River). Few peaks rise above 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). The Talish Mountains...\nTalladega Mountain low-lying segment of the Appalachian Mountains, extending northeastward along the border of Clay and Talladega counties and into Cleburne county in east-central Alabama, U.S. Rising to Cheaha Mountain (2,407 feet [734 metres]), the highest point in Alabama,...\nTambora, Mount volcanic mountain on the northern coast of Sumbawa island, Indonesia, that in April 1815 exploded in the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. It is now 2,851 metres (9,354 feet) high, having lost much of its top in the 1815 eruption. The volcano...\nTanggula Mountains mountain range in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwestern China. On the high plateau south of the mountains, there are many large salt lakes. In its eastern part the range forms the boundary between Tibet and Qinghai province. Although many peaks are...\nTannu-Ola mountain range of southern Tyva (Tuva), extending eastward about 350 miles (560 km) from the Altai Mountains in Russia. The average elevation of its summits is 8,200–8,850 feet (2,500–2,700 metres) above sea level, with a maximum elevation of 10,043...\nTaranaki, Mount mountain, west-central North Island, New Zealand, on the Taranaki Peninsula. The symmetrical volcanic cone rises from sea level to 8,260 ft (2,518 m) and has a subsidiary cone, 6,438-ft Fanthams Peak, 1 mi (1.5 km) south of the main crater. Both have...\nTatra Mountains highest range of the Central Carpathians. The mountains rise steeply from a high plateau and extend for approximately 40 miles (64 km) along the Slovakian-Polish frontier, varying in width from 9 to 15 miles (14 to 24 km). About 300 peaks are identified...\nTaum Sauk Mountain mountain in Iron county, southeastern Missouri, U.S., highest point (1,772 feet [540 m]) of the St. Francois Mountains and of the state. Centrepiece of Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, it is part of the main uplift of the forested Ozark Mountains and lies...\nTaunus wooded highland of Germany, extending across parts of the Länder (states) of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. The range is 50 miles (80 km) long and is bounded by the Rhine (west), Main (south), and Lahn (north) rivers. The range slopes steeply along...\nTaurus Mountains mountain range in southern Turkey, a great chain running parallel to the Mediterranean coast. The system extends along a curve from Lake Egridir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates River in the east. Aladağ (10,935 feet [3,333 m]) in the...\nTehachapi Mountains segment of the Coast Ranges (see Pacific mountain system), south-central California, U.S. They extend for about 50 miles (80 km) and link the south end of the Sierra Nevada with the mountains along the coast. Elevations in the Tehachapi Mountains average...\nTeide Peak volcanic peak at the centre of the island of Tenerife, in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia (province) of the Canary Islands comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), Spain. At 12,198 feet (3,718 metres), it is the highest point on Spanish soil....\nTell Atlas range of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, extending about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from eastern Morocco through Algeria to Tunisia. In Morocco, from Ceuta east to Melilla (150 miles [240 km]), the Er-Rif mountain range of the Tell Atlas faces the Mediterranean...\nTemblor Range segment of the Coast Ranges (see Pacific mountain system), south-central California, U.S. It extends southeastward for about 50 miles (80 km) from northwestern Kern county to the San Emigdio Mountains near the southern end of the Central Valley. Peaks...\nTeshio Range mountain range, northwestern Hokkaido, northern Japan. It extends southward for nearly 125 miles (200 km) from Cape Sōya on La Perouse Strait, across the transverse gorge of the Ishikari River, to the Yūbari Mountains. The Kitami Mountains lie to the...\nTeton Range segment of the Middle Rocky Mountains in the western United States, extending southward for 40 miles (64 km) across northwestern Wyoming, from the southern boundary of Yellowstone National Park to Teton Pass, just west of Jackson. Some foothills reach...\nThabana Ntlenyana mountain peak (11,424 feet [3,482 m]) in the Drakensberg and the highest in Africa south of Kilimanjaro. The peak lies in Lesotho, an independent country entirely within South Africa, just west of the border with the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Nearby...\nThuringian Forest range of forested hills and mountains in Germany, extending in an irregular line from the neighbourhood of Eisenach in west-central Thuringia southeastward to the Bavarian frontier, where it merges with the Franconian Forest. Its breadth varies from...\nTiantai Mountains mountain chain in eastern Zhejiang province, eastern China. Tiantai is also the name of a mountain in the chain. The range forms the northeastern extension of the great Xianxia Mountains in southern Zhejiang, which form the watershed between the Ling...\nTibesti part of the Mid-Sahara Rise of the central Sahara. Mostly in northwestern Chad, the mountains extend into northeastern Niger and southern Libya. The formation is about 300 miles (480 km) long and up to 175 miles (280 km) wide. The volcanic summit of...\nTien Shan great mountain system of Central Asia. Its name is Chinese for “Celestial Mountains.” Stretching about 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from west-southwest to east-northeast, it mainly straddles the border between China and Kyrgyzstan and bisects the ancient territory...\nTirich Mir highest peak (25,230 ft [7,690 m]) in the Hindu Kush mountain system, lying 155 mi (249 km) north of Peshāwar, Pak., in the North-West Frontier Province near Afghanistan. The Upper Tirich Glacier basin is formed by Tirich Mir East, Tirich Mir (the main...\nToba, Mount ancient volcano located in the Barisan Mountains, north-central Sumatra, Indonesia. A massive eruption sometime between 71,000 and 74,000 years ago expelled an estimated 2,800 cubic km (about 670 cubic miles) of ash and lava. That event is considered...\nTolima, Mount volcano in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains, west-central Colombia. It is 17,105 feet (5,215 metres) high.\nTörnebohm, Alfred Elis Swedish geologist and pioneer in the study and analysis of mountain structure. In 1888 he presented the first outlines of his theory of the overthrust of the Caledonian Range (the mountainous region in northwestern Europe extending from the British Isles...\nTorngat Mountains range in northern Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada. The Torngat range extends northward for 120 miles (190 km) from Hebron Fjord to Cape Chidley, between the Quebec border (west) and the Atlantic Ocean (east). Named from an Eskimo (Inuit) term Torngarsuak,...\nToubkal, Mount mountain peak that is the highest point (13,665 feet [4,165 metres]) in Morocco and in the Atlas Mountains. The peak is situated 40 miles (60 km) south of Marrakech in the High Atlas (Haut Atlas). Juniper forests covering the mountain’s higher slopes...\nTrans-Alai Range mountain range on the frontier between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is the most northerly range of the Pamirs and extends for about 150 miles (240 km) east-west in an unbroken chain of snow-covered peaks between the lush summer pastures of the broad...\nTrans-Himalayas eastward continuation of the most northerly ranges of the Himalayas in the southern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It consists of an ill-defined mountain area about 600 miles (1,000 km) long and 140 miles (225 km) wide in the centre, narrowing...\nTransantarctic Mountains mountain system subdividing the Antarctic continent into an eastern (East Antarctica) and a western (West Antarctica) region. The Transantarctic Mountains stretch for more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from Victoria Land to the shores of the Weddell Sea....\nTransylvanian Alps mountainous region of south-central Romania. It consists of that section of the Carpathian Mountain arc from the Prahova River valley (east) to the gap in which flow the Timiş and Cerna rivers. Average elevation in the Transylvanian Alps is 4,920–5,740...\nTriglav mountain peak, the highest (9,396 feet [2,864 m]) of Slovenia and of the Julian Alps, situated 40 miles (64 km) northwest of the city of Ljubljana. The north wall of the peak forms an enormous limestone face nearly 2 miles (3 km) wide. From the time...\nTroodos Mountains mountain range in southern Cyprus, beginning immediately inland from Cape Arnauti. It rises to its highest point at Mount Olympus, or Khionistra (6,401 feet [1,951 metres]), about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Nicosia, and gradually descends to narrow...\nTumuc-Humac Mountains mountain range that forms the Brazilian border with French Guiana and Suriname. An eastern extension of the Acarai Mountains, the range extends for about 180 miles (290 km) in an east-west direction and attains elevations of 2,800 feet (850 m). The range...\nTupungato, Mount volcanic peak in the Central Andes Mountains of South America. It is situated on the Chile - Argentina boundary and rises to 22,310 feet (6,800 metres). The peak was first climbed in 1897 by members of the expedition led by the British mountaineer Edward...\nTurkistan Range mountain range in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Branching off from the Alay Mountains, it extends for 200 miles (320 km) east-west between the Fergana and Zeravshan valleys. Its highest point is Piramidalny Peak (18,077 feet [5,510 m]). The...\nUinta Mountains segment of the south-central Rocky Mountains, extending eastward for more than 100 miles (160 km) from the Wasatch Range across northeastern Utah and slightly into southwestern Wyoming, U.S. Many of the range’s summits exceed 13,000 feet (4,000 m), including...\nUmvukwe Range mountain range in northern Zimbabwe, extending about 100 miles (160 km) north from the Hunyani River and rising to a high point of 5,748 feet (1,752 m). The range forms the northern section of an enormous tabular block of igneous rock (norite) and is...",
"Mountains and Mountain Ranges - 2 | Britannica.com\n... occupies all of Armenia, and includes southern ... mountain range in west County ... (and the country’s highest point), reaches an elevation of more ...\nMountains and Mountain Ranges - 2 | Britannica.com\nMountains and Mountain Ranges\nlandform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief.\nDisplaying 1 - 100 of 753 results\nAbajo Mountains volcanic segment of the Colorado Plateau, in San Juan county, southeastern Utah, U.S. Abajo Peak (11,362 feet [3,463 metres]) is the highest point in the mountains, which comprise eight summits and are embraced by the Manti-LaSal National Forest. The...\nAberdare Range mountain range, forming a section of the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley in west-central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator. The range has an average elevation of 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) and culminates in Oldoinyo...\nAbsaroka Range mountain segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana, U.S. Extending in a northwest-southeast direction, the range is 170 miles (270 km) long and 50 miles wide. A large plateau, the result of volcanic action,...\nAbukuma Mountains range in northern Honshu, Japan. It extends for 106 miles (170 km) north to south and parallels the Pacific Ocean coast of Fukushima prefecture in the Tōhoku region. Its southern end reaches into northern Ibaraki prefecture in the Kantō region. The mountain...\nAcaraí Mountains low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 metres) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon...\nAconcagua, Mount mountain in western Mendoza province, west-central Argentina, on the Chilean border. It is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. Aconcagua lies in the Southern Andes Mountains; although its peak is in Argentina, its western flanks build up from...\nAdam’s Peak mountain in southwestern Sri Lanka (Ceylon), 7,360 feet (2,243 m) high and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Ratnapura; it is located in the Sri Lanka hill country. Its conical summit terminates in an oblong platform about 74 by 24 feet (22 by 7 m), on which...\nAdirondack Mountains mountains in northeastern New York state, U.S. They extend southward from the St. Lawrence River valley and Lake Champlain to the Mohawk River valley. The mountains are only sparsely settled, and much of the area exists in a primitive natural state,...\nAgou, Mount mountain in southwestern Togo, near the border with Ghana. An extreme western outlier of the Atakora Mountains of adjacent Benin, it rises to 3,235 feet (986 metres) and is the highest point in Togo. It was initially named for Oskar Baumann (1864–99),...\nAgung, Mount volcano, northeastern Bali, Indonesia. The highest point in Bali and the object of traditional veneration, it rises to a height of 9,888 feet (3,014 m). In 1963 it erupted after being dormant for 120 years; some 1,600 people were killed and 86,000 left...\nAimorés Mountains mountainous region divided between the estados (states) of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, eastern Brazil, occupying an area of about 3,900 square miles (10,100 square km). The mountains form a crystalline-hill upland with an average elevation of 3,000...\nAïr massif group of granitic mountains rising sharply from the Sahara in central Niger. Several of these mountains approach and exceed 6,000 feet (1,800 m), the highest being Mount Gréboun (6,378 feet [1,944 m]). The mountains are dissected by deep valleys, called...\nAkademii Nauk Range mountain range, western Pamirs, central Tajikistan. The mountains, extending north-south, are approximately 68 miles (110 km) in length and are composed mostly of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, together with some granite. Glaciation from permanent...\nAkhḍar Mountains mountain range of northeastern Libya that extends along the Mediterranean coast for about 100 miles (160 km) in an east-northeasterly direction between the towns of al-Marj and Darnah. Rising sharply in two steps, the first reaching 985 feet (300 m)...\nAkwapim-Togo Ranges narrow belt of ridges and hills in Ghana, western Africa. They extend in a southwest-northeast line for about 200 miles (320 km) from the Densu River mouth (near Accra) on the Atlantic coast to the boundary with Togo. Averaging 1,500 feet (460 m) in...\nAlaska Range one of the components of the Alaskan mountains and a segment of the larger Pacific mountain system of western North America. The range extends generally northward and eastward in an arc for about 400 miles (650 km) from the Aleutian Range to the boundary...\nAlaskan Mountains three principal mountain groups of far northwestern North America —the Brooks Range, Alaska Range, and Aleutian Range —found in the U.S. state of Alaska. The mountain ranges of Alaska give their state a rugged and beautiful terrain across its entire...\nAlban Hills volcanic area in the Lazio (Latium) regione (region) of central Italy, southeast of Rome. The hills consist of an outer circle, 6–8 miles (10–13 km) in diameter, rising to 3,113 feet (949 metres) at Mount Cavo, and an inner crater rim, about 1.5 miles...\nAlbula Alps part of the Rhaetian Alps in eastern Switzerland, lying in Graubünden canton to the north of the resort of Saint Moritz. The mountains extend northeastward from the Splügen Pass (6,932 feet [2,113 m]) to the Flüela Pass (7,818 feet [2,383 m]), and they...\nAleutian Range segment of the Pacific mountain system, western North America. The range extends southwestward for about 600 miles (1,000 km) from the west end of the Alaska Range to the head of Cook Inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, Alaska, U.S. The Aleutian Islands represent...\nAllegheny Mountains mountainous eastern part of the Allegheny Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, U.S. The Allegheny range extends south-southwestward for more than 500 miles (800 km) from north-central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Rising to Mount Davis (3,213...\nAlps a small segment of a discontinuous mountain chain that stretches from the Atlas Mountains of North Africa across southern Europe and Asia to beyond the Himalayas. The Alps extend north from the subtropical Mediterranean coast near Nice, France, to Lake...\nAltai Mountains complex mountain system of Central Asia extending approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km) in a southeast-northwest direction from the Gobi (Desert) to the West Siberian Plain, through China, Mongolia, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The jagged mountain ridges derive...\nAltun Mountains mountain range in the southern part of the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, northwestern China. Branching off from the Kunlun Mountains, the range runs for more than 400 miles (650 km) from southwest to northeast to form the boundary between the...\nAmambaí Mountains highlands in western Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, and eastern Paraguay. Extending south-southwest initially as the Maracaju Mountains for approximately 200 miles (320 km) from Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, they form the western...\nAmargosa Range group of mountains in eastern California and southern Nevada, U.S., separating Death Valley from the Amargosa Desert. Part of the Basin Ranges of eastern California, the Amargosa Range extends 110 miles (180 km) from Grapevine Peak (8,705 feet [2,653...\nAnai Peak peak in eastern Kerala state, southwestern India. Located in the Western Ghats range, it rises to 8,842 feet (2,695 metres) and is peninsular India’s highest peak. From this point radiate three ranges—the Anaimalai to the north, the Palni to the northeast,...\nAnaimalai Hills mountain range in the Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The Anaimalai Hills are located at a junction of the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats and have a general northwest-southeast trend. Anai Peak (8,842 feet [2,695 metres]) lies at the...\nAndes Mountains mountain system of South America and one of the great natural features of the Earth. The Andes consist of a vast series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900...\nAnnamese Cordillera principal mountain range of Indochina and the watershed between the Mekong River and the South China Sea. It extends parallel to the coast in a gentle curve generally northwest-southeast, forming the boundary between Laos and Vietnam. A fairly continuous...\nAnnapurna massif of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal. It forms a ridge some 30 miles (48 km) long between the gorges of the Kali (Kali Gandak; west) and Marsyandi (east) rivers north of the town of Pokhara. The massif contains four main summits, two of which—...\nAnti-Atlas mountain range in Morocco running parallel to and southward of the central range of the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. Although it has a mean elevation of 5,000 feet (1,500 metres), some peaks and passes exceed 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). This rugged,...\nAnti-Lebanon Mountains mountain range that runs northeast-southwest along the Syrian-Lebanese border parallel to the Lebanon Mountains, from which they are separated by the al-Biqāʿ Valley. The range averages 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above sea level, with several peaks exceeding...\nApennine Range series of mountain ranges bordered by narrow coastlands that form the physical backbone of peninsular Italy. From Cadibona Pass in the northwest, close to the Maritime Alps, they form a great arc, which extends as far as the Egadi Islands to the west...\nApo, Mount active volcano, south central Mindanao, 20 miles (32 km) west of Davao City; it is the highest point in the Philippines, rising to 9,692 feet (2,954 metres). Part of the Cordillera Central, it is covered by a forest of tall, tropical hardwoods; two subsidiary...\nAppalachian Highlands the regions of the Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, and Appalachian Plateau in the eastern United States.\nAppalachian Mountains great highland system of North America, the eastern counterpart of the Rocky Mountains. Extending for almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to central Alabama in the United States, the Appalachian Mountains...\nAppalachian Orogenic Belt an old mountain range that extends for more than 3,000 km (1,860 miles) along the eastern margin of North America from Alabama in the southern United States to Newfoundland, Canada, in the north. The geosynclinal theory of mountain building was first...\nApuseni Mountains large mountain chain, a subgroup of the Carpathians, lying north of the Mureş River, northwestern Romania. The Apuseni (Western) Mountains are not high—reaching a maximum elevation of only 6,066 feet (1,849 m)—but as a uniform, imposing group they dominate...\nAragats, Mount mountain in Armenia, northwest of Yerevan and north of the Ararat Plain. The highest point in both Armenia and the Lesser Caucasus range (13,418 feet [4,090 m]), Aragats is a circular, shieldlike mountain composed of both lavas and tufas. A volcanic...\nArarat, Mount volcanic massif in extreme eastern Turkey overlooking the point at which the frontiers of Turkey, Iran, and Armenia converge. Its northern and eastern slopes rise from the broad alluvial plain of the Aras River, about 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) above...\nAravalli Range hill system of northern India, running northeasterly for 350 miles (560 km) through Rajasthan state. Isolated rocky offshoots continue to just south of Delhi. The series of peaks and ridges, with breadths varying from 6 to 60 miles (10 to 100 km), are...\nArgonne wooded, hilly region in eastern France that forms a natural barrier between Champagne and Lorraine. The Argonne is about 40 miles long and 10 miles wide (65 by 15 km). The hilly massif rarely exceeds 650 feet (200 m) in elevation but is slashed with...\nArkatag Mountains one of the complex mountain chains that form the Kunlun Mountains in western China. The Arkatag range is in the east-central portion of the Kunluns. Mount Muztag (Muztagh), at its western end, reaches an elevation of 25,338 feet (7,723 metres) and is...\nArmenian Highland mountainous region of western Asia. It lies mainly in Turkey, occupies all of Armenia, and includes southern Georgia, western Azerbaijan, and northwestern Iran. The highland covers almost 154,400 square miles (400,000 square km). The average elevation...\nArvon, Mount peak, Baraga county, northern Upper Peninsula, Michigan, U.S. Reaching an elevation of 1,979 feet (603 metres), it is the highest point in the state. It lies about 12 miles (20 km) east of L’Anse, inland from the Lake Superior shore in a wilderness recreational...\nAso, Mount volcano, Kumamoto ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, rising to an elevation of 5,223 feet (1,592 m). It has the largest active crater in the world, measuring 71 miles (114 km) in circumference, 17 miles (27 km) from north to south, and 10 miles (16 km)...\nAspiring, Mount mountain in the Southern Alps of west-central South Island, New Zealand. It is a pyramid-shaped peak that rises from the small Bonar, Volta, Therma, and Iso glaciers. Its four ridges reach 9,932 feet (3,027 m), with thick rain forests clothing the western...\nAssam Himalayas eastern section of the Great Himalayas, extending eastward across Sikkim state (India) and Bhutan, into northern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states (India), and along the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region (China). The mountains run eastward for...\nAtakora Mountains mountain range in western Africa, trending north-northeast. The range begins in the Akwapim Hills of southeastern Ghana (see Akwapim-Togo Ranges) and continues northeasterly to the Niger River through Togo and Benin. The mountains average 2,000 feet...\nAthos, Mount mountain in northern Greece, site of a semiautonomous republic of Greek Orthodox monks inhabiting 20 monasteries and dependencies (skíte s), some of which are larger than the parent monasteries. It occupies the easternmost of the three promontories of...\nAtlas Mountains series of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, running generally southwest to northeast to form the geologic backbone of the countries of the Maghrib (the western region of the Arab world)— Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. They extend for more than...\nAurès mountains, part of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria, northern Africa, fronted by rugged cliffs in the north and opening out in the south into the two parallel fertile valleys of the wadies Abiod and ʿAbdi, facing the Sahara. The highest peaks,...\nAustralian Alps mountain mass, a segment of the Great Dividing Range (Eastern Uplands), occupying the southeasternmost corner of Australia, in eastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. In a more local sense, the term denotes the ranges on the states’ border...\nAzov Upland hilly region, southeastern Ukraine. Part of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield, the Azov Upland is an area of denuded mountains, extending from the Dnieper River for 100 miles (160 km) to the Donets Ridge and sloping gently down southeastward to the Sea...\nBabia, Mount highest mountain (5,659 feet [1,725 m] at Diablok) peak in the Beskid Mountains, on the Slovakia-Poland border and one of the highest peaks in Poland. It is 12 miles (19 km) north-northeast of Námestovo, Slovakia, and 12 miles (19 km) south-southwest...\nBackbone Mountain highest point in Maryland, U.S., reaching an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,024 metres). It is located on a ridge of the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains, located in Garrett county 12 miles (19 km) south of Oakland. The ridge is 35 miles (56 km) long...\nBaetic Cordillera mountain system comprising the Andalusian mountains of southeastern Spain. The northern range (called pre-Baetic in Andalusia and sub-Baetic in Valencia) runs about 360 miles (580 km) from Cape Trafalgar in Andalusia to Cape Nao in Valencia, and it continues...\nBago Mountains mountain range of south-central Myanmar (Burma), extending 270 miles (435 km) north-south between the Irrawaddy and Sittang rivers and ending in a ridge at Yangon (Rangoon). The range averages about 2,000 feet (600 metres) in elevation, reaching its...\nBakhuis Gebergte range of hills, west central Suriname, running north–south, about 70 miles (110 km) in length and separating the basins of the Kabalebo and Nickerie rivers (west) from that of the Coppename River (east). The range is relatively low-lying, comprising...\nBakony Mountains mountain range in western Hungary, covering about 1,500 square miles (4,000 square km) between Lake Balaton and the Little Alfold and running southwest-northeast for 70 miles (110 km) from the Zala River. The range forms the major component of the highlands...\nBalaghat Range series of hills in western Maharashtra state, western India. Originating in the Western Ghats at the Harishchandra Range, the Balaghats extend southeastward for about 200 miles (320 km) to the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka states. Its width varies...\nBaldy Mountain summit (11,403 feet [3,476 metres]) in the White Mountains, Apache county, eastern Arizona, U.S. Springs on the mountain’s northern slope form the headwaters of the Little Colorado River. Also called Dzil Ligai (Apache: “Mountain of White Rock”), Baldy...\nBaldy Mountain highest peak in Manitoba, Can., in the southeastern part of Duck Mountain Provincial Park, 36 miles (58 km) northwest of Dauphin. At 2,730 feet (832 metres) above sea level, it is also the highest peak in the 350-mile- (560-km-) long Manitoba Escarpment....\nBale Mountains mountain chain in southern Ethiopia. It rises above 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) near Goba. The Bale Mountain region, including Bale Mountains National Park, is known for its numerous endemic species. Among these are the rare and endangered Ethiopian wolf...\nBalkan Mountains chief range of the Balkan Peninsula and Bulgaria and an extension of the Alpine-Carpathian folds. The range extends from the Timok River valley near the Yugoslav (Serbian) border, spreading out eastward for about 330 miles (530 km) into several spurs,...\nBamba, Mount mountain (2,625 feet [800 metres]) in the Mayombé Massif, in the southwestern part of the Republic of the Congo.\nBandeira Peak peak on the border of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais estados (states), eastern Brazil. It is part of the Caparaó mountain range and lies about 100 miles (160 km) inland from Vitória city on the Atlantic coast. Until 1962, when Neblina Peak (9,888 feet...\nBaoruco, Sierra de mountain range in the southwestern part of the Dominican Republic. It extends about 50 mi (80 km) east from the Haitian border to the Caribbean Sea and lies parallel to the Cordillera Central. Its highest peak is 5,348 ft (1,630 m). Straddling the Haitian...\nBartle Frere, Mount mountain in Bellenden-Ker Range, northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is the highest point in the state and rises to 5,287 ft (1,611 m) in an area reserved as a national park. Its slopes have the climate of a rain forest and provide cover for a variety...\nBavarian Alps northeastern segment of the Central Alps along the German-Austrian border. The mountains extend east-northeastward for 70 miles (110 km) from the Lechtaler Alps to the bend of the Inn River near Kufstein, Austria. Zugspitze (9,718 feet [2,962 metres])...\nBeartooth Range segment of the northern Rocky Mountains in the United States, extending east-southeastward for 50 miles (80 km) from the Stillwater River, in southern Montana, to the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, in northwestern Wyoming. Many peaks rise to more...\nBellenden Ker Range granitic massif, in the Eastern Highlands, northeastern Queensland, Australia, extending for 40 mi (65 km) along the coast northeast from Nerada to Gordonvale, just south of Cairns. Bounded by the Mulgrave River (east), the Innisfail Downs (south), and...\nBelukha, Mount one of the Katun Mountains, a series of snowcapped peaks in Russia. The highest mountain in the Russian portion of the Altai Mountains, Belukha reaches a height of 14,783 feet (4,506 m) in one of its twin peaks. Glaciers cover some 27 square miles (70...\nBen Cruachan mountain in the Highlands, Argyll and Bute council area, Scot., culminating in several peaks, the highest of which is 3,689 feet (1,124 metres). It is situated between Loch (“Lake”) Etive on the north and Loch Awe on the south. The Cruachan hydroelectric...\nBen Nevis highest mountain of the British Isles, in the Highland council area, Scotland. Its summit, reaching an elevation of 4,406 feet (1,343 metres), is a plateau of about 100 acres (40 hectares), with a slight slope to the south and a sheer face to the northeast....\nBen Rinnes mountain in the Moray council area, Scotland, situated 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Keith and about 5 miles (8 km) east of the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Spey. It reaches an elevation of 2,759 feet (841 metres). One of the notable sights associated...\nBen Wyvis mountain in the northern Highlands, Highland council area, Scotland, whose summit stands some 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Dingwall on the Cromarty Firth, which is an inlet of the Moray Firth. The mountain has an elevation of 3,429 feet (1,045 metres)....\nBerkshire Hills segment of the Appalachian Mountains, U.S., mainly in Berkshire county, western Massachusetts. Many summits rise to more than 2,000 feet (600 metres), including Mount Greylock (3,491 feet [1,064 metres]), the highest point in Massachusetts. The scenic...\nBernese Alps segment of the Central Alps lying north of the Upper Rhône River and south of the Brienzer and Thunersee (lakes) in Bern and Valais cantons of southwestern Switzerland. The mountains extend east-northeastward from the bend of the Rhône near Martigny-Ville...\nBernina Alps part of the Rhaetian Alps in eastern Switzerland along the Italian border, lying southeast of the Engadin (valley of the Upper Inn River). The scenic range rises to Bernina Peak (13,284 feet [4,049 m]), which was first ascended in 1850 by the Swiss climber...\nBeskid Mountains discontinuous series of forested mountain ranges lying in the eastern Czech Republic, northwestern Slovakia, and southern Poland. The Czech sections at the western end of the Carpathian Mountains lie south and east of the Moravian Gate and are identified...\nBia, Mount highest peak (9,245 feet [2,818 metres]) in Laos, located among the western spurs of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique) immediately south of the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The massif, which trends northwest-southeast, is isolated from its 8,050–8,500-foot...\nBig Belt Mountains segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, paralleling the eastern bank of the Missouri River for about 80 miles (129 km) in west-central Montana, U.S. The range lies some 20 miles (30 km) east of the city of Helena and the Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The...\nBig Rock Candy Mountain complex of carbonate hills, about 5,500 feet (1,675 metres) tall, on the edge of one segment of Fishlake National Forest, near Marysvale, south-central Utah, U.S. The striped dun- and rose-coloured hills were fancifully named by workers on the Denver...\nBighorn Mountains range of the northern Rocky Mountains in southern Montana, U.S., extending southeastward in an anticlinal arch across north-central Wyoming for 120 miles (193 km). Varying in width between 30 and 50 miles (50 and 80 km), the mountains rise abruptly 4,000...\nBihor Massif mountain massif, the highest part of the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians, western Romania. It is roughly 16 miles (25 km) long from northwest to southeast and 9 miles (14 km) wide. The summit is almost smooth, broken by a few peaks...\nBismarck Range northeastern segment of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Visited in 1886 by the German explorer G.E. von Schleinitz, the range was named for Otto von Bismarck. The mountains reach 14,793 feet (4,509 metres)...\nBitterroot Range segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, U.S., extending southward for 300 mi (480 km) along the Idaho–Montana border. Peaks average about 9,000 ft (2,700 m), with Scott Peak, in Idaho, the highest (11,394 ft). Owing to the inaccessibility of the mountains...\nBlack Hills isolated eroded mountain region in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, U.S., lying largely within Black Hills National Forest. The hills lie between the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers and rise about 3,000 feet (900 metres) above the surrounding...\nBlack Mountain Range southern spur of the Assam Himalayas in Bhutan. It lies between the Sankosh River (west) and the Mangde (Tongsa) River (east), and tributaries of the two rivers run through deep ravines down its steep slopes. The road between Punakha and Tongsa Dzong...\nBlack Mountains mountain range in Yancey and Buncombe counties in western North Carolina, U.S., part of the Appalachian Mountains extending north from the Blue Ridge. The range includes Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet [2,037 metres]), the highest point east of the Mississippi...\nBlack Range mountain range extending 100 miles (160 km) north to south, through Catron and Sierra counties, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. The range follows the Continental Divide for much of its length. Most of the range lies within the Gila National Forest, near...\nBlanc, Mont mountain massif and highest peak (15,771 feet [4,807 metres]) in Europe. Located in the Alps, the massif lies along the French-Italian border and reaches into Switzerland. It extends southwestward from Martigny, Switzerland, for about 25 miles (40 km)...\nBlanca, Cordillera eastern section of the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes, in west central Peru, South America. The snowcapped range extends about 110 mi (180 km) and has a southeast to northwest trend. The highest peak (22,334 ft [6,768 m]) is Nevado (mount) Huascarán....\nBlue Mountains range curving northeastward for 190 mi (310 km) from central Oregon to southeastern Washington, U.S. The range reaches a width of 68 mi and an average elevation of about 6,500 ft (2,000 m); it comprises an uplifted, warped, and dissected lava plateau,...\nBlue Mountains range in eastern Jamaica that extends for about 30 miles (50 km) from Stony Hill, 8 miles north of Kingston, eastward to the Caribbean Sea. The highest point in the range is Blue Mountain Peak (7,402 feet [2,256 metres]). The Blue Mountains are thickly...\nBlue Ridge segment of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States. The mountains extend southwestward for 615 miles (990 km) from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, through parts of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, to Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia. The...\nBoggeragh Mountains mountain range in west County Cork, Ireland, comprising the western end of the Boggeragh-Nagles anticline (upwarp of rock strata), a long line of hills running from County Kerry eastward to the Drum Hills of County Waterford. The Boggeragh Mountains...\nBogong, Mount highest peak (6,516 feet [1,986 m]) of Victoria, Australia. It is in the Australian Alps, 150 miles (240 km) northeast of Melbourne. Well known for winter sports, the peak derived its name from an Aboriginal word meaning “high plains.” Bogong township...",
"Switzerland - History, Economics, Geography\n... (195 m) Switzerland is a landlocked country in ... given some independence as cantons . ... country is divided into 26 cantons for local ...\nSwitzerland - History, Economics, Geography\nHighest Point: Dufourspitze at 15,203 feet (4,634 m)\nLowest Point: Lake Maggiore at 639 feet (195 m)\nSwitzerland is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is one of the richest countries in the world and it has consistently ranked high for its quality of life. Switzerland is known for its history of being neutral during wartimes.Switzerland is the home of many international organizations like the World Trade Organization but it is not a member of the European Union .\nHistory of Switzerland\nSwitzerland was originally inhabited by the Helvetians and the area that makes up today's country became a part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century B.C.E. When the Roman Empire began to decline, Switzerland was invaded by several German tribes. In 800 Switzerland became a part of Charlemagne's Empire.\ncontinue reading below our video\nWhat are the Seven Wonders of the World\nShortly thereafter control of the country was passed through the Holy Roman emperors.\nIn the 13th century, new trade routes across the Alps opened and Switzerland's mountain valleys became important and were given some independence as cantons . In 1291, the Holy Roman Emperor died and according to the U.S. Department of State, the ruling families of several mountain communities signed a charter to keep peace and keep independent rule.\nFrom 1315 to 1388, Swiss Confederates were involved in several conflicts with the Habsburgs and their borders expanded. In 1499, the Swiss Confederates gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire. Following its independence and a defeat by the French and Venetians in 1515, Switzerland ended its policies of expansion.\nThroughout the 1600s, there were several European conflicts but the Swiss remained neutral. From 1797 to 1798, Napoleon annexed part of the Swiss Confederation and a centrally governed state was established. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna preserved the country's status as a permanently armed neutral state. In 1848 a short civil war between Protestant and Catholic led to the formation of a Federal State modeled after the United States . A Swiss Constitution was then drafted and was amended in 1874 to ensure cantonal independence and democracy.\nIn the 19th century, Switzerland underwent industrialization and it remained neutral during World War I . During World War II , Switzerland also remained neutral despite pressure from surrounding countries. After WWII, Switzerland began to grow its economy. It did not join the Council of Europe until 1963 and it is still not a part of the European Union. In 2002 it joined the United Nations.\nGovernment of Switzerland\nToday Switzerland's government is formally a confederation but it is more similar in structure to a federal republic. It has an executive branch with a chief of state and a head of government that is filled by the President and a bicameral Federal Assembly with the Council of States and the National Council for its legislative branch. Switzerland's judicial branch is made up of a Federal Supreme Court. The country is divided into 26 cantons for local administration and each has a high degree of independence and each is equal in status.\nPeople of Switzerland\nSwitzerland is unique in its demography because it is made up of three linguistic and cultural regions. These are German, French and Italian. As a result, Switzerland is not a nation based on one ethnic identity; instead it is based on its common historical background and shared governmental values. The official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh.\nEconomics and Land Use in Switzerland\nSwitzerland is one of the wealthiest nations in the world and it has a very strong market economy. Unemployment is low and its labor force is also very highly skilled. Agriculture makes up a small part of its economy and the main products include grains, fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs. The largest industries in Switzerland are machinery, chemicals, banking and insurance. In addition, expensive goods such as watches and precision instruments are also produced in Switzerland. Tourism is also a very large industry in the country due to its natural setting in the Alps.\nGeography and Climate of Switzerland\nSwitzerland is located in Western Europe, to the east of France and to the north of Italy. It is known for its mountain landscapes and small mountain villages. The topography of Switzerland is varied but it is mainly mountainous with the Alps in the south and the Jura in the northwest. There is also a central plateau with rolling hills and plains and there are many large lakes throughout the country. Dufourspitze at 15,203 feet (4,634 m) is Switzerland's highest point but there are many other peaks that are at very high elevations as well - the Matterhorn near the town of Zermatt in Valais is the most famous.\nThe climate of Switzerland is temperate but it varies with altitude. Most of the country has cold and rainy to snowy winters and cool to warm and sometimes humid summers. Bern, Switzerland's capital has an average January low temperature of 25.3˚F (-3.7˚C) and an average July high of 74.3˚F (23.5˚C).\nTo learn more about Switzerland, visit the Switzerland page in the Geography and Maps section of this website.\nReferences\nCentral Intelligence Agency. (9 November 2010). CIA - The World Factbook - Switzerland. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sz.html\nInfoplease.com. (n.d.). Switzerland: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108012.html\nUnited States Department of State. (31 March 2010). Switzerland. Retrieved from: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3431.htm\nWikipedia.com. (16 November 2010). Switzerland - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland",
"Country Fact File - Job Serve Africa\nGhana is a country in West Africa. It borders the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to ... Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered ...\nCountry Fact File - Job Serve Africa\nAlgeria\nAlgeria is a located in North Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area. It is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, a few kilometers of th...\nAngola\nAngola is in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and Zambia to the east. There is also an exclave province Cabinda which lies to the North of Angola which was a Portuguese colony from the 16th century to 1975. The country is the secon...\nBahrain\nBahrain is an Arabic island micro-state in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway, Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The government plans to build the Qatar-Bahrain Friendsh...\nBenin\nBenin, officially the Republic of Benin is a country in Western Africa. An ex French colony it gained full independence on the 1st of August 1960. The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and is largely dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth i...\nBotswana\nThe Republic of Botswana is a landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It is bordered by South Africa to the south & southeast, Namibia to the...\nBurkina Faso\nBurkina Faso also known as Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali , Niger , Benin , Togo and Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Burkina Faso was formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta. Burkina Faso's capital is Ouagadougou. After gaini...\nBurundi\nBurundi , officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in Eastern Africa bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Rwanda to the north, and Tanzania to the south and east. A landlocked country, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika....\nCameroon\nThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria ,Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. Cameroon's coastline is part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called \"A...\nCanada\nCanada is a country occupying by most of the northern North America extending from Atlantic Ocean in the east to Pacific Ocean in the west and the northward into Arctic Ocean and also the world's second largest country. Its shares its world's longest common border with the United States. ...\nCape Verde\nThe Republic of Cape Verde is an ex Portuguese colony, and is a group of islands off the West Coast of Africa. Cape Verde has few natural resources and poor rainfall limits agricultural production. Over 90% of all food consumed in Cape Verde is imported. Cape Verde still has strong ties with Port...\nCentral African Republic\nThe Central African Republic is an ex French Colony and a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad, Sudan , the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world and among the ten ...\nChad\nThe Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger to the west. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic groups and Arabic & French are the official languages. The country is one of the po...\nDemocratic Republic of the Congo\nThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a former Belgian colony. It is a central African country with a small shoreline on the Atlantic coastline. The country is a member of the Southern African Development Community. The Democratic Republic of the Congo borders Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, A...\nEgypt\nEgypt is a country mainly in North Africa. It covers an area of about 1,010,000 km2 and borders the Mediterranean Sea , Gaza Strip , Israel , the Red Sea, Sudan and Libya. Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its populat...\nEquatorial Guinea\nThe Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a Spanish speaking country located in Central Africa. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa and comprises two regions: a Continental Region and an Insular Region containing Annobón island, Bioko island where the capital Malabo is situated, and s...\nEritrea\nEritrea, is a country in Northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. Eritrea is a single-party state, run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice. Eritrea is a full member state of the African Union. Within the region, Eritr...\nEthiopia\nEthiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with a population of over 80 million people. Its capi...\nGabon\nGabon is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, and Cameroon to the north, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east & south. It has an estimated population of 1,500,000...\nGambia\nGambia is a country in Western Africa and is the smallest country in Africa. The country is less than 48 km wide at its widest point, with a total area of just over 11,000 km² The Gambia has a liberal, market-based economy characterised by traditional ...\nGhana\nGhana is a country in West Africa. It borders the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Export commodities include gold, timber, cocoa, diamond, bauxite, and manganese. An oilfield which is reported to contain up to 3 billio...\nGuinea\nGuinea is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10 and a half million. Guinea's size is almost 246,000 square kilometres. Richly endowed with minerals, Guinea possesses over 25 billion metric tons of bauxite, ...\nGuinea-Bissau\nThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa and one of the smallest nations in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. Its size is nearly 37,000 km² with an estim...\nIran\nIran is the 18th largest country in the world. Its area roughly equals that of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, or slightly less than the state of Alaska It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that sep...\nIraq\nIraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. It shares its borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the nort...\nIsrael\nOfficially, the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest. Even though Israel is a small country, it is home to a vari...\nJordan\nOfficially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, Israel to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the east and sout...\nKenya\nKenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border. Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic...\nKuwait\nThe State of Kuwait, a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, is enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. Kuwait has the world's fifth largest oil reserves and is the third richest country in the world per capita. P...\nLebanon\nLebanon is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanese society is very modern and similar to certain cultures of Mediterranean Europe. It is often considered to serve as Europe's...\nLesotho\nThe Lesotho Government is a constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili, is head of government and has executive authority. The king serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is prohibited from actively participating in po...\nLiberia\nThe history of Liberia is unique among African nations, due to its roots as a colony founded by freed slaves from the United States. These freed slaves formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, formed a government based on that of the United States, naming their capital city after ...\nMadagascar\nMadagascar is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Madagascar is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Senate and the Na...\nMalawi\nMalawi was first settled during the 10th century and remained under native rule until 1891 when it was colonized by the British, who ruled the country until 1964. Malawi is a democratic, multi-party government, currently under the leadership of President Bingu wa Mutharika. The curre...\nMali\nMali is a constitutional democracy governed by the constitution of January 12, 1992, which was amended in 1999. The constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The system of government can be described as \"semi-presidenti...\nMauritania\nA majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 5...\nMauritius\nSince independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been of the order of 5% to 6%. This has been reflected in i...\nMorocco\nThe services sector accounts for just over half of GDP and industry, made up of mining, construction and manufacturing, is an additional quarter. The sectors who recorded the highest growth are the tourism, telecoms and textile sectors. Morocco , however, still depends to an inordinate degree on ...\nMozambique\nMuch of Mozambique's economy was devastated by almost thirty years of internal warfare during which millions of Mozambicans were displaced and many thousands killed or maimed by armed strife. Mozambique's economy is closely integrated with those of southern and South Africa. As li...\nNamibia\nNamibia, previously a colony of Germany, and later occupied by South Africa's apartheid government, following South Africa's withdrawal from Angola, gained full independence in 1990. Namibia is one of Africa's most developed and stable countries. Tourism and diamond mining form th...\nNiger\nNiger's economy centres on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, a 2.9% population growth rate, and the drop in world demand for uranium have undercut the economy. The agricultural economy is based largely upo...\nNigeria\nNigeria is classified as an emerging market, and is rapidly approaching middle income status, with its abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport sectors and Nigerian stock exchange, which is the second largest in Africa. Nigeria is the 12th l...\nOman\nOman is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest. A vast gravel desert plain covers most of central Oman, with mountain ranges along the nort...\nQatar\nQatar is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. An oil-rich nation, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world according to the CIA World Factbook. Before the discovery of oil, the economy o...\nRepublic of Congo\nThe economy is made up of a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector which is largely based on petroleum, support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the econ...\nRepublic of Djibouti\nThe Republic of Djibouti lies in northeast Africa on the Gulf of Aden Djibouti has a 314 km coastline and shares borders with Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia The country is mainly a stony desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands. The economy of Djibouti is mainly based on service activiti...\nRepublic of South Africa\nThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The South African coast stretches 2,798 kilometres and borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, while ...\nRwanda\nRwanda's economy suffered heavily during the 1994 genocide, with widespread loss of life, failure to maintain the infrastructure, looting and neglect of important cash crops causing a large drop in GDP and destroying the country's ability to attract private and external investment Rwanda ...\nSao Tome and Principe\nSince the 1800s, the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe has been based on plantation agriculture The main crop on São Tomé is cocoa, representing about 95% of exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee. Other than agricultu...\nSaudi Arabia\nThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. Sau...\nSeychelles\nSince independence in 1976, per capita output has expanded to roughly seven times the old near-subsistence level. The tourist sector led to this growth, which provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings and employs about 30% of the labour force, and by tuna fishing. The government decided to...\nSierra Leone\nDespite its extensive mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, Sierra Leone is an impoverished country, and has been rated as the world's poorest nation consistently for the past five years. The eight-year civil war and the subsequent hostilities, which have continued since the signing of th...\nSomalia\nPastoralism is the dominant mode of life; both nomadic and sedentary herding of cattle, sheep, goats, and camels are carried on. The major cash crops are bananas, mangoes, and sugarcane. Other important crops include sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sesame seeds, and beans. There is a small fishing...\nSudan\nSudan is an overwhelmingly agricultural country. Much of the farming is of a subsistence kind; agriculture occupies some 80% of the workforce but contributes only 35% of the GDP. Agricultural production varies from year to year because of intermittent droughts that cause widespread famine. The go...\nSwaziland\nSwaziland has excellent farming and ranching land, and 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. Sugarcane is grown on plantations, mainly for export. Other important crops are cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus fruits, pineapples, sorghum, and peanuts. Cattle and goats are ra...\nSyria\nSyria is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north. The population is mainly Sunni Muslim, but with significant Alawi, Druze and Christian minorities....\nTanzania\nTanzania's economy is very much agriculturely based, which accounts for more than half of GDP, provides approximately 85% of exports, and employs roughly 8 out of 10 people for its workforce. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the...\nTogo\nTogo's economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Cotton, coffee, and cocoa together generate about 30% of export earnings. Togo is self-sufficient in basic food goods when harvests are normal, with occasional...\nTurkey\nOfficially known as the Republic of Turkey, it is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight other countries. The Turkish Armed Forces ...\nUganda\nUganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. The country has large amounts of untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas. Agriculture is Uganda's most important sector for the economy, employi...\nUnited Arab Emirates\nThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven states situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. Petroleum and natural gas exports still play an important role in the economy even though the Unit...\nUnited State of America\nThe united state of America is commonly known as united state, U.S, USA or America. USA was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain on 4 July 1776. America is the largest nation in the world and has a low unemployment in the world. United state is the industrial power and ...\nWorld Cup 2010 Hotel Accommodation - South Africa\nAccommodation in South Africa: Apartments, Hotels, Villas, Guest Houses, Cottages South Africa offers a range of accommodation ranging from 5-star hotels, B&B, Guest house and luxury hotels in its major cities.The cheapest accommodation is in basic backpacker lodges but there are also...\nYemen\nThe Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east. The land of Yemen is one of the oldest locations of civil...",
"The Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries ...\n... The 15 Most Elevated Countries ... There is a special place reserved in respective national consciousnesses for the highest point in a country ... South Africa ...\nThe Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries on Earth | The Basement Geographer\nThe Highest of Low Points: The 15 Most Elevated Countries on Earth\nby kuschk\nThere is a special place reserved in respective national consciousnesses for the highest point in a country. Everest, McKinley, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Fuji, Olympus, Ben Nevis – the towering peaks that can be seen for miles across the countryside and are held up as national symbols. They form the basis for religious myths (and political myths ), challenge climbers to scale their heights , and are used to lure tourists from around the world.Not so renowned are the low points – those spots where a country descends to its lowest elevation. ure, there are some places that grab attention – the Dead Sea, the Caspian Sea, Death Valley – but usually for their extreme salinity or harsh environments rather than simply just for their low elevation. For most countries, their low point is simply sea level ; the coastline where land meets ocean. For the world’s landlocked countries , however, the lowest point is usually a bit above sea level , and for the top 15, it’s a fair bit above. Here now, a list of the 15 highest national low points on Earth.\n1. Lesotho: 1400 m, Orange and Makhaleng river confluence . It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprised that a country in which 80% of the land lies above 1 800 m is the leader in the highest low point category. Lesotho takes advantage of its rough, mountainous, highly-elevated terrain via a series of hydroelectric generation projects via which it can sell power to the country that surrounds it, South Africa. It also ensures that Lesotho has a surprisingly cool climate for being located in the subtropics.\n2. Rwanda: 950 m, Ruzizi River. Rwanda’s lowest point occurs at the tripoint between Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the Ruzizi travels en route to Lake Tanganyika in the Great Rift Valley . Rwanda is quite mountainous in the western third of the country , with an abrupt drop down to the Rift. The eastern two-thirds of Rwanda are not nearly as rugged, but the elevation change is gradual. Much like Lesotho, Rwanda’s climate is rather temperate despite its location just south of the Equator. At 1 600 m above sea level, Kigali is one of the highest national capitals on Earth.\n3. Andorra: 840 m, Gran Valira . The exit point into Spain of Andorra’s longest river ( all 35 km of it ) is the lowest point in the Pyrenean principality, whose terrain is comprised entirely of 65 peaks and the narrow mountain valleys surrounding them.\nThe Gran Valira is Andorra’s longest river.\n4. Burundi: 772 m, Lake Tanganyika .With Rwanda at number 2, neighbouring landlocked Burundi was bound not to be far behind. The aforementioned Lake Tanganyika that the Ruzizi River flows into partially lies in Burundi. Straddling the divide between the Nile and Congo watersheds, Burundi is not nearly as mountainous as Rwanda and dominated by a high central plateau .\n5. Uganda: 621 m, Albert Nile . Three of the top five highest low points come from neighbouring East African countries, as Uganda checks in at number five. Uganda is almost entirely plateau with high mountains on the fringes. The Albert Nile departs north into Southern Sudan; it and its antecedent the Victoria Nile originate from the massive Lake Victoria in the southeast of the country and wind their way through the plateau.\n6. Mongolia: 518 m, Hoh Nuur. Even in the second-largest landlocked country on the planet, the outermost fringes don’t fall below 500 m in elevation. High, cold, and windy, the country’s capital of Ulaanbaatar has the honour of being the coldest national capital in the world and the only one to have a mean daily temperature below freezing .\n7. Botswana: 513 m, Limpopo and Shashe river confluence . Being landlocked can even get a flat desert country like Botswana on the list. The desert conditions and flat tableland terrain mean that water resources in Botswana are rather limited . The low point comes at the easternmost part of the country; the Limpopo/Shashe confluence forma a tripoint with Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.\n8. Liechtenstein: 430 m, Rhine River . The sixth-smallest independent country in the world comes in eighth, aided by the fact that it’s doubly-landlocked (surrounded only by countries that are also landlocked). Being located in the heart of the Alps doesn’t hurt, either.\n9. Armenia: 400 m, Debed River . Considering how mountainous and severe much of Armenia’s topography is , I’m actually surprised it ranks this low. The low point comes on the northern border with Georgia.\n10. Central African Republic: 335 m, Ubangi River . There’s quite a drop to the CAR in tenth place; the country is a flat, rolling savanna with just a few mountains in the extreme northwest and northeast. As the Ubangi River is the major body of water in the country, its size ensures its position as the country’s low point (again a tripoint, this time with the two Congos).\n11. Zambia: 329 m, Zambezi River . Zambia is another African country mostly consisting of high plateau , but with some decent hills in the northeast. The low point on Zambia’s share of the Zambezi comes at a tripoint with Zimbabwe and Mozambique, not far downstream from one of the world’s largest hydroelectric projects, the Kariba Dam .\n12. Tajikistan: 300 m, Syr Darya . Despite being a mid-ranking country in terms of size, Tajikistan demonstrates an incredible variance in topography, featuring peaks nearly 7 500 m (24 600 feet) in height, and with half of its area above 3 000 m . Thanks to the purposefully awkward boundaries drawn up in Soviet times , however, the northern panhandle reaches into the Fergana Valley and grabs a chunk of the Syr Darya away from Uzbekstan, giving Tajikistan a low-lying valley to go with its lofty eastern peaks.\n13. Afghanistan: 258 m, Amu Darya . The southern border of Tajikistan is formed by the Amu Darya, and Afghanistan lies on the other side. The river continues westward to form Afghanistan’s border with Uzbekistan, and part of its border with Turkmenistan. Both the Amu Darya and Syr Darya have been polluted and depleted so dramatically in the name of irrigation for cotton production that they dry up before reaching the Aral Sea, resulting in the near-disappearance of what was one the fourth-largest lake in the world.\nT14. Niger: 200 m, Niger River . Another African tripoint, this time with Nigeria and Benin.The Niger River actually spends very little of its 4 180 km length in the country named for the river.Niger is a member of the nine-country Niger Basin Authority which coordinates management of the massive river.\nT14. Burkina Faso: 200m. Black Volta . Just to the west of Niger lies the other country tied for 14th. Burkina Faso’s low point has nothing to do with the Niger River, though; rather, it comes along the Black Volta where it flows into Ghana via Cote d’Ivoire. Burkina Faso is rather flat; the high point in the north near Mali is only 749 m.\nFurther Reading\nEls, A.J.E. and K.M. Rowntree (2001). Water Resources in the Savanna Region of Botswana. Savannas.net. Available at http://www.savannas.net/botswana/ruhydro.htm . Accessed 7 February 2011.\nLesotho Highlands Development Authority (2009). Overview of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). 9 July 2003. Available at http://www.lhwp.org.ls/overview/default.htm . Accessed 6 February 2011."
] |
Which tree has the Latin name Ilex? | HOLLY | [
"Holly.txt\nHolly\nIlex, or holly, is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen or deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones worldwide.\n\nDescription\n\nThe genus Ilex is widespread throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world. It includes species of trees, shrubs, and climbers, with evergreen or deciduous foliage and inconspicuous flowers. Its range was more extended in the Tertiary period and many species are adapted to laurel forest habitat. It occurs from sea level to more than 2000 m with high mountain species. It is a genus of small, evergreen trees with smooth, glabrous, or pubescent branchlets. The plants are generally slow-growing with some species growing to 25 m tall. The type species is the European holly Ilex aquifolium described by Linnaeus.\n\nPlants in this genus have simple, alternate glossy leaves, frequently with a spiny leaf margin. The inconspicuous flower is greenish white, with four petals. They are generally dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants.\n\nThe small fruits of Ilex, although often referred to as berries, are technically drupes. They range in color from red to brown to black, and rarely green or yellow. The \"bones\" contain up to ten seeds each. Some species produce fruits parthenogenetically, such as the cultivar 'Nellie R. Stevens'. The fruits ripen in winter and thus provide winter colour contrast between the bright red of the fruits and the glossy green evergreen leaves. Hence the cut branches, especially of I. aquifolium, are widely used in Christmas decoration. The fruits are generally slightly toxic to humans, and can cause vomiting and diarrhea when ingested. However, they are an important food source for birds and other animals, which help disperse the seeds. Unfortunately this can have negative impacts as well. Along the west coast of North America, from California to British Columbia, English Holly (Ilex aquifolium) -which is grown commercially- is quickly spreading into native forest habitat, where it thrives in shade and crowds out native species. It has been placed on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's monitor list, and is a Class C invasive plant in Portland. \n\nEtymology\n\nIlex in Latin means the holm-oak or evergreen oak (Quercus ilex). Despite the Linnaean classification of Ilex as holly, as late as the 19th century in Britain, the term Ilex was still being applied to the oak as well as the holly – possibly due to the superficial similarity of the leaves. \n\n The name \"holly\" in common speech refers to Ilex aquifolium, specifically stems with berries used in Christmas decoration. By extension, \"holly\" is also applied to the whole genus. The origin of the word \"holly\" is considered a reduced form of Old English ',Middle English Holin, later Hollen.\n\n Middle English Holin, later Hollen. \n\nThe French word for holly, ', derives from the Old Low Franconian *hulis (Middle Dutch huls). Both are related to Old High German ', huls,\n\n as are Low German/Low Franconian terms like ' or '. These Germanic words appear to be related to words for holly in Celtic languages, such as Welsh ', Breton ' and Irish '.\n\nSeveral romance languages use the Latin word acrifolium (turned into aquifolium in modern time), so Italian ', Occitan ', etc.\n\nHistory\n\nThe phylogeography of this group provides examples of various speciation mechanisms at work. In this scenario ancestors of this group became isolated from the remaining Ilex when the Earth mass broke away into Gondwana and Laurasia about 82 million years ago, resulting in a physical separation of the groups and beginning a process of change to adapt to new conditions. This mechanism is called allopatric speciation. Over time survivor species of the holly genus adapted to different ecological niches. This led to reproductive isolation, an example of ecological speciation. In the Pliocene, around five million years ago, mountain formation diversified the landscape and provided new opportunities for speciation within the genus.\n\nThe fossil record indicates that the Ilex lineage was already widespread prior to the end of the Cretaceous period. Based on the molecular clock the common ancestor of most of the extant species probably appeared during the Eocene, about 50 million years ago, suggesting that older representatives of the genus belong to now extinct branches. The laurel forest covered great areas of the Earth during the Paleogene, when the genus was more prosperous. This type of forest extended during the Neogene, more than 20 million years ago. Most of the last remaining temperate evergreen forests are believed to have disappeared about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene. Many of the then existing species with the strictest ecological requirements became extinct because they could not cross the barriers imposed by the geography, but others found refuge as a species relict in coastal enclaves, archipelagos, and coastal mountains sufficiently far from the extreme cold and aridity and protected by the oceanic influence.\n\nThe genus includes about 400 to 600 species, divided into three subgenera:\n* Ilex subg. Byronia, with the type species Ilex polypyrena\n* Ilex subg. Prinos, with 12 species\n* Ilex subg. Ilex, with the rest of the over 400 species\n\nRange\n\nThe genus is distributed throughout the world's different climates. Most species make their home in the tropics and subtropics, with a worldwide distribution in temperate zones. The greatest diversity of species is found in the Americas and in Southeast Asia.\n\nIlex mucronata, formerly the type species of Nemopanthus, is native to eastern North America.[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?429925 Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ilex mucronata] Nemopanthus was treated as a separate genus with eight species. of the family Aquifoliaceae, now transferred to Ilex on molecular data;Powell, M., Savolainen, V., Cuénod, P., Manen, J. F., & Andrews, S. (2000). The mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus: Aquifoliaceae) revisited with molecular data. Kew Bulletin 55: 341–347. it is closely related to Ilex amelanchier.\n\nIn Europe the genus is represented by a single species, the classically named holly Ilex aquifolium, and in continental Africa by this species and (Ilex mitis). Ilex canariensis, from Macaronesia, and Ilex aquifolium arose from a common ancestor in the laurel forests of the Mediterranean. Australia, isolated at an early period, has (Ilex arnhemensis). Of 204 species growing in China, 149 species are endemic. A species which stands out for its economic importance in Spanish-speaking countries is Ilex paraguariensis or Yerba mate. Having evolved numerous species that are endemic to islands and small mountain ranges, and being highly useful plants, many hollies are now becoming rare.\n\nEcology\n\nOften the tropical species are especially threatened by habitat destruction and overexploitation. At least two species of Ilex have become extinct recently, and many others are barely surviving.International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) (2007): 2007IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:Ilex]\n\nThey are extremely important food for numerous species of birds, and also are eaten by other wild animals. In the autumn and early winter the fruits are hard and apparently unpalatable. After being frozen or frosted several times, the fruits soften, and become milder in taste. During winter storms, birds often take refuge in hollies, which provide shelter, protection from predators (by the spiny leaves), and food. The flowers are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Double-striped Pug moth (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata). Other Lepidoptera whose larvae feed on holly include Bucculatrix ilecella, which feeds exclusively on hollies, and The Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia).\n\nToxicity\n\nHolly can contain caffeic acid, caffeoyl derivatives, caffeoylshikimic acid, chlorogenic acid, feruloylquinic acid, quercetin, quinic acid, kaempferol, tannins, rutin, caffeine, and theobromine. \n\nHolly berries can cause vomiting and diarrhea. They are especially dangerous in cases involving accidental consumption by children attracted to the bright red berries. Ingestion of over 20 berries may be fatal to children.\n\nHolly leaves if eaten might cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and stomach and intestinal problems.\n\nHolly plants might be toxic to pets and livestock. \n\nLeaves of some holly species are (or were) used by some cultures to make daily tea. These species are Yerba mate (I. paraguariensis), Ilex guayusa, Kuding (Ilex kaushue), Yaupon (I. vomitoria) and others. Leaves of other species, such as gallberry (I. glabra) are bitter and emetic. In general little is known about inter-species variation in constituents or toxicity of hollies.\n\nOrnamental use\n\nMany of the holly species are widely used as ornamental plants in temperate/European gardens and parks, notably:\n* I. aquifolium (common European holly)\n* I. crenata (box-leaved holly)\n* I. verticillata (winterberry)\nMoreover, many hundreds of hybrids and cultivars have been developed for garden use, among them the very popular \"Highclere holly\", Ilex × altaclerensis (I. aquifolium × I. perado) and the \"blue holly\", Ilex × meserveae (I. aquifolium × I. rugosa).Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5. Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping. \n\nCulture\n\nHolly – more specifically the European holly, Ilex aquifolium – is commonly referenced at Christmas time, and is often referred to by the name Christ's thorn. In many Western Christian cultures, holly is a traditional Christmas decoration, used especially in wreaths and illustrations, for instance on Christmas cards. Since medieval times the plant has carried a Christian symbolism, as expressed in the well-known Christian Christmas carol \"The Holly and the Ivy\", in which the holly represents Jesus and the ivy represents the Virgin Mary. Angie Mostellar discusses the Christian use of holly at Christmas, stating that:\n\nIn heraldry, holly is used to symbolize truth. The Norwegian municipality of Stord has a yellow twig of holly in its Coat-of-arms.\n\nThe Druids held that \"leaves of holly offered protection against evil spirits\" and thus \"wore holly in their hair\".\n\nIn the Harry Potter novels, holly is used as the wood in Harry's wand.\n\nSelected species\n\n* Ilex abscondita\n* Ilex aculeolata\n* Ilex acutidenticulata\n* Ilex affinis\n* Ilex aggregata\n* Ilex × altaclarensis\n* Ilex altiplana\n* Ilex amazonensis –\n* Ilex ambigua – Sand Holly\n* Ilex amboroica\n* Ilex amelanchier\n* Ilex amygdalina\n* Ilex andicola\n* Ilex angulata\n* Ilex anodonta\n* Ilex anomala Hook. & Arn. – Kāwau (Hawaii) \n* Ilex anonoides\n* Ilex apicidens\n* Ilex aquifolium – European Holly, English Holly, Christ's Thorn\n* Ilex aracamuniana\n* Ilex archeri\n* Ilex ardisiifrons\n* Ilex argentina\n* Ilex arimensis\n* Ilex arisanensis\n* Ilex asprella\n* Ilex atabapoensis\n* Ilex atrata\n* Ilex auriculata\n* Ilex austrosinensis\n* Ilex belizensis\n* Ilex berteroi\n* Ilex bidens\n* Ilex bioritsensis\n* Ilex blanchetii\n* Ilex boliviana\n* Ilex brachyphylla\n* Ilex brandegeeana\n* Ilex brasiliensis\n* Ilex brevicuspis\n* Ilex brevipedicellata\n* Ilex buergeri\n* Ilex buxoides\n* Ilex casiquiarensis\n* Ilex cassine – Dahoon Holly, Cassena\n* Ilex cauliflora\n* Ilex centrochinensis\n* Ilex chamaebuxus\n* Ilex chamaedryfolia\n* Ilex championii\n* Ilex chapaensis\n* Ilex chartaceifolia\n* Ilex chengbuensis\n* Ilex chengkouensis\n* Ilex cheniana\n* Ilex chinensis\n* Ilex chingiana\n* Ilex chiriquensis\n* Ilex chuniana\n* Ilex ciliolata\n* Ilex ciliospinosa\n* Ilex cinerea\n* Ilex clementis\n* Ilex cochinchinensis\n* Ilex colchica\n* Ilex colombiana\n* Ilex condensata\n* Ilex confertiflora\n* Ilex corallina\n* Ilex coriacea – Gallberry\n* Ilex cornuta – Chinese Holly, Horned Holly\n* Ilex costaricensis\n* Ilex cowanii\n* Ilex crenata – Japanese Holly, Box-leaved Holly, inutsuge (Japanese)\n* Ilex cubana\n* Ilex culmenicola\n* Ilex cupreonitens\n* Ilex curtissii\n* Ilex cuzcoana\n* Ilex cyrtura\n* Ilex dabieshanensis\n* Ilex danielis\n* Ilex daphnogenea\n* Ilex dasyclada\n* Ilex dasyphylla\n* Ilex davidsei\n* Ilex decidua Walter – Possumhaw (Eastern United States, Northeastern Mexico)\n* Ilex dehongensis\n* Ilex delavayi\n* Ilex denticulata\n* Ilex dianguiensis\n* Ilex dicarpa\n* Ilex dioica\n* Ilex diospyroides\n* Ilex dipyrena – Himalayan Holly\n* Ilex dicolor\n* Ilex diuretica\n* Ilex divaricata\n* Ilex dolichopoda\n* Ilex dubia\n* Ilex dugesii\n* Ilex duidae\n* Ilex dumosa\n* Ilex dunniana\n* Ilex editicostata\n* Ilex elliptica\n* Ilex elmerrilliana\n* Ilex embelioides\n* Ilex ericoides\n* Ilex eoa\n* Ilex ericoides\n* Ilex estriata\n* Ilex euryoides\n* Ilex excelsa\n* Ilex fargesii\n* Ilex fengqingensis\n* Ilex ficifolia\n* Ilex ficoidea\n* Ilex formosana\n* Ilex forrestii\n* Ilex fragilis\n* Ilex franchetiana\n* Ilex fukeinensis\n* Ilex gabinetensis\n* Ilex gabrielleana\n* Ilex gardneriana (extinct: 20th century?)\n* Ilex georgei\n* Ilex gintungensis\n* Ilex glabella\n* Ilex glabra L. A.Gray – Evergreen Winterberry, Bitter Gallberry, Inkberry (Eastern North America)\n* Ilex glaucophylla\n* Ilex gleasoniana\n* Ilex glomerata\n* Ilex godajam\n* Ilex goshiensis\n* Ilex graciliflora\n* Ilex gracilis\n* Ilex gransabanensis\n* Ilex guaiquinimae\n* Ilex guangnanensis\n* Ilex guayusa – Guayusa\n* Ilex guianensis\n* Ilex guizhouensis\n* Ilex gundlachiana\n* Ilex haberi\n* Ilex hainanensis\n* Ilex hanceana\n* Ilex hayatana\n* Ilex hippocrateoides\n* Ilex hirsuta\n* Ilex holstii\n* Ilex hookeri\n* Ilex huachamacariana\n* Ilex hualhayoca\n* Ilex huana\n* Ilex hylonoma\n* Ilex hypaneura\n* Ilex hyreana\n* Ilex ignicola\n* Ilex illustris\n* Ilex integerrima\n* Ilex integra – Mochi Tree, Nepal Holly\n* Ilex intricata\n* Ilex jamaicana Proctor (Jamaica)\n* Ilex jauaensis\n* Ilex jelskii\n* Ilex karuaiana\n* Ilex khasiana\n* Ilex kingiana\n* Ilex kudingcha\n* Ilex kusanoi\n* Ilex laevigata – Smooth Winterberry\n* Ilex lasseri\n* Ilex latifolia – Tarajo Holly, tarayō (Japanese)\n* Ilex lechleri\n* Ilex leucoclada\n* Ilex longipes\n* Ilex longzhouensis\n* Ilex machilifolia\n* Ilex maclurei\n* Ilex macoucoua\n* Ilex macrocarpa\n* Ilex macropoda\n* Ilex magnifructa\n* Ilex maingayi\n* Ilex marahuacae\n* Ilex marginata\n* Ilex margratesavage\n* Ilex mathewsii\n* Ilex × meserveae\n* Ilex microdonta\n* Ilex mitis\n* Ilex montana Torrey & A.Gray – Mountain Winterberry (Eastern United States)\n* Ilex mucronata (L.) M.Powell, Savol., & S.Andrews – Mountain Holly, Catberry (Eastern North America)\n* Ilex myrtifolia – Myrtle Holly, Myrtle Dahoon\n* Ilex neblinensis\n* Ilex nothofagifolia\n* Ilex oblonga\n* Ilex occulta\n* Ilex opaca – American Holly (Eastern United States)\n* Ilex ovalifolia\n* Ilex palawanica\n* Ilex pallida\n* Ilex paraguariensis – Yerba mate (mate, erva-mate)\n* Ilex parvifructa\n* Ilex patens\n* Ilex pauciflora\n* Ilex paujiensis\n* Ilex pedunculosa – Longstalked holly\n* Ilex peiradena\n* Ilex perado – Madeiran Holly\n* Ilex perlata\n* Ilex pernyi – Perny's Holly\n* Ilex polita\n* Ilex praetermissa\n* Ilex pringlei\n* Ilex pseudobuxus\n* Ilex puberula\n* Ilex pubescens\n* Ilex pubiflora\n* Ilex purpurea\n* Ilex qianlingshanensis\n* Ilex quercetorum\n* Ilex quercifolia\n* Ilex rarasanensis\n* Ilex reticulata\n* Ilex rotunda\n* Ilex rugosa\n* Ilex sclerophylla\n* Ilex serrata – Japanese Winterberry\n* Ilex sessilifructa\n* Ilex shimeica\n* Ilex sikkimensis\n* Ilex sintenisii (Urban) Britt. – Sintenis' Holly (Puerto Rico)\n* Ilex sipapoana\n* Ilex socorroensis\n* Ilex spinigera\n* Ilex spruceana\n* Ilex steyermarkii\n* Ilex subrotundifolia\n* Ilex subtriflora\n* Ilex sugerokii\n* Ilex sulcata\n* Ilex syzygiophylla\n* Ilex tahanensis\n* Ilex tarapotina\n* Ilex tateana\n* Ilex taubertiana\n* Ilex ternatiflora (extinct: 20th century?)\n* Ilex theezans\n* Ilex tiricae\n* Ilex tolucana\n* Ilex trachyphylla\n* Ilex trichocarpa\n* Ilex tugitakayamensis\n* Ilex uraiensis\n* Ilex urbaniana – Urban's holly\n* Ilex vaccinoides\n* Ilex venezuelensis\n* Ilex venulosa\n* Ilex verticillata (L.) A.Gray American Winterberry (Eastern North America)\n* Ilex vomitoria – Yaupon Holly, casseena (Spanish)\n* Ilex vulcanicola\n* Ilex walkeri\n* Ilex wenchowensis\n* Ilex williamsii\n* Ilex wilsonii\n* Ilex yunnanensis\n* Ilex wugonshanensis\n* Ilex yuiana \n\nGallery\n\nImage:Starr_020925-0058_Ilex_anomala.jpg|Ilex anomala\nImage:Contorted Hedgehog Holly.JPG|A contorted hedgehog holly Ilex aquifolium 'Ferox'\nImage:Ilex chinensis1.jpg|Ilex chinensis\nImage:Ilex pedunculosa5.jpg|Ilex pedunculosa\nImage:Ilex rotunda5.jpg|Ilex rotunda\n\nImage:Yunnan Holly Ilex yunnanensis Sprig 3008px.jpg|Ilex yunnanensis\nImage:Beautifulflowers6.jpg|Ilex × meserveae\nImage:Ilex-pernyi-leaves.JPG|Ilex pernyi from west China.",
"Quercus_ilex.txt\nQuercus ilex\nQuercus ilex, the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It takes its name from holm, an ancient name for holly. It is a member of the white oak section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. It was first introduced to the United Kingdom in the 16th century. The first trees to be planted from acorns into England are still to be found growing within the stately grounds of Mamhead Park, Devon. They are uncommonly fine examples; several of these trees are 10 ft in circumference at 3 ft from the ground, and one of them measures in circumference. One specimen in Milo, in Sicily, is reputed to be 700 years old while a small population on the slopes of northern village of Wardija in Malta are said to be between 500 and 1,000 years old. Prior to the Carthaginian period was prevalent on the islands. \n\nDescription\n\nQuercus ilex is a medium-sized tree 5 - tall with finely square-fissured blackish bark and leathery evergreen leaves. The old leaves fall 1–2 years after new leaves emerge. The leaves are dark green above and pale whitish-grey with dense short hairs below. The leaf shape is variable (depending on age and growing conditions), the adult leaves are entire, 4 - long and 1 – broad, while those on the lower branches of young trees are often larger (to 10 cm long), and are toothed or somewhat spiny – possibly as protection from grazing animals. In this, the foliage resembles that of the common European holly Ilex aquifolium, and this resemblance has led to its common and botanic names. The name ' is originally the classical Latin name for the holm oak, but was later also used as a botanical genus name for the hollies. The flowers are catkins, produced in the spring; the fruit is an acorn, which matures in about six months.\n\nSubspecies\n\nThere are two subspecies:\n*Quercus ilex subsp. ilex. Native in the north and east of the species' range, from northern Iberia and France east to Greece. Leaves narrow; acorns 2 cm long, bitter tasting.\n*Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia (syn. Q. rotundifolia, Q. ballota). Native in the southwest of the species' range, in central and southern Iberia (Portugal and Spain) and northwest Africa. Leaves broader; acorns long, sweet tasting.\n\nEcology\n\nHolm oak grows in pure stands or mixed forest in the Mediterranean and often at low or moderate elevations, such as coastal California (the Spanish name for the holm oak, encina, is the origin of the name of many California localities). One of the plant associations in which holm oak is found is the holm oak/Atlas cedar forests of the Atlas Mountains. In Morocco, some of these mixed forests are habitat to the endangered primate, Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus. \n\nHolm oak is prevalent from Portugal to Italy across the north Mediterranean strip. And from Morocco to Tunisia across the South Mediterranean strip.\n\nHolm oak is damaging biodiversity in the United Kingdom, and is listed as an alien invader. Normally the tree is unable to withstand severe frost, which would prevent it from spreading north, but with climate change, it has successfully penetrated these areas. \n\nCultivation and uses\n\nThe wood is hard and tough, and has been used since ancient times for general construction purposes as pillars, tools, wagons (Hesiod, Works and Days 429), vessels, and wine casks. It is also used as firewood, or in charcoal manufacture.\n\nThe holm oak is one of the top three trees used in the establishment of truffle orchards, or truffières. Truffles grow in an ectomycorrhizal association with the tree's roots.\n\nThe acorns, like those of the cork oak, are edible (toasted or as a flour), and are an important food for free-range pigs reared for ibérico ham production. Boiled in water, the acorns can also be used as a medicinal treatment for injury dis-infections.\n\nIt can be clipped to form a tall hedge, and it is suitable for coastal windbreaks, in any well drained soil. It forms a picturesque rounded head, with pendulous low-hanging branches. Its size and solid evergreen character gives it an imposing architectural presence that makes it valuable in many urban and garden settings. While holm oak can be grown in much of maritime northwestern Europe, it is not tolerant of cold continental winters."
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"Ilex aquifolium - San Francisco Botanical Garden\nIlex aquifolium (English) ... Scientific Name: Ilex aquifolium: Family: Aquifoliaceae: Plant Type: Evergreen Tree to 25m: ... Bloom: Small, slightly fragrant ...\nGarden Plant Collections | Ilex aquifolium | San Francisco Botanical Garden\n \nIlex aquifolium (English) | Ilex opaca (American)\n“Deck the halls with boughs of holly, tra la la la la, la la la la.”\nPre-Christian societies celebrated the winter solstice with boughs of holly brought indoors to ward away evil spirits, a household custom continuing today for more benevolent reasons. American holly, Ilex opaca, grows from Canada to Florida. Hollies are not native to the western US. However, English holly, Ilex aquifolium, widely planted in the Pacific Northwest for decades, is now considered invasive.\nHolly trees are dioecious, either female or male, and each must be planted to produce berries. Their leaves have a thick cuticle, often highly polished, with sharp tipped leaves and red berries in their axils. Flowers are greenish white. There are many cultivars, some with yellow or black berries; some have variegated leaves with highly spiny tips, or no spines at all. The bark is usually smooth and pale. The wood is creamy white, hard and clear of knots, excellent for inlaid work and dyes. Black piano keys are often made of holly wood.\nIlex cassine or “Yaupon” holly is a shrubby species from the southern states whose berries can be used as a purgative. Its dried, crumbled leaves are filled with caffeine and make an excellent tea. Ilex paraguariensis from Brazil and Argentina is the source of �Yerba Mate,� an ancient and still popular stimulant made from crushed holly leaves and boiling water.\nProfile",
"Ilex aquifolium - Plant Finder - Missouri Botanical Garden\nIlex aquifolium, commonly called ... pyramidal, densely-branched, evergreen tree that typically grows to 30-50’ ... Missouri Botanical Garden. 4344 Shaw Blvd., St ...\nIlex aquifolium - Plant Finder\nPlant Finder\nNative Range: Western and southern Europe, north Africa, western Asia\nZone: 7 to 9\nHeight: 30.00 to 50.00 feet\nSpread: 15.00 to 25.00 feet\nBloom Time: May\nSun: Full sun to part shade\nWater: Medium\nGarden locations\nCulture\nGrow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in locations protected from cold winter winds. Part afternoon shade is best in hot summer climates. Avoid poorly drained soils. Prune in winter if needed. Plants of this species are dioecious (separate male and female plants). Female plants need a male pollinator in the area in order to bear fruit. This species can be difficult to grow in the St. Louis area because it dislikes cold winters (not considered winter hardy in USDA Zone 5 and the northern part of USDA Zone 6) and also dislikes hot and humid summers. It grows much better in the climate of the Pacific Northwest where it has naturalized.\nNoteworthy Characteristics\nIlex aquifolium, commonly called English holly, is native to Europe, western Asia and north Africa. It is an erect, pyramidal, densely-branched, evergreen tree that typically grows to 30-50’ (less frequently to 80’) tall. It also may be trained and grown as a large shrub (10-15’ tall). Elliptic, leathery, glossy, wavy-margined, evergreen, dark green leaves (1-3” long) have large spiny teeth. Greenish-white flowers appear in May. Flowers are fragrant but generally inconspicuous. Pollinated flowers give way to berry-like red (less frequently orange or yellow) drupes (1/4” diameter) which ripen in fall and persist into winter. Birds are attracted to the fruit.\nGenus name comes from the Latin name Quercus ilex for holm oak in reference to the foliage similarities (holm oak and many of the shrubs in the genus Ilex have evergreen leaves).\nSpecific epithet comes from the Latin word acus meaning needle and folium meaning leaf in reference to the spiny leaves.\nGarden Uses\nBy reputation, English holly is a better ornamental tree than American holly (see I. opaca), but it has less winter hardiness and is more difficult to grow in the lower Midwest and deep South. Effective as a specimen or in small groups. Foundation plantings. Foliage and fruit provide good color for the winter landscape. Tall hedge.",
"Table 3.--Index of common names of tree species\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species. Common name Scientific name abelia, ... European Fagus sylvatica birch, ...\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species\nTable 3.--Index of common names of tree species\nCommon name Scientific name abelia, glossy Abelia chinensis var. grandiflora acacia Acacia spp. acacia, Bailey Acacia baileyana acacia, catclaw Acacia greggii acacia, koa Acacia koa acacia, sweet Acacia farnesiana acacia, twisted Acacia tortuosa acacia, Wright Acacia wrightii ailanthus Ailanthus altissima alder, Arizona Alnus oblongifolia alder, hazel Alnus serrulata alder, mountain Alnus tenuifolia alder, seaside Alnus maritima alder, Sitka Alnus sinuata alder, smooth Alnus serrulata alder, speckled Alnus rugosa alder, thinleaf Alnus tenuifolia alder, white Alnus rhombifolia allspice, Carolina Calycanthus floridus allspice, hairy Calycanthus floridus almond, dwarf flowering Prunus glandulosa apple, common Pyrus malus apple, crab Pyrus spp. apple, Oregon crab Pyrus fusca apple, prairie crab Pyrus ioensis apple, southern crab Pyrus angustifolia apple, sweet crab Pyrus coronaria apricot, desert Prunus fremontii apricot Prunus armeniaca aralia, Japanese Fatsia japonica arbor vitae, Chinese Thuja orientalis arbor vitae, oriental Thuja orientalis ardisia Ardisia japonica arrowwood, downy Viburnum pubescens arrowwood, maple leaved Viburnum acerifolium ash Fraxinus spp. ash, black Fraxinus nigra ash, blue Fraxinus quadrangulata ash, Carolina Fraxinus caroliniana ash, European Fraxinus excelsior ash, fragrant Fraxinus cuspidata ash, green Fraxinus pennsylvanica ash, Gregg Fraxinus greggii ash, Oregon Fraxinus latifolia ash, pumpkin Fraxinus profunda ash, singleleaf Fraxinus anomala ash, Texas Fraxinus texensis ash, velvet Fraxinus velutina ash, white Fraxinus americana aspen, bigtooth Populus grandidentata aspen, quaking Populus tremuloides avocado Persea americana Bahama strongback Bourreria ovata baldcypress Taxodium distichum basswood, American Tilia americana basswood, Carolina Tilia caroliniana basswood, Florida Tilia floridana basswood, white Tilia heterophylla bayberry Myrica cerifera bayberry, Pacific Myrica californica bayberry, southern Myrica cerifera beech, American Fagus grandifolia beech, European Fagus sylvatica birch, black Betula lenta birch, bog Betula pumila birch, cut leaf weeping Betula pendula birch, cut leaved Betula alba birch, European white Betula verrucosa birch, gray Betula populifolia birch, paper Betula papyrifera birch, red Betula nigra birch, river Betula nigra birch, sweet Betula lenta birch, water Betula occidentalis birch, yellow Betula alleghaniensis bitterbush Picramnia pentandra black calabash Amphitecna latifolia black haw Viburnum prunifolium black mangrove Avicennia germinans blue Chinese fir Cunninghamia lanceolata blueblossom Ceanothus thyrsiflorus boxelder Acer negundo buckeye, California Aesculus californica buckeye, Ohio Aesculus glabra buckeye, painted Aesculus sylvatica buckeye, red Aesculus pavia buckeye, yellow Aesculus octandra buckthorn, California Rhamnus californica buckthorn, Carolina Rhamnus caroliniana buckthorn, cascara Rhamnus purshiana buckthorn, European Rhamnus cathartica buckthorn, glossy Rhamnus frangula buckwheat tree Cliftonia monophylla burningbush, eastern Euonymus atropurpureus burningbush, western Euonymus occidentalis butternut Juglans cinerea buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis cajeput tree Melaleuca quinquenervia camphor tree Cinnamomum camphora canella Canella winterana canotia Canotia holacantha catalpa Catalpa spp. catalpa, hardy Catalpa speciosa catalpa, northern Catalpa speciosa catalpa, southern Catalpa bignonioides catclaw, Gregg Acacia greggii catclaw, Wright Acacia wrightii ceanothus Ceanothus maritimus ceanothus Ceanothus spp. ceanothus, feltleaf Ceanothus arboreus ceanothus, greenbark Ceanothus spinosus ceanothus, spiny Ceanothus spinosus Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani cedar, Alaska Chamaecyparis nootkatensis cedar, Atlantic white Chamaecyparis thyoides cedar, Atlas Cedrus atlantica cedar, deodar Cedrus deodara cedar, Port Orford Chamaecyparis lawsoniana cercocarpus, alderleaf Cercocarpus montanus cercocarpus, birchleaf Cercocarpus betuloides cercocarpus, curlleaf Cercocarpus ledifolius cercocarpus, hairy Cercocarpus breviflorus cercocarpus, little Cercocarpus intricatus leaf cherry Prunus spp. cherry laurel, common Prunus laurocerasus cherry, bitter Prunus emarginata cherry, black Prunus serotina cherry, Catalina Prunus lyonii cherry, European bird Prunus padus cherry, pin Prunus pensylvanica cherry, sand Prunus pumila cherry, sweet Prunus avium cherry, West Indies Prunus myrtifolia chestnut, American Castanea dentata China berry Melia azedarach chinkapin, Allegheny Castanea pumila chinkapin, giant Castanopsis chrysophylla chinkapin, Ozark Castanea ozarkensis chittamwood Bumelia lanuginosa chokecherry Prunus virginiana Christmasberry Heteromeles arbutifolia cliffrose Cowania mexicana coast beefwood Casuarina stricta coconut palm Cocos nucifera cocoplum Chrysobalanus icaco coffeetree, Kentucky Gymnocladus dioicus coralbean, eastern Erythrina herbacea coralbean, southeastern Erythrina herbacea corkwood Leitneria floridana cottonwood, black Populus trichocarpa cottonwood, eastern Populus deltoides cottonwood, Fremont Populus fremontii cottonwood, narrowleaf Populus angustifolia cottonwood, plains Populus sargentii cottonwood, swamp Populus heterophylla crabapple Pyrus spp. cranberry bush Viburnum opulus cucumbertree Magnolia acuminata cypress pine, white Callitris glaucophylla cypress, Arizona Cupressus arizonica cypress, Baker Cupressus bakeri cypress, Gowen Cupressus goveniana cypress, Guadalupe Cupressus guadalupensis cypress, Leyland Cupressocyparis leylandii cypress, MacNab Cupressus macnabiana cypress, Monterey Cupressus macrocarpa cypress, Sargent Cupressus sargentii cypress, Tecate Cupressus guadalupensis cyrilla, swamp Cyrilla racemiflora dahoon Ilex cassine deer brush Ceanothus integerrimus desertwillow Chilopsis linearis devils walkingstick Aralia spinosa devilwood Osmanthus americanus dogwood Cornus spp. dogwood, alternate leaf Cornus alternifolia dogwood, flowering Cornus florida dogwood, gray Cornus racemosa dogwood, Pacific Cornus nuttallii dogwood, red osier Cornus stolonifera dogwood, roughleaf Cornus drummondii dogwood, roundleaf Cornus rugosa doveplum Coccoloba diversifolia elder, American Sambucus canadensis elder, Pacific red Sambucus callicarpa elliottia Elliottia racemosa elm Ulmus spp. elm, American Ulmus americana elm, cedar Ulmus crassifolia elm, Chinese Ulmus parvifolia elm, European Ulmus procera elm, rock Ulmus thomasii elm, September Ulmus serotina elm, Siberian Ulmus pumila elm, slippery Ulmus rubra elm, water Planera aquatica elm, winged Ulmus alata elm, Wych Ulmus glabra eucalyptus Eucalyptus spp. eucalyptus, bluegum Eucalyptus globulus eucalyptus, horncap Eucalyptus tereticornis eucalyptus, silver Eucalyptus cinerea dollar euonymus, evergreen Euonymus japonicus falsebox Gyminda latifolia falsebox, West Indies Gyminda latifolia fig, benjamin Ficus benjamina fig, common Ficus carica fig, fiddle leaf Ficus lyrata fig, Florida strangler Ficus aurea filbert, European Corylus avellana fir, balsam Abies balsamea fir, bigcone Douglas Pseudotsuga macrocarpa fir, blue Chinese Cunninghamia lanceolata fir, bristlecone Abies bracteata fir, California red Abies magnifica fir, California white Abies lowiana fir, Douglas Pseudotsuga menziesii fir, Fraser Abies fraseri fir, grand Abies grandis fir, Manchurian Abies holophylla fir, noble Abies procera fir, Pacific silver Abies amabilis fir, Rocky Mountain Abies bifolia alpine fir, Sierra white Abies lowiana fir, subalpine Abies lasiocarpa fir, white Abies concolor fire thorn Pyracantha coccinea fishpoison tree, Piscidia piscipula Florida Florida fiddlewood Citharexylum fruticosum Florida silverpalm Coccothrinax argentata fringe tree Chionanthus virginicus gallberry, large Ilex coriacea geiger tree Cordia sebestena ginko Ginkgo biloba Grevillea Grevillea 'noellii' guava, common Psidium guajava Guiana plum Drypetes lateriflora guiana rapanea Rapanea guianensis gum bumelia Bumelia lanuginosa gum, black Nyssa sylvatica gum, cider Eucalyptus gunnii gum, desert Eucalyptus rudis gum, red Eucalyptus camaldulensis gum, silver dollar Eucalyptus polyanthemos gumbo limbo Bursera simaruba hackberry, dwarf Celtis tenuifolia hackberry, Georgia Celtis tenuifolia hackberry, northern Celtis occidentalis Hakea Hakea spp. hawthorn Crataegus spp. hawthorn, barberry Crataegus berberifolia hawthorn, barberryleaf Crataegus berberifolia hawthorn, Biltmore Crataegus intricata hawthorn, black Crataegus douglasii hawthorn, blueberry Crataegus brachyacantha hawthorn, cockspur Crataegus crus-galli hawthorn, downy Crataegus mollis hawthorn, English Crataegus oxyacantha hawthorn, frosted Crataegus pruinosa hawthorn, littlehip Crataegus spathulata hawthorn, oneseed Crataegus monogyna hawthorn, parsley Crataegus marshallii hawthorn, riverflat Crataegus opaca hawthorn, scarlet Crataegus coccinea hawthorn, willow Crataegus saligna hazelnut, American Corylus americana hazelnut, beaked Corylus cornuta hemlock, Carolina Tsuga caroliniana hemlock, eastern Tsuga canadensis hemlock, mountain Tsuga mertensiana hemlock, western Tsuga heterophylla Hercules club Zanthoxylum clava-herculis hibiscus, Chinese Hibiscus rosa-sinensis hibiscus, sea Hibiscus tiliaceus hickory Carya spp. hickory, bitternut Carya cordiformis hickory, black Carya texana hickory, mockernut Carya tomentosa hickory, nutmeg Carya myristiciformis hickory, pignut Carya glabra hickory, red Carya ovalis hickory, sand Carya pallida hickory, scrub Carya floridana hickory, shagbark Carya ovata hickory, shellbark Carya laciniosa hickory, water Carya aquatica holly, American Ilex opaca holly, English Ilex aquifolium holly, tawnyberry Ilex krugiana honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos hophornbeam, eastern Ostrya virginiana hophornbeam, Knowlton Ostrya knowltonii hoptree, common Ptelea trifoliata hornbeam, American Carpinus caroliniana horsechestnut Aesculus hippocastanum horsetail casuarina Casuarina equisetifolia horsetail tree Casuarina equisetifolia huisache Acacia farnesiana huisachillo Acacia tortuosa incense cedar Calocedrus decurrens inkberry Ilex glabra inkwood Exothea paniculata ironbark, red Eucalyptus sideroxylon ironbark, white Eucalyptus leucoxylon Jamaica caper Capparis cynophallophora jasmine, winter Jasminum nudiflorum Jerusalem thorn Parkinsonia aculeata juniper, alligator Juniperus deppeana juniper, Ashe Juniperus ashei juniper, California Juniperus californica juniper, common Juniperus communis juniper, drooping Juniperus flaccida juniper, one seed Juniperus monosperma juniper, Pinchot Juniperus pinchotii juniper, redberry Juniperus pinchotii juniper, redberry Juniperus erythrocarpa juniper, Rocky Mountain Juniperus scopulorum juniper, Utah Juniperus osteosperma juniper, western Juniperus occidentalis larch, European Larix decidua larch, subalpine Larix lyallii larch, western Larix occidentalis laurel, California Umbellularia californica laurelcherry, Carolina Prunus caroliniana leadwood Krugiodendron ferreum lemon Citrus limon lemonade berry Rhus integrifolia lime Citrus aurantifolia linden, European Tilia europaea linden, little leaf Tilia cordata loblolly bay Gordonia lasianthus locust Robinia spp. locust, black Robinia pseudoacacia locust, clammy Robinia viscosa locust, honey Gleditsia triacanthos locust, New Mexico Robinia neomexicana locust, water Gleditsia aquatica loquat tree Eriobotrya japonica Lyontree Lyonothamnus floribundus lysiloma, Bahama Lysiloma latisiliquum madrone, Arizona Arbutus arizonica madrone, Pacific Arbutus menziesii madrone, Texas Arbutus texana magnolia, Ashe Magnolia ashei magnolia, bigleaf Magnolia macrophylla magnolia, cucumber Magnolia acuminata magnolia, Fraser Magnolia fraseri magnolia, pyramid Magnolia pyramidata magnolia, southern Magnolia grandiflora magnolia, umbrella Magnolia tripetala mahogany, West Indies Swietenia mahogani manchineel Hippomane mancinella mangrove, button Conocarpus erectus mangrove, red Rhizophora mangle mangrove, white Laguncularia racemosa maple, Amur Acer ginnala maple, bigleaf Acer macrophyllum maple, bigtooth Acer grandidentatum maple, black Acer nigrum maple, boxelder Acer negundo maple, canyon Acer grandidentatum maple, chalk Acer leucoderme maple, Florida Acer barbatum maple, fullmoon Acer japonicum maple, hedge Acer campestre maple, Japanese Acer palmatum maple, mountain Acer spicatum maple, Norway Acer platanoides maple, red Acer rubrum maple, Rocky Mountain Acer glabrum maple, silver Acer saccharinum maple, striped Acer pensylvanicum maple, sugar Acer saccharum maple, sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus maple, Tatar Acer tataricum maple, vine Acer circinatum marlberry Ardisia escallonioides mastic, false Mastichodendron foetidissimum mazzard Prunus avium medlar, Chinese Photinia serrulata medlar, European Mespilus germanica melaleuca, lilac Melaleuca decussata mescalbean Sophora secundiflora mesquite, honey Prosopis glandulosa mesquite, screwbean Prosopis pubescens Mexican alvaradoa Alvaradoa amorphoides mountain ash, American Sorbus americana mountain ash, European Sorbus aucuparia mulberry, black Morus nigra mulberry, paper Broussonetia papyrifera mulberry, red Morus rubra mulberry, Russian Morus alba var. tatarica mulberry, Texas Morus microphylla mulberry, white Morus alba myrtle of the river Calyptranthes zuzygium nannyberry Viburnum lentago nectarine Prunus persica oak Quercus spp. oak, Arizona gray Quercus grisea oak, Arizona white Quercus arizonica oak, bear Quercus ilicifolia oak, black Quercus velutina oak, blackjack Quercus marilandica oak, blue Quercus douglasii oak, bluejack Quercus cinerea oak, bluejack Quercus incana oak, bluff Quercus austrina oak, bur Quercus macrocarpa oak, California black Quercus kelloggii oak, California red Quercus kelloggii oak, California white Quercus lobata oak, canyon live Quercus chrysolepis oak, Chapman Quercus chapmanii oak, cherrybark Quercus pagoda oak, chestnut Quercus prinus oak, chinkapin Quercus muehlenbergii oak, coast live Quercus agrifolia oak, cork Quercus suber oak, Darlington Quercus hemisphaerica oak, Durand Quercus durandii oak, Emory Quercus emoryi oak, Engelmann Quercus engelmannii oak, Gambel Quercus gambelii oak, gray Quercus grisea oak, interior live Quercus wislizenii oak, laurel Quercus laurifolia oak, live Quercus virginiana oak, Mexican blue Quercus oblongifolia oak, myrtle Quercus myrtifolia oak, northern pin Quercus ellipsoidalis oak, northern red Quercus rubra oak, Nuttall Quercus nuttallii oak, Oglethorpe Quercus oglethorpensis oak, Oregon white Quercus garryana oak, overcup Quercus lyrata oak, pin Quercus palustris oak, post Quercus stellata oak, sand post Quercus margaretta oak, scarlet Quercus coccinea oak, shingle Quercus imbricaria oak, Shumard Quercus shumardii oak, silverleaf Quercus hypoleucoides oak, southern red Quercus falcata oak, swamp chestnut Quercus michauxii oak, swamp white Quercus bicolor oak, turkey (scrub) Quercus laevis oak, valley Quercus lobata oak, water Quercus nigra oak, white Quercus alba oak, willow Quercus phellos olive Olea europaea olive, Russian Elaeagnus angustifolia orange Citrus sinensis orange, Osage Maclura pomifera oysterwood Gymnanthes lucida pagoda tree, Japanese Sophora japonica pale lidflower Calyptranthes pallens palm, buccaneer Pseudophoenix sargentii palm, California Washingtonia filifera palm, coconut Cocos nucifera palm, Manila Adonidia merrillii palm, paurotis Acoelorrhaphe wrightii palm, queen Arecastrum romanzoffianum palm, wine Caryota urens palmetto, cabbage Sabal palmetto paloverde, blue Cercidium floridum paloverde, yellow Cercidium microphyllum papaya Carica papaya paradise tree Simarouba glauca parasoltree, Chinese Firmiana simplex paulownia, royal Paulownia tomentosa pawpaw Asimina triloba peach Prunus persica pear Pyrus communis pecan Carya illinoensis pepperbush Clethra spp. pepperbush, sweet Clethra alnifolia peppermint, white Eucalyptus pulchella peppertree, California Schinus molle persimmon, common Diospyros virginiana persimmon, Texas Diospyros texana photinia Photinia spp. photinia, Japanese Photinia glabra pigeonplum Coccoloba diversifolia pinckneya Pinckneya pubens pine, Aleppo Pinus halepensis pine, Apache Pinus engelmannii pine, Austrian Pinus nigra pine, bishop Pinus muricata pine, bristlecone Pinus aristata pine, Coulter Pinus coulteri pine, Digger Pinus sabiniana pine, eastern white Pinus strobus pine, foxtail Pinus balfouriana pine, intermountain Pinus longaeva bristlecone pine, Italian stone Pinus pinea pine, jack Pinus banksiana pine, Japanese black Pinus thunbergiana pine, Jeffrey Pinus jeffreyi pine, knobcone Pinus attenuata pine, limber Pinus flexilis pine, loblolly Pinus taeda pine, lodgepole Pinus contorta pine, longleaf Pinus palustris pine, Monterey Pinus radiata pine, pitch Pinus rigida pine, pond Pinus serotina pine, ponderosa Pinus ponderosa pine, red Pinus resinosa pine, sand Pinus clausa pine, Scotch Pinus sylvestris pine, Scots Pinus sylvestris pine, shortleaf Pinus echinata pine, slash Pinus elliottii pine, southwestern Pinus strobiformis white pine, spruce Pinus glabra pine, sugar Pinus lambertiana pine, Swiss mountain Pinus mugo pine, table mountain Pinus pungens pine, Torrey Pinus torreyana pine, Virginia Pinus virginiana pine, Washoe Pinus washoensis pine, western white Pinus monticola pine, whitebark Pinus albicaulis pinyon Pinus edulis pinyon, border Pinus discolor pinyon, Mexican Pinus cembroides pinyon, Parry Pinus quadrifolia pinyon, singleleaf Pinus monophylla pistache, Texas Pistacia texana pistachio Pistacia vera planetree, Oriental Platanus orientalis plum, Allegheny Prunus alleghaniensis plum, American Prunus americana plum, beach Prunus maritima plum, Canada Prunus nigra plum, Chickasaw Prunus angustifolia plum, common Prunus domestica plum, darling Reynosia septentrionalis plum, flatwoods Prunus umbellata plum, Guiana Drypetes lateriflora plum, hortulan Prunus hortulana plum, Japanese Prunus japonica plum, Klamath Prunus subcordata plum, Mexican Prunus mexicana plum, purple leaved Prunus cerasifera var. pissardi plum, wildgoose Prunus munsoniana poisontree, Florida Metopium toxiferum pomegranate Punica granatum pond apple Annona glabra poplar Populus spp. poplar, balsam Populus balsamifera poplar, Lombardy Populus nigra var. italica poplar, tulip Liriodendron tulipifera poplar, white Populus alba poplar, yellow Liriodendron tulipifera possum haw Ilex decidua prickly ash, common Zanthoxylum americanum prickly ash, lime Zanthoxylum fagara princewood Exostema caribaeum princewood, Caribbean Exostema caribaeum privet, swamp Forestiera acuminata quince Cydonia oblonga quince, Japanese Chaenomeles lagenaria rapanea, guiana Rapanea guianensis redbay Persea borbonia redbud, California Cercis occidentalis redbud, eastern Cercis canadensis redbud, western Cercis occidentalis redcedar, eastern Juniperus virginiana redcedar, western Thuja plicata redwood, coast Sequoia sempervirens redwood, dawn Metasequoia glyptostroboides rose Rosa spp. rose, climbing prairie Rosa setigera rose, Macartney Rosa bracteata rose, sweetbriar Rosa eglanteria roseberry Juniperus coahuilensis roughbark lignumvitae Guaiacum sanctum royalpalm, Florida Roystonea elata rubber tree, India Ficus elastica Russian olive Elaeagnus angustifolia rustica rubra Magnolia soulangeana saguaro Cereus giganteus sassafras Sassafras albidum satinleaf Chrysophyllum oliviforme satinwood, West Indies Zanthoxylum flavum seagrape Coccoloba uvifera sequoia, giant Sequoiadendron giganteum serviceberry Amelanchier spp. serviceberry, downy Amelanchier arborea serviceberry, eastern Amelanchier canadensis serviceberry, smooth Amelanchier laevis serviceberry, western Amelanchier alnifolia Siberian pea tree Caragana arborescens silk oak Grevillea robusta silk tassel Garrya fremontii silk tree Albizia julibrissin silver bell Halesia carolina silverbell, Carolina Halesia carolina sloe Prunus spinosa smokethorn Dalea spinosa smoke tree Cotinus coggygria smoketree, American Cotinus obovatus snowberry Symphoricarpos albus soapberry, Florida Sapindus marginatus soapberry, western Sapindus drummondii soapberry, wingleaf Sapindus saponaria soldierwood Colubrina elliptica sophora, Texas Sophora affinis sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum spicebush Lindera benzoin spindle tree, European Euonymus europaeus spirea Spirea bumalda spruce Picea spp. spruce, black Picea mariana spruce, blue Picea pungens spruce, Brewer Picea brewerana spruce, dwarf Alberta Picea glauca var. albertiana spruce, Engelmann Picea engelmannii spruce, Norway Picea abies spruce, red Picea rubens spruce, Sitka Picea sitchensis spruce, tigertail Picea polita spruce, white Picea glauca Stewartia Stewartia koreana Stewartia, mountain Stewartia ovata strawberry tree Arbutus unedo sugarberry Celtis laevigata sumac, lemonade Rhus integrifolia sumac, poison Toxicodendron vernix sumac, shining Rhus copallina sumac, smooth Rhus glabra sumac, staghorn Rhus typhina sweetbay Magnolia virginiana sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua sweetleaf, common Symplocos tinctoria sycamore Platanus occidentalis sycamore, American Platanus occidentalis sycamore, Arizona Platanus wrightii sycamore, California Platanus racemosa Sydney golden wattle Acacia longifolia tallowtree, Chinese Sapium sebiferum tallowwood Ximenia americana tamarack Larix laricina tamerisk, smallflower Tamarix parviflora tanoak Lithocarpus densiflorus tesota Olneya tesota thatchpalm, brittle Thrinax microcarpa thatchpalm, Jamaica Thrinax parviflora torchwood Amyris elemifera torreya, California Torreya californica torreya, Florida Torreya taxifolia toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia tree lyonia Lyonia ferruginea tree of heaven Ailanthus altissima trema, Florida Trema micrantha tulip poplar Liriodendron tulipifera tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera tung oil tree Aleurites fordii tupelo, black Nyssa sylvatica tupelo, Ogeechee Nyssa ogeche tupelo, swamp Nyssa biflora tupelo, water Nyssa aquatica vauquelinia, Torrey Vauquelinia californica velvetseed, elliptic Guettarda elliptica leaf velvetseed, roughleaf Guettarda scabra viburnum Viburnum tomentosum viburnum, leatherleaf Viburnum rhytidophyllum viburnum, oval leafed Viburnum ellipticum wahoo, eastern Euonymus atropurpureus wahoo, western Euonymus occidentalis walnut, Arizona Juglans major walnut, black Juglans nigra walnut, Hinds Juglans hindsii walnut, little Juglans microcarpa walnut, northern Juglans hindsii California walnut, southern Juglans californica California waterlocust Gleditsia aquatica waxmyrtle, Pacific Myrica californica wayfaring tree Viburnum lantana white cedar, northern Thuja occidentalis wild dilly Manilkara bahamensis willow Salix spp. willow bustic Dipholis salicifolia willow, arroyo Salix lasiolepis willow, basket Salix viminalis willow, Bebb Salix bebbiana willow, black Salix nigra willow, Bonpland Salix bonplandiana willow, coastal plain Salix caroliniana willow, crack Salix fragilis willow, diamond Salix eriocephala willow, feltleaf Salix alaxensis willow, golden weeping Salix alba var. tristis willow, heart leaved Salix cordata willow, Hooker Salix hookerana willow, laurel leaved Salix pentandra willow, Mackenzie Salix mackenzieana willow, Pacific Salix lasiandra willow, peachleaf Salix amygdaloides willow, pussy Salix discolor willow, red Salix laevigata willow, sandbar Salix exigua willow, Scouler Salix scoulerana willow, shining Salix lucida willow, weeping Salix babylonica willow, white Salix alba willow, yewleaf Salix taxifolia winterberry, common Ilex verticillata winterberry, mountain Ilex montana witchhazel Hamamelis virginiana yaupon Ilex vomitoria yellow poplar Liriodendron tulipifera yellowwood Cladrastis lutea yew, Florida Taxus floridana yew, Pacific Taxus brevifolia",
"Ilex_aquifolium.txt\nIlex aquifolium\nIlex aquifolium (holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly), is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia.Flora Europaea: [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF\n&GENUS_XREFIlex&SPECIES_XREF\naquifolium&TAXON_NAME_XREF&RANK\n Ilex aquifolium]Med-Checklist: [http://ww2.bgbm.org/mcl/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId\n1263&PTRefFK1273 Ilex aquifolium]Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.Flora of NW Europe: [http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected\nbeschrijving&menuentrysoorten&id\n3088 Ilex aquifolium] I. aquifolium is the species familiar in Christmas decoration, and is regarded as the type species of the genus Ilex, which by association is also called \"holly\". It is a evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts.\n\nAs a tree, it can exceed 10 m in height. It is usually found as a shrub or a small tree about 1 m tall with a straight trunk and pyramidal crown, which branches from the base. It is slow growing and it does not usually fully mature due to grazing, cutting, or fire. It can live 500 years, but usually does not reach 100.\n\nDescription\n\nHolly is an evergreen tree growing to 10–25 m tall with a woody stem as large as 40–80 cm, rarely 1 m or more, in diameter The leaves are 5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm broad; they are evergreen, lasting about five years, and are dark green on the upper surface and lighter on the underside, oval, leathery, shiny, and about 5 to 9 cm long. In the young and in the lower limbs of mature trees, the leaves have three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward, while leaves of the upper branches in mature trees lack spines.\n\nThe flowers are white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. Holly is dioecious, meaning that there are male plants and female plants. The sex cannot be determined until the plants begin flowering, usually between 4 and 12 years of age. In male specimens, the flowers are yellowish and appear in axillary groups. In the female, flowers are isolated or in groups of three and are small and white or slightly pink, and consist of four petals and four sepals partially fused at the base.\n\nThe fruit is a red drupe, about 6–10 mm in diameter, a bright red or bright yellow, which matures around October or November; at this time they are very bitter due to the ilicin content and so are rarely eaten until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable. They are eaten by rodents, birds and larger herbivores. Each fruit contains 3 to 4 seeds which do not germinate until the second or third spring. The fruit only appears on female plants, which require male plants nearby to fertilise them.\n\nDistribution\n\nToday, holly is found in western Asia and Europe in the undergrowth of oak forest and beech forest in particular, although at times it can form a dense thicket as the dominant species. It requires moist, shady environments, found within forests or in shady slopes, cliffs, and mountain gorges.\n\nAlong the west coast of the United States, from California to British Columbia, non-native English Holly has proved very invasive, quickly spreading into native forest habitat, where it thrives in shade and crowds out native species. It has been placed on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's monitor list, and is a Class C invasive plant in Portland. \n\nDuring the Cenozoic Era, the Mediterranean region, Europe, and northwest Africa had a wetter climate and were largely covered by laurel forests. Holly was a typical representative species of this biome, where many current species of the genus Ilex were present. With the drying of the Mediterranean Basin during the Pliocene, the laurel forests gradually retreated, replaced by more drought-tolerant sclerophyll plant communities. The modern Ilex aquifolium resulted from this change. Most of the last remaining laurel forests around the Mediterranean are believed to have died out approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene.\n\nEcology\n\nHolly is a rugged pioneer species that preserves and enriches the soil facilitating colonization by others. It is an ecological indicator of a well-preserved or recovering area with little human intrusion. It prefers relatively moist areas, up to 600m in elevation, and tolerates Mediterranean summer drought and frost. The plant is common in the garrigue and maquis and is also found in deciduous forest and oak forest.\n\nPure stands of hollies can grow into a labyrinth of vaults in which thrushes and deer take refuge, while smaller birds are protected among their spiny leaves. After the first frost of the season, hollies' fruit becomes soft and falls to the ground serving as important food for winter birds at a time of scarce resources.\n\nThe flowers are attractive as nectar sources for insects such as bees, wasps, flies, and small butterflies.\n\nIt is an invasive species on the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii. \n\nCultivation\n\nIlex aquifolium, the familiar holly of Christmas cards and wreaths, is widely grown in parks and gardens in temperate regions. Both male and female specimens must be grown together to ensure berries (drupes), which are produced only by female plants. Numerous cultivars have been selected, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM):-\n\nThe hybrid Ilex x altaclerensis was developed at Highclere Castle in 1835, a cross between I. aquifolium and the tender species I. perado. The following cultivars have gained the RHS AGM:-\n\nChemistry and toxicity, medicinal and food uses\n\nHolly berries contain alkaloids, caffeine, and theobromine and are generally regarded as toxic to humans, though their poisonous properties are overstated and fatalities almost unknown. Accidental consumption may occur by children or pets attracted to the bright red berries. The berries are emetic. This is described as being due to the drug ilicin, though caffeine and theobromine found throughout the plant are much more toxic, generally, to dogs and cats.\n\nThe leaves of related plants are used to make a caffeine-rich beverage, Yerba Mate, which has caffeine in amounts equal to that of coffee. It is likely that I. aquifolium has equal amounts of caffeine in the leaves. It is described \"The leaves of Holly have been employed in the Black Forest as a substitute for tea\"\n\nHolly is rarely used medicinally, but is diuretic, relieves fevers, and has a laxative action. \n\nIlex aquifolium also contains saponins, theobromine (a xanthine), ilicin, caffeine, caffeic acid, and a yellow pigment, ilexanthin. \n\nOther uses\n\nMany hundreds of hybrids and cultivars have been developed for garden use, among them the very popular \"Highclere holly\", Ilex × altaclerensis (I. aquifolium × I. perado) and the \"blue holly\", Ilex × meserveae (I. aquifolium × I. rugosa).Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5. Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping. \n\nBetween the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, before the introduction of turnips, Ilex aquifolium was cultivated for use as winter fodder for cattle and sheep. Less spiny varieties of holly were preferred, and in practice the leaves growing near the top of the tree have far fewer spines making them more suitable for fodder.\n\nIlex aquifolium was once among the traditional woods for Great Highland bagpipes before tastes turned to imported dense tropical woods such as cocuswood, ebony, and African blackwood.",
"T.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research ...\nTrees (Exotic) Botanical names A to F with photo; ... Ilex aquifolium (Holly) Kingdom: ... Species: I. aquifolium Binomial name: Ilex aquifolium Common name: ...\nT.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network - Ilex aquifolium (Holly)\nT.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network\nCommon name: Holly, Christmas Holly or Mexican Holly\n As few as twenty berries by adults can be fatal.\nIlex is a genus of approximately 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family.\nEuropean holly (Ilex aquifolium) is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. It is an evergreen tree growing to 10-25 m tall and 40-80 cm (rarely 1 m or more) trunk diameter, with smooth grey bark. The leaves are 5-12 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, variable in shape; on young plants and low branches, with three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward; on higher branches of older trees with few or no spines except for the leaf tip, often entire. The flowers are dioecious, white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. The fruit is a red drupe 6-10 mm diameter, containing four pits; although mature in late autumn, they are very bitter due to the ilicin content, and so are rarely touched by birds until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable.\nThe ilicin content is poisonous to people since it irritates the stomach and intestines, and other constituents render them harmful to the nervous system and heart. Ingestion of as few as twenty berries by adults can be fatal.\nA mature Ilex aquifolium growing at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth.\nHolly Suckers: Suckering is part of the natural habit of plants and is one way they exploit a favourable habitat, instead of relying on seed spread. Suckers are growths that appear from the root systems of many trees and shrubs. They may appear in borders, lawns, between paving stones or through paths, and can become a nuisance.\nHolly leaves",
"Willow Tree Names and Types of Willow (Salix) Species\nWillow Tree Names and Types of Willows (Salix) Species. ... Botanical Salix Tree Name; ... = Salix alba (White Willow) × Salix babylonica ...\nWillow Tree Names and Types of Willow (Salix) Species\nSalix ×laestadiana = Salix cinerea × Salix lapponum\nSalix ×laurentiana (Laurent's Willow) = Salix discolor (Pussy Willow) × Salix myricoides (Bayberry Willow)\nSalix ×laurina (Laurel-leaf Willow, Lagervide) = Salix caprea × Salix phylicifolia\nSalix ×lyonensis = Salix repens (Creeping Willow) × Salix arbuscula\nSalix ×meyeriana (Shiny-leaf Willow) = Salix pentandra × Salix euxina, (Possibly Salix pentandra × Salix ×fragilis)\nSalix ×mollissima (Sharp-stipule Willow) = Salix triandra (Almond Willow) × Salix viminalis (Basket Willow, Osier)\nSalix ×obtusata (Obtuse Willow) = Salix myricoides (Bayberry Willow) × Salix pyrifolia (Balsam Willow)\nSalix ×pedunculata (Blackbract Willow) = Salix discolor (Pussy Willow, American Willow × Salix pellita (Satiny Willow)\nSalix ×pendulina (Wisconsin Weeping Willow, Weeping Crack Willow, Niobe Willow) = Salix fragilis (Crack Willow) × Salix babylonica (Babylon Willow, Peking Willow, Weeping Willow)\nSalix ×pendulina nothovar. elegantissima (Thurlow Weeping Willow)\nSalix ×pilosiuscula\nSalix ×pontederana = Salix cinerea × Salix purpurea\nSalix ×rubens (Synonym of Salix ×fragilis)\nSalix ×rubra (Green-leaf Willow, Flätvide) = Salix purpurea × Salix viminalis\nSalix ×schneiderii = Salix lucida (Shining Willow) × Salix nigra (Black Willow)\nSalix ×sepulcralis (Golden Weeping Willow, Kemp Willow, Weeping Willow) = Salix alba (White Willow) × Salix babylonica (Peking Willow)\nSalix ×sepulcralis nothovar. chrysocoma (Golden hybrid weeping Willow) = Salix alba ssp. vitellina × Salix babylonica\nSalix ×sepulcralis nothovar. sepulcralis (Weeping Willow) = Salix alba ssp. alba × Salix babylonica\nSalix ×seringeana (Seringe Willow) = Salix caprea (Goat Willow) × Salix elaeagnos (Elaeagnus Willow)\nSalix ×simulatrix (Dvärgrisvide) = Salix arbuscula (Mountain Willow) × Salix herbacea (Snowbed Willow)\nSalix ×smithiana (Broadleaf osier, Silky-leaf Osier, Häckvide) = Salix cinerea (Grey Willow) × Salix viminalis (Basket Willow, Osier)\nSalix ×stipularis (Eared Osier, Dammvide) = Salix atrocinerea × Salix viminalis\nSalix ×subalpina = Salix glauca var. appendiculata × Salix caprea\nSalix ×subsericea = Salix cinerea × Salix repens (Creeping Willow)\nSalix ×tsugaluensis = Salix integra × Salix vulpina\nSalix ×undulata = Salix alba × Salix triandra. Synonym; Salix ×mollissima var. undulata\nSalix ×ungavensis\nSalix ×wiegandii (Wiegand's Willow) = Salix calcicola (Limestone Willow, Woolly Willow) × Salix candida (Sage Willow, Sageleaf Willow)\nSalix ×wimmeriana\nSalix alba 'Caerulea' (Cricket-bat Willow), Synonym; Salix alba var. caerulea\nSalix alba 'Vitellina' (Golden Willow); Synonym; Salix alba var. vitellina\nSalix alba 'Vitellina-Tristis' (Golden weeping Willow), Synonym; 'Tristis'\nSalix alba 'Sericea' (Silver Willow)",
"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Plants in the Bible\nPlants in the Bible. ... No doubt the same tree is signified, the double name being due to a mere accidental ... Mastic tree, an alliteration of the Greek ...\nCATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Plants in the Bible\nHome > Catholic Encyclopedia > P > Plants in the Bible\nPlants in the Bible\nHelp support New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download . Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99...\nWhen Moses spoke to the people about the Land of Promise, he described it as a \"land of hills and plains\" ( Deuteronomy 11:11 ), \"a good land, of brooks and of waters, and of fountains: in the plains of which and the hills deep rivers break out: a land of wheat, and barley, and vineyards, wherein fig-trees and pomegranates, and oliveyards grow: a land of oil and honey\" ( Deuteronomy 8:7-8 ). This glowing description, sketched exclusively from an utilitarian point of view, was far from doing justice to the wonderful variety of the country's productions, to which several causes contributed. First the differences of elevation; for between Lebanon, 10,000 feet above sea level, and the shores of the Dead Sea, 1285 feet below the Mediterranean, every gradation of altitude is to be found, within less than 200 miles. Sinuous valleys furrow the highland, causing an incredible variation in topography; hence, cultivated land lies almost side by side with patches of desert . The soil is now of clay, now of clay mixed with lime, farther on of sand; the surface rock is soft limestone, and basalt. In addition to these factors, variations of climate consequent on change of altitude and geographical position cause forms of vegetation which elsewhere grow far apart to thrive side by side within the narrow limits of Palestine. The vegetation along the west coast, like that of Spain , southern Italy , Sicily , and Algeria, is composed of characteristic species of Mediterranean flora. Near the perennial snows of the northern peaks grow the familiar plants of Alpine and sub-Alpine regions; the highlands of Palestine and the eastern slopes of the northern ranges produce the Oriental vegetation of the steppes; whereas the peculiar climate conditions prevailing along the Ghôr and about the Dead Sea favour a sub-tropical flora, characterized by species resembling those which thrive in Nubia and Abyssinia .\nOver 3000 species of Palestinian flora are known to exist, but the Holy Land of our day can give only an imperfect idea of what it was in Biblical times. The hill-country of Juda and the Negeb are, as formerly, the grazing lands of the Judean herds, yet groves, woods, and forest flourished everywhere, few traces of which remain. The cedar-forests of Lebanon had a world-wide reputation; the slopes of Hermon and the mountains of Galaad were covered with luxuriant pine woods; oak forests were the distinctive feature of Basan, throughout Ephraim clumps of terebinths dotted the land, while extensive palm groves were both the ornament and wealth of the Jordan Valley. The arable land, much of which now lies fallow, was all cultivated and amply rewarded the tiller. The husbandman derived from his orchards and vineyards abundant crops of olives, figs, pomegranates, and grapes. Nearly every Jewish peasant had his \"garden of herbs\", furnishing in season vegetables and fruits for the table, flowers, and medicinal plants. Only some 130 plants are mentioned in Scripture, which is not surprising since ordinary people are interested only in a few, whether ornamental or useful. The first attempt to classify this flora is in Genesis 1:11-12 , where it is divided into: (1) deshe, signifying all low plants, e.g., cryptogamia; (2) ‘esebh, including herbaceous plants; (3) ‘es peri, embracing all trees. In the course of time , the curiosity of men was attracted by the riches of Palestinian vegetation; Solomon, in particular, is said to have treated about the trees (i.e., plants) from the lofty cedar \"unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall\" ( 1 Kings 4:33 ). Of the plants mentioned in the Bible , the most common varieties may be identified either with certainty or probability; but a large proportion of the biblical plant-names are generic rather than specific, e.g., briers, grass, nettles, etc.; and just what plants are meant in some cases is impossible to determine, e.g., algum, cockle, gall, etc. A complete alphabetical list of the plant-names found in the English Versions is here given, with an attempt at identification.\nAcanth. See Brier .\nAlgum (A. V., 2 Chronicles, 2:8; D. V., 9:10, 11, \"thyme trees\", \"fir trees\"; written \"almug\" in A.V., 1 Samuel 10:11-12 ). No doubt the same tree is signified, the double name being due to a mere accidental transposition of the letters; if linguistic analogy may be trusted in, almug is correct (cf. Tamil, valguka). The algum tree is spoken of as a valuable exotic product imported to Palestine by Hiram's and Solomon's fleets ( 1 Kings 10:11 ; 2 Chronicles 2:8 ; 9:10 ), suitable for fine joinery and making musical instruments ( 1 Kings 10:12 ; 2 Chronicles 9:11 ). Josephus (Ant., VIII, vii, 1) says it was somewhat like the wood of the fig tree, but whiter and more glittering. According to most modern scholars and certain rabbis, the red sandal-wood, Pterocarpus santalina, is intended, though some of the uses made of it appear to require a stouter material. The identification proposed by Vulg. (see Thyine ) is much more satisfactory.\nAlmond tree, Hebrew luz ( Genesis 30:37 ; \"hazel\" in A. V. is a mistranslation; cf. Arab . laux), apparently an old word later supplanted by shaqed ( Genesis 43:11 ; Numbers 17:8 ; Ecclesiastes 12:5 ); which alludes to the early blossoming of the tree. Almonds are ( Genesis 43:11 ) considered one of the best fruits in the Orient, and the tree, Amygdalus communis, has always been cultivated there. Several varieties, A. orientalis, Ait., or A. argentea, A. lycioides, Spach, A. spartioides, Spach, grow wild in districts such as Lebanon, Carmel, Moab .\nAlmug. See Algum .\nAloes ( Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 4:14 ; John 19:39 ; A. V., Psalm 45:8 ) is reckoned among \"the chief perfumes\". In A. V., Num. xxiv, 6 (\"lign aloes\"; D. V., \"tabernacles\" is an erroneous translation), a tree is clearly intended. The officinal aloes, Liliacea, is not alluded to; the aloes of the Bible is the product of a tree of the genus Aquilaria, perhaps A. agallocha, Roxb., a native of northern India ; at a certain stage of decay, the wood develops a fragrance well known to the ancients (Dioscorides, i, 21), and from it a rare perfume was obtained.\nAmomum ( Revelation 18:13 , neither in the Greek New Testament , Vulg., A. V., nor D. V., but found in critical editions, such as Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Nestle), a perfume well known in antiquity (Dioscor., i, 14; Theophr., \"Hist. plant.\", ix, 7; \"De odor.\", 32; etc.). The Assyrian variety was particularly prized (Virg., Eclog., iv, 25; Josephus , \"Ant.\", XX, ii, 3; Martial., \"Epigr.\", vii, 77; Ovid, \"Heroid.\", xxi, 166; etc.), and probably obtained from Cissus vitignea, a climbing plant native of India but found also in Armenia , Media , and Pontus (Pliny, \"Nat. hist.\", xii, 13).\nAnise ( Matthew 23:23 ), not the anise , Pimpinella anisum, but rather the dill, Anethum graveolens, shabath of the Talmud, shibith of the Arabs , is meant. Dill has always been much cultivated in Palestine; its seeds, leaves, and stems were subject to tithe , according to Rabbi Eliezer (Maasaroth, 1:I; cf. Matthew 23:23 ), which opinion, however, others thought excessive (Schwab, \"Talmud de Jerus.\", III, 182).\nApple tree, Heb., thappuakh (cf. Arab , tiffah; Egypt . dapih, \"apple\") and the description of the tree and its fruit indicate the common apple tree, Malus communis, which is beautiful, affording shade for a tent or a house (Cant., ii, 3; viii, 5), and bears a sweet fruit, the aroma (Cant., vii, 8) of which is used in the East to revive a fainting person (cf. Cant., ii, 5). Apple groves flourished at an early date (Ramses II) in Egypt (Loret, \"Flore pharaonique\", p. 83); place-names like Tappuah ( Joshua 12:17 ) or Beth-tappuah (A. V., Joshua 15:53 ) indicate that they were a distinct feature of certain districts of Palestine.\nArum. See Cockle .\nAsh Tree. Isaiah 44:14 (A. V. for Heb., ’oren; D. V. \"pine\") depicts a planted tree, watered only by rain, whose wood is suitable to be carved into images and useful as fuel ( Isaiah 44:15 ). Probably the tree intended is Pinus pinea, the maritime or stone pine, rather than the ash, as the various species of Fraxinus grow only in the mountains of Syria , outside Palestine.\nAspalathus (Ecclus., xxiv, 20; Greek, xxiv, 20; D. V. \"aromatical balm\") is quite frequently alluded to by ancient writers (Theognis Hippocrates, Theophrastes, Plutarch, Pliny etc.) as a thorny plant yielding a costly perfume. It is impossible to identify it with certainty , but most scholars believe it to be Convolvulus scoparius, also called Lignum rhodium (rose-scented wood).\nAspen. See Mulberry .\nAstragalus a genus of Papilionaceous plants of the tribe Lotea, several species of which yield the gum tragacanth ( Hebrew nek’oth, Arab . neka’at) probably meant in Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 (D.V. \"spices\"; \"storax\"). In 2 Kings 20:13 , and Isaiah 39:2 , Hebrew nekothoth has been mistaken for the plural of nek’oth and mistranslated accordingly \"aromatical spices\"; A.V. and R.V. give, in margin, \"spicery\"; A. V. \"precious things\" is correct. The gum spoken of in Gen. was probably gathered from the species found in Palestine, A. gummifer, A. rousseaunus, A. kurdicus, A. stromatodes.\nBalm, Balsam, the regular translation of Hebrew çori ( Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 ; Jeremiah 8:22 ; 46:11 ; 51:8 ), except in Ezekiel 27:17 ( Hebrew pannag) and Sirach 24:20a (Greek ’aspalathos, see Aspalathus ); xxiv, 20b (Greek smúrna). The çori is described as coming from Galaad ( Jeremiah 8:22 ; 46:11 ) and having medicinal properties ( Jeremiah 51:8 ). It is obtained from Balsamodendron opobalsamum, Kunth., which is extant in tropical regions of east Africa and Arabia and yields the \"balm of Mecca \"; and Amyris gileadensis, a variety of the former, which gave the more extravagantly prized \"balm of Judea\", and is now extinct; it was extensively cultivated around the Lake of Tiberias , in the Jordan Valley, and on the shores of the Dead Sea (Talm. Babyl. Shabbath, 26a; Josephus , \"Ant.\", IX, i, 2; Jerome , \"Quæst in Gen.\", xiv, 7; Pliny, \"Nat. hist.\", xii, 25, etc.). The word çori is also applied to the gum from the mastic tree, or lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus, cf. Arab . daru), and that from Balanites ægyptica, Del., falsely styled \"balm of Galaad\". The meaning of pannag, mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17 , is not known with certainty ; modern commentators agree with R. V. (marginal gloss) that it is \"a kind of confection\".\nBalsam, Aromatical. See Aspalathus.\nBarley ( Hebrew se’orah, \"hairy\", an allusion to the length of the awns) was cultivated through the East as provender for horses and asses ( 1 Kings 4:28 ), also as a staple food among the poor , working men, and the people at large in times of distress. The grain was either roasted ( Leviticus 2:14 ; 2 Kings 4:43 ) or milled, kneaded and cooked in ovens as bread or cake. Barley, being the commonest grain, was considered a type of worthless things, hence the contemptuous force of Ezekiel 13:19 ; Judges, vii, 13; and Osee, iii, 2. Hordeum ithaburense, Boiss., grows wild in many districts of Palestine; cultivation has developed the two (H. distichum), four (H. tetrastichum), and six-rowed (H. hexastichum) barley. The harvest begins in April in the Ghôr, and continues later in higher altitudes; a sheaf of the new crop was offered in oblation on the \"sabbath of the Passover \".\nBay tree, so A.V. in Psalm 36:35 ; D.V. \"Cedar of Libanus\", which renderings are erroneous. The correct meaning of the Heb. text is: \"as a green tree\", any kind of evergreen tree, \"in its native soil\".\nBdellium ( Genesis 2:12 ; Numbers 11:7 ), either a precious stone or the aromatic gum of Amyris agallochum, a small resinous tree of northern India , found also, according to Pliny, in Arabia , Media , and Babylonia .\nBeans ( 2 Samuel 17:28 ; Ezekiel 4:9 ), the horse-bean (Faba vulgaris; cf. Hebrew pol and Arab . ful), an ordinary article of food, extensively cultivated in the East. The string-bean, Vigna sinensis, kidney-bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Phaseolus molliflorus, also grow in Palestine.\nBlasting. See Mildew .\nBorith, a Heb. word transliterated in Jeremiah 2:22 , and translated in Mal., iii, 2 by \"fuller's herb\" (A. V. \"scap\"). St. Jerome in his Commentary on Jeremiah 2:22, identifies borith with the \"fuller's weed\", which was not used, like the Dipsacus fullonum, Mill., to dress cloth, but to wash it; St. Jerome adds that the plant grew on rich, damp soil, which description applies to a species of Saponaria; yet many modern scholars think he refers to some vegetable alkali procured by burning plants like Salsola kali and the Salicornias (S. fructicosa; S. herbacea) abundant on the coast.\nBoxthorn. See Bramble .\nBox tree ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 60:13 ; in D. V., Ezekiel 27:6 , instead of \"ivory and cabins\", we should read: \"ivory inlain in boxwood\"), probably the Hebrew the’ashshur. The box tree does not grow in Palestine, and indeed the Bible nowhere intimates this, but it mentions the box tree of Lebanon , Buxus longifolia, Boiss., and that imported from the islands of the Mediterranean.\nBramble, translated from Hebrew ’atad in Judges, ix, 14-15, also rendered \"thorn\", in Psalm 57:10 . The Latin version has in both places rhamnus, \"buckthorn\"; of which several species grow in Palestine and Syria , but Arabic writers hold that the various kinds of Lycium or boxthorn are meant.\nBriers. (1) Hebrew kharul rendered \"burning\" in D.V., Job 30:7 , \"thorns\" in Proverbs 24:31 and Sophon., ii, 9, according to which texts it must be large enough for people to sit under, and must develop rapidly in uncultivated lands. Its translation as \"thistles\" or \"nettles\" is unsuitable, for these plants do not reach the proportions required by Job 30:7 , hence it is generally believed to be either the acanth , Acanthus spinosus, or rest-harrow, two species of which, Onamis antiquarum, and particularly O. leiosperma, Boiss., are very common in the Holy Land. (2) Hebrew barquanim ( Judges 8:7, 16 ) probably corresponds to the numerous species of Rubus which abound in Palestine; according to Moore (Judges, ad loc.), Phaceopappus scoparius, Boiss., is intended. (3) Hebrew khedeq ( Micah 7:4 ). See Mad-apple . (4) Hebrew shamir ( Isaiah 5:6 ; 9:18 ; 10:17 ; 32:13 ), the flexible Paliurus aculeatus, Lam., Arab . samur, the supposed material of Christ's crown of thorns . (5) Hebrew shqyth ( Isaiah 7:23-5 ), a word not found outside of Isaias, and possibly designating prickly bushes in general.\nBuckthorn. See Bramble .\nBulrush represents three Heb. words: (1) gome Exodus 2:3 ; Isaiah 18:2 ; 35:7 ), Cyperus papyrus, is now extinct in Egypt (cf. Isaiah 19:6-7 ), where it was formerly regarded as the distinctive plant of the country (Strab., xvii, 15) and the Nile was styled \"the papyrus-bearer\" (Ovid, \"Metam.\", xv, 753), but still grows around the Lake of Tiberias , Lake Huleh. (2) ’Agmon (A. V., Isaiah 58:5 ; D. V. \"circle\") is variously rendered (D. V. Isaiah 19:15 ; Job 40:21 ). The plant whose flexibility is alluded to in Isaiah 58:5 , A. V. appears to be either the common reed, Arundo donax, or some kind of rush; Juncus communis, J. maritimus, Lam., J. acutus are abundant in Palestine. (3) Suph ( Isaiah 19:6 ; A. V. \"flag\"; etc.), Egypt . tûf, probably designates the various kinds of rush and sea-weeds ( Jonah 2:6 ). Yam Suph is the Hebrew name for the Red Sea .\nBur, so, D. V., Os., ix, 6; x, 8, translating Vulgate lappa, \"burdock\", for Hebrew khoakh and qosh. Khoakh recurs in Proverbs 26:9 ; Cant., ii, 2 (D. V. \"thorns\"); 2 Kings 14:9 ; 2 Chronicles 25:18 ; Job 31:40 (D.V. \"thistle\"); \"thorn\" is the ordinary meaning of qosh. If burdock is the equivalent of khoakh, then Lappa major, D. C., growing in Lebanon is signified, as Lappa minor, D. C., is unknown in Palestine; however, the many kinds of thistles common in the East suit better the description. Yet, from the resemblance of Arab . khaukh with Hebrew khoakh, some species of blackthorn or sloe tree Prunus ursina, and others, Arab . khaukh al-dib might be intended.\nBurnet. See Thistle (5).\nBush, Burning, Hebrew seneh, \"thorny\" ( Exodus 3:2-4 ; Deuteronomy 33:16 ), probably a kind of whitethorn of goodly proportions (Cratægus sinaitica, Boiss.) common throughout the Sinaitic Peninsula. Arab . sanna is applied to all thorny shrubs.\nCalamus, Hebrew qaneh ( Exodus 30:23 ; Ezekiel 27:19 ; Song of Songs 4:14 , and Isaiah 43:24 ; D. V. \"sweet cane\"; Jeremiah 6:20 : \"sweet-smelling cane\"), a scented reed yielding a perfume entering into the composition of the spices burned in sacrifices ( Isaiah 43:24 ; Jeremiah 6:20 ) and of the oil of unction ( Exodus 30:23-5 ). The qaneh is, according to some, Andropogon schænanthus, which was used in Egypt for making the Kyphi or sacred perfume; according to others, Acorus aromaticus.\nCane, Sweet-smelling ( Jeremiah 6:20 ). See Calamus .\nCamphire (A. V., Song of Songs 1:14 ; D.V. 4:13 ; \"cypress\"). From Hebrew kopher. The modern \"camphor\" was unknown to the ancients. Pliny identifies cyprus with the ligustrum of Italy , but the plant is no other than the henna tree (Lawsonia alba) the Orientals are so fond of. Its red sweet-scented spikes ( Douay Version , Cant., i, 13; \"clusters\") yield the henna oil; from its powdered leaves is obtained the reddish-orange paste with which Eastern women stain their finger and toe nails and dye their hair. Ascalon and Engaddi were particularly renowned for their henna.\nCaper, Hebrew abiyyonah ( Douay Version , Ecclesiastes 12:5 ), the fruit of the caper tree, probably Capparis spinosa; C. herbacea, and C. ægyptiaca are also found in Palestine.\nCarob, Greek kerátion ( Luke 15:16 ), translated \"husks\" (A.V.; D.V.), the coarse pods of the locust tree, Ceratonia siliqua, \"St. John's bread-tree\".\nCassia, Hebrew qiddah ( Exodus 30:24 ; Ezekiel 27:19 ; D. V. \"stacte\"). Egypt . qad, the aromatic bark of Cinnamomum cassia, Bl., of India , an ingredient of the oil of unction ( Exodus 30:24 ), and the Egyptian Kyphi. In Psalm 44:9 , qeçi’ah, the Aramaic equivalent of qiddah,is possibly an explanation of ’ahaloth. There is no Biblical reference to the cassia, from which the senna of medicine is obtained.\nCedar, indiscriminately applied to Cedrus libani, C. bermudensis, Juniperus virginiana, and Cupressus thymoides, as Heb., ’erez was used for three different trees: (1) The cedar wood employed in certain ceremonies of purification ( Leviticus 14:4, 6 ; 49052; Numbers 19:6 ) was either Juniperus phænicea, or J. oxycedrus, which pagans burned during sacrifices and at funeral piles (Hom., \"Odyss.\", v, 60; Ovid, \"Fast.\", ii, 538), and Pliny calls \"little cedar \" (Nat. Hist., XIII, i, 30). (2) The tree growing \"by the waterside\" ( Numbers 24:6 ) appears from Ez., xxxi, 7, to be the Cedrus libani, which usually thrives on dry mountain slopes. (3) In most of the other passages of Holy Writ , Cedrus libani, Barr, is intended, which \"prince of trees\", by its height ( Isaiah 2:13 ; Ezekiel 31:3, 8 ; Amos 2:9 ), appropriately figured the mighty Eastern empires ( Ezekiel 31:3-18 , etc.). From its trunk ship-masts ( Ezekiel 27:5 ), pillars, beams, and boards for temples and palaces ( 1 Kings 6:9 ; 7:2 ) were made; its hard, close-grained wood, capable of receiving a high polish, was a suitable material for carved ornamentations ( 1 Kings 6:18 ) and images ( Isaiah 44:14-5 ). Cedar forests were a paradise of aromatic scent, owing to the fragrant resin exuding from every pore of the bark ( Song of Songs 4:11 ; Hosea 14:7 ); they were \"the glory of Libanus\" ( Isaiah 35:2 ; 60:13 ), as well as a source of riches for their possessors ( 1 Kings 5:6 sqq. ; 1 Chronicles 22:4 ) and an object of envy to the powerful monarchs of Nineveh ( Isaiah 37:24 ; inscr. of several Assyrian kings).\nCedrat, Citrus medica, or C. cedra is, according to the Syriac and Arabic Bibles, the \"Targum\" of Onkelos, Josephus (Ant. III, x, 4) and the Talmud (Sukka, iii, 5), the hadar (D. V. \"the fairest tree\") spoken of in Lev., xxiii, 40, in reference to the feast of Tabernacles.\nCinnamon, Hebrew, qinnamon ( Exodus 30:23 ; Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 4:14 ; Sirach 24:20 ; Revelation 18:13 ), the inner aromatic bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Nees, an ingredient of the oil of unction and of the Kyphi.\nCitron, Citrus limonum, supposed by some Rabbis to be intended in the text of Lev., xxiii, 40; \"boughs of hadar\", used regularly in the service of the synagogue and hardly distinguishable from cedrat.\nCockle, A. V., Job 31:40 , for Hebrew be’osha: D. V. \"thorns\". The marginal renderings of A. V. and R. V. \"stinking weeds\", \"noisome weeds\", are much more correct. D. V., Matthew 13:24-30 , translates the Greek zizánia by cockle. The two names used in the original text point to plants of quite different characters: (1) According to etymology, be’osha must refer to some plant of offensive smell; besides the stink-weed (Datura stramonium) and the ill-smelling goose-weeds (Solanum nigrum) there are several fetid arums, henbanes, and mandrakes in Palestine, hence be’osha appears to be a general term applicable to all noisome and harmful plants. In the English Bibles, Isaiah 5:2-4 , the plural form is translated by \"wild grapes\", a weak rendering in view of the terrible judgment pronounced against the vineyard in the context; be’ushim may mean stinking fruits, as be’osha means stinking weeds. (2) zizánia, from Aram. zonin, stands for Lolium temulentum, or bearded darnel, the only grass with a poisonous seed, \"entirely like wheat till the ear appears\". The rendering of both versions is therefore inaccurate.\nColocynth, Citrullus colocynthis, Schr., Cucumis c., probably the \"wild gourd\" of 2 Kings 4:38-40 , common throughout the Holy Land. In 1 Kings 6:18 ; 7:24 , we read about carvings around the inside of the Temple and the brazen sea, probably representing the ornamental leaves, stems, tendrils, and fruits of the colocynth.\nCoriander seed ( Exodus 16:31 ; Numbers 11:7 ), the fruit of Coriandrum sativum, allied to aniseed and caraway.\nCorn, a general word for cereals in English Bibles, like dagan in Heb. Wheat, barley, spelt (fitches), vetch, millet, pulse; rye and oats are neither mentioned in Scripture nor cultivated in the Holy Land.\nCorn, Winter, Hebrew kussemeth ( Douay Version , Exodus 9:32 ; A.V. \"rye\"), rendered \"spelt\" in Isaiah 28:25 , yet the close resemblance of Arab . kirsanah with Hebrew suggests a leguminous plant, Vicia ervilia.\nCotton, Hebrew or Persian karpas, Gossypium herbaceum, translated \"green\". Probably the shesh of Egypt and the buç of Syria ( Ezekiel 27:7, 16 , \"fine linen\") were also cotton.\nCucumber, Hebrew qishshu’im ( Numbers 11:5 ; Isaiah 1:8 ), evidently the species Cucumis chate (cf. Arab . qiththa), indigenous in Egypt ; C. sativus is also extensively cultivated in Palestine.\nCummin, Hebrew kammon, Arabic kammun, the seed of Cuminum cyminum ( Isaiah 28:25, 27 ; Matthew 23:23 ).\nCypress, in D. V., Cant., i, 16 (A. V., 17) a poor translation of Hebrew ’eç shemen (see Oil tree ); elsewhere Hebrew berosh is rendered \"fir tree\"; in Sirach 24:17 , the original word is not known. Among the identifications proposed for beroth are Pinus halapensis, Miel., and Cupressus sempervirens, the latter more probable.\nCyprus (Cant., i, 13; iv, 13). See Camphire .\nDill (R.V., Matthew 23:23 ). See Anise .\nEar of corn translates three Heb. words: (1) shibboleth, the ripe ear ready for harvest; (2) melilah, the ears that one may pluck to rub in the hands, and eat the grains ( Deuteronomy 23:25 ; Matthew 12:1 ; Mark 2:23 ; Luke 6:1 ); (3) abib, the green and tender ear of corn.\nEbony. Hebrew hobnim, Arab . ebmus ( Ezekiel 27:15 ), the black heart wood of Diospyros ebenum, and allied species of the same genus, imported from coasts of Indian Ocean by merchantmen of Tyre .\nElecampane. See Thistle (6).\nElm translates: (1) Hebrew thidhar ( Douay Version , Isaiah 41:19 ; Isaiah 60:13: \"pine trees\"), possibly Ulmus campestris, Sm. (Arab. derdar); (2) Hebrew ’elah (A. V., Hos., iv, 13; D. V. \"turpentine tree\"). See Terebinth .\nFigs ( Hebrew te’ênim), the fruit of the fig tree ( Hebrew te’ênah), Ficus carica, growing spontaneously and cultivated throughout the Holy Land. The fruit buds, which appear at the time of the \"latter rains\" (spring), are called \"green figs\" ( Song of Songs 2:13 ; Hebrew pag, cf. Beth-phage), which, \"late in spring\" ( Matthew 24:32 ), ripen under the overshadowing leaves, hence Mark 11:13 , and the parable of the barren fig tree ( Matthew 21:19, 21 ; Mark 11:20-6 ; Luke 13:6-9 ). Precociously ripening figs ( Hebrew bikkurah) are particularly relished; the ordinary ripe fruit is eaten fresh or dried in compressed cakes (Hebrew debelah: 1 Samuel 25:18 , etc.). Orientals still regard figs as the best poultice ( 2 Kings 20:7 ; Isaiah 38:21 ; St. Jerome , \"In Isaiam\", xxxviii, 21, in P.L., XXIV, 396).\nFir, applied to all coniferous trees except the cedar , but should be restricted to the genera Abies and Picea, meant by Hebrew siakh ( Genesis 21:15 ; D. V. \"trees\"; cf. Arab ., shukh). Among these, Abies cilicia, Kotsch, and Picea orientalis are found in the Lebanon, Amanus and northward.\nFitches. Hebrew, kussemeth ( Ezekiel 4:9 ), possibly Vicia ervilia, rendered \"gith\" by D.V., \"rye\" and \"spelt\" by A.V. and R.V. in Isaiah 28:25 .\nFlag, Hebrew akhu (A.V., Genesis 41:2, 18 : \"meadow\"; D.V. \"marshy places\", \"green places in a marshy pasture\"; Job 8:11 ; D.V. \"sedge-bush\"), a plant growing in marshes and good for cattle to feed upon, probably Cyperus esculentus.\nFlax, Hebrew pistah ( Exodus 9:31 ; Deuteronomy 22:11 ; \"linen\"; Proverbs 31:13 ), Linum usitatissimum, very early cultivated in Egypt and Palestine.\nFlower of the field, Hebrew khabbaççeth ( Isaiah 25:1 ), kh. sharon (Cant., ii, 1), like Arab . bûseil, by which Narcissus tazetta is designated by the Palestinians. Possibly N. serotinus, or fall Narcissus, was also meant by Heb., which some suppose to mean the meadow-saffron (Colchicum variegatum, C. steveni), abundant in the Holy Land.\nForest translates five Heb. words: (1) Ya’ar, forest proper; (2) horesh, \"wooded height\"; (3) çebak, a clump of trees; (4) ‘abhim, thicket; (5) pardeç, orchard. Among the numerous forests mentioned in the Bible are: Forest of Ephraim, which, in the Canaanite period, extended from Bethel to Bethsan; that between Bethel and the Jordan ( 2 Kings 2:24 ); Forest of Hareth, on the western slopes of the Judean hills; Forest of Aialon, west of Bethoron; Forests of Kiriath Yearim; the forest where Joatham built castles and towers ( 2 Chronicles 27:4 ) in the mountains of Juda; that at the edge of the Judean desert near Ziph ( 1 Samuel 23:15 ); Forest of the South ( Ezekiel 20:46, 47 ); and those of Basan ( Isaiah 2:13 ) and Ephraim ( 2 Samuel 18:6 ). Lebanon, Carmel, Hermon were also covered with luxuriant forests.\nFrankincense ( Hebrew lebonah) should not be confounded with incense ( Hebrew qetorah), which confusion has been made in several passages of the English Bibles, e.g., Isaiah 43:23 ; 60:6 (A.V.); Jeremiah 6:20 . Incense was a mixture of frankincense and other spices ( Exodus 30:34-5 ). Arabian frankincense, the frankincense par excellence, is the aromatical resin of Boswellia sacra, a tree which grows in southern Arabia (Arab. luban); B. papyrifera of Abyssinia yields African frankincense, which is also good.\nFuller's herb ( Malachi 3:2 ). See Borith .\nGalbanum, Hebrew khelbenah ( Exodus 30:34 ; Sirach 24:21 ), a gum produced by Ferula galbaniflua, Boiss. and other umbelliferous plants of the same genus. Its odour is pungent, and it was probably used in the composition of incense to drive away insects from the sanctuary.\nGall translates two Heb. words: (1) mererah, which stands for bile; (2) rosh, a bitter plant associated with wormwood, and growing \"in the furrows of the field\" ( Hosea 10:4 ; D. V. \"bitterness\"), identified with: poison hemlock (A. V., Hos., x, 4), Conium maculatum, not grown in the fields; colocynth, Citrullus colocynthis, not found in ploughed ground; and darnel, Lolium temulentum, not bitter. Probably the poppy, Papaver rheas, or P. somniferum, Arab. ras elhishhash, is meant.\nGarlic, Allium sativum, Hebrew shum (cf. Arab. thum), a favourite article of food in the East. The species most commonly cultivated is the shallot, Allium ascalonicum.\nGith, Hebrew queçath ( Isaiah 28:25, 27 ), Nigella sativa; A.V. \"fitches\" is wrong, nor does queçakh stand for the nutmeg flower, as G.E. Post suggests.\nGoose-weed. See Cockle .\nGopher wood ( Genesis 6:14 ; D.V. \"timber planks\"), a tree suitable for shipbuilding: cypress, cedar , and other resinous trees have been proposed, but interpreters remain at variance.\nGourd, Hebrew qiqayou ( Jonah 4:6-10 ; D.V. \"ivy\"), the bottle-gourd, Cucurbita lagenaria, frequently used to overshadow booths or as a screen along trellises.\nGrape, wild. See Colocynth .\nGrape. See Vine .\nGrape, Wild. See Cockle .\nGrass translates four Heb. words: (1) deshe’, pasture or tender grass, consisting mainly of forage plants; (2) yerek, verdure in general; (3) khaçir, a good equivalent for grass; (4) ’esebh, herbage, including vegetables suitable for human food. It occurs frequently in the Bible , as in Genesis 47:4 ; Numbers 22:4 ; Job 6:5 ; 30:4 (see Mallows ); 40:15 ; Matthew 6:30 ; etc.\nGrove, English rendering of two Hebrew words: (1) asherah, a sacred pole or raised stone in a temple enclosure, which \"groves\" do not concern us here; (2) ’eshel, probably the tamarisk tree (q.v.; cf. Arab . ’athl), but translated \"groves\" in Genesis 21:33 , and rendered elsewhere by \"wood\", as in 1 Samuel 31:6 and 31:13 .\nHay, Hebrew hasas ( Proverbs 27:25 ), a dried herb for cattle. \"Stubble\" in Isaiah 5:24 ; 33:11 , also translates hasas.\nHazel. See Almond tree .\nHeath, Heb. ’ar’ ar’ aro’er (A.V., Jeremiah 17:6 ; 48:6 ; D. V. \"tamaric\", \"heath\"), a green bush bearing red or pink blossoms, and native of the Cape of Good Hope. The only species in Palestine is the Erica verticillata, Forskal. The E. multiflora is abundant in the Mediterranean region.\nHemlock, Hebrew rosh (A. V., Hosea 10:4 ; Amos 6:12 ; D. V. \"bitterness\"; 13 , \"wormwood\"), an umbelliferous plant from which the poisonous alkaloid, conia, is derived. Conium maculatum and Æthusa cynapium are found in Syria . The water- hemlock is found only in colder zones. See Gall .\nHerb. See Grass .\nHerbs, Bitter, Hebrew meorim ( Exodus 12:8 ; Numbers 9:11 ; D. V. \"wild lettuce\"), comprise diverse plants of the family of Compositæ, which were eaten with the paschal lamb . Five species are known: wild lettuce, Hebrew hazeret; endive, ulsin; chicory, tamka; harhabina and maror, whose translation is variously rendered a kind of millet or beet, and the bitter coriander or horehound.\nHolm ( Daniel 13:58 ; Isaiah 44:14 ; A.V. \"cypress\") probably Hebrew tirzah, a kind of evergreen-oak.\nKnapweed. See Thistles .\nLadanum, Hebrew lot (D. V. \"stacte\", A. V. \"myrrh,\" in Genesis 37:25 ; 43:11 ), a gum from several plants of the genus Cistus (rock-rose); C. villosus and C. salvifolius are very abundant. In Sirach 24:21 , \"storax\". Hebrew libneh, is the equivalent of Greek stachté, used by Septuagint in the above passages of Gen.; whether ladanum was meant is not clear, as it is frequently the Greek rendering of Hebrew nataf.\nLeeks, Hebrew khaçir ( Numbers 11:5 ), also rendered \"grass\", a vegetable, Allium porrum.\nLentils, Hebrew ’adashim ( Genesis 25:34 ; 2 Samuel 17:28 ; Ezekiel 4:9 ), Arabic adas, Ervum lens, or Lens esculenta, Moench., an important article of diet.\nLentisk. See Balm , Mastic tree .\nLign aloes. See Aloes .\nLily. (1) Hebrew shushan, Arab . susan, a generical term applicable to many widely different flowers, not only of the order Liliaceæ, but of Iridaceæ, Amaryllidaceæ, and others. Lilium candidum is cultivated everywhere; Gladiolus illyricus, Koch, G. septum, Gawl, G. atroviolaceus, Boiss., are indigenous in the Holy Land; Iris sari, Schott, I. palestina, Baker, I. lorteti, Barb., I. helenæ, are likewise abundant in pastures and swampy places. (2) The \"lilies of the field\" surpassing Solomon in glory were lilylike plants; needless to suppose that any others, e.g. the windflower of Palestine, were intended.\nLily of the valleys, Heb. khabbaççeleth. See Flower of the field .\nLocust tree. See Carob .\nLotus. (1) A water plant of the order Nymphæaceæ, the white species of which, Nymphæa lotus, was called in Egyptian seshni, sushin, like the Hebrew shushan, which may have been applied to water-lilies, but the lotus was probably intended in 1 Kings 7:19, 22, 26, 49 . (2) A tree, Hebrew çe ’elim (A.V. Job 40:16-17 : \"shadow\", \"shades\"), Zizyphus lotus, very common in Africa on the river banks.\nMad-apple, Hebrew khodeq ( Proverbs 26:9 ; D. V. \"thorn\"; Micah 7:4 : \"briers\"), Arab . khadaq, Solanum coagulans, Forskal, of the same genus as our mad apple, found near Jericho . Solanum cordatum, Forskal, may also be intended.\nMallows, a mistranslation in A.V., Job 30:4 , for the orache or sea-purslain, Atriplex halimus, from Hebrew malluakh, derived from melakh, \"salt\", as halimus from ’áls. According to Galen, the extremities are edible; the Talmud tells us that the Jews working in the re-construction of the Temple (520-15 B.C.) ate it (Kiddushim, iii, fol. 66a).\nMandrake, from Heb., dud‘, meaning \"love plant\", which Orientals believe ensures conception. All interpreters hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 , and Cant., vii, 13.\nManna of commerce is a sugary secretion of various Oriental plants, Tamarix mannifera, Ehr., Alhaqi camelorum, Fish., Cotoneaster nummularia, Fraxinus ornus, and F. rotundifolia; it has none of the qualifications attributed to the manna of Exodus 16 .\nMastic tree, an alliteration of the Greek schînos, schísei, Aram. pistheqa-pesag ( Daniel 13:54 ), the lentisk, Pistacia lentiscus, common in the East, which exudes a fragrant resin extensively used to flavour sweetmeats, wine, etc. See Balm .\nMeadow saffron. See Flower of the field .\nMelon, Hebrew ’abhattikhim ( Numbers 11:5 ), like Arab . bottikh, old Egypt . buttuga, seems to have a generic connotation, yet it designated primarily the watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris, Shrad.), and secondarily other melons. The passage of Numbers refers only to the melons of Egypt , and there is no mention in the Bible of melons of Palestine, yet they were in old times cultivated as extensively as now.\nMildew, Hebrew yeraqon, occurs three times in D. V. and with it is mentioned shiddaphon, variously rendered ( 2 Chronicles 6:28 : \"blasting\"; Amos 4:9 : \"burning wind\"; Haggai 2:18 : \"blasting wind\"). In Deuteronomy 28:22 , and 1 Kings 8:37 , yeraqon is translated \"blasting\" (A. V. \"mildew\"), and shiddaphon, \"corrupted air\". Translators evidently had no definite idea of the nature and difference of these two plagues. Yeraqon, or mildew, is caused by parasitic fungi like Puccinia graminis and P. straminis which suck out of the grain, on which they develop on account of excessive moisture. Shiddaphon, or smut, manifests itself, in periods of excessive drought, and is caused by fungi of the genus Ustilago, which, when fully developed, with the aid of the khamsin wind, \"blast\" the grain.\nMillet, Hebrew dokhan ( Ezekiel 4:9 ), Arab . dokhn, is applied to Panicum miliaceum, and Setaria italica, Kth. The rendering \"millet\", in D. V., Isaiah 28:25 , is not justified, as Hebrew nisman, found here, means \"put in its place\".\nMint ( Matthew 23:23 ; Luke 11:42 ). Various species are found in Palestine: Mentha sylvestris, the horse-mint, with its variety M. viridis, the spear-mint, grow everywhere; M. sativa, the garden-mint, is cultivated in all gardens; M. piperita, the peppermint, M. aquatica, the water-mint, M. pulegium, the pennyroyal, are also found in abundance. Mint is not mentioned in the Law among tithable things, but the Pharisaic opinion subjecting to tithe all edibles acquired force of law.\nMulberry, Hebrew beka’ im (A. V., 2 Samuel 5:23-4 ; 1 Chronicles 14:14-5 ; D. V. \"pear tree\"), a tree, two species of which are cultivated in Palestine: Morus alba, M. nigra. Neither this nor pear-tree is a likely translation; the context rather suggests a tree the leaves of which rustle like the aspen, Populus tremula. In D.V. Luke 17:6 , \"mulberry tree\" is probably a good translation.\nMustard. Several kinds of mustard-plant grow in the Holy Land, either wild, as the charlock, Sinapis arvensis, and the white mustard, S. Alba, or cultivated, as S. nigra, which last seems the one intended in the Gospel. Our Lord compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed ( Matthew 13:31-2 ), a familiar term to mean the tiniest thing possible (cf. Talmud Jerus. Peah, 7; T. Babyl. Kethub., iiib), \"which a man … sowed in his field\" and which \"when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs\"; the mustard tree attains in Palestine a height of ten feet and is a favourite resort of linnets and finches.\nMyrrh translates two Heb. words: (1) mor (cf. Arab . morr), the aromatic resin produced by Balsamodendron myrrha, Nees, which grows in Arabia and subtropical east Africa, was extensively used among the ancients, not only as a perfume ( Exodus 30:23 ; Psalm 44:9 ; Proverbs 7:17 ; Song of Songs 1:12 ; 5:5 ), but also for embalming ( John 19:39 ) and as an anodyne (Mark, xv, 23; (2) lot, see Ladanum .\nMyrtle, Hebrew hadas ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 55:13 ; Zechariah 1:8, 10, 11 ), Myrtus communis, Arab . hadas, an evergreen shrub especially prized for its fragrant leaves, and found in great abundance in certain districts of Palestine. Its height is usually three to four feet, attaining to eight feet in moist soil, and a variety cultivated in Damascus reaches up ten to twelve feet; hence an erroneous translation in almost all the above Scriptural passages.\nNard, pistic (R.V. margin, Mark 14:3 ). See Spikenard .\nNettles translates two Heb. words: (1) kharul, plur. kharulim (A. V., Job 30:7 ; D. V. \"briers\"; Zephaniah 2:9 ; Proverbs 24:31 ; D. V. \"thorns\"), see Bramble ; (2) qimmosh, qimmeshonim ( Proverbs 24:31 ; A. V. \"thorns\"; Isaiah 34:13 ; Hosea 9:6 ): correctly rendered \"nettles\" (Urtica urens, U. dioica, U. pilulifera, U. membranacea, Poir.), which are found everywhere on neglected patches, whilst the deserts abound with Forskahlea tenacissima, a plant akin to the Urtica.\nNut, equivalent of two Heb. words: (1) ’egoz (Cant., vi, 10), Arab . jauz, the walnut tree, universally cultivated in the East; (2) botnim (A. V., Genesis 43:11 ), probably the pistachio nut, Arab . butm. See Pistachio .\nOak, Hebrew ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon, ’allah, ’alon are thus indiscriminately translated. From Osee iv, 13, and Isaiah 6:13 , it appears that the ’elah is different from the ’allon; in fact, ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon, are understood by some to be the terebinth ’allah and ’allon representing the oak. The genus Quercus is largely represented in Palestine and Syria , as to the number of individuals and species, seven of which have been found: (1) Quercus robur is represented by two varieties: Q. cedrorum and Q. pinnatifida; (2) Q. infectoria; (3) Q. ilex; (4) Q. coccifera, or holm oak, of which there are three varieties: Q. calliprinos, Q. palestina, and Q. pseudo- coccifera, this latter, a prickly evergreen oak with leaves like very small holly, most common in the land, especially as brushwood; (5) Q. cerris; (6) Q. ægylops, the Valonia oak, also very common and of which two varieties are known: Q. ithaburensis and Q . look, Ky.; (7) Q. libani, Oliv.\nOil tree, Hebrew ’es shemen ( Isaiah 41:19 ; 1 Kings 6:23, 31-3 ; III Esdras 8:15), the olive-tree in D. V., the oleaster in R. V., and variously rendered in A. V.: \"oil tree\", \"olive tree\" and \"pine\". To meet the requirements of the different passages where the ’es shemen is mentioned, it must be a fat tree, producing oil or resin, an emblem of fertility, capable of furnishing a block of wood out of which an image ten feet high may be carved, it must grow in mountains near Jerusalem , and have a dense foliage. Wild olive, oleaster, Elæagnus angustifolius (Arab., haleph), Balanites ægyptiaca, Del. (Arab. zaqqum), are therefore excluded; some kind of pine is probably meant.\nOlive tree, Olea europæa, one of the most characteristic trees of the Mediterranean region, and universally cultivated in the Holy Land. Scriptural allusions to it are very numerous, and the ruins of oil-presses manifest the extensive use of its enormous produce: olives, the husbandman's only relish; oil which serves as food, medicine, unguent, and fuel for lamps; finally candles and soap. The olive tree was considered the symbol of fruitfulness, blessing, and happiness , the emblem of peace and prosperity.\nOlive, Wild ( Romans 11:17, 24 ), not the oleaster, Elæagnus angustifolia, common throughout Palestine, but the seedling of the olive, on which the Olea europæa is grafted.\nOnion, Hebrew beçalim ( Numbers 11:5 ), Allium cepa, universally cultivated and forming an important and favourite article of diet in the East. Successes in America were immediately owing to the vigorous exertions and prowess of the Irish immigrants who bore arms in that cause\" (Historical Review of the State of Ireland , II, 178). The historians Marmion and Gordon write to the same effect.\nPalm tree, Hebrew thamar ( Exodus 15:27 ), tomer ( Judges 4:5 ), Phænix dactylifera, the date palm. The palm tree flourishes now only in the maritime plain, but the Jordan Valley, Engaddi, Mount Olivet, and many other localities were renowned in antiquity for their palm groves. In fact, the abundance of palm trees in certain places suggested their names: Phœnicia (from Greek phoîniks), Engaddi, formerly named Hazazon Thamar, i.e. \"Palm grove\", Jericho , surnamed \"the City of Palm trees\", Bethany, \"the house of dates\", are among the best known. Dates are a staple article of food among the Bedouins; unlike figs, they are not dried into compressed cakes, but separately; date wine was known throughout the East and is still made in a few places; date honey ( Hebrew debash; cf. Arab . dibs) has always been one of the favourite sweetmeats of the Orientals. There are many allusions in Scripture to palm trees, which are also prominent in architectural ornamentation (Hebrew timmorah, 1 Kings 6:29 ).\nPaper reed, Hebrew aroth (A. V., Isaiah 19:7 ) preferably rendered \"the channel of the river\" (D. V.), as the allusion seems to be to the meadows on the banks of the Nile.\nPear tree. See Mulberry .\nPen, in Psalm 44:2 and Jeremiah 8:8 , is probably the stalk of Arundo donax, which the ancients used for writing, as do also the modern Orientals.\nPeppermint. See Mint .\nPine tree translates the Hebrew words: (1) ’oren ( Isaiah 44:14 ; A.V. \"ash\", possibly Pinus pinea; (2) thidhar ( Isaiah 60:13 ; Isaiah 41:19 ; D.V. \"elm\"), the elm rather than pine.\nPistachio, Hebrew botnim ( Genesis 43:11 ), probably refers to the nut-fruits of Pistacia vera, very common in Palestine; yet Arab. butm is applied to Pistacia terebinthus.\nPlane tree, Hebrew armon ( Genesis 30:37 ; Ezekiel 31:8 ; A. V. \"chestnut tree\"; Sirach 24:19 ). Platanus orientalis, found throughout the East, fulfills well the condition implied in the Heb. name (\"peeled\"), as the outer layers of its bark peel off. A. V. translation is erroneous , for the chestnut tree does not flourish either in Mesopotamia or Palestine.\nPomegranate, the fruit of Punica granatum, a great favourite in the Orient, and very plentiful in Palestine, hence the many allusions to it in the Bible . Pomegranates were frequently taken as a model of ornamentation; several places of the Holy Land were named after the tree (Heb., rimmon): Rimmon, Geth-Remmon, En-Rimmon, etc.\nPoplar, Hebrew libneh ( Genesis 30:37 ; Hosea 4:13 ). Arab. lubna, Styrax officinalis, certainly identified with the tree from the inner layer of whose bark the officinal storax is obtained.\nPoppy. See Gall .\nPulse renders two Heb. words: (1) qali occurs twice in 2 Samuel 17:28 , and is translated by \"parched corn\" and \"pulse\"; the allusion is to cereals, the seeds of peas, beans, lentils, and the like, which, in the East, are roasted in the oven or toasted over the fire; (2) zero‘im, zero‘nim ( Daniel 1:12-16 ) refer to no special plants, but possibly to all edible summer vegetables.\nReed, a general word translating several Hebrew names of plants: ’agmon, gome, sûph (see Bulrush ) and qaneh (see Calamus ).\nRock-rose. See Ladanum .\nRose. (1) Hebrew khabbaççeleth (A. V., Song of Songs 2:1 ; Isaiah 35:1 ) is probably the narcissus (see Flower of the Field ). (2) Wis., ii, 8, seems to indicate the ordinary rose, though roses were known in Egypt only at the epoch of the Ptolemies. (3) The rose plant mentioned in Sirach 24:18 ; 39:17 , is rather the oleander, Nerium oleander, very abundant around Jericho , where it is doubtful whether roses ever flourished except in gardens, although seven different species of the genus Rosa grow in Palestine.\nRue ( Luke 11:42 ), probably Ruta chalepensis, slightly different from R. graveolens, the officinal one. St. Luke implies that Pharisees regarded the rue as subject to tithe , although it was not mentioned in the Law among tithable things ( Leviticus 27:30 ; Numbers 18:21 ; Deuteronomy 14:22 ). This opinion of some overstrict Rabbis did not prevail in the course of time , and the Talmud (Shebiith, ix, 1) distinctly excepts the rue from tithe .\nSea-purslain. See Mallows .\nSedge, Hebrew suph (D.V., Exodus 2:3 ), a generic name for rush. See Bulrush .\nSedge-bush, Heb. ’akhu ( Douay Version , Job 8:11 ; Genesis 41:2, 18 ; \"marshy places\"; A. V., \"meadow\") probably designates all kinds of green plants living in marshes (cf. Egypt . akhah), in particular Cyperus esculentus. See Flag .\nSetim wood, the gum arabic tree, Acacia Seyal, Del., which abounds in the oasis of the Sinaitic Peninsula and in the sultry Wadys about the Dead Sea. The wood is light, though hard and close-grained, of a fine orange-brown hue darkening with age, and was reputed incorruptible.\nShrub, Hebrew na’açuç ( Douay Version , Isaiah 7:19 ; 55:13 ), a particular kind of shrub, probably some jujube tree, either Zizyphus vulgaris, Lamentations , or Z. spina-christi, Willd.\nSpelt, A.V. and R.V. for kussemeth ( Ezekiel 4:9 ). See Fitches . R.V. for qeçakh ( Exodus 9:32 ; Isaiah 28:25 ). See Gith .\nSpices translates three Heb. words: (1) sammum, a generic word including galbanum onycha, the operculum of a strombus, and stacte; (2) basam, another generic term under which come myrrh, cinnamon, sweet cane, and cassia; (3) noko ’oth, possibly the same substance as Arab . noka’ath. See Astragalus .\nSpices, Aromatical ( 2 Kings 20:13 ; Isaiah 39:2 ), a mistranslation for \"precious things\". See Astragalus .\nSpikenard (A. V. Song of Songs 1:11-12 ; 4:14 ; Mark 14:3 ; John 12:3 ), a fragrant essential oil obtained from the root of Nardostachys jatamansi, D. C., a small herbaceous plant of the Himalayas, which is exported all over the East, and was known even to the Romans; the perfume obtained from it was very expensive.\nStorax. (1) Genesis 43:11 : see Astragalus ; (2) Ecclesiasticus 24:21 : see Poplar ; Stacte (1).\nSweet cane. See Cane .\nSycamine (A. V., Luke 17:6 ; D. V. \"mulberry tree\"). As St. Luke distinguishes sukáminos (here) from sukomoréa (xix, 4), they probably differ; sukaminos is admitted by scholars to be the black mulberry, Morus nigra.\nSycamore or Sycomore, Hebrew shiqmim or shiqmoth ( 1 Kings 10:27 ; Psalm 77:47 , \"mulberry\"; Isaiah 9:10 ; A. V. Amos 7:14 ), not the tree commonly called by that name, Acer pseudo-platanus, but Ficus sycomorus, formerly more plentiful in Palestine.\nTamarisk, Hebrew ’eshel ( Genesis 21:33 ; \"grove\"; 1 Samuel 22:6 ; 31:13 ; D.V. \"wood\", A.V. \"tree\"), Arab. ’athl, a tree of which eight or nine species grow in Palestine.\nTeil tree (A.V., Isaiah 6:13 ), a mistranslation of Hebrew ’elah, which is probably the terebinth.\nTerebinth ( Douay Version , Isaiah 6:13 ), Pistacia terebinthus, the turpentine tree, for Hebrew ’ayl, ’elah, ’elon (see Oak ); it grows in dry localities of south and eastern Palestine where the oak cannot thrive. The turpentine, different from that of the pine trees, is a kind of pleasant-smelling oil, obtained by making incisions in the bark, and is widely used in the East to flavour wine, sweet-meats, etc.\nThistles, or numerous prickly plants, are one of the special features of the flora of the Holy Land; hence they are designated by various Hebrew words, inconsistently translated by the versions, where guess-work seems occasionally to have been employed although the general meaning is certain: (1) barqanim, see Briers ; (2) dardar, Arab . shaukat ed-dardar, possibly Centaureas, star-thistles and knapweeds; (3) khedeq, see Mad-apple ; (4) khoakh (see Bur ), a plant, which grows amidst ruins ( Isaiah 24:13 ), in fallow-lands ( Hosea 9:6 ), with lilies (Cant., ii, 2), and in fallow fields where it is harmful to corn ( Job 31:40 ), all which features suit well the various kinds of thistles (Carduus pycnocephalus, C. argentatus, Circium lanceolatum, C. arvense, Attractilis comosa, Carthamus oxyacantha, Scolymus maculatus), most abundant in Palestine; (5) sirim, the various star-thistles, or perhaps the thorny burnet, plentiful in ruins; (6) sirpal, from the Greek rendering, probably the elecampane, Inula viscosa, common on the hills of the Holy Land; (7) qimmeshonim, see Nettles ; (8) shayith and (9) shamir, see Briers .\nThorns, used in the English Bibles to designate plants like thistles, also includes thorny plants, such as (1) ’atal, see Bramble ; (2) mesukah, the general name given to a hedge of any kind of thorny shrubs; (3) na’açuç, see Shrub ; (4) sillôn (cf. Arab . sula), some kind of strong thorns; (5) sarabhim, tangled thorns forming thickets impossible to clear; (6) çinnim, an unidentified thorny plant; (7) qoç, a generic word for thorny bushes; (8) sikkim (cf. Arab . shauk), also a generic name.\nThyine wood, probably Thuya articulata, Desf., especially in Apocalypse 18:12 . See Algum .\nTurpentine tree. See Terebinth .\nVetches (D. V., Isaiah 28:25 ). See Fitches .\nVine, the ordinary grape-vine, Vitis vinifera, of which many varieties are cultivated and thrive in the Holy Land. In Old Testament times vine and wine were so important and popular that in it they are constantly mentioned and alluded to, and a relatively large vocabulary was devoted to expressing varieties of plants and produce. In Ezekiel 15:6 , Hebrew çafçafah is rendered \"vine\", see Willow .\nVine of Sodom ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ), possibly the well known shrub, \"Apple of Sodom\", Calotropis procera, Willd., which peculiar plant grows round the Dead Sea and produces a fruit of the size of an apple, and \"fair to behold\", which bursts when touched and contains only white silky tufts and small seeds, \"dust and ashes\" ( Josephus ).\nWater-mint. See Mint .\nWheat, from Hebrew bar and dagan, also translated \"corn\" and applicable to all cereals, is properly in Hebrew khittah (cf. Arab . khintah), of which two varieties are especially cultivated in Palestine: Triticum æstivum, summer wheat, and T. hybernum, winter wheat; the harvest takes place from May (Ghôr) to June (highlands). Corn is threshed by cattle or pressed out with a sledge, and winnowed with a shovel, by throwing the grain against the wind on threshing floors upon breezy hills.\nWheel ( Psalm 82:14 ) probably refers to some kind of Centaurea, as does \"whirlwind\" ( Isaiah 17:13 ).\nWillow. (1) Hebrew çafçafah (A. V., Ezekiel 17:5 ; D. V., \"vine\"), Arab . safsaf, probably willow though some prefer Elægnus khortensis, Marsh., from Arab . zaizafun. (2) Hebrew ’arabim ( Leviticus 23:40 ; Job 40:17 ; Psalm 136:2 ; Isaiah 44:4 ), like Arab . gharab, hence the willow. ’Arabim, used only in the plur., probably designates all willows in general (Salix safsaf, S. alba, S. Fragilis, S. babylonica, or weeping willow, are frequent in the Palestinian Wadys), whereas çafçafah may point out some particular species possibly the weeping willow.\nWormwood, Hebrew la’anah ( Revelation 8:11 ), plants of the genus Artemisia, several species of which (A. monosperma, Del., A. herba-alba, Asso., A. judaica, A. annua, A. arborescens) are common in Palestine, notably on tablelands and in deserts . The characteristic bitterness of the Artemisias, coupled with their usual dreariness of habitat, aptly typified for Eastern minds calamity, injustice , and the evil results of sin .",
"Sacred Places: Trees and the Sacred - Art History Resources\nTREES AND THE SACRED. ... Perhaps the most famous grove, of plane-trees, was that ... while the Dryads were forest nymphs who guarded the trees. Sometimes armed ...\nSacred Places: Trees and the Sacred\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n© 1998 (text only) Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe\nAn exploration of how and why places become invested with SACREDNESS and how the SACRED is embodied or made manifest through ART and ARCHITECTURE\nTREES AND THE SACRED\nFrom the earliest times, trees have been the focus of religious life for many peoples around the world. As the largest plant on earth, the tree has been a major source of stimulation to the mythic imagination. Trees have been invested in all cultures with a dignity unique to their own nature, and tree cults, in which a single tree or a grove of trees is worshipped, have flourished at different times almost everywhere. Even today there are sacred woods in India and Japan, just as there were in pre-Christian Europe. An elaborate mythology of trees exists across a broad range of ancient cultures.\nThere is little evidence in the archaeological record of tree worship in the prehistoric world, though the existence of totems carved from wood that may have held a sacred significance is suggested by the pole topped with a bird's body and head which appears next to the bird-headed, ithyphallic male figure in the so-called well scene at Lascaux.\nIn the early historical period, however, there is considerable evidence that trees held a special significance in the cultures of the ancient world. In Ancient Egypt, several types of trees appear in Egyptian mythology and art, although the hieroglyph written to signify tree appears to represent the sycamore (nehet) in particular. The sycamore carried special mythical significance. According to the Book of Dead, twin sycamores stood at the eastern gate of heaven from which the sun god Re emerged each morning. The sycamore was also regarded as a manifestation of the goddesses Nut, Isis, and especially of Hathor, who was given the epithet Lady of the Sycamore. Sycamores were often planted near tombs, and burial in coffins made of sycamore wood returned the dead person to the womb of the mother tree goddess.\nThe ished, which may be identified as the Persea, a fruit-bearing deciduous tree (and which, incidentally, Pausanias [ V, 14. 4 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes as a tree that loves no water but the water of the Nile) had a solar significance. Another tree, the willow (tcheret) was sacred to Osiris; it was the willow which sheltered his body after he was killed. Many towns in Egypt with tombs in which a part of the dismembered Osiris was believed to be buried had groves of willows associated with them.\nThe terraces of the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-bahari (c. 1480 BCE) were planted with myrrh trees [1. the Temple of Hatshepsut ]. While the inner sanctuary is located inside the cliff [cf. The Sacred Cave ], the temple's outer sanctuary of terraced gardens recreated the Paradise of Amon, an earthly palace for the Sun-god in imitation of the myrrh terraces of Punt, which was the legendary homeland of the gods. A special expedition to Punt -- probably at the southern end of the Red Sea -- was organized by Hatshepsut's architect and councillor, Senmut, to get the myrrh trees. Besides the terraced gardens of myrrh trees, two sacred Persea trees stood before the now vanished portal in the wall of the entrance forecourt, while palm trees were planted inside the first court [see Earl Baldwin Smith in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nIn perhaps a similar fashion, it is believed the ramped terraces of the Mesopotamian ziggurats [cf. The Sacred Mountain ] were also planted with trees, and sacred trees were the principal feature of the so-called Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world.\nIn the desert environments of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia trees, and especially fruit trees, assumed a special importance. The head dress worn by one of the women buried in the tomb of Queen Pu'abi at the Sumerian site of Ur (c. 2500 BCE) includes in the elaborate decoration clusters of gold pomegranates, three fruits hanging together shielded by their leaves, together with the branches of some other tree with golden stems and fruit or pods of gold and carnelian. [see P. R. S. Moorey in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]\nIn Egypt, the evergreen date palm was a sacred tree, and a palm branch was the symbol of the god Heh, the personification of eternity. For later cultures, the palm branch also served as an emblem of fecundity and victory. For Christians, the palm branch is a symbol of Christ's victory over death. It also signified immortality and divine blessings and is often seen as an attribute of Christian martyrs. It also denotes particular Christian saints such Paul the Hermit and Christopher, as well as the Archangel Michael. The palm tree is also a symbol of the garden of paradise.\nTrees also figure prominently in the culture and mythology of Ancient Greece. Pausanias [see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes the sacred groves of Aesculapius at Epidaurus (II, 27. 1), of Argus in Laconia (III, 4. 1), and a sacred grove of plane-trees at Lerna (II, 38, 1, 2, 8). In the land of Colophon in Ionia was a grove of ash-trees sacred to Apollo (VII, 5. 10), and a sacred grove at Lycosura included an olive-tree and an evergreen oak growing from the same root (VIII, 37. 10). Perhaps the most famous grove, of plane-trees, was that sacred to Zeus, known as the Altis, at Olympia (V, 27. 1, 11).\nThe oak tree was also sacred to Zeus, especially the tree at the sanctuary of Zeus in Dodona which also served as an oracle; it would seem the rustling of the leaves was regarded as the voice of Zeus and the sounds interpreted by priestesses. The oak was also sacred to Pan [see Pausanias BIBLIOGRAPHY ], while the myrtle-tree was sacred to Aphrodite. In the Pandrosium near the temple known as the Erechtheum (421-405 BCE) on the Athenian Acropolis , besides many other signs and remains of Athens' mythical past -- a salt-water well [cf. Water and the Sacred ] and a mark in the shape of Poseidon's trident in a rock -- could also be seen a living olive tree sacred to the goddess Athena.\nAn olive tree growing today outside the Erechtheum\nIn several Greek myths, women and men are frequently transformed into trees: Atys into a pine tree, Smilax into a yew, and Daphne into the laurel, which was sacred to Apollo.\nIn numerous cases the spirit of trees is personified, usually in female form. In Ancient Greece, the Alseids were nymphs associated with groves (alsos, grove), while the Dryads were forest nymphs who guarded the trees. Sometimes armed with an axe, Dryads would punish anyone harming the trees. Crowned with oak-leaves, they would dance around the sacred oaks. The Hamadryads were even more closely associated with trees, forming an integral part of them. In India, tree nymphs appear in the form of the voluptuous Vrikshaka.\nIn Ancient Rome, a fig-tree sacred to Romulus grew near the Forum, and a sacred cornel-tree grew of the slope of the Palatine Hill. Sacred groves were also found in the city of Rome. In Book 8 of The Aeneid, Virgil relates that:\nNext after this he shows the spacious grove\nWhich fiery Romulus the Refuge named,\nAnd 'neath its cool cliff called the Lupercal\nBy Arcad custom of Lycaean Pan,\nPoints too to sacred Argiletum's grove\n[and on the Capitoline Hill...]\nThe place with its dread sanctity was wont\nTo awe the frightened rustics; even then\nThey trembled at its wood and at its rock\nThis grove, said he, this hill with leafy crest\nA god inhabits -- who that god may be,\nIs all in doubt; Arcadians believe\nThat they themselves Jove oftentimes have seen...\nAccording to the Roman authors Lucan and Pomponius Mela, the Celts of Gaul worshipped in groves of trees, a practice which Tacitus and Dio Cassius say was also found among the Celts in Britain. The Romans used the Celtic word nemeton for these sacred groves. A sacred oak grove in Galatia (Asia Minor), for example, was called Drunemeton (Strabo, Geographica, XII, 5, 1). The word was also incorporated into many of the names of towns and forts, such as Vernemeton near Leicester in England.\nThe names of certain Celtic tribes in Gaul reflect the veneration of trees, such as Euburones (the Yew tribe), and the Lemovices (the people of the elm). A tree trunk or a whole tree was frequently included among the votive offerings placed in ritual pits or shafts dug into the ground. Others shafts had a wooden pole placed at the bottom. The Celts believed trees to be sources of sacred wisdom, and the hazel in particular was associated with wisdom by the Druids.\nPerhaps not surprisingly, trees appear at the foundations of many of the world's religions. Because of their relative rarity in the Near East, trees are regarded in the Bible as something almost sacred and are used to symbolize longevity, strength, and pride. Elements of pagan tree cults and worship have survived into Judeo-Christian theology. In Genesis, two trees -- the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -- grow at the centre of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). Scriptural and apocryphal traditions regarding the Tree of Life later merge in Christianity with the cult of the cross [cf. Sacred Shapes and Symbols ] to produce the Tree of the Cross. The fantastic Story of the True Cross identifies the wood used for the cross in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as being ultimately from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. Other stories claim that Adam was buried at Jerusalem and three trees grew out of his mouth to mark the centre of the earth [see F. Kampers in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nIn the Old Testament, trees are also associated with the ancient Canaanite religion devoted to the mother goddess Asherah which the Israelites, intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, saught to suppress and replace. The cult Asherah and her consort Baal was evidently celebrated in high places, on the tops of hills and mountains [cf. The Sacred Mountain ], where altars dedicated to Baal and carved wooden poles or statues of Asherah (or the Asherahs; in the past Asherah has also been translated as grove, or wood, or tree) were evidently located. In Deuteronomy 12:2, the Israelites are directed to \"to destroy all the places, wherein the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree; you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire.\"\nIn Ancient Assyria, contemporary with the ziggurats, trees, fruit trees especially, were associated with fertility. The significance of trees in Ancient Assyria is shown in the numerous reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees. Sacred trees, or trees of life, were associated in Ancient Assyria with the worship of the god Enlil.\nSome trees become sacred through what may have occurred in their proximity. It was under a pipal tree that Siddhartha Gautama (born 566 BCE) meditated until he attained enlightenment (Nirvana) and became the Buddha. The Bodhi or Bo (Enlightenment) tree is now the centre of a major Buddhist sacred shrine known as Bodh Gaya .\nFor the ancient Celts, the Yew tree was a symbol of immortality, and holy trees elsewhere functioned as symbols of renewal [see Brosse in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. A tree scarred by lightning was identified as a tree of life, and, according to Pliny [see BIBLIOGRAPHY ] the Celtic Druids believed that mistletoe grew in places which had been struck by lightning. The Druids performed rituals and ceremonies in groves of sacred oak trees, and believed that the interior of the oak was the abode of the dead. In India, it is believed that the Brahma Daitya, the ghosts of brahmans, live in the fig trees, the pipal (ficus religiosa), or the banyan (ficus indica), awaiting liberation or reincarnarnation. Among the eight or so species of tree considered sacred in India, these two varieties of fig are the most highly venerated.\nThe identification of sacred trees as symbols of renewal is widespread. In China, the Tree of Life, the Kien-Luen, grows on the slopes of Kuen-Luen, while the Moslem Lote tree marks the boundary between the human and the divine. From the four boughs of the Buddhist Tree of Wisdom flow the rivers of life. The great ash tree Yggdrasil of Nordic myth connects with its roots and boughs the underworld and heaven.\nIn Japan, trees such as the cryptomeria are venerated at Shinto shrines. Especially sacred is the sakaki, a branch from which stuck upright in the ground is represented by the shin-no-mihashira, or sacred central post, over and around which the wooden Shrines at Ise are built. The shin-no-mihashira is both the sakaki branch and the pillar confirmed in the nethermost ground, like the heaven-tree in many Japanese legends.\nSacred forests still exist in India and in Bali, Indonesia. The holy forests in Bali are annexed to temples that may or may not be enclosed in it, such as the Holy Forest at Sangeh [see Vannucci in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. The general feeling of respect and veneration for trees in India has produced a great variety of tree myths and traditions.\nOne of the Five Trees in Indra's paradise (svarga-loka), which is located at the centre of the earth, is the mythic abundance-granting kalpa-vriksha. An image of the kalpa-vriksha carved in sandstone in Besnagar in Central India may originally have stood as an emblem capital on top of a monolithic pillar or stambha, possibly one of the 36 or so pillars erected by the Buddhist emperor Asoka (268-232 BCE). The pillars has been interpreted as replicas of the axis mundi [see John Irwin in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. The stone kalpa-vriksha capping the pillar may therefore be identified as the Cosmic Tree or world-tree, an emblematic variation of the symbolism of the stambha as axis mundi [see Jan Pieper in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nSingle pillars made of tree trunks called Irmensul ('giant column') representing the 'tree of the universe' were set up on hilltops by some German tribes. A highly venerated Irmensul in what is now Westphalia was cut down by the Christianizing Charlemagne in 772.\nWith the encouragement of Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the 6th century CE, a common practice among proselytizing Christians was to graft Christian theology onto pre-existing pagan rites and sacred places [see Flint in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]. In the case of pagan tree cults, this may initially involve the destruction of the sacred grove or the cutting down of a sacred tree. However, it would appear that frequently a church would be built on the same site, thereby co-opting it in the service of Christian conversion. The process effectively Christianized the sacred powers or energies of the original site. Examples of this include the medieval Gothic cathedral of Chartres , which was built on a site which was once sacred to the Celtic Druids (acorns, oak twigs, and tree idols in the scultural decorations on the South Portal of the cathedral may allude to the original Druidic oak grove: [see Anderson in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ]). And before the Druids, during the Neolithic period, the same site may have been a sacred burial mound.\nTrees and Architecture\nThe Egyptian temple was conceived essentially as a stone model of the creation landscape. The orders of columns, however, were designed not as direct representations of plant life (the palm, lotus, and papyrus bundle), but as stone reproductions of idealized landscape features.\nEgyptian palm-leaf capital\nThe palmiform column, for example, which appears already fully developed by the 5th Dynasty (2465 - 2323 BCE) and used constantly for the next 2000 years, shows the palm tree as a circular column as if it were the trunk of a palm tree with the topmost section ornamented with palm leaves shown as if tied with a thong around the column.\nA famous passage in Vitruvius [see Vitruvius in the BIBLIOGRAPHY ] describes the origin of columns in Greek and Roman architecture (cf. the temples on the Athenian Acropolis ) as derived from tree trunks, a not entirely fanciful explanation given both the tree-like tapering of the classical column (even the flutes may be stylized representations of ribbed tree bark), and the belief that stone temples in ancient Greece were based upon earlier types made of wood. It is known for a fact that the Temple of Hera at Olympia originally had columns of oak, two of which (the others having having been replaced by stone columns as they wore out) were still in place when Pausanias visited Olympia in the 2nd century CE [Pausanias, V, 16. 1 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY ].\nThe classical column as a tree trunk\nillustration in Philibert de l'Orme's Le Premier Tome de l'Architecture, 1567\nA similar architectural tradition identifies the origin of Gothic pointed arches and vaults in the interlacing of tree branches, and likens the view down the nave of a Gothic cathedral to a path through a wood of tall overarching trees. The suggestion can be made that the arches and vaulting of Chartres Cathedral may deliberately resemble the path to the sacred grove that stood on the original site, with the crossing of the church symbolizing, or perhaps actually located at, the central clearing in the grove where Druidic rituals formerly took place.",
"Taraxacum.txt\nTaraxacum\nTaraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae and consists of species commonly known as dandelion. They are native to Eurasia and North America, but the two commonplace species worldwide, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, were imports from Europe that now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion ( , from French dent-de-lion, meaning \"lion's tooth\") is given to members of the genus. Like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant. \n\nDescription\n\nThe species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted, perennial, herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus contains many species which usually (or in the case of triploids, obligately) reproduce by apomixis, resulting in many local populations and endemism. In the British Isles alone, 234 microspecies are recognised in 9 loosely defined sections, of which 40 are \"probably endemic\".\n\nIn general, the leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple, lobed, and form a basal rosette above the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange coloured, and are open in the daytime, but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) that is usually leafless and rises 1–10 cm or more above the leaves. Stems and leaves exude a white, milky latex when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in diameter and consist entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into spherical seed heads called blowballs or clocks (in both British and American English) containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to a pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances.\n\nThe flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse. The outer bracts are often reflexed downward, but remain appressed in plants of the sections Palustria and Spectabilia. Some species drop the parachute from the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals. Between the pappus and the achene is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from the parachute.\n\nSeed dispersal\n\n \nA number of species of Taraxacum are seed-dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize disturbed soil, especially the common dandelion (T. officinale), which has been introduced over much of the temperate world. After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head dries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex (curve backwards), and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere.\n\nFalse dandelions\n\nMany similar plants in the Asteraceae family with yellow flowers are sometimes known as false dandelions. Dandelions are very similar to catsears (Hypochaeris). Both plants carry similar flowers, which form into windborne seeds. However, dandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems, while catsear flowering stems are branched, solid, and carry bracts. Both plants have a basal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth or glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.\n\nEarly-flowering dandelions may be distinguished from coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) by their basal rosette of leaves, their lack of disc florets, and the absence of scales on the flowering stem.\n\nOther plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and hawksbeards (Crepis). These are readily distinguished by branched flowering stems, which are usually hairy and bear leaves.\n\nClassification\n\nThe genus is taxonomically complex, with some botanists dividing the group into about 34 macrospecies, and about 2000 microspecies; about 235 apomictic and polyploid microspecies have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland. Some botanists take a much narrower view and only accept a total of about 60 species.\n\nSelected species\n\n* Taraxacum albidum, a white-flowering Japanese dandelion\n* Taraxacum aphrogenes, Paphos dandelion\n* Taraxacum brevicorniculatum, frequently misidentified as Taraxacum kok-saghyz, and a poor rubber producer\n* Taraxacum californicum, the endangered California dandelion\n* Taraxacum centrasiaticum, the Xinjiang dandelion\n* Taraxacum ceratophorum, northern dandelion \n* Taraxacum erythrospermum, often considered a variety of T. laevigatum \n* Taraxacum farinosum, Turkish dandelion\n* Taraxacum holmboei, Troödos dandelion\n* Taraxacum japonicum, Japanese dandelion, no ring of smallish, downward-turned leaves under the flowerhead\n* Taraxacum kok-saghyz, Russian dandelion, which produces rubber \n* Taraxacum laevigatum, red-seeded dandelion, achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply cut throughout length, inner bracts' tips are hooded\n* Taraxacum mirabile\n* Taraxacum officinale (syn. T. officinale subsp. vulgare), common dandelion. Found in many forms.\n* Taraxacum pankhurstianum\n* Taraxacum platycarpum, the Korean dandelion\n\nCultivars\n\n*'Amélioré à Coeur Plein' yields an abundant crop without taking up much ground, and tends to blanch itself naturally, due to its clumping growth habit.\n*'Broad-leaved' - The leaves are thick and tender and easily blanched. In rich soils, they can be up to 60 cm wide. Plants do not go to seed as quickly as French types.\n*'Vert de Montmagny' is a large-leaved, vigorous grower, which matures early. \n\nHistory\n\nDandelions are thought to have evolved about 30 million years ago in Eurasia. They have been used by humans for food and as an herb for much of recorded history.\n\nNames\n\nThe Latin name Taraxacum originates in medieval Persian writings on pharmacy. The Persian scientist Al-Razi around 900 AD wrote \"the tarashaquq is like chicory\". The Persian scientist and philosopher Ibn Sīnā around 1000 AD wrote a book chapter on Taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Latin around 1170, spelled it tarasacon. \n\nThe English name, dandelion, is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning \"lion's tooth\", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The plant is also known as blowball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, witch's gowan, milk witch, lion's-tooth, yellow-gowan, Irish daisy, monks-head, priest's-crown, and puff-ball; other common names include faceclock, pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, \nswine's snout, white endive, and wild endive. \n\nThe English folk name \"piss-a-bed\" (and indeed the equivalent contemporary French ') refers to the strong diuretic effect of the plant's roots. In various northeastern Italian dialects, the plant is known as pisacan (\"dog pisses\"), because they are found at the side of pavements. \n\nIn Swedish, it is called maskros (worm rose) after the small insects (thrips) usually present in the flowers. In Finnish and Estonian, the names (voikukka, võilill) translate as butter flower, due to the color of the flower. In Lithuanian, it is known as \"Pienė\", meaning \"milky\", because of the white liquid that is produced when the stems are cut. The Welsh (dant-y-llew), German (Löwenzahn) and Norwegian (løvetann) names mean the same as the French and the English names.\n\nProperties\n\nEdibility\n\nDandelions are found on all continents and have been gathered for food since prehistory, but the varieties cultivated for consumption are mainly native to Eurasia. A perennial plant, its leaves will grow back if the taproot is left intact. To make leaves more palatable, they are often blanched to remove bitterness, or sauteed in the same way as spinach. Dandelion leaves and buds have been a part of traditional Kashmiri, Slovenian, Sephardic, Chinese, and Korean cuisines. In Crete, the leaves of a variety called 'Mari' (Μαρί), 'Mariaki' (Μαριάκι), or 'Koproradiko' (Κοπροράδικο) are eaten by locals, either raw or boiled, in salads. T. megalorhizon, a species endemic to Crete, is eaten in the same way; it is found only at high altitudes (1000 to 1600 m) and in fallow sites, and is called pentaramia (πενταράμια) or agrioradiko (αγριοράδικο). \n\nThe flower petals, along with other ingredients, usually including citrus, are used to make dandelion wine. The ground, roasted roots can be used as a caffeine-free dandelion coffee. Dandelion was also traditionally used to make the traditional British soft drink dandelion and burdock, and is one of the ingredients of root beer. Also, dandelions were once delicacies eaten by the Victorian gentry, mostly in salads and sandwiches.\n\nDandelion leaves contain abundant vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C, and K, and are good sources of calcium, potassium, iron, and manganese. \n\nMedicinal uses\n\nHistorically, dandelion was prized for a variety of medicinal properties, and it contains a number of pharmacologically active compounds. Dandelion is used as a herbal remedy in Europe, North America, and China. It has been used in herbal medicine to treat infections, bile and liver problems, and as a diuretic.\n\nFood for wildlife\n\nTaraxacum seeds are an important food source for certain birds. \n\nDandelions are also important plants for Northern Hemisphere bees, providing an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season. Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). They are also used as a source of nectar by the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), one of the earliest emerging butterflies in the spring.\n\nBenefits to gardeners\n\nThe dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good companion plant for gardening. Its taproot will bring up nutrients for shallower-rooting plants, and add minerals and nitrogen to soil. It is also known to attract pollinating insects and release ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen. \n\nCultural importance\n\nFour dandelion flowers are the emblem of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The citizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festival.\n\nThe dandelion is the official flower of the University of Rochester and \"Dandelion Yellow\" is one of the school's official colors. \"The Dandelion Yellow\" is an official University of Rochester song. \n\nDangers\n\nDandelion pollen may cause allergic reactions when eaten, or adverse skin reactions in sensitive individuals. Contact dermatitis after handling has also been reported, probably from the latex in the stems and leaves. Due to its high potassium level, dandelion can also increase the risk of hyperkalemia when taken with potassium-sparing diuretics. \n\nAs a noxious weed\n\nThe species T. officinale is listed as a noxious weed in some jurisdictions, and is considered to be a nuisance in residential and recreational lawns in North America. It is also an important weed in agriculture and causes significant economic damage because of its infestation in many crops worldwide.\n\nAs source of natural rubber\n\nDandelions secrete latex when the tissues are cut or broken, yet in the wild type, the latex content is low and varies greatly. Using modern cultivation methods and optimization techniques, scientists in the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) in Germany developed a cultivar that is suitable for commercial production of natural rubber. The latex produced exhibits the same quality as the natural rubber from rubber trees. In collaboration with Continental Tires, IME is building a pilot facility. As of May 2014, the first prototype test tires made with blends from dandelion-rubber are scheduled to be tested on public roads over the next few years.",
"Arecaceae.txt\nArecaceae\nThe Arecaceae are a botanical family of perennial climbers, shrubs, acaules and trees commonly known as palm trees. (Owing to historical usage, the family is alternatively called Palmae.) They are flowering plants, a family in the monocot order Arecales. Currently 181 genera with around 2600 species are known, most of them restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.\n\nPalms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms, and palms are also widely used in landscaping, making them one of the most economically important plants. In many historical cultures, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, and fertility. For inhabitants of cooler climates today, palms symbolize the tropics and vacations. \n\nMorphology\n\nWhether as shrubs, trees, or vines, palms have two methods of growth: solitary or clustered. The common representation is that of a solitary shoot ending in a crown of leaves. This monopodial character may be exhibited by prostrate, trunkless, and trunk-forming members. Some common palms restricted to solitary growth include Washingtonia and Roystonea. Palms may instead grow in sparse though dense clusters. The trunk develops an axillary bud at a leaf node, usually near the base, from which a new shoot emerges. The new shoot, in turn, produces an axillary bud and a clustering habit results. Exclusively sympodial genera include many of the rattans, Guihaia, and Rhapis. Several palm genera have both solitary and clustering members. Palms which are usually solitary may grow in clusters, and vice versa. These aberrations suggest the habit operates on a single gene.Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN 0-935868-30-5 / ISBN 978-0-935868-30-2\n\nPalms have large, evergreen leaves that are either palmately ('fan-leaved') or pinnately ('feather-leaved') compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. The leaves have a tubular sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity. The inflorescence is a spadix or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity. The flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and can be either uni- or bisexual. The sepals and petals usually number three each, and may be distinct or joined at the base. The stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base. The fruit is usually a single-seeded drupe (sometimes berry-like) but some genera (e.g. Salacca) may contain two or more seeds in each fruit.\n\nThe Arecaceae are notable among monocots for their height and for the size of their seeds, leaves, and inflorescences. Ceroxylon quindiuense, Colombia's national tree, is the tallest monocot in the world, reaching up to 60 m tall.[http://www.presidencia.gov.co/prensa_new/historia/patrios.htm :: Presidencia de la República de Colombia ::] The coco de mer (Lodoicea maldivica) has the largest seeds of any plant, 40–50 cm in diameter and weighing 15–30 kg each. Raffia palms (Raphia spp.) have the largest leaves of any plant, up to 25 m long and 3 m wide. The Corypha species have the largest inflorescence of any plant, up to 7.5 m tall and containing millions of small flowers. Calamus stems can reach 200 m in length.\n\nRange and habitat\n\nMost palms grow in the tropics and subtropics. They are abundant throughout the tropics\nand subtropics, and thrive in almost every habitat they are in. Their diversity is highest in wet, lowland forests, especially in ecological \"hotspots\" such as Madagascar, which has more endemic palms than all of Africa. Colombia may have the highest number of palm species in one country. Palms are most commonly seen throughout Africa, South America, the Arabian peninsula, South and Southeast Asia, northern Australia, the islands of tropical and subtropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S sunbelt including California, Florida, and Hawaii.\n\nOnly about 130 palm species naturally grow entirely beyond the tropics, mostly in the subtropical highlands and warm temperate lowlands. The northernmost native palm is Chamaerops humilis, which reaches 44°N latitude in southern France. The southernmost palm is the Rhopalostylis sapida, which reaches 44°S on the Chatham Islands where an oceanic climate prevails. Some palms, such as the Trachycarpus fortunei, grow well under cultivation in temperate climates, some at 50°N or even farther north in oceanic climates (Ireland, Scotland, England, Long Island and the Pacific Northwest, from Oregon to Vancouver).\n\nPalms inhabit a variety of ecosystems. More than two-thirds of palm species live in humid moist forests, where some species grow tall enough to form part of the canopy and shorter ones form part of the understory. Some species form pure stands in areas with poor drainage or regular flooding, including Raphia hookeri which is common in coastal freshwater swamps in West Africa. Other palms live in tropical mountain habitats above 1000 m, such as those in the genus Ceroxylon native to the Andes. Palms may also live in grasslands and scrublands, usually associated with a water source, and in desert oases such as the date palm. A few palms are adapted to extremely basic lime soils, while others are similarly adapted to extreme potassium deficiency and toxicity of heavy metals in serpentine soils.\n\nPalms are a monophyletic group of plants, meaning the group consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants. Extensive taxonomic research on palms began with botanist H.E. Moore, who organized palms into 15 major groups based mostly on general morphological characteristics. The following classification, proposed by N.W. Uhl and J. Dransfield in 1987, is a revision of Moore's classification that organizes palms into six subfamilies. \n\n* Coryphoideae\n* Calamoideae\n* Nypoideae\n* Ceroxyloideae\n* Arecoideae\n* Phytelephantoideae\n\nA few general traits of each subfamily are listed below.\n\nThe Coryphoideae are the most diverse subfamily, and are a paraphyletic group, meaning all members of the group share a common ancestor, but the group does not include all the ancestor's descendants. Most palms in this subfamily have palmately lobed leaves and solitary flowers with three, or sometimes four carpels. The fruit normally develops from only one carpel.\n\nSubfamily Calamoideae includes the climbing palms, such as rattans. The leaves are usually pinnate; derived characters (synapomorphies) include spines on various organs, organs specialized for climbing, an extension of the main stem of the leaf-bearing reflexed spines, and overlapping scales covering the fruit and ovary.\n\nSubfamily Nypoideae contains only one species, Nypa fruticans, which has large, pinnate leaves. The fruit is unusual in that it floats, and the stem is dichotomously branched, also unusual in palms.\n\nSubfamily Ceroxyloideae has small to medium-sized flowers, spirally arranged, with a gynoecium of three joined carpels.\n\nThe Arecoideae are the largest subfamily, with six diverse tribes (Areceae, Caryoteae, Cocoeae, Geonomeae, Iriarteeae, and Podococceae) containing over 100 genera. All tribes have pinnate or bipinnate leaves and flowers arranged in groups of three, with a central pistillate and two staminate flowers.\n\nThe Phytelephantoideae are a monoecious subfamily. Members of this group have distinct monopodial flower clusters. Other distinct features include a gynoecium with five to 10 joined carpels, and flowers with more than three parts per whorl. Fruits are multiple-seeded and have multiple parts.\n\nCurrently, few extensive phylogenetic studies of the Arecaceae exist. In 1997, Baker et al. explored subfamily and tribe relationships using chloroplast DNA from 60 genera from all subfamilies and tribes. The results strongly showed the Calamoideae are monophyletic, and Ceroxyloideae and Coryphoideae are paraphyletic. The relationships of Arecoideae are uncertain, but they are possibly related to the Ceroxyloideae and Phytelephantoideae. Studies have suggested the lack of a fully resolved hypothesis for the relationships within the family is due to a variety of factors, including difficulties in selecting appropriate outgroups, homoplasy in morphological character states, slow rates of molecular evolution important for the use of standard DNA markers, and character polarization. However, hybridization has been observed among Orbignya and Phoenix species, and using chloroplast DNA in cladistic studies may produce inaccurate results due to maternal inheritance of the chloroplast DNA. Chemical and molecular data from non-organelle DNA, for example, could be more effective for studying palm phylogeny. \n\nSelected genera\n\nSee list of Arecaceae genera arranged by taxonomic groups or by alphabetical order for a complete listing of genera.\n\n*Archontophoenix—Bangalow palm\n*Areca—Betel palm\n*Bactris—Pupunha\n*Beccariophoenix—Beccariophoenix alfredii\n*Bismarckia—Bismarck palm\n*Borassus—Palmyra palm, sugar palm, toddy palm\n*Calamus—Rattan palm\n*Cocos—Coconut\n*Copernicia—Carnauba wax palm\n*Corypha—Gebang palm, Buri palm or Talipot palm\n*Elaeis—Oil palm\n*Euterpe—Cabbage heart palm, açaí palm\n*Hyphaene—Doum palm\n*Jubaea—Chilean wine palm, Coquito palm\n*Latania—Latan palm\n*Livistona—Cabbage palm\n*Mauritia—Moriche palm\n*Metroxylon—Sago palm\n*Nypa—Nipa palm\n*Parajubaea—Bolivian coconut palms\n*Phoenix—Date palm\n*Phoenix sylvestris—Wild date palm\n*Raphia—Raffia palm\n*Roystonea—Royal palm\n*Sabal—Palmettos\n*Salacca—Salak\n*Syagrus—Queen palm\n*Trachycarpus—Windmill palm, Kumaon palm\n*Veitchia—Manila palm, Joannis palm\n*Washingtonia—Fan palm\n\nEvolution\n\nThe Arecaceae are the first modern family of monocots appearing in the fossil record around 80 million years ago (Mya), during the late Cretaceous period. The first modern species, such as Nypa fruticans and Acrocomia aculeata, appeared 94 Mya, confirmed by fossil Nypa pollen dated to 94 Mya. Palms appear to have undergone an early period of adaptive radiation. By 60 Mya, many of the modern, specialized genera of palms appeared and became widespread and common, much more widespread than their range today. Because palms separated from the monocots earlier than other families, they developed more intrafamilial specialization and diversity. By tracing back these diverse characteristics of palms to the basic structures of monocots, palms may be valuable in studying monocot evolution. Several species of palms have been identified from flowers preserved in amber, including Palaeoraphe dominicana and Roystonea palaea. Evidence can also be found in samples of petrified palmwood.\n\nUses\n\nHuman use of palms is as old or older than human civilization itself, starting with the cultivation of the date palm by Mesopotamians and other Middle Eastern peoples 5000 years or more ago. Date wood, pits for storing dates, and other remains of the date palm have been found in Mesopotamian sites. The date palm had a tremendous effect on the history of the Middle East. W.H. Barreveld wrote:\n\n\"One could go as far as to say that, had the date palm not existed, the expansion of the human race into the hot and barren parts of the \"old\" world would have been much more restricted. The date palm not only provided a concentrated energy food, which could be easily stored and carried along on long journeys across the deserts, it also created a more amenable habitat for the people to live in by providing shade and protection from the desert winds (Fig. 1). In addition, the date palm also yielded a variety of products for use in agricultural production and for domestic utensils, and practically all parts of the palm had a useful purpose.\"\n\nAn indication of the importance of palms in ancient times is that they are mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible, and at least 22 times in the Quran. \n\nArecaceae have great economic importance, including coconut products, oils, dates, palm syrup, ivory nuts, carnauba wax, rattan cane, raffia, and palm wood.\n\nAlong with dates mentioned above, members of the palm family with human uses are numerous.\n*The type member of Arecaceae is the areca palm, the fruit of which, the areca nut, is chewed with the betel leaf for intoxicating effects (Areca catechu).\n*Carnuba wax is harvested from the leaves of a Brazilian palm (Copernicia).\n*Rattans, whose stems are used extensively in furniture and baskets, are in the genus Calamus.\n*Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis.\n*Several species are harvested for heart of palm, a vegetable eaten in salads.\n*Sap of the nipa palm Nypa is used to make vinegar.\n*Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine or toddy, an alcoholic beverage common in parts of Africa, India, and the Philippines. It is also drunk, fresh, as neera, and is a refreshing drink that is consumed until sundown, after which it starts to ferment.\n*Palmyra and date palm sap is harvested in Bengal, India, to process into gur and jaggery.\n*Dragon's blood, a red resin used traditionally in medicine, varnish, and dyes, may be obtained from the fruit of Daemonorops species.\n*Coconut is the edible fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).\n*Coir is a coarse, water-resistant fiber extracted from the outer shell of coconuts, used in doormats, brushes, mattresses, and ropes. In India, beekeepers use coir in their bee smokers.\n*Some indigenous groups living in palm-rich areas use palms to make many of their necessary items and food. Sago, for example, a starch made from the pith of the trunk of the sago palm Metroxylon sagu, is a major staple food for lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas. This is not the same plant commonly used as a house plant and called \"sago palm\".\n*Palm wine is made from Jubaea also called Chilean wine palm, or coquito palm\n*Recently, the fruit of the açaí palm Euterpe has been used for its reputed health benefits.\n*Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is under investigation as a drug for treating enlarged prostates.\n*Palm leaves are also valuable to some peoples as a material for thatching, basketry, clothing, and in religious ceremonies (see \"Symbolism\" below).\n\n*Ornamental uses: Today, palms are valuable as ornamental plants and are often grown along streets in tropical and subtropical cities. Farther north, palms are a common feature in botanical gardens or as indoor plants. Few palms tolerate severe cold, however, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. The three most cold-tolerant species are Trachycarpus fortunei, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Sabal minor, both native to the southeastern United States.\n\nThe southeastern U.S. state of South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State after the sabal palmetto (cabbage palmetto), logs from which were used to build the fort at Fort Moultrie. During the American Revolutionary War, they were invaluable to those defending the fort, because their spongy wood absorbed or deflected the British cannonballs. The sabal palmetto is also the state tree of Florida.\nSome palms can be grown as far north as the United States' Mid-Atlantic, such as the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, southern Midwest, and even north along the Pacific coast to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, where ocean winds have a warming effect. Species of transplanted palms have even been known to have survived as far north as Devon. The Chinese Trachycarpus fortunei is being grown experimentally on the Faroe Islands at 62°N, with young plants doing well so far. \n\nEndangered species\n\nLike many other plants, palms have been threatened by human intervention and exploitation. The greatest risk to palms is destruction of habitat, especially in the tropical forests, due to urbanization, wood-chipping, mining, and conversion to farmland. Palms rarely reproduce after such great changes in the habitat, and those with small habitat ranges are most vulnerable to them. The harvesting of heart of palm, a delicacy in salads, also poses a threat because it is derived from the palm's apical meristem, a vital part of the palm that cannot be regrown. The use of rattan palms in furniture has caused a major population decrease in these species that has negatively affected local and international markets, as well as biodiversity in the area. The sale of seeds to nurseries and collectors is another threat, as the seeds of popular palms are sometimes harvested directly from the wild. At least 100 palm species are currently endangered, and nine species have reportedly recently become extinct.\n\nHowever, several factors make palm conservation more difficult. Palms live in almost every type of warm habitat and have tremendous morphological diversity. Most palm seeds lose viability quickly, and they cannot be preserved in low temperatures because the cold kills the embryo. Using botanical gardens for conservation also presents problems, since they can only house a few plants of any species or truly imitate the natural setting. Also, the risk of cross-pollination can lead to hybrid species.\n\nThe Palm Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) began in 1984, and has performed a series of three studies to find basic information on the status of palms in the wild, use of wild palms, and palms under cultivation. Two projects on palm conservation and use supported by the World Wildlife Fund took place from 1985 to 1990 and 1986–1991, in the American tropics and southeast Asia, respectively. Both studies produced copious new data and publications on palms. Preparation of a global action plan for palm conservation began in 1991, supported by the IUCN, and was published in 1996. \n\nThe rarest palm known is Hyophorbe amaricaulis. The only living individual remains at the Botanic Gardens of Curepipe in Mauritius.\n\nPest species\n\nPests that attack a variety of species of palm trees include:\n*Raoiella indica, the red palm mite\n*Caryobruchus gleditsiae, the palm seed beetle or palm seed weevil\n*Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, the red palm weevil, recently introduced to Europe\n\nSymbolism\n\nThe palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in pre-Christian times. The Romans rewarded champions of the games and celebrated military successes with palm branches. Early Christians used the palm branch to symbolize the victory of the faithful over enemies of the soul, as in the Palm Sunday festival celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In Judaism, the palm represents peace and plenty, and is one of the Four Species of Sukkot; the palm may also symbolize the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.\n\nPanaiveriyamman was an ancient Tamil tree deity related to fertility. Named after panai, the Tamil name for the Palmyra palm, she was also known as Taalavaasini, a name that further related her to all types of palms. \n\nToday, the palm, especially the coconut palm, remains a symbol of the tropical island paradise. \nPalms appear on the flags and seals of several places where they are native, including those of Haiti, Guam, Saudi Arabia, Florida, and South Carolina.\n\nOther plants\n\nSome species commonly called palms, though they are not true palms, include:\n*Cordyline australis (Torbay palm, Ti palm, Palm lily) (family Asparagaceae) and other representatives in the genus Cordyline and perhaps also in Dracaena with which Cordyline may be confused.\n*Cycas revoluta (Sago palm) and the rest of the order Cycadales\n*Ravenala (Traveller's palm) (family Strelitziaceae)\n*Pandanus spiralis, Screw palm., and perhaps other Pandanus spp.\n*Cyathea cunninghamii (Palm Fern) and other Tree ferns (families Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae) that may be confused with palms.\n*Setaria palmifolia (Palm grass), a Poaceae.\n*Carludovica palmata (Panama Hat Palm) and perhaps other members in the family Cyclanthaceae."
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In which country would you find budgerigars in their natural habitat? | Australia | [
"Habitat.txt\nHabitat\nA habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population.\n\nA habitat is made up of physical factors such as soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity as well as biotic factors such as the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions in which it will thrive, but some are tolerant of wide variations while others are very specific in their requirements. A habitat is not necessarily a geographical area, it can be the interior of a stem, a rotten log, a rock or a clump of moss, and for a parasitic organism it is the body of its host, part of the host's body such as the digestive tract, or a single cell within the host's body.\n\nHabitat types include polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical. The terrestrial vegetation type may be forest, steppe, grassland, semi-arid or desert. Fresh water habitats include marshes, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and estuaries, and marine habitats include salt marshes, the coast, the intertidal zone, reefs, bays, the open sea, the sea bed, deep water and submarine vents.\n\nHabitats change over time. This may be due to a violent event such as the eruption of a volcano, an earthquake, a tsunami, a wildfire or a change in oceanic currents; or the change may be more gradual over millennia with alterations in the climate, as ice sheets and glaciers advance and retreat, and as different weather patterns bring changes of precipitation and solar radiation. Other changes come as a direct result of human activities; deforestation, the ploughing of ancient grasslands, the diversion and damming of rivers, the draining of marshland and the dredging of the seabed. The introduction of alien species can have a devastating effect on native wildlife, through increased predation, through competition for resources or through the introduction of pests and diseases to which the native species have no immunity.\n\nDefinition and etymology\n\nThe word \"habitat\" has been in use since about 1755 and derives from the Latin third-person singular present indicative of habitāre, to inhabit, from habēre, to have or to hold. Habitat can be defined as the natural environment of an organism, the place in which it is natural for it to live and grow. It is similar in meaning to a biotope, an area of uniform environmental conditions associated with a particular community of plants and animals. \n\nEnvironmental factors\n\nThe chief environmental factors affecting the distribution of living organisms are temperature, humidity, climate, soil type and light intensity, and the presence or absence of all the requirements that the organism needs to sustain it. Generally speaking, animal communities are reliant on specific types of plant communities.\n\nSome plants and animals are generalists, and their habitat requirements are met in a wide range of locations. The small white butterfly (Pieris rapae) for example is found on all the continents of the world apart from Antarctica. Its larvae feed on a wide range of Brassicas and various other plant species, and it thrives in any open location with diverse plant associations. The large blue butterfly is much more specific in its requirements; it is found only in chalk grassland areas, its larvae feed on Thymus species and because of complex lifecycle requirements it inhabits only areas in which Myrmica ants live.\n\nDisturbance is important in the creation of biodiverse habitats. In the absence of disturbance, a climax vegetation cover develops that prevents the establishment of other species. Wildflower meadows are sometimes created by conservationists but most of the flowering plants used are either annuals or biennials and disappear after a few years in the absence of patches of bare ground on which their seedlings can grow. Lightning strikes and toppled trees in tropical forests allow species richness to be maintained as pioneering species move in to fill the gaps created. Similarly coastal habitats can become dominated by kelp until the seabed is disturbed by a storm and the algae swept away, or shifting sediment exposes new areas for colonisation. Another cause of disturbance is when an area may be overwhelmed by an invasive introduced species which is not kept under control by natural enemies in its new habitat. \n\nTypes of habitat\n\nTerrestrial habitat types include forests, grasslands, wetlands and deserts. Within these broad biomes are more specific habitats with varying climate types, temperature regimes, soils, altitudes and vegetation types. Many of these habitats grade into each other and each one has its own typical communities of plants and animals. A habitat may suit a particular species well, but its presence or absence at any particular location depends to some extent on chance, on its dispersal abilities and its efficiency as a coloniser.\n\nFreshwater habitats include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes and bogs. Although some organisms are found across most of these habitats, the majority have more specific requirements. The water velocity, its temperature and oxygen saturation are important factors, but in river systems, there are fast and slow sections, pools, bayous and backwaters which provide a range of habitats. Similarly, aquatic plants can be floating, semi-submerged, submerged or grow in permanently or temporarily saturated soils besides bodies of water. Marginal plants provide important habitat for both invertebrates and vertebrates, and submerged plants provide oxygenation of the water, absorb nutrients and play a part in the reduction of pollution.\n\nMarine habitats include brackish water, estuaries, bays, the open sea, the intertidal zone, the sea bed, reefs and deep water zones. Further variations include rock pools, sand banks, mudflats, brackish lagoons, sandy and pebbly beaches, and seagrass beds, all supporting their own flora and fauna. The benthic zone or seabed provides a home for both static organisms, anchored to the substrate, and for a large range of organisms crawling on or burrowing into the surface. Some creatures float among the waves on the surface of the water, or raft on floating debris, others swim at a range of depths, including organisms in the demersal zone close to the seabed, and myriads of organisms drift with the currents and form the plankton.\n\nA desert is not the kind of habitat that favours the presence of amphibians, with their requirement for water to keep their skins moist and for the development of their young. Nevertheless, some frogs live in deserts, creating moist habitats underground and hibernating while conditions are adverse. Couch's spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus couchii) emerges from its burrow when a downpour occurs and lays its eggs in the transient pools that form; the tadpoles develop with great rapidity, sometimes in as little as nine days, undergo metamorphosis, and feed voraciously before digging a burrow of their own. \n\nOther organisms cope with the drying up of their aqueous habitat in other ways. Vernal pools are ephemeral ponds that form in the rainy season and dry up afterwards. They have their specially-adapted characteristic flora, mainly consisting of annuals, the seeds of which survive the drought, but also some uniquely adapted perennials. Animals adapted to these extreme habitats also exist; fairy shrimps can lay \"winter eggs\" which are resistant to desiccation, sometimes being blown about with the dust, ending up in new depressions in the ground. These can survive in a dormant state for as long as fifteen years. Some killifish behave in a similar way; their eggs hatch and the juvenile fish grow with great rapidity when the conditions are right, but the whole population of fish may end up as eggs in diapause in the dried up mud that was once a pond. \n\nMany animals and plants have taken up residence in urban environments. They tend to be adaptable generalists and use the town's features to make their homes. Rats and mice have followed man around the globe, pigeons, peregrines, sparrows, swallows and house martins use the buildings for nesting, bats use roof space for roosting, foxes visit the garbage bins and squirrels, coyotes, raccoons and skunks roam the streets. About 2,000 coyotes are thought to live in and around Chicago. A survey of dwelling houses in northern European cities in the twentieth century found about 175 species of invertebrate inside them, including 53 species of beetle, 21 flies, 13 butterflies and moths, 13 mites, 9 lice, 7 bees, 5 wasps, 5 cockroaches, 5 spiders, 4 ants and a number of other groups. In warmer climates, termites are serious pests in the urban habitat; 183 species are known to affect buildings and 83 species cause serious structural damage. \n\nMicrohabitats\n\nA microhabitat is the small-scale physical requirements of a particular organism or population. Every habitat includes large numbers of microhabitats with subtly different exposure to light, humidity, temperature, air movement, and other factors. The lichens that grow on the north face of a boulder are different to those that grow on the south face, from those on the level top and those that grow on the ground nearby; the lichens growing in the grooves and on the raised surfaces are different from those growing on the veins of quartz. Lurking among these miniature \"forests\" are the microfauna, each species of invertebrate with its own specific habitat requirements. \n\nThere are numerous different microhabitats in a wood; coniferous forest, broad-leafed forest, open woodland, scattered trees, woodland verges, clearings and glades; tree trunk, branch, twig, bud, leaf, flower and fruit; rough bark, smooth bark, damaged bark, rotten wood, hollow, groove and hole; canopy, shrub layer, plant layer, leaf litter and soil; buttress root, stump, fallen log, stem base, grass tussock, fungus, fern and moss. The greater the structural diversity in the wood, the greater the number of microhabitats that will be present. A range of tree species with individual specimens of varying sizes and ages, and a range of features such as streams, level areas, slopes, tracks, clearings and felled areas will provide suitable conditions for an enormous number of biodiverse plants and animals. For example, in Britain it has been estimated that various types of rotting wood are home to over 1700 species of invertebrate.\n\nFor a parasitic organism, its habitat is the particular part of the outside or inside of its host on or in which it is adapted to live. The life cycle of some parasites involves several different host species, as well as free-living life stages, sometimes providing vastly different microhabitats. One such organism is the trematode (flatworm) Microphallus turgidus, present in brackish water marshes in the southeastern United States. Its first intermediate host is a snail and the second, a glass shrimp. The final host is the waterfowl or mammal that consumes the shrimp. \n\nExtreme habitats\n\nAlthough the vast majority of life on Earth lives in mesophyllic (moderate) environments, a few organisms, most of them microbes, have managed to colonise extreme environments that are unsuitable for most higher life forms. There are bacteria, for example, living in Lake Whillans, half a mile below the ice of Antarctica; in the absence of sunlight, they must rely on organic material from elsewhere, perhaps decaying matter from glacier melt water or minerals from the underlying rock. Other bacteria can be found in abundance in the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the ocean and on Earth; marine snow drifts down from the surface layers of the sea and accumulates in this undersea valley, providing nourishment for an extensive community of bacteria. \n\nOther microbes live in habitats lacking in oxygen, and are dependent on chemical reactions other than photosynthesis. Boreholes drilled 300 m into the rocky seabed have found microbial communities apparently based on the products of reactions between water and the constituents of rocks. These communities have been little studied, but may be an important part of the global carbon cycle. Rock in mines two miles deep also harbour microbes; these live on minute traces of hydrogen produced in slow oxidizing reactions inside the rock. These metabolic reactions allow life to exist in places with no oxygen or light, an environment that had previously been thought to be devoid of life. \n\nThe intertidal zone and the photic zone in the oceans are relatively familiar habitats. However the vast bulk of the ocean is unhospitable to air-breathing humans, with scuba divers limited to the upper 50 m or so. The lower limit for photosynthesis is 100 to and below that depth the prevailing conditions include total darkness, high pressure, little oxygen (in some places), scarce food resources and extreme cold. This habitat is very challenging to research, and as well as being little studied, it is vast, with 79% of the Earth's biosphere being at depths greater than 1000 m. With no plant life, the animals in this zone are either detritivores, reliant on food drifting down from surface layers, or they are predators, feeding on each other. Some organisms are pelagic, swimming or drifting in mid-ocean, while others are benthic, living on or near the seabed. Their growth rates and metabolisms tend to be slow, their eyes may be very large to detect what little illumination there is, or they may be blind and rely on other sensory inputs. A number of deep sea creatures are bioluminescent; this serves a variety of functions including predation, protection and social recognition. In general, the bodies of animals living at great depths are adapted to high pressure environments by having pressure-resistant biomolecules and small organic molecules present in their cells know as piezolytes, which give the proteins the flexibility they need. There are also unsaturated fats in their membranes which prevent them from solidifying at low temperatures. \n\nHydrothermal vents were first discovered in the ocean depths in 1977. They result from seawater becoming heated after seeping through cracks to places where hot magma is close to the seabed. The under-water hot springs may gush forth at temperatures of over 340 °C and support unique communities of organisms in their immediate vicinity. The basis for this teeming life is chemosynthesis, a process by which microbes convert such substances as hydrogen sulfide or ammonia into organic molecules. These bacteria and Archaea are the primary producers in these ecosystems and support a diverse array of life. About 350 species of organism, dominated by molluscs, polychaete worms and crustaceans, had been discovered around hydrothermal vents by the end of the twentieth century, most of them being new to science and endemic to these habitats. \n\nBesides providing locomotion opportunities for winged animals and a conduit for the dispersal of pollen grains, spores and seeds, the atmosphere can be considered to be a habitat in its own right. There are metabolically active microbes present that actively reproduce and spend their whole existence airborne, with hundreds of thousands of individual organisms estimated to be present in a cubic metre of air. The airborne microbial community may be as diverse as that found in soil or other terrestrial environments, however these organisms are not evenly distributed, their densities varying spatially with altitude and environmental conditions. Aerobiology has been little studied, but there is evidence of nitrogen fixation in clouds, and less clear evidence of carbon cycling, both facilitated by microbial activity. \n\nThere are other examples of extreme habitats where specially adapted lifeforms exist; tar pits teeming with microbial life; naturally occurring crude oil pools inhabited by the larvae of the petroleum fly; hot springs where the temperature may be as high as 71 °C and cyanobacteria create microbial mats; cold seeps where the methane and hydrogen sulfide issue from the ocean floor and support microbes and higher animals such as mussels which form symbiotic associations with these anaerobic organisms; salt pans harbour salt-tolerant microorganisms and also Wallemia ichthyophaga, a basidomycotous fungus; ice sheets in Antarctica which support fungi Thelebolus spp., and snowfields on which algae grow. \n\nHabitat change\n\nWhether from natural processes or the activities of man, landscapes and their associated habitats change over time. There are the slow geomorphological changes associated with the geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence, and the more rapid changes associated with earthquakes, landslides, storms, flooding, wildfires, coastal erosion, deforestation and changes in land use. Then there are the changes in habitats brought on by alterations in farming practices, tourism, pollution, fragmentation and climate change.\n\nLoss of habitat is the single greatest threat to any species. If an island on which an endemic organism lives becomes uninhabitable for some reason, the species will become extinct. Any type of habitat surrounded by a different habitat is in a similar situation to an island. If a forest is divided into parts by logging, with strips of cleared land separating woodland blocks, and the distances between the remaining fragments exceeds the distance an individual animal is able to travel, that species becomes especially vulnerable. Small populations generally lack genetic diversity and may be threatened by increased predation, increased competition, disease and unexpected catastrophe. At the edge of each forest fragment, increased light encourages secondary growth of fast-growing species and old growth trees are more vulnerable to logging as access is improved. The birds that nest in their crevices, the epiphytes that hang from their branches and the invertebrates in the leaf litter are all adversely affected and biodiversity is reduced. Habitat fragmentation can be ameliorated to some extent by the provision of wildlife corridors connecting the fragments. These can be a river, ditch, strip of trees, hedgerow or even an underpass to a highway. Without the corridors, seeds cannot disperse and animals, especially small ones, cannot travel through the hostile territory, putting populations at greater risk of local extinction. \n\nHabitat disturbance can have long-lasting effects on the environment. Bromus tectorum is a vigorous grass from Europe which has been introduced to the United States where it has become invasive. It is highly adapted to fire, producing large amounts of flammable detritus and increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires. In areas where it has become established, it has altered the local fire regimen to such an extant that native plants cannot survive the frequent fires, allowing it to become even more dominant. A marine example is when sea urchin populations \"explode\" in coastal waters and destroy all the macroalgae present. What was previously a kelp forest becomes an urchin barren that may last for years and this can have a profound effect on the food chain. Removal of the sea urchins, by disease for example, can result in the seaweed returning, with an over-abundance of fast-growing kelp. \n\nHabitat protection\n\nThe protection of habitats is a necessary step in the maintenance of biodiversity because if habitat destruction occurs, the animals and plants reliant on that habitat suffer. Many countries have enacted legislation to protect their wildlife. This may take the form of the setting up of national parks, forest reserves and wildlife reserves, or it may restrict the activities of humans with the objective of benefiting wildlife. The laws may be designed to protect a particular species or group of species, or the legislation may prohibit such activities as the collecting of bird eggs, the hunting of animals or the removal of plants. A general law on the protection of habitats may be more difficult to implement than a site specific requirement. A concept introduced in the Unites States in 1973 involves protecting the critical habitat of endangered species, and a similar concept has been incorporated into some Australian legislation.\n\nInternational treaties may be necessary for such objectives as the setting up of marine reserves. Another international agreement, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, protects animals that migrate across the globe and need protection in more than one country. However, the protection of habitats needs to take into account the needs of the local residents for food, fuel and other resources. Even where legislation protects the environment, a lack of enforcement often prevents effective protection. Faced with food shortage, a farmer is likely to plough up a level patch of ground despite it being the last suitable habitat for an endangered species such as the San Quintin kangaroo rat, and even kill the animal as a pest. In this regard, it is desirable to educate the community on the uniqueness of their flora and fauna and the benefits of ecotourism. \n\nMonotypic habitat\n\nA monotypic habitat is one in which a single species of animal or plant is so dominant as to virtually exclude all other species. An example would be sugarcane; this is planted, burnt and harvested, with herbicides killing weeds and pesticides controlling invertebrates. The monotypic habitat occurs in botanical and zoological contexts, and is a component of conservation biology. In restoration ecology of native plant communities or habitats, some invasive species create monotypic stands that replace and/or prevent other species, especially indigenous ones, from growing there. A dominant colonization can occur from retardant chemicals exuded, nutrient monopolization, or from lack of natural controls such as herbivores or climate, that keep them in balance with their native habitats. The yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, is a botanical monotypic-habitat example of this, currently dominating over 15000000 acre in California alone. The non-native freshwater zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, that colonizes areas of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, is a zoological monotypic-habitat example; the predators that control it in its home-range in Russia are absent and it proliferates abundantly. Even though its name may seem to imply simplicity as compared with polytypic habitats, the monotypic habitat can be complex. Aquatic habitats, such as exotic Hydrilla beds, support a similarly rich fauna of macroinvertebrates to a more varied habitat, but the creatures present may differ between the two, affecting small fish and other animals higher up the food chain.",
"Budgerigar.txt\nBudgerigar\nThe budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), also known as common pet parakeet or shell parakeet and informally nicknamed the budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot. Budgerigars are the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus, and are found wild throughout the drier parts of Australia where the species has survived harsh inland conditions for the last five million years. Budgerigars are naturally green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings, but have been bred in captivity with colouring in blues, whites, yellows, greys, and even with small crests. Budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. The origin of the budgerigar's name is unclear. The species was first recorded in 1805, and today is the third most popular pet in the world, after the domesticated dog and cat. \n\nThe budgerigar is closely related to the lories and the fig parrots. They are one of the parakeet species, a non-taxonomical term that refers to any of a number of small parrots with long, flat and tapered tails. In both captivity and the wild, budgerigars breed opportunistically and in pairs.\n\nBiology \n\nEvolutionary history \n\nThe budgerigar has been thought to be the link between the genera Neophema and Pezoporus based on the barred plumage. However, recent phylogenetic studies using DNA sequences place the budgerigar very close to the lories (tribe Loriini) and the fig parrots (tribe Cyclopsittini).\n\nAnatomy and physiology \n\nWild budgerigars average 18 cm long, weigh 30 -, and display a light green body colour (abdomen and rumps), while their mantles (back and wing coverts) display pitch-black mantle markings (blackish in fledgelings and immatures) edged in clear yellow undulations. The forehead and face is yellow in adults but with blackish stripes down to the cere (nose) in young individuals until they change into their adult plumage around three to four months of age. They display small, iridescent blue-violet cheek patches and a series of three black spots across each side of their throats (called throat patches). The two outermost throat spots are situated at the base of each cheek patch. The tail is cobalt (dark-blue); and outside tail feathers display central yellow flashes. Their wings have greenish-black flight feathers and black coverts with yellow fringes along with central yellow flashes, which only become visible in flight or when the wings are outstretched. Bills are olive grey and legs blueish-grey, with zygodactyl toes.\n\nBudgerigars in their natural habitat in Australia are noticeably smaller than those in captivity. This particular parrot species has been bred in many other colours and shades in captivity (e.g. blue, grey, grey-green, pieds, violet, white, yellow-blue), although they are mostly found in pet stores in blue, green, and yellow. Like most parrot species, budgerigar plumage fluoresces under ultraviolet light. This phenomenon is possibly related to courtship and mate selection.\n\nThe upper half of their beaks is much taller than the bottom half and covers the bottom when closed. The beak does not protrude much, due to the thick, fluffy feathers surrounding it, giving the appearance of a downward-pointing beak that lies flat against the face. The upper half acts as a long, smooth cover, while the bottom half is just about a half-sized cup-piece. These beaks allow the birds to eat plants, fruits, and vegetables.\n\nThe colour of the cere (the area containing the nostrils) differs between the sexes, being royal blue in males, pale brown to white (nonbreeding) or brown (breeding) in females, and pink in immatures of both sexes (usually of a more even purplish-pink colour in young males). Some female budgerigars develop brown cere only during breeding time, which later returns to the normal colour. Young females can often be identified by a subtle, chalky whiteness that starts around the nostrils. Males that are either Albino, Lutino, Dark-eyed Clear or Recessive Pied (Danishpied or harlequin) always retain the immature purplish-pink cere colour their entire lives.\n\nIt is usually easy to tell the sex of a budgerigar over six months old, mainly by the cere colours, but behaviours and head shape also help indicate sex.\n\nA mature male's cere is usually light to dark blue, but can be purplish to pink in some particular colour mutations, such as Dark-eyed Clears, Danish Pieds (Recessive Pieds) and Inos, which usually display much rounder heads. Males are typically cheerful, extroverted, highly flirtatious, peacefully social, and very vocal.\n\nFemales' ceres are pinkish as immatures and switch from being beigish or whitish outside breeding condition into brown (often with a 'crusty' texture) in breeding condition and usually display flattened backs of heads (right above the nape region). Females are typically highly dominant and more socially intolerant. \nWhen females get older, their ceres tend to be brown usually, females are often more bossy and rude with members of their own sex, but with males they get along better; usually when budgies of both sexes are put together, they tend to be more kind to each other. Some will not even fight or peck at each other for their life time.\n\nVision \n\nLike many birds, budgerigars have tetrachromatic colour vision, but all four classes of cone cells operating simultaneously requires the full spectrum provided by sunlight.Color Vision of the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus): Hue Matches, Tetrachromacy, and Intensity Discrimination. Timothy H. Goldsmith and Byron K. Butler in Journal of Comparative Physiology A, Vol. 191, No. 10, pages 933–951; October 2005. The ultraviolet spectrum brightens their feathers to attract mates. The throat spots in budgerigars reflect UV and can be used to distinguish individual birds.\n\nEcology \n\nBudgerigars are nomadic birds found in open habitats, primarily in scrublands, open woodlands, and grasslands of Australia. The birds are normally found in small flocks, but can form very large flocks under favourable conditions. The nomadic movement of the flocks is tied to the availability of food and water. Drought can drive flocks into more wooded habitat or coastal areas. They feed on the seeds of spinifex, grass seeds, and sometimes ripening wheat. \n\nNaturalised feral budgerigars have been recorded since the 1940s in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area of the United States, but are much less common now than they were in the early 1980s. Increased competition from European starlings and house sparrows is thought to be the primary cause of the population decline. \n\nBudgerigars and humans \n\nEtymology \n\nSeveral possible origins for the name \"budgerigar\" have been proposed:\n* A mispronunciation or alteration of Gamilaraay gidjirrigaa, possibly influenced by the Australian slang word \"budgery\", meaning \"good\".\n* Similarly, from gijirragaa from the Yuwaalaraay. The nomadic nature of Australia's aboriginals would lend itself to forming common linguistic references, and since none had any written language, differences in pronunciation and the presentation thereof are subjective within the constructs of Western hearing.\n* A compound of \"budgery\", \"good\" and gar \"cockatoo\". The word \"budgery\", also spelt \"boojery\", was formerly in use in Australian English slang meaning \"good\".\n\nAlternate spellings include budgerygah and betcherrygah.\n\nJohn Gould (see below) noted the term betcherrygah was used by indigenous people of the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales. While many references mention \"good\" as part of the meaning, and a few specify \"good bird\", it is quite possible that reports by those local to the region are more accurate in specifying the direct translation as \"good food\". There are apocryphal reports that this could also translate as \"tasty treat\", implying they were eaten by the aboriginals. However, it is more likely the name derived from their migratory nature. With seasonal changes that left parts of the Liverpool Plains barren, they would move to areas with residual water, that still produced the seeds they sought. By following the birds, the aboriginals could locate water, and also other game and food plants. Thus, the birds could lead them to \"good food\".\n\nOther names\n\nThe budgerigar was first described by George Shaw in 1805, and given its current binomial name by John Gould in 1840. The genus name Melopsittacus comes from Greek and means \"melodious parrot\". The species name undulatus is Latin for \"undulated\" or \"wave-patterned\". \n\nAlternative common names for the budgerigar include the shell parrot, the warbling grass parakeet, the canary parrot, the zebra parrot, the flight bird, the scallop parrot. Although more applicable to members of the genus Agapornis, the name lovebird has been applied to them from their habit of mutual preening.\n\nAviculture \n\nThe budgerigar has been bred in captivity since the 1850s. Breeders have worked to produce a variety of colour, pattern, and feather mutations, including albino, blue, cinnamon-ino (lacewinged), clearwinged, crested, dark, greywinged, opaline, pieds, spangled, dilute (suffused), and violet.\n\nEnglish or \"show\" budgerigars are about twice as large as their wild counterparts, and with a larger size and puffier head feathers have a boldly exaggerated look. The eyes and beak can be almost totally obscured by these fluffy head feathers. English budgerigars are typically more expensive than wild-type birds, and have shorter life span of about seven to nine years. Breeders of English budgerigars often exhibit their birds at animal shows. Most captive budgerigars in the pet trade are more similar in size and body conformation to wild budgerigars.\n\nBudgerigars are social animals and require stimulation in the shape of toys and interaction with humans or with other budgerigars. Budgerigars, and especially females, will chew material such as wood. When a budgerigar feels threatened, it will try to perch as high as possible and to bring its feathers close against its body in order to appear thinner.\n\nTame budgerigars can be taught to speak, whistle, and play with humans. Both males and females sing and can learn to mimic sounds and words and do simple tricks, but singing and mimicry are more pronounced and better perfected in males. Females rarely learn to mimic more than a dozen words. Males can easily acquire vocabularies ranging from a few dozen to a hundred words. Pet males, especially those kept alone, are generally the best speakers.\n\nBudgerigars will chew on anything they can find to keep their beaks trimmed. Mineral blocks (ideally enriched with iodine), cuttlebone, and soft wooden pieces are suitable for this activity. Cuttlebones also supply calcium, essential for the proper forming of eggs and bone solidity. In captivity, budgerigars live an average of five to eight years, but life spans of 15–20 years have been reported. The life span depends on breed, lineage, and health, being highly influenced by exercise and diet. Budgerigars have been known to cause \"bird fancier's lung\" in sensitive people, a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. \n\nBreeding \n\nBreeding in the wild generally takes place between June and September in northern Australia and between August and January in the south, although budgerigars are opportunistic breeders and respond to rains when grass seeds become most abundant. They show signs of affection to their flockmates by preening or feeding one another. Budgerigars feed one another by eating the seeds themselves, and then regurgitating it into their flockmate's mouth. Populations in some areas have increased as a result of increased water availability at farms. Nests are made in holes in trees, fence posts, or logs lying on the ground; the four to six eggs are incubated for 18–21 days, with the young fledging about 30 days after hatching.\n\nIn the wild, virtually all parrot species require a hollow tree or a hollow log as a nest site. Because of this natural behavior, budgerigars most easily breed in captivity when provided with a reasonable-sized nest box.\nThe eggs are typically one to two centimetres long and are pearl white without any colouration if fertile. Female budgerigars can lay eggs without a male partner, but these unfertilised eggs will not hatch. Females normally have a whitish tan cere, however when the female is laying eggs, her cere turns a crusty brown colour. Certain female budgies may always keep a whitish tan cere or always keep a crusty brown cere regardless of breeding condition. A female budgerigar will lay her eggs on alternate days. After the first one, there is usually a two-day gap until the next. She will usually lay between four and eight eggs, which she will incubate (usually starting after laying her second or third) for about 21 days each. Females only leave their nests for very quick defecations, stretches and quick meals once they have begun incubating and are by then almost exclusively fed by their mate (usually at the nest's entrance). Females will not allow a male to enter the nest, unless he forces his way inside. Depending on the clutch size and the beginning of incubation, the age difference between the first and last hatchling can be anywhere from 9 to 16 days. At times, the parents may begin eating their own eggs due to feeling insecure in the nest box.\n\nChick health \n\nBreeding difficulties arise for various reasons. Some chicks may die from diseases and attacks from adults. Other budgerigars (virtually always females) may fight over the nest box, attacking each other or a brood. Sometimes, budgerigars (mainly males) are not interested in the opposite sex, and will not reproduce with them; a flock setting—several pairs housed where they can see and hear each other—is necessary to stimulate breeding. Another problem may be the birds' beaks being under lapped, where the lower mandible is above the upper mandible.\n\nMost health issues and physical abnormalities in budgerigars are genetic. Care should be taken that birds used for breeding are active, healthy, and unrelated. Budgerigars that are related or which have fatty tumours or other potential genetic health problems should not be allowed to breed. Parasites (lice, mites, worms) and pathogens (bacteria, fungi and viruses), are contagious and thus transmitted between individuals through either direct or indirect contact. Nest boxes should be cleaned between uses.\n\nSplay leg is a relatively common problem in baby budgerigars and other birds; one the budgerigar's legs is bent outward, which prevents it from being able to stand properly and compete with the other chicks for food, and can also lead to difficulties in reproducing in adulthood. The condition is caused by young budgerigars slipping repeatedly on the floor of a nest box. It is easily avoided by placing a small quantity of a safe bedding or wood shavings in the bottom of the nest box. Alternatively, several pieces of paper may be placed in the box for the female to chew into bedding.\n\nDevelopment \n\nEggs take about 18–20 days before they start hatching. The hatchlings are altricial – blind, naked, unable to lift their head, and totally helpless, and their mother feeds them and keeps them warm constantly. Around 10 days of age, the chicks' eyes will open, and they will start to develop feather down. The appearance of down occurs at the age for closed banding of the chicks. Budgerigar's closed band rings must be neither larger nor smaller than 4.0 to 4.2 mm.\n\nThey develop feathers around three weeks of age. (One can often easily note the colour mutation of the individual birds at this point.) At this stage of the chicks' development, the male usually has begun to enter the nest to help his female in caring and feeding the chicks. Some budgerigar females, however, totally forbid the male from entering the nest and thus take the full responsibility of rearing the chicks until they fledge.\n\nDepending on the size of the clutch and most particularly in the case of single mothers, it may then be wise to transfer a portion of the hatchlings (or best of the fertile eggs) to another pair. The foster pair must already be in breeding mode and thus either at the laying or incubating stages, or already rearing hatchlings.\n\nAs the chicks develop and grow feathers, they are able to be left on their own for longer periods of time. By the fifth week, the chicks are strong enough that both parents will be comfortable in staying out of the nest more. The youngsters will stretch their wings to gain strength before they attempt to fly. They will also help defend the box from enemies, mostly with their loud screeching. Young budgerigars typically fledge (leave the nest) around their fifth week of age and are usually completely weaned between six and eight weeks old. However, the age for fledging, as well as weaning, can vary slightly depending on whether its age and the number of surviving chicks. Generally speaking, the oldest chick is the first to be weaned. Though it is logically the last one to be weaned, the youngest chick is often weaned at a younger age than its older sibling(s). This can be a result of mimicking the actions of older siblings. Lone surviving chicks are often weaned at the youngest possible age as a result of having their parents' full attention and care.\n\nHand-reared budgies may take slightly longer to wean than parent-raised chicks. Hand feeding is not routinely done with budgerigars, due to their small size, and because young parent raised birds can be readily tamed.\n\nColour mutations \n\nAll captive budgerigars are divided into two basic series of colours; namely, white-based (blue, grey and white) and yellow-based (green, grey-green and yellow). Presently, at least 32 primary mutations (including violet) occur, enabling hundreds of possible secondary mutations (stable combined primary mutations) and colour varieties (unstable combined mutations).\n\nMimicry \n\nMale specimens of budgerigars are considered to be one of the top five talking champions amongst parrot species, alongside the African grey, the amazon, and the eclectus parrots, and the ring-necked parakeet.\n\nPuck, a male budgerigar owned by American Camille Jordan, holds the world record for the largest vocabulary of any bird, at 1,728 words. Puck died in 1994, with the record first appearing in the 1995 edition of Guinness World Records. \n\nIn 2001, recordings of a budgerigar called Victor got some attention from the media. Victor's owner, Ryan B. Reynolds of Canada, stated Victor was able to engage in contextual conversation and predict the future. Though some believe the animal was able to predict his own death as was claimed, further study on the subject is difficult without the bird. The recordings still remain to be verified by scientific analysis. Critics argue Victor's speech in the recordings is not coherent enough to be determined as spoken in context. \n\nPet budgies have continued to make headlines all over the world for their mimicry, talking ability, and charm. One budgie, named Disco, has become an internet superstar. As of 2013, Disco has been viewed over 6,067,744 times on his YouTube channel. Some of Disco's most popular key phrases include, \"I am not a crook\" and \"Nobody puts baby bird in a corner!\""
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"Badger.txt\nBadger\nBadgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae, which also includes the otters, polecats, weasels and wolverines. They belong to the caniform suborder of carnivoran mammals.\n\nThe 11 species of badger are grouped in three subfamilies: Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (the honey badger or ratel) and Taxideinae (the American badger). The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included within Melinae (and thus Mustelidae), but recent genetic evidence indicates these are actually members of the skunk family, placing them in the taxonomic family Mephitidae.\n\nBadgers include the species in the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Taxidea and Mellivora. Their lower jaws are articulated to the upper by means of transverse condyles firmly locked into long cavities of the skull, so dislocation of the jaw is all but impossible. This enables the badgers to maintain their hold with the utmost tenacity, but limits jaw movement to hinging open and shut, or sliding from side to side without the twisting movement possible for the jaws of most mammals.\n\nBadgers have rather short, fat bodies, with short legs for digging. They have elongated weasel-like heads with small ears. Their tails vary in length depending on species; the stink badger has a very short tail, while the ferret badger's tail can be 46 - long, depending on age. They have black faces with distinctive white markings, grey bodies with a light-coloured stripe from head to tail, and dark legs with light coloured underbellies. They grow to around 90 cm in length including tail. The European badger is one of the largest; the American badger, the hog badger and the honey badger are generally a little smaller and lighter. The stink badgers are smaller still, and the ferret badgers are the smallest of all. They weigh around 9 - on average, with some Eurasian badgers weighing in at around 18 kg. \n\nEtymology \n\nThe word \"badger\", originally applied to the European badger (Meles meles), comes from earlier bageard (16th century), presumably referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead. Similarly, a now archaic synonym was bauson ‘badger’ (1375), a variant of bausond ‘striped, piebald’, from Old French bausant, baucent ‘id.’. \n\nThe less common name brock (Old English: brocc), (Scots: brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokkos) meaning \"grey\". The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsuz (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svintoks; Early Modern English dasse), probably from the PIE root *tek'- \"to construct,\" so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsuz became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs (\"marten\" or \"badger\"), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French taisson — blaireau is now more common —, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo). \n\nA male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A collective name suggested for a group of badgers is a cete, but badger colonies are more often called clans. A badger's home is called a sett. \n\nClassification \n\nThe following list shows where the various species with the common name of badger are placed in the Mustelidae classification. The list is polyphyletic and the species commonly called badgers do not, if the stink badgers are included, form a valid clade.\n* Family Mustelidae\n** Subfamily Melinae\n\n*** Genus Arctonyx\n**** Hog badger, Arctonyx collaris\n*** Genus Meles\n**** Japanese badger, Meles anakuma\n**** Asian badger, Meles leucurus\n**** European badger, Meles meles\n*** Genus Melogale [Some scientists assign this genus to the subfamily Helictidinae] \n**** Burmese ferret-badger, Melogale personata\n**** Javan ferret-badger, Melogale orientalis\n**** Chinese ferret-badger, Melogale moschata\n**** Bornean ferret-badger, Melogale everetti\n**** Vietnam ferret-badger, Melogale cucphuongensis\n** Subfamily Mellivorinae\n*** Honey badger or ratel, Mellivora capensis\n** Subfamily Taxideinae:\n*** †Chamitataxus avitus\n*** †Pliotaxidea nevadensis\n*** †Pliotaxidea garberi\n*** American badger, Taxidea taxus\n** Subfamily Mustelinae\n\n* Family Mephitidae\n** Genus Mydaus\n*** Indonesian or Sunda stink badger (teledu), Mydaus javanensis\n*** Palawan stink badger, Mydaus marchei\n\nDistribution \n\nBadgers are found in much of North America, Ireland, Great Britain and most of Europe as far as southern Scandinavia. They live as far east as Japan and China. The Javan ferret-badger lives in Indonesia, Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient and the Bornean ferret-badger lives in Malaysia. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient. The honey badger is found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Desert, southern Levant, Turkmenistan, and India.\n\nBehavior \n\nThe behaviour of badgers differs by family, but all shelter underground, living in burrows called setts, which may be very extensive. Some are solitary, moving from home to home, while others are known to form clans called cetes. Cete size is variable from two to fifteen.\n\nBadgers can run or gallop at for short periods of time.\n\nBadgers are nocturnal. \n\nIn North America, coyotes sometimes eat badgers and vice versa, but the majority of their interactions seem to be mutual or neutral. American badgers and coyotes have been seen hunting together in a cooperative fashion. \n\nDiet \n\nThe diet of the Eurasian badger consists largely of earthworms (especially Lumbricus terrestris), insects, grubs, and the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds. They also eat small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, as well as roots and fruit. In Britain, they are the main predator of hedgehogs, which have demonstrably lower populations in areas where badgers are numerous, so that hedgehog rescue societies will not release hedgehogs into known badger territories. In some areas they are known to predate lambs, and may bite a ewe defending her lamb, almost always leading to infection of the bite. They are occasional predators of domestic chickens, and are able to break into enclosures that a fox cannot. In southern Spain, badgers feed to a significant degree on rabbits. The honey badger of Africa consumes honey, porcupines and even venomous snakes (such as the puff adder); they will climb trees to gain access to honey from bees' nests. American badgers are fossorial carnivores – i.e. they catch a significant proportion of their food underground, by digging. They can tunnel after ground-dwelling rodents at speed.\n\nBadgers have been known to become intoxicated with alcohol after eating rotting fruit. \n\nRelation with humans \n\nSport \n\nHunting badgers has been common in many countries. The Dachshund (German for \"badger hound\") dog breed was bred for the purpose.\n\nBadger-baiting was formerly a popular blood sport. Although badgers are normally quite docile, they fight fiercely when cornered. This led people to capture and box badgers and then wager on whether a dog could succeed in removing the badger from its refuge. In England, opposition from naturalists and moral crusaders led to its ban under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and the Protection of Badgers Act of 1992 made it a serious offence to kill, injure, or take a badger or to interfere with a sett unless under license from a statutory authority. The Hunting Act of 2004 further banned fox hunters from blocking badger setts during their chases.\n\nCulling \n\nControlling the badger population is prohibited in many European countries, as badgers are listed in the Berne Convention, but they are not otherwise the subject of any international treaty or legislation. Many badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. \n\nUntil the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomised trial cull which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, while others favoured a programme of vaccination. Wales and Northern Ireland are currently (2013) conducting field trials of a badger vaccination programme. In 2012, the government authorised a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, however, this was later deferred with a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where it is expected about 5,000 badgers will be killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers will be trapped in cages first). The cull has caused many protests with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, it has been claimed by shadow ministers that \"The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...\", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots \"will not yield any useful information\".\n\nPets \n\nBadgers can be tamed and then kept as pets. Keeping a badger as a pet or offering one for sale is an offence in the United Kingdom under the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act. \n\nCommercial use \n\nBadgers have been trapped commercially for their pelts, which have been used for centuries to make shaving brushes, a purpose to which it is particularly suited owing to its high water retention. Virtually all commercially badger hair now comes from mainland China, though, which has farms for the purpose. The Chinese supply three grades of hair to domestic and foreign brush makers. Village cooperatives are also licensed by the national government to hunt and process badgers to avoid their becoming a crop nuisance in rural northern China. The European badger is also used as trim for some traditional Scottish clothing. The American badger is also used for paintbrushes and as trim for some Native American garments. It has also been occasionally used for doll hair.\n\nFood \n\nAlthough rarely eaten today in the United States or the United Kingdom, badgers were once a primary meat source for the diets of Native Americans and white colonists. Badgers were also eaten in Britain during World War II and the 1950s.\n\nIn Russia, the consumption of badger meat is still widespread. Shish kebabs made from badger, along with dog meat and pork, are a major source of trichinosis outbreaks in the Altai region of Russia. In Croatia, badger meat is rarely eaten. When it is, it is usually smoked and dried or, less commonly, served in goulash.\n\nIn France, badger meat was used in the preparation of several dishes, such as Blaireau au sang, and it was a relatively common ingredient in countryside cuisine. Badger meat was eaten in some parts of Spain until recently. In Japan, badger is regarded in folktales as a food for the humble. \n\nPopular culture \n\nIn medieval times, badgers were thought to work together to dig holes under mountains. They were said to lie down at the entrance of the hole holding a stick in their mouths, while other badgers piled dirt on their bellies. Two badgers would then take hold of the stick in the badger’s mouth, and drag the animal loaded with dirt away, almost in the fashion of a wagon. \n\nThe 19th century poem \"The Badger\" by John Clare describes a badger hunt and badger-baiting. In Lafcadio Hearn's book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903), later to be the basis of a 1964 film, there is a short story titled Mujina, which is a shapeshifting badger. The character Frances in Russell Hoban's children's books, beginning with Bedtime for Frances (1948–1970), is depicted as a badger. Trufflehunter is a heroic badger in the Chronicles of Narnia book Prince Caspian (1951) by C. S. Lewis.\n\nBadger characters are featured in author Brian Jacques' Redwall series (1986–2011), most often falling under the title of Badger Lord or Badger Mother. A badger god is featured in The Immortals (1992–1996) by Tamora Pierce and \"The Badger\" is a comic book hero created by Mike Baron. The badger is the emblem of the Hufflepuff house of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series (1997–2007), it is chosen as such because the badger is an animal that is often underestimated, because it lives quietly until attacked, but which, when provoked, can fight off animals much larger than itself, which resembles the Hufflepuff house in several ways.\n\nMany other stories featuring badgers as characters include Kenneth Grahame's children's novel The Wind in the Willows (1908), Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod (1912; featuring badger Tommy Brock), the Rupert Bear adventures by Mary Tourtel (appearing since 1920), T. H. White's Arthurian fantasy novels The Once and Future King (1958, written 1938–41) and The Book of Merlyn (1977), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970) by Roald Dahl, Richard Adams's Watership Down (1972), Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood (1979), and Erin Hunter's Warriors (appearing since 2003). In the historic novel Incident at Hawk's Hill (1971) by Allan W. Eckert a badger is one of the main characters.\n\nBadgers are also featured in films and animations: a flash video of \"The Badger Song\" shows a group doing calisthenics; in Pokémon, Typhlosion and Linoone are based on badgers. Walt Disney's 1973 film Robin Hood, depicts the character of Friar Tuck as a badger. In the Doctor Snuggles series, Dennis the handyman, was a badger.\n\nIn Europe, badgers were traditionally used to predict the length of winter. The badger is the state animal of the US state of Wisconsin and Bucky Badger is the mascot of the athletic teams at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The badger is also the official mascot of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, as well as that of St Aidan's College at the University of Durham.\n\nIn 2007, the appearance of honey badgers around the British base at Basra, Iraq, fuelled rumours among the locals that British forces deliberately released \"man-eating\" and \"bear-like\" badgers to spread panic. These allegations were denied by the British army and the director of Basra's veterinary hospital. \n\nThe viral video Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger became popular in 2011, attaining over 68 million views on YouTube as of July 2014. The video features footage from the Nat Geo WILD network of honey badgers fighting jackals, invading beehives, and eating cobras, with a voiceover added by the uploader, \"Randall\".\n\nOn 28 August 2013 the PC video game Shelter was released by developers Might and Delight in which players control a mother badger protecting her cubs.",
"Badger Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia\nBadger facts, photos and information animals may out weigh a ... The European badger is also known as the Old World badger and ... Badger Facts. the honey badger or ...\nBadger Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia\nAnimal Facts Encyclopedia\nbadger Facts\nPortrait of an American Badger\nBadgers are stoutly built, powerful and cantankerous carnivores. There are eight species of badger ranging across several continents including North America, Africa, Europe and Asia.\nAll the badger species are fossorial, creating many-chambered underground dens, and spending much of their lives below ground.\nBadgers do allot of stalking at night, but are seen out and about in the daytime as well. They are excellent hunters of earth-dwelling prey including rabbits, groundhogs, ground squirrels, mice and snakes.\nSome of these animals can be fairly large in comparison to the badger, but are no match for this enormously aggressive predator.\nThe badgers sense of smell is very powerful and they can detect an animal in its burrow through soil as well as snow cover. When they locate their prey, they dig rapidly directly down into the animals den in a devastating surprise attack from above.\nBadgers also eat a variety of insects, grubs and vegetable matter including fruits and roots.\nThe word \"badger\" comes from the French word \"becheur\" meaning \"digger\" and is extremely appropriate. Everything about a badgers body says \"dig\".\nIt has massive, shovel-like front paws with five powerful toes, each tipped with curved claws as strong as steel. They can move yards of dirt in minutes, barreling in head first with long digging strokes of the front legs and quick, earth-moving shoves backwards with the rear legs.\nThe rear paws and claws are smaller and designed to doze away the soil that has already been loosened and dislodged by the front feet.\nBadgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes from all the flying soil, and thick guard hairs in their nostrils and ears to keep them clear of debris.\nA badger being pursued by a large predator such as a wolf or mountain lion can dig backwards, fangs facing out for protection and disappear beneath the soil in a matter of seconds.\nIn addition, the badger has very thick fur and loose skin which allows it to twist around, even when having been grabbed from behind by a predator, to defend itself with its impressive canines.\nMost badgers live solitary lives once weaned from their mother, but have overlapping territories and may occasionally run into each other and socialize.. - Badger Facts\nThe american or new world badger\nAmerican Badger\nThe American badger is a fixture across the plains and woodlands of the central United States. They range into Canada and Mexico as well, but the midwestern plains are their most common residence.\nThese badgers have a flattened appearance with a remarkably broad torso, short, powerful limbs, and massive front paws and claws. They have a grizzled grey body with whiter undersides and dark brown or black legs. The stripe down the center of the face is narrow compared to the European badger, and the skull and cheeks are wider with low-set ears and black cheek patches. And badgers have stout tails of a few inches in length.\nThe jaw of the American badger sets into the skull in a unique notch that locks it to the upper mandible and makes it impossible to be dislocated.\nMany of the animals the badger hunts are powerfully built diggers as well, such as the muscular groundhog and rugged prairie dog, who will wedge their sturdy legs against the walls of their dens trying to avoid extraction.\nThe specialized jaw, along with the badgers stout neck and shoulders helps the badger to dislodge its quarry.\nIt is occasionally reported that badgers and coyotes team up to hunt, but what actually occurs is that the always \"wily\" coyote waits at alternative exits for something to bolt loose from a burrow that the badger is invading. If the coyote snares an escaping gopher it does not share with the badger, and the badger certainly does not share with the coyote.\nThe American badger has numerous potential enemies on the Western plains, such as mountain lions, wolves and the ever annoying coyote.\nThese animals may out weigh a badger by three or four to one, but an adult badger is as fierce a combatant as one may encounter and more often than not, sends its agitator running for the hills. - Badger Facts\nthe european or old world badger\nEuropean or new world badger\nThe European badger is also known as the Old World badger and the Eurasian badger.As these names imply, it ranges throughout most of Europe and some parts of Western Asia.\nThe European badger has a more elongated head, a much wider white stripe down the center of the face, and appears slightly more upright than the American badger, which tends to have a somewhat \"flattened\" look.\nAlthough a solitary animal in much of its range, the European badgers of Britain and some other territories are the most social of the badger species and live in groups of 5 to 20 individuals in enormous dens that may have up to thirty different chambers and 1/2 a mile of tunnels.\nSome of these burrows called \"setts\" are decades old and are occasionally shared by other animals including red foxes and even raccoons.\nEuropean badgers also tend to travel on well-worn trails, some of which have been in use for hundreds of years.\nThis is the largest of the badger species reaching as much as 40 pounds in the late summer as it fattens up for a potentially hard winter.\nBadgers do not hibernate, but will enter a state known as torpor if the weather gets rough and snows are too deep to hunt.\nTorpor is a deep sleep that may lasts for up to three weeks but does not involve the extreme slowing of heartbeat that actual hibernation involves.\nThe European badger is slightly less aggressive then the other badger species and does not take prey quite as large as the other badgers, actually spending long hours digging for their favorite food- earthworms. - Badger Facts\nThis Form cannot be submitted until the missing\nfields (labelled below in red) have been filled in\nVote Here for Your Favorite Animal!\nPick Your Fav!\nbadger reproduction\nBadgers come together to mate in the late summer and early autumn and both males and females may mate with multiple partners. Once the female is impregnated, the development of the embryos is delayed over the winter. The eggs don't fully attach to the uterus until early spring. This is a process known as \"delayed implantation\".\nIn late winter or early spring, the eggs become implanted in the uteran wall and begin to develop. Although the entire pregnancy takes about 7 months from fertilization to delivery, the eggs do not develop at all for the first 5 months, and then, once implanted, take about 6 weeks to fully grow.\nFemales give birth deep inside their burrows to 2 to 5 cubs. The newborns are blind and only very finely furred, and completely dependent on their mother.\nShe may leave every few days to hunt, but returns quickly. The mother badger may change dens once or twice during these critical weeks to ensure the safety of her family.\nShe carries each cub one at a time to the new sette. Baby badgers mature quickly and begin chewing on kills their mother provides for them, sometimes even before their eyes are open.\nThey learn to hunt for themselves by the time they are 4 months old, and head out on their own at about 6 months old. - Badger Facts\nthe honey badger or ratel\nHoney Badger\nThe honey badger is in a separate genus from the American and European badgers, and is actually more closely related to wolverines and weasels.\nNevertheless, the honey badger is exceedingly \"badger-like\", and has a reputation for being one of the most fearless and relentless animals on Earth.\nHoney badgers are native to most of Africa and are known there as \"ratels\". This word has the same meaning as the word \"rattle\" and refers to the sound that these badgers make when they are excited.\nHoney badgers eat a large variety of prey, including young monkeys, but are especially fond of honey, of course.\nThey will seek out and attack honey bee hives with incredible determination, accepting hundreds of stings while they eat honey, honey comb and their favorite, the bee larvae which is located at the center of the hive.\nHoney badgers are not only able to accept stings from bees, but can also handle bites from the worlds deadliest snakes, like puff adders, mambas and cobras, which they happily hunt, kill and devour.\nThe honey badger is not necessarily immune to these venoms, but rather the badgers skin is so thick and tough that most bee stingers and snake fangs cannot penetrate it.\nIf the venom of a large snake does get into the system, the badger may be killed, but often just has a coma-like \"down time\" while it recovers, and before it finishes off its snake dinner.\nThe honey badger has a high metabolism and spends lots of energy crashing around its territory looking for things to consume.\nThey can, occasionally, be killed by lions, possibly leopards, but these predators don't usually take the risk involved in subduing an animals as formidable as the honey badger, which is commonly considered the fiercest animal on the planet. - Honey Badger Facts\na few more badger facts\nA group of badgers is called a \"cette\"\nBadgers live in huge underground burrows that can include up to 1/2 mile of tunnels\nThe honey badger is widely recognized as the most fearless- and fiercest - animal in the world.\nThe honey badger can survive a bite from a King cobra, and then eat the snake.\nBadgers can dig both forwards and backwards and often dig backwards disappearing straight into the ground when confronted by an enemy \nBadgers do not hibernate but may enter a state called \"torpor\" where they sleep deeply for up to three weeks\nThe word \"badger\" comes from the French word \"becheur\" which means \"digger\"\nBadgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes while they dig.- Badger Facts!\nScientific Classification:",
"European_badger.txt\nEuropean badger\nThe European badger (Meles meles) is a species of badger in the family Mustelidae and is native to almost all of Europe and some parts of the Middle East. Several subspecies are recognised; the nominate subspecies (Meles meles meles) predominates over most of Europe. The European badger is classified as being of least concern by the IUCN as it has a wide range and a large population size which is stable, and even increasing in some areas.\n\nThe European badger is a powerfully built black, white, brown and grey animal with a small head, a stocky body, small black eyes and short tail. Its weight varies, being 7–13 kg (15–29 lb) in spring but building up to 15–17 kg (33–37 lb) in autumn before the winter sleep period. It is nocturnal and is a social, burrowing animal that sleeps during the day in one of several setts in its territorial range. These burrows, which may house several badger families, have extensive systems of underground passages and chambers and have multiple entrances. Some setts have been in use for decades. Badgers are very fussy over the cleanliness of their burrow, carrying in fresh bedding and removing soiled material, and they defecate in latrines strategically situated around their territory.\n\nThough classified as a carnivore, the European badger feeds on a wide variety of plant and animal foods.The diet consists mainly of earthworms, large insects, small mammals, carrion, cereals and root tubers. Litters of up to five cubs are produced in spring. The young are weaned a few months later but usually remain within the family group. The European badger has been known to share its burrow with other species such as rabbits, red foxes and raccoon dogs, but it can be ferocious when provoked, a trait which has been exploited in the now illegal blood sport of badger-baiting. The spread of bovine tuberculosis has been attributed to badgers, however recent peer reviewed reports state that the issue is more to do with cattle management.\n\nNomenclature\n\nThe source of the word \"badger\" is uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary states it probably derives from \"badge\" + -ard, referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead, and may date to the early sixteenth century. The French word bêcheur (digger) has also been suggested as a source. A male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A badger's home is called a sett. Badger colonies are often called clans.\n\nThe far older name \"brock\" (Old English: brocc), (Scots: brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokko) meaning \"grey\". The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsu- (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svin-toks; Early Modern English: dasse), probably from the PIE root *tek'- \"to construct,\" so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsu- became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs (\"marten\" or \"badger\"), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French tesson/taisson/tasson—now blaireau is more common—, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo). \n\nUntil the mid-18th century, European badgers were variously known in English as 'brock', 'pate', 'grey' and 'bawson'. The name \"bawson\" is derived from \"bawsened\", which refers to something striped with white. \"Pate\" is a local name which was once popular in northern England. The name \"badget\" was once common, but restricted to Norfolk, while \"earth dog\" was used in southern Ireland. The badger is commonly referred to in Welsh as a \"mochyn daear\" (earth pig).\n \n\nOrigin\n\nThe species likely evolved from the Chinese Meles thorali of the early Pleistocene. The modern species originated during the early Middle Pleistocene, with fossil sites occurring in Episcopia, Grombasek, Süssenborn, Hundsheim, Erpfingen, Koneprusy, Mosbach 2, and Stránská Skála. A comparison between fossil and living specimens shows a marked progressive adaptation to omnivory, namely in the increase in the molars' surface areas and the modification of the carnassials. Occasionally, badger bones may be discovered in strata from much earlier dates, due to the burrowing habits of the animal. \n\nSubspecies\n\n, eight subspecies are recognised.\n\nDescription\n\nEuropean badgers are powerfully built animals with small heads, thick, short necks, stocky, wedge-shaped bodies and short tails. Their feet are digitigrade and short, with five toes on each foot. The limbs are short and massive, with naked lower surfaces on the feet. The claws are strong, elongated and have an obtuse end, which assists in digging. The claws are not retractable, and the hind claws wear with age. Old badgers sometimes have their hind claws almost completely worn away from constant use. Their snouts, which are used for digging and probing, are muscular and flexible. The eyes are small and the ears short and tipped with white. Whiskers are present on the snout and above the eyes. Boars typically have broader heads, thicker necks and narrower tails than sows, which are sleeker, have narrower, less domed heads and fluffier tails. The guts of badgers are longer than those of red foxes, reflecting their omnivorous diet. The small intestine has a mean length of and lacks a cecum. Both sexes have three pairs of nipples but these are more developed in females. European badgers cannot flex their backs as martens, polecats and wolverines can, nor can they stand fully erect like honey badgers, though they can move quickly at full gallop. Adults measure 25 – in shoulder height, 60 – in body length, 12 – in tail length, in hind foot length and in ear height. Males (or boars) slightly exceed females (or sows) in measurements, but can weigh considerably more. Their weights vary seasonally, growing from spring to autumn and reaching a peak just before the winter. During the summer, they weigh 7 – and 15 – in autumn. Sows can attain a top weight of around , while exceptionally large boars have been reported in autumn. The heaviest verified was , though unverified specimens have been reported to and even 34 kg (if so, the heaviest weight for any terrestrial mustelid). Although their sense of smell is acute, their eyesight is monochromatic as has been shown by their lack of reaction to red lanterns. Only moving objects attract their attention. Their hearing is no better than that of humans. \n\nEuropean badger skulls are quite massive, heavy and elongated. Their braincases are oval in outline, while the facial part of their skulls is elongated and narrow. Adults have prominent sagittal crests which can reach 15 mm tall in old males, and are more strongly developed than those of honey badgers. Aside from anchoring the jaw muscles, the thickness of the crests protect their skulls from hard blows. Similar to martens, the dentition of European badgers is well-suited for their omnivorous diets. Their incisors are small and chisel-shaped, their canine teeth are prominent and their carnassials are not overly specialised. Their molars are flattened and adapted for grinding. Their jaws are powerful enough to crush most bones; a provoked badger was once reported as biting down on a man's wrist so severely that his hand had to be amputated. The dental formula is: \n\nScent glands are present below the base of the tail and on the anus. The subcaudal gland secretes a musky-smelling, cream-coloured fatty substance, while the anal glands secrete a stronger-smelling, yellowish-brown fluid.\n\nFur\n\nIn winter, the fur on the back and flanks is long and coarse, consisting of bristly guard hairs with a sparse, soft undercoat. The belly fur consists of short, sparse hairs, with skin being visible in the inguinal region. Guard hair length on the middle of the back is 75 – in winter. Prior to the winter, the throat, lower neck, chest and legs are black. The belly is of a lighter, brownish tint, while the inguinal region is brownish-grey. The general colour of the back and sides is light silvery-grey, with straw-coloured highlights on the sides. The tail has long and coarse hairs, and is generally the same colour as the back. Two black bands pass along the head, starting from the upper lip and passing upwards to the whole base of the ears. The bands sometimes extend along the neck and merge with the colour of the upper body. The front parts of the bands are 15 mm, and widen to 45 – in the ear region. A wide, white band extends from the nose tip through the forehead and crown. White markings occur on the lower part of the head, and extend backwards to a great part of the neck's length. The summer fur is much coarser, shorter and sparser, and is deeper in colour, with the black tones becoming brownish, sometimes with yellowish tinges. Partial melanism in badgers is known, and albinos are not uncommon. Albino badgers can be pure white or yellowish with pink eyes. Erythristic badgers are more common than the former, being characterised by having a sandy-red colour on the usually black parts of the body. Yellow badgers are also known. \n\nBehaviour\n\nSocial and territorial behaviours\n\nEuropean badgers are the most social of badgers, forming groups of six adults on average, though larger associations of up to 23 individuals have been recorded. Group size may be related to habitat composition. Under optimal conditions, badger territories can be as small as 30 ha, but may be as large as 150 ha in marginal areas. Badger territories can be identified by the presence of communal latrines and well-worn paths. It is mainly males that are involved in territorial aggression. A hierarchical social system is thought to exist among badgers and large powerful boars seem to assert dominance over smaller males. Large boars sometimes intrude into neighbouring territories during the main mating season in early spring. Sparring and more vicious fights generally result from territorial defence in the breeding season. However, in general, animals within and outside a group show considerable tolerance of each other. Boars tend to mark their territories more actively than sows, with their territorial activity increasing during the mating season in early spring. Badgers groom each other very thoroughly with their claws and teeth. Grooming may have a social function. They are crepuscular and nocturnal in habits. Aggression among badgers is largely associated with territorial defence and mating. When fighting, they bite each other on the neck and rump, while running and chasing each other and injuries incurred in such fights can be severe and sometimes fatal. When attacked by dogs or sexually excited, badgers may raise their tails and fluff up their fur.\n\nEuropean badgers have an extensive vocal repertoire. When threatened they emit deep growls and when fighting make low kekkering noises. They bark when surprised, whicker when playing or in distress, and emit a piercing scream when alarmed or frightened. \n\nReproduction and development\n\nEstrus in European badgers lasts four to six days and may occur throughout the year, though there is a peak in spring. Sexual maturity in boars is usually attained at the age of twelve to fifteen months but this can range from nine months to two years. Males are normally fecund during January–May, with spermatogenesis declining in summer. Sows usually begin ovulating in their second year, though some exceptionally begin at nine months. They can mate at any time of the year, though the main peak occurs in February–May, when mature sows are in postpartal estrus and young animals experience their first estrus. Matings occurring outside this period typically occur in sows which either failed to mate earlier in the year or matured slowly. Badgers are usually monogamous; boars typically mate with one female for life, whereas sows have been known to mate with more than one male. Mating lasts for fifteen to sixty minutes, though the pair may briefly copulate for a minute or two when the sow is not in estrus. A delay of two to nine months precedes the fertilised eggs implanting into the wall of the uterus, though matings in December can result in immediate implantation. Ordinarily, implantation happens in December, with a gestation period lasting seven weeks. Cubs are usually born in mid-January to mid-March within underground chambers containing bedding. In areas where the countryside is waterlogged, cubs may be born above ground in buildings. Typically, only dominant sows can breed, as they suppress the reproduction of subordinate females.\n\nThe average litter consists of one to five cubs. Although many cubs are sired by resident males, up to 54% can be fathered by boars from different colonies. Dominant sows may kill the cubs of subordinates. Cubs are born pink, with greyish, silvery fur and fused eyelids. Neonatal badgers are 12 cm in body length on average and weigh 75 to, with cubs from large litters being smaller. By three to five days, their claws become pigmented, and individual dark hairs begin to appear. Their eyes open at four to five weeks and their milk teeth erupt about the same time. They emerge from their setts at eight weeks of age, and begin to be weaned at twelve weeks, though they may still suckle until they are four to five months old. Subordinate females assist the mother in guarding, feeding and grooming the cubs. Cubs fully develop their adult coats at six to nine weeks. In areas with medium to high badger populations, dispersal from the natal group is uncommon, though badgers may temporarily visit other colonies. Badgers can live for up to about fifteen years in the wild. \n\nDenning behaviours\n\nLike other badger species, European badgers are burrowing animals. However, the dens they construct (called setts) are the most complex, and are passed on from generation to generation. The number of exits in one sett can vary from a few to fifty. These setts can be vast, and can sometimes accommodate multiple families. When this happens, each family occupies its own passages and nesting chambers. Some setts may have exits which are only used in times of danger or play. A typical passage has a 22 – wide base and a 14 – height. Three sleeping chambers occur in a family unit, some of which are open at both ends. The nesting chamber is located 5 – from the opening, and is situated more than a 1 m underground, in some cases . Generally, the passages are 35 – long. The nesting chamber is on average 74 x, and are 38 cm high. Badgers dig and collect bedding throughout the year, particularly in autumn and spring. Sett maintenance is usually carried out by subordinate sows and dominant boars. The chambers are frequently lined with bedding, brought in on dry nights, which consists of grass, bracken, straw, leaves and moss. Up to 30 bundles can be carried to the sett on a single night. European badgers are fastidiously clean animals which regularly clear out and discard old bedding. During the winter, they may take their bedding outside on sunny mornings and retrieve it later in the day. Spring cleaning is connected with the birth of cubs, and may occur several times during the summer to prevent parasite levels building up. If a badger dies within the sett, its conspecifics will seal off the chamber and dig a new one. Some badgers will drag their dead out of the sett and bury them outside. A sett is almost invariably located near a tree, which is used by badgers for stretching or claw scraping. Badgers defecate in latrines, which are located near the sett and at strategic locations on territorial boundaries or near places with abundant food supplies. In extreme cases, when there is a lack of suitable burrowing grounds, badgers may move into haystacks in winter. They may share their setts with red foxes or European rabbits. The badgers may provide protection for the rabbits against other predators. The rabbits usually avoid predation by the badgers by inhabiting smaller, hard to reach chambers. \n\nWinter sleep\n\nBadgers begin to prepare for winter sleep during late summer by accumulating fat reserves, which reach a peak in October. During this period, the sett is cleaned and the nesting chamber is filled with bedding. Upon retiring to sleep, badgers block their sett entrances with dry leaves and earth. They typically stop leaving their setts once snow has fallen. In Russia, badgers retire for their winter sleep from late October to mid-November and emerge from their setts in March and early April. In areas such as England and Transcaucasia, where winters are less harsh, badgers either forgo winter sleep entirely or spend long periods underground, emerging in mild spells.\n\nDiet\n\nAlong with brown bears, European badgers are among the least carnivorous members of the Carnivora; they are highly adaptable and opportunistic omnivores, whose diet encompasses a wide range of animals and plants. Earthworms are their most important food source, followed by large insects, carrion, cereals, fruit and small mammals including rabbits, mice, shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Insect prey includes chafers, dung and ground beetles, caterpillars, leatherjackets, and the nests of wasps and bumblebees. Badgers (Meles meles) are able to destroy wasp nests, consuming the occupants, combs, and envelope, such as that of Vespula rufa nests, since thick skin and body hair protect the badgers from stings.Edwards, Robin. (1980). Social Wasps: Their Biology and Control. W. Sussex, Great Britain: Rentokil Limited. Cereal food includes wheat, oats, maize and occasionally barley. Fruits include windfall apples, pears, plums, blackberries, bilberries, raspberries, strawberries, acorns, beechmast, pignuts and wild arum corms.\n\nOccasionally, they feed on medium to large birds, amphibians, small reptiles, including tortoises, snails, slugs, fungi, and green food such as clover and grass, particularly in winter and during droughts. Badgers characteristically capture large numbers of one food type in each hunt. Generally, they do not eat more than of food per day, with young specimens yet to attain one year of age eating more than adults. An adult badger weighing 15 kg eats a quantity of food equal to 3.4% of its body weight. Badgers typically eat prey on the spot, and rarely transport it to their setts. Surplus killing has been observed in chicken coops.\n\nBadgers prey on rabbits throughout the year, especially during times when their young are available. They catch young rabbits by locating their position in their nest by scent, then dig vertically downwards to it. In mountainous or hilly districts, where vegetable food is scarce, badgers rely on rabbits as a principal food source. Adult rabbits are usually avoided, unless they are wounded or caught in traps. They consume them by turning them inside out and eating the meat, leaving the inverted skin uneaten. Hedgehogs are eaten in a similar manner. In areas where badgers are common, hedgehogs are scarce. Some rogue badgers may kill lambs, though this is very rare; they may be erroneously implicated in lamb killings through the presence of discarded wool and bones near their setts, though foxes, which occasionally live alongside badgers, are often the culprits, as badgers do not transport food to their earths. They typically kill lambs by biting them behind the shoulder. Poultry and game birds are also taken only rarely. Some badgers may build their setts in close proximity to poultry or game farms without ever causing damage. In the rare instances in which badgers do kill reared birds, the killings usually occur in February–March, when food is scarce due to harsh weather and increases in badger populations. Badgers can easily breach bee hives with their jaws, and are mostly indifferent to bee stings, even when set upon by swarms.\n\nRelationships with other non-human predators\n\nEuropean badgers have few natural enemies. Wolves, lynxes and dogs can pose a threat to badgers, though deaths caused by them are rare. They may live alongside red foxes in isolated sections of large burrows. The two species possibly tolerate each other out of commensalism; foxes provide badgers with food scraps, while badgers maintain the shared burrow's cleanliness. However, cases are known of badgers driving vixens from their dens and destroying their litters without eating them. Raccoon dogs may extensively use badger setts for shelter. There are many known cases of badgers and raccoon dogs wintering in the same hole, possibly because badgers enter hibernation two weeks earlier than the latter, and leave two weeks later. In exceptional cases, badger and raccoon dog cubs may coexist in the same burrow. Badgers may drive out or kill raccoon dogs if they overstay their welcome. \n\nDistribution and habitat\n\nThe European badger is native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia. In Europe its range includes Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Ukraine. In Asia it occurs in Afghanistan, China (Xinjiang), Iran, Iraq and Israel.\n\nThe distributional boundary between the ranges of European and Asian badgers is the Volga River, the European species being situated on the western bank. They are common in European Russia, with 30,000 individuals having been recorded there in 1990. They are abundant and increasing throughout their range, partly due to a reduction in rabies in Central Europe. In the UK, badgers experienced a 77% increase in numbers during the 1980s and 1990s. The badger population in Great Britain in 2012 is estimated to be 300,000. \n\nThe European badger is found in deciduous and mixed woodlands, clearings, spinneys, pastureland and scrub, including Mediterranean maquis shrubland. It has adapted to life in suburban areas and urban parks, although not to the extent of red foxes. In mountainous areas it occurs up to an altitude of 2000 m.\n\nBadger tracking to study their behavior and territories has been done in Ireland using Global Positioning Systems. \n\nStatus\n\nThe International Union for Conservation of Nature rates the European badger as being of least concern. This is because it is a relatively common species with a wide range and populations are generally stable. In Central Europe it has become more abundant in recent decades due to a reduction in the incidence of rabies. In other areas it has also fared well, with increases in numbers in Western Europe and the United Kingdom. However, in some areas of intensive agriculture it has reduced in numbers due to loss of habitat and in others it is hunted as a pest.\n\nDiseases and parasites\n\nBovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a major mortality factor in badgers, though infected badgers can live and successfully breed for years before succumbing. The disease was first observed in badgers in 1951 in Switzerland where they were believed to have contracted it from chamois (Rupicarpa rupicarpa) or roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). It was detected in the United Kingdom in 1971 where it was linked to an outbreak of bovine TB in cows. The evidence appears to indicate that the badger is the primary reservoir of infection for cattle in the south west of England, Wales and Ireland. Since then there has been considerable controversy as to whether culling badgers will effectively reduce or eliminate bovine TB in cattle. \n\nBadgers are vulnerable to the mustelid herpesvirus-1, as well as rabies and canine distemper, though the latter two are absent in Great Britain. Other diseases found in European badgers include arteriosclerosis, pneumonia, pleurisy, nephritis, enteritis, polyarthritis and lymphosarcoma. \n\nInternal parasites of badgers include trematodes, nematodes and several species of tapeworm. Ectoparasites carried by them include the fleas Paraceras melis (the badger flea), Chaetopsylla trichosa and Pulex irritans, the lice Trichodectes melis and the ticks Ixodes ricinus, I. canisuga, I. hexagonus, I. reduvius and I. melicula. They also suffer from mange. They spend much time grooming, individuals concentrating on their own ventral areas, alternating one side with the other, while social grooming occurs with one individual grooming another on its dorsal surface. Fleas tried to avoid the scratching, retreating rapidly downwards and backwards through the fur. This was in contrast to fleas away from their host which ran upwards and jumped when disturbed. The grooming seems to disadvantage fleas rather than merely having a social function. \n\nRelationships with humans\n\nIn folklore and literature\n\nBadgers play a part in European folklore and are featured in modern literature. In Irish mythology, badgers are portrayed as shape-shifters and kinsmen to Tadg, the king of Tara and foster father of Cormac mac Airt. In one story, Tadg berates his adopted son for having killed and prepared some badgers for dinner. In German folklore, the badger is portrayed as a cautious, peace-loving Philistine, who loves more than anything his home, family and comfort, though he can become aggressive if surprised. He is a cousin of Reynard the Fox, whom he uselessly tries to convince to return to the path of righteousness.\n\nIn Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Badger is depicted as a gruff, solitary figure who \"simply hates society\", yet is a good friend to Mole and Ratty. As a friend of Toad's now-deceased father, he is often firm and serious with Toad, but at the same time generally patient and well-meaning towards him. He can be seen as a wise hermit, a good leader and gentleman, embodying common sense. He is also brave and a skilled fighter, and helps rid Toad Hall of invaders from the wild wood. \n\nThe \"Frances\" series of children's books by Russell and Lillian Hoban depicts an anthropomorphic badger family.\n\nIn T.H. White's Arthurian series The Once and Future King, the young King Arthur is transformed into a badger by Merlin as part of his education. He meets with an older badger who tells him \"I can only teach you two things - to dig, and love your home.\" \n\nA villainous badger named Tommy Brock appears in Beatrix Potter's 1912 book The Tale of Mr. Tod. He is shown kidnapping the children of Benjamin Bunny and his wife Flopsy, and hiding them in an oven at the home of Mr. Tod the fox, whom he fights at the end of the book. The portrayal of the badger as a filthy animal which appropriates fox dens was criticised from a naturalistic viewpoint, though the inconsistencies are few and employed to create individual characters rather than evoke an archetypical fox and badger. A wise old badger named Trufflehunter appears in C. S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, where he aids Caspian X in his struggle against King Miraz. \n\nA badger takes a prominent role in Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood series as second in command to Fox. The badger is also the house symbol for Hufflepuff in the \"Harry Potter\" book series. The Redwall series also has the Badger Lords, who rule the extinct volcano fortress of Salamandastron and are renowned as fierce warriors. The children's television series Bodger & Badger was popular on CBBC during the 1990s and was set around the mishaps of a mashed potato-loving badger and his human companion. \n\nHunting\n\nEuropean badgers are of little significance to hunting economies, though they may be actively hunted locally. Methods used for hunting badgers include catching them in jaw traps, ambushing them at their setts with guns, smoking them out of their earths and through the use of specially bred dogs such as Fox Terriers and Dachshunds to dig them out. Badgers are, however, notoriously durable animals; their skins are thick, loose and covered in long hair which acts as protection, and their heavily ossified skulls allow them to shrug off most blunt traumas, as well as shotgun pellets. \n\nBadger-baiting\n\nBadger-baiting was once a popular blood sport, in which badgers were captured alive, placed in boxes, and attacked with dogs. In the UK, this was outlawed by the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and again by the Protection of Animals Act of 1911. Moreover, the cruelty towards and death of the badger constitute offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, and further offences under this act are inevitably committed to facilitate badger-baiting (such as interfering with a sett, or the taking or the very possession of a badger for purposes other than nursing an injured animal to health). If convicted, badger-baiters may face a sentence of up to six months in jail, a fine of up to £5,000, and other punitive measures, such as community service or a ban from owning dogs. \n\nCulling\n\nMany badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. Until the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomised trial cull which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, while others favoured a programme of vaccination, and vets support the cull on compassionate grounds as they say that the illness causes much suffering in badgers. Wales and Northern Ireland are currently (2013) conducting field trials of a badger vaccination programme. In 2012, the government authorised a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), however, this was later deferred with a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where it is expected about 5,000 badgers will be killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire by marksmen with high-velocity rifles using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers will be trapped in cages first). The cull has caused many protests with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, it has been claimed by shadow ministers that \"The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...\", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots \"will not yield any useful information\".\n\nDomestication\n\nThere are several accounts of European badgers being tamed. Tame badgers can be affectionate pets, and can be trained to come to their owners when their names are called. They are easily fed, as they are not fussy eaters, and will instinctively unearth rats, moles and young rabbits without training, though they do have a weakness for pork. Although there is one record of a tame badger befriending a fox, they generally do not tolerate the presence of cats and dogs, and will chase them. \n\nUses\n\nBadger meat is eaten in some districts of the former Soviet Union, though in most cases it is discarded. Smoked hams made from badgers were once highly esteemed in England, Wales and Ireland.\n\nSome badger products have been used for medical purposes; badger expert Ernest Neal, quoting from an 1810 edition of The Sporting Magazine, wrote;\n\nThe hair of the European badger has been used for centuries for making sporrans and high end shaving brushes. Sporrans are traditionally worn as part of male Scottish highland dress. They form a bag or pocket made from a pelt and a badger or other animal's mask may be used as a flap. Compared to the fur of other animals, badger's hair is ideal for shaving brushes because it retains the hot water that needs to be applied to the skin while wet shaving. Although some brushes are made from wild badger hair, most hair is sourced from China where badgers are farmed for this purpose. The pelt was also formerly used for pistol furniture.\n\nNotes",
"Birds beginning with B - Animal pictures\nBirds beginning with B. ... suggestions that it was a type of wren were accepted by the South American Classification ... frogs and other water creatures, ...\nBirds beginning with B\nBirds beginning with B\nBabbling Starling\nBachman's sparrow - Bachman's Sparrow, Aimophila aestivalis, is a small American sparrow that is endemic to the southeastern United States. This species was named in honor of Reverend John Bachman.\nBachman's wood warbler - Bachman's Warbler is possibly extinct, and was most likely never common. The last confirmed sightings were in 1988 and before that in 1961 in South Carolina. The Bachman's Warbler's last stronghold was in I'on Swamp, South Carolina. Habitat destruction was probably the main cause of its disappearance. Its extinction is not yet officially announced, because habitat remaining in Congaree National Park needs to be surveyed. Furthermore, on January 14, 2002, a bird reminiscent of a female Bachman's Warbler was filmed at Guardalavaca, Cuba. As Vermivora warblers are not known to live more than about 7 years, if the identification is correct it would imply that a breeding population managed to survive undiscovered for decades.\nBaer's Pochard - It is similar in size and stance to its close relative the Ferruginous Duck , although the coloration of the drakes is entirely different. Baer's Pochard males are similar to those of the Greater Scaup , but have a dark back and upper flanks; the white lower flanks and belly are conspicuous. The females of Baer's Pochard and the Ferruginous Duck are quite similar, but that holds true for the females of almost all Aythya species.\nBaglafecht Weaver\nBahama duck - This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current scientific name.\nBahama Swallow - This glossy Tachycineta swallow has a green head and back, blue upper wings, a black tail and wingtips, and a white belly and chin.\nBahama Yellowthroat - It is closely related to Common Yellowthroat, Altamira Yellowthroat and Belding's Yellowthroat, with which it forms a superspecies, and was formerly considered conspecific.\nBahaman mockingbird - The Bahama Mockingbird is a species of bird in the Mimidae family. It is found in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and is a vagrant to the United States. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBahaman parrot - The Cuban Amazon is a medium-sized parrot 28–33 centimetres long.\nBahaman woodstar - The Bahama Woodstar is a species of hummingbird.\nBahia Spinetail - The Bahia Spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.\nBahia Tapaculo - The Bahia Tapaculo is a species of bird in the Rhinocryptidae family. It is endemic to lowland Atlantic forests in Bahia, Brazil. Until recently, it was feared extinct, but has since been rediscovered and is now known from the municipalities of Ilhéus, Maraú, Taperoá, Valença. It remains highly threatened by habitat loss and is consequently considered critically endangered by BirdLife International and IUCN. Together with the closely related White-breasted Tapaculo, it was formerly placed in the genus Scytalopus, but these two species are now known to be closer to the bristlefronts .\nBahia Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBaikal teal - At between 39 and 43 cm, this duck is slightly larger and longer-tailed than the Common Teal. The breeding male is unmistakable, with a striking green nape, yellow and black auriculars, neck, throat. It has a dark crown, and its breast is light brown with dark spots. It has long dropping dark scapulars, and its grey sides are set off on the fron and rear with white bars.\nBailey's chickadee - The Mountain Chickadee is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. Often, it is still placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships . The American Ornithologists' Union has been treating Poecile as a distinct genus for some time.\nBaillon's Crake - Their breeding habitat is sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across Asia. They used to breed in Great Britain up to the mid-19th century, but the western European population declined through drainage. They nest in a dry location in wet sedge bogs, laying 4-8 eggs. This species is migratory, wintering in east Africa and south Asia.\nBaird's cormorant - The Pelagic Cormorant , also known as Baird's Cormorant, is a small member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Analogous to other smallish cormorants, it is also called Pelagic Shag occasionally. This seabird lives along the coasts of the northern Pacific; during winter it can also be found in the open ocean.\nBaird's Flycatcher - The Baird's Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBaird's Sandpiper - The Baird's Sandpiper is a small shorebird. It is among those calidrids sometimes separated in Erolia.\nBaird's sparrow - These birds have a large bill, a large flat head, and a short forked tail. They have brown upper parts and white underparts, with streaking on the back, breast, and flanks. The face, nape, and crown stripe are yellowish.\nBaker's Imperial-Pigeon - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBald Eagle - Breeding resident Breeding summer visitor, Winter visitor On migration only\nBald Ibis - This large, glossy, blue-black ibis has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, decurved red bill. It breeds colonially on and amongst rocks and on cliffs, laying 2-3 eggs which are incubated for 21 days before hatching. It feeds on insects, small reptiles, rodents and small birds.\nBald-faced Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and rivers.\nBalearic Shearwater - The Balearic Shearwater is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It was long regarded a subspecies of the Manx Shearwater; see there for more on the Puffinus puffinus superspecies; following an initial split it was held to be a subspecies of the \"Mediterranean Shearwater\" for nearly ten more years, until it was resolved to be a distinct species, separate from the Yelkouan Shearwater . It is the last taxon of the puffinus complex that was recognized as a separate entity.\nBali Myna - Placed in the monotypic genus Leucopsar, it appears to be most closely related to Sturnia and the Brahminy Starling which is currently placed in Sturnus but will probably soon be split therefrom as Sturnus as presently delimited is highly paraphyletic . The specific name commemorates the British ornithologist Lord Rothschild.\nBalicassiao - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBallmann's Malimbe\nBalsas Screech-Owl - The Balsas Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is endemic to Mexico.\nBaltimore Oriole - The Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team in Baltimore, Maryland, were named after this bird. It is also the state bird of Maryland.\nBamboo Antshrike - The Bamboo Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBamboo Partridge - The binomial commemorates Major-General Albert Fytche.\nBamboo Warbler - The Bamboo Scrub-warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBamenda Apalis - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and dry savanna. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBananal Antbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBananaquit - The Bananaquit was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Certhia flaveola.\nBand-backed Wren - The Band-backed Wren is a resident breeding species from south-central Gulf Coast Mexico to northwestern Ecuador. It occurs in five disjunct areas, the central region being in southern Central America, in Costa Rica and northern Panama. The next two regions are northern Colombia adjacent to Panama, and 800 km to the south in northwestern Ecuador.\nBand-bellied Crake\nBand-bellied Owl - The Band-bellied Owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBand-rumped storm-petrel - The Madeiran Storm-petrel is 19-21 cm in length with a 43-46 cm wingspan, and weighs 44-49g. It is mainly black with an extensive white rump. Similar to Leach's Storm-petrel with the forked tail, long wings, and flight behaviour, but Leach's has a more forked tail and differently shaped white rump.\nBand-rumped Swift - This species breeds in forested areas from Costa Rica south and east to Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad and northeast Brazil. The nest is a half saucer of twigs glued to the inside of a tree hole or similar shaded location with saliva.\nBand-tailed Antbird - The Band-tailed Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBand-tailed Antshrike - The Band-tailed Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in the eastern Guianas of Suriname and French Guiana mostly; also Brazil, Guyana, and Atlantic regions of the Amazon Basin, and some local regions upstream on the Amazon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps. It has recently been proposed that it more properly belongs to the genus Thamnophilus .\nBand-tailed Antwren - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBand-tailed Barbthroat - This hermit species inhabits the understory of wet forests, woodland edges and old second growth. It occurs in the lowlands, typically up to an elevation of 800 m, although young birds may wander higher.\nBand-tailed black hawk - Grown birds are 47–55 cm in length with a wingspan of about 1.2 m ; their average weight is 810 g . Adult plumage is mostly blackish except that the flight feathers are barred with lighter gray and the tail has three or four bands or \"zones\", white from below and light gray from above, of which the one second from the tip is particularly broad and conspicuous. The cere and legs are yellow. Immatures are similar except for small white spots on the breast and tails with narrow gray and black bands and a broad dark tip. The Zone-tailed Hawk adults resemble the Common Black Hawk but are smaller and have more white bars on the tail.\nBand-tailed Fruiteater - The Band-tailed Fruiteater is a species of bird in the Cotingidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBand-tailed Manakin\nBand-tailed Nighthawk - The Band-tailed Nighthawk is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, and swamps.\nBand-tailed Oropendola - The Band-tailed Oropendola is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is in the genus Ocyalus, usually considered monotypic, though the Casqued Oropendola might also be included herein. It is found at low densities in the western Amazon in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.\nBand-tailed Pigeon - The Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata, is a medium-sized bird of the Americas. Its closest relatives are the Chilean Pigeon and the Ring-tailed Pigeon, which form a clade of Patagioenas with a terminal tail band and iridescent plumage on their necks.\nBand-tailed Seedeater - The Band-tailed Seedeater is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and heavily degraded former forest.\nBand-tailed Sierra Finch - The Band-tailed Sierra-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBand-winged Nightjar - Over its large range, there are signifincant variations in its morphology, but, as suggested by its common name, it always has a distinctive band in the wing , which is white in the male, buff in the female. Traditionally, \"only\" seven subspecies have been recognized, but two new subspecies, one from Chile have been described within the last few years.\nBanda Myzomela - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBanded Antbird - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBanded Barbet - The Banded Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Eritrea and Ethiopia.\nBanded Bay Cuckoo - The Banded Bay Cuckoo or Bay-banded Cuckoo is a species of small cuckoo found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Like others in the genus they have a round nostril. They are usually founded in well wooded areas mainly in the lower hills. Males sing from exposed branches during the breeding season, which can vary with region. They are distinctive both in their calls as well as plumage with a white eye-browed appearance and the rufous upperparts with regular dark bands and the whitish underside with fine striations.\nBanded Broadbill\nBanded Cotinga - Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Green Sunbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, plantations , and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Ground Cuckoo - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBanded Imperial-Pigeon\nBanded Kestrel - It is 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 60–68 cm. The upperparts are grey and the tail is dark. The underparts are whitish with dark grey streaks on the throat and upper breast and dark grey barring on the lower breast and belly. The feet, eyes and cere are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. Juvenile birds are browner than the adults with darker eyes and less bare skin around the eye.\nBanded Kingfisher - The Banded Kingfisher is a 20 cm long kingfisher with a sturdy red bill and a short crest which is slowly raised and lowered. It shows striking sexual dimorphism compared to most of its relatives. The adult male has a chestnut forehead, cheeks and nape, and a bright blue cap. The rest of the upperparts, wings and tail are black with blue bands. The breast, flanks and undertail are rufous, and the central belly is white.\nBanded Lapwing - The Banded Lapwing is a small to medium sized wader which belongs to the plover family. It is found over most of Australia and Tasmania though is absent from the northern third of the continent.\nBanded Martin - The Banded Martin is found in open habitats such as farmland, grassland and savannah, usually near water. It breeds across Africa from Cameroon and Zaire to Ethiopia south to the Cape in South Africa, although it is absent from the driest regions of western South Africa and southern Namibia. The southern nominate subspecies of South Africa and Zimbabwe, is migratory, wintering further north, particularly in the west, where it can move sometimes as far as Gambia. R. c. xerica also leaves its drier breeding grounds in Botswana and northern Namibia in the southern winter. Other subspecies undertake local or altitudinal movements often dependent on the rainfall pattern.\nBanded Pitta - It includes four subspecies, which can be divided into three main groups: The nominate subspecies from Java and Bali has a yellow eyebrow, underparts that are densely barred in yellowish and blackish-blue and a narrow blue band on the upper chest, irena and ripleyi from the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Sumatra have a more orange eyebrow, a blue belly and a chest that is barred orange and dark bluish , and schwaneri from Borneo has a blue mid-belly and yellow flanks and chest densely barred with blackish. Females of all subspecies are significantly duller than the males. There are also vocal differences between some of the subspecies.\nBanded Prinia - It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBanded Quail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBanded Red Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBanded Snake-Eagle - Western Banded Snake-eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests. The west Banded eagle makes a nest then makes a new one the next year\nBanded Stilt - It is locally known as the Rottnest snipe on Rottnest Island, though not related to true snipes.\nBanded Warbler - The Banded Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBanded White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBanded Whiteface - The Banded Whiteface is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\nBanded wren - The Banded Wren, Pheugopedius pleurostictus, is a small songbird of the wren family. It is a resident breeding species from central Mexico to Costa Rica. It was formerly placed in the genus Thryothorus .\nBanggai Crow - The Banggai Crow, Corvus unicolor, is a member of the crow family from Banggai in Indonesia. It is listed as critically endangered by IUCN and was even feared extinct, but was finally rediscovered during surveys on Peleng Island by Indonesian ornithologist Mochamad Indrawan in 2007 and 2008.\nBank Cormorant - The Bank Cormorant is a heavy-bodied bird, roughly 75 cm in length. It is generally black in appearance with a bronze sheen, though the wings are a dark brown rather than a true black. Adults have a small crest on their heads, and normally have a white rump.\nBank Myna - The Bank Myna is found in the greater part of peninsular South Asia, from Sindh, Pakistan on the West, to Bangladesh in the East, generally between the latitudes of about 19o ; to 28o . The Bank Myna is absent from the drier regions in Rajasthan. It has a patchy distribution but is commonly seen in major river valleys. Mostly resident, the bank myna shows regular seasonal local movements in some areas. Individual stragglers have been documented from as far as Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Chennai, India\nBannerman's Sunbird - The Bannerman's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\nBannerman's Turaco - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBannerman's Weaver - The Bannerman's Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cameroon and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBar-backed Partridge - The Bar-Backed Partridge is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBar-bellied Pitta\nBar-bellied Woodcreeper - The Bar-bellied Woodcreeper is a species of bird in the Dendrocolaptinae subfamily. It is found in humid forest of the western Amazon in northern Bolivia, far western Brazil, eastern Peru, and, as recently confirmed, eastern Ecuador.\nBar-bellied Woodpecker - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBar-breasted Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBar-breasted Honeyeater\nBar-breasted Piculet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBar-crested Antshrike - It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBar-headed Goose - The Bar-headed Goose is a goose which breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest.\nBar-shouldered Dove - The dove has a blue-grey breast with chequered brown-bronze wings. The nape is similar to that of the Peaceful Dove in that the nape feathers are striated but differs in that the Bar-shouldered Dove does not have striated throat feathers like the Peaceful Dove. Furthermore, the nape feathers are copper in colour. These doves are also often confused with the introduced and common Spotted Turtle-Dove. The eye ring tends to be grey but red-brown when breeding. The juveniles are duller in colour.\nBar-tailed Godwit - The Bar-tailed Godwit is a relatively short-legged species of godwit. The bill-to-tail length is 37–41 cm, with a wingspan of 70–80 cm. Males average smaller than females but with much overlap; males weigh 190–400 g, while females weigh 260–630 g; there is also some regional variation in size . The adult has blue-grey legs and a very long dark bill with a slight upward curve and pink at the tip. The neck, breast and belly are unbroken brick red in breeding plumage, off white in winter. The back is mottled grey.\nBar-tailed pheasant - This rare and little known pheasant is found throughout forested habitats in China, Pakistan, India, Burma and Thailand. The diet consists mainly of vegetation matters. The female lays three to twelve creamy white eggs in nest of leaves, twigs and feathers.\nBar-tailed Treecreeper - The Bar-tailed TreeCreeper has a flecked or striped feather pattern, usually in black, brown, white and red hues. This coloration allows the Tree-Creeper to blend in with its forest surroundings quite well.\nBar-tailed Trogon - The Bar-tailed Trogon averages about 28 cm long. The bill and feet are yellow, and the tail, long and broad as usual for trogons, has the underside narrowly barred with black and white. The male's head is blue-black with bronze iridescence. Below the eye are two yellow or orange patches of bare skin; above the eye is a yellow or grey patch. The upper breast is iridescent from violet to blue-green; the rest of the underparts are red. The back is green and the upper surface of the tail is blue-black or purple-black. The female's head is brown with less ornamental bare skin and its throat and breast are light cinnamon; otherwise it resembles the male. The immature is similar to the female, but has a white belly and pale spots on the wings formed by the tips of the wing coverts and inner secondaries.\nBar-throated Apalis - It inhabits forest and scrub in Southern and East Africa from southern and eastern parts of South Africa north as far as the Chyulu Hills in Kenya. In the northern part of is range it is found only in highland areas where there are a number of subspecies restricted to isolated mountain ranges. Some of these may be treated as separate species including the Namuli Apalis in Mozambique, Yellow-throated Apalis of Malawi and Taita Apalis in Kenya.\nBar-winged Cinclodes - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, temperate grassland, and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBar-winged Flycatcher-shrike - The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike is a small passerine bird currently placed in the cuckoo-shrike family but possibly closer to the bushshrikes of Africa. It is found in the forests of tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas and hills of the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia. Mainly insectivorous it is found hunting in the mid-canopy of forests, often joining mixed-species foraging flocks. They perch upright and have a distinctive pattern of black and white, males being more shiny black than the females. In some populations the colour of the back is brownish while others have a dark wash on the underside.\nBar-winged Oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBar-winged Prinia - The Bar-winged Prinia is a distinctive prinia, 13 cm long and weighing 8-10 gm. The plumage is white grading to yellow below with a grey cap and brown back and wings and a distinctive white double wingbar. The rump is yellow and the tail brown, with orange legs. Both sexes are alike and the juveniles resemble the adults. The song is a loud and repetitive high pitched chweet-chweet-chweet.\nBar-winged Rail - It was a flightless island ground-nesting forest/freshwater swamp dweller and is believed to have disappeared after the introduction of the mongoose and cats to the islands.\nBar-winged Weaver - The Bar-winged Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\nBar-winged Wood Wren\nBar-winged Wren-Babbler - The Bar-winged Wren-babbler is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family.\nBarau's Petrel - The name commemorates Armand Barau, an agricultural engineer and ornithologist from the French territory of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It is one of the most recently discovered species of seabird and was only described in 1964, although it was known to local people prior to that.\nBarbados Bullfinch - The Barbados Bullfinch was previously considered a subspecies of the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch , which is found on neighboring islands. Despite the misleading nature of its name, the Barbados Bullfinch is not a Bullfinch at all but a seedeater.\nBarbary Partridge - This partridge has its main native range in North Africa, and is also native to Gibraltar It has been introduced to Portugal and Madeira, though there are no recent records of this species on the latter islands. It is also present in Sardinia. It is closely related to its western European equivalent, the Red-legged Partridge .\nBarbuda warbler - The Barbuda Warbler is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is endemic to the island of Barbuda in Antigua and Barbuda. Its natural habitat is tropical dry shrubland near wetland areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBare-crowned Antbird - It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBare-eyed Antbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBare-eyed Ground-Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBare-eyed Mountain Pigeon\nBare-eyed Myna - The Bare-eyed Myna is a large, long-tailed species of starling in the Sturnidae family. Its common name is a reference to the large patch of dark bare skin around the eyes. Due to its superficial resemblance to a magpie, it has been referred to as the Sula Magpie in the past. It is endemic to tropical open lowland forests on the Indonesian islands of Taliabu and Mangole in the Sula Islands. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBare-eyed Partridge Bronzewing - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBare-eyed Pigeon - The Bare-eyed Pigeon is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Aruba, Colombia, Netherlands Antilles, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBare-eyed Rail - The Bare-eyed Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBare-eyed Robin - The similar but allopatric Ecuadorian Thrush was formerly considered a subspecies of the Bare-eyed Thrush and named T. n. maculirostris; it is now normally separated as a good species T. maculirostris. It has a narrower eyering and is only found in forest and woodland in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru.\nBare-faced Go-away-bird\nBare-faced Ground Dove - The Bare-faced Ground-dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBare-faced Ibis - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is swamps.\nBare-headed Laughingthrush - The Bare-headed Laughingthrush is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is endemic to highland forests in northern Borneo. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Black Laughingthrush.\nBare-legged Owl - The Bare-legged Owl or Cuban Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family that is endemic to Cuba. It belongs to the monotypic genus Gymnoglaux. Its natural habitats are dry forests, lowland moist forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It lives in the canopy of the forests where it does most of its foraging.\nBare-necked Fruitcrow\nBare-necked Umbrellabird - This is both the largest passerine in its range and among the largest members of the cotinga family, with males being about 40 cm 16 in and 550 g .\nBare-shanked Screech-Owl - The Bare-shanked Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBare-throated Bellbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss and by poaching for cage birds. It raises the attraction of collectors because of the adult males's showy coloration and call - a sharp sound like that of a hammer striking an anvil or a bell, emitted by the male in the wild while it perches on a high branch in order to attract a mate. A fruit-eating species, it acts in the ecology of the Atlantic rainforest as a dispersor of seeds\nBare-throated Tiger Heron - This large species is found in more open habitats than other Tigrisoma herons, such as river and lake banks. It waits often motionless for suitable prey such as fish, frogs or crabs to come within reach of its long bill.\nBare-throated Whistler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBarking Owl - The Barking Owl is coloured brown with white spots on its wings and a streaked chest. They have large eyes that have a yellow iris, a dark brown beak and almost no facial mask. Their underparts are brownish-grey and coarsely sotted white with their tail and flight feathers being moderately lighter in colour. They are a relatively medium sized owl and their wingspan is between 85–100 cm in length. They weigh between 425 and 510g and size varies only slightly between the male and female birds with the male Barking Owl being larger.\nBarlow's chickadee - The Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae.\nBarnacle Goose - The Barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. Its specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek leuko- \"white\", and opsis \"faced\".\nBaron's Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBarred Antshrike - The Barred Antshrike is typically 16.5 cm long, and weighs 25 g. The male is barred all over with black and white, and has a white-based black crest that is raised in display. The female is rufous above with a chestnut crest. The sides of her head and neck are streaked with black, and the underparts are rich buff.\nBarred Antthrush - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBarred Becard - The adult Barred Becard is 12 cm long and weighs 14 g; it has a conspicuous eye ring. The adult male has black upperparts with much white in the wings. The sides of the head and throat are yellowish-green shading to white on the rest of the underparts. The underparts are finely barred with black. The adult female has a grey crown and nape, olive-green upperparts and largely rufous wings. The greenish-yellow underparts are finely barred with dusky. Young males are much duller and greener than the adults, with weaker barring. The calls include a soft but persistent weet weet weet weet or a teseep tesep tseep tseep.\nBarred Buttonquail - All of India up to about 2500 m in the Himalayas; Sri Lanka; Bangladesh; Burma; Indonesia and most of Southeast Asia, Philippines. Four geographical races differ somewhat in colour.\nBarred Cuckoo-Dove - The Barred Cuckoo-dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarred Dove - It inhabits scrub, cultivated land and woodland edges in lowland areas. The Barred Dove is found on Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, the Tanimbar Islands, the Kei Islands and other smaller islands.\nBarred Eagle-Owl - The Barred Eagle-owl , also called the Malay Eagle Owl, is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Brunei, Cocos Islands, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarred Forest Falcon - Adults of most subspecies are typically dark slate grey above; the tail tipped with white and having three to six narrow white bars. The nominate subspecies, which is found from south-eastern Brazil south to north-eastern Argentina and west to Paraguay, appears to only occur in the rufous-brown morphotype, as also suggested by its scientific name, ruficollis.\nBarred Fruiteater - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBarred Hawk - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. 10,000 to 100,000 barred hawks are thought to exist throughout Central and South America. Barred Hawk’s are the largest of the Leucopternis genus and mainly live in the dense forests of the lowland and mountainous areas. The characteristic plumage of black barred and white belly is unique to the forests hawk of Leucopternis.\nBarred Honey Buzzard - It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBarred Laughingthrush - It is endemic to China. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBarred Owlet-Nightjar - The Barred Owlet-nightjar is a species of bird in the Aegothelidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarred Parakeet - The Barred Parakeet , also known as Lineolated Parakeet or Catherine Parakeet, is a small parrot found disjunctly in highland forests from southern Mexico to Panama, in the Andes from western Venezuela to southern Peru, the Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia and the Venezuelan Coastal Range. Its plumage is mostly green with multiple black and dark green stripes or bars, and it has a pale-horn coloured beak. The dark stripes vary in prominence between its two subspecies. Several colour mutants are available in aviculture.\nBarred Puffbird - The Barred Puffbird is a species of puffbird in the Bucconidae family. It occurs in forests in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena of Panama, Colombia and Ecuador.\nBarred Rail - The Barred Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines.\nBarred Tinamou - All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and Tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.\nBarred Warbler - This is a large and robust species of typical warbler, 15.5-17cm in length, mainly grey above and whitish below. The adult male is darker grey above, and heavily barred below. The female has only light barring. Young birds lack any barring, and have no obvious distinctive features other than the size. The Barred Warbler is a bird of open country with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3-7 eggs are laid. Like most warblers, it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit. The Barred Warbler's song is a pleasant chattering with many clearer notes like a Blackbird. The song can be confused with that of Garden Warbler, but is less melodious.\nBarred Woodcreeper - It is found in the entire Amazon Basin of Brazil and the Guianas in the northeast, . The countries surrounding the basin at the Andes are southern Colombia and Venezuela, also Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. A disjunct population exists 1800 km east of the Amazon Basin in eastern coastal Brazil in the states of Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Sergipe in a 600 km coastal strip. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBarrow's Goldeneye - Adults are similar in appearance to the Common Goldeneye. Adult males have a dark head with a purplish gloss and a white crescent at the front of the face. Adult females have a yellow bill.\nBartlett's Tinamou - All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and Tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.\nBasra Reed-Warbler - It is found in aquatic vegetation in or around shallow, fresh or brackish water, still or flowing, mainly in dense reedbeds. It is found in thickets and bushland when migrating or wintering.\nBassian Thrush - It is estimated that the rangewide population is large, though no official count has ever been established.\nBat Falcon - The female Bat Falcon, at 30.5 cm length, is much larger than the 23 cm long male. Adults have a black back, head and tail. The throat, upper breast and neck sides are creamy white, the lower breast and belly are black, finely barred white, and the thighs and lower belly are orange. Young birds are similar but with a buffy throat. The call of this species is a high pitched ke-ke-ke like American Kestrel.\nBat Hawk - The Bat Hawk is a slender, medium-sized bird of prey, usually about 45 cm long. It has long wings and a falconine silhouette. Adults are dark brown or black, with a white patch on the throat and chest, and have a white streak above and below each eye. Juveniles are mottled brown and have more white plumage than adults.\nBat-like Spinetail - The Bat-like Spinetail is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBateleur - This is a common resident species of the open savanna country in Sub-Saharan Africa. It nests in trees, laying a single egg which is incubated by the female for 42 to 43 days, with a further 90 to 125 days until fledging. Bateleurs pair for life, and will use the same nest for a number of years. Unpaired birds, presumably from a previous clutch, will sometimes help at the nest.\nBates' Nightjar - The Bates's Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Uganda.\nBates's Sunbird - The Bates's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Zambia.\nBates's Swift - The Bates's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria.\nBates's Weaver - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBatis crypta - The Dark Batis is about 10 centimetres in length and weighs 10-15 grams. It has a dark bill and legs and red eyes. The male is white below with a broad black breastband. Above it has a dark grey crown, grey back with some black feather-tips, a black face-mask and black wings with a white stripe. The female has a greyish crown, brownish back, dark mask, slight white supercilium and a narrow rufous stripe on the wing. Below it has a rufous chin-spot and breast with whitish tips to some of the feathers.\nBaudo Guan - The Baudo Guan, Penelope ortoni, is a species of bird from the family Cracidae. It is restricted to humid forests in the west Andean foothills of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. It is highly sensitive to hunting and habitat destruction, with large sections of the Chocó already having disappeared entirely. Consequently, it is considered to be endangered by BirdLife International and IUCN.\nBaumann's Greenbul - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and moist savanna.\nBay Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBay Coucal - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBay Hornero - The Bay Hornero or Pale-billed Hornero is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in wooded habitats along rivers in eastern Ecuador, north-eastern Peru, western Brazil, and, as recently confirmed, far south-eastern Colombia.\nBay Woodpecker - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBay Wren\nBay-backed Shrike - It is smallish shrike at 17 cm, maroon-brown above with a pale rump and long black tail with white edges. The underparts are white, but with buff flanks.\nBay-breasted Warbler - These birds are migratory, wintering in northwest South America and southern Central America. They are very rare vagrants to western Europe.\nBay-capped Wren-Spinetail - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are swamps and intermittent saline marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBay-chested Warbling Finch - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBay-crowned Brush-Finch - The Bay-crowned Brush-finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBay-headed Bee Eater - This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green, with blue on the rump and lower belly. Its face and throat are yellow with a black eye stripe, and the crown and nape are rich chestnut. The thin curved bill is black. Sexes are alike, but young birds are duller.\nBay-headed Tanager - It occurs in forests, particularly in wetter areas. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree and the normal clutch is two brown-blotched white eggs. The female incubates the eggs for 13–14 days to hatching, with another 15–16 days before the chicks fledge .\nBay-ringed Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBay-vented Cotinga - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBay-winged Cowbird - The Bay-winged Cowbird , also known as the Baywing, is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is monotypic within the genus Agelaioides, but has traditionally been placed in the genus Molothrus. It is found in the northern half of Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern and central Brazil, with an isolated population in north-eastern Brazil. The latter population is sometimes considered a separate species, the Pale Cowbird or Pale Baywing . The Bay-winged Cowbird has been recorded as a vagrant in Chile.\nBaya Weaver - Three geographical races are recognized. The nominate race philippinus is found through much of mainland India. The race burmanicus is found eastwards into Southeast Asia. A third race, travancoreensis is darker above and found in southwest India.\nBean Goose - The Bean Goose is a medium to large goose breeding in northern Europe and Asia. It has been split into two species by the AOU , however it is still regarded as a single species by the BOU - see below. It is migratory and winters further south in Europe and Asia.\nBearded Barbet - The Bearded Barbet is a common resident breeder in tropical west Africa. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit, although the young are fed on insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2 white eggs.\nBearded Bellbird - There are two subspecies; the nominate taxon, P. a. averano, in northeastern Brazil and P. a. carnobarba in Venezuela, Trinidad, extreme northeastern Colombia, western Guyana and far northern Brazil.\nBearded Flycatcher - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBearded Guan\nBearded Helmetcrest - The Bearded Helmetcrest is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBearded Mountaineer - The Bearded Mountaineer is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBearded Screech-Owl - The Bearded Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Guatemala and Mexico.\nBearded Tachuri - The Bearded Tachuri is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBearded Tit - The Bearded Reedling is a species of temperate Europe and Asia. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate other than eruptive or cold weather movements. It is vulnerable to hard winters, which may kill many birds.\nBearded Tree Quail - The Bearded Wood-partridge is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found only in Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBearded Vulture - Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. It usually disdains the rotting meat, however, and lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow. It will drop large bones from a height to crack them into smaller pieces. Its old name of Ossifrage relates to this habit. Live tortoises are also dropped in similar fashion to crack them open.\nBeaudouin's Snake-Eagle - Beaudouin's Snake-eagle is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family.\nBeautiful Firetail - At 10 to 13 cm long and weighing 14 g the Beautiful Firetail is a small plump bird, slightly smaller than the Diamond Firetail. Its plumage is mostly olive-brown. The white chest has a fine pattern of dark lines. The head has a black mask with pale blue rings around the eyes and a thick red beak. Its rump is a deep red, its legs and feet are creamy pink. The wings and tail are short and rounded. Juvenile birds are less colourful with a smaller face mask and a blackish beak.\nBeautiful Fruit-Dove - The Beautiful Fruit-dove is distributed in rainforests of New Guinea and the islands of Batanta, Waigeo, Salawati and Misool in West Papua, Indonesia. The female usually lays a single white egg.\nBeautiful Hummingbird - The Beautiful Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBeautiful Jay - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBeautiful Nuthatch - This is a large nuthatch, black-backed with white streaking. The upper back, rump and shoulders are bright blue. The underparts are dull orange, although the face is somewhat paler. In flight, a white patch contrasts with the otherwise dark underwing. Sexes are similar, as are young birds.\nBeautiful parakeet - Paradise Parrots lived in pairs or small family groups, making their nests in hollowed-out termite mounds and similar places, often at or near ground level, and feeding, so far as is known, almost exclusively on grass seeds.\nBeautiful Rosefinch - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia, Nepal, and Pakistan. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBeautiful Sibia - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBeautiful Sunbird - The Beautiful Sunbird is a common breeder across sub-Saharan tropical Africa. One or two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. It is a seasonal migrant within its range.\nBeautiful Treerunner - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBeck's Petrel - Beck’s Petrel, Pseudobulweria becki, is a small, recently rediscovered gadfly petrel. It is dark brown above and on the head and throat. It is dark underneath the wings with a fairly distinct white wingbar. The belly and breast are white. It flies over open oceans with straight wings that are slightly bent back at the tips.\nBedford's Paradise Flycatcher - The Bedford's Paradise-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nBee Hummingbird - The male has the green pileum and fiery red throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upper-parts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The male is smaller than the female. The female is green above, whitish below with white tips to the outer tail feathers.\nBelford's Melidectes\nBell Miner - Bell miners live in large, complex social groups. Within each group there are subgroups consisting of several breeding pairs, but also including a number of birds who are not currently breeding. The nonbreeders help in providing food for the young in all the nests in the subgroup, even though they are not necessarily closely related to them. The birds defend their colony area communally aggressively, excluding most other passerine species. They do this in order to protect their territory from other insect-eating birds that would eat the bell lerps on which they feed. Whenever the local forests die back due to increased lerp psyllid infestations, bell miners undergo a population boom.\nBell's greenlet - This bird was named by Audubon for John Graham Bell, who accompanied him on his trip up the Missouri River in the 1840s.\nBelted Flycatcher - The Belted Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBelted kingfisher - The Belted Kingfisher is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. It is depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $5 note. All kingfishers were formerly placed in one family, Alcedinidae, but recent research suggests that this should be divided into three. All six American kingfishers, together with three Old World species, make up the new family Cerylidae.\nBendire's thrasher - Bendire's Thrasher is 23–28 cm in length, with a long tail and a short bill. It is colored grayish-brown on its upperparts and has paler underparts with faint dark streaks. The eyes are bright yellow, and the tips of the tail are tipped with white.\nBengal Florican - The Bengal Florican or Bengal Bustard, Houbaropsis bengalensis, is a very rare bustard species from tropical southern Asia. It is the only member of the genus Houbaropsis. This threatened species is now almost extinct; probably less than 1,000 and perhaps as few as 500 adult birds are still alive.\nBennett's Woodpecker - The Bennett's Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBerlepsch's Canastero - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBerlioz' Black Flycatcher\nBerlioz' Swift - The Forbes-Watson's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.\nBermuda petrel - Commonly known in Bermuda as the Cahow, a name derived from its eerie cries, this nocturnal ground-nesting seabird is the national bird of Bermuda, and a symbol of hope for nature conservation. It was thought extinct for 330 years. Its dramatic rediscovery as a \"Lazarus species\", that is, a species found to be alive after being considered extinct for centuries, has inspired documentary filmmakers.\nBernier's Vanga\nBernieria madagascariensis - The Long-billed Bernieria , formerly known as Long-billed Greenbul, is a songbird species endemic to Madagascar. It was initially considered a greenbul, and later with the Old World warbler. Recent research indicates it is part of an endemic Malagasy radiation currently known as the Malagasy warblers, which have not received a scientific name yet.\nBernieria zosterops\nBernstein's Coucal - The Black-billed Coucal or Lesser Black Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\nBertoni's Antbird - The Bertoni's Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBertrand's Weaver\nBeryl-spangled Tanager - Its range is from Venezuela to Bolivia. Its nest is a mossy cup in a tree fork; in Ecuador west slope, eggs in early March.\nBerylline hummingbird - The Berylline Hummingbird, Amazilia beryllina, sometimes placed in the genus Saucerottia, is a medium-sized hummingbird. It is 8-10 cm long, and weighs 4-5 g.\nBewick's Wren - Thryomanes leucophrys Thryothorus bewickii Thryothorus brevicauda Thryothorus brevicaudus\nBiak Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiak Flycatcher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiak Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiak Paradise Kingfisher - The Biak Paradise Kingfisher is a tree kingfisher endemic to the Indonesian island Biak.\nBiak Scrubfowl\nBiak White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBicknell's thrush - The Bicknell's Thrush, Catharus bicknelli, is a medium-sized thrush, at 17.5 cm and 28 g . It was named after Eugene Bicknell, an American amateur ornithologist, who discovered the species on Slide Mountain in the Catskills in the late 19th century.\nBicolored Antbird - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBicolored Hawk - It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.\nBicolored Mouse Warbler - The Bicoloured Mouse-warbler is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBicoloured Antpitta - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBicoloured Conebill - Its habitat is coastal mangrove swamps and neighbouring woodlands. The small feather-lined cup nest is built in a mangrove tree, and the normal clutch is two brown-blotched buff eggs. Nests are often parasitised by Shiny Cowbirds.\nBicoloured Flowerpecker - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBicoloured White-eye - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBicoloured Wren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBiddulph's Ground Jay - The Xinjiang Ground-jay or Biddulph's Ground Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is endemic to China. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBiet's Laughingthrush - Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBig-crested Penguin - This is a medium-small, yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin, at 50-70 cm and weighing 2.7-5.2 kg . It has bluish-black to jet black upperparts and white underparts, and a broad, bright yellow eyebrow-stripe which extends over the eye to form a short, erect crest.\nBig-footed Sparrow - This is a common bird in the undergrowth of mountain forests, second growth, bamboo clumps, and scrubby pastures from 2150 m altitude to the scrubby páramo at 3350 m. It is readily seen in favoured sites such as Cerro de la Muerte.\nBimaculated Lark - It is mainly migratory, wintering in northeast Africa, widely throughout the Greater Middle East to Pakistan, Kashmir, Republic of India and Tibet . It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.\nBiscutate Swift - Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBishop's 'o'o - It was discovered in 1892 by Henry C. Palmer, a bird collector for Lord Rothschild. Its length was about 29 centimetres. The tail had reached a length of 10 centimetres. The plumage was general glossy black with yellow feather tufts on the maxillaries, beneath the wings and the undertail coverts. Their songs were simple two notes, took-took, Which could be heard for miles.\nBismarck Hawk-Owl - This species lives at elevations up to 1000 meters in lowland forests, tree-covered hills, low mountains,, and the edges of forests. It is found only in New Britain and New Ireland.\nBismarck Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, freshwater lakes, and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBismarck Masked-Owl - As with other tropical barn owls, it is difficult to spot in the wild and therefore poorly studied. It is likely to be a lowland forest species.\nBismarck Munia - It is found in subtropical/ tropical dry grassland habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBismarck Scrub Fowl - The Melanesian Megapode or Melanesian Scrubfowl is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBismarck Thicketbird - This little-known species was for long classified as a data deficient species by the IUCN, due to the general lack of reliable data on its distribution and numbers.\nBismarck Woodswallow - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack & Cinnamon Fantail - The Black-and-cinnamon Fantail is a species of bird in the Rhipiduridae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\nBlack & Yellow Broadbill\nBlack & Yellow Silky Flycatcher - The Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Bombycillidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Phainoptila. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack ani - This ani is found in open and semi-open country and areas under cultivation. The nest, built communally by several pairs, is a deep cup lined with leaves and placed usually 2–6 m high in a tree. A number of females lay their chalky blue eggs in the nest and then share incubation and feeding.\nBlack Antbird - The Black Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Antshrike - It is found in Colombia and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack Baza - The Black Baza is a small sized bird of prey found in the forests of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Many populations are migratory. The races in the Indian region are migratory, wintering in the south of the Peninsula and Sri Lanka. The Black Bazas have short, stout legs and feet with strong talons. A prominent crest is a feature of the Bazas. They are found in dense forest often in small groups. They are also known to spend a lot of time perching on open perches overlooking forest canopy.\nBlack Bee Eater - Black with scarlet chin and throat, streaked breast, pale blue eyebrow, belly, undertail-coverts and rump, rufous primaries.\nBlack Berrypecker - The Black Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Bittern - This is a fairly large species at 58 cm in length, with a longish neck and long yellow bill. The adult is uniformly black above, with yellow neck sides. It is whitish below, heavily streaked with brown. The juvenile is like the adult, but dark brown rather than black.\nBlack Bulbul - The Black Bulbul , also known as the Himalayan Black Bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in southern Asia from India east to southern China.\nBlack Bushbird - The Black Bushbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Neoctantes. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Butcherbird\nBlack Capped Titmouse - The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, common songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada.\nBlack Catbird - It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBlack Coucal - The species has the role of sexes reversed with the males tending the nest while females are polyandrous and maintain territories. Studies on the hormonal system show that Progesterone is responsible for controlling the aggressiveness of females.\nBlack Crake - The adult Black Crake is 19–23 cm long with a short tail and long toes. As its name implies, the adult has mainly black plumage, with a brown olive tone on the wings and upperparts which is rarely detectable in the field. The eye is red, the bill is yellow , and the legs and feet are red, duller when not breeding.\nBlack Crow - This species occurs in two large separate regions of the African continent. One form ranges from the Cape at the southern tip of Africa up to southern Angola and across to the east coast of Mozambique. The other population occurs in a large area from Sudan, Ethiopia,Tanzania and Kenya in central east Africa. The more northern population is on average slightly smaller than the southern. It inhabits open grassland, moorland, agricultural areas with some trees or woodland in the vicinity for nesting. It seems to thrive especially in agricultural areas.\nBlack Crowned-Crane - It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although in nests in somewhat wetter habitats. There are two subspecies: B. p. pavonina in the west and the more numerous B. p. ceciliae in east Africa.\nBlack Cuckoo - The Black Cuckoo is a medium sized cuckoo. The plumage varies by subspecies, Cuculus clamosus clamosus is either almost entirely black with a white buff on the chest or entirely black; Cuculus clamosus gabonensis is mostly black with a red throat and black and white barring on the belly.\nBlack Curassow - The Black Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is found in humid forests in northern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and far northern Brazil. It is the only Crax curassow where the male and female cannot be separated by plumage, as both are essentially black with a white crissum, and have a yellow or orange-red cere.\nBlack Currawong - The Black Currawong was first described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837.\nBlack drongo - Buchanga atra Bhuchanga albirictus\nBlack Dwarf Hornbill - The Black Dwarf Hornbill is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlack Eagle - The Black Eagle is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus Ictinaetus. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical Asia and hunt mammals and birds, particularly at their nests. They are easily identified by their widely splayed and long primary \"fingers\", the characteristic silhouette, slow flight and yellow ceres and legs that contrast with their dark feathers.\nBlack Falcon - The females are usually around 55 cm from beak to tail, the smaller males being only 45 cm . The sexes are very similar apart from their size. They are comparatively lighter in build than Peregrines with a slightly wider wingspan and longer legs. They are more agile on the ground than Peregrines though less so than Brown Falcons.\nBlack Fantail - The Black Fantail is a species of bird in the Rhipiduridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack flowerpiercer - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack francolin - It is one of the few francolins to have a range outside Africa. It is a resident breeder from Kashmir, Cyprus and south-eastern Turkey eastwards through Iran to southwest Turkmenistan and northeast India. Its range was formerly more extensive, but over-hunting has reduced its distribution and numbers. There have been a number of introductions, but most have failed to take root although some populations still persist in the USA and elsewhere.\nBlack Goshawk\nBlack Grasswren - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBlack Grouse - The Black Grouse or Blackgame is a large bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal. The Black Grouse is closely related to the Caucasian Black Grouse. These birds have a group display or lek in early spring.\nBlack Guan - The Black Guan is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Guillemot - Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large white patch on the inner wing.\nBlack Guineafowl - The Black Guineafowl, Agelastes niger, is a member of the guineafowl bird family. It is found in humid forests of Central Africa. It has large toes to grasp the ground, but tiny feet so it can still fly.\nBlack Harrier - When perched, this bird appears all black. However, in flight a white rump and flight feathers become visible. Its morphology is comparable to that of other harriers, with a slim body, narrow wings and a long tail. Male and female plumages are similar. Immatures have buff under-parts and a heavily spotted breast.\nBlack Hawk-Eagle - The Black Hawk-eagle has black plumage with varying patterns on its wings and body, and white speckling in places. It has barred wings, slightly elliptical in shape, and a long, narrow tail which is rarely fanned. The four grey bars on the tail are distinctive to the Black Hawk-eagle, as is the white line seen slightly above the bird's eye. While flying, the broadness and shortness of the wings become apparent.\nBlack Heron - The Black Heron has an interesting hunting method called canopy feeding — it uses its wings like an umbrella, and uses the shade it creates to attract fish. This technique was well documented on episode 5 of the BBC's The Life of Birds. Some Black Herons feed solitarily, while others feed in groups of up to 50 individuals, 200 being the highest number reported. The Black Heron feeds by day but especially prefers the time around sunset. It roosts communally at night, and coastal flocks roost at high tide. The primary food of the Black Heron is small fish, but it will also eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and amphibians.\nBlack Honey Buzzard - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack honeyeater - The Black Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia. It ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland, particularly in areas where the emu bush and related species occur.\nBlack Hornbill - It lives in Asia in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.\nBlack Imperial Pigeon\nBlack Inca - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and urban areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Jacobin - The Black Jacobin , previously placed in the monotypic Melanotrochilus, is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in or near Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, Uruguay, eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina. It is generally common, and therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and consequently the IUCN. Adults of both sexes are overall black with green-tinged back and wing-coverts, and white lower flanks and outer rectrices. The white in the tail is often flashed conspicuously in flight. The commonly seen immatures, sometimes incorrectly referred to as \"females\", have a distinctive rufous patch in the malar region.\nBlack Kite - The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.\nBlack Lark - This is a bird of open steppe, often near water. Its nest is on the ground, with 4-5 eggs being laid. Food is seeds and insects, the latter especially in the breeding season. It is gregarious in winter.\nBlack Laughingthrush\nBlack Lory - The Black Lory is evaluated as Least Concern on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.\nBlack Magpie - The Black Magpie is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Platysmurus. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack mamo - It measured 8 inches from bill to tail, and was black with faded white primaries and yellow at the base of the bill. The highly decurved bill was longer in the male. Often the forehead would be dusted with pollen of its favorite food, the Lobelia. The Mamo song was a group of nose whistles that sounded like a flute along with a long held out trill. This bird has had many names including Molokai Mamo, O’o nuku’umu, which meant \"O’o with sucking beak\", and Perking’s Mamo, after ornithologist RC.\nBlack Manakin - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBlack Metaltail - The Black Metaltail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlack Monarch - The Black Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack Munia - This species is threatened by the destruction of reedbeds due to introduce of rusa deer Cervus timorensis. And also probably threatened by encroachment of woodland on grasslands, due to increased of the livestocks such as pigs. It is also engaged in cage-bird trade.\nBlack Myzomela - The Black Myzomela is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack noddy - The nests of these birds consist on a level platform, often created in the branches of trees by a series of dried leaves covered with bird droppings. One egg is laid each season, and nests are re-used in subsequent years.\nBlack Nunbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Oriole - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Oropendola - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack parrot - The Lesser Vasa Parrot was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae; it was given the name of Psittacus niger, meaning \"black parrot\". It was later transferred to the new genus Coracopsis in 1826.\nBlack Partridge - The Black Partridge is sexually dimorphic. The male has entirely glossy black plumage and a black bill, while the female is generally a chestnut-brown bird with a whitish throat and belly and a dark horn-colored bill. The female is smaller than the male.\nBlack Phoebe - In South America, the Black Phoebe is a bird of the Andes mountain region, ranging from Colombia in the north, south to northern Argentina.\nBlack Pitohui - The Black Pitohui is a species of bird in the Colluricinclidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack Rail - Black Rails appear to be omnivorous, feeding primarily on small invertebrates but also on seeds of some marsh plants. They are preyed upon by many avian and mammalian predators and rely on the cover of thick marsh vegetation for protection. They are territorial and call loudly and frequently during the mating season.\nBlack Redstart - The Black Redstart is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family , but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher .\nBlack Robin - The Black Thrush is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It was formerly known as the Black Robin. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.\nBlack Saw-wing - The Black Rough-winged Swallow breeds in open wooded habitats, and has a preference for wetter areas, although some races occur in mountain grassland habitat. It breeds across Africa from eastern Nigeria and Ethiopia south to Angola, northern Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique. The subspecies P. p. holomelaena breeds down south-eastern Africa from southern Mozambique to the Cape in South Africa.\nBlack Scoter - It winters further south in temperate zones, on the coasts of Europe as far south as Morocco. It forms large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly packed, and the birds tend to take off and dive together.\nBlack Scrub Robin\nBlack Shama - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations.It has been sighted in several locations all across the island, the most important sites being the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, the forests of Alcoy and Argao, and the shrublands of Casili, Consolacion. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack Sicklebill - With up to 110 cm in length, the male Black Sicklebill is the longest member of Paradisaeidae, though the Curl-crested Manucode has a larger body. The diet consists mainly of fruits and arthropods. The male is polygamous and performs a horizontal courtship display with the pectoral plumes raised around its head.\nBlack Siskin\nBlack Skimmer - The Black Skimmer breeds in loose groups on sandbanks and sandy beaches in the Americas, the three to seven heavily dark-blotched buff or bluish eggs being incubated by both the male and female. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and lie inconspicuously in the nest depression or \"scrape\" where they are shaded from high temperatures by the parents. They may dig their own depressions in the sand at times. Parents feed the young almost exclusively during the day with almost no feeding occurring at night, due to the entire population of adults sometimes departing the colony to forage. Although the mandibles are of equal length at hatching, they rapidly become unequal during fledging.\nBlack Solitaire - The Black Solitaire is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack Solitary Eagle - The Solitary Eagle is native to Mexico and Central and South America. It is found in mountainous or hilly forests. The frequent reports from lowlands are usually misidentifications of another species, usually the Common Black Hawk; no reports from lowlands have been confirmed. It is rare in all areas of its range and poorly known.\nBlack Spinetail - The Black Spinetail is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.\nBlack Stork - It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions.\nBlack Storm Petrel - The species breeds colonially on islands off the southern California coast of the United States and off the Baja Peninsula and Gulf of California of Mexico. Nesting sites are usually in rock crevices, occasionally in small burrows in soft earth. It also uses unused burrows from auklets. Colonies are attended nocturnally in order to avoid predatory birds such as gulls, Peregrine Falcons and owls. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow. The female lays a single white egg per breeding season, if the egg is lost then it is replaced only rarely. Both parents share incubation duties, incubation lasting around 50 days. The chick is brooded for a few days after hatching until it is able to thermoregulate by itself, after which both parents forage to provide food. Chicks fledge 10 weeks after hatching.\nBlack Sunbird - The Black Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack Swan - Black swans were first seen by Europeans in 1697, when Willem de Vlamingh's expedition explored the Swan River, Western Australia.\nBlack Swift - In flight, this bird looks like a flying cigar with long slender curved wings. The plumage is mostly a sooty dark gray. There is some contrast between the upper and lower wing. The shoulders are much darker in color than the remaining portion of the wing. They also have short slightly forked tails.\nBlack Tern - Adult are 25 cm long, with a wing span 61 cm , and weigh 62 g . They have short dark legs and a short, weak-looking black bill, measuring 27-28 mm, nearly as long as the head. The bill is long, slender, and looks slightly decurved. They have a dark grey back, with a white forehead, black head, neck and belly, black or blackish-brown cap , and a light brownish-grey, 'square' tail. The face is white. There is a big dark triangular patch in front of the eye, and a broadish white collar in juveniles. There are grayish-brown smudges on the ides of the white breast, a downwards extension of the plumage of the upperparts. These marks vary in size and are not conspicuous. In non-breeding plumage, most of the black, apart from the cap, is replaced by grey. The plumage of the upperparts is drab, with pale feather-edgings. The rump is brownish-gray.\nBlack Thicket Fantail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack Tinamou - The Black Tinamou is a species of ground bird found in humid foothill and montane forest in the Andes of South America. This threatened species is among the largest tinamous.\nBlack turnstone - It is 22-25 centimeters long and weighs 100-170 grams. The black bill is 20-27 millimeters long and slightly upturned. The legs and feet are blackish-brown with a reddish tinge. The bird is largely black and white in appearance. Breeding-plumaged adults have a black head and breast apart from a white spot between the eye and bill, a white stripe over the eye and white flecks on the sides of the breast. The upperparts are blackish-brown with pale fringes to the wing-coverts and scapular feathers. The belly and vent are white. In flight it shows a white wingbar, white shoulder patch and white tail with a broad black band across it. There is white from the lower back to the uppertail-coverts apart from a dark bar across the rump.\nBlack Vulture - This bird is an Old World vulture, and is only distantly related to the New World vultures, which are in a separate family, Cathartidae, of the order Ciconiiformes. It is therefore not directly related to the American Black Vulture despite the similar name and coloration.\nBlack Wheatear - This large 16-18 cm long wheatear breeds on cliffs and rocky slopes in western north Africa and Iberia. It is largely resident and nests in crevices in rocks laying 3-6 eggs.\nBlack Wood Hoopoe - The Black Scimitarbill , also known as the Black Wood Hoopoe, is a species of bird in the Phoeniculidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlack Wood Pigeon - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBlack Woodpecker - It lives in mature forest across the northern palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding in Eurasia. It does not migrate.\nBlack-and-buff Woodpecker - The Black-and-buff Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-and-crimson Oriole - The Black-and-crimson Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-and-gold Tanager - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-and-orange Flycatcher - The Black-and-orange Flycatcher is a species of flycatcher endemic to the central and southern Western Ghats, the Nilgiris and Palni hill ranges in southern India. It is unique among the Ficedula flycatchers in having rufous coloration on its back and prior to molecular studies was suggested to be related to the chats and thrushes.\nBlack-and-red Broadbill - It is found in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBlack-and-rufous Warbling-Finch - The Black-and-rufous Warbling-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\nBlack-and-tawny Seedeater - It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-and-white Antbird - The Black-and-white Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Myrmochanes. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBlack-and-white Becard - The Black-and-white Becard is a species of bird in the Tityridae family. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-and-white Bulbul - The Black-and-white Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-and-white Monarch\nBlack-and-white Munia - It is found in moist savanna and subtropical/tropical lowland moist forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern. They are known to feed on algae.\nBlack-and-white Owl - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-and-white Seedeater - The Black-and-white Seedeater is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-and-white Shrike-flycatcher - It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-and-white Tanager - It has a total length of 16 cm. and weighs 23–28 g .\nBlack-and-white Tody-Tyrant\nBlack-and-white Triller - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-and-white Warbler - This species is migratory, wintering in Florida, Central America and the West Indies down to Peru. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, mainly to Ireland and Great Britain.\nBlack-and-white-casqued Hornbill - The Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill is distributed to evergreen forests and savanna across equatorial Africa, in central and western Africa. A monogamous species, pairs nest in suitable tree cavities. The female usually lays up to two eggs. The diet consists mainly of figs, fruits, insects and small animals found in the trees.\nBlack-and-yellow Grosbeak - Male at Bhandak Thaatch in Kullu-Manali Distt. of Himachal Pradesh, India.\nBlack-and-yellow Tanager - The Black-and-yellow Tanager is found in the foothills and slopes on the Caribbean side of the central mountain ranges, typically from 600 m to 1200 m altitude, and occasionally down to 400 m. The preferred habitat is the canopy of wet forest and tall second growth, but it will feed lower at woodland edges and clearing. The neat cup nest is built on a tree branch. The eggs are undescribed.\nBlack-backed Antshrike - The Black-backed Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It has recently been proposed that it more properly belongs to the genus Thamnophilus .\nBlack-backed Barbet - The Black-backed Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.\nBlack-backed Bush Tanager - The Black-backed Bush-tanager is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Urothraupis. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-backed Butcher Bird - The Black-backed Butcherbird is a species of bird in the Cracticidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea Indonesia, and northern Queensland in Australia.\nBlack-backed Forktail - The Black-backed Forktail is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-backed Fruit-Dove - Bali, Lesser Sunda Islands and Australia, where it is restricted to the western edge of the Arnhem Land escarpment.\nBlack-backed Grosbeak - The Black-backed Grosbeak, Pheucticus aureoventris is a large finch type bird found in South America. They are often kept as cagebirds.\nBlack-backed Honeyeater - The Black-backed Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-backed oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-backed Puffback - The Black-backed Puffback is a species of bird in the Malaconotidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\nBlack-backed Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-backed Thornbill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlack-backed Water Tyrant - It is found in South America in central and northeastern Brazil and south through Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Uruguay; also eastern Peru. Its natural habitat is swamps.\nBlack-backed Wood Quail\nBlack-backed Woodpecker - The plumage of adults is black on the head, back, wings and rump. They are white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. Their tail is black with white outer feathers. There is an element of sexual dimorphism in the plumage, with the adult male possessing a yellow cap. Unlike all other woodpeckers except the related American and Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers, this species has three-toed feet.\nBlack-banded Barbet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-banded Crake - The Black-banded Crake is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.\nBlack-banded Flycatcher - The Black-banded Flycatcher is an uncommon spepies that is difficult to see and very little is known about its biology. The natural habitat of the species is lowland monsoon forests and hill forests up to 1200 m. Nothing is known about its breeding behaviour, the only observations of this are adults feeding recently fledged chicks in December. It feeds singly or in pairs on invertebrates, taking its prey mostly by gleaning with a few sallying flights to snatch ariel prey. The species is currently listed as near threatened. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-banded Plover - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, sandy shores, intertidal marshes, and coastal saline lagoons. It is the world's smallest plover, at 25 g and 14 cm .\nBlack-banded Woodcreeper\nBlack-bellied Antwren - The Black-bellied Antwren is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBlack-bellied Bustard - The Black-bellied Bustard is 23 to 25 inches long. The bill and legs are dull yellow. The male's upperparts have black and brown marks on a tawny buff background; the underparts are black. The head is boldly patterned with black, white, and buff. The neck, long and thin for a bustard, is buffy brown with a thin black line down the front that joins the black breast. The tail is brown and buff with four or five narrow dark brown bands. The upper surface of the wings is white with a brown triangle at the base; the flight feathers have black tips except for the outer secondaries. The white of the wings is visible when the bird stands, contrasting with the black underparts .\nBlack-bellied Cuckoo - The Black-bellied Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-bellied Cuckooshrike - The Black-bellied Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-bellied Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-bellied Glossy-Starling - The Black-bellied Glossy-starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.\nBlack-bellied Gnateater - The range of the Black-bellied Gnateater is in the south-central Amazon Basin, extending eastwards towards downstream areas of the final fourth of the Xingu River system. Its range does not extend north of the Amazon River and its western range limit is the eastern bank of the north-east flowing Madeira River; it extends southwestwards into north-central Bolivia into downstream areas of the Madeira River's tributaries.\nBlack-bellied Honeyeater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-bellied Hummingbird - It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-bellied Malkoha - The Black-bellied Malkoha is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-bellied plover - They are 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 71–83 cm, and a weight of 190–280 g . In spring and summer , the adults are spotted black and white on the back and wings. The face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a white rump. The tail is white with black barring. The bill and legs are black. They moult to winter plumage in mid August to early September and retain this until April; this being a fairly plain grey above, with a grey-speckled breast and white belly. The juvenile and first-winter plumages, held by young birds from fledging until about one year old, are similar to the adult winter plumage but with the back feathers blacker with creamy white edging. In all plumages, the inner flanks and axillary feathers at the base of the underwing are black, a feature which readily distinguishes it from the other three Pluvialis species in flight. On the ground, it can also be told from the other Pluvialis species by its larger , heavier bill. In spring and summer, mating s\nBlack-bellied Sandgrouse - The nominate race breeds in Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel. The eastern form P. o. arenarius is found in Kazakhstan, western China and northern Pakistan. It is a partial migrant, with central Asian birds moving to the Pakistan and northern India in winter.\nBlack-bellied Seedcracker - It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-bellied Seedeater - Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-bellied Storm Petrel - It is found in Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Bouvet Island, Brazil, Chile, Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Saint Helena, São Tomé and Príncipe, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Uruguay, and Vanuatu.\nBlack-bellied Tern\nBlack-bellied Thorntail - The Black-bellied Thorntail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-bellied Whistling-Duck - The Black-bellied Whistling-duck , formerly also called Black-bellied Tree Duck, is a whistling-duck that breeds from the southernmost United States and tropical Central to south-central South America. In the USA, it can be found year-round in parts of southeast Texas, and seasonally in southeast Arizona, and Louisiana's Gulf Coast. It is a rare breeder in such disparate locations as Florida, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina.\nBlack-bellied Wren - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-bibbed Cicadabird - The Black-bibbed Cicadabird is thought to be restriced to subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-bibbed Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-billed Amazon - The Black-billed Amazon lives in mountainous rainforest, usually limestone rainforest, feeding on fruit, seeds, and nuts, and will take cultivated fruit like mangos, papayas and cucumbers as well as wild fruits.\nBlack-billed Barbet - The Black-billed Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\nBlack-billed Brush Turkey - The Black-billed Brush-turkey is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-billed Capercaillie - The Black-billed Capercaillie is a large grouse species closely related to the more widespread Western Capercaillie. It is a sedentary species which breeds in the larch taiga forests of eastern Russia as well as parts of northern Mongolia and China.\nBlack-billed Cuckoo - The Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus erythropthalmus, is a cuckoo.\nBlack-billed Flycatcher - The Black-billed Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-billed Gull - The Black-billed Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus, but is now considered to be the genus Chroicocephalus.\nBlack-billed Kingfisher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-billed Magpie - In Europe, \"Magpie\" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie; it is the only magpie in Europe outside the Iberian Peninsula.\nBlack-billed Mountain Toucan\nBlack-billed Pepper Shrike - The Black-billed Peppershrike is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in the Andes in Colombia and northern Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-billed Scythebill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-billed Seed Finch - The Black-billed Seed-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.\nBlack-billed Shrike-Tyrant - The Black-billed Shrike-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.\nBlack-billed Sicklebill - The Black-billed Sicklebill is distributed to mountain forests of New Guinea. Its diet consists mainly of fruit and arthropods. The female lays one to two pale cream eggs with brown and grey spots.\nBlack-billed Streamertail - The Black-billed Streamertail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is endemic to eastern Jamaica. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Trochilus polytmus.\nBlack-billed Thrush - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlack-billed Weaver\nBlack-billed Wood Dove - This species is abundant in near desert, scrub and savannah. It builds a stick nest in a tree, often an acacia, and lays two cream-coloured eggs. Its flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general, and it tends to stay quite low.\nBlack-billed Wood Hoopoe - The Black-billed Wood Hoopoe is a species of bird in the Phoeniculidae family. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania.\nBlack-bodied Woodpecker - The Black-bodied Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, moist savanna, and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-breasted Barbet - The Black-breasted Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, and Uganda.\nBlack-breasted Buttonquail - The Black-breasted Buttonquail was originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek terms melano- \"black\", and gaster \"belly\".\nBlack-breasted Buzzard - Adult birds are relatively easy to recognise by their mainly dark plumage combined with distinctive white patches on the wings at the bases of the primary feathers.\nBlack-breasted Flatbill Flycatcher - The Black-breasted Boatbill is a species of bird in the Machaerirhynchidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-breasted Hillstar - The Black-breasted Hillstar is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in scrub at altitudes of 3,500 to 4,400 metres in the Andes of central Peru. Unlike the other hillstars, the tail, chest and belly of the male Black-breasted Hillstar are almost entirely black.\nBlack-breasted Munia - The Black-breasted Munia Lonchura teerinki is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km². It is found in subtropical/ tropical lowland dry shrubland and high altitude grassland habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-breasted Myzomela\nBlack-breasted Plovercrest - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.\nBlack-breasted Puffbird - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-breasted Puffleg - The Black-breasted Puffleg is an average sized\nBlack-breasted Thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-breasted Weaver - Resident or local migrant, endemic to South Asia.\nBlack-browed Albatross - The Black-browed Albatross or Black-browed Mollymawk, Thalassarche melanophrys, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae, and it is the most widespread and common albatross.\nBlack-browed Babbler - The Black-browed Babbler is a mysterious songbird species in the family Timaliidae. It is endemic to Indonesia, probably living on Borneo. Only a single specimen, collected in the 19th century, is known.\nBlack-browed Barbet - It is 20-23.5 cm long. The plumage is mostly green apart from the head which is patterned with blue, yellow and red. There is a black stripe above the eye. The bill is black and the feet are grey-green. The Chinese name for the bird, \"five-colored bird\" refers to the five colors seen on its plumage. Because of its colorful plumage and that its call resembles that of a percussion instrument known as a wooden fish, the species is also referred to as the \"spotted monk of the forest\" in Taiwan.\nBlack-browed Cisticola - The Black-lored Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBlack-browed Parrotbill - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.\nBlack-browed Tit - It is 11 cm long. The adult has grey upperparts and reddish-brown underparts. The head is reddish-buff with a black mask and a silver bib with black streaks and a black edge. Juveniles are paler and duller than the adults. The Black-browed Tit is similar but has a white forehead and belly and a white edge to its bib. The White-throated Tit has a white forehead and bib and a dark breastband.\nBlack-browed Tree Pie - This bird is slightly smaller than a Blue Jay and has the typical compact body and long tail of this group. The forehead, face and bib are black with the chest, neck and shoulders a light silvery or bluish-grey in colour. The back is a warm chestnut brown with similar underparts. The wing coverts are white with the primaries and tail black.\nBlack-capped Antwren\nBlack-capped Apalis - The Black-capped Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-capped Babbler\nBlack-capped Becard - The Black-capped Becard is a species of bird in the Tityridae family. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-capped Donacobius - The Black-capped Donacobius is the only member of the genus Donacobius. Its familial placement is not established, and ornithologists disagree as to its closest relations. In the 19th century, it was placed in the Turdidae, and in the 20th century, moved to the Mimidae. It had various English names, including the \"Black-capped Mockingthrush\". In the 1980s and 1990s, suggestions that it was a type of wren were accepted by the South American Classification Committee , the American Ornithologists Union and most other authorities. More recently, listing organizations and authors follow Van Remsen and Keith Barker's conclusion that it is not a wren either, but instead most closely related to an Old World lineage.\nBlack-capped Flycatcher - This species is found in the high canopy of mountain oak forest, coming lower at the edges and in clearings, and also in second growth and bushy pastures. It breeds mainly in the highest forested areas, from 2450 m to 3300 m altitude, but will descend to as low as 1850 m in the height of the rainy season.\nBlack-capped Foliage-gleaner - The Black-capped Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-capped gnatcatcher - Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts, with a long slender bill and a long black tail with white outer tailbands on the uppertail. The undertail is extensively white, showing black only along a thin vertical center line and at the very tip. Males show a prominent black cap. This species is very similar to the California Gnatcatcher and the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.\nBlack-capped Hemispingus - The Peruvian form is sometimes treated as a separate species, White-browed Hemispingus .\nBlack-capped Kingfisher - This is a large kingfisher, 28 cm in length. The adult has a purple-blue back, black head and shoulders, white neck collar and throat, and rufous underparts. The large bill and legs are bright red. In flight, large white patches are visible on the blue and black wings. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are a duller version of the adult. The call of this kingfisher is a cackling ki-ki-ki-ki-ki.\nBlack-capped Lory - The subspecies vary considerably in color:\nBlack-capped Manakin - The Black-capped Piprites , also known as the Black-capped Manakin, is a species of suboscine passerine. It has traditionally been placed in the manakin family, although it remains unclear if this is correct. It is therefore considered incertae sedis by recent authorities such as SACC.\nBlack-capped Parakeet - It lives in humid forests, ranging from the Amazonian lowlands up to an altitude of 2000 m. on the East Andean slopes. While its habitat is being disturbed, parts of its range are within protected areas , and it remains widespread and locally fairly common. Flock size 20-30, smaller in breeding season.\nBlack-capped Petrel - This long-winged petrel has a grey-brown back and wings, with a white nape and rump. Underparts are mainly white apart from a black cap and some dark underwing makings. It picks food items such as squid from the ocean surface.\nBlack-capped Pygmy Tyrant - It is a species of the forest canopy, coming lower at edges and clearings, and in second growth and semi-open woodland. It occurs up to an altitude of 900 m. It is fairly common, except in arid areas. In Costa Rica and most of Panama it is restricted to the Caribbean lowlands, while essentially restricted to the humid parts of the Chocó further south. The female builds a 15 cm long pouch nest with a round side entrance, which is suspended from a thin branch 1-7 m high in a tree. The female incubates the two brown-blotched white eggs for 15–16 days to hatching.\nBlack-capped Rufous Warbler\nBlack-capped Screech-Owl - The Black-capped Screech-owl , or Variable Screech-owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-capped Sibia - It is found in Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and the Republic of India. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBlack-capped Siskin - The Black-Capped Siskin is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Guatemala and Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-capped Tanager\nBlack-capped Tinamou - The Black-capped Tinamou, Crypturellus atrocapillus, is a type of Tinamou commonly found in the moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions.\nBlack-capped Tyrannulet - The Black-capped Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-capped Vireo - The Black-capped Vireo, Vireo atricapilla, is a small bird native to the United States and Mexico. It has been listed as an endangered species in the United States since 1987. The IUCN lists the species as vulnerable.\nBlack-capped Woodland Warbler - It is found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-casqued Hornbill - Downloadable Audio file of the sounds of the Black Casqued Hornbill\nBlack-cheeked Ant-Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-cheeked Gnateater - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-cheeked Lovebird - The Black-cheeked Lovebird is 14 cm in length, with mostly green plumage, reddish-brown forehead and forecrown, brownish-black cheeks and throat, orange bib below the throat which fades to yellowish-green, white eye-rings and grey feet. Adult have bright red beaks, while juveniles of the species are similar but with a more orange bill. Vocalizations are loud, piercing shrieks, which are very similar to those of other lovebirds.\nBlack-cheeked Warbler - It is normally found in oak forests with a dense bamboo understory from 2500 m altitude to the timberline, but occasionally occurs as low as 1600 m. The breeding pair builds a bulky domed nest with a side entrance on a sloping bank or in a gully, and the female lays two white eggs.\nBlack-cheeked Waxbill - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia & Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-cheeked Woodpecker - This woodpecker occurs in the higher levels of wet forests, semi-open woodland and old second growth. It nests in an unlined hole 6-30 m high in a dead tree. The clutch is two to four glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.\nBlack-chested Buzzard-Eagle - The Black-chested Buzzard-eagle is a bird of prey of the hawk and eagle family . It lives in open regions of South America. This species is also known as the Black Buzzard-eagle, Grey Buzzard-eagle or analogously with \"eagle\" or \"eagle-buzzard\" replacing \"buzzard-eagle\", or as the Chilean Blue Eagle. It is sometimes placed in the genus Buteo.\nBlack-chested Jay\nBlack-chested Mountain Tanager - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-chested Prinia - The Black-chested Prinia is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBlack-chested Snake-Eagle - The main identification character of this bird is its dark brown head and chest, to which it owes its name. In flight the dark head contrasts with the underparts and underwings, which are white apart from dark barring on the flight feathers and tail. The upperparts are dark brown, and the eye is yellow.\nBlack-chested Sparrow - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlack-chested Tyrant - The Black-chested Tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlack-chinned Antbird - The Black-chinned Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBlack-chinned Fruit Dove - The Black-chinned Fruit-dove is distributed in lowland forests of Taiwan and the Philippines, where it is fairly common. On Taiwan, it is very rare, known only from four specimens.\nBlack-chinned Honeyeater - The Black-chinned Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\nBlack-chinned hummingbird - Adults are metallic green above and white below with green flanks. Their bill is long, straight and very slender. The adult male has a black face and chin, a glossy purple throat band and a dark forked tail. The female has a dark rounded tail with white tips and no throat patch; they are similar to female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.\nBlack-chinned Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-chinned Siskin\nBlack-chinned sparrow - This passerine bird is generally found in chaparral, sagebrush, arid scrublands, and brushy hillsides, breeding in the Southwestern United States , and migrating in winter to north-central Mexico and Baja California Sur. There is also a non-migratory population in central Mexico.\nBlack-chinned Yuhina - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-collared Apalis - The Black-collared Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. Formerly in genus Apalis, Nguembock et al. moved species to a new genus, Oreolais. It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda.\nBlack-collared Barbet - Readily recognised by its loud duet, commonly rendered as \"too-puddly too-puddly too-puddly\".... and its snarling warning call. This is a gregarious species, often acting in concert when driving off intruders and roosting together in nest holes. Their flight is direct with a loud whirring of wings.\nBlack-collared Bulbul\nBlack-collared Hawk - It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and swamps.\nBlack-cowled Saltator\nBlack-crested Antshrike - This is a bird of undergrowth in mangrove or other swampy forest and thickets near water. It is usually found as territorial pairs. The female lays two purple-lined white eggs in a deep cup nest suspended below a branch or vine. They are incubated by both sexes for 14 days to hatching, the female always brooding at night. The chicks fledge in another 12 days.\nBlack-crested Bulbul - This is a bird of forest and dense scrub. It builds its nest in a bush; two to four eggs is a typical clutch. The Black-crested Bulbul feeds on fruit and insects.\nBlack-crested Coquette\nBlack-crested Finch - The Black-crested Finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlack-crested Titmouse - The bird is 5.5 to 6 inches long, with rusty flanks, gray upperparts, and a whitish belly. The male has a long, dark black crest that is usually erect, while the female's crest is not as dark. It is common wherever trees grow, whether they are deciduous, heavy timber, or urban shade trees. Its call peter, peter, peter is similar to that of the Tufted Titmouse, but shorter. Its diet consists of berries, nuts, spiders, insects, and insect eggs.\nBlack-crowned Antpitta - The Black-crowned Antpitta is a species of bird in the Formicariidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-crowned Babbler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-crowned Monjita - The Black-crowned Monjita is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBlack-crowned Night Heron - Adults are approximately 64 cm long and weigh 800 g . They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey. These are short-necked and stout herons.\nBlack-crowned Sparrow-Lark\nBlack-crowned Tityra - The Black-crowned Tityra is a medium-sized passerine bird. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC. It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-crowned Waxbill - It is found in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania & Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-eared Cuckoo - The Black-eared Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.\nBlack-eared Fairy - A medium-sized tropical hummingbird. It has bright green upperparts, white underparts and a black mask. The relatively short, straight bill is black. The graduated tail is blue-black in the center, with white outer tail feathers . Depending on subspecies, the male has a green malar or throat. The female is similar, but with a longer tail and no green malar/throat.\nBlack-eared Hemispingus - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest. It is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.\nBlack-eared Kite - The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.\nBlack-eared nuthatch - Pygmy Nuthatches nest in cavities in dead stubs of conifers, lining the bottom of the cavity with pine-cone scales, plant down, and other soft plant and animal materials. They may fill cracks or crevices around the entrance with fur; the function of this behavior is unknown. The female lays 4–9 eggs, which are white with fine reddish-brown spotting. She does most of the incubation, which lasts about 16 days. The young leave the nest about 22 days after hatching.\nBlack-eared Oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-eared Parrotlet - It is mostly known from lower montane evergreen forest at 500-1,200m, but also up to 1,400m in the Itatiaia National Park. In addition it is found in near sea-level in Bahia and São Paulo.\nBlack-eared Seedeater - The Black-eared Seedeater is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\nBlack-eared Shrike Babbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-eared Sparrow-Lark\nBlack-eared Wheatear - This 13.5-15.5 cm long insectivorous species is dimorphic with eastern and western races. In both forms, birds with or without a black throat are met with.\nBlack-eared Wood-Quail - The Black-eared Wood-quail is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.\nBlack-faced Antbird - There are seven subspecies currently recognised, although some of these may represent separate species and others only clinal variation, and more research is needed into the species' taxonomy.\nBlack-faced Antthrush - This antthrush is a common and widespread forest bird which builds a leaf-lined nest in a cavity in a hollow branch or stump; two white eggs are laid.\nBlack-faced Brush-finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-faced Bunting - It breeds in southern Siberia across to northern China and northern Japan. It is migratory, wintering in northeast India, southern China and northern southeast Asia. It is a very rare wanderer to western Europe.\nBlack-faced Canary - The Black-Faced Canary is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.\nBlack-faced Cormorant - The Black-faced-Cormorant feeds largely on small coastal fish, diving in depths up to 12 m. Fish of lengths up to 50 cm have been observed to be taken. The birds sometimes forage in flocks, apparently in an organised way.\nBlack-faced Cotinga - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-faced Coucal - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-faced Cuckooshrike - They are widely distributed in almost any wooded habitat throughout the area, except in rainforests. But they can also occur in urban areas, and are a fairly common site on powerlines in Australian cities such as Sydney and Perth.\nBlack-faced Dacnis\nBlack-faced Friarbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-faced grassquit - This is a common bird in long grass or scrub in open or semi-open areas, including roadsides and ricefields. It makes a domed grass nest, lined with finer grasses, and placed low in a bush or on a bank. The typical clutch is two or three whitish eggs blotched with reddish brown. Both sexes build the nest and feed the young.\nBlack-faced Grosbeak - The adult Black-faced Grosbeak is 16.5 cm long, weighs 36 g, and has a heavy, mainly black, bill. It has a black face, yellow head, neck and breast, and olive back, wings and tail. The rump and belly are grey. Immatures are duller and have duskier face markings.\nBlack-faced Hawk\nBlack-faced hill-robin - The Poʻouli was not discovered until 1973 by students from the University of Hawaiʻi, who found the bird on the north-eastern slopes of Haleakala on the island of Maui. It was found during the Hana Rainforest Project at an altitude of 1,980 metres above sea level. The Poʻouli was the first species of Hawaiian Honeycreeper to be discovered since 1923. It is dissimilar to other Hawaiian birds. Evidence based on DNA suggests it belongs to an ancient lineage of honeycreepers\nBlack-faced Ibis - The Black-faced Ibis is a species of bird in the Threskiornithidae family. It is found in grassland and fields in southern and western South America. It has been included as a subspecies of the similar Buff-necked Ibis, but today all major authorities accept the split. On the contrary, the Black-faced Ibis includes the taxon branickii as a subspecies, although some authorities treat it as a separate species, the Andean Ibis .\nBlack-faced Laughing Thrush - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam.\nBlack-faced Monarch - The Black-faced Monarch was most likely discovered sometime in the 1810s, although its original discovery is somewhat controversial. According to many bird books, the original discoverer of the Black-faced Monarch was Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, in the year 1818. However, some articles indicate that Bryan Sun may have been the first person to classify the bird as early as 1794.\nBlack-faced Munia - The Black-faced Munia Lonchura molucca is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia. Its habitat is very broad and it could be found in artificial landscapes , forest, grassland & savanna. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-faced Pitta\nBlack-faced Rufous Warbler - The Black-Faced Rufous Warbler is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-faced Sandgrouse\nBlack-faced Sheathbill - Dumpy, short-necked, pigeon-like birds with white plumage, black bills, caruncles and facial skin. Measurements: length 38-41 cm; wingspan 74-79 cm; weight 530-610 g, 460-530 g.\nBlack-faced Solitaire - This is a bird of dense undergrowth and bamboo clumps in wet mountain forest, normally from 750 to 3000 m altitude. It disperse as low as 400 m in the wet season, when it may form loose flocks. It builds a cup nest of mosses and liverworts in a tree crevice, hole in a mossy bank, or concealed amongst mosses and epiphytes in a tree fork up to 3.5 m above the ground. The female lays 2-3 rufous-brown marked white or pinkish eggs between April and June. The fledging period is 15-16 days.\nBlack-faced Spinetail\nBlack-faced Spoonbill - The global population of this species, based on the winter population count carried out in 1988-1990 in all known sites, was estimated at 288 individuals. As of 2006, thanks to conservation efforts over the years, the estimated global population had increased to 1,679 . The niche population of North Korea does not exceed 30 birds, which implies that there must be another colony which has not been discovered yet, and which is perhaps located in northeast China; for example, on the islands of Liaoning .\nBlack-faced Tanager - The Black-faced Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\nBlack-faced Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-faced Waxbill - It is usually found in grassy plains with tall grasses and bushes, in small flocks. Most of the Black-lored Waxbill population is probably within the Upemba National Park but it is unclear to what extent is its habitat protected by the authority.\nBlack-faced Woodswallow\nBlack-footed Albatross - The Black-footed Albatross, Phoebastria nigripes, is a large seabird from the North Pacific. It is one of three albatrosses that range in the northern hemisphere, nesting on isolated tropical islands.\nBlack-footed Penguin - Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay. Mainland colonies probably only became possible in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. The only other mainland colony is in Namibia, but it is not known when this was established.\nBlack-fronted Bulbul\nBlack-fronted Dotterel - Unlike many other wading birds, Black-fronted Dotterels retain the same plumage all year round, which makes identification easier.\nBlack-fronted Flowerpecker - The Black-fronted Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-fronted Ground Tyrant - The Black-fronted Ground-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlack-fronted Nunbird - It is found in Amazonian Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; also regions of eastern and southeastern Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-fronted Parakeet - The extinct Black-fronted Parakeet or Tahiti Parakeet was endemic to the Pacific island of Tahiti. Its native name was simply ’ā’ā according to Latham though White gives \"aa-maha\".\nBlack-fronted Piping-Guan - This species is only found on Trinidad; it is close to extinction. They are large birds, 60 cm in length, and similar in general appearance to turkeys, with thin necks and small heads. They are forest birds, and the nest is built in a tree. Three large white eggs are laid, the female alone incubating. This arboreal species feeds on fruit and berries.\nBlack-fronted Tyrannulet - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-fronted White-eye - It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Quite common, it is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.\nBlack-fronted Wood Quail\nBlack-girdled Barbet - The Black-girdled Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-goggled Brush-Finch - The Black-spectacled Brush-finch is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is endemic to Peru.\nBlack-goggled Tanager - The underparts are tawny, the back and head are dull brownish-olive, and the tail and wings are contrastingly black . The male has a yellow crown patch and a large black patch around the eyes .\nBlack-headed Ant-thrush - The Black-headed Antthrush is a species of bird in the Formicariidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-headed Antbird - Some authorities now regard the subspecies \"minor\" as a separate species with the English name Amazonas Antbird.\nBlack-headed Apalis - The Black-headed Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-headed Bulbul - Pycnonotus atriceps\nBlack-headed Bunting - It breeds in southeast Europe east to Iran. It is migratory, wintering in India. It is a rare but regular wanderer to western Europe.\nBlack-headed Canary - Its habitat is dry open scrub and grassland, edges of cultivation and suburban gardens.\nBlack-headed Cuckooshrike - Male at Sindhrot in Vadodara district of Gujarat, India.\nBlack-headed Duck - This is the most basal living member of its subfamily, and it lacks the stiff tail and swollen bill of its relatives. Overall much resembling a fairly typical diving duck. It is a small dark duck, the male with a black head and mantle and a paler flank and belly, and the female pale brown overall.\nBlack-headed Flyeater - Murphy S. Why do male fairy gerygones Gerygone palpebrosa burst into song on hearing predators or loud noises? Sunbird 32: 62-66.\nBlack-headed Gonolek - Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.\nBlack-headed Greenfinch\nBlack-headed Greenfinch - It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland.\nBlack-headed Grosbeak - The 19 cm long, 47 g weight Black-headed Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds from southwestern British Columbia, through the western half of the United States, into central Mexico. It occurs as an accidental further south in Central America.\nBlack-headed Hemispingus - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-headed Heron - This species usually breeds in the wet season in colonies in trees, reedbeds or cliffs. It builds a bulky stick nest and lays 2–-4 eggs.\nBlack-headed honeyeater - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBlack-headed Ibis - It occurs in marshy wetlands inland and on the coast, where it feeds on various fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as on insects.\nBlack-headed Lapwing - The Black-headed Plover or Black-headed Lapwing is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia, although it has seasonal movements. It lays two or three eggs on a ground scrape.\nBlack-headed Munia - Lonchura malacca has been split into L. malacca and the Black-headed Munia or Chestnut Munia L. atricapilla.\nBlack-headed myzomela\nBlack-headed Nightingale-Thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-headed oriole - The male of the species has a black hood, mandible, and throat, as well as a black tail. Wings are black, but the remiges and retrices are fringed with white. The secondary coverts form yellow epaulets. The back and vent are yellow washed with olive, and the underside is almost uniformly yellow. Females of this species have a slightly more olive nape and back than the males. The adult female’s plumage is similar to the juvenile plumage; however, unlike adults, the wings are dull brown instead of black. In general, immature specimens have the hood; wingbars; remiges; and epaulets of adult specimens. The first-basic plumage retains the darker, greener coloration of the juvenile plumage, however. Molting generally occurs in early autumn, though some specimens have been noted to molt as early as June.\nBlack-headed Paradise-Flycatcher - However, the Red-bellied Paradise-flycatcher is a common resident breeder in tropical western Africa south of the Sahara Desert. This species is usually found in thick forests and other well-wooded habitats. Two eggs are laid in a tiny cup nest in a tree.\nBlack-headed Parrot - The Black-headed Parrot , also known as the Black-headed Caique, Black-capped Parrot or Pallid Parrot , is one of the two species in the genus Pionites of the Psittacidae family; the other species being the allopatric White-bellied Parrot.\nBlack-headed Puff-back Flycatcher - It is sometimes split into two species: Eastern Black-headed Batis in southern Somalia and eastern parts of Kenya and Tanzania and Western Black-headed Batis in the rest of the range.\nBlack-headed Saltator - The genus Saltator is apparently polyphyletic.\nBlack-headed Sibia - It is found in China, Myanmar and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-headed siskin - This species is considered the extant \"father\" of the South American siskin radiation.\nBlack-headed Weaver\nBlack-headed Whistler - The Black-headed Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-headed White-eye - The species has a black face, dark olive neck, back and wings, and olive rump with a black tail , and bright yellow undersides. The white eye-ring is bright but incomplete, broken at the front. The plumage of the male and female are similar.\nBlack-headed Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-hooded Antshrike - The Black-hooded Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-hooded Antwren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland and plantations . It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-hooded Laughing Thrush\nBlack-hooded Oriole - It is a bird of open woodland and cultivation. The nest is built in a tree, and contains two eggs. The food is insects and fruit, especially figs, found in the tree canopies where the orioles spend much of their time.\nBlack-hooded Thrush\nBlack-legged Dacnis - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-legged kittiwake - This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus.\nBlack-lored Babbler - As defined here, it consists of two populations with widely separated ranges, one in northwestern Botswana, northern Namibia,\nBlack-lored Parrot - It is very poorly known, being at least partly nocturnal and occupying hilly forests.\nBlack-mandibled Toucan - It occurs at altitudes of 100-2400 m. in humid montane forests, with a preference for the canopy and edge.\nBlack-mantled Goshawk - The Black-mantled Goshawk is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-masked Finch - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-masked White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-naped Fruit Dove - The Black-naped Fruit-dove is distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In Indonesia, it is found in Java, Lesser Sunda Islands and Sulawesi, where it inhabits the lowland and hill forests. The diet consists mainly of various fruits, figs and berries. The female usually lays one single white egg.\nBlack-naped Monarch - The Black-naped Monarch or Black-naped Blue Flycatcher is a slim and agile passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers. They are sexually dimorphic with males having a distinctive black patch on the back of the head and a narrow black half collar while the female is duller and lacks the black markings. They have a call that is similar to that of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher and in tropical forest habitats pairs may join mixed-species foraging flocks.\nBlack-naped Oriole - They are migrants in most parts of South India and are most regularly seen in the Western Ghats.\nBlack-naped tern - The tern is about 30cm long with a wing length of 21-23cm. Their beaks and legs are black, but the tips of their bills are yellow. They have long forked tails.\nBlack-necked Aracari - It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlack-necked Cisticola - The Black-necked Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.\nBlack-necked crane - The Black-necked Crane is distributed in Pakistan, China, Himalayan regions of the Republic of India, Bhutan and Vietnam. It breeds on the Tibetan Plateau, with a small population in adjacent Ladakh, and Kashmir valleys. It has therefore been designated as the \"State bird of Jammu and Kashmir\". It has six wintering areas, mostly at lower altitudes in China, notably at Caohai Lake, but it also winters in Bhutan. In Jammu and Kashmir, the crane breeds near the high altitude lakes of Ladakh such as Tso Kar Lake. The Black-necked Crane is one of the spiritual creatures for the people of the area and is pictured alongside many of their deities in the monasteries of the region.\nBlack-necked Eremomela - The Black-Necked Eremomela is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna.\nBlack-necked Grebe - There are three subspecies:\nBlack-necked Red Cotinga - It is found in the western Amazon Basin of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; also the very southern border region of Venezuela with Amazonas state. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-necked Stork - The Black-necked Stork is a quite large bird, typically 130-150 cm tall with a 230 cm wingspan. The average weight is around 4100 grams. It is spectacularly plumaged. The head, neck, wing bar and tail are jet black, with the rest of the plumage white. The massive bill is black and the legs are bright red. Sexes are identical except that the female has a yellow iris, while the male's is brown. Juveniles are mainly light brown with a white belly and dark legs.\nBlack-necked Swan - The smallest member in its genus, it is found in freshwater marshes, lagoon and lake shores in southern South America. The Black-necked Swan breeds in Zona Sur, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and on the Falkland Islands. In the austral winter, this species migrates northwards to Paraguay and southern Brazil. The Laguna Blanca National Park in Argentina is a protected home of this swan. The wetlands created by the Great Chilean Earthquake like Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary in Cruces River have become important population centers for the Black-necked Swan.\nBlack-necked Tailor Bird - It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-necked Wattle-eye - The Black-necked Wattle-eye is a species of bird in the Platysteiridae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-necked Weaver - This weaver occurs in forests, especially in wet habitats. It builds a large coarsely woven nest made of grass and creepers with a 15 cm downward facing entrance tunnel hanging from the globular egg chamber. The nest is suspended from a branch in a tree and 2-3 eggs are laid. It nests in pairs but forms small flocks when not breeding.\nBlack-necked Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-polled Yellowthroat - Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-ringed White-eye - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-rumped Flameback - The Black-rumped Flameback or Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker is a woodpecker found widely distributed in South Asia. It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas, it has a characteristic rattling-whinnying call and an undulating flight. It is the only golden-backed woodpecker with a black throat.\nBlack-rumped waxbill - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France , Gambia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Portugal , Puerto Rico, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, USA & Virgin Islands . The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-shouldered Cicadabird - The Black-shouldered Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-shouldered Kite - The Black-shouldered Kite was first described by ornithologist John Latham in 1802. Its specific name is derived from the Latin axilla \"shoulder\". The name \"Black-shouldered Kite\" was formerly used for a Eurasian and African species, Elanus caeruleus, and the Australian bird and the North American species, the White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus, were treated as subspecies of this. The three Elanus species have comparable plumage patterns and sizes, however, they are now regarded as distinct, and the name Black-winged Kite is used for E. caeruleus. Modern references to the Black-shouldered Kite should therefore unambiguously mean the Australian species, E. axillaris.\nBlack-shouldered Nightjar - The Black-shouldered Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlack-sided Flowerpecker - The Black-sided Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia in northern Borneo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-sided Robin - The Black-sided Robin is a species of bird in the Petroicidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-spotted Barbet - It is found in E Colombia, E Peru, Brazil, the Guianas, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest. Previously, it included the Gilded Barbet of the southern and western Amazon basin as subspecies. As currently defined, the Black-spotted Barbet is monotypic.\nBlack-spotted Bare-eye - The Black-spotted Bare-eye is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBlack-spotted Yellow Tit - This species is a resident breeder in the Himalayas. The race in peninsular India has been split as Parus aplonotus by Rasmussen and Anderton . It is a common bird in open tropical forests, but does not occur in Sri Lanka. It is an active and agile feeder, taking insects and spiders from the canopy, and sometimes fruit.\nBlack-streaked Puffbird - The Black-streaked Puffbird is a species of puffbird in the Bucconidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-striped Sparrow - This American sparrow is a common bird in humid lowlands and foothills up to 1500 m altitude, in semi-open habitats such as thickets, young second growth, overgrown fields and shady plantations and gardens.\nBlack-striped Woodcreeper - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-tailed Antbird - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-tailed Cisticola - The Black-tailed Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBlack-tailed Flycatcher - It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-tailed Godwit - Scolopax limosa Linnaeus,1758\nBlack-tailed Gull - It has yellow legs and a red and black spot at the end of the bill. This gull takes 4 years to reach full adult plumage. As the name suggests, it has a black tail. The bird has a cat-like call, giving it its Japanese name — Umineko, \"Sea cat\" and Korean name — Gwaeng-yi gull, which means \"cat\" gull.\nBlack-tailed Leaftosser - The Black-tailed Leaftosser is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tailed Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tailed Native Hen - The Black-tailed Native-hen is a large dark bird, reaching about 38cm in length and weighing around 400g. This species possesses an erect tail and is endowed almost entirely in brownish-grey and green feathers. Its long legs and lower jaw are a striking pink-orange colour, as well as its eyes which are more of a bright orange colour. This species is not excessively vocal, its main call is an alarm 'kak' sound.\nBlack-tailed Tityra - The Black-tailed Tityra, Tityra cayana, is a medium-sized passerine bird of tropical South America. The tityras have been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher families by various authors. But the weight of evidence strongly suggest they and their closest relatives are better separated as Tityridae; the AOU for example advocates this separation.\nBlack-tailed Trainbearer - The Black-Tailed Trainbearer is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-tailed Treecreeper - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tailed Trogon\nBlack-tailed Waxbill - It is found in subtropical/ tropical moist shrubland habitats in Angola, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia & Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-thighed Falconet - It breeds in tree holes.\nBlack-thighed Grosbeak - This species breeds from about 1000m altitude or 1500 m up to 2600 m and is found in canopy, woodland edge and semi-open habitats such as pasture with some trees. The nest is a thin cup constructed on a bulky twig base 1-3 m up in a small tree or amongst vines. The female lays two brown-spotted pale blue eggs between March and May.\nBlack-thighed Puffleg - The Black-thighed Puffleg is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found at humid forest edge and ravines in the Andean highlands of Colombia and northern Ecuador. It is threatened by habitat loss. As suggested by its name, the feathering around its legs is black, which is unique among the pufflegs. Otherwise its plumage is green with a contrastingly black tail.\nBlack-throated Accentor - The Black-throated Accentor builds a neat nest low in spruce thickets, laying 3-5 unspotted blue eggs. It winters in scrub or cultivation.\nBlack-throated Antbird - The Black-throated Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Antshrike - The Black-throated Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-throated Apalis - The Black-throated Apalis is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-throated Babbler\nBlack-throated Barbet - The Black-throated Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\nBlack-throated Blue Robin - The Black-throated Blue Robin is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in China and Thailand. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and temperate shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlack-throated Blue Warbler - Adult males have white underparts with black throat, face and flanks; the upperparts are deep blue; immature males are similar with upperparts more greenish. Females have olive-brown upperparts and light yellow underparts with darker wings and tail, a grey crown and a brown patch on the cheek. All birds have a small white wing patch which is not always visible, and a thin pointed bill. Like many warblers, this bird has colorful plumage during the spring and summer, but its fall plumage is drab and less distinctive. In the fall, it can still be identified from other similar warblers by its small white wing patch.\nBlack-throated Bobwhite - The Yucatan Bobwhite or Black-throated Bobwhite is a species of bird in the Odontophoridae family. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Brilliant - The Black-throated Brilliant is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Canary - Serinus atrogularis and S. reichenowi have been lumped into S. atrogularis following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson .\nBlack-throated Coucal - The Black-throated Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in west Africa in dense second growth along forest edge and grassy swamps. The subspecies found in northern and central Zaire is sometimes split as Neumann's Coucal, Centropus neumanni.\nBlack-throated Diver - It breeds on deep lakes in the tundra region of Alaska and northern Canada as far east as Baffin Island, and in Russia east of the Lena River.\nBlack-throated Finch - Originally described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837, its specific epithet is Latin cincta \"girdled\".\nBlack-throated Firefinch - It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlack-throated Flower-piercer - It is found in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Green Broadbill\nBlack-throated Green Warbler - It is 12 cm long and weighs 9 g, and has an olive-green crown, a yellow face with olive markings, a thin pointed bill, white wing bars, an olive-green back and pale underparts with black streaks on the flanks. Adult males have a black throat and upper breast; females have a pale throat and black markings on their breast.\nBlack-throated Grey Warbler - The Black-throated Gray Warbler is a songbird of the New World warbler family. It is 13 cm long and has black, grey, and white plumage. It breeds in western North America from British Columbia to New Mexico, and winters in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Common in in its forest habitats, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.\nBlack-throated Grosbeak - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-throated hermit - It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Honeyeater - The Black-throated Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-throated Huet-huet\nBlack-throated Jay - The Black-throated Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-throated loon - Breeding adults are 63 cm to 75 cm in length with a 100 cm to 122 cm wingspan, shaped like a smaller, sleeker version of the Great Northern Diver. They have a grey head, black throat, white underparts and chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. Its bill is grey or whitish and dagger-shaped. In all plumages a white flank patch distinguishes this species from all other divers including the otherwise almost identical Pacific Diver.\nBlack-throated Magpie-Jay - This species is 58.5 to 76.5 cm long, more than half of which is the tail. The upperparts are blue with white tips to the tail feathers; the underparts are white. The bill, legs, head, and conspicuous crest are black except for a pale blue crescent over the eyes and a patch under the eye. In juveniles, the crest has a white tip and the patch below the eye is smaller and darker blue than in adults. In most birds, the throat and chest are also black, but some in the southern part of the range have various amounts of white there.\nBlack-throated Malimbe - The Black-throated Malimbe is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Ghana.\nBlack-throated Mango - It is 10.2 cm long and weighs 7.2g. The longish black bill is slightly decurved. The tail in both sexes has dark central feathers, the outer tail being wine-red tipped with black.\nBlack-throated Munia - The endemic Sri Lankan subspecies, L. k. kelaarti is sometimes considered to as a separate species distinct from L. k. jerdoni of the Western Ghats of India.\nBlack-throated Parrotbill - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Shrike-Tanager\nBlack-throated Shrikebill - It is found in Fiji and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. The Santa Cruz Shrikebill is little-known, rarely seen, and it was once speculated it might be extinct; it does still exist however.\nBlack-throated Sparrow - The Black-throated Sparrow reaches a length of about 4.5-5.5 inches, and is pale gray above, with a distinctive black and white head pattern.Immature are similar but lacks a black throat. Its call is high and bell-like, and its song is a fairly simple, mechanical tinkling. It feeds primarily on insects and seeds, and travels in small groups, though larger groups may accumulate around sources of water in the desert.\nBlack-throated Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlack-throated Sunbird - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Thistletail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlack-throated Tit - The Black-throated Tit is a small passerine, around 10.5 cm long and weighing 4-9 g. There is considerable racial variation in the plumage, but all subspecies have a medium length tail , a black throat and a black 'bandit mask' around the eye. The nominate race has a chestnut cap, breast band and flanks and dark grey back, wings and tail, and a white belly. The other subspecies have generally the same pattern but with grey caps or all grey bellies and flanks. Both sexes are alike.\nBlack-throated Tody-Tyrant - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-throated Trogon - Like most trogons, it has distinctive male and female plumages and with soft colourful feathers. This relatively small species is 23-24 cm long and weighs 54-57 g, with a white undertail with black barring, a yellow bill and wing coverts which are vermiculated with black and white, but appear grey at any distance. The male Black-throated Trogon has a green head, upper breast and back, black face and throat, and golden yellow belly. The female has a brown head, upper breast and back, rufous upper tail and yellow belly. Immatures resemble the adults but are duller, and young males have a brown throat, breast and wing coverts.\nBlack-throated Wren\nBlack-tipped Cotinga - The Black-tipped Cotinga is a species of bird in the Cotingidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlack-tipped Monarch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-vented oriole - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-vented Shearwater - This species is pelagic, occurring in the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. It comes closer to land than most other shearwaters, so it sometimes can be seen from shore. It predominantly nests on offshore islands off north and western Baja California, namely Isla de Guadalupe, Islas San Benito and Isla Natividad. It is fairly common off the United States coast of central and southern California during the country's colder months.\nBlack-whiskered vireo - The breeding habitat is open deciduous wooded areas and cultivation, and in Florida also mangroves. The Black-whiskered Vireo builds a cup nest in a fork of a tree branch, and lays 2-3 white eggs.\nBlack-winged Bishop - This common weaver occurs in a range of open country, especially tall grassland and often near water. It builds a spherical woven nest in tall grass. 2-4 eggs are laid.\nBlack-winged Cuckooshrike - It is distributed from Northeast Pakistan through the lower Himalayan region .\nBlack-winged Ground Dove\nBlack-winged Kite - The Black-winged Kite is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae best known for its habit of hovering over open grasslands. This Eurasian species was sometimes combined with the Australian Black-shouldered Kite . This kite is distinctively long-winged predominantly and the white, grey and black plumage and the red iris make it easy to identify. Although mainly seen on the plains, they are sometimes seen on grassy slopes of hills in the higher elevation regions of Asia.\nBlack-winged Lapwing - The Black-winged Lapwing is an east African species that is found from the Ethiopian highlands in the north to central Kenya , and again at middle to coastal elevations in eastern South Africa . It is a habitat specialist of short grass in well-watered temperate grasslands. They may move about locally to find ideal situations, often at night. In their tightly grouped flying flocks they resemble Plovers.\nBlack-winged Lory - An Indonesian endemic, the Black-winged Lory is distributed to forests and coastal habitat of Biak, Numfor, Manim and Mios Num islands in Cenderawasih Bay, Papua. It frequents and roosts in coconut trees.\nBlack-winged Lovebird - The Black-winged Lovebird, with a length of about 16\nBlack-winged Monarch - The Black-winged Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlack-winged Oriole - The Black-winged Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlack-winged Parrot - The Black-winged Parrot, Hapalopsittaca melanotis, is a small stocky parrot found in the eastern Andes. It is largely green with large black patches on wings, dull yellow around eyes, blue-grey beak, and distinct patches over the ears. It has two subspecies in separate ranges:\nBlack-winged Petrel - It is found in Australia, French Polynesia, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and the United States.\nBlack-winged Pratincole - Their most unusual feature of the pratincoles is that although classed as waders they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground.\nBlack-winged Saltator - It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlack-winged Snowfinch\nBlack-winged Starling - The Black-winged Starling is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. The species is also known as the Black-winged Myna or the White-breasted Starling. It is endemic to Indonesia. There are three recognised subspecies, the nominate race, which occurs across much of the island of Java, tricolor, which is restricted to south east Java, and tertius, which is found on Bali and possibly Lombok. The validity of the records on Lombok has been called into question, there are only a few records and they may represent escapees from the cagebird trade or natural vagrants. The species has often been assigned to the starling genus Sturnus, but is now placed in Acridotheres because it is behaviourally and vocally closer to the birds in that genus.\nBlack-winged Stilt - The Black-winged Stilt or Common Stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family . Opinions differ as to whether the birds treated under the scientific name H. himantopus ought to be treated as a single species and if not, how many species to recognize. Most sources today accept 2—4 species.\nBlackburnian Warbler - The Blackburnian Warbler, Dendroica fusca , is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina.\nBlackcap - It is a robust typical warbler, mainly grey in plumage. Like most Sylvia species, it has distinct male and female plumages: The male has the small black cap from which the species gets its name, whereas in the female the cap is light brown. This is a bird of shady woodlands with ground cover for nesting. The nest is built in a low shrub, and 3–6 eggs are laid. The song is a pleasant chattering with some clearer notes like a Blackbird. This full song can be confused with that of the Garden Warbler, but in the Blackcap, it characteristically ends with an emphatic fluting warble. Especially in isolated Blackcap populations , a simplified song can occur. This song is said to have a Leiern-type ending after the term used by German ornithologists who first described it. The introduction is like that in other Blackcaps, but the final warbling part is a simple alteration between two notes, as in a Great Tit's call but more fluting .\nBlackcap Illadopsis - The Blackcap Illadopsis is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlackish Antbird - The Blackish Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, and Suriname. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlackish Cinclodes - It is 18 to 23 cm long. The sexes are similar and their plumage is almost entirely dark brown. The throat is slightly paler with some buff speckling, there is a hint of a pale stripe over the eye and there is a faint reddish-brown bar on the wing. The bill is quite long, stout and slightly downcurved with a pale yellow spot at the base .\nBlackish Cuckooshrike - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlackish Nightjar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.\nBlackish Oystercatcher - It is found in Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands and Peru, and is a vagrant to Uruguay.\nBlackish Pewee - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlackish Rail - The Blackish Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is swamps.\nBlackish-blue Seedeater - The Blackish-blue Seedeater is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae. It was formerly placed with the American sparrows in the Emberizidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlackish-grey Antshrike - The species is found in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and eastern French Guiana; also a small river region of northeast Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It got its name \"Blackish-grey Antshrike\" because of its blackish-grey color, distinguishing it from other Antshrikes.\nBlackpoll Warbler - These birds are migratory, wintering in northwestern South America. They are rare vagrants to western Europe, although their northerly range and long-distance migration make them one of the more frequent transatlantic passerine wanderers.\nBlacksmith Lapwing - The Blacksmith Lapwing or Blacksmith Plover occurs commonly from Kenya through central Tanzania to southern and southwestern Africa. The vernacular name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, tink, tink' alarm call, which suggests a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.\nBlackstart - It is a 14–16 cm long bird named for its black tail, which is frequently fanned; the rest of its plumage is bluish-grey or grey-brown . The sexes are similar, but the male on average has blacker lores. The song is a clear melancholy whistle: CHURlee...TRUloo...CHURlee...TRUlur..., with short phrases from the song used as a call.\nBlakiston's Fish-Owl - It feeds on a variety of aquatic prey, including fish and amphibians, but also takes small mammals and birds to the size of hazel grouse . It also takes carrion, as evidenced by fish owls in Russia being trapped in snares set for furbearing mammals, which use raw meat as bait.\nBlanford's Rosefinch - The Crimson Rosefinch is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is boreal forests.\nBlanford's Snowfinch - The Plain-backed Snowfinch or Blanford's Snowfinch is a species of bird in the sparrow family.\nBlaze-winged Parakeet - The Blaze-winged Parakeet , more commonly known as the Blaze-winged Conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot found in wooded habitats in the Pantanal-region of Brazil and Paraguay. It remains locally fairly common, but has suffered due to extensive habitat destruction within its relatively small range, and has therefore been uplisted to Near Threatened by BirdLife International in 2009. The type specimen is labelled Bolivia, but due to shifting borders it is now believed to be from Paraguay. It has often been considered a subspecies of the Maroon-bellied Parakeet based on apparent hybrids from Paraguay, but – as far as known – the two generally maintain their integrity, and are therefore considered separate species by all major authorities today. They resemble each other, but the Blaze-winged Parakeet has a dusky crown and red \"shoulder\" and underwing coverts.\nBleda notatus - The Lesser Bristlebill or Yellow-lored Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It was formerly lumped with the Green-tailed Bristlebill but is now often considered to be a separate species.\nBleda syndactylus - The Common Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland and montane forests and tropical moist shrubland.\nBlind snipe - The American Woodcock is a small chunky shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcock spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage.\nBlond-crested Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlood Pheasant - The Blood Pheasant, Ithaginis cruentus, is the only species in genus Ithaginis of the Pheasant family. It has 15 different subspecies.\nBlood-breasted Flowerpecker - The Blood-breasted Flowerpecker is a species of bird in the Dicaeidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlood-coloured Woodpecker - The Blood-coloured Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family, the woodpeckers, piculets, and wrynecks. It is found only in the Guianan countries of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, on the Atlantic shoreline region in a narrow coastal strip, 140-180 km wide. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlossom-headed Parakeet - Blossom-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland. It nests in holes in trees, laying 4-5 white eggs.\nBlossomcrown - It is found only in Colombia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue & Grey Sparrow Hawk\nBlue & White Mockingbird - It is about 25 cm long. It has blue-grey upperparts, white underparts, red eyes and a black mask. The song is high-pitched and rattling.\nBlue & White Swallow - The Blue-and-white Swallow, Notiochelidon cyanoleuca, is a passerine bird that breeds from Nicaragua south throughout South America, except in the deserts and the Amazon Basin. The southern race is migratory, wintering as far north as Trinidad, where it is a regular visitor. The nominate northern race may have bred on that island.\nBlue Bird-of-paradise - The Blue Bird-of-paradise is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is distributed to mountain forests of southeastern New Guinea. ITIS recognizes only one subspecies, but additional subspecies margaritae and ampla have been described.\nBlue Cotinga\nBlue Coua - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue Cuckooshrike - The Blue Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue Dacnis - It occurs in forests and other woodlands, including gardens and parks. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree and the normal clutch is of two to three grey-blotched whitish two eggs. The female incubates the eggs, but is fed by the male.\nBlue Duck - This 54 cm long species is an endemic resident breeder in New Zealand, nesting in hollow logs, small caves and other sheltered spots. It is a rare duck, holding territories on fast flowing mountain rivers.It is a powerful swimmer even in strong currents, but is reluctant to fly. It is difficult to find, but not particularly wary when located.\nBlue Eared-Pheasant - The Blue Eared Pheasant is found throughout mountain forests of central China. The diet consists mainly of berries and vegetable matters.\nBlue Fantail - It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue Finch - The Yellow-billed Blue Finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, a recent study has shown it to belong in the Thraupidae. It in the monotypic genus Porphyrospiza.\nBlue goose - The Snow Goose , also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed. The American Ornithologists' Union and BirdLife International place this species and the other \"white\" geese in the Chen genus,\nBlue Grosbeak - The Blue Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds across most of the southern half of the United States and much of northern Mexico. It eats mostly insects, but it will also eat snails, spiders, seeds, grains, and wild fruits. The Blue Grosbeak forages on the ground and in shrubs and trees.\nBlue Ground Dove - The Blue Ground Dove is relatively common in open woodland, forest edges, clearings and roadsides, especially in more humid areas. It is found from sea level to about 1200 m altitude. It builds a flimsy dish nest of twigs 1-11 m high in a tree and lays two white eggs.\nBlue grouse - Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a purplish throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow to red wattle over the eye during display. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.\nBlue Jay - The Blue Jay measures 22–30 cm from bill to tail and weighs 70–100 grams , with a wingspan of 34–43 cm .\nBlue Jewel-babbler - The Blue Jewel-babbler is a species of bird in the Cinclosomatidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue Lorikeet - The Violet Lorikeet is 18 cm long with a short rounded tail. Its plumage is mainly dark blue and it has a white area over its upper chest, throat and lower face. Erectile feathers on the top of its head show light blue streaks. Its beak is orange and its irises are yellow-brown. It has orange legs. Adult males and females have identical external appearance. The juvenile lacks the white plumage of the adult and has a dark grey-blue face and lower parts. The juvenile also has a black bill, dark brown irises, and its legs are orange brown.\nBlue Manakin - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It is generally common in the appropriate habitats within its range. Formerly, the name Swallow-tailed Manakin was used widely, but as it is misleading , this name has largely been abandoned for the superior Blue Manakin. As suggested by this common name, the male is - by far - the manakin with most blue to the plumage. The entire body is bright blue, while the wings, tail and head, except for the red cap, are black. The far duller female is greenish overall. Both sexes have elongated central rectrices.\nBlue Mockingbird - The Blue Mockingbird is uniformly blue on its back, tail, wings, head and underbelly. This color is a result of feather structure rather than pigment, and therefore can look gray in the shade. It has a black \"mask\" surrounding its reddish-brown eyes. It has a rather long, slightly graduated tail, and dark blue streaks over its breast. Its bill is long, thin and slightly curved, and its legs and feet are black.\nBlue Mountain Vireo\nBlue Noddy - It is found in American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga , Tuvalu and Hawaii. It has occurred as a vagrant in Australia and Japan. Its natural habitat is open, shallow seas in tropical and subtropical regions.\nBlue Paradise Flycatcher - The Blue Paradise-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\nBlue Petrel - The Blue Petrel, Halobaena caerulea, is a small seabird in the family Procellariidae. This small petrel is the only member of the genus Halobaena but is closely allied to the prions.\nBlue Shortwing - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue Swallow - The Blue Swallow breeds in southern Africa, wintering further north in Uganda and Kenya.\nBlue Vanga - It is found in Comoros, Madagascar, and Mayotte. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-and-black Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-and-gold Tanager - The Blue-and-gold Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-and-white Flycatcher - The Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Cyanoptila cyanomelana is a migratory songbird. It breeds in Japan, Korea, and in parts of China and Russia. It winters in South East Asia, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sumatra and Borneo.\nBlue-and-white Kingfisher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBlue-and-yellow Macaw - It can reach 76–86 cm long and weigh 900 to 1300 g . It is vivid in appearance with blue wings and tail, dark blue chin, golden under parts and a green forehead. Its beak is black, and very strong for crushing nuts. The naked face is white, turning pink in excited birds, and lined with small black feathers.\nBlue-and-yellow Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-backed Conebill\nBlue-backed Manakin - This manakin is a fairly common bird of dry and moist deciduous forests, but not rainforest. The female builds a twig nest in a tree; two brown-mottled white eggs are laid, and incubated entirely by the female for about 20 days.\nBlue-backed Parrot - It is of medium size , basically green with yellowish edging to the wings, a blue rump, and blue wing bends. The head, mantle, wings and tail are darker green, the belly and collar are lighter green. It is sexually dimorphic, with the male having a red beak and the female a pale yellow or horn colored beak. There are six subspecies:\nBlue-backed Tanager - It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-banded Kingfisher - The Blue-banded Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-banded Toucanet\nBlue-bearded Bee-eater - The Blue-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni is a large species of bee-eater found in South Asia. This species is found in openings in patches of dense forest. It is found in the Malayan region and also extends into the Western Ghats in southwestern India. The blue feathers of its throat are elongated and often held fluffed up giving it the name. They are not as gregarious or active as the smaller bee-eaters, and their square ended tail lacks the typical \"wires\" made up of the shafts of the longer central tail feathers in many species.\nBlue-bellied Roller - The Blue-bellied Roller is a large bird, nearly the size of a Jackdaw at 28-30 cm. It has a dark green back, white head, neck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly blue. Adults have 6cm tail streamers. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult.\nBlue-billed Black Tyrant - The Blue-billed Black-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-billed Curassow - It is found only in Colombia; areas of its range in the south and east are bordered by the Magdalena River. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-black Grassquit - Adult Blue-black Grassquits are 10.2 cm long and weigh 9.3 g . They have a slender conical black bill. The male is glossy blue-black, with a black tail and wings; the white inner underwing is visible in flight or display. Female and immature birds have brown upperparts and dark-streaked buff underparts.\nBlue-black Grosbeak - It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-black Kingfisher - The Blue-black Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\nBlue-breasted Banded Rail - Breeding has been recorded from July in the foothills of the Himalayas from Dehradun in the west.\nBlue-breasted Bee Eater\nBlue-breasted Cordonbleu - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlue-breasted Fairy-wren - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBlue-breasted Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-breasted Kingfisher - This is a large kingfisher, 25 cm in length. The adult has a bright blue head, back, wing panel and tail. Its underparts are white, but it has a blue breast band. The shoulders are black. The flight of the Blue-breasted Kingfisher is rapid and direct. The large bill has a red upper mandible and black lower mandible. The legs are bright red.\nBlue-browed Tanager - The Blue-browed Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-capped Cordonbleu - The Blue-capped Cordon-bleu inhabits subtropical or tropical dry grassland, shrubland and desert. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 390,000 km².\nBlue-capped Fruit Dove - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-capped Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-capped Puffleg - The Blue-Capped Puffleg is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-capped Rock Thrush - The male is bright blue and black on the upperparts with a prominent white wing mirror. The underside is rufous brown. The female is dark olive and appears barred on the underside.\nBlue-capped Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-cheeked Amazon - It is about 34 cm. Its coloring is mostly green, with blue cheeks from around the eye to the neck , a yellow-orange wing speculum, a yellowish crown, and orange lores .\nBlue-cheeked Bee Eater - This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly-coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has blue sides with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the beak is black. It can reach a length of 24-26 cm, including the two elongated central tail feathers. Sexes are alike.\nBlue-cheeked Flowerpecker\nBlue-cheeked Jacamar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-chested Hummingbird - The Blue-Chested Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-chested Hummingbird - The Charming Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-collared Parrot - It inhabits humid hill forest and forest edges. Flocks are up to 200.\nBlue-crested Flycatcher - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-crowned Chlorophonia\nBlue-crowned Hanging Parrot - Its diet includes flowers, buds, fruits, nuts and seeds.\nBlue-crowned Lorikeet - It is still common, but declining on some islands, apparently from predation by rats. They frequent areas with flowering trees, including coconut plantations and gardens, usually in small flocks of less than about 15 individuals or in pairs during breeding season. It eats nectar, pollen, and soft fruits, especially wild hibiscus and coconut. Nests in holes in trees but may also dig burrows in earth banks. Also known as\nBlue-crowned Manakin - The Blue-crowned Manakin is a species of bird in the Pipridae family.\nBlue-crowned Motmot - Like most of the Coraciiformes, motmots nest in tunnels in banks, laying about three or four white eggs.\nBlue-crowned Parakeet - Members of the genus Aratinga are officially called parakeets by the AOU and by birders, though usually called conures in aviculture.\nBlue-crowned Racquet-tail - There are three or four subspecies:\nBlue-crowned Trogon - The Blue-crowned Trogon's range in South America is the southwestern and southeastern quadrants of the Amazon Basin with the northern limit being the Amazon River. The range continues beyond the Amazon Basin south to northern Argentina and Paraguay, and eastwards to eastern coastal Brazil as far south as northern Espírito Santo state; a third of the species range is outside the Amazon Basin.\nBlue-eared Barbet - The Blue-eared Barbet is a resident breeder in the hills from northeast India east to through Southeast Asia to Singapore, Indonesia and Borneo. It is a species of broadleaf evergreen forest, mixed woodland and second growth up to 1525 m altitude. It nests in a tree hole.\nBlue-eared Kingfisher - The juvenile Blue-eared Kingfisher has similar rufous ear-coverts like the Common Kingfisher; but it usually shows some mottling on the throat and upper breast which disappears when the bird reaches adulthood.\nBlue-eared Lory - The Blue-eared Lory is the smallest Eos at 24 cm long. It has a red body with blue cheeks, chin, and ear-coverts, purple-blue abdomen and undertail coverts, and black streaked wings. The adult has an orange beak with juvenile's pink.\nBlue-eyed Cockatoo - Like all cockatoos and many parrots, the Blue-eyed Cockatoo can use one of its zygodactyl feet to hold objects and to bring food to its beak whilst standing on the other foot; nevertheless, amongst bird species as a whole this is relatively unusual.\nBlue-eyed Ground Dove - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-faced Honeyeater - Originally described as Gracula cyanotis by ornithologist John Latham in 1802, though he also considered Merops and Turdus .\nBlue-faced Malkoha - It is restricted to Sri Lanka and southern India. The Blue-faced Malkoha is a bird of open forests and scrub jungle. It nests in a thorn bush, the typical clutch being two, sometimes three, eggs.\nBlue-faced Parrotfinch - It is found in subtropical/ tropical in both montane and lowland moist forest areas, where it is most often associated with forest edges and disturbed habitat. It feeds largely on seeds of grasses, including in Australia several exotic genera especially Brachiaria. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBlue-footed booby - The name booby comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means \"stupid\" or \"fool\"/\"clown\". This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and , they can be very tame and therefore easily captured, killed, and eaten by humans.\nBlue-fronted Amazon - The Blue-fronted Amazon is a mainly green parrot about 38 cm long. They have blue feathers on the forehead above the beak and yellow on the face and crown. Distribution of blue and yellow varies greatly among individuals. Unlike most other Amazona parrots, its beak is mostly black. There is no overt sexual dimorphism. Juveniles of all parrots are duller and have dark irises.\nBlue-fronted Callene\nBlue-fronted Flycatcher - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-fronted Lancebill - The Blue-Fronted Lancebill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-fronted Lorikeet - It is only known from seven specimens, collected before 1930 in hill forest between 850–1000 m. More recent sightings are not well authenticated, so its remaining range is uncertain.\nBlue-fronted Parrotlet - The Blue-fronted Parrotlet, Touit dilectissimus, is also known as the Red-winged Parrotlet . It is a parrot in N. South America from E. Panama down the west coastal Andes to Peru, with a second population around and south of Lake Maracaibo. It is 15cm, green with a short tail, blue forehead with narrow band of red under eye, red shoulders and leading edge of underwing, and the remaining underwing coverts yellow. Edges of tail also yellowish.\nBlue-fronted Redstart - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBlue-gray Tanager - The Blue-grey Tanager is 18 cm long and weighs 35 g. Adults have a light bluish head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts and a shoulder patch colored a different hue of blue. The bill is short and quite thick. Sexes are similar, but the immature is much duller in plumage.\nBlue-grey Gnatcatcher - Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts and have a long slender bill, long black tail and an angry black unibrow. They have a white eye ring.\nBlue-headed Bee-eater\nBlue-headed Coucal - The Blue-headed Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-headed Crested Flycatcher - The Blue-headed Crested-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlue-headed Fantail\nBlue-headed Hummingbird - It is found only in Dominica and Martinique.\nBlue-headed Macaw - The Blue-headed Macaw is 41 cm long. It has mainly green plumage with the head, flight feathers and primary coverts blue. The uppertail has a maroon base, a narrow green center and a blue tip. The undertail and underwing are greenish-yellow similar to that of several other small macaws . The bill is pale greyish-horn with a black base . The iris is whitish with a narrow, often barely visible, maroon eye-ring. Unlike most other macaws, the facial skin and lores are dark greyish. The legs are dull pinkish. Juveniles resemble adults, but with the entire bill black, greyer legs, darker iris and the facial skin and lores white.\nBlue-headed Parrot - Its habitat is forest and semi-open country, including cultivated areas. It is largely restricted to humid or semi-humid regions, but locally extends into drier habitats, at least along rivers. The Blue-headed Parrot lays three to five white eggs in a tree cavity.\nBlue-headed Pitta\nBlue-headed Quail-Dove - Its natural habitats are swamps and moist forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBlue-headed Racquet-tail - It is 27–28 cm, basically green with a bright, light blue head, blue underwings and, in the male, bluish breast. The beak is bluish gray and iris is yellowish.\nBlue-headed Sapphire - The Blue-Headed Sapphire is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-headed Sunbird - The Blue-headed Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.\nBlue-headed vireo - Adults are mainly olive on the upperparts with white underparts and yellowish flanks; they have a grey head, dark eyes with white \"spectacles\" and white wing bars. They have a stout bill and thick blue-grey legs. This bird, along with the Cassin's Vireo and Plumbeous Vireo, were formerly known as the \"Solitary Vireo\".\nBlue-headed Wagtail - Motacilla tschutschensis\nBlue-headed Wood Dove - The Blue-headed Wood-dove is distributed to primary rainforests of equatorial mid-western Africa, in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, Ghana and Togo.\nBlue-mantled Thornbill - The Blue-Mantled Thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBlue-masked Leafbird - It is considered near threatened due to habitat loss.\nBlue-naped Chlorophonia - Its distribution is highly disjunct, with population associated with the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina, the Andes from Bolivia in south to Venezuela in north, the Perijá and Santa Marta Mountains, the Venezuelan Coastal Range, and the Tepuis. All populations are associated with humid forest, but locally it also occurs in nearby gardens and parks . Most populations are found in subtropical highlands, but it occurs down to near sea level in the Atlantic Forest region.\nBlue-naped Mousebird - A slender-tailed, ash grey mousebird common in dry country. A crested head, turquoise-blue nape patch and black-and-red bill characterize adults. Juveniles lack blue on nape, have pink facial skin and greenish bills.\nBlue-naped Parrot - It is found in secondary forest, forest edge and plantations up to 1000 m. Flock size is usually under a dozen. They feed on berries, seeds, nuts and grain. Habitat loss and trapping have made them scarce on most islands except Mindoro and Palawan. Though the Katala Foundation has raised concerns over the increasing illegal trade in this bird on Palawan.\nBlue-naped Pitta - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Republic of India and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue-rumped Manakin - The Blue-rumped Manakin is a species of bird in the Pipridae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is montane forests.\nBlue-rumped Parrot - It is the only member of the genus Psittinus.\nBlue-rumped Pitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlue-shouldered Robin-Chat - It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-spotted Wood Dove\nBlue-streaked Lory - It is found in the Tanimbar Islands and Babar, all in Indonesia. It was also introduced to the Kai Islands, but may be extinct there again. It inhabits mangrove, coconut groves, plantations and forests. Lories have unique \"brush\" tipped tongues, evolved for their diet of flower nectar and fruit. A highly active, gregarious bird known to travel in flocks and to sleep in their nests year round. Very social and affectionate, lorie have been kept as pets with growing popularity, their song is usually softer than other parrots except when alarmed or bored.\nBlue-tailed Bee-eater - This species is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, M. persicus.\nBlue-tailed Hummingbird - The Blue-tailed Hummingbird , sometimes placed in the genus Saucerottia, is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-throated Barbet - This barbet eats fruits and insects.\nBlue-throated Flycatcher - The Blue-throated Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It resembles Cyornis tickelliae but easily separated by the blue throat. The habitat of this species is a thicker forest than other species of flycatchers. The Blue-Throated Flycatcher is found all through the Himalayas, the plains and Western Ghats of India in the cold months, and also extends into Arkan and Tenasserim.\nBlue-throated Goldentail - The Blue-Throated Goldentail is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBlue-throated hummingbird - The Blue-throated Hummingbird is a fairly large hummingbird, reaching 11.5 to 12.5 cm in length and 6 to 10 grams in weight. The Blue-throated Hummingbird is dull green on the top of its body, fading to medium gray on its belly. It has a conspicuous white stripe behind its eye and a narrower stripe extending backward from the corner of its bill, bordering a blackish cheek patch. Its tail feathers are iridescent blue-black with broad white tips on the outer two to three pairs. The species gets its name from the adult male's iridescent blue throat patch , but the female lacks this, having a plain gray throat. Males sing two types of songs: a simple \"peep song,\" which sounds like a squeaky wheel, and a quiet but complex \"whisper song.\" The female is also reported to sing during the breeding season to attract the attention of males.\nBlue-throated Motmot - The Blue-throated Motmot is a species of bird in the Momotidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Aspatha. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue-throated Piping Guan - There are two subspecies. A. cumanensis cumanensis is found from the Guyanas, the Orinoco river in Venezuela, and southeastern Colombia south to northwestern Brazil and southeastern Peru. There and possibly in northern Bolivia it intergrades with the bigger A. cumanensis grayi , which continues through northern and central Bolivia, Mato Grosso State of Brazil, and northern and eastern Paraguay.\nBlue-throated Roller - The Blue-throated Roller is a species of bird in the Coraciidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-throated Starfrontlet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBlue-throated Sunbird - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBlue-whiskered Tanager\nBlue-winged Goose - The Blue-winged Goose is a waterfowl species which is endemic to Ethiopia. It is the only member of the genus Cyanochen.\nBlue-winged Kookaburra - Measuring around 40 cm , it is slightly smaller than the more familiar Laughing Kookaburra. It has cream-coloured upper- and underparts barred with brownish markings. It has blue wings and brown shoulders and blue rump. It is sexually dimorphic, with a blue tail in the male, and a rufous tail with blackish bars in the female.\nBlue-winged Laughingthrush - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlue-winged Leafbird - The male is green-bodied with a yellow-tinged head, black face and throat. It has a blue moustachial line. The female differs in that it has a greener head and blue throat, and young birds are like the female but without the blue throat patch.\nBlue-winged Macaw - It has a total length of approximately 40 cm . It has a heavy black bill, a long tail and a mainly green plumage. The upperside of the remiges and primary coverts are blue, as indicated by its common name. The underside of the wings is yellowish, the tail-tip, crown and cheeks are bluish, and the tail-base and small belly-patch are red. The iris is amber. It and the Red-bellied Macaw are the only macaws where the bare facial-skin is yellowish, but this often fades to white in captivity. Unlike the Red-bellied Macaw, the Blue-winged has a red lower abdomen and a red lower back.\nBlue-winged Minla - The Blue-winged Siva , also known as the Blue-winged Minla, is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It has in the past been placed in the genus Minla instead of the monotypic Siva.\nBlue-winged Mountain Tanager - The Blue-winged Mountain-tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.\nBlue-winged Parrot - It is sexually dimorphic - the females are duller and have more green on the wings.\nBlue-winged Parrotlet - The Blue-winged Parrotlet is a small parrot found in much of South America. It includes the Turquoise-rumped Parrotlet , which sometimes is treated as a separate species. The Blue-winged Parrotlet is mainly found in lowlands, but locally up to 1200m in south-eastern Brazil. It occurs in woodland, scrub, savanna, and pastures. Flocks are usually around 20 birds but can grow to over 50 around fruiting trees or seeding grasses. It is generally common and widespread, though more localized in the Amazon Basin.\nBlue-winged Pitta - Wings spread to get warmed by the sun\nBlue-winged Teal - The Blue-winged Teal is a small dabbling duck. Its placement in Anas is by no means certain; a member of the \"blue-winged\" group also including the shovelers, it may be better placed in Spatula. It is not a teal in the strict sense, and also does not seem closely related to the Garganey as was for some time believed. Indeed, its color pattern is strikingly reminiscent of the Australasian Shoveler.\nBlue-winged Warbler - The Blue-winged Warbler, Vermivora pinus, is a fairly common New World warbler, 11.5 cm long and weighing 8.5 g. It breeds in eastern North America in southern Ontario and the eastern USA. Its range is extending northwards, where it is replacing the very closely related Golden-winged Warbler, Vermivora chrysoptera.\nBluebonnet - This species grows up to 27-35cm in length and the sexes are similar in appearance. The are usually seen in pairs or small groups feeding along roads. They breed between July and December producing 4 to 7 white eggs.\nBluethroat - It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in wet birch wood or bushy swamp in Europe and Asia with a foothold in western Alaska. It nests in tussocks or low in dense bushes. It winters in north Africa and India.\nBluish-fronted Jacamar - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBluish-slate Antshrike - The Bluish-slate Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBlunt-winged Warbler - It is found in Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBluntschli's vanga\nBlyth's Hawk-Eagle - The Blyth's Hawk Eagle, Nisaetus alboniger is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae.\nBlyth's Hornbill - The Papuan Hornbill is also known as Blyth's Hornbill. Its local name in Tok Pisin is kokomo. It is a large hornbill species inhabiting the forest canopy in the Wallacea and Melanesia.\nBlyth's Kingfisher - The Blyth's Kingfisher, Alcedo hercules, is a kingfisher distributed in Bangladesh, Republic of India, China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam. It is found along streams in evergreen forest and adjacent open country from 200-1,200 m, mainly at 400-1,000 m.\nBlyth's Leaf Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBlyth's Olive Bulbul - The Olive Bulbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, India, Burma, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBlyth's Parakeet - The Nicobar Parakeet is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Very little is actually known about its ecology and conservation status.\nBlyth's Pipit - This is a large pipit, but is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below. It is very similar to Richard's Pipit, but is slightly smaller, shorter legs and a shorter dark bill. Its flight is strong and direct, and it gives a characteristic \"pshee\" call, higher pitched than Richard's.\nBlyth's Reed Warbler - This small passerine bird is a species found in scrub or clearings, often near water, but it is not found in marshes. 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush.\nBlyth's tragopan pheasant - Blyth’s Tragopan pheasant is the largest of all the tragopans. Like most pheasants the male is brightly colored. It is recognized by its rusty red head, yellow facial skin, and that it is spotted with small white dots on its back called ocelli. A black band extends from the base of the bill to the crown couple with another black band extends behind the eyes. Like the rest of the tragopans, males have two pale blue horns that become erect during matting . Its lappet, a decorated flap, hangs from the throat and is brightly colored. This lappet can be expanded and exposed during mating season as well . Females are not as brightly colored as the male tragopan, for they don’t need the extravagant appearance to attract a male counterpart. Overall they are dark brown with a mixture of black, buff and white mottling . Their simple and dull look is a protection mechanism from other animals. It also allows the females to protect their young that are in the early stages of life.\nBoat-billed Flycatcher - The Boat-billed Flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua, is a passerine bird. It is a large tyrant flycatcher, the only member, monotypic, of the genus Megarynchus.\nBoat-billed Heron - It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi-colonially in mangrove trees, laying 2-4 bluish white eggs in a twig nest.\nBoat-billed Tody-Tyrant - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBoat-tailed grackle - The male Boat-tailed Grackle is 42 cm long. Adult males have entirely iridescent black plumage, a long dark bill, a pale yellowish or brown iris and a long keel-shaped tail. The 37 cm long adult female is shorter tailed and tawny-brown in colour apart from the darker wings and tail.\nBob-tailed Weaver - The Bob-tailed Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Brachycope. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nBobolink - Adults are 16–18 cm long with short finch-like bills. Adult males are mostly black, although they do display creamy napes, and white scapulars, lower backs and rumps. Adult females are mostly light brown, although their coloring includes black streaks on the back and flanks, and dark stripes on the head; their wings and tails are darker. The collective name for a group of bobolinks is a chain.\nBocage's Akalat - The subspecies S. b. poensis on the island of Bioko is sometimes considered to be a separate species, Alexander's Akalat.\nBocage's Longbill - The Bocage's Longbill or São Tomé Short-tail is a species of passerine bird in the superfamily Passeroidea. It is the only member of the genus Amaurocichla. It was formerly placed in the family Sylviidae, and it appears to be close to the Motacillidae, though its relationships currently are unclear.\nBocage's Weaver - The Bocage's Weaver is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.\nBocages Sunbird - The Bocage's Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nBoehm's Bee Eater\nBoehm's Flycatcher - The Boehm's Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBogota Sunangel - This hummingbird is known from a single skin purchased in Bogotá in 1909. Nothing more is known of the bird, and though the skin is most commonly thought to come from either the Eastern or Central Andes of Colombia, other specimens from Bogotá have come from as far away as Ecuador. Since the bird has not been seen alive, it is assumed to have a relict population if it still survives. Some have suggested that the bird is just a hybrid, though the skin is very distinct.\nBokikokiko - The Bokikokiko is a species of warbler in the Acrocephalidae family. It is found only on Kiritimati .\nBolivian Blackbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and pastureland.\nBolivian Recurvebill - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBolivian Tyrannulet - The Bolivian Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBolivian Warbling Finch - The Bolivian Warbling-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBolle - It is a resident breeder in the mountain laurisilva forest zone. Bolle's Pigeon builds a stick nest in a tree, laying one white egg.\nBonaparte's Gull - The Bonaparte's Gull is a small gull.\nBonaparte's Nightjar - Bonaparte's Nightjar , also known as the Sunda Nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBonelli's Eagle - The Bonelli's Eagle is a species of wooded, often hilly, country with some open areas. The African race prefers savannah, forest edges, cultivation, and scrub, provided there are some large trees; this is not a species of very open or densely forested habitats.\nBonin Grosbeak - The Bonin Grosbeak or Bonin Islands Grosbeak is an extinct finch, the only species of the genus Chaunoproctus. It is one of the diverse bird taxa that are vernacularly called \"grosbeaks\", but it is not closely related to the grosbeaks sensu stricto. It was a retiring, although not shy bird, and was usually found singly or in pairs. It fed on fruits and buds which were primarily picked up from the ground or low shrubs; it rarely was observed to perch in trees, being apparently rather phlegmatic and somewhat reluctant to fly. Only one kind of vocalization has been described: a soft, pure and high note, sometimes short, sometimes drawn out; sometimes given singly, sometimes in a short series.\nBonin Petrel - The Bonin Petrel is a small gadfly petrel, 30 cm long with a wingspan of around 67 cm. It has a white head with a black cap and face markings; overall the head often has a scaled appearance. Its pale grey upperparts have darker primaries and wing coverts creating a M mark across the back. The underwing is white with dark edging and a patch at the carpal joint and across underwing coverts. The tail is dark grey, and the rest of the plumage is white, except for a dark half collar on the breast. Like the rest of the Pterodroma petrels the black bill is short and hooked. The legs and feet are pink with dark patches.\nBonin Thrush - The Bonin Thrush, Bonin Islands Thrush or Kittlitz's Thrush is sometimes separated as the only species of the genus Cichlopasser. It is an extinct species of Asian thrush. The only place where this bird ever was found is Chichi-jima in the Ogasawara Islands; it might theoretically have also occurred on Anijima and Otōtojima, but this is not borne out by observations or specimens. The species was only once observed by a naturalist, its discoverer Kittlitz. He encountered the thrush in the coastal woods where it usually kept to the ground; it may have been ground-nesting. The only specimens ever taken are in the Naturalis in Leiden , the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna , the Senckenbergmuseum in Frankfurt and in the Zoological Museum, St. Petersburg .\nBonin white-eye - A distinctive feature of the bird is the white rim around the eyes, which is then surrounded by black masking. Presently its habitat is restricted to Haha-jima Island. Until several years ago it could also be found on Chichi-jima Island. Because of the bird's small range of habitat, its status is listed as \"Vulnerable\".\nBonin Wood-Pigeon - The Bonin Wood Pigeon was a medium-sized pigeon, with an average length of 45 cm. The upper parts of the Pigeon's body were greyish-black with iridescence except on wing and tail. Crown has a green-purple iridescence, mantle to rump iridescent reflecting violet, amethyst and turquoise. Scapulars and remaining mantle glossed golden green with bronze reflections; wing coverts with dark turquoise green suffused with deep blue. The uppertail of the pigeon coverts broadly tipped with golden green. Breast to belly fringed with deep green and violet iridescence, being strongest on the breast. Iris blue or probably dark blue; bill greenish yellow having a pale tip; legs and the feet were dark red.\nBooted Eagle - It breeds in southern Europe, North Africa and across Asia. It is migratory, wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This eagle lays 1-2 eggs in a tree or crag nest.\nBooted Racket-tail\nBooted Warbler - The Booted Warbler is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler group. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with Sykes' Warbler, but the two are now usually both afforded species status. Booted Warbler itself breeds from central Russia to western China, and migrates to winter in the Indian subcontinent as far south as Sri Lanka. It is a small passerine bird, found in open country with bushes and other tall vegetation. 3-4 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush or vegetation. Like most warblers they are insectivorous.\nBoran Cisticola - The Boran Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBornean Barbet - The Bornean Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBornean Bristlehead - The Bornean Bristlehead also variously known as the Bristled Shrike, Bald-headed Crow or the Bald-headed Wood-Shrike, is the only member of the passerine family Pityriaseidae and genus Pityriasis. It is an enigmatic and uncommon species of the rainforest canopy of Borneo.\nBornean Falconet\nBornean Niltava - The Bornean Blue-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBornean Peacock-Pheasant - The Bornean Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron schleiermacheri is a medium-sized, up to 50cm long, rufous brown and black spotted pheasant with an elongated crest and nape feathers, black below and bare red skin around bluish iris eye. The breast sides are metallic blue-green, bordering the white throat and central upper breast. Its twenty-two tail feathers are decorated with large blue-green ocelli, which may be spread fan-like in display. The female is smaller and duller brown than the male. It has a brown iris and no spurs on its feet.\nBornean Spiderhunter - The Bornean Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBornean Stubtail - The Bornean Stubtail is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.\nBornean Whistler - The Bornean Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.\nBornean Wren-Babbler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBotha's Lark - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and pastureland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBotteri's Sparrow - The Botteri's Sparrow, Aimophila botterii, is a medium-sized sparrow.\nBoucard's Wren\nBougainville Crow - The Bougainville Crow heavy crow, 41 cm long, with all black plumage and a massive black bill. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest up to 1600 m. At present it is a common species on Bougainville, but it might be threatened in the future by habitat loss caused by logging.\nBougainville Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBougainville Monarch - The Bougainville Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBougainville Thicketbird\nBoulder Chat - The Boulder Chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Pinarornis. It is found in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.\nBoulton's Hill Partridge - Recent work on the species in Laojunshan Nature Reserve found that the species occurred in secondary broadleaf forest but not in settlements, coniferous plantations or farmland. The same study found that birds typically occurred between 1400 and 1800m above sea level in the reserve, and mostly on gently sloping ground close to water sources.\nBoulton's Puff-back Flycatcher - Margaret's Batis or Boulton's Batis is a species of bird in the Platysteiridae family. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBounty Islands Shag\nBourke's Parrot - Wildtype Bourke's Parakeet display a basically brown overall colouration with pink abdomen, pinkish breast & a blue rump. The legs are dark-brown, with zygodactyl toes. The bill is yellowish-brown. The adult male has a blue forehead while the adult female has a little or no blue on the forehead.\nBower's Shrike-thrush - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBoyer's Cuckooshrike - The Boyer's Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBr - The Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot is a bird in the auk family . This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies Uria lomvia arra is also called Pallas' Murre after its describer.\nBrace's Emerald - Its size was 9.5 cm, the wing length 11.4 cm and length of the tail 2.7 cm. The black bill was slightly curved and conical pointed. The feet were black. The back exhibited a bronze green hue with a golden gleam. The head was similar coloured like the back with the absence of the golden gloss. Directly behind the eyes was a white spot. The throat gleamed in magnificent blue green colour hues. The abdomen had green feathers with ash-grey tips. The wings exhibited a purplish hue. The rectrices were greenish. The crissum was grey with a faint cinnamon hue at the edges.\nBradfield's Hornbill - Females are smaller than males and can be recognized by turquoise facial skin. The eyes are yellow and the beak is red. The beak is long and presents no casque.\nBradfield's Swift - The Bradfield's Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.\nBradypterus alishanensis\nBradypterus bangwaensis - The Bangwa Scrub-warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Cameroon and Nigeria. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBradypterus davidi\nBrahminy Kite - The Brahminy Kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of Black Kite in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards.\nBrahminy Starling - The Brahminy Myna or Brahminy Starling is a member of the starling family of birds. It is creamy orange bird with a black cap and a slight crest. They are usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of South Asia.\nBrambling - This bird is widespread throughout the forests of northern Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering in southern Europe, north Africa, northern Pakistan, Kashmir, northern Republic of India, China and Japan.\nBran-coloured Flycatcher - This species is found in open forests and secondary growth. The deep cup nest is made of stems and bark and lined with fine plant fibers; it is suspended by the rim from a side branch low in a tree. The typical clutch is two cream-colored eggs with a rufous wreath. The female incubates for 17 days with a further 15-17 to fledging. This species is parasitized by the Shiny Cowbird.\nBrandt's cormorant - Brandt's Cormorants feed either singly or in flocks, and are adaptable in prey choice and undersea habitat. It feeds on small fish from the surface to sea floor, obtaining them, like all cormorants, by pursuit diving using its feet for propulsion. Prey is often what is most common: in central California, rockfish from the genus Sebastes is the most commonly taken, but off British Columbia, it is Pacific Herring. Brandt's Cormorant have been observed foraging at depths of over 40 feet.\nBrandt's Rosy Finch - The Black-Headed Mountain-Finch is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland.\nBrass' Friarbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrassy-breasted Tanager - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrazilia Tapaculo - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrazilian Merganser - This merganser is a dark, slender duck with a shiny dark-green hood with a long crest, which is usually shorter and more worn-looking in females. Upperparts are dark grey while the breast is light grey, getting paler toward the whitish belly, and a white wing patch is particularly noticeable in flight. It has a long thin jagged black bill with red feet and legs. Although females are smaller with a shorter bill and crest, both sexes are alike in color. The slender ducks range in size from 49 centimeters to 56 centimeters as an adult. Young Brazilian Mergansers are mainly black with white throat and breast.\nBrazilian Ruby\nBrazilian Tanager - A frugivorous bird, it's easily found in its natural biome wherever there's food enough available, tending to behave aggressively towards other species of birds when disputing for food. Can be seem in cities, as in the vicinity of the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, at the jogging track named for Cláudio Coutinho , which skirts the park at the mountain's base.\nBrazilian Teal - The ducks are light brown in colour. Drakes distinguish themselves from females in having red beaks and legs, and in having a distinctive pale grey area on the side of its head and neck. The colour of these limbs is much duller in females.\nBrazilian Tinamou - Crypturellus is formed from three Latin or Greek words. kruptos meaning covered or hidden, oura meaning tail, and ellus meaning diminutive. Therefore Crypturellus means small hidden tail.\nBrazza's Martin - This little-known bird was formerly classified as data deficient by the IUCN.\nBrehm - There are four subspecies occurring in three distinct populations:\nBrent Goose - The Brant Goose is a small goose, about 60 cm long and with a short, stubby bill. The under-tail is pure white, and the tail black and very short .\nBrewer's Blackbird - The Brewer's Blackbird is a medium-sized blackbird.\nBrewer's chipping sparrow - Adults have grey-brown backs and brown crowns, both with dark streaks, and a pale eye-ring. Their wings are brown with light wing bars and the underparts are pale grey. Their bill is pale with a dark tip and they have a long notched tail. They are similar in appearance to the Clay-colored Sparrow but do not have a pale stripe on the crown or grey neck patch.\nBridled Honeyeater - The Bridled Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia.\nBridled quail-dove\nBridled Sparrow - The Bridled Sparrow is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBridled tern - The Bridled Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The Atlantic subspecies melanopters breeds in Mexico, the Caribbean and west Africa; other races occur around the Arabia and in Southeast Asia and Australasia, but the exact number of valid subspecies is disputed.\nBridled Titmouse - These birds have grey upperparts and white underparts with a white face with black striping, a grey crest, a black throat, and a short stout bill.\nBridled White-eye\nBright-rumped Attila - The Bright-rumped Attila is a large tyrant flycatcher with a big head, hooked and slightly upturned bill and upright stance. It is 7 in and weighs 1.4 oz . The head is olive-green streaked with black, the back is chestnut or olive, the rump bright yellow and the tail brown. The wings are dark brown with two pale wing bars and paler feather edging. The whitish or yellow throat and yellow breast are variably streaked darker. The belly is white becoming yellow near the tail. The iris is red. The sexes are similar, but young birds have a cinnamon-fringed crown and brown eyes.\nBright-rumped Yellow Finch - The Bright-rumped Yellow-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrimstone Canary - This species is found in in open, lightly wooded habitats, such as hillsides with trees or scrub and forest edges. In South Africa it occurs mainly in coastal areas, inhabiting coastal bush, shrubs along streams, gardens, and areas with rank vegetation. It is not truly migratory, but undertakes some seasonal movements.\nBristle-crowned Starling - The Bristle-crowned Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.\nBristle-nosed Barbet - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.\nBristle-thighed curlew - The Bristle-thighed Curlew, Numenius tahitiensis, is a large shorebird that breeds in Alaska and winters on tropical Pacific islands. It has a long, decurved bill and bristled feathers at the base of the legs. Its length is about 43 cm and wingspan about 84 cm . The size and shape are the same as the Whimbrel's, and the plumage is similar, spotted brown on their upper body with a light belly and rust-colored or buffy tail. The bigger buff spots on the upper body, unmarked light belly and barely marked flanks, tail color, and pale buffy-orange rump distinguish it from the Whimbrel.\nBritish storm-petrel - It breeds on inaccessible islands in the north Atlantic and western Mediterranean, with the core population in western Ireland, northwest Scotland and the Faroe Islands, where the worldwide biggest colony breeds on the island of Nólsoy. It nests in colonies close to the sea in burrows or rock crevices. It lays a single white egg.\nBroad-billed Fairywren - The Broad-billed Fairywren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.\nBroad-billed Flycatcher\nBroad-billed Hummingbird - Adults are colored predominantly a metallic green on their upperparts and breast. The undertail coverts are predominately white. The tail is darkly colored and slightly forked. The bill of the male is straight and very slender. It is red in coloration, and shows a black tip. His throat is a deep blue. The female is less colorful than the male. She usually shows a white eye stripe.\nBroad-billed Motmot - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBroad-billed Prion - The Broad-billed Prion, Pachyptila vittata, is a small seabird, but the largest Prion, with grey upperparts plumage, and white underparts. It has many other names that have been used such as Blue-billed Dove-petrel, Broad-billed Dove-petrel, Long-billed Prion, Common Prion, Icebird, and Whalebird.\nBroad-billed Roller - The Broad-billed Roller is 29-30 cm in length. It has a warm back and head, lilac foreneck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly brown. The broad bill is bright yellow. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult, with a pale breast.\nBroad-billed sandpiper - This bird's breeding habitat is wet taiga bogs in Arctic northern Europe and Siberia. The male performs an aerial display during courtship. They nest in a ground scrape, laying 4 eggs.\nBroad-billed Tody - While its close relative, the Narrow-billed Tody is more prevalent in the higher altitude areas, the Broad-billed Tody prefers lower altitude habitats. To nest, it digs into a river bank, similar to a kingfisher.\nBroad-billed Warbler - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBroad-tailed hummingbird - Male and female both have iridescent green backs and crowns and a white breast. The male has a gorget that shines with a brilliant red iridescence. The female is much duller with rust-colored, mottled flanks and underside; her tail feathers are tipped with a band of white. In flight the male's wings produce a distinct trilling sound diagnostic for this species.\nBroad-tailed Paradise-Whydah\nBroad-tipped Hermit - The Broad-tipped Hermit is a species of hummingbird found in northeast Brazil that has been placed in a monotypic genus Anopetia. It has a large range and is not endangered.\nBroad-winged Hawk - Adult birds range in size from 34 to 45 cm , weigh from 265 to 560 g and have a wingspan from 81 to 100 cm . As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Adults have dark brown upper parts and evenly spaced black and white bands on the tail. Light morphs are pale on the underparts and underwing and have thick cinnamon bars across the belly. The light morph is most likely to be confused with the Red-shouldered Hawk, but that species has a longer, more heavily barred tail and the barred wings and solid rufous color of adult Red-shoulders are usually distinctive. Dark morphs are a darker brown on both upperparts and underparts. They are much less common than the light-coloured variant. Dark-morph Short-tailed Hawks are similar but are whitish under the tail with a single subterminal band. Broad-winged Hawks' wings are relatively short and broad with a tapered, somewhat pointed appearance unique to this species.\nBrolga - The Brolga is a common gregarious wetland bird species in tropical and eastern Australia, well known for its intricate mating dance. It is the official bird emblem of the state of Queensland.\nBronze-naped Pigeon\nBronze-olive Pygmy Tyrant - The Bronze-olive Pygmy-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBronze-tailed Comet - The Bronze-tailed Comet is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Polyonymus. It is endemic to scrub and forest-edge at altitudes of 2,100-3,400 m. in the Andes of Peru.\nBronze-tailed Glossy-Starling\nBronze-tailed Peacock-Pheasant - The Bronze-tailed Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron chalcurum is also known as the Sumatran Peacock-pheasant. It is an Indonesian bird.\nBronze-tailed Plumeleteer - The nest is a deep cup of plant fibres less than 1.5 metres high in a small shrub. The female alone incubates the two white eggs.\nBronze-tailed Thornbill - The Bronze-tailed Thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBronze-winged Courser - The Bronze-winged Courser is a species of bird in the Glareolidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBronze-winged Duck - The Bronze-winged Duck , also known as the Spectacled Duck, is a dabbling duck and the sole member of its genus Speculanas. It is often placed in Anas with most other dabbling ducks, but its closest relative is either the Crested Duck or the Brazilian Duck, which likewise form monotypic genera. Together they belong to a South American lineage which diverged early from the other dabbling ducks and may include the steamer ducks.\nBronze-winged Jacana - The Bronze-winged Jacana breeds in India and southeast Asia. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. The males, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation.\nBronze-winged Parrot - It is mainly dark with a whitish chin patch and its upper chest is speckled with pink feathers. It has short red undertail feathers. The rump, tail and wings are dark blue with lighter blue underwings. The head is dark blue-green; the mantle, back and underparts are dark bronze-green with some blue tipped feathers and sometimes scattered red feathers. Its beak is pale yellow. In adults the ring of bare skin around the eyes is pink. Juveniles have whitish eyerings and their underparts are brownish.\nBronzed Cowbird - It breeds from the southern US.\nBronzed Drongo - The Bronzed Drongo is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group. They are resident in the forests of South Asia and Southeast Asia. They are very similar to the other drongos of the region but are somewhat smaller and compact with differences in the fork depth and the patterns of gloss on their feathers.\nBronzed Shag - The species is dimorphic in appearance. Roughly half the individuals are mostly dark bronze, but with white patches, similar to the King Shag; the remainder are bronze all over. The two morphs breed together indifferently. These chunky birds are 65–75 cm and weigh 1.8-3.9 kg .\nBronzy Hermit - The Bronzy Hermit is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in forests and thickets from eastern Honduras south to western Panama, and in the Chocó of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. It closely resembles the larger Rufous-breasted Hermit.\nBronzy Inca - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBronzy Jacamar - It occurs in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrooks's Leaf-Warbler - The Brooks's Leaf-Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and temperate forests.\nBrown Accentor - Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBrown Babbler\nBrown booby - Their heads and backs are black, and their bellies are white. Their beaks are quite sharp and contain many jagged edges. They have short wings and long, tapered tails.\nBrown Bullfinch - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The Brown Bullfinch is a relativley smallbird with a grayish head, nape, and breast. Its diet consists of nuts and native confers. If you go to Bhutan, or Vietnam you will see the Brown Bullfinch in a pair or a group. Little is known about this species.;\nBrown Bush Warbler - It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is boreal forests during breeding and subtropical and tropical forest in the winter quarters.\nBrown Cacholote\nBrown Coucal - The Andaman Coucal or Brown Coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found on the Andaman Islands in India and the adjacent Coco Islands in Myanmar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBrown Crake\nBrown Cuckoo-Dove - The pigeon is from 40 to 43 centimetres in length. Its feathers are of a rich rusty-brown colour. The male will tend to have a slight rose/green colouration on their necks. It has a very long tail and short wings.\nBrown Dipper - The Brown Dipper can either feed by diving into streams to eat larger benthic organisms, or wade in shallower parts of streams and pick smaller organisms of the bottom. The adults will dive for food from December through April, which is when there are more large benthic organisms. Since this period is also the breeding season of the Brown Dipper, more food is required, so diving for large food is necessary. However, the adults will forage by wading and picking at the stream bottom for the rest of the year. Brown Dipper chicks and fledglings will also forage by diving.\nBrown Emu-tail - The Brown Emu-Tail is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found only in Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown Falcon - The Brown Falcon, Falco berigora, is a member of the falcon genus found in the drier regions of Australia. Its specific name berigora is derived from an aboriginal name for the bird.\nBrown finch - The taxonomy of the group of towhees to which this species belongs is debated. At the higher level, some authors place the towhees in the family Fringillidae. Within the genus, there has been dispute about whether the Brown Towhee is a distinct species from the California Towhee, Pipilo crissalis, found in coastal regions from Oregon and California in the United States through Baja California in Mexico. At present, molecular genetics seems to have settled this issue in favour of separation of the species.\nBrown Firefinch - It is found in Angola, Botswana, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBrown Fish Owl - The Brown Fish-owl is an owl. This species is a part of the family known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most living owls. It inhabits the warm subtropical and humid tropical parts of continental Asia and some offshore islands.\nBrown Flycatcher - Muscicapa williamsoni\nBrown Flyeater - The Brown Gerygone has a relatively large range. Although total population trends have not been quantified, it is considered of \"least concern\" by the IUCN.\nBrown Fulvetta\nBrown Goshawk - Its upperparts are grey with a chestnut collar; its underparts are mainly rufous, finely barred with white. Thus it has similar colouring to the Collared Sparrowhawk but is larger. The flight is fast and flexible. The body length is 40–55 cm; the wingspan, 75–95 cm. Adult males weigh 220 g, and adult females, 355 g. Females are noticeably larger.\nBrown Hawk-Owl - This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae.\nBrown Honeyeater - In Australia it occurs in thickets throughout much of western, northern and eastern Australia, being absent only from the coldest or wettest areas.\nBrown Hornbill - The Tickell's Brown Hornbill , also known as the Rusty-cheeked Hornbill, is a species of hornbill found in forests in southern Burma and adjacent western Thailand. It often includes the Austen's Brown Hornbill as a subspecies.\nBrown Illadopsis - The Brown Illadopsis is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown Inca\nBrown Jacamar - The Brown Jacamar is a species of bird in the Galbulidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown Jay - It occurs from Mexico south into Central America on the Gulf slope. The northernmost extent of the bird is on the Rio Grande in southern Texas, the lower region of the river called the Rio Grande Valley, .\nBrown Kiwi - The Southern Brown Kiwi, Tokoeka, or Common kiwi, Apteryx australis, is a species of kiwi from New Zealand's South Island. Until 2000 it was considered conspecific with the North Island Brown Kiwi, and still is by some authorities.\nBrown Kiwi - Until 2000, the Brown Kiwi was thought to include the Rowi and the Tokoeka, in addition to the North Island Brown Kiwi. However using genetic codes from each of the above it was determined that the Tokoeka was a separate species, it took the Apteryx australis name , leaving the Brown Kiwi with its current Apteryx mantelli name. Soon after, in 1998, more genetic tests were done with the rowi and it was determined that it was a separate species . In 2004 an injured bird was found with streaked white around the head and identified by Massey University. The white feathering is likely due to a rarely seen genetic variation sometimes described as a partial albino. Few documented cases exist with only a painting of one found in Otorohanga in the 18th century and a specimen in the Canterbury Museum. The injured bird recovered and was introduced into a breeding programme.\nBrown Lory - The Brown Lory species contains two subspecies:\nBrown Mesite - The Brown Mesite is a medium sized terrestrial bird which is often described as rail-like . The species has a plain face, marked only by a slightly contrasting fleshy eyering around a rather large eye and a variable white streak behind the eye. It has a short straight bill. The upperparts of the bird are rufus brown, the underside tawny with no barring or spotting.\nBrown Nightjar - The Brown Nightjar is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, and Liberia.\nBrown noddy - Etymology: Anous is Greek for \"unmindful\" , and stolidus means \"impassive\" in Latin . The birds are often unwary and find safety in enormous numbers. To sailors, they were well known for their apparent indifference to hunters or predators.\nBrown Nunlet - It is found in the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru in a contiguous range at the eastern slopes of the Andes and the headwaters of the Amazon Basin.\nBrown Oriole - The Brown Oriole is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.\nBrown Parrotbill - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.\nBrown Pelican - It occurs on coasts in the Americas from Washington and Virginia south to northern Chile and the mouth of the Amazon River, as well as the island of Saut d'Eau in Trinidad and Tobago. Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. After nesting, North American birds move in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter. Their young are hatched in broods of about 3, and eat around 150 lbs. of fish in the 8-10 month period they are cared for.\nBrown Prinia - The Brown Prinia is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBrown Quail - The Brown Quail is distributed in agricultural areas, wet grasslands, shrublands and freshwater wetlands across much of New Guinea and the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as in northern, eastern, south-eastern and south-western Australia and Tasmania, though absent from arid regions. This species has been introduced to Fiji and New Zealand.\nBrown Shrike - This shrike is mainly brown on the upper parts and the tail is rounded. The black mask can be paler in winter and has a white brow over it. The underside is creamy with rufous flanks and belly. The wings are brown and lack any white mirror patches. Females have fine scalloping on the underside and the mask is dark brown and not as well marked as in the male. Subspecies lucionensis has a grey crown shading into the brown upperparts and the rump appears more rufous than the rest of the upperback.\nBrown Sicklebill - The Brown Sicklebill is distributed to mountain forests of New Guinea, Its appearance resembles the closely related and larger Black Sicklebill. In areas where these two large sicklebills met, the Brown Sicklebill replaced the latter species in higher altitudes. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, arthropods and small animals.\nBrown Skua - The Brown Skua , also known as the Antarctic Skua, Southern Great Skua, Southern Skua, or Hākoakoa , is a seabird that breeds in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic zones and moves further north when not breeding. Its taxonomy is highly complex and a matter of dispute, with some splitting it into two or three species: Falkland Skua , Tristan Skua , and Subantarctic Skua . To further confuse, it hybridizes with both the South Polar and Chilean Skuas, and the entire group have been considered subspecies of the Great Skua, a species otherwise restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. It feeds on fish , small mammals, scraps, chicks, eggs and carrion.\nBrown Snake Eagle\nBrown Songlark - The Brown Songlark was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield as Megalurus cruralis in 1827. However the specific name of the former authors took priority. It is a species of Sylviidae, the Old World Warblers, a successful passerine family. It shares the genus Cincloramphus with the Rufous Songlark, another species endemic to much of Australia.\nBrown Tanager - The Brown Tanager is c. 17 cm in length and weighs c. 31.5 g. As suggested by its name, the plumage is overall brown. The bill is relatively thick. It is endemic to humid Atlantic forest of south-eastern Brazil at altitudes of 900-1500 m . It forages in the canopy and is typically seen in pairs. It is generally uncommon, but known from several protected areas, such as the Itatiaia National Park.\nBrown Teal - The Brown Teal or New Zealand Teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. The Māori name for it is Pāteke. It was considered to be conspecific with the flightless Auckland Island and Campbell Island Teals in Anas aucklandica; the name \"Brown Teal\" was applied to that entire taxon. The Brown Teal has since been split, recognizing that the insular A. aucklandica and A. nesiotis are good species. In international use, the name Brown Teal is still more common than New Zealand Teal for this bird.\nBrown Thornbill - The Brown Thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla, is a passerine bird usually found in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It can grow up to 10 cm long, and feeds on insects.\nBrown Thrasher - The Brown Thrasher is bright reddish-brown above with thin, dark streaks on its buffy underparts. Its long rufous tail is rounded with paler corners. Adults average about 11.5 in in length with a wingspan of 13 in , and have an average mass of 2.4 oz .\nBrown Tinamou - The Brown Tinamou is a dumpy, brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America.\nBrown Tit-Babbler - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown Treecreeper - Two subspecies, C. picumnus picumnus and C. picumnus victoriae, have been identified. The Brown Treecreeper is considered a \"least concern\" species by the IUCN, while the subspecies victoriae, found in New South Wales, is considered threatened by Australian authorities.\nBrown Trembler - It is found in the Lesser Antilles where it breeds on Saba, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica and St. Vincent. It formerly occurred on St. Eustatius. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown Twinspot - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,200,000 km². The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBrown Violetear - The breeding habitat is forest at altitudes between 400-1600 m, but the Brown Violet-ear will spread widely into the lowlands when not nesting. It is replaced at higher altitudes by its relative, the Green Violetear , but their ranges overlap widely.\nBrown Warbler - The Brown Warbler Sylvia lugens is a typical warbler found in Africa.\nBrown Wood Owl - The Brown Wood Owl is medium large , with upperparts uniformly dark brown, with faint white spotting on the shoulders. The underparts are buff with brown streaking. The facial disc is brown or rufous, edged with white and without concentric barring, and the eyes are dark brown. There is a white neckband. The sexes are similar.\nBrown Wood Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown Woodland Warbler - The Brown Woodland-Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrown-and-yellow Marshbird - The Brown-and-yellow Marshbird is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are swamps and pastureland.\nBrown-backed Chat-Tyrant - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-backed Honeyeater\nBrown-backed Mockingbird - The Brown-backed Mockingbird is a species of bird in the Mimidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, pastureland, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-backed Munia - It is found in moist savanna and subtropical/ tropical lowland moist forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.\nBrown-backed Needletail - These birds have very short legs which they use only mainly for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground and spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks.\nBrown-backed Paradise Kingfisher - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-backed Solitaire - It is relatively common in the mountains of Mexico and northern Central America. It tends to be found in semi-deciduous mountain forests, including mixed pine-oak forests. It is often found near streams.\nBrown-backed Whistler - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-banded Antpitta - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-banded Puffbird - It is found in Amazon Basin areas of Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru; also the Orinoco River region of Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-banded Rail - The Brown-banded Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.\nBrown-bellied Antwren - The Brown-bellied Antwren is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It was formerly placed in the genus Myrmotherula. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-bellied Swallow - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.\nBrown-billed Scythebill - It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-breasted Bamboo-Tyrant - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-breasted Barbet - The Brown-breasted Barbet is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, and Tanzania.\nBrown-breasted Flycatcher - The Brown-breasted Flycatcher or Layard's Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The species breeds in north eastern India, central and Southern China and northern Burma and Thailand, and migrates to southern India and Sri Lanka.\nBrown-capped Fantail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-capped Laughingthrush - It is found in India and Myanmar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-capped Redstart - The Brown-capped Redstart , or, more accurately, the Brown-capped Whitestart, is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is found in humid Andean forests and woodlands in Bolivia and north-western Argentina. It sometimes includes the Tepui Redstart as a subspecies.\nBrown-capped Tit-Spinetail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBrown-capped Tyrannulet - The Brown-capped Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-capped Vireo - The Brown-capped Vireo, Vireo leucophrys, is a small passerine bird. It breeds in highlands from southern Mexico south to northwestern Bolivia. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the similar Warbling Vireo.\nBrown-capped Weaver\nBrown-cheeked Fulvetta - This species is one of those retained in the genus Alcippe after the true fulvettas and some others were removed; the group had turned out to unite quite unrelated birds. Its closest relatives are probably the Brown Fulvetta, and the Black-browed Fulvetta which was only recently recognized as a distinct species again. The Javan Fulvetta and the Nepal Fulvetta might also belong into this group.\nBrown-cheeked Hornbill - The Brown-cheeked Hornbill is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, plantations , and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-cheeked Laughingthrush - The binomial name of this bird commemorates Prince Henri of Orléans.\nBrown-chested Alethe - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-chested Barbet - The bird is sexually dimorphic, slightly medium sized, brownish, with a wide-black face mask centered on the eyes; it has a goldish crown, stout bill, and the cinnamon-colored upper breast patch.\nBrown-chested Lapwing - The Brown-chested Lapwing is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is found in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.\nBrown-chested Martin - It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, and is a vagrant to Chile and the Malvinas . Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-collared Brush-turkey - The Collared Brush-turkey or Brown-collared Brush-turkey is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBrown-crested Flycatcher - Adult Brown-crested Flycatchers are 20.3cm long and weigh 30g, and have heavy bills. The upperparts are olive brown, with a darker head and short crest. The breast is grey and the belly is lemon yellow. The brown tail feathers has rufous inner webs, the remiges have rufous outer webs, and there are two dull wing bars. The sexes are similar.\nBrown-crowned Tchagra\nBrown-eared Bulbul - Species: Hypsipetes amaurotis Ixos amaurotis Turdus amaurotis Temminck, 1830\nBrown-eared Pheasant - The rarest member in the genus Crossoptilon, its diet consists mainly of roots, bulbs and plant matters. The female lays five to eight large eggs. The eggs are pale stone green in color and take 28 days to hatch.\nBrown-eared Woodpecker - It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.\nBrown-flanked Tanager - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and heavily degraded former forest.\nBrown-fronted Woodpecker - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-headed Barbet - The Brown-headed Barbet is a resident breeder in India and Sri Lanka. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit and insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2-4 eggs.\nBrown-headed Cowbird - They resemble New World orioles in general shape but have a finch-like head and beak. Adults have a short finch-like bill and dark eyes. The adult male is mainly iridescent black with a brown head. The adult female is grey with a pale throat and fine streaking on the underparts.\nBrown-headed Crow - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-headed Greenlet - The Brown-headed Greenlet is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrown-headed Gull - The Brown-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus, is a small gull which breeds in the high plateaux of central Asia from Turkmenistan to Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering on the coasts and large inland lakes of tropical southern Asia. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\nBrown-headed Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.\nBrown-headed Parrot - The yellow under its wings explains its name cryptoxanthus, which means \"hidden yellow\"; from Greek xanthos or ξανθος means \"yellow\", and \"crypto\", from the Greek kryptos, is an English prefix that means \"hidden\" or \"secret\".\nBrown-hooded Gull - The Brown-hooded Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.\nBrown-hooded Kingfisher - Male in tree\nBrown-necked Raven - This species has a wide range across virtually the whole of North Africa, down as far as Kenya, the Arabian peninsula and up into the Greater Middle East and southern Iran. It lives in a predominantly desert environment visiting oases and palm groves.\nBrown-rumped Bunting - The Brown-rumped Bunting is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrown-rumped Foliage-gleaner - The Brown-rumped Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBrown-rumped Minivet\nBrown-rumped Seedeater - Length 13 cm. This is a drab uniform grey-brown canary with a small white supercillium. It has a plain breast with white under the chin. The the uniformity of its drabnes means it's eponymous 'brown rump' is often not apparent.\nBrown-rumped Tapaculo\nBrown-tailed Chat - The Brown-tailed Chat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family. It is found in Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBrown-throated Barbet - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBrown-throated Parakeet - The Brown-throated Parakeet is mostly green, with the lowerparts being a lighter green than the upperparts. Black/grey beak. Some blue in the wing feathers. Brown throat. Head and face colours depend on the subspecies.\nBrown-throated Treecreeper - It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBrown-throated Wattle-eye - This species breeds in west, central and northeast tropical Africa. This common species is found in secondary forest and other woodland areas, including gardens. The eggs are laid in a small neat lichen and cobweb cup low in a tree or bush.\nBrown-winged Kingfisher - The Brown-winged Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar, Republic of India and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBrown-winged Parrotbill - It is found in China and Myanmar.\nBrown-winged Starling - The Brown-winged Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrownish Elaenia - The Brownish Elaenia is found in the central Amazon Basin, along the Amazon River, in contiguous river corridors, about 125 km wide. Downstream in the east, the bird's range starts at the confluence of the Xingu River in the south of Pará state, North Region, Brazil; it ranges upstream on the Xingu for 700 km, then a tributary to the west of the Xingu, the Rio Iriri, for another 700 km.\nBrownish Flycatcher - It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBrownish-flanked Bush-Warbler - It is found in South Asia.\nBrubru - Its habitat is dry open woodland, but varies geographically. The six northern races and the subspecies N. a. brubru of southern Africa are found in acacia and broadleaved woodland, whereas the three subspecies in a belt from northeastern Angola and northern Namibia east to Tanzania and northern Mozambique occur in Brachystegia miombo woodland.\nBruijn's Brush-turkey - An Indonesian endemic, Bruijn's Brush-turkey occurs in mountain forests on Waigeo Island of West Papua.\nBrush Bronzewing - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.\nBrush Cuckoo - The Brush Cuckoo is native to the east coast of Australia and northern New Guinea. It is grey-brown with a buff breast and its call is very familiar of the Australian bush.\nBrushland Tinamou - The Brushland Tinamou, Nothoprocta cinerascens, is a type of Tinamou commonly found in high altitude dry shrubland in subtropical and tropical regions of southern South America.\nBubbling Cisticola - The Bubbling Cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.\nBucorvus cafer - The Southern Ground-hornbill or cafer , is one of two species of ground-hornbill and is the largest species of hornbill.\nBudgerigar - The budgerigar is closely related to the lories and the fig parrots. Although budgerigars are often, especially in American English, called parakeets, this term refers to any of a number of small parrots with long flat tails.\nBuff-banded Grassbird - The Buff-banded Bushbird is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.\nBuff-banded Rail - The Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the family Rallidae.\nBuff-banded Tyrannulet - The Buff-banded Tyrannulet is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBuff-bellied Dove - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-bellied Hermit\nBuff-bellied hummingbird - Adults are a metallic olive green above and buffy in the lower breast. The tail and primary wings are rufous in color and slightly forked. The underwing is white. The bill of the male is straight and very slender. It is red in coloration with a darker tip. The throat is a metallic golden green. The female has a dark upper bill, and is less colorful than the male.\nBuff-bellied Monarch - Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBuff-bellied Puffbird - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.\nBuff-bellied Tanager - The Buff-bellied Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBuff-bellied Warbler\nBuff-breasted Buttonquail - The Buff-breasted Buttonquail measures from 18-23 inches and usually weighs over 110 grams . Both the tail and wings are short. The back is chestnut. The sides of the head are marked with chestnut on an otherwise plain gray head; while the breast is warm buff-colored. The Painted Buttonquail and the Brown Quail both coexist with this species. The Buff-breasted is larger than either and is quite different different from the all-dark quail. The Painted species is almost totally mottled, with bold white spotting on the breast and no warm buff coloration. The most similar species to the Buff-breasted is the Chestnut-backed Buttonquail, which does not overlap in the wild.\nBuff-breasted Earthcreeper - The Buff-breasted Earthcreeper is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.\nBuff-breasted flycatcher - Adults have olive gray upperparts, and darker coloration on the wings and tail; they have a conspicuous white eye ring, white wing bars, a small bill and a short tail. The breast of this species is very distinctive, washed with a strong orange buff color.\nBuff-breasted Mountain Tanager - It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBuff-breasted Sabrewing - The Buff-Breasted Sabrewing is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Brazil and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBuff-breasted Sandpiper - T. subruficollis breeds in the open arctic tundra of North America and is a very long-distance migrant, wintering mainly in South America, especially Argentina.\nBuff-breasted Tody-Tyrant - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-breasted Wren - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.\nBuff-bridled Inca Finch - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.\nBuff-browed Chachalaca - The Buff-browed Chachalaca is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found only in Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-browed Foliage-gleaner\nBuff-browed Warbler - Phylloscopus inornatus humei Phylloscopus inornatus mandellii Phylloscopus mandellii\nBuff-cheeked Greenlet - The Buff-cheeked Greenlet is a species of bird in the Vireonidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBuff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher - The Buff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.\nBuff-chested Babbler - The Buff-chested Babbler is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.\nBuff-collared nightjar - The adults are dark with brown, grey, black, and white patterning on the upperparts and breast. The tail is dark brown, with darker finely barred markings throughout. The male has large white outer tail tips on the 3 outermost tail feathers. The female has buffy tail tips. The most distinguishing characteristic to determine its identity from its closest relative the Whip-poor-will is from where the bird gets its name. It shows a prominent buff-colored collar around its neck and nape. Its song is also very different. It sounds like an accelerating cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cukacheea.\nBuff-crested Bustard - The Buff-crested Bustard is a species of bird in the Otididae family. It is found in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.\nBuff-faced Pygmy Parrot - Little-studied, it is known mainly for being the world's smallest parrot,\nBuff-faced Sericornis - It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.\nBuff-fronted Foliage-gleaner - The Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family, the ovenbirds. It is found in southeastern regions of South America in the cerrado and pantanal of Brazil and Paraguay as well as areas of southeast coastal Brazil; also extreme northeast Argentina. In western Andean and northwest South America, it is found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia; and in the northwest, it is also found in Panama and Costa Rica.\nBuff-fronted Owl - This nocturnal bird breeds in open mountain forests, laying its eggs in a tree hole. It takes rodents and other small mammals as its main prey, but will also feed on birds and insects.\nBuff-headed Coucal - This species is a large cuckoo with a heavy bill and short wings. The plumage of adults is striking with a buff head, upper back and undersides, and glossy black wings, lower back and tail. The iris is red and legs and bill are dark grey. Juveniles are very differently colored, with the wings and tail reddish brown with black barring somewhat like in the allopatric Pheasant Coucal, and the rest of the plumage brown mottled with black. The iris is brown-grey and the bill is bicolored, brown above and pale horn below.\nBuff-necked Ibis - It has a total length of approximately 75 centimetres . The neck is buffish, the upperparts are grey, the belly and flight feathers are black, and there is a large white patch in the wings. In flight, where the relatively short legs do no extend beyond the tail , the white patch forms a broad white band on the upperwing that separates the black remiges and the grey lesses wing-coverts. The bill and bare skin around the eyes are blackish and the legs are red.\nBuff-necked Woodpecker - The Buff-necked Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuff-rumped Warbler - The pair builds a bulky domed nest with a side entrance on a sloping bank next to a stream or path, and the female lays two white eggs which are incubated for 16–17 days with another 13–14 days to fledging.\nBuff-rumped Woodpecker - The Buff-rumped Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.\nBuff-spotted Flufftail\nBuff-spotted Woodpecker - The Buff-spotted Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.\nBuff-throated Apalis\nBuff-throated Foliage-gleaner - It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.\nBuff-throated Purpletuft - It is endemic to Atlantic forest in Brazil. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.\nBuff-throated Saltator - This is the type species of Saltator. Consequently, it and its closest allies would retain the genus name when this apparently polyphyletic group is eventually split up.\nBuff-throated Sunbird - The Buff-throated Sunbird is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.\nBuff-throated Tody-Tyrant\nBuff-throated Treehunter - The Peruvian Treehunter or Buff-throated Treehunter is a species of bird in the Furnariidae family. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBuff-throated Warbler - It is found in China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.\nBuff-vented Bulbul\nBuff-winged Starfrontlet - The Buff-Winged Starfrontlet is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBufflehead - The Bufflehead is a small American sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Anas albeola.\nBuffy Fish-Owl\nBuffy Hummingbird - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBuffy Pipit - The Buffy Pipit is a species of bird in the Motacillidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.\nBuffy Tuftedcheek - It occurs as a resident breeder above 1600 m in wet mountain forests with many epiphytes. The female lays one white egg in a thickly lined old woodpecker nest. One parent, probably the female, incubates the single white egg for 29 days to hatching, covering the egg with leaves when she leaves the nest.\nBuffy-crowned Wood-Partridge\nBuffy-throated Seedeater - It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBugler swan - Males typically measure from 145 to 163 centimetres and weigh 11.8 kilograms ; females typically range from 139 to 150 centimetres and weigh 10 kilograms . The average wingspan is 2.03 metres . It is rivaled in size among waterfowl only by the introduced Mute Swan, which is native to Eurasia, but the Trumpeter usually is longer-bodied. Exceptionally large male Trumpeters can reach a length of 183 centimetres , a wingspan of 3 metres and a weight of 17.2 kilograms . The Trumpeter Swan is closely related to the Whooper Swan of Eurasia, and even has been considered the same species by some authorities.\nBull-headed Shrike - It is 19-20 cm long. The male has a brown crown, white eyebrow and black mask. The back is grey-brown while the wings are dark with a white patch. The flanks are rufous and the rest of the underparts are whitish with fine barring. Females are similar but duller and browner with a brown mask and no white wing-patch. The species has harsh grating and chattering calls and will also mimic other birds.\nBuller's Albatross - Mollymawks are a type of Albatross that belong to Diomedeidae family and come from the Procellariiformes order, along with Shearwaters, Fulmars, Storm-petrels, and Diving-petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nostrils on the Albatross are on the sides of the bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.\nBullock's Oriole - Adults have a pointed bill. The adult male is orange on the underparts, face and rump with black everywhere else; they have a white wing patch. The adult female is grey-brown on the upper parts, dull yellow on the breast and belly and has wing bars.\nBulwer's petrel - This very long-winged petrel is 25-29 cm in length with a 78-90 cm wingspan. It has mainly brown plumage and a long pointed tail. It has a buoyant twisting flight as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface.\nBulwer's Pheasant - Bulwer's Pheasant is sexually dimorphic. Males have a total length of about 80 centimetres , and are black-plumaged with a maroon breast, crimson legs, a pure white tail of long, curved feathers, and bright blue facial skin with two wattles that conceal the sides of its head. Females have a total length of about 55 centimetres , and are an overall dull brown colour with red legs and blue facial skin.\nBulweria bifax\nBumblebee hummingbird - The Bumblebee Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in Mexico and the United States. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBurchell - Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey by running on the ground.\nBurchell's Glossy-Starling\nBurchell's Sandgrouse - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.\nBurmese Shrike - The Burmese Shrike is a species of bird in the Laniidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBurmese Yuhina\nBurnished-buff Tanager - It is found in the northern Guianas, most of Venezuela and east-central Colombia; also near the Amazon River outlet in Brazil, as well as most of the east of that country, Paraguay and northeast Argentina. It also occurs very locally in Bolivia and Peru. It can be seen in virtually any semi-open habitat with trees, including human-altered habitats such as gardens, plantations and parks.\nBurnt-neck Eremomela - The Burnt-Neck Eremomela is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.\nBurrowing Owl - Strix cunicularia Molina, 1782 Speotyto cunicularia Spheotyto cunicularia\nBurrowing Parrot - It is mainly found in Argentina. A very much reduced population still survives in Chile, and migration of some Argentine populations to Uruguay has been reported for the winter months. Sometimes strong westerly winds bring some individuals as far as the Falkland Islands.\nBuru Cuckoo-shrike - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.\nBuru Honeyeater - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBuru Racquet-tailed Parrot - The Buru Racket-tail is a mainly green parrot about 32 cm long. The beak is blackish and lighter at the base, and the long undertail-coverts are yellow. The adult male has blue upper-parts from the back of its head to mid-back and which extends into the upper surfaces of the forewings. The female has a small area of blue on the nape. Juveniles do not have racket-shaped tail feathers. The male juvenile has a little blue on the nape and the female juvenile has all-green upper-parts.\nBuru Thrush - The Buru Thrush is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is endemic to montane rainforest on Buru in Indonesia. Traditionally, it included the Seram Thrush as a subspecies, in which case the common name of the 'combined species' was Moluccan Thrush.\nBuru White-eye - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.\nBush Petronia\nBush Thick-knee - Like most stone-curlews, it is mainly nocturnal and specialises in hunting small grassland animals: frogs, spiders, insects, molluscs, crustaceans, snakes, lizards and small mammals are all taken, mostly gleaned or probed from soft soil or rotting wood; also a few seeds or tubers, particularly in drought years. Birds usually forage individually or in pairs over a large home range, particularly on moonlit nights.\nBush Wren - It was widespread throughout the main islands of the country until the late 19th century when mustelids were introduced and joined rats as invasive mammalian predators. The only authenticated reports of the North Island subspecies since 1900 were from the southern Rimutaka Range in 1918 and the Ureweras up to 1955, with probable sightings on June 13, 1949, near Lake Waikareiti, and several times in the first half of the 20th century in the Huiarau Range, and from Kapiti Island in 1911 . Apparently, the last population lived in the area where Te Urewera National Park was established, ironically just around the time of its extinction.\nBushtit - The Bushtit inhabits mixed open woodlands, often containing oaks and a scrubby understory. It is a year-round resident of the western United States and highland parts of Mexico, ranging from Vancouver through the Great Basin and the lowlands and foothills of California to southern Mexico and Guatemala.",
"Fun facts about the Badger - Badger Facts and Information ...\nThey have even been known to eat rattlesnakes ... which has given it its name. Omnivorous, like other badgers, ... The Honey Badger (Mellivora Capensis), or Ratel, ...\nFun facts about the Badger - Badger Facts and Information - The Jungle Store\nSee more Animal Facts\nBadger\nThere are 7 different species of Badger found across 4 continents. This nocturnal omnivore can be found in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa and share the distinction of being incredibly strong for their size, and the world’s fastest diggers. All badgers have a low slung body, shovel-shaped head and strong, sharp claws. Most are dark gray or black with distinctive white stripes down their face and sides. They all prefer sandy, porous soil and dig extensive tunnels and burrows which are called setts.\nThe American Badger (Taxadea Taxus) is the most carnivorous of the species, using their stellar digging skills to unearth chipmunks, ground hogs and rabbits. They have even been known to eat rattlesnakes and, during the winter, will feed on carrion. The American Badger is the least social of the badger species, preferring a solitary existence. Occasionally, American Badgers have been known to share their setts with coyotes and foxes, and in one case, a lost child. The badger seemed to adopt the boy, bringing him food and keeping him safe. Although a determined fighter, the American Badger does leave its territory undefended against other badgers if the hunting is good.\nThe Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) has a territory that extends throughout Europe and Asia, from England to Japan, from Scandinavia to Italy. They are far more social than their American cousins and generations will share the same sett and territory. Some of these “family” burrows are believed to be at least 100 years old and one comprised a network of tunnels measuring over 1017 feet. The Eurasian Badger enjoys a more omnivorous diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains as well as some meat.\nThe Hog Badger (Arctonyx Collaris) stakes his claim to most of Asia and is closest in appearance to the Eurasian Badger. The main difference between the two is the Hog Badger’s hairless, pig-like snout, which has given it its name. Omnivorous, like other badgers, this fellow not only uses its claws, but its snouts as well to dig up earthworms, roots and tubers. The Hog Badger, or Sand Badger as it is sometimes called, is more apt to dine on insects and vegetables than on small mammals.\nThe Honey Badger (Mellivora Capensis), or Ratel, is not considered a “True” badger at all. It is the most visually diverse of the badger family, with a solid light gray coat on its upper body and long tail, and a solid black coat on its lower body. It lives primarily in Africa and the Middle East. Considered to be quite fierce, the Honey Badger frequently dines on poisonous snakes. The badger shares its taste for honey with the Honey Guide, a bird who finds a colony of bees and leads the badger to it. Once there, the Honey Badger’s thick pelt allows it to ignore the angry swarm, rip open the hive, and share the honey with the bird.\nFun Badger Facts",
"Wild_boar.txt\nWild boar\nThe wild boar (Sus scrofa), also known as the wild swineHeptner, V. G. ; Nasimovich, A. A. ; Bannikov, A. G. ; Hoffman, R. S. (1988) [https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsovietu11988gept#page/18/mode/2up Mammals of the Soviet Union], Volume I, Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation, pp. 19-82 or Eurasian wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia, North Africa, and the Greater Sunda Islands. Human intervention has spread its range further, making the species one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widely spread suiform. Its wide range, high numbers, and adaptability mean that it is classed as least concern by the IUCN. The animal probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene, and outcompeted other suid species as it spread throughout the Old World.\n\nAs of 2005, up to 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height and lacrimal bone length. The species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young (both male and female). Fully grown males are usually solitary outside of the breeding season. The grey wolf is the wild boar's main predator throughout most of its range except in the Far East and the Lesser Sunda Islands, where it is replaced by the tiger and Komodo dragon respectively.Baskin, L. & Danell, K. (2003), Ecology of Ungulates: A Handbook of Species in Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia, Springer Science & Business Media, pp. 15-38, ISBN 3-540-43804-1 It has a long history of association with humans, having been the ancestor of most domestic pig breeds and a big-game animal for millennia.\n\nTerminology \n\nAs true wild boars became extinct in Britain before the development of modern English, the same terms are often used for both true wild boar and pigs, especially large or semiwild ones. The English 'boar' stems from the Old English bar, which is thought to be derived from the West Germanic *bairaz, of unknown origin. Boar is sometimes used specifically to refer to males, and may also be used to refer to male domesticated pigs, especially breeding males that have not been castrated.\n\n'Sow', the traditional name for a female, again comes from Old English and Germanic; it stems from Proto-Indo-European, and is related to the Latin sus and Greek hus and more closely to the modern German Sau. The young may be called 'piglets'.\n\nThe animals' specific name scrofa is Latin for 'sow'. \nIn hunting terminology, boars are given different designations according to their age: \n\nTaxonomy and evolution \n\nMtDNA studies indicate that the wild boar originated from islands in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and the Philippines, and subsequently spread onto mainland Eurasia and North Africa.Chen, K. et al. \"Genetic Resources, Genome Mapping and Evolutionary Genomics of the Pig (Sus scrofa)\". Int J Biol Sci 2007; 3(3):153-165. doi:10.7150/ijbs.3.153. Available from http://www.ijbs.com/v03p0153.htm The earliest fossil finds of the species come from both Europe and Asia, and date back to the Early Pleistocene.Ruvinsky, A. et al. (2011). \"Systematics and evolution of the pig\". In: Ruvinsky A, Rothschild MF (eds), The Genetics of the Pig. 2nd ed. CAB International, Oxon. pp. 1-13. ISBN 978-1-84593-756-0 By the late Villafranchian, S. scrofa largely displaced the related S. strozzii, a large, possibly swamp-adapted suid ancestral to the modern S. verrucosus throughout the Eurasian mainland, restricting it to insular Asia.Kurtén, Björn (1968). Pleistocene mammals of Europe. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 153-155 Its closest wild relative is the bearded pig of Malacca and surrounding islands.\n\nSubspecies \n\n, 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings:\n\n* Western: Includes S. s. scrofa, S. s. meridionalis, S. s. algira, S. s. attila, S. s. lybicus, and S. s. nigripes. These subspecies are typically high-skulled (though lybicus and some scrofa are low-skulled), with thick underwool and (excepting scrofa and attila) poorly developed manes. \n* Indian: Includes S. s. davidi and S. s. cristatus. These subspecies have sparse or absent underwool, with long manes and prominent bands on the snout and mouth. While S. s. cristatus is high-skulled, S. s. davidi is low-skulled.\n* Eastern: Includes S. s. sibiricus, S. s. ussuricus, S. s. leucomystax, S. s. riukiuanus, S. s. taivanus, and S. s. moupinensis. These subspecies are characterised by a whitish streak extending from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw. With the exception of S. s. ussuricus, most are high-skulled. The underwool is thick, except in S. s. moupinensis, and the mane is largely absent.\n* Indonesian: Represented solely by S. s. vittatus, it is characterised by its sparse body hair, lack of underwool, fairly long mane, a broad reddish band extending from the muzzle to the sides of the neck. It is the most basal of the four groups, having the smallest relative brain size, more primitive dentition and unspecialised cranial structure. \n\nDomestication \n\nWith the exception of domestic pigs in Timor and Papua New Guinea (which appear to be of Sulawesi warty pig stock), the wild boar is the ancestor of most pig breeds. Archaeological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated from wild boar as early as 13,000–12,700 BC in the Near East in the Tigris Basin being managed in the wild in a way similar to the way they are managed by some modern New Guineans. Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 BC in Cyprus. Those animals must have been introduced from the mainland, which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then. There was also a separate domestication in China which took place about 8000 years ago. DNA evidence from sub-fossil remains of teeth and jawbones of Neolithic pigs shows that the first domestic pigs in Europe had been brought from the Near East. This stimulated the domestication of local European wild boar resulting in a third domestication event with the Near Eastern genes dying out in European pig stock. Modern domesticated pigs have involved complex exchanges, with European domesticated lines being exported in turn to the ancient Near East. Historical records indicate that Asian pigs were introduced into Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Domestic pigs tend to have much more developed hindquarters than their wild boar ancestors, to the point where 70% of their body weight is concentrated in the posterior, which is the opposite of wild boar, where most of the muscles are concentrated on the head and shoulders. \n\nPhysical description \n\nThe wild boar is a bulky, massively built suid with short and relatively thin legs. The trunk is short and massive, while the hindquarters are comparatively underdeveloped. The region behind the shoulder blades rises into a hump, and the neck is short and thick, to the point of being nearly immobile. The animal's head is very large, taking up to one third of the body's entire length. The structure of the head is well suited for digging. The head acts as a plow, while the powerful neck muscles allow the animal to upturn considerable amounts of soil: it is capable of digging 8 - into frozen ground and can upturn rocks weighing 40 -. The eyes are small and deep-set, and the ears long and broad. The species has well developed canine teeth, which protrude from the mouths of adult males. The middle hooves are larger and more elongated than the lateral ones, and are capable of quick movements. The animal can run at a maximum speed of 40 km/h and jump at a height of 140 -. Sexual dimorphism is very pronounced in the species, with males being typically 5-10% larger and 20-30% heavier than females. Males also sport a mane running down the back, which is particularly apparent during autumn and winter. The canine teeth are also much more prominent in males, and grow throughout life. The upper canines are relatively short and grow sideways early in life, though gradually curve upwards. The lower canines are much sharper and longer, with the exposed parts measuring 10 - in length. In the breeding period, males develop a coating of subcutaneous tissue, which may be 2 - thick, extending from the shoulder blades to the rump, thus protecting vital organs during fights. Males sport a roughly egg-sized sack near the opening of the penis, which collects urine and emits a sharp odour. The purpose of this is not fully understood.\n\nAdult size and weight is largely determined by environmental factors; boars living in arid areas with little productivity tend to attain smaller sizes than their counterparts inhabiting areas with abundant food and water. In most of Europe, males average 75 - in weight, 75 - in shoulder height and 150 cm in body length, whereas females average 60 - in weight, 70 cm in shoulder height and 140 cm in body length. In Europe's Mediterranean regions, males may reach average weights as low as 50 kg and females 45 kg, with shoulder heights of 63 -. In the more productive areas of Eastern Europe, males average 110 - in weight, 95 cm in shoulder height and 160 cm in body length, while females weigh 95 kg, reach 85 - in shoulder height and 145 cm in body length. In Western and Central Europe, the largest males weigh 200 kg and females 120 kg. In Eastern Europe, large males can reach brown bear-like sizes, weighing 270 kg and measuring 110 - in shoulder height. Some adult males in Ussuriland and Manchuria have been recorded to weigh 300 - and measure 125 cm in shoulder height. Adults of this size are generally immune from wolf predation. Such giants are rare in modern times, due to past overhunting preventing animals from attaining their full growth.\n\nThe winter coat consists of long, coarse bristles underlaid with short brown downy fur. The length of these bristles varies along the body, with the shortest being around the face and limbs and the longest running along the back. These back bristles form the aforementioned mane prominent in males, and stand erect when the animal is agitated. Colour is highly variable; specimens around Lake Balkhash are very lightly coloured, and can even be white, while some boars from Belarus and Ussuriland can be black. Some subspecies sport a light coloured patch running backwards from the corners of the mouth. Coat colour also varies with age, with piglets having light brown or rusty-brown fur with pale bands extending from the flanks and back.\n\nThe wild boar produces a number of different sounds which are divided into three categories:\n\n* Contact calls: Grunting noises which differ in intensity according to the situation. Adult males are usually silent, while females frequently grunt and piglets whine. When feeding, boars express their contentment through purring. Studies have shown that piglets imitate the sounds of their mother, thus different litters may have unique vocalisations.\n* Alarm calls: Warning cries emitted in response to threats. When frightened, boars make loud huffing ukh! ukh! sounds or emit screeches transcribed as gu-gu-gu.\n* Combat calls: High-pitched, piercing cries.\n\nIts sense of smell is very well developed, to the point that the animal is used for drug detection in Germany. Its hearing is also acute, though its eyesight is comparatively weak, lacking colour vision and being unable to recognise a standing human 10–15 metres away.\n\nPigs are one of four known mammalian species which possess mutations in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor that protect against snake venom. Mongooses, honey badgers, hedgehogs, and pigs all have modifications to the receptor pocket which prevents the snake venom α-neurotoxin from binding. These represent four separate, independent mutations. \n\nSocial behaviour and life cycle \n\nBoars are typically social animals, living in female-dominated sounders consisting of barren sows and mothers with young led by an old matriarch. Male boars leave their sounder at the age of 8–15 months, while females either remain with their mothers or establish new territories nearby. Subadult males may live in loosely knit groups, while adult and elderly males tend to be solitary outside the breeding season. \n\nThe breeding period in most areas lasts from November to January, though most mating only lasts a month and a half. Prior to mating, the males develop their subcutaneous armour, in preparation for confronting rivals. The testicles double in size and the glands secrete a foamy yellowish liquid. Once ready to reproduce, males travel long distances in search of a sounder of sows, eating little on the way. Once a sounder has been located, the male drives off all young animals and persistently chases the sows. At this point, the male fiercely fights potential rivals, A single male can mate with 5-10 sows. By the end of the rut, males are often badly mauled and have lost 20% of their body weight. Injuries to the penis are common. The gestation period varies according to the age of the expecting mother. For first time breeders, it lasts 114–130 days, while it lasts 133–140 days in older sows. Farrowing occurs between March and May, with litter sizes depending on the age and nutrition of the mother. The average litter consists of 4-6 piglets, with the maximum being 10-12. The piglets are whelped in a nest constructed from twigs, grasses and leaves. Should the mother die prematurely, the piglets are adopted by the other sows in the sounder. \n\nNewborn piglets weigh around 600-1,000 grams, lacking underfur and bearing a single milk incisor and canine on each half of the jaw. There is intense competition between the piglets over the most milk-rich nipples, as the best fed young grow faster and have stronger constitutions. The piglets do not leave the lair for their first week of life. Should the mother be absent, the piglets lie closely pressed to each other. By two weeks of age, the piglets begin accompanying their mother on her journeys. Should danger be detected, the piglets take cover or stand immobile, relying on their camouflage to keep them hidden. The neonatal coat fades after three months, with adult colouration being attained at eight months. Although the lactation period lasts 2.5-3.5 months, the piglets begin displaying adult feeding behaviours at the age of 2–3 weeks. The permanent dentition is fully formed by 1–2 years. With the exception of the canines in males, the teeth stop growing during the middle of the fourth year. The canines in old males continue to grow throughout their lives, curving strongly as they age. Sows attain sexual maturity at the age of one year, with males attaining it a year later. However, estrus usually first occurs after two years in sows, while males begin participating in the rut after 4–5 years, as they are not permitted to mate by the older males. The maximum lifespan in the wild is 10–14 years, though few specimens survive past 4–5 years. Boars in captivity have lived for 20 years.\n\nEcology \n\nHabitat and sheltering behaviour \n\nThe wild boar inhabits a diverse array of habitats from boreal taigas to deserts. In mountainous regions, it can even occupy alpine zones, occurring up to 1,900 metres in the Carpathians, 2,600 metres in the Caucasus and up to 3,600-4,000 metres in the mountains in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. In order to survive in a given area, wild boars require a habitat fulfilling three conditions: heavily brushed areas providing shelter from predators, water for drinking and bathing purposes and an absence of regular snowfall. The main habitats favoured by boars in Europe are deciduous and mixed forests, with the most favourable areas consisting of forest composed of oak and beech enclosing marshes and meadows. In the Białowieża Forest, the animal's primary habitat consists of well developed, broad-leaved and mixed forests, along with marshy mixed forests, with coniferous forests and undergrowths being of secondary importance. Forests made up entirely of oak groves and beech are used only during the fruit-bearing season. This is in contrast to the Caucasian and Transcaucasian mountain areas, where boars will occupy such fruit-bearing forests year-round. In the mountainous areas of the Russian Far East, the species inhabits nutpine groves, hilly mixed forests where Mongolian oak and Korean pine are present, swampy mixed taiga and coastal oak forests. In Transbaikalia, boars are restricted to river valleys with nutpine and shrubs. Boars are regularly encountered in pistachio groves in winter in some areas of Tajikistan and Turkmenia, while in spring they migrate to open deserts; boar have also colonised deserts in several areas they have been introduced to. On the islands of Komodo and Rinca, the boar mostly inhabits savanna or open monsoon forests, avoiding heavily forested areas unless pursued by humans. Wild boar are known to be competent swimmers, capable of covering long distances. In 2013, one boar was reported to have completed the seven mile swim from France to Alderney in the Channel Islands. Due to concerns about disease it was shot and incinerated. \n\nWild boar rest in shelters, which contain insulating material like spruce branches and dry hay. These resting places are occupied by whole families (though males lie separately), and are often located in the vicinity of streams, in swamp forests, in tall grass or shrub thickets. Boars never defecate in their shelters, and will cover themselves with soil and pine needles when irritated by insects.\n\nDiet \n\nThe wild boar is a highly versatile omnivore, whose diversity in choice of food rivals that of humans. Their foods can be divided into four categories:\n\n* Rhizomes, roots, tubers and bulbs, all of which are dug up throughout the year in the animal's whole range.\n* Nuts, berries, and seeds, which are consumed when ripened and are dug up from the snow when abundant.\n* Leaves, bark, twigs, and shoots, along with garbage.\n* Earthworms, insects, mollusks, fish, rodents, insectivores, bird eggs, lizards, snakes, frogs, and carrion. Most of these prey items are taken in warm periods.\n\nA 50 kg boar needs around 4,000-4,500 calories of food per day, though this required amount increases during winter and pregnancy, with the majority of its diet consisting of food items dug from the ground like underground plant material and burrowing animals. Acorns and beechnuts are invariably its most important food items in temperate zones, as they are rich in the carbohydrates necessary for the buildup of fat reserves needed to survive lean periods. In Western Europe, underground plant material favoured by boars includes bracken, willow herb, bulbs, meadow herb roots and bulbs, and the bulbs of cultivated crops. Such food is favoured in early spring and summer, but may also be eaten in autumn and winter during beechnut and acorn crop failures. Should regular wild foods become scarce, boars will eat tree bark and fungi, as well as visit cultivated potato and artichoke fields. Boar soil disturbance and foraging have been shown to facilitate invasive plants. Boars of the vittatus subspecies in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java differ from most other populations by their primarily frugivorous diet, which consists of 50 different fruit species, especially figs, thus making them important seed dispersers. The wild boar can consume numerous genera of poisonous plants without ill effect, including Aconitum, Anemone, Calla, Caltha, Ferula, and Pteridium.\n\nBoars may occasionally prey on small vertebrates like newborn deer fawns, leporids and galliform chicks. Boars inhabiting the Volga Delta and near some lakes and rivers of Kazakhstan have been recorded to feed extensively on fish like carp and Caspian roach. Boars in the former area will also feed on cormorant and heron chicks, bivalved molluscs, trapped muskrats and mice. There is at least one record of a boar killing and eating a bonnet macaque in southern India's Bandipur National Park, though this may have been a case of intraguild predation, brought on by interspecific competition for human handouts. \n\nPredators \n\nPiglets are vulnerable to attack from medium-sized felids like lynx, jungle cats and snow leopards and other carnivorans like brown bears and yellow-throated martens.\n\nThe grey wolf is the main predator of wild boar throughout most of its range. A single wolf can kill around 50-80 boars of differing ages in one year. In Italy and Belarus' Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, boars are the wolf's primary prey, despite an abundance of alternative, less powerful ungulates. Wolves are particularly threatening during the winter, when deep snow impedes the boars' movements. In the Baltic regions, heavy snowfall can allow wolves to eliminate boars from an area almost completely. Wolves primarily target piglets and subadults, and only rarely attack adult sows. Adult males are usually avoided entirely. Dholes may also prey on boars, to the point of keeping their numbers down in northwestern Bhutan, despite there being many more cattle in the area. \n\nLeopards are predators of wild boar in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the Russian Far East, India, China, and Iran. In most areas, boars constitute only a small part of the leopard's diet. However, in Iran's Sarigol National Park, boars are the second most frequently targeted prey species after mouflon, though adult individuals are generally avoided, as they are above the leopard's preferred weight range of 10 -. \n\nBoars of all ages were once the primary prey of tigers in Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia and the Far East up until the late 19th century. In modern times, tiger numbers are too low to have a limiting effect on boar populations. A single tiger can systematically destroy an entire sounder by preying on its members one by one, before moving on to another herd. Tigers have been noted to chase boars for longer distances than with other prey. In two rare cases, boars were reported to gore a small tiger and a tigress to death in self-defense. In the Amur region, wild boars are one of the two most important prey species for tigers alongside the Manchurian wapiti, with the two species collectively comprising roughly 80% of the felid's prey. In Sikhote Alin, a tiger can kill 30-34 boars a year. Studies of tigers in India indicate that boars are usually secondary in preference to various cervids and bovids, though when boars are targeted, healthy adults are caught more frequently than young and sick specimens. \n\nOn the islands of Komodo, Rinca, and Flores, the boar's main predator is the Komodo dragon.\n\nRange \n\nReconstructed range \n\nThe species originally occurred in North Africa and much of Eurasia; from the British Isles to Korea and the Sunda Islands. The northern limit of its range extended from southern Scandinavia to southern Siberia and Japan. Within this range, it was only absent in extremely dry deserts and alpine zones. It was once found in North Africa along the Nile valley up to Khartum and north of the Sahara. The species occurs on a few Ionian and Aegean Islands, sometimes swimming between islands.Masseti, M. (2012), Atlas of terrestrial mammals of the Ionian and Aegean islands, Walter de Gruyter, pp. 139-141, ISBN 3-11-025458-1 The reconstructed northern boundary of the animal's Asian range ran from Lake Ladoga (at 60°N) through the area of Novgorod and Moscow into the southern Urals, where it reached 52°N. From there, the boundary passed Ishim and farther east the Irtysh at 56°N. In the eastern Baraba steppe (near Novosibirsk) the boundary turned steep south, encircled the Altai Mountains, and went again eastward including the Tannu-Ola Mountains and Lake Baikal. From here the boundary went slightly north of the Amur River eastward to its lower reaches at the Sea of Okhotsk. On Sakhalin, there are only fossil reports of wild boar. The southern boundaries in Europe and Asia were almost invariably identical to the sea shores of these continents. It is absent in the dry regions of Mongolia from 44–46°N southward, in China westward of Sichuan and in India north of the Himalayas. It is absent in the higher elevations of Pamir and Tien Shan, though they do occur in the Tarim basin and on the lower slopes of the Tien Shan.\n\nPresent range \n\nIn recent centuries, the range of wild boar has changed dramatically, largely due to hunting by humans and more recently because of captive wild boar escaping into the wild. Prior to the 20th century, boar populations had declined in numerous areas, with British populations probably becoming extinct during the 13th century. In Denmark, the last boar was shot at the beginning of the 19th century, and in 1900 they were absent in Tunisia and Sudan and large areas of Germany, Austria, and Italy. In Russia they were extirpated in wide areas in the 1930s. The last boar in Egypt reportedly died on 20 December 1912 in the Giza Zoo, with wild populations having disappeared around 1894–1902. Prince Kamal el Dine Hussein attempted to repopulate Wadi El Natrun with boars of Hungarian stock, but they were quickly exterminated by poachers.Osborn, Dale. J.; Helmy, Ibrahim (1980), [https://archive.org/stream/contemporaryland05osbo#page/474/mode/2up \"The contemporary land mammals of Egypt (including Sinai)\"], Field Museum of Natural History, pp. 475-477\n\nA revival of boar populations began in the middle of the 20th century. By 1950 wild boar had once again reached their original northern boundary in many parts of their Asiatic range. By 1960, they reached Leningrad and Moscow, and by 1975 they were to be found in Archangelsk and Astrakhan. In the 1970s they again occurred in Denmark and Sweden, where captive animals escaped and now survive in the wild. In England, wild boar populations re-established themselves in the 1990s, after escaping from specialist farms that had imported European stock.\n\nStatus in Britain \n\nWild boar were apparently already becoming rare by the 11th century, since a 1087 forestry law enacted by William the Conqueror punishes through blinding the unlawful killing of boar. Charles I attempted to reintroduce the species into the New Forest, though this population was exterminated during the Civil War. A similar attempt was made in Dorsetshire's Bere Wood, though these were again exterminated after one specimen injured a horse belonging to the sporting writer Charles James Apperley. \n\nBetween their medieval extinction and the 1980s, when wild boar farming began, only a handful of captive wild boar, imported from the continent, were present in Britain. Occasional escapes of wild boar from wildlife parks have occurred as early as the 1970s, but since the early 1990s significant populations have re-established themselves after escapes from farms; the number of which has increased as the demand for wild boar meat has grown. A 1998 MAFF (now DEFRA) study on wild boar living wild in Britain confirmed the presence of two populations of wild boar living in Britain; one in Kent/East Sussex and another in Dorset. Another DEFRA report, in February 2008, confirmed the existence of these two sites as 'established breeding areas' and identified a third in Gloucestershire/Herefordshire; in the Forest of Dean/Ross on Wye area. A 'new breeding population' was also identified in Devon. There is another significant population in Dumfries and Galloway. Populations estimates were as follows:\n* The largest population, in Kent/East Sussex, was estimated at approximately 200 animals in the core distribution area.\n* The second largest, in Gloucestershire/Herefordshire, was estimated to be in excess of 100 animals. This may now be the largest population as it is expanding rapidly.\n* The smallest, in west Dorset, was estimated to be fewer than 50 animals.\n* Since winter 2005/6 significant escapes/releases have also resulted in animals colonising areas around the fringes of Dartmoor, in Devon. These are considered as an additional single 'new breeding population' and currently estimated to be up to 100 animals.\n\nPopulation estimates for the Forest of Dean are disputed as at the time that the DEFRA population estimate was 100, a photo of a boar sounder in the forest near Staunton with over 33 animals visible was published, and at about the same time over 30 boar were seen in a field near the original escape location of Weston under Penyard many miles away. In early 2010 the Forestry Commission embarked on a cull, with the aim of reducing the boar population from an estimated 150 animals to 100. By August it was stated that efforts were being made to reduce the population from 200 to 90, but that only 25 had been killed. The failure to meet cull targets was confirmed in February 2011. \n\nWild boar have crossed the River Wye into Monmouthshire Wales. Iolo Williams, the BBC Wales wildlife expert, attempted to film Welsh boar in late 2012. Many other sightings, across the UK, have also been reported. The effects of wild boar on the UK's woodlands were discussed with Ralph Harmer of the Forestry Commission on the 's Farming Today radio programme in 2011. The programme prompted activist writer George Monbiot to propose a thorough population study, followed by the introduction of permit-controlled culling. \n\nIntroduction to North America \n\nWhile domestic pigs, both captive and feral (popularly termed \"razorbacks\"), have been in North America since the earliest days of European colonization, pure wild boar were not introduced into the New World until the 19th century. The suids were released into the wild by wealthy landowners as big game animals. The initial introductions took place in fenced enclosures, though several escapes occurred, with the escapees sometimes intermixing with already established feral pig populations.\n\nThe first of these introductions occurred in New Hampshire in 1890. Thirteen wild boar from Germany were purchased by Austin Corbin from Carl Hagenbeck, and released into a 9,500 hectare game preserve in Sullivan County. Several of these boars escaped, though they were quickly hunted down by locals. Two further introductions were done since the original stocking, with several escapes taking place due to breaches in the game preserve's fencing. These escapees have ranged widely, with some specimens having been observed crossing into Vermont. \n\nIn 1902, 15-20 wild boar from Germany were released into a 3,200 hectare estate in Hamilton County, New York. Several specimens escaped six years later, dispersing into the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, with their descendents surviving for at least 20 years.\n\nThe most successful boar introduction in the US took place in western North Carolina in 1912, when 13 boars of undetermined European origin were released into two fenced enclosures in a game preserve in Hooper Bald, Graham County. Most of the specimens remained in the preserve for the next decade, until a large-scale hunt caused the remaining animals to break through their confines and escape. Some of the boars migrated to Tennessee, where they intermixed with both free ranging and feral pigs in the area. In 1924, a dozen Hooper Bald wild pigs were shipped to California and released in a property between Carmel Valley and the Los Padres National Forest. These hybrid boar were later used as breeding stock on various private and public lands throughout the state, as well as in other states like Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia and Mississippi.\n\nSeveral wild boars from Leon Springs and the San Antonio, Saint Louis and San Diego Zoos were released in the Powder Horn Ranch in Calhoun County, Texas, in 1939. These specimens escaped and established themselves in surrounding ranchlands and coastal areas, with some crossing the Espiritu Santo Bay and colonising Matagorda Island. Descendents of the Powder Horn Ranch boars were later released onto San José Island and the coast of Chalmette, Louisiana.\n\nWild boar of unknown origin were stocked in a ranch in Edwards Plateau in the 1940s, only to escape during a storm and hybridise with local feral pig populations, later spreading into neighbouring counties.\n\nStarting in the mid-80s, several boars purchased from the San Diego Zoo and Tierpark Berlin were released into the United States. A decade later, more specimens from farms in Canada and Białowieża Forest were let loose. In recent years, wild pig populations have been reported in 44 states within the US, most of which are likely wild boar-feral hog hybrids. Pure wild boar populations may still be present, but are extremely localised.\n\nDiseases and parasites \n\nWild boars are known to host at least 20 different parasitic worm species, with maximum infections occurring in summer. Young animals are vulnerable to helminths like Metastrongylus, which are consumed by boars through earthworms, and cause death by parasitising the lungs. Wild boar also carry parasites known to infect humans, including Gastrodiscoides, Trichinella spiralis, Taenia solium, and Balantidium coli. Wild boar in southern regions are frequently infested with ticks (Dermacentor, Rhipicephalus, and Hyalomma) and hog lice. The species also suffers from blood-sucking flies, which it escapes by bathing frequently or hiding in dense shrubs.\n\nSwine plague spreads very quickly in wild boar, with epizootics being recorded in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Belarus, the Caucasus, the Far East, Kazakhstan, and other regions. Foot-and-mouth disease can also take on epidemic proportions in boar populations. The species occasionally, but rarely contracts Pasteurellosis, hemorrhagic septicemia, tularemia and anthrax. Wild boar may on occasion contract swine erysipelas through rodents or hog lice and ticks.\n\nRelationships with humans \n\nIn culture \n\nThe wild boar features prominently in the cultures of Indo-European people, many of which saw the animal as embodying warrior virtues. Cultures throughout Europe and Asia Minor saw the killing of a boar as proof of one's valor and strength. Neolithic hunter gatherers depicted reliefs of ferocious wild boars on their temple pillars at Göbekli Tepe some 11,600 years ago. Virtually all heroes in Greek mythology fight or kill a boar at one point. The demigod Herakles' third labour involves the capture of the Erymanthian Boar, Theseus slays the wild sow Phaea, and a disguised Odysseus is recognised by his handmaiden Eurycleia by the scars inflicted on him by a boar during a hunt in his youth.Mallory, J. P. & Adams, D. Q. (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Taylor & Francis, pp. 426-428, ISBN 1-884964-98-2 To the mythical Hyperboreans, the boar represented spiritual authority. Several Greek myths use the boar as a symbol of darkness, death and winter. One example is the story of the youthful Adonis, who is killed by a boar and is permitted by Zeus to depart from Hades only during the spring and summer period. This theme also occurs in Irish and Egyptian mythology, where the animal is explicitly linked to the month of October, therefore autumn. This association likely arose from aspects of the boar's actual nature. Its dark colour was linked to the night, while its solitary habits, proclivity to consume crops and nocturnal nature were associated with evil. The foundation myth of Ephesus has the city being built over the site where prince Androklos of Athens killed a boar. Boars were frequently depicted on Greek funerary monuments alongside lions, representing gallant losers who have finally met their match, as opposed to victorious hunters as lions are. The theme of the doomed, yet valorous boar warrior also occurred in Hittite culture, where it was traditional to sacrifice a boar alongside a dog and a prisoner of war after a military defeat.\n\nThe boar as a warrior also appears in Scandinavian, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon culture, with its image having been frequently engraved on helmets, shields and swords. According to Tacitus, the Baltic Aesti featured boars on their helmets, and may have also worn boar masks. The boar and pig were held in particularly high esteem by the Celts, who considered them to be their most important sacred animal. Some Celtic deities linked to boars include Moccus and Veteris. It has been suggested that some early myths surrounding the Welsh hero Culhwch involved the character being the son of a boar god. Nevertheless, the importance of the boar as a culinary item among Celtic tribes may have been exaggerated in popular culture by the Asterix series, as wild boar bones are rare among Celtic archaeological sites, and the few that occur show no signs of butchery, having probably been used in sacrificial rituals.Green, M. (2002), Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, Routledge, p. 46, ISBN 1-134-66531-8 The boar also appears in Vedic mythology. A story present in the Brāhmaṇas has Indra slaying an avaricious boar, who has stolen the treasure of the asuras, then giving its carcass to Vishnu, who offered it as a sacrifice to the gods. In the story's retelling in the Charaka Samhita, the boar is described as a form of Prajāpti, and is credited with having raised the earth from the primeval waters. In the Rāmāyaṇa and the Purāṇas, the same boar is portrayed as an avatar of Vishnu. \n\nIn Japanese culture, the boar is widely seen as a fearsome and reckless animal, to the point that several words and expressions in Japanese referring to recklessness include references to boars. The boar is the last animal of the oriental zodiac, with people born during the year of the Pig being said to embody the boar-like traits of determination and impetuosity. Among Japanese hunters, the boar's courage and defiance is a source of admiration, and it is not uncommon for hunters and mountain people to name their sons after the animal inoshishi (猪). Boars are also seen as symbols of fertility and prosperity; in some regions, it is thought that boars are drawn to fields owned by families including pregnant women, and hunters with pregnant wives are thought to have greater chances of success when boarhunting. The animal's link to prosperity was illustrated by its inclusion on the ¥10 note during the Meiji period, and it was once believed that a man could become wealthy by keeping a clump of boar hair in his wallet.Knight, J. (2003), Waiting for Wolves in Japan: An Anthropological Study of People-wildlife Relations, Oxford University Press, pp. 49-73, ISBN 0-19-925518-0\n\nIn the folklore of the Mongol Altai Uriankhai tribe, the wild boar was associated with the watery underworld, as it was thought that the spirits of the dead entered the animal's head, to be ultimately transported to the water.Pegg, C. (2001), Mongolian Music, Dance, & Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities, University of Washington Press, p. 140, ISBN 0-295-98112-1 Prior to the conversion to Islam, the Kyrgyz people believed that they were descended from boars, and thus did not eat pork. In Buryat mythology, the forefathers of the Buryats descended from heaven and were nourished by a boar.Holmberg, U. (1927), The Mythology of All Races volume 4: Finno-Ugric, Siberian, New York, Cooper Square Publishing Inc. pp. 502-503 In China, the boar is the emblem of the Miao people.\n\nThe boar (sanglier) is frequently displayed in English, Scottish and Welsh heraldry. As with the lion, the boar is often shown as armed and langued. As with the bear, Scottish and Welsh heraldry displays the boar's head with the neck cropped, unlike the English version, which retains the neck. The white boar served as the badge of King Richard III of England, who distributed it among his northern retainers during his tenure as Duke of Gloucester. \n\nAs a game animal and food source \n\nHumans have been hunting boar for millennia, with the earliest artistic depictions of such activities dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. The animal was seen as a source of food among the Ancient Greeks, as well as a sporting challenge and source of epic narratives. The Romans inherited this tradition, with one of its first practitioners being Scipio Aemilianus. Boar hunting became particularly popular among the young nobility during the 3rd century BC as preparation for manhood and battle. A typical Roman boarhunting tactic involved surrounding a given area with large nets, then flushing the boar with dogs and immobilising it with smaller nets. The animal would then be dispatched with a venabulum, a short spear with a crossguard at the base of the blade. More than their Greek predecessors, the Romans extensively took inspiration from boarhunting in their art and sculpture. With the ascension of Constantine the Great, boarhunting took on Christian allegorical themes, with the animal being portrayed as a \"black beast\" analogous to the dragon of Saint George. Boarhunting continued after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, though the Germanic tribes considered the red deer to be a more noble and worthy quarry. The post-Roman nobility hunted boar as their predecessors did, but primarily as training for battle rather than sport. It was not uncommon for medieval hunters to deliberately hunt boars during the breeding season, when the animals were more aggressive. During the Renaissance, when deforestation and the introduction of firearms reduced boar numbers, boarhunting became the sole prerogative of the nobility, one of many charges brought up against the rich during the German Peasants' War and the French Revolution. During the mid-20th century, 7,000-8,000 boars were caught in the Caucasus, 6,000-7,000 in Kazakhstan, and about 5,000 in Central Asia during the Soviet period, primarily through use of dogs and beats. In Nepal, farmers and poachers eliminate boars by baiting balls of wheat flour containing explosives with kerosene oil, with the animals' chewing motions triggering the devices. \n\nWild boar can thrive in captivity, though piglets grow slowly and poorly without their mothers. Products derived from wild boar include meat, hide and bristles. Apicius devotes a whole chapter to the cooking of boar meat, providing ten recipes involving roasting, boiling and what sauces to use. The Romans usually served boar meat with garum. Boar's head was the centrepiece of most medieval Christmas celebrations among the nobility. Although growing in popularity as a captive-bred source of food, the wild boar takes longer to mature than most domestic pigs, and is usually smaller and produces less meat. Nevertheless, wild boar meat is leaner and healthier than pork,Harris, C. (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?idJny0R4gEQxcC&pg\nPA27&dqwild+boar+products&hl\nit&saX&ei\n4BAxVLvoKtDZaonSgMgJ&redir_escy#v\nonepage&qwild%20boar%20products&f\nfalse A Guide to Traditional Pig Keeping], Good Life Press, pp. 26-27, ISBN 1-904871-60-7 being of higher nutritional value and having a much higher concentration of essential amino acids. Most meat-dressing organisations agree that a boar carcass should yield 50 kg of meat on average. Large specimens can yield 15 - of fat, with some giants yielding 30 kg or more. A boar hide can measure 300 dm2, and can yield 350-1000 grams of bristle and 400 grams of underwool.\n\nFile:EberreliefmitHund-3Jhrnchr-FOKoeln2.jpg|Roman relief of a dog confronting a boar, Cologne\nFile:Südindischer Meister um 1540 002.jpg|Southern Indian depiction of boar hunt, c. 1540\nFile:Modern Pig-Sticking (1914) A. E. Wardrop I.png|Pigsticking in British India\nFile:Регулирование численности кабана (1).jpg|Boar shot in Volgograd Oblast, Russia\n\nCrop and garbage raiding\n\nBoars can be damaging to agriculture. Populations living on the outskirts of towns or farms can dig up potatoes and damage melons, watermelons and maize. They generally only encroach upon farms when natural food is scarce. In the Belovezh forest for example, 34-47% of the local boar population will enter fields in years of moderate availability of natural foods. While the role of boars in damaging crops is often exaggerated, cases are known of boar depredations causing famines, as was the case in Hachinohe, Japan in 1749, where 3,000 people died of what became known as the 'wild boar famine'. Still within Japanese culture, the boar's status as vermin is expressed through its title as \"king of pests\" and the popular saying (addressed to young men in rural areas) \"When you get married, choose a place with no wild boar.\" In Central Europe, farmers typically repel boars through distraction or fright, while in Kazakhstan it is usual to employ guard dogs in plantations. Although large boar populations can play an important role in limiting forest growth, they are also useful in keeping pest populations such as June bugs under control. The growth of urban areas and corresponding decline in natural boar habitats has led to some sounders entering human habitations in search of food. As in natural conditions, sounders in peri-urban areas are matriarchal, though males tend to be much less represented, and adults of both sexes can be up to 35% heavier than their forest-dwelling counterparts. As of 2010, at least 44 cities in 15 countries have experienced problems of some kind relating to the presence of habituated wild boar.Cahill, S., Llimona, F., Cabañeros, L. & Calomardo, F., 2012. [http://abc.museucienciesjournals.cat/files/ABC_35-2_pp_221-233.pdf \"Characteristics of wild boar (Sus scrofa) habituation to urban areas in the Collserola Natural Park (Barcelona) and comparison with other locations\"]. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 35.2: 221–233.\n\nAttacks on humans\n\nActual attacks on humans are rare, but can be serious, resulting in multiple penetrating injuries to the lower part of the body. They generally occur during the boars' rutting season from November–January, in agricultural areas bordering forests or on paths leading through forests. The animal typically attacks by charging and pointing its tusks towards the intended victim, with most injuries occurring on the thigh region. Once the initial attack is over, the boar steps back, takes position and attacks again if the victim is still moving, only ending once the victim is completely incapacitated.Manipady, S. et al. (2006), [http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Death%20By%20Wild%20Boar.pdf \"Death by attack from a wild boar\"], Journal of clinical forensic medicine 13 (2), 89-91Gunduz, A. et al. (2007), [http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Wild%20Boar%20Attack%20III.pdf \"Wild Boar Attacks\"], Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 18, 117-119\n\nBoar attacks on humans have been documented since the Stone Age, with the oldest depiction being a cave painting in Bhimbetaka, India. The Romans and Ancient Greeks wrote of these attacks (Odysseus was wounded by a boar), and several attacks are shown on the headstones of England's 12th century Severn Temple graveyard. A 2012 study compiling recorded attacks from 1825-2012 found accounts of 665 human victims of both wild boars and feral pigs, with the majority (19%) of attacks in the animal's native range occurring in India. Most of the attacks occurred in rural areas during the winter months in non-hunting contexts, and were committed by solitary males.Mayer, John J., \"Wild Pig Attacks on Humans\" (2013). Wildlife Damage Management Conferences -- Proceedings. Paper 151.\nhttp://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_wdmconfproc/151",
"Reindeer.txt\nReindeer\nThe reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, Subarctic, tundra, boreal and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. This includes both sedentary and migratory populations.\n\nWhile overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and at least one has already become extinct. \n\nReindeer vary considerably in colour and size. In most populations, both sexes grow antlers annually, but females lack antlers in a few. Antlers are typically larger on males.\n\nHunting of wild reindeer and herding of semi-domesticated reindeer (for meat, hides, antlers, milk and transportation) are important to several Arctic and Subarctic peoples.\"In North America and Eurasia the species has long been an important resource—in many areas the most important resource—for peoples inhabiting the northern boreal forest and tundra regions. Known human dependence on caribou/wild reindeer has a long history, beginning in the Middle Pleistocene (Banfield 1961:170; Kurtén 1968:170) and continuing to the present.... The caribou/wild reindeer is thus an animal that has been a major resource for humans throughout a tremendous geographic area and across a time span of tens of thousands of years.\" In Lapland, reindeer pull pulks. Reindeer are well known due to Santa Claus' sleigh being pulled by flying reindeer in Christmas folklore.\n\nName etymology \n\nThe name Rangifer, which Carl Linnaeus chose for the reindeer genus, was used by Albertus Magnus in his De animalibus, fol. Liber 22, Cap. 268: \"Dicitur Rangyfer quasi ramifer\". This word may go back to a Saami word raingo. For the origin of the word tarandus, which Linnaeus chose as the specific epithet, he made reference to Ulisse Aldrovandi's Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia fol. 859–863, Cap. 30: De Tarando (1621). However, Aldrovandi – and before him Konrad Gesner – thought that rangifer and tarandus were two separate animals. In any case, the tarandos name goes back to Aristotle and Theophrastus – see 'In history' below.\n\nBecause of its importance to many cultures, Rangifer tarandus and some of its subspecies have names in many languages. The name rein (-deer) is of Norse origin (Old Norse hreinn, which again goes back to Proto-Germanic *hrainaz and Proto-Indo-European *kroinos meaning \"horned animal\"). In the Uralic languages, Sami *poatsoj (in Northern Sami boazu, in Lule Sami boatsoj, in Pite Sami båtsoj, in Southern Sami bovtse, in Inari Sami puásui), Meadow Mari pücö and Udmurt pudžej, all referring to domesticated reindeer, go back to *pocaw, an Iranian loan word deriving from Proto-Indo-European *peḱu-, meaning \"cattle\". The Finnish name poro may also stem from the same. \n\nThe word deer was originally broader in meaning, but became more specific over time. In Middle English, der (Old English dēor) meant a wild animal of any kind. This was in contrast to cattle, which then meant any sort of domestic livestock that was easy to collect and remove from the land, from the idea of personal-property ownership (rather than real estate property) and related to modern chattel (property) and capital. Cognates of Old English dēor in other dead Germanic languages have the general sense of animal, such as Old High German tior, Old Norse djúr or dýr, Gothic dius, Old Saxon dier, and Old Frisian diar. \n\nThe name caribou comes, through French, from Mi'kmaq qalipu, meaning \"snow shoveler\", referring to its habit of pawing through the snow for food. In Inuktitut, spoken in eastern Arctic North America, the caribou is known by the name tuktu. \n\nTaxonomy and evolution \n\nCurrent classifications of Rangifer tarandus, either with prevailing taxonomy on subspecies, designations based on ecotypes, and natural population groupings, fail to capture \"the variability of caribou across their range in Canada\" needed for effective species conservation and management. \"Across the range of a species, individuals may display considerable morphological, genetic, and behavioural variability reflective of both plasticity and adaptation to local environments.\" COSEWIC developed Designated Unit (DU) attribution to add to classifications already in use.\n\nThe species taxonomic name Rangifer tarandus was defined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The subspecies taxonomic name, Rangifer tarandus caribou was defined by Gmelin in 1788.\n\nBased on Banfield's often-cited A Revision of the Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer (1961), R. t. caboti (Labrador caribou), R. t. osborni (Osborn's caribou—from British Columbia) and R. t. terraenovae (Newfoundland caribou) were considered invalid and included in R. t. caribou.\n\nSome recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. In their book entitled Mammal Species of the World, American zoologist Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn Reeder agree with Valerius Geist, specialist on large North American mammals, that this range actually includes several subspecies.The Integrated Taxonomic Information System list Wilson and Geist on their experts panel.\n\nGeist (2007) argued that the \"true woodland caribou, the uniformly dark, small-maned type with the frontally emphasized, flat-beamed antlers\", which is \"scattered thinly along the southern rim of North American caribou distribution\" has been incorrectly classified. He affirms that \"true woodland caribou is very rare, in very great difficulties and requires the most urgent of attention.\"\n\nIn 2005, an analysis of mtDNA found differences between the caribou from Newfoundland, Labrador, south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in R. t caribou.\n\nMallory and Hillis argued that, \"Although the taxonomic designations reflect evolutionary events, they do not appear to reflect current ecological conditions. In numerous instances, populations of the same subspecies have evolved different demographic and behavioural adaptations, while populations from separate subspecies have evolved similar demographic and behavioural patterns... \"[U]nderstanding ecotype in relation to existing ecological constraints and releases may be more important than the taxonomic relationships between populations.\" \n\nSubspecies \n\nThe canonical Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.) recognizes fourteen subspecies, two of which are extinct.\n\nThe table above includes R. tarandus caboti (Labrador caribou), R. tarandus osborni (Osborn's caribou – from British Columbia) and R. tarandus terraenovae (Newfoundland caribou). Based on a review in 1961, these were considered invalid and included in R. tarandus caribou, but some recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. An analysis of mtDNA in 2005 found differences between the caribous from Newfoundland, Labrador, south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in R. tarandus caribou.\n\nThere are seven subspecies of reindeer of which only two are found in Fennoscandia: Eurasian tundra (or mountain) reindeer (R. t. tarandus) in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia and Eurasian forest reindeer R. t. fennicus in Finland and Russia.\n\nGrubb (2005) noted that subspecies and divisions below** are considered valid based on Banfield (1961) and considerably modified by Geist (1998):\n\nWoodland caribou division:\n* R. t. buskensis\n* R. t. dawsoni\n* R. t. fennicus\n* R. t. phylarchus\n* R. t. valentinae\n\nPopulations transitional between caribou and tarandus divisions includes osborni.\n\nTarandus division, barren-ground caribou or reindeer\n* R. t. caboti (G.M. Allen, 1914)\n* R. t. groenlandicus\n* R. t. pearsoni\n* R. t. sibiricus\n* R. t. terraenovae\n\nPlatyrhynchus division\n* R. t. pearyi or Peary caribou\n* R. t. platyrhynchus or Svalbard reindeer\n\nSome of the Rangifer tarandus subspecies may be further divided by ecotype depending on several behavioural factors – predominant habitat use (northern, tundra, mountain, forest, boreal forest, forest-dwelling, woodland, woodland (mountain), woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory), spacing (dispersed or aggregated), and migration (sedentary or migratory).\n\nThe \"glacial-interglacial cycles of the upper Pleistocene had a major influence on the evolution\" of Rangifer tarandus and other Arctic and sub-Arctic species. Isolation of Rangifer tarandus in refugia during the last glacial – the Wisconsin in North America and the Weichselian in Eurasia-shaped \"intraspecific genetic variability\" particularly between the North American and Eurasian parts of the Arctic.\n\nIn 1986 Kurtén reported that the oldest reindeer fossil was an \"antler of tundra reindeer type from the sands of Süssenborn\" in the Pleistocene (Günz) period (680,000 to 620,000 BP). By the 4-Würm period (110-70,000 to 12–10,000) its European range was very extensive. Reindeer occurred in \n\"In spite of the great variation, all the Pleistocene and living reindeer belong to the same species.\"\n\nHumans started hunting reindeer in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, and humans are today the main predator in many areas. Norway and Greenland have unbroken traditions of hunting wild reindeer from the ice age until the present day. In the non-forested mountains of central Norway, such as Jotunheimen, it is still possible to find remains of stone-built trapping pits, guiding fences, and bow rests, built especially for hunting reindeer. These can, with some certainty, be dated to the Migration Period, although it is not unlikely that they have been in use since the Stone Age.\n\nBiology and behaviour \n\nPhysical characteristics \n\nIn most populations both sexes grow antlers; the reindeer is the only cervid species in which females grow them as well as males.[http://web.archive.org/web/20110628183512/http://www.answers.com/topic/new-world-deer-capriolinae-biological-family New World Deer (Capriolinae).] Answers.com In the Scandinavian populations, old males' antlers fall off in December, young males' fall off in the early spring, and females' fall off in the summer. The antlers typically have two separate groups of points, lower and upper. There is considerable variation between subspecies in the size of the antlers (e.g. they are rather small and spindly in the northernmost subspecies), but on average the bull reindeer's antlers are the second largest of any extant deer, after the moose. In the largest subspecies, the antlers of large males can range up to 100 cm in width and 135 cm in beam length. They have the largest antlers relative to body size among living deer species.\n\nThe colour of the fur varies considerably, both between individuals and depending on season and subspecies. Northern populations, which usually are relatively small, are whiter, while southern populations, which typically are relatively large, are darker. This can be seen well in North America, where the northernmost subspecies, the Peary caribou, is the whitest and smallest subspecies of the continent, while the southernmost subspecies, the woodland caribou, is the darkest and largest.Reid, F. (2006). Mammals of North America. Peterson Field Guides. ISBN 978-0-395-93596-5 The coat has two layers of fur: a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs.\n\nLike moose, reindeer have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs, and water is condensed from the expired air and captured before the deer's breath is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes.\n\nReindeer hooves adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge-like and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof, which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep it from slipping. This also enables them to dig down (an activity known as \"cratering\")\"In the winter, the fleshy pads on these toes grow longer and form a tough, hornlike rim. Caribou use these large, sharp-edged hooves to dig through the snow and uncover the lichens that sustain them in winter months. Biologists call this activity \"cratering\" because of the crater-like cavity the caribou’s hooves leave in the snow.\"[http://www.taiga.net/projectcaribou/pdf/allaboutcaribou.PDF All About Caribou] – Project Caribou[http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/stories/avkas/ry0246-32.htm Image of reindeer cratering in snow]. Arcticphoto.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 September 2011. through the snow to their favorite food, a lichen known as reindeer moss.\n\nThe females usually measure 162 - in length and weigh 80 -.[http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg\ncaribou.main Caribou at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game]. Adfg.state.ak.us. Retrieved on 16 September 2011. The males (or \"bulls\") are typically larger (to an extent which varies between the different subspecies), measuring 180 - in length and usually weighing 159 -. Exceptionally large males have weighed as much as 318 kg. Shoulder height is typically 85 to, and the tail is 14 to long. The reindeer from Svalbard are the smallest. They are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm, thereby following Allen's rule.\n\nThe knees of many species of reindeer are adapted to produce a clicking sound as they walk.Banfield AWF (1966) \"The caribou\", pp. 25–28 in The Unbelievable Land. Smith I.N. (ed.) Ottawa: Queen's Press, cited in The sounds originate in the tendons of the knees and may be audible from ten meters away. The frequency of the knee-clicks is one of a range of signals that establish relative positions on a dominance scale among reindeer. \"Specifically, loud knee-clicking is discovered to be an honest signal of body size, providing an exceptional example of the potential for non-vocal acoustic communication in mammals.\" \n\nA study by researchers from University College London in 2011 revealed that reindeer can see light with wavelengths as short as 320 nm (i.e. in the ultraviolet range), considerably below the human threshold of 400 nm. It is thought that this ability helps them to survive in the Arctic, because many objects that blend into the landscape in light visible to humans, such as urine and fur, produce sharp contrasts in ultraviolet.[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1105/11052502 Reindeer use UV light to survive in the wild]. Ucl.ac.uk (26 May 2011). Retrieved on 16 September 2011. A study at the University of Tromsø has confirmed that \"Arctic reindeer eyes change in colour through the seasons from gold through to blue to help them better detect predators...\".Solon, Olivia. [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/30/reindeer-eyes The science behind the colour-shifting capabilities of Arctic reindeer eyeballs], Wired, 30 October 13\n\nDiet \n\nReindeer are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss – a unique adaptation among mammals – and they are the only animals except for some gastropods in which the enzyme lichenase, which breaks down lichenin to glucose, has been found. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses. There is some evidence to suggest that on occasion, especially in the spring when they are nutritionally stressed, they will also feed on small rodents such as lemmings, fish such as Arctic char, and bird eggs. Reindeer herded by the Chukchis have been known to devour mushrooms enthusiastically in late summer. \n\nReproduction and life-cycle \n\nMating occurs from late September to early November. Males battle for access to females. Two males will lock each other's antlers together and try to push each other away. The most dominant males can collect as many as 15–20 females to mate with. A male will stop eating during this time and lose much of his body reserves. \n\nCalves may be born the following May or June. After 45 days, the calves are able to graze and forage but continue suckling until the following autumn when they become independent from their mothers.\n\nSocial structure, migration and range \n\nSome populations of the North American caribou, for example many herds in the subspecies barren-ground caribou and some woodland caribou in Ungava and Labrador, migrate the farthest of any terrestrial mammal, travelling up to 5000 km a year, and covering 1000000 km2. Other North American populations, the woodland caribou (boreal) for example, are largely sedentary. In Europe populations have a shorter migration. Island herds such as the subspecies R. t. pearsoni and R. t. platyrhynchus make local movements. Migrating reindeer can be negatively affected by parasite loads. Severely infected individuals are weak and probably have shortened lifespans, but parasite levels vary between populations. Infections create an effect known as culling: infected migrating animals are less likely to complete the migration. \n\nNormally travelling about 19 - a day while migrating, the caribou can run at speeds of 60 -. Young caribou can already outrun an Olympic sprinter when only a day old. During the spring migration smaller herds will group together to form larger herds of 50,000 to 500,000 animals, but during autumn migrations the groups become smaller, and the reindeer begin to mate. During winter, reindeer travel to forested areas to forage under the snow. By spring, groups leave their winter grounds to go to the calving grounds. A reindeer can swim easily and quickly, normally at about but if necessary at 10 km/h, and migrating herds will not hesitate to swim across a large lake or broad river.\n\nAs an adaptation to their Arctic environment, they have lost their circadian rhythm. \n\nEcology \n\nDistribution and habitat \n\nOriginally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, eastern Europe, Greenland, Russia, Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America, it was found in Canada, Alaska, and the northern conterminous USA from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. Even in historical times, it probably occurred naturally in Ireland. During the late Pleistocene era, reindeer occurred as far south as Nevada and Tennessee in North America, and as far south as Spain in Europe. Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from these areas, especially from the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere. Large populations of wild reindeer are still found in Norway, Finland, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada.\n\nAccording to the Grubb (2005), Rangifer tarandus is \"circumboreal in the tundra and taiga\" from \"Svalbard, Norway, Finland, Russia, Alaska (USA) and Canada including most Arctic islands, and Greenland, south to northern Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia; now only domesticated or feral?), Sakhalin Islands, and USA (Northern Idaho and the Great Lakes region). Reindeer were introduced to, and feral in, Iceland, Kerguelen Islands, South Georgia Island, Pribilof Islands, St. Matthew Island.\"\n\nThere is strong regional variation in Rangifer herd size. There are large population differences among individual herds, and the size of individual herds has varied greatly since 1970. The largest of all herds (Taimyr, Russia) has varied between 400,000 and 1,000,000; the second largest herd (George River, Canada) has varied between 28,000 and 385,000.\n\nWhile Rangifer is a widespread and numerous genus in the northern Holarctic, being present in both tundra and taiga (boreal forest), by 2013, many herds had \"unusually low numbers\" and their winter ranges in particular were smaller than they used to be. Caribou and reindeer numbers have fluctuated historically, but many herds are in decline across their range. This global decline is linked to climate change for northern, migratory herds and industrial disturbance of habitat for non-migratory herds.\n\nPredators \n\nA variety of predators prey heavily on reindeer. Golden eagles prey on calves and are the most prolific hunter on calving grounds. Wolverines will take newborn calves or birthing cows, as well as (less commonly) infirm adults. Brown bears and polar bears prey on reindeer of all ages, but like the wolverines they are most likely to attack weaker animals, such as calves and sick deer, since healthy adult reindeer can usually outpace a bear. The gray wolf is the most effective natural predator of adult reindeer and sometimes takes large numbers, especially during the winter. Some wolf packs as well as individual grizzly bears in Canada may follow and live off of a particular reindeer herd year round.\n\nAs carrion, reindeer are fed on opportunistically by foxes, hawks, and ravens. Blood-sucking insects, such as black flies and mosquitoes, are a plague to reindeer during the summer and can cause enough stress to inhibit feeding and calving behaviors. An adult reindeer will lose perhaps about 1 liter (about 2 US pints) of blood to biting insects for every week it spends in the tundra. The population numbers of some of these predators is influenced by the migration of reindeer.\n\nIn one case, the entire body of a reindeer was found in the stomach of a Greenland shark, a species found in the far northern Atlantic, although this was possibly a case of scavenging, considering the dissimilarity of habitats between the ungulate and the large, slow-moving fish. \n\nRangifer tarandus by country \n\nRussia \n\nIn 2013, the Taimyr herd in Russia was the largest herd in the world. In 2000, the herd increased to 1,000,000 but by 2009, there were 700,000 animals. In the 1950s, there were 110,000.\n\nThere are three large herds of migratory tundra wild reindeer in central Siberia's Yakutia region: Lena-Olenek, Yana-Indigirka and Sundrun herds. While the population of the Lena-Olenek herd is stable, the others are declining.\n\nFurther east again, the Chukotka herd is also in decline. In 1971, there were 587,000 animals. They recovered after a severe decline in 1986, to only 32,200 individuals, but their numbers fell again. According to Kolpashikov, by 2009 there were less than 70,000.\n\nNorth America \n\nThere are four living subspecies of R. tarandus, locally known in North America as caribou: R. t. granti (Porcupine caribou), R. t. caribou subdivided into ecotypes: woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory), woodland (montane), R. t. groenlandicus and R. t. pearyi.\n\nIn North America, because of its vast range in a wide diversity of ecosystems, the subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou is further distinguished by a number of ecotypes, including boreal woodland caribou, mountain woodland caribou and migratory woodland caribou). Populations—caribou that do not migrate—or herds—those that do migrate—may not fit into narrow ecotypes. For example, Banfield's 1961 classification of the migratory George River Caribou Herd, in the Ungava region of Quebec, as subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou, woodland caribou, remains—although other woodland caribou are mainly sedentary.\n\nRangifer tarandus is \"endangered in Canada in regions such as south-east British Columbia at the Canadian-USA border, along the Columbia, Kootenay and Kootenai rivers and around Kootenay Lake. Rangifer tarandus is endangered in the United States in Idaho and Washington. R. t. pearyi is on the IUCN endangered list.\" According to Geist, the \"woodland caribou is highly endangered throughout its distribution right into Ontario.\"\n\nUnited States \n\nAlthough there are remnant populations of R. t. caribou boreal woodland caribou in the northern United States, most of U.S. caribou populations are in Alaska. There are four herds in Alaska, the Western Arctic herd, Teshekpuk Lake herd, the Central Arctic herd and the Porcupine herd.\n\nThe Western Arctic Caribou Herd is the largest of the three. The Western Arctic herd reached a low of 75,000 in the mid-1970s. In 1997 the 90,000 WACH changed their migration and wintered on Seward Peninsula. Alaska's reindeer herding industry has been concentrated on Seward Peninsula ever since the first shipment of reindeer was imported from eastern Siberia in 1892 as part of the Reindeer Project, an initiative to replace whale meat in the diet of the indigenous people of the region. For many years it was believed that the geography of the peninsula would prevent migrating caribou from mingling with domesticated reindeer who might otherwise join caribou herds when they left an area. However, in 1997 the domesticated reindeer joined the Western Arctic Caribou Herd on their summer migration and disappeared. The WACH reached a peak of 490,000 in 2003 and then declined to 325,000 in 2011.\n\nIn 2008, the Teshekpuk Lake herd had 64,107 animals and the Central Arctic herd had 67,000. \n\nThe Porcupine caribou or Grant's caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) is a subspecies with a vast range that includes northeastern Alaska and the Yukon, and is therefore cooperatively managed by government agencies and aboriginal peoples from both countries. It resembles another subspecies, barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus).\n\nMigratory caribou herds are named after their birthing grounds, in this case the Porcupine River, which runs through a large part of the range of the Porcupine herd. Though numbers fluctuate, the herd comprises approximately 169,000 animals (based on a July 2010 photocensus). 2500 km a year land migration between their winter range and calving grounds on the Beaufort Sea, is the longest of any land mammal on earth. They are the traditional food of the Gwich'in, a First Nations/Alaska Native people, the Inupiat, Inuvialuit, Hän, and Northern Tutchone. There is currently controversy over whether possible future oil drilling on the coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing much of the Porcupine caribou calving grounds, will have a severe negative impact on the caribou population or whether the caribou population will grow.\n\nUnlike many other Rangifer tarandus subspecies and their ecotypes, the Porcupine herd is stable at relatively high numbers, but the 2013 photo-census was not counted by January 2014. The peak population in 1989 of 178,000 animals was followed by a decline by 2001 to 123,000. However, by 2010, there was a recovery and an increase to 169,000 animals. \n\nCanada \n\nNunavut \n\nThe barren-ground caribou subspecies R. t. groenlandicus,, a long-distance migrant, includes large herds in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut, for example the Beverly, the Ahiak and Qamanirjuaq herds. In 1996, the population of the Ahiak herd was approximately 250,000 animals.\n\nAhiak, Beverly, Qamanirjuaq herds \n\nThe Ahiak, Beverly, Qamanirjuaq herds are barren-ground caribou.\n\n\"The Beverly herd’s crossing of the Thelon River to its traditional calving grounds near Beverly Lake was part of the lives of the Dene aboriginal people for 8000 years, as revealed by an unbroken archaeological record of deep layers of caribou bones and stone tools in the banks of the Thelon River (Gordon 2005).\" The Beverly Herd (located primarily in Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories; portions in Nunavut, Manitoba, Alberta) and the Qamanirjuaq Herd (located primarily in Manitoba, Nunavut; portions in southeastern NWT, northeastern Saskatchewan) fall under the auspices of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board. The Beverly herd, whose range spans the tundra from northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and well into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, had a peak population in 1994 of 276,000 or 294,000, but by 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the Beverly herd and 83,300 in the Ahiak herd. The calving grounds of the Beverly caribou herd are located around Queen Maud Gulf but the herd shifted its traditional birthing area. Caribou management agencies are concerned that deterioration and disturbance of habitat along with \"parasites, predation and poor weather\" are contributing to a cycling down of most caribou populations. It was suggested the Ahiak and Beverly herds switched calving grounds and the Beverly may have moved \"near the western Queen Maud Gulf coast to the north of the herd’s \"traditional\" calving ground in the Gary Lakes area north of Baker Lake.\" The \"Beverly herd may have declined (similar to other Northwest Territories herds), and cows switched to the neighbouring Ahiak herd to maintain the advantages of gregarious calving.\" By 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the combined Beverly/Ahiak herd which represents a \"50% or a 75% decline from the 1994 population estimate for the Beverly Herd.\"\n\nThe barren-ground caribou population on Southampton Island, Nunavut declined by almost 75%, from about 30,000 caribou in 1997 to 7,800 caribou in 2011. \n\nPeary caribou on Baffin Island \n\nThe R. t. pearyi (Peary caribou), the smallest subspecies in North America, known as Tuktu in Inuktitut, are found in the northern islands of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. They remain at low numbers after severe declines. On Baffin Island, the largest Arctic island, the population of Peary caribou peaked in the early 1990s to approximately 60,000 to 180,000. By 2012, in northern Baffin Island caribou numbers were considered to be at a \"low in the cycle after a high in the 1990s\" and in south Baffin Island, the population was estimated as between 1,065 and 2,067. \n\nNorthwest Territories \n\nThere are four barren-ground caribou herds in the Northwest Territories—Cape Bathurst, Bluenose West, Bluenose East and Bathurst. The Bluenose East caribou herd began a recovery with a population of approximately 122,000 in 2010. which is being credited to the establishment of Tuktut Nogait National Park. According to T. Davison 2010, CARMA 2011, the three other herds \"declined 84–93% from peak sizes in the mid-1980s and 1990s.\n\nR. t. caribou \n\nThe subspecies R. t. caribou commonly known as woodland caribou, is divided into ecotypes: boreal woodland caribou (also known as forest-dwelling), woodland caribou (boreal), mountain woodland caribou, and migratory woodland caribou. Caribou are classified by ecotype depending on several behavioural factors – predominant habitat use (northern, tundra, mountain, forest, boreal forest, forest-dwelling), spacing (dispersed or aggregated) and migration (sedentary or migratory).\n\nIn Canada, the national meta-population of the sedentary boreal ecotype spans the boreal forest from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. They prefer lichen-rich mature forests and mainly live in marshes, bogs, lakes, and river regions. The historic range of the boreal woodland caribou covered over half of present-day Canada, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as New England, Idaho, and Washington. Woodland caribou have disappeared from most of their original southern range. The boreal woodland was designated as threatened in 2002. In 2011 there were approximately 34,000 boreal caribou in 51 ranges remaining in Canada. \n\nGeorge River caribou herd (GRCH) \n\nThe migratory George River caribou herd (GRCH), in the Ungava region of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada was once the world's largest herd with 800,000–900,000 animals. Although it is categorized as a subspecies Rangifer tarandus caribou, the woodland caribou, the GRCH is migratory woodland caribou and like the barren-ground caribou it's ecotype may be tundra caribou, Arctic, northern of migratory, not forest-dwelling and sedentary like most woodland caribou ecotypes. It is unlike most woodland caribou in that it is not sedentary. Since the mid-1990s, the herd declined sharply and by 2010, it was reduced to 74,131—a drop of up to 92%. A 2011 survey confirms a continuing decline of the George River migratory caribou herd population. By 2012 it was estimated to be about 27,600 animals, down from 385,000 in 2001 and 74,131 in 2010.\"\n\nLeaf River caribou herd (LRCH) \n\nThe Leaf River caribou herd (LRCH), another migratory forest-tundra ecotype of the boreal woodland caribou, near the coast of Hudson Bay, increased from 270 000 individuals in 1991 to 628 000 in 2001. By 2011 the herd had decreased to 430 000 caribou. According to an international study on caribou populations, the George River and Leaf River herds, and other herds that migrate from Nunavik, Quebec and insular Newfoundland, could be threatened with extinction by 2080.\n\nQueen Charlotte Islands caribou \n\nThe Queen Charlotte Islands caribou (R. tarandus dawsoni) from the Queen Charlotte Islands was believed to represent a distinct subspecies. It became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. However, recent DNA analysis from mitochondrial DNA of the remains from those reindeer suggest that the animals from the Queen Charlotte Islands were not genetically distinct from the Canadian mainland reindeer subspecies.\n\nGreenland \n\nAccording to Kolpashikov et al. (2013) there were four main populations of wild R. t. groenlandicus, barren-ground caribou, in west Greenland in 2013. The Kangerlussuaq-Sisimiut caribou herd, the largest had a population of around 98,000 animals in 2007. The \"second largest, Akia-Maniitsoq decreased from an estimated 46,000 in 2001 to about 17,400 in 2010. According to Cuyler, \"one possible cause might be the topography, which prevents hunter access in the former while permitting access in the latter.\"\n\nNorway \n\nThe last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway. In southern Norway in the mountain ranges, there are about 30,000–35,000 reindeer with 23 different populations. The largest herd with about 10,000 individuals, is at Hardangervidda. By 2013 the greatest challenges to management were \"loss of habitat and migration corridors to piecemeal infrastructure development and abandonment of reindeer habitat as a result of human activities and disturbance.\"\n\nNorway is now preparing to apply for nomination as a World Heritage Site for areas with traces and traditions of reindeer hunting in Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, Reinheimen National Park and Rondane National Park in Central Sør-Norge (Southern Norway). There is in these parts of Norway an unbroken tradition of reindeer hunting from post-glacial Stone Age until today.\n\nSvalbard reindeer \n\nThe Svalbard reindeer subspecies R. t. platyrhynchus from Svalbard island is very small compared to other subspecies (a phenomenon known as insular dwarfism), with females having a length of approximately 150 cm, and a weight around 53 kg in the spring and 70 kg in the autumn.Aanes, R. (2007).[http://npweb.npolar.no/english/arter/svalbardrein Svalbard reindeer.] Norwegian Polar Institute. Males are approximately 160 cm long, and weigh around 65 kg in the spring and 90 kg in the autumn. The reindeer from Svalbard are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm, thereby following Allen's rule.\n\nThe Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus subspecies, in Norway referred to as the Svalbard reindeer, seems to have evolved from large European reindeer. The Svalbard reindeer is special in several ways. Svalbard reindeer has peculiarities in its metabolism. The skeleton shows a remarkable relative shortening of the legs, thus parallelling many extinct insular deer species. \n\nFinland \n\nThe Finnish forest reindeer (R. tarandus fennicus), is found in the wild in only two areas of the Fennoscandia peninsula of Northern Europe, in Finnish/Russian Karelia, and a small population in central south Finland. The Karelia population reaches far into Russia, however, so far that it remains an open question whether reindeer further to the east are R. t. fennicus as well. By 2007 reindeer experts were concerned about the collapse of the wild Finnish forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) in the eastern province of Kainuu. During the peak year of 2001, the Finnish forest reindeer population in Kainuu was established at 1,700. In a March 2007 helicopter count, only 960 individuals were detected.\n\nIceland \n\nEast Iceland has a small herd of about 2500–3000 animals. Iceland (increasing or are stable at high numbers 2013) Iceland: Reindeer were introduced to Iceland (17) in the late 1700s cited in. The Icelandic reindeer population in July 2013 was estimated at approximately 6000. With a hunting quota of 1,229 animals, the winter 2013–2014 population is expected to be around 4800 reindeer\n\nBritish overseas territory experiment \n\nA few reindeer from Norway were introduced to the South Atlantic island of South Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century. The South Georgian reindeer total some 2,600 animals in two distinct herds separated by glaciers. Although the flag and the coat of arms of the territory contain an image of a reindeer, a decision was taken in 2011 to completely eradicate the animals from the island because of the environmental damage they cause. \n\nFrench overseas territory experiment \n\nAround 4000 reindeer have been introduced into the French sub-Antarctic archipelago of Kerguelen Islands.\n\nConservation status \n\nWhile overall widespread and numerous, some subspecies are rare and at least one has already gone extinct. As of 2015, the IUCN has classified the reindeer as Vulnerable due to an observed population decline of 40% over the last ~25 years.\n\nReindeer and humans \n\nThe reindeer has an important economic role for all circumpolar peoples, including the Saami, Nenets, Khants, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Chukchi, and Koryaks in Eurasia. It is believed that domestication started between the Bronze and Iron Ages. Siberian deer owners also use the reindeer to ride on (Siberian reindeer are larger than their Scandinavian relatives). For breeders, a single owner may own hundreds or even thousands of animals. The numbers of Russian herders have been drastically reduced since the fall of the Soviet Union. The sale of fur and meat is an important source of income. Reindeer were introduced into Alaska near the end of the 19th century; they interbreed with native caribou subspecies there. Reindeer herders on the Seward Peninsula have experienced significant losses to their herds from animals (such as wolves) following the wild caribou during their migrations.\n\nReindeer meat is popular in the Scandinavian countries. Reindeer meatballs are sold canned. Sautéed reindeer is the best-known dish in Lapland. In Alaska and Finland, reindeer sausage is sold in supermarkets and grocery stores. Reindeer meat is very tender and lean. It can be prepared fresh, but also dried, salted, hot- and cold-smoked. In addition to meat, almost all internal organs of reindeer can be eaten, some being traditional dishes. Furthermore, Lapin Poron liha, fresh reindeer meat completely produced and packed in Finnish Lapland, is protected in Europe with PDO classification. \n\nReindeer antler is powdered and sold as an aphrodisiac, nutritional or medicinal supplement to Asian markets.\n\nCaribou have been a major source of subsistence for Canadian Inuit.\n\nReindeer hunting by humans has a very long history, and caribou/wild reindeer \"may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting.\"\n\nWild caribou are still hunted in North America and Greenland. In the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit people, Northern First Nations people, Alaska Natives, and the Kalaallit of Greenland, the caribou is an important source of food, clothing, shelter, and tools. Many Gwich'in people, who depend on the Porcupine caribou, still follow traditional caribou management practices that include a prohibition against selling caribou meat and limits on the number of caribou to be taken per hunting trip. \n\nThe blood of the caribou was supposedly mixed with alcohol as drink by hunters and loggers in colonial Quebec to counter the cold. This drink is now enjoyed without the blood as a wine and whiskey drink known as Caribou. \n\nReindeer husbandry \n\nDNA analysis indicates that reindeer were independently domesticated in Fennoscandia and Western Russia (and possibly Eastern Russia). Reindeer have been herded for centuries by several Arctic and Subarctic people including the Sami and the Nenets. They are raised for their meat, hides, and antlers and, to a lesser extent, for milk and transportation. Reindeer are not considered fully domesticated, as they generally roam free on pasture grounds. In traditional nomadic herding, reindeer herders migrate with their herds between coast and inland areas according to an annual migration route and herds are keenly tended. However, reindeer were not bred in captivity, though they were tamed for milking as well as for use as draught animals or beasts of burden. Domesticated reindeer are shorter-legged and heavier than their wild counterparts.\n\nThe use of reindeer for transportation is common among the nomadic peoples of northern Russia (but not in Scandinavia). Although a sled drawn by 20 reindeer will cover no more than 20–25 km a day (compared to 7–10 km on foot, 70–80 km by a dog sled loaded with cargo, and 150–180 km by a dog sled without cargo), it has the advantage that the reindeer will discover their own food, while a pack of 5-7 sled dogs requires 10–14 kg of fresh fish a day. \n\nThe use of reindeer as semi-domesticated livestock in Alaska was introduced in the late 19th century by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, with assistance from Sheldon Jackson, as a means of providing a livelihood for Native peoples there. Reindeer were imported first from Siberia, and later also from Norway. A regular mail run in Wales, Alaska, used a sleigh drawn by reindeer. In Alaska, reindeer herders use satellite telemetry to track their herds, using online maps and databases to chart the herd's progress.\n\nDomesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Fennoscandia and Russia, with a herd of approximately 150–170 reindeer living around the Cairngorms region in Scotland. The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway. The International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR), a circumpolar organization, was established in 2005 by the Norwegian government. ICR represents over 20 indigenous reindeer peoples and about 100,000 reindeer herders in 9 different national states. In Finland, there are about 6,000 reindeer herders, most of whom keep small herds of less than 50 reindeer to raise additional income. With 185,000 reindeer (2001), the industry produces 2,000 tons of reindeer meat and generates 35 million euros annually. 70% of the meat is sold to slaughterhouses. Reindeer herders are eligible for national and EU agricultural subsidies, which constituted 15% of their income. Reindeer herding is of central importance for the local economies of small communities in sparsely populated rural Lapland. \n \t\nCurrently, many reindeer herders are heavily dependent on diesel fuel to provide for electric generators and snow mobile transportation, although solar photovoltaic systems can be used to reduce diesel dependency. \n\nIn history \n\nBoth Aristotle and Theophrastus have short accounts – probably based on the same source – of an ox-sized deer species, named tarandos, living in the land of the Bodines in Scythia, which was able to change the colour of its fur to obtain camouflage. The latter is probably a misunderstanding of the seasonal change in reindeer fur colour. The descriptions have been interpreted as being of reindeer living in the southern Ural Mountains in c. 350 BC\n\nA deer-like animal described by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico (chapter 6.26) from the Hercynian Forest in the year 53 BC is most certainly to be interpreted as reindeer: \n\nAccording to Olaus Magnus's Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus – printed in Rome in 1555 – Gustav I of Sweden sent 10 reindeer to Albert I, Duke of Prussia, in the year 1533. It may be these animals that Conrad Gessner had seen or heard of.\n\nDuring World War II, the Soviet Army used reindeer as pack animals to transport food, ammunition and post from Murmansk to the Karelian front and bring wounded soldiers, pilots and equipment back to the base. About 6,000 reindeer and more than 1,000 reindeer herders were part of the operation. Most herders were Nenets, who were mobilized from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, but reindeer herders from Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Komi also participated. \n\nSanta Claus' reindeer \n\nAround the world, public interest in reindeer peaks in the Christmas period. According to folklore, Santa Claus's sleigh is pulled by flying reindeer. These were first named in the 1823 poem \"A Visit from St. Nicholas\", where they are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. Dunder was later changed to Donder and—in other works—Donner (in German, \"thunder\"), and Blixem was later changed to Bliksem, then Blitzen (blitz being German for \"lightning\"). Some consider Rudolph as part of the group as well, though he was not part of the original named work referenced previously. Rudolph was added by Robert L. May in 1939 as \"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer\". \n\nHeraldry and symbols \n\nSeveral Norwegian municipalities have one or more reindeer depicted in their coats-of-arms: Eidfjord, Porsanger, Rendalen, Tromsø, Vadsø, and Vågå. The historic province of Västerbotten in Sweden has a reindeer in its coat of arms. The present Västerbotten County has very different borders and uses the reindeer combined with other symbols in its coat-of-arms. The city of Piteå also has a reindeer. The logo for Umeå University features three reindeer. \n\nThe Canadian 25-cent coin, or \"quarter\" features a depiction of a caribou on one face. The caribou is the official provincial animal of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and appears on the coat of arms of Nunavut. A caribou statue was erected at the center of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, marking the spot in France where hundreds of soldiers from Newfoundland were killed and wounded in the First World War and there is a replica in Bowring Park, in St. John's, Newfoundland's capital city.\n\nTwo municipalities in Finland have reindeer motifs in their coats-of-arms: Kuusamo has a running reindeer and Inari a fish with reindeer antlers.",
"Gardensafari Birds (with lots of pictures)\nBirds in the garden with lots of ... of Sparrows and even shares the same name but actually it belongs to an entire different family of birds. 1.3 Titmice (Paridae)\nGardensafari Birds (with lots of pictures)\nSUPPORT GARDENSAFARI\nBirds\n[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed. The animal's English name is usually specified, provided it has one. The scientific name is always mentioned in the caption of the photograph. Click on\nfor sound. For more information on a species click on a bird's name. You will be given a separate page containing more information about the bird's habits, the eggs, extra pictures and also its sound (if available).]\nThis page is divided into chapters, of which the first covers the subject of passerine birds and is by far the biggest. That chapter is divided into 7 smaller ones to keep navigation possible. In the chapter exotic birds we tell you about escaped species. It is doubtful, to say the least, whether these creatures stand a chance to survive in the wild in this part of the world.\nContents: 1 Passerine Birds , 2 Pigeons , 3 Woodpeckers , 4 Plovers 5 Exotic Birds , 6 Water Birds and 7 Other Birds\n1 Passerine Birds\nContents: 1.1 Thrushes , 1.2 Sparrows , 1.3 Titmice , 1.4 Finches , 1.5 Warblers , 1.6 Crows and Jays and 1.7 Other Passerine Birds .\n1.1 Thrushes (Turdidae)\nThis is a large family of passerine birds. In general most of its members eat worms and insects. In colder areas they eat nuts and sometimes in winter also berries. Most thrushes have long and pointed beaks. All just hatched thrushes are very speckled. A number of species, such as the Robin and the Blackbird, loose their speckles when they reach the adult age. Others, like the Song Thrush and the Mistle Thrush remain speckled all their life. In the Netherlands the Blackbird is the most common bird. It is estimated that there are around 3.5 milion of them, thus making it even more common than the House Sparrow! The male Blackbird is black indeed with a striking yellow beak. The female is brown with a less striking brown beak.\nFemale Blackbirds\n(Turdus merula) are brown and not black at all!. The male is in the picture to your left, the female in the picture to your right.\nAnother well-known thrush is the Song Thrush. The majority of thrushes sing beautifully, but the Song Thrush is a credit to its name. Gardeners are happy with Song Thrushes in their neighbourhood because these birs eat snails. The Redwing looks like the Song Thrush very much, but has a red spot around the wing. This species breeds in Scandinavia but spends the winters in Western- and Southern Europe. In the Benelux you can see a lot of them during the migration season in autumn (especially in October and November).\n(Turdus philomelos), to the left and the Redwing\n(Turdus iliacus), to the right look rather similar.\nOne of the best known birds in the garden is the Robin. You can often see it from close by as it is not shy at all. Adults have the well known red breast. Males and females look identical and both have their own territory during winter, which they will defend. That's why both sexes sing, which is rare in the world of birds. And what's more: they sing nearly all year round. The young are very speckled, thus showing they actually belong to the Thrushes family.\nThe Robin\n(Erithacus rubecula), to the left a chick, is a forward and even curious little bird.\nOther thrushes in our garden include the Mistle Thrush , the Nightingale , the Redstart and the Fieldfare . At the moment we have no good pictures available.\n1.2 Sparrows (Passeridae)\nOnce the House Sparrow was the most numerous bird in the Netherlands. But those days are over. Nowadays we contruct and isolate our houses in a different way than in the past and, consequently, there is no place or hole in the roof for the House Sparrow to build its nest. The number of House Sparrows in Holland dropped considerably over the past few years. And not only in Holland, but in Belgium and England as well. In England the species has even been put on the red list of endangered species! The male, below to your right, is richly marked and has a beautiful ash grey cap. The female, depicted below to your left, is less colourful and her cap is like the rest of the body covered with pale browns and beiges.\nThe House Sparrow\n(Passer domesticus) is becoming something of a rarity nowadays. Picture's: $\nWe don't see many House Sparrows around because we live in a small village in a rural arae with lots of forests. That's the territory of the Tree Sparrows. Both species belong to a mainly tropical family of birds. Most of its members build huge and complicated nests. The House Sparrow very rarely builds such a complicated nest in the trees but mainly it nests under the tiles of roofs etc. The Tree Sparrow never weaves a nest for it is a real hole-nesting bird. By the way: in Northern America this family of birds is better known as the Weaver Finches. Usually over there the name sparrows is used to refer to the family of American Sparrows (Emberizidae), non of which live in Europe, let alone in our garden.\nIn winter the Tree Sparrow\n(Passer montanus) often appears in large numbers.\nThe Hedge Sparrow looks like both species of Sparrows and even shares the same name but actually it belongs to an entire different family of birds.\n1.3 Titmice (Paridae)\nTitmice (or simply Tits), are referred to in Northern America as Chickadees as well. In summer they fly about rather unnoticed but as soon as winter comes you will see them virtually everywhere. A number of species can become really tame. Tits are intelligent birds that over the years adapted themselves to the changing environment. For instance they learned how to open milk bottles to get into the tasty cream on top of milk. Most Titmice are resident birds that don't migrate at all or, if they do, it travels short distances only. The best known Tit is perhaps the Great Tit. Like most Tits this is a hole nesting bird. It often competes with the Blue Tit over the ownership of a good nesting hole. And because the Great Tit is just a tiny bit bigger (and stronger) it usually triumphs. All titmice eat insects, spiders and larvae in spring and summer, but switch to berries and nuts once winter approaches.\nTo the left the Great Tit\n(Parus major) and to the right a Blue Tit\n(Nowadays: Cyanistes caeruleus, used to be Parus caeruleus).\nThere are two more Tits that frequent our garden. They are less colourful however. The Marsh Tit is just as cheeky as the two blue species. Going from east to west in the Benelux the bird becomes less common. The Crested Tit only lives in woody areas. It prefers older pines and is therefore less common. If the crested Tit visits your garden it won't be very shy but it's also less forward than the three species already mentioned.\nTwo more frequent visitors to out feeding stand: the Marsh Tit\n(Nowadays: Poecile palustris, used to be Parus palustris) and the Crested Tit\n(Nowadays: Lophophanes cristatus, used to be Parus cristatus).\nThe smallest Titmouse in Central Europe is the Coal Tit below. It is even slightly smaller than the Blue Tit is. It is not a very striking bird, but can easily be recognized as it really lokks like any other Tit and has a unique big black cap showing a white line in the middle. Its song is soft and not very special, but it sings all year round. And it is not only the male that sings, the females sing just as much. The species lives on pines, so probably it will not turn up in everyone's garden. The Coal Tit is not shy at all, but it is difficult to take a good picture of the animal as it is rather restless. When it visits our feeding table it gives the impression of being nervous and moves frantically. It is mare calm when sitting on a baggy of peanuts. The picture below is not of the best quality, alas.\nA very nervous species: the Coal Tit\n(Periparus ater, but used to be Parus ater).\nEven though it bears the word Tit in its name, the Long-tailed Tit actually is not a Titmouse at all but it belongs to its own family of Passerine Birds.\n1.4 Finches (Fringillidae)\nMany finches are beautiful, colourful and skillful singing birds. Seeds are their main source of food which you can tell by looking at their beak: short, thick and strong, able to crack all kind of seeds and nuts. Chaffinches are common birds all over Europe. In Western Europe they are especially seen in winter when they are less shy and because there are simply more of them in one place. Lots of Chaffinches from Scandinavia migrate to Western Europe in winter.\nEven the Chaffinch\n(Fringilla coelebs) loves to sing from a high position. To the right a young male, not fully coloured yet.\nThe Greenfinch is not as shy as the Chaffinch especially during the breeding season. The bird is very fond of rose-hips and will do everything to get them! The green and yellow colours of the Greenfinch are less prominent during winter.\nThe Greenfinch\n(Chloris chloris) often is a bit pale in winter.\nAnother regular guest in my garden during winter is the Siskin. It breeds in this part of Europe in small numbers as it actually a bird to be found in pine forests in Northern Europe and Scotland. In winter these birds travel from southwards to England and the Benelux. The bird is not very shy, but it moves a lot which makes it difficult to photograph. In all pictures of the species on our pages a male is depicted. The female is darker, with less yellow colouring.\nSiskins\n(Carduelis spinus) are regular visitors to our garden in winter.\nGoldfinch is a rare visitor in my garden even though this is a rather common bird in this part of the world. The bird prefers more open surroundings and mild climate. It can be found in all parts of Europe except for in colder parts of Scandinavia.\nThe contrasty colours of Goldfinch\nmake it easy to spot this bird in the garden.\nOther finches that appear in my garden are the Bullfinch , the Brambling ,and the Linnet . Alas, I do not have pictures of these species available yet.\n1.5 Warblers (Sylviidae)\nWarblers are very small birds. Most of them are very dull and some species are very hard to tell apart. All warblers are insect eaters. Most of them come to Europe in summer to breed and in autumn they leave again for Africa. The Chiffchaff below looks very much like the Willow Warbler , which is not depicted here. Even experts listen to them rather than look at them in order to tell them apart. The Willow Worbler is an excellent singer, but the Chiffchaff only says... chiff chaff (Hey, what else should a Chiffchaff say!). The Gold Crest is the smallest bird in the Benelux, weighing about 5 grams only. Gold Crests do not migrate and stay in Europe during winter. Then they regularly mix up with tits and finches.\n(Phylloscopus collybita) is a very dull bird, but the Gold Crest\n(Regulus regulus) has quite striking colours.\nThe Blackcap is a frequent visitor of the garden in summer. Its modest colours make it difficult for the photographer to notice that it is actually an interesting bird.\n1.6 Crows and Jays (Corvidae)\nMost Passerine Birds sing beautifully. So it is amazing that the Crow family also belongs to the Passerine Birds: the sounds they utter vary from awful to horrible. The Crow is a very large, black bird. To be precise, the beak is black in Western Europe but in Central and Eastern Europe it is grey and black and the bird is called the Hooded Crow. Strangely enough, Hooded Crows also live in Ireland and Northern Scotland. In other parts of the UK one finds black crows only. It is not very important though as both birds belong to one and the same species. The Magpie is black and white and quite beautiful. Many owners of gardens don't think very positive about this animal because it regularly distroys the nests of smaller Passerine birds and eating their young. On the other hand: the young of the Magpie have to eat as well, don't they?\nCarrion Crow (or Black Crows) in photo to the left and Hooded Crows in the middle\nbelong to the same species: Corvus corone. Magpies\n(photo to the right) are not shy really, but they keep their distance from humans.\nThe Jackdaw is very rare in our garden. There are lots of them not far from our house but they seem to avoid our garden. It is the smallest Crow in Western Europe. Because we live in an area with lots of woodlands we see the Jay almost daily. Its main interest seems to be the water in the pond.\n(Corvus monedula) to the left and the Jay\n(Garrulus glandarius) to the right visit our garden irregularly.\nOther members of the Crow family in our garden are the Rook and the Nutcracker . We have no acceptable pictures of these species yet.\n1.7 Other Passerine Birds\nThe Passerine birds below all belong to various families and we can not group them in any other way. The Nuthatch (family Sittidae - Nuthatchers) can be a very common bird in your garden, provided there are many trees in the vicinity. The Nuthatch can climb trees but not only that - he can also descend trees with its head pointed downward which is very unique. It feeds mainly on insect and their larvae that live in wood. In winter it eagerly takes the food you offer on a bird feeder. The Hedge Sparrow (family Prunellidae - Hedge Sparrows) resembles other sparrows but actually it is not even closely related to them. It has the same pattern of stripes and colours but, concluding from the shape of the beak, it eats mainly insects. The bird is not shy at all and it is often erroneously assumed to be an ordinary sparrow and as such gets unnoticed.\n(Sitta europaea) to the left and the Hedge Sparrow\n(Prunella modularis) to the right are insect eaters mainly.\nWhen a bird is called Hedge Sparrows, one automatically assumes, wrongfully, that it is a sparrow. The same goes for the Long-tailed Tit. It belongs to its own family (Aegithalidae - Bush Tits) and is not closely related to the real Tits at all. Anyway, the first part of the name is highly accurate, for the Long-tailed Tit has a very long tail indeed. The animal lives in a kind of family structure and is seldom seen on its own.\nLong-tailed Tits\n(Aegithalos caudatus) always live in small groups.\nThe Starling (family Sturnidae - Starlings) is another well known bird. You might not be so fond of Starlings because they often come in large flocks and in no time at all they eat the cherries off your cherry trees. The same flocks however display breathtaking shows of synchronous flying in autumn. The Starling on the picture has fresh feathers and therefore looks extremely speckled. The speckles wear off later showing a green metallic colour. The Pied Flycatcher (family Muscicapidae - Fly Catchers) breeds in our garden regularly. The male arrives from Africa about two weeks before the female does. It spends these two weeks looking for a good nesting place (often a nesting box, which the species adopts without hesitation). When it has found a suitable one, it stays around, singing a lot. First of all to scare away other males, secondly to lure the arriving females. Upon hearing his song the females carefully inspect the place he found. If the female approves the site both birds form a couple. Otherwise she will leave and he will have to wait for the next female he can lure to his residence...\n(Sturnus vulgaris) to the left rarely visits our garden, but the Pied Flycatcher\n(Ficedula hypoleuca) even breeds here.\nIn 2003 our first pipit (family Motacillidae) turned up. It was sitting on the ground, could be appraoched easily, performed his role as photo model very well and then took off. In close up this turns out to be a beautiful bird as well. Usually you do not get a chance for a close look like this. The Tree Pipit and the Meadow Pipit are two look-a-likes. Two experts however confirmed our impression that in this case we are talking about a Tree Pipit. This is a very common bird all over Europe, including most of Britain.\nVery beautiful in a close up: the Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)\nThe Wren, also known as Winter Wren or European Wren, is one of the smallest birds in Europe. It looks quite funny: a round body and a very small tail that is held upright most of the time. It is often seen running through high vegetation in a mouse-like way. In our garden it seldom comes to our feeding table and if it does the visits are very brief. The Wren is the only European representative of the Wren family (Troglodytidae). The picture below is of rather poor quality, alas.\nThis bird is called the Winter Wren\n(Troglodytes troglodytes), for it even sings in winter.\nAn occasional guest making acrobaric flights above the garden is Barn Swallow (family Hirundinidae - Swallows). It is very fast so rather difficult to capture with a camera. Luckily, I've managed to take pictures of swallows when visiting Batavia shipyard in Lelystad in the Netherlands where they seemed to be less shy.\nAlso from close by Barn Swallow is a surprisingly beautiful bird.\nThere are other passerine birds in our garden, like White Wagtail (family Motacillidae - Pipits and Wagtails), Small Flycatcher (family Muscicapidae - Fly-catchers) and the Short-toed Tree Creeper (family Certhidae - Creepers). Up till now I have not managed to take good pictures of these birds.\n2 Pigeons (Columbidae)\nLots of people keep pigeons either because of their beautiful looks or because of the Pigeons ability to return home from afar (Homing Pigeons). In the past there was another reason for keeping pigeons, especially in France, pigeaon meat was considered a delicatecy! Many of these pigeons escaped and mixed with pigeons that lost their way to create a new species: the Town Pigeon. Thus we have no idea whether the one below is such a Town Pigeon or if this is a resting Homing Pigeon.\nThis could be a Homing Pigeon that got lost on the way, or is resting for a bit.\nThere are two species of wild pigeons in our garden: the small, forward and dull Collared Dove and the big and very shy Woodpigeon. Both species are very fond of our pond. Pigeons are remarkable birds indeed because they can actually drink water. In order to get some water most other birds just put their beak into the water and then throw their heads backwards. Pigeons don't do this, they just drink, which you can tell by the movements in their throats. Both species have a terrible monotonous song. The Woodpigeon is popular among meat eaters: weasels, goshawks and even humans appreciate them culinarily.\n(Columba palumbus) and the Collared Dove\n(Streptopelia decaocto) are very common in our garden.\n3 Woodpeckers (Picidae)\nEven though Woodpeckers are well known birds, most often you can hear them before you can actually spot them. They live of the larvae of beetles that live in wood. In order to reach them they hew holes in trees and that's what you hear. Sometimes they simply strike the tree just for the fun of the sound of it. It's also their way of communication. They do make other sounds as well: they 'laugh' loudly. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a common species in gardens and in winter it will take food from your bird feeder. The Green Woodpecker is a rare species. Unlike the other woodpeckers it is entirely dependant on ants. It visits our garden rarely to eat some of the ants that live in the grassfield.\nTo the left a young Green Woodpecker\n(Picus viridis) and to the right the very common Great Spotted Woodpecker\n(Dendrocopos major).\nThe enormous Black Woodpecker visited my garden only once and I was just too late to grab my camera and take a picture of it.\n4 Plovers (Charadriidae)\nAn interesting bird is the Northern Lapwing (family Charadriidae - Plovers), that in spring time often flies over my garden screaming the shrieking 'peewit'.\n5 Exotic Birds\nThese are birds that appeared in our garden but actually should not have. Most are escapees from cages, breeders etc. and cannot really survive in the wild. Usually the winters are too cold for them (like for the Rosella) or there is not enough suitable food available for them, like for the Peafowl. Other species however are able to live through winters and some species may even become \"European\" birds, like the Mandarin Duck. The two female Peafowls in the pictures below suddenly and unexpectedly turned up in our garden. They wandered off from the neighbours' garden and into ours. They had quite lucky that day as our bird feeder just fell apart of misery and old age while a lot of bird food was still on it. Needless to add that the Peafowls had a dinner party there! The species below is known as the Indian Peafowl. It usually is blueish, especially the male, but the famous White Peafowl belongs to this species as well.\nTurning up in our garden by surprise: two hens of the Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).\nThe Mandarin Duck (family Anatidae) one day suddenly came to our pond and left some two weeks later. The duck does not originally belong in Europe but humans imported it from China. The male has a very beautifully coloured pattern on its feathers. Some animals escape or are set free and in certain areas of Europe and the animal now lives in there in the wild. We have no idea whether the female depicted below is such a wild descendant or if is a bird on the run. The Crimson Rosella (family Platyceridae - Rosellas) certainly is a bird that got astray, for this relative of the parakeet (it is not a parrot) from Australia will never survive the winters in Europe.\nTo the left a female Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) and to the right a Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) that probably escaped.\n6 Water Birds\nSea Gulls are among the best known birds in the countries adjacent to the North Sea. Most species are confined to the coastal areas but the Black-headed Gull (family Laridae - Gulls) lives all over Europe. From time to time it visists our garden. On the lawn it behaves like a Blackbird: it walks about quickly, hoping for some Earth Worms to surface. Young Blakheaded Gulls are without the black cap and so are adults in winter. The big Grey Heron (family Ardeidae - Herons and Bitterns) actually is a very unwelcome visitor to our garden, for it is after the life in our pond, including our beautiful fish and the frogs. The Grey Heron is a migrating bird, even though some colonies, especially in the western part of Holland, do not migrate any longer. They find food in abundance there that they do not need to move.\nThe majestic White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) was almost extinct in the Netherlands only 30 years ago. The Grey Heron\n(Ardea cinerea) is after our fish! Black-headed Gulls\n(Larus ridibundus) are elegant flyers indeed.\n7 Other Birds\nThere are still some birds that do sometimes pop up in the garden. First of all we had the Northern Goshawk (family Accipitridae - Hawks) in our garden once. It had just caught a woodpigeon. We quickly made an attempt to take a picture but with not a good result. Another irregular guest that flashes through the garden from time to time is the Common Kestrel (family Falconidae - Falcons) hunting for a blackbird or some other small bird.\nSounds � CLM \"&\" Vogelbescherming Nederland, used here by kind permission.",
"Dugong dugon - Society for Marine Mammalogy\nSociety for Marine Mammalogy. ... strictly marine herbivorous mammal. The dugong is the only sirenian in ... at an utaki that outsiders are strictly forbidden ...\nDugong dugon - Society for Marine Mammalogy\nSociety for Marine Mammalogy\nSpeciesdugon\nContent retrieved from Wikipedia, and managed by the Marine Mammal Science Education Committee.\nThis article is about the animal. For the Chinese architectural feature, see Dougong . For the Pokémon character, see Dewgong .\nThe dugong ( /ˈduːɡɒŋ/ , /ˈdjuːɡɒŋ/ ; Dugong dugon) is a medium-sized marine mammal . It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia , which also includes three species of manatees . It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae ; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong is the only strictly marine herbivorous mammal.\nThe dugong is the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of some 40 countries and territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific . The dugong is largely dependent on seagrass communities for subsistence and is thus restricted to the coastal habitats which support seagrass meadows, with the largest dugong concentrations typically occurring in wide, shallow, protected areas such as bays , mangrove channels , the waters of large inshore islands and inter-reefal waters. The northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay are believed to be the dugong's contemporary stronghold.\nLike all modern sirenians, the dugong has a fusiform body with no dorsal fin or hind limbs . The forelimbs or flippers are paddle-like. The dugong is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for feeding in benthic seagrass communities. The molar teeth are simple and peg-like unlike the more elaborate molar dentition of manatees.\nThe dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for its meat and oil . Traditional hunting still has great cultural significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The dugong's current distribution is fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction. The IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products. Despite being legally protected in many countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include fishing-related fatalities, habitat degradation and hunting. With its long lifespan of 70 years or more, and slow rate of reproduction, the dugong is especially vulnerable to extinction.\nEtymology and taxonomy\nSee also: Evolution of sirenians\nThe word \"dugong\" derives from the Tagalog term dugong which was in turn adopted from the Malay duyung, both meaning \"lady of the sea\". [3] Other common local names include \"sea cow\", \"sea pig\" and \"sea camel\". [4]\nDugong dugon is the only extant species of the family Dugongidae , and one of only four extant species of the Sirenia order, the others forming the manatee family. [5] It was first classified by Müller in 1776 as Trichechus dugon, [6] a member of the manatee genus previously defined by Linnaeus . [7] It was later assigned as the type species of Dugong by Lacépède [8] and further classified within its own family by Gray [9] and subfamily by Simpson . [10]\nDugongs and other sirenians are not closely related to other marine mammals , being more related to elephants . [11] Dugongs and elephants share a monophyletic group with hyraxes and the aardvark , one of the earliest offshoots of eutherians . The fossil record shows sirenians appearing in the Eocene , where they most likely lived in the Tethys Ocean . The two extant families of sirenians are thought to have diverged in the mid-Eocene, after which the dugongs and their closest relative, the Steller's sea cow , split off from a common ancestor in the Miocene . The Steller's sea cow became extinct in the 18th century. No fossils exist of other members of the Dugongidae. [12]\nMolecular studies have been made on dugong populations using mitochondrial DNA . The results have suggested that the population of Southeast Asia is distinct from the others. Australia has two distinct maternal lineages, one of which also contains the dugongs from Africa and Arabia. Limited genetic mixing has taken place between those in Southeast Asia and those in Australia, mostly around Timor . [5] One of the lineages stretches all the way from Moreton Bay to Western Australia , while the other only stretches from Moreton Bay to the Northern Territory . [11] There is not yet sufficient genetic data to make clear boundaries between distinct groups. [5]\nAnatomy and morphology\nThe dugong's body is large with a cylindrical shape that tapers at both ends. It has thick, smooth skin that is a pale cream colour at birth, but darkens dorsally and laterally to brownish-to-dark-grey with age. The colour of a dugong can change due to the growth of algae on the skin. [13] The body is sparsely covered in short hair, a common feature among sirenians which may allow for tactile interpretation of their environment. [14] These hairs are most developed around the mouth, which has a large horseshoe -shaped upper lip forming a highly mobile muzzle. [12] This muscular upper lip aids the dugong in foraging . [13]\nBones in the forelimb can fuse variously with age.\nThe dugong's tail flukes [15] and flippers [11] are similar to those of dolphins . These flukes are raised up and down in long strokes to move the animal forward, and can be twisted to turn. The forelimbs are paddle-like flippers which aid in turning and slowing. [12] The dugong lacks nails on its flippers, which are only 15% of a dugong's body length. [12] The tail has deep notches. [16]\nA dugong's brain weighs a maximum of 300 g (11 oz), about 0.1% of the animal's body weight. [12] With very small eyes, [17] dugongs have limited vision, but acute hearing within narrow sound thresholds. Their ears, which lack pinnae , are located on the sides of their head. The nostrils are located on top of the head and can be closed using valves. [11] Dugongs have two teats , one located behind each flipper. [12] There are few differences between sexes; the body structures are almost the same. [13] A male's testes are not externally located, and the main difference between males and females is the location of the genital aperture in relation to the umbilicus and the anus . The lungs in a dugong are very long, extending almost as far as the kidneys , which are also highly elongated in order to cope with the saltwater environment. [12] If wounded, a dugong's blood will clot rapidly. [13]\nDugong tail fluke\nThe skull of a dugong is unique. [16] The skull is enlarged with sharply down-turned premaxilla , which are stronger in males. The spine has between 57 and 60 vertebrae . [12] Unlike in manatees, the dugong's teeth do not continually grow back via horizontal tooth replacement. [18] The dugong has two incisors ( tusks ) which emerge in males during puberty. The female's tusks continue to grow without emerging during puberty, sometimes erupting later in life after reaching the base of the premaxilla . [12] The number of growth layer groups in a tusk indicates the age of a dugong, [5] and the cheekteeth move forward with age. The full dental formula of dugongs is 2.0.3.33.1.3.3, meaning they have two incisors, three premolars , and three molars on each side of their upper jaw, and three incisors, one canine, three premolars, and three molars on each side of their lower jaw. [16] Like other sirenians, the dugong experiences pachyostosis , a condition in which the ribs and other long bones are unusually solid and contain little or no marrow . These heavy bones, which are among the densest in the animal kingdom , [19] may act as a ballast to help keep sirenians suspended slightly below the water's surface. [20]\nAn adult's length rarely exceeds 3 metres (9.8 ft). An individual this long is expected to weigh around 420 kilograms (926 lb). Weight in adults is typically more than 250 kilograms (551 lb) and less than 900 kilograms (1,984 lb). [21] The largest individual recorded was 4.06 metres (13.32 ft) long and weighed 1,016 kilograms (2,240 lb), [12] and was found off the Saurashtra coast of west India . [22] Females tend to be larger than males. [12]\nDistribution and habitat\nDugong on the sea floor at Marsa Alam , Egypt\nDugongs are found in warm coastal waters from the western Pacific Ocean to the eastern coast of Africa, [15] along an estimated 140,000 kilometres (86,992 mi) of coastline [2] between 26° and 27° degrees to the north and south of the equator . [5] Their historic range is believed to correspond to that of seagrasses from the Potamogetonaceae and Hydrocharitaceae families. The full size of the former range is unknown, although it is believed that the current populations represent the historical limits of the range, [5] which is highly fractured. [13] Today populations of dugongs are found in the waters of 37 countries and territories. [11] Recorded numbers of dugongs are generally believed to be lower than actual numbers, due to a lack of accurate surveys. Despite this, the dugong population is thought to be shrinking, [5] with a worldwide decline of 20 per cent in the last 90 years. They have disappeared from the waters of Hong Kong , Mauritius , and Taiwan, as well as parts of Cambodia , Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Further disappearances are likely. [11]\nDugongs are generally found in warm waters around the coast [15] with large numbers concentrated in wide and shallow protected bays. [5] The dugong is the only strictly-marine herbivorous mammal, as all species of manatee utilise fresh water to some degree. [5] Nonetheless, they can tolerate the brackish waters found in coastal wetlands, [23] and large numbers are also found in wide and shallow mangrove channels and around leeward sides of large inshore islands, where seagrass beds are common. [5] They are usually located at a depth of around 10 m (33 ft), [13] although in areas where the continental shelf remains shallow dugongs have been known to travel more than 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the shore, descending to as far as 37 metres (121 ft), where deepwater seagrasses such as Halophila spinulosa are found. [5] Special habitats are used for different activities. It has been observed that shallow waters are used as sites for calving, minimising the risk of predation. Deep waters may provide a thermal refuge from cooler waters closer to the shore during winter. [5]\nEast Africa and South Asia\nIn the late 1960s, herds of up to 500 dugongs were observed off the coast of East Africa and nearby islands. Current populations in this area are extremely small, numbering 50 and below, and it is thought likely they will become extinct. The eastern side of the Red Sea is the home of large populations numbering in the hundreds, and similar populations are thought to exist on the western side. In the 1980s, it was estimated there could be as many as 4,000 dugongs in the Red Sea. The Persian Gulf has the second-largest dugong population in the world, inhabiting most of the southern coast, [5] and the current population is believed to be around 7,500. [17] Dugong populations in Madagascar are poorly studied, but due to widespread exploitation it is thought they may have severely declined, with few surviving individuals. [24] [25] In Mozambique , most of local populations remaining are rather very small where the largest (about 120 individuals) occur at Bazaruto Island , [26] but they have become rare in historical habitats such as in Maputo Bay and on Inhaca Island . [27] [28] Among Tanzania , observations have recently been increased around the Mafia Island Marine Park where a hunt was intended by fishermen but failed in 2009. [29] In the Seychelles , dugongs had been regarded as extinct until a small number of dugongs was discovered around the Aldabra Atoll . This population may belong to different group than that distributed among the inner isles. [30] [31] Dugongs once thrived among Chagos Archipelago and the Sea Cow Island was named after the species although the species being considered no longer to occur in the region. [32] [33]\nA highly isolated breeding population exists in the Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch , [34] the only population remaining in western India. It is 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) from the population in the Persian Gulf, and 1,700 kilometres (1,056 mi) from the nearest population in India. Former populations in this area, centred on the Maldives and the Laccadive Islands , are presumed to be extinct. A population exists in the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka , but it is seriously depleted. Dugongs are also found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is the state animal of this territory.[ citation needed ] Once distributed throughout the coastal belt in Sri Lanka, the dugong number declined in last two decades due to heavy hunting by the fishermen. Now only the north-eastern coastal belt is home for the rest of dugong population around Sri Lanka.[ citation needed ] It is listed as an endangered species on the southern coast of Pakistan .[ citation needed ] The population around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are known only from a few records, and although the population was large during British rule, it is now believed to be small and scattered. [5]\nSouthern Pacific outside of Australia\nDugong with attached remora off Lamen Island , Vanuatu\nA small population exists today along the southern coast of China , where efforts are being made to protect it, [35] including the establishment of a seagrass sanctuary for dugong and other endangered marine fauna ranging in Guanxi . [36] [37] Despite these efforts, numbers continue to decrease, and in 2007 it was reported that no more dugong could be found on the west coast of the island of Hainan . [38] Historically, dugongs were also present in the southern parts of the Yellow Sea . [39] In Vietnam, dugongs have been restricted mostly to the provinces of Kiên Giang and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu , including Phu Quoc Island and Con Dao Island , [40] which hosted large populations in the past. [41] Con Dao is now the only site in Vietnam where dugong are regularly seen, [42] protected within the Côn Đảo National Park . [43] Nonetheless, dangerously low levels of awarenesses for conservation of marine organisms in Vietnam and Cambodia may result in increased intentional or unintentional catches, and illegal trade is a potential danger for local dugongs. [41] On Phu Quoc, the first 'Dugong Festival' was held in 2014, aiming to raise awareness of these issues. [44]\nIn Thailand, the present distribution of dugongs is restricted to 6 provinces along the Andaman Sea , and very few dugongs are present in the Gulf of Thailand . [45] The Gulf of Thailand was historically home to large number of the animals, but none have been sighted in the west of the gulf in recent years, [5] and the remaining population in the east is thought to be very small and possibly declining. [46] Dugongs are believed to exist in the Straits of Johor in very small numbers. The waters around Borneo support a small population, with more scattered throughout the Malay archipelago . All the islands of the Philippines are believed to have once provided habitats for dugongs, which were common until the 1970s. Populations exist around the Solomon Islands archipelago and New Caledonia , stretching to an easternmost population in Vanuatu . A highly isolated population lives around the islands of Palau . [5]\nA singe dugong lives at Cocos (Keeling) Islands although the animal is thought to be a vagrant. [47] [48]\nNorthern Pacific\nToday, possibly the smallest and northernmost population of dugongs exists around the Ryukyu islands, and a population formerly existed off Taiwan. [5] An endangered population of 50 or fewer dugongs, possibly as few as only three individuals, survives [49] around Okinawa . [50] A single individual was recorded in Amami Oshima , at the northernmost edge of the dugong's historic range, more than 40 years after the last previous recorded sighting. [51] A vagrant strayed into port near Ushibuka, Kumamoto, and died due to poor health. [52] Historically, the Yaeyama Islands held a large concentration of dugongs, with more than 300 individuals. On Aragusuku Island, large quantities of skulls are preserved at an utaki that outsiders are strictly forbidden to enter. [53] [54] Dugong populations in these areas were reduced by historical hunts as payments to the Ryukyu Kingdom , before being wiped out because of large-scale illegal hunting and fishing using destructive methods such as dynamite fishing after the Second World War.\nPopulations around Taiwan appear to be almost extinct, although remnant individuals may visit areas with rich seagrass beds such as Dongsha Atoll . [55] Some of the last reported sightings were made in Kenting National Park in 1950s and 60s. [56] There had been occasional records of vagrants at the Northern Mariana Islands prior to 1985. [57] It is unknown how much mixing there was between these populations historically. Some theorise that populations existed independently, for example that the Okinawan population were isolated members derived from the migration of a Philippine subspecies. [58] Others postulate that the populations formed part of a super-population where migration between Ryukyu , Taiwan , and the Philippines was common. [59]\nAustralia\nAustralia is home to the largest population, stretching from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Moreton Bay in Queensland . [11] The population of Shark Bay is thought to be stable with over 10,000 dugongs. Smaller populations exist up the coast, including one in Ashmore reef . Large numbers of dugongs live to the north of the Northern Territory , with a population of over 20,000 in the gulf of Carpentaria alone. A population of over 25,000 exists in the Torres Strait such as off Thursday Island , although there is significant migration between the strait and the waters of New Guinea . [5] The Great Barrier Reef provides important feeding areas for the species; [60] this reef area houses a stable population of around 10,000, although the population concentration has shifted over time. Large bays facing north on the Queensland coast provide significant habitats for dugong, with the southernmost of these being Hervey Bay and Moreton Bay . [11]\nExtinct Mediterranean population\nIt has been confirmed that dugongs once inhabited the water of the Mediterranean [61] [62] possibly until after the rise of civilizations along the inland sea . This population possibly shared ancestry with the Red Sea population, and the Mediterranean population had never been large due to geographical factors and climate changes . [63] The Mediterranean is the region where the Dugongidae originated in the mid-late Eocene , along with Caribbean Sea . [64] [65]\nEcology and life history\nA mother and calf in shallow water\nDugongs are long lived, and the oldest recorded specimen reached age 73. [5] They have few natural predators, although animals such as crocodiles, killer whales, and sharks pose a threat to the young, [11] and a dugong has also been recorded to have died from trauma after being impaled by a stingray barb. A large number of infections and parasitic diseases affect dugongs. Detected pathogens include helminths , cryptosporidium , different types of bacterial infections, and other unidentified parasites. 30% of dugong deaths in Queensland since 1996 are thought to be because of disease. [5]\nAlthough they are social animals , they are usually solitary or found in pairs due to the inability of seagrass beds to support large populations. [13] Gatherings of hundreds of dugongs sometimes happen, [15] but they last only for a short time. [13] Because they are shy, and do not approach humans, little is known about dugong behaviour. [13] They can go six minutes without breathing (though about two and a half minutes is more typical), [66] and have been known to rest on their tail to breathe with their heads above water. [15] They can dive to a maximum depth of 39 metres (128 ft); they spend most of their lives no deeper than 10 metres (33 ft). Communication between individuals is through chirps, whistles, barks, and other sounds that echo underwater. Different sounds have been observed with different amplitudes and frequencies, implying different purposes. Visual communication is limited due to poor eyesight, and is mainly used for activities such as lekking for courtship purposes. Mothers and calves are in almost constant physical contact, and calves have been known to reach out and touch their mothers with their flippers for reassurance. [13]\nDugongs are semi-nomadic , often travelling long distances in search of food, but staying within a certain range their entire life. [13] Large numbers often move together from one area to another. It is thought that these movements are caused by changes in seagrass availability. Their memory allows them to return to specific points after long travels. [11] Dugong movements mostly occur within a localised area of seagrass beds, and animals in the same region show individualistic patterns of movement. Daily movement is affected by the tides. In areas where there is a large tidal range, dugongs travel with the tide in order to access shallower feeding areas. In Moreton Bay, dugongs often travel between foraging grounds inside the bay and warmer oceanic waters. At higher latitudes dugongs make seasonal travels to reach warmer water during the winter. Occasionally individual dugongs make long-distance travels over many days, and can travel over deep ocean waters. [5] One animal was seen as far south as Sydney . [12] Although they are marine creatures, dugongs have been known to travel up creeks, and in one case a dugong was caught 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) up a creek near Cooktown . [11]\nFeeding\nTypical dugong feeding area in Moreton Bay\nDugongs, along with other sirenians, are referred to as \" sea cows \" because their diet consists mainly of sea-grass . When eating they ingest the whole plant, including the roots, [11] although when this is impossible they will feed on just the leaves. [5] A wide variety of seagrass has been found in dugong stomach contents, and evidence exists they will eat algae when seagrass is scarce. [12] Although almost completely herbivorous , [13] they will occasionally eat invertebrates such as jellyfish , sea squirts , and shellfish . [11] Dugongs in Moreton Bay, Australia, are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates such as polychaetes [67] or marine algae when the supply of their choice grasses decreases. In other southern areas of both western and eastern Australia, there is evidence that dugongs actively seek out large invertebrates. This does not apply to dugongs in tropical areas, in which faecal evidence indicates that invertebrates are not eaten. [5]\nMost dugongs do not feed from lush areas, but where the seagrass is more sparse. Additional factors such as protein concentration and regenerative ability also affect the value of a seagrass bed. [11] The chemical structure and composition of the seagrass is important, and the grass species most often eaten are low in fibre, high in nitrogen, and easily digestible. [5] In the Great Barrier Reef, dugongs feed on low-fibre high-nitrogen seagrass such as Halophila and Halodule , [11] so as to maximize nutrient intake instead of bulk eating. Seagrasses of a lower seral are preferred, where the area has not fully vegetated. Only certain seagrass meadows are suitable for dugong consumption, due to the dugong's highly specialised diet. There is evidence that dugongs actively alter seagrass species compositions at local levels. Dugongs may search out deeper seagrass. Feeding trails have been observed as deep as 33 metres (108 ft), and dugongs have been seen feeding as deep as 37 metres (121 ft). [5] Dugongs are relatively slow moving, swimming at around 10 kilometres per hour (6.2 mph). [64] When moving along the seabed to feed they walk on their pectoral fins. [16]\nDue to their poor eyesight, dugongs often use smell to locate edible plants. They also have a strong tactile sense , and feel their surroundings with their long sensitive bristles. [13] They will dig up an entire plant and then shake it to remove the sand before eating it. They have been known to collect a pile of plants in one area before eating them. [16] The flexible and muscular upper lip is used to dig out the plants. This leaves furrows in the sand in their path. [13]\nReproduction and parental care\nDugong mother and offspring from East Timor\nA dugong reaches sexual maturity between the ages of eight and eighteen, older than in most other mammals. [68] The way that females know how a male has reached sexual maturity is by the eruption of tusks in the male since tusks erupt in males when testosterone levels reach a high enough level. [69] The age when a female first gives birth is disputed, with some studies placing the age between ten and seventeen years, while others place it as early as six years. [5] There is evidence that male dugongs lose fertility at older ages. [12] Despite the longevity of the dugong, which may live for 50 years or more, females give birth only a few times during their life, and invest considerable parental care in their young. [68] The time between births is unclear, with estimates ranging from 2.4 to 7 years. [5]\nMating behaviour varies between populations located in different areas. [13] In some populations, males will establish a territory which females in heat will visit. [5] In these areas a male will try to impress the females while defending the area from other males, a practice known as lekking . [13] In other areas many males will attempt to mate with the same female, [5] sometimes inflicting injuries to the female or each other. [11] During this the female will have copulated with multiple males, who will have fought to mount her from below. This greatly increases the chances of conception. [13]\nFemales give birth after a 13–15 month gestation , usually to just one calf. [68] Birth occurs in very shallow water, with occasions known where the mothers were almost on the shore. [12] As soon as the young is born the mother pushes it to the surface to take a breath. [15] Newborns are already 1.2 metres (4 ft) long and weigh around 30 kilograms (66 lb). [11] Once born, they stay close to their mothers, possibly to make swimming easier. [12] The calf nurses for 14–18 months, although it begins to eat seagrasses soon after birth. [5] A calf will only leave its mother once it has matured. [13]\nImportance to humans\nA cave painting of a dugong – Tambun Cave, Perak , Malaysia\nDugongs have historically provided easy targets for hunters, who killed them for their meat, oil, skin, and bones. As the anthropologist A. Asbjørn Jøn has noted, they are often considered as the inspiration for mermaids , [15] [70] and people around the world developed cultures around dugong hunting. In some areas it remains an animal of great significance, [12] and a growing ecotourism industry around dugongs has had economic benefit in some countries. [13]\nThere is a 5,000-year-old wall painting of a dugong, apparently drawn by neolithic peoples, in Tambun Cave, Ipoh , Malaysia. [71] This was discovered by Lieutenant R.L Rawlings in 1959 while on a routine patrol. During the Renaissance and the Baroque eras, dugongs were often exhibited in wunderkammers . They were also presented as Fiji mermaids in sideshows .\nDugong meat and oil have traditionally been some of the most valuable foods of Australian aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders . Some aborigines regard dugongs as part of their Aboriginality. [11] Dugongs have also played a role in legends in Kenya, and the animal is known there as the \"Queen of the Sea\". Body parts are used as food, medicine, and decorations. In the Gulf states, dugongs served not only as a source of food, but their tusks were used as sword handles. Dugong oil is important as a preservative and conditioner for wooden boats to people in around the Gulf of Kutch in India, who also believe its meat is an aphrodisiac . Dugong ribs were used to make carvings in Japan. In Southern China dugongs were traditionally regarded as a \"miraculous fish\", and it was bad luck to catch them. A wave of immigration beginning at the end of the 1950s resulted in dugongs being hunted for food. In the Philippines dugongs are thought to bring bad luck, and parts of them are used to ward against evil spirits. In areas of Thailand it is believed that the dugong's tears form a powerful love potion, while in parts of Indonesia they are considered reincarnations of women. In Papua New Guinea they are seen as a symbol of strength. [5]\nDugongs' or sea cows' hides have been thought [72] to have been used as coverings in the building of the Old Testament portable worship tent known as the Tabernacle .\nConservation\nSee also: Dugong hunting in Australia\nDugong numbers have decreased in recent times. For a population to remain stable, 95 per cent of adults must survive the span of one year. The estimated percentage of females humans can kill without depleting the population is 1–2%. [11] This number is reduced in areas where calving is minimal due to food shortages. Even in the best conditions a population is unlikely to increase more than 5% a year, leaving dugongs vulnerable to over-exploitation. The fact that they live in shallow waters puts them under great pressure from human activity. Research on dugongs and the effects of human activity on them has been limited, mostly taking place in Australia. In many countries, dugong numbers have never been surveyed. As such, trends are uncertain, with more data needed for comprehensive management. [5] The only data stretching back far enough to mention population trends comes from the urban coast of Queensland, Australia . The last major worldwide study, made in 2002, concluded that the dugong was declining and possibly extinct in a third of its range, with unknown status in another half. [2]\nThe IUCN Red List lists the dugong as vulnerable, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora regulates and in some areas has banned international trade. [12] Regional cooperation is important due to the widespread distribution of the animal, and in 1998 there was strong support for Southeast Asian cooperation to protect dugongs. Kenya has passed legislation banning the hunting of dugongs and restricting trawling, but the dugong is not yet listed under Kenya's Wildlife Act for endangered species. Mozambique has had legislation to protect dugongs since 1955, but this has not been effectively enforced. Many marine parks have been established on the African coast of the Red Sea, and the Egyptian Gulf of Aqaba is fully protected. The United Arab Emirates has banned all hunting of dugongs within its waters, as has Bahrain . The UAE has additionally banned drift net fishing. India and Sri Lanka ban the hunting and selling of dugongs and their products. Japan has listed dugongs as endangered and has banned intentional kills and harassment. Hunting, catching, and harassment is banned by the People's Republic of China . The first marine mammal to be protected in the Philippines was the dugong, although monitoring this is difficult. Palau has legislated to protect dugongs, although this is not well enforced and poaching persists. The dugong is a national animal of Papua New Guinea , which bans all except traditional hunting. Vanuatu and New Caledonia ban hunting of dugongs. Dugongs are protected throughout Australia, although the rules vary by state; in some areas indigenous hunting is allowed. [5] Dugongs are listed under the Nature Conservation Act in the Australian state of Queensland as vulnerable. Most currently live in established marine parks , where boats must travel at a restricted speed and mesh net fishing is restricted. [11]\nIn Vietnam , an illegal network targeting dugongs had been detected and was shut down in 2012. [44] Potential hunts along Tanzanian coasts by fishermen have raised concerns as well. [29]\nHuman activity\nDespite being legally protected in many countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include hunting, habitat degradation , and fishing-related fatalities. [4] Entanglement in fishing nets has caused many deaths, although there are no precise statistics. Most issues with industrial fishing occur in deeper waters where dugong populations are low, with local fishing being the main risk in shallower waters. [5] As dugongs cannot stay underwater for a very long period, they are highly prone to deaths due to entanglement. [17] The use of shark nets has historically caused large numbers of deaths, and they have been eliminated in most areas and replaced with baited hooks. [11] Hunting has historically been a problem too, although in most areas they are no longer hunted, with the exception of certain indigenous communities. In areas such as northern Australia, hunting remains the greatest impact on the dugong population. [5]\nVessel strikes have proved a problem for manatees, but the relevance of this to dugongs is unknown. [5] Increasing boat traffic has increased danger, [11] especially in shallow waters. Ecotourism has increased in some countries, although effects remain undocumented. It has been seen to cause issues in areas such as Hainan due to environmental degradation. [5] Modern farming practise and increased land clearing have also had an impact, and much of the coastline of dugong habitats is undergoing industrialisation , with increasing human populations. [11] Dugongs accumulate heavy metal ions in their tissues throughout their lives, more so than other marine mammals. The effects are unknown. Socio-political needs are an impediment to dugong conservation in many developing countries. The shallow waters are often used as a source of food and income, problems exacerbated by aid used to improve fishing. In many countries, legislation does not exist to protect dugongs, and if it does it is not enforced. [5]\nOil spills are a danger to dugongs in some areas, as is land reclamation . In Okinawa the small dugong population is threatened by United States military activity. Plans exist to build a military base close to the Henoko reef, and military activity also adds the threats of noise pollution, chemical pollution, soil erosion, and exposure to depleted uranium . [5] The military base plans have been fought in US courts by some Okinawans, whose concerns include the impact on the local environment and dugong habitats. [50] [73] It was later revealed that the government of Japan was hiding evidence of the negative effects of ship lanes and human activities on dugongs observed during surveys carried out off Henoko reef. [74]\nEnvironmental degradation\nIf dugongs do not get enough to eat they may calve later and produce fewer young. [11] Food shortages can be caused by many factors, such as a loss of habitat, death and decline in quality of seagrass, and a disturbance of feeding caused by human activity. Sewage , detergents , heavy metal , hypersaline water, herbicides , and other waste products all negatively affect seagrass meadows. Human activity such as mining, trawling , dredging , land reclamation , and boat propeller scarring also cause an increase in sedimentation which smothers seagrass and prevents light from reaching it. This is the most significant negative factor affecting seagrass. [5]\nHalophila ovalis —one of the dugong's preferred species of seagrass—declines rapidly due to lack of light, dying completely after 30 days. Extreme weather such as cyclones and floods can destroy hundreds of square kilometres of seagrass meadows, as well as washing dugongs ashore. The recovery of seagrass meadows and the spread of seagrass into new areas, or areas where it has been destroyed, can take over a decade. Most measures for protection involve restricting activities such as trawling in areas containing seagrass meadows, with little to no action on pollutants originating from land. In some areas water salinity is increased due to wastewater , and it is unknown how much salinity seagrass can withstand. [5]\nDugong habitat in the Oura Bay area of Henoko, Okinawa, Japan , is currently under threat from land reclamation conducted by Japanese Government in order to build a US Marine base in the area. [75] In August 2014, preliminary drilling surveys were conducted around the seagrass beds there. [76] The construction is expected to seriously damage the dugong population's habitat, possibly leading to local extinction. [77]\nCapture and captivity\nThe Australian state of Queensland has sixteen dugong protection parks, and some preservation zones have been established where even aborigines are not allowed to hunt. [11] Capturing animals for research has caused only one or two deaths; [5] dugongs are expensive to keep in captivity due to the long time mothers and calves spend together, and the inability to grow the seagrass that dugongs eat in an aquarium. [11] Only one orphaned calf has ever been successfully kept in captivity. [13]\nWorldwide, only four dugongs are held in captivity. A female from the Philippines lives at Toba Aquarium in Toba, Mie , Japan. [5] A male also lived there until he died on 10 February 2011. [78] The second resides in Sea World Indonesia , [79] after having been rescued from a fisherman's net and treated. [80] The last two—a male and a female—are kept at Sydney Aquarium , where they have resided since they were juveniles. [81]\nGracie, a captive dugong at Underwater World, Singapore , was reported to have died in 2014 at the age of 19, from complications arising from an acute digestive disorder . [82]\nReferences\n^",
"Goatsucker - The Full Wiki\nThey are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief ... GOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by ...\nGoatsucker - The Full Wiki\nThe Full Wiki\nGoatsucker: Wikis\nAdvertisements\nNote: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles .\nFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nThis article is about the bird. For the aircraft, see Gloster Nightjar .\n\"Goatsucker\" redirects here. For the cryptid translated from Spanish as goat sucker, see Chupacabra .\nNightjars\nGenera\n14, see text.\nNightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills. They are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is Caprimulgus). Some New World species are named as nighthawks. Nightjars usually nest on the ground.\nNightjars are found around the world. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.\nMost have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusual for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it. This helps to conceal them during the day. Bracken is their preferred habitat.\nThe Common Poorwill , Phalaenoptilus nuttallii is unique as a bird that undergoes a form of hibernation, becoming torpid and with a much reduced body temperature for weeks or months, although other nightjars can enter a state of torpor for shorter periods. [1]\nNightjars lay one or two patterned eggs directly onto bare ground. It has been suggested that nightjars will move their eggs and chicks from the nesting site in the event of danger by carrying them in their mouths. This suggestion has been repeated many times in ornithology books, but while this may accidentally happen, surveys of nightjar research have found very little evidence to support this idea. [2] [3]\nContents\n4 External links\nSystematics\nTraditionally, nightjars have been divided into two subfamilies: the Caprimulginae , or typical nightjars with about 70 species, and the Chordeilinae , or nighthawks of the New World with about 9 species. The two groups are similar in most respects, but the typical nightjars have rictal bristles, longer bills, and softer plumage. In their pioneering DNA-DNA hybridisation work, Sibley and Ahlquist found that the genetic difference between the eared-nightjars and the typical nightjars was, in fact, greater than that between the typical nightjars and the nighthawks of the New World. Accordingly, they placed the eared-nightjars in a separate family : Eurostopodidae .\nSubsequent work, both morphological and genetic, has provided support for the separation of the typical and the eared-nightjars, and some authorities have adopted this Sibley-Ahlquist recommendation, and also the more far-reaching one to group all the owls (traditionally Strigiformes) together in the Caprimulgiformes . The listing below retains a more orthodox arrangement, but recognises the eared-nightjars as a separate group. For more detail and an alternative classification scheme, see Caprimulgiformes and Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy .\nGenus Siphonorhis (2 living species)\nGenus Nyctiphrynus (4 species)\nGenus Caprimulgus (some 50-60 species, including the European Nightjar )\nGenus Macrodipteryx - Long-primaried nightjars (2 species)\nGenus Hydropsalis (2 species)\nAlso see a list of nightjars , sortable by common and binomial names.\nGallery\nPauraque\nReferences\n^ Lane JE, Brigham RM, Swanson DL. (2004) \"Daily torpor in free-ranging whip-poor-wills (Caprimulgus vociferus).\" Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 77 (2):297-304\n^ Jackson, H.D. (2007) \" A review of the evidence for the translocation of eggs and young by nightjars (Caprimulgidae)\" Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology, 78 (3) 561-572\n^ Jackson, H.D. (1985) \"Commentary and Observations on the Alleged Transportation of Eggs and Young by Caprimulgids\". Wilson Bulletin 97 (3) 381-385 [1]\nExternal links\nUp to date as of January 14, 2010\nFrom LoveToKnow 1911\nGOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by the common name it bears in many European tongues besides English - as testified by the Gr. aiyoOi Xas, the Lat. caprimulgus, Ital. succiacapre, Span. chotacabras, Fr. tettechevre, and Ger. Zeigenmelker. The common goatsucker (Caprimulgus europaeus, Linn.), is admittedly the type of a very peculiar and distinct family, Caprimulgidae, a group remarkable for the flat head, enormously wide mouth, large eyes, and soft, pencilled plumage of its members, which vary in size from a lark to a crow . Its position has been variously assigned by systematists. Though now judiciously removed from the Passeres, in which Linnaeus placed all the species known to him, Huxley considered it to form, with two other families - the swifts (Cypselidae) and humming-birds (Trochilidae) - the division Cypselomorphae of his larger group Aegithognathae, which is equivalent in the main to the Linnaean Passeres. There are two ways of regarding the Caprimulgidae- one including the genus Podargus and its allies, the other recognizing them as a distinct family, Podargidae. As a matter of convenience we shall here comprehend these last in the Caprimulgidae, which will then contain two subfamilies, Caprimulginae and Podarginae; for what, according to older authors, constitutes a third, though represented only by Steatornis, the singular oil-bird, or guacharo , certainly seems to require separation as an independent family (see Guacharo ).\nSome of the differences between the Caprimulgidae and Podarginae have been pointed out by Sclater (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1866, p. 123), and are very obvious. In the former, the outer toes have four phalanges only, thus presenting a very uncommon character among birds, and the middle claws are pectinated; while in the latter the normal number of five phalanges is found, Common Goatsucker.\nand the claws are smooth, and other distinctions more recondite have also been indicated by him (tom. cit. p. 582). The Caprimulginae may be further divided into those having the gape thickly beset by strong bristles, and those in which there are few such bristles or none - the former containing the genera Caprimulgus, Antrostomus, Nyctidromus and others, and the latter Podargus, Chordiles, Lyncornis and a few more.\nThe common goatsucker of Europe (C. europaeus) arrives late in spring from its winter-retreat in Africa , and its presence is soon made known by its habit of chasing its prey , consisting chiefly of moths and cockchafers, in the evening- twilight . As the season advances the song of the cock, from its singularity, attracts attention amid all rural sounds. This song seems to be always uttered when the bird is at rest, though the contrary has been asserted, and is the continuous repetition of a single burring note, as of a thin lath fixed at one end and in a state of vibration at the other, and loud enough to reach in still weather a distance of half-a-mile or more. On the wing, while toying with its mate , or performing its rapid evolutions round the trees where it finds its food, it has the habit of occasionally producing another and equally extraordinary sound , sudden and short, but somewhat resembling that made by swinging a thong in the air , though whether this noise proceeds from its mouth is not ascertained. In general its flight is silent, but at times when disturbed from its repose, its wings may be heard to smite together. The goatsucker, or, to use perhaps its commoner English name, nightjar,' passes the day in slumber, crouching on the ground or perching on a tree - in the latter case sitting not across the branch but lengthways, with its head lower than its body. In hot weather, however, its song may sometimes be heard by day and even at noontide, but it is then uttered, as it were, drowsily, and without the vigour that characterizes its crepuscular or nocturnal performance. Towards evening the bird becomes active, and it seems to pursue its prey throughout the night uninterruptedly, or only occasionally pausing for a few seconds to alight on a bare spot - a pathway or road - and then resuming its career. It is one of the few birds that absolutely make no nest , but lays its pair of beautifully-marbled eggs on the ground, generally where the herbage is short, and often actually on the soil. So light is it that the act of brooding, even where there is some vegetable growth, produces no visible depression of the grass , moss or lichens on which the eggs rest, and the finest sand equally fails to exhibit a trace of the parental act. Yet scarcely any bird shows greater local attachment , and the precise site chosen one year is almost certain to be occupied the next. The young, covered when hatched with dark-spotted down, are not easily found, nor are they more easily discovered on becoming fledged, for their plumage almost entirely resembles that of the adults, being a mixture of reddish-brown, grey and black, blended and mottled in a manner that passes description. They soon attain their full size and power of flight, and then take to the same manner of life as their parents. In autumn all leave their summer haunts for the south, but the exact time of their departure has hardly been ascertained. The habits of the nightjar, as thus described, seem to be more or less essentially those of the whole subfamily - the differences observable being apparently less than are found in other groups of birds of similar extent.\nA second species of goatsucker (C. ruficollis), which is somewhat larger, and has the neck distinctly marked with rufous, is a summer visitant to the south-western parts of Europe, and especially to Spain and Portugal . The occurrence of a single example of this bird at Killingworth, near Newcastle -on- Tyne , in October 1856, has been recorded by Mr Hancock ( Ibis , 1862, p. 39); but the season of its appearance argues the probability of its being but a casual straggler from its proper home. Many other species of Caprimulgus inhabit Africa, Asia and their islands, while one (C. macrurus) is found in Australia . Very nearly allied to this genus is Antrostomus, an American group containing many species, of which the chuck-will's-widow (A. carolinensis) and the whip -poor-will (A. vociferus) of the eastern United States (the latter also reaching Canada) are familiar examples. Both these birds take their common name from the cry they utter, and their habits seem to be almost identical with those of the old world goatsuckers. Passing over some other forms which need not here be mentioned, the genus Nyctidromus, though consisting of only one species (N. albicollis) which inhabits Central and part of South America , requires remark, since it has tarsi of sufficient length to enable it to run swiftly on the ground, while the legs of most birds of the family are so short that they can Other English names of the bird are evejar, fern - owl , churn -owl and wheel -bird - the last from the bird's song resembling the noise made by a spinning -wheel in motion.\nmake but a shuffling progress. Heleothreptes, with the unique form of wing possessed by the male, needs mention. Notice must also be taken of two African species, referred by some ornithologists to as many genera (Macrodipteryx and Cosmetornis), though probably one genus would suffice for both. The males of each of them are characterized by the wonderful development of the ninth primary in either wing, which reaches in fully adult specimens the extraordinary length of 17 in. or more. The former of these birds, the Caprimulgus macrodipterus of Adam Afzelius , is considered to belong to the west coast of Africa, and the shaft of the elongated remiges is bare for the greater part of its length, retaining the web , in a spatulate form, only near the tip. The latter, to which the specific name of vexillarius was given by John Gould, has been found on the east coast of that continent, and is reported to have occurred in Madagascar and Socotra. In this the remigial streamers do not lose their barbs, and as a few of the next quills are also to some extent elongated, the bird, when flying, is said to look as though it had four wings. Specimens of both are rare in collections, and no traveller seems to have had the opportunity of studying the habits of either so as to suggest a reason for this marvellous sexual development.\nThe second group of Caprimulginae, those which are but poorly or not at all furnished with rictal bristles, contains about five genera, of which we may particularize Lyncornis of the old world and Chordiles of the new. The species of the former are remarkable for the tuft of feathers which springs from each side of the head, above and behind the ears, so as to give the bird an appearance like some of the \"horned\" owls - those of the genus Scops, for example; and remarkable as it is to find certain forms of two families, so distinct as are the Strigidae and the Capriy nulgidae, resembling each other in this singular external feature, it is yet more remarkable to note that in some groups of the latter, as in some of the former, a very curious kind of dimorphism takes place. In either case this has been frequently asserted to be sexual, but on that point doubt may fairly be entertained. Certain it is that in some groups of goatsuckers, as in some groups of owls, individuals of the same species are found in plumage of two entirely different hues - rufous and grey. The only explanation as yet offered of this fact is that the difference is sexual, but evidence to that effect is conflicting. It must not, however, be supposed that this common feature, any more than that of the existence of tufted forms in each group, indicates any close relationship between them. The resemblances may be due to the same causes, concerning which future observers may possibly enlighten us, but at present we must regard them as analogies, not homologies. The species of Lyncornis inhabit the Malay Archipelago , one, however, occurring also in China . Of Chordiles the best-known species is the night- hawk of North America (C. virginianus or C. popetue), which has a wide range from Canada to Brazil . Others are found in the Antilles and in South America . The general habits of all these birds agree with those of the typical goatsuckers.\nWe have next to consider the birds forming the genus Podargus and those allied to it, whether they be regarded as a distinct family, or as a subfamily of Caprimulgidae. As above stated, they have feet constructed as those of birds normally are, and their sternum seems to present the constant though comparatively trivial difference of having its posterior margin elongated into two pairs of processes, while only one pair is found in the true goatsuckers. Podargus includes the bird (P. cuvieri) known from its cry as morepork to the Tasmanians, 2 and several other species, the number of which is doubtful, from Australia and New Guinea . They have comparatively powerful bills, and it would seem feed to some extent on fruits and berries, though they mainly subsist on insects, chiefly Cicadae and Phasmidae. They also differ from the true goatsuckers in having the outer toes partially reversible, and they build a flat nest on the horizontal branch of a tree for the reception of their eggs, which are of a spotless white. Apparently allied to Podargus, but differing 2 In New Zealand , however, this name is given to an owl (Sceloglaux novae-zelandiae). among other respects in its mode of nidification , is Aegotheles, which belongs also to the Australian sub-region; and farther to the northward, extending throughout the Malay Archipelago and into India , comes Batrachostomus, wherein we again meet with species having aural tufts somewhat like Lyncornis. The Podarginae are thought by some to be represented in the new world by the genus Nyctibius, of which several species occur from the Antilles and Central America to Brazil. Finally, it may be stated that none of the Caprimulgidae seem to occur in Polynesia or in New Zealand , though there is scarcely any other part of the world suited to their habits in which members of the family are not found. (A. N.)"
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Peter Stuyvesant, born in Holland, became Governor of which American city in 1647? | NEW YORK | [
"Peter_Stuyvesant.txt\nPeter Stuyvesant\nPeter Stuyvesant (English pronunciation /ˈstaɪv.əs.ənt/; in Dutch also Pieter and Petrus Stuyvesant; 16121672) served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City.\n\nStuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan. Among the projects built by Stuyvesant's administration were the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway.\n\nBiography\n\nStuyvesant was born around 1612 in Peperga, Friesland, in the Netherlands, to minister Balthasar Stuyvesant and Margaretha Hardenstein. He grew up in Peperga, Scherpenzeel, and Berlicum. He studied languages and philosophy in Franeker, and joined the West India Company about 1635, and was director of the Dutch West India Company's colony of Curaçao from 1642 to 1644.\n\nIn April 1644, he attacked the Spanish-held island of Saint Martin and lost the lower part of his right leg to a cannonball. He returned to the Netherlands for convalescence, where his right leg was replaced with a wooden peg. Supposedly, Stuyvesant was given the nickname \"Old Silver Leg\" because he used a stick of wood driven full of silver bands as a prosthesis. \n\nA year later, in May 1645, Stuyvesant was selected by the Dutch West India Company to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of the New Netherland colony, in present-day New York. He arrived in New Amsterdam on May 11, 1647. In September 1647, he appointed an advisory council of nine men as representatives of the colonists on New Netherland.\n\nHe married Judith Bayard (–1687) of the Bayard family in 1645. Her brother Samuel was the husband of Stuyvesant's sister Anna. Petrus and Judith's first son, Balthasar Lazarus, settled in the West Indies and married Maria Lucas Raapzaat. Their second son, Nicolaes Willem Stuyvesant (1648–1698), first married Maria Beeckman, daughter of Willem Beeckman, and subsequently Elisabeth Slechtenhorst.\n\nIn 1648, a conflict started between him and Brant Aertzsz van Slechtenhorst, the commissary of the patroonship Rensselaerwijck, which surrounded Fort Orange (present-day Albany). Stuyvesant claimed he had power over Rensselaerwijck despite special privileges granted to Kiliaen van Rensselaer in the patroonship regulations of 1629. In 1649, Stuyvesant marched to Fort Orange with a military escort and ordered bordering settlement houses to be razed to permit a better defense of the fort in case of an attack from the Native Americans. When Van Slechtenhorst refused, Stuyvesant sent a group of soldiers to enforce his orders. The controversy that followed resulted in the founding of the new settlement, Beverwijck.\n\nStuyvesant became involved in a dispute with Theophilus Eaton, the governor of English New Haven Colony, over the border of the two colonies. In September 1650, a meeting of the commissioners on boundaries took place in Hartford, Connecticut, called the Treaty of Hartford, to settle the border between New Amsterdam and the English colonies to the north and east. The border was arranged to the dissatisfaction of the Nine Men, who declared that \"the governor had ceded away enough territory to found fifty colonies each fifty miles square.\" Stuyvesant then threatened to dissolve the council. A new plan of municipal government was arranged in the Netherlands, and the name \"New Amsterdam\" was officially declared on 2 February 1653. Stuyvesant made a speech for the occasion, saying that his authority would remain undiminished.\n\nPetrus was now ordered to the Netherlands, but the order was soon revoked under pressure from the States of Holland and the city of Amsterdam. Stuyvesant prepared against an attack by ordering the citizens to dig a ditch from the North River to the East River and to erect a fortification.\n\nIn 1653, a convention of two deputies from each village in New Netherland demanded reforms, and Stuyvesant commanded that assembly to disperse, saying: \"We derive our authority from God and the company, not from a few ignorant subjects.\"\n\nIn the summer of 1655, he sailed down the Delaware River with a fleet of seven vessels and about 700 men and took possession of the colony of New Sweden, which was renamed \"New Amstel.\" In his absence, Pavonia was attacked by Native Americans, during the \"Peach War\" on September 15, 1655.\n\nReligious freedom\n\nIn 1657 Stuyvesant, who did not tolerate full religious freedom in the colony, and was strongly committed to the supremacy of the Dutch Reformed Church, refused to allow Lutherans the right to organize a church. When he also issued an ordinance forbidding them from worshiping in their own homes, the directors of the Dutch West Indies Company, of whom three were Lutherans, told him to rescind the order and allow private gatherings of Lutherans., p.59\n\nFreedom of religion was also tested when Peter Stuyvesant refused to allow Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil to settle permanently in New Amsterdam (without passports) and join the existing community of Jews (with passports from Amsterdam). Stuyvesant attempted to have Jews \"in a friendly way to depart\" the colony. As he wrote to the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company in 1654 he hoped that \"the deceitful race, — such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, — be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony.\" He referred to Jews as a \"repugnant race\" and \"usurers\", and was concerned that \"Jewish settlers should not be granted the same liberties enjoyed by Jews in Holland, lest members of other persecuted minority groups, such as Roman Catholics, be attracted to the colony.\"[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode7/documents/documents_1.html \"Jews Permitted to Stay in New Amsterdam\"], Heritage: Civilization and the Jews on the PBS website\n\nStuyvesant's decision was rescinded after pressure from the directors of the Company; as a result, Stuyvesant allowed Jewish immigrants to stay in the colony as long as their community was self-supporting, but — with the support of the company — would not allow them to build a synagogue, forcing them to worship instead in a private house. \n\nThen, in 1657, Stuyvesant turned to the newly arrived Quakers in the colony. He ordered the public torture of Robert Hodgson, a 23-year-old Quaker convert who had become an influential preacher. Stuyvesant then made an ordinance, punishable by fine and imprisonment, against anyone found guilty of harboring Quakers. That action led to a protest from the citizens of Flushing, Queens, which came to be known as the Flushing Remonstrance, considered by some a precursor to the United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.\n\nCapitulation\n\nIn 1664, King Charles II of England ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, later King James II, a large tract of land that included New Netherland. Four English ships bearing 450 men, commanded by Richard Nicolls, seized the Dutch colony. On 30 August 1664, George Cartwright sent the governor a letter demanding surrender. He promised \"life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority.\" Stuyvesant signed a treaty at his Bouwerij house on 9 September 1664. Nicolls was declared governor, and the city was renamed New York. Stuyvesant obtained civil rights and freedom of religion in the Articles of Capitulation. The Dutch settlers mainly belonged to the Dutch Reformed church, a Calvinist denomination, holding to the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dordt). The English were Anglicans, holding to the 39 Articles, a Protestant confession, with Bishops.\n\nIn 1665, Stuyvesant went to the Netherlands to report on his term as governor. On his return, he spent the remainder of his life on his farm of sixty-two acres outside the city, called the Great Bouwerie, beyond which stretched the woods and swamps of the village of Haarlem. A pear tree that he reputedly brought from the Netherlands in 1647 remained at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue until 1867, bearing fruit almost to the last. The house was destroyed by fire in 1777. He also built an executive mansion of stone called Whitehall. He died in August 1672 and his body was entombed in the east wall of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, which sits on the site of Stuyvesant’s family chapel. \n\nLegacy\n\nStuyvesant and his family were large landowners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam, and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with three places in Manhattan's East Side, near present-day Gramercy Park: the Stuyvesant Town housing complex; Stuyvesant Square, a park in the area; and the Stuyvesant Apartments on East 18th Street. His farm, called the \"Bouwerij\" — the seventeenth-century Dutch word for farm — was the source for the name of the Manhattan street and surrounding neighborhood named the \"Bowery\". The chapel facing Bouwerie's long approach road (now Stuyvesant Street) became St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. The contemporary neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn includes Stuyvesant Heights and retains its name. Also named after him are the hamlets of Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls in Columbia County, New York, where descendants of the early Dutch settlers still live and where the Dutch Reformed Church remains an important part of the community, as well as shopping centers, yacht clubs and other buildings and facilities throughout the area where the Dutch colony once was. A statue of Stuyvesant by J. Massey Rhind situated at Bergen Square in Jersey City was dedicated in 1915 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Dutch settlement there More modestly, Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands was also named after Stuyvesant during the Dutch West India Company's administration of that Territory.\n\nStuyvesant was a great believer in education. In 1660 he was quoted as saying that \"Nothing is of greater importance than the early instruction of youth.\" In 1661, New Amsterdam had one grammar school, two free elementary schools, and had licensed 28 masters of school. To honor Stuyvesant's dedication to education and New Amsterdam's legal-cultural tradition of toleration under Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan was named after him. This stands in stark contrast to Stuyvesant's criticism of religious minorities, such as the Jews of New Amsterdam, whom he described, in a letter dated 22 September 1654, to the Dutch East India Company, as \"deceitful\", \"very repugnant\", and \"hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ,\" in hopes that they would be made to leave the territory. \n\nIn 1657 the directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Stuyvesant to tell him that they are not going to be able to send him all the tradesmen that he requested and that he will have to purchase slaves in addition to the tradesmen he will receive.\n\nThe last acknowledged direct descendant of Pieter Stuyvesant to bear his surname was Augustus van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., who died a bachelor in 1953 at the age of 83 in his mansion at 2 East 79th Street. Rutherford Stuyvesant, the 19th century New York developer, and his descendants are also descended from Pieter Stuyvesant; however, Rutherford Stuyvesant's name was changed from Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of the 1847 will of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant. \n\nIn popular culture\n\n*Stuyvesant is mentioned in Washington Irving's short story \"Rip Van Winkle\" in the following passage: \"...just about the beginning of the government of the good Peter Stuyvesant (may he rest in peace!)...\" and a bit later: \"...who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant...\" \n*Stuyvesant is the major antagonist in the 1938 Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson musical Knickerbocker Holiday, in which he sings the song \"September Song\". In the stage production he was portrayed by Walter Huston; in the much-altered 1944 film version he was portrayed by Charles Coburn in his only singing role.\n*In Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, Peter Stuyvesant is one of the leaders of the Dutch colonies. Adriaen van der Donck is the other possible Dutch leader. In Sid Meier's Colonization computer game, Stuyvesant can be elected to the Continental Congress, allowing the player to build Custom Houses which automate trade with the mother country.\n*Stuyvesant was a key figure in the Belgian comic strip Suske en Wiske in episode 269, \"De Stugge Stuyvesant\".\n*The old time radio show Duffy's Tavern had an episode which used a newly discovered diary of Stuyvesant as a plot device.\n*A cigarette brand by Philip Morris International and Imperial Tobacco with British American Tobacco is named Peter Stuyvesant. These cigarettes are popular in Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Zambia, Malaysia and South Africa.\n*In Charles Bukowski's 1978 novel Women, the main character, Henry Chinaski, vomits on Peter Stuyvesant's burial vault cover before a poetry reading at St. Mark's Church.\n*The American actor John Smith, who starred in two NBC western television series Cimarron City was descended from Stuyvesant. \n*The American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III is a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant (his great great grandfather John Howard Wainwright having married Margaret Stuyvesant). \n*The German singer-songwriter and political activist Rio Reiser used Peter Stuyvesant founding New York as an example of a real event in his song Alles Lüge (All Lies), a song that contrasts real events and popular culture.\n*In the 1955 television production of the Rodgers and Hart musical \"Dearest Enemy\" General Howe (Cyril Ritchard) and Captain Copeland (Robert Sterling) sing a less-than-complimentary song about Stuyvesant, \"Sweet Peter\".\n*Stuyvesant appears in Jean Zimmerman's 2013 novel The Orphanmaster, in which he is portrayed as somewhat tyrannical and not well-liked by the settlers of New Amsterdam.\n*In the American TV show The Venture Bros., Dean Venture attends Stuyvesant University starting in the show's sixth season. The fictional college is located in New York City, and its logo features Peter Stuyvesant with the words \"Passus sum cum ligneo cruris\" or \"I have suffered with a wooden leg.\""
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"New york 1664 - MIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\n... and New York City before Albany was ... appeared in New York harbor in 1664, although the city was ... of New York City [earlier New ...\nNew york 1664 - MIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\nMIDDLE COLONY AGENCY\n When were they a colony:1664\n Industry: shipbuilding, iron works, cattle, grain, rice, indigo, wheat\n State motto: Excelsior\nFounded by: Peter Stuyvesant\n Religious Aspirations & Reasons for finding: It was founded by the Dutch for trade and furs and became an English Colony in 1664.\nPurpose: Trade and profit\nNote: Set up as Dutch colony, taken over by English in 1664\nEconomy:\n Colonists made their living in a variety of ways: fur, lumber trading, shipping, the slave\ntrade, and as merchants and tradesmen in the colony's towns. Most colonists were\nfarmers, who cleared large acres of land by hand to grow crops. Corn was the\nmost popular, since it could be eaten by people and animals. Also grown was flax,\nwheat, vegetables, and tobacco. Some colonists mined for iron to send to England\nfor manufacturing into finished goods. When you come to New York there are many jobs. Some jobs are printers,\nclockmakers, barbers, tanners, milliners, dyers, menders, or you could be in the\nshipping business. If you are interested in farming, there is squash, beans,\ncorn, melons, grapes, apples, peaches, flax, rye, wheat, and tobacco. We also\nhave ships, timber, iron, livestock, and fur. If you’re still not interested\nthere is also venison, goose, wild turkey, mutton, raccoon, fish, and\noysters.\n New York had hot, humid summers, and bitterly cold windy winters with much snow.\nThe terrain was swampy near the coast and the Hudson River. Further north where\nmountains covered with forests. The ground was rocky and the soil was good for\nfarming.\nNew York is located along the Atlantic Ocean in the Middle Colonies. New York has\nmountains, plains, and rolling hills. There is a river that runs through New\nYork called the Hudson River. There are some Native American groups called the\nLenape, Wappinger, Munsee, Mohican, and Montauk that live here. New York also\nborders Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.\nBefore the English and other countries were there, the native Indians lived\nthere first before Christopher Columbus had come over to America because he\nbelieved he was going to Asia the ground of new York was rocky but the soil\naround there was good once there was no rocks or trees around the soil. of\ncourse there was war with the Indians over land because the Indians wanted land\nto grow crops and mostly, the English were growing crops there like potatoes,\ntobacco, and corn. the English got this land because the owner of the land\ndidn't want to fight because he didn't want his people to get hurt unlike the\nowner before him.\n New York has a governor and an elected assembly. The Charter of Liberties gives free\nrights to all Dutch and English settlers. New York also has religious freedom.\nThe colony was run by a governor appointed by the king of England. He made all\nthe laws, and there was little self-government. Sometimes the colonist were able\nto gain more freedom, (the right to elect the mayor of New York City, the chance\nto set up an assembly), but these freedoms did not last long. New York adopted\nits first state constitution in 1777. It has been rewritten several times. The\ncapital was variously located at Kingston, White Plains, Poughkeepsie, and New\nYork City before Albany was selected as the permanent site in 1797. \nReligion:\n New York was situated between the Puritan colonies of New England and the catholic\ncolony of Maryland, so the settlers were of many faiths. They had considerable\nreligious freedom. Although minorities were numerous, it can be said that\nProtestantism was the main religion in colonial New York. This was because both\nthe Dutch and the English were Protestant, and wanted their colonies to be\nProtestant too. Religion in New York during colonial times was often segregated\nand individualistic, however the fact that economic gain was the motivating\nfactor of the colony's existence, many different religious groups inherited its\npromise. \nSummary:\n *New Netherland becomes New York\n *Peter Stuyvesant was the leader, he surrenders the colony to England and the king gives it to his brother who renamed it New York\n(Brother: Duke of York)\n*Property colony Key: England wants to profit from the colony\nPeter Stuyvesant:\nPeter Stuyvesant\n(Political figure)\nPeter Stuyvesant, served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664,\nafter which it was renamed New York. \nBorn: 1612, Peperga, Netherlands\nDied: August 1672, New York City, NY\nEducation: University of Franeker\nFacts:\nFact 1- Stuyvesant had served in the West Indies as governor of one of the islands, and for his good services there was appointed, in 1647, by the Dutch West India Company as the governor of their colony of New Amsterdam.\n Fact 2- He had lost a leg in the service of the company in the West Indies, but his wooden leg has done more to preserve his fame in history than any other one thing. According to tradition, when the assembly of New Amsterdam went contrary to his wishes, he would stamp his wooden leg and roar at\nthem\n Fact 3- (Cause)\nStuyvesant brought to his work a determination to be \"as a father over his children,\" and he immediately set about trying to reform abuses with a commendable enthusiasm. His despotic character and his blunt manners, coupled with his efforts at reform, soon won him many enemies. He tried to regulate the sale of liquor, and forbade its being sold to the Indians at any time, but his orders were disregarded. He attempted to regulate the fur trade so as to give the inhabitants of New Amsterdam a monopoly of it, but smuggling became prevalent. His severity in punishing those who would not conform to the Dutch Reformed church, and his refusal to allow the people a share in the government, increased the hatred which most of the settlers felt toward\nhim.\n(Effect)\nwar arose between England and Holland and English warships appeared in New York harbor in 1664, although the city was defended by a stone fort and 20 cannon, the people refused to resist the invaders. So Stuyvesant was forced to surrender the town to the English, and New Amsterdam became New York.\n (Conclusion/Result)\nStuyvesant returned to Holland, but when the Dutch West India Company blamed him for all of their misfortunes in the New World, he returned to America and spent the rest of his life on his farm, or \"Bouwerie,\" as it was called in Dutch.\n Fact 4- Peters Stuyvesant, is an important figure in the history of New York City [earlier New Amsterdam], New York State and New Netherland. His name is still commonly used, especially in New York State, for street names, school names, building names, etc.\n Fact 5- Surprisingly, his ancestors no longer bear his name. His last direct descendant, Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant Jr. died in 1953 at age 83 in New York\nCity. A nineteenth century Stuyvesant descendant, Rutherford Stuyvesant, changed his name to Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of a will. The paucity of descendants bearing his name may have something to do with the fact that Peter Stuyvesant has been blamed for turning over New Amsterdam to the British in 1664.\nFact 6- the citizens of New Amsterdam refused to help defend the city against a fleet of British warships. As a result Stuyvesant was forced to hand the city of\nNew Amsterdam over to the British who promptly renamed it New York.\nBiography of him:",
"New Amsterdam becomes New York - Sep 08, 1664 - HISTORY.com\n... New Amsterdam becomes New York on Sep 08, 1664. ... New Amsterdam becomes New York on Sep 08, ... Called a demagogue by critics, ...\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York - Sep 08, 1664 - HISTORY.com\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\nShare this:\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\nAuthor\nNew Amsterdam becomes New York\nURL\nPublisher\nA+E Networks\nDutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland, to an English naval squadron under Colonel Richard Nicolls. Stuyvesant had hoped to resist the English, but he was an unpopular ruler, and his Dutch subjects refused to rally around him. Following its capture, New Amsterdam’s name was changed to New York, in honor of the Duke of York, who organized the mission.\nThe colony of New Netherland was established by the Dutch West India Company in 1624 and grew to encompass all of present-day New York City and parts of Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey. A successful Dutch settlement in the colony grew up on the southern tip of Manhattan Island and was christened New Amsterdam.\nTo legitimatize Dutch claims to New Amsterdam, Dutch governor Peter Minuit formally purchased Manhattan from the local tribe from which it derives it name in 1626. According to legend, the Manhattans–Indians of Algonquian linguistic stock–agreed to give up the island in exchange for trinkets valued at only $24. However, as they were ignorant of European customs of property and contracts, it was not long before the Manhattans came into armed conflict with the expanding Dutch settlement at New Amsterdam. Beginning in 1641, a protracted war was fought between the colonists and the Manhattans, which resulted in the death of more than 1,000 Indians and settlers.\nIn 1664, New Amsterdam passed to English control, and English and Dutch settlers lived together peacefully. In 1673, there was a short interruption of English rule when the Netherlands temporary regained the settlement. In 1674, New York was returned to the English, and in 1686 it became the first city in the colonies to receive a royal charter. After the American Revolution, it became the first capital of the United States.\nRelated Videos",
"Dutch and English Colonization in New England - NPS.gov\nAlthough the Netherlands only controlled the Hudson River Valley from 1609 until 1664, in that short time, Dutch ... Unlike New York City and ... today called the ...\nDutch Colonization\nDutch and English Colonization in New England\nAlthough the Netherlands only controlled the Hudson River Valley from 1609 until 1664, in that short time, Dutch entrepreneurs established New Netherland, a series of trading posts, towns, and forts up and down the Hudson River that laid the groundwork for towns that still exist today. Fort Orange, the northernmost of the Dutch outposts, is known today as Albany; New York City's original name was New Amsterdam, and the New Netherland's third major settlement, Wiltwyck, is known today as Kingston. Unlike New York City and Albany, however, where the traces of colonization can be difficult to find, in Kingston, the history of New York's Dutch colonization is quite evident.\nIn 1609, two years after English settlers established the colony of Jamestown in Virginia, the Dutch East India Company hired English sailor Henry Hudson to find a northeast passage to India. After unsuccessfully searching for a route above Norway, Hudson turned his ship west and sailed across the Atlantic. Hudson hoped to discover a \"northwest passage,\" that would allow a ship to cross the entirety of the North American continent and gain access to the Pacific Ocean, and from there, India. After arriving off the coast of Cape Cod, Hudson eventually sailed into the mouth of a large river, today called the Hudson River. Making his way as far as present-day Albany before the river became too shallow for his ship to continue north, Hudson returned to Europe and claimed the entire Hudson River Valley for his Dutch employers.\nAfter unsuccessful efforts at colonization, the Dutch Parliament chartered the \"West India Company,\" a national-joint stock company that would organize and oversee all Dutch ventures in the Western Hemisphere. Sponsored by the West India Company, 30 families arrived in North America in 1624, establishing a settlement on present-day Manhattan. Much like English colonists in Virginia, however, the Dutch settlers did not take much of an interest in agriculture, and focused on the more lucrative fur trade. In 1626, Director General Peter Minuit arrived in Manhattan, charged by the West India Company with the task of administering the struggling colony. Minuit \"purchased\" Manhattan Island from Native American Indians for the now legendary price of 60 guilders, formally established New Amsterdam, and consolidated and strengthened a fort located far up the Hudson River, named Fort Orange. The colony grew slowly, as settlers, responding to generous land-grant and trade policies, slowly spread north up the Hudson River.\nThe slow expansion of New Netherland, however, caused conflicts with both English colonists and Native Americans in the region. In the 1630s, the new Director General Wouter van Twiller sent an expedition out from New Amsterdam up to the Connecticut River into lands claimed by English settlers. Faced with the prospect of armed conflict, Twiller was forced to back down and recall the expedition, losing any claims to the Connecticut Valley. In the upper reaches of the Hudson Valley around Fort Orange, (present-day Albany) where the needs of the profitable fur trade required a careful policy of appeasement with the Iroquois Confederacy, the Dutch authorities maintained peace, but corruption and lax trading policies plagued the area. In the lower Hudson Valley, where more colonists were setting up small farms, Native Americans came to be viewed as obstacles to European settlement. In the 1630s and early 1640s, the Dutch Director Generals carried on a brutal series of campaigns against the area's Native Americans, largely succeeding in crushing the strength of the \"River Indians,\" but also managing to create a bitter atmosphere of tension and suspicion between European settlers and Native Americans.\nDirector General Peter Stuyvesant\nThe year 1640 marked a turning point for the colony. The West India Company gave up its trade monopoly, enabling other businessmen to invest in New Netherland. Profits flowed to Amsterdam, encouraging new economic activity in the production of food, timber, tobacco, and eventually, slaves. In 1647, the most successful of the Dutch Director Generals arrived in New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant found New Netherland in disarray. The previous Director General's preoccupation with the Native Americans and border conflicts with the English in Connecticut had greatly weakened other portions of colonial society. Stuyvesant became a whirlwind of activity, issuing edicts, regulating taverns, clamping down on smuggling, and attempted to wield the authority of his office upon a population accustomed to a long line of largely ineffective Director Generals.\nEventually, Stuyvesant cast his eyes upon the small settlements that had developed along the Hudson River Valley between Fort Orange and New Amsterdam. In 1652, 60-70 settlers had moved down from Fort Orange to an area where the Rondout Creek met the Hudson River, the site of present-day Kingston. The settlers farmed the fertile flood plains of the Esopus Creek side-by-side with the Esopus Indians, the original settlers of the area. Inevitably, land disputes brought the two sides to the brink of war, with both the Europeans and the Esopus Indians engaging in petty vandalism and kidnaping. In 1657, seeing the strategic practicality of a fort located halfway between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange, Director General Stuyvesant sent soldiers up from New Amsterdam to crush the Esopus Indians and help build a stockade with 40 houses for the settlers. Board by board, the settlers took their barns and houses down, and carted them uphill to a promontory bluff overlooking the Esopus Creek flood plain. They reconstructed their homes behind a 14-foot high wall made of tree trunks pounded into the ground that created a perimeter of about 1200 x 1300 feet. By day, the men left their walled village, which Director General Stuyvesant had named \"Wiltwyck,\" to go out and farm their fields, leaving the women and children largely confined within the stockade. The villagers lived this way until 1664, when a peace treaty ended the conflict with the Esopus Indians.\nOriginal layout of the Kingston Stockade\nThough no longer needed, the stockade was left standing well into the late 17th century, and wooden remnants of the wall were actually rediscovered on Clinton Ave during an archaeological dig in 1971. The streets of the original village, however, remain laid out just as they were in 1658. Although the wooden houses of original settlers are long gone, the second generation of homes, built by men like Sergeant Matthew Person , still survive. These stone houses are fine examples of 17th-century Dutch stone buildings, and 21 still stand within the original layout of the stockade, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as contributing members of the Stockade Historic District . Many of these homes began as a single room with a loft above, and gradually expanded, but the simple limestone and mortar materials hauled directly from the fields outside the stockade are still quite visible. Direct links to the age of Dutch colonization, the sturdy construction of these houses have served generations of Kingston residents, and are still in use today.\nAlthough Wiltwyck, the second large settlement established north of New Amsterdam, grew quickly, the very successes of the Stuyvesant administration put New Netherland in danger. The colony was proving quite profitable, New Amsterdam had developed into a port town of 1500 citizens, and the incredibly diverse population (only 50 percent were actually Dutch colonists) of the colony had grown from 2,000 in 1655 to almost 9,000 in 1664. \"Problems\" with Native Americans were mostly over, and stable families were slowly replacing single adventurers interested only in quick profits. New Netherland produced immense wealth for the Dutch, and other foreign nations began to envy the riches flowing out of the Hudson River Valley.\nThe Dutch lost New Netherland to the English during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1664 only a few years after the establishment of Wiltwyck. Along the West Coast of Africa, British charter companies clashed with the forces of the Dutch West India Company over rights to slaves, ivory, and gold in 1663. Less about slaves or ivory, the Anglo-Dutch Wars were actually more about who would be the dominant European naval power. By 1664, both the Dutch and English were preparing for war, and King Charles of England granted his brother, James, Duke of York, vast American territories that included all of New Netherland. James immediately raised a small fleet and sent it to New Amsterdam. Director General Stuyvesant, without a fleet or any real army to defend the colony, was forced to surrender the colony to the English war fleet without a struggle. In September of 1664, New York was born, effectively ending the Netherlands' direct involvement in North America, although in places like Kingston, the influences of Dutch architecture, planning, and folklife can still be quite clearly seen.",
"New York, United States | Article about New York, United ...\nNew York, state, United States. See also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments National Parks Name Type 1 Location Year authorized Size\nNew York, United States | Article about New York, United States by The Free Dictionary\nNew York, United States | Article about New York, United States by The Free Dictionary\nhttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/New+York%2c+United+States\nSee also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\n..... Click the link for more information.\nNew York,\nMiddle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Ontario (NW), and the province of Quebec (N).\nFacts and Figures\nArea, 49,576 sq mi (128,402 sq km). Pop. (2010) 19,378,102, a 2.1% increase since the 2000 census. Capital, Albany. Largest city, New York City. Statehood, July 26, 1788 (11th of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution). Highest pt., Mt. Marcy, 5,344 ft (1,630 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Empire State. Motto, Excelsior [Ever Upward]. State bird, bluebird. State flower, rose. State tree, sugar maple. Abbr., N.Y.; NY\nGeography\nEastern New York is dominated by the Great Appalachian Valley. Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the valley, which also includes the Hudson River. The Hudson is noted for its beauty, as are Champlain and neighboring Lake George. West of the lakes are the rugged Adirondack Mts., another major vacationland, with extensive wildernesses and sports centers like Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. Mt. Marcy (5,344 ft/1,629 m), the highest point in the state, is near Lake Placid. The rest of NE New York is hilly, sloping gradually to the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, both of which separate it from Ontario. The Mohawk River, which flows from Rome into the Hudson north of Albany Albany\n. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 16,327), Alameda co., W Calif., on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1908. The city has varied manufacturing; Tilden Regional Park is nearby.\n2 City (1990 pop. 78,122), seat of Dougherty co., SW Ga.\n..... Click the link for more information. , is part of the New York State Canal System New York State Canal System,\nwaterway system, 524 mi (843 km) long, traversing New York state and connecting the Great Lakes with the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River, and Lake Champlain.\n..... Click the link for more information. 's Erie Canal, once a major route to the Great Lakes and the midwestern United States as well as the only complete natural route through the Appalachian Mts.\nMost of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny plateau, which rises in the SE to the Catskill Mts., an area that attracts many vacationers from New York New York,\ncity (1990 pop. 7,322,564), land area 304.8 sq mi (789.4 sq km), SE N.Y., largest city in the United States and one of the largest in the world, on New York Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River.\n..... Click the link for more information. City and its environs. New York City, in turn, attracts tourists from all over the world. On the extreme SE, the state extends into the Atlantic Ocean to form Long Island Long Island\n(1990 pop. 6,861,454), 1,723 sq mi (4,463 sq km), 118 mi (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 mi (19–32 km) wide, SE N.Y.; fourth largest island of the United States and the largest outside Alaska and Hawaii.\n..... Click the link for more information. , which is separated from Connecticut on the N by Long Island Sound.\nThe western extension of the state to Lakes Ontario and Erie contains many bodies of water, notably Oneida Lake and the celebrated Finger Lakes. In the northwest the Niagara River, with scenic Niagara Falls Niagara Falls,\nin the Niagara River, W N.Y. and S Ont., Canada; one of the most famous spectacles in North America. The falls are on the international line between the cities of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ont.\n..... Click the link for more information. , forms the border with Ontario between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The western region has resorts as well as large, traditionally industrial cities such as Buffalo Buffalo,\ncity (1990 pop. 328,123), seat of Erie co., W N.Y., on Lake Erie and the Niagara and Buffalo rivers; inc. 1832. With more than 37 mi (60 km) of waterfront, it is a major commercial and industrial port and railroad hub.\n..... Click the link for more information. on Lake Erie, Rochester Rochester\n. 1 City (1990 pop. 70,745), seat of Olmsted co., SE Minn.; inc. 1858. It is a farm trade center, and its industries include printing and publishing, food processing, machinery, fabricated metal products, computers and electronic equipment, and construction\n..... Click the link for more information. on Lake Ontario, Syracuse Syracuse\n, city (1990 pop. 163,860), seat of Onondaga co., central N.Y., on Onondaga Lake and the Erie Canal; settled c.1788, inc. as a city 1848. It is a port of entry, and its many manufactures include electrical and electronic equipment, automobile and aircraft parts,\n..... Click the link for more information. , and Utica Utica,\ncity (1990 pop. 68,637), seat of Oneida co., central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal, in a large dairy region; inc. 1862. It is a port of entry, and its manufactures include electrical, electronic, and consumer goods; transportation and medical equipment;\n..... Click the link for more information. . The western section is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact Delaware River Basin Compact\n, providing for the utilization and development of the water resources of the Delaware River basin. In 1961 the federal government and the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York agreed to form a partnership in a 100-year building\n..... Click the link for more information. , signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system.\nIn addition to the great forest preserves of the Adirondacks and Catskills, New York has many state parks, among them Jones Beach State Park and Allegany State Park. Part of Fire Island, which lies off Long Island, is a national seashore. The racetrack at Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs,\nresort and residential city (1990 pop. 25,001), Saratoga co., E N.Y.; inc. as a village 1826, as a city 1915. Skidmore College is the largest source of employment, but the city also has light manufacturing.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a pleasure and health resort, and the Thousand Islands Thousand Islands,\na group of more than 1,800 islands and 3,000 shoals in the St. Lawrence River, E of Lake Ontario, N N.Y. and S Ont., stretching c.50 mi (80 km) along the U.S.-Canada line. Most of the islands are in Canada; Wolfe Island, Ont.\n..... Click the link for more information. in the St. Lawrence River are popular with summer vacationers. Among the places of historic interest in the state under federal administration (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\n..... Click the link for more information. , table) are those at Hyde Park Hyde Park,\ntown (1990 pop. 21,230), Dutchess co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River; settled c.1740. It is famous as the site of the Roosevelt estate, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt was born and is buried.\n..... Click the link for more information. , with the burial place of Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Vanderbilt Mansion. Albany is the capital; New York City is the largest city, followed by Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse.\nEconomy\nSchenectady Schenectady\n, city (1990 pop. 65,566), seat of Schenectady co., E central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and Erie Canal; founded 1661 by Arent Van Curler, inc. 1798. The General Electric Company was established there in 1892, but its presence waned in the late 20th cent.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Albany, and New York City, once the major industrial cities of the lower Mohawk and the Hudson, continue their long-time manufacturing decline. Except in the mountain regions, the areas between cities are rich agriculturally. The Finger Lakes Finger Lakes,\ngroup of 11 narrow glacial lakes in north to south valleys, W central N.Y. Cayuga and Seneca lakes, both more than 35 mi (56 km) long, are the largest and deepest. Keuka Lake is the center of the area's wine industry, the largest in New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. region has orchards producing apples, one of New York's leading crops; vineyards here and on Long Island make the state famous for its wines. The state produces other, diverse crops, especially grapes, strawberries, cherries, pears, onions, and potatoes (grown especially on E Long Island); maple syrup is extracted, and New York is the third leading U.S. producer of dairy goods. New York's mineral resources include crushed stone, cement, salt, and zinc.\nThe state has a complex system of railroads, air routes, and modern highways, notably the New York State Thruway. The New York State Canal System, an improvement of the old Erie Canal Erie Canal,\nartificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the level of the river and that of Lake Erie.\n..... Click the link for more information. , is now mainly used for recreational travel; the Hudson and some other rivers still carry freight. Ocean shipping is handled by the port of New York City and, to a much lesser extent, by Buffalo. Hydroelectricity for N New York is produced by the St. Lawrence power project and by the Niagara power project, which began producing in 1961.\nIn spite of significant decline, New York has retained some important manufacturing industries, and, by virtue of New York City, it has strengthened is position as a commercial and financial leader. Although the largest percentage of the state's jobs lie in the service sector, its manufactures are extremely diverse and include printed materials, apparel, food products, machinery, chemicals, paper, electrical equipment (notably at Schenectady), computer equipment (Poughkeepsie), optical instruments and cameras (Rochester), sporting goods, and transportation equipment.\nPrinting and publishing, mass communications, advertising, and entertainment are among New York City's notable industries. Long Island has aircraft plants (although these have declined sharply since the 1970s) and Brookhaven National Laboratory, a research center. Many corporate headquarters and research facilities have relocated in Westchester co., N of New York City. Some commercial fishing is pursued in Lakes Erie and Ontario and in the waters around Long Island. The state has c.18,775,000 acres (7,294,000 hectares) of forest, but forestry is no longer a major industry.\nGovernment, Politics, and Higher Education\nUnder its present constitution (adopted 1894), New York is run by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term and may be reelected, and by a bicameral legislature made up of a 61-member senate and a 150-member assembly. Republican George Pataki Pataki, George Elmer\n, 1945–, U.S. politician, b. Peekskill, N.Y. He graduated from Yale Univ. (1967) and Columbia Law School (1970). A Republican, Pataki served as mayor of Peekskill (1981–84) and in the New York assembly (1985–92) and senate (1992–94).\n..... Click the link for more information. was elected governor in 1994, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Mario Cuomo Cuomo, Mario Matthew\n, 1932–2014, American politician, b. New York City. The son of an immigrant grocer, Cuomo attended St. John's Univ., was admitted to the New York bar in 1956, and attracted attention after successfully mediating (1972) a local housing dispute.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and was reelected in 1998 and 2002. He did not run in 2006, when Democrat Eliot Spitzer Spitzer, Eliot Laurence,\n1959–, U.S. lawyer and politician, b. Riverdale, N.Y., grad. Princeton (B.A. 1981), Harvard Law School (J.D. 1984). A Democrat, he practiced corporate law before serving (1986–92) as assistant New York State district attorney for Manhattan\n..... Click the link for more information. won the office. Spitzer resigned in 2008 after being linked to a prostitute; Lieutenant Governor David Paterson Paterson, David Alexander,\n1954–, American politician, the first African-American governor of New York (2008–11), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1977), Hofstra Law School (J.D., 1982).\n..... Click the link for more information. succeeded him, becoming the state's first African-American governor. Andrew Cuomo Cuomo, Andrew Mark\n, 1957–, American politician, b. Queens, N.Y., grad. Fordham Univ. (1979), Albany Law School (1982). The son of Mario Cuomo, he was (1982) a key operative on his father's campaign staff and later a policy adviser to Governor Cuomo.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Democrat and Mario Cuomo's son, was elected to succeed Paterson in 2010; he was reeelected in 2014. Members of both branches of the legislature are elected to two-year terms. The state has 2 U.S. senators and 27 representatives and has 29 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a significant drop from its 41 votes in 1970).\nApart from New York City (see separate articles for educational and cultural institutions in New York City and its boroughs), institutions of higher education in the state include Alfred Univ., Bard College, Colgate Univ., Cornell, Hobart College, Iona Univ., Long Island Univ., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, Skidmore College, Syracuse Univ., the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, Univ. of Rochester, Vassar College, and Wells College. The State Univ. of New York has major campuses at Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo.\nHistory\nThe Algonquians and the Iroquois\nBefore Europeans began to arrive in the 16th cent., New York was inhabited mainly by Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans. The Algonquians, including the Mohegan, Lenni Lenape, and Wappinger tribes, lived chiefly in the Hudson valley and on Long Island. The Iroquois, living in the central and western parts of the state, included the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca tribes, who joined c.1570 to form the Iroquois Confederacy Iroquois Confederacy\nor Iroquois League\n, North American confederation of indigenous peoples, initially comprising the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.\n..... Click the link for more information. .\nFrench and Dutch Claims\nEuropeans first approached New York from both the sea and from Canada. Giovanni da Verrazzano Verrazzano, Giovanni da\n, c.1480–1527?, Italian navigator and explorer, in the service of France, possibly the first European to enter New York Bay. Sailing west to reach Asia, Verrazzano explored (1524) the North American coast probably from North Carolina to Maine.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Florentine in the service of France, visited (1524) the excellent harbor of New York Bay but did little exploring. In 1609, Samuel de Champlain Champlain, Samuel de\n, 1567–1635, French explorer, the chief founder of New France.\nAfter serving in France under Henry of Navarre (King Henry IV) in the religious wars, Champlain was given command of a Spanish fleet sailing to the West Indies, Mexico, and the\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Frenchman, traveled S on Lake Champlain from Canada, and Henry Hudson Hudson, Henry,\nfl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless.\n..... Click the link for more information. , an Englishman in the service of the Dutch, sailed the Hudson nearly to Albany. The French, who had allied themselves with the Hurons of Ontario, continued to push into N and W New York from Canada, but met with resistance from the Iroquois Confederacy, which dominated W New York.\nThe Dutch early claimed the Hudson region, and the Dutch West India Company Dutch West India Company,\ntrading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded.\n..... Click the link for more information. (chartered in 1621, organized in 1623) planted (1624) their colony of New Netherland, with its chief settlements at New Amsterdam on the lower tip of present-day Manhattan island (purchased in 1626 from the Canarsie tribe for goods worth about 60 Dutch guilders) and at Fort Nassau, later called Fort Orange (present-day Albany). To increase the slow pace of colonization the Dutch set up the patroon system in 1629, thus establishing the landholding aristocracy that became the hallmark of colonial New York. The last and most able of the Dutch administrators, Peter Stuyvesant Stuyvesant, Peter\n, c.1610–1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding Willem Kieft in New Netherland.\n..... Click the link for more information. (in office 1647–64), captured New Sweden for the Dutch in 1655.\nAn English Colony\nThe English, claiming the whole region on the basis of the explorations of John Cabot Cabot, John,\nfl. 1461–98, English explorer, probably b. Genoa, Italy. He became a citizen of Venice in 1476 and engaged in the Eastern trade of that city. This experience, it is assumed, was the stimulus of his later explorations.\n..... Click the link for more information. , made good their claim in the Second Dutch War (1664–67). In 1664 an English fleet sailed into the harbor of New Amsterdam, and Stuyvesant surrendered without a struggle. New Netherland then became the colonies of New York and New Jersey, granted by King Charles II Charles II,\n1630–85, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1660–85), eldest surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. Early Life\nPrince of Wales at the time of the English civil war, Charles was sent (1645) to the W of England with his council,\n..... Click the link for more information. to his brother, the duke of York (later James II James II,\n1633–1701, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1685–88); second son of Charles I, brother and successor of Charles II. Early Life\n..... Click the link for more information. ). Except for brief recapture (1673–74) by the Dutch, New York remained English until the American Revolution American Revolution,\n1775–83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called the American War of Independence.\n..... Click the link for more information. .\nAfter the early days of the colony, the popular governor Thomas Dongan Dongan, Thomas\n, 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), he called (1683) a legislative assembly; measures, known as the Charter of Liberties and\n..... Click the link for more information. (1683–88) put New York on a firm basis and began to establish the alliance of the English with the Iroquois, which later played an important part in New York history. The attempt in 1688 to combine New York and New Jersey with New England under the rule of Sir Edmund Andros Andros, Sir Edmund\n, 1637–1714, British colonial governor in America, b. Guernsey. As governor of New York (1674–81) he was bitterly criticized for his high-handed methods, and he was embroiled in disputes over boundaries and duties (see New Jersey), going so far as\n..... Click the link for more information. was a failure, turning almost all the colonists against him. The threat of the French was continuous, and New York was involved in a number of the French and Indian Wars French and Indian Wars,\n1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1689–1763). The friendship of Sir William Johnson Johnson, Sir William,\n1715–74, British colonial leader in America, b. Co. Meath, Ireland. He settled (1738) in the Mohawk valley, became a merchant, and gained great power among the Mohawk and other Iroquois. He acquired large landed properties, founded (1762) Johnstown, N.\n..... Click the link for more information. with some of the Iroquois aided the British in the warfare and also opened part of central New York to settlers, mainly from the British Isles. Frequent warfare hindered growth, however, and much of W New York remained unsettled by colonists throughout the 18th cent.\nSlowly, however, the colony, with its busy shipping and fishing fleets, its expanding farms, and its first college (King's College, founded in 1754, now Columbia Univ.), was beginning to establish its own identity, separate from that of England. Colonial self-assertiveness grew after the warfare with the French ended; there was considerable objection to the restrictive commercial laws, and the Navigation Acts Navigation Acts,\nin English history, name given to certain parliamentary legislation, more properly called the British Acts of Trade. The acts were an outgrowth of mercantilism, and followed principles laid down by Tudor and early Stuart trade regulations.\n..... Click the link for more information. were flouted by smuggling. When the Stamp Act Stamp Act,\n1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers\n..... Click the link for more information. was passed, New York was a leader of the opposition, and the Stamp Act Congress met (1765) in New York City. The policies of Lt. Gov. Cadwallader Colden Colden, Cadwallader\n, 1688–1776, colonial scholar and political leader of New York, b. Ireland, of Scottish parents. After studying medicine in London, Colden arrived (1710) in Philadelphia to practice.\n..... Click the link for more information. , who did not oppose the Stamp Act, occasioned considerable complaint, and unrest grew.\nRevolution and a New Constitution\nAs troubles flared and escalated into the American Revolution, New Yorkers were divided in their loyalties. About one third of all the military engagements of the American Revolution took place in New York state. The first major military action in the state was the capture (May, 1775) of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen Allen, Ethan,\n1738–89, hero of the American Revolution, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, and promoter of the independence and statehood of Vermont, b. Litchfield (?), Conn.\n..... Click the link for more information. and his Green Mountain Boys Green Mountain Boys,\npopular name of armed bands formed (c.1770) under the auspices of Ethan Allen in the Green Mountains of what is today Vermont. Their purpose was to prevent the New Hampshire Grants, as Vermont was then known, from becoming part of New York, to which it had\n..... Click the link for more information. and Benedict Arnold Arnold, Benedict,\n1741–1801, American Revolutionary general and traitor, b. Norwich, Conn. As a youth he served for a time in the colonial militia in the French and Indian Wars. He later became a prosperous merchant.\n..... Click the link for more information. . Crown Point was also taken. In Aug., 1776, however, George Washington Washington, George,\n1732–99, 1st President of the United States (1789–97), commander in chief of the Continental army in the American Revolution, called the Father of His Country. Early Life\nHe was born on Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11, 1731, O.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. was unable to hold lower New York against the British under Gen. William Howe Howe, William Howe, 5th Viscount,\n1729–1814, English general in the American Revolution; younger brother of Admiral Richard Howe.\n..... Click the link for more information. and lost the battle of Long Island, as he did the succeeding actions at Harlem Heights (Sept. 16) and White Plains (Oct. 28).\nThe British invested New York City and held it to the war's end. The state had, however, declared independence and functioned with Kingston Kingston.\n1 City (1990 pop. 23,095), seat of Ulster co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River at the mouth of Rondout Creek; inc. as a village 1805, and as a city through the union (1872) of Kingston and Rondout.\n..... Click the link for more information. as its capital, George Clinton Clinton, George,\nc.1686–1761, colonial governor of New York (1743–53), b. England; father of Sir Henry Clinton. He entered (1708) the British navy and rose to the rank of admiral in 1747.\n..... Click the link for more information. as its first governor, and John Jay Jay, John,\n1745–1829, American statesman, 1st chief justice of the United States, b. New York City, grad. King's College (now Columbia Univ.), 1764. He was admitted (1768) to the bar and for a time was a partner of Robert R. Livingston.\n..... Click the link for more information. as its first chief justice. In 1777 New York was the key to the overall British campaign plan, which was directed toward taking the entire state and thus separating New England from the South. This failed finally (Oct., 1777) in the battles near the present-day resort of Saratoga Springs (see Saratoga campaign Saratoga campaign,\nJune–Oct., 1777, of the American Revolution. Lord George Germain and John Burgoyne were the chief authors of a plan to end the American Revolution by splitting the colonies along the Hudson River.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), generally considered as the decisive action of the war, partly because France was now persuaded to join the war on the side of the Colonies.\nThe British alliance with the Iroquois resulted in widespread violence in the frontier portion of the state. After the devastation of two Iroquois villages, the Iroquois and British responded with the massacre at Cherry Hill (1778). For the rest of the war there was more or less a stalemate, with the British occupying New York City, the patriots holding most of the rest of the state, and Westchester co. disputed ground. In 1780 Benedict Arnold failed in his attempt to betray West Point.\nThe influence of Alexander Hamilton Hamilton, Alexander,\n1755–1804, American statesman, b. Nevis, in the West Indies. Early Career\nHe was the illegitimate son of James Hamilton (of a prominent Scottish family) and Rachel Faucett Lavien (daughter of a doctor-planter on Nevis and the estranged\n..... Click the link for more information. was paramount in bringing New York to accept (1788) the Constitution of the United States at a convention in Poughkeepsie. Other leaders, however, mostly from the landed aristocracy (such as John Jay and Gouverneur Morris), were also powerful. Hamilton, Jay, and James Madison Madison, James,\n1751–1836, 4th President of the United States (1809–17), b. Port Conway, Va. Early Career\nA member of the Virginia planter class, he attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), graduating in 1771.\n..... Click the link for more information. wrote The Federalist Federalist, The,\nseries of 85 political essays, sometimes called The Federalist Papers, written 1787–88 under the pseudonym \"Publius.\" Alexander Hamilton initiated the series with the immediate intention of persuading New York to approve the Federalist Constitution.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a series of essays, to promote ratification. New York City was briefly (1789–90) the capital of the new nation and was also the state capital until 1797, when Albany succeeded it. Political dissension between the Federalists and the Jeffersonians was particularly keen in New York state, and Aaron Burr Burr, Aaron,\n1756–1836, American political leader, b. Newark, N.J., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton). Political Career\nA brilliant law student, Burr interrupted his study to serve in the American Revolution and proved himself a valiant soldier in\n..... Click the link for more information. had much to do with swinging the state to Jefferson.\nLand Speculation and Commercial Development\nBy the end of the war many Loyalists had left New York; the emigrants included former large landowners whose holdings had been seized by the legislature. After the war speculation in W New York land (some newly acquired by quieting Massachusetts claims) rose to dizzying heights. The eastern boundary of the state was established after long wrangles and violence when Vermont was admitted as a state in 1791.\nFrom the 1780s increased commerce (somewhat slowed by the Embargo Act of 1807 Embargo Act of 1807,\npassed Dec. 22, 1807, by the U.S. Congress in answer to the British orders in council restricting neutral shipping and to Napoleon's restrictive Continental System. The U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and industry, especially textile milling, marked the turn away from the old, primarily agricultural, order. It was on the Hudson that Robert Fulton Fulton, Robert,\n1765–1815, American inventor, engineer, and painter, b. near Lancaster, Pa. He was a man remarkable for his many talents and his mechanical genius.\n..... Click the link for more information. demonstrated (1807) his steamboat. In the War of 1812 New York saw action in 1813–14, with the British capture of Fort Niagara and particularly with the brilliant naval victory of Thomas Macdonough Macdonough, Thomas\n, 1783–1825, American naval officer, b. New Castle co., Del. In the Tripolitan War he took part in the burning of the captured Philadelphia and the attack on the Tripolitan gunboats.\n..... Click the link for more information. over the British on Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh.\nThe state continued its development, which was quickened and broadened by the building of the Erie Canal. The canal, completed in 1825, and railroad lines constructed (from 1831) parallel to it made New York the major East-West commercial route in the 19th cent. and helped to account for the growth and prosperity of the port of New York. Cities along the canal (Buffalo, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, and Schenectady) prospered. Albany grew, and New York City, whose first bank had been established by Hamilton in 1784, became the financial capital of the nation.\nPolitical, Reform, and Cultural Movements\nNew constitutions broadened the suffrage in 1821 and again in 1846; slavery was abolished in 1827. Politics was largely controlled from the 1820s to the 40s by the Albany Regency Albany Regency,\nname given, after 1820, to the leaders of the first political machine, which was developed in New York state by Martin Van Buren. The name derived from the charge that Van Buren's principal supporters, residing in Albany, managed the machine for him while he\n..... Click the link for more information. , which favored farmers, artisans, and small businessmen. Martin Van Buren Van Buren, Martin,\n1782–1862, 8th President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kinderhook, Columbia co., N.Y. Early Career\nHe was reared on his father's farm, was educated at local schools, and after reading law was admitted (1803) to the bar.\n..... Click the link for more information. was the regency's chief figure. The regency's control was challenged by the business-oriented Whigs, led by Thurlow Weed Weed, Thurlow\n, 1797–1882, American journalist and political leader, b. Cairo, N.Y. After working on various newspapers in W New York, Weed joined the Rochester Telegraph and was influential as a supporter of John Quincy Adams.\n..... Click the link for more information. and William H. Seward Seward, William Henry,\n1801–72, American statesman, b. Florida, Orange co., N.Y. Early Career\nA graduate (1820) of Union College, he was admitted to the bar in 1822 and established himself as a lawyer in Auburn, N.Y., which he made his lifelong home.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and by the Anti-Masonic party Anti-Masonic party,\nAmerican political organization that rose after the disappearance in W New York state in 1826 of William Morgan. A former Mason, Morgan had written a book purporting to reveal Masonic secrets.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The rise of tension between the reform-minded Locofocos Locofocos\n, name given in derision to the members of a faction that split off from the Democratic party in New York in 1835. Tension had been growing between radical Democrats, who believed that Andrew Jackson's war against the national bank should be extended to state banks and\n..... Click the link for more information. and the Tammany Tammany\nor Tammany Hall,\npopular name for the Democratic political machine in Manhattan. Origins\nAfter the American Revolution several patriotic societies sprang up to promote various political causes and economic interests.\n..... Click the link for more information. organization in New York City weakened the Democratic party in the 1830s. After the panic of 1837, Seward was governor (1839–52), and his Whig program included internal improvements, educational reform, and opposition to slavery.\nNew York was a leader in numerous 19th-century reform groups. Antislavery groups made their headquarters in New York. In 1848 the first women's rights convention in the United States met in Seneca Falls.\nEarly in its history New York state emerged as one of the cultural leaders of the nation. In the early 19th cent. Washington Irving Irving, Washington,\n1783–1859, American author and diplomat, b. New York City. Irving was one of the first Americans to be recognized abroad as a man of letters, and he was a literary idol at home.\n..... Click the link for more information. and William Cullen Bryant Bryant, William Cullen\n, 1794–1878, American poet and newspaper editor, b. Cummington, Mass. The son of a learned and highly respected physician, Bryant was exposed to English poetry in his father's vast library.\n..... Click the link for more information. , leaders of the famed Knickerbocker School of writers, and James Fenimore Cooper Cooper, James Fenimore,\n1789–1851, American novelist, b. Burlington, N.J., as James Cooper. He was the first important American writer to draw on the subjects and landscape of his native land in order to create a vivid myth of frontier life.\n..... Click the link for more information. were among the country's foremost literary figures. The natural beauty of New York inspired the noted Hudson River school Hudson River school,\ngroup of American landscape painters, working from 1825 to 1875. The 19th-century romantic movements of England, Germany, and France were introduced to the United States by such writers as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper.\n..... Click the link for more information. of American landscape painters. With New England's decline as a literary center, many writers came to New York City from other parts of the nation, helping to make it a literary and publishing center and the cultural heart of the country.\nImmigration and Civil War\nMigrants from New England had been settling on the western frontier, and in the 1840s famine and revolution in Europe resulted in a great wave of Irish and German immigrants, whose first stop in America was usually New York City. In 1850, Millard Fillmore Fillmore, Millard,\n1800–1874, 13th President of the United States (July, 1850–Mar., 1853), b. Locke (now Summer Hill), N.Y. Because he was compelled to work at odd jobs at an early age to earn a living his education was irregular and incomplete.\n..... Click the link for more information. became the second New Yorker to be President of the United States; the first was Martin Van Buren (1837–41). The split of the Democrats over the slavery issue into antislavery Barnburners Barnburners,\nradical element of the Democratic party in New York state from 1842 to 1848, opposed to the conservative Hunkers. The name derives from the fabled Dutchman who burned his barn to rid it of rats; by implication, the Barnburners would destroy corporations and public\n..... Click the link for more information. and the Hunkers Hunkers,\nconservative faction of the Democratic party in New York state in the 1840s, so named because they were supposed to \"hanker\" or \"hunker\" after office. In opposition to them stood the radical Democrats, or Barnburners.\n..... Click the link for more information. , who were not opposed to the extension of slavery, helped pave the way for New York's swing to the Republicans and Abraham Lincoln Lincoln, Abraham\n, 1809–65, 16th President of the United States (1861–65). Early Life\nBorn on Feb. 12, 1809, in a log cabin in backwoods Hardin co., Ky. (now Larue co.), he grew up on newly broken pioneer farms of the frontier.\n..... Click the link for more information. in the fateful election of 1860.\nDespite the draft riots draft riots,\nin the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 were liable to military service, but a drafted man who furnished an acceptable\n..... Click the link for more information. (1863) in New York City and the activities of the Peace Democrats, New York state strongly favored the Union and contributed much to its cause in the Civil War. Industrial development was stimulated by the needs of the military, and railroads increased their capacity. New York City's newspapers, notably the Tribune under the guidance of Horace Greeley Greeley, Horace,\n1811–72, American newspaper editor, founder of the New York Tribune, b. Amherst, N.H. Early Life\nHis irregular schooling, ending at 15, was followed by a four-year apprenticeship (1826–30) on a country weekly at East Poultney, Vt.\n..... Click the link for more information. , had considerable national influence, and after the war the publication of periodicals and books centered more and more in the city, whose libraries expanded. From 1867 to 1869, Cornelius Vanderbilt Vanderbilt, Cornelius,\n1794–1877, American railroad magnate, b. Staten Island, N.Y. As a boy he ferried freight and passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan, and he soon gained control of most of the ferry lines and other short lines in the vicinity of New York City.\n..... Click the link for more information. consolidated the New York Central RR system.\nPolitical Corruption and the Labor Movement\nAs economic growth accelerated, political corruption became rampant. Samuel J. Tilden Tilden, Samuel Jones,\n1814–86, American political figure, Democratic presidential candidate in 1876, b. New Lebanon, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1841, Tilden was an eminently successful lawyer, with many railroad companies as clients.\n..... Click the link for more information. won a national reputation in 1871 for prosecuting the Tweed Ring of New York City, headed by William Marcy \"Boss\" Tweed Tweed, William Marcy,\n1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an alderman (1852–53) and sat (1853–55) in Congress.\n..... Click the link for more information. , but Tammany soon recovered much of its prestige and influence as the Democratic city organization. The Republican party also had bosses, notably Roscoe Conkling Conkling, Roscoe,\n1829–88, American politician, b. Albany, N.Y. On his admission to the bar in 1850, he was immediately appointed district attorney of Albany. The son of Alfred Conkling, Congressman and federal judge, he became a U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. and Thomas Collier Platt Platt, Thomas Collier,\n1833–1910, American legislator and political boss, b. Owego, N.Y. He was president of the Tioga County National Bank and had acquired considerable commercial interests by the time he served in the U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and the split between Democratic New York City and Republican upstate widened. New Yorkers Chester A. Arthur Arthur, Chester Alan,\n1829–86, 21st President of the United States (1881–85), b. Fairfield, Vt. He studied law and before the Civil War practiced in New York City. In the war he was (1861–63) quartermaster general of New York State.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1881–85) and Grover Cleveland Cleveland, Grover\n(Stephen Grover Cleveland), 1837–1908, 22d (1885–89) and 24th (1893–97) President of the United States, b. Caldwell, N.J.; son of a Presbyterian clergyman.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1885–89, 1893–97) served as Presidents of the United States in the late 19th cent.\nAfter 1880 the inpouring of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe brought workers for the old industries, which were expanding, and for the new ones, including the electrical and chemical industries, which were being established. Labor conditions worsened but were challenged by the growing labor movement, whose targets included sweatshops (particularly notorious in New York City). Muckrakers muckrakers,\nname applied to American journalists, novelists, and critics who in the first decade of the 20th cent. attempted to expose the abuses of business and the corruption in politics.\n..... Click the link for more information. were particularly vociferous in New York in the late 19th and early 20th cent. Service as New York City's police commissioner and then as a reform-oriented governor of the state helped Theodore Roosevelt Roosevelt, Theodore,\n1858–1919, 26th President of the United States (1901–9), b. New York City. Early Life and Political Posts\nOf a prosperous and distinguished family, Theodore Roosevelt was educated by private tutors and traveled widely.\n..... Click the link for more information. establish the national reputation that sent him to the vice presidency and then to the White House (1901–9). A fire in 1911 at the Triangle Waist Company Triangle Waist Company,\noften called the Triangle Shirtwaist Co., manufacturers of women's cotton and linen blouses. Located in lower Manhattan in the early 20th cent., on Mar. 25, 1911 it was the site of New York City's worst factory fire.\n..... Click the link for more information. in Manhattan that killed 146 workers resulted in the passage of early health, fire safety, and labor laws including the Widowed Mothers Pension Act.\nNew York since 1912\nThe Democrats returned to power in the state in 1912, and subsequently New York seesawed from one party to the other. The reform programs continued to gain ground, however, and Democratic state administrations between World War I and II—those of Alfred E. Smith Smith, Alfred Emanuel,\n1873–1944, American political leader, b. New York City. Reared in poor surroundings, he had no formal education beyond grade school and took various jobs—including work in the Fulton fish market—to help support his family.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1918–20, 1922–28), Franklin D. Roosevelt Roosevelt, Franklin Delano\n, 1882–1945, 32d President of the United States (1933–45), b. Hyde Park, N.Y. Early Life\nThrough both his father, James Roosevelt, and his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, he came of old, wealthy families.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1928–32), and Herbert H. Lehman Lehman, Herbert Henry\n, 1878–1963, American political leader, b. New York City. At first an executive of a textile firm, he became (1908) a partner in the family banking house of Lehman Brothers.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1932–42)—presided over a wide variety of reform measures. The reform programs emphasized public works, conservation, reorganization of state finances, social welfare, and extensive labor laws. Four years after Smith's defeat in the 1928 presidential election, Roosevelt went to the White House. Lehman followed Roosevelt's national New Deal New Deal,\nin U.S. history, term for the domestic reform program of the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt; it was first used by Roosevelt in his speech accepting the Democratic party nomination for President in 1932.\n..... Click the link for more information. program by instituting the Little New Deal in New York state. At the same time Fiorello LaGuardia LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry\n, 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Arizona with his father, an army bandmaster who had come from Italy to the United States.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Republican mayor of New York City (1934–45), enthusiastically supported Roosevelt's social and economic reforms.\nThe Republican party returned to power in the state in 1942 with the election of Thomas E. Dewey Dewey, Thomas Edmund,\n1902–71, American political figure, governor (1943–55) of New York, b. Owosso, Mich. Admitted (1925) to the bar, Dewey practiced law and in 1931 became chief assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. as governor (reelected 1946, 1950). Dewey had the immense task of coordinating state activities with national efforts in World War II, straining New York's resources to the utmost. He also built upon the reforms of his predecessors, extending social and antidiscrimination legislation, and won a reputation for effectiveness that made him twice (1944 and 1948) the Republican presidential nominee.\nDuring the governorship (1959–73) of Nelson Rockefeller Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich,\n1908–79, U.S. public official, governor of New York (1959–73), Vice President of the United States (1974–77), b. Bar Harbor, Maine; grandson of John D. Rockefeller.\n..... Click the link for more information. , a Republican, state social-welfare programs and the State Univ. of New York were expanded, and a large state office and cultural complex was built in Albany. New York's growth slowed from the 1970s, though, as the state lost its dominant position in U.S. manufacturing, and the older cities lost businesses and residents to suburbs or to other states.\nBibliography\nSee A. C. Flick, A History of The State of New York (10 vol., 1933–37; repr. 10 vol. in 5, 1962); D. M. Ellis, A History of New York State (1967); E. Wilson, Upstate: Records and Recollections of Northern New York (1971); W. Smith, The History of The Province of New York, ed. by M. Karnmen (1972); J. H. Thompson, ed., The Geography of New York State (rev. ed. 1977); T. Gergel, The Encyclopedia of New York (1983); N. White, New York: A Physical History (1987); D. Stradling, The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State (2010).\nSee also: National Parks and Monuments (table) National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\n..... Click the link for more information. . Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,\nin central Manhattan, New York City, between 62d and 66th streets W of Broadway. Lincoln Center is both a complex of buildings and the arts organizations that reside there.\n..... Click the link for more information. is a complex of buildings housing the Metropolitan Opera Company Metropolitan Opera Company,\nterm used in referring collectively to the organizations that have produced opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City. The original house, at West 39th Street and Broadway, was built by members of New York society who could not be\n..... Click the link for more information. , the New York Philharmonic New York Philharmonic,\ndating from 1842, the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. The orchestra as it now exists is the result of the merger of the Philharmonic Society of New York with the National Symphony Orchestra (1921), the City Symphony (1923), and finally the\n..... Click the link for more information. , the New York City Ballet New York City Ballet\n(NYCB), one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th and 21st cents. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946.\n..... Click the link for more information. , and the Juilliard School Juilliard School, The\n, in New York City; school of music, drama, and dance; coeducational; est. 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art, chartered 1926 as the Juilliard School of Music with two separate units—the Juilliard Graduate School (1924) and Institute of Musical Art.\n..... Click the link for more information. . Also in the city are Carnegie Hall and New York City Center, featuring performances by musical and theatrical companies.\nAmong the best known of the city's many museums and scientific collections are the Metropolitan Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art,\nNew York City, founded in 1870. The Metropolitan Museum is the foremost repository of art in the United States and one of the world's great museums. It opened in 1880 on its present site on Central Park facing Fifth Ave.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Museum of Modern Art Museum of Modern Art\n(MoMA), New York City, established and incorporated in 1929. It is privately supported. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., was its first director. Operating at first in rented galleries, the museum specialized in loan shows of contemporary European and American art.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Guggenheim Museum,\nofficially Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, major museum of modern art in New York City. Founded in 1939 as the Museum of Non-objective Art, the Guggenheim is known for its remarkable circular building (1959) with curving interior ramp designed by Frank Lloyd\n..... Click the link for more information. (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright), the Frick Collection (housed in the Frick mansion), the Whitney Museum of American Art Whitney Museum of American Art,\nin New York City, founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with a core group of 700 artworks, many from her own collection. The museum was an outgrowth of the Whitney Studio (1914–18), the Whitney Studio Club (1918–28), and the\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Neue Galerie, the Museum of the City of New York, the Museum of Jewish Heritage–a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History,\nincorporated in New York City in 1869 to promote the study of natural science and related subjects. Buildings on its present site facing Central Park were opened in 1877.\n..... Click the link for more information. (with the Hayden Planetarium), the museum and library of the New-York Historical Society New-York Historical Society,\nNew York City. Founded in 1804, the society is a repository of art, artifacts, and literature relating to American, especially New York, history.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Brooklyn Museum (see Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences,\ncultural and educational institution founded in 1823 in Brooklyn, N.Y., as the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association. The scope was broadened in 1843 and the name changed to The Brooklyn Institute.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), and the Paley Center for Media Paley Center for Media,\nAmerican archive of radio and television programs, and forum for the discussion of the role and evolution of electronic media as well as the intersections of media and society; opened New York City as the Museum of Broadcasting 1976, renamed the Museum of\n..... Click the link for more information. . The New York Public Library New York Public Library,\nfree library supported by private endowments and gifts and by the city and state of New York. It is the one of largest libraries in the world. The library was created by a 1895 law consolidating older reference libraries established by bequests of John\n..... Click the link for more information. is the largest in the United States. Major educational institutions include the City Univ. of New York (see New York, City Univ. of New York, City University of\n(CUNY), at New York City; created in 1961 by combining the city's 17 municipal colleges. It includes Bernard M. Baruch College (1919; specializes in business studies), Brooklyn College (1930), City College (1847; the oldest member college), the\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Columbia Univ. Columbia University,\nmainly in New York City; founded 1754 as King's College by grant of King George II; first college in New York City, fifth oldest in the United States; one of the eight Ivy League institutions.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Cooper Union Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art,\naccredited institution of higher education; in New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened in 1859. Founded by Peter Cooper, it pioneered in evening engineering and art schools; day schools were added in 1900.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Fordham Univ. Fordham University\n, in New York City; Jesuit; coeducational; founded as St. John's College 1841, chartered as a university 1846; renamed 1907. Fordham College for men and Thomas More College for women merged in 1974. The university has an antiquities museum.\n..... Click the link for more information. , General Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, New School Univ. New School University,\nin New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened 1919 as the New School for Social Research, a center for adult education, renamed 1997. Founded by Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen, John Dewey, and others, it originally emphasized classes for adults\n..... Click the link for more information. , New York Univ. New York University,\nmainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining four main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the Institute\n..... Click the link for more information. , and Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York,\nnondenominational, coeducational Christian seminary; opened 1836, chartered 1839. Originally Presbyterian, Union Theological Seminary has been free of denominational control since the early 1890s.\n..... Click the link for more information. . A center for medical treatment and research, New York has more than 130 hospitals and several medical schools. Noted hospitals include Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital,\nmunicipal hospital, in New York City. America's oldest public hospital, Bellevue developed from a \"Publick Workhouse and House of Correction\" commissioned in 1734.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Mt. Sinai Hospital (part of Mt. Sinai NYU Health), and New York–Presbyterian Hospital (encompassing Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and New York Weill Cornell Medical Center). Among New York's noted houses of worship are Trinity Church, St. Paul's Chapel (dedicated 1776), Saint Patrick's Cathedral Saint Patrick's Cathedral,\nNew York City, largest Roman Catholic church in the United States. The Gothic building at Fifth Ave. between 50th and 51st St. replaces an earlier cathedral at Mott St.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (see Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of,\nNew York City, the world's largest Gothic cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral was begun in 1892 in the Byzantine-Romanesque style after designs by G. L. Heins and C. Grant La Farge.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Riverside Church, and Temple Emanu-El.\nNew York's parks and recreation centers include parts of Gateway National Recreation Area (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments\nNational Parks\nName Type1 Location Year authorized Size\nacres (hectares)\nAcadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.\n..... Click the link for more information. , table); Central Park Central Park,\n840 acres (340 hectares), the largest park in Manhattan, New York City; bordered by 59th St. on the south, Fifth Ave. on the east, 110th St. on the north, and Central Park West on the west.\n..... Click the link for more information. , the Battery, Washington Square Park, Riverside Park, and Fort Tryon Park (with the Cloisters Cloisters, the,\nmuseum of medieval European art, in Fort Tryon Park, New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was opened to the public in May, 1938.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) in Manhattan; the New York Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo) and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx; Coney Island Coney Island\n, beach resort, amusement center, and neighborhood of S Brooklyn borough of New York City, SE N.Y., on the Atlantic Ocean. The tidal creek that once separated the island from the mainland has been filled in, making the area a peninsula.\n..... Click the link for more information. (with a boardwalk, beaches, and an aquarium) and Prospect Park in Brooklyn; and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park (the site of two World's Fairs, two museums, a botanic garden, and a zoo) in Queens. Sports events are held at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, home to the Knickerbockers (basketball) and Rangers (hockey); at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, home to the Yankees (baseball); at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, home to the Nets (basketball); and at Citi Field, home to the Mets (baseball), and the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, home to the U.S. Open (tennis), in Queens. In the suburbs are the homes of the Islanders (hockey; in Uniondale, Long Island) and the Giants and the Jets (football; at the Meadowlands, in East Rutherford, N.J.).\nOther places of interest are Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center,\ncomplex of buildings in central Manhattan, New York City, between 48th and 51st streets and Fifth Ave. and the Ave. of the Americas (Sixth Ave.). The project was sponsored by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., with fourteen of the buildings built between 1931 and 1939.\n..... Click the link for more information. ; Battery Park City; Greenwich Village Greenwich Village\n, residential district of lower Manhattan, New York City, extending S from 14th St. to Houston St. and W from Washington Square to the Hudson River. North of the main settlement of New York City in colonial times, in the 1830s it became an exclusive residential\n..... Click the link for more information. , with its cafés and restaurants; and Times Square Times Square,\nin New York City. Formed by the intersection of Broadway, Seventh Ave., and 42d St., this famous square was named (1904) for the building there that formerly belonged to the New York Times.\n..... Click the link for more information. , with its lights and theaters. Of historic interest are Fraunces Tavern (built 1719), where Washington said farewell to his officers after the American Revolution; Gracie Mansion (built late 18th cent.), now the official mayoral residence; the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage; and Grant's Tomb.\nHistory\nThe Colonial Period\nAlthough Giovanni da Verrazzano Verrazzano, Giovanni da\n, c.1480–1527?, Italian navigator and explorer, in the service of France, possibly the first European to enter New York Bay. Sailing west to reach Asia, Verrazzano explored (1524) the North American coast probably from North Carolina to Maine.\n..... Click the link for more information. was probably the first European to explore the region and Henry Hudson Hudson, Henry,\nfl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless.\n..... Click the link for more information. certainly visited the area, it was with Dutch settlements on Manhattan and Long Island that the city truly began to emerge. In 1624 the colony of New Netherland New Netherland,\nterritory included in a commercial grant by the government of Holland to the Dutch West India Company in 1621. Colonists were settled along the Hudson River region; in 1624 the first permanent settlement was established at Fort Orange (now Albany, N.Y.).\n..... Click the link for more information. was established, initially on Governors Island, but the town of New Amsterdam New Amsterdam,\nDutch settlement at the mouth of the Hudson River and on the southern end of Manhattan island; est. 1624. It was the capital of the colony of New Netherland from 1626 to 1664, when it was captured by the British and renamed New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. on the lower tip of Manhattan was soon its capital. Peter Minuit Minuit, Peter\n, c.1580–1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing\n..... Click the link for more information. of the Dutch West India Company Dutch West India Company,\ntrading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded.\n..... Click the link for more information. supposedly bought the island from its Native inhabitants for 60 Dutch guilders worth of merchandise (the sale was completed in 1626). Under the Dutch, schools were opened and the Dutch Reformed Church was established. The indigenous population was forced out the area of European settlement in a series of bloody battles.\nIn 1664 the English, at war with the Netherlands (see Dutch Wars Dutch Wars,\nseries of conflicts between the English and Dutch during the mid to late 17th cent. The wars had their roots in the Anglo-Dutch commercial rivalry, although the last of the three wars was a wider conflict in which French interests played a primary role.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), seized the colony for the duke of York, for whom it was renamed. Peter Stuyvesant Stuyvesant, Peter\n, c.1610–1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding Willem Kieft in New Netherland.\n..... Click the link for more information. was replaced by Richard Nicolls Nicolls, Richard,\n1624–72, first English governor of New York, b. Bedfordshire, England. He served in the English civil war as a royalist and followed the Stuarts into exile, where he entered the service of the duke of York (later King James II).\n..... Click the link for more information. as governor, and New York City became the capital of the new British province of New York. The Dutch returned to power briefly (1673–74) before the reestablishment of English rule. A liberal charter, which established the Common Council as the main governing body of the city, was granted under Thomas Dongan Dongan, Thomas\n, 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), he called (1683) a legislative assembly; measures, known as the Charter of Liberties and\n..... Click the link for more information. in 1686 and remained in effect for many years. English rule was not, however, without dissension, and the autocratic rule of British governors was one of the causes of an insurrection that broke out in 1689 under the leadership of Jacob Leisler Leisler, Jacob\n, 1640–91, leader of an insurrection (1689–91) in colonial New York, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He immigrated to America in 1660 as a penniless soldier, married a wealthy widow, and became a trader in New York.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The insurrection ended in the execution of Leisler by his enemies in 1691. In 1741 there was further violence when an alleged plot by African-American slaves to burn New York was ruthlessly suppressed.\nThroughout the 18th cent. New York was an expanding commercial and cultural center. The city's first newspaper, the New York Gazette, appeared in 1725. The trial in 1735 of John Peter Zenger Zenger, John Peter\n, 1697–1746, American journalist, b. Germany. He emigrated to America in 1710 and was trained as a printer by William Bradford (1663–1752).\n..... Click the link for more information. , editor of a rival paper, was an important precedent for the principle of a free press. The city's first institution of higher learning, Kings College (now Columbia Univ.), was founded in 1754.\nThe Revolution through the Nineteenth Century\nNew York was active in the colonial opposition to British measures after trouble in 1765 over the Stamp Act Stamp Act,\n1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers\n..... Click the link for more information. . As revolutionary sentiments increased, the New York Sons of Liberty Sons of Liberty,\nsecret organizations formed in the American colonies in protest against the Stamp Act (1765). They took their name from a phrase used by Isaac Barré in a speech against the Stamp Act in Parliament, and were organized by merchants, businessmen, lawyers,\n..... Click the link for more information. forced (1775) Gov. William Tryon and the British colonial government from the city. Although many New Yorkers were Loyalists, Continental forces commanded by George Washington tried to defend the city. After the patriot defeat in the battle of Long Island (see Long Island, battle of Long Island, battle of,\nAug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island, George Washington sent part of his small army to defend Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and the succeeding actions at Harlem Heights and White Plains, Washington gave up New York, and the British occupied the city until the end of the war for independence. Under the British occupation two mysterious fires (1776 and 1778) destroyed a large part of the city. After the Revolution New York was briefly (1785–90) the first capital of the United States and was the state capital until 1797. President Washington was inaugurated (Apr. 30, 1789) at Federal Hall.\nNew development was marked by such events as the founding (1784) of the Bank of New York under Alexander Hamilton and the beginning of the stock exchange around 1790. By 1790 New York was the largest city in the United States, with over 33,000 inhabitants; by 1800 the number had risen to 60,515. In 1811 plans were adopted for the laying out of most of Manhattan on a grid pattern. The opening of the Erie Canal Erie Canal,\nartificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the level of the river and that of Lake Erie.\n..... Click the link for more information. (1825), ardently supported by former Mayor De Witt Clinton Clinton, De Witt\n, 1769–1828, American statesman, b. New Windsor, N.Y.; son of James Clinton. He was admitted (1790) to the New York bar but soon became secretary to his uncle, George Clinton, first governor of the state, and in that position (1790–95) gained\n..... Click the link for more information. , made New York City the seaboard gateway for the Great Lakes region, ushering in another era of commercial expansion. The New York and Harlem RR was built in 1832. In 1834 the mayor of New York became an elective office. In the next year a massive fire destroyed much of Lower Manhattan, but it brought about new building laws and the construction of the Croton water system.\nBy 1840 New York had become the leading port of the nation. A substantial Irish and German immigration after 1840 dramatically changed the character of urban life and politics in the city. The coming of the Civil War found New Yorkers unusually divided; many shared Mayor Fernando Wood Wood, Fernando,\n1812–81, American politician, b. Philadelphia. He became a successful shipping merchant in New York City and a leader of Tammany Hall. Wood was elected mayor in 1854 and was reelected in 1856, but he displeased the other Tammany leaders in dispensing\n..... Click the link for more information. 's Southern sympathies, but under the leadership of Gov. Horatio Seymour most supported the Union. However, in 1863 the draft riots draft riots,\nin the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 were liable to military service, but a drafted man who furnished an acceptable\n..... Click the link for more information. broke out in protest against the federal Conscription Act. The rioters—many of whom were Irish and other recent immigrants—directed most of their anger against African Americans. Extensive immigration had begun before the Civil War, and after 1865, with the acceleration of industrial development, another wave of immigration began and reached its height in the late 19th and early 20th cent. As a result of this immigration, which was predominantly from E and S Europe, the city's population reached 3,437,000 by 1900 and 7 million by 1930. New York's many distinct neighborhoods, divided along ethnic and class lines, included such notorious slums as Five Points, Hell's Kitchen, and the Lower East Side. They were often side by side with such exclusive neighborhoods as Gramercy Park or Brooklyn Heights.\nMunicipal politics were dominated by the Democratic party, which was dominated by Tammany Hall (see Tammany Tammany\nor Tammany Hall,\npopular name for the Democratic political machine in Manhattan. Origins\nAfter the American Revolution several patriotic societies sprang up to promote various political causes and economic interests.\n..... Click the link for more information. ) and the Tweed Ring, led by William M. Tweed Tweed, William Marcy,\n1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an alderman (1852–53) and sat (1853–55) in Congress.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The first of many scandalous disclosures about the city's political life came in 1871, leading to Tweed's downfall. Although not always victorious, Tammany was the center of New York City politics until 1945.\nUntil 1874, when portions of Westchester were annexed, the city's boundaries were those of present-day Manhattan. With the adoption of a new charter in 1898, New York became a city of five boroughs—New York City was split into the present Manhattan and Bronx boroughs, and the independent city of Brooklyn was annexed, as were the western portions of Queens co. and Staten Island. The opening of the first subway line (1903) and other means of mass transportation spurred the growth of the outer boroughs, and this trend has continued into the 1990s. The Flatiron Building (1902) foreshadowed the skyscrapers that today give Manhattan its famed skyline.\nLater History\nIn the 20th cent., New York City was served by such mayors as Seth Low Low, Seth,\n1850–1916, American political reformer and college president, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia, 1870. He entered his father's tea and silk importing firm, but became interested in politics and was reform mayor of the city of Brooklyn for two terms\n..... Click the link for more information. , William J. Gaynor Gaynor, William Jay,\n1849–1913, U.S. political leader, mayor of New York City, b. Oneida co., N.Y. He rose to prominence as a civic reformer in Brooklyn and, as justice of the New York supreme court (1893–1909), continued to oppose municipal graft.\n..... Click the link for more information. , James J. Walker Walker, James John,\n1881–1946, American politician, b. New York City. Dapper and debonair, Jimmy Walker, having tried his hand at song writing, engaged in Democratic politics and in 1909 became a member of the state assembly. After studying law at St.\n..... Click the link for more information. (whose resignation was brought about by the Seabury investigation), Fiorello H. LaGuardia LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry\n, 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Arizona with his father, an army bandmaster who had come from Italy to the United States.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (see under Robert Ferdinand Wagner Wagner, Robert Ferdinand\n, 1877–1953, American legislator, b. Germany. He arrived with his family in the United States in 1885 and grew up in poor surroundings in New York City.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), Abraham Beame Beame, Abraham David,\n1906–2001, American politician, mayor of New York City (1974–77), b. London. Beame, who grew up on New York's Lower East Side, was city budget director (1952–61). A Democrat, he was elected to two terms as city comptroller (1961, 1969).\n..... Click the link for more information. , John V. Lindsay Lindsay, John Vliet\n, 1921–2000, American politician, mayor of New York City (1966–73), b. New York City. He practiced law and then served (1955–57) as executive assistant to Attorney General Herbert Brownell. A liberal Republican, he was elected to the U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. , Edward I. Koch Koch, Edward Irving\n, 1924–2013, U.S. politician, mayor of New York City (1977–89), b. New York City. After receiving his law degree (New York Univ., 1948), he practiced as a lawyer, became active in reform Democratic politics, and later served on the New York city\n..... Click the link for more information. , David Dinkins Dinkins, David Norman,\n1927–, African-American political leader, b. Trenton, N.J. After graduating (1956) from Brooklyn Law School, he went into private law practice.\n..... Click the link for more information. (New York City's first African-American mayor), and Rudolph Giuliani Giuliani, Rudolph William\n, 1944–, American government official, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He attended Manhattan College and studied law at New York Univ. In the Justice Dept. as associate deputy attorney general (1975–77), associate attorney general (1981–83), and U.S.\n..... Click the link for more information. . The need for regional planning resulted in the nation's first zoning legislation (1916) and the formation of such bodies as the Port of New York Authority (1921; now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,\nself-sustaining public corporation established in 1921 by the states of New York and New Jersey to administer the activities of the New York–New Jersey port area, which has a waterfront of c.900 mi (1,450 km) lying in both states.\n..... Click the link for more information. ), the Regional Plan Association (1929), the Municipal Housing Authority (1934), and the City Planning Commission (1938).\nAfter World War II, New York began to experience the problems that became common to most large U.S. cities, including increased crime, racial and ethnic tensions, homelessness, a movement of residents and companies to the suburbs and the resulting diminished tax base, and a deteriorating infrastructure that hurt city services. These problems were highlighted in the city's near-bankruptcy in 1975. A brief but spectacular boom in the stock and real estate markets in the 1980s brought considerable wealth to some sectors. By the early 1990s, however, corporate downsizing, the outward movement of corporate and back office centers, a still shrinking industrial sector, and the transition to a service-oriented economy meant the city was hard hit by the national recession.\nIn the late 1990s the city capitalized on its strengths to face a changing economic environment. While the manufacturing base continued to dwindle, the survivors were flexible and, increasingly, specialized companies that custom-tailored products or focused on local customers. Foreign markets were targeted by the city's financial, legal, communications, and other service industries. The city also saw the birth of a strong high-technology sector. Budget cuts in the mid-1990s reduced basic services, but a strong national economy and, especially, a rising stock market had restored vigor and prosperity by the end of the 20th cent.\nThe destruction of the World Trade Center World Trade Center,\nformer building complex in lower Manhattan, New York City, consisting of seven buildings and a shopping concourse on a 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site; it was destroyed by a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.\n..... Click the link for more information. , formerly the city's tallest building, as a result of a terrorist attack (Sept., 2001) was the worst disaster in the city's history, killing more than 2,700 people. In addition to the wrenching horror of the attack and the blow to the city's pride, New York lost some 10% of its commercial office space and faced months of cleanup and years of reconstruction. The crisis brought national prominence and international renown to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who provided the city with a forceful and calming focus in the weeks after the attack. Michael R. Bloomberg Bloomberg, Michael Rubens,\n1942–, American businessman and politician, mayor of New York City (2002–), b. Boston, Mass. Bloomberg studied at Johns Hopkins (B.S., 1964) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1966).\n..... Click the link for more information. , a moderate Republican, succeeded Giuliani as mayor in 2002. In 2012 low-lying areas of the city's boroughs suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy's storm surge. In 2014, Bill de Blasio de Blasio, Bill,\n1961–, American politician, b. New York City as Warren Wilhelm, Jr., B.A New York Univ., 1984, M.A. Columbia, 1987. A liberal Democrat, de Blasio worked in the New York City government and in election campaigns, including serving as Hillary Clinton's\n..... Click the link for more information. , a populist and liberal Democrat, became mayor.\nBibliography\nSee I. N. P. Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island (6 vol., 1915–28, repr. 1967); R. G. Albion, The Rise of New York Port, 1815–1860 (1939); J. A. Kouwenhoven, Columbia Historical Portrait of New York (1953, repr. 1972); N. Glazer and D. P. Moynihan, Beyond the Melting Pot (1963); E. R. Ellis, The Epic of New York City (1966); R. A. Caro, The Power Broker (1975); D. Hammack, Power and Society (1982); Federal Writers' Project, WPA Guide to New York City (repr. 1982); J. Kieran, A Natural History of New York (1982); J. Charyn, Metropolis (1987); R. A. M. Stern et al., New York 1960 (1995); E. G. Burrows and M. Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (1998); H. Adam, New York: Architecture & Design (2003); A. S. Dolkart and M. A. Postal, Guide to New York City Landmarks (3d ed. 2003); R. Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World (2004); J. Brash, Bloomberg's New York (2011); S. H. Jaffe, New York at War (2012); M. B. Williams, City of Ambition (2013); G. Koeppel, City on a Grid: How New York Became New York (2015); K. T. Jackson, ed., The Encyclopedia of New York City (2d ed. 2010).\nNew York (State) State Information\nPhone: (518) 474-2121\nFeb 21, 2011 ; Feb 20, 2012 ; Feb 18, 2013 ; Feb 17, 2014 ; Feb 16, 2015 ; Feb 15, 2016 ; Feb 20, 2017 ; Feb 19, 2018 ; Feb 18, 2019 ; Feb 17, 2020 ; Feb 15, 2021 ; Feb 21, 2022 ; Feb 20, 2023\nNew York\n1. a city in SE New York State, at the mouth of the Hudson River: the largest city and chief port of the US; settled by the Dutch as New Amsterdam in 1624 and captured by the British in 1664, when it was named New York; consists of five boroughs (Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Richmond) and many islands, with its commercial and financial centre in Manhattan; the country's leading commercial and industrial city. Pop.: 8 085 742 (2003 est.)\n2. a state of the northeastern US: consists chiefly of a plateau with the Finger Lakes in the centre, the Adirondack Mountains in the northeast, the Catskill Mountains in the southeast, and Niagara Falls in the west. Capital: Albany. Pop.: 19 190 115 (2003 est.). Area: 123 882 sq. km (47 831 sq. miles)",
"Peter Minuit | Dutch colonial governor | Britannica.com\nDutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam who is mainly remembered for his fabulous purchase of Manhattan Island ... Peter Minuit , Minuit also ... for in January 1626 ...\nPeter Minuit | Dutch colonial governor | Britannica.com\nDutch colonial governor\nMichael Bloomberg\nPeter Minuit, Minuit also spelled Minnewit (born c. 1580, Wesel, Kleve [Germany]—died June 1638, Caribbean Sea ), Dutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam who is mainly remembered for his fabulous purchase of Manhattan Island (the nucleus of New York City ) from the Indians for trade goods worth a mere 60 guilders.\nMinuit, detail of a painting by an unknown artist\nCourtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.\nThough probably of French or Walloon ancestry, Minuit wrote in Dutch (Netherlandic) and was a deacon in the local Dutch Church in his hometown of Wesel (now in Germany ). In 1625 he left Wesel, perhaps in flight from the Spanish who had occupied the town, and from Holland he sailed to the Dutch colony of New Netherland. He apparently returned to Holland the same year, for in January 1626 he sailed westward again, arriving at the mouth of the Hudson River on May 4, 1626. On September 23 the Dutch West India Company named him director general of the colony on Manhattan. To legitimize European occupation of the territory, he met with Indian sachems (variously characterized by historians as having belonged to the Lenape , Delaware, Munsee, or Algonquin people) and persuaded them to transfer “ownership” (a concept that was foreign to Native Americans when relating to land) of the entire island to the settlers. According to legend , the “purchase” was made for glass beads. Glass beads were an important trading item, but while the deal almost certainly involved trade goods, there is no historical evidence that beads were used. Historical records, on the other hand, indicate that the island was purchased for “the value of 60 guilders” (with the often-cited equivalance of $24 first introduced in an account from 1846). On the southern tip he founded New Amsterdam , building a fort around which the early Dutch settlers could make their homes.\nThe Purchase of Manhattan Island, by Alfred Fredericks, c. 1910.\nThree Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images\nIn 1631 Governor Minuit was recalled to Holland, presumably for granting privileges to the patroons at the expense of the Dutch West India Company. A few years later he entered Swedish service and was given command of two vessels of mainly Swedish colonists, who established (March 1638) New Sweden —the first settlement on the Delaware River . There Minuit again purchased land—extending indefinitely westward from the Delaware River between Bombay Hook and the mouth of the Schuylkill River —from the Indians and built Fort Christina (later Wilmington), named for the child queen-elect of Sweden , Christina . On a trading expedition soon after to the island of Saint Christopher (now Saint Kitts and Nevis ) in the West Indies , Minuit was lost at sea in a hurricane.\nLearn More in these related articles:",
"History_of_New_York_City_(prehistory–1664).txt\nHistory of New York City (prehistory–1664)\nThe history of New York City was influenced by the prehistoric geological formation during the last ice age of the territory that is today New York City. The area was long inhabited by the Lenape; after initial European exploration in the 16th century, the Dutch established New Amsterdam in 1626. In 1664, the English conquered the area and renamed it New York.\n\nHuman prehistory \n\nArchaeological excavations indicate that the first humans settled the area as early as 9,000 years ago. The area was abandoned, however, possibly because the warming climate of the region lead to the local extinction of many larger game species upon which the early inhabitants depended for food.\n\nA second wave of inhabitants entered the region approximately 3,000 years ago and left behind more advanced hunting implements such as bows and arrows. The remains of approximately 80 such early encampments have been found throughout the city. The region has probably remained continually inhabited from that time.\n\nBy the time of the arrival of Europeans, the Lenape were cultivating fields of vegetation through the slash and burn technique. This extended the productive life of planted fields. They also harvested vast quantities of fish and shellfish from the bays of the area, and, in southern New Jersey, harvested clams year-round. The success of these methods allowed the tribe to maintain a larger population than nomadic hunter-gatherers could support. Scholars have estimated that at the time of European settlement, there may have been about 15,000 Lenape total in approximately 80 settlement sites around much of the New York City area, alone. In 1524 Lenape in canoes met Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor.\n\nDutch settlement\n\nIn 1613, the Dutch established a trading post on the western shore of Manhattan Island in the area of present Church Street where the WTC was located; this is the beginning of a global financial center, obtaining thus a commercial spirit from its very humble beginnings.\n\nAmong its first settlers were Christiaan Hendriksen (who could be considered as a founder of New York City) and Jan Rodrigues the first black man to live in the city.\n\nIn 1614 the New Netherland company was established and consequently they settled a second fur trading post in what is today Albany, called Fort Nassau. This is considered one of the oldest capital cities in the US.\n\nIt was not until 1623, however, that the Dutch interests in the area were other than commercial and under the auspices of the newly formed Dutch West India Company they built Fort Amsterdam in 1624, a crude fortification that stood on the location of the present Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House on Bowling Green. The fort was designed mainly to protect the company's trading operations further upriver from attack by other European powers. Within a year, a small settlement, called New Amsterdam had grown around the fort, with a population that included mostly the garrison of company troops, as well as a contingent of Walloon, French and Flemish huguenot families who were brought in primarily to farm the nearby land of lower Manhattan and supply the company operations with food. Sarah Rapalje (b.1625) was the first European born in the future New York City. Later in 1626, Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island and Staten Island from native people in exchange for trade goods. \n\nThe Dutch took heavy advantage of the Native American reliance on wampum as a trading medium by exchanging cheap European-made metal tools for beaver pelts. By using such tools, the Natives greatly increased the rate of production of wampum, debasing its value for trade. Lenape men abandoned hunting and fishing for food in favor of beaver trapping. Moreover, the Dutch themselves began manufacturing their own wampum with superior tools in order to further dominate the trading network among themselves and the Natives (a practice undertaken by the settlers in New England as well). As a result of this increase, beavers were largely trapped out in the Five Boroughs within two decades, leaving the Lenape largely dependent on the Dutch. As a result, the Native population declined drastically throughout the 17th century through a combination of disease, starvation, and outward migration.\n\nAs the beaver trade increasingly shifted to Upstate New York, New Amsterdam became an increasingly important trading hub for the coast of North America. Since New Netherland was a trading operation, and not viewed as colonization enterprise for transplanting Dutch culture, the directors of New Netherland were largely unconcerned with the ethnic and racial balance of the community. The economic activity brought in a wide variety of ethnic groups to the fledgling city during the 17th century, including Spanish, Jews, and Africans, some of them as slaves.\n\nThe Dutch origins can still be seen in many names in New York City, such as Coney Island (from \"Konijnen Eiland\" – Dutch for \"Rabbit Island\"), Bowery from bouwerij (modern Dutch boerderij = \"farm\"), Brooklyn (from Breukelen), Harlem from Haarlem (formalized in 1658 as Nieuw Haarlem), Greenwich Village (from Greenwijck, meaning \"pine wood quarter\"), Flushing (from Vlissingen) and Staten Island (from \"Staaten Eylandt\").\n\nWillem Kieft became director general in 1638, but five years later was embroiled in Kieft's War against the Native Americans. The Pavonia Massacre, across the Hudson River in present-day Jersey City resulted in the death of eighty natives in February 1643. Following the massacre, eleven Algonquian tribes joined forces and nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent additional forces to the aid of Kieft, which took part in the overwhelming defeat of the Native Americans, leading to a peace treaty on August 29, 1645 to end the war. \n\nThe island of Manhattan was in some measure self-selected as a future metropolis by its extraordinary natural harbor formed by New York Bay (actually the drowned lower river valley of the Hudson River, enclosed by glacial moraines), the East River (actually a tidal strait) and the Hudson River, all of which are confluent at the southern tip, from which all later development spread. Also of prime importance was the presence of deep fresh water aquifers near the southern tip, especially the Collect Pond, and an unusually varied geography ranging from marshland to large outcrops of Manhattan schist, an extremely hard metamorphic rock that is ideal as an anchor for the foundations of large buildings.\n\nArrival of the English\n\nIn 1664, English ships entered Gravesend Bay, in modern Brooklyn and troops marched to capture the ferry across the East River to the city, with minimal resistance: the governor at the time, Peter Stuyvesant, was unpopular with the residents of the city. Articles of Capitulation 1664 were drawn up, the Dutch West India Company's colors were struck on September 8, 1664, and the soldiers of the garrison marched to the East River for the trip home to the Netherlands. The date of 1664 appeared on New York City's corporate seal until 1975, when the date was changed to 1625 to reflect the year of Dutch incorporation as a city and to incidentally allow New York to celebrate its 350th anniversary just 11 years after its 300th.\n\nThe English renamed the colony New York, after the king's brother James, Duke of York and on June 12, 1665 appointed Thomas Willett the first of the mayors of New York. The city grew northward, remaining the largest and most important city in the colony of New York.",
"Peter Minuit Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia ...\nPeter Minuit. Peter Minuit (1580 ... I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498 ... Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans ...\nPeter Minuit facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Peter Minuit\nCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc.\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit (1580-1638) was director general of the New Netherland colony in America and founder of New Amsterdam. He later became first governor of New Sweden.\nOf Huguenot Walloon descent, Peter Minuit was born in Wesel on the German Rhine. Growing up in his native city and apparently becoming a merchant there, he was deacon in the local Dutch Reformed congregation. In 1624 Spanish troops occupied Wesel; Minuit fled to Holland and then to the Dutch West India Company's American colony of New Netherland. In 1625 he was appointed to the governor's council of William Verhulst, but he soon returned to Amsterdam. Early 1626 found him once more in the colony, perhaps only as supercargo for the company; yet on September 23 the New Netherland council deposed Verhulst and proclaimed Minuit his successor.\nPresumably Minuit had not planned to stay in America, for he sent for his wife only after his appointment as first director general. One of his earliest official acts was to convene Indian leaders of the region and to purchase Manhattan Island from them for trinkets valued at $24. This gave the company a semblance of legality for its occupation of the island, and its New Netherland headquarters was moved to Manhattan.\nUpon completing a fort, warehouse, and mill, Minuit made his town of New Amsterdam the concentration point for scattered Dutch settlements in the colony. When regular church services commenced at New Amsterdam in 1628, Minuit and his brother-in-law (the company's storekeeper) served pastor Jonas Michaëlius as elders.\nMissing records limit historical information on Minuit's administrative activities. It is known he opened both diplomatic and commercial relations with Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1627. He also became involved in a bitter quarrel with Johan Van Remunde, secretary of the company in New Netherland; Michaëlius sided with the secretary and soon attacked Minuit as hypocritical, cruel, and dishonest. Both Minuit and Remunde were recalled to Holland for an investigation. After prolonged inquiry Minuit was discharged while Remunde returned to the colony.\nMinuit retired to Emmerich, Duchy of Cleves. But in 1635 a company director recommended him to Sweden's chancellor as ideally qualified to establish a colony in America on the Delaware River. A meeting at The Hague (1637) resulted in the formation of a Swedish trading and colonizing company. Minuit, present at the organizational session, provided one-eighth of the 24,000 guilders capital.\nDeparting in late autumn with two shiploads of Swedish and Finnish colonists, Minuit reached Delaware Bay in March 1638. Late that month, having purchased a tract along the right bank of the river from neighboring Indian chiefs, he proclaimed \"New Sweden\" and erected Ft. Christina (present-day Wilmington). After completing the fort and leaving a subordinate in charge, Minuit sailed in June 1638 to the Caribbean to trade for tobacco. Visiting a Dutch merchantman in St. Christopher, he was drowned when a hurricane struck the island.\nFurther Reading\nData concerning Minuit are scattered and incomplete. For his life in New Netherland the best authorities are J. Franklin Jameson, ed., Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (1909); I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909, vol. 1 (1915); and Albert Eckhof, Jonas Michaëlius: Founder of the Church in New Netherland (1926). There is some account of his role in New Sweden in Amandus Johnson, The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware, vol. 1 (1911), and Christopher Ward, New Sweden on the Delaware (1938). □\nCite this article\nPick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.\nMLA\nThe Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.\nCopyright The Columbia University Press\nPeter Minuit (mĬn´yōōĬt), c.1580–1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing 60 Dutch guilders and made New Amsterdam (later New York City) its center. Dismissed by the company in 1631, he later entered into negotiations with the Swedes and headed (1638) the group sent out to found New Sweden . He was lost in a hurricane in the West Indies.\nCite this article",
"Pilgrim_Fathers.txt\nPilgrim Fathers\nThe Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers were early European settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. The Pilgrims' leadership came from the religious congregations of Brownist English Dissenters who had fled the volatile political environment in England for the relative calm and tolerance of 16th–17th century Holland in the Netherlands. The Pilgrims held Calvinist religious beliefs similar to the Puritans but, unlike many Puritans, maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. As a separatist group, they were also concerned that they might lose their English cultural identity if they emigrated to the Netherlands, so they arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America. The colony was established in 1620 and became the second successful English settlement in North America (after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607). The Pilgrims' story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and culture of the United States.\n\nBy this time, non-English European colonization of the Americas was also under way in New Netherland, New France, Essequibo, Colonial Brazil, Barbados, the Viceroyalty of Peru, and New Spain.\n\nHistory\n\nSeparatists in Scrooby\n\nThe core of the group that came to be known as the Pilgrims were brought together between 1586 and 1605 by a common belief in the ideas promoted by Richard Clyfton, a Brownist parson at All Saints' Parish Church in Babworth, near East Retford, Nottinghamshire. This congregation held Separatist beliefs comparable to nonconforming movements (i.e., groups not in communion with the Church of England) led by Robert Browne, John Greenwood, and Henry Barrowe. Separatists held that their differences with the Church of England were irreconcilable and that their worship should be organized independently of the trappings, traditions, and organization of a central church—unlike the Puritan group, who maintained their membership in and allegiance to the Church of England. \nWilliam Brewster, a former diplomatic assistant to the Netherlands, was living in the Scrooby manor house, serving as postmaster for the village and bailiff to the Archbishop of York. He had been favorably impressed by Clyfton's services, and had begun participating in Separatist services led by John Smyth in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. \n\nThe Separatists had long been controversial. Under the 1559 Act of Uniformity, it was illegal not to attend official Church of England services (unless the church was a signatory to the allegiance to the Church of England, as the Puritan church was, for example), with a fine of one shilling (£0.05; about £ today)\nfor each missed Sunday and holy day. The penalties for conducting unofficial services included imprisonment and larger fines. Under the policy of this time, Barrowe and Greenwood were executed for sedition in 1593.\n\nDuring much of Brewster's tenure (1595–1606), the Archbishop was Matthew Hutton. He displayed some sympathy to the Puritan cause, writing to Robert Cecil, Secretary of State to James I in 1604:\n\nThe Puritans though they differ in Ceremonies and accidentes, yet they agree with us in substance of religion, and I thinke all or the moste parte of them love his Majestie, and the presente state, and I hope will yield to conformitie. But the Papistes are opposite and contrarie in very many substantiall pointes of religion, and cannot but wishe the Popes authoritie and popish religion to be established. \n\nIt had been hoped, when James came to power, that a reconciliation would be possible which allowed independence, but the Hampton Court Conference of 1604 denied substantially all the concessions requested by Puritans, save for an English translation of the Bible. Following the Conference in 1605, Clyfton was declared a nonconformist and stripped of his position at Babworth. Brewster invited Clyfton to live at his home.\n\nUpon Hutton's death in 1606, Tobias Matthew was appointed as his replacement. Matthew was one of James' chief supporters at the 1604 conference, \nand he promptly began a campaign to purge the archdiocese of nonconforming influences, both Separatists and those wishing to return to the Catholic faith. Disobedient clergy were replaced, and prominent Separatists were confronted, fined, and imprisoned. He is credited with driving recusants out of the country, those who refused to attend Anglican services. \n\nAt about the same time, Brewster arranged for a congregation to meet privately at the Scrooby manor house. Services were held beginning in 1606, with Clyfton as pastor, John Robinson as teacher, and Brewster as the presiding elder. Shortly thereafter, Smyth and members of the Gainsborough group moved on to Amsterdam. \nBrewster is known to have been fined £20 (about £ today) in absentia for his non-compliance with the church. \nThis followed his September 1607 resignation from the postmaster position, \nabout the time that the congregation had decided to follow the Smyth party to Amsterdam. \n\nScrooby member William Bradford of Austerfield kept a journal of the congregation's events that later was published as Of Plymouth Plantation. Of this time, he wrote:\n\nBut after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them. For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett & watcht night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and ye most were faine to flie & leave their howses & habitations, and the means of their livelehood.\n\nLeiden\n\nIn Leiden, Holland, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, they lived in small houses behind the \"Kloksteeg\", opposite the Pieterskerk.\nThe success of the congregation in Leiden was mixed. Leiden was a thriving industrial center, \nand many members were well able to support themselves working at Leiden University or in the textile, printing, and brewing trades. Others were less able to bring in sufficient income, hampered by their rural backgrounds and the language barrier; for those, accommodations were made on an estate bought by Robinson and three partners. \n\nOf their years in Leiden, Bradford wrote:\n\nFor these & other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair & bewtifull citie, and of a sweete situation, but made more famous by ye universitie wherwith it is adorned, in which of late had been so many learned man. But wanting that traffike by sea which Amerstdam injoyes, it was not so beneficiall for their outward means of living & estats. But being now hear pitchet they fell to such trads & imployments as they best could; valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above any other riches whatsoever. And at length they came to raise a competente & comforteable living, but with hard and continuall labor. \n\nBrewster had been teaching English at the university, and Robinson enrolled in 1615 to pursue his doctorate. There, he participated in a series of debates, particularly regarding the contentious issue of Calvinism versus Arminianism (siding with the Calvinists against the Remonstrants). See the Synod of Dort.\nBrewster acquired typesetting equipment about 1616 in a venture financed by Thomas Brewer, and began publishing the debates through a local press. \n\nThe Netherlands was, however, a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine. Their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed by. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there.\n\nDecision to leave Holland\n\nBy 1617, the congregation was stable and relatively secure, but there were ongoing issues that needed to be resolved.\n\nBradford noted that the congregation was aging, compounding the difficulties which some had in supporting themselves. Some, having spent through their savings, gave up and returned to England. It was feared that more would follow and that the congregation would become unsustainable. The employment issues made it unattractive for others to come to Leiden, and younger members had begun leaving to find employment and adventure elsewhere. Also compelling was the possibility of missionary work, an opportunity that rarely arose in a Protestant stronghold. \n\nReasons for departure are suggested by Bradford, when he notes the \"discouragements\" of the hard life which they had in the Netherlands, and the hope of attracting others by finding \"a better, and easier place of living\"; the \"children\" of the group being \"drawn away by evil examples into extravagance and dangerous courses\"; the \"great hope, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world.\"\n\nEdward Winslow's list was similar. In addition to the economic worries and missionary possibilities, he stressed that it was important for the people to retain their English identity, culture, and language. They also believed that the English Church in Leiden could do little to benefit the larger community there. \n\nAt the same time, there were many uncertainties about moving to such a place as America. Stories had come back from there about failed colonies. There were fears that the native people would be violent, that there would be no source of food or water, that exposure to unknown diseases was possible, and that travel by sea was always hazardous. Balancing all this was a local political situation that was in danger of becoming unstable. The truce was faltering in what came to be known as the Eighty Years' War, and there was fear over what the attitudes of Spain might be toward them.\n\nCandidate destinations included Guiana, where the Dutch had already established Essequibo, or somewhere near the existing Virginia settlements. Virginia was an attractive destination because the presence of the older colony might offer better security and trade opportunities. It was thought, however, that they should not settle too near, since that might too closely duplicate the political environment back in England. The London Company administered a territory of considerable size in the region. The intended settlement location was at the mouth of the Hudson River. This made it possible to settle at a distance which allayed concerns of social, political, and religious conflicts, but still provided the military and economic benefits of relative closeness to an established colony. \n\nNegotiations\n\nRobert Cushman and John Carver were sent to England to solicit a land patent. Their negotiations were delayed because of conflicts internal to the London Company, but ultimately a patent was secured in the name of John Wincob on June 9 (Old Style)/June 19 (New Style), 1619. \nThe charter was granted with the king's condition that the Leiden group's religion would not receive official recognition. \n\nPreparations stalled because of the continued problems within the London Company. Competing Dutch companies approached the congregation and discussed with them the possibility of settling in the Hudson River area. \n\nDavid Baeckelandt suggests that the Leiden group was approached by Englishman Matthew Slade, son-in-law of Petrus Placius, a cartographer for the Dutch East India Company. Slade was also a spy for the English Ambassador. The Separatists' plans were therefore known both at court and among influential investors in the Virginia Company's Jamestown.[http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4627 Baeckelandt, David. \"The Flemish Influence On Henry Hudson\", The Brussels Journal, January 1, 2011] Negotiations were broken off with the Dutch at the encouragement of English merchant Thomas Weston, who assured them that he could resolve the London Company delays. The London Company intended to claim the area explored by Hudson before the Dutch could become fully established. The first Dutch settlers did not arrive in the area until 1624.\n\nWeston did come with a substantial change, telling the Leiden group that parties in England had obtained a land grant north of the existing Virginia territory, to be called New England. This was only partially true; the new grant did come to pass, but not until late in 1620 when the Plymouth Council for New England received its charter. It was expected that this area could be fished profitably, and it was not under the control of the existing Virginia government. \n\nA second change was known only to parties in England who chose not to inform the larger group. New investors had been brought into the venture who wanted the terms altered so that, at the end of the seven-year contract, half of the settled land and property would revert to the investors. Also, another provision was dropped which allowed each settler to have two days per week to work on personal business.\n\nBrewster's diversion\n\nAmid these negotiations, William Brewster found himself involved with religious unrest emerging in Scotland. In 1618, King James had promulgated the Five Articles of Perth which were seen in Scotland as an attempt to encroach on their Presbyterian tradition. Pamphlets critical of this law were published by Brewster and smuggled into Scotland by April 1619. These pamphlets were traced back to Leiden, and a failed attempt to apprehend Brewster was made in July when his presence in England became known.\n\nAlso in July in Leiden, English ambassador Dudley Carleton became aware of the situation and began leaning on the Dutch government to extradite Brewster. An arrest was made in September, but only Thomas Brewer the financier was in custody. Brewster's whereabouts remain unknown between then and the colonists' departure. Brewster's type was seized. After several months of delay, Brewer was sent to England for questioning, where he stonewalled government officials until well into 1620. One resulting concession that England did obtain from the Netherlands was a restriction on the press, making such publications illegal to produce.\n\nThomas Brewer was ultimately convicted in England for his continued religious publication activities and sentenced in 1626 to a fourteen-year prison term. \n\nPreparations\n\nNot all of the congregation were able to depart on the first trip. Many members were not able to settle their affairs within the time constraints, and the budget was limited for travel and supplies. It was decided that the initial settlement should be undertaken primarily by younger and stronger members. The remainder agreed to follow if and when they could.\n\nRobinson would remain in Leiden with the larger portion of the congregation, and Brewster was to lead the American congregation. The church in America would be run independently, but it was agreed that membership would automatically be granted in either congregation to members who moved between the continents.\n\nWith personal and business matters agreed upon, supplies and a small ship were procured. Speedwell was to bring some passengers from the Netherlands to England, then on to America where it would be kept for the fishing business, with a crew hired for support services during the first year. The larger ship Mayflower was leased for transport and exploration services. \n\nVoyage\n\nThe Speedwell was originally named Swiftsure. It was built in 1577 at sixty tons, and was part of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. It departed Delfshaven in July 1620 with the Leiden colonists, after a canal ride from Leyden of about seven hours. It reached Southampton, Hampshire and met with the Mayflower and the additional colonists hired by the investors. With final arrangements made, the two vessels set out on August 5 (Old Style)/August 15 (New Style).\n\nSoon thereafter, the Speedwell crew reported that their ship was taking in water, so both were diverted to Dartmouth, Devon. There it was inspected for leaks and sealed, but a second attempt to depart also failed, bringing them only as far as Plymouth, Devon. It was decided that Speedwell was untrustworthy, and it was sold; the ship's master and some of the crew transferred to the Mayflower for the trip. William Bradford observed that the Speedwell seemed \"overmasted\", thus putting a strain on the hull; but he attributed her leaking to crew members who had deliberately caused it, allowing them to abandon their year-long commitments. Passenger Robert Cushman wrote that the leaking was caused by a loose board. \n\nAtlantic crossing\n\nOf the 120 combined passengers, 102 were chosen to travel on the Mayflower with the supplies consolidated. Of these, about half had come by way of Leiden, and about 28 of the adults were members of the congregation. \nThe reduced party finally sailed successfully on September 6 (Old Style)/September 16 (New Style), 1620.\n\nInitially the trip went smoothly, but under way they were met with strong winds and storms. One of these caused a main beam to crack, and the possibility was considered of turning back, even though they were more than halfway to their destination. However, they repaired the ship sufficiently to continue using a \"great iron screw\" brought along by the colonists (probably either a jack to be used for house construction or a cider press). Passenger John Howland was washed overboard in the storm but caught a top-sail halyard trailing in the water and was pulled back on board.\n\nOne crew member and one passenger died before they reached land. A child was born at sea and named Oceanus. \n\nArrival in America\n\nLand was sighted on November 9, 1620. The passengers had endured miserable conditions for about sixty-five days, and they were led by William Brewster in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving. It was confirmed that the area was Cape Cod, within the New England territory recommended by Weston. An attempt was made to sail the ship around the cape towards the Hudson River, also within the New England grant area, but they encountered shoals and difficult currents around Cape Malabar (the old French name for present-day Monomoy). It was decided to turn around, and by November 11/November 12 the ship was anchored in what is today known as Provincetown Harbor. \n\nMayflower Compact\n\nThe charter was incomplete for the Plymouth Council for New England when the colonists departed England (it was granted while they were in transit on November 3/November 13). They arrived without a patent; the older Wincob patent was from their abandoned dealings with the London Company. Some of the passengers, aware of the situation, suggested that they were free to do as they chose upon landing, without a patent in place, and to ignore the contract with the investors. \n\nA brief contract was drafted to address this issue, later known as the Mayflower Compact, promising cooperation among the settlers \"for the general good of the Colony unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.\" It organized them into what was called a \"civill body politick,\" in which issues would be decided by voting, the key ingredient of democracy. It was ratified by majority rule, with 41 adult male Pilgrims signing for the 102 passengers (seventy-three males and twenty-nine females). Included in the company were nineteen male servants and three female servants, along with some sailors and craftsmen hired for short-term service to the colony. \nAt this time, John Carver was chosen as the colony's first governor. It was Carver who had chartered the Mayflower and his is the first signature on the Mayflower Compact, being the most respected and affluent member of the group. The Mayflower Compact was the seed of American democracy and has been called the world's first written constitution. \n\nFirst landings\n\nThorough exploration of the area was delayed for over two weeks because the shallop or pinnace (a smaller sailing vessel) which they brought had been partially dismantled to fit aboard the Mayflower and was further damaged in transit. Small parties, however, waded to the beach to fetch firewood and attend to long-deferred personal hygiene.\n\nExploratory parties were undertaken while awaiting the shallop, led by Myles Standish (an English soldier whom the colonists had met while in Leiden) and Christopher Jones. They encountered an old European-built house and iron kettle, left behind by some ship's crew, and a few recently cultivated fields, showing corn stubble. \n\nAn artificial mound was found near the dunes which they partially uncovered and found to be a Native grave. Further along, a similar mound was found, more recently made, and they ventured to remove some of the provisions which had been placed in the grave, as the colonists feared that they might otherwise starve. Baskets of maize were found inside, some of which the colonists took and placed into an iron kettle that they also found nearby, while they reburied the rest, intending to use the corn as seed for planting.\n\nWilliam Bradford later recorded in his book Of Plymouth Plantation that, after the shallop had been repaired,\n\nThey also found two of the Indian's houses covered with mats, and some of their implements in them; but the people had run away and could not be seen. They also found more corn, and beans of various colours. These they brought away, intending to give them full satisfaction (payment) when they should meet with any of them, – as about six months afterwards they did.\n\nAnd it is to be noted as a special providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that they thus got seed to plant corn the next year, or they might have starved; for they had none, nor any likelihood of getting any, till too late for the planting season.\n\nBy December, most of the passengers and crew had become ill, coughing violently. Many were also suffering from the effects of scurvy. There had already been ice and snowfall, hampering exploration efforts. During the first winter, 50-percent of them died.\n\nFirst contact\n\nExplorations resumed on December 6/December 16. The shallop party headed south along the cape, seven colonists from Leiden, three from London, and seven crew, and chose to land at the area inhabited by the Nauset people (roughly present-day Brewster, Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, and Orleans), where they saw some native people on the shore who fled when the colonists approached. Inland they found more mounds, one containing acorns, which they exhumed and left, and more graves, which they decided not to dig.\n\nRemaining ashore overnight, they heard cries near the encampment. The following morning, they were met by native people who proceeded to shoot at them with arrows. The colonists retrieved their firearms and shot back, then chased the native people into the woods but did not find them. There was no more contact with native people for several months. \n\nThe local people were already familiar with the English, who had intermittently visited the area for fishing and trade before Mayflower arrived. In the Cape Cod area, relations were poor following a visit several years earlier by Thomas Hunt. Hunt kidnapped twenty people from Patuxet (the place that became New Plymouth) and another seven from Nausett, and he attempted to sell them as slaves in Europe. One of the Patuxet abductees was Squanto, who became an ally of the Plymouth colony. \n\nThe Pokanoket also lived nearby and had developed a particular dislike for the English after one group came in, captured numerous people, and shot them aboard their ship. By this time, there had already been reciprocal killings at Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. But during one of the captures by the English, Squanto escaped to England and there became a Christian. When he came back, he found that most of his tribe had died from plague. \n\nSettlement\n\nContinuing westward, the shallop's mast and rudder were broken by storms, and their sail was lost. They rowed for safety, encountering the harbor formed by the current Duxbury and Plymouth barrier beaches and stumbling on land in the darkness. They remained at this spot for two days to recuperate and repair equipment. It was named Clark's Island for a Mayflower mate who first set foot on that island. \n\nResuming exploration on Monday, December 11/December 21, 1620, the party crossed over to the mainland and surveyed the area that ultimately became the settlement. The anniversary of this survey is observed in Massachusetts as Forefathers' Day and is traditionally associated with the Plymouth Rock landing tradition. This land was especially suited to winter building because it had already been cleared, and the tall hills provided a good defensive position.\n\nThe cleared village was known as Patuxet to the Wampanoag people, and was abandoned about three years earlier following a plague that killed all of its residents. The \"Indian fever\" involved hemorrhaging and is assumed to have been fulminating smallpox introduced by European traders. The outbreak had been severe enough that the colonists discovered unburied skeletons in abandoned dwellings. With the local population in such a weakened state, the colonists faced no resistance to settling there.\n\nThe exploratory party returned to Mayflower, anchored twenty-five miles away, having been brought to the harbor on December 16/December 26. Only nearby sites were evaluated, with a hill in Plymouth (so named on earlier charts) \nchosen on December 19/December 29.\n\nConstruction commenced immediately, with the first common house nearly completed by January 9/January 19, twenty feet square built for general use. At this point, single men were ordered to join with one of the nineteen families, in order to eliminate the need to build any more houses than absolutely necessary. Each extended family was assigned a plot one-half rod wide and three rods long for each household member, then each family built their own dwelling. Supplies were brought ashore, and the settlement was mostly complete by early February. \n\nWhen the first house was finished, it immediately became a hospital for the ill Pilgrims. Thirty-one of the company were dead by the end of February, with deaths still rising. Coles Hill, a prominence above the beach, became the first cemetery, with the graves allowed to overgrow with grass for fear that the Indians would discover how weakened the settlement had actually become. \n\nBetween the landing and March, only 47 colonists had survived the diseases that they contracted on the ship. During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able to feed and care for the rest. In this time, half the Mayflower crew also died.\n\nWilliam Bradford became governor in 1621 upon the death of John Carver. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags. The patent of Plymouth Colony was surrendered by Bradford to the freemen in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land. Bradford served for eleven consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms until his death in 1657.\n\nThe colony contained roughly what is now Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts.\n\nThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was reorganized and issued a new charter as the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691, and Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony.\n\nEtymology\n\nBradford's history\n\nThe first use of the word pilgrims for the Mayflower passengers appeared in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. As he finished recounting his group's July 1620 departure from Leiden, Bradford used the imagery of [http://classic.studylight.org/desk/?len&query\nHebrews+11%3A13-16&translation=gen Hebrews 11:13–16] about Old Testament \"strangers and pilgrims\" who had the opportunity to return to their old country but instead longed for a better, heavenly country. Bradford wrote:\n\nSo they lefte [that] goodly & pleasante citie, which had been ther resting place, nere 12 years; but they knew they were pilgrimes, & looked not much on these things; but lift up their eyes to ye heavens, their dearest cuntrie, and quieted their spirits.\n\nThere is no record of the term Pilgrims being used to describe Plymouth's founders for 150 years after Bradford wrote this passage, except when quoting Bradford. When the Mayflower's story was retold by historians Nathaniel Morton (in 1669) and Cotton Mather (in 1702), both paraphrased Bradford's passage and used Bradford's word pilgrims. At Plymouth's Forefathers' Day observance in 1793, Rev. Chandler Robbins recited this passage from Bradford. \n\nPopular use\n\nThe name Pilgrims was probably not in popular use before about 1798, even though Plymouth celebrated Forefathers' Day several times between 1769 and 1798 and used a variety of terms to honor Plymouth's founders. Pilgrims was not mentioned, other than in Robbins' 1793 recitation. \nThe first documented use of Pilgrims that was not simply quoting Bradford was at a December 22, 1798 celebration of Forefathers' Day in Boston. A song composed for the occasion used the word Pilgrims, and the participants drank a toast to \"The Pilgrims of Leyden\". \nThe term was used prominently during Plymouth's next Forefather's Day celebration in 1800, and was used in Forefathers' Day observances thereafter. \n\nBy the 1820s, the term Pilgrims was becoming more common. Daniel Webster repeatedly referred to \"the Pilgrims\" in his December 22, 1820 address for Plymouth's bicentennial, which was widely read. Harriet Vaughan Cheney used it in her 1824 novel A Peep at the Pilgrims in Sixteen Thirty-Six, and the term also gained popularity with the 1825 publication of Felicia Hemans's classic poem \"The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers\".",
"Peter Minuit [1580-1638]: Director of New Netherland\n... drawn up in the Dutch City of Utrecht in 1615 he is ... 1626. Although Peter Minuit was governor general of ... On Manhattan there is a Peter Minuit ...\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit [1580-1638]\nDirector of New Netherland\nPeter Minuit was a Walloon whose protestant parents had moved from Doornik, Henegouwen in the southern Netherlands, which then included present-day Belgium, to Wesel in Germany, in order to escape from the Catholic Spanish colonials, who were not favorably deposed to those people who had left the Catholic Church to become Protestants. Minuit's birth year is not exactly known but it is somewhere between 1580 and 1589.\nPeter Minuit married Gertrude Raedts on August 20, 1613. Gertrude came from a wealthy family which probably helped Peter in establishing himself as a broker. What products he dealt in is also not known, but it probably involved diamonds, because in a legal document, a will, drawn up in the Dutch City of Utrecht in 1615 he is described as a diamond cutter.\nPeter Minuit joined the Dutch West India Company [DWI], probably in the mid 1620's, and was sent to New Netherland in 1625 to search for tradable goods other than the animal pelts which were then the major tradable product coming from New Netherland. He returned in the same year, and in 1626 was appointed by the DWI to become the new governor general of New Netherland, taking over from Willem Verhulst, the previous governor general. Minuit arrived in New Amsterdam on May 4, 1626.\nAlthough Peter Minuit was governor general of the colony for five years [he was relieved of his position in 1631], he is best known for his purchase of Manhattan from the Indians for 60 guilders which is estimated to be equivalent to about $25 in 1626 dollars, probably equivalent to about $500 in today's dollars, but still an obvious bargain. The exchange was made either in May 1626 or in July 1626, which is either in the same month, or two months after he arrived in New Amsterdam to take up his new governor general position.\nPeter Minuit's tenure as governor general was rather uneventful in comparison with earlier or later governor generals of the Dutch colony. He did, however, introduce a measure of democracy in the colony during his time in New Netherland. Upon his arrival in 1626, he proposed a plan to establish an advisory body to the governor general. The advisory body would be a council of five members, which would advise the governor general, and would jointly with the governor general develop, administer and adjudicate a body of laws to help govern the colony. In addition he proposed the institution of, what we would call today, an attorney general to enforce the laws on the books.\nIn 1631 or 1632 Minuit was relieved of his duties as governor general. What the reasons were for his termination is not clear, but the directors of the DWI were business people and Minuit may have made decisions that were, in their view, not in the interest of the DWI organization. He was replaced by Walter van Twiller.\nAlthough there have been six governor generals during the existence of the New Amsterdam colony from 1620 to 1664, a forty year period, only two of the governor generals are well known. Peter Stuyvesant leads the group, but not because he was so popular with the people; he was not. Stuyvesant is the one who had to surrender the colony to the British because his defenses were virtually non-existent, and he wisely decided to surrender in order to avoid bloodshed. Peter Minuit is the other governor general who is well known probably largely because he made the historic purchase of Manhattan from the Indians. But the reason he is well known may also be caused by the relative peace that existed in the colony during his tenure. There was peace among the population of New Amsterdam, but there was also relative peace with the Indians who then still lived in close proximity to and among the new settlers.\nPeter Minuit is remembered to this day with a number of public mementoes. On Manhattan there is a Peter Minuit Plaza, which is a small park in lower Manhattan. There is also the Peter Minuit marker in Inwood Hill Park commemorating the purchase of Manhattan from the Indians. Then there is the Peter Minuit Flagstaff Base in Battery Park. School children in Public School 108 in Manhattan every day attend the Peter Minuit School. And the Manhattan Chapter of the DAR has called one of their chapters the Peter Minuit chapter of the DAR. Finally, in Wesel Germany, there is a Peter Minuit Memorial on Moltkestrasse, Wesel , Germany.\nAfter his governor generalship of New Netherland, he worked with the Swedish Government to establish a Finnish-Swedish settlement, called New Sweden, near what is now Wilmington, Delaware. It was in the territory then claimed by the Dutch. Was it done out of spite for his former employers? Perhaps.\nOn his return from New Sweden in 1638, his ship and he made a side trip to the Caribbean to pick up a load of tobacco. Unfortunately, at that time there existed no hurricane tracking methods. While having dinner aboard a Dutch ship a hurricane forced all ships out to sea. Minuit and 't Vliegende Hart were never seen again; however, his ship the Kalmar Nyckel did make it back to Sweden without him.\n \nE-BOOKS FOR $ 2.99; GOOGLE: AMAZON KINDLE PEGELS",
"Peter_Minuit.txt\nPeter Minuit\nPeter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. His surname means \"midnight.\" He was Director of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden in 1638.\n\nMinuit is generally credited with orchestrating the purchase of Manhattan Island for the Dutch from the Native Americans called the Lenape, which later became the city of New Amsterdam, modern-day New York City, which was the core of the Dutch colony of New Netherland and the later British colony of New York.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly life\n\nPeter Minuit was born sometime between 1580 and 1585,[https://www.wesel.de/en/city-portrait/peter-minuit/ \"Peter Minuit\", Wesel.de] into a Protestant family that had moved from the City of Tournai, Hainaut, part of the Southern Netherlands, presently part of Wallonia, Belgium, to Wesel in Germany, in order to avoid Spanish Catholic colonials, who were not favorably disposed towards Protestants.\n\nHis father, Johan, died in 1609 and Peter took over management of the household and his father's business. Peter Minuit had a good reputation in Wesel, attested by the fact that he was several times appointed a guardian. He also assisted the poor during the Spanish occupation of 1614-1619.\n\nPeter Minuit married Gertrude Raedts on August 20, 1613. From a wealthy family, Gertrude probably helped Peter Minuit in establishing himself as a broker. What products he dealt in is not known. That it involved diamonds is derived from a legal document, a will, drawn up in 1615, in the Dutch City of Utrecht mentioning Peter Minnewit as a diamond cutter.\n\nBy 1624, the city was in an economic decline and in 1625 he had left Wesel and like others went to Holland, while Gertrud went first to stay with her relatives in Cleve.\n\nCareer as Director of New Netherland\n\nMinuit and his family joined the Dutch West India Company, probably in the mid 1620s, and was sent to New Netherland in 1625 to search for tradable goods other than the animal pelts which were then the major product coming from New Netherland. He returned in the same year, and in 1626 was appointed the new director of New Netherland, taking over from Willem Verhulst. He sailed to North America and arrived in the colony on May 4, 1626.[http://www.wesel.de/C125759F00493DB1/html/D724335345623923C12574D60036E797?Open \"Peter Minuit\" (biography), Wesel, Germany, webpage: Wesel-Minuit]. Minuit is credited with purchasing the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans in exchange for traded goods valued at 60 guilders. According to the writer Nathaniel Benchley, Minuit conducted the transaction with Seyseys, chief of the Canarsees, who were only too happy to accept valuable merchandise in exchange for an island that was actually mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks. \n\nThe figure of 60 guilders comes from a letter by a representative of the Dutch States-General and member of the board of the Dutch West India Company, Pieter Janszoon Schagen, to the States-General in November 1626. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 (or 60 guilders) to US$23. \"[A] variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars,\" as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006, according to the Institute for Social History of Amsterdam. Based on the price of silver, Straight Dope author Cecil Adams calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992. Historians James and Michelle Nevius revisited the issue in 2014, suggesting that using the prices of beer and brandy as equivalencies, the price Minuit paid would have the purchasing power of somewhere between $2,600 and $15,600 in current dollars.\n\nAccording to researchers at the National Library of the Netherlands, \"The original inhabitants of the area were unfamiliar with the European notions and definitions of ownership rights. For the Indians, water, air and land could not be traded. Such exchanges would also be difficult in practical terms because many groups migrated between their summer and winter quarters. It can be concluded that both parties probably went home with totally different interpretations of the sales agreement.\"\n\nA contemporary purchase of rights in nearby Staten Island, to which Minuit was also party, involved duffel cloth, iron kettles, axe heads, hoes, wampum, drilling awls, \"Jew's harps\" and \"diverse other wares\". \"If similar trade goods were involved in the Manhattan arrangement\", Burrows and Wallace surmise, \"then the Dutch were engaged in high-end technology transfer, handing over equipment of enormous usefulness in tasks ranging from clearing land to drilling wampum.\"\n\nThe calculation of $24 also fails to recognize that the concepts of property trading and ownership held by the 17th-century Dutch and East Coast natives were both different from modern conceptions. Comparisons to modern land dealing distort the reality of what Minuit was trying to do. Both the Dutch and the Indians undoubtedly included intangibles along with any hard goods in their concept of the total transactional value. For Indians and Minuit alike, both sides felt they were getting far more than a mere 60 guilders. For instance, the natives most certainly would have thought the trade included the value of the Dutch as potential military allies against rival Indian nations—a 'good' that could not be valued in currency alone. In addition, the value of the sale to Dutch and Indians alike would have included the prospect of future trade.\n\nMinuit conducted politics in a measure of democracy in the colony during his time in New Netherland. He was highest judge in the colony but in both civil and criminal affairs he was assisted by a council of five colonists. This advisory body would advise the director, and would jointly with him develop, administer and adjudicate a body of laws to help govern the colony. In addition there was a schout-fiscal, half sheriff, half attorney-general, and all customs officer.[http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/peter-minuit/ \"Peter Minuit\", New Netherlands Institute] During Minuit's administration, several mills were built, trade grew exponentially and the population grew to almost 300 souls.\n\nIn 1631, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) suspended Minuit from his post for reasons that are unclear, but probably for (perhaps unintentionally) abetting the landowning patroons who were engaging in illegal fur trade and otherwise enriching themselves against the interests and orders of the West India Company. He arrived back in Europe in August 1632 to explain his actions, but was dismissed and was succeeded as director by Wouter van Twiller. It is possible that Minuit had become the victim of the internal disputes over the rights that the board of directors had given to the patroons.\n\nEstablishing the New Sweden colony\n\nIn 1636 or 1637, after having lived in Cleves, Germany for several years, Minuit made arrangements with Samuel Blommaert and the Swedish government to create the first Swedish colony in the New World. Located on the lower Delaware River within territory earlier claimed by the Dutch, it was called New Sweden. Minuit and his company arrived on the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel at Swedes' Landing (now Wilmington, Delaware), in the spring of 1638. They constructed Fort Christina later that year, then returned to Stockholm for a second load of colonists, and made a side trip to the Caribbean on the return to pick up a shipment of tobacco for resale in Europe to make the voyage profitable. Minuit died during this voyage during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean. Swedish Lt. Måns Nilsson Kling, whose rank was raised to captain about two years later, replaced him as governor. It took the government that long for the next governor from mainland Sweden to be appointed and travel to North America. Nine expeditions to the colony were carried out before the Dutch captured the colony in 1655, well after Minuit's death. \n\nLegacy\n\nPlaces named after Minuit\n\n*The Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal's Peter Minuit Plaza, north of the South Ferry – Whitehall Street station (). Following the 400th anniversary celebrations of Henry Hudson's voyage to Manhattan, a pavilion was opened here to honor the Dutch. Each night at midnight, LED lights glow around the pavilion's perimeter in honor of Minuit.\n*A marker in Inwood Hill Park at the supposed site of the purchase of Manhattan\n*A granite flagstaff base in Battery Park, which depicts the historic purchase\n*A school and playground in East Harlem, which are named for him. \n*An apartment building at 25 Claremont Avenue in Manhattan, which bears his name above the front entrance\n*The Peter Minuit Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution\n*A memorial on Moltkestraße in Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany\n\nIn popular culture\n\n*The beginning lines of Rodgers and Hart's 1939 song \"Give It Back to the Indians\" recount the sale of Manhattan: \"Old Peter Minuit had nothing to lose when he bought the isle of Manhattan / For twenty-six dollars and a bottle of booze, and they threw in the Bronx and Staten / Pete thought he had the best of the bargain, but the poor red man just grinned / And he grunted \"ugh!\" (meaning \"okay\" in his jargon) for he knew poor Pete was skinned.\"\n*One version of Minuit was played by Groucho Marx in the 1957 comedy film The Story of Mankind.\n*Minuit is mentioned on the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, where the character Edward Bader tells a joke featuring the line, \"'50 bucks?' the fella says. 'Peter Stuyvesant only paid 24 for the entire island of Manhattan!'\", while Steve Buscemi's' character Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson has to correct Bader and inform him that it was in fact Peter Minuit who bought Manhattan, not Stuyvesant.\n*Bob Dylan mentions Minuit in his song \"Hard Times in New York Town\" (released on The Bootleg Series Volume 1) in the following line: Mister Hudson come a-sailing down the stream, / and old Mister Minuit paid for his dream. But in the released recording of the song, Dylan spoonerizes \"Mister Minuit\" by mispronouncing his name \"Minnie Mistuit.\" The official lyrics have the correct version of the name, except that Minuit is spelled \"Minuet.\" \n*Minuit is mentioned in the first episode Uno of the AMC drama Better Call Saul. Jimmy McGill (the later titular Saul), while confronting lawyers at his brother's law firm, accuses them of being like \"Peter Minuit\" and suggest that they \"throw in some beads and shells\" to the $26,000.00 being given to his brother."
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What is an affliction of nose, throat, upper air passages and eyes caused by over-sensitivity to proteins of pollen in certain plants? | Hay fever | [
"Pollen.txt\nPollen\nPollen is a fine to coarse powdery substance comprising pollen grains which are male microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophytes during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the female cone of coniferous plants. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it germinates, producing a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and forensics.\n\nPollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower.\n\nThe structure and formation of pollen\n \n\nPollen itself is not the male gamete. Each pollen grain contains vegetative (non-reproductive) cells (only a single cell in most flowering plants but several in other seed plants) and a generative (reproductive) cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, and the generative cell divides to form the two sperm cells.\n\nFormation \n\nPollen is produced in the 'microsporangium' (contained in the anther of an angiosperm flower, male cone of a coniferous plant, or male cone of other seed plants). Pollen grains come in a wide variety of shapes (most often spherical), sizes, and surface markings characteristic of the species (see electron micrograph, right). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged. The smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.), is around 6 µm (0.006 mm) in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90–100 µm.\n\nIn angiosperms, during flower development the anther is composed of a mass of cells that appear undifferentiated, except for a partially differentiated dermis. As the flower develops, four groups of sporogenous cells form within the anther. The fertile sporogenous cells are surrounded by layers of sterile cells that grow into the wall of the pollen sac. Some of the cells grow into nutritive cells that supply nutrition for the microspores that form by meiotic division from the sporogenous cells.\n\nIn a process called microsporogenesis, four haploid microspores are produced from each diploid sporogenous cell (microsporocyte, pollen mother cell or meiocyte), after meiotic division. After the formation of the four microspores, which are contained by callose walls, the development of the pollen grain walls begins. The callose wall is broken down by an enzyme called callase and the freed pollen grains grow in size and develop their characteristic shape and form a resistant outer wall called the exine and an inner wall called the intine. The exine is what is preserved in the fossil record. Two basic types of microsporogenesis are recognised, simultaneous and successive. In simultaneous microsporogenesis meiotic steps I and II are completed prior to cytokinesis, whereas in successive microsporogenesis cytokinesis follows. While there may be a continuum with intermediate forms, the type of microsporogenesis has systematic significance. The predominant form amongst the monocots is successive, but there are important exceptions.\n\nIn the microgametogenesis, the unicellular microspores undergoes mitosis and develops into mature microgametophytes containing the gametes.[http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/biology/people/twell/lab/pollenis/development Pollen Development — University of Leicester] In some flowering plants, germination of the pollen grain often begins before it leaves the microsporangium, with the generative cell forming the two sperm cells.\n\nStructure \n\nExcept in the case of some submerged aquatic plants, the mature pollen-grain has a double wall. The vegetative and generative cells are surrounded by a thin delicate wall of unaltered cellulose called the endospore or intine, and a tough resistant outer cuticularized wall composed largely of sporopollenin called the exospore or exine. The exine often bears spines or warts, or is variously sculptured, and the character of the markings is often of value for identifying genus, species, or even cultivar or individual. The spines may be less than a micron in length (spinulum, plural spinuli) referred to as spinulose (scabrate), or longer than a micron (echina, echinae) referred to as echinate. Various terms also describe the sculpturing such as reticulate, a net like appearance consisting of elements (murus, muri) separated from each other by a lumen (plural lumina).\n\nThe pollen wall protects the sperm while the pollen grain is moving from the anther to the stigma; it protects the vital genetic material from drying out and solar radiation. The pollen grain surface is covered with waxes and proteins, which are held in place by structures called sculpture elements on the surface of the grain. The outer pollen wall, which prevents the pollen grain from shrinking and crushing the genetic material during desiccation, is composed of two layers. These two layers are the tectum and the foot layer, which is just above the intine. The tectum and foot layer are separated by a region called the columella, which is composed of strengthening rods. The outer wall is constructed with a resistant biopolymer called sporopollenin.\n\nPollen apertures are regions of the pollen wall that may involve exine thinning or a significant reduction in exine thickness. They allow shrinking and swelling of the grain caused by changes in moisture content. Elongated apertures or furrows in the pollen grain are called colpi (singular: colpus) or sulci (singular: sulcus). Apertures that are more circular are called pores. Colpi, sulci and pores are major features in the identification of classes of pollen. Pollen may be referred to as inaperturate (apertures absent) or aperturate (apertures present). The aperture may have a lid (operculum), hence is described as operculate. However the term inaperturate covers a wide range of morphological types, such as functionally inaperturate (cryptoaperturate) and omniaperturate. Inaperaturate pollen grains often have thin walls, which facilitates pollen tube germination at any position.\n\nThe orientation of furrows (relative to the original tetrad of microspores) classifies the pollen as sulcate or colpate. Sulcate pollen has a furrow across the middle of what was the outer face when the pollen grain was in its tetrad. If the pollen has only a single sulcus, it is described as monosulcate. In . Colpate pollen has furrows other than across the middle of the outer faces. Eudicots have pollen with three colpi (tricolpate) or with shapes that are evolutionarily derived from tricolpate pollen. The evolutionary trend in plants has been from monosulcate to polycolpate or polyporate pollen.\n\nPollination\n\nThe transfer of pollen grains to the female reproductive structure (pistil in angiosperms) is called pollination. This transfer can be mediated by the wind, in which case the plant is described as anemophilous (literally wind-loving). Anemophilous plants typically produce great quantities of very lightweight pollen grains, sometimes with air-sacs. Non-flowering seed plants (e.g. pine trees) are characteristically anemophilous. Anemophilous flowering plants generally have inconspicuous flowers. Entomophilous (literally insect-loving) plants produce pollen that is relatively heavy, sticky and protein-rich, for dispersal by insect pollinators attracted to their flowers. Many insects and some mites are specialized to feed on pollen, and are called palynivores.\n\nIn non-flowering seed plants, pollen germinates in the pollen chamber, located beneath the micropyle, underneath the integuments of the ovule. A pollen tube is produced, which grows into the nucellus to provide nutrients for the developing sperm cells. Sperm cells of Pinophyta and Gnetophyta are without flagella, and are carried by the pollen tube, while those of Cycadophyta and Ginkgophyta have many flagella.\n\nWhen placed on the stigma of a flowering plant, under favorable circumstances, a pollen grain puts forth a pollen tube, which grows down the tissue of the style to the ovary, and makes its way along the placenta, guided by projections or hairs, to the micropyle of an ovule. The nucleus of the tube cell has meanwhile passed into the tube, as does also the generative nucleus, which divides (if it hasn't already) to form two sperm cells. The sperm cells are carried to their destination in the tip of the pollen-tube.\n\nPollen in the fossil record\n\nPollen's sporopollenin outer sheath affords it some resistance to the rigours of the fossilisation process that destroy weaker objects; it is also produced in huge quantities. There is an extensive fossil record of pollen grains, often disassociated from their parent plant. The discipline of palynology is devoted to the study of pollen, which can be used both for biostratigraphy and to gain information about the abundance and variety of plants alive — which can itself yield important information about paleoclimates. Pollen is first found in the fossil record in the late Devonian period and increases in abundance until the present day.\n\nAllergy to pollen\n\nNasal allergy to pollen is called pollinosis, and allergy specifically to grass pollen is called hay fever. Generally, pollens that cause allergies are those of anemophilous plants (pollen is dispersed by air currents.) Such plants produce large quantities of lightweight pollen (because wind dispersal is random and the likelihood of one pollen grain landing on another flower is small), which can be carried for great distances and are easily inhaled, bringing it into contact with the sensitive nasal passages.\n\nIn the US, people often mistakenly blame the conspicuous goldenrod flower for allergies. Since this plant is entomophilous (its pollen is dispersed by animals), its heavy, sticky pollen does not become independently airborne. Most late summer and fall pollen allergies are probably caused by ragweed, a widespread anemophilous plant. \n\nArizona was once regarded as a haven for people with pollen allergies, although several ragweed species grow in the desert. However, as suburbs grew and people began establishing irrigated lawns and gardens, more irritating species of ragweed gained a foothold and Arizona lost its claim of freedom from hay fever.\n\nAnemophilous spring blooming plants such as oak, birch, hickory, pecan, and early summer grasses may also induce pollen allergies. Most cultivated plants with showy flowers are entomophilous and do not cause pollen allergies.\n\nThe number of people in the United States affected by hay fever is between 20 to 40 million, and such allergy has proven to be the most frequent allergic response in the nation. There are certain evidential suggestions pointing out hay fever and similar allergies to be of hereditary origin. Individuals who suffer from eczema or are asthmatic tend to be more susceptible to developing long-term hay fever. \n\nIn Denmark, decades of rising temperatures cause pollen to appear earlier and in greater numbers, as well as introduction of new species such as ragweed. \n\nThe most efficient way to handle a pollen allergy is by preventing contact with the material. Individuals carrying the ailment may at first believe that they have a simple summer cold, but hay fever becomes more evident when the apparent cold does not disappear. The confirmation of hay fever can be obtained after examination by a general physician. \n\nTreatment\n\nAntihistamines are effective at treating mild cases of pollinosis, this type of non-prescribed drugs includes loratadine, cetirizine and chlorphenamine. They do not prevent the discharge of histamine, but it has been proven that they do prevent a part of the chain reaction activated by this biogenic amine, which considerably lowers hay fever symptoms.\n\nDecongestants can be administered in different ways such as tablets and nasal sprays.\n\nAllergy immunotherapy (AIT) treatment involves administering doses of allergens to accustom the body to pollen, thereby inducing specific long-term tolerance. Allergy immunotherapy can be administered orally (as sublingual tablets or sublingual drops), or by injections under the skin (subcutaneous). Discovered by Leonard Noon and John Freeman in 1911, allergy immunotherapy represents the only causative treatment for respiratory allergies.\n\nNutrition\n\nMost major classes of predatory and parasitic arthropods contain species that eat pollen, despite the common perception that bees are the primary pollen-consuming arthropod group. Many other Hymenoptera other than bees consume pollen as adults, though only a small number feed on pollen as larvae (including some ant larvae). Spiders are normally considered carnivores but pollen is an important source of food for several species, particularly for spiderlings, which catch pollen on their webs. It is not clear how spiderlings manage to eat pollen however, since their mouths are not large enough to consume pollen grains. Some predatory mites also feed on pollen, with some species being able to subsist solely on pollen, such as Euseius tularensis, which feeds on the pollen of dozens of plant species. Members of some beetle families such as Mordellidae and Melyridae feed almost exclusively on pollen as adults, while various lineages within larger families such as Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae, Cerambycidae, and Scarabaeidae are pollen specialists even though most members of their families are not (e.g., only 36 of 40000 species of ground beetles, which are typically predatory, have been shown to eat pollen—but this is thought to be a severe underestimate as the feeding habits are only known for 1000 species). Similarly, Ladybird beetles mainly eat insects, but many species also eat pollen, as either part or all of their diet. Hemiptera are mostly herbivores or omnivores but pollen feeding is known (and has only been well studied in the Anthocoridae). Many adult flies, especially Syrphidae, feed on pollen, and three UK syrphid species feed strictly on pollen (syrphids, like all flies, cannot eat pollen directly due to the structure of their mouthparts, but can consume pollen contents that are dissolved in a fluid). Some species of fungus, including Fomes fomentarius, are able to break down grains of pollen as a secondary nutrition source that is particularly high in nitrogen. \n\nSome species of Heliconius butterflies consume pollen as adults, which appears to be a valuable nutrient source, and these species are more distasteful to predators than the non-pollen consuming species. \n\nAlthough bats, butterflies and hummingbirds are not pollen eaters per se, their consumption of nectar in flowers is an important aspect of the pollination process.\n\nIn humans\n\nA variety of producers have started selling bee pollen for human consumption, often marketed as a food (rather than a dietary supplement). The largest constituent is carbohydrates, with protein content ranging from 7 to 35 percent depending on the plant species collected by bees. \n\nHoney produced by bees from natural sources contains pollen derived p-coumaric acid, an antioxidant.\n\nThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not found any harmful effects of bee pollen consumption, except from the usual allergies. However, FDA does not allow bee pollen marketers in the United States to make health claims about their produce, as no scientific basis for these has ever been proven. Furthermore, there are possible dangers not only from allergic reactions but also from contaminants such as pesticides and from fungi and bacteria growth related to poor storage procedures. A manufacturers's claim that pollen collecting helps the bee colonies is also controversial. \n\nPine pollen (송화가루, Songhwa Garu) is traditionally consumed in Korea as an ingredient in sweets and beverages.\n\nParasites\n\nThe growing industries in pollen harvesting for human and bee consumption rely on harvesting pollen baskets from honey bees as they return to their hives using a pollen trap. When this pollen has been tested for parasites, it has been found that a multitude of pollinator viruses and eukaryotic parasites are present in the pollen. It is currently unclear if the parasites are introduced by the bee that collected the pollen or if it is from contamination to the flower. Though this is not likely to pose a risk to humans, it is a major issue for the bumblebee rearing industry that relies on thousands of tonnes of honey bee collected pollen per year. Several sterilization methods have been employed, though no method has been 100% effective at steralizing, without reducing the nutritional value, of the pollen \n\nForensic palynology\n\nIn forensic biology, pollen can tell a lot about where a person or object has been, because regions of the world, or even more particular locations such a certain set of bushes, will have a distinctive collection of pollen species. Pollen evidence can also reveal the season in which a particular object picked up the pollen. Pollen has been used to trace activity at mass graves in Bosnia, catch a burglar who brushed against a Hypericum bush during a crime, and has even been proposed as an additive for bullets to enable tracking them.",
"Full text of \"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\"\nFull text of \"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\" See other formats ...\nFull text of \"Hay-fever : its prevention and cure\"\nSee other formats\n^\" HI 1 1 III 31761 043861251 1 w 1 III HOiRp HIil ii i iB ! ■fFn :fl. M.D. illliiiiiiii mc: Presented to the LIBRARY o/r/ze UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO BY PROFESSOR ELIZABETH HARRISON ^ HAY- FEVER ITS PREVENTION AND CURE p Frontal sinus Orifice of middle ethmoidal cells Superior turbinal bone Orifice of the posterior ethmoidal cells Orifice of the sphenoidal sinus Sphenoidal sinus Orifice of \\ frontal sinus j Upper orifice i of nasal duct \\ Orifice of Eustachian tube Middle turbinal bone Inferior turbinal bone Orifice of the antrum Lower orifice of nasal duct Orifice of infundibulum Section of the Nose, showing the Turbinal Bones and Meatuses WITH THE Openings in Dotted Outline. (.After Morris' \"Text-Book of Anatomy.\") n HAY FEVER ITS PREVENTION AND CURE W. C. HOLLOPETER, A.M., M.D., LL.D. ATTBNDINO PHYSICIAN ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL; PEDIATRICIAN TO THE PHILADELPHIA GENERAL HOSPITAL; PROFESSOR PEDIATRICS, EMERITUS, MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL COLLEGE; EX-PRESIDENT OP THE ASSOCIATION OP AMERICAN TEACHERS OF THE DISEASES OP children; EX-CHAIRMAN OP THE SEC- TION ON DISEASES OP CHILDREN, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; MEMBER OF AMERI- CAN ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, ETC. FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY NEW YORK AND LONDON 1917. \\ Copyright, 1916, by FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY Copyright under the Articles of the Copyrigrht Convention of the Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910 [Printed in the United States of Americal Published, Jvly, 1916 CONTENTS rAGB Preface .^ vii Intboduction .., ix PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS. HISTORY, PERIOD- ICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS 1. Definition, Histoey and Bibliography 19 2. Causes 38 5. Periodicity 46 4. Symptoms 53 6. Its Pathology, Diagnosis and Prognosis 65 PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES 1. When Due to Some Exciting Agent Such as Pollen 8T 2. The Predisposing Causes 110 PART III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1. Preventive Measures 147 2. Local Treatment by Nasal Applications 167 5. As TO Diet, Exercise and Rest 178 4, When Asthma Occurs as a Sequel ..;.. 185 CONTENTS rXGB 6. The Use of Serums — Dunbar's Serum....... 191 6. Experiments with Autoserum. By Harold Hays, M.D 238 7. Dr. E. T. Manning's Views 254 8. The Use of Phylacogen. By 1. H. Alexander, M.D 258 9. The Calcium Salt Treatment. By Harold Wilson, M.D 261 10. The Pollen Therapy Treatment. By J. L. Goodale 274 11. Surgical Treatment ,. 285 12. A Summary of Treatment 286 Bibliography ., 293 Index .•.....• v . .... . 337 I ^11 PREFACE Having had remarkable and uniform success with a simple treatment of hay- fever for the last twenty years, during which time I have given complete relief to many patients in my private practise, and having made a thoro clinical study of this affection, as well as an exhaustive review of the literature relative to it, I feel justified in presenting the results of my labors in this short treatise. There is little to be said definitely about the etiology of the disease. It is undoubt- edly caused by an external irritant, pos- sibly containing a micro-organism or a toxin, which becomes especially active in the nasal passages of an individual pre- disposed by systemic debility or local [vii] PREFACE abnormality. We acknowledge the ele- ment of neurotic disturbance, but to dog- matically define its exact cause and modus operandi is beyond us. In order that the best thought of the subject may be presented to the reader, I have compiled, arranged, and annotated the most worthy literature, and I acknowl- edge my indebtedness to the many writers quoted. The most of my original com- munication is devoted to the all-important point in the discussion — the successful treatment. A complete bibliography is appended. W. C. HOLLOPETER. [ viii ] INTEODUCTION Hay-fever has become so well-known and is so universal a disease that many State organizations have been formed for its careful study; we are thus hopeful of some positive developments in the better management of hay-fever by concerted effort of the sanitarian and physician. The choice of a name has not been very fortunate, as it has been discovered that hay in itself has very little, or nothing, to do with the cause. I give, however, a few synonyms in the early part of the book. Next to tuberculosis, hay-fever is one of the most interesting and common dis- eases, and has received an enormous amount of study. While it is not directly fatal, it is exceedingly distressing and is [ix] INTRODUCTION certain by its annual visitation to lower the vital resistance and induce other ill- ness in the body. In this way it becomes a prolonged and serious menace to the comfort and happiness of the sufferer. Hay-fever was not regarded frequent in the young until a more careful study of autumnal and spring catarrhs among neu- rotic children revealed the fact that the same troublesome complaint had occurred the previous season. The frequency of **cold taking\" among children is due to their lowered vitality, the result being adenoids and enlarged tonsils which often precede the typical hay-fever. It has been found that children, espe- cially the neurotic offspring of nervous parents, are as subject to hay-fever as adults, if not more so, for we certainly have an ever-enlarging army of catarrhal children. There is no doubt that in every [X] INTRODUCTION class hay-fever is decidedly on the in- crease in America. True hay-fever is also found in great masses of thoughtful adults, who are prone to forget the previ- ous attacks, altho they may have had many annual visitations of the disorder. Some slight exposure or irregularity of diet, or an unusual change in the atmosphere, suf- fice to explain the indisposition, and satis- fies the mind for the time. It is certain that a large number of hay-fever sufferers forget from year to year the annual visita- tion; this is more likely if the attack has not been severe. Furthermore, it has been most conclusively proved by many authori- ties that hay-fever does not occur unless we have a conjunction of three necessary factors : 1. An external air-borne irritant. 2. A sensitive or diseased nasal mucous membrane. [xi] INTRODUCTION ^ 3. An unstable nerve-center. Upon the simultaneous manifestation of these three factors in any individual we are reasonably sure in making a diagnosis of hay-fever. An absence of any one of the three admits at once of distinct doubt. The claim for originality in this thesis lies in the fact that the author recognizes the three essential factors, as stated above, as the cause of hay-fever and claiming that the remedy lies in controlling or de- stroying the habit, by inhibiting or be- numbing the sensitive nasal surface by local cleansing and massage. The litera- ture of hay-fever has grown so very pro- lifically in the last five years that to follow it out in detail would be a difficult and use- less task. Most writers agree as to the three essential causative factors, and vol- umes have been written in discussion of their different phases. % [ xli ] I INTRODUCTION Dr. Geo. M. Beard, one of the earlier and most exhaustive writers, regards it as a neurosis, due to an unstable brain-center, and a functional disease of the nervous system, thus ignoring all environment, climate and nasal conditions. Sajous, on the other hand, regards the trouble as one of local origin, ignoring heredity and neu- rosis, and finds an abnormal nasal chamber in all active cases. They both concede ex- ternal irritants as essentially necessary to the initial paroxysm, but regard this of secondary importance. It was not until Prof. Dunbar and his followers made their exhaustive studies of pollen that we ar- rived at any satisfactory scientific knowl- edge as to the exact nature of this ** ex- ternal irritant,'' and applied the antidote for its control. Literature on hay-fever during the past ten years has centered largely on discussion of these studies. It [xiii] INTRODUCTION is for this reason that I have given Dun- bar so large a space in my book. I have allowed him to speak for himself. In my first published paper in 1898, I stated that I had succeeded in controlling a large number of cases by *' scrubbing most carefully every portion of the mu- cous membrane of the nasal chamber, be- ing sure to reach between the turbinated bones and all around any slight promi- nence.'' Musser and Kelly ('* Practical Treatment,\" 1913, Saunders, Philadel- phia) quote E. W. Wright as placing great stress upon the hypersensitive condi- tion of the nasal mucosa as the important causative factor in many cases, suggest- ing a frictional massage of the mucous membrane of the nose in order to in- crease its resisting powers, so that it can withstand the irritation and excitation from the impact of the pollen of plants, [xiv] INTRODUCTION His method is to apply gentle massage to the nasal mucons membrane through the medium of a cotton-covered probe. These applications are to be made daily for from three to five minutes in each nasal chamber. I am unable to find any additional au- thority for this method of management of the disease. The observation of Wright was made long after the publication of my paper ; and certainly priority for such local treatment belongs to me. rx7i PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS HISTORY, PERIODICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS [17] PART I WHAT HAY-FEVER IS HISTORY, PERIODICITY, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS 1. Definition, History and Bibliography Among the synonyms that have been employed for the term hay-fever may be named the following: Autumnal catarrh, Bostock's catarrh, coryza vasomotoria, coryza vasomotoria periodica, hay-asthma, idiosyncratic coryza, June cold, July cold, nervous coryza, nervous catarrh, paroxys- mal sneezing, peach cold, periodic hyper- esthetic rhinitis, pollen catarrh, pollen poisoning, pruritic catarrh, pruritic rhi- nitis, ragweed fever, rhinitis sympathetica, rhinitis vasomotoria, rose catarrh, rose [19] HAY-FEVEE cold, summer bronchitis, summer catarrh, summer catarrh from idiosyncrasy, sum- mer fever, typical early summer catarrh, vasomotor coryza, vasomotor rhinitis. In other language are the following equiva- lents: Latin — Catarrhus sestivus, coryza vasomotoria* periodica ; French — Catarrhe d'ete, catarrhe de foin; German — Friih- sommerkatarrh, Heuasthma, Heufieber ; Italian — Asma dei mietitori, febbre del fieno, asma del fieno. The term ** hay-fever'' was first used to designate the form of disease occurring in the autumn in distinction from like affec- tions which occur in other seasons. So universal, however, has become its use that it is now employed to designate all the forms of what may be called the periodic influenzas, irrespective of seasons. Hay-fever may be defined as an affec- tion of the upper air-passages occurring [20] WHAT HAY-FEVEE IS periodically, usually at or near a fixt date in the early autumn, sometimes in the spring or summer, characterized by its sudden onset and as sudden termination in certain atmospheric conditions, by swell- ing and turgescence of mucous membranes of the nasal fossae and adjacent cavities, irritating discharges therefrom, and vari- ous symptoms of coryza, and occasionally by asthmatic paroxysms. It always re- sults from the combination of a special predisposition, from depraved resistance or lowered vitality of the general system or a local lesion, and an exciting cause, believed to be a micro-organism or pecu- liar toxin, generally arising from pollen or dust deposited upon or in the mucous membrane of the upper air-passages. The important predisposing causes are : hered- ity, idiosyncrasy, neurotic temperament, peculiar susceptibility of the vasomotor [21] HAY-FEVER system, generally debilitated condition, deranged assimilation, and a local lesion. Hay-fever has been defined as a neurosis, as an idiosyncrasy, as a catarrhal affec- tion, and as a type of influenza, and as various combinations of these. The de- position of some special irritant is uni- versally regarded as the exciting cause. Exactly when hay-fever was recognized as a distinct affection is not known. Bes- chorner shows that it was known in the sixteenth century. In 1565 Botallus re- ported a case. Van Helmont and Binnin- ger, in the seventeenth century, speak of it. A similar distressing catarrhal affec- tion, but due to the rose, is instanced in **Acta nat. curios. Ephemerides,'' Dec. II, Ann. V, obs. 22, and again in the same journal, Dec. Ill, Ann. V and VI, obs. 193, a case of annually recurring profuse nasal catarrh is mentioned. John Floyer, * [22] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS London, 1698, noticed that there were peculiar cases of asthma in which the at- tacks were longer and more acute in sum- mer than in winter. In Good's ** Study of Medicine\" there is a reference to a case related by Timaeus in 1667, of an at- tack of an asthmatic nature caused by the odor of roses and ipecac. Biedlin, in his **Lin. Med.,\" p. 177, in 1695, wrote of the odor of roses causing a catarrh of the head, resembling hay-fever. C. L. Parry, of London, records a case in 1809 and an- other in 1811. Elliotson, in 1821, tells of a patient who had had hay-fever since 1789, and of another who was sixty-six years of age and who had had the disease from his seventh year, i.e., since 1755, and of a third who had been afflicted for many years. Just when and where the term *' hay- fever\" or ** hay-asthma\" arose it is im- [23] HAY-FEVER possible to say, but probably it was popu- larly so named. The emanations from dry hay were first thought to have caused it. Dr. Bostock, who was himself a sufferer, in 1819, found that the laity knew of the affection, altho it was not recognized as a distinct disease by the profession. He objected to the term ** hay-fever,'' which was already employed to designate it in his day, contending that moist heat, sunshine, dust, and fatigue were more potent in its causation than emanations from dry hay. It seems remarkable that the profession in England were unfamiliar with hay- fever as a distinct affliction, es- pecially as their king, George IV, was a sufferer from it. In 1828, Bostock, who had first described the disease to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of London as a **case of a periodic affection of the eyes and chest,'' published some further ob- [24] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS servations on the complaint under the title ** Summer Catarrh/' or **Catarrhus ^stivus/' In 1828, MacCuUoch included it in his *'An Essay on the Remittent and Intermittent Diseases/' but advanced no special views. In 1830, Augustus Prater published notes of a case seen in Paris. In 1831, Dr. EUiotson, in London, briefly described the affection; and in 1833 he discust the complaint more fully and opposed Bostock's theory of heat and re- jected the hay- theory of its origin, but declared grasses to be more important factors; and he first pointed to pollen as the probable cause of the disease. In 1847, Dr. Ramadge detailed reports of cases and believed ** effluvia from flowers\" caused it. In 1850, Gream first alluded to dust as an exciting cause and proposed nux vomica as a remedy. In 1852 Dr. Laforgue, of Toulouse, wrote his essay '' Observation [25 ] HAY-FEVER de catarrhe d'ete/' in which he upheld heat as the cause, after the view of Bos- tock. But in the next year, 1853, in **L'Abeille Medicale,'' an anonymous con- tributor, reciting his own case, advocated hay-emanations and not heat as the excit- ing agent. In 1854 Phoebus, of Giessen, concluded from his study of 154 cases that sunlight was the active cause of the at- tacks. In 1857 Watson ascribed the mal- ady to the presence of vegetable matter in the atmosphere. In 1859 Phoebus again published the results of his circular of in- quiry. He went into the subject more thoroughly than any of his predecessors, and from sunlight he shifted to ozone as the theoretic cause of the malady. In this same year Hyde Salter named as the ex- citing agents *^ bright, hot, dusty sun- shine,'' a full meal, and hay, and recited two interesting cases. Another writer, [26] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Walshe, in the same year, referred to hay- fever as a singular variety of nasopnl- monary catarrh, and he first called atten- tion to the fact that the disease, in his own person, ** always disappeared in crossing the Atlantic/' In July, 1860, Dr. Cornaz, of Neufchatel, Switzerland, in a paper on hay-fever, de- scribed six cases, and concluded that the flowers of grasses were the cause of the disease, and he was followed on the 20th of August of the same year by Dr. La- bosse, of Nitry, France, in a paper en- titled **Nouvelle observation de catarrhe de foin,'' in which he spoke of three per- sons whose symptoms occurred at the time certain flowers were in bloom. In 1866 strong light and great heat were advanced as aggravating causes by JDr. Wm. Ab- botts Smith. In his published. work, '*0n Hay-fever, Hay-asthma, or Summer Ca- [27]' HAY-FEVER tarrh,'^ he rejected the ozone theory of Phoebus. In 1867 the nervous origin of the dis- ease was first advanced by Dr. William Pirrie, who spoke of two forms, — one a spasmodic form caused by external irri- tants, the other arising from the action of light and heat upon the central nervous, the cerebrospinal, and sympathetic sys- tems. In the same year, Helmholtz, who, the not a general practitioner, while suffering from hay-fever, began to treat it with a quinin solution and found that he was relieved thereby. Two years later he detailed to C. Binz, of Bonn, Germany, by letter, the history of his sufferings, and recommending his solution as a ready means of relief and even of prevention, which was in accord with the findings of Binz that the quinin solution was poison- ous to infusoria. In this letter Helmholtz [28] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS^ proponnded the theory that the symp- toms were caused by vibrios which, the latent at other times in the nasal fossae and sinuses, were excited to activity by the heat of summer. It has since been thought that the organisms found by Helmlioltz, by means of the microscope, in the nasal discharges during an attack were probably fragments of mycelium-like threads which develop from pollen-cells under the influence of the heat and mois- ture of the nasal chambers and which con- tain the minute fovilla of the pollen-cells. The use of the quinin solution which Helm- holtz so successfully employed on himself became very popular and found many strong advocates in the profession until the extensive researches of Blackley in re- gard to pollen in 1873. In the meantime, in 1870, Dr. George Moore advocated a complex theory of the disease, really com- [29] HAY-FEVER binations of preceding theories. In the same year Eoberts issued a short, practi- cal paper, claiming to be the first to ob- serve excessive coldness of the tip of the nose as the ** pathognomonic'' symptom of hay-fever and desiring credit to be accorded him for this discovery. In 1872, Morrill Wyman, of Cambridge, Mass., distinguished two different forms of the disease; naming that occurring in August ** autumnal catarrh,'' peculiar to America, and that of the spring or early summer ** June cold\" or ** rose-cold,\" more prevalent in England. Dr. Wyman first attempted to define the geographical limits of the disease, and called attention to the important fact that residence in certain elevated regions brought certain and complete relief in most cases of autumnal catarrh. He stated that a lady from Lynn, Mass., a [30] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS great sufferer, accidentally observed in 1853 that her catarrh passed by while she was traveling in the White Mountains, and that for the following ten years she visited the region and escaped the disease. In 1860, Jacob Horton, of Newbnryport, Mass., wrote Dr. Wyman that the White Mountains gave the only relief. In 1873, Charles H. Blackley, of Manchester, en- deavored to show that pollen mainly, if not exclusively, caused the malady, and by extensive experiments showed that the amount of pollen in the atmosphere at great elevations was to that in the air at ordinary breathing levels as nineteen to one. He proved, by very ingenious and carefully conducted series of experiments, that the pollen of grasses and flowers was the sole cause of hay-fever in himself, and that in two other patients the severity of the attacks was directly related to the [31] HAY-FEVEK amotint of pollen in the air. His sub- sequent observations made it extremely- probable that pollen is an important factor in the causation of hay-fever, altho all kinds of dust may be sufficiently irritating to excite the paroxysms. This was in op- position to the views of Phoebus and of Pirrie, both of whom suggested heat, strong light, and ozone as the exciting causes. Pirrie had also suggested disturb- ance of the central nervous system as an important etiologic factor. He was sup- ported in this view in 1876 by Morrill Wy- man, then of New York. In the same year Beard, of New York, published his mono- graph, the information for which had been painstakingly gathered from replies to two hundred circulars which he had issued to medical men all over America, some- what after the manner of Phoebus; al- tho, unlike Phoebus, Beard had himself [32] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS seen and treated many cases. From his data he drew the conclusion that the im- mediate exciting causes were more than thirty in number, and that secondary causes might increase this list to more than one hundred. He showed also from his statistics that the nervous tempera- ment existed in a great proportion of the sufferers, and that nerve tonics were of some value. In 1877, Marsh, of Tuckerton, New Jersey, published an essay in which he accepted completely the pollen theory. He first called attention, in this paper, to the activity of the pollen of Ambrosia art emisice folia, or common ragweed, as by far the most active of the pollens in America in producing the attacks. In 1882, Daly, of Pittsburgh, first called attention to the fact that a diseased con- dition of the nasal cavities was an impor- tant factor in the production of the exacer- [33] HAt-FEVER bations of the disease. Eoe, of Rochester, in 1883, advocated the same theory, but added that *^ removal of the diseased tissue removes susceptibility to future attacks.\" In the same year, Sajous' essay appeared in which he advanced idiosyncrasy as a heretofore unconsidered element in the cause of hay-fever, and laid stress upon the three essential factors in the produc- tion of an attack; viz., first, an external irritant, second, a predisposition of the system, and, third, a vulnerable or sen- sitive area. In 1883, Hack accepted the local theory of the causation of the dis- ease. In 1884, Harrison Allen, of Phila- delphia, attributed the affection to a per- manent or temporary obstruction of one or both nasal chambers. In the same year, J. N. Mackenzie, of Baltimore, termed the disease '^coryza vasomotoria periodica,'' because it is essentially a coryza. He [34] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS says: **The well-recognized, but imper- fectly understood personal susceptibility to certain forms of local irritation, which is the sad prerogative of sufferers from this disease, has always been the stumbling- block in its investigation and the rock upon which the various speculations as to its nature have been wrecked/' He dem- onstrated that 'Hhere exists in the nose a well-defined sensitive area whose stimu- lation, through a pathologic process or through ah extra irritation, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its ex- pression in a reflex act or in a series of reflected phenomena. '^ He thus claimed functional derangement of nerve-centers as essential to the disease. It was also in 1884 that Sir Morell Mackenzie asserted that the universal cause of the disease was pollen, altho he did not deny that other irritating particles, e,g., ipecac, if per- [35] HAY-FEVER sistently brought in contact with the mu- cous membrane of the nasal chambers, may produce it. In 1885 Seth S. Bishop advocated the uric acid theory of the origin of the dis- ease. In 1887 Sir Andrew Clark, in the Caven- dish Lecture in London, emphasized the doctrine of the three great causative fac- tors, — ^viz., first an exciting agent, gener- ally pollen; second, the neurotic habit; and, third, a local morbid condition of the nasal mucous membrane. Since then many articles have appeared upon the subject, but no striking innova- tions in the possible etiology of hay-fever have been offered. In 1893, Macdonald said, we ought not to describe hay-fever as a disease but merely as a train of symptoms — a train of Dhysiologic reflexes instigated by an [36] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS unwarrantably small provocation in cer- tain individuals more susceptible to the influence thereof than the rest of their kind. Early in 1897, Grayson, of Philadelphia, stated that '^the neurotic habit may exist but is not essential to the disease, and the nervous system is implicated as a victim, not as a culprit.\" He claimed that hay- fever is a defect, not of the nervous, but of the nutritive system, believing that the digestive tract is the cradle of the sys- temic error. In October, 1897, Edmund W. Holmes, of Philadelphia, stated his belief to be that hay-fever was largely a neurosis, originating in local disease of the naso- pharynx, the characteristic manifestations being in part direct, the result of central nervous modifications, and in part reflex, from the action of various mechanical ir- [37 1 HAY-FEVER ritants, aided by local and constitntional factors when tliey exist, and by seasonable and climatic influences, the periodic and peripheric susceptibility being in partic- ular expressions of certain impressions. 2. Causes The idea of an external irritant in hay- fever pervades most views of it. There can be no doubt, however, that there is usually an underlying systemic condition which renders individuals susceptible to the disease. It may, in addition, be ac- cepted as conclusive that the nasal ab- normalities found in hay-fever subjects are as often incidental as causative. They are seldom exclusively provocative of the susceptibility, and they are not the results of repeated attacks. Exactly what this underlying condition of susceptibility is has been variously regarded. The nature [38] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS of the irritant has been widely and scien- tifically investigated. While all theories advanced are in part more or less tenable, none of them alone is satisfactory. The condition is always, however, one of low- ered resistance, general or local. If gen- eral, it may be of neurotic, lithemic, idio- syncratic, gastric, intestinal, or diathetic origin. It is, therefore, my belief, that in hay-fever there is always, first, an excit- ing agent, and, second, a system predis- posed by debility of some character to the influence of this irritant. The overwhelm- ing testimony as to the character of this irritant points to its derivation from some- thing external to the body of the sufferer. Moreover, it is absolutely certain that without the action of an external irritant genuine hay-fever does not occur. The elaborate and ingenious experiments of Blackley, not only upon himself but upon [89] HAY-FEVER other individuals, clearly indicated the pollen of flowering plants as an active, exciting cause. It has never been shown that, altho pollen, healthy or unhealthy, may be a mechanical irritant and thus account for many cases, it is not also a chemic irritant when it has fallen upon a susceptible soil. It has been claimed that hay-fever is caused by a toxin gener- ated by a fermentative process in the pollen which has fallen into the alkaline solution of the nose; and it has been shown that acid solutions stop the move- ments of many micro-organisms and sper- matozoa, and that alkaline solutions in the nares have given little or no benefit in attacks of hay-fever. It has also been shown that the affection is more com- mon among men than among women, and that the blood of the latter is the less alkaline. [40 J WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Arnold, in 1896, stated that just what constitutes the irritant is not determined, and said it is likely that not healthy pollen bnt some fungoid growth is responsible, since threshers of grain, at other times without ill-effects, have complained of at- tacks of hay-fever after threshing smutty or moldy grain, especially oats. Helmholtz, himself a sufferer from hay- fever, discovered peculiar micro-organ- isms in his nasal discharges. These vib- rios were never found by others, and this fact is supposed to controvert his theory. It has not been shown conclusively that they have been sought for by other inves- tigators, and it is likely that they have not, since attention has been called away by the pollen and other theories. The antiseptic quinin solution employed by Helmholtz, while extensively used with good results for the subsequent decade, [41] HAY-FEVER was not invariably accompanied by re- lief. Later, the relief that was given by quinin solutions was said to be psychic. This allegation may well be understood when it is considered that many other theories as to the causation of hay-fever, particularly the pollen, abounded soon after Helmholtz's expositions. Some very interesting investigations by Strangways, of St. Louis, in 1897, urged him to conclude the amount of pollen in the air is altogether too small to have an injurious mechanical, medicinal, or poi- sonous influence. He calculates that for every square foot of surface there is one ragweed, and inquiry showed that mere elevation of several hundred feet above the earth's surface does not give relief from this distressing affection. Strang- ways found that ragweed pollen proba- bly floats to 1,000 feet elevation ; but, if the [42] \"WHAT HAY-FEVER IS limit is placed at 500 feet, it would give for every plant 500,000 cubic feet of air, not for one day but for six weeks; i.e., if the whole plant was pollen there would be still only one part of pollen to fifteen or twenty billion parts of air. The rose and the goldenrod are in even smaller quantities. Strangways' estimates showed that there was not more than one grain of pollen for every thirty respirations. He advanced the theory that, while pollen plays a part, it does not irritate mucous membrane nor produce vasomotor paresis by its direct influence, but that a proto- plasmic substance found in pollen and in the vegetable kingdom, acting as a fer- ment, causes the formation of a toxin which is the real exciting cause. There can be little doubt that the neu- rotic element has been present in many, if not most, cases of hay-fever, and evi- [43] HAY-FEVER denced by depression, general lowering of tone, or exhaustion of the nervous sys- tem. The neurosis need not be acquired; in fact, it is often hereditary, which will be discust later. Holmes believes the disease to be in great part a neurosis with other debili- tating conditions. The fact that the bet- ter educated classes are most prone to this affection indicates the influence of neurotic tendency as well as exhaustion of the nervous system or debility or depres- sion thereof. The premonitory symptoms of this affection, as ably shown by Sajous, show the neurotic elements. He well asks, **If the local irritant is the only cause, why does the respiratory tract, the por- tion of the body first and most exposed to its effects, not become immediately influenced?\" This author also shows a case following enteric fever, the debilita- [44] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS ting and exhaustive character of which is well known, one preceded by malarial fever and another by bronchitis, pertus- sis, and varicella. Of the various other theories advanced are the lithemic, the intestinal or gastric, due to lack of proper assimilation, and the uric acid diathesis. The views herein ad- vanced are not at all inconsistent with the idea that the diatheses exercise a predis- posing influence in producing the affec- tion, which influence is debilitating and devitalizing. The local theory alone is not conclusive nor satisfactory; viz., that the disease is due to chronic nasal catarrh, or a local lesion, upon which the exciting cause acts. There is no doubt that diseased areas are more sensitive to the irritant, and espe- cially so in cases of lowered vital energy and lessened normal resistance, general or [45] HAY-FEVER local; but a large number of cases show no local disease. In all of the theories respecting this af- fection there is more or less regard for the agency of pollen in provoking the paroxysms of the disease; but as every one is exposed to the irritant, in those af- fected the soil must be prepared for the seed, that is, before the deposition of the pollen or dust or exciting agent there must be a morbid condition preexisting, which can so far be characterized as to call it lowered vitality or general or local resistance, which springs from a variety of causes. 3. Periodicity On the continent of Europe, where it is less frequent, and in England, hay- fever prevails in June and July. The in- itial attacks occur during May and June and seldom last longer than September. [46] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS In India the malady chiefly occurs in Feb- ruary. In Australia, in and around Ade- laide, where the disease prevails, it oc- curs chiefly in September during the time of the blossoming of the Cape weed. In his work on hay-fever, Beard essays to show how the autumnal form is peculiar to the United States. One cause seems to be the flowering of the Roman wormweed and the pollen of corn about the middle of August, and another in the prevalence of the ** dog-days.\" A third reason lies in the fact that there is less atmospheric ozone and electricity at this period than at any other time of the year, and, again, the hottest days are frequently in the lat- ter part of June. Beard also attached importance to a variety of hay-fever in which the attacks came on in September. This distinction is probably due to the fact that while one person is liable to the [47] HAY-FEVEE action of one pollen, another may be af- fected by a totally different pollen, and the annual attacks come on when the at- mosphere is permeated by a special pol- len to which the victim is individually sus- ceptible. Many persons are susceptible to the action of more than one pollen. Pa- tients often suffer from rose-colds in early summer, and, again, in August, from the autumnal form of hay-fever. Of the 198 cases collected by Beard the onset of the disease occurred — From May 1 to May 10, in 2 cases. (( \" 10 \" 31, \" 6 \" tc June 1 June 10, U J^ u It \" 10 \" 30, U g u tt July 1 July 10, tc g u u \" 10 \" 20, tc g u u \" 20 \" 31, tc 7 cc it Aug. 1 Aug. 10, cc 7 cc tt \" 10 \" 20, tc gj cc tt \" 20 \" 31, tt 54 cc tt Sept. 1 Sept 10, cc 7 cc tt \" 10 \" 20, ^' 1 case. tt \" 20 \" 30, [48] *' 2 cases. WHAT HAY-FEVER IS Of Bosworth's eighty cases the greatest number, fifty-one, occurred between Au- gust 10th and August 27th. The usual date assigned for the commencement of paroxysms of hay-fever is the 29th of August. This form of the disease, com- mencing in the latter part of August, is designated as autumnal catarrh. Many patients have asserted that they are attacked annually on exactly the same date, and even the same time of day, each year. There can be little doubt that the psychic influence or peculiar mental an- ticipation may have a great deal to do with this circumstance. An attack may be brought on by the influence of the im- agination. Phoebus gives the history of a case in which attacks of sneezing were brought on \"while looking at a beautiful picture of a hay-field.\" The well-known instance of J. N. Mackenzie, in which an [49] HAY-FEVER attack of hay-fever was brought on in a susceptible individual subject to rose-cold by means of an artificial rose may be explained on this ground. Boswortli con- siders that the time of occurrence is influenced by psychic causes, and is an- alogous to the recurrence of chills in intermittent fever, and considers that deception as to the actual time of occur- rence might be proved in hay-fever as in intermittent fever, in which changing the hands of the clock may lead to a change in the regular recurrence of the chills. Prince gives the history of a case in which, a hay-fever subject under the influence of auto-suggestion, by means of writing fre- quently on paper and thinking, day and night, in leisure moments, and of slight hypnotism, prevented the premonitory symptoms of hay-fever, and she was free from the annual attacks for several years, [50] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS when they recurred and continued yearly thereafter. Prince asks, may it not be that the reason why certain places, such as Dublin, for instance, are reputed to have a specific influence against attacks, is the counter-suggestion thereby given that the patient will be free from attacks at such places? Pirrie states that it is next to impos- sible to definitely decide the duration of hay-fever attacks, as seasons, age, tem- perament, locality, treatment, and other circumstances tend to cause variations in different years and in different individ- uals. Treatment will do much to curtail the duration of the more prominent and distressing symptoms, but if left to them- selves it is seldom they depart under three or four weeks. A writer in the ** Twentieth Century Practice of Medi- cine\" estimates the duration as from four [51] HAY-FEVER to six weeks, according to tlie patient's surroundings and the atmospheric condi- tions. Asthmatic attacks may last from a few hours to three days and disappear suddenly. Morell Mackenzie states that attacks last from a few hours to several days, or even longer, finally ceasing al- most as suddenly as they came, and leav- ing no trace either in local lesions or in systemic disturbance. Bosworth gives eighty cases, showing the durations of the annual attacks as follows: From May 1 to frost 1 case. \" \" 15 \" May 25, to July 1.... 3 cases. \" 10 \" Aug. 1 lease. \" June 1 \" July 1 2 cases. \" 1 '' \" 14 lease. \" 1 '' frost 5 cases. '' 10 '' July 4 4 \" \" 10 ^' \" 26 5 *' *' July 1 '' Sept. 1 1 case. \" 10 '* Aug. 1 1 \" '' 10 \" Sept. 1 1 \" '' '' 25 '' frost 4 cases. '* Aug. 10 \" Aug. 27, to frost 51 \" [52] WHAT HAY-FEVEE IS All forms of hay-fever terminate with the first frost, and the long interval in which one may suffer is shown by the first case above from May 1st to cold weather. In the United States some who are at- tacked in May recover by the 1st of July; some attacked in Jnly are well by the 15th of Angnst; some attacked in Au- gust recover by November 1st, while some unfortunates suffer throughout the period from May to November. The June type may be followed by a September visita- tion or become a permanent August at- tack, or the August type may disappear in certain individuals and reappear as a June cold. 4. Symptoms Altho the affection is called hay- fever, there is seldom any degree of py- rexia, and, as a fever, it is not a decided one. There are two well-known types of 53] HAY-FEVER the disease, — the catarrhal and the asth- matic. The onset of an attack is occa- sionally marked by feelings of general malaise, a loss of appetite, and depression of spirits. Indeed, these symptoms more or less characterize the entire course of the attack. A * Sickling in the roof of the month\" one week before the onset was felt by a patient of Sajous. Another speaks of dull pains in the head and back two weeks before; chills and shuddering ten days before the attack is experienced by another, while a large proportion com- plain of palpebral pruritis from two to ten days before the onset of the nasal symptoms. It is only in those subjects whose hay-fever is of some years' stand- ing, Sajous points out, that the premoni- tory symptoms are present, and gives in evidence the testimony of a fellow-physi- cian, viz.: *'My attacks for some years [54] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS past came with much regularity, about August 12th to August 14th. On these dates this year I arranged to be on the water, on Lake Ontario and the St. Law- rence Eiver, and entirely escaped every- thing like sneezing and irritation of the nose and eyes. Still I had the usual hot and slightly irritable skin, then an erup- tion of urticaria, accompanied by dis- ordered stomach. This experience is pre- cisely the same as in 1880, except that then I was on the Atlantic.'' Macdonald, in 1893, had a patient whose earliest symptoms were a curious coldness and pallor of the nose even in warm weather. In this connection it may be observed that in 1870 Roberts conceived the ^^pathog- nomonic symptom\" to be coldness of the tip of the nose. Beard divided the symptoms into local and constitutional. Among the latter he [55] HAY-FEVEE regarded fever, loss of strength, the al- tered appetite and the nervous system, considering under this last, depression, indisposition to labor, sense of fulness and heaviness of the head, pain in the fore- head and behind the ears, partial deaf- ness, restlessness at night, inability to sleep, a sense of suffocation, and general irritability. For the local phenomena, he looked upon the skin, in the heart, chest, mouth and nose, eyes and ears. The periodicity of the attacks is a prom- inent symptom and is difficult to explain. Some peculiar psychic influence occasion- ally acts to precipitate an exacerbation. In no other way can we explain the cases of John N. Mackenzie and Morell Mac- kenzie already cited. Analogous to this remarkable periodicity are those cases of intermittent fever wherein each alternate day, at a given hour, the chill occurs. This 156] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS is generally true, moreover, not only of ourselves, but of the world around us. As Holmes has beautifully shown in this con- nection, health and disease afford abun- dant illustration: The fixation of the number of heart-beats, of the respiratory movements, of the cycle of menstruation, or of the period of gestation are all recog- nizable in their unfailing occurrence, but their determination thereof, then, rather than at some other period, can not be ex- plained. So, in disease, are the muta- tions of the enteric temperature, the re- currence of the hectic, of the regularity of the return of the type of ague upon the second, third, or fourth days, or of hay- fever upon its annual date. We must recognize these phenomena as fixt, fur- ther we can not go. **As the rhythm of physiologic effects is under the control of the central nerve ganglia, and as inter- HAY-FEVER mittency is a peculiarly marked feature of so-called nervous disorders, so far the annual return and the variations are evidences of the neurotic origin of hay- fever.'' The onset of an attack of hay-fever be- gins with a sense of irritation referred to the upper nasal chambers, a sense of fulness or tightness across the bridge of the nose. There is an itching or burning sensation of the inner canthus of one or both eyes, which may be accompanied by convulsive movements of the eyelid, an itching or tingling in the roof of the mouth. Spasmodic sneezing soon occurs, and pain in the eyeballs and in the fron- tal regions develops. The paroxysms are more or less violent and prolonged. Ar- nold tells of sneezing in a patient for twenty-five times in close succession, forc- ing the pulse at the height of the attack [58] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS to one hundred and twenty beats to the minute. These paroxysms are followed by an abundant, thin, serous discharge from the nose. The mucous membrane of the nasal fossae swells so as to block up the nasal passages, and respiration through the nares becomes impossible. The escape of serum from the nostrils seems to increase the intense irritation and makes the sneezing worse. The dis- charge from both eyes and nose gradually grows thicker and may become semipuru- lent. There is often a certain amount of painful vision, and sometimes swelling, besides the usual pricking and stinging of the conjunctival surfaces. There are fre- quent transient paroxysms of lacrimation, and there is often much swelling of the eyelids as well as of the conjunctiva. The face becomes puffy and edematous, and the senses of taste and smell become im-, [59] HAY-FEVER paired. The pharynx, mouth, and tonsils share in the engorgement and become red, and simultaneously the inflammation of the eyes, nose, and throat becomes intense and painful. Swallowing may become so difficult that there is little rest night or day. Insomnia is common and is often attended by nervousness and a sense of suffocation out of all proportion to the gravity of the condition. Cough is not a constant feature, but in a considerable proportion of cases it comes on in the sec- ond week, and lasts through the attack. Generally it is spasmodic and so incessant at night that sleep is impossible, and there are soreness and pain resulting from the straining of the diaphragm and intercos- tal muscles. Bronchitis does not usually result, and expectoration is absent or scanty until late. Cough may continue after all other symptoms have ceased. £60] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS The pulse and temperature are not gen- erally altered, but later in the attack the temperature may be raised two or three degrees, doubtless from disturbed rest. A ^* sufferer '^ records that, in some, the genito-urinary and rectal passages give the first warning by intense itching and burning. In one instance, a more than generally severe paroxysm induced rup- ture of the capillaries in the lacrimal ca- runcle of the right eye, causing engorge- ment of the organ and displacement of the visual axis, with consequent double vision for some days. The direct and re- flex changes in the vocal apparatus vary from loss of timber and harshness to complete inability to utter nasal vowels and consonants. The disorder varies much in intensity even in the same person within short in- tervals of time, so as to almost give [61] HAY-FEVER an intermittent character to the com- plaint. The attack finally ceases almost as sud- denly as it came on, leaving no trace of local lesion or systemic disturbance. It i^ accompanied in some patients with nettle- rash. Asthma is a late symptom, coming on after the acute symptoms have abated, and cough has existed for some time. It may appear at the height of the attack. It is more common in autumnal catarrh than in the early forms. Its period, as a rule, begins at the fourth week, and it does not vary from ordinary asthma. It is sometimes periodic, occurring at the same hour night after night. Paroxysms appear associated with antecedent bron- chial rather than nasal symptoms. Nasal reflex phenomena, without cough, may oc- casion paroxysms. Persistent cough more usually exists in the intervals between [62] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS paroxysms. Beard says that four-fifths of the sufferers have cough or asthma. The symptoms are not usually of equal severity each year. Asthma generally comes on in the daytime, a little ropy mu- cus being expectorated, and later an abun- dant frothy secretion. There may be only a slight remission, the dyspnea continu- ing so long as exposure continues. The attacks rarely produce emphysema of the lung, and sooner or later recovery ensues. Bosworth estimates that the asthmatic at- tacks come on earlier each year in those who have suffered from hay-fever in con- nection with asthma, and he believes that an attack of hay-fever is especially liable to develop an attack of bronchial asthma as a natural consequence of the disturb- ance in the nasal chambers. He also observed a number of cases in which hay- fever symptoms gradually abated while [63] HAY-FEVER the asthma became a prominent factor, and, again, that victims of hay-asthma finally acquired the perennial form of the disease, — the attacks occurring at all seasons without reference to the presence of pollen in the air. As already evidenced in Sajous' case, in a number of cases the attacks are pre- ceded by cutaneous eruptions. Laflaive cites cases with urticaria and eczema pre- ceding the onset of hay-fever. Facial prn- ritis and herpetiform eruptions are oc- casionally seen. J. N. Mackenzie speaks of an inflammation of the external audi- tory meatus in all respects analogous to that of the nose in hay-fever, occurring repeatedly in a lady during the summer months. Besides asthma, already mentioned, there is little tendency to permanent ill- effects except thickening of the nasal mu- [64] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS cous membrane from the prolonged irri- tation. Taste and smell may be impaired during and for a long time after the at- tack. General irritability and nervous- ness may be more or less persistent. El- derly sufferers for a long time may have weakened hearts which intermit during attacks, which may recover with return- ing health or result in cardiac dilatation. \"Wyman mentions pneumonia in three cases during attacks. In one case the ca- tarrh ceased for two weeks to return after the pneumonia disappeared, when asthma also came on for the first time. 5. Its Pathology, Diagnosis akdi Prognosis Morell Mackenzie states that hay-fever, leaving no permanent structural lesion be- hind it, can not, therefore, be strictly said to have any pathology. Surely it is that [65] HAY-FEVER no distinct specific organisms have been fonnd. Sajous calls attention to the dis- tinct physiologic functions of the two re^ gions of the nasal cavities, the olfactory and the respiratory. The filaments of the olfactory nerve cover the superior tur- binated bones, and the upper third of the middle turbinated bones, and the corre- sponding portion of the septum. Thus the upper portions of the nasal cavities are devoted to the sense of smell and do not enter into the pathology of hay-fever. The respiratory portion of the nose in- cludes all the surfaces below the olfac- tory. It is under the control of the vaso- motor nerves of the sympathetic system, and is quite sensitive to local or periph- eral irritation. This sensitiveness resides in the terminal filaments of the sen- sory nerves, distributed over the surfaces of the mucous membranes. The mem- [66] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS branes of the posterior areas of the nasal fossae are supplied with several branches of the sphenopalatine ganglion, which en- ter by the sphenopalatine foramen. This ganglion possesses a sympathetic root de- rived from the carotid plexus through the vidian nerve, thus establishing a connect- ing link between the nasal mucous mem- brane and the sympathetic system. In health the nasal mucous membrane pours out from twelve to sixteen ounces of watery serum daily, which — that it may warm, moisten, and cleanse the inspired air on its passage to the lungs — is dif- fused over the convex surfaces of the tur- binated bones. The centers in the medulla, through the vasomotor, control and regu- late this process of serous exudation; the nicety of which regulation is seen in the adjustment thereof to the varying hygro- scopic and thermic conditions of the air. £67] HAY-FEVEE The experiments of John N. Mackenzie, in 1884, showed: 1. That in the nose there exists a well- defined sensitive area whose stimulation, through a local pathologic process or through an extra irritation, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its expression in a reflex act, or in a series of reflected phenomena. 2. That this sensitive area corresponds, in all probability, with that portion of the nasal mucous membrane covering the tur- binated corpora cavernosa and the most sensitive spots covering the posterior end of the inferior turbinated body and the septum immediately opposite. 3. That nasal cough is caused only by stimulation of this area. 4. That the tendency to evolution of reflex phenomena varies in different indi- viduals, and is probably dependent upon [68] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS the varying degree of excitability of the erectile tissue. These sensitive areas correspond to the distribution of the sphenopalatine branches of the superior maxillary nerve, as distinguished from the nasal branch of the ophthalmic, which latter supplies the more anterior portions of the nasal fos- sae. The former nerves, derived through the ganglion of Meckel, therefore, prob- ably contain the vasomotor nerves which govern the erection of the turbinated tissue, and, hence, the localization of the sensitive areas becomes the key to the mechanism of the paroxysms. Neverthe- less, Beard was inclined to transfer the point of greatest excitability from the peripheral ends of the nerve-filaments to the nerve-centers themselves, because it seems a more comprehensive explanation of the varied phases of the disease. [69] HAY-FEVER Eoe explained that the more frequent occurrence of asthmatic paroxysms at night might he brought about by the gravitation of blood to, or the contact of polypi upon, these sensitive areas. Sajous thought it was evident that there were three areas capable of producing reflex symptoms in the course of a paroxysm of hay-fever, and that the three combined formed the key to the local nervous ele- ment, not that the three areas must take part, but in some, one of them, in others, two of them, etc. In the asthmatic cases, he noticed that both anterior and pos- terior areas were sensitive, the latter especially so. Capp pointed out two distinct spots or areas of the mucous membrane of the nasal cavities, one at the posterior and one at the anterior extremity of the in- ferior turbinates, one or both of which [70] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS may be supersensitive in individual cases ; also a spot in the anterior nasal chambers at the upper angle formed by the septum. All these are exquisitely sensitive, and, when irritated, produce extensive reflex symptoms. Trouble appears to begin at one or all of the points, while the rest of the Schneiderian membrane is in normal condition; but with sneezing, hyperemia and hyperesthesia ensue, and, through continuity, may extend to throat, ears, and eyes. In speaking of the three reflex areas. Holmes said that it is regarded that all points of the cavernous tissue are not equally susceptible to irritation; the sen- sitive areas are the inferior turbinates (the posterior and middle reflex areas) and the portion of the septum immedi- ately opposite, being particularly related to cough and asthma ; the anterior, in the [71] HAY-FEVER vestibule, to sneezing, lacrimation, and other catarrhal symptoms. We might compare these reflexes with certain other cases of reflex asthma (not hay-fever) benefited by removal of the tonsils. Bosworth regarded the continuous sneezing as pathognomonic and holds that the hyperemia is ** confined entirely to the large venous sinuses, the capillaries proper not being congested,\" and speaks of the watery, serous discharge with the bluish-gray 'Uinge of the mucosa verging on opalescence, the surface of the mem- brane being covered with slightly viscid, watery serum, which gives it a glassy, semitranslucent aspect.'* During an attack of hay-fever the erec- tile tissues of the nasal passages and the posterior throat become distended, the blood-vessels are engorged, groups of lymph-cells fill the lymphatic spaces, the [72 ] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS mucous surface is crowded with migrat- ing leucocytes (white blood-corpuscles), younger epithelial cells are vacuolating and proliferating, secretion is increased in quantity and altered in character and composition, sensation is heightened, in- tensified, altered, or benumbed, and the whole metabolism of the affected region is profoundly disordered. Examination of the lower borders of the turbinated bones will disclose the mucous membranes of the nasal cavities arranged in thick, loose folds, owing to the peculiar distribution of the network of arteries and veins which go to make up ** cavernous tissue/' It is peculiar to this tissue that it may suddenly be engorged with blood, extremely dis- tending it, and as suddenly emptied and the engorgement relieved. It is especially thick over the inferior turbinated bones and over the lower and posterior part of I 73 ] HAY-FEVER the nasal septum, and also npon the lower edge of the middle turbinated bone. In acute conditions the engorgement and dis- tention soon subside. In chronic states the mucous membrane becomes markedly thick- ened and the blood-vessels enlarged and tortuous. The subsidence of the engorge- ment can not occur, and as a result there is a greater or less degree of closure of the nasal passages. The mucous membrane of the nasal cav- ities in hay-fever does not present the characteristic features of an acute inflam- mation. The impact of pollen or exciting irritant causes complete relaxation of the large veins of the turbinated bodies and an exudation of serum, which relaxation continues so long as pollen or the irritant is in situ, but as soon as it is removed the normal caliber is again restored and the attack subsides. Deviations of the sep- [74] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS tnm or chronic rhinitis are occasionally, found concurrent with the disease, but can not be regarded as characteristic. Hay-fever may be distinguished from asthma, common catarrh, bronchitis, acute rhinitis, remittent fever, and catarrhal conjunctivitis. The salient feature of hay-fever is its periodicity or annual re- currence. This is part of its very nature, is the central point of diagnosis, is its chief characteristic, and to its elucida- tion. Holmes says, all existing theories tend. Beard states that hay-fever is like asthma in the following points : 1. It is hereditary; 2. It is more or less periodic; 3. It is paroxysmal; 4. It is correlated to other functional nervous affections; 5. The paroxysms are excited by a great [75 J HAY-FEVER variety of irritants ; persons being differ- ently affected; 6. It is singularly obstinate and is re- lieved by the same remedies. Bosworth considers hay-fever depen- dent upon: 1. A neurotic habit; 2. Pollen in the atmosphere; 3. A disordered condition of the nasal passages. While asthma is dependent npon : 1. A general neurotic condition; 2. Obscure conditions of the atmos- phere; 3. Diseased bronchial (not nasal) mu- cous membranes. It is the comparative suddenness of the onset, as well as its sudden departure, the violent paroxysms of sneezing, and the character of the nasal discharges which are the peculiar features of hay-fever. 1 76 J WHAT HAY-FEVER IS The first attacks are likely to be mistaken for ordinary coryza, but here the abrupt onset, the characteristic edematous puf- finess of the eyelids, the absence of con- stitutional symptoms will indicate the difference. In children, moreover, at- tacks of hay-fever are most liable to be mistaken for acute colds or rhinitis, — ^but here, again, the above points may serve to distinguish, together with the sequence of the symptoms, the time of year, and the physical signs of an acute bronchitis, if it extends so far. The approach of cold weather and the coincident departure of the symptoms will make clear a diagno- sis, while the history of previous attacks at the season of the year most favorable to hay-fever, the presence of certain irri- tants, and the general condition of the bodily symptoms may be of aid in dis- tinguishing the affection. In acute rhi- [77] HAY-FEVER nitis there are several stages, viz.: First, a dry stage, lasting for a few, say twelve, hours; second, a serous discharge lasting two or three days; and, third, a muco- purulent discharge for from three to five days, — ^while the entire attack runs its course in from five to ten days if no com- plications ensue. In hay-fever there is no dry stage ; the discharge from the out- set is purely serous and never muco- purulent during the entire course. The nasal discharge in hay-fever is sometimes slightly opaque, and it may contain some few epithelial cells and viscid mucus. In acute rhinitis examination of the nares will show an inflammatory area while hay- fever shows none. Hay-fever is a vaso- motor paresis, and is easily diagnosed from inflammatory coryza by the swollen bluish-gray appearance of the inferior turbinated bones, and by the fact that the [78] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS first train of symptoms continues through to the end. Examination of the nares will disclose occlusion due to the swollen tur- binated bones lying in contact with the septum. The appearance of the mucous membrane itself is characteristic and only slightly resembles an inflammatory pro- cess. It is markedly swollen, not bright red as in rhinitis, but bluish-gray, cov- ered with a thin, slightly viscid, watery serum, giving it a glassy, semitranslu- cent, at times opalescent appearance. Again, the marked puffiness of the eye- lids, the great suffusion of the eyes, the photophobia, and even epiphora are dis- tinguishing features of hay-fever. The sensitive areas spoken of, particu- larly those on the lower and posterior parts of the septum and the inferior tur- binated bones, are of value in differen- tiating hay-fever, and the markedly pro- [79] HAY-FEVER nonnced paroxysms of sneezing are very prominent in hay-fever. People are subject in the changeable climate of spring and early summer to catch colds, and especially is this true of those prone to catarrh. These cases are sometimes mistaken for hay-fever. The readiness, however, with which they yield to anti-catarrhal treatment shows their nature. The prognosis is invariably good as to life. Sufferers often live to advanced ages. Hay-fever is no bar to life-insur- ance, but unless rationally treated the chances of permanent cure are very small. There are few exceptions to the rule that the tendency is, when once established, to an annual recurrence, unless the predis- posing causes are removed, or there is removal of or away from the exciting cause. Beard states that hay-fever has [80] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS no effect on longevity, and that, judging from observation and analogy, this afflic- tion may act as a kind of safety-valve for the nervous diathesis, preventing other and more serious disorders, and thus be- coming the friend rather than the enemy of life. When once attacked, unless properly treated, escape is rare in any subsequent year. Even changes in consti- tution in extreme age are no bar or pro- tection. It rarely skips a year, provided locality and influence are the same. Ab- solute immunity is only obtainable at the price of temporary exile. There is no proof that hay-fever is generally milder or severer in certain years all over the world or over a country, yet evidence is satisfactory that in certain localities it varies greatly in different years. Now and then, but not often, the ten- dency to the disease seems to be out- [81] HAY-FEVER grown. In one of Beard's cases the dis- ease skipped two years. Dr. Gibbons, of California, mentions a terrible case in which the attacks in successive years be- came lighter and lighter and finally dis- appeared entirely. With respect to increase or decrease of severity of symptoms with advancing years there is no constant law. In some cases the disease grows milder, in others severer, in others still, years of compara- tive mildness alternate with years of com- parative severity. The early form may change into the later form. There is no doubt, however, that attacks may change from the early to the late form, and vice versa, and in advancing years may be milder. Bosworth states that the younger the patient the better is the promise of relief; and that rose-cold, belonging more especially to early life, is to be regarded [82] WHAT HAY-FEVER IS more favorably than other forms. Mac- donald has observed spontaneous disap- pearance in children, perhaps due to an increase, ^ari passu with growth and de- velopment of nervous stability. As regards the termination of each in- dividual attack the prognosis is invari- ably favorable; cessante causa, cessat effectus. There is almost equal certainty that with the same causative influences the attacks will reappear upon exposure to the exciting cause. It is peculiar, too, that the disease of one year's standing has proved as obstinate as one of from twenty to thirty years' duration. In these instances it may be a question as to how firmly fixt has become the neurotic habit. M. W. Bulette, of Colorado, in 1896, as a result of his own experience, made the assertion that more than eighty per cent. [83] HAY-FEVER of hay-fever sufferers can be permanently and effectually cured. Thoro examina- tion of the patient and elimination of every possible source of irritation and pathologic condition are necessary. I desire to be more emphatic, and from my results in the treatment of over 200 cases during the last twenty years, I be- lieve that the curability of the disease can not be questioned. That all cases can be cured is questionable; but we can un- hesitatingly say that a majority of cases are curable, and that positive relief, with- out change of residence or inconvenience, can he afforded during the period of oc- currence, if treatment is directed along the lines laid down in the following chapter. [84] PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES T851 PART II ACCEPTED CAUSES 1. When Due to Some Exciting Agent Such as Pollen It being generally recognized that there are two elements entering into the causa- tion of hay-fever, viz., an exciting agent and a predisposing or preexisting con- dition, regard will be given the subject of causation from this standpoint. A great number of agencies have been regarded as the direct causes of this disease, but opinion in the main has as- signed pollen as the essential factor, act- ing upon the preexisting condition or predisposition. It may be better, however, to give a resume of other agencies before [87] HAY-FEVER regarding this subject of pollen. The most important of these are heat, light, dust, ozone, overexertion, ipecac, lyco- podium, coumarin, benzoic acid, choco- late, or several of these in combination. No attempt to signify or designate a definite cause was made by the early writers until 1819, when Bostock first described the malady and ventured the view that it was due to the influence of solar heat. He attributed his own pro- longed sufferings to the exposure to the sun's rays and fatigue. Some time after, Phoebus attributed the affection to *Hhe first heat of summer,'' which, he stated, **is a stronger cause than all the grass emanations put to- gether.\" Phoebus subsequently modified his views so as to regard the first heat of summer as acting only in an indirect man- ner as an exciting cause, and admitted [88] ACCEPTED CAUSES that hay and the blossoms of rye caused exacerbations. It can not be contended, at this day, that heat alone will provoke the disease. In the plains of India when the heat is greatest it is not found, al- tho later in the year, in the cooler months and before vegetation is burned up, it does appear; but among the hills of India, where the climate is milder and the grasses and cereals are in blossom, hay-fever exists. At sea, when vessels are becalmed and heat is most intense, and in the great heat of the desert hay-fever is not found. Pirrie shows that great heat is common to all cases, even when the vegetable world is looked to for the cause, and strangely points out that the premonitory feelings of an attack coin- cide with those caused by high tempera- ture. One of the most interesting cases from this standpoint is that of an En- [89] HAY-FEVER glishman, who, altho not a medical man, was well known to science — Richard Proctor. The asthma — for it took this form — occurred only during the cold months, and was always aggravated by a rime or hoar-frost, especially if the lat- ter was followed by a bright, sunny day. It is a striking fact that in regions com- paratively free from the disease persons subject to it become worse on warm days, or when the wind blows from the south. It has been found by experience that while this aggravation by winds is in most part due to the presence of more pollen, the higher temperature is also in a measure responsible. Hot, dry days are more favorable to the dissemination of pollen than rainy ones, and it becomes especially active when hot, dry periods follow stormy weather. In the light of Blackley's experiments upon the amount [ »o ] ACCEPTED CAUSES of pollen in the atmosphere, these facts wonld seem to explain the action of heat and sunlight as an active cause in the pro- duction of the exacerbations of hay-fever. Phoebus was dissatisfied with the view of the influence of solar heat, and thought that the longer days, which produce a more continuous action of light, were per- haps to blame; but where light is strong- est and lasts the longest — indeed, in the land of the ** midnight sun\" — ^hay-fever is practically unknown. Pirrie called at- tention to the fact that exposure to strong light aggravated the symptoms of the attack. The cited case of the late Eichard Proctor is an example of the truth of this. There is an instance of the widow of a clergyman whose attacks, most severe in summer, were aroused by sunlight in the early morning. Ingals knew a clergy- man who was unable to cross the street [91] HAY-FEVER on a hot day without sneezing violently unless he carried an umbrella. Persons with sensitive mucous membranes, espe- cially subjects of hay-fever, are, no doubt, sometimes liable to attacks of sneezing from sunlight; but these symptoms must not be mistaken for true hay-fever. In- gals states that he knew an individual in whom attacks of sneezing were brought on by exposure to bright gaslight. Gas- light was also regarded by Beard as a cause of this affection. However, Morell Mackenzie shows that gaslight is em- ployed more in winter when the affection does not prevail than in the English spring and American autumn, when the affection most prevails. Nothing can ex- ceed the reflected glare of sunlight at sea on a bright day, yet it is upon the sea that exemption from attacks of hay- fever is universally found, in] ACCEPTED CAUSES From his scientific investigations upon the subject, Beard, whose published work is a model, concluded that it was ex- tremely probable that dust occasionally caused hay-fever. Out of 198 cases of hay-fever reported by him no less than 104 attributed the affection to dust. One hundred and forty-two of these cases, how- ever, occurred between May and Septem- ber, the usual hay-fever season; and the lay, not the trained professional, mind advanced the causes. Some attributed the affection to ** indoor dust\"; some to '* cin- ders.'' These data of Beard, therefore, must be taken cum grano salis. More especially is this so since a paroxysm of sneezing and subsequent coryza, fre- quently brought on in normal health by the mechanical irritation of dust or even strong odors, should hardly be dignified as an attack of hay-fever. In England, [98] HAY-FEVER in February, March, and April, when strong east winds often blow clouds of dust against the face, the symptoms of hay-fever do not appear, whereas in June and July, when dust is comparatively lit- tle, the affliction is most extant. Holmes stated that even in winter-time stirring among old books or in an old garret the exposure to the fine dust there- from would, by simple mechanical irri- tation, produce an attack in him. It has been the consideration that dust, or pol- len, acting as any other form of dust, could be kept from entering the nasal chambers that has given rise to the va- rious inventions to purify the air before it enters the nose, such as plugs of cotton or wool, and veils (which, in addition, soften the glare of the sun and lessen the irritating action of winds. Every hay-fever sufferer knows the little value of such a device. [94] ACCEPTED CAUSES From the vast quantity of facts and ob- servations gathered together by him, Phoebus, who previously had ascribed sun- light as the cause of hay-fever, endeav- ored to extract a complete theory of the disease. He suggested an excess of ozone in the atmosphere as a possible cause. It remained, however, for Blackley, in 1873, by his great endeavors and scientific methods of investigation, to disclose the fallacy of this theory. He purposely breathed air highly charged with ozone for five or six hours without effect; and without inconvenience he inhaled ozone artificially prepared and in quantities far exceeding that found in the same vol- ume of atmospheric air. This same phy- sician also studied upon himself the ef- fects of benzoic acid, a substance shown by Vogel to be contained in Anthoxan- ihum odoratum and Holcus odoratus, the [95] HAY-FEVER two species of flowering grasses to which the causation of hay-fever has been at- tributed. Likewise he investigated the odorous principle of many flowering grasses, coumarin, and the volatile oils which impart to many plants, such as peppermint, juniper, rosemary, and lav- ender, their characteristic perfume. In all these cases the results were negative. Various other exciting causes are in numberless variety and many of purely idiosyncratic nature. Emanations from dry hay, sunlight, gaslight, heat, minute organisms as supposed by Helmholtz, the *' mange\" insect, dusts of all kinds, bad air, railway smoke, brimstone matches, flowers and fruits, odors from dogs, cats, horses, cattle, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and wild animals, have all been held respon- sible for the paroxysms. \"Ward Smith records linseed meal and mustard as [96] ACCEPTED CAUSES exciting causes. Wm. Murrell mentions powdered May-apple (podophyllum), the effluvia of clean pocket handkerchiefs fresh from an ironing table, locust-tree blossoms, mulberry blossoms, and fruit. The exhalations from feathers have been regarded as causes. It is well-known that various drugs like ipecacuanha and lyco- podium give rise to attacks, and sulfur has been mentioned as a cause. Sir Thomas Watson names a servant in St. Bartholomew's Hospital affected by ipe- cac. CuUen tells of an apothecary's wife who, whenever ipecac was triturated in the shop, had an attack of hay-fever. He also mentions the vicinity of a rice- threshing floor as a provocative cause. Itzigson tells of a merchant who had hay- fever paroxysms whenever fresh coffee was handled in his presence ; and it is re- corded of a dyer that he could not work [97] HAY-FEVER when the wood of the oak {Quercus tine- toria) was lying about. The author knows of a case in a physician in whom violent paroxysms of sneezing are in- duced by the tasting of chocolate. It is related in the *^ Twentieth Century Prac- tise of Medicine\" that a hay-fever pa- tient fond of tomatoes and watermelons was unable to eat of them during the usual hay-fever season without most vio- lent disturbance of the gastro-intestinal tract. Bastian was subject to attacks of an affection like hay-fever while dissect- ing the Ascaris megalocephala, a parasite infecting the horse. Hyde Salter tells of a clergyman affected by the vicinity to a dead hare, and who was thus able to de- tect the presence of a poacher. H. Charl- ton Bastian had like effects from the ** mange'' insect of the horse. Einger and Murrell tell of a young gentleman [98] ACCEPTED CAUSES made worse by the vicinity of horses or stable people. Once, while in the theater, an attack suddenly supervened without any appreciable reason until a horse gal- loped upon the stage. Macdonald, in 1893, mentioned a patient who, two or three hours after having patted his horse with his gloved hand, inadvertently put it to his face, and was inamediately seized with a violent paroxysm. The odor from the inner aspects of the legs of the horse was very irritating to one writer, a ** suf- ferer.'' Einger and Murrell cite the case of a gentleman who, subsequent to an acute pleurisy, was ever after a subject of ** hair-caterpillar asthma,'' and was immediately attacked if by any chance he touched a caterpillar. The difficulty of sometimes finding some exciting agent is shown by the case of Drenger. After searching several [99] HAY-FEVER years in vain for the cause of attacks of hay-fever caused by entry into a certain room in a house, and after ransacking nearly everything in the house, a mattress was suspected, and, upon removal, was satisfactorily shown to be the offending agent. The odor of peaches, of violets, of the mignonette, of chocolate, of musk, and of peppermint, has come in for a share of the blame. Trosseau relates of himself that attacks came on when he entered a room in which there were violets. The botanist Broussais was often impeded in his work by attacks caused apparently by the odor of a rose. Hiinerswolff and Morell Mac- kenzie each cite a case in which the per- fume of the rose produced attacks of coryza. The former's account is in the **Ephemerides,'' and has been often re- ferred to. The latter 's case proved rebel- tlOO] ACCEPTED CAUSES lions to treatment, and the sufferer had, at last, to banish these flowers from her garden. That this peculiar antipathy to flowers is often imaginative is also shown by John K Mackenzie, who cites the case of a subject of hay-fever to whom he handed an artificial rose. Immediately an attack of rose-cold ensued. A patient men- tioned by Phoebus and Morell Mackenzie, while gazing upon a picture of a hay field, was seized with an attack of hay-fever. These last two instances indicate the psychic influence rather than any extrane- ous cause, but they serve to show the varieties of exciting agents. The external cause which has been by far the most generally recognized and ac- cepted as the most frequent is pollen. The older writers upon this theory did not dis- tinguish the underlying condition neces- sary before pollen could act as a cause of [lOir HAY-FEVER tlie disease. The remarkable and elabo- rate experiments of Blackley, from 1866 to 1878, conclusively prove that a most important exciting cause of hay-fever is found in the action of pollen upon the mucous membrane of the nasal cavities. In his own person he showed that the in- halation of pollen always brought on the symptoms of hay-fever; that there was a direct relation between the intensity of the symptoms and the amount of pollen in the air, and that none of the other agents referred to, such as heat, light, ozone, dust, or odors, would, of themselves, cause the distress. His range of ob- servation included the pollens of various grasses and of cereals and of plants of thirty-five other natural orders. His ex- periments were made in the hay-fever sea- son in England, between the end of May and the latter part of July, and showed [102] ACCEPTED CAUSES that ninety-five per cent, of the pollen con- tained in the atmosphere belonged to the Graminacece. The apparatus from which he obtained the most satisfactory results in his investigations consisted of a verti- cal plate of glass, % of an inch in diam- eter. It was covered with a hood, and was pivoted to an upright staff. A weather- vane surmounted the hood to control the face of the glass-plate before the wind. Upon this glass-plate was aflfixt a micro- scopic cover-glass, one centimeter in di- ameter, covered with glycerin. Any pollen floating in the atmosphere would thus be carried upon the plate by the wind-current and adhere to the glycerin upon the glass- slide. Blackley thus found that the amount of pollen caught upon the plate increased progressively from the seventh to the thir- tieth of May, when twenty-five grains were counted, to seventy-six grains on the [103] HAY-FEVER eighth of June, and to 280 grains on the tenth of June. On the twenty-eighth of June 880 grains were counted, after which date they decreased until the first of Au- gust, when they had completely disap- peared. Bright, sunny days brought large quantities of pollen, while rainy days decreased the amount. Passing showers ameliorated the individual symptoms, tho not a:ffecting the amount of pollen depos- ited upon the slide. Blackley also clearly showed that the mucous membranes of the nasal fossse were not affected by pollen in the atmosphere when twenty-five grains per diem only were deposited on his glass, while seventy-five grains in twenty-four hours would irritate in certain individuals. When 280 grains of pollen per day were deposited the direct action upon the mu- cous membrane of this quantity would result in complete vascular dilation. [104] ACCEPTED CAUSES Clinical observation has shown a paral- lel, but by no means a complete, analogy to the above phenomena in the action of cocain in different strengths of solution. Emanations from the rose and from rye have been shown to have caused coryza, occlusion of the nostrils, and sneezing for from six to eight hours. The sweet-scented vernal grass {AnthoxantJium odoratum), sweet-scented soft grass {Holcus odora- tus), meadow grass, meadow fox-tail, Indian corn, barley, wheat, oats, bean- flowers, lilies, elder trees in bloom, the goldenrod, hay, timothy, and clover, and others may be mentioned. In America the pollen of the Roman wormwood, ragweed, or hogweed {Ambrosia artemisice folia), is the most commonly referred to. It is very common in nearly all the States. It blossoms in August and September, the prevalent time of hay-fever. Wyman and [105] HAY-FEVER his son, who had fled to the White Moun- tains to avoid hay-fever, were immediately attacked when a package of the ragweed was opened there. The seashore, usually exempt, sometimes is not so, probably due to the presence there of the pollen of the Artemisia gallica, another kind of worm- wood. In England the AnthoxantJium odo- ratum, or ** sweet-scented vernal grass,\" seems especially causative. There must also be mentioned the common daisy {Bellis perennis) of England; also the rye-grass {Lolium perenne) and ** sweet- scented soft grass\" {Holcus odoratus). In Germany the rye-blossom is chiefly in- dicated as a cause. In Australia the Cape •weed pollen is regarded as most com- monly provocative. It covers the hills round about Adelaide to the height of some thousand feet or so. Most of the population of Adelaide is affected with [106] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever during the time of its blossom- ing, viz., in September. In India, where the malady occurs chiefly in February, it is the blossoms of the mango-tree {Mangi- fera indica) that are held responsible. J. C. Wilson holds that most subjects are not sensitive to emanations from hay, and points out that there are no distinctive bacteria to give rise to the aifection. Marsh, himself a sufferer, stated his be- lief in the pollen theory, conceiving hay- fever analogous to Rhus toxicodendron, or ivy-poisoning of the skin. There are two authentic cases which would impair the pollen theory, the well- known exemption of hay-fever subjects at sea being granted. One is mentioned by Walshe, in which a passenger retained his symptoms of hay-fever during a passage across the Atlantic. Abbotts Smith has re- ported the other, in which the disease came [107] HAY-FEVER on at sea nine miles from land. In this lat- ter case, unfurling the sails in which a large quantity of pollen had been folded may explain the occurrence. In the former instance the diagnosis was by no means certain and the presence of some other ir- ritant may have accounted for the dis- tress. Moreover, it is by no means impos- sible for pollen to be deposited on a ship even when miles away from land. In speaking of the distribution of pollen Dar- win tells of how the ground near St. Louis, in Missouri, has been so widely covered with pollen that it looked as if it had been sprinkled with sulfur. Pine forests, 400 miles south, were probably the place and distance from which it came. On March 16, 1883, in Philadelphia, ignorant people took for brimstone a shower of yellow pollen which had been blown from some distant pine forest. [108] ACCEPTED CAUSES After citing many of the various causa- tive pollens Holmes says that he is **not aware that any specialized action has been proved; all act (if at all) by mechanical irritation.'' He also shows the punctu- ality of flowering on the selfsame date yearly is an absurdity, depending, as the flowers do, upon the variations of the seasons. The date of the flowering of plants varies within certain limits, and he points out the mutability of the blossoming date, or, more rationally, its limited variation, and further adds that *'even as a mere ir- ritant, as pollen affects comparatively few, it must act upon a condition which is pre- existent, which is, therefore, independent of and predominates it, else would the cause, pollen, produce it universally.\" As already mentioned, it has been claimed, that a toxin generated from pol- [109] HAY-FEVER len by a fermentative process in an alka- line solution is the cause of hay-fever. 2. The PREDisposrcTG Causes \"While millions of people are exposed to the exciting causes of hay-fever, compara- tively few suffer from it, and that there is an underlying condition, predisposition, or idiosyncrasy, can hardly be doubted. Exactly what this is, or on what it depends, is unknown. Abbotts Smith, as early as 1865, spoke of a predisposition to attacks of hay-fever as one of the principal causes thereof. As Holmes has shown, there must be individual predisposition, since the ex- citing causes, if pollens, are everywhere. This predisposition or idiosyncrasy has generally suddenly developed without ap- parent reason. It has been argued that it is systematic or central, and that it is due to some local abnormality of the mucous [110 1 ACCEPTED CAUSES membrane, the capillaries, or the periph- ery of nerves. Once acquired, however, it is seldom lost, and it apparently increases with each successive year. The influence of race is seen in \\he fact that the English-speaking people are the principal sufferers. In India, Africa, and Australia it is mostly the English and Americans who are attacked. In America it occurs in nearly every State, altho much more infrequently in the South. In Can- ada hay-fever is rare, especially in the maritime provinces. Wyman relates a case — ^the only one reported — of hay-fever in an Indian child. Beard mentions that Dr. Jacobi, of New York, who practised much among the Germans, had never met with a case in that nationality ; and in the same city a similar observation was re- corded by Dr. Chaveau, a practitioner among the French. Sajous has called at- tiiia HAY-FEVER tention to a curious fact in this connec- tion — ^viz., that the principal sufferers, American and English, are excessive tea- drinking nations, and that this beverage may exert a depressing influence on nerve- centers. It would be interesting to have some information as to the existence of hay-fever in China and Japan, the tea- producing countries. John N. Mackenzie, in 1884, gives the first recorded instance of hay-fever in a negro, a male of thirty- five, tall, well-proportioned, and respect- able, the attack lasting from the second week in August to late in September. A sensitive spot was found on the left in- ferior turbinated bone, 1% inches within the nostril, which gave origin to a most in- tense paroxysm of asthma on simple con- tact with the probe. Reports of hay-fever have come from nearly every quarter of the civilized globe. [112] ACCEPTED CAUSES It is seldom seen in the far North, and is more frequent in the temperate than in the torrid zone. It is seen more often in urban than in rural districts. The disease is by far the most frequent in Great Britain and the United States. In Norway, Sweden, and Denmark it is seldom found, and it is scarcely ever seen among the natives of Eussia, Germany, France, Italy, or Spain. The English and Americans in India and Africa are the only ones who are affected by it. Macdonald, in 1893, said the Irish are certainly not exempt. In the north of Scotland it is very infrequent, while in the south of England the disease is more fre- quently found than in the north. In Aus- tralia and New Zealand it is occasionally found. Literature is strangely silent about South America, but this land is strange to us in many other ways. Pirrie gives an instance of an English officer in India suf- [113] HAY-FEVER fering there when vegetation was alto- gether different from the forms met with in England where his attacks had begun. As already noted, the complaint has made its appearance in two instances when its victims were at sea ; one, reported by Ab- botts Smith, after shaking out the sails when nine miles out at sea; and another, reported by Walshe, in which the patient suffered throughout a voyage across the Atlantic. A ** sufferer'' records that nu- merous portions of England, especially the highlands and the seacoast, and nearly all of Wales and Scotland are exempt from the disease. He also regards the upper side of the St. Lawrence River, most of the province of Ontario north of the Wel- land Canal to the Detroit River similarly exempt, and he states that the disease is wholly unknown to regions above the out- let to Lake Huron. [114] ACCEPTED CAUSES \"Wyman has considered the regions of America where hay-fever is especially prevalent. That portion of country east of the Mississippi Eiver and lying between the 35th and 45th parallels of latitude he regarded as the territory of prevalence. Canada and the Adirondack Mountains, the Appalachian range, and the elevated plateau throughout New York State he considered almost exempt from hay- fever. That portion of the United States west of the Mississippi Eiver he seemed to think, as did Beard also in his later inves- tigations, was free from the disease. Beard based his reasons upon the lack of vegeta- tion and the sparseness of the population. Bosworth regards as better reasons the rugged mode of life of the inhabitants and the consequent vigorous health of the fron- tier life. It is a curious observation, toOj that certain portions of the White Moun- [115] HAY-FEVER tains country, formerly regarded as in- variably free from hay-fever, of late years, probably owing to the extension of civili- zation and its vegetation to these regions, are no longer exempt from it. Southern climates, to a certain extent, are exempt from the disease. Wyman thought it did not prevail south of the 35th parallel of latitude, with the exception of certain districts in the neighborhood of Milledge- ville, Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, and Beaufort, North Carolina. There can be little doubt that the affection is less com- mon in Maryland, Virginia, in the border States, and in the far West; that it is rare in the extreme South and on the Pacific slope. The zone between the 35th and 45th parallels of latitude practically in- cludes the hay-fever district. Even in this section, localities, from their proximities to large bodies of water or to oceans, to [116] ACCEPTED CAUSES elevation or to absence of certain vege- tation, afford immunity. A '* sufferer\" states that on Lake Michigan hay-fever is absent above Lndington, while on the Mis- sissippi, in Wisconsin, it is present as far north as the Chippewa River, and in some seasons, in a mild form, it is seen in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is known to extend to the latitude of Memphis in the West, Knoxville centrally, and Cape Henry on the Atlantic. In 1896 W. W. Bulette stated that in certain sections of Colorado there is a variety of the affection known among laymen as blossom or cotton-wood fever, and very prevalent in regions where the cotton- wood tree abounds. The symptoms are practically identical with those of the autumnal variety of hay-fever, except that the throat and bronchial irritations are in- tensified, and the course of the attack is somewhat shorter. Symptoms occur about [117] HAY-FEVER the 12th of April and terminate in the latter part of May, and rarely last longer than July 1st. Beard's pamphlet was the first to show a radical departure from the pollen theory and to establish that the neurotic habit was an essential factor. He showed that sub- jects of hay-fever often acquired the af- fection or the tendency to it through in- heritance. The facts sustaining this view are of **a most overwhelming character.\" Wyman, himself a sufferer, records nu- merous cases in his own family through four generations. He proved the powerful influence of heredity in many of his cases. It even appears in childhood, he states, and quite generally in those of nervous diathesis. In Dr. MorelPs family there were six sufferers from hay-fever besides himself. In the family of Henry \"Ward Beecher there were two besides himself; [118] ACCEPTED CAUSES and Chief Justice Shaw's family contained seven. Bosworth says that eighteen of eighty cases disclosed direct heredity, while in thirty-nine there was either hay- fever or asthma in the family. Of the forty cases of Sajons % thirty-five per cent, had near relatives who presented clear his- tories of hay-fever, and forty-two per cent, had asthmatic relatives, while fifty-three per cent, of these cases presented a fam- ily history of either hay-fever or asth- ma. Morell Mackenzie has several times treated father and children for hay-fever at the same time. Prince relates that five members of the same family were hay- fever subjects. One daughter of thirty years suffered with June cold ever since she was five years of age, every year save 1887, 1888, and 1889. Her grandmother, mother, and two brothers suffered alike. The daughter, convinced that mental or 1 119 1 HAY-FEVP]R nervous influence affected her, in 1887 was treated by the **mind cure,\" and for three years subsequently was free from her symptoms. When the original mind curist was dead, in the fourth year, the symp- toms returned as badly as ever. Chris- tian Science influence was tried in vain. There can be little doubt that males are more afflicted than females. Of the early forms of the disease, however, females seem more susceptible than males. Of 433 cases cited by Phoebus, \"Wyman, and Beard, only 142, about one-third, were females. Of 506 cases gathered from several au- thors, 342 were males, 164 females. Morell Mackenzie met with 38 cases in males and 23 in females. Men are the more exposed to the exciting causes such as dust, heat, pollen, etc., altho females are the more neurotic. The proportion is about one fe- male to three males. [120] ACCEPTED CAUSES Only to some extent can age be said to affect the disorder. The liability to hay- fever In the great majority of cases ap- pears before the age of forty. The malady has been reported, however, as occurring for the first time in persons as old as sixty, and persons of seventy and upward have suffered. Of the cases of children who have been attacked the disease had manifested itself in the parents. It would have probably been regarded as a common cold, had not the parents been the subjects of the affection. Most all writers on this subject have ob- served that the disease attacks the better educated classes and those of fair social position. It is rarely met with among the laboring classes. This would seem to em- phasize the view that the disease is essen- tially a neurosis. From the notes of sixty- one cases of hay-fever in private practise, [121] HAY-FEVER and the sight of many others of which no record was kept, Morell Mackenzie found all the patients persons of some education, and recalled having seen none among his hospital patients. Of forty-eight cases of Blackley, all were educated, and Wyman made the same observation. Holmes has shown that the ignorant classes are not so likely to recognize the disease as a distinct affection, and apply for medical aid The fact that the rustic is much less sub- ject to this disease than the dweller in the city and town, shows the influence of the mode of life. Farmers and agriculturists, exposed, it would seem, far more to the ex- citing causes than others, are peculiarly less liable to suffer from it. Beard reports only seven such cases among 200. Morell Mackenzie states that it is impossible to tell whether the villager owes his exemp- tion to the maintenance of vigorous health £122] ACCEPTED CAUSES by an outdoor life, or to habitual exposure to the cause of the complaint. Holmes admirably points out that **a part of the mysterious origin must be set down to the indifference of the sufferers who, from year to year, have forgotten their periodical affection and failed to con- sult physicians.\" He says: ^*0f similar cause is the groundwork of the assertion that it affects only the wealthy. This is simply because with this class there is a higher intelligence and closer attention to ailments, and the fact that having once dis- cerned the actual condition, they, in many instances, take professional advice or go to a place of refuge, thus drawing notice to themselves, all of which things are denied to the lower (poorer) classes. It is said that there are some 200,000 sufferers in the United States, at least within the range of observation of the Hay-Fever Association, [123 J HAY-FEVER which, meeting annually at Bethlehem, N. H., may be held to represent the more stable and well-to-do. From my own ex- perience and observation I am convinced that there are many of our working peo- ple who suffer from this affection who do not even recognize the disease.\" Mer- chants, professional men, persons of sed- entary habits and brain-workers supply most of the victims. The disease is not so uncommon among hospital outpatients here and in England as formerly. Concerning the influence of the neurotic tendency, Beard pointed out, in 1876, two popular misconceptions of the nervous theory, first, that nervous susceptibility implies debility and emaciation, whereas the nervous temperament is consistent with great strength and power of endur- ance, especially when combined with the bilious and sanguine temperaments; and, [124] ACCEPTED CAUSES second, that the nervous theory dispenses entirely with the influence of exciting causes, as heat, pollen, etc. Beard con- cluded that the disease is a complex re- sultant of a nervous system especially sen- sitive in this direction and acted upon by the enervating influence of heat and by any one or several of a large number of vegetable and other irritants, and this view has the advantage over other theories in that it accounts for all the phenomena exhibited by the disease in this or in any other country. He believed that the trans- missibility of the disease from parents to children; the temperaments of the sub- jects; the capricious interchange of the early, the middle, and the later forms ; the periodicity and persistence of the attacks and their paroxysmal character ; the points of resemblance between the symptoms and those of ordinary asthma; the strange [125] HAY-FEVER idiosyncrasies of different individuals in relation to the different irritants ; the fact that it is a modern disease peculiar to civilization; the fact that it most abounds where functional nervous disorders are most frequent and is apparently on the in- crease pari passu with other nervous dis- eases; and, finally, the fact that it is best relieved by those remedies which act on the nervous system, — all these otherwise opposing and inconsistent phenomena are by this hypothesis fully harmonized. Prince remarks that altho a nervous orig- gin has been recognized by some, still no theory has been proposed to show the con- nection between the physical symptoms and the nervous processes nor the pathol- ogy of the nervous processes themselves. Vasomotor susceptibility has been viewed as indicating the neurotic tendency, and this may or may not be due to a central X 126 ] ACCEPTED CAUSES lesion. John N. Mackenzie regarded dis- ordered functional activity of the nerve- centers as the expression of the nervous origin. Again, a general neurosis dispos- ing to vasomotor disturbance of the sym- pathetic and the trigeminus nerves has been held responsible. Kinnear speaks of two forms, — one a hyperemia, and the other an anemia of the sympathetic gan- glion. Bosworth is inclined to think a peculiar lack of vasomotor control charac- terizes the neurotic manifestations. In asthma there is undoubted vasomotor pa- resis of the blood-vessels of the bronchial mucous membranes, while in hay-fever it is of the nasal mucous membranes. Solis-Cohen regards hay-fever as gen- erally a neurosis, primarily a vasomotor ataxia or idiosyncrasy. Another view is that it may be due to an organic alteration of the nerve-fibers terminating in the nasal 1 127 ] HAY-FEVER region and chiefly in three reflex areas. Again, that it may be due to functional activity or paresis of the governing (vaso- motor) centers, accompanied by hyperex- citability of the erectile (cavernous) tis- sues aroused by peripheral irritation. The phenomena of the cavernous nasal tissue, tho secondary to the centric condition, indicates a vasomotor disease. Hack and Robinson believe the morbid lesion is one of neurotic disposition with hyperesthetic condition of the olfactory and fifth pair of cranial nerves. Analogous to the neurotic habit is idio- syncrasy. Apparently the same under- standing as to what an idiosyncrasy is has underlain the use of this word by various writers who have advanced idiosyncrasy as a cause of hay-fever. Morell Mackenzie, in 1880, put it down as a predisposing cause, but does not say upon what the idiosyn- [128] ACCEPTED CAUSES crasy depends, whether upon some local abnormality, the capillaries, the nerve- centers, or the periphery of the nerves. In 1897 S. Solis-Cohen said idiosyncrasy is a real condition in hay-fever, and cited the idiosyncrasies to salicylic acid, quinin, ipecac, opium, etc., as similar to idiosyn- crasies that patients exhibit toward the different irritants capable of producing hay-fever. Using the word to express the fact that certain persons react differently from most of mankind to certain forms of irritation, it means something. It means that such persons are abnormal, altho the cause of the abnormality remains to be dis- cerned. Holmes, speaking of idiosyncrasy, would not say there is no such thing as idiosyncrasy, but as far as hay-fever went, he held that the disease was an actual one, the nature of which was not yet com- prehended. He remarks that it is quite [129] HAY-FEVER probable that uric acid would aggravate hay-fever as it would any other condition in the body; and that some think to have proved this by the use of salicylic acid, to which drug many persons have an idiosyn- crasy, thereby aggravating the condition in hay-fever by the elimination of uric acid. Dr. Samuel Ashhurst, in 1897, recorded his habit of regarding hay-fever of late j'-ears as a personal idiosyncrasy acted upon by some irritant, and observed that without this personal element it is diffi- cult to account altogether for the symp- toms and their peculiar periodicity. In 1882, Daly advanced the theory of the local disease as causative of hay-fever, and reported a case in which the patient recov- ered after the removal of a nasal polyp, which by continuous mechanical irritation had doubtless given rise to the condition imderlying. Examinations of the nares of 1130] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever patients have repeatedly failed to show any local disturbance other than general congestions. Daly's theory was subsequently accepted and supported by Hack and Eoe, who both affirmed that the influence of a morbid condition of the nasal mucous membranes favored the develop- ment of hay-fever. In 1883 Sajous and Herzog wrote important papers to prove the same facts. In 1884 J. N. Macken- zie demonstrated that ** there exists in the nose a well-defined sensitive area whose stimulation through a local patho- logic process, or through an extra irrita- tion, is capable of producing an excitation which finds its expression in a reflex act or in a series of reflected phenomena.\" He located this area at the posterior end of the inferior turbinated bones and corre- sponding portion of the septum. It has since been held by advocates of the local [131] HAY-FEVER theory, that diseases and abnormalities of the nose, such as a markedly deviated sep- tum, outgrowths from the septum, hyper- trophic rhinitis, enlargement of the in- ferior or middle turbinated bodies, mncons polypi, and marked turgescence of caver- nous tissue on the inferior turbinated body, were all provocative of hay-fever paroxysms. In 1884, Harrison Allen declared that the primary lesion was one of obstruction, temporary or permanent, in one or both nostrils, from one of various causes, at- tended by vascular dilatation. Bosworth likewise held that the existing morbid con- dition of the intranasal tissues must be one of an obstructive character, tending to pro- duce in itself vascular dilatation. Regard- ing nasal polypi, occasionally considered as active causes of hay-fever, Bosworth concludes that they are rather a result E 132 1 ACCEPTED CAUSES than a cause, since the great quantity of outponred serum makes the nasal mucous membrane sodden or water-soaked, and in this way myxomatous degeneration de- velops, eventually assuming the form of polypi. J. N. Mackenzie, however, examined the nares of many sufferers from hay-fever without finding any nasal lesion. Holmes noted an instance most carefully reported, in which, with cold snare and galvanocau- tery, all obstructions were removed, and areas rendered anesthetic so that a probe no longer excited reflex symptoms, yet the patient suffered from hay-fever with scarcely diminished intensity. He further observes that at least a degree of the con- dition might be the result and not the cause, the peripheral susceptibility being an outward expression of an inward state. In 1885, Thornwaldt, in Wiesbaden, in [133] HAY-FEVER his observations on nasal catarrh, assumed that nasopharyngeal disease might not only give rise to symptoms simulating nasal disease, but was likely the actively predisposing cause of asthma and hay- fever. Bosworth agreed with him as far as hay-fever is concerned. In 1893 Seth S. Bishop announced to the American Medical Association that *'an excess of uric acid in the blood causes hay- fever, or nervous catarrh.\" Uric acid in the blood in marked excess of the normal relation to urea, of about one to thirty- three, causes certain disturbances of a vas- cular and neurotic character. In health, five to eight grains of uric acid are se- creted every twenty-four hours. Haig claimed that an effect of an excess of uric acid is contraction of the arterioles and capillaries all over the body. He found that by diminishing the alkalinity of the [134] ACCEPTED CAUSES blood it was freed from uric acid, the arte- rioles were relaxed, and the headaches and mental depression were relieved. Cerebral anemia has appeared to obtain in hay- fever, and the attacks were relieved, Haig found, by such remedies as relieved anemia of the brain, e,g., amyl nitrite, coffee, and other cerebral stimulants. These views of Haig were concurred in by Thomas J. Mays, Murchison, Conklin, Ebstein, Quin- quaud, and others. Bishop, in 1894, re- marked that the blood in the morning is more alkaline than at any other time of the day, being, at about nine o'clock, at its greatest point of alkalinity, which would seem to account for those attacks of hay- fever which came on early in the morning, and which in some instances were as- cribed to the influence of light. He was of the opinion that not only an excess of uric acid in the system, but also an increased M35] HAY-FEVER formation thereof should be regarded in the treatment of hay-fever. Bishop also claimed that the uric-acid theory was not antagonistic to the essentially neurotic character of the disease. He also ad- vanced that the primary determining cause of the particular manifestations in this disease is an inherent, perhaps hereditary, susceptibility of the nervous system. In this way only can we account for the fact that the same subjective or objective ex- citing cause (uric acid or pollen) will pro- duce one train of distressing symptoms (nervous coryza) in one individual, and an entirely different one in another (asthma). This uric-acid h3rpothesis explains why some persons suffer from attacks under certain conditions in winter as well as dur- ing the warm months. It also unifies all the forms. Bishop says: \"The uric-acid theory of [136] ACCEPTED CAUSES hay-fever is not antagonistic to the present status of medical opinion or surgical treat- ment, but, on the contrary, it explains questions that were inexplicable before. As a tumor or hypertrophied bone may give rise to convulsive seizures in epilepsy, and as its removal may be followed by re- lief when no other structural cause ex- ists, so in hay-fever, when new growths and other lesions of the nasal mucous membrane are present, the attack may be started by the accumulation and the sud- den setting free of uric acid. This pre- cipitates the paroxysm by its irritant ac- tion, which finds expression in the group of symptoms characteristic of hay-fever or asthma, instead of some one of the other allied diseases. The particular form of manifestation may be determined by the growth or the seat of irritation located in the nasal cavities. When this is the only de- [137] HAY-FEVER termining factor of the nature of the mor- bid symptoms, no other disease having re- sulted from the long-standing trouble, the removal of such a peripheral source of irritation may give relief from these symptoms, but it may not prevent the uricacidemia from switching off into other kindred lines of disturbances, if it be not corrected/ ' Capp, in advancing a new theory, in- clines to the uric-acid theory, and alludes to a certain spastic condition not men- tioned by other writers, which, altho slight in character, is general, rather than con- fined to limited areas, and in a large meas- ure accounts for many manifestations of the disease. A central nervous irritation is probably caused by the presence of a disturbing element in the blood, presum- ably products of imperfect metabolism not eliminated. This may originate nerve-cur- [138] ACCEPTED CAUSES renis with innumerable reflexes, which\", in the disturbed equilibrium of the system, are, in a measure, uncontrolled by the or- dinary inhibition. Holmes has very cleverly pointed out a fallacy in regard to the evidence advanced to substantiate the uric-acid theory. He states that some investigators by the use of salicylic acid and various acids to diminish the alkalinity of the blood, thus eliminating uric acid, have, thereby, ac- tually aggravated the condition in hay- fever, which aggravation has been thought due to excess of uric acid in the tissues, or increase in its production, instead of be- ing due to the idiosyncrasy to salicylic acid, etc. In 1897, Grayson stated that even if we grant that a certain number of hay-fever patients are unquestionably people of a neurotic temperament, while others are [139] HAY-FEVER gouty, can not we profitably look beneatH these titles and recognize the fact that they are dyscrasies, which are merely different offshoots from a parent weed that is rooted in defective nutrition! By defec- tive nutrition is meant all the phenomena of metabolism, — constructive, destructive, and eliminative. Disturbance of one means disturbance of all. With continued ab- sorption of toxic materials from the intes- tinal tube, or with persistent incomplete elimination of the products of suboxida- tion, it is only a question of time when au- totoxemia will provide us with any of the functional neuroses from hay-fever and asthma to chorea and epilepsy. Grayson says the neurotic habit may ex- ist, but it is not essential to the disease, but the nervous system is implicated as a vic- tim, not as a culprit. He claims that hay- fever is a defect, not of the nervous, but of [140] ACCEPTED CAUSES the nutritive system, because impairment of the digestive and nutritive processes is almost invariably the first downward step toward a general state of lowered vitality. At first gastric, it later involves the whole gastro-intestinal tract. He thinks uric acid is almost invariably present in excess in hay-fever subjects. A child having reflex convulsions due to acute indigestion is not a neurotic subject, yet the vasomotor per- turbation of the hay-fever patient differs from that of the child mainly in point of chronicity. Grayson concludes that the three factors which make up the etiologic combination of hay-fever are : An external irritant, some intranasal abnormality, and a constitu- tional element — ' ' defective nutrition. ' ' The physician unaided can not restore the nose to a state of health. In order to over- come the self-indulgence of the patient, [1411 HAY-FEVER regularity is recommended in eating, work, and play, while indiscretions of diet, lack of exercise, objectionable fancies in mat- ters of clothing and bathing, and, finally, vicious excesses — alcoholic, narcotic, or sexual — will require the constant and most determined effort of the patient himself. The whole environment of the patient must be separately studied and provided for in the dietary scheme. A comment on this treatment is: *' While it is true that if a man takes care of his muscles his nerves will take care of themselves, there is no closing of the eyes to the fact that to the average man exercise is distasteful ; there- fore, it is the more necessary to be explicit in instructions concerning it. Altho there is nothing brilliant about this method of removing the constitutional factor of the disease, what it lacks in brilliancy is more than made up in certainty, and if the [142] ACCEPTED CAUSES patient is possest of grit and determina- tion it brings a snre reward.\" J. Miiller thinks there is a causal rela- tion between hay-fever and gastro-intes- tinal symptoms, but he also holds that it can be proved that pollen entering the respiratory tract is the cause of the dis- ease. A '* sufferer,\" writing on the dis- ease, says: '* Indigestion is a most potent cause in many instances, and proper food, properly digested and assimilated, has permanently relieved more than one. ' ' But he does not say he himself was relieved, nor does he give cases. It is questionable whether or not the di- gestive disturbances are not effects rather than causes of the disease. It is not at all doubtful, however, that lowered resistance and a depreciated vitality may result from difficulty in the gastro-intestinal tract. Such difficulty may suffice to start the chain of hay-fever s^onptoms. [143] PABT III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1 145 T PART III FORMS OF TREATMENT 1. Preventive Measures In the young we find preventive treat- ment giving the greatest rewards. This calls for careful attention to the general health of the growing child. The medical profession has done much to awaken an interest in preventive measures among parents, and in no way has the family phy- sician reduced infection more thoroughly than by insisting on a careful toilet of the nose and throat. In this way he has very frequently prevented many of the more serious diseases of the growing child. Per- sonal hygiene is as valuable as domiciliary hygiene, yet, if either is neglected disease is certain to continue. [147] HAY-FEVER The careful parent will insist upon fre- quent professional examinations of their children and at the first sign of discomfort have any abnormal condition corrected. It is not wise to wait until distress compels relief, and if hay-fever is an inheritance in a. family it is especially important. Chil- dren with enlarged tonsils and adenoids should have them removed not only to in- crease their mental poise but to secure their physical comfort, and also as a step in escaping hay-fever. Adenoids are fre- quently the cause of broken rest at night, with earache, a tendency to repeated bron- chitis ; this is seen more frequently during spring and fall. This condition may bring on change in voice and ofttimes a running nose. With enlarged tonsils we frequently encounter the unproductive cough. We may mention, while passing, that enlarged tonsils remaining after the tenth year [148] FOEMS OF -TREATMENT should be removed, as they are undoubt- edly hopelessly diseased. I am a firm be- liever that tonsils and adenoids should be removed early, for, in addition to this lo- cal discomfort they influence the mental health by rendering possible a more sys- temic depreciation of the child. The fron- tal sinus may become involved as well as the ethmoid. Young children are fre- quently found to suffer with deviated sep- tum and this contributes to the general dis- comfort. With the pressure of retained secretion polypi are not unusual. Ballinger has been imprest with the possible relationship of catarrhal sinusitis, particularly ethmoidal and frontal, to hay- fever. He has found surgical treatment of the sinusitis to be followed by relief of the hay-fever. The difficulty in the way of diagnosticating catarrhal sinusitis has been so great that it has been frequently un- [149] HAY-FEVER recognized. Hay-fever due to catarrhal sinusitis has been cured by Dr. P. M. Far- rington, of Memphis, by the use of auto- genous vaccine. Dr. Ballinger quotes the late Dr. Scha- dle, who called attention to the possibility of relationship between maxillary sinusitis and hay-fever. Whether or not such a re- lation exists, we must recognize the fact that the local hyperesthesia probably has an anatomical or inflammatory origin. The hypersensitiveness does not ''happen\" but has a definite cause. The hypothesis is still further supported by clinical facts — ^that some cases of hay-fever are cured by suc- cessful treatment of the sinusitis. Hered- ity may impress a neurotic temperament on the growing child with tendency to gout or rheumatism. This unstable condition of the nervous system is difficult to define, there may be an excess or decrease in the [150] FOEMS OP TREATMENT nervous energy. There may be a faulty metabolism whereby certain toxic sub- stances are liberated in the blood current. That hay-fever subjects are usually neu- rotic has been generally accepted. Why they are neurotic is a much mooted ques- tion, concerning which ingenious theories have been advanced, but none of which are convincing. Preventive treatment for hay-fever, therefore, must take in family history and family tendency in an endeavor to correct local, as well as constitutional faults. This intimate knowledge of family history gives the physician the insight to the constitu- tion of the child. Heredity may do much to balance or unbalance nervous energy, it may do more to handicap a child physi- cally, but I am of the opinion that environ- ment plays a most important role in the growing child. In childhood preventive [151 ] HAY-FEVER measures yield the best returns, and this is well illustrated in the development of hay- fever tendency, and it is wise that the masses have grown active to the needs of the young. As an important feature in preventive measures I can do no better than quote here the article of Dr. Scheppegrell, the president of the American Hay-Fever Pre- vention Association, on ** Hay-fever; Its Cause and Prevention.''^ *'From the standpoint of the number of patients affected, hay-fever ranks among the first of the non-fatal diseases. While accurate statistics regarding the number of patients are not available, a conserva- tive estimate has placed the number of persons in New Orleans affected with hay- fever at not less than 3,500, or one per * Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association for March 4, 1916. [152 1 FOEMS OF TREATMENT cent, of the total population. Hay-fever is prevalent in the greater portion of the United States, and the proportion in New Orleans is a fair average of its prevalence in other sections. The total number of those suffering from this disease, there- fore, is so large that the subject demands the most careful consideration. \"In spite of the greater increase in med- ical knowledge, many cases of hay-fever are still mistaken for ordinary colds. The symptoms described and their recurrence at certain periods of the year should sim- plify the diagnosis. In doubtful cases, this may be confirmed by testing the patient with a small amount of pollen. \"Some of the staminate flowers of the suspected plant are placed in a small sterile gauze-bag, and this gently sniffed by the patient. In susceptible subjects this is quickly followed by a slight reaction. The £ 153 3 HAY-FEVER patient may also be tested by approaching the suspected weeds so that some of the pollen is inhaled in this way. **In the majority of cases, however, these tests are unnecessary and should or- dinarily be avoided on account of the dan- ger of developing a latent pollinosis. The beginning and end of the attacks are usually found to be coincident with the pol- linating period of certain plants with wind-borne pollen, which, with the symp- toms described above, is sufficient to con- firm the diagnosis. **Some physicians still believe that hay- fever is a local manifestation of some con- stitutional condition, in spite of the fact that the majority of patients, with similar conditions, have no such manifestations, and that when the pollen is not present, as on a sea trip, they do not occur. Improved education in the etiology of this disease, [154] FORMS OF TREATMENT and more careful observation, will grad- ually correct this error. \"Even had therapeutic measures been more successful, prophylaxis, based on the removal of the exciting cause, should have been advocated as in malarial and typhoid fevers, tuberculosis and other diseases of known cause. Hay-fever, however, has been the step-child of preventive medicine, and until recently no organized efforts in this direction have been undertaken. **In view of the great and increasing number of hay-fever patients, their pro- longed distress, the unsuccessful results of all curative measures and the distinctive preventable character of the disease, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Associa- tion has undertaken a campaign of edu- cation, to be followed in due time by suitable legislation, for the prevention of hay-fever. [155] HAY-FEVER **In the educational part of this work, the first consideration is the correct diag- nosis of hay-fever and the acceptance of the fact that all cases of true hay-fever are the results of pollen inhalation. \"The identification of the various weeds and plants that may develop hay-fever is of the utmost importance, but will grad- ually follow the establishing of the etiol- ogy of pollinosis. As these principles become better understood, the physician, when consulted by a patient with hay- fever, instead of limiting his attention to writing a prescription or injecting a vac- cine, will investigate the presence of hay- fever-producing weeds in the neighbor- hood of the patient's residence or vocation. In many cases the eradication or even the cutting of such weeds produces immediate results. \"In one of my patients, the offending tl56] FORMS OF TREATMENT weed, Ambrosia artemisice folia [rag- weed] was growing in his garden. In an- other, a school-teacher, a:ffected with hay- fever for many years, on being questioned stated that there was an abundance of flowering weeds in the vacant lots adjoin- ing her house. When specimens of these weeds were produced they were found to be the PartJienium hysteropJiorus, one of the causes of hay-fever in South Louisiana. In both of these cases marked relief soon followed the cutting of these weeds. In order to obtain complete relief in such cases, however, the cutting of the weeds should be over a considerable adjoining area, as the pollen is wind-borne to a distance depending on the velocity of the wind. \"While the removal of the offending weed is the correct measure, relief may also be obtained, when this is impractica- [157] HAY-FEVER ble, by avoiding the proximity of weeds known to be toxic to the patients. In many cases this is entirely practicable, as shown in the following case in which the attack was postponed for thirty-three days: *^E. G., manager of a sugar plantation near New Orleans, has been a sufferer from hay-fever for the past ten years, the attacks always commencing about August 25th. After the influence of the ragweed to this form of hay-fever had been ex- plained to him, he concluded that his at- tacks were due to the pollen of the trifida ragweed which grows on a road some dis- tance from his residence. He, therefore, avoided the road, and until September 28th, for the first time in ten years, he had had no attack. On this date he found it necessary to pass this road. In twenty minutes he commenced to sneeze, that night he had a violent attack, and the fol- r 158] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT lowing day he had his usual annual hay- fever. **The treatment of cases by the eradica- tion of the hay-fever-producing weeds will not only produce direct results, but will also prove a powerful impetus in educa- ting the public in the relationship of such weeds to hay-fever. It will result, more- over, in having these weeds considered from a new point of view. Instead of sim- ply indicating neglect or careless cultiva- tion, they will be looked on as a source of disease and discomfort to a large class of sufferers. This will not only bring the leverage of public opinion to the eradica- tion of these weeds, but will eventually simplify the question of legislation. \"In connection with the question of pub- lic education, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association has received a communication from Dr. Eupert Blue, sur- [159] HAY-FEVER geon-general of the United States Public Health Service, and one of the honorary vice-presidents of our association, in which he summarizes this in a very concise manner : ** 'It appears that the most practical method of securing the cooperation of the public would be by education as to the ef- fect of the presence of these weeds in com- munities from both health and economic standpoints. This seems to be the pri- mary object of your association, which is to be commended for its efforts.' ''Some of the early forms of hay-fever are due to the pollen of the Oraminacem or grasses, which include the cultivated varieties, such as rye, wheat, corn, etc. These form a common cause of hay-fever in England and the Continent, where the autunmal form due to the ragweed is not found, owing to the absence of the weed. [160] FOEMS OF TREATMENT *^ While this is of much less frequency than the fall hay-fever in the United States, it represents in the aggregate a considerable number. When these cases are due to the cultivated varieties, the knowledge of this fact should induce the patient, whenever possible, to live away from such cultivated fields or at least to avoid them during the active season of pol- lination. Only in those cases in which the removal of the offending plant is impossi- ble will the question of treatment be given preference over prevention. \"As the autumnal hay-fever is the most prevalent form in the United States, and, in the majority of cases, is due to rag- weed, the American Hay-Fever Preven- tion Association has given its first atten- tion to the eradication of this weed. The description and illustration of both varie- ties {Ambrosia artemisicefolia and trifida) X 161 J HAY-FEVER have been sent to the State boards of health of each State and of the District of Columbia. Many of these have published the cuts and descriptions, and a number have sent them to the newspapers of their State for publication. **The United States Department of Ag- riculture has assisted and is furnishing valuable information for this work. Ar- rangements have been made with the Hy- gienic Laboratory of the Public Health Service at Washington to make investiga- tions on the hay-fever pollens submitted by our research department. Encourage- ment or promise of active cooperation has been offered by the majority of the State boards of health, these being as follows: Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, In- diana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ne- [162] FORMS OF TREATMENT vada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Vir- ginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. **The common ragweed {Ambrosia arte- misicefolia) , while found in great abun- dance, presents no special difficulty in eradication, as it is an annual and repro- duced only by seed. In carefully cultivated lands it is not found in appreciable quan- tities. Where the land is not cultivated this weed may be entirely kept down by grazing cattle. When, however, it has been neglected, the weed should be mowed be- fore the latter part of August, in order to prevent pollination. *^The giant ragweed {Ambrosia tripida), which grows in similar abundance in the moist lands of the coast, presents a more difficult problem, as the roots are peren- nial. Until this weed is two feet in height [163] HAY-FEVER cattle will feed on it with avidity, which will probably prove useful in destroying it. In carefully cultivated lands it is rarely found. The question of the best scientific method of eradication of both the rag- weeds has been referred to the United States Department of Agriculture, and the results of this investigation will be re- ported later. ^*With a view of showing what can be accomplished by organized efforts in the prevention of hay-fever, the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association has concentrated its first efforts in New Orleans in the following manner: ''The public was first educated regard- ing the ragweeds, so that they could be easily recognized. Illustrations of the weeds were published in the Bulletin of the State Medical Board of Health and the public press, and the live weeds, in full de- £164 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT % velopment, were exhibited in a show-win- dow of the principal street. **The city of New Orleans, through' the commissioner of public works, placed at the disposal of the association twenty con- victs, who cleared the streets and side- walks of the outer sections of the city of the weeds, in accordance with a map pre- pared by the topographic committee of the association, showing the areas infect- ed with ragweed. The city board of health assisted by enforcing the cutting of weeds in vacant lots and the commission- ers of the various parks had the ragweed destroyed in the public parks under the direction of the association. ''Valuable assistance was given by the Women's Civic League, which appointed a special committee on vacant lots. This committee made arrangements with labor bureaus so that it not only reported lots [165] HAY-FEVEE infected with weeds but offered to send workmen to cut them at low rates. **The storm of September 29 destroyed practically all the leaves and flowers of the remaining giant ragweed in exposed places. As a result of this, and the efforts of the American Hay-Fever Prevention Association, fall hay-fever practically dis- appeared in New Orleans several weeks earlier than the usual time. This cam- paign will be resumed next spring, when its management will be placed in the hands of the State Hay-Fever Association. **The American Hay-Fever Prevention Association believes that what has been effected in New Orleans can be done in all towns and cities. In some of the smaller towns, especially those catering to summer visitors, this could be accomplished before next summer. The statement that a town is free of hay-fever will prove an advertise- [ 166 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT ment that will easily repay the cost of de- stroying the hay-fever-producing weeds/' 2. Local Treatment by Nasal Applications Local treatment of hay-fever has been viewed with diverse opinions by every writer on the subject. Many good authori- ties condemn all internasal treatment as useless and irritating, while others strongly advocate its value. It needs no argument to show the value of nasal and throat ap- plications of antiseptic nature in the early stages of influenza or any other neutral catarrhal irritation of the eye, nose or throat. Indeed many household epidemics have been shortened or aborted by the careful attention to these parts. I am not alone in the statement that severe house- hold epidemics have been deprived of their danger by careful cleansing of the nasal [167] HAY-FEVER mucous membrane before the infection be- came systemic. Indeed this is the routine treatment in every well-regulated family where children are found, especially dur- ing winter and spring, and in the early fall. It is much more important that this should be carefully observed if the neigh- borhood is infested with an epidemic of catarrhal colds. The repeated infection of some families and the escape of others is not so much in the vital resistance of the several members, but the neglect in the individual of personal hygiene. This is true of all diseases, as well as of hay- fever. It is true that children, and young people in general, are more likely to con- tract catarrhal colds if they are burdened with adenoids or hypertrophied tonsils — diseased by repeated former attacks. I believe that the acute infectious diseases, particularly in children, may be lessened [168] FORMS OF TREATMENT by most thorough and repeated steriliza- tion of the nasopharynx, and just as house epidemics are never excusable evils so I claim the same to be eventually true of hay-fever. The important result to be obtained through local treatment is the prevention of the paroxysms, and, ultimately, the re- moval of the recurring habit periods. The destruction, if possible, of the recurring habit. Years ago I was led to treat my hay-fever patients by cleansing the naso- pharynx with an atomizer containing a warm solution of boric acid (ten grains to an ounce of water) or Dobell's solution, after which I carefully wiped the mucous membrane and applied menthol and cam- phor and liquid cosmoline freely to the parts. This procedure afforded consider- able temporary relief in a large number of eases when there was present simply [169 3 HAY-FEVER turgescence of the whole naso-pharynx. IJ. Sodium bicarbonate, Sodium borate aa 5 iss Carbolic acid 5 j- Glycerin 5ij. Rose water (25 per cent.) q. s. O j. SiQ. — ^Teaspoonful to one ounce of warm water. This I thoroughly use in both nostrils, first by means of an atomizer, after which, with a curved applicator or cotton-carrier, I very carefully swab the whole naso- pharynx. I scrub most carefully and 'gently every portion of the mucous mem- brane, being sure to reach between the tur- binated bones and all around and over every slight prominence. I then as care- fully dry the membrane with clean cotton, and use freely a mild solution of menthol and camphor in albolin, in proportion as follows : I^. Menthol gr. v. Pulverized camphor gr. v. Albolin Jij. [170] FORMS OF TREATMENT I loosely plug the nose for a few minutes to retain the oily application. It is impor- tant to sterilize most thoroughly the sen- sitive areas of the nose, as we are unable to determine whether one or more may be affected, and by this mild yet thorough treatment we cleanse effectually the whole nasal chamber. This treatment was so extremely simple that for a long time I doubted its real value, but as so many sufferers have ex-' prest their relief, and were willing and anxious for me to continue the applica- tions, I have concluded to offer my methods in full confidence of their usefulness, with a warning that for successful treatment the instructions for cleansing and scrub- bing must be followed in careful detail. Good results need not be expected by simple irrigation and swabbing — the whole nasal mucous membrane must be tJior- [171] HAY-FEVER ougMy washed and gently scruhhed be- fore the oily applications are used. This internasal treatment should com- mence four weeks before the expected on- set of the paroxysm, and should be done daily, if possible. I have found many persons who will not tolerate the use of carbolic acid, even in so mild a solution as that given above, the weakest solution frequently causing a se- vere urticaria. When various idiosyncrasies to carbolic acid forbid its use, I select as the second best detergent hydrogen dioxid, and com- mence with the following mixture : I^. Hydrogen dioxid, Glycerin aa 5 ss. Distilled water q. s. 5iv. With this I spray the nose most thor- oughly, following it up with plain warm normal salt to remove the accumulation of [172] FORMS OF TREATMENT foam thiat will necessarily collect in the nasal spaces. A few days, or better, one week, prior to the date of the onset, I in- crease the strength of the hydrogen-dioxid solution, using something like the follow- ing: IJ. Hydrogen dioxid gij. Glycerin, Distilled water aa Sij* This must be removed also by means of the normal salt, as already mentioned. In a number of cases I have found glycerin objectionable as a vehicle, producing an irritation of much annoyance. In such cases I omit the glycerin and substitute normal salt. In a few cases the hydrogen dioxid produced an inflammation of the mucous membrane that would require its dilution. We find many personal idiosyn- crasies in a large number of hay-fever suf- ferers that one might go on indefinitely [173] HAY-FEVER with modifications of treatment, but, as in general practise, it is our aim to treat the individual primarily, and we can not dog- matically hold fast to any special drugs or formula. In the few obstinate cases in which ster- ilization seems to provoke trouble, and the slightest manipulations of the nose and throat precipitate violent paroxysms, I use on the nasal mucous membrane the follow- ing powder : !^. Morphin. sulf gr. ij. Boracic acid 5ss. Powdered camphor gr. x. Powdered starch 5iv. SiG. — ^To be used as a snuff frequently. If patients object to the use of the snuff, and occasionally we will find some who will do so for cosmetic reasons, I prescribe the following, to be taken internally: IJ. Tablet Suprarenal Ex gr. v. SiQ. — One every three or four hours. [174] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT Many physicians claim that relief can not be afforded to hay-fever patients with- out using cocain or eucain at some time during the management of troublesome cases. It is very exceptionally that I re- sort to either; possibly an unusual case will require one or more applications to control a local storm, yet the majority of patients never receive cocain from my hand. In severe cases that came under my care after the disease had been well established, when I had no chance to conduct a prelim- inary course of benumbing, I have been forced to prescribe something like the fol- lowing: Menthol gr. viij. Boric acid gr. xxx. Albolin 5ij. Solution of Eucain \"B\" (4 per cent.) . 5ij. This is applied carefully and thoroughly on cotton applicators to the mucous mem- [ 175 ] HAT-FEVER brane of the naso-pharynx. It may con- trol the attacks, and it frequently aborts them and keeps the patient decidedly com- fortable. I have found the direct appli- cation of the remedy more satisfactory than the atomizer. In some cases, for a few days, this application must be made two or three times daily. H. L. Swain recommends the local use of the aqueous extract of the suprarenal glands in certain chronic conditions of the hay-fever type, as a powerful local vaso- constrictor and contractor of erectile tis- sue. The local effect can apparently be obtained any number of times without en- tailing a vicious habit, such as might re- sult from cocain. Ingals and Ohls report that they have obtained much relief in these cases by the use of an extract of suprarenal capsule prepared as follows: Adrenals (Armour's), gj; boric acid, gr. [ 176 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT xvj; cinnamon water, 5iv; hot camphor water, §j; hot distilled water, enough to make gij. Mix, macerate for four hours, and filter. This solution remains stable for several weeks. It is used as a spray four or five times a day. I have not had occasion to resort to the local application of this substance, but I have had one pa- tient who was distinctly benefited by in- ternal administration in doses of gr. 14 to gr. j, as often as four times a day. He was a catarrhal young man of neurotic tem- perament, who came to me during the first week of his attack, and who objected to the usual routine sterilization of the naso- pharynx.^ The formula: Adrenal chlorid 5 ij* Normal salt sol q. s. 5 j. is more elegant and convenient. * Personally the use of the suprarenal extract ha» been of little value owing to the violent sneezing provoked. [177] HAY-FEVER 3. As TO Diet, Exercise and Rest In old cases, when the nerve-habit has long been formed, treatment should com- mence at least two or, better, three weeks before the anticipated recurrence of the paroxysms. All bodily irregularities must be corrected and tendencies to constipation or dyspepsia removed. Amylaceous indi- gestion should be corrected by the exclu- sion from the dietary of too starchy foods. For the elimination of excessive uric acid, or other waste products, and to relieve constipation, the systematic administra- tion, morning and night, of sodium phos- phate is invaluable. If the appetite is not good, the regular use of the tincture of nux vomica, ten to twenty drops three times a day, is strongly indicated. In anemic cases pills of carbonate of iron or, probably still better, the pills of valerian- ate of quinin, iron, and zinc are necessary. [178] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT In nervous cases with anemia, valerianate of zinc, one grain with two grains of the compound asafetida pill, two or three times a day (after Morell Mackenzie), will be found valuable. Careful diet, a tran- quil mmd, and moderate exercise are es- sential. Outdoor exercise, with a daily tepid bath followed by vigorous friction of the whole body, will help to eliminate waste material. The patient should not unneces- sarily expose himself to direct rays of the sun, as they are calculated to excite intense reflex irritation of the sensitive nerve cen- ters. Much trouble may be averted by the use of a sunshade or umbrella and by the avoidance of exercise in the sun. It must be understood that with the gen- eral hygienic and constitutional treatment the course of local prophylaxis by daily sterilization is most necessary. The treatment of neurasthenic cases, or [179] HAY-FEVER those in which a decided derangement of the general system as well as of the ner- vous energy exists prior to the attack, re- quires the greatest tact and skill. If there is little local catarrhal disturbance there will be great difficulty in combating the disease in the face of the deprest vitality and lessened nervous resistance. In such cases I place the patients upon a diet, somewhat like that in the appended list, and urge strict adherence to it. After ob- taining careful urinary analysis and other clinical data, I often further specialize in the diet, or I may increase the variety ac- cording to the needs of the individual. In these cases I always urge the drinking of large quantities of water, unless there is some strong contraindication. Neuras- thenics mil often avoid water between meals. I at once order systematic mas- sage. If the patient does not care for a [180] FORMS OF TREATMENT masseur, I order a daily tepid bath of a temperature between 80\"^ and 85° F., with a coarse towel rubbing, followed by a douche of cold water along the spine. This should be continued for at least two weeks prior to the onset of the paroxysms. Rest for the overtaxed function is im- peratively demanded. Unfortunately, this is easier prescribed than carried out. In wealthy patients the Weir-Mitchell rest- cure often gives brilliant results. In other cases a change of scene and a temporary rest from business or society may be ac- cepted when the sanitarium would be out of the question. Quiet resorts on the sea- coast or in the mountains are desirable. Nothing is better than two or three weeks on the ocean. A compromise may be ob- tained by having the patient give up a por- tion of the daily duties and go to bed earlier at night. The patients should not [181] HAY-FEVER be allowed to discuss their ailments too freely. Horseback riding, bicycling, row- ing, and walking — in fact, any outdoor di- version not too violent — are to be recom- mended. If the patient suffers from insomnia, careful administration of a hypnotic may help to reestablish the sleep-habit. At first give a warm bath, and a glass of warm milk or malted milk before retiring. If this and other similar measures do not avail, five grains of Veronal capsule may be given one hour before going to bed. If the patient is accustomed to wake after a short sleep, the Veronal should be given at bedtime. Full amounts of sleep are necessary to neurasthenics. Depressants, such as the bromids, chloral, and the opi- ates should be avoided. Any coexistent gastric or cardiac trouble must be care- fully treated, and the bowels kept open regularly. [182] FOEMS OF TREATMENT The diet that I find most desirable to follow, generally speaking, is that which is applicable to the gouty or uric acid diathesis. General Rules, — The diet should be lib- eral, but not stimulating, with moderation in animal foods, and very little of foods having a tendency to produce acids in the system, such as starches, sugars, fats, and fermented liquors. Patients may take soups — clear or vegetable — and weak beef- tea or broths. FisJi, — Fresh fish and raw oysters. Meats, — To be taken once a day only — mutton, chicken, underdone roast, sweet- bread. Eggs, — Moderation. White of eggs, raw, or shirred in drinks, such as lemon- ade, occasionally. Farinaceous, — In small quantities. Toast, stale bread, bread from whole [ 183 ] HAY-FEVER wheat, rye bread, milk-toast, rice, crackers. Vegetables. — Fresh, green varieties preferable; celery, lettuce, watercress, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, salads, spar- ingly of baked potatoes, young peas, string beans, and spinach. Desserts. — Oranges, lemons, apples, apricots, pears, peaches, cherries, blanc- mange (not after meals, however), stewed fruit. Beverages, — Water, plentifully, espe- cially before meals ; plain soda, milk, but- termilk, weak tea or coffee (without su- gar), toast-Avater, lemonade. Mineral waters, such as Saratoga Vichy, Berkely (Hot Springs), Lithia Water, Carlsbad, and Crab Orchard. Stimulants. — Light Hock; Bordeaux in small quantities and well diluted. Articles Forbidden. — Patients must avoid rich soups, hard-boiled eggs, fried [184] FORMS OF TREATMENT and made dishes of all kinds, entrees, pickles, spices, veal, pork, duck, goose, sal- mon, lobster, crab; preserved, dried, and salted meats; salt fish, pickled pork, as- paragus, old peas, beans, tomatoes, mush- rooms, truffles, dried fruit, preserves, pies, pastry, rich puddings, patties, new bread, cheese, sweets, malts, sweet wines, straw- berries, rhubarb, cider, fermented drinks, beer. 4. Whek Asthma Occurs as a Sequel About five to ten per cent, of my whole number of hay-fever patients have suf- fered more or less from asthma. Asthma, as a sequel in these cases, manifests itself about the end of one week or ten days after the expected paroxysms of hay-fever, and is induced usually by some undue exposure or a damp or rainy day. My asthmatic patients, I find, were among those irregu- [185] HAY-FEVER lar in treatment, or those who had first called late in the disease. In these cases much mucus had accumulated in the lar- ger tubes. If I can not clear the bronchial tubes by an emetic dose of ipecac, I pre- scribe somewhat as follows: Potassium iodid gss Ammonium muriate 5ss Sirup of Yerba Santa 5 j. A teaspoonful administered every two hours generally brings relief. A number of asthmatic patients require a solution of nitroglycerin, one per cent. Of this, one drop every two hours for two or three days is given. Occasionally it seems im- perative to give morphin. Some of my asthmatics have informed me that they can bring about immediate relief by plunging both hands in hot water and taking a drink of whiskey, followed by a large draft of hot water. It is possible for some persons 1186] FOEMS OF TREATMENT to voluntarily combat their asthmatic at- tacks, and for this reason they should be encouraged to practise certain breathing exercises until they can in a measure con- trol their respiratory apparatus. Asth- matics usually have, however, a preexist- ent catarrhal state of the bronchial tubes, which exhibit marked vasomotor changes on slight irritation. If I see these patients early, I prescribe five-minim capsules of the oil of sandalwood four times a day, or the compound salol capsule, and by the time their period arrives, the bronchitis is fairly well cleared up. The inhalation of the fumes of burning niter-paper or specially prepared powders, or of cigarets, gives relief in many cases. The powders used at the Brompton Hos- pital by Sidney Martin contain one part each of anise and niter, two parts of stra- monium leaves, and five grains of tobacco [187] HAY-FEVER to the ounce ; one teaspoonful is to be burnt on a plate and the fumes inhaled. A pill containing i/4 of a grain of morphin, with 1/200 of a grain of atropin sulfate, given at bedtime, is sometimes useful in connec- tion with the inhalations. Extract of stra- monium (1-16 of a grain) may be substi- tuted for the atropin. S. Solis-Cohen has used successfully the following formula : IJ. Morphin sulf gr. I—J. Strychnin sulf gr- i-rir* Hyoscin hydrobrom . . . . gr. yIh- M. SiG. — Give hypodennically at bedtime. The following may be administered at night : !^. Camphor gr. ss Dover's powder gr. vj. Make four capsules. SiG. — ^Take one on retiring. Van Sweringen calls attention to a line of treatment in a very obstinate case of [188] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT bronchial asthma that was attended by re- markable results. The attack had lasted for two weeks, during which time all the antispasmodics had in turn been ex- hausted, and the patient had secured but a period of two hours' freedom at any one time. Finally, based on the theory that if asthma was a reflex it must be under the control of Setschenow's inhibitory center, and that anything that would stimulate the inhibitory center would lessen the reflex- spasm, quinin and strychnin were given, with excellent results. The dose of the quinin was seven grains. The extract of nux vomica was given in %-grain doses, and to this was added % of a grain of co- dein sulfate. In the interval the iodids were continued. However, the use of sedatives and in- halations must be limited, especially in the milder and uncomplicated forms of asth- [1S9 1 HAY-FEVER ma, while efforts to benefit the patient ^s general condition are strongly indicated. Diet is an important part of the treatment of many cases. Not all cases of asthma are due to uricacidemia, but nearly all cases are benefited by attention to the diet and elimination of excess uric acid. Of remedies that may be continuously administered to patients who have fre- quently recurring attacks, two are most constantly used — namely, iodid of potas- sium and arsenic. The iodid may be most conveniently given with stramonium, as in the mixture devised by Martin, which con- sists of ^ of a grain of extract of stramo- nium, two grains of extract of licorice, three grains of iodid of potassium, and five minims of chloric ether. This mixture may be given two or three times daily in cases of asthma. It possesses two disadvan- tages, however. The stramonium leads, in [190] FORMS OF TREATMENT some cases, to paralysis of accommoda- tion, but by diminishing the dose, the pa- tient soon ceases to experience discom- fort from the remedy. If given alone, the iodid must be administered in five-grain doses two or three times daily, the medicine being discontinued from time to time. Ar- senic by itself, in doses of three minims of the liquor arsenicalis, is a useful remedy for continuous administration in asthma, and it may be combined with potassium iodid (three to five grains) in a mixture. Hydrotherapeutic treatment is of use in some cases of asthma. The patient should be accustomed to gradually colder baths of short duration with douches. 5. The Use of Serums — Dunbar's Serum The wide recognition of the serum treat- ment of hay-fever by Dunbar, of Ham- [1911 HAY-FEVER burg, Germany, requires me to quote sufl&- cient of his writings that my readers may appreciate the value as well as the limita- tions of his work. To very briefly sum- marize: Dunbar has prepared hay-fever antitoxin by inoculation of horses with the toxins derived from the albuminoid body found in the starch particles of the pollen. The serum obtained from the horse is dispensed either in a liquid or dry form, and is designed to be applied to the mucous membrane of the nose and the eye when required. His serum has been named PoUantin, and two forms are on the market, one pre- pared from rye pollen, especially used for spring and summer hay-fever, or ** rose- cold,'' and the other, prepared from rag- weed pollen, designed as a remedy for hay- fever occurring in the late summer and fall. Dunbar thinks that hay-fever is the [192] FORMS OF TREATMENT result of a specific poison found in pollens and is an albuminoid body — and his anti- toxin is intended to inhibit, or immunize patients against the pollen toxins if used previous to the hay-fever season. Its use is also to palliate the symptoms in cases where the disorder has already made its appearance. Pollantin produces a sensa- tion of relief and cool comfort when ap- plied to the inflamed mucous membrane of the nose or eye. This comfort remains for some time, but the relief is variable. In 1902, Prof, W. P. Dunbar published,^ as an appendix to a presentation of the history of our knowledge of hay-fever, the opinion, based on experiment, that hay- fever is a disease caused by a poison de- rived from plants. These toxic substances are found in the dust of the blossoms of *Zur Ursache u. spezif. Heilung d. Heufiebers. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munchen, 1903. [193 HAY-FEVER certain plants. They are present in tlie albumin of the pollen and are septic in nature. According to this theory, it would be possible, by means of the isolated toxic albumin of the pollen, to determine whether or not a given disease was hay- fever. It was also hinted, and in a publication that shortly followed,^ positively asserted, that it was possible to produce a specific anti- toxin by inoculating animals, e,g., rabbits or horses, with the albumin of the pollen. It was possible with this antitoxin to neu- tralize the poison of the pollen in vitro so that the latter would no longer cause symptoms in hay-fever patients. It was also claimed that symptoms that had al- ready set in could be overcome by the use of the specific antitoxin. By means of this timely use of the anti- * Zur Frage betreffend d. Aetiologie u. spezif. Therapie d. Heufiebers. Berl. klin. Woch., 1903, No. 24—26. [194] FOEMS OF TREATMENT toxin the outbreak of the hay-fever symp- toms should be prevented. As a result of further investigation he was later able to prove definitely^ that by the proper use of the antitoxin it would be possible to rid patients of their disposition to hay-fever, and to immunize them so they could dis- pense with the use of the antitoxin or any other therapeutic agent without having to fear further attacks. Th. Albrecht, the secretary of the Ger- man Hay-Fever Association, designated the appearance of my first article as a turning-point in the history of hay-fever. Other colleagues viewed the results of Professor Dunbar's comprehensive work with less favor. There were indeed those who claimed that he had added nothing new to the subject. The opinions ex- * Zur Ursache u. spezif. Heilung d. Heufiebers II, Deutseh. med Woch., 1911, No. 13. [195] HAY-FEVER prest by the laity were also widely dif- ferent in character. Some were unable to express their thanks in terms sufficiently strong, others claimed that the specific treatment suggested by him was absolutely worthless. An American correspondent wrote to him: \"Your stuff is not worth a tinker's dam.\" In the face of such diver- gent opinions it seems worth while to cast a glance backward over the decade that has passed, to determine what assertions were right and what opinions were incor- rect. \"Whether we are right in looking upon hay-fever as a product of our modern cul- ture, appeared to Professor Dunbar to- day, even more than it did ten years ago, an open question. In the last ten years there has been much published concerning hay-fever, not only in the leading journals, but also in the lay journals. [196] FOEMS OF TREATMENT In so far as the latter deals with his work, they had not had his cooperation, nor had they consulted his wishes. There are to^ay many hay-fever patients who are absolutely in the dark as to the nature of their disease. Even in Hamburg, after a scientific exhibition at which his hay- fever material was shown, many adults came to him with the request that he should determine whether or not they had hay-fever. He was even more surprized to learn that there are to-day physicians who either deny the existence of hay-fever or know nothing about it. In view of this obtuseness it seemed to him very bold to say that two hundred and fifty years ago there was no hay-fever, simply because we have no authentic and convincing records from that time. The disease may have been very widespread then. There was missing perhaps only the man to notice the [197] HAY-FEVEK periodicity of the disease, its dependence upon the seasons of the year, and to cor- rectly correlate the facts and draw proper conclusions. Until ten years before Dr. Dunbar says no one had been able to offer a clear and convincing explanation of the cause or nature of hay-fever. This is clear from a perusal of the literature up to that time. Dr. Dunbar, himself a sufferer from hay- fever, had the opportunity during many years to test the merits of the various hypotheses concerning the cause of the disease. He finally came to the conclusion that only the pollen theory could be right. In his monograph concerning hay-fever, which thus far I have given in his own lan- guage as above, he described the observa- tions which forced him to accept this ex- planation. For many years the attempt to definitely prove the theory met with an ob- [198] FORMS OF TREATMENT stacle which seemed insuperable, viz., the impossibility of getting pollen in a pure state. In view of the extremely simple method of doing this, this fact appeared to him to-day a remarkable one. He felt constrained to offer the following ex- planation : **Year after year I consulted with bot- anists as to the best method of getting pol- len in large quantities. Various methods were suggested to me, among others that of spreading large cloths over the mead- ows. I also sucked up into bottles large quantities of air in the attempt to get pol- len, and attempted many other things. None of these methods met with more than moderate success, until finally I hit upon the simple procedure of shaking blooming plants, for instance stocks of wheat, and catching the dust that was shaken out. I succeeded better later by taking the ears [ 199 ] HAY-FEVER shortly before they began to bloom and putting the stocks in water in a warm place. In this way I was soon able to gather pollen in large quantities, and, more important still, to isolate the pollen grains of different plants, free from all contaminations, including micro-organ- isms. ** After having obtained in this way the pollen of rye, wheat and ray-grass pollen {Lolium perenne), I could at once begin to attempt the settlement of important questions. A minimal amount of the plant dust when introduced into my conjunc- tival sac, or my nasal passage, caused in a very short time most pronounced hay-fever symptoms. The same experiment on my laboratory assistant, who did not have hay- fever, had no effect at all. Within a few days I extended the scope of my experi- ments so as to include two hay-fever pa- [ 200 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT tients, who happened to be working in our institution, as well as three other assist- ants who did not have hay-fever. The result was always the same. The hay-fever patients reacted just as I did. Those who had no hay-fever and served as controls were not at all affected by the introduction of the pollen. These experiments were repeated later on very many patients and people without hay-fever, invariably with the same results. **The next important point that sug- gested itself to me was to determine whether or not this toxin was active at other times of the year than during the hay-fever period. Formerly it had been urged against the pollen theory that with the same pollen which had been active dur- ing the hay-fever period, no results could be achieved at other times of the year. Thus, for instance. Sticker was of the [201] HAY-FEVER opinion that Woodward had proved that pollen was inactive except during the hay- fever period. He therefore was forced to come to the conclusion that for the pro- duction of an attack there was necessary the disposition on the part of the indi- vidual and the season of the year. The nature of the action of the season of the year was explained by some authors as a sort of an *'Unstimmung,\" a sort of spring revolution. This explanation appeared to me very doubtful, because of the fact that this process occurs in European patients in springtime ; in most American patients, however, in the fall. **My experiments on this subject re- sulted as follows: Pollen which had been carefully dried soon after gathering was active later at any time of the year. Pollen, however, which I enclosed in bot- tles in its fresh condition underwent cer- [202] FOKMS OF TREATMENT tain changes, characterized especially by the formation of a liqnid. '* Pollen which had been spoiled in this way proved later to be inactive. I might add here that these observations explained the occurrence of sporadic cases of hay- fever in the winter time. Pollen which has found its way into a dry room can remain active until the winter season — indeed, for many years, as I have shown. One blossom which has remained for eleven years in the herbarium retained an undiminished ac- tivity. Pollen which, on the other hand, falls to the ground in the open air, is de- stroyed by the first following rain. The fact that the pollen is carried down out of the air by the rain clearly explains further the remissions on certain days which had hitherto been so difficult to understand. By means of the isolated pollen I had then met those requirements in my attempts at [203] HAY-FEVER an etiologic explanation which I myself have considered necessary. The suspected agent, free from all impurities, when ap- plied to a hay-fever patient, must produce hay-fever invariably, regardless of the season of the year. The same agent ap- plied to a normal person must have no effect. These requirements had, I say, been met by experiment. **The grass pollen is so small that a single one can not be seen with the naked eye, yet its structure and chemical compo- sition are very complicated. Many pollen grains are covered with hair-like prickles. Adherents of the pollen theory formerly believed that hay-fever was due to these prickles. They asserted that hay-fever patients were extremely sensitive to the mechanical stimulus of the prickles, and that normal individuals were resistant to their action. It is true that some of the [204] FORMS OP TREATMENT pollen, which we formerly looked upon as the cause of hay-fever, had an uneven, prickly surface. Some of the first adher- ents of the pollen theory believe that those pollen especially were active whose blos- soms had an intense odor. The disease was accordingly at that time widely called rose-fever, linden-fever, and so forth, in- stead of hay-fever. I was able to show that those pollen which most often cause hay-fever have a smooth surface. This is true of all grass pollen, of which I have examined thirty-two varieties. These have also no odor. The blossoming of the rose and of linden occurs at the same time as that of the grasses. In 1902 I was able to completely overthrow the belief in the activity of the linden. It happened that in that year the blossoming of the linden was delayed from three to seven weeks in our vicinity, that of the grasses occurring [ 205] HAY-FEVER at the regular time. The season for hay- fever was probably over at the time that the blossoming of the linden was at its height, and hay-fever patients were able to enjoy the odor of the linden without any ill effects. I can well understand the te- nacity with which hay-fever patients cling to the belief that the dust of the rose and linden causes their symptoms. I myself banned from my home every rose and other odorous blossom during the hay- fever period, and felt certain that my suf- fering was thereby diminished. The relief was not an imaginary one, but was due to the fact that at the same time I kept my windows carefully closed. **At about the time of the blossoming of the grasses, the pine {Pinus sylvestris) also begins to blossom and produces such a plentiful dust that thick clouds of it can at times be seen. This is called sulfur [ 206 ] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT rain. I proved, in spite of the opposition of many hay-fever patients, that the dust of this blossom was also of no consequence. '*By such experiments as these and many others I was able to prove that only certain specific pollen could cause hay- fever. This was in direct opposition to Blackley's theory. Other pollen, includ- ing those possessing sharp prickles, were absolutely without effect. **The theory as to emanations, odors, ethereal oils, and so forth, had still to be considered. On opening a vessel that con- tains much grass pollen one gets an odor much like that of honey, which proved to be without effect on hay-fever patients. The odor of the linden, as well as that of the harmless rose, was proved to be with- out effect. There was still to be considered the questions as to the action of the ethereal oils. An extract of the oily and [ 207 ] HAY-FEVER waxy portions of the pollen, when applied to the conjunctiva and nasal mucous mem- branes in small amounts, caused a burning sensation. This was quite different, how- ever, from the peculiar sensation experi- enced by hay-fever patients, which is so distinctive that nothing can stimulate it. These extracts had more effect on normal persons than they had on hay-fever pa- tients. The amount of these substances with which we come in contact in our ordinary walks is so small that they can surely not be responsible for any of our unpleasant sensations. *' Grass pollen is distinguished from that of other plants in a marked way by the small rods which it contains, which look just like bacteria. Patton, in 1877, had already called attention to these rods. He believed that after they left the pollen grains they possest a movement of their [ 208 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT own, and he drew the conclusion that they constituted the active principle of the pollen. He asserted that by reason of their inherent motility they found their way into the mucous membrane and the circula- tion and thus caused the symptoms of hay- fever. For a time, I also believed that these small rods played some part in the production of hay-fever. I did not know then that they were composed solely of starch, but thought they contained al- bumin. After I was able to get hold of great quantities of grass pollen I was able to isolate these rods by means of repeated centrifugation and washing. I was then able to prove that they were absolutely in- nocuous to hay-fever patients. **As a result of certain observations, to which I shall refer later, I was soon forced to the conclusion that the active principle of the toxin of hay- fever is an albuminous [209 ] HAY-FEVER substance. The alcoholic precipitate from a saline extract of a comparatively small number of pollen grains had an intense action on hay-fever patients, but none on normal individuals. After I obtained large quantities of pollen I began my experiments with the isolated albumin. Against this method of procedure it was claimed that I had not been working with a true hay-fever toxin, but with a dena- tured poison. For this claim there is no evidence; the critics failed completely to show any proof for the correctness of their assertions. From a purely scientific view- point, it is certainly better to work with the isolated toxin than the whole pollen grain or an extract from them such as I used at first, before I realized that the toxicity was an attribute of the albumin alone. '*Dr. 0. Kammann, who investigated [210] FORMS OF TREATMENT this matter at my request,^ was able to prove that the albumin fraction contains the toxin and that the globulin fraction is entirely inactive. ** Having determined that the albumin of the pollen is the specific cause of hay-fever, it was possible now to carry out my experi- ments along quantitative lines. It is pos- sible to extract the albumin from the pollen by means of saline solutions of proper strength and then to precipitate it with alcohol or to obtain it by dialysis, and then dry it. In this condition it retains its ac- tivity for many years, **The experiments which I had done up to this time on hay-fever patients had not conformed to the natural process. In order to conform to these more closely I performed the following experiment: A *Kammann: Zur Kenntnis d. Eoggen-PoUens u. des darin enthaltenen Heufiebergiftes. Beitrage z. Chem. Physiol, u. Pathol., 1904, Bd. V, Heft. 7-8, S. 346. [211] HAY-FEVER hay-fever patient and a normal individual took their places in a large glass cabinet in which rye pollen had been distributed. The hay-fever patient took sick, the other remained well. It was not determined by this experiment how much of the pollen had been taken np by the hay-fever patient. The question as to whether or not enough, pollen was present in the air during the hay-fever season to cause the symptoms had not been satisfactorily settled. Black- ley (vide supra) had already made at- tempts to settle this question by means of a method worked out by Phoebus. He had carefully counted at different periods of the years the pollen which gathered on glass plates, whose surface had been cov- ered with glycerin. My co-workers, es- pecially Liefmann,^ found that in the heart ^Liefmann: Ein Beitrag zur Frage nach d. aetiologi- schen Bedeutung gewisser Pflanzen ' pollenkoerner fuer d. Heufieber. Zeitsehr. f. Hyg. u. Infectionskrank- heiten, 1904, Bd. 47, p. 153. [212] FOEMS OF TREATMENT of Hamburg, while hay-fever was at its height, 250 pollen grains accumnlated on a surface of one square centimeter during twenty-four hours, i,e,, 25,000 to the square meter. It was established that with the first appearance of the pollen in the air the patient began to complain of an itch- ing at the inner canthus of the eye; his suffering became more intense in direct proportion to the quantity of pollen in the air. On rainy days no pollen accumulated on the glass plates, altho they were pro- tected from the rain. Early in June the pollen of the grasses far exceeded those of other plants in numbers, and from about the third week in July grew gradually less, so that at the end of July, or the beginning of August, only a few stray grains were found. Thus can be explained the period- icity of the course of hay-fever and also the occurrence of sporadic cases after the [ 213 ] HAY-FEVER hay-fever season is over. There was still no certain method of predicting quanti- tatively the action of the pollen. Dr. 0. Kammann had shown that the organic portion of the pollen of the grasses is about 40 per cent, albumin. He had shown further that about 20,000,000 rye pollen weighed one gram. By means of these figures we could compute the amount of toxin in a single pollen. By means of a solution of known strength of the poison- ous albumin of the pollen, it could be deter- mined how many pollen grains were neces- sary in any given case to produce mild, moderately severe, or severe symptoms. It was evident that different patients were susceptible in varying degrees. A concen- trated solution introduced into the conjunc- tiva or nose of a normal individual causes no symptoms. The majority of hay-fever patients were stimulated by one drop (1-20 [214] FOEMS OF TREATMENT to 1-30 cm.) of a solution of 1 to 20,000 or 1 to 30,000. There were patients, however, who responded to one drop of a solution diluted a million times, the equivalent of the amount of albumin contained in one to three pollen grains. **Liefmann constructed an aeroscope by means of which he was able to de- termine how much pollen was taken in with each breath. In the neighborhood of a field of rye one inhales with each breath two or three pollen grains; in the middle of a large city he found that in every cubic meter of air there were about three hun- dred and eight. **Thus in this way questions as to the quantitative relationship of the pollen to the attack were satisfactorily answered. By means of these experiments it had been plainly shown that the albumin of the pollen of certain plants, especially that of [215] HAY-FEVER all grasses, is to be looked upon as the active cause of hay-fever. \"With my co- workers I examined the pollen of 106 plants, and found them all without any action, altho I had examined such pollen which had been considered capable of producing hay-fever. In addition to the pollen, I had been informed that in China at the time of the blossoming of Ligustrum vulgare a disease very much like hay-fever was prevalent. I examined the pollen of this plant and found it active. In South- west Africa, when the grasses blossom, conditions like hay-fever prevail, es- pecially among the half-breeds. One European had to forsake Africa at this time on account of his intense suffering. In Europe he remained perfectly weU. On examination it was found that he did not react to the grass pollen. In Africa, how- ever,. at this time, the acacia blossom and [216] FORMS OF TREATMENT it has been looked upon as the cause of the condition. This patient was unaffected by the pollen of two different species of acacia. I am in hopes that experiments which we have since then set on foot will explain this disease to us. In addition to the thirty varieties of graminacesB and cyperaceae, I have found the pollen of the following plants active: swamp-pink {Lonicera caprifolium), lily-of-the-valley {Convallaria ma j alls), hairy Solomon's seal {Polygonatum multiforum), CEno- thera biennis, rape {Brassica napus), and spinach {Spinacia oleracea), **0f special importance is the autumnal catarrh, which occurs in the United States of America, beginning early in September and lasting about six weeks. This autum- nal catarrh is much more common in the United States than the vernal catarrh. I have had the opportunity of examining a I 217 1 HAY-FEVEB large number of American hay-fever pa- tients, and was able to establish the fact that those patients who only suffer in the fall do not react at all to the albumin of the grass pollen. They do react, however, regularly to the albumin of the pollen of goldenrod (Solidago) and of ragweed (Ambrosia). I have examined a large number of species of both these plants and they were all active. These patients also react to the pollen of the chrysanthemum and the other asters. Those American pa- tients who suffer only from spring catarrh, not from the autumnal type, react only to the grass pollen, not to that of the golden- rod or the ragweed. A third group of patients suffer from about the middle of May until early in November with a hay- fever-like affection. These unfortunates react both to the grass pollen and to the active agent of the autumnal catarrh. [218] FORMS OF TREATMENT Goldenrod and ragweed are very wide- spread in the United States. They are found not only on meadows, fields, roads and along edges of woods, but grow in the midst of cities in neglected places. In Europe they do not occur naturally, indeed the goldenrod can with difficulty be made to blossom there. The pollen of goldenrod, however, is not scattered as easily as that of the ragweed. All attempts to grow ragweed in this country failed until 1911. In this year, which was extremely hot and dry, I succeeded for the first time. These facts serve as further important supports for the pollen theory. There were, how- ever, still many questions to be settled before all this mysterious phenomena which characterize hay-fever could be ex- plained. **One very important question, that of individual predisposition, I have only [219] HAY-FEVER lightly touched upon. It is clear that all people, including the inhabitants of large cities, are at certain times of the year ex- posed to the pollen of many plants, which settle on their skin, conjunctiva, are in- haled into the nose, and taken up into the mouth. By far the largest part of these individuals are unaffected by the pollen, only a very small percentage take sick. The poisonous albumin of the pollen is a substance, therefore, which is innocuous to most people, and is only active in those cases in which there is a special suscepti- bility. In other words, hay-fever requires an individual predisposition. This per- sonal predisposition is present for the well- known poisons of the pharmacopoeia, either not at all or at most in very slight degree. In the case of the infectious diseases it is much more evident. If, for instance, the cholera or typhoid bacillus is spread [220 } FORMS OF TREATMENT through a city by means of the water sup- ply, only a small percentage of the inhabi- tants are unaffected. This can be ex- plained on the theory that the cholera organism does not find in most individuals those conditions which are necessary to its existence and growth. The fact that only about half of the cholera patients die can be explained by similar quantitative differences. I do not know of another instance of a substance absolutely in- active as far as a part of the popu- lation is concerned, but a very virulent poison for others. The individual pre- disposition in a case of hay-fever must be of a peculiar sort. It might be ex- plained that the hay-fever poison enters the circulation of some people (hay-fever patients) and not of others. That this is the case I could prove by the demonstra- tion of antibodies in the blood of the hay- [221] HAY-FEVER fever patients. I shall return to this sub- ject later. Here it is sufficient to say that these specific substances could be found only at the close of the hay-fever period; six months later they had disappeared. In normal individuals they could at no time be demonstrated. The gradual disappear- ance of the immune bodies is easily ex- plained. We know from animal experi- ment that these substances appear a certain time after infection, gradually to disappear again. At first blush the dem- onstration of immune bodies in the blood of hay-fever patients would seem to be a sufficient explanation of the hay-fever pre- disposition. Close study makes this seem uncertain. On continuing the experiments I found that these inunune bodies were not pres- ent in all patients, indeed, in the same pa- tient I could not find them in some cases [ 222 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT two years in succession. The following objection to this explanation was even stronger : A colleague of mine, disposed to hay-fever, who had helped me for many years, allowed himself to be injected with a solution of pollen albumin. One half- hour after the injection marked symptoms appeared in the eyes, nose, and mouth. The patient experienced pains in the chest, expectorated a tenacious, mucoid sputum, and perspired freely. The respiration be- came rapid and difficult, the pulse-rate was accelerated, and the voice grew weak. After fifty minutes there was a flat, urti- carial eruption over the whole body. After twenty-four hours all the results of the injection had not yet disappeared. At the site of the injection there was a marked swelling, which persisted for five days. ** Injection of hay-fever toxin caused the same symptoms in me. A colleague who [ 223 ] HAY-FEVER did not suffer with hay-fever reacted to the same dose with a small, almost im- perceptible swelling at the site of the in- jection. Pollen albmnin was, in other words, not toxic for him when introduced under the skin. Hundreds of experiments have proved to us that pollen albumin is not a poison in the ordinary sense of the word, and that even when introduced into the circulation it is inactive. Not only is the skin of hay-fever patients permeable, for the hay-fever poison in varying de- grees, but it also reacts to the toxin in dif- ferent ways in different patients. In some cases when a solution of pollen albumin is placed on the skin, there occurs within a few minutes an erythema. If, on the other hand, a patient is very susceptible to hay- fever, the skin may show absolutely no re- action when brought in contact with the toxin. These results may be of value in [224 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT the study of individual predisposition, since they enable us to throw some light upon the question as to whether or not hay-fever is to be looked upon ttS a result of a hypersensitiveness. **In the first place, statistics have definitely proved that hay-fever has no relation to any constitutional disease, — for instance, gout; that, indeed, only a very small percentage of hay-fever patients are gouty. It is very commonly believed that hay-fever is due to some anomaly or stop- ping up of the upper air-passages. A local disease of the trigeminus is assumed by some, with a resulting sensitiveness on the part of certain mucous membranes. The falsity of these conceptions is clear from the experiments cited above. Not only does the whole skin-surface of many pa- tients react to the poison, but subcutane- ous infection is followed by characteristic [225] HAY-FEVER effects. By showing that the anal mncons membrane of hay-fever patients reacts to the pollen toxin, I believe that all those hypotheses, which assume only a local sen- sitiveness on the part of the cranial nerves, or the capital mucous membrane, is robbed of all support. Suggestion, as we have seen, plays a large part in the attempts to explain hay-fever predisposition. I can treat this question together Avith that of the role of specific odors of flowers, cats, dogs, etc. Two colorless, odorless solu- tions were prepared, and a drop from one of them was placed on the mucous mem- brane of the eye and nose of a large num- ber of hay-fever patients. Some reacted, others did not. None of them knew what sort of a solution was being used. The ap- plications were then made in a different way, each patient receiving a drop of the solution which had not been used in his [ 226 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT case before. Those who had, reacted the first time did not do so the second. The one solution was physiologic salt, the other pollen albumin. None of the patients re- acted to the saline, all reacted to the other solution. In the course of many years I repeated these experiments with many variations. In the place of the salt solu- tion I used solution of albumin from in- active pollen. The results were always the same. In the face of such results, he who would explain hay-fever on the ground of suggestion, simply ignores all the facts to the contrary, and his opinion does not deserve serious consideration. ** Hay-fever is looked upon as a result of an advanced culture and civilization. It happens that there are very few hay-fever patients in the laboring class, and that the Anglo-Saxon races, especially the Ger- mans, English, and Americans, furnish the [ 227 ] HAY-FEVER largest number of such patients. That hay-fever does at times occur among the Romans and other nations, I am able to gather from correspondence that I have had with inhabitants of such countries. In St. Louis I met an elevator boy who had hay-fever. Among the Anglo-Saxons the disease is found most often among pro- fessional men. Men appear to be twice as susceptible as women. It is often claimed that hay-fever follows a period of strenu- ous mental work, or of excitement, as, for instance, after examination, or in officers after maneuvers. Hay-fever has often been shown to be hereditary. Most fre- quently, however, a severe attack of in- fluenza has left hay-fever in its wake. Other causes, as, for instance, a difficult labor, are asserted by patients to have been the exciting cause of their hay-fever attacks. May we conclude from all these [228] FORMS OF TREATMENT facts that hay-fever is the result of a dis- turbance of the central nervous system f **It was formerly believed that all hay- fever patients were very nervous and ex- citable. This is certainly not universally true, if we are indeed dealing with a severe abnormality of the central nervous system this, in most instances, makes itself felt only in a hay-fever predisposition. Hundreds of hay-fever patients have writ- ten me that except during the season they are altogether well, and I have found among hay-fever patients many with phlegmatic dispositions. Those idiosyn- crasies which resemble hay-fever in a way, as, for instance, susceptibility to straw- berries, crawfish, iodin, antipyrin, bro- mids and the salts of quinin, are to-day explained on the ground of anaphylaxis. **Th. Albrecht declares that ten years ago every physician had his own theory [ 229 ] HAY-FEVER concerning the treatment of hay-fever. And I may add from my own experience that every patient also had his own method of treatment, which was, as a rule, very complicated. From my records it is very evident that many patients had ten or more hay-fever remedies, which they used either separately or together. A hay-fever pa- tient takes up at once every new remedy that appears and enthusiastically recom- mends it to others. As a rule, he learns o£ the new remedy near the end of the hay- fever season, and while he is using it his troubles disappear and he attributes his relief to the remedy he has been using. In the following spring he is undeceived. In this way one hay-fever remedy after an- other is consigned to oblivion only to re- appear later under a different name. The only remedies that have survived for any length of time are those with narcotic [ 230] FOEMS OF TREATMENT effects, as cocain, adrenalin, anesthesin, morphin, etc. Concerning the danger con- nected with the use of these narcotics, it is surely not necessary to say a word. In addition, adrenalin and anesthesin and the remedies prepared from them cause in many cases a sensation that is much more annoying and unpleasant than hay-fever itself. I, myself, have tested all the hay- fever remedies on which I could lay my hands within the last ten years. With no one of them did I accomplish a beneficial result. There was indeed no reason to suppose that the remedy could accomplish the things that were claimed for it. It is easy to gather the same opinion if one reads the thousands or more hay-fever histories that I have in my possession. I have called attention above to the fact that on purely theoretical grounds nothing was to be expected from these preparations, [231] HAY-FEVER and that chance had not put into our hands a chemical preparation that was effective. Every physician must warn his patients against the use of narcotics. I shall, there- fore, not consider those remedies and methods of treatment that belong to this category. *'In the thousands or more histories which I have been able to read, cauteriza- tion, burning, chiseling, and sawing in the nose play a large part. **It has been shown that the active al- bumin pollen is a substance of such marked specificity that the albumin which causes hay-fever symptoms in one patient (pollen of the grasses in Europeans) is entirely inactive in other patients (those with autumnal catarrh). On the other hand, the toxin of the ragweed has abso- lutely no effect on the European patients. By means of the complement deviation [232] FORMS OF TREATMENT method I could prove that this specificity could be shown in the hemolytic properties of the different albumins, the albumin of the grass pollen reacting altogether dif- ferently from that of goldenrod and rag- weed. In view of this state of affairs, it is not to be hoped that chance would fur- nish us a chemical substance that would either neutralize or render inactive the pollen albumin, or overcome the indi- vidual predisposition, which, as we have seen, is also strictly specific. I have come to the conclusion that we can accomplish our end in three ways only. ** First, by finding localities where the specific cause does not occur; second, by protecting the eyes, nose and mouth of the patient from the pollen; third, by active immunization against the toxin, or the use of a specific antitoxin. **The first method is yearly employed by [233] HAY-FEVEE many patients with success. The second method is also successful. Hay-fever pa- tients are free from symptoms in regions in which a specific pollen does not occur. This was to be expected from what we liave learned about the cause of the disease. Thus many patients find relief on the sea- shore, in islands, and in barren mountain- ous districts. In Germany they go to Heli- goland. In the United States they retire to Fire Island, Long Beach, the White Moun- tains, Green Mountains, or Adirondack Mountains during the hay-fever season. *'A11 my attempts of many years to get rid of the irritating contents of the horse serum have been in vain. As early as 1905, I realized that this would be so, for I proved then that the irritating substance (as I then called the anaphylactic agent) was bound to the euglobulin of the horse serum as was also the antitoxin itself. If [234] FOEMS OF TREATMENT the cuglobulin is destroyed the antitoxin is at the same time rendered useless. I have been able to help patients who have become anaphylactic in two ways: First, by the use of pollantin E., and the suggestion to use this diluted serum only before the occurrence of the hay-fever attack, in the very smallest doses, and if possible only once daily. Patients who follow these di- rections have informed me that pollantin E. did not irritate them at first, altho it did so later. The irritation was, however, not severe and disappeared within ten to thirty minutes. After this the patient was free from hay-fever attacks for one or more days. Secondly, I have taken ad- vantage of the fact that horse serum ana- phylaxis is in most cases specific, but does not appear to me to be always so. I have seen instances in which during the develop- ment of a hypersensitiveness to one animal [235 ] HAY-FEVER serum, patients were rendered anaphylac- tic to the sera of other animals also. This does not, however, happen often. I have, therefore, administered to patients who could no longer stand pollantin E. a very active rabbit serum with good results. It was not only possible to ward off attacks with this serum, but also to protect pa- tients from further attacks during the hay- fever season. These results appear to me to support the opinion, which I exprest years ago, viz., that the reaction to the antitoxin, and with it the tendency toward definite immunization, is directly propor- tional to the degree to which anaphylaxis toward animal serum develops. Patients who have become anaphylactic get along with much smaller doses of antitoxin than other patients, and have, I believe, a better chance to effectually overcome their hay- fever predisposition. [236] I FORMS OF TREATMENT * * This is the goal toward which we must strive. I know of many hay-fever patients, some of whom had attacks of the worst kind, who were entirely free after the use of poUantin for a very short time. I con- sider these people permanently cured, and so^exprest myself in an article last year. A rhinologist interested in hay-fever wrote to me that he could not understand these successes, and that he and his colleague had never been able to obtain such results. He wrote further that my successful ex- periences were in marked contrast to the experienced German Hay-Fever Associa- tion. In answer to such communications I have placed my material in the hands of the secretary of this Association, Dr. Th. Albrecht. I was very much pleased to learn as a result that Dr. Albrecht had been able to cure and successfully immu- nize patients by means of pollantin. In a [237 1 HAY-FEVEK recent publication, Dr. Albrecht reported twelve cases in which, after the use of pol- lantin for a short time, there resulted either a complete cure or at least a marked improvement. These observations are, of course, of intense interest to me. I would ask all colleagues who have made similar observations to be kind enough to com- municate them to me. I have only been strengthened in my former opinion that by means of a mixed passive and active immunization a permanent cure of hay- fever can be accomplished. 6. Experiments with Autoserum. By Harold Hays, M.D> Within the past year a new advance has apparently been made in the treatment of various persistent and chronic dermatoses by the use of autoserum. Among those * Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, June, 1915. [238] FORMS OF TREATMENT who have been doing a large amount of work in this direction are Dr. Wm. S. Got- theil and his associates. Gottheil in April of this year published his first report, which was followed later by a more lengthy survey of the subject. In this report the writer speaks enthu- siastically about the beneficial changes that take place, particularly in the cases of psoriasis. All of the cases treated were of long standing, with extensive . lesions, in which the usual treatments were of no avail. Gottheil summarizes his experience with autoserum by stating 'Hhat it has a peculiar influence for good which enables us to clear off the skin in one-tenth the usual time, with very weak and innocuous local medication, and without any internal treatment at all.\" His results have been corroborated by Dr. John A. Fordyce and Dr. Howard Fox. [ 239 ] HAY-FEVER As a result of the encouraging reports in the treatment of the dermatoses by autoserum, it occurred to the writer that it would be worth while trying this same form of treatment in cases of hay-fever. He arrived at this conclusion after noting the similarity of hay-fever to various skin conditions. His premises may be sum- marized as follows : 1. Hay-fever is a local manifestation of some internal derangement of the system. 2. Hay-fever has associated with it a nervous element which results in a local paresis of the blood-vessels of the nose. 3. Hay-fever occurs at well-regulated intervals, and mainly affects definite parts, namely, the mucous membrane of the nose, eyes, throat, and lungs. a. Psoriasis (with some other of the [240] FORMS OF TREATMENT dermatoses) is a local manifestation of an internal derangement of the system. b. Psoriasis has associated with it a certain nervous element. c. Psoriasis occurs in definite localities of the skin (mainly extensor surfaces). This line of reasoning was further sub- stantiated by reasoning along biologic grounds, for (1) there are certain anaphy- lactic reactions present in psoriasis and other dermatoses which are at the same time present in hay-fever and asthma. (2) A marked eosinophilia is present in the dermatoses and is also present in hay- fever and asthma. It was not, therefore, inconsistent or un- reasonable to suppose that if a definite improvement or even cure could be ob- tained from the use of autoserum in the dermatoses, it could be obtained in hay- fever and asthma. [241] HAY-FEVER The writer, therefore, began a series of experiments in August of this year, wait- ing until the patient was in the prime of his hay-fever attack before beginning the injections. Autoserum, as the name indicates, is a seruGm obtained from the patient into whom afterward it is to be injected. The method of obtaining this serum is very simple, and is as follows : A constricting bandage, preferably of rubber, is wound around the patient's arm above the elbow until it is tight enough to almost obliter- ate the pulse. In a few moments the arm becomes a dull purple from the venous en- gorgement, and a vein from which to draw the blood is readily selected. Very often the very superficial veins are too small, and a deeper one must be palpated for. The desired amount of blood may be withdrawn in a number of ways. At first the writer [242] FOKMS OF TREATMENT used the MacEae needles, as suggested by Dr. Howard Fox. These needles are very small and are fitted into a rubber cork which can readily be inserted into a fifty cubic centimeter bottle. On one side is a thin narrow cannula, to which a piece of rubber tubing may be attached for suction. It is claimed that after the blood once starts to flow, a continuous stream may be kept up by proper suction through the rubber tube ; but it was the writer's experi- ence that on account of the small caliber of the needle it became clogged with co- agulated blood very readily, so that it was difficult to withdraw all the blood that one desired. He therefore had recourse to the simpler (and what seemed to the patient more barbarous) procedure of using a twenty-five cubic centimeter all-glass syr- inge to which could be attached needles of suitable length and caliber. He was [243] HAY-FEVER able in this latter way to withdraw as much as twenty-five to thirty cubic centimeters of blood. The blood was immediately projected into a sterilized fifty cubic centimeter bottle, made of suitable size so that it could be used in an electric centrifuge. This blood was then centrifuged at great speed for from twenty to twenty-five minutes, at the end of which time it was seen that the serum had been nicely separ- ated from the red blood cells. It should be straw-colored in appearance, but very often a small amount of the coloring mat- ter of the blood tinges it, which apparently does no harm. This serum was then drawn up into a sterilized all-glass syringe and reinjected into the patient, either subcutaneously or intravenously. The writer foimd the former method satisfactory, and in no in-' [ 244 ] form:s of teeatment stance was there any untoward results. A large swelling often appeared at the time of the injection, but this disappeared within a few hours. In a few instances when the centrifuge was out of order. It was necessary to al- low the blood to stand overnight in the ice- box. The separation under these circum- stances was just as good, but whether any chemical change took place, it is impossible to say. In this series of experiments twelve cases were treated. The treatments were given in the writer's office, under the best conditions possible. Each patient was in- telligent enough to let him know in a sat- isfactory way just what results there were from the injections. At first there seemed to be a period of vast improvement, and he was in hopes that we were at last on the road to a discovery of some specific cure. I 245 ] HAY-FEVER However, the improvement lasted but a very short time, and then the patients were just as bad as ever. It is, therefore, necessary to report these experiments from a negative point of view, in the hope that it will lead others to do further re- search work along the lines of experi- mental biology. It will be noticed in the cases which are reviewed that the amount of serum injected was very much smaller than that used by skin specialists. Gottheil in his later paper speaks of one case where he with- drew as much as one hundred and fifty cubic centimeters of blood, from which he obtained seventy cubic centimeters of serum. In these cases the largest amount of serum injected was fifteen cubic centi- meters, but it seems that it should have been possible to obtain a reaction of some sort from this small amount, if the treat- [246] FORMS OF TREATMENT ment was going to do any good at all. Again, it is possible that in the treatment of the dermatoses the injection of such large amounts of serum was not necessary. As the susceptible hay-fever patient is very sensitive to an infinitestimal amount of pollen, it is not unreasonable to suppose that moderate amounts of serum ought to show some reaction, if the treatment were to be worth anything at all. It is worthy of note in the series of cases under observation that most of the pa- tients had tried many of the newer treat- ments for hay-fever, and in no instance was even a semblance of a cure effected. A few of the cases are detailed below : Case 1.— Mrs. K. First attack of hay- fever nine years ago, returning each year and lasting from about the 15th of August to the end of September. She tried no cures except **cold'' remedies until this [ 247 ] HAY-FEVER year, when she was given hypodermic injections of some serum two or three times a week during the hay-fever period, but with no benefit. After the season was over she was in a general run-down con- dition. On August 17th this patient had ten cubic centimeters of blood withdrawn; on August 19th, nineteen cubic centimeters; August 21st, twenty-five cubic centimeters ; and August 25th, thirty cubic centimeters. At the first sitting five cubic centimeters were injected subcutaneously in the arm; on the 19th, twelve cubic centimeters; on the 21st, ten cubic centimeters were in- jected into the buttocks, and on the 25th, eight cubic centimeters were again injected into the arm, the blood had stood in the ice-box for twenty-four hours. During the first week the patient seemed considerably improved, but after that time there was a [ 248 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT retrogression, and the patient was as badly off as ever. This patient has a general hypertrophy of all the mucous membrane of the nose. Case 2. — Major D., whose hay-fever dates from 1889. He found that when he was away from the United States he had no hay-fever, but if he returned to this country in the summer it would be just as bad as ever. He had been stationed in Washington, West Virginia, Portland, Oregon, and other places, and in every place had hay-fever. He had tried atropin, adrenalin chlorid and sprays of various kinds, with no relief. Twenty cubic centimeters of blood were withdrawn on August 17th, half the amount in serum being reinjected, and the procedure repeated on August 19th. The patient then left for Porto Rico. His statement of his symptoms was as follows : [249] HAY-FEVER August IStli he was worse ; there was some discomfort most of the day. After the second treatment, until night he seemed considerably better, but he woke up with a sensation of swelling in the right nostriL On the 20th he had very little discomfort all day. On the 21st he had an attack last- ing for two hours. On the 22d he sailed for Porto Eico, arriving there on the 27th of August with apparently no symptoms. In the conclusion of the report the pa- tient says: ** Comparing this attack with my best recollections of previous attacks, I should say that the attack I had on the night of August 19th was similar to a pre- vious one six years before. To the best of my judgment the attack this year pro- gressed at its usual rate, and was in no manner retarded by the two treatments administered.'' Case 3. — Mrs. F. had her first attack of [250] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT hay-fever in 1908. Adrenalin was pre- scribed with no result. A new attack came on while the patient was in England the following year. Walking in the open seemed to help. * * This year I have worked in my garden and played tennis, always either to ward off an attack or more often to cure one.\" The patient received two injections of ten cubic centimeters, from twenty-two cubic centimeters of blood withdrawn. The injections had apparently no benefi- cial effects. Besides these seven cases, five others were treated, the reports of which would be but a repetition of the above. Each was given two or more injections, ranging in amount from five cubic centimeters to fif- teen cubic centimeters of serum. In every instance the treatment was a failure. Moschowitz draws attention to the fact [251] HAY-FEVER that the various common diseases in which anaphylactic reactions are present are usually associated with an eosinophilia. ^*In asthma, hay-fever, and urticaria the blood contains an excess of eosinophiles ; the secretions of the bronchus and of the nose in asthma and hay- fever, respectively, are filled with eosinophile leucocytes. In urticaria, also eosinophilia, both local and general, are found in nearly all skin-lesions {e.g.y eczema, prurigo, Duhring's disease, pemphigus, psoriasis, etc.) . . . In con- nection with the association of many of the manifestations of the exudative diathesis in * neurotic' individuals, it is significant that Neusser and others have shown that eosinophilia is a common finding in such individuals. '^ The writer feels that he can best con- clude by repeating Koessler's last words: **I wish to express emphatically a word [252] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT of caution. It will not be long before the commercial manufacturers of vaccines see *the great advantage and benefit' of this treatment. Hay-fever vaccines will be praised and advertised and put up so at- tractively that their use will become uni- versal, and soon universally discredited. For the pollen extract is not stable, es- pecially not the higher dilutions. By pro- gressing proteolysis, after three to four weeks, it acquires marked toxic properties which lead to severe reactions. The solu- tions must, therefore, be freshly prepared every eight or ten days, if these reactions are to be avoided. Whatever the method of active immunization, whatever the dos- age and technic, the one sound basis that must underlie all these endeavors is that the material to be injected must be not only sterile, but constantly of uniform potency if used in the same dilution. No extract [253] HAY-FEVER of pollen can comply with this demand if it is older than three weeks/' 7. Dr. E. T. Manning's Views ^ Dunbar elected to immunize passively, and his well-known poUantin is the out- come of his efforts. He injected horses with gradually increased doses of ragweed pollen, with the expectation that a specific antibody would eventually be formed in the serum in sufficient amount for prac- tical use. He hoped that by injecting this antiserum into a sensitized human being, he would be able to neutralize the effect of the protein poison. Thus he assumed that the pollen protein acted as a true toxin. He was rewarded with a moderate degree of success. Koessler, of Chicago, first began his * Journal of the American Medical Association, Feb- ruary 20, 1915, p. 655. I 254 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT work in active immunization in 1910. He used ragweed pollen and treated only cases of the autumnal catarrh variety. He was the first to report definite methods of preparing pollen solutions, and to him must be given the credit of placing this form of the treatment on a scientific basis. He gave injections both in a prophylactic way, before the appearance of the hay- fever symptoms, and after the disease had been established. His results correspond closely with those of the English investi- gators. He reports ten per cent, absolute cures, seventy per cent, markedly im- proved subjectively and objectively, twelve per cent, subjectively improved, and eight per cent, not affected. I treated twenty-one cases; fourteen were objectively and subjectively relieved ; in the other seven the treatment was in- complete for one reason or another. Two [255] HAT-FEVEE of these seven showed no reaction, either good or bad. Fonr more were certain that their attacks were lighter. One patient was undoubtedly made worse, a result which I think was due entirely to a mis- take of judgment on my part in giving her a large dose without gradually working up to it. Three of the cases had a bad asthma complicating. Two of these were com- pletely under control and the other was much relieved. It is difficult to determine exactly what should be designated as a cure. Many years ago a great medical philosopher, who was no pessimist in regard to treat- ment, gave as an aphorism, ** Nothing ever gets completely well.\" It is true that there are few disease processes which do not leave their impress on the organism in some chemical, anatomic or functional alteration. Our desire to apply the word [256 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT **cure\" to a treatment probably arises from the effort to keep pace with the medi- cal charlatans who are only too anxious to guarantee so-called cures. So in hay-fever — a disease which is extremely susceptible to all the changes in nervous control of the individual, with some symptoms exceed- ingly vague and influenced to a large ex- tent by the imagination — it is very difficult to determine just what part this or that remedy plays in modifying the disease process, and in thus assisting in a cure. Statistics concerning the effect of a therapeutic measure are decidedly unre- liable as a guide. But few persons, and these only in rare instances, act on statis- tics alone. They act rather on experience, either their own or of others. When they do this they are on surer ground than when they rely on bare figures alone. [257] HAY-FEVER 8. The Use of PHYLACOGEisr By I. H. Alexandee, M.D.* The value of Phylacogen in the treat- ment of diseases seems to depend upon whether we are to take the reports of the experiences of many physicians scattered throughout the civilized world, who have intelligently used this form of treatment and have obtained results which they be- lieved are better than those obtained by other methods, or whether we are to de- pend upon the advice given by the many and voluminous articles appearing in the medical journals, principally in the Jour- nal of the American Medical Association^ which condemns the use of Phylacogen from every point of view. There is no rea- son to believe that the articles appearing in the Journal of the American Medical * Pittsburgh Medical Journal, July, 1914. [258] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT Association are not sincere and represent correctly the views of the writers of these articles, as well as those of the editor. It is not the intention of the writer to defend or recommend the use of Phylaco- gen in the treatment of hay-fever, asthma or any other infection, bnt as it was my privilege to Be the first physician, as far as I have been able to learn, to use this method of treatment for the relief and cure of these most annoying and painful conditions, I desire to report my results and give, as near as possible, my methods of administration. I do not wish to give the impression that the administration of the Mixed Infection Phylacogen consti- tutes the entire treatment of hay-fever and asthma, altho many cases will recover without additional treatment. I consider it only as a very great aid in the medica- tion and should be used in conjunction [ 259 I HAY-FEVER with other remedies, given for the relief of symptoms, etc. Pottenger says of the use of Tuberculin in tuberculosis, there is more to the Tuberculin treatment than having a patient suffering from tubercu- losis and a syringe loaded with Tuberculin to inject into him. My experience with Mixed Infection Phylacogen in the treatment of bronchial asthma has been somewhat more extensive than my hay-fever experience. Thirty-six cases have been treated to date. Only one case insisted that he had not been bene- fited. This case had found relief from his suffering by the hypodermic use of Adren- alin, which he administered himself, often using as high as twenty injections a day. This case improved on Mixed Infection Phylacogen at first, and for two weeks was symptomatically well. Physical examina- tion of the chest at that time failed to de- [260] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT tect the physical signs of bronchial asth- ma, but within a week of the time of the last examination he was suffering just as severely as before, and was using his hypodermic syringe as frequently as ever. Physical examination did not present suf- ficient evidence to account for his apparent severe dyspnoea. This case, I believe, had formed the habit of using Adrenalin. Of the other thirty-five cases, thirty recov- ered and have remained well from one to three years. Two cases have recurred twice and were finally cured by administer- ing Salvarsan. 9. The Calcium Salt Treatment By Harold Wilsok, M.D.* The reports of Emmerich and Loew^ on the very favorable results secured by them * Gouty and rheumatic cases are undoubtedly much benefited by the use of calcium salts as Dr. Wilson points out in this article. 'Emmerich and Loew: Erfolgreiche Behandlung [261] HAY-FEVER from the prolonged administration of cal- cium chlorid in the treatment of hay-fever induced me to make some trial of this drug during the season of 1915. A brief report of the results will be given in this com- munication. Whether the ingestion of calcium salts has a direct inhibitory action on the pro- teolytic reactions which appear to be a necessary part of the hay-fever complex, or so modify this reaction as to render the split proteins less toxic, or whether they act by lessening the patient's nerve irri- tability, seems at this time to be quite un- determined. The employment of calcium salts in hay-fever would be on a much bet- ter basis if we were able to rationalize it. At present, it seems to me that this method des Heufiebers durch lange Zeit fortgesetzte Chlorkal- ziumzufiihr, Miinchen. med. Wchnschr., 1913, Ix, 2676; Weitere Metteilungen iiber Erfolgreiche Behandlung des Heufiebers, ibid., 1914, Ixii, 41. [262] FORMS OF TREATMENT of treatment can hardly claim to be more than ** reasonable empiricism.\" In view of the fact, however, that much other use- ful therapy rests on a no more secure foun- dation than this, there is no reason why we should not make a sufficient trial of this method, which has, certainly, many prac- tical advantages. Twenty-six patients were treated by me during the past season. Of these, twenty- two were treated exclusively with calcium chlorid, and four patients, who had been under treatment by means of injections of pollen solution, were given the drug when their hay-fever symptoms began to de- velop more or less severely. One patient had hay-fever of the vernal type only; three patients had both vernal and autumnal attacks, and twenty-two pa- tients had only autumnal attacks. Twenty- two patients gave a positive ophthalmic [263 ] HAY-FEVER or cutaneous reaction to ragweed pollen; four gave a negative reaction to ragweed. Many cutaneous tests were made with sub- stances other than pollens, the result of which will be made the subject of another report. Treatment was begun in June, with seven patients; in July with four; in Au- gust with fifteen, and in September with two. In no case did any patient take the drug for more than eight or ten weeks be- fore the time of the expected attack, and in most cases the period was much more brief. Emmerich and Loew advise the use of the drug over a very long period, as much as a year, if possible. Altho it has been shown that the maximum calcium retention in the system occurs only after its prolonged ingestion, it remains to be proved that its optimum therapeutic effect in hay-fever requires its daily use for a year before the expected attack. In some [264 1 FORMS OF TREATMENT of the most favorable cases here reported, the relief secured came almost at once, or after taking, at most, only a few doses. For most patients the calcium chlorid was prescribed thus: Calcium chlorid crystals 100 gm. Distilled water to make 600 c.c. M. SiG. — ^Take one teaspoonful in sufl&cient water during or after each meal. This gives the patient about 3 gm. of cal- cium chlorid daily. The crystalline salt is used in preference to the anhydrous, as making a cleaner and clearer solution. Wlien the anhydrous salt is prescribed, al- lowance should be made for the water of crystallization, of which in the crystalline salt there are six molecules (CaCl2+6 H,0): Calcium chlorid, anhydrous 60 gm. Distilled water to make 500 c.c. M. SiG. — Take one teaspoonful in sufficient water with or after each meal. £265 ] HAY-FEVER There was no serious difficulty in taking the drug as thus prescribed. One patient experienced gastric distress until the dose was reduced ; another complained of weak- ness and loss of appetite, and had to use it intermittently in a lessened dose; an- other thought it caused a diminution in the urinary output, while another thought the flow of urine was increased. It has not been observed that the daily ingestion of 3 gm. of calcium chlorid has been followed by any marked bodily disturbance. In fact, much larger doses than this can apparently be taken with entire safety. Cow's milk contains 0.198 per cent, cal- cium monoxid. A pint of milk contains about 0.71 gm. calcium. Three gm. of cal- cium chlorid crystals contain about 0.55 gm. calcium, so that more lime is taken by the daily use of a pint of milk than in the dosage prescribed above. [266 ] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT The table on page 268 gives the results of the treatment with calcium chlorid in the twenty-six cases under observation. A few of the most favorable reports are given in greater detail: Case 23.— Miss M. T., aged 21, had had hay-fever since childhood, beginning in May and lasting until frost. She was sen- sitive to flowers of all kinds, to dust and to wind. She could not sweep floors without marked discomfort. She had no asthma. Eye and nasal symptoms were most marked. She had been using epinephrin solutions until they now aggravated the trouble. July 2d there were lacrimation, coryza and sneezing of moderate severity more or less continuously. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm., three times a day, was prescribed. July 9th, eyes were ''wonderfully better\"; there [267] HAY-FEVER RESULTS OF TREATMENT WITH CALCIUM CHLORID IN TWENTY-SIX CASES.* Hay- Reac- Duration Case No. tion «^ Rag- of Treat- Result Remark. fever ment weed 12 A + 2-3 weeks + Under treatment with injections of pollen BolutionB for ten weekg previously. 13 A + 2-3 weeks + Previous treatment as in Case 12. 14 A + 2-3 weeks Previous treatment as in Case 12. 19 A + 2-3 weeks -- Previous treatment with injections of pollen solutions seven weeks. 22 A + 10 weeks 23 A-V 13 weeks + + + Immediate improvement and abso- lute freedom from all symptoms after July 28. 24 A + 11 weeks + + + Multiple sensitization. 26 A 13 weeks + No symptoms until September 1. 26 A + 16 weeks + + + No symptoms until September 25. Then only trifling itching in throat and slight sneezing. No other symptoms. September 25, patient writes, *'I 27 A + 12 weeks — was worse than usual.\" 29 A -1- 8 weeks + + + Only slight symptoms. 80 A 4- 8 weeks + 81 A + 9 weeks + Multiple sensitization (faint). 82 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 83 V 9 weeks + + Immediate relief and practical free- dom from all symptoms about half the time. 34 A-V + 5 weeks + Reports moderate relief from symp- toms during season. 35 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 86 A + No report. 37 A + 5 weeks + + Very little hay-fever, even In country. 38 A + 4 weeks + Multiple sensitization. 39 A 4- 4 weeks + 40 A + 4 weeks + + Multiple sensitization. 41 A + 4 weeks + + Did not take drug re^arly. 42 A — 5 weeks + + + Peach reaction positive; stopped eating peaches. 43 A + 2 weeks + Left city early in September. 44 A-V 13 weeks + + + Relief immediate and complete; slight recurrences; took drug very irregularly. ♦Explanation of signs: A indicates autimmal; V, vernal; — , symptoms worse than usual; 0, symptoms about the same as usual; -f, symptoms less marked than lisual; ++» symptoms much less marked than usual; very definite improvement; -I-4-+. absolute freedom from symptoms, or only trifling and insignificant ones during season. [ 268 I FORMS OF TREATMENT were somewhat less sneezing and coryza; the patient was less sensitive to dnst and wind. July 20th, she was much less uncomfortable than usual. On the whole, there was a marked amelioration of symptoms. July 28th, there was very great relief. The patient was practically free from all symptoms. *^I never was so helped by anything before.'' August 13th, the patient reported that she had had no hay-fever symptoms whatever since last visit. Relief was absolute. Septem- ber 6th, absolute freedom from symptoms continued. This relief continued through- out the season. Case 26. — ^Miss M. R., aged 25, had had autumnal hay-fever seven or eight years; no asthma. Maternal aunt had had hay- fever since childhood. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were posi- tive. June 11th, calcium chlorid was pre- [269] HAY-FEVER scribed, 1 gm. three times a day, but owing to some gastric distress which it seemed to cause, the dose was much reduced for sev- eral weeks. The full dose, however, was taken later and continued. No hay-fever symptoms were experienced until Septem- ber 5th, when there was slight sneezing, and itching in the throat. During the rest of the season symptoms were practically absent. Case 29.— Dr. W. A. K., aged 40, had ha J autumnal hay-fever for fifteen years, and slight asthma recently. July 7th, cal- cium chlorid was prescribed, 1 gm. three times a day. Patient reported in October that he had experienced only trifling symp- toms at any time during the season. Case 33.— Miss F. P., aged 43, had had vernal hay-fever, usually beginning about June 1st and lasting until the end of July. June 12th, she was having about the usual [270] FOEMS OF TREATMENT amount of trouble. The ophthalmic reac- tion to ragweed was negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm. three times a day, was pre- scribed, with much relief, almost at once. She reported, August 25th: ^*I have been practically free from symptoms about half the time. The rest of the time partly free and partly in trouble. About July 28tli took a long railway journey, weather dry and dusty, with no hay-fever symptoms at all.'^ Case 42.— F. W., aged 28, had had hay- fever, beginning in August, for several years. Father had hay-fever; no asthma. Ophthalmic and cutaneous reactions to ragweed were negative. Cutaneous and nasal reaction to peaches was positive. Calcium chlorid, 2 gm. three times a day, was prescribed. August 25th, the patient was very comfortable, with scarcely any symptoms. Cutaneous reaction to peaches [271] HAY-FEVER was negative. The patient had stopped eating peaches. During the rest of the season there were very few hay-fever symptoms. Case 44. — Miss C. S., aged 25, had had hay-fever for nine years, beginning in early spring and lasting until the second week in October. She had asthma. Symp- toms were marked. June 30th, the hay- fever symptoms were distressing. Oph- thalmic and cutaneous reaction to ragweed was negative. Calcium chlorid, 1 gm. three times a day, was prescribed. Patient re- ported September 25th. The hay-fever symptoms, which were severe, disap- peared after the second dose of the medicine, whereupon she promptly stopt taking it regularly. Afterward she took a long auto journey without symptoms. During the summer she had occasional slight symptoms, which disappeared ira- [272] FOEMS OF TEEATMENT mediately when she took the medicine. She had been practically free from all hay- fever symptoms ever since beginning to take the drug. She thinks the results are ** wonderful.'' She would probably have taken the drug more regularly if it had not seemed to increase the secretion of urine. 1. Some hay-fever patients taking not less than 3 gm. of calcium chlorid daily, even for a short time, are practically re- lieved from all hay-fever symptoms. 2. Calcium chlorid may be taken in doses of 3 gm. daily for an indefinite time without any apparent injury. 3. It is not indispensable in all cases for a hay-fever patient to take calcium chlorid over a long period of time in order to se- cure relief. 4. Calcium salts may be given, even when the nature of the patient 's sensitiza- tion is not known. [ 273 1 HAY-FEVEE 5. The clinical results from the admin- istration of calcium chlorid in cases of hay-fever are such as to warrant its further trial. 10. The Pollen Therapy Treatment By J. L. GooDAu;.* The object of the following paper is to report the results of observations based upon one hundred and twenty-two cases of hay-fever examined during the past twelve months, with reference to determining, if possible, the value of pollen therapy treat- ment, and also to ascertain what biologic relations, if any, exist between the pollen of different plants. In the first place, a word should be said in regard to the method of obtaining and preserving the pollen extracts. For many plants, which furnish an abundance of * Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, June, 1915. [274] FOEMS OF TREATMENT easily detached pollen, it is sufficient to gather the partially opened flowers, bring them into a room without currents of air, and in the course of a few days the pollen may be shaken upon smooth paper. This applies particularly to those plants the cross fertilization of which is effected through the agency of air currents, such as many forest trees and grasses, and certain Compositse, particularly ragweed. In the entomophylous plants, where the cross fer- tilization is largely effected by the agency of insects, the freshly opened anthers may be dipt and gathered. The pollen is then either placed in the solution for ex- traction, or it may be preserved dry for an indefinite period. I have taken the pollen from specimens in my herbarium, gathered twentj-five to thirty years ago, of grasses and of ragweed, which on the addition of water excites as marked a skin f275] HAY-FEVER reaction as would be the case with freshly prepared extract. The extract is obtained from the pollen by soaking in water for a few hours. I have not found it necessary to subject the material to trituration, as advised by some writers; and this is also theoretically unnecessary, since the pollen grains in water promptly undergo a swelling, with solution of their albuminous contents. Several observers have complained of the difficulty of preserving the extract, and say that it is liable to deterioration on standing. After a number of tests, an alcohol dilution of thirteen to fifteen per cent, seems to meet the requirements; and material prepared in this way a year ago has apparently lost but little of its efficiency. It is interesting to observe, in this connection, that we have an ex- ample of natural plant juice, namely, £ 27e a FOEMS OF TEEATMENT wine, in which preservation of its qual- ities is thus secured. The heavier nat- ural wines contain a considerable amount of albuminous matter, together with ap- proximately fourteen per cent, alcohol. More than this percentage checks the fur- ther development of the yeast plant, and this amount, while preventing decompo- sition, does not seem sufficient to cause a precipitation of the proteids of the wine. It is desirable to keep the solution in am- ber bottles. A word of caution should be said in re- gard to the gathering of flower heads for the preparation of pollen extract in the case of those plants which may contain a poisonous substance, as occurs in cer- tain Compositse, especially the wormwood group. I have observed a few cases where disturbing symptoms of nausea and malaise followed the injection of such [ 277] HAY-FEVER materials to a greater extent than would be accounted for by the actual amount of pollen present. In the case, however, of such plants as the Rosacese and grasses, these precautions are unnecessary, and we may, in the case of the latter, find it more convenient to strip off the flower heads or anthers by hand. When the pollen has been gathered and a suitable extract prepared, the latter con- stitutes then the stock solution from which varying dilutions are prepared. It is theo- retically desirable to prepare a stock solu- tion with a definite percentage of pollen extract; but practically this is unneces- sary, since individuals differ very widely in their degrees of sensitization, and each case must be examined by different dilu- tions to determine the correct strength which it is safe to use for him. The intensity of the skin reaction does [278] FORMS OF TREATMENT not always seem to be proportionate to the clinical symptoms of hay-fever. I have seen numerous severe cases where the skin reaction was much less than in other individuals, who apparently suffered from a milder form of the disease. In the case of children, the skin disturbances are rela- tively less prondunced than in the case of adults, and I have observed several under ten years of age, with apparently well de- fined hay-fever, who showed no reaction to the prevailing pollens borne in the air at the special season. In describing the results which have fol- lowed the injection of pollen extracts, it has seemed to me desirable to separate those cases which have received treatment during the hay-fever season from those which have been treated during the winter or out of season. I have done this for the reason that it is difficult to draw accurate [ 279 ] HAY-FEVER deductions from the statements of the pa- tients themselves. \"We have, in the first place,, to remember that seasons vary in the severity of hay-fever symptoms, de- pendent upon the amount of rain, heat and cold. Furthermore, the individual's pre- disposition seems to vary, perhaps as the result of his physical state and habits at the season. Finally, the element of sug- gestion may conceivably play a part. While I shall, therefore, report the sum- mer cases with reference to the degree of relief obtained, I do not regard these fig- ures as at all conclusive. On the other hand, observations carried out during the winter with reference to changes in the intensity of the skin reaction, may be considered a fairly reliable guide, if it be admitted that the strength of the solutions themselves has not undergone deteriora- tion. This latter point is difficult to deter- [280] FOEMS OF TREATMENT mine with absolute certainty. Neverthe- less, my alcoholic solutions seem now, after the lapse of months, to effect in new cases nearly, if not quite, the same degree of skin reaction which they occasioned when in a fresh state. At the date of writing, one hundred and twenty-two cases have been observed, of which seventy-four have had more or less treatment, and forty-eight have been seen but once, or are now beginning treatment. Of the cases which may have been consid- ered to have had a sufficient amount of treatment to enable us to draw more or less definite conclusions, thirty-two were treated after the onset of the hay-fever symptoms, and forty-seven were treated during the winter or early spring. Of these cases which were treated at the beginning or innnediately before the hay- fever season, twenty-six exprest them- [281] HAY-FEVER selves as having been more or less re- lieved, eight conld not see material im- provement. In estimating the results actually achieved by treatment during the season, I believe that an accurate judg- ment would place the extent of the relief in a number of instances distinctly below that which the patients exprest. In other words, I believe the element of sug- gestion plays here a considerable part. Furthermore, a certain number of these who believed themselves improved showed but slight diminution in the extent of the skin reaction. It has seemed to me that such cases probably represent too high a degree of sensitization to obtain material relief during the hay-fever season, and that a longer period of treatment is re- quired. On the other hand, several of these individuals who reported some months later showed a marked diminution [282 ] FOEMS OF TREATMENT of tlieir skin reaction, and it was possible tlien to undertake their treatment with the result of bringing about still further a diminution in the intensity of the skin dis- turbances. About one-fourth, however, of those treated during the season expe- rienced after a certain number of injec- tions, ranging from four to twelve in number, such striking diminution in their subjective sensations and in the skin reac- tions, that it seemed difficult to ascribe the gain to anything else than the treatment, the improvement noted having occurred from one to three weeks before the disap- pearance of their type of hay-fever in this vicinity. Serobiologic methods have shown the phylogenetic relationship of the different plant orders and families. The applica- tion of these discoveries to the treatment of hay-fever by injection of plant proteids [283 1 HAY-FEVER promises to assist in the selection of the specific material required for a given case. Definite reactions are elicited in hay- fever by the pollen of the exciting plants when brought into contact with an abra^ sion of the skin. The intensity of these sKn manifestations may be sensibly di- minished by the repeated parenteral ad- ministration of the proteids in question. Coincident with the diminution of the skin reactions there seems to occur an in- creased tolerance of the exposed mucous membranes to the pollens of the plants em- ployed. Pollen therapy in hay-fever may be regarded at the present time as a prom- ising method of treatment, but its value and the permanence of its results remain still to be definitely established. £284] FORMS OF TREATMENT 11. Surgical Treatment Surgical treatment of hay-fever is fre- quently necessary when the patient comes to the physician in the midst of the dis- ease and palliative measures are not pos- sible. In this case I cauterize the small sensitive areas with a flat electrode at a white heat, and without the use of cocain, as the use of a local anesthetic would make it impossible to find the sensitive spot. It is well to find the sensitive areas with the cold electrode, then turn on the current and bring to a white heat. In this way you can cauterize four or five sensitive areas at one time. Cauterization should not be repeated more frequently than every six or seven days. Nasal catarrh, nasal polypi, deviation of the septum, as well as sinusitis, should be treated long before the paroxysms. Many [285] HAY-FEVER authorities, including Ballinger, believe sinusitis is hay-fever, and, if this is true, selected cases respond to autogenous vac- cine. Ballinger quotes Dr. P. M. Farring- ton's successful treatment by this method. He injects 50,000,000 bacteria at first treat- ment, gradually increasing the dose to 100,000,000 at third treatment. The injec- tions should be made every third or fourth day. 12. A Summary of Treatment To one who has read the outlines of treatment given in this book it will ap- pear that success in the treatment of hay- fever can be reached through several avenues, — through sera, surgical work, local application and internal medicines. Preparedness is the watchword of our country, and prevention is the keynote in the management of hay-fever. I there- [ 286 ] FORMS OF TREATMENT fore believe that hay-fever can be pre- vented by removing the stigma of neu- rotic inheritance and anatomical defects in youth and by observing the rules of the Hay-Fever Prevention Association, as outlined by Dr. Scheppegrell and quoted in this book. The careful study of pollen by Dunbar has advanced the possibility of cure by this means and will eventually bring about a more scientific adjustment of the remedy. At the present time, how- ever, treatment has not been satisfactory. A more extended study may give better results. Dunbar has caused many en- thusiastic workers to offer the results of their labors, and I have quoted Dr. H. Hays' experience with auto-serum, which should be more fully tested, and with him, the honest efforts of Dr. Manning, Dr. Alexander, and the earnest disciple of Dunbar, Dr. J. E. Goodale, whose con- t 287 ] HAY-FEVER elusions as follows are the last words on pollen therapy. '^Serobiological methods have shown the phylogenetic relationship of the dif- ferent plant-orders and -families. The ap- plication of these discoveries to the treat- ment of hay-fever by injection of plant proteids promises to assist in the selec- tion of the specific material required for a given case. Definite reactions are elicited in hay-fever by the pollen of the exciting plant when brought into contact with an abrasion of the skin. The in- tensity of these manifestations may be sensibly diminished by the repeated pa- renteral administration of the proteids in question. Coincident with the diminution in the skin reactions, there seems to occur an increased tolerance of the exposed mucous membrane to the pollens of the plants employed. Pollen therapy in hayr [288 1 FOEMS OF TREATMENT fever may be regarded at the present time as a promising method of treatment, but its value and the permanence of its results remain still to be definitely es- tablished.'^ To secure reasonable success it is im- portant that hay-fever patients should be- gin their treatment at least three or four weeks before the onset of the attack by the use of sedative solutions; a strict cleansing treatment being applied daily, if possible, to the nasal membrane to in- hibit the reflex. This local treatment should continue for several weeks. Many patients are relieved with the use of a weak solution of suprarenal, 1 : 10,000 in normal salt. ' Again, the antiseptic al- kaline solution, with an equal quantity of water, usually is sufficient; many are made better by the use of a weak Dobell's solution, and this is my choice of a solu- [289] HAY-FEVER tion. The frequency of a reaction causing congestion has rendered an otherwise valuable remedy undesirable. I therefore have better results with mild alkaline solutions of DobelPs, or the liquor anti- septicus alkalinicus. Again, many cases do well on an ointment of suprarenal in white vaseline. A small quantity placed in the nose will last longer and be more agreeable than the solution. In asthmatic patients the adrenalin chlorid in oil, used as a spray, is quite effective in selected cases. The danger in the use of cocain is too apparent to place it in the hands of the patient. Its use in ofSce work is even questionable. Many internal remedies have been used, and, altho failure is frequent, I have found quinin, atropia, strychnin, anti- pyrin, iodids and thyroid among those most frequently prescribed. Quinin is [290 3 FOEMS OF TEEATMENT valuable in massive doses, both locally (snuffed up the nostril in powder form) and internally. The unpleasantness of the toxic effect is as great as the hay- fever itself, rendering it an undesirable remedy. The same can be said of anti- pyrin used internally. It must be given in large doses — seven to eight grains 3 or 4 times daily for an adult. Its action is antispasmodic, and similar in effect to that in whooping cough. It is possible, and I believe this is true in many cases, it may act as an antitoxin to the irritant from the pollen, and in this way be of bene- fit when there are paroxysmal asthmatic symptoms. The iodids act well in small doses when the secretion is slight, but most patients are made worse by their use. Thyroid, in one grain doses, t. i. d., wiU increase the secretion, dilate the internal vessels [291] HAY-FEVER and thus relieve the nasal congestion. The use of thyroid is usually effective in patients over 50 and when there is gout or rheumatism. The drugs mentioned above are at best only palliative and in no sense curative. From the report of Emmerich and Leow we can hope to cure the chronic tendency of hay-fever {Jour, A. M. A,, Jan. 17, 1915). They report five cases that were broken up and the patients permanently freed from its grip by continued treat- ment with calcium chlorid. This paper furnished us with the only positive in- ternal remedy and is worthy of more extended trial. I 292 J BIBLIOGEAPHY I 293 1 BIBLIOGEAPHY 1565. Botallufl (L,), Comment, duo alter de Medici, alter de ^gi'oti-Unnere, Lugduni, 1565^ p. 23. 1673. Binningerus (J. N.), Obs. et Curat. Med. Cent, quin- quse, Cent, secundo, Obs. Ixxxvi, 1673. 1698. Floyer (John), London, 1698, On Asthma. 1707. 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[335 1 INDEX f 837] INDEX Adenoids, 147, 168 Adirondacks, immunity in, 234 Adrenalin, use of, 231, 260, 290 Aeroscope, 215 Africa, southwest, cases in, 216 Age, influence of, 51, 121 Albrecht, Th., 229, 238 Albumin of pollen specific cause of hay fever, 211 Alexander, I. H., 258 Allen, Harrison, 34, 132 American Hay - Fever - Pre- V e n t i n Association, 152, 161. Campaign of Education, 155 Anaphylactic agent, 234 Anaphylaxis, 229, 235 Anemia, treatment of, 178 Anesthesin, use of, 231 Anglo - Saxon races, fre- quency of cases in the, 111,227 Antitoxin, 192 Areas, sensitive nasal, 34, 35, 68, 71 Arnold, 41 Ascaris megalocephala as a cause, 98 Ashhurst, Samuel, 130 Asthma as a late symptom, 62 diagnosis from, 94 treatment of, 121 as sequel, 185 complicating, 185 Atlantic, cases on the, 114 Australia, cases in, 113 Autogenous vaccine, 150 Autoserum, experiments with, 238 Autoserum, method em- ployed in application, 248 Auto-suggestion, 50 B Bacteriologic study of nasal secretions, 103 Ballinger, 149, 286 Bastian, 98 Beard, G. M., 13, 32, 47, 48, 55, 63, 69, 75, 80, 82, 93, 111, 115, 118, 119, 120, 124, 125 Beecher, Henry Ward, cases in the family of, 118 Benzoic acid, as a cause, 88, 95 Beschorner, 22 Bibliography, 293 Binz, C, 28 Bishop, S. S., 36, 134, 138 [ 339 ] INDEX Blackley, Chas. H., 29, 31, 39, 90, 95, 102, 103, 122, 207 Blackley, experiments of, 90, 102 Blood, alkalinity of, 135 Blossoming dates, muta- bility of, 109 Blue, Eupert, 160 Bostock, J., 19, 24, 88 Bosworth, 49, 50, 52, 63, 72, 76, 82, 119, 127, 129, 132, 134 Botallus, 22 Bronchial complications, treatment, 189 Bronchitis complicating, 189 Broussais, 22 BuUette, W. W., 83, 117 Calcium chlorid, 265 Calcium salt treatment, 261 conclusions as to, 273 Camphor, use of, 170 Canada, cases in, 115 Capp, W. M., 70, 138 Cardiac involvement, 65 Caterpillars as a cause, 99 Causes, xi, 38 accepted, 87 dust, 88, 93 dust from books, 94 enteric fever, 44 exciting, 38, 87 neurosis, 44 pollen, 87, 102 predisposing, 110 rye, 89, 105 Causes, ragweed, 105 three, xi toxin, 40 Causative factors, 31, 141 Cavernous tissue, nasal, 73, 128 Chaveau, 111 Children, frequent occur- rence in, X Children, hay-fever in, 77 Chills, analogy to recur- rence of, 50 Chocolate as a cause, 98 Clark, Sir 'Andrew, 36 Cleansing of the nares, xii, 23, 169 Cocain, 105, 176 Coffee as a cause, 97 Complications, 84 Conclusions on use of cal- cium salt, 273 Conklin, 135 Cornaz, 27 Coryza, diagnosis from, 77 Cottonwood fever, 117 Cough as a symptom, 60 Cough, persistent, between paroxysms, 63 Cullen, 97 Cutaneous eruptions as complications, 64 D Daly, W. H., 33, 130 Darwin, 108 Definition, 19 Denmark, cases in, 113 Derangement, internal, as cause, 240 Diagnosis, 65, 84 I 340 I INDEX Diatheses, theory, 45, 81 Diet, 178, 183 Discharges, nasal, 59 Dobell's solution, use of, 169, 289 Drenger, 99 Dunbar, W. P., 13, 191, 193 Duration, 51, 52 Dust as a cause, 46, 88, 93 Dysphagia as a symptom, 80 E Ebstein, 135 Elliotson, 23, 25 Emanations from dry hay as a cause, 24, 96 Emmerich, 261, 264, 292 England, distribution of cases in, 94 Environment, 142 Erectile tissues, nasal, 69, 72 Eucain, 113 Exciting causes, 39, 40 Exercise, 178 Experiments of Blackley on the pollen theory, 102 Eye-symptoms, 59, 213 Factors, causative, xi Factors, essential, xii Farrington, P. M., 150, 286 Fatigue as a cause, 24 Feathers as a cause, 97 Fever during an attack, 56 Fire Island, immunity in, 234 First recognition, 22 Floyer, 23 Fordyce, John A., 239 Fox, Howard, 239, 243 France, cases in, 113 French, rarity of cases among the. 111, 113 Fruit as a cause, 96 Fungoid growth as a cause, 41 G Gaslight, influence of, 92. 96 Gastro-intestinal causes, 141, 143 Genito-urinary organs, in- volvement of, 61 Germans, rarity of cases among the, 111 Germany, cases in, 113 Gibbons, 82 Goldenrod, in TJ. S., 219 Goodale, J. L., 274 Gottheil, Wm. S., 239, 246 Grasses, varieties of, causa- tive, 96, 105, 106 Grayson, C. P., 37, 139, 141 Gream, G. Y., 25 Green Mountains, immu- nity in, 234 H Hack, W., 34, 62, 128, 131 Haig, 135 * ' Hair-caterpillar asthma, ' ' 99 Handkerchiefs, effluvia from, as a cause, 97 Hare, odor of, as a cause, 98 [341] INDEX Hay-fever-producing weeds, eradication of, 159 Hays, Harold, 238 Heart, involvement of, 65 Heat as a cause, 88, 89, 90, 96, 125 Heligoland, immunity in, 234 Helmholtz, 28, 41, 96 Heredity, influence of, 21, 118, 228 Herzog, 131 History, 19 Holmes, E. W., 37, 44, 57, 75, 94, 109, 110, 122, 123, 129, 133, 139 Horses, odor of, as a cause, 98, 99 Hiinerswolff, 100 Hydrogen dioxid in treat- ment, 172 Hydrotherapeutic treat- ment, 191 Hygiene, 147 Hygiene, personal, 168 Hygienic treatment, 147 Hypersensitiveness, 235 Idiosyncrasy, influence of, 21, 128 Imagination, influence of, 49, 101 India, cases in, 113 Indian, case in an. 111 Indigestion as a cause, 143 Ingals, 91, 176 Insomnia as a symptom, 61, 182 Insurance, effect on, 80 Intermittent fever, analogy to, 50 Introduction, ix Ipecac as a cause, 23, 35, 88, 97 Italy, cases in, 113 Itzigson, 97 Ivy-poisoning, analogy to, 107 Jacobi, 111 Kammann, O., 211, 214 Kinnear, 127 Koessler's last words, 252, 254 Labosse, 27 Laforgue, 25 Legislation for prevention, 155 Leucocytes, eosinophile, 252 Liefmann, 212, 215 Life insurance, effect on, 80 mode of, influence of, 122 Light as a cause, 32 Ligustrum vulgare in China, 216 Linseed meal as a cause, 96 Local disease theory, 37, 130 treatment, 167 Locust-tree blossoms as a cause, 97 Loew, 261, 264, 292 [342] INDEX Longevity, effect on, 81 Lycopodium as a cause, 88, 97 M MacCulloch, 25 Macdonald, 36, 55, 83, 99, 113 Mackenzie, J. N., 34, 50, 56, 64, 68, 101, 112, 127, 131, 133 Mackenzie, Morell, 35, 52, 56, 65, 92, 100, 101, 119, 120, 122, 128 Males, prevalence in, 40, 120 Mango-tree as a cause, 107 Manning, E. T., 254 Marsh, E. J., 33, 105, 107 Martin, Sidney, 187, 190 Mattress as a cause, 100 May apple as a cause, 97 Mays, Thomas J., 135 Menthol, use of, 170 Micro - organisms in the nasal discharges, 40, 41 Moore, George, 29 Morphin, use of, 231 Morrell, cases in family, 118 Moschowitz, 252 Mucous membrane, cleans- ing of, xiv, 168 Mucous membrane, nasal, 74, 168 Mulberry blossoms as a cause, 97 Muller, J., 143 Murchison, 135 Murrell, William, 99 Mustard as a cause, 96 Mutability of blossoming dates, 109 N Name, origin of, 20, 23, 39 Nasal abnormalities as causes, 38, 132 symptoms, 58 Nasopharynx, cleansing of, 170 Nasopharynx, sterilization of, 169 Needles, MacRae, 243 Negro, case in a, 112 Nervous supply to the nares, 68 Nervous syslem, etiologie factor, 32 Nettle-rash as a complica' tion, 62 Neurasthenic cases, 179 treatment of, 179 Neurotic element, xiii, 36, 43, 118, 139 Neurotic temperament, x, 118 theory, 36, 44 Neusser, 252 New Orleans, work done there, 165 New Zealand, cases in, 113 Norway, cases in, 113 Nose, coldness of, 30, 55 Nutrition, defective, a cause, 140 [348] INDEX Oak as a cause, 98 Obstruction of the nares as a cause, 132 Occupation, influence of, 124, 228 Occurrence, time of, 27, 47, 48, 52 Ocean, cases on the, 107, 108 Odors of fruits and flowers as causes, 96 Ohls, 176 Onset, period of, 48 Onset, symptoms of, 54, 56, 58 Origin, 39 Origin, nervous, first ad- vanced, 28 Origin of the name, 20, 23 Ozone as a cause, 32, 88, 95 Parry, C. L., 23 Pathology, 65, 84 Patton, 208 Peaches, odor of, as a cause, 19, 100 Periodicity, 19, 46, 53, 56 Personal susceptibility, 35 Phoebus, P., 26, 32, 49, 88, 91, 95, 101, 120, 122 Phvlacogen, mixed infec- ' tion, 260 Phylacogen, use of, 258 Pirrie, W., 28, 32, 51, 89, 91, 113 Pneumonia as a complica- tion, 64 Podophyllum as a cause, 97 Pollantin, 192 Pollantin, E., 235 Pollen albumin, injection of, producing disease, 223 albumin, reaction to, 227 albumin, specific cause of hay-fever, 211 as causative factor, 31 dried, active on libera- tion, 202 extracts, method of pre- serving, 274 first reference to, 31 kinds of, 105 method of obtaining, 103 theory, 31, 87 therapy, 274 therapy, conclusions, 288 toxin, true, 254 toxins, 193 Polypi, Bosworth 's views relative to, 138 Potassium iodid, 190 Prater, Augustus, 25 Predisposing causes, 20, 21, 110 Predisposition, individual, 280 Predisposition, individual, as factor, 220 Preface, v Premonitory symptoms, 44, 54, 89 Preventive measures, 147 Preventive treatment, 151 Prince, M., 50, 51, 119, 126 Proctor, Eichard, case of, 90 Prognosis, 65, 80 [344] INDEX Prophylactic treatment, 155, 176 Protoplasmic substance as a cause, 43 Pruritis ani during an at- tack, 58 Psoriasis, differentiation from, 241 Psychic influence in the causation, 49, 101 Pulse during an attack, 58 Quinin solution as a rem- edy, 28, 41 Quinquaud, 135 Bace, influence of, 111 Eagweed as an exciting cause, 42, 105 Eagweed, cultivation as exterminator, 163, 164 Eagweed, in U. S., 219 Eamadge, 25 Eectum, involvement of, 61 Eecurrence, period of, 49 Eegions of the nasal cavi- ties, 66 Eeport of cases, 248, 249, 250, 251, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272 Eesistance, lowered, x Eesistance, lowered, factor in, 39 Eest, 178 Eiedlin, 23 Kinger, 99 Eoberts, W. C, 30, 55 Eobinson, B., 128 Eoe, J. O., 34, 70, 131 Eoman wormwood as an exciting cause, 47 Eussia, cases in, 113 6 Sajous, C. E. de M., 34, 44, 54, 64, 66, 70, 111, 119, 131 Salol capsule in, 187 Salter, Hyde, 26,. 98 Sandalwood in, 187 Schadle, 150 Scheppegrell, 152 Scotland, cases in, 113 Sea, cases at, 108 Sensitive areas of the nares, 45, 68, 171 Sequelae, 185 Serum, method of prepar- ing, 243 nasal, 59 use of, 191 Sex, influence of, 120 Shaw, cases in family, 119 Sinusitis, relation to, 149 Skin eruptions, 64 Skin reactions, 278, 283 Smell, involvement of, 59, 65 Smith, Abbotts, 27, 108, 110, 114 Smith, Ward, 96 Sneezing in, 58, 267 Snuff in treatment, 174 Solis-Cohen, S., 127, 129, 188 [8451 INDEX South America, cases in, 113 Spain, cases in, 113 Spontaneous disappearance of the recurrences, 83 Sterilization of the nares, 169 Sticker, 202 Strangways, W. F., 42 Sunlight, influence of, 25, 92, 96 Sunshine as a cause, 24, 26 Suprarenal extract, 176 Suprarenal gland in treat- ment, 176 Suprarenal tablet in treat- ment, 174 Surgical treatment, 285 Swain, H. L., 176 Swallowing, difficult, 80 Sweden, cases in, 113 Symptoms, 19, 53, 54, 56, 65 Synonyms, 9, 19 Systemic treatment, 178 T Taste, involvement of, 59, 65 Tea- drinking, influence of, 112 ^' Temperature during an at- tack, 57, 61 Term first used, 20, 23 Theory, idiosyncrasy, 34 local, 37, 132 neurotic, 36, 44, 139 pollen, 32 uric-acid, 134 Thomwaldt, 133 Three predisposing causes, x TimsBus, 23 Time of occurrence, 27, 47, 48, 52 Tomatoes as a cause, 98 Tonsils, 148, 168 Toxin as a cause, 40 dried pollen, active on liberation, 202 true, pollen as, 254 Treatment, 147 calcium chlorid, result of, 268 calcium salt, 261 cleansing nostrils, 170 Dobeirs solution, 169 hydrogen dioxid, 172 local, 167 nasal applications, 167 normal salt, use of, 173 pollen therapy, 274 preliminary local, 172, 176 prophylactic, hygienic, and systemic, 178 scrubbing, of nostrils, 172 surgical, 285 Trosseau, 100 Types, 54 according to duration, 52 U United States, autumnal variety prevalent, 217 United States, distribution of cases in the, 53 [346] INDEX Uric-acid theory, 130, 134, 137, 139 Van Helmont, 22 Van Sweringen, 188 Vasomotor control, nasal, 127 susceptibility, theory of, 126 Vibrios in the discharges, 29 Vogel, 96 Voice, changes in, 61, 148 W Walshe, 27, 107, 114 \"Watermelons as a cause, 98 Watson, 26 Sir Thomas, 97 Weeds, removal of, 157, 159, 160 What hay-fever is, 19 White Mountains, immu- nity in, 31, 234 Wilson, Harold, 261 Wilson, J. C, 107 Woodward, 202 Wright, E. W., xiv Wyman, Morrill, 30, 31, 65, 106, 111, 115, 118, 120, 122 T 347 1 A new, practical, and valuable book for all who would keep well and fit How to Live RULES FOR HEALTHFUL LIVING BASED ON MODERN SCIENCE Authorized by and Prepared in Collaboration with the Hygiene Reference Board of the Life Elxtension Institute, Inc. By IRVING FISHER, Chairman, ProfcBSor of Political Economy, Yale University AND EUGENE LYMAN FISK, M.D. Director of Hygiene of the Institute This book can safely be said to contain the latest and most authoritative scientific and popular information on the matter of health- ful living and personal hygiene that has been published in recent years. It represents the result of extensive study, investigation, and research of the organization mentioned above, which is composed of many of America's foremost citizens organized for the purpose of promoting the public health. It is an all-round work of practical usefulness, absorbing in interest as it un- folds the why and wherefor of successful healthfiil living. I2mo, CUth. $1.00; by Mail, $1.12 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers NEW YORK and LONDON Child Training AS AN EXACT SCIENCE By George W. Jacobs, M.D. Based upon Modern Psychology, Medicine and Hygiene The Parent, the Physician, the Teacher, the Nurse, will find this Book of Immense Usefulness. Its Authority and Reliability are Un- questioned. Heretofore there has been no one book which stood out high above others as a standard, scientific, and reliable popular work on the sub- ject of Child Training in its mental, moral and physical aspects. The New York Times, says :—\" Study of this material will undoubtedly increase a teacher's effi- ciency.\" $1.50 net; hy mail $1.62 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Pubasherg NEW YORK and LONDON hiXercises for Vv omen Most women are very definitely in need of some sort of simple and suitable exercise that can be done in the home, without apparatus, if necessary. This new book by Florence Bolton, A.B., formerly Director of Women's Gymnasium, Stanford Univer- sity, outlines and pictures an excellent series of plain, practical exercises, adapted to meet the peculiar re- quirements of women. The combination of diflferent exercises includes many for reducing flesh; and others bound to result in the securing and preservation of a full, rounded, graceful figure. For Every Woman Everywhere Who Desires PHYSICAL GRACE, and POWER and the mental satisfaction consequent upon both. The book should be useful to physicians in pre- scribing exercises for their patients, to teachers of gymnastics for class and private work, to the college woman who has left gymnasium days behind, and to EVERY WOMAN, EVERYWHERE who desires PHYSICAL HRACE, and POWER. HAS DONE HER SEX GOOD SERVICE \" Florence Bolton . . . has done her eex good service in this terse, well-arranged little volume. The directions for specific exercises, mainly of the ' mat ' order, are well detailed, and fit- ting illustrations simplify their use.\"— TAe Record-Herald, Chicago, 111. 12mo, Cloth. Numerous half-tones and diagrams, outlining the movements. $1.00. net. A verage carriage charges 8 eents. FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers NEW YORK and LONDON"
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"Allergic_rhinitis.txt\nAllergic rhinitis\nAllergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose which occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, itchy, and watery eyes, and swelling around the eyes. The fluid from the nose is usually clear. Symptoms onset is often within minutes following exposure and they can affect sleep, the ability to work, and the ability to concentrate at school. Those whose symptoms are due to pollen typically develop symptoms during specific times of the year. Many people with allergic rhinitis also have asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, or atopic dermatitis.\n\nAllergic rhinitis is typically triggered by environmental allergens such as pollen, pet hair, dust, or mold. Inherited genetics and environmental exposures contribute to the development of allergies. Growing up on a farm and having multiple siblings decreases the risk. The underlying mechanism involves IgE antibodies attaching to the allergen and causing the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine from mast cells. Diagnosis is usually based on a medical history in combination with a skin prick test or blood tests for allergen-specific IgE antibodies. These tests, however, are sometimes falsely positive. The symptoms of allergies resemble those of the common cold; however, they often last for more than two weeks and typically do not include a fever.\n\nExposure to animals in early life might reduce the risk of developing allergies to them later. A number of medications may improve symptoms including nasal steroids, antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, cromolyn sodium, and leukotriene receptor antagonists such as montelukast. Medications are, however, not sufficient or associated with side effects in many people. Exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen, known as allergen immunotherapy is often effective. The allergen may be given as injections just under the skin or as a tablet under the tongue. Treatment typically lasts three to five years after which benefits may be prolonged.\n\nAllergic rhinitis is the type of allergy that affects the greatest number of people. In Western countries, between 10–30% of people are affected in a given year. It is most common between the ages of twenty and forty. The first accurate description is from the 10th century physician Rhazes. Pollen was identified as the cause in 1859 by Charles Blackley. In 1906 the mechanism was determined by Clemens von Pirquet. The link with hay came about due to an early (and incorrect) theory that the symptoms were brought about by the smell of new hay. \n\nSigns and symptoms\n\nThe characteristic symptoms of allergic rhinitis are: rhinorrhea (excess nasal secretion), itching, sneezing fits, and nasal congestion and obstruction. Characteristic physical findings include conjunctival swelling and erythema, eyelid swelling, lower eyelid venous stasis (rings under the eyes known as \"allergic shiners\"), swollen nasal turbinates, and middle ear effusion. \n\nThere can also be behavioural signs; in order to relieve the irritation or flow of mucus, people may wipe or rub their nose with the palm of their hand in an upward motion: an action known as the \"nasal salute\" or the \"allergic salute\". This may result in a crease running across the nose (or above each nostril if only one side of the nose is wiped at a time), commonly referred to as the \"transverse nasal crease\", and can lead to permanent physical deformity if repeated enough.\n\nPeople might also find that cross-reactivity occurs. For example, someone allergic to birch pollen may also find that he/she has an allergic reaction to the skin of apples or potatoes. A clear sign of this is the occurrence of an itchy throat after eating an apple or sneezing when peeling potatoes or apples. This occurs because of similarities in the proteins of the pollen and the food. There are many cross-reacting substances. Hay fever is not a true fever, meaning it does not cause a core body temperature in the fever over 37.5–38.3 °C (99.5-100.9 °F).\n\nCause\n\nAllergic rhinitis triggered by the pollens of specific seasonal plants is commonly known as \"hay fever\", because it is most prevalent during haying season. However, it is possible to have allergic rhinitis throughout the year. The pollen that causes hay fever varies between individuals and from region to region; in general, the tiny, hardly visible pollens of wind-pollinated plants are the predominant cause. Pollens of insect-pollinated plants are too large to remain airborne and pose no risk. Examples of plants commonly responsible for hay fever include:\n* Trees: such as pine (Pinus), birch (Betula), alder (Alnus), cedar, hazel (Corylus), hornbeam (Carpinus), horse chestnut (Aesculus), willow (Salix), poplar (Populus), plane (Platanus), linden/lime (Tilia), and olive (Olea). In northern latitudes, birch is considered to be the most common allergenic tree pollen, with an estimated 15–20% of people with hay fever sensitive to birch pollen grains. A major antigen in these is a protein called Bet V I. Olive pollen is most predominant in Mediterranean regions. Hay fever in Japan is caused primarily by sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa) tree pollen.\n** \"Allergy friendly\" trees include: ash (female only), red maple, yellow poplar, dogwood, magnolia, double-flowered cherry, fir, spruce, and flowering plum. \n* Grasses (Family Poaceae): especially ryegrass (Lolium sp.) and timothy (Phleum pratense). An estimated 90% of people with hay fever are allergic to grass pollen.\n* Weeds: ragweed (Ambrosia), plantain (Plantago), nettle/parietaria (Urticaceae), mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris), Fat hen (Chenopodium), and sorrel/dock (Rumex)\n\nAllergic rhinitis may also be caused by allergy to Balsam of Peru, which is in various fragrances and other products. \n\nDiagnosis\n\nAllergy testing may reveal the specific allergens to which an individual is sensitive. Skin testing is the most common method of allergy testing. This may include a patch test to determine if a particular substance is causing the rhinitis, or an intradermal, scratch, or other test. Less commonly, the suspected allergen is dissolved and dropped onto the lower eyelid as a means of testing for allergies. This test should be done only by a physician, since it can be harmful if done improperly. In some individuals not able to undergo skin testing (as determined by the doctor), the RAST blood test may be helpful in determining specific allergen sensitivity. Peripheral eosinophilia can be seen in differential leukocyte count.\n\nAllergy testing can either show allergies that are not actually causing symptoms or miss allergies that do cause symptoms. The intradermal allergy test is more sensitive than the skin prick test but is more often positive in people that do not have symptoms to that allergen. \n\nEven if a person has negative skin-prick, intradermal and blood tests for allergies, he/she may still have allergic rhinitis, from a local allergy in the nose. This is called local allergic rhinitis. Specialized testing is necessary to diagnose local allergic rhinitis. \n\nClassification\n\nAllergic rhinitis may be seasonal or perennial. Seasonal allergic rhinitis occurs in particular during pollen seasons. It does not usually develop until after 6 years of age. Perennial allergic rhinitis occurs throughout the year. This type of allergic rhinitis is commonly seen in younger children. \n\nAllergic rhinitis may also be classified as Mild-Intermittent, Moderate-Severe intermittent, Mild-Persistent, and Moderate-Severe Persistent. Intermittent is when the symptoms occur 4 days/week and >4 consecutive weeks. The symptoms are considered mild with normal sleep, no impairment of daily activities, no impairment of work or school, and if symptoms are not troublesome. Severe symptoms result in sleep disturbance, impairment of daily activities, and impairment of school or work. \n\nLocal allergic rhinitis\n\nLocal allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction in the nose to an allergen, without systemic allergies. So skin-prick and blood tests for allergy are negative, but there are IgE antibodies produced in the nose that react to a specific allergen. Intradermal skin testing may also be negative.\n\nThe symptoms of local allergic rhinitis are the same as the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including symptoms in the eyes. Just as with allergic rhinitis, people can have either seasonal or perennial local allergic rhinitis. The symptoms of local allergic rhinitis can be mild, moderate, or severe. Local allergic rhinitis is associated with conjunctivitis and asthma.\n\nIn one study, about 25% of people with rhinitis had local allergic rhinitis. \nIn several studies, over 40% of people having been diagnosed with nonallergic rhinitis were found to actually have local allergic rhinitis. Steroid nasal sprays and oral antihistamines have been found to be effective for local allergic rhinitis.\n\nPrevention\n\nOne way to prevent allergic rhinitis is to wear a respirator or mask when near potential allergens. \n\nGrowing up on a farm and having multiple brothers and or sisters decreases the risk.\n\nTreatment\n\nThe goal of rhinitis treatment is to prevent or reduce the symptoms caused by the inflammation of affected tissues. Measures that are effective include avoiding the allergen. Intranasal corticosteroids are the preferred treatment if medications are required, with other options used only if these are not effective. Mite-proof covers, air filters, and withholding certain foods in childhood do not have evidence supporting their effectiveness.\n\nAntihistamines\n\nAntihistamine drugs can be taken orally and nasally to control symptoms such as sneezing, rhinorrhea, itching, and conjunctivitis.\n\nIt is best to take oral antihistamine medication before exposure, especially for seasonal allergic rhinitis. In the case of nasal antihistamines like azelastine antihistamine nasal spray, relief from symptoms is experienced within 15 minutes allowing for a more immediate 'as-needed' approach to dosage.\n\nOphthalmic antihistamines (such as azelastine in eye drop form and ketotifen) are used for conjunctivitis, while intranasal forms are used mainly for sneezing, rhinorrhea, and nasal pruritus.\n\nAntihistamine drugs can have undesirable side-effects, the most notable one being drowsiness in the case of oral antihistamine tablets. First-generation antihistamine drugs such as diphenhydramine cause drowsiness, but second- and third-generation antihistamines such as cetirizine and loratadine are less likely to cause this problem.\n\nPseudoephedrine is also indicated for vasomotor rhinitis. It is used only when nasal congestion is present and can be used with antihistamines. In the United States, oral decongestants containing pseudoephedrine must be purchased behind the pharmacy counter by law in effort to prevent the making of methamphetamine.\n\nSteroids\n\nIntranasal corticosteroids are used to control symptoms associated with sneezing, rhinorrhea, itching, and nasal congestion. Steroid nasal sprays are effective and safe, and may be effective without oral antihistamines. They take several days to act and so must be taken continually for several weeks, as their therapeutic effect builds up with time.\n\nIn 2013, a study compared the efficacy of mometasone furoate nasal spray to betamethasone oral tablets for the treatment of people with seasonal allergic rhinitis and found that the two have virtually equivalent effects on nasal symptoms in people. \n\nSystemic steroids such as prednisone tablets and intramuscular triamcinolone acetonide or glucocorticoid (such as betamethasone) injection are effective at reducing nasal inflammation, but their use is limited by their short duration of effect and the side-effects of prolonged steroid therapy. \n\nOther\n\nOther measures that may be used second line include: decongestants, cromolyn, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and nonpharmacologic therapies such as nasal irrigation.\n\nTopical decongestants may also be helpful in reducing symptoms such as nasal congestion, but should not be used for long periods, as stopping them after protracted use can lead to a rebound nasal congestion called rhinitis medicamentosa.\n\nFor nocturnal symptoms, intranasal corticosteroids can be combined with nightly oxymetazoline, an adrenergic alpha-agonist, or an antihistamine nasal spray without risk of rhinitis medicamentosa. \n\nAllergen immunotherapy\n\nAllergen immunotherapy (AIT, also termed desensitization) treatment involves administering doses of allergens to accustom the body to substances that are generally harmless (pollen, house dust mites), thereby inducing specific long-term tolerance. Allergy immunotherapy can be administered orally (as sublingual tablets or sublingual drops), or by injections under the skin (subcutaneous).\n\nAlternative medicine\n\nTherapeutic efficacy of alternative treatments such as acupuncture and homeopathy is not supported by available evidence. Some evidence shows that acupuncture is effective for rhinitis, whereas other evidence does not. The overall quality of evidence, however, is poor. \n\nEpidemiology\n\nAllergic rhinitis is the type of allergy that affects the greatest number of people. In Western countries, between 10 and 30 percent of people are affected in a given year. It is most common between the ages of twenty and forty.\n\nHistory\n\nThe first accurate description is from the 10th century physician Rhazes. Pollen was identified as the cause in 1859 by Charles Blackley. While in 1906 the mechanism was determined by Clemens von Pirquet. The link with hay came about due to an early (and incorrect) theory that the symptoms were brought about by the smell of new hay.",
"Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) - Provides support, advocacy ...\nAllergic rhinitis (hay fever) What is ... Hay fever is the common name to describe allergic rhinitis and ... The overall burden of allergic rhinitis is better ...\nHay fever, allergic rhinitis\nAllergic rhinitis (hay fever)\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?\nHay fever is the common name to describe allergic rhinitis and involves a recurrent runny, stuffy, itchy nose, and frequent sneezing. It can also affect your eyes, sinuses, throat and ears. \nLike any other allergy, allergic rhinitis is an inappropriate immune system response to an allergen – most commonly house dust mite, pet, pollen and mould. The allergen comes into contact with the sensitive, moist lining in your nose and sinuses and sets off the allergic response.\nHay fever is often considered a nuisance rather than a major disease and most people will self-treat. However, recent studies have revealed that hay fever has a huge impact on quality of life.\nWhat is the impact?\nAbout 20 per cent of the general population suffers from rhinitis. Of these people, about one third develops problems before the age of 10.\nThe overall burden of allergic rhinitis is better understood when you consider that 50 per cent of patients experience symptoms for more than four months per year and that 20 per cent have symptoms for at least nine months per year.\nThose affected by hay fever suffer more frequent and prolonged sinus infection, and for those who also have red, itchy eyes, there is the risk of developing infective conjunctivitis due to frequent rubbing. \nPersistent symptoms and poor quality sleep can result in lethargy, poor concentration and behavioural changes and impact on learning in young children.\nAllergic rhinitis may predispose people to obstructive sleep apnoea, due to the upper airways collapsing during sleep. This results in reduced airflow, a drop in oxygen levels and disturbed sleep. \nPatients with allergic rhinitis also suffer from more frequent and prolonged respiratory infections, and asthma has been shown to be more difficult to control unless allergic rhinitis is also managed.\n \nWhat is the link between allergic rhinitis and asthma?\nAllergic rhinitis has been found to be an extremely common trigger for asthma in both children and adults. Allergic rhinitis can also exacerbate asthma, and it can make the diagnosis of asthma more difficult.\nAround 80 per cent of people with asthma suffer from allergic rhinitis, and around one in four with allergic rhinitis has asthma. \nThere is now very good evidence to support the idea that asthmatics who look after their upper airways well need less asthma medication and fewer hospital or GP visits. \nWhen treating both asthma and allergic rhinitis, the first step is to find out the cause of your problem. Once the causes have been identified, management regimes can be put into place to minimise the impact of the allergy, and this then reduces the need for medication. \n \nWhat causes allergic rhinitis?\nThe most common triggers for people with allergic rhinitis are pollen, dust mite, pet and mould allergens. \nSeasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is usually triggered by wind-borne pollen from trees, grass and weeds. Early spring symptoms point to tree pollen, while nasal allergy in late spring and summer indicates that grass and weed pollens are the culprits. And overlapping the grass season is the weed pollen season, which usually starts in late spring and extends through to the end of summer. \nIn New Zealand the seasons are not very distinct and they vary throughout the country because of the different climates. The season starts about one month earlier at the top of the North Island than the bottom of the South Island. Thus the hay fever season is not very well defined. \nAllergic rhinitis that persists year-round (perennial allergic rhinitis) is usually caused by house dust mites, pets, or mould. People with allergic rhinitis are often allergic to more than one allergen, such as dust mite and pollen, so may suffer from symptoms for months on end or all year round. \nIrritants such as strong perfumes and tobacco smoke can aggravate this condition.\nFoods do not play as big a role as had been thought in the past.\n \nWhat are the symptoms?\nSymptoms of allergic rhinitis can be any combination of itching in the back of the throat, eyes or nose, sneezing, runny eyes or nose, and blocked nose.\nA person may have any or all of the following:\nwatery discharge from the nose all the time, occasionally or during certain seasons of the year\nstuffy nose all the time or during specific seasons\nreddened, pebbly lining in the lower eyelids\nfrequent throat-clearing\nrabbit-like movements of the nose\na horizontal crease across the nose as a result of constant rubbing\nbouts of sneezing, especially in the morning\nrepeated nosebleeds\nheadaches because of pressure from inside the nose\nfrequent earaches, fullness in the ear, ear infections or hearing loss\ndizziness or nausea related to ear problems\nchronic cold without much fever\nnasal voice because of blocked nasal passages\ndark circles under the eyes as a result of pressure from blocked nasal passages on the small blood vessels. Also known as \"allergic shiners\".\nWhen does allergic rhinitis develop?\nAllergic rhinitis typically develops in childhood. It is part of what we call the Allergic March, where children first develop eczema in infancy, sometimes followed by food allergy, and then go on to develop allergic rhinitis and then asthma.\nThe onset of dust mite allergy occurs often by the age of two, with grass pollen allergy beginning around three to four years of age. Tree pollen allergy develops from about seven years of age. \nIt is not unusual to develop hay fever during adulthood. It can take as few as two to three seasons to become sensitised to pollen, but it depends on the individual.\n \nHow do you diagnose allergic rhinitis?\nYour doctor will confirm the specific allergens causing your rhinitis by taking a complete symptom history, doing a physical examination, and performing skin prick tests.\n \nHow is allergic rhinitis treated?\nIt is useful to identify your triggers and try and avoid them. This can be difficult.\nPets: Make sure you keep it outside and never let it in the bedroom. It is never easy trying to decide on a new home for a pet, but in some cases this might be the best option. Even after you have removed your pet from your home, the allergens remain in furnishings for long periods afterwards and can cause symptoms. You will need to thoroughly clean your walls, floors and carpets to remove the allergen.\nDust mites: House dust mite reduction measures include mite-proof covers for the mattress, duvet and pillows. Removing items that collect dust from the bedroom will help. A good quality vacuum cleaner with HEPA filter for the exhaust air is essential to ensure that allergen is not disseminated in the atmosphere. Bedding should be washed frequently in water hotter than 55ºC. If you have soft toys, freeze them overnight and air in the sun.\nPollen: It is difficult to avoid pollen, however you can avoid going outside when pollen counts are high. The amount of pollen in the air is highest:\n• In the morning",
"Occupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a ...\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a ... Esparto is a gramineous plant that has multiple applications ... Publication Types: Case ...\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a building worker. - PubMed - NCBI\nAllergy Asthma Proc. 2007 Sep-Oct;28(5):571-3.\nOccupational asthma due to esparto hypersensitivity in a building worker.\n1Department of Allergy of Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon, Madrid, Spain. [email protected]\nAbstract\nEsparto is a gramineous plant that has multiple applications in today's industry. Several cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) caused by esparto inhalation have been reported, but only one case of asthma caused by Aspergillus fumigatus contaminating esparto has been communicated. We report a case of asthma induced by esparto inhalation in a 58-year-old man, who is a building industry worker, with subclinical sensitization to grass pollen. The relation between clinical symptoms and work activities was supported by peak expiratory flow (PEF) monitorization; PEF values decreased by 20% the days he handled esparto. Prick test with esparto was positive. Immunoblot analysis revealed several allergens in the esparto extract, some of them present in Lolium and A. fumigatus extracts. IgE immunoblot inhibition revealed a complete inhibition of lolium and A. fumigatus IgE reactive bands by esparto proteins. The patient then avoided the exposure to esparto at work and has remained asymptomatic for the last 2 years. In conclusion, this is a case of occupational asthma caused by esparto dust mediated by IgE antibodies. Proteins of A. fumigatus as well as proteins from this gramineous plant, which cross-reacted with esparto allergens, were responsible for the disease.\nPMID:",
"Allergic Rhinitis : Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies - WebMD\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?Allergic ... vitamins, and supplements. Search by name or medical condition. ... Seasonal allergies are believed to affect as many as ...\nAllergic Rhinitis: Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies\nCredits\nWhat is allergic rhinitis?\nAllergic rhinitis , often called allergies or hay fever , occurs when your immune system overreacts to particles in the air that you breathe-you are allergic to them. Your immune system attacks the particles in your body, causing symptoms such as sneezing and a runny nose . The particles are called allergens , which simply means they can cause an allergic reaction .\nPeople with allergies usually have symptoms for many years. You may have symptoms often during the year, or just at certain times. You also may get other problems such as sinusitis and ear infections as a result of your allergies .\nOver time, allergens may begin to affect you less, and your symptoms may not be as severe as they had been.\nWhat are the symptoms of allergic rhinitis?\nIn most cases, when you have allergic rhinitis:\nYou sneeze again and again, especially after you wake up in the morning.\nYou have a runny nose and postnasal drip . The drainage from a runny nose caused by allergies is usually clear and thin. But it may become thicker and cloudy or yellowish if you get a nasal or sinus infection .\nYour eyes are watery and itchy.\nYour ears, nose, and throat are itchy.\nWhich allergens commonly cause allergic rhinitis?\nYou probably know that pollens from trees, grasses, and weeds cause allergic rhinitis. Many people have allergies to dust mites , animal dander , cockroaches, and mold as well. Things in the workplace, such as cereal grain, wood dust, chemicals, or lab animals, can also cause allergic rhinitis.\nIf you are allergic to pollens, you may have symptoms only at certain times of the year. If you are allergic to dust mites and indoor allergens, you may have symptoms all the time.\nHow is allergic rhinitis diagnosed?\nTo find out if you have allergies, your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you. Knowing what symptoms you have, when you get them, and what makes them worse or better can help your doctor know whether you have allergies or another problem.\nIf you have severe symptoms, you may need to have allergy tests to find out what you are allergic to.\nYour doctor may do a skin test. In this test your doctor puts a small amount of an allergen into your skin to see if it causes an allergic reaction .\nYour doctor may order lab tests. These tests look for substances that put you at risk for allergies.\nContinued\nHow is it treated?\nThere is no cure for allergic rhinitis. One of the best things you can do is to avoid the things that cause your allergies. You may need to clean your house often to get rid of dust, animal dander, or molds. Or you may need to stay indoors when pollen counts are high.\nUnless you have another health problem, such as asthma , you may take over-the-counter medicines to treat your symptoms at home. If you do have another problem, talk to your doctor first. Others who also should talk to their doctor before starting self-treatment include older adults, children, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding .\nIf your allergies bother you a lot and you cannot avoid the things you are allergic to, immunotherapy (such as allergy shots ) may help prevent or reduce your symptoms. To have this treatment, you first need to know what you are allergic to.\nFinding the treatment that works best for you may take a little time.\nWebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise\nThis information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.© 1995-2015 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.\nPagination",
"HAL Allergy Group: Clinical Conditions\nClinical Conditions; ... Seasonal allergic rhinitis is better known as ... Allergic alveolitis is a collective name for a number of allergic pulmonary disorders ...\nHAL Allergy Group: Clinical Conditions\nClinical Conditions\nAllergic rhinitis is the most common symptom\nDo you know how many types of allergy there really are?\nHay fever, pet and house dust mite allergies are very common. Other manifestations, such as allergic alveolitis, are far less common. This page briefly addresses the various forms.\nAllergic rhinitis, the most common symptom, occurs in two forms, the seasonal type and the non-seasonal type. Seasonal allergic rhinitis is better known as hay fever. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis include sneezing, watery or irritated eyes, a blocked or runny nose and flu-like feeling. The symptoms occur during the flowering season of trees, grasses or shrubs, when they release pollen into the air, hence the term 'seasonal'. When the season is over, the symptoms disappear as well. Non-seasonal allergic rhinitis may occur all year round, its symptoms are comparable to the seasonal type but the allergens are different. Examples of this type of allergy are house dust mite and pet allergy.\nAllergic conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva of both eyes. It is characterised by red, tearing and itching eyes. This type often goes hand in hand with allergic rhinitis.\nAsthma occurs in many different forms. Allergic asthma is a fairly common type. It is a process of respiratory inflammation caused by inhaling substances to which one is allergic. Initial complaints include frequent coughing, respiratory infection and fatigue. Typical symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath occur at a later stage.\nAllergic alveolitis is a collective name for a number of allergic pulmonary disorders caused by minuscule substances, often fungi and animal proteins. These substances are so small that they can enter the airways, where they cause an inflammatory reaction. Alveolitis is fairly rare. An example is pigeon fanciers lung, a disorder caused by extremely small dust particles in the droppings in a dovecote.\nUrticaria is also known as hives or nettle rash. It is an allergic skin disorder characterised by severely itching lumps or rashes. Those rashes may occur anywhere on the body, occasionally causing a burning and chafing feeling. It has many causes, ranging from foodstuffs to detergents, from skin care products to even sunshine. Sun allergy is a form of urticaria, for example.\nAngio-oedema is a special type of urticaria or nettle rash. The itching is considerably less severe, but the lumps accompanying angio-oedema are much bigger than those associated with urticaria. Angio-oedema often manifests itself on the eyelids, lips and mucous membranes.\nEczema is a skin disorder characterised by fluid-filled vesicles on the skin. The vesicles burst, which is followed by crustation. Eczema is a prevalent disorder, but may also have non-allergic causes.\nAllergic eczema is divided into 'atopic eczema' and 'contact eczema'. A symptom of atopic eczema is an allergen-induced eczema-like rash. This is referred to as 'atopic', which means 'prone to allergic reaction'. Atopic people tend to have hay fever and asthma and (atopic) eczema.\nIf you suffer from contact eczema, you will by definition have other allergic symptoms. Contact eczema does not discriminate. It arises in places where the skin has been in contact with an allergen. An example is allergy to nickel or chrome, which is found in certain jewellery and watches.\nAn insect allergy can be triggered by insect stings. Wasp stings in particular may evoke severe allergic reactions. Skin reactions are frequent, but respiratory problems may occur as well.\nAn occupational allergy is an allergic reaction to a substance present in the workplace. Occupational allergies are often contact or inhalation allergies. Complaints generally develop over time. Examples are allergies to animals or allergic reactions to chemical substances. The symptoms of an occupational allergy are extremely diverse and depend on the type of allergen. A well-known occupational allergy is hairdresser's eczema: an allergic reaction to contact with perm liquids or hair dyes.\nIf you are allergic to birch pollen, you may also react allergic to eating hazelnuts and apples. This may seem curious but it is one of a great many examples of what is known as cross allergy.\nAn allergy is called a cross allergy if the antibodies that the body produces against one allergen, start reacting to another allergen as well, for the simple reason that they are alike. They are related to each other, family, so to speak. Appearance does not enter into it: hazelnuts, apples and birch trees do not look like each other, but they contain related allergens, as do kiwi, pineapple and potato, for instance.\nAn anaphylactic shock is an extremely severe allergic reaction of the entire body. The reaction may occur very quickly, within minutes. An anaphylactic shock is a dangerous reaction of the body, which may be life-threatening. The body reacts very strongly to an allergen. Not just in one place, for instance the site of a wasp sting, but spread across the entire body. Such a strong reaction may cause a substantial drop in blood pressure and lead to loss of consciousness. Severe swelling of the pharynx, may cause tightness of the chest. A shock reaction to a particular kind of food may involve severe nausea, followed by vomiting and abdominal cramps. Without rapid treatment, the pulse will begin to race, which may lead to loss of consciousness.\nIt is therefore essential that the attack be treated as quickly as possible. The most common causes of anaphylactic shock are insect stings, particularly by wasps, and food ingredients (especially peanuts). Such a reaction virtually never occurs with pollen, pet or house dust mite allergies.\nThe symptoms of an anaphylactic shock reaction may be the same as those associated with other allergic reactions, but are generally much more severe. Symptoms that often accompany a shock reaction are laboured breathing, dizziness, arrhythmia, bright redness of the skin and vomiting.\nNot all cases of hypersensitivity to food are allergies. The difference between food allergy and food intolerance is that the former is related to our immune system, whereas intolerance is not. Food allergy is an allergic reaction to certain foodstuffs, such as peanuts. Food allergy often comes paired with gastrointestinal problems, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, but also skin complaints or respiratory problems.\nHAL Allergy Group",
"Stipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by ...\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto ... disease caused by a variety of antigens reaching the ... plant which is commonly found in ...\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto (Stipa tenacissima) fibers. - PubMed - NCBI\nStipatosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by esparto (Stipa tenacissima) fibers.\n1Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Servicio de Alergologia, Madrid, Spain. [email protected]\nAbstract\nHypersensitivity pneumonitis or extrinsic allergic alveolitis may be defined as an immunological pulmonary disease caused by a variety of antigens reaching the lungs through inhaled organic and inorganic dusts derived from different sources, although they are usually occupational. Farmer's lung and pigeon breeder's lung are probably the most well-known types of hypersensitivity pneumonitis worldwide. Esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima), which is a grammineous plant which is commonly found in the Mediterranean countries, has a wide variety of uses. Esparto fiber is used for the manufacturing of ropes, hemp sandals, rush mats and parkets; for decorative stucco plates, used on walls and ceilings. Esparto supports a large industry in Spain. The first reports referring to esparto dust as a cause of respiratory disease did not appear until the 1960s, and it was first described as a byssinosis-like disorder. The first cases reported, in which immunologic and challenge tests were used to confirm this association, were described 14 years ago and referred as hypersensitivity pneumonitis nominated as stipatosis. Later, a large number of cases of esparto dust-induced hypersensitivity pneumonitis were reported by different authors, so that esparto may be nowadays considered as the main substance causing extrinsic allergic alveolitis in Spain. Afumigatus has been revealed to be the main inducing cause of stipatosis but probably is not the only one since other microorganisms could be implicated. On the other hand esparto fibers may also cause occupational asthma. In this article the prominent clinical findings of this disease as well as the results of serologic, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and specific inhalation tests are shown. A complete historical review of esparto-induced allergic respiratory disease is also described.\nPMID:",
"studydroid.com\n... (also known as Pernio and Perniosis[1]) is a medical condition that is ... to cold and humidity. The cold exposure ... a medical condition caused by ...\ntoo little sugar\nproteins\nbuilding blocks of the body. needed for growth, maintenance, and replacement of body cells, form hormones/enzymes used to regulate body.\nprotein deficiency\nmay stunt growth, promote a secondary anemia, or induce nutritional edema.\nchilblain\nChilblains (also known as Pernio and Perniosis[1]) is a medical condition that is often confused with frostbite and trench foot. Chilblains are acral ulcers (that is, ulcers affecting the extremities) that occur when a predisposed individual is exposed to cold and humidity. The cold exposure damages capillary beds in the skin, which in turn can cause redness, itching, blisters, and inflammation.[2] Chilblains are often idiopathic in origin but can be manifestations of serious medical conditions that need to be investigated. Chilblains can be prevented by keeping the feet and hands warm in cold weather. A history of chilblains is suggestive of a connective tissue disease. 32-60 degrees, redness, swelling, tingling, px.\nsuperficial frostbite\nsurface of skin feels hard but underlying tissue will be soft and move over bony ridges.\nvitamin D\nblack tarry stool\nneuritis\nNeuritis is one of the serious nervous disorders. Neuritis refers to an inflammation of the nerves, involving a single nerve or a series of nerves. At times, several different groups of nerves in various parts of the body may be involved. Neuritis is known as polyneuritis. Neuritis is also known as polyneuropathy, for strictly speaking, Neuritis condition is not an inflammation, but a change in the state of the nerves resulting in weakness, loss of the reflexes and changes of sensation.\nheat stroke\n20% mortality, temp 105 or higher, d.c. cooling when rectal temp reachs 102\nfrostbite\n32 degrees or lower ice crystals form in skin or deeper tissues. face and extremities most common.\nanaphylactic shock\nexposed to substance that thier sensitive to.\nchf\nprolonged hypertension, valve disease, causing pulmonary edema.\nangina\ninsufficient O2 to heart.\nabcess\na collection of pus (dead neutrophils) that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g., splinters, bullet wounds, or injecting needles). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body. One example of an abscess is a BCG-oma, which is caused because of incorrect administration of the BCG vaccine.\nvitamins\nact as catalysts in chemical reaction needed for metabolic functions.\nberiberi\na nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency (deficiency of vitamin B1) in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons. Symptoms of beriberi include severe lethargy and fatigue, together with complications affecting the cardiovascular, nervous, muscular, and gastrointestinal systems\nvitamin B (thiamine HCI)\nberiberi\ntrench foot\na medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions. It is one of many immersion foot syndromes. The use of the word \\\"trench\\\" in the name of this condition is a reference to trench warfare, mainly associated with World War I. 32-50 degrees. tingling, swelling, blisters.\nrecommended carbohydrates\n50% of daily calorie intake.\nerythema\nredness of the skin, caused by hyperemia of the capillaries in the lower layers of the skin. It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation.[1] Examples of erythema not associated with pathology include nervous blushes.\nseptic shock\n2-3 days after injury, poor prognosis.\ncarbohydrates\nmost effcient source of energy\nami\n3,500 calories\nfuruncle\nA boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, infection of the hair follicle. It is almost always caused by infection by the bacteriumStaphylococcus aureus, resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an accumulation of pus and dead tissue.[1] Individual boils clustered together are called carbuncles.[2] Staphylococcus is a genus of bacteria that is characterized by being round (coccus or spheroid shaped), Gram-positive, and found as either single cells, in pairs, or more frequently, in clusters that resemble a bunch of grapes. The genus name Staphylococcus is derived from Greek terms \\\"staphyle and kokkos\\\" that mean \\\"a bunch of grapes\\\", which is how the bacteria often appears microscopically (after Gram staining). In 1884, German physician Ottomar Rosenbach first described and named the bacteria. Two major divisions of the genus Staphylococcus are separated by the bacteria\\'s ability to produce coagulase, an enzyme that can clot blood. Most human infections are caused by coagulase-positive S. aureus strains. Almost any organ system can be infected by S. aureus.\namount of morphine",
"Allergy.txt\nAllergy\nAllergies, also known as allergic diseases, are a number of conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to something in the environment that usually causes little or no problem in most people. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, and anaphylaxis. Symptoms may include red eyes, an itchy rash, runny nose, shortness of breath, or swelling. Food intolerances and food poisoning are separate conditions. \n\nCommon allergens include pollen and certain food. Metals and other substances may also cause problems. Food, insect stings, and medications are common causes of severe reactions. Their development is due to both genetic and environmental factors. The underlying mechanism involves immunoglobulin E antibodies (IgE), part of the body's immune system, binding to an allergen and then to a receptor on mast cells or basophils where it triggers the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine. Diagnosis is typically based on a person's medical history. Further testing of the skin or blood may be useful in certain cases. Positive tests, however, may not mean there is a significant allergy to the substance in question.\n\nEarly exposure to potential allergens may be protective. Treatments for allergies include avoiding known allergens and the use of medications such as steroids and antihistamines. In severe reactions injectable adrenaline (epinephrine) is recommended. Allergen immunotherapy, which gradually exposes people to larger and larger amounts of allergen, is useful for some types of allergies such as hay fever and reactions to insect bites. Its use in food allergies is unclear.\n\nAllergies are common. In the developed world, about 20% of people are affected by allergic rhinitis, about 6% of people have at least one food allergy, and about 20% have atopic dermatitis at some point in time. Depending on the country about 1%-18% of people have asthma. Anaphylaxis occurs in between 0.05–2% of people. Rates of many allergic diseases appear to be increasing. The word \"allergy\" was first used by Clemens von Pirquet in 1906.\n\nSigns and symptoms\n\nMany allergens such as dust or pollen are airborne particles. In these cases, symptoms arise in areas in contact with air, such as eyes, nose, and lungs. For instance, allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, causes irritation of the nose, sneezing, itching, and redness of the eyes. Inhaled allergens can also lead to increased production of mucus in the lungs, shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing.\n\nAside from these ambient allergens, allergic reactions can result from foods, insect stings, and reactions to medications like aspirin and antibiotics such as penicillin. Symptoms of food allergy include abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, itchy skin, and swelling of the skin during hives. Food allergies rarely cause respiratory (asthmatic) reactions, or rhinitis. Insect stings, antibiotics, and certain medicines produce a systemic allergic response that is also called anaphylaxis; multiple organ systems can be affected, including the digestive system, the respiratory system, and the circulatory system. Depending on the rate of severity, it can cause a skin reactions, bronchoconstriction, swelling, low blood pressure, coma, and death. This type of reaction can be triggered suddenly, or the onset can be delayed. The nature of anaphylaxis is such that the reaction can seem to be subsiding, but may recur throughout a period of time.\n\nSkin\n\nSubstances that come into contact with the skin, such as latex, are also common causes of allergic reactions, known as contact dermatitis or eczema. Skin allergies frequently cause rashes, or swelling and inflammation within the skin, in what is known as a \"wheal and flare\" reaction characteristic of hives and angioedema.\n\nWith insect stings a large local reaction may occur (an area of skin redness greater than 10 cm in size). It can last one to two days. This reaction may also occur after immunotherapy. \n\nCause\n\nRisk factors for allergy can be placed in two general categories, namely host and environmental factors. Host factors include heredity, sex, race, and age, with heredity being by far the most significant. However, there have been recent increases in the incidence of allergic disorders that cannot be explained by genetic factors alone. Four major environmental candidates are alterations in exposure to infectious diseases during early childhood, environmental pollution, allergen levels, and dietary changes.\n\nFoods\n\nA wide variety of foods can cause allergic reactions, but 90% of allergic responses to foods are caused by cow's milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. Other food allergies, affecting less than 1 person per 10,000 population, may be considered \"rare\". The use of hydrolysed milk baby formula versus standard milk baby formula does not appear to change the risk. \n\nThe most common food allergy in the US population is a sensitivity to crustacea. Although peanut allergies are notorious for their severity, peanut allergies are not the most common food allergy in adults or children. Severe or life-threatening reactions may be triggered by other allergens, and are more common when combined with asthma.\n\nRates of allergies differ between adults and children. Peanut allergies can sometimes be outgrown by children. Egg allergies affect one to two percent of children but are outgrown by about two-thirds of children by the age of 5. The sensitivity is usually to proteins in the white, rather than the yolk.\n\nMilk-protein allergies are most common in children. Approximately 60% of milk-protein reactions are immunoglobulin E-mediated, with the remaining usually attributable to inflammation of the colon. Some people are unable to tolerate milk from goats or sheep as well as from cows, and many are also unable to tolerate dairy products such as cheese. Roughly 10% of children with a milk allergy will have a reaction to beef. Beef contains a small amount of protein that is present in cow's milk. Lactose intolerance, a common reaction to milk, is not a form of allergy at all, but rather due to the absence of an enzyme in the digestive tract.\n\nThose with tree nut allergies may be allergic to one or to many tree nuts, including pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts. Also seeds, including sesame seeds and poppy seeds, contain oils in which protein is present, which may elicit an allergic reaction.\n\nAllergens can be transferred from one food to another through genetic engineering; however genetic modification can also remove allergens. Little research has been done on the natural variation of allergen concentrations in the unmodified crops. \n\nLatex\n\nLatex can trigger an IgE-mediated cutaneous, respiratory, and systemic reaction. The prevalence of latex allergy in the general population is believed to be less than one percent. In a hospital study, 1 in 800 surgical patients (0.125 percent) reported latex sensitivity, although the sensitivity among healthcare workers is higher, between seven and ten percent. Researchers attribute this higher level to the exposure of healthcare workers to areas with significant airborne latex allergens, such as operating rooms, intensive-care units, and dental suites. These latex-rich environments may sensitize healthcare workers who regularly inhale allergenic proteins.\n\nThe most prevalent response to latex is an allergic contact dermatitis, a delayed hypersensitive reaction appearing as dry, crusted lesions. This reaction usually lasts 48–96 hours. Sweating or rubbing the area under the glove aggravates the lesions, possibly leading to ulcerations. Anaphylactic reactions occur most often in sensitive patients who have been exposed to a surgeon's latex gloves during abdominal surgery, but other mucosal exposures, such as dental procedures, can also produce systemic reactions.\n\nLatex and banana sensitivity may cross-react. Furthermore, those with latex allergy may also have sensitivities to avocado, kiwifruit, and chestnut. These people often have perioral itching and local urticaria. Only occasionally have these food-induced allergies induced systemic responses. Researchers suspect that the cross-reactivity of latex with banana, avocado, kiwifruit, and chestnut occurs because latex proteins are structurally homologous with some other plant proteins.\n\nMedications\n\nAbout 10% of people report that they are allergic to penicillin; however, 90% turn out not to be. Serious allergies only occur in about 0.03%.\n\nToxins interacting with proteins\n\nAnother non-food protein reaction, urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, originates after contact with poison ivy, eastern poison oak, western poison oak, or poison sumac. Urushiol, which is not itself a protein, acts as a hapten and chemically reacts with, binds to, and changes the shape of integral membrane proteins on exposed skin cells. The immune system does not recognize the affected cells as normal parts of the body, causing a T-cell-mediated immune response. Of these poisonous plants, sumac is the most virulent. The resulting dermatological response to the reaction between urushiol and membrane proteins includes redness, swelling, papules, vesicles, blisters, and streaking.\n\nEstimates vary on the percentage of the population that will have an immune system response. Approximately 25 percent of the population will have a strong allergic response to urushiol. In general, approximately 80 percent to 90 percent of adults will develop a rash if they are exposed to of purified urushiol, but some people are so sensitive that it takes only a molecular trace on the skin to initiate an allergic reaction. \n\nGenetics\n\nAllergic diseases are strongly familial: identical twins are likely to have the same allergic diseases about 70% of the time; the same allergy occurs about 40% of the time in non-identical twins. Allergic parents are more likely to have allergic children, and those children's allergies are likely to be more severe than those in children of non-allergic parents. Some allergies, however, are not consistent along genealogies; parents who are allergic to peanuts may have children who are allergic to ragweed. It seems that the likelihood of developing allergies is inherited and related to an irregularity in the immune system, but the specific allergen is not.\n\nThe risk of allergic sensitization and the development of allergies varies with age, with young children most at risk. Several studies have shown that IgE levels are highest in childhood and fall rapidly between the ages of 10 and 30 years. The peak prevalence of hay fever is highest in children and young adults and the incidence of asthma is highest in children under 10. \n\nOverall, boys have a higher risk of developing allergies than girls, although for some diseases, namely asthma in young adults, females are more likely to be affected. These differences between the sexes tend to decrease in adulthood.\n\nEthnicity may play a role in some allergies; however, racial factors have been difficult to separate from environmental influences and changes due to migration. It has been suggested that different genetic loci are responsible for asthma, to be specific, in people of European, Hispanic, Asian, and African origins.\n\nHygiene hypothesis\n\nAllergic diseases are caused by inappropriate immunological responses to harmless antigens driven by a TH2-mediated immune response. Many bacteria and viruses elicit a TH1-mediated immune response, which down-regulates TH2 responses. The first proposed mechanism of action of the hygiene hypothesis was that insufficient stimulation of the TH1 arm of the immune system leads to an overactive TH2 arm, which in turn leads to allergic disease. In other words, individuals living in too sterile an environment are not exposed to enough pathogens to keep the immune system busy. Since our bodies evolved to deal with a certain level of such pathogens, when they are not exposed to this level, the immune system will attack harmless antigens and thus normally benign microbial objects — like pollen — will trigger an immune response. \n\nThe hygiene hypothesis was developed to explain the observation that hay fever and eczema, both allergic diseases, were less common in children from larger families, which were, it is presumed, exposed to more infectious agents through their siblings, than in children from families with only one child. The hygiene hypothesis has been extensively investigated by immunologists and epidemiologists and has become an important theoretical framework for the study of allergic disorders. It is used to explain the increase in allergic diseases that have been seen since industrialization, and the higher incidence of allergic diseases in more developed countries. The hygiene hypothesis has now expanded to include exposure to symbiotic bacteria and parasites as important modulators of immune system development, along with infectious agents.\n\nEpidemiological data support the hygiene hypothesis. Studies have shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less common in the developing world than the industrialized world and that immigrants to the industrialized world from the developing world increasingly develop immunological disorders in relation to the length of time since arrival in the industrialized world. Longitudinal studies in the third world demonstrate an increase in immunological disorders as a country grows more affluent and, it is presumed, cleaner. The use of antibiotics in the first year of life has been linked to asthma and other allergic diseases. The use of antibacterial cleaning products has also been associated with higher incidence of asthma, as has birth by Caesarean section rather than vaginal birth.\n\nStress\n\nChronic stress can aggravate allergic conditions. This has been attributed to a T helper 2 (TH2)-predominant response driven by suppression of interleukin 12 by both the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Stress management in highly susceptible individuals may improve symptoms. \n\nOther environmental factors\n\nInternational differences have been associated with the number of individuals within a population have allergy. Allergic diseases are more common in industrialized countries than in countries that are more traditional or agricultural, and there is a higher rate of allergic disease in urban populations versus rural populations, although these differences are becoming less defined.\n\nAlterations in exposure to microorganisms is another plausible explanation, at present, for the increase in atopic allergy. Endotoxin exposure reduces release of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IFNγ, interleukin-10, and interleukin-12 from white blood cells (leukocytes) that circulate in the blood. Certain microbe-sensing proteins, known as Toll-like receptors, found on the surface of cells in the body are also thought to be involved in these processes.\n\nGutworms and similar parasites are present in untreated drinking water in developing countries, and were present in the water of developed countries until the routine chlorination and purification of drinking water supplies. Recent research has shown that some common parasites, such as intestinal worms (e.g., hookworms), secrete chemicals into the gut wall (and, hence, the bloodstream) that suppress the immune system and prevent the body from attacking the parasite. This gives rise to a new slant on the hygiene hypothesis theory — that co-evolution of humans and parasites has led to an immune system that functions correctly only in the presence of the parasites. Without them, the immune system becomes unbalanced and oversensitive. In particular, research suggests that allergies may coincide with the delayed establishment of gut flora in infants. However, the research to support this theory is conflicting, with some studies performed in China and Ethiopia showing an increase in allergy in people infected with intestinal worms. Clinical trials have been initiated to test the effectiveness of certain worms in treating some allergies. It may be that the term 'parasite' could turn out to be inappropriate, and in fact a hitherto unsuspected symbiosis is at work. For more information on this topic, see Helminthic therapy.\n\nPathophysiology\n\nAcute response\n\nIn the early stages of allergy, a type I hypersensitivity reaction against an allergen encountered for the first time and presented by a professional antigen-presenting cell causes a response in a type of immune cell called a TH2 lymphocyte, which belongs to a subset of T cells that produce a cytokine called interleukin-4 (IL-4). These TH2 cells interact with other lymphocytes called B cells, whose role is production of antibodies. Coupled with signals provided by IL-4, this interaction stimulates the B cell to begin production of a large amount of a particular type of antibody known as IgE. Secreted IgE circulates in the blood and binds to an IgE-specific receptor (a kind of Fc receptor called FcεRI) on the surface of other kinds of immune cells called mast cells and basophils, which are both involved in the acute inflammatory response. The IgE-coated cells, at this stage, are sensitized to the allergen.\n\nIf later exposure to the same allergen occurs, the allergen can bind to the IgE molecules held on the surface of the mast cells or basophils. Cross-linking of the IgE and Fc receptors occurs when more than one IgE-receptor complex interacts with the same allergenic molecule, and activates the sensitized cell. Activated mast cells and basophils undergo a process called degranulation, during which they release histamine and other inflammatory chemical mediators (cytokines, interleukins, leukotrienes, and prostaglandins) from their granules into the surrounding tissue causing several systemic effects, such as vasodilation, mucous secretion, nerve stimulation, and smooth muscle contraction. This results in rhinorrhea, itchiness, dyspnea, and anaphylaxis. Depending on the individual, allergen, and mode of introduction, the symptoms can be system-wide (classical anaphylaxis), or localized to particular body systems; asthma is localized to the respiratory system and eczema is localized to the dermis.\n\nLate-phase response\n\nAfter the chemical mediators of the acute response subside, late-phase responses can often occur. This is due to the migration of other leukocytes such as neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils and macrophages to the initial site. The reaction is usually seen 2–24 hours after the original reaction. Cytokines from mast cells may play a role in the persistence of long-term effects. Late-phase responses seen in asthma are slightly different from those seen in other allergic responses, although they are still caused by release of mediators from eosinophils and are still dependent on activity of TH2 cells.\n\nAllergic contact dermatitis\n\nAlthough allergic contact dermatitis is termed an \"allergic\" reaction (which usually refers to type I hypersensitivity), its pathophysiology actually involves a reaction that more correctly corresponds to a type IV hypersensitivity reaction. In type IV hypersensitivity, there is activation of certain types of T cells (CD8+) that destroy target cells on contact, as well as activated macrophages that produce hydrolytic enzymes.\n\nDiagnosis\n\nEffective management of allergic diseases relies on the ability to make an accurate diagnosis. Allergy testing can help confirm or rule out allergies. Correct diagnosis, counseling, and avoidance advice based on valid allergy test results reduces the incidence of symptoms and need for medications, and improves quality of life. To assess the presence of allergen-specific IgE antibodies, two different methods can be used: a skin prick test, or an allergy blood test. Both methods are recommended, and they have similar diagnostic value. \n\nSkin prick tests and blood tests are equally cost-effective, and health economic evidence shows that both tests were cost-effective compared with no test. Also, early and more accurate diagnoses save cost due to reduced consultations, referrals to secondary care, misdiagnosis, and emergency admissions. \n\nAllergy undergoes dynamic changes over time. Regular allergy testing of relevant allergens provides information on if and how patient management can be changed, in order to improve health and quality of life. Annual testing is often the practice for determining whether allergy to milk, egg, soy, and wheat have been outgrown, and the testing interval is extended to 2–3 years for allergy to peanut, tree nuts, fish, and crustacean shellfish. Results of follow-up testing can guide decision-making regarding whether and when it is safe to introduce or re-introduce allergenic food into the diet. \n\nSkin prick testing\n\n \n \nSkin testing is also known as \"puncture testing\" and \"prick testing\" due to the series of tiny punctures or pricks made into the patient's skin. Small amounts of suspected allergens and/or their extracts (e.g., pollen, grass, mite proteins, peanut extract) are introduced to sites on the skin marked with pen or dye (the ink/dye should be carefully selected, lest it cause an allergic response itself). A small plastic or metal device is used to puncture or prick the skin. Sometimes, the allergens are injected \"intradermally\" into the patient's skin, with a needle and syringe. Common areas for testing include the inside forearm and the back.\n\nIf the patient is allergic to the substance, then a visible inflammatory reaction will usually occur within 30 minutes. This response will range from slight reddening of the skin to a full-blown hive (called \"wheal and flare\") in more sensitive patients similar to a mosquito bite. Interpretation of the results of the skin prick test is normally done by allergists on a scale of severity, with +/- meaning borderline reactivity, and 4+ being a large reaction. Increasingly, allergists are measuring and recording the diameter of the wheal and flare reaction. Interpretation by well-trained allergists is often guided by relevant literature. Some patients may believe they have determined their own allergic sensitivity from observation, but a skin test has been shown to be much better than patient observation to detect allergy.\n\nIf a serious life-threatening anaphylactic reaction has brought a patient in for evaluation, some allergists will prefer an initial blood test prior to performing the skin prick test. Skin tests may not be an option if the patient has widespread skin disease, or has taken antihistamines in the last several days.\n\nPatch testing\n\nPatch testing is a method used to determine if a specific substance causes allergic inflammation of the skin. It tests for delayed reactions. It is used to help ascertain the cause of skin contact allergy, or contact dermatitis. Adhesive patches, usually treated with a number of common allergic chemicals or skin sensitizers, are applied to the back. The skin is then examined for possible local reactions at least twice, usually at 48 hours after application of the patch, and again two or three days later.\n\nBlood testing\n\nAn allergy blood test is quick and simple, and can be ordered by a licensed health care provider (e.g., an allergy specialist), GP, or PED. Unlike skin-prick testing, a blood test can be performed irrespective of age, skin condition, medication, symptom, disease activity, and pregnancy. Adults and children of any age can take an allergy blood test. For babies and very young children, a single needle stick for allergy blood testing is often more gentle than several skin tests.\n\nAn allergy blood test is available through most laboratories. A sample of the patient's blood is sent to a laboratory for analysis, and the results are sent back a few days later. Multiple allergens can be detected with a single blood sample. Allergy blood tests are very safe, since the person is not exposed to any allergens during the testing procedure.\n\nThe test measures the concentration of specific IgE antibodies in the blood. Quantitative IgE test results increase the possibility of ranking how different substances may affect symptoms. A rule of thumb is that the higher the IgE antibody value, the greater the likelihood of symptoms. Allergens found at low levels that today do not result in symptoms can nevertheless help predict future symptom development. The quantitative allergy blood result can help determine what a patient is allergic to, help predict and follow the disease development, estimate the risk of a severe reaction, and explain cross-reactivity. \n\nA low total IgE level is not adequate to rule out sensitization to commonly inhaled allergens. Statistical methods, such as ROC curves, predictive value calculations, and likelihood ratios have been used to examine the relationship of various testing methods to each other. These methods have shown that patients with a high total IgE have a high probability of allergic sensitization, but further investigation with allergy tests for specific IgE antibodies for a carefully chosen of allergens is often warranted.\n\nLaboratory methods to measure specific IgE antibodies for allergy testing include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, or EIA), radioallergosorbent test (RAST) and fluorescent enzyme immunoassay (FEIA). \n\nOther\n\nChallenge testing: Challenge testing is when small amounts of a suspected allergen are introduced to the body orally, through inhalation, or via other routes. Except for testing food and medication allergies, challenges are rarely performed. When this type of testing is chosen, it must be closely supervised by an allergist.\n\nElimination/Challenge tests: This testing method is used most often with foods or medicines. A patient with a suspected allergen is instructed to modify his diet to totally avoid that allergen for a set time. If the patient experiences significant improvement, he may then be \"challenged\" by reintroducing the allergen, to see if symptoms are reproduced.\n\nUnreliable tests: There are other types of allergy testing methods that are unreliable, including applied kinesiology (allergy testing through muscle relaxation), cytotoxicity testing, urine autoinjection, skin titration (Rinkel method), and provocative and neutralization (subcutaneous) testing or sublingual provocation.\n\nDifferential diagnosis\n\nBefore a diagnosis of allergic disease can be confirmed, other possible causes of the presenting symptoms should be considered. Vasomotor rhinitis, for example, is one of many maladies that shares symptoms with allergic rhinitis, underscoring the need for professional differential diagnosis. Once a diagnosis of asthma, rhinitis, anaphylaxis, or other allergic disease has been made, there are several methods for discovering the causative agent of that allergy.\n\nPrevention\n\nThe consumption of various foods during pregnancy has been linked to eczema; these include celery, citrus fruit, raw pepper, margarine, and vegetable oil. A high intake of antioxidants, zinc, and selenium during pregnancy may help prevent allergies. This is linked to a reduced risk for childhood-onset asthma, wheezing, and eczema. Further research needs to be conducted. Probiotic supplements taken during pregnancy or infancy may help to prevent atopic dermatitis. \nAfter birth, an early introduction of solid food and high diversity before week 17 could increase a child's risk for allergies. Studies suggest that introduction of solid food and avoidance of highly allergenic food such as peanuts during the first year does not help in allergy prevention.\n\nManagement\n\nManagement of allergies typically involves avoiding what triggers the allergy and medications to improve the symptoms. Allergen immunotherapy may be useful for some types of allergies.\n\nMedication\n\nSeveral medications maybe used to block the action of allergic mediators, or to prevent activation of cells and degranulation processes. These include antihistamines, glucocorticoids, epinephrine (adrenaline), mast cell stabilizers, and antileukotriene agents are common treatments of allergic diseases. Anti-cholinergics, decongestants, and other compounds thought to impair eosinophil chemotaxis, are also commonly used. Though rare, the severity of anaphylaxis often requires epinephrine injection, and where medical care is unavailable, a device known as an epinephrine autoinjector may be used.\n\nImmunotherapy\n\nAllergen immunotherapy is useful for environmental allergies, allergies to insect bites, and asthma. Its benefit for food allergies is unclear and thus not recommended. Immunotherapy involves exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen in an affect to change the immune system's response.\n\nMeta-analyses have found that injections of allergens under the skin is effective in the treatment in allergic rhinitis in children and in asthma. The benefits may last for years after treatment is stopped. It is generally safe and effective for allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, allergic forms of asthma, and stinging insects.\n\nThe evidence also supports the use of sublingual immunotherapy for rhinitis and asthma but it is less strong. For seasonal allergies the benefit is small. In this form the allergen is given under the tongue and people often prefer it to injections. Immunotherapy is not recommended as a stand-alone treatment for asthma.\n\nAlternative medicine\n\nAn experimental treatment, enzyme potentiated desensitization (EPD), has been tried for decades but is not generally accepted as effective. EPD uses dilutions of allergen and an enzyme, beta-glucuronidase, to which T-regulatory lymphocytes are supposed to respond by favoring desensitization, or down-regulation, rather than sensitization. EPD has also been tried for the treatment of autoimmune diseases but evidence does not show effectiveness.\n\nA review found no effectiveness of homeopathic treatments and no difference compared with placebo. The authors concluded that, based on rigorous clinical trials of all types of homeopathy for childhood and adolescence ailments, there is no convincing evidence that supports the use of homeopathic treatments.\n\nAccording to the NCCIH, the evidence is relatively strong that saline nasal irrigation and butterbur are effective, when compared to other alternative medicine treatments, for which the scientific evidence is weak, negative, or nonexistent, such as honey, acupuncture, omega 3's, probiotics, astragalus, capsaicin, grape seed extract, Pycnogenol, quercetin, spirulina, stinging nettle, tinospora or guduchi.\n \n\nEpidemiology\n\nThe allergic diseases — hay fever and asthma — have increased in the Western world over the past 2–3 decades. Increases in allergic asthma and other atopic disorders in industrialized nations, it is estimated, began in the 1960s and 1970s, with further increases occurring during the 1980s and 1990s, although some suggest that a steady rise in sensitization has been occurring since the 1920s. The number of new cases per year of atopy in developing countries has, in general, remained much lower.\n\nChanging frequency\n\nAlthough genetic factors govern susceptibility to atopic disease, increases in atopy have occurred within too short a time frame to be explained by a genetic change in the population, thus pointing to environmental or lifestyle changes. Several hypotheses have been identified to explain this increased rate; increased exposure to perennial allergens due to housing changes and increasing time spent indoors, and changes in cleanliness or hygiene that have resulted in the decreased activation of a common immune control mechanism, coupled with dietary changes, obesity and decline in physical exercise. The hygiene hypothesis maintains that high living standards and hygienic conditions exposes children to fewer infections. It is thought that reduced bacterial and viral infections early in life direct the maturing immune system away from TH1 type responses, leading to unrestrained TH2 responses that allow for an increase in allergy.\n\nChanges in rates and types of infection alone however, have been unable to explain the observed increase in allergic disease, and recent evidence has focused attention on the importance of the gastrointestinal microbial environment. Evidence has shown that exposure to food and fecal-oral pathogens, such as hepatitis A, Toxoplasma gondii, and Helicobacter pylori (which also tend to be more prevalent in developing countries), can reduce the overall risk of atopy by more than 60%, and an increased rate of parasitic infections has been associated with a decreased prevalence of asthma. It is speculated that these infections exert their effect by critically altering TH1/TH2 regulation. Important elements of newer hygiene hypotheses also include exposure to endotoxins, exposure to pets and growing up on a farm.\n\nHistory\n\nThe concept of \"allergy\" was originally introduced in 1906 by the Viennese pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet, after he noted that some of his patients were hypersensitive to normally innocuous entities such as dust, pollen, or certain foods. Pirquet called this phenomenon \"allergy\" from the Ancient Greek words ἄλλος allos meaning \"other\" and ἔργον ergon meaning \"work\".\n\nAll forms of hypersensitivity used to be classified as allergies, and all were thought to be caused by an improper activation of the immune system. Later, it became clear that several different disease mechanisms were implicated, with the common link to a disordered activation of the immune system. In 1963, a new classification scheme was designed by Philip Gell and Robin Coombs that described four types of hypersensitivity reactions, known as Type I to Type IV hypersensitivity. With this new classification, the word \"allergy\" was restricted to type I hypersensitivities (also called immediate hypersensitivity), which are characterized as rapidly developing reactions.\n\nA major breakthrough in understanding the mechanisms of allergy was the discovery of the antibody class labeled immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE was simultaneously discovered in 1966-7 by two independent groups: Ishizaka's team at the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and by Gunnar Johansson and Hans Bennich in Uppsala, Sweden. Their joint paper was published in April 1969. \n\nDiagnosis\n\nRadiometric assays include the radioallergosorbent test (RAST test) method, which uses IgE-binding (anti-IgE) antibodies labeled with radioactive isotopes for quantifying the levels of IgE antibody in the blood. Other newer methods use colorimetric or fluorescence-labeled technology in the place of radioactive isotopes.\n\nThe RAST methodology was invented and marketed in 1974 by Pharmacia Diagnostics AB, Uppsala, Sweden, and the acronym RAST is actually a brand name. In 1989, Pharmacia Diagnostics AB replaced it with a superior test named the ImmunoCAP Specific IgE blood test, which uses the newer fluorescence-labeled technology.\n\nAmerican College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) issued the Joint Task Force Report \"Pearls and pitfalls of allergy diagnostic testing\" in 2008, and is firm in its statement that the term RAST is now obsolete:\n\nThe term RAST became a colloquialism for all varieties of (in vitro allergy) tests. This is unfortunate because it is well recognized that there are well-performing tests and some that do not perform so well, yet they are all called RASTs, making it difficult to distinguish which is which. For these reasons, it is now recommended that use of RAST as a generic descriptor of these tests be abandoned. \n\nThe new version, the ImmunoCAP Specific IgE blood test, is the only specific IgE assay to receive FDA approval to quantitatively report to its detection limit of 0.1kU/l.\n\nMedical specialty\n\nAn allergist is a physician specially trained to manage and treat allergies, asthma and the other allergic diseases.\nIn the United States physicians holding certification by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI) have successfully completed an accredited educational program and evaluation process, including a proctored examination to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and experience in patient care in allergy and immunology. Becoming an allergist/immunologist requires completion of at least nine years of training. After completing medical school and graduating with a medical degree, a physician will undergo three years of training in internal medicine (to become an internist) or pediatrics (to become a pediatrician). Once physicians have finished training in one of these specialties, they must pass the exam of either the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), the American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics (AOBP), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), or the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine (AOBIM). Internists or pediatricians wishing to focus on the sub-specialty of allergy-immunology then complete at least an additional two years of study, called a fellowship, in an allergy/immunology training program. Allergist/immunologists listed as ABAI-certified have successfully passed the certifying examination of the ABAI following their fellowship.\n\nIn the United Kingdom, allergy is a subspecialty of general medicine or pediatrics. After obtaining postgraduate exams (MRCP or MRCPCH), a doctor works for several years as a specialist registrar before qualifying for the General Medical Council specialist register. Allergy services may also be delivered by immunologists. A 2003 Royal College of Physicians report presented a case for improvement of what were felt to be inadequate allergy services in the UK. In 2006, the House of Lords convened a subcommittee. It concluded likewise in 2007 that allergy services were insufficient to deal with what the Lords referred to as an \"allergy epidemic\" and its social cost; it made several recommendations.\n\nResearch\n\nLow-allergen foods are being developed, as are improvements in skin prick test predictions; evaluation of the atopy patch test; in wasp sting outcomes predictions and a rapidly disintegrating epinephrine tablet, and anti-IL-5 for eosinophilic diseases.\n\nAerobiology is the study of biological particles passively dispersed through the air. One aim is the prevention of allergies due to pollen.",
"Hay Fever (Allergic Rhinitis) - MedicineNet\nManage your allergy symptoms better during hay fever ... rhinitis) is a common allergic condition. ... a specific season is called \"seasonal allergic rhinitis.\"\nHay Fever Treatment, Home Remedies & Symptoms\nMedical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD\nMelissa Conrad Stöppler, MD\nMelissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.\nMedical Editor: John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP\nJohn P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP\nJohn P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.\nThe best way to treat an allergy condition is to identify the allergic trigger and avoid it.\nAllergists are medical specialists trained in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies , including hay fever.\nHistamine is a key chemical cause of allergic rhinitis and other allergic reactions.\nEffective treatment is available in many forms, including medications and desensitization therapy ( immunotherapy ).\nAntihistamines are the drugs most commonly used to treat allergic rhinitis.\nWhat is hay fever? What are hay fever symptoms and signs?\nShare Your Story\nHay fever affects up to 30% of all people worldwide, including up to 10% of U.S. children under 17 years of age and 7.8% of U.S. adults. The medical cost of allergic rhinitis is approximately $3.4 billion, mostly due to the cost of prescription medications. These figures are probably an underestimate because many of those affected may attribute their discomfort to a chronic cold . Although childhood hay fever tends to be more common, this condition can occur at any age and usually occurs after years of repeated inhalation of allergic substances. The incidence of allergic disease has dramatically increased in the U.S. and other developed countries over recent decades.\n\"Hay fever\" is a misnomer. Hay is not a usual cause of this problem, and it does not cause fever. Early descriptions of sneezing, nasal congestion , and eye irritation while harvesting field hay promoted this popular term. Allergic rhinitis is the correct term used to describe this allergic reaction , and many different substances cause the allergic symptoms noted in hay fever. Rhinitis means \"inflammation of the nose\" and is a derivative of rhino, meaning nose. Allergic rhinitis that occurs during a specific season is called \"seasonal allergic rhinitis.\" When it occurs throughout the year, it is called \"perennial allergic rhinitis.\" Rhinosinusitis is the medical term that refers to inflammation of the nasal lining as well as the lining tissues of the sinuses. This term is sometimes used because the two conditions frequently occur together.\nSymptoms of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, frequently include\nnasal congestion,\na runny nose with clear mucus,\nsneezing,\nnose, eye itching , and\nexcess tear production in the eyes.\nPostnasal dripping of clear mucus frequently causes a cough . Loss of the sense of smell is common, and loss of taste sense occurs occasionally. Nose bleeding may occur if the condition is severe. Eye itching , redness, and excess tears in the eyes frequently accompany the nasal symptoms. The eye symptoms are referred to as \" allergic conjunctivitis \" (inflammation of the whites of the eyes). These allergic symptoms often interfere with one's quality of life and overall health.\nMany people with allergies have difficulty with social and physical activities. For example, concentration is often difficult while experiencing allergic rhinitis symptoms.\nMedically Reviewed by a Doctor on 10/7/2016",
"Hay Fever | Rhinitis AAAAI\n... you may have a condition called rhinitis. ... Seasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, ... Feel Better. Live Better. An ...\nHay Fever | Rhinitis AAAAI\nShare |\nRhinitis (Hay Fever)\nDo you suffer from frequent sneezing, congestion or stuffiness and an itchy or runny nose? If so, you may have a condition called rhinitis .\nThere are two types of rhinitis: allergic rhinitis and non-allergic rhinitis.\nAllergic Rhinitis\nAllergic rhinitis is caused by allergens like molds, pollen and animals. These are substances which are usually harmless, but can cause allergic reactions in certain people.\nAllergy symptoms are the result of a chain reaction that starts in the immune system. Your immune system controls how your body defends itself. For instance, if you have an allergy to pollen, your immune system identifies pollen as an invader or allergen. Your immune system overreacts by producing antibodies called Immunoglobulin E (IgE). These antibodies travel to cells that release histamine and other chemicals, causing an allergic reaction with symptoms such as sneezing, stuffiness, a runny nose, itching and post-nasal drip.\nPeople with allergic rhinitis are also prone to itchy, watery eyes (from allergic conjunctivitis or eye allergies), and they may be more sensitive to irritants such as smoke, perfume or cold, dry air. Rhinitis can contribute to other problems such as asthma, sinus or ear conditions, or trouble sleeping.\nAllergic Rhinitis Triggers\nSeasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, is triggered by outdoor allergens such as pollen and mold spores. Some people have symptoms year-round due to indoor allergens from pets, mold, dust mites and cockroach residue. This is called perennial allergic rhinitis. You can suffer from either seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis, or a combination of both.\nDiagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis\nAn allergist/immunologist, often referred to as an allergist, has specialized training and experience to determine which allergens, if any, are causing your symptoms. Your allergist will take a detailed health history, perform a physical exam and then most likely test you for allergies. Skin tests show the results within 20 minutes. These results, as well as how frequent and bad your symptoms are, will be considered when developing a treatment plan. Steps to manage your symptoms may include avoiding the allergens you are allergic to, medications or allergy immunotherapy (allergy shots or tablets).\nTreatment and Management of Allergic Rhinitis\nThe first step to manage this condition is to avoid allergens that cause symptoms. For instance, if you are allergic to dust mites, it is important to take steps to prevent exposure to dust mites, such as frequently washing bed linens in hot water. The same is true for outdoor allergens. Limiting your exposure during times of high pollen and mold counts may help reduce symptoms.\nSometimes taking steps to avoid allergens isn’t possible or it isn’t enough to control allergic rhinitis symptoms. That is when your allergist may suggest allergy immunotherapy or recommend medications to control inflammation and prevent symptoms.\nNasal corticosteroid sprays control inflammation and reduce all symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including itching, sneezing, runny nose and stuffiness. Antihistamines in the form of liquid, pills or nasal sprays block histamine and may relieve itching, sneezing and runny nose. But they may not be as effective in reducing nasal stuffiness.\nAnti-leukotrienes in pill form can decrease the symptoms of allergic rhinitis in some people.\nDecongestant pills or nasal sprays can be used as needed if nasal stuffiness is not relieved with other medications. Decongestant nasal sprays should not be used for more than three days because they can cause your congestion to return and worsen. Ipratropium nasal spray can be used specifically for a runny nose.\nEven though some of these medications are available over-the-counter, you should still work with your allergist to discover what medications work best for you. More importantly, an allergist can screen you for allergic asthma, which is common for rhinitis patients.\nYour allergist may also recommend allergy immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots or tablets. This treatment involves receiving injections or taking tablets periodically over a period of three to five years. They have been proven effective in decreasing sensitivity to allergens, sometimes permanently.\nNon-Allergic Rhinitis\nMany people with rhinitis symptoms do not have allergies. If you have non-allergic rhinitis, avoiding allergens is unnecessary and won’t help your symptoms. This highlights the need to visit an allergist to determine what you are or are not allergic to.\nNon-allergic rhinitis usually begins in adults and causes year-round symptoms, especially a runny nose and nasal stuffiness. Strong odors, pollution, weather changes, smoke and other irritants may cause symptoms of non-allergic rhinitis. Non-allergic rhinitis symptoms can also develop as side effects of medications, including some blood pressure medicines, oral contraceptives or medications used for erectile dysfunction. Another type of non-allergic rhinitis is caused by nasal decongestant sprays such as oxymetazoline, when used for long periods of time. This type of medication-induced rhinitis is called rhinitis medicamentosa.\nTreatment of Non-Allergic Rhinitis\nOral antihistamines and anti-leukotriene drugs generally do not benefit non-allergic rhinitis. However, treatment options include nasal corticosteroid sprays and nasal antihistamine sprays. Ipratropium nasal spray can relieve a runny nose and decongestant pills can be used as needed to relieve nasal stuffiness.\nOther forms of treatment may be considered if you have problems with the structure of your nose, such as narrow drainage passages, tumors or a shifted nasal septum (the bone and cartilage that separate the right from the left nostril). In these cases, an operation may be needed.\n \nHealthy Tips\n• There are two forms of rhinitis: allergic and non-allergic. This distinction is important in order to provide the best plan for controlling your symptoms.\n• The allergic form of rhinitis can be caused by outdoor allergens such as pollen and mold spores. This is referred to as seasonal allergic rhinitis or hay fever. Allergic rhinitis can also be caused by indoor allergens such as dust mites or pets. This is called perennial allergic rhinitis, as symptoms are usually year-round.\n• Steps to treat allergic rhinitis include trigger avoidance, medications for inflammation and symptom relief, and immunotherapy (allergy shots and tablets). Treating non-allergic rhinitis may include symptom relieving medication. Operations to correct your nasal structure may also be necessary.\nFeel Better. Live Better.\nAn allergist / immunologist, often referred to as an allergist, is a pediatrician or internist with at least two additional years of specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies, asthma, immune deficiencies and other immunologic diseases.\nBy visiting the office of an allergist, you can expect an accurate diagnosis, a treatment plan that works and educational information to help you manage your disease and feel better.\nThe AAAAI's Find an Allergist / Immunologist service is a trusted resource to help you find a specialist close to home."
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Which US city has the same name as the state that it is in? | New York | [
"U.S._state.txt\nU.S. state\nA state of the United States of America is one of the 50 constituent political entities that shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the federal government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody).\n\nStates range in population from just under 600,000 (Wyoming) to over 38 million (California), and in area from (Rhode Island) to (Alaska). Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.\n\nStates are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local governmental authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state. State governments are allocated power by the people (of each respective state) through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in republican principles, and each provides for a government, consisting of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. \n\nStates possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution; among them ratifying constitutional amendments. Historically, the tasks of local law enforcement, public education, public health, regulating intrastate commerce, and local transportation and infrastructure have generally been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all of these now have significant federal funding and regulation as well. Over time, the U.S. Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a continuing debate over states' rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states' powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government and the rights of individuals.\n\nStates and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is represented by two Senators, and at least one Representative, while additional representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. Each state is also entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects the President of the United States, equal to the total of Representatives and Senators from that state. \n\nThe Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959.\n\nThe Constitution is silent on the question of whether states have the power to secede (withdraw from) from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that a state cannot unilaterally do so. \n\nStates of the United States\n\nThe 50 U.S. states (in alphabetical order), along with state flag and date each joined the union:\n\nGovernments\n\nAs each state is itself a sovereign entity, it reserves the right to organize its individual government in any way (within the broad parameters set by the U.S. Constitution) deemed appropriate by its people. As a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance. No two state governments are identical.\n\nConstitutions\n\nThe government of each state is structured in accordance with its individual constitution. Many of these documents are more detailed and more elaborate than their federal counterpart. The Constitution of Alabama, for example, contains 310,296 words — more than 40 times as many as the U.S. Constitution. In practice, each state has adopted a three-branch system of government, modeled after the federal government, and consisting of three branches (although the three-branch structure is not required): executive, legislative, and judicial. \n\nExecutive\n\nIn each state, the chief executive is called the governor, who serves as both head of state and head of government. The governor may approve or veto bills passed by the state legislature, as well as push for the passage of bills supported by the party of the Governor. In 43 states, governors have line item veto power. \n\nMost states have a \"plural executive\" in which two or more members of the executive branch are elected directly by the people. Such additional elected officials serve as members of the executive branch, but are not beholden to the governor and the governor cannot dismiss them. For example, the attorney general is elected, rather than appointed, in 43 of the 50 U.S. states.\n\nLegislative\n\nThe legislatures of 49 of the 50 states are made up of two chambers: a lower house (termed the House of Representatives, State Assembly, General Assembly or House of Delegates) and a smaller upper house, always termed the Senate. The exception is the unicameral Nebraska Legislature, which is composed of only a single chamber.\n\nMost states have part-time legislatures, while six of the most populated states have full-time legislatures. However, several states with high population have short legislative sessions, including Texas and Florida. \n\nIn Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court held that all states are required to elect their legislatures in such a way as to afford each citizen the same degree of representation (the one person, one vote standard). In practice, most states choose to elect legislators from single-member districts, each of which has approximately the same population. Some states, such as Maryland and Vermont, divide the state into single- and multi-member districts, in which case multi-member districts must have proportionately larger populations, e.g., a district electing two representatives must have approximately twice the population of a district electing just one. If the governor vetoes legislation, all legislatures may override it, usually, but not always, requiring a two-thirds majority.\n\nIn 2013, there were a total of 7,383 legislators in the 50 state legislative bodies. They earned from $0 annually (New Mexico) to $90,526 (California). There were various per diem and mileage compensation. \n\nJudicial\n\nStates can also organize their judicial systems differently from the federal judiciary, as long as they protect the federal constitutional right of their citizens to procedural due process. Most have a trial level court, generally called a District Court or Superior Court, a first-level appellate court, generally called a Court of Appeal (or Appeals), and a Supreme Court. However, Oklahoma and Texas have separate highest courts for criminal appeals. In New York State the trial court is called the Supreme Court; appeals are then taken to the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, and from there to the Court of Appeals.\n\nMost states base their legal system on English common law (with substantial indigenous changes and incorporation of certain civil law innovations), with the notable exception of Louisiana, a former French colony, which draws large parts of its legal system from French civil law.\n\nOnly a few states choose to have the judges on the state's courts serve for life terms. In most of the states the judges, including the justices of the highest court in the state, are either elected or appointed for terms of a limited number of years, and are usually eligible for re-election or reappointment.\n\nRelationships\n\nAmong states\n\nEach state admitted to the Union by Congress since 1789 has entered it on an equal footing with the original States in all respects. With the growth of states' rights advocacy during the antebellum period, the Supreme Court asserted, in Lessee of Pollard v. Hagan (1845), that the Constitution mandated admission of new states on the basis of equality.\n\nUnder Article Four of the United States Constitution, which outlines the relationship between the states, each state is required to give full faith and credit to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts and criminal judgments, and before 1865, slavery status. Regardless of the Full Faith and Credit Clause, some legal arrangements, such as professional licensure and marriages, may be state-specific, and until recently states have not been found by the courts to be required to honor such arrangements from other states. \n\nSuch legal acts are nevertheless often recognized state-to-state according to the common practice of comity. States are prohibited from discriminating against citizens of other states with respect to their basic rights, under the Privileges and Immunities Clause. Under the Extradition Clause, a state must extradite people located there who have fled charges of \"treason, felony, or other crimes\" in another state if the other state so demands. The principle of hot pursuit of a presumed felon and arrest by the law officers of one state in another state are often permitted by a state. \n\nWith the consent of Congress, states may enter into interstate compacts, agreements between two or more states. Compacts are frequently used to manage a shared resource, such as transportation infrastructure or water rights. \n\nWith the federal government\n\nEvery state is guaranteed a form of government that is grounded in republican principles, such as the consent of the governed. This guarantee has long been at the fore-front of the debate about the rights of citizens vis-à-vis the government. States are also guaranteed protection from invasion, and, upon the application of the state legislature (or executive, if the legislature cannot be convened), from domestic violence. This provision was discussed during the 1967 Detroit riot, but was not invoked.\n\nSince the early 20th century, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United States to allow greatly expanded scope of federal power over time, at the expense of powers formerly considered purely states' matters. The Cambridge Economic History of the United States says, \"On the whole, especially after the mid-1880s, the Court construed the Commerce Clause in favor of increased federal power.\" In Wickard v. Filburn , the court expanded federal power to regulate the economy by holding that federal authority under the commerce clause extends to activities which may appear to be local in nature but in reality effect the entire national economy and are therefore of national concern. \n\nFor example, Congress can regulate railway traffic across state lines, but it may also regulate rail traffic solely within a state, based on the reality that intrastate traffic still affects interstate commerce. In recent years, the Court has tried to place limits on the Commerce Clause in such cases as United States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison.\n\nAnother example of congressional power is its spending power—the ability of Congress to impose taxes and distribute the resulting revenue back to the states (subject to conditions set by Congress). An example of this is the system of federal aid for highways, which include the Interstate Highway System. The system is mandated and largely funded by the federal government, and also serves the interests of the states. By threatening to withhold federal highway funds, Congress has been able to pressure state legislatures to pass a variety of laws. An example is the nationwide legal drinking age of 21, enacted by each state, brought about by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Although some objected that this infringes on states' rights, the Supreme Court upheld the practice as a permissible use of the Constitution's Spending Clause in South Dakota v. Dole .\n\nAdmission into the Union\n\nArticle IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with the existing states. It also forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of both the affected states and Congress. This caveat was designed to give Eastern states that still had Western land claims (there were 4 in 1787), to have a veto over whether their western counties could become states, and has served this same function since, whenever a proposal to partition an existing state or states in order that a region within might either join another state or to create a new state has come before Congress.\n\nMost of the states admitted to the Union after the original 13 have been created from organized territories established and governed by Congress in accord with its plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. The outline for this process was established by the Northwest Ordinance (1787), which predates the ratification of the Constitution. In some cases, an entire territory has become a state; in others some part of a territory has.\n\nWhen the people of a territory make their desire for statehood known to the federal government, Congress may pass an enabling act authorizing the people of that territory to organize a constitutional convention to write a state constitution as a step towards admission to the Union. Each act details the mechanism by which the territory will be admitted as a state following ratification of their constitution and election of state officers. Although the use of an enabling act is a traditional historic practice, a number of territories have drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act and were subsequently admitted. Upon acceptance of that constitution, and upon meeting any additional Congressional stipulations, Congress has always admitted that territory as a state.\n\nIn addition to the original 13, six subsequent states were never an organized territory of the federal government, or part of one, before being admitted to the Union. Three were set off from an already existing state, two entered the Union after having been sovereign states, and one was established from unorganized territory:\n*California, 1850, from land ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848 under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. \n*Kentucky, 1792, from Virginia (District of Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties)Michael P. Riccards, \"Lincoln and the Political Question: The Creation of the State of West Virginia\" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a\no&d=5000522904 online edition]\n*Maine, 1820, from Massachusetts (District of Maine)\n*Texas, 1845, previously the Republic of Texas \n*Vermont, 1791, previously the Vermont Republic (also known as the New Hampshire Grants and claimed by New York) \n*West Virginia, 1863, from Virginia (Trans-Allegheny region counties) during the Civil War \n\nCongress is under no obligation to admit states, even in those areas whose population expresses a desire for statehood. Such has been the case numerous times during the nation's history. In one instance, Mormon pioneers in Salt Lake City sought to establish the state of Deseret in 1849. It existed for slightly over two years and was never approved by the United States Congress. In another, leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) in Indian Territory proposed to establish the state of Sequoyah in 1905, as a means to retain control of their lands. The proposed constitution ultimately failed in the U.S. Congress. Instead, the Indian Territory, along with Oklahoma Territory were both incorporated into the new state of Oklahoma in 1907. The first instance occurred while the nation still operated under the Articles of Confederation. The State of Franklin existed for several years, not long after the end of the American Revolution, but was never recognized by the Confederation Congress, which ultimately recognized North Carolina's claim of sovereignty over the area. The territory comprising Franklin later became part of the Southwest Territory, and ultimately the state of Tennessee.\n\nAdditionally, the entry of several states into the Union was delayed due to distinctive complicating factors. Among them, Michigan Territory, which petitioned Congress for statehood in 1835, was not admitted to the Union until 1837, due to a boundary dispute the adjoining state of Ohio. The Republic of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1837, but fears about potential conflict with Mexico delayed the admission of Texas for nine years. Also, statehood for Kansas Territory was held up for several years (1854–61) due to a series of internal violent conflicts involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions.\n\nPossible new states\n\nPuerto Rico\n\nPuerto Rico referred to itself as the \"Commonwealth of Puerto Rico\" in the English version of its constitution, and as \"Estado Libre Asociado\" (literally, Associated Free State) in the Spanish version.\n\nAs with any non-state territory of the United States, its residents do not have voting representation in the federal government. Puerto Rico has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a Resident Commissioner, a delegate with limited voting rights in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and no voting rights otherwise. \n\nA non-binding referendum on statehood, independence, or a new option for an associated territory (different from the current status) was held on November 6, 2012. Sixty one percent (61%) of voters chose the statehood option, while one third of the ballots were submitted blank. \n\nOn December 11, 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a concurrent resolution requesting the President and the Congress of the United States to respond to the referendum of the people of Puerto Rico, held on November 6, 2012, to end its current form of territorial status and to begin the process to admit Puerto Rico as a State. \n\nWashington, D.C.\n\nThe intention of the Founding Fathers was that the United States capital should be at a neutral site, not giving favor to any existing state; as a result, the District of Columbia was created in 1800 to serve as the seat of government. The inhabitants of the District do not have full representation in Congress or a sovereign elected government (they were allotted presidential electors by the 23rd amendment, and have a non-voting delegate in Congress).\n\nSome residents of the District support statehood of some form for that jurisdiction—either statehood for the whole district or for the inhabited part, with the remainder remaining under federal jurisdiction.\n\nOthers\n\nVarious proposals to divide California, usually involving splitting the south half from the north or the urban coastline from the rest of the state, have been advanced since the 1850s. Similarly, numerous proposals to divide New York, all of which involve to some degree the separation of New York City from the rest of the state, have been promoted over the past several decades. The partitioning of either state is, at the present, highly unlikely.\n\nOther even less likely possible new states are Guam and the Virgin Islands, both of which are unincorporated organized territories of the United States. Also, either the Northern Mariana Islands or American Samoa, an unorganized, unincorporated territory, could seek statehood.\n\nSecession from the Union\n\nThe Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the union. However, its predecessor document, the Articles of Confederation, stated that the United States \"shall be perpetual.\" The question of whether or not individual states held the right to unilateral secession remained a difficult and divisive one until the American Civil War. In 1860 and 1861, eleven southern states seceded, but following their defeat in the American Civil War were brought back into the Union during the Reconstruction Era. The federal government never recognized the secession of any of the rebellious states. \n\nFollowing the Civil War, the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that states did not have the right to secede and that any act of secession was legally void. Drawing on the Preamble to the Constitution, which states that the Constitution was intended to \"form a more perfect union\" and speaks of the people of the United States in effect as a single body politic, as well as the language of the Articles of Confederation, the Supreme Court maintained that states did not have a right to secede. However, the court's reference in the same decision to the possibility of such changes occurring \"through revolution, or through consent of the States,\" essentially means that this decision holds that no state has a right to unilaterally decide to leave the Union.\n\nCommonwealths\n\nFour states—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia —adopted Constitutions early in their post-colonial existence identifying themselves as commonwealths, rather than states. These commonwealths are states, but legally, each is a commonwealth because the term is contained in its constitution. As a result, \"commonwealth\" is used in all public and other state writings, actions or activities within their bounds.\n\nThe term, which refers to a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people, was first used in Virginia during the Interregnum, the 1649–60 period between the reigns of Charles I and Charles II during which parliament's Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector established a republican government known as the Commonwealth of England. Virginia became a royal colony again in 1660, and the word was dropped from the full title. When Virginia adopted its first constitution on June 29, 1776, it was reintroduced. Pennsylvania followed suit when it drew up a constitution later that year, as did Massachusetts, in 1780, and Kentucky, in 1792.\n\nThe U.S. territories of the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico are also referred to as commonwealths. This designation does have a legal status different from that of the 50 states. Both of these commonwealths are unincorporated territories of the United States.\n\nOrigins of states' names\n\nThe 50 states have taken their names from a wide variety of languages. Twenty-four state names originate from Native American languages. Of these, eight are from Algonquian languages, seven are from Siouan languages, three are from Iroquoian languages, one is from Uto-Aztecan languages and five others are from other indigenous languages. Hawaii's name is derived from the Polynesian Hawaiian language.\n\nOf the remaining names, 22 are from European languages: Seven from Latin (mainly Latinized forms of English names), the rest are from English, Spanish and French. Eleven states are named after individual people, including seven named for royalty and one named after an American president. The origins of six state names are unknown or disputed. Several of the states that derive their names from (corrupted) names used for Native peoples, have retained the plural ending of \"s\".\n\nGeography\n\nBorders\n\nThe borders of the 13 original states were largely determined by colonial charters. Their western boundaries were subsequently modified as the states ceded their western land claims to the Federal government during the 1780s and 1790s. Many state borders beyond those of the original 13 were set by Congress as it created territories, divided them, and over time, created states within them. Territorial and new state lines often followed various geographic features (such as rivers or mountain range peaks), and were influenced by settlement or transportation patterns. At various times, national borders with territories formerly controlled by other countries (British North America, New France, New Spain including Spanish Florida, and Russian America) became institutionalized as the borders of U.S. states. In the West, relatively arbitrary straight lines following latitude and longitude often prevail, due to the sparseness of settlement west of the Mississippi River.\n\nOnce established, most state borders have, with few exceptions, been generally stable. Only two states, Missouri (Platte Purchase) and Nevada, grew appreciably after statehood. Several of the original states ceded land, over a several year period, to the Federal government, which in turn became the Northwest Territory, Southwest Territory, and Mississippi Territory. In 1791 Maryland and Virginia ceded land to create the District of Columbia (Virginia's portion was returned in 1847). In 1850, Texas ceded a large swath of land to the federal government. Additionally, Massachusetts and Virginia (on two occasions), have lost land, in each instance to form a new state.\n\nThere have been numerous other minor adjustments to state boundaries over the years due to improved surveys, resolution of ambiguous or disputed boundary definitions, or minor mutually agreed boundary adjustments for administrative convenience or other purposes. Occasionally the United States Congress or the United States Supreme Court have settled state border disputes. One notable example is the case New Jersey v. New York, in which New Jersey won roughly 90% of Ellis Island from New York in 1998. \n\nRegional grouping\n\nStates may be grouped in regions; there are endless variations and possible groupings. Many are defined in law or regulations by the federal government. For example, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau region definition is \"widely used … for data collection and analysis,\"\"The National Energy Modeling System: An Overview 2003\" (Report #:DOE/EIA-0581, October 2009). United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. and is the most commonly used classification system. Other multi-state regions are unofficial, and defined by geography or cultural affinity rather than by state lines.",
"Same city name in different states. (America, Atlanta ...\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons ... there are many towns in NJ that have the same name ... Within the Same State?, City ...\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons) - City vs. City - City-Data Forum\nSame city name in different states. (America, Atlanta, pros, cons)\nUser Name\nAdvanced Search\nGo to Page...\nPlease register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account , you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.\nView detailed profile ( Advanced ) or search\nsite with\n891 posts, read 3,557,636 times\nReputation: 451\nAdvertisements\nDon't know if this has been asked, but does anyone know how it comes to be that a city name ends up in different states?\nExamples:\nRichmond & Arlington in TX and VA\nGainesville in FL and in VA\nCharleston in WVa and in SC\nMemphis in TN and in KY\nNashville in TN and in KY\nThere are many more that are just not coming to me, but I was wondering if anyone knows the how come behind this?\nThanks!\n2,984 posts, read 6,976,225 times\nReputation: 2222\nI know in the northeast many of the names were \"stolen\" from England and used in various states, i.e. Stratford, Glastonbury, Oxford, Norwich, etc.. I am thinking it was due to lack of creativity.\n \n12,277 posts, read 27,732,675 times\nReputation: 5118\ndid you know that the creators of The Simpsons purposely chose Springfield as the town name because there are so many of them? Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa can live in almost any state...and that was the idea. I know off-hand of one in NJ, MA, MO, IL.\neta - there are many towns in NJ that have the same name - e.g. - there are about 7 washington townships. silly.\n \n10,183 posts, read 22,451,530 times\nReputation: 3767\nI was thinking of Springfield, too. Also one in VT.\nQuote:\nOriginally Posted by tahiti\ndid you know that the creators of The Simpsons purposely chose Springfield as the town name because there are so many of them? Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa can live in almost any state...and that was the idea. I know off-hand of one in NJ, MA, MO, IL.\neta - there are many towns in NJ that have the same name - e.g. - there are about 7 washington townships. silly.\n \n5,565 posts, read 13,849,891 times\nReputation: 3734\n17 Decaturs\nI'm in Decatur, Alabama. There are 17 Decaturs, all thanks to the early American hero Stephen Decatur. I believe there was once a meeting of all the Decatur mayors in one of the Northern Decaturs. Our town is frequently confused with Decatur, Georgia.\n \n40 posts, read 178,463 times\nReputation: 34\nThere's both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon\nI was born in Orange, California, and I've heard that there is an Orange, Florida too.\n \n5,718 posts, read 12,845,135 times\nReputation: 2772\n2,795 posts, read 1,994,435 times\nReputation: 584\nAlexandria - Louisiana, Virginia, Minnesota, & Egypt.\nLafayette - Louisiana & Indiana. (but two different pronunciations!)\n \nLocation: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)\n4,085 posts, read 10,320,976 times\nReputation: 1897\nOriginally Posted by UmbrellasYearRound\nThere's both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon\nI was born in Orange, California, and I've heard that there is an Orange, Florida too.\nDon't forget Portland, Texas! And Orange, Texas, right on the border of Texas and Louisiana!\nThere are many, many Texas towns with the same name as other towns. I'd be here all day listing them all...\nAthens, TX and Athens, GA\nAtlanta, TX and Atlanta, GA\nMt. Pleasant, TX and Mt. Pleasant, MI; Mt. Pleasant, SC; and Mt. Pleasant, IA\nHuntsville, TX and Huntsville, AL\nDeKalb, TX and DeKalb, IL\nNot to mention Paris and Palestine. NOTHING like their namesakes, I assure you!\n \n22,836 posts, read 51,482,823 times\nReputation: 14588\nDENVER CO and DENVER NC\nThe Denver North carolina area was settled ca. 1770 and, because of it's location adjacent to a swampy area, was originally known as \"Dry Pond\". In 1873 \"Dry Pond\" was renamed \"Denver\" by D. Matt Thompson, the local school principal. Legend has it that in the early 1870's the people of \"Dry Pond\" were lobbying to persuade the railroads to route rail service through the area.\nRail service held the promise of opportunity, prosperity and wealth. They worried that the name \"Dry Pond\" made the area sound unattractive and that it might hamper their chances with the railroads. The school principle, being respected for his education and learning, was asked to help choose a new name that would make the area sound more appealing and help improve their chances of obtaining rail service. It was 1873 and Colorado was then being considered for admission to the Union, so Mr. Thompson suggested renaming the area after the capital of Colorado, thus the name of Denver. In 1877 the town of Denver was officially incorporated in the state of North Carolina. Sadly, all their efforts were for naught as the railroads decided not to bring a rail line through the newly named town. Without the railroads the growth of the small town was stymied, the town became too poor to maintain even it's own streets. In 1971 the little town of Denver lost it's incorporated status when the State of North Carolina rescinded the charters of several inactive N.C. cities.\nPlease register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.\nDetailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com .\nPage 1 of 15",
"US cities that have state names - CosmoQuest\n... of cities in the United States that share names with states in the US. This list is a chain, with each city name, ... US cities that have state ... same general ...\nUS cities that have state names\nOff-Topic Babbling\nUS cities that have state names\nIf this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.\n15,251\nUS cities that have state names\nI found this old list I made, of cities in the United States that share names with states in the US. This list is a chain, with each city name, except the first, coming from the state preceding. Can anyone find a longer chain?\nWyoming, Minnesota\nA circular chain (one longer than: New York, New York)?\nHow about cities in the world that share names with countries?\n0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...\nA man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. --Charles Darwin; That turned out good! --01101001\nPosts\n1,604\nWell I know that kind of interesting thing doesn't happen in Australia - most of our state names are very boring and descriptive! I must admit that I can't think of any cities that share their names with actual countries though.\nPosts\n1,604\nWell we've got a Miami and Toronto in Australia, but I can't think of any towns named after countries.\nOriginally Posted by archman\nI wonder how much stuff like this screws up the U.S. postal system.\nI came up with the list in order to screw up a certain corporate headquarters. When we moved into a new building, they directed us to name our conference rooms after cities. Another building's occupants had had to name their rooms after states. Evil person that I am, I submitted city names that were all also state names, so they'd appear to violate The Official Rules.\n0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...\nA man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. --Charles Darwin; That turned out good! --01101001",
"U S City Names List All 50 State City Names, Advertise ...\nHome City Click on State Name in right side ... Us City Names List Us City Names Us City Name. ... We will link you with other sites at the same ...\nU S City Names List All 50 State City Names, Advertise your site with us.\nFire Safety Certification - NEPA Fire Safety NEPA Fire Safety Training Fire Safety Training\n \nList of city names Alabama, List of city names Alaska,List of city names Arizona,List of city names Arkansas, List of city names,California,List of city names Colorado,List of city names Connecticut,List of city names Delaware,List of city names Florida,List of city names Georgia,List of city names Hawaii,List of city names Idaho, List of city names Illinois,List of city names Indiana,List of city names Iowa, List of city names Kansas,List of city names Kentucky,List of city names Louisiana,List of city names,List of city names Maine, List of city names Mayland,List of city names Massachusetts,List of city names Michigan, List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names,List of city names, List of city names Minnesota,List of city names Mississippi,List of city names Missouri, List of city names Montana,List of city names Nebraska,List of city names Nevada,List of city names New Hampshire,,List of city names New Jersey,List of city names New Mexico,List of city names New York,List of city namesNorth Carolina, List of city names North Dakota,List of city names Ohio,List of city names Oklahoma, List of city names Oregon,List of city names Pennsylvania,,List of city names Rode Island,List of city names South Carolina,List of city names South Dakota,List of city names Tennessee,List of city names Texas,List of city names Utah, List of city names Vermount,List of city names Virginia,List of city names Washington, List of city names West Virginia,List of city names Wisconsin,List of city names Wyhoming,List of all city names USA"
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"List of States in America That Start With - HubPages\nList of states in America that start with A. ... as the oldest state capital in the US. 32. State: New York ... five times if you cannot name all fifty states, ...\nList of States in America That Start With\nList of States in America That Start With\nUpdated on June 26, 2015\nThe United States\nIn recent news, the United States' president Barack Obama said that he has visited most of the 57 states in the United States. The video of Obama's speech has been making its rounds on the Internet. It was obviously a mistake on the president's part, but in reality, not many people probably even know how many states there are.\nEvery single person knows what the United States are. Obama might have made a mistake, but surprisingly, not many people can name all of the states off the top of their head and quite a bit of people think that there are 52 states, 48 states or give or take a few more. There are 50 states in America and here is the list of them in alphabetical order.\nSome of the capitals have been listed next to the states and other fun facts are also listed besides others.\nList of States in America that Start with A\nList of states in America that start with A.\nAlabama- The capital is Montgomery and the largest city is Birmingham.\nAlaska- The capital is Juneau and the largest city is Anchorage.\nArizona- The capital is Phoenix and the largest city is Phoenix.\nArkansas- The capital is Little Rock and the largest city is Little rock.\nStates that Start with the letter B\nThere are no states that begin with the letter B.\nList of States in America that Start with C\nList of states in America that start with C.\nCalifornia- The capital is Sacramento and the largest city is Los Angeles\nColorado- The capital is Denver and the largest city is Denver\nConnecticut- The capital is Hartford and the largest city is Bridgeport\nList of States in America that Start with D\nList of states in America that start with D.\nDelaware- The capital is Dover and the largest city is Wilmington\nStates that Start with the Letter E\nThere are no states that start with the letter E.\nStates that Start with F\nHere are the states that start with the letter F.\nFlorida- The capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville\nStates that Start with G\nHere are the states that start with the letter G.\nGeorgia- The capital is Atlanta and the largest city is Atlanta\nStates that Start with H\nHere are the states that start with the letter H.\nHawaii- The capital is Honolulu and the largest city is Honolulu\nStates that Start with I\nHere are the states that start with the letter I.\nIdaho- The capital is Boise and the largest city is Boise\nIllinois- The capital is Springfield and the largest city is Chicago\nIndiana- The capital is Indianapolis and the largest city is Indianapolis\nIowa- The capital is Des Moines and the largest city is Des Moines\nStates that Start with J\nThere are no states that start with the letter J.\nStates that Start with the Letter K\nHere are the states that start with the letter K.\nKansas- The capital is Topeka and the largest city is Wichita\nKentucky- The capital is Frankfort and the largest city is Lexington\nStates that Start with L\nHere are the states that start with the letter L.\nLouisiana- The nickname for this state is the pelican state\nStates that Start with M\nHere are the states that start with the letter M.\nMaine- The nickname for this state is the pine tree state\nMaryland- The nickname for this state is the free state\nMassachusetts- The nickname for this state is the bay state\nMichigan- The nickname for this state is the wolverine state\nMinnesota- The nickname for this state is the north star state\nMississippi- The nickname for this state is the magnolia state\nMissouri- The nickname for this state is the show-me state\nMontana- The nickname for this state is the treasure state\nStates that Start with N\nHere are the states that start with the letter N.\nNebraska\nStates that Start with O\nHere are the states that start with the letter O.\nOhio\nStates that Start with P\nHere is the state that starts with the letter P.\nPennsylvania\nStates that Start with Q\nThere are no states that start with the letter Q.\nStates that Start with R\nHere are the states that start with the letter R.\nRhode Island\nStates that Start with S\nHere are the states that start with the letter S.\nSouth Carolina\nStates that Start with T\nHere are the states that start with the letter T.\nTennessee\nStates that Start with U\nHere are the states that start with the letter U.\nUtah\nStates that Start with V\nHere are the states that start with the letter V.\nVermont\nStates that Start with W\nHere are the states that start with the letter W.\nWashington\nStates that Start with X\nThere are no states that start with the letter X.\nStates that Start with Y\nThere are no states that start with the letter Y.\nStates that Start with the letter Z\nThere are no states that start with the letter Z.\nList of Capitals in America\nHere is a complete list of state capitals in America. There are also some facts about each capital.\nList of State Capitals in America:\n1. State: Alabama\n- Capital: Montgomery\n- Population: 205,764\n- About Montgomery: Incorporated in 1819, Montgomery City was formed with the merger of two towns located along the Alabama River. It is known for its historic and cultural landmarks like the Alabama State Capitol, First White House of Confederacy, Alabama war memorial, Hanks William Memorial and many more. It is also home of important air force establishments.\n2. State: Alaska\n- Capital: Juneau\n- Population: 31,275\n- About Juneau: Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906. The city of Juneau is named after Joe Juneau, a gold prospector. Downtown Juneau is located at the sea level and surrounded by steep mountains.\n3. Arizona\n- Capital: Phoenix\n- Population: 1,445,632\nAbout Phoenix: Phoenix is the third state capital in the list of state capitals of US. Incorporated in 1881, Phoenix is the 6th most populous city in The US. The city is famous for its political culture, and many influential American politicians have come from this city. Phoenix is famous for its natural beauty, sunny skies and sports and cultural attractions. It also provides access to The Sonoran Desert.\n4. State: Arkansas\n- Capital: Little Rock\n- Population: 193,524\nAbout Little Rock: Little Rock gets its name from the small Rock formation near the south bank of Arkansas River. The city is known for its diverse economic climate. The city gave the US its first president in the form of Bill Clinton.\n5. State: California\n- Capital: Sacramento\n- Population: 466,488\nAbout Sacramento: Sacramento city is located at the confluence of two rivers – Sacramento River and American River. It is one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities of US.\n6. State: Colorado\n- Capital: Denver\n- Population: 600,158\nAbout Denver: Placed near the confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Denver is known as Mile-High City as it is exactly 1-mile above sea level. The city was founded in 1858 as a mining town during Pikes Peak gold rush. It is famous for its scenic surroundings and Coors Beer. The city has the world's 11th busiest airport.\n7. Connecticut\n- Capital: Hartford\n- Population: 124,775\nAbout Hartford: Hartford is famous known as 'the Insurance capital of the world' as it is home to many large insurance companies. The city is known for its economic activity, and it is 2nd in the US in terms of per capita economic activity.\n8. Delaware\n- Capital: Dover\n- Population: 36,047\nAbout Dover: Incorporated in 1717, Dover is a small capital city with a tiny population. The city is famous for NASCAR races that are held at Dover International Speedway for two weekends a year. It attracts more than 100,000 spectators.\n9. State: Florida\n- Capital: Tallahassee\n- Population: 181,376\nAbout Tallahassee: Tallahassee is Florida's prominent college cities and is home to several universities. It is a regional centre for scientific research, and trade and agriculture.\n10. State: Georgia\n- Capital: Atlanta\n- Population: 420,003\nAbout Atlanta: Atlanta is famous for being a place of origin for Coca-Cola Company. It is also home to one of the world's busiest airports, thanks to Atlanta being one of the major business cities in the US. Big companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, The Home Depot, UPS, Delta Airlines and CNN have their headquarters in Atlanta.\n11. Hawaii\n- Capital: Honolulu\n- Population: 953,207\nAbout Honolulu: Honolulu is known for the horrific Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. It is also famous for Arizona Memorial. The city skyline is marked by high-rises, and it ranks 4th in terms of high-rises in the US.\n12. State: Idaho\n- Capital: Boise\n- Population: 205,671\nAbout Boise: Idaho is famous for its farming of potatoes. Boise has attracted many hi-tech companies over the years that are also contributing to the economy. Call centre industry is one of the major sources of employment here.\n13. Illinois\n- Capital: Springfield\n- Population: 116,250\nAbout Illinois: Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders and is also known as a leader in music education.\n14. State: Indiana\n- Capital: Indianapolis\n- Population: 820,445\nAbout Indianapolis: The city is well-known for its annual Indianapolis 500 and the NHRA US Nationals.\n15. Iowa\n- Capital: Des Moines\n- Population: 203,433\nAbout Des Moines: Des Moines is the major centre for the insurance industry and financial services.\n16. State: Kansas\nAbout Frankfort: Frankfort is known for Frankfort Cemetery, Old State Capitol and Old State Arsenal.\n18. State: Louisiana\n- Capital: Baton Rouge\n- Population: 229,493\nAbout Baton Rouge: It is a major industrial, medical and research center. Baton Rouge area, also known as the Capital Area is the first bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta.\n19. State: Maine\n- Capital: Augusta\n- Population: 200,000 City, 500,000 Trade Region\nAbout Augusta: Augusta National is one of the most admired golf clubs in history for its beauty and legends. Every year in April, golf players from all over the world concentrate on the legendary golf course at Augusta National for the Master's Tournament.\n20. State: Maryland\n- Capital: Annapolis\n- Population: 35,838 according to the 2000 Census\nAbout Annapolis: The city is known for its largest collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture. It has abundant examples of Victorian and other famous architectural styles such as Georgian mansions, Tudor Revival, Beaux Arts and many more. It became the country's first National Historic Landmark District.\n21. State: Massachusetts- Capital: Boston - Population: 589,141\nAbout Boston: Boston is known for the nation's first public park (The Boston Commons), the first public library and the first subway. This largest city of Massachusetts harbors some of the most popular historical sites in the country: the Boston Tea Party ship, Paul Revere House and Faneuil Hall.\n22. State: Michigan\n-Capital: Lansing\n- Population: 114,297 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Lansing: Lansing is known as the car capital of North America. East Lansing is famous for its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that is not also a county seat.\n23. State: Minnesota\n- Capital: St. Paul\n- Population: 275,000\nAbout St. Paul: St. Paul is one of the twin cities (other one Minneapolis). Located on the Missisippi River, St. Paul is the home to seven Fortune 1000 Company Headquaters. The city is famous for its St. Paul Winter Carnival.\n24. State: Mississippi\n- Capital: Jackson\n- Population: 173,514 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Jackson: Jackson is home to several major industries including processed food, electrical equipment and primary metal products. This modern city is known for its fun and festive events such as Farish Street festival, Missisippi Trade fair and Dixie National Rodeo.\n25. State: Missouri\n- Capital: Jefferson City\n- Population: 43,079\nAbout Jefferson City: Jefferson City is a historic place that is famous for its Missouri State Penitentiary, Civil War history and the state capitol.\n26. State: Montana\n- Capital: Helena\n- Population: 28,180\nAbout Helena: The city is home to Helena Brewers (minor league baseball team) and Helena Bighorns (tier III Junior ice hockey team).\n27. State: Nebraska\nAbout Trenton: The city is known for \"Battle of Trenton,\" George Washington's first military victory.\n31. State: New Mexico\n- Capital: Santa Fe\n- Population: 67,947\nAbout Santa Fe: It is known as the second largest art center in United States. It is the highest as well as the oldest state capital in the US.\n32. State: New York\n- Capital: Albany\n- Population: 97,856\nAbout Albany: Albany is known for its rich culture, architecture, history and institutions for higher education. It won the All-America City Award in 1991 and 2009.\n33. State: North Carolina\n- Capital: Raleigh\n- Population: 403,892\nAbout Raleigh: Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its many oak trees. Due to its high quality life and business climate, Raleigh was featured in the Top 10 Lists of Forbes and Money Magazine.\n34. State: North Dakota\n- Capital: Bismarck\n- Population: 61,272\nAbout Bismarck: Bismarck holds a major place in retail and health care and is the economic center of North and South Dakota.\n35. State: Ohio\n- Capital: Columbus\n- Population: 2,031,229.\nAbout Columbus: This technologically advanced city is hub of research and development, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, Chemical Abstracts Service and Netjets and the Ohio State University.\n36. State: Oklahoma\nAbout Salem: The city is known for Corban University and Willamette University.\n38. State: Pennsylvania\n- Capital: Harrisburg\n- About Harrisburg: The city is known for its important role in the history of America. It is popular for its Pennsylvania Farm Show and annual outdoor Sports show.\n39. State: Rhode Island\n- Capital: Providence\n- Population: 178,042\nAbout Providence: Providence is one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware designs and manufacturing.\n40. State: South Carolina\n- Capital: Columbia\n- Population: 129,272\nAbout Columbia: In the past the city has been rated as one of the America's 25 best places to retire.\n41. State: South Dakota\nAbout Nashville: Also known as Music city, Nashville is the center to music industry.\n43. State: Texas\n- Capital: Austin\n- Population: 790,390\nAbout Austin: Many people all around the world travel to Austin just to attend incredible music events going throughout the year.\n44. State: Utah\n- Capital: Salt lake city\n- Population: 180,000\nAbout Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City is the base for outdoor recreational activities such as ski resorts.\n45. State: Vermont\n- Capital: Montpelier\n- Population: 7,855\nAbout Montpelier: It is the smallest state capital in the United States. Two important buildings in Montpelier are Vermont History Museum and Vermont State House.\n46. State: Virginia\n- Capital: Richmond\n- Population: 204,214\nAbout Richmond: Due to its great architectural style, Richmond is one of the major tourist attractions.\n47. State: Washington",
"List of States in America That Start With - HubPages\nList of states in America that start with A. ... no states that begin with the letter B. ... its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that ...\nList of States in America That Start With\nList of States in America That Start With\nUpdated on June 26, 2015\nThe United States\nIn recent news, the United States' president Barack Obama said that he has visited most of the 57 states in the United States. The video of Obama's speech has been making its rounds on the Internet. It was obviously a mistake on the president's part, but in reality, not many people probably even know how many states there are.\nEvery single person knows what the United States are. Obama might have made a mistake, but surprisingly, not many people can name all of the states off the top of their head and quite a bit of people think that there are 52 states, 48 states or give or take a few more. There are 50 states in America and here is the list of them in alphabetical order.\nSome of the capitals have been listed next to the states and other fun facts are also listed besides others.\nList of States in America that Start with A\nList of states in America that start with A.\nAlabama- The capital is Montgomery and the largest city is Birmingham.\nAlaska- The capital is Juneau and the largest city is Anchorage.\nArizona- The capital is Phoenix and the largest city is Phoenix.\nArkansas- The capital is Little Rock and the largest city is Little rock.\nStates that Start with the letter B\nThere are no states that begin with the letter B.\nList of States in America that Start with C\nList of states in America that start with C.\nCalifornia- The capital is Sacramento and the largest city is Los Angeles\nColorado- The capital is Denver and the largest city is Denver\nConnecticut- The capital is Hartford and the largest city is Bridgeport\nList of States in America that Start with D\nList of states in America that start with D.\nDelaware- The capital is Dover and the largest city is Wilmington\nStates that Start with the Letter E\nThere are no states that start with the letter E.\nStates that Start with F\nHere are the states that start with the letter F.\nFlorida- The capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville\nStates that Start with G\nHere are the states that start with the letter G.\nGeorgia- The capital is Atlanta and the largest city is Atlanta\nStates that Start with H\nHere are the states that start with the letter H.\nHawaii- The capital is Honolulu and the largest city is Honolulu\nStates that Start with I\nHere are the states that start with the letter I.\nIdaho- The capital is Boise and the largest city is Boise\nIllinois- The capital is Springfield and the largest city is Chicago\nIndiana- The capital is Indianapolis and the largest city is Indianapolis\nIowa- The capital is Des Moines and the largest city is Des Moines\nStates that Start with J\nThere are no states that start with the letter J.\nStates that Start with the Letter K\nHere are the states that start with the letter K.\nKansas- The capital is Topeka and the largest city is Wichita\nKentucky- The capital is Frankfort and the largest city is Lexington\nStates that Start with L\nHere are the states that start with the letter L.\nLouisiana- The nickname for this state is the pelican state\nStates that Start with M\nHere are the states that start with the letter M.\nMaine- The nickname for this state is the pine tree state\nMaryland- The nickname for this state is the free state\nMassachusetts- The nickname for this state is the bay state\nMichigan- The nickname for this state is the wolverine state\nMinnesota- The nickname for this state is the north star state\nMississippi- The nickname for this state is the magnolia state\nMissouri- The nickname for this state is the show-me state\nMontana- The nickname for this state is the treasure state\nStates that Start with N\nHere are the states that start with the letter N.\nNebraska\nStates that Start with O\nHere are the states that start with the letter O.\nOhio\nStates that Start with P\nHere is the state that starts with the letter P.\nPennsylvania\nStates that Start with Q\nThere are no states that start with the letter Q.\nStates that Start with R\nHere are the states that start with the letter R.\nRhode Island\nStates that Start with S\nHere are the states that start with the letter S.\nSouth Carolina\nStates that Start with T\nHere are the states that start with the letter T.\nTennessee\nStates that Start with U\nHere are the states that start with the letter U.\nUtah\nStates that Start with V\nHere are the states that start with the letter V.\nVermont\nStates that Start with W\nHere are the states that start with the letter W.\nWashington\nStates that Start with X\nThere are no states that start with the letter X.\nStates that Start with Y\nThere are no states that start with the letter Y.\nStates that Start with the letter Z\nThere are no states that start with the letter Z.\nList of Capitals in America\nHere is a complete list of state capitals in America. There are also some facts about each capital.\nList of State Capitals in America:\n1. State: Alabama\n- Capital: Montgomery\n- Population: 205,764\n- About Montgomery: Incorporated in 1819, Montgomery City was formed with the merger of two towns located along the Alabama River. It is known for its historic and cultural landmarks like the Alabama State Capitol, First White House of Confederacy, Alabama war memorial, Hanks William Memorial and many more. It is also home of important air force establishments.\n2. State: Alaska\n- Capital: Juneau\n- Population: 31,275\n- About Juneau: Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906. The city of Juneau is named after Joe Juneau, a gold prospector. Downtown Juneau is located at the sea level and surrounded by steep mountains.\n3. Arizona\n- Capital: Phoenix\n- Population: 1,445,632\nAbout Phoenix: Phoenix is the third state capital in the list of state capitals of US. Incorporated in 1881, Phoenix is the 6th most populous city in The US. The city is famous for its political culture, and many influential American politicians have come from this city. Phoenix is famous for its natural beauty, sunny skies and sports and cultural attractions. It also provides access to The Sonoran Desert.\n4. State: Arkansas\n- Capital: Little Rock\n- Population: 193,524\nAbout Little Rock: Little Rock gets its name from the small Rock formation near the south bank of Arkansas River. The city is known for its diverse economic climate. The city gave the US its first president in the form of Bill Clinton.\n5. State: California\n- Capital: Sacramento\n- Population: 466,488\nAbout Sacramento: Sacramento city is located at the confluence of two rivers – Sacramento River and American River. It is one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities of US.\n6. State: Colorado\n- Capital: Denver\n- Population: 600,158\nAbout Denver: Placed near the confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Denver is known as Mile-High City as it is exactly 1-mile above sea level. The city was founded in 1858 as a mining town during Pikes Peak gold rush. It is famous for its scenic surroundings and Coors Beer. The city has the world's 11th busiest airport.\n7. Connecticut\n- Capital: Hartford\n- Population: 124,775\nAbout Hartford: Hartford is famous known as 'the Insurance capital of the world' as it is home to many large insurance companies. The city is known for its economic activity, and it is 2nd in the US in terms of per capita economic activity.\n8. Delaware\n- Capital: Dover\n- Population: 36,047\nAbout Dover: Incorporated in 1717, Dover is a small capital city with a tiny population. The city is famous for NASCAR races that are held at Dover International Speedway for two weekends a year. It attracts more than 100,000 spectators.\n9. State: Florida\n- Capital: Tallahassee\n- Population: 181,376\nAbout Tallahassee: Tallahassee is Florida's prominent college cities and is home to several universities. It is a regional centre for scientific research, and trade and agriculture.\n10. State: Georgia\n- Capital: Atlanta\n- Population: 420,003\nAbout Atlanta: Atlanta is famous for being a place of origin for Coca-Cola Company. It is also home to one of the world's busiest airports, thanks to Atlanta being one of the major business cities in the US. Big companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, The Home Depot, UPS, Delta Airlines and CNN have their headquarters in Atlanta.\n11. Hawaii\n- Capital: Honolulu\n- Population: 953,207\nAbout Honolulu: Honolulu is known for the horrific Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. It is also famous for Arizona Memorial. The city skyline is marked by high-rises, and it ranks 4th in terms of high-rises in the US.\n12. State: Idaho\n- Capital: Boise\n- Population: 205,671\nAbout Boise: Idaho is famous for its farming of potatoes. Boise has attracted many hi-tech companies over the years that are also contributing to the economy. Call centre industry is one of the major sources of employment here.\n13. Illinois\n- Capital: Springfield\n- Population: 116,250\nAbout Illinois: Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders and is also known as a leader in music education.\n14. State: Indiana\n- Capital: Indianapolis\n- Population: 820,445\nAbout Indianapolis: The city is well-known for its annual Indianapolis 500 and the NHRA US Nationals.\n15. Iowa\n- Capital: Des Moines\n- Population: 203,433\nAbout Des Moines: Des Moines is the major centre for the insurance industry and financial services.\n16. State: Kansas\nAbout Frankfort: Frankfort is known for Frankfort Cemetery, Old State Capitol and Old State Arsenal.\n18. State: Louisiana\n- Capital: Baton Rouge\n- Population: 229,493\nAbout Baton Rouge: It is a major industrial, medical and research center. Baton Rouge area, also known as the Capital Area is the first bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta.\n19. State: Maine\n- Capital: Augusta\n- Population: 200,000 City, 500,000 Trade Region\nAbout Augusta: Augusta National is one of the most admired golf clubs in history for its beauty and legends. Every year in April, golf players from all over the world concentrate on the legendary golf course at Augusta National for the Master's Tournament.\n20. State: Maryland\n- Capital: Annapolis\n- Population: 35,838 according to the 2000 Census\nAbout Annapolis: The city is known for its largest collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture. It has abundant examples of Victorian and other famous architectural styles such as Georgian mansions, Tudor Revival, Beaux Arts and many more. It became the country's first National Historic Landmark District.\n21. State: Massachusetts- Capital: Boston - Population: 589,141\nAbout Boston: Boston is known for the nation's first public park (The Boston Commons), the first public library and the first subway. This largest city of Massachusetts harbors some of the most popular historical sites in the country: the Boston Tea Party ship, Paul Revere House and Faneuil Hall.\n22. State: Michigan\n-Capital: Lansing\n- Population: 114,297 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Lansing: Lansing is known as the car capital of North America. East Lansing is famous for its reputed Michigan State University. It is the only state capital that is not also a county seat.\n23. State: Minnesota\n- Capital: St. Paul\n- Population: 275,000\nAbout St. Paul: St. Paul is one of the twin cities (other one Minneapolis). Located on the Missisippi River, St. Paul is the home to seven Fortune 1000 Company Headquaters. The city is famous for its St. Paul Winter Carnival.\n24. State: Mississippi\n- Capital: Jackson\n- Population: 173,514 (as of the census of 2010)\nAbout Jackson: Jackson is home to several major industries including processed food, electrical equipment and primary metal products. This modern city is known for its fun and festive events such as Farish Street festival, Missisippi Trade fair and Dixie National Rodeo.\n25. State: Missouri\n- Capital: Jefferson City\n- Population: 43,079\nAbout Jefferson City: Jefferson City is a historic place that is famous for its Missouri State Penitentiary, Civil War history and the state capitol.\n26. State: Montana\n- Capital: Helena\n- Population: 28,180\nAbout Helena: The city is home to Helena Brewers (minor league baseball team) and Helena Bighorns (tier III Junior ice hockey team).\n27. State: Nebraska\nAbout Trenton: The city is known for \"Battle of Trenton,\" George Washington's first military victory.\n31. State: New Mexico\n- Capital: Santa Fe\n- Population: 67,947\nAbout Santa Fe: It is known as the second largest art center in United States. It is the highest as well as the oldest state capital in the US.\n32. State: New York\n- Capital: Albany\n- Population: 97,856\nAbout Albany: Albany is known for its rich culture, architecture, history and institutions for higher education. It won the All-America City Award in 1991 and 2009.\n33. State: North Carolina\n- Capital: Raleigh\n- Population: 403,892\nAbout Raleigh: Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its many oak trees. Due to its high quality life and business climate, Raleigh was featured in the Top 10 Lists of Forbes and Money Magazine.\n34. State: North Dakota\n- Capital: Bismarck\n- Population: 61,272\nAbout Bismarck: Bismarck holds a major place in retail and health care and is the economic center of North and South Dakota.\n35. State: Ohio\n- Capital: Columbus\n- Population: 2,031,229.\nAbout Columbus: This technologically advanced city is hub of research and development, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, Chemical Abstracts Service and Netjets and the Ohio State University.\n36. State: Oklahoma\nAbout Salem: The city is known for Corban University and Willamette University.\n38. State: Pennsylvania\n- Capital: Harrisburg\n- About Harrisburg: The city is known for its important role in the history of America. It is popular for its Pennsylvania Farm Show and annual outdoor Sports show.\n39. State: Rhode Island\n- Capital: Providence\n- Population: 178,042\nAbout Providence: Providence is one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware designs and manufacturing.\n40. State: South Carolina\n- Capital: Columbia\n- Population: 129,272\nAbout Columbia: In the past the city has been rated as one of the America's 25 best places to retire.\n41. State: South Dakota\nAbout Nashville: Also known as Music city, Nashville is the center to music industry.\n43. State: Texas\n- Capital: Austin\n- Population: 790,390\nAbout Austin: Many people all around the world travel to Austin just to attend incredible music events going throughout the year.\n44. State: Utah\n- Capital: Salt lake city\n- Population: 180,000\nAbout Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City is the base for outdoor recreational activities such as ski resorts.\n45. State: Vermont\n- Capital: Montpelier\n- Population: 7,855\nAbout Montpelier: It is the smallest state capital in the United States. Two important buildings in Montpelier are Vermont History Museum and Vermont State House.\n46. State: Virginia\n- Capital: Richmond\n- Population: 204,214\nAbout Richmond: Due to its great architectural style, Richmond is one of the major tourist attractions.\n47. State: Washington",
"The Only State... Quiz - Sporcle\nGeography / The Only State... ... whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital? ... Find the US States Ultimate Minefield 2,421;\nThe Only State... Quiz\nExtra Trivia\n...whose name appears in another state's most populous city?\nKansas City is the name of the biggest city in Missouri but only the third biggest city in Kansas.\n...to host three modern Olympic Games?\nBesides the two Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.\n...that allows residents to vote from outer space?\nThe reasoning behind this 1997 law makes sense when you consider that most Astronauts live and work in Houston.\n...without a McDonalds within the borders of its state capital?\nMontpelier is also the smallest state capital, with less than 8,000 people.\n...to have a state-owned bank?\nThe Bank of North Dakota was founded in 1919, and receives funds from state agencies.\n...whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital?\nThis may not be the most interesting 'Only' stat about South Dakota, but it's the only one I could find...\n...to insist upon statewide female suffrage as a requirement for its entry into the Union?\nThe Wyoming Territory's 1869 passage of female suffrage inspired the state's Official Nickname 'The Equality State.'\n...whose legal right to statehood was brought before the Supreme Court?\nVirginia v. West Virginia, in which Virgina strove to regain counties that had seceded during the Civil War, was decided in favor of the Defendant.\n...that has no law requiring seatbelts for adults in automobiles?\nNew Hampshire residents take their 'Live Free Or Die' motto rather seriously\n...to have a lighthouse that stands over 60 meters high?\nThe Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 63 meters tall (200 feet), is located on the state's easternmost island.\n...in which diamonds are mined?\nCrater of Diamonds State Park is also the world's only diamond-bearing site open to the public.\n...in which the Northern half is in a different time zone than the Southern half?\nNorthern Idaho is on Pacific Time, while Southern Idaho is on Mountain Time.\n...to be represented by an African-American Senator prior to the 20th Century?\nBefore 1967, Mississippi's Hiram Revels (1870) and Blanche Bruce (1875) were the only two black US Senators in history.\n...whose median age is under 30 years old?\nThe Mormon Church's encouragement of large families may explain why Utah's median age is only 28.8 years.\n...to produce two US Presidents whose sons also became Presidents?\nCoincidentally, both sons shared their Father's names--John Quincy Adams and George Walker Bush.\n...to be named after an American?\nPerhaps only George Washington had the gravitas to merit such an honor; a state of Franklin was attempted but failed to be approved.\n...to have a higher population density than Puerto Rico?\nThe most densely populated state, New Jersey's 1,189 residents/square mile beats out Puerto Rico's 1,163.\n...whose postal abbreviation consists of two vowels?\nIowa is also the only state whose name begins with two vowels.\n...to lie entirely above 1,000 meters elevation?\nColorado's lowest point, at the border with Kansas, is higher than Pennsylvania's tallest summit.\n...where a nuclear weapon was exploded prior to the bombing of Japan?\nThe Trinity Site, NM, was America's first and only test of the atomic bomb before it was dropped on Hiroshima.\n...to host a Confederate President's inauguration?\nJefferson Davis took his oath of office at the Alabama State Capitol building in 1861.\n...that has 'parishes' instead of counties?\nLouisiana's unique use of the word 'parish' is a holdover from its days as a French Colony.\n...to have two Federal Reserve Banks?\nThe Federal bank in Kansas City covers the Great Plains region, while the bank in St. Louis covers part of the Central US.\n...with a modern city founded by European colonists prior to 1600?\nSt. Augustine, founded in 1565, was originally the capital of Spanish Florida.\n...to contain more than one Ivy League school?\nColumbia University is located in New York City, while Cornell is in Ithaca\nExceptional Quality\n...whose official name is more than four words long?\n'State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,' is typically used only on official documents.\n...with different designs on either side of its State Flag?\nOregon's flag has the state seal on its front, and an illustration of a beaver on the back.\n...to border the Canadian province of New Brunswick?\nMaine has one border with New Hampshire, but is otherwise surrounded by Canadian provinces.\n...whose three largest cities begin with the same letter?\nThe largest city in Ohio is Columbus, followed by Cleveland and then Cincinnati.\n...to have a Unicameral Legislature?\nNebraska's legislature, nicknamed 'The Unicameral' by residents, is also uniquely unaffiliated with any political party.\n...without commercial air service?",
"The Only State ... Quiz - Sporcle\nThe Only State... Random Geography ... whose three largest cities begin with the same letter? ... state, America, american history, Great Lakes Trivia, ...\nThe Only State... Quiz\nExtra Trivia\n...whose current State Capitol building predates the revolution?\nThe Maryland State House, built in 1772, has a unique wooden dome which was constructed without nails.\n...to produce two US Presidents whose sons also became Presidents?\nCoincidentally, both sons shared their Father's names--John Quincy Adams and George Walker Bush.\n...to host a Confederate President's inauguration?\nJefferson Davis took his oath of office at the Alabama State Capitol building in 1861.\n...whose official state seal is not circular?\nConnecticut's seal, depicting three grapevines and the state motto, is oval-shaped.\n...to have two Federal Reserve Banks?\nThe Federal bank in Kansas City covers the Great Plains region, while the bank in St. Louis covers part of the Central US.\n...in which the Northern half is in a different time zone than the Southern half?\nNorthern Idaho is on Pacific Time, while Southern Idaho is on Mountain Time.\n...to have multiple native sons immortalized atop Mount Rushmore?\nGeorge Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both born in Virginia, as were six other Presidents.\n...that has 'parishes' instead of counties?\nLouisiana's unique use of the word 'parish' is a holdover from its days as a French Colony.\n...with a community-owned major league professional sports team?\nThe NFL's Green Bay Packers are owned by a large group of stockholders mostly residing in Wisconsin.\n...whose median age is under 30 years old?\nThe Mormon Church's encouragement of large families may explain why Utah's median age is only 28.8 years.\n...to lie entirely above 1,000 meters elevation?\nColorado's lowest point, at the border with Kansas, is higher than Pennsylvania's tallest summit.\n...where prostitution is legal?\nHowever, not all counties have legalized it--including the counties Las Vegas and Reno are in.\n...with a state capital of over a million people?\nThe next biggest state capital, Indianapolis, has half a million fewer citizens.\n...to be named after an American?\nPerhaps only George Washington had the gravitas to merit such an honor; a state of Franklin was attempted but failed to be approved.\n...whose three largest cities begin with the same letter?\nThe largest city in Ohio is Columbus, followed by Cleveland and then Cincinnati.\n...to host three modern Olympic Games?\nBesides the two Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.\n...never to cast an electoral vote for Ronald Reagan?\nMinnesota was the only state to spurn the GOP in 1984, remaining loyal to Minnesotan Walter Mondale.\n...whose name has no letters in common with that of its capital?\nThis may not be the most interesting 'Only' stat about South Dakota, but it's the only one I could find...\n...to border the Canadian province of New Brunswick?\nMaine has one border with New Hampshire, but is otherwise surrounded by Canadian provinces.\n...with a modern city founded by European colonists prior to 1600?\nSt. Augustine, founded in 1565, was originally the capital of Spanish Florida.\n...to have a Unicameral Legislature?\nNebraska's legislature, nicknamed 'The Unicameral' by residents, is also uniquely unaffiliated with any political party.\n...whose legal right to statehood was brought before the Supreme Court?\nVirginia v. West Virginia, in which Virgina strove to regain counties that had seceded during the Civil War, was decided in favor of the Defendant.\n...to have territory in the Eastern Hemisphere?\nThis means that Alaska is technically the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost State.\n...to have a state-owned bank?\nThe Bank of North Dakota was founded in 1919, and receives funds from state agencies.\n...whose official State Motto is in Spanish?\nMontana's state motto is 'Oro y Plata,' or 'Gold and Silver,' in tribute to the state's mining industry.\nExceptional Quality\n...to border more than two Great Lakes?\nIn fact, Michigan borders four Great Lakes--all except for Lake Ontario.\n...with an automobile on its commemorative State Quarter?\nThe auto, an 'Indycar,' is a reference to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.\n...with a state-wide ban on the carrying of concealed firearms?\nThe only other holdout, Wisconsin, lifted its ban in 2011.\n...to include a noncontiguous parcel of land completely surrounded by two other states?\nDue to a surveying error, the 'Kentucky Bend' of the Mississippi is bound by Missouri on three sides and Tennessee on a fourth.\n...whose two biggest cities have lent their names to a Tony-winning musical and an Oscar-winning film, respectively?\n'Nashville' won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1976; 'Memphis' won a Tony for Best Musical in 2010.\n...to have a higher population density than Puerto Rico?\nThe most densely populated state, New Jersey's 1,189 residents/square mile beats out Puerto Rico's 1,163.\n...in which diamonds are mined?\nCrater of Diamonds State Park is also the world's only diamond-bearing site open to the public.\n...whose postal abbreviation consists of two vowels?\nIowa is also the only state whose name begins with two vowels.\n...to be represented by an African-American Senator prior to the 20th Century?\nBefore 1967, Mississippi's Hiram Revels (1870) and Blanche Bruce (1875) were the only two black US Senators in history.\n...to have divorce laws written into its Constitution?\nThe original South Carolina consitution prohibited divorce altogether, but has since been amended.\n...named after a German-born monarch?\nGeorgia was named after Britain's King George II, who was born in Hanover, Germany.\n...that allows residents to vote from outer space?\nThe reasoning behind this 1997 law makes sense when you consider that most Astronauts live and work in Houston.\n...to have a lighthouse that stands over 60 meters high?\nThe Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 63 meters tall (200 feet), is located on the state's easternmost island.\n...to be admitted to the Union under a President Roosevelt?\nOklahoma joined the Union in 1907, during Theodore Roosevelt's second term; none were admitted under FDR.\n...to have a county where a plurality of citizens report their primary ancestry as Polish?\nNearly one fourth of Luzerne County, in the state's Northeast region, identifies as Polish-American.\n...to contain more than one Ivy League school?\nColumbia University is located in New York City, while Cornell is in Ithaca\n...without commercial air service?",
"United States States - Statoids\nThe \"United States of America\" at that ... Mississippi territory formed. Its first ... Oklahoma territory merged with Indian Territory to form Oklahoma state.\nUnited States States\nWashington\n \nThe United States has been an independent country throughout the 20th century. There are established procedures whereby its possessions become first territories, then states, or are granted independence. The territories and dependencies at present are all treated as separate countries by the standards, so they are listed individually in this book.\nOther names of country: \nAlmost everywhere, USA is recognized as meaning the United States.\nDanish: Forenede Stater, Amerikas Forenede Stater\nDutch: Verenigde Staten, Verenigde Staten van Amerika (formal)\nEnglish: United States of America (formal), USA (informal)\nFinnish: Yhdysvallat, Amerikan Yhdysvallat\nFrench: �tats-Unis, �tats-Unis mp d'Am�rique f (formal)\nGerman: Vereinigte Staaten, USA f, Vereinigte Staaten mp von Amerika n (formal)\nIcelandic: Bandar�ki Nor�ur-Amer�ku, Bandar�kin (informal)\nItalian: Stati Uniti, Stati mp Uniti d'America (formal)\nNorwegian: Amerikas forente stater (formal), Sambandsstatene (Bokm�l), Sambandsstatane (Nynorsk), De forente stater\nPortuguese: Estados Unidos, Estados mp Unidos da Am�rica f (formal)\nRussian: САСШ (abbr-obsolete), США (abbr), Северо-Американские Соединённые Штаты (obsolete), Соединённые Штаты Америки\nSpanish: Estados Unidos, Estados mp Unidos de Am�rica f (formal), EE.UU. (abbreviation)\nSwedish: F�renta staterna\nTurkish: Amerika Birleşik Devletleri\nOrigin of name: \ndescriptive: formed by union of separate states in North America. America (originally referring only to South America) was named by Martin Waldseem�ller (pseud. Hylacomylus), a cartographer, after Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci.\nPrimary subdivisions: \nThe United States is divided into fifty states and one federal district.\nState\n9,372,615\n3,618,781\nHASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes . If periods are replaced by hyphens, these are the same as the\nstate codes from ISO standard 3166-2. See note below.\nFIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. The two-digit codes after the \"US\" are also designated as two-digit FIPS State\nNumeric Codes in FIPS PUB 5-2.\nConv: Conventional abbreviations, standard before 1963 and still frequently used. States with short names were spelled\nin full.\nTz: Offset from GMT in hours for standard time. The tilde (~) identifies states where daylight saving time is observed.\nMany states have more than one time zone; in those cases, the majority time zone is shown.\nPopulation: 2010-04-01 census.\nD: Division, as defined by the census bureau. Numbers are an arbitrary code keyed to the table below.\nAdjective: Adjectival form of the state name.\nZIP: Range of three-digit ZIP codes used in each state (although border areas may be served from a different state).\n \nThe last two letters of the HASC code are a widely used set of standardized state codes. These codes were developed by the Post Office Department along with the ZIP code system in 1963, although it was some time before they came into common use. They are also designated as two-letter FIPS State Alpha Codes in FIPS PUB 5-2.\nThe census classes the states of the United States into nine divisions, and at a still higher level, into four regions, which are groups of divisions. There are many other ways of dividing the United States into regions. This one merely has the sanction of the census bureau in its favor.\nd\nSouth\nPostal codes: \nThe Post Office Department introduced a system of postal codes for the U.S., effective as of 1963-07-01. They were designated ZIP codes, for Zoning Improvement Program. The codes are hierarchical. The first digit represents a group of states, usually contiguous. The first three digits represent part of a state. The full five digits represent a post office or urban delivery area. (Subsequently, an optional four-digit extension called ZIP+4 was added to identify a small block of addresses.)\nFurther subdivisions:\nSee the Counties of the United States page.\nUnderneath the states there are counties, parishes (in Louisiana), boroughs (in Alaska), and independent cities (mixed in with counties in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia). The District of Columbia is its own only division. Territory in Alaska which lies outside the limits of any of the boroughs is referred to as the unorganized borough. For statistical purposes, the unorganized borough is divided into census areas. Counties, parishes, boroughs, independent cities, census areas, and the District of Columbia are generically known as \"county equivalents\". Counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island no longer serve any administrative purpose. Underneath the county equivalents, 29 states have further subdivisions, which may be called towns, townships, cities, boroughs, villages, districts, plantations, etc.; the generic term is minor civil divisions.\nFIPS PUB 55-2 defines a three-digit code for every county equivalent in the United States. They are only unique within their state, but if either the two-letter or two-digit FIPS State Code is prefixed to them, a five-digit number is obtained which uniquely identifies the county equivalent. There is also a file of seven-digit codes for populated places, in which the first two digits of each codes identify the state. This file includes codes for minor civil divisions.\nTerritorial extent: \nThere is one point where four states meet: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.\nColorado, Wyoming, and Utah appear on a small- or medium-scale map to be bounded only by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. In fact, most of their borders deviate by a mile or so, because of early surveying errors that were perpetuated by law.\nAlabama: includes Dauphin Island and the eastern tip of Petit Bois Island.\nAlaska: includes Forrester, Dall, Long, and Prince of Wales islands at the southeastern end; in the southwest, the Aleutian Islands, extending to the Near Islands (Attu, Agattu, and some smaller ones); in the Bering Sea, Saint Lawrence, Nunivak, Saint Matthew, King, Little Diomede, and the Pribilof Islands (Saint Paul and Saint George); in the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak, Chirikof, and Middleton islands; and many other coastal islands.\nCalifornia: includes the Channel Islands (Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Anacapa), Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and San Nicolas islands off Los Angeles, and the Farallon Islands off San Francisco.\nConnecticut: despite appearances, its territory is not adjacent to the open sea. New York and Rhode Island have a water boundary which encloses Connecticut.\nDelaware: part of its boundary with Pennsylvania is an arc of a circle. Its radius is twelve miles. Includes Pea Patch and Reedy islands in the Delaware River estuary.\nFlorida: includes the Florida Keys, stretching past Key West to the Marquesas Keys and Dry Tortugas.\nGeorgia: includes coastal islands from Cumberland in the south to Tybee in the north.\nHawaii: consists of the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, Kahoolawe, and a chain of islets extending as far west as Kure Island, but excluding Midway and Sand islands.\nKentucky: has an exclave surrounded by Tennessee and Missouri. It is formed by the southern border of Kentucky, approximately a straight east-west line in that vicinity, which is crossed three times by the Mississippi River which forms Kentucky's western border. There are no towns in the exclave, which lies across the Mississippi from New Madrid, Missouri.\nLouisiana: includes islands in the Mississippi delta as far north as Grand Island, Isle au Pitre, and the Chandeleur Islands.\nMaine: includes many coastal and offshore islands, as far south as the Isles of Shoals, of which Duck, Appledore, Smuttynose, and Cedar belong to Maine.\nMaryland: includes the northern part of Assateague Island, and many islands in Chesapeake Bay, ranging south to Smith Island, which it shares with Virginia.\nMassachusetts: includes Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Nomans Land, the Elizabeth Islands, and other islands off Cape Cod, as well as many small islands in Massachusetts Bay.\nMichigan: consists of two peninsulas and many islands in the Great Lakes. The islands closest to Canada are Isle Royale in Lake Superior, Drummond, Sugar, and Neebish islands on the Saint Marys River, Harsens Island in Lake Saint Clair, and Grosse Isle and Belle Isle in the Detroit River. Closest to Wisconsin is Saint Martin Island in the mouth of Green Bay.\nMinnesota: includes islands in Lake of the Woods, which belongs partly to Canada. The northernmost point in the 48 contiguous states is near Angle Inlet. It's part of the mainland, but the only way to reach it from the rest of Minnesota by land is to go through Canada.\nMississippi: includes islands in the Gulf of Mexico from Cat Island to most of Petit Bois Island.\nNew Hampshire: includes White, Lunging, and Star islands in the Isles of Shoals group, and New Castle Island in Portsmouth Harbor.\nNew Jersey: includes many barrier islands on the Atlantic coast, but none in the New York City area.\nNew York: has two exclaves in New Jersey. The border between the two states followed the middle of the Hudson River. Liberty and Ellis Islands, lying west of that line, constituted small patches of New York land surrounded by New Jersey water. Recently a court awarded partial control of Ellis Island to New Jersey, so the situation may be changing. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on islands: Staten Island, Manhattan, and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island. New York also includes Fishers Island at the end of the Long Island Sound; Grand Island in the Niagara River; some of the Thousand Islands (Wellesley, Grindstone, Carleton, Croil, etc.) in the Saint Lawrence River; and Valcour and Schuyler islands in Lake Champlain.\nNorth Carolina: includes the barrier islands of the Outer Banks.\nOhio: includes Kelleys Island and the Bass Islands (North, Middle, and South) in Lake Erie.\nRhode Island: includes Block Island and numerous islands in Narragansett Bay.\nTexas: includes some barrier islands, such as Padre, Matagorda, and Galveston.\nVermont: includes Grand Isle, Isle La Motte, and other islands in Lake Champlain.\nVirginia: includes barrier islands and Chesapeake Bay islands south of Maryland's territory.\nWashington: includes islands in Puget Sound and Haro Strait. The islands lying closest to Canada are San Juan, Stuart, and Waldron. Point Roberts, Washington, is the tip of a peninsula from Canada, cut off from the rest of Washington by water.\nWisconsin: includes the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, and up to Chambers, Washington, and Rock islands in the mouth of Green Bay.\nAmerican Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, and Virgin Islands of the U.S. are United States possessions covered under their individual entries.\nfor United States of America lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.\nOrigins of names: \nIowa: from Iowa River, from native word ay-ah-wah: the sleeper\nKansas: from Kansas River, from an ethnic name, Sioux for south wind people\nKentucky: probably from Iroquois kentake: meadow land\nLouisiana: named for King Louis XIV of France on 1681-08-22\nMaine: the mainland, to distinguish it from the islands along the coast\nMaryland: named for Queen Henrietta Maria of England, consort of Charles I\nMassachusetts: from Massachusetts Bay, from an ethnic name, from Algonquian for big hills\nMichigan: from Lake Michigan; Algonquian for big lake\nMinnesota: from Minnesota River, from a Dakotan word for cloudy water\nMississippi: from Mississippi River, from Algonquian for big river\nMissouri: from Missouri River, from an ethnic name\nMontana: from Spanish monta�a: mountain\nNebraska: from an old name for the Platte River, from Dakotan for flat water\nNevada: from the Sierra Nevada, from Spanish nevada: snowy\nNew Hampshire: named in 1629 after Hampshire county in England\nNew Jersey: named in 1664 after Jersey, a Channel Island\nNew Mexico: from Spanish Nuevo Mexico, applied to new lands north of the Mexican provinces\nNew York: after the city and county of York in England, but explicitly in honor of the Duke of York\nNorth Carolina: Northern part of Carolina, named for King Charles I (Latin: Carolus) of England\nNorth Dakota: Northern part of Dakota, from an ethnic name\nOhio: from Ohio River, from Iroquoian for beautiful river\nOklahoma: Choctaw for red people (originally applied to a smaller region)\nOregon: possibly from a mistaken identification of the Columbia River with a conjectural Ouaricon River on old maps\nPennsylvania: Penn (William Penn, grantee of land) + Latin silva: forest + -nia (suffix for country)\nRhode Island: from the island now known as Aquidneck, likened by Giovanni da Verrazano to Rhodes in the Mediterranean\nSouth Carolina: Southern part of Carolina (see North Carolina)\nSouth Dakota: Southern part of Dakota, from an ethnic name\nTennessee: from Tennessee River, which was named for a Cherokee town near its headwaters\nTexas: from a group of natives known as teyas or tejas, meaning friends\nUtah: from Utah River, from an ethnic name (Utes)\nVermont: a coined name, intended to represent French monts verts: green mountains\nVirginia: named by Queen Elizabeth I of England using an epithet which alluded to her unmarried state\nWashington: named in honor of George Washington\nWest Virginia: descriptive; separated from Virginia in 1862 to adhere to the Union\nWisconsin: from Wisconsin River, possibly from Alonquian for big long river\nWyoming: after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, which was named from Algonquian for big flats\nChange history: \n1776-07-04: Declaration of Independence approved by the Continental Congress. The \"United States of America\" at that time referred to a loose confederation of thirteen states, plus unorganized territory to the west of the Applachian Mountains claimed by those states, often in competition. The states and their capitals were Connecticut (Hartford and New Haven, joint capitals), Delaware (New Castle), Georgia (Savannah), Maryland (Annapolis), Massachusetts (Boston), New Hampshire (Exeter), New Jersey (Burlington and Perth Amboy, joint capitals), New York (Kingston), North Carolina (New Bern), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Rhode Island (Bristol, East Greenwich, Newport, Providence, and South Kingstown, joint capitals), South Carolina (Charles Town), and Virginia (Williamsburg).\n1777: Capital of Delaware moved to Dover.\n1780: Capital of Virginia moved to Richmond.\n1783: Name of capital of South Carolina changed from Charles Town to Charleston.\n1783-09-03: Treaty of Paris recognized independence of the United States.\n1784: Capital of New York moved to New York City.\n1785-02-22: Augusta and Savannah had been co-capitals of Georgia since 1778. On this date, Augusta became the sole capital.\n1787-07-13: Northwest territory formed under authority of the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, comprising the present-day states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. In 1788, Marietta (now in Ohio) became its first capital. The Northwest Ordinances set the pattern for extending the United States. Acquisitions would first be simply possessions of the United States; then territorial governments would be formed; finally, the lands would be admitted as states. Generally speaking, these lands had no capital before they were organized as territories, but were administered directly from the national capital. Only with statehood did they obtain all the privileges of participation in the Federal government.\n1788-06-21: The Constitution took effect, having been ratified by nine states. New York City was the first national capital.\n1790: Capital of New Jersey moved to Trenton. Capital of South Carolina moved to Columbia. Southwest territory (officially called \"The Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio\") created.\n1790-06-16: National capital moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Congress first met there on this date.\n1791-03-04: Vermont state split from New York (also claimed by New Hampshire). Rutland and Windsor were joint capitals.\n1792: Capital of Southwest territory established at Knoxville.\n1792-06-01: Kentucky state split from Virginia. Its capital was Lexington.\n1792-12-05: Frankfort selected as permanent capital of Kentucky.\n1794-12-30: Capital of North Carolina moved to Raleigh.\n1796-03: Capital of Georgia moved to Louisville.\n1796-06-01: Southwest territory became Tennessee state, with some minor boundary changes.\n1797: Capital of New York moved to Albany.\n1798-05-07: Mississippi territory formed. Its first capital was Natchez.\n1799: Capital of Pennsylvania moved to Lancaster.\n1800-07-04: Indiana territory formed from part of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Vincennes.\n1800-12-01: National capital moved to Washington. District of Columbia formed from parts of Maryland and Virginia.\n1801-12-12: Capital of Mississippi moved to Washington, Mississippi.\n1803-03-01: Ohio state formed from part of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Chillicothe.\n1803-04-30: Louisiana transferred from France to the United States, by purchase.\n1804: Georgia's western lands annexed to Mississippi territory.\n1804-10-01: Louisiana purchase split into Orleans territory (approximately the present-day state of Louisiana) and Louisiana district. New Orleans was the capital of Orleans territory.\n1804-12-12: Capital of Georgia moved to Milledgeville, although the legislature didn't meet there until 1807.\n1805: Capital of Vermont moved to Montpelier.\n1805-01-11: Michigan territory formed from part of Indiana territory. Its first capital was Detroit.\n1805-07-04: Status of Louisiana changed from district to territory.\n1808: Capital of New Hampshire moved to Concord. Several different towns had been capital between 1781 and 1808.\n1809-03-01: Illinois territory formed from what was left of Northwest territory. Its first capital was Kaskaskia.\n1810: Capital of Ohio moved to Zanesville.\n1810-10-27: West Florida (parts of modern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) claimed by the United States. The territory was occupied between then and 1813-04.\n1812: Capital of Ohio moved to Chillicothe; capital of Pennsylvania moved to Harrisburg; capital of Tennessee moved to Nashville.\n1812-04-30: Orleans territory, along with some adjacent lands, became Louisiana state.\n1812-12-07: Louisiana territory split into Missouri territory and unorganized land. The first capital of Missouri was Saint Louis.\n1813-05-01: Capital of Indiana moved to Corydon.\n1815: Capital of Tennessee moved to Knoxville.\n1816: Capital of Ohio moved to Columbus.\n1816-12-11: Indiana state formed from part of Indiana territory.\n1817: Capital of Tennessee moved to Murfreesboro.\n1817-08-15: Alabama territory split from Mississippi territory. Its first capital was Saint Stephens.\n1817-12-10: Status of Mississippi changed from territory to state.\n1818: Treaty of 1818 fixed the boundary between the United States and Canada at 49� North latitude, westward from Lake of the Woods.\n1818-12-03: Illinois state formed from part of Illinois territory; the remainder merged with Michigan territory.\n1819-02-22: Adams-On�s Treaty set the boundary between Spanish possessions and United States. East and West Florida transferred from Spain to the United States. (East Florida corresponds to present-day Florida.)\n1819-03-02: Unorganized territory between Louisiana and Missouri became Arkansaw territory. Its first capital was Arkansas Post. The spelling of its name varied, but by 1822, Arkansas had become the preferred form.\n1819-12-14: Status of Alabama changed from territory to state, with capital at Huntsville.\n1820: Capital of Alabama moved to Cahawba.\n1820-03-16: Maine state split from Massachusetts state, in which it had been a district. Its first capital was Portland.\n1820-11-25: Capital of Missouri moved to Saint Charles.\n1820-12-04: Capital of Illinois moved to Vandalia.\n1821: Capital of Arkansas moved to Little Rock.\n1821-08-10: Missouri state formed from part of Missouri territory. The remainder became unorganized territory.\n1822: Capital of Mississippi moved to Jackson, formerly LeFleur's Bluff.\n1822-03-30: Florida organized as territory.\n1824: Tallahassee became capital of Florida territory.\n1825-01-10: Capital of Indiana moved to Indianapolis.\n1825-11-21: Capital of Missouri moved to Jefferson City.\n1826: Capital of Alabama moved to Tuscaloosa.\n1830: Capital of Louisiana moved to Donaldsonville.\n1831: Capital of Louisiana moved back to New Orleans.\n1832-01-04: Capital of Maine moved to Augusta.\n1834: Unorganized territory north of Missouri merged with Michigan territory.\n1834-06-30: Indian territory (present-day Oklahoma) formed from unorganized territory.\n1836-06-15: Arkansas state formed from part of Arkansas territory. The remainder was left unorganized.\n1836-07-04: Wisconsin territory formed from part of Michigan territory. Its first capital was Madison.\n1837-01-26: Status of Michigan changed from territory to state.\n1838-07-04: Iowa territory split from Wisconsin territory. Its first capital was Burlington.\n1839: Capital of Iowa moved to Iowa City.\n1839-07-04: Capital of Illinois moved to Springfield. (Location selected 1837-02-28.)\n1842-11-10: Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the boundary between U.S. and Canada (Maine/New Brunswick, Minnesota/Hudson's Bay Company).\n1843: Capital of Tennessee moved to Nashville.\n1845-03-03: Status of Florida changed from territory to state.\n1845-12-29: Republic of Texas annexed to the United States as Texas state. Its first capital as a state was Austin, although the republic had had capitals at Houston and Washington on the Brazos.\n1846-07-09: Part of District of Columbia, on the south shore of the Potomac, returned to Virginia.\n1846-12-28: Iowa territory split into Iowa state and unorganized territory.\n1847-03-16: Capital of Michigan moved to Michigan, Michigan.\n1847-12-06: Capital of Alabama moved to Montgomery.\n1848: Name of capital of Michigan changed to Lansing.\n1848-02-02: By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded land approximately equivalent to its territories of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo M�xico (New Mexico) to the United States.\n1848-05-29: Status of Wisconsin changed from territory to state.\n1848-08-14: Oregon territory formed from unorganized lands west of the Louisiana purchase. Its first capital was Oregon City.\n1849: Capital of Louisiana moved to Baton Rouge.\n1849-03-03: Minnesota territory formed from the unorganized territory left over when Iowa became a state. Its first capital was Saint Paul.\n1850-09-09: Compromise of 1850 took effect. California became a state. Its first capital was San Jose. The remainder of the Mexican Cession was divided into New Mexico and Utah territories. Their capitals were Santa Fe and Salt Lake City, respectively. Texas was paid $10,000,000 to relinquish its claim to land to the north and west of its present-day boundaries (accepted 1850-11-25). The relinquished claim was divided up, part going to the New Mexico and Utah territories, and the rest to the unorganized territory.\n1851-10-04: Capital of Utah moved to Fillmore.\n1852-05-04: Capital of Oregon moved to Salem.\n1852-01: Capital of California moved to Vallejo. (The legislature also met in Sacramento from January to April.)\n1853-02-04: Capital of California moved to Benicia.\n1853-03-02: Washington territory split from Oregon territory. Its first capital was Olympia.\n1853-12-30: Gadsden Purchase (known as La Mesilla to Mexicans) transferred from Mexico to the United States, becoming part of New Mexico territory.\n1854-01: Newport and Providence became the only joint capitals of Rhode Island.\n1854-02-25: Capital of California moved to Sacramento.\n1854-05-30: Kansas and Nebraska territories formed from unorganized territory, leaving present-day Oklahoma as unorganized territory. The first capital of Kansas was Fort Leavenworth; of Nebraska, Omaha.\n1855-01-13: Capital of Oregon moved to Corvallis, then back to Salem on 1855-12-18.\n1855-08: Capital of Kansas moved to Lecompton. The sequence of Kansas territorial capitals is intricate, especially because of rival factions (pro- and anti-slavery) with competing capitals. Pawnee, Shawnee Mission, Minneola, and Lawrence were all capitals at some point.\n1856: Capital of Utah moved to Salt Lake City.\n1857-10-19: Capital of Iowa moved to Des Moines, formerly Fort Des Moines.\n1858: Capital of Utah moved to Parowan.\n1858-05-11: Minnesota state formed from part of Minnesota territory. The remainder became unorganized territory.\n1859: Capital of Utah moved to Salt Lake City; capital of Kansas moved to Topeka.\n1859-02-14: Status of Oregon changed from territory to state.\n1860-12-24: South Carolina seceded from United States, followed on later dates by Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. They formed a federation called the Confederated States of America.\n1861-01-29: Status of Kansas changed from territory to state.\n1861-02-28: Colorado territory formed from parts of the former Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah territories. Its first capital was Colorado City.\n1861-03-02: Dakota territory (capital Yankton, in present-day South Dakota) formed from part of Nebraska territory and unorganized territory left over from Minnesota; Nevada territory (capital Carson City) formed from parts of New Mexico and Utah territories.\n1862: Capital of Colorado moved to Golden.\n1862-07-14: Border between Nevada and Utah territories moved from 116�03' W. to 115�03' W. (approximately - longitudes were measured using a baseline in Washington, D.C. at the time).\n1863-02-24: Arizona territory split from New Mexico territory. Its first capital was Fort Whipple.\n1863-03-03: Idaho territory formed from parts of Washington and Dakota territories. Its first capital was Lewiston.\n1863-06-19: West Virginia split from Virginia by retro-secession, and joined the United States as a state. Its first capital was Wheeling.\n1864: Capital of Arizona moved to Prescott. Capital of Idaho moved to Boise.\n1864-05-26: Montana territory formed from part of Nebraska and Idaho territories. Its first capital was Bannack.\n1864-10-31: Status of Nevada changed from territory to state.\n1865-02-07: Capital of Montana moved to Virginia City.\n1865-04-09: Lee surrendered at Appomatox. The states which had seceded were re-admitted to the United States one by one, starting with Tennessee (1866-07-24) and ending with Georgia (1870-07-15).\n1866-05-05: Border between Nevada and Utah territories moved from 115�03' W. to 114�03' W.\n1867: Capital of Colorado moved to Denver.\n1867-01-18: Part of Arizona territory (modern Nevada south of 37� N.) annexed to Nevada.\n1867-03-01: Status of Nebraska changed from territory to state.\n1867-08-14: Capital of Nebraska moved to Lancaster, and its name changed to Lincoln.\n1867-09-04: Capital of Arizona moved to Tucson.\n1867-10-11: Alaska transferred from Russia to the United States by purchase. Capital was Sitka.\n1868-07-04: Capital of Georgia moved to Atlanta.\n1868-07-29: Wyoming territory formed from parts of former Nebraska, Utah, and Idaho territories. Its first capital was Cheyenne.\n1870: Capital of West Virginia moved to Charleston.\n1875: Hartford became the sole capital of Connecticut. Capital of West Virginia moved to Wheeling.\n1875-01: Capital of Montana moved to Helena.\n1876-08-01: Status of Colorado changed from territory to state.\n1877: Capital of Arizona moved to Prescott.\n1882: Capital of Louisiana moved to Baton Rouge, apparently from New Orleans, which was used as capital by Union forces during the Civil War.\n1883: Capital of Dakota moved to Bismarck.\n1884-05-17: Status of Alaska changed to district.\n1885: Capital of West Virginia moved to Charleston.\n1889: Capital of Arizona moved to Phoenix.\n1889-11-02: Dakota territory split into North Dakota and South Dakota states (capitals Bismarck and Pierre, respectively).\n1889-11-08: Status of Montana changed from territory to state.\n1889-11-11: Status of Washington changed from territory to state.\n1890-05-02: Oklahoma territory split from Indian territory.\n1890-07-03: Status of Idaho changed from territory to state.\n1890-07-10: Status of Wyoming changed from territory to state.\n1896-01-04: Status of Utah changed from territory to state.\n1898-08-12: Republic of Hawaii annexed to the United States.\n1900: Capital of Alaska moved to Juneau.\n1900-01: Providence became the sole capital of Rhode Island.\n1900-06-14: Hawaii organized as territory. Its capital was Honolulu.\n1907-11-16: Oklahoma territory merged with Indian Territory to form Oklahoma state. Its first capital was Guthrie.\n1910-06-11: Capital of Oklahoma moved to Oklahoma City.\n1912-01-06: Status of New Mexico changed from territory to state.\n1912-02-14: Status of Arizona changed from territory to state.\n1912-08-24: Status of Alaska changed to territory.\n1959-01-03: Status of Alaska changed from territory to state.\n1959-08-21: Status of Hawaii changed from territory to state.\nOther names of subdivisions: \nFormal name is \"State of [state name]\" unless otherwise noted. In texts in other languages using the Roman alphabet, state names can almost always be left untranslated.\nAlaska: Alasca (Portuguese); Аляска (Russian)\nArkansas: Арканзас (Russian)\nCalifornia: Calif�rnia (Portuguese); Californie (French); Kalifornien (German); Kaliforniya (Turkish); Калифорния (Russian)\nDelaware: Делавэр (Russian)\nDistrict of Columbia: Distrito de Columbia (Portuguese, Spanish)\nFlorida: Floride (French)\nGeorgia: G�orgie (French); Джорджия (Russian)\nHawaii: Hava� (Portuguese); Hawa� (Dutch); Hawaiʻi (variant; see note below); Гавайи (Russian)\nIllinois: Иллинойс (Russian)\nKentucky: Commonwealth of Kentucky (formal); Кентукки (Russian)\nLouisiana: Luisiana (Spanish); Louisiane (French); Луизиана (Russian)\nMassachusetts: Commonwealth of Massachusetts (formal); Массачусетс (Russian)\nMississippi: Misisipi (Spanish-variant)\nNew Hampshire: Nova Hampshire (Portuguese); Nueva Hampshire (Spanish)\nNew Jersey: Nova Jersey (Portuguese); Nueva Jersey (Spanish)\nNew Mexico: Neu-Mexiko (German); Nouveau-Mexique (French); Novo M�xico (Portuguese); Nuevo Mexico (Spanish)\nNew York: Nevyork (Turkish); Nova York, Nova Iorque (Portuguese); Nueva York (Spanish); Нью Йорк (Russian)\nNorth Carolina: Carolina del Norte (Spanish); Carolina do Norte (Portuguese); Caroline du Nord (French); Kuzey Carolina (Turkish); Nord-Karolina (German)\nNorth Dakota: Dakota del Norte (Spanish); Dakota do Norte (Portuguese); Dakota du Nord (French); Kuzey Dakota (Turkish); Nord-Dakota (German)\nOklahoma: Оклахома (Russian)\nOregon: Oreg�n (Spanish)\nPennsylvania: Pennsylvanie (French); Pennsylvanien (German); Pensilvania (Spanish); Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (formal); Пенсильвания (Russian)\nRhode Island: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (formal); Род-Айленд (Russian)\nSouth Carolina: Carolina del Sur (Spanish); Caroline du Sud (French); Carolina do Sul (Portuguese); G�ney Carolina (Turkish); S�d-Karolina (German)\nSouth Dakota: Dakota del Sur (Spanish); Dakota do Sul (Portuguese); Dakota du Sud (French); G�ney Dakota (Turkish); S�d-Dakota (German)\nTexas: Техас (Russian)\nVirginia: Virginie (French); Virg�nia (Portuguese); Commonwealth of Virginia (formal)\nWashington: Вашингтон (Russian)\nWest Virginia: Batı Virginia (Turkish); Virginia del Oeste, Virginia Occidental (Spanish); Virg�nia Ocidental (Portuguese); Virginie occidentale (French); West-Virginia (German)\nNote: Some Hawaiians advocate the spelling Hawaiʻi, which is the Hawaiian-language form of the name. The extra character is called an ʻokina, and represents a glottal stop. The recommended Unicode character is U+02BB, \"modifier letter turned comma\". This form has been appearing with increasing frequency in Hawaii itself. In the mainland, it seems to be used for its impressive effect. In tourist brochures, it makes Hawaii seem more exotic. In articles, it makes the author appear more of an insider. (People used to try to impress their friends by pronouncing the name \"Havaii\", which is not correct.) I hope that the ʻokina never becomes official, because it is hard to type on a computer with language preferences set to English - just as I thought it was stupid for Azerbaijan to include the schwa when the Azerbaijani language returned to the Roman alphabet in 1991.\nPopulation history:",
"City nicknames - Got.Net\n... I have only been ... My List of City Nicknames ... Massachusetts; Duncanville, Texas; Lilburn, Georgia; Edmonton, Alberta; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, ...\nCity nicknames\nThe human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of \"Ten Best\". — H. Allen Smith\n \n \nCity nicknames\nThe following is my list of City Nicknames, started around 1993. I had collected suggestions from the rec.games.trivia newsgroup, and had heard someone on KGO (San Francisco's AM news-talk radio station) use the phrase \"... 10,000 residents of The City, of complications from ...\".\nSo I appropriated that phrase \"The City of Complications\", as an exceptionally apt nickname for San Francisco, and went on to collect a few other names. When I had enough of them, I posted the list to that newsgroup.\nSo far, I have only been able to re-locate the quiz version of my list, so I haven't actually merged all of the answers back into the list yet. This past year or two (2001-2002), I added a few from the \"Isaac Asimov\" quiz column in the newspaper, a Sunset Magazine article (which lists California as the \"World Capital of Agricultural World Capitals\"), and other sources. I also found two other lists on the web (URLs below).\nI now keep this merged version in both http://got.net/~landauer/lists/CityOf.html and the stories link in my Radio Weblog, http://radio.weblogs.com/0100945/stories/2002/07/24/cityNicknames.html . The one at http://got.net/~landauer/CityOf_was.html is older.\nOther web locations that have some similar lists include:\nhttp://www.pe.net/~rksnow/mottos.htm is (today) the top Google result for City nicknames , with good reason. \"COMMUNITY MOTTOS & NICKNAMES\" looks like they've been actively collecting these for a lot longer than I have.\nThe Trivia asylum http://www.triviaasylum.com/lists/cities.html\nhttp://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=Siliconia\nMost recent additions (8 February 2003): Albany, OR; Alpine, TX; Beaver, OK; Bemidji, MN; Brainerd, MN; Bristol, TN; Burlington, Iowa; Cody, WY; Douglas, WY; Frannie, WY; Gallup, NM; Granby, CO; Isleton, CA; Laramie, WY; Lowell, WY; Meeteetse, WY; New York (as \"Never Sleeps\"); Noxubee County, Alabama; Philadelphia, PA; Rockport, MA; Santa Rosa, NM; Sonora, CA; Sturgis, Michigan; Taxco, Mexico; Tijuana, Mexico; Westwood, CA.\nMy List of City Nicknames:\nCity\nNickname\nAberdeen, Scotland The Granite City Akron, OH Rubber City Albany, Georgia Good Life City Albany, ORHome of the Timber Carnival Alexandria, Egypt Pearl of the Mediterranean Allentown, Pennsylvania Cement City Alpine, TXGateway to the Big Bend Annapolis, Maryland Crabtown Atlanta, GA The Athens of the South Atlanta, GA The City Too Busy to Hate Atlanta, GA Dogwood City Atlanta, GA Gate City of the South Auckland, NZ City of Sails\nBaltimore, Maryland Charm City Baltimore, Maryland Monument City Banaras, India Luminous City Bandon, OR Storm Capital of the World Bangkok, Thailand Venice of the East Beaver, OKCow Chip Throwing Capital of the World Bemidji, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox (see Brainerd and Westwood) Beograd The White City Bickleton, WA Bluebird Capital of the World Birmingham, AL Pittsburgh of the South Boston, MA The Athens of America Boston, MA Beantown Boston, MA The City of Kind Hearts Boston, MA The Cradle of Liberty Boston, MA The Hub of the Universe Boston, MA Puritan City Brainerd, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox — The legend on the Brainerd city limits sign shows up in the film \"Fargo\". (See Bemidji and Westwood) Bristol, TNFood City Brandon, Manitoba The Wheat City\nBucharest, Romania The Little Paris Budapest, Hungary The Pearl of the Danube Buffalo, New York Bison City Buffalo, New York Flour City Buffalo, NY The City of Good Neighbors Buffalo, NY The Nickel City Buffalo, NY The Queen City (of the Great Lakes) Burlington, IowaLoader/Backhoe Capital of the World Butte, Montana Copper City Byran, Ohio The Fountain City\nCalgary, Alberta, Canada The Stampede City Calgary, Alberta, Canada The Heart of The New West (that's the New Convention and Visitors Bureau slogan) Calgary, Alberta, Canada Canada's oil capital (Because of high concentration of oil company head offices, as in Houston) Cape Girardeau, Missouri Rose City Cape Hatteras, North Carolina The Graveyard of the Atlantic Castroville, CA Artichoke Center of the World Champaign-Urbana, IL Chambana Champaign-Urbana, IL Shampoo-Bananna Champaign-Urbana, IL Urpaign Charleston, South Carolina America's Most Historic City Charleston, South CarolinaPalmetto City Charlotte, North Carolina Hornets Nest Charlotte, North Carolina Queen City Chicago, Illinois Big Town Chicago City of Big Shoulders Chicago, Illinois Hog Butcher for the World Chicago Slaughterhouse to the World Chicago, Illinois Phoenix City Chicago, Illinois Second City Chicago The Windy City Christchurch, NZ The Garden City Cincinnati, Ohio Queen City Cleveland, Ohio Mistake on the Lake Cleveland, OH America's North Coast Cody, WYRodeo Capital of the World Columbus, OH The Crossroads of Ohio Cooperstown, New York Birthplace of Baseball Council Bluffs, Iowa Iowa's Leading Edge Crestwood (Louisville), KYWhiskers Cuernavaca, Morelos, MexicoThe City of Eternal Spring\nDallas, Texas Big D Dayton, Ohio Birthplace of Aviation Denver, Colorado City of the Plains Denver, Colorado Convention City Denver, CO Mile High City Denver, Colorado Queen City Detroit, MI Motown Detroit, MI Motor City Dipolog City, Philippines Orchid City Douglas, WYJackalope Capitol [sic] of the World — I vaguely recall that one of the main promoters and/or inventor of the Jackelope died within the last few months. Durham, NC City of Medicine Durham, NC Bull City\nEdinburgh, Scotland Athens of the North Erie, Pennsylvania The Gem Eskilstuna, Sweden Smedstan (The smith City)\nFallbrook, CA Avocado Capital of the World Florence, Italy The City of Lillies Fort Myers, Florida The City of Palms Frannie, WYBiggest Little Town in Wyoming Gainesville, Florida Hogtown Gallup, NMDrunk-Driving Capital of America Gilroy, CA Garlic Capital of the World Gotland, Sweden Pearl of the Baltic Göteborg, Sweden Götet Granby, COSnowmobile Capital of Colorado Grants Pass, Oregon\"It's the Climate\" ... see http://www.webreview.com/swaine/2000/05_12_00.shtml Grants Pass, OregonWhere the Rogue River Runs Greenfield, CA Broccoli Capital of the World Hammondsport, New York Cradle of Aviation Hawthorne, CA The City of Good Neighbors (2) Hershey, PAChocolate Town, USA Hollywood Hollyweird Hollywood Tinseltown Holtville, CA Carrot Capital of the World Hong Kong Pearl of the Orient Hood River, Oregon (Columbia Gorge) Windsurfing Capital of the World Hoople, North DakotaTater Town Houston, Texas Magnolia City\nIndianapolis, Indiana Naptown Indianapolis, Indiana Circle City Indianapolis, Indiana Railroad City Indio, CA Date Capital of the World International Falls, Minnesota The Icebox of the United States Isleton, CACrawdad Town, USA\nJackson, Mississippi Chimneyville Jaipur The Pink City Jerusalem City of David Jerusalem City of Peace Jönköping, SwedenSmålands Jerusalem\nKalamazoo, Michigan Celery City Kansas City, Kansas Heart of America Kokomo, Indiana City of Firsts Kristianstad, Sweden Lilla Paris (rare these days) Keizer, OR Iris Capital of the World Kelseyville, CA Pear Capital of the World (but see here ). Laramie, WYGem City of the Plains Las VegasSin City Las VegasEntertainment Capital of the World Las VegasCity of Lights Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)Glitter Gulch Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)The Strip Letchworth (UK, near Cambridge) The first Garden City in the World Lodi, CAThe [Tokay] Grape Capital of the World (probably more popularly known as the place where Creedence Clearwater Revival got stuck in once, in the 1960's.) London, England The Square Mile London's financial district The City of London London, Ontario The Forest City Los Angeles The Big Orange Los Angeles City of Angels Los Angeles, California City of Flowers and Sunshine Los Angeles La La Land Los Banos City of the Spring Baths Louisville, Kentucky City of Beautiful Churches Louisville, Kentucky Falls City Lowell, WYThe Rose City of Wyoming\nMadison, Wisconsin Four Lake City Manila, Philippines Pearl of the Orient Mar del Plata, Argentina Queen of the Coast Marysville, California Gateway to the Gold Fields Medellin, Columbia Orchid City Meeteetse, WYWhere Chiefs Meet Melbourne, AustraliaCity of Chromatic Dissolution (not a real nickname, but I really liked the phrase. I'll have to dig up the film , someday.) Memphis, TN Bluff City Memphis, TN The City that Elvis Ruined (I get a Googlewhack for that one! Today, anyway.) Miami, Florida Little Cuba Miami, Florida Magic City Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cream City Minneapolis, Minnesota Flour City Minneapolis The Mini Apple Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN The Twin Cities Mobile, Alabama City of Five Flags Montreal, Canada The City of Saints Mountain Iron, Minnesota Taconite Capital of the World Moyobamba, Peru Orchid City\nNashville, TN Music City, USA New Haven, Connecticut Elm City New Orleans The Big Easy New Orleans The Crescent City\nNew York The Big Apple New York The Capital of the World New YorkThe City that Never Sleeps New York Gotham New York Empire City New York The Melting Pot New York/Manhattan The City Norrköping, Sweden Peking Noxubee County, Alabama Home of the Dancing Rabbit Festival and Magnolia Pilgrimage\n(I know, it's not really a city, but how could I pass up a phrase like that?) Oakdale, CA Cowboy Capital of the World Oakland, CA Oaktown Oroville, CA City of Gold Oxford City of Dreaming Spires Oxnard, CA Strawberry Capital of the World (but see here ). Paris City of Light Pasadena, CA City of Roses Patterson, CA Apricot Capital of the World Pearsonville, CA Hubcap Capital of the World Petaluma, CA Egg Basket of the World Petra The Rose Red City Philadelphia City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Rebel Capital Philadelphia, PAMortal City (per Dar Williams) Pittsburgh, PA Steel City Pittsburgh, PA The 'Burgh Pittsburgh, PA Iron City Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Birmingham of America Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Golden Triangle Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Three Rivers Pittsburgh, PA (region) City of Bridges Placerville, CA Hangtown Portland, Maine Forest City Portland, Maine Hill City Portland, Oregon City of Roses Prague, Czech Republic The Golden City Providence, Rhode Island Beehive of Industry\nQuebec The Gibraltar of North America Queenstown, NZ Extreme Sports Capital of the World Redmond, WA Mordor Redmond, WA Nerdburg Reno, NV The Biggest Little City in the World Reseda, CA The Hub of the West Valley (That's the San Fernando Valley) Rigby, IdahoBirthplace of TV\nThere's a museum here, the \"TV and Pioneer Museum\" . When I drove through, it made me wonder jest which of those Conestoga wagons had TVs, and how good the reception was.\nRincon (Santa Barbara County), California Queen of the Coast\nSurfers' term. Not really a city. Rochester, New York Kodak City Rochester, New York Snapshot City Rockport, MAThe Mendocino of the East Rogue River Valley, OR Pear Capital of the World (but see here ). Rome The City of the Seven Hills Rome, Italy The Eternal City Rome, Italy City of Love Rye, New York Border Town\nSacramento, California River City Saint Louis, MOGateway to the West (or \"The Gateway City\") Saint Paul, MinnesotaMoscow on the Mississippi Saint Petersburg, Russia Venice of the North Salem, Massachusetts City of Witches Samal, Philipines Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) San Antonio, Texas Alamo City San Antonio, Texas Mission City San Diego, California The Plymouth of the West San Diego, CA America's Finest City San Francisco, California The Golden Gate City San Francisco, California Shaky Town San Francisco, CA Baghdad by the Bay San Francisco, CA The City North San Jose, CA The Golden Triangle Santa Fe, New Mexico The City Different Santa Rosa, NMThe SCUBA-diving capital of New Mexico Saratoga Springs, New York Spa City Savannah, Georgia Garden City Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario The SOO Sault Ste. Marie, MI (I think) The SOO Seattle, WA The Emerald City Selma, CA Raisin Capital of the World Shah Alam, Malaysia Orchid City Sonora, CAThe Queen of the Southern Mines Sri Lanka Pearl of the Indian Ocean\n(I know, not really a city.) Stockholm Eken (The Oak) Stockholm Venice of the North Stockton, CA California's Sunrise Seaport Sturgis, MichiganCurtain Rod Capital of the World Sundbyberg, Sweden Sumpan Syracuse, New York Salt City\nTaxco, MexicoSilver Capital of the World Thousand Oaks, CA T.O. Tijuana, MexicoTelevision Capital of the World Toledo, Ohio Corn City Toronto, Ontario Hogtown Toronto, Ontario Muddy York (archaic, I think) Toronto, Ontario T.O. Toronto, Ontario Toronto the Good (sometimes pejorative) Toronto, Ontario Trawna or Trahna Toronto, Ontario, Canada Queen City Tulelake, CA Horseradish Capital of the World\nUmeå, SwedenBjörkarnas stad (The city of the birches)\n(Historic) Vancouver, B.C., CanadaGastown Venice, Italy Bride of the Sea Venice, Italy Queen of the Adriatic Värnersborg, SwedenLilla Paris (Little Paris) Västerås Gurkstan (The Cucumber City) Vicksburg, Mississippi The Gibraltar of America Victoria, Australia The Cabbage Patch Victoria, B.C., Canada Little England\nWalla Walla, WA The Town So Nice They Named It Twice Walla Walla, WA Walla2 Walla Walla, WA Wallyworld Washington D.C. Capital City Washington D.C. News Capital of the World\nWaterbury, Connecticut Brass City Wenatchee, WA Apple Capital of the World West Hollywood, CA Boystown West Hollywood, CA The Creative City\nWest Palm Beach, Florida Orchid City Westwood, CAHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox\nIt seems that a celebrity like Paul Bunyan has several homes. I've actually seen him here in Westwood — and note that this is the Lassen County Westwood. (See http://www.westwoodchamber.com/ and also see Brainerd and Bemidji.) Wheeling, West Virginia Nail City Wichita, Kansas Emerald City Windsor, Ontario Tijuana North\nNOTES:\nI used to have some of the following ones in the main list. I have moved these here mostly for not being unique enough (i.e., Google found too many candidates for the given honor).\nI should probably move all of the \"Queen City\"s down here, too.\nA recent contributor mentioned Coos Bay, Oregon as having (had) the official motto \"City With a Future\".\nAlas, Google says that this is one of the too-common ones:\nLansing, KS; Mankato, MN (had this motto in 1912); Yokosuka, Japan; Ruda [approx equal]öl[florin]Öska, Poland; Massillon, Ohio; Fulton, NY?; Monett, MO; ¬¶widnica, Poland; Lisbon, Portugal; Sumner, Iowa; St Louis, MO; Tremonton, Utah\nAnd it has a few variations:\nAltus, Oklahoma: \"City with a Future to Share\"\nKenai, Alaska: \"THE VILLAGE WITH A PAST - THE CITY WITH A FUTURE\"\nLowell, Arkansas: \"Town with a Past, City with a Future\"\nBeersheba: \"A place with a past, a city with a future\"\n\"City of Champions\" (Joliet, Illinois; Brockton, Massachusetts; Duncanville, Texas; Lilburn, Georgia; Edmonton, Alberta; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).\n(Pittsburgh has really really bad Google-juice. I have a vague recollection that it (and Edmonton) were the two \"City of Champions\"s on my original list. But Pittsburgh is way down low on the Google-meter search for \"City of Champions\".)\n\"City of Gold\" (Gold Beach, OR; Oroville, California; Cite de l'or, Quebec; Gold Coast City in Australia; Victor, Colorado; etc)\n\"City of Love\" (Glasgow, San Francisco, Calcutta, Paris)\n\"City of Roses\" — Pasadena, California (my first home town) has held the Rose Parade for more than a century now; this gives it first dibs on this monicker. I had also seen Portland, Oregon referred to this way. But Google gives the nod to ?Cape Girardeau, Missouri??? Weird.\nThe \"City That Time Forgot\" (Baldwin Park, CA; Galena, IL; New Orleans; Tikal, Guatemala; Bruges/Brugge, Belgium; and a host of others)\nCowtown (Both Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta; Chicago; Columbus, OH; Dallas; Kansas City; Wichita, KS; et al)\n\"The All-American City\" (I gather there's an award by this name, whose value is enormously diluted by the fact that it is bestowed annually on 10 cities. It is the National Civic League that does this.) Here are a few of the winners, plus other places that claim this title either on the web, or in email I've seen lately: Tri-Cities of TN/VA; Ocean City, MD; Tuscaloosa-Northport Tupelo MI; Roswell, NM; Santa Clara, CA; Delray Beach, FL; South Miami, FL; Fort Dodge, IA; Howard County, MD; Ocean City, MD; Independence, MO; Bozeman, MT; Fayetteville, NC; Brownsville, TX; Allentown, PA\nThe End of the World. (Not to be confused with The End of the Internet , of which there are also a whole bunch). Trosa, Sweden; Ushuaia, Argentina; Anchorage, AK; Gibraltar\nGateway to the Rockies (Denver and Aurora Colorado; and Calgary, Hinton, and Banff, Alberta. Probably dozens of others.)\nDevin T McLaughlin suggested a bunch of nicknames for Calgary; some (\"Entrepreneurial City\" and \"Volunteer City\") failed the google test (didn't really show up at all), and Cowtown fails in the other direction (see above).\nCotton Capital of { World, USA, Western Australia, etc... }\n\"The Garden City\" is an unusual one: there appear to be a number of cities with \"Garden\" as a part of their real names, which makes it a bit hard to sift out and locate the one(s) where it's just a nickname. I left three of these in the main list; Christchurch is Phil Pearson's fault, and the others came from a Google search to see if the nickname was too common for my tastes.\npre-Thanksgiving update: Hogtown goes to Toronto mainly, though Gainesville put in a strong enough #2 showing. So at this point, only one of the nicknames from my original list remains unidentified -- i.e., I haven't quite figured out with enough certainty to put it back in place yet: \"The Paris of the 1980's\". Maybe Seattle. Gaining no confidence from Google, I'll probably just drop that one.\nAnd the other two cities that I didn't find matches for are in Ontario, Canada — Copetown and Welland. My google efforts did not come up with any nickname for either.\nThese will have to wait until I re-locate my original list or check some of the other sites I've listed above.\nThanks to Erland, Margaret, Phil, Devin, Drew, Isaac, Kunaal, Dave Letterman, the film \"Fargo\", and anyone else who contributed suggestions!\n© Copyright 2006 Doug Landauer .",
"US State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nEvery US state has a nickname ... In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, ... One of the oldest state nicknames ...\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.",
"US State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, ... One of the oldest state nicknames ... and the nickname of the Beehive State.\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.",
"American State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nThe history of American state nicknames : ... but not all American states have official nicknames. ... comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant ...\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth.",
"American State Nicknames - Mike Todd\nThe history of American state nicknames ... It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine ... known as the Lake State, or the Great ...\nAmerican State Nicknames\n \n \nEvery US state has a nickname (or two, or more), but not all American states have official nicknames. By \"official\" I mean a nickname that has been formally adopted as a \"state symbol\" by the state's legislature, rather than one that is just in common use. However, a number of states have officially added a nickname to their licence plates (either as an option, or as an obligation under the legislation) even though the nickname is not recognised separately as a \"state symbol\".\nThe table shows all those that I've been able to research. I haven't included slogans or state mottos (which sometimes get mixed up with nicknames), and it's important to note that some nicknames were never widely adopted, having sometimes only appeared in one or two places.\nI have used numerous reference sources for this research, although I don't include them individually here as this page is already rather long. Apart from various Almanacs, directories, dictionaries and official Web sites, my main reference source has been H.L. Mencken's The American Language. Not surprisingly there are often conflicts between sources when it comes to details, and I've tried to express this in the text.\nWhere possible I've tried to specifically identify whether a state has a nickname which is officially recognised as such by the state's legislature. When I've been able to do so, the details appear alongside the state's name (with the date it was adopted). No nickname alongside the state's name, means that so far I've been unable to find any formal confirmation either way.\nAlabama (no official nickname)\n \nAlabama has a central position within the cotton-growing area east of the Mississippi, which has led it to be known as the Cotton State (1844) or the Cotton Plantation State. However, this term was also applied to all the states of the area as a group. There were also many variations quoted, such as Cottondom (first seen in 1856), Cotton Belt (1871), Cotton Country (1871), and even Cottonia (1862). The first Alabamians were sometimes known as \"lizards\", which gave the state its earlier nickname of Lizard State back in 1845. In more recent times the state has been known as the Yellowhammer State, from Civil War days, and many people believe that it derives from the species of woodpecker - in reality, it arose from the yellow colour of the home-dyed uniforms that the Alabama troops wore during the Civil War. Occasionally, Alabama also gets the Camelia State. While there is no official nickname for the state, The Heart of Dixie is the most commonly used. It was introduced by the state's Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s for publicity purposes, and in 1951 was approved by the legislature for inclusion on licence plates, although the first of these did not appear until four years later.\nAlaska (no official nickname)\n \nAlaska has no official nickname although, when it joined the union in 1959 a number of suggestions were made. The 49th State is the most obvious, and Great Land was also suggested. It was also suggested that it be known as the Sourdough State, as well as the North Star State (this name also being claimed by Minnesota). It was even at one time referred to as Up Over (in comic opposition to New Zealand and Australia, which are \"Down Under\"). Various facetious nicknames were also applied, including Seward's Ice Box and Seward's Folly, after William Henry Seward who bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867. However, Alaska is more commonly (but unofficially) known as The Last Frontier, or The Land of the Midnight Sun. Alaska licence plates display North to the Future\nArizona\n \nWhen Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912, it quickly gained the nickname The Baby State, which it held on to until 1959 when Alaska was admitted. However, it was also sometimes known as The Valentine State, based on the fact that it was admitted on Valentine's Day. It's not surprising that the success of copper mining the state means that it is occasionally known as the Copper State. Its connection with American Indians gave Arizona the name Apache State, with other nicknames such as Aztec State, Sand Hill State, Sunset State and Grand Canyon State being used at one time or another, with the last of these appearing on licence plates..\nArkansas (The Natural State - 1995)\n \nThe earliest known nickname for Arkansas seems to be Bear State, recorded first in 1858, and this is a nickname to which several states have laid claim. It was also sometimes known as The Bowie State and The Toothpick State (both alluding to the Bowie knife, the favourite weapon of the area, and which was sometimes called \"a toothpick knife\"), and the Hot-water State (because of the number of hot springs in the area). However, the first official nickname for Arkansas came in 1923 when the legislature designated the state as The Wonder State. In more modern times, Arkansas has had the unofficial nickname of The Razorback State, but was more officialy known as The Land of Opportunity for many years. Arkansas licence plates display another nickname (The Natural State) which became the state's most recent official nickname in 1995.\nCalifornia (The Golden State - 1968)\n \nCalifornia was first known simply as The Gold State, because of the Gold Rush of 1848. It was also sometimes known as El Dorado and, because of its wine connections, The Grape State. The \"Gold\" was changed to \"Golden\" by 1867, and since then the state has been known as The Golden State, which became the state's official nickname in 1968 (appearing also on licence plates). California's state flower is the Golden Poppy, which has led some to assume that it is from this which the state gets its nickname whereas in reality it is much more likely that the state flower was chosen because of the \"golden\" reference.\nColorado\n \nAdmitted to the union 100 years from the founding of the Union, Colorado quickly became known as The Centennial State. At about the same time, and because of the abundant silver mines, it also laid claim to The Silver State, but which Nevada disputed its right to as early as 1871. The minerals of the state also led to, according to some unconfirmed reports, The Lead State. It also tried for Switzerland of America, but four other states (Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and West Virginia) disputed this one. It then tried for Treasure State, but Montana wanted that. Its high elevation has led to the state occasionally being known as the Mile-high State (although that's an epithet now reserved for Denver, the \"Mile High City\") and the Highest State, its great beauty produced Colorful Colorado, and the many roaming bison herds led to The Buffalo Plains State. In practice, Colorado remains The Centennial State, but it is The Mountain State which appears on licence plates.\nConnecticut (The Constitution State - 1959)\n \nFirst known as Land of Wooden Nutmegs (after a scam commonly perpetrated there of selling useless nutmegs made of wood), the state quickly became known as The Wooden Nutmeg State, and then just The Nutmeg State. Connecticut has had its fair share of other nicknames. The fact that the first formal constitution written on American soil, back in Hartford, 1639, gave it The Constitution State, a nickname that was made the state's official nickname in 1959, and which appears on licence plates. It was also given the Provisions State and The Blue Law State, from some of its \"Blue Laws\" in colonial times. In 1843, the only nickname recorded for the state was The Freestone State, and it has also been known as The Land of Steady Habits.\nDelaware (The First State - 23 May 2002)\n \nNobody quite knows where the modern-day Delaware's Blue Hen State comes from. It was first recorded in the early 1800s, and may be an allusion to a \"blue hen chicken\", a term meaning a \"quick-tempered and fiery person\", possibly deriving from the fact that Delaware soldiers took \"Blue Hen Cocks\" with them as entertainment in the form of cock fights. In the 16th cenury, the Spanish introduced peaches into the state, and a hundred years later the state was almost overrun with them, leading to the nickname The Peach State (which in turn led the state to adopt the Peach Blossom as the state flower in 1895). It also once had the nickname New Sweden, after the name of the original Swedish settlement of \"Nye Sverige\", founded in 1638. And its small size gave it the nickname of Uncle Sam's Pocket Handkerchief, or more recently, Small Wonder. The state also had two other common nicknames - The Diamond State (because of its small size) and the semi-official name (as it appears on licence plates), The First State (being the first to be admitted to the Union in 1787). In 2002, the state formally adopted The First State as its official nickname after a group of elementary school children approached the majority leader of the House and asked for help in getting the unofficial nickname made official.\nDistrict of Columbia\n \nNot really a state as such, DC has no official nickname - but is frequently called The Nation's Capital (which appears on its licence plates) and America's First City\nFlorida (The Sunshine State - 1970)\n \nAt one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name (\"flowery\") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature. The nickname is also unofficially claimed by New Mexico and (until 1980) South Dakota.\nGeorgia (No Official Nickname)\n \nIn 1843, Georgia was listed as The Pine State, but thirty years later some were calling it The Cracker State. A \"cracker\" in this context was slang for a low Southern white man, coined in the mid-18th century (although other sources suggest that it may relate to the many teamsters in the state, and be an allusion to the cracking of their whips). Whatever the origin, many Georgians hated the nickname. Georgia has also been known as The Buzzard State (from laws Georgia introduced to protect buzzards), from the peanut came The Goober State, and from its leadership, Yankee-land of the South. The nicknames for Georgia these days are The Empire State of the South (originally used in the mid 19th century, but since then has been hotly disputed by Taxes), and the name that appears on licence plates, The Peach State (the peach being the official state fruit since 1995). However, Georgia's legislature has not designated an official nickname for the state.\nHawaii (The Aloha State - 1959)\n \nMany of Hawaii's supporters call it Paradise of the Pacific, or Crossroads of the Pacific (although this is mostly associated with the city of Honolulu), and others call it the Pineapple State . But since 1959 a Polynesian greeting has given the state's official nickname (which also appears on licence plates), The Aloha State.\nIdaho\n \nThe name of the state is often (but incorrectly) supposed to be Indian for \"gem of the mountains\". This has led the state to be nicknamed Gem of the Mountains, or most succinctly in more recent times, The Gem State. But Idaho's famous potatoes aren't ignored, and Land of the Famous Potato and Spud State are sometimes seen, with Famous Potatoes appearing on the licence plates.\nIllinois\n \nThe sucker fish once gave Illinois the nickname, The Sucker State (and also, incidentally, gave us the slang word \"sucker\", for someone who is easy prey). The state has actually had numerous nicknames over the years - Garden of the West, The Garden State and The Corn State being just three of them. Lincoln began his political career in Illinois, and in 1955 its slogan became Land of Lincoln (which now appears on its licence plates). However, these days it is often known as The Prairie State, a name which it has had since at least as early as 1842, before which it was a term applied to all the plain states.\nIndiana (no official nickname)\n \nIndiana is one of the few states that has had only one nickname - The Hoosier State - a name it has had since the 1830s. At one time, a \"hoosier\" was any rough person in the Wild West, but it eventually came to be applied contemptuously (like \"Yankee\") to anyone from Indiana. Nobody quite knows where \"Hoosier\" comes from, but it seems to have first appeared in 1826. Indiana licence plates display the motto, The Hospitality State\nIowa\n \nNobody is quite sure where the name \"Hawkeye\" came from, but it is possibly from Fennimore Cooper's \"The Last of the Mohicans\" - alternatively, it may have been coined as a tribute to the Indian leader, Chief Black Hawk. It seems to have applied to Iowans from around 1840, and The Hawkeye State is first recorded around 1859. A more popular and recent (but also only semi-official) nickname is the Corn State, which has appeared on the state licence plates.\nKansas (The Sunflower State)\n \nKansas has probably had more nicknames in its history than any other state. Around the time of the Civil War, it was known as The Battleground of Freedom, but later was known as The Garden of the West, or just The Garden State. However, these last two nicknames were disputed by other states and never really caught on. Another pre-Civil War nickname, based on the old \"squatter laws\", was The Squatter State. In 1890 it was The Grasshopper State, and other natural calamities gave The Cyclone State and The Dust Bowl State. It has also been called The Salt of the Earth. The Jayhawker State is a name derived from the slang name for a Kansan from around 1875 (although it was used in a wider sense as a fighting abolitionist before then), and still occasionally used, but shortened to Jayhawk State. Kansas itself officially favoured the more demure Sunflower State, which is the official nickname (and the sunflower is the state flower), with The Wheat State appearing on its licence plates.\nKentucky (The Bluegrass State)\n \nThe \"Blue Grass\" region of the US once extended from Pennsylvania in the east to Ohio in the west, and down into Tennessee in the south. Although the grass is green, the bluish buds produced in the spring give the grass a distinctly blue colour. Kentucky itself was the Bluegrass State from the time of the Civil War, and remains so (the name appears on the state licence plates). One suggestion for the origin of the name \"Kentucky\" is that it means \"dark and bloody ground\", and this led to the state (actually its a commonwealth) being known as Dark and Bloody Ground. This refers to battles between tribes of Indians, and not to any conflict with the white man, despite the fact that references as early as 1839 were saying that it was an allusion to battles between Indians and the first white settlers, and brought to the language by Daniel Boone. Over the years, Kentucky has been known as the Hemp State, the Rock-Ribbed State and the Tobacco State.\nLouisiana\n \nLouisiana has been the Pelican State since around 1859 (the Pelican is also the official state bird), and has had few nicknames since then. In 1872, it was listed as being the Creole State, but the misunderstandings of northerners, who thought it suggested African blood rather than the correct meaning of \"caucasian\", led to its demise. Occasionally, Louisiana gets called the Sugar State. The influence of the great river has led some to call it Child of the Mississippi, and the state's many waterways have also results in the Bayou State (which is the name on the state's licence plates).\nMaine\n \nMaine has a pine tree on its seal, and has been known as the Pine Tree Statesince the middle of the 19th century, possibly aroun the 1850s. It derives from the white pine, the official state tree. But it was also recorded as the Lumber State in 1843. The state motto is Dirigo, meaning \"I direct\", and this has led some to call it the Old Dirigo State. Licence plates in Maine declare the state to be Vacationland, and it has also been known as the Border State.\nMaryland\n \nMaryland is another state that has had numerous nicknames since colonial times. Old Line State (from the Maryland Line in the old Colonial army, which some say was bestowed on the state by George Washington) and Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state), are probably the oldest, but in 1923 the editor of the Baltimore Sun used the name Maryland Free State in an ironic editorial when the state was denounced as a traitor to the union for not introducing legislation to enforce prohibition. In fact the editorial was never published, but he went on to use the term in other articles and this soon spread amongst other newspapers in the state, often being shortened to the Free State. Maryland has also been known as the Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of \"Monumental City\"), the Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state) and also the Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its licence plates).\nMassachusetts\n \nMassachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789, with Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later. Both allude to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798, and those first colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State and the Puritan State. There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays. But Massachusetts licence plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State\nMichigan\n \nMichigan has been known as the Wolverine State from at least 1846, when it first appeared in the \"Knickerbocker Magazine\", although \"Wolverine\" for an inhabitant of Michigan goes back at least 10 years earlier. Nobody is quite sure exactly why this name should have been applied, as there is no evidence that wolverines actually existed in the state. It is likely that the name was given to Michiginians because of their vicious and gluttonous actions, either by the Ohians during the Toledo War (over a disputed strip of land around Toledo) or by the Indians who saw how aggressively the land was being taken. Michigan is also known as the Lake State, or the Great Lakes State (which appeared on the state licence plates) for its proximity to Lake Michigan, but this name conflicts with the \"Lake States\", given to the states which border the Great Lakes. To avoid this conflict, some have turned it into the Lady of the Lake and the more remote Water Wonderland. Detroit's heavy car manufacturing industry has also led some to refer to the Auto State.\nMinnesota\n \nThe official nickname of Minnesota is the North Star State, and the state seal has the motto L'Etoile du Nord on it. It is also commonly known as the Gopher State, a nickname which dates back to around 1880 and is based on the fact that the American football team of the Minnesota State University were known as \"The Golden Gophers\" (a variety of squirrel) - but Arkansas also laid claim to the name 35 years earlier. Energetic supporters of the state have variously given it names like Bread and Butter State or Bread Basket of the Nation, Cream Pitcher of the Nation, and the Wheat State, all based on the state's production of wheat and dairy produce, and Playground of the Nation. The numerous lakes in the state have also led it to be known occasionally as the Land of 10,000 Lakes (in fact, Minnesota has more like 12,000 lakes) - Minnesota licence plates have 10,000 Lakes on them.\nMississippi\n \nIn 1872, Mississippi was known as the Mudcat State, after a large catfish that lived in the river mud (a similar allusion may also have given it the less common nickname the Mud-Waddler State) . Bayou State dates from around 1867, and Eagle State is possibly a shortening of Border-Eagle State, which first appeared around 1846, and both may be from the eagle that appears on the state's seal. The state is also sometimes known as the Groundhog State or the Hospitality State (which appears on the licence plates) . However, the abundance of the magnolia, and its adoption as the official state flower and tree, has led to the modern nickname of the Magnolia State.\nMissouri\n \nMissouri has been known as the Iron Mountain State, Bullion State (from around 1848, and possibly an allusion to the nickname of Missouri senator Benton, who was known as \"Old Bullion\"), the Lead State, the Ozark State, the Puke State (possibly a corruption of \"Pike\", as there is a Pike County in Missouri, and another just across the river in Illinois), the Cave State, and the Pennsylvania of the West. The modern nickname of the Show Me State (which also appears on licence plates) was given national popularity at the end of the 19th century from a phrase included in a speech by a Missouri congressman, William Vandiver, although it had existed before then.\nMontana\n \nIn its early days, Montana was the Bonanza State (around 1893, and from the rich mineral deposits) and the Stub-Toe State (from 1890, and an allusion to its steep mountain slopes). But the rich gold and silver deposits have led it now to be known as the Treasure State, although the wide open spaces have also produced Big Sky Country (which is what appears on the state's licence plates)\nNebraska (The Cornhusker State - 1945)\n \nIn 1922, Nebraska was sometimes known as the Antelope State, and the Black Water State. But the legislatures has already passed an act in 1895 which declared the state as the Tree Planters State, and its licence plates showed the Beef State. The dark colour of its rivers resulted in some calling it the Black Water State in around 1916. Others have called it the Bugeating State, after a nickname of \"Bug-eaters\" given to Nebraskans, a derogatory term based on the poverty-stricken appearance of the state. In 1945, the original nickname (which also appears on licence plates) was replaced by the Cornhusker State, where \"Cornhusker\" was originally applied to the University of Nebraska's athletic and football teams.\nNevada\n \nHaving been admitted to the Union during the Civil War, Nevada adopted the Battle-Born State as its nickname, and this is still used today, having been officially adopted as the staet slogan in 1937. Facetious nicknames, like Divorce State have appeared (in this case, due to the rise of Reno and Las Vegas), but the state was more seriously known as Silverland (traced back to 1863, from the wealth of silver deposits). This eventually became the Silver State (a nickname challenged by Colorado, but which is what appears on the state's licence plates today), and also led to the Mining State. However, the Sagebrush State (challenged by Wyoming) is more common (the sagebrush being the state's official flower), occasionally shortened to Sage State\nNew Hampshire\n \nBack in 1830, New Hampshire was known as the Granite State, and this nickname has prevailed to the present day (there was once a huge industry based on the quarrying of granite). On the way, various other nicknames have appeared, such as White Mountain State, Switzerland of America (both because of the abundance of white-topped mountains) and the Mother of Rivers (because of the many rivers which start in the white mountains). New Hampshire licence plates declare the state motto, Live Free or Die!\nNew Jersey (no official nickname)\n \nIn the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State. The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State, and others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called). The famous \"Camden and Aboy Railroad\" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State, and the blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State. But these days New Jersey is simply known as the Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state licence plates since about 1954.\nNew Mexico\n \nNew Mexico has been known as the Sunshine State, a name recorded from around 1926, as well as the Cactus State, and the Spanish State. Enthusiastic supporters have variously regaled New Mexico with Land of Cactus, Land of the Delight Makers, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heart's Desires and Land of Enchantment, but it is the last of these which has stuck and which appears on licence plates.\nNew York\n \nThe state motto is \"Excelsior\", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as \"the seat of Empire\" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.\nNorth Carolina\n \nOnce commonly known as the Old North State, because of its position and history, North Carolina has some beautiful mountain country which led it to also be known as the Land of the Sky. But the modern day nickname of the Tarheel State goes back to the mid 19th century. North Carolinians were known as \"tarboilers\" as early as 1845, also as \"Tar Heels\". Why they were so called is not really known - one suggestion is that a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold a position during the war in 1869, and Mississippians blamed the fact that they had failed to tar their heels that morning. By 1844, the state was being called the Tar and Turpentine State, and by 1859 just Turpentine State. The Wright Brothers launched their first flight in North Carolina, and this has led to First In Flight, a nickname or motto which now appears on car licence plates, along with First in Freedom\nNorth Dakota\n \nA local ground squirrel, the flickertail, gave North Dakota its Flickertail State nickname (an attempt to make this the official nickname in 1953 was defeated), and the Indian tribes its Sioux State and Land of the Dakota .Its importance led it to be sometimes known as Great Central State. But the International Peace Gardens (crossing the northern border of the state into Manitoba) have given the state its modern nickname (and car licence plate slogan) of the Peace Garden State (it's worth noting that some references incorrectly give \"Peach Garden State\", which is a transcription error that seems to have propagated through many works!) - it first appeared on licence plates in 1956, and in 1957 the legislature formally required it to appear on licence plates.North Dakota was also known as the Roughrider State (an allusion to the \"Rough Rider\" cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have led) and this name was used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a tourist campaign, but attempts in 1971 and 1973 to have this replace \"Peace Garden State\" on licence plates failed.\nOhio\n \nDuring the very early part of the 19th century, Ohio was sometimes known as the Yankee State since many settlers had come from New England, but that's a nickname that was given up a long time ago. Some of the state's proponents claimed Mother of Presidents, (sometimes Mother of Modern Presidents) having been where more than half a dozen presidents had started their lives (it's a name that Virginia once used). But the state tree, a variety of horse chestnut, gives the state its current nickname of the Buckeye State - although its adoption owes a lot to William Henry Harrison who, during the 1840 presidential adopted a log cabin made of buckeye timber as his emblem, and many of his supporters would carry buckeye canes. Ohio licence plates declare The Heart of it All\nOklahoma\n \nEven before the land was thrown open to white settlement, many early settlers snuck across the border and made claims there. When the first official settlers were allowed across, they found these \"sooners\" already in possession of the land that they were hoping to take. This led to the state being called the Sooner State. Those who had waited patiently for the canon's \"boom\", a signal that they could cross into Oklahoma, resulted in the much rarer nickname Boomer State, or Boomer's Paradise. According to some Oklahoma licence plates, Oklahoma is OK!\nOregon\n \nThrough the years, Oregon has various been called the Sunshine State (yes, another one!), Webfoot State (derived from the nickname given to residents, because of the high level of rainfall) and Hard-case State (named after the evil characters who flocked to the state in its early days, and from their austere descendants). But Oregon's state animal is the beaver (since 1969), and it is a widely recognised symbol for the state - which has led the State University athletic team to be known as \"the Beavers\", and state to being called the Beaver State. Oregon licence plates call the state Pacific Wonderland\nPennsylvania\n \nOne of the oldest state nicknames (and that which appeasr on its licence plates) is the Keystone State, probably applied to Pennsylvania from the late 18th century (although the first official citation is from 1802, when at a rally Pennsylvania was toasted as \"the keystone in the union\"). The industry of Pennsylvania once gave it the nicknames of the Coal State and Steel State, but these have long drifted into oblivion. Philadelphia is known as \"The Quaker City\", a name which was sometimes been transferred to Pennsylvania itself as the Quaker State.\nRhode Island (no official nickname)\n \nThe smallest state (but the one with the longest full name of \"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\") is often just called Little Rhody, dating back perhaps as early as 1851 (and more recently, the Smallest State). In 1847, it was being referred to as the Plantation State (a reference to the state's full name). Because of its position, its other common nickname (mainly for the benefit of tourists) is the Ocean State, and this is what appears on its licence plates.\nSouth Carolina\n \nThe palmetto palm (a variety of fan palm) has been associated with South Carolina since colonial days, and the first appearance of Palmetto State (the nickname used in modern times) appears to have been around 1843. But numerous other nicknames have emerged over the years - Rice State, the Swamp State, the Iodine State (used to promote iodine-rich produce) and the Sand-lapper State. It is also sometimes known as the Keystone of the South Atlantic, and the Seaboard State. State licence plates use the first words of the song - Nothing Could be Finer\nSouth Dakota (The Mount Rushmore State - 1980)\n \nWhen Dakota split into two parts, South Dakota became variously known as the Blizzard State, the Artesian State (for the many artesian wells in the state), and the Land of Plenty. It was also known as the Sunshine State a name, which unlike the other three, was retained and which was depicted on the state flag until 1980. In that year, South Dakota deferred to Florida's claim on the nickname and relaunched the state officially as the Mount Rushmore State, which appears in words on the state flag. The other common nickname is The Coyote State, which comes from the prairie wolf, named by the Nahuatl Indians as the \"coyotl\", from which we get \"Coyote\" (and which is also a nickname for the residents of the state). Licence plates declare Great Faces, Great Places.\nTennessee\n \nTennessee is known officially (by some accounts) and on its licence plates as the Volunteer State, a name which goes back (depending on which reference you use) either to 1812, when the volunteer soldiers showed particular courage in the Battle of New Orleans, or to 1847 when the Governor called for three regiments to serve in the Mexican War, and 30,000 men volunteered. The state was also known as the Lion's Den, back in 1843, possibly because border ruffians were then known as \"lions of the West\". Tennessee is named after the Indian name for the state, which means \"The River with the Big Bend\", and which led to The Big Bend State, and the diet of fatback pig and cornmeal (both abundant produce in the state) gave it the Hog and Hominy State (it is also sometimes known as the Hog State, and the Hominy State). Tennessee remembers the fact that it was the home of three US Presidents, in the nickname Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. The tan colour of Tennessee soldiers' uniforms in the War Between the States gave them the nickname of \"butternuts\" (after the squash), and the state is sometimes known as the Butternut State as a result.\nTexas (no official nickname)\n \nProbably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the \"Long Expedition\" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle \"industry\" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.\nUtah\n \nThe first settlers in Utah were the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. Their hard work and great influence in the state has given Utah most of its various nicknames. Its common, and long-standing, nickname, the is Mormon State, of which there are a couple of variations - such as Land of the Mormons and Land of the Saints. The Mormons named the state \"Deseret\" when they arrived, and so Utah was also sometimes known as the Deseret State. \"Deseret\", from the Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee, and the early Mormon settlers were described as having carried with them \"swarms of bees\". This is what gave the state its symbol (officially adopted in 1959) of a conical beehive with a swarm of bees around it (on the state flag), and the nickname of the Beehive State. The only \"non-Mormon\" nickname is the Salt Lake State, but even this is closely linked with the Mormons, who first settled in what is now known as Salt Lake City, next to the great Salt Lake.\nVermont\n \nI can find no reference to any other nickname for Vermont other than the Green Mountain State (which, not surprisingly, is also on the licence plates). This name comes from \"Green Mountain Boy\", a name for an inhabitant going back to 1772, in turn named after the militia of the previous year which was organised to protect the state against the New Yorkers (and, of course, derives from the state's name itself, coined in 1761 by Rev Dr Peters, who named the mountains \"Verd Mont\", meaning \"green mountain\", which itself probably came from the \"Green Mountains\" which were named by Samuel de Champlain in 1647).\nVirginia\n \nVirginia has the oldest citation for any state nickname. Old Dominion has its first recorded sighting in 1778, but this derives from Ancient Dominion, the nickname for the state from the end of the 17th century. It is also known as the Mother of States, being the first state to be colonised (a name not attributed to Virginia until 1855, whereas Connecticut had been given the name in 1838), and Mother of Presidents, because Virginia supplied seven of the first twelve of the US Presidents. Some also developed this last name into Mother of Statesmen. The early British loyalists who settled in the states were Cavaliers, and this gave the state another nickname, the Cavalier State. Virginia's licence plates are a little less ambitious, and simply declare Visit Virginia!\nWashington\n \nThe many conifer forests of Washington state produced the nickname the Evergreen State, coined by Seattle Realtor and historian, C.T. Conver. Although numerous references say that the nickname was officially adopted by the legislature in 1893, the Washington legislature's own Web site says that it \"has never been officially adopted by law\". It is also known as the Green Tree State, which appears on its licence plates. Before that, the Chinook Indians lent their name to the Chinook State, a nickname which has been traced back to 1890.\nWest Virginia\n \nWest Virginia is one of the states which attempted to lay claim to the Switzerland of America, but is more usually known (including on licence plates) as the Mountain State. The shape of the state also gave West Virginia The Panhandle State.\nWisconsin\n \nWisconsin inhabitants are \"badgers\", and Wisconsin is the Badger State. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet, and were also responsible for giving the \"Sucker\" and \"Puke\" nicknames to those from Illinois and Iowa. However, \"badger\" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. Interestingly, Wisconsin adopted the badger as the official state animal in 1957. But Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter - not surprisingly, then, the state is sometimes nicknamed the Dairy State, America's Dairyland (which is how it appears on licence plates) or even the Cheese State.\nWyoming\n \nThe first grant of suffrage in the US was made in Wyoming in 1869, leading to the state being called the Suffrage State or the current Equality State. But the state's symbol is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, leading to some calling it the Cowboy State. Wyoming's licence plates declare, Like No Place on Earth."
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Who, in the 6th century BCE, was the last king of Lydia, Solon, who made war on Cyrus, King of Persia, and was defeated? | Croesus | [
"Lydia.txt\nLydia\nLydia (Assyrian: Luddu; , ) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian.\n\nAt its greatest extent, the Kingdom of Lydia covered all of western Anatolia. Lydia (known as Sparda by the Achaemenids) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, with SardisRhodes, P.J. A History of the Classical Greek World 478-323 BC. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6. as its capital. Tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great, was the first satrap (governor). (See: Lydia (satrapy).)\n\nLydia was later the name of a Roman province. Coins are said to have been invented in Lydia around the 7th century BC.\n\nDefining Lydia \n\nThe endonym Śfard (the name the Lydians called themselves) survives in bilingual and trilingual stone-carved notices of the Achaemenid Empire: the satrapy of Sparda (Old Persian), Aramaic Saparda, Babylonian Sapardu, Elamitic Išbarda, Hebrew סְפָרַד. These in the Greek tradition are associated with Sardis, the capital city of King Gyges, constructed during the 7th century BC.\n\nThe cultural ancestors appear to have been associated with or part of the Luwian political entity of Arzawa; yet the Lydian language is not part of the Luwian subgroup (as are Carian and Lycian).\n\nAn Etruscan/Lydian association has long been a subject of conjecture. The Greek historian Herodotus stated that the Etruscans came from Lydia, repeated in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid, and Etruscan-like language was found on the Lemnos stele from the Aegean Sea island of Lemnos. However, recent decipherment of Lydian and its classification as an Anatolian language mean that Etruscan and Lydian were not even part of the same language family. Nevertheless, a recent genetic study of likely Etruscan descendants in Tuscany found strong similarities with individuals in western Anatolia. \n\nGeography \n\nThe boundaries of historical Lydia varied across the centuries. It was bounded first by Mysia, Caria, Phrygia and coastal Ionia. Later, the military power of Alyattes II and Croesus expanded Lydia, which, with its capital at Sardis, controlled all Asia Minor west of the River Halys, except Lycia. After the Persian conquest the River Maeander was regarded as its southern boundary, and during imperial Roman times Lydia comprised the country between Mysia and Caria on the one side and Phrygia and the Aegean Sea on the other.\n\nLanguage \n\nThe Lydian language was an Indo-European language in the Anatolian language family, related to Luwian and Hittite. It used many prefixes and grammatical particles. Lydian finally became extinct during the 1st century BC.\n\nHistory \n\nEarly history: Maeonia and Lydia\n\nLydia developed as a Neo-Hittite kingdom after the decline of the Hittite Empire in the 12th century BC. In Hittite times, the name for the region had been Arzawa; it was a Luwian-speaking area. According to Greek source, the original name of the Lydian kingdom was Maionia (Μαιονία), or Maeonia: Homer (Iliad ii. 865; v. 43, xi. 431) refers to the inhabitants of Lydia as Maiones (Μαίονες). Homer describes their capital not as Sardis but as Hyde (Iliad xx. 385); Hyde may have been the name of the district in which Sardis was located. Later, Herodotus (Histories i. 7) adds that the \"Meiones\" were renamed Lydians after their king Lydus (Λυδός), son of Atys, during the mythical epoch that preceded the Heracleid dynasty. This etiological eponym served to account for the Greek ethnic name Lydoi (Λυδοί). The Hebrew term for Lydians, Lûḏîm (לודים), as found in the Book of Jeremiah(46.9), has been similarly considered, beginning with Flavius Josephus, to be derived from Lud son of Shem; however Hippolytus of Rome (AD 234) offered an alternative opinion that the Lydians were descended from Ludim, son of Mizraim. During Biblical times, the Lydian warriors were famous archers. Some Maeones still existed during historical times in the upland interior along the River Hermus, where a town named Maeonia existed, according to Pliny the Elder (Natural History book v:30) and Hierocles (author of Synecdemus).\n\nLydia in Greek mythology\n\nLydian mythology is virtually unknown, and their literature and rituals lost, in the absence of any monuments or archaeological finds with extensive inscriptions; therefore myths involving Lydia are mainly from Greek mythology.\n\nFor the Greeks, Tantalus was a primordial ruler of mythic Lydia, and Niobe his proud daughter; her husband Amphion associated Lydia with Thebes in Greece, and through Pelops the line of Tantalus was part of the founding myths of Mycenae's second dynasty. (In reference to the myth of Bellerophon, Karl Kerenyi remarked, in The Heroes of The Greeks 1959, p. 83. \"As Lykia was thus connected with Crete, and as the person of Pelops, the hero of Olympia, connected Lydia with the Peloponnesos, so Bellerophontes connected another Asian country, or rather two, Lykia and Karia, with the kingdom of Argos\".)\n\nIn Greek myth, Lydia had also adopted the double-axe symbol, that also appears in the Mycenaean civilization, the labrys. Omphale, daughter of the river Iardanos, was a ruler of Lydia, whom Heracles was required to serve for a time. His adventures in Lydia are the adventures of a Greek hero in a peripheral and foreign land: during his stay, Heracles enslaved the Itones, killed Syleus who forced passers-by to hoe his vineyard; slew the serpent of the river Sangarios (which appears in the heavens as the constellation Ophiucus) and captured the simian tricksters, the Cercopes. Accounts tell of at least one son born to Omphale and Heracles: Diodorus Siculus (4.31.8) and Ovid (Heroides 9.54) mention a son Lamos, while pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheke 2.7.8) gives the name Agelaus, and Pausanias (2.21.3) names Tyrsenus son of Heracles by \"the Lydian woman.\"\n\nAll three heroic ancestors indicate a Lydian dynasty claiming Heracles as their ancestor. Herodotus (1.7) refers to a Heraclid dynasty of kings who ruled Lydia, yet were perhaps not descended from Omphale. He also mentions (1.94) the recurring legend that the Etruscan civilization was founded by colonists from Lydia led by Tyrrhenus, brother of Lydus. However, Dionysius of Halicarnassus was skeptical of this story, indicating that the Etruscan language and customs were known to be totally dissimilar to those of the Lydians. Later chronographers also ignored Herodotus's statement that Agron was the first to be a king, and included Alcaeus, Belus, and Ninus in their list of kings of Lydia. Strabo (5.2.2) makes Atys, father of Lydus and Tyrrhenus, to be a descendant of Heracles and Omphale. All other accounts name Atys, Lydus, and Tyrrhenus as being among the pre-Heraclid kings of Lydia. The gold deposits in the river Pactolus that were the source of the proverbial wealth of Croesus (Lydia's last king) were said to have been left there when the legendary king Midas of Phrygia washed away the \"Midas touch\" in its waters.\nIn Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae, Dionysus, while he is maintaining his human disguise, declares his country to be Lydia. \n\nFirst coinage\n\nAccording to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to use gold and silver coins and the first to establish retail shops in permanent locations. It is not known, however, whether Herodotus meant that the Lydians were the first to use coins of pure gold and pure silver or the first precious metal coins in general. Despite this ambiguity, this statement of Herodotus is one of the pieces of evidence often cited in behalf of the argument that Lydians invented coinage, at least in the West, even though the first coins were neither gold nor silver but an alloy of the two called electrum. \n\nThe dating of these first stamped coins is one of the most frequently debated topics of ancient numismatics, with dates ranging from 700 BC to 550 BC, but the most common opinion is that they were minted at or near the beginning of the reign of King Alyattes (sometimes referred to incorrectly as Alyattes II), who ruled Lydia c. 610-550 BC. The first coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that occurs naturally but that was further debased by the Lydians with added silver and copper. \n\nThe largest of these coins are commonly referred to as a 1/3 stater (trite) denomination, weighing around 4.7 grams, though no full staters of this type have ever been found, and the 1/3 stater probably should be referred to more correctly as a stater, after a type of a transversely held scale, the weights used in such a scale (from ancient Greek ίστημι=to stand), which also means \"standard.\" These coins were stamped with a lion's head adorned with what is likely a sunburst, which was the king's symbol. To complement the largest denomination, fractions were made, including a hekte (sixth), hemihekte (twelfth), and so forth down to a 96th, with the 1/96 stater weighing only about 0.15 grams. There is disagreement, however, over whether the fractions below the twelfth are actually Lydian. \n\nAlyattes' son was Croesus, who became associated with great wealth. Sardis was renowned as a beautiful city. Around 550 BC, near the beginning of his reign, Croesus paid for the construction of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Croesus was defeated in battle by Cyrus II of Persia in 546 BC, with the Lydian kingdom losing its autonomy and becoming a Persian satrapy.\n\nAutochthonous dynasties\n\nLydia was ruled by three dynasties:\n\n;Atyads (1300 BC or earlier) – Heraclids (Tylonids) (to 687 BC)\nAccording to Herodotus the Heraclids ruled for 22 generations during the period from 1185 BC, lasting for 505 years). Alyattes was the king of Lydia in 776 BC. The last king of this dynasty was Myrsilos or Candaules.\n*Candaules - After ruling for seventeen years he was assassinated by his former friend Gyges, who succeeded him on the throne of Lydia.\n\n;Mermnads\n*Gyges, called Gugu of Luddu in Assyrian inscriptions (687-652 BC or 690-657 BC) - Once established on the throne, Gyges devoted himself to consolidating his kingdom and making it a military power. The capital was relocated from Hyde to Sardis. Barbarian Cimmerians sacked many Lydian cities, except for Sardis. Gyges was the son of Dascylus, who, when recalled from banishment in Cappadocia by the Lydian king Myrsilos—called Candaules \"the Dog-strangler\" (a title of the Lydian Hermes) by the Greeks—sent his son back to Lydia instead of himself. Gyges turned to Egypt, sending his faithful Carian troops along with Ionian mercenaries to assist Psammetichus in ending Assyrian domination. Some Bible scholars believe that Gyges of Lydia was the Biblical character Gog, ruler of Magog, who is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation.\n*Ardys II (652-621 BC).\n*Sadyattes (621-609 BC) or (624-610 BC) - Herodotus wrote (in his Inquiries) that he fought with Cyaxares, the descendant of Deioces, and with the Medes, drove out the Cimmerians from Asia, captured Smyrna, which had been founded by colonists from Colophon, and invaded the city-states Clazomenae and Miletus.\n*Alyattes II (609 or 619-560 BC) - one of the greatest kings of Lydia. When Cyaxares attacked Lydia, the kings of Cilicia and Babylon intervened and negotiated a peace in 585 BC, whereby the River Halys was established as the Medes' frontier with Lydia. Herodotus writes:\n\n\"On the refusal of Alyattes to give up his supplicants when Cyaxares sent to demand them of him, war broke out between the Lydians and the Medes, and continued for five years, with various success. In the course of it the Medes gained many victories over the Lydians, and the Lydians also gained many victories over the Medes.\"\n\nThe Battle of the Eclipse was the final battle in a five year war between Alyattes II of Lydia and Cyaxares of the Medes. It took place on May 28, 585 BC, and ended abruptly due to a total solar eclipse.\n\n*Croesus (560-546 BC) - the expression \"rich as Croesus\" refers to this king. The Lydian Empire ended when Croesus attacked the Persian Empire of Cyrus II and was defeated in 546 BC.\n\nPersian Empire\n\nIn 547 BC, the Lydian king Croesus besieged and captured the Persian city of Pteria in Cappadocia and enslaved its inhabitants. The Persian king Cyrus The Great marched with his army against the Lydians. The Battle of Pteria resulted in a stalemate, forcing the Lydians to retreat to their capital city of Sardis. Some months later the Persian and Lydian kings met at the Battle of Thymbra. Cyrus won and captured the capital city of Sardis by 546 BC. \n\nHellenistic Empire \n\nLydia remained a satrapy after Persia's conquest by the Macedonian king Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon.\n \nWhen Alexander's empire ended after his death, Lydia was possessed by the major Asian diadoch dynasty, the Seleucids, and when it was unable to maintain its territory in Asia Minor, Lydia was acquired by the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum. Its last king avoided the spoils and ravage of a Roman war of conquest by leaving the realm by testament to the Roman Empire.\n\nRoman province of Asia \n\nWhen the Romans entered the capital Sardis in 133 BC, Lydia, as the other western parts of the Attalid legacy, became part of the province of Asia, a very rich Roman province, worthy of a governor with the high rank of proconsul. The whole west of Asia Minor had Jewish colonies very early, and Christianity was also soon present there. Acts of the Apostles 16:14-15 mentions the baptism of a merchant woman called \"Lydia\" from Thyatira, known as Lydia of Thyatira, in what had once been the satrapy of Lydia. Christianity spread rapidly during the 3rd century AD, based on the nearby Exarchate of Ephesus.\n\nRoman province of Lydia \n\nUnder the tetrarchy reform of Emperor Diocletian in 296 AD, Lydia was revived as the name of a separate Roman province, much smaller than the former satrapy, with its capital at Sardis.\n \nTogether with the provinces of Caria, Hellespontus, Lycia, Pamphylia, Phrygia prima and Phrygia secunda, Pisidia (all in modern Turkey) and the Insulae (Ionian islands, mostly in modern Greece), it formed the diocese (under a vicarius) of Asiana, which was part of the praetorian prefecture of Oriens, together with the dioceses Pontiana (most of the rest of Asia Minor), Oriens proper (mainly Syria), Aegyptus (Egypt) and Thraciae (on the Balkans, roughly Bulgaria).\n \nByzantine (and Crusader) age \n\nUnder the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641), Lydia became part of Anatolikon, one of the original themata, and later of Thrakesion. Although the Seljuk Turks conquered most of the rest of Anatolia, forming the Sultanate of Ikonion (Konya), Lydia remained part of the Byzantine Empire. During the occupation of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade, Lydia continued to be a part of the Byzantine Orthodox 'Greek Empire' based at Nicaea.\n\nUnder Turkish rule \n\nLydia was captured finally by Turkish beyliks, which were all absorbed by the Ottoman state in 1390. The area became part of the Ottoman Aydın Province (vilayet), and is now of the modern republic of Turkey.\n\nChristianity \n\nLydia had numerous Christian communities, and after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century became one of the provinces of the diocese of Asia in the Patriarchate of Constantinople. \n \nThe ecclesiastical province of Lydia had a metropolitan diocese at Sardis and suffragan dioceses for Philadelphia, Thyatira, Tripolis, Settae, Gordus, Tralles, Silandus, Maeonia, Apollonos Hierum, Mostene, Apollonias, Attalia, Hyrcania, Bage, Balandus, Hermocapella, Hierocaesarea, Acrassus, Dalda, Stratonicia, Cerasa, Gabala, Satala, Aureliopolis and Hellenopolis. Bishops from the various dioceses of Lydia were well represented at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and at the later ecumenical councils. \n\nEpiscopal sees \n\nAncient episcopal sees of the late Roman province of Lydia are listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees: \n\nLydian gods \n\n* Annat\n* Anax\n* Artimus (Artemis, Diana)\n* Asterios\n* Atergätus\n* Atys\n* Baki. See also Bacchus\n* Bassareus\n* Damasēn\n* Gugaie/Guge/Gugaia\n* Hermos\n* Hipta\n* Hullos\n* Kandaulēs\n* Kaustros\n* Kubebe\n* Lamētrus\n* Lukos\n* Lydian Lion\n* Mēles\n* Moxus (Mopsus)\n* Omfalē\n* Pldans (Apollo)",
"Solon.txt\nSolon\nSolon (; BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in archaic Athens.Aristotle Politics 1273b 35–1274a 21 His reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. He wrote poetry for pleasure, as patriotic propaganda, and in defense of his constitutional reforms.\n\nModern knowledge of Solon is limited by the fact that his works only survive in fragments and appear to feature interpolations by later authors, and by the general paucity of documentary and archaeological evidence covering Athens in the early 6th century BC. Ancient authors such as Herodotus and Plutarch are the main source of information, yet they wrote about Solon long after his death, at a time when history was by no means an academic discipline. Fourth century orators, such as Aeschines, tended to attribute to Solon all the laws of their own, much later times. \n\nBiography\n\nSolon was born in Athens around 638 B.C.[http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/S/Solon.html Solon: Biography of Solon] His family was distinguished in Attica as they belonged to a noble or Eupatrid clan although only possessing moderate wealth. Solon's father probably was Execestides. Solon's lineage, therefore, could be traced back to Codrus, the last King of Athens. According to Diogenes Laërtius, he had a brother named Dropides who was an ancestor (six generations removed) of Plato. According to Plutarch, Solon was related to the tyrant Peisistratos for their mothers were cousins. Solon was eventually drawn into the unaristocratic pursuit of commerce. \n\nWhen Athens and Megara were contesting for the possession of the Salamis Island, Solon was given leadership of the Athenian forces. After repeated disasters, Solon was able to increase the morale and spirits of his body of troops on the strength of a poem he wrote about the islands. Supported by Peisistratos, he defeated the Megarians either by means of a cunning trick or more directly through heroic battle around 595 B.C. The Megarians however refused to give up their claim to the island. The dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them.\n\nAccording to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 B.C. Solon was chosen archon or chief magistrate.[http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/solon.html SOLON of Athens] As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends. Knowing that he was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors, amounting to 5 talents (or 15 according to some sources). His friends never repaid their debts. \n\nAfter he had finished his reforms, he travelled abroad for ten years, so that the Athenians could not induce him to repeal any of his laws. His first stop was Egypt. There, according to Herodotus he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt Amasis II. According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais. \nAccording to Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he visited Neith's temple at Sais and received from the priests there an account of the history of Atlantis. Next Solon sailed to Cyprus, where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, in gratitude for which the king named it Soloi.\n\nSolon's travels finally brought him to Sardis, capital of Lydia. According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, which however Croesus failed to appreciate until it was too late. Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, \"Count no man happy until he be dead.\" The reasoning was that at any minute, fortune might turn on even the happiest man and make his life miserable. It was only after he had lost his kingdom to the Persian king Cyrus, while awaiting execution, that Croesus acknowledged the wisdom of Solon's advice. \n\nAfter his return to Athens, Solon became a staunch opponent of Peisistratos. In protest and as an example to others, Solon stood outside his own home in full armour, urging all who passed to resist the machinations of the would-be tyrant. His efforts were in vain. Solon died shortly after Peisistratos usurped by force the autocratic power that Athens had once freely bestowed upon him. He died in Cyprus at the age of 80 and, in accordance with his will, his ashes were scattered around Salamis, the island where he was born. \n\nThe travel writer Pausanias listed Solon among the seven sages whose aphorisms adorned Apollo's temple in Delphi. Stobaeus in the Florilegium relates a story about a symposium, where Solon's young nephew was singing a poem of Sappho's; Solon, upon hearing the song, asked the boy to teach him to sing it. When someone asked, \"Why should you waste your time on it?\" Solon replied , \"So that I may learn it then die.\" Ammianus Marcellinus however told a similar story about Socrates and the poet Stesichorus, quoting the philosopher's rapture in almost identical terms: \"ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam\", meaning \"in order to go away knowing more out of life\".\n\nBackground to Solon's reforms\n\nDuring Solon's time, many Greek city-states had seen the emergence of tyrants, opportunistic noblemen who had taken power on behalf of sectional interests. In Sicyon, Cleisthenes had usurped power on behalf of an Ionian minority. In Megara, Theagenes had come to power as an enemy of the local oligarchs. The son-in-law of Theagenes, an Athenian nobleman named Cylon, made an unsuccessful attempt to seize power in Athens in 632 BC. Solon was described by Plutarch as having been temporarily awarded autocratic powers by Athenian citizens on the grounds that he had the \"wisdom\" to sort out their differences for them in a peaceful and equitable manner. According to ancient sources, he obtained these powers when he was elected eponymous archon (594/3 BC). Some modern scholars believe these powers were in fact granted some years after Solon had been archon, when he would have been a member of the Areopagus and probably a more respected statesman by his (aristocratic) peers. \n\nThe social and political upheavals that characterised Athens in Solon's time have been variously interpreted by historians from ancient times to the present day. Two contemporary historians have identified three distinct historical accounts of Solon's Athens, emphasizing quite different rivalries: economic and ideological rivalry, regional rivalry and rivalry between aristocratic clans. These different accounts provide a convenient basis for an overview of the issues involved.\n\n*Economic and ideological rivalry is a common theme in ancient sources. This sort of account emerges from Solon's poems (e.g. see below Solon the reformer and poet), in which he casts himself in the role of a noble mediator between two intemperate and unruly factions. This same account is substantially taken up about three centuries later by the author of the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia but with an interesting variation:\"...there was conflict between the nobles and the common people for an extended period. For the constitution they were under was oligarchic in every respect and especially in that the poor, along with their wives and children, were in slavery to the rich...All the land was in the hands of a few. And if men did not pay their rents, they themselves and their children were liable to be seized as slaves. The security for all loans was the debtor's person up to the time of Solon. He was the first people's champion.\" Here Solon is presented as a partisan in a democratic cause whereas, judged from the viewpoint of his own poems, he was instead a mediator between rival factions. A still more significant variation in the ancient historical account appears in the writing of Plutarch in the late 1st – early 2nd century AD:\"Athens was torn by recurrent conflict about the constitution. The city was divided into as many parties as there were geographical divisions in its territory. For the party of the people of the hills was most in favour of democracy, that of the people of the plain was most in favour of oligarchy, while the third group, the people of the coast, which preferred a mixed form of constitution somewhat between the other two, formed an obstruction and prevented the other groups from gaining control.\" \n*Regional rivalry is a theme commonly found among modern scholars. \"The new picture which emerged was one of strife between regional groups, united by local loyalties and led by wealthy landowners. Their goal was control of the central government at Athens and with it dominance over their rivals from other districts of Attika.\" Regional factionalism was inevitable in a relatively large territory such as Athens possessed. In most Greek city states, a farmer could conveniently reside in town and travel to and from his fields every day. According to Thucydides, on the other hand, most Athenians continued to live in rural settlements right up until the Peloponnesian War. The effects of regionalism in a large territory could be seen in Laconia, where Sparta had gained control through intimidation and resettlement of some of its neighbours and enslavement of the rest. Attika in Solon's time seemed to be moving towards a similarly ugly solution with many citizens in danger of being reduced to the status of helots. \n*Rivalry between clans is a theme recently developed by some scholars, based on an appreciation of the political significance of kinship groupings. According to this account, bonds of kinship rather than local loyalties were the decisive influence on events in archaic Athens. An Athenian belonged not only to a phyle or tribe and one of its subdivisions, the phratry or brotherhood, but also to an extended family, clan or genos. It has been argued that these interconnecting units of kinship reinforced a hierarchic structure with aristocratic clans at the top. Thus rivalries between aristocratic clans could engage all levels of society irrespective of any regional ties. In that case, the struggle between rich and poor was the struggle between powerful aristocrats and the weaker affiliates of their rivals or perhaps even with their own rebellious affiliates.\n\nThe historical account of Solon's Athens has evolved over many centuries into a set of contradictory stories or a complex story that might be interpreted in a variety of ways. As further evidence accumulates, and as historians continue to debate the issues, Solon's motivations and the intentions behind his reforms will continue to attract speculation. \n\nSolon's reforms\n\nSolon's laws were inscribed on large wooden slabs or cylinders attached to a series of axles that stood upright in the Prytaneion. These axones appear to have operated on the same principle as a Lazy Susan, allowing both convenient storage and ease of access. Originally the axones recorded laws enacted by Draco in the late 7th Century (traditionally 621 BC). Nothing of Draco's codification has survived except for a law relating to homicide, yet there is consensus among scholars that it did not amount to anything like a constitution. Solon repealed all Draco's laws except those relating to homicide. During his visit to Athens, Pausanias, the 2nd century AD geographer reported that the inscribed laws of Solon were still displayed by the Prytaneion. Fragments of the axones were still visible in Plutarch's time but today the only records we have of Solon's laws are fragmentary quotes and comments in literary sources such as those written by Plutarch himself. Moreover, the language of his laws was archaic even by the standards of the fifth century and this caused interpretational problems for ancient commentators. Modern scholars doubt the reliability of these sources and our knowledge of Solon's legislation is therefore actually very limited in its details.\n\nGenerally, Solon's reforms appear to have been constitutional, economic and moral in their scope. This distinction, though somewhat artificial, does at least provide a convenient framework within which to consider the laws that have been attributed to Solon. Some short-term consequences of his reforms are considered at the end of the section.\n\nConstitutional reform\n\nBefore Solon's reforms, the Athenian state was administered by nine archons appointed or elected annually by the Areopagus on the basis of noble birth and wealth. The Areopagus comprised former archons and it therefore had, in addition to the power of appointment, extraordinary influence as a consultative body. The nine archons took the oath of office while ceremonially standing on a stone in the agora, declaring their readiness to dedicate a golden statue if they should ever be found to have violated the laws. There was an assembly of Athenian citizens (the Ekklesia) but the lowest class (the Thetes) was not admitted and its deliberative procedures were controlled by the nobles. There therefore seemed to be no means by which an archon could be called to account for breach of oath unless the Areopagus favoured his prosecution.\n\nAccording to the Athenian Constitution, Solon legislated for all citizens to be admitted into the Ekklesia and for a court (the Heliaia) to be formed from all the citizens. The Heliaia appears to have been the Ekklesia, or some representative portion of it, sitting as a jury. By giving common people the power not only to elect officials but also to call them to account, Solon appears to have established the foundations of a true republic. However some scholars have doubted whether Solon actually included the Thetes in the Ekklesia, this being considered too bold a move for any aristocrat in the archaic period. Ancient sources credit Solon with the creation of a Council of Four Hundred, drawn from the four Athenian tribes to serve as a steering committee for the enlarged Ekklesia. However, many modern scholars have doubted this also. \n\nThere is consensus among scholars that Solon lowered the requirements—those that existed in terms of financial and social qualifications—which applied to election to public office. The Solonian constitution divided citizens into four political classes defined according to assessable property a classification that might previously have served the state for military or taxation purposes only. The standard unit for this assessment was one medimnos (approximately 12 gallons) of cereals and yet the kind of classification set out below might be considered too simplistic to be historically accurate. \n\n*Pentakosiomedimnoi\n**valued at 500 medimnoi or more of cereals annually.\n**eligible to serve as strategoi (generals or military governors)\n*Hippeis\n**valued at 300 medimnoi or more annually.\n**approximating to the medieval class of knights, they had enough wealth to equip themselves for the cavalry\n*Zeugitai\n**valued at a 200 medimnoi or more annually.\n**approximating to the mediaeval class of Yeoman, they had enough wealth to equip themselves for the infantry (Hoplite)\n*Thetes\n**valued up to 199 medimnoi annually or less\n**manual workers or sharecroppers, they served voluntarily in the role of personal servant, or as auxiliaries armed for instance with the sling or as rowers in the navy.\n\nAccording to the Athenian Constitution, only the pentakosiomedimnoi were eligible for election to high office as archons and therefore only they gained admission into the Areopagus. A modern view affords the same privilege to the hippeis. The top three classes were eligible for a variety of lesser posts and only the thetes were excluded from all public office.\n\nDepending on how we interpret the historical facts known to us, Solon's constitutional reforms were either a radical anticipation of democratic government, or they merely provided a plutocratic flavour to a stubbornly aristocratic regime, or else the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes.\n\nEconomic reform\n\nSolon's economic reforms need to be understood in the context of the primitive, subsistence economy that prevailed both before and after his time. Most Athenians were still living in rural settlements right up to the Peloponnesian War. Opportunities for trade even within the Athenian borders were limited. The typical farming family, even in classical times, barely produced enough to satisfy its own needs. Opportunities for international trade were minimal. It has been estimated that, even in Roman times, goods rose 40% in value for every 100 miles they were carried over land, but only 1.3% for the same distance were they carried by ship and yet there is no evidence that Athens possessed any merchant ships until around 525 BC. Until then, the narrow warship doubled as a cargo vessel. Athens, like other Greek city states in the 7th Century BC, was faced with increasing population pressures and by about 525 BC it was able to feed itself only in 'good years'. \n\nSolon's reforms can thus be seen to have taken place at a crucial period of economic transition, when a subsistence rural economy increasingly required the support of a nascent commercial sector. The specific economic reforms credited to Solon are these:\n\n*Fathers were encouraged to find trades for their sons; if they did not, there would be no legal requirement for sons to maintain their fathers in old age. \n*Foreign tradesmen were encouraged to settle in Athens; those who did would be granted citizenship, provided they brought their families with them. \n*Cultivation of olives was encouraged; the export of all other produce was prohibited. \n*Competitiveness of Athenian commerce was promoted through revision of weights and measures, possibly based on successful standards already in use elsewhere, such as Aegina or Euboia or, according to the ancient account but unsupported by modern scholarship, Argos. \n\nIt is generally assumed, on the authority of ancient commentators that Solon also reformed the Athenian coinage. However, recent numismatic studies now lead to the conclusion that Athens probably had no coinage until around 560 BC, well after Solon's reforms. Nevertheless, there are now reasons to suggest that monetization had already begun before Solon's reforms. By early sixth century the Athenians were using silver in the form of a variety of bullion silver pieces for monetary payments. Drachma and obol as a term of bullion value had already been adopted, although the corresponding standard weights were probably unstable. \n\nSolon's economic reforms succeeded in stimulating foreign trade. Athenian black-figure pottery was exported in increasing quantities and good quality throughout the Aegean between 600 BC and 560 BC, a success story that coincided with a decline in trade in Corinthian pottery. The ban on the export of grain might be understood as a relief measure for the benefit of the poor. However, the encouragement of olive production for export could actually have led to increased hardship for many Athenians to the extent that it led to a reduction in the amount of land dedicated to grain. Moreover, an olive produces no fruit for the first six years (but farmers' difficulty of lasting until payback may also give rise to a mercantilist argument in favour of supporting them through that, since the British case illustrates that 'One domestic policy that had a lasting impact was the conversion of \"waste lands\" to agricultural use. Mercantilists felt that to maximize a nation's power all land and resources had to be used to their utmost...'). The real motives behind Solon's economic reforms are therefore as questionable as his real motives for constitutional reform. Were the poor being forced to serve the needs of a changing economy, was the economy being reformed to serve the needs of the poor, or were Solon's policies the manifestation of a struggle taking place between poorer citizens and the aristocrats?\n\nMoral reform\n\nIn his poems, Solon portrays Athens as being under threat from the unrestrained greed and arrogance of its citizens. Even the earth (Gaia), the mighty mother of the gods, had been enslaved. The visible symbol of this perversion of the natural and social order was a boundary marker called a horos, a wooden or stone pillar indicating that a farmer was in debt or under contractual obligation to someone else, either a noble patron or a creditor. Up until Solon's time, land was the inalienable property of a family or clan and it could not be sold or mortgaged. This was no disadvantage to a clan with large landholdings since it could always rent out farms in a sharecropping system. A family struggling on a small farm however could not use the farm as security for a loan even if it owned the farm. Instead the farmer would have to offer himself and his family as security, providing some form of slave labour in lieu of repayment. Equally, a family might voluntarily pledge part of its farm income or labour to a powerful clan in return for its protection. Farmers subject to these sorts of arrangements were loosely known as hektemoroi indicating that they either paid or kept a sixth of a farm's annual yield. In the event of 'bankruptcy', or failure to honour the contract stipulated by the horoi, farmers and their families could in fact be sold into slavery.\n\nSolon's reform of these injustices was later known and celebrated among Athenians as the Seisachtheia (shaking off of burdens). As with all his reforms, there is considerable scholarly debate about its real significance. Many scholars are content to accept the account given by the ancient sources, interpreting it as a cancellation of debts, while others interpret it as the abolition of a type of feudal relationship, and some prefer to explore new possibilities for interpretation. The reforms included:\n*annulment of all contracts symbolised by the horoi. \n*prohibition on a debtor's person being used as security for a loan.\n*release of all Athenians who had been enslaved.\n\nThe removal of the horoi clearly provided immediate economic relief for the most oppressed group in Attica, and it also brought an immediate end to the enslavement of Athenians by their countrymen. Some Athenians had already been sold into slavery abroad and some had fled abroad to escape enslavement – Solon proudly records in verse the return of this diaspora. It has been cynically observed, however, that few of these unfortunates were likely to have been recovered. It has been observed also that the seisachtheia not only removed slavery and accumulated debt, it also removed the ordinary farmer's only means of obtaining further credit. \n\nThe seisachtheia however was merely one set of reforms within a broader agenda of moral reformation. Other reforms included:\n*the abolition of extravagant dowries. \n*legislation against abuses within the system of inheritance, specifically with relation to the epikleros (i.e. a female who had no brothers to inherit her father's property and who was traditionally required to marry her nearest paternal relative in order to produce an heir to her father's estate).Grant, Michael. The Rise of the Greeks. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988 p. 49\n*entitlement of any citizen to take legal action on behalf of another. \n*the disenfranchisement of any citizen who might refuse to take up arms in times of civil strife, a measure that was intended to counteract dangerous levels of political apathy. \n\nDemosthenes claimed that the city's subsequent golden age included \"personal modesty and frugality\" among the Athenian aristocracy. Perhaps Solon, by both personal example and legislated reform, established a precedent for this decorum. A heroic sense of civic duty later united Athenians against the might of the Persians. Perhaps this public spirit was instilled in them by Solon and his reforms. (See also Solon and Athenian sexuality below).\n\nAftermath of Solon's reforms\n\nAfter completing his work of reform, Solon surrendered his extraordinary authority and left the country. According to Herodotus the country was bound by Solon to maintain his reforms for 10 years, whereas according to Plutarch and the author of the Athenian Constitution (reputedly Aristotle) the contracted period was instead 100 years. A modern scholar considers the time-span given by Herodotus to be historically accurate because it fits the 10 years that Solon was said to have been absent from the country. Within 4 years of Solon's departure, the old social rifts re-appeared, but with some new complications. There were irregularities in the new governmental procedures, elected officials sometimes refused to stand down from their posts and occasionally important posts were left vacant. It has even been said that some people blamed Solon for their troubles. Eventually one of Solon's relatives, Peisistratos, ended the factionalism by force, thus instituting an unconstitutionally gained tyranny. In Plutarch's account, Solon accused Athenians of stupidity and cowardice for allowing this to happen. \n\nPoetry\n\nSolon's verses have come down to us in fragmentary quotations by ancient authors such as Plutarch and Demosthenes who used them to illustrate their own arguments. It is possible that some fragments have been wrongly attributed to him and some scholars have detected interpolations by later authors. He was also the first citizen of Athens to reference the goddess Athena (fr. 4.1-4). \n\nThe literary merit of Solon's verse is generally considered unexceptional. Solon's poetry can be said to appear 'self-righteous' and 'pompous' at times and he once composed an elegy with moral advice for a more gifted elegiac poet, Mimnermus. Most of the extant verses show him writing in the role of a political activist determined to assert personal authority and leadership and they have been described by the German classicist Wilamowitz as a \"versified harangue\" (Eine Volksrede in Versen). According to Plutarch however, Solon originally wrote poetry for amusement, discussing pleasure in a popular rather than philosophical way. Solon's elegiac style is said to have been influenced by the example of Tyrtaeus. He also wrote iambic and trochaic verses which, according to one modern scholar, are more lively and direct than his elegies and possibly paved the way for the iambics of Athenian drama.\n\nSolon's verses are mainly significant for historical rather than aesthetic reasons, as a personal record of his reforms and attitudes. However, poetry is not an ideal genre for communicating facts and very little detailed information can be derived from the surviving fragments. According to Solon the poet, Solon the reformer was a voice for political moderation in Athens at a time when his fellow citizens were increasingly polarized by social and economic differences:\n\nπολλοὶ γὰρ πλουτεῦσι κακοί, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ πένονται:\nἀλλ' ἡμεῖς αὐτοῖς οὐ διαμειψόμεθα\nτῆς ἀρετῆς τὸν πλοῦτον: ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν ἔμπεδον αἰεί,\nχρήματα δ' ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοτε ἄλλος ἔχει.\nSome wicked men are rich, some good are poor;\nWe will not change our virtue for their store:\nVirtue's a thing that none can take away,\nBut money changes owners all the day. \n\nHere translated by the English poet John Dryden, Solon's words define a 'moral high ground' where differences between rich and poor can be reconciled or maybe just ignored. His poetry indicates that he attempted to use his extraordinary legislative powers to establish a peaceful settlement between the country's rival factions:\n \n Before them both I held my shield of might\n And let not either touch the other's right.\n\nHis attempts evidently were misunderstood:\n\n χαῦνα μὲν τότ' ἐφράσαντο, νῦν δέ μοι χολούμενοι\n λοξὸν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶσι πάντες ὥστε δήϊον.\n Formerly they boasted of me vainly; with averted eyes\n Now they look askance upon me; friends no more but enemies. \n\nSolon gave voice to Athenian 'nationalism', particularly in the city state's struggle with Megara, its neighbour and rival in the Saronic Gulf. Plutarch professes admiration of Solon's elegy urging Athenians to recapture the island of Salamis from Megarian control. The same poem was said by Diogenes Laërtius to have stirred Athenians more than any other verses that Solon wrote:\n\n Let us go to Salamis to fight for the island\n We desire, and drive away our bitter shame! \n \nIt is possible that Solon backed up this poetic bravado with true valour on the battlefield. \n\nSolon and Athenian sexuality\n\nAs a regulator of Athenian society, Solon, according to some authors, also formalized its sexual mores. According to a surviving fragment from a work (\"Brothers\") by the comic playwright Philemon, Solon established publicly funded brothels at Athens in order to \"democratize\" the availability of sexual pleasure. While the veracity of this comic account is open to doubt, at least one modern author considers it significant that in Classical Athens, three hundred or so years after the death of Solon, there existed a discourse that associated his reforms with an increased availability of heterosexual pleasure. \n\nAncient authors also say that Solon regulated pederastic relationships in Athens; this has been presented as an adaptation of custom to the new structure of the polis. According to various authors, ancient lawgivers (and therefore Solon by implication) drew up a set of laws that were intended to promote and safeguard the institution of pederasty and to control abuses against freeborn boys. In particular, the orator Aeschines cites laws excluding slaves from wrestling halls and forbidding them to enter pederastic relationships with the sons of citizens. Accounts of Solon's laws by 4th century orators like Aeschines, however, are considered unreliable for a number of reasons; \nAttic pleaders did not hesitate to attribute to him (Solon) any law which suited their case, and later writers had no criterion by which to distinguish earlier from later works. Nor can any complete and authentic collection of his statutes have survived for ancient scholars to consult. \n\nBesides the alleged legislative aspect of Solon's involvement with pederasty, there were also suggestions of personal involvement. According to some ancient authors Solon had taken the future tyrant Peisistratos as his eromenos. Aristotle, writing around 330 BC, attempted to refute that belief, claiming that \"those are manifestly talking nonsense who pretend that Solon was the lover of Peisistratos, for their ages do not admit of it,\" as Solon was about thirty years older than Peisistratos. Nevertheless, the tradition persisted. Four centuries later Plutarch ignored Aristotle's skepticism and recorded the following anecdote, supplemented with his own conjectures:\n\nAnd they say Solon loved [Peisistratos]; and that is the reason, I suppose, that when afterwards they differed about the government, their enmity never produced any hot and violent passion, they remembered their old kindnesses, and retained \"Still in its embers living the strong fire\" of their love and dear affection. \n\nA century after Plutarch, Aelian also said that Peisistratos had been Solon's eromenos. Despite its persistence, however, it is not known whether the account is historical or fabricated. It has been suggested that the tradition presenting a peaceful and happy coexistence between Solon and Peisistratos was cultivated during the latter's dominion, in order to legitimize his own rule, as well as that of his sons. Whatever its source, later generations lent credence to the narrative. Solon's presumed pederastic desire was thought in antiquity to have found expression also in his poetry, which is today represented only in a few surviving fragments. The authenticity of all the poetic fragments attributed to Solon is however uncertain – in particular, pederastic aphorisms ascribed by some ancient sources to Solon have been ascribed by other sources to Theognis instead.",
"6th_century_BC.txt\n6th century BC\nThe 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC.\n\nThis century represents the peak of a period in human history popularly known as Axial Age. This period saw the emergence of five major thought streams springing from five great thinkers in different parts of the world: Buddha and Mahavira in India, Zoroaster in Persia, Pythagoras in Greece and Confucius in China.\nPāṇini, in India, composed a grammar for Sanskrit, in this century or slightly later. This is the oldest still known grammar of any language.\n\nIn the Near East, the first half of this century was dominated by the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean empire, which had risen to power late in the previous century after successfully rebelling against Assyrian rule. The Kingdom of Judah came to an end in 586 BC when Babylonian forces under Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem, and removed most of its population to their own lands. Babylonian rule was toppled however in the 540s, by Cyrus, who founded the Persian Empire in its place. The Persian Empire continued to expand and grew into the greatest empire the world had known at the time.\n\nIn Iron Age Europe, the Celtic expansion was in progress. China was in the Spring and Autumn Period.\n\n*Mediterranean: Beginning of Greek philosophy, flourishes during the 5th century BC\n*The late Hallstatt culture period in Eastern and Central Europe, the late Bronze Age in Northern Europe\n*East Asia: The Spring and Autumn Period. Chinese philosophy become the orthodoxy of China. Confucianism, Legalism and Moism flourish. Laozi founds Taoism\n*Middle East: During the Persian empire, Zoroaster, aka Zarathustra, founded Zoroastrianism, a dualistic philosophy. This was also the time of the Babylonian captivity of the ancient Jews.\n*Ancient India: The Buddha and Mahavira found Buddhism and Jainism\n*The decline of the Olmec civilization in America\n\nEvents\n\n590s BC \n\n* Mid-6th century BC: Foundation of Temple of Olympian Zeus (Athens) is made.\n* 598 BC: Jehoiachin succeeds Jehoiakim as King of Judah.\n* 16 March 597 BC: Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as King.\n* 595 BC: Psammetichus II succeeds Necho II as King of Egypt.\n* 594 BC: Solon appointed archon of Athens; institutes democratic reforms.\n* 590 BC: Egyptian army sacks Napata, compelling the Cushite court to move to a more secure location at Meroe near the sixth Cataract \n\n580s BC \n\n* 589 BC: Apries succeeds Psammetichus II as King of Egypt.\n* 588 BC: Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon begins siege of Jerusalem; some sources set the date at 587 BC.\n* 587 BC/586 BC: Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians, ending the Kingdom of Judah. The conquerors destroy the Temple of Jerusalem and exile the land's remaining inhabitants. Babylonian Captivity for the Jews began.\n* 586 BC: death of King Ding of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China\n* 28 May 585 BC: A solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Thales, while Alyattes II is battling Cyaxares. This leads to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.\n* 585 BC/584 BC: Astyages succeeds Cyaxares as King of the Medes.\n* 585 BC: King Jian of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 583 BC: Babylonians begins siege against Tyre.\n* 582 BC: Pythian Games founded at Delphi (traditional date).\n* 580 BC: Cambyses I succeeds Cyrus I as King of Anshan and head of the Achaemenid dynasty (approximate date).\n* 580 BC: Isthmian Games founded at Corinth (traditional date)\n\n570s BC \n\n* 579 BC: Servius Tullius succeeds the assassinated Lucius Tarquinius Priscus as King of Rome (traditional date).\n* 573 BC: Nemean Games founded at Nemea (traditional date).\n* 572 BC: Death of King Jian of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 571 BC: King Ling of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 570 BC: Amasis II succeeds Apries as King of Egypt.\n* 570 BC: Pythagoras of Samos is born (approximate date).\n* 570 BC: End of the Babylonian siege against the city of Tyre with a partial victory by the Babylonians. It was the longest siege of the city in history, lasting 13 years.\n\n560s BC \n\n* 568 BC: Amtalqa succeeds his brother Aspelta as King of Kush.\n* 562 BC: Amel-Marduk succeeds Nebuchadnezzar as King of Babylon.\n* 560 BC: Neriglissar succeeds Amel-Marduk as King of Babylon.\n* 560 BC/561 BC: Croesus becomes King of Lydia.\n* 560 BC: Pisistratus seizes the Acropolis of Athens and declares himself tyrant. He is deposed in the same year.\n\n550s BC \n\n* 550s BC: Carthage conquers Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.\n* 559 BC: King Cambyses I of Anshan dies and is succeeded by his son Cyrus II the Great.\n* 558 BC: Hegesias removed as Archon of Athens.\n* 558 BC: The Chinese state of Jin defeats its rival Qin in battle.\n* 556 BC: Pisistratus is exiled from Athens to Euboea.\n* 556 BC: Labashi-Marduk succeeds Neriglissar as King of Babylon.\n* 556 BC/555 BC: Nabonidus succeeds Labashi-Marduk as King of Babylon.\n* 550 BC: Abdera is destroyed by the Thracians.\n* 550 BC: Cyrus II the Great overthrows Astyages of the Medes, establishing the Persian Empire.\n* 550 BC: The Late Mumun Period begins in the Korean peninsula.\n\n540s BC \n\n* 547 BC: Croesus, Lydian King, is defeated by Cyrus of Persia near the River Halys.\n* 546 BC: Cyrus of Persia completes his conquest of Lydia, and makes Pasargadae his capital.\n* 544 BC: People of Teos migrate to Abdera, Thrace to escape the yoke of Persia.\n* 544 BC: King Jing of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 543 BC: North Indian Prince Vijaya invades Ceylon and establishes a Sinhalese dynasty. \n* 543 BC: Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, purifies the island of Delos (approximate date).\n* 540 BC: Greek city of Elea of southern Italy founded (approximate date).\n* 540 BC: Persians conquer Lycian city of Xanthos, now in southern Turkey (approximate date).\n\n530s BC \n\n* 539 BC: Babylon is conquered by Cyrus the Great, defeating Nabonidus.\n* 538 BC: Return of some Jews from Babylonian exile who build the Second Temple about seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple, from 520 BC–516 BC.\n* 537 BC: Jews transported to Babylon are allowed to return to Jerusalem, bringing to a close the Babylonian captivity.\n* 536 BC: According to tradition, the Biblical prophet Daniel receives an angelic visitor. \n* 534 BC: Lucius Tarquinius Superbus becomes King of Rome.\n* 534 BC: Competitions for tragedy are instituted at the City Dionysia festival in Athens.\n* 530 BC: Cambyses II succeeds Cyrus as King of Persia.\n\n520s BC \n\n* 528 BC: Gautama Buddha attains Enlightenment, and begins his ministry. He founds Buddhism in India. It becomes a major world religion.\n* 526 BC: Psammetichus III succeeds Amasis II as King of Egypt.\n* 525 BC: Cambyses II, ruler of Persia, conquers Egypt, defeating Psammetichus III. This is considered the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and the start of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty.\n* 522 BC: Smerdis succeeds Cambyses II as ruler of Persia.\n* 522 BC: Babylon rebels against Persian rule.\n* 521 BC: Darius I succeeds Smerdis as ruler of Persia.\n* 521 BC: The Babylonian rebellion against Persian rule is suppressed\n* 520 BC: King Dao of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China but dies before the end of the year\n* 520 BC: Cleomenes I succeeds Anaxandridas II as King of Sparta (approximate date)\n\n510s BC \n\n* 519 BC: King Jing of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.\n* 516 BC: Indian subcontinent—Occupation of Punjab is completed by the Persian King Vistaspa.\n* 12 March 515 BC: Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem.\n* 514 BC: King Helü of Wu establishes the \"Great City of Helü\", the ancient name for Wuxi, as his capital in China.\n* 513 BC: Darius the Great subdues the Getae and east Thrace in his war against the Scythians.\n* 510 BC: Hippias, son of Pisistratus and tyrant of Athens, is expelled by a popular revolt supported by Cleomenes I, King of Sparta and his forces.\n* 510 BC: End of reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, last King of the traditional seven Kings of Rome.\n* 510 BC: Establishment of the Roman Republic.\n* 510 BC: Demaratus succeeds Ariston as King of Sparta (approximate date).\n\n500s BC \n\n* 13 September 509 BC: The Temple of Jupiter on Rome's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the Ides of September.\n* 508 BC: Office of pontifex maximus created in Rome.\n* 507 BC: Cleisthenes, Greek reformer, takes power and increases democracy.\n* 506 BC: Battle of Boju: Forces of the Kingdom of Wu under Sun Tzu defeat the forces of Chu.\n* 505 BC: First pair of Roman consuls elected.\n* 4 December 502 BC: Solar eclipse darkens Egypt (computed, no clear historical record of observation).\n* 502 BC: The Latin League defeats the Etruscans under Lars Porsena at Aricia.\n* 502 BC: Naxos rebels against Persian domination sparking the Ionian Revolt.\n* 501 BC: Cleisthenes reforms democracy in Athens.\n* 501 BC: Naxos is attacked by the Persian Empire.\n* 501 BC: In response to threats by the Sabines, Rome creates the office of dictator.\n* 501 BC: Confucius is appointed governor of Chung tu.\n* 501 BC: Gadir (present-day Cádiz) is captured by Carthage (approximate date).\n* 500 BC: Bantu-speaking people migrate into south-west Uganda from the west (approximate date).\n* 500 BC: Refugees from Teos resettle Abdera.\n* 500 BC: Darius I of Persia proclaims that Aramaic be the official language of the western half of his empire.\n* 500 BC: Signifies the end of the Nordic Bronze Age civilization in Oscar Montelius periodization system and begins the Pre-Roman Iron Age.\n* 500 BC: Foundation of first republic in Vaishali Bihar India.\n\nUnknown Events \n\n* Persians begin to seize power.\n* Persians dominate eastern Mediterranean.\n* The Persians under Darius I and later Cyrus invade Transoxiana.\n* Carthage's merchant empire slowly dominates the western Mediterranean.\n* Tao Te Ching written (traditional date).\n* Confucius formulates his ethical system of Confucianism, which proves highly influential in China.\n* The Sinhalese emigrate to Sri Lanka.\n* Apparent writing of the Book of Psalms.\n* Abkhazia is colonized by the Greeks.\n* Emergence of the Proto-Germanic Jastorf culture.\n* Temple B, Selinus, Sicily, is built.\n* The Autariatae communities united and expanded towards the Triballi in the east and the Ardiaei in the south.\n\nSignificant people\n\nPolitical leaders\n\n* Amyntas I, King of Macedonia\n* Astyages, King of Medes\n* Bias of Priene, Greek sage\n* Callimachus, Athenian general\n* Cambyses II, King of Persia\n* Chilon of Sparta, Greek sage\n* Cleisthenes, Tyrant of Athens\n* Cleomenes I, King of Sparta \n* Croesus, King of Lydia\n* Cyaxares, King of Medes\n* Cyrus the Great, King of Persia \n* Darius I, King of Persia\n* Epimenides, Greek seer\n* Gorgo, Queen of Sparta\n* King Helü of Wu, King of Wu\n* Lucius Junius Brutus, co-founder of the Roman Republic\n* Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, King of Rome\n* Miltiades, Athenian general and politician\n* Nabonidus, the last King of Babylon\n* Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon\n* Necho II, Pharaoh of Egypt\n* Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens \n* Periander, Tyrant of Corinth\n* Pittacus of Mytilene, Greek politician\n* Psammetichus III, Pharaoh of Egypt\n* Servius Tullius, King of Rome\n* Solon, Athenian statesman\n\nArts and entertainment\n\n* Ageladas, Greek sculptor\n* Kleitias, Greek vase painter\n* Kritios, Greek sculptor\n* Lydos, Greek vase painter\n* Milo of Croton, Greek wrestler\n* Nearchos, Greek vase painter\n* Nikosthenes, Greek vase painter\n\nLiterature\n\n* Aeschylus, Greek playwright\n* Aesop, Greek fabulist\n* Alcaeus of Mytilene, Greek poet\n* Anacreon, Greek poet\n* Cleobulus, Greek poet\n* Corinna, Greek poet\n* Epimenides, Greek poet\n* Ibycus, Greek poet\n* Theognis of Megara, Greek poet\n* Thespis, founder of Greek theatre\n* Pāṇini, Indian linguist\n* Pindar, Greek poet\n* Sappho, Greek poet\n* Stesichorus, Greek poet\n* Simonides of Ceos, Greek poet\n* Sun Tzu, Chinese writer and general\n\nPhilosophy and religion\n\n* Anaximander, Greek philosopher\n* Anaximenes of Miletus, Greek philosopher\n* Confucius, founder of Confucianism\n* Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism\n* Heraclitus, Greek philosopher\n* Hippasus, Greek philosopher\n* Laozi, founder of Taoism\n* Mahavira, founder of Jain philosophy\n* Pherecydes of Syros, Greek philosopher\n* Pythagoras, Greek philosopher, mathematician\n* Scylax of Caryanda, Greek explorer\n* Thales, Greek mathematician\n* Xenophanes, Greek philosopher\n* Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism\n\nInventions, discoveries, introductions\n\n* First archaeological surveys of the Arabian peninsula by Babylonian King Nabonidus\n* Sunshu Ao (孫叔敖), China's first hydraulic engineer, creates an enormous artificial reservoir by damming a river for a massive irrigation project while employed in the service of King Zhuang of Chu (died 591 BC)\n* Lost-wax casting is spread to Ancient Greece\n\nSovereign States\n\nSee: List of sovereign states in the 6th century BC.",
"An Overview of the The Persian Empire - World history\nAn Overview of the The Persian Empire . Cyrus ... Cyrus defeated him and annexed Lydia, ... or \"White Huns,\" attacked Persia; they defeated the Persian king ...\nThe Persians\nXerxes the Great\nCylinder seal and inscription of Cyrus the Great from Babylon\n I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anshan, progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule Bel and Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' pleasures.\nWhen I, well-disposed, entered Babylon, I established the seat of government in the royal palace amidst jubilation and rejoicing. Marduk, the great God, caused the big-hearted inhabitants of Babylon to...me. I sought daily to worship him. My numerous troops moved about undisturbed in the midst of Babylon.\nI did not allow any to terrorize the land of Sumer and Akkad. I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their well being. The citizens of Babylon... I lifted their unbecoming yoke. Their dilapidated dwellings I restored. I put an end to their misfortunes.\nAt my deeds Marduk, the great Lord, rejoiced, and to me, Cyrus, the king who worshipped, and to Cambyses, my son, the offspring of my loins, and to all my troops, he graciously gave his blessing, and in good spirit is before him we/glorified/exceedingly his high divinity....\n \nThe International History Project, 2004\nEdited By: Robert Guisepi\n \nThe History Of the Ancient Persian Empire From Rise To Fall\nA history of the Persians including their empire, rulers like Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes as well as their cities, rise and fall\nPersia, conventional European designation of the country now known as Iran. This name was in general use in the West until 1935, although the Iranians themselves had long called their country Iran. For convention's sake the name of Persia is here kept for that part of the country's history concerned with the ancient Persian Empire until the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD.\n \nAn Overview of the The Persian Empire\n \n Cyrus the Persian was the greatest conqueror in the history of the\nancient Near East. In 550 B.C. he ended Persian vassalage to the Medes by\ncapturing Ecbatana and ousting the Median dynasty. The Medes readily accepted their vigorous new ruler, who soon demonstrated that he deserved to be called \"the Great.\" When King Croesus of Lydia moved across the Hals River in 547 B.C. to pick up some of the pieces of the Median empire, Cyrus defeated him and annexed Lydia, including those Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor\nthat were under the nominal control of Lydia. Then he turned east,\nestablishing his power as far as the frontier of India. Babylon and its empire\nwas next on his list. Following the death of Cyrus, his son Cambyses conquered\nEgypt. The next ruler, Darius I (522-486 B.C.), added the Punjab region in\nIndia and Thrace in Europe. He also began a conflict with the Greeks that\ncontinued intermittently for more than 150 years until the Persians were\nconquered by Alexander the Great. Long before this event the Persian nobility\nhad forgotten Cyrus the Great's answer to their suggestion that they \"leave\nthis small and barren country of ours\" and move to fertile Babylonia:\n \n Do so if you wish, but if you do, be ready to find\n yourselves no longer governors but governed; for soft\n lands breed soft men; it does not happen that the same\n land brings forth wonderful crops and good fighting men. ^29\n \n[Footnote 29: Herodotus History 9.122, trans. A. R. Burn, Persia and the West\n(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1962), p. 61.]\n \n Although built upon the Assyrian model, the Persian administrative system\nwas far more efficient and humane. The empire was divided into twenty\nprovinces, or satrapies, each ruled by a governor called a satrap. To check\nthe satraps, a secretary and a military official representing the \"Great King,\nKing of Kings\" were installed in every province. Also, special inspectors,\n\"the Eyes and Ears of the King,\" traveled throughout the realm.\n \n Imperial post roads connected the important cities. Along the Royal Road\nbetween Sardis and Susa there was a post station every fourteen miles, where\nthe king's couriers could obtain fresh horses, enabling them to cover the\n1600-mile route in a week. \"Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian\nmessengers,\" wrote Herodotus. \"These men will not be hindered..., either by\nsnow, or rain, or heat, or by the darkness of night.\" ^30 These words were at\none time used as the motto of the United States Postal Service.\n \n[Footnote 30: Herodotus History 8.88, trans. G. Rawlinson.]\n \n The Persian empire was the first to attempt to govern many different\nracial groups on the principle of equal responsibilities and rights for all\npeoples. So long as subjects paid their taxes and kept the peace, the king did\nnot interfere with local religion, customs, or trade. Indeed, Darius was\ncalled the \"shopkeeper\" because he stimulated trade by introducing a uniform\nsystem gold and silver coinage on the Lydian model.\n \n The humaneness of the Persian rulers may have stemmed from the ethical\nreligion founded by the prophet Zoroaster, who lived in the early sixth\ncentury B.C. Zoroaster sought to replace what he called \"the lie\" -\nritualistic, idol-worshiping cults and their Magi priests - with a religion\ncentered on the sole god Ahura-Mazda (\"Wise Lord\"). This \"father of Justice\"\ndemanded \"good thoughts of the mind, good deeds of the hand, and good words of the tongue\" from those who would attain paradise (a Persian word). The new religion made little progress until first Darius and then the Magi adopted it. The Magi revived many old gods as lesser deities, added much ritual, and replaced monotheism with dualism by transforming what Zoroaster had called the principle or spirit of evil into the powerful god Ahriman (the model for the Jewish Satan), rival of Ahura-Mazda, \"between which each man must choose for himself.\" The complicated evolution of Zoroastrianism is revealed in its holy writ, the Avesta (\"The Law\"), assembled in its present form between the fourth and sixth centuries A.D. Zoroastrian eschatology - \"the doctrine of final things\" such as the resurrection of the dead and a last judgment - influenced later Judaism. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century A.D., Zoroastrianism died out in its homeland. It exists today among the Parsees in India.\n \n In art the Persians borrowed largely from their predecessors in the\nFertile Crescent, particularly the Assyrians. Their most important work was in\npalace architecture, the best remains of which are at Persepolis. Built on a\nhigh terrace, the royal residence was reached by a grand stairway faced with\nbeautiful reliefs. Instead of the warfare and violence that characterized\nAssyrian sculpture, these reliefs depict hundreds of soldiers, courtiers, and\nrepresentatives of twenty-three nations of the empire bringing gifts to the\nking for the festival of the new year.\n \nTHE FIRST EMPIRE \nThe Iranian plateau was settled about 1500BC by Aryan tribes, the most important of which were the Medes, who occupied the northwestern portion, and the Persians, who emigrated from Parsua, a land west of Lake Urmia, into the southern region of the plateau, which they named Parsamash or Parsumash. The first prominent leader of the Persians was the warrior chief Hakhamanish, or Achaemenes, who lived about 681BC. The Persians were dominated by the Medes until the accession to the Persian throne in 550 BC of Cyrus the Great. He overthrew the Median rulers, conquered the kingdom of Lydia in 546BC and that of Babylonia in 539BC and established the Persian Empire as the preeminent power of the world. His son and successor, Cambyses II, extended the Persian realm even further by conquering the Egyptians in 525BC. Darius I, who ascended the throne in 521BC, pushed the Persian borders as far eastward as the Indus River, had a canal constructed from the Nile to the Red Sea, and reorganized the entire empire, earning the title Darius the Great. From 499 to 493BC he engaged in crushing a revolt of the Ionian Greeks living under Persian rule in Asia, and then launched a punitive campaign against the European Greeks for supporting the rebels. His forces were disastrously defeated by the Greeks at the historic Battle of Marathon in 490BC. Darius died while preparing a new expedition against the Greeks; his son and successor, Xerxes I, attempted to fulfill his plan but met defeat in the great sea engagement the Battle of Salam�s in 480BC and in two successive land battles in the following year.\nThe forays of Xerxes were the last notable attempt at expansion of the Persian Empire. During the reign of Artaxerxes I, the second son of Xerxes, the Egyptians revolted, aided by the Greeks; although the revolt was finally suppressed in 446BC, it signaled the first major assault against, and the beginning of the decline of, the Persian Empire.\n \nBACKGROUND\nBetween 560 and 500 BC the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East underwent great political changes. Under Cyrus the Great Persia grew into the largest empire the Near East had ever seen. Centered on the Persian homeland on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf, it stretched from present-day Pakistan in the east to the Balkan Peninsula in the west and from the Persian Gulf in the south to Central Asia in the north.\nIn the same period, a number of small city-states consisting of an urban center and its surrounding territory had developed over a large part of the Greek mainland and the islands of the Aegean Sea. For the most part they were governed by local aristocracies, but the city-state of Athens had already begun a series of changes that would lead to the emergence of democratic government. Politically, the most important was Sparta, on the Peloponnesian peninsula. It had become the strongest land power in Greece and controlled an alliance of other city-states that extended over much of southern Greece. However, in terms of population, resources, and organization, the Greek states were no match for the immense empire they were to fight.\nThe wars between them had important consequences. Politically, they ended Persia�s expansion to the west and led to its loss of control of the western coast of Asia Minor (present-day Asian Turkey). The struggles deeply affected the Greeks. Sparta and Athens emerged as the leading powers, eventually dominating the Greek world. Athens became the dominant Greek sea power and created an empire that extended over the eastern and northern coasts of the Aegean. Culturally, the wars made the Greeks much more conscious of their identity as a separate, and in their minds, superior people.\n \nTHE FIRST PHASE OF THE PERSIAN WARS \nIn 521 BC the Persian king Darius I crushed all resistance to his accession to the throne after a brief but bloody civil war. While playing a central role in reorganizing the empire, he also worked to secure and expand its outer borders. In 513 BC the Persians captured the major Greek islands of Kh�os, S�mos, and L�svos. Also in 513 BC Darius himself crossed over to Europe and conquered the area between the Danube and the Aegean coast to the borders of Macedonia. Many historians believe that these gains were part of the normal process of imperial expansion and that Darius eventually intended the conquest of Greece and the Aegean.\nIn 499 BC his forces attempted to capture the island of N�xos as a first step towards dominating the central Aegean. This attempt failed and it helped to precipitate a revolt of the Ionian Greeks living along the coast of Asia Minor. This revolt, caused by dissatisfaction with economic and political conditions under the Persians, lasted from 499 to 493 BC. The revolt was at first successful but the Ionians were eventually thwarted by a crucial defeat at sea and the immense superiority of Persian numbers and organization.\nAthens and the lesser mainland state of Eretria had provided naval help to the Ionian rebels during the revolt. This intervention convinced Darius that Greece itself must be subdued to guarantee Persian security in the west. In 492 BC the Persians launched an expedition to gain control of the central Aegean and to punish Athens and Eretria for assisting the Ionian rebels. After initial successes in northern Greece the Persians moved against Athens but were turned back when most of the ships were lost in a storm. In the summer of 490 BC a second Persian expedition sacked Eretria and then landed at Marathon less than 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Athens. The Athenians had appealed for help to other Greek states and especially to Sparta, but in the deciding battle faced the Persian force almost alone. Due to the strategy of Athenian general Miltiades, the force of about 10,000 Greek infantrymen defeated a much more numerous enemy. The battle showed the decisive superiority of the heavier armored Greek infantry over their Persian opponents in close combat.\n \nXERXES� INVASION \nThis failure led Darius to begin preparing a much larger force for a second and final invasion. But rebellion in Egypt and other events delayed matters. In 486 BC Darius died and was succeeded by his son Xerxes I. After reconquering Egypt Xerxes was ready to take up his father�s plans for Greece. The army he assembled was far larger than any the Greeks had seen before. Estimated in the millions by Greek historian Herodotus, it probably actually consisted of between 200,000 and 300,000 infantry and cavalry and more than 700 warships. The size of this force, the need for steady supplies, and the rugged nature of the Greek landscape led the Persians to develop a strategy that depended on cooperation between the army and the fleet. The army would provide bases for the fleet while the fleet would allow the army to bypass obstacles on land. In the spring of 480 BC the immense expedition set out from Sardis in western Asia Minor.\nThe Greeks were not united in their attitude toward the Persian invasion. Many of the states saw their position as helpless and were ready to surrender. Those determined to resist met in the fall of 481 BC and made an alliance to fight the invasion. In May 480 BC Sparta was given command on land and sea despite the fact that the Athenians provided the majority of ships. After an initial failure to hold the Persians the Greeks decided to meet the invader on land at Thermopylae and at sea at Artemisium in central Greece. This was the strategic point to meet a combined sea and land attack by much larger forces, as the approaches to it by both land and sea were narrow and difficult and would favor Greek infantry and the heavier and slower Greek ships. The Persian army far outnumbered the Greek force of between 6000 and 7000 infantrymen. After several days of battle by both land and sea the Persians surrounded the Greek position at Thermopylae. Though most of the Greeks escaped, the commander, Spartan king Leonidas I, and most of his fellow Spartans died. The Greek navy was now in a helpless position and withdrew south.\nThe road to central Greece now lay open and Xerxes advanced south, sacking Athens and occupying its territory. The Greek fleet had withdrawn and lay at anchor at Salam�s, an island close to Athens. The Greek leaders were divided on what to do as the Persian fleet took up a position just outside the narrows that separate Salam�s from the Athenian coast. The Spartans and other southern Greeks advocated withdrawing but the Athenians under the command of their general Themistocles successfully opposed a retreat and prepared to face the Persians. The Greek fleet numbered about 378 warships and faced a Persian force of about the same size. In late September 480 BC, as the Persian fleet attacked through the narrow straits, the Greek ships pretended to scatter at its approach. The Persians, with their ranks thrown into confusion by the narrowness of the straits and the feigned Greek retreat, were decisively defeated by the ramming of the heavier Greek ships.\nThis battle proved decisive for the outcome of the war, destroying any hope that the Persians could continue their combined strategy of attack by land and sea. Their navy had suffered heavily and its morale was broken. Xerxes, afraid that his defeat might be followed by another rebellion of the Ionian Greeks, returned home but left his army behind under his general Mardonius. Mardonius spent the following winter trying to split the Greek coalition by offering the Athenians amnesty if they allied with Persia against Sparta. After this attempt failed Mardonius decided to bring the Greeks to battle in the early spring of 479 BC.\nHe first recaptured Athens to draw out the Athenians, who pressured the Spartans into helping them fight back. Mardonius then moved his forces north to southern Boeotia (in present-day central Greece) near the town of Plataea. The sides were evenly matched with about 110,000 men. After maneuvers on both sides lasting more than a week the battle was fought and the Persian force was destroyed. This defeat marked the complete failure of the invasion, and the surviving Persians withdrew suffering further heavy losses. By the next year the Greeks were successfully attacking the Persians on their own territory in Asia Minor.\n \nVICTORIOUS GREECE \nThe Persians were never again able to threaten another invasion. The Greeks moved to the offensive and over the next decades liberated the islands of the Aegean and large areas along the western and northern coasts from Persian control. The most important direct result of the wars was to establish Athens as the dominant Greek naval power. This gave Athens the opportunity to create an extensive empire over the newly won territories that had no parallel in earlier Greek history. A new political order emerged among the Greek states centered on the two great powers of Athens and Sparta that was to have a profound effect on later Greek history. Another effect of the wars was to produce the first large scale Greek historical work, the History of Herodotus, written in the second half of the 5th century BC. It serves as the most important source for the events of the wars and for evidence of the wars� effect on the Greek intellect and culture.\n \nALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE SELEUCIDS \nMany revolts took place in the next century; the final blow was struck by Alexander the Great, who added the Persian Empire to his own Mediterranean realm by defeating the troops of Darius III in a series of battles between 334 and 331BC. Alexander effected a temporary integration of the Persians into his empire by enlisting large numbers of Persian soldiers in his armies and by causing all his high officers, who were Macedonians, to wed Persian wives. His death in 323BC was followed by a long struggle among his generals for the Persian throne. The victor in this contest was Seleucus I, who, after conquering the rich kingdom of Babylon in 312BC, annexed thereto all the former Persian realm as far east as the Indus River, as well as Syria and Asia Minor, and founded the Seleucid dynasty. For more than five centuries thereafter, Persia remained a subordinate unit within this great realm, which, after the overthrow of the Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, became the Parthian Empire.\nTHE SASSANIDS \nIn AD 224 Ardashir I, a Persian vassal-king, rebelled against the Parthians, defeated them in the Battle of Hormuz, and founded a new Persian dynasty, that of the Sassanids. He then conquered several minor neighboring kingdoms, invaded India, levying heavy tribute from the rulers of the Punjab, and conquered Armenia. A particularly significant accomplishment of his reign was the establishment of Zoroastrianism as the official religion of Persia. Ardashir was succeeded in 241 by his son Shapur I, who waged two successive wars against the Roman Empire, conquering territories in Mesopotamia and Syria and a large area in Asia Minor. Between 260 and 263 he lost his conquests to Odenathus, ruler of Palmyra, and ally of Rome. War with Rome was renewed by Narses; his army was almost annihilated by Roman forces in 297, and he was compelled to conclude peace terms whereby the western boundary of Persia was moved from the Euphrates River to the Tigris River and much additional territory was lost. Shapur II (ruled 309-379) regained the lost territories, however, in three successive wars with the Romans.\nThe next ruler of note was Yazdegerd I, who reigned in peace from 399 to 420; he at first allowed the Persian Christians freedom of worship and may even have contemplated becoming a Christian himself, but he later returned to the Zoroastrianism of his forebears and launched a 4-year campaign of ruthless persecution against the Christians. The persecution was continued by his son and successor, Bahram V, who declared war on Rome in 420. The Romans defeated Bahram in 422; by the terms of the peace treaty the Romans promised toleration for the Zoroastrians within their realm in return for similar treatment of Christians in Persia. Two years later, at the Council of Dad-Ishu, the Eastern church declared its independence of the Western church.\nNear the end of the 5th century a new enemy, the barbaric Ephthalites, or \"White Huns,\" attacked Persia; they defeated the Persian king Firuz II in 483 and for some years thereafter exacted heavy tribute. In the same year Nestorianism was made the official faith of the Persian Christians. Kavadh I favored the communistic teachings of Mazdak (flourished 5th century), a Zoroastrian high priest, and in 498 was deposed by his orthodox brother Zamasp. With the aid of the Ephthalites, Kavadh was restored to the throne in 501. He fought two inconclusive wars against Rome, and in 523 he withdrew his support of Mazdak and caused a great massacre of Mazdak's followers. His son and successor, Khosrau I, in two wars with the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, extended his sway to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, becoming the most powerful of all Sassanid kings. He reformed the administration of the empire and restored Zoroastrianism as the state religion. His grandson Khosrau II reigned from 590 to 628; in 602 he began a long war against the Byzantine Empire and by 619 had conquered almost all southwestern Asia Minor and Egypt. Further expansion was prevented by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who between 622 and 627 drove the Persians back within their original borders. The last of the Sassanid kings was Yazdegerd III, during whose reign (632-651) the Arabs invaded Persia, destroyed all resistance, gradually replaced Zoroastrianism with Islam, and incorporated Persia into the caliphate.",
"Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great ...\n... founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who ... the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus's rule extended ... This made Xerxes the chosen King of Persia.\nAchaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, Xerxes the Great - Crystalinks\nAchaemenid Empire\nAchaemenid Family Tree\nThe Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE), sometimes known as First Persian Empire, was an empire in Southwest Asia, founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation. It expanded to eventually rule over significant portions of the ancient world which at around 500 BCE stretched from the Indus Valley in the east, to Thrace and Macedon on the northeastern border of Greece making it the biggest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenid Empire would eventually control Egypt as well. It was ruled by a series of monarchs who unified its disparate tribes and nationalities by constructing a complex network of roads.\nCalling themselves the Parsa after their original Aryan tribal name Parsua, Persians settled in a land which they named Parsua, bounded on the west by the Tigris River and on the south by the Persian Gulf. This became their heartland for the duration of the Achaemenid Empire. It was from this region that eventually Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) would advance to defeat the Median, the Lydian, and the Babylonian Empires, opening the way for subsequent conquests into Egypt and Asia minor.\nAt the height of its power after the conquest of Egypt, the empire encompassed approximately 8 million km2 spanning three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. At its greatest extent, the empire included the modern territories of Iran, Turkey, parts of Central Asia, Pakistan, Thrace and Macedonia, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Afghanistan, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. It is noted in Western history as the antagonist foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, for emancipation of slaves including the Jewish people from their Babylonian captivity, and for instituting infrastructures such as a postal system, road systems, and the usage of an official language throughout its territories. The empire had a centralized, bureaucratic administration under the Emperor and a large professional army and civil services, inspiring similar developments in later empires.\nTraditional view is that the Persian Empire's vast size and its extraordinary ethnocultural diversity would prove to be its undoing as delegation of power to local governments would eventually weaken the king's central authority, causing much energy and resources to be wasted in attempts to subdue local rebellions explaining why when Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) invaded Persia in 334 BCE he was faced by a disunified realm under a weak monarch, ripe for destruction.\nThis viewpoint however is challenged by some modern scholars who argue that the Achaemenid Empire was not facing any such crisis around the time of Alexander, and that only internal succession struggles within the Achaemenid family ever came close to weakening the Empire. Alexander, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, would eventually cause the collapse of the empire and its disintegration around 330 BCE into what later became the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire, in addition to other minor territories which gained independence at that time. The Iranian Culture of the central plateau, however, continued to thrive and eventually reclaimed power by the 2nd century BCE.\nThe historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their daily lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange, some being employed by, or allied to the Persian kings. The impact of Cyrus the Great's Edict of Restoration is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts and the empire was instrumental in the spread of Zoroastrianism as far east as China. Even Alexander the Great, the man who would set out to conquer this vast empire, would respect its customs, by enforcing respect for the royal Persian kings including Cyrus the Great, and even by appearing in proskynesis, a Persian royal custom, despite stern Macedonian disapproval.\nThe Persian empire would also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Persia (now called Iran). The influence also encompasses Persia's previous territories collectively referred to as the Greater Persia. A notable engineering achievement is the Qanat water management system, the oldest and longest of which is older than 3000 years and longer than 44 miles (71 km.)\nIn 480 BCE, it is estimated that 50 million people lived in the Achaemenid Empire or about 44% of the world's population at the time, making it the largest ever empire by population in percentage terms.\nThe Kings List\nCyrus the Great\nCyrus II of Persia (c. 600 BC or 576 BC-530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, parts of Europe and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen.\nThe reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought \"into subjection every nation without exception\". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.\nCyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. It is said that in universal history, the role of the Achaemenid empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus. Cyrus the Great also left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion through his Edict of Restoration, where because of his policies in Babylonia, he is referred to by the people of the Jewish faith, as \"the anointed of the Lord\" or a \"Messiah\".\nCyrus the Great is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran. Cyrus and, indeed, the Achaemenid influence in the ancient world also extended as far as Athens, where many Athenians adopted aspects of the Achaemenid Persian culture as their own, in a reciprocal cultural exchange.\nThe best-known date for the birth of Cyrus the Great is either 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC. Little is known of his early years, as there are only a few sources known to detail that part of his life, and they have been damaged or lost.\nHerodotus's story of Cyrus's early life belongs to a genre of legends in which abandoned children of noble birth, such as Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, return to claim their royal positions. Similar to other culture's heroes and founders of great empires, folk traditions abound regarding his family background. According to Herodotus, he was the grandson of the Median king Astyages and was brought up by humble herding folk. In another version, he was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court. These folk stories are, however, contradicted by Cyrus's own testimony, according to which he was preceded as king of Persia by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.\nAfter the birth of Cyrus the Great, Astyages had a dream that his Magi interpreted as a sign that his grandson would eventually overthrow him. He then ordered his steward Harpagus to kill the infant. Harpagus, morally unable to kill a newborn, summoned the Mardian Mitradates (which the historian Nicolaus of Damascus calls Atradates), a royal bandit herdsman from the mountainous region bordering the Saspires, and ordered him to leave the baby to die in the mountains. Luckily, the herdsman and his wife (whom Herodotus calls Cyno in Greek, and Spaca-o in Median) took pity and raised the child as their own, passing off their recently stillborn infant as the murdered Cyrus.\nFor the origin of Cyrus the Great's mother, Herodotus identifies Mandane of Media, and Ctesias insists that she is fully Persian but gives no name, while Nicolaus gives the name \"Argoste\" as Atradates's wife; whether this figure represents Cyno or Cambyses's unnamed Persian queen has yet to be determined. It is also noted that Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his stepparents; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, names him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.\nHerodotus claims that when Cyrus the Great was ten years old, it was obvious that Cyrus was not a herdsman's son, stating that his behavior was too noble. Astyages interviewed the boy and noticed that they resembled each other. Astyages ordered Harpagus to explain what he had done with the baby, and, after Harpagus confessed that he had not killed the boy, Astyages tricked him into eating his own broiled and chopped up son. Astyages was more lenient with Cyrus and allowed him to return to his biological parents, Cambyses and Mandane. While Herodotus's description may be a legend, it does give insight into the figures surrounding Cyrus the Great's early life.\nCyrus the Great had a wife named Cassandane. She was an Achaemenian and daughter of Pharnaspes. From this marriage, Cyrus had four children: Cambyses II, Bardiya (Smerdis), Atossa, and another daughter whose name is not attested in the ancient sources. Also, Cyrus had a fifth child named Artystone, the sister or half-sister of Atossa, who may not have been the daughter of Cassandane. Cyrus the Great had a specially dear love for Cassandane. Cassandane also loved Cyrus to the point that on her death bed she is noted as having found it more bitter to leave Cyrus, than to depart her life.\nAccording to the Chronicle of Nabonidus, when Cassandane died, all the nations of Cyrus's empire observed \"a great mourning\", and, particularly in Babylonia, there was probably even a public mourning lasting for six days (identified from 21-26 March 538 BC). Her tomb is suggested to be at Cyrus's capital, Pasargadae. There are other accounts suggesting that Cyrus the Great also married a daughter of the Median king Astyages, named Amytis. This name may not be the correct one, however. Cyrus probably had married once, after the death of Cassandane, to a Median woman in his royal family. Cyrus the Great's son Cambyses II would become the king of Persia, and his daughter Atossa would marry Darius the Great and bear him Xerxes I.\nThough his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus the Great had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC; however, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. During Astyages's reign, the Median Empire may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.\nIn Herodotus's version, Harpagus, seeking vengeance, convinced Cyrus to rally the Persian people to revolt against their feudal lords, the Medes. However, it is likely that both Harpagus and Cyrus rebelled due to their dissatisfaction with Astyages's policies.[35] From the start of the revolt in summer 553 BC, with his first battles taking place from early 552 BC, Harpagus, with Cyrus, led his armies against the Medes until the capture of Ecbatana in 549 BC, effectively conquering the Median Empire.\nWhile Cyrus the Great seems to have accepted the crown of Media, by 546 BC, he officially assumed the title \"King of Persia\" instead. With Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames was still the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus's authority - more of a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King. His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus's second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus's sons. Cyrus' conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars.\nThe exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Median kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held. The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning.\nWhile in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of the winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus the Great pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus the Great to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great spared Croesus's life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle (the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia), which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain.\nBefore returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus' treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyas hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares's arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene. The end of Pactyas is unknown, but after capture, he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures.\nMazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC and returned to Persia.\nBy the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa.\nElam was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq. The modern name Elam is a transcription from Biblical Hebrew, corresponding to the Sumerian elam(a), the Akkadian elamtu, and the Elamite haltamti. Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the ancient near east. In classical literature, Elam was more often referred to as Susiana, a name derived from its capital, Susa.\nSituated just to the east of Mesopotamia, Elam was part of the early urbanization during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Mesopotamian history where writing was used slightly earlier. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire, especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally treated as an isolate language.\nThe Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed, and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace. It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years.\nTwo days later, on October 7 (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus. Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians, using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks, diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped \"to the height of the middle of a man's thigh\", which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night. On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus.\nPrior to Cyrus's invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact.\nAfter taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself \"king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world\" in the famous Cyrus cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus pleasing the god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.\nSuperimposed on modern borders, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus's rule extended approximately from Turkey, Israel, Georgia and Arabia in the west to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Indus River (Pakistan) and Oman in the east. Cyrus the Great's dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen. At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east.\nDarius The Great\nSeal of Darius the Great\nDarius I, also known as Darius the Great, was the third king of the Achaemenid Empire. Darius I was the greatest of all the Persian kings. He extended the empires borders into India and Europe. He also fought two wars with the Greeks which were disastrous.\nDarius established a government which became a model for many future governments:\nEstablished a tax-collection system;\nAllowed locals to keep customs and religions;\nDivided his empire into districts known as Satrapies;\nBuilt a system of roads still used today;\nEstablished a complex postal system;\nEstablished a network of spies he called the \"Eyes and Ears of the King.\"\nBuilt two new capital cities, one at Susa and one at Persepolis.\nDarius held the empire at its peak, then including the entire Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Romania-Panonia), portions of north and northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudraya), eastern Libya, coastal Sudan, Eritrea), as well as northeast portions of and greater India (Pakistan and northwest India), the Aegean Islands and northern Greece/Thrace-Macedonia.\nDarius ascended the throne by overthrowing the alleged magus usurper of Bardiya with the assistance of six other Persian noble families; Darius was crowned the following morning. The new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time. A major event in Darius's life was his expedition to punish Athens and Eretria for their aid in the Ionian Revolt and subjugate Greece. Darius expanded his empire by conquering Thrace and Macedon and invading Scythia, home of the Scythians, nomadic tribes who invaded Media and had previously killed Cyrus the Great.\nDarius organized the empire by dividing it into provinces and placing satraps to govern it. He organized a new uniform monetary system, along with making Aramaic the official language of the empire. Darius also worked on construction projects throughout the empire, focusing on Susa, Pasargadae, Persepolis, Babylon and Egypt. Darius devised a codification of laws for Egypt. He also had the cliff-face Behistun Inscription carved, an autobiography of great modern linguistic significance. Darius also started many massive architectural projects, including magnificent palaces in Persepolis and Susa.\nDarius was born as the eldest of five sons to Hystaspes and Rhodugune in 550 BCE. Hystaspes was a leading figure of authority in Persia, which was the homeland of the Persians. Darius' inscription states that his father was satrap of Bactria in 522 BCE. According to Herodotus, Hystaspes was the satrap of Persis, although most historians state that this is an error. Also according to Herodotus (III.139), Darius, prior to seizing power and \"of no consequence at the time\", had served as a spearman (doryphoros) in the Egyptian campaign (528-525 BCE) of Cambyses II, then the Persian Great King. Hystaspes was an officer in Cyrus' army and a noble of his court.\nBefore Cyrus and his army crossed the Aras River to battle with northern tribes, he installed his son Cambyses II as king in case he should not return from battle. However, once Cyrus had crossed the Aras River he had a dream with a vision of Darius in which he had wings atop his shoulders and stood upon the confines of Europe and Asia (the whole known world). When Cyrus awoke from the dream, he inferred it as a great danger to the future security of the empire, as it meant that Darius would one day rule the whole world. However, his son Cambyses was the heir to the throne, not Darius, causing Cyrus to wonder if Darius was forming treasonable and ambitious designs. This led Cyrus to order Hystaspes to go back to Persis and watch over his son strictly, until Cyrus himself returned. Darius did not seem to have any treasonous thoughts as Cambyses II ascended the throne peacefully, and through promotion Darius was eventually elevated to Cambyses' personal lancer.\nThe rise of Darius to the throne contains two variations, an account from Darius and another other from Greek historians. Some modern historians have inferred that Darius' rise to power might have been illegitimate. To them, it seems likely that Gaumata was in fact Bardiya, and that under cover of revolts, Darius killed the heir to the throne and took it himself.\nDarius' account, written at the Behistun Inscription states that Cambyses II killed his own brother Bardiya, but that this murder was not known among the Iranian people. A would-be usurper named Gaumata came and lied to the people, stating he was Bardiya. The Iranians had grown rebellious against Cambyses' rule and on 11 March 522 BCE a revolt against Cambyses broke out in his absence. On 1 July, the Iranian people chose to be under the leadership of Gaumata, as \"Bardiya\". No member of the Achamenid family would rise against Gaumata for the safety of their own life. Darius, who had served Cambyses as his lance-bearer until the deposed ruler's death, prayed for aid and in September 522 BCE, along with Otanes, Intraphrenes, Gobryas, Hydarnes, Megabyxus and Aspathines, killed Gaumata in the fortress of Sikayauvati.\nSeveral days after Gaumata had been assassinated, Darius and the other seven nobles discussed the fate of the empire. At first, the seven discussed the form of government; a democratic republic was strongly pushed by Otanes, a oligarchy was pushed by Megazybus, while Darius pushed for a monarchy. After stating that a republic would lead to corruption and internal fighting, while a monarchy would be led with a single-mindedness, not possible in other governments, Darius was able to convince the other nobles that a monarchy was the correct form of government.\nTo decide who would become the monarch, the six nobles (Otanes stated that he had no interest in becoming king) decided on a test. All six nobles would gather outside mounted on their horses at sunrise, and the nobles' horse which neighed first would become Great King. According to Herodotus, Darius had a slave, Oebares who helped Darius win this contest. Before the contest, Oebares rubbed his hand over the genitals of a mare that Darius' horse had a fondness for. When the six nobles gathered outside, Oebares placed his hands beside the nostrils of Darius' horse, who became excited at the smell and neighed.\nImmediately after, lightning and thunder occurred leading the other six noblemen to believe to be an act of God, causing them to dismount and kneel before Darius. Darius did not believe that he had achieved the throne through fraud but through brilliant sagacity, even erecting a statue of himself mounted on his neighing horse stating \"Darius, son of Hystaspes, obtained the sovereignty of Persia by the sagacity of his horse and the ingenious contrivance of Oebases, his groom.\"\nAccording to the accounts of Greek historians, Cambyses II had left Patizeithes in charge of the kingdom when he headed for Egypt. He later sent Prexaspes to murder Bardiya. After the killing, Patizeithes put his brother Gaumata, a Magian who resembled Bardiya, on the throne and declared him the Great King. Otanes discovered that Gaumata was an impostor, and along with six other Iranian nobles including Darius, created a plan to oust the pseudo-Bardiya. After killing the impostor along with his brother Patizeithes and other Magians, Darius was crowned king the following morning.\nFollowing his coronation at Pasargadae, Darius moved to Ecbatana. He soon learned that support for Bardiya was strong, and revolts in Elam and Babylonia had broken out. Darius ended the Elamite revolt when the revolutionary leader Aschina was captured and executed in Susa, after three months the revolt in Babylonia had ended. While in Babylonia, Darius learned a revolution had broken out in Bactria, a satrapy which had always been in favour of Darius, and had initially volunteered an army of soldiers to quell revolts. Following this, revolts broke out in Persis, the homeland of the Persians and Darius. These new revolts led to a renewed revolt in Elam and Babylonia. With all these ongoing revolts, revolts broke out in Media, Parthia, Assyria, and Egypt. By 522 BCE, the majority, if not the entire Achaemenid Empire was revolting against Darius and in turmoil. Even though Darius did not have the support of the populace, Darius had a loyal army, led by close confidants and nobles (including the six nobles with whom he removed Gaumata) with whom he was able to suppress and quell all revolts within a year. In Darius' words, he had killed a total of eight \"lying kings\" through the quelling of revolutions. Darius left a detailed account of these revolutions at the Behistun Inscription.\nEarly in his reign, Darius wanted to organize the loosely organized empire with a system of taxation he inherited from Cyrus and Cambyses. To do this, Darius created twenty provinces called satrapies (or archi) which were each assigned to a satrap(archon) and specified fixed tributes that the satrapies were required to pay. A complete list is preserved in the catalog of Herodotus, beginning from Ionia and listing the other satrapies from west to east excluding Persis which was the land of the Persians and the only province which was not a conquered land. Tributes were paid in both silver and gold talents.\nTributes in silver from each satrap were measured with the Babylonian talent. Those paid in gold were measured with the Euboic talent. The total tribute from the satraps came to an amount less than 15,000 silver talents.\nThe majority of the satraps were of Persian origin and were members of the royal house or the six great noble families. These satraps were personally picked by Darius to monitor these provinces, which were divided into sub-provinces with their own governors which were chosen either by the royal court or by the satrap. To assess tributes, a commission evaluated the expenses and revenues of each satrap. To ensure that one person did not gain too much power, each satrap had a secretary who observed the affairs of the state and communicated with Darius, a treasurer who safeguarded provincial revenues and a garrison commander who was responsible for the troops. Additionally, royal inspectors who were the \"eyes and ears\" of Darius completed further checks over each satrap.\nThere were headquarters of imperial administration at Persepolis, Susa, and Babylon while Bactria, Ecbatana, Sardis, Dascyclium and Memphis also had branches of imperial administration. Darius chose Aramaic as a common language, which soon spread throughout the empire. However, Darius gathered a group of scholars to create a separate language system only used for Persis and the Persians, which was called Aryan script which was only used for official inscriptions.\nDarius conducted the introduction of a universal currency, the daric sometime before 500 BCE. Darius applied the coinage system as a transnational currency to regulate trade and commerce throughout his empire. The daric was also recognized beyond the borders of the empire - in places such as Celtic Central Europe and Eastern Europe. There were two types of darics, a gold and a silver. Only the king could mint gold darics, important generals and satraps minted silver darics, the latter usually to recruit Greek mercenaries in Anatolia. The daric was a major boost to international trade, trade goods such as textiles, carpets, tools and metal objects began to travel throughout Asia, Europe and Africa. To further improve trade, Darius built a royal highway, a postal system and Phoenician-based commercial shipping.\nThe daric also improved government revenues as the introduction of the daric led to new taxes on land, livestock and marketplaces. This also led to the registration of land. It was measured and taxed accordingly. The increased government revenues helped maintain and improve existing infrastructure. The increased government revenues also helped fund irrigation projects in dry lands. This new tax system also led to the formation of state banking and the creation of banking firms. One of the most famous banking firms was Murashu and Sons, based in Nippur. These banking firms provided loans and credit to clients.\nThe daric was called darayaka within the empire and was most likely named after Darius. In an effort to further improve trade, Darius built canals, underground waterways and a powerful navy. He further improved and expanded the network of roads and waystations throughout the empire, so that there was a system of travel authorization for the King, satraps and other high officials, which entitled the traveller to draw provisions at daily stopping places.\nAccording to A. T. Olmstead's book History of the Persian Empire, Darius the Great's father Vishtaspa (Hystaspes) and mother Hutaosa (Atossa) knew the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) personally and were converted by him to the new religion he preached, Zoroastrianism.\nWhile there is no absolute consensus on the kings before Darius, such as Cyrus and Cambyses, it is well established that Darius was an adherent of Zoroastrianism or at least a firm believer in Ahura Mazda. As can be seen at the Behistun Inscription (see below), Darius believed that Ahura Mazda had appointed him to rule the Achaemenid Empire. Darius had dualistic convictions and believed that each rebellion in his kingdom was the work of druj, the enemy of Asha. Darius believed that because he lived righteously by Asha, Ahura Mazda supported him. In many cuneiform inscriptions denoting his achievements, he presents himself as a devout believer, perhaps even convinced that he had a divine right to rule over the world.\nIn the lands that were conquered by his empire, Darius followed the same Achaemenid tolerance that Cyrus had shown and later Achaemenid emperors would show. He supported faiths and religions that were \"alien\" as long as the adherents were submissive and peaceable, sometimes giving them grants from his treasury for their purposes. He had funded the restoration of the Jewish temple which had originally been decreed by Cyrus the Great, presented favor towards Greek cults which can be seen in his letter to Gadatas, and supported Elamite priests. He had also observed Egyptian religious rites related to kingship and had built the temple for the Egyptian God, Amun.\nDuring Darius's Greek expedition, he had begun construction projects in Susa, Egypt and Persepolis. He had linked the Red Sea to the river Nile by building a canal which ran from modern Zaqaziq to modern Suez. To open this canal, he traveled to Egypt in 497 BCE, where the inauguration was done among great fanfare and celebration. Darius also built a canal to connect the Red Sea and Mediterranean. On this visit to Egypt he erected monuments and executed Aryandes on accounts of treason. When Darius returned to Persis, he found that the codification of Egyptian law had been finished.\nAdditionally, Darius sponsored large construction projects in Susa, Babylon, Egypt and Persepolis. In Susa, Darius built a new palace complex in the north of the city. An inscription states that the palace was destroyed during the reign of Artaxerxes I, but was rebuilt. Today only glazed bricks of the palace remain, the majority of them in the Louvre. In Pasargadae Darius finished all incomplete construction projects from the reign of Cyrus the Great. A palace was also built during the reign of Darius, with an inscription in the name of Cyrus the Great. It was previously believed that Cyrus had constructed this building, however due to the cuneiform script being used, the palace is believed to have been constructed by Darius.\nIn Egypt Darius built many temples and restored those that had previously been destroyed. Even though Darius was a Zoroastrian, he built temples dedicated to the Gods of the Ancient Egyptian religion. Several temples found were dedicated to Ptah and Nekhbet. Darius also created several roads and routes in Egypt. The monuments that Darius built were often inscribed in the official languages of the Persian Empire, Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian and Egyptian hieroglyphs. To construct these monuments Darius hired a large number of workers and artisans of diverse nationalities. Several of these workers were deportees who had been employed specifically for these projects. These deportees enhanced the economy and improved international relations with neighboring countries that these deportees arrived from. At the time of Darius's death construction projects were still underway. Xerxes completed these works and in some cases expanded his father's projects by erecting new buildings of his own.\nOne of the significant events of Darius' early reign was the slaying of Intaphernes. Intaphernes was one of the seven noblemen who had deposed the previous ruler and installed Darius as the new monarch. The seven had made an agreement that they could all visit the new king whenever they pleased, except when he was with his wife. One evening, Intaphernes went to the palace to meet Darius, but was stopped by two officers who stated that Darius had retired for the night. Becoming enraged and insulted, Intaphernes drew his sword and cut off the ears and noses of the two officers. While leaving the palace, he took the bridle from his horse, and tied the two officers together. The officers went to the king and showed him what Intaphernes had done to them. Darius began to fear for his own safety; he thought that all seven noblemen had banded together to rebel against him and that the attack against his officers was the first sign of revolt. He sent a messenger to each of the noblemen, asking them if they approved of Intaphernes' actions; they denied it and disavowed any connection to Intaphernes' actions, stating that they stood by their decision to appoint Darius as King of Kings.\nTaking precautions against further resistance, Darius sent soldiers to seize Intaphernes, along with his son, family members, relatives and any friends who were capable of arming themselves. Darius believed that Intaphernes was planning a rebellion, but when he was brought to the court, there was no proof of any such plan. Nonetheless, Darius killed Intaphernes' entire family, excluding his wife's brother and son. She was asked to choose between her brother and son. She chose her brother to live. Her reasoning for doing so was that she could have another husband and another son, but she would always have but one brother. Darius was impressed by her response and spared both her brother's and her son's life.\nAfter securing his authority over the entire empire, Darius embarked on a campaign to Egypt where he defeated the armies of the Pharaoh and secured the lands that Cambyses had conquered while incorporating a large portion of Egypt into the Achaemenid Empire. Darius also led his armies to the Indus River, building fortresses and establishing Persian rule.\nAfter Bardiya was murdered, widespread revolts occurred throughout the empire, especially on the eastern side. Darius asserted his position as king by force, taking his armies throughout the empire, suppressing each revolt individually. The most notable of all the revolts is the Babylonian revolt which was led by Nebuchadnezzar III. This revolt occurred when Otanes withdrew much of the army out of Babylon to aid Darius in suppressing other revolts. Darius felt that the Babylonian people had taken advantage of him and deceived him, which resulted in Darius gathering up a large army and marching to Babylon.\nAt Babylon, Darius was met with closed gates and a series of defenses to keep him and his armies out of Babylon. Darius encountered mockery and taunting from the rebels, including the famous saying \"Oh yes, you will capture our city, when mules shall have foals.\" For a year and a half, Darius and his armies were unable to capture Babylon, though he attempted many tricks and strategies - even copying that which Cyrus the Great had employed when he captured Babylon. However, the situation changed in Darius's favor when, according to the story, a mule owned by Zopyrus, a high-ranking soldier, foaled. Following this, a plan was hatched for Zopyrus to pretend to be a deserter, enter the Babylonian camp, and gain the trust of the Babylonians. The plan was successful, and Darius' army eventually surrounded the city and overcame the rebels.\nDuring this revolt, Scythian nomads took advantage of the disorder and chaos and invaded Persia. Darius first finished defeating the rebels in Elam, Assyria, and Babylon and then attacked the Scythian invaders. He pursued the invaders, who led him to a marsh; there he found no known enemies but an enigmatic Scythian tribe distinguished by their large pointy hats.\nThe Scythians were a group of north Iranian nomadic tribes, speaking a Indo-Iranian language who had invaded Media, killed Cyrus in battle, revolted against Darius and threatened to disrupt trade between Central Asia and the shores of the Black Sea as they lived between the Danube river, river Don and the Black Sea.\nDarius crossed the Black Sea at the Bosphorus Straits using a bridge of boats. Darius conquered large portions of Eastern Europe - even crossing the Danube to wage war on the Scythians. Darius invaded Scythia, where the Scythians evaded Darius' army, using feints and retreating technique eastward while wasting the countryside, by blocking wells, intercepting convoys, destroying pastures and continuous skirmishes against Darius' army. Seeking to fight with the Scythians, Darius' army chased the Scythian army deep into Scythian lands, where there were no cities to conquer and no supplies to forage. In frustration Darius sent a letter to the Scythian ruler Idanthyrsus to fight or surrender.\nThe ruler replied that he would not stand and fight with Darius until they found the graves of their fathers and tried to destroy them - until then, they could continue their current technique as they had no cities or cultivated lands to lose. Darius ordered a halt at the banks of Oarus, where he built eight frontier fortresses spaced at intervals of eight miles. After chasing the Scythians for a month, Darius' army was suffering losses due to fatigue, privation and sickness. In fear of losing more troops, he halted the march at the banks of the Volga River and headed towards Thrace. He had conquered enough territory of Scythia to force the Scythians to respect the Persian forces.\nDarius's European expedition was a major event in his reign, which began with the invasion of Thrace, after which he left Megabyzus to conquer Thrace, returning to Sardis to spend the winter. Before returning, Darius also conquered many cities of the northern Aegean, while Macedonia submitted voluntarily. The Asiatic Greeks and Greek islands had submitted to Persian rule by 510 BCE. Nonetheless, there were certain Greeks who were pro-Persian, such as the medizing Greeks, which were largely grouped at Athens. This improved Greek-Persian relations as Darius opened his court and treasuries to the Greeks who wanted to serve him. These Greeks served as soldiers, artisans, statesmen and mariners for Darius; however, Greek fear of the strength of Darius' kingdom became strong and the constant interference by the Greeks in Ionia and Lydia were all stepping stones in the conflict that was yet to come between Persia and Greece.\nWhen Aristagoras organized the Ionian revolt, Eretria and Athens supported him by sending ships and troops to Ionia and burning Sardis. Persian military and naval operations to quell the revolt ended in the Persian reoccupation of Ionian and Greek islands; however, anti-Persian parties gained more power in Athens, and pro-Persian aristocrats were exiled from Athens and Sparta. Darius responded by sending troops led by his son-in-law across the Hellespont; however, a violent storm and harassment by Thracians forced the troops to return to Persia. Seeking revenge on Athens and Eretria, Darius assembled another army of 20,000 men under his Admiral, Datis who met success when he captured Eretria and advanced to Marathon. In 490 BCE, at the Battle of Marathon, the Persian army was defeated by a heavily armed Athenian army, with 9,000 men who were supported by 600 Plataeans, 1,000 soldiers from each of eleven Greek city-states (11,000 men in total) and 10,000 lightly armed soldiers led by Miltiades.\nThe defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece. Darius began preparations for a second force which he would command, instead of his generals; however, before the preparations were complete, Darius died, thus leaving the task to his son Xerxes.\nDarius was son of Hystaspes and grandson of Arschama I, both men belonging to the Achaemenid tribe, and being alive when Darius ascended the throne. Darius justifies his ascension to the throne with his lineage tracing back to Achaemenes, even though he was distantly related. For these reasons, Darius married Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had four sons, Xerxes, Achaimenes, Masistes and Hystaspes. He also married Artystone, another daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had two sons, Arsames and Gobryas.\nDarius also married Parmys, the daughter of Bardiya, with whom he had a son, Ariomardos. Furthermore, Darius married Phratagone, with whom he had two sons, Abrokomas and Hyperantes. He also married another woman of the nobility, Phaidime, the daughter of Otanes. It is unknown if he had children with her. Before these royal marriages, Darius married a commoner with whom he had three sons, Artobarzanes (the first born), Arabignes and Arsamenes, while daughters are not known. Although Artobarzanes was the first born of Darius, Xerxes became heir and next king through the influence of Atossa, who had great authority in the kingdom, as Darius loved her, of all of his wives, most.\nAfter becoming aware of the Persian defeat at the Battle of Marathon, Darius began planning another expedition against the Greek-city states; this time, he, not Datis, would command the imperial armies. Darius had spent three years preparing men and ships for war, when a revolt broke out in Egypt. This revolt in Egypt worsened his failing health and prevented the possibility of leading another army himself. Soon Darius died. In October 486 BCE the body of Darius was embalmed and entombed in the rock-cut sepulcher which had been prepared for him several years earlier.\nXerxes, eldest son of Darius and Atossa, succeeded to the throne as Xerxes I; however, prior to Xerxes's accession, he contested the succession with his elder half-brother Artobazan, Darius' eldest son who was born to his commoner first wife before Darius rose to power.\nIn 1923 CE German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld made casts of the cuneiform inscriptions on Darius's tomb. They are currently housed in the archives of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.\nOutline tracing of the figure representing Darius I\nThe Stone Tablets of Darius the Great\nThe Persian Rosetta Stone\nDarius left a tri-lingual monumental relief on Mount Behistun which was written in Elamite, Old Persian and Babylonian between his coronation and his death. The inscription begins with a brief autobiography with his ancestry and lineage. To aid the presentation of his ancestry, Darius wrote down the sequence of events which occurred after the death of Cyrus the Great. Darius mentions several times that he is the rightful king by the grace of Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian God. In addition, further texts and monuments from Persepolis have been found, including a fragmentary Old Iranian inscription from Gherla, Romania (Harmatta) and a letter from Darius to Gadates, preserved in a Greek text of the Roman period.\nHerodotus, a Greek historian and author of The Histories, provided an account of many Persian kings and the Greco-Persian Wars. He wrote an extensive amount of information on Darius which spans half of book 3, along with books 4, 5 and 6. It begins with the removal of the alleged usurper Gaumata and continues to the end of Darius's reign.\nThe Book of Ezra (chapter 6, verse 1) describes the adoption and precise instructions to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. It was completed and inaugurated of the sixth year of Darius (March 515 BCE), as also related in the Book of Ezra (chapter 6, verse 15), so the 70-year prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled. Between Cyrus and Darius, an exchange of letters with King Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes is described (chapter 4, verse 7), the grandson of Darius I, in whose reign Ezra and Nehemiah came to Jerusalem.\nThe generous funding of the temple gave Darius and his successors the support of the Jewish priesthood. There is mention of a Darius in the Book of Daniel, identified as Darius the Mede. He began ruling when he was 62 years old (chapter 5, verse 31), appointed 120 satraps to govern over their provinces or districts (chapter 6, verse 1), was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans (chapter 9, verse 1), and predated Cyrus (chapter 11, verse 1). Therefore, many scholars identify him with Cyaxares II rather than Darius I of Persia.\nXerxes The Great\nXerxes I of Persia, also known as Xerxes the Great, (519 BC-465 BC), was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire.\nImmediately after seizing the kingship, Darius I of Persia (son of Hystaspes) married Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great). They were both descendants of Achaemenes from different Achaemenid lines. Marrying a daughter of Cyrus strengthened Darius' position as king.\nDarius was an active emperor, busy with building programs in Persepolis, Susa, Egypt, and elsewhere. Toward the end of his reign he moved to punish Athens, but a new revolt in Egypt (probably led by the Persian satrap) had to be suppressed. Under Persian law, the Achaemenian kings were required to choose a successor before setting out on such serious expeditions. Upon his great decision to leave (487-486 BC), Darius prepared his tomb at Naqsh-e Rostam and appointed Xerxes, his eldest son by Atossa, as his successor. Darius' failing health then prevented him from leading the campaigns, and he died in October 486 BC.\nXerxes was not the oldest son of Darius, and according to old Iranian traditions should not have succeeded the King. Xerxes was however the oldest son of Darius and Atossa hence descendent of Cyrus. This made Xerxes the chosen King of Persia. Some modern scholars also view the unusual decision of Darius to give the throne to Xerxes to be a result of his consideration of the unique positions that Cyrus the Great and his daughter Atossa have had.Artobazan was born to \"Darius the subject\", while Xerxes was the eldest son born in the purple after Darius' rise to the throne, and Artobazan's mother was a commoner while Xerxes' mother was the daughter of the founder of the empire.\nXerxes was crowned and succeeded his father in October-December 486 BC when he was about 36 years old. The transition of power to Xerxes was smooth due again in part to great authority of Atossa and his accession of royal power was not challenged by any person at court or in the Achaemenian family, or any subject nation.\nAlmost immediately, he suppressed the revolts in Egypt and Babylon that had broken out the year before, and appointed his brother Achaemenes as governor or satrap (Old Persian: khshathrapavan) over Egypt. In 484 BC, he outraged the Babylonians by violently confiscating and melting down the golden statue of Bel (Marduk, Merodach), the hands of which the rightful king of Babylon had to clasp each New Year's Day. This sacrilege led the Babylonians to rebel in 484 BC and 482 BC, so that in contemporary Babylonian documents, Xerxes refused his father's title of King of Babylon, being named rather as King of Persia and Media, Great King, King of Kings (Shahanshah) and King of Nations (i.e. of the world). Even though Herodotus' report in the Histories has created certain problems concerning Xerxes' religious beliefs, modern scholars consider him a Zoroastrian.\nDarius died while in the process of preparing a second army to invade the Greek mainland, leaving to his son the task of punishing the Athenians, Naxians, and Eretrians for their interference in the Ionian Revolt, the burning of Sardis and their victory over the Persians at Marathon. From 483 BC Xerxes prepared his expedition: A channel was dug through the isthmus of the peninsula of Mount Athos, provisions were stored in the stations on the road through Thrace, two pontoon bridges later known as Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges were built across the Hellespont. Soldiers of many nationalities served in the armies of Xerxes, including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians and Jews.\nAccording to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes' first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax and papyrus cables of the bridges; Xerxes ordered the Hellespont (the strait itself) whipped three hundred times and had fetters thrown into the water. Xerxes' second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful. Xerxes concluded an alliance with Carthage, and thus deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus exaggerated to be more than two million strong with at least 10,000 elite warriors named Persian Immortals. The actual Persian strength was around two to three hundred thousands. Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles.\nThe Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of Greek warriors led by King Leonidas of Sparta resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated. According to Herodotus, the Persians broke the Spartan phalanx after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. After Thermopylae, Athens was captured and the Athenians and Spartans were driven back to their last line of defense at the Isthmus of Corinth and in the Saronic Gulf.\nWhat happened next is a matter of some controversy. According to Herodotus, upon encountering the deserted city, in an uncharacteristic fit of rage particularly for Persian kings, Xerxes had Athens burned. He almost immediately regretted this action and ordered it rebuilt the very next day. However, Persian scholars dispute this view as pan-Hellenic propaganda, arguing that Sparta, not Athens, was Xerxes' main foe in his Greek campaigns, and that Xerxes would have had nothing to gain by destroying a major center of trade and commerce like Athens once he had already captured it.\nAt that time, anti-Persian sentiment was high among many mainland Greeks, and the rumor that Xerxes had destroyed the city was a popular one, though it is equally likely the fire was started by accident as the Athenians were frantically fleeing the scene in pandemonium, or that it was an act of \"scorched earth\" warfare to deprive Xerxes' army of the spoils of the city.\nAt Artemisium, large storms had destroyed ships from the Greek side and so the battle stopped prematurely as the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. Xerxes was induced by the message of Themistocles (against the advice of Artemisia of Halicarnassus) to attack the Greek fleet under unfavorable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. The Battle of Salamis (September, 480 BC) was won by the Greek fleet, after which Xerxes set up a winter camp in Thessaly.\nDue to unrest in Babylon, Xerxes was forced to send his army home to prevent a revolt, leaving behind an army in Greece under Mardonius, who was defeated the following year at Plataea. The Greeks also attacked and burned the remaining Persian fleet anchored at Mycale. This cut off the Persians from the supplies they needed to sustain their massive army, and they had no choice but to retreat. Their withdrawal roused the Greek city-states of Asia.\nInscription of Xerxes the Great near the Van Citadel\nAfter the military blunders in Greece, Xerxes returned to Persia and completed the many construction projects left unfinished by his father at Susa and Persepolis. He built the Gate of all Nations and the Hall of a Hundred Columns at Persepolis, which are the largest and most imposing structures of the palace. He completed the Apadana, the Palace of Darius and the Treasury all started by Darius as well as building his own palace which was twice the size of his father's. His taste in architecture was similar to that of Darius, though on an even more gigantic scale. He also maintained the Royal Road built by his father and completed the Susa Gate and built a palace at Susa.\nXerxes' Tomb\nIn 465 BC, Xerxes was murdered by Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court (Hazarapat/commander of thousand). He was promoted to this prestigious position in the Achamenid court through his successful withdrawal of the second Persian army from Greece, even though this involved refusing to help Mardonius in Plataea. Although Artabanus bore the same name as the famed uncle of Xerxes, a Hyrcanian, his rise to prominence was due to his popularity in religious quarters of the court and harem intrigues. He put his seven sons in key positions and had a plan to dethrone the Achamenids.\nIn August 465 BC, Artabanus assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch, Aspamitres. Greek historians give contradicting accounts of events. According to Ctesias (in Persica 20), Artabanus then accused the Crown Prince Darius, Xerxes' eldest son, of the murder and persuaded another of Xerxes' sons, Artaxerxes, to avenge the patricide by killing Darius.\nBut according to Aristotle (in Politics 5.1311b), Artabanus killed Darius first and then killed Xerxes. After Artaxerxes discovered the murder he killed Artabanus and his sons. Participating in these intrigues was the general Megabyzus, whose decision to switch sides probably saved the Achamenids from losing their control of the Persian throne.\nOrigins of the Persian Empire\nThe Persian Empire is named after an Indo-European tribe called Parsua. The name Persia is a Latin pronunciation of the Indo-Iranian people Parsua who named their territorial borders Persis, after their tribal name, an area located north of the Persian Gulf and East of Tigris river referred to as Persis (or in Persian, Pars).\nDespite its success and rapid expansion, Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as by sixth century BCE another group of ancient Iranians had already established the Median Empire. The term Achaemenid is in fact the Latinized version of the Old Persian name Haxamanis (a bahuvrihi compound translating to \"having a friend's mind\"), meaning in Greek \"of the family of the Achaemenis.\" Despite the derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh century ruler of the Anshan located in southwestern Iran. It was not until the time of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) a descendant of Achaemenes, that the Achaemenid empire developed the prestige of an empire, and set out to incorporate the existing empires of the ancient east, to become the vast Persian empire of which the ancient texts speak.\nAt some point in 550 BCE, Cyrus the Great rose in rebellion against the Median empire (most likely due to the Medes' mismanagement of Persis), eventually conquering the Medes and creating the first Persian empire. Cyrus the Great would utilize his tactical genius, as well as his understanding of the socio-political equations governing his territories, to eventually incorporate into the Persian empire the neighboring Lydian and Neo-Babylonian empires, and also leading the way for his successor, Cambyses II to venture into Egypt and defeat the Hittite Empire and the Egyptian Kingdom.\nCyrus the Great would reflect his political acumen in the management of his newly formed empire, as the Persian empire became the first to attempt to govern many different ethnic groups, on the principle of equal responsibilities, and rights for all people, so long as subjects paid their taxes and kept the peace. Additionally, the king would agree not to interfere with the local customs, religions, and trades of its subject states, a unique quality that eventually won Cyrus the support of the Babylonians. This system of management would ultimately become an issue for the Persians, as with a larger empire came the need for order and control, leading to expenditure of resources and mobilization of troops, to quell local rebellions, weakening the central power of the king. By the time of Darius III, this disorganization had almost led to a disunified realm.\nThe Persians from whom Cyrus hailed were originally nomadic pastoral people in the western Iranian plateau and by 850 BCE were calling themselves the Parsa and their constantly shifting territory Parsua for the most part localized around Persis (Pars). As Persians gained power, they developed the infrastructure to support their growing influence including creation of a capital named Pasargadae, and an opulent city named Persepolis.\nBegun during the rule of Darius the Great (Darius I), and completed some 100 years later, Persepolis was a symbol of the empire serving both as a ceremonial centre and a center for government. It had a special set of gradually progressive stairways named \"All Countries\" around which carved relief decoration depicted scenes of heroism, hunting, natural themes, and presentation of the gifts to the Achaemenid kings by their subjects during the spring festival, Nowruz.\nThe core structure was composed of a multitude of square rooms or halls, the biggest of which was called Apadana. Tall, erect, decorated columns would often welcome visitors as well as impress them as to the size of the structure. Later on, Darius the Great (Darius I), would also utilize Susa and Ecbatana as his governmental centres, developing them into a similar metropolis status.\nAccount of the ancestral lineage of the Persian kings of the Achaemenid dynasty can be derived from either documented Greek or Roman accounts, or from existing documented Persian accounts, such as those found in the behistun Inscription. However, since most existing accounts of this vast empire are in works of Greek philosophers and historians, and since much of the original Persian documents are lost, not to mention varying scholarly views on their origin and possible motivations behind them, it is difficult to create a definitive and completely objective list.\nCyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia), and Darius the Great (Darius I of Persia), were critical in expansion of the empire. Cyrus the Great is often believed to be the son of Cambyses I, grandson of Cyrus I, father of Cambyses II, and a relative of Darius the Great, through a shared ancestor, Teispes. Cyrus the Great is also believed to have been a family member (possibly grandson) of the Median king Astyages through his mother, Mandana of Media. A minority of scholars argue that perhaps Achaemenes was a retrograde creation of Darius the Great, in order to reconcile his connection with Cyrus the Great, after gaining power.\nAncient Greek writers provide some legendary information about Achaemenes by calling his tribe the Pasargadae, and stating that he was \"raised by an eagle\". Plato, when writing about the Persians, identified Achaemenes with Perses, ancestor of the Persians in Greek mythology.\nAccording to Plato, Achaemenes was the same person as Perses, a son of the Ethiopian queen Andromeda and the Greek hero Perseus, and a grandson of Zeus. Later writers believed that Achaemenes and Perses were different people, and that Perses was an ancestor of the king. This account further confirms that Achaemenes could well have been a significant Anshan leader and an ancestor of Cyrus the Great. Regardless, both Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great were related, prominent kings of Persia, under whose rule the empire expanded to include much of the ancient world.\nExpansion\nThe empire took its unified form with a central administration around Pasargadae erected by Cyrus the Great. The empire ended up conquering and enlarging the Median empire to include in addition Egypt and Asia Minor. During the reigns of Darius I and his son Xerxes I it engaged in military conflict with some of the major city-states of Ancient Greece , and although it came close to defeating the Greek army this war ultimately led to the empire's overthrow.\nIn 559 BCE, Cambyses I the Elder was succeeded as the king of Ansan by his son Cyrus II the Great, who also succeeded the still-living Arsames as the King of Persia, thus reuniting the two realms. Cyrus is considered to be the first true king of the Persian empire, as his predecessors were subservient to the Medes. Cyrus the Great conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylon. Cyrus was politically shrewd, modeling himself as the \"savior\" of conquered nations, often allowing displaced people to return, and giving his subjects freedom to practice local customs. To reinforce this image, he instituted policies of religious freedom, and restored temples and other infrastructure in the newly acquired cities. (Most notably the Jewish inhabitants of Babylon, as recorded in the Cyrus Cylinder and the Tanakh). As a result of his tolerant policies he came to be known by those of the Jewish faith, as \"the anointed of the Lord.\"\nHis immediate successors were less successful. Cyrus' son Cambyses II conquered Egypt in 525 BCE, but died in July 522 BCE as the result of an injurious self-accident, during a revolt led by a sacerdotal clan that had lost its power following Cyrus' conquest of Media. According to Herodotus, Cambyses II had originally ventured into Egypt to take revenge for the pharaoh Amasis' trickery when he sent a fake Egyptian bride whose family Amasis had murdered, instead of his own daughter, to wed Cambyses II. Additionally negative reports of mistreatment caused by Amasis, given by Phanes of Halicarnassus, a wise council man serving Amasis, further enforced Cambyses's resolve to venture into Egypt. Amasis died before Cambyses II could face him, but his successor Psamtik III was defeated by Cambyses II in the Battle of Pelusium.\nWhile Cambyses II was in Egypt, the Zoroastrian priests, whom Herodotus called Magi, usurped the throne for one of their own, Gaumata, who then pretended to be Cambyses II's younger brother Bardiya (Greek: Smerdis or Tanaoxares/Tanyoxarkes), who had been assassinated some three years earlier. Owing to the strict rule of Cambyses II, especially his stance on taxation, and his long absence in Egypt, \"the whole people, Perses, Medes and all the other nations,\" acknowledged the usurper, especially as he granted a remission of taxes for three years (Herodotus iii. 68). Cambyses II himself would not be able to quell the imposters, as he died due to accidental injury on the way back from Egypt.\nThe claim that Gaumata had impersonated Bardiya (Smerdis), is derived from Darius the Great and the records at the Behistun Inscription. Historians are divided over the possibility that the story of the impostor was invented by Darius as justification for his coup. Darius made a similar claim when he later captured Babylon, announcing that the Babylonian king was not, in fact, Nebuchadnezzar III, but an impostor named Nidintu-bel.\nAccording to the Behistun Inscription, Gaumata ruled for seven months before being overthrown in 522 BCE by Darius the Great (Darius I) (Old Persian Daryavus \"Who Holds Firm the Good\", also known as Darayarahush or Darius the Great). The Magi, though persecuted, continued to exist, and a year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis (Gaumata), saw a second pseudo-Smerdis (named Vahyazdata) attempt a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed.\nHerodotus writes that the native leadership debated the best form of government for the Empire. It was agreed that an oligarchy would divide them against one another, and democracy would bring about mob rule resulting in a charismatic leader resuming the monarchy. Therefore, they decided a new monarch was in order, particularly since they were in a position to choose him. Darius I was chosen monarch from among the leaders. He was cousin to Cambyses II and Bardiya (Smerdis), claiming Ariaramnes as his ancestor.\nThe Achaemenids thereafter consolidated areas firmly under their control. It was Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great who, by sound and farsighted administrative planning, brilliant military maneuvering, and a humanistic world view, established the greatness of the Achaemenids and, in less than thirty years, raised them from an obscure tribe to a world power. It was during the reign of Darius the Great (Darius I) that Persepolis was built (518-516 BCE) and which would serve as capital for several generations of Achaemenid kings. Ecbatana (Hagmatana \"City of Gatherings\", modern: Hamadan) in Media was greatly expanded during this period and served as the summer capital.\nDarius the Great (Darius I) eventually attacked the Greek mainland, which had supported rebellious Greek colonies under his aegis; but as a result of his defeat at the Battle of Marathon, he was forced to pull the limits of his empire back to Asia Minor. Some scholars argue that in the context of history of the Near and Middle east in the first millennium, Alexander can be considered as the \"last of the Achaemenids.\" This is partly because Alexander maintained more or less the same political structure, and borders as the previous Achaemenid kings.\nGovernment\nCyrus the Great founded the empire as a multi-state empire, governed by four capital states; Pasargadae, Babylon, Susa and Ekbatana. The Achaemenids allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (governor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a 'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government. At differing times, there were between 20 and 30 satrapies.\nCyrus the Great created an organized army including the Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained soldiers Cyrus also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh.\nDarius the Great moved the capital from Pasargadae to Persepolis; he revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage and introducing a regulated and sustainable tax system that was precisely tailored to each satrapy, based on their supposed productivity and their economic potential.\nFor instance, Babylon was assessed for the highest amount and for a startling mixture of commodities - 1000 silver talents, four months supply of food for the army. India was clearly already fabled for its gold; the province (consisting of the sindh and western punjab regions of ancient northwestern India) was to supply gold dust equal in value to the very large amount of 4680 silver talents.\nEgypt was known for the wealth of its crops; it was to be the granary of the Persian Empire (as later of Rome's) and was required to provide 120,000 measures of grain in addition to 700 talents of silver. This was exclusively a tax levied on subject peoples. Other accomplishments of Darius' reign included codification of the data, a universal legal system, and construction of a new capital at Persepolis.\nUnder the Achaemenids, the trade was extensive and there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities in the far reaches of the empire. Tariffs on trade were one of the empire's main sources of revenue, along with agriculture and tribute.\nThe satrapies were linked by a 2,500-kilometer highway, the most impressive stretch being the Royal Road from Susa to Sardis, built by command of Darius I. The relays of mounted couriers could reach the remotest of areas in fifteen days. Despite the relative local independence afforded by the satrapy system, royal inspectors, the \"eyes and ears of the king\", toured the empire and reported on local conditions. The king also maintained a personal bodyguard of the elite 10,000 Immortals when not at war.\nThe practice of slavery in Achaemenid Persia was generally banned, although there is evidence that conquered and/or rebellious armies were sold into captivity. Zoroastrianism, the de facto religion of the empire, explicitly forbids slavery, and the kings of Achaemenid Persia, especially the founder Cyrus the Great, followed this ban to varying degrees, as evidenced by the freeing of the Jews at Babylon, and the construction of Persepolis by paid workers. The vexilloid of the Achaemenid Empire was a gold falcon on a field of crimson.\nMilitary\nDespite its humble origins in Persis, the empire reached an enormous size under the leadership of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus created a multi-state empire where he allowed regional rulers, called the 'satrap' to rule as his proxy over a certain designated area of his empire called the satrapy. The basic rule of governance was based upon loyalty and obedience of each satrapy to the central power, or the king, and compliance with tax laws.\nDue to the ethnocultural diversity of the subject nations under the rule of Persia, its enormous geographic size, and the constant struggle for power by regional competitors, the creation of a professional army was necessary for both maintenance of the peace, and also to enforce the authority of the king in cases of rebellion and foreign threat.\nCyrus managed to create a strong land army, using it to advance in his campaigns in Babylonia, Lydia, and Asia Minor, which after his death was used by his son Cambyses II, in Egypt against Psamtik III. Cyrus would die battling a local Iranian insurgency in the empire, before he could have a chance to develop a naval force. That task however would fall to Darius the Great, who would officially give Persians their own royal navy to allow them to engage their enemies on multiple seas of this vast empire, from the Black sea, and the Aegean Sea, to the Persian Gulf, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean sea.\nNavy\nSince its foundation by Cyrus, the Persian empire had been primarily a land empire with a strong army, but void of any actual naval forces. By the fifth century BCE, this was to change, as the empire came across Greek, and Egyptian forces, each with their own maritime traditions and capabilities. Darius the Great (Darius I) is to be credited as the first Achaemenid king to invest in a Persian fleet.\nEven by then no true \"imperial navy\" had existed either in Greece or Egypt. Persia would become the first empire, under Darius, to inaugurate and deploy the first regular imperial navy. Despite this achievement, the personnel for the imperial navy would not come from Iran, but were often Phoenicians (mostly from Sidon), Egyptians, Cypriots, and Greeks chosen by Darius the Great to operate the empire's combat vessels.\nAt first the ships were built in Sidon by the Phoenicians; the first Achaemenid ships measured about 40 meters in length and 6 meters in width, able to transport up to 300 Persian troops at any one trip. Despite origin of the technique of the arsenal and ship construction in Sidon, soon other states of the empire were constructing their own ships each incorporating slight local preferences.\nThe ships eventually found their way to the Persian Gulf. Persian naval forces laid the foundation for a strong Persian maritime presence in the Persian Gulf, that existed until the arrival of the British East India Company, and the Royal Navy in the mid-nineteenth century CE. Persians were not only stationed on islands of the Persian Gulf, but also had ships often of 100 to 200 capacity patrolling the empire's various rivers including the Shatt-al-Arab, Tigris and Nile in the west, as well as the Sind waterway in India.\nThe Achaemenid high naval command had established major naval bases located along the Shatt-al-Arab, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen. The Persian fleet would soon not only be used for peace-keeping purposes along the Shatt al-Arab but would also open the door to trade with India via the Persian Gulf. Darius's navy was in many ways a world power at the time, but it would be Artaxerxes II who in the summer of 397 B.C.E would build a formidable navy, as part of a rearmament which would lead to his decisive victory at Knidos in 394 BCE, reestablishing Achaemenid power in Ionia. Artaxerxes II would also utilize his massive navy to later on quell a rebellion in Egypt.\nThe construction material of choice was wood, but some armored Achaemenid ships had metallic blades on the front, often meant to slice enemy ships using the ship's momentum. Naval ships were also equipted with hooks on the side to grab enemy ships, or to negotiate their position. The ships were propelled by sails or manpower. As far as maritime engagement, the ships were equipped with two mangonels that would launch projectiles such as stones, or flammable substances.\nXenophon describes his eye-witness account of a massive military bridge created by joining 37 Persian ships across the Tigris river. The Persians utilized each boat's buoyancy, in order to support a connected bridge above which supply could be transferred. Herodotus also gives many accounts of Persians utilizing ships to build bridges. Darius the Great, in an attempt to subdue the Scythian horsemen north of the Black sea, crossed over at the Bosphorus, using an enormous bridge made by connecting Achaemenid boats, then marched up to the Danube, crossing it by means of a second boat bridge. The bridge over the Bosphorus essentially connected the nearest tip of Asia to Europe, encompasing at least some 1000 meters of open water if not more. Herodotus describes the spectacle, and calls it the \"bridge of Darius\"\nYears later, a similar boat bridge would be constructed by Xerxes the Great (Xerxes I), in his invasion of Greece. Although the Persians failed to capture the Greek city states completely, the tradition of maritime involvement was carried down by the Persian kings, most notably Artaxerxes II. Years later, when Alexander invaded Persia and during his advancement into India, he took a page from the Persian art of war, by having Hephaestion and Perdiccas construct a similar boat-bridge at the Indus river, in India in spring of 327 BCE.\nGreco-Persian Wars\nMedian (left) and Persian (right) soldiers\nBy the 5th century BCE the kings of Persia ruled over territories roughly encompassing today's Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Uzbekistan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, many parts of Greece, Libya and northern parts of Arabia.\nThe Ionian Revolt in 499 BCE, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BCE At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras.\nIn 499 BCE, the then tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos, in an attempt to bolster his position in Miletus (both financially and in terms of prestige). The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king Darius the Great.\nThe Persians continued to reduce the cities along the west coast that still held out against them, before finally imposing a peace settlement in 493 BCE on Ionia that was generally considered to be both just and fair. The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire, and as such represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars.\nAsia Minor had been brought back into the Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support for the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all of Greece. However, the Persian forces were defeated at the Battle of Marathon and Darius would die before having the chance to launch an invasion of Greece.\nXerxes I (485-465 BCE), son of Darius I, vowed to complete the job. He organized a massive invasion aiming to conquer Greece. His army entered Greece from the north, meeting little or no resistance through Macedonia and Thessaly, but was delayed by a small Greek force for three days at Thermopylae. A simultaneous naval battle at Artemisium was tactically indecisive as large storms destroyed ships from both sides. The battle was stopped prematurely when the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. The battle was a strategic victory for the Persians, giving them uncontested control of Artemisium and the Aegean Sea.\nFollowing his victory at the Battle of Thermopylae, Xerxes sacked the evacuated city of Athens and prepared to meet the Greeks at the strategic Isthmus of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. In 480 BCE the Greeks won a decisive victory over the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis and forced Xerxes to retire to Sardis. The land army which he left in Greece under Mardonius retook Athens but was eventually destroyed in 479 BCE at the Battle of Plataea. The final defeat of the Persians at Mycale encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and marked the end of Persian expansion into Europe.\nArtaxerxes\nXerxes I was followed by Artaxerxes I (465 - 424 BCE), who moved the capital from Persepolis to Babylon. It was during this reign that Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic gained in importance. It was probably during this reign that the solar calendar was introduced as the national calendar. Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de-facto religion of state, and for this Artaxerxes I is today also known as the Constantine of that faith.\nArtaxerxes I died in Susa, and his body was brought to Persepolis for internment in the tomb of his forebears. Artaxerxes I was immediately succeeded by his eldest son Xerxes II, who was however assassinated by one of his half-brothers a few weeks later. Darius II rallied support for himself and marched eastwards, executing the assassin and was crowned in his stead.\nFrom 412 Darius II (423-404 BCE), at the insistence of the able Tissaphernes, gave support first to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407 BCE, Darius' son Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404 BCE In the same year, Darius fell ill and died in Babylon. At his deathbed, his Babylonian wife Parysatis pleaded with Darius to have her second eldest son Cyrus (the Younger) crowned, but Darius refused.\nArtaxerxes II\nDarius was then succeeded by his eldest son Artaxerxes II Memnon. Plutarch relates (probably on the authority of Ctesias) that the displaced Tissaphernes came to the new king on his coronation day to warn him that his younger brother Cyrus (the Younger) was preparing to assassinate him during the ceremony. Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and would have had him executed if their mother Parysatis had not intervened. Cyrus was then sent back as Satrap of Lydia, where he prepared an armed rebellion. Cyrus and Artaxerxes met in the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, where Cyrus was killed.\nArtaxerxes II (404-358 BCE), was the longest reigning of the Achaemenid kings and it was during this 45-year period of relative peace and stability that many of the monuments of the era were constructed. Artaxerxes moved the capital back to Persepolis, which he greatly extended. Also the summer capital at Ecbatana was lavishly extended with gilded columns and roof tiles of silver and copper (Polybius, 27 October 2012).\nThe extraordinary innovation of the Zoroastrian shrine cults can also be dated to his reign, and it was probably during this period that Zoroastrianism was disseminated throughout Asia Minor and the Levant, from Armenia. The temples, though serving a religious purpose, were however not a purely selfless act: they also served as an important source of income.\nFrom the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids had taken over the concept of a mandatory temple tax, a one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or other source of income (Dandamaev & Lukonin, 1989:361-362). A share of this income called the quppu sa sari, \"kings chest\" - an ingenious institution originally introduced by Nabonidus - was then turned over to the ruler. In retrospect, Artaxerxes is generally regarded as an amiable man who lacked the moral fibre to be a really successful ruler. However, six centuries later Ardeshir I, founder of the second Persian Empire, would consider himself Artaxerxes' successor, a grand testimony to the importance of Artaxerxes to the Persian psyche.\nLanguages\nDuring the reign of Cyrus and Darius, and as long as the seat of government was still at Susa in Elam, the language of the chancellory was Elamite. This is primarily attested in the Persepolis fortification and treasury tablets that reveal details of the day-to-day functioning of the empire.\nIn the grand rock-face inscriptions of the kings, the Elamite texts are always accompanied by Akkadian and Old Persian inscriptions, and it appears that in these cases, the Elamite texts are translations of the Old Persian ones. It is then likely that although Elamite was used by the capital government in Susa, it was not a standardized language of government everywhere in the empire. The use of Elamite is not attested after 458 BCE\nFollowing the conquest of Mesopotamia, the Aramaic language (as used in that territory) was adopted as a \"vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. The use of a single official language, which modern scholarship has dubbed Official Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic, can be assumed to have greatly contributed to the astonishing success of the Achaemenids in holding their far-flung empire together for as long as they did.\"\nIn 1955, Richard Frye questioned the classification of Imperial Aramaic as an \"official language\", noting that no surviving edict expressly and unambiguously accorded that status to any particular language. Frye reclassifies Imperial Aramaic as the \"lingua franca\" of the Achaemenid territories, suggesting then that the Achaemenid-era use of Aramaic was more pervasive than generally thought. Many centuries after the fall of the empire, Aramaic script and - as ideograms - Aramaic vocabulary would survive as the essential characteristics of the Pahlavi writing system.\nAlthough Old Persian also appears on some seals and art objects, that language is attested primarily in the Achaemenid inscriptions of Western Iran, suggesting then that Old Persian was the common language of that region. However, by the reign of Artaxerxes II, the grammar and orthography of the inscriptions was so \"far from perfect\" that it has been suggested that the scribes who composed those texts had already largely forgotten the language, and had to rely on older inscriptions, which they to a great extent reproduced verbatim.\nCustoms\nHerodotus mentions that the Persians were invited to great birthday feasts (Herodotus, Histories 8), which would be followed by many desserts, a treat which they reproached the Greeks for omitting from their meals. He also observed that the Persians drank wine in large quantities and used it even for counsel, deliberating on important affairs when drunk, and deciding the next day, when sober, whether to act on the decision or set it aside.\nReligion\nZoroastrianism\nIt was during the Achaemenid period that Zoroastrianism reached South-Western Iran, where it came to be accepted by the rulers and through them became a defining element of Persian culture. The religion was not only accompanied by a formalization of the concepts and divinities of the traditional Indo-Iranian pantheon but also introduced several novel ideas, including that of free will.\nUnder the patronage of the Achaemenid kings, and by the 5th century BCE as the de-facto religion of the state, Zoroastrianism would reach all corners of the empire. The Bible claims that Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to their homeland after centuries of captivity by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.\nDuring the reign of Artaxerxes I and Darius II, Herodotus wrote: \"the Perses have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars, and consider the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their not believing the gods to have the same nature with men, as the Greeks imagine.\" He claims the Persians offer sacrifice to: \"the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down to them from ancient times. At a later period they began the worship of Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians and Assyrians. Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this goddess, to whom the Persians referred as Anahita.\" (The original name here is Mithra, which has since been explained to be a confusion of Anahita with Mithra, understandable since they were commonly worshipped together in one temple).\nFrom the Babylonian scholar-priest Berosus, who - although writing over seventy years after the reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon - records that the emperor had been the first to make cult statues of divinities and have them placed in temples in many of the major cities of the empire (Berosus, III.65). Berosus also substantiates Herodotus when he says the Persians knew of no images of gods until Artaxerxes II erected those images. On the means of sacrifice, Herodotus adds \"they raise no altar, light no fire, pour no libations.\"\nThis sentence has been interpreted to identify a critical (but later) accretion to Zoroastrianism. An altar with a wood-burning fire and the Yasna service at which libations are poured are all clearly identifiable with modern Zoroastrianism, but apparently, were practices that had not yet developed in the mid-5th century. Boyce also assigns that development to the reign of Artaxerxes II (4th century BCE), as an orthodox response to the innovation of the shrine cults.\nHerodotus also observed that \"no prayer or offering can be made without a magus present\" but this should not be confused with what is today understood by the term magus, that is a magupat (modern Persian: mobed), a Zoroastrian priest. Nor does Herodotus' description of the term as one of the tribes or castes of the Medes necessarily imply that these magi were Medians. They simply were a hereditary priesthood to be found all over Western Iran and although (originally) not associated with any one specific religion, they were traditionally responsible for all ritual and religious services.\nAlthough the unequivocal identification of the magus with Zoroastrianism came later (Sassanid era, 3rd-7th century CE), it is from Herodotus' magus of the mid-5th century that Zoroastrianism was subject to doctrinal modifications that are today considered to be revocations of the original teachings of the prophet. Also, many of the ritual practices described in the Avesta's Vendidad (such as exposure of the dead) were already practiced by the magu of Herodotus ' time.\nArt and Architecture\nAchaemenid architecture refers to the architectural achievements of the Achaemenid Persians manifesting in construction of spectacular cities utilized for governance and inhabitation, temples made for worship and social gatherings (such as Zoroastrian temples), and mausoleums erected in honor of fallen kings (such as the burial tomb of Cyrus the Great). The quintessential feature of Persian architecture was its eclectic nature with elements of Median, Assyrian, and Asiatic Greek all incorporated, yet maintaining a unique Persian identity seen in the finished products.\nAchaemenid art refers to the artistic achievements of the Aachaemenid Persians manifesting in construction of complicated frieze reliefs, crafting of precious metals ( such as the Oxus Treasure), decoration of palaces, glazed brick masonry, fine craftsmanship (masonry, carpentry, etc.), and gardening, and out door decoration. It is critical to understand that although Persians borrowed techniques from all corners of their empire, it was not simply a combination of styles, but synthesis of a new unique Persian style.\nCyrus the Great in fact had an extensive ancient Iranian heritage behind him; the rich Achaemenid gold work, which inscriptions suggest may have been a specialty of the Medes, was for instance in the tradition of the delicate metalwork found in Iron Age II times at Hasanlu and still earlier at Marlik.\nOne of the most amazing examples of both Achaemenid architecture and art is the grand palace of Persepolis, and its detailed workmanship, coupled with its grand scale.\nFall of the Persian Empire\nAccording to Plutarch, Artaxerxes' successor Artaxerxes III (358 - 338 BCE) came to the throne by bloody means, ensuring his place upon the throne by the assassination of eight of his half-brothers. In 343 BCE Artaxerxes III defeated Nectanebo II, driving him from Egypt, and made Egypt once again a Persian satrapy. In 338 BCE Artaxerxes III died under unclear circumstances (natural causes according to cuneiform sources but Diodorus, a Greek historian, reports that Artaxerxes was murdered by Bagoas, his minister). while Philip of Macedon united the Greek states by force and began to plan an invasion into the empire.\nArtaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV Arses, who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas. Bagoas is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then placed Darius III (336-330 BCE), a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, on the throne. Darius III, previously Satrap of Armenia, personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison. In 334 BCE, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened troops invaded Asia Minor.\nAt two different times, the Achaemenids ruled Egypt although the Egyptians twice regained temporary independence from Persia. After the practice of Manetho, Egyptian historians refer to the periods in Egypt when the Achaemenid dynasty ruled as the twenty-seventh dynasty of Egypt, 525-404 BCE, until the death of Darius II, and the thirty-first dynasty of Egypt, 343-332 BCE, which began after Nectanebo II was defeated by the Persian king Artaxerxes III.\nAlexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) defeated the Persian armies at Granicus (334 BCE), followed by Issus (333 BCE), and lastly at Gaugamela (331 BCE). Afterwards, he marched on Susa and Persepolis which surrendered in early 330 BCE From Persepolis, Alexander headed north to Pasargadae where he visited the tomb of Cyrus, the burial of the man whom he had heard of from Cyropedia.\nIn the ensuing chaos created by Alexander the Great's invasion of Persia, Cyrus the Great's tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander the Great reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated, and questioned the Magi, putting them to court. On some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire, than a concern for Cyrus's tomb. Regardless, Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior, showing respect for Cyrus. From there he headed to Ecbatana, where Darius III had sought refuge.\nDarius III was taken prisoner by Bessus, his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius III and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in the road to delay Alexander, who brought it to Persepolis for an honorable funeral. Bessus would then create a coalition of his forces, in order to create an army to defend against Alexander. Before Bessus could fully unite with his confederates at the eastern part of the empire, Alexander, fearing the danger of Bessus gaining control, found him, put him on trial in a Persian court under his control, and ordered his execution in a cruel and barbarous manner.\nDespite having succeeded to conquer the whole of the Persian empire, Alexander the Great, was nonetheless unable to offer a stable alternative. After his death, Alexander's once massive Persian empire was broken into and succeeded by few smaller empires the most significant of which was the Seleucid Empire, ruled by the generals of Alexander and their descendants. They in turn would be succeeded by the Parthian Empire.\nIstakhr, one of the vassal kingdoms of the Parthian Empire, would be overthrown by Papak, a priest of the temple there. Papak's son, Ardasir I, who named himself in remembrance of Artaxerxes II, would revolt against the Parthians, eventually defeating them and establishing the Sassanid Empire or as it is known the second Persian Empire.\nLegacy\nThe Achaemenid Empire left a lasting impression on the heritage and the cultural identity of Asia and Middle East, as well as influencing the development and structure of future empires. In fact the Greeks and later on the Romans copied the best features of the Persian method of governing the empire, and vicariously adopted them. Georg W. F. Hegel in his work The Philosophy of History introduces the Persian Empire as the \"first empire that passed away\" and its people as the \"first historical people\" in history.\nAncient Alien Theory",
"Cyrus The Great\nCroesus of Lydia, ... had assumed control of her nation's forces after Cyrus had defeated and killed her son Spargapises. ... Cyrus The Great King of Persia.\nCyrus The Great\nCyrus The Great\ncheck the latest news and sport in this site\n cyrus\nCYRUS THE GREAT EMPIRE\nCyrus The Great\nCyrus the Great (ca.600 - 529 BCE) was a towering figure in the history of mankind. As the \"father of the Iranian nation\", he was the first world leader to be referred to as \"The Great\". Cyrus founded the first world empire - and the second Iranian dynastic empire (the Achaemenids) - after defeating the Median dynasty and uniting the Medes with the other major Iranian tribe, the Persians.\nEtymology and lineage\nThe name \"Cyrus\" (a transliteration of the Greek Kυρoς) is the Greek version of the Old-Persian kûruš or Khûrvaš meaning \"sun-like\": the noun khûr denotes \"sun\" and -vaš is a suffix of likeness. In the Cyrus cylinder (see below), the great king declares his ancestry as a Persian king. The first leader of the Achaemenid dynasty was king Achaemenes of Anshan (ca.700BCE). He was succeeded by his son Teispes of Anshan and inscriptions indicate that when the latter died, two of his sons shared the throne: Cyrus I of Anshan and Ariaramnes of Persia. They were succeeded by their respective sons: Cambyses I and Arsames. Arsames was the ancestor of Darius the Great, while Cambyses was the father of Cyrus the Great. Mandane, Cyrus' mother, was the daughter of king Astyages, who was the last emperor of the Median dynastic empire (728-550BCE). Cyrus became king of Anshan after his father's death in 559BCE, and initially reigned as Median vassal king of the Persian tribes. He established his residence at Pasargadae in Pars province, the centre of the Pasargadae tribe, to which the Achaemenid clan belonged. Little is known of Cyrus' early life as the few known sources have been damaged or lost. According to the ancient historians, Astyages was told in a dream that his grandson, the baby Cyrus, would overthrow him. To avoid this he ordered that the baby be killed. However the official delegated with the task gave the baby to a shepherd instead. When Cyrus was ten years old, the deception was discovered by Astyages, but because of the boy's outstanding qualities he was allowed to live in exile with his mother. Cyrus then revolted against Astyages in 554BCE and in 550BCE the prophecy came true when Cyrus entered Ecbatana (modern-day Hamadan), effectively conquering the Median Empire. Upon his victory over his grandfather he founded a government for his new kingdom, incorporating both Median and Persian nobles as civilian officials. He thus began to build the first world empire.\n \n'Cyrus' Empire Building\nAs the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, one of Cyrus' objectives was to gain power over the Mediterranean coast and secure Asia Minor. Croesus of Lydia, Nabonidus of Babylonia and Amasis II of Egypt joined in alliance with Sparta to try and thwart Cyrus - but this was to no avail. Hyrcania, Parthia and Armenia were already part of the Median Kingdom. Cyrus moved further east to annex Drangiana, Arachosia, Margiana and Bactria to his territories. After crossing the Oxus, he reached the Jaxartes. There, he built fortified towns with the object of defending the farthest frontier of his kingdom against the Iranian nomadic tribes of Central Asia such as the Scythians. The exact limits of Cyrus' eastern conquests are not known, but it is possible that they extended as far as the Peshawar region in modern Pakistan. After his eastern victories, he repaired to the west and invaded Babylon. On 12 October 539BCE Cyrus, \"without spilling a drop of blood\", annexed the Chaldaean empire of Babylonia - and on October 29 he entered Babylon, arrested Nabonidus and assumed the title of \"King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the four corners of the world\". Almost immediately he then extended his control over the Arabian peninsula and the Levant also quickly submitted to Persian rule. Although Cyrus did not conquer Egypt, by 535BCE all the lands up to the Egyptian borders had acceded to Persian dominance. Newly conquered territories had a measure of political independence, being ruled by satraps. These (usually local) governors took full responsibility for the administration, legislation and cultural activities of each province. According to Xenophon, Cyrus created the first postal system in the world, and this must have helped with intra-Empire communications. Babylon, Ecbatana, Pasargadae and Susa were used as Cyrus' command centres. Cyrus' spectacular conquests triggered the age of Empire Building, as carried out by his successors as well as by the later Greeks and Romans.\nCyrus' religion\nAlmost nothing is known about Cyrus' personal beliefs, but Xenophon reports to us that in religious matters he followed the guidance of the Magians at his court. Although this is not universally agreed, Mary Boyce has argued that Cyrus was indeed a Zoroastrian and that he thus followed in the footsteps of his ancestors, from when they were Median vassals in Anshan. She has pointed out that the fire altars and the mausoleum at Pasargadae demonstrate Zoroastrian practices, and has cited Greek texts as evidence that Zoroastrian priests held positions of authority at Cyrus' court.\nDeath\nCuneiform records from Babylon suggest that Cyrus died on 4 December 530BCE. However, according to Herodotus , Cyrus was killed near the Aral Sea in July or August 529BCE during a campaign to protect the northeastern borders of his empire from incursions by the Massagetae . Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae, had assumed control of her nation's forces after Cyrus had defeated and killed her son Spargapises. She led the attack on the Iranian forces, who suffered heavy casualties as well as losing their leader, Cyrus. After the battle, Tomyris apparently ordered the body of Cyrus to be found so that she could avenge the death of her son. She then dipped Cyrus' head in blood or by some accounts ordered his head to be put into a wine-skin filled with human blood. At Cyrus' death, his son Cambyses II succeeded him. He attacked the Massagetae to recover Cyrus's ravaged body, before burying it at Pasargadae. \n The cylinder of Cyrus the Great\nThe Cyrus cylinder was discovered in 1878CE at the site of Babylon. It is inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. Now housed in the British Museum, it includes a detailed account by Cyrus of his conquest of Babylon in 539BCE and his subsequent humane treatment of his conquered subjects. It has been hailed as the world's first declaration of human rights. The (incomplete) inscription on the cylinder starts by describing the criminal deeds of the Babylonian king Nabonidus; as well as how Marduk, the Babylonian god, had looked for a new king and chosen Cyrus. It continues with the famous: \"I am Cyrus, king of the world, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world\" After a description of Cyrus' ancestry and of royal protocol, it goes on to explain how Cyrus established peace and abolished forced labour: \"The people of Babylon . . . the shameful yoke was removed from them\" The inscription continues by detailing reparative building activities in Babylon as well as asking for prayers for Cyrus. It makes specific reference to the Jews, who have been brought to Babylon - and who Cyrus supported in leaving for their homeland. Further demonstrating his religious tolerance, Cyrus restored the local cults by allowing the gods to return to their shrines. The cylinder describes the Great King not as a conqueror, but as a liberator and the legitimate successor to the crown of Mesopotamia. The same text has also been found, in a more complete version, in an inscription discovered in the ancient city of Ur, in Mesopotamia. Both documents corroborate many of the details in Ezra 1:1-5 describing Cyrus supporting the Jews in returning to Judea from captivity to rebuild the Temple in 537BCE. Isaiah 45:1-13 also backs up the idea of Cyrus as a benign and chosen ruler. Before the discovery of the cylinder, many sceptical historians believed that the idea of a Zoroastrian emperor like Cyrus the Great allowing a conquered people like the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their Temple was simply not credible and could only be Persian propaganda. Nevertheless, the Cyrus Cylinder, alongside the Biblical and other historical statements, seems to substantiate the idea that Cyrus not only allowed many of the nations he conquered to practice their various religious beliefs - an unprecedented tolerance - but that he even actively assisted captive peoples, including the Jews, to return to their lands of origin. This support was not only political but even financial - as he gave grants both from the Imperial treasury and also from his own personal fortune. The Cylinder has especial resonance for the Iranian peoples and is an integral part of Iran's cultural heritage and national identity. Antedating the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen by more than two millennia, it can also be considered as a world treasure - and the first international declaration of human rights. The text was translated into all the United Nations' official languages in 1971.\nCyrus' Legacy \nCyrus the Great is famed as a triumphant conqueror, a superb warrior, and the founder of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. However, with the Cyrus Cylinder and a range of Jewish texts, plus extensive writings by Xenophon, Cyrus is generally more admired as a liberator than a conqueror. Cyrus the Great was mentioned twenty-two times in the Old Testament, where he is unconditionally praised. This followed his active liberation of the Jews from Babylon in 539BCE and his support as more than 40,000 Jews then chose to return to their homeland . Cyrus then funded the subsequent rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus was also eulogized by many other writers and his actual or legendary exploits were used as moral instruction or as a source of inspiration for political philosophies. For example, the Greek author and soldier Xenophon believed him to be the ideal ruler, and in the Cyropedia - often considered Xenophon's masterpiece - he offers a fictionalised biography of the great man. This is more \"a treatise on political virtue and social organisation\" than a history. It was influential in ancient times and then again in the Renaissance. It may have been composed in response to Plato's The Republic, and Plato's Laws seems to refer back to it. Scipio Africanus is said to have always carried a copy of the Cyropedia with him. [1] Later on, in the Renaissance, Spenser, in his The Faerie Queene (1596), says: \"For this cause is Xenophon preferred before Plato, for that the one, in the exquisite depth of his judgment, formed a Commune wealth, such as it should be; but the other in the person of Cyrus, and the Persians, fashioned a government, such as might best be: So much more profitable and gracious is doctrine by ensample, then by rule.\" [2] The English philosopher Sir Thomas Browne named his 1658 discourse The Garden of Cyrus after the benevolent ruler. This dense treatise of hermetic philosophy may be a Royalist criticism upon the autocratic rule of Cromwell. Cyrus' name and his doctrine is still cited and celebrated into modern times. On 12th October 1971 Iran marked the 2500th anniversary of Cyrus' founding of the Persian Empire . The then Shah of Iran, in his speech opening the celebrations, said: \"O Cyrus, great King, King of Kings, Achaemenian King, King of the land of Iran. I, the Shahanshah of Iran, offer thee salutations from myself and from my nation. Rest in peace, for we are awake, and we will always stay awake.\" In 1994, a replica of a bas relief depicting Cyrus the Great was erected in a park in Sydney, Australia . This monument is intended as a symbol for multiculturalism, and to express the coexistence and peaceful cohabitation of people from different cultures and backgrounds.\n By pursuing a policy of generosity, instead of repression, Cyrus demonstrated his Greatness. So successful were his policies of conquest, mercifulness and assimilation that the empire continued to thrive for some 200 years after his death. Cyrus' compassionate principles continue to resonate today: his religious and cultural tolerance and commitment to the liberation of enslaved peoples remain an aspiration in our troubled modern world.",
"History 200 midterm WD - History 200 with Moyer at ...\nStudy online flashcards and notes for History 200 midterm WD including 1200 BCE: ... King ruled during the late 6th century ... to war with Persia (Cyrus the ...\nHistory 200 midterm WD - History 200 with Moyer at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor - StudyBlue\nGood to have you back! If you've signed in to StudyBlue with Facebook in the past, please do that again.\nHistory 200 midterm WD\nthe beginning of the Dark Age, collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, late bronze age\n8th century BCE\nOrientalizing Period, emergence of Greece from the Dark Ages\nbasic religious structure\nEnd of Persian Wars - Xerxes returns to Persia\nAl Mina\n8th Century Trading with Greeks\nAmphictyony\nA greek group of neihbors\nAristagorus\nTyrant of Miletus in early 6th and late 5th century BC\nOrganized Ionian Revolt against Persians - Asks Spartans and Athenians for help\nArtaphrenes\nBrother of Darius of Persia\nSatrap of Lydia\nattacks island of Naxos in 499 BCE that starts Ionian Revolt\nDefeats the Ionians\nNavy battle during the Persian wars\nGreeks defeat Persians\nfought during the time of Thermopylae and one of the most important battles in Xerxes' second invasion\nAthens\nGreek city that dominated Attica\nHome of democracy\nCreated by Darius the Great in 490 BCE about his takeover of the throne\nDarius put down many rebellions during his rule to maintain his crown\nBoeotioa\na regional area on the Greek Peninsula, just north of the region of Attica\nCambyses\nPersian King ruled during the late 6th century\nson of Cyrus the Great\nConquered a few cities which added to the Persian Empire\nCleomenes\none of two kings in Sparta during the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE.\nHelps Hippias (tyrant of Athens who was expelled) try to retake Athens (fails) in 510 BCE\nIsagoras asks for help during Ionian Revolt but Cleomenes denies\nAdvertisement\nMarried into Athens nobility and overthrows Hippias with Isagorus.\nCompetes with Isagorus for political power and uses common people to gain this power\nWanted to rid instability that allowed tyrants to rise to pwer\nCleisthenes' reforms (Athens)\n10 class system (10 demes)\nincluded servants and merchants into political system\nCleisthenes (Sicyon)\nGreek Tyrant during the 6th Century\nCroesus\nKing of Lydia\noracle said if he goes to war with Persiia he will destroy a great empire, but goes to war with Persia (Cyrus the Great) and loses, destroyed his OWN empire and Persia takes over his place\nCylon\nAn Athenian Olympic Victor whose unsuccessful bid for tyranny in 632 BCE led to the execution of his followers. Cylon's failure despite his aristocratic connections and popularity indicates that Athens lacked the economic structure for the establishment of a Tyranny\nCypselids\ntyrant of Corinth. Tyrant at birth\nCorinthians rose up and killed him\nCyrene\nA greek colony founded in 7th century by Battus\nCyrus\ncambyses took over after Cyrus\nDarius\nPersian King after Cambyses (horse contest)\nsettles many revolts, creates Behistun Inscription\nPlanned many different attacks and invasions to make Persian Empire bigger\nThe Dark Age\nGreek History from 1200 BCE to 800 BCE\nafter the fall of Mycenaean civilization - population declined and there is very little archaeological evidence during this time\nDelphi\nLower central Greece\nsite of an ancient temple of oracles - drugged women told prophecies and priests would interpret - big role in political and religous issues in Greece\nDemeratus\nKing Of Sparta with Cleomenes but exiled from Sparta\nAdvises Xerxes about how strong Spartans are and warns Xerxes that conquering all of Greece will be difficult\nDorians\nOne of the four major greek ethnos\nDorian Invasion was a possible reason for greek migration into Mediterranean\nDraco\nAthenian who created the Athenian Constitution in 620 BCE\nreplaced old type of crimes with a court system and stricter punishments\nEphor\ngovernmental position in the Spartan government, 5 elected per year and had supreme control to punish anyone including the kings of Sparta\nhelot\nhereditary subjects of the Spartan state, who were tied to the land, assigned to particular Spartiates and required to provide much of the produce of their agricultural labor to their particular Spartiate master\n\"serf class in spartan control\"\nHerodotus\nA greek Author who wrote The Histories.\ntraveled around the meditterreanean world and learned about different people and places. An early ethnographer. Herodotus, along with many other historians, had to rely on legends and geneaologies that could not be verified or accurately dated\nHistoria\ngreek word that means not only to investigate or to obtain, but also to share the fruits of those investigations with the world\nHippias\nSon of Peisistratus of Athens\nbecomes tyrant in the 6th century but was expelled from athens later\nfled to Persia and helped the Persians in the Battle of Marathon (who wanted to reinstate him as tyrant)\nHomer\nancient greek poet who wrote The iliad and the Odyssey.\nstories came from oral tradition\nHoplite\ntype of Greek soldier, fought with spears and large shields, protected one another in a phalynx\nIndo-European\nThe Proto-Indo-European language is an ancient language based from many early languages across the medittereanean\nIonian Revolt\nRebellion of the Ionians against the Persian Empire in early 5th Century BCE, organized by Aristagoras who recruited Athenian support\nIonians sacked Lydian capital then were defeated\nresistance died out and the Persians stopped the rebellion - Revolt not by the people by by the tyrants of Ionia. why did they revolt?\nLate Bronze Age\nMycenaen civilization did not emerge on the greek mainland til this point.\nTrade and diplomatic contacts developed\nFall of this age caused by interconnected factors\n- earthquake, food scarcity or climatic conditions rather than just military conflicts\nLaurium\nIn an attempt to unify Greece during the war against Aegina in the early 5th Century, Themistocles made the idea of creating 200 hundred ships for the war effort with the wealth that Laurium had from mines\nThese resources and ships proved salvation and also was a step in unifying Greece\nLefkandi\nDuring the Dark Age there was a loss of writing and other declinations during this time except the Lefkandi (i.e. cemetaries gave some evidence)\nLeonidas\nKing Of Sparta was highly respected and a warrior during the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. He believed in freedom over all things and died nobly during battle. Leonidas (along with his other warriors) at the battle of Thermop arguably saved all of Greece from Xerxes' Persian Campaign\nLinear A\nan undeciphered script and with this we are still unsure of some history that occured in the MInoan Civilization as Early as 2000 BCE. This system of writing also led to Linear B\nLinear B\nMichael Ventris deciphered this script that was used to write an early form of Greek\nLycurgus\nLife of Lykourgos was a right of passage for young Spartiates. They would be sent on their own with only a dagger and other basic provisions and by day they would rest and at night they would try and kill any helot they caught\nMarathon\nBattle of Marathon required Athenians to request Spartan assistance, yet the Spartans did not feel that help was needed immediately thus the Athenians marched to Marathon with little help from Sparta. Militades convinced the war archon to vote for immediate war and defeated the Persian Forces\nMardonius\nAfter the battle of Salamis, Xerxes’ Greek advisor Mardonius was left during a hiatus in the war and Mardonius, an ex-Spartan, tried to detach the Athenians from the Greeks and offer an alliance with the Athenians. The Athenians refused because of religious obligations and a shared Greek heritage.\nMedes\nneighbors of persians. used in persian empire.\nMessenia\ngreek area in peloppeneese\nMilitades\nIn late 6th century BCE, Militades was tyrant of Athenian state but became an ally with Darius which led to bad relations to Athens. When fleeing his country due to Persian Invasion, Athenians responded with hostiliyy and sentenced him to death, but during the Battle of Marathon, he escaped death by helping with his military tactics and fighting against the Persians\nMinoans\nancient bronze age. trade contacts with greece\nMycale\nthe battle of Mycale in the 5th Century BCE resulted in the Ionians preparing to revolt from Persian Rule and because of this, Greeks went to Samos to attack Persians to distract them from this certain revolt. Athenians then succeeded in unifying Greece further when they formed an alliance with the Aegean Islands\nMycenaean Civilization\nMycenaean civilization did not emerge on the greek mainland until the Late Bronze Age. Agamemnon was king during the late 16th Century BCE\nOlympia\nSacred Site for major competitive festivals (zeus)\nPausanias\nSpartan leader that was sent to Isthmus to protect this city and met Mardonius' Persians in Platea during 479 BCE. He was successful in winning this battle against the Persians\nPerioeci\nPeople nearest to Sparta became these (those who dwell around Sparta). They were of free status (not slaves) and they had some local political self governing. They had to serve in spartan armies but they were not permitted to participate in spartan government\nPersepolis\nimportant and incredibly large city for the persian empire. Under Darius' regime, all parts of the empire were brought to this city. also this city displayed the flow of tribute from all parts of the empire\nPersian Wars\nPersian Empire\nMany powerful tyrants dictated the fate of the Persian Empire from Cyrus in 560 BCE to Xerxes end in 480 BCE. These tyrants tried to expand the Persian Empire into further countries, some failing and some succeeding, but under Xerxes and his attempt to capture Greece, the failure was enough to end a reign of Empirical Power.\nPhoenicians\nThey were not a single political unit, rather a series of self-governing city states. During the Late Bronze Age and the absence of Empires, the Phoenicians were able to extend their territories and access to material resources\nPisistratus\nHe repeated many attempts for tyranny through the help of Theseus. He was a tyrant in Athens in the mid 6th Century BCE and tried his best to help the lower classes by giving away land from the rich or upper class\nPithecusae",
"Ancient Districts of Anatolia and Asia Minor\nDistricts of Anatolia and Asia Minor in ... the Lycians were defeated by the Persians under King Cyrus the ... In the 6th century BCE Croesus, king of Lydia, ...\nAncient Districts of Anatolia and Asia Minor\nThrace ;\nLater the name was used for the greater part of the eastern Balkan Peninsula, bounded on the north by the Danube River, on the east by the Euxine (Black Sea), on the south by the Propontis (Sea of Marmara), the Bosporus, the Hellespont (Dardanelles), the Aegean Sea, and Macedonia, and on the west by Macedonia, Paionia, and Dardania. Ancient Thrace was largely uncultivated and covered with forest; mineral deposits, particularly of gold, made the region a coveted possession. The Thracians were a barbaric, warlike people who established their own kingdom in the 5th century BCE. Thrace became successively a Macedonian, Roman, and Byzantine province. \nThe region of Thrace, in the broad sense, covers the area roughly from Pontus Euxinus ( Black Sea), Bosporos Thracios ( Bosphorus Strait ), on the east, to the river Aksios ( modern Vardar ) on the west, and from the river Istros ( modern Danube ) on the north, to Aigaois Pontus ( Aegean Sea ), Hellespont ( Dardanelles ), Propontis ( Sea of Marmara ) on the south. Although the borders of Thrace are generally accepted as outlined above, these may have changed from time to time. Ancient geographer, Strabo explains in his book Geography, \nBithynia ;\nA mountainous region, with heavy forests and fertile valleys, Bithynia acquired its name from the Bithyni, a tribe that had emigrated from Thrace. The country was conquered by Croesus, king of Lydia, in 560 BCE and, after the subjugation of Lydia by the Persians four years later, it became a dominion of Persia. In 334 BCE Alexander the Great occupied Bithynia. After his death in 323 BCE, the country was nominally ruled for a period by Antigonus I, one of the Macedonian generals who partitioned Alexander's empire. About 316 BCE Antigonus founded Nicaea (now Iznik), later a chief city of Bithynia.\nLed by a native prince, Ziboetes, the Bithynians regained their independence early in the 3rd century BCE.\nThe first dynasty of Bithynian kings was established by Ziboetes's son Nicomedes I (reigned 278-250 BCE), who founded Nicomedia (now Izmit) in 264 BCE and made it his capital. Bithynia flourished under the succeeding kings of the dynasty, notably Prusias I (reigned 237-192 BCE); Prusias II (r. 192-148 BCE), who founded Prusa (now Bursa); Nicomedes II (r. 142-91 BCE); and Nicomedes III (r. 91-74 BCE). In 74 BCE Nicomedes III, a close ally of the Romans, bequeathed the kingdom to Rome. It was then united with the Roman province of Pontus for administrative purposes. Later, under Byzantine rule, the territory of Bithynia was restricted to an area west of the Sangarius River (now Sakarya River). It formed a province in the Diocese of Pontus. In CE 1298 Bithynia was overrun by the Seljuk Turks under Osman, and thereafter the region formed an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. Bithynia is now part of Turkey. \nMysia ;\nThe Mysians seem to have been Thracians who crossed over to Asia at an early period. Mysia was subject to Lydia and later, under Persian rule, formed with Lydia one of the satrapies created by Darius I. After the death of Alexander the Great, the country shared in the vicissitudes of Asia Minor during the wars among his successors. Mysia became important in the 3rd century BCE as the center of the kingdom of Pergamum, a Hellenistic state that controlled much of western Asia Minor. In 130 BCE, Pergamum came under Roman rule, and Mysia became part of the Roman province of Asia.\nIonia ;\nThe region received its name from the Ionians, Greeks who emigrated from the mainland of Greece probably before 1000 BCE. The area is mountainous and includes three fertile valleys, watered by the rivers Gediz, Ergene, and Menderes. Ionia was extremely prosperous in ancient times because of a flourishing agriculture and commerce. In the 7th and 6th centuries BCE Ionia made important contributions to Greek art and literature, and particularly to philosophy. Great cities grew up, of which Ephesus, Clazomenae, Erythrae, Colophon, and Miletus were the most celebrated. Several cities, such as Miletus and Phocaea, became important commercial centers and sent out colonies westward as far as present-day Spain and northward to the Black Sea. Common interests led the 12 Ionian cities to form a confederacy, within which each city remained autonomous. Smyrna (now Izmir) was originally settled by the Aeolian Greeks, but was later occupied by colonists from Colophon and became an Ionian city. In the 7th and 6th centuries BCE the cities of Ionia were involved in a series of wars with the kings of Lydia, to whom Ionia yielded a nominal submission. Ionia exercised a powerful influence on Lydian culture, its own culture being influenced in turn by Lydia. In 546 BCE the Ionians came under the sway of Persia, but revolted from Persian rule in 500 BCE, assisted by the Greek cities of Athens and Eretria. The revolt was put down, but the participation of Athens and Eretria gave the Persians a pretext for declaring war on Greece. With the defeat of Persia by the Greeks in 479 BCE, the Ionian cities became nominally free, but in reality they were dependent on Athens. Around 334 BCE Alexander the Great annexed the cities to his Greco-Macedonian empire. Subsequently, Ionia was incorporated into the Roman and Byzantine empires.\nLydia ;\nThe country was known to Homer under the name Maeonia. It was celebrated for fertile soil, rich deposits of gold and silver, and a magnificent capital, Sardis. Lydia became most powerful under the dynasty of the Mermnadae, beginning about 685 BCE. In the 6th century BCE Lydian conquests transformed the kingdom into an empire. Under the rule of King Croesus, Lydia attained its greatest splendor. The empire came to an end, however, when the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great captured Sardis about 546 BCE and incorporated Lydia into the Persian Empire. After the defeat of Persia by Alexander III, king of Macedonia, Lydia was brought under Greco-Macedonian control. In 133 BCE it became part of the Roman province of Asia. The Lydians are said to have been the first people to coin money.\nCaria ;\nThe Taurus Mountains extend into the interior region, and the irregular coastline has numerous deep inlets. The islands of Rhodes and Kos lie off the coast. Ancient Greek and Roman historians recorded that the original inhabitants of this region were pushed inland by an influx of people called Carians. The Carians, who were notable as mercenary soldiers, had been driven from their native islands in the Aegean Sea by invading Greeks. The Greeks also established colonies along the coast of Caria, notably Cnidus and Halicarnassus. In the 6th century BCE, Caria was incorporated into the kingdom of Lydia; subsequently, it became a Persian dominion, ruled by Carian kings who were subject to Cyrus the Great. Mausolus was the best known of these monarchs; his widow built the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In the 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great seized Caria. After his rule, the country became a part first of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria and later of the kingdom of Pergamum; in the 2nd century BCE, Pergamum was turned into the Roman province of Asia.\nLycia ;\nThe terrain of Lycia was mountainous, and the hills and valleys were fertile. The country was originally called Milyas and inhabited by the Solymi and the Termilae, who were subjugated by the invading Lycians. The Lycians and the Greeks first came into contact before the Trojan War, and the remains of Lycian tombs, temples, and theaters show a marked Greek influence. Lycia and Cilicia were the only two countries of Asia Minor that were not conquered in the 6th century BCE by Croesus, king of Lydia. In the same century, however, the Lycians were defeated by the Persians under King Cyrus the Great despite heroic resistance. Under the Persians, Lycia remained prosperous and virtually autonomous. Along with the rest of Asia Minor, Lycia was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia in the 4th century BCE and incorporated into the Greco-Macedonian Empire. In 189 BCE the Lycians were vanquished by the Romans, under whom they continued to enjoy prosperity and relative freedom. In the 4th century CE Lycia became a Roman province.\nPamphylia ;\nThe inhabitants, a mixed race of aborigines, Cilicians, and Greek colonists, spoke a language that was probably Greek in origin but that was changed through the addition of barbaric elements. Persian domination was followed by the area's conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. After his death the country was ruled by the Seleucid dynasty. Later a part of the kingdom of Pergamum, it was bequeathed to the Romans with the rest of the kingdom by Attalus III in 133 BCE.\nCilicia ;\nThe western part of Cilicia (Cilicia Trachia) is mountainous and forested; much of the eastern part (Cilicia Pedias) consists of fertile plains. The principal rivers were the Cydnus (now Tarsus), the Adana (now Seyhan), and the Jihun (now Ceyhan); the principal cities were Tarsus, Seleucia (now Silifke), and Issus, which was prosperous during the Roman Empire. From the 6th to the 4th century BCE, when most of Asia Minor was under the control of the Persian Achaemenids, Cilicia was an independent kingdom paying tribute to Persia or part of a Persian satrapy. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, during the Hellenistic period, from the 4th to the 2nd century BCE, most of Cilicia was part of the Seleucid Empire. Eastern Cilicia was conquered by the Romans in 103 BCE, and all of Cilicia became a Roman province about 67 BCE. Under the Romans, the region was noted for the export of so-called cilicium, cloth made of goat hair, valued for the manufacture of tents. In the 1st century CE the apostle Paul lived in the city of Tarsus. The province was later included in the Byzantine Empire until it was captured in the 8th century by Arabs.\nCappadocia ;\nAs early as 1900 BCE, merchants from Assyria established a colony in Cappadocia. From about 1750 BCE to the formation of the Persian Empire of the Achaemenid dynasty in the 7th century BCE, this region was the center of power of the Hittites. Later, the Persians controlled the area and divided it into two satrapies, or provinces. The northern province became known as Cappadocia near the Pontus, or merely Pontus; the southern area retained the name Cappadocia, by which it was known in classical times. After the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great early in the 4th century BCE, Cappadocia became independent. The first king of the Cappadocian dynasty, Ariarathes I (reigned 330-322 BCE), paid tribute to Alexander, but Alexander's successors were unable to conquer the country. Later, the kings of Cappadocia sided with Rome, then a rising power, against the Seleucids and against Pontus. Cappadocia changed sides often in its support of the various factions during the Roman civil wars of the 1st century BCE. The independence of the country ended when the Romans supplanted the Cappadocian dynasty with a puppet king about 40 BCE. In CE 17 the Roman emperor Tiberius made Cappadocia a province of the Roman Empire. Thereafter, the importance of Cappadocia as a separate political unit declined. Among the important towns of Cappadocia were the capital of the kingdom, Mazaca (now Kayseri), known in Roman times as Caesarea Mazaca; Tyana; and Melitene (now Malatya). The modern town of Bogazkoy is on the site of the Cappadocian town of Pteria, which was built on the site of the city of Hattushash, capital of the Hittite Empire.\nPhrygia ;\nEarly in the 1st millennium BCE it is believed to have comprised the greater part of the Anatolian Peninsula, but at the time of the Persian invasion in the 6th century BCE it was limited to the districts known as Lesser Phrygia and Greater Phrygia. Lesser Phrygia stretched west along the shores of the Sea of Marmara and the Hellespont to Troas, a region afterward part of Mysia. Greater Phrygia lay farther east and inland, where the Phrygian capital, Gordion (near present-day Ankara), was located. In the 3rd century BCE the Gauls occupied the northern part of Greater Phrygia. For purposes of provincial administration the Romans divided Phrygia into two parts, attaching the northeastern part to Galatia Province and the western portion to Asia Province. \nGreater Phrygia was in general a high and barren plateau; the most fertile region was the valley of the Sangarius. Grapes were cultivated extensively, and Phrygian marble, celebrated in antiquity, was quarried. The religion of the Phrygians was an ecstatic nature worship, in which the Great Mother of the Gods, Rhea, or Cybele, and a male deity, Sabazius, played a prominent part. The orgiastic rites of this religion influenced both the Greeks and the Romans.\nThe Phrygians are believed to have been an Indo-European people who entered Asia Minor from Thrace about 1200 BCE and seized control of the whole central tableland. Records exist of numerous kings, bearing alternately the names of Gordius and Midas, but their power was apparently broken by the invasions of the Cimmerians in the 7th century BCE. In the 6th century BCE Croesus, king of Lydia, conquered all that was left of Phrygia, which passed successively under the rule of Persia, Macedonia, Pergamum, and Rome.\nThe Phrygian cap, a cloth head-covering worn by the Phrygians, was adopted by freed slaves in Roman times, and thus this cap became a symbol of liberty.\nGalatia ;\nAncient region of Anatolia, named for the Galatians, a Gallic people from Europe who settled here in the early 3rd century BCE. The region lies in the basins of the present-day Kizil Irmak and Delice Irmak (rivers), on the great central plateau of Turkey. Galatia possesses some expanses of fertile soil, but most of the land is suitable only for pasturing the large flocks of sheep and goats raised here. In addition to the Gauls, many Greeks settled in the region, and it eventually became Hellenized; the inhabitants, therefore, were often referred to as Gallo-Graeci. Dominated by Rome through regional rulers from 189 BCE, Galatia and adjacent regions became a Roman province in 25 BCE. It was conquered by the Seljuks in the 11th century CE. Paul the Apostle visited Galatia and addressed his Epistle to the Galatians to several churches here.\nPaphlagonia ;\nThe mountainous area between Bithynia and Pontus on the Black Sea coast, bordered by the ancient Halys river to the east. The name Paphlagonia probably derives from ancient Luwian or Pala language and its original spelling might have been Pauwa-Lacawana. The peoples of this area were called Paphlagonians by the Greeks and mentioned by Homer in his \" Iliad \" as being on the side of Trojans. Paphlagonians were one of the earliest peoples who lived in Anatolia in 1st millennium BCE. Paphlagonia was heavily colonized by the Greeks and they built number of cities along its coast. Although any local kingdom has never been established here, it was the area, during the Hittite period that the Hittite kings had to deal with its peoples. It was not a political unit and was annexed and occupied by the kings of Bithynia and Pontus respectively. It was won (63 BCE) by the Romans. \nPontus ;\nThe name Pontus does not occur in records before the 4th century BCE and did not come into common use until after the time of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Before Alexander's conquest of Persia in 330 BCE, Pontus was governed by a satrap for the Persian Empire. The foundation of the powerful kingdom of Pontus was laid by Mithradates I Ctistes (died about 301 BCE). His son, Mithradates II (died about 265 BCE), gained control of Paphlagonia and northern Cappadocia. The most important king of Pontus was Mithradates VI. On his overthrow in 66 BCE by the Roman general Pompey the Great, the kingdom was divided, the western portion being joined to the province of Bithynia in a Roman province known as Pontus and Bithynia and the eastern region being assigned to native princes. The eastern territory was constituted a Roman province in 62 CE and at first was joined to Galatia, but in the 4th century CE, under the Roman emperor Constantine I, it became a separate province with the name Pontus Polemoniacus.\n \nAeolis\nancient region of the west coast of Asia Minor (in present-day Turkey). Aeolis was not a geographic term but a collective term for the cities founded there by the Aeolians, a branch of the Hellenic peoples. The 12 southern cities were grouped in the Aeolian League; these were Temnos, Smyrna, Pitane, Neonteichos, Aegirusa, Notium, Cilla or Killa, Cyme, Gryneum, Larissa, Myrina, and Aegae.\nPisidia\nancient country of S Asia Minor, S of Phrygia and N of Pamphylia. It was a mountainous country, traversed by the Taurus range. Its warlike tribes maintained their independence until the country was incorporated into a Roman province in the early 1st cent. BCE.\nLycaonia\nancient country of S Asia Minor (now in Turkey), between Galatia and Cilicia on the north and south and Phrygia and Cappadocia on the west and east. Passing successively to the Persians, Syrians, and Romans, it was divided by the Romans between Galatia and Cappadocia. It was visited by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14.6). Its chief city was Iconium.",
"Example Essays: Cyrus The Great\n... it is certainly before 6th century BCE, when Cyrus the Great was ... of the war between the Greek states and Persia. ... Cyrus, the king of Persia, ...\nExample Essays: Cyrus The Great\n1. Appeal to the great spirit\n\"Appeal to the great spiritaE was sculpted by Cyrus Edwin Dallin. ... Appeal to the great spirit was first displayed at the national sculptors society exhibit in Baltimore in 1908. ... This sculpture could also show a Muslim, Christian, or Jewish man praying to their own \"great spiritaE.At first glance you might think this sculpture was just of a Native American man on his horse as a symbol of power, as I did. ... Dallin might of used the Native American man because he felt they represented desperation in a more pure form as they were driven out of their homeland by Europeans.In co...\nWord Count: 407\n2. Influences of the Persian Empire\n(Curtis, 18) The beginning of the Persian Empire is accredited to the wise guidance of a man known as Cyrus the Great. ... In the year 550 Cyrus the Great took power over the land of Media. ... He added greatness to things that Cyrus had achieved. ... Researchers often disagree on the exact dates when Zoroaster existed, it is certainly before 6th century BCE, when Cyrus the Great was in power. ... The Jewish community of the Persian Empire best notably aided from this; Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to homeland and reconstruct their temple. ...\nWord Count: 2056\n4. Jacksonians - Common Man\nAs shown in the elements of politics, the economic development, and many others, the period lived up to its characterization a great deal.Through the element of politics, it was shown that the common man was on the rise. ... In the 1830's, Cyrus McCormick contributed the a very important contraption, a mechanical mower-reaper. ...\nWord Count: 625\n5. What makes the Bible so special?\nAn example of this would be the prophecy of king Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28;45:1) The Prophet Isaiah, writing at around 700 B.C., predicts Cyrus (by name) as the king who will say to Jerusalem that their city will be built and the foundation of the temple will be laid. ... Not long after that, a Persian named Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. ... (Walvord and Zuck 1098) This means Isaiah predicted that a man named Cyrus, who wouldn\"t even be born for about one hundred year, would give a decree to rebuild a temple that was still standing in his own time, which wouldn\"t be des...\nWord Count: 911\n6. Medo Persian Empire\nA prophet named Isaiah had already prophesied about Cyrus. The bible tells us that Isaiah prophesied about Cyrus and called him by name some two hundred years before Cyrus was born (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). ... The first of the world\"s great imperial organizations, the Persian Empire was Beneficent and humane compared with the Assyrian Empire due to its sincerity towards the Jews. ... The six prophecies were as follows: First, Cyrus the Great whom, \"Isaiah called by name some two hundred years before his birthaE (e.g. ... The legacy before Cyrus was far more than anyone could dream. ...\nWord Count: 1634\n7. Discovery: Cross-Country Running\nKnowing that our team was in a state of great doubt and low spirits, my friend, Jailene, tried her best to snap us out of it. ... We listened to a song she put on, called \"The Climb\" by Miley Cyrus, and cheesy as it may be, it really worked. ... When I complete the end of cross-country, it feels me with great sadness. ... Thanks for allowing me to discover and live a great experience. ...\nWord Count: 723\n8. The Zhou and Persian Empires\nThe civilization was established by Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the great conquered all of south west Asia and overthrew the Median confederation. ... Cyrus the great was responsible for making Persia a prestige dynasty. Also Cyrus the Great was responsible for the ancient scripts people would speak. ... This would help Cyrus the great win great support of the Babylonians. ...\nWord Count: 2308\nWhen Cyrus of Persia usurped the throne of Ionia around 547 BC, he favored a rule of tyrants for the Ionians. ... However, Thermistocles, an Athenian statesman, knew that the \"wooden wallaE referred to the great Athenian navy. ...\nWord Count: 655\n10. Modernization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America\nCyrus Veesers idea in Great Leaps Forward: Modernization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America is to simply explain how less-developed nations across the planet tried to catch up to \"the Wests rise to power. ... Europe's latest technology really sparked an interest with Menelik such as their telephones, phonographs, projectors, and cars, he wanted to learn everything about the latest technology and that curiosity is what made him a great leader. ...\nWord Count: 2216\n11. The Persians\nThe Persians were one of the last great ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. ... This was due to Cyrus, who developed a strong army in 540 BC, and his son Cambyses who brought all of the middle east under Persia\"s control. Cyrus and Cambyses were great conquerors, but the best organizer among the kings was Darius I, who ruled from 522 BC to 486 BC. ... Zoroaster\"s religion beliefs may have lead the way and helped shape Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.The Persian empire greatly influenced other cultures, such as the Greek, but was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 300\"s BC. ...\nWord Count: 294\n12. Iran and Gulf conflict\nBackground of IranHistory highlights of Iran *Iran was called Persia before 1935. The Aryans, who began an earlier agricultural civilization, came from the upper part of Iran during the second millennium BC. They were an Indo-European group related to the Aryans of India.*In 549 BC Cyrus the Great...\nWord Count: 2645\n13. Sociology Paper - Inequality\nAnother picture was one of the music sensation Miley Cyrus, and was meme of her dancing in one of her music videos, with a part of the song being captioned under it. ... The majority of people were black men and woman, but there were two pictures of white men and woman.Analysis of PicturesIt can be shown through the pictures found on google there is a great inequality that black people are associated with in society. ... Another example is a picture that of Miley Cyrus, she is a well-known white female celebrity in the music industry. ...\nWord Count: 1377\n14. Herodotus\nThese customs to Herodotus are the ones he considers to be most admirable (1.57).Herodotus also gives the accounts of the great Persian kings Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes. ... Croesus, remembering Solon\"s words started to mumble his name, which intrigued Cyrus and so Cyrus asked who Solon was. ... Because of this story and the fact that Croesus suggested that the Persians should give one tenth of their looting to the king to be offered to the gods, Cyrus came to a decision that Croesus was a great king and that instead of killing him, he would make him his advisor. Later on, Cyrus took Croesus\" su...\nWord Count: 1569\n15. Definition Of An Empire\nCyrus The Great forcefully spread the reaches of his empire using military force. Up until Cyrus, no culture or individual had ever really thought this one up. ... Cyrus had conquered all of Persia and defeated the Medes for control of the region. ... Alexander the Great set out to conquer the Persians in his own punitive expedition. ... The last great monarch of Assyria was Ashurbanipal. ...\nWord Count: 731\n16. Herodotus: Historian or Storyteller?\nHerodotus wrote the Histories so \"...that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvelous deeds- some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians-may not be without glory\" (¶ 1.1). ... The dramatic scene immediately following the Persian capture of Sardis demonstrates a positive view, from Herodotus, on the Persian king Cyrus, wherein Cyrus shows compassion to Croesus, and decides not to have him executed (¶1.86-90). However, while this is demonstrative of Herodotus fulfilling his pledge to record the great deeds of non-Greeks, and exemplifying his role as an histor...\nWord Count: 2143\n17. women in herodotus\nKing Cyrus of the Medes asked to marry her, but wanted only the lands she controlled. ... Cyrus began to build a bridge to cross the river separating the empires in order to make for an easier attack. ... Rule your own people, and try to bear the sight of me ruling mine.aE (1.206) Cyrus decided to continue building the bridge and attack. The first battle was won by Cyrus\" army, and captured was the queen\"s son. After her son was killed, the queen swore, \"...to give you (Cyrus) more blood than you can drink, for all your gluttony.aE (1.212) Tomyris\" army won a very bloody battle, an...\nWord Count: 1817\n18. Fictional Ancient Greek Newspaper Article\nThe Great Battle of Thermopylae had just ended, with Xerxes' Persian army taking out the last 300 Spartans. ... A Persian attack on Athens is expected, as Xerxes will most likely try to fulfill the wish of Cyrus, his father: to end the reign of Athens.Last week our colleague, Isidoros Kosmas, was able to chat with one of the Athenian soldiers who fought at Thermopylae, Nicolaus Philon. ...\nWord Count: 613\n19. The Haymarket Riot of 1886\nCyrus McCormick owned the company and was a kind gentleman that knew all 43 of his employees by name. The factory grew over time but Cyrus still managed to know all his employees. ... After Cyrus McCormick's death in 1884 corporations took over the plant. ... \"The A.F of L. served as the preeminent national labor organization until the Great Depression when unskilled workers finally came together.\" ... In 1871 Chicago had, \"The Great Fire\". ...\nWord Count: 1715\n20. West asia\nBut more importantly, studying the prehistory and history of this region sheds light to the origins of both man and his great achievements.CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE REPORT In general, the report has two major contributions as far as my being a student and my being a follower of Christianity are concerned. On the one hand, it has increased my academic understanding of West Asia aE\"its history and its civilization\"s great achievements. ... Back to the topic, the report has definitely widen my vocabulary in so far as notions of West Asian nature are concerned; it has revived my memory on some topics l...\nWord Count: 586\n21. Daniel Study- Bible\nIt also is a great of example of the wisdom that God gives us access to and how Daniel used it in a way pleasing to the Lord.Chapter 312 Kings 24-25Jehoiakim, reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. ... Cyrus, the king of Persia, was moved by the Lord and declared that a new temple would be built in Jerusalem and the captive peoples are free to return.NebuchadnezzarHe was a Chaldean. ... Exiles that were once capture and taken to Babylon were returned to their native land by Cyrus king of Persia. ...\nWord Count: 1293\n22. Tacitus And Nero\nThus he is comparable to Cyrus or Agesilaus and similar figures. ... Several of the Socratic conversations he records are on subjects we know Xenophon was specially interested in, and the views he offers in them are just those he elsewhere expresses in his own name or through the mouth of Cyrus in the Cyropadia. ... \"His Apology and Symposium are similarly disregarded as sources of information on Socrates.aE An exception is made however, in Xenophons memorabilia, which serves to show Socrates as far from an irreligious man, and and that, so far from corrupting the young, he did them a g...\nWord Count: 1375\n24. Afghanistan-The Crossroads of History\nCyrus the Great of Persia conquered a wide sweep of territory from Asia Minor to India including what is today Afghanistan and other countries. ... By 330 B.C., the mighty conqueror, Alexander the Great, conquered much of the Persian Empire and present-day Afghanistan. ... There, Romans confronted the Hellenistic rulers who had divided up the empire of Alexander the Great. ...\nWord Count: 859\n25. The American Industrial Revolution\nAnother machine of the industrial revolution was the Mechanical Reaper which was invented by Cyrus McCormick in 1834 (Bland, 20). ... The fisherman became terrified and rowed homewards, and they saw nothing but destruction devastating their fishing grounds, while the wreathes of black vapor produced great excitement among the boatmen. ...\nWord Count: 725",
"FC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE) - Flow of History\nIt is here that we encounter the founder of the Persian Empire. Cyrus the Great ... king of Lydia in ... and waged war on each other, which only added to Persia's ...\nFC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE) - The Flow of History\nThe Flow of History\nA Dynamic and Graphic Approach to Teaching History\nPrimary Links\nFC15: The Persian Empire (c.550-330 BCE)\nFlowchart\nFC15 in the Hyperflow of History .\nIntroduction\nFew people today can boast a longer and prouder history than the Iranians, descendants of the ancient Persians. Not only did they build the greatest empire of the ancient Near East, but they also absorbed the ancient civilizations they ruled, in particular that of Mesopotamia. They then added their own distinctive touches and passed them on to Islamic civilization, still one of the main cultural traditions of modern times. Therefore, this remarkable people who have survived and flourished from antiquity to the present have been a major connecting link with our past.\nWe first encounter the Persians around 2000 B.C.E. emerging from the grassy steppes of Central Asia in the north. At that point, they were closely associated with two other peoples: the Medes and Aryans. The latter of these turned eastward, crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains, and overthrew the Indus River civilization. Eventually these nomads would settle down and build Indian civilization upon the foundations laid by the Indus culture. Meanwhile the Persians and Medes were turning westward where they encountered the Elamites, a people whose extended contact with Mesopotamia had influenced them to absorb the culture of the \"Cradle of Civilization\".\nThe Medes and Persians in turn started absorbing Elamite culture. One need only look at the relief sculptures of the Persians, with their curly beards and stiff formal poses, to see the connection with Mesopotamia. However, the process of becoming civilized was a long one for these people, since they were still on the northeastern fringes of the older Near Eastern cultures. When they emerge fully into the light of history in the pages of the Greek historian Herodotus, they are still very nomadic in their customs and values. According to Herodotus, the nomadic Persians had only three simple goals in educating their sons: \"to ride a horse, to draw a bow, and to speak the truth.\" What more did nomads need? The Medes were actually the first of these nomadic peoples to establish an empire when they joined forces with Babylon to overthrow the Assyrian Empire in 6l2 B.C.E. In the aftermath, Babylon took the richer civilized lands of the Fertile Crescent, while the Medes took the more extensive but wilder lands to the north. Among their subjects were their compatriots, the Persians. It is here that we encounter the founder of the Persian Empire.\nCyrus the Great and the Rise of Persia (c.550-522 B.C.E.)\nHerodotus gives us a detailed and somewhat fanciful account of Cyrus the Great's rise to power. As in the stories of so many great men and legendary figures in history, from Sargon of Kish and Moses to Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, Cyrus barely survived infancy due to a royal death sentence from a king nervous about the child's destiny. In each story, someone saves the baby, who grows up and comes back to overthrow the king who tried to do him in. What does seem clear is that Cyrus led the Persians in revolt against the Medes and overthrew them around 550 B.C.E.\nAlthough the Medes' old neighbors were certainly glad to see the powerful Median state overthrown, they soon found their new neighbor, Persia, was an even more dangerous foe. Cyrus first turned westward against Croesus, king of Lydia in Asia Minor, a land renown for its wealth, as seen in the old saying \"rich as Croesus\" to denote how wealthy someone is. In order to deal with the tough Lydian cavalry, Cyrus placed camels in front of his lines. The Lydian horses, unused to the camels' strange smell, panicked and bolted, giving Cyrus the victory and Lydia. Cyrus next turned south against Babylon, whose empire was seething with revolt. Herodotus claims that Cyrus had his troops divert the course of the Euphrates so they could march into the city's unguarded river gates. However true that may be, Babylon's empire collapsed like a house of cards, leaving Cyrus the master of a huge empire. Still, he pressed onward, this time into the vast and wild expanses of Central Asia. His intentions here were probably defensive, to protect the frontiers of civilization from the swarms of nomadic horsemen to the northeast. It was here in 530 B.C.E. that Cyrus died in battle against a tribe known as the Massagetae. In his twenty-nine year reign, he had built the largest empire in history up to that time.\nCyrus' son and successor, Cambyses (530-522 B.C.E.), is mainly remembered for his conquest of Egypt in 525 B.C.E. His attempts to conquer the Nile further south and the desert oases of the Sahara met with less success. Supposedly, one of Cambyses' armies was swallowed up by a desert sandstorm. Cambyses was especially unpopular with the Egyptians, who claimed he committed various atrocities, including the slaying of the sacred bull of Apis. Since our main source for his life is Herodotus, who relied heavily on Egyptian sources for his book, we have a picture of Cambyses as a drunken lunatic,. Cambyses died in 522 B.C.E on his way to Babylon to crush a revolt led by his cousin, Darius, who then succeeded him as the next Great King of Persia.\nDarius I \"the Great\" and the consolidation of the Persian Empire\nAlthough Cyrus had founded the Persian Empire, Darius I (522-486 B.C.E.) gave it the internal organization and structure that allowed it to last for 200 years. His accomplishment is all the more impressive when we consider the empire's enormous size, the scale of which no one had ever dealt with before. Darius dealt especially with three areas: organization of the empire's provinces, keeping the provincial governors under control, and maintaining communications with his far flung empire.\nOrganizing the provincial government presented two options. Darius could either create small provinces with governors too weak to rebel, but also too weak to defend their provinces against invasion. Or he could create large provinces able to defend themselves, but also more capable of defying his authority. He created about twenty large provinces, called satrapies. These ensured that he would not have to race from one end of his empire to the other defending it against every little tribe that decided to attack. Each such campaign might involve years of preparation, marching and fighting. Meanwhile, other frontiers would be vulnerable to attack, involving more years of campaigning and leaving the king with little time for other duties.\nSince larger provinces gave the governors, known as satraps, a lot of power, Darius took several precautions to keep his satraps from rebelling. For one thing, he had the provincial treasury officials, secretaries, and garrisons answer directly to him, not to the satraps, except in emergencies. This generally deprived the satraps of the money and troops they needed to revolt while ensuring the defense of the satrapies. There were also officials known as the \"King's Ears\". These personal agents of the king would travel to the various satraps' courts to check up on their behavior and official records. The King's Ears commanded a great deal of fear and respect, sometimes showing up with no armed escort, but still being able to put down rebellious satraps before the revolts went beyond the planning stages.\nCommunications in such a far-flung realm was another major problem. Here the Persians adopted the Assyrian practice of setting up a system of relay riders, much like the old Pony Express in American history. Each horse and rider would carry a message for a day and then pass it on to the next horse and rider. In order to speed things along, the Persians established a road system to tie the empire together. The most famous of these was the King's Highway, which stretched 1677 miles from the Persian capital of Susa to Sardis in Asia Minor. It had patrols against bandits, relay stations with fresh horses for the royal messengers, and 111 inns for travelers, placed about one day's journey apart from each other. Another road going through the desert to Egypt had underground cisterns with water for travelers. Although these roads helped trade and travel, their main priority was for the relay riders who could carry a message from Sardis to the king in Susa within seven days, an amazing speed for back then. As Herodotus described these riders: \"Nothing stops these couriers from covering their allotted stops in the quickest possible time--neither snow, rain, heat, nor darkness.\"\nIn general, Darius took existing practices and institutions and adopted them on a larger scale. However, in one respect, he differed quite markedly from previous Mesopotamian rulers. That was in his treatment of Persia's subjects. Darius realized that there was no way his far-flung empire could survive constant revolts such as had plagued the Assyrians. Therefore, he followed a policy of tolerance toward his subjects' customs and religions. For example, the Jews were allowed to return to Israel from their Babylonian captivity, causing them to sing the Persians’ praises in the Bible.\nDarius and other Persian kings also adopted local titles, such as pharaoh in Egypt, to win popular support. Sometimes they also kept local rulers in power as Persian vassals, such as in the Greek cities in Asia Minor. This hopefully would ensure them more loyalty, although it could backfire if those rulers were unpopular to begin with. While Persian rule may not have been wildly popular, most people tolerated it as an improvement over the harsher rule of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Keeping their subjects happy went a long way toward keeping the Persian Empire intact. It also ensured the cooperation of the Syrians and Babylonians, whose scribes and administrative skills were badly needed to keep the government running smoothly.\nThe Persians also worked hard to promote economic prosperity. Their roads, strong government, and stable coinage encouraged trade. They also promoted agriculture with irrigation projects and the introduction of new crops to different areas, such as sesame to Egypt and rice to Mesopotamia. Of course, increased prosperity also generated more taxes. The Persians also kept their subjects happy by charging moderate tax rates, about twenty per cent of a person's income. Despite this modest tax rate, the Persian kings were fabulously wealthy. By the time Alexander the Great took over the Persian Empire in 330 B.C.E., the Persian kings had reportedly amassed a treasury of 5500 tons of silver.\nDarius and other Persian kings further enhanced their authority by assuming divine or semi-divine status to overawe their subjects. In certain provinces, such as Egypt, they took the titles of local rulers who were often seen as gods. They also built a fabulous capital, Persepolis, in the middle of the desert, and adorned it with magnificent government buildings. The Persians also adopted the elaborate court ritual of their subjects. One had to go through a virtual army of officials before getting an audience with the king. When one approached the king, he performed a rite known as proskynesis, which involved throwing oneself at the king's feet. It was a great honor just to be allowed to kiss the hem of his garment and a serious offence for anyone outside the king's closest friends and advisors to look him in the eye. Such elaborate ritual could enhance the king's authority, but it could also cut him off from the day-to-day realities of empire.\nReligion\nThe Persians, like most ancient peoples, started out with a polytheistic religion to account for the forces of nature. However, around 600 B.C.E., a new religion emerged, called Zoroastrianism after its founder, Zoroaster. This was a dualistic religion, which meant it saw life as a constant struggle between the forces of good and evil. In the end people would all be held accountable for their deeds in a judgment day when they would go to heaven as a reward for good deeds or suffer eternal punishment for their sins. Zoroastrianism seems to have had some influence on Judaism. In the book of Daniel, which takes place at the Persian court, the ideas of Heaven and Hell and of Satan as a force always opposed to God first appear in the Bible. Both of these ideas have become central to Christianity and Islam as well as Judaism.\nDecline and fall (c.464-330 B.C.E.)\nAny state needs a strong ruler to keep things running smoothly. After the death of Xerxes (486-464 B.C.E.), the Persian Empire lacked that strong hand. As a result, various problems developed that fed back upon one another and led to Persia's decline and fall. For one thing, weak rulers led to numerous provincial revolts, especially in Egypt, which always had detested Persian rule. Secondly, the provincial satraps also became more independent, ruling their satrapies more as kings than as the king's loyal subjects. They even carried on their own foreign policies and waged war on each other, which only added to Persia's problems.\nRevolts and unruly satraps caused serious economic problems for the empire. Persian taxes became heavier and more oppressive, which led to economic depression and revolts, which in turn led to more repression, heavier taxes and so on. The Persian kings also started hoarding gold and silver rather than re-circulating it. This created economic turmoil without enough gold and silver for doing business. As a result of this economic turmoil, the Persian kings got weaker still, which fed back into the problem of revolts and powerful satraps and so on.\nAround 400 B.C.E., Cyrus the Younger, a royal prince, rebelled against his brother and king, Artaxerxes. Although Cyrus was killed in battle, his force of 10, 000 Greek mercenaries survived only to find themselves stranded in the heart of Persia. In order to get home, they marched and fought their way through a good part of the Persian Empire. This exploit, known as the March of the Ten Thousand, exposed the weakness of the Persian Empire. This encouraged Alexander the Great to invade Persia, which he conquered in a remarkably short time and with a remarkably small army.\nNevertheless, the Persians survived and reestablished their empire under the Sassanid dynasty around 200 C.E. Around 650 C.E., they fell once again, this time to the Arabs inspired by their new religion, Islam. Still, Persia survived, passing its culture on to the Arabs. Thus the Islamic culture which emerged was very much Persian, and ultimately Mesopotamian, in origin. The Persian Empire revived once again around 1500 under the Safavid dynasty, and its culture and traditions live on today in modern Iran.\n»"
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"Sardis - Ancient History Encyclopedia\n... a famous Athenian lawmaker and statesman and one of the seven proverbial wise ... King of Persia, invaded Sardis in ... expression \"as rich as Croesus ...\nSardis - Ancient History Encyclopedia\nSardis\nby Cristian Violatti\npublished on 20 March 2014\nSardis was an important ancient city and capital of the kingdom of Lydia , located in western Anatolia , present-day Sartmustafa, Manisa province in western Turkey . Its strategic location made it a central point connecting the interior of Anatolia to the Aegean coast. During its history, control of Sardis changed many times, but it always kept a high status among cities .\nThe Origin of Sardis\nAround 612 BCE, the greatest city in the world at that time, Nineveh , was besieged and sacked by an allied army of Persians, Medes, rebelling Chaldeans, and Babylonians, putting an end to the Assyrian Empire . This event shaped a new political map: Babylon became the imperial centre of Mesopotamia and the kingdom of Lydia became the dominant power in western Anatolia with Sardis as its capital.\nRemove Ads\nAdvertisement\nThe life of Sardis began as a hilltop citadel where the king of Lydia lived. The city developed into a two part town: the lower town, located along the banks of the Pactolus river, where the ordinary citizens lived, and the upper town for the wealthy citizens, royal members, and the palace. Herodotus wrote that the lower town was a modest place with many of its houses made of reeds from the river and with no surrounding wall .\nRelations with the Greek World\nTo the west, Lydia had the Greek colonies of Ionia . After the fall of Assyria , Lydia was free to turn its attention to the Ionian cities, which became dominated by Lydia. Lydian rulers, however, admired the Greeks and treated the Ionian cities leniently. Moreover, Croesus , the last Lydian king, even paid for the construction of the temple of Artemis , which became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Thus, the Ionian coast city-states and the Lydians remained on peaceful terms with very tight cultural and commercial relations. Sardis was a centre for the traffic of goods and ideas between Mesopotamia and the Greek Ionian settlements, a crossroad of trade, and an ideal meeting point for the exchange of ideas, beliefs, customs, knowledge, and new insights. This rich exchange was one of the factors that, around 600 BCE, allowed the Ionian cities to turn into the intellectual leaders of the Greek world.\nSardis was a centre for the traffic of goods and ideas between Mesopotamia and the Greek Ionian settlements.\nHerodotus (1.31) claims that on one occasion Sardis was visited by Solon , a famous Athenian lawmaker and statesman and one of the seven proverbial wise men of ancient Hellas, who met Croesus, the Lydian king. This meeting between Solon and Croesus is certainly a fiction: Solon, if we trust the current accepted chronology, must have been dead several years before 560 BCE, the year when Croesus became king of Lydia. Nevertheless, according to the story Croesus was overjoyed to have such an important visitor and was anxious to display his wealth to the well-travelled Solon. Croesus finally asked Solon who, of all the men he had met in his travels, he would call the most happy. Solon replied, “Tellus of Athens .” This made Croesus upset since he expected to be named first. Solon added that Tellus had lived well and happily, had a beautiful family, and had died gloriously for Athens in battle . Croesus agreed this was a good life and asked Solon who else he would consider to be among the happiest of men he had met, hoping he would at least be named second. Solon answered “ Cleobis and Biton ”, two Greek brothers who had enough resources to live, great fitness levels, and who had died honourably. Croesus, angered now, shouted, \"My Athenian guest, are you disparaging my own happiness as though it were nothing?, Do you think me less than a common man?\" Solon replied that no person can be judged fortunate until their death: \"I cannot yet tell you the answer you asked for until I learn how you have ended your life.\"\nAdvertisement\nPersian Control\nWhen Cyrus II, King of Persia , invaded Sardis in 547 BCE, it became obvious that the lack of a defensive wall protecting the lower city was not a wise choice. The Lydian king Croesus simply retreated to the upper town, and the Persian army controlled the lower city with very little resistance. The Persian army finally found an unguarded spot in the citadel’s defences, and Sardis came under Persian control for the next two centuries.\nDuring the Persian occupation, Sardis did not change much: A Persian garrison was built on the acropolis while the lower town settlements remained unchanged. An altar of Artemis is mentioned by Xenophon , possibly in the southern portion of the acropolis, in the settlements along the river, where some time later a temple to the goddess was built.\nOnce Sardis was taken, the Persians also occupied the Ionian cities. About 500 BCE, the Ionian cities dismissed the Persian authorities and declared their independence, triggering the Ionian revolt with the city of Miletus as the leading state, the first of many military conflicts between Greeks and Persians. A Greek army marched upon Sardis and burned it to the ground. This is how Herodotus reports the incident:\nMacedonian & Seleucid Control\nA number of changes took place in Sardis after the city surrendered to Alexander the Great in 334 BCE. A new lower town was built to the north of the Acropolis and the old town was gradually abandoned, with the sole exception of the Temple of Artemis and its surrounding area, where a few citizens continued to live. The new lower town had the east-west road as its axis which connected the interior to the coast.\nA number of Hellenistic public buildings were built in the new town including a stadium and a theatre. The city was walled at some point before the year 215 BCE as attested to by ancient reports that, when the troops led by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III assaulted Sardis that year, they penetrated across a section of the city wall near the theatre. Sardis was then made Seleucid’s administrative centre for the Anatolia region.",
"Croesus | king of Lydia | Britannica.com\nLast king of Lydia ... Croesusking of Lydia. died. ... His wealth was proverbial, and he made a number of rich gifts to the oracle at Delphi.\nCroesus | king of Lydia | Britannica.com\nking of Lydia\nLast Updated:\n12-16-2009\nCroesus, (died c. 546 bc), last king of Lydia (reigned c. 560–546), who was renowned for his great wealth. He conquered the Greeks of mainland Ionia (on the west coast of Anatolia) and was in turn subjugated by the Persians.\nCroesus with an attendant.\nPhotos.com/Jupiterimages\nA member of the Mermnad dynasty , Croesus succeeded to the throne of his father, Alyattes, after a struggle with his half brother. Croesus is said to have acted as viceroy and commander in chief before his father’s death. He completed the conquest of mainland Ionia by capturing Ephesus and other cities in western Anatolia . Lack of sea power forced him ... (100 of 348 words)\nMEDIA FOR:",
"Croesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\nFind out information about Croesus. d. c.547 B.C., king of Lydia , noted for his great wealth. He was the son of Alyattes. ... His wealth became proverbial, ...\nCroesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\nCroesus | Article about Croesus by The Free Dictionary\nhttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Croesus\nAlso found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Acronyms , Idioms , Wikipedia .\nCroesus\n(krē`səs), d. c.547 B.C., king of Lydia (560–c.547 B.C.), noted for his great wealth. He was the son of Alyattes. He continued his father's policy of conquering the Ionian cities of Asia Minor, but on the whole he was friendly to the Greeks, and he is supposed to have given refuge to the Athenian statesman Solon. Threatened by Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great\n, d. 529 B.C., king of Persia, founder of the greatness of the Achaemenids and of the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, he was the son of an Iranian noble, the elder Cambyses, and a Median princess, daughter of Astyages.\n..... Click the link for more information. of Persia, Croesus allied himself with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia against the Persian might, but the alliance was of no avail. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus, and, according to Herodotus, Croesus cast himself upon a funeral pyre.\nCroesus",
"Croesus.txt\nCroesus\nCroesus ( ; , Kroisos; 595 BC – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia who, according to Herodotus, reigned for fourteen years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC (sometimes given as 547 BC).\n\nCroesus was renowned for his wealth—Herodotus and Pausanias noted his gifts were preserved at Delphi. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Greeks, providing a fixed point in their calendar. \"By the fifth century at least,\" J.A.S. Evans has remarked, \"Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology.\" \n\nLegendary biography\n\nAside from a poetical account of Croesus on the pyre in Bacchylides (composed for Hiero of Syracuse, who won the chariot race at Olympia in 468), there are three classical accounts of Croesus: Herodotus presents the Lydian accounts of the conversation with Solon (Histories 1.29-.33), the tragedy of Croesus' son Atys (Histories 1.34-.45) and the fall of Croesus (Histories 1.85-.89); Xenophon instances Croesus in his panegyric fictionalized biography of Cyrus: Cyropaedia, 7.1; and Ctesias, whose account is also an encomium of Cyrus.\n\nEarly rule and wealth \n\nBorn about 595 BC, Croesus received tribute from the Ionian Greeks but was friendlier to the Hellenes than his father had been.\n\nCroesus is credited with issuing the first true gold coins with a standardised purity for general circulation. However, they were quite crude, and were made of electrum, a naturally occurring pale yellow alloy of gold and silver. The composition of these first coins was similar to alluvial deposits found in the silt of the Pactolus river, which ran through the Lydian capital, Sardis. Later coins, including some in the British Museum, were made from gold purified by heating with common salt to remove the silver. King Croesus' gold coins follow the first silver coins that had been minted by King Pheidon of Argos around 700 BC.\n\nIn Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. Croesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as \"rich as Croesus\" or \"richer than Croesus\" are used to indicate great wealth to this day. The earliest known such usage in English was John Gower's in Confessio amantis (1390):\n\nThat if the tresor of Cresus\n\nAnd al the gold Octovien,\nForth with the richesse Yndien \nOf Perles and of riche stones,\nWere al togedre myn at ones... \n\nInterview with Solon \n\nAccording to Herodotus, Croesus encountered the Greek sage Solon and showed him his enormous wealth. Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, asked Solon who the happiest man in the world is, and was disappointed by Solon's response that three had been happier than Croesus: Tellus, who died fighting for his country, and the brothers Kleobis and Biton who died peacefully in their sleep after their mother prayed for their perfect happiness because they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves. Solon goes on to explain that Croesus cannot be the happiest man because the fickleness of fortune means that the happiness of a man's life cannot be judged until after his death. Sure enough, Croesus' hubristic happiness was reversed by the tragic deaths of his accidentally-killed son and, according to Critias, his wife's suicide at the fall of Sardis, not to mention his defeat at the hands of the Persians.\n\nThe interview is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject \"Which man is happy?\" It is legendary rather than historical. Thus the \"happiness\" of Croesus is presented as a moralistic exemplum of the fickleness of Tyche, a theme that gathered strength from the fourth century, revealing its late date. The story was later retold and elaborated by Ausonius in [https://archive.org/stream/deciausonius01ausouoft#page/310/mode/2up The Masque of the Seven Sages], in the Suda (entry \"Μᾶλλον ὁ Φρύξ,\" which adds Aesop and the Seven Sages of Greece), and by Tolstoy in his short story Croesus and Fate.\n\nCroesus' votive offerings to Delphi\n\nAccording to Herodotus, Croesus desired to discover which of the well known oracles of his time gave trustworthy omens. He sent ambassadors to the most important oracles ordering that on the 100th day from their departure from Sardeis they should ask what the king of the Lydians, Croesus, son of Alyattes was doing on this exact date. \nThen the envoys entered on the 100th day to the oracle of Delphi in order to ask for the omen, Pythia answered in verse:\n\nI know the number of the sand pieces and the depth of the sea. I can understand the mute and listen to him, although he is not talking. I sensed the smell of a turtle burning together with lamb's meat in a bronze cauldron. Under the cauldron there is copper and above it copper as well.\nThe envoys wrote down the answer and returned to Sardeis. Croesus read all the answers brought by his envoys from all the oracles. As soon as he read the answer of Pythia he bowed, because he was persuaded that it was the only real oracle, along with that of Amphiaraus. Indeed, on the specific date Croesus had put pieces of a turtle and lamb to boil together in a bronze cauldron, covered with a bronze lid. Then, Croesus wanted to thank and take on his side the oracle of Delphi. He sacrificed three thousand of all kinds of sacrificial animals. Then he lit up a bonfire and burned precious objects. After the sacrifice he melted down gold and made golden blocks, each one 2,5 talents. He ordered his artists to make the copy of a lion out of pure gold, weighing ten talents. At the time of Herodotus this was situated at the Treasury of the Corinthians, but 3.5 talents lighter, as the priests had melted down part of it. Croesus also sent along two enormous craters, one made of gold and one made of silver, situated on one side and the other of the entrance to the temple or Apollo. After the fire which destroyed the temple, these craters were transferred elsewhere: the golden one was transferred to the treasury of the Klazomenians, whereas the silver one was placed again in the vestibule of the new temple. Within this crater took place the mixing of water and wine during the Theophania. In Delphi they used to say that this one had been made by Theodorus of Samos. The votive offerings of Croesus comprised also four silver pithoi, situated at the Treasury of the Corinthians, and two perirrhanteria made of precious metals and the statue of a woman made of gold; they said that it depicted the woman who kneaded Croesus' bread. Finally, he dedicated the pendants and belts of his wife as well as other simpler and smaller liturgical objects and a golden shield which he offered to the Archaic temple of Athena Pronaia, later on melted by the Phocians in the course of the Third Sacred War.\n\nDeath of son \n\nAccording to legend, Croesus gave refuge at one point to the Phrygian prince Adrastus. Herodotus tells that Adrastus exiled himself to Lydia after accidentally killing his brother. Croesus later experienced a dream for which he took as prophecy in which Atys, his son and heir, would be killed by an iron spearhead. Taking precautions against this, Croesus kept his son from leading in military expeditions and fighting in any way. However, according to Herodotus, a wild boar began to ravage the neighboring province of Mysia, which soon begged Croesus to send a military expedition led by Atys to kill the boar. Croesus thought this would be safe for his son, as Atys wouldn't be fighting an enemy that could throw a spear. However, he sent Adrastus with Atys as a bodyguard in case they would be waylaid by bandits on the expedition. While fighting the boar, Adrastus accidentally hit Atys with his spear, killing him. Croesus absolved Adrastus for his son's death; however, Adrastus later committed suicide. \n\nCampaign against Persia and testing of oracle \n\nCroesus' uneasy relations with the Greeks obscures the larger fact that he was the last bastion of the Ionian cities against the increasing Persian power in Anatolia. He began preparing a campaign against Cyrus the Great of Persia.\n\nBefore setting out, he turned to the Delphic oracle and the oracle of Amphiaraus to inquire whether he should pursue this campaign and whether he should also seek an alliance. The oracles answered, with typical ambiguity, that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire – this would become one of the most famous oracular statements from Delphi.\n\nThe oracles also advised Croesus to find out which Greek state was most powerful and to ally himself with it. Croesus, now feeling secure, formed an alliance with Sparta in addition to those he had with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia, and launched his campaign against the Persian Empire in 547 BC. He was intercepted near the Halys River in central Anatolia and an inconclusive battle was fought. It was the usual practice in those days for the armies to disband for winter and Croesus did so accordingly. Cyrus did not, however, and he attacked Croesus in Sardis, capturing him. It became clear that the powerful empire destroyed by the war was Croesus's own.\n\nRescue from death and advisor to Cyrus \n\nBy 546 BC, Croesus was defeated and captured by the Persians. According to various accounts of Croesus's life, Cyrus ordered him to be burned to death on a pyre, but Croesus escaped death. The nature of his escape varies considerably.\n\nIn Bacchylides' ode, Croesus with his wife and family mounted the funeral pyre, but before the flames could envelop the king, he was snatched up by Apollo and spirited away to the Hyperboreans.\n\nHerodotus tells us that in the Lydian account, Croesus was placed upon a great pyre by Cyrus' orders, for Cyrus wanted to see if any of the heavenly powers would appear to save him from being burned alive. The pile was set ablaze, and as Cyrus the Great watched he saw Croesus call out \"Solon\" three times. He asked the interpreters to find out why he said this word with such resignation and agony. The interpreters returned the answer that Solon had warned Croesus of the fickleness of good fortune (see Interview with Solon above). This touched Cyrus, who realized that he and Croesus were much the same man, and he bade the servants to quench the blazing fire as quickly as they could. They tried to do this, but the flames were not to be mastered. According to the story, Croesus called out to Apollo and prayed to him. The sky had been clear and the day without a breath of wind, but soon dark clouds gathered and a storm with rain of such violence that the flames were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, thus convinced that Croesus was a good man, made him an advisor who served Cyrus \"well\" and later Cyrus's son by Cassandane, Cambyses. \n\nRecently, Stephanie West has argued that the historical Croesus did in fact die on the pyre, and that the stories of him as a wise advisor to the courts of Cyrus and Cambyses are purely legendary, showing similarities to the sayings of Ahiqar. \n\nAfter defeating Croesus, the Persians adopted gold as the main metal for their coins. \n\nDeath \n\nIt is not known when exactly Croesus died, although it is traditionally dated 547 BC, after Cyrus' conquest. In the Nabonidus Chronicle it is said that Cyrus \"marched against the country -- , killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own\". Unfortunately, all that remains of the name of the country are traces of the first cuneiform sign. It has long been assumed that this sign should have been LU, so that the country referred to would be Lydia, with Croesus as the king that was killed. However, J. Cargill has shown that this restoration was based upon wishful thinking rather than actual traces of the sign LU. Instead, J. Oelsner and R. Rollinger have both read the sign as Ú, which might imply a reference to Urartu. With Herodotus' account also being unreliable chronologically in this case, as J. A. S. Evans has demonstrated, this means that we have no way of dating the fall of Sardis; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of Babylon. Evans also asks what happened after the episode at the pyre and suggests that \"neither the Greeks nor the Babylonians knew what really happened to Croesus\".",
"Croesus - Ancient History Encyclopedia\nCroesus (pronounced 'KREE-sus') was the King of ... the ancients of the 4th century BCE did not care for that ending to the life of so wealthy and powerful a king.\nCroesus - Ancient History Encyclopedia\nCroesus\nby Joshua J. Mark\npublished on 02 September 2009\nCroesus (pronounced 'KREE-sus') was the King of Lydia , a country in western Asia Minor (corresponding to modern-day Turkey ) from 560-547 BCE and was so wealthy that the old expression \"as rich as Croesus\" originates in reference to him. His wealth, it is said, came from the sands of the River Pactolus in which the legendary King Midas washed his hands to rid himself of the 'Midas Touch' (which turned everything he laid hands on into gold ) and in so doing, the legend says, made the sands of the river rich with gold. The Lydians, either during the reign of Croesus or just before, were cited as the first people to mint coins of gold and silver in Asia Minor and it was Croesus who funded construction of the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Although some have claimed that Croesus was largely a legendary figure, his signature at the base of one of the columns of the Temple of Artemis (now on display at the British Museum) is evidence that he was an actual historical king who ruled from the city of Sardis .\nIt was Croesus who funded construction of the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders .\nAlthough Croesus is mentioned by Xenophon and Ctesias, among others, two of the most famous stories regarding him come from the Histories of Herodotus (1.29-45 and 1.85-89). The first has to do with the great Athenian lawgiver Solon the Wise. Solon travelled throughout Anatolia and down to Egypt and came, at last, to the palace of Croesus at Sardis. Croesus was overjoyed to have so illustrious a visitor and was anxious to show off his treasuries and, after Solon had inspected them, asked him who, of all the men he had met in his travels, he would call the most happy. Solon answered, “Tellus of Athens .” Croesus, upset that he himself had not been named, asked why Tellus. Solon answered that Tellus had lived well and happily, had a beautiful family, and had died gloriously for Athens in battle . Croesus, conceding this was a good life, and hoping he would at least be named second, then asked Solon who else he would consider the happiest of men he had met; Solon answered:\nRemove Ads\nAdvertisement\nThe brothers Cleobis and Bito of the Argive race” and explained why, noting again a life well lived and a good death. Croesus, angered now, shouted: \"Man of Athens, am I not the happiest man in the world? Dost thou count my happiness as nothing?\" Solon replied calmly: “In truth, I count no man happy until his death, for no man can know what the gods may have in store for him. He who unites the greatest number of advantages, and retaining them to the day of his death, then dies peaceably, that man alone, sire, is in my judgment entitled to bear the name of 'happy.' But in every matter it behooves us to mark well the end: for oftentimes God gives men a gleam of happiness, and then plunges them into ruin.\nCroesus sent Solon away, thinking his reputation for wisdom overrated, but would soon learn the truth of what Solon had said through the events narrated by Herodotus' second story. The first misfortune to come upon Croesus was the death of his son Atys, killed while hunting a boar in Olympus (and, ironically, killed by the man whom Croesus had sent on the hunt for the express purpose of keeping Atys safe). Croesus grieved for his son for two years until he was alerted that the Persians under Cyrus were gaining power and decided he should check them sooner rather than later.\nHe sent to the great Oracle at Delphi to know whether he should go to war against the Persian Empire and the oracle replied: \"If Croesus goes to war he will destroy a great empire.\" Pleased by this answer, Croesus made his necessary alliances and preparations and went out to meet the Persian army at the Halys River (which Thales of Miletus , an engineer in his corps, helped him to cross by diverting the waters). The battle at the Halys was a draw and Croesus marched his force back to Sardis where the army was disbanded for the winter. Croesus expected Cyrus to do the same, as this was customary, but Cyrus instead pressed the attack, massacred Croesus’ cavalry in the field by mounting his own cavalry on dromedaries (whose scent frightened the Lydian horses) and captured Croesus. After the fall of Sardis, Croesus’ wife committed suicide and Croesus was dragged before Cyrus in chains.\nFor daring to raise an army against the Persian Empire, Cyrus ordered Croesus to be burned alive along with fourteen noble Lydian youths. When Croesus saw the flames of the pyre lapping toward him, he called out for aid from Apollo to rescue him and a sudden rain shower broke overhead and put out the fire. Croesus was saved from burning to death but was still the captive of the Persian King and, remembering the words of Solon the Wise, cried out, \"O Solon! Solon! Solon!\" Cyrus asked a translator what this word meant and Croesus told the story of Solon’s visit, how no man can be counted happy until after his death, and further, of how he was misled by the Oracle at Delphi who had told him that if he went to war against Cyrus he would 'destroy a great empire’ and here the 'great empire’ destroyed had been his own, not that of Cyrus.\nCyrus was so moved by this story that he ordered Croesus to be released and had him send to Delphi for an answer from the god as to why he was betrayed. The answer came back that the Oracle had spoken only truth - a great empire had, in fact, been destroyed by Croesus – and it was not the fault of the god if man misinterpreted his words. Cyrus felt sorry for Croesus and, according to some sources, kept him on as a wise counsellor. This positive account of Croesus' end has been disputed by many scholars both ancient and modern. According to other accounts, the god Apollo carried Croesus and his family away after the fall of Sardis and they all lived happily ever after. Most modern-day scholars and historians believe that Croesus died on the pyre but that the ancients of the 4th century BCE did not care for that ending to the life of so wealthy and powerful a king. The story of Croesus served as a cautionary tale among the Greeks on hubris and a warning on not tempting the gods’ wrath by thinking of oneself as the happiest person in the world.",
"Croesus - tititudorancea.net\nCroesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond ... expressions such as \"rich as Croesus\" or \"richer than Croesus\" are used ... with Croesus as the king that was ...\nCroesus\nC\nCroesus\nThis article refers to the historical King of Lydia. For the opera by Reinhard Keiser, see Croesus (opera).\nCroesus (pronounced /ˈkriːsəs/, CREE-sus;\nGreek :\nΚροῖσος) (595 BC – c. 547? BC) was the king of Lydia from 560 to 546 BC until his defeat by the Persians in about 547 BC. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. \"By the fifth century at least,\" J.A.S. Evans remarked, \"Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology.\" Croesus was renowned for his wealth — Herodotus and Pausanias noted his gifts preserved at Delphi\nIn Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. Croesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as \"rich as Croesus\" or \"richer than Croesus\" are used to indicate great wealth. The earliest known such usage in English was John Gower's in Confessio amantis (1390):\nThat if the tresor of Cresus\nAnd al the gold Octovien,\nForth with the richesse Yndien\nOf Perles and of riche stones,\nWere al togedre myn at ones...\nBiography\nAside from a poetical account of Croesus on the pyre in Bacchylides, there are three classical accounts of Croesus. Herodotus presents the Lydian accounts of the conversation with Solon (Histories 1.29-.33), the tragedy of Croesus' son Atys (Histories 1.34-.45) and the fall of Croesus (Histories 1.85-.89); Xenophon instances Croesus in his panegyric fictionalized biography of Cyrus: Cyropaedia, 7.1; and Ctesias, whose account is also an encomium of Cyrus.\nBorn about 595 BC, Croesus received tribute from the Ionian Greeks but was friendlier to the Hellenes than his father had been. Croesus traditionally gave refuge at one point to the Phrygian prince Adrastus. Herodotus tells that Adrastus exiled himself to Lydia after accidentally killing his brother. King Croesus welcomed him but then Adrastus accidentally killed Croesus' son, Atys. (Adrastus then committed suicide.)\nCroesus' uneasy relations with the Greeks obscures the larger fact that he was the last bastion of the Ionian cities against the increasing Persian power in Anatolia. He began preparing a campaign against Cyrus the Great of Persia. Before setting out he turned to the Delphic oracle and the oracle of Amphiaraus to inquire whether he should pursue this campaign and whether he should also seek an alliance. The oracles answered, with typical ambiguity, that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire – this would become one of the most famous oracular statements from Delphi.\nCroesus was also advised to find out which Greek state was most powerful and to ally himself with it. Croesus, now feeling secure, formed an alliance with Sparta in addition to those he had with Amasis II of Egypt and Nabonidus of Babylonia , and launched his campaign against the Persian Empire in 547 BC. He was intercepted near the Halys River in central Anatolia and an inconclusive battle was fought. As was usual in those days, the armies would disband for winter and Croesus did accordingly. Cyrus did not, however, and he attacked Croesus in Sardis , capturing him. It became clear that the powerful empire Croesus was about to destroy was his own.\nIn Bacchylides' ode, composed for Hiero of Syracuse, who won the chariot race at Olympia in 468, Croesus with his wife and family mounted the funeral pyre, but before the flames could envelop the king, he was snatched up by Apollo and spirited away to the Hyperboreans. Herodotus' version includes Apollo in more \"realistic\" mode: Cyrus, repenting of the immolation of Croesus, could not put out the flames until Apollo intervened.\nApollo's intervention\nHerodotus tells us that in the Lydian account, Croesus was placed upon a great pyre by Cyrus' orders, for Cyrus wanted to see if any of the heavenly powers would appear to save him from being burned alive. The pile was set ablaze, and as Cyrus watched he saw Croesus call out \"Solon\" three times. He asked the interpreters to find out why he said this word with such resignation and agony. The interpreters returned the answer that Solon had warned Croesus of the fickleness of good fortune: see Interview with Solon below. This touched Cyrus, who realized that he and Croesus were much the same man, and he bade the servants to quench the blazing fire as quickly as they could. They tried to do this, but the flames were not to be mastered. According to the story, Croesus called out to Apollo and prayed to him. The sky had been clear and the day without a breath of wind, but soon dark clouds gathered and a storm with rain of such violence that the flames were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, convinced by this that Croesus was a good man, made Croesus an advisor who served Cyrus well and later Cyrus's son by Cassandane, Cambyses. Recently, Stephanie West has argued that the historical Croesus did in fact die on the pyre, and that the stories of him as a 'wise adviser' to the courts of Cyrus and Cambyses are purely legendary, showing similarities to the sayings of Ahiqar.\nIt is not known when exactly Croesus died, although it is traditionally dated 547 BC, after Cyrus' conquest. In the Nabonidus Chronicle it is said that Cyrus \"marched against the country -- , killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own.\" Unfortunately, all that remains of the name of the country are traces of the first cuneiform sign. It has long been assumed that this sign should have been LU, so that the country referred to would be Lydia, with Croesus as the king that was killed. However, J. Cargill has shown that this restoration was based upon wishful thinking rather than actual traces of the sign LU. Instead, J. Oelsner and R. Rollinger have both read the sign as Ú, which might imply a reference to Urartu. With Herodotus' account also being unreliable chronologically in this case, as J.A.S. Evans has demonstrated, this means that we have no way of dating the fall of Sardis; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of Babylon. Evans also asks what happened after the episode at the pyre and suggests that \"neither the Greeks nor the Babylonians knew what really happened to Croesus.\"\nInterview with Solon\nThe episode of Croesus' interview with Solon reported by Herodotus is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject \"Which man is happy?\" It is legendary rather than historical. Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, poses the question and is disappointed by Solon's response: that three have been happier than Croesus, Tellus , who died fighting for his country, and Kleobis and Biton, brothers who died peacefully in their sleep when their mother prayed for their perfect happiness, after they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves. Croesus' hubristic happiness was reversed by the tragic deaths of his accidentally-murdered son and, in Critias, his wife's suicide at the fall of Sardis. Thus the \"happiness\" of Croesus is presented as a moralistic exemplum of the fickleness of Tyche , a theme that gathered strength from the fourth century, revealing its late date. (Wikipedia)",
"10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles - Listverse\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles ... The Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC was a decisive victory for ... of Octavian and those of the combined forces of Mark Antony and ...\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles - Listverse\n10 Most Decisive Ancient Battles\nJamie Frater\nJuly 31, 2008\nEveryone loves a good tale of battles and blood – which is clearly evidenced by the plethora of movies and movie scenes based on them. In this list, instead of just looking at great battles based on numbers or deaths, we are looking at battles that were strategically important or changed the methods of warfare. This list only includes battles from before the time of Christ. Later battles will be the subject of a future list. I have generally avoided describing the actual events of the battles in order to present the overall historical impact. You can use the “source” links to read more on each battle. This list contains a competition – read more at the bottom of the list.\n10\nCarrhae\n53 BC\nThe Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC was a decisive victory for the Parthian Spahbod Surena (try saying that 10 times fast!) over the Roman general Crassus near the town of Carrhae (now the present-day ruins of Harran, Turkey). A Parthian force of 1,000 cataphracts and 9,000 horse archers under general Surena met the Romans at Carrhae. Crassus’ cavalry was screening ahead of the main force when they were engaged by the cataphracts, and the weapons his cavalry employed were not capable of piercing the cataphracts armor. His cavalry was soon surrounded and routed, and his son Publius killed. Rome was humiliated by this defeat, and this was made even worse by the fact that the Parthians had captured several Legionary Eagles. It is also mentioned by Plutarch that the Parthians found the Roman prisoner of war that resembled Crassus the most, dressed him as a woman and paraded him through Parthia for all to see. The capture of the golden Aquilae (legionary battle standards) by the Parthians was considered a grave moral defeat and evil omen for the Romans. It required a generation of diplomacy before the Parthians returned them. An important and unexpected implication of this battle was that it opened up the European continent to a new and beautiful material: silk. However, the most immediate effect of the battle was that Carrhae was an indirect cause for the fall of the Republic, and the rise of the Empire. [ Source ]\n9\nPydna\n168 BC\nThe Battle of Pydna in 168 BC between Rome and the Macedonian Antigonid dynasty represents the ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenic/Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to Alexander III of Macedon. It is often considered to be the classic example of the Macedonian phalanx against the Roman legion, and generally accepted as proving the superiority of the latter over the former. This was not the final conflict between the two rivals, but it broke the back of Macedonian power. The political consequences of the lost battle were severe. The Senate’s settlement included the deportation of all the royal officials and the permanent house arrest of Perseus. The kingdom was divided into four republics that were heavily restricted from intercourse or trade with one another and with Greece. There was a ruthless purge, with allegedly anti-Roman citizens being denounced by their compatriots and deported in large numbers (300 000). [ Source ]\n8\nIpsus\n301 BC\nThe Battle of Ipsus was fought between some of the Diadochi (the successors of Alexander the Great) in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia. Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius I of Macedon were pitted against the coalition of three other companions of Alexander: Cassander, ruler of Macedon; Lysimachus, ruler of Thrace; and Seleucus I Nicator, ruler of Babylonia and Persia. The battle opened with the usual slowly intensifying skirmishing between the two armies’ light troops, with elephants eventually thrown into the fray by both sides. Efforts were made by both sides to hamstring the enemy’s elephants, but also had to hang back to protect their own. Demetrius’ superior right-flank cavalry drove Antiochus’ wing back, but was halted in his attempted rear blow by Seleucus, who moved the elephant reserve to block him. More missile troops moved to the unprotected Antigonid right flank, as Demetrius was unable to disengage from the elephants and enemy horse to his front. At the beginning of the day, Antigonus had not been able to wear plate armor; this disadvantage was unexpectedly used by an anonymous allied peltast, who killed him with a well-thrown javelin. Without leadership and already beginning to flee, the Antigonid army completely disintegrated. The last chance to reunite the Alexandrine Empire had now passed. Antigonus had been the only general able to consistently defeat the other Successors; without him, the last bonds the Empire had had began to dissolve. Ipsus finalized the breakup of an empire, which may account for its obscurity; despite that, it was still a critical battle in classical history and decided the character of the Hellenistic age. [ Source ]\n7\nGaugamela\n331 BC\nThe Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great of Macedonia and Darius III of Achaemenid Persia. The battle, which is also inaccurately called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the Macedonians. While Darius had a significant advantage in numbers, most of his troops were of a lower quality than Alexander’s. Alexander’s pezhetairoi were armed with a six-meter spear, the sarissa. The main Persian infantry was poorly trained and equipped in comparison to Alexander’s pezhetairoi and hoplites. After the battle, Parmenion rounded up the Persian baggage train while Alexander and his own bodyguard chased after Darius in hopes of catching up. As at Issus, substantial amounts of loot were gained following the battle, with 4,000 talents captured, as well as the King’s personal chariot and bow. The war elephants were also captured. In all, it was a disastrous defeat for the Persians, and possibly one of Alexander’s finest victories. At this point, the Persian Empire was divided into two halves – East and West. Bessus murdered Darius, before fleeing eastwards. Alexander would pursue Bessus, eventually capturing and executing him the following year. The majority of the existing satraps were to give their loyalty to Alexander, and be allowed to keep their positions, however, the Persian Empire is traditionally considered to have fallen with the death of Darius. [ Source ]\n6\nMarathon\n490 BC\nThe Battle of Marathon during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 BC and was the culmination of King Darius I of Persia’s first full scale attempt to conquer the remainder of Greece and incorporate it into the Persian Empire, which would secure the weakest portion of his western border. The longest-lasting legacy of Marathon was the double envelopment. Some historians have claimed it was random rather than a conscious decision by Miltiades – the Tyrant of the Greek Colonies. In hoplitic battles, the two sides were usually stronger than the center because either they were the weakest point (right side) or the strongest point (left side). However, before Miltiades (and after him until Epaminondas), this was only a matter of quality, not quantity. Miltiades had personal experience from the Persian army and knew its weaknesses. As his course of action after the battle shows (invasions of the Cyclades islands), he had an integrated strategy upon defeating the Persians, hence there is no reason he could have not thought of a good tactic. The double envelopment has been used ever since, such as when the German Army used a tactic at the battle of Tannenberg during World War I similar to that used by the Greeks at Marathon. [ Source ]\n5\nCynoscephalae\n197 BC\nThe Battle of Cynoscephalae was fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Philip V. This Macedonian defeat marks the passing of imperial power from the successors of Alexander the Great to Rome. Along with the later Battle of Pydna, this defeat is often held to have demonstrated that the Macedonian phalanx, formerly the most effective fighting unit in the ancient world, was now obsolete, although in fact the phalanx was able to force the legions back and held their own with swords until twenty maniples fell upon their rear (due to the weak Macedonian flanks and the Roman elephants routing the disordered Macedonian left flank). As a consequence of his loss, Philip had to pay 1,000 talents to Rome, as well as disband his navy and most of his army. He also had to send his son to Rome as a hostage. The battle in many ways determined the subsequent history of the Mediterranean. It also was a major turning point in how wars were fought. The image above is the site of the Battle of Cynoscephalae today. [ Source ]\n4\nActium\n31 BC\nThe Battle of Actium was the decisive engagement in the Final War of the Roman Republic between the forces of Octavian and those of the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It was fought on September 2, 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the Roman colony of Actium in Greece. Octavian’s fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony’s fleet was supported by the fleet of his lover, Cleopatra VII, queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. The victory of Octavian’s fleet enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its domains, leading to his adoption of the title of Princeps (“first citizen”) and his accepting the title of Augustus from the Senate. As Augustus Caesar, he would preserve the trappings of a restored Republic, but many historians view his consolidation of power and the adoption of his honorifics flowing from his victory at Actium as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. The political consequences of this sea battle were far-reaching. As a result of the loss of his fleet, Mark Antony’s army, which had begun as equal to that of Octavian’s, deserted in large numbers. In a communication breakdown, Antony came to believe that Cleopatra had been captured, and so he committed suicide. Cleopatra heard the news about Mark Antony and, rather than risk being captured by Octavian, committed suicide herself, on August 12, 30 BC. She allowed herself to be bitten by a poisonous asp that was reportedly hidden for her in a basket of figs. [ Source ]\n3\nSiler River\n73 BC\nThe Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War, The Battle of Siler River, and The War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Servile Wars. The Third Servile War was the only one to directly threaten the Roman heartland of Italia and was doubly alarming to the Roman people due to the repeated successes of the rapidly growing band of rebel slaves against the Roman army between 73 and 71 BC. The rebellion was finally crushed through the concentrated military effort of a single commander, Marcus Licinius Crassus, although the rebellion continued to have indirect effects on Roman politics for years to come. The Third Servile War was significant to the broader history of ancient Rome mostly in its effect on the careers of Pompey and Crassus. The two generals used their success in putting down the rebellion to further their political careers, using their public acclaim and the implied threat of their legions to sway the consular elections of 70 BC in their favor. Their actions as Consuls greatly furthered the subversion of Roman political institutions and contributed to the eventual transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. [ Source ]\n2\nPharsalus\n48 BC\nThe Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar’s Civil War. On August 9, 48 BC, the battle was fought at Pharsalus in central Greece between forces of the Populares faction and forces of the Optimates faction. Both factions field armies from the Roman Republic. The Populares were led by Gaius Julius Caesar (Caesar) and the Optimates were led by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey). In addition to Pompey, the Optimates faction included most of the Roman Senate. The victory of Caesar weakened the Senatorial forces and solidified his control over the Republic. Pompey fled from Pharsalus to Egypt, where he was assassinated on the order of Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII. The Battle of Pharsalus ended the wars of the First Triumvirate. The Roman Civil War, however, was not ended. Pompey’s two sons, the most important of whom was Sextus Pompeius, and the Pompeian faction led now by Labienus, survived and fought their cause in the name of Pompey the Great. Caesar spent the next few years ‘mopping up’ remnants of the senatorial faction. After finally completing this task, he was assassinated in a conspiracy arranged by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. [ Source ]\n1\nSalamis\n480 BC\nThe Battle of Salamis, was a decisive naval battle between the Greek city-states and Persia in September, 480 BC in the strait between Piraeus and Salamis Island, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens. The Greeks were not in accord as to how to defend against the Persian army, but Athens under Themistocles used their navy to defeat the much larger Persian navy and force King Xerxes I of Persia to retreat. The Greek victory marked the turning point of the campaign, leading to the eventual Persian defeat. The Battle of Salamis has been described by many historians as the single most significant battle in human history. The defeat of the Persian navy was instrumental in the eventual Persian defeat, as it dramatically shifted the war in Greece’s favor. Many historians argue that Greece’s ensuing independence laid the foundations for Western civilization, most notably from the preservation of Athenian democracy, the concept of individual rights, relative freedom of the person, true philosophy, art and architecture. Had the Persians won at Salamis, it is very likely that Xerxes would have succeeded in conquering all the Greek nations and passing to the European continent, thus preventing Western civilization’s growth (and even existence). Given the influence of Western civilization on world history, as well as the achievements of Western culture itself, a failure of the Greeks to win at Salamis would almost certainly have had seriously important effects on the course of human history. [ Source ]\nBonus\nCompetition\nTo celebrate the launch of our new stable service and our new look, we have a competition on this list. The prize is a copy of both of the movies shown above – Spartacus, and 300. The prize winner will be one randomly selected commenter – as usual you can enter more than one comment to improve your chances, but your comments must add value to this list – that means no comments designed just to have a better chance at winning. The winner must be a registered user of the List Universe. You can click here to register . Good luck!\nOmissions: Kadesh, Megiddo, Thermopylae (less decisive than Salamis above), Cannae, and Gaixia\nThis article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from the Wikipedia articles cited above.",
"Cyrus_the_Great.txt\nCyrus the Great\nCyrus II of Persia ( Kūruš; New Persian: Kūrosh ; c. 600 or 576 – 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen. Under his successors, the empire eventually stretched at its maximum extent from parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Paeonia and Thrace-Macedonia) and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. His regal titles in full were The Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World.\n\nThe reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought \"into subjection every nation without exception\". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.\n\nCyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered.Dandamayev Cyrus (iii. Cyrus the Great) Cyrus's religious policies. It is said that in universal history, the role of the Achaemenid Empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus.The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. IV p. 42. See also: G. Buchaman Gray and D. Litt, The foundation and extension of the Persian empire, Chapter I in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. IV, 2nd edition, published by The University Press, 1927. P. 15. Excerpt: The administration of the empire through satrap, and much more belonging to the form or spirit of the government, was the work of Cyrus ... What is sometimes referred to as the Edict of Restoration (actually two edicts) described in the Bible as being made by Cyrus the Great left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion, where, because of his policies in Babylonia, he is referred to by the Jewish Bible as Messiah (lit. \"His anointed one\") (), and is the only non-Jew to be called so: \"So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus\".\n\nCyrus the Great is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran. Cyrus and, indeed, the Achaemenid influence in the ancient world also extended as far as Athens, where many Athenians adopted aspects of the Achaemenid Persian culture as their own, in a reciprocal cultural exchange. \n\nIn the 1970s, the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi identified his famous proclamation inscribed onto Cyrus Cylinder as the oldest known declaration of human rights, and the Cylinder has since been popularized as such. This view has been criticized by some historians as a misunderstanding of the Cylinder's generic nature as a traditional statement that new monarchs make at the beginning of their reign. \n\nBackground\n\nEtymology\n\nThe name Cyrus is a Latinized form derived from the Greek Kūros itself from the Old Persian Kūruš. The name and its meaning has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch noted that Cyrus was named from Kuros, the Sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning \"like the Sun\" (Khurvash) by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, khor, while using -vash as a suffix of likeness. This may also point to a fascinating relationship to the mythological \"first king\" of Persia, Jamshid, whose name also incorporates the element \"sun\" (\"shid\").\n\nKarl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo-European-root \"to humiliate\" and accordingly \"Cyrus\" means \"humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest\". In the Persian language and especially in Iran, Cyrus's name is spelled as . In the Bible, he is known as Koresh ().\n\nDynastic history\n\nThe Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). Achaemenids are \"descendants of Achaemenes\" as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares \"for this reason we are called Achaemenids\". Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title \"King of Anshan\" after seizing Anshan city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper. under i. The clan and dynasty. Ancient documents mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, who also succeeded his father as \"king of Anshan\". Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes.\n\nIn 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son, Cambyses I, who reigned until 559 BC. Cyrus the Great was a son of Cambyses I, who named his son after his father, Cyrus I. There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as the \"great king\" and \"king of Anshan\". Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself \"son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan\". Another inscription (from CM's) mentions Cambyses I as \"mighty king\" and \"an Achaemenian\", which according to the bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius. However Cambyses II's maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by Herodotus as \"an Achaemenian\" too. Xenophon's account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses's wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Iran (ancient Persia). These agree with Cyrus's own inscriptions, as Ashan and Parsa were different names of the same land. These also agree with other non-Iranian accounts, except at one point from Herodotus stating that Cambyses was not a king but a \"Persian of good family\". However, in some other passages, Herodotus's account is wrong also on the name of the son of Chishpish, which he mentions as Cambyses but, according to modern scholars, should be Cyrus I. \n\nThe traditional view based on archaeological research and the genealogy given in the Behistun Inscription and by Herodotus holds that Cyrus the Great was an Achaemenid. However it has been suggested by M. Waters that Cyrus is unrelated to the Achaemenids or Darius the Great and that his family was of Teispid and Anshanite origin instead of Achaemenid.M. Waters, \"Cyrus and the Achaemenids\", Iran 42, 2004 ([http://www.achemenet.com/ Achemenet.com] > ressources > sous presse), with previous bibliography.\n\nEarly life\n\nCyrus was born to Cambyses I, King of Anshan and Mandane, daughter of Astyages, King of Media during the period of 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC. According to Herodotus, Astyages had two dreams in which a flood, and then a series of fruit bearing vines, emerged from her pelvis, and covered the entire kingdom. These were interpreted by his advisers as a foretelling that his grandson would one day rebel and supplant him as king. Astyages summoned his daughter Mandane, at the time pregnant with Cyrus, back to Ectabana to have the child killed. Harpagus delegated the task to Mithradates, one of the shepherds of Astyages, who raised the child and passed off his stillborn son to Harpagus as the dead infant Cyrus. Cyrus lived in secrecy, but when he reached the age of 10, during a childhood game, he had the son of a nobleman beaten when he refused to obey Cyrus's commands. As it was unheard of for the son of a shepherd to commit such an act, Astyages had the boy brought to his court, and interviewed him and his adopted father. Upon the shepherd's confession, Astyages sent Cyrus back to Persia to live with his biological parents. However, Astyages summoned the son of Harpagus, and in retribution, chopped him to pieces, roasted some portions while boiling others, and tricked his adviser into eating his child during a large banquet. Following the meal, Astyages' servants brought Harpagus the head, hands and feet of his son on platters, so he could realize his inadvertent cannibalism. \n\nIn another version, Cyrus was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court. These folk stories are, however, contradicted by Cyrus's own testimony, according to which he was preceded as king of Persia by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Upon his return, Cyrus married Cassandane who was an Achaemenian and the daughter of Pharnaspes who bore him two sons, Cambyses II and Bardiya along with three daughters, Atossa, Artystone, and Roxane. Cyrus and Cassandane were known to love each other very much - Cassandane said that she found it more bitter to leave Cyrus than to depart her life. After her death, Cyrus insisted on public mourning throughout the kingdom. The Nabonidus Chronicle states that Babylonia mourned Cassandane for six days (identified from 21–26 March 538 BC). After his father's death, Cyrus inherited the Persian throne at Pasargadae which was a vassal of Astyages. It is also noted that Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his step-parents; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, named him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.\n\nRise and military campaigns\n\nMedian Empire\n\nThough his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus the Great had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC; however, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. Astyages, last king of the Median Empire and Cyrus' grandfather, may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.\n\nAccording to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Astyages launched an attack against Cyrus, \"king of Ansan.\" According to the historian Herodotus, it is known that Astyages placed Harpagus in command of the Median army to conquer Cyrus. However, Harpagus contacted Cyrus and encouraged his revolt against Media, before eventually defecting along with several of the nobility and a portion of the army. This mutiny is confirmed by the Nabonidus Chronicle. Babylonian texts suggest that the hostilities lasted for at least three years (553-550), and the final battle resulted in the capture of Ecbatana. According to the historians Herodotus and Ctesias, Cyrus spared the life of Astyages and married his daughter, Amytis. This marriage pacified several vassal including the Bactrians, Parthians, and Saka. \n\nWith Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames was still the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus's authority—more of a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King. His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus's second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus's sons. Cyrus's conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars. \n\nLydian Empire and Asia Minor\n\nThe exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Median kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held. The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning. \n\nWhile in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of the winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus the Great pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus the Great to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great spared Croesus's life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle (the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia), which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain. \n\nBefore returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus's treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyas hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares's arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene. The end of Pactyas is unknown, but after capture, he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures. \n\nMazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC and returned to Persia.\n\nNeo-Babylonian Empire\n\nBy the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa. The Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed, and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace. It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years. \n\nTwo days later, on October 7 (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus. Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians, using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks, diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped \"to the height of the middle of a man's thigh\", which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night. On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus. \n\nPrior to Cyrus's invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact. \n\nAfter taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself \"king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world\" in the famous Cyrus Cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus pleasing the god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.\n\nCyrus the Great's dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen. At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east. \n\nDeath\n\nThe details of Cyrus's death vary by account. The account of Herodotus from his Histories provides the second-longest detail, in which Cyrus met his fate in a fierce battle with the Massagetae, a tribe from the southern deserts of Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum in the southernmost portion of the steppe regions of modern-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following the advice of Croesus to attack them in their own territory. The Massagetae were related to the Scythians in their dress and mode of living; they fought on horseback and on foot. In order to acquire her realm, Cyrus first sent an offer of marriage to their ruler, the empress Tomyris, a proposal she rejected.\n\nHe then commenced his attempt to take Massagetae territory by force (ca. 529), beginning by building bridges and towered war boats along his side of the river Jaxartes, or Syr Darya, which separated them. Sending him a warning to cease his encroachment in which she stated she expected he would disregard anyway, Tomyris challenged him to meet her forces in honorable warfare, inviting him to a location in her country a day's march from the river, where their two armies would formally engage each other. He accepted her offer, but, learning that the Massagetae were unfamiliar with wine and its intoxicating effects, he set up and then left camp with plenty of it behind, taking his best soldiers with him and leaving the least capable ones. The general of Tomyris's army, Spargapises, who was also her son, and a third of the Massagetian troops, killed the group Cyrus had left there and, finding the camp well stocked with food and the wine, unwittingly drank themselves into inebriation, diminishing their capability to defend themselves when they were then overtaken by a surprise attack. They were successfully defeated, and, although he was taken prisoner, Spargapises committed suicide once he regained sobriety. Upon learning of what had transpired, Tomyris denounced Cyrus's tactics as underhanded and swore vengeance, leading a second wave of troops into battle herself. Cyrus the Great was ultimately killed, and his forces suffered massive casualties in what Herodotus referred to as the fiercest battle of his career and the ancient world. When it was over, Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus brought to her, then decapitated him and dipped his head in a vessel of blood in a symbolic gesture of revenge for his bloodlust and the death of her son. However, some scholars question this version, mostly because Herodotus admits this event was one of many versions of Cyrus's death that he heard from a supposedly reliable source who told him no one was there to see the aftermath. \n\nHerodotus also recounts that Cyrus saw in his sleep the oldest son of Hystaspes (Darius I) with wings upon his shoulders, shadowing with the one wing Asia, and with the other wing Europe. Iranologist, Ilya Gershevitch explains this statement by Herodotus and its connection with the four winged bas-relief figure of Cyrus the Great in the following way:\n\nDandamayev says maybe Persians took back Cyrus' body from the Massagetae, unlike what Herodotus claimed. \n\nCtesias, in his Persica, has the longest account, which says Cyrus met his death while putting down resistance from the Derbices infantry, aided by other Scythian archers and cavalry, plus Indians and their elephants. According to him, this event took place northeast of the headwaters of the Syr Darya. An alternative account from Xenophon's Cyropaedia contradicts the others, claiming that Cyrus died peaceably at his capital. The final version of Cyrus's death comes from Berossus, who only reports that Cyrus met his death while warring against the Dahae archers northwest of the headwaters of the Syr Darya. \n\nBurial\n\nCyrus the Great's remains were interred in his capital city of Pasargadae, where today a limestone tomb (built around 540–530 BC) still exists which many believe to be his. Strabo and Arrian give nearly identical descriptions of the tomb, based on the eyewitness report of Aristobulus of Cassandreia, who at the request of Alexander the Great visited the tomb two times. Though the city itself is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact; and the tomb has been partially restored to counter its natural deterioration over the centuries. According to Plutarch, his epitaph said,\n\nCuneiform evidence from Babylon proves that Cyrus died around December 530 BC,Cyrus's date of death can be deduced from the last reference to his own reign (a tablet from Borsippa dated to 12 Augustus 530) and the first reference to the reign of his son Cambyses (a tablet from Babylon dated to 31 August); see R.A. Parker and W.H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. – A.D. 75, 1971. and that his son Cambyses II had become king. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and captured Egypt for the Empire, but soon died after only seven years of rule. He was succeeded either by Cyrus's other son Bardiya or an impostor posing as Bardiya, who became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great.\n\nThe translated ancient Roman and Greek accounts give a vivid description of the tomb both geometrically and aesthetically; The tomb's geometric shape has changed little over the years, still maintaining a large stone of quadrangular form at the base, followed by a pyramidal succession of smaller rectangular stones, until after a few slabs, the structure is curtailed by an edifice, with an arched roof composed of a pyramidal shaped stone, and a small opening or window on the side, where the slenderest man could barely squeeze through.\n\nWithin this edifice was a golden coffin, resting on a table with golden supports, inside of which the body of Cyrus the Great was interred. Upon his resting place, was a covering of tapestry and drapes made from the best available Babylonian materials, utilizing fine Median worksmanship; below his bed was a fine red carpet, covering the narrow rectangular area of his tomb. Translated Greek accounts describe the tomb as having been placed in the fertile Pasargadae gardens, surrounded by trees and ornamental shrubs, with a group of Achaemenian protectors called the \"Magi\", stationed nearby to protect the edifice from theft or damage. \n\nYears later, in the chaos created by Alexander the Great's invasion of Persia and after the defeat of Darius III, Cyrus the Great's tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated, and questioned the Magi and put them to court. On some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire, than a concern for Cyrus's tomb., however Alexander admired Cyrus, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator. Regardless, Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior. Despite his admiration for Cyrus the Great, and his attempts at renovation of his tomb, Alexander had, six years previously (330 BC), sacked Persepolis, the opulent city that Cyrus may have chosen the site for, and either ordered its burning as an act of pro-Greek propaganda or set it on fire during drunken revels. \n\nThe edifice has survived the test of time, through invasions, internal divisions, successive empires, regime changes and revolutions. The last prominent Persian figure to bring attention to the tomb was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah of Iran) the last official monarch of Persia, during his celebrations of 2,500 years of monarchy. Just as Alexander the Great before him, the Shah of Iran wanted to appeal to Cyrus's legacy to legitimize his own rule by extension. United Nations recognizes the tomb of Cyrus the Great and Pasargadae as a UNESCO World Heritage site.\n\nLegacy\n\nBritish historian Charles Freeman suggests that \"In scope and extent his achievements [Cyrus] ranked far above that of\" Alexander the Great, \"who was to demolish the [Achaemenid] empire in the 320s but fail to provide any stable alternative.\" Cyrus has been a personal hero to many people, including Thomas Jefferson, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and David Ben-Gurion. \n\nThe achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity are reflected in the way he is remembered today. His own nation, the Iranians, have regarded him as \"The Father\", the very title that had been used during the time of Cyrus himself, by the many nations that he conquered, as according to Xenophon: \n\nThe Babylonians regarded him as \"The Liberator\". \n\nThe Book of Ezra narrates a story of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus, in which Cyrus boastfully proclaims: \"All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.\"()\n\nCyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. Due in part to the political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid Empire endured long after his death.\n\nThe rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world history. Iranian philosophy, literature and religion all played dominant roles in world events for the next millennium. Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE by the Islamic Caliphate, Persia continued to exercise enormous influence in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, and was particularly instrumental in the growth and expansion of Islam.\n\nMany of the Iranian dynasties following the Achaemenid Empire and their kings saw themselves as the heirs to Cyrus the Great and have claimed to continue the line begun by Cyrus. However, there are different opinions among scholars whether this is also the case for the Sassanid Dynasty. \n\nAlexander the Great was himself infatuated with and admired Cyrus the Great, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance and his abilities as a king and a legislator. During his visit to Pasargadae he ordered Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of his tomb.\n\nAccording to Professor Richard Nelson Frye, Cyrus – whose abilities as conqueror and administrator Frye says are attested by the longevity and vigor of the Achaemenid Empire – held an almost mythic role among the Persian people \"similar to that of Romulus and Remus in Rome or Moses for the Israelites\", with a story that \"follows in many details the stories of hero and conquerors from elsewhere in the ancient world\". Frye writes, \"He became the epitome of the great qualities expected of a ruler in antiquity, and he assumed heroic features as a conqueror who was tolerant and magnanimous as well as brave and daring. His personality as seen by the Greeks influenced them and Alexander the Great, and, as the tradition was transmitted by the Romans, may be considered to influence our thinking even now.\"\n\nOn another account, Professor Patrick Hunt states, \"If you are looking at the greatest personages in History who have affected the World, 'Cyrus the Great' is one of the few who deserves that epithet, the one who deserves to be called 'the Great'. The empire over which Cyrus ruled was the largest the Ancient World had ever seen and may be to this day the largest empire ever.\"Cited quote as per media (documentary piece) titled \"Engineering an Empire – The Persians\". History Channel. Release date: December 4, 2006. Media available for viewing online via [http://www.history.com/ history.com] or via Google Video. Host: Peter Weller. Production: United States.\n\nReligion and philosophy\n\nThough it is generally believed that Zarathushtra's teachings maintained influence on Cyrus's acts and policies, so far no clear evidence has been found to indicate that Cyrus practiced a specific religion. Pierre Briant wrote that given the poor information we have, \"it seems quite reckless to try to reconstruct what the religion of Cyrus might have been.\" His views are believed expressed in the content of the Cylinder:\n\n\"û-mi-Ša-am ma- h ar iluBel ù iluNabu Š a a-ra-ku ume-ia li-ta-mu-ú lit-taŠ-ka-ru a-ma-a-ta du-un-ki-ia ù a-na iluMarduk beli-ia li-iq-bu-ú ' Ša mKu-ra-aŠ Šarri pa-li- hi-ka u mKa-am-bu-zi-ia mari- Šu' \" (Cylinder, Akkadian language line:35) \n\npray daily before Bêl and Nabû for long life for me, and may they speak a gracious word for me and say to Marduk, my lord, \"May Cyrus, the king who worships you, and Cambyses, his son,\" (Cylinder, English Translation line:35)\n\nThe policies of Cyrus with respect to treatment of minority religions are well documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources and the historians accounts. Cyrus had a general policy of religious tolerance throughout his vast empire. Whether this was a new policy or the continuation of policies followed by the Babylonians and Assyrians (as Lester Grabbe maintains) is disputed. He brought peace to the Babylonians and is said to have kept his army away from the temples and restored the statues of the Babylonian gods to their sanctuaries.\n\nHis treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem is reported in the Bible. The Jewish Bible's Ketuvim ends in Second Chronicles with the decree of Cyrus, which returned the exiles to the Promised Land from Babylon along with a commission to rebuild the temple.\n\nThus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the , the God of heaven given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people – the , his God, be with him – let him go there. — ()\n\nThis edict is also fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra.\n\nIn the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: \"Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.\" — ()\n\nThe Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. In one Biblical passage, Isaiah refers to him as Messiah (lit. \"His anointed one\") (), making him the only gentile to be so referred. Elsewhere in Isaiah, God is described as saying, \"I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says God Almighty.\" () As the text suggests, Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute. These particular passages (Isaiah 40–55, often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah) are believed by most modern critical scholars to have been added by another author toward the end of the Babylonian exile \n\nJosephus, the first-century Jewish historian, relates the traditional view of the Jews regarding the prediction of Cyrus in Isaiah in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 11, chapter 1: \n\nCyrus was praised in the Tanakh ( and ) for the freeing of slaves, humanitarian equality and costly reparations he made. However, there was Jewish criticism of him after he was lied to by the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the building of the Second Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so Cyrus in turn stopped the construction, which would not be completed until 515 BC, during the reign of Darius I. \nAccording to the Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:7–24)\n\nThe historical nature of this decree has been challenged. Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples. He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a \"trickle\", taking place over perhaps decades, resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30,000. Philip R. Davies called the authenticity of the decree \"dubious\", citing Grabbe and adding that J. Briend argued against \"the authenticity of Ezra 1.1–4 is J. Briend, in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993, who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather biblical prophetic idiom.\" \nMary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the Cylinder that Cyrus, like earlier rules, was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important, particularly those close to Egypt which he wished to conquer. He also wrote that \"appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co-opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control.\" \n\nSome contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that the Qur'anic figure of Dhul-Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great. This theory was proposed by Sunni scholar Abul Kalam Azad and endorsed by Shi'a scholars Allameh Tabatabaei, in his Tafsir al-Mizan and Makarem Shirazi.\n\nPolitics and management\n\nCyrus founded the empire as a multi-state empire governed by four capital states; Pasargadae, Babylon, Susa and Ecbatana. He allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in each state, in the form of a satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (governor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a 'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government.\n\nDuring his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms, achieved through retaining and expanding the satrapies. Further organization of newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by satraps, was continued by Cyrus's successor Darius the Great. Cyrus's empire was based on tribute and conscripts from the many parts of his realm. \n\nThrough his military savvy, Cyrus created an organized army including the Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained soldiers. He also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh. \n\nCyrus's conquests began a new era in the age of empire building, where a vast superstate, comprising many dozens of countries, races, religions, and languages, were ruled under a single administration headed by a central government. This system lasted for centuries, and was retained both by the invading Seleucid dynasty during their control of Persia, and later Iranian dynasties including the Parthians and Sasanians. \n\nOn December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked Cyrus, saying:\n\nCyrus has been known for his innovations in building projects; he further developed the technologies that he found in the conquered cultures and applied them in building the palaces of Pasargadae. He was also famous for his love of gardens; the recent excavations in his capital city has revealed the existence of the Pasargad Persian Garden and a network of irrigation canals. Pasargadae was a place for two magnificent palaces surrounded by a majestic royal park and vast formal gardens; among them was the four-quartered wall gardens of \"Paradisia\" with over 1000 meters of channels made out of carved limestone, designed to fill small basins at every 16 meters and water various types of wild and domestic flora. The design and concept of Paradisia were exceptional and have been used as a model for many ancient and modern parks, ever since. \n\nCyrus's legacy has been felt even as far away as Iceland and colonial America. Many of the thinkers and rulers of Classical Antiquity as well as the Renaissance and Enlightenment era, and the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, owned two copies of Cyropaedia, one with parallel Greek and Latin translations on facing pages showing substantial Jefferson markings that signify the amount of influence the book has had on drafting the United States Declaration of Independence. \n\nThe English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne penned a discourse entitled The Garden of Cyrus in 1658 in which Cyrus is depicted as an archetypal \"wise ruler\" – while the Protectorate of Cromwell ruled Britain.\n\n\"Cyrus the elder brought up in Woods and Mountains, when time and power enabled, pursued the dictate of his education, and brought the treasures of the field into rule and circumscription. So nobly beautifying the hanging Gardens of Babylon, that he was also thought to be the author thereof.\"\n\nCyrus Cylinder\n\nOne of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus's time is the Cyrus cylinder, a document in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. It had been placed in the foundations of the Esagila (the temple of Marduk in Babylon) as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest in 539 BC. It was discovered in 1879 and is kept today in the British Museum in London. \n\nThe text of the cylinder denounces the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus as impious and portrays Cyrus as pleasing to the chief god Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although not mentioned in the text, the repatriation of the Jews from their \"Babylonian captivity\" has been interpreted as part of this policy. \n\nIn the 1970s the Shah of Iran adopted the Cyrus cylinder as a political symbol, using it \"as a central image in his celebration of 2500 years of Iranian monarchy.\" and asserting that it was \"the first human rights charter in history\". This view has been disputed by some as \"rather anachronistic\" and tendentious, as the modern concept of human rights would have been quite alien to Cyrus's contemporaries and is not mentioned by the cylinder. The cylinder has, nonetheless, become seen as part of Iran's cultural identity.\n\nThe United Nations has declared the relic to be an \"ancient declaration of human rights\" since 1971, approved by then Secretary General Sithu U Thant, after he \"was given a replica by the sister of the Shah of Iran\". The British Museum describes the cylinder as \"an instrument of ancient Mesopotamian propaganda\" that \"reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, from as early as the third millennium BC, kings began their reigns with declarations of reforms.\" The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's continuity with previous Babylonian rulers, asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor. \n\nNeil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, has stated that the cylinder was \"the first attempt we know about running a society, a state with different nationalities and faiths — a new kind of statecraft.\" He explained that \"It has even been described as the first declaration of human rights, and while this was never the intention of the document -- the modern concept of human rights scarcely existed in the ancient world -- it has come to embody the hopes and aspirations of many.\" \n\nFamily tree",
"Battle_of_Thermopylae.txt\nBattle of Thermopylae\nThe Battle of Thermopylae ( ; Greek: , Machē tōn Thermopylōn) was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae (\"The Hot Gates\"). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium.\n\nA Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the middle of 480 BC. The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered over one million, but today considered to have been much smaller (various figures are given by scholars, ranging between about 100,000 and 150,000), arrived at the pass in late August or early September. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's most famous last stands. During two full days of battle, the small force led by Leonidas blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. After the second day, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing that a small path led behind the Greek lines. Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, and perhaps a few hundred others, most of whom were killed.\n\nAt Artemisium, the Greek navy, under the command of the Athenian politician Themistocles, received news of the defeat. Since the Greek strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, and given their losses, it was decided to withdraw to Salamis. The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated Athens. The Greek fleet—seeking a decisive victory over the Persian armada—attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Fearful of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia (losing most to starvation and disease), leaving Mardonius to attempt to complete the conquest of Greece. However, the following year saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion.\n\nBoth ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending its native soil. The performance of the defenders is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.\n\nSources\n\nThe primary source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus. The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the 1st century BC in his Bibliotheca historica, also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars, partially derived from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus. This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus'. The Greco-Persian wars are also described in less detail by a number of other ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias of Cnidus, and are referred to by other authors, as in Aeschylus' The Persians. Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column (now in the Hippodrome of Istanbul), also supports some of Herodotus' specific claims. George B. Grundy was the first modern historian to do a thorough topographical survey of the narrow pass at Thermopylae, and to the extent that modern accounts of the battle differ from Herodotus they usually follow Grundy. For example, the military strategist Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart defers to Grundy. \nGrundy also explored Plataea and wrote a treatise on that battle. \n\nOn the Battle of Thermopylae itself, two principal sources, Herodotus and Simonides, survive. Herodotus' account of the battle, in Book VII of his Histories, is such an important source that Paul Cartledge writes that \"we either write a history of Thermopylae with [Herodotus], or not at all\". Additionally, we have an epitome of the account of Ctesias, by the eighth-century Byzantine Photias, though this is \"almost worse than useless\", missing key events in the battle such as the betrayal of Ephialtes, and the account of Diodorus Siculus in his Universal History. Diodorus' account seems to have been based on that of Ephorus, and contains one significant deviation from Herodotus' account: a supposed night attack against the Persian camp, of which modern scholars have tended to be skeptical. \n\nBackground\n\nThe Greek city-states of Athens and Eretria had encouraged the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499–494 BC. The Persian Empire was still relatively young, and prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples.Holland, p. 47–55 Darius, moreover, was a\nusurper, and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule.\n\nThe Ionian revolt threatened the integrity of his empire, and Darius thus vowed to punish those involved; especially the Athenians, \"since he was sure that [the Ionians] would not go unpunished for their rebellion\". Darius also saw the opportunity to expand his empire into the fractious world of Ancient Greece.Holland, 171–178 A preliminary expedition under Mardonius in 492 BC to secure the land approaches to Greece re-conquered Thrace, and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia. \n\nDarius sent emissaries to all the Greek city-states in 491 BC asking for a gift of \"earth and water\" in token of their submission to him.Holland, pp. 178–179 Having had a demonstration of his power the previous year, the majority of Greek cities duly obliged. In Athens, however, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed by throwing them in a pit; in Sparta, they were simply thrown down a well. This meant that Sparta was also effectively at war with Persia.\n\nDarius thus put together an amphibious task force under Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC, which attacked Naxos, before receiving the submission of the other Cycladic Islands. The task force then moved on Eretria, which it besieged and destroyed. Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of Marathon, where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. At the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia. \n\nDarius therefore began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition.Holland, p. 203 Darius then died whilst preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt, and very quickly restarted the preparations for the invasion of Greece.Holland, pp. 208–211 Since this was to be a full-scale invasion, it required long-term planning, stockpiling and conscription. Xerxes decided that the Hellespont would be bridged to allow his army to cross to Europe, and that a canal should be dug across the isthmus of Mount Athos (rounding which headland, a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BC). These were both feats of exceptional ambition, which would have been beyond any other contemporary state.Holland, pp. 213–214 By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at Sardis marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges.\n\nThe Athenians had also been preparing for war with the Persians since the mid-480s BC, and in 482 BC the decision was taken, under the guidance of the Athenian politician Themistocles, to build a massive fleet of triremes that would be essential for the Greeks to fight the Persians.Holland, p. 217–223 However, the Athenians did not have the manpower to fight on both land and sea; and therefore combating the Persians would require an alliance of Greek city states. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece asking for 'earth and water' but making the very deliberate omission of Athens and Sparta. Support thus began to coalesce around these two leading states. A congress of city states met at Corinth in late autumn of 481 BC,Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.145.1 VII, 145] and a confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed. It had the power to send envoys asking for assistance and to dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points after joint consultation. This was remarkable for the disjointed Greek world, especially since many of the city-states in attendance were still technically at war with each other.Holland, p. 226\n\nThe 'congress' met again in the spring of 480 BC. A Thessalian delegation suggested that the Greeks could muster in the narrow Vale of Tempe, on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance.Holland, pp. 248–249 A force of 10,000 hoplites was dispatched to the Vale of Tempe, through which they believed the Persian army would have to pass. However, once there, being warned by Alexander I of Macedon that the vale could be bypassed through Sarantoporo Pass, and that the army of Xerxes was overwhelming, the Greeks retreated.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.173.1 VII, 173] Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont.\n\nA second strategy was therefore suggested by Themistocles to the Greeks. The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae. This could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians.Holland, pp. 255–257 Furthermore, to prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium. This dual strategy was adopted by the congress.Holland, pp. 255–257 However, the Peloponnesian cities made fall-back plans to defend the Isthmus of Corinth should it come to that, whilst the women and children of Athens had been evacuated en masse to the Peloponnesian city of Troezen. \n\nPrelude\n\nThe Persian army seems to have made slow progress through Thrace and Macedon. News of the imminent Persian approach eventually reached Greece in August thanks to a Greek spy. At this time of year the Spartans, de facto military leaders of the alliance, were celebrating the festival of Carneia. During the Carneia, military activity was forbidden by Spartan law; the Spartans had arrived too late at the Battle of Marathon because of this requirement.Herodotus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.205 VII, 206] It was also the time of the Olympic Games, and therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war.Holland, pp. 258–259. On this occasion, the ephors decided the urgency was sufficiently great to justify an advance expedition to block the pass, under one of its kings, Leonidas I. Leonidas took with him the 300 men of the royal bodyguard, the Hippeis. This expedition was to try to gather as many other Greek soldiers along the way as possible, and to await the arrival of the main Spartan army.\n\nThe legend of Thermopylae, as told by Herodotus, has it that the Spartans consulted the Oracle at Delphi earlier in the year. The Oracle is said to have made the following prophecy:\nO ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon! \nHonor the festival of the Carneia!! Otherwise, \nEither your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, \nOr, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country \nMourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.Rawlinson translation of Herodotus [http://www.greektexts.com/library/Herodotus/Polymnia/eng/242.html VII, 242]Herodotus tells us that Leonidas, in line with the prophecy, was convinced he was going to certain death since his forces were not adequate for a victory, and so he selected only Spartans with living sons.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.205.1 VII, 205]\n\nThe Spartan force was reinforced en route to Thermopylae by contingents from various cities and numbered more than 7,000 by the time it arrived at the pass. Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the 'middle gate', the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the Phocians had built a defensive wall some time before. News also reached Leonidas, from the nearby city of Trachis, that there was a mountain track which could be used to outflank the pass of Thermopylae. Leonidas stationed 1,000 Phocians on the heights to prevent such a manoeuvre.Herodotus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.217 VII, 217]\n\nFinally, in mid-August, the Persian army was sighted across the Malian Gulf approaching Thermopylae. With the Persian army's arrival at Thermopylae the Greeks held a council of war. Some Peloponnesians suggested withdrawal to the Isthmus of Corinth and blocking the passage to Peloponnesus. The Phocians and Locrians, whose states were located nearby, became indignant and advised defending Thermopylae and sending for more help. Leonidas calmed the panic and agreed to defend Thermopylae.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.207.1 VII, 207] According to Plutarch, when one of the soldiers complained that \"Because of the arrows of the barbarians it is impossible to see the sun\", Leonidas replied: \"Won't it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?\" Herodotus reports a similar comment, but attributes it to Dienekes. \n\nA Persian emissary was sent by Xerxes to negotiate with Leonidas. The Greeks were offered their freedom and the title \"Friends of the Persian People\". Moreover, they would be re-settled on land better than that they possessed.Holland, pp. 270–271 When these terms were refused by Leonidas, the ambassador carried a written message by Xerxes, asking him to \"Hand over your arms\". Leonidas' famous response was for the Persians to \"Come and take them\" (). With the Persian embassy returning empty-handed, battle became inevitable. Xerxes delayed for four days, waiting for the Greeks to disperse, before sending troops to attack them.\n\nOpposing forces\n\nPersian army\n\nThe number of troops which Xerxes mustered for the second invasion of Greece has been the subject of endless dispute, because the numbers given in ancient sources are very large indeed. Herodotus claimed that there were, in total, 2.6 million military personnel, accompanied by an equivalent number of support personnel.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.186 VII, 186] The poet Simonides, who was a near-contemporary, talks of four million; Ctesias gave 800,000 as the total number of the army that was assembled by Xerxes.\n\nModern scholars tend to reject the figures given by Herodotus and other ancient sources as unrealistic, and as a result of miscalculations or exaggerations on the part of the victors.Holland, p. 237 Modern scholarly estimates are generally in the range 70,000–300,000. These estimates usually come from studying the logistical capabilities of the Persians in that era, the sustainability of their respective base of operations, and the overall manpower constraints affecting them. Whatever the real numbers were, however, it is clear that Xerxes was anxious to ensure a successful expedition by mustering an overwhelming numerical superiority by land and by sea.de Souza, p. 41.\nThe number of Persian troops present at Thermopylae is therefore as uncertain as the number for the total invasion force. For instance, it is unclear whether the whole Persian army marched as far as Thermopylae, or whether Xerxes left garrisons in Macedon and Thessaly.\n\nGreek army\n\nAccording to Herodotus,Herodotus, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.202.1 VII, 202]Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.203.1 VII, 203] and Diodorus Siculus,Diodorus Siculus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nDiod.+11.4 XI, 4] the Greek army included the following forces:\n\nNotes:\n*The number of Peloponnesians\nDiodorus suggests that there were 1,000 Lacedemonians and 3,000 other Peloponnesians, for a total of 4,000. Herodotus agrees with this figure in one passage, quoting an inscription by Simonides saying there were 4,000 Peloponnesians.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.228.1 VII, 228] However, elsewhere, in the passage summarized by the above table, Herodotus tallies 3,100 Peloponnesians at Thermopylae before the battle. Herodotus also reports that at Xerxes' public showing of the dead, \"helots were also there for them to see\",Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+8.25.1 VIII, 25] but he does not say how many or in what capacity they served. Thus, the difference between his two figures can be squared by supposing (without proof) that there were 900 helots (three per Spartan) present at the battle.Macan, note to Herodotus VIII, 25 If helots were present at the battle, there is no reason to doubt that they served in their traditional role as armed retainers to individual Spartans. Alternatively, Herodotus' \"missing\" 900 troops might have been Perioeci, and could therefore correspond to Diodorus' 1,000 Lacedemonians.\n*The number of Lacedemonians\nFurther confusing the issue is Diodorus' ambiguity about whether his 1,000 Lacedemonians include the 300 Spartans. At one point he says: \"Leonidas, when he received the appointment, announced that only one thousand men should follow him on the campaign\". However, he then says that: \"There were, then, of the Lacedaemonians one thousand, and with them three hundred Spartiates\". It is therefore impossible to be clearer on this point.\n\nPausanias' account agrees with that of Herodotus (whom he probably read) except that he gives the number of Locrians, which Herodotus declined to estimate. Residing in the direct path of the Persian advance, they gave all the fighting men they had; according to Pausanias 6,000 men, which added to Herodotus' 5,200 would have given a force of 11,200. \n\nMany modern historians, who usually consider Herodotus more reliable,Green, p. 140 add the 1,000 Lacedaemonians and the 900 helots to Herodotus' 5,200 to obtain 7,100 or about 7,000 men as a standard number, neglecting Diodorus' Melians and Pausanias' Locrians. Bury, pp. 271–282 However, this is only one approach, and many other combinations are plausible. Furthermore, the numbers changed later on in the battle when most of the army retreated and only approximately 3,000 men remained (300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, possibly up to 900 helots and 1,000 Phocians stationed above the pass; less the casualties sustained in the previous days).\n\nStrategic and tactical considerations\n\nFrom a strategic point of view, by defending Thermopylae, the Greeks were making the best possible use of their forces. As long as they could prevent further Persian advance into Greece, they had no need to seek a decisive battle, and could thus remain on the defensive. Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor. Conversely, for the Persians the problem of supplying such a large army meant that the Persians could not remain in the same place for too long.Holland, pp. 285–287 The Persians therefore had to retreat or advance; and advancing required the pass of Thermopylae to be forced.\n\nTactically, the pass at Thermopylae was ideally suited to the Greek style of warfare. A hoplite phalanx would be able to block the narrow pass with ease, with no risk of being outflanked by cavalry. In the pass, the phalanx would have been very difficult to assault for the more lightly armed Persian infantry. The major weak point for the Greeks was the mountain track which led across the highland parallel to Thermopylae, and which would allow their position to be outflanked. Although probably unsuitable for cavalry, this path could easily be traversed by the Persian infantry (many of whom were versed in mountain warfare).Holland, p 288 Leonidas was made aware of this path by local people from Trachis, and he positioned a detachment of Phocian troops there in order to block this route.Holland, pp. 262–264\n\nTopography of the battlefield\n\nAt the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. On the southern side of the track stood the cliffs that overlooked the pass, and on the north side was the Malian Gulf. Along the path itself was a series of three constrictions, or \"gates\" (pylai), and at the center gate a short wall that had been erected by the Phocians in the previous century to aid in their defense against Thessalian invasions. The name \"Hot Gates\" comes from the hot springs that were located there. \n\nThe terrain of the battlefield was nothing that Xerxes and his forces were accustomed to. Although coming from a mountainous country, the Persians were not prepared for the real nature of the country they had invaded. The pure ruggedness of this area is caused by torrential downpours for four months of the year, combined with an intense summer season of scorching heat that cracks the ground. Vegetation is scarce and consists of low shrubs that are of the thorny type. The hillsides along the pass are covered in thick brush, some plants reaching 10 ft high. With a dangerous cliff to the ocean on one side and steep, impassable hills on the other, King Leonidas and his men chose the perfect topographical position to battle the Persian invaders. \n\nToday, the pass is not near the sea, but is several kilometres inland because of sedimentation in the Malian Gulf. The old track appears at the foot of hills around the plain, flanked by a modern road. Recent core samples indicate that the pass was only 100 m wide and the waters came up to the gates; \"Little do the visitors realize that the battle took place across the road from the monument.\" The pass still is a natural defensive position to modern armies, and British Commonwealth forces in World War II made a defense in 1941 against the Nazi invasion metres from the original battlefield.\n\n*Maps of the region: \n*Image of the battlefield, from the east \n\nBattle\n\nFirst day\n\nOn the fifth day after the Persian arrival at Thermopylae and the first day of the battle, Xerxes finally resolved to attack the Greeks. First, he ordered five thousand archers to fire a barrage of arrows, but they were ineffective; they fired from at least 100 yards away, according to modern day scholars, and the Greeks' bronze shields and helmets deflected the missiles. After that, Xerxes sent a force of ten thousand Medes and Cissians to take the defenders prisoner and bring them before him.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.210.1 VII, 210] The Persians soon launched a frontal assault, in waves of around 10,000 men, on the Greek position. The Greeks fought in front of the Phocian wall, at the narrowest part of the pass, which enabled them to use as few soldiers as possible.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.208.1 VII, 208] Details of the tactics are scant; Diodorus says \"the men stood shoulder to shoulder\" and the Greeks were \"superior in valor and in the great size of their shields.\"Diodorus Siculus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nDiod.+11.7.1 XI, 7] This probably describes the standard Greek phalanx, in which the men formed a wall of overlapping shields and layered spear points protruding out from the sides of the shields, which would have been highly effective as long as it spanned the width of the pass. The weaker shields and shorter spears and swords of the Persians prevented them from effectively engaging the Greek hoplites.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.211.1 VII, 211] Herodotus says that the units for each city were kept together; units were rotated in and out of the battle to prevent fatigue, which implies the Greeks had more men than necessary to block the pass.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.208.1 VII, 204] The Greeks killed so many Medes that Xerxes is said to have stood up three times from the seat from which he was watching the battle.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.212.1 VII, 212] According to Ctesias, the first wave was \"cut to ribbons\", with only two or three Spartans killed in return.\n\nAccording to Herodotus and Diodorus, the king, having taken the measure of the enemy, threw his best troops into a second assault the same day, the Immortals, an elite corps of 10,000 men. However, the Immortals fared no better than the Medes, failing to make any headway against the Greeks. The Spartans apparently used a tactic of feigning retreat, and then turning and killing the enemy troops when they ran after them.\n\nSecond day\n\nOn the second day, Xerxes again sent in the infantry to attack the pass, \"supposing that their enemies, being so few, were now disabled by wounds and could no longer resist.\" However, the Persians had no more success on the second day than on the first. Xerxes at last stopped the assault and withdrew to his camp, \"totally perplexed\".\n\nLater that day, however, as the Persian king was pondering what to do next, he received a windfall; a Trachinian named Ephialtes informed him of the mountain path around Thermopylae and offered to guide the Persian army. Ephialtes was motivated by the desire for a reward.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.213.1 VII, 213] For this act, the name of Ephialtes received a lasting stigma, his name coming to mean \"nightmare\" in the Greek language and becoming the archetypal traitor in Greek culture. \n\nHerodotus reports that Xerxes sent his commander Hydarnes that evening, with the men under his command, the Immortals, to encircle the Greeks via the path. However, he does not say who those men were. The Immortals had been bloodied on the first day, so it is possible that Hydarnes may have been given overall command of an enhanced force including what was left of the Immortals, and indeed, according to Diodorus, Hydarnes had a force of 20,000 for the mission. The path led from east of the Persian camp along the ridge of Mt. Anopaea behind the cliffs that flanked the pass. It branched, with one path leading to Phocis and the other down to the Malian Gulf at Alpenus, first town of Locris.\n\nThird day\n\nAt daybreak on the third day, the Phocians guarding the path above Thermopylae became aware of the outflanking Persian column by the rustling of oak leaves. Herodotus says that they jumped up and were greatly amazed.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.218.1 VII, 218] Hydarnes was perhaps just as amazed to see them hastily arming themselves as they were to see him and his forces.Holland, p. 291–293 He feared that they were Spartans, but was informed by Ephialtes that they were not. The Phocians retreated to a nearby hill to make their stand (assuming that the Persians had come to attack them). However, not wishing to be delayed, the Persians merely shot a volley of arrows at them, before bypassing them to continue with their encirclement of the main Greek force.\n\nLearning from a runner that the Phocians had not held the path, Leonidas called a council of war at dawn. According to Diodorus, a Persian called Tyrrhastiadas, a Cymaean by birth, warned the Greeks. Some of the Greeks argued for withdrawal, but Leonidas resolved to stay at the pass with the Spartans. Many of the Greek contingents then either chose to withdraw (without orders), or were ordered to leave by Leonidas (Herodotus admits that there is some doubt about which actually happened).Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.219.1 VII, 219] The contingent of 700 Thespians, led by their general Demophilus, refused to leave and committed themselves to the fight.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.222.1 VII, 222] Also present were the 400 Thebans, and probably the helots who had accompanied the Spartans.\n\nLeonidas' actions have been the subject of much discussion. It is commonly stated that the Spartans were obeying the laws of Sparta by not retreating, but it seems it was actually the failure to retreat from Thermopylae that gave rise to the notion that Spartans never retreated.Lazenby, pp. 144–145 It is also possible that, recalling the words of the Oracle, Leonidas was committed to sacrifice his life in order to save Sparta. However, since the prophecy was specific to him, this seems a poor reason to commit 1,500 other men to a fight to the death. The most likely theory is that Leonidas chose to form a rearguard so that the other Greek contingents could get away. If all the troops had retreated, the open ground beyond the pass would have allowed the Persian cavalry to run the Greeks down. If they had all remained at the pass, they would have been encircled and would eventually have all been killed. By covering the retreat and continuing to block the pass, Leonidas could save more than 3,000 men, who would be able to fight again. The Thebans have also been the subject of some discussion. Herodotus suggests that they were brought to the battle as hostages to ensure the good behavior of Thebes. However, as Plutarch long ago pointed out, if they were hostages, why not send them away with the rest of the Greeks? The likelihood is that these were the Theban 'loyalists', who unlike the majority of their fellow citizens, objected to Persian domination. They thus probably came to Thermopylae of their own free will and stayed to the end because they could not return to Thebes if the Persians conquered Boeotia. The Thespians, resolved as they were not to submit to Xerxes, faced the destruction of their city if the Persians took Boeotia. However, this alone does not explain the fact that they remained; the remainder of Thespiae was successfully evacuated before the Persians arrived there. It seems that the Thespians volunteered to remain as a simple act of self-sacrifice, all the more amazing since their contingent represented every single hoplite the city could muster. This seems to have been a particularly Thespian trait – on at least two other occasions in later history, a Thespian force would commit itself to a fight to the death.\n\nAt dawn, Xerxes made libations, pausing to allow the Immortals sufficient time to descend the mountain, and then began his advance.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.223.1 VII, 223] A Persian force of ten thousand men, consisting of light infantry and cavalry, charged at the front of the Greek formation. The Greeks this time sallied forth from the wall to meet the Persians in the wider part of the pass in an attempt to slaughter as many Persians as they could. They fought with spears until every spear was shattered and then switched to xiphē (short swords). In this struggle, Herodotus states that two brothers of Xerxes fell: Abrocomes and Hyperanthes. Leonidas also died in the assault, shot down by Persian archers, and the two sides fought over his body, the Greeks taking possession.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.224.1 VII, 224] As the Immortals approached, the Greeks withdrew and took a stand on a hill behind the wall. The Thebans \"moved away from their companions, and with hands upraised, advanced toward the barbarians...\" (Rawlinson translation), but a few were slain before their surrender was accepted. The king later had the Theban prisoners branded with the royal mark.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.233.1 VII 233] Of the remaining defenders, Herodotus says: \"Here they defended themselves to the last, those who still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth.\"Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.225.1 VII, 225] Tearing down part of the wall, Xerxes ordered the hill surrounded, and the Persians rained down arrows until every last Greek was dead. In 1939, archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, excavating at Thermopylae, found large numbers of Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill, changing the identification of the hill on which the Greeks died from a smaller one nearer the wall. \n\nThe pass at Thermopylae was thus opened to the Persian army, according to Herodotus, at the cost to the Persians of up to 20,000 fatalities.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+8.23.1 VIII, 24] The Greek rearguard, meanwhile, was annihilated, with a probable loss of 2,000 men, including those killed on the first two days of battle. Herodotus says at one point that 4,000 Greeks died, but assuming that the Phocians guarding the track were not killed during the battle (as Herodotus implies), this would be almost every Greek soldier present (by Herodotus' own estimates), and this number is probably too high. \n\nAftermath\n\nWhen the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, Xerxes, in a rage against Leonidas, ordered that the head be cut off and the body crucified. Herodotus observes that it was very uncommon for the Persians, as they had the habit of treating \"valiant warriors\" with great honour (the example of Pytheas, captured off Skiathos before the Battle of Artemisium, strengthens this suggestion).Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+7.181.1 VII, 181] However, Xerxes was known for his rage. Legend has it that he had the Hellespont whipped, the water itself, because it would not obey him. \n\nAfter the Persians' departure, the Greeks collected their dead and buried them on the hill. After the Persian invasion was repulsed, a stone lion was erected at Thermopylae to commemorate Leonidas.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.238.1 VII, 238] A full 40 years after the battle, Leonidas' bones were returned to Sparta, where he was buried again with full honors; funeral games were held every year in his memory. \n\nWith Thermopylae now opened to the Persian army, the continuation of the blockade at Artemisium by the Greek fleet became irrelevant. The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium had been a tactical stalemate, and the Greek navy was able to retreat in good order to the Saronic Gulf, where they helped to ferry the remaining Athenian citizens to the island of Salamis.Holland, p. 294\n\nFollowing Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to burn and sack Plataea and Thespiae, the Boeotian cities that had not submitted, before it marched on the now evacuated city of Athens. Meanwhile, the Greeks (for the most part Peloponnesians) prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth, demolishing the single road that led through it and building a wall across it. As at Thermopylae, to make this an effective strategy required the Greek navy to stage a simultaneous blockade, barring the passage of the Persian navy across the Saronic Gulf, so that troops could not be landed directly on the Peloponnese.Holland, pp. 299–303 However, instead of a mere blockade, Themistocles persuaded the Greeks to seek a decisive victory against the Persian fleet. Luring the Persian navy into the Straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet was able to destroy much of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Salamis, which essentially ended the threat to the Peloponnese.Holland, pp. 327–334\n\nFearing that the Greeks might attack the bridges across the Hellespont and trap his army in Europe, Xerxes now retreated with much of the army back to Asia,Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+8.97.1 VIII, 97] though nearly all of them died of starvation and disease on the return.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+8.115.1 VIII, 115] He left a handpicked force under Mardonius to complete the conquest the following year. However, under pressure from the Athenians, the Peloponnesians eventually agreed to try to force Mardonius to battle, and marched on Attica. Mardonius retreated to Boeotia to lure the Greeks into open terrain, and the two sides eventually met near the city of Plataea.Holland, pp. 338–341 At the Battle of Plataea, the Greek army won a decisive victory, destroying much of the Persian army, and ending the invasion of Greece. Meanwhile, at the near-simultaneous naval Battle of Mycale, they also destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet, thereby reducing the threat of further invasions. \n\nThermopylae is arguably the most famous battle in European ancient history, repeatedly referenced in ancient, recent, and contemporary culture. In Western culture at least, it is the Greeks who are lauded for their performance in battle.Holland, p. xviii. However, within the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae was undoubtedly a defeat for the Greeks. It seems clear that the Greek strategy was to hold off the Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium; whatever they may have intended, it was presumably not their desire to surrender all of Boeotia and Attica to the Persians. The Greek position at Thermopylae, despite being massively outnumbered, was nearly impregnable. If the position had been held for even a little longer, the Persians might have had to retreat for lack of food and water. Thus, despite the heavy losses, forcing the pass was strategically a Persian victory, but the successful retreat of the bulk of the Greek troops was in its own sense a victory as well. The battle itself had showed that a few free men were willing to do anything for victory against the invaders. The defeat at Thermopylae had turned Leonidas and the men under his command into martyrs. That boosted the morale of all Greek soldiers in the second Persian invasion.\n\nIt is sometimes stated that Thermopylae was a Pyrrhic victory for the Persians, one in which the victor is as damaged by the battle as the defeated party. However, there is no suggestion by Herodotus that the effect on the Persian forces was that. The idea ignores the fact that the Persians would, in the aftermath of Thermopylae, conquer the majority of Greece,Cawkwell, pp. 105–106 and the fact that they were still fighting in Greece a year later.Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?docHdt.+9.1.1 IX, 1] Alternatively, the argument is sometimes advanced that the last stand at Thermopylae was a successful delaying action that gave the Greek navy time to prepare for the Battle of Salamis. However, compared to the probable time (about one month) between Thermopylae and Salamis, the time bought was negligible. Furthermore, this idea also neglects the fact that a Greek navy was fighting at Artemisium during the Battle of Thermopylae, incurring losses in the process. George Cawkwell suggests that the gap between Thermopylae and Salamis was caused by Xerxes systematically reducing Greek opposition in Phocis and Boeotia, and not as a result of the Battle of Thermopylae; thus, as a delaying action, Thermopylae was insignificant compared to Xerxes's own procrastination. Far from labeling Thermopylae as a Pyrrhic victory, modern academic treatises on the Greco-Persian Wars tend to emphasise the success of Xerxes in breaching the formidable Greek position and the subsequent conquest of the majority of Greece. For instance, Cawkwell states that \"he was successful on both land and sea, and the Great Invasion began with a brilliant success.\n.. Xerxes had every reason to congratulate himself\", while Lazenby describes the Greek defeat as \"disastrous\".\n\nThe fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived not from its effect on the outcome of the war but for the inspirational example it set. Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass. Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources: \"...the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men.\" A second reason is the example it set of free men, fighting for their country and their freedom:\n\nSo almost immediately, contemporary Greeks saw Thermopylae as a critical moral and culture lesson. In universal terms, a small, free people had willingly outfought huge numbers of imperial subjects who advanced under the lash. More specifically, the Western idea that soldiers themselves decide where, how, and against whom they will fight was contrasted against the Eastern notion of despotism and monarchy—freedom proving the stronger idea as the more courageous fighting of the Greeks at Thermopylae, and their later victories at Salamis and Plataea attested. While this paradigm of \"free men\" outfighting \"slaves\" can be seen as a rather sweeping over-generalization (there are plenty of counter-examples), it is nevertheless true that many commentators have used Thermopylae to illustrate this point.Lazenby, pp. 248–253\n\nMilitarily, although the battle was actually not decisive in the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae is also of some significance, on the basis of the first two days of fighting. The performance of the defenders is used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers.Eikenberry, 1996\n\nLegacy\n\nMonuments\n\nThere are several monuments around the battlefield of Thermopylae.\n\nEpitaph of Simonides\n\nA well-known epigram, usually attributed to Simonides, was engraved as an epitaph on a commemorative stone placed on top of the burial mound of the Spartans at Thermopylae. It is also the hill on which the last of them died. The original stone has not survived, but in 1955, the epitaph was engraved on a new stone. The text from Herodotus is:\n\n:.\n\nŌ ksein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tēide\nkeimetha, tois keinōn rhēmasi peithomenoi.\n\nOh stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that\nwe lie here, trusting their words. \n\nThe alternative ancient reading for substitutes \"laws\" or \"orders\" for \"words.\" In other words, the \"orders\" are not personal but refer to official and binding phrases (the Ancient Greek term can also refer to a formal speech). \n\nThe form of this ancient Greek poetry is an elegiac couplet, commonly used for epitaphs. Some English renderings are given in the table below. It is also an example of Laconian brevity, a spartan style of verse that allows for varying interpretations of the meaning of the poem. Ioannis Ziogas points out that the usual English translations are far from the only interpretation possible, and indicate much about the romantic tendencies of the translators.\n\nIt was well known in ancient Greece that all the Spartans who had been sent to Thermopylae had been killed there (with the exception of Aristodemus and Pantites), and the epitaph exploits the conceit that there was nobody left to bring the news of their deeds back to Sparta. Greek epitaphs often appealed to the passing reader (always called 'stranger') for sympathy, but the epitaph for the dead Spartans at Thermopylae took this convention much further than usual, asking the reader to make a personal journey to Sparta to break the news that the Spartan expeditionary force had been wiped out. The stranger is also asked to stress that the Spartans died 'fulfilling their orders'.\n\nThe first line of the epigram was used as the title of the short story \"Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We…\" by German Nobel Prize laureate Heinrich Böll. A variant of the epigram is inscribed on the Polish Cemetery at Monte Cassino.\n\nJohn Ruskin expressed the importance of this ideal to Western civilization as follows:Also obedience in its highest form is not obedience to a constant and compulsory law, but a persuaded or voluntary yielded obedience to an issued command .... His name who leads the armies of Heaven is \"Faithful and True\"... and all deeds which are done in alliance with these armies ... are essentially deeds of faith, which therefore ... is at once the source and the substance of all known deed, rightly so called ... as set forth in the last word of the noblest group of words ever, so far as I know, uttered by simple man concerning his practice, being the final testimony of the leaders of a great practical nation ... [the epitaph in Greek]Ruskin, p. 212\n\nLeonidas monument\n\nAdditionally, there is a modern monument at the site, called the \"Leonidas Monument\", in honor of the Spartan king. It features a bronze statue of Leonidas. A sign, under the statue, reads simply: \"Μολὼν λαβέ\" (\"Come and take them!\"—as in answer to Xerxes' demand that the Greeks give up their weapons). The metope below depicts battle scenes. The two marble statues on the left and the right of the monument represent, respectively, the river Eurotas and Mount Taygetos, famous landmarks of Sparta.\n\n|Leonidas\n|Leonidas Monument\n|Leonidas monument\n\nThespian monument\n\nIn 1997, a second monument was officially unveiled by the Greek government, dedicated to the 700 Thespians who fought with the Spartans. The monument is made of marble and features a bronze statue depicting the god Eros, to whom the ancient Thespians accorded particular religious veneration. Under the statue, a sign reads \"In memory of the seven hundred Thespians.\"\n\nA plate, below the statue, explains its symbolism:\n* The headless male figure symbolizes the anonymous sacrifice of the 700 Thespians to their country.\n* The outstretched chest symbolizes the struggle, the gallantry, the strength, the bravery and the courage.\n* The open wing symbolizes the victory, the glory, the soul, the spirit and the freedom.\n* The broken wing symbolizes the voluntary sacrifice and death.\n* The naked body symbolizes Eros, the most important god of the ancient Thespians, a god of creation, beauty and life.\n\nThe monument to the Thespians is placed beside the one to the Spartans.\n\nImage:Thespies2 evlahos.jpg|A plate, below the statue\n\nAssociated legends\n\nHerodotus' colorful account of the battle has provided history with many apocryphal incidents and conversations away from the main historical events. These accounts are obviously not verifiable, but they form an integral part of the legend of the battle. They often demonstrate the Laconic speech (and wit) of the Spartans to good effect.\n\nFor instance, Plutarch recounts in his Sayings of Spartan Women that upon his departure, Leonidas' wife Gorgo asked what she should do if he did not return; to which Leonidas replied, \"Marry a good man and have good children.\" \n\nIt is reported that, upon arriving at Thermopylae, the Persians sent a mounted scout to reconnoiter. The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. When the scout reported to Xerxes the size of the Greek force and that the Spartans were indulging in calisthenics and combing their long hair, Xerxes found the reports laughable. Seeking the counsel of Demaratus, an exiled Spartan king in his retinue, Xerxes was told that the Spartans were preparing for battle and that it was their custom to adorn their hair when they were about to risk their lives. Demaratus called them \"the bravest men in Greece\" and warned the Great King that they intended to dispute the pass. He emphasized that he had tried to warn Xerxes earlier in the campaign, but the king had refused to believe him. He added that if Xerxes ever managed to subdue the Spartans, \"there is no other nation in all the world which will venture to lift a hand in their defense.\"Herodotus [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc\nHdt.+7.209.1 VII, 209]\n\nHerodotus also describes the reception of a Persian embassy by Leonidas. The ambassador told Leonidas that Xerxes would offer him the kingship of all Greece if he joined with Xerxes. Leonidas answered: \"If you had any knowledge of the noble things of life, you would refrain from coveting others' possessions; but for me to die for Greece is better than to be the sole ruler over the people of my race.\" Then the ambassador asked him more forcefully to surrender their arms. To this Leonidas gave his famous answer: (pronounced) \"Come and get them.\" \n\nSuch Laconic bravery doubtlessly helped to maintain morale. Herodotus writes that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as \"to block out the sun\", he retorted, unconcerned; \"So much the better...then we shall fight our battle in the shade.\" \n\nAfter the battle, Xerxes was curious as to what the Greeks had been trying to do (presumably because they had had so few men) and had some Arcadian deserters interrogated in his presence. The answer was that all the other men were participating in the Olympic Games. When Xerxes asked what was the prize for the winner, the answer was \"an olive-wreath\". Upon hearing this, Tigranes, a Persian general, said: \"Good heavens, Mardonius, what kind of men are these that you have pitted against us? It is not for riches that they contend but for honor!\" (Godley translation) or otherwise \"Ye Gods, Mardonius, what men have you brought us to fight against? Men that fight not for gold, but for glory.\"\n\nIn popular culture\n\nThe Battle of Thermopylae has remained an icon of western civilization ever since it was fought. The battle is revisited in countless adages, in literature in song, and in films, television programs and video games. The battle is discussed in many books and articles on the theory and practice of warfare. The movies The 300 Spartans (1962) and 300 (2007) were based on the events during and close to the time of the battle.\n\nPrior to the battle, the Hellenes remembered the Dorians, an ethnic distinction to which the Spartans belonged, as the conquerors and displacers of the Ionians in the Peloponnesus. After the battle, Spartan culture became an inspiration and object of emulation, a phenomenon known as Laconophilia.",
"M6 Battle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans ...\nBattle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans. ... In this pass few fight against many and three hundred ... The Persian army was the largest and most ...\nM6 Battle of Thermopylae - Last Stand of the 300 Spartans Transcript\nHere, young Leonidas will live, train, and learn to kill.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nWhen a young boy was taken from his mother at age seven and entered the goal of the upbringing, he never did anything, except train for the next twelve years until he entered the Army.\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\nFight!\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nTheir education focused on military skills, and discipline, and toughness. They were often not fed sufficiently so they would be hungry all the time. This would encourage them to steal in order to eat.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nYou were taught not to cry. You were taught to conceal pain. Their whole society was set up to try and strip you of individual identity.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nAnother bizarre ritual that they engaged in to make sure that their guys were tough is that they would be flogged until they bled in groups and whoever was the toughest and uh stood the longest was you know, very highly honored, and the families would stand around and yell, and scream at the boys; don’t you pass out, don’t you pass out. There does seem to be some indications that there was increasing levels of violence as you got older. Of course, one expects that this is aimed for ultimately experience in battle where you’re going to have blood, and brains, and everything all over you.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nIn some ways you really want to see the Spartans as a dysfunctional fraternity where the hazing and the other aspects of fraternity life go awry.\nMale Narrator:\nAs they boys grow older the training becomes more and more intense.\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\nDo honor to your family! Do honor to your Spartan heritage! You will get strong or you will die!\n(Spartan boy yelling)\nSpartan Trainer/ Male Actor 2:\nPush Spartan! Push!\n(Spartan boy yelling)\nMale Narrator:\nBy the time Leonidas and the Spartan boys reach their early teens weapons like wooden swords and tip-less spears are added to the military training. Still during these war games consequences can be deadly.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nViews were killed in the course of this fight. It’s a preparation. You’re going to see your comrades and your use mates being killed.\nMale Narrator:\nOne of the final tests of all young Spartans is also one of the most brutal. Leonidas must sneak out of his barracks at night and murder a local slave called a helot.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThink about this for a second, every culture throughout history has its own version of a male’s rite of passage; when a boy crosses that thresh hold and becomes a man. In the Spartan society you didn’t become a man until you strangled someone to death.\nMale Narrator:\nThe practice of killing a helot is centuries old by the time Leonidas is ready to become a man. The key to this ritual however; is not the murder itself.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nWhat you were not supposed to do was get caught doing it and you would be punished severely for being caught doing it because what the institution was meant to train you in was the art of evasion; the art of being a good soldier, the art of being stealthy.\nMale Narrator:\nBy the time Leonidas is eighteen his education is complete. He has survived a Spartan training designed to weed out the weak. He has learned to kill or be killed. He and the other soldiers are inducted into the army.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nFor Spartan parents this was one of the proudest moments in their lives. It signified the transformation of their son from being a child into being a man. This is especially true of mothers because it validated the sacrifice that they made for the state. She would send her child off at the age of seven or so to become a warrior and now at eighteen she was sending them off to battle. One of the most telling stories is a Spartan mother sending her son off to war and as she was handing him the shield she would tell him in Greek, “h tav heni tav;” “with this shield or on it” and what this means is come back victorious with your shield or come back a corpse carried on it. Basically, you either win the battle or you die. Spartan mothers believed in tough love.\nMale Narrator:\nIn this Spartan warrior cult the women are also renowned for their physical strengths. Sometimes a Spartan man will try to forcefully take a wife but if he is not to her liking and she is strong enough to fend them off the man will fail. If a Spartan male is a worthy and attractive warrior, like Leonidas, he will succeed in winning a wife but home life for a Spartan warrior was anything but typical as they were often on the battlefield.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nThe Spartans were really the first professionals in war craft among the Greek city states. Every summer they would have wars. The Greek city states, they would go over whatever pass they were in to the next town; they would just beat the hell out of each other. They guys, you know, had their, their swords; their spears were up over the fireplace, their shield was there, they’d take them down. This summer they’re going to beat each other’s brains out.\nMale Narrator:\nIt seems that the regional conflicts Leonidas fights are preparation for an ultimate battle looming on the horizon against the Persians at Thermopylae. Four eighty one BC, one year before the Battle of Thermopylae, a Greek spy discovers that the Persian King, Xerxes is mobilizing his army. It is a force that many believe to be nearly three hundred thousand strong.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nTo a Greek eye looking at this it would look like the whole world was coming down to devour you. The numbers would have been immense. They would have been in, in the hundred, if not hundreds of thousands and it really would have looked like the end of the world.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes intention is to burn the city state of Athens to the ground.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhen the Athenians discovered Xerxes plan and the enormous force it put together they quickly realized they’re going to need help. So they sent out a general call to their allies to come and defend Greece but the call falls of deaf ears and the reason for that is, is that nobody has a concept of what Greece as a nation is yet. So what we think of as Greece, at the time was just a bunch of city states who fought each other more often than they fought together.\nMale Narrator:\nDespite their poor relations, the Athenians reach out to one of their major regional rivals for help; the Spartans and their King, Leonidas.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nBy now Leonidas is a well-seasoned military man. Remember, he has spent his childhood enduring the harsh training that all Spartan boys go through to learn how to become a ruthless warrior.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nAnd now he’s one of the Kings of Sparta. So when the Athenians come and ask for help; they’re not stupid. Leonidas is a skilled warrior but for Leonidas personally, this request from the Athenians, it going to seal his fate.\nMale Narrator:\n Before deciding whether to help the Athenians the Spartans consult an oracle.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe Spartans were a very religious people. One of those common ways of interpreting the will of the Gods is through oracle so they were devoted to the oracle at Delphi.\nMale Narrator:\nDating back to about fourteen hundred BCE the oracle at Delphi is one of the most sacred Greek shrines. In a temple erected over a small chasm, the oracle greets information seekers by slipping into a trance like state. Some believe that ethylene vapors emanating from the intersection of three major fault lines deep within the earth might account for the oracle’s behavior. Modern scientists however; have examined the earth beneath the temple and all the studies have been inconclusive.\nLinda Rulman, Ph. D. / Lecturer in Classics:\nWhen a question was posed to her by one of the priests she would pretty babble something pretty much incoherent and the priest then would take her answer and deliver it to the person who asked:\nOracle Voice:\nOh men of Sparta, either your glorious city will be taken by the sons of Persia or all Sparta must mourn the loss of a King for an exchange; a King, a decedent of Great Heracles.\n Male Narrator:\nLeonidas believes he is a decedent of Heracles and that the Gods have chosen him to save Sparta. He tells the Spartan elders that he will help the Athenians battle the Persians.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nLeonidas comes to believe the oracle is referring to him; his death, his sacrifice, saves Sparta.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas’s decision becomes mythical in scope. Yet there may be another reason why Leonidas decides to go to battle.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhether Xerxes himself intended to occupy Greece or not in the minds of the Spartans that’s what they saw as the threat. So the enemy of my enemy is my friend and so what happens is they throw in their lot with, with uh the Athenians. Moreover, if you’re going to have a combined arms defense against the Persians you might as well have the best soldiers in Greece lead it.\nMale Narrator:\nStill the Spartan council isn’t convinced and allows Leonidas to take only a minimal force, a force of three hundred.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nI’m convinced that the, when the three hundred were selected that the other Spartans, there were about nine thousand others in the army; I’m convinced that they felt like they were being cut of a great party. That’s what they were born to do and they knew that, that would create a mortality for them, for their families, for their children, and not to mention of course saving Greece.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas chooses his finest warriors but only those who have already fathered sons to ensure their bloodline would survive.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nDid Leonidas think it was a suicide mission to begin with? Uhm, maybe so, maybe not; what he did understand was that it was a great opportunity for one hell of a military fight and a chance for Spartan and personal glory which is what motivated the Spartans to begin with. \nMale Narrator:\nThe challenge for Leonidas is formidable. He will battle the world’s most powerful fighting force; a war machine that had dominated the world for nearly a century, the mighty Persian Empire. In five forty nine BC about seventy years before the last stand at Thermopylae, Cyrus the Great unifies all the tribes in what is now central Iran. He storms out of the mountains with an army that consists of light and heavy infantry as well as cavalry.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nIt was Cyrus, who uh, realized the importance of cavalry and by hiring essentially horse born tribes; began the tradition of cavalry uh, in the Persian army.\nMale Narrator:\nWhen the Persian army took the field it was made up about eighty percent infantry and about twenty percent cavalry. This combination makes the Persians unstoppable on the open plains in Asia. As the infantry hits the front of the enemy line the cavalry engages the flanks causing them to crumble. Over the course of twenty years, Cyrus conquers four major kingdoms throughout Asia; Media, Lycia, Lydia, and finally in five thirty nine BC he topples mighty Babylonia. Cyrus now rules and empire that stretches from India to Egypt.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph.D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\nThe Persian Empire was the largest and most successful empire in the long history of near eastern empires. They were the big guys on the block.\nMale Narrator:\nCyrus divides his empire into providences called satraps. Instead of forcing conquered peoples to adopt Persian beliefs, Cyrus allows them to govern themselves and practice their own religion.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAnd why you had to pay taxes to the central government? Generally speaking, you could maintain your own way of life and so there was no attempt to impose a single religion uh, or to impose even a single, single civic code.\nMale Narrator:\nCyrus is considered by many to be a liberator. This type of compassionate behavior is almost unheard of in the ancient world and it might have inadvertently led to the Spartans last stand at Thermopylae. In five forty six BC, Cyrus conquers Greek colonies in the providence of Ionia or modern day Turkey. True to form he allows the local governors to remain in power but about fifty years later in four forty nine BC, the Greek colonists revolt.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nSo here’s the Persians trying to do the right thing by supporting the established government, they end up alienating the population and that’s the result called the Ionian Revolt.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian King is now Cyrus’s grandson, Darius. At first Darius allows the local governors to deal with the uprising but the rebels were about to receive outside help. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhen Ionia broke into full revolt against the Persians it called on its mother country, Athens, for help and then the Athenians made perhaps the greatest strategic mistake in the century. They sent troops to help the Ionian rebels.\n Male Narrator:\nWith Athenian help, rebels burned Sardis, the capital of Ionia, to the ground. Herodotus writes about the rebellion.\nHerodotus Voice:\nAlmost instantly, fire began racing from house to house until the entire town was on fire and so Sardis was burned to the ground. In amongst its ruins was a temple of a native goddess, Cybele. After the Persians saw it in ruins they would later make it a pretext for burning temples in Greece.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Ionian Revolt is a very, very important event in the history of Greek and Persian relations because it lays at the root of what was to happen over the next, almost, eighty years and finally bring Athens and, and Persia, Persia into open conflict; something they had not done before.\nMale Narrator:\nAthens has awakened a sleeping giant. King Darius wants revenge.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nIt’s really got his goat. He used to have one of his servants, at every meal, right before he would take his first bite of food; the servant would come into his ear and said “Sire, remember the Athenians.” So Darius vowed that he would pay these guys back.\nMale Narrator:\nBlood is about to drench Greek soil. In four ninety BD, ten years before the Spartans last stand at Thermopylae; the Persian King, Darius sends a force of thirty thousand across the Aegean Sea to annihilate Athens.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe reason for the invasion is that King Darius is upset. Years earlier the Athenians helped a group of Greek revels burn a Persian city to the ground. This was known as the Ionian Revolt. Now it’s payback time and it will result in one of the most famous battles in history, the Battle of Marathon.\nMale Narrator:\nAbout twenty six miles east of Athens on the plain of Marathon a Greek army of about eight thousand marches toward the coast to meet the invaders.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Greeks see the fleet off shore transporting the troops to attack Athens and what they do is they deploy on the beach, threatening the Persians with, with, with the uh, battle and the Persians take the bait.\nMale Narrator:\nThirty thousand Persians pour off their ships and charge the Greeks. The Greeks create a defensive line in a narrow valley between two mountains. The massive Persian force smashes into the Athenians. The Greeks stand strong but soon the center of their defensive line begins to collapse. The Persians push forward but this is a trap. While the center of the Greek line retreats the flanks remain strong. As the Persians press further into the valley the Greek army envelops them.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Greeks suckered the Persians in and now they have them surrounded on three sides. The Persians can’t maneuver and it’s a narrow combat box; the battle becomes an absolute slaughter.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persians retreat to the beach. The Greek commanders decide to risk it all.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nGreek infantry, they charged into the run, smashed into what was left of the, of the Persian infantry; forced them back into the beach and they scrambled to get aboard their, their boats, and as they did they were slaughtered by, they were slaughtered by the Greek infantry. In the instances of a people who were hanging onto the boats top get out; his hands were chopped off uh, by the Greeks.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Greeks send a runner to Athens to report the great victory. The runner runs a distance of about twenty six miles.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAnd that’s why today, the Marathon Race is twenty six miles. Uh, what they don’t tell you is the runner who ran into the square of Athens yelled “Nike,” meaning victory, dropped dead from exhaustion.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Athenians build the original Parthenon to commemorate the famous victory at Marathon over the Persians. The building and the battle send shockwaves through the Persian Empire.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nTo be sure, a great empire like Persia and a great King cannot allow an insult to his national prestige and that’s what the pin-prick at Marathon did. I mean basically it uh, was, is, it said to everyone well look this little uh, this little power stood up to this great giant.\nMale Narrator:\nPersians first attempt at revenge against Athens has failed miserably. Darius plans another attack but dies before the invasion can be realized. Persian vengeance becomes the responsibility of Darius’s son Xerxes. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nOne of the interesting things about the monarchs of the ancient world, whether you look at Egypt, or Syria, or Persia, is they groomed their sons to be warrior Kings by sending them to school.\nMale Narrator:\nWhile Xerxes, no doubt, spent time in the classroom learning philosophy, mathematics, and military tactics he’s also taught how to fight his way out of the most extreme life or death situations.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nHe took a fixed courtyard, the kids stand in the courtyard; they turn a lion loose on them. Kill the lion or be killed.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes pedigree and training help prepare him to rule the world’s largest and most dominate empire. But Xerxes has only one thing on his mind when he becomes King, revenge against Athens. For ten years he plans his massive attack.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nXerxes was no hick, no hay-seed uhm, he was, he was a man who was born to the purple and had been educated as both a warrior and a, and a, and a ruler and he was a good ruler. I mean no one, no one uh; well the only reason we uh, we hold it against him apparently in the west is we, is because he attempted burning of Athens. Ah, what a terrible thing to do.\nMale Narrator:\nIn four eighty one BC, when a Greek spy discovers Xerxes plan he sees not just a massive army but a people who are far more superior technologically than the Greeks. Fore, King Xerxes is about to do the impossible. He is about to walk across water. Xerxes wants to march his army of three thousand across the Hellespont, a mile wide waterway that connects Asia to Europe just south of the Black Sea.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nIf they were going to do this entirely by land they would have to walk around the Black Sea which would add about two years to their march and would require them to conquer a whole other set of people.\nMale Narrator:\nTo get his massive force across the Hellespont, Xerxes orders his engineers to build a mile long pontoon bridge made of old transport ships.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAt the time this was going on there was a transition in the design of ships. New ships were coming online lots of old ones, old cargo ships, were available uh, at cheap money; they were simply bought and strung together.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes engineers lined nearly seven hundred ships next to one another. Likely using boulders, they anchor each ship to the sea floor from both the bow and the stern then they tether the ships together with two different types of special cables; one made of flax or heavy linen, the other made of papyrus.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nNow when we think of papyrus we usually think of paper but the Egyptians had come up with a way to turn the sticky center of the papyrus plant, called the pith, into a strong durable rope and this is what Xerxes engineers tethered the ships with; the papyrus rope and the linen ropes. This is the high tech part of this whole operation, these long cables that would reach over a mile.\n Male Narrator:\nDozens of these sections of cable, weighing nearly two tons each, secure the boats together and are anchored to either shore. The Persians then nail wooden planks across the rails of each ship to create a flat surface over which men and animals can march.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nIt was a remarkable engineering feat and it would have again, with the Greeks on the other side, it would have given pause because these are not a people who simply have a large army. These are a people who understand the principles of engineering.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian army crosses the bridge and begins the march around the Aegean Sea. Nearly three months later, Xerxes and his Persian force of three hundred thousand arrive in northern Greece. Thanks to the Athenian spy however; the Greek coalition has already established two lines of defense. The first is in the southern part of the peninsula at the Isthmus of Corinth to defend the city states on the Peloponnese, including Sparta. The other is the advanced team in the north at the Thermopylae Pass. Here, the Spartan King Leonidas leads a coalition army consisting of three hundred Spartan warriors and seven thousand soldiers from other Greek city states. Off the coast, Athenian General Themistocles leads the Greek Navy and prepares to face off against the Persian fleet in the narrow Atremesium Strait. The battle of Thermopylae is at hand.\nOn a cliff overlooking the Thermopylae Pass in northern Greece, King Xerxes of Persia is poised to send his army into battle. Xerxes has marched nearly three hundred thousand men accompanied by one thousand more ships around the Aegean Sean with the intention of sacking the Greek city state of Athens. Waiting in the Thermopylae Pass is the Spartan King Leonidas with nearly seven thousand Greek soldiers. They block the east side of the pass defending the route to Athens. In a brilliant strategic move they have chosen to fight at Thermopylae because the terrain negates the Persian numerical advantage.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nPasses are a marvelous thing. One might ask for example; why has Switzerland never been invaded because of passes. One man with a rifle can hold the division down if the pass is narrow enough. In the ancient world, you can’t fight with any more men that you can hit front on front. So, if you can narrow that front on front to a few hundred men or a few dozen men then a number of hundred men can hold up a hundred thousand men.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAs often happens in the ancient world before the battle, Xerxes first tried to negotiate with Leonidas. He sends a message saying “you’re closely outnumbered, you’re facing the best army in the world; don’t be stupid. Lay down your weapons and you will live otherwise you’re all going to die.” And of course; Leonidas doesn’t take too kindly to that. Then comes the most famous line out of Herodotus, the messenger says “be prepared to die our arrows will block out the sun;” to which Dienekes, Leonidas’s lieutenant replies.\nDienekes/Actor:\nThen we shall have our battle in the shade. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAnd that right there pretty much sums up what this battle was going to be about. The Spartans were the finest, toughest soldiers in Greece.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Author, The Ambiguity of Greatness:\nThe three hundred Spartans who were sent to Thermopylae were the delta force of the ancient world. Their job was to hold that pass or to die trying.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas and his warriors assume their standard fighting formation; the Phalanx.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Spartans fought in, in platoons of eight men across, four men deep shoulder to shoulder with one person kind of peeking underneath the other fellows to his rights shield. So you have a shield wall in front.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nIt’s going to be essentially a wall of bronze, and wood, and muscle just sort of standing there gleaming in the sunlight.\nMale Narrator:\nAll Greek soldiers are heavy infantry called hoplites. Named for the large round shield they carry referred to as the hoplon. Made from a concave piece of wood and covered with a thin sheet of bronze, the shield is about three feet in diameter and weighs up to twenty pounds.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe hand grip of, of this shield came in about the sixth century BC and it was called the Argive grip, and it revolutionized warfare.\nMale Narrator:\nOlder shields were gripped by a single handle in the middle. On the Argive shield the solder passed his arm through a leather loop in the middle and held onto a handle near the rim, giving him more leverage.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nSo you grab the end of the shield and the arm, center of the arm held it. Now if you think about what you can do with that shield, much more force can be applied.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Spartans were known for painting personal images on their shields face.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nThere’s a story of a Spartan who had a fly, a life sized fly on the, on his shield and when his friends asked him why; he said that he would get so close to the enemy that fly would look like a lion. \nMale Narrator:\nKing Xerxes fulfills his promise to block out the sun. He orders nearly five thousand archer’s to launch their missiles. Xerxes archers are tribesmen from all corners of his empire. They likely supply their own bow which tend to be made from date palm wood, a cheaper material that diminishes its firing power and from over a football field away the arrows raining down on the Greeks have trouble penetrating the hot lights heavy armor.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe arrows are bouncing off shields, bouncing off helmets; doing almost no damage. Uh, logically unless you took one in the eye there’s almost no place where an arrow could penetrate.\n(Warriors Yelling)\nMale Narrator:\nIn addition to his shield, the hot lights’ Corinthian helmet helps keep them protected from the Persian arrows. The helmet originated in Greece around the seventh century BC., made from a single piece of bronze, the helmet offered maximum head protection for the hoplite. But these helmets were heavy, weighing about ten pounds and restricted the soldiers hearing and vision. While most helmets were adorned with a horse hair crest running down the center, Spartan officers like Leonidas would have worn a helmet with the crest running side to side. Some historians believe that the Spartans most likely wore a bronze cuirass for torso protection. Most hoplites at the time however; wore sophisticated lamellar armor. Its strength comes from its layered design, made by gluing strips of heavy linen, leather, and thin bronze together. The lamellar armor forms a type of ancient Kevlar.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nUh, believe it or not, multiple strips of leather and linen uh, could stand, could with stand a spear thrust. It wouldn’t penetrate a spear or arrow thrust.\nMale Narrator:\nAbandoning the missile attack, ten thousand Persian light infantry men charge at the Greeks; over a million pounds of muscle, bronze, and wood are about to collide in the Thermopylae Pass.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nInevitably, this mass crashes into the Greek phalanx and it just doesn’t move. I mean it’s too heavy, it’s too thick; the pressure from the back is holding it forward.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Greeks stop the crushing charge. Now they go on the offensive. Fighting from their discipline phalanx, the front two lines launch a coordinated spear attack from above and below the shield wall. The hoplites primary weapon is the dory, a six to nine foot long spear. About two inches in diameter, the two to four pound dory features a deadly iron spearhead. On the back of the spear is an iron butt plate which provides balance and gives the hoplite a second weapon with which to kill.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nFirst clash, the spears come down and the spears come up from underneath, and as the cries, and the blood is everywhere. They probably killed about a thousand men and most of the wounds would have been, been fatal. They would have been delivered to the chest or the face.\nMale Narrator:\nThe hoplites secondary weapon was the xiphos, a two to three foot long iron straight sword made specifically to thrust and hack at the enemy. But the Greeks would only use this if they lost their spear or if the phalanx broke rank which did not happen often. The fighting rages on and off for most of the day.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat mostly happens is what we call battle pulses. The two sides would hack at one another and bang at one another for a few, maybe some times only a few seconds; ten, ten or twenty seconds then they’d break it off again. Okay? Maybe the other side would drop back a little bit and then these guys would move forward again. So it was not a continuous battle field experience. It was not a continuous combat. It can’t work that way.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persians are easy targets. They wear little or no armor and carry flimsy wooden shields.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe Persian light infantry are not designed for this kind of battle. They’re built for speed, to attack disorganized tribal armies on the open plains of Asia.\nMale Narrator:\nStuck in the narrow pass, the Persians are unable to maneuver. They also cannot utilize their cavalry. The steepness of Mount Callidromus on one side and the Aegean Sea on the other prevent a Persian cavalry flanking maneuver.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nIf you look at the two Greek battles that we study most often which is Marathon and Thermopylae, what you’ll see is the brilliance of Greek commanders in selecting to rein where the Persians could not bring their cavalry to bear. At Marathon they never got it off the ships and, and even if they did it wouldn’t make a difference because the Greek wedged themselves into a narrow front and same at Thermopylae. The cavalry would’ve been totally useless.\nMale Narrator:\nWith each battle pulse more and more Persians are slaughtered. There is no mercy only death.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nAnd it was just carnage the first day. The Spartans formed up shoulder to shoulder like a great rock and let the waves of the Persians just break on them.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Author, The Ambiguity of Greatness:\nThe Persians began to get the message that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to launch themselves in wave after wave against these guys, each one of whom had uh, the equivalent of our very best special forces training.\nMale Narrator:\nAt the end of the day, the three hundred Spartans and their Greek allies kill any remaining Persians. \nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nLeonidas understands the tactical situation and after the first day of fighting. He uh, he gets that’s exactly what I set out to do. I’m holding up one of the largest land armies ever to attack Greece. I got it funneled up here and so far they can’t do anything to uh, stop it.\nMale Narrator:\nBut at the same time the land battle is being fought the Persians are trying to gain access to the rear of the Greek defenses by sea. A great naval battle between the Greeks and Persians is bloody in the Artemesium Strait. In the Thermopylae Pass the mighty King, Leonidas and his Spartan warriors are successfully fending off an attack by the Persian light infantry. At the same time, off the coast of Thermopylae in the Artemesium Strait a battle between the Persian and Greek navy’s is about to erupt.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nIf you think of the Battle of Thermopylae in strategic terms, if you have a military mind the first question you’re going to ask is; yeah the Spartans could hold the salon here but what about the sea, what about the ocean? Why couldn’t Xerxes just relay in troops behind them? He had an armada of a thousand or more ships.\nMale Narrator:\nThe reason is the Athenian Navy. They are based here at Artemesium while the Persians are based across the Strait at Aphetae. The Persian goal is to break through the Greek line, sail down the narrow six mile wide Artemesium Strait, and land troops behind Leonidas and his Greek warriors surrounding them. The man in charge of stopping the Persian fleet is aboard the Athenian flagship. He is considered by many to be the mastermind behind the land and sea defense against the Persians and is widely regarded as one of the ancient world’s most brilliant military tactician. He is the Athenian, Themistocles.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhen most people think of the Battle of Thermopylae they immediately think of the three hundred Spartans or they think of Leonidas. But really the unsung hero of the battle, the man who made it all happen was Themistocles.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThemistocles in a way was the Winston Churchill of his day. He was a great Athenian politician with great foresight for the coming struggle and a profound military thinker. If it weren’t for him there would’ve been no Battle of Thermopylae.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian Navy attempts to surround the Greek fleet. They send two hundred of their thousand ships south east around the island of Euboea.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nBy sailing around Euboea the Persian naval commander is going to try to avoid wasting his energies with a direct assault. He figures the Greeks are not stupid enough to attack him so he waited his base until the smaller force sails around the island and surrounds the Greek fleet. \nMale Narrator:\nBut Themistocles makes a bold and daring move that surprises the Persian commander. Late in the afternoon the Greek fleet sails from their base and provokes the Persian fleet which is nearly six times its size.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThis surprises the Persian commander greatly. That Themistocles would have the gall to attack the mighty Persian Navy is one thing but he’s also surprised by the timing of the attack. It’s late in the afternoon.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nBy starting in the afternoon he knows the battle will be over soon because they’re going to run out of daylight. You can’t fight a naval battle in the dark. So Themistocles is trying to minimize his potential damages if the battle gets away from him by counting on nightfall to end it.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian commander orders his eight hundred remaining ships into the strait. Despite being out numbered Themistocles and the fleet attempt to sink the Persian ships in a ferocious attack.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe name of the game was to sink the other guy’s ship. To ram her in the side or to knock all of the oars off and render her out of commission. The Greeks definitely have an uphill battle here but they do have one major advantage. They have the brilliance of Themistocles.\nMale Narrator:\nThemistocles is born the son of a merchant. If this would have been earlier in Greek history Themistocles would have been relegated to a lower status. But democracy is about to be born in Athens allowing Themistocles to shed his merchant class shackles. Because of its natural harbor, Athens develops a strong sea bearing tradition and becomes both an economic and naval force in the Aegean. Many Athenian males including Themistocles become expert seaman able to navigate the treacherous Greek coasts. While Themistocles naval training would no doubt shape his future, it is on land in the Athenian government where he might have learned some of his most valuable lessons.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat Themistocles learned growing up in a developing democracy was the art of manipulation and political strategies. These were not cut throat politics like say in Rome, where people we literally killed. What he did was use his intelligence and guile to position himself in the government where one day he could be extremely influential.\nMale Narrator:\nit is these skills that will ultimately help him create the Athenian Navy which he will need to battle the mighty Persians. Around four ninety BC, ten years before the last stand at Thermopylae Athens owns only about one hundred war ships; Themistocles knows this is only a fraction of what the Persians can muster. He knows this because he witnessed the Persian force up close and personally at Marathon.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThemistocles was one of the generals that had been at the Battle of Marathon and there he had seen Persian tactics first hand. So he’s an experienced military man. He took away a different lesson from Marathon than the other Greek generals did. The other generals saw it as a triumph of ground forces over navy. What Themistocles learned at Marathon was that cannot use ground forces on the ground unless you have naval support.\nMale Narrator:\nThemistocles knows that after their humiliating loss at Marathon the Persians would seek revenge and be back to finish what they had started and he knows that they won’t make the same mistake twice. He believes the Persians will come by land and sea and bring many more soldiers and ships.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat Themistocles saw was a synergy between naval forces and ground forces. That is the navy could only support ground forces as long as the coast was friendly. The ground forces had to make the coast friendly.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThemistocles knew the Persians could not sustain an army in mainland Greece if they didn’t, weren’t able to supply it by sea. So if you had naval power, significant naval power, made yourself dominant naval power in the Aegean you could render the Persians impudent.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThus he concluded, the future for Athens rested no in increasing the size of your ground force which is fairly significant anyway, but point of fact; to increase your navy.\nMale Narrator:\nThe problem Themistocles faces is that no one believes him. Both the Athenian generals and the general public are plagued by an overconfidence in the Athenian army and in denial about Persia’s return.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThemistocles lived every day of his political life as, if we’ve got to deal with this now; we’ve got to deal with this now and there were a couple strategies that Themistocles uhm, followed that, that probably saved the Greek world.\nMale Narrator:\nFirst he must convince Athens that they need to invest in the Navy. Perhaps more importantly he must find the money in which to do it. He gets lucky in four eighty three BC, three years before the last stand at Thermopylae. In the Athenian district of Laurium miners discover a new vein of silver. After a year they extract nearly two tons of the precious metal from the earth. Themistocles wants the money made from silver to be spent on his navy. The challenge for him is to convince Athenians that they don’t need extra money in their pockets but rather extra war ships in their harbor.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nEach Athenian was due to get ten drachma. That would be about fifteen hundred, sixteen hundred dollars in today’s money. It’s a lot of money.\nMale Narrator:\nBecause most Athenians are in denial about a second Persian invasion, Themistocles draws upon his political savvy to win them over; he lies to them. Themistocles misleads the Athenians into thinking that a small rival island off the coast of Athens called Aegina poses a threat to the safety of Athenian merchant ships. Finally convinced, Athenians allow Themistocles to invest in the Navy. Greek civilization might be saved by a lie.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nWhat historians may call a lie or an untruth; a politician would call a clever misdirection of the populace to achieve a greater end, that’s what Themistocles said. He knew if he told the truth that the populace would never go for it. So he had a nice little ploy, little story, little cover story; it worked.\nMale Narrator:\nThemistocles gets his ships. Athenian war ships at the time are called Triremes. The trireme is about ninety feet long by about eighteen feet wide. Most of it is likely built from pine, a common Mediterranean tree.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe best analogy of a trireme was, she was a light boat that was more like a racing scull. Uh, it was not a heavy boat and why? Because the object was to ram and so the lighter it was the faster you could make it go.\nMale Narrator:\nBuilt for speed, the hall of the trireme is open. The deck consists of one or two planks of wood running lengthwise upon which the ships commander and about four marines would stand. Despite possessing a small sail, the trireme is mainly powered by between one hundred seventy and two hundred twenty oarsmen arranged in three banks of oars; one above the other. The front of the trireme is shaped like a rounded brow. The brow is probably made of heavier cedar then covered with brass or copper enabling the ship to ram enemy vessels.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe fastest a trireme has ever been marked, and we’ve created, reconstructed them, in a two thousand meter run is fifteen knots but on balance that’s a fast pulse in order to ram.\nMale Narrator:\nBy the time the Persians reach Thermopylae and Artemesium a year later the Greeks have added over one hundred additional ships to the fleet. Still the Persian fleet out numbers the Greek fleet nearly six to one. Themistocles is about to discover whether his efforts to build the Athenian Navy had been in vain. In the Artemesium Strait the Athenian commander Themistocles leads nearly two hundred Greek war ships into battle. They attack more than eight hundred Persian war ships.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThemistocles is doing the unexpected. Late in the afternoon on the first day of the battle he’s actually attacking the much larger Persian fleet. It’s a risky move. If he allows the Persians to sail through the Artemesium Strait, Leonidas and the three hundred Spartans will be surrounded and cut to pieces.\nMale Narrator:\nUsing a flag to signal the fleet. Themistocles has all of the Greek war ships slowly back into a barrower part of the strait forming a circle. At a second signal the Greek fleet rushes from their formation and attacks the Persians.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nGreat naval battles were actually not about people getting off and fighting each other or even hooking up and trying to fight. They were about maneuvering the ships in such a way that you can ram and sink.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThe most common way was to come along side at an angle and smash his oars because remember they’re not powered by sail, they’re powered by oars. So if you could smash his oars; and what would happen as one ship came alongside the other the attacking ship would pull in its oars and allow the side of its ship to smash in and run along this way. Now she’s dead in the water.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nSo in these battles what is really consequential isn’t so much the weight of your ship or the size of your ship but rather the speed of your ship.\nMale Narrator:\nIn the small confined space of Artemesium the smaller Greek fleet inflicts damage upon several Persian ships. They also capture thirty enemy vessels and take many prisoners.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nWe’re not exactly sure why the Greeks faired so well that first day at Artemesium. The Greeks and the Persians all had the same types of boats. Everybody had triremes so nobody would’ve necessarily had any speed advantage.\nMale Narrator:\nWhatever the reason, it is a great psychological victory for the Greek Navy and because Themistocles began his attack late in the day he knew the battle would not last long insuring his potential losses would be minimal.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThis has got to be a complete surprise to everybody. The Persians certainly weren’t expecting to lose to the smaller Greek fleet and I don’t think the Greeks were expecting to come out so strong, and I think that’s one of the reasons Themistocles started this thing so late in the day. So you’ve got Themistocles winning the battle at sea and of course Leonidas and the Spartans are winning the battle on land.\nMale Narrator:\nOn this first day of battle Xerxes has been shocked and embarrassed by Themistocles and the Athenian Navy and has lost nearly ten thousand infantry men to Leonidas and the Spartans.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nAfter first days battle at Thermopylae and Artemesium, uh the Persians have been very roughly handled by the Greeks. They are back in their camp that evening licking their wounds and Xerxes is wondering what he is going to do about this.\nMale Narrator:\nAs night falls a tremendous storm erupts and the Persian soldiers are further harassed by thunder, wind, and rain.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nSo you have to imagine the flashes of lightening illuminating the wrecks on the sea and the dead bodies. So, a very disconsoling night for the Persians, they probably weren’t getting any sleep as they had wanted. They’re going to need is for the next day’s battle.\nMale Narrator:\nThe Persian fleet that has been sent around the island of Euboea is caught in the storm. The Aegean swallows all two hundred ships. It is an omen that the Persians cannot ignore and one the Greeks happily embrace for the next day will bring more bloodshed. On the second day of battle the Athenians and Spartans take their respective defensive positions, Themistocles in the Artemesium Strait; Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans at the Thermopylae Pass. They both prepare for the second Persian attack.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nThe sun comes up on the second day and Xerxes says, well uh, enough with the, the junior level uh, infantry we’re sending in the big boys.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes sends in the hammer and fist of the Persian army, the silent and masked heavy infantry called the Immortals.\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\nXerxes decided to send in the A team, the Immortals. He believed that once the Immortals were put into action that, that would end their resistance immediately.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nHere come ten thousand men assembled in a rectangle, in essence. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Right to you in silence, no matter what happens they’re coming right at you. They wore no helmets but they had what’s called a tiara on their head. The tiara was a wrapped cloth but a very thin cloth that they could see through.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nTen thousand strong; they were called Immortals because when one man retired or, or died he was immediately replaced by another.\nMale Narrator:\nThe army’s stand some fifty yards apart in the Thermopylae Pass. The Persians faceless and mute but silence is not part of the Spartan psychological strategy.\n(Spartan Warriors yelling)\nMale Narrator:\nFinally the Persians advance. Silently the Immortals slam into the Greek line. As on the previous day, the three hundred Spartans and the Greek soldiers hold fast. The Immortal’s spears cannot penetrate the Greek armor. The Greek spears have no problem finding their mark. The Immortals wear thin scale armor beneath their tunics but these overlapping metal scales are no thicker than playing cards, powerless against the strength and precision of the Spartan dory. Persian shields are made only of wicker.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThat worked very well if you were warding off javelins, dagger thrusts, or arrows. But a wicker shields compared to the Greeks which was a brass or bonze shield; the spear of the Greek infantry could easily pierce a wicker shield.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nSo man for man, company for company, platoon for platoon; they were no match for the Spartans in close combat.\n(Persian Immortal screaming)\nGuy MacLean Rogers, Ph. D. / Chair of Hellenic Studies, Western Connecticut State University:\nIt’s fairly clear that they had never fought against an uh, hoplite army that was as well trained, as well equipped, and as tactically flexible as the Spartans were.\nMale Narrator:\nAfter two days thousands of Persians have been killed.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nIf you imagine an infantry line that’s killing in front of it with the spears, okay, the, the dead themselves pile up. After every assault there are dead men, there are men screaming in pain, men who were bleeding all over the landscape but mostly men who were in the way. You, you have to get rid of them somewhere so what would happen is during one of the falls in the battle is the squelch would go forward and pull the dead out of the way.\nMale Narrator:\nBy the end of the second day the Persian body count is enormous and the ground forces have once again been stymied.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nSo tactically speaking, after the first two days fighting at Thermopylae, Leonidas would’ve considered himself to be in a pretty good position. He had taken everything the Persians could throw at him and he had lost only a few men himself.\nMale Narrator:\nMeanwhile off the coast, Themistocles again leads the Athenian Navy against the Persian fleet in the Artemiseum Strait. The massive storm from the night before has destroyed the Persian ships that sailed around Euboea. With no Persian ships bearing down behind him, Themistocles can concentrate his force to the front but he is still out numbered five to one. While exact details of the battle are unknown, the Greek triremes again are able to destroy many of the Persian war ships.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nSo by the end of the second day at sea a similar scenario would, uh was working out. The Persians had again, have tried to throw themselves at Themistocles at sea and they hadn’t done any better the second day. So the front was holding, the Greek front was holding at sea and on land.\nMale Narrator:\nIt is another psychological victory for the Greeks. Xerxes grows frustrated but the solution will soon become clear to the Persian King and it will be one of the most famous and heroic last stand in history. Seven thousand Greek soldiers lead by the Spartan Kind, Leonidas and his elite group of three hundred Spartan warriors, block the narrow Thermopylae Pass in north eastern Greece. They are here to prevent the Persian army, the largest land force ever assembled, from destroying the Greek city state of Athens.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nYou’re stuck with the cork in the bottle and you’ve got to get the cork out of the bottle. What had happened until now, they had tried a light infantry attack and suffered badly and so, so they cross with their best troops which is a heavy infantry and suffer just as badly. So uh; now what to do? Things are getting a little dicey, the army’s being held up, it has to eat every day, it’s consuming supplies, it’s getting nowhere; uh the answer is to find a way around the, the uh Spartan position.\nMale Narrator:\nXerxes discovers the answer. A small trail leads from the Persian camp around Mount Callidromus and continues behind the Greek line. Historians are unsure as to when Xerxes had become aware of the pass. Some believe that a Greek spy had informed him after the second day of battle. Seeing that he cannot penetrate the stiff Greek defense and knowing his food supply is running short, Xerxes decides to use the pass.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nWhat he did is at the uh, nightfall of the second day after the heavy infantry attack had failed at the center, began under the cover of darkness to move ten thousand men up that road at the flank; uh the Spartan position.\nMale Narrator:\nBut this pass was not unknown to Leonidas. Before the first day of the attack, Leonidas had stationed one thousand men at the top of the pass. This force was made up of a people called the Phocians. But as the Persians approach the Phoenician line the force is missing.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThere is an intersection at the top of that ridge, one that leads to the Phocia and for some reason the Phocian troops seem to think the attack is going to be on their homeland and they withdraw.\nMale Narrator:\nFearing their homeland will be attacked the Phocians retreat to defend their families. The Persians now have an unhindered path to destruction.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nAt this point Leonidas is doomed. Above and beyond them are ten thousand infantry men who can come scrambling down the hill at any given time.\nMale Narrator:\nIn the middle of the night Greek scouts deliver the new to Leonidas that the Phocians have deserted. Knowing that he has been out flanked, Leonidas orders the retreat of the Greek infantry.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nYou can’t just order four thousand people to just turn around and leave. There are a lot of reasons for that; one, the enemy knows immediately what you’re doing and is going to attack you from the front. Uh, you can’t wait until you’re; you’re completely enclosed in the back. What do you have to do? You’ve got to get relatively small units out in a phased withdrawal, hopefully quietly so the enemy doesn’t know essentially that the front has been thinned otherwise they’ll attack you.\nMale Narrator:\nBy dawn all of the Greek troops have retreated. All except Leonidas, the three hundred Spartans, and about one thousand soldiers from the Greek city state of Thespia.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nVery few people know this bit of information about the battle but around a thousand Thespians, soldiers from the city state of Thespia, stayed behind with Leonidas; they could have left but they decided to stay and fight with the Spartans to the end. Now the reason this gets lost is that the Battle of Thermopylae has been mythologized throughout history and in movies today in such a way that only three hundred Spartans took on millions of Persians but it’s not so.\nMale Narrator:\nStill this force of just over a thousand is surrounded by tens of thousands of Persians. Leonidas and his men are about to make their last stand.\nSteven Pressfield/ Author, Gates of Fire:\nThere was a great moment uh, when the Spartans were going forward to the front lines to die and their allies were going back to live, and that to me is in many ways is, is the most emotional moment of the fight.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nSo the question is why did he do this? Why did he do this? Why didn’t Leonidas pull his groups out and go with them? Oaky and I, I think there are a couple of answers to that. Uh you know, some people will say he was fulfilling the prophecy of the oracle.\nOracle Voice:\nEither your glorious city will be taken by the sons of Persia or all Sparta must morn for the loss of a King.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Chair, Department of Classics, Saint Anselm College:\nThe sacrifice in his mind is about saving Sparta and that’s why he stays and that’s why he engages in a quixotic battle that he knows he’s destined to lose. It’s not because he wants to be a marauder. It’s not because as a Spartan soldier, he’s been trained, he must die. Quite the opposite, as a Spartan soldier he’s been trained to sneak, to steal, to evade. But as a Spartan he believes in the oracles, as a Spartan he believes in the religion, and as a Spartan it’s his duty to stay and die for the state.\nMale Narrator:\nLeonidas’s state might have kept him in the Thermopylae Pass but if looked upon from a military perspective, he might have been there as a covering force during a tactical retreat.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nEvery day he can delay these guys. Every minute he can delay these guys gives the Greeks behind him opportunity to assemble the army and new, new defense in position. The guys who pulled out of the, the, the pass still have additions to go before they can link up with the other armies and so, uh he decides to stand to the last man to buy the extra day or two. Uh, ensured he becomes, he turns himself and his bodyguard into a covering force for strategic or tactical withdrawal.\nMale Narrator:\nHistorians will never know why Leonidas decides to stay behind but the last stand of these three hundred men will be remembered forever. After two days of failing to penetrate the Greek defenses at Thermopylae the Persians have discovered a way to surround the pass. The Spartan King, Leonidas has order a tactical retreat to most of his fighting force. While only about one thousand Greek troops remain, including three hundred Spartans, Leonidas is trapped by tens of thousands of Persian soldiers.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nLeonidas is making his last stand at the Thermopylae Pass and for two days he successfully repelled the Persian advances. But now the Persians have him trapped. They’ve finally figured out how to out flank him and they’ve got him exactly where they want him.\nMale Narrator:\nDespite this knowledge, the Spartans calmly prepare for battle; a Persian scout watches.\nMatthew Gonzales, Ph. D. / Assistant Professor, Saint Anselm College:\nA Persian scout saw the Spartans exercising in the nude and pouring oil on themselves afterward, and cleaning themselves, and arranging their hair; their long hair and combing it out.\nDavid George, Ph. D. / Archaeologist:\nThe Persians look at that and they don’t understand. They look at that and they see vanity or they look at that and they see, see bathroom behavior. They, they don’t know that the Spartans are preparing their bodies for death.\nMale Narrator:\nCleaned and prepared for battle the Spartans take the field one last time.\nRichard A. Gabriel, Ph. D. / Author, Empires at War:\nThese are professional warriors. This is how they define themselves. This is how they, their status in society was defined. Uh, my guess is they would have welcomed the battle in the same way that Custer probably welcomed the battle. You know, that is to say we’re outnumbered but we’re better guys. Uhm, they would have probably welcomed the battle from a psychological and social perspective.\nMale Narrator:"
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"In which American city did Martin Luther King make his famous ""I have a dream"" speech?" | Washington DC | [
"Martin_Luther_King_Jr..txt\nMartin Luther King Jr.\nMartin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.\n\nKing became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia (the Albany Movement), and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous \"I Have a Dream\" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.\n\nOn October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled \"Beyond Vietnam\".\n\nIn 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities.\n\nKing was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.\n\nEarly life and education\n\nKing was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Reverend Martin Luther King Sr., and Alberta Williams King. \nKing's legal name at birth was Michael King, and his father was also born Michael King, but the elder King changed his and his son's names following a 1934 trip to Germany to attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress in Berlin. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther. King had Irish ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather. \n\nKing was a middle child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. King sang with his church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. King liked singing and music. King's mother, an accomplished organist and choir leader, took him to various churches to sing. He received attention for singing \"I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus.\" King later became a member of the junior choir in his church. \n\nKing said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen and a neighbor reported hearing the elder King telling his son \"he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death.\" King saw his father's proud and unafraid protests in relation to segregation, such as King Sr. refusing to listen to a traffic policeman after being referred to as \"boy\" or stalking out of a store with his son when being told by a shoe clerk that they would have to move to the rear to be served. \n\nWhen King was a child, he befriended a white boy whose father owned a business near his family's home. When the boys were 6, they attended different schools, with King attending a segregated school for African-Americans. King then lost his friend because the child's father no longer wanted them to play together. \n\nKing suffered from depression throughout much of his life. In his adolescent years, he initially felt some resentment against whites due to the \"racial humiliation\" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. At age 12, shortly after his maternal grandmother died, King blamed himself and jumped out of a second story window, but survived. \n\nKing was originally skeptical of many of Christianity's claims. At the age of thirteen, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. From this point, he stated, \"doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly\". However, he later concluded that the Bible has \"many profound truths which one cannot escape\" and decided to enter the seminary.\n\nGrowing up in Atlanta, King attended Booker T. Washington High School. He became known for his public speaking ability and was part of the school's debate team. King became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal in 1942 at age 13. During his junior year, he won first prize in an oratorical contest sponsored by the Negro Elks Club in Dublin, Georgia. Returning home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so white passengers could sit down. King refused initially, but complied after his teacher informed him that he would be breaking the law if he did not go along with the order. He later characterized this incident as \"the angriest I have ever been in my life\". A precocious student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grades of high school. It was during King's junior year that Morehouse College announced it would accept any high school juniors who could pass its entrance exam. At that time, most of the students had abandoned their studies to participate in World War II. Due to this, the school became desperate to fill in classrooms. At age 15, King passed the exam and entered Morehouse. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, an eighteen-year-old King made the choice to enter the ministry after he concluded the church offered the most assuring way to answer \"an inner urge to serve humanity\". King's \"inner urge\" had begun developing and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a \"rational\" minister with sermons that were \"a respectful force for ideas, even social protest.\" \n\nIn 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a B.A. degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a B.Div. degree in 1951. King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education. King was joined in attending Crozer by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse. At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. The African-American students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King was endeared to the street due to a classmate having an aunt that prepared the two collard greens, which they both relished. King once called out a student for keeping beer in his room because of their shared responsibility as African-Americans to bear \"the burdens of the Negro race.\" For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's \"social gospel\". In his third year there, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an immigrant German woman working as a cook in the cafeteria. The daughter had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King had plans of marrying her, but was advised not to by friends due to the reaction an interracial relationship would spark from both blacks and whites, as well as the chances of it destroying his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off around six months later. He would continue to have lingering feelings, with one friend being quoted as saying, \"He never recovered.\"Frady, pp. 20–22.\n\nKing married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963). During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the Civil Rights Movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother. \n\nKing became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1954. \n\nDoctoral studies\n\nKing began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation on \"A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman\". An academic inquiry concluded in October 1991 that portions of his dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose.\"\n The committee also found that the dissertation still \"makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship.\" However, a letter is now attached to King's dissertation in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. \n\nMontgomery bus boycott, 1955\n\nIn March 1955, a fifteen-year-old school girl in Montgomery, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in compliance with Jim Crow laws, laws in the US South that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; because Colvin was pregnant and unmarried, E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue. \n\nOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. The Montgomery bus boycott, urged and planned by Nixon and led by King, soon followed. The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested during this campaign, which concluded with a United States District Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.\n\nSouthern Christian Leadership Conference\n\nIn 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. One of the group's inspirations was the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King after he attended a Graham crusade in New York City in 1957. King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Charles Evers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.\n\nOn September 20, 1958, while signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem, King narrowly escaped death when Izola Curry, a mentally ill black woman who believed he was conspiring against her with communists, stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. After emergency surgery, King was hospitalized for several weeks, while Curry was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. In 1959, he published a short book called The Measure of A Man, which contained his sermons \"What is Man?\" and \"The Dimensions of a Complete Life\". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization. \n\nHarry Wachtel—who joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in a libel suit over a newspaper advertisement (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan)—founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the expenses of the suit and to assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the \"Gandhi Society for Human Rights\". King served as honorary president for the group. Displeased with the pace of President Kennedy's addressing the issue of segregation, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document in 1962 calling on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and use an Executive Order to deliver a blow for Civil Rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation - Kennedy did not execute the order. \n\nThe FBI, under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, began tapping King's telephone in the fall of 1963. \nConcerned that allegations of communists in the SCLC, if made public, would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives, Kennedy warned King to discontinue the suspect associations, and later felt compelled to issue the written directive authorizing the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. J. Edgar Hoover feared Communists were trying to infiltrate the Civil Rights movement, but when no such evidence emerged, the bureau used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of the preeminent leadership position. \n\nKing believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the Civil Rights Movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s. \n\nKing organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. \n\nKing and the SCLC put into practice many of the principles of the Christian Left and applied the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the method of protest and the places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities. Sometimes these confrontations turned violent.\n\nThroughout his participation in the civil rights movement, King was criticized by many groups. This included opposition by more militant blacks such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X. \nStokely Carmichael was a separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture. \nOmali Yeshitela urged Africans to remember the history of violent European colonization and how power was not secured by Europeans through integration, but by violence and force. \n\nAlbany Movement\n\nThe Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he \"had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel.\"King, Martin Luther. [https://books.google.com/books?id\npynSnGuC964C&pg=PT147 The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.] Hatchette Digital. 2001. Accessed January 4, 2013.\n\nThe following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, \"that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city\" after he left town.\n\nKing returned in July 1962, and was sentenced to forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine. He chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. \"We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail.\" It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time. \n\nAfter nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a \"Day of Penance\" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.\n\nBirmingham campaign\n\nIn April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust.\n\nKing's intent was to provoke mass arrests and \"create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation\". However, the campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations. \nNewsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade. \n\nDuring the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene \"Bull\" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the \"Jim Crow\" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.\n\nKing was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed the now-famous Letter from Birmingham Jail which responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: \"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.\" He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, \"everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'\". King also expresses his frustration with white moderates and clergymen too timid to oppose an unjust system:\nI have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to \"order\" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: \"I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action\"; who paternalistic-ally believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a \"more convenient season\". King began writing the letter on newspaper margins and continued on bits of paper brought by friends.\n\nSt. Augustine, Florida\n\nIn March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. Ironically, the pacifist SCLC accepted them. King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested. \nDuring June, the movement marched nightly through the city, \"often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention.\" Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. \n\nSelma, Alabama\n\nIn December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months. \nA local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of 3 or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965. \n\nNew York City\n\nOn February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called \"The American Race Crisis\". No audio record of his speech has been found, but in August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables. \n\nMarch on Washington, 1963\n\nKing, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the so-called \"Big Six\" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality. \n\nThe primary logistical and strategic organizer was King's colleague Bayard Rustin. \nFor King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march. \nKennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and the UAW union to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause. \n\nThe march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. However, the group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone.\n\nAs a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the \"Farce on Washington\", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march. \n\nThe march did, however, make specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers; and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee. \nDespite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.\n\nKing delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as \"I Have a Dream\". In the speech's most famous passage—in which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, \"Tell them about the dream!\" —King said: \n\n\"I Have a Dream\" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. \nThe March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. \n\nThe original, typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech. He got it.\n\nSelma voting rights movement and \"Bloody Sunday\", 1965\n\nActing on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, King, Bevel, and the SCLC, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize the march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday, and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the Civil Rights Movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King's nonviolence strategy. King, however, was not present.\n\nKing met with officials in the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration on March 5 in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, \"If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line.\" Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.\n\nKing next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. \nAt the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as \"How Long, Not Long\". In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, \"because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice\". \n\nChicago open housing movement, 1966\n\nIn 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations tried to spread the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave., in the slums of North Lawndale \non Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.\n\nThe SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.\nDuring that spring, several white couple / black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes. Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others. \n\nAbernathy later wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible. \nKing's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result. \nKing was hit by a brick during one march but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger. \n\nWhen King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization. \nJackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks. \n\nOpposition to the Vietnam War\n\nKing long opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. However, at the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public. In an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled \"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence\".\nHe spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam \"to occupy it as an American colony\" and calling the U.S. government \"the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today\". He also connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change:\n\nKing also opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, \"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death\". He stated that North Vietnam \"did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands\", and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, \"mostly children\". \nKing also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms. \n\nKing's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham, union leaders and powerful publishers.\n\n\"The press is being stacked against me\", King said, \ncomplaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied \"toward little brown Vietnamese children\".\n\nLife magazine called the speech \"demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi\", and The Washington Post declared that King had \"diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people\".\n\nThe \"Beyond Vietnam\" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. \nKing began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. \nHe guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said \"I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ...\" In one speech, he stated that \"something is wrong with capitalism\" and claimed, \"There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.\" \nKing had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected \"traditional capitalism\", he also rejected communism because of its \"materialistic interpretation of history\" that denied religion, its \"ethical relativism\", and its \"political totalitarianism\". \n\nKing also stated in \"Beyond Vietnam\" that \"true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring\". King quoted a United States official who said that, from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was \"on the wrong side of a world revolution\". King condemned America's \"alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America\", and said that the U.S. should support \"the shirtless and barefoot people\" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.\n\nOn April 15, 1967, King participated in and spoke at an anti-war march from New York's Central Park to the United Nations organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King also brought up issues of civil rights and the draft.\n\nSeeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists, Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort. Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was also not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement.[http://bltnotjustasandwich.com/2013/01/17/martin-l-king-on-hippies/ Martin L. King on hippies], A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., Accessed September 15, 2014 In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated:\n\nOn January 13, 1968, the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address, King called for a large march on Washington against \"one of history's most cruel and senseless wars\". \n\nPoor People's Campaign, 1968\n\nIn 1968, King and the SCLC organized the \"Poor People's Campaign\" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble \"a multiracial army of the poor\" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an \"economic bill of rights\" for poor Americans. \n\nThe campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States.\n\nKing and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown \"hostility to the poor\" by spending \"military funds with alacrity and generosity\". He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided \"poverty funds with miserliness\". His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of \"racism, poverty, militarism and materialism\", and argued that \"reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced\".\n\nThe Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black. \n\nAfter King's death\n\nThe plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered.\n\nThousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and established a camp they called \"Resurrection City\". They stayed for six weeks.\n\nAssassination and aftermath\n\nOn March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, represented by AFSCME Local 1733, who had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.\n \n\nOn April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his \"I've Been to the Mountaintop\" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. \nIn the close of the last speech of his career, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:\n\nKing was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis. Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often it was known as the \"King-Abernathy suite\". \nAccording to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: \"Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.\" \n\nKing was shot at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. \nAbernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.\nJackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had \"reached out\" for King. \n\nAfter emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. \nAccording to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he \"had the heart of a 60 year old\", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the Civil Rights Movement. \n\nAftermath\n\nThe assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Baltimore; Louisville; Kansas City; and dozens of other cities.\n \nPresidential candidate Robert F. \"Bobby\" Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence. \nJames Farmer Jr., and other civil rights leaders also called for nonviolent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response. The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers. \n\nPresident Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader. \nVice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence. \nAt his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral, \na recording of his \"Drum Major\" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to \"feed the hungry\", \"clothe the naked\", \"be right on the [Vietnam] war question\", and \"love and serve humanity\". \nHis good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, \"Take My Hand, Precious Lord\", at the funeral. \n\nTwo months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. \nRay was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later.\n\nOn the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.\n\nRay later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias \"Raoul\" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. \n\nHe spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.\n\nAllegations of conspiracy\n\nRay's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists.\n\nSupporters of this assertion say that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty. \nThey admit Ray was a thief and burglar, but claim he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon. However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery. In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. \"I never been with nobody as bold as he is,\" Jerry said. \"He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing.\"\n\nThose suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle.\n\nWitnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window. However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from. An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints also determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.\n\nIn 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.\n\nTwo years later, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and \"other unknown co-conspirators\". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.\n \nWilliam F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial. \n\nIn 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented. A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax. \n\nIn 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, \"It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way.\" Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.\n\nKing researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. \nIn 2003, Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts. \nKing's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, \"There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man.\" \nIn 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:\n\nLegacy\n\nKing's main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968.\n\nTitle VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S.\n\nInternationally, King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and Civil Rights Movement in South Africa. \nKing's work was cited by and served as an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country and was later awarded the Nobel Prize. The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first \"Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes\" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community. King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism. King also influenced Irish politician and activist John Hume. Hume, the former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, cited King's legacy as quintessential to the Northern Irish civil rights movement and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, calling him \"one of my great heroes of the century.\" \n\nKing's wife, Coretta Scott King, followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide.\n\nTheir son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman. \nDaughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training. \n\nEven within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta said publicly that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.\n\nOn February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated:\n\nMartin Luther King Jr. Day\n\nBeginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King. At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday. \nOn January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states. \nArizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognize the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day. \n\nLiturgical commemorations\n\nKing is remembered as a martyr by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with an annual feast day on the anniversary of his death, April 4. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15. \n\nUK legacy and The Martin Luther King Peace Committee\n\nIn the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee exists to honour King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967. The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US Civil Rights Movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to \"build cultures of peace.\"\n\nIdeas, influences, and political stances\n\nReligion\n\nAs a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' \"extremist\" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:\n\nIn his speech \"I've Been to the Mountaintop\", he stated that he just wanted to do God's will.\n\nNonviolence\n\nVeteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence. King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley. Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s, and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s. King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term \"nonviolence\" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms. \n\nIn the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter [http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol4/1-Sept-1958_MyPilgrimageToNonviolence.pdf Pilgrimage to Nonviolence]. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting. \n\nInspired by Mahatma Gandhi's success with nonviolent activism, King had \"for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India\". With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, \"Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity\".\n\nBayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, King agreed that Rustin should be one of the main organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. \n\nKing's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the \"successful precedent\" of using nonviolence \"in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage.\" \n\nGandhi seemed to have influenced him with certain moral principles, though Gandhi himself had been influenced by The Kingdom of God Is Within You, a nonviolent classic written by Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy. In turn, both Gandhi and Martin Luther King had read Tolstoy, and King, Gandhi and Tolstoy had been strongly influenced by Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. King quoted Tolstoy's War and Peace in 1959. \n\nAnother influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience, which King read in his student days. He was influenced by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system. He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, as well as Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis. King also sometimes used the concept of \"agape\" (brotherly Christian love). However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings. \n\nEven after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice. \n\nPolitics\n\nAs the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: \"I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either.\" \nIn a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, \"I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party.\" \nKing did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the \"greatest of all senators\" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years. \n\nKing critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality: \n\nAlthough King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson or Dwight Eisenhower, but that \"In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket.\" \nIn his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: \"I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one.\" King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying \"Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964.\" \nIn 1964, King urged his supporters \"and all people of goodwill\" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election \"would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world.\" \nKing supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout America at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the basic necessities of many American people, particularly the African American community. \n\nCompensation\n\nKing stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.\n\nHe posited that \"the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils\". He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, \"It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races\".\n\nThe lack of attention given to family planning\n\nOn being awarded the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Margaret Sanger Award on 5th May, 1966, King said:\n\nFBI and King's personal life\n\nFBI surveillance and wiretapping\n\nFBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader.\n\nAccording to the Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, \"From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader.\"\n\nThe Bureau received authorization to proceed with wiretapping from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the fall of 1963 and informed President John F. Kennedy, both of whom unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Stanley Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA. Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones \"on a trial basis, for a month or so\", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were \"unshackled\" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy. The Bureau placed wiretaps on Levison's and King's home and office phones, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country.\n\nIn 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: \"No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited.\" \n\nNSA monitoring of King's communications\n\nIn a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\"\n\nAllegations of communism\n\nFor years, Hoover had been suspicious about potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights. \nHoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC as it was established (it did not have a full-time executive director until 1960). The investigations were largely superficial until 1962, when the FBI learned that one of King's most trusted advisers was New York City lawyer Stanley Levison.\n\nThe FBI feared Levison was working as an \"agent of influence\" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them. Another King lieutenant, Hunter Pitts O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). \nHowever, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.\n\nFor his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism, stating in a 1965 Playboy interview that \"there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida\". He argued that Hoover was \"following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South\" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the Civil Rights Movement was meant to \"aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements\".\nHoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was \"the most notorious liar in the country\". \nAfter King gave his \"I Have A Dream\" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as \"the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country\". It alleged that he was \"knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists\".\n\nThe attempt to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were happy with their lot but had been stirred up by \"communists\" and \"outside agitators\". \nHowever, the 1950s and '60s Civil Rights Movement arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that \"the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations.\"\n\nAdultery\n\nHaving concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, the FBI shifted to attempting to discredit King through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also engaged in numerous extramarital affairs. Lyndon Johnson once said that King was a \"hypocritical preacher\". \n\nRalph Abernathy stated in his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down that King had a \"weakness for women\", although they \"all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation\". In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term \"womanizing\", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual. Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs, such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated. In his original wording, Abernathy had claimed he saw King coming out of his room with a lady when he awoke the next morning and later claimed that \"he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know.\"\n\nIn his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, \"that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels.\" He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as \"a form of anxiety reduction\". Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him \"painful and at times overwhelming guilt\". King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that \"all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high level relationship we enjoyed.\" Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were \"sensational\" and stated that Garrow was \"amassing facts rather than analyzing them\". \n\nThe FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family. The Bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work. One such letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:\n\nThe American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant ). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.\n\nA tape recording of several of King's extramarital liaisons, excerpted from FBI wiretaps, accompanied the letter. King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide, although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to \"convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC\". King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.\n\nJudge John Lewis Smith Jr., in 1977 ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027. \n\nPolice observation during the assassination\n\nAcross from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which James Earl Ray was staying, was a fire station. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance. \nAgents were watching King at the time he was shot. \nImmediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King. \nThe antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination. \n\nAwards and recognition\n\nKing was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities.\n\nOn October 14, 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. \nIn 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his \"exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty\". \nIn his acceptance remarks, King said, \"Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free.\" \n\nIn 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. \nIn 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for \"his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity\".\n\nAlso in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In November 1967 he made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honoured by Newcastle. In a moving impromptu acceptance speech, he said\n\nThere are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.\n\nIn 1971 he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam. \n\nIn 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read:\nMartin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet. \nKing and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. \n\nKing was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. \nIn 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online \"Person of the Century\" poll by the same magazine. King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL. \n\nMemorials and eponymous places and buildings\n\nThere are numerous memorials to King in the United States, including:\n* More than 730 cities in the United States have streets named after King. \n* King County, Washington, rededicated its name in his honor in 1986, and changed its logo to an image of his face in 2007. \n* The city government center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of King. \n* In 1980, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated King's boyhood home in Atlanta and several nearby buildings the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.\n* A bust of Dr. King was added to the \"gallery of notables\" in the United States Capitol in 1986, portraying him in a \"restful, nonspeaking pose.\"\n* The beginning words of King's \"I Have a Dream\" speech are etched on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, at the place where King stood during that speech. These words from the speech—\"five short lines of text carved into the granite on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial\"—were etched in 2003, on the 40th anniversary of the march to Washington, by stone carver Andy Del Gallo, after a law was passed by Congress providing authorization for the inscription.\n* In 1996, Congress authorized the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, of which King is still a member, to establish a foundation to manage fund raising and design of a national Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. King was the first African American and the fourth non-president honored with his own memorial in the National Mall area. The memorial opened in August 2011 and is administered by the National Park Service. The address of the monument, 1964 Independence Avenue, S.W., commemorates the year that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law. \n* The Landmark for Peace Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana \n* The Homage to King sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia\n* The Dream sculpture in Portland, Oregon\n* The National Civil Rights Museum, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where King died\n* Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama\n* On October 11, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a proposed \"Freedom Bell\" may be installed atop Stone Mountain honoring King and his I Have A Dream speech, specifically the line \"Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.\" \n\nNumerous other memorials honor him around the world, including:\n* The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Church in Debrecen, Hungary\n* The King-Luthuli Transformation Center in Johannesburg, South Africa\n* The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Forest in Israel's Southern Galilee region (along with the Coretta Scott King Forest in Biriya Forest, Israel)\n* The Martin Luther King Jr. School in Accra, Ghana\n* The Gandhi-King Plaza (garden), at the India International Center in New Delhi, India\n* In Norfolk, Virginia stands a memorial in honor of King. The 83-foot-high granite obelisk was conceived by former Norfolk Councilman and General District Court Judge Joseph A. Jordan Jr. \n\nFive Dollar Bill\n\nOn April 20, 2016 Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the $5, $10, and $20 would all undergo redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that while Lincoln would remain on the obverse of the $5 bill, the reverse would be redesigned to depict various historical events that had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the planned designs are images from King's \"I Have a Dream\" speech and the 1939 concert by opera singer Marian Anderson. \n\nWorks\n\n* Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958) ISBN 978-0-06-250490-6\n* The Measure of a Man (1959) ISBN 978-0-8006-0877-4\n* Strength to Love (1963) ISBN 978-0-8006-9740-2\n* Why We Can't Wait (1964) ISBN 978-0-8070-0112-7\n* Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) ISBN 978-0-8070-0571-2\n* The Trumpet of Conscience (1968) ISBN 978-0-8070-0170-7\n* A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986) ISBN 978-0-06-250931-4\n* The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson ISBN 978-0-446-67650-2\n* \"All Labor Has Dignity\" (2011) ed. Michael Honey ISBN 978-0-8070-8600-1\n* \"Thou, Dear God\": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits Collection of King's prayers. (2011), ed. Lewis Baldwin ISBN 978-0-8070-8603-2\n* MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson ISBN 978-0-8070-0316-9",
"I_Have_a_Dream.txt\nI Have a Dream\n\"I Have a Dream\" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. \n\nBeginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863, King observes that: \"one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free\".Alexandra Alvarez, \"Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor\", Journal of Black Studies 18(3); . Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme \"I have a dream\", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: \"Tell them about the dream, Martin!\" In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. Jon Meacham writes that, \"With a single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America\". The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. \n\nBackground\n\nThe March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was partly intended to demonstrate mass support for the civil rights legislation proposed by President Kennedy in June. Martin Luther King and other leaders therefore agreed to keep their speeches calm, also, to avoid provoking the civil disobedience which had become the hallmark of the Civil Rights Movement. King originally designed his speech as a homage to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, timed to correspond with the 100-year centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.Nicolaus Mills, \"What Really Happened at the March on Washington?\", Dissent, Summer 1988; reprinted in Civil Rights Since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle, ed. Jonathan Birnbaum and Clarence Taylor, New York: New York University Press, 2000.\n\nSpeech title and the writing process\n\nKing had been preaching about dreams since 1960, when he gave a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called \"The Negro and the American Dream\". This speech discusses the gap between the American dream and reality, saying that overt white supremacists have violated the dream, and that \"our federal government has also scarred the dream through its apathy and hypocrisy, its betrayal of the cause of justice\". King suggests that \"It may well be that the Negro is God's instrument to save the soul of America.\" In 1961, he spoke of the Civil Rights Movement and student activists' \"dream\" of equality—\"the American Dream ... a dream as yet unfulfilled\"—in several national speeches and statements, and took \"the dream\" as the centerpiece for these speeches. \n\nOn November 27, 1962, Dr. King gave a speech at Booker T. Washington High School in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. That speech was longer than the version which he would eventually deliver from the Lincoln Memorial. And while parts of the text had been moved around, large portions were identical, including the \"I have a dream\" refrain. After being rediscovered, the restored and digitized recording of the 1962 speech was presented to the public by the English department of North Carolina State University.\n\nDr. King had also delivered a \"dream\" speech in Detroit, in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and had rehearsed other parts. \n\nThe March on Washington Speech, known as \"I Have a Dream Speech\", has been shown to have had several versions, written at several different times. It has no single version draft, but is an amalgamation of several drafts, and was originally called \"Normalcy, Never Again\". Little of this, and another \"Normalcy Speech\", ended up in the final draft. A draft of \"Normalcy, Never Again\" is housed in the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection of the Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center and Morehouse College. The focus on \"I have a dream\" comes through the speech's delivery. Toward the end of its delivery, noted African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to King from the crowd, \"Tell them about the dream, Martin.\" King departed from his prepared remarks and started \"preaching\" improvisationally, punctuating his points with \"I have a dream.\"\n\nThe speech was drafted with the assistance of Stanley Levison and Clarence Benjamin Jones in Riverdale, New York City. Jones has said that \"the logistical preparations for the march were so burdensome that the speech was not a priority for us\" and that, \"on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 27, [12 hours before the March] Martin still didn't know what he was going to say\". \n\nLeading up to the speech's rendition at the Great March on Washington, King had delivered its \"I have a dream\" refrains in his speech before 25,000 people in Detroit's Cobo Hall immediately after the 125,000-strong Great Walk to Freedom in Detroit, June 23, 1963. After the Washington, D.C. March, a recording of King's Cobo Hall speech was released by Detroit's Gordy Records as an LP entitled \"The Great March To Freedom\". \n\nThe speech\n\nWidely hailed as a masterpiece of rhetoric, King's speech invokes pivotal documents in American history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. Early in his speech, King alludes to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by saying \"Five score years ago...\" In reference to the abolition of slavery articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation, King says: \"It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.\" Anaphora (i.e., the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences) is employed throughout the speech. Early in his speech, King urges his audience to seize the moment; \"Now is the time\" is repeated three times in the sixth paragraph. The most widely cited example of anaphora is found in the often quoted phrase \"I have a dream\", which is repeated eight times as King paints a picture of an integrated and unified America for his audience. Other occasions include \"One hundred years later\", \"We can never be satisfied\", \"With this faith\", \"Let freedom ring\", and \"free at last\". King was the sixteenth out of eighteen people to speak that day, according to the official program. \n\nAmong the most quoted lines of the speech include \"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!\" \n\nAccording to U.S. Representative John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, \"Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.\" \n\nThe ideas in the speech reflect King's social experiences of ethnocentric abuse, the mistreatment and exploitation of blacks. The speech draws upon appeals to America's myths as a nation founded to provide freedom and justice to all people, and then reinforces and transcends those secular mythologies by placing them within a spiritual context by arguing that racial justice is also in accord with God's will. Thus, the rhetoric of the speech provides redemption to America for its racial sins. King describes the promises made by America as a \"promissory note\" on which America has defaulted. He says that \"America has given the Negro people a bad check\", but that \"we've come to cash this check\" by marching in Washington, D.C.\n\nSimilarities and allusions\n\nKing's speech uses words and ideas from his own speeches and other texts. For years, he had spoken about dreams, quoted from \"My Country, 'Tis of Thee\", and of course referred extensively to the Bible. The idea of constitutional rights as an \"unfulfilled promise\" was suggested by Clarence Jones.\n\nThe final passage from King's speech closely resembles Archibald Carey Jr.'s address to the 1952 Republican National Convention: both speeches end with a recitation of the first verse of Samuel Francis Smith's popular patriotic hymn \"America\" (\"My Country, 'Tis of Thee\"), and the speeches share the name of one of several mountains from which both exhort \"let freedom ring\". \n\nKing also is said to have built on Prathia Hall's speech at the site of a burned-down African American church in Terrell County, Georgia, in September 1962, in which she used the repeated phrase \"I have a dream\". The church burned down after it was used for voter registration meetings. \n\nThe speech also alludes to in the second stanza of the speech. Additionally, King quotes from (\"I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted...\" ) and (\"But let justice roll down like water...\" ). He also alludes to the opening lines of Shakespeare's Richard III (\"Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer...\") when he remarks that \"this sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn...\"\n\nThe speech and rhetoric\n\nThe \"I Have A Dream\" speech can be dissected by using three rhetorical lenses: voice merging, prophetic voice, and dynamic spectacle. Voice merging is the combining of one's own voice with religious predecessors. Prophetic voice is using rhetoric to speak for a population. A dynamic spectacle has origins from the Aristotelian definition as \"a weak hybrid form of drama, a theatrical concoction that relied upon external factors (shock, sensation, and passionate release) such as televised rituals of conflict and social control.\"\n\nVoice merging is a common technique used amongst African American preachers. It combines the voices of previous preachers and excerpts from scriptures along with their own unique thoughts to create a unique voice. King uses voice merging in his peroration when he references the secular hymn \"America\".\n\nThe rhetoric of King's speech can be compared to the rhetoric of Old Testament prophets. During King's speech, he speaks with urgency and crisis giving him a prophetic voice. The prophetic voice must \"restore a sense of duty and virtue amidst the decay of venality.\" An evident example is when King declares that \"now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.\"\n\nWhy King's speech was powerful is debated, but essentially, it came at a point of many factors combining at a key cultural turning point. Executive speechwriter Anthony Trendl writes, \"The right man delivered the right words to the right people in the right place at the right time.\" \n\n\"Given the context of drama and tension in which it was situated\", King's speech can be classified as a dynamic spectacle. A dynamic spectacle is dependent on the situation in which it is used. It can be considered a dynamic spectacle because it happened at the correct time and place: during the Civil Rights Movement and the March on Washington.\n\nResponses\n\nThe speech was lauded in the days after the event, and was widely considered the high point of the March by contemporary observers. James Reston, writing for the New York Times, said that \"Dr. King touched all the themes of the day, only better than anybody else. He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the Bible. He was both militant and sad, and he sent the crowd away feeling that the long journey had been worthwhile.\" Reston also noted that the event \"was better covered by television and the press than any event here since President Kennedy's inauguration\", and opined that \"it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. crying out his dreams to the multitude.\" An article in the Boston Globe by Mary McGrory reported that King's speech \"caught the mood\" and \"moved the crowd\" of the day \"as no other\" speaker in the event. Marquis Childs of The Washington Post wrote that King's speech \"rose above mere oratory\". An article in the Los Angeles Times commented that the \"matchless eloquence\" displayed by King—\"a supreme orator\" of \"a type so rare as almost to be forgotten in our age\"—put to shame the advocates of segregation by inspiring the \"conscience of America\" with the justice of the civil-rights cause. \n\nThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which viewed King and his allies for racial justice as subversive, also noticed the speech. This provoked the organization to expand their COINTELPRO operation against the SCLC, and to target King specifically as a major enemy of the United States. Two days after King delivered \"I Have a Dream\", Agent William C. Sullivan, the head of COINTELPRO, wrote a memo about King's growing influence:\nIn the light of King's powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands head and shoulders above all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security. \n\nThe speech was a success for the Kennedy administration and for the liberal civil rights coalition that had planned it. It was considered a \"triumph of managed protest\", and not one arrest relating to the demonstration occurred. Kennedy had watched King's speech on TV and been very impressed. Afterwards, March leaders accepted an invitation to the White House to meet with President Kennedy. Kennedy felt the March bolstered the chances for his civil rights bill. \n\nMeanwhile, some of the more radical Black leaders who were present condemned the speech (along with the rest of the march) as too compromising. Malcolm X later wrote in his autobiography: \"Who ever heard of angry revolutionaries swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily pad pools, with gospels and guitars and 'I have a dream' speeches?\"\n\nLegacy\n\nThe March on Washington put pressure on the Kennedy administration to advance its civil rights legislation in Congress. The diaries of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., published posthumously in 2007, suggest that President Kennedy was concerned that if the march failed to attract large numbers of demonstrators, it might undermine his civil rights efforts.\n\nIn the wake of the speech and march, King was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine for 1963, and in 1964, he was the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The full speech did not appear in writing until August 1983, some 15 years after King's death, when a transcript was published in The Washington Post.\n\nIn 1990, the Australian alternative comedy rock band Doug Anthony All Stars released an album called Icon. One song from Icon, \"Shang-a-lang\", sampled the end of the speech.\n\nIn 2002, the Library of Congress honored the speech by adding it to the United States National Recording Registry. In 2003, the National Park Service dedicated an inscribed marble pedestal to commemorate the location of King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial. \n\nThe Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was dedicated in 2011. The centerpiece for the memorial is based on a line from King's \"I Have A Dream\" speech: \"Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.\" A 30 ft-high relief of King named the \"Stone of Hope\" stands past two other pieces of granite that symbolize the \"mountain of despair.\"\n\nOn August 26, 2013, UK's BBC Radio 4 broadcast \"God's Trombone\", in which Gary Younge looked behind the scenes of the speech and explored \"what made it both timely and timeless\". \n\nOn August 28, 2013, thousands gathered on the mall in Washington D.C. where King made his historic speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occasion. In attendance were former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and incumbent President Barack Obama, who addressed the crowd and spoke on the significance of the event. Many of King's family were in attendance. \n\nOn October 11, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an exclusive report about Stone Mountain officials considering installation of a new \"Freedom Bell\" honoring King and citing the speech's reference to the mountain \"Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.\" Design details and a timeline for its installation remain to be determined. The article mentioned inspiration for the proposed monument came from a bell-ringing ceremony held in 2013 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of King's speech.\n\nOn April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the U.S. $5 bill, which has featured the Lincoln Memorial on its back, would undergo a redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that a portrait of Lincoln would remain on the front of the bill, but the back would be redesigned to depict various historical events that have occurred at the memorial, including an image from King's speech. \n\nCopyright dispute\n\nBecause King's speech was broadcast to a large radio and television audience, there was controversy about its copyright status. If the performance of the speech constituted \"general publication\", it would have entered the public domain due to King's failure to register the speech with the Register of Copyrights. However, if the performance only constituted \"limited publication\", King retained common law copyright. This led to a lawsuit, Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., which established that the King estate does hold copyright over the speech and had standing to sue; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances, especially in jurisdictions under doctrines such as fair use or fair dealing. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, therefore until 2038. \n\nOriginal copy of the speech\n\nAs King waved goodbye to the audience, he handed George Raveling the original typewritten \"I Have a Dream\" speech. Raveling, an All-American Villanova Wildcats college basketball player, had volunteered as a security guard for the event and was on the podium with King at that moment. Raveling still has custody of the original copy and has been offered as high as $3,000,000 for it, but claims to have no intention of selling it.",
"Did MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African ...\nWhen Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. read his speech at ... Did MLK Improvise in the ‘Dream’ Speech? ... It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a ...\nDid MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African American Blog | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross\nby Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Originally posted on The Root\nFive Score and 50 Years Ago …\nThis year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation , issued at the midpoint of the American Civil War, and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , a moment that marked the spiritual summit of the civil rights movement. In place and time, they are joined at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, the nation’s shrine to the president who signed the proclamation declaring the slaves of the Confederate states free and the King who, 100 later, spoke to the disappointments and dreams of their descendants. Today, the words of both men — authors of arguably the two greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address and the “I Have a Dream” speech (pdf) — are etched in stone and in memory at the Lincoln and King Memorials in Washington.\nLincoln Memorial, Aug. 28, 1963 (Public Domain)\nNo one understood the poetry of their parallel moments better than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, who, speaking in front of Daniel Chester French’s iconic seated Lincoln statue, began his speech, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation … But 100 hundred years later the Negro still is not free.” In this way, Dr. King framed Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and made freedom — “at last” — the ideal by which we measure progress in our country.\nSo effective was King in tying the memory of Lincoln to the cause of civil rights that most of us now see the Lincoln Memorial as the obvious site, the holiest of holy places, where history and racial progress meet. So, it was — it had to be — the perfect backdrop for the ultimate barrier breaker, Barack Obama, to stand on the eve of his inauguration in 2009. Yet, as we shall see, there was nothing inevitable about the choice of the Lincoln Memorial as the logical place for racial protests throughout the early 20th century, or as the staging ground for Dr. King’s most memorable speech.\nLast week, we honored Bayard Rustin , the architect of the march; today, we examine the moment that remains most closely associated with it. But first, it’s important that we all understand a bit of the complicated background about the setting …\n1922: A Dedication or an Opening?\nThe NAACP was founded in Springfield, Ill., Feb. 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Yet, at the opening of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington May 30, 1922, security guards tried to “Jim Crow” black guests into a separate section from whites, despite the presence of a black orator onstage, the president of Tuskegee Institute, Robert Russa Moton , who, in addition to serving on numerous national boards, published an annual list of blacks lynched in the United States. (Sources for this last fact include the Afro-American newspaper from June 2, 1922, and Moton’s New York Times obituary from June 1, 1940.)\nThe title of Moton’s speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” might have been the other way around (given the role of black soldiers in the Civil War), but Moton agreed to tone down his remarks to placate the Memorial Commission, as Adam Fairclough writes in his article “Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial.” Even then, Moton managed to slip in his view of Lincoln’s ambivalence about emancipation: “The claim of greatness for Abraham Lincoln lies in this, that amid doubt and distrust, against the counsel of chosen advisers, in the hour of the nation’s utter peril, he put his trust in God and spoke the word that gave freedom to a race.”\nNo mainstream newspaper covered the attempt to segregate black guests at the dedication or that 21 guests apparently stormed out. (I checked ProQuest for these facts after reading other valuable historical accounts by Scott Sandage and Christopher Thomas.) They did cover President Warren G. Harding’s keynote address, in which he sanitized the memorial as a symbol of a restored Union by telling the estimated 75,000 gathered, “Halting human slavery as [Lincoln] did, he doubtless believed in its ultimate abolition through the developing conscience of the American people, but he would have been the last man in the Republic to resort to arms to effect its abolition.”\nFor this reason, at least one black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, on June 10, 1922, refused to accept that the Lincoln Memorial had been dedicated in 1922. “With song, prayer, bold and truthful speech,” its editor prophetically declared, “later on let us dedicate that temple thus far only opened.”\nThe Rededication\nAfrican Americans, beginning with members of the AME Zion Church, started gathering at the Lincoln Memorial as early as 1926, as a Washington Post account on August 5, 1926, indicates. And on April 9, 1939 (Easter Sunday and the 74th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox), the black contralto Marian Anderson fulfilled the Chicago Defender’s prophecy by giving a performance (mp3) of patriotic hymns, opera selections and Negro spirituals before a crowd of 100,000.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was only 10 when Marian Anderson gave her concert. At 15, he cited her in his prize-winning speech at Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School: “When the words of ‘America’ and ‘Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen’ rang out over that great gathering, there was a hush on the sea of uplifted faces, black and white, and a new baptism of liberty, equality and fraternity. That was a touching tribute, but Miss Anderson may not as yet spend the night in any good hotel in America.” Young Martin was right — the night of her concert, Marian Anderson stayed at the home of former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot (for a terrific account of her life and impact, see Raymond Arsenault’s book, The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert that Awakened America).\nSixteen years later, by then-Dr. King would lead a bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., that would set him on a path toward immortality and a destiny not dissimilar to the one occupied by the slain president who would be seated behind him (in stone) before a crowd of 200,000-plus marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.\nWriting the Speech (Minus ‘The Dream’)\nAs Taylor Branch notes in his definitive narrative, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, Dr. King began working in earnest on his speech with a small group of advisers in the lobby of the Willard Hotel the night before the march, and the resulting draft was “a mixture of truncated oratory and fresh composition” that was “politically sound but far from historic.” (To learn more, see King adviser Clarence B. Jones’ account in the Washington Post).\nMartin Luther King Jr. addressing the audience at the March on Washington (Wikimedia Commons)\nWhen King took the stage the following day, the audience had no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes wrangling we read about last week in the column about Rustin or that the march’s D.C. coordinator, Walter Fauntroy (future D.C. congressman), had to ring up the Justice Department to send in the Army Signal Corps to repair the expensive sound system sabotaged the day before. Imagine if they hadn’t come! (For more, see Charles Euchner’s recent book, Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.)\nWhat the audience did know was that the August heat was rapidly approaching unbearable and the cavalcade of speeches, whatever their individual merits, was beginning to weary them. Still, the crowd anxiously anticipated the march’s climax, the appearance of Dr. King, whom A. Philip Randolph introduced as “the moral leader of our nation … Dr. Martin Luther King, J-R.” King approached the podium keenly aware that he was addressing not only the massive crowd gathered before him at the Lincoln Memorial, but also the millions more watching live on TV, including President Kennedy and his brother, Robert.\nWorking Off the Script\nAdam Fairclough has pointed out that part of the power of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech came from the fact that he “framed this vision entirely within the hallowed symbols of Americanism: the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation and the ‘American Dream.’ ” But when he started talking that day, he had not planned to discuss any dreams.\nAfter opening with his allusion to Lincoln and “the Negro … still not free,” King turned to the novel metaphor of “the promissory note” — that the Declaration of Independence was a check of sorts written to all Americans of all races as a guarantee of their rights, but that so far, for “the Negro people,” it had been “a bad check … marked ‘insufficient funds.’ ”\nIn the following sections of the speech, King responded to critics across the political spectrum, including those who cautioned moderation (“gradualism,” he named it) and those who had begun calling for armed militancy and racial separation. King stressed the need for action “in the fierce urgency of now” and argued for a nonviolent, biracial approach, reminding those demanding more radical action that “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny … We cannot walk alone.” King then encouraged Americans to continue fighting for right over might, as “we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”\nA Speech Becomes a Sermon\nNot long after delivering that now-famous line, however, King changed course. Looking at his prepared speech, he balked when he reached this mouthful of a sentence: “And so today, let us go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” Instead, he transformed his speech into a sermon. He instructed the audience to “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama … South Carolina … Georgia … Louisiana … to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”\nKing speechwriter Clarence Jones realized what was happening when he saw King “push the text of his prepared remarks to one side,” he wrote in the Washington Post in 2011. “I leaned over and said to the person next to me, ‘These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about ready to go to church.’ ” Onstage that day, as Branch’s Parting the Waters quotes, the singer Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier, reportedly kept saying to King, as he spoke, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.” King never said if he heard her or not, but Julian Bond recently told me it would have been impossible not to, given their proximity on the stage and the resonance of Jackson’s powerful voice.\nIn any case, her dream was fulfilled when King continued, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed.” In classic black preacher oratorical fashion, King then turned to repetition, outlining the specifics of his dream, which emphasized interracial cooperation across the South. Poignantly, he exclaimed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”\nSoon the speech reached its dramatic climax. King quoted the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (the song Marian Anderson had opened with at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; she was also there to sing the national anthem in 1963) and commanded, “Let freedom ring” in “New Hampshire … New York … Pennsylvania … Colorado,” and “California,” but also “from Stone Mountain of Georgia … from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee … from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring … ”\nHe saved his most dramatic exhortations for last: “When we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentile, Catholics and Protestants, will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God, Almighty, we are free at last,’ ” a reference to this song . There is no better way to do justice to the delivery and effect of Dr. King’s speech upon his audience both at the memorial and in living rooms across America than to read (pdf), watch and listen.\nThree months later, King explained his decision to go off-script: “I started out reading the speech … just all of a sudden — the audience response was wonderful that day — and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here” (quoted in David Garrow’s Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). As inspiring as those speeches were, especially the version of the “Dream” speech he delivered in Detroit just two months before, settings matter, as Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, was quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press June 22 of this year. Musical as Motown was, it couldn’t compete with “the symbolic space” of the Lincoln Memorial (though Berry Gordy officially released 45s of the Detroit speech on the same day as the March on Washington!).\nImmediate Reactions\nDespite its well-earned current status as one of the greatest speeches in American history, it was not universally lauded the following day. While the New York Times published a story called “‘I Have a Dream …’ Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,” the Washington Post did not even mention King’s speech in its coverage of the march, according to Branch in Parting the Waters.\nAt the same time, radical activists on King’s left criticized the speech as a farce. “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and ‘I Have a Dream’ speeches?” Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography. All this, he added, while “the black masses in America were — and still are — having a nightmare.”\nNevertheless, King’s speech had its share of admirers, including the best-selling black writer at the time, James Baldwin, who later wrote , “That day, for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain that dream one dreamed in agony.”\nPoliticizing the Dream\nThe long-term importance of the march and the speech cannot be overstated. Look no further than the explosion of marches on Washington that have occurred in the years since. That such a wide variety of people and organizations have riffed upon the March on Washington by attempting to restage it is a testament to what King, Randolph and Rustin, John Lewis and the other leaders of the march achieved 50 years ago. It’s such a testament that the singular focus on King’s climactic speech (really, a few sound bites) has fostered an overly simple portrait of King himself. As Vincent Harding argues in “The Road to Redemption,” “Brother Martin spent a fair amount of time in jail, but his worst imprisonment may be how his own nation has frozen him in that moment in 1963.”\nThe freeze began taking hold after King’s assassination in 1968, Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation. Anxious that inner-city neighborhoods might burn, “politicians and the media [wanted] to influence the perceived direction of black protest” away from militancy and back toward the “good” civil rights movement of peaceful protest and visions of “all of God’s children … able” (and wanting) “to join hands and sing.”\nThe emphasis on the “dream” part of the speech especially obscures King’s later agenda. As Julian Bond once cautioned, most commemorations “focus almost entirely on Martin Luther King the dreamer, and not on Martin King the antiwar activist, not on Martin King the challenger of the economic order, not on Martin King the opponent of apartheid, not on the complete Martin Luther King.”\nThe speech also is too easily leveraged by political actors who surely would not have agreed with King’s message during the 1960s. For example, many opponents of affirmative action believe that the speech supports their argument; as Ronald Reagan said in 1986, “We are committed to a society in which all men and women have equal opportunities to succeed, and so we oppose the use of quotas. We want a colorblind society that, in the words of Dr. King, judges people not on ‘the color of their skin but by the content of their character’.” The estate of Martin Luther King even threatened to sue a group of supporters of Proposition 209, a 1996 California anti-affirmative action bill, when it used King’s speech in its advertisements.\nThe Dream at 50\nWe might take the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s dream not only to focus on the progress that has been made since 1963 but also to think more about his larger goals and aspirations to fix problems even more vexing than de jure segregation, problems such as wealth discrepancies between blacks and whites. You can begin by reading the text of the speech itself (pdf), and then turn to his collected writings. You might also make time to visit the Lincoln and King memorials in Washington and marvel at how Dr. King turned Robert Russa Moton’s 1922 “dedication” speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” into “ The Nation’s Debt to the Negro ,” a promissory note that remains unpaid for so many, while inspiring other minority groups to demand payment on theirs. It is a never-ending story of prophecy and protest, the noblest of our American traditions. It is also a stirring example of how African Americans reclaimed the Lincoln Memorial from Jim Crow and made it the ultimate American symbolic space for calls to redress grievances and effect progressive change in a truly democratic society.\nFifty of the 100 Amazing Facts will be published on The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross website. Read all 100 Facts on The Root.\nAbout\nFunders\nMajor corporate support for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is provided by Bank of America . Additional corporate funding is provided by The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's . Leadership support is generously provided by the Abby and Howard Milstein Foundation , in partnership with HooverMilstein and Emigrant Bank . Major funding is also provided by the Ford Foundation , Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky in Memory of Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, Richard Gilder, the Hutchins Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities . Support is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS .",
"Where did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \"I Have a ...\nMartin Luther King Jr. delivered his \"I Have a Dream\" speech ... Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his \"I Have a ... Martin Luther King Jr. became famous due to his ...\nWhere did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \"I Have a Dream\" speech? | Reference.com\nWhere did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his \"I Have a Dream\" speech?\nA:\nQuick Answer\nMartin Luther King Jr. delivered his \"I Have a Dream\" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963. The memorial is located in Washington, D.C.\nFull Answer\nDr. Martin Luther King's speech was an essential part of “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” He was the last of many speakers to address the crowd of approximately 250,000 citizens, who protested racial inequality in the United States. The march originated at the Washington Monument and ended at the Lincoln Memorial. Preceding the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this event brought national attention to civil rights issues.",
"The I Have a Dream Speech - The U.S. Constitution Online ...\nThe text of the I Have a Dream Speech given by Martin Luther ... King and his staff focused on ... It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream ...\nThe I Have a Dream Speech - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net\nThe I Have a Dream Speech\nAdvertisement\nIn 1950's America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. People of color — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — were discriminated against in many ways, both overt and covert. The 1950's were a turbulent time in America, when racial barriers began to come down due to Supreme Court decisions, like Brown v. Board of Education; and due to an increase in the activism of blacks, fighting for equal rights.\nMartin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, was a driving force in the push for racial equality in the 1950's and the 1960's. In 1963, King and his staff focused on Birmingham, Alabama. They marched and protested non-violently, raising the ire of local officials who sicced water cannon and police dogs on the marchers, whose ranks included teenagers and children. The bad publicity and break-down of business forced the white leaders of Birmingham to concede to some anti-segregation demands.\nThrust into the national spotlight in Birmingham, where he was arrested and jailed, King helped organize a massive march on Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963. His partners in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom included other religious leaders, labor leaders, and black organizers. The assembled masses marched down the Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, heard songs from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and heard speeches by actor Charlton Heston, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, and future U.S. Representative from Georgia John Lewis.\nKing's appearance was the last of the event; the closing speech was carried live on major television networks. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King evoked the name of Lincoln in his \"I Have a Dream\" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.\nThe following is the exact text of the spoken speech, transcribed from recordings.\nI am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.\nFive score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.\nBut one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.\nIn a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\nIt is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked \"insufficient funds.\" But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.\nIt would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.\nBut there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.\nWe must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.\nAs we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, \"When will you be satisfied?\" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating \"For Whites Only\". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.\nI am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.\nGo back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.\nI say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.\nI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: \"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.\"\nI have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.\nI have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.\nI have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.\nThis is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.\nThis will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, \"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.\"\nAnd if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!\nLet freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!\nLet freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!\nBut not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!\nLet freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!\nLet freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.\nAnd when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, \"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!\""
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"I Have A Dream Speech - Martin Luther King Speeches\nMartin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech from the Mach on ... Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, ... the dream, Martin.\" Dr. King stopped ...\nI Have A Dream Speech - Martin Luther King Speeches\nYou Are Here: MLK Online > Speeches > I Have a Dream Speech\nShare This Page:\nI Have a Dream Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.\nI Have a Dream MP3\nMartin Luther King's Address at March on Washington\nAugust 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.\n\"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation\nwhere they will not be judged by the color of their skin,\nbut by the content of their character.\"\n– Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Quote\nI Have a Dream Speech Background\nSummary: \"I Have a Dream\" is a 17-minute�public speech�by�Martin Luther King, Jr.�delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for�racial equalityand an end to�discrimination. The speech, from the steps of the�Lincoln Memorial�during the�March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the�American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters,�the speech was ranked the topAmerican�speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.�According to�U.S. Representative�John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the President of the�Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, \"Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.\"\nSpeech Title and Performance: Believe it or not, the \"I Have a Dream\" speech was originally titled \"Normalcy, Never Again.\" and the first drafts never included the phrase \"I have a dream\". He had first delivered a speech incorporating some of the same sections in Detroit in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and had rehearsed other parts.\nThe popular title \"I have a dream,\" came from the speech's greatly improvised content and delivery. Near the end of the speech, famous African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King from the crowd, \"Tell them about the dream, Martin.\" Dr. King stopped delivering his prepared speech and started \"preaching\", punctuating his points with \"I have a dream.\"\nPublic Domain : Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. at 1963 March on Washington by USIA (NARA)\nEducational Activities\nPhoto in the Public Domain .\nContemporary Reaction: The speech was lauded in the days after the event, and was widely considered the high point of the March by contemporary observers. James Reston, writing for the�New York Times, noted that the event \"was better covered by television and the press than any event here since President Kennedy's inauguration,\" and opined that \"it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. crying out his dreams to the multitude.\"[�An article in the�Boston Globe�by�Mary McGrory�reported that King's speech \"caught the mood\" and \"moved the crowd\" of the day \"as no other\" speaker in the event.�Marquis Childs�of�The Washington Post�wrote that King's speech \"rose above mere oratory\".�An article in the�Los Angeles Times�commented that the \"matchless eloquence\" displayed by King, \"a supreme orator\" of \"a type so rare as almost to be forgotten in our age,\" put to shame the advocates of segregation by inspiring the \"conscience of America\" with the justice of the civil-rights cause.\nI Have a Dream Copyright Information\n \nCopyright Dispute: Because King's speech was broadcast to a large radio and television audience, there was controversy about the copyright status of the speech. If the performance of the speech constituted \"general publication\", it would have entered the public domain due to King's failure to register the speech with the Registrar of Copyrights. If the performance only constituted \"limited publication\", however, King retained common law copyright. This led to a lawsuit, Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., which established that the King estate does hold copyright over the speech and had standing to sue; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances, especially in jurisdictions under doctrines such as fair use or fair dealing. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, thus until 2038.\nDeposition of Martin Luther King regarding copyright infringement.\nCase File Number 63 Civ 2889, Civil Case Files; United States District Court for the Southern District of New York \nDownload the full deposition (PDF)\nI Have a Dream Speech Video Copyright\nThe I Have a Dream Speech Video is no longer available online, as EMI on behalf of The King Center has ordered it's removal. They will sell you or your school a copy for $10 at at www.thekingcenter.org , or you can buy the I Have a Dream DVD on Amazon ($8.97)\n“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,\nthe sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners\nwill be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”\n– Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Quote\nRead in Full: Text and audio of this speech available at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm\nCopyright Info: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article \"I Have a Dream\" , which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 .\nBuy a Copy of the I Have a Dream Speech\nI Have a Dream Speech DVD",
"Martin Luther King Jr. and the \"I Have a Dream Speech\"\nMartin Luther King, Jr. and the I Have a ... and the \"I Have a Dream Speech\" On August 28, 1963, ... the National Archives at New York City is a deposition ...\nMartin Luther King, Jr. | National Archives\nHire a Researcher\nMartin Luther King, Jr.\nOn August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., delivered a speech to a massive group of civil rights marchers gathered around the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom brought together the nations most prominent civil rights leaders, along with tens of thousands of marchers, to press the United States government for equality. The culmination of this event was the influential and most memorable speech of Dr. King's career. Popularly known as the \"I have a Dream\" speech, the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. influenced the Federal government to take more direct actions to more fully realize racial equality.\nMister Maestro, Inc., and Twentieth Century Fox Records Company recorded the speech and offered the recording for sale. Dr. King and his attorneys claimed that the speech was copyrighted and the recording violated that copyright. The court found in favor of Dr. King. Among the papers filed in the case and available at the National Archives at New York City is a deposition given by Martin Luther King, Jr. and signed in his own hand.\nEducational Activities\nDiscussion Questions:\nWhat was the official name for the event on August 28th, 1963? What does this title tell us about its focus?\nWhat organizations were involved in the the March on Washington? What does this tell us about the event?\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. describe his writing process?\nWhat are the major issues of this case? In other words, what is Martin Luther King, Jr. disputing?\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. describe his earlier speech on June 23rd in Detroit?\nHow does Martin Luther King, Jr. compare and contrast the two \"I have a dream...\" speeches? What are the major similarities and differences?",
"Did MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African ...\nDid MLK Improvise in the ‘Dream’ Speech? ... August 28, 1963. Writing the Speech ... Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, ...\nDid MLK Improvise in the 'Dream' Speech? | African American Blog | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross\nby Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Originally posted on The Root\nFive Score and 50 Years Ago …\nThis year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation , issued at the midpoint of the American Civil War, and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , a moment that marked the spiritual summit of the civil rights movement. In place and time, they are joined at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, the nation’s shrine to the president who signed the proclamation declaring the slaves of the Confederate states free and the King who, 100 later, spoke to the disappointments and dreams of their descendants. Today, the words of both men — authors of arguably the two greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address and the “I Have a Dream” speech (pdf) — are etched in stone and in memory at the Lincoln and King Memorials in Washington.\nLincoln Memorial, Aug. 28, 1963 (Public Domain)\nNo one understood the poetry of their parallel moments better than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, who, speaking in front of Daniel Chester French’s iconic seated Lincoln statue, began his speech, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation … But 100 hundred years later the Negro still is not free.” In this way, Dr. King framed Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and made freedom — “at last” — the ideal by which we measure progress in our country.\nSo effective was King in tying the memory of Lincoln to the cause of civil rights that most of us now see the Lincoln Memorial as the obvious site, the holiest of holy places, where history and racial progress meet. So, it was — it had to be — the perfect backdrop for the ultimate barrier breaker, Barack Obama, to stand on the eve of his inauguration in 2009. Yet, as we shall see, there was nothing inevitable about the choice of the Lincoln Memorial as the logical place for racial protests throughout the early 20th century, or as the staging ground for Dr. King’s most memorable speech.\nLast week, we honored Bayard Rustin , the architect of the march; today, we examine the moment that remains most closely associated with it. But first, it’s important that we all understand a bit of the complicated background about the setting …\n1922: A Dedication or an Opening?\nThe NAACP was founded in Springfield, Ill., Feb. 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Yet, at the opening of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington May 30, 1922, security guards tried to “Jim Crow” black guests into a separate section from whites, despite the presence of a black orator onstage, the president of Tuskegee Institute, Robert Russa Moton , who, in addition to serving on numerous national boards, published an annual list of blacks lynched in the United States. (Sources for this last fact include the Afro-American newspaper from June 2, 1922, and Moton’s New York Times obituary from June 1, 1940.)\nThe title of Moton’s speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” might have been the other way around (given the role of black soldiers in the Civil War), but Moton agreed to tone down his remarks to placate the Memorial Commission, as Adam Fairclough writes in his article “Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial.” Even then, Moton managed to slip in his view of Lincoln’s ambivalence about emancipation: “The claim of greatness for Abraham Lincoln lies in this, that amid doubt and distrust, against the counsel of chosen advisers, in the hour of the nation’s utter peril, he put his trust in God and spoke the word that gave freedom to a race.”\nNo mainstream newspaper covered the attempt to segregate black guests at the dedication or that 21 guests apparently stormed out. (I checked ProQuest for these facts after reading other valuable historical accounts by Scott Sandage and Christopher Thomas.) They did cover President Warren G. Harding’s keynote address, in which he sanitized the memorial as a symbol of a restored Union by telling the estimated 75,000 gathered, “Halting human slavery as [Lincoln] did, he doubtless believed in its ultimate abolition through the developing conscience of the American people, but he would have been the last man in the Republic to resort to arms to effect its abolition.”\nFor this reason, at least one black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, on June 10, 1922, refused to accept that the Lincoln Memorial had been dedicated in 1922. “With song, prayer, bold and truthful speech,” its editor prophetically declared, “later on let us dedicate that temple thus far only opened.”\nThe Rededication\nAfrican Americans, beginning with members of the AME Zion Church, started gathering at the Lincoln Memorial as early as 1926, as a Washington Post account on August 5, 1926, indicates. And on April 9, 1939 (Easter Sunday and the 74th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox), the black contralto Marian Anderson fulfilled the Chicago Defender’s prophecy by giving a performance (mp3) of patriotic hymns, opera selections and Negro spirituals before a crowd of 100,000.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was only 10 when Marian Anderson gave her concert. At 15, he cited her in his prize-winning speech at Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School: “When the words of ‘America’ and ‘Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen’ rang out over that great gathering, there was a hush on the sea of uplifted faces, black and white, and a new baptism of liberty, equality and fraternity. That was a touching tribute, but Miss Anderson may not as yet spend the night in any good hotel in America.” Young Martin was right — the night of her concert, Marian Anderson stayed at the home of former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot (for a terrific account of her life and impact, see Raymond Arsenault’s book, The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert that Awakened America).\nSixteen years later, by then-Dr. King would lead a bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., that would set him on a path toward immortality and a destiny not dissimilar to the one occupied by the slain president who would be seated behind him (in stone) before a crowd of 200,000-plus marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.\nWriting the Speech (Minus ‘The Dream’)\nAs Taylor Branch notes in his definitive narrative, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, Dr. King began working in earnest on his speech with a small group of advisers in the lobby of the Willard Hotel the night before the march, and the resulting draft was “a mixture of truncated oratory and fresh composition” that was “politically sound but far from historic.” (To learn more, see King adviser Clarence B. Jones’ account in the Washington Post).\nMartin Luther King Jr. addressing the audience at the March on Washington (Wikimedia Commons)\nWhen King took the stage the following day, the audience had no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes wrangling we read about last week in the column about Rustin or that the march’s D.C. coordinator, Walter Fauntroy (future D.C. congressman), had to ring up the Justice Department to send in the Army Signal Corps to repair the expensive sound system sabotaged the day before. Imagine if they hadn’t come! (For more, see Charles Euchner’s recent book, Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.)\nWhat the audience did know was that the August heat was rapidly approaching unbearable and the cavalcade of speeches, whatever their individual merits, was beginning to weary them. Still, the crowd anxiously anticipated the march’s climax, the appearance of Dr. King, whom A. Philip Randolph introduced as “the moral leader of our nation … Dr. Martin Luther King, J-R.” King approached the podium keenly aware that he was addressing not only the massive crowd gathered before him at the Lincoln Memorial, but also the millions more watching live on TV, including President Kennedy and his brother, Robert.\nWorking Off the Script\nAdam Fairclough has pointed out that part of the power of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech came from the fact that he “framed this vision entirely within the hallowed symbols of Americanism: the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation and the ‘American Dream.’ ” But when he started talking that day, he had not planned to discuss any dreams.\nAfter opening with his allusion to Lincoln and “the Negro … still not free,” King turned to the novel metaphor of “the promissory note” — that the Declaration of Independence was a check of sorts written to all Americans of all races as a guarantee of their rights, but that so far, for “the Negro people,” it had been “a bad check … marked ‘insufficient funds.’ ”\nIn the following sections of the speech, King responded to critics across the political spectrum, including those who cautioned moderation (“gradualism,” he named it) and those who had begun calling for armed militancy and racial separation. King stressed the need for action “in the fierce urgency of now” and argued for a nonviolent, biracial approach, reminding those demanding more radical action that “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny … We cannot walk alone.” King then encouraged Americans to continue fighting for right over might, as “we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”\nA Speech Becomes a Sermon\nNot long after delivering that now-famous line, however, King changed course. Looking at his prepared speech, he balked when he reached this mouthful of a sentence: “And so today, let us go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” Instead, he transformed his speech into a sermon. He instructed the audience to “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama … South Carolina … Georgia … Louisiana … to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”\nKing speechwriter Clarence Jones realized what was happening when he saw King “push the text of his prepared remarks to one side,” he wrote in the Washington Post in 2011. “I leaned over and said to the person next to me, ‘These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about ready to go to church.’ ” Onstage that day, as Branch’s Parting the Waters quotes, the singer Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier, reportedly kept saying to King, as he spoke, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.” King never said if he heard her or not, but Julian Bond recently told me it would have been impossible not to, given their proximity on the stage and the resonance of Jackson’s powerful voice.\nIn any case, her dream was fulfilled when King continued, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed.” In classic black preacher oratorical fashion, King then turned to repetition, outlining the specifics of his dream, which emphasized interracial cooperation across the South. Poignantly, he exclaimed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”\nSoon the speech reached its dramatic climax. King quoted the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (the song Marian Anderson had opened with at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; she was also there to sing the national anthem in 1963) and commanded, “Let freedom ring” in “New Hampshire … New York … Pennsylvania … Colorado,” and “California,” but also “from Stone Mountain of Georgia … from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee … from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring … ”\nHe saved his most dramatic exhortations for last: “When we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentile, Catholics and Protestants, will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God, Almighty, we are free at last,’ ” a reference to this song . There is no better way to do justice to the delivery and effect of Dr. King’s speech upon his audience both at the memorial and in living rooms across America than to read (pdf), watch and listen.\nThree months later, King explained his decision to go off-script: “I started out reading the speech … just all of a sudden — the audience response was wonderful that day — and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here” (quoted in David Garrow’s Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). As inspiring as those speeches were, especially the version of the “Dream” speech he delivered in Detroit just two months before, settings matter, as Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, was quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press June 22 of this year. Musical as Motown was, it couldn’t compete with “the symbolic space” of the Lincoln Memorial (though Berry Gordy officially released 45s of the Detroit speech on the same day as the March on Washington!).\nImmediate Reactions\nDespite its well-earned current status as one of the greatest speeches in American history, it was not universally lauded the following day. While the New York Times published a story called “‘I Have a Dream …’ Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,” the Washington Post did not even mention King’s speech in its coverage of the march, according to Branch in Parting the Waters.\nAt the same time, radical activists on King’s left criticized the speech as a farce. “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and ‘I Have a Dream’ speeches?” Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography. All this, he added, while “the black masses in America were — and still are — having a nightmare.”\nNevertheless, King’s speech had its share of admirers, including the best-selling black writer at the time, James Baldwin, who later wrote , “That day, for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain that dream one dreamed in agony.”\nPoliticizing the Dream\nThe long-term importance of the march and the speech cannot be overstated. Look no further than the explosion of marches on Washington that have occurred in the years since. That such a wide variety of people and organizations have riffed upon the March on Washington by attempting to restage it is a testament to what King, Randolph and Rustin, John Lewis and the other leaders of the march achieved 50 years ago. It’s such a testament that the singular focus on King’s climactic speech (really, a few sound bites) has fostered an overly simple portrait of King himself. As Vincent Harding argues in “The Road to Redemption,” “Brother Martin spent a fair amount of time in jail, but his worst imprisonment may be how his own nation has frozen him in that moment in 1963.”\nThe freeze began taking hold after King’s assassination in 1968, Drew Hansen explains in his book The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation. Anxious that inner-city neighborhoods might burn, “politicians and the media [wanted] to influence the perceived direction of black protest” away from militancy and back toward the “good” civil rights movement of peaceful protest and visions of “all of God’s children … able” (and wanting) “to join hands and sing.”\nThe emphasis on the “dream” part of the speech especially obscures King’s later agenda. As Julian Bond once cautioned, most commemorations “focus almost entirely on Martin Luther King the dreamer, and not on Martin King the antiwar activist, not on Martin King the challenger of the economic order, not on Martin King the opponent of apartheid, not on the complete Martin Luther King.”\nThe speech also is too easily leveraged by political actors who surely would not have agreed with King’s message during the 1960s. For example, many opponents of affirmative action believe that the speech supports their argument; as Ronald Reagan said in 1986, “We are committed to a society in which all men and women have equal opportunities to succeed, and so we oppose the use of quotas. We want a colorblind society that, in the words of Dr. King, judges people not on ‘the color of their skin but by the content of their character’.” The estate of Martin Luther King even threatened to sue a group of supporters of Proposition 209, a 1996 California anti-affirmative action bill, when it used King’s speech in its advertisements.\nThe Dream at 50\nWe might take the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s dream not only to focus on the progress that has been made since 1963 but also to think more about his larger goals and aspirations to fix problems even more vexing than de jure segregation, problems such as wealth discrepancies between blacks and whites. You can begin by reading the text of the speech itself (pdf), and then turn to his collected writings. You might also make time to visit the Lincoln and King memorials in Washington and marvel at how Dr. King turned Robert Russa Moton’s 1922 “dedication” speech, “The Negro’s Debt to Lincoln,” into “ The Nation’s Debt to the Negro ,” a promissory note that remains unpaid for so many, while inspiring other minority groups to demand payment on theirs. It is a never-ending story of prophecy and protest, the noblest of our American traditions. It is also a stirring example of how African Americans reclaimed the Lincoln Memorial from Jim Crow and made it the ultimate American symbolic space for calls to redress grievances and effect progressive change in a truly democratic society.\nFifty of the 100 Amazing Facts will be published on The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross website. Read all 100 Facts on The Root.\nAbout\nFunders\nMajor corporate support for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is provided by Bank of America . Additional corporate funding is provided by The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's . Leadership support is generously provided by the Abby and Howard Milstein Foundation , in partnership with HooverMilstein and Emigrant Bank . Major funding is also provided by the Ford Foundation , Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky in Memory of Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, Richard Gilder, the Hutchins Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities . Support is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS .",
"Martin Luther King - Pennsylvania State University\n... Martin Luther, Jr. Born: January 15, ... \" Morehouse College; Nobel Peace Prize; ... at age 35, he became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize.\nMartin Luther King\nBorn: January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia\nDied: April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee\nVocations: Social Activist, Essayist, Minister, Speech Writer\nGeographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Chester, Delaware County\nKeywords: Boston University; Civil Rights Movement; Crozer Theological Seminary; \"I Have a Dream\" speech; \"Letter from Birmingham Jail;\" Morehouse College; Nobel Peace Prize; Presidential Medal of Freedom; Southern Christian Leadership Conference\nAbstract: Born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and civil rights leader who strongly believed in nonviolence. He attended Crozer Theological Seminary School in Chester, Pennsylvania to further his studies as a minister. In 1963 he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year; the next year he became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. King is most remembered for his powerfully moving speeches, including \"I Have a Dream,\" given before a crowd of 200,000 at the March on Washington in 1963. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray.\nBiography:\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the second child and the first son for his father, Rev. Martin Luther King, and his mother, Alberta Williams. He was accepted to Morehouse College in Atlanta at the age of 15. In 1948, at the age of 19, he had earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology. That same year he was ordained as a Baptist minister, following in the footsteps of the men in his family.\nIn September of 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he became the first African American to be elected student body president. While there, he attended a lecture about Mahatma Gandhi that had a profound impact on his thoughts. King began reading about Gandhi and his nonviolent approach to solving problems of social injustice. He graduated from Crozer with the highest grade point average in his class.\nKing then enrolled in Boston University where he met his wife, Coretta Scott. They were married by King's father in Alabama on June 18, 1953. The couple would later have four children, two girls and two boys.\nOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. King was chosen to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which planned to boycott the transit company. Under King's encouragement, over fifty thousand African Americans boycotted the buses for over a year. The MIA tried to negotiate rules for desegregation with the bus company. In 1956, after many other court cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for Alabama state laws to segregate people on buses and other public accommodations.\nEarly in 1957, King helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in New Orleans, which was dedicated to winning equal rights for African Americans. He served as their president until his death. King began lecturing all over the country, gaining support for civil rights. He was becoming very well-known to the public.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was a powerful speaker, motivating African Americans as well as liberal whites to challenge segregation laws and push for equality. His most famous speech is unquestionably \"I Have a Dream,\" given on August 28, 1963. In this speech King declared his dream \"that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\"\nKing wrote many books, the first of which was Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, published in 1958. This book outlined six principles of nonviolence, including the refusal to hate one's opponent and the willingness to accept suffering without retaliation. Next came Strength to Love in 1963, a collection of his sermons. In 1964 he wrote Why We Can't Wait, a collection of essays and letters centered on his now famous 1963 essay \"Letter from Birmingham Jail.\" In 1967 King wrote Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, which encouraged African Americans to let their voices be heard. That same year he wrote Trumpet of Conscience, a call for a nonviolent revolution.\nKing believed in using peaceful tactics such as sit-ins and boycotts. His incredible patience and pacifism was sparked by his studies of Gandhi, who he first became interested in while attending school in Chester. Gandhi was so important to King that in 1959 he visited India with Coretta to study Gandhian techniques of nonviolence. He was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1963. The following year, at age 35, he became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize.\nKing was arrested many times; including once for speeding. He was also accused of falsifying his 1956 and 1958 Alabama state income tax returns; he was later acquitted of these charges. But the majority of his arrests were during protests or sit-ins. King felt that going to jail was a small price to pay for speaking and acting against the discrimination and segregation that plagued the African American community.\nKing was subjected to much violence as he became more involved and more well-known for his civil rights activism. His home was bombed in 1956, he was stabbed in Harlem in 1958, and he was frequently attacked by people who were against his beliefs. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had given his final speech the day before entitled \"I've Been to the Mountaintop,\" in which he declared that although he may not be around to see it, one day there would be equal rights and opportunities for African Americans. President Jimmy Carter awarded Dr. King the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 for his work in the civil rights movement. The citation for the award read: Martin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation....His life informed us, his dreams sustain us yet.\" The third Monday of January was declared a national holiday in Dr. King's honor in 1986.\nWorks:\nStride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: Harper & Row, 1958.\nStrength to Love. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.\nWhy We Can't Wait. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.\nWhere Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.\nTrumpet of Conscience. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.\nEssays and Speeches\n\"A Realistic Look at the Questions of Progress in the Area of Race Relations\"\n\"Beyond Vietnam\"\n\"The Birth of a New Nation\"\n\"Eulogy for the Martyred Children\"\n\"Give Us the Ballot\"\n\"I've Been to the Mountain Top\"\n\"Letter from Birmingham Jail\"\n\"MIA Mass Meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church\"\n\"Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech\"\n\"Our God is Marching on\"\n\"Paul's Letter to American Christians\"\n\"Rediscovering Lost Values\"\n\"Speech at the Great March on Detroit\"\nSources:\n\"Drs. King and Salk Chosen to Receive Medal of Freedom.\" New York Times (5 Jul. 1977): 14.\nDyson, Michael Eric. I May Not Get There With You. New York: The Free Press, 2000.\nFrady, Marshall. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Lipper/Viking, 2002.\nKing, Coretta Scott. My Life With Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969.\nKing, Martin Luther Jr. Gale Group. 2000. Biography.com. 9 September 2004. <http://www.biography.com>\nMikell, Robert S. \"King, Martin Luther Jr.\" The African American Encyclopedia. Ed. Michael W. Williams. Vol. 4. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1993.\nFor More Information:\nBranch, Taylor. Parting the Waters. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1989.\n---. Pillar of Fire. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1999.\nGarrow, David. Bearing the Cross. New York: Perennial, 1999.\nThe Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ed. Cyalborne Carson. New York: Warner Books, 1998.\nWilliams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965. New York: Penguin Books, 1988.\nThis biographical sketch was prepared by Dana Giusti.",
"Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech - YouTube\n... and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co ... Year by Time magazine in 1963; ... Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28 ...\nMartin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech - YouTube\nMartin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech\nWant to watch this again later?\nSign in to add this video to a playlist.\nNeed to report the video?\nSign in to report inappropriate content.\nThe interactive transcript could not be loaded.\nLoading...\nRating is available when the video has been rented.\nThis feature is not available right now. Please try again later.\nPublished on Aug 28, 2013\nMartin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro* institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family\nIn 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.\nIn 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his \"Letter from a Birmingham Jail\", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, \"l Have a Dream\", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.\nAt the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.\nOn the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.\nCategory",
"Martin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\nNobel Peace Prize. Following the March ... in 1964 at the age of 35, King became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel ... Latest on Martin Luther King, Jr ...\nMartin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\nMartin Luther King, Jr.: Biography, Speeches & Quotes\nBy Jessie Szalay, LiveScience Contributor |\nJanuary 17, 2014 01:47am ET\nMORE\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)\nCredit: Library of Congress.\nMartin Luther King Jr. was a pastor, humanitarian and leader in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. In numerous speeches, marches and letters, he fought for racial and economic justice. He was lauded for his nonviolent approach to civil disobedience. Assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, King made an incredible impact on the country’s racial, cultural and intellectual landscape.\nEarly life\nKing was born on Jan. 15, 1929, to the Rev. Michael King and Alberta Williams King in Atlanta, Ga. His birth name was Michael King Jr. The King family had deep roots in the Atlanta black community and the African-American Baptist Church. Both his grandfather and father served in succession at Ebenezer Baptist Church (down the street from King’s childhood home), and established it as a major congregation in Baptist circles. They were also both leaders in the Atlanta branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Michael King Sr. changed his name and his son's name to Martin Luther in 1934 to honor the 16th-century German religious reformer.\nKing attended segregated schools and graduated from high school at 15. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology at Morehouse College in 1948, and went on to gain a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and a doctorate in Philosophy of Systematic Theology from Boston University. While in Boston, he met music student Coretta Scott. The two later married and had two daughters and two sons.\nKing contemplated an academic career but ultimately followed his father and grandfather to the pulpit. In 1954, he accepted the position of pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.\nMinistry and civil rights leadership\nIn Montgomery, King began to be known as a prominent leader in the civil rights movement. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man and was arrested. Local leaders formed an organization to protest Parks’ arrest and chose King to head the group. In this role, he became the primary spokesperson for what would become the 382-day Montgomery Bus Boycott. During the boycott, King was abused and arrested, and his house was bombed, but he remained a stalwart and committed leader.\nKing’s activism, leadership and ministry drew heavily on his Christian principles as well as the nonviolent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King skillfully drew upon a wide range of theological and philosophical influences to mobilize black churches and communities and to appeal for white support. He turned from an abstract view of God to a more supportive, reassuring concept, describing God as “a living reality that has been validated in the experiences of everyday life.\"\nAfter the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation, King helped expand the civil rights movement throughout the South. He was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and moved back to Atlanta to be closer to the organization’s headquarters and to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church. He also traveled and spoke widely, spreading the message of nonviolent protest; wrote five books; organized voting drives; led peaceful protests and marches; and was arrested more than 20 times.\n'Letter from Birmingham City Jail'\nIn 1963, King led a nonviolent protest in highly segregated Birmingham, Ala. The campaign was met with brutality from the police, who attacked demonstrators with dogs and hoses. King was arrested and, in a cell, drafted his famous “ Letter from Birmingham City Jail ,” which became a manifesto for civil rights and civil disobedience. The letter combined ideas from the Bible, the Constitution and other respected texts.\nMarch on Washington and 'I Have a Dream' speech\nOn Aug. 28, 1963, about 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., in the largest demonstration of its kind in the city. At the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered the inspirational and oft-quoted “ I Have a Dream ” speech. The speech's most famous phrases include:\n\"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …\n\"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\"\nThe speech inspired the nation and solidified King’s status as a national civil rights leader. After the march, King and other leaders met with President John F. Kennedy to discuss equal rights and an end to segregation.\nNobel Peace Prize\nFollowing the March on Washington, Time magazine named King its “Man of the Year.” The next year, in 1964 at the age of 35, King became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize . He donated the winnings to the civil rights movement. King received hundreds of other awards and several honorary degrees.\nLater work and assassination\nIn addition to his work on racial issues, King became an activist for economic justice and a critic of the Vietnam War. He formed an organization called the Poor Peoples Campaign, which was unpopular among some black activists who wanted to take more radical approaches to social change, such as those advocated by the Black Power campaigns.\nOn April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., King delivered a poignant speech, intoning,\n“I've been to the mountaintop [and] I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.\"\nThe next day, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, King was assassinated. White segregationist James Earl Ray was convicted of the crime, though the identity of King’s murderer was the subject of some controversy.\nThe Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.\nCredit: Lissandra Melo / Shutterstock.com\nLegacy and memorial\nKing had a profound impact on the United States. The March on Washington was influential in the passing of the landmark Civil Rights Act, which essentially made segregation illegal. The Voting Rights Act was passed as the result of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March.\nIn 1968, Coretta Scott King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She also led the effort to make King’s birthday a national holiday, first celebrated in 1986.\nOn Aug. 28, 2011 — the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington — a memorial to King was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists of a 30-foot statue of King carved into the “Stone of Hope” breaking through two boulders representing the “Mountain of Despair.”\nMemorable quotes\n\"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.\"\n\"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.\"\n\"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.\"\n\"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.\"\n\"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.\"\n\"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.\"\n\"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.\"\n\"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.\"",
"Martin Luther King - Biography - IMDb\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, ... His father was named Michael Luther King, but changed his first name to Martin when he became a minister.\nMartin Luther King - Biography - IMDb\nMartin Luther King\nBiography\nShowing all 65 items\nJump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (33) | Personal Quotes (22)\nOverview (5)\n5' 6½\" (1.69 m)\nMini Bio (1)\nMartin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. His mother was a schoolteacher. For Martin the civil rights movement began one summer in 1935 when he was six years old. Two of his friends did not show up to play ball with him and Martin decided to go looking for them. When he went to one of the boys' house, their mother met him at the front door and told him in a rude tone that her son would not be coming out to play with him that day or any other day because they were white and he was black. Years later, Martin admitted that those cruel words altered the direction of his life. As a teenager, Martin went through school with great distinction. He skipped ninth and 12th grades, and excelled on the violin and as as a public speaker. One evening after taking top prize in a debate tournament, he and his teacher were riding home on the bus discussing the event when the driver ordered them to give up their seats for two white passengers who had just boarded. Martin was infuriated as he recalled, \"I intended to stay right in my seat and protest,\" but his teacher convinced him to obey the law and they stood for the remainder of the 90-mile trip. \"That night will never leave my memory as long as I live. It was the angriest I had ever been in my life. Never before, or afterward, can I remember myself being so angry,\" he later recalled. Martin entered Morehouse College, his father's alma mater, when he was 15 with the intention of becoming a doctor or lawyer. After graduating from Morehouse at the age of 19, he decided to enter Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. This private nondenominational college had only 100 students at the time, and Martin was one of six black students. This was the first time that he had lived in a community that was mostly white. He won the highest class ranking and a $1,200 fellowship for graduate school. In 1951 he entered Boston University School of Theology to to pursue his Ph.D. While at Crozer Martin had attended a lecture by Howard University President Mordecai Johnson , who spoke about Mohandas K. Gandhi , India's spiritual leader whose nonviolent protests helped to free his country from British rule, and that gave Martin the basis for positive change. It was here that he met and married his wife Coretta Scott King , who was a soprano studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1954 Martin accepted a call to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, to be its pastor. Despite Coretta's warning that it would not be safe for them in Alabama, the poorest and most racist state in the US, Martin insisted that they move there. Many local black ministers attended Martin's first sermon at the church, among them the Rev. Ralph Abernathy , who congratulated him on his speech. The two became fast friends and often discussed life in general and the challenges of desegregation in particular. Then an incident changed Martin's life forever.\nOn the cold winter night of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks , a 42-year-old black seamstress who worked in a downtown Montgomery department store, boarded a bus for home and sat in the back with the other black passengers. A few stops later, she was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger who just boarded. She repeatedly refused, prompting the driver to call the police, who arrested her. In response to Mrs. Parks' courage, the town's black leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and elected Martin as its leader. The first goal of the MIA was to boycott the city's bus system until public transportation laws were changed. The strike was long, bitter and violent, but eventually the city's white merchants began to complain that their businesses were suffering because of the strike, and the city responded by filing charges against Martin. While in court to appeal the charges, he learned that the U.S. Supreme Court had affirmed the decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that the local laws requiring segregation on buses were unconstitutional. The first civil rights battle was won, but for Martin it was the first of many more difficult ones. On November 29, 1959, he offered his resignation to the members of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, as several months earlier he had been elected leader of a new organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He moved his family to Atlanta and began to establish a regional network of nonviolent organizations. In April 1961 he coordinated the SCLC and other civil-rights organizations to take two busloads of white and black passengers through the South on a \"freedom ride\" for publicity reasons. In Virgina and North and South Carolina there were no incidents, but in Anniston, Alabama, the ride became a rolling horror when one bus was burned and its passengers beaten by an angry racist white mob. In Birmingham, angry mobs--with some policemen joining them--greeted the bus with more violence, which was broken up when state police intervened and stopped the chaos. The violence shook Martin and he decided to abandon the freedom rides before someone was killed, but the riders insisted they complete the ride to Montgomery, where they where greeted with more violence. In January 1963 Martin arrived in Birmingham with Ralph Abernathy to organize a freedom march aimed to end segregation. Despite an injunction issued by city authorities against the gathering, the protesters marched and were attacked by the police. Three months later another march was planned with the intent to \"turn the other cheek\" in response to the violence by the city's police force. As the marchers reached downtown Birmgingham, the police attacked the crowd with high-pressure fire hoses and attack dogs. This time, however, the incident was witnessed across the entire country, as many network TV crews were there and broadcasting live footage of unarmed marchers being blasted to the ground by high-pressure hoses and others being bitten and mauled by snarling attack dogs, and it sparked a national outrage. The next day, more marchers repeated the walk and more policemen attacked with fire hoses and police dogs, leading to a total of 1,200 arrests. On the third day, Martin organized another march to the city jail. This time, when the marchers approached the police, none of them moved and some even let the marchers through to continue their march. The nonviolent strategy had worked--the strikes and boycotts were cutting deeply into the city merchants' revenues, and they called for negotiations and agreed with local black leaders to integrate lunch counters, fitting rooms, restrooms and drinking fountains within 90 days. Martin was then called for a rally in Washington, DC, near the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Nearly 200,000 people stood in the intense heat listening to the speeches by the members and supporters of the NACCP. By the time Martin was called as the day's final speaker, the crowd was hot and tired. As he approached the podium, with his papers containing his prepared speech, he suddenly put them aside and decided to speak from the heart. He spoke of freedoms for blacks achieved and not yet achieved. He then spoke the words that echo throughout the world to this day: \"I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.' I have that dream.\" By mid-October 1964 Martin had given 350 civil rights speeches and traveled 275,000 miles across the country and worked for 20 hours a day. While in an Atlanta hospital after collapsing from exhaustion, his wife brought in his room a telegram notifying him that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 1, 1968, Martin traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to meet with two of his advisers, James Bevel and Jesse Jackson , to discuss organizing a march to Washington in support of a strike by Memphis' city's sanitation workers. In the late afternoon of April 4, he stepped out onto the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where he was staying to speak with Andrew Young . As he saw Jackson and waved to him for a moment, a gunshot rang through the air and Martin Luther King Jr. was hit in the neck and fell dead from a sniper's bullet. He was dead, but the struggle that he started to continue to bring peace and end the racial conflict in the USA continues to this day.\n- IMDb Mini Biography By: [email protected]\nSpouse (1)\n( 18 June 1953 - 4 April 1968) (his death) (4 children)\nTrade Mark (3)\nHopes for equality between every ethnicity\nHis mustache\nJanuary 20, 1986 was the first national celebration of King's birthday as a holiday.\nWon Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1964.\nWas stabbed in 1958 while promoting his book, \"Stride Toward Freedom\".\nGraduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA, with a B.D. in 1951.\nBecame pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1960.\nEarned Ph.D. in systematic theology in 1955.\nChildren: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter King (b. 1961), Bernice King (b. 1963).\nGraduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, in 1948.\nJanuary 20, 1986 was the third Monday in January, and consequently, the third Monday in January is an official holiday in the U.S. honoring Dr. King. To date, all 50 states observe the King holiday.\nHis father was named Michael Luther King, but changed his first name to Martin when he became a minister. The younger Michael changed his name to Martin as well, initially against his father's wishes.\nIs the only U.S. citizen to have a national holiday dedicated to him.\nPictured on a 15¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Black Heritage USA series, issued 13 January 1979.\nWas a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.\nTime Magazine's \"Man of the Year\" (1963)\nPictured on a commerative 25 cent postage label issued by the (now defunct) Independent Postal System of America in 1973.\nWas a Trekkie (a fan of the original Star Trek (1966) TV series).\nEncouraged Nichelle Nichols to remain on the original Star Trek (1966) series (according to William Shatner 's \"Star Trek Memories\").\nSubject of the U2 song \"Pride (In the Name of Love)\" from their 1984 album \"The Unforgettable Fire\".\nSanta Monica auditorium named in his honor with daughter Yolanda King officiating and performer/activist Anthony Begonia organizing the music. [January 2006]\nHe stated that he would not live to be 40. He died aged 39.\nIs portrayed by LeVar Burton in Ali (2001).\nAmong his personal, non-violent reform heroes was Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948).\nDuring the funeral, his casket was pulled by a mule-driven cart down Atlanta's main street.\nWas a vegetarian.\nPublicly spoke out against the Vietnam War in 1967.\nOn King's 60th birthday in 1988, the U.S. government unveiled a statue memorial of his likeness, to commemorate the progress of civil rights.\nGrandfather of Yolanda Renee King.\nYounger brother of Christine King . and Alfred Daniel King.\nSon of Martin Luther King Sr. .and Alberta Williams King.\nWhen he was shot, King was on his way to a soul-food dinner at the home of Reverend Samuel (Billy) Kyles. After supper, King had promised to attend the evening rally of the striking black garbage collectors of Local 1733.\nAt age thirty-five,He was the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace prize.This record was surpassed by Betty Williams in 1977 who was thirty-three.",
"I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\nI have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, ... the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963 . ... every state and every city, ...\nAvalon Project - I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\nI have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963\nDelivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963\nFive score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.\nBut one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.\nIn a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\nIt is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked \"insufficient funds.\" But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.\nIt would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.\nBut there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.\nWe must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.\nAnd as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, \"When will you be satisfied?\" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.\nI am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.\nGo back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.\nI say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.\nI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: \"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.\"\nI have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.\nI have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.\nI have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.\nI have a dream today.\nI have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.\nThis is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.\nThis will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, \"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.\"\nAnd if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!\nLet freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!\nLet freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!\nBut not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!\nLet freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!\nLet freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.\nWhen we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, \"Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!\"",
"Martin Luther King Jr. - Black History - HISTORY.com\nArticle Details: Martin Luther King Jr. Author. History.com Staff. Website Name. History.com. Year Published. 2009. Title. Martin Luther King Jr. URL. http://www ...\nMartin Luther King Jr. - Black History - HISTORY.com\nMartin Luther King Jr.\nA+E Networks\nIntroduction\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Inspired by advocates of nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi, King sought equality for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986.\nGoogle\nMartin Luther King Jr.: Early Years and Family\nThe second child of Martin Luther King Sr. (1899-1984), a pastor, and Alberta Williams King (1904-1974), a former schoolteacher, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia , on January 15, 1929. Along with his older sister, the future Christine King Farris (born 1927), and younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King (1930-1969), he grew up in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, then home to some of the most prominent and prosperous African Americans in the country.\nDid You Know?\nThe final section of Martin Luther King Jr.’s eloquent and iconic “I Have a Dream” speech is believed to have been largely improvised.\nA gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law. Although he had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry, he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania , where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class.\nKing then enrolled in a graduate program at Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate in systematic theology two years later. While in Boston he met Coretta Scott (1927-2006), a young singer from Alabama who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. They had four children: Yolanda Denise King (1955-2007), Martin Luther King III (born 1957), Dexter Scott King (born 1961) and Bernice Albertine King (born 1963).\nMartin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott\nThe King family had been living in Montgomery for less than a year when the highly segregated city became the epicenter of the burgeoning struggle for civil rights in America, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks (1913-2005), secretary of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a bus boycott that would continue for 381 days, placing a severe economic strain on the public transit system and downtown business owners. They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader and official spokesman.\nBy the time the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional in November 1956, King, heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and the activist Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), had entered the national spotlight as an inspirational proponent of organized, nonviolent resistance. (He had also become a target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January.) Emboldened by the boycott’s success, in 1957 he and other civil rights activists–most of them fellow ministers–founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolence. (Its motto was “Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed.”) He would remain at the helm of this influential organization until his death.\nKing and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference\nIn his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled across the country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activists and political leaders. (During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity to meet family members and followers of Gandhi, the man he described in his autobiography as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.”) King also authored several books and articles during this time.\nIn 1960 King and his family moved to Atlanta, his native city, where he joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This new position did not stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in many of the most significant civil rights battles of the 1960s. Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly severe test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities. Arrested for his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil rights manifesto known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of civil disobedience addressed to a group of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.\nKing Marches for Freedom\nLater that year, Martin Luther King Jr. worked with a number of civil rights and religious groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light on the injustices African Americans continued to face across the country. Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights movement and a factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\nThe march culminated in King’s most famous address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a masterpiece of rhetoric. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial–a monument to the president who a century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of a future in which “this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'” The speech and march cemented King’s reputation at home and abroad; later that year he was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine and in 1964 became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.\nIn the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international attention to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) had organized a voter registration campaign. Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Selma and take part in a march to Montgomery led by King and supported by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973), who sent in federal troops to keep the peace. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act , which guaranteed the right to vote–first awarded by the 15th Amendment–to all African Americans.\nMartin Luther King Jr.’s Final Years and Assassination\nThe events in Selma deepened a growing rift between Martin Luther King Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods and commitment to working within the established political framework. As more militant black leaders such as Stokely Carmichael (1941-1998) rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam War and poverty among Americans of all races. In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious program known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a massive march on the capital.\nOn the evening of April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where he had traveled to support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of mourning. James Earl Ray (1928-1998), an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. (He later recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including members of the King family, before his death in 1998.)\nAfter years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King , among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) signed a bill creating a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King. Observed on the third Monday of January, it was first celebrated in 1986.\nTags",
"10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr ...\nFind out how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech became an impromptu ... King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin. ... King’s widow, ...\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr. - History in the Headlines\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\nApril 4, 2013 By Christopher Klein\nShare\nFind out how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech became an impromptu addition to the March on Washington.\nShare this:\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\nAuthor\n10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.\nURL\nGoogle\nMartin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Explore 10 surprising facts about the civil rights leader and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner.\n1. King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin.\nThe civil rights leader was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929. In 1934, however, his father, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. As a result, King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his 5-year-old son.\n2. King entered college at the age of 15.\nKing was such a gifted student that he skipped grades nine and 12 before enrolling in 1944 at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather. Although he was the son, grandson and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, King did not intend to follow the family vocation until Morehouse president Benjamin E. Mays, a noted theologian, convinced him otherwise. King was ordained before graduating college with a degree in sociology.\n3. King received his doctorate in systematic theology.\nAfter earning a divinity degree from Pennsylvania’s Crozer Theological Seminary, King attended graduate school at Boston University, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1955. The title of his dissertation was “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.”\n4. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was not his first at the Lincoln Memorial.\nSix years before his iconic oration at the March on Washington, King was among the civil rights leaders who spoke in the shadow of the Great Emancipator during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom on May 17, 1957. Before a crowd estimated at between 15,000 and 30,000, King delivered his first national address on the topic of voting rights. His speech, in which he urged America to “give us the ballot,” drew strong reviews and positioned him at the forefront of the civil rights leadership.\n5. King was jailed 29 times.\nAccording to the King Center, the civil rights leader went to jail nearly 30 times. He was arrested for acts of civil disobedience and on trumped-up charges, such as when he was jailed in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956 for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.\n6. King narrowly escaped an assassination attempt a decade before his death.\nOn September 20, 1958, King was in Harlem signing copies of his new book, “Stride Toward Freedom,” in Blumstein’s department store when he was approached by Izola Ware Curry. The woman asked if he was Martin Luther King Jr. After he said yes, Curry said, “I’ve been looking for you for five years,” and she plunged a seven-inch letter opener into his chest. The tip of the blade came to rest alongside his aorta, and King underwent hours of delicate emergency surgery. Surgeons later told King that just one sneeze could have punctured the aorta and killed him. From his hospital bed where he convalesced for weeks, King issued a statement affirming his nonviolent principles and saying he felt no ill will toward his mentally ill attacker.\n7. King’s last public speech foretold his death.\nKing had come to Memphis in April 1968 to support the strike of the city’s black garbage workers, and in a speech on the night before his assassination, he told an audience at Mason Temple Church: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”\n8. Members of King’s family did not believe James Earl Ray acted alone.\nRay, a career criminal, pled guilty to King’s assassination but later recanted. King’s son Dexter met publicly with Ray in 1997 and argued for the case to be reopened. King’s widow, Coretta, believed the Mafia and local, state and federal government agencies were deeply involved in the murder. She praised the result of a 1999 civil trial in which a Memphis jury decided the assassination was the result of a conspiracy and that Ray was set up to take the blame. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation released in 2000 reported no evidence of a conspiracy.\n9. King’s mother was also slain by a bullet.\nOn June 30, 1974, as 69-year-old Alberta Williams King played the organ at a Sunday service inside Ebenezer Baptist Church, Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr. rose from the front pew, drew two pistols and began to fire shots. One of the bullets struck and killed King, who died steps from where her son had preached nonviolence. The deranged gunman said that Christians were his enemy and that although he had received divine instructions to kill King’s father, who was in the congregation, he killed King’s mother instead because she was closer. The shooting also left a church deacon dead. Chenault received a death penalty sentence that was later changed to life imprisonment, in part due to the King family’s opposition to capital punishment.\n10. George Washington is the only other American to have had his birthday observed as a national holiday.\nIn 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday to honor King. The holiday, first commemorated in 1986, is celebrated on the third Monday in January, close to the civil rights leader’s January 15 birthday.\nTags"
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In the novel ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, what is the name of Mr Rochester’s home? | Thornfield Hall | [
"Jane_Eyre.txt\nJane Eyre\nJane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847, by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name \"Currer Bell.\" The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.\n\nPrimarily of the Bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the Byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalisation of the action—the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility, and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry—Jane Eyre revolutionised the art of fiction. Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism. \n\nPlot\n\nIntroduction\n\nThe novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character. The novel's setting is somewhere in the north of England, during the reign of George III (1760–1820), and goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her; and her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. During these sections the novel provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo (see the Themes section below). Literary critic Jerome Beaty opines that the close first person perspective leaves the reader \"too uncritically accepting of her worldview\", and often leads reading and conversation about the novel towards supporting Jane, regardless of how irregular her ideas or perspectives are.Beaty, Jerome. \"St. John's Way and the Wayward Reader\" in \n\nJane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters, and most editions are at least 400 pages long. The original publication was in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38; this was a common publishing format during the 19th century (see three-volume novel).\n\nBrontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray.\n\nJane's childhood\n\nThe novel begins with the titular character, Jane Eyre, aged 10, living with her maternal uncle's family, the Reeds, as a result of her uncle's dying wish. It is several years after her parents died of typhus. Mr. Reed, Jane's uncle, was the only one in the Reed family who was kind to Jane. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her, treats her as a burden, and discourages her children from associating with Jane. Mrs. Reed and her three children are abusive to Jane, physically, emotionally, and, as the reader is quick to realize, spiritually. The nursemaid Bessie proves to be Jane's only ally in the household, even though Bessie sometimes harshly scolds Jane. Excluded from the family activities, Jane is incredibly unhappy, with only a doll and books in which to find solace.\n\nOne day, after her cousin John knocks her down and she attempts to defend herself, Jane is locked in the red room where her uncle died; there, she faints from panic after she thinks she has seen his ghost. She is subsequently attended to by the kindly apothecary, Mr. Lloyd, to whom Jane reveals how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs. Reed that Jane should be sent to school, an idea Mrs. Reed happily supports. Mrs. Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr. Brocklehurst, director of Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls. Mrs. Reed cautions Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane has a \"tendency for deceit\", which he interprets as her being a \"liar\". Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs. Reed and declares that she'll never call her \"aunt\" again, that Mrs. Reed and her daughter, Georgiana, are the ones who are deceitful, and that she'll tell everyone at Lowood how cruelly Mrs. Reed treated her. \n\nLowood\n\nAt Lowood Institution, a school for poor and orphaned girls, Jane soon finds that life is harsh, but she attempts to fit in and befriends an older girl, Helen Burns, who is able to accept her punishment philosophically. During a school inspection by Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, thereby drawing attention to herself. He then stands her on a stool, brands her a liar, and shames her before the entire assembly. Jane is later comforted by her friend, Helen. Miss Temple, the caring superintendent, facilitates Jane's self-defence and writes to Mr. Lloyd, whose reply agrees with Jane's. Jane is then publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations.\n\nThe 80 pupils at Lowood are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes, and Jane's friend Helen dies of consumption in her arms. When Mr. Brocklehurst's maltreatment of the students is discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and install a sympathetic management committee to moderate Mr. Brocklehurst's harsh rule. Conditions at the school then improve dramatically.\n\nThe name Lowood symbolizes the \"low\" point in Jane's life where she was maltreated. Helen Burns is a representation of Charlotte's elder sister Maria, who died of tuberculosis after spending time at a school where the children were mistreated.\n\nThornfield Hall\n\nAfter six years as a student and two as a teacher at Lowood, Jane decides to leave, like her friend and confidante Miss Temple, who recently married. She advertises her services as a governess and receives one reply, from Alice Fairfax, housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. Jane takes the position, teaching Adèle Varens, a young French girl.\n\nOne night, while Jane is walking to a nearby town, a horseman passes her. The horse slips on ice and throws the rider. Despite the rider's surliness, Jane helps him to get back onto his horse. Later, back at Thornfield, she learns that this man is Edward Rochester, master of the house. Adèle is his ward, left in his care when her mother abandoned her.\n\nAt Jane's first meeting with him within Thornfield, Mr. Rochester teases her, accusing her of bewitching his horse to make him fall. He also talks strangely in other ways, but Jane is able to give as good as she gets. Mr. Rochester and Jane soon come to enjoy each other's company, and spend many evenings together.\n\nOdd things start to happen at the house, such as a strange laugh, a mysterious fire in Mr. Rochester's room (from which Jane saves Rochester by rousing him and throwing water on him and the fire), and an attack on a house guest of Rochester's, a Mr. Mason. Then Jane receives word that her aunt Mrs. Reed is calling for her, after suffering a stroke because her unruly son John has died in sad circumstances. Jane returns to Gateshead and remains there for a month, attending to her dying aunt. As she lies dying, Mrs. Reed confesses to Jane that she has wronged her, and gives Jane a letter from Jane's paternal uncle, Mr. John Eyre, in which he asks for her to live with him and be his heir. Mrs. Reed admits to telling Mr. Eyre that Jane had died of fever at Lowood. Soon afterward, Jane's aunt dies, and Jane helps her cousins after the funeral before returning to Thornfield. \n\nBack at Thornfield, Jane broods over Mr. Rochester's rumoured impending marriage to the beautiful and talented, but snobbish and heartless, Blanche Ingram. However, one midsummer evening, Rochester baits Jane by saying how much he will miss her after getting married, but how she will soon forget him. There then follows one of the most stirring speeches in the whole book, when the normally self-controlled Jane opens her heart to him. Rochester is then sure that Jane is sincerely in love with him, and he proposes marriage. Jane is at first sceptical of his sincerity, but eventually believes him and gladly agrees to marry him. She then writes to her Uncle John, telling him of her happy news. \n\nAs she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr. Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole, one of his servants. During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is still married to Mr. Mason's sister, Bertha. Mr. Rochester admits this is true but explains that his father tricked him into the marriage for her money. Once they were united, he discovered that she was rapidly descending into madness, and so he eventually locked her away in Thornfield, hiring Grace Poole as a nurse to look after her. When Grace gets drunk, his wife escapes and causes the strange happenings at Thornfield.\n\nIt turns out that Jane's uncle, Mr. John Eyre, is a friend of Mr. Mason's and was visited by him soon after Mr. Eyre received Jane's letter about her impending marriage. After the marriage ceremony is broken off, Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live with him as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night. \n\nOther employment\n\nJane travels as far from Thornfield as she can using the little money she had previously saved. She accidentally leaves her bundle of possessions on the coach and has to sleep on the moor, and unsuccessfully attempts to trade her handkerchief and gloves for food. Exhausted and hungry, she eventually makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers, but is turned away by the housekeeper. She collapses on the doorstep, preparing for her death. St. John Rivers, Diana and Mary's brother and a clergyman, saves her. After she regains her health, St. John finds Jane a teaching position at a nearby village school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St. John remains aloof.\n\nThe sisters leave for governess jobs, and St. John becomes somewhat closer to Jane. St. John learns Jane's true identity and astounds her by telling her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left her his entire fortune of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to over £1.3 million in 2011calculated using the UK Retail Price Index: ). When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John Eyre is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance but were left virtually nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding that she has living and friendly family members, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come back to Moor House to live.\n\nProposals\n\nThinking Jane will make a suitable missionary's wife, St. John asks her to marry him and to go with him to India, not out of love, but out of duty. Jane initially accepts going to India but rejects the marriage proposal, suggesting they travel as brother and sister. As soon as Jane's resolve against marriage to St. John begins to weaken, she mysteriously hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane then returns to Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Mr. Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. \"Am I hideous, Jane?\", he asks. “Very, sir: you always were, you know”, she replies. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes, and they are married. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.\n\nCharacters\n\n* Jane Eyre: The novel's protagonist, second wife of Edward Rochester and title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane is passionate and strongly principled, and values freedom and independence. She also has a strong conscience and is a determined Christian.\n* Mr. Reed: Jane's maternal uncle, who adopts Jane when her parents die. According to Mrs. Reed, he pitied Jane and often cared for her more than for his own children. Before his own death, he makes his wife promise to care for Jane.\n* Mrs. Reed: Jane's aunt by marriage, who adopts Jane on her husband's wishes, but abuses and neglects her. She eventually casts her off and sends her to Lowood School.\n* John Reed: Jane's cousin, who as a child bullies Jane constantly, sometimes in his mother's presence. He ruins himself as an adult by drinking and gambling, and is thought to have committed suicide.\n* Eliza Reed: Jane's cousin. Jealous of her more attractive sister and a slave to rigid routine, she self-righteously devotes herself to religion. She leaves for a nunnery near Lisle after her mother's death, determined to estrange herself from her sister.\n* Georgiana Reed: Jane's cousin. Although beautiful and indulged, she is insolent and spiteful. Her sister Eliza foils Georgiana's marriage to the wealthy Lord Edwin Vere, when the couple is about to elope. Georgiana eventually marries a \"wealthy worn-out man of fashion\".\n* Bessie Lee: The nursemaid at Gateshead. She often treats Jane kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs, but she has a quick temper. Later, she marries Robert Leaven.\n* Robert Leaven: The coachman at Gateshead, who brings Jane the news of John Reed's death, which was brought on Mrs. Reed's stroke, and Mrs. Reed's wish to see Jane before Mrs. Reed died.\n* Mr. Lloyd: A compassionate apothecary who recommends that Jane be sent to school. Later, he writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane's account of her childhood and thereby clears Jane of Mrs. Reed's charge of lying.\n* Mr. Brocklehurst: The clergyman, director, and treasurer of Lowood School, whose maltreatment of the students is eventually exposed. A religious traditionalist, he advocates for his charges the most harsh, plain, and disciplined possible lifestyle, but not, hypocritically, for himself and his own family. His second daughter Augusta exclaimed, \"Oh, dear papa, how quiet and plain all the girls at Lowood look... they looked at my dress and mama's, as if they had never seen a silk gown before.\"\n* Miss Maria Temple: The kind superintendent of Lowood School, who treats the students with respect and compassion. She helps clear Jane of Mr. Brocklehurst's false accusation of deceit and cares for Helen in her last days. Eventually, she marries Reverend Naysmith.\n* Miss Scatcherd: A sour and strict teacher at Lowood. She constantly punishes Helen Burns for her untidiness but fails to see Helen's substantial good points.\n* Helen Burns: Jane's best friend at Lowood School. She refuses to hate those who abuse her, trusts in God, and prays for peace one day in heaven. She teaches Jane to trust Christianity and dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Elizabeth Gaskell, in her biography of the Brontë sisters, wrote that Helen Burns was 'an exact transcript' of Maria Brontë, who died of consumption at age 11. \n* Edward Fairfax Rochester: The master of Thornfield Hall. A Byronic hero, he is tricked into making an unfortunate first marriage to Bertha Mason many years before he meets Jane, with whom he falls madly in love.\n* Bertha Mason-Rochester Antoinetta Mason: The violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester. She moved to Thornfield, was locked in the attic, and eventually committed suicide after setting fire to Thornfield Hall.\n* Adèle Varens: An excitable French child to whom Jane is governess at Thornfield. Adèle's mother, a dancer named Céline and Mr Rochester's mistress, claimed that Adèle was Mr Rochester's daughter, but he refuses to believe it because of Céline's unfaithfulness and Adèle's lack of resemblance to him. Adèle seems to believe that her mother is dead (she tells Jane in chapter 11, \"I lived long ago with mamma, but she is gone to the Holy Virgin\"), but Mr Rochester later tells Jane that Céline in fact abandoned Adèle and \"ran away to Italy with a musician or singer\" (ch. 15). Adèle and Jane develop a strong liking for one another, and although Mr Rochester places Adèle in a strict school after Jane flees Thornfield, Jane visits Adèle after her return and finds a better, less severe school for her. When Adèle is old enough to leave school, Jane describes her as \"a pleasing and obliging companion - docile, good-tempered and well-principled\", and considers her kindness to Adèle well repaid.\n* Mrs. Alice Fairfax: An elderly, kind widow and the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall.\n* Leah: The housemaid at Thornfield Hall.\n* John: An old, and normally the only, manservant at Thornfield.\n* Mary: Normally referred to as 'John's wife' and sometimes 'the cook'.\n* Blanche Ingram: A socialite whom Mr. Rochester temporarily courts to make Jane jealous. She is described as having great beauty and talent, but displays callous behaviour and avaricious intent.\n* Richard Mason: An Englishman from the West Indies, whose sister is Mr. Rochester's first wife. He took part in tricking Mr. Rochester into marrying Bertha. He still, however, cares for his sister's well-being.\n* Grace Poole: Bertha Mason's caretaker. Mr. Rochester pays her a very high salary to keep Bertha hidden and quiet, and she is often used as an explanation for odd happenings. She has a weakness for drink that occasionally allows Bertha to escape.\n* St. John Eyre Rivers: A clergyman who befriends Jane and turns out to be her cousin. He is thoroughly practical and suppresses all his human passions and emotions in favour of good works. He is determined to go to India as a missionary, despite being in love with Rosamond Oliver.\n* Diana and Mary Rivers: St. John's sisters and (as it turns out) Jane's cousins. They are poor, intelligent, and kind-hearted, and want St. John to stay in England.\n* Rosamond Oliver: A beautiful, kindly, wealthy, but not deep thinking, young woman, and the patron of the village school where Jane teaches. Rosamond falls in love with St. John, only to be rejected because she would not make a good missionary's wife.\n* Mr. Oliver: Rosamond Oliver's wealthy father, who owns a foundry and needle factory in the district. He is a kind and charitable man, and is fond of St. John.\n* Alice Wood: Jane's maid when Jane is mistress of the girls' village school in Morton.\n* John Eyre: Jane's paternal uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune and wished to adopt her when she was 15. Mrs. Reed prevents the adoption out of spite towards Jane.\n\nThemes\n\nMorality\n\nJane refuses to become Mr. Rochester's paramour because of her \"impassioned self-respect and moral conviction.\" She rejects St. John Rivers' religious fervour as much as the libertine aspects of Mr. Rochester's character. Instead, she works out a morality expressed in love, independence, and forgiveness.\n\nGod and religion\n\nThroughout the novel, Jane endeavours to attain an equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness. She despises the hypocrisy of Mr. Brocklehurst, and sees deficiencies in St. John Rivers' indulgent yet detached devotion to his Christian duty. As a child, Jane admires Helen Burns' life's philosophy of 'turning the other cheek', which in turn helps her in adult life to forgive Aunt Reed and the Reed cousins for their cruelty. Although she does not seem to subscribe to any of the standard forms of popular Christianity, she honours traditional morality – particularly seen when she refuses to marry Mr. Rochester until he is widowed.\n\nIn her preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre, Brontë makes her beliefs clear; \"conventionality is not morality\" and \"self-righteousness is not religion,\" declaring that narrow human doctrines, which serve only to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. Throughout the novel, Brontë presents contrasts between characters who believe in and practice what she considers a true Christianity, and those who pervert religion to further their own ends. Here are further examples:\n\nMr. Brocklehurst, who oversees Lowood Institution, is a hypocritical Christian. He professes aid and charity but does the opposite by using religion as a justification for punishment. For instance, he cites the Biblical passage \"man shall not live by bread alone\", to rebuke Miss Temple for having fed the girls an extra meal to compensate for their inedible breakfast of burnt porridge. He tells Miss Temple that she \"may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!\".\n\nHelen Burns is a complete contrast to Brocklehurst; she follows the Christian creed of 'turning the other cheek' and by loving\nthose who hate her. On her deathbed, Helen tells Jane \"I'm going home to God, who loves me.\"\nJane herself cannot quite profess Helen's absolute, selfless faith. Jane does not seem to follow a particular doctrine, but she is sincerely religious in a non-doctrinaire, general way; it is Jane, presumably, who places the stone with the word \"Resurgam\" (Latin for 'I will rise again') on Helen's grave, some fifteen years after her friend's death.\nJane is seen frequently praying and calling on God to assist her, especially with her struggles concerning Mr. Rochester; praying for his wellness and safety.\n\nAfter Hannah, the Rivers' housekeeper, tried to turn the begging Jane away at the door, Jane later tells her that \"if you are a Christian, you ought not consider poverty a crime.\"\n\nThe young evangelical clergyman St. John Rivers is a more conventionally religious figure. However, Brontë portrays his religious aspect ambiguously. Jane calls him \"a very good man,\" yet she finds him cold and forbidding. In his determination to do good deeds (in the form of missionary work in India), St. John courts martyrdom. Moreover, he is unable to see Jane as a whole person, but views her only as a helpmate in his impending missionary work.\n\nMr. Rochester is a less than perfect Christian. He is, indeed, a sinner: he attempts to enter into a bigamous marriage with Jane and, when that fails, tries to persuade her to become his mistress. He also confesses that he has had three previous mistresses. However, at the end of the book Mr.Rochester repents his sinfulness, thanks God for returning Jane, and asks Him for the strength to lead a purer life. It is implied that Rochester's maiming and blindness were God's judgment for his sins, and that the partial recovery of his sight was due to his repentance. \"God had tempered judgment with mercy.\"\n\nSocial class\n\nJane's ambiguous social position—a penniless yet decently educated orphan from a good family—leads her to criticise some discrimination based on class, though she makes class discriminations herself. Although she is educated, well-mannered, and relatively sophisticated, she is still a governess, a paid employee (middle class), and therefore relatively powerless. She respectfully defers to Rochester and his guests from the upper class, but she asks Leah, the housemaid (lower class), to get her a candle rather than get it herself, and has a servant girl when she is school mistress at the small village school in Morton. While Jane is always conscious of her social position (Rochester is master and she is employee) in everyday matters, at heart she sees herself as his equal, as evidenced in her passionate speech prior to Rochester's first proposal. \"... it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal,—as we are!\"\n\nGender relations\n\nA particularly important theme in the novel is the depiction of a patriarchal society. Jane attempts to assert her own identity within male-dominated society. Three of the main male characters, Mr. Brocklehurst, Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers, try to keep Jane in a subordinate position and prevent her from expressing her own thoughts and feelings. Jane escapes Mr. Brocklehurst and rejects St. John, and she only marries Mr. Rochester once she is sure that their marriage is one between equals. Through Jane, Brontë opposes Victorian stereotypes about women, articulating her own feminist philosophy:\n\nWomen are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. (Chapter XII)\n\nIt is also interesting to note that while most readings of Jane Eyre dwell on the fact that Bertha is insane, it is not because she is insane that Rochester hates her (chap. 27). The two specific claims that he makes against her, before she became insane, are that she was 'intemperate and unchaste' and that he therefore felt degraded. Some feminist readings of the novel have taken this to mean that the strictures imposed on women contemporary to the book were such that stepping outside of them could have been construed as insane.\n\nOther interpretations have seen this as evidence that Bertha was syphilitic, and that the romanticism of the book neglects the truth that Edward Rochester would have been as well. The book may use the syphilitic condition as a metaphor for the sexual predation and narcissistic projection of Edward Rochester; Edward says Bertha is \"unchaste\" in an attempt to relieve himself of the psychic pain of his having the disease himself and his own likely role in Bertha acquiring that condition as well as the fact he likely has the disease and risks infecting Jane. His psychological projection combined with his position of power distorts reality such that it gives Bertha no choice but to be \"insane\" (which may be combined with actual physical brain deterioration from the syphilis) if any challenge to his veracity would cause her greater problems, such as abandonment, starvation, etc.\n\nLove and passion\n\nA central theme in Jane Eyre is that of the clash between conscience and passion—which one is to be adhered to, and how to find a middle ground between the two. Jane, extremely passionate yet also dedicated to a close personal relationship with God, struggles between the two extremes for much of the novel. An instance of her leaning towards conscience over passion can be seen after it has been revealed that Mr. Rochester already has a wife, when Jane is begged to run away with Mr. Rochester and become his mistress. Up until that moment, Jane had been riding on a wave of emotion, forgetting all thoughts of reason and logic, replacing God with Mr. Rochester in her eyes, and allowing herself to be swept away in the moment. However, once the harsh reality of the situation sets in, Jane does everything in her power to refuse Mr. Rochester, despite almost every part of her rejecting the idea and urging her to just give in to Mr. Rochester's appeal. In the moment, Jane experiences an epiphany in regards to conscience, realising that “laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this.” Jane finally comes to understand that all passion, as she had been living her life up until then, and all conscience, as she had leaned towards during her time at Lowood, is neither good nor preferable. In this case, Jane had allowed herself to lean too far in the direction of passion, and she is in danger of giving up all logic and reason in favour of temptation. However, Jane finally asserts that in times of true moral trial, such as the one she is in with Mr. Rochester at the moment, to forgo one's principles, to violate the “law given by God,” would be too easy—and not something she is willing to do. Jane's struggles to find a middle ground between her passionate and conscience-driven sides frequently go back and forth throughout the novel, but in this case she has drawn the line as to where passion is taking too great a role in her life, and where she will not allow herself to forgo her moral and religious principles.\n\nFeminism\n\nThe role and standing of women in the Victorian era is considered by Brontë in Jane Eyre, specifically in regard to Jane's independence and ability to make decisions for herself. As a young woman, small and of relatively low social standing, Jane encounters men during her journey, of good, bad, and morally debatable character. However, many of them, no matter their ultimate intentions, attempt to establish some form of power and control over Jane. One example can be seen in Mr. Rochester, a man who ardently loves Jane, but who frequently commands and orders Jane about. As a self-assured and established man, and her employer, Mr. Rochester naturally assumes the position of the master in their relationship. He sometimes demands rather than questioning Jane, tries to manipulate and assess her feelings towards him, and enjoys propping up Jane through excessive gifts and luxuries that only he would have been able to provide. Jane, however, believes in the importance of women's independence, and strives to maintain a position in life devoid of any debts to others. Her initial lack of money and social status unnerves her, as she realises that without the means to be an independent woman, she is bound to either struggle through life trying to make a living or marry and become dependent on a man. Even after Jane agrees to marry Mr. Rochester, and is swept up in the passion of the moment, the feminist elements of her personality still show through. She is uncomfortable with the showering of lavish gifts, as she resents that they will make her further reliant on and in debt to Mr. Rochester, and thus tries to resist them. Furthermore, Jane asserts that until she is married to Mr. Rochester, she will continue to be Adèle's governess and earn her keep. This plan, which was entirely radical and unheard of for the time, further illustrates Jane's drive to remain a somewhat independent woman. It was for this reason she suddenly remembered and wrote to her uncle who until now thought her dead. \"... if I had but a prospect of one day bringing Mr. Rochester an accession of fortune, I could better endure to be kept by him now.\"\nThis feminist undercurrent also presents itself in Jane's interaction with her long-lost cousin, St. John Rivers. St. John repressed Jane's feeling and controlled her excessively. She often felt that he \"took away [her] liberty of mind\". During her stay with her cousin, St. John proposes to Jane, by claiming her \"as a soldier would a new weapon\". Jane realises that she cannot marry a man who constantly forces her into submission and treats her like an object, and she refuses to marry him. Once again, her need for independence shines through.\n\nThe only time Jane truly feels ready to marry a man is when she is equal to him. In the end of Jane Eyre, Jane inherits a fortune from her uncle. This allows her to be economically independent from Mr. Rochester. Also, Mr. Rochester becomes lame and blind after the fire that ripped through his home. He now depends on Jane, rather than Jane depending on him. This change in the power dynamic of their relationship unites the two of them once again.\n\nWhile the significant men present in Jane's life throughout the novel all try to, in some form or another, establish themselves as dominant over Jane, she in most cases remains resistant at least to a certain degree, refusing to submit fully or lose all of her independence. The only time Jane feels comfortable attaching herself to a man is when she knows that she is his financial, intellectual, and emotional equal. This final adherence to her strong convictions on the independence of women points out Brontë's similar views on the patriarchal Victorian society of the time.\n\nAtonement and forgiveness\n\nMuch of the religious concern in Jane Eyre has to do with atonement and forgiveness. Mr. Rochester is tormented by his awareness of his past sins and misdeeds. He frequently confesses that he has led a life of vice, and many of his actions in the course of the novel are less than commendable. Readers may accuse him of behaving sadistically in deceiving Jane about the nature of his relationship (or rather, non-relationship) with Blanche Ingram to provoke Jane's jealousy. His confinement of Bertha may bespeak mixed motives. He is certainly aware that in the eyes of both religious and civil authorities, his marriage to Jane before Bertha's death would be bigamous. Yet, at the same time, Mr. Rochester makes genuine efforts to atone for his behaviour. For example, although he does not believe that he is Adèle's natural father, he adopts her as his ward and sees that she is well cared for. This adoption may well be an act of atonement for the sins he has committed. He expresses his self-disgust at having tried to console himself by having three different mistresses during his travels in Europe and begs Jane to forgive him for these past transgressions. However, Mr. Rochester can only atone completely – and be forgiven completely – after Jane has refused to be his mistress and left him. The destruction of Thornfield by fire finally removes the stain of his past sins; the loss of his left hand and of his eyesight is the price he must pay to atone completely for his sins. Only after this purgation can he be redeemed by Jane's love.\n\nSearch for home and family\n\nWithout any living family that she is aware of (until well into the story), throughout the course of the novel Jane searches for a place that she can call home. Significantly, houses play a prominent part in the story. (In keeping with a long English tradition, all the houses in the book have names). The novel's opening finds Jane living at Gateshead Hall, but this is hardly a home. Mrs. Reed and her children refuse to acknowledge her as a relation, treating her instead as an unwanted intruder and an inferior.\n\nShunted off to Lowood Institution, a boarding school for orphans and destitute children, Jane finds a home of sorts, although her place here is ambiguous and temporary. The school's manager, Mr. Brocklehurst, treats it more as a business and a place of correction than as school in loco parentis (in place of the parent). His emphasis on discipline and on spartan conditions at the expense of the girls' health make it the antithesis of the ideal home.\n\nJane subsequently believes she has found a home at Thornfield Hall. Anticipating the worst when she arrives, she is relieved when she is made to feel welcome by Mrs. Fairfax. She feels genuine affection for Adèle (who in a way is also an orphan) and is happy to serve as her governess. As her love for Mr. Rochester grows, she believes that she has found her ideal husband in spite of his eccentric manner and that they will make a home together at Thornfield. The revelation – as they are on the verge of marriage – that he is already legally married – brings her dream of home crashing down. Fleeing Thornfield, she literally becomes homeless and is reduced to begging for food and shelter. The opportunity of having a home presents itself when she enters Moor House, where the Rivers sisters and their brother, the Reverend St. John Rivers, are mourning the death of their father. She soon speaks of Diana and Mary Rivers as her own sisters, and is overjoyed when she learns that they are indeed her cousins. She tells St. John Rivers that learning that she has living relations is far more important than inheriting twenty thousand pounds. (She mourns the uncle she never knew. Earlier she was disheartened on learning that Mrs. Reed told her uncle that Jane had died and sent him away.) However, St. John Rivers' offer of marriage cannot sever her emotional attachment to Rochester. In an almost visionary episode, she hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her to return to him. The last chapter begins with the famous simple declarative sentence, \"Reader, I married him,\" (which inspired a 2016 story collection Reader, I Married Him) and after a long series of travails Jane's search for home and family ends in a union with her ideal mate.\n\nContext\n\nThe early sequences, in which Jane is sent to Lowood, a harsh boarding school, are derived from the author's own experiences. Helen Burns's death from tuberculosis (referred to as consumption) recalls the deaths of Charlotte Brontë's sisters Elizabeth and Maria, who died of the disease in childhood as a result of the conditions at their school, the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge, near Tunstall, Lancashire. Mr. Brocklehurst is based on Rev. William Carus Wilson (1791–1859), the Evangelical minister who ran the school. Additionally, John Reed's decline into alcoholism and dissolution recalls the life of Charlotte's brother Branwell, who became an opium and alcohol addict in the years preceding his death. Finally, like Jane, Charlotte became a governess. These facts were revealed to the public in The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) by Charlotte's friend and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. \n\nThe Gothic manor of Thornfield Hall was probably inspired by North Lees Hall, near Hathersage in the Peak District. This was visited by Charlotte Brontë and her friend Ellen Nussey in the summer of 1845 and is described by the latter in a letter dated 22 July 1845. It was the residence of the Eyre family, and its first owner, Agnes Ashurst, was reputedly confined as a lunatic in a padded second floor room.\n\nIt has been suggested that the Wycoller Hall in Lancashire, close to Haworth, provided the setting for Ferndean Manor to which Mr. Rochester retreats after the fire at Thornfield: there are similarities between the owner of Ferndean, Mr. Rochester's father, and Henry Cunliffe who inherited Wycoller in the 1770s and lived there until his death in 1818; one of Cunliffe's relatives was named Elizabeth Eyre (née Cunliffe).\n\nThe sequence in which Mr. Rochester's wife sets fire to the bed curtains was prepared in an August 1830 homemade publication of Brontë's The Young Men's Magazine, Number 2.\n\nLiterary motifs and allusions\n\nJane Eyre uses many motifs from Gothic fiction, such as the Gothic manor (Thornfield Hall), the Byronic hero (Mr. Rochester) and The Madwoman in the Attic (Bertha), whom Jane perceives as resembling \"the foul German spectre—the Vampyre\" (Chapter XXV) and who attacks her own brother in a distinctly vampiric way: \"She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart\" (Chapter XX). The mystery of Thornfield Hall with its dark secrets creates a typically Gothic atmosphere of suspense. When resolved, we then get the theme of madness, also common in Gothic fiction, as is the motif of two characters, John Reed and Bertha Mason, who commit suicide. Apparently supernatural happenings are frequently mentioned, such as Jane's prophetic dreams, her sense of the ghost of her uncle, the lightning striking the chestnut tree on the night she agrees to marry Mr. Rochester, and Jane and Mr. Rochester being able to hear each other's call over miles of separation when St. John forces Jane into a decision to marry him.\n\nJane Eyre also combines Gothicism with romanticism to create a distinctive Victorian novel. Jane and Rochester are attracted to each other, but there are impediments to their love. The conflicting personalities of the two lead characters and the norms of society are an obstacle to their love, as often occurs in romance novels, but so also is Rochester's secret marriage to Bertha, the main Gothic element of the story.\n\nLiterary allusions from the Bible, fairy tales, The Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost, and the novels and poetry of Sir Walter Scott are also much in evidence. John Reed is compared to Caligula. Jane is compared to Guy Fawkes. Both Biblical figures like Samson and figures from Greek myths such as Apollo are referred to at various times.\n\nAdaptations and influence\n\nThe novel has been adapted into a number of popular forms, including film, television and theatre. However, perhaps more importantly, the novel has been the centre of a number of rewritings and reinterpretations. Most notably reinterpretations and rewritings by notable authors have become important within British and American literature, including novels such as Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.\n\nReception\n\nAlthough Jane Eyre is now commonly accepted in the canon of English literature and is widely studied in secondary schools, its immediate reception was in stark contrast to its contemporary reception. \nIn 1848, Elizabeth Rigby (later Elizabeth Eastlake), reviewing Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review, found it \"pre-eminently an anti-Christian composition,\" declaring: \"We do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre.\"\n\nIn 2003, the novel was ranked number 10 in the BBC's survey The Big Read.",
"SparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Character List\nA list of all the characters in Jane Eyre. ... Jane Eyre Charlotte Bront ... The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, ...\nSparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Character List\nCharacter List\nPlot Overview\nAnalysis of Major Characters\nJane Eyre - The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. Although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, Jane repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality. She also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment. Her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the Victorian prejudices against women and the poor.\nRead an in-depth analysis of Jane Eyre.\nEdward Rochester - Jane’s employer and the master of Thornfield, Rochester is a wealthy, passionate man with a dark secret that provides much of the novel’s suspense. Rochester is unconventional, ready to set aside polite manners, propriety, and consideration of social class in order to interact with Jane frankly and directly. He is rash and impetuous and has spent much of his adult life roaming about Europe in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his youthful indiscretions. His problems are partly the result of his own recklessness, but he is a sympathetic figure because he has suffered for so long as a result of his early marriage to Bertha.\nRead an in-depth analysis of Edward Rochester.\nSt. John Rivers - Along with his sisters, Mary and Diana, St. John (pronounced “Sinjin”) serves as Jane’s benefactor after she runs away from Thornfield, giving her food and shelter. The minister at Morton, St. John is cold, reserved, and often controlling in his interactions with others. Because he is entirely alienated from his feelings and devoted solely to an austere ambition, St. John serves as a foil to Edward Rochester.\nRead an in-depth analysis of St. John Rivers.\nMrs. Reed - Mrs. Reed is Jane’s cruel aunt, who raises her at Gateshead Hall until Jane is sent away to school at age ten. Later in her life, Jane attempts reconciliation with her aunt, but the old woman continues to resent her because her husband had always loved Jane more than his own children.\nBessie Lee - The maid at Gateshead, Bessie is the only figure in Jane’s childhood who regularly treats her kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs. Bessie later marries Robert Leaven, the Reeds’ coachman.\nMr. Lloyd - Mr. Lloyd is the Reeds’ apothecary, who suggests that Jane be sent away to school. Always kind to Jane, Mr. Lloyd writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane’s story about her childhood and clearing Jane of Mrs. Reed’s charge that she is a liar.\nGeorgiana Reed - Georgiana Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters. The beautiful Georgiana treats Jane cruelly when they are children, but later in their lives she befriends her cousin and confides in her. Georgiana attempts to elope with a man named Lord Edwin Vere, but her sister, Eliza, alerts Mrs. Reed of the arrangement and sabotages the plan. After Mrs. Reed dies, Georgiana marries a wealthy man.\nEliza Reed - Eliza Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters (along with her sister, Georgiana). Not as beautiful as her sister, Eliza devotes herself somewhat self-righteously to the church and eventually goes to a convent in France where she becomes the Mother Superior.\nJohn Reed - John Reed is Jane’s cousin, Mrs. Reed’s son, and brother to Eliza and Georgiana. John treats Jane with appalling cruelty during their childhood and later falls into a life of drinking and gambling. John commits suicide midway through the novel when his mother ceases to pay his debts for him.\nHelen Burns - Helen Burns is Jane’s close friend at the Lowood School. She endures her miserable life there with a passive dignity that Jane cannot understand. Helen dies of consumption in Jane’s arms.\nRead an in-depth analysis of Helen Burns.\nMr. Brocklehurst - The cruel, hypocritical master of the Lowood School, Mr. Brocklehurst preaches a doctrine of privation, while stealing from the school to support his luxurious lifestyle. After a typhus epidemic sweeps Lowood, Brocklehurst’s shifty and dishonest practices are brought to light and he is publicly discredited.\nMaria Temple - Maria Temple is a kind teacher at Lowood, who treats Jane and Helen with respect and compassion. Along with Bessie Lee, she serves as one of Jane’s first positive female role models. Miss Temple helps clear Jane of Mrs. Reed’s accusations against her.\nMiss Scatcherd - Jane’s sour and vicious teacher at Lowood, Miss Scatcherd behaves with particular cruelty toward Helen.\nAlice Fairfax - Alice Fairfax is the housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. She is the first to tell Jane that the mysterious laughter often heard echoing through the halls is, in fact, the laughter of Grace Poole—a lie that Rochester himself often repeats.\nBertha Mason - Rochester’s clandestine wife, Bertha Mason is a formerly beautiful and wealthy Creole woman who has become insane, violent, and bestial. She lives locked in a secret room on the third story of Thornfield and is guarded by Grace Poole, whose occasional bouts of inebriation sometimes enable Bertha to escape. Bertha eventually burns down Thornfield, plunging to her death in the flames.\nGrace Poole - Grace Poole is Bertha Mason’s keeper at Thornfield, whose drunken carelessness frequently allows Bertha to escape. When Jane first arrives at Thornfield, Mrs. Fairfax attributes to Grace all evidence of Bertha’s misdeeds.\nAdèle Varens - Jane’s pupil at Thornfield, Adèle Varens is a lively though somewhat spoiled child from France. Rochester brought her to Thornfield after her mother, Celine, abandoned her. Although Celine was once Rochester’s mistress, he does not believe himself to be Adèle’s father.\nCeline Varens - Celine Varens is a French opera dancer with whom Rochester once had an affair. Although Rochester does not believe Celine’s claims that he fathered her daughter Adèle, he nonetheless brought the girl to England when Celine abandoned her. Rochester had broken off his relationship with Celine after learning that Celine was unfaithful to him and interested only in his money.\nSophie - Sophie is Adèle’s French nurse at Thornfield.\nRichard Mason - Richard Mason is Bertha’s brother. During a visit to Thornfield, he is injured by his mad sister. After learning of Rochester’s intent to marry Jane, Mason arrives with the solicitor Briggs in order to thwart the wedding and reveal the truth of Rochester’s prior marriage.\nMr. Briggs - John Eyre’s attorney, Mr. Briggs helps Richard Mason prevent Jane’s wedding to Rochester when he learns of the existence of Bertha Mason, Rochester’s wife. After John Eyre’s death, Briggs searches for Jane in order to give her her inheritance.\nBlanche Ingram - Blanche Ingram is a beautiful socialite who despises Jane and hopes to marry Rochester for his money.\nDiana Rivers - Diana Rivers is Jane’s cousin, and the sister of St. John and Mary. Diana is a kind and intelligent person, and she urges Jane not to go to India with St. John. She serves as a model for Jane of an intellectually gifted and independent woman.\nMary Rivers - Mary Rivers is Jane’s cousin, the sister of St. John and Diana. Mary is a kind and intelligent young woman who is forced to work as a governess after her father loses his fortune. Like her sister, she serves as a model for Jane of an independent woman who is also able to maintain close relationships with others and a sense of meaning in her life.\nRosamond Oliver - Rosamond is the beautiful daughter of Mr. Oliver, Morton’s wealthiest inhabitant. Rosamond gives money to the school in Morton where Jane works. Although she is in love with St. John, she becomes engaged to the wealthy Mr. Granby.\nJohn Eyre - John Eyre is Jane’s uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune of 20,000 pounds.\nUncle Reed - Uncle Reed is Mrs. Reed’s late husband. In her childhood, Jane believes that she feels the presence of his ghost. Because he was always fond of Jane and her mother (his sister), Uncle Reed made his wife promise that she would raise Jane as her own child. It is a promise that Mrs. Reed does not keep.",
"\"Jane Eyre\" by Charlotte Brontë - CreateSpace\nJane Eyre (originally ... is a novel by English writer Charlotte ... ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of ...\nJane Eyre\nAdd to Cart\nAbout the author:\nCharlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 - 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell.\nJane Eyre\nIllustrated by Monro S. Orr\nCover design or artwork by Emily Lam\nJane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name \"Currer Bell.\" The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.\nPrimarily of the bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its eponymous character, including her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalisation of the action — the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry — the novel revolutionised the art of fiction. Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism.\n[Reception]\nAccording to a review of Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review, it was found to be \"pre-eminently an anti-Christian composition\". Although Brontë clearly intended for the book to be a protest against Victorian lifestyle, which caused a great unrest with the Quarterly Review, they found Jane Eyre to be more radical than its original intent: \"We do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre\". Although Jane Eyre is now commonly accepted into the canon of high-school English literature, its immediate reception was in stark contrast to its modern-day reception.\nPublication Date:",
"Mr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre - Shmoop\nEverything you ever wanted to know about Mr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre, ... Home / Literature / Jane Eyre / ... a novel with a moralistic side: although Jane ...\nMr. Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre\n(Click the character infographic to download.)\nMr. Rochester is stern-featured, heavy-browed, craggy-faced, rude, abrupt, horny, twice Jane’s age, always on the edge of violence, likes to order people around, keeps his wife locked in the attic, and teases Jane on at least one occasion until she cries.\nHere’s the crazy part: that’s why he’s so awesome.\nHe may be fantastically ugly. He may be kind of a jerk. But he’s real! Well, okay, he’s not real. He’s a character in Jane Eyre. But you know what we’re talking about; he’s a genuine-seeming character, not some stuck-up, pompous, handsome young man who smoothly says all the proper things and doesn’t have any personality of his own. This novel isn’t about proper behavior; it’s about passion.\nTale as Old as Time\nRochester is sort of like the Beast half of a \"Beauty and the Beast\" story. (Forget for a minute that Jane’s no beauty.) He’s even got a sort of shaggy mane of hair that makes him look beast-ish, and at the end of the novel, when he’s locked himself away at Ferndean to wallow in his own self-pity, he’s described as \"some wronged and fettered wild beast or bird, dangerous to approach in his sullen woe\" (3.11.9).\nOf course, if Rochester is the Beast, then Jane will have to do something to tame him. Instead of subduing him once and for all, she develops little ways of manipulating him—making him irritated when he’s horny so that he curses her instead of hitting on her, for example, when they’re engaged for the first time:\nIn other people’s presence I was, as formerly, deferential and quiet; any other line of conduct being uncalled for: it was only in the evening conferences I thus thwarted and afflicted him. He continued to send for me punctually the moment the clock struck seven; though when I appeared before him now, he had no such honeyed terms as \"love\" and \"darling\" on his lips: the best words at my service were \"provoking puppet,\" \"malicious elf,\" \"sprite,\" \"changeling,\" &c. For caresses, too, I now got grimaces; for a pressure of the hand, a pinch on the arm; for a kiss on the cheek, a severe tweak of the ear. It was all right: at present I decidedly preferred these fierce favours to anything more tender. […] Meantime, Mr. Rochester affirmed I was wearing him to skin and bone, and threatened awful vengeance for my present conduct at some period fast coming. I laughed in my sleeve at his menaces. \"I can keep you in reasonable check now,\" I reflected; \"and I don’t doubt to be able to do it hereafter: if one expedient loses its virtue, another must be devised.\"\nYet after all my task was not an easy one; often I would rather have pleased than teased him. (2.9.171-172)\nThere’s more danger than anything else in these strange evening dates. At points the reader is just a little bit nervous that Rochester’s a bit too wild or a bit too incapable of restraining his desires. We’re admittedly a little afraid for what might happen to Jane at some of those moments when he wildly clasps her to him.\nPerhaps that’s one reason Rochester gets compared in the novel to Bluebeard, the mythical nobleman who gets into a marry-and-murder cycle with one wife after another. There’s also a hint of the Arabian Nights here—in those tales, there's a woman named Scheherazade who has to keep coming up with stories to tell the king so he doesn’t behead her in the morning, like he did to his previous 3,000 wives.\nIt’s pretty similar to the way Jane has to keep coming up with ways to tease Rochester and draw out his interest from day to day so that he doesn’t… what? Lose interest in her? Lose control and ravish or even rape her? Both of these seem possible at different points in the novel, though Rochester will later claim that he could never have harmed Jane.\nWe’re not saying this is a healthy relationship... but Jane and Rochester seem to like it. They’re are always playing with the power dynamic between them: Jane likes to call Rochester her \"master\" and to \"serve\" him, but it’s also clear that she’s stronger—emotionally and ethically—than he is, and that he (this Beast + Bluebeard + Persian King dude) desperately needs her.\nMorals? Ethics? I Have Some of those Around Here Somewhere. Check Under the Sofa Cushions.\nRochester likes to make excuses for himself: he’s not a bad person by nature, he was just in a really bad situation with this whole Bertha thing, what could he do but lock her in the attic and sleep his way across Europe, huh? And what’s he supposed to do now that he can’t get a divorce—just take care of his wife for the rest of her life, considering that he’s got all her money anyway and that he shipped her across the Atlantic away from any friends or family who might have helped her? As if! Bigamy is clearly the only reasonable option, right?\nJane’s different from all the previous women in Rochester’s life because she won’t let him get away with that kind of bogus logic. Rochester’s long, sophisticated (read: BS) explanations of why his particular situation requires a new and different sort of morality don’t convince Jane at all:\n[Mr. Rochester:] \"[S]ince happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may.\"\n[Jane:] \"Then you will degenerate still more, sir.\"\n\"Possibly: yet why should I, if I can get sweet, fresh pleasure? And I may get it as sweet and fresh as the wild honey the bee gathers on the moor.\"\n\"It will sting—it will taste bitter, sir.\"\n\"How do you know?—you never tried it. […] I scarcely think the notion that flittered across my brain was an error. I believe it was an inspiration rather than a temptation: it was very genial, very soothing—I know that. Here it comes again! It is no devil, I assure you; or if it be, it has put on the robes of an angel of light. I think I must admit so fair a guest when it asks entrance to my heart.\" (1.14.65-71)\nRochester makes two assumptions about ethics here that are different from Jane’s: 1) that something must be right and good just because it’s pleasant, and 2) that moral principles are not absolute and unchanging, but relative to one’s situation.\nJane doesn’t know what he’s thinking at this point, but we do: that it couldn’t be wrong for him to get romantically involved with her, because he doesn’t really have any existing romance in his life and dating Jane would be great. Jane may not be convinced, but perhaps the reader is, just a little bit.\nWe’re always willing to overlook some of Rochester’s more glaring flaws in order to indulge the passion he and Jane share. That’s one of the strange things about Jane Eyre being a novel with a moralistic side: although Jane always draws a line in the sand and upholds her principles, even the ethically strict Victorian reader might start to see why Rochester’s claims for moral relativity make some sense.\nAfter all, he did really get shafted by his father and brother when he was young and they tricked him into marrying Bertha.\nBlinded By Love (and a House Fire)\nIt’s not surprising that Rochester is injured in the fire that destroys Thornfield Hall, but perhaps it is a little strange that one of his injuries is blindness. With one eye gouged out and the other inflamed, Rochester is uglier than ever, and now he can’t see.\nWe’d like to be able to say that he can see—he \"sees the error of his ways\"—and that's sort of true. At least, Rochester claims that he gets it:\nI did wrong: I would have sullied my innocent flower—breathed guilt on its purity: the Omnipotent snatched it from me. [...] Divine justice pursued its course; disasters came thick on me: I was forced to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. His chastisements are mighty; and one smote me which has humbled me for ever. You know I was proud of my strength: but what is it now, when I must give it over to foreign guidance, as a child does its weakness? Of late, Jane—only—only of late—I began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker. I began sometimes to pray: very brief prayers they were, but very sincere. (3.11.248)\nWhat Rochester seems to understand is that his attempt at bigamy would have negatively impacted Jane (\"sullied my innocent flower\"). He doesn't think that it negatively impacts him in a moral sense, but at least it’s a start.\nIn literature, there’s more to blindness than meets the eye. (Sorry for that one; we couldn’t resist.) You may know the legend of Odin, the king of the Norse gods, who traded one of his eyes in exchange for wisdom. Or maybe you know about Tiresias , a Greek prophet who supposedly became blind but gained \"inner sight.\" What we’re trying to say is that there’s a long mythological and literary tradition of exchanging physical sight for metaphorical sight, and Rochester’s blindness alludes to that tradition. It’s not a perfect parallel, though; Rochester seems more depressed than enlightened.\nSo what does it mean that Rochester gets his sense of sight back two years after he marries Jane? Perhaps whatever wisdom he gained while dealing with their bad breakup disappears, too, and he goes back to feeling entitled to pleasure and happiness. Perhaps it just means that we need to have miracles at the end of a romance in order to really feel like we’re getting that classic happy ending."
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"Rochester: A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's \"Jane Eyre\"\n... A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre ... of the original book. Jane Eyre resisted Rochester ... Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester but that's ...\nRochester: A Novel Inspired by Charlotte Bronte's \"Jane Eyre\": J. L. Niemann: 9781426916397: Amazon.com: Books\nBy Michelle Santoni on July 11, 2010\nFormat: Paperback|Verified Purchase\nAs a huge fan of Jane Eyre I was excited when I found a book telling the same story but from Rochester's point of view. Now that I read it I have to say that even though it was entertaining at times, I felt dissapointed. The author had the chance to get in this man's head and ended up with a Rochester that was insecure, needy and a drunk. I felt like telling him to quit complaining and be assertive man! This Edward Rochester is nothing like Bronte's Rochester.\nSome of the language did not sound from the era and was repetetive. When he talks with his friend Arthur they sound like two teenage girls. Also, I am not a prude but some of the things Rochester and Jane did were frankly stuff from pornos and I don't think that Jane would do any of that.\nHonestly I read it all because I wanted to see how it ended but then I find out that the story does not end with this book, there are two more! A trilogy! When it all could be done with just one book. Jane Eyre fans beware!\nBy rogertherat on January 12, 2012\nFormat: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase\nReally irritating book. I think the issue with this writer is she does not understand the time of the original book. Jane Eyre resisted Rochester because she valued herself. If she had succumbed she would have been ostracized, unemployable, and her life would have been ruined. Granted her life wasn't that great to begin with, but at least she had dignity and integrity. Also there is a strong moral sense of right and wrong, based on biblical beliefs. And that's what creates the dilema. Jane is passionate, wants to love and be loved, but she respects herself and respects God, and she does the hardest thing in her life by leaving Rochester. That's what makes Jane Eyre Great. It's a great romance, but ultimately it is a moral tale about living with integrity and doing the right thing. Look at Rochester , he succumbed again and again to his desires, and look at what a misreable wretch he is. UGH! This book is like taking the Mona Lisa and giving her a hot pink tube top. Like taking the venus de milo adding pasties and attaching a stripper pole.\nBy Gubba22 on April 4, 2011\nFormat: Paperback\nThe characters are named Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester but that's about all the similarities you'll find to Bronte's classic. The heroine is more of a Celine Varens than a Jane Eyre. Mr Rochester drinks too much and every day is a pity party. The book does offer more humor than the original but it veers too far off the beaten path and the writing is not strong enough to be its own stand-alone story. This book is actually part 1 of 3 and it ends on the morning of Jane & Rochester's wedding. Book 2 is called \"Consummation\" which leaves no doubt that the author will continue with more of the 'Skinemax' scenes that peppered the first book. Reading this could make you laugh but if I were Charlotte Bronte I'd be mad!\nBy Traxy on June 1, 2011\nFormat: Paperback\nSummary: If you don't mind a \"Jane Eyre\" which doesn't follow the book more than loosely and has added sex scenes, this is the one for you. It starts out being the best book you could ever imagine if you're an avid Rochester fan, and then it just starts to go off in the wrong direction from the original, and it's downhill from there. Enjoyable, but not true to the original.\nThe story follows Mr. Rochester from his villa in France, where he wants some absolution from his dreadful loneliness and sinful ways, and decides to return home, and in chapter two, he comes across a young woman by the name of Jane Eyre, the governess at Thornfield Hall... his horse slips on some ice and the rest is history. It finishes just before they're about to head off to church to get married. The bits inbetween is a \"somewhat\" reworked \"Jane Eyre\", from Rochester's perspective.\nIt's clear the author has been inspired by the 2006 adaptation, if the foreword and acknowledgements weren't enough to convince us of the fact. It seems to have started its life as postings on a Toby Stephens fanforum or something along those lines, and was very popular there, so now it's a book. It clocks in at 325 pages, being the first of three books - the story is said to continue \"soon\" in \"Rochester: Consummation\". Can't wait!\nHaving now read this one, the title of the next installment comes as no surprise. This book is steamy, and if you like it hot, you'll love this. I didn't mind the sex scenes - and believe me, there were a fair few of those - but the way it was done... no.\nThe most confusing part is how the events of the original story have been re-worked. While a lot of the things we recognise from \"Jane Eyre\" are there, including some exchanges, they've been changed around in ways that I don't fully understand. Unstead of playing on the sexual tension between Jane and Rochester, Niemann let's it go completely and there's snogging! No, it's just not right.\nOverall, I liked it. Hey, it's all about Mr. Rochester, how can I NOT like it? ;) It's interesting to see things from his point of view, even though that point of view is a little too lewd in this context for my taste. Niemann does a good job of describing food - it's always quite detailed what's beeing served, but there's too much drinking.\nRochester is just about as broody and angsty as you can get, and I had some issues trying to part from the book at times. Especially in the beginning, before things got a bit out of hand with changing stuff around from the book, which I'd say is what lets the book down. It completely changes the chronology of stuff and meaning of things, primarily the Jane/Edward relationship and that's what bothers me. It's enjoyable and definitely written for a modern audience (if Charlotte Brontë had read it, she would've been utterly shocked).\nJ.L. Niemann has offered an interesting re-working of a classic novel and breathed new life into it, one that doesn't scream of Plot Device quite as much as the original. Sometimes the brooding gets a bit too much, but I think she definitely manages to get Rochester's rather complex character in a pretty good way. However, I think it's trying too hard to sex things up - a modern audience doesn't need always need to get inside people's breeches or under their chemises to make a story interesting. But still, once they're married, I suspect I'll be loving the story. Right now, I'm just a bit annoyed that it's not according to the book.\nI've tried to stay away from spoilers here, but if you don't mind those, go to the address listed in brackets after my username above to read my full review, and the discussion afterwards.\nBy Di12381 on July 28, 2010\nFormat: Paperback\nI would think that anyone interested in this book has read Jane Eyre at least once and has some level of admiration and infatuation with this amazing novel.\nThe sexual tension between Jane and her Edward not explicity written on the page, but Miss Bronte found a way to slip it in a way that is extremely paplable, which the reason there is still a following after 160 years.\nI liked the book as it started out and I like seeing the story from Rochester's POV.\nHowever, I found that as I got farther into the book, Ms. Niemann seemed to travel further from the Bronte cannon. I dont mind a new twist to Jane Eyre, but I seek out a certain clinginess to the original novel.\nYes, Rochester is a very sexual creature, but I dont believe he would treat both Blanche (who he uses more than expected) and Jane (who in the novel did not act on her affections for Rochester until married).\nBut it is only part one, lets see what she does with part two and three.",
"SATIS HOUSE Inspiration\n--Satis House INSPIRATION Dickens and ... When her novel was published in 1847, Dickens disliked it ... The manor name derives from a stay by Charles II on the eve of ...\nSATIS HOUSE Inspiration\nINSPIRATION\nDickens and Beyond: Bronte, Austen, and Rhys\nMy novel is, of course, inspired by Great Expectations. But its true source is--as it was for Dickens--Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. When her novel was published in 1847, Dickens disliked it enough to parody the story, creating a version far less romantic and more attuned to the harsh realities of English Victorian society. There are many parallel characters in the two classics.\nI see Miss Havisham, as I believe Dickens did, as a composite of Bronte's tormented Edward Rochester of Thornfield Hall and his wife Bertha Antoinetta Mason, the \"mysterious lunatic\" secretly kept under lock and key in the mansion's tower. Bronte shows us only Bertha's violent insanity, chalking it up to genetic predisposition, presenting her primarily as an obstacle to the happiness of the virtuous governess Jane Eyre and her employer. But in Wide Sargasso Sea, published in 1966, British author Jean Rhys digs deeper, placing Bertha in the context of her native Jamaica. Through Rhys's 20th-century lens, Bertha's madness becomes an understandable if not logical response to the colonialism and patriarchy that allow her no control over her own destiny.\nSimilarly, Miss Havisham is a casualty of rigid society, but, for me, her madness is also a source of the power she wields over the people around her. Many dismiss her as weak; I see her as incredibly strong-willed and tenacious--the ultimate \"drama queen.\" These contradictions have sparked my curiosity and fueled my imagining of her story. According to Dickens's timeline notes, Miss Havisham would have been a contemporary of Jane Austen, and so that beloved author's life and works are influencing my narrative as well.\nSetting: Rochester in Kent, England\nWith a past reaching back to Roman times, the ancient city of Rochester rests alongside the River Medway, just 30 miles east of central London and 45 miles west of the channel ports. It is home to England's second oldest cathedral and a medieval castle that represents one of the country's finest examples of Norman architecture. Charles Dickens lived in the area as a child and as an author, featuring the city and its denizens in a number of his works, including Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, his final and incomplete novel.\nRestoration House, a short walk from the castle and cathedral, served as Dickens's model for Miss Havisham's Satis House. The manor name derives from a stay by Charles II on the eve of his return to the English throne in 1660. Dickens himself was spotted leaning against the iron gates on the day before he died in 1870. Today visitors can tour the house and gardens, as well as the cathedral and castle.\nFamily Trade: Brewing\nWho doesn't like beer? It is the world's oldest, most popular, and most fascinating fermented beverage. Man may have begun brewing beer even before he learned to bake bread. The craft figures prominently in English history and in the life of Miss Havisham, whose father was a wealthy brewer. His business adjoined the manor house and provides rich context for the family's story.\nContent copyright",
"Bertha_Mason.txt\nBertha Mason\nBertha Antoinetta Mason is a fictional character. In Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre she is the violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester, moved to Thornfield Hall and locked in the attic. \n\nThe 1966 parallel novel Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys acts as a prequel to Brontë's novel and is the story of Mason (there called Antoinette Cosway), from the time of her youth in the Caribbean to her unhappy marriage and relocation to England. Rhys's novel re-imagines Brontë's devilish madwoman in the attic.\n\nBertha Mason in Jane Eyre \n\nBertha Mason is the only daughter of a very wealthy family living in Spanish Town, Jamaica. The reader learns of her past not from her perspective but only through the description of her unhappy husband, Edward Rochester. She is described as being of Creole heritage. According to Rochester, Bertha was famous for her beauty: she was the pride of the town and sought after by many suitors. Upon leaving college, Rochester was persuaded by his father to visit the Mason family and court Bertha. As he tells it, he first met her at a ball she attended with her father and brother Richard, where he was entranced by her loveliness. Despite never being alone with her, and supposedly having had scarcely any interaction or conversation with her, he married her for her wealth and beauty, and with fierce encouragement from his own father and the Mason family. Rochester and Bertha began their lives as husband and wife in Jamaica. In recounting the history of their relationship, Rochester claims, \"I thought I loved her. . . . Her relatives encouraged me; competitors piqued me; she allured me: a marriage was achieved almost before I knew where I was. Oh, I have no respect for myself when I think of that act! . . . I never loved, I never esteemed, I did not even know her.\" \n\nRochester explains that he was not warned that violent insanity ran in the Mason family and that the past three generations succumbed to it. He assumed Bertha's mother to be dead and was never told otherwise, but she was in fact locked away in an asylum. There was also an intellectually disabled younger brother. Rochester's father knew of this but did not bother to tell his son, caring only about the vast fortune the marriage would bring him, and the Mason family clearly wanted Bertha off their hands as quickly as possible. Rochester asserts that Bertha's mental health deteriorated quickly, though it is unclear which form of mental illness she suffers from. Her insane, violent behaviour becomes frightening to behold: crawling on all fours, snarling, and behaving in a bestial manner. \n\nRochester returns with her to England and has her imprisoned in an attic room for ten years with Grace Poole, a hired nurse who keeps her under control while Rochester travels abroad to forget his horrible marriage. However, Grace drinks sometimes, and Bertha manages to escape, causing havoc in the house: starting a fire in Mr Rochester's bed and biting and stabbing her own visiting brother. \n\nRochester's marriage to Bertha eventually stands in the way of his marrying Jane Eyre, who is unaware of Bertha's existence and whom he truly loves (though he later admits to Jane that he once thought he loved Bertha). As Bertha is insane he cannot divorce her, due to her actions being uncontrollable and thus not legitimate grounds for divorce. Years of violence, insanity, and confinement in an attic destroy Bertha's looks: when Jane sees her in the middle of the night, she describes Bertha as looking \"savage,\" even going so far as to compare her with a \"vampire\" when she destroys Jane's wedding veil (an action that hints that Bertha is at least sane enough to be aware that her husband is planning to enter a bigamous marriage). Despite not loving her, Rochester attempts to save his wife from an enormous fire she starts in the house when she again escapes. Bertha perishes after she throws herself off the roof, leaving her husband free to marry Jane.\n\nAntoinette Cosway in Wide Sargasso Sea \n\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea, \"Bertha Mason\" is portrayed as being a false name for Antoinette Cosway. The book purports to tell Antoinette's side of the story as well as Rochester's and detail how she ended up alone and raving in the attic of Thornfield Hall. According to the book, Antoinette's insanity and drunkenness are the result of Rochester's misguided belief that madness is in her blood and that she was part of the scheme to have him married blindly.\n \nThe characters of Jane Eyre and Antoinette are portrayed as being very similar; independent, vivacious, imaginative young women with troubled childhoods, educated in religious establishments and looked down on by the upper classes — and, of course, they both marry Mr Rochester. However, Antoinette is more rebellious than Jane and less mentally stable. She displays a deep vein of morbidity verging on a death-wish (making her more similar perhaps to the character of Helen from Jane Eyre) and, in contrast with Jane's overt Christianity, holds a cynical viewpoint of both God and religion in general.",
"London School of Journalism | Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea ...\nShe wrote her version as ... The passionate nature at the heart of the novel is epitomised in Jane's metaphor ... Wide Sargasso Sea derives from Jane Eyre, ...\nLondon School of Journalism | Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea. Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre\nJean Rhys and Charlotte Bronte\nThe use of symbolism in the presentation of characters\nby Jenia Geraghty\nI began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker\nI often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all\nCharlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys composed their novels in different centuries and came from very different backgrounds. However despite these disparities the use of symbolism in their narratives can be compared. Jean Rhys's 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea is a creative response to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, a nineteenth century classic, which has always been one of English Literature's greatest and most popular love stories.\nShe seemed such a poor ghost, I thought I'd like to write her a life. [Jean Rhys]\nJane Eyre is a story of true love that encounters many obstacles and problems, but surmounts these troubles to fulfil destiny. The main source of trouble is Rochester's insane first wife, Bertha Mason, a lunatic Creole who is locked in the attic of his country house, Thornfield Hall. The problem is eventually solved, tragically, when Bertha escapes and burns Thornfield to the ground, killing herself and seriously maiming Rochester in the process. The social and moral imbalances between Jane and Rochester are then equalled by his punishment for his previous actions, and Jane's rise in status due to an inheritance.\nThis ending, however, did not satisfy the Dominican-born Jean Rhys. She disagreed with Bronte's presentation of Bertha Mason and set out to write 'a colonial story that is absent from Bronte's text'. Rhys's story tells the story of Bertha, and relates Bertha and Rochester's meeting, and their doomed marriage.\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea Rhys shifts the perspective on Jane Eyre by expressing the viewpoints of the different characters in the source material, so taking a different structural approach to the first-person narrative technique employed by Bronte. She wrote her version as a multiple narrative, giving Bertha a previously-unheard voice. Rochester, even though un-named in Wide Sargasso Sea, takes over the narration in part two, and Grace Poole enlightens us at the opening of part three. Rhys can be seen as repaying Bronte for her failure to give Bertha a voice by not allowing Jane one, even though she does appear in the novel. Antoinette, as Bertha is named in Rhys's novel, declares, 'There is always the other side', and this proves to be the governing theme throughout both novels.\nI knew you would do me some good in some way . . . I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you [Edward Rochester, Jane Eyre]\nRochester's prescience is an example of a prominent theme in Jane Eyre, in which premonition and the supernatural appear throughout the story. Both Jane and Edward believe in the signs they read in eyes, in nature and in dreams. Jane's own surname, 'Eyre', comes from the name of a historic house in which a madwoman lived, but Bronte also intended it to mean being a free spirit. Jane indeed has a frightening experience and actually sees herself as a spirit in the Red Room mirror at Gateshead, where she subsequently has a fit.\nJane encounters the legend of Gytrash in her fit, 'A great black dog behind him', a tale about a spirit that appears in the shape of either a horse, dog or mule that haunted solitary ways and followed isolated travellers. Jane describes Rochester's dog as Gytrash before she knows to whom he belongs, suggesting that she had a premonition from the vision she saw in her fit that this encounter was to spark off the most incredible aspect of her life.\nJane's dreams form a firm base for the prediction of what is to happen in her life. The symbolism of her dreams forecast her future. When she dreams of a garden that is 'Eden-like' and laden with 'Honey-dew' Rochester proposes to her. That night, however, the old horse chestnut tree is struck by lightning and splits in half, foretelling the difficulties that lie ahead for the couple.\nThe theme of dreams and foresight is also used by Jean Rhys:\nIs it true that England is like a dream? One of my friends wrote and said London is like a cold dark dream.\nAntoinette's dreams appear to be just as significant as Jane's, and Rhys no doubt found inspiration for developing Antoinette's character through the idea of Jane's dreams and premonitions.\nIn Bronte's time writers would often employ the technique of 'word-painting' at pivotal moments in the text and use landscape imagery to integrate plot, character and theme. In the scene where Jane describes herself as 'tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea', for example, Bronte warns the reader that Jane's romantic interlude is not an entirely positive turn of events. The emphasis on 'unquiet sea' informs the reader that Jane may well be in danger. This technique adds to the gothic element of the story, and heightens our response to the characters' perceptions of their predicaments.\nSimilarly, in Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester and Antoinette's marriage can be seen as being doomed from the start due to the landscape that they pass through on their journey to the honeymoon house. They stop in a village named 'Massacre' where it is raining and rather grey, and Rochester takes an instant dislike to the place because of the name and the inhabitants, both of which he describes as 'sly, spiteful, malignant perhaps'; words which appear to convey his whole attitude to all those who surround him. Later Rochester describes the night the couple spent in Massacre, emphasising that he lay awake all night listening to cocks crowing; a symbol of deception. In the Bible Jesus says to Judas, 'before the cock crows, you shall deny me thrice', and this line, interestingly, appears in the novel further on when Rochester confronts Antoinette about her history.\nJust as the name Jane Eyre can be seen to reflect Jane's character, the title of Rhys's novel can be seen to reflect the development of its plot. The Sargasso Sea, ('Sargasso' being the weed that gives that part of the North Atlantic its name), is almost still but at its centre has a mass of swirling currents, an image suggestive of Antoinette's character, and of the turmoil of her imprisonment and the method of her escape.\nThere is a limit to the extent to which we can see Wide Sargasso Sea as an interpretation of Jane Eyre, and we must remember that in some respects Rhys's novel takes pains to distance itself from Jane Eyre. The distinction is seen particularly in the inclusion of post-colonial theory in Wide Sargasso Sea. Antoinette is aware from a young age of the element of imprisonment that hangs over the West Indies;\nThe paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell.\nThe dead flowers represent the institution of slavery, while the fresh living smell represents what has come and will come in a post-emancipation society. In 'Women and Change in the Caribbean', Momsen wrote that when slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century, 'Women were taught that marriage was both prestigious and morally superior'. She also points out that accepting and following the lifestyles of the whites facilitated social mobility, and when Rhys's protagonist Antoinette marries she is seen as forsaking the customs and values of the Negroes.\nAntoinette, as a French Creole, has both black and white blood in her, which causes her much confusion;\nI often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all.\nShe is aware of her family's history and that she has a black and a white side to her. Her actions and thoughts appear to indicate that she is trying to form her identity in a time of change, turbulence and conflict.\nThe theme of black and white also links to the colour imagery presented by both writers, not only in the context of skin colour, but also in terms the colours that surround them in their environments. Antoinette's one time friend Tia, calls Antoinette a 'White Nigger' meaning that the emancipation has left the white slave owners in the same position as the blacks. Neither has power or money and both are resented by the new white people moving into the Caribbean. The 'white nigger' is neither a white person nor a black person, but is regarded as inferior to the Negroes.\nA range of imagery in the form of colours is associated with the development of the intrigue behind Antoinette's madness, and Jane's love for Rochester. Rochester describes Bertha as having 'red balls' for eyes and a 'mask' instead of a face. This use of figurative language makes Bertha appear a grotesque monster, while in contrast Jane is likened to 'an eager little bird'.\nWe can also compare the difference between how the symbolism of fire distinguishes the representations of Jane and Antoinette's characters. Rochester describes the West Indies as 'Fiery' and we see his dislike of this unfamiliar environment grow to overpowering proportions, until he decides to shoot himself. He is prevented by 'a fresh wind from Europe', which entices him home. This scene echoes Jane Eyre, where Jane hears Rochester's voice calling her back to Thornfield. Rochester undoubtedly associates Jamaica with evil and so Bertha's fiery, manic disposition fits in with his view of the Caribbean. England is seen as 'pure', Jane is described as having 'clear eyes' a 'face', this healthy description informing us of her mental health. Rochester wants a true English Rose 'this is what I wished to have' (laying a hand on Jane's shoulder). Bertha's fiery, hateful and wild nature is the opposite of Jane's prim and typically English reserve. The passionate nature at the heart of the novel is epitomised in Jane's metaphor for her love for Rochester, 'Fiery iron grasped my vitals'. Jane's fire is in her love whereas Antoinette's fire is one of pain and fear. Fire also links Jane to Bertha, both in passion and in the actual setting of fire, most notably the fire that kills Bertha but symbolises rebirth in the character of Rochester.\nIn Wide Sargasso Sea fiery emotions surround the character of Antoinette and her progression into her 'zombie-like' state. The 'zombie' theme sums up Rhys's main point about insanity and spiritual death that she introduces in the form of the Caribbean magic, Obeah. Rochester discovers this black magic and is even accused by Antoinette of performing it on her; 'You are trying to make me into someone else, that's Obeah too'. It is Rochester's calling her 'Bertha' after he discovers her history, and that her mother's name was close to her own, that sparks this outburst by Antoinette.\nThe fuel keeping Antoinette alive before she suffers her final death is hate, 'before I die I will show you how much I hate you'. This hate stems from the way she was presented in Jane Eyre, and Grace Poole informs us, 'I don't turn my back on her when her eyes have that look'. Ultimately, Antoinette's only possible solution, because of her zombie-like state, is to follow her dead spirit into death, 'now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do'.\nThe death of Antoinette/Bertha heralds the end of Rhys's story, but is the turning point for Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre. From the destruction of Thornfield and Rochester's disfigurement through his selfless actions in rescuing others from the fire, he is able to redeem himself and find contentment. After he has suffered and felt pain, mentally and physically, and lost his arrogance and pride, he finally realises his true self:\nI began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker.\nWith Rochester's rebirth Jane's quest for love is finally over, as she finally has her equal.\nJane Eyre is a bildungsroman, a novel of personal development, loosely based on Bronte's own experiences, and drawing upon her extensive knowledge of folklore, her vivid imagination and her influences, including the Romantics (Rochester has been described as a 'Byronic hero') and Shakespeare. The novel is a masterpiece that arose from Bronte's intention to create a love story interwoven with her own experiences, even though her own life did not have such a fairy-tale-like ending.\nWide Sargasso Sea derives from Jane Eyre, and the relationship between the two has provoked much critical discussion about the two authors' intentions. The novels must be read together in order to fully appreciate how they complement each other, and how each is also a novel in its own right, with distinct characters and plot.\nBut, as I hope to have shown in this essay, one feature the novels have in common is that both authors make use of the literary device of symbolism in their writing. In both novels our appreciation of the characters and themes is enriched by the symbolism inherent in such narrative elements as dreams, visions, landscapes, characters' names, place names, colours, fire, and even the titles.\nBibliography\nMomsen, Janet. ed. Women and Change in the Caribbean. Kingston: Ian Randle; Bloomington: Indiana University Press; London: J. Currey, 1993.\n© Jenia Geraghty, May 2002\n\"I have really enjoyed the course and my tutor has provided really useful feedback through all the lessons.\"\nKatie S\n\"...such a wonderful course with helpful administration staff and a super tutor.\"\nShirley P\n\"The course was super - most enjoyable and the tutoring was excellent!\"\nBrian C",
"Jane Eyre Quotes and Analysis | GradeSaver\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis. ... There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. ... In the first line, ...\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis | GradeSaver\nJane Eyre Quotes and Analysis\nBuy Study Guide\nGod and nature intended you for a missionary's wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary's wife you must - shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you - not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign's service.\nSt. John Rivers\nSt. John makes this statement when he is attempting to convince Jane to marry him and become a missionary in India. St. John's declaration that Jane is formed for \"labour, not for love\" emphasizes his belief that love and passion have no place in a moral life. St. John's argument of ownership also highlights his view of Jane as a subservient companion, not a woman with independent thoughts. Although Jane approves of St. John's morality, she is unwilling to sacrifice love to become the kind of woman that St. John wants her to be.\nThere was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question. I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.\nJane Eyre\nThis is one of the more famous quotations from the novel because it provides an immediate sense of Jane's personality, as well as her position of lonely inferiority among her cousins at Gateshead. In the first line, it seems as if Jane desires to take a walk and is upset that she cannot. However, with the addition of the later lines, it becomes clear that Jane actually dislikes long walks - even from the very beginning of the novel, Bronte informs the readers that Jane is an atypical character who will make some surprising decisions. This opening quotation also describes the extent of Jane's loneliness and unhappiness with the Reed family; it is because of her empty childhood that Jane thirsts for the family and love that she will find with Mr. Rochester at Thornfield Manor.\nI knew you would do me good in some way, at some time; - I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not - did not strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing. People talk of natural sympathies: I have heard of good genii: - there are grains of truth in the wildest fable. My cherished preserver, good-night!\nEdward Rochester\nThis quotation occurs immediately after Bertha Mason has set Mr. Rochester's bed on fire and Jane has rescued him. Mr. Rochester discards his sarcasm for one of the first times in the novel and acknowledges that he feels a significant emotional connection to Jane. This intimate moment is only possible because of Mr. Rochester's vulnerable position, and both the reader and Jane begin to see some of the person who lives beneath his brooding and tormented exterior. Bronte will continue to explore the idea that Jane and Mr. Rochester are kindred spirits as the novel continues, but even these few lines lay the seeds for the fiery passion that will pervade Jane's relationship with Mr. Rochester.\nI am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am dead you must be sure and not grieve: there is nothing to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and gradual: my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me much: I have only a father; and he is lately married, and will not miss me. By dying young I shall escape great sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way very well in the world: I should have been continually at fault.\nHelen Burns\nThis speech comes when Helen Burns is dying in Jane's arms at Lowood School. Although she only appears for a few chapters, Helen and her view of Christianity become very significant to Jane as she grows into adulthood. Helen argued for turning the other cheek: accepting the injustice and unhappiness of the earthly world because of the joys that await in heaven. Although Jane does not wholly agree with Helen's passivity, particularly in the face of the torments at Lowood, she admires Helen's strength of faith. Still, Jane fears for her friend's death and the inevitable loneliness that will come when she is gone. Helen strives to convince Jane not to be unhappy because she is finally fulfilling her destiny and finding peace with God.\nReader, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I, the parson and clerk, were alone present.\nJane Eyre\nThis quotation comes after Jane has gone to Ferndean and discovered the newly-blinded Mr. Rochester. Up until this point in the text, Jane has always maintained a subservient position to Mr. Rochester. However, with the inheritance from her uncle, Jane is now an independent woman and can take charge of her own destiny. Moreover, with the loss of Mr. Rochester's eyesight, he becomes vulnerable and dependent on Jane; he can no longer maintain his former position as the superior male. Thus, instead of using the subservient \"He married me,\" in which Mr. Rochester is the dominating partner, Jane takes the superior in the relationship: \"I married him.\" However, this inequality is resolved when Mr. Rochester regains the use of one of his eyes; Jane and Mr. Rochester are finally able to support a relationship of mutual respect and quality.\nYou never felt jealousy, did you, Miss Eyre? Of course not: I need not ask you; because you never felt love. You have both sentiments yet to experience: your soul sleeps; the shock is yet to be given which shall waken it.\nEdward Rochester\nThis speech occurs when Mr. Rochester tells Jane about Adele's origins and his affair with Celine Varens. Mr. Rochester's assertion that Jane has never felt love is not necessarily false. At this point in her sheltered life, Jane has barely experienced familial love, not to mention romantic love. Mr. Rochester's conclusion about Jane's emotional experience also emphasizes her inferior position in their relationship. Because he has experienced many kinds of love, Mr. Rochester is ultimately wiser and thus, superior to his naive governess. However, Bronte suggests that Jane actually possesses far more wisdom and clarity about love that Mr. Rochester: she is the only one of the two who is able to resist the call of animal passion and resist the temptation to become his mistress.\nWhy, I suppose you have a governess for her: I saw a person with her just now - is she gone? Oh, no! there she is still behind the window-curtain. You pay her, of course: I should think it quite as expensive, - more so; for you have them both to keep in addition...You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi - were they not, mama?\nBlanche Ingram\nJane overhears this speech by Blanche Ingram during one of the social gatherings at Thornfield. Blanche expresses the upper-class prejudice against governesses and other members of the lower-class. Instead of respecting governesses for the work that they must do, Blanches mocks them openly and without any consideration for Jane's presence in the room. In her mind, a governess is nothing more than a servant and worthy of even less respect. This attitude is one that Jane constantly faces as a governess; Mr. Rochester is the only member of high society who ever treats her with respect.\nShe bit me. She worried me like a tigress, when Rochester got the knife from her...She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart.\nRichard Mason\nThis speech takes place after Richard Mason has been attacked by Bertha. Although Mr. Rochester forbids Jane and Richard Mason to speak about what has occurred, Jane cannot help overhearing this clue to the mystery of Thornfield. Through Mason's description, Bronte is able to present Bertha's nature as bestial (as a tigress) and even vampiric, a term in itself that alludes to the Gothic literary tradition. Not only is Bertha akin to the animal world in all its chaos, she is even carnivorous and attempts to suck the life out of her brother in the same way that her presence threatens to suck the life out of Mr. Rochester's happiness with Jane. Bertha's uncontrollable animal nature comes in stark contrast to Jane's placidity and rationality; although Jane possesses some of the same fiery passion that Bertha has, Jane is able to control her inclinations with her humanity.\nIf people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should - so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.\nJane Eyre\nThis speech occurs during one of Jane's conversations with Helen Burns at Lowood. Although Helen prescribes to the idea of \"turning the other cheek\" when mistreated, Jane believes that people should defend themselves to ensure that they are never mistreated again. Jane is unable to mirror Helen's passivity at Lowood and her passion and strength of character will help her to overcome many obstacles in her life. Eventually Jane learns to hide her passion and anger at injustice, but Mr. Rochester will still recognize a kindred spirit beneath her calm exterior.\nYou must be on your guard against her; you must shun her example: if necessary, avoid her company, exclude her from your sports, and shut her out from your converse. Teachers, you must watch her: keep your eyes on her movements, weight well her words, scrutinize her actions, punish her body to saver her soul; if indeed, such salvation be possible for (my tongue falters while I tell it) this girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernaut - this girl is - a liar!\nMr. Brocklehurst\nMr. Brocklehurst represents the worst kind of Christianity in the novel. His evangelical sermons, extreme stinginess, and cruel treatment of his students come in sharp contrast with his family's luxurious lifestyle and his embezzlement of school funds. In this particular scene, Mr. Brocklehurst demonstrates the extent of his cruelty by tormenting Jane with false accusations in front of her school peers. Although Mr. Brocklehurst is eventually removed from his position at Lowood, he remains one of the worst obstacles that the child Jane must overcome in order to continue her quest for independence.",
"SparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Study Questions & Essay Topics\nSuggested essay topics and study questions for Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. ... there are many possible ways to ... In what ways might Jane Eyre be considered a ...\nSparkNotes: Jane Eyre: Study Questions & Essay Topics\nStudy Questions & Essay Topics\nStudy Questions\n1.\nIn what ways is Jane Eyre influenced by the tradition of the Gothic novel? What do the Gothic elements contribute to the novel?\nThe Gothic tradition utilizes elements such as supernatural encounters, remote locations, complicated family histories, ancient manor houses, dark secrets, and mysteries to create an atmosphere of suspense and terror, and the plot of Jane Eyre includes most of these elements. Lowood, Moor House, and Thornfield are all remote locations, and Thornfield, like Gateshead, is also an ancient manor house. Both Rochester and Jane possess complicated family histories—Rochester’s hidden wife, Bertha, is the dark secret at the novel’s core. The exposure of Bertha is one of the most important moments in the novel, and the mystery surrounding her is the main source of the novel’s suspense.\nOther Gothic occurrences include: Jane’s encounter with the ghost of her late Uncle Reed in the red-room; the moment of supernatural communication between Jane and Rochester when she hears his voice calling her across the misty heath from miles and miles away; and Jane’s mistaking Rochester’s dog, Pilot, for a “Gytrash,” a spirit of North England that manifests itself as a horse or dog.\nAlthough Brontë’s use of Gothic elements heightens her reader’s interest and adds to the emotional and philosophical tensions of the book, most of the seemingly supernatural occurrences are actually explained as the story progresses. It seems that many of the Gothic elements serve to anticipate and elevate the importance of the plot’s turning points.\n2.\nWhat do the names mean in Jane Eyre? Some names to consider include: Jane Eyre, Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Reed, Rivers, Miss Temple, and Ferndean.\nOf course, there are many possible ways to address this question. The following answer includes only a few of the ways the names in Jane Eyre can be interpreted.\nThe name “Jane Eyre” elicits many associations. The contrast between Jane’s first name—with its traditional association with “plainness”—and the names of the novel’s well-born women (Blanche, Eliza, Georgiana, Diana, Rosamond) highlights Jane’s lack of status, but it also emphasizes her lack of pretense. Jane’s last name has many possible interpretations, none of which mutually excludes the other. “Eyre” is an archaic spelling for “air,” and throughout the book, Jane is linked to the spiritual or ethereal as she drifts, windlike, from one location to the next. In French, “aire” refers to a bird’s nesting place, among other things. Jane is compared to a bird repeatedly throughout the novel, and she often uses her imagination as a “nesting-place” of sorts, a private realm where she can feel secure. In medieval times, “eyre” also signified circuit-traveling judges. Perhaps Jane’s name is meant to bring attention to her role as a careful evaluator of all that she sees, and to the importance that she attaches to justice. “Eyre” also sounds like “heir,” and its other homophone—“err”—could certainly be interpreted to be meaningful, especially to feminist and religious critics who take issue with Jane’s actions!\nPlace names also seem to be symbolic. Jane’s story begins at “Gateshead.” From there, she moves to the bosky darkness and spiritual abyss of “Lowood.” At Thornfield, she must fight her way through the stings of many emotional and psychological thorns (or, as many critics argue, wear “a crown of thorns” like Jesus Christ). Jane first tastes true freedom of movement in the open spaces surrounding Moor House, while Ferndean is the home where her love can grow fertile. Thus in Chapter 37 Rochester says to Jane, “I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-tree in Thornfield orchard. . . . And what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?” Jane replies, “You are no ruin, sir—no lightning-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not, because they take delight in your bountiful shadow; and as they grow they will lean towards you, and wind round you, because your strength offers them so safe a prop.”\nSuggested Essay Topics\n1. Discuss Jane as a narrator and as a character. What sort of voice does she have? How does she represent her own actions? Does she seem to be a trustworthy storyteller, or does Brontë require us to read between the lines of her narrative? In light of the fact that people who treat Jane cruelly (John Reed, Mrs. Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst) all seem to come to unhappy endings, what role does Jane play as the novel’s moral center?\n2. In what ways might Jane Eyre be considered a feminist novel? What points does the novel make about the treatment and position of women in Victorian society? With particular attention to the book’s treatment of marriage, is there any way in which it might be considered anti-feminist?\n3. What role does Jane’s ambiguous social position play in determining the conflict of her story? What larger points, if any, does the novel make about social class? Does the book criticize or reinforce existing Victorian social prejudices? Consider the treatment of Jane as a governess, but also of the other servants in the book, along with Jane’s attitude toward her impoverished students at Morton.\n4. Compare and contrast some of the characters who serve as foils throughout Jane Eyre: Blanche to Jane, St. John to Rochester, and, perhaps, Bertha to Jane. Also think about the points of comparison between the Reed and Rivers families. How do these contrasts aid the development of the book’s themes?\nMore Help",
"John_Wilmot,_2nd_Earl_of_Rochester.txt\nJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester\nJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 – 26 July 1680), was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court. The Restoration reacted against the \"spiritual authoritarianism\" of the Puritan era. Rochester was the embodiment of the new era, and he is as well known for his rakish lifestyle as his poetry, although the two were often interlinked. He died at the age of 33 from venereal disease.\n\nRochester's contemporary Andrew Marvell described him as \"the best English satirist,\" and he is generally considered to be the most considerable poet and the most learned among the Restoration wits. His poetry, despite being widely censored during the Victorian era, enjoyed a revival from the 1920s onwards, with notable champions including Graham Greene and Ezra Pound. The critic Vivian de Sola Pinto linked Rochester's libertinism to Hobbesian materialism. During his lifetime, he was best known for A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind, and it remains among his best known works today.\n\nLife\n\nUpbringing and teens\n\nJohn Wilmot was born at Ditchley House in Oxfordshire on 1 April 1647. His father, Henry, Viscount Wilmot would be created Earl of Rochester in 1652 for his military service to Charles II during the King's exile under the Commonwealth. Paul Davis describes Henry as \"a Cavalier legend, a dashing bon viveur and war-hero who single-handedly engineered the future Charles II's escape to the Continent (including the famous concealment in an oak tree) after the disastrous battle of Worcester in 1651\". His mother, Anne St. John, was a strong-willed Puritan from a noble Wiltshire family.\n\nFrom the age of seven, Rochester was privately tutored, two years later attending the grammar school in nearby Burford. His father died in 1658, and John Wilmot inherited the title of the Earl of Rochester in April of that year. In January 1660, Rochester was admitted as a Fellow commoner to Wadham College, Oxford, a new and comparatively poor college. Whilst there, it is said, the 13-year-old \"grew debauched\". In September 1661 he was awarded an honorary M.A. by the newly elected Chancellor of the university, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, a family friend.Frank H. Ellis, \"Wilmot, John, second earl of Rochester (1647–1680)\", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29623, accessed 12 July 2012]\n\nAs an act of gratitude towards the son of Henry Wilmot, Charles II conferred on Rochester an annual pension of £500. In November 1661 Charles sent Rochester on a three year Grand Tour of France and Italy, and appointed the physician Andrew Balfour as his governor. This exposed him to an unusual degree to European (especially French) writing and thought. In 1664 Rochester returned to London, and made his formal début at the Restoration court on Christmas Day.\n\nIt has been suggested by a number of scholars that the King took a paternal role in Rochester's life. Charles II suggested a marriage between Rochester and the wealthy heiress Elizabeth Malet. Her wealth-hungry relatives opposed marriage to the impoverished Rochester, who conspired with his mother to abduct the young Countess. Samuel Pepys described the attempted abduction in his diary on 28 May 1665:\nThence to my Lady Sandwich's, where, to my shame, I had not been a great while before. Here, upon my telling her a story of my Lord Rochester's running away on Friday night last with Mrs. Mallett, the great beauty and fortune of the North, who had supped at White Hall with Mrs. Stewart, and was going home to her lodgings with her grandfather, my Lord Haly, by coach; and was at Charing Cross seized on by both horse and foot men, and forcibly taken from him, and put into a coach with six horses, and two women provided to receive her, and carried away. Upon immediate pursuit, my Lord of Rochester (for whom the King had spoke to the lady often, but with no successe ) was taken at Uxbridge; but the lady is not yet heard of, and the King mighty angry, and the Lord sent to the Tower. \n\n18-year-old Rochester spent three weeks in the Tower, and was only released after he wrote a penitent apology to the King.\n\nRochester attempted to redeem himself by volunteering for the navy in the Second Dutch War in the winter of 1665, serving under the Earl of Sandwich. His courage at the Battle of Vågen, serving onboard the ship of Thomas Teddeman, made him a war hero. Pleased with his conduct, Charles appointed Rochester a Gentleman of the Bedchamber in March 1666, which granted him prime lodgings in Whitehall and a pension of £1,000 a year. The role encompassed, one week in every four, Rochester helping the King to dress and undress, serve his meals when dining in private, and sleeping at the foot of the King's bed. In the summer of 1666, Rochester returned to sea, serving under Edward Spragge. He again showed extraordinary courage in battle. \n\nUpon returning from sea, Rochester resumed his courtship of Elizabeth Malet. Defying her family's wishes, Malet eloped with Rochester again in January 1667, and they were married at the Knightsbridge chapel.Notes and Queries (2011) 58 (3): 381–386. doi: 10.1093/notesj/gjr109\n\nIn October 1667, the monarch granted Rochester special licence to enter the House of Lords early, despite being seven months underage. The act was an attempt by the King to bolster his number of supporters among the Lords. \n\nTeenage actress Nell Gwyn \"almost certainly\" took him as her lover; she was later to become the mistress of Charles II. Gwyn remained a lifelong friend and political associate, and her relationship with the King gave Rochester influence and status within the Court.\n\n20s and last years\n\nRochester's life was divided between domesticity in the country and a riotous existence at court, where he was renowned for drunkenness, vivacious conversation, and \"extravagant frolics\" as part of the Merry Gang (as Andrew Marvell described them). The Merry Gang flourished for about 15 years after 1665 and included Henry Jermyn; Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset; John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave; Henry Killigrew; Sir Charles Sedley; the playwrights William Wycherley and George Etherege; and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Gilbert Burnet wrote of him that, \"For five years together he was continually Drunk ... [and] not ... perfectly Master of himself ... [which] led him to ... do many wild and unaccountable things.\" In 1669 he committed treason by boxing the ears of Thomas Killigrew in sight of the monarch and was banned from the court, although the King soon called for his return.\n\nIn 1673, Rochester began to train Elizabeth Barry as an actress. She went on to become the most famous actress of her age. He took her as his mistress in 1675. The relationship lasted for around five years, and produced a daughter, before descending into acrimony after Rochester began to resent her success. Rochester wrote afterwards, \"With what face can I incline/To damn you to be only mine? ... Live up to thy might mind/And be the mistress of mankind\".\n\nWhen the King's advisor and friend of Rochester, George Villiers lost power in 1673, Rochester's standing fell as well. At the Christmas festivities at Whitehall of that year, Rochester delivered a satire to Charles II, \"In the Isle of Britain\" – which criticized the King for being obsessed with sex at the expense of his kingdom. Charles' reaction to this satirical portrayal resulted in Rochester's exile from the court until February. During this time Rochester dwelt at his estate in Adderbury. Despite this, in February 1674, after much petitioning by Rochester, the King appointed him Ranger of Woodstock Park.\n\nIn June 1675 \"Lord Rochester in a frolick after a rant did ... beat downe the dyill (i.e. sundial) which stood in the middle of the Privie Garding, which was esteemed the rarest in Europ\". John Aubrey learned what Rochester said on this occasion when he came in from his \"revells\" with Charles Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, and Fleetwood Sheppard to see the object: \"'What ... doest thou stand here to fuck time?' Dash they fell to worke\". It has been speculated that the comment refers not to the dial itself, which was not phallic in appearance, but a painting of the King next to the dial that featured his phallic sceptre. Rochester fled the court again.\n\nRochester fell into disfavour again in 1676. During a late-night scuffle with the night watch, one of Rochester's companions was killed by a pike-thrust. Rochester was reported to have fled the scene of the incident, and his standing with the monarch reached an all time low. Following this incident, Rochester briefly fled to Tower Hill, where he impersonated a mountebank \"Doctor Bendo\". Under this persona, he claimed skill in treating \"barrenness\" (infertility), and other gynecological disorders. Gilbert Burnet wryly noted that Rochester's practice was \"not without success\", implying his intercession of himself as surreptitious sperm donor. On occasion, Rochester also assumed the role of the grave and matronly Mrs. Bendo, presumably so that he could inspect young women privately without arousing their husbands' suspicions. \n\nDeath\n\nBy the age of 33, Rochester was dying, from what is usually described as the effects of syphilis, gonorrhea, or other venereal diseases, combined with the effects of alcoholism. Carol Richards has disputed this, arguing that it is more likely that he died of renal failure due to chronic nephritis as a result of suffering from Bright's disease. His mother had him attended in his final weeks by her religious associates, particularly Gilbert Burnet, later Bishop of Salisbury.\n\nAfter hearing of Burnet's departure from his side, Rochester muttered his last words; \"Has my friend left me? then I shall die shortly\". In the early morning of 26 July 1680, Rochester died \"without a shudder or a sound\". He was buried at Spelsbury Church in Oxfordshire.\n\nA deathbed renunciation of libertinism was published and promulgated as the conversion of a prodigal son. Because the first published account of this story appears in Burnet's own writings, its accuracy has been disputed by some scholars, who accuse Burnet with having shaped the account of Rochester's denunciation of libertinism to enhance his own reputation.\n\nWorks\n\nThree major critical editions of Rochester in the twentieth century have taken very different approaches to authenticating and organizing his canon. David Vieth’s 1968 edition adopts a heavily biographical organization, modernizing spellings and heading the sections of his book \"Prentice Work\", \"Early Maturity\", \"Tragic Maturity\", and \"Disillusionment and Death\". Keith Walker’s 1984 edition takes a genre-based approach, returning to the older spellings and accidentals in an effort to present documents closer to those a seventeenth century audience would have received. Harold Love’s Oxford University Press edition of 1999, now the scholarly standard, notes the variorum history conscientiously, but arranges works in genre sections ordered from the private to the public. Scholarship has identified approximately 75 authentic Rochester poems. \n\nRochester's poetic work varies widely in form, genre, and content. He was part of a \"mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease\", who continued to produce their poetry in manuscripts, rather than in publication. As a consequence, some of Rochester's work deals with topical concerns, such as satires of courtly affairs in libels, to parodies of the styles of his contemporaries, such as Sir Carr Scroope. He is also notable for his impromptus, one of which is a teasing epitaph of King Charles II:\nWe have a pretty witty king,\nAnd whose word no man relies on,\nHe never said a foolish thing,\nAnd never did a wise one\" \nto which Charles supposedly said \"that's true, for my words are my own, but my actions are those of my ministers\". \n\nRochester's poetry displays a range of learning and influences. These included imitations of Malherbe, Ronsard, and Boileau. He also translated or adapted from classical authors such as Petronius, Lucretius, Ovid, Anacreon, Horace, and Seneca.\n\nRochester's writings were at once admired and infamous. A Satyr Against Mankind (1675), one of the few poems he published (in a broadside in 1679) is a scathing denunciation of rationalism and optimism that contrasts human perfidy with animal wisdom.\n\nThe majority of his poetry was not published under his name until after his death. Because most of his poems circulated only in manuscript form during his lifetime, it is likely that much of his writing does not survive. Burnet claimed that Rochester's conversion experience led him to ask that \"all his profane and lewd writings\" be burned; it is unclear how much, if any, of Rochester's writing was destroyed.\n\nRochester was also interested in the theatre. In addition to an interest in actresses, he wrote an adaptation of Fletcher's Valentinian (1685), a scene for Sir Robert Howard's The Conquest of China, a prologue to Elkanah Settle's The Empress of Morocco (1673), and epilogues to Sir Francis Fane's Love in the Dark (1675), Charles Davenant's Circe, a Tragedy (1677). The best-known dramatic work attributed to Rochester, Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery, has never been successfully proven to be written by him. Posthumous printings of Sodom, however, gave rise to prosecutions for obscenity, and were destroyed. On 16 December 2004 one of the few surviving copies of Sodom was sold by Sotheby's for £45,600. \n\nRochester's letters to his wife and to his friend Henry Savile show an admirable mastery of easy, colloquial prose.\n\nReception and influence\n\nRochester was the model for a number of rake heroes in plays of the period, such as Don John in Thomas Shadwell's The Libertine (1675) and Dorimant in George Etherege's The Man of Mode (1676). Meanwhile he was eulogised by his contemporaries such as Aphra Behn and Andrew Marvell, who described him as \"the only man in England that had the true vein of satire\".[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17388/17388-h/17388-h.htm The Project Gutenberg eBook of Andrew Marvell, by Augustine Birrell] Daniel Defoe quoted him in Moll Flanders, and discussed him in other works. Voltaire, who spoke of Rochester as \"the man of genius, the great poet\", admired his satire for its \"energy and fire\" and translated some lines into French to \"display the shining imagination his lordship only could boast\". \n\nBy the 1750s, Rochester's reputation suffered as the liberality of the Restoration era subsided; Samuel Johnson characterised him as a worthless and dissolute rake. Horace Walpole described him as \"a man whom the muses were fond to inspire but ashamed to avow\". Despite this general disdain for Rochester, William Hazlitt commented that his \"verses cut and sparkle like diamonds\" while his \"epigrams were the bitterest, the least laboured, and the truest, that ever were written\". Referring to Rochester's perspective, Hazlitt wrote that \"his contempt for everything that others respect almost amounts to sublimity\". Meanwhile, Goethe quoted A Satyr against Reason and Mankind in English in his Autobiography. Despite this, Rochester's work was largely ignored throughout the Victorian era.\n\nRochester's reputation would not begin to revive until the 1920s. Ezra Pound, in his ABC of Reading, compared Rochester's poetry favourably to better known figures such as Alexander Pope and John Milton. Graham Greene characterised Rochester as a \"spoiled Puritan\". Although F. R. Leavis argued that \"Rochester is not a great poet of any kind\", William Empson admired him. More recently, Germaine Greer has questioned the validity of the appraisal of Rochester as a drunken rake, and hailed the sensitivity of some of his lyrics. \n\nRochester was listed #6 in Time Out's \"Top 30 chart of London's most erotic writers\". Tom Morris, the associate director, of the National Theatre said ‘Rochester reminds me of an unhinged poacher, moving noiselessly through the night and shooting every convention that moves. Bishop Burnett, who coached him to an implausible death-bed repentance, said that he was unable to express any feeling without oaths and obscenities. He seemed like a punk in a frock coat. But once the straw dolls have been slain, Rochester celebrates in a sexual landscape all of his own.’\n\nIn popular culture\n\nA play, The Libertine (1994), was written by Stephen Jeffreys, and staged by the Royal Court Theatre. The 2004 film The Libertine, based on Jeffreys' play, starred Johnny Depp as Rochester, Samantha Morton as Elizabeth Barry, John Malkovich as King Charles II and Rosamund Pike as Elizabeth Malet. Michael Nyman set to music an excerpt of Rochester's poem, \"Signor Dildo\" for the film. \n\nRochester is the central character in Anna Lieff Saxby's 1996 erotic novella 'No Paradise But Pleasure'",
"The Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters ... most loved characters and his story propelled Dickens to literary stardom. Pinch, Tom ... Tapley, Mark Martin ...\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club - Dickens Characters\nThe Rochester Pickwick Club\nHonorary Member: Mr Gerald Dickens\nAn Affiliate Member of the Dickens Fellowship\nMore\nBenjamin Allen ( Pickwick Papers ) Medical student, brother of Arabella , and drinking buddy of Bob Sawyer . \nArtful Dodger ( Oliver Twist ) Alias of Jack Dawkins , he is the most successful and interesting of Fagin's thieves. He shows Oliver the ropes of the pickpocket game and is later captured and sentenced to transportation. \nThe Avenger ( Great Expectations ) A servant boy hired by Pip . Pip has such a hard time finding things to keep him busy \"that I sometimes sent him to Hyde Park Corner to see what o'clock it was.\" \nB\nBachelor, The ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Friend to the parson in the village church where Nell and her grandfather end their journey. He turns out to be the brother of Mr Garland and is instrumental in helping the Single Gentleman find his brother, Nell's grandfather. \nBadger, Bayham ( Bleak House ) Doctor, cousin of Kenge , to whom Richard Carstone is apprenticed. Badger's wife Laura talks incessantly about her two former husbands, Capt Swosser and Professor Dingo. \nBagnet Family ( Bleak House ) Musical, military family headed by Matthew, an old army friend of George Rouncewell . Bagnet's wife, the old girl, knows Matthew so well that he always calls upon her to supply his opinion. The Bagnet children: Quebec, Malta, and Woolwich are named for the military bases where the family has been stationed. Matthew is guarantor to George's loan from Smallweed , when Smallweed calls in the debt George is forced to deliver a document Smallweed needs to help lawyer Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. \nBagstock, Major Joseph ( Dombey and Son ) Neighbor of Miss Tox and friend of Paul Dombey who introduces Paul to Edith Granger and Mrs Skewton . The Major describes himself as \"tough, Sir, tough, and de-vilish sly!\" \nBailey, (Benjamin) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Street-wise servant boy at Todger's Boarding House. Later goes to work for Tigg Montigue and is nearly killed in a coach accident. \nMrs Bangham ( Little Dorrit ) Charwoman and messenger in the Marshalsea prison. She attends the birth of Amy Dorrit . \nBarbara ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Modest and pretty servant of the Garlands . She befriends Kit when he is also employed by the Garlands. Barbara later marries Kit. \nMiss Barbary ( Bleak House ) 'Godmother' who raises Esther Summerson . Later found to be Esther's aunt, the sister of Lady Dedlock . \nBardell, Martha ( Pickwick Papers ) Landlady of Samuel Pickwick in Goswell Street. Mrs. Bardell is duped by unscrupulous lawyers, Dodson and Fogg , into bringing a breach of promise to marry suit against Pickwick. When Pickwick refuses to pay damages and is consigned to the Fleet prison, Dodson and Fogg sue Mrs Bardell for costs and have her consigned to the Fleet. Pickwick pays the penitent Bardell's costs to get her released. \nBarkis ( David Copperfield ) A carrier between Blunderstone and Yarmouth. He marries Clara Peggotty . Quote: Barkis is willin' \nBarley, Old Bill ( Great Expectations ) Clara Barley's bedridden father, a retired ship's purser, who suffers with gout which he treats with an abundance of rum and pepper. \nBarley, Clara ( Great Expectations ) Herbert Pocket's fiancee, she cares for her invalid father, Old Bill Barley , in a waterside house at Mill Pond Bank where Magwitch is hidden. After her father's death she marries Herbert. \nBarnacles ( Little Dorrit ) Family that controls the Circumlocution Office, where everything goes round in circles, and nothing ever gets done. Includes Lord Decimus Tite Barnacle, his wife, Lady Jemima Bilberry, nephew Tite Barnacle, and his son Clarence Barnacle (Barnacle Junior). \nBarsad, John/Soloman Pross ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Barsad testifies against Charles Darnay at the treason trial at the Old Bailey. Later Barsad turns up as a spy in Paris and is found to be the brother of Miss Pross . Threatened with exposure, Barsad helps Sydney Carton exchange places with Charles Darnay in prison. \nBates, Charles ( Oliver Twist ) Member of Fagin's band of thieves. He mends his ways after Fagin is captured. \nBazzard ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Clerk to Hiram Grewgious who writes an unproduced tragedy, The Thorn of Anxiety. Grewgious admits that Bazzard has a strange power over him. \nBenjamin ( Barnaby Rudge ) Member of the 'Prentice Knights with Simon Tappertit . \nBetsy (Bet) ( Oliver Twist ) Prostitute and friend of Nancy . Goes mad after identifying Nancy's body. \nBevan, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Boston doctor whom Martin and Mark meet at Pawkins' Boarding House in New York and one of the few positive characters they meet in the America. Bevan later loans them money to return to England. \nBiddy ( Great Expectations ) Mr. Wopsle's great aunt's granddaughter. She loves Pip but he ignores her as his fortunes improve. When Pip realizes that he loves her too she has married Joe Gargery . \nBillickin, Mrs. ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) London landlady of Rosa Bud and her chaperone, Miss Twinkleton . She insists on using the title 'Billickin' in business matters fearing being taken advantage of because she is a woman. Mrs. Billickin and Miss Twinkleton take a comical dislike for each other. \nBitzer ( Hard Times ) A student in Gradgrind's school of hard facts. Later a light porter in Bounderby's bank. \nBlackpool, Stephen ( Hard Times ) A worker in Bounderby's mill. His wife is a drunk and he befriends Rachael . He falls out with his employer and leaves to look for work elsewhere. He is accused of robbing the bank and before his name is cleared he falls down a well and dies. Later he is cleared with the discovery that the robbery was committed by young Tom Gradgrind . \nBlathers ( Oliver Twist ) Bow Street Runner (London Policemen) who, along with Duff , investigates the attempted robbery of the Maylie home. \nBlimber, Dr ( Dombey and Son ) Headmaster of the school in Brighton where Paul Dombey Jr attends. Blimber is assisted at the school by his wife and daughter Cornelia. Dickens describes Blimber as \"a portly gentleman in a suit of black, with strings at the knees, and stockings below them. He had a bald head, highly polished; a deep voice; and a chin so very double, that it was a wonder how he ever managed to shave into the creases.\" \nBoffin, Noddy ( Our Mutual Friend ) John Harmon's servant. When John's son is supposed drowned, Boffin and his wife inherit the Harmon fortune, for a time. \nBoffin, Henrietta ( Our Mutual Friend ) Noddy Boffin's wife. \nBounderby, Josiah ( Hard Times ) Coketown Banker, mill owner, and \"self-made man\" proud that he raised himself in the streets after being abandoned as a child. His story is exposed as a sham when Mrs. Pegler , his loving mother whom he has discarded, is found. Bounderby marries his friend Gradgrind's daughter, Louisa , and later discards her. \nBowley, Sir Joseph ( The Chimes ) Member of Parliament who condescendingly calls himself \"the poor man's friend and father\" and exhorts Trotty to \"Live hard and temperately, be respectful, exercise your self-denial, bring up your family on next to nothing, pay your rent as regularly as the clock strikes, be punctual in your dealings\". His wife is Lady Bowley. \nBrandley, Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Widowed society woman and old friend of Miss Havisham with whom Estella is \"placed\" in Richmond to be sponsored in London society. She has a daughter several years older than Estella. \nBrass, Sally ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Sister and partner of Quilp's unscrupulous attorney, Sampson Brass . She is the mother of the Marchioness , the below-stairs maid. \nBrass, Sampson ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) \"An attorney of no good repute\" and \"One of the greatest scoundrels unhung\". Brass served as Daniel Quilp's lawyer. He helps Quilp get the Curiosity Shop from Nell's grandfather and when he tries to help Quilp frame Kit Nubbles he is undone with the help of his clerk Dick Swiveler and the Marchioness , his below-stairs maid. \nBray, Madeline ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Girl with whom Nicholas falls in love when he first sees her at an employment office. She cares for her selfish, invalid father who tries to sell her in marriage to Arthur Gride , assisted by Ralph Nickleby . Her father dies and the scheme is exposed. She marries Nicholas at the end of the story. \nBray, Walter ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Tyrannical father of Madeline . Heavily in debt, and living in the Rules of the King's Bench debtor's prison, he promises his daughter's hand in marriage to Arthur Gride in return for the forgiveness of his debt to Gride and Ralph Nickleby . He dies on the morning of the wedding thus saving Madeline from the unwanted marriage. \nBrick, Jefferson ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) War correspondent for the New York Rowdy Journal, edited by Colonel Diver . \nBritain, Benjamin ( The Battle of Life ) Manservant of Dr. Jeddler . He later marries Clemency Newcome and together they run the comfortable Nutmeg-Grater and Thimble Inn. \nBrogley, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Second Hand furniture broker with a shop in Bishopsgate Street. Brogley takes possession of the Wooden Midshipman when Sol Gills cannot pay his debts. Sol is loaned money from Paul Dombey to pay the debt. Walter Gay stays with Brogley when he returns from being shipwrecked. \nBrowdie, John ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Son of a small corn-factor. He gives money to Nicholas Nickleby on his escape from Dotheboys Hall. John marries Matilda Price . Later assists in Smike's escape from Squeers in London. \nBrown, Good Mrs. ( Dombey and Son ) An ugly old rag and bone vendor and mother of Alice Marwood (Brown). She kidnaps Florence Dombey and steals her clothes. Later she helps Dombey find Carker and Edith after their elopement. Dickens describes Good Mrs Brown as a \"very ugly old woman, with red rims round her eyes, and a mouth that mumbled and chattered of itself when she was not speaking\". \nBrown, Alice (alias Marwood) ( Dombey and Son ) Daughter of Good Mrs Brown and cousin of Edith Granger . \nBrownlow ( Oliver Twist ) Befriends Oliver after he is charged with pickpocketing. He later establishes Oliver's true identity and adopts him. \nBucket ( Bleak House ) Detective in charge of finding Tulkinghorn's murderer. After Lady Dedlock's disappearance Sir Leicester hires Bucket to find her. He later uncovers the will that is instrumental in clearing up the Jarndyce and Jarndyce chancery case.\nBud, Rosa ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Betrothed to Edwin Drood in childhood, they later agree that they cannot marry. Edwin disappears and John Jasper declares his love for Rosa. In terror she flees to London to her guardian, Grewgious .\n\"The pet pupil of the Nuns' House is Miss Rosa Bud, of course called Rosebud; wonderfully pretty, wonderfully childish, wonderfully whimsical. An awkward interest (awkward because romantic) attaches to Miss Bud in the minds of the young ladies, on account of its being known to them that a husband has been chosen for her by will and bequest, and that her guardian is bound down to bestow her on that husband when he comes of age\". \nBumble ( Oliver Twist ) Beadle at the workhouse where Oliver is born. He mistreats the residents in his care and becomes the symbol of Dickens' distaste for the workhouse system. Marries Mrs. Corney and later is disgraced and becomes a resident in the same workhouse. \nBunsby, Jack ( Dombey and Son ) Seafaring friend of Captain Cuttle who is always called in times of crisis for advise. The advise given confounds everyone listening except his friend Cuttle, who values it immensely. Bunsby is later trapped into marriage by Mrs MacStinger. Bunsby's ship is the Cautious Clara. Bunsby is described by Dickens as having \"one stationary eye in the mahogany face, and one revolving one, on the principle of some lighthouses\". \nBuzfuz, Serjeant ( Pickwick Papers ) Barrister who represents Mrs Bardell in her suit against Samuel Pickwick . He bullies the witnesses into giving incriminating testimony and Pickwick is falsely convicted. \nC\nCarker, Harriet ( Dombey and Son ) Sister to James and John . Harriet lives with John and the two inherit James' fortune and donate it, anonymously, to Mr Dombey . Harriet later marries Mr Morfin . \nCarker, James ( Dombey and Son ) Opportunistic manager at Dombey and Son. Brother of John and Harriet Carker , he elopes with Dombey's wife and is later killed when struck by a train. Dickens describes Carker as \"a gentleman thirty-eight or forty years old, of a florid complexion, and with two unbroken rows of glistening teeth, whose regularity and whiteness were quite distressing. It was impossible to escape the observation of them, for he showed them whenever he spoke; and bore so wide a smile upon his countenance (a smile, however, very rarely, indeed, extending beyond his mouth), that there was something in it like the snarl of a cat.\" \nCarker, John ( Dombey and Son ) Older brother of James although called \"the Junior\" because of his low position at the firm of Dombey and Son. He is looked upon with scorn by his younger brother because he embezzled money from the firm when a young man. Harriet Carker is his sister. \nCarstone, Richard ( Bleak House ) Ward of Mr. Jarndyce and a party to the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. He marries Ada Clare and later dies when his health declines as the estate he hopes to acquire is consumed in court costs. \nCarton, Sydney ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Lawyer who is able to get a charge of treason reversed for Charles Darnay due to a strong physical resemblance. He later takes Darnay's place at the guillotine. Quote: It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known. \nCasby, Christopher ( Little Dorrit ) Father of Flora Finching and landlord who gouges the residents of Bleeding Heart Yard through his collector, Pancks . Pancks later exposes Casby by cutting his long gray hair in front of the residents of Bleeding Heart Yard.\nCavalletto, John Baptist ( Little Dorrit ) Small time Italian smuggler and fellow prisoner with Rigaud as the novel opens. Later employed by Arthur Clennam in Bleeding Heart Yard after being injured in a mail coach accident. Aids in the search for Rigaud.\nRev Chadband ( Bleak House ) Typical Dickensian hypocritical reverend, admonishing Jo in the spirit while he starves. Marries the former Mrs Rachael . \nCheeryble Brothers ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Charles and Edwin (Ned). Benevolent businessmen who employ and befriend Nicholas Nickleby and his family. Frank Cheeryble , who marries Kate Nickleby , is their nephew. \nCheeryble, Frank ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Nephew of the Cheeryble brothers who marries Kate Nickleby . \nChester, Edward ( Barnaby Rudge ) Son of John , eventually overcomes the opposition of his father and her uncle and marries Emma Haredale . The couple relocate to the West Indies. \nChester, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Father of Edward , tries to prevent Edward's marriage to Emma Haredale . Becomes a member of Parliament. Killed in a duel by Emma's uncle Geoffrey. \nChick, Louisa ( Dombey and Son ) Sister of Paul Dombey Sr . and friend to Mrs. Tox . Quote: Make an effort. \nChickenstalker, Anne ( The Chimes ) A stout lady who keeps a shop in the general line to whom Trotty owes some small debts. In Trotty's dream she marries Tugby and is Meg's landlady. \nMr. Chillip ( David Copperfield ) Doctor who delivers David Copperfield . \nChivery, John, Young John, Mrs Chivery ( Little Dorrit ) Turnkeys (jailors) at the Marshalsea . Young John loves Amy Dorrit and assists in finding her father's fortune. Mrs Chivery runs a tobacco shop around the corner from the Marshalsea on Horsemonger Lane. \nChoke, General Cyrus ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Member of the Eden Land Corporation who introduces Martin to Scadder . Like many others Martin Meets in America the General is considered \"one of the most remarkable men in the country.\" \nChollop, Hannibal ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Another of \"the most remarkable men in the country\" Martin meets in Eden. Chollop enforces the propagation of liberty with a brace of revolving-pistols. \nChuckster, Mr ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Clerk to Mr Witherden , friend of Dick Swiveler , and enemy of Kit . \nChuffey ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Devoted old clerk of Anthony Chuzzlewit . \"He looked as if he had been put away and forgotten half a century before, and somebody had just found him in a lumber-closet.\" \nChuzzlewit, Anthony ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Brother of old Martin Chuzzlewit and father of Jonas Chuzzlewit . Greedy and tight-fisted business man who breeds these same qualities into his son, Jonas, who tries to poison him for his trouble. \nChuzzlewit, Jonas ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Son of Anthony Chuzzlewit , he attempts to kill his father to gain his inheritance. Marries Mercy Pecksniff and, through his cruelty, breaks her spirit. He murders Tigg, the murder is discovered, and on the way to prison poisons himself. \nChuzzlewit, Martin ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Grandson of Martin Sr. He has a falling out with his grandfather over his love for Mary Graham . Becomes a pupil of Pecksniff who, because of pressure from the grandfather, throws young Martin out. After a trip to America with Mark Tapley , he comes back to England and, after the undoing of Pecksniff , reconciles with his grandfather and marries Mary Graham . \nChuzzlewit, Old Martin ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Grandfather of Martin , cousin of Pecksniff , brother of Anthony, uncle of Jonas . Martin is suspicious of his hypocritical relatives, chiefly Pecksniff , whose hypocrisy Martin exposes and is reconciled with his grandson, young Martin . \nClare, Ada ( Bleak House ) Ward of John Jarndyce , friend of Esther Summerson , cousin of Richard Carstone , who she marries and is soon widowed as Richard's health fails in the wake of the unhappy conclusion of the Chancery suit. \nClarriker ( Great Expectations ) Shipping merchant from whom Pip secretly buys a partnership for Herbert . After Pip loses his fortune he is also employed in the firm. \nClaypole, Noah ( Oliver Twist ) Assistant at Sowerberry's with whom Oliver fights. Noah later joins Fagin's band and spies on Nancy . After Fagin's capture he testifies against him and becomes an informer for the police. \nClennam, Arthur ( Little Dorrit ) Returns to England from abroad where he has spent years with his father in the family business. On his father's death he falls out with his mother and gives up his share of the family business. He befriends Amy Dorrit at the Marshalsea and becomes business partner to Daniel Doyce . After losing everything in a banking scam by Merdle he is himself imprisoned in the Marshalsea . His health fails and Amy cares for him in the prison. The novel ends with Arthur and Amy's marriage. \nClennam, Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Invalid mother of Arthur with whom she has a falling out over the family business. She avoids a blackmail scheme by Rigaud/Blandois when her tumble-down house tumbles down on him. \nClickett (The Orfling) ( David Copperfield ) Maid to the Micawbers . \"A dark-complexioned young woman, with a habit of snorting.\" Clickett is an orphan from St. Luke's Workhouse. \nCly, Roger ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Former servant of Charles Darnay who testifies against his former master at Darnay's trial for treason. He fakes his death and is buried in a mock funeral in London. Cly surfaces later as a spy and informer in Paris and ends up on the guillotine. \nCobb, Tom ( Barnaby Rudge ) Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. \nCodlin and Short ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Proprietors of a traveling Punch and Judy show that Nell and her grandfather meet on their travels through the English countryside. \nCompeyson ( Great Expectations ) Con man who deceives Miss Havisham , with the help of Miss Havisham's brother Arthur , to get her money with a promise of marriage, and then leaves her at the altar. He is an accomplice of Magwitch in the original prison break. He later exposes Magwitch and accidentally drowns when Magwitch is recaptured. \nCopperfield, David ( David Copperfield ) Narrator of the story modeled after Dickens life. Begins life with his widowed mother and their maid, Peggotty . When his mother marries Mr. Murdstone his life becomes miserable. He is sent to Creakle's school where he meets Steerforth and Traddles . After the death of his mother he goes to work at Murdstone and Grinby and is lodged with the Micawbers . David runs away to live with his aunt Betsy Trotwood in Dover. He later marries his employer Spenlow's daughter, Dora . Dora dies and David marries longtime friend, Agnes Wickfield . David, like Dickens, becomes a successful author. \nCopperfield, Clara ( David Copperfield ) Mother of David Copperfield . A widow when David is born, she later is lured into marriage by Edward Murdstone , who destroys her spirit and she dies along with her newborn son while David is away at school. \nCorney, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. She marries Bumble making him miserable. The Bumbles are disgraced and end up as paupers in the workhouse they once ruled over. \nCratchit, Bob ( A Christmas Carol ) Longsuffering clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge . Bob endures Scrooge's mistreatment until Scrooge, reformed by the visit of the three spirits, raises Bob's salary and vows to help his struggling family. The Cratchit family consists of Bob's wife, eldest daughter Martha, daughter Belinda, son Peter, two younger children: boy and girl, and Tiny Tim .\nCratchit, Tiny Tim ( A Christmas Carol ) Crippled son of Bob Cratchit . The forecast of Tim's death by the Ghosts of Christmas Present and Future is instrumental in Scrooge's reformation after which Tim is afforded proper medical attention and is cured. Dickens based Tiny Tim (and also Paul Dombey Jr ) on his sister Fanny's crippled son Henry Burnett Jr. \nCreakle ( David Copperfield ) Severe headmaster of Salem House Academy where David first goes to school. He was based on William Jones, headmaster of Wellington Academy which Dickens attended from 1825-1827. \nCrewler, Sophy ( David Copperfield ) Fiance of Traddles and \"the dearest girl in the world\". Traddles has trouble gaining permission to marry Sophy because she is indispensible to her large family. \nCrimple, David (Crimp) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Pawnbroker (Crimp) and later partner with Tigg Montigue in the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. After Montigue is murdered he flees the country with the company's money.\nCripples, Mr ( Little Dorrit ) Operates Cripples Evening Academy in the same lodging house where Frederick Dorrit lives. Amy Dorrit attended classes there. \nCrisparkle, Canon ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Minor canon of Cloisterham Cathedral. \"Mr. Crisparkle, Minor Canon, early riser, musical, classical, cheerful, kind, good-natured, social, contented, and boy-like.\" He takes Neville Landless as a pupil and helps Neville flee to London when suspicion is cast on him for the disappearance of Edwin Drood . \nCrummles, Vincent ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Manager of a touring stage company who employs and befriends Nicholas Nickleby and Smike . Described as having \"a very full under- lip, a hoarse voice, as though he were in the habit of shouting very much, and very short black hair, shaved off nearly to the crown of his head--to admit (as he afterwards learnt) of his more easily wearing character wigs of any shape or pattern.\" \nCrummles, Mrs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Wife of Vincent Crummles and actress in his traveling stage troupe. Described as \"a stout, portly female, apparently between forty and fifty, in a tarnished silk cloak, with her bonnet dangling by the strings in her hand, and her hair (of which she had a great quantity) braided in a large festoon over each temple.\" \nCrummles, Ninetta ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Daughter of Vincent Crummles and actress in his traveling stage troupe. Billed as the Infant Phenomenon, her acting capability is greatly over-rated by her father. She is listed as 10 years old but is apparently much older: \"though of short stature, had a comparatively aged countenance, and had moreover been precisely the same age -- not perhaps to the full extent of the memory of the oldest inhabitant, but certainly for five good years. But she had been kept up late every night, and put upon an unlimited allowance of gin-and-water from infancy, to prevent her growing tall, and perhaps this system of training had produced in the infant phenomenon these additional phenomena.\" \nCruncher, Jerry ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Messenger for Tellson's Bank who moonlights as a grave robber. \nCrupp, Mrs ( David Copperfield ) David Copperfield's brandy-loving landlady at the Adelphi. \nCute, Alderman ( The Chimes ) City magistrate who is blind to the plight of the poor. Vows to \"put down\"^ any nonsense claimed by the poor, such as starvation, illness, and suicide. \nCuttle, Captain ( Dombey and Son ) Seafaring friend of Sol Gills , whose shop he cares for when Sol goes in search of his lost nephew, Walter Gay . Quote: When found, make a note of. Dickens describes Captain Cuttle as \"a gentleman in a wide suit of blue, with a hook instead of a hand attached to his right wrist; very bushy black eyebrows; and a thick stick in his left hand, covered all over (like his nose) with knobs. He wore a loose black silk handkerchief round his neck, and such a very large coarse shirt collar, that it looked like a small sail.\" \n \nD\nDaisy, Soloman ( Barnaby Rudge ) Clerk and bell-ringer at the parish church in Chigwell. Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. Daisy tells the story of Reuben Haredale's murder. \nDarnay, Charles ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Son of Marquis de St. Evremonde . He is tried for treason in London and is acquitted due to his resemblance to Sydney Carton . He marries Lucie Manette , daughter of Dr. Manette . He returns to Paris to help a friend imprisoned there and is arrested by the revolutionaries. His life is saved when look-alike Carton takes his place on the guillotine.\nDartle, Rosa ( David Copperfield ) Companion to Mrs. Steerforth, jealously in love with Steerforth , who has marked her face when a child by throwing a hammer in a fit of temper. Rosa hates Emily for running away with Steerforth. Narrator David Copperfield describes Rosa as \"A slight short figure, dark, and not agreeable to look at, but with some appearance of good looks too... I concluded in my own mind that she was about thirty years of age, and that she wished to be married. She was a little dilapidated, like a house, with having been so long to let; yet had, as I have said, an appearance of good looks. Her thinness seemed to be the effect of some wasting fire within her, which found a vent in her gaunt eyes.\" \nDatchery, Dick ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Mysterious visitor to Cloisterham whose \"white head was unusually large, and his shock of white hair was unusually thick and ample.\" Datchery keeps an eye on John Jasper after the disappearance of Edwin Drood . The true identity of Datchery is one of the most contested points of the uncompleted mystery. It is widely believed that Datchery is one of the characters in the book in disguise, most likely candidates include Neville , Bazzard , Tartar , Helena , or even Edwin Drood himself. \nDawkins, Jack ( Oliver Twist ) Also known as the Artful Dodger , he is the most successful and interesting of Fagin's thieves. He shows Oliver the ropes of the pickpocket game and is later captured and sentenced to transportation. \nDedlock, Lady ( Bleak House ) Wife of Sir Leicester Dedlock and, unknown to her husband, mother of Esther Summerson . When Tulkinghorn , the family lawyer, learns the secret she runs away and is found dead by Esther at the gates of the cemetery in which Esther's father, Captain Hawdon, lies buried. \nDedlock, Sir Leicester ( Bleak House ) Husband of Lady Dedlock , owner of Chesney Wold, and guardian of the status quo. \nVolumnia Dedlock ( Bleak House ) Poor relation of Sir Leicester Dedlock . 'Rouged and necklaced' hanger-on at Chesney Wold. \nDefarge, Ernest ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Husband of Madame Defarge and keeper of a wine shop in Paris. He is a leader among the revolutionaries.\n\"This wine-shop keeper was a bull-necked, martial-looking man of thirty, and he should have been of a hot temperament, for, although it was a bitter day, he wore no coat, but carried one slung over his shoulder. His shirt-sleeves were rolled up, too, and his brown arms were bare to the elbows. Neither did he wear anything more on his head than his own crisply-curling short dark hair. He was a dark man altogether, with good eyes and a good bold breadth between them. Good-humoured looking on the whole, but implacable-looking, too; evidently a man of a strong resolution and a set purpose; a man not desirable to be met, rushing down a narrow pass with a gulf on either side, for nothing would turn the man.\" \nDefarge, Madame ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Wife of wine shop keeper, Ernest Defarge , and a leader among the revolutionaries. She harbors an intense hatred of Charles Darnay for atrocities committed against her family by the Evremonde family. Madame Defarge is killed in a struggle with Miss Pross in Paris.\n\"Madame Defarge was a stout woman of about his [Ernest Defarge's] own age, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, a large hand heavily ringed, a steady face, strong features, and great composure of manner. There was a character about Madame Defarge, from which one might have predicated that she did not often make mistakes against herself in any of the reckonings over which she presided. Madame Defarge being sensitive to cold, was wrapped in fur, and had a quantity of bright shawl twined about her head, though not to the concealment of her large earrings.\" \nDennis, Ned ( Barnaby Rudge ) Executioner at Tyburn, becomes involved in the Gordon Riots and is executed. \nDeputy (Winks) ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Boy hired by Durdles to throw stones at him when he is wandering drunk at night. \"Sometimes the stones hit him, and sometimes they miss him, but Durdles seems indifferent to either fortune. The hideous small boy, on the contrary, whenever he hits Durdles, blows a whistle of triumph through a jagged gap, convenient for the purpose, in the front of his mouth, where half his teeth are wanting; and whenever he misses him, yelps out 'Mulled agin!' and tries to atone for the failure by taking a more correct and vicious aim.\" Deputy resides at the Traveler's Twopenny. \nDick, Mr ( David Copperfield ) An eccentric lodger at Betsy Trotwood's and friend of David Copperfield . Real name: Richard Babley. \nDilber, Mrs ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's charwoman who sells his bed linen and curtains to Old Joe when Scrooge is shown shadows of the future by the Ghost of Christmas Future . \nDiver, Colonel ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Editor of the New York Rowdy Journal. Diver meets Mark and Martin onboard the Screwand directs them to Pawkins boarding house. \nDodson and Fogg ( Pickwick Papers ) Sharp dealing lawyers who dupe Mrs. Bardell into bringing a breach of promise to marry suit against Samuel Pickwick . \nDolls, Mr ( Our Mutual Friend ) Drunken father of Jenny Wren whom she refers to as her 'bad child'. \nDombey, Fanny ( Dombey and Son ) First wife of Paul Dombey and mother of Florence and Paul Jr. at who's birth she dies. \nDombey, Florence ( Dombey and Son ) Neglected daughter of Paul Dombey and sister of little Paul whom she nurses in his illness. She marries Walter Gay and is eventually reconciled with her father. \nDombey, Paul ( Dombey and Son ) Powerful head of the House of Dombey. He wants a son, and when a daughter ( Florence ) is born he despises her. His second child, a son ( Paul ), is weak and sickly and dies a child. Paul's first wife dies with the birth of Paul Jr and he remarries. His second wife, Edith Granger , does not love him and eventually runs away with Carker , a manager at the firm. With Carker gone, Paul is incapable of managing the business and it fails. Paul ends his days reconciled with his daughter and doting on his grandchildren, little Paul, but especially little Florence. \nDombey, Paul Jr. ( Dombey and Son ) The long hoped-for heir to the house of Dombey and Son. His mother dies at his birth leaving him a frail and sickly child. His father sends him to Brighton in the care of Mrs. Pipchin hoping the sea air will bolster his failing health. He then attends Dr. Blimber's school and his health continues to decline. Paul returns home to London and dies in the care of his sister, Florence , leaving the firm of Dombey and Son without an heir. Dickens modeled Paul (and also Tiny Tim ) on his sister Fanny's crippled son Henry Burnett Jr. \nDorrit, Amy ( Little Dorrit ) Daughter of William Dorrit , born in the Marshalsea debtor's prison. She works for Mrs Clennam and befriends Arthur . Her father inherits a fortune and they leave the prison and travel abroad. After her father's death she discovers that the fortune has been lost in a banking scam. She nurses Arthur in the Marshalsea when his fortune is lost in the same banking scam. The novel ends with the marriage of Arthur and Amy at St. Georges Church, next to the prison, the same church where she was christened. \nDorrit, Edward (Tip) ( Little Dorrit ) Ne'er do well brother of Amy Dorrit . \nDorrit, Fanny ( Little Dorrit ) Sister of Amy . A dancer with social aspirations, Fanny marries Edmund Sparkler , Step-son of Mr. Merdle . Fanny and Sparkler lose everything in the Merdle banking scam. \nDorrit, Frederick ( Little Dorrit ) Brother of William , Uncle of Fanny , Edward , and Amy . He plays clarionet in a small-time theatre. He is due an inheritance but the knowledge is kept from him by the intrigues of Mrs. Clennam . \nDorrit, William ( Little Dorrit ) Father of Amy (title character), Fanny , and Edward , and long-time inmate of the Marshalsea debtor's prison. He inherits an estate and leaves the prison, traveling in style with his daughters. After his death Amy learns that his fortune has been lost in the Merdle banking scam. \nDoyce, Daniel ( Little Dorrit ) Inventor of an unspecified mechanical wonder which he is unable to get a patent for in the Circumlocution Office. He partners with Arthur Clennam who loses the firm's money in the Merdle scandal. Doyce later sells the invention abroad and returns to liberate Arthur from the Marshalsea . \nDrood, Edwin ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) An orphan, Edwin has been promised to Rosa Bud since early childhood. Later Edwin and Rosa rebel against the arrangement. Rosa is also wooed by Edwin's uncle John Jasper . Edwin turns up missing and his watch is found in the river. Jasper hints suspicion of Neville Landless in the disappearance when the novel ends abruptly with the death of Dickens in 1870. \nDrummle, Bentley ( Great Expectations ) Pip's fellow student at Matthew Pocket's . He marries Estella for her money and abuses her. He is killed when kicked by a horse that he has mistreated. \nDuff ( Oliver Twist ) Bow Street Runner (London Policemen) who, along with Blathers , investigates the attempted robbery of the Maylie home. \nDurdles ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Drunken stonemason who engraves tombstones for Cloisterham Cathedral. John Jasper is interested in Durdles ability to tap on the tombs and discover their contents. Durdles hires Deputy to throw stones at him when he catches him wandering about drunk at night. \"No man is better known in Cloisterham. He is the chartered libertine of the place. Fame trumpets him a wonderful workman - which, for aught that anybody knows, he may be (as he never works); and a wonderful sot - which everybody knows he is.\" \nE\nEmily ( David Copperfield ) Mr. Peggotty's niece and David's childhood friend. She is later engaged to Ham but is lured away by the charms of David's friend Steerforth . Mr. Peggotty is heartbroken and searches for her, finally finding her when Steerforth tires of her and she leaves him. She later emigrates to Australia with her uncle, Mr. Peggotty . \nEndell, Martha ( David Copperfield ) Martha went to school with Emily and works with her at Omer's . She is disgraced in her hometown of Yarmouth and Emily gives her money to go to London where she becomes a prostitute. She later helps Mr. Peggotty find Emily and emigrates to Australia. \nEstella ( Great Expectations ) Adopted as a child by Miss Havisham who teaches her to break men's hearts as revenge for Compeyson having left Miss Havisham at the altar years before. Pip meets Estella at Satis House and falls in love with her but she is cruel to him. Pip goes to London and becomes a gentleman and continues to adore Estella but she warns him that she is incapable of love. She later marries Bentley Drummle who mistreats her and she leaves him. Drummle dies and Estella and Pip meet two years later and vow to remain together. Estella is the daughter of Magwitch and Jagger's maid Molly . \nF\nFagin ( Oliver Twist ) A crafty old Jew who runs a thieve's school near Field Lane in Saffron Hill. Oliver falls in with Fagin's band when he runs away from the undertaker, Sowerberry . When Fagin attempts to help Monks destroy Oliver's reputation he is arrested and executed at Newgate . Fagin was based on real-life Jewish fence (receiver of stolen property), Ikey Soloman (1758-1850). \nFan ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's sister, mother of his nephew Fred . She has died before the story begins but lives again in the 'shadows' shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Past . She is based on Dickens' own sister Fanny who died of consumption at age 38. \nFeeder, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Assistant to Dr Blimber at the school in Brighton where Paul Dombey Jr attends. Later marries Blimber's daughter Cornelia and takes over the management of the school. \nFern, Will ( The Chimes ) Country laborer who comes to London with his niece Lillian to look for work. He is arrested for vagrancy and branded a troublemaker. He and Lillian run into Trotty Veck in the street and Trotty takes them in for the night. Will and Lillian's presence help to spark Trotty's dream in which Will becomes a desperate arsonist and Lillian a prostitute. \nFezziwig ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge was apprenticed to 'Old Fezziwig' in his youth. Scrooge visits his old employer with the Ghost of Christmas Past and is reminded of what a kind, generous man he was. \nFielding, May ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Former lover of Edward Plummer , she is reunited with him after nearly marrying Tackleton at the urging of her mother, Mrs Fielding. \nFielding, Sir John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Blind half-brother of novelist Henry Fielding (Tom Jones). Magistrate at Bow Street. Dickens has him at the scene of the Gordon Riots when, in fact, Fielding was on his deathbed at the time of the riots. \nFiler ( The Chimes ) Friend of Alderman Cute , Filer makes Trotty feel guilty over his meager meal of tripe. \nFinching, Flora ( Little Dorrit ) Daughter of Casby and former sweetheart of Arthur Clennam who reappears 20 years later and \"grown to be very broad, and short of breath.\" Dickens modeled the character of Flora after his own early sweetheart, Maria Beadnell , who reappears later in Dickens life not quite the way he remembered her. \nFips, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Old Martin Chuzzlewit's agent who hires Tom Pinch to put his library in order. Mr Fips was \"small and spare, and looked peaceable, and wore black shorts and powder.\" \nFish, Mr. ( The Chimes ) Sir Joseph Bowley's confidential secretary. \nFladdock, General ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Introduced to Martin Chuzzlewit in America by the Norris family. While condemning the class system in Europe he is so outraged to be considered a fellow passenger to America with Martin, who made the trip in steerage, that \"he almost laid his hand upon his sword.\" \nFledgeby, \"Fascination\" ( Our Mutual Friend ) Moneylender who operates Pubsy & CO. Fledgeby employs the old Jewish man Riah as his front man. \nFleming, Agnes ( Oliver Twist ) Mother of Oliver , whom she has out of wedlock with Edwin Leeford . Agnes is also the sister of Rose Maylie . \nFlintwinch, Jeremiah ( Little Dorrit ) Mrs. Clennam's clerk to whom her son Arthur relinquishes his share of the family business. He intrigues with his twin brother Ephraim against Mrs Clennam. Husband of Affery . \nFlintwinch, Ephraim ( Little Dorrit ) Twin brother of Jeremiah with whom he intrigues against Mrs Clennam . \nFlintwinch, Affery ( Little Dorrit ) Wife of Mrs. Clennam's clerk who sees the evil doings of the house in dreams. \nFlite, Miss ( Bleak House ) A slightly mad old woman who is a regular attendant at the court of Chancery expecting to receive a favorable judgement in a case that no one is sure has ever existed. \nFlopson ( Great Expectations ) One of Mrs Pocket's maids (along with Millers ) who helps control the Pocket's 'tumbled up' children.\nFolair, Augustus (Tommy) ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Pantomimist in Crummles' troupe, jealous of the attention paid to Ninetta Crummles , the 'infant phenomenon', he believes the crowds would be better entertained by his specialty: the Highland Fling. \nFred ( A Christmas Carol ) Good hearted nephew of Ebenezer Scrooge , son of his sister Fan . \nG\nGabelle, Theophile ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Former servant of Charles Darnay who finds himself imprisoned by the revolutionaries in Paris. Gabelle writes to Darnay who comes to Paris to aid Gabelle. Darnay is then put in prison for his trouble. \nGamp, Sairey ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) A midwife, nurse, and \"layer out\" of the dead, although she is much more concerned with her own creature comforts than those of her patients. Habitually in liquor, she creates the imaginary Mrs Harris whose good opinion is used to promote Mrs Gamp's character. Sairey Gamp is one of Dickens most intriguing characters. Meet Mrs Gamp . \nGargery, Joe ( Great Expectations ) Blacksmith and friend to Pip , Joe is the husband of Pip's sister , who badly mistreats both Joe and Pip. After his wife's death Joe comes to London and nurses Pip through an illness. Later Joe marries Pip's friend Biddy .\nGargery, Mrs Joe ( Great Expectations ) Wife of Joe Gargery and sister of Pip who cruelly mistreats them both, frequently going \"on the rampage\" and employing \"the tickler\" to beat them with. She is beaten by Orlick and later dies. \nGarland, Abel ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Son of Mr and Mrs Garland and resembles Mr Garland in face and figure. Abel is apprenticed to the notary Mr Witherden . \nGarland, Mr and Mrs ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kindly plump couple, parents of Abel , who befriend and hire Kit . They, along with Mr Witherden and the Single Gentleman , are instrumental in clearing Kit of false charges made by Brass . \nGashford ( Barnaby Rudge ) Lord George Gordon's hypocritical secretary. He urges the rioters to exact revenge on Geoffrey Haredale , who had exposed his treacherous ways. He abandons Lord Gordon when the riots are suppressed by soldiers and becomes a government spy. He later poisons himself. \nGaspard ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Parisian peasant whose child is killed when hit by the carriage of the Marquis de St Evremonde . The grief-stricken Gaspard follows the Marquis to his country home and kills him in his bed. Gaspard is hung on a 40-foot gallows over the town fountain. \nGay, Walter ( Dombey and Son ) Sol Gill's nephew, he is employed in the house of Dombey and Son. Walter befriends Florence Dombey , her father is displeased and sends him to the firm's branch in Barbados. The ship in which he sails is lost and Sol goes to search for him. Walter returns and marries Florence . Mr. Dombey , after the failure of the house, goes to live with Walter and Florence . \nGeneral, Mrs ( Little Dorrit ) Matron hired as chaperone to \"varnish\" Amy and Fanny Dorrit . She admonishes the girls that reciting \"Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism\" is good for the lips. She has designs on William Dorrit but he dies before he can propose. \nGhost of Christmas Future ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge the demise of Tiny Tim and of himself, leading to Scrooge's reformation. \nGhost of Christmas Past ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge his lonely and difficult childhood and gradual decline into the miser he will become. \nGhost of Christmas Present ( A Christmas Carol ) Shows Scrooge the joy that Christmas brings, both at the poor household of the Cratchits and at the home of his nephew Fred . The ghost also introduces Scrooge to the children, Ignorance and Want. \nGills, Soloman ( Dombey and Son ) Uncle of Walter Gay and owner of a ship's chandler shop called \"The Wooden Midshipman\". When Walter's ship is lost at sea Solomon goes in search of him, leaving the care of the shop to his friend, Capt. Cuttle . \nGordon, Lord George ( Barnaby Rudge ) 1750-1793 Historical figure and leader of the Gordon (anti-Catholic) Riots (1780) \nGowan, Henry ( Little Dorrit ) Untalented artist who marries Pet Meagles against her parents wishes. Henry's snobbish mother feigns disappointment at her son's marrying beneath himself. Gowan had earlier jilted Miss Wade . \nGradgrind, Louisa ( Hard Times ) Oldest daughter of Thomas . She marries Bounderby , whom she doesn't love. She later leaves her husband and returns to her father. \nGradgrind, Thomas ( Hard Times ) A mill owner retired from business and father of Louisa and Tom . He runs a school and emphasizes the importance of facts and figures over fancy to his students and his children. By the end of the story he learns that facts and figures must be tempered by love and forbearance. \nGradgrind, Tom ( Hard Times ) Son of Thomas . He is employed at Bounderby's bank from whom he later steals, the blame is set on Stephen Blackpool . He later leaves the country with the aid of Sleary and his circus troupe. \nGraham, Mary ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Mary cares for old Martin Chuzzlewit with the knowledge that she will not profit from Martin's wealth after his death. Chuzzlewit's grandson, Martin , falls in love with Mary which displeases his grandfather who disinherits young Martin . Young Martin goes to America to seek his fortune. Finding only sickness and misery in America, Martin returns to England, is reconciled with his grandfather and marries Mary. \nGrainger ( David Copperfield ) Friend of Steerforth's who has dinner with David at his chambers at the Adelphi. \nGranger, Edith ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey's second wife is the widow of Colonel Granger and the daughter of Mrs Skewton. She marries Dombey but does not love him. She later elopes with Carker , a manager at Dombey's firm, to punish her husband.\nGrayper, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Neighbors of Clara Copperfield in Blunderstone. \nGrewgious ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Guardian of Rosa Bud . He is upset at John Jasper's advances to Rosa and finds her lodging in London at an apartment owned by Mrs Billickin . He later investigates the disappearance of Edwin Drood and is suspicious of Jasper . Described as \"an angular man with no conversational powers.\" \nGride, Arthur ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Old moneylender who develops a scheme, along with fellow usurer, Ralph Nickleby , to get Walter Bray's consent to give his daughter, Madeline's , hand for the forgiveness of debts to Gride and Ralph. Gride's plan is undone when Bray dies on the morning of the wedding and his old housekeeper, Peg Sliderskew , jealous of the young wife, steals documents that reveal his scheme. Gride is murdered by burglars before he can be prosecuted. \nGridley ( Bleak House ) Known as the 'Man from Shropshire' and another casualty of Chancery. \nGrimwig, Mr. ( Oliver Twist ) Cantankerous friend of Mr. Brownlow . Quote: \"I'll eat my head!\" \nGrueby, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) Loyal servant of Lord George Gordon who tries to isolate Gordon from the rioters when the protest turns to violence. \nGulpidge, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Guests at a dinner party given by the Waterbrooks . \nMrs. Gummidge ( David Copperfield ) Widow of Mr. Peggotty's former partner, who had died very poor. She lives with Mr. Peggotty and later emigrates to Australia with him. Quote: 'a lone lorn creetur' and everythink went contrary with her'. \nWilliam Guppy ( Bleak House ) Clerk for Kenge and Carboy. Proposes marriage to Esther Summerson which she refuses. Guppy is involved in the investigation of Lady Dedlock's secret. \nH\nHaggage, Dr ( Little Dorrit ) Doctor at the Marshalsea prison who delivers Amy Dorrit , described as 'amazingly shabby, in a torn and darned rough-weather sea-jacket, out at elbows and eminently short of buttons (he had been in his time the experienced surgeon carried by a passenger ship), the dirtiest white trousers conceivable by mortal man, carpet slippers, and no visible linen'. \nHandford, Julius ( Our Mutual Friend ) Alias taken by John Harmon in order to investigate his own supposed drowning. \nHaredale, Emma ( Barnaby Rudge ) Daughter of the murdered Reuben and niece of Geoffrey . She eventually marries Edward Chester \nHaredale, Geoffrey ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of the murdered Reuben and uncle of Emma . Suspected of being responsible for the murder of his brother, he spends his life in pursuit of the real killer. A Catholic, his house is burned in the Gordon Riots. He fights a duel with Sir John Chester , kills him, and leaves the country. \nHaredale, Reuben ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of Geoffrey , father of Emma . Murdered before the story begins. \nHarmon, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Son of a wealthy dust contractor and heir to his fortune if he agrees to marry Bella Wilfer . He is away from England when his father dies and on the way home he is supposed drowned in a case of mistaken identity. With his supposed death the dust fortune goes to Boffin . John gets himself hired into the Boffin home as secretary John Rokesmith . Here he meets Bella and, with the help of the Boffins , wins her love as Rokesmith , and marries her. He later reveals his true identity and regains his fortune. \nHarris, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Imaginary friend of Sairey Gamp who uses Mrs Harris's invented quotes to establish Mrs Gamp's good reputation. \nHarthouse, James ( Hard Times ) A Parliamentary candidate visiting Coketown, he befriends Tom Gradgrind in an attempt to seduce his sister, Louisa , who is in an unhappy marriage to Bounderby . As a result of the attempted seduction Louisa runs home to her father and refuses to return to Bounderby and is later disowned by him. \nHavisham, Miss ( Great Expectations ) A very rich and grim old woman who lives in seclusion at Satis House. She is the guardian of Estella whom she teaches to break men's hearts to avenge her own being left at the altar by Compeyson years before. She continues to wear her wedding dress and her room contains the yellowing remnants of the wedding day including the mouldy wedding cake. Pip goes to Miss Havisham's to play and meets Estella . Pip believes Miss Havisham is his secret benefactor as he goes to London and becomes a gentleman, finding out later that the convict Magwitch has supplied his \"Expectations\". Miss Havisham dies when her house burns down and leaves her fortune to Estella . \nHavisham, Arthur ( Great Expectations ) Miss Havisham's drunken brother who plots with Compeyson to gain his sister's fortune.\nHawk, Sir Mulberry ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Business associate of Ralph Nickleby . Makes advances to Kate Nickleby and is thrashed by Nicholas . When his revenge is opposed by Lord Verisopht they duel and Verisopht is killed. Hawk flees to France. \nHeadstone, Bradley ( Our Mutual Friend ) A school teacher and master of the boys department of a school on the borders of Kent and Surrey. Charlie Hexam becomes Headstone's pupil and Bradley becomes obsessed with Charley's sister Lizzie . Lizzie wants nothing to do with him and he becomes jealous of Eugene Wrayburn who also has eyes for Lizzie . He attempts to murder Wrayburn and believes he has been successful. Rogue Riderhood discovers the supposed murder and attempts to blackmail Headstone. In a later confrontation, Riderhood and Headstone are both drowned. \nHeathfield, Alfred ( The Battle of Life ) Ward of Dr. Jeddler who loves the doctor's youngest daughter, Marion . Marion runs away that her sister, Grace , may marry Alfred. Alfred becomes a doctor for the poor. \nHeep, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Widowed mother of Uriah Heep , \"dead image of Uriah, only short.\" She is as \"umble\" as her son, whom she dotes on. \nHeep, Uriah ( David Copperfield ) A hypocritical clerk of Mr. Wickfield's who is continually citing his humbleness. He deviously plots to ruin Wickfield but is later undone by Mr. Micawber . On their first meeting, David describes him as \"a red-haired person - a youth of fifteen, as I take it now, but looking much older - whose hair was cropped as close as the closest stubble; who had hardly any eyebrows, and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep. He was high-shouldered and bony; dressed in decent black, with a white wisp of a neckcloth; buttoned up to the throat; and had a long, lank, skeleton hand, which particularly attracted my attention, as he stood at the pony's head, rubbing his chin with it, and looking up at us in the chaise. He had a way of writhing when he wanted to express enthusiasm, which was very ugly\" Uriah Heep, wonderfully hideous, is one of Dickens' greatest triumphs in character creation. His description of Heep's writhing and scheming, and his cold, clammy nature, makes one's skin crawl. \nHexam, Charlie ( Our Mutual Friend ) Son of Gaffer and brother to Lizzie . Charlie is educated by Bradley Headstone and supports Headstone's advances toward his sister. When Lizzie refuses to marry Headstone Charlie rejects her. \nHexam, Gaffer ( Our Mutual Friend ) Waterman, father of Lizzie and Charlie , who plies the Thames looking for dead bodies. He finds a body thought to be John Harmon , the central character in the story. \nHexam, Lizzie ( Our Mutual Friend ) Daughter of waterman Gaffer Hexam and sister of Charlie . She is opposed to her father's business of combing the Thames looking for drowned bodies but is true to him. When her father drowns she goes to live with Jenny Wren . Lizzie rejects the advances of schoolmaster Bradley Headstone and opposes the attention of Eugene Wrayburn , although she loves him, because they come from different classes of society. She runs away from London to a mill up the river. Wrayburn succeeds in finding her and is followed by Headstone who attempts to murder Wrayburn . Lizzie rescues Wrayburn and later marries him. \nHigden, Betty ( Our Mutual Friend ) Old woman who operates a 'minding school', for orphans and other children. She is adamant about earning her keep and staying away from the workhouse. When an orphan in her keep dies she hits the road and earns a living doing needlework. She dies in the arms of Lizzie Hexam who promises not to take her to the workhouse. Dickens uses the character to illustrate the horror many of the truly needy had of the workhouse system. \nHominy, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Conceited American literary lady Martin is forced to accompany on the first leg of the trip to Eden. \nHoneythunder, Luke ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Loud, overbearing philanthropist and guardian of Neville and Helena Landless .\nHortense ( Bleak House ) Lady Dedlock's French maid. She is dismissed in favor of Rosa and aids lawyer Tulkinghorn in discovering Lady Dedlock's secret. When Tulkinghorn spurns her she murders him. Hortense is based on Mrs Manning , a murderer whose execution Dickens witnessed in 1849. \nHubbles, Mr and Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Friends of the Gargerys, Mr Hubble is the village wheelwright. \nHugh ( Barnaby Rudge ) Hostler at the Maypole. Joins the rioters in London and is later hanged. Revealed to be the son of Sir John Chester . \nI\nJ\nJacques ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Name taken by Ernest Defarge and his fellow revolutionaries. From the word jacquerie meaning a peasant uprising. \nJaggers ( Great Expectations ) Lawyer who serves Miss Havisham and Magwitch . It is through Jaggers that Pip receives the benefits of the great expectations that he assumes are from Miss Havisham . Pip later discovers the convict Magwitch has been his benefactor. \nJanet ( David Copperfield ) Betsy Trotwood's maid. \"a pretty blooming girl of about nineteen or twenty.\" She later marries a tavern keeper. \nMrs Jarley ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Proprietor of a traveling waxwork who employs Nell and her grandfather . When the grandfather schemes to steal from Mrs Jarley, in order to support a gambling habit, Nell persuades him that they should take to the road again. \nJarndyce, John ( Bleak House ) Owner of Bleak House and party in the Chancery suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. He adopts Esther Summerson who becomes close friends with John's cousins, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone . John hates the lawsuit which has gone on for so long with no end in sight. Richard , however, becomes consumed with the case hoping it will make him his fortune. This obsession causes Carstone and Jarndyce to suffer a falling out. Jarndyce falls in love with Esther and proposes marriage, she accepts out of respect for him. Jarndyce later finds that Esther is in love with Woodcourt and releases her from their engagement.\nJasper, John ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Uncle of Edwin Drood who has an opium habit. He cares for his nephew but harbors secret feelings for Edwin's fiancee Rosa Bud . Edwin disappears and the story ends prematurely with Dickens death but many believe that it was Jasper who killed Edwin Drood . Dickens describes Jasper as \"a dark man of some six-and-twenty, with thick, lustrous, well-arranged black hair and whiskers. He looks older than he is, as dark men often do. His voice is deep and good, his face and figure are good, his manner is a little sombre. His room is a little sombre, and may have had its influence in forming his manner.\" \nJeddler, Dr. Anthony ( The Battle of Life ) Country doctor whose view of life is altered by the sacrifices made by his youngest daughter, Marion , for her sister, Grace . \nJeddler, Grace ( The Battle of Life ) Older daughter of Dr. Jeddler . She is the recipient of the sacrifice of her younger sister Marion , who runs away that Grace may marry her beau Alfred Heathfield . \nJeddler, Marion ( The Battle of Life ) Younger daughter of Dr. Jeddler . She runs away to live with her Aunt Martha that her sister Grace may marry Alfred Heathfield . \nJeddler, Martha ( The Battle of Life ) Maiden sister of Dr. Jeddler . The doctor's younger daughter, Marion , runs away and secretly lives with Martha. \nJellyby ( Bleak House ) Mrs. Jellyby is involved in many causes and charities but neglects her large family. Her eldest daughter, Caddy , marries Prince Turveydrop , the dance instructor. Dickens modeled Mrs Jellyby on Caroline Chisholm. \nJellyby, Caroline (Caddy) ( Bleak House ) Neglected daughter of Mrs Jellyby and her personal secretary (\"I'm pen and ink to ma\"). Caddy leaves home and marries Prince Turveydrop . \nJenny ( Bleak House ) Brickmaker's wife, befriended by Esther Summerson after Jenny's child dies. Later exchanges coats with Lady Dedlock , throwing Bucket off in his pursuit of Lady Dedlock as she flees following the revealing of her secret. \nJingle, Alfred ( Pickwick Papers ) A wandering rascal who befriends Mr. Pickwick and accompanies the group to the Wardle home at Dingley Dell. He entices Miss Rachel to elope with him and is run down and bought off by Rachel's brother. Pickwick later finds a penitent Jingle in the Fleet Prison, pays his debt, and sends him and his servant, Job Trotter , off to Demerara, an area of Guyana, to turn over a new leaf. \nJiniwin, Mrs ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Mother of Betsy Quilp and mother-in-law to Daniel Quilp . Mrs Jiniwin makes feigned attempts to defy Quilp but is terrified of him. \nJinkins, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Oldest boarder at Todger's Boarding House. A fish-salesman and book-keeper aged forty. \nJo ( Bleak House ) The crossing sweeper. When Jo shows Lady Dedlock the haunts of Captain Hawdon, lawyer Tulkinghorn has Jo kept moving from place to place. He befriends Esther Summerson at Bleak House and communicates smallpox to Charlie, and then Esther . Jo later dies at the shooting gallery of George Rouncewell. \nJoe (The Fat Boy) ( Pickwick Papers ) Servant of Mr. Wardle , has an amazing ability to fall asleep anytime, unless he's eating.\n \nJobling, Dr. ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Medical officer for the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. Dr Jobling takes the company's money but distances himself from its Board. \nJobling, Tony (Weevle) ( Bleak House ) Friend of Guppy who takes Nemo's room at Krook's after Nemo's death. Jobling and Guppy discover the spectacular death of Krook and are temporary celebrities, drinking for free at the Sol's Arms. \nJoe, Old ( A Christmas Carol ) Fence who buys Scrooge's bed linen from Mrs Dilber when Scrooge is shown the future by the Ghost of Christmas Future . \nJorkins ( David Copperfield ) Partner to Mr Spenlow who plays the heavy in the business. \"a mild man of a heavy temperament, whose place in the business was to keep himself in the background, and be constantly exhibited by name as the most obdurate and ruthless of men.\" \nJupe, Sissy ( Hard Times ) Daughter of Signor Jupe, a clown in Sleary's circus, who is deserted by her father and taken in by Gradgrind where she befriends Louisa . \nK\nKedgick, Captain ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlord of the National Hotel where Mark and Martin stay on their way to and from Eden.\nKenge ( Bleak House ) Solicitor for John Jarndyce in the firm Kenge and Carboy. Known as 'Conversation Kenge'. \nKenwigs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Neighbors of Newman Noggs . Nicholas tutors their three daughters. Mrs Kenwigs' uncle, Mr Lillyvick , is a well-to-do collector of water rates and the family hopes to eventually profit from this relation. Their expectations are dashed when Lillyvick marries actress Henrietta Petowker and are revived when she runs away with a retired navy captain. \nKidgerbury, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Maid (at intervals) to David and Dora Copperfield, and the \"oldest inhabitant of Kentish Town.\" \nKrook ( Bleak House ) Drunken and illiterate proprietor of a rag and bottle shop. Known as the 'Lord Chancellor', Krook collects court documents. A will, instrumental in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case, is found among his holdings by Mr Smallweed who inherits Krook's possessions after his demise by spontaneous combustion. Krook is Mrs Smallweed's brother. \nL\nMiss La Creevy ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Miniature painter in the Strand. The Nickleby's lease lodging from her briefly and she becomes their faithful friend. In the end she marries the Cheeryble Brothers old clerk, Tim Linkinwater . \nLammle, Alfred and Sophronia ( Our Mutual Friend ) Society couple who marry, each thinking that the other has money only to find after marriage that both are broke. They are frustrated in a scheme to worm their way into the Boffin fortune and leave England to escape debts. \nLandless, Helena ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Twin sister of Neville who, as the story ends prematurely, is falling in love with Canon Chrisparkle . \nLandless, Neville ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Twin brother of Helena . He and his sister are brought to Cloisterham by their guardian, Mr. Honeythunder . Neville is attracted to Rosa Bud and, being set up by Jasper , quarrels with Edwin Drood . After Drood's disappearance Jasper cast blame on Neville who has no alibi and flees to London with his sister. \nLangdale ( Barnaby Rudge ) Kindly vintner and distiller in Holborn based on an historical figure. The Catholic Langdale shelters Geoffrey Haredale from the rioters. His home and warehouse are burned in the riots, his stores of spirits are consumed by the mob. \nLarkins, Miss ( David Copperfield ) Early love of David Copperfield , \"a tall, dark, black-eyed, fine figure of a woman.\" She later marries an officer in the Army. \nLeeford, Edward aka Monks ( Oliver Twist ) Villainous son of Edwin and half-brother of Oliver Twist who plots with Fagin to corrupt Oliver , in which case Leeford will inherit all of their father's property. After the plan is foiled Leeford is forced to emigrate to America where he dies in prison. \nLeeford, Edwin ( Oliver Twist ) Father of Oliver, whom he has fathered out of wedlock with Agnes Fleming . Also father of Edward (Monks) from a previous marriage. Edwin has died before the story begins. \nLenville, Thomas ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Member of Crummles' traveling stage troupe: \"a dark-complexioned man, inclining indeed to sallow, with long thick black hair, and very evident inclinations (although he was close shaved) of a stiff beard, and whiskers of the same deep shade. His age did not appear to exceed thirty, though many at first sight would have considered him much older, as his face was long, and very pale, from the constant application of stage paint.\" \nLewsome ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Medical man and old schoolmate of John Westlock . Westlock hires Mrs Gamp to nurse Lewsome through a serious illness. Lewsome has provided poison to Jonas Chuzzlewit who intends using it to kill his father, Anthony . His later confession helps lead to Jonas' arrest. \nLightwood, Mortimer ( Our Mutual Friend ) A lawyer too lazy to take on much work and friend of Eugene Wrayburn . His only client is the Boffins , which puts him in the middle of much of the story. \nLillian ( The Chimes ) Orphaned nine-year-old niece of Will Fern . \nLillyvick, Mr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Collector of water rates and uncle of Mrs Kenwigs . He secretly marries Henrietta Petowker in Portsmouth, much to the dismay of the Kenwigs, who had hoped to inherit his money. The Kenwigs expectations are renewed when Henrietta runs off with a half-pay (retired) captain. \nLinkinwater, Tim ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Faithful clerk to the Cheeryble Brothers and friend of the Nicklebys. He marries Miss La Creevy. \nLittimer ( David Copperfield ) Manservant to Steerforth , involved in the concealment of the elopement of Steerforth and Emily . He is later guilty of embezzlement and is captured with the help of Miss Mowcher . David says of him \"I believe there never existed in his station a more respectable-looking man. He was taciturn, soft-footed, very quiet in his manner, deferential, observant, always at hand when wanted, and never near when not wanted; but his great claim to consideration was his respectability.\" \nLongford, Edmund ( The Haunted Man ) Ailing student at the university where Redlaw teaches chemistry. He is adversely effected by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows and is later restored by his old nurse, Milly Swidger . \nLorry, Jarvis ( A Tale of Two Cities ) An agent for Tellson's bank, Mr. Lorry is instrumental in bringing Dr. Manette , who is imprisoned in Paris, back to England. He returns to Paris to look after the bank's interest after the Revolution starts and while there helps Lucie and Charles Darnay , bringing them back to England after Sydney Carton sacrifices his life to save Darnay .\nDickens decribes Mr. Lorry: \"Very orderly and methodical he looked, with a hand on each knee, and a loud watch ticking a sonorous sermon under his flapped waist-coat, as though it pitted its gravity and longevity against the levity and evanescence of the brisk fire. He had a good leg, and was a little vain of it, for his brown stockings fitted sleek and close, and were of a fine texture; his shoes and buckles, too, though plain, were trim. He wore an odd little sleek crisp flaxen wig, setting very close to his head: which wig, it is to be presumed, was made of hair, but which looked far more as though it were spun from filaments of silk or glass. His linen, though not of a fineness in accordance with his stockings, was as white as the tops of the waves that broke upon the neighbouring beach, or the specks of sail that glinted in the sunlight far at sea. A face habitually suppressed and quieted, was still lighted up under the quaint wig by a pair of moist bright eyes that it must have cost their owner, in years gone by, some pains to drill to the composed and reserved expression of Tellson's Bank. He had a healthy colour in his cheeks, and his face, though lined, bore few traces of anxiety. But, perhaps the confidential bachelor clerks in Tellson's Bank were principally occupied with the cares of other people; and perhaps second-hand cares, like second-hand clothes, come easily off and on.\"\nLosberne, Dr. ( Oliver Twist ) Impetuous doctor who treats Oliver and Rose in illness. A friend of the Maylie family. \nLowten ( Pickwick Papers ) Clerk to the solicitor Perker . Spends evenings with other law clerks at the Magpie and Stump. \nLupin, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlady of the Blue Dragon Inn. Eventually marries Mark Tapley . \nM\nMacStinger, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Captain Cuttle's widowed landlady at Brig Place. The Captain is terrified of her and is constantly trying to avoid her. She eventually coerces the Captain's friend, Jack Bunsby , into marriage. \nMaggy ( Little Dorrit ) Mentally retarded granddaughter of Mrs Bangham and faithful friend of Amy Dorrit . \"She was about eight-and-twenty, with large bones , large features, large feet and hands, large eyes and no hair.\" \nMagnus, Peter ( Pickwick Papers ) Samuel Pickwick's fellow traveler to Ipswich where Magnus plans to propose to Miss Witherfield , the lady in yellow curl papers . \nMagwitch, Abel ( Great Expectations ) A convict whom Pip helps in the marshes after his escape from the prison ship. He is recaptured and transported to Australia where he gains a fortune which he secretly uses to increase Pip's \"expectations\". He secretly returns to England as Provis and confronts Pip with the secret source of his good fortune. Magwitch is recaptured and dies before he can be executed. Magwitch is also the father of Estella . \nMaldon, Jack ( David Copperfield ) Cousin of Annie Strong with whom he is suspected of having an affair. \nManette, Dr. Alexandre ( A Tale of Two Cities ) A prisoner in the Bastille in Paris for eighteen years. He is released and accompanies his daughter, Lucie , and Jarvis Lorry to England. He returns to Paris after the outbreak of the revolution and, as a former prisoner, is able to secure Darnay's release from the revolutionaries. However, a statement written during Manette's long incarceration in the Bastille is later discovered and incriminates Darnay's family. Darnay is again imprisoned and later escapes when Sydney Carton takes his place. \nManette, Lucie ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Daughter of Dr. Manette . She is taken to Paris by Jarvis Lorry when her father is released from prison. She marries Charles Darnay but is adored from afar by Sydney Carton , who feels unworthy of her. When Darnay is imprisoned in Paris by the revolutionaries Carton helps him escape, taking Darnay's place due to their resemblance. As Darnay and Lucie escape to England, Carton makes the supreme sacrifice. \nMann, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Matron of a workhouse farm where Oliver is raised to age 9. \nMantalini, Madame ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Dressmaker in Cavandish Square, she hires Kate Nickleby as a favor to her uncle Ralph , to whom she owes money. Her shiftless husband, Alfred , borrows heavily from Ralph and eventually bankrupts his wife's business.\nMantalini, Alfred ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Husband of Madame Mantalini . A shiftless idler who lives by flattering his older wife until he has gone through all of her money. Ends up working for a laundress who has bailed him out of debtor's prison. \nThe Marchioness ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Dick Swiveller's nickname for the little servant kept locked below stairs by the Brasses . Swiveller later marries her. \nMarkleham, Mrs. ( David Copperfield ) Mother of Annie Strong . Also known as The Old Soldier. \nMarkham ( David Copperfield ) Friend of Steerforth's who has dinner with David at his chambers at the Adelphi. \nMarley, Jacob ( A Christmas Carol ) Scrooge's former partner, who died seven Christmas Eves ago. Jacob, in life, was a penny-pinching miser like Scrooge and is suffering for it in the afterlife. His ghost comes to haunt Scrooge , hoping to change Scrooge's life and therefore avoid Marley's fate. \nMarton, Mr ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kindly schoolmaster who befriends Nell and her grandfather . He meets up with them again at the end of their journey and obtains a situation for them in the village church where he has been appointed clerk. \nMary ( Pickwick Papers ) Pretty housemaid of Nupkins, mayor of Ipswich, whom Samuel Weller pursues throughout the novel. Later Arabella Allen's maid and finally hired as housemaid by Samuel Pickwick . She marries Weller at the end of the novel. \nMary Anne ( David Copperfield ) Incompetent maid to David and Dora Copperfield. \nMaylie, Mrs. ( Oliver Twist ) Mother of Harry and the adopted mother of Rose . \nMaylie, Harry ( Oliver Twist ) Son of Mrs. Maylie , he marries Rose . \nMaylie, Rose ( Oliver Twist ) A poor girl adopted by Mrs. Maylie , she and Mr. Brownlow endeavor to help Oliver through Nancy . When Nancy's conversation with Rose on London Bridge is overheard by Claypole, Nancy is murdered by Sikes . She later marries Harry . \nM'Choakumchild ( Hard Times ) Schoolmaster in Gradgrind's school where fancy and imagination are discouraged in favor of hard facts. \nMeagles, Mr. and Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Kindhearted retired banker Mr. Meagles, his wife and daughter, Pet, befriend Arthur Clennam , Amy Dorrit , and Daniel Doyce . The Meagles adopt Tattycoram from the Foundling Hospital. \nMeg (Margaret) ( The Chimes ) Daughter of poor ticket porter Trotty Veck . Marries Richard on New Year's Day. \nMell, Charles ( David Copperfield ) Assistant schoolmaster at Salem House Academy attended by David Copperfield . David befriends Mell and finds that Mell's mother lives in an almshouse which he innocently tells Steerforth . Steerforth uses this information to discredit Mell and have him dismissed. Mell later emigrates to Australia and becomes headmaster at Colonial Salem House Grammar School in Port Middlebay. \nMerdle, Mr. and Mrs. ( Little Dorrit ) Mr. Merdle is an unscrupulous banker. Investing in his enterprises ruins the Dorrits , Arthur Clennam , and others. Merdle commits suicide when his fraud is uncovered. Mrs. Merdle is the mother of Edmund Sparkler by a previous marriage. \nMicawber, Wilkins ( David Copperfield ) Enters the story when David takes lodging at his home. Continually in debt and looking for \"something to turn up\" he ends up in debtor's prison. On his release he rambles through the story in various occupations eventually employed at Mr. Wickfield's office where he exposes the dastardly deeds of Uriah Heep . In gratitude for this his debts are paid and he emigrates to Australia, where he prospers. David describes him as \"a stoutish, middle-aged person, in a brown surtout and black tights and shoes, with no more hair upon his head (which was a large one, and very shining) than there is upon an egg, and with a very extensive face. His clothes were shabby, but he had an imposing shirt-collar on. He carried a jaunty sort of a stick, with a large pair of rusty tassels to it; and a quizzing-glass hung outside his coat, - for ornament, I afterwards found, as he very seldom looked through it, and couldn't see anything when he did.\" The character is drawn heavily on Dickens' father .\nMicawber, Emma ( David Copperfield ) Long suffering wife of Mr. Micawber whom she swears she will never leave despite his financial difficulties. David describes her as \"a thin and faded lady, not at all young, with a baby at her breast. This baby was one of twins; and I may remark here that I hardly ever, in all my experience of the family, saw both the twins detached from Mrs. Micawber at the same time. One of them was always taking refreshment.\" \nMiggs ( Barnaby Rudge ) Maid in the Varden household. Comically allies with Martha Varden against her husband. Miggs aids the rioters when they attempt to capture Gabriel . She is discharged after the riots and becomes a jailor in a woman's prison. \nMillers ( Great Expectations ) One of Mrs Pocket's maids (along with Flopson ) who helps control the Pocket's 'tumbled up' children.\nMilvey, Reverend Frank ( Our Mutual Friend ) Reverend who assists the Boffins in the adoption of Johnny. Reverend Milvey also conducts the funeral of Betty Higden and the marriage of Eugene Wrayburn and Lizzie Hexam . Rev. Frank's wife is Margaretta.\nMills, Julia ( David Copperfield ) Friend and confidant of Dora Spenlow and David's go-between during his courtship with Dora. She later goes to live in India. \nMills, Mr. ( David Copperfield ) Father of Julia . When David visits Dora at the Mills' home he must wait for Mr. Mills to go out, which he takes his good time doing, much to David's annoyance. \nMolly ( Great Expectations ) Jagger's maid whom he had successfully defended in a murder trial. Jaggers gives her little girl ( Estella ) to Miss Havisham to raise. \nMorfin, Mr ( Dombey and Son ) Assistant manager at Dombey and Son. Morfin aids John Carker when he overhears John's mistreatment at the hands of his brother James . Morfin later marries Harriet Carker . \nMould ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Undertaker who arranges the funeral of Anthony Chuzzlewit and recommends Mrs Gamp . Mr Mould has \"a face in which a queer attempt at melancholy was at odds with a smirk of satisfaction.\" \nMiss Mowcher ( David Copperfield ) Dwarf hairdresser and manicurist of Steerforth . David , expecting to meet Miss Mowcher for the first time reports: \"I looked at the doorway and saw nothing. I was still looking at the doorway, thinking that Miss Mowcher was a long while making her appearance, when, to my infinite astonishment, there came waddling round a sofa which stood between me and it, a pursy dwarf, of about forty or forty-five, with a very large head and face, a pair of roguish grey eyes, and such extremely little arms, that, to enable herself to lay a finger archly against her snub nose, as she ogled Steerforth, she was obliged to meet the finger half-way, and lay her nose against it. Her chin, which was what is called a double chin, was so fat that it entirely swallowed up the strings of her bonnet, bow and all.\" See sidebar on Copperfield page . \nMr. F's Aunt ( Little Dorrit ) Companion to Flora Finching (Aunt to her late husband) and one of the funniest characters in Dickens. Dickens describes her as \"an amazing little old woman, with a face like a staring wooden doll too cheap for expression, and a stiff yellow wig perched unevenly on the top of her head, as if the child who owned the doll had driven a tack through it anywhere, so that it only got fastened on.\" She has an amazing capacity for uttering totally non-sensible barbs which \"being totally uncalled for by anything said by anybody, and traceable to no association of ideas, confounded and terrified the mind.\"\nMurdstone, Edward ( David Copperfield ) Second husband of Clara Copperfield whom David dislikes. He is a stern disciplinarian and sends David off to Salem House School and later consigns him to the warehouse of Murdstone and Grinby. \nMurdstone, Jane ( David Copperfield ) Sister of Edward Murdstone who moves in with David and his mother after her marriage to Murdstone . David describes her as \"a gloomy-looking lady she was; dark, like her brother, whom she greatly resembled in face and voice; and with very heavy eyebrows, nearly meeting over her large nose. She kept the purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite. I had never, at that time, seen such a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was.\" She surfaces again in the novel as the \"confidential friend\" of Dora Spenlow . \nN\nNadgett ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Private investigator hired by Tigg Montigue to provide information on the customers of the fraudulent life assurance company. Nadgett exposes Jonas Chuzzlewit as Montigue's murderer. Nadgett is also landlord of Tom and Ruth Pinch in Islington. \nNancy ( Oliver Twist ) Prostitute and member of Fagin's band of thieves. Befriends Oliver and is eventually murdered by Sikes trying to help Oliver escape Fagin's clutches. \nNative, The ( Dombey and Son ) Indian servant of Major Joe Bagstock . \nNeckett ( Bleak House ) Sheriff's officer who arrests debtors and delivers them to Coavin's sponging house (temporary debtor's prison) thus Skimpole gives Neckett the nickname \"Coavinses\". Neckett dies leaving three orphans: Charlotte (Charley) , Emma, and Tom. Charley becomes Esther Summerson's maid. \nCharlotte (Charley) Neckett ( Bleak House ) Daughter of sheriff's officer Neckett . When her father dies Charley cares for her two younger siblings: Emma and Tom. Charley becomes Esther Summerson's maid, nursing Esther through smallpox. She later marries a miller. \nNell's Grandfather ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Owner of the Old Curiosity Shop. He has a secret gambling habit, hoping to make a fortune for his granddaughter. He borrows money to gamble from Quilp , when he cannot pay he takes Nell and escapes London to the country. When Nell dies he is heartbroken and dies soon after. \nNemo ( Bleak House ) Alias of Capt. Hawdon (Nemo is Latin for nobody). Nemo is doing some law copying for Snagsby and is a boarder in Krook's rag and bottle shop when he dies of an opium overdose. He is later found to be the former lover of Lady Dedlock and the father of Esther Summerson . \nNewcome, Clemency ( The Battle of Life ) Lovable, awkward, and clumsy servant of Dr. Jeddler . She later marries Benjamin Britain and together they run the comfortable Nutmeg-Grater and Thimble Inn. \nMrs. Nickleby ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Mother of Nicholas and Kate . Absent-minded and self-absorbed, she continues to \"put on airs\" even in the reduced situation of her family after the financial ruin and death of her husband. The character is heavily drawn from Dickens' mother. \nNickleby, Kate ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Sister of Nicholas . She is placed by her uncle, Ralph Nickleby , with Madame Mantalini . Kate becomes the object of the undesirable attentions of some of the evil-minded clients of her uncle, who is using her to his advantage. She is rescued by Nicholas with the help of Newman Noggs . Later she marries Frank Cheeryble . \nNickleby, Nicholas ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Brother to Kate and nephew of Ralph . Hoping to provide support for his mother and sister after the death of his father, he turns to his uncle Ralph for assistance. Ralph wants nothing to do with his late brother's family and feigns to help Nicholas by securing a position as assistant master at the Dotheboys Hall school, run by unscrupulous Wackford Squeers . Nicholas soon becomes disgusted with Squeer's treatment of his pupils and leaves, giving Squeers a sound thrashing and liberating Smike , whom Squeers has mistreated for years. Nicholas and Smike move in with Newman Noggs in London and then travel to Portsmouth where they take up acting in Crummles stage company. On hearing of the mistreatment of his sister at the hands of his uncle, Nicholas, with Smike , returns to London. Nicholas secures employment with the philanthropic Cheeryble brothers and later marries Madeline Bray whom he has helped rescue from the evil designs of Ralph and Arthur Gride .\nNicholas seems to have a bit more pluck than many of Dickens young heroes and in the preface to the 1848 Cheap Edition ofNicholas Nickleby Dickens writes \"If Nicholas be not always found to be blameless or agreeable, he is not always intended to appear so. He is a young man of an impetuous temper and of little or no experience; and I saw no reason why such a hero should be lifted out of nature.\" \nNickleby, Ralph ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Uncle to Nicholas and Kate (and later we find, father of Smike ). A rich and miserly moneylender who feigns to help his late brother's family but, in reality, tries to humiliate Nicholas and use Kate to his own advantage. His evil plans and schemes prove his ultimate undoing and he eventually hangs himself. \nNipper, Susan ( Dombey and Son ) Florence Dombey's maid who is discharged when she confronts Paul Dombey about his treatment of Florence. She later marries Toots . Dickens describes Susan as \"a short, brown womanly girl, with a little snub nose, and black eyes like jet beads.\" \nNoggs, Newman ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Once a well-to-do gentleman but he squanders his money and is reduced to serving Ralph Nickleby as clerk. He befriends Nicholas and eventually helps him defeat the designs of Ralph . \nNorris family ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) New York friends of Mr Bevan whom he introduces to Martin . Their initial warm welcome cools when they discover he made the trip to America in steerage. \nNubbles, Kit ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Kit is shop boy at the Curiosity Shop owned by Nell's grandfather and is devoted to Nell . Kit lives at home with his widowed mother, his brother Jacob, and baby brother. Kit is later hired by the Garlands and is wrongly charged with theft by Brass . At the end of the novel we find Kit has married Barbara . \nO\nOmer, Mr ( David Copperfield ) Undertaker in Yarmouth who arranges the funeral of Clara Copperfield . \"a fat, short-winded, merry-looking, little old man in black, with rusty little bunches of ribbons at the knees of his breeches, black stockings, and a broad-brimmer hat\" His daughter Minnie marries the shop foreman, Joram, who later inherits the business. Emily and Martha Endell work for Mr. Omer. \nOrlick, Dolge ( Great Expectations ) Joe Gargary's journeyman blacksmith, he quarrels with Mrs. Joe and later attacks her, leaving her with injuries of which she later dies. He falls in with Compeyson and tries to murder Pip . \nP\nPancks ( Little Dorrit ) Clerk and rent collector for Mr. Casby. He assists in finding William Dorrit's fortune. Dickens employs the metaphor of Pancks as a tugboat guiding Casby's \"ship.\" Pancks moves tugboat style \"with a puff and a snort.\" \nParkes, Phil ( Barnaby Rudge ) Friend of John Willet at the Maypole Inn. \nPawkins, Major and Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Proprietors of a New York boarding house where Martin and Mark stay. The Major is typical of the scoundrels they meet in America. \nPecksniff, Charity (Cherry) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Seth Pecksniff's older daughter and sister of Mercy . Haughty and ill-tempered, without her younger sister's playful nature. She is infuriated when passed over for marriage by Jonas Chuzzlewith who chooses her sister. She later promises herself to Mr Moddle, who leaves her at the alter. Charity has a disposition \"which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour.\" \nPecksniff, Mercy (Merry) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Seth Pecksniff's younger daughter and sister of Charity . Seth gives her in marriage to Jonas Chuzzlewit , who breaks her spirit, and her heart. \nPecksniff, Seth ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Sanctimonious surveyor and architect \"who has never designed or built anything\", and one of the biggest hypocrites in fiction. Father of daughters Mercy and Charity . In an effort to gain old Martin's money he embraces then throws out young Martin at old Martin's wish. When long time servant Tom Pinch learns of Pecksniff's treachery he is also thrown out. Pecksniff's self-serving designs are eventually exposed by Old Martin who reconciles with his grandson, young Martin . Dickens' description of Pecksniff's hypocrisy is telling: \"Some people likened him to a direction-post, which is always telling the way to a place, and never goes there.\" \nPeecher, Emma ( Our Mutual Friend ) Teacher of the girl's class at the school where Bradley Headstone is master. Emma is in love with Headstone but he does not return her affection. \nPeerybingle, John ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Carrier, deliverer of goods, who is much older than his wife, Mary . \nPeerybingle, Mary (Dot) ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Mary is the much younger wife of John. She is called Dot due to her small size and dumpling shape. Her parents are Old Dot and Mrs Dot, both also small. Mary works to reunite old lovers May Fielding and Edward Plummer . \nMrs. Pegler ( Hard Times ) Revealed at the end of the story to be Bounderby's loving mother, exposing his claim as \"self-made man\", who raised himself in the streets, to be a sham. \nPeggotty, Clara ( David Copperfield ) David's devoted nurse and sister to Daniel Peggotty . After the death of David's mother she is discharged and marries Barkis . When Barkis dies she goes to live with David and Betsy Trotwood . David comically describes getting a hug from Peggotty: \"She laid aside her work (which was a stocking of her own), and opening her arms wide, took my curly head within them, and gave it a good squeeze. I know it was a good squeeze, because, being very plump, whenever she made any little exertion after she was dressed, some of the buttons on the back of her gown flew off. And I recollect two bursting to the opposite side of the parlour, while she was hugging me.\" \nPeggotty, Daniel ( David Copperfield ) Crotchety fisherman and dealer in lobsters, crabs, and crawfish. Brother of Clare . He lives in a converted boat on the beach at Yarmouth with Emily , Ham , and Mrs. Gummidge . When Emily abandons them to elope with Steerforth , Daniel vows to find her. Steerforth later leaves Emily and she is re-united with Daniel. At the end of the novel Daniel, Emily , and Mrs Gummidge resettle in Australia. \nPeggotty, Ham ( David Copperfield ) Fisherman and boatbuilder. Orphaned nephew of Daniel Peggotty and fiance of Emily . He drowns trying to rescue Steerforth . \"He was a huge, strong fellow of six feet high, broad in proportion, and round-shouldered; but with a simpering boy's face and curly light hair that gave him quite a sheepish look. He was dressed in a canvas jacket, and a pair of such very stiff trousers that they would have stood quite as well alone, without any legs in them. And you couldn't so properly have said he wore a hat, as that he was covered in a-top, like an old building, with something pitchy.\" \nPell, Solomon ( Pickwick Papers ) Shady lawyer whom Tony Weller engages to arrange Samuel Weller's imprisonment in the Fleet in order to be with his master, Samuel Pickwick . \nPerch ( Dombey and Son ) Messenger at the firm of Dombey and Son. He and his Wife live at Ball's Pond, a suburb on the northern edge of London. \nPerker ( Pickwick Papers ) Solicitor of Mr. Wardle , later represents Samuel Pickwick in the Bardell vs Pickwick breach of promise suit. \nPetowker, Henrietta ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Minor actress at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and neighbor of Kenwigs and Noggs . She marries Mrs Kenwigs' uncle, Mr Lillyvick , but later runs off with a half-pay (retired) captain. \nPickwick, Samuel ( Pickwick Papers ) Retired businessman and founder and chairman of the Pickwick Club. Pickwick, along with his friends Tupman , Snodgrass , Winkle , and his servant Sam Weller , travel around England in search of adventure. Pickwick is one Dickens most loved characters and his story propelled Dickens to literary stardom. \n \nPinch, Tom ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Devoted admirer and assistant to Pecksniff . A kindly, sweet-tempered fellow, completely blind to Pecksniff's hypocrisy despite a multitude of evidence to the contrary. He finally becomes aware of Pecksniff's true character and is dismissed. He goes to London to live with his sister and is employed by a mysterious gentleman which turns out to be old Martin Chuzzlewit . \nPinch, Ruth ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Sister of Tom Pinch . She is governess to a wealthy brass and copper founder's family in Camberwell. When Tom goes to visit her he finds she is unhappy in her work and is accused by the family of being unable to command the respect of her employer's spoiled daughter. She leaves to live with Tom in Islington and later marries Tom's friend John Westlock . \nPip (Pirrip, Phillip) ( Great Expectations ) Principal character of the book. Brought up \"by hand\" by his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery , twenty years his senior, who mistreats him along with her husband, Joe Gargery . Pip meets Magwitch on the marshes after his escape from the prison ship and brings him food. Magwitch is recaptured and sent away to Australia where he prospers. Pip is introduced to Miss Havisham , an eccentric old woman, and her charge, Estella , who Pip falls in love with. Estella has been taught by Miss Havisham to break men's hearts as restitution for Miss Havisham's having been left at the altar years before. Pip begins to receive money through an unknown source. He becomes a gentleman, goes to London, and drifts away from early friends. Pip eventually learns that his benefactor is not Miss Havisham , as he believes, but the convict, Magwitch . \nPipchin, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Cantankerous operator of a boarding house in Brighton when Paul jr and Florence are sent there for Paul's health. Later becomes Mr Dombey's housekeeper. Considers herself ill-used because her husband was killed, 40 years earlier, in the Peruvian Mines. Dickens modeled Pipchin on Mrs Roylance, Dickens' landlady in London when his father was imprisoned for debt. \nPlornish ( Little Dorrit ) Thomas Plornish, a plasterer previously imprisoned at the Marshalsea with the Dorrits, lives with his wife and two children at Bleeding Heart Yard. \nPlummer, Bertha ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Blind daughter of poor toymaker, Caleb Plummer . To help ease Bertha's way Caleb has made her believe that the unfeeling Tackleton is their kind friend and the unknowing Bertha falls in love with him. \nPlummer, Caleb ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Poor toymaker who works for the hard-hearted Tackleton . Acting as the eyes of his blind daughter, Bertha , he tenderly embellishes their humble home and ragged clothes and makes her believe that the unfeeling Tackleton is their friend. \nPlummer, Edward ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Son of Caleb and sister to Bertha . Edward was the former lover of May Fielding , went away to sea, and was supposed dead. With the help of Mary Peerybingle , he is reunited with May on the day she is supposed to marry Tackleton . \nPocket, Herbert ( Great Expectations ) Pip goes to London to begin his education and meets Herbert, whom he discovers is the \"pale young gentleman\" with whom he fought with at Miss Havisham's as a child. Pip and Herbert become best friends and share chambers at Barnard's Inn and at the Temple. Herbert helps teach Pip \"city manners.\" Pip helps Herbert become a partner in the firm of Clarriker and Co. which enables Pocket to marry Clara Barley . \"What a hopeful disposition you have!\" said I, gratefully admiring his cheery ways. \"I ought to have,\" said Herbert, \"for I have not much else.\" \nPocket, Matthew ( Great Expectations ) Father of Herbert and cousin of Miss Havisham . He is the only one of Miss Havisham's relatives who speaks honestly of her and has been banished from her presence. Matthew is Pip's tutor in London. He has no control over his large family and has a habit of pulling himself up by his hair in frustration. Pip tells Miss Havisham of Matthew's good character and she leaves him 4000 pounds in her will. Matthew's wife, Belinda, is obsessed with social position, having been the daughter of a knight, and pays no attention to housekeeping or her young children who are left to \"tumble up\" by themselves. Many believe Dickens modeled the Pocket household after his own large family. \nPodsnap, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Model for \"Podsnappery\" or Victorian middle-class pomp and complacency, along with his wife, and daughter Georgiana. Dickens modeled John Podsnap on his friend and first biographer John Forster . \nPogram, Elijah ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Member of Congress Martin meets on the steamboat when leaving Eden. Pogram has inherited the congressional talent for speechifying much, and saying little. \nPotatoes, Mealy ( David Copperfield ) Co-worker of David Copperfield at Murdstone and Grimby's warehouse. \nPott, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Editor of the Eatenswill Gazette and sworn enemy of Mr Slurk , editor of the Eatenswill Independent.\nPotterson, Abbey ( Our Mutual Friend ) Proprietor of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters pub in Limehouse Hole. \nPrice, Matilda ( Nicholas Nickleby ) A miller's daughter, Fanny Squeers friend. She marries John Browdie . \nPrig, Betsy ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Day nurse and friend of Mrs Gamp . \"Mrs Prig was of the Gamp build, but not so fat; and her voice was deeper and more like a man's. She had also a beard.\" Betsy and Mrs Gamp later have a falling out, Betsy questioning the existence of Gamp's imaginary friend Mrs Harris . \nMiss Pross ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Lucie Manette's loyal maid. In Paris Miss Pross is surprised to find her brother, Soloman, is the spy John Barsad . In the end of the novel she struggles with Madame Defarge , who is killed in the scuffle. \n\"Mr. Lorry knew Miss Pross to be very jealous, but he also knew her by this time to be, beneath the service of her eccentricity, one of those unselfish creatures--found only among women--who will, for pure love and admiration, bind themselves willing slaves, to youth when they have lost it, to beauty that they never had, to accomplishments that they were never fortunate enough to gain, to bright hopes that never shone upon their own sombre lives. He knew enough of the world to know that there is nothing in it better than the faithful service of the heart; so rendered and so free from any mercenary taint, he had such an exalted respect for it, that in the retributive arrangements made by his own mind--we all make such arrangements, more or less-- he stationed Miss Pross much nearer to the lower Angels than many ladies immeasurably better got up both by Nature and Art, who had balances at Tellson's.\" \nPumblechook ( Great Expectations ) Joe Gargary's uncle (\"but Mrs. Joe appropriated him\"), hypocritical and well-to-do corn-chandler in the nearest town, and drove his own chaise-cart. He takes Pip to meet Miss Havisham and takes credit for arranging Pips \"great expectations.\"\n\"A large hard-breathing middle-aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been all but choked.\" \nQ\nQuilp, Daniel ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) An evil dwarf who lends money to Nell's grandfather who gambles it away and flees London with Nell in an attempt to avoid Quilp. Quilp attempts to find the pair as they travel through the country. Later Quilp is pursued by the police and, lost in the fog, drowns in the Thames. \nQuilp, Betsy ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Pretty and timid wife of Daniel Quilp whom he loves to mentally torture. When Quilp dies she inherits his money and happily remarries. Betsy's mother is Mrs Jiniwin . \nQuinion ( David Copperfield ) Manager of Grimby and Murdstone's wine-bottling warehouse who employs David Copperfield . \nR\nMrs Rachael ( Bleak House ) Esther Summerson's nurse. Later marries Rev Chadband . \nRachael ( Hard Times ) Friend of Stephen Blackpool , who loves her but cannot gain release from his drunken wife. She defends Stephen when he is accused of theft from the bank. \nRadfoot, George ( Our Mutual Friend ) Third mate aboard the ship bringing John Harmon back to England. He and Harmon resemble each other and Harmon devises a plan to temporarily exchange clothes and identities with Radfoot so that he can secretly observe his intended bride, Bella Wilfer . Radfoot instead drugs and robs Harmon and is then murdered himself, his body taken for that of John Harmon \nRedlaw ( The Haunted Man ) Professor of chemistry who is visited by a phantom on Christmas Eve and given the gift of forgetting painful memories. The gift turns out to be a curse as it is passed on to those Redlaw touches. The adverse effects of the gift are finally reversed by Milly Swidger . \nRiah ( Our Mutual Friend ) 'An old Jewish man, in an ancient coat, long of skirt and wide of pocket' who fronts Fledgeby's money-lending business. He befriends Lizzie Hexam and Jenny Wren . \nRichard ( The Chimes ) Blacksmith and fiance of Meg , they are married on New Year's Day. \nRiderhood, Pleasant ( Our Mutual Friend ) Daughter of Rogue Riderhood . Pleasant is an unlicensed pawnbroker, she later overcomes her dislike of Mr Venus's occupation and agrees to marry him. \nRiderhood, Rogue ( Our Mutual Friend ) Waterman and former partner of Gaffer Hexam who tries to pin blame on Gaffer for the Harmon murder to gain a reward. Riderhood later becomes a lock-keeper and tries to blackmail Bradley Headstone after Bradley tries to murder Eugene Wrayburn . In a quarrel both Riderhood and Headstone drown in the Thames. Rogue is also the father of Pleasant Riderhood . \nRigaud/Blandois/Lagnier ( Little Dorrit ) Villain of the novel. Rigaud attempts to blackmail Mrs. Clennam and has her house fall on him for his efforts. \"When Monsieur Rigaud laughed, a change took place in his face, that was more remarkable than prepossessing. His moustache went up under his nose, and his nose came down over his moustache, in a very sinister and cruel manner.\" \nRokesmith, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Alias used by John Harmon when he is employed as secretary to the Boffins . \nRosa ( Bleak House ) Personal maid to Lady Dedlock after Hortense is dismissed. Marries Mrs Rouncewell's grandson. \nRouncewell, George ( Bleak House ) Son of the Dedlock's housekeeper Mrs Rouncewell . George ran away to join the army and cut himself off from his mother. After leaving the army George buys a shooting gallery in London with money borrowed from Smallweed . Smallweed pressures George to give over examples of Capt Hawdon's handwriting in order to help Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. George is charged with the murder of Tulkinghorn by Bucket . Later George is exonerated of the crime and is reunited with his mother. \nRouncewell, Mrs ( Bleak House ) Longtime housekeeper of Chesney Wold, home of Sir Leicester Dedlock . Mother of George and another son who is an important ironmaster in northern England. \nRudge, Barnaby ( Barnaby Rudge ) Simple but good hearted boy who unwittingly gets involved in the Gordon Riots when he falls into bad company. He is later arrested and sentenced to death but gains reprieve through the help of Gabriel Varden . \nRudge, Barnaby Sr. ( Barnaby Rudge ) Father of Barnaby and husband of Mary . He was the Steward at the Warren and murdered his employer, Reuben Haredale . He went into hiding after the murder and resurfaces years later trying to extort money from his wife. He is finally captured by Geoffrey Haredale and executed at Newgate. \nRudge, Mary ( Barnaby Rudge ) Barnaby's mother, goes to great lengths to keep Barnaby away from his father who has murdered Reuben Haredale . \nRugg, Mr ( Little Dorrit ) Landlord of Pancks who assists in finding William Dorrit's fortune. \nS\nMarquis de St Evremonde ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Uncle of Charles Darnay . He shows unconcern when his carriage runs over and kills the child of the Parisian peasant Gaspard . Gaspard follows the Marquis to his country home and kills him in his bed. \nSally, Old ( Oliver Twist ) Old hag present at Oliver's birth. She steals the locket and ring from Oliver's mother as she lays dying.\nSapsea, Thomas ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Pompous auctioneer turned mayor of Cloisterham. \"The Purest jackass in Cloisterham.\" \nBob Sawyer ( Pickwick Papers ) Medical student, and drinking buddy of Benjamin Allen . \nScadder, Zephaniah ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Unscrupulous agent of the Eden Land Corporation who sells swamp land to Martin . \"He was a gaunt man in a huge straw hat, and a coat of green stuff. The weather being hot, he had no cravat, and wore his shirt collar wide open; so that every time he spoke something was seen to twitch and jerk up in his throat, like the little hammers in a harpsichord when the notes are struck. Perhaps it was the Truth feebly endeavouring to leap to his lips. If so, it never reached them.\" \nScott, Tom ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Quilp's boy, always at odds with his master, but expresses regret at Quilp's death. Tom has a penchant for standing on his head and walking on his hands. He later becomes a professional tumbler. \nScrooge, Ebenezer ( A Christmas Carol ) Probably Dickens' best known character, the miserly Scrooge, with his familiar cry of \"Bah, Humbug!\", is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley , who sends three more spirits in hopes of reforming Scrooge's heartless and penny-pinching ways. \nSharp, Mr ( David Copperfield ) First master at Salem House where David attends school. \"He was a limp, delicate-looking gentleman...with a good deal of nose, and a way of carrying his head on one side, as if it were a little too heavy for him.\" \nShepherd, Miss ( David Copperfield ) Early infatuation of David Copperfield . A boarder at Miss Nettingall's establishment. \nSikes, Bill ( Oliver Twist ) A vicious thief working on the fringes of Fagin's band of pickpockets. He uses Oliver in an attempt to burglarize the Maylie home. When Nancy tries to help Oliver she is found out by Fagin . Fagin relates the information to Sikes who murders Nancy . While fleeing police after the murder he accidentally hangs himself. \nSingle Gentleman, The ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Mysterious lodger of the Brasses who is trying to find Nell and her grandfather . He is revealed to be the brother of the grandfather and finds the pair shortly before his brother's death. In the original serialization of the novel in Master Humphrey's Clock the Single Gentleman turns out to be the original narrator of the story, Master Humphrey. \nSkewton, Mrs (Cleopatra) ( Dombey and Son ) Mother of Edith Granger who is 70 years old but tries to appear much younger through the use of cosmetics and various devices. Dickens describes Mrs Skewton, in being dismantled for bed by her maid, taking off of paint, clothes, wig, etc as being \"tumbled into ruins like a house of painted cards.\" Edith resents her mother who has packaged Edith to lure rich gentlemen from a child. \nSkiffins, Miss ( Great Expectations ) Wemmick's particular friend, a woman of wooden appearance in an orange gown with green gloves. Wemmick later surprises Pip on an outing by suddenly (\"here's a church, lets go in\") marrying Miss Skiffins. \nSkimpole, Harold ( Bleak House ) Friend of John Jarndyce who claims he is a mere child and understands nothing of money. Through this smooth act he manages to have everyone else pay his way through life. Dickens modeled Skimpole on Leigh Hunt, causing a stir among Hunt and his friends. \nSlammer, Dr ( Pickwick Papers ) Surgeon of the 97th, almost duels Nathaniel Winkle whom he mistakes for Alfred Jingle . \nSleary ( Hard Times ) Proprietor of Sleary's Circus. Speaks with a lisp (\"People mutht be amuthed\"). He helps Tom Gradgrind escape abroad after the bank robbery. \nSliderskew, Peg ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Old and hideously ugly housekeeper of Arthur Gride . Peg is jealous when Gride plans to marry the much younger Madeline Bray . Peg steals documents relating to Madeline's inheritance which are recovered and help undo Gride. For the theft Peg is transported. \nSloppy ( Our Mutual Friend ) Orphan who lives with Betty Higden . Sloppy is taken in by the Boffins and helps expose the rascal Silas Wegg . He later becomes a carpenter. \nSlowboy, Tilly ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Angular and clumsy nurse to the Peerybingle's infant son. \nSlurk, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Editor of the Eatenswill Independent and sworn enemy of Mr Pott , editor of the Eatenswill Gazette.\nSlyme, Chevy ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Nephew of old Martin Chuzzlewit who works with Montigue Tigg to try to squeeze money from the family. Later a London police officer. \nSmallweed ( Bleak House ) Grandfather (Joshua) Smallweed is a usurer to whom George Rouncewell owes money. Smallweed uses this leverage to obtain from George a sample of Captain Hawdon's handwriting in an attempt to help Tulkinghorn learn Lady Dedlock's secret. Also in the Smallweed family are grandmother, Krook's sister, at whom grandfather throws cushions when she mentions money, and the twin grandchildren, Bartholomew and Judy. \nSmike ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Abandoned as a child at Dotheboys Hall in the care of the evil Squeers , Smike is mistreated for years before being rescued by Nicholas . He travels to Portsmouth with Nicholas and performs in Crummles stage troupe and is welcomed as part of the family when he and Nicholas return to London. He is briefly retaken in London by Squeers and escapes with the help of John Browdie . Smike later dies from the treatment he received as a child. After his death it is discovered that he was Ralph Nickleby's son, making him the cousin of Nicholas and Kate . \nSnagsby ( Bleak House ) Law stationer near Chancery Lane who hires Nemo (Capt Hawdon) to do some copy work. Snagsby's wife is a zealous supporter of Rev. Chadband . \nSnawley ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Father who puts his two step-sons in Squeers' school, Dotheboys Hall. Snawley later poses as Smike's father in Ralph Nickleby's scheme to get the runaway boy back. Snawley's wife later forces him to expose Ralph's plan.\nSnitchey and Craggs ( The Battle of Life ) Country lawyers who handle the legal affairs of Dr. Jeddler and Michael Warden . \nSnodgrass, Augustus ( Pickwick Papers ) A member of the Pickwick club and party to the adventures of Pickwick's travels. Snodgrass fancies himself a poet, but has written no poetry. He falls in love with Emily Wardle and marries her at the end of the story. \nSowerberry, Mr. ( Oliver Twist ) Undertaker to whom Oliver is apprenticed. Oliver is mistreated and runs away to London \nSparkler, Edmund ( Little Dorrit ) Son of Mrs Merdle by a former marriage. A man of limited talents, he offers marriage to 'all manner of undesirable young ladies' finally marries Fanny Dorrit . Edmund and Fanny lose all in the Merdle banking scam. \nSparsit, Mrs. ( Hard Times ) Housekeeper of Bounderby with aristocratic connections. She is a busybody, causing dissension between Bounderby and his wife Louisa Gradgrind . \nSpenlow, Dora ( David Copperfield ) Daughter of David's employer, Francis . She and David are married and David tries to teach her to keep house, but she has no head for it. She becomes ill with an unspecified illness and dies young. Dickens based Dora on Maria Beadnell , his first love. \nSpenlow, Francis ( David Copperfield ) Proctor at Doctor's Commons where David is apprenticed and father of Dora . David says of him: \"He was a little light-haired gentleman, with undeniable boots, and the stiffest of white cravats and shirt-collars. He was buttoned up, mighty trim and tight, and must have taken a great deal of pains with his whiskers, which were accurately curled.\"\nSpenlow, Misses (Clarissa and Lavinia) ( David Copperfield ) Dora's spinster aunts with whom she goes to live after her father dies. \nSpiker, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Dinner guest of the Waterbrooks . David thinks Mrs Spiker resembles Hamlet's aunt. \nSpottletoe, Mr and Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Relatives of old Martin Chuzzlewit's (Mrs is old Martin's niece) with designs on inheriting his money. \nSqueers, Fanny ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Daughter of Wackford Squeers. Described as \"not tall like her mother, but short like her father; from the former she inherited a voice of harsh quality; from the latter a remarkable expression of the right eye, something akin to having none at all.\" When Nicholas Nickleby becomes her father's assistant she falls madly in love with him, telling her friend Matilda Price that they are practically engaged. Nicholas wants nothing to do with her. \nSqueers, Wackford ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Proprietor of Dotheboys Hall, he takes in boys not wanted by their families and mistreats them. Nicholas Nickleby becomes his assistant master and sees the way he treats his charges, gives him a sound thrashing, and leaves. Squeers seeks revenge and conspires with Ralph Nickleby . He is eventually undone, imprisoned, and transported. \nSqueers, Wackford Jr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Son of schoolmaster Wackford Squeers . Little Wackford is kept fat as an advertisement of the supposed plenty provided at the school. He is spoiled by being given any gifts intended for pupils of the school by their families. \nSqueers, Mrs ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Wife of Wackford Squeers : \"a large raw-boned figure, was about half a head taller than Mr Squeers.\" While Mr Squeers attempts to keep his cruelty in check, in order to keep up appearances, Mrs Squeers is openly cruel.\nSquod, Phil ( Bleak House ) George Rouncewell's ugly little assistant at the shooting gallery. Formerly a traveling tinker. \nStagg ( Barnaby Rudge ) Blind member of the 'Prentice Knights with Simon Tappertit . He joins Barnaby Rudge Sr. in trying to extort money from Mary Rudge . Killed when he tries to run from officers arresting Hugh , Barnaby , and Rudge Sr . \nStartop ( Great Expectations ) Pip's fellow student at Matthew Pocket's . He helps Herbert rescue Pip from Orlick and helps Herbert row the boat during the attempt to get Magwitch out of the country. \nSteerforth, James ( David Copperfield ) Friend of David at the Salem House school where his engaging charm makes him everyone's favorite. David later runs into him again in London and he accompanies David on a trip to Yarmouth where he charms Emily into eloping with him. They go abroad and Steerforth soon tires of Emily and deserts her. He is later drowned in a shipwreck where Ham Peggotty , from whom Steerforth stole Emily away, dies trying to save him. \nStiggins, Reverend ( Pickwick Papers ) Hypocritical Deputy Shepherd (from the Dorking branch) of the Brick Lane Branch of the United Grand Junction Ebenezer Temperance Association. Exposed by Tony Weller whose wife Susan is one of Stiggins' flock. \nStrong, Annie ( David Copperfield ) Pretty, young wife of Doctor Strong . Annie is suspected of having an affair with her cousin, Jack Maldon . \nStrong, Doctor ( David Copperfield ) Headmaster at the school David attends in Canterbury. He is chiefly concerned with assembling his Greek dictionary. \nStryver ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Barrister who defends Charles Darnay in his trial for treason with assistance from his friend Sydney Carton . Stryver intends to ask Lucie Manette to marry him until counseled by Jarvis Lorry . \nSummerson, Esther ( Bleak House ) Principal character in the story. She is brought up an orphan by her aunt, Miss Barbery . On her aunt's death she is adopted by John Jarndyce and becomes companions to his wards, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone . Later in the story it is revealed that Esther is the illegitimate daughter of Captain Hawdon and Lady Dedlock . John Jarndyce falls in love with her and asked her to marry him. She consents out of respect for Jarndyce but during the engagement she falls in love with Allan Woodcourt . When Jarndyce learns of her feelings for Allan he releases her from the engagement and she marries Woodcourt .\nSweedlepipe, Paul (Poll) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlord of Mrs Gamp , barber and bird-fancier. \"Poll Sweedlepipe's house was one great bird's nest. Gamecocks resided in the kitchen; pheasants wasted the brightness of their golden plumage on the garret; bantams roosted in the cellar; owls had possession of the bedroom; and specimens of all the smaller fry of birds chirrupped and twittered in the shop.\" \nSwidger, Milly ( The Haunted Man ) Wife of William and the only member of the family not touched by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows. Her inherent goodness, based on remembrance of her lost child, reverses the effects of this curse in her family, the Tetterby family, and Edmund Longford . \nSwidger, Philip ( The Haunted Man ) Eighty-seven year-old patriarch of the Swidger family. He loses his present happiness, based on his memories, when touched by Redlaw's gift. He is restored to happiness by Milly Swidger . \nSwidger, William ( The Haunted Man ) Caretaker of the university where Redlaw teaches chemistry. His family is adversely effected by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows. The adverse effects of this 'gift' are finally reversed by William's wife, Milly .\nSwiveller, Dick ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Friend of Fred Trent , Swiveller has designs to marry Fred's sister, Nell Trent , but is encouraged to wait until Nell has inherited her grandfather's money. When Nell and her grandfather leave London Swiveller is befriended by Quilp who helps him gain employment with the Brasses . While at the Brasses he meets their little half-starved servant the Marchioness . He becomes aware of the Brasses villainy and, with the Marchioness ' help, exposes a plot to frame Kit Nubbles . Swiveller later inherits money from his aunt, puts the Marchioness through school, and later marries her. \nT\nTackleton ( Cricket on the Hearth ) Known as Gruff and Tackleton, the name of his toymaking business. He is the Scrooge of the story, a hard-hearted, unfeeling man who has lived off of the exploitation of children all his life. He is the employer of Caleb Plummer and schemes to marry May Fielding . Like Scrooge, he softens at the end of the story. \nTapley, Mark ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Ostler at the Blue Dragon Inn and servant to young Martin Chuzzlewit . He accompanies Martin to America and later marries Mrs. Lupin , the Blue Dragon's landlady. The inn is renamed The Jolly Tapley. \nTappertit, Simon ( Barnaby Rudge ) Locksmith Gabriel Varden's apprentice who is in love with Gabriel's daughter, Dolly . He becomes a leader of the rioters during the Gordon Riots and during the fighting loses his slender legs, long his pride and joy. After the uprising he is fitted with wooden legs and becomes a bootblack. \nTartar ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Retired navy man and friend of Crisparkle . He befriends Neville in London and works with Grewgious and Crisparkle in protecting Neville from John Jasper . \nTattycoram/Harriet Beadle ( Little Dorrit ) Adopted by the Meagles from the Foundling Hospital, Harriet is given the name Tattycoram and is maid to the Meagles daughter, Pet. She exhibits fits of temper and is counseled by Mr. Meagle to \"count five and twenty, Tattycoram.\" She is influenced away from the Meagles by the evil Miss Wade . She later is reunited with the Meagles and assists in the undoing of the Rigaud/Blandois blackmail attempt. \nTetterby family ( The Haunted Man ) Poor family touched by Redlaw's gift of forgetting past sorrows, which turns out to be a curse to them. Adolphus, a newsman, his wife Sophia, Adolphus Jr, a newspaper boy at the railway station, Johnny, who cares for the baby, Sally, called little Moloch. They are restored to their former loving natures by Milly Swidger . \nTicket, Mrs ( Little Dorrit ) Cook and housekeeper for the Meagles . \nTiffey, Mr ( David Copperfield ) \"old clerk with the wig\" that had once visited Mr Spenlow at his house in Norwood and had \"drunk brown East India sherry there, of a quality so precious as to make a man wink.\" \nTigg, Montigue (Tigg Montigue) ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Con man and swindler who first appears in the story fronting for Chevy Slyme and trying to squeeze the assembled Chuzzlewit family for money. Later he appears in splendor as head of the fraudulent Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company and has changed his name to Tigg Montigue. He dupes Jonas Chuzzlewit into joining the company, uses Jonas to fleece Pecksniff , and is murdered by Jonas. \nTisher, Mrs. ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Miss Twinkleton's assistant at the school for girls at Nun's House. \nTodgers, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Proprietor of M. Todgers Commercial Boarding House located near the monument. Mrs Todgers is described as a \"rather bony and hard featured lady.\" Pecksniff and his daughters stay at Todgers when visiting London. \nToodle, Polly (Richards) ( Dombey and Son ) Little Paul Dombey's nurse, known in the Dombey household as Richards. She is dismissed when she takes Paul to visit her family in a poorer section of London. She re-enters the story when Captain Cuttle asked her to look after Sol Gill's Shop, the Wooden Midshipman. She is the mother of Rob the Grinder who falls in with bad company and becomes a minor villain in the story. Dickens describes Polly as a \"plump rosy-cheeked wholesome apple-faced young woman.\" \nToots ( Dombey and Son ) Scatterbrained classmate of Paul Dombey Jr at Dr Blimber's Academy. Toots falls helplessly in love with Florence Dombey and pursues her, in his absentminded way, until Florence marries Walter Gay . In the end Toots marries Susan Nipper . Quote: \"it's of no consequence.\" \nTox, Lucretia ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey Sr's sister, Mrs. Chick's , friend. She has designs to marry Paul Sr. after his first wife dies. Paul marries Mrs. Granger instead, breaking Miss Tox's heart, but she stays loyal to him through later hardships. Dickens describes her as \"a long lean figure, wearing such a faded air that she seemed not to have been made in what linen-drapers call 'fast colours' originally, and to have, by little and little, washed out.\" \nTrabb ( Great Expectations ) Tailor who makes Pip a new suit of clothes before he goes to London, also in charge of the mourners at Pip's sister's funeral. \nTrabb's Boy ( Great Expectations ) Assistant to Trabb , the tailor, who terrorizes Pip . He later leads Herbert to the limekiln to rescue Pip from Orlick . \nTraddles, Tommy ( David Copperfield ) Fellow pupil with David Copperfield and Steerforth at Salem House. David's best friend and best man at David's wedding to Dora Spenlow . He later becomes a lawyer and marries Sophy Crewler . \nTrent, Fred ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Nell's brother, a gambler, is interested in his grandfather's money through his friend Dick Swiveller . \nTrent, Nelly ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Known as Little Nell, she is the principal character in the story. She lives with her grandfather , when he falls into the clutches of Daniel Quilp she helps him escape London. The hardships endured during their wanderings are too much for the delicate Nell and she dies in a quiet village where she and her grandfather had gained employment. \nTrotter, Job ( Pickwick Papers ) Manservant of the rascal Alfred Jingle . \nTrotwood, Betsy ( David Copperfield ) David Copperfield's great aunt. David runs away from London when he is installed at Murdstone and Grinby's warehouse and goes to Dover to live with Betsy. She helps David get a start in life and, when she loses her fortune, goes to London to live with David . David describes her as \"A tall, hard-featured lady, but by no means ill-looking. There was an inflexibility in her face, in her voice, in her gait and carriage, amply sufficient to account for the effect she had made upon a gentle creature like my mother; but her features were rather handsome than otherwise, though unbending and austere.\" Dickens' friend and biographer John Forster called Betsy \"a gnarled and knotted piece of female timber, sound to the core.\" \nTulkinghorn ( Bleak House ) Family lawyer to the Dedlocks. When he finds out Lady Dedlock's secret past, and tries to gain from it, he is murdered by Lady Dedlock's former maid, Hortense . \nTungay ( David Copperfield ) Creakle's assistant at Salem House where David Copperfield attends school. Tungay has a wooden leg, having lost his leg in Creakle's service in former employment in the hops business. \nTupman, Tracy ( Pickwick Papers ) A member of the Pickwick club and traveling companion to Mr. Pickwick in the story's adventures. A middle-aged bachelor with a weakness for the ladies. \nTurveydrop, Mr ( Bleak House ) Owner of a dance academy on Newman Street and a \"model of deportment.\" His son, Prince , gives dancing lessons and supports his father. \nTurveydrop, Prince ( Bleak House ) Son of Mr Turveydrop , owner of a dance academy. Prince, named for the Prince Regent, gives dancing lessons and supports his father. Prince marries Caddy Jellyby . \nTwinkleton, Miss ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Principal of a school for girls at Nun's House in Cloisterham where Rosa Bud and Helena Landless attend. She is assisted by Mrs. Tisher . Miss Twinkleton later becomes Rosa's chaperone in London. \nTwist, Oliver ( Oliver Twist ) Oliver is born in a workhouse where he is mistreated by Bumble , the beadle (Quote: 'Please, sir, I want some more'). He is apprenticed to Sowerberry, the undertaker, and runs away to London where he falls in with Fagin and his band of pickpockets. Oliver is charged with theft, actually committed by the Artful Dodger , and later cleared. The object of the theft, Mr. Brownlow , takes Oliver into his home. He is recaptured by Nancy and returned to Fagin's band. Nancy later tries to help Oliver and is murdered. Through the efforts of Rose Maylie and Mr. Brownlow the story of Oliver's real parentage is revealed. \nU\nV\nVarden, Dolly ( Barnaby Rudge ) Daughter of Gabriel and Martha , friend of Emma Haredale , loved by Joe Willet who she eventually marries. \nVarden, Gabriel ( Barnaby Rudge ) Honest locksmith and owner of the Golden Key where Simon Tappertit is apprenticed. Father of Dolly and long-suffering husband of Martha . He is a friend of Barnaby's mother and, after the Gordon riots, helps clear Barnaby's name. \nVarden, Martha ( Barnaby Rudge ) Overbearing wife of Gabriel , mother of Dolly . A woman of \"uncertain temper\" and a fanatical protestant, her fanaticism is tempered after the riots when she witnesses the heroics of her husband \nVeck, Toby (Trotty) ( The Chimes ) Poor ticket porter whose dream on New Year's Eve forms the basis of the story. \nVeneering, Hamilton and Anastasia ( Our Mutual Friend ) High society couple at whose frequent dinner parties the story of John Harmon is discovered. Hamilton buys his way into Parliament and is later bankrupt and the couple flees to France. \nVenus, Mr ( Our Mutual Friend ) Taxidermist and general practitioner in bones. He enters into a scheme with Silas Wegg to blackmail Noddy Boffin , thinks better of it, and later tells Boffin of the plan. He is lovesick over Pleasant Riderhood who objects to his business. She later relents and marries him. \nThe Vengeance ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Female revolutionist and friend of Madame Defarge . She is described as 'a short, rather plump wife of a starved grocer'. At the final execution she is left pondering the absence of Madame Defarge. \nVerisopht, Lord Frederick ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Foppish companion of Sir Mulberry Hawk who is planning to fleece him. When Verisopht tries to interfere in Hawk's plan of revenge on Nicholas Nickleby they duel, and Verisopht is killed. \nVholes ( Bleak House ) Richard Carstone's solicitor in Symond's Inn, recommended by Skimpole , who lures Richard deeper into the Chancery case that will ultimately lead to Richard's despair and death. \nW\nWackles, Sophie ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) First love of Dick Swiveler . Swiveler reluctantly leaves her and enters into a scheme, hatched by Nell's brother Fred Trent , to marry Nell and inherit the grandfather's money. Sophey marries Cheggs, a market gardener. \nWade, Miss ( Little Dorrit ) Dark figure who lures Tattycoram away from the kind-hearted Meagles whom she hates because of Pet Meagles' marriage to Henry Gowan , who had jilted her. \nWalker, Mick ( David Copperfield ) Co-worker of David Copperfield at Murdstone and Grimby's warehouse. \nWarden, Michael ( The Battle of Life ) Spendthrift lover of Marion Jeddler . Marion supposedly runs away with Warden which, in the end, turns out to be untrue. Later the reformed Warden marries Marion. \nWardle ( Pickwick Papers ) Yeoman farmer and owner of Manor Farm at Dingley Dell. Pickwick and his friends visit Manor Farm frequently. Wardle's daughter marries Pickwickian Augustus Snodgrass . Jingle tries to elope with Miss Rachel , Wardle's sister, but is caught and bought off by Wardle. \nWardle, Old Mrs ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Wardle's partially deaf mother. \nWardle, Rachael ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Wardle's spinster sister (aged 50 at least). She courts Tupman but is lured into elopement by Jingle , who is after her money. Rachael and Jingle are caught before a marriage can take place and Jingle is bought off by Mr. Wardle. \nWaterbrook, Mr and Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Mr Waterbrook is Mr Wickfield's agent with whom Agnes stays while in London. They reside at Ely Place, Holborn. \nWegg, Silas ( Our Mutual Friend ) Rascally street vendor hired by Mr. Boffin to read to him. After installing himself in the Boffin household he goes about trying to get a piece of the Boffin fortune. \nWeller, Samuel ( Pickwick Papers ) Mr. Pickwick's servant is one of the most popular characters in Dickens' works. He councils his master with Cockney wisdom and is thoroughly devoted to Pickwick . Samuel's father, Tony Weller, is equally entertaining.\n \n \nWeller, Tony ( Pickwick Papers ) Father of Sam Weller , a coachman and repository of Cockney wisdom. His wife, Susan, is proprietor of the Marquis and Granby Inn in Dorking. Susan falls in with the hypocritical Reverend Stiggins , of the Brick Lane Temperance Association, who the frequently imbibing Tony later exposes. \nWemmick, John ( Great Expectations ) Jagger's confidential clerk, friend of Pip who lives in a delightfully strange house with the Aged Parent.\n\"A dry man, rather short in stature, with a square wooden face, whose expression seemed to have been imperfectly chipped out with a dull-edged chisel. There were some marks in it that might have been dimples, if the material had been softer and the instrument finer, but which, as it was, were only dints. The chisel had made three or four of these attempts at embellishment over his nose, but had given them up without an effort to smooth them off. I judged him to be a bachelor from the frayed condition of his linen ... He had glittering eyes-small, keen, and black- and thin wide mottled lips. He had had them, to the best of my belief, from forty to fifty years.\" \nWestlock, John ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Former pupil of Pecksniff and friend of Tom Pinch although they disagree about Pecksniff's character. He is instrumental in exposing Jonas Chuzzlewit and later marries Tom's sister Ruth . \nWhimple, Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Landlady of the house at Mill Pond Bank where Old Bill Barley and his daughter, Clara , live. Magwitch is kept secretly in the house waiting for the escape out of Britain. \nWickfield, Agnes ( David Copperfield ) Childhood friend of David Copperfield and daughter of Betsy Trotwood's lawyer. Becomes David's wife after the death of Dora . \nMr. Wickfield ( David Copperfield ) Father of Agnes and lawyer to Betsy Trotwood . His overindulgence of wine causes him to be vulnerable to the schemes of Uriah Heep , who becomes his partner and attempts to ruin him. \nWickham, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Paul Dombey Jrs' nurse after Polly Toodle is discharged. \nWilfer, Bella ( Our Mutual Friend ) Girl specified in old Harmon's will that his son John should marry in order to gain his inheritance. When John disappears and is presumed drowned she is left \"a widow without ever being married.\" She leaves her home and goes to live with the Boffins where she is wooed by John Rokesmith , alias of John Harmon . She refuses him at first but later falls in love with him and they marry. She finds out later that he is really John Harmon and that they have gained his inheritance. \nWilfer, Lavinia ( Our Mutual Friend ) Sister of Bella . Obstinate and quarrelsome, she takes posession of Bella's beau, George Sampson, when Bella goes to live with the Boffins . \nWilfer, Reginald (R.W.) ( Our Mutual Friend ) Father of Bella , whom she adores. R.W. attends the wedding of of Bella to Rokesmith , unbeknownst to his overbearing wife. \nWillet, Joe ( Barnaby Rudge ) \"A broad-shouldered strapping young fellow of twenty, whom it pleased his father still to consider a little boy, and to treat accordingly.\" Son of John who resents his father's treatment of him, he joins the army and loses an arm in the American Revolution, later marries Dolly Varden . The couple become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole Inn. \nWillet, John ( Barnaby Rudge ) \"Burly, large-headed man with a fat face.\" Proprietor of the Maypole Inn and father of Joe . Father and son quarrel when John treats the adult Joe as a child and Joe leaves, joining the army. John witnesses the destruction of the Maypole by the rioters. He is later reconciled with his son who, along with wife Dolly , become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole.\nWinkle, Nathaniel ( Pickwick Papers ) Member of the Pickwick club and traveling companion to Pickwick and his friends. Winkle is supposedly the sportsman of the group but all of his attempts at sporting activities prove him a humbug. He marries Arabella Allen , which upsets his father. Later Winkle's father comes to London and sees his daughter-in-law for himself, and is reconciled to the marriage. \nWitherfield, Miss ( Pickwick Papers ) The lady in yellow curl papers whom Samuel Pickwick accidentally meets in her room at Ipswich. She is courted by Pickwick's fellow traveler to Ipswich, Peter Magnus . \nWititterly, Julia and Henry ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Kate Nickleby becomes a companion to Julia after leaving Madame Mantalini's . Julia becomes jealous of Kate when Sir Mulberry Hawk begins to pay visits to their Belgravia home. Nicholas removes Kate from the home after he fights with Hawk. \nWoodcourt, Allan ( Bleak House ) A young surgeon who falls in love with Esther Summerson before going away as ship's doctor to India. On his return to England he learns that Esther is engaged to John Jarndyce . When Jarndyce learns that Esther is in love with Woodcourt he releases her to marry him. \nWopsle ( Great Expectations ) Parish clerk and friend of the Gargerys . He aspires to enter the church but instead becomes an actor with the stage name of Waldengarver. Pip sees him perform Hamlet in London. \nWrayburn, Eugene ( Our Mutual Friend ) Lawyer and friend of Mortimer Lightwood . He becomes interested in the Harmon case and meets Lizzie Hexam and falls in love with her. She loves him also but tries to distance herself from him because they come from different classes of society. Lizzie leaves London to get away from Bradley Headstone , the school teacher who also loves her, and Wrayburn. Eugene finds her and is followed by Headstone who attempts to murder him. Lizzie nurses Wrayburn back to health and they are married. \nWren, Jenny aka Fanny Cleaver ( Our Mutual Friend ) Crippled doll's dressmaker with whom Lizzie Hexam lives after the death of her father. She helps Lizzie escape London when pursued by Headstone and Wrayburn . \nX",
"Haworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single ...\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every ... featuring the popular Bronte burgers. Yorkshire is the biggest and most ... The Bronte-obsessed town of ...\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single Bronte Sister Novel\nHaworth, England: The Tiny Town That Inspired Every Single Bronte Sister Novel\nHaworth, England (Photo: Matthew Hartley/Flickr )\nYou pronounce it How’it. The cobbled streets of Haworth , a pretty little English village that clings to the edge of the West Yorkshire moors, wind up the hill, and are lined with pubs like the Fleece, Mrs Beighton’s Sweet Shop , selling black and white minds, the Old Lion Inn , Venables Bookshop.\nIn summer when it’s light until 11 p.m., it bustles with visitors; in winter, under snow, it’s other-worldly and full of ghosts. From every point, as I climb the main street, to the Bronte Parsonage that sits at the very top of the village, there are views of the moors, a huge landscape that reaches into infinity, criss-crossed by the gray stone dry walls, put together without mortar that last forever, a scene more rugged, more powerful than pretty. I feel there are ghosts just over the hill.\nRelated: Never Leave Your Room with These Hotels for Book Lovers\nThe Bronte Parsonage (Photo: Mary /flickr)\nI’m haunted by the feeling that I know this place in my gut, even before I get to the Parsonage. You come here because this is Bronte land. In Howath at this pretty two-story parsonage with a modest garden, Charlotte and Emily Bronte lived and wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights , two of the greatest novels of any time, stories of powerful emotions, and women with complex emotional ambition and desires. Gothic in part — there are plenty of storms and the supernatural — they show an understanding of moral ambiguity decades ahead of the times. There are characters still palpably alive: Jane Eyre; Heathcliffe; Mr Rochester. These are imprinted on us by the stream of movies, TV, theatre, beginning in 1910 with a silent film of Jane Eyre. Some of the later version were shot here in Howarth.\nWATCH: 10 Things You Need to Know About Wuthering Heights\nThe Georgian parsonage of gray stone and brick, built in 1780s, is now a museum with a dozen Bronte-soaked rooms. In the dining room on a large mahogany table, the sisters wrote their novels. (Charlotte also wrote Villette and Shirley , her sister Anne, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ); over here is the sofa where Emily died aged 30; above the stairs hangs the celebrated portrait of the three sisters by their artist brother, Branwell, who waste much of his talent at the Black Bull Inn in town, in a haze of booze and opium.\nPatrick Bronte, a relatively poor country clergyman moved into the parsonage in 1820 with his wife, Maria. By the standards of the time, the rooms are simply furnished but full of moving detail. Emily’s bedroom has the tiny handwritten books written by the girls when they were little. In the hall is the upright piano, which all the sisters played to entertain one another. In Charlotte’s room where she died at 38a re her tiny dresses. She was under five feet. Her white stockings look like a child’s.\nAll dead by 40.\nWuthering Heights novel (Photo: Scott MacLeod Liddle/Flickr )\nBut, then, in their day, Haworth was a crowded industrial town, where water-powered mills replaced the looms villagers used to scratch out a living. Maybe it was this that played on the sisters’ profound human understanding. “I must not forget that these coarsely-clad little peasants are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy,” Jane Eyre thinks.\nRead More\nIt was also the landscape that drove the books. In the kitchen at the back of the parsonage, the Bronte servant would tell the tales of Haworth and the moors. Walk from the parsonage up to Top Withins, you find the setting for Wuthering Heights.",
"List of the addresses of fictional characters - Wikibin\nList of the addresses of fictional characters. ... In the original film, the Buellers lived in Shermer, ... Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, Slopshire, England * Donald Duck ...\nList of the addresses of fictional characters\nDonate to Wikibin\nList of the addresses of fictional characters\nThis is a list of the addresses of fictional characters, from various media such as television, literature, or film.\n1\n*13 Rue del Percebe (comic of same name by Francisco Ibanez)\nA\n* Abbott family (Bless This House) - Birch Avenue, Putney, UK\n* The Addams Family - Cemetery Ridge, USA\n* Alexander, Susan (Citizen Kane) - 185 West 74th Street, New York, New York\n* Anderson family (Father Knows Best) - 607 South Maple Street, USA\n* Larry Appleton and his cousin Balki Bartokomous (Perfect Strangers) - 711 Calhoun Street, Chicago, Illinois\n* Jon Arbuckle and his pets (Garfield) - alternately 711 Maple Street, USA (comic strip) or 357 Shady Grove Lane, USA (TV series)\n* Lew Archer's office (series of novels) - 8411 1/2 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California\n* Avengers Mansion Headquarters of the Avengers - 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City\nB\n* Barone family (Everybody Loves Raymond) - 320 Fowler Street, Lynbrook, New York (Long Island)\n* Batman - Wayne Manor, Gotham City, USA\n* Baxter family (Hazel) - 123 Marshall Road, Hydsberg, New York\n* Mr. Bear & others (comic strip Achewood) - 62 Achewood Court\n* Mr Benn - 52 Festive Road, Putney, London, UK\n* Frank Black and Family (Millennium) - 1910 Ezekiel Drive, Seattle, WA\n* Sirius Black (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) - 12 Grimmauld Place, London, UK\n* Leopold Bloom - 7 Eccles St.\n* Elwood Blues (The Blues Brothers) - 1060 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois (Wrigley Field) (according to his driver's license)\n* Charlie Bone and family (Children of the Red King) - Number 9 Filbert Street\n* Ed and Christopher Boone (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) - 36 Randolph Street, Swindon\n* Boswell family (Bread) - 30 Kelsall Street, Liverpool\n* The Bower Agency (Who's the Boss?) - 323 East 57th Street, New York, New York\n* Bower family (Who's the Boss?) - 3344 Oak Hills Drive, Fairfield, Connecticut\n* The Brady Bunch - 4222 Clinton Way, Los Angeles, California\n* Emmett Brown (Back to the Future) - 1640 Riverside Drive, Hill Valley, California\n* Hyacinth Bucket (Keeping Up Appearances) - Blossom Avenue, UK\n* Bueller family (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) - 164 North Dutton Street, Santa Monica, CA (This is in the 1990 NBC sitcom. In the original film, the Buellers lived in Shermer, Illinois, also the setting for The Breakfast Club and, possibly, the homes of Neal Page from Planes, Trains and Automobiles and the McAllister family from Home Alone, all films directed by John Hughes.)\n* Phoebe Buffay (Friends) - 5 Morton St. Apt. 14. New York City New York (Manhattan) USA\n* Bundy family (Married... with Children) - 9764 Jeopardy Lane, Chicago, Illinois\n* Bunker family (All in the Family) - 704 Hauser Street, New York City, New York (Astoria, Queens)\n* Burber family - 9 Chickweed Lane (daily comic strip of the same name)\n* Bureau de l'Invisible (French novel series) - 28 Crawford Street, a corner away from Baker Street in London\n* Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons) - 1000 Mammon Lane, Springfield, USA\nC\n* Minnie Caldwell (Coronation Street) - 15 Jubilee Terrace until 1962, then 5 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* Carey, Drew (The Drew Carey Show) - 720 Sedgewick, Cleveland, Ohio\n* Blake Carrington (Dynasty) - 173 Essex Drive, Denver, CO\n* Cheers - 112 1/2 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts. (This is the address given on the show, though the Bull & Finch Pub, the real-life basis for the bar, is at 84 Beacon Street. This may have been an attempt to keep fan letters from going to the real-life counterpart.)\n* Clampett family (Beverly Hillbillies) - 518 Crestview Drive, Beverly Hills, California\n* Joan Clayton (Girlfriends) - 700 block of North Wilton Place, Los Angeles, California\n* Cleaver family (Leave it to Beaver) - 485 Maple Street (later 211 Pine Street), Mayfield, USA\n* The Colbys - Belvedere Mansion, Los Angeles, California\n* Conner family (Roseanne) - 714 Delaware, Lanford IL\n* Dr. Frasier Crane and Martin Crane - Apartment 1901, Elliott Bay Towers, Seattle, Washington\n* Cunningham family (Happy Days) - 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, WI\nD\n* Darcy, Fitzwilliam (Pride and Prejudice) - Pemberley, Derbyshire, England\n* Dethklok (Metalocalypse) - Mordhaus, exact location unknown\n* Blanche Devereaux, who owns the house and rents rooms to Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund, and Sophia Petrillo, (The Golden Girls) - 6151 Richmond Street, Miami, Florida\n*The Doctor, (Doctor Who comic strip and Virgin New Adventures) - Smithwood Manor, Allen Road, Kent, England\n* Dolittle, Dr. John (Doctor Dolittle series of books) - Oxenthorpe Road, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, Slopshire, England\n* Donald Duck - 1313 Webfoot Walk, Duckburg, Calisota\n* Dursley family (Harry Potter books) - 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, UK\n*Durden, Tyler (Fight Club) - 420 Paper St. Wilmington, DE 19886\nE\n* Lord Emsworth (novels of P. G. Wodehouse) - Blandings Castle, Shropshire\n*The Evans family (Good Times) -321 North Gilbert, Chicago, IL\n* Ewing family (Dallas) - Southfork Ranch, Braddock County, Texas, USA\nF\n* The Fantastic Four - The Baxter Building, New York, New York.\n* Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers) - Fawlty Towers Hotel, Torquay, Torbay, UK\n* The Flanders family (The Simpsons) - 740 Evergreen Terrace\n* Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote) - 698 Candlewood Lane, Cabot Cove, ME\n* Phileas Fogg - 7 Savile Row, Burlington Gardens, London, UK\n* The Funnies (Doug) - 21 Jumbo Street, Bluffington, USA\nG\n* Monica Geller, first with Phoebe Buffay, then Rachel Green, finally with Chandler Bing (Friends) - 425 Grove Street, Apartment 20, New York, New York (Chandler and Joey Tribbiani, later Joey and Rachel, lived in Apartment 19; the actual building is at 90 Bedford Street, on the corner of Grove)\n* Griffin family (Family Guy) - 31 Spooner Street, Quahog, Rhode Island\n* From the Goon comic book series - Lonely Street, home to the Priest and his hordes of zombies\nH\n* The Halliwell Manor (Charmed) - 1329 Prescott Street, San Francisco, California (The actual manor is located at 1329 Carroll Ave, Los Angeles, California, in the famous Echo Park neighborhood.)\n* Tony Hancock (Hancock's Half Hour) - 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam\n* Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, DSO (novels of John Buchan) - Fosse Manor, Oxfordshire\n* Harper family (Mama's Family) - 1 Old Decatur Road, Raytown, USA\n* Hatcher family (Judy Blume's \"Fudge\" books) - 25 West 68th Street, New York, New York\n* Doug and Carrie Heffernan; Arthur Spooner (The King of Queens) - 3223 Aberdeen Avenue, Rego Park, New York\n* Earl and Randy Hickey - Room 231, The Palms Motel, 9005 Lincoln Blvd, Camden, USA\n* Hank and Peggy Hill (King of the Hill) - 84 Rainey Street, Arlen, TX, 78054 (The zip code is actually for Beeville, TX)\n* Sherlock Holmes - 221B Baker Street, London, UK\n* Huxtable family (The Cosby Show) - 10 Stigwood Avenue, New York City (Brooklyn)\nI\n* Uncle Fred, The Earl of Ickenham (novels of P. G. Wodehouse) - Ickenham Hall, Ickenham, Hants, UK\nJ\n*Justice Inc. and the Avenger - No. 1 Bleek Street\nK\n* Clark Kent (Superman) - 344 Clinton St., Apt. 3B, Metropolis, USA (later 1938 Sullivan Lane, Metropolis)\n* Eugene Krabs (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 3541 Anchor Way, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Kramden family (The Honeymooners) - 328 1/2 Chauncey Street, Brooklyn, New York\nL\n* Lane family (The Patty Duke Show) - 8 Remsen Drive, Brooklyn Heights New York City, New York, USA\n* Laverne & Shirley - 730 Knapp Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin\n* Lawrence family (Gidget) - 803 N. Dutton Drive, California, USA\n* Leopold Bloom (Ulysses) - 7 Eccles St., Dublin 7, Ireland\nM\n* Magnum, P.I., Robin's Nest - 11435 18th Avenue, Oahu, HI\n* Miss Marple - Danemead, High Street, St Mary Mead\n* Victor Meldrew, 19 Riverbank, UK\n* Mindy McConnell and Mork (Mork and Mindy) - 1619 Pine Street, Boulder, Colorado\n* Fibber McGee and Molly (his wife) - 79 Wistful Vista, USA.\n* Travis McGee - Slip F-18 at Bahia Mar Marina - docking place of houseboat; this was a real address, although it has since been demolished according to Spider Robinson: a photo of him sitting at the base of the dedication plaque to McGee at the slip (as described in Robinson's novel Callahan's Key) may be found on this page )\n* Daria Morgendorffer (Daria) - 1111 Glen Oaks Lane, Lawndale USA\n* Fox Mulder (The X-Files) - 2630 Hegal Place, Apt. 42, Alexandria, Virginia, 23242\n* The Munsters - 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Mockingbird Heights, USA. There is however a Mockingbird Lane in South Pasadena, California.\nN\n* Nelson family (I Dream of Jeannie) - 1020 Palm Drive, Cocoa Beach, FL\n* Navidson Family (House of Leaves) - Succoth and Ash Tree Lane\n* Newman (Seinfeld) - Apartment 5E, 129 West 81st Street, New York, New York\nO\n* Stan & Hilda Ogden (Coronation Street) - 13 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* Oscar and Felix (The Odd Couple) - 1049 Park Avenue, New York, New York\n* Owens family (Mr. Belvedere) - 200 Spring Valley Road, Beaver Falls, PA\nP\n* Paddington Bear - 32 Windsor Gardens, London\n* The Partridge Family - 698 Sycamore Road, San Pueblo, CA\n* Reginald Iolanthe Perrin (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin) - 12 Coleridge Close, Climthorpe, London, UK\n* Adrianna Pennino (Rocky) - 1818 Tusculum St, Philadelphia, PA 19134-3416\n* Petrie family (The Dick Van Dyke Show) - 448 Bonnie Meadow Road, New Rochelle, New York. Their next-door neighbors are Dr. Jerry Helper (a dentist), his wife Millie and their children.\n* Petrillo family (The Golden Girls) - 6151 Richmond Street, Miami Beach, Florida\n* Phil's Bar & Grill (Murphy Brown) - 1595 I Street NW, Washington, D.C. (Usually written as \"EYE Street\" to differentiate it from 1st Street, listed as \"FIRST\" on street signs)\n* Pickle and Lamb families (Cloudstreet) - 1 Cloud Street, West Leederville, Perth, Western Australia\n* Hercule Poirot - Apt. 56B, Whitehaven Mansions, Sandhurst Square, London W1, UK.\n* Solar Pons - 71B Praed Street, London, UK\n* Post family (Mr. Ed) - 17230 Valley Road, USA\n* Harry Potter - The cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey (later moved to normal bedroom, as Dursley family, above)\n* Screech Powers (Saved by the Bell) - 88 Edgemont, Palisades, California\nR\n* Ricardo family (I Love Lucy) - Apartment 4A (later 3D), 623 East 68th Street, New York, New York\n* Mary Richards (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Apartment D, 119 North Weatherly Avenue, Minneapolis, MN\n* Jim Rockford (The Rockford Files) - 2354 Pacific Coast Highway, California, USA\n* Rush family (Keep it in the Family) - Highgate Avenue, Highgate\nS\n* Fred G. and Lamont Sanford (Sanford and Son) - 9114 S. Central Ave., Watts, Los Angeles, California.\n* Doc Savage - 86th floor of \"the skyscraper\" (implicitly the Empire State Building), New York, New York. He also resided in a Fortress of Solitude at the North Pole ... presumably sharing this space with Superman and Santa Claus!\n* Dana Scully (The X-Files) - 3170 W. 53 Rd. #35, Annapolis, Maryland\n* Lynette Scavo and her family (Desperate Housewives) - 4355 Wisteria Lane, Fairview, Eagle State\n* Seaver family (Growing Pains) - 15 Robin Hood Lane, USA (later specified as Huntington, Long Island, New York)\n* Jerry Seinfeld - Apartment 5A, 129 West 81st Street, New York, New York (The actual address of that apartment is 757 S. New Hampshire Ave. in Los Angeles, 1 block south of Wilshire Bl.)\n*Angelica Serralde (Blue Demon Jr., el Legado) - Heriberto Frias 15, Mexico City.\n* Sethe (main character of Toni Morrison's Beloved) - 124 Bluestone Road, Cincinnati, OH\n* Ena Sharples (Coronation Street) - Glad Tidings Mission, 16 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* The Simpsons - 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, USA\n**15201 Maple Systems Road, Cypress Creek, USA (You Only Move Twice )\n* Soprano family (The Sopranos); 633 Stag Trail Road in North Caldwell, New Jersey, USA\n* SpongeBob SquarePants - 124 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Sabrina Spellman (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - 133 Collins Road, in the fictional town of Westbridge, USA\n* Patrick Star (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 120 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Steadman family (Thirtysomething) - 1710 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Philadelphia, PA\n* Stephens family (Bewitched) - 1164 Morning Glory Circle, Westport, CT\n* Harold and Albert Steptoe (Steptoe and Son) - 24 Oil Drum Lane, Shepherd's Bush, UK.\n* Stone family (The Donna Reed Show) - 4-3926 Hillsdale\n*Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum -177A Bleecker Street in New York's Greenwich Village\n* Sugarbaker Design Firm (Designing Women) - 1521 Sycamore, Atlanta, GA\n* Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale, CA\n* Superman and Lois Lane - 1938 Sulivan Lane, Metropolis, USA (in recent/current comics; 1938 being a tribute to the year of the character's comic book debut)\nT\n* Tanner family (ALF) - 167 Hemdale Street, Los Angeles, California\n* Tanner family (Full House) - 1882 Gerard Street, San Francisco, California\n* Albert Tatlock (Coronation Street) - 1 Coronation Street, Weatherfield, Greater Manchester, UK\n* Taylor family (The Andy Griffith Show) - 322 Maple, Mayberry, North Carolina\n* Taylor family (Home Improvement) - 510 Glenview, Detroit, Michigan\n* Tenenbaum family (The Royal Tenenbaums) - 111 Archer Avenue, New York City, New York\n* Squidward Tentacles (SpongeBob SquarePants) - 122 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean\n* Eric Thursley (Faust Eric) - 13 Midden Lane, Pseudopolis, Sto Plains, The Discworld, On top of Great A'tuin, The Univers, Space. nr. More Space\n* Aunt Dahlia, Mrs Travers (Jeeves and Wooster) - 47 Charles Street, Mayfair, London; Brinkley Court, Brinkley-cum-Snodsfield-in-the-Marsh, near Market Snodsbury, Worcs\n* Tripper, Jack (Three's Company) - 834 Ocean Vista Avenue #201, Santa Monica, California, USA\n* Trotter family (Only Fools and Horses) - Nelson Mandela House, Peckham, London\n* Joy and Darnell Turner (My Name Is Earl) - Pimmit Hills Trailer Park, Space C-13, Camden, USA\n* Jackie and Rose Tyler (Doctor Who) - Flat 48, Bucknall House, Powell Estate, London\nV\n* Vimes family (Discworld novels) - Ramkin Manor, Scoone Avenue, Ankh-Morpork\nW\n* Wallace and Gromit - 62 West Wallaby Street, Wigan, Lancs\n* Walsh family (Beverly Hills 90210) - 933 Hillcrest Drive, Beverly Hills, California\n* Waluigi (Mario Power Tennis) - 12 Grimace Lane, Mushroom Kingdom\n* Bruce Wayne (Batman) - Wayne Manor, outside Gotham City (exact location unknown)\n* Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, home and business of Fred and George Weasley - 93 Diagon Alley, London\n* Wilkerson family ( Malcolm in the Middle ) - 12334 Maple Blvd.\n* Lord Peter Wimsey - 110a Piccadilly, London\n* Charles Emerson Winchester III (') - 16 Briarcliff Lane, Boston. \"Yes, yes, Massachusetts.\" (Though a remark by Colonel Flagg suggests the Winchester family actually lives in suburban Wellesley.)\n* Sandy Winfield II and Kenny Madison - Surfside 6, Miami Beach address of detective agency set on a houseboat.\n* Winslow family (Family Matters) - 263 Pinehurst, Chicago, Illinois\n* Nero Wolfe - 454 West 35th Street, New York, New York ; also described in some of the novels as simply West 35th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, that location is the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.\nX\n* Xavier Institute for Higher Learning (X-Men) - 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, New York\nZ"
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In August 2015 Hamas claimed to have intercepted an Israeli (What?) equipped for spying and armed attack? | Dolphin | [
"Hamas.txt\nHamas\nHamas ( ', an acronym of ' Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and, since 2007, has been the governing authority of the Gaza Strip.Richard Davis. [https://books.google.com/books?id\nbmaFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT68 Hamas, Popular Support and War in the Middle East: Insurgency in the Holy Land]. Routledge. 2016. pp. 67-69. \n\nHamas was founded in 1987, soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which in its Gaza branch had been non-confrontational towards Israel, refrained from resistance, and was hostile to the PLO. Co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987, and the Hamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The group has stated that it may accept a 10-year truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders and allows Palestinian refugees from 1948, as well as their descendants, to return to what is now Israel, although clarifying that this does not mean recognition of Israel or the end of the conflict. Hamas's military wing has objected to the truce offer. Analysts have said that it seems clear that Hamas knows that many of its conditions for the truce could never be met. \n\nThe military wing of Hamas has launched attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Tactics include suicide bombings, and since 2001, rocket attacks. Hamas's rocket arsenal, though mainly consisting of short-range homemade Qassam rockets, also includes long-range weapons that have reached major Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa. The attacks on civilians have been condemned as war crimes and crimes against humanity by human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch. \n\nIn the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas won a plurality in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the PLO-affiliated Fatah party. Following the elections, the Quartet (the United States, Russia, United Nations, and European Union) made future foreign assistance to the PA conditional upon the future government's commitment to non-violence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements. Hamas rejected those changes, which led to the Quartet suspending its foreign assistance program and Israel imposing economic sanctions on the Hamas-led administration. In March 2007, a national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was briefly formed, but this failed to restart international financial assistance. Tensions over control of Palestinian security forces soon erupted in the 2007 Battle of Gaza, after which Hamas took control of Gaza, while its officials were ousted from government positions in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, on the grounds that Fatah forces were no longer providing security there. In 2011, Hamas and Fatah announced a reconciliation agreement that provides for creation of a joint caretaker Palestinian government. Progress stalled, until an April 2014 agreement to form a compromise unity government, with elections to be held in late 2014. \n\nIn 2006, Hamas used an underground cross-border tunnel to capture the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, holding him captive until 2011, when he was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. Since then, Hamas has continued building a network of internal and cross-border tunnels, which are used to store and deploy weapons, shield militants, and facilitate cross-border attacks. Destroying the tunnels was a primary objective of Israeli forces in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. \n\nHamas, its military wing, together with several charities it runs, has been designated by several governments as a terrorist organization. Others regard this designation as problematic. Israel outlawed Hamas in 1989, in 1996 the United States followed suit, as did Canada in 2002. The European Union defined the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades as terrorist in 2001, and put Hamas in its list of terrorist organizations in 2003 but such designation was successfully challenged by Hamas in the courts. An Egyptian court ruled Hamas was a terrorist organization in 2015. Japan froze Hamas assets according to its legislation on terrorist entities in 2006. Australia and the United Kingdom have designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The organization is also banned in Jordan. It is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, and Brazil.\n\nEtymology\n\nHamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية or Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya, meaning \"Islamic Resistance Movement\". The Arabic word 'hamas' (حماس) means \"courage\" or \"zeal\". The Hamas covenant interprets its name to mean \"strength and bravery\".Jennifer Jefferis. [https://books.google.com/books?id\nrzRpCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and Its Future in Middle East Politics]. ABC-CLIO. 2016. p. 119. \n\nAims\n\nHamas, as its name (Islamic Resistance Movement), aims to liberate Palestine from the Israeli occupation by resisting it. \nAnd according to Hamas armed branch Al-Qassam Brigades:\n\n\"To contribute in the effort of liberating Palestine and restoring the rights of the Palestinian people under the sacred Islamic teachings of the Holy Quran, the Sunnah (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the traditions of Muslims rulers and scholars noted for their piety and dedication.\" \n\nAl-Qassam Brigades aims to liberate all of Palestine from what they describe as Zionist occupation, and to achieve the rights of the Palestinian people that were robbed by the occupation, and it consider itself part of the movement of a project of national liberation. \n\nLeadership and structure\n\nHamas inherited from its predecessor a tripartite structure that consisted in the provision of social services, of religious training and military operations under a Shura Council. Traditionally it had 4 distinct functions: a charitable social welfare division(dawah) (b) a military division for procuring weapons and undertaking operations (al-Mujahideen al Filastinun) (c)a security service (Jehaz Aman) and a (d) media branch (A’alam). Hamas has both an internal leadership within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and an external leadership, split between a Gaza group directed by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook from his exile first in Damascus and then in Egypt, and a Kuwaiti group (Kuwaidia) under Khaled Mashal. The Kuwaiti group of Palestinian exiles began to receive extensive funding from the Gulf States after its leader Mashal broke with Yasser Arafat's decision to side with Saddam Hussein in the Invasion of Kuwait, with Mashal insisting that Iraq withdraw. \n\nThe exact nature of the organization is unclear, secrecy being maintained for fear of Israeli assassinations and to conceal operational activities. Formally, Hamas maintains the wings are separate and independent. Matthew Levitt maintains this is a public myth. Davis argues that they are both separate and combined for reasons of internal and external political necessity. The thoroughness of Israeli intelligence surveillance and an extensive base of informants, makes communications between the political and military wings difficult. After the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, the occasional political direction of the militant wing diminished, with field commanders given discretional autonomy on operations. \n\nConsultative councils\n\nThe governing body is the Majlis al-Shura. The principle behind the Council is based on the Qur'anic concept of consultation and popular assembly (shura), which Hamas leaders argue provides for democracy within an Islamic frasmework. As the organization grew more complex and Israeli pressure increased it needed a broader base for decisions, the Shura Council was renamed the 'General Consultative Council', elected from members of local council groups and this in turn elected a 15-member Politburo (al-Maktab al-Siyasi) that made decisions at the highest level. Representatives come from Gaza, the West Bank, leaders in exile and Israeli prisons.Benedetta Berti, [https://books.google.com/books?id\nEUcDAAAAQBAJ&pgPA88 Armed Political Organizations: From Conflict to Integration,] JHU Press, 2013 p.88. This organ was located in Damascus until the Syrian Civil War led it to transfer to Qatar in January 2012, when Hamas sided with the civil opposition against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. \n\nSocial Services Wing\n\nHamas developed its social welfare programme by replicating the model established by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. In Islamic tradition dawah (lit.'the call to God') obliges the faithful to reach out to others by both proselytising and by charitable works, and typically the latter centre on the mosques which make use of both waqf endowment resources and charitable donations (zakat) to fund grassroots services like nurseries, schools, orphanages, soup kitchens, women's activities, library services and even sporting clubs within a larger context of preaching and political discussions. In the 1990s, some 85% of its budget was allocated to the provision of social services. It has been called perhaps the most significant social services actor in Palestine. By 2000 it or its affiliated charities ran roughly 40% of the social institutions in the West Bank and Gaza and, with other Islamic charities, by 2005 was supporting 120,000 individuals with monthly financial support in Gaza.Lihi Ben Shitrit, [https://books.google.com/books?id\nzUjuCQAAQBAJ&pgPA71 Righteous Transgressions: Women's Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right,] Princeton University Press, 2015 p.71. Part of the appeal of these institutions is that they fill a vacuum in the administration by the PLO of the Palestinian territories, which had failed to cater to the demand for jobs and broad social services, and is widely viewed as corrupt.David L. Phillips,[https://books.google.com/books?idcNq0gvBPcGQC&pg\nPA75 From Bullets to Ballots: Violent Muslim Movements in Transition,] Transaction Publishers, 2011 p.75. As late as 2005, the budget of Hamas, drawing on global charity contributions, was mostly tied up in covering running expenses for its social programmes, which extended from the supply of housing, food and water for the needy to more general functions like financial aid, medical assistance, educational development and religious instruction. A certain accounting flexibility allowed these funds to cover both charitable causes and military operations, permitting transfer from one to the other. \n\nThe dawah infrastructure itself was understood, within the Palestinian context, as providing the soil from which a militant opposition to the occupation would flower. In this regard it differs from the rival Palestinian Islamic Jihad which lacks any social welfare network, and relies on spectacular terrorist attacks to recruit adherents. In 2007, through funding from Iran, Hamas managed to allocate at a cost of $60 million, monthly stipends of $100 for 100,000 workers, and a similar sum for 3,000 fishermen [Blockade of the Gaza Strip#Effect on the fishing industry|laid idle by Israel's imposition of restrictions] on fishing offshore, plus grants totalling $45 million to detainees and their families. Matthew Levitt argues that Hamas grants to people are subject to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis of how beneficiaries will support Hamas, with those linked to terrorist activities receiving more than others. Israel holds the families of suicide bombers accountable and bulldozes their homes, whereas the families of Hamas activists who have been killed or wounded during militant operations are given an initial, one-time grant varying between $500–$5,000, together with a $100 monthly allowance. Rent assistance is also given to families whose homes have been destroyed by Israeli bombing though families unaffiliated with Hamas are said to receive less. \n\nUntil 2007, these activities extended to the West Bank, but, after a PLO crackdown, now continue exclusively in the Gaza Strip. After the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état deposed the elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Hamas found itself in a financial straightjacket and has since endeavoured to throw the burden of responsibility for public works infrastructure in the Gaza Strip back onto the Palestinian National Authority, but without success. \n\nMilitary wing\n\nThe Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing was formed in either mid-1991 Mohammad Najib and Roland Friedrich 'Non-Statutory Armed Groups and Security Sector Governance,' in Roland Friedrich, Arnold Luethold (eds.),[https://books.google.com/books?id\nicV4k__xMmgC&pgPA106 Entry-points to Palestinian Security Sector Reform,] DCAF, 2007 pp.101-127 p.103.This date is based on a Hamas operation that assassinated the rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom inside the Gaza Strip. or 1992,under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas field-commander and bomb-maker assassinated by Israel in 1996. It was constituted from units associated with the earlier al-Jihad wa Da’wa, an umbrella group that had gathered in militants from various Islamic resistance cells like the Al-Mujahidun al-Filastiniun (Palestinian fighters). established by Salah Shehade in 1986. \n\nThe wing takes its name from the prewar militant Palestinian nationalist Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, though Hamas cells sometimes refer to themselves as \"Students of Ayyash\", \"Students of the Engineer\", or \"Yahya Ayyash Units\". At the outset, weapons were hard to come by, and the organization began to resort to intermittent kidnappings of soldiers to secure arms and munitions. This approach had been justified two years earlier when, in the wake of the killing of some 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces dispersing protestors at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1990, Hamas had declared every Israeli soldier a legitimate target.Alincée Van Engeland,'Hamas,' in Jeffrey Ian Ross (ed.)[https://books.google.com/books?idMFfrBgAAQBAJ&pg\nPA319 Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present,] Routledge 2015 pp.319-323: p.319.\n\nAyyash, with a degree in electrical engineering, quickly improved Hamas's strike capacity by developing IEDs and promoting the tactic of suicide bombings. By the time of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Hamas's laboratories had devised a primitive form of rocketry, the Qassam 1,which they first launched in October 2000, carrying a 500 gram warhead with a throw range of 4 kilometres. Both propellant and the explosive were manufactured from chemical fertilizers, though TNT was also tried. Over the next 5 years of the conflict, a 3 kilogram warhead armed version with a strike range of 6-8 kilometres, the Qassam 2, was also produced and in an incremental rise, these rocket types were fired towards Israeli settlements along the Gaza Strip:4 in 2001,35 in 2002, 155 in 2003,281 in 2004, and 179 in 2005. By 2005, the Qassam 3 had been engineered with a 12-14 kilometre range and a 15 kilo warhead. By 2006, 942 such rockets were launched into southern Israel. During the War with Israel in 2008-9, Hamas deployed 122-mm Grad rocketry with a 20-40 kilometre range and a 30 kilogram warhead and a variety of guided Kornet antitank missiles. By 2012 Hamas had engineered a version of the Fajr-5 rocket, which was capable of reaching as far as Tel Aviv, as was shown after the assassination of Ahmed Jabari in that year. In the 2014 war its advanced rocketry reached Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Hamas deployed its increasingly sophisticated rocketry to replace its martyrdom operations. \n \nWhile the number of members is known only to the Brigades leadership, Israel estimates the Brigades have a core of several hundred members who receive military style training, including training in Iran and in Syria (before the Syrian Civil War).Mathieu Guidère, [https://books.google.com/books?id\ntCvhzGiDMYsC&pgPA173 Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism,] Scarecrow Press, 2012 p.173. Additionally, the brigades have an estimated 10,000-17,000 operatives, forming a backup force whenever circumstances call for reinforcements for the Brigade. Recruitment training lasts for 2 years.\n\nThe group's ideology outlines its aim as the liberation of Palestine and the restoration of Palestinian rights under the dispensations set forth in the Qur'an, and this translates into three policy priorities:\nTo evoke the spirit of Jihad (Resistance) among Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims; to defend Palestinians and their land against the Zionist occupation and its manifestations; to liberate Palestinians and their land that was usurped by the Zionist occupation forces and settlers. \nAccording to its official stipulations, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades' military operations are to be restricted to operating only inside Palestine, engaging with Israeli soldiers, and in exercising the right of self-defense against armed settlers. They are to avoid civilian targets, to respect the enemy's humanity by refraining from mutilation, defacement or excessive killing, and to avoid targeting Westerners either in the occupied zones or beyond. \n\nIn practice, Hamas altered its approach restricting actions to 'legitimate military targets' by extended them to Israeli civilians after 7 years. Though between 1996 and 2001 it generally refrained from targeting Israeli civilians, it adopted sporadic suicide bombings in the wake of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre when an Israeli settler in military fatigues, Baruch Goldstein, shot dead 29 Muslims at prayer in 1993.R.Kim Cragin,'Learning to Survive:The Case of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)', in James JF Forrest (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id1R79AAAAQBAJ&pg\nPA199 Teaching Terror: Strategic and Tactical Learning in the Terrorist World,] Rowman & Littlefield, 2006 pp.189-204 p.196. After the Al Aqsa revolt, the Brigades were behind most of the suicide bombings in Israel, a measure it defended as a form of 'reciprocity'.\n\nDown to 2007, the Brigades are estimated to have lost some 800 operatives in conflicts with Israeli forces. The leadership has been consistently undermined by targeted assassinations. Aside from Yahya Ayyash (5 January 1996), it has lost Emad Akel (24 November 1993) Salah Shehade, (23 July 2002), Ibrahim al-Makadmeh, (8 March 2003) Ismail Abu Shanab, (21 August 2003) Ahmed Yassin (March 22, 2004) and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi,( April 17, 2004)., \n\nAfter Israel arrested hundreds of its members in May 1989, Hamas regionalized its command system to make its operative structure more diffuse, and minimalize the chances of being detected.Jeroen Gunning, 'Hamas:Harakat al-Muqamama al-Islamiyya,' in Marianne Heiberg, Brendan O'Leary, John Tirman (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?idm8_pM7Ncij8C&pg\nPA134 Terror, Insurgency, and the State: Ending Protracted Conflicts,] University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007 pp.123-155 p.134. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades groups its fighters in 4-5 man cells, which in turn are integrated into companies and battalions. Unlike the political section, which is split between an internal and external structure, the Brigades are under a local Palestinian leadership, and disobedience with the decisions taken by the political leadership have been relatively rare. \n\nAlthough the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, the exact nature of the relationship is hotly debated:they appear to operate at times independently of Hamas, exercising a certain autonomy. Matthew Levitt,[https://books.google.com/books?idF5EmiYXQUcsC&pg\nPA89 Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks,] Rowman & Littlefield 2008 pp.89f. Some cells have independent links with the external leadership, enabling them to bypass the hierarchical command chain and political leadership in Gaza. Ilana Kass and Bard O'Neill, likening Hamas's relationship with the Brigades to the political party Sinn Féin's relationship to the military arm of the Irish Republican Army. quote a senior Hamas official as stating: \"The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade is a separate armed military wing, which has its own leaders who do not take their orders from Hamas and do not tell us of their plans in advance.\" Ilana Kass & Bard E. O'Neill, [https://books.google.com/books?idApANDp1XzmgC&pg\nPA267 The Deadly Embrace: The Impact of Israeli and Palestinian Rejectionism on the Peace Process,] National Institute for Public Policy/ University Press of America 1997, p. 267. Matthew Levitt on the other hand argues vocally for the idea that Hamas's welfare institutions act as a mere façade or front for the financing of terrorism, and dismisses the idea of two wings as a 'myth'.Julie C.Herrick,'Non-State Actors: A Comparative Analysis of Change and Development Within Hamas and Hezbollah,' in Bahgat Korany (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id\nxyMjPQDzIp8C&pg=PA179 The Changing Middle East: A New Look at Regional Dynamics,] American University in Cairo Press, 2010 pp.167-195, p.179. He cites Sheikh Ahmad Yassin stating in 1998: \"We can not separate the wing from the body. If we do so, the body will not be able to fly. Hamas is one body.\" \n\nFinances and Funding\n\nIn the 1993 Philadelphia conference Hamas leaders's statements indicated that they read George H. W. Bush's outline of as New World Order as embodying a tacit aim to destroy Islam, and that therefore funding should focus on enhancing the Islamic roots of Palestinian society and promoting jihad in the occupying territories. \n\nHamas's budget, calculated to be (2011) roughly $US70 million, is derived in large part (85%), from foreign, rather than internal Palestinian, sources. Only 2 Israeli-Palestinian sources figure in a list seized in 2004, while the other contributors were donor bodies located in Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Germany, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Italy and France. Much of the money raised comes from sources that direct their assistance to what Hamas describes as its charitable work for Palestinians, but investments in support of its ideological position are also relevant, with Persian Gulf States and Saudi Arabia prominent in the latter. Matthew Levitt states that Hamas also taps money from corporations, criminal organizations and financial networks that support terror, and is believed to engage in cigarette and drug smuggling, multimedia copyright infringement and credit card fraud.\nVittori states that, more than other similar organizations, it is particularly careful about keeping resources for its militant, political and pu blic works activities separate. The United States, Israel and the EU have shut down many charities and organs that channel money to Hamas, such as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief, Between 1992-2001 this group is said to have provided $6.8 million to Palestinian charities of the &57 million collected. By 2001 it was alleged to have given Hamas $13 million, and was shut down shortly afterwards. \n\nAbout half of Hamas's funding came from states in the Persian Gulf down to the mid 2000s. Saudi Arabia supplied half of the Hamas budget of $50 million in the early 2000s.Marsh E.Burfeindt, 'Rapprochement with Iran', in Thomas A. Johnson \n(ed.),[https://books.google.com/books?idtu5m8_0iUSoC&pg\nPA198 Power, National Security, and Transformational Global Events: Challenges Confronting America, China, and Iran,] CRC Press, 2012 pp.185-235 p.198. but, under U.S. pressure, began cut its funding by cracking down on Islamic charities and private donor transfers to Hamas in 2004,Jodi Vittori, [https://books.google.com/books?id\nra_GAAAAQBAJ&pgPA193 Terrorist Financing and Resourcing,] Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 pp.72-74, p.193 notes 50,51. which by 2006 drastically reduced the flow of money from that area. Iran and Syria, in the aftermath of Hamas's 2006 electoral victory stepped in to fill the shortfall. Saudi funding, negotiated with third parties like Egypt, remained supportive of Hamas as a Sunni group but chose to provide more assistance to the PNA, the electoral loser, when the EU responded to the outcome by suspending its monetary aid. Iran in the 1980s began by providing 10% of Hamas's funding, which it increased annually until by the 1990s it supplied $30 million, It accounted for $22 million, over a quarter of Hamas's budget, by the late 2000s, According to Matthew Levitt, Iran preferred direct financing to operative groups rather than charities, requiring video proof of attacks. Much of the Iran funding is said to be channeled through Hezbollah.\nAfter 2006 Iran's willingness to take over the burden of the shortfall created by the drying up of Saudi funding also reflected the geopolitical tensions between the two, since, though Shiite, Iran was supporting a Sunni group traditionally closely linked with the Saudi kingdom. The US imposed sanctions on Iran's Bank Saderat, alleging it had funneled hundreds of millions to Hamas. The US has expressed concerns that for Hamas obtains funds through Palestinian and Lebanese sympathizers of Arab descent in the Foz do Iguaçu area of the tri-border region of Latin America, an area long associated with arms trading, drug trafficking, contraband, the manufacture of counterfeit goods, money-laundering and currency fraud. The State Department, but add that confirmatory information of a Hamas operational presence there is lacking. \n\nAfter 2009, sanctions on Iran made funding difficult, forcing Hamas to rely on religious donations by individuals in the West Bank, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Funds, amounting to tens of millions of dollars raised in the Gulf states, were transferred through the Rafah Border Crossing. These were not sufficient to cover the costs of governing the Strip and running the al Qassam Brigades, and when tensions arose with Iran over support of President Assad in Syria, ran dropped its financial assistance to the government, restricting its funding to the military wing, which meant a drop from $150 million in 2012 to $60 million the following year. A further drop occurred in 2015 when Hamas expressed its criticisms of Iran's role in the Yemeni Civil War. \n\nHistory\n\n \n\nGaza Islamic roots and establishment of Hamas\n\nHamas rose as an offshoot of the Gaza Mujama al-Islamiya branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood,Ziyād Abū ʻAmr, [https://books.google.com/books?id\njrTG5sdLHD8C&pgPA16 Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad,] Indiana University Press, 1994 p.16.Rashmi Singh, [https://books.google.com/books?idAQ_TOiLtdtAC&pg\nPA153 Hamas and Suicide Terrorism: Multi-causal and Multi-level Approaches,] Routledge, 2013 p.153 n.70. which had been actively encouraged by Israel to expand as a counterweight to the influence of the secular Palestine Liberation Organization . and had since 1973 been quiescent and non-confrontational towards Israel. Aside from developing Islamic charities to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, it emphasized social justice (adala) and the subordination of the world to the sovereignty of God (hakmiyya).\nHamas was founded in 1987, soon after the outbreak of the First Intifada, the first popular uprising against the Israeli occupation.\nCreating Hamas to participate in the revolt was regarded as a survival measure to enable the Brotherhood itself, which refused to fight against Israel,[https://books.google.com/books?id\n9fQ3AwAAQBAJ&pgPA15 The World Almanac of Islamism: 2014,] American Foreign Policy Council/Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 (Hamas pp.272-278). to hold its own against other competing Palestinian nationalist groups. By forming a military wing distinct from its social charity organizations, it was hoped that the latter would be insulated from being targeted by Israel.Joshua L. Gleis, Benedetta Berti, [https://books.google.com/books?idvYBtwkj78BUC&pg\nPT111 Hezbollah and Hamas: A Comparative Study,] Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012 p.119:'In truth, the creation of Hamas as a separate entity from the Muslim Brotherhood was done precisely to prevent Israeli authorities from targeting the organizations' greater activities, in the hopes that it would leave them relatively immune. Moreover, Hamas was created essentially because the Islamicists connected to the Muslim Brotherhood feared that without their direct participation in the first Intifada, they would lose supporters to both the PIJ and the PLO, the latter of which was anxious to reassert itself in the Palestinian territories after being marginalized following its expulsion from Lebanon. As authors Mishal and Saela, explain, \"The Mujamma's decision to adopt a 'jihad now' policy against 'enemies of Allah' (through the creation of Hamas) was thus largely a matter of survival.'\nCo-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin was convinced that Israel was endeavouring to destroy Islam, and concluded that loyal Muslims had a religious obligation into destroy Israel.Laura Neack, [https://books.google.com/books?id\n7N9O-igbK_gC&pgPA101 The New Foreign Policy: Power Seeking in a Globalized Era,] Rowman & Littlefield 2008 p.101. The short term goal of Hamas was to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation . The long-term aim sought to establish an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.\n\nHamas Charter (1988)\n\nThe foundational document, the Hamas Charter (mīthāq ḥarakat 18 August 1988), declared all of Palestine waqf property endowed by God to Muslims,Gabriel Weimann,[https://books.google.com/books?id\n19iCbNOoYmIC&pg=PA82 Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges,] US Institute of Peace Press, 2006 p.82. with religious coexistence under Islam's wing. Like the Likud party platform, it rejects a two-state solution, envisaging no peaceful solution to the conflict apart from jihad. The antisemitic passages, widely cited as characterizing Hamas despite later policy changes in the organization regarding Israel, and the Jews, have never been revoked. \n\nThe Charter appears to preempt the possibility of Hamas accepting the Two State Solution. The Hamas 1988 charter states that the movement's aim is toraise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned' (Article 6) It adds that, 'when our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims.Mark A. Tessler [https://books.google.com/books?id\n3kbU4BIAcrQC&pg=PA696 A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,] Indiana University Press, 1994 pp.546,696 Mirroring the position outlined by Israeli political parties and movements like Likud and Gush Emunim, for which the whole of the land is non-negotiable, for Hamas, to concede territory is seen as equivalent to renouncing Islam itself. \n\nDecades down the line, Hamas's official position changed with regard to a two-state solution, though like the Likud platform, its charter's irredentist character has not been reformulated. Khaled Mashaal, its leader, has publicly affirmed the movement's readiness to accept such a division.David Whitten, Smith, Elizabeth Geraldine Burr, [https://books.google.com/books?id\n5v-iBAAAQBAJ&pgPA250 Understanding World Religions: A Road Map for Justice and Peace,] Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 p.250Peter Beinart, [https://books.google.com/books?idv0U1fjErMGkC&pg\nPT231 The Crisis of Zionism,] Melbourne University Press 2012 p.231:'If Israel withdraws to the borders of 1967, it doesn't mean that it gives us back all the land of the Palestinians. But we do consider this as an acceptable solution to have a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967'. When Hamas won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Haniyeh, then president-elect, sent messages to both George Bush and Israel's leaders asking to be recognized and offering a long-term truce (hudna), along the 1967 border lines. No response was forthcoming.Dr. Lorenzo Kamel, [http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.608906 'Why do Palestinians in Gaza support Hamas?,'] Haaretz 5 August 2014\n\nMousa Marzook said in 2007 that the charter could not be altered because it would look like a compromise not acceptable to the 'street' and risk fracturing the party's unity. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has stated that the Charter is \"a piece of history and no longer relevant, but cannot be changed for internal reasons\".Ahmed Yousef, senior adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, added in 2011 that it reflected the views of the Elders in the face of a 'relentless occupation.' The details of its religious and political language had not been examined within the framework of international law, and an internal committee review to amend it was shelved out of concern not to offer concessions to Israel, as had Fatah, on a silver platter. While Hamas representatives recognize the problem, one official notes that Arafat got very little in return for changing the PLO Charter under the Oslo Accords, and that there is agreement that little is gained from a non-violent approach.Matthew Duss, [http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/190832/remember-gaza 'Remember Gaza?,]' Tablet Magazine 8 May 2015.\nRichard Davis says the dismissal by contemporary leaders of its relevance and yet the suspension of a desire to rewrite it reflects the differing constituencies Hamas must address, the domestic audience and international relations. The charter itself is considered an 'historical relic.' \n\nIn March 2006, Hamas released its official legislative program. The document clearly signaled that Hamas could refer the issue of recognizing Israel to a national referendum. Under the heading \"Recognition of Israel,\" it stated simply (AFP, 3/11/06): \"The question of recognizing Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people.\" This was a major shift away from their 1988 charter. A few months later, via University of Maryland's Jerome Segal, the group sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush stating they \"don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders\", and asked for direct negotiations: \"Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and a truce for many years could be considered Hamas's de facto recognition of Israel.\" \n\nIn an April 2008 meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, an understanding was reached in which Hamas agreed it would respect the creation of a Palestinian state in the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, provided this were ratified by the Palestinian people in a referendum. Hamas later publicly offered a long-term truce with Israel if Israel agreed to return to its 1967 borders and grant the \"right of return\" to all Palestinian refugees. In November 2008, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh re-stated that Hamas was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and offered Israel a long-term truce \"if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights\". In 2009, in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Haniyeh repeated his group's support for a two-state settlement based on 1967 borders: \"We would never thwart efforts to create an independent Palestinian state with borders [from] June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.\" On December 1, 2010, Ismail Haniyeh again repeated, \"We accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the resolution of the issue of refugees,\" and \"Hamas will respect the results [of a referendum] regardless of whether it differs with its ideology and principles.\" \n\nIn February 2012, according to the Palestinian authority, Hamas forswore the use of violence. Evidence for this was provided by an eruption of violence from Islamic Jihad in March 2012 after an Israeli assassination of a Jihad leader, during which Hamas refrained from attacking Israel. \"Israel—despite its mantra that because Hamas is sovereign in Gaza it is responsible for what goes on there—almost seems to understand,\" wrote Israeli journalists Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, \"and has not bombed Hamas offices or installations\". \n\nIsrael has rejected some truce offers by Hamas because it contends the group uses them to prepare for more fighting rather than peace. The Atlantic magazine columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, along with other analysts, believes Hamas may be incapable of permanent reconciliation with Israel. Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University, writes that Hamas talks \"of hudna [temporary ceasefire], not of peace or reconciliation with Israel. They believe over time they will be strong enough to liberate all historic Palestine.\"\n\n1990s\n\nHamas carried out its first attack against Israel in 1989, abducting and killing two soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces immediately arrested Yassin and sentenced him to life in prison, and deported 400 Hamas activists, including Zahar, to South Lebanon, which at the time was occupied by Israel. During this time Hamas built a relationship with Hezbollah.\nHamas's military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was created in 1991. During the 1990s the al-Qassam Brigades conducted numerous attacks on Israel, with both civilian and military victims. In April 1993, suicide bombings in the West Bank began. After the February 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein of 30 Muslim civilians in a Hebron mosque, the al-Qassam Brigades began suicide attacks inside Israel. \n\nIn December 1992 Israel responded to the killing of a border police officer by deporting 415 leading figures of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to Lebanon, which provoked international condemnation and a unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the action. \n\nAlthough the suicide attacks by the al-Qassam Brigades and other groups violated the 1993 Oslo accords (which Hamas opposed ), Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was reluctant to pursue the attackers and may have had inadequate means to do so. Some analysts state that the Palestinian Authority could have stopped the suicide and other attacks on civilians but refused to do so. \n\nAccording to the Congressional Research Service, Hamas admitted to having executed Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israeli authorities in the 1990s. A transcript of a training film by the al-Qassam Brigades tells how Hamas operatives kidnapped Palestinians accused of collaboration and then forced confessions before executing them.\n\nIn 1996, Yahya Ayash, the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated by the Israeli secret service. \n\nIn September 1997, Israeli agents in Jordan attempted but failed to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, leading to chilled relations between the two countries and release of Sheikh Yassin, Hamas's spiritual leader, from Israeli prison. Two years later Hamas was banned in Jordan, reportedly in part at the request of the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. Jordan's King Abdullah feared the activities of Hamas and its Jordanian allies would jeopardize peace negotiations with Israel, and accused Hamas of engaging in illegitimate activities within Jordan. In mid-September 1999, authorities arrested Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal and Ibrahim Ghosheh on their return from a visit to Iran, and charged them with being members of an illegal organization, storing weapons, conducting military exercises, and using Jordan as a training base. Hamas leaders denied the charges. Mashal was exiled and eventually settled in Syria. He fled to Qatar in 2012 as a result of the Syrian civil war.\n\nSecond Intifada\n\nAl-Qassam Brigades militants were among the armed groups that launched both military-style attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli civilian and military targets during the Second Intifada (also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada (, Intifāat El Aqa; , Intifādat El-Aqtzah), which began in late September 2000. This Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied territories was much more violent than the First Intifada. The military and civilian death toll is estimated at 5500 Palestinians and more than 1100 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners. A 2007 study of Palestinian suicide bombings during the second intifada (September 2000 through August 2005) found that about 40 percent were carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades. \n\nThe immediate trigger for the uprising is disputed, but a more general cause, writes U.S. political science professor Jeremy Pressman, was \"popular Palestinian discontent [that] grew during the Oslo peace process because the reality on the ground did not match the expectations created by the peace agreements\". Hamas would be the beneficiary of this growing discontent in the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections.\n\nIn January 2004, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said that the group would end armed resistance against Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem, and that restoring Palestinians' \"historical rights\" (relating to the 1948 Palestinian exodus) \"would be left for future generations\". On January 25, 2004, senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year truce, or hudna, in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the complete withdrawal by Israel from the territories captured in the 1967 Six Day War. Al-Rantissi stated that Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was \"difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation\". Israel immediately dismissed al-Rantissi's statements as insincere and a smokescreen for military preparations. Yassin was assassinated on March 22, 2004, by a targeted Israeli air strike, and al-Rantisi was assassinated by a similar air strike on April 18, 2004. \n\n2006 presidential and legislative elections\n\nWhile Hamas boycotted the 2005 Palestinian presidential election, it did participate in the 2005 municipal elections organized by Yasser Arafat in the occupied territories. In those elections it won control of over one third of Palestinian municipal councils, besting Fatah, which had for long been the biggest force in Palestinian politics. \n\nIn its election manifesto for the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas omitted a call for an end to Israel, though it did still call for armed struggle against the occupation. Hamas won the 2006 elections, winning 76 of the 132 seats to Fatah's 43. Seen by many as primarily a rejection of the Fatah government's corruption and ineffectiveness, the Hamas victory seemingly had brought to an end 40 years of PLO domination of Palestinian politics. \n\nIn early February 2006, Hamas offered Israel a 10-year truce \"in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem,\" and recognition of Palestinian rights including the \"right of return\". Mashal added that Hamas was not calling for a final end to armed operations against Israel, and it would not impede other Palestinian groups from carrying out such operations. \n\nAfter the election, the Quartet on the Middle East (the United States, Russia, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations) stated that assistance to the Palestinian Authority would only continue if Hamas renounced violence, recognized Israel, and accepted previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements, which Hamas refused to do. The Quartet then imposed a freeze on all international aid to the Palestinian territories. \n\nIn 2006 after the Gaza election, Hamas leader sent a letter addressed to George W. Bush where he among other things declared that Hamas would accept a state on the 1967 borders including a truce. However, the Bush administration did not reply. \n\n;Electoral Platform for Change and Reform\nThe Change and Reform List adopts a set of principles stemming from the Islamic tradition that we embrace. We see these principles as agreed upon not only by our Palestinian people, but also by our Arab and Islamic nation as a whole. These principles are:\n\n# True Islam with its civilized achievements and political, economic, social, and legal aspects is our frame of reference and our way of life.\n# Historic Palestine is part of the Arab and Islamic land and its ownership by the Palestinian people is a right that does not diminish over time. No military or legal measures will change that right.\n# The Palestinian people, wherever they reside, constitute a single and united people and form an integral part of the Arab and Muslim nation ... [Quranic verse]. Our Palestinian people are still living a phase of national liberation, and thus they have the right to strive to recover their own rights and end the occupation using all means, including armed struggle. We have to make all our resources available to support our people and defeat the occupation and establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.\n# The right of return of all Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to their land and properties, and the right to self-determination and all other national rights, are inalienable and cannot be bargained away for any political concessions.\n# We uphold the indigenous and inalienable rights of our people to our land, Jerusalem, our holy places, our water resources, borders, and a fully sovereign independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.\n# Reinforcing and protecting Palestinian national unity is one of the priorities of the Palestinian national action.\n# The issue of the prisoners is at the top of the Palestinian agenda. \n\nLegislative policy and reforming the judiciary.\n\n\"stress the separation between the three powers, the legislative, executive and judicial; activate the role of the Constitutional Court; re-form the Judicial Supreme Council and choose its members by elections and on the basis of qualifications rather than partisan, personal, and social considerations ... ; enact the necessary laws that guarantee the neutrality of general prosecutor ... [and] laws that will stop any transgression by the executive power on the constitution\".\n\nPublic freedoms and citizen rights.\n\n\"Achieve equality before the law among citizens in rights and duties; bring security to all citizens and protect their properties and assure their safety against arbitrary arrest, torture, or revenge; stress the culture of dialogue ... ; support the press and media institutions and maintain the right of journalists to access and to publish information; maintain freedom and independence of professional syndicates and preserve the rights of their membership\".\n\nHamas–Fatah conflict\n\nAfter the formation of the Hamas-led cabinet on March 20, 2006, tensions between Fatah and Hamas militants progressively rose in the Gaza strip as Fatah commanders refused to take orders from the government while the Palestinian Authority initiated a campaign of demonstrations, assassinations and abductions against Hamas, which led to Hamas responding. Israeli intelligence warned Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas had planned to kill him at his office in Gaza. According to a Palestinian source close to Abbas, Hamas considers president Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over the Palestinian Authority and decided to kill him. In a statement to Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Mohammed Nazzal, accused Abbas of being party to besieging and isolating the Hamas-led government. \n\nOn June 9, 2006, during an Israeli artillery operation, an explosion occurred on a busy Gaza beach, killing eight Palestinian civilians. It was assumed that Israeli shellings were responsible for the killings, but Israeli government officials denied this. Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire on June 10, taking responsibility for the subsequent Qassam rocket attacks launched from Gaza into Israel. \n\nOn June 25, two Israeli soldiers were killed and another, Gilad Shalit, captured following an incursion by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Popular Resistance Committees and Army of Islam. In response, the Israeli military launched Operation Summer Rains three days later, to secure the release of the kidnapped soldier, arresting 64 Hamas officials. Among them were 8 Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers and up to 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, The arrests, along with other events, effectively prevented the Hamas-dominated legislature from functioning during most of its term. \n\nOn February 2007 Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca produced agreement on a signed by Mahmoud Abbas on behalf of Fatah and Khaled Mashal on behalf of Hamas. The new government was called on to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the Palestine National Council, the clauses of the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the \"Prisoners' Document\") as well as the decisions of the Arab summit. \n\nIn March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah. In June that year, renewed fighting broke out between Hamas and Fatah. In the course of the June 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas exploited the near total collapse of Palestinian Authority forces in Gaza, to seize control of Gaza, ousting Fatah officials. President Mahmoud Abbas then dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government. and outlawed the Hamas militia. At least 600 Palestinians died in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group, accused both sides in the conflict of torture and war crimes. \n\nHuman Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were \"maimed\" and tortured in the aftermath of the Gaza War. 73 Gazan men accused of \"collaborating\" had their arms and legs broken by \"unidentified perpetrators\" and 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel, who had escaped from Gaza's main prison compound after Israel bombed the facility, were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict. \n\nHamas security forces attacked hundreds Fatah officials who supported Israel. Human Rights Watch interviewed one such person:\n\nIn March 2012 Mahmoud Abbas stated that there were no political differences between Hamas and Fatah as they had reached agreement on a joint political platform and on a truce with Israel. Commenting on relations with Hamas, Abbas revealed in an interview with Al Jazeera that \"We agreed that the period of calm would be not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in the West Bank,\" adding that \"We also agreed on a peaceful popular resistance [against Israel], the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and that the peace talks would continue if Israel halted settlement construction and accepted our conditions.\"\n\nProgress has stalled, until an April 2014 agreement to form a compromise unity government, with elections to be held in late 2014.\n\n2008-09 Gaza War\n\nOn June 17, 2008, Egyptian mediators announced that an informal truce had been agreed to between Hamas and Israel. Hamas agreed to cease rocket attacks on Israel, while Israel agreed to allow limited commercial shipping across its border with Gaza, barring any breakdown of the tentative peace deal; Hamas also hinted that it would discuss the release of Gilad Shalit. Israeli sources state that Hamas also committed itself to enforce the ceasefire on the other Palestinian organizations. Even before the truce was agreed to, some on the Israeli side were not optimistic about it, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin stating in May 2008 that a ground incursion into Gaza was unavoidable and would more effectively quell arms smuggling and pressure Hamas into relinquishing power. \n\nWhile Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire, the lull was sporadically violated by other groups, sometimes in defiance of Hamas. For example, on June 24 Islamic Jihad launched rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot; Israel called the attack a grave violation of the informal truce, and closed its border crossings with Gaza. On November 4, 2008, Israeli forces, in an attempt to stop construction of a tunnel, killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas responded by resuming rocket attacks, a total of 190 rockets in November according to Israel's military. \n\nWith the six-month truce officially expired on December 19, Hamas launched 50 to more than 70 rockets and mortars into Israel over the next three days, though no Israelis were injured. On December 21, Hamas said it was ready to stop the attacks and renew the truce if Israel stopped its \"aggression\" in Gaza and opened up its border crossings. \n\nOn December 27 and 28, Israel implemented Operation Cast Lead against Hamas. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said \"We warned Hamas repeatedly that rejecting the truce would push Israel to aggression against Gaza.\" According to Palestinian officials, over 280 people were killed and 600 were injured in the first two days of airstrikes. Most were Hamas police and security officers, though many civilians also died. According to Israel, militant training camps, rocket-manufacturing facilities and weapons warehouses that had been pre-identified were hit, and later they attacked rocket and mortar squads who fired around 180 rockets and mortars at Israeli communities. Chief of Gaza police force Tawfiq Jabber, head of the General Security Service Salah Abu Shrakh, senior religious authority and security officer Nizar Rayyan, and Interior Minister Said Seyam were among those killed during the fighting. Although Israel sent out thousands of cell-phone messages urging residents of Gaza to leave houses where weapons may be stored, in an attempt to minimise civilian casualties, some residents complained there was nowhere to go because many neighborhoods had received the same message. Israeli bombs landed close to civilian structures such as schools, and some alleged that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians. \n\nIsrael declared a unilateral ceasefire on January 17, 2009. Hamas responded the following day by announcing a one-week ceasefire to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Israeli, Palestinian, and third-party sources disagreed on the total casualty figures from the Gaza war, and the number of Palestinian casualties who were civilians. In November 2010, a senior Hamas official acknowledged that up to 300 fighters were killed and \"In addition to them, between 200 and 300 fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades and another 150 security forces were martyred.\" These new numbers reconcile the total with those of the Israeli military, which originally said were 709 \"terror operatives\" killed. \n\nAfter the Gaza War\n\nOn August 16, 2009, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal stated that the organization is ready to open dialogue with the Obama administration because its policies are much better than those of former U.S. president George W. Bush: \"As long as there's a new language, we welcome it, but we want to see not only a change of language, but also a change of policies on the ground. We have said that we are prepared to cooperate with the US or any other international party that would enable the Palestinians to get rid of occupation.\" Despite this, an August 30, 2009 speech during a visit to Jordan in which Mashal expressed support for the Palestinian right of return was interpreted by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a sign that \"Hamas has now clearly opted out of diplomacy.\" In an interview on May 2010, Mashal said that if a Palestinian state with real sovereignty was established under the conditions he set out, on the borders of 1967 with its capital Jerusalem and with the right of return, that will be the end of the Palestinian resistance, and then the nature of any subsequent ties with Israel would be decided democratically by the Palestinians. \n\nIn July 2009, Khaled Mashal, Hamas's political bureau chief, stated Hamas's willingness to cooperate with a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which included a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, provided that Palestinian refugees be given the right to return to Israel and that East Jerusalem be recognized as the new state's capital. \n\nIn 2011, after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, Hamas distanced itself from the Syrian regime and its members began leaving Syria. Where once there were \"hundreds of exiled Palestinian officials and their relatives\", that number shrunk to \"a few dozen\". In 2012, Hamas publicly announced its support for the Syrian opposition. This prompted Syrian state TV to issue a \"withering attack\" on the Hamas leadership.[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/world/middleeast/syrian-state-tv-lashes-out-at-hamas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?hp&_r\n0 \"Syria Berates Hamas Chief, an Old Ally, on State TV\"]. The New York Times, October 2, 2012. Khaled Mashal said that Hamas had been \"forced out\" of Damascus because of its disagreements with the Syrian regime. In late October, Syrian Army soldiers shot dead two Hamas leaders in Daraa refugee camp. On November 5, 2012, the Syrian state security forces shut down all Hamas offices in the country. In January 2013, another two Hamas members were found dead in Syria's Husseinieh camp. Activists said the two had been arrested and executed by state security forces. In 2013, it was reported that the military wing of Hamas had begun training units of the Free Syrian Army. \n\nIn 2013, after \"several intense weeks of indirect three-way diplomacy between representatives of Hamas, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority\", no agreement was reached. Also, intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks stalled and, as a result, during Obama's visit to Israel, Hamas launched five rocket strikes on Israel. In November, Isra Almodallal was appointed the first spokeswoman of the group. \n\n2014 Israel–Gaza conflict\n\nOn 8 July 2014 Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to counter increased Hamas rocket fire from Gaza. The conflict ended with a permanent cease-fire after 7 weeks, and more than 2,200 dead. 64 of the dead were Israeli soldiers, 7 were civilians in Israel (from rocket attacks), and 2,101 were killed in Gaza, of which according to UN OCHA at least 1,460 were civilians. Israel says 1,000 of the dead were militants. Following the conflict, Mahmoud Abbas president of the Palestinian Authority, accused Hamas of needlessly extending the fighting in the Gaza Strip, contributing to the high death toll, of running a \"shadow government\" in Gaza, and of illegally executing scores of Palestinians. \n\nHamas has complained about the slow delivery of reconstruction materials after the conflict and announced that they were diverting these materials from civilian uses to build more infiltration tunnels. \n\nMedia\n\nIn 2005, Hamas announced its intention to launch an experimental TV channel, Al-Aqsa TV. The station was launched on January 7, 2006, less than three weeks before the Palestinian legislative elections. It has shown television programs, including some children's television, which deliver anti-semitic messages. Hamas has stated that the television station is \"an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement,\" and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views. \n\nHamas produced several propaganda songs aimed to scare Israeli citizen including Shock Israel's Security and \"Go, call a Gazan to rip Giv'ati\". \n\nIslamization efforts\n\nIn the Gaza Strip\n\nThe gender ideology outlined in the Hamas charter, the importance of women in the religious-nationalist project of liberation is asserted, while defining that role as one of manufacturing males and caring for their upbringing and rearing. This is not too different from Fatah's view of women in the First Intifada and resembles also Jewish settlers' outlook, and over time has be subject to change. \n\nIn 1989 to 1989, during the first intifada, a small number of Hamas followers campaigned for the wearing of the hijab, which is not a part of traditional women's attire in Palestine, also insisting women stay at home and be segregated from men, polygamy. In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'. The harassment dropped drastically when, after 18 months UNLU condemned it, though similar campaigns reoccurred.\n\nSince Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, some of its members have attempted to impose Islamic dress or the hijab head covering on women. Also, the government's \"Islamic Endowment Ministry\" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing, and dating. However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women. \n\nHamas officials deny having any plans to impose Islamic law, one legislator stating that \"What you are seeing are incidents, not policy,\" and that Islamic law is the desired standard \"but we believe in persuasion\". The Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. When the BBC in 2010 interviewed five \"middle-class\" women in Gaza City, the subjects generally indicated Hamas attempts to enforce conservative religious standards of dress had been largely rejected by the local population, with some expressing concern that the closure of Gaza would allow the proliferation of extremist enforcement attempts by low-level Hamas officials, and others indicating they were happy to see Hamas enforcing such requirements. They also cited examples of leniency by Hamas authorities, such as allowing widowed women to keep custody of their children so long as they did not remarry, and other relaxations in the enforcement of Shariah law. One woman noted that the environment was \"not as bad\" as during the First Intifada, when women were subject to public criticism and stonings for failure to obey conservative Islamic standards of dress. One woman complained that women were not free to speak their minds or travel alone, and added: \"Hamas want to force themselves onto the people. They want the people to submit to them, this is their cover. They destroyed the reputation of Islam, by saying we're doing this because it is religion. This is how they won the elections.\" \n\nIn 2013, UNRWA canceled its annual marathon in Gaza after Hamas rulers prohibited women from participating in the race. \n\nIn the West Bank\n\nIn 2005, the human rights organization Freemuse released a report titled \"Palestine: Taliban-like attempts to censor music\", which said that Palestinian musicians feared that harsh religious laws against music and concerts will be imposed since Hamas group scored political gains in the Palestinian Authority local elections of 2005. \n\nThe attempt by Hamas to dictate a cultural code of conduct in the 1980s and early 1990s led to a violent fighting between different Palestinian sectors. Hamas members reportedly burned down stores that stocked videos they deemed indecent and destroyed books they described as \"heretical\".\n\nIn 2005, an outdoor music and dance performance in Qalqiliya were suddenly banned by the Hamas led municipality, for the reason that such an event would be forbidden by Islam, or \"Haram\". The municipality also ordered that music no longer be played in the Qalqiliya zoo, and mufti Akrameh Sabri issued a religious edict affirming the municipality decision. In response, the Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish warned that \"There are Taliban-type elements in our society, and this is a very dangerous sign.\" \n\nThe Palestinian columnist Mohammed Abd Al-Hamid, a resident of Ramallah, wrote that this religious coercion could cause the migration of artists, and said \"The religious fanatics in Algeria destroyed every cultural symbol, shattered statues and rare works of art and liquidated intellectuals and artists, reporters and authors, ballet dancers and singers – are we going to imitate the Algerian and Afghani examples?\" \n\nTayyip Erdoğan's Turkey as a role model\n\nSome Hamas members stated that the model of Islamic government that Hamas seeks to emulate is that of Turkey under the rule of Tayyip Erdoğan. The foremost members to distance Hamas from the practices of Taliban and to publicly support the Erdoğan model were Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad, advisers to Prime Minister Hanieh. Yusuf, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, reflected this goal in an interview to a Turkish newspaper, stating that while foreign public opinion equates Hamas with the Taliban or al-Qaeda, the analogy is inaccurate. Yusuf described the Taliban as \"opposed to everything,\" including education and women's rights, while Hamas wants to establish good relations between the religious and secular elements of society and strives for human rights, democracy and an open society. According to professor Yezid Sayigh of the King's College in London, how influential this view is within Hamas is uncertain, since both Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad were dismissed from their posts as advisers to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Hanieh in October 2007. Both have since been appointed to other prominent positions within the Hamas government. Khaled al-Hroub of the West Bank-based and anti-Hamas Palestinian daily Al Ayyam added that despite claims by Hamas leaders that it wants to repeat the Turkish model of Islam, \"what is happening on the ground in reality is a replica of the Taliban model of Islam.\" \n\nAntisemitism and anti-Zionism\n\nAccording to academic Esther Webman, antisemitism is not the main tenet of Hamas ideology, although antisemitic rhetoric is frequent and intense in Hamas leaflets. The leaflets generally do not differentiate between Jews and Zionists. In other Hamas publications and in interviews with its leaders attempts at this differentiation have been made.Webman, Esther. Anti-semitic Motifs in the Ideology of Hizballah and Hamas, Project for the study of Anti-semitism, Tel Aviv University, 1994, p. 22. ISBN 965-222-592-4 In 2009 representatives of the small Jewish sect Neturei Karta met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, who stated that he held nothing against Jews but only against the state of Israel. Some commentators have pointed out parallels between Hamas's youth organization and Hitler Youth. According to writer Tom Doran, Hamas is not recognized as a neo-Nazi group because its members are not \"white Christians\". \n\nHamas has made conflicting statements about its readiness to recognize Israel. In 2006 a spokesman signaled readiness to recognize Israel within the 1967 borders. Speaking of requests for Hamas to recognize agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, senior Hamas member Khaled Suleiman said that \"these agreements are a reality which we view as such, and therefore I see no problem.\" Also in 2006, a Hamas official ruled out recognition of Israel with reference to West and East Germany, which never recognized each other. \n\nHamas Charter (1988)\n\n* Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant provides the following quotation, attributed to Muhammad:\n\n\"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.\"\n\n* Article 22 states that the French revolution, the Russian revolution, colonialism and both world wars were created by the Zionists or forces supportive of Zionism:\n\n\"You may speak as much as you want about regional and world wars. They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it.\" \n\n* Article 32 of the Covenant refers to an antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion:\n\"Today it is Palestine, tomorrow it will be one country or another. The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.\"\n\nStatements by Hamas members and clerics to an Arab audience\n\nIn 2008, Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas said in his sermon at the Katib Wilayat mosque in Gaza that \"Jews are a people who cannot be trusted. They have been traitors to all agreements. Go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing.\" \n\nAnother Hamas legislator and imam, Sheik Yunus al-Astal, discussed a Koranic verse suggesting that \"suffering by fire is the Jews' destiny in this world and the next.\" He concluded \"Therefore we are sure that the Holocaust is still to come upon the Jews.\"\n\nFollowing the rededication of the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem in March 2010, senior Hamas figure al-Zahar called on Palestinians everywhere to observe five minutes of silence \"for Israel's disappearance and to identify with Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque\". He further stated that \"Wherever you have been you've been sent to your destruction. You've killed and murdered your prophets and you have always dealt in loan-sharking and destruction. You've made a deal with the devil and with destruction itself – just like your synagogue.\" \n\nOn August 10, 2012, Ahmad Bahr, Deputy Speaker of the Hamas Parliament, stated in a sermon that aired on Al-Aqsa TV:\n\nIf the enemy sets foot on a single square inch of Islamic land, Jihad becomes an individual duty, incumbent on every Muslim, male or female. A woman may set out [on Jihad] without her husband's permission, and a servant without his master's permission. Why? In order to annihilate those Jews.... O Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. O Allah, destroy the Americans and their supporters. O Allah, count them one by one, and kill them all, without leaving a single one. \n\nIn an interview with Al-Aqsa TV in September 12, 2012, Marwan Abu Ras, a Hamas MP, who is also a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, stated (as translated by MEMRI):\n\nOn December 26, 2012, Senior Hamas official and Jerusalem bureau chief Ahmed Abu Haliba, called on \"all Palestinian factions to resume suicide attacks ... deep inside the Zionist enemy\" and said that \"we must renew the resistance to occupation in any possible way, above all through armed resistance.\" Abu Haliba suggested the use of suicide bombings as a response to Israel's plans to build housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. \n\nIn an interview on Lebanese television on July 28, 2014, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan claimed:\n\nStatements by Hamas members and clerics to an international audience\n\nIn an interview with CBS This Morning in July 27, 2014, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal stated:\n\nOn January 8, 2012, during a visit to Tunis, Gazan Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh told The Associated Press on that he disagrees with the anti-Semitic slogans. \"We are not against the Jews because they are Jews. Our problem is with those occupying the land of Palestine,\" he said. \"There are Jews all over the world, but Hamas does not target them.\" \n\nIn response to a statement by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas preferred non-violent means and had agreed to adopt \"peaceful resistance,\" Hamas contradicted Abbas. According to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri, \"We had agreed to give popular resistance precedence in the West Bank, but this does not come at the expense of armed resistance.\" \n\nIn May 2009, senior Hamas MP Sayed Abu Musameh said, \"in our culture, we respect every foreigner, especially Jews and Christians, but we are against Zionists, not as nationalists but as fascists and racists.\" In the same interview, he also said, \"I hate all kinds of weapons. I dream of seeing every weapon from the atomic bomb to small guns banned everywhere.\"\n\nIn January 2009, Gazan Hamas Health Minister Basim Naim published a letter in The Guardian, stating that Hamas has no quarrel with Jewish people, only with the actions of Israel. \n\nIn October 1994, in a response to Isreael's crackdown on Hamas militants following a suicide bombing on a Tel Aviv bus, Hamas promised retaliation: \"Rabin must know that Hamas loves death more than Rabin and his soldiers love life.\" The statement added that \"Hamas will not hesitate to retaliate severely against any attempt to harm our leaders.\"\n\nStatements on the Holocaust\n\nHamas has been explicit in its Holocaust Denial. In reaction to the Stockholm conference on the Jewish Holocaust, held in late January 2000, Hamas issued a press release that it published on its official website, containing the following statements from a senior leader:\nThis conference bears a clear Zionist goal, aimed at forging history by hiding the truth about the so-called Holocaust, which is an alleged and invented story with no basis. (...) The invention of these grand illusions of an alleged crime that never occurred, ignoring the millions of dead European victims of Nazism during the war, clearly reveals the racist Zionist face, which believes in the superiority of the Jewish race over the rest of the nations. (...) By these methods, the Jews in the world flout scientific methods of research whenever that research contradicts their racist interests. In August 2003, senior Hamas official Dr Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi wrote in the Hamas newspaper Al-Risala that the Zionists encouraged murder of Jews by the Nazis with the aim of forcing them to immigrate to Palestine. \n\nIn 2005, Khaled Mashal called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's December 14, 2005 statements on the Holocaust that Europeans had \"created a myth in the name of Holocaust\" ) as \"courageous\". Later in 2008, Basim Naim, the minister of health in the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government in Gaza countered holocaust denial, and said \"it should be made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian government in Gaza denies the Nazi Holocaust. The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. We condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality.\" \n\nIn an open letter to Gaza Strip UNRWA chief John Ging published August 20, 2009, the movement's Popular Committees for Refugees called the Holocaust \"a lie invented by the Zionists,\" adding that the group refused to let Gazan children study it. Hamas leader Younis al-Astal continued by saying that having the Holocaust included in the UNRWA curriculum for Gaza students amounted to \"marketing a lie and spreading it\". Al-Astal continued \"I do not exaggerate when I say this issue is a war crime, because of how it serves the Zionist colonizers and deals with their hypocrisy and lies.\" \n\nIn February 2011, Hamas voiced opposition to UNRWA's teaching of the Holocaust in Gaza. According to Hamas, \"Holocaust studies in refugee camps is a contemptible plot and serves the Zionist entity with a goal of creating a reality and telling stories in order to justify acts of slaughter against the Palestinian people.\" \n\nIn July 2012, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, denounced a visit by Ziad al-Bandak, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to the Auschwitz death camp, saying it was \"unjustified\" and \"unhelpful\" and only served the \"Zionist occupation\" while coming \"at the expense of a real Palestinian tragedy\". He also called the Holocaust an \"alleged tragedy\" and \"exaggerated\". \n\nIn October 2012, Hamas said that they were opposed to teaching about the Holocaust in Gaza Strip schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. The Refugee Affairs Department of Hamas said that teaching the Holocaust was a \"crime against the issue of the refugees that is aimed at canceling their right of return\". \n\nInternational Positions on Hamas\n\nHamas, together with several charities it runs, has been designated by several governments and some academics as a terrorist organization. Others regard this designation as problematical. Israel outlawed Hamas in September 1989 The United States followed suit in 1995, as did Canada in November 2002.[https://books.google.com/books?id\n9fQ3AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 The World Almanac of Islamism: 2014,] American Foreign Policy Council/Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 p.15. The European Union outlawed its military wing in 2001 and included Hamas in its list of terrorist organizations in 2003, which Hamas successfully challenged in the courts, and has continued to do so under American and Israeli pressure. Egypt, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom have designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The organization is banned in Jordan. It is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, and Brazil, \n\nCriticism\n\nProximity to civilians during warfare\n\nAfter Operation Pillar of Defense, Human Rights Watch stated that Palestinian groups had endangered civilians by \"repeatedly fired rockets from densely populated areas, near homes, businesses, and a hotel\" and noted that under international law, parties to a conflict may not to place military targets in or near densely populated areas. One rocket was launched close to the Shawa and Housari Building, where various Palestinian and international media have offices; another was fired from the yard of a house near the Deira Hotel. New York Times journalist Steven Erlanger reported that \"Hamas rocket and weapons caches, including rocket launchers, have been discovered in and under mosques, schools and civilian homes.\" Another report published by Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center revealed that Hamas used close to 100 mosques to store weapons and as launch-pads to shoot rockets. The report contains testimony from variety Palestinian sources, including a Hamas militant Sabhi Majad Atar, who said he was taught how to shoot rockets from inside a mosque. Hamas has also been criticized by Israeli officials for blending into or hiding among the Palestinian civilian population During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict. The Israeli government published what it said was video evidence of human shield tactics by Hamas. Israel said that Hamas frequently used mosques and school yards as hideouts and places to store weapons, and that Hamas militants stored weapons in their homes, making it difficult to ensure that civilians close to legitimate military targets are not hurt during Israeli military operations. Israeli officials also accused the Hamas leadership of hiding under Shifa Hospital during the conflict, using the patients inside to deter an Israeli attack. \n\nThe Israeli government filed a report entitled \"Gaza Operations Investigation: Second Update\" to the United Nations accusing Hamas of exploiting its rules of engagement by shooting rockets and launching attacks within protected civilian areas. Israel says 12,000 rockets and mortars were fired at it between 2000 and 2008—nearly 3,000 in 2008 alone. \n\nIn one case, an errant Israeli mortar strike killed dozens of people near a UN school. Hamas said that the mortar killed 42 people and left dozens wounded. Israel said that Hamas militants had launched a rocket from a yard adjacent to the school and one mortar of three rounds hit the school, due to a GPS error. According to the Israeli military probe, the remaining two rounds hit the yard used to launch rockets into Israel, killing two members of Hamas's military wing who fired the rockets. \n\nHuman Right Watch called Hamas to \"publicly renounce\" the rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and hold those responsible to account. Human Right Watch program director Iain Levine said the attacks by Hamas were \"unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes\", and accused Hamas of putting Palestinians at risk by launching attacks from built-up areas. Hamas spokesman relied that the report was \"biased\" and he denied that Hamas uses human shields.\n\nHuman Rights Watch investigated 19 incidents involving 53 civilian deaths in Gaza that Israel said were the result of Hamas fighting in densely populated areas and did not find evidence for existence of Palestinian fighters in the areas at the time of the Israeli attack. In other cases where no civilians had died, the report concluded that Hamas may have deliberately fired rockets from areas close to civilians. HRW also investigated 11 deaths that Israel said were civilians being used as human shields by Hamas. HRW found no evidence that the civilians were used as human shields, nor had they been shot in crossfire. \n\nThe Israeli 'human shields' charge against Hamas was called \"full of holes\" by The National (UAE), which stated that only Israel accused Hamas of using human shields during the conflict, though Hamas \"may be guilty\" of \"locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas\" and for \"deliberately firing indiscriminate weapons into civilian populated areas\". \n\nOn July 8, 2014, Hamas's spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri encouraged the \"policy of people confronting the Israeli warplanes with their bare chests\", saying it has proven itself. \n\nOne survey of Gazan residents addressed the subject of human shields during the 2014 war, with respondents issuing statements such as \"People received warnings from the Israelis and tried to evacuate...Hamas shot some of those people...the rest were forced to return to their homes and get bombed\"; \"Hamas imposed a curfew: anyone walking out in the street was shot without being asked any questions. That way Hamas made sure people had to stay in their homes even if they were about to get bombed\"; and \"My father received a text-message from the Israeli army warning him that our area was going to be bombed, and Hamas prevented us from leaving.\" Israeli soldiers recounted \"Suddenly, a small boy appeared, and the terrorist grabbed him and escaped with him\"; \"I saw with my own eyes someone using another person, a woman, as a shield...And I can see very clearly that the woman doesn't want to be there and he's pulling her with him\"; and \"We even found explosives in nurseries. The whole neighborhood was practically a terrorist base.\" \n\nRocket and mortar attacks\n\nRocket attacks by Hamas have been condemned by Human rights organizations as war crimes, both because they usually take aim at civilians and because the weapons' inaccuracy would disproportionately endanger civilians even if military targets were chosen. After Operation Pillar of Defense, Human Rights Watch stated that armed Palestinian groups fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities, violating international humanitarian law, and that statements by Palestinian groups that they deliberately targeted Israeli civilians demonstrated an \"intent to commit war crimes\". HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said that Palestinian groups made clear that \"harming civilians was their aim\" and said that launching rockets at populated areas had no legal justification. International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks on civilians and intentional violations can be war crimes.\n\nIn July 2008 Barack Obama, then the Democratic presidential candidate, said: \"If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.\" On December 28, 2008, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement: \"the United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.\" On March 2, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks. \n\nChildren\n\nChildren and women as human shields\n\nIsrael has accused Hamas of using children as human shields. The Israeli government released video footage in which it claims two militants are shown grabbing a young boy's arm from behind holding him to walk in front of them toward a group of people waiting near a wall. The IDF argues the militants were placing the boy between themselves and an Israeli sniper. The second scene shows an individual, described as a terrorist, grabbing a school boy off of a floor, where he is hiding behind a column from IDF fire, and using him as a human shield to walk to a different location. \n\nAfter 15 alleged militants sought refuge in a mosque from Israeli forces, the BBC reported that Hamas radio instructed local women to go the mosque to protect the militants. Two women were later killed when Israeli forces opened fire.\n\nIn November 2006, the Israeli Air Force warned Muhammad Weil Baroud, commander of the Popular Resistance Committees who are accused of launching rockets into Israeli territory, to evacuate his home in a Jabalya refugee camp apartment block in advance of a planned Israeli air strike. Baroud responded by calling for volunteers to protect the apartment block and nearby buildings and, according to The Jerusalem Post, hundreds of local residents, mostly women and children, responded. Israel suspended the air strike. Israel termed the action an example of Hamas using human shields. In response to the incident, Hamas proclaimed: 'We won. From now on we will form human chains around every house threatened with demolition.'\" In a November 22 press release, Human Rights Watch condemned Hamas, stating: \"There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack. Whether or not the home is a legitimate military target, knowingly asking civilians to stand in harm's way is unlawful.\" Following criticism, Human rights Watch issued a statement saying that their initial assessment of the situation was in error. They stated that, on the basis of available evidence, the home demolition was in fact an administrative act, viewed in the context of Israel's longstanding policy of punitive home demolitions, not a military act and thus would not fall within the purview of the law regulating hostilities during armed conflict, which had been the basis for their initial criticism of Hamas.\n\nWhen the UN-sponsored Goldstone Commission Report on the Gaza War was commissioned in 2009, it stated that it \"found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from attack\" though they deemed credible reports that Palestinian militants were \"not always dressed in a way that distinguished them from civilians\". \n\nHamas MP Fathi Hamed stated that \"For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel ... the elderly excel at this ... and so do the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children.\" \n\nFollowing the release of the Goldstone Report, the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan Col. Richard Kemp was invited to testify at the UN Human Rights Council 12th Special Session that during Operation Cast Lead Israel encountered an \"enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population\". \n\nChildren as combatants\n\nThe Israeli government released a video compiled mostly from Arab news sources showing Palestinian children under the age of 15 going through military training and carrying and firing arms. The video's narration explains that Hamas indoctrinates these child combatants and that Hamas operators send the children \"on missions from which they would not risk their own lives\". According to the Israeli government, the children are used as spotters, to transport explosives and weapons, sent to play in areas to deter Israeli attacks and are sent unknowingly with explosive devices in their schoolbags to be blown up in the vicinity of Israelis. The United Nations defines the use of children for military purposes as a war crime and a form of slavery. See Military use of children.\n\nAlthough Hamas admits to sponsoring summer schools to train teenagers in handling weapons they condemn attacks by children. Following the deaths of three teenagers during a 2002 attack on Netzarim in central Gaza, Hamas banned attacks by children and \"called on the teachers and religious leaders to spread the message of restraint among young boys\". \n\nHamas's use of child labor to build tunnels with which to attack Israel has also been criticized, with at least 160 children killed in the tunnels as of 2012. \n\nChildren's magazine\n\nAl-Fateh (\"the conqueror\") is the Hamas children's magazine, published biweekly in London, and also posted in an online website. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine features stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, and states it is for \"the young builders of the future\". \n\nAccording to MEMRI (three of whose seven founding staff had formerly served in the IDF), the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations and of their planners and perpetrators. as well as characterizations of Jews as \"murderers of the prophets\" and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews. In each issue, a regular feature titled \"The Story of a Martyr\" presents the \"heroic deeds\" of a mujahid from one of the organizations who died in a suicide operation, including operations against civilians, or who was killed by the IDF. MEMRI also noted that the magazine includes illustrations of figures, including child warriors, who embody the ethos of jihad and martyrdom, presenting them as role models. These include the magazine's titular character, Al-Fateh (\"The Conqueror\")—a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn scimitar—as well as children carrying guns, and photos of Hamas fighters launching Qassam rockets. \n\nAl-Aqsa TV\n\nAl-Aqsa TV is a television channel founded by Hamas. The station began broadcasting in the Gaza Strip on January 9, 2006., news24.com, January 22, 2006 Its programming includes ideologically tinged children's shows, news talk, and religiously inspired entertainment. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the station promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis. Hamas has stated that the television station is \"an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement,\" and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views.\n\nAl-Aqsa TV is headed by Fathi Ahmad Hammad, chairman of al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Productions—a Hamas-run company that also produces Hamas's radio station, Voice of al-Aqsa, and its biweekly newspaper, The Message. \n\nDissent and the media\n\n Human rights groups and Gazans have accused the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip of restricting freedom of the press and forcefully suppressing dissent. Both foreign and Palestinian journalists report harassment and other measures taken against them. In September 2007 the Gaza Interior Ministry disbanded the Gaza Strip branch of the pro-Fatah Union of Palestinian Journalists, a move criticized by Reporters without borders. In November of that year the Hamas government arrested a British journalist and for a time canceled all press cards in Gaza. On February 8, 2008, Hamas banned distribution of the pro-Fatah Al-Ayyam newspaper, and closed its offices in the Gaza Strip because it ran a caricature that mocked legislators loyal to Hamas,. The Gaza Strip Interior Ministry later issued an arrest warrant for the editor. \n\nMore widely, in late August 2007 the group was accused in The Telegraph, a conservative British newspaper, of torturing, detaining, and firing on unarmed protesters who had objected to policies of the Hamas government. Also in late August, Palestinian health officials reported that the Hamas government had been shutting down Gaza clinics in retaliation for doctor strikes – The Hamas government confirmed the \"punitive measure against doctors\" because, in its view, they had incited other doctors to suspend services and go out on strike. \n\nIn September 2007 the Hamas government banned public prayers, after Fatah supporters began holding worship sessions that quickly escalated into raucous protests against Hamas rule. Government security forces beat several gathering supporters and journalists. \n\nIn October 2008, the Hamas government announced it would release all political prisoners in custody in Gaza. Several hours after the announcement, 17 Fatah members were released. \n\nOn August 2, 2012, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) accused Hamas of harassing elected officials belong to the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) in Gaza. The IFJ said that journalists' leaders in Gaza have faced a campaign of intimidation, as well as threats designed to force them to stop their union work. Some of these journalists are now facing charges of illegal activities and a travel ban, due to their refusal \"to give in to pressure\". The IFJ said that these accusations are \"malicious\" and \"should be dropped immediately\". The IFJ explained that the campaign against PJS members began in March 2012, after their election, and included a raid organized by Hamas supporters who took over the PJS offices in Gaza with the help of the security forces, and subsequently evicted the staff and elected officials. Other harassment includes the targeting of individuals who were bullied into stopping union work. The IFJ backed the PJS and called on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to intervene to stop \"his officials' unwarranted interference in journalists' affairs\". \n\nIn November 2012, two Gazan journalists were prevented from leaving Gaza by Hamas. There were scheduled to participate in a conference in Cairo, Egypt. After being questioned by security forces, their passports were confiscated. \n\nIn 2016 Reporters Without Borders condemned Hamas for censorship and for torturing journalists. Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said \"As living conditions in the Gaza Strip are disastrous, Hamas wants to silence critics and does not hesitate to torture a journalist in order to control media coverage in its territory.\" \n\nHuman rights abuses\n\nIn June 2011, the Independent Commission for Human Rights based in Ramallah published a report whose findings included that the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were subjected in 2010 to an \"almost systematic campaign\" of human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, as well as by Israeli authorities, with the security forces belonging to the PA and Hamas being responsible for torture, arrests and arbitrary detentions. \n\nIn 2012, the Human Rights Watch presented a 43 page long list of human rights violation committed by Hamas. Among actions attributed to Hamas the HRW report mentions beatings with metal clubs and rubber hoses, hanging of alleged collaborationists with Israel, and torture of 102 individuals. According to the report, Hamas also tortured civil society activists and peaceful protesters. Reflecting on the captivity of Gilad Shalit, the HRW report described it as \"cruel and inhuman\". The report also slams Hamas for harassment of people based on so called morality offenses and for media censorship. In a public statement Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East director of HRW claimed, \"after five years of Hamas rule in Gaza, its criminal justice system reeks of injustice, routinely violates detainees' rights and grants impunity to abusive security services.\" Hamas responded by denying charges and describing them as \"politically motivated\" \n\nOn May 26, 2015 Amnesty International released a report saying that Hamas carried out extrajudicial killings, abductions and arrests of Palestinians and used the Al-Shifa Hospital to detain, interrogate and torture suspects during the Israel–Gaza conflict in 2014. It details the executions of at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel and torture of dozens of others, many victims of torture were members of the rival Palestinian movement, Fatah. \n\nViolence and terrorism\n\nHamas uses both political activities and violence in pursuit of its goals. For example, while politically engaged in the 2006 Palestinian Territories parliamentary election campaign, Hamas stated in its election manifesto that it was prepared to use \"armed resistance to end the occupation\". \n\nFrom 2000 to 2004, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly 400 Israelis and wounding more than 2,000 in 425 attacks, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks into Israel. \n\nAttacks on civilians\n\nIn the first years of the First Intifada (1987–93), Hamas violence was directed first at collaborators with Israel and at individuals it considered moral deviants, and then later at the Israeli military. A new direction began with the formation of the al-Qassam Brigades militia in 1992, and in 1993 suicide attacks began against Israeli targets on the West Bank. \nThe first such attack occurred on April 16, 1993, when an al-Qassam Brigades operative detonated explosives in a car he parked next to two buses, one military and one civilian, in the West Bank town of Mehola, killing a Palestinian civilian and wounding 8 Israeli soldiers. After the February 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein of 30 Muslim civilians in a Hebron mosque, the al-Qassam Brigades expanded suicide attacks to target primarily civilians. The first of the suicide bombings that targeted civilians was at Afula on April 16, 1994, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car next to a bus, killing nine (including the bomber) and wounding 50. The most deadly suicide bombing was an attack on a Netanya hotel on March 27, 2002, in which 30 people were killed and 140 were wounded. The attack has also been referred to as the Passover massacre since it took place on the first night of the Jewish festival of Passover at a Seder.\n\nHamas has defended suicide attacks as a legitimate aspect of its asymmetric warfare against Israel, but they are consideted as crimes against humanity under international law. In a 2002 report, Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas leaders \"should be held accountable\" for \"war crimes and crimes against humanity\" committed by the al-Qassam Brigades. \n\nIn May 2006 Israel arrested a top Hamas official, Ibrahim Hamed, who Israeli security officials alleged was responsible for dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis. Hamed's trial on those charges has not yet concluded. In 2008, Hamas explosives engineer Shihab al-Natsheh organized a deadly suicide bombing in Dimona. \n\nSince 2002, paramilitary soldiers of al-Qassam Brigades and other groups have used homemade Qassam rockets to hit Israeli towns in the Negev, such as Sderot. Al-Qassam Brigades was estimated in 2007 to have launched 22% of the rocket and mortar attacks, which killed fifteen people between the years 2000 and 2009 (see Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel). The introduction of the Qassam-2 rocket in 2008 enabled Palestinian paramilitary groups to reach, from Gaza, such Israeli cities such as Ashkelon. \n\nIn 2008, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, offered that Hamas would attack only military targets if the IDF would stop causing the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Following a June 19, 2008 ceasefire, the al-Qassam Brigades ended its rocket attacks and arrested Fatah militants in Gaza who had continued sporadic rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. The al-Qassam Brigades resumed the attacks after the November 4 Israeli incursion into Gaza. \n\nOn 15 June 2014, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of involvement in the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers (including one who held American citizenship), saying \"This has severe repercussions.\" On 20 July 2014, nearly two weeks into Operation Protective Edge, Netanyahu in an interview with CNN described Hamas as \"genocidal terrorists.\" \n\nOn 5 August 2014 Israel announced that Israeli security forces arrested Hussam Kawasme, in Shuafat, in connection with the murders. During interrogation, Kawasme admitted to being the mastermind behind the attack, in addition to securing the funding from Hamas. Officials have stated that additional people arrested in connection with the murders are still being held, but no names have been released. \n\nOn 20 August, Saleh al-Arouri, a Hamas leader in exile in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens. He delivered an address on behalf of Khaled Mashal at the conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul, a move that might reflect a desire by Hamas to gain leverage. In it he said: \"Our goal was to ignite an intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the Al-Qassam Brigades carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The mujahideen captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal.\" Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal accepted that members of Hamas were responsible, stating that he knew nothing of it in advance and that what the leadership knew of the details came from reading Israeli reports. Meshaal, who has headed Hamas's exiled political wing since 2004, has denied being involved in the \"details\" of Hamas \"military issues\", but \"justified the killings as a legitimate action against Israelis on \"occupied\" lands.\" \n\nRocket attacks on Israel\n\nAccording to Human Rights Watch, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have launched thousands of rockets into Israel since 2001, killing 15 civilians, wounding many more, and posing an ongoing threat to the nearly 800,000 Israeli civilians who live and work in the weapons' range. Hamas officials have said that the rockets were aimed only at military targets, saying that civilian casualties were the \"accidental result\" of the weapons' poor quality. According to Human Rights Watch, statements by Hamas leaders suggest that the purpose of the rocket attacks was indeed to strike civilians and civilian objects. From January 2009, following Operation Cast Lead, Hamas largely stopped launching rocket attacks on Israel and has on at least two occasions arrested members of other groups who have launched rockets, \"showing that it has the ability to impose the law when it wants\". In February 2010, Hamas issued a statement regretting any harm that may have befallen Israeli civilians as a result of Palestinian rocket attacks during the Gaza war. It maintained that its rocket attacks had been aimed at Israeli military targets but lacked accuracy and hence sometimes hit civilian areas. Israel responded that Hamas had boasted repeatedly of targeting and murdering civilians in the media. \n\nAccording to one report, commenting on the 2014 conflict, \"nearly all the 2,500–3,000 rockets and mortars Hamas has fired at Israel since the start of the war seem to have been aimed at towns\", including an attack on \"a kibbutz collective farm close to the Gaza border\", in which an Israeli child was killed. Former Israeli Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi stated that \"Hamas has expressed pride in aiming long-range rockets at strategic targets in Israel including the nuclear reactor in Dimona, the chemical plants in Haifa, and Ben-Gurion Airport\", which \"could have caused thousands\" of Israeli casualties \"if successful\". \n\nAttempts to derail 2010 peace talks\n\nIn 2010, Hamas, who have been actively sidelined from the peace talks by Israel, spearheaded a coordinated effort by 13 Palestinian militant groups, in attempt to derail the stalled peace talks between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority. According to the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major Gen. Eitan Dangot, Israel seeks to work with Salam Fayyad, to help revive the Palestinian economy, and hopes to ease restrictions on the Gaza Strip further, \"while somehow preventing the Islamic militants who rule it from getting credit for any progress\". According to Dangot, Hamas must not be seen as ruling successfully or be allowed to \"get credit for a policy that would improve the lives of people\". The campaign consists of attacks against Israelis in which, according to a Hamas declaration in early September, \"all options are open.\"[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0831/Hamas-targets-Israeli-Palestinian-talks-by-killing-four-Israelis \"Hamas targets Israeli-Palestinian talks by killing four Israelis; Hamas took responsibility for the fatal shooting of four Israeli settlers outside Hebron today, on the eve of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington,\"] Joshua Mitnick, August 31, 2010, Christian Science Monitor. The participating groups also include Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and an unnamed splinter group of Fatah. \n\nAs part of the campaign, on August 31, 2010, 4 Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman, were killed by Hamas militants while driving on Route 60 near the settlement Kiryat Arba, in the West bank. According to witnesses, militants opened fire on the moving vehicle, but then \"approached the car\" and shot the occupants in their seats at \"close range\". The attack was described by Israeli sources as one of the \"worst\" terrorist acts in years. A senior Hamas official said that Israeli settlers in the West Bank are legitimate targets since \"they are an army in every sense of the word.\" \n\nThemes of martyrdom\n\nAccording to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch, in 2008, Fathi Hamad, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated on Al-Aqsa TV, \"For the Palestinian people death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly (Palestinians) created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the Jihad fighters against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death as you desire life.'\" \n\nIn 2010, Hamas speaker Ahmad Bahr praised the virtues of martyrdom and Jihad, and said that 2.5 million black-eyed virgins were waiting in the Garden of Eden, which could be entered only by prophets, by the righteous, and by martyrs. He continued by saying that nobody on Earth \"will be able to confront the resistance, or to confront the mujahideen, those who worship Allah and seek martyrdom\". \n\nGuerrilla warfare\n\nHamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank. It has successfully adapted these techniques over the years since its inception. According to a 2006 report by rival Fatah party, Hamas had smuggled between several hundred and 1,300 tons of advanced rockets, along with other weaponry, into Gaza.\n\nHamas has used IEDs and anti-tank rockets against the IDF in Gaza. The latter include standard RPG-7 warheads and home-made rockets such as the Al-Bana, Al-Batar and Al-Yasin. The IDF has a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas — this is due to the high local support base Hamas enjoys. \n\nExtrajudicial executions of rivals\n\nIn addition to killing Israeli civilians and armed forces, Hamas has also murdered suspected Palestinian Israel collaborators and Fatah rivals. Hundreds of Palestinians were executed by both Hamas and Fatah during the First Intifada. In the wake of the 2006 Israeli conflict with Gaza, Hamas was accused of systematically rounding up, torturing and summarily executing Fatah supporters suspected of supplying information to Israel. Human Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were \"maimed\" and tortured in the aftermath of the conflict. Seventy-three Gazan men accused of \"collaborating\" had their arms and legs broken by \"unidentified perpetrators\" and 18 Palestinians accused of helping Israel were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict. In November 2012, Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassam brigade publicly executed six Gaza residents accused of collaborating with Israel. According to the witnesses, six alleged informers were shot dead one by one in Gaza City, while the corpse of the sixth victim was tied by a cable to the back of a motorcycle and dragged through the streets. In 2013, Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning Hamas for not investigating and giving a proper trial to the 6 men. Their statement was released the day before Hamas issued a deadline for \"collaborators\" to turn themselves in, or they will be pursued \"without mercy\". In August 2014, during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, at least 22 accused collaborators were executed by Hamas shortly after 3 of its commanders were assassinated by Israeli forces. An Israeli source denied that any of the commanders had been targeted on the basis of human intelligence.\n\nFrequent killings of unarmed people have also occurred during Hamas-Fatah clashes. NGOs have cited a number of summary executions as particular examples of violations of the rules of warfare, including the case of Muhammad Swairki, 28, a cook for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard, who was thrown to his death, with his hands and legs tied, from a 15-story apartment building in Gaza City. Hamas security forces reportedly shoot and torture Palestinians who opposed Hamas rule in Gaza. In one case, a Palestinian had criticized Hamas in a conversation on the street with some friends. Later that day, more than a dozen armed men with black masks and red kaffiyeh took the man from his home, and brought him to a solitary area where they shot him three times in the lower legs and ankles. The man told Human Rights Watch that he was not politically active.\n\nOn August 14, 2009, Hamas fighters stormed the Mosque of cleric Abdel-Latif Moussa. The cleric was protected by at least 100 fighters from Jund Ansar Allah (\"Army of the Helpers of God\"), an Islamist group with links to Al-Qaeda. The resulting battle left at least 13 people dead, including Moussa and 6 Hamas fighters, and 120 people injured. \n\nAccording to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, during 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Hamas killed more than 120 Palestinian youths for defying house arrest imposed on them by Hamas, in addition to 30-40 Palestinians killed by Hamas in extrajudicial executions after accusing them of being collaborators with Israel. Referring to the killing of suspected collaborators, a Shin Bet official stated that \"not even one\" of those executed by Hamas provided any intelligence to Israel, while the Shin Bet officially \"confirmed that those executed during Operation Protective Edge had all been held in prison in Gaza in the course of the hostilities.\" \n\n2011–13 Sinai insurgency\n\nHamas has been accused of providing weapons, training and fighters for Sinai-based insurgent attacks, although Hamas strongly denies the allegations, calling them a smear campaign aiming to harm relations with Egypt. According to the Egyptian Army, since the ouster of Egypt's Muslim-Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, over 600 Hamas members have entered the Sinai Peninsula through smuggling tunnels. In addition, several weapons used in Sinai's insurgent attacks are being traced back to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to the army. The four leading insurgent groups in the Sinai have all reportedly maintained close ties with the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also accused of helping Morsi and other high-ranking Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members break out of the Wadi Natroun prison in Cairo during the 2011 revolution. Hamas called the accusation a \"dangerous development\". Egyptian authorities stated that the 2011 Alexandria bombing was carried out by the Gaza-based Army of Islam, which has received sanctuary from Hamas and earlier collaborated in the capture of Gilad Shalit. Army of Islam members linked to the August 2012 Sinai attack have reportedly sought refuge in the Gaza Strip. Egypt stated that Hamas directly provided logistical support to the Muslim Brotherhood militants who carried out the December 2013 Mansoura bombing. \n\nDebate whether to attack America\n\nHamas officials have publicly debated whether or not to attack American interests in the Middle East in response to US support of Mahmoud Abbas preceding the 2006 Gaza elections. \n\nInternational support\n\nHamas has always maintained leadership abroad. The movement is deliberately fragmented to ensure that Israel cannot kill its top political and military leaders. Hamas used to be strongly allied with both Iran and Syria. Iran gave Hamas an estimated $13–15 million in 2011 as well as access to long-range missiles. Hamas’s political bureau was once located in the Syrian capital of Damascus before the start of the Syrian civil war. Relations between Hamas, Iran, and Syria began to turn cold when Hamas refused to back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Instead, Hamas backed the Sunni rebels fighting against Assad. As a result, Iran cut funding to Hamas and their terror proxy Hezbollah ordered Hamas members out of Lebanon. Hamas was then forced out of Syria. Since then, Iran and Hezbollah have tried to mend fences with Hamas. Hamas contacted Jordan and Sudan to see if either would open up its borders to its political bureau. But both countries refused - though they welcomed many Hamas members leaving Syria. In 2012 Hamas headquarters subsequently moved to Doha, Qatar. \n\nFrom 2012-2013, under the leadership of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, Hamas had the support of Egypt. However, when Morsi was removed from Office, his replacement Abdul Fattah al-Sisi outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and destroyed the tunnels Hamas built into Egypt. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are likewise hostile to Hamas. Like Egypt, they designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and Hamas was viewed as its Palestinian equivalent.\n\nQatar and Turkey\n\nAccording to Middle East experts, now Hamas has two firm allies: Qatar and Turkey. Both give Hamas public and financial assistance estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Shashank Joshi, Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute says that “Qatar also hosts Hamas’s political bureau which includes Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.” Meshaal also visits Turkey frequently to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan has dedicated himself to breaking Hamas out of its political and economic seclusion. Last year on U.S. television Erdogan said, \"I don't see Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas is a political party.\"\n\nIn 2007, Qatar was, with Turkey, the only country to back Hamas after the group ousted the Palestinian Authority out of the Gaza Strip. The relationship between Hamas and Qatar strengthened in 2008 and 2009 when Khaled Meshaal was invited to attend the Doha Summit where he was seated next to the then Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani who pledged $250 million to repair the damage caused by the Israel in the Israeli war on Gaza. These events caused Qatar to become the main player in the “Palestinian issue.” Qatar called Gaza’s blockade unjust and immoral, which prompted the Hamas government in Gaza, including former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, to thank Qatar for their “unconditional” support. Qatar then began regularly handing out political, material, humanitarian and charitable support for Hamas.\n\nIn 2012, Qatar’s former Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, became the first head of state to visit Gaza under Hamas rule. He pledged to raise $400 million for reconstruction. Some have argued that the money Qatar gives to reconstruct Palestine is an excuse to pour even more money into Hamas. Qatar’s reason for funding Hamas, which is shared by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is allegedly that Islamist groups are growing and will eventually play a role in the region; thus it is important for Qatar (and Turkey) to maintain ties. During the Arab Spring, for example, Qatar backed the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Islamist group whose offshoot is Hamas. Other sources say that advocating for Hamas is politically beneficial to Turkey and Qatar because the Palestinian cause draws popular support amongst their citizens at home. \n\nSome began to label Qatar a terrorist haven in part because it is harboring Hamas leader Meshaal. They also harbor Husam Badran former leader of Hamas’s military wing in the northern West Bank. Husam Badran, current media spokesman for Hamas, was the instigator of several of the deadliest suicide bombings of the second intifada including the Dolphinarium discotheque bombing in Tel Aviv which killed 21 people. \n\nTurkey has also been criticized for housing terrorists like Saleh al-Arouri, the senior Hamas officer known for his ability to mastermind attacks from abroad. Al-Arouri is alleged to have orchestrated the June 2014 abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers and to have started the 50 days war between Israel and Palestine and now lived in Turkey. \n\nSpeaking in reference to Qatar’s support for Hamas, during a 2015 visit to Palestine, Qatari official Mohammad al-Emadi, said Qatar is using the money not to help Hamas but rather the Palestinian people as a whole. He acknowledges however that giving to the Palestinian people means using Hamas as the local contact. Emadi said, \"You have to support them. You don't like them, don't like them. But they control the country, you know.\" Some argue that Hamas’s relations with Qatar are putting Hamas in an awkward position because Qatar has become part of the regional Arab problem.\n\nBut Hamas claims that having contacts with various Arab countries establishes positive relations which will encourage Arab countries to do their duty toward the Palestinians and support their cause by influencing public opinion in the Arab world. In March 2015, Hamas has announced its support of the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. \n\nU.S.-based support\n\nSeveral U.S. organizations were either shut down or held liable for financing Hamas in early 2001, groups that have origins from the mid-1990s: the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and Kind Hearts. The U.S. Treasury Department specially designated the HLF in 2001 for terror ties: from 1995-2001. The HLF transferred “approximately $12.4 million outside of the United States with the intent to contribute funds, goods, and services to Hamas.” According to the Treasury Department, Khaled Meshal, identified one of HLF’s officers, Mohammed El-Mezain as “the Hamas leader for the U.S.” In 2003, IAP was found liable for financially supporting Hamas, and in 2006 Kind Hearts had their assets frozen for supporting Hamas. In 2016 it was reported that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel includes a web of Hamas supporters from the Illinois-based organization American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)."
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"Project MUSE - Chronology: July 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\nJuly 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010. Abbreviations. ... July 21: The Middle East ... was arrested and charged with spying for Israel.\nProject MUSE - Chronology: July 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\nJuly 16, 2010 - October 15, 2010\nAbbreviations\nRFE-RL, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty\nRNW, Radio Netherlands Worldwide\nSee also Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey\nJuly 21:\nThe Middle East Quartet released a statement signed by special envoy Tony Blair commending the Bank of Israel's transfer of $13 million into the Gaza Strip and the exchange of $8.2 million of spoiled currency for new bills. The move came as the blockade eased and the approach of Ramadan created more demand for cash. The Palestinian Monetary Authority had requested a $62 million transfer earlier in 2010. [YNET, 7/28]\nJuly 28:\nIsraeli police in East Jerusalem helped Jewish settlers move into a house occupied by a Palestinian family. The Qirrishes returned from a wedding ceremony to discover the eviction and were barred from entering the property or collecting their personal effects. The settlement group Ateret Cohanim and the Palestinian inhabitants had been in dispute over the building since the 1970s. [LAT, 7/30]\nAug. 2:\nFayez Karam, former head of the Lebanese counter-terrorism and counterespionage units, was arrested and charged with spying for Israel. He allegedly relayed information relating to Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement. His was the latest in a string of espionage arrests since Lebanon launched an investigation into Israeli spy rings in 2009. Karam was the first politician to be charged. [MEO, 8/8, BBC, 8/10]\nAug. 3:\nFour people were killed in the worst clash along the Israel-Lebanon border since the 2006 war. The violence erupted when, for strategic purposes, Israeli troops attempted to clear a tree near the site of a 2006 month-long rocket exchange. The following day the UN confirmed that Israel had not crossed its border while cutting down the tree. [LAT, WP, 8/4]\nAug. 5:\nIsrael released the Mavi Marmara and two other Turkish ships from the May 30 flotilla. The vessels were bound for Turkey. The Israeli government kept possession of three non-Turkish vessels and the Rachel Corrie, which had sailed for Gaza a few days after the Turkish flotilla. [BBC, 8/4, Al-Jazeera, 8/7]\nAug. 9:\nIsraeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu testified for an Israeli state-sponsored inquiry into the flotilla incident. He defended Israel's actions, saying that it had not broken international law. He also said that his and Turkey's governments had been in negotiations for weeks to prevent conflict, but Ankara was not keen to take the case seriously. [The Guardian, 8/9]\nAug. 10:\nEhud Barak testified in the Israeli flotilla inquiry, stating that he [End Page 103] took responsibility for the nine deaths on the flotilla in a broad sense, but blamed the military for bungling the raid. He accused the Turkish flotilla of intentionally provoking the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). [The Guardian, 8/10, BBC, 8/10]\nAmidst generally friendly relations and following a series of violent border skirmishes, the IDF announced that it had changed its policy toward the Lebanese Army. According to the new rules, IDF soldiers would increase the intensity with which they responded to Lebanese aggression fourfold. Israel considered the Lebanese Army to be working toward regional stability along with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon. [YNET, LAT, 8/10]\nAug. 11:\nLieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel's top military chief, testified for the Israeli flotilla inquiry that the activists had fired first on IDF soldiers. He defended the use of lethal force, but said that greater precautions should have been taken to neutralize resistance before boarding the flotilla. [NYT, BBC, 8/11]\nAug. 17:\nThe Yesha Council and the Israeli Sheli movement ran two seminars on editing Wikipedia with language and information more sympathetic to Israel. Wikipedia had long been a battleground for informational disputes, such as whether to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Wikipedia had banned similar attempts to alter content by Camera, a Zionist group, in 2008. [The Guardian, Haaretz, 8/18]\nAfter years of debate, the Lebanese Parliament unanimously passed a new energy law allowing for the exploration of oil and natural gas fields in Lebanese waters. The legislation was revived by Israel's announcement that it would begin drilling its own marine oil fields. Lebanon feared that these movements would unfairly impinge upon their waters and resources, especially since Lebanon and Israel had no official maritime borders. [Al-Jazeera, 8/17]\nSept. 2:\nThe first face-to-face peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in over 20 months began in Washington, DC. US President Barack Obama hoped that the issues of borders and refugees could be resolved within a 12-month period. However, the murder of four Israelis by Hamas militants the night before the opening banquet cast a shadow over the talks. [The Guardian, 8/31, 9/2, 9/13, 9/15]\nSept. 3:\nIn drive-by shootings in the West Bank, Hamas killed three, breaking a two-year calm after a crackdown by Israeli and Palestinian Authority security services. [WP, 9/3, The Guardian, 9/15]\nSept. 12:\nPrime Minister Netanyahu announced that while construction would not be accelerated, he would not renew the freeze on settlement building. Palestinian Authority President Mahmud 'Abbas maintained that Palestine would withdraw from talks if the settlement-building continued. US President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton urged Netanyahu to extend the freeze, set to expire September 26. [The Guardian, 9/13]\nSept. 15:\nIsraeli forces bombed tunnels between Gaza and Egypt following a rocket attack from Gaza on the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Violence continued on the ground as Gazans fired mortars into Israel during the opening days of the peace negotiations. [BBC, The Guardian, 9/15]\nSept. 22:\nThe UN probe into the flotilla incident led by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched on August 10 ruled that Israel had broken international law during its raid on the Turkish flotilla. The charges included violating right to life and freedom of expression, and improper handling of captives. Israel dismissed the report, which carried no legal force. [BBC, 9/22, The Guardian, 8/10, 9/23]\nSept. 23:\nIn a speech at the UN General Assembly, US President Obama pleaded for support in Middle East peace talks. He directly appealed to Israel to halt the settlement process in the West Bank, while also exhorting supporters of Palestine to [End Page 104] stop \"trying to tear Israel down.\" He also emphasized that a Palestinian state was the only route to stable Israeli security. [The Guardian, AP, 9/23, Al-Jazeera, 9/24]\nSept. 26:\nDespite a call for restraint from Netanyahu, settlers in Kiryat Netarim, a settlement on the West Bank, declared an end to the 10-month building freeze by laying the cornerstone for a new kindergarten. Defense Minister Ehud Barak had not approved the construction plans. [YNET, 9/26]\nSept. 28:\nIn the first attempt since the Mavi Marmara flotilla, a boat carrying Jewish activists, along with an assortment of toys, medical supplies, books, and outboard motors, set out from Cyprus to break the Gaza blockade. IDF soldiers boarded and diverted the yacht two days later, bringing it to the nearby port of Ashdod. [Al-Jazeera, AP, 9/26, The Guardian, 9/28]\nOct. 4:\nUnknown arsonists attacked a mosque near Hebron in Al-Fajjar, scrawling \"Revenge\" and \"A mosque must be burned\" in Hebrew on the wall. The attack was thought to be part of the \"price tag\" policy, in which retaliation attacks were carried out against Palestinian targets whenever the Israeli state attempted to curb settlement efforts. Ehud Barak called the attack an act of terrorism. [NYT, 10/4]\nCentral Asia and the Caucasus\nSee also Afghanistan\nJuly 19:\nKazakh website owner Valery Khlyupin and online journalist Asror Muminov were accused by Kyrgyz officials of inciting ethnic hatred amidst ethnic violence in June 2010. Kyrgyz prosecutors requested that Kazakhstan charge Khlyupin and Muminov, author of an article entitled \"Kyrgyz Kill Uzbeks Even in Mosques.\" Khlyupin claimed that 90% of the information in the article was provided by sources within Kyrgyzstan and that he was prepared to apologize if any of it was false. [RFE/RL, 7/19]\nJuly 21:\nTajikistan opened a US-funded customs post along the Afghan border, demonstrating a greater joint commitment to drug trafficking. The US committed $12 million to the project, which provided the latest technological equipment and created a large complex of administrative and customs offices, a restaurant, and a hotel. [RFE/RL,7/23]\nJuly 22:\nAzerbaijan confirmed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented Armenia and Azerbaijan with a new plan to end the Nagorno-Karbakh conflict. The confirmation came after Azerbaijani officials had previously denied that new plans had been presented. Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian expressed frustration that Azerbaijan must accept Russia's proposals \"as a basis for negotiations\" or the conflict would remain deadlocked. [RFE/RL, 7/23]\nJuly 26:\nOver 2,000 people gathered in Kyrgyzstan's two largest cities, protesting the government's decision to accept the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) proposal to send a policy advisory unit of 52 members into southern Kyrgyzstan. Opponents of the OSCE force said that local authorities were able to cope with the unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan, but President Roza Otunbaeva stated that the international force would monitor the human rights situation and assist Kyrgyz police. [RFE/RL, 7/26]\nAug. 1:\nTajik authorities detained religious leader Mavlavi Abduqahor and students at his madrasa in the Rudaki district of Tajikistan. Abduqahor was arrested primarily for teaching without a license and for teaching children under the age of seven. The arrests were carried out by Operation Madrasah, which aimed to ban all illegal religious schools in the country. Some Tajik analysts said that officials were trying to control all religious schools in order to prevent the rise of radical Islam. [RFE/RL, 8/2]\nAug. 2:\nA Kyrgyz government commission began investigating the causes of the deadly June 2010 clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Members of the National Commission met with locals in predominantly ethnic [End Page 105] Uzbek villages in Osh who had both been victims of and witnessed the violence. The Commission was charged with finding out whether the violence could have been stopped earlier or prevented. [RFE/RL, 8/2]\nAug. 10:\nThe Muslim call to prayer through loudspeakers was banned in northern Tajikistan, just as Muslims were preparing for the holy month of Ramadan. Authorities in the northern Sughd province implemented the ban because they said it caused confusion and disturbed the peace. Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim country. [RFE/RL, 8/10]\nAug. 19:\nTurkmen authorities allowed some university students to return to Kyrgyzstan to continue their studies after they had been evacuated during the June 2010 clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Authorities agreed to let the students return as long as parents signed a statement assuming responsibility for their child's well-being while in Kyrgyzstan. Diplomas earned by students in Kyrgyzstan would not be recognized in Turkmenistan. [RFE/RL, 8/19]\nAug. 20:\nAzerbaijan's Supreme Court upheld a 2009 sentence given to jailed bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada. The men were sentenced to two and two and a half years, respectively, in prison on hooliganism charges. Lawyers and Hajizada's father called the charges politically motivated, as Milli and Hajizada had often criticized and satirized government policies. [RFE/RL, 8/20]\nAug. 25:\nGeorgia accused Russia of deploying S-300 missile-defense systems in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia. Earlier in the month, Moscow announced the placement of S-300s in the breakaway Abkhazia region, but denied that S-300s had also been deployed in South Ossetia. Georgia and much of the international community insisted that Abkhazia and South Ossetia were integral parts of Georgian history and were opposed to their recognition by Russia as independent states. [RFE/RL, 8/25]\nAug. 26:\nUzbek authorities burned 497 kilograms of confiscated Afghan heroin worth an estimated $150 million. The heroin and more than 700 kilograms of other illegal drugs were burned outside of Tashkent before an audience of diplomats and journalists. The destroyed drugs were used as evidence in trials against drug traffickers and represented just part of almost 2.5 tons of drugs seized from smugglers leaving Afghanistan since early 2010. [RFE/RL, 8/26]\nSept. 6:\nAs part of an exchange of border officials between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Uzbek authorities released a Kyrgyz border guard. A day earlier Kyrgyz authorities released three Uzbek customs officers and Uzbekistan released three Kyrgyz border guards. This release was delayed by additional negotiations over unknown border issues. [RFE/RL, 9/6]\nSept. 15:\nKyrgyzstan courts sentenced well-known ethnic Uzbek human rights activist Azimjan Askarov to life in prison. Askarov, along with seven other ethnic Uzbeks, were found guilty of murdering a Kyrgyz police officer during the violent clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in June 2010. A Kyrgyz official called the verdict politically motivated and said that his office had investigated further and would have held Askarov not guilty. [RFE/RL, 9/15]\nSept. 16:\nArmenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian announced that Armenia and Iran would soon begin building two shared major hydroelectric power stations on their border. Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said that the power stations would give Armenian-Iranian commercial ties a significant boost. The project was estimated to cost $323 million. [RFE/RL, 9/17]\nAn adviser to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev stated that the President would seek a fresh term in office in 2012. Nazarbaev was the country's only leader in its post-Soviet history. Parliament ruled in 2007 that he should be able to run for president as many times as he liked. As \"leader of the nation,\" Parliament also gave Nazarbaev immunity from prosecution. [RFE/RL, 9/16] [End Page 106]\nSept. 20:\nKyrgyzstan closed its border with Tajikistan after deadly clashes between an armed extremist group and Tajik military forces in Tajikistan's Rasht province. Cholponbek Turusbekov, Kyrgyz Border Guard Service Deputy Chairman, stated that Kyrgyz security forces were deployed to the area to control the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. Tajik authorities said armed militants killed about 23 servicemen near the Tajik-Kyrgyz border. [RFE/RL, 9/20]\nSept. 21:\nFive supporters of former opposition commander Mirzokhuja Ahmadov, a leader of the former United Tajik Opposition (UTO), were killed in a counterterrorist operation in the Rasht district. Ahmadov's house was also attacked by rockets. His fate was unknown. After learning of the attack on the commander's home, another former opposition leader, Shoh Iskandarov, reportedly joined the militants. UTO fought in the Tajik civil war of 1992-1997 against President Emomali Rahmon's administration. [RFE/RL, 9/22]\nSept. 23:\nAbkhaz Vice President Aleksandr Ankvab suffered minor shrapnel wounds when his home was attacked with a grenade launcher. The attacker's identity was unknown and the attempt was the fourth on Ankvab's life in the past five years. Motive for the attack remained unclear but a potential reason was that Ankvab was perceived as being capable of forcing the resignation of Abkhaz de facto President Sergei Bagapsh. [RFE/RL, 9/23]\nOct. 5:\nAn Armenian citizen, Manvel Saribekian, who was detained in Azerbaijan in September 2010, was found dead in his prison cell. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry and Military Prosecutor's Office claimed that Saribekian hanged himself, but circumstances surrounding Saribekian's death remained unclear. Azerbaijani authorities stated that Saribekian was part of an armed group intending to carry out armed \"provocations.\" Armenian authorities fiercely refuted that claim. [RFE/RL, 10/5]\nOct. 7:\nAzerbaijan refuted Armenia's claims that it killed an Armenian captive. Officials in Azerbaijan insisted that the captive, Manvel Saribekian, was an Armenian intelligence operative who committed suicide in custody, which Armenia also refuted. Saribekian was taken into custody in Azerbaijan on September 11. [RFE/RL, 10/7]\nOct. 12:\nKyrgyz voters took to the polls to elect a new Parliament as part of the referendum voted upon after the ousting of former President Bakiyev. Though the election was deemed free and fair, none of the top five finishers in the election won a large percentage of the vote, leaving many Kyrgyz voters to be represented by parties they did not vote for. Many analysts believed that the new government would have a very pro-Russian foreign policy. [RFE/RL, 10/12]\nOfficials captured 14 suspected terrorists and confiscated an unknown quantity of guns during a special operation in the normally peaceful Istaravshan district in northern Tajikistan. The men detained were suspected of being involved in a suicide bombing in the northern town of Khujand which killed four police officers and injured 28 people. The detainment was the first time a group so large had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism in Istaravshan. [RFE/RL, 10/14]\nOct. 13:\nA Vienna-based Turkmen human rights group's website was hacked and inaccessible for days. Farid Tukhbatullin, head of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR), left Turkmenistan and received refugee status in 2003. The group's website was hacked directly after President Gurbanguli Berdymukhammedov called on the National Security Ministry to crack down against those disseminating slanderous information about Turkmenistan. Since the hacking, Tukhbatullin was also warned of a possible threat to his personal security. [RFE/RL, 10/13]\nOct. 15:\nGeorgia's Parliament approved a controversial amendment to the constitution that shifted the country's primary political powers from the president to the prime minister. The amendment was designed to introduce more checks and balances by strengthening the role of the prime minister and Parliament while curbing presidential [End Page 107] power. Critics were wary as they believed that the shift would allow President Mikheil Saakashvili to prolong his position of power by seeking the seat of prime minister after his term ended. [RFE/RL, 10/15]\nPalestinian Affairs\nJuly 17:\nGaza's first shopping center opened in a ceremony attended by Hamas party officials and officers. The complex — approximately one-quarter acre — drew crowds hoping to browse the Western and Israeli products, enjoy the air-conditioning, or shop in the new supermarket. [YNET, 7/20, NYT, 8/22]\nJuly 18:\nEngineering students at Hebron University designed and built a completely solar-powered car from scratch as part of an effort to promote environmentally friendly power alternatives in Palestine. The car, celebrated as a victory for the students, could not exceed 19 miles per hour. [The Guardian, 7/18]\nJuly 20:\nBrazilian Presient Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a bill granting $14 million in aid to the reconstruction of Gaza. The gift came after the UN called on the international community to help the region. [AP, ANBA, 7/21]\nAug. 10:\nThe Palestinian Authority reported that Arab countries had cut aid to the Palestinian territories, although the US and Europe had already donated their annual contributions. Arab officials from other countries declined to comment, though some Palestinians speculated that the cut was calculated to force Hamas and Fatah to reach an accord. [Reuters, 8/10]\nAug. 25:\nDozens of protesters, carrying President Mahmud 'Abbas' picture and chanting his name, broke up a conference in Ramallah held to oppose direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. The organizers of the conference, believing the interruption to be the work of Fatah and Palestinian security forces, immediately began their own protest in the streets of the city, but were soon stopped by the police for not holding the necessary protest permit. [LAT, 8/25]\nSept. 19:\nThe Crazy Water Park, one of the few affordable family destinations in Gaza, was attacked for the second time in a month by arsonists. The owner claimed that Hamas ignored threats to the park. The resort competed with Hamas' commercial enterprises and conservatives often criticized it for what they perceived as immoral activities, including hosting mixed-gender parties. [The Guardian, 9/24]\nSept. 20:\nIsrael lifted a ban on car imports to the Gaza Strip for the first time in over three years, allowing the importation of oil, engine parts, and about 20 cars. Restrictions on Gaza had been gradually easing since the May 30 raid on the Mavi Marmara. [NYT, 9/20]\nSept. 22:\nHamas leader Khalid Mish'al hosted Fatah representative 'Azzam al-Ahmad in Damascus in one of a series of reconciliation attempts between the conflicting parties. The two men released a joint statement announcing an initial agreement concerning the path to compromise, and outlined plans to meet in Cairo and finalize a peace agreement. [Al-Jazeera, 9/25]\nAfghanistan\nJuly 19:\nNATO forces intercepted a five-point directive from Mullah 'Umar, the spiritual leader of the Afghan Taliban, in which he called on members to fight foreign troops, obtain heavy weapons, and kill civilians collaborating with coalition forces. If genuine, the directive marked a turnaround for Umar who in 2009 urged Taliban members to avoid killing civilians. [Al-Jazeera, 7/19]\nJuly 26:\nThe US government condemned the leak of more than 90,000 classified military documents on the war in Afghanistan, including details on Afghan civilian deaths, special forces units targeting high-level Taliban members, and concerns that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI was helping the Taliban. The documents were released by the online whistleblower WikiLeaks and covered the period January 2004 through December 2009. [Al-Jazeera, 7/26] [End Page 108]\nJuly 23:\nA NATO rocket attack on an Afghan village killed up to 52 civilians. Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the incident. Witnesses said that civilians were fired upon by helicopters while they sought cover after being warned of an impending firefight between Taliban militants and NATO troops. [Al-Jazeera, 7/27]\nJuly 27:\nThe US Department of Defense launched an investigation into the leak of thousands of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan to whistleblower website WikiLeaks. Officials said that the person who leaked the classified documents appeared to have security clearance and access to sensitive documents. Bradley Manning, an army intelligence analyst, was charged earlier in July over the leak of a classified video to WikiLeaks. [Al-Jazeera, 7/27]\nAug. 13:\nBBC News reported that a routine Afghan National Army (ANA) operation conducted by a 300-man battalion turned into a major confrontation when Taliban militants ambushed army personnel in Bad Pakh valley in northeast Afghanistan. Seven Afghan soldiers were killed and 14 were injured. ANA Commanders and NATO leaders said that the ANA, with over 130,000 soldiers, was increasingly able to operate militarily without support from coalition forces. [BBC, 8/13]\nAug. 15:\nThe Afghan Ministry of Mines announced that an oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels of oil was discovered in north Afghanistan. An oil ministry spokesman indicated that these reserves and other mineral deposits would be offered up for development in the months that followed. [BBC, 8/16]\nNATO forces in Afghanistan killed an al-Qa'ida cell leader as he attacked a police post in Kunduz province. He was also a Taliban commander. [Al-Arabiya, 8/16]\nAug. 24:\nAfghan and international forces killed about 40 Taliban insurgents and captured eight Taliban leaders east of Kabul as part of an operation to provide security for the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in the region in September 2010. A large amount of explosive ordinances and weapons were destroyed. One International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed in the fighting. [AP, 8/24]\nAug. 28:\nTaliban gunmen killed parliamentary candidate Haji Abdul Manan as he walked from his home to a mosque. Also in anticipation of the forthcoming parliamentary election, at least ten campaign workers of Fawzia Gilani, a female candidate in the elections, were kidnapped by armed men three days previously. The motive of the kidnappers was unclear. Both incidents occurred in Herat province. [Al-Jazeera, 8/26, Reuters, 8/29]\nAug. 29:\nExposure to poison gas, confirmed as containing toxic but non-fatal levels of organophosphates, hospitalized 45 students and four teachers from the Zabihullah Esmati High School in the Kart-e-Naw area of Kabul. The method of the poison gas' release was unknown. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid reached via phone said \"We have not and will never take such action against innocent girls.\" A similar attack by unknown assailants was carried out on August 25 at another Kabul high school. [NYT, 8/31]\nBullet-riddled bodies of five campaign workers of female parliamentary candidate Fawzia Gilani were found in the Adraskan district of Herat. It was unclear who killed them. Five other campaign workers were found unharmed. [Reuters, 8/29]\nAug. 30:\nA car bomb killed the district chief of Lal Pur in the eastern province of Nangarhar as he drove into the provincial headquarters for a provincial security meeting with political leaders. Three to five others were wounded in the explosion. [AP, 8/30]\nSept. 6:\nThe Taliban assassinated district chief Rahmad Sror Joshan Pool from Baghlan Province along the Kunduz-Baghlan highway in northern Afghanistan. Pool's bodyguard and one militant were also killed and two militants were wounded in the ensuing firefight. [NYT, 9/7] [End Page 109]\nProminent Afghan journalist and deputy head of Afghanistan's National Journalists' Association Said Hamid Noori was found stabbed to death outside of his home. The motive and responsible party remained unknown. President Hamid Karzai issued a statement ordering authorities to spare no effort in bringing the killers to justice. [AP, 9/6]\nSept. 9:\nAt least 20 Islamist militants, including Taliban members and one border guard, were killed in a firefight along the Tajik-Afghan border. The militants were attempting to cross the border into Tajikistan when Tajik border guards engaged them. The firefight lasted nearly 24 hours, during which most of the militant group was killed. [Dawn, 9/11]\nSept. 12:\nTwo people died and four others were wounded as Afghans continued to protest the proposed but cancelled burning of Qur'ans by a US pastor. The previous day, more than 10,000 Afghans shouted anti-US slogans, set fire to tires, and blocked a highway in protest against the American church's plan. Smaller protests were held throughout Afghanistan since September 9. [AP, 9/11, 9/12]\nSept. 13:\nISAF soldiers were attacked multiple times during a patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand Province and responded with airstrikes, mortars, rockets, and machine gun fire, killing up to 23 insurgents. ISAF stopped firing when they observed women and children entering the compound from which the insurgent gunfire originated. [AP, 9/14]\nSept. 17:\nThe Taliban kidnapped 19 government officials on the eve of the Afghan elections, including Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of Parliament) candidate Abdul Rahman Hayat. The Taliban threatened to target polling centers, election workers, and security forces on election day and warned that voters who tried to cast ballots \"will get hurt.\" Tens of thousands of Afghan security forces were on high alert. [AFP, 9/17]\nSept. 18:\nVoting concluded for Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga elections at over 5,000 polling stations. Hundreds of polling stations were closed due to security concerns. Despite the 115,000 Afghan security forces sent to protect the polls, a total of 93 attacks killed at least 21 voters and wounded 45 others around the country. [AFP, Al-Jazeera, 9/18, WP, 9/20]\nSept. 21:\nNine American NATO troops were killed and one Afghan national security force member wounded in a helicopter crash in the Zabul province of southern Afghanistan, where ISAF increased pressure on Taliban insurgents. While the Taliban claimed responsibility for the crash, NATO denied that the helicopter reported hostile fire. [FOX, 9/21]\nA NATO and Afghan army outpost in the Spera district of Khost province in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border was attacked by insurgents. The skirmish killed 25-30 insurgents. No NATO or Afghan troop casualties were reported. [AP, 9/22]\nSept. 24:\nMore than 30 insurgents were killed in an ISAF and Afghan air assault in the Laghman province. The assault was conducted by more than 250 ISAF and Afghan police and security forces. [CNN, 9/25]\nOct. 3:\nThe Afghan government formally banned eight foreign and domestic private security firms. Among those banned was XE, the company formally known as Blackwater. Weapons and ammunition owned by the companies were also confiscated. President Karzai issued a decree in September to disband all private security firms in the country within four months in order to reduce corruption, security irregularities, and misuse of military weapons which caused tragic incidents throughout the country. [CNN, 10/3]\nOct. 6:\nIt was reported that Taliban representatives authorized to speak for the Quetta Shurra and members of the Karzai government were holding secret peace talks. Sources stressed that the talks were only preliminary. A Karzai spokesman did not confirm or deny the government's participation in such discussions. [Reuters, 10/6]\nOct. 7:\nA US Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry revealed a number of [End Page 110] problems in US military contracts to private security organizations. The report cited poor training, a lack of oversight by Defense Department contract managers, and evidence that some funds eventually fell into the hands of Afghan warlords. The report also claimed that some contractors even engaged in activities opposed to coalition efforts. [Reuters, 10/7]\nOct. 8:\nAt least 20 people were killed and 35 wounded in a bomb explosion at the Shirkat mosque in Takhar province. The attack occurred during Friday prayers. Kunduz province governor Muhammad 'Umar, a Takhar native, was among the dead. He was suspected of being the bomb's target, having survived two previous assassination attempts. [AP, RFE/RL, 10/8]\nOct. 11:\nBritish Prime Minister David Cameron revealed that Linda Norgrove, a British hostage and aid worker killed during a US-led rescue operation on October 8, may not have been killed by her captors as previously reported by the British Foreign Office. Cameron, who authorized the rescue, said that US General David Petraeus reported that a review of the incident suggested that Norgrove could have been killed by the troops attempting to save her, specifically from a grenade explosion rather than bombs on a vest worn by one of the kidnappers. [Reuters, 10/11]\nAlgeria\nJuly 25:\nAziz Abdul Naji, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was transferred to his native Algeria on July 18, was indicted and placed under judicial supervision. Naji was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and held in Guantanamo until his release. He fought against his repatriation and said that he feared mistreatment or even death in his homeland. [KT, 7/27]\nAug. 6:\nIdir Muhamad, Mayor of Baghlia, was assassinated by Algerian Islamist militants. Baghlia was a town located east of Algiers in a region thought to be a stronghold of al-Qa'ida's North African wing. The mayor belonged to the National Liberation Front party, Algeria's largest political party. [Reuters, 8/7]\nAug. 28:\nAlgerian forces killed eight gunmen suspected of belonging to al-Qa'ida during a special operation in the Kabylie region, east of Algiers. The mountainous Kabylie area was considered to be a safe refuge for al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb. Residents in the region alerted authorities after insurgents sought food there. [AP, 8/29]\nOct. 3:\nA remote-controlled bombing of a military convoy by Islamist militants killed five soldiers and injured ten others. The soldiers were on a mission targeting insurgents in the volatile Kabylie region. [AP, 10/3]\nOct. 5:\nTwo recently converted Christian men on trial in Algeria for eating during daylight hours in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan were acquitted. Algerian law considered it an \"offense to the principles of Islam\" to eat during the day during Ramadan. Two similar cases in the courts were pending. [AP, Reuters, 10/5]\nBahrain\nAug. 13:\n'Abdul Jalil Al Singace, spokesman for the Haq Movement for Liberties and Democracy, a large Shi'a opposition group, was arrested as he returned to Manama from a London seminar for terrorist acts and inciting violence. Singace, who had been arrested on terrorism charges in 2009, was accused of spreading fabricated information about the government and judicial system in order to stir unrest. [GN, 8/15]\nAug. 26:\nPublic prosecutor 'Ali al-Bu'aynayn issued a gag order on all coverage of the alleged terrorist plot against Bahraini national security. Violation of the order in any medium entailed a fine or a jail sentence of up to one year. The only exception included statements from Bu'aynayn himself. [GN, 8/28]\nSept. 4:\nOfficials arrested and charged 23 people for conspiring to overthrow the Sunni government in a violent coup. Most of the accused were Shi'a opposition leaders who had been charged with similar offenses in 2009 and subsequently pardoned. The [End Page 111] majority of the more than 160 arrested under anti-terrorism laws since August 2009 were part of the Shi'a majority opposition or human rights groups. [NYT, 9/5]\nSept. 6:\nAfter only four months in office, Salman Kamaluddin, head of the National Human Rights Commission in Bahrain, resigned for unknown reasons. During his tenure he had openly disagreed with the government on the role of politics in human rights. [GN, 9/6]\nSept. 19:\nBahraini officials stripped Shi'a Ayatollah Husayn Mirza Nijati of his citizenship and reportedly banned Shi'a Shaykh 'Abdul Jalil al-Miqdad from delivering sermons for two weeks. Human rights activists were already preparing for the apparent crackdown on Shi'a opposition leaders, accusing the Sunni government of using torture and intimidation to ensure control in the run-up to the October parliamentary elections. [BBC, 9/20]\nEgypt\nJuly 18:\nPresident Husni Mubarak hosted Palestinian President Mahmud 'Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and US Peace Envoy George Mitchell in Cairo. None of the visitors spoke with each other, but instead had back-to-back appointments with Mubarak to discuss the possibility of future direct talks regarding a two-state solution. [Reuters, 7/18]\nAn Egyptian court freed National Democratic Party member Hani Surur who had been jailed for selling defective blood bags to state hospitals. The decision voided a November ruling that sentenced Surur to three years in prison. The court also overturned the three-year prison sentences of Surur's sister and two senior health officials, and acquitted three others who had been sentenced to six months in prison for the same crime. [Reuters, 7/18]\nSixteen Bedouin tribesmen, including Yahya Abu Nasira, an activist who helped to found the opposition party Karama, were freed from jail. The government sought to reduce tension with the Bedouin, who complained of mistreatment and clashed with security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian authorities accused the Bedouin of being involved in weapons and drug smuggling to the Gaza Strip. [Reuters, 7/18]\nJuly 22:\nPresident Mubarak addressed Egyptians in a televised speech to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Egypt's July Revolution. He appeared healthy during the speech only days after Information Minister Anas al-Fekki denied a Washington Times report that Western intelligence agencies thought Mubarak to be suffering from terminal stomach and pancreatic cancer. [Reuters, 7/22]\nAug. 5:\nIn a television interview, an anonymous Egyptian woman accused two police officers of raping her on a deserted rural road north of Cairo. The police opened an investigation into the incident after it was reported. The interview attracted tens-of-thousands of viewers on YouTube as it was unusual for women in Egypt to make public accusations of rape. [BBC, 8/5]\nAug. 11:\nDrought in Russia led to a major wheat shortage in Egypt. Egypt, which imported an estimated 60,000 tons of wheat from Russia each month, had to find another supply as Russia halted its exports. [RFE/RL, 8/11]\nAug. 12:\nThe Egyptian government announced a controversial plan to unify the Islamic call to prayer in Cairo. One muezzin's recitation of the call to prayer would be transmitted by radio to thousands of mosques to be played simultaneously in order to avoid discrepancies about prayer times and end overlapping prayer calls. Many muezzins worried about no longer being able to perform the call to prayer. Some religious scholars called the move an undue government interference. [Al-Jazeera, 8/12]\nAug. 14:\nFour African migrants were shot dead by smugglers and two more were killed [End Page 112] by Egyptian police near Egypt's border with Israel. Smugglers had been holding about 50 Ethiopians and Eritreans for ransom and shot at them when one migrant seized a gun from a guard to free his fellow captives. Egyptian police shot two migrants when they refused orders to stop as they tried to cross barbed wire at the Israeli border. [Reuters, 8/14]\nAug. 18:\nCrowds protested power outages that left many residents without air conditioning during the hot month of Ramadan, blocking a major highway in Fayoum with burning tires. The electricity cuts affected residents from the Nile Delta in the north to Luxor in the south. Residents of Shubra el-Kheima on Cairo's outskirts signed petitions calling for the Minister of Electricity to resign. [AP, 8/18]\nAug. 23:\nDeputy Culture Minister Mohsan Shalaan and four security guards from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo were detained on accusations of neglect and professional delinquency after a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen on August 21 in broad daylight. The same painting was stolen in 1978, found in Kuwait two years later, and returned to Egypt. [AP, 8/23]\nAug. 25:\nA presidential spokesman announced that Egypt would build its first nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast of el-Dabaa which it hoped would be linked into the national grid by 2019. Head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said that the agency was ready to assist Egypt in its nuclear efforts. Egypt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1981. [AFP, 8/25]\nSept. 6:\nOpposition leader Muhammad ElBaradei urged the nation to boycott the November 28 parliamentary election. ElBaradei said that the elections were bound to be rigged and that it was wrong to legitimize the regime by participating in its elections. [AP, 9/6]\nSept. 11:\nApproximately 100 tons of oil leaked into the Nile River in the Aswan region after an oil barge began sinking while unloading its cargo. Three Egyptian provinces declared a state of emergency to contain the spill and prevent it from spreading and contaminating water purification facilities. [AP, 9/11]\nSept. 19:\nA high-ranking Hamas official, Mohammed Dababish, was arrested at the Cairo International Airport for using falsified travel documents. Dababish was a top official in Hamas' internal security unit overseeing intelligence matters in Gaza. [AP, 9/19]\nSept. 21:\nEgyptian police beat and arrested activists demonstrating in downtown Cairo against the possible succession of Gamal Mubarak to the presidency following his father. Close to 300 demonstrators chanted antigovernment slogans, waved flags, and burned pictures of Gamal Mubarak. Police detained more than 30 activists for trying to reach the demonstration and confiscated videotapes from BBC and Al-Jazeera news crews attempting to cover the event. [AP, 9/21]\nSept. 28:\nEgyptian real-estate tycoon and former member of the upper house of parliament Hisham Talaat Mustafa was sentenced to 15 years in prison for paying former Egyptian police officer Mohsen al-Sukkari $2 million to murder Lebanese pop singer Suzanne Tamim. Mustafa was originally sentenced to death in May 2009. His retrial began on April 26, 2010. AlSukkari was also retried and had his death sentence reduced to life in prison. [AP, 9/28]\nOct. 12:\nEleven Culture Ministry employees were sentenced to three years in prison for gross negligence regarding the Van Gogh painting that was stolen from a Cairo museum on August 23. The painting was worth $55 million. [Reuters, 10/12]\nNew restrictions were imposed by Egypt's telecommunications regulators on mobile text messages, forcing companies that send out texts en masse to acquire licenses. Only registered political parties were able to apply to use mass text messages for the November 28 parliamentary elections. As a banned political party, the [End Page 113] Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition party, was not allowed to apply for a license, thereby limiting their ability to mobilize voters. [Al-Jazeera, 10/13]\nOct. 13:\nEgypt's telecommunications regulators imposed new requirements effectively placing all live broadcasts, including TV talk shows and news bulletins, under the control of state television. The licenses of all private companies that provided live broadcast services in Egypt were canceled, requiring them to obtain new licenses under the regulations. [AP, 10/13]\nIran\nSee also Pakistan, Syria\nJuly 16:\nTwo suicide bombers killed 27 people when they attacked the Jamia mosque, a Shi'a mosque in the city of Zahedan in southeastern Iran. Jundallah, a Sunni rebel group, claimed that they had carried out the attack as revenge for the hanging of its leader in June. Iran's clerical leadership accused the US of backing Jundallah in order to create unrest, but the US denied these allegations and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the \"horrific attacks.\" [BBC, 7/16]\nJuly 24:\nIran's Oil Ministry released a statement saying that it signed a $1.3 billion deal with Turkey to build a pipeline to ship gas to Turkey. The Turkish government denied that it was part of the deal, but Som Petrol, Turkey's largest energy company, said it had partnered with Iran. Javad Oji, head of the National Iranian Natural Gas Export Company said that the pipeline would export 50-60 million meters of gas each day and would be constructed within three years. [Al-Jazeera, 7/24]\nJuly 28:\nPresident Mahmud Ahmadinejad launched a new policy to pay couples that have children. Each newborn child would receive $950 plus $95 each year until they turned 18, which could be spent on education, health, marriage, or housing. Ahmadinejad condemned contraceptives and vasectomies as policies from the \"secular world\" and not appropriate for Iran. [BBC, 7/28]\nAug. 4:\nAhmadinejad was unharmed after an attacker threw a homemade explosive device at his motorcade during a visit to Hamadan. The bomb hit a car carrying journalists and presidential staff. One person was arrested, but Iranian state media denied that an attack had occurred. [Reuters, BBC, 8/4]\nAug. 16:\nThe head of Iran's Atomic Organization, 'Ali Akbar Salehi, announced that Iran would continue to expand its uranium enrichment capacity despite international sanctions. He said that Iran had identified ten new locations for enrichment plants and construction would start as early as March 2011. [Reuters, 8/16]\nAug. 18:\nIran banned the well-known economic newspaper, Asia, for \"publishing pictures against public chastity,\" and \"promoting wastefulness and extravagance.\" Ahmad Alavi, an Iranian lecturer at Stockholm University, stated that Asia was likely shut down because it published information about the poor economic state of Iran and the inefficiency of the government. [RFE/RL, 8/19]\nAug. 21:\nRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Iranian Basij members were being trained to control the virtual world as Iranian officials became increasingly concerned about the dangers of the Internet. Officials saw the internet as a dangerous breeding ground for the \"soft war\" that they believed the enemy (US, Israel, etc.) was waging against Iran. The government had launched pro-government sites and banned opposition networks and sites. [RFE/RL, 8/21]\nAug. 22:\nPresident Ahmadinejad appointed four special envoys for foreign affairs. They were seen by some as direct challenges to Ayatollah Khamenei. The Supreme Leader usually approved appointment decisions relating to foreign policy, but experts believed that Ahmadinejad was trying to exert greater control over Iranian foreign policy. [RFE/RL, 9/8]\nAug. 26:\nThe Iranian government announced new restrictions on the number of students admitted to humanities programs in the [End Page 114] country's universities. In 2009, Ayatollah Khamenei commented that humanities promoted doubt in religious beliefs and principles and that it was worrisome that about two-thirds of university students were seeking humanities degrees in Iran. University professors had also been replaced with those more committed to the Supreme Leader and the Islamic ideology. [RFE/RL, 8/26]\nSept. 14:\nSarah Shourd, one of three American hikers accused by Iran of spying, was freed. Shourd was reportedly granted bail for health reasons, specifically a possible breast cancer diagnosis. Iran posted Shourd's bail at $500,000, a sum that the US government denied paying. It was unknown who posted Shourd's bail; US officials stated that Swiss or Omani officials may have been involved. [RFE/RL, 9/14]\nSept. 11:\nIranian diplomat Hossein Alizadeh resigned to join the opposition Green Movement. He criticized the Ahmadinejad administration for \"damaging Iran's prestige and honor.\" Prior to his defection, Alizadeh was second in command at Iran's embassy in Finland. Alizadeh was the third diplomat in Europe to step down and join the opposition in 2010. [RFE/RL, 9/14]\nSept. 16:\nMir Hossein Moussavi's office was raided by security forces who seized the office's computers and possibly confiscated other property. Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was also targeted in September. Security forces were building a case against both men, but no details were provided about the charges. [NYT, 9/16]\nSix people were kidnapped in Sistan-Baluchistan province. Five of them were soldiers but officials insisted that none were high-ranking military officials. In Shi'ite dominant Iran, Sistan-Baluchistan had been the hotspot for the Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundullah. While Iran insisted that Jundullah had ties to al-Qa'ida, Jundullah denied any association with the group. [Reuters, 9/18]\nSept. 17:\nAfter the September 16 raid on Moussavi's office, Iranian security forces surrounded his office, effectively shutting it down. Correspondents in Iran stated that the crackdown was part of growing pressure on the opposition as opposition leaders continued to maintain that Ahmadinejad's re-election was fraudulent. [BBC, 9/17]\nSept. 18:\nSix hostages seized in the Sistan-Baluchistan province were freed by Iranian police after two days of fighting. Police worked with forces from the Quds Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to seal off the area and ambush the militants. Fars News Agency reported that one hostage and one gunman were killed, while two hostages were wounded. Fars also reported that the Sunni militant group Jundullah claimed responsibility on their website, but other sources rejected that claim. [CNN, 9/18]\nShiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights activist and founder of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters in Tehran, was sentenced to six years in prison on antigovernment activity charges. Ahari was arrested in December 2009 on her way to the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein 'Ali Montazeri. Convicted of plotting against the state, among other charges, Ahari was to pay a fine of $400 in addition to her six-year term as an alternative to receiving 74 lashes as punishment. [RFE/RL, 9/18]\nSept. 20:\nCulture Minister Mohammad Hosseini announced the creation of a five-person board that would approve content of all books prior to publication in Iran. Members would be appointed by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Since President Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, censorship in Iran had intensified. [RFE/RL, 9/22]\nSept. 22:\nA bomb exploded during a military parade in Mahabad in northwestern Iran, killing 12 people and wounding at least 35 others. A provincial governor blamed \"counter-revolutionary groups\" for the bombing, which took place on the 30th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war. No group claimed responsibility for the [End Page 115] attack but militants had long been active in the area, which was home to a large Kurdish population. [BBC, 9/22]\nSept. 25:\nIran's Atomic Energy Organization reported that its engineers were trying to protect various facilities from a sophisticated computer worm. The worm, named Stuxnet, had infected industrial plants across the country. It was unclear if the worm had infected any of Iran's nuclear facilities, including Natanz which was the target of covert American and Israeli programs. Stuxnet's origins were unclear. [NYT, 9/25]\nIn a rare admission, IRGC forces crossed into Iraq and killed 30 Kurdish fighters from a group it said was involved in the September 22 bombing of a military parade in Mahabad. General Abdolrasoul Mahmoudabadi of the IRGC admitted to a \"beyond the border\" clash in which \"terrorists\" were killed. IRGC forces were still in pursuit of two men who escaped. Iraqi officials previously complained about Iranian artillery shelling in Iraq's northern mountainous region where Kurdish armed opposition groups had taken refuge. [BBC, 9/26, AA, 9/27]\nSept. 28:\nA prominent Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after being convicted for anti-state activities such as cooperation with hostile countries, spreading propaganda against the ruling government, promoting counterrevolutionary groups, and insulting religious figures and Islamic thoughts. Derakhshan, dubbed Iran's \"Blogfather\" had been in custody since he was arrested in 2008 after returning to Iran after living in Britain and Canada. [RFE/RL, 9/28]\nOct. 4:\nAn Iranian opposition website, daneshjoonews.com, published the names of over 73 students jailed in Iranian prisons and stated that this number was the highest it had been in decades. Amir Rashidi, an opposition student leader in Iran, said that the regime had stopped trying to control students and instead was using military tactics to stop collective student political activity. [RFE/RL, 10/4]\nOct. 9:\nIranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi acknowledged that personnel at some of the country's nuclear facilities had been promised money by Western states in return for passing along Iranian secrets. The Islamic Republic insisted that increased security had stopped Western spying, making clear Iran's struggle with nuclear espionage. [NYT, 10/9]\nOct. 13:\nEighteen IRGC members were killed and 14 were wounded in a remote area of southwestern Iran in an explosion on a base near the city of Khorramabad. The IRGC reported that the blast occurred when fire spread to an ammunition storeroom. The city was close to Iran's Kurdistan region, where several attacks on the IRGC had taken place in recent months. [NYT, 10/13]\nIraq\nSee also Iran\nJuly 16:\nA hotel fire in northern Iraq killed 30 people, including 14 foreigners, and injured 40. There was no evidence that the incident was terror-related. [BBC, 7/16]\nJuly 18:\nA suicide bomber killed 43 people and wounded 41 at an army office west of Baghdad where anti-al-Qa'ida fighters had gathered to receive their paychecks. The bomber struck a group of Sahwa militiamen, Sunni fighters who, until 2006, sided with al-Qa'ida in Iraq. In the past six months, many Sahwa fighters and family members were killed in revenge attacks. [Al-Arabiya, 7/18]\nJuly 25:\nIraqi authorities arrested three senior Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leaders, including two brothers suspected of masterminding major offensives in Diyala in central Iraq. Authorities also arrested Saleem Khalid al-Zawbayi, the Minister of Defense for ISI, a Sunni Islamist insurgent group affiliated with Al-Qa'ida in Iraq. [Al-Arabiya, 7/25]\nJuly 26:\nTwo car bombs exploded on the road between Karbala and Najaf, killing 20 mostly Shi'ite pilgrims and injuring 54 others. A separate bombing killed four and injured ten outside the offices of Al-Arabiya. [Al-Arabiya, 7/26] [End Page 116]\nJuly 29:\nAl-Qa'ida in Iraq claimed responsibility for a July 26 suicide bombing at the Baghdad office of satellite news network Al-Arabiya. Al-Qa'ida warned of further strikes on media targets. [Reuters, 7/29]\nAug. 12:\nIraq's top army officer Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari criticized the US plan to remove US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 and argued that the Iraqi Army would not be able to secure the country until 2020. Violence in Iraq had fallen from its peak in 2006-2007, but civilian deaths rose sharply in July 2010. The White House said US President Barack Obama was satisfied with the progress made by Iraqi security forces. [BBC, 8/12]\nAug. 17:\nA suicide bomber killed 59 people and injured more than 100 at an army recruitment center in Baghdad. The recruitment center took in on average 250 recruits each week as Iraqi authorities tried to boost their armed forces. [BBC, 8/17]\nAug. 19:\nThe last US combat brigade in Iraq left the country seven years after the US-led invasion. About 50,000 US troops would remain in Iraq until the end of 2011 to support Iraqi security forces and protect US interests. The US State Department said its presence in Iraq would be less intrusive and more focused on civilian matters. [BBC, 8/19]\nThe new US Ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, arrived in Baghdad. Jeffrey, a veteran diplomat with experience in Iraq, Kuwait, and Turkey, replaced outgoing Ambassador Christopher Hill. [KT, 8/19]\nAug. 25:\nMore than a dozen apparently coordinated attacks against Iraqi police and civilians killed 52 people and injured around 250. Ten Iraqi cities and towns were affected, including Kut, where a car bomb detonated at a passport office killing 20 people, including 15 police officers. [MEO, 8/25]\nSept. 2:\nIraq signed an agreement with the US to settle abuse claims and pay out $400 million to Americans detained, tortured, starved, used as human shields, and otherwise mistreated under Saddam Husayn's regime during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. The agreement was also a step forward in removing UN sanctions imposed on Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait. [Reuters, 9/11]\nSept. 12:\nAn Amnesty International (AI) report claimed that 30,000 people were being held in Iraqi prisons. The report also said that AI had evidence that some prisoners were tortured, abused, or died in custody. Many were allegedly held without being charged or put on trial. [AFP, 9/13]\nSept. 19:\nMultiple attacks occurred throughout Iraq, including two large car bomb explosions in Baghdad and one in Fallujah. Three mortar rounds that landed in the fortified Green Zone left at least 36 dead and over 128 wounded. Sticky bombs killed two in a minibus and an officer from the Interior Ministry in his car. [CNN, 9/19]\nSept. 28:\nIraq's cabinet approved a $733 million deal to build a new oil export terminal in Basra. Leighton Offshore Private Ltd. was awarded the deal. The floating terminal was expected to increase Iraq's oil export capacity to 3 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 1.6 million bpd. [Dow Jones, 9/28]\nOct. 1:\nIraqi politicians broke the record for time taken to form a new government. The previous record was held by the Dutch, who took 208 days to create a coalition in 1977. [CNN, 10/1]\nAccording to official government figures, the death toll from violence in September was the lowest since January 2010. These records showed that 273 people, including civilians, police, and military, were casualties of violence. [AFP, 10/1]\nOct. 4:\nThe US Department of Commerce made its first trade mission to Iraq since the US pull-out of combat troops in August 2010. Fifteen companies participated, including General Motors and Boeing Corp. Only one, Wamar Engineering, was an energy company. A Commerce Department official said that jobs would be created for both Americans and Iraqis. [CNN, 9/30] [End Page 117]\nIraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani announced that Iraq's extractable oil reserves rose 24% to 143.1 billion barrels. This increase was largely due to oil field development by international companies. If accurate, this would mean that Iraq had larger reserves than Iran. [BBC, 10/4]\nOct. 10:\nCiting a lack of evidence, a Baghdad court acquitted two Iraqis of the 2003 murders of six British Royal Military Police soldiers in Iraq. The six were killed in the southern city of Majar al-Kabir by a mob. Six others were taken into custody in February 2010 but the charges against them were dropped. [BBC, 10/10]\nIsrael\nJuly 21:\nSix Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were killed when a CH-53 helicopter crashed in central Romania during a joint military exercise. After identification, the remains were returned to Jerusalem. Israeli authorities announced there would be no changes to IDF training exercises in the region. [CNN, 7/27, Jerusalem Post, 7/29]\nAug. 17:\nA Palestinian man later identified as Nadim Injaz barricaded himself in the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv with two hostages, demanding asylum and claiming to have been persecuted by Israeli intelligence agents. He was successfully apprehended after he released the hostages unharmed. In 2006, he carried out a similar attack on the British Embassy in Tel Aviv. [The Guardian, BBC, 8/17]\nAug. 24:\nFailed Grade, a report issued by Israeli rights group the Association of Civil Rights in Israel and Ir Amin, found that the government was not providing enough funding for public education in East Jerusalem. Palestinian schools suffered low academic performance and higher drop-out rates, 50% compared to the 11.8% for Jewish schools, which was linked to poor conditions and lack of spending for Arab schools. The report estimated that, on average, the Israeli government was spending about four times more per student in Jewish schools than in Arab schools. [The Guardian, 8/24]\nSept. 5:\nThe Education Ministry transferred most of the funding for high school civics classes to support courses in Jewish studies. Civics, the only subject in Israeli high schools to cover highly sensitive issues such as equality, personal rights, and the Arab and Druze minorities, would be dropped from several curricula. Increased focus on Jewish studies was one of Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar's stated goals. [Haaretz, 9/5]\nSept. 6:\nIn a study conducted by Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, 64% of 500 Israeli high school students polled said that Arab Israelis did not have equal rights. 96% wished Israel to be a Jewish democratic state, and 41% supported stripping citizenship from those who objected to this principle. The poll also revealed bias against gay and special-needs students. [Haaretz, 9/6]\nOct. 1:\nIn remembrance of the October 2000 killing of 12 Arab Israelis, protesters gathered in Kafr Kanna in Galilee. About 200 protesters, including Knesset members, Arab Israeli politicians, and families of the victims, waved Palestinian flags and hurled stones at Israeli vehicles. Protesters called for the prosecution of the police and security forces responsible for the killings and deplored what they called the growing racism of the Israeli state over the previous decade. [YNET, 10/1]\nOct. 3:\nAn Israeli military court convicted two Israeli soldiers of reckless endangerment and conduct unbecoming for using a nine-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield while checking for booby traps in Gaza in January 2009. The boy was unharmed in the incident. This was reportedly the first such conviction. The use of civilians as human shields was banned in Israel. [BBC, 10/3]\nOct. 10:\nThe Israeli government approved an amendment to the Citizenship Act requiring all new citizens to pledge allegiance to the \"Jewish and democratic state\" of Israel. Labor Chairman Ehud Barak withdrew support for the bill at the last minute, saying he feared that the new legislation would be used as a \"racist tool.\" [YNET, 10/10] [End Page 118]\nOct. 11:\nThe Spanish and French Prime Ministers accused Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of violating diplomatic etiquette by revealing the events of a meeting between the three an hour after its end. Netanyahu adopted a hostile and defensive tone during the meeting, telling the two leaders to solve the problems of their home countries before offering advice to Israel. [GN, 10/11]\nOct. 15:\nA study conducted by the Dahaf polling agency showed that 69% of Israeli Jews supported the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act, while 36% supported revoking non-Jewish citizens' right to vote. 80% said that they supported democratic values absolutely. [YNET, 10/15]\nThousands of Druze protesters marched on Berekhat Ram, or Ram Pool, in the Golan Heights. The pool, which had once measured 3,280 feet across, had almost completely disappeared due to Israeli draining for irrigation, handicapping Golani farmers and fishermen. Merokot, Israel's national water authority, said that it had always cooperated with the Water Authority regulations in its handling of Ram Pool. [YNET, 10/15]\nJordan\nSept. 10:\nJordan and Japan signed a nuclear cooperation deal, providing for cooperation on the exploration and exploitation of Jordan's uranium resources, as well as the design, construction, and operation of a reactor. A French and Japanese consortium was also bidding for the right to build Jordan's nuclear power plant, an effort which some thought was boosted by the cooperation agreement. [JP, 9/10]\nKuwait\nAug. 23:\nAl-Bawaba News reported that in February 2010, the Kuwaiti Parliament approved an ambitious four-year development plan in order to counteract slowed economic growth in recent years. The plan's many projects would support various sectors of the economy as Kuwait tried to reduce dependence on oil. It also touted the importance of the private sector in leading economic growth. Discussions were taking place on how to finance the plan. [Al-Bawaba, 8/23]\nLebanon\nSee also Iran, Syria\nJuly 27:\nLebanese newspapers reported the fourth in a series of arrests on charges of slandering President Michel Sulayman. Lebanese journalists and representatives of Human Rights Watch called the move a step backward and a troublesome attack on freedom of expression in Lebanon. [DS, 7/28, LAT, 7/29]\nAug. 2:\nThe US House Committee on Foreign Affairs put a hold on $100 million of military aid to the Lebanese Army, citing what Chairman Howard Berman called the increasing influence of Hizbullah. The State Department expressed its support for the aid continuation. The US had already given more than $700 million of assistance to the Lebanese Army over the previous five years. [YNET, 8/10, Al-Jazeera, 8/12, WP, 8/13]\nAug. 15:\nAfter a three-year search, the Lebanese Army found and killed 'Abdul Rahman Awwad, the suspected head of Fatah al-Islam, a terrorist group which was suspected to have ties to al-Qa'ida and had fought against the Lebanese Army at the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp in 2007. Awwad was also accused of inciting rebels to violence in the 2008 attacks in Tripoli, which resulted in 21 deaths. [Al-Jazeera, 8/15]\nAug. 17:\nThe UN tribunal investigating former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's assassination asked Hizbullah to submit all relevant evidence. The request followed a series of press conferences in which Hasan Nasrallah had revealed surveillance footage and unidentified documents that he called irrefutable proof of Israel's guilt. Most analysts agreed that the materials were inconclusive. [LAT, 8/9, Al-Jazeera, 8/11, MEO, 8/17] [End Page 119]\nThe Lebanese Parliament passed into law a bill affording Palestinian refugees greater workers' rights, including access to new professions and social security benefits. Designating Palestinians as foreign workers, the law still barred refugees from more esteemed professions, such as law and engineering, and did nothing to provide other rights such as property ownership, public education, and health insurance benefits. There were an estimated 425,000 registered Palestinians living in 12 refugee camps across Lebanon. [Al-Jazeera, NYT, 8/17]\nSept. 6:\nIn an interview published in the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Hariri called his 2005 accusation that Syria was responsible for the death of his father, Rafiq Hariri, \"a mistake.\" The shift marked a step in the ongoing rapprochement between Syria and Lebanon. [The Guardian, 9/6, 9/14]\nSept. 17:\nLebanese Prime Minister Hariri visited Damascus for the third time since assuming the premiership. He and President Bashar al-Asad signed 17 cooperation accords dealing with justice, tourism, education, and agriculture. Hariri told a press conference that the two countries had formed a \"friendly relationship\" over the course of the recent meetings. [MEO, 9/17]\nSept. 25:\nThree civilian were injured in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and police at the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut. Two hundred people demonstrated against Egypt's proposed construction of a subterranean metal wall along the Gaza-Egypt border. [Haaretz, 10/1]\nOct. 6:\nUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the probe into the Hariri assassination would continue despite the potential for an outbreak of violence. Many expected that the anticipated accusation against Hizbullah would throw the country into dangerous instability. [Al-Jazeera, 10/7]\nLibya\nAug. 31:\nLibya released 37 Islamists from Tripoli's Abu Salim prison after completing a rehabilitation program aimed at causing them to renounce violence and integrate back into Libyan society. The released included a former driver of Usama bin Ladin, at least one former Guantanamo Bay detainee, and several members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which had been accused of aiming to overthrow Colonel Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. [AFP, 8/31]\nSept. 12:\nLibya apologized for an incident in which a naval patrol boat, originally one of six vessels given to Libya by Italy, fired upon an Italian fishing boat approximately 30 miles from Libya's coast. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gave the vessels to Libya to curb the number of illegal immigrants traveling by boat to the Sicilian islands. [Reuters, 9/14]\nSept. 23:\nA Canadian, Douglas Oriali, who was detained by Libyan authorities for approximately one week under suspicion of working for US intelligence in order to sabotage an oil drilling project off the coast of Libya, was allowed to return to Canada. Suspicions were aroused after \"contacts with a US diplomat suspected of being an intelligence agent,\" according to a Libyan official. [AFP, 9/20, 9/23]\nOct. 3:\nLibya released two South Koreans who had been detained for several months on accusations of proselytizing. The pastor was arrested when he was found with Christian books and other materials for missionary work and the businessman a month later because of his financial support of the pastor's efforts. Negotiations over their release took place amid tense relations between the two countries regarding allegations that surfaced in June 2010 that a South Korean diplomat was collecting information on the President and other senior staff. [AP, 10/3]\nMauritania\nJuly 18:\nRetired general Muhammad Ould 'Abd al-'Aziz won 52% of the vote in the presidential election. The election was supposed to restore democratic order after al-'Aziz [End Page 120] seized power in a military coup in 2009. Opponents called the election fraudulent and asked for an international investigation. Al-'Aziz denied these allegations and promised to use his power to fight terrorism and poverty in the country. [AP, 9/19]\nJuly 23:\nThe French Ministry of Defense disclosed that it had given technical and logistical support to Mauritania in attacks against al-Qa'ida, which had been holding French citizen Michel Germaneau hostage since April 2010. The Ministry said that the raid had effectively subdued the terrorist group and prevented attacks on Mauritanian targets, but Spanish media sources reported that the raid had actually been a failed attempt to rescue Germaneau. [BBC, 7/23]\nSept. 19:\nA dozen al-Qa'ida militants and five Mauritanian soldiers died in a border clash between Mali and Mauritania in Raz-el-Ma. Mali and Mauritania had an agreement that Mauritania would patrol the border region, home to al-Qa'ida forces. France said that none of its troops had been involved and that the kidnapping of several foreigners in Niger earlier that week had no connection with the fighting. [BBC, 9/19]\nMorocco\nJuly 29:\nThe Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy announced that it would accept bids from investors willing to fund a $9 billion solar power project. The proposed power complex would be near the southern town of Ouarzazate and would have a capacity of 500 megawatts - enough to power about 90,000 homes. The project would be part of a plan to build five solar power stations by 2020. [Reuters, 7/29]\nAug. 11:\nThe Interior Ministry released a statement saying that Moroccan security forces broke up an Islamist cell that was planning attacks in Morocco, including on foreign targets. They did not specify which foreign countries' interests were threatened by the cell. [Reuters, 8/11]\nAug. 17:\nMorocco's state power company, l'Office National de l'Electricité, announced that Nareva, the energy arm of the country's biggest conglomerate, would lead construction of a 200 megawatt wind farm outside the southern town of Tarfaya as part of a plan to reduce reliance on imported fuel and build five wind farms in Morocco by 2020. Industry sources stated that the wind farm would cost around 2.7 billion dirhams ($313.3 million) and would be funded by state and private capital, including foreign investments. [Reuters, 8/17]\nOct. 8:\nMoroccan authorities arrested three Sahwari activists after their visit to Algerian refugee camps. The Sahwari government in Western Sahara was run by the Polisaro Front which publicly expressed their support for the self-determination of Western Sahara. Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975 and had refused to grant its independence since, despite the UN mission in the region. Human rights groups called for the release of the Polisario activists who were charged with \"undermining internal security.\" [UPI, 10/14]\nOman\nJuly 17:\nFive Gulf countries, including Oman, launched a cooperative turtle-tracking study and conservation effort. Turtles, threatened worldwide, were endangered most acutely in the Gulf region due to massive construction on their beach habitats. Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar also participated. [Al-Jazeera, 7/17, GN, 7/26]\nJuly 28:\nA Japanese tanker carrying crude oil was damaged in the Strait of Hormuz off the Omani coast. Though the damage was originally attributed to a freak wave, UAE officials later found evidence of explosives on the ship and concluded that the incident had been a terrorist attack. An al-Qa'ida-linked group claimed responsibility for the incident. [The Guardian, 7/28, BBC, 8/6]\nA Royal Decree announced harsher penalties, including possible imprisonment, for foreign workers living in the country [End Page 121] illegally and for citizens who allowed them to do so. The deadline to regularize residency and employment or leave the country with immunity had been extended twice through July 31, after which the new laws were to come into effect. The Manpower Ministry estimated that 40,000 workers had shown a willingness to leave under amnesty, but refused to grant any more extensions. [GN, 7/28]\nPakistan\nSee also Afghanistan\nJuly 17:\nMilitants ambushed a convoy escorted by security forces, killing 16 Shi'ite civilians. The convoy was attacked on its way from the Kurram tribal district to Peshawar. [BBC, 7/17]\nJuly 24:\nMissiles fired from a US drone aircraft struck a compound used by militants in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 16 militants. The compound was located in Dwasarak village in South Waziristan, a hideout for al-Qa'ida and Taliban militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan. [BBC, 7/24]\nJuly 26:\nPakistan strongly denied claims recently disclosed in leaked US documents that its intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), supported the Taliban in the war in Afghanistan. WikiLeaks, a whistle-blower website, leaked more than 90,000 classified US military documents, revealing NATO concerns that Pakistan and Iran were helping the Taliban. [BBC, 7/26]\nJuly 28:\nA commercial airliner crashed near Islamabad on its way from Karachi to the Pakistani capital, killing all 152 people on board. The cause of the crash, the largest air disaster in Pakistani history, was unknown. [BBC, 7/28]\nJuly 30:\nThe worst monsoon floods since 1929 hit northwest Pakistan, killing 800 and affecting one million. The government declared a state of emergency after Pakistan's meteorological department announced that 12 inches of rain had fallen over the previous 36 hours in the northwest region. Charsadda, Nowshera, and Swat were the worst affected regions; thousands were marooned in flooded villages and required immediate evacuation. [Dawn, BBC, 7/31]\nAug. 6:\nThe National Disaster Management Authority announced that 12 million people had been affected by floods in Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab provinces where 650,000 houses were destroyed. Along a 750-mile stretch of the Indus River in Sindh province, the Pakistani government evacuated one million people and planned to evacuate another 500,000. [BBC, 8/6]\nAug. 19:\nThe UN said that the number of Pakistanis in need of urgent humanitarian relief rose from six million to eight million, and that the number of people made homeless by devastating floods that started July 30 rose from two million to over four million. Aid agencies were pushing for more money from donors for food, shelter, and supplies for disease prevention and treatment. [Dawn, 8/19]\nAug. 20:\nThe UN's Financial Tracking Service showed that $490 million had been raised in response to the UN's appeal for aid for flood-hit Pakistan. In this appeal, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon characterized the floods as a \"slow-motion tsunami.\" The largest donations came from the US, Saudi Arabia, and Great Britain. An additional $325 million was promised. [Dawn, 8/21]\nAug. 24:\nThe UN released estimates suggesting that roughly 800,000 people were almost completely cut off due to massive and widespread flooding. These people could only be reached by air support, prompting the UN to request 40 additional helicopters for rescue and aid operations. [Dawn, 8/24]\nSept. 1:\nAt least 25 people were killed in Lahore when three suicide bombers attacked a procession of Shi'ite Muslim worshipers. Over 200 people were wounded in the attack. As rescue workers reached the scene, demonstrations had broken out to protest against the Taliban, whom many demonstrators blamed for the attack, and also the police, who [End Page 122] were blamed for failing to prevent the suicide bombing. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. [NYT, 9/1]\nSept. 3:\nA suicide bomber killed at least 53 people and injured 197 at a Shi'a rally in Quetta. Chaos followed as fires were set and gunfire continued. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The rally was organized to mark international Al-Quds Day. [Dawn, 9/3]\nSept. 16:\nWell-known leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Dr. Imran Farooq was killed in London near his home. The assassination sparked tension in Karachi, as a shop and two buses were set ablaze. Schools, public transportation, and other services were shut down in an effort to prevent political violence as news of Farooq's death spread. [Dawn, 9/17]\nSept. 21:\nArmy, paramilitary, and police forces killed at least 30 militants in northwest Pakistan. The campaign targeted militants that attacked local peace committee officials and were involved in \"kidnap-for-ransom\" operations. Three police officers were also killed. [Dawn, 9/21]\nSept. 23:\nProtests arose in Karachi after a US judge sentenced Pakistani Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years in prison. Siddiqui was convicted of trying to kill US agents and military officers in Afghanistan in 2008. In court, Siddiqui urged her supporters to remain calm and tried to convince them that she was not being tortured in New York where she was being held. [Dawn, 9/24]\nSept. 27:\nThe US Central Intelligence Agency increased its bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan in an effort to cripple the Taliban. The US had increased attacks using armed drone aircraft to strike at the Taliban as the US believed that Pakistan's government was not aggressive enough in dislodging Taliban militants from bases in the Western mountains. Despite protests from the Pakistani government about drone and helicopter attacks, the campaign had increased under the US President Barack Obama's administration. [NYT, 9/27]\nPakistan took over as the chair of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Pakistan was suspected of playing a role in continued nuclear proliferation and was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Pakistan assumed this post after being nominated by a group of Middle Eastern and South Asian member states. [RFE/RL, 9/27]\nSept. 30:\nPakistani officials reported that a NATO helicopter strike killed three Pakistani soldiers at a border post following a series of similar cross-border actions. NATO denied that it crossed into Pakistani airspace. [Reuters, 9/30]\nOct. 1:\nFormer Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his return to politics with the launch of a new political party. Musharraf stated that his decision to join politics was based on his realization that Pakistan's political alternatives showed no signs of being able to improve the country's problems. Part of Musharraf's platform for his political party was to promote an increased role for the Pakistani military in the government. Musharraf was in self-exile in London but stated that he planned to return to Pakistan before the next election. [RFE/RL, 10/1]\nOct. 6:\nFor the first time, the US apologized to Pakistan for the September 30 incident that killed three Pakistani border soldiers, leading to the closure of the nearby border crossing. NATO claimed that the strike was in response to an enemy attack. The apology came amidst attacks at the Pakistani border on more than 50 oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were in response to the September 30 incident. [NYT, 10/6, Dawn, 10/7]\nOct. 7:\nTwo suicide bombers attacked the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 60. The Sufi shrine to the 8th century saint was very close to one of President Asif 'Ali Zardari's residences. The [End Page 123] attack prompted the government to take the unprecedented action of sealing all of the city's shrines. [Dawn, RFE/RL, 10/8]\nOct. 9:\nPresident Zardari appointed retired Justice Deedar Hussain as Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau. Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffery challenged the appointment in the Lahore High Court, citing that the opposition was not properly consulted. Critics complained that he was too closely affiliated with the President's Pakistan People's Party. [Dawn, 10/9]\nOct. 10:\nPakistan reopened the border crossing that was closed in response to a deadly NATO cross-border strike on September 30. Crews began clearing hundreds of NATO oil tankers that had been destroyed as they waited to cross. Militants vowed to continue tanker attacks until the US ended drone strikes in Pakistan's border regions. [RFE/RL, 10/10]\nOct. 12:\nThe World Economic Forum's 2010 Global Gender Gap Report, which measured the status of women, ranked Pakistan 132nd on a list of 134 countries. The Report measured economic opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival. Iran was also ranked toward the bottom of the list at 123rd. [RFE/RL, 10/12]\nOct. 13:\nNew reports from the Asian Development Bank and The World Bank estimated recent flood damage to total between $9.5 and $9.7 billion. This included damage to infrastructure, farms, and homes. The floods were thought to have affected 20 million people, including leaving ten million people homeless. [Reuters, RFE/RL, 10/13]\nQatar\nJuly 18:\nThe Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs launched an online registration program for Muslims planning to perform the Hajj. Applicants submitting requests were required to be based in Qatar for at least three years and must not have performed the Hajj in the past five years. Chip cards would be given to pilgrims as part of a new tracking system. Registration would end on September 8. [GN, 7/18]\nOct. 3:\nOfficials from the Coasts and Borders Security Department (CBSD) stated that Qatari authorities were investigating six pirates after they were caught in Qatari waters. Authorities also seized two boats that were used to attack Qatari fishing vessels. CBSD had recently foiled numerous attempts by pirates to infiltrate Qatari waters. [GN, 10/3]\nSaudi Arabia\nJuly 24:\nShaykh Aed al-Qarni declared that Muslim women visiting France, where the niqab was recently banned, would be exempt from wearing the veil during their stay in the country. Despite this expression of tolerance, al-Qarni criticized the French government for its decision, claiming that the ban violated the freedom of religion guaranteed by secular states. [MEO, 7/25]\nSept. 27:\nInterior Minister Prince Naif bin 'Abd al-'Aziz announced that the Kingdom's security forces prevented nearly 240 planned terrorist attacks in recent years. Only ten terror attacks were actually carried out by extremists. [Al-Bawaba, 9/27]\nSept. 28:\nApproximately 200 deportees escaped from a Jidda prison. Most of them were from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen. [GN, 9/29]\nSudan\nJuly 21:\nThe Sudanese rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) signed an agreement to allow UN officials to check its bases to determine whether children were being recruited as soldiers. JEM leaders maintained that they had no child soldiers but agreed to the deal as a sign of goodwill. An estimated 6,000 children had been involved in fighting in Darfur. [BBC, 7/21]\nJuly 22:\nThe government of Chad refused to arrest Sudanese President 'Umar al-Bashir when he visited Chad to improve relations. [End Page 124] Chad recognized the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on counts of war crimes and genocide, but claimed its own sovereignty overruled the injunctions of international organizations like the ICC. Al-Bashir's visit to Chad marked the first time that he visited an ICC state since 2009 when he was first indicted. [BBC, 7/22]\nJuly 29:\nPresident al-Bashir said the upcoming referendum that would decide whether South Sudan would secede could not take place until border disputes were resolved. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which controlled the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan, insisted that the referendum be held on time. The SPLM fought the mainly Muslim and Arabic-speaking north for 20 years before a 2005 peace deal. [BBC, 7/29]\nJuly 31:\nA spokesman for the Sudanese government said that the UN and African Union had failed to keep the peace in western Sudan and were now responsible for informing the government of their movements on roads in rural and urban areas. The local authorities in south Darfur also asked members of the African Union/ UN peacekeeping venture (UNAMID) to coordinate their movements with Sudanese security forces. The UN Security Council extended its mandate in war-torn Darfur for a year on July 30. [BBC, 7/31]\nAug. 2:\nTalks between officials from North and South Sudan stalled over a referendum in the disputed Abyei region. The referendum, which would occur alongside the January vote that would decide whether South Sudan would declare independence, would decide whether the oil-producing Abyei region would belong to the North or South. The northern National Congress Party and the southern SPLM could not agree who was eligible to vote. [Al-Jazeera, 8/2]\nAug. 6:\nSouthern Sudanese authorities asked musicians and songwriters to compose a national anthem. The South Sudan National Anthem Committee said that the anthem contest did not mean it supported separation from the north. A spokesman for former rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said that the title of the song would be \"Land of Cush,\" a biblical reference to a kingdom in modern-day southern Sudan. [BBC, 8/6]\nA South Sudanese army spokesman said that South Sudan had collected 30,000 guns from civilians since the end of the civil war in 2005. South Sudan was still recovering from decades of civil war with the north. The UN estimated that more than 700 people were killed in tribal violence in South Sudan since January 2010. [MEO, 8/6]\nAug. 11:\nGunmen killed 23 people in an ambush in Unity, an important oil-producing state in South Sudan. There was strong suspicion that the attackers could be followers of militia leader Galwak Gai, a rogue colonel who launched a rebellion after alleging fraud in national elections in April 2010. [MEO, 8/11]\nAug. 24:\nSouth Sudan made plans to repatriate 1.5 million southerners living in North Sudan and in Egypt. The emergency repatriation program proposed a budget of $25 million and used the slogan \"Come Home to Choose.\" Under referendum laws, southerners living in the north or abroad could vote only if they were officially registered after proving their southern origins. [MEO, 8/24]\nAug. 27:\nDespite arrest warrants issued by the ICC for genocide and war crimes and crimes against humanity, President al-Bashir of Sudan traveled to Kenya. Al-Bashir's trip enabled him to participate in an inaugural ceremony for Kenya's new constitution. While warrants issued by the ICC could be enforced by any of its member countries, Kenya allowed al-Bashir into the country without arrest. [NYT, 8/27]\nAug. 31:\nAs the SPLA attempted to transition into a normal army, South Sudan vowed that, with UN help, it would end its dependence on child soldiers by the end of 2010. While many former SPLA child fighters had returned to civilian life, UNICEF maintained that almost 900 [End Page 125] children remained members. [MEO, 8/31]\nSept. 14:\nThe insurgent Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) accused the Sudanese Army of attacking settlements in North Darfur. UNAMID forces confirmed reports that men on horses and camels rode into the settlement and opened fire on a crowd. It was reported that 54 people were killed and 172 others injured, mostly civilians. UNAMID sent a battalian of Rwandan soldiers to the scene of the attack but SLA refused to let them enter. [Reuters, 9/14]\nSept. 26:\nSudanese Information Minister Kamal Obeid reported that South Sudanese would no longer be citizens in the north if they chose independence in next year's referendum. Obeid stated that Southerners would \"not enjoy citizenship rights, jobs or benefits,\" including the ability to buy or sell in the Khartoum market or be treated in hospitals. Some thought that Obeid's comments would heighten southerners fears of what would happen following the independence referendum scheduled for January 9, 2011. [MEO, 9/26]\nOct. 1:\nThousands of South Sudanese rallied on the streets in the southern capital to support the referendum on independence scheduled for January 2011. Crowds welcomed southern President Salva Kiir back to Juba after his trip to address world leaders in New York. Amidst fears that there would not be enough time to finalize the logistics for a credible referendum vote, Kiir assured crowds that there was enough time to hold the vote and that it needed to be done in peace. [MEO, 10/1]\nOct. 3:\nPresident al-Bashir lifted a ban on an influential newspaper that was critical of authorities in South Sudan. The Arabic-language newspaper, Al-Intibaha [Vigilance], was closed three months earlier and would resume publishing on October 6, 2010. [MEO, 10/3]\nOct. 10:\nForeign Minister Ali Karti told UN ambassadors that his government did not want to go to war over the independence vote in the south, but that they would not accept the result if there were \"interference.\" Karti warned that though the Sudanese government was committed to holding the referendum, there were still final details that had to be agreed on, such as the status of the disputed oil district Abyei. Karti insisted that non-interference was the government's only condition for accepting the result of the referendum. [MEO, 10/10]\nSyria\nSee also Lebanon, Turkey\nJuly 18:\nThe Syrian government issued a ban on the niqab, the Islamic veil that reveals only the eyes, in both private and public universities. The new law affected more than 1,000 women working in universities and elementary schools; most women were transferred to administrative positions. The new ordinance was seen as a stand against the growing influence of conservative Islamism, which ran counter to the nominally secular government. [The Guardian, 7/20]\nJuly 30:\nFor the first time since the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, Syrian President Bashar al-Asad visited Beirut. The visit, which also included King 'Abdullah bin 'Abd al-'Aziz of Saudi Arabia, was part of Syria's reemergence as an important power in the region. Lebanese Prime Minsiter Sa'd Hariri and the two leaders discussed, among other topics, the UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. [The Guardian, 7/30]\nAug. 3:\nA secret survey of 1,046 Syrians led by Angela Hawken of Pepperdine University revealed local discontent due to the country's poor political and economic situation. Researchers said that the main significance of the study was the successful administration of a nongovernmental survey, which was technically illegal in Syria. Hawken voiced her hope that similar but wider-reaching studies might be conducted in Syria in the near future. [LAT, 8/18]\nSept. 16:\nAlmost 700 inhabitants of the Golan Heights were permitted to pass into [End Page 126] Syria through the Qunaytra crossing, though their visit was restricted to a period of five days. Some of the travelers had not set foot in Syria for 40 years. At the time, there were 18,000 Syrian inhabitants left in the Golan Heights, most of them Druze who had refused to take Israeli citizenship. [MEO, 9/17]\nSept. 18:\nWithin a two-day period, both Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell visited President Bashar al-Asad in Damascus. During their respective meetings, Mitchell discussed the possibility of Syrian-Israeli peace talks, while Ahmadinejad said that US plans in the Middle East would be disrupted. Both countries had increasingly been courting Syria's allegiance in the region. [LAT, 9/17, AP, 9/18]\nOct. 7:\nIsraeli authorities claimed that satellite images on Google Earth showed five long-range Scud missiles in the Adra military camp about 15 miles north of Damascus. Israel accused Syria of arming Hizbullah militants with Scuds and suggested that Damascus was training the militants within Syrian borders. A former UN security adviser questioned the findings, saying that the resolution of the images was too low to show any such missiles. [DS, 10/7]\nTurkey\nJuly 19:\nA Turkish court indicted 196 people for plotting to topple the government in a military coup. The charged, which included 30 serving or retired military officers, allegedly had tried to start a military coup in 2003 as part of \"Operation Sledgehammer.\" Some saw the move as an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the military, which had unseated the government four times since 1960. [AP, 7/19]\nTurkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mish'al in Damascus. The leaders reportedly discussed cooperation between Fatah and Hamas as well as the Gaza Blockade. The meeting caused further tension in the recently strained relations between Turkey and Israel. Davutoglu also met with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. [BBC, Haaretz, 7/20]\nJuly 20:\nSix Turkish soldiers were killed near the Iraqi border in an overnight attack by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) soldiers. This was one of the worst clashes in a flair-up of violence corresponding with the collapse of proposed peace talks between Istanbul and the PKK. As early as May 2010, Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan had called talks with the government hopeless. [BBC, 7/20]\nJuly 21:\nIn an interview with the BBC, PKK leader Murat Karayilan offered for the first time a deal in which the PKK would disarm if the Turkish government agreed to grant Turkish Kurds certain rights. He also said that if these requests were not met, the PKK would declare a constitutional democracy independent from Ankara. He previously told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the PKK would lay down their weapons if granted autonomy similar to the status enjoyed by Spanish Catalonia. The Turkish government refused to comment on the new proposals. [BBC, 7/21, 9/16]\nJuly 22:\nParliament passed an amendment to a 2006 anti-terrorism law that had allowed for the imprisonment of youth, known in the country as \"stone-throwing children,\" for participating in PKK rallies. Under the amendment, minors charged with terrorism would be tried in juvenile court and receive shorter sentences than before. Hundreds of Kurdish children had already been imprisoned for years under the 2006 law. [Hurriyet, 7/22, NYT, 7/29]\nJuly 23:\nA Turkish court ordered the arrest of 102 military officers of the 196 indicted July 19 for participating in \"Operation Sledgehammer.\" Three of the detained were retired military commanders. [BBC, 7/23]\nAug. 5:\nThe annual Arab Opinion Poll, published by the Brookings Institute in conjunction with Zogby International, showed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip [End Page 127] Erdogan to be the most popular world leader among 4,000 people polled in six Arab countries. The jump in popularity was due in part to Turkey's harsh criticism of the May 30 Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara flotilla. [Al-Jazeera, 8/11]\nAug. 7:\nDays after the military said it would not promote any of the officers associated with the alleged \"Sledgehammer\" coup attempt, the government annulled the arrest warrants issued on July 23 against 102 military officers for participation in the plot. The next day the government and military announced a compromise in which the government, not the army, chose two officers for promotion to top positions. [BBC, 8/7, 8/9, Al-Jazeera, 8/9]\nAug. 8:\nThree people were killed and eight injured at a wedding in southeastern Gaziantep province when the groom lost control of an AK-47 that he was firing into the air. Shooting in the air on festive occasions, a common practice in certain parts of Turkey, was a frequent cause of serious injuries, despite government efforts to curb the practice. [BBC, 8/8]\nAug. 10:\nA pipeline between Iraq and Turkey exploded in Sirnak province, killing two and wounding a third. The PKK, which had attacked the same pipe the previous month, was suspected of setting off the explosion with a remote-controlled mine. The oil line was cut off while the blaze was extinguished. [BBC, 8/10]\nAug. 11:\nA US court of appeals in Massachusetts denied a suit filed by the Turkish American Association in 2005 to allow for teaching materials questioning whether the mass killing of Turkish Armenians in 1915 was in fact genocide. Massachusetts had the largest population of Armenians of any American state. [Al-Jazeera, 8/11]\nAug. 13:\nPKK spokesperson Bouzan Teken declared a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, adding that the PKK would extend the ceasefire past the September 20 end date if the Turkish government agreed to certain conditions: beginning negotiations, releasing the 1,700 Kurdish politicians in jail, and ending military operations against the group. The Turkish government called the conditions unacceptable. [Al-Jazeera, 8/13]\nAug. 17:\nUS President Barack Obama's administration denied a London Financial Times report that he had offered Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan an ultimatum to either change its stance toward Iran and Israel or be denied American weapons deals. Turkey was at the time seeking weapons to fight the PKK. [Al-Jazeera, 8/17]\nAug. 26:\nRains in the Black Sea province of Rize triggered massive landslides that killed at least 12 people and engulfed houses and cars. One person was reported missing. The landslides began as families were breaking the Ramadan fast. [BBC, 8/27]\nAug. 28:\nTurkish authorities identified the body of Yuri Ivanov, a top Russian spy whose remains washed ashore in the Hatay province on August 16. The official report attributed his death to a swimming accident, though the circumstances of the drowning were suspicious. Ivanov had last been stationed in Syria. [The Guardian, 9/1]\nSept. 12:\nWith a 58% majority, Turkish citizens passed 26 constitutional reforms in a national referendum. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which backed the amendments, called the vote a step toward creating a constitution compatible with EU membership requirements, among other things. The reforms allowed military personnel to be tried in civilian courts, increased the number of judges on Turkey's highest court, guaranteed certain civil rights, and introduced some measures to guarantee positive discrimination for women and children. The opposition called the changes a move away from secularism and pointed critically to the lack of attention in the amendments to Kurdish rights, human rights, or religious education in public schools, among other contentious issues. [The Guardian, BBC, 9/12]\nSept. 14:\nThe European Court for Human [End Page 128] Rights ruled that Turkey had not done enough to prevent the death of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in 2008 near the Istanbul office of his newspaper, Agos. Dink had been a voice for the Armenian-Turkish minority, and his death divided the country, as had his 2005 prison sentence for insulting \"Turkishness.\" The court also found that Turkey had not done enough to protect Dink's freedom of speech. [BBC, 9/14]\nSept. 16:\nTen people were killed and three wounded in a minibus explosion, thought to be the work of the PKK, near the Iranian and Iraqi borders. The attack, though similar to previous PKK offenses, was singular in that it did not target the military. The ceasefire declared by the Kurdish resistance group in August was still in effect. [Reuters, BBC, Al-Jazeera, 9/16]\nSept. 19:\nFor the first time in 95 years, a service was held by the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul at the Armenian Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross in Lake Van. Hundreds of Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora attended, but the numbers were not as great as hoped for, partly because of the lasting Armenian mistrust of the Turkish government. Bad feelings were aggravated when Turkish authorities prevented a cross from being placed on top of the historic church. [BBC, 9/19]\nSept. 29:\nTurkish authorities seized the Savarona, the state yacht used by Kemal Atatürk before his death in 1938, after reports broke that it was being used for prostitution. The luxury vessel had been leased to a local businessman. A member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) party called the incident an outrageous offense to the memory of the revered leader. [The Guardian, 9/29]\nSept. 30:\nPKK leaders extended for another month the ceasefire declared on August 13, but did not back down from any of their previous conditions, namely that the Turkish government release imprisoned Kurdish politicians and cease military operations against the group both inside and outside the country. The decision to extend the ceasefire reportedly came from imprisoned leader Ocalan himself. [LAT, 10/1]\nSept. 31:\nPresident Abdullah Gül declined to meet Shimon Peres at the UN general assembly in New York. The Turkish President said that he was too busy for the meeting, but many suspected that there was a political motivation, especially after he made time in his schedule to meet with Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. The two leaders had not met since the Turkish flotilla incident on May 30. [Al-Jazeera, 9/31]\nOct. 1:\nHundreds of Muslim nationalists gathered in the ruins of a holy Armenian cathedral in Ani, the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom in eastern Turkey, where they prayed in honor of Alp Arslan, a Turkish Muslim who had conquered the city in the 11th century. The gathering was seen as a reaction to events during the Armenian mass in the church in Lake Van on September 19. [BBC, 10/1]\nOct. 11:\nA prominent German politician called for the end of Turkish and Arab immigration into Germany and for stricter laws regarding the foreign workers already in the country. At the time, two million Turks were living in Germany. Prime Minister Angela Merkel had recently called the policy of German multiculturalism a failure. [The Guardian, 10/11]\nTunisia\nJuly 22:\nTunisia amended its penal code to prohibit any spanking of children. Under the new law, adults could be prosecuted for using corporal punishment against children. [AFP, 7/22]\nUnited Arab Emirates\nSept. 7:\nThe UAE's central bank froze four Iranian bank accounts cited in the UN Security Council's June 2010 resolution in the fourth round of sanctions against the UAE's key trade partner. By September 2010, most [End Page 129] UAE banks had stopped all transactions, including bank transfers, with Iranian banks due to increased regulations on accounts with Iranian entities. [Reuters, 9/7, AFP, 9/5]\nSept. 10:\nThe UAE donated $42 million to the Palestinian Authority to support Mahmud 'Abbas' government budget and peace talks with Israel. Financial support from Arab countries was in decline as the Palestinian Authority sought to increase its government functions. The UAE gave $173.9 million in 2009. [Reuters, 9/10]\nOct. 7:\nThe UAE reached an agreement with BlackBerry Canadian-based smartphone maker Research In Motion Limited (RIM). The UAE canceled a ban on its devices and services scheduled to be implemented October 11. RIM did not have the ability to monitor the encrypted system, thus hindering regulatory abilities of governments. [AFP, 9/21, 10/9]\nYemen\nJuly 24:\nHuthi rebels and the pro-government Ibn Aziz tribe in northern Yemen brokered a truce to end fighting which killed as many as 70 people during the previous week. These clashes were the bloodiest in the north since a truce was established between the rebels and the Yemeni government in February 2010. [Reuters, 7/25]\nJuly 29:\nOpposition leader 'Abd al-Raqib al-Qirshi died from gunshot wounds sustained upon his return to Yemen after 32 years in exile. Al-Qirshi had returned to participate in renewed national political dialogue. This dialogue, as well as asylum to political opponents, was announced in a May 2010 speech by President 'Ali 'Abdullah Salih. [Reuters, 7/30]\nAug. 1:\nMediator and tribal chief Shaykh Hasan bin 'Abdullah al-Ahmar confirmed that Huthi rebels released 100 Yemeni soldiers in the 'Amran province. This was in addition to 200 soldiers freed days earlier. [AFP, 8/2]\nAug. 15:\nYemeni security officials announced that local al-Qa'ida leader Jamaan Safian surrendered to them. They did not disclose the time of or reason for his surrender. Safian was accused of sheltering non-Yemeni al-Qa'ida members. [AFP, 8/15]\nAug. 20:\nGunmen in the southern city of Lawdar in Abyan governorate killed at least 14 people, including Yemeni soldiers and civilians. Seven gunmen were killed in the clash. This attack followed August 19 fighting in Lawdar that initially drew the Army's presence after two soldiers were killed and two civilians were wounded in Lawdar's marketplace. [AFP, 8/20, 8/22]\nAug. 26:\nThe Yemeni government and Huthi rebels signed a new peace deal in Qatar to support the truce brokered in February 2010. The deal's 22 points sought to support implementation of the previous agreement. [Reuters, 8/27]\nSept. 4:\nYemeni police arrested 14 suspected al-Qa'ida members in Lawdar where they had been searching for al-Qa'ida hideouts in the previous weeks. Some of those arrested were caught in a raid while others were apprehended at security checkpoints that surrounded the district. [AP, 9/5]\nSept. 6:\nThousands protested in the streets, vandalized property, threw stones at police, and set fire to tires in Aden after power was cut to all eight districts on a day when temperatures reached 101 Fahrenheit (40 Celsius). Tensions between the north and south had flared because of previous intermittent and shorter power outages in the region. Residents in the south often complained of discrimination by the government in Sana'a [AFP, 9/6]\nSept. 20:\nAccording to the Red Crescent in Yemen, as many as 12,000 civilians fled the town of Hawta in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa, where security forces laid siege to al-Qa'ida militants in the area with tanks, armored vehicles, and attack helicopters. The Yemeni government considered Hawta an al-Qa'ida hideout, where approximately 120 al-Qa'ida militants took refuge. The radical Muslim cleric Anwar [End Page 130] al-Awlaki allegedly called Shabwa \"home\" and used it as a hiding place. US authorities targeted Al-Awlaki, a US-Yemeni citizen, for his ties to al-Qa'ida. [Reuters, AP, 9/20]\nSept. 29:\nThe governor of Shabwa, the Yemeni military's deputy chief of staff, and various other provincial and army officials survived an ambush against their convoy in the Sa'id district south of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa. The ambush killed three of the governor's guards and wounded several others. [AFP, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 9/29]\nSept. 30:\nYemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi acknowleged that the US had launched attacks against al-Qa'ida in Yemen. This was the first confirmation from Yemen regarding the US military's role in Yemen. Amnesty International reported in June 2010 about suspected US involvement in a December missile attack in Al-Majalah in the Abyan province which killed 55 people, mostly civilians. [AFP, 9/30]\nOct. 6:\nThe vehicle of the deputy chief of the British mission was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade in Sana'a, resulting in minor injuries to one British Embassy diplomat and three Yemeni bystanders. The deputy chief was not wounded in the attack. Al-Qa'ida claimed responsibility for the attack and accused the British envoy of leading a war on Muslims. [Reuters, 10/6]\nA Yemeni guard opened fire, killing a Frenchman and seriously wounding a UK man inside the compound of Austria-owned oil and gas group OMV in Haddah, near Sana'a. Yemeni security forces eventually surrounded and disarmed the compound guard. The attack occurred two days after Yemeni officials warned of a potential al-Qa'ida strike. [BBC, 10/6]\nOct. 10:\nTwo attackers on a motorbike shot and killed criminal investigations officer Ghazi al-Samawi in Zinjibar. One man drove while the other fired his weapon yelling \"Allahu Akbar\" [\"God is greatest\"]. The gunmen escaped unscathed. The officer was on an al-Qa'ida hit list of policeman to be killed. [AFP, 10/11]\nOct. 12:\nQasim al-Rimi, military chief of Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula who had reportedly been killed in a Yemeni airstirke in January 2010, announced in an Internet audio recording the creation of an \"Aden-Abyan Army\" to rid the country of \"crusaders and their apostate agents.\" The recording also threatened President Salih and warned of the new army's aims to overthrow him. No details on the size of the army were given, but al-Rimi claimed that they were so overwhelmed with volunteers from Yemen and abroad that they could not accept them all. [Reuters, 10/1, AFP, AP, 10/12] [End Page 131]\nCopyright © 2011 Middle East Institute\nThis article is for personal research only and may not be copied or distributed in any form without the permission of The Middle East Journal.",
"Israel's Quest for Satellite Intelligence — Central ...\nLearn more about the Agency and find some top secret things you won't see ... Israel's Quest for Satellite Intelligence ... (the name is the Hebrew word for ...\nIsrael's Quest for Satellite Intelligence — Central Intelligence Agency\nE. L. Zorn\nIn the spring of 1995, the successful orbiting of Ofeq-3 (the name is the Hebrew word for \"horizon\") represented the initial satisfaction of a longstanding Israeli desire: an independent space reconnaissance capability. For more than 20 years before they began receiving imagery from the satellite, Israeli defense officials had recognized that spacecraft offered unique capabilities to intensify information gathering in adjacent countries while extending their intelligence reach to more distant lands. After the nation was almost overwhelmed in 1973, Israeli intelligence officers further focused their efforts on preventing future surprise attacks. Satellite photography was seen as a vital tool, able to provide unprecedented warning about the movement of enemy troops and equipment in preparation for war, as well as the movement of enemy forces once hostilities were underway.\nThe value of satellite imagery was not unknown to the Israelis before the Yom Kippur war. Faced with invading armies on two fronts in October 1973, Israeli military attachés in Washington urgently requested satellite information from the United States about the disposition of the Egyptian and Syrian forces. According to former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gen. Mordecai Gur, who had been one of those attachés, US authorities responded that the information was unavailable due to \"damage\" to the satellite. 1 An unnamed CIA analyst subsequently recalled that the United States had acquired \"wonderful coverage, but…didn't get the pictures until the war was over.\" 2 Even those photos showed the positions of invading forces only during the earliest part of the war. 3 The findings of the House Select Committee on Intelligence (the \"Pike Committee\") in its recommendations to the Final Report in 1976 also indicate that the United States was unable to obtain adequate imagery and other information about the conflict while it was underway. As part of its criticism of US intelligence activities, the committee concluded that the United States had gone \"to the brink of war\" with the Soviet Union during the 1973 war because it lacked timely intelligence. 4\nIsraeli Dissatisfaction\nIf the United States was unable to obtain the satellite photography necessary to satisfy its own intelligence needs during the conflict, then it logically follows that it was likewise unable to provide any information derived from satellite intelligence to Israel. Faced with the possibility of imminent military defeat at the hands of enemies whose avowed purpose in past conflicts had been the total annihilation of the so-called Zionist entity, however, the Israelis were distrustful of US statements that it was unable to respond with desperately needed intelligence assistance. As Gur noted in 1992, \"How could I know if [the satellite] was really damaged? The bottom line was that we didn't get the information.\" 5\nThe general had expressed himself far less ambiguously as Israeli technicians were completing the final preparations for the launch of Ofeq-1, an experimental satellite, in September 1988: \"The United States did not give us enough information [during the October 1973 war]. 6 When I say not enough, I mean less [than] what we got before the war.\" 7 Exactly how long \"before the war\" Gur meant is unclear, because he is also said to have asserted that the United States had actually withheld satellite data from Israel immediately before the war. 8\nPresumably, the information which Gur believes had been held back by the United States would have revealed the true scope of Egyptian and Syrian preparations for war, thus providing adequate warning for the Israelis to prepare properly for the Arab attack. Instead, the Israelis found themselves in such a desperate situation that they deployed long-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads on Cairo and Damascus after then-Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan warned that the nation might be on the verge of destruction at the hands of the Egyptians and Syrians. 9\nIn their examination in 1991 of US and Soviet high-altitude aerial and space reconnaissance during the October 1973 war, Michael Russell Rip and Joseph F. Fontanella dismissed Gur's statements as \"specious\" and \"probably made to help justify the Israeli space venture.\" 10 In fact, Gur's sentiments merit far more serious consideration. Just as the war itself marked a defining moment for Israelis, so too did Gur's experiences in trying to obtain satellite intelligence from the United States clearly leave a deep and lasting impression on him. From Gur's perspective, the United States had kept critical satellite warning data from the Israelis before the two-front attack. Shortly thereafter, when Israel was threatened with imminent annihilation by the invading Arab armies, the United States had demonstrated to the Israelis that it could not be relied on to provide information vital to Israel's survival. Given Gur's assignment at that time and his later positions of influence, there seems little question that he would have been able to share his views with other Israeli security officials and decisionmakers.\nGoing It Alone\nFor the Israelis, the lesson was immediate and unmistakable: they would have to acquire an independent space reconnaissance capability. Details about the earliest Israeli investigations into an indigenous satellite program are extremely limited, but the little information available unambiguously indicates that it was at this time that Israeli scientists and engineers first seriously explored the possibility of launching a satellite. In little-noticed remarks following the launch of Ofeq-1 in 1988, Israel Space Agency (ISA) chairman Yuval Ne'eman disclosed that Israel had been working on the satellite since the early 1970s. 11 Even more telling, as part of a legal action against a former employee, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) revealed in March 1995 that it had in 1973 examined its capability to launch an Ofeq-style satellite using a Shavit-type (the name is the Hebrew word for \"comet\") launcher, and that it had determined that such a project was feasible. 12\nThe documentary evidence thus indicates that the Israeli desire for a photoreconnaissance satellite did indeed originate with the October 1973 war. Further, the information supports the view that the Israeli need was not a consequence of having received timely satellite photography from the United States, but rather the result of the failure of the United States to provide satellite intelligence to Israel just when it was required most. Unfortunately for the Israelis, however, desire and theoretical capability were not in and of themselves sufficient basis for a space program. The large scale and expense of the project kept a reconnaissance spacecraft beyond their reach as they continued to rely on the United States for their satellite intelligence needs.\nThe Postwar Years\nIsrael efforts to gain access to United States satellite imagery after the October 1973 Yom Kippur War proved more successful than they had during the conflict, although perhaps only marginally so in the Israeli view. As part of an ongoing intelligence exchange with Israel, the United States supplied Israel with intelligence information based on satellite collection following the war, and has continued to do so in one form or another ever since. 13\nIsrael began seeking greater access to US satellite intelligence to augment its early warning capabilities immediately after the 1973 war. Ne'eman, then Israel's chief defense scientist, included a request for intelligence satellite \"services\" in Israeli demands to be presented to the United States following the negotiation of the interim agreement at the conclusion of the 1973 war. 14 According to late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, then-Minister of Defense Shimon Peres formally presented the United States with the Israeli request for a $1 billion satellite system in December 1975. Some months later, while testifying before members of Congress who were concerned that such a measure would hurt prospects for peace in the Middle East, Rabin indicated that Israel really did not require the satellite, after all. 15\nUnited States policy with regard to providing satellite intelligence to Israel was uneven throughout the remainder of the 1970s, and seemed to the Israelis to vary with each Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). George Bush was said to have approved providing actual satellite photographs to Israel while he was the DCI in 1976 and 1977. 16 When Stansfield Turner replaced Bush in 1977, he allowed the Israelis to receive only information based on satellite imagery, but not the images themselves. 17 The Israelis would grow increasingly concerned over these and other inconsistencies in United States policy.\nWilliam Casey's arrival as the DCI in 1981 proved a positive experience for the Israelis, at least initially. Casey permitted them to requisition actual satellite photography once again. The imagery to be provided, however, was to be limited to that depicting potential direct threats to Israel's security. 18 Having regained entrée to the imagery, Israel then asked the United States in early April 1981 for direct access to a US reconnaissance satellite. Israeli officials justified the request as \"compensation\" for the planned sale by the United States of airborne warning and control system (AWACS) surveillance aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Israel also voiced its increased need for real-time intelligence data and improved surveillance and warning capabilities due to its scheduled withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula in April 1982. 19\nThe precise details of the Israeli requirement are not clear. A contemporary account, citing unnamed US and Israeli sources, notes that the Israelis had indicated that they would be satisfied with either a new satellite and ground station to be provided by the United States for Israel's exclusive use or with \"full and equal access\" to an existing US satellite. 20 A later report asserts that Israel had \"demanded\" exclusive access to a United States satellite already in orbit as the alternative to receiving its own new satellite. 21 In either case, United States officials considered the Israeli request seriously. The Israelis, however, soon damaged their own cause.\nSetting Limits\nIn early June 1981, Israeli Air Force aircraft successfully bombed an Iraqi nuclear facility near Baghdad. Curious about how the Israelis had obtained the necessary targeting information to carry out the dramatic long-range strike, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) Bobby Inman asked for a review of imagery and other materials that had been provided to Israeli intelligence officials. As previously noted, policies in effect at the time called for limiting Israeli access to satellite imagery to those photos showing potential direct threats to Israel. Inman quickly found that the Israeli and United States concepts of what constituted such threats differed substantially. During their nearly six months of renewed access to US satellite imagery, the Israelis had obtained \"a lot\" of information not only about Iraq, but also about Libya, Pakistan, and other countries lying at considerable distances from Israel. 22 The DDCI immediately restricted future distribution of satellite photography. The Israelis were to be allowed to receive imagery only of areas within 250 miles of Israel's borders. They could, however, make specific requests for any other coverage desired, to be approved or denied by the DCI on a case-by-case basis. 23\nIsrael's then-Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon, according to Inman, was \"furious,\" and immediately protested the decision directly to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, 24 who backed the DDCI. DCI Casey, who had been traveling abroad, disagreed with his deputy's decision, but did not reverse it on his return. Instead, he effectively ignored it. Retired Israeli Maj. Gen. Yehoshua Saguy, who served as the head of Israeli military intelligence from 1979 to 1983, confirmed that \"Casey [said] ‘yes' all the time\" to Israeli requests for satellite photography of areas lying farther than 250 miles from Israel's borders. 25 An unnamed Israeli official has been quoted as saying that the level of support in furnishing satellite intelligence provided by DCI Casey was considered extremely valuable by the Israelis, and that they referred to it among themselves as \"Casey's gift.\" 26\nThe Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear facility became a significant factor in the continuing debate among United States officials over whether to grant Israel's earlier request for a reconnaissance satellite. Advocates on both sides of the argument cited the raid to justify their positions. Proponents argued that satisfying the desire would reduce the likelihood of future preemptive strikes by helping to soothe Israel's insecurities about its ability to detect Arab preparations for a surprise attack. Opponents noted that Israeli officials might use unhampered access to satellite intelligence to plan and execute even more attacks throughout the region. They also raised the matters of expense and the transfer of sensitive technologies. Finally, they pointed out that Arab concerns about the advantages that a satellite afforded Israel might prompt the Soviet Union to provide similar capabilities for Syria, Libya, or other nations in the region. 27\nIsrael and the United States were expected to discuss the Israeli request and other facets of satellite intelligence during talks in September 1981 aimed at strengthening strategic ties between the two countries. 28 The sessions reportedly included discussions about sharing intelligence as part of a broader joint effort to counter Soviet expansion and influence in the Middle East. 29 According to US defense officials, however, there was no specific mention of satellites during the conference. 30 As a result, the Israelis did not receive their own reconnaissance satellite system from the United States, nor were they given direct access to a US spacecraft already in orbit. In November, Weinberger and Sharon signed a memorandum of understanding for \"strategic cooperation\" between the two countries.\nThe agreement proved extremely short-lived. President Ronald Reagan ordered it suspended in December 1981 after the Israelis formally annexed the Golan Heights. Israel's invasion of Lebanon in mid-1982 even further provoked the ire of US officials. It would be November 1983 before the United States, trying to make headway with its Middle East peace initiatives, offered to renew \"strategic cooperation\" with Israel. 31\nContinuing Complaints\nIsraeli officials grew increasingly impatient with the manner in which the United States responded to their needs for satellite intelligence. When the Israelis took actions that they considered to be in the best interests of maintaining their own security and protecting the Israeli people, the United States replied by further restricting access to the information or by abrogating existing agreements. The Israelis apparently perceived themselves as victims of the vagaries of United States policy. They could not depend on the United States to provide satellite intelligence. Indeed, some Israeli officials, most notably Sharon, concluded that the United States was not a reliable ally, period. 32\nEven in the best of times, the Israelis had found fault with the arrangements for their access to US satellite intelligence. They complained that their requests for information based on satellite photography were often delayed or denied outright, or that the information that they did receive was frequently incomplete or dated. 33 They objected that when actual satellite photos were provided to them, the image quality was intentionally degraded, sometimes rendering them useless for the purposes desired 34 . Finally, they protested that US intelligence authorities frequently refused their requests for specific collection against targets of special interest to the Israelis. 35\nImmediately after the September 1988 launch of Ofeq-1, retired General Saguy, head of military intelligence from 1979 to 1983, compared Israel's limited access to United States satellite information to the relationship between \"a patron and his dependent.\" 36 On the same occasion, another former head of military intelligence--who had also served as the head of Mossad, the Israeli secret service--described the situation in even less flattering terms: Meir Amit told Israeli radio that, \"If you are fed from the crumbs of others according to their whim, this is very inconvenient and very difficult. If you have your own independent capability, you climb one level higher.\" 37\nClearly, Israeli authorities would have preferred to have bypassed these difficulties altogether with an independent space intelligence capability. Twice, in 1975 and again in 1981, they had tried to obtain from the United States either a complete photoreconnaissance satellite system of their own or unfettered access to an existing system. In both instances, their requests were refused.\nAn Independent Capability\nIntelligence officials continued to press for an indigenous Israeli photoreconnaissance satellite. Then-Chief of the Israeli Military Intelligence Branch Shlomo Gazit in 1979 included a \"spy satellite\" on a list of military intelligence needs for the following decade. Gazit later noted that his request had been met by \"a mixture of astonishment and scorn\" by other Israeli officials. 38 There could have been no other reaction. The Israelis had made little substantive progress toward developing a satellite, a launcher, or any of the infrastructure necessary to support a space program in the years following IAI's 1973 study. Alon Ganei, a senior Israeli researcher in rocket propulsion, indicated in 1998 that even \"in the [early] 1980s there was still considerable debate over whether to enter the aerospace field at all.\" 39\nThose favoring an Israeli space capability finally triumphed in November 1982, when Ne'eman, then Israeli Minister of Science and Technology, announced that Israel was establishing a space agency to build and launch satellites, including reconnaissance satellites. 40 Later statements by ISA officials, including ISA Chairman Ne'eman, emphasized the commercial and scientific nature of the Israeli space program, denying outright that Israel intended to field a \"spy\" satellite. 41 There was little question, however, that Israeli officials had reached their own conclusions about how best to satisfy Israel's satellite intelligence needs.\nA recent ISA description of the Ofeq satellite program indicates that the project began in 1982, with \"parallel efforts [in] research and development, construction of the necessary infrastructure, training [of] hundreds of engineers and technicians, and then designing, building, testing, and finally launching the satellites.\" 42 It goes on to describe briefly the characteristics of each of the satellites successfully orbited so far, and accompanying materials provide an informative overview of the Israeli space program and the sophisticated products and technologies supporting it.\nFrom a distance, Israel's expectations for United States satellite intelligence support may seem excessive, even preposterous. For the Israelis, however, the enhanced warning capabilities provided by satellites meant survival. Where the preservation of the state and the people were concerned, there could be no compromise. Unfortunately, the United States could not be trusted to furnish all of the satellite intelligence that Israel needed to meet its security requirements. In November 1982, Israeli officials committed to the development of a space program and a reconnaissance satellite.\nThe Israeli decision came nine years after Egyptian and Syrian forces attacked on separate fronts while Israeli citizens observed their most holy day. Not quite another six years later, Israel launched its first satellite. That the launch of Ofeq-1 occurred just two days before Yom Kippur was almost certainly no coincidence.\nThis article is unclassified in its entirety.\n \nNotes\n(1) Interview in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 3 September 1992, quoted in Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, Friends in Deed: The U.S.-Israel Alliance (New York: Hyperion, 1994), p. 161.\n(2) Quoted in Representative George E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA),\"‘The Spies in Space'--(By Jeffrey T. Richelson) (Extension of Remarks--November 26, 1991),\" Congressional Record (26 November 1991): E4120. URL: <http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1991_cr/h9111126- richelson.htm>, accessed 14 February 1999.\n(3) Jeffrey T. Richelson, America's Secret Eyes in Space: The U.S. Keyhole Spy Satellite Program (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), p. 117.\n(4) Brown, Jr. (D-CA), \"‘The Spies in Space'--(By Jeffrey T. Richelson) (Extension of Remarks--November 26, 1991).\"\n(5) Interview in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 3 September 1992, quoted in Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, Friends in Deed: the U.S.-Israel Alliance (New York: Hyperion, 1994), p. 161.\n(6) John Kifner, \"Israel Launches Space Program and a Satellite,\" The New York Times, 20 September 1988, p. A1.\n(24) Ibid.\n(25) Woodward, \"CIA Sought 3rd-Country Contra Aid.\"\n(26) Bob Woodward, \"Probes of Iran Deals Extend to Roles of CIA, Director,\" The Washington Post, 28 November 1986, p. A33.\n(27) Bill Roeder, \"A U.S. Spy Satellite for Israel?\" Newsweek, 7 September 1981, p. 17.\n(28) Bernard Gwertzman, \"U.S.-Israeli Talks on Military Links Are Reported Set,\" The New York Times, 6 September 1981, p. 1.\n(29) John Brecher, with Milan J. Kubic and John Walcott, \"Begin Wins Round One,\" Newsweek, 21 September 1981, p. 61.\n(30) John M. Goshko, \"Reagan, Begin Hold ‘Warm' Meeting; No Decisions Reached on Closer Ties,\" The Washington Post, 10 September 1981, p. A13.\n(31) Bernard Gwertzman, \"Reagan Turns to Israel,\" The New York Times Magazine, 27 November 1983, p. 84.\n(32) Seymour M. Hersh, The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (New York: Random House, 1991), p. 16.\n(33) \"Israeli Spy Satellite Suspected,\" p. 46.\n(34) Gerald M. Steinberg, \"Middle East Space Race Gathers Pace,\" p. 20.\n(35) \"Military Eye-in-the-Sky Over Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Libya,\" Mideast Mirror, 6 April 1995 (NEXIS, 7 April 1995).\n(36) Yehoshua Saguy in Hadashot (Tel Aviv), n.d., quoted in Masha Hamilton, \"Israel Launches Test Satellite,\" Associate Press, International Section, 19 September 1988 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.).\n(37) Glenn Frankel, \"Israel Puts Its First Satellite Into Orbit,\" The Washington Post, 20 September 1988, p. A16.\n(38) Shlomo Gazit, \"Gaps in Satellite Intelligence Collection,\" 95P50108B in Tel Aviv Yedi'ot Aharonot (10 April 1995), p. 5. FBIS Reston VA, 260345Z April 1995.\n(39) Amnon Barzilai, \"Outer Space--Clean Up Your Act,\" Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), 28 July 1998, B3. URL: <http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1998/07/980728-space.htm>, accessed 11 August 1998.\n(40) (No title), UPI, International Section, 26 November 1982.\n(41) \"Israel: A Communications Satellite\" (text), ME/W1230/B1 Israel Home Service, 1500 GMT (22 March 1983). BBC Summary of World Broadcasts: The Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, 5 April 1983 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.); and Dan Fisher, \"Israeli Space Program Sets Lofty Goals; Security, Industrial Development Are Prime Concerns,\" The Los Angeles Times, 10 June 1985, Home Ed., Section 4, 1 (LEXIS-NEXIS, n.d.).\n(42) Israel Space Agency, \"The Ofeq Satellites Program,\" 16 March 1999. URL: <http://www.most.gov. il/isa/OFEK.html>, accessed 18 March 1999.",
"The National Intelligence Agency of Israel | Belfast Child\nPosts about The National Intelligence Agency of Israel written by belfastchildis\nThe National Intelligence Agency of Israel | Belfast Child\n The national intelligence agency of Israel\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities.\nIts director reports directly to the Prime Minister.\nMOSSAD The Worlds Most Efficient Killing Machine\nMossad ( Hebrew : הַמוֹסָד,\nIPA: \n[ha moˈsad] ; Arabic : الموساد, al-Mōsād; literally meaning “the Institute”), short for HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim ( Hebrew : המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, meaning “Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations”; Arabic : الموساد للاستخبارات والمهام الخاصة al-Mōsād lil-Istikhbārāt wal-Mahāmm al-Khāṣṣah), is the national intelligence agency of Israel . It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community , along with Aman ( military intelligence ) and Shin Bet (internal security).\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection , covert operations , and counterterrorism , as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister .\nOrganization\nExecutive offices\nThe largest department of Mossad is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial. The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working with allied foreign intelligence services, and nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities.\nThe Birth of Israel(full length)\nHistory\nMossad was formed on December 13, 1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah . Ben Gurion wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services—the army’s intelligence department (AMAN), the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), and the foreign office’s “political department”. In March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime minister’s office, reporting directly to the prime minister.\nMotto\nHistory of Israel MOSSAD – Special Elite Forces Documentary\n———————-\nMossad’s former motto, be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh ( Hebrew : בתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה) is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): “For by wise guidance you can wage your war” ( NRSV ). The motto was later changed to another Proverbs passage: be-‘éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō’éts ( Hebrew : באין תחבולות יפול עם, ותשועה ברוב יועץ, Proverbs 11:14). This is translated by NRSV as: “Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”\nCounter-terrorist units\nThe Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as “an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community .” The unit only recruits from “former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units .”\nDirectors\nIn 1960, Mossad discovered that the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina .\n \nA team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and through surveillance , confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11, 1960 and taken to a hideout. He was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as the violation of its sovereignty, and the United Nations Security Council noted that “repetition of acts such as [this] would involve a breach of the principles upon which international order is founded, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust incompatible with the preservation of peace” while also acknowledging that\n“Eichmann should be brought to appropriate justice for the crimes of which he is accused”\nand that “this resolution should in no way be interpreted as condoning the odious crimes of which Eichmann is accused.”\nMossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele .\nUnited States\nDuring the 1990s, Mossad discovered a Hezbollah agent operating within the United States in order to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U.S. intelligence, the agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that he would betray more Hezbollah operatives, but was eventually arrested.\nMossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that based on its intelligence as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning “a major assault on the United States.” The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a “large-scale target” in the United States and that Americans would be “very vulnerable.”. However, “It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response,” A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon .\nUruguay\nMossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs in 1965.\nEurope\nMossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole .\nBelgium\nMossad is alleged to be responsible for the killing of Canadian engineer and ballistics expert Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. He was shot multiple times in the head outside his Brussels apartment. Bull was at the time working for Iraq on the Project Babylon supergun . Others, including Bull’s son, believe that Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. Iraq and Iran are also candidates for suspicion.\nBosnia and Herzegovina\nAssisted in air and overland evacuations of Bosnian Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992 and 1993.\nCyprus\nThe killing of Hussein Al Bashir in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1973 in relation to the Munich massacre .\nFrance\nCherbourg Project – Operation Noa, the 1969 smuggling of five Sa’ar 3-class missile boats out of Cherbourg.\nThe alleged killing of Zuheir Mohsen , a pro-Syrian member of the PLO in 1979.\nThe alleged killing of Atef Bseiso , a top intelligence officer of the PLO in Paris in 1992. French police believe that a team of assassins followed Atef Bseiso from Berlin, where that first team connected with another team to close in on him in front of a Left Bank hotel, where he received three head-shots at point blank range.\nThe killing of Yehia El-Mashad , the head of the Iraq nuclear weapons program, in 1980.\nThe killing of Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, coordinator of the Munich massacre , with an exploding telephone in his Paris apartment in 1972.\nThe killing of Dr. Basil Al-Kubaissi, who was involved in the Munich massacre , in Paris in 1973.\nThe killing of Mohammad Boudia, member of the PFLP , in Paris in 1973.\nOn April 5, 1979, Mossad agents are believed to have triggered an explosion which destroyed 60 percent of components being built in Toulouse for an Iraqi reactor. Although an environmental organization, Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast, most French officials discount the claim. The reactor itself was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981.\nMossad allegedly assisted Morocco ‘s domestic security service in the disappearance of dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965.\nGermany\nOperation Plumbat (1968) was an operation by Lekem -Mossad to further Israel’s nuclear program. The German freighter “Scheersberg A” disappeared on its way from Antwerp to Genoa along with its cargo of 200 tons of yellowcake , after supposedly being transferred to an Israeli ship.\nThe sending of letter bombs during the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. A Mossad letter bomb led to fugitive Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner losing 4 fingers from his right hand in 1980.\nThe alleged targeted killing of Dr Wadie Haddad , using poisoned chocolate. Haddad died on 28 March 1978, in the German Democratic Republic supposedly from leukemia. According to the book Striking Back, published by Aharon Klein in 2006, Haddad was eliminated by Mossad, which had sent the chocolate -loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die severals months later. “It took him a few long months to die”, Klein said in the book.\nMossad discovered that Hezbollah had recruited a German national named Steven Smyrek, and that he was travelling to Israel. In an operation conducted by Mossad, the CIA , the German Internal Security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), and the Israeli Internal Security agency Shin Bet , Smyrek was kept under constant surveillance, and arrested as soon as he landed in Israel. [27]\nMossad is alleged to have been involved in industrial espionage in Germany. In the late 1990s, the head of the BfV reportedly warned his department chiefs that Mossad remained a prime threat in stealing the country’s latest computer secrets.\nGreece\nThe killing of Zaiad Muchasi, Fatah representative to Cyprus , by an explosion in his Athens hotel room in 1973.\nIreland\nThe assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh – a senior Hamas military leader – in Dubai , 2010, was suspected to be the work of Mossad, and there were eight Irish passports (six of which were used) fraudulently obtained by the Israeli embassy in Dublin , Ireland for use by apparent Mossad agents in the operation. The Irish government was angered over the use of Irish passports, summoned the Israeli ambassador and expelled the Israeli diplomat deemed responsible from Dublin, following an investigation. One of the passports was registered to a residence on Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge , on the same road as the Israeli embassy. The house was empty when later searched, but there was suspicion it had been used as a Mossad safe house in the past.\nMossad is reported to have a working relationship with Ireland’s national intelligence agency, the Directorate of Military Intelligence , and has previously tipped the Irish authorities off about arms shipments from the Middle East to Ireland for use by dissident republican militants, resulting in their interception and arrests. Mossad is also believed to cooperate with the British government in combating IRA terrorism, including involvement in Operation Flavius , 1988.\nItaly\nThe killing of Wael Zwaiter , thought to be a member of Black September .\nIn 1986, Mossad used an undercover agent to lure nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu from the United Kingdom to Italy in a honey trap style operation where he was abducted and shipped to Israel where he was tried and found guilty of treason because of his role in exposing Israel’s nuclear programme\nMalta\nThe killing of Fathi Shiqaqi . Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad , was shot several times in the head in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema , Malta .\nNorway\nMain article: Lillehammer affair\nOn July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki , a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer , Norway, was killed by Mossad agents. He had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh , one of the leaders of Black September , the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich massacre , who had been given shelter in Norway. Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports , which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident became known as the Lillehammer affair . Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki’s family.\nUnited Kingdom\nMossad assisted the UK Intelligence organisation MI5 following the 7/7 bombings in London. According to the 2007 edition of a book about Mossad titled Gideon’s Spies , shortly after the 7/7 London underground bombings, MI5 gathered evidence that a senior al-Qaeda operative known only by the alias Mustafa travelled in and out of Britain shortly before the 7/7 bombings.\nFor months, the real identity of Mustafa remained unknown, but in early October 2005, Mossad told MI5 that this person was, in fact, Azhari Husin , a bomb-making expert with Jemaah Islamiyah , the main al-Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia. Husin studied in Britain and reports claim that he met the main 7/7 bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan , in late 2001 in a militant training camp in the Philippines (see Late 2001). Meir Dagan, the then head of Mossad, apparently also told MI5 that Husin helped plan and recruit volunteers for the bombings. Mossad claimed that Husin may have been in London at the time of the bombings, and then fled to al-Qaeda’s principal haven in the tribal area of Pakistan, where he sometimes hid after bombings. Husin was killed in a shootout in Indonesia in November 2005. Later official British government reports about the 7/7 bombings did not mention Husin.\nSwitzerland\nAccording to secret CIA and US State Department documents discovered by the Iranian students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979:\nIn Switzerland the Israelis have an Embassy in Bern and a Consulate-General in Zurich which provide cover for Collection Department officers involved in unilateral operations. These Israeli diplomatic installations also maintain close relations with the Swiss on a local level in regard to overt functions such as physical security for Israeli official and commercial installations in the country and the protection of staff members and visiting Israelis.\nThere is also close collaboration between the Israelis and Swiss on scientific and technical matters pertaining to intelligence and security operations. Swiss officials have made frequent trips to Israel. There is a continual flow of Israelis to and through Switzerland. These visits, however, are usually arranged through the Political Action and Liaison regional controller at the Embassy in Paris directly with the Swiss and not through the officials in the Israeli Embassy in Bern , although the latter are kept informed.\n“\n”\nIn February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught wiretapping the home of a Hezbollah agent in a Bern suburb. Four agents were freed, but the fifth was tried, found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison, and following his release was banned from entering Switzerland for five years.\nSoviet Union/Russia\nMossad was involved in outreach to Refuseniks in the Soviet Union during the crackdown on Soviet Jews in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Mossad helped establish contact with Refuseniks in the USSR, and helped them acquire Jewish religious items, banned by the Soviet government, in addition to passing communications into and out of the USSR. Many rabbinical students from Western countries travelled to the Soviet Union as part of this program in order to establish and maintain contact with refuseniks.\nUkraine\nIn February 2011, a Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi , was allegedly pulled off a train by Mossad agents en route to the capital Kiev from Kharkiv . He had been planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, and reappeared in an Israeli jail only 3 weeks after the incident.\nMiddle East\nA report published on the Israeli military’s official website in February, 2014 said that Middle Eastern countries that cooperate with Israel (Mossad) are the United Arab Emirates , Afghanistan , the Republic of Azerbaijan , Bahrain and Saudi Arabia . The report claimed that Bahrain has been providing Israel with intelligence on Iranian and Palestinian organizations. The report also highlights the growing secret cooperation with Saudi Arabia, claiming that Mossad has been in direct contact with Saudi intelligence about Iran ’s nuclear energy program. [44] [45] [46]\nEgypt\nProvision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.\nMossad spy Wolfgang Lotz , holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his cold war espionage activities.\nAfter a tense May 25, 1967 confrontation with CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director Meir Amit flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel “a flickering green light” to attack. [47]\nOperation Bulmus 6 – Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition .[ citation needed ]\nOperation Damocles – A campaign of assassination and intimidation against German rocket scientists employed by Egypt in building missiles.\nIran\nPrior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service was created under the guidance of United States and Israeli intelligence officers in 1957.\nAfter security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Iran , Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, “training SAVAK personnel and carrying out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK.”\nA US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007. This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev . The Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown.\nLe Figaro claimed that Mossad was possibly behind a blast at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Imam Ali military base, on October 12, 2010. The explosion at the base killed 18 and injured 10 others. Among the dead was also general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam , who served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program and was a crucial figure in building Iran’s long-range missile program.\nThe base is believed to store long-range missiles, including the Shahab-3 , and also has hangars. It is one of Iran’s most secure military base.\nIranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has accused Mossad of assassination plots and killings of Iranian physicists in 2010. Reports have noted that such information has not yet been evidently proven. Iranian state TV broadcast a stated confession from Majid Jamali-Fash, an Iranian man who claimed to have visited Israel to be trained by Mossad.\nMossad has been accused of assassinating Masoud Alimohammadi , Ardeshir Hosseinpour , Majid Shahriari , Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan ; scientists involved in the Iranian nuclear program . It is also suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi .\nMeir Dagan , who served as Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2009, while not taking credit for the assassinations, praised them in an interview with a journalist, saying “the removal of important brains” from the Iranian nuclear project had achieved so-called “white defections ,” frightening other Iranian nuclear scientists into requesting that they be transferred to civilian projects.\nIn early February 2012, Mossad director Tamir Pardo met with U.S. national security officials in Washington, D.C. to sound them out on possible American reactions in the event Israel attacked Iran over the objections of the United States.\nIraq\nMiG-21 at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim\n \nAssistance in the defection and rescuing of the family of Munir Redfa , an Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his MiG-21 to Israel in 1966: “ Operation Diamond “. Redfa’s entire family was also successfully smuggled from Iraq to Israel. Previously unknown information about the MiG-21 was subsequently shared with the United States.\nOperation Sphinx – Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France.\nOperation Bramble Bush II – In the 1990s, Mossad began scouting locations in Iraq where Saddam Hussein could be ambushed by Sayeret Matkal commandos inserted into Iraq from Jordan . The mission was called off due to Operation Desert Fox and the ongoing Israeli-Arab peace process.\nJordan\nIn what is thought to have been a reprisal action for a Hamas suicide-bombing in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997 that killed 16 Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu authorised an operation against Khaled Mashal , the Hamas representative in Jordan. On September 25, 1997, Mashal was injected in the ear with a toxin (thought to have been a derivative of the synthetic opiate Fentanyl called Levofentanyl). Jordanian authorities apprehended two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists and trapped a further six in the Israeli embassy. In exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to Amman and deliver an antidote for Mashal. The fallout from the failed killing eventually led to the release of Sheik Ahmed Yassin , the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners. Netanyahu flew into Amman on September 29 to apologize personally to King Hussein, but was met instead by the King’s brother, Crown Prince Hassan.\nLebanon\nThe provision of intelligence and operational assistance in the 1973 Operation Spring of Youth special forces raid on Beirut .\nThe sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif . Sharif was severely wounded, but survived.\nThe targeted killing of Ali Hassan Salameh , the leader of Black September , on January 22, 1979 in Beirut by a car bomb.\nThe killing of the Palestinian writer and leading PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani , also by a car bomb, in 1972.\nProviding intelligence for the killing of Abbas al-Musawi , secretary general of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 1992.\nAllegedly killed Jihad Ahmed Jibril , the leader of the military wing of the PFLP-GC, in Beirut in 2002.\nAllegedly killed Ali Hussein Saleh , member of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 2003.\nAllegedly killed Ghaleb Awwali , a senior Hezbollah official, in Beirut in 2004.\nAllegedly killed Mahmoud al-Majzoub , a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad , in Sidon in 2006.\nMossad was suspected of establishing a large spy network in Lebanon, recruited from Druze , Christian , and Sunni Muslim communities, and officials in the Lebanese government, to spy on Hezbollah and its Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors. Some have allegedly been active since the 1982 Lebanon War . In 2009, Lebanese Security Services supported by Hezbollah’s intelligence unit, and working in collaboration with Syria , Iran , and possibly Russia, launched a major crackdown which resulted in the arrests of around 100 alleged spies “working for Israel”. Previously, in 2006, the Lebanese army uncovered a network that allegedly assassinated several Lebanese and Palestinian leaders on behalf of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.\nSyria\nEli Cohen infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government, was a close friend of the Syrian President, and was considered for the post of Minister of Defense. He gave his handlers a complete plan of the Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights , the Syrian Armed Forces order of battle, and a complete list of the Syrian military’s weapons inventory. He also ordered the planting of trees by every Syrian fortified position under the pretext of shading soldiers, but the trees actually served as targeting markers for the Israel Defense Forces. He was discovered by Syrian and Soviet intelligence, tried in secret, and executed publicly in 1965.\nHis information played a crucial role during the Six Day War .\nOn 1 April 1978, 12 Syrian military and secret service personnel were killed by a sophisticated Israeli listening device planted on the main telephone cable between Damascus and Jordan.\nThe alleged death of General Anatoly Kuntsevich, who from the late 1990s was suspected of aiding the Syrians in the manufacture of VX nerve-gas, in exchange for which he was paid huge amounts of money by the Syrian government. On April 3, 2002, Kuntsevich died mysteriously during a plane journey, amid allegations that Mossad was responsible.\nThe alleged killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil , a senior member of the military wing of Hamas , in an automobile booby trap in September 2004 in Damascus .\nThe uncovering of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria as a result of surveillance by Mossad of Syrian officials working under the command of Muhammad Suleiman. As a result, the Syrian nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israeli Air Forces in September 2007 (see Operation Orchard ), while Suleiman was assassinated by Israel a year later.\nThe alleged killing of Muhammad Suleiman , head of Syria’s nuclear program, in 2008. Suleiman was on a beach in Tartus and was killed by a sniper firing from a boat.\nOn July 25, 2007, the al-Safir chemical weapons depot exploded, killing 15 Syrian personnel as well as 10 Iranian engineers. Syrian investigations blamed Israeli sabotage.\nThe alleged killing of Imad Mughniyah , a senior leader of Hezbollah complicit in the 1983 United States embassy bombing , with an exploding headrest in Damascus in 2008.\nThe decomposed body of Yuri Ivanov, the deputy head of the GRU , Russia’s foreign military intelligence service, was found on a Turkish beach in early August 2010, amid allegations that Mossad may have played a role. He had disappeared while staying near Latakia, Syria.\nUnited Arab Emirates\nMossad is suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh , a senior Hamas military commander, in January 2010 at Dubai , United Arab Emirates . The team which carried out the killing is estimated, on the basis of CCTV and other evidence, to have consisted of at least 26 agents traveling on bogus passports. The operatives entered al-Mabhouh’s hotel room, where Mabhouh was subjected to electric shocks and interrogated.\nThe door to his room was reported to have been locked from the inside.\nAlthough the UAE police and Hamas have declared Israel responsible for the killing, no direct evidence linking Mossad to the crime has been found. The agents’ bogus passports included six British passports, cloned from those of real British nationals resident in Israel and suspected by Dubai, five Irish passports, apparently forged from those of living individuals, forged Australian passports that raised fears of reprisal against innocent victims of identity theft, a genuine German passport and a false French passport. Emirati police say they have fingerprint and DNA evidence of some of the attackers, as well as retinal scans of 11 suspects recorded at Dubai airport. Dubai’s police chief has said “I am now completely sure that it was Mossad,” adding: “I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad,” for the murder.\nAfrica\nMorocco\nIn September 1956, Mossad established a secretive network in Morocco to smuggle Moroccan Jews to Israel after a ban on immigration to Israel was imposed.\nIn early 1991, two Mossad operatives infiltrated the Moroccan port of Casablanca and planted a tracking device on the freighter Al-Yarmouk, which was carrying a cargo of North Korean missiles bound for Syria . The ship was to be sunk by the Israeli Air Force , but the mission was later called off by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin .\nTunisia\nThe 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a founder of Fatah .\nThe alleged killing of Salah Khalaf , head of intelligence of the PLO and second in command of Fatah behind Yasser Arafat , in 1991.\nUganda\nFor Operation Entebbe in 1976, Mossad provided intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport [91] and extensively interviewed hostages who had been released.\nSouth Africa\nIn the late 1990s, after Mossad was tipped off to the presence of two Iranian agents in Johannesburg on a mission to procure advanced weapons systems from Denel , a Mossad agent was deployed, and met up with a local Jewish contact. Posing as South African intelligence, they abducted the Iranians, drove them to a warehouse, and beat and intimidated them before forcing them to leave the country.\nSudan\nAfter the 1994 AMIA bombing , the largest bombing in Argentine history, Mossad began gathering intelligence for a raid by Israeli Special Forces on the Iranian embassy in Khartoum as retaliation. The operation was called off due to fears that another attack against worldwide Jewish communities might take place as revenge. Mossad also assisted in Operation Moses , the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel from a famine-ridden region of Sudan in 1984, also maintaining a relationship with the Ethiopian government.\nAsia\nPakistan\nIn a September 2003 news article, it was alleged by Rediff News that General Pervez Musharaf, the then-President of Pakistan, decided to establish a clandestine relationship between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mossad via officers of the two services posted at their embassies in Washington, DC.\nNorth Korea\nMossad may have been involved in the 2004 explosion of Ryongchon , where several Syrian nuclear scientists working on the Syrian and Iranian nuclear-weapons programs were killed and a train carrying fissionable material was destroyed.\nOceania\nFurther information: Israel-New Zealand relations\nIn July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australian based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents.\nBoth Kelman and Cara served half of their six-month sentences and, upon release, were deported to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze’ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but they both managed to leave New Zealand before being apprehended.\nShare this:",
"Israel Intelligence Agencies | Jewish Virtual Library\nIsrael Intelligence & Security: Intelligence Agencies. Intelligence & Security: Table of Contents ... One of the world’s best known intelligence agencies, ...\nIsrael Intelligence Agencies | Jewish Virtual Library\nTweet\nAmanMilitary Intelligence\nAman, or Agaf Hamodein in Hebrew, produces comprehensive national intelligence briefings for the prime minister and the cabinet, daily intelligence reports, risk-of-war estimates, target studies on nearby Arab countries, and communications intercepts. It also handles cross-border operations. The organization uses reconnaissance commando teams behind enemy lines, aerial reconnaissance and military attaches stationed in overseas embassies to gather intelligence.\nThe Shin Bet\nSherut Habitachon Haklali (Shabak), better known as the Shin Bet, is Israels internal counterespionage and counterterrorist agency. It’s motto, inscribed on the organization seal, is “Defends and Shall Not Be Seen.” It is responsible for the security and protection of Israels prime minister and other governmental leaders as well as of defense industries, sensitive economic locations and Israeli installations abroad. The Shin Bet, which is sometimes compared to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), also handles overall security for Israels national airline, El Al.\nIn August 2014 following Operation Protective Edge, the Shin Bet announced that it had foiled a major Hamas plot to carry out massive terror attacks in Israel and overthrow the Palestinian Authority in hopes of starting a third intifada. Shin Bet arrested around 90 Hamas operatives in the search for the three kidnapped teens that sparked Operation Protective Edge, and also seized dozens of weapons and over $170,000 cash that was earmarked for funding terrorist attacks. During the questioning of these arrested Hamas members the Shin Bet was able to get confessions that Hamas had been planning a large scale attack on Israeli sites including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. They stated that Hamas planned on staging a wide string of attacks against Israel, overthrowing Abbas's Palestinian Authority government, and then turning to Israel as a third intifada erupted. The leader of this operation was reportedly going to be Hamas operative Riad Nasser. \nThe Mossad\nOne of the worlds best known intelligence agencies, the Mossad (short for Hamossad Lemode’in Ule’tafkidim Meyuchadim) uses agents to collect intelligence, conduct covert operations and counterterrorism. Its primary focus is on the Arab nations and pro-Arab organizations. According to published accounts, the Mossad has eight departments; the largest of these is the Collections Department, which is responsible for espionage operations and has offices abroad under both diplomatic and unofficial cover.\nA clandestine operations branch, Metzada, executes delicate actions (including assassinations and sabotage) against foreign targets that are considered a significant threat to Israeli national security.\nThe Political Action and Liaison Department conducts political activities and relations with friendly foreign intelligence services and nations with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.\nLechima Psichologit, the department known as LAP, covers the ever-growing sphere of psychological warfare and propaganda.",
"Mossad.txt\nMossad\nMossad (,; , '; literally meaning \"the Institute\"), short for ' (, meaning \"Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations\"), is the national intelligence agency of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security).\n\nMossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister.\n\nOrganization\n\nExecutive offices\n\nThe largest department of Mossad is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial. The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working with allied foreign intelligence services, and nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities. Metsada is the sabotage unit responsible for attacking the enemy, which is different from the assassination unit.\n\nHistory\n\nMossad was formed on December 13, 1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah. Ben Gurion wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services—the army's intelligence department (AMAN), the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), and the foreign office's \"political department\". In March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime minister's office, reporting directly to the prime minister.\n\nMotto\n\nMossad's former motto, be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh () is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): \"For by wise guidance you can wage your war\" (NRSV). The motto was later changed to another Proverbs passage: be-'éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō'éts (, Proverbs 11:14). This is translated by NRSV as: \"Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.\"\n\nCounter-terrorist units\n\nThe Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as \"an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community.\" The unit only recruits from \"former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units.\" \n\nDirectors\n\n* Reuven Shiloah, 1949–53\n* Isser Harel, 1953–63\n* Meir Amit, 1963–68\n* Zvi Zamir, 1968–73\n* Yitzhak Hofi, 1973–82\n* Nahum Admoni, 1982–89\n* Shabtai Shavit, 1989–96\n* Danny Yatom, 1996–98\n* Efraim Halevy, 1998–2002\n* Meir Dagan, 2002–2011\n* Tamir Pardo, 2011–2016\n* Yossi Cohen, 2016–present\n\nOperations\n\nAmericas\n\nArgentina\n\nIn 1960, Mossad discovered that the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina. A team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and through surveillance, confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11, 1960 and taken to a hideout. He was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as the violation of its sovereignty, and the United Nations Security Council noted that \"repetition of acts such as [this] would involve a breach of the principles upon which international order is founded, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust incompatible with the preservation of peace\" while also acknowledging that \"Eichmann should be brought to appropriate justice for the crimes of which he is accused\" and that \"this resolution should in no way be interpreted as condoning the odious crimes of which Eichmann is accused.\"Argentina claimed that the \"illicit and clandestine transfer of Eichmann from Argentine territory constitutes a flagrant violation of the Argentine State's right of sovereignty[.]\" Bass, Gary J. (2004.) The Adolf Eichmann Case: Universal and National Jurisdiction. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.4) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. In Eichmann's case, the most salient feature from the perspective of international law was the fact of Israeli law enforcement action in another state's territory without consent; the human element includes the dramatic circumstances of the capture by Mossad agents and the ensuing custody and transfer to Israel[.] Damrosch, Lori F. (2004.) Connecting the Threads in the Fabric of International Law. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.5) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. The principle of territorial integrity (in Art. 2(4) UN Charter) At its most obvious level this means that the exercise of enforcement jurisdiction within the territory of another state will be a violation of territorial integrity 32 Note 32: E.g. after Adolf Eichmann [...] was abducted from Argentina by a group of Israelis, now known to be from the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad), the Argentine Government lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council [...] It is however unclear whether as a matter of international law the obligation to make reparation for a violation of territorial sovereignty such as that involved in the Eichmann case includes an obligation to return the offender.\nHiggins, Rosalyn and Maurice Floy. (1997). Terrorism and International Law. UK: Routledge. (p. 48) Mossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele. \n\nUnited States\n\nDuring the 1990s, Mossad discovered a Hezbollah agent operating within the United States in order to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U.S. intelligence, the agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that he would betray more Hezbollah operatives, but was eventually arrested. \n\nMossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that based on its intelligence as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning \"a major assault on the United States.\" The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a \"large-scale target\" in the United States and that Americans would be \"very vulnerable.\" However, \"It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response.\" A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.\n\nUruguay\n\nMossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs in 1965. \n\nEurope\n\nAustria\n\nMossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole. \n\nBelgium\n\nMossad is alleged to be responsible for the killing of Canadian engineer and ballistics expert Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. He was shot multiple times in the head outside his Brussels apartment. Bull was at the time working for Iraq on the Project Babylon supergun. Others, including Bull's son, believe that Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. Iraq and Iran are also candidates for suspicion. \n\nBosnia and Herzegovina\n\nAssisted in air and overland evacuations of Bosnian Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992 and 1993. \n\nCyprus\n\nThe killing of Hussein Al Bashir in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1973 in relation to the Munich massacre. \n\nFrance\n\nMossad allegedly assisted Morocco's domestic security service in the disappearance of dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965. \n\nCherbourg Project - Operation Noa, the 1969 smuggling of five Sa'ar 3-class missile boats out of Cherbourg.\n\nThe killing of Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, coordinator of the Munich massacre, with an exploding telephone in his Paris apartment in 1972.\n\nThe killing of Dr. Basil Al-Kubaissi, who was involved in the Munich massacre, in Paris in 1973.\n\nThe killing of Mohammad Boudia, member of the PFLP, in Paris in 1973.\n\nOn April 5, 1979, Mossad agents are believed to have triggered an explosion which destroyed 60 percent of components being built in Toulouse for an Iraqi reactor. Although an environmental organization, Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast, most French officials discount the claim. The reactor itself was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981. \n\nThe alleged killing of Zuheir Mohsen, a pro-Syrian member of the PLO in 1979. \n\nThe killing of Yehia El-Mashad, the head of the Iraq nuclear weapons program, in 1980. \n\nThe alleged killing of Atef Bseiso, a top intelligence officer of the PLO in Paris in 1992. French police believe that a team of assassins followed Atef Bseiso from Berlin, where that first team connected with another team to close in on him in front of a Left Bank hotel, where he received three head-shots at point blank range. \n\nGermany\n\nOperation Plumbat (1968) was an operation by Lekem-Mossad to further Israel's nuclear program. The German freighter \"Scheersberg A\" disappeared on its way from Antwerp to Genoa along with its cargo of 200 tons of yellowcake, after supposedly being transferred to an Israeli ship.[http://intellit.muskingum.edu/israel_folder/israelplumbat.html ISRAEL The Plumbat Operation (1968)] retrieved 10/12/2008\n\nThe sending of letter bombs during the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. A Mossad letter bomb led to fugitive Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner losing 4 fingers from his right hand in 1980. \n\nThe alleged targeted killing of Dr Wadie Haddad, using poisoned chocolate. Haddad died on 28 March 1978, in the German Democratic Republic supposedly from leukemia. According to the book Striking Back, published by Aharon Klein in 2006, Haddad was eliminated by Mossad, which had sent the chocolate-loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die several months later. \"It took him a few long months to die\", Klein said in the book.\n\nMossad discovered that Hezbollah had recruited a German national named Steven Smyrek, and that he was travelling to Israel. In an operation conducted by Mossad, the CIA, the German Internal Security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), and the Israeli Internal Security agency Shin Bet, Smyrek was kept under constant surveillance, and arrested as soon as he landed in Israel. \n\nMossad is alleged to have been involved in industrial espionage in Germany. In the late 1990s, the head of the BfV reportedly warned his department chiefs that Mossad remained a prime threat in stealing the country's latest computer secrets.Thomas, Gordon: Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad (Fifth Edition)\n\nGreece\n\nThe killing of Zaiad Muchasi, Fatah representative to Cyprus, by an explosion in his Athens hotel room in 1973.\n\nIreland\n\nThe assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh - a senior Hamas military leader - in Dubai, 2010, was suspected to be the work of Mossad, and there were eight Irish passports (six of which were used) fraudulently obtained by the Israeli embassy in Dublin, Ireland for use by apparent Mossad agents in the operation. The Irish government was angered over the use of Irish passports, summoned the Israeli ambassador and expelled the Israeli diplomat deemed responsible from Dublin, following an investigation. One of the passports was registered to a residence on Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, on the same road as the Israeli embassy. The house was empty when later searched, but there was suspicion it had been used as a Mossad safe house in the past. Mossad is reported to have a working relationship with Ireland's national intelligence agency, the Directorate of Military Intelligence, and has previously tipped the Irish authorities off about arms shipments from the Middle East to Ireland for use by dissident republican militants, resulting in their interception and arrests. Mossad is also believed to cooperate with the British government in combating IRA terrorism, including involvement in Operation Flavius, 1988. \n\nItaly\n\nThe killing of Wael Zwaiter, thought to be a member of Black September. \n\nIn 1986, Mossad used an undercover agent to lure nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu from the United Kingdom to Italy in a honey trap style operation where he was abducted and shipped to Israel where he was tried and found guilty of treason because of his role in exposing Israel's nuclear programme.\n\nMalta\n\nThe killing of Fathi Shiqaqi. Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was shot several times in the head in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema, Malta. \n\nNorway\n\nOn July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, was killed by Mossad agents. He had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh, one of the leaders of Black September, the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich massacre, who had been given shelter in Norway. Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports, which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident came to be known as the Lillehammer affair. Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki's family. \n\nUnited Kingdom\n\nMossad assisted the UK Intelligence organisation MI5 following the 7/7 bombings in London. According to the 2007 edition of a book about Mossad titled Gideon’s Spies, shortly after the 7/7 London underground bombings, MI5 gathered evidence that a senior al-Qaeda operative known only by the alias Mustafa travelled in and out of Britain shortly before the 7/7 bombings. For months, the real identity of Mustafa remained unknown, but in early October 2005, Mossad told MI5 that this person was, in fact, Azhari Husin, a bomb-making expert with Jemaah Islamiyah, the main al-Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia. Husin studied in Britain and reports claim that he met the main 7/7 bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan, in late 2001 in a militant training camp in the Philippines (see Late 2001). Meir Dagan, the then head of Mossad, apparently also told MI5 that Husin helped plan and recruit volunteers for the bombings. Mossad claimed that Husin may have been in London at the time of the bombings, and then fled to al-Qaeda’s principal haven in the tribal area of Pakistan, where he sometimes hid after bombings. Husin was killed in a shootout in Indonesia in November 2005. Later official British government reports about the 7/7 bombings did not mention Husin. \n\nIn addition, Gideon's Spies also claimed that Mossad conducted industrial espionage in the UK, and that shortly after Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister, MI5 briefed him on Mossad's efforts to obtain British scientific and defense data.\n\nSwitzerland\n\nAccording to secret CIA and US State Department documents discovered by the Iranian students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979:\n\nIn February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught wiretapping the home of a Hezbollah agent in a Bern suburb. Four agents were freed, but the fifth was tried, found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison, and following his release was banned from entering Switzerland for five years. \n\nSoviet Union/Russia\n\nMossad was involved in outreach to Refuseniks in the Soviet Union during the crackdown on Soviet Jews in the period between the 1950s and the 1980s. Mossad helped establish contact with Refuseniks in the USSR, and helped them acquire Jewish religious items, banned by the Soviet government, in addition to passing communications into and out of the USSR. Many rabbinical students from Western countries travelled to the Soviet Union as part of this program in order to establish and maintain contact with refuseniks.\n\nUkraine\n\nIn February 2011, a Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi, was allegedly pulled off a train by Mossad agents en route to the capital Kiev from Kharkiv. He had been planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, and reappeared in an Israeli jail only three weeks after the incident. \n\nMiddle East\n\nA report published on the Israeli military’s official website in February, 2014 said that Middle Eastern countries that cooperate with Israel (Mossad) are the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The report claimed that Bahrain has been providing Israel with intelligence on Iranian and Palestinian organizations. The report also highlights the growing secret cooperation with Saudi Arabia, claiming that Mossad has been in direct contact with Saudi intelligence about Iran’s nuclear energy program. \n\nEgypt\n\n*Provision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.\n*Mossad spy Wolfgang Lotz, holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his cold war espionage activities.\n*After a tense May 25, 1967 confrontation with CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director Meir Amit flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel \"a flickering green light\" to attack. \n*Provision of intelligence on the Egyptian Air Force for Operation Focus, the opening air strike of the Six-Day War.\n* Operation Bulmus 6 – Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition.\n* Operation Damocles – A campaign of assassination and intimidation against German rocket scientists employed by Egypt in building missiles.\n** A bomb sent to the Heliopolis rocket factory killed five Egyptian workers, allegedly sent by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad. \n** Heinz Krug, 49, the chief of a Munich company supplying military hardware to Egypt disappeared in September 1962 and is believed to have been assassinated by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad.\n\nIran\n\nPrior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service was created under the guidance of United States and Israeli intelligence officers in 1957. After security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Iran, Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, \"training SAVAK personnel and carrying out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK.\" \n\nA US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007. This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev. The Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown. \n\nLe Figaro claimed that Mossad was possibly behind a blast at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Imam Ali military base, on October 12, 2010. The explosion at the base killed 18 and injured 10 others. Among the dead was also general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, who served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program and was a crucial figure in building Iran’s long-range missile program. The base is believed to store long-range missiles, including the Shahab-3, and also has hangars. It is one of Iran's most secure military bases. \n\nIranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has accused Mossad of assassination plots and killings of Iranian physicists in 2010. Reports have noted that such information has not yet been evidently proven. Iranian state TV broadcast a stated confession from Majid Jamali-Fashi, an Iranian man who claimed to have visited Israel to be trained by Mossad. \n\nMossad has been accused of assassinating Masoud Alimohammadi, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan; scientists involved in the Iranian nuclear program. It is also suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi. Meir Dagan, who served as Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2009, while not taking credit for the assassinations, praised them in an interview with a journalist, saying \"the removal of important brains\" from the Iranian nuclear project had achieved so-called \"white defections,\" frightening other Iranian nuclear scientists into requesting that they be transferred to civilian projects.\n\nIn early February 2012, Mossad director Tamir Pardo met with U.S. national security officials in Washington, D.C. to sound them out on possible American reactions in the event Israel attacked Iran over the objections of the United States. \n\nIraq\n\nAssistance in the defection and rescuing of the family of Munir Redfa, an Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his MiG-21 to Israel in 1966: \"Operation Diamond\". Redfa's entire family was also successfully smuggled from Iraq to Israel. Previously unknown information about the MiG-21 was subsequently shared with the United States.\n\nOperation Sphinx – Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France.\n\nOperation Bramble Bush II – In the 1990s, Mossad began scouting locations in Iraq where Saddam Hussein could be ambushed by Sayeret Matkal commandos inserted into Iraq from Jordan. The mission was called off due to Operation Desert Fox and the ongoing Israeli-Arab peace process.\n\nJordan\n\nIn what is thought to have been a reprisal action for a Hamas suicide-bombing in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997 that killed 16 Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu authorised an operation against Khaled Mashal, the Hamas representative in Jordan. On September 25, 1997, Mashal was injected in the ear with a toxin (thought to have been a derivative of the synthetic opiate Fentanyl called Levofentanyl). Jordanian authorities apprehended two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists and trapped a further six in the Israeli embassy. In exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to Amman and deliver an antidote for Mashal. The fallout from the failed killing eventually led to the release of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners. Netanyahu flew into Amman on September 29 to apologize personally to King Hussein, but he was instead met by the King's brother, Crown Prince Hassan.\n\nLebanon\n\nThe provision of intelligence and operational assistance in the 1973 Operation Spring of Youth special forces raid on Beirut.\n\nThe sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif. Sharif was severely wounded, but survived. \n\nThe targeted killing of Ali Hassan Salameh, the leader of Black September, on January 22, 1979 in Beirut by a car bomb. \n\nThe killing of the Palestinian writer and leading PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani, also by a car bomb, in 1972.\n\nProviding intelligence for the killing of Abbas al-Musawi, secretary general of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 1992.\n\nAllegedly killed Jihad Ahmed Jibril, the leader of the military wing of the PFLP-GC, in Beirut in 2002. \n\nAllegedly killed Ali Hussein Saleh, member of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 2003. \n\nAllegedly killed Ghaleb Awwali, a senior Hezbollah official, in Beirut in 2004. \n\nAllegedly killed Mahmoud al-Majzoub, a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in Sidon in 2006. \n\nMossad was suspected of establishing a large spy network in Lebanon, recruited from Druze, Christian, and Sunni Muslim communities, and officials in the Lebanese government, to spy on Hezbollah and its Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors. Some have allegedly been active since the 1982 Lebanon War. In 2009, Lebanese Security Services supported by Hezbollah's intelligence unit, and working in collaboration with Syria, Iran, and possibly Russia, launched a major crackdown which resulted in the arrests of around 100 alleged spies \"working for Israel\". Previously, in 2006, the Lebanese army uncovered a network that allegedly assassinated several Lebanese and Palestinian leaders on behalf of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. \n\nSyria\n\nEli Cohen infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government, was a close friend of the Syrian President, and was considered for the post of Minister of Defense. He gave his handlers a complete plan of the Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights, the Syrian Armed Forces order of battle, and a complete list of the Syrian military's weapons inventory. He also ordered the planting of trees by every Syrian fortified position under the pretext of shading soldiers, but the trees actually served as targeting markers for the Israel Defense Forces. He was discovered by Syrian and Soviet intelligence, tried in secret, and executed publicly in 1965. His information played a crucial role during the Six Day War.\n\nOn 1 April 1978, 12 Syrian military and secret service personnel were killed by a booby trapped sophisticated Israeli listening device planted on the main telephone cable between Damascus and Jordan. \n\nThe alleged death of General Anatoly Kuntsevich, who from the late 1990s was suspected of aiding the Syrians in the manufacture of VX nerve-gas, in exchange for which he was paid huge amounts of money by the Syrian government. On April 3, 2002, Kuntsevich died mysteriously during a plane journey, amid allegations that Mossad was responsible.\n\nThe alleged killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil, a senior member of the military wing of Hamas, in an automobile booby trap in September 2004 in Damascus. \n\nThe uncovering of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria as a result of surveillance by Mossad of Syrian officials working under the command of Muhammad Suleiman. As a result, the Syrian nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israeli Air Forces in September 2007 (see Operation Orchard), while Suleiman was assassinated by Israel a year later.\n\nThe alleged killing of Muhammad Suleiman, head of Syria's nuclear program, in 2008. Suleiman was on a beach in Tartus and was killed by a sniper firing from a boat. \n\nOn July 25, 2007, the al-Safir chemical weapons depot exploded, killing 15 Syrian personnel as well as 10 Iranian engineers. Syrian investigations blamed Israeli sabotage.\n\nThe alleged killing of Imad Mughniyah, a senior leader of Hezbollah complicit in the 1983 United States embassy bombing, with an exploding headrest in Damascus in 2008.\n\nThe decomposed body of Yuri Ivanov, the deputy head of the GRU, Russia's foreign military intelligence service, was found on a Turkish beach in early August 2010,[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7973346/Top-Russian-spys-body-washes-up-after-swimming-accident.html Top Russian spy’s body washes up 'after swimming accident’], Telegraph amid allegations that Mossad may have played a role. He had disappeared while staying near Latakia, Syria. \n\nUnited Arab Emirates\n\nMossad is suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander, in January 2010 at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The team which carried out the killing is estimated, on the basis of CCTV and other evidence, to have consisted of at least 26 agents traveling on bogus passports. The operatives entered al-Mabhouh's hotel room, where Mabhouh was subjected to electric shocks and interrogated. The door to his room was reported to have been locked from the inside. Although the UAE police and Hamas have declared Israel responsible for the killing, no direct evidence linking Mossad to the crime has been found. The agents' bogus passports included six British passports, cloned from those of real British nationals resident in Israel and suspected by Dubai, five Irish passports, apparently forged from those of living individuals, forged Australian passports that raised fears of reprisal against innocent victims of identity theft, a genuine German passport and a false French passport. Emirati police say they have fingerprint and DNA evidence of some of the attackers, as well as retinal scans of 11 suspects recorded at Dubai airport. Dubai's police chief has said \"I am now completely sure that it was Mossad,\" adding: \"I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad,\" for the murder. \n\nAfrica\n\nMorocco\n\nIn September 1956, Mossad established a secretive network in Morocco to smuggle Moroccan Jews to Israel after a ban on immigration to Israel was imposed. \n\nIn early 1991, two Mossad operatives infiltrated the Moroccan port of Casablanca and planted a tracking device on the freighter Al-Yarmouk, which was carrying a cargo of North Korean missiles bound for Syria. The ship was to be sunk by the Israeli Air Force, but the mission was later called off by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. \n\nTunisia\n\nThe 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a founder of Fatah. \n\nThe alleged killing of Salah Khalaf, head of intelligence of the PLO and second in command of Fatah behind Yasser Arafat, in 1991. \n\nUganda\n\nFor Operation Entebbe in 1976, Mossad provided intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport and extensively interviewed hostages who had been released. \n\nSouth Africa\n\nIn the late 1990s, after Mossad was tipped off to the presence of two Iranian agents in Johannesburg on a mission to procure advanced weapons systems from Denel, a Mossad agent was deployed, and met up with a local Jewish contact. Posing as South African intelligence, they abducted the Iranians, drove them to a warehouse, and beat and intimidated them before forcing them to leave the country. \n\nSudan\n\nAfter the 1994 AMIA bombing, the largest bombing in Argentine history, Mossad began gathering intelligence for a raid by Israeli Special Forces on the Iranian embassy in Khartoum as retaliation. The operation was called off due to fears that another attack against worldwide Jewish communities might take place as revenge. Mossad also assisted in Operation Moses, the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel from a famine-ridden region of Sudan in 1984, also maintaining a relationship with the Ethiopian government.\n\nAsia\n\nPakistan\n\nIn a September 2003 news article, it was alleged by Rediff News that General Pervez Musharaf, the then-President of Pakistan, decided to establish a clandestine relationship between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mossad via officers of the two services posted at their embassies in Washington, DC.\n\nNorth Korea\n\nMossad may have been involved in the 2004 explosion of Ryongchon, where several Syrian nuclear scientists working on the Syrian and Iranian nuclear-weapons programs were killed and a train carrying fissionable material was destroyed.\n\nOceania\n\nNew Zealand\n\nIn July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australian based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents. Both Kelman and Cara served half of their six-month sentences and, upon release, were deported to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze'ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but they both managed to leave New Zealand before being apprehended. \n\nIn fiction\n\nIn book 4 of Mark Greaney's Gray Man series, Dead Eye, Mossad and the CIA partner to capture the world's most feared and lethal rogue former black ops agent Courtland Gentry.\n*Since the episode \"Kill Ari (Part 1)\", Mossad has played an instrumental part in the American show NCIS. Mossad's presence includes one of the main characters, Agent Ziva David, who is a former Mossad Agent. She originally filled the position of Mossad liaison to NCIS, until the end of Season 7, when she became a full-time NCIS agent. Her father, Eli David, was the director of Mossad, until the Season 10 episode Shabbat Shalom, when he was killed. Many other characters have been included in the show from Mossad, including Michael Rivkin and Ari Haswari. Some episodes of the show have taken place in Israel.\n*The TV series Covert Affairs also had a Mossad Agent Eyal Lavin as a recurring character.\n*The TV series The Blacklist also has Mossad Agent Navabi as one of the side characters.\n*In the 2001 film Swordfish, lead character Gabriel Shear (played by John Travolta) is believed to be a Mossad agent.",
"North Africa & Middle East - International Action Center\n... the North African country ... When Secretary of State John Kerry met on June 22 with Gen. Abdel Fattah el ... The ferocious storm of uprisings in North Africa ...\nNorth Africa & Middle East\nNorth Africa & Middle East\nRallies demand freedom for Aafia Siddiqui\nIn Boston on March 8 and in New York City on March 11, the first two of four national rallies demanded that the U.S. government “Free Aafia Siddiqui” and allow her to return to her family in Pakistan. Framed in a U.S. court in 2010, she has been serving an 86-year sentence at Carswell Federal Prison ever since....\nMar 6, 2016\nImperialists provoke crisis for refugees\nEven though the Aegean Sea in winter is cold and rough, conditions for migrants in Turkey are so harsh that over 102,000 of them have crossed the narrow waters from Turkey to the Greek islands since Jan. 1, according to an estimate of the International Organization of Migrants....\nFeb 25, 2016\nTruce? Keep your guard up\nThe news that the Obama administration has finally agreed to a partial truce over Syria with Russia did not bring true relief to those concerned about the Syrian people or about the danger of a wider war. The confrontation between nuclear powers was at least postponed, and it may get worse yet. The anti-war and anti-imperialist movement in the United States better stay on the alert....\nFeb 25, 2016\nU.S. bombs Libya — again\nOver 40 people were killed by Pentagon F-15E fighter jets in a bombing operation Feb. 19 in Sabratha, Libya, which was said to have targeted an Islamic State group (I.S.) training camp. The air strike, 50 miles west of Tripoli, was aimed at I.S. operative and Tunisian national Noureddine Chouchane, who had been linked to an attack on the Bardo Museum in neighboring Tunisia in March 2015. He was accused of arranging the arrival of I.S. operatives in Libya....\nFeb 21, 2016\nU.S. continues endless war in Afghanistan\nUsing smoke and mirrors in Afghanistan, the Obama administration is seeking to convince the world that there will be “an eventual drawdown” of U.S. and NATO forces. A closer look at U.S. imperialism’s strategic goals of a “pivot to Asia” reveals that the 15-year war’s goals include obtaining an economic foothold in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders Iran, Pakistan, China, and the rich oil and gas resources of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia....\nFeb 21, 2016\nWith attack on Libya planned, U.S.-NATO flag waves over Europe\nParticipating (as is now required) in the meeting of European Union defense ministers on Feb. 5 in Amsterdam, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised U.S. “plans to substantially increase their military presence in Europe, by increasing four times the amount they spend on military presence in Europe, so they can fund more troops in the Eastern part of the Alliance, so they can finance the prepositioning of heavy equipment, tanks, armored vehicles and other kinds of heavy equipment. And also more exercises and more investments in infrastructure.” In this way, according to Stoltenberg, “EU-NATO cooperation is reinforced.” [nato.int, Feb. 5]...\nFeb 13, 2016\nPeace talks collapse, aggression continues against Syria\nAs the war against Syria draws closer to entering its fifth year, peace talks have once again fallen apart, as anticipated. The Western powers, right- wing regional regimes such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and the terrorist-ridden opposition refuse to recognize Syria’s sovereignty in the fight against such reactionary forces as the Islamic State group (I.S.), Al Nusra and the Islamic Front. Those seeking to overthrow the Syrian government call for a ceasefire while they themselves continue to bomb and destroy Syria....\nFeb 5, 2016\nPentagon, NATO plan renewed war on Libya\nGen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Jan. 23 that the United States is preparing a renewed military campaign in Libya with its imperialist allies. Dunford’s narrative provides a rationale and political justification for a permanent imperialist occupation of the region, thus negating the right of self-determination for the states involved....\nJan 22, 2016\nSyria and ISIS: Some anti-imperialist observations and analysis\nWith the mid-November ISIS-claimed terrorist attacks in Paris, and even more since the California shootings, there has been a constant stream of reports, official government statements and politicians’ remarks about ISIS and the war against Syria. There have also been reports of French, U.S., Russian and Syrian government air bombing raids on ISIS targets in Syria....\nJan 11, 2016\nA co-founder of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) in 1954 has died in exile in Switzerland....\nDec 31, 2015\nSaudi women’s struggle\nNo country on earth is more brutal and oppressive in its treatment of women than Saudi Arabia. The Saudi state, which is officially controlled by men of the royal family, has kept women encased and immobilized in a poisonous web of binding religious and legal restrictions, like the victims of a monstrous spider....\nDec 31, 2015\nA Saudi-led coalition supported by the U.S. continued to bomb Yemen on Dec. 17 despite announcements of a ceasefire....\nDec 21, 2015\nVietnamese tour U.S. in appeal for Agent Orange victims\n“Who will take care of them? That is my question.” Tran Thi Hoan posed this on World Human Rights Day, Dec. 10. This computer science professional from Central Vietnam is touring the U.S. with a delegation from the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin. She spoke at a meeting at the Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center 1199....\nDec 17, 2015\nDec. 20: About Trump and more\nThe anti-Trump demonstration in New York City planned for Dec. 20 could not come at a more crucial time, not only for the movement and the workers in the U.S. but also globally. Initiated by the International Action Center, this demonstration is being embraced and endorsed by a growing number of progressive, anti-racist and anti-imperialist groups, including Muslims....\nDec 12, 2015\nEuropeans protest war escalation against Syria\nThousands of people marched in England, Spain and Germany in the last eight days to try to stop their governments from joining the U.S. war against Syria. Despite these protests, both the German and the British parliaments voted to send troops and aircraft to the region to join the bombing campaign....\nDec 10, 2015\nBehind the San Bernardino shootings\nThe Dec. 3 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., which claimed the lives of 14 county workers and injured 21 others, occurred less than a week after a mass shooting Nov. 27 at the Colorado Springs, Colo., Planned Parenthood facility. There, it was a “lone gunman” (white) who killed three people and wounded nine others. In San Bernardino, however, the official FBI narrative says the alleged shooters expressed sympathy with the group known as the Islamic State group (often called ISIS or I.S.). Why did this deadly attack happen and how can others be prevented?...\nDec 8, 2015\nUSAF veterans stand strong against drone warfare\nThe secret war using drones operates throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The veterans stated that the program has “fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to [the prison at] Guantánamo Bay.”...\nDec 2, 2015\nU.S.-NATO get out, stay out of Syria!\nThe Turkish regime’s decision to ambush and shoot down a Russian SU-24 bomber on the Syrian-Turkish border north of Latakia has spotlighted the risk of a larger war in Southwest Asia. Boosting this threat is French President François Hollande’s orders to step up the French bombing of Syria. Right behind French imperialism, British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling for a Europe-wide intervention in the region. Both use the Nov. 13 attack in Paris as a pretext for this new aggression, which is ostensibly aimed at the Islamic State group or I.S....\nNov 18, 2015\nHistoric crimes of the French military\nMany young people in Paris were innocent victims of the Nov. 13 attack, but that doesn’t mean that the French imperialist state is innocent. While the 1789 French Revolution raised the idealistic slogans of liberty, equality and fraternity, French imperialism, which developed from that bourgeois revolution, has a bloody history across the world. The actions of the French ruling class have created many enemies, but it is the ordinary people, not the elites, who pay the price....\nNov 18, 2015\nSay no to Muslim bashing!\nThe news from France is grim. The immediate response of the French government to the terrible attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, which killed 129 people and wounded hundreds more, was to send planes to bomb Raqqa in Syria, a city of 200,000 people....\nNov 18, 2015\nU.S., France raise threat of wider war over Syria\nThe series of attacks in Paris claimed by ISIS have riveted world attention. But the most urgent question the working class faces is: “Will the imperialist camp use the attacks as a pretext for wider war?” Using as cover the great sympathy for the hundreds of innocent people who were shot and the 129 who died, the Western imperialist governments may put tens of thousands of other lives at risk....\nNov 15, 2015\nWE MUST NOT ALLOW THE PARIS ATTACKS TO BE USED AS A PRETEXT FOR RACISM & WAR -- MASS PROTEST\nWe mourn for those who were killed and injured in Paris on Friday. But mourning is not enough. We must also remember that what happened in Paris is yet another terrible example of the bitter fruits that are the fallout from endless war, occupation, shock-and-awe bombings, and regime change. ...\nNov 15, 2015\nDon’t let them use Paris as a pretext!\nJust counting recent catastrophes, The International Action Center mourns the tragic loss of 30 people killed by U.S. airstrikes on a charity hospital in Afghanistan; the 224 passengers and crew lost on a Russian plane that exploded over Egypt; the 102 lives cut short by an attack on a Peace Rally in Ankara, Turkey; the 34 killed in Beirut; the many, many families blasted by U.S. drone attacks on wedding parties across West Asia and Africa, and the thousands who have died trying to cross the Mediterranean as they flee war and the loss of lives and homes....\nNov 14, 2015\nLET SYRIA LIVE\nJust a month after the Pentagon admitted that its $500 million program to arm and train “Arab opposition forces” in Syria has failed, with only four or five so-called fighters trained, the Obama administration announced that some 50 U.S. Special Forces “advisers” are being sent to Syria....\nNov 10, 2015\nErdogan regime wins election by waging war\nThe government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Progress Party (AKP) has re-won a majority in the Turkish parliament. Its election campaign included renewed war on the Kurdish people and violent attacks across the country on the headquarters of the leftist People’s Democratic Party (HDP), along with arrests and intimidation of many journalists and hundreds of political activists....\nOct 24, 2015\nFreedom will come to Palestine\nThe situation in the Middle East has been a hotbed of chaos for some time now. From the unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the quagmire you have now in Syria regarding the Islamic State group. Not even Yemen has been spared from the imperialist forces interfering in the self-determination of its peoples. There is one struggle, however, that has remained since 1948, and that is the struggle for the liberation of Palestine from the grip of the cruel Zionist police state....\nOct 24, 2015\nU.N. Security Council authorizes EU naval attack in the Mediterranean on migrant ships\nA further militarization in the Mediterranean has been approved through a resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 9. By a 14 to 1 vote, European Union naval forces were empowered to purportedly halt and turn back vessels transporting migrants across the Mediterranean into Southern Europe. Only the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela abstained in the decision. Millions of people have been dislocated throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the worst refugee crisis since the conclusion of World War II....\nOct 17, 2015\nRainer Rupp about ‘Able Archer,’ his work in NATO headquarters, the Syrian War and the conflict with Russia\nIn the early 1990s he was “most wanted.” The Attorney General at that time called it the “biggest search operation of the German Federal Republic’s police services in the postwar period.” Rainer Rupp, under the code name “Topaz,” had delivered highly sensitive information from NATO headquarters in Brussels to the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (HVA) of the German Democratic Republic. Rupp was arrested in 1993 and sentenced by the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) in Dusseldorf to 12 years’ imprisonment. He was released in the year 2000. The superspy, who turned 70 on Sept. 21, gave the following interview to Karlen Vesper of the newspaper Neues Deutschland....\nOct 12, 2015\nU.S. Syria Strategy suffers setback\nWashington and the European Union countries have spent more than four years in an orchestrated effort of “regime change” in Syria. Now they howl in protest because on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria against forces trying to overthrow Syria’s government....\nSep 29, 2015\nTurkish regime opens fire on Kurds, leftists\nThe Turkish government, as well as admittedly fascist elements, have opened a broad attack on democratic organizations throughout western Turkey. Meanwhile, the Turkish army has continued its assault on the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK), both guerrillas and civilians, in the majority Kurdish southeast of the country....\nSep 28, 2015\nTens of thousands of migrants are living under precarious conditions in Hungary and Croatia as well as other states in the European Union....\nSep 15, 2015\nU.S.-backed ground war intensifies in Yemen\nAn escalating ground war is taking place for control of Yemen, the most underdeveloped state in the Middle East. Reports claim that United Arab Emirates Special Forces have been on the ground in the country fighting against the Shiite-led Ansurallah Movement, also called Houthis. ...\nSep 13, 2015\nIran deal: Imperialists search for new strategy\nhe agreement was the product of negotiations between the Iranian government and what are called the P5+1 — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. Four of the six are imperialist countries that have fought major wars among themselves to recarve the world: the U.S., Britain, France and Germany....\nSep 9, 2015\nU.S. wars caused refugee crisis\nU.S. wars, starvation sanctions and planned destabilization are the overwhelming cause of the surge of hundreds of thousands of war refugees flooding across European borders and across the Mediterranean Sea. The major European-NATO powers collaborated with U.S. imperialism in each war....\nSep 2, 2015\nBoston demonstrators demand peace for Syria\nThe Syrian American Forum mobilized people to gather in Copley Square in Boston to call on the Obama administration to help end the ongoing war in Syria. A group of Syrians and their supporters demonstrated on Aug. 29 outside of the Boston Public Library to demand peace for Syria....\nSep 1, 2015\nMigrant crisis in Europe: Who caused it?\nBehind the horror stories about the treatment of migrants trying to reach Europe is the imperialist system of exploitation of their countries of origin, the policies exacerbating this exploitation and the imperialist wars that made their home countries unlivable for them and their children....\nAug 26, 2015\nSeven thousand refugees arrived in July on the small Greek island of Kos, some 2.5 miles off the Turkish coast, according to the International Organization for Migration. The flow of refugees increased in August....\nAug 25, 2015\nFortress Europe kills\nIf there were an election for France’s head of state today, Marine Le Pen with her neofascists [the National Front] would have a good chance of winning the vote. Polls place her with around 30 percent, winning either first or second place, and a victory in the runoff election no longer seems impossible. In Sweden, too, the influence of the racists continues. For the first time the “Sweden Party” was the strongest force in a survey published on Aug. 20 by the daily newspaper Metro....\nAug 21, 2015\nA video released last week showing the beating and torture of Saadi Gadhafi is not an anomaly in contemporary Libya where the Pentagon and NATO waged a war of regime change in 2011....\nAug 17, 2015\nEmigration and war: Capitalist media suppress the obvious\nThe reports about tens of thousands of desperate refugees scrambling out of the Middle East and North Africa, trying to reach some place in Europe, are excruciatingly painful. The number who have drowned along the way or died of thirst or hunger is unknown. Others survive these perilous journeys on overloaded boats only to be captured and either interned or turned back at the borders. Photographs show them to be thin, often to the point of emaciation, with few possessions other than the threadbare clothes on their backs....\nAug 12, 2015\nRole of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan\nThe Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK) has been involved in a guerrilla war against the oppressive Turkish regime since 1984. Originally defined as a Marxist-Leninist organization with the goal of an independent Kurdistan — Kurds make up 18 percent of the total 83 million people in Turkey and are a majority in the southeast — over the last decade the PKK has dropped Marxist-Leninist ideology and set its goal as autonomy within Turkey....\nJul 18, 2015\nThe agreement reached July 14 between Iran and the “5+1,” the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China) plus Germany, is a huge achievement — for Iran....\nJul 11, 2015\nCall for mass actions to stop Saudi bombing of Yemen\nThe Pentagon-backed and -coordinated bombing campaign has killed thousands and wounded thousands more in Yemen since the air war by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council began on March 26. The Pentagon is providing intelligence, refueling technology and diplomatic cover to the Riyadh-based alliance....\nJun 14, 2015\nEven though peace talks are slated to begin on June 14 in Geneva between the major parties involved in the conflict over control of Yemen, the fighting rages on inside this underdeveloped Middle Eastern state....\nJun 5, 2015\nNYC - Sat., June 13: Rally & Speak-Out: Stop U.S. Proxy Wars from Yemen to Donbass\nToday U.S.-made and paid-for missiles and bombs are raining down on people around the world. Washington funds violent right-wing movements from Venezuela to Syria to Macedonia. It is interfering in a regional dispute in the South China Sea to threaten China. It is establishing more military bases in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Here at home, U.S. police kill and brutalize people of color....\nJun 2, 2015\nThis report is one of several eyewitness accounts provided by International Action Center and FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together) youth activist Caleb Maupin, who took part in a humanitarian aid mission to Yemen in May....\nMay 24, 2015\nI Have Witnessed A Crime Against Humanity! - A Message from Caleb Maupin in the Port of Djibouti\nFrom the Port of Djibouti in North Africa, it is with great sadness and burning outrage that I announce that the voyage of the Iran Shahed Rescue Ship has concluded. We will not reach our destination at the Port of Hodiedah in Yemen to deliver humanitarian aid....\nMay 23, 2015\n‘Stop the Saudi bombing of Yemen’\nWell over a hundred people, most from the local Yemeni community, marched and rallied on May 16 against the Saudi bombing and devastation of Yemen. They gathered at the United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, marched down Market Street to the busy shopping area at Powell Street, and then returned to the U.N. Plaza for a rally....\nMay 23, 2015\nEgypt’s military ruling class tightened its grip over the country on May 16 as three judges imposed death sentences on the former president, Mohamed Morsi, and 105 other people....\nMay 20, 2015\nCall White House! Let Red Crescent ship with humanitarian supplies to Yemen pass! No Blockade!\nThe US and Saudi Arabia are threatening to attack a humanitarian aid ship on the high seas! International observers, including US citizens,are aboard. This would be piracy and an act of war! Call the White House now at 202-456-1414 and 202-456-1111 and say: Let the aid ship pass!...\nMay 14, 2015\nI have just heard what the US officials have said, and I must say that I and all the other peace activists aboard the Iran Shahed are filled with burning outrage....\nMay 14, 2015\nVietnam’s Ho Chi Minh: ‘On lynching & the Ku Klux Klan’\nThis May 19 will mark the 125th birthday anniversary of the great anti-imperialist leader, Ho Chi Minh. “Uncle Ho” was a leader of the National Liberation Front, a people’s army that defeated both French and U.S. military invaders in Vietnam. In honor of this legendary figure and the current Black Lives Matter uprising, the IAC is printing the following excerpts from a report made by this Vietnamese communist at the Fifth Congress of the Communist International gathering held in July 1924 in Moscow during the “National and Colonial Question” session. He died in 1969, six years before Vietnam’s liberation from U.S. imperialism. Go to tinyurl.com ....\nMay 12, 2015\nWhy I'm Aboard The Rescue Ship - A Message from Caleb Maupin in the Persian Gulf\nWhy am I out at sea on the other side of the world? I am part of a humanitarian mission being carried out by the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are attempting to bring medical supplies, flour, and water to the people of Yemen....\nMay 11, 2015\nUS Anti-War Activists Join Iranian Humanitarian Mission to Yemen\nA ship containing over 2,500 tons of flour, rice, and medicine is departing from the Islamic Republic of Iran. The delegation of doctors, journalists, and activists organized by the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran intends to deliver this much needed humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen, who are facing a horrific bombing campaign from Saudi Arabia....\nApr 8, 2015\nThe agreed nuclear framework negotiated between the Iranian government and an unholy alliance of imperialist bandits, in addition to China, must be put in proper perspective....\nMar 31, 2015\nFour years of Syrian resistance to imperialist takeover\nU.S. efforts to overturn the government of Syria have now extended into a fifth year. It is increasingly clear that thousands of predictions reported in the corporate media by Western politicians, think tanks, diplomats and generals of a quick overturn and easy destruction of Syrian sovereignty have been overly optimistic, imperialist dreams. But four years of sabotage, bombings, assassinations and a mercenary invasion of more than 20,000 fighters recruited from over 60 countries have spread great ruin and loss of life....\nMar 27, 2015\nTwo deeply related issues that are of concern to anti-imperialists have been stirring U.S. capitalist politics....\nFeb 27, 2015\nPFLP leadership meets with U.S. delegation\nComrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, deputy general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Comrade Abu Sami Marwan, member of the Political Bureau of the PFLP, met with a U.S. delegation to Syria, which arrived in Damascus on Tuesday [Feb. 24]. The delegation was headed by Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general, and included U.S. leftist activists and leaders, including former member of Congress Cynthia McKinney and Sara Flounders, director of the International Action Center [headquartered] in New York City....\nFeb 19, 2015\nSaudi oil and U.S. hypocrisy\nFew events expose the utter hypocrisy of U.S. politicians’ grand words about democracy so starkly as their praise for the recently deceased King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. For decades U.S. imperialism and all the imperialist powers have given political, military and diplomatic support to the corrupt feudal family that rules Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil....\nJan 27, 2015\nOn Jan. 21, the apartheid Zionist regime of Benjamin Netanyahu was authorized by the United Nations General Assembly to host the first-ever conference devoted to the rise of worldwide “anti-Semitism.”...\nJan 22, 2015\nPentagon deploys more troops\nWith an air of absolute cynicism, the Pentagon announced on Jan. 16 that it will send 400 combat troops and 600 other personnel to the Mideast to train Syrian so-called “moderates” to fight forces of the Islamic State (ISIL). Congress has allocated $5 billion to fund this program....\nJan 21, 2015\nMore protests took place throughout the Muslim world after the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo once again highlighted a cover cartoon that was deliberately offensive to Islam....\nJan 19, 2015\nWe are NOT Charlie Hebdo!\nNeither do we condone the bombings and murder of journalists at their headquarters, however much we are repulsed by their racist, chauvinist and hateful Islamophobic caricatures of oppressed people. Neither do we condone the subsequent murders at the Paris Kosher supermarket....\nJan 14, 2015\nFrench imperialism’s brutal colonial rule\nJan. 11, the French imperialist bourgeoisie mobilized and manipulated a massive demonstration in all the country’s major cities under hypocritical slogans extolling Western civilization and alleged “freedom of speech.” Their goal — which they share with U.S. and European Union imperialism — is a reactionary modern crusade against colonial peoples, mostly Muslims, in the guise of a “war on terror.”...\nJan 13, 2015\nCharlie Hebdo, the free press and racism\nHow do we put in perspective the international media focus on the massacre of 12 journalists in Paris on Jan. 7 at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, notorious for its racist anti-Muslim caricatures and lack of response to the routine, daily, racist police murders of Black youth in the U.S.? Why were any protests banned in France of 15 journalists who were killed among the 2,000 deaths in the Israeli assault of Gaza this past summer? Don’t those lives matter?...\nJan 12, 2015\nBehind the attack in Paris\nHow does someone living in a Muslim or Middle Eastern country feel about the furor raised over the attack on Charlie Hebdo, the French magazine? Can they not be keenly aware of this double standard in the media and politics of the so-called free, democratic world? Think about the Palestinians. They’re not for Al Qaeda, but they must be saying, “Where was this level of anger and condemnation when Gaza was being bombed every single day last summer by the Israelis? Don’t our lives matter?” ...\nJan 7, 2015\nMOSCOW CONFERENCE STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH NOVOROSSIYA, PALESTINE AND BLACK AMERICA\nA conference on the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multipolar World was held in Moscow on Dec. 13, 2015, hosted by the Antiglobalization Movement of Russia. The conference brought together activists from Novorossiya (the Donetsk and Lugansk ), TransDniester, Iran, Syria, the Serb Republic, Italy, the United States and several regions of the Russian Federation. The conference was opened by AGM President Alexander Ionov. Other speakers included Oleg Tsarev, the speaker of the Parliament of Novorossia and Alexander Kofman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk People’s Republic. ...\nDec 14, 2014\nNATO powers threaten re-attack on Libya\nRecent reports claim that Islamic State camps have been set up in Libya, the North African country in chaos after the U.S./NATO-led bombing and ground war in 2011 ousted the Gadhafi government and destroyed Africa’s most prosperous and stable state....\nDec 9, 2014\nEgypt’s military regime set to free Mubarak\nIn 2011, a heroic mass revolution deposed U.S.-supported Egyptian dictator Gen. Hosni Mubarak. This uprising was an inspiration to poor and oppressed people all over the world. Its current assassins — which include the new military regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. imperialism — deserve the condemnation of all progressive and justice-seeking people everywhere....\nDec 7, 2014\nSupport the campaign to get Italy out of NATO. [in English/Italian/French]\nItaly, as part of NATO, must allocate an average of $65 million a day to military spending, according to official NATO data, although the number according to SIPRI is $90 million per day. According to the commitments made by the government in the framework of the Alliance, Italian military spending will increase to over $120 million per day (100 million euro)....\nNov 1, 2014\nA nation in fear\nLook at the United States. Really. Look at it.\nFrom north to south, east to west; from “sea to shining sea,” you’ll see the frenzy of fear. Fear of Ebola. Fear of ISIS. Fear of “crime.” Fear of — fear....\nOct 15, 2014\nIn ‘war on ISIS,’ the main enemy is at home\nThe Turkish government decided Oct. 12 to permit U.S. fighter-bombers to launch attacks on Syrian targets from Incirlik Air Force Base near the Turkish-Syrian border. This decision marked the latest escalation of the U.S.-led “war on ISIS.” It is a further step toward a major U.S. invasion into Syria and Iraq....\nOct 12, 2014\nIt is rare that a U.S. politician reveals any important fact. It is especially rare to reveal one that exposes U.S. propaganda when it is being used to justify a new war of aggression....\nOct 2, 2014\nIsraeli soldiers refuse orders against Palestinians\nSome 43 members of an elite Israeli Defense Force intelligence unit, many still on active duty, sent an open letter of protest to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sept. 12, in which they refuse to spy on the Palestinian people. It states:...\nSep 17, 2014\nWhy Obama’s ‘war on ISIS’ must be opposed\nPresident Barack Obama announced Sept.10 that the U.S. military would build an international coalition to make “war on the Islamic State.” He said there were already 10 countries in this coalition. Administration spokespeople on the Sept. 14 Sunday morning talk shows said they were still building the coalition. The next morning a conference of 30 countries opened in Paris on this theme....\nSep 11, 2014\nImperialist heads of state at the Sept. 4-5 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, met under U.S. pressure to escalate their anti-Russia maneuvers regarding Ukraine, to schedule their gradual exit from Afghanistan and to open war on the Islamic State....\nSep 9, 2014\nImperialist heads of state at the Sept. 4-5 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, met under U.S. pressure to escalate their anti-Russia maneuvers regarding Ukraine, to schedule their gradual exit from Afghanistan and to open war on the Islamic State....\nSep 5, 2014\nNATO opens its curtain of war on two fronts\nThe Summit of Heads of State and Government of the 28 states of NATO opens today in Newport, Wales, where these leaders will take key decisions “to ensure NATO is prepared to address current and future security challenges” that they attribute to “military aggression of Russia against Ukraine” and “growth of extremism and sectarian conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.” In this “crucial” summit, the United States, which retains the undisputed leadership in NATO, and its European allies will mobilize simultaneously on two war fronts. (Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s press conference)...\nSep 4, 2014\nProtests begin at NATO Summit\nThousands of anti-war marchers descended on Newport, Wales, on Aug. 30 for the beginning of a week of protests against the NATO Summit scheduled there for Sept. 4 and 5. Organizers have said they expect 20,000 people in the Welsh city by Sept. 4....\nSep 4, 2014\nFreedom fighters?\nBeware the fickle nature of imperialist propaganda. The political line of the corporate media is apt to flip-flop. Consider the latest revelations in late August that up to 1,000 volunteers from Western countries, including some from the United States, have been fighting in Syria against its government. Most of these volunteers are fighting within military units of the group now known as the Islamic State....\nAug 27, 2014\nStop the U.S. drive to war!\nEach day the Barack Obama administration draws closer to escalating U.S. military intervention in Iraq and extending it to Syria. Already having bombed Iraq for the first time since 2011, the Pentagon admits to sending surveillance drones into Syrian airspace. At the same time Washington and its imperialist allies are pouring weapons into the Iraqi regional Kurdish government in Erbil and, now that Nuri al-Maliki has resigned his post as prime minister under pressure from Washington, into the new pro-West regime in Baghdad....\nAug 20, 2014\nThe following message of solidarity was issued Aug. 19 by the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home coalition, which is organizing for the freedom of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. ...\nAug 15, 2014\nSan Francisco Bay Area people and organizations in solidarity with Gaza announced “a massive and powerful ‘Boat Blockade’ for Aug. 16 to block the Israeli Zim ship from unloading in Oakland!”...\nAug 13, 2014\nU.S. reopens war on Iraq\nPresident Barack Obama has now become the fourth successive U.S. president to order the bombing of Iraq, this time with a “humanitarian” pretext. But it soon became clear that Obama’s “humanitarian” excuse was as much a lie as the pretexts raised by the other three U.S. presidents and that the bombing was aimed at defending U.S. imperialism’s corporate and strategic interests....\nAug 10, 2014\nAs tens of thousands today marched for Gaza worldwide from Dublin to Caracas to Washington, over 10,000 protesters in New York City, the world center of finance capital, marched to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza...\nAug 8, 2014\nSome of the fiercest attacks on Gaza have been Israeli attacks on the Egyptian-Gaza border crossing at Rafah. More than 100 Palestinians were killed in Rafah between Aug. 1 and 3, including 10 children at a well-marked school...\nAug 8, 2014\nLetter from an IDF vet\nI was a member of the Israeli military from 1972 to 1975 and took part in the illegal Zionist occupations of Palestine, Egypt and Syria as well as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. I have witnessed firsthand the steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinian people along with their allies from other Arab communities....\nAug 6, 2014\nThe world movement in solidarity with Palestine must join hands in demanding the complete lifting of the brutal Israeli siege of Gaza and full reconstruction....\nAug 1, 2014\nHezbollah leader calls for unity to aid Gaza\nHezbollah General Secretary Sayed Hassan Nasrallah made a major speech on al-Quds Day, July 25, in Beirut, Lebanon. The IAC is publishing lightly edited excerpts from an unofficial transcription and translation made in Lebanon. It focuses on Nasrallah’s evaluation of the fighting in Gaza as a failure for Israel and a victory for the resistance and also on his call to all Arabs and Arab governments, whatever other disagreements they may have, to come together to support the people of Gaza....\nJul 31, 2014\nGaza, Syria, & Iraq: War MADE IN U.S.-- Making the connections; Upstate New York Speaking Tour\nIsrael’s brutal assault on the people of Gaza, targeting mostly children and civilians while destroying hospitals, schools, infrastructure, and mosques, has been built and paid for by the US. On July 18, every US Senator voted unanimously to support Israel’s attacks and increase funding to the Israeli army, now over $3.5 billion yearly. US and Israel’s goal is clear, defeat the Palestinians and weaken Gaza’s elected leadership, Hamas. Yet the Palestinian people, strengthened by a massive worldwide solidarity movement, have continued to fight back....\nJul 24, 2014\nInt'l Working Women's Coalition statement: “Let Gaza Live! Stop U.S.-backing of Zionist terror!”\nThe International Working Women's Coalition, which for the past 10 years has commemorated International Working Women's Day in New York City, stands with the world's working and oppressed peoples in solidarity with the heroic people of Gaza who are resisting the heinous atrocities by the fascistic, Zionist regime, especially the Israeli Defense Forces....\nJul 23, 2014\nWorldwide solidarity with Gaza\nOften the corporate media use the term “international community” to give weight to an opinion that is really the opinion of a handful of imperialist heads of state — from the U.S., its major NATO allies and Japan. Since the Israeli assault on Gaza began, the real international community is coming out into the streets, sometimes defying police violence, to show its solidarity with Gaza and Palestine and protest....\nJul 22, 2014\nHamas’ conditions for ceasefire\nThe Alternative Information Center describes itself as “an internationally oriented, progressive, joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization, located in Beit Sahour and Jerusalem.” As of July 20, a group of more than 200 Israelis had sent a letter to the European Council, Commission and the European Parliament calling on the EU to pressure Israel to accept Hamas’ terms of truce. And it had also gathered 725 Israeli signers as of July 21 on a Hebrew/Arabic online petition supporting Hamas’ conditions as a basis for immediate and direct negotiations....\nJul 10, 2014\nIsrael prepares criminal invasion of Gaza\nThe Israeli apartheid state has called up as many as 40,000 reserve troops to prepare for an all-out invasion of the Gaza territory, where 1.5 million Palestinians live. Because of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the territory has been described as “the largest open-air prison in the world.”...\nJul 9, 2014\nAlgerian soccer heroes shine for Gaza\nAlgeria’s soccer team competing in the World Cup in Brazil took the prize this year. No, not for winning the cup, although it’s true the Fennec Foxes got further along in the tournament than ever before. The prize the Foxes won was that of advancing the politics of the World Cup spectacle....\nJul 7, 2014\nStop Israeli assault!\nJuly 1 — Early this morning, the Israeli authorities used the death of three Israeli teenagers as the pretext to begin a major assault on Palestinian organizations and civilians in the West Bank and Gaza. Every voice should be raised against this assault....\nJun 28, 2014\nJune 20 is World Refugee Day. This year, a report issued by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees revealed that the number of displaced persons has reached a post-World-War-II high....\nJun 28, 2014\nEgypt, Israel: tools of imperialism\nWhen Secretary of State John Kerry met on June 22 with Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the coup leader who now claims the presidency of Egypt, he proclaimed that things are now “normal” in Egypt so that el-Sisi can receive the official blessings of the U.S. government. This means the U.S. will continue to bankroll the Egyptian military to the immediate tune of $575 million, money that had been “frozen,” with lots more to come. It didn’t matter to Kerry or his masters in the U.S. ruling class that another 183 people, most of them in the Muslim Brotherhood, just received a mass death sentence from the regime....\nJun 25, 2014\nThirty-five years of U.S. subversion, intervention and then direct occupation of Iraq are the primary cause of the violent sectarian divisions now pulling that country apart....\nJun 24, 2014\nSyria election observers at UN: Elections ‘big defeat’ for U.S.\nAn official United Nations press conference featuring five U.S. observers of the June 3 Syrian presidential elections was held on June 18. The briefing, held at the U.N. headquarters here, featured Joe Iosbaker of the Anti-war Committee — Chicago; Paul Larudee of the Syria Solidarity Movement; blogger Jane Stillwater; Judy Bello, founder of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars; and Scott Williams of Fight Imperialism, Stand Together and the International Action Center. These activists joined a distinguished group of observers from 32 countries who visited polling places across Syria....\nJun 20, 2014\nYesterday at 11am, the Syrian Mission to the United Nations convened a press conference featuring people from the US who observed the recent elections....\nJun 19, 2014\nIAC Statement on IRAQ: U.S. Caused Iraq’s present war and chaos\nWith the outbreak of fighting from Mosul to Tikrit putting Iraq back onto the front burner of world media coverage and with the Obama administration threatening air strikes in Iraq once again, anti-war organizations and activists in the United States must take a clear position against further U.S. intervention of any type. Broad opposition must again be mobilized to demand:...\nJun 12, 2014\nSyria’s elections: Big setback to imperialist war plans\nNearly 12 million Syrians cast their ballots on June 3 at 9,601 open polling sites across Syria and in Syrian embassies around the world. With a turnout of 72 percent, President Bashar al-Assad from the Ba’ath Party won over 88 percent of the vote....\nJun 11, 2014\nBowe Bergdahl: hero or scapegoat?\nU.S. imperialism’s political switches can be breathtaking. It only took two days for Bowe Bergdahl to change from a diplomatic tool to a political football.\nThat dizzying switch has one positive result: It helps expose the reactionary character of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and gives an opportunity to review U.S. imperialism’s role in that country....\nJun 8, 2014\nSyrian people elect president by wide margin amid insurgent attacks\nOn June 3, nearly 12 million Syrians cast their ballots at one of the 9,601 polling sites across Syria. With turnout out at 72 percent, including the millions of Syrian refugees who live across the world, President Bashar al-Assad from the Ba’ath Party won the election with over 88 percent of the vote. Defeated was communist legislator Maher Hajjar, known for leading the protest movement in spring 2011 which called for better programs and assistance for the poor, who had 3.2 percent of the votes. Prominent businessman Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri also ran and received 4.3 percent....\nJun 5, 2014\nImperialism & elections in Syria, Egypt & Ukraine\nWhy is the election in Syria so important that U.S. government officials have condemned it before it takes place? Why, at the same time, have U.S. officials embraced and applauded the results of elections organized by the military coup government of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt and the election by the fascist coup forces of billionaire oligarch Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine?...\nJun 4, 2014\nNo to U.S intervention in Syrian election\nWhat makes this election unique is that it can help protect the sovereignty, even the existence of this country. It can help end the bloody war that has drained the lifeblood of the country. It is seen as a essential step toward national reconciliation....\nMay 29, 2014\nThe International Action Center is supporting the following panels at Left Forum this year....\nMay 27, 2014\nProtests say: ‘Stop U.S. march to war’’\n“No to fascism in Ukraine! No war with Russia!” was the theme of the International Action Center protest in New York’s Times Square on May 26, Memorial Day. The demonstrators’ determination to denounce U.S. aggression and the expansion of NATO into Ukraine contrasted with the general mood of the sunny spring holiday. Speakers at the rally demanded hands off the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and expressed solidarity with the anti-fascist fighters there. Representatives of South American liberation struggles in Venezuela and Honduras spoke, aligning with those in Eastern Europe fighting against U.S. imperialism. Anti-war soldiers denounced the Pentagon on Memorial Day and called for people to remember those murdered by fascists in Ukraine. After more than an hour in Times Square, the demonstration set off for CNN headquarters, about a mile away. Signs opposing the U.S. war machine and militant slogans got a great reception from many tourists and passersby as the demonstration moved up Broadway....\nApr 8, 2014\nSeminar in Mexico: Fighting U.S. intervention takes front burner\nSome 260 leftist political activists from 39 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean but including people from around the world, gathered in Mexico City from March 27 to 29. They joined hundreds from the hosting Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo or PT) at its 18th International Seminar. Some 100 speakers, from a broad range of left political positions, spoke on many subjects with a common thread: the danger posed by Washington’s aggressive posture toward all countries south of the U.S. border and especially toward the Bolivarian government of Venezuela....\nApr 4, 2014\nWorkers are striking in both the private and public sectors in Egypt and students are demanding jobs in Tunisia. While students in Kenya won their strike, the demands of transport workers in Nairobi have not yet been met....\nFeb 13, 2014\nSyria: U.S. imperialism and diplomacy\nThe much ballyhooed Geneva II peace talks, which were supposed to bring about peace in Syria, ended on Jan. 31 with no agreement for one very good reason: The U.S had no intention of seeking any real peace agreement, but was intent on using the forum as a background for propaganda and as a way to deceive and weaken the Syrian government....\nJan 30, 2014\nFor nearly seven months in 2011, NATO planes — particularly from the U.S., France, Britain and Canada — carried out a massive bombing campaign in Libya intended to overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi....\nJan 11, 2014\nEgypt sets referendum as coup regime cracks down on activists\nA 50-person committee to draft an amended Egyptian constitution completed its work. The military-appointed regime that came to power through an army coup on July 3 of last year is encouraging people to vote in the upcoming national referendum on Jan. 14-15....\nJan 11, 2014\nInternational meeting to seek justice for Iraq\nAn increase in deaths in Iraq from internal fighting and bombing doubled in 2013 from a year earlier, reaching levels unseen since 2008. In early January, the Nouri al-Maliki regime launched an attack on demonstrators in Falluja and Ramadi, using the alleged presence of al-Qaida as a pretext and asking for U.S. military aid....\nDec 18, 2013\nPulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour M. Hersh has written a detailed and devastating exposure of the U.S. government’s manipulation of military intelligence to create a pretext for the war it very nearly unleashed against Syria last September....\nDec 7, 2013\nWhat’s at stake with the Iran nuclear treaty?\nThe six-month nuclear agreement among Iran and the “5+1” countries has been described as a breakthrough, a departure, a disaster or a betrayal, depending on the speaker. Much of the language of the agreement reached in Geneva on Nov. 24 reeks of imperialist arrogance....\nDec 5, 2013\nThe capitalist press is busy speculating on the motives of the People’s Republic of China in setting up an Air Defense Information Zone that covers the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea....\nNov 19, 2013\nWas drone strike’s goal to wreck peace talks?\nA missile launched from a CIA drone killed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Hakimullah Mehsud in northwest Pakistan. This Nov. 1 strike occurred just 18 hours before a planned invitation to a conference between Taliban leaders and the Pakistan government. The conference was designed to end the long and bloody civil war in that country. (Inter Press Service, Nov. 7)...\nNov 3, 2013\nIAC condemns Israeli air strike against Syria\nThe International Action Center condemns the strike by Israeli planes or missiles of Syrian territory near the coastal city of Latakia on Oct. 31. This is at least the third time this year that Israeli forces have bombed or hit targets inside Syria, according to media and U.S. government sources....\nOct 22, 2013\nIn a reversal of its usual role, Human Rights Watch on Oct. 11 released a report that exposed and condemned rebel groups fighting against the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria....\nOct 21, 2013\nSolidarity message from NWFN to Syrian Women - Español-English-Arabic\nFrom the United States, women who belong to the National Women's Fightback Network of the International Action Center send a warm and caring embrace to the brave people of Syria and especially to the women. It is the women and the children who suffer most from the impact of wars....\nOct 18, 2013\nU.S. military forces intervened in the African states of Libya and Somalia on Oct. 5 under the guise of waging the “war on terrorism.”...\nSep 26, 2013\nOver the next few weeks heads of state and foreign ministers from predatory imperialist countries and developing nations trying to defend their sovereignty will take the podium at the United Nations when the General Assembly convenes....\nSep 26, 2013\nU.S. anti-war delegation witnesses Syria’s resistance to imperialism\nWith the U.S. government keeping both massive bombing and regime change “on the table” for Syria in mid-September, we from the International Action Center and others among the anti-war forces in the U.S. believed it important to organize a delegation to visit this small country now facing imperialist attack....\nSep 21, 2013\nSyrian Americans say ‘No!’ to U.S. war on their country\nA significant turnout of nearly 1,000 anti-war demonstrators, most from the Syrian-American community, marched in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, the day that the U.S. Congress reconvened and the day before President Barack Obama withdrew the war resolution against Syria. The first topic on Congress’ agenda was to discuss the resolution giving the executive authority to bomb Syria. This was the last thing wanted by many of the Syrian-origin people living in the U.S., and so they came to protest....\nSep 21, 2013\nU.S. solidarity & fact-finding delegation visits Syria\nA delegation of anti-war and human-rights activists from the United States entered Syria Sept. 16 on a fact-finding and people-to-people solidarity trip. The participants plan to counter the ubiquitous pro-war propaganda spread in the U.S. and NATO imperialist countries and former colonial powers that demonizes the Syrian government....\nSep 20, 2013\nU.S. anti-war activists visit Syria\nAn anti-war delegation from the United States visited Syria the week of Sept. 16 to see for themselves what is happening there. The delegation included human rights lawyer and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Cynthia McKinney, a former six-term congressperson from Georgia; Dedon Kamathi of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and Pacifica Radio; and Johnny Achi of Arab Americans 4 Syria in Los Angeles. The International Action Center, which pulled together the delegation, sent key organizers John Parker from Los Angeles and Sara Flounders from New York....\nSep 18, 2013\nFormer U.S. Officials Ramsey Clark and Cynthia McKinney Travel to Mideast Anti-War Conference & Syria to Oppose U.S. War Plans\nWhile most media coverage makes it look like the war danger has diminished, Secretary of State John Kerry has made it clear that the threat of attack will persist -- that it is still the U.S. strategic plan to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power even if all Syrian chemical weapons are destroyed. (Business Week, Sept. 16) ...\nSep 18, 2013\nEYEWITNESS SYRIA: Audio Report from IAC Delegation\nThe anti-war movement is in a race with the Pentagon to stop the U.S. from its goal -- pushed back momentarily -- of going to war with Syria. This urgency is what made the International Action Center (IAC) send a delegation from the United States to Syria. The IAC's Sara Flounders gives an audio report (below) on the team's trip so far, featuring an on-air meeting with members of \"Over Our Dead Bodies\" -- the youth encampment of hundreds of voluntary human shields at Syria's communications centers....\nSep 13, 2013\nU.S. maneuvers to derail mass revulsion to war\nPresident Barack Obama and the White House are struggling mightily to override global and domestic opposition to a military adventure in Syria by trying to get Congress to vote for war. Washington is pulling out all the stops. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough went on all five Sunday morning television shows to push the war. Obama is appearing on six major TV networks tonight and will make a major speech tomorrow, all to try to reverse a growing momentum against the Syrian adventure....\nSep 13, 2013\nA crack that lets in light\nIn this age of horribly destructive weapons and the ability of U.S. government agencies to pore over everyone’s private communications — if they are digitized, as most are — there is a tendency to regard the capitalist state as all-powerful, a juggernaut that can roll over everyone if it wants....\nSep 11, 2013\nResponse to Obama's Speech: Accelerate the Antiwar Movement!\nThe President's speech Tuesday night repeated all of the lies the United States has been telling about Syria to justify war -- and shows that war may be delayed, but is not off the table. The biggest lie being told right now is that Assad agreed to give up his country's chemical weapons because of the United States' \"credible military threat.\" What has really happened is that the warmakers in the Pentagon, and their backers on Wall Street, ran into a gigantic brick wall of resistance. They were forced to back down for the time being. They wanted to go to war right now. But when Kerry said on Monday, \"All Assad has to do is give up his chemical weapons,\" Syria and Russia called his bluff. ...\nSep 10, 2013\nReflecting deep opposition to the U.S. plans to attack Syria, yesterday anti-war demonstrations erupted in dozens of cities around the country and worldwide....\nSep 7, 2013\nOpen letter to the AFL-CIO leaders — Oppose war on Syria\nAt this critical moment, the number one priority for organized labor must be to publicly, unequivocally, and loudly oppose the president’s plans to attack Syria. Understandably, the question of another war, this one against Syria, was likely not on the agenda of the AFL-CIO convention beginning this weekend in Los Angeles. Recent events, however, have changed everything and there’s no point in pretending that the situation is the same as before. If the plans to attack Syria are denounced from the podium of the labor convention, this would mean that organized labor has risen to the challenge of becoming the militant, thoroughly progressive, independent movement of working people in the United States. Not to do it would reduce the leadership of the AFL-CIO to providing cover for the president’s war plans....\nSep 7, 2013\nWomen speak out against U.S. intervention in Syria\nWe, the member organizations of the International Women’s Alliance, raise our collective voices against the impending interventionist war that the United States is planning to wage against the Syrian people.\nThe U.S. Senate’s recent approval of a punitive missile strike on Syria constitutes a direct act of aggression masquerading as humanitarian action. Despite widespread opposition from the international community and lack of authorization from the United Nations, the U.S. remains hell-bent on attacking Syria, even as reports show that Syrian rebels funded by the Saudi government — a close U.S. ally — were the ones responsible for the March 19 simultaneous chemical assaults in Aleppo and Ataybah, which left approximately 26 people including 16 Syrian soldiers dead, with 86 more seriously injured....\nSep 6, 2013\nWASHINGTON DC ANTIWAR RALLY MON 9/ 9 AGAINST WAR ESCALATION\nThe Senate Foreign Relations Committee narrowly approved an attack on Syria. But the resolution the committee passed leaped from \"limited air strikes\" to 90 days of bombardment. This is an ominous escalation. Remember \"the Iraq supplement\"? George W. Bush was required to get Congressional funding for the war every 90 days. Once war started, Congress never asserted itself again. That war lasted seven-and-a-half years, cost $4 trillion dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives -- and isn't really over. Kerry admitted to Congress on Monday that the vow of \"no boots on the ground\" isn't firm. \"I don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to a president of the United States.\"...\nSep 4, 2013\nObama pushes war on Syria with new tactic\nOn Sept. 3, Republican senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham, brokers for the Pentagon hawks, met with President Obama and came away saying that they now support plans for missile strikes against Syria. Graham said the attacks were going to be “a little more robust” than he had thought. There was talk of attacks on Syrian aircraft, artillery and rockets, and assurances from Obama that the attacks would be aimed at “shifting the momentum on the battlefield.” McCain called the meeting “encouraging” and said it would be “catastrophic” not to support the strikes....\nSep 4, 2013\nCoast-to-coast protests hit U.S. plans to attack Syria\nOn Aug. 28, with Washington, London and Paris apparently on the verge of opening up another very unpopular and dangerous war by firing missiles at Syria, anti-war activists in the U.S. and around the world went to the streets before the rockets were launched....\nSep 4, 2013\nNo attack on Syria!\nAnti-war, anti-imperialist and Syrian-American organizations inside the U.S. all see the coming week as the last chance to mobilize popular resistance to a military strike on Syria. Polls show the people are very worried about the political and economic consequences of another costly war, but this sentiment must be organized to affect the outcome....\nSep 4, 2013\nHands Off Syria Actions Momentum Grows\nJoin in to stop the attack on Syria. The coming days provide the last chance to mobilize popular resistance to the military strike. The people fear both the political and economic consequences of another costly war. Millions believe the pretext for the war is another Big Lie like the lies used before the Vietnam, Iraq and Libya wars. We need to join together to loudly oppose this new war. ...\nSep 4, 2013\nIn the Bush tradition, Obama lies to push war on Syria\nBarack Obama’s speech today, delivered from the White House Rose Garden, was aimed at winning the acquiescence of the war-weary and austerity-clobbered people in the United States for an illegal, aggressive and highly dangerous assault on the sovereign nation of Syria....\nAug 31, 2013\nEndorse, Volunteer for or List Local HANDS OFF SYRIA Actions\nPresident Obama is using the same tactics as President Bush did before the Iraq War. When the UN Security Council would not support the U.S. war, Bush turned to the U.S. Congress for a war vote giving him “all necessary means”. Ten years later Iraq lay in ruins. A million Iraqis died, millions became refugees. More than 1.5 million US soldiers were deployed to Iraq. Today thousands of U.S. and NATO soldiers are disabled, traumatized and 1/3 will suffer from PTSD. Just as in Iraq, Afghanistan and earlier in Vietnam this is again a U.S. war based on lies. Bombing Syria is NOT a 'humanitarian intervention’. It is another war for Wall Street Profit! This time there is a risk of global confrontation or even world war. ...\nAug 28, 2013\nSTOP U.S. war on SYRIA\nWithout presenting even a hint of proof of Washington’s allegations that Syria has used poison gas, Secretary of State John Kerry has announced that a rocket attack on the sovereign state of Syria from four U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean is imminent....\nAug 27, 2013\nNYC: Thurs., Aug. 29 at 6 pm: Say NO to another U.S. War, BEFORE the Bombs Fall!\nYesterday we sent email alerts urging activists to begin mobilizing for what has long been known as 'Day After' protests against a US military strike. But it is important that across the country everyone opposed to still another US war find ways to raise their opposition now, BEFORE another criminal US war is unleashed with cruise missiles and a barrage of war propaganda and cynical lies of 'humanitarian concern'. In NYC, Chicago, Dearborn MI, Los Angeles, Washington DC and several other cities, there are plans for immediate protests this Wed and Thurs....\nAug 26, 2013\nStop U.S. aggression on Syria!\nBefore we discuss any of the details of the latest Big Lie, The IAC denounces any missile or air attack on Syria as an international war crime. We call upon all anti-war forces in the United States to stand up to say “No!” to this act of aggression.\nU.S. imperialism is poised to open another war. This one, the latest in a long series of aggressive wars, would target Syria. As we write, four U.S. destroyers, each with 90 cruise missiles, are moving into place in the eastern Mediterranean to be able to launch these death-dealers at the Syrian people. As with earlier major U.S. aggressions against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, Washington has presented a Big Lie to try to justify an unwarranted and illegal assault on the Syrian people.With Yugoslavia, the claim, shown later to be false, was that the Serbian government was committing “genocide” against Albanian-ethnic people in Kosovo. In Libya, Moammar Gadhafi’s government was alleged to be on the verge of committing a bloodbath in Benghazi — another Big Lie invented by U.S.-NATO forces. And we all know that no “weapons of mass destruction” were found in Iraq....\nAug 26, 2013\nIACC Denounces the Heinous Maneuvres of the Imperialist Powers in Syria\nThe International Anti-imperialist Coordinating Committee (IACC) condemns the persistent efforts of the imperialist powers to destabilize Syria and oust the present Government of President Bashar el-Assad. They hatched a conspiracy to instigate some anti-Government forces to start an armed conflict against the legitimate Government led by President Assad....\nAug 19, 2013\nThe current campaign of massacres and repression launched by the Egyptian military constitutes a new and bloody chapter in the decades-long war by the generals against the Muslim Brotherhood. But it is more than that...\nAug 19, 2013\nThe Egyptian revolution and the military coup\nOnce again, the Egyptian masses have taken history’s center stage. In what some are calling the greatest outpouring of humanity in history, the people in Egypt took to the streets in the millions for five days, beginning June 30, in a show of no confidence in the Morsi government and to demand their right to food, shelter, justice, dignity and freedom from repression....\nAug 17, 2013\nStop the massacre in Egypt!\nThe latest massacre of Muslim Brotherhood supporters demonstrating in Cairo was ordered by the U.S.-trained Egyptian generals who had earlier carried out the military coup that ousted elected President Mohamed Morsi.\nThis bloody slaughter, along with the appointment of 17 Army and two police generals as governors of the 27 Egyptian governorates, plus the coup regime’s declaration of a one-month “state of emergency,” should wipe out any remaining doubts about the ousting of Morsi. It was an outright military coup. His democratic right to govern based on an election has far more legitimacy than any general’s diktat....\nAug 14, 2013\nU.S.’s Syria policy at crossroads as ‘rebels’ near collapse\nDespite CIA coordination of training operations in Jordan and safe havens in Turkey and despite countless reports in the corporate media of the imminent surrender of a panicked Syrian government, the more than two-year intense effort to overthrow the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad is collapsing....\nJul 18, 2013\nSyria opposition continues to fragment\nOn July 8, the self-styled “National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces” met once again under U.S. direction in neighboring Turkey. But instead of it bringing greater unity, “Prime Minister” in exile Ghassan Hitto resigned his position. Hitto is a U.S. citizen....\nJul 6, 2013\nCoup in Egypt; what does it mean?\nAn unprecedented outpouring of millions of Egyptians from all across the country has shown that the Egyptian revolution is not only alive but is on the rise. Having accomplished the overthrow of dictator Hosni Mubarak by protracted mobilization, enormous heroism and great sacrifice, the masses have once again come into the streets to demand the fulfillment of the revolution that they fought for in 2011....\nJul 5, 2013\nNYC: July 10 demo - No U.S./NATO/Israeli War on Syria\nThe White House’s June 13th announcement that it would begin directly supplying arms to the opposition in Syria is a dramatic escalation of the U.S./NATO war against that country. Thousands of U.S. troops and intelligence personnel are training opposition forces and coordinating operations in Turkey and Jordan. Israel, the recipient of more than $3 billion annually in U.S. military aid, has carried out heavy bombing raids against Syria. The Pentagon has developed plans for a “no-fly” zone over Syria, threatening a new U.S. air war....\nJun 25, 2013\nWar threat to Syria and Iran the focus of NYC forum\nAn extraordinary anti-war forum entitled “Syria & Iran: The Next War?” was held here June 10 at the Solidarity Center. It featured anti-war veterans from the Iranian, Israeli and U.S. militaries, and was organized by United for Peace and Justice, Veterans For Peace and the U.S. Peace Council. The International Action Center hosted the meeting and IAC co-founder Sara Flounders chaired. All the speakers were members of the VFP Iran Working Group....\nJun 24, 2013\nWhen Italian President Giorgio Napolitano met His Majesty King Abdullah II last year in Jordan, he expressed “the high regard with which Italy observes how the Hashemite dynasty has always pursued its desire for peace and its moderate line.”...\nJun 22, 2013\nEyewitness report from Turkey June 17\nOn 15 June, President Recep Erdogan told the demonstrators: “We have our meeting at Kazlicesme tomorrow. Before it, if you don’t leave the park, we will remove you with police.” After this meeting with Erdogan, Taksim Dayanisma (Taksim Solidarity) decided to remove the tents, leaving only one as a symbol. But the police didn’t wait for the resisters to remove their tents. They attacked immediately....\nJun 21, 2013\nDangerous Escalation What's at stake?...\nJun 20, 2013\nObama escalates U.S. role in Syria\nAfter a series of meetings in Washington, the Obama administration escalated the war against Syria by announcing that the United States would ship weapons directly to their proxy rebels in Syria. The New York Times described this materiel as “small arms and ammunition,” but added that the transfers may include anti-tank weapons as well. (New York Times, June 14)...\nJun 20, 2013\nAs night fell on Istanbul June 15, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan unleashed paramilitary forces, called Jandarma, on protesters camped in historic Taksim Square. His aim was to stamp out the people’s movement sweeping Turkey....\nJun 16, 2013\nEyewitness reports on 12 days of Turkey’s rebellion\nSomething so important has been happening in Turkey since May 29 that even we here are bewildered and amazed by this unexpected uprising. It is something, very hopeful, very new and very fresh. For a park and for a few trees, Turkish youth rose up and brought new hope and new light to Turkey’s society....\nJun 16, 2013\nThe Syrian pretext\nhe reactionary terrorist gangs trying to overturn the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad are near collapse after a military defeat in the town of Qusair on the Lebanese border. Leading U.S. militarists — the most prominent being Sen. John McCain — are attacking President Barack Obama for allowing this collapse. The result: The Obama administration, without evidence, claims Assad used chemical weapons. This pretext is his excuse to justify providing small arms and ammunition to those he calls the “rebels.”...\nJun 11, 2013\nU.S.-NATO-Israel open ‘war games’ on Syrian border\nThe crucial victory by the Syrian Arab Army against imperialist-backed terrorist ‘rebels’ in Qusair, a town near the border with Lebanon, has further disintegrated the military and political opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, the threats against Syria’s government by imperialist and reactionary monarchist powers, led by the United States, are increasing....\nJun 11, 2013\nUnited statement to oppose U.S./NATO and Israeli war on Syria\nWhile the White House orders the Pentagon to plan a no-fly zone over Syria and the U.S. has troops at the ready in Jordan, for the past two years the CIA has coordinated massive weapons shipments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey with the aim of guaranteeing that a pro-U.S. regime comes to power, therefore negating the Syrian people’s right to self-determination....\nJun 7, 2013\nSyrian troops battle for Qusair\nThe battle for Qusair is shaping up to be a major turning point in the Syrian war. The two sides, the imperialist-backed “rebels” and the Syrian Arab Army troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, are locked in heavy combat for this strategic city near the Lebanese border....\nJun 3, 2013\nWest weaves web of lies over Syria\nThere is mythology of Western interventionism in Syria: The role of the United States and other Western nations has been to bolster moderates within a broad anti-government coalition fighting for freedom against a tyrannical regime. As late as Feb. 28 of this year, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed the U.S. was for the first time shipping “nonlethal aid” to the Syrian opposition, a public position he has maintained through recent calls to double aid to Syrian rebels and reach a goal of over a billion dollars in international aid....\nMay 11, 2013\nU.S./Israel Hands Off Syria! United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)\nThe May 2-3 and 4-5 nighttime bombings of Syria’s International Airport, military installations in a Damascus suburb and a military supply depot reportedly killed 300 people. The bombings were initially denied but then confirmed by Israel and soon after given the stamp of approval by the Obama Administration....\nMay 5, 2013\nIsraeli attack on Syria widens war -- U.S. anti-war movement on alert: IAC Statement\nThe latest Israeli warplane striking the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, during the nights of May 2-3 and May 4-5 have dangerously escalated foreign intervention in the ongoing war in Syria. The anti-war movement in the United States must be alert to the growing attempt by the U.S., other NATO powers and now the main militarist threat in the region, Israel, to overturn the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria and replace it with an imperialist puppet....\nApr 17, 2013\nThe Boston bombing & racist media\nMuch still remains unknown about the bomb explosions yesterday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon and what was behind this disaster that has tragically hit so many individuals and families who were on the scene, the majority of them spectators....\nApr 6, 2013\nWhile the Obama administration continues to claim that it is providing only “nonlethal” aid to the Syrian opposition, its role in fueling the bloody war there is increasingly coming to light....\nMar 30, 2013\nObama targets Palestinian goals & Syria’s sovereignty\nPresident Barack Obama’s four-day visit to Israel, the first since his first election in 2008, began March 20. Worldwide media attention was focused on what the powerful U.S. leader would tell its client regime and settler state. Overall, reports indicated worse news for the beleaguered Palestinian people and for sovereign Syria....\nMar 23, 2013\nImperialism increases its hand in Syrian war\nFrench President François Hollande called for an end of the European Union’s embargo on arms shipments to Syria just prior to an EU summit meeting in Brussels on March 14. Britain also has taken this position. Both countries are considering directly shipping weapons to the “rebels” if the EU does not lift the embargo. (New York Times, March 15)...\nMar 23, 2013\nTwo steps closer to a U.S. war on Syria\nSyria’s counterrevolutionary opposition has taken a step that moves it even closer to U.S. imperialism. At the same time, the Barack Obama administration has moved a step closer to direct and open intervention in the war against Syria, using the pretext that “chemical weapons” have been used....\nMar 2, 2013\nSPY & KILLER DRONES: Why we must stop them\nIn the almost two decades since the U.S. military first deployed them, drones have generally escaped the spotlight, except in alternative media or military-oriented trade publications. However, their use inside the U.S. has opened a debate that has reached into the U.S. Congress.\nUp until recently, these pilotless planes, which have brought death in the night to villages on the other side of the world, attracted little attention here in the mass media or government “oversight” bodies. Now, as police agencies and private corporations line up to buy drones, civil liberties and other organizations have demanded more information about how they will be used....\nFeb 23, 2013\nSIGN ON to HANDS OFF IRAN statement responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development / also in Spanish and Farsi\nSupport of the legal and legitimate rights of the Iranian people for self-determination and sovereignty is growing as the new round of negotiations with Iran and the countries of 5+1, i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany is set for February 26th in Kazakhstan....\nFeb 22, 2013\nThe new form of global warfare alleges to “protect” by preemptively preventing mass atrocities. Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated academic and mother, is caught in its web and now serving 86 years in a federal prison in Texas....\nFeb 22, 2013\nIn support of efforts to pressure the U.S. government to repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders traveled to Pakistan last December...\nFeb 16, 2013\nCIA confronted for drone attacks\nJohn Brennan found himself in an uncomfortable and unusual situation on Feb. 7 when protesters loudly confronted him, intent on holding him and the U.S. government accountable for their past and present war crimes. Brennan is the chief counterterrorism adviser to the Obama administration....\nFeb 9, 2013\nLeftist leader’s murder arouses mass resistance in Tunisia\nThe 500,000 members of Tunisia’s union federation shut down this North African country’s major cities on Feb 8 as tens of thousands joined the funeral march in Tunis of Chokri Belaïd, slain leader of the Unified Patriotic Democratic Movement, a Marxist and pan-Arabist organization. According to reports, masked killers gunned down Belaïd in his car on the morning of Feb. 6 outside his home in Tunis....\nFeb 1, 2013\nRisk of regional war grows as Israel bombs Syria\nIsrael’s air force bombed a military facility in western Syria at dawn today, according to several media sources. Reports describe Israeli warplanes flying low, below radar, and destroying a building northwest of Damascus. The Syrian Arab News Agency reported that “a scientific research center used by the military” was hit, killing two workers and wounding five....\nJan 30, 2013\nAccording to UN investigations in 2010 there are more than 27,000 prisoners held by the U.S. in more than 100 secret prisons around the world and on 17 ships as floating prisons. These are almost entirely Muslim prisoners....\nJan 26, 2013\nFrench imperialism has launched major military operations in West and East Africa under the guise of fighting “Islamic terrorism.” French fighter jets and commandos have gone into operation in the north and central regions of Mali....\nJan 26, 2013\nOpposition grows worldwide to French invasion of Mali\nIn response to the French imperialist intervention in January, the Coalition of Patriotic Organizations of Mali (COPAM) called demonstrations against the presence of foreign troops in their country. COPAM demands that the current transitional president, Dioncounda Traoré, resign. They target him for giving the green light to troops from the Economic Community of West African States to intervene in Mali under the auspices of the U.N. (Radio France International, Jan. 11)...\nJan 26, 2013\nFrench war on Mali spreads to Algeria\nThe war that French imperialism has escalated in its former West African colony of Mali has now spread to neighboring Algeria. There, some 82 people have been reported killed after an attempted seizure of hostages at a natural gas field. Imperialist governments are lining up for a long intervention in Africa....\nJan 19, 2013\nWho is Dr. Aafia Siddiqui & why did Algerian kidnappers demand her release? by Yvonne Ridle\nThe only thing that surprised me when I heard that the Algerian kidnappers had called for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui was that it hadn’t happened sooner. Don’t get me wrong, as a former hostage myself, there is no way I condone the actions of what has unfolded in a remote corner of the Algerian desert. And my heart goes out to the families of those who have lost loved ones in the unfolding drama at the In Amenas gas plant siege said to have been masterminded by Mohktar Belmokhtar. The infamous one-eyed Algerian militant apparently with ties to al Qaida, has claimed responsibility for launching Wednesday’s attack. It also goes without saying there is no way the kidnappers, whether politically or criminally motivated, can be justified in their actions....\nJan 14, 2013\nIRAN petition responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development -- supported by the IAC and Ramsey Clark\nAs we approach the new round of negotiations between the countries of 5+1 i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany with Iran to discuss the so called “Iran’s nuclear issue”, we the undersigned declare our stand on this issue, as follows:...\nJan 14, 2013\nSIGN ON to IRAN statement responding to the upcoming 5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear development -- supported by the IAC and Ramsey Clark\nAs we approach the new round of negotiations between the countries of 5+1 i.e. US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany with Iran to discuss the so called “Iran’s nuclear issue”, we the undersigned declare our stand on this issue, as follows:...\nDec 25, 2012\nThe ominous signs of impending war with Syria escalate. NATO is massing troops and military equipment on Syria's borders, and preparing to install missiles aimed at Syria. U.S. warships are stationed off Syria’s coast....\nDec 8, 2012\nOpen political battle breaks out over Egypt’s Constitution\nHundreds of thousands of Egyptians have been demonstrating on both sides with regard to a draft constitution for the North African state. President Mohamed Morsi, whose Nov. 22 edict increasing his political powers sparked mass protests, has now announced a Dec. 15 date for a national referendum to approve or reject the controversial document. The Muslim Brotherhood, which is behind Morsi’s political party, and the Salafist Muslim organizations form a majority in the government and have a broad political base, which means the referendum would likely approve the new constitution....\nDec 5, 2012\nCynthia McKinney and IAC Co-Director Sara Flounders travel to Pakistan in solidarity with Political Prisoner Aafia Siddiqui\nArriving in Karachi, Pakistan, at 4 a.m. for a trip in support of efforts to free and repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders received an overwhelmingly warm welcome on Dec. 2. Hundreds of Siddiqui’s supporters met the two at the airport in the wee hours of the morning, carrying flowers, signs and banners, and chanting “Free Aafia!” and “Welcome!”...\nDec 4, 2012\nCynthia McKinney, Sara Flounders travel to Pakistan in solidarity with political prisoner\nArriving in Karachi, Pakistan, at 4 a.m. for a trip in support of efforts to free and repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders received an overwhelmingly warm welcome on Dec. 2. Hundreds of Siddiqui’s supporters met the two at the airport in the wee hours of the morning, carrying flowers, signs and banners, and chanting “Free Aafia!” and “Welcome!”...\nDec 1, 2012\nTell U.S. to ‘Free Aafia Siddiqui!’\nIn support of continuing efforts to pressure the U.S. government to repatriate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and International Action Center Co-Director Sara Flounders will travel to Pakistan from Dec. 2-9.\nThe trip will focus on due process and justice and expose U.S. practices of secret renditions, illegal confinement and torture — practices highlighted by Siddiqui’s case....\nNov 30, 2012\nEgypt erupts over Morsi power grab\nMass protests erupted across Egypt following President Mohamed Morsi’s Nov. 22 announcement of a series of decrees that would further consolidate his administration’s power over areas of law, the judiciary and the constitution. On Nov. 26, he met with leaders of the Supreme Judiciary Council in Cairo in an attempt to calm the atmosphere on the eve of scheduled demonstrations both for and against his ruling....\nNov 2, 2012\nU.S. backs Bani Walid’s destruction\nDespite reports that chemical weapons were used against the civilian population of Bani Walid in Libya, the U.S. State Department is supporting its surrogates’ takeover of the western hilltop city. Militias from Misrata, known for their brutality and racism, have held Bani Walid, a stronghold of loyalists allied with Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s government, under siege for a month....\nOct 28, 2012\nPuppets use chemical weapons against Bani Walid, Libya\nSupporters of Bani Walid’s people demonstrated outside the General National Congress parliament in Tripoli, Libya, on Oct. 21 calling for a halt to the town’s siege. Bani Walid’s 80,000 people were a bastion of support for the former Jamahiriya government led by the martyred Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Protesters attempted to enter the building but were dispersed by police....\nOct 28, 2012\nSyria defends itself from imperialist onslaught\nDuring the last 19 months of chaotic civil war in Syria, with opposition rebels armed by the U.S., NATO and the Gulf monarchies through Turkey, have you ever heard Syrian government representatives defend their government’s position regarding the fighting in their country? If you live in the imperialist U.S. or Europe, your answer is probably “never.” Why? Syrian television stations are banned by sanctions, and corporate-owned television hardly ever offers the “enemy” sound bites. Even in other Arabic-speaking countries, the Syrian position has been drowned out by the anti-Syrian propaganda from Qatar and Saudi Arabia....\nOct 23, 2012\nU.S.-NATO driven to wage war on Syria\nTurkey’s war jets forced down a civilian airliner flying from Moscow to Damascus. Thirty-five Russians and Syrians were passengers on the Oct. 10 flight, endangered by the action. U.S. spokesperson Victoria Nuland immediately supported Turkey’s act of air piracy. Also, some 150 U.S. special troops moved into Syria’s southern neighbor, Jordan....\nOct 23, 2012\nLibya becomes focus of U.S. election\nOne year since the brutal assassination of former Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the Republican Party is using Libya’s political crisis in an attempt to defeat President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election. Both U.S. ruling-class parties backed the 2011 war against this oil-producing nation that had maintained the highest standard of living in Africa....\nOct 18, 2012\nWhat’s really behind the attack on Malala Yousafzai\nThe horrible, near-fatal shooting of a young Pakistani schoolgirl, reportedly by members of the Taliban, has focused world attention on the conflict between the armed Islamic group and Pakistani advocates of education for women. Malala Yousafzai, 14 years old, was shot in the head and neck while on a school bus, according to her classmates. She has been flown to Britain to receive medical attention for severe damage to her skull....\nOct 17, 2012\nNYC: Oct 20 --Join the discussion on Syria as it is told by its representatives\nFor over a year and a half we've been hearing about what's going on in the Middle East, and the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. Yet with all the proclamations of ‘free press’ we seldom hear the voices of those most affected by war and terrorism....\nOct 15, 2012\nProtests condemn U.S./NATO wars and wars at home\nhe 11th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was not forgotten by anti-imperialist activists inside the United States. From New York City to Los Angeles, and in dozens of cities in between, the ongoing war and occupation were denounced at actions held Oct. 5-7. Initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition and related organizations, the series of protests demanded “U.S./NATO out of Afghanistan!” “Hands off Syria!” “Don’t attack Iran!” “No more drone attacks!” and “No sanctions!” Following are outlines of actions in several cities....\nOct 12, 2012\nOn Turkey's Grounding of Syrian Airliner - NATO MOVES CLOSER TO WAR\nTurkey’s war-jets forced down a civilian airliner, flying from Moscow to Damascus. Thirty-five Russians and Syrians were passengers. This aggressive act brings NATO another step closer to open war against Syria as part of an imperialist plan to take over the country. ...\nOct 10, 2012\nURGENT PRESS RELEASE FROM THE MADRID PLATFORM AGAINST IMPERIALIST WAR\nFaced with the risk that the escalating tension between Syria and Turkey will lead to an open NATO attack on Syria, either directly or through the Turkish army, the Platform Against Imperialist War CALLS UPON THE POPULATION TO REACT WITH DETERMINATION TO OPPOSE THIS NEW AGGRESSION FROM THE IMPERIALIST POWERS OF THE U.S., THE EU AND ISRAEL....\nOct 4, 2012\nWAR DANGER! NATO Member Turkey Strikes Syria\nNATO-member Turkey has used alleged mortar fire from Syria as a pretext to launch artillery fire across the border, killing Syrian soldiers, and to prepare military intervention. NATO -- an alliance mainly of the former colonial overlords of the world and the current biggest imperialist powers -- immediately supported Turkey's aggression. The British and German governments, the European Union and the U.S. all criticized the Syrian government and sympathized with Turkey. The Turkish Parliament has approved further attacks....\nSep 28, 2012\nNYC: Oct. 7 action: End the wars\nRacism is a weapon of war. We stand in solidarity with victims of police, state, and racial violence and build links to people under attack – Muslims, Sikhs, immigrant workers, death row prisoners, African-American and Latino youth, social justice activists are all targets in an atmosphere of escalating racism and repression....\nSep 25, 2012\nThere are times in history when war and politics converge with economics to create a true turning point, a point at which things cannot and will not ever be the same. Such points in time are marked by fierce struggle....\nSep 18, 2012\nList of Actions and UNAC Statement on attacks on US Embassies in Libya and other Middle Eastern, North African and SW Asian Countries\nThe massive, angry demonstrations and attacks on U.S. embassies sweeping through the Muslim world comes in the context of a campaign against Muslims carried out by the U.S. government in an attempt to justify their wars against Muslim countries. This campaign includes preemptive prosecutions where FBI agents create phony plots and encourage behavior that can be prosecuted and attacks on civil liberties at home; the Peter King hearings; NYPD spying on Muslims; raids and detentions; and states that have passed anti-Muslim laws. It includes the physical attacks on Muslims, on mosques and on people who racist whites think are Muslims, like Sikhs, and opposition to Muslim building projects like Park 51 and much more....\nSep 12, 2012\nNon-Aligned Movement meets in Iran, defies U.S.\nA meeting in Tehran starting Aug. 26 puts into the sharpest perspective the waning position of U.S. imperialism globally and especially in the Middle East. Both the U.S. and Israel’s demands for a boycott of the meeting were ignored. Clearly the U.S. hold is slipping....\nSep 11, 2012\nhe United National Anti-war Coalition has called for protest actions across the country on the anniversary of the imperialist U.S. invasion of Afghanistan....\nAug 25, 2012\nSupport Syria against U.S.-NATO!\nEach week brings U.S. imperialism closer to direct military intervention in Syria with the aim of overthrowing the government of President Bashir al-Assad and crushing Syria’s independence and sovereignty. Up to now Washington has avoided direct intervention, working instead with its NATO allies through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to fund and arm the reactionary opposition to Assad and the Syrian people....\nAug 22, 2012\nVeterans For Peace Appeals to Non-Alignment Movement Leaders: Stop War, Stop Sanctions on Iran\nWith the Non-Aligned Movement meeting this week in Tehran, Veterans For Peace is urging the organization of 120 nations not formally allied with any major power bloc to take steps to deter the Israeli-American threats of war against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program....\nAug 21, 2012\nSyria defends itself against imperialist onslaught\nhe fighting in Syria is shaping up as a military showdown between the Syrian army on one side and “rebel” fighters openly backed by the U.S.-NATO imperialist powers, along with Israel, on the other. These “rebels” are being armed directly through NATO-member Turkey and the Qatari and Saudi Arabian monarchies....\nJul 28, 2012\nStatement of Veterans For Peace: The Solution to the Nuclear “Crisis” with Iran is not Sanctions and War. It is a Middle East Free of All Nuclear Weapons\nWe are once again on the verge of another disastrous war in the Middle East. The United States and its allies in Europe and the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are consciously pushing Syria toward a destructive civil war. The objective is to bring down the Assad regime, an ally of the Iranian government, as a stepping-stone toward further isolation of Iran and preparation of the ground for a military attack on that country....\nJul 21, 2012\nSetback for U.S. war plans in Asia\nWashington’s strategy to cement a military alliance of the U.S., Japan and south Korea came unglued on June 29 at the last minute as popular pressure forced the Seoul regime to back out of signing a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo. ...\nJul 21, 2012\nU.S. prepares anti-Syria war psychology\nThe U.S. and its allies are escalating the war fever against Syria. Not only do they claim to have “discovered” another “massacre” by the government, but they are also trotting out the much discredited charge that Syria possesses — and will use — weapons of mass destruction.\nThe latest “massacre” supposedly occurred on July 12 in the village of Tremseh near the Syrian city of Hama. Some mainstream press headlines bellowed that Syrian government forces and alleged pro-government militia had slaughtered as many as 220 people indiscriminately....\nJul 14, 2012\nFree Lynne Stewart!\nIt is never admitted by U.S. government spokespeople — who love to shout out about “human rights violations” if the target is China or Iran — that the United States has political prisoners. Plenty of them. Many of them have been imprisoned since the Black, Native and Latino/a liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s....\nJul 14, 2012\n‘HANDS OFF SYRIA & IRAN’\nDemonstrations against U.S./NATO military intervention in Syria were held in at least 29 cities coast-to-coast in the United States during the week ending July 1. The United National Antiwar Coalition had called the protests and demanded: Hands off Syria and Iran! End the drone wars! and Money for jobs, education and health care, not endless war! Following are brief descriptions of some of these actions....\nJul 11, 2012\nBelow are 3 interviews where Sara Flounders gives the International Action Center’s views and analysis of the U.S. role in the widening war in Syria today and the growing threats against Iran.\nThe interviews are with: RT News, Press TV and Pacifica – KPFA: Project Censored....\nJun 29, 2012\nHANDS OFF SYRIA\nThe Turkish regime, in cahoots with the NATO powers, has carried out a provocation against the Syrian people that threatens a new war of imperialist conquest in Western Asia. That’s the message out of Brussels on June 26, where a cynical meeting of NATO labeled Syria the “aggressor.” Why? Because Syria’s air defenses shot down a Turkish plane flying low and fast into its airspace as it was about to reach its territory. The Turkish government even admitted that its RF4E Phantom jet had flown into Syria’s airspace on June 22 — “erroneously.” Western governments and corporate media immediately heaped the blame on Syria — making it obvious that a planned provocation is in progress. Important sections of the anti-war and progressive movement in the United States have reacted to this new war thacreat, calling actions during the week of June 23 to July 1 to protest NATO war moves. They have also called for “day after” actions following any new U.S., NATO or Turkish aggression against Syria....\nJun 27, 2012\nThe following timeline reviews the progression of U.S.-NATO intervention in Syria and counteracts the Big Lie in the corporate media aimed at preparing open imperialist military aggression against the Syrian people....\nJun 27, 2012\nActions and Facts to Oppose Growing U.S. War Danger vs. Syria or Iran\nThe growing threat of war against Syria is escalating! Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The U.S. supplied Turkish jet shot down over Syria has heightened tensions. While Washington and its NATO allies openly funds and arms mercenary forces in Syria, the corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another \"Humanitarian War\"....\nJun 26, 2012\nEmergency Protests Against the Growing Threat of War! Hands Off Syria and Iran!\nThe growing threats of war against Syria are alarming. Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another “Humanitarian War”. The drum beat of aggression against Iran grows daily as well. The coup by the U.S. funded and trained Egyptian military, overturning the first popularly elected government in recent history is another ominous warning. The threat of new war is real while US drone attacks are an expanding form of anonymous war....\nJun 11, 2012\nDrones’ murder of innocents highlights U.S. hypocrisy\ns the U.S. and its allies prepare to intervene in Syria, they have seized on the massacre that took place at Houla last week to justify a war. The State Department called the rampage “despicable” and complained about a regime that could “connive in or organize” such a thing, although who was responsible is very much in dispute. Many countries, including the U.S., have expelled Syrian diplomats, which is often a prelude to war....\nJun 9, 2012\nEyewitnesses blame anti-gov’t fighters for Houla massacre\nA Russian news team was told by Syrian eyewitnesses that the May 25 massacre of civilians in Houla, universally blamed on the Assad government, was in fact committed by local criminals, mercenaries and other forces connected to the imperialist-armed “Free Syrian Army.”...\nJun 1, 2012\nHoula Massacre, Syria - IAC Interview on RT News\nActivist Sara Flounders from the International Action Center says that it is likely that the UN will give an absolutely different version of what happened in Houla, “because the whole purpose of the UN – peace mission – from the beginning has been to give a diplomatic cover to continued intervention in Syria,” she told RT....\nMay 30, 2012\nAre U.S.-NATO setting up pretext for attack on Syria?\nSpokespeople from the NATO countries and their loyal media outlets have seized upon a massacre at Houla, Syria, to mobilize for open imperialist military intervention against the Syrian government and — and no one should doubt this — against the people of Syria. NATO governments have already begun expelling Syrian diplomats. There seems to be no doubt at this time — May 29 — that a massacre took place. There is, however, much confusion about who exactly carried out the massacre. The corporate media is blaming the killings on the Syrian government and calling for foreign intervention. The Syrians, however, deny that their armed forces or police have taken part, blame the killings on the armed opposition and have themselves condemned the killings and are organizing an investigation....\nMay 16, 2012\nEgypt masses resist military repression\ns Egyptians prepare for the first round of national presidential elections on May 23-24, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has enacted a series of repressive measures. Clashes between armed militias of supporters of the Islamist political parties killed up to 20 people on May 2 outside the Ministry of Defense in the Abbassiya District of Cairo. Many believe SCAF backs the militias....\nApr 22, 2012\nAhmed Ben Bella, the first president of independent Algeria, and one of the great revolutionary figures of Arab nationalism, died on April 11 at age of 96....\nApr 8, 2012\nBRICS summit opposes intervention in Syria, Iran\nNew Delhi, India, was the venue for the fourth BRICS Summit, which convened on March 29. BRICS stands for Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa, which together house 43 percent of the world’s population and are playing a greater role within a world economic system still dominated by the capitalist mode of production and social relations....\nMar 18, 2012\nAFRICA ROUNDUP\nAs the United States and the European Union escalate their military and economic roles on the African continent, mounting political crises have resulted in much social unrest. From Libya and Kenya to Nigeria and Somalia, internal turmoil, labor unrest and mass resistance illustrate the interconnectedness of events throughout the international scene....\nMar 10, 2012\nLibya: U.N. panel sanitizes U.S.-NATO war crimes\nOn March 2, the so-called U.N. Panel of Experts from the Human Rights Council issued a 200-page report on Libya, saying in essence that war crimes were committed by both the government led by Col. Moammar Gadhafi and the National Transitional Council forces that were put in power by the imperialist states. The report stated that Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 were justified and legitimate and that the Gadhafi administration deserved to be overthrown by the Western states and their allies....\nMar 10, 2012\nCovert operations in Syria\nSyrian insurgents are being trained by personnel of the NATO-backed National Transitional Council in Libya, as Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has complained on March 7 before the UN Security Council. In addition, NATO member States are actively intervening in the Syrian civil war. There is much evidence of direct and even military support to armed opposition groups by U.S., France and British forces, even if the intervening powers have taken every effort to leave no obvious traces....\nFeb 26, 2012\nArmy, Muslim Brotherhood, U.S. jockeying for Egypt rule\nWorkers in some factories and students in the universities in Egypt held strikes on Feb. 11, one year after the revolution that forced President Hosni Mubarak out of office and shook the world. A week earlier massive protests held the Egyptian regime and the police responsible for the deaths of more than 70 people at a soccer match....\nFeb 16, 2012\nLibyans fight back against U.S.-NATO puppet regime\nSince the U.S.-NATO-engineered war began against Libya last March 19, a new push has begun to recolonize Africa through the machinations of various intelligence agencies, special forces and surrogate militias armed and trained by the imperialists. Regional insecurity has grown rapidly....\nFeb 16, 2012\nIn March 2003, Dr. Siddiqui was kidnapped with her three young children in Karachi, Pakistan, and held in secret detention by U.S. forces at Bagram Prison in Afghanistan for five years....\nFeb 11, 2012\nstrong>The struggle for Syria isn't just about Syria--it's the struggle for a free, democratic Middle East versus one that lives under the yoke of American and Israeli hegemony....\nFeb 10, 2012\nLibya: Attacks rise againsat imperialist-backed regime\nA series of attacks have been launched against the U.S.- and NATO-installed National Transitional Council in Libya. The most significant events occurred on Jan. 23 when local forces still loyal to the former government of slain leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi retook the city of Bani Walid, located 120 miles southeast of Tripoli....\nFeb 2, 2012\nThe following are three important anti-imperialist events scheduled for the coming months. The International Action Center is supporting and participating in each of them....\nJan 23, 2012\nIn his speech assuming the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the Republic of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma criticized the U.N. for its stance that led to the eight-month war against Libya....\nJan 20, 2012\nJan 21: Global Day to support the Egyptian revolution\nFeb 11th, 2011, the whole world witnessed millions of Egyptian protesters marching in the streets of Egypt and protesting in Tahrir Square, demanding their basic human rights: dignity, freedom, and social justice. After decades of patience and suffering, Egyptians finally spoke out loudly and peacefully demanding the fall of a police-based authoritarian regime, the end of Mubarak’s dictatorship, and the establishment of a civilian, democratic state. Under the maximal pressure exerted by Egyptians, Mubarak was toppled. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) took charge in leading the country through the transitional stage. At that time, SCAF members and military personnel were regarded as heroes...\nJan 18, 2012\nGlobal Day to support the Egyptian revolution – Sat. Jan 21th, 2012 - NYC: THURS. 6:30 - Help make signs & banners for Sat, Jan 21\nIn Their quest for Dignity, Freedom, Justice, and Democracy, Egyptian & Egyptian Solidarity Groups are calling upon people from all nations, races, colors, and religions as well as human rights and peace groups and organizations to join Egyptians abroad in their rallies to support the Egyptian revolution....\nJan 10, 2012\nJan21: Global Day to support the Egyptian revolution\nIn their quest for dignity, Freedom, Justice, and Democracy, Egyptian Americans & Egyptian Solidarity Groups are calling upon people from all nations, races, colors, and religions as well as human rights and peace groups and organizations to join Egyptians abroad in their rallies to support the Egyptian revolution....\nJan 9, 2012\nSome 10,000 women of all classes and walks of life took to the streets of Cairo on Dec. 20 to protest the military’s misogynistic, violent assaults on Egyptian women. Many demanded that the military step down immediately....\nDec 11, 2011\nThe Egyptian elections: Why an Islamic sweep?\nWhile the military government now says the turnout at the polls was 52 percent, lower than its earlier figure of 70 percent, many voters waited in line for hours to participate in the first of three elections for parliament. They saw the vote as a right won by the revolutionary movement....\nDec 8, 2011\nThe U.S.-NATO forces, using the United Nations and the Arab League as a cover, are positioning themselves for a military intervention in Syria. At the same time, they have upped their economic war on the government led by Bashir al-Assad....\nDec 5, 2011\nSolidarity with Iran - SI Statement; also in Spanish and Farci\nOn Tuesday 29 November 2011, the 1st anniversary of martyrdom of the Iranian scientist and university professor, Majid Shahriari, who was assassinated by terrorists backed by the governments of Israel, US and UK, hundreds of Iranian youth lead by representatives of several organizations of university students hold a demonstration in front of the UK embassy in Tehran to demand closure of that embassy and to end relations of the government of Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) with the government of UK,\nIn view of the fact that:...\nDec 2, 2011\nAfrica 2011: Year of mass upheaval, imperialist interventions\nDec. 17 marks the anniversary of a year of uprisings, strikes, government resignations and regime change on the African continent. A resource-rich and strategically located geopolitical region, Africa has experienced numerous mass demonstrations, general strikes, rebellions and full-scale military assaults as part of a heightening global class struggle for control of the continent’s economic and political future....\nDec 1, 2011\nNew phase of Egypt’s revolution: Masses say: No military rule\nRecord numbers of Egyptian voters of all ages and classes, women and men, cast ballots for a new parliament Nov. 28 and 29. Some waited in line for hours to vote in the first election of its kind in 50 years....\nNov 24, 2011\nEgyptian masses defy military\nThe masses have opened a new chapter in the Egyptian revolution. They have stood strong in Tahrir Square for nearly four days against bullets and gas demanding that the military regime, which succeeded President Hosni Mubarak last Feb. 12, step down....\nOct 24, 2011\nThe brutal lynching of Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya, is the latest criminal act in NATO's seven-month war of regime change and conquest....\nOct 22, 2011\nBig antiwar turnout rocks Boston’s business district\nOccupy Boston and the United National Antiwar Committee rocked the city’s business district as 5,000 protesters marched on Oct. 15 with cries of “Whose streets? Our streets!” A contingent from Steelworkers Local 8751 representing Boston school bus drivers led the march from a union sound truck festooned with placards declaring “Wall Street = War Street.” The truck was ringed by a steadfast security contingent from Vets for Peace/Smedley Butler Brigade....\nOct 22, 2011\nDay of Rage spurred by anger at U.S. aggression\nIt was called as a global Day of Rage that also focused on the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. This convergence of events on Oct. 15 put tens of thousands of people in motion here in New York and in other cities across the country, reinforcing their anger at imperialist wars....\nOct 21, 2011\nThe imperialists murder Gadhafi\nNews spread around the world on Oct. 20-21 that NATO planes had struck a car caravan leaving Sirte in Libya, wounding Moammar Gadhafi, and that the Libyan leader was captured alive and subsequently killed. The details of his death are sketchy and may be purposely distorted or obscured by his killers. This main fact stands out: It took the intervention of the imperialist air forces — including a U.S. Predator drone and a French warplane — to end the life of this African leader....\nOct 18, 2011\nLibyan patriots resist NATO-led forces in Sirte\nU.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, formerly director of the CIA, said at a news conference at NATO headquarters on Oct. 6 that the nearly nine-month-old war against the North African state of Libya would continue until all vestiges of resistance on the part of the people were eliminated....\nSep 27, 2011\nPersecution of Black Libyans draws international outcry\nDespite the Sept. 15 visit to Libya of British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the struggle for control of the oil- producing North African state of Libya is far from complete. Battles for control of Bani Walid and Sirte illustrate that supporters of Muammar Gadhafi’s government still represent a disciplined fighting force against the U.S./NATO fighter jets and military operatives backing the National Transitional Council “rebels.”...\nSep 17, 2011\nWorld Trade Center attacks and consequences, interview with Junge Welt [also in Portuguese, German, Spanish and French]\nBelow is the text of a recent interview John Catalinotto did with Junge Welt about his experience at the World Trade Center 10 years ago and the political consequences of the attack. The jW article is an edited and shorter version of the original comments in English....\nSep 14, 2011\nAs Egyptian masses occupy Israeli embassy, U.S. maneuvers to blunt support for Palestine\nU.S. imperialism is once again maneuvering to counter growing world support for the Palestinian struggle. Its primary motive is to protect the interests of U.S. capital in the Middle East, which center around, but are not restricted to, exploitation of the fabulous oil wealth in the area....\nSep 9, 2011\nAs war continues against Libya, imperialists plot theft of African wealth\nAfter nearly seven months of war against the North African state of Libya, the combined forces of NATO and its National Transitional Council “rebel” units are tightening their noose around the areas of the country where armed resistance has prevented the counterrevolution from taking over. Those millions of Libyans who remain loyal to the government and are opposing the efforts to loot the national wealth of this oil-producing nation are being pressured to lay down their arms and surrender....\nSep 4, 2011\nBy directing their enormous joint military and economic power against a poorly armed, nonindustrialized country of 6 million people, the imperialist states of North America and Western Europe have imposed a criminal regime on the Libyan people....\nAug 27, 2011\nILPS CONDEMNS THE US, NATO AND PUPPET FORCES FOR THEIR BARBARIC ATTACKS ON THE PEOPLE IN LIBYA\nWe, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), condemn in the strongest terms the US, NATO and their puppet forces for their barbaric military campaign against the people in the whole of Libya since several months ago and in Tripoli currently. The combination of escalated NATO air bombardments and ground movement of Libyan puppet forces and NATO special forces against Tripoli since 20 August aims to deliver the final blow on the Gaddafi regime....\nAug 26, 2011\nUnder the most incredibly difficult conditions – including NATO bombing, mercenary landings, Special Forces operations and the destruction of civilian infrastructure – the heroic resistance to imperialist conquest in Libya has continued....\nAug 23, 2011\nLibya: NATO escalates bombing as ‘rebels’ enter capital\nA six-month-old war against the government of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya has reached a new stage as NATO escalated its intervention with air power, naval power, strategy and intelligence to push the Transitional National Council’s armed units into the capital, Tripoli....\nAug 23, 2011\nSpeak up now – U.S./NATO out of Libya!\nThe NATO powers of Europe and the U.S. are declaring victory after having pounded the small country of Libya for five brutal months. They are claiming that the “rebel” forces they command, whose road to Tripoli was paved by NATO air strikes that knocked out much of Libya’s civil and military capability, now control the capital....\nAug 19, 2011\nNYC: August 20th Harlem Teachin Against Imperialist Wars\nOn August 20, the African community of the world will register our condemnation of and resistance to the wars being made against our people and our freedom everywhere.We will oppose the heinous bombing of Libya and the violent attempt to overthrow that government....\nAug 18, 2011\nEvents in Syria – Obama threatens U.S. intervention\nPresident Barack Obama on Aug. 18 demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down, saying that the Syrian leader’s days are numbered. The governments of Britain, France and Germany joined in this demand. This statement is a blatant imperialist interference in Syria’s internal affairs. More than that, it is an open threat to intervene militarily in another country in that region, just as the U.S. and its European allies have done already in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Somalia, with rockets and bombs. It is a threat against the Syrian people of something like the last five months of slaughter of the Libyan people....\nAug 16, 2011\nCollective punishment of civilian populations, including denial of water and food, is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions:...\nAug 12, 2011\nPlanning Meetings for Sept 11: Against Racism & Anti-Muslim Bigotry- Small email size leaflets in PDF & JPG\nWednesday's (Aug. 10) first Planning Meeting of the Emergency Mobilization Against Racism, War and Anti-Muslem Bigotry to counter the racist, right-wing forces on Sunday, September 11 was a tremendous step forward. We discussed plans for a Rally, March and Cultural Exhibition....\nAug 11, 2011\nExtreme right wing racist forces, who last year whipped up an ugly climate of hate against the Islamic Prayer Center at 51 Park Place, have announced new plans for Sunday, September 11 this year at the same location....\nAug 11, 2011\nJoin the International Action Center at the August 13 Millions March in Harlem!...\nAug 8, 2011\nEyewitness Egypt: Egyptian student organizers tell their story -- ‘Tahrir Square was owned by all the people’\nFor 18 days the people of Egypt gathered in the streets in the millions and brought down the 30-year reign of U.S. client Hosni Mubarak. This January 25 Revolution, named for its first day of protest, was led by youth and students....\nAug 8, 2011\nReport from Cairo: Hundreds gather to found Egyptian Socialist Party\nJune 18 — The Egyptian Socialist Party was founded here today before a packed auditorium of more than 400 Egyptians and international guests. What made such an assembly possible was the enormous mass revolution of last Jan. 25 that removed the U.S.-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak and made the name “Tahrir Square” an inspiration for popular revolt worldwide....\nAug 8, 2011\nMore than 85 percent of Egypt’s poor live in rural areas. Like all Egyptians, they are participating in the protests held throughout the country, and are expecting that a new Egyptian government will meet their urgent needs....\nAug 8, 2011\nEyewitness Egypt: Interview--Egyptian pensioners organize union\nIn addition to the mass protests in Egypt, another arena for demanding rights and fighting corruption has been Egypt’s independent trade union movement. This movement expressed its solidarity with the demonstrators, and added its clout to the struggle to bring down Hosni Mubarak five months ago....\nAug 8, 2011\nEyewitness Egypt: Thousands fight police in Tahrir Square\nThousands of angry Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo and Alexandria at the end of June, battling the Central Security forces for hours before successfully pushing the riot police back. These were the most intense clashes in five months, since Egypt’s 18-day revolution in January that ousted U.S.-client Hosni Mubarak....\nAug 5, 2011\nThe destructive bombing attacks on Libya by the Pentagon and NATO are highly unpopular in the United States, although you wouldn’t know it from corporate media coverage....\nJul 30, 2011\nFor almost five months, the combined military forces of the United States and NATO have pounded Libyan cities, towns, villages and ports in an effort to overthrow the government of Moammar Gadhafi....\nJul 22, 2011\nNATO planes bombed Libya’s capital city of Tripoli on July 17 for more than two hours. From 60 to 75 ordinances hit targets in the Tajura and Seraj suburbs....\nJul 22, 2011\nLibya: demonization and self-determination\nIf you went to a shopping center, a street corner or a graduate school of a top university in the U.S. and conducted a pop quiz asking who are the kings or crown princes of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain; the emir of Kuwait, Qatar or Dubai; and the sultan of Oman, most people would not be able to name any of them....\nJul 21, 2011\nHear former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, recently returned from leading a delegation to Libya during the U.S. bombing and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Akbar Muhammad & other leading opponents of the U.S. war on Libya along with VIDEO footage. ...\nJul 11, 2011\nCongress won’t authorize, but continues war on Libya\nAs the U.S./NATO war against the North African state of Libya entered its fourth month, the House of Representatives voted on June 24 to withhold authorization for the bombing campaign. In a resolution to support the war, members of Congress turned down the Obama administration’s military strategy by a vote of 295 against and 123 in favor....\nJun 27, 2011\nNATO continues terrorist attacks on Libya\nTwo NATO airstrikes on June 19 and 20 exposed even further the criminal nature of the imperialist war against the North African state of Libya. On June 19 NATO forces struck a civilian residential area in Tripoli, the capital, killing nine people in a household, including two children....\nJun 25, 2011\nAfrican Union calls for end to NATO bombing of Libya\nSouth African President Jacob Zuma paid a state visit to Libya on May 30 that proved to be a fruitless effort to bring about a ceasefire in the war launched by Western-backed rebels and NATO forces, which have intensified their bombing of the capital of Tripoli and other areas of the country. Zuma was acting on behalf of the African Union, which held an extraordinary meeting on May 25 aimed at bringing an end to the war against Libya....\nJun 25, 2011\nLibya defiant as NATO widens war\nfter nearly three months of U.S./NATO bombing operations over Libya, the North African state has remained defiant in the face of one of the most intense military operations in recent months by the imperialist countries of North America and Western Europe. Official NATO sources say that more than 10,000 sorties have been flown over the oil-rich nation resulting in large-scale destruction of the country’s infrastructure and the reported deaths of 10,000 to 15,000 people....\nJun 24, 2011\nOn direct orders from the Italian government, headed by Silvio Berlusconi (who himself faces many investigations), three Libyans were arrested in Perugia, including Ahusain Nouri, president of the League of Libyan students in Italy...\nJun 23, 2011\nThe International Action Center - IACenter.org urges full support for 2 events to oppose US/NATO War on Libya on Saturday & Monday...\nJun 16, 2011\nTIME TO ACT TO END THE ATTACKS ON LIBYA\nCongressional opposition to the president regarding the authorization of U.S. military attacks against Libya has opened up a path for a more popular participation in the struggle to end U.S. aggression in North Africa. An IAC petition opened a light on this issue: violation of the War Powers Act. The mass unhappiness with the war on Libya -- 70 percent of the population opposing that war in polls -- is reflected in the act of Congress challenging the administration, whatever the motivation of the individuals. This mass displeasure is also reflected in the actions of political figures like Cynthia McKinney in traveling to Libya to bring back the truth....\nJun 16, 2011\nBRIEF FILED BY 10 Members of Congress against President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates for Violation of War Powers Act\nPlaintiffs Dennis Kucinich, Walter B. Jones, John Conyers, Jr., Roscoe Bartlett, Michael E. Capuano, Dan Burton, Howard Coble, John J. Duncan, Jr., Timothy V. Johnson, and Ron Paul (hereinafter “the Plaintiffs”), all members of Congress, bring this Complaint in their official capacities and as taxpayers and allege as follows:...\nJun 16, 2011\n10 U.S. reps sue Obama over Libya strikes\nhe U.S. has now intervened militarily in Libya for almost 90 days. As we wrote last month (see petition), this is a violation of the War Powers Act. For the first time, the Congress has challenged the president regarding the War Powers Act. First the House voted to raise the question with President Barack Obama at the 60-day limit since the March 19 initial bombing raids. Then Republican Rep. John Boehner sent a message warning President Obama that he would have to justify the intervention....\nJun 11, 2011\nA historic vote on the application of the 1973 War Powers Resolution has upheld the Obama administration’s continuation of large-scale bombings aimed at overthrowing the government of Libya....\nJun 11, 2011\nYEMEN: Saleh forced to leave: What next?\nBefore dawn broke June 5, as the news spread that Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh had left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, fireworks filled the sky. As one Yemeni blogger put it, the party started at 6 a.m. To celebrate, people sacrificed cows and goats in “Change Square,” the site of the large encampment that had been peacefully pressuring Saleh to leave for the last four months....\nJun 10, 2011\nWithout presenting a shred of reliable evidence, NATO and International Criminal Court conspirators are charging the Libyan government with conspiracy to rape -- not only rape as the \"collateral damage\" of war, but rape as a political weapon....\nJun 9, 2011\nFrom Cynthia McKinney in Tripoli\nIt is now 1:10 in the afternoon and as the daily life in Tripoli unfolds that includes teachers, staff, and children at school, shopkeepers working in their businesses, streetsweepers sweeping the streets, people moving to and fro in the cars, on bicycles, and on foot, Tripoli has thus far since around 11:00 up to now, received at least 29 bombs....\nJun 8, 2011\nU.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ declared on March 25, 2011 – that there are 3 repressive regimes in the Middle East that must be condemned – Syria, Libya and Iran. Why is the U.S. targeting these particular countries?...\nJun 6, 2011\nCynthia McKinney speaks on Libyan TV\nSpeaking on Libyan TV May 21, former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney condemned the brutal war against the government and the people of that country. McKinney, an African American and a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East, traveled to Libya as part of a fact-finding mission to expose the criminal nature of the war....\nJun 6, 2011\nCynthia McKinney: NATO: A feast of blood\nFounded in 1945 at the end of World War II, NATO was founded by the United States in response to the Soviet Union’s survival as a communist state. NATO was the U.S. insurance policy that capitalist ownership and domination of European, Asian and African economies would continue....\nJun 6, 2011\nU.S. imperialism’s role: Yemen teeters on brink of civil war\nHundreds of thousands of people, predominantly youth, took to the streets throughout Yemen on May 28 to demand President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave. Earlier, there had been heavy fighting between government forces and tribally based militias, joined by dissident factions of the army. (Miami Herald, May 28)...\nJun 2, 2011\nFormer U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Returns to Libya with DIGNITY Fact Finding Delegation of independent journalists.\nNATO has announced it will continue the criminal bombing of Libya for another 90 days. The U.S. Congress has postponed any vote on President Obama’s obvious violation of the War Powers Act. In the face of this, Cynthia McKinney has returned to Libya with a fact finding delegation to meet with Libyans under attack by NATO’s bombs. She plans to bring back to the U.S. documented evidence of NATO war crimes....\nJun 2, 2011\nExposing the truth and lies of Obama’s Middle East pro-war speech\nPresident Barack Obama delivered a foreign policy address related to developments in the Middle East on May 19. The speech — which avoided addressing the uprisings throughout North Africa, the Palestinian question and the U.S./NATO war against Libya — created even more hostility toward his administration domestically and internationally....\nMay 17, 2011\nTell Congress: Use War Powers Act to Stop Bombing Libya! End NATO Massacres of Imams and Other Civilians!\nOn May 19 the war against Libya will reach its 60-day mark. On that date this criminal war will be in explicit violation of the War Powers Act. The War Powers Act is a U.S. law that grew out of the struggle against the war in Vietnam. It requires a president involved in a military conflict lasting longer than 60 days to come before Congress for authorization to continue the war. Knowing that this war is immoral, illegal and based on lies, the Obama administration has refused to address the reasons behind initiating yet another war after years of death and destruction in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. In the past 57 days of a war that was promoted as a \"humanitarian intervention\" to enforce a \"no-fly zone,\" the U.S. and NATO have conducted more than 2,500 bombing missions. ...\nMay 15, 2011\nPeople in the U.S. and around the world have broad sympathy for the popular demonstrations taking place in the Middle East. All the uprisings, however, are not necessarily the same....\nMay 12, 2011\nPresident Barack Obama has praised the targeted assassination of Osama bin Laden as a turning point and “one of the greatest military and intelligence operations in U.S. history.”...\nMay 10, 2011\nCalling it all a ‘humanitarian mission’: NATO intensifies airstrikes on Libya, kills leader’s son, grandchildren\nNATO airstrikes carried out April 30 against the home of the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi killed three of Gadhafi’s grandchildren as well as his youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi. The attacks took place amid a dramatic escalation in fighting between Libyan government forces and the Western-backed rebels in various parts of the North African state....\nMay 7, 2011\nBehind the attack on Libya are strategies of economic warfare\nDespite what is being reported, the invasion of Libya has already begun. Units operating on Libyan territory for a long time have prepared the war and are carrying out the assault: they are the powerful oil companies and U.S. and European investment banks....\nMay 6, 2011\nWhen U.S. imperialism engages in an attack on any government or movement, it is essential that the workers’ and progressive political movements for change gather as much information as is available and take a stand....\nMay 4, 2011\nTerror & the Osama bin Laden assassination\nVery little is known about the top-secret U.S. operation that executed Osama bin Laden, except what President Barack Obama chose to announce: that U.S. secret forces found bin Laden, killed him May 1 and disposed of his body at sea on May 2....\nApr 30, 2011\nCondemn NATO assassination of Gadhafi son and three grandsons! U.S., Britain and France: Hands off Libya! Get out of Africa!\nU.S., British and French imperialism have escalated their military intervention in Libya beyond the criminal bombardment of Libya, begun on March 19. The one dominant imperialist power and the two former colonial rulers of the world jointly stated their intentions in a open letter published on April 15 in the Washington Post and other media. U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote that their goal was to remove Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya. for good. That’s what they call “regime change.” This is even in violation of the resolution rammed through the UN Security Council. It is international lawlessness on a grand scale....\nApr 24, 2011\nLibya - Reflections on the threatened ‘Price of Freedom’\nLibya has the highest living standard in Africa. The \"United Nations Development Program (UNDP) confirms that the country has excellent prospects for achieving United Nations development goals by 2015. NATO's war will have already dashed those hopes. A collapse like the one in Iraq now threatens the country.\nThere has been little reaching the European public in the past few years about Libya, whose relationship with the West had normalized. European leaders met with their Libyan counterpart Muammar al-Gadhafi often and business flourished. In the course of preparation for war, the country was suddenly transformed into the most evil dictatorship. Even many war opponents accepted this characterization as their own and now want to overthrow the \"tyrant.\"...\nApr 24, 2011\nThe gradual awakening of the Moroccan people\nThe wave of confrontation churning though the Arab world came late to Morocco.\nIt was only on February 20 that the first demonstrations against the regime took place. Announced in advance, they attracted some 8,000 people in Casablanca and Rabat. Police dispersed them with brutal force....\nApr 24, 2011\nThe heist of the century: the assault of the ‘willing’ on Libyan SWFs\nThe objective of the war against Libya is not just its oil reserves (now estimated at 60 billion barrels), which are the greatest in Africa and whose extraction costs are among the lowest in the world, nor the natural gas reserves of which are estimated at about 1,500 billion cubic meters. In the crosshairs of \"willing\" of the operation “Unified Protector” there are sovereign wealth funds, capital that the Libyan state has invested abroad....\nApr 21, 2011\nThe U.S./NATO war against Libya’s people and government reveals every day that there is no such thing as a humanitarian war carried out by imperialist states against post-colonial countries....\nApr 19, 2011\nNext Steps for UNAC and the Antiwar Movement in New York\nThe antiwar movement is back on the streets. Thousands marched on April 9 in New York and April 10 in San Francisco. These demonstrations represented an important step forward for the United National Antiwar Committee and the antiwar movement as a whole. The new antiwar movement needs to oppose the US foreign wars but also defend the domestic victims of the \"war on terror,\" the Muslims who are being attacked. It must connect the dots between the money spent on war and the attacks on unions and cuts to education and needed programs. This is what these demonstrations on April 9 and 10 did....\nApr 18, 2011\nManik Mukherjee, General Secretary, International Anti-imperilist and People’s Solidarity Coordinating Committee (IAPSCC) has issued the following statement on the imperialist attack on Libya :...\nApr 17, 2011\nAfrica under imperialist siege: Attacks escalate on Libya, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe\nU.S., U.N. and NATO military forces have intensified the implementation of policies aimed at total economic domination and regime change for states that resist interference in their internal affairs. As Africa becomes more of a major source for exploiting oil, strategic minerals and agricultural commodities, the continent will be under increasing pressure from Western capitalist countries....\nApr 14, 2011\nWest Coast April 10 protest U.S. wars abroad, at home\nThree thousand activists demonstrated against U.S. wars abroad on April 10 in San Francisco. Protesters rallied in Dolores Park in the city’s Mission district both before and after a march through the community. The United National Antiwar Committee sponsored the actions. Those who attended were buoyed by what they described as “the renewal of the anti-war movement....\nApr 14, 2011\nThousands protest U.S. wars abroad and at home\nThousands of people from virtually all sectors of U.S. workers, the oppressed and youths gathered in Union Square in New York City April 9 and marched, shouted and drummed their anti-war slogans for two miles to Foley Square in downtown Manhattan. As this largest anti-war march in New York in years stretched for 20 blocks down Broadway, it passed by thousands of New Yorkers busy shopping, who smiled, cheered and waved at what can only be described as the new face of a vibrant movement to confront the war-makers....\nApr 10, 2011\nThe new war in Libya has given rise to a new movement, as the largest anti-war demonstration New York has seen in years took to the streets of Manhattan....\nApr 10, 2011\nWE are the vast majority of humanity who want peace, a healthy planet and a society that prioritizes human needs, democracy and civil liberties for all....\nApr 9, 2011\nCIA & MI6 in Libya: U.S.-British covert operations exposed\nThe New York Times, the Washington Post and other corporate news sources are now openly admitting that the opposition forces fighting the Libyan government are supported and coordinated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI6 with in-country special forces....\nApr 9, 2011\nA‘Lion of the desert’: film about Libya’s resistance to colonialism\nNow is a good time to watch, either again or for the first time, the powerful 1981 film “Lion of the Desert.” It tells the story of Omar Mukhtar, a legendary leader of the armed resistance to Italy’s colonial conquest of Libya....\nApr 9, 2011\nhe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has drawn an important conclusion from the unprovoked bombing of Libya by U.S. and NATO forces: Developing countries should never let down their guard and believe promises made by the imperialists....\nApr 9, 2011\nThe following news release was put out by the Central News Agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea....\nApr 9, 2011\nStop imperialist war on Libya\nThe right-wing, imperialist Italian government headed by Silvio Berlusconi has joined France, Qatar and Kuwait in recognizing the so-called “rebel” Libyan National Transitional Council. The recognition comes after chief executive officer Paolo Scaroni of Italy’s giant oil monopoly, Eni, met with council members to discuss reviving the company’s access to oil production now in “rebel” territory. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, referring to Scaroni, said: “He had important meetings on restarting cooperation about energy....\nApr 7, 2011\nRevolts from Tunisia to Afghanistan disrupt U.S. rule\nThe historical tsunami that continues to shake the Middle East and Southwest Asia has the apologists and strategists of imperialism scrambling to catch up with events. “We have no permanent allies, only permanent interests” seems to be their slogan, but this “pragmatic” approach is fraught with unexpected dangers and contradictions....\nApr 7, 2011\nThe response has been overwhelming. This will be the largest Rally against endless wars and cutbacks in NYC in years....\nApr 1, 2011\nU.S. steps up drive to conquer Libya\nPresident Barack Obama’s speech of March 28 was largely devoted to justifying U.S. military intervention in Libya on humanitarian grounds, as being necessary to prevent a “massacre.” It was meant to obscure the fundamental fact that Washington is leading an effort, joined by the British and French imperialists, to destroy a sovereign government and recolonize Libya....\nMar 28, 2011\nEven before the first U.S. bombs rained down on Libya, protesters across the U.S. stood up to voice their opposition to yet another U.S. war for oil. These protests continue....\nMar 26, 2011\nHowever the rebellion in Libya began, it was both inevitable and entirely predictable that it would quickly become an opening for imperialist intervention and counterrevolution in the oil-rich North African country....\nMar 26, 2011\nThe bombing of Libya, which began on March 19, has aroused world opposition to this new aggression by the U.S. and European imperialist powers....\nMar 25, 2011\nApril 9 & 10 Antiwar Rallies Will Draw Many Thousands to NYC & San Francisco\nhe major national Antiwar Rallies in NYC at Union Square, on Saturday, April 9 and in San Francisco on Sunday, April 10 are just 2 weeks away. Momentum is building based on the urgency of responding to the new attacks in Libya, no end to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more attacks and threats to Gaza, ugly attacks on Muslims, new attacks on unions and collective bargaining and a new rounds of cutbacks of every possible social program, particularly hitting the Black and immigrant communities and the unemployed....\nMar 23, 2011\nRebellions continue across North Africa, Middle East\nThe ferocious storm of uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East continues to stymie the efforts of the U.S. and other Western powers to suppress or contain them. There are ongoing significant protests in Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq, all places with a substantial U.S. military presence....\nMar 22, 2011\nSTOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA\nOn March 17, 2011, Washington showed its true intentions by pushing through a U.N. Security Council resolution that amounts to a declaration of war on the government and people of Libya. A U.S. attack is the worst possible thing that could happen to the people of Libya. It also puts the unfolding Arab revolutions, which have inspired people across North Africa and Western Asia, in the gravest danger. The resolution goes beyond a no-fly zone. It includes language saying U.N. member states could \"take all necessary measures\" ... \"by halting attacks by air, land and sea forces under the control of the Gadhafi regime.\"(CNN.com, Mar 17)...\nMar 20, 2011\nU.S. and French cruise missiles and bombs are raining down on the African state of Libya. This is not a \"humanitarian' intervention....\nMar 18, 2011\nSTOP THE U.S. WAR ON LIBYA AND BAHRAIN!\nThe International Action Center calls on all anti-war and social justice activists to call Emergency Response STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN actions in their areas on Friday, March 18 or Saturday, Marcy 19, or to mobilize support for any already existing anti-war demonstrations called to mark the anniversary of the Iraq War, with this statement and signs to STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN, as well as to intensify the mobilization for the April 9th and 10th Anti-War demonstrations in New York and San Francisco called by the United National Antiwar Committee....\nMar 18, 2011\nWhy imperialists hate Libya, love Bahrain\nMarch 15 — Events continue to unfold rapidly in North Africa and the Gulf states. On March 14 Saudi Arabia sent tanks and 2,000 troops into the kingdom of Bahrain to protect the Al Khalifa royal family there from mass protests demanding an end to the monopoly of political power in the hands of the king....\nMar 17, 2011\nLibyan military routs Western-backed rebels\nMarch 13 — Libyan government forces have taken several towns both east and west of Tripoli, the capital, driving out rebel groups that have been calling for military intervention by the imperialist states. Morale among the opposition is reportedly declining in Benghazi, which has been the de facto headquarters of the rebels....\nMar 16, 2011\nWith the corporate media’s attention concentrated on Libya, its oil reserves and the real danger of U.S. and NATO’s military intervention, one could almost forget that enormous popular revolts are percolating throughout North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....\nMar 14, 2011\nLibya repels attack as U.S. seeks ‘regime change’\nAs of March 7, Libyan military forces have stepped up their counteroffensive against rebel units backed by the U.S. and European Union countries. Government soldiers have retaken the town of Bin Jawad and are mounting assaults on rebels near the oil port of Ras Lanuf as well as Az Zawiyah, Tobruk and Misurata....\nMar 12, 2011\nThe uprisings in Libya, coinciding with the struggles of other countries in North Africa and Western Asia respond to conditions similar to those of other countries but have very different consequences....\nMar 9, 2011\nFollowing is the statement of Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Geneva, March 1 [2011]....\nMar 8, 2011\nTunisia: We won, right? The end of the Second Qasbah / Hemos ganado, ¿no? El fin de la Segunda Qasba\nOn Sunday, Feb. 27, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannochi resigned; he was replaced by the elderly Beji Caïd Essebsi. On Monday the ministers of Industry and Finance, the last remnants of the old regime also resigned. In the evening so did Nejib Chebbi and Ahmed Brahmi, representatives respectively of the Tajdid movement and the PDP, the two legal parties under Ben Ali. On Tuesday they were followed by two other ministers. We have lived without a government for four days in which terror has been circling like a bird of prey around the Qasbah: youth beaten, threatened, persecuted by police and hired criminals who have taken over the streets of the Medina and the surrounding April 9th Avenue. At the same time the space has been restructured and the class divide has drawn new geographical lines: while still Qasbah snugly in its sacred area, with its illustrious barbarians and hardened militants, the silent majority, silent for 23 years, decided to speak for about two hours a day, between 5 and 7 p.m., at a daily assembly convened at the Dome in the pompous Olympic Village, to support Ghannouchi, demand an end to the demonstrations and defend the \"revolution\" from those who want to make one...\nMar 8, 2011\n‘Great day of anger’: Thousands of Iraqis defy puppet regime, occupation\nDefying threats from the puppet government and several party militias, thousands of Iraqis from Basra in the south to Suleimaniya in the Kurdish north took to the streets Feb. 25 in a “Great Day of Anger” inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world....\nMar 8, 2011\nTensions grow between military, masses in Egypt\nA new cabinet was sworn in on Feb. 22 in the aftermath of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and the suspension of parliament and the previous government. This was precipitated by the Feb. 11 Supreme Military Council’s coup. The new cabinet’s appointment and publication of the first set of political reforms on Feb. 26 is an attempt to address the Egyptian people’s demands for a rapid return to civilian rule....\nMar 8, 2011\nAnother NATO Intervention? Libya: Is This Kosovo All Over Again?\nLess than a dozen years after NATO bombed Yugoslavia into pieces, detaching the province of Kosovo from Serbia, there are signs that the military alliance is gearing up for another victorious little “humanitarian war”, this time against Libya. The differences are, of course, enormous. But let’s look at some of the disturbing similarities....\nMar 7, 2011\nSPOTLIGHT ON LIBYA\nThe protests that we are witnessing in Libya must be examined carefully and wisely. We have to realize that the intifada of Libya is not totally a genuine one for reform; Part of it is provoked by the United States and the Zionists to occupy this oil-producing country, under the pretence of “democracy,” to get rid of its legitimate government for saying “no” to US and Zionist domination. Those who broke ranks with Gaddafi called upon the USto intervene, militarily if necessary, to get rid of the legitimate government. This call gives an excuse for the US and its European allies to pass a criminal resolution of the Security Council and propose sanctions and a “no fly zone.” These actions remind us of the same scenario that Iraq endured that caused its destruction. The infamous resolution will give the US and its allies open interpretations and the options of using military power that might lead to the invasion of Libya....\nMar 4, 2011\nLibya, the puzzle of the no-fly zone / Libia, il rebus della no-fly zone / Les porte-avions et les bases US en Italie sont en état d’alerte mais pour le Pentagone, les risques sont élevés\n The leaders of the rebellion, meeting yesterday in the headquarters in Benghazi, have concluded that on their own they will not be able to overthrow Gaddafi. Therefore a majority of them asked for US-NATO intervention using air power, beginning with the imposition of a no-fly zone on Libya. \"The United States - they say - brought democracy when they intervened in Kosovo.\" A part of the rebel forces, however, thought otherwise: \"We must free ourselves on our own; if we ask for foreign intervention it would be treason.\"...\nMar 3, 2011\nThe Pentagon is \"repositioning\" its naval and air forces and preparing for Operation Libya\nMarch 2, 2011--\"The United States is moving naval and air forces in the region\" to \"prepare the full range of options\" in the confrontation with Libya: Pentagon spokesperson Col. Dave Lapan of the Marines made this announcement yesterday, March 1. He then said that \"It was President Obama who asked the military to prepare for these options,\" because the situation in Libya is getting worse. The military then began \"the planning and preparation\" phase for an intervention in Libya. Pentagon planners are working on several specific plans, depending on how the “repositioning of forces” begins so as to have maximum flexibility to implement any option. ...\nMar 3, 2011\nBehind the demonizing of Gadhafi\nLibya had been an Italian colony until Italy’s defeat in World War II. After the war, the U.S. and Britain set up a monarchy in Libya under King Idris I. Moammar al-Gadhafi was a military officer when he led a coup in 1969 against the monarchy. This led to the nationalization of Libya’s oil and social gains for the Libyan people...\nMar 3, 2011\nNo U.S. attack on Libya! / Barcos de guerra cerca de Libia: crece el peligro de intervención militar imperialista / Aumenta o perigo de intervenção imperialista na Líbia\nThe White House is meeting with its allies among the European imperialist NATO countries to discuss imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, jamming all communications of President Moammar Gadhafi inside Libya, and carving military corridors into Libya from Egypt and Tunisia, supposedly to “assist refugees.” (New York Times, Feb. 27)...\nMar 2, 2011\nEgytpt: Al-Mehalla textile workers leads the struggle\nThe Al-Mahalla strike is part of the spate of industrial unrest that has rocked the country in the midst and aftermath of the 25 January revolution. Policemen, bank employees, workers at the Helwan Coke Company, in military production, cement, iron and steel and at the Suez Canal all struck for higher wages and improved working conditions, demanding an end to corruption in the workplace....\nMar 2, 2011\nREFLECTIONS OF FIDEL: NATO’s plan is to occupy Libya\nOIL became the principal wealth in the hands of the large yankee transnationals; with that source of energy, they had at their disposal an instrument that considerably increased their political power in the world. It was their principal weapon when they decided to simply liquidate the Cuban Revolution as soon as the first, just and sovereign laws were enacted in our homeland: by depriving it of oil....\nMar 2, 2011\nVenezuelan president calls for mediation to end crisis while the US and other powers weigh military options....\nFeb 26, 2011\nIraq protests target occupation, puppet regime\nAs popular revolts spread across the Arab world, now breaking out in Morocco and Algeria, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain, even in Kuwait, it is important to remember one of the nations in this region that faces a special situation: It is forcibly occupied by 50,000 U.S. troops. It is Iraq, which the U.S. and Britain invaded in March 2003 and which the U.S. has occupied since. No one should forget, when considering the crimes of the U.S.-backed tyrants, that U.S. imperialism is responsible for the deaths of a million Iraqis and the displacement of 4 million....\nFeb 26, 2011\nAnti-government protesters in Bahrain swarmed back into a symbolic square on Feb. 19, putting riot police to flight in a striking victory for their cause....\nFeb 26, 2011\nYemen’s people demand ouster of ruler\nProtests continued throughout the country of Yemen on Feb. 21 to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The demonstrations, which began during the time of the uprising in Tunisia and gained traction with recent events in Egypt, have increased in scope and intensity in the past 12 days....\nFeb 26, 2011\nOf all the struggles going on in North Africa and the Middle East right now, the most difficult to unravel is the one in Libya....\nFeb 25, 2011\nThe International Action Center urges solidarity with the resistance struggles shaking dictatorships throughout the Arab World....\nFeb 25, 2011\nDjibouti masses protest U.S./French-backed regime\nAnti-government demonstrations have spread to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, where 30,000 people marched on Feb. 18 demanding the resignation of President Ismael Omar Guelleh. Two people were killed when police attacked protesters in this country’s capital, which is also called Djibouti....\nFeb 17, 2011\nEgypt’s workers defy U.S.-backed junta\nThe Egyptian military would like to put the genie of the Egyptian Revolution back in the bottle. But it won’t go back. The so-called “orderly transition” — backed by the Obama administration, NATO and the Egyptian ruling class — has the immediate tactical goal of pushing the masses of people off the streets and off the stage of history....\nFeb 13, 2011\nFrom a Landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (III) / De paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (y III)\nGhazala, a courageous woman, founder of the Committee of Unemployed Graduates of Gafsa that so actively participated in the protests of 2008, has given us a contact in Qasserine. We meet him halfway there, in Mejel Bel Abbes. Boubaker, 33 year old, master's in engineering, also a member of the Committee of Unemployed Graduates, is surviving by doing some odd jobs as an electrician. He is tall, a bit prim, neatly dressed in the dignified severity that attempts to preserve a modest sovereignty of his appearance in the midst of difficulties. Like many educated young people in similar circumstances in a situation where he is forced to remain single, he has wound up developing, without wanting to, an air of a preacher or priest: there is something, how can we put it, excessively clean in their dress and mannerisms. He speaks little French, but has an almost scholarly knowledge of the history of the area, whose natural wealth, well known by Romans, Vandals and Berbers, has been misappropriated and wasted by postcolonial Tunisia....\nFeb 12, 2011\nSalute the People's Victory!\nThe greatest analysts of human society described real revolutions as “festivals of the masses.” We see then that the 18 days that overturned the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship is one of the greatest revolutions in the history of humanity. Never before have so many in such a condensed period of time become the actors and writers of their own history. We congratulate the people of Egypt for their tremendous victory over a tyrant who for 30 years had the support of the “great powers” of the European Union and especially of the United States until the final moments of his reign....\nFeb 12, 2011\nThese reports from Cairo are from Faiza Rady, formerly a resident of Philadelphia, who has returned to Egypt...\nFeb 12, 2011\nSalute the people’s victory! Long live the Egyptian revolution!\nThe International Action Center joins with the people of Egypt and the world in celebrating the stunning triumph of people's power and mass action in Egypt. The greatest analysts of human society described real revolutions as “festivals of the masses.” We see then that the 18 days that overturned the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship is one of the greatest revolutions in the history of humanity. Never before have so many in such a condensed period of time become the actors and writers of their own history. We congratulate the people of Egypt for their tremendous victory over a tyrant who for 30 years had the support of the “great powers” of the European Union and especially of the United States until the final moments of his reign....\nFeb 10, 2011\nFrom a landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (II) / De paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (II)\nFrom Gafsa to Redeyef you travel towards striped mountains that mark the border with Algeria, under a pure blue sky, through a hard, dry terrain, a planetary extension, which is about to succumb once more to the temptation of being landscape: small towns with camels browsing between the houses, shepherds with colorful headdresses, massive women sitting in the sun, wrapped in white cloth, sharing tasks and conversation. Everything seems fresh, clean, motionless, eternal and clear. But in reality there are few places in Tunisia as ground down by its history as this square of adverse and ancient land....\nFeb 10, 2011\nGlobal solidarity with Egypt\nThe Egyptian revolt against the U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarak regime has inspired many workers and oppressed people throughout the world. Mass solidarity demonstrations have taken place to show support for Egypt’s popular uprising. Here are brief reports on just a few notable actions, most of them on Feb. 5 or 6....\nFeb 9, 2011\nU.S. protesters tell government: ‘Stop supporting dictators!’\nWith the popular uprising that is rocking cities across Egypt now heading into its third week, solidarity rallies are building across the U.S. in response. Many of these protests are calling on the U.S. government to end its funding for the repressive regime of Hosni Mubarak....\nFeb 9, 2011\nFeb. 9 reports from Cairo say there are growing numbers of Egyptian workers who have gone out on strike all over the country, as the struggle to oust the despised, U.S.-backed Mubarak regime intensifies....\nFeb 9, 2011\nEGYPTIANS STAY STRONG\nFeb. 8 — Hosni Mubarak’s military-police regime and its creators in Washington are waging a war of attrition to wear down the newly emerging Egyptian revolution. But the people show no signs of backing down. More than a million anti-government demonstrators today once again filled Liberation Square. Despite police-agent attacks, gradual escalation of pressure from the military and slanderous campaigns against the protesters on Egyptian state television, all reports are that masses of people have flooded into central Cairo to demand the immediate ouster of Mubarak....\nFeb 9, 2011\nDays 21-24: From a landscape to a territory: three days in southern Tunisia (I) / De Paisaje a territorio: tres días en el sur de Túnez (I)\n\"France is Paris, the rest is scenery,\" 19th century French centralism said with contempt. Many times before we had been in central and southern Tunisia, but we had never seen anything but flocks of sheep and clouds, striated mountains and clean deserts, and people who seemed to passively accept, in the villages and cafes along the highway, their condition as a watermark or wrinkle in the tapestry. Our short and intense journey, parallel to the turbulence that has shaken the country for more than a month, reflects the decisive transformation, mental and material, of a landscape into a territory....\nFeb 9, 2011\nMarch in Solidarity with millions of Egyptian People in their struggle for democracy and human rights as they demand the immediate DEPARTURE of the repressive U.S. backed Mubarak regime....\nFeb 7, 2011\n'The Tunisian revolution began in the provinces and remains very active there today' / \"La revolución tunecina empezó en las regiones y sigue hoy muy activa\"\nThis interview was conducted in bits and parts, in the middle of a protest demonstration, stopping to talk once you recovered your breath after running through the streets near Bourghiba Avenue. These are crucial days for the revolution, but the glare of the mainstream media is now directed towards Egypt. \"Tunisia is not an international issue but a local one,\" the Al Jazeera employees told us when we tried to inform them that Benali militia had returned to their old ways in Sfax. Boukadous disagrees. \"The revolution began in the provinces and remains very active there.\"...\nFeb 6, 2011\nNationalists, liberals, Islamists and leftists: A National Assembly should choose new transitional leadership in Egypt. There must be strong representation of youth....\nFeb 5, 2011\nHail the heroes of Liberation Square\nThe masses in Tahrir (Liberation) Square - now known among the fighters as Martyrs’ Square — gave the counterrevolutionary thugs of a dying regime blow for blow, pushed them back and held the square, thus achieving both a military and political victory. They were fully aware of the crucial political importance of holding the square for the people. This was a victory for the masses of Egyptian people, the people of the Middle East as a whole, and the workers and oppressed of the world....\nFeb 4, 2011\n...\nFeb 3, 2011\nNineteenth day (Feb. 1, 2011): Who governs Tunisia? / Día decimonoveno del pueblo tunecino: ¿Quién gobierna Túnez?\n“You can only talk of revolution if there is a time when the whole people go out to the streets to take part in a big festival. The victories are celebrated and if we are not celebrating it's because there is victory. We have not been able to celebrate anything in the street, not even the expulsion of Ben Ali. And that means we have not yet won.”...\nFeb 3, 2011\nDon’t be confused by the deceptive and false statements uttered by President Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Roddam Clinton suggesting that they have sympathy for Egyptians fighting for liberation and jobs in Tahrir Square. <...\nFeb 2, 2011\nEgypt: An entire people stands up\nSince the early hours of the morning loud music from large speakers in front of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on the Corniche Al Nile in downtown Cairo has been booming. Shortly past 8 a.m., at the end of the curfew, as the first cars and pedestrians crossed over from the Nile Zamalik in the direction of the city center, an additional person reports to the loudspeaker to speak. He promises that the government understands the concerns of the people and resolves to keep the country in peace and prosperity. A man holds a T-shirt in the air, on which President Hosni Mubarak is caught looking down and smiling. A good three dozen men wave the Egyptian flag and look around uncertainly, and some melancholy men behind them run swiftly past them along the promenade towards Tahrir Square, Liberation Square. While some — probably for fear of losing their jobs — cheer the Mubarak regime — the others will demand this day the resignation of the man who ruled Egypt for 30 years. Only rarely is there even a short battle of words between the two camps, that is then quickly ended by soldiers, who have been blocking for days now bank of the Nile between the State Department and Tahrir Square....\nFeb 1, 2011\nEighteenth day of the Tunisian people: The strategy of tension / Decimoctavo día del pueblo tunecino: La estrategia de la tensión\nWe returned this morning to Qasba, closed on all four sides by barbed wire. The police only let in the employees who work in the district. But from the outside we were able to see and photograph, the new lime painted on the walls looking like a facelift, revealing a hidden history, a strangled antiquity. There is no doubt they have done a good job. Not a trace of a slogan or a comma of graffiti or stroke of black ink. Not even on the prime minister's stone palace can you find the slightest trace of the noisy discussions that for five days fused politics and life in a pure present without future....\nFeb 1, 2011\nUprisings across Arab world pose dilemma for U.S. imperialism\nThe revolutionary upheaval in Egypt has brought millions of workers, youth and professionals into the streets to demand the removal of the U.S.-backed regime of Hosni Mubarak. The potential looms for a total collapse of Washington’s foreign policy in the region....\nFeb 1, 2011\nAs of Jan. 24, the Lebanese Parliament is holding discussions to form a new government. A year-old “unity government” containing all political factions fell on Jan. 12, when Hezbollah pulled its people out of cabinet posts....\nFeb 1, 2011\nProtests continue in Egypt demanding end to Mubarak regime\nJan. 30 — Massive protests continue throughout Egypt to demand an end to the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, a 30-year dictatorship that has served as an anchor for U.S. imperialism in the Middle East. In the streets protesters have fraternized with members of the military, while police forces have largely retreated. Meanwhile, youth direct traffic, as self-defense committees have been organized to defend neighborhoods from violence at the hands of “thugs,” who many suspect to be plainclothes police and members of the ruling National Democratic Party. After three days of demonstrations in which tens of thousands of people faced brutal repression at the hands of the Egyptian state apparatus, hundreds of thousands came out on Jan. 28 to protest the police brutality, poverty, unemployment and corruption they have endured under the Mubarak regime. Defying a curfew imposed by Mubarak the day before, protesters hit the streets not only in the capital city, Cairo, but in cities throughout the country....\nJan 31, 2011\nSeventeenth day of the Tunisian people: Fire under the ashes / Decimoséptimo día del pueblo tunecino: Fuego bajo las cenizas\nHamida Ben Romdhane, director of La Press on January 13, still director of La Press on January 30, writes an article today entitled \"I am guilty,” in which he lashes out against \"the smoothies, sycophants, calculators and manipulators\" that for years have been lackeys in the service of the dictator's personality cult. \"Today,\" he says, \"Tunisia breathes freely and so does our newspaper. ...\nJan 31, 2011\nIAPSCC hails and supports people’s struggle in Egypt\nIAPSCC salutes the people of Egypt for their determined struggle to end the 30-year long tyrannical rule of Mubarak having a tacit understanding with Israel and who was backed by the imperialist powers, esp. the USA, all these years. Inspired by the example of Tunisian people’s struggle and victory over dictatorial rulers, people in Egypt have taken to the streets for over one week defying curfew and planning still more powerful movement....\nJan 31, 2011\nSixteenth day of the Tunisian people: Freedom ends / Decimosexto día del pueblo tunecino: Se acabó la libertad\nAfter two weeks of restraint, in fact, the police have returned to take charge of the situation. Yesterday they broke hands and legs in the Qasbah and throughout the day lists have circulated of unconfirmed dead and missing. At least 20 people were arrested this afternoon at the station. And on the Qasbah square where yesterday there were still blankets, tents and cooking pots, some dozens of mobile phones were scattered about. Of many of the people the police scattered yesterday nothing is known.Meanwhile this morning, 12 hours later, the walls of the building that for five days was the ministry of the people were being painted over, the Press published a front-page photograph of the crushed concentration under the headline: \"in the Qasbah the freedom caravan follows the protests.\" The revolution is already a brand-name, the spark of life of a government that weaves in the darkness and a press that uses new names to name the same things....\nJan 30, 2011\nFifteenth day of the Tunisian people: The assault on the Qasbah / Día decimoquinto del pueblo tunecino: El asalto de la Qasba\nhe most beautiful place on earth lasted for five days.\nFinally this afternoon, at 4 p.m., the police assaulted the Qasbah, killing Omar Auini, who suffocated on tear gas and injuring at least 15 people, most of them with broken hands and legs....\nJan 29, 2011\nSecond week of the Tunisian people--day 14: Stubbornness vs. counterrevolution/Segunda semana del pueblo tunecino: Obstinación y contrarrevolución\nAt 9:30 a.m. a taxi driver answered our question about Mohamed Ghannouchi with impeccable reasoning:“Do you know why I want him to go? Because he doesn't want to go. If he doesn't want to go, it's because he is hiding something. If he is hiding something, it can't be something good. And if he is hiding something bad, he has to go.”...\nJan 29, 2011\nThirteenth day of the Tunisian people: Tension in the Qasbah/ Día decimotercero del pueblo tunecino: Tensión en la Qasba\nIf everything was following a plan, if 120 people were killed to rejuvenate the old country and better locate it in an Arab world submissive to Washington's plans, if it were aimed at better ensuring continuity by introducing some cosmetic changes, then now it would have to sweep away the embers that the wind -- always unpredictable -- has blown together at the Qasbah. The past returns with unsettling speed....\nJan 29, 2011\nLong Live the Egyptian People's Struggle!\nA seemingly all-powerful military, police and media apparatus, that has had the support of the U.S. superpower for decades, is crumbling before the even greater strength of a united people who have first conquered fear and may now push the dictator’s regime into the dustbin of history....\nJan 28, 2011\nEgyptian protests intensify, challenge 30 years of pro-U.S. dictatorship\nTens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across Egypt demanding the ouster of U.S. ally President Hosni Mubarak. These are the largest anti-regime protests in Mubarak’s 30-year rule of this North African country of 85 million people. Though the White House has declared the Mubarak regime “stable,” even greater protests are expected on Jan. 28 following Friday services at mosques throughout the country. Egyptian opposition forces were inspired by the uprising in nearby Tunisia, which on Jan. 14 forced that country’s dictator, Zine El Abadine Ben Ali, to flee to Saudi Arabia. The uprising in Tunisia surprised not only its own rulers but their imperialist overlords in Paris and Washington....\nJan 27, 2011\n...\nJan 27, 2011\nFOUNDATION STATEMENT OF THE JANUARY 14TH NATIONAL FRONT OF THE NATIONAL PROGRESSIVE AND DEMOCRATIC FORCES OF TUNISIA\nTo affirm and ensure our participation in the revolution of our people, who fought for their right to freedom and national dignity, this people who sacrificed dozens of martyrs and thousands of wounded and arrested, and in order to complete and secure the victory against both domestic and foreign enemies and against those who are attempting to hijack the sacrifices of the people, have constituted \"The January 14th Front” as a political structure to promote and ensure the revolution to achieve its goals and fight and stop the forces of counterrevolution; this front is a structure that brings together national, progressive and democratic parties, forces and organizations....\nJan 27, 2011\nTwelfth day of the Tunisian people/Duodécimo día del pueblo tunecino\nAfter a festive and liberating week with unanimous participation, Tunisian society is beginning to split along class lines. It is a territorial division, which is beginning to separate Bourguiba Avenue from the Qasbah, and is also a cyber division, in which the same people who used facebook to fuel the revolution are today calling for calm and the restoration of order against the insurgent proletariat. You can perceive a disturbing contraction. Hamida Ben Romdhane, director of La Press, which on Jan. 13 dutifully praised the last steps Ben Ali took to try to calm the masses, on Jan. 20 exhibited on its front cover jewels allegedly confiscated from the Trabelsi family and praised the revolution of the worthy people of Tunisia....\nJan 27, 2011\nEleventh day of the Tunisian people/Undécimo día del pueblo tunecino\nThe unknown country, which has made the revolution, which has sacrificed 120 lives in the protests, is found not on Bourguiba Avenue, where intellectuals celebrate a revolution that they can gain from and then withdraw, but in the Qasbah in front of the prime minister's headquarters. Yesterday hundreds of people slept here, and now, at 12 a.m. (on Jan. 24), thousands of them are still shouting: \"nidal nidal hata iusqut el nitham\", \"Al yaum al-yaum tusqut el-hukuma\" (\"Struggle, struggle until we end the regime\",\"today, today we overthrow the government.\") ...\nJan 27, 2011\nTenth day of the Tunisian people/ Décimo día del pueblo tunecino\nA revolution, can it so easily become a habit? Is it compatible with the customary normal duties of government, the production and reproduction of everyday life, the natural decline of forces? The government hopes and protesters fear the same thing: fatigue will set in. But this Sunday [Jan. 23] of transition to \"the first day of normality,\" which will once again put to the test the people's ability to break out, Bourguiba Avenue remains vibrant under a light so pure, so sharp, that its buildings and the trees look bare, even skinless....\nJan 27, 2011\nNinth day of the Tunisian people-Jan. 23, 2011/ Noveno día del pueblo tunecino\nIn some sense these days I feel very Tunisian: because, like other Tunisians, I realize that up to now I understood nothing about Tunisia. And because what is now clear to me, like to all other Tunisians, is mostly a great confusion. The situation, eight days after the collapse of the tyrant, it stretches and stretches without breaking. As in all revolutions, everything is decided in the first few weeks and today one everything feels a little uncomfortable -- like amorphous, painful, formless freedom -- a great uncertainty....\nJan 27, 2011\nThe following is a day-by-day chronicle of developments in Tunisia, which are written in Spanish and which the IAC is translating to English:...\nJan 27, 2011\nEighth day in Tunisia: Will it fall -- or won’t it?\nWe started the day with frightening evidence that there are things the revolution can’t do and that irrational forces operate beyond the dominant logic governing things. Our friend Amin has caught the flu.\nRegardless, the revolution can cure sadness, melancholy, moodiness and suicidal tendencies. Mohammed cites the experience of a friend discharged by his psychiatrist after Jan. 14, the day of the dictator's fall. We invented a new term, \"thauratherapy\" -- the revolution (thaura) as psychological therapy. The demonstrations, which are repeated another day in the city center, are saving bodies and souls....\nJan 27, 2011\nJan. 24 — Tunisia’s workers and youth have continued mass demonstrations and strikes aimed at removing the neocolonial regime and replacing it with a representative government of national unity....\nJan 22, 2011\nHungry and jobless, Tunisian masses rebel\nJan. 18 — A popular uprising in the North African state of Tunisia since mid-December has driven President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled the Western-allied government for 23 years, into exile. Ben Ali fled on Jan. 14 after tens of thousands of workers and youths attacked the Ministry of the Interior and other government buildings in the capital of Tunis and in the city of Carthage. When a street vendor who was attacked by police committed suicide by self-immolation on Dec. 17, it unleashed this enormous struggle. Defying tear gas and even live fire from the security forces that killed between 50 and 100 people, thousands also demonstrated in dozens of Tunisia’s provincial cities until they brought down a repressive head of state....\nJan 2, 2011",
"Gaza_Strip.txt\nGaza Strip\nThe Gaza Strip (; '), or simply Gaza, is a small self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 km and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border. Gaza, together with the West Bank, comprise the Palestinian territories claimed by the Palestinians as the future sovereign State of Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory. Both fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006. It has been placed under an Israeli and U.S.-led international economic and political boycott from that time onwards. \n\nThe territory is 41 km long, and from 6 to wide, with a total area of 365 km2. With around 1.85 million Palestinians[http://pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2176.pdf Table 3: Projected Population in the State of Palestine by Governorate, End Year 2015]. PCBS, Palestinians at the End of 2015, p. 36. [http://pcbs.gov.ps/PCBS_2012/Publications.aspx Source:] on some 362 square kilometers, Gaza ranks as the 6th most densely populated polity in the world. An extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gaza's Palestinians. Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 2.91% (2014 est.), the 13th highest in the world, and is often referred to as overcrowded. The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020. By that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable, if present trends continue. Due to the Israeli–Egyptian blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip, nor allowed to freely import or export goods. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.\n\nDespite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the United Nations, International human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators consider the territory to be still occupied by Israel, supported by additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.\n\nWhen Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election, 2006, Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, until a short-lived unity government agreement was brokered by Saudi Arabia. When this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Palestinian Authority instituted a government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza.Dennis J. Deeb II, [https://books.google.it/books?id\n-aqJAAAAQBAJ&pgPA45 Israel, Palestine, & the Quest for Middle East Peace,] University Press of America, 2013. Further economic sanctions were imposed by Israel and the European Quartet against Hamas. A brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when, apparently under a U.S.-backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas’s administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PA's security apparatus from the Strip, and has remained the sole governing power in Gaza since that date.\n\nGovernance\n\nHamas government\n\nThe Hamas government of 2012 was the second Palestinian Hamas-dominated government, ruling over the Gaza Strip, since the split of the Palestinian National Authority in 2007. It was announced in early September 2012. The reshuffle of the previous government was approved by Gaza-based Hamas MPs from the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) or parliament.\n\nOther political and militant groups in Gaza\n\nThe Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, also known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Palestinian militant organization operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel. Iran is a major financial supporter of the PIJ. \nIslamic Jihad is the second largest militant Islamic group in Gaza with 8,000 fighters present in the Gaza strip. In June 2013, the Islamic Jihad broke ties with Hamas leaders after Hamas police fatally shot the commander of Islamic Jihad's military wing.\n\nDeal with Fatah\n\nOn September 25, 2014, Hamas agreed to let the Palestinian Authority resume control over the Gaza Strip and its border crossings with Egypt and Israel.\n\nStatus\n\nMilitary occupation\n\nThe international community regards all of the Palestinian territories including Gaza as occupied.See the short video [http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/upfront/2015/10/reality-check-gaza-occupied-151023153703888.html Reality Check: Gaza is still occupied] on Al Jazeera, showing the arguments Human Rights Watch has declared at the UN Human Rights Council that it views Israel as a de facto occupying power in the Gaza Strip, even though Israel has no military or other presence, because the Oslo Accord authorizes Israel to control the airspace and the territorial sea. \n\nIn his statement on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur wrote that international humanitarian law applied to Israel \"in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.\" Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, Oxfam, the International Committee of the Red Cross, The United Nations, the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza, international human rights organizations, US government websites, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and a significant number of legal commentators (Geoffrey Aronson, Meron Benvenisti, Claude Bruderlein, Sari Bashi and Kenneth Mann, Shane Darcy and John Reynolds, Yoram Dinstein, John Dugard, Marc S. Kaliser, Mustafa Mari, Iain Scobbie, and Yuval Shany maintain that Israel's extensive direct external control over Gaza, and indirect control over the lives of its internal population mean that Gaza remained occupied. \n\nIsrael states that it does not exercise effective control or authority over any land or institutions in the Gaza Strip and thus the Gaza Strip is no longer subject to the former military occupation.Dore Gold, [http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief005-3.htm JCPA Legal Acrobatics: The Palestinian Claim that Gaza is Still \"Occupied\" Even After Israel Withdraws], Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, Vol. 5, No. 3, 26 August 2005. Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Tzipi Livni stated in January 2008: \"Israel got out of Gaza. It dismantled its settlements there. No Israeli soldiers were left there after the disengagement.\" In spite of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Hamas Government in Gaza considers Gaza as occupied territory.[http://hamas.ps/en/page/13/FAQ Israel ended its occupation of the Gaza Strip when it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, so why does Hamas continue to fire rockets into Israel?]. FAQ on the official Hamas website. Accessed November 2015. \"This is one of the myths perpetuated by Israel's propaganda ... Israel re-deployed its military occupation forces and evacuated its illegal settlers outside the population centers in Gaza. BUT Israel effectively controls the sea, land and air spaces and border crossings that link the Gaza Strip to the outside world. According to the UN and human rights organizations, Israel still maintains its occupation of the Gaza Strip and subjects the 1.8 million Palestinians in this tiny strip to a horrendous siege and blockade that constitute a war crime under international law.\" Here, Hamas cites the view of the international community.\n\nHuman rights organization Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has set up the project \"We Are Not Numbers\", in which Gazans are encouraged to write their personal story as Palestinian living under occupation or in a refugee camp. \n\nControl over airspace\n\nAs agreed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the Oslo Accords, Israel has exclusive control over the airspace. It can interfere with radio and TV transmissions, and the Palestinian Authority cannot engage in independent initiatives for operating a seaport or airport. The Accords also permitted Palestinians to construct an airport, which was duly built and opened in 1998. Israel destroyed Gaza's only airport in 2001 and 2002, during the Second Intifada.\n\nThe Israeli army makes use of drones, which can launch precise missiles. They are equipped with high-resolution cameras and other sensors. In addition, the missile fired from a drone has its own cameras that allow the operator to observe the target from the moment of firing. After a missile has been launched, the drone operator can remotely divert it elsewhere. Drone operators can view objects on the ground in detail during both day and night.[https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/06/30/precisely-wrong/gaza-civilians-killed-israeli-drone-launched-missiles Precisely Wrong—Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles]. Human Rights Watch, 30 June 2009 Israeli drones routinely patrol over Gaza.\n\nBuffer Zone\n\nPart of the territory is depopulated because of the imposition of buffer zones on both the Israeli and Egyptian borders.[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11721118 Hard times drive Gazans into perilous ′buffer zone′]. BBC, 10 November 2010[http://www.imemc.org/article/71548 PCHR-Gaza: Israeli Buffer Zone Policies Typically Enforced with Live Fire]. PCHR, 11 May 2015 \n\nInitially, Israel imposed a 50-meter buffer zone in Gaza.[http://www.imemc.org/article/61003 Palestinian Killed in Gaza Buffer Zone]. IMEMC, 5 April 2011 In 2000, it was expanded to 150 meters. Following the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, an undefined buffer zone was maintained, including a no-fishing zone along the coast.\n\nIn 2009/2010, Israel expanded the buffer zone to 300 meters. In 2010, the UN estimated that 30 percent of the arable land in Gaza had been lost to the buffer zone.\n\nOn 25 February 2013, pursuant to a November 2012 ceasefire, Israel declared a buffer zone of 100 meters on land and 6 nautical miles offshore. In the following month, the zone was changed to 300 meters and 3 nautical miles. The 1994 Gaza Jericho Agreement allows 20 nautical miles, and the 2002 Bertini Commitment allows 12 nautical miles.\n\nIn August 2015, the IDF confirmed a buffer zone of 300 meters for residents and 100 meters for farmers, but without explaining how to distinguish between the two.[http://gisha.org/legal/4577 IDF spokesman provides contradictory answers regarding the width of the “no-go zone” which residents of the Gaza Strip are prohibited from entering]. Gisha, August 2015 , on a third of Gaza's agricultural land, residents risk Israeli attacks. According to PCHR, Israeli attacks take place up to approximately from the border, making 17% of Gaza's total territory a risk zone.\n\nIsrael says the buffer zone is needed to protect Israeli communities just over the border from sniper fire and rocket attacks. In the 18 months until November 2010, one Thai farm worker in Israel was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, and in 2010, according to IDF figures, 180 rockets and mortars had been fired into Israel by militants. In 6 months, however, 11 Palestinians civilians, including four children, had been killed by Israeli fire and at least 70 Palestinian civilians were injured in the same period, including at least 49 who were working collecting rubble and scrap metal.\n\nA buffer zone was also created on the Egyptian side of the Gaza–Egypt border. In 2014, scores of homes in Rafah were destroyed for the buffer zone. According to Amnesty International, more than 800 homes had been destroyed and more than 1,000 families evicted. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed with the destruction of smuggling tunnels by flooding them, and then punishing the owners of the houses that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their houses, arguing that the tunnels had produced 1,800 millionaires, and were used for smuggling weapons, drugs, cash, and equipment for forging documents.[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?qcache:LGk-8K_BsrUJ:www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.629397+&cd\n1&ct=clnk Abbas: Egypt Right to Create Buffer Zone on Gaza Border]. Jack Khoury, Haaretz, 1 December 2014 (premium). ″Abbas believed the destruction of the tunnels was the best solution. The Palestinian president said he had recommended previously the sealing or destruction of the tunnels by flooding them and then punishing the owners of the homes that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their homes.″\n\nGaza blockade\n\nIsrael and Egypt maintain a blockade of the Gaza Strip, although Israel allows in limited quantities of medical humanitarian aid. The Red Cross claimed that the blockade harms the economy and causes a shortage of basic medicines and equipment such as painkillers and x-ray film. \n\nIsrael claims the blockade is necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. For example, in 2014, a Panamanian-flagged ship claiming to be carrying construction materials was boarded by the IDF and was found to contain Syrian produced rockets. \nIsrael maintains that the blockade is legal and necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons. \n\nDirector of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval Diskin did not oppose easing trade restrictions, but said that smuggling tunnels in Sinai and an open seaport in the Gaza Strip endangered Israel's security. According to Diskin, Hamas and Islamic Jihad had smuggled in over \"5,000 rockets with ranges up to 40 km.\" Some of the rockets could reach as far as the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area. \n\nIsraeli spokesman Mark Regev described Israel's actions as \"sanctions,\" not a blockade, but a Gazan legal consultant for UNRWA called the blockade \"an action outside of international law.” \n\nIn July 2010, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, \"humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.\" In response, the spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said, \"The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organization Hamas. The situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas' rule and priorities.\"\n\nThe Arab League accused Israel of waging a financial war. The IDF strictly controlled travel within the area of the crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and sealed its border with Gaza. U.S. government travel guides warned tourists that the region was dangerous.\n\nFacing mounting international pressure, Egypt and Israel lessened the restrictions starting in June 2010, when the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza was partially opened by Egypt. Egypt’s foreign ministry said that the crossing would remain open mainly for people, but not for supplies. Israel announced that it would allow the passage of civilian goods but not weapons and items that could be used for dual purposes. In December 2015, Egypt asked Israel not to allow Turkish aid to get through to the Gaza Strip. Benjamin Netanyahu said that it is impossible to lift the siege on Gaza and that the security of Israel is the primary issue for him. He confirmed \"that Israel is the only country that currently sends supplies to the coastal enclave\".[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23021-israel-confirms-it-has-not-reached-an-agreement-with-turkey Israel confirms it has not reached an agreement with Turkey]. MEMO, 24 December 2015\n\nIn January and February 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) assessed measures taken to ease the blockade and concluded that they were helpful but not sufficient to improve the lives of the local inhabitants. UNOCHA called on Israel to reduce restrictions on exports and the import of construction materials, and to lift the general ban on movement between Gaza and the West Bank via Israel. After Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 28 May 2011, Egypt permanently opened its border with the Gaza Strip to students, medical patients, and foreign passport holders. \nFollowing the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, Egypt's military has destroyed most of the 1,200 tunnels which are used for smuggling food, weapons, and other goods to Gaza. After the August 2013 Rabaa Massacre in Egypt, the border crossing was closed 'indefinitely.' \n\nIsrael has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross the terrestrial border and handles vicariously the movement of goods into and out of Gaza by air and sea. Israel largely provides for Gaza's water supply, electricity, and communications infrastructure. While the import of food is restricted through the Gaza blockade, the Israeli military destroys agricultural crops by spraying toxic chemicals over the Gazan lands, using aircraft flying over the border zone.[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23117-israeli-military-admits-destroying-gaza-crops-on-border Israeli military admits destroying Gaza crops on border]. MEMO, 31 December 2015 Also Gaza's agricultural research and development station was destroyed in 2014 and again in January 2016, while import of new equipment is obstructed. \n\nMovement of people\n\nBecause of the Israeli–Egyptian blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip. Only in exceptional cases are people allowed to pass through the Erez Crossing or the Rafah Border Crossing.[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_July_2015_english.pdf The Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of the Blockade]. UN OCHA, July 2015. \"1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are ‘locked in’, denied free access to the remainder of the occupied Palestinian territory and the outside world.\" Available at [http://www.ochaopt.org/reports.aspx?id\n103&page1 Fact Sheets].[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/gaza_crossings_operations_status_september%202015.pdf Gaza crossings’ operations status:Monthly update—September 2015]. UN OCHA. Available at [http://gaza.ochaopt.org/2015/09/gaza-crossings-operations-status-monthly-update-july-2015/ Gaza Crossings’ Operations Status: Monthly Update]. [http://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files2/201401_'so_near_and_yet_so_far_eng.pdf So near and yet so far—Implications of Israeli‐Imposed Seclusion of Gaza Strip on Palestinians’ Right to Family Life]. Hamoked and B'Tselem, January 2014. [http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/201401_so_near_and_yet_so_far Here available] In 2015, a Gazan woman was not allowed to travel through Israel to Jordan on her way to her own wedding. The Israeli authorities found she did not meet the criteria for travel, namely only in exceptional humanitarian cases. \n\nUnder the long-term blockade, the Gaza Strip is often described as a \"prison-camp or open air prison for its collective denizens.\" The comparison is done by observers, ranging from Roger Cohen and Lawrence Weschler to NGOs, such as B'tselem, and politicians and diplomats, such as David Cameron, Noam Chomsky, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, David Shoebridge and Sir John Holmes \nIn 2014 French President Francois Hollande called for the demilitarization of Gaza and a lifting of the blockade, saying \"Gaza must neither be an open prison nor a military base.\" \n\nAn anonymous Israeli analyst has called it \"Israel's Alcatraz.\" While Lauren Booth, Philip Slater, Giorgio Agamben compare it to a \"concentration camp.\" For Robert S. Wistrich, and Philip Mendes, such analogies are designed to offend Jews, while Philip Seib dismisses the comparison as absurd, and claims that it arises from sources like Al Jazeera and statements by Arab leaders. \n\nEconomy\n\nThe economy of the Gaza Strip is severely hampered by Egypt and Israel's almost total blockade, the high population density, limited land access, strict internal and external security controls, the effects of Israeli military operations, and restrictions on labor and trade access across the border. Per capita income (PPP) was estimated at US$3,100 in 2009, a position of 164th in the world. Seventy percent of the population is below the poverty line according to a 2009 estimate. Gaza Strip industries are generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs.\n\nThe main agricultural products are olives, citrus, vegetables, Halal beef, and dairy products. Primary exports are citrus and cut flowers, while primary imports are food, consumer goods, and construction materials. The main trade partners of the Gaza Strip are Israel and Egypt. \n\nThe EU described the Gaza economy as follows: \"Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and following the closure imposed by Israel, the situation in the Strip has been one of chronic need, de-development and donor dependency, despite a temporary relaxation on restrictions in movement of people and goods after the Gaza flotilla raid in 2010. The closure has effectively cut off access for exports to traditional markets in Israel, transfers to the West Bank and has severely restricted imports. Exports are now down to 2% of 2007 levels.\"\n\nAccording to Sara Roy, one senior IDF officer told an UNWRA official in 2015 that Israel's policy towards the Gaza Strip consisted of: \"No development, no prosperity, no humanitarian crisis.” \n\nAfter Oslo (1994-2007)\n\nEconomic output in the Gaza Strip declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996. This downturn was attributed to Israeli closure policies and, to a lesser extent, corruption and mismanagement by Yasser Arafat. Economic development has been hindered by Israel refusing to allow the operation of a sea harbour. A Gaza Seaport was planned to be built in Gaza with help from France and The Netherlands, but the project was bombed by Israel in 2001. Israel said that the reason for bombing was that Israeli settlements were being shot at from the construction site at the harbour. As a result, international transports (both trade and aid) had to go through Israel, which was hindered by the imposition of generalized border closures. These also disrupted previously established labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the Strip. A serious negative social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high unemployment.\n\nFor its energy, Gaza is largely dependent on Israel either for import of electricity or fuel for its sole power plant. The Oslo Accords set limits for the Palestinian production and importation of energy. Pursuant to the Accords, the Israel Electric Corporation exclusively supplies the electricity (63% of the total consumption in 2013).[http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/tdb62d3_en.pdf Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people: Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory], para 20. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 6 July 2015 (doc.nr. TD/B/62/3). [http://unctad.org/en/Pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID\n260 Source].para 40: \"The study stressed that Gaza’s population would increase from 1.6 million in 2011 to 2.1 million in 2020, and concluded that for Gaza to be a liveable place in 2020 “herculean efforts” needed to be accelerated in such sectors as health, education, energy, water and sanitation (United Nations, 2012). However, instead of such efforts, the tragedy in Gaza has deteriorated and its de-development was accelerated by destruction in 2014.\" para 43: \"The social, health\nand security-related ramifications of the high population density and overcrowding are\namong the factors that may render Gaza unliveable by 2020, if present trends continue\"\n The amount of electricity has consistently been limited to 120 megawatts, which is the amount Israel undertook to sell to Gaza pursuant to the Oslo Accords. \n\nIsrael's use of comprehensive closures decreased over the next few years. In 1998, Israel implemented new policies to ease security procedures and allow somewhat freer movement of Gazan goods and labor into Israel. These changes led to three years of economic recovery in the Gaza Strip, disrupted by the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in the last quarter of 2000. Before the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, around 25,000 workers from the Gaza Strip (about 2% of the population) worked in Israel on a daily basis. \n\nThe Second Intifada led to a steep decline in the economy of Gaza, which was heavily reliant upon external markets. Israel—which had begun its occupation by helping Gazans to plant approximately 618,000 trees in 1968, and to improve seed selection—over the first 3-year period of the second intifada, destroyed 10 percent of Gazan agricultural land, and uprooted 226,000 trees. The population became largely dependent on humanitarian assistance, primarily from UN agencies.\n\nThe al-Aqsa Intifada triggered tight IDF closures of the border with Israel, as well as frequent curbs on traffic in Palestinian self-rule areas, severely disrupting trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more so in early 2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures led to widespread business closures and a sharp drop in GDP. Civilian infrastructure, such as the Palestine airport, was destroyed by Israel. Another major factor was a drop in income due to reduction in the number of Gazans permitted entry to work in Israel. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the flow of a limited number of workers into Israel resumed, although Israel said it would reduce or end such permits due to the victory of Hamas in the 2006 parliamentary elections.\n\nThe Israeli settlers of Gush Katif built greenhouses and experimented with new forms of agriculture. These greenhouses provided employment for hundreds of Gazans. When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, more than 3,000 (about half) of the greenhouses were purchased with $14 million raised by former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, and given to Palestinians to jump-start their economy. The rest were demolished by the departing settlers before there were offered a compensation as an inducement to leave them behind. The farming effort faltered due to limited water supply, Palestinian looting, restrictions on exports, and corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinian companies repaired the greenhouses damaged and looted by the Palestinians after the Israeli withdrawal. \n\nIn 2005, after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Gaza businessmen envisaged a \"magnificent future.\" $1.1 million was invested in an upscale restaurant, Roots, and plans were made to turn one of the Israeli settlements into a family resort. \n\nFollowing Hamas takeover (2007-present)\n\nThe European Union states: \"Gaza has experienced continuous economic decline since the imposition of a closure policy by Israel in 2007. This has had serious social and humanitarian consequences for many of its 1.7 million inhabitants. The situation has deteriorated further in recent months as a result of the geo-political changes which took place in the region during the course of 2013, particularly in Egypt and its closure of the majority of smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza as well as increased restrictions at Rafah.\" Israel, the United States, Canada, and the European Union have frozen all funds to the Palestinian government after the formation of a Hamas-controlled government after its democratic victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. They view the group as a terrorist organization, and have pressured Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and make good on past agreements. Prior to disengagement, 120,000 Palestinians from Gaza had been employed in Israel or in joint projects. After the Israeli withdrawal, the gross domestic product of the Gaza Strip declined. Jewish enterprises shut down, work relationships were severed, and job opportunities in Israel dried up. After the 2006 elections, fighting broke out between Fatah and Hamas, which Hamas won in the Gaza Strip on 14 June 2007. Israel imposed a blockade, and the only goods permitted into the Strip through the land crossings were goods of a humanitarian nature, and these were permitted in limited quantities.\n\nAn easing of Israel's closure policy in 2010 resulted in an improvement in some economic indicators, although exports were still restricted. According to the Israeli Defense Forces and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the economy of the Gaza Strip improved in 2011, with a drop in unemployment and an increase in GDP. New malls opened and local industry began to develop. This economic upswing has led to the construction of hotels and a rise in the import of cars. Wide-scale development has been made possible by the unhindered movement of goods into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The current rate of trucks entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom is 250 trucks per day. The increase in building activity has led to a shortage of construction workers. To make up for the deficit, young people are being sent to learn the trade in Turkey. \n\nIn 2012, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said that Gaza's economic situation has improved and Gaza has become self-reliant \"in several aspects except petroleum and electricity\" despite Israel's blockade. Zahar said that Gaza's economic conditions are better than those in the West Bank. In 2014, the EU's opinion was: \"Today, Gaza is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation with power outages across Gaza for up to 16 hours a day and, as a consequence, the closure of sewage pumping operations, reduced access to clean water; a reduction in medical supplies and equipment; the cessation of imports of construction materials; rising unemployment, rising prices and increased food insecurity. If left unaddressed, the situation could have serious consequences for stability in Gaza, for security more widely in the region as well as for the peace process itself.\"\n\n2012 fuel crisis\n\nUsually, diesel for Gaza came from Israel, but in 2011, Hamas started to buy cheaper fuel from Egypt, bringing it via a network of underground tunnels, and refused to allow it from Israel. \n\nIn early 2012, due to internal economic disagreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government in Gaza, decreased supplies from Egypt and through tunnel smuggling, and Hamas's refusal to ship fuel via Israel, the Gaza Strip plunged into a fuel crisis, bringing increasingly long electricity shut downs and disruption of transportation. Egypt had attempted for a while to stop the use of underground tunnels for delivery of Egyptian fuel purchased by Palestinian authorities, and had severely reduced supply through the tunnel network. As the crisis broke out, Hamas sought to equip the Rafah terminal between Egypt and Gaza for fuel transfer, and refused to accept fuel to be delivered via the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza. \n\nIn mid-February 2012, as the crisis escalated, Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal to bring in fuel via the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza to reactivate Gaza’s only power plant. Ahmed Abu Al-Amreen of the Hamas-run Energy Authority refused it on the grounds that the crossing is operated by Israel and Hamas' fierce opposition to the existence of Israel. Egypt cannot ship diesel fuel to Gaza directly through the Rafah crossing point, because it is limited to the movement of individuals.\n\nIn early March 2012, the head of Gaza's energy authority stated that Egypt wanted to transfer energy via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, but he personally refused it to go through the \"Zionist entity\" (Israel) and insisted that Egypt transfer the fuel through the Rafah Crossing, although this crossing is not equipped to handle the half-million liters needed each day. \n\nIn late March 2012, Hamas began offering carpools for people to use Hamas state vehicles to get to work. Many Gazans began to wonder how these vehicles have fuel themselves, as diesel was completely unavailable in Gaza, ambulances could no longer be used, but Hamas government officials still had fuel for their own cars. Many Gazans said that Hamas confiscated the fuel it needed from petrol stations and used it exclusively for their own purposes.\n\nEgypt agreed to provide 600,000 liters of fuel to Gaza daily, but it had no way of delivering it that Hamas would agree to. \n\nIn addition, Israel introduced a number of goods and vehicles into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as well as the normal diesel for hospitals. Israel also shipped 150,000 liters of diesel through the crossing, which was paid for by the Red Cross.\n\nIn April 2012, the issue was resolved as certain amounts of fuel were supplied with the involvement of the Red Cross, after the Palestinian Authority and Hamas reached a deal. Fuel was finally transferred via the Israeli Kerem Shalom Crossing, which Hamas previously refused to transfer fuel from. \n\nCurrent budget\n\nMost of the Gaza Strip administration funding comes from outside as an aid, with large portion delivered by UN organizations directly to education and food supply. Most of the Gaza GDP comes as foreign humanitarian and direct economic support. Of those funds, the major part is supported by the U.S. and the European Union. Portions of the direct economic support have been provided by the Arab League, though it largely has not provided funds according to schedule. Among other alleged sources of Gaza administration budget is Iran.\n\nA diplomatic source told Reuters that Iran had funded Hamas in the past with up to $300 million per year, but the flow of money had not been regular in 2011. \"Payment has been in suspension since August,\" said the source.[http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/30/191571.html] \"The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Qatar on Monday, beginning a regional tour that is also expected to take him to Kuwait, Bahrain and Iran.\"\n\nOn January 2012, some diplomatic sources said that Turkey promised to provide Haniyeh's Gaza Strip administration with $300 million to support its annual budget.\n\nOn April 2012, the Hamas government in Gaza approved its budget for 2012, which was up 25 percent year-on-year over 2011 budget, indicating that donors, including Iran, benefactors in the Islamic world, and Palestinian expatriates, are still heavily funding the movement. Chief of Gaza's parliament's budget committee Jamal Nassar said the 2012 budget is $769 million, compared to $630 million in 2011.\n\nGeography and climate\n\nThe Gaza Strip is located in the Middle East (at ). It has a 51 km border with Israel, and an 11 km border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah. Khan Yunis is located 7 km northeast of Rafah, and several towns around Deir el-Balah are located along the coast between it and Gaza City. Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun are located to the north and northeast of Gaza City, respectively. The Gush Katif bloc of Israeli settlements used to exist on the sand dunes adjacent to Rafah and Khan Yunis, along the southwestern edge of the 40 km Mediterranean coastline. Al Deira beach is a popular venue for surfers. \n\nThe Gaza Strip has an arid climate, with mild winters, and dry, hot summers subject to drought. The terrain is flat or rolling, with dunes near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105 m above sea level. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne diseases; soil degradation; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources.\n\nNatural resources \n\nNatural resources of Gaza include arable land—about a third of the strip is irrigated. Recently, natural gas was discovered. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; water-borne disease; soil degradation; lack of adequate sewage treatment; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources. The Gaza Strip is largely dependent on water from Wadi Gaza, which also supplies Israel. \n\nGaza's marine gas reserves extend 32 kilometres from the Gaza Strip's coastlineNafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, [http://mondediplo.com/blogs/israel-s-war-for-gaza-s-gas 'Israel’s War for Gaza’s Gas,'] Le Monde diplomatique, November 2012. and were calculated at 35 BCM.Steven W. Popper, Claude Berrebi, James Griffin, Thomas Light, Endy Y. Min, [https://books.google.it/books?iddMtllbFoH9UC&pg\nPA11 Natural Gas and Israel's Energy Future: Near-Term Decisions from a Strategic Perspective,] Rand Corporation, 2009 p.11.\n\nDemographics\n\nIn 2010 approximately 1.6 million Palestinians lived in the Gaza Strip, almost 1.0 million of them UN-registered refugees. The majority of the Palestinians descend from refugees who were driven from or left their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, one of the main reasons being a total fertility rate of 4.24 children per woman (2014 est). In a ranking by total fertility rate, this places Gaza 34th of 224 regions. According to the UN, unless remedial steps are taken to repair the basic infrastructure by 2020, with a further demographic increase of 500,000 and intensified housing problems, the Gaza Strip will become effectively uninhabitable. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.\n\nMost of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims, with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Arab Christians, making the region 99.8 percent Sunni Muslim and 0.2 percent Christian.\n\nReligion and culture\n\nReligious compliance of population to Islam\n\nIslamic law in Gaza\n\nFrom 1987 to 1991, during the First Intifada, Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab head-cover and for other measures (such as the promotion of polygamy, segregating women from men and insisting they stay at home). In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed by Hamas activists, leading to hijabs being worn \"just to avoid problems on the streets\". \n\nIn October 2000, Islamic extremists burned down the Windmill Hotel, owned by Basil Eleiwa, when they learned it had served alcohol. \n\nSince Hamas took over in 2007, attempts have been made by Islamist activists to impose \"Islamic dress\" and to require women to wear the hijab. The government's \"Islamic Endowment Ministry\" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing and dating. However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women. \n\nAccording to Human Rights Watch, the Hamas-controlled government stepped up its efforts to \"Islamize\" Gaza in 2010, efforts it says included the \"repression of civil society\" and \"severe violations of personal freedom.\"[http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/27/opinion/la-oe-vanesveld-gaza-20100627 \"In Gaza, prisoners twice over; Palestinians are being squeezed by the Israeli blockade and Hamas' 'Islamizing' actions,\"] Bill Van Esveld, Bill Van Esveld is a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, 27 June 2010, Los Angeles Times.\n\nPalestinian researcher Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the \"Taliban-like steps\" Hamas has taken: \"The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip—the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s]—is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.\" Hamas officials denied having any plans to impose Islamic law. One legislator stated that \"[w]hat you are seeing are incidents, not policy\" and that \"we believe in persuasion\".\n\nIn October 2012 Gaza youth complained that security officers had obstructed their freedom to wear saggy pants and to have haircuts of their own choosing, and that they faced being arrested. Youth in Gaza are also arrested by security officers for wearing shorts and for showing their legs, which have been described by youth as embarrassing incidents, and one youth explained that \"My saggy pants did not harm anyone.\" However, a spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Interior denied such a campaign, and denied interfering in the lives of Gaza citizens, but explained that \"maintaining the morals and values of the Palestinian society is highly required\". \n\nIslamic politics\n\nIran was the largest state supporter of Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood also gave support, but these political relationships have recently been disrupted following the Arab Spring by Iranian support for and the position of Hamas has declined as support diminishes.\n\nSalafism\n\nIn addition to Hamas, a Salafist movement began to appear about 2005 in Gaza, characterized by \"a strict lifestyle based on that of the earliest followers of Islam\". , there are estimated to be only \"hundreds or perhaps a few thousand\" Salafists in Gaza. However, the failure of Hamas to lift the Israeli blockade of Gaza despite thousands of casualties and much destruction during 2008-9 and 2014 wars has weakened Hamas's support and led some in Hamas to be concerned about the possibility of defections to the Salafist \"Islamic State\".\n\nThe movement has clashed with Hamas on a number of occasions. In 2009, a Salafist leader, Abdul Latif Moussa, declared an Islamic emirate in the town of Rafah, on Gaza's southern border. Moussa and 19 other people were killed when Hamas forces stormed his mosque and house. In 2011, Salafists abducted and murdered a pro-Palestinian Italian activist, Vittorio Arrigoni. Following this Hamas again took action to crush the Salafist groups.\n\nArchaeology\n\nThe Gaza Museum of Archaeology was established by Jawdat N. Khoudary in 2008.[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/world/middleeast/25gaza.html?_r\n1&scp2&sq\narchaeology&stcse&oref\nslogin Museum Offers Gray Gaza a View of Its Dazzling Past, Ethan Bronner], New York Times, 25 July 2008\n\nEducation\n\nIn 2010, illiteracy among Gazan youth was less than 1%. In 2012, there were five universities in the Gaza Strip and eight new schools are under construction. According to UNRWA figures, there are 640 schools in Gaza: 383 government schools, 221 UNRWA schools and 36 private schools, serving a total of 441,452 students. \n\nIn 2010, Al Zahara, a private school in central Gaza introduced a special program for mental development based on math computations. The program was created in Malaysia in 1993, according to the school principal, Majed al-Bari. \n\nThe Community College of Applied Science and Technology (CCAST) was established in 1998 in Gaza City. In 2003, the college moved into its new campus and established the Gaza Polytechnic Institute (GPI) in 2006 in southern Gaza. In 2007, the college received accreditation to award BA degrees as the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS). In 2010, the college had a student population of 6,000 in eight departments offering over 40 majors. \n\nIn June 2011, some Gazans, upset that UNRWA did not rebuild their homes that were lost in the Second Intifada, blocked UNRWA from performing its services and shut down UNRWA's summer camps. Gaza residents also closed UNRWA's emergency department, social services office and ration stores. \n\nHealth\n\nStatistics\n\nIn Gaza, there are hospitals and additional healthcare facilities. Because of the high number of young people the mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world, at 0.315% per year. The infant mortality rate is ranked 105th highest out of 224 countries and territories, at 16.55 deaths per 1,000 births. The Gaza Strip places 24th out of 135 countries according to Human Poverty Index.\n\nA study carried out by Johns Hopkins University (U.S.) and Al-Quds University (in Abu Dis) for CARE International in late 2002 revealed very high levels of dietary deficiency among the Palestinian population. The study found that 17.5% of children aged 6–59 months suffered from chronic malnutrition. 53% of women of reproductive age and 44% of children were found to be anemic. After the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip health conditions in Gaza Strip faced new challenges. World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concerns about the consequences of the Palestinian internal political fragmentation; the socioeconomic decline; military actions; and the physical, psychological and economic isolation on the health of the population in Gaza. In a 2012 study of the occupied territories, the WHO reported that roughly 50% of the young children and infants under two years old and 39.1% of pregnant women receiving antenatal services care in Gaza suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. The organization also observed chronic malnutrition in children under five \"is not improving and may be deteriorating.\" \n\nDr. Mohammed Abu Shaban, director of the Blood Tumors Department in Al-Rantisy Hospital in Gaza witnessed an increase in blood cancer. In March 2010 the department had seen 55 cases that year, compared to 20 to 25 cases normally seen in an entire year. According to the United Nations Development Programme, the average life expectancy in the Gaza Strip is 72. \n\nHealthcare availability\n\nAccording to Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip, the majority of medical aid delivered are \"past their expiration date.\" Mounir el-Barash, the director of donations in Gaza's health department, claims 30% of aid sent to Gaza is used. \n\nGazans who desire medical care in Israeli hospitals must apply for a medical visa permit. In 2007, State of Israel granted 7,176 permits and denied 1,627. [http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_PSE.html Human Development Reports]\n\nIn 2012, two hospitals funded by Turkey and Saudi Arabia were under construction. \n\nCulture and sports\n\nFine arts\n\nThe Gaza Strip has been home to a significant branch of the contemporary Palestinian art movement since the mid 20th century. Notable artists include painters Ismail Ashour, Shafiq Redwan, Bashir Senwar, Majed Shalla, Fayez Sersawi, Abdul Rahman al Muzayan and Ismail Shammout, and media artists Taysir Batniji (who lives in France) and Laila al Shawa (who lives in London). An emerging generation of artists is also active in nonprofit art organizations such as Windows From Gaza and Eltiqa Group, which regularly host exhibitions and events open to the public. \n\nAthletics\n\nIn 2010, Gaza inaugurated its first Olympic-size swimming pool at the As-Sadaka club. The opening ceremony was held by the Islamic Society.[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID\n285242 Gaza opens first Olympic-size swimming pool], 18 May 2010, Ma'an News Agency. The swimming team of as-Sadaka holds several gold and silver medals from Palestinian swimming competitions. \n\nTransport and communications\n\nTransport\n\nThe Oslo Accords ceded control of the airspace and territorial waters to Israel. Any external travel from Gaza requires cooperation from either Egypt or Israel.\n\nHighways\n\nSalah al-Din Road (also known as the Salah ad-Deen Highway) is the main highway of the Gaza Strip and extends over 45 km, spanning the entire length of the territory from the Rafah Crossing in the south to the Erez Crossing in the north. The road is named after the 12th-century Ayyubid general Salah al-Din.\n\nRail transport\n\nFormer railway: see Palestine Railways#Railway in the Gaza Strip\n\nMarine transport\n\nThe Port of Gaza has been an important and active port since antiquity. Despite plans under the Oslo Peace Accords to expand the port, it has been under a blockade since Hamas was elected as a majority party in the 2006 elections. Both the Israeli Navy and Egypt enforce the blockade, which continues currently and has limited many aspects of life in Gaza, especially, according to Human Rights Watch, the movement of people and commerce, with exports being most affected. The improvement and rebuilding of infrastructure is also negatively impacted by these sanctions. Plans to expand the port were halted after the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada.\n\nAir transport\n\nThe Yasser Arafat International Airport opened on 24 November 1998 after the signing of the Oslo II Accord and the Wye River Memorandum. It was closed by Israel in October 2000. Its radar station and control tower were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces aircraft in 2001 during the al-Aqsa Intifada, and bulldozers razed the runway in January 2002.[http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7900217/ Grounded in Gaza, but hoping to fly again], MSNBC, 19 May 2005[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4449461.stm Years of delays at Gaza airport], Johnston, Alan. BBC News, 15 April 2005 The only remaining runway in the strip, at the Gush Katif Airport, fell in to disuse following Israeli disengagement. The airspace over Gaza may be restricted by the Israeli Air Force as the Oslo Accords authorized.\n\nTelecommunications\n\nTelephone service\n\nThe Gaza Strip has rudimentary land line telephone service provided by an open-wire system, as well as extensive mobile telephone services provided by PalTel (Jawwal) and Israeli providers such as Cellcom. Gaza is serviced by four internet service providers that now compete for ADSL and dial-up customers.\n\nTelevision and radio\n\nMost Gaza households have a radio and a TV (70%+), and approximately 20% have a personal computer. People living in Gaza have access to FTA satellite programs, broadcast TV from the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority. \n\nHistory\n\nRule over Gaza, overview\n\nGaza was part of the Ottoman Empire, before it was occupied by the United Kingdom (1918-1948), Egypt (1948-1967), and then Israel, which in 1994 granted the Palestinian Authority in Gaza limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people.\n\nThe territory is still considered to be occupied by Israel by the United Nations, International human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators, despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza and additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.* * \n\nThe Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, confirmed by the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949. Article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by the Arab League in September 1948. All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, the Gaza Strip was directly administered by an Egyptian military governor.\n\nIsrael captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, the Palestinian Authority became the administrative body that governed Palestinian population centers while Israel maintained control of the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings with the exception of the land border with Egypt which is controlled by Egypt. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan.\n\nIn July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government. In 2007, Hamas expelled the rival party Fatah from Gaza. This broke the Unity Government between Gaza Strip and the West Bank, creating two separate governments for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.\n\nIn 2014, following reconciliation talks, Hamas and Fatah formed a Palestinian unity government within the West Bank and Gaza. Rami Hamdallah became the coalition's Prime Minister and has planned for elections in Gaza and the West Bank. In July 2014, a set of lethal incidents between Hamas and Israel led to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.\n\nFollowing the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the territory has been subjected to a blockade, maintained by Israel and Egypt, with Israel arguing that it is necessary to impede Hamas from rearming and to restrict Palestinian rocket attacks and Egypt preventing Gaza residents from entering Egypt. The blockades by Israel and Egypt extends to drastic reductions in basic construction materials, medical supplies, and food stuffs. Under the blockade, Gaza is viewed by some critics as an \"open-air prison\", although the claim is contested. \n\nPrior to 1923\n\n1923–48 British rule\n\nThe Palestine Mandate was based on the principles contained in Article 22 of the draft Covenant of the League of Nations and the San Remo Resolution of 25 April 1920 by the principal Allied and associated powers after the First World War.[http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/88A6BF6F1BD82405852574CD006C457F Palestine Royal Commission Report Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, July 1937, Cmd. 5479]. His Majesty’s Stationery Office., London, 1937. 404 pages + maps. The mandate formalized British rule in the southern part of Ottoman Syria from 1923–1948.\n\n1948 All-Palestine government\n\nOn 22 September 1948, towards the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the All-Palestine Government was proclaimed in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza City by the Arab League. It was conceived partly as an Arab League attempt to limit the influence of Transjordan in Palestine. The All-Palestine Government was quickly recognized by six of the then seven members of the Arab League: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, but not by Transjordan. It was not recognized by any country outside the Arab League.\n\nAfter the cessation of hostilities, the Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement of 24 February 1949 established the separation line between Egyptian and Israeli forces, and established what became the present boundary between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Both sides declared that the boundary was not an international border. The southern border with Egypt continued to be the international border which had been drawn in 1906 between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. \n\nPalestinians living in the Gaza Strip or Egypt were issued All-Palestine passports. Egypt did not offer them citizenship. From the end of 1949, they received aid directly from UNRWA. During the Suez Crisis (1956), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula were occupied by Israeli troops, who withdrew under international pressure. The government was accused of being little more than a façade for Egyptian control, with negligible independent funding or influence. It subsequently moved to Cairo and dissolved in 1959 by decree of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser.\n\n1959–67 Egyptian occupation\n\nAfter the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government in 1959, under the excuse of pan-Arabism, Egypt continued to occupy the Gaza Strip until 1967. Egypt never annexed the Gaza Strip, but instead treated it as a controlled territory and administered it through a military governor. The influx of over 200,000 refugees from former Mandatory Palestine, roughly a quarter of those who fled or were expelled from their homes during, and in the aftermath of, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War into Gaza resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living. Because the Egyptian government restricted movement to and from the Gaza Strip, its inhabitants could not look elsewhere for gainful employment. \n\n1967 Israeli occupation\n\nIn June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel Defense Forces captured the Gaza Strip.\n\nSubsequent to this military victory, Israel created the first settlement bloc in the Strip, Gush Katif, in the southwest corner of the Strip near Rafah and the Egyptian border on a spot where a small kibbutz had previously existed for 18 months between 1946-48. In total, between 1967 and 2005, Israel established 21 settlements in Gaza, comprising 20% of the total territory.\n\n1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty\n\nOn March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Among other things, the treaty provided for the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War. The Egyptians agreed to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized. The final status of the Gaza Strip, and other relations between Israel and Palestinians, was not dealt with in the treaty. Egypt renounced all territorial claims to territory north of the international border. The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration until 1994. During that time, the military was responsible for the maintenance of civil facilities and services.\n\nAfter the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty 1979, a 100-meter-wide buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Route was established. The international border along the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is 7 mi long. With the Agreement on Movement and Access, known as the Rafah Agreement, in 2005, Israel ended its presence in the Philadelphi Route and transferred responsibility for security arrangements to Egypt and the PA under the supervision of the EU. The Egyptian army has since destroyed some Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels \"in order to fight any element of terrorism\", according to an Egyptian security official. The Gaza border crossing into Egypt remains under the full control of Egypt. Egypt has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross that terrestrial border.\n\n1994: Gaza under Palestinian Authority\n\nIn September 1992, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy \"I would like Gaza to sink into the sea, but that won't happen, and a solution must be found.\" \n\nIn May 1994, following the Palestinian-Israeli agreements known as the Oslo Accords, a phased transfer of governmental authority to the Palestinians took place. Much of the Strip (except for the settlement blocs and military areas) came under Palestinian control. The Israeli forces left Gaza City and other urban areas, leaving the new Palestinian Authority to administer and police those areas. The Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, chose Gaza City as its first provincial headquarters. In September 1995, Israel and the PLO signed a second peace agreement, extending the Palestinian Authority to most West Bank towns.\n\nBetween 1994 and 1996, Israel built the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier to improve security in Israel. The barrier was largely torn down by Palestinians at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000.\n\n2000 Second Intifada\n\nThe Second Intifada broke out in September 2000 with waves of protest, civil unrest and bombings against Israeli military and civilians, many of them perpetrated by suicide bombers. The Second Intifada also marked the beginning of rocket attacks and bombings of Israeli border localities by Palestinian guerrillas from Gaza Strip, especially by the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements.\n\nBetween December 2000 and June 2001, the barrier between Gaza and Israel was reconstructed. A barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was constructed starting in 2004. The main crossing points are the northern Erez Crossing into Israel and the southern Rafah Crossing into Egypt. The eastern Karni Crossing used for cargo, closed down in 2011. Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel. Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. \"Egypt maintains a strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai.\" \n\n2005 Israel's unilateral disengagement\n\nIn February 2005, the Knesset approved a unilateral disengagement plan and began removing Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. All Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the joint Israeli-Palestinian Erez Industrial Zone were dismantled, and 9,000 Israelis, most living in Gush Katif, were forcibly evicted.\n\nOn 12 September 2005, the Israeli cabinet formally declared an end to Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip.\n\n\"The Oslo Agreements gave Israel full control over Gaza's airspace, but established that the Palestinians could build an airport in the area...\" and the disengagement plan states that: \"Israel will hold sole control of Gaza airspace and will continue to carry out military activity in the waters of the Gaza Strip.\" \"Therefore, Israel continues to maintain exclusive control of Gaza's airspace and the territorial waters, just as it has since it occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967.\" Human Rights Watch has advised the UN Human Rights Council that it (and others) consider Israel to be the occupying power of the Gaza Strip because Israel controls Gaza Strip's airspace, territorial waters and controls the movement of people or goods in or out of Gaza by air or sea. The EU considers Gaza to be occupied. Israel also withdrew from the Philadelphi Route, a narrow strip of land adjacent to the border with Egypt, after Egypt agreed to secure its side of the border. Under the Oslo Accords, the Philadelphi Route was to remain under Israeli control to prevent the smuggling of weapons and people across the Egyptian border, but Egypt (under EU supervision) committed itself to patrolling the area and preventing such incidents. Israel maintained control over the crossings in and out of Gaza, and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was monitored by special surveillance cameras.\n\nThe Israel Defense Forces left the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan and all Israeli citizens were evicted from the area. In November 2005, an \"Agreement on Movement and Access\" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was brokered by then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to improve Palestinian freedom of movement and economic activity in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah crossing with Egypt was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Palestinian National Authority and the European Union. Only people with Palestinian ID, or foreign nationals, by exception, in certain categories, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. All goods, vehicles and trucks to and from Egypt passed through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, under full Israeli supervision. Goods were also permitted transit at the Karni crossing in the north.\n\nAfter the Israeli withdrawal in 2005 the Oslo Accords give the Palestinian Authority administrative authority in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah Border Crossing has been supervised by EU Border Assistance Mission Rafah under an agreement finalized in November 2005. The Oslo Accord permits Israel to control the airspace and sea space. \n\nPost-2006 elections violence\n\nIn the Palestinian parliamentary elections held on 25 January 2006, Hamas won a plurality of 42.9% of the total vote and 74 out of 132 total seats (56%). When Hamas assumed power the next month, Israel, the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations demanded that Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused, they cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, although some aid money was redirected to humanitarian organizations not affiliated with the government. The resulting political disorder and economic stagnation led to many Palestinians emigrating from the Gaza Strip. \n\nIn January 2007, fighting erupted between Hamas and Fatah. The deadliest clashes occurred in the northern Gaza Strip, where General Muhammed Gharib, a senior commander of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Force, died when a rocket hit his home.\n\nOn 30 January 2007, a truce was negotiated between Fatah and Hamas. However, after a few days, new fighting broke out. On 1 February, Hamas killed 6 people in an ambush on a Gaza convoy which delivered equipment for Abbas' Palestinian Presidential Guard, according to diplomats, meant to counter smuggling of more powerful weapons into Gaza by Hamas for its fast-growing \"Executive Force\". According to Hamas, the deliveries to the Presidential Guard were intended to instigate sedition (against Hamas), while withholding money and assistance from the Palestinian people. Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university in the Gaza Strip. Officers from Abbas' presidential guard battled Hamas gunmen guarding the Hamas-led Interior Ministry. \n\nIn May 2007, new fighting broke out between the factions. Interior Minister Hani Qawasmi, who had been considered a moderate civil servant acceptable to both factions, resigned due to what he termed harmful behavior by both sides. \n\nFighting spread in the Gaza Strip, with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. Following a breakdown in an Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel launched an air strike which destroyed a building used by Hamas. Ongoing violence prompted fear that it could bring the end of the Fatah-Hamas coalition government, and possibly the end of the Palestinian authority. \n\nHamas spokesman Moussa Abu Marzouk blamed the conflict between Hamas and Fatah on Israel, stating that the constant pressure of economic sanctions resulted in the \"real explosion.\" Associated Press reporter Ibrahim Barzak wrote an eyewitness account stating: \"Today I have seen people shot before my eyes, I heard the screams of terrified women and children in a burning building, and I argued with gunmen who wanted to take over my home. I have seen a lot in my years as a journalist in Gaza, but this is the worst it's been.\"\n\nFrom 2006-2007 more than 600 Palestinians were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. In the aftermath of the Gaza War, a series of violent acts killed 54 Palestinians, while hundreds have claimed they were tortured. 349 Palestinians were killed in fighting between factions in 2007. 160 Palestinians killed each other in June alone. \n\n2007 Hamas takeover\n\nFollowing the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinian authority national unity government headed by Ismail Haniya. Shortly after, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own. By 14 June, Hamas fully controlled the Gaza Strip. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by declaring a state of emergency, dissolving the unity government and forming a new government without Hamas participation. PNA security forces in the West Bank arrested a number of Hamas members.\n\nIn late June 2008, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan declared the West Bank-based cabinet formed by Abbas as \"the sole legitimate Palestinian government\". Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to the West Bank. \n\nSaudi Arabia and Egypt supported reconciliation and a new unity government and pressed Abbas to start talks with Hamas. Abbas had always conditioned this on Hamas returning control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas visited a number of countries, including Russia, and the EU member states. Opposition parties and politicians called for a dialogue with Hamas as well as an end to the economic sanctions.\n\nAfter the takeover, Israel and Egypt closed their border crossings with Gaza. Palestinian sources reported that European Union monitors fled the Rafah Border Crossing, on the Gaza–Egypt border for fear of being kidnapped or harmed. Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian officials presented a united front against control of the border by Hamas. \n\nMeanwhile, Israeli and Egyptian security reports said that Hamas continued smuggling in large quantities of explosives and arms from Egypt through tunnels. Egyptian security forces uncovered 60 tunnels in 2007. \n\n2007 issues\n\nAfter Hamas' June win, it ousted Fatah-linked officials from positions of power and authority (such as government positions, security services, universities, newspapers, etc.) and strove to enforce law by progressively removing guns from the hands of peripheral militias, clans, and criminal groups, and gaining control of supply tunnels. According to Amnesty International, under Hamas rule, newspapers were closed down and journalists were harassed. Fatah demonstrations were forbidden or suppressed, as in the case of a large demonstration on the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, after protesters hurled stones at Hamas security forces. \n\nHamas and other militant groups continued to fire Qassam rockets across the border into Israel. According to Israel, between the Hamas takeover and the end of January 2008, 697 rockets and 822 mortar bombs were fired at Israeli towns. In response, Israel targeted Qassam launchers and military targets and declared the Gaza Strip a hostile entity. In January 2008, Israel curtailed travel from Gaza, the entry of goods, and cut fuel supplies, resulting in power shortages. This brought charges that Israel was inflicting collective punishment on the Gaza population, leading to international condemnation. Despite multiple reports from within the Strip that food and other essentials were in short supply, Israel said that Gaza had enough food and energy supplies for weeks. \n\nThe Israeli government uses economic means to pressure Hamas. Among other things, it caused Israeli commercial enterprises like banks and fuel companies to stop doing business with the Gaza Strip. The role of private corporations in the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip is an issue that has not been extensively studied. \n\nDue to continued rocket attacks including 50 in one day, on March 2008, air strikes and ground incursions by the IDF led to the deaths of over 110 Palestinians and extensive damage to Jabalia. \n\nViolence\n\nViolence against Christians was recorded. The owner of a Christian bookshop was abducted and murdered and, on 15 February 2008, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) library in Gaza City was bombed. \n\nEgyptian border barrier breach\n\nOn 23 January 2008, after months of preparation during which the steel reinforcement of the border barrier was weakened, Hamas destroyed several parts of the wall dividing Gaza and Egypt in the town of Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to the crisis, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians in but to verify that they did not bring weapons back across the border. Egypt arrested and later released several armed Hamas militants in the Sinai who presumably wanted to infiltrate into Israel. At the same time, Israel increased its state of alert along the length of the Israel-Egypt Sinai border, and warned its citizens to leave Sinai \"without delay.\"\n\nThe EU Border Monitors initially monitored the border because Hamas guaranteed their safety, but they later fled. The Palestinian Authority demanded that Egypt deal only with the Authority in negotiations relating to borders. Israel eased restrictions on the delivery of goods and medical supplies but curtailed electricity by 5% in one of its ten lines. The Rafah crossing remained closed into mid-February. \n\nIn February 2008, 2008 Israel-Gaza conflict intensified, with rockets launched at Israeli cities. Aggression by Hamas led to Israeli military action on 1 March 2008, resulting in over 110 Palestinians being killed according to BBC News, as well as 2 Israeli soldiers. Israeli human rights group B'Tselem estimated that 45 of those killed were not involved in hostilities, and 15 were minors. \n\nAfter a round of tit-for-tat arrests between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the Hilles clan from Gaza were relocated to Jericho on 4 August 2008. Retiring Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on 11 November 2008, \"The question is not whether there will be a confrontation, but when it will take place, under what circumstances, and who will control these circumstances, who will dictate them, and who will know to exploit the time from the beginning of the ceasefire until the moment of confrontation in the best possible way.” On 14 November 2008, Israel blockaded its border with Gaza after a five-month ceasefire broke down. In 2013 Israel and Qatar brought Gaza’s lone power plant back to life for the first time in seven weeks, bringing relief to the Palestinian coastal enclave where a lack of cheap fuel has contributed to the overflow of raw sewage, 21-hour blackouts and flooding after a ferocious winter storm. \"Palestinian officials said that a $10 million grant from Qatar was covering the cost of two weeks’ worth of industrial diesel that started entering Gaza by truckload from Israel.\" \n\nOn 25 November 2008, Israel closed its cargo crossing with Gaza after Qassam rockets were fired into its territory. On 28 November, after a 24-hour period of quiet, the IDF facilitated the transfer of over thirty truckloads of food, basic supplies and medicine into Gaza and transferred fuel to the area's main power plant. \n\n2008 Gaza War\n\nOn 27 December 2008, Israeli F-16 fighters launched a series of air strikes against targets in Gaza following the breakdown of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas. Israeli defense sources said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to prepare for the operation six months before it began, using long-term planning and intelligence-gathering. \n\nVarious sites that Israel claimed were being used as weapons depots were struck: police stations, schools, hospitals, UN warehouses, mosques, various Hamas government buildings and other buildings. Israel said that the attack was a response to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, which totaled over 3,000 in 2008, and which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. Israel advised people near military targets to leave before the attacks. Palestinian medical staff claimed at least 434 Palestinians were killed, and at least 2,800 wounded, consisting of many civilians and an unknown number of Hamas members, in the first five days of Israeli strikes on Gaza. The IDF denied that the majority of the dead were civilian. Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on 3 January 2009. Israel rebuffed many cease-fire calls but later declared a cease fire although Hamas vowed to fight on. \n\nA total of 1,100-1,400 Palestinians (295-926 civilians) and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day war. \n\nThe conflict damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes, 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities, 800 water wells, 186 greenhouses, and nearly all of its 10,000 family farms; leaving 50,000 homeless, 400,000-500,000 without running water, one million without electricity, and resulting in acute food shortages. The people of Gaza still suffer from the loss of these facilities and homes, especially since they have great challenges to rebuild them.\n\nBy February 2009, food availability returned to pre-war levels but a shortage of fresh produce was forecast due to damage sustained by the agricultural sector. \n\nA 2014 unity government with Fatah\n\nOn 5 June 2014 Fatah signed a unity agreement with Hamas political party. \n\n2014 Israel–Gaza conflict\n\nConnections to Sinai insurgency\n\nEgypt's Sinai Peninsula borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. Its vast and desolate terrain has transformed it into a hotbed of illicit and militant activity. Although most of the area's inhabitants are tribal Bedouins, there has been a recent increase in al-Qaeda inspired global jihadi militant groups operating in the region. Out of the approximately 15 main militant groups operating in the Sinai desert, the most dominant and active militant groups have close relations with the Gaza Strip. \n\nAccording to Egyptian authorities, the Army of Islam, a U.S. designated \"terrorist organization\" based in the Gaza Strip, is responsible for training and supplying many militant organizations and jihadist members in Sinai. Mohammed Dormosh, the Army of Islam's leader, is known for his close relationships to the Hamas leadership. Army of Islam smuggles members into the Gaza Strip for training, then returns them to the Sinai Peninsula to engage in militant and jihadist activities.",
"Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups - U.S. Department of State\nU.S. Department of State Diplomacy in Action. ... known to be responsible for the kidnapping or death of any US citizen during the ... Several of the hostages, ...\nChapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups\nChapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups\nOffice of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism\nApril 27, 2005\nReport\nTitle 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f, which requires the Department of State to provide an annual report to Congress on terrorism, requires the report to include, inter alia, information on terrorist groups and umbrella groups under which any terrorist group falls, known to be responsible for the kidnapping or death of any US citizen during the preceding five years; groups known to be financed by state sponsors of terrorism about which Congress was notified during the past year in accordance with Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act; and any other known international terrorist group that the Secretary of State determined should be the subject of the report. The list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) below is followed by a list of other selected terrorist groups also deemed of relevance in the global war on terrorism.\nForeign Terrorist Organizations\nBasque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)\nCommunist Party of Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA)\nContinuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)\nGama'a al-Islamiyya (IG)\nIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)\nJaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)\nLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)\nLibyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)\nMujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)\nAl-Qa'ida\nRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN)\nRevolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)\nSalafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)\nShining Path (SL)\nTanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR)\nUnited Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)\n17 November\na.k.a. Epanastatiki Organosi 17 Noemvri\nRevolutionary Organization 17 November\nDescription\n17 November is a radical leftist group established in 1975 and named for the student uprising in Greece in November 1973 that protested the ruling military junta. 17 November is an anti-Greek establishment, anti-United States, anti-Turkey, and anti-NATO group that seeks the ouster of US bases from Greece, the removal of Turkish military forces from Cyprus, and the severing of Greece's ties to NATO and the European Union (EU).\nActivities\nInitial attacks were assassinations of senior US officials and Greek public figures. They began using bombings in the 1980s. Since 1990, 17 November has expanded its targets to include EU facilities and foreign firms investing in Greece and has added improvised rocket attacks to its methods. It supported itself largely through bank robberies. A failed 17 November bombing attempt in June 2002 at the Port of Piraeus in Athens, coupled with robust detective work, led to the arrest of 19 members --the first 17 November operatives ever arrested. In December 2003, a Greek court convicted 15 members -- five of whom were given multiple life terms -- of hundreds of crimes. Four other alleged members were acquitted for lack of evidence. In September 2004, several jailed members serving life sentences began hunger strikes to attain better prison conditions.\nStrength\nUnknown but presumed to be small.\nLocation/Area of Operation\na.k.a. Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims\nDescription\nThe ANO international terrorist organization was founded by Sabri al-Banna (a.k.a. Abu Nidal) after splitting from the PLO in 1974. The group's previous known structure consisted of various functional committees, including political, military, and financial. In November 2002 Abu Nidal died in Baghdad; the new leadership of the organization remains unclear.\nActivities\nThe ANO has carried out terrorist attacks in 20 countries, killing or injuring almost 900 persons. Targets include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO, and various Arab countries. Major attacks included the Rome and Vienna airports in 1985, the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi in 1986, and the City of Poros day-excursion ship attack in Greece in 1988. The ANO is suspected of assassinating PLO deputy chief Abu Iyad and PLO security chief Abu Hul in Tunis in 1991. The ANO assassinated a Jordanian diplomat in Lebanon in 1994 and has been linked to the killing of the PLO representative there. The group has not staged a major attack against Western targets since the late 1980s.\nStrength\nFew hundred plus limited overseas support structure.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAl-Banna relocated to Iraq in December 1998 where the group maintained a presence until Operation Iraqi Freedom, but its current status in country is unknown. Known members have an operational presence in Lebanon, including in several Palestinian refugee camps. Authorities shut down the ANO's operations in Libya and Egypt in 1999. The group has demonstrated the ability to operate over a wide area, including the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. However, financial problems and internal disorganization have greatly reduced the group's activities and its ability to maintain cohesive terrorist capability.\nExternal Aid\nThe ANO received considerable support, including safe haven, training, logistical assistance, and financial aid from Iraq, Libya, and Syria (until 1987), in addition to close support for selected operations.\nAbu Sayyaf Group (ASG)\nDescription\nThe ASG is primarily a small, violent Muslim terrorist group operating in the southern Philippines. Some ASG leaders allegedly fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet war and are students and proponents of radical Islamic teachings. The group split from the much larger Moro National Liberation Front in the early 1990s under the leadership of Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine police in December 1998. His younger brother, Khadaffy Janjalani, replaced him as the nominal leader of the group and appears to have consolidated power.\nActivities\nThe ASG engages in kidnappings for ransom, bombings, beheadings, assassinations, and extortion. The group's stated goal is to promote an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago (areas in the southern Philippines heavily populated by Muslims) but the ASG has primarily used terror for financial profit. Recent bombings may herald a return to a more radical, politicized agenda, at least among certain factions. The group's first large-scale action was a raid on the town of Ipil in Mindanao in April 1995. In April of 2000, an ASG faction kidnapped 21 persons, including 10 Western tourists, from a resort in Malaysia. On May 27, 2001, the ASG kidnapped three US citizens and 17 Filipinos from a tourist resort in Palawan, Philippines. Several of the hostages, including US citizen Guillermo Sobero, were murdered. During a Philippine military hostage rescue operation on June 7, 2002, US hostage Gracia Burnham was rescued, but her husband Martin Burnham and Filipina Deborah Yap were killed. Philippine authorities say that the ASG had a role in the bombing near a Philippine military base in Zamboanga in October 2002 that killed a US serviceman. In February 2004, Khadaffy Janjalani's faction bombed SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay, killing approximately 132, and in March, Philippine authorities arrested an ASG cell whose bombing targets included the US Embassy in Manila.\nStrength\nEstimated to have 200 to 500 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe ASG was founded in Basilan Province and operates there and in the neighboring provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the Sulu Archipelago. The group also operates on the Zamboanga peninsula, and members occasionally travel to Manila. In mid-2003, the group started operating in the major city of Cotobato and on the coast of Sultan Kudarat on Mindanao. The group expanded its operational reach to Malaysia in 2000 when it abducted foreigners from a tourist resort.\nExternal Aid\nLargely self-financing through ransom and extortion; has received support from Islamic extremists in the Middle East and may receive support from regional terrorist groups. Libya publicly paid millions of dollars for the release of the foreign hostages seized from Malaysia in 2000.\nAl-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (al-Aqsa)\na.k.a. al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalion\nDescription\nThe al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade consists of an unknown number of small cells of terrorists associated with the Palestinian Fatah organization. Al-Aqsa emerged at the outset of the 2000 Palestinian intifadah to attack Israeli targets with the aim of driving the Israeli military and settlers from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem, and to establish a Palestinian state.\nActivities\nAl-Aqsa has carried out shootings and suicide operations against Israeli civilians and military personnel in Israel and the Palestinian territories, rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, and the killing of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. Al-Aqsa has killed a number of US citizens, the majority of them dual US-Israeli citizens, in its attacks. In January 2002, al-Aqsa was the first Palestinian terrorist group to use a female suicide bomber.\nStrength\nUnknown.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAl-Aqsa operates in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip, and has only claimed attacks inside these three areas. It may have followers in Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nIn the last year, numerous public accusations suggest Iran and Hizballah are providing support to al-Aqsa elements, but the extent of external influence on al-Aqsa as a whole is not clear.\nAnsar al-Islam (AI)\na.k.a. Ansar al-Sunnah Partisans of Islam, Helpers of Islam, Kurdish Taliban\nDescription\nAnsar al-Islam (AI) is a radical Islamist group of Iraqi Kurds and Arabs who have vowed to establish an independent Islamic state in Iraq. The group was formed in December 2001. In the fall of 2003, a statement was issued calling all jihadists in Iraq to unite under the name Ansar al-Sunnah (AS). Since that time, it is likely that AI has posted all claims of attack under the name AS.\nAI is closely allied with al-Qa'ida and Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's group, Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) in Iraq. Some members of AI trained in al-Qa'ida camps in Afghanistan, and the group provided safe haven to al-Qa'ida fighters before Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Since OIF, AI has become one of the leading groups engaged in anti-Coalition attacks in Iraq and has developed a robust propaganda campaign.\nActivities\nAI continues to conduct attacks against Coalition forces, Iraqi Government officials and security forces, and ethnic Iraqi groups and political parties. AI members have been implicated in assassinations and assassination attempts against Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) officials and Coalition forces, and also work closely with both al-Qa'ida operatives and associates in QJBR. AI has also claimed responsibility for many high profile attacks, including the simultaneous suicide bombings of the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) party offices in Ibril on February 1, 2004, and the bombing of the US military dining facility in Mosul on December 21, 2004.\nStrength\nApproximately 500 to 1,000 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily central and northern Iraq.\nExternal Aid\nThe group receives funding, training, equipment, and combat support from al-Qa'ida, QJBR, and other international jihadist backers throughout the world. AI also has operational and logistic support cells in Europe.\nArmed Islamic Group (GIA)\nDescription\nAn Islamist extremist group, the GIA aims to overthrow the Algerian regime and replace it with a fundamentalist Islamic state. The GIA began its violent activity in 1992 after the military government suspended legislative elections in anticipation of an overwhelming victory by the Islamic Salvation Front, the largest Islamic opposition party.\nActivities\nThe GIA has engaged in attacks against civilians and government workers. Starting in 1992, the GIA conducted a terrorist campaign of civilian massacres, sometimes wiping out entire villages in its area of operation, and killing tens of thousands of Algerians. GIA's brutal attacks on civilians alienated them from the Algerian populace. Since announcing its campaign against foreigners living in Algeria in 1992, the GIA has killed more than 100 expatriate men and women, mostly Europeans, in the country. Many of the GIA's members have joined other Islamist groups or been killed or captured by the Algerian Government. The GIA's most recent significant attacks were in August, 2001.\nStrength\nPrecise numbers are unknown, but probably fewer than 100.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAlgeria, Sahel (i.e. northern Mali, northern Mauritania, and northern Niger), and Europe.\nExternal Aid\nThe GIA has members in Europe that provide funding.\nAsbat al-Ansar\nDescription\nAsbat al-Ansar, the League of the Followers or Partisans' League, is a Lebanon-based Sunni extremist group, composed primarily of Palestinians with links to Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida organization and other Sunni extremist groups. The group follows an extremist interpretation of Islam that justifies violence against civilian targets to achieve political ends. Some of the group's goals include overthrowing the Lebanese Government and thwarting perceived anti-Islamic and pro-Western influences in the country.\nActivities\nAsbat al-Ansar has carried out multiple terrorist attacks in Lebanon since it first emerged in the early 1990s. The group assassinated Lebanese religious leaders and bombed nightclubs, theaters, and liquor stores in the mid1990s. The group raised its operational profile in 2000 with two attacks against Lebanese and international targets. It was involved in clashes in northern Lebanon in December 1999 and carried out a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Russian Embassy in Beirut in January 2000. Asbat al-Ansar's leader, Abu Muhjin, remains at large despite being sentenced to death in absentia for the 1994 murder of a Muslim cleric.\nSuspected Asbat al-Ansar elements were responsible for an attempt in April 2003 to use a car bomb against a McDonald's in a Beirut suburb. By October, Lebanese security forces arrested Ibn al-Shahid, who is believed to be associated with Asbat al-Ansar, and charged him with masterminding the bombing of three fast food restaurants in 2002 and the attempted attack on a McDonald's in 2003. Asbat forces were involved in other violence in Lebanon in 2003, including clashes with members of Yassir Arafat's Fatah movement in the 'Ayn al-Hilwah refugee camp and a rocket attack in June on the Future TV building in Beirut.\nIn 2004, no successful terrorist attacks were attributed to Asbat al-Ansar. However, in September, operatives with links to the group were believed to be involved in a planned terrorist operation targeting the Italian Embassy, the Ukrainian Consulate General, and Lebanese Government offices. The plot, which reportedly also involved other Lebanese Sunni extremists, was thwarted by Italian, Lebanese, and Syrian security agencies. In 2004, Asbat al-Ansar remained vocal in its condemnation of the United States' presence in Iraq, and in April the group urged Iraqi insurgents to kill US and other hostages to avenge the death of HAMAS leaders Abdul Aziz Rantisi and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. In October, Mahir al-Sa'di, a member of Asbat al-Ansar, was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for plotting to assassinate former US Ambassador to Lebanon David Satterfield in 2000. Until his death in March 2003, al-Sa'di worked in cooperation with Abu Muhammad al-Masri, the head of al-Qa'ida at the 'Ayn al-Hilwah refugee camp, where fighting has occurred between Asbat al-Ansar and Fatah elements.\nStrength\nThe group commands about 300 fighters in Lebanon.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe group's primary base of operations is the 'Ayn al-Hilwah Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nProbably receives money through international Sunni extremist networks and possibly Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida network.\nAum Shinrikyo (Aum)\na.k.a. Aum Supreme Truth, Aleph\nDescription\nA cult established in 1987 by Shoko Asahara, the Aum aimed to take over Japan and then the world. Approved as a religious entity in 1989 under Japanese law, the group ran candidates in a Japanese parliamentary election in 1990. Over time, the cult began to emphasize the imminence of the end of the world and stated that the United States would initiate Armageddon by starting World War III with Japan. The Japanese Government revoked its recognition of the Aum as a religious organization in October 1995, but in 1997 a Government panel decided not to invoke the Anti-Subversive Law against the group, which would have outlawed it. A 1999 law continues to give the Japanese Government authorization to maintain police surveillance of the group due to concerns that the Aum might launch future terrorist attacks. Under the leadership of Fumihiro Joyu, the Aum changed its name to Aleph in January 2000 and tried to distance itself from the violent and apocalyptic teachings of its founder. However, in late 2003, Joyu stepped down, pressured by members who wanted to return fully to the worship of Asahara.\nActivities\nOn March 20, 1995, Aum members simultaneously released the chemical nerve agent sarin on several Tokyo subway trains, killing 12 persons and injuring up to 1,500. The group was responsible for other mysterious events involving chemical incidents in Japan in 1994. Its efforts to conduct attacks using biological agents have been unsuccessful. Japanese police arrested Asahara in May 1995, and authorities sentenced him in February 2004 to death for his role in the attacks of 1995. Since 1997, the cult has continued to recruit new members, engage in commercial enterprise, and acquire property, although it scaled back these activities significantly in 2001 in response to public outcry. In July 2001, Russian authorities arrested a group of Russian Aum followers who had planned to set off bombs near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as part of an operation to free Asahara from jail and smuggle him to Russia.\nStrength\nThe Aum's current membership in Japan is estimated to be about 1,650 persons. At the time of the Tokyo subway attack, the group claimed to have 9,000 members in Japan and as many as 40,000 worldwide.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe Aum's principal membership is located in Japan, but a residual branch comprising about 300 followers has surfaced in Russia.\nExternal Aid\nBasque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)\na.k.a. Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna, Batasuna\nDescription\nETA was founded in 1959 with the aim of establishing an independent homeland based on Marxist principles and encompassing the Spanish Basque provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, as well as the autonomous region of Navarra and the southwestern French Departments of Labourd, Basse-Navarra, and Soule. Spanish and French counterterrorism initiatives since 2000 have hampered the group's operational capabilities. Spanish police arrested scores of ETA members and accomplices in Spain in 2004, and dozens were apprehended in France, including two key group leaders. These arrests included the capture in October of two key ETA leaders in southwestern France. ETA's political wing, Batasuna, remains banned in Spain. Spanish and French prisons are estimated to hold over 700 ETA members.\nActivities\nPrimarily involved in bombings and assassinations of Spanish Government officials, security and military forces, politicians, and judicial figures, but has also targeted journalists and tourist areas. Security service scrutiny and a public outcry after the Islamic extremist train bombing on March 11, 2004, in Madrid limited ETA's capabilities and willingness to inflict casualties. ETA conducted no fatal attacks in 2004, but did mount several low-level bombings in Spanish tourist areas during the summer and 11 bombings in early December, each preceded by a warning call. The group has killed more than 850 persons and injured hundreds of others since it began lethal attacks in the 1960s. ETA finances its activities primarily through extortion and robbery.\nStrength\nUnknown; hundreds of members plus supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates primarily in the Basque autonomous regions of northern Spain and southwestern France, but also has attacked Spanish and French interests elsewhere.\nExternal Aid\nHas received training at various times in the past in Libya, Lebanon, and Nicaragua. Some ETA members allegedly fled to Cuba and Mexico while others reside in South America. ETA members have operated and been arrested in other European countries, including Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany.\nCommunist Party of Philippines/ New People's Army (CPP/NPA)\nDescription\nThe military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the NPA is a Maoist group formed in March 1969 with the aim of overthrowing the Government through protracted guerrilla warfare. The chairman of the CPP's Central Committee and the NPA's founder, Jose Maria Sison, reportedly directs CPP and NPA activity from The Netherlands, where he lives in self-imposed exile. Fellow Central Committee member and director of the CPP's overt political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF), Luis Jalandoni also lives in The Netherlands and has become a Dutch citizen. Although primarily a rural-based guerrilla group, the NPA has an active urban infrastructure to support its terrorist activities and uses city-based assassination squads. The rebels have claimed that the FTO designation has made it difficult to obtain foreign funding and forced them to step up extortion of businesses and politicians in the Philippines.\nActivities\nThe NPA primarily targets Philippine security forces, politicians, judges, government informers, former rebels who wish to leave the NPA, rival splinter groups, alleged criminals, Philippine infrastructure, and businesses that refuse to pay extortion, or \"revolutionary taxes.\" The NPA opposes any US military presence in the Philippines and attacked US military interests, killing several US service personnel, before the US base closures in 1992. Press reports in 1999 and in late 2001 indicated the NPA was again targeting US troops participating in joint military exercises, as well as US Embassy personnel. The NPA has claimed responsibility for the assassination of two congressmen from Quezon in May 2001 and Cagayan in June 2001 and for many other killings. In January 2002, the NPA publicly expressed its intent to target US personnel if discovered in NPA operating areas.\nStrength\nEstimated at less than 9,000, a number significantly lower than its peak strength of around 25,000 in the 1980s.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nOperates in rural Luzon, Visayas, and parts of Mindanao. Has cells in Manila and other metropolitan centers.\nExternal Aid\nContinuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)\na.k.a. Continuity Army Council, Republican Sinn Fein\nDescription\nCIRA is a terrorist splinter group formed in the mid 1990s as the clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Fein, which split from Sinn Fein in 1986. \"Continuity\" refers to the group's belief that it is carrying on the original Irish Republican Army's (IRA) goal of forcing the British out of Northern Ireland. CIRA's aliases, Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein, were also designated as FTOs. CIRA cooperates with the larger Real IRA.\nActivities\nCIRA has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include British military, Northern Ireland security forces, and Loyalist paramilitary groups. Unlike the Provisional IRA, CIRA is not observing a cease-fire. CIRA has continued its activities with a series of hoax bomb threats, low-level improvised explosive device attacks, kidnapping, intimidation, and so-called \"punishment beatings.\"\nStrength\nMembership is small, with possibly fewer than 50 hardcore activists. Police counterterrorist operations have reduced the group's strength, but CIRA continues to recruit, train, and plan operations.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic. Does not have an established presence in Great Britain.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States. May have acquired arms and materiel from the Balkans in cooperation with the Real IRA.\nGama'a al-Islamiyya (IG)\na.k.a. Islamic Group, al-Gama'at\nDescription\nThe IG, Egypt's largest militant group, has been active since the late 1970s, and is a loosely organized network. It has an external wing with supporters in several countries. The group's issuance of a cease-fire in 1997 led to a split into two factions: one, led by Mustafa Hamza, supported the cease-fire; the other, led by Rifa'i Taha Musa, called for a return to armed operations. The IG issued another ceasefire in March 1999, but its spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, sentenced to life in prison in January 1996 for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and incarcerated in the United States, rescinded his support for the cease-fire in June 2000. IG has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since the Luxor attack in 1997, which killed 58 tourists and four Egyptians and wounded dozens more. In February 1998, a senior member signed Usama Bin Ladin's fatwa calling for attacks against the United States.\nIn early 2001, Taha Musa published a book in which he attempted to justify terrorist attacks that would cause mass casualties. Taha Musa disappeared several months thereafter, and there is no information as to his current whereabouts. In March 2002, members of the group's historic leadership in Egypt declared use of violence misguided and renounced its future use, prompting denunciations by much of the leadership abroad. The Egyptian Government continues to release IG members from prison, including approximately 900 in 2003; likewise, most of the 700 persons released in 2004 at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan were IG members.\nFor IG members still dedicated to violent jihad, their primary goal is to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Disaffected IG members, such as those inspired by Taha Musa or Abd al-Rahman, may be interested in carrying out attacks against US interests.\nActivities\nIG conducted armed attacks against Egyptian security and other Government officials, Coptic Christians, and Egyptian opponents of Islamic extremism before the cease-fire. After the 1997 cease-fire, the faction led by Taha Musa launched attacks on tourists in Egypt, most notably the attack in November 1997 at Luxor. IG also claimed responsibility for the attempt in June 1995 to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.\nStrength\nUnknown. At its peak IG probably commanded several thousand hard-core members and a like number of sympathizers. The 1999 cease-fire, security crackdowns following the attack in Luxor in 1997 and, more recently, security efforts following September 11 probably have resulted in a substantial decrease in the group's numbers.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates mainly in the al-Minya, Asyut, Qina, and Sohaj Governorates of southern Egypt. Also appears to have support in Cairo, Alexandria, and other urban locations, particularly among unemployed graduates and students. Has a worldwide presence, including in the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Yemen, and various locations in Europe.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown. There is some evidence that Usama bin Ladin and Afghan militant groups support the organization. IG also may obtain some funding through various Islamic non-governmental organizations (NGOs).\nHAMAS\na.k.a. Islamic Resistance Movement\nDescription\nHAMAS was formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various HAMAS elements have used both violent and political means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel. It is loosely structured, with some elements working clandestinely and others operating openly through mosques and social service institutions to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and distribute propaganda. HAMAS' strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.\nActivities\nHAMAS terrorists, especially those in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets. HAMAS maintained the pace of its operational activity in 2004, claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests. HAMAS has not yet directly targeted US interests, although the group makes little or no effort to avoid targets frequented by foreigners. HAMAS continues to confine its attacks to Israelis inside Israel and the occupied territories.\nStrength\nUnknown number of official members; tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nHAMAS currently limits its terrorist operations to Israeli military and civilian targets in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Israel. Two of the group's most senior leaders in the Gaza Strip, Shaykh Ahmad Yasin and Abd al Aziz al Rantisi, were killed in Israeli air strikes in 2004. The group retains a cadre of senior leaders spread throughout the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and the Gulf States.\nExternal Aid\nReceives some funding from Iran but primarily relies on donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. Some fundraising and propaganda activity take place in Western Europe and North America.\nHarakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)\na.k.a. Harakat ul-Ansar\nDescription\nHUM is an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan that operates primarily in Kashmir. It is politically aligned with the radical political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F). The long-time leader of the group, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, in mid-February 2000 stepped down as HUM emir, turning the reins over to the popular Kashmiri commander and his second-in-com-mand, Farooqi Kashmiri. Khalil, who has been linked to Usama Bin Ladin and signed his fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks on US and Western interests, assumed the position of HUM Secretary General. HUM operated terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan until Coalition air strikes destroyed them during fall 2001. Khalil was detained by the Pakistanis in mid-2004 and subsequently released in late December. In 2003, HUM began using the name Jamiat ul-Ansar (JUA), and Pakistan banned JUA in November 2003.\nActivities\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year. HUM was responsible for the hijacking of an Indian airliner on December 24, 1999, which resulted in the release of Masood Azhar. Azhar, an important leader in the former Harakat ul-Ansar, was imprisoned by the Indians in 1994 and founded Jaish-e-Muhammad after his release. Also released in 1999 was Ahmed Omar Sheik, who was convicted of the abduc-tion/murder in January-February 2002 of US journalist Daniel Pearl.\nStrength\nHas several hundred armed supporters located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Kashmir valley. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Uses light and heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets. HUM lost a significant share of its membership in defections to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) in 2000.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nBased in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, and several other towns in Pakistan, but members conduct insurgent and terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. HUM trained its militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.\nExternal Aid\nCollects donations from Saudi Arabia, other Gulf and Islamic states, Pakistanis and Kashmiris. HUM's financial collection methods also include soliciting donations in magazine ads and pamphlets. The sources and amount of HUM's military funding are unknown. In anticipation of asset seizures in 2001 by the Pakistani Government, the HUM withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods. Its fundraising in Pakistan has been constrained since the Government clampdown on extremist groups and freezing of terrorist assets.\nHizballah\na.k.a. Party of God, Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine\nDescription\nFormed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, this Lebanon-based radical Shia group takes its ideological inspiration from the Iranian revolution and the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, is the group's highest governing body and is led by Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah. Hizballah is dedicated to liberating Jerusalem and eliminating Israel, and has formally advocated ultimate establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon. Nonetheless, Hizballah has actively participated in Lebanon's political system since 1992. Hizballah is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran but has the capability and willingness to act independently. Though Hizballah does not share the Syrian regime's secular orientation, the group has been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in the region.\nActivities\nKnown or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-US and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984. Three members of Hizballah, 'Imad Mughniyah, Hasan Izz-al-Din, and Ali Atwa, are on the FBI's list of 22 Most Wanted Terrorists for the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 during which a US Navy diver was murdered. Elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention of Americans and other Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hizballah also attacked the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. In 2000, Hizballah operatives captured three Israeli soldiers in the Shab'a Farms and kidnapped an Israeli noncombatant.\nHizballah also provides guidance and financial and operational support for Palestinian extremist groups engaged in terrorist operations in Israel and the occupied territories.\nIn 2004, Hizballah launched an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that left Lebanese airspace and flew over the Israeli town of Nahariya before crashing into Lebanese territorial waters. Ten days prior to the event, the Hizballah Secretary General said Hizballah would come up with new measures to counter Israeli Air Force violations of Lebanese airspace. Hizballah also continued launching small scale attacks across the Israeli border, resulting in the deaths of several Israeli soldiers. In March 2004, Hizballah and HAMAS signed an agreement to increase joint efforts to perpetrate attacks against Israel. In late 2004, Hizballah's al-Manar television station, based in Beirut with an estimated ten million viewers worldwide, was prohibited from broadcasting in France. Al-Manar was placed on the Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) in the United States, which led to its removal from the program offerings of its main cable service provider, and made it more difficult for al-Manar associates and affiliates to operate in the United States.\nStrength\nSeveral thousand supporters and a few hundred terrorist operatives.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Beka'a Valley, and southern Lebanon. Has established cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and Asia.\nExternal Aid\nReceives financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran, and diplomatic, political, and logistical support from Syria. Hizballah also receives funding from charitable donations and business interests.\nIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is a group of Islamic militants from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states. The IMU is closely affiliated with al-Qa'ida and, under the leadership of Tohir Yoldashev, has embraced Usama Bin Ladin's anti-US, anti-Western agenda. The IMU also remains committed to its original goals of overthrowing Uzbekistani President Karimov and establishing an Islamic state in Uzbekistan.\nActivities\nThe IMU in recent years has participated in attacks on US and Coalition soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and plotted attacks on US diplomatic facilities in Central Asia.\nIn November 2004, the IMU was blamed for an explosion in the southern Kyrgyzstani city of Osh that killed one police officer and one terrorist. In May 2003, Kyrgyzstani security forces disrupted an IMU cell that was seeking to bomb the US Embassy and a nearby hotel in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The IMU was also responsible for explosions in Bishkek in December 2002 and Osh in May 2003 that killed eight people. The IMU primarily targeted Uzbekistani interests before October 2001 and is believed to have been responsible for five car bombs in Tashkent in February 1999. IMU militants also took foreigners hostage in 1999 and 2000, including four US citizens who were mountain climbing in August 2000 and four Japanese geologists and eight Kyrgyzstani soldiers in August 1999.\nStrength\nProbably fewer than 500.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nIMU militants are scattered throughout South Asia, Tajikistan, and Iran. The area of operations includes Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.\nExternal Aid\nThe IMU receives support from other Islamic extremist groups and patrons in the Middle East and Central and South Asia.\nJaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)\na.k.a. Army of Mohammed Tehrik ul-Furqaan, Khuddam-ul-Islam\nDescription\nThe Jaish-e-Mohammed is an Islamic extremist group based in Pakistan that was formed in early 2000 by Masood Azhar upon his release from prison in India. The group's aim is to unite Kashmir with Pakistan. It is politically aligned with the radical political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F). By 2003, JEM had splintered into Khuddam ul-Islam (KUI), headed by Azhar, and Jamaat ul-Furqan (JUF), led by Abdul Jabbar, who was released in August 2004 from Pakistani custody after being detained for suspected involvement in the December 2003 assassination attempts against President Musharraf. Pakistan banned KUI and JUF in November 2003. Elements of JEM and Lashkar e-Tayyiba combined with other groups to mount attacks as \"The Save Kashmir Movement.\"\nActivities\nThe JEM's leader, Masood Azhar, was released from Indian imprisonment in December 1999 in exchange for 155 hijacked Indian Airlines hostages. The Harakat-ul-Ansar (HUA) kidnappings in 1994 of US and British nationals by Omar Sheik in New Delhi and the HUA/al-Faran kidnappings in July 1995 of Westerners in Kashmir were two of several previous HUA efforts to free Azhar. On October 1, 2001, JEM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly building in Srinagar that killed at least 31 persons but later denied the claim. The Indian Government has publicly implicated JEM, along with Lashkar e-Tayyiba, for the December 13, 2001, attack on the Indian Parliament that killed nine and injured 18. Pakistani authorities suspect that perpetrators of fatal anti-Christian attacks in Islamabad, Murree, and Taxila during 2002 were affiliated with JEM. The Pakistanis have implicated elements of JEM in the assassination attempts against President Musharraf in December 2003.\nStrength\nHas several hundred armed supporters located in Pakistan and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Kashmir valley, including a large cadre of former HUM members. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPakistan. JEM maintained training camps in Afghanistan until the fall of 2001.\nExternal Aid\nMost of JEM's cadre and material resources have been drawn from the militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM). JEM had close ties to Afghan Arabs and the Taliban. Usama bin Ladin is suspected of giving funding to JEM. JEM also collects funds through donation requests in magazines and pamphlets. In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani Government, JEM withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods.\nJemaah Islamiya Organization (JI)\nDescription\nJemaah Islamiya Organization is responsible for numerous high-profile bombings, including the bombing of the J. W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on August 5, 2003, and the Bali bombings on October 12, 2002. Members of the group have also been implicated in the September 9, 2004, attack outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The Bali attack, which left more than 200 dead, was reportedly the final outcome of meetings in early 2002 in Thailand, where attacks in Singapore and against soft targets such as tourist spots were also considered. In June 2003, authorities disrupted a JI plan to attack several Western embassies and tourist sites in Thailand. In December 2001, Singaporean authorities uncovered a JI plot to attack the US and Israeli Embassies and British and Australian diplomatic buildings in Singapore. JI is also responsible for the coordinated bombings of numerous Christian churches in Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000 and was involved in the bombings of several targets in Manila on December 31, 2000. The capture in August 2003 of Indonesian Riduan bin Isomoddin (a.k.a. Hambali), JI leader and al-Qa'ida Southeast Asia operations chief, damaged the JI, but the group maintains its ability to target Western interests in the region and to recruit new members through a network of radical Islamic schools based primarily in Indonesia. The emir, or spiritual leader, of JI, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, was on trial at year's end on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, and for his links to the Bali and Jakarta Marriott bombings and to a cache of arms and explosives found in central Java.\nStrength\nExact numbers are unknown, but Southeast Asian authorities continue to uncover and arrest JI elements. Estimates of total JI members vary widely from the hundreds to the thousands.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nJI is believed to have cells spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.\nExternal Aid\nInvestigations indicate that JI is fully capable of its own fundraising, although it also receives financial, ideological, and logistical support from Middle Eastern and South Asian contacts, non-governmental organizations, and other groups.\nAl-Jihad (AJ)\na.k.a. Jihad Group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, EIJ\nDescription\nThis Egyptian Islamic extremist group merged with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida organization in 2001. Usama Bin Ladin's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was the former head of AJ. Active since the 1970s, AJ's primary goal has been the overthrow of the Egyptian Government and the establishment of an Islamic state. The group's primary targets, historically, have been high-level Egyptian Government officials as well as US and Israeli interests in Egypt and abroad. Regular Egyptian crackdowns on extremists, including on AJ, have greatly reduced AJ capabilities in Egypt.\nActivities\nThe original AJ was responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It claimed responsibility for the attempted assassinations of Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi in August 1993 and Prime Minister Atef Sedky in November 1993. AJ has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since 1993 and has never successfully targeted foreign tourists there. The group was responsible for the Egyptian Embassy bombing in Islamabad in 1995 and a disrupted plot against the US Embassy in Albania in 1998.\nStrength\nUnknown, but probably has several hundred hard-core members inside and outside of Egypt.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nHistorically AJ operated in the Cairo area. Most AJ members today are outside Egypt in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, and Yemen. AJ activities have been centered outside Egypt for several years under the auspices of al-Qa'ida.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown. Since 1998 AJ received most of its funding from al-Qa'ida, and these close ties culminated in the eventual merger of the groups. Some funding may come from various Islamic non-governmental organizations, cover businesses, and criminal acts.\nKahane Chai (Kach)\nDescription\nKach's stated goal is to restore the biblical state of Israel. Kach, founded by radical Israeli-American rabbi Meir Kahane, and its offshoot Kahane Chai, (translation: \"Kahane Lives\"), founded by Meir Kahane's son Binyamin following his father's 1990 assassination in the United States, were declared to be terrorist organizations in 1994 by the Israeli Cabinet under its 1948 Terrorism Law. This followed the groups' statements in support of Dr. Baruch Goldstein's attack in February 1994 on the al-Ibrahimi Mosque (Goldstein was affiliated with Kach) and their verbal attacks on the Israeli Government. Palestinian gunmen killed Binyamin Kahane and his wife in a drive-by shooting in December 2000 in the West Bank.\nActivities\nThe group has organized protests against the Israeli Government. Kach has harassed and threatened Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli Government officials, and has vowed revenge for the death of Binyamin Kahane and his wife. Kach is suspected of involvement in a number of low-level attacks since the start of the al-Aqsa intifadah in 2000. Known Kach sympathizers are becoming more vocal and active against the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in mid-2005.\nStrength\nIsrael and West Bank settlements, particularly Qiryat Arba' in Hebron.\nExternal Aid\nReceives support from sympathizers in the United States and Europe.\nKongra-Gel (KGK)\na.k.a. Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress, KADEK, Kurdistan People's Congress, Freedom and Democracy Congress of Kurdistan\nDescription\nThe Kongra-Gel was founded by Abdullah Ocalan in 1974 as a Marxist-Leninist separatist organization and formally named the Kurdistan Workers' Party in 1978. The group, composed primarily of Turkish Kurds, began its campaign of armed violence in 1984, which has resulted in some 30,000 casualties. The PKK's goal has been to establish an independent, democratic Kurdish state in southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, and parts of Iran and Syria. In the early 1990s, the PKK moved beyond rural-based insurgent activities to include urban terrorism. Turkish authorities captured Ocalan in Kenya in early 1999, and the Turkish State Security Court subsequently sentenced him to death. In August 1999, Ocalan announced a \"peace initiative,\" ordering members to refrain from violence and requesting dialogue with Ankara on Kurdish issues. At a PKK Congress in January 2000, members supported Ocalan's initiative and claimed the group now would use only political means to achieve its public goal of improved rights for Kurds in Turkey. In April 2002 at its 8th Party Congress, the PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) and proclaimed a commitment to non-violent activities in support of Kurdish rights. In late 2003, the group sought to engineer another political face-lift, renaming itself Kongra-Gel (KGK) and promoting its \"peaceful\" intentions while continuing to conduct attacks in \"self-defense\" and to refuse disarmament. After five years, the group's hard-line militant wing, the People's Defense Force (HPG), renounced its self-imposed cease-fire on June 1, 2004. Over the course of the cease-fire, the group had divided into two factions -- politically-minded reformists, and hardliners who advocated a return to violence. The hardliners took control of the group in February 2004.\nActivities\nPrimary targets have been Turkish Government security forces, local Turkish officials, and villagers who oppose the organization in Turkey. It conducted attacks on Turkish diplomatic and commercial facilities in dozens of West European cities in 1993 and again in spring 1995. In an attempt to damage Turkey's tourist industry, the then-PKK bombed tourist sites and hotels and kidnapped foreign tourists in the early-to-mid-1990s. While most of the group's violence in 2004 was directed toward Turkish security forces, KGK was likely responsible for an unsuccessful July car bomb attack against the governor of Van Province, although it publicly denied responsibility, and may have played a role in the August bombings of two Istanbul hotels and a gas complex in which two people died.\nStrength\nApproximately 4,000 to 5,000, 3,000 to 3,500 of whom currently are located in northern Iraq. The group has thousands of sympathizers in Turkey and Europe. In November, Dutch police raided a suspected KGK training camp in The Netherlands, arresting roughly 30 suspected members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates primarily in Turkey, Iraq, Europe, and the Middle East.\nExternal Aid\nHas received safe haven and modest aid from Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Syria and Iran appear to cooperate with Turkey against KGK in a limited fashion when it serves their immediate interests. KGK uses Europe for fundraising and conducting political propaganda.\nLashkar e-Tayyiba (LT)\na.k.a. Army of the Righteous, Lashkar-e-Toiba, al Monsooreen, al-Mansoorian, Army of the Pure, Army of the Righteous, Army of the Pure and Righteous\nDescription\nLT is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based religious organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), an anti-US Sunni missionary organization formed in 1989. LT is led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and is one of the three largest and best trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India. It is not connected to any political party. The Pakistani Government banned the group and froze its assets in January 2002. Elements of LT and Jaish-e-Mohammed combined with other groups to mount attacks as \"The Save Kashmir Movement.\"\nActivities\nLT has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Jammu and Kashmir since 1993. LT claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in 2001, including an attack in January on Srinagar airport that killed five Indians; an attack on a police station in Srinagar that killed at least eight officers and wounded several others; and an attack in April against Indian border security forces that left at least four dead. The Indian Government publicly implicated LT, along with JEM, for the attack on December 13, 2001, on the Indian Parliament building, although concrete evidence is lacking. LT is also suspected of involvement in the attack on May 14, 2002, on an Indian Army base in Kaluchak that left 36 dead. Senior al-Qa'ida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah was captured at an LT safe house in Faisalabad in March 2002, suggesting some members are facilitating the movement of al-Qa'ida members in Pakistan.\nStrength\nHas several thousand members in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, in the southern Jammu and Kashmir and Doda regions, and in the Kashmir valley. Almost all LT members are Pakistanis from madrassas across Pakistan or Afghan veterans of the Afghan wars.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nBased in Muridke (near Lahore) and Muzaffarabad.\nExternal Aid\nCollects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani and other Kashmiri business people. LT also maintains a Web site (under the name Jamaat ud-Daawa), through which it solicits funds and provides information on the group's activities. The amount of LT funding is unknown. LT maintains ties to religious/militant groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya through the fraternal network of its parent organization Jamaat ud-Dawa (formerly Markaz Dawa ul-Irshad). In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani Government, the LT withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods.\nLashkar i Jhangvi (LJ)\nDescription\nLashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) is the militant offshoot of the Sunni sectarian group Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan. LJ focuses primarily on anti-Shia attacks and was banned by Pakistani President Musharraf in August 2001 as part of an effort to rein in sectarian violence. Many of its members then sought refuge in Afghanistan with the Taliban, with whom they had existing ties. After the collapse of the Taliban, LJ members became active in aiding other terrorists with safe houses, false identities, and protection in Pakistani cities, including Karachi, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi. In January 2003, the United States added LJ to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.\nActivities\nLJ specializes in armed attacks and bombings. The group attempted to assassinate former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shabaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab Province, in January 1999. Pakistani authorities have publicly linked LJ members to the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in early 2002. Police officials initially suspected LJ members were involved in the two suicide car bombings in Karachi in 2002 against a French shuttle bus in May and the US Consulate in June, but their subsequent investigations have not led to any LJ members being charged in the attacks. Similarly, press reports have linked LJ to attacks on Christian targets in Pakistan, including a grenade assault on the Protestant International Church in Islamabad in March 2002 that killed two US citizens, but no formal charges have been filed against the group. Pakistani authorities believe LJ was responsible for the bombing in July 2003 of a Shiite mosque in Quetta, Pakistan. Authorities have also implicated LJ in several sectarian incidents in 2004, including the May and June bombings of two Shiite mosques in Karachi that killed over 40 people.\nStrength\nLJ is active primarily in Punjab and Karachi. Some members travel between Pakistan and Afghanistan.\nExternal Aid\nLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)\na.k.a. The Tamil Tigers, The Ellalan Force\nDescription\nFounded in 1976, the LTTE is the most powerful Tamil group in Sri Lanka. It began its insurgency against the Sri Lankan Government in 1983 and has relied on a guerrilla strategy that includes the use of terrorist tactics. The LTTE currently is observing a cease-fire agreement with the Sri Lankan Government.\nActivities\nThe LTTE has integrated a battlefield insurgent strategy with a terrorist program that targets key personnel in the countryside and senior Sri Lankan political and military leaders in Colombo and other urban centers. The LTTE is most notorious for its cadre of suicide bombers, the Black Tigers. Political assassinations and bombings were commonplace tactics prior to the cease-fire.\nStrength\nExact strength is unknown, but the LTTE is estimated to have 8,000 to 10,000 armed combatants in Sri Lanka, with a core of 3,000 to 6,000 trained fighters. The LTTE also has a significant overseas support structure for fundraising, weapons procurement, and propaganda activities.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nThe LTTE controls most of the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka but has conducted operations throughout the island. Headquartered in northern Sri Lanka, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has established an extensive network of checkpoints and informants to keep track of any outsiders who enter the group's area of control.\nExternal Aid\nThe LTTE's overt organizations support Tamil separatism by lobbying foreign governments and the United Nations. The LTTE also uses its international contacts and the large Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe, and Asia to procure weapons, communications, funding, and other needed supplies.\nLibyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)\nDescription\nThe Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) emerged in the early 1990s among Libyans who had fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan and against the Qadhafi regime in Libya. The LIFG declared the Government of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi un-Islamic and pledged to overthrow it. Some members maintain a strictly anti-Qadhafi focus and organize against Libyan Government interests, but others are aligned with Usama Bin Ladin and believed to be part of al-Qa'ida's leadership structure or active in the international terrorist network.\nActivities\nLibyans associated with the LIFG are part of the broader international jihadist movement. The LIFG is one of the groups believed to have planned the Casablanca suicide bombings in May 2003. The LIFG claimed responsibility for a failed assassination attempt against Qadhafi in 1996 and engaged Libyan security forces in armed clashes during the 1990s. It continues to target Libyan interests and may engage in sporadic clashes with Libyan security forces.\nStrength\nNot known, but probably has several hundred active members or supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nProbably maintains a clandestine presence in Libya, but since the late 1990s many members have fled to various Asian, Persian Gulf, African, and European countries, particularly the United Kingdom.\nExternal Aid\nNot known. May obtain some funding through private donations, various Islamic non-governmental organizations, and criminal acts.\nMujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)\na.k.a. The National Liberation Army of Iran, The People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistance (NCR), The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Muslim Iranian Students' Society\nDescription\nThe MEK philosophy mixes Marxism and Islam. Formed in the 1960s, the organization was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein starting in the late 1980s. The MEK conducted anti-West-ern attacks prior to the Islamic Revolution. Since then, it has conducted terrorist attacks against the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. The MEK advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime and its replacement with the group's own leadership.\nActivities\nThe group's worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism. During the 1970s, the MEK killed US military personnel and US civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran. In 1981, the MEK detonated bombs in the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Premier's office, killing some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Premier Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. Near the end of the 19801988 war with Iran, Baghdad armed the MEK with military equipment and sent it into action against Iranian forces. In 1991, the MEK assisted the Government of Iraq in suppressing the Shia and Kurdish uprisings in southern Iraq and the Kurdish uprisings in the north. In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and installations in 13 countries, demonstrating the group's ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. In April 1999, the MEK targeted key military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff. In April 2000, the MEK attempted to assassinate the commander of the Nasr Headquarters, Tehran's interagency board responsible for coordinating policies on Iraq. The normal pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during \"Operation Great Bahman\" in February 2000, when the group launched a dozen attacks against Iran. One of those attacks included a mortar attack against the leadership complex in Tehran that housed the offices of the Supreme Leader and the President. In 2000 and 2001, the MEK was involved regularly in mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids on Iranian military and law enforcement units and Government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border, although MEK terrorism in Iran declined toward the end of 2001. After Coalition aircraft bombed MEK bases at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the MEK leadership ordered its members not to resist Coalition forces, and a formal cease-fire arrangement was reached in May 2003.\nStrength\nOver 3,000 MEK members are currently confined to Camp Ashraf, the MEK's main compound north of Baghdad, where they remain under the Geneva Convention's \"protected person\" status and Coalition control. As a condition of the cease-fire agreement, the group relinquished its weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. A significant number of MEK personnel have \"defected\" from the Ashraf group, and several dozen of them have been voluntarily repatriated to Iran.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nIn the 1980s, the MEK's leaders were forced by Iranian security forces to flee to France. On resettling in Iraq in 1987, almost all of its armed units were stationed in fortified bases near the border with Iran. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom, the bulk of the group is limited to Camp Ashraf, although an overseas support structure remains with associates and supporters scattered throughout Europe and North America.\nExternal Aid\nBefore Operation Iraqi Freedom, the group received all of its military assistance, and most of its financial support, from the former Iraqi regime. The MEK also has used front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.\nNational Liberation Army (ELN)\nDescription\nThe ELN is a Colombian Marxist insurgent group formed in 1965 by urban intellectuals inspired by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. It is primarily rural-based, although it possesses several urban units. In May 2004, Colombian President Uribe proposed a renewal of peace talks, but by the end of the year talks had not commenced.\nActivities\nKidnapping, hijacking, bombing, and extortion. Minimal conventional military capability. Annually conducts hundreds of kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreign employees of large corporations, especially in the petroleum industry. Derives some revenue from taxation of the illegal narcotics industry. Frequently assaults energy infrastructure and has inflicted major damage on pipelines and the electric distribution network.\nStrength\nApproximately 3,000 armed combatants and an unknown number of active supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nMostly in rural and mountainous areas of northern, northeastern, and southwestern Colombia, and Venezuelan border regions.\nExternal Aid\nCuba provides some medical care and political consultation. Venezuela continues to provide a hospitable environment.\nPalestine Liberation Front (PLF)\na.k.a. PLF-Abu Abbas Faction\nDescription\nThe Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) broke away from the PFLP-GC in the late 1970s and later split again into pro-PLO, pro-Syrian, and pro-Libyan factions. The pro-PLO faction was led by Muhammad Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Abbas) and was based in Baghdad prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.\nActivities\nAbbas' group was responsible for the attack in 1985 on the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and the murder of US citizen Leon Klinghoffer. Abu Abbas died of natural causes in April 2004 while in US custody in Iraq. Current leadership and membership of the relatively small PLF appears to be based in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The PLF has become more active since the start of the al-Aqsa intifadah and several PLF members have been arrested by Israeli authorities for planning attacks in Israel and the West Bank.\nStrength\nBased in Iraq since 1990, has a presence in Lebanon and the West Bank.\nExternal Aid\nReceived support mainly from Iraq; has received support from Libya in the past.\nPalestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)\na.k.a. Islamic Jihad of Palestine, PIJ-Shaqaqi Faction, PIJ-Shalla Faction, Al-Quds Brigades\nDescription\nFormed by militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the 1970s, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is committed to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel through attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets inside Israel and the Palestinian territories.\nActivities\nPIJ militants have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets. The group maintained operational activity in 2004, claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests. PIJ has not yet directly targeted US interests; it continues to direct attacks against Israelis inside Israel and the territories, although US citizens have died in attacks mounted by the PIJ.\nStrength\nUnknown.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The group's primary leadership resides in Syria, though other leadership elements reside in Lebanon, as well as other parts of the Middle East.\nExternal Aid\nReceives financial assistance from Iran and limited logistical assistance from Syria.\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\nDescription\nFormerly a part of the PLO, the Marxist-Leninist PFLP was founded by George Habash when it broke away from the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1967. The PFLP does not view the Palestinian struggle as religious, seeing it instead as a broader revolution against Western imperialism. The group earned a reputation for spectacular international attacks, including airline hijackings, that have killed at least 20 US citizens.\nActivities\nThe PFLP committed numerous international terrorist attacks during the 1970s. Since 1978, the group has conducted attacks against Israeli or moderate Arab targets, including killing a settler and her son in December 1996. The PFLP has stepped up its operational activity since the start of the current intifadah, highlighted by at least two suicide bombings since 2003, multiple joint operations with other Palestinian terrorist groups, and assassination of the Israeli Tourism Minster in 2001 to avenge Israel's killing of the PFLP Secretary General earlier that year.\nStrength\nSyria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.\nExternal Aid\nReceives safe haven and some logistical assistance from Syria.\nPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)\nDescription\nThe PFLP-GC split from the PFLP in 1968, claiming it wanted to focus more on fighting and less on politics. Originally it was violently opposed to the Arafat-led PLO. The group is led by Ahmad Jabril, a former captain in the Syrian Army, whose son Jihad was killed by a car bomb in May 2002. The PFLP-GC is closely tied to both Syria and Iran.\nActivities\nCarried out dozens of attacks in Europe and the Middle East during the 1970s and 1980s. Known for cross-bor-der terrorist attacks into Israel using unusual means, such as hot-air balloons and motorized hang gliders. Primary focus is now on guerrilla operations in southern Lebanon and small-scale attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.\nStrength\nHeadquartered in Damascus with bases in Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nReceives logistical and military support from Syria and financial support from Iran.\nAl-Qa'ida\na.k.a. Usama Bin Ladin Organization\nDescription\nAl-Qa'ida was established by Usama Bin Ladin in 1988 with Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. Helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Goal is to unite Muslims to fight the United States as a means of defeating Israel, overthrowing regimes it deems \"non-Is-lamic,\" and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries. Eventual goal would be establishment of a pan-Islamic caliphate throughout the world. Issued statement in February 1998 under the banner of \"The World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders\" saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens, civilian and military, and their allies everywhere. Merged with al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) in June 2001, renaming itself \"Qa'idat al-Jihad.\" Merged with Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's organization in Iraq in late 2004, with al-Zarqawi's group changing its name to \"Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn\" (al-Qa'ida in the Land of the Two Rivers).\nActivities\nIn 2004, the Saudi-based al-Qa'ida network and associated extremists launched at least 11 attacks, killing over 60 people, including six Americans, and wounding more than 225 in Saudi Arabia. Focused on targets associated with US and Western presence and Saudi security forces in Riyadh, Yanbu, Jeddah, and Dhahran. Attacks consisted of vehicle bombs, infantry assaults, kidnappings, targeted shootings, bombings, and beheadings. Other al-Qa'ida networks have been involved in attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.\nIn 2003, carried out the assault and bombing on May 12 of three expatriate housing complexes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 30 and injured 216. Backed attacks on May 16 in Casablanca, Morocco, of a Jewish center, restaurant, nightclub, and hotel that killed 33 and injured 101. Probably supported the bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 5, that killed 12 and injured 149. Responsible for the assault and bombing on November 9 of a housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 17 and injured 122. The suicide bombers and others associated with the bombings of two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 15 that killed 20 and injured 300 and the bombings in Istanbul of the British Consulate and HSBC Bank on November 20 that resulted in 41 dead and 555 injured had strong links to al-Qa'ida. Conducted two assassination attempts against Pakistani President Musharraf in December 2003. Was involved in some attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.\nIn 2002, carried out bombing on November 28 of a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killing 15 and injuring 40. Probably supported a nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12 by Jemaah Islamiya that killed more than 200. Responsible for an attack on US military personnel in Kuwait on October 8 that killed one US soldier and injured another. Directed a suicide attack on the tanker M/V Limburg off the coast of Yemen on October 6 that killed one and injured four. Carried out a firebombing of a synagogue in Tunisia on April 11 that killed 19 and injured 22. On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qa'ida suicide attackers hijacked and crashed four US commercial jets -- two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon near Washington, DC, and a fourth into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- leaving nearly 3,000 individuals dead or missing. Directed the attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, on October 12, 2000, killing 17 US Navy sailors and injuring another 39.\nConducted the bombings in August 1998 of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed at least 301 individuals and injured more than 5,000 others. Claims to have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 and to have conducted three bombings that targeted US troops in Aden, Yemen, in December 1992.\nAl-Qa'ida is linked to the following plans that were disrupted or not carried out: to bomb in mid-air a dozen US trans-Pacific flights in 1995, and to set off a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport in 1999. Also plotted to carry out terrorist operations against US and Israeli tourists visiting Jordan for millennial celebrations in late 1999 (Jordanian authorities thwarted the planned attacks and put 28 suspects on trial). In December 2001, suspected al-Qa'ida associate Richard Colvin Reid attempted to ignite a shoe bomb on a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris to Miami. Attempted to shoot down an Israeli chartered plane with a surface-to-air missile as it departed the Mombasa, Kenya, airport in November 2002.\nStrength\nAl-Qa'ida's organizational strength is difficult to determine in the aftermath of extensive counterterrorist efforts since 9/11. However, the group probably has several thousand extremists and associates worldwide inspired by the group's ideology. The arrest and deaths of mid-level and senior al-Qa'ida operatives have disrupted some communication, financial, and facilitation nodes and interrupted some terrorist plots. Al-Qa'ida also serves as a focal point or umbrella organization for a worldwide network that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, including some members of Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAl-Qa'ida has cells worldwide and is reinforced by its ties to Sunni extremist networks. It was based in Afghanistan until Coalition forces removed the Taliban from power in late 2001. Al-Qa'ida has dispersed in small groups across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and probably will attempt to carry out future attacks against US interests.\nExternal Aid\nAl-Qa'ida maintains moneymaking front businesses, solicits donations from like-minded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations. US and international efforts to block al-Qa'ida funding have hampered the group's ability to obtain money.\nReal IRA (RIRA)\na.k.a. 32-County Sovereignty Committee\nDescription\nRIRA was formed in the late 1990s as the clandestine armed wing of the 32-County Sovereignty Movement, a \"political pressure group\" dedicated to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and unifying Ireland. The RIRA also seeks to disrupt the Northern Ireland peace process. The 32-County Sovereignty Movement opposed Sinn Fein's adoption in September 1997 of the Mitchell principles of democracy and non-violence; it also opposed the amendment in December 1999 of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution, which had claimed the territory of Northern Ireland. Despite internal rifts and calls by some jailed members -- including the group's founder Michael \"Mickey\" McKevitt -- for a ceasefire and disbandment, RIRA has pledged additional violence and continues to conduct attacks.\nActivities\nBombings, assassinations, and robberies. Many Real IRA members are former Provisional Irish Republican Army members who left that organization after the Provisional IRA renewed its cease-fire in 1997. These members brought a wealth of experience in terrorist tactics and bomb making to RIRA. Targets have included civilians (most notoriously in the Omagh bombing in August 1998), British security forces, police in Northern Ireland, and local Protestant communities. RIRA's most recent fatal attack was in August 2002 at a London army base that killed a construction worker. In 2004, RIRA conducted several postal bomb attacks and made threats against prison officers, people involved in the new policing arrangements, and senior politicians. RIRA also planted incendiary devices in Belfast shopping areas and conducted a serious shooting attack against a Police Service of Northern Ireland station in September. The organization reportedly wants to improve its intelligence-gathering ability, engineering capacity, and access to weaponry; it also trains members in the use of guns and explosives. RIRA continues to attract new members, and its senior members are committed to launching attacks on security forces. Arrests in the spring led to the discovery of incendiary and explosive devices at a RIRA bomb making facility in Limerick. The group also engaged in smuggling and other non-terrorist crime in Ireland.\nStrength\nThe number of activists may have fallen to less than 100. The organization may receive limited support from IRA hardliners and Republican sympathizers dissatisfied with the IRA's continuing cease-fire and Sinn Fein's involvement in the peace process. Approximately 40 RIRA members are in Irish jails.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Great Britain, and Irish Republic.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected of receiving funds from sympathizers in the United States and of attempting to buy weapons from US gun dealers. RIRA also is reported to have purchased sophisticated weapons from the Balkans, and to have taken materials from Provisional IRA arms dumps in the later 1990s.\nRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)\nDescription\nEstablished in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC is Latin America's oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped insurgency of Marxist origin. Although only nominally fighting in support of Marxist goals today, the FARC is governed by a general secretariat led by long-time leader Manuel Marulanda (a.k.a. \"Tirofijo\") and six others, including senior military commander Jorge Briceno (a.k.a. \"Mono Jojoy\"). Organized along military lines but includes some specialized urban fighting units. A Colombian military offensive targeting FARC fighters in their former safe haven in southern Colombia has experienced some success, with several FARC mid-level leaders killed or captured. On December 31, 2004, FARC leader Simon Trinidad, the highest-ranking FARC leader ever captured, was extradited to the United States on drug charges.\nActivities\nBombings, murder, mortar attacks, kidnapping, extortion, and hijacking, as well as guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military, and economic targets. In March 1999, the FARC executed three US indigenous rights activists on Venezuelan territory after it kidnapped them in Colombia. In February 2003, the FARC captured and continues to hold three US contractors and killed one other American when their plane crashed in Florencia. Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC kidnapping for ransom. The FARC has well-documented ties to the full range of narcotics trafficking activities, including taxation, cultivation, and distribution.\nStrength\nApproximately 9,000 to 12,000 armed combatants and several thousand more supporters, mostly in rural areas.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily in Colombia with some activities -- extortion, kidnapping, weapons sourcing, logistics, and R&R -- suspected in neighboring Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Peru, and Ecuador.\nExternal Aid\nCuba provides some medical care, safe haven, and political consultation. In December 2004, a Colombian Appeals Court declared three members of the Irish Republican Army -- arrested in Colombia in 2001 upon exiting the former FARC-controlled demilitarized zone (despeje) -- guilty of providing advanced explosives training to the FARC. The FARC often uses the Colombia/ Venezuela border area for cross-border incursions and consider Venezuelan territory as a safe haven.\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN)\na.k.a. Revolutionary Cells, Revolutionary Popular Struggle, ELA\nDescription\nRevolutionary Nuclei (RN) emerged from a broad range of antiestablishment and anti-US/NATO/EU leftist groups active in Greece between 1995 and 1998. The group is believed to be the successor to or offshoot of Greece's most prolific terrorist group, Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA), which has not claimed an attack since January 1995. Indeed, RN appeared to fill the void left by ELA, particularly as lesser groups faded from the scene. RN's few communiqu�s show strong similarities in rhetoric, tone, and theme to ELA proclamations. RN has not claimed an attack since November 2000, nor has it announced its disbandment.\nActivities\nSince it began operations in January 1995, the group has claimed responsibility for some two dozen arson attacks and low-level bombings against a range of US, Greek, and other European targets in Greece. In its most infamous and lethal attack to date, the group claimed responsibility for a bomb it detonated at the Intercontinental Hotel in April 1999 that resulted in the death of a Greek woman and injured a Greek man. Its modus operandi includes warning calls of impending attacks, attacks targeting property instead of individuals, use of rudimentary timing devices, and strikes during the late-evening to early-morning hours. RN may have been responsible for two attacks in July 2003 against a US insurance company and a local bank in Athens. RN's last confirmed attacks against US interests in Greece came in November 2000, with two separate bombings against the Athens offices of Citigroup and the studio of a Greek-American sculptor. Greek targets have included judicial and other Government office buildings, private vehicles, and the offices of Greek firms involved in NATO-related defense contracts in Greece. Similarly, the group has attacked European interests in Athens. The group did not conduct an attack in 2004.\nStrength\nGroup membership is believed to be small, probably drawing from the Greek militant leftist or anarchist milieu.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimary area of operation is in the Athens metropolitan area.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown but believed to be self-sustaining.\nRevolutionary People's Liberation Party/ Front (DHKP/C)\na.k.a. Devrimci Sol, Dev Sol, Revolutionary Left\nDescription\nThis group originally formed in Turkey in 1978 as Devrimci Sol, or Dev Sol, a splinter faction of Dev Genc (Revolutionary Youth). Renamed in 1994 after factional infighting. \"Party\" refers to the group's political activities, while \"Front\" is a reference to the group's militant operations. The group espouses a Marxist-Leninist ideology and is vehemently anti-US, anti-NATO, and anti-Turkish establishment. Its goals are the establishment of a socialist state and the abolition of one- to three-man prison cells, called F-type prisons. DHKP/C finances its activities chiefly through donations and extortion.\nActivities\nSince the late 1980s the group has targeted primarily current and retired Turkish security and military officials. It began a new campaign against foreign interests in 1990, which included attacks against US military and diplomatic personnel and facilities. To protest perceived US imperialism during the Gulf War, Dev Sol assassinated two US military contractors, wounded an Air Force officer, and bombed more than 20 US and NATO military, commercial, and cultural facilities. In its first significant terrorist act as DHKP/C in 1996, the group assassinated a prominent Turkish businessman and two others. DHKP/C added suicide bombings to its repertoire in 2001, with successful attacks against Turkish police in January and September. Since the end of 2001, DHKP/C has typically used improvised explosive devices against official Turkish targets and soft US targets of opportunity; attacks against US targets beginning in 2003 probably came in response to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operations and arrests against the group have weakened its capabilities. DHKP/C did not conduct any major terrorist attacks in 2003, but on June 24, 2004 -- just days before the NATO summit -- an explosive device detonated, apparently prematurely, aboard a passenger bus in Istanbul while a DHKP/C operative was transporting it to another location, killing the operative and three other persons.\nStrength\nProbably several dozen terrorist operatives inside Turkey, with a large support network throughout Europe. On April 1, 2004, authorities arrested more than 40 suspected DHKP/C members in coordinated raids across Turkey and Europe. In October, 10 alleged members of the group were sentenced to life imprisonment, while charges were dropped against 20 other defendants because of a statute of limitations.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nTurkey, primarily Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana. Raises funds in Europe.\nExternal Aid\nWidely believed to have training facilities or offices in Lebanon and Syria.\nSalafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)\na.k.a. Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, Le Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat\nDescription\nThe Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), a splinter group of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), seeks to overthrow the Algerian Government with the goal of installing an Islamic regime. GSPC eclipsed the GIA in approximately 1998, and is currently the most effective and largest armed group inside Algeria. In contrast to the GIA, the GSPC pledged to avoid civilian attacks inside Algeria.\nActivities\nThe GSPC continues to conduct operations aimed at Algerian Government and military targets, primarily in rural areas, although civilians are sometimes killed. The Government of Algeria scored major counterterrorism successes against GSPC in 2004, significantly weakening the organization, which also has been plagued with internal divisions. Algerian military forces killed GSPC leader Nabil Sahraoui and one of his top lieutenants, Abbi Abdelaziz, in June 2004 in the mountainous area east of Algiers. In October, the Algerian Government took custody of Abderazak al-Para, who led a GSPC faction that held 32 European tourists hostage in 2003. According to press reporting, some GSPC members in Europe and the Middle East maintain contact with other North African extremists sympathetic to al-Qa'ida. In late 2003, the GSPC leader issued a communiqu� announcing the group's support of a number of jihadist causes and movements, including al-Qa'ida.\nStrength\nSeveral hundred fighters with an unknown number of facilitators outside Algeria.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAlgeria, the Sahel (i.e. northern Mali, northern Mauritania, and northern Niger), Canada, and Western Europe.\nExternal Aid\nAlgerian expatriates and GSPC members abroad, many residing in Western Europe, provide financial and logistical support. GSPC members also engage in criminal activity.\nShining Path (SL)\na.k.a. Sendero Luminoso People's Liberation Army\nDescription\nFormer university professor Abimael Guzman formed SL in Peru in the late 1960s, and his teachings created the foundation of SL's militant Maoist doctrine. In the 1980s, SL became one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately 30,000 persons have died since Shining Path took up arms in 1980. The Peruvian Government made dramatic gains against SL during the 1990s, but reports of recent SL involvement in narco-trafficking and kidnapping for ransom indicate it may be developing new sources of support. Its stated goal is to destroy existing Peruvian institutions and replace them with a communist peasant revolutionary regime. It also opposes any influence by foreign governments. Peruvian Courts in 2003 granted approximately 1,900 members the right to request retrials in a civilian court, including the imprisoned top leadership. The trial of Guzman, who was arrested in 1992, was scheduled for November 5, 2004, but was postponed after the first day, when chaos erupted in the courtroom.\nActivities\nConducted indiscriminate bombing campaigns and selective assassinations.\nStrength\nUnknown but estimated to be some 300 armed militants.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPeru, with most activity in rural areas.\nExternal\nAid None.\nTanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR)\na.k.a. Al-Zarqawi Network, Al-Qa'ida in Iraq, Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organization in the Land of The Two Rivers, Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad\nDescription\nThe Jordanian Palestinian Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi (Ahmad Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalaylah, a.k.a. Abu Ahmad, Abu Azraq) established cells in Iraq soon after the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), formalizing his group in April 2004 to bring together jihadists and other insurgents in Iraq fighting against US and Coalition forces. Zarqawi initially called his group \"Unity and Jihad\" (Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, or JTJ). Zarqawi and his group helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Iraqi resistance. The group adopted its current name after its October 2004 merger with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida. The immediate goal of QJBR is to expel the Coalition -- through a campaign of bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, and intimidation -- and establish an Islamic state in Iraq. QJBR's longer-term goal is to proliferate jihad from Iraq into \"Greater Syria,\" that is, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.\nActivities\nIn August 2003, Zarqawi's group carried out a major international terrorist attack in Iraq when it bombed the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, followed 12 days later by a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack against the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, killing 23, including the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Also in August the group conducted a VBIED attack against Shi'a worshippers outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Al Najaf, killing 85 -- including the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). It kept up its attack pace throughout 2003, striking numerous Iraqi, Coalition, and relief agency targets such as the Red Cross. Zarqawi's group conducted VBIED attacks against US military personnel and Iraqi infrastructure throughout 2004, including suicide attacks inside the Green Zone perimeter in Baghdad. The group successfully penetrated the Green Zone in the October bombing of a popular caf� and market. Zarqawi's group fulfilled a pledge to target Shi'a; its March attacks on Shi'a celebrating the religious holiday of Ashura, killing over 180, was its most lethal attack to date. The group also killed key Iraqi political figures in 2004, most notably the head of Iraq's Governing Council. The group has claimed responsibility for the videotaped execution by beheading of Americans Nicholas Berg (May 8, 2004), Jack Armstrong (September 20, 2004), and Jack Hensley (September 21, 2004). The group may have been involved in other hostage incidents as well.\nZarqawi's group has been active in the Levant since its involvement in the failed Millennium plot directed against US, Western, and Jordanian targets in Jordan in late 1999. The group assassinated USAID official Laurence Foley in 2002, but the Jordanian Government has successfully disrupted further plots against US and Western interests in Jordan, including a major arrest of Zarqawi associates in 2004 planning to attack Jordanian security targets.\nStrength\nQJBR's numerical strength is unknown, though the group has attracted new recruits to replace key leaders and other members killed or captured by Coalition forces. Zarqawi's increased stature from his formal relationship with al-Qa'ida could attract additional recruits to QJBR.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nQJBR's operations are predominately Iraq-based, but the group maintains an extensive logistical network throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.\nExternal Aid\nQJBR probably receives funds from donors in the Middle East and Europe, local sympathizers in Iraq, and a variety of businesses and criminal activities. In many cases, QJBR's donors are probably motivated by support for jihad rather than affiliation with any specific terrorist group.\nUnited Self-Defense Forces/Group of Colombia (AUC)\na.k.a. Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia\nDescription\nThe AUC, commonly referred to as \"the paramilitaries,\" is an umbrella organization formed in April 1997 to coordinate the activities of local paramilitary groups and develop a cohesive paramilitary effort to combat insurgents. The AUC is supported by economic elites, drug traffickers, and local communities lacking effective Government security, and claims its primary objective is to protect its sponsors from Marxist insurgents. The AUC's affiliate groups and other paramilitary units are in negotiations with the Government of Colombia and in the midst of the largest demobilization in modern Colombian history. To date, approximately 3,600 AUC-affiliated fighters have demobilized since November 2003.\nActivities\nAUC operations vary from assassinating suspected insurgent supporters to engaging guerrilla combat units. As much as 70 percent of the AUC's operational costs are financed with drug-related earnings, with the rest coming from \"donations\" from its sponsors. The AUC generally avoids actions against US personnel or interests.\nStrength\nEstimated 8,000 to 11,000, with an unknown number of active supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nAUC forces are strongest in the northwest of Colombia in Antioquia, Cordoba, Sucre, Atlantico, Magdelena, Cesar, La Guajira, and Bolivar Departments, with affiliate groups in the coffee region, Valle del Cauca, and in Meta Department.\nExternal Aid\nMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)\nNew Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC)\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)\nRed Hand Defenders (RHD)\nRevolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei (NIPR)\nRevolutionary Struggle (RS)\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM)\nSipah-I-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)\nSpecial Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR)\nTunisian Combatant Group (TCG)\nTupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)\nTurkish Hizballah\nUlster Defense Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF)\nUlster Volunteer Force (UVF)\nUnited Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)\nAl Badhr Mujahedin (al-Badr)\nDescription\nThe Al Badhr Mujahedin split from Hizbul-Mujahedin (HM) in 1998. Traces its origins to 1971, when a group named Al Badr attacked Bengalis in East Pakistan. Later operated as part of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-I Islami (HIG) in Afghanistan and, from 1990, as a unit of HM in Kashmir. The group was relatively inactive until 2000. Since then, it has increasingly claimed responsibility for attacks against Indian military targets.\nActivities\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir.\nStrength\nJammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.\nExternal\nAl-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI)\nDescription\nAIAI rose to prominence in the Horn of Africa in the early 1990s, following the downfall of the Siad Barre regime and the subsequent collapse of the Somali nation state into anarchy. AIAI was not internally cohesive and suffered divisions between factions supporting moderate Islam and more puritanical Islamic ideology. Following military defeats in 1996 and 1997, AIAI evolved into a loose network of highly compartmentalized cells, factions, and individuals with no central control or coordination. AIAI elements pursue a variety of agendas ranging from social services and education to insurgency activities in the Ogaden. Some AIAI-associated sheikhs espouse a radical fundamentalist version of Islam, with particular emphasis on a strict adherence to Sharia (Islamic law), a view often at odds with Somali emphasis on clan identity. A small number of AIAI-associated individuals have provided logistical support to and maintain ties with al-Qa'ida; however, the network's central focus remains the establishment of an Islamic government in Somalia.\nActivities\nElements of AIAI may have been responsible for the kidnapping and murder of relief workers in Somalia and Somaliland in 2003 and 2004, and during the late 1990s. Factions of AIAI may also have been responsible for a series of bomb attacks in public places in Addis Ababa in 1996 and 1997. Most AIAI factions have recently concentrated on broadening their religious base, renewed emphasis on building businesses, and undertaking \"hearts and minds\" actions, such as sponsoring orphanages and schools and providing security that uses an Islamic legal structure in the areas where it is active.\nStrength\nThe actual membership strength is unknown.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nPrimarily in Somalia, with a presence in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, Kenya, and possibly Djibouti.\nExternal Aid\nReceives funds from Middle East financiers and Somali diaspora communities in Europe, North America, and the Arabian Peninsula.\nAlex Boncayao Brigade (ABB)\nDescription\nThe ABB, the breakaway urban hit squad of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army, was formed in the mid-1980s. The ABB was added to the Terrorist Exclusion list in December 2001.\nActivities\nResponsible for more than 100 murders, including the murder in 1989 of US Army Col. James Rowe in the Philippines. In March 1997, the group announced it had formed an alliance with another armed group, the Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPA). In March 2000, the group claimed credit for a rifle grenade attack against the Department of Energy building in Manila and strafed Shell Oil offices in the central Philippines to protest rising oil prices.\nStrength\na.k.a. Anti-Imperialist Territorial Units\nDescription\nThe NTA is a clandestine leftist extremist group that first appeared in Italy's Friuli region in 1995. Adopted the class struggle ideology of the Red Brigades of the 1970s and 1980s and a similar logo -- an encircled five-point star -- for their declarations. Seeks the formation of an \"anti-imperialist fighting front\" with other Italian leftist terrorist groups, including Revolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei and the New Red Brigades. Opposes what it perceives as US and NATO imperialism and condemns Italy's foreign and labor polices. In a leaflet dated January 2002, NTA identified experts in four Italian Government sectors -- federalism, privatizations, justice reform, and jobs and pensions -- as potential targets.\nActivities\nTo date, NTA has conducted attacks only against property. During the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999, NTA members threw gasoline bombs at the Venice and Rome headquarters of the then-ruling party, Democrats of the Left. NTA claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in September 2000 against the Central European Initiative office in Trieste and a bomb attack in August 2001 against the Venice Tribunal building. In January 2002, police thwarted an attempt by four NTA members to enter the Rivolto Military Air Base. In 2003, NTA claimed responsibility for the arson attacks against three vehicles belonging to US troops serving at the Ederle and Aviano bases in Italy. There has been no reported activity by the group since the arrest in January 2004 of NTA's founder and leader.\nStrength\nAccounts vary from one to approximately 20 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily northeastern Italy and near US military installations in northern Italy.\nExternal Aid\na.k.a. Cholana Kangtoap Serei Cheat Kampouchea\nDescription\nThe Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) emerged in November 1998 in the wake of political violence that saw many influential Cambodian leaders flee and the Cambodian People's Party assume power. With an avowed aim of overthrowing the Government, the group is led by a Cambodian-American, a former member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party. The CFF's membership reportedly includes Cambodian-Americans based in Thailand and the United States, and former soldiers from the Khmer Rouge, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and various political factions.\nActivities\nThe Cambodian Government arrested seven CFF members who were reportedly planning an unspecified terrorist attack in southwestern Cambodia in late 2003, but there were no successful CFF attacks that year. Cambodian courts in February and March 2002 prosecuted 38 CFF members suspected of staging an attack in Cambodia in 2000. The courts convicted 19 members, including one US citizen, of \"terrorism\" and/or \"membership in an armed group\" and sentenced them to terms of five years to life imprisonment. The group claimed responsibility for an attack in late November 2000 on several Government installations that killed at least eight persons and wounded more than a dozen. In April 1999, five CFF members were arrested for plotting to blow up a fuel depot outside Phnom Penh with anti-tank weapons.\nStrength\nExact strength is unknown, but totals probably never have exceeded 100 armed fighters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNortheastern Cambodia near the Thai border, and the United States.\nExternal Aid\nUS-based leadership collects funds from the Cambodian-American community.\nCommunist Party of India (Maoist)\nFormerly Maoist Communist Center of India (MCCI) and People's War (PW)\nDescription\nThe Indian groups known as the Maoist Communist Center of India and People's War (a.k.a. People's War Group) joined together in September 2004 to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist), or CPI (Maoist). The MCCI was originally formed in the early 1970s, while People's War was founded in 1975. Both groups are referred to as Naxalites, after the West Bengal village where a revolutionary radical Left movement originated in 1967. The new organization continues to employ violence to achieve its goals -- peasant revolution, abolition of class hierarchies, and expansion of Maoist-controlled \"liberated zones,\" eventually leading to the creation of an independent \"Maoist\" state. The CPI (Maoist) reportedly has a significant cadre of women. Important leaders include Ganapati (the PW leader from Andhra Pradesh), Pramod Mishra, Uma Shankar, and P.N.G. (alias Nathuni Mistry, arrested by Jharkhand police in 2002).\nActivities\nPrior to its consolidation with the PW, the MCCI ran a virtual parallel government in remote areas, where it collected a \"tax\" from the villagers and, in turn, provided infrastructure improvements such as building hospitals, schools, and irrigation projects. It ran a parallel court system wherein allegedly corrupt block development officials and landlords -- frequent MCCI targets -- had been punished by amputation and even death. People's War conducted a low-intensity insurgency that included attempted political assassination, theft of weapons from police stations, kidnapping police officers, assaulting civilians, extorting money from construction firms, and vandalizing the property of multinational corporations. Together the two groups were reportedly responsible for the deaths of up to 170 civilians and police a year.\nStrength\nAlthough difficult to assess with any accuracy, media reports and local authorities suggest the CPI (Maoist)'s membership may be as high as 31,000, including both hard-core militants and dedicated sympathizers.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nThe CPI (Maoist), believed to be enlarging the scope of its influence, operates in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and parts of West Bengal. It also has a presence on the Bihar-Nepal border.\nExternal Aid\nThe CPI (Maoist) has loose links to other Maoist groups in the region, including the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists). The MCCI was a founding member of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA).\nCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoists) CPN/M\nDescription\nThe Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) insurgency grew out of the radicalization and fragmentation of left-wing parties following Nepal's transition to democracy in 1990. The United People's Front -- a coalition of left-wing parties -- participated in the elections of 1991, but the Maoist wing failed to win the required minimum number of votes, leading to its exclusion from voter lists in the elections of 1994 and prompting the group to launch the insurgency in 1996. The CPN/M's ultimate objective is the overthrow of the Nepalese Government and the establishment of a Maoist state. In 2003, the United States designated Nepal's Maoists under Executive Order (EO) 13224 as a supporter of terrorist activity.\nActivities\nThe Maoists have utilized traditional guerrilla warfare tactics and engage in murder, torture, arson, sabotage, extortion, child conscription, kidnapping, bombings, and assassinations to intimidate and coerce the populace. In 2002, Maoists claimed responsibility for assassinating two Nepalese US Embassy guards, citing anti-Maoist spying, and in a press statement threatened foreign embassies, including the US mission, to deter foreign support for the Nepalese Government. Maoists are suspected in the September 2004 bombing at the American Cultural Center in Kathmandu. The attack, which caused no injuries and only minor damage, marked the first time the Maoists had damaged US Government property.\nStrength\nProbably several thousand full-time cadres.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperations are conducted throughout Nepal. Press reports indicate some Maoist leaders reside in India.\nExternal Aid\nDemocratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)\na.k.a. Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), Ex-FAR/Interahamwe\nDescription\nThe Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in 2001 supplanted the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), which is the armed branch of the PALIR, or the Party for the Liberation of Rwanda. ALIR was formed from the merger of the Armed Forces of Rwanda (FAR), the army of the ethnic Hutu-dominated Rwandan regime that orchestrated the genocide of 500,000 or more Tutsis and regime opponents in 1994, and Interahamwe, the civilian militia force that carried out much of the killing, after the two groups were forced from Rwanda into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC- then Zaire) that year. Though directly descended from those who organized and carried out the genocide, identified FDLR leaders are not thought to have played a role in the killing. They have worked to build bridges to other opponents of the Kigali regime, including ethnic Tutsis.\nActivities\nALIR sought to topple Rwanda's Tutsi-dominated Government, reinstitute Hutu domination, and, possibly, complete the genocide. In 1996, a message -- allegedly from the ALIR -- threatened to kill the US ambassador to Rwanda and other US citizens. In 1999, ALIR guerrillas critical of US-UK support for the Rwandan regime kidnapped and killed eight foreign tourists, including two US citizens, in a game park on the Democratic Republic of Congo-Uganda border. Three suspects in the attack are in US custody awaiting trial. In the 1998-2002 Congolese war, the ALIR/FDLR was allied with Kinshasa against the Rwandan invaders. FDLR's political wing mainly has sought to topple the Kigali regime via an alliance with Tutsi regime opponents. It established the ADRN Igihango alliance in 2002, but it has not resonated politically in Rwanda.\nStrength\nExact strength is unknown, but several thousand FDLR guerrillas operate in the eastern DRC close to the Rwandan border. In 2003, the United Nations, with Rwandan assistance, repatriated close to 1,500 FDLR combatants from the DRC. The senior FDLR military commander returned to Rwanda in November 2003 and has been working with Kigali to encourage the return of his comrades.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nMostly in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.\nExternal Support\nThe Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo provided training, arms, and supplies to ALIR forces to combat Rwandan armed forces that invaded the DRC in 1998. Kinshasa halted that support in 2002, though allegations persist of continued support from several local Congolese warlords and militias (including the Mai Mai).\nEast Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)\nDescription\nThe East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a small Islamic extremist group based in China's western Xinjiang Province. It is the most militant of the ethnic Uighur separatist groups pursuing an independent \"Eastern Turkistan,\" an area that would include Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China. ETIM is linked to al-Qa'ida and the international mujahedin movement. In September 2002 the group was designated under EO 13224 as a supporter of terrorist activity.\nActivities\nETIM militants fought alongside al-Qa'ida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In October 2003, Pakistani soldiers killed ETIM leader Hassan Makhsum during raids on al-Qa'ida-associated compounds in western Pakistan. US and Chinese Government information suggests ETIM is responsible for various terrorist acts inside and outside China. In May 2002, two ETIM members were deported to China from Kyrgyzstan for plotting to attack the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan as well as other US interests abroad.\nStrength\nUnknown. Only a small minority of ethnic Uighurs supports the Xinjiang independence movement or the formation of an Eastern Turkistan.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nXinjiang Province and neighboring countries in the region.\nExternal Aid\nETIM has received training and financial assistance from al-Qa'ida.\nFirst of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) Grupo de Resistencia Anti-Fascista Primero de Octubre\nDescription\nGRAPO was formed in 1975 as the armed wing of the illegal Communist Party of Spain during the Franco era. Advocates the overthrow of the Spanish Government and its replacement with a Marxist-Leninist regime. GRAPO is vehemently anti-American, seeks the removal of all US military forces from Spanish territory, and has conducted and attempted several attacks against US targets since 1977. The group issued a communiqu� following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, expressing its satisfaction that \"symbols of imperialist power\" were decimated and affirming that \"the war\" has only just begun. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nGRAPO did not mount a successful terrorist operation in 2004, marking the third consecutive year without an attack. The group suffered more setbacks in 2004, with several members and sympathizers arrested and sentences upheld or handed down in April in the appellate case for GRAPO militants arrested in Paris in 2000. GRAPO has killed more than 90 persons and injured more than 200 since its formation. The group's operations traditionally have been designed to cause material damage and gain publicity rather than inflict casualties, but the terrorists have conducted lethal bombings and close-range assassinations.\nStrength\nFewer than two dozen activists remain. Police have made periodic large-scale arrests of GRAPO members, crippling the organization and forcing it into lengthy rebuilding periods. In 2002, Spanish and French authorities arrested 22 suspected members, including some of the group's reconstituted leadership. More members were arrested throughout 2003 and 2004.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nHarakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI) (Movement of Islamic Holy War)\nDescription\nHUJI, a Sunni extremist group that follows the Deobandi tradition of Islam, was founded in 1980 in Afghanistan to fight in the jihad against the Soviets. It also is affiliated with the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F) of the extremist religious party Jamiat Ulema-I-Is-lam (JUI). The group, led by Qari Saifullah Akhtar and chief commander Amin Rabbani, is made up primarily of Pakistanis and foreign Islamists who are fighting for the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan. The group has links to al-Qa'ida. At present, Akhtar remains in detention in Pakistan after his August 2004 arrest and extradition from Dubai.\nActivities\nHas conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year.\nStrength\nExact numbers are unknown, but there may be several hundred members in Kashmir.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPakistan and Kashmir. Trained members in Afghanistan until autumn of 2001.\nExternal Aid\nSpecific sources of external aid are unknown.\nHarakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)\nDescription\nThe mission of HUJI-B, led by Shauqat Osman, is to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. HUJI-B has connections to the Pakistani militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI) and Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), which advocate similar objectives in Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. These groups all maintain contacts with the al-Qa'ida network in Afghanistan. The leaders of HUJIB and HUM both signed the February 1998 fatwa sponsored by Usama bin Ladin that declared American civilians to be legitimate targets for attack.\nActivities\nHUJI-B was accused of stabbing a senior Bangladeshi journalist in November 2000 for making a documentary on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. HUJI-B was suspected in the assassination attempt in July 2000 of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The group may also have been responsible for indiscriminate attacks using improvised explosive devices against cultural gatherings in Dhaka in January and April 2001.\nStrength\nUnknown; some estimates of HUJI-B cadre strength suggest several thousand members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe group operates and trains members in Bangladesh, where it maintains at least six camps.\nExternal Aid\nFunding of the HUJI-B comes primarily from madrassas in Bangladesh. The group also has ties to militants in Pakistan that may provide another funding source.\nHizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)\nDescription\nGulbuddin Hikmatyar founded Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) as a faction of the Hizb-I Islami party in 1977, and it was one of the major mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. HIG has long-established links with Usama Bin Ladin. In the early 1990s, Hikmatyar ran several terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and was a pioneer in sending mercenary fighters to other Islamic conflicts. Hikmatyar offered to shelter Bin Ladin after the latter fled Sudan in 1996. In a late 2004 press release, Hikmatyar reiterated his commitment to fight US and Coalition forces.\nActivities\nHIG has staged small attacks in its attempt to force US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan Transitional Administration, and establish an Islamic fundamentalist state. In 2004, several US soldiers were killed in attacks in Konar, Afghanistan, the area in which HIG is most active.\nStrength\nUnknown, but possibly could have hundreds of veteran fighters on which to call.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nEastern Afghanistan (particularly Konar and Nurestan Provinces) and adjacent areas of Pakistan's tribal areas.\nExternal Aid\nHizbul-Mujahedin (HM)\nDescription\nHizbul-Mujahedin (HM), the largest Kashmiri militant group, was founded in 1989 and officially supports the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan, although some cadres favor independence. The group is the militant wing of Pakistan's largest Islamic political party, the Jamaat-i-Islami, and targets Indian security forces,politicians and civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. It reportedly operated in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and trained with the Afghan Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) in Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover. The group, led by Syed Salahuddin, is comprised primarily of ethnic Kashmiris.\nActivities\nHM has conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Jammu and Kashmir. The group also occasionally strikes at civilian targets, but has not engaged in terrorist acts outside India. HM claimed responsibility for numerous attacks within Kashmir in 2004.\nStrength\nExact numbers are unknown, but estimates range from several hundred to possibly as many as 1,000 members in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nJammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.\nExternal Aid\nSpecific sources of external aid are unknown.\nIrish National Liberation Army (INLA)\nDescription\nThe INLA is a terrorist group formed in 1975 as the military wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), which split from the Official IRA (OIRA) because of OIRA's cease-fire in 1972. The group's primary aim is to end British rule in Northern Ireland, force British troops out of the province, and unite Ireland's 32 counties into a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary state. Responsible for some of the most notorious killings of \"The Troubles,\" including the bombing of a Ballykelly pub that killed 17 people in 1982. Bloody internal feuding has repeatedly torn the INLA. The INLA announced a cease-fire in August 1998 but continues to carry out occasional attacks and punishment beatings.\nActivities\nThe INLA has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has conducted bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. It is also involved in drug trafficking. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include the British military, Northern Ireland security forces, and Loyalist paramilitary groups. The INLA continues to observe a cease-fire, because -- in the words of its leadership in 2003 -- a return to armed struggle is \"not a viable option at this time.\" However, members of the group were accused of involvement in a robbery and kidnapping in December 2004, which the group denies.\nStrength\nUnclear, but probably fewer than 50 hard-core activists. Police counterterrorist operations and internal feuding have reduced the group's strength and capabilities.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic. Does not have a significant established presence on the UK mainland.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected in the past of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States.\nIrish Republican Army (IRA)\na.k.a. Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), the Provos\nDescription\nFormed in 1969 as the clandestine armed wing of the political movement Sinn Fein, the IRA is devoted both to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and to unifying Ireland. The IRA conducted attacks until its cease-fire in 1997 and agreed to disarm as a part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which established the basis for peace in Northern Ireland. Dissension within the IRA over support for the Northern Ireland peace process resulted in the formation of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA (CIRA), and the Real IRA (RIRA) in mid to late 1990s. The IRA, sometimes referred to as the PIRA to distinguish it from RIRA and CIRA, is organized into small, tightly-knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.\nActivities\nTraditional IRA activities have included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the group had conducted bombing campaigns on various targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, including senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military targets. The group's refusal in late 2004 to allow photographic documentation of its decommissioning process was an obstacle to progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement and stalled talks. The group previously had disposed of light, medium, and heavy weapons, ammunition, and explosives in three rounds of decommissioning. However, the IRA is believed to retain the ability to conduct paramilitary operations. The group's extensive criminal activities reportedly provide the IRA and the political party Sinn Fein with millions of dollars each year; the IRA was implicated in two significant robberies in 2004, one involving almost $50 million.\nStrength\nSeveral hundred members and several thousand sympathizers despite the defection of some members to RIRA and CIRA.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland, Irish Republic, Great Britain, and Europe.\nExternal Aid\nIn the past, the IRA has received aid from a variety of groups and countries and considerable training and arms from Libya and the PLO. Is suspected of receiving funds, arms, and other terrorist-related materiel from sympathizers in the United States. Similarities in operations suggest links to ETA and the FARC. In August 2002, three suspected IRA members were arrested in Colombia on charges of helping the FARC improve its explosives capabilities.\nIslamic Army of Aden (IAA)\na.k.a. Aden-Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Army of Aden (IAA) emerged publicly in mid1998 when the group released a series of communiqu�s that expressed support for Usama Bin Ladin, appealed for the overthrow of the Yemeni Government, and called for operations against US and other Western interests in Yemen. IAA was first designated under EO 13224 in September 2001.\nActivities\nIAA has engaged in small-scale operations such as bombings, kidnappings, and small arms attacks to promote its goals. The group reportedly was behind an attack in June 2003 against a medical assistance convoy in the Abyan Governorate. Yemeni authorities responded with a raid on a suspected IAA facility, killing several individuals and capturing others, including Khalid al-Nabi al-Yazidi, the group's leader. Before that attack, the group had not conducted operations since the bombing of the British Embassy in Sanaa in October 2000. In 2001, Yemeni authorities found an IAA member and three associates responsible for that attack. In December 1998, the group kidnapped 16 British, American, and Australian tourists near Mudiyah in southern Yemen. Although Yemeni officials previously have claimed that the group is operationally defunct, their recent attribution of the attack in 2003 against the medical convoy and reports that al-Yazidi was released from prison in mid-October 2003 suggest that the IAA, or at least elements of the group, have resumed activity. Speculation after the attack on the USS Cole pointed to the involvement of the IAA, and the group later claimed responsibility for the attack. The IAA has been affiliated with al-Qa'ida. IAA members are known to have trained and served in Afghanistan under the leadership of seasoned mujahedin.\nStrength\nOperates in the southern governorates of Yemen -- primarily Aden and Abyan.\nExternal Aid\nIslamic Great East Raiders-Front (IBDA-C)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Great East Raiders-Front (IBDA-C) is a Sunni Salafist group that supports Islamic rule in Turkey and believes that Turkey's present secular leadership is \"illegal.\" It has been known to cooperate with various opposition elements in Turkey in attempts to destabilize the country's political structure. The group supports the establishment of a \"pure Islamic\" state, to replace the present \"corrupt\" Turkish regime that is cooperating with the West. Its primary goal is the establishment of a \"Federative Islamic State,\" a goal backed by armed terrorist attacks primarily against civilian targets. It has been active since the mid1970s.\nActivities\nIBDA-C has engaged in activities such as bombings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and sabotage. The group has announced its actions and targets in publications to its members, who are free to launch independent attacks. IBDA-C typically has attacked civilian targets, including churches, charities, minority-affiliated targets, television transmitters, newspapers, pro-secular journalists, Ataturk statues, taverns, banks, clubs, and tobacco shops. In May 2004, Turkish police indicted seven members of the group for the assassination of retired Colonel Ihsan Guven, the alleged leader of the \"Dost\" (Friend) sect, and his wife. One of IBDA-C's more renowned attacks was the killing of 37 people in a firebomb attack in July 1993 on a hotel in Sivas. Turkish police believe that IBDA-C has also claimed responsibility for attacks carried out by other groups to elevate its image.\nStrength\nIslamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB)\nDescription\nThe IIPB is a terrorist group affiliated with the Chechen separatist movement demanding a single Islamic state in the North Caucasus. Chechen extremist leader Shamil Basayev established the IIPB -- consisting of Chechens, Arabs, and other foreign fighters -- in 1998, which he led with Saudi-born mujahedin leader Ibn al-Khattab until the latter's death in March 2002. The IIPB was one of three groups affiliated with Chechen guerrillas that seized Moscow's Dubrovka Theater and took more than 700 hostages in October 2002. While this group has not been identified as conducting attacks since their designation two years ago, those Arab mujahedin still operating in Chechnya now fall under the command of Abu Hafs al-Urduni, who assumed the leadership in April 2004 after the death of Khattab's successor, Abu al-Walid. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\nActivities\nInvolved in terrorist and guerilla operations against Russian forces, pro-Russian Chechen forces, and Chechen non-combatants.\nStrength\nUp to 400 fighters, including as many as 100 Arabs and other foreign fighters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily in Russia and adjacent areas of the north Caucasus, particularly in the mountainous south of Chechnya, with major logistical activities in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.\nExternal Aid\nThe IIPB and its Arab leaders appear to be a primary conduit for Islamic funding of the Chechen guerrillas, in part through links to al-Qa'ida-related financiers on the Arabian Peninsula.\nIslamic Jihad Group (IJG)\nDescription\nThe Islamic Jihad Group (IJG), probably founded by former members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, made its first appearance in early April 2004 when it claimed responsibility for a string of events -- including shootouts and terrorist attacks -- in Uzbekistan in late March and early April that killed approximately 47 people, including 33 terrorists. The claim of responsibility, which was posted to multiple militant Islamic websites, raged against the leadership of Uzbekistan. In late July 2004, the group struck again with near-simultaneous suicide bombings of the US and Israeli Embassies and the Uzbek Prosecutor General's office in Tashkent. The IJG again claimed responsibility via an Islamic website and stated that martyrdom operations by the group would continue. The statement also indicated the attacks were done in support of their Palestinian, Iraqi, and Afghan brothers in the global jihad.\nActivities\nThe IJG claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in 2004 against Uzbekistani, American, and Israeli entities. The attackers in the March and April 2004 attacks, some of whom were female suicide bombers, targeted the local government offices of the Uzbekistani and Bukhara police, killing approximately 47 people, including 33 terrorists. These attacks marked the first use of female suicide bombers in Central Asia. On July 30, 2004, the group launched a set of same-day attacks against the US and Israeli Embassies and the Uzbek Prosecutor General's office. These attacks left four Uzbekistanis and three suicide operatives dead. The date of the latter attack corresponds to the start of a trial for individuals arrested for their participation in earlier attacks.\nStrength\na.k.a. Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB)\nDescription\nThe JRA is an international terrorist group formed around 1970 after breaking away from the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. The JRA's historical goal has been to overthrow the Japanese Government and monarchy and to help foment world revolution. JRA's leader, Fusako Shigenobu, claimed that the forefront of the battle against international imperialism was in Palestine, so in the early 1970s she led her small group to the Middle East to support the Palestinian struggle against Israel and the West. After her arrest in November 2000, Shigenobu announced she intended to pursue her goals using a legitimate political party rather than revolutionary violence, and the group announced it would disband in April 2001.\nActivities\nDuring the 1970s, JRA carried out a series of attacks around the world, including the massacre in 1972 at Lod Airport in Israel, two Japanese airliner hijackings, and an attempted takeover of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. During the late 1980s, JRA began to single out American targets and used car bombs and rockets in attempted attacks on US Embassies in Jakarta, Rome, and Madrid. In April 1988, JRA operative Yu Kikumura was arrested with explosives on the New Jersey Turnpike, apparently planning an attack to coincide with the bombing of a USO club in Naples, a suspected JRA operation that killed five, including a US servicewoman. He was convicted of the charges and is serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States. Tsutomu Shirosaki, captured in 1996, is also jailed in the United States. In 2000, Lebanon deported to Japan four members it arrested in 1997, but granted a fifth operative, Kozo Okamoto, political asylum. Longtime leader Shigenobu was arrested in November 2000 and faces charges of terrorism and passport fraud. Four JRA members remain in North Korea following their involvement in a hijacking in 1970; five of their family members returned to Japan in 2004.\nStrength\nAbout six hard-core members; undetermined number of sympathizers. At its peak, the group claimed to have 30 to 40 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nLocation unknown, but possibly in Asia and/or Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon.\nExternal Aid\nKumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM)\nDescription\nKumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) favors the overthrow of the Malaysian Government and the creation of an Islamic state comprising Malaysia, Indonesia, and the southern Philippines. Malaysian authorities believe an extremist wing of the KMM has engaged in terrorist acts and has close ties to the regional terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiya (JI). Key JI leaders, including the group's spiritual head, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, and JI operational leader Hambali, reportedly had great influence over KMM members. The Government of Singapore asserts that a Singaporean JI member assisted the KMM in buying a boat to support jihad activities in Indonesia.\nActivities\nMalaysia is holding a number of KMM members under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for activities deemed threatening to Malaysia's national security, including planning to wage jihad, possession of weaponry, bombings and robberies, the murder of a former state assemblyman, and planning attacks on foreigners, including US citizens. A number of those detained are also believed to be members of Jemaah Islamiya. Several of the arrested KMM militants have reportedly undergone military training in Afghanistan, and some fought with the Afghan mujahedin during the war against the former Soviet Union. Some members are alleged to have ties to Islamic extremist organizations in Indonesia and the Philippines. In September 2003, alleged KMM leader Nik Adli Nik Abdul Aziz's detention was extended for another two years. In March 2004, Aziz and other suspected KMM members went on a hunger strike as part of an unsuccessful bid for freedom, but the Malaysian court rejected their applications for a writ of habeas corpus in September. One alleged KMM member was sentenced to 10 years in prison for unlawful possession of firearms, explosives, and ammunition, but eight other alleged members in detention since 2001 were released in July and in November. The Malaysian Government is confident that the arrests of KMM leaders have crippled the organization and rendered it incapable of engaging in militant activities. Malaysian officials in May 2004 denied Thailand's charge that the KMM was involved in the Muslim separatist movement in southern Thailand.\nStrength\nKMM's current membership is unknown.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe KMM is reported to have networks in the Malaysian states of Perak, Johor, Kedah, Selangor, Terengganu, and Kelantan. They also operate in Kuala Lumpur. According to press reports, the KMM has ties to radical Indonesian Islamic groups and has sent members to Ambon, Indonesia, to fight against Christians and to the southern Philippines for operational training.\nExternal Aid\nLord's Resistance Army (LRA)\nDescription\nThe LRA was formally established in 1994, succeeding the ethnic Acholi-dominated Holy Spirit Movement and other insurgent groups. LRA leader Joseph Kony has called for the overthrow of the Ugandan Government and its replacement with a regime run on the basis of the Ten Commandments. More frequently, however, he has spoken of the liberation and honor of the Acholi people, whom he sees as oppressed by the \"foreign\" Government of Ugandan President Museveni. Kony is the LRA's undisputed leader. He claims to have supernatural powers and to receive messages from spirits, which he uses to formulate the LRA's strategy.\nActivities\nThe Acholi people, whom Kony claims to be fighting to liberate, are the ones who suffer most from his actions. Since the early 1990's, the LRA has kidnapped some 20,000 Ugandan children, mostly ethnic Acholi, to replenish its ranks. Kony despises Acholi elders for having given up the fight against Museveni and relies on abducted children who can be brutally indoctrinated to fight for the LRA. The LRA forces kidnapped children and adult civilians to become soldiers, porters, and \"wives\" for LRA leaders. The LRA prefers to attack camps for internally displaced persons and other civilian targets, avoiding direct engagement with the Ugandan military. Victims of LRA attacks sometimes have their hands, fingers, ears, noses, or other extremities cut off. The LRA stepped up its activities from 2002 to 2004 after the Ugandan army, with the Sudanese Government's permission, attacked LRA positions inside Sudan. By late 2003, the number of internally displaced had doubled to 1.4 million, and the LRA had pushed deep into non-Acholi areas where it had never previously operated. During 2004, a combination of military pressure, offers of amnesty, and several rounds of negotiation markedly degraded LRA capabilities due to death, desertion, and defection of senior commanders.\nStrength\nEstimated in early 2004 at between 500 and 1,000 fighters, 85 percent of whom are abducted children and civilians, but numbers have since declined significantly.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Uganda and southern Sudan.\nExternal Aid\nAlthough the LRA has been supported by the Government of Sudan in the past, the Sudanese now appear to be cooperating with the Government of Uganda in a campaign to eliminate LRA sanctuaries in Sudan.\nLoyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)\nDescription\nAn extreme Loyalist group formed in 1996 as a faction of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the LVF did not emerge publicly until 1997. Composed largely of UVF hardliners who have sought to prevent a political settlement with Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland by attacking Catholic politicians, civilians, and Protestant politicians who endorse the Northern Ireland peace process. LVF occasionally uses the Red Hand Defenders as a cover name for its actions but has also called for the group's disbandment. In October 2001, the British Government ruled that the LVF had broken the cease-fire it declared in 1998 after linking the group to the murder of a journalist. According to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, the LVF decommissioned a small amount of weapons in December 1998, but it has not repeated this gesture. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nBombings, kidnappings, and close-quarter shooting attacks. Finances its activities with drug money and other criminal activities. LVF attacks have been particularly vicious; the group has murdered numerous Catholic civilians with no political or paramilitary affiliations, including an 18-year-old Catholic girl in July 1997 because she had a Protestant boyfriend. The terrorists also have conducted successful attacks against Irish targets in Irish border towns. From 2000 to 2004, the LVF has been engaged in a violent feud with other Loyalists, which has left several men dead.\nStrength\nSmall, perhaps dozens of active members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)\nDescription\nThe goals of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) include establishing an Islamic state in Morocco and supporting al-Qa'ida's jihad against the West. The group appears to have emerged in the 1990s and is comprised of Moroccan recruits who trained in armed camps in Afghanistan and some who fought in the Afghan resistance against Soviet occupation. GICM members interact with other North African extremists, particularly in Europe. On November 22, 2002, the United States designated the GICM for asset freeze under EO 13224 following the group's submission to the UNSCR 1267 Sanctions Committee.\nActivities\nMoroccans associated with the GICM are part of the broader international jihadist movement. GICM is one of the groups believed to be involved in planning the May 2003 Casablanca suicide bombings, and has been involved in other plots. Members work with other North African extremists, engage in trafficking falsified documents, and possibly arms smuggling. The group in the past has issued communiqu�s and statements against the Moroccan Government. In the last year, a number of arrests in Belgium, France, and Spain have disrupted the group's ability to operate, though cells and key members still remain throughout Europe. Although the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, among others, claimed responsibility on behalf of al-Qa'ida, Spanish authorities are investigating the possibility that GICM was involved in the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings.\nStrength\nMorocco, Western Europe, Afghanistan, and Canada.\nExternal Aid\nUnknown, but believed to include criminal activity abroad.\nNew Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC)\na.k.a. Brigate Rosse/Partito Comunista Combattente\nDescription\nThis Marxist-Leninist group is a successor to the Red Brigades, active in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to ideology, both groups share the same symbol, a five-pointed star inside a circle. The group is opposed to Italy's foreign and labor policies and to NATO.\nActivities\nIn 2004, the BR/PCC continued to suffer setbacks, with their leadership in prison and other members under pressure from the Italian Government. The BR/PCC did not claim responsibility for a blast at an employment agency in Milan in late October, although the police suspect remnants of the group are responsible. In 2003, Italian authorities captured at least seven members of the BR/ PCC, dealing the terrorist group a severe blow to its operational effectiveness. Some of those arrested are suspects in the assassination in 1999 of Labor Ministry adviser Massimo D'Antona, and authorities are hoping to link them to the assassination in 2002 of Labor Ministry advisor Marco Biagi. The arrests in October came on the heels of a clash in March 2003 involving Italian Railway Police and two BR/PCC members, which resulted in the deaths of one of the operatives and an Italian security officer. The BR/PCC has financed its activities through armed robberies.\nStrength\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)\nDescription\nPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) and its ally Qibla (an Islamic fundamentalist group that favors political Islam and takes an anti-US and anti-Israel stance) view the South African Government as a threat to Islamic values. The two groups work to promote a greater political voice for South African Muslims. PAGAD has used front names such as Muslims Against Global Oppression and Muslims Against Illegitimate Leaders when launching anti-Western protests and campaigns.\nActivities\nPAGAD formed in November 1995 as a vigilante group in reaction to crime in some neighborhoods of Cape Town. In September 1996, a change in the group's leadership resulted in a change in the group's goal, and it began to support a violent jihad to establish an Islamic state. Between 1996 and 2000, PAGAD conducted a total of 189 bomb attacks, including nine bombings in the Western Cape that caused serious injuries. PAGAD's targets included South African authorities, moderate Muslims, synagogues, gay nightclubs, tourist attractions, and West-ern-associated restaurants. PAGAD is believed to have masterminded the bombing on August 25, 1998, of the Cape Town Planet Hollywood. Since 2001, PAGAD's violent activities have been severely curtailed by law enforcement and prosecutorial efforts against leading members of the organization. Qibla leadership has organized demonstrations against visiting US dignitaries and other protests, but the extent of PAGAD's involvement is uncertain.\nStrength\nEarly estimates were several hundred members. Current operational strength is unknown, but probably vastly diminished.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nOperates mainly in the Cape Town area.\nExternal Aid\nMay have ties to international Islamic extremists.\nRed Hand Defenders (RHD)\nDescription\nThe RHD is an extremist terrorist group formed in 1998 and composed largely of Protestant hardliners from Loyalist groups observing a cease-fire. RHD seeks to prevent a political settlement with Irish nationalists by attacking Catholic civilian interests in Northern Ireland. In January 2002, the group announced all staff at Catholic schools in Belfast and Catholic postal workers were legitimate targets. Despite calls in February 2002 by the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), and Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) to announce its disbandment, RHD continued to make threats and issue claims of responsibility. RHD is a cover name often used by elements of the banned UDA and LVF. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nIn early 2003, the RHD claimed responsibility for killing two UDA members as a result of what is described as Loyalist internecine warfare. It also claimed responsibility for a bomb that was left in the offices of Republican Sinn Fein in West Belfast, although the device was defused and no one was injured. In recent years, the group has carried out numerous pipe bombings and arson attacks against \"soft\" civilian targets such as homes, churches, and private businesses. In January 2002, the group bombed the home of a prison official in North Belfast. Twice in 2002 the group claimed responsibility for attacks -- the murder of a Catholic postman and a Catholic teenager -- that were later claimed by the UDAUFF, further blurring distinctions between the groups. In 2001, RHD claimed responsibility for killing five persons. The RHD has claimed responsibility for hoax bomb devices, and recently has set off petrol bombs and made death threats against local politicians.\nStrength\nUp to 20 members, some of whom have experience in terrorist tactics and bomb making. Police arrested one member in June 2001 for making a hoax bomb threat.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nRevolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei (NIPR)\nDescription\nThe NIPR is a clandestine leftist extremist group that appeared in Rome in 2000. Adopted the logo of the Red Brigades of the 1970s and 1980s -- an encircled five point star -- for its declarations. Opposes Italy's foreign and labor policies. Has targeted property interests rather than personnel in its attacks.\nActivities\nThe NIPR has not claimed responsibility for any attacks since an April 2001 bomb attack on a building housing a US-Italian relations association and an international affairs institute in Rome's historic center. The NIPR claimed to have carried out a bombing in May 2000 in Rome at an oversight committee facility for implementation of the law on strikes in public services. The group also claimed responsibility for an explosion in February 2002 on Via Palermo adjacent to the Interior Ministry in Rome.\nStrength\nMainly in Rome, Milan, Lazio, and Tuscany.\nExternal Aid\nRevolutionary Struggle (RS)\nDescription\nRS is a radical leftist group that is anti-Greek establishment and ideologically aligns itself with the organization 17 November. Although the group is not specifically anti-US, its anti-imperialist rhetoric suggests it may become so.\nActivities\nFirst became known when the group conducted a bombing in September 2003 against the courthouse at which the trials of alleged 17 November members were ongoing. In May 2004, the group detonated four improvised explosive devices at a police station in Athens. These two attacks were notable for their apparent attempts to target and kill first responders -- the first time a Greek terrorist group had used this tactic. RS is widely regarded as the most dangerous indigenous Greek terrorist group at this time.\nStrength\nLikely less than 50 members.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM)\nDescription\nRiyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM), led by Chechen extremist leader Shamil Basayev, uses terrorism as part of an effort to secure an independent Muslim state in the North Caucasus. Basayev claimed the group was responsible for the Beslan school hostage crisis of September 1-3, 2004, which culminated in the deaths of about 330 people; simultaneous suicide bombings aboard two Russian civilian airliners in late August 2004; and a third suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway that same month. The RSRSBCM, whose name translates into English as \"Requirements for Getting into Paradise,\" was not known to Western observers before October 2002, when it participated in the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\nActivities\nPrimarily terrorist and guerilla operations against Russian forces, pro-Russian Chechen forces, and Russian and Chechen non-combatants.\nStrength\nProbably no more than 50 fighters at any given time.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nMay receive some external assistance from foreign mujahedin.\nSipah-i-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)\nDescription\nThe Sipah-I-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP) is a Sunni sectarian group that follows the Deobandi school. Violently anti-Shia, the SSP emerged in central Punjab in the mid-1980s as a response to the Iranian Revolution. Pakistani President Musharraf banned the SSP in January 2002. In August 2002, the SSP renamed itself Millat-i-Islami Pakistan, and Musharraf re-banned the group under its new name in November 2003. The SSP also has operated as a political party, winning seats in Pakistan's National Assembly.\nActivities\nThe group's activities range from organizing political rallies calling for Shia to be declared non-Muslims to assassinating prominent Shia leaders. The group was responsible for attacks on Shia worshippers in May 2004, when at least 50 people were killed.\nStrength\nThe SSP may have approximately 3,000 to 6,000 trained activists who carry out various kinds of sectarian activities.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nThe SSP has influence in all four provinces of Pakistan. It is considered to be one of the most powerful sectarian groups in the country.\nExternal Aid\nThe SSP reportedly receives significant funding from Saudi Arabia through wealthy private donors in Pakistan. Funds also are acquired from other sources, including other Sunni extremist groups, madrassas, and contributions by political groups.\nSpecial Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR)\nDescription\nThe SPIR is one of three terrorist groups affiliated with Chechen guerrillas that furnished personnel to carry out the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow in October 2002. The SPIR has had at least seven commanders since it was founded in the late 1990s. Movsar Barayev, who led and was killed during the theater standoff, was the first publicly identified leader. The group continues to conduct guerrilla operations in Chechnya under the leadership of the current leader, Amir Aslan, whose true identity is not known. Designated under EO 13224 in February 2003.\nActivities\nPrimarily guerrilla operations against Russian forces. Has also been involved in various hostage and ransom operations, including the execution of ethnic Chechens who have collaborated with Russian authorities.\nStrength\nProbably no more than 100 fighters at any given time.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nMay receive some external assistance from foreign mujahedin.\nTunisian Combatant Group (TCG)\nDescription\nThe Tunisian Combatant Group (TCG), also known as the Jama'a Combattante Tunisienne, seeks to establish an Islamic regime in Tunisia and has targeted US and Western interests. The group is an offshoot of the banned Tunisian Islamist movement, an-Nahda. Founded around 2000 by Tarek Maaroufi and Saifallah Ben Hassine, the TCG has drawn members from the Tunisian diaspora in Europe and elsewhere. It has lost some of its leadership, but may still exist, particularly in Western Europe. Belgian authorities arrested Maaroufi in late 2001 and sentenced him to six years in prison in 2003 for his role in the assassination of anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud two days before 9/11. The TCG was designated under EO 13224 in October 2002. Historically, the group has been associated with al-Qa'ida as well. Members also have ties to other North African extremist groups. The TCG was designated for sanctions under UNSCR 1333 in December 2000.\nActivities\nTunisians associated with the TCG are part of the support network of the broader international jihadist movement. According to European press reports, TCG members or affiliates in the past have engaged in trafficking falsified documents and recruiting for terror training camps in Afghanistan. Some TCG associates were suspected of planning an attack against the US, Algerian, and Tunisian diplomatic missions in Rome in April 2001. Some members reportedly maintain ties to the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat.\nStrength\nTupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)\nDescription\nMRTA is a traditional Marxist-Leninist revolutionary movement formed in 1983 from remnants of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left, a Peruvian insurgent group active in the 1960s. It aims to establish a Marxist regime and to rid Peru of all imperialist elements (primarily US and Japanese influence). Peru's counterterrorist program has diminished the group's ability to conduct terrorist attacks, and the MRTA has suffered from infighting, the imprisonment or deaths of senior leaders, and the loss of leftist support.\nActivities\nPreviously conducted bombings, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations, but recent activity has fallen drastically. In December 1996, 14 MRTA members occupied the Japanese Ambassador's residence in Lima and held 72 hostages for more than four months. Peruvian forces stormed the residence in April 1997, rescuing all but one of the remaining hostages and killing all 14 group members, including the remaining leaders. The group has not conducted a significant terrorist operation since and appears more focused on obtaining the release of imprisoned MRTA members, although there are reports of low-level rebuilding efforts.\nStrength\nBelieved to be no more than 100 members, consisting largely of young fighters who lack leadership skills and experience.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPeru, with supporters throughout Latin America and Western Europe. Controls no territory.\nExternal Aid\nTurkish Hizballah\nDescription\nTurkish Hizballah is a Kurdish Sunni Islamic terrorist organization that arose in the early 1980s in response to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)'s secularist approach of establishing an independent Kurdistan. Turkish Hizballah spent its first 10 years fighting the PKK, accusing the group of atrocities against Muslims in southeastern Turkey, where Turkish Hizballah seeks to establish an independent Islamic state.\nActivities\nBeginning in the mid-1990s, Turkish Hizballah, which is unrelated to Lebanese Hizballah, expanded its target base and modus operandi from killing PKK militants to conducting low-level bombings against liquor stores, bordellos, and other establishments the organization considered \"anti-Islamic.\" In January 2000, Turkish security forces killed Huseyin Velioglu, the leader of Turkish Hizballah, in a shootout at a safe house in Istanbul. The incident sparked a year-long series of counterterrorist operations against the group that resulted in the detention of some 2,000 individuals; authorities arrested several hundred of those on criminal charges. At the same time, police recovered nearly 70 bodies of Turkish and Kurdish businessmen and journalists that Turkish Hizballah had tortured and brutally murdered during the mid-to-late 1990s. The group began targeting official Turkish interests in January 2001, when its operatives assassinated the Diyarbakir police chief in the group's most sophisticated operation to date. Turkish Hizballah did not conduct a major operation in 2003 or 2004 and probably is focusing on recruitment, fundraising, and reorganization.\nStrength\nPossibly a few hundred members and several thousand supporters.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nPrimarily the Diyarbakir region of southeastern Turkey.\nExternal Aid\nIt is widely believed that Turkey's security apparatus originally backed Turkish Hizballah to help the Turkish Government combat the PKK. Alternative views are that the Turkish Government turned a blind eye to Turkish Hizballah's activities because its primary targets were PKK members and supporters, or that the Government simply had to prioritize scarce resources and was unable to wage war on both groups simultaneously. Allegations of collusion have never been laid to rest, and the Government of Turkey continues to issue denials. Turkish Hizballah also is suspected of having ties with Iran, although there is not sufficient evidence to establish a link.\nUlster Defense Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF)\nDescription\nThe Ulster Defense Association (UDA), the largest Loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, was formed in 1971 as an umbrella organization for Loyalist paramilitary groups such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Today, the UFF constitutes almost the entire UDA membership. The UDA/UFF declared a series of cease-fires between 1994 and 1998. In September 2001, the UDA/ UFF's Inner Council withdrew its support for Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement. The following month, after a series of murders, bombings, and street violence, the British Government ruled the UDA/UFF's cease-fire defunct. The dissolution of the organization's political wing, the Ulster Democratic Party, soon followed. In January 2002, however, the UDA created the Ulster Political Research Group to serve in a similar capacity. Designated under EO 13224 in December 2001.\nActivities\nThe UDA/UFF has evolved into a criminal organization deeply involved in drug trafficking and other moneymaking criminal activities through six largely independent \"brigades.\" It has also been involved in murder, shootings, arson, and assaults. According to the International Monitoring Commission, \"the UDA has the capacity to launch serious, if crude, attacks.\" Some UDA activities have been of a sectarian nature directed at the Catholic community, aimed at what are sometimes described as 'soft' targets, and often have taken place at the interface between the Protestant and Catholic communities, especially in Belfast. The organization continues to be involved in targeting individual Catholics and has undertaken attacks against retired and serving prison officers. The group has also been involved in a violent internecine war with other Loyalist paramilitary groups for the past several years. In February 2003, the UDA/UFF declared a 12-month cease-fire, but refused to decommission its arsenal until Republican groups did likewise and emphasized its continued disagreement with the Good Friday accords. The cease-fire has been extended. Even though numerous attacks on Catholics were blamed on the group, the UDA/ UFF did not claim credit for any attacks, and in August 2003 reiterated its intention to remain militarily inactive.\nStrength\nEstimates vary from 2,000 to 5,000 members, with several hundred active in paramilitary operations.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nUlster Volunteer Force (UVF)\nDescription\nThe UVF is a Loyalist terrorist group formed in 1966 to oppose liberal reforms in Northern Ireland that members feared would lead to unification of Ireland. The group adopted the name of an earlier organization formed in 1912 to combat Home Rule for Ireland. The UVF's goal is to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the UK; to that end it has killed some 550 persons since 1966. The UVF and its offshoots have been responsible for some of the most vicious attacks of \"The Troubles,\" including horrific sectarian killings like those perpetrated in the 1970s by the UVF-affiliated \"Shankill Butchers.\" In October 1994, the Combined Loyalist Military Command, which included the UVF, declared a cease-fire, and the UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, has played an active role in the peace process. Despite the cease-fire, the organization has been involved in a series of bloody feuds with other Loyalist paramilitary organizations. The Red Hand Commando is linked to the UVF.\nActivities\nThe UVF has been active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies. UVF members have been linked to recent racial attacks on minorities; however, these assaults were reportedly not authorized by the UVF leadership. On occasion, it has provided advance warning to police of its attacks. Targets include nationalist civilians, Republican paramilitary groups, and, on occasion, rival Loyalist paramilitary groups. The UVF is a relatively disciplined organization with a centralized command. The UVF leadership continues to observe a cease-fire.\nStrength\nUnclear, but probably several hundred supporters, with a smaller number of hard-core activists. Police counterterrorist operations and internal feuding have reduced the group's strength and capabilities.\nLocation/Area of Operation\nNorthern Ireland. Some support on the UK mainland.\nExternal Aid\nSuspected in the past of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers overseas.\nUnited Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)\nDescription\nNortheast India's most prominent insurgent group, ULFA -- an ethnic secessionist organization in the Indian stateof Assam, bordering Bangladesh and Bhutan -- was founded on April 7, 1979 at Rang Ghar, during agitation organized by the state's powerful students' union. The group's objective is an independent Assam, reflected in its ideology of \"Oikya, Biplab, Mukti\" (\"Unity, Revolution, Freedom\"). ULFA enjoyed widespread support in upper Assam in its initial years, especially in 1985-1992. ULFA's kidnappings, killings and extortion led New Delhi to ban the group and start a military offensive against it in 1990, which forced it to go underground. ULFA began to lose popularity in the late 1990s after it increasingly targeted civilians, including a prominent NGO activist. It lost further support for its anti-Indian stand during the 1999 Kargil War.\nActivities\nULFA trains, finances and equips cadres for a \"liberation struggle\" while extortion helps finance military training and weapons purchases. ULFA conducts hit and run operations on security forces in Assam, selective assassinations, and explosions in public places. During the 1980s-1990s ULFA undertook a series of abductions and murders, particularly of businessmen. In 2000, ULFA assassinated an Assam state minister. In 2003, ULFA killed more than 60 \"outsiders\" in Assam, mainly residents of the bordering state of Bihar. Following the December 2003 Bhutanese Army's attack on ULFA camps in Bhutan, the group is believed to have suffered a setback. Some important ULFA functionaries surrendered in Assam, but incidents of violence, though of a lesser magnitude than in the past, continue. On August 14, one civilian was killed and 18 others injured when ULFA militants triggered a grenade blast inside a cinema hall at Gauripur in Dhubri district. The next day, at an Indian Independence Day event, a bomb blast in Dhemaji killed an estimated 13 people, including 6 children, and injured 21.\nStrength\nULFA's earlier numbers (3,000 plus) dropped following the December 2003 attack on its camps in Bhutan. Total cadre strength now is estimated at 700.\nLocation/Area of Operations\nULFA is active in the state of Assam, and its workers are believed to transit (and sometimes conduct operations in) parts of neighboring Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. All ULFA camps in Bhutan are reportedly demolished. The group may have linkages with other ethnic insurgent groups active in neighboring states.\nExternal Aid\nULFA reportedly procures and trades in arms with other Northeast Indian groups, and receives aid from unknown external sources.\nApril 27, 2005",
"AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #26-10 dated 13 July 2010\nAFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #26-10 dated 13 July 2010 REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not ... CIA to Debrief Agents Freed by Russia; NSA ...\nAFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes\nSection I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS\nAfghan NSA Blasts Pak for Providing Safe Havens to Al-Qaeda, Other Terror Groups. In what appears to be a significant change in Afghanistan's policy after continuous overtures to Pakistan, National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta has called on Islamabad to take \"serious measures\" against militants using the country's soil to launch attacks on the war-torn nation.\nIn an interview with a foreign news agency, Spanta said there was \"tremendous evidence\" that Pakistani authorities were allowing Al-Qaeda and other terror groups to operate from safe havens based inside the country, and that Kabul, on many occasions, had presented that evidence to Islamabad.\n\"My expectation is that Pakistan after nine years - because theoretically Pakistan is part of the anti-terror alliance - they have to begin to take some serious measures against terrorism,\" The Dawn quoted Spanta, as saying.\n\"We have evidence that the terrorists from Pakistan are involved in daily attacks against our people and international 'jihadi' groups are active here. They have their base and sanctuaries behind our border and this is a serious problem,\" he added.\nSpanta said Pakistan has failed to tackle extremists on a whole, and has also been unsuccessful in carrying out action against any militant group be it Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network or the less powerful Hekmatyar group and the Hizb-u-Tahrir.\n\"It is not a particular secret that the terrorists have sanctuaries in Pakistan, that they have training centres, that they have the possibility to come to Afghanistan, attack us and go back,\" he said. [ SIFY /6July2010] \nBritain Pledges Inquiry Into Torture. Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Britain's new coalition government would appoint an independent inquiry into allegations that its security services, MI5 and MI6, colluded with the Central Intelligence Agency and other foreign organizations in the rendition and torture of terrorism suspects held in foreign prisons after the 9/11 attacks.\nMr. Cameron had called for the inquiry before the spring election campaign against the former Labor government, which had endured years of criticism at home for being too cozy with the Bush administration in the reaction to terrorism.\nMr. Cameron said a 76-year-old retired appeals court judge, Sir Peter Gibson, would head a three-member panel to review actions by the security services that have led to a dozen cases before British courts in which former detainees have alleged that the British agencies knew - or should have known - that the detainees were being mistreated.\n\"It's time to clear this matter up once and for all,\" he told the House of Commons.\nHe said he hoped that the inquiry would start before 2011, and that he would have the panel's full report within 12 months of its first sitting. While the panel would hold \"some of its hearings\" in public, he said, much of its work would be conducted behind closed doors.\n\"Let's be frank,\" he said, \"it is not possible to have a full public inquiry into something that is meant to be secret.\"\nIn a further bid to end the controversy, he said the government was committed to a role of \"mediation\" in the civil suits for damages that former detainees had brought against the British security services and, \"wherever appropriate,\" to pay compensation. It was the closest any British minister had come to acknowledging outright that British agents knew or suspected that the detainees were being abused, and did little or nothing to prevent it.\n\"While there is no evidence that any British officer was directly engaged in torture in the aftermath of 9/11, there are questions over the degree to which British officers were working with foreign security services who were treating detainees in ways they should not have done,\" Mr. Cameron said. He said this had \"led to accusations that Britain may have been complicit in the mistreatment of detainees.\"\nUnder the Labor government, MI5, responsible for Britain's internal security, and MI6, responsible for external security, issued strong denials that their agents were complicit in mistreatment. The agencies received vigorous backing from the government, at least until court disclosures began to show that the detainees' allegations against them might have had some validity.\nMr. Cameron said that the security agencies were being \"paralyzed by paperwork\" as they defended themselves against the allegations in court, and that Britain's international reputation was being damaged, too.\n\"Public confidence is being eroded, with people doubting the ability of our services to protect us and questioning the rules under which they operate,\" he said. \"And terrorists and extremists are able to exploit these allegations for their own propaganda.\"\nFormer detainees have said that British agents who questioned them while they were detained, or who were working closely with American and other foreign agencies overseeing their interrogations, were complicit in their being shuttled through the C.I.A.'s secret archipelago of \"ghost prisons.\" In several cases, the detainees said the agents either witnessed the abuse or knew enough to conclude that they were being mistreated.\nAmong other charges, the detainees have claimed that they were subjected to sleep deprivation and painful \"stress positions,\" as well as to excessive noise, cold and threats of being killed or \"disappeared.\" One widely publicized case involved Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born former detainee with a British right of residency who was released from the prison at Guant�namo Bay last year and returned to Britain; among the charges are that his genitals were sliced with a razor while he was being held in Morocco.\nIn his Commons statement, Mr. Cameron trod warily around the implications of the inquiry for relations with the United States. In Mr. Mohamed's court case, the Labour government fought - and lost - a bid to keep secret information about his treatment that was provided to Britain by the C.I.A. At one point, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Britain's Foreign Office that security cooperation between the countries would be harmed if the information provided to Britain in secret were made public by the court.\nMr. Cameron said the inquiry would be expected to review aspects of Britain's cooperation on terrorism matters with the United States. \"Did we allow our own high standards to slip - either systematically or individually?\" he asked. \"Did we give clear enough guidance to officers in the field?\"\nBut the prime minister also stressed the damage that could result if the United States lost confidence in Britain. There were doubts, he said, about the British agencies' ability to \"protect the secrets\" of allied agencies like the C.I.A. He added, \"This has strained some of our oldest and most important security partnerships in the world - in particular, that with America.\" [ NYTimes /7July2010] \nNorth Korean Female Spy Spared. South Korean prosecutors will not charge a woman forced to spy for North Korea because she is in poor health and cooperated with investigators, a spokesman said.\nThe 36-year-old identified only as Kim was arrested in May for allegedly obtaining classified information on Seoul's subway system from a male employee in return for providing him with sexual services. Her arrest came eight months after she entered South Korea via China and Laos in the guise of a defector.\nThe subway employee, who first met Kim online when she was operating a travel agency in China in 2006 and 2007, has been charged with espionage.\n'Prosecution authorities have decided not to indict Kim as she has clearly expressed her intention to shift loyalty to the South and she was in poor health,' the Seoul central district prosecution office spokesman told AFP. She needs a liver transplant, he said.\nAuthorities also took into account the fact that she was forced into espionage to avoid punishment for losing her communist party membership card on a train in 1997 in North Korea.\n'She became disillusioned with the North after she arrived in the South,' a prosecution source was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. 'We expect her to cooperate well not only in her own case but in other spy cases as well.' Spies can in theory face the death sentence but are sometimes treated leniently if they renounce the North's regime and cooperate. [ StraitsTimes /8July2010] \nBritish Government Curbs Stop-and-Search Terrorism Powers. The British government said it was suspending anti-terror legislation allowing people to be searched by police without good reason after European judges ruled it was unlawful.\nHome Secretary Theresa May said she was introducing interim guidelines for police stating they could only use stop and search powers if they reasonably suspect the person of terror-related activities.\nShe was responding to a European Court of Human Rights judgment earlier this year that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows police to search people without suspicion, was illegal.\n\"Officers will no longer be able to search individuals using section 44 powers. Instead, they will have to rely on section 43 powers - which require officers to reasonably suspect the person to be a terrorist,\" May told the House of Commons.\n\"And officers will only be able to use section 44 in relation to the searches of vehicles.\n\"I will only confirm these authorizations where they are considered to be necessary - and officers will only be able to use them when they have 'reasonable suspicion'.\"\nThe new guidelines will be in place until a wide-ranging review of counter-terrorism legislation has been conducted by Prime Minister David Cameron's new coalition government, she said.\nShami Chakrabarti, director of civil liberties group Liberty, welcomed the move, saying Section 44 had \"criminalized and alienated more people than it ever protected\".\n\"It is a blanket and secretive power that has been used against school kids, journalists, peace protesters and a disproportionate number of young black men,\" she said.\n\"To our knowledge, it has never helped catch a single terrorist. This is a very important day for personal privacy, protest rights and race equality in Britain.\"\nIn a unanimous ruling in January, seven European Court judges said the searches breached the complainants' right to respect for their private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.\nMay said the government could not appeal the ruling but would not have done so even if it wanted to. [ Breitbart /8July2010] \nTwo U.S. Spies for Cuba Ask Court to Jail Them Near Each Other. A Washington, D.C., couple who spent 30 years spying for Cuba are asking a federal judge to recommend that they be incarcerated near each other - but not in Florida, where they say the federal prisons \"will likely have populations of Cuban-Americans who might react strongly to their offense.\"\nWalter Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers pleaded guilty in November to sending secrets to the United States' longtime antagonist. They are scheduled to be sentenced Friday before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.\nWalter Myers - a former State Department employee with top-secret clearance - agreed to a life sentence without parole and to cooperate with the federal government in a deal that offered his wife a much lighter sentence than the 20 years she might have faced at trial.\nIn court documents filed late Friday, the couple's defense attorneys are asking Walton to sentence Gwendolyn Myers to the low end of the plea deal - six years, rather than seven-and-a-half years.\n\"The eighteen-month difference between 72 and 90 months could potentially represent a significant percentage of her remaining life span,\" her lawyers wrote, noting that Gwendolyn Myers, whom they portray as a doting grandmother, will be 72 on Friday and has suffered cardiac complications, including a heart attack since her incarceration last June.\nIn arguing for a lighter sentence, her attorneys note that although Gwendolyn Myers \"shared her husband's political beliefs, she had no capacity to commit the offense on her own.\"\nThey include letters of support from friends, former employees and family members who plead for leniency.\n\"Mrs. Myers has positively impacted each community in which she has lived, and her release from prison would allow her to continue contributing to those around her, starting with, but by no means limited to, her extended family,\" her attorneys wrote.\nThey argued that she and Walter Myers \"within days of their arrest\" offered to cooperate with the government and have undergone nearly 100 debriefings with the FBI and other intelligence agencies. They noted that Gwendolyn Myers has worked as a teacher's assistant in the jail's life-skills class, helping teach other inmates.\nGovernment prosecutors, however, are asking for the maximum sentence, with U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen writing that the couple \"committed one of the worst crimes a citizen can perpetrate against his or her own country - espionage on behalf of a long-standing foreign adversary.\"\nIn addition, he noted that \"without Gwendolyn Myers's deference to, if not active support and encouragement of, seemingly everything her husband did, (Walter) Kendall Myers's desire to become a Cuban spy 30 years ago may well have been short-lived.\"\nAt one point, he calls her \"far more than just a knowing wife of a spy,\" noting that they both were recruited by Cuban intelligence and that she, like her husband, had a code name supplied by the Cubans. \"He was Agent 202. She was Agent 123,\" Machen wrote. \"She not only supported and encouraged her husband's theft of U.S. secrets from the Department of State, but she also actively engaged in their espionage.\"\nMachen argued that her \"criminal culpability\" was greater than other past spouses of spies, including Rosario Ames, the wife of Russian spy Aldrich Ames, and Anne Case Pollard, the wife of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.\n\"Unlike Gwendolyn Myers, neither Rosario Ames nor Anne Pollard decrypted coded messages from, assisted in the transmission of classified information to, nor had repeated, substantive operational meets with, the foreign intelligence service at issue,\" he said.\nMachen also suggested that Walter Myers was not always forthcoming during the briefings, which remain classified. He wrote that the couple was \"generally outwardly cooperative\" during the briefings and never refused to attend a session.\nBut he said, \"there were times when the FBI assessed that (Walter) Kendall Myers, in particular, gave inconsistent or uncooperative responses or was intentionally withholding information.\"\nThe pair is asking that Walton recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that they be incarcerated in facilities near each other, to allow their siblings, their six children, and seven grandchildren to visit them. They suggest placing Gwendolyn Myers in the Satellite Camp in Lexington, Ky., and Walter Myers in an adjacent Administrative Facility.\nOr alternatively, that Walter Myers be placed at the U. S. penitentiary for male inmates in Atwater, Calif., and Gwendolyn Myers at the Federal Correctional Institution for women in Dublin, California.\n\"Such proximity also means something to Dr. and Mrs. Myers personally: both will derive some comfort from knowing the other is not physically far away. In light of the depth of the emotional bonds of their marriage - a relationship numerous letter writers comment upon as exceptionally loving and close.\"\nThey also are asking that Walton recommend that the prison allow Walter to continue to teach fellow inmates and \"continue his scholarly writing,\" noting that he is working on a book on.\n\"At all turns, they have attempted to benefit in some small way their fellow inmates and to salvage some larger good from their situation. Their behavior has reflected their determination, as they serve out their punishments, to use their talents in the service of others. Their conduct since their arrest is entirely consistent with the idealism that brought them before this court.\" [Clark/ KansasCity /10July2010] \nCIA to Debrief Agents Freed by Russia. CIA officials were expected to whisk agents freed by Moscow to a safe house for a long debriefing, a former top security aide said, adding they could provide valuable information to the spy agency.\n\"They will be taken to a safe facility... by intelligence officers who will go through a period of debriefing them and preparing them for a new life and arranging for new identities,\" Fran Townsend said.\nTownsend, the homeland security adviser to former president George W, Bush, was speaking after the White House confirmed the CIA chief Leon Panetta had led negotiations with Russia for the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.\nTen convicted Russian agents were exchanged for four Russians convicted of spying for Western countries in a dramatic deal completed Friday at Vienna airport.\nBut it was not immediately clear how many of the four released by Moscow arrived in the United States, after their plane stopped briefly in England.\nUS and British media reports suggested at least one, and possibly two of the four, had stayed behind in Britain. The CIA did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry on the issue.\nA spokesman for President Barack Obama told reporters that Panetta, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had led the swap negotiations and that Obama himself was first briefed on the situation as far back as a month ago.\n\"The United States government came up with the four individuals to be freed by the Russians based on humanitarian concerns, health concerns, and other reasons that we put forward to the Russians,\" the White House official, who asked not to be named, said.\n\"Director Panetta led these conversations and we received a response soon after the names were offered,\" the official said.\nTownsend said the CIA will offer the freed agents housing and financial assistance as they start their new lives.\nAnd they will quiz them closely to \"understand what were the sorts of questions that Russian officials were asking them when they were in prison and arrested and how were they treated,\" she said.\nThe debriefings, which could take weeks or even months, will help \"from a counterintelligence perspective,\" she added, saying: \"We will likely learn a fair amount from these people.\"\nThe US administration said security agencies first briefed the White House in February and that Obama was briefed in person on June 11.\nObama chaired a National Security Council meeting to discuss the agents on June 18th, who were arrested June 27.\n\"At the time of the arrests, the president was kept fully apprised of developments,\" the official said.\nThe deal was seen as a high-level solution to a spy scandal that threatened to disrupt improving US-Russian relations.\nThe 10 Russian agents, who were arrested last month, pleaded guilty Thursday to being foreign agents and were ordered to leave the country immediately, avoiding the need for a politically embarrassing trial. [ AP /9July2010] \nNSA Offers Explanation of Perfect Citizen. The Perfect Citizen project is purely a research-and-engineering effort, not an attempt to monitor companies against cyberattack, the National Security Agency said.\nThe NSA issued a brief explanation of the new project in response to a Wall Street Journal story that described Perfect Citizen as a government system designed to monitor vital agencies and private utilities against potential cyberthreats. The project would establish a series of sensors installed throughout various computer networks that would raise an alarm in case of a pending cyberattack, according to the Journal.\nBut in an e-mail statement attributed to NSA spokeswoman Judith Emmel, the agency denied that Perfect Citizen would involve any type of monitoring activity or sensors, and labeled it as \"purely a vulnerabilities assessment and capabilities development contract.\" She added that \"it does not involve the monitoring of communications or the placement of sensors on utility company systems.\"\nAlthough the agency called the Journal's story an \"inaccurate portrayal of the work performed at the National Security Agency,\" it said that due to the highly sensitive nature of its work, it could not confirm or deny specific allegations addressed in the article. As a result, the NSA shared few details on the project.\nSpecifically referring to it as a contract, the NSA said Perfect Citizen \"provides a set of technical solutions that help the agency better understand the threats to national-security networks, which is a critical part of NSA's mission of defending the nation.\" The Journal had pinpointed Raytheon as the recipient of the initial phase of the contract in a deal worth up to $100 million, though neither the NSA nor Raytheon would confirm that report, according to Reuters.\nAs described in the Journal, the project has reportedly triggered mixed reactions, with some eyeing it as an effort by the NSA to intrude into domestic affairs and others seeing it as an important step in combating cyberattacks.\nAddressing those allegations in the statement, Emmel said \"any suggestions that there are illegal or invasive domestic activities associated with this contracted effort are simply not true. We strictly adhere to both the spirit and the letter of U.S. laws and regulations.\"\nWhether Perfect Citizen is a monitoring system, as reported by the Journal, or a simply an R&D contract, as defined by the NSA, the threat of cyberattacks against the United States remains real. Security experts both inside and outside the beltway have long been warning that a serious cyberattack against the nation's infrastructure could do significant damage.\nAlthough cybersecurity has been on the government's agenda for the past few years, many believe that the United States remains highly vulnerable and still has much work to do to shore up its cyberdefenses. [Whitney/ CNET /9July2010]\nEx-CIA Chief: Secrecy After Attack on Syrian Nuclear Plant Unjustified. The secrecy surrounding the attack on the nuclear plant in eastern Syria in September 2007 was justified only for the period immediately after the operation, according to the CIA head at the time, Gen. Michael Hayden. That secrecy had been meant to save President Bashar Assad from embarrassment that could have provoked him to retaliate.\nHayden's comments, published in a journal on intelligence published by the CIA, reflect a view different from that of Israel, which has not commented on the attack, widely attributed to its air force.\nBefore being appointed CIA head by George W. Bush, Hayden was a senior officer in the U.S. Air Force and head of the National Security Agency - the main signals-intelligence service in the United States. He resigned last February after President Barack Obama turned down his request to have his tenure extended by six months.\nSome analysts were critical of the CIA's release of information related to the air strike, and argued that the main motivation was for the organization to show an intelligence success following the failure to prevent the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.\nIn the interview, Hayden was asked to explain his support for exposing the role of intelligence in unveiling the presence of the Syrian reactor.\n\"It was a very complex political problem,\" he said. \"First of all, when we became aware of it, it became very important to keep it secret. Arguably secret, because it had to be dealt with in a way that didn't create a war in the Middle East. And the more public it became, the more difficult it would be for the Syrians to act responsibly. So no question that it needed to be kept secret.\n\"But after a time, after the facility had been destroyed, there were two lines working - because you had two bad actors here, the Syrians and the North Koreans,\" Hayden said.\n\"With the Syrians, you needed to keep it secret, otherwise they might do something stupid if they were publicly embarrassed. With the North Koreans on the other hand, we were moving in the direction of a new arrangement with regard to things 'nuclear,' including proliferation.\"\nIn the dispute between the two approaches, it appears that Hayden was right and those who advocated secrecy were wrong. Nearly three years after the strike and two years and three months since the CIA officially released the information, Syria did not do \"something stupid\" and Assad did not go to war. [Oren/ Haaretz /9July2010]\nMicrosoft Gives Source Code for Windows to KGB Successor. American software titan Microsoft has released the source code for Windows 7 and Office 2010 to Russia's intelligence services. The move is expected to bolster government contracts and is an extension to an agreement signed back in 2002.\nAccording to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, Microsoft has signed an extension to an agreement with Atlas, a unitary enterprise that develops information security systems. In 2002, Atlas signed an agreement with Microsoft that allowed it access to the source code for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Server 2000.\nThe amended agreement will include source code access for Windows 7, Office 2010, and Windows Server 2008, as well as SQL Server. The idea is to allow Russian officials access to the whole platform, not just pieces of it.\nThe list of official Russian government branches that will gain access to the data includes the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), which replaced the Cold War intelligence agency better known ask the KGB.\nWhile the inclusion of the FSB looks like the beginning of a spy novel, the intelligence agency will be allowed to share conclusions with Atlas. If things go well, defenses can be created for Microsoft's newest line of products that will position them for government purchase and usage. The real purpose is to get Microsoft's foot through the door while gaining more government contracts.\nSpeaking to Russian media organization RT, Microsoft's PR director in Russia, Marina Levin, said that during the eight years the initial agreement with Atlas had been in place, there were no information leaks and a mutual trust had been built between the two parties.\nAccording to Microsoft, contracts with the state in Russia account for about 10 percent of its revenue, which is estimated to top one billion dollars annually. In order for Microsoft to sell Server 2008, Windows 7, and Office 2010 to the state, its programs must be vetted to ensure they meet the requirements of the FSB and other agencies.\nIn addition to selling to Russia, Microsoft hopes that other countries will ask for access as well, leading to more opportunities to close lucrative contracts. [ TheTechHerald /12July2010] \nLack of Ethnic Minorities a Concern in Intelligence Services. Britain's anti-terrorism capabilities are being compromised by a lack of ethnic minority staff with key language skills employed in the intelligence services, according to a leaked report.\nA culture of racism was also said to exist at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ), which intercepts telephone calls and emails between suspected terrorists for MI5 and MI6.\nThe report, leaked to the Sunday Times, found that black and Asian officers felt racially discriminated against and their loyalty to Britain was often questioned.\nA shortage of specialist knowledge in languages such as Arabic and Urdu was also shown to pose a potential problem when conducting counter-terrorism surveillance.\nApproximately 2.5 per cent of GCHQ's 5,500 strong workforce are from an ethnic minority background, and the report was critical of the lack of diversity within GCHQ and its record for recruiting from ethnic minority communities around Britain.\nThe report stated: \"It is critical to have a diverse staff group who are able to profile and recognize certain behavior patterns and communications.\n\"There is a very small pool of black and minority ethnic employees within the total workforce... specific concerns have been raised by both management and staff around the language team.\"\nThe Representation of Black and Minority Ethnic People report was authorised by the head of the civil service, Sir Gus O'Donnell, and written by Whitehall race advisor, Sharon Ferguson, who spent four months interviewing ethnic minority staff at GCHQ in Cheltenham.\nThe discussions revealed that some black and Asian staff were made to feel unwelcome by both recruiters and white colleagues. The report also discovered that an \"unprecedented\" number of ethnic minority staff were employed in junior roles, while all the agency's 60 senior civil servants were white and only 1 per cent of management black or Asian.\nThe report recommended the \"embedding\" of equality and diversity into recruitment practice, and expanding the recruitment area outside Cheltenham to include nearby cities such as Birmingham and Gloucester.\nChris Marshall, GCHQ's director of corporate communications, denied the organization was \"institutionally racist\". Although acknowledging GCHQ was \"falling short\" in meeting diversity targets, he added that the current recruitment freeze, plus \"strict nationality and residency requirements\", had hampered attempts to increase diversity within the organisation. [ PeopleManagement /12July2010] \nYemen Arrests Journalist Over Links Al-Qaeda. A Yemeni journalist was arrested over suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda's attack on a Yemeni intelligence agency, a top intelligence official said.\n\"An arrest warrant was issued late today by the Director of the Political Security Agency (the intelligence) to capture Abdulelah Haidar Shaiee, a Yemeni analyst and journalist on the security affairs and Al-Qaeda group,\" the official told Xinhua.\n\"The arrest came following a statement that released on the same day by the Yemeni-based Al-Qaeda militants, in which they claimed responsibility for the June 19 attack on the intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Aden,\" he said on condition of anonymity.\nThe intelligence official said that Shaiee is facing charges of having links with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).\n\"He is accused of having close relations with the al-Qaida attackers who targeted the building of the intelligence service in Aden that left nearly 20 intelligence officers dead,\" he added.\nShaiee was taken by four gunmen from his friends' car in Hadda street, near the main intelligence headquarters in Sanaa late Sunday, said lawyer Abdulrahman Barman, a director of a non-governmental human right organization based in Sanaa.\nOn the same day, Yemeni al-Qaida group released a statement, claiming the responsibility for the June 19 attack on the intelligence headquarters in Aden.\n\"Battalion of martyr broke into the intelligence headquarters' building in Aden on June 19 and successfully managed to kill at least 24 security officers and soldiers,\" said the statement posted on al-Qaida-related jihadist website.\nIt added the attack was a \"revenge for the government air raid on the group's stronghold in Marib province, northeast of Sanaa.\"\nShaiee is a journalist with the official Saba News Agency, and also a freelancer for other international medias. He reportedly managed to conduct several exclusive interviews with AQAP's top leaders, such as the group's leader Naser al-Wiheshi and the US-wanted Yemeni-American fugitive radical imam Anwar al-Awlaqi.\nYemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida network leader Osama bin Laden, has intensified security operations and air raids against terrorist groups, after the Yemen-based al-Qaida wing claimed responsibility for a failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US passenger plane bound for Detroit last year. [ GlobalTimes /12July2010] \nSection II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE\nEverything You Wanted to Know About the KGB But Were Afraid to Ask. Boris Volodarsky was trained as an officer in the GRU Spetsnaz, the Soviet military's intelligence arm. When I met him while on book research in London in 2007, he was writing The KGB's Poison Factory, his own book on Moscow's fascination with murder-by-poison. With his encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of the KGB and its history, he is finishing a new book called The Orlov KGB File. I asked whether Volodarsky would reply to a few questions about last week's arrest of 10 Russian \"illegals,\" sleeper agents planted without diplomatic cover, in the United States.\nWhat would you say is most misunderstood about the illegals indicted in the U.S.?\nVolodarsky: As most people, including some journalists who write long articles commenting on the arrests, have no knowledge of the Russian intelligence tradecraft or the intelligence history in general, the activities of the members of this group seem a bizarre collection of strange actions looking like a bad movie about the Russkies. But many things shown even in bad movies are unfortunately true: Yes, the Russians like to wear fur hats, drink vodka, eat caviar, take pretty girls to the sauna. And, apart from some modern innovations like ad hoc networks, burst transmissions and stenography, the old proven tradecraft is pretty much the same. It is good and it normally works well (except in cases, when somebody is already being shadowed - then nothing works). The public and writers alike do not really realize that this is not a film - a very large group of very experienced FBI agents and watchers spent a very considerable sum of taxpayers' money and plenty of time to uncover a real group of the Russian undercover operators who brazenly operated in the United States, as they had been absolutely sure that no one would ever catch them because their education, training, intelligence tradition, and the belief that the wealth of the country behind them is much superior than the FBI. They forgot that the FBI of 2010 is much different from the Bureau of the 1950s. All 11 accused are trained professionals whose task was to penetrate American society. It is the first time that such a large group of illegals has been uncovered. Normally, there have been one or a maximum of two, while I have on record a great number of documented illegal operations in the U.S. for at least the last 80 years. It must be added that very few of them like Fisher/Abel and Molody/Lonsdale were successful. But we probably know only about 50 percent of the operations that were mounted and the people deployed.\nIs it possible that this is simply a rogue operation by someone in Moscow who, as some commentators have suggested, misunderstand what type of information is openly available? In other words, are illegals a relic, or is there real continuing value to be gained by illegals today?\nVolodarsky: No way it is a rogue operation. It took a lot of time, effort and money, and all was done by the book. It is always done this way. Again, I can list several dozen examples when, after training, the Soviet illegals were sent first to Europe, then almost always to Canada, and then relocated to the U.S.\nConcerning the information. First of all, the illegals are not here to collect intelligence. Their role is to control important agents already recruited in the government structures, those who have access to secret information (CIA, FBI, other intelligence services, military, scientists, R&D people, IT specialists, etc), or they may exert influence (on journalists or politicians). The Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR) has all information that is available from open sources. This has always been the case, but it is never enough. What Russian intelligence in striving to get is secret information (political, economic, industrial, military, etc) and have a chance to influence decision-making and public opinion in favor of Russia. This is why agents are recruited or penetrated into sensitive or politically important targets.\nThe role of illegals is threefold: to act as cut-outs between important sources and the Center (directly or via the SVR station); to serve as talent-spotters finding potential candidates for further intelligence cultivation and possible recruitment (a rather long and complex process, where the illegals only act at its early stage); and to establish the right contacts that would allow other intelligence operators (members of the SVR station) or the Center (visiting intelligence officers under different covers, journalists, diplomats or scientists tasked by the SVR) to get intelligence information and/or receive favors that the Center is interested in. The illegals also have a number of technical tasks like renting accommodations that could be used as safe houses, finding places for dead drops, planning hit operations like assassinations that are also carried out by illegals (but from a different department of the same directorate). They also collect sample documents that could be used in other covert operations and update Moscow about some standard proceedings (buying a house, getting a job, registering a company, and so on).\nThe illegals are no relic, they have been always used full scale. The last known case was in Canada when 'Paul William Hampel' was arrested in the middle of the Alexander Litvinenko case (November 2006). As I seek to prove in The KGB Poison Factory, the Litvinenko operation itself was the work of a Russian illegal. Certainly, the illegals are used in other countries with difficult counterintelligence environments like Britain, for example, but rarely in \"soft\" countries like Austria or Finland.\nIllegals could be used for corporate and commercial penetration as much as government or military penetration, correct?\nVolodarsky: As mentioned above, very seldom, as this is normally not their task. But in many cases their children, born American citizens, are prepared for penetrations. In this group only Mikhail Semenko seems to have made attempts to penetrate sensitive institutions by trying to get a job there (the American Foreign Policy Council, for example). But in one case, a Soviet illegal served as the Costa Rican ambassador to Italy. His detailed story is in The Orlov KGB File, my next book. In principle, corporate and commercial penetration by the illegals is possible - in the 1960s \"Rudi Herrmann\" was tasked to penetrate the Hudson Institute.\nIllegals could also be present in other nations, just like in the Cold War?\nVolodarsky: Certainly, and other nationals, not only the Russians, can be used. There are many examples, especially with East Germans.\nWhat is your sense of why they were arrested at this time?\nVolodarsky: Two obvious reasons: first of all, Anna Kuschenko-Chapman sensed that she was dealing with an undercover FBI agent, and called her controller from the Russian UN mission; second, 'Richard Murphy' was going to leave for Moscow on Sunday with, some believe, important intelligence.\nThe Obama administration is on \"reset\" with Russia. President Medvedev had just left the U.S. Is there a discordant note here?\nVolodarsky: Not at all. The Security Service works according to the operational situation disregarding what's going on in the White House and what the President thinks about it.\nAnna Chapman has attracted the most public attention of all the accused. Is she a serious spy?\nVolodarsky: Everything shows that Anna Vasilievna Kuschenko started to collaborate with the SVR shortly after she finished secondary school at the age of 16 in 1998 and before she entered the university. Her father is a KGB-SVR officer, possibly from Line N (illegal support), so this would be a normal thing. After a year, she enrolled in a course at the People's Friendship University of Moscow, which is the alma mater of many Soviet and Russian intelligence officers and agents. During her second year, in 2001, she went to London (extremely unusual) and quickly picked up a na�ve young Englishman in a disco. She took him to bed on their second meeting, and by his and another account of her use of sex toys seems to have been specifically trained in the art of love. She told him how much she loved him, burst into tears when leaving for Moscow and quickly arranged an invitation, so he came and they were married in March 2002 without the usual formalities.\nAfter getting settled in London (still being a full-time student in Moscow), she worked in several places for a short time and on small jobs, serving as a personal assistant in a hedge fund, and as a secretary in a private jet company. She dumped her husband after three years, having moved in with a young French playboy who took her to expensive private clubs in London, where she got the right contacts. He also advised her to open an Internet real estate company. In 2004, she miraculously graduated from the university (without studying there and still living in London), returned to Moscow in 2007, opened such an Internet company there, then opened a similar company in New York in February 2010, using $1 million she received from a Kremlin-backed investment fund. Almost immediately she started to send reports to her New York controller using her laptop. It is a big and interesting story worth writing much more. [Levine/ ForeignPolicy /6July2010] \nFormer Top CIA Spy: How US Intelligence Became Big Business. Few who have seen the dramatic privatization of US intelligence operations from the inside ever speak about the role private contractors play in covert operations - certainly not in public. In late June, however, the CIA's former top counterterrorism official, Robert Grenier, participated in a rare public discussion on issues ranging from the incredible extent to which the US has relied on contractors to fill sensitive national security positions; to battlefield contractors in Afghanistan; to allegations of contractor involvement in \"direct action\" (lethal) operations, as well as commenting on Blackwater owner Erik Prince's reported involvement in a secret CIA assassination program. The former spy also criticized what he called attempts by the US military to \"overstep their bounds\" by conducting intelligence operations that traditionally have fallen under the purview of the CIA.\nGrenier was undoubtedly one of the US intelligence community's heavy hitters in the aftermath of 9/11. He was CIA station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan when the 9/11 attacks took place and coordinated the initial incursions by CIA personnel and contractors in the first year of the US invasion of Afghanistan. After a stint in what Grenier jokingly called \"our excellent adventure in Iraq,\" where, as chief of the Iraq Issues Group, he planned covert US actions in the lead up to and ultimate invasion of the country, Grenier was named as director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center (CTC), the unit coordinating the tip of the spear of the CIA's covert activities. In 2006, Grenier left the CIA, reportedly over disagreements with then-CIA director Porter Goss, including the issue of treatment of detainees and prisoners. After leaving the agency, Grenier worked at Kroll Inc., a security consulting firm, and is currently chairman of ERG Partners, a small consulting company.\nGrenier and I participated in a frank discussion, along with Professor Katerie Carmola, author of Private Security Contractors and New Wars: Risk, Law, and Ethics, at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, where I had a chance to publicly ask Grenier some specific questions.\nGrenier estimated that \"many more than half\" of the personnel who worked under him at the CIA's counterterrorism center were private contractors. Contractors \"were coming in and they were all over the place,\" Grenier said of his time at CTC. \"Often I would go down and talk to people in my work force and I would say, 'Hey, that was a great job and I saw what you did last night, I saw that cable that you turned up, thank you very much.' And I'd be startled when they would give me a business card.\"\nIt is difficult to access detailed information about the extent to which US intelligence activities are privatized, primarily because the budgets of the eighteen intelligence agencies operated by the United States are mostly classified. In 2007, journalist Tim Shorrock, who wrote the definitive book on the privatization of intelligence, Spies for Hire, obtained and published an unclassified document from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence showing that 70 percent of the US intelligence budget was spent on private contractors. No documents on these classified budgets have been made public since.\nGrenier largely defended the use of contractors, primarily because he said he believes that the government, in a time of war, needs to be able to hire skilled, specialized personnel capable of securing the necessary security clearances. \"It's far easier to go through the process to get a contractor if time is an issue than it would be to bring somebody on as a regular employee,\" Grenier said. He said that when he was running CIA operations in Afghanistan immediately after 9/11, he was working with several of his predecessors who had left the CIA, but returned, with their experience and clearances, as independent contractors. Grenier cited another \"very prosaic\" reason for the reliance on contractors: the federal budgeting process.\nGrenier called the system of allocating funds to US agencies the \"most illogical process ever devised by the mind of man.\" He described Congressional funding restrictions that provided huge sums of money to the CIA post-9/11 to purchase goods and services, but not to hire new employees. Instead, he said, Congress provided one year supplemental funding packages to the CIA for \"non-personal services.\" That funding, Grenier asserted, \"you can spend for anything.\"\n\"You can buy armored vehicles, you can buy drones, or you can buy contractors. Contractors are not considered persons in the context of the federal budgeting process,\" Genier added. The CIA, therefore, got creative. \"So, here was the Congress saying, 'What can we do for you, what can we give you?' Money was not the object - they'd give us anything we asked for and what we got was non-personal services dollars on a supplemental basis. And so, what did we have to do? We went out and bought contractors.\"\nIn the early stages of the US war in Afghanistan, Grenier said, many people were hired as individual independent contractors. Then, he says, small companies began popping up that specialized in providing the government and other entities with seasoned veterans of US special forces and intelligence agencies for hire. Within months, companies like Blackwater jumped head first into the rent-a-soldier industry. These companies offered what they called \"turnkey solutions\" in the war zone.\n\"Well, they figured out that they could extort - I should say that they could command - more money form the federal government if they somehow banded together,\" says Grenier, who described the rise of what he called \"body shops\" providing personnel. \"It was like a form of unionization. They got together and they formed these little companies and they could engage in what we might call collective bargaining and thereby raise their salaries.\"\nShorrock, who analyzes government contracts for an AFL-CIO union, found Grenier's description interesting. \"CIA and NSA employees are banned by statute from engaging in collective bargaining. But forming a company might be one way a group of operatives could get a better deal from the CIA on wages, health benefits or insurance,\" said Shorrock. \"That shouldn't be confused with union rights, though.\"\nWhile Grenier provided a utilitarian rationale for the CIA using contractors, he veered away from discussing the political expediency private forces offer the CIA by providing unattributable forces specializing in plausible deniability.\nSeveral times during our discussion, I asked Grenier about the use of contractors in lethal \"direct action\" operations, some of which have been characterized as part of a secret CIA assassination program. I specifically asked him about the report in January in Vanity Fair that Blackwater owner Erik Prince had trained a CIA team whose ultimate job would be to \"find, fix and finish\" suspected terrorists across the globe. Prince's men, according to the article, never \"finished\" a suspect, but they did do everything but pull the trigger in several countries, including in Germany. Prince claims to have paid for some operations \"out of my own pocket.\"\nMany of the activities alleged to have been carried out by Prince and Blackwater occurred while Grenier was director of CTC.\nGrenier was visibly uncomfortable discussing the issue of Blackwater and \"direct action,\" saying, \"Although some of these things have been revealed and some of what has been revealed is perhaps true and some of it is perhaps untrue and some of it is perhaps exaggerated or misrepresented, but all of it is still classified and so it's difficult for me to speak to it directly to the extent that I know about it.\" He added: \"There were things that frankly were new to me in what I read in that article.\"\nGrenier rejected the notion that Blackwater would have been specifically hired by the CIA for assassination operations, offering a denial that carefully relied on the CIA's contracting process. \"CIA would not be soliciting or putting out an RFP [a Request for Proposal] to solicit bids for a company, perhaps for the lowest bidder, to come out and perform services like [direct lethal action].\"\nWhile there is little chance that there is a US government contract with Blackwater floating around showing the CIA hired Blackwater to kill people, this type of contracting inherently creates gray areas that ultimately benefit the secrecy of the operations. There is no doubt that Blackwater forces have killed plenty of people in Iraq and Afghanistan and that not all of these \"kills\" have been defensive security operations.\nWithout confirming details of Blackwater's involvement in any lethal direct action operations, Grenier did say that to the extent that Prince and his men were potentially involved, they likely were not fully aware of the role they were playing in broader CIA operations. \"By [Prince's] own admission those actions have never been carried out,\" Grenier said. \"And certainly, if I had anything to do with it, they would not be carried out by private individuals.\" He then added: \"A Navy SEAL in a buzz cut is probably not the individual that I would put on the street in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon to do surveillance on a potential target.\"\nWhat Grenier did describe, in a careful and circumspect way, is a major reason why a company like Blackwater would be hired for involvement in such operations: the combination of experienced personnel and the networks of foreign nationals they cultivated over years of government intelligence work. At the time Grenier was running CTC, Blackwater was flush with well-connected CIA veterans who had vast networks of assets and contacts across the globe. In addition to Cofer Black, Prince counted among his most valued employees Enrique \"Ric\" Prado, a former CIA paramilitary officer who served as chief of operations for the CTC and Robert Richer, former deputy director of operations at the CIA. All of these men were deeply connected in a wide array of countries where the US was operating under the banner of \"the war on terror.\"\n\"If, let us say, that one wanted to find individuals, probably foreign nationals who can go out and mount an effective surveillance against a particular target for whatever purpose - intelligence collection or whatever - then you are going to be looking for the right group of individuals who provide you with the right combination of skills that you are seeking,\" said Grenier. \"I just wanted the right people with the right skills doing the job. Depending on the operation and what you want to get done, there really is no standard template. Every time is the first time.\"\nAccording to Vanity Fair, while Grenier was at CTC, \"[Erik] Prince was developing unconventional means of penetrating 'hard target' countries - where the C.I.A. has great difficulty working either because there are no stations from which to operate or because local intelligence services have the wherewithal to frustrate the agency's designs.\"\nGrenier described the value of access to such networks and connections held by some contractors: \"It may well be that you're dealing with an individual and let's just say for the sake of discussion that he's a Blackwater employee and perhaps that individual knows some other individual - perhaps foreigners with whom he or she has dealt in the past - that you want to gain access to and bring in on the team. And maybe you want them to know what they're supposed to be doing and maybe you don't. Maybe you're going to have them only partially aware of what they're doing and not aware of what the ultimate purpose for it.\"\nI pressed Grenier on why the CIA might use a company like Blackwater at any stage of a lethal operation instead of using US military special forces teams like those from the Joint Special Operations Command. Grenier pointed to the complicated logistics of preparing such operations. \"It's not just a matter of sending in a direct action team, a JSOC squad to go and hit somebody. There's a tremendous amount of preparation, if you will, that has to be done beforehand - most of it having to do with intelligence collection.\"\nAs for Erik Prince's claims about his work with covert CIA teams, Grenier said, \"The characterization that Erik Prince has provided - to the extent that he fully understood himself what he was saying - I think is easily subject to misinterpretation. I don't know what was in his mind when he spoke.\"\nOverall, Grenier was generally supportive of the use of private contractors, though he did offer some criticisms. He expressed concerned about the \"revolving door\" between government and the private sector, saying he endorsed moves to ban CIA personnel from returning as contractors less than a year after leaving the agency before official retirement. \"Many of these relationships are far too cozy, far too clubby and there are serious risks associated with the revolving door,\" he said.\nHe also said he believes that contractors who work with US intelligence agencies should not subsequently or concurrently be working with foreign governments. \"I can assure you that if the CIA were employing a contractor who had, thereby, access to very sensitive information, [the CIA] would take a very dim view of that same individual working for that company under a different contract, say, for the Israelis or for some other foreign government,\" said Grenier.\nI asked Grenier about the US military classifying operations that might traditionally be considered intelligence operations, such as US special forces activities in countries like Yemen or Somalia, as \"preparing the battlefield,\" making them a military rather than an intelligence operation. Some critics have suggested that such classification is an attempt to avoid Congressional oversight of certain covert operations. \"That's a very interesting dodge,\" Grenier said. \"It has not kept the Department of Defense from trying, at least in my view and the view of others in the intelligence community, to at least to some degree overstep their bounds.\" Grenier also said Congress \"is complicit in it,\" saying, \"One of the things that keeps the military from having to report its intelligence-related activities to the relevant intelligence committees is the very jealous armed services committees who don't want to have their military reporting to these other committees.\"\nThe Obama administration has continued the US policy of overwhelming reliance on private contractors at every level of the US national security apparatus and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, the administration has dramatically increased the number of contractors from Bush-era levels. In Iraq, while the overall US presence is decreasing, the percentage of contractors within the total US force continues to rise. But it is not just on the battlefield. According to a recent Congressional investigation, some 69 percent of all Department of Defense personnel are private contractors. The CIA's recent $100 million contract with Blackwater for \"security\" services globally is a clear sign that this trend continues unabated at the agency under Leon Panetta.\nThe Commission on Wartime Contracting recently examined the issue of the use of contractors in sensitive operations at a hearing called, \"Are Private Security Contractors Performing Inherently Governmental Functions?\" One of the experts who testified, Dr. Allison Stanger, professor and director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs at Middlebury College, said that the government use of contractors has become a necessity, rather than a choice, but she painted a sober picture of the implications of the United States using such forces. It \"blurs the line between the legitimate and illegitimate use of force, which is just what our enemies want. Al Qaeda's operatives have no country and are private actors waging war on the United States. Terrorists may receive funding from states, but they are by definition non-state actors,\" Stanger said. \"If the United States can legitimately rely on non-state actors wielding weapons to protect our interests, why can't Al Qaeda or the Taliban, especially when contractor misdeeds appear to go completely unpunished?\" [Scahill/ TheNation /8July2010] \nEx-KGB General: Soviet Spy Stood Ready to Poison DC's Water. A Soviet \"sleeper agent\" had orders in the mid-1960s to poison the District's water and to sabotage its power supply if war with the United States became imminent, a former chief of KGB operations in North America said.\nThe deep-cover spy was inside the United States around 1963 to 1965, \"during the Kennedy-Johnson era,\" said Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB major general who is now a U.S. citizen.\nKalugin said he learned about the operation in the 1970s, when he was moving up the intelligence service's ranks. He would eventually become the KGB's youngest-ever major general.\nKalugin made the revelation during a question-and-answer session at the International Spy Museum. It followed a screening of \"Salt,\" a new spy thriller starring Angelina Jolie.\nAfterward, Kalugin told SpyTalk that he had not previously mentioned the sabotage operation in any of his books.\nNo intelligence official from the period could be immediately located to verify Kalugin's claim.\nKalugin also said the KGB had only \"a couple\" of long-term, deep-cover agents here in the 1980s,when he was head of North American operations and controlled such infamous American turncoats as John Walker Jr., a U.S. Navy warrant officer who sold Moscow the communication codes used by U.S. submarines.\nHe called the 11-person Russian spy ring indicted here two weeks ago \"a waste of money and time\" for Moscow. [Stein/ WashingtonPost /9July2010] \nFive Spy Experts Discuss Lessons Learned from the Spy Swap. The arrest and speedy deportation of ten suspected Russian spies in U.S. suburbs has raised concerns about relations between Moscow and Washington, and prompted speculation about methods associated with 21st century spy craft.\nFive former members of the U.S. intelligence community offer insight into lessons learned from one of the largest cases of espionage to surface on U.S. soil with the Council on Foreign Relations Greg Bruno.\nEric M. O'Neill, a former undercover operative for the FBI who helped bring down Russian spy Robert Hanssen in 2001, believes that in this most recent case, \"Russia took a large risk of political embarrassment\" by embedding illegal agents, but thought it would pay off.\nBurton L. Gerber, a former CIA chief of station during the Cold War, notes this is because human intelligence sources are still absolutely vital for a country like Russia seeking \"to understand the full scope of a competing nation's goals/intentions/capabilities.\"\nJack Devine, a former CIA deputy director of operations, adds that the details of the case - as cloaked in mystery as they are - suggest a major Russian operation.\nAnd Mark Stout, an intelligence community veteran and historian at the International Spy Museum, says this incident underscores the fact that for many countries, open sources of information will never replace human assets, a point Peter Brookes, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, concurs with.\nEric M. O'Neill, Partner, the Georgetown Group: The world is growing smaller. Extraordinary advances in information sharing have made distances irrelevant. As the virtual world shrinks, difficulties arise in protecting information. Entire lives are posted on social networking sites. Companies lose trade secrets to regulatory requests, accidental publishing on web pages, and to \"dumpster divers\" who sort through discarded trash. What we don't volunteer may still fall into the public eye through cybercrime, fraud, and espionage.\nThe ten Russian \"illegal\" spies recently arrested and swapped in a historic exchange emphasize that foreign intelligence services continue to rely on human intelligence to feed their voracious need for information. The best spies are people, not machines. To both spy and catch a spy, a person must be able to rely on instinct, experience, and luck, often making decisions based on a gut feeling, something a mechanical device cannot emulate.\nThe FBI's investigation into the Russian illegal spy network relied on human fieldwork and professional counterintelligence. The ten-year operation to dismantle the spy network suggests a level of severity that is not balanced by the purposefully brief indictment. Numerous experts have cited the lack of an espionage charge to label the illegal spies ineffective amateurs that passed little more than publicly available policy information. Russia took a large risk of political embarrassment by training and embedding illegal agents - a risk that requires more than what is available on Google.\nReading between the lines of the indictment, one finds reference to a more insidious task - recruitment of Americans with access to sensitive policy information. Russia swept the illegals away through a hasty swap only eleven days after the arrest - far too little time for a useful debrief. Time will tell whether the FBI learned enough to truly understand the purpose of the illegal network - perhaps enough to find additional conspirators.\nBurton L. Gerber, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University: When U.S. officials announced the arrest of ten alleged Russian \"illegals,\" much of the media and other commentary seemed to see this as old stuff, inconsistent with the post-Cold War-age and the reset of Russian/American relations. How serious could this be? What kind of access could these Russians have had? What possibly could they have reported?\nNations still need to understand adversaries, real and potential. While much data and insights are available through other means, intelligence operations, using human officers and recruited agents, are still vital to understand the full scope of a competing nation's goals/intentions/capabilities. And for a nation with the history and tradition of Russia, turning to clandestine collection is second nature.\nRussian - and earlier Soviet - intelligence, has usually been noted for its patience. The dispatch of \"illegal\" officers to establish themselves, develop contacts as appropriate, serve as couriers or support agents, or even [deploy] themselves to get into position to collect important information, is consistent with Russian experience and goals. While their exact technical communications capabilities may not yet be known to us outside observers, it appears they had access to devices/systems that go well beyond traditional dead drops and brush contacts. This was a serious Russian program.\nAmerican counterintelligence, the FBI, was on to several of the illegals early, perhaps ten years or so ago, and apparently there were some Russian missteps in the course of those years which caused additional illegals to be identified. Using a support agent to service more than one illegal, as was apparently done, is not sound tradecraft.\nWhile we cannot be sure of the scope of the illegals' success, we can conclude that their pay-off may have been larger than we first can understand, or that the Russian SVR [Russia's foreign intelligence service] was prepared to invest time and resources in the expectation of greater achievement. American counterintelligence impeded this program. Russia and other countries will likely introduce successive ones.\nJack Devine, President, the Arkin Group LLC: Twenty-five years ago, much of what a country's intelligence agencies knew was collected by operatives abroad. Today, much of that information is available instantaneously to anyone with an Internet connection and access to twenty-four-hour news channels. In addition to the problems around verifying data found on the Internet, it contains only as much as people load onto its networks. There is also a great deal of copycat reporting in the press. It is amazing how quickly the media settles into \"conventional wisdom,\" which is often misplaced.\nWeb sites and the media provide us with easy access to basic information, but the questions of critical importance to intelligence professionals can rarely if ever be answered online. In this regard, computers are no match for human operators and agents in gleaning insights into the plans, intentions, and psychologies of their targets. The United States, other major powers, and very clearly the Russians understand this. All continue to invest in field collection activities. Recently, we've even seen an uptick in the number of smaller, less developed countries funding and fielding collection efforts abroad, including inside the United States.\nInstead of questioning the relevance of human agents and operatives in the cyber-era of the 21st century, we should question why the Russians, over the course of ten years, invested so heavily in developing a large network of operatives spanning the American Northeast and Central Atlantic regions. Despite the reported lack of intelligence obtained from the group's operations and their various tradecraft failures, let's not be mistaken about their intended role either; the eleven \"illegals\" were most likely in the United States to handle American moles. According to what is known publicly, they were to become intermediaries, unconnected from the recruitment process. The Russians either had or anticipated having a large number of American assets to handle and they'd laid in the plumbing for this task with the eleven alleged spies placed strategically outside \"hot zones\" to avoid detection.\nWhat is baffling is why the SVR would break a cardinal rule of the spy game - always keep your operatives compartmentalized so that the compromise of one doesn't lead to the collapse of the network. Perhaps we should take some satisfaction or comfort from this mystifying oversight, but I remain alarmed by the Russians' optimism about recruiting Americans.\nMark Stout, Historian, International Spy Museum: Americans are so enamored with technology that they often miss the continued relevance of espionage in this age of Google, \"Total Information Awareness,\" signals intelligence, and Predator drones. However, espionage remains an indispensable component of the intelligence capabilities of modern states.\nThough their recently thwarted operation may have been feckless, the Russian services - like all serious intelligence services - understand that espionage and other forms of human intelligence can provide nuances that open-source information or technical means often cannot. For instance, an analyst who wanted to know whether Saddam's soldiers would stand and fight would certainly want to have reporting from human sources to provide a feel for morale in the ranks.\nAs for the vaunted power of open sources, the history of the stealth fighter plane provides a useful cautionary tale. In the early 1980s, everyone knew that the United States Air Force had the first ever stealth fighter, but nobody without a security clearance had ever seen it. However, extensive research in the open sources allowed the Testor model company to sell a 1:48 model of the curvaceous F-19. The models flew off the shelves, and even the impeccably well-informed Tom Clancy was convinced, featuring the F-19 in one of his novels. There was just one problem. There was no F-19. There was an F-117A, but it was angular to the point of ugliness. The open sources were utterly wrong; the real secrets had been kept.\nAn intelligence service that wishes to have a deep understanding of its adversaries will conduct espionage. Furthermore, an intelligence service which wishes to avoid being deceived will collect intelligence in as many ways as possible. Espionage has been around for thousands of years. It is here to stay. The Russians have been leading practitioners for many years. While this case may well turn out to be an embarrassment for them, other Russian agents could well be stealing serious American secrets right now.\nPeter Brookes, Senior Fellow, Heritage Foundation: In the wake of the recent round of U.S.-Russia spy swaps, people are asking: With all the high-tech intelligence collecting gadgets that exist today - from drones to satellites to cybersnooping - who needs a bunch of James or Jane Bonds running around? [The answer]: We do.\nSure, you can get a lot of intelligence from satellites that can practically read license plates or even from translating open-source journals and newspapers, but the human spy still plays a unique role in getting access to privileged information this country needs for its national security. Who is going to \"borrow\" the briefing book on a country's illicit nuclear weapons plans and programs that will inform American policymaker decisions? A satellite can't do that.\nYou might respond that you can get that briefing book by hacking into a ministry's computer system and stealing the files. Fair enough, but a drone can't plant the \"bug\" in the ministry's conference room to listen - live - to discussion on that topic.\nOr how about finding the terrorist who doesn't use a cell phone or a computer and who travels around at night concealed in the back of a truck or ambulance? Maybe the spy who has penetrated that terrorist's inner circle can. Good luck recruiting that spy from a laptop.\nThe list goes on and on of examples of what the human spy can do that the electronic spy can't, ranging from espionage's ridiculous to the sublime. Unfortunately, the world's second oldest profession can be wrought with danger or even national embarrassment under certain circumstances. [But] there is still a robust need for the human spy in the cloak and dagger game. [ MSNBC /12July2010]\nCuban Ex-Intelligence Chief Recalls JFK Assassination. Like many, Fabian Escalante remembers what he was doing when he heard U.S. President John F. Kennedy had been shot: he was trying to stop the Central Intelligence Agency from toppling the Cuban government with the help of anti-Castro exiles.\nYears later, when he had risen to head Cuba's Department of State Security, he was well placed to consider whether those same exiles may have had a hand in the November 22, 1963 slaying of the dashing young president in Dallas.\nEscalante does not claim to know who killed JFK, but says that Cuban exiles recruited by the CIA had planned to kill Kennedy twice in November 1963, because they felt the U.S. president had done too little to topple the government on the Caribbean island.\n\"They had the capability, the means and the intent,\" he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Semana Negra crime writing festival in Gijon, northern Spain.\n\"How was this meant to turn out? To assassinate Kennedy, launch a furious campaign against Cuba, blaming it for the assassination, which they did, then kill Fidel Castro a few days later, on December 12, and invade Cuba.\"\nEscalante worked with members of the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations investigating the JFK killing when they travelled to Cuba in 1978 to collect data on the activities of Cuban exiles.\nIn his retirement, he has published many of his findings in book form, along with research he has conducted since he set up the Centre for Security Studies in 1993.\nEscalante says one anti-Castro exile and former CIA operative who may hold clues to the JFK assassination is Luis Posada Carriles, who lives in Miami and is wanted in Cuba on charges of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cubana Airlines jet which killed 73 people.\nPosada Carriles is also accused of involvement in a 1997 wave of hotel bombings, which were aimed at destabilizing Cuba and scaring away tourists, but Escalante doubts the U.S. government will deport him to Cuba to face trial.\n\"He has a life insurance policy, which is what he knows about the Kennedy plot,\" Escalante said.\n\"He and (fellow exile) Orlando Bosch were in the thick of the Kennedy plot. Remember, both he and Posada were part of this terrorist mechanism set up in New Orleans, which is where the plot was hatched to assassinate Kennedy.\"\nNow 69, Escalante was just 18 when a revolution led by Fidel Castro took power in 1959. In the next few years, he and other young novices built up a counter-intelligence service from scratch.\nHe was invited to participate in the Spanish crime-writing festival because organizers say fiction falls short of a world Escalante has uncovered, in which the CIA plotted to make Castro's beard fall off or poison Cubans with infected coins.\nEscalante belonged to the Q Section in 1961, which had 50 case officers to thwart the efforts of the so-called JMWAVE CIA base in Florida assigned to conduct sabotage operations in Cuba with a $100 million budget and 4,000 agents.\nIn his book \"Executive Action,\" Escalante lists 634 conspiracies to kill Castro between 1959 and 2000, including 168 plots which may have succeeded.\nHe says the closest the Cuban leader came to death was when a CIA agent working at Havana's former Hilton hotel tried to poison a chocolate milk shake Castro ordered.\nHowever, a capsule containing botulin stuck to the side of the freezer compartment in the bar and broke when the agent tried to pry it loose.\nEscalante says the Q Section often intercepted false documents sent by the CIA to their agents in Cuba, which were as good as genuine ones, so he used one for himself.\n\"Security measures for documents in those days were very lax. There was just ordinary paper, a photo, stamp and plastic cover. So that was how I began to drive, with a CIA license.\" [Roberts/ Reuters /12July2010] \nTimeline: Spy Swaps in History. 10 February 1962: Crossing the \"Iron Curtain.\" On the border between West Berlin and East Germany, a US photo-reconnaissance pilot named Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for the reputed director of a Soviet spy cell in the US named Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. Powers' U-2 plane was shot down over the U.S.S.R. in 1960; Abel was arrested in the US in the late 1950s.\n\"It was a peaceful scene, static and unreal,\" a Reuters reporter present during the exchange wrote in 1962. \"The men, wrapped in winter coats, who stood on the bridge, were in two groups, divided by a white line that was brushed across the tarmac to declare that here was the Iron Curtain.\"\nOne group walked Eastwards, the other Westwards, the reporter said. Then they \"took off like rockets\" in separate limousines.\n11 October 1963: Two for two. In a two-for-two swap, a 24-year-old American student arrested while touring Kiev in 1961 and a Jesuit missionary arrested in the USSR in 1941 are exchanged for a Russian couple arrested and held by the U.S. on charges of espionage.\n22 April 1964: Berlin border exchange. A British businessman convicted of spying for the U.S. and Britain is exchanged for a Russian army officer who had been imprisoned in Britain in 1961 for allegedly operating a spy ring seeking to gain information about British submarines. The swap, once again, takes place on the West Berlin-East Germany border.\n24 June 1969: Handing over the Krogers. Britain releases Peter and Helen Kroger in exchange for Gerald Brooke, a lecturer who had been jailed for spying in the Soviet Union. The Krogers allegedly passed on secrets to Moscow from the Royal Navy's underwater warfare headquarters in southern England. \n30 April 1978: Three-country deal. In a three-way exchange between Mozambique, the U.S. and East Germany, Mozambique releases an Israeli citizen held for two years, the U.S. releases a former Air Force intelligence clerk convicted of passing secrets to the Soviets, and East Germany releases a Minnesota man arrested for trying to smuggle a German doctor's family to the West.\n27 April 1979: The Ginzburg swap. Russia releases five political and religious dissidents for two Russians convicted of spying in the U.S. Alexander Ginzburg - a notable Russian writer and activist - is among the five sent back to New York.\n1 October 1981: One for many. Guenter Guillaume, an East German agent who served as a close aide to West Germany Chancellor Willy Brandt, is exchanged for a number of Western spies.\n11 June 1985: Largest swap since WWII. Twenty-nine people are exchange din one of the largest swaps since World War II. In the massive exchange, which took place on the Glienecke Bridge between East Germany and West Berlin, four people indicted for spying in the U.S. were exchanged for five Polish prisoners and 20 other alleged spies held in East Germany and Poland. \n30 September 1986: Journalist for U.N. spy. Around three weeks after their respective arrests, American journalist Nicholas Daniloff and accused Soviet spy and United Nations worker Gennadiy Zakharov are released just days apart. \n9 July 2010: Suburban spies Russia-bound. In the biggest spy swap since the Cold War, 10 convicted Russian agents were exchanged for four people convicted of spying for the U.S. on an airstrip in Vienna, Austria. [ MSNBC /July2010]\nSection III - COMMENTARY\nDefense Department Broadens Congressional Oversight of Secret Programs, by Marc Ambinder. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tussles with the White House over expanded intelligence oversight, the Department of Defense quietly and subtly offered Congress an olive branch last week, setting out a formal procedure for the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, to be granted access to special access programs, or SAPs. The change of policy, contained in a directive issued July 1, was first noticed by the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.\nPelosi wants the Government Accountability Office to oversee special access programs across the intelligence community, including those established by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency. The White House has vehemently resisted GAO oversight on the grounds that it interferes with the prerogative of the executive branch to protect national security information.\nAccording to the Pentagon instruction, GAO personnel \"shall be granted SAP access if\" the director of the DoD oversight committee on SAPs agrees, after receiving a request from the chair and ranking member of either the defense or intelligence committees, and if the GAO employee who would review the SAP has the appropriate security clearance level.\nIn practice, as Secrecy News notes, GAO personnel who work with Congress on these programs have the clearance level, and regularly undergo a counterintelligence polygraph to keep their clearances current. Previously, the DoD had no formal mechanism for complying with, or refusing, congressional requests to have the GAO investigate its secret programs.\nThere are three kinds of SAPS - open SAPs, which are acknowledged and reported to Congress in an unclassified manner; black or \"closed\" SAPs, which are reported to Congress in a classified annex to the Defense Department budget; \"waived\" SAPs, which are orally briefed to the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees, their staff directors, and the chairs and ranking members of the appropriations subcommittee for defense.\nMost SAPs involve technology projects. At the Department of Defense there are relatively few SAPs involving sensitive human intelligence collection or exploitation methods. Examples of ongoing non-technology SAPs include interrogation protocols for high-level battlefield detainees in Afghanistan managed by the Defense Counterintelligence and HUMINT Center of the DIA, and every single capability of all of special missions units of the Joint Special Operations Command. One entire government agency, the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office, is protected by a SAP.\nSAPs are managed by security officers in charge of \"Special Technical Operations.\" [Marc Ambinder is the politics editor of The Atlantic. He has covered Washington for ABC News and the Hotline, and he is chief political consultant to CBS News.] [Ambinder/ TheAtlantic /7July2010] \nWhy Doesn't the FBI Prosecute More Spies? The Logic Behind Swapping the Russian Agents Rather Than Bringing Them to Trial, by Asha Rangappa. After a tantalizing two weeks involving the arrest of 10 Russian intelligence agents in three U.S. cities, the anticlimactic denouement came yesterday with a spy-swap deal between the United States and Russia in which the accused spies will go free after spending just 10 days in jail. It may seem odd to end a 10-year investigation on suspected foreign agents this way, even if their intelligence amounted to Google searches and pool-party gossip. But given the way the FBI normally deals with spies, putting them in jail probably wasn't its only goal in the first place.\nRelative to the large number of foreign spies tracked and monitored by the FBI, very few are brought to light through criminal prosecution. This is partly due to the limited number of laws against spying. Apart from the federal espionage statute, which requires prosecutors to prove the intentional passage of classified information, the only law against spies (and the one under which the latest Russian agents have been charged) is the Foreign Agent Registration Act. FARA requires anyone acting on behalf of a foreign government to register as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice. If you're caught breaking the law, the penalty is fairly weak: five years in prison. Only four criminal cases have been brought under the statute since 1966. The dearth of spies prosecuted under either the espionage statute or FARA reflects the FBI's reluctance to lay all of its cards on the table, which is what it generally has to do at trial in a criminal case.\nIn the game of spy vs. spy, the FBI's strongest weapon is keeping its adversary from knowing what it knows. The investigation into the 10 Russian spies shows that Russia's foreign intelligence service, the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (successor to the KGB) apparently felt confident that it was operating undetected. Working under this assumption, the SVR unwittingly enabled the FBI to collect a steady stream of information on the SVR's agents, contacts, interests, and capabilities. By staying behind the scenes, the FBI ensured that the SVR was giving up all these goodies for almost 10 years.\nCriminal cases, by contrast, are public, and unless a judge chooses to seal sensitive evidence, they require the government to present exactly what it knows. The criminal complaint against the Russian spies, many note, reads like a Cold War spy thriller, complete with secret rendezvous, false identities, and messages written in invisible ink. For the Russians, though, it should read more like a McKinsey report for how the SVR can improve its game. The complaint names - or, in spytalk, \"burns\" - the specific FBI agents who conducted this investigation. While FBI counterintelligence agents normally operate overtly - meaning that they don't have to hide the fact that they are with the FBI - they generally do not reveal the country whose agents they are targeting. Now that the complaint has revealed the identities of the SVR's adversaries, the Russian intelligence service can keep an eye out for the specific agents working against them in the United States. (The FBI could, of course, counter-counter-counter by moving these agents to a different target, but given their institutional knowledge and Russian expertise, that would be a loss for our intelligence capabilities).\nMore significantly, the complaint reveals what the FBI knew about the SVR's tactics and tradecraft. For instance, the FBI learned that in addition to old-school techniques like the \"brush pass\" (casually exchanging bags between two people while passing), the Russians were using Web imaging encryption software to encode secret messages into ordinary pictures on the Internet, a technique known as steganography. Discovering and decrypting this software allowed the FBI to analyze more than 100 coded text files related to this investigation and likely more communications related to other classified investigations. Now that the SVR knows we know, it will no doubt improve its codes, or abandon this technique entirely, drying up a potential intelligence source for the FBI. (Other, less sophisticated notes to self for future SVR spies include not using bright orange bags, mentioning \"Siberia\" in conversations, or throwing cell phone receipts into the garbage.)\nDespite the information it reveals to the other side, criminal prosecution has been necessary and inevitable to stop exchanges of highly classified information such as the secrets passed on to the Russians by former FBI agent Robert Hansen. Still, even that case revealed more about the FBI's own shortcomings than about the Russians. After all, as a Russian counterintelligence agent himself, Hansen had the knowledge and training to outmaneuver the traditional techniques of his FBI colleagues for almost two decades. The investigation into his activities gave the FBI guidance on internal security loopholes that needed to be fixed. The FBI adapted accordingly, enhancing its computer security and requiring regular financial disclosures and polygraphs of its agents.\nTrading the Russian spies makes sense to ensure that the FBI doesn't leak any more than it already has. But in light of what the FBI lost to the Russians with Hansen, officials must have thought carefully before making the decision to arrest the spies at all. The FBI's Russian counterintelligence program is the agency's oldest and the most protective of its methods and sources. Its agents were well-aware that they were killing (or at least maiming) the goose with the golden eggs by making this case public, and only an anticipated benefit would justify the injury. One possibility is that the arrests were necessary to force the SVR to shut down other activities that pose a greater threat to national security - one that the American public will never know about. Another may be that these arrests will serve to as an example to more important spies on the FBI's radar and help persuade them to work for us as double agents rather than risk being sent home, or to jail. What is certain is that the FBI must have thought it had more to gain than lose - otherwise, the normal course of business would have been to let the spies continue their charade, at the Russians' expense. [Rangappa/ Slate /10July2010] \nSpy Swap Was a Mistake, by Gene Coyle. [Gene Coyle is a retired, Russian-speaking, 30-year veteran of the CIA, who specialized for most of his career on Russian affairs. He is a recipient of the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit. He is now an adjunct professor at Indiana University and the author of two spy novels.] The Obama administration's rush to sweep the recent Russian spy scandal off the table as quickly as possible with this swap is a bad move on several counts.\nIt is understandable and correct that President Barack Obama values the overall U.S.-Russian relationship above the question of whether a few Russian spies spend years in jail.\nThe \"reset\" campaign was an excellent idea; too bad no one in our Department of State knew how to correctly spell the word in Russian when Secretary Hillary Clinton presented the \"button\" to the Russian Foreign Minister. However, there is a line between seeking a mutually beneficial relationship and delusional pandering.\nThe history of U.S.-Russian relations shows that dealing respectfully but firmly is what works best. Most importantly, Moscow only agrees to anything that it perceives to be at least 50 percent in its self-interest, not because we've been nice guys. The only thing releasing all of these deep-cover Russian intelligence officers within a matter of days is going to teach Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, an old KGB officer, is that Obama is a pushover - overly focused on making sure not to offend Russia.\nAside from sending the wrong political message, the quick swap also tells the leadership of the Russian government and the SVR, its intelligence service, that there is really no downside to being caught carrying out espionage in America.\nAny intelligence service in the world, including Russia's, when deciding whether to carry out a particular espionage operation looks at the \"risk factor.\" What will be the blow back if this becomes known?\nRunning \"illegals\" - that is, Russians posing as citizens from a third country and who have no overt connection to the Russian embassy or consulates in America - would usually be considered a high-risk operation by Moscow because those Russian citizens don't have diplomatic immunity if caught. It's bad press and it's bad for morale within the SVR if one, much less 11, of your deep cover officers get caught and are facing decades in prison. But Obama has now just told the SVR, \"Hey, there is no penalty for spying in America. If we catch you, we'll just let you go so as not to damage 'big picture' relations.\"\nWe did show Russia certain appropriate courtesies in these arrests, which would have indicated we didn't want to harm our political relationship with Russia.\nWe waited until Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had made his visit to America. We waited until after the G20 meetings in Canada. We haven't even publicly named or expelled the Russian diplomats who were apparently observed being involved in the communications with these illegals. (Hopefully, the Department of State has at least told the Russian ambassador that certain of his diplomats should quietly leave America.) And speaking of morale, what message does this send to the hundreds of FBI special agents who spent thousands of hours working these cases?\nAccording to various press accounts, the number of Russian intelligence officers in America and Western Europe has already returned to Cold War levels. Obama has now told the Russians, there isn't even a problem if we catch you. Try anything you want.\nNormally, when any intelligence service has a major flap as this was, it would order an immediate stand down of other operations in that country for perhaps several months while it tried to figure out what had gone wrong. By immediately sending these SVR officers back to Moscow, they will be available to assist in that investigation.\nNot knowing what all they were involved in - it was certainly more than \"penetrating the local PTA\" - I don't necessarily advocate having kept these people in prison for decades, but a year or two in prison before offering a swap would have sent a strong message to Putin and the SVR. And if the press accounts are accurate, getting four people out of Russian jails in return for these 10 doesn't seem like much of a bargain either. (An 11th suspect detained in Cyprus remains on the loose after being released on bail.)\nObama is no doubt an intelligent fellow, but he certainly didn't get very good advice from his intelligence community or Russian experts about how to handle this spy caper. [Coyle/ CNN /11July2010] \nObituaries\nSergei Tretyakov: Former Russian Spy Defected to U.S. in 2000. Sergei Tretyakov, a high-ranking Russian spy whose defection to the United States in 2000 was regarded as one of the most significant coups against the Russian government since the collapse of the Soviet Union, died June 13 at his home in Osprey, Fla.\nMr. Tretyakov's wife said he died after suffering a heart attack, according to Pete Earley, the author of a book about Mr. Tretyakov. The former Russian spy was 53 and news of his death was withheld at the request of his family pending an investigation into the cause, Earley said.\n\"This man literally held the keys to a Russian intelligence gold mine,\" an unnamed FBI official was quoted as saying in Earley's 2007 book, \"Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War.\" \"He used those keys to unlock its doors and go into the mine every day to bring us nuggets.\"\nMr. Tretyakov was born into a spying family and rose through the ranks of Russian intelligence to become a colonel in the SVR, the successor to the Soviet KGB espionage agency.\nAt the time of his defection on Oct. 11, 2000, Mr. Tretyakov allegedly had been working as a double agent for the United States for three years while he was the SVR's second-in-command in New York. From 1995 to 2000, he oversaw all Russian covert operations in the city and had more than 60 intelligence officers under his command, according to Earley's book.\nThe intelligence Mr. Tretyakov handed over during his time as a double agent amounted to more than 5,000 top-secret SVR cables and scores of classified Russian intelligence reports. He wrote an estimated 400 papers for the CIA, the FBI, the State Department and the White House.\nFor his efforts, Mr. Tretyakov and his family were given U.S. citizenship, and he reportedly netted the highest amount ever paid to a U.S. intelligence source - a fortune that was said to be in the millions of dollars, which he used to buy himself a Lexus SUV and his wife a Porsche.\nSergei Olegovich Tretyakov was born in Moscow on Oct. 5, 1956. His grandmother was a typist and secretary in the forerunner of the KGB. His father worked in the Soviet nuclear weapons program, and his mother worked in the financial office of the KGB and helped her son gain entry into the spy service.\nMr. Tretyakov was born with a heart defect that would have denied him entry into the KGB, but his mother bribed a doctor to leave the condition out of his application to the agency.\nWhen the ruse was discovered, his commander recognized that Mr. Tretyakov's skill at beating the system suggested great potential as a spy.\nEarly in his career, Mr. Tretyakov impressed senior officers by analyzing seemingly innocuous, and unclassified, U.S. reports and gleaning valuable intelligence from their pages.\nIn one instance, he was able to extrapolate from a congressional report on U.S. military installations which types of aircraft could land at certain bases, judging from the length of their runways.\nHe was dispatched to Ottawa on his first overseas assignment in 1990 and was known under the code name \"Comrade Jean.\" There, he recruited several high-ranking Canadian officials, allegedly including a member of Parliament.\nIn Earley's book, Mr. Tretyakov revealed much of the SVR's structure, including technical details about operations and the identities of agents and sources. He also revealed that his agents had skimmed $500 million in profits for the Russian government from the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq.\nHe claimed to have unmasked dozens of SVR undercover agents, including several ambassadors and U.N. representatives, but despite the sweeping accusations, no one cited by Mr. Tretyakov has been charged with espionage.\nMany critics said Mr. Tretyakov exaggerated his persona as a good guy, but he never denied his role within the ruthless intelligence agency, saying, \"I'm not a Boy Scout.\"\nNewspaper accounts speculated that Mr. Tretyakov had taken part in outing FBI double agent Robert Hanssen in 2001 and in the recent arrests of Russian agents living deep undercover in the United States for more than a decade. But Earley said that Mr. Tretyakov never admitted to being the Hanssen source and that he apparently had no role in the investigation of the spy ring.\nSurvivors include his wife, Helen, and a daughter, Ksenia, both of Osprey.\nEarley, a former Washington Post reporter, said he was skeptical of Mr. Tretyakov's motivations when he first met the former spy. But Mr. Tretyakov said he came forward only because of his disgust with the Russian government.\n\"Of course I want people to know what I have done,\" Mr. Tretyakov told Earley in the book. \"However, most Americans can't pronounce Tretyakov, nor will they remember the name for longer than a few seconds.\" [Shapiro/ WashingtonPost /10July2010]\nArnold Kramish: Physicist Worked on Manhattan Project. Arnold Kramish, 87, a physicist, historian and author who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II, died June 15 at George Washington University Hospital of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurological disorder.\nMr. Kramish participated in the Manhattan Project, the U.S. program to develop the atomic bomb, as a member of the special engineering division at Oak Ridge, Tenn., the Philadelphia Navy Yard and Los Alamos, N.M.\nOn Sept. 2, 1944, he was severely burned during an explosion at an experimental uranium enrichment facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. According to Mr. Kramish, who described the accident in an article published in The Washington Post, the result was \"perhaps then the largest release in history of radioactive materials.\"\nTwo men were killed in the blast, and the cause of their deaths was kept confidential to avoid leaking information about the top-secret bomb project. Years later, Mr. Kramish campaigned for official recognition of their contributions to the war effort.\nAfter the war, Mr. Kramish served with the Atomic Energy Commission and later as a nuclear weapons research strategist at the Rand Corp., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank that often advised the government.\nDuring the 1970s, he was posted in Paris as a State Department counselor, and he served as nuclear arms control and security adviser to UNESCO and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.\nHe wrote \"The Griffin\" (1986), a biography of Paul Rosbaud, an Austrian spy who during World War II provided the Allies with information about Nazi attempts to build an atomic bomb.\nIn a Washington Post review of the book, author and historian Gregg Herken wrote, \"Despite Kramish's careful research, which included interviews with approximately 500 of those who knew Rosbaud, it is an ironic tribute to this bookish spy's mastery of his trade that the Griffin remains a surprisingly shadowy figure, one who continues to defy the effort to capture him.\"\nArnold Kramish was born in Denver on June 6, 1923. He graduated from the University of Denver in 1945 and received a master's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1947.\nHe moved frequently for his career, settling in Reston in 1976.\nDuring the Reagan administration, Mr. Kramish directed a White House study on the Strategic Defense Initiative and served as an adviser to the undersecretary of defense for policy. He received a Carnegie Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.\nMr. Kramish taught courses at the University of California at Los Angeles, the London School of Economics and other institutions.\nHis books included \"Atomic Energy in the Soviet Union\" (1959), \"The Peaceful Atom in Foreign Policy\" (1963) and \"The Future of Non-Nuclear Nations\" (1970). He held a patent for a nuclear radiometer.\nMr. Kramish was a member of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation and the Authors Guild.\nSurvivors include his wife of 57 years, Vivian Raker of Reston; two children, Pamela Jones of Hickory, N.C., and Robert Kramish of Berkeley, Calif.; a sister; and four grandchildren. [Brown/ WashingtonPost /10July2010]\nComing Events\nEVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....\n16, 23 July 2010, 8 and 10 pm - Washington, DC - THE SPY MAGIC SHOW - An incredible exploration into the secrets of spies, shown through stunning sleight-of-hand magic by master magician Michael Gutenplan.\nMichael Gutenplan, an expert in sleight-of-hand magic is about to expose the secrets of the CIA and you are invited to watch! In an intimate room at the famed Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., Michael will perform world-class magical effects and tell how magicians and the CIA have worked together since its creation in 1947. Using cards, money and mind reading Michael will expose the secrets and skills that have only been rumored to exist. From thought transference and teleportation to lie detection and invisible ink, Michael will transport you to another world where fact and legend go hand- in-hand and spies are around every corner. Grab a drink, have a seat and join us for this once in a lifetime event!\nTickets can be purchased through www.spymagicshow.com or by calling 1-866-811-4111. All tickets are $40.00.\nThe Spy Magic Show plays Friday, July 16 and 23rd at 8:00 PM and 10:00 in the Roosevelt Room at the Ritz Carlton, located at 1150 22nd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037\nMichael Gutenplan is a professional magician originally from New York and now residing in Los Angeles. He has performed his signature brand of magic around the world including in Great Britain, Spain, Israel, Jordan and across the United States. He was the creator and star of Extraordinary Deceptions, an Off-Broadway magic show that earned Michael rave reviews in the New York Times, Variety and other prestigious publications.\nWednesday, 21 July 2010, 10 am - 12:45 pm - Annapolis Junction, MD - \"The Mysterious Rosetta Stone: A Code-Cracking International Treasure\" with Dr. Joel Freeman, is topic at the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation Summer Cryptologic meeting .\nAll AFIO members are invited to hear our guest speaker, Dr. Joel Freeman, CEO and President of the Freeman Institute, discuss the history of the Rosetta Stone, focusing on the historical connection between the Rosetta Stone and the breaking of codes. Guests will have an opportunity to view the full-sized, three-dimensional Rosetta Stone replica normally on display in the lobby of the National Cryptologic Museum. Dr. Freeman is an gifted speaker and author. As part of the program there will be a brief presentation to acknowledge the Milt Zaslow Memorial Award for Cryptology that was presented for the first time at this year's Maryland History Day Ceremony on 24 April.\nLocation: the L3 Conference Center in the National Business Park. Lunch will be served at 11:45 following the presentation. L3 Conference Center is located at 2720 Technology Dr, Annapolis Junction, MD 21076 in the Rt. 32 National Business Park.\nCost: the fee is $25 to cover program & lunch costs.\nConfirm your attendance by Wednesday, 14 July, by calling (301) 688-5436 to pay by credit card or by mailing a check to NCMF, POB 1682, Ft. Meade, MD 20755. We look forward to seeing you there.\n22 July 2010 – San Francisco, CA – The AFIO Jim Quesada San Francisco Chapter hosts John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism after the September 11 attacks .\nJohn Yoo is currently a professor of law at UC Berkeley. Yoo will be discussing his new book, Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush. RSVP and pre-payment required. The meeting will be held in San Francisco: 11:30 AM no host cocktails; noon - luncheon. $25 member rate with advance reservation and payment; $35 non-member. E-mail RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi (please indicate chicken or fish): [email protected] and mail check made out to \"AFIO\" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578 Burlingame, CA 94011\n24 July 2010 - Abilene, KS - Korea 60: Eisenhower the Peacemaker - Honoring Those who Served in Korea - CIA joint conference at Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene, Kansas\nThe Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum will host a day of programs on July 24 to honor the service of Americans who have served in the Republic of Korea from 1950 to the present.\nThe day begins with a presentation by intelligence agency historians and ends with dinner and entertainment. All events are free and open to the public with the exception of the dinner, which costs $20 per person.\nThe schedule is as follows: Eisenhower, Intelligence, and Korea Visitors Center Auditorium, 10:30 a.m. - noon -Dr. Clayton Laurie, CIA \"Baptism by Fire: CIA Analysis of the Korean War\" -Dr. David Hatch, NSA historian, \"DDE and COMINT: Astute Consumer and Agent of Change\" The Korean War was the Agency's first role in an international conflict. The opening of classified material as featured in the \"Baptism By Fire\" book will contribute significantly to the historic record of the Korean War, making possible new research and great understanding of early Cold War history.\nKorean War and Service Veterans Panel Discussion Visitors Center Auditorium, 1 to 2:45 p.m. The panel will feature Dr. Paul Edwards, Director Emeritus, Center for the Study of the Korean War, as moderator. Panel members include veterans who have served in Korea at various times from the 1950s to the 1990s.\nKeynote Address | Lt. Gen. Robert Arter, U.S. Army (Ret.) Presentation of Eisenhower Peacemaker Coins Visitors Center Auditorium, 3 to 4:30 p.m.\nKeynote speaker retired Lt. Gen. Robert Arter is a veteran of the wars in Korea and Vietnam and former commander of the U.S. Sixth Army. Arter is a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, and a consultant and bank director. In 2009 he received the Distinguished Civilian Service Award for his work as a Civilian Aide. It is the highest award a civilian can receive from the Army.\nThe Eisenhower Peacemaker Coin is available to Korean War veterans and all those who have served to keep the peace in Korea since the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953. (Coin recipients or their representatives MUST be present at the ceremony.) If you or a loved one served in Korea and are able to attend the ceremony, sign up to receive the Eisenhower Peacemaker Coin.\nReception and Dinner 5:30 p.m. Social | Library Lobby 6:00 p.m. Dinner | Library Courtyard Cost is $20 per person and includes the remarks by retired Maj. Gen. Singlaub and entertainment by Ray Marco. RSVPs required by July 16. Please send check, made payable to Eisenhower Foundation, to P.O. Box 339, Abilene, Kan. 67410.\nRemarks | Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, U.S. Army (Ret.) - Singlaub is a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. From July 1976 to June 1977 he served as Chief of Staff, United Nations Command, U.S. Forces Korea. He is recipient of many decorations and awards. His autobiography, Hazardous Duty, was published in 1991.\nEntertainment | Ray Marco Mr. Marco is a veteran performer of the stage, television and motion picture screen. His 1956 hit \"Abilene\" was the unofficial campaign song for President Eisenhower's successful re-election. Mr. Marco is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Security Service.\nThis program is in partnership with the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Please visit the Truman Library web site at www.trumanlibrary.org for a full schedule of events. The Truman Library programming focuses on the early time period of the war while the Eisenhower Library focuses on the latter time period and years since the signing of the armistice. This program is sponsored by the Eisenhower Foundation and Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. It is dedicated to President Eisenhower's successful conclusion of the conflict on July 27, 1953.\n28 July 2010, 9 am - 5 pm - Miami, FL - INFRAGARD South Florida and the FBI invite AFIO MEMBERS to their South Florida Conference\nLocation: Florida International University, Management Advanced Research Center, Room # 125, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33199\nSpeakers: Eric S. Ackerman, PhD, InfraGard South Florida Chapter President, Stewart L. Appelrouth, CPA, InfraGard Treasurer, SA Nelson J. Barbosa, InfraGard Coordinator/FBI Miami\nSam Fadel, Florida Regional Field Investigator, Corporate Security Department, This presentation will focus on data breach investigations, specifically credit card/account number breaches. Defines the roles of the issuers, law enforcement and forensic experts.\nSA Kathleen J. Cymbaluk, Miami FBI Recruiter on FBI Employment Needs. This presentation will discuss current hiring needs of the FBI and requirements on how to qualify and apply.\nStewart Appelrouth and Ed Farath, CPA, Appelrouth/Farah & Co., P.A., This presentation will focus on Financial Fraud, Specifically Ponzi Schemes.\nRichard Wickliffe, Team Manager, Special Investigation Unit, State Farm Insurance Companies, Will discuss Fraud, White Collar Financial Issues- and Possible Counterterrorism Implications.\nRandall C. Culp, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI, This presentation will discuss Health Care Fraud – Adapting Investigations and Prosecutions to deal with emerging trends.\nGun Running from Broward and Palm Beaches Counties - Mark A. Hastbacka, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI, This presentation will touch on IRA gun running operation in the above counties from a counterterrorism investigation point-of view\nRSVP TO Nelson Barbosa at FBI Miami Field Office: [email protected]\nSaturday, 31 July 2010, 10 am - 12 noon - Coral Gables, FL - AFIO/Miami Police Department Counter-Terrorism Training. In cooperation with the City of Miami Police Dept, Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, Officer Marcos T. Perez, AFIO will be presenting a Counter-Terrorism Training and Program. \"Operation Miami Shield.\" There is limited space available for this program.\nPlease RSVP with checks enclosed before July 21, 2010. There is a $10 charge for AFIO Members. Guests will be charged at $25 per person. Checks payable to \"AFIO\" and mailed to Tom Spencer at 999 Ponce de Leon Blvd Ste 510, Coral Gables, FL 33134\nSaturday, 14 August 2010, 11 am - Orange Park, FL - AFIO Northern Florida Chapter hears expert on technology capabilities of FBI/DEA/ATF regarding air travel.\nSocial hour from 11:00 am, lunch at noon, and speaker and meeting to follow until 3:00 pm. This meeting's guest speaker will be Mr. Bob DeFrancesco, Security Chief at Jacksonville International Airport. In concert with Ken Nimmich, DeFrancesco will delve privately and confidentially into the technology requirements and capabilities of his systems. He will address successes and failures of both the technology and the dependency of interagency regimes, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, etc. Also in preparation for the meeting, there will be a review of the Nova video on NSA ( www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZWtEp3fLLvo ) and 9/11 ( www.youtube.com/ watch?v=8EiiZUUGQyI ) ramp up from an interagency perspective. Chapter President Dane Baird applauds Bill Webb on this effort and hopes all members can watch the videos, twice if possible, prior to the meeting. Hopefully these are the right YouTube links to access these videos - let me know if not! For potential upcoming meetings, President Baird has uncovered some impressive resumes of generals and admirals living within reach of Ponte Vedra, including one who flew with the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. Think about it, and let us know if a special China program would be interesting – and we're sure that Bill could certainly enhance and enlighten such presentation(s).\nRSVP right away for the 14 August 2010 meeting to Quiel at [email protected] or 904-545-9549. The cost will be $16 each, pay the Country Club at the event.\n17 - 20 August 2010 - Cleveland, OH - AFIO National Symposium on the Great Lakes - \"Intelligence and National Security on the Great Lakes\"\nCo-Hosted with the AFIO Northern Ohio Chapter at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cleveland, OH. Includes presentations by U.S. Coast Guard on Great Lakes security; Canadian counterparts to explain double-border issues; National Air/Space Intelligence Center; Air Force Technical Applications Center; Ohio Aerospace Institute. Cruise on Lake Erie .\nSpies-in-Black-Ties Dinner and Cruise on Lake Erie. Make your reservations here . Agenda here.\n29-30 September 2010 - Washington, DC - Conference on the American Experience in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975 by the U.S. Department of State .\nThe U.S. Department of State's Office of the Historian is pleased to invite AFIO members to a conference on the American Experience in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975, which will be held in the George C. Marshall Conference Center at the State Dept. The conference will feature a number of key Department of State personnel, both past and present. Those speaking will include:\n* Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger\n* Former Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte\n* Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard A. Holbrooke\nThe conference will include a panel composed of key print and television media personnel from the Vietnam period discussing the impact of the press on public opinion and United States policy. A number of scholarly panels featuring thought-provoking works by leading scholars will also take place. Registration information will be available at the State Dept website, http://history.state.gov , after August 1.\nSaturday, 2 October 2010, 6:30 pm - Washington, DC - William J. Donovan Award Dinner Honoring Ross Perot by The OSS Society\nThe OSS Society celebrates the historical accomplishments of the OSS during WWII through a William J. Donovan Award Dinner. This year the annual dinner honors Ross Perot. Event includes special performance by humorist Mark Russell. Black Tie/Dress Mess. Location: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC. By invitation. Tables of ten: $25,000; Table of ten: $15,000; Table of eight: $10,000; Table of Six: $5000; Seating of four: $3,000; One guest: $1,000. Some tickets available for $175 pp. Donations welcomed. Inquiries to The OSS Society at [email protected]\n \nFor Additional Events two+ months or greater....view our online Calendar of Events\n----------------------------------------------------------------------- \nWeekly Intelligence Notes (WINs) are commentaries on Intelligence and related national security matters, based on open media sources, selected, interpreted, edited and produced for non-profit educational uses by members and WIN subscribers. \nREMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not wish to add clutter to inboxes. To discontinue receiving the WINs: \na) IF YOU ARE A MEMBER -- click here: UNSUBSCRIBE and supply your full name and email address where you receive the WINs. Click SEND, you will be removed from list. If this link doesn't open a blank email, create one on your own and send to [email protected] with the words: REMOVE FROM WINs as the subject, and provide your full name and email address where you are currently receiving them.\n b) IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER, and you received this message, someone forwarded this newsletter to you [contrary to AFIO policies]. Forward to [email protected] the entire WIN or message you received and we will remove the sender from our membership and distribution lists. The problem will be solved for both of us.\nCONTENTS of this WIN [HTML version recipients - Click title to jump to story or section, Click Article Title to return to Contents. This feature does not work for Plaintext Edition or for some AOL recipients]. If you wish to change to HTML format, let us know at [email protected] . The HTML feature also does not work for those who access their e-mail using web mail...however NON-HTML recipients may view the latest edition each week in HTML at this link: http://www.afio.com/sections/wins/currentwins/currentwin.htm\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------\nWINs are protected by copyright laws and intellectual property laws, and may not be reproduced or re-sent without specific permission from the Producer. Opinions expressed in the WINs are solely those of the editor(s) or author(s) listed with each article. AFIO Members Support the AFIO Mission - sponsor new members! CHECK THE AFIO WEBSITE at www.afio.com for back issues of the WINs, information about AFIO, conference agenda and registrations materials, and membership applications and much more!\n(c) 2010, AFIO, 6723 Whittier Ave Suite 200, McLean, VA 22101. 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"Nasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon [Archive] - Israel ...\n... Nasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon ... all Shi ite muslim, ... midnight talks with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that were followed by ...\nNasrallah afraid of US in Lebanon [Archive] - Israel Military Forum\nRascal\n05-26-2007, 10:21 AM\nDEBKAfile: Hizballah head warns Lebanon and Arab world not to tangle with al Qaeda on US behalf. BBC reporter�s kidnappers urge jihadists to help Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon\nMay 26, 2007, 11:56 AM (GMT+02:00)\nhttp://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif http://www.debka.com/photos/s_4236.jpg http://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif\nhttp://www.debka.com/images/spacer.gif\nAl Qaeda�s regional and Palestinian network has come to the surface under the pressure of the Fatah al-Islam-Lebanese showdown in the northern Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp.\nHassan Nasrallah�s dramatic TV speech Friday night, May 25, confirmed that the Fatah al-Islam faction fighting in Lebanon is al Qaeda, at a time when the jihadists� deepening involvement in the Palestinian cause is taboo for Israeli, Arab and Western spokesmen. Nasrallah bluntly urged the Lebanese army not to storm the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli because that would entangle Lebanon in the US war on al Qaeda. The camp and Palestinian civilians would be a red line. �We will not accept or provide cover or be partners in this,� he said. The Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah alliance should support the Sunni group fighting in the Lebanese Palestinian camp, not oppose it.\nDEBKAfile�s intelligence sources point to the relevance of Nasrallah�s words to the Gaza crisis. He spoke shortly after the Palestinian Army of Islam in Gaza posted an Internet statement calling on jihadists to rally behind Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon. The group said it is holding BBC journalist Alan Johnston who was kidnapped in Gaza City on March 12.\nThree further points are pertinent to the Palestinian-Israel conflict:\n1. Nasrallah�s �red line� has opened the door to the transfer of Hizballah hardware to support Fatah al-Islam to counter-balance US military aid to the Lebanese army.\n2. While Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the world-wide Palestinian Liberation Organization, insists that the Palestinians are not involved with Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon, Palestinian groups in Gaza and South Lebanon have announced they are prepared to wage battle in their respective arenas in support of their Lebanese comrades. Abbas has conspicuously omitted mention of the pro-Syrian Palestinian organizations fighting alongside Fatah al-Islam at Damascus� instigation.\n3. The Iran-Syria-Hizballah bloc�s support for al Qaeda�s campaign in Lebanon applies equally to the Gaza-based jihadist group�s offensive against Israel.\nRascal\n05-26-2007, 11:54 AM\nIf the US assisted with troops in Lebanon,Hizbo would be fuked and totally surounded.I am sure Israel is beefing up its defences in the North as we speak.\nPaparock\nWhy might Syria wish to sow chaos in Lebanon now?\nBy Jonathan Spyer\nThe Jerusalem Post, May 20, 2007\nThirty eight people lost their lives on Sunday in fierce fighting between the Lebanese military and Sunni jihadist operatives near the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, close to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. This outbreak of violence represents the heaviest toll in intra-Lebanese violence since the conclusion of the Lebanese civil war of 1975-90. The events in Nahr al-Bared cast light on a side of the Lebanese crisis which has until now been largely ignored by the international media. This is the emergence in recent months of an organization of armed Sunni Islamist operatives in the largely-Sunni north of the country. So far, much of the coverage has suggested that the group in question, known as Fatah al-Islam, may be linked to the al-Qaida network. Nevertheless, informed opinion suggests caution before drawing the simple conclusion that Fatah al-Islam is merely Osama bin-Laden's latest local franchise.\nFatah al-Islam is a breakaway of a Syrian-backed Palestinian organization called Fatah-intifada, which itself split from the mainstream Palestinian Fatah group in 1983. Fatah-intifada has little presence outside of the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon and Syria, and is widely regarded as a tool of the Syrian regime with little popular support. The group, led by a Palestinian called Shakir al-Abssi, surfaced in the Nahr al-Bared camp last November and is thought to contain around 100 fighters from the camp. The group includes Sunni Islamists of a variety of nationalities, about half of whom are drawn from the Sunni Lebanese community. Apart from Palestinians, there are also said to be Syrian and Saudi citizens among its ranks.\nWhile Syrian officials have been keen from the outset to describe al-Abssi and his group as operating \"in favor of al-Qaida,\" Lebanese authorities suspect that the group may in fact be a client of the Syrian authorities themselves, established to act as an instrument of policy in Lebanon, fomenting disorder. The Assad regime has a long history of utilizing terrorist and paramilitary groups for such a purpose. Fatah-intifada itself was used by Hafez Assad in a power struggle with Yassir Arafat in the Lebanon refugee camps between 1985-88. The regime is known also to have engaged operatives of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party to carry out assassinations in Lebanon during the civil war period.\nSuspicions regarding Fatah al-Islam center on the fact that Shakir al-Abssi was sentenced in 2003 to three years in prison in Syria after being convicted of plotting attacks inside the country. This was an unusually lenient sentence. By comparison, for example, Syrians suspected of involvement in the Muslim Brotherhood are routinely given 12-year terms. Al-Abssi, after his release, turned up among pro-Syrian Fatah-intifada circles in Nahr al-Bared and shortly afterward emerged as the leader of the new group, Fatah al-Islam. These facts have led General Ashraf Rifi, head of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (FSI), to conclude that \"this is a Syrian creation to sow chaos.\" Which raises the question, why might the Syrians wish to sow chaos in Lebanon, and why now?\nA draft resolution for the unilateral establishment of an international tribunal on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was circulated in the UN Security Council by the US, France and Britain last week. It is known that the Syrian regime is determined to prevent this tribunal at all costs, since it is believed that senior Syrian officials may be found to have been involved in the Hariri killing. Could it be that the regime in Damascus might see an escalation of tension in Lebanon as currently helpful - as a tacit reminder to the international community of what Damascus is capable of when put in a corner? This is the view of senior officials in Lebanese government, and is in keeping with earlier practices of the Damascus regime.\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nDr. Jonathan Spyer is a research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.\nAt this same time:\nAl-Qaida Leader in Afghanistan Begs for Cash Donations\nBy Evan Kohlmann\nIn a new As-Sahab Media Foundation video broadcast yesterday on Al-Jazeera, the declared leader of Al-Qaida's forces in Afghanistan Shaykh Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (a.k.a. \"Shaykh Saeed\") signals that the Taliban are suffering from a serious cash crunch. An unidentified interviewer asks, \"What are the current needs of the Jihad in Afghanistan?\" Whereupon, Shaykh Saeed responds:\n\"As for the needs of the Jihad in Afghanistan, the first of them is financial. The Mujahideen of the Taliban number in the thousands, but they lack funds. And there are hundreds wishing to carry out martyrdom-seeking operations, but they can't find the funds to equip themselves. So funding is the mainstay of Jihad. They also need personnel from their Arab brothers and their brothers from other countries in all spheres: military, scientific, informational and otherwise... And here we would like to point out that those who perform Jihad with their wealth should be certain to only send the funds to those responsible for finances and no other party, as to do otherwise leads to disunity and differences in the ranks of the Mujahideen.\"\nPaparock\n05-26-2007, 03:40 PM\nDEBKAfile’s military sources report that Friday, May 25, the first cargoes of American advanced weapons, ammunition and special anti-terror combat systems landed in Beirut to boost the Lebanese army’s bid to subdue the radical Fatah al-Islam uprising in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli.\nOur sources add that the scale of this military aid injection is extensive.\nThe transports’ holds are being loaded from US emergency stores in the region. For the first time, Arab and Gulf governments are overtly taking a direct hand in US warfare against al Qaeda in the Middle East as it spreads from Iraq to Lebanon with Syrian connivance. Washington has determined to quench the flames in N. Lebanon before they engulf the rest of the country.\nDEBKAfile’s military sources add that some of the Jordanian air transports are also carrying assistance in the form of officers and instructors of the kingdom’s special force and intelligence, who are well-seasoned in combat against the al Qaeda menace in Iraq and at home. They are now on hand to take command of Lebanese army units and anti-Syrian factions in Tripoli which have failed so far to contain the Fatah al-Islam challenge which has escalated dangerously following the infiltration of pro-Syrian reinforcements to the camp.\nThey are led by members of the pro-Syrian Tehran-funded Palestinian extremist Ahmed Jibril’s group, armed by Damascus and directed by Syrian military intelligence officers, who maintain a presence in North Lebanon.\nTourists in Lebanon will be bombed and no Christian will be safe unless the Lebanese army lifts is siege of Nahr al-Bared camp. This threat came from al Qaeda in the Levant over a video and web site.\nHundreds of al Qaeda-linked extremists are stirring up the inmates of the Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp of Ein Hilwa in the south to support Fatah al Islam.\nAbout 75 people have been killed in the battles and half of the camp’s 40,000 residents have fled.\n'WE WILL ERADICATE THEM'\nThe End Nears for Militants in Lebanese Camp\nBy Ulrike Putz ([email protected]) in Tripoli, Lebanon</I>\nThe Islamist militants from Fatah Islam have vowed to fight to the end. The Lebanese military has promised to annhiliate them. On day five of the crisis at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, the stand-off continues.\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,877772,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-877771-484733,00.html) http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/icons/ic_lupe.gif (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-877771-484733,00.html)\nGetty Images\nA Lebanese soldier stands guard at the edge of the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared.\n\"During the next 48 hours, we will eradicate them,\" says the elite Lebanese soldier, lying behind a freshly raised mound of red earth. \"They,\" of course, are the militants of the radical Palestinian group Fatah Islam. And the effort to eradicate them has virtually destroyed the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared where they are holed up.\nThe ground is strewn with the empty casings of high-caliber bullets; the soot-blackened ruins of the camp north of the Lebanese seaport of Tripoli stand about 200 meters (650 feet) away. Fatah Islam snipers on the roofs take aim at the Lebanese rangers who have dug in east of the camp. \"I hope they will attack us soon. Then we'll strike back and finish them off,\" says the officer, who wants only to be called Spiro.\nSpiro's merciless prediction is certainly not improbable. A massacre seems inevitable on the fifth day of the stand-off between fundamentalist Muslim militants and the Lebanese military. The militia, which has entrenched itself in Nahr al-Bared, is surrounded by a large contingent of soldiers -- including at least 700 elite troops. Even as a cease-fire appears to be holding on Thursday, with only sporadic gunfire, they are waiting for the decisive battle. It's a battle the Fatah Islam militants cannot win and don't intend to survive: Spokesmen for the group, which Western intelligence agencies consider close to al-Qaida, have warned that it will fight to the end, and take as many soldiers down with it as possible.\n'Prepared to Commit Suicide'\nThe Lebanese side seems just as unwilling to back down. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in a television address on Thursday that his military remains committed to eliminating Fatah Islam. Calling the group a terrorist organization, he said it was \"attempting to ride on the suffering and the struggle of the Palestinian people.\" He continued: \"We will work to root out and strike at terrorism but we will embrace and protect our brothers in the camps.\"\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,798728,00.gif (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460322,00.html)\nJust how many radicals are still alive and willing to fight is unclear. A high-ranking officer said on Wednesday that more than 750 had barricaded themselves in the camp. The Fatah Islam militants are just as well equipped and trained as the military, the officer says. \"But they are prepared to commit suicide, and that could be described as their advantage.\"\nThe militia and the military have been engaged in heavy fighting since Sunday, leaving about 70 militiamen and soldiers dead, according to news agency reports. At least 20 civilians are also said to have been killed during the skirmishes before a cease-fire negotiated on Tuesday enabled many of the 31,000 inhabitants of the densely populated Nahr al-Bared camp to flee.\nThe Lebanese government accuses the militia of having planned and executed terrorist attacks, with the Nahr al-Bared camp serving as a hideout and command center. About 400,000 Palestinian refugees, forced by the wars in the Middle East to leave their homes, live in 12 camps inside Lebanon -- camps to which the Lebanese police have no access due to a 40-year-old agreement with the Palestinians.\n'They Are Prepared to Commit Suicide'\nThe terrain on the edge of the camp where Spiro's soldiers have dug in was still in the hands of the Fatah Islam militants on Tuesday. The rangers moved in at dawn on Wednesday, flattening the reeds that grew there and raising protective mounds of earth among the cypress trees. Ranger Rommel can't say how many people he has killed in the past few days. \"It must have been a lot,\" says the 27-year-old, whose parents named him after the German Field Marshal who commanded the Nazi Afrikakorps. \"At first it was a shock to be in a real battle after all the training,\" Rommel says. Later, he adds, it was like being in a movie. \"A drunk state in which you don't care whether you're shooting at children, the elderly or militants.\"\nPhoto Gallery: Day Three in Lebanon\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876161,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876138,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)\nhttp://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,876114,00.jpg (http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21821,00.html)Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (7 Photos)\nIt looks like the movie will play again soon, he says: \"We have precise indications that our position will be a target for suicide attacks.\" The information he has indicates that the attackers will be old women.\nIt's the first time since the fighting started that Spiros's and Rommel's units have had a chance to rest. The men smoke, eat fresh plums and make bawdy jokes about each other's girlfriends. One soldier hands out plastic bags with pita bread, tins of tuna and tomatoes. Most answer questions in flawless English, having received, they say, part of their training in the United States. Some of them are even citizens of both the US and Lebanon.\nThe men have repeatedly raided the camp during the past 72 hours and are markedly shaken by the house-to-house fighting they have experienced. \"These militants are not religious people; they're sadists,\" says Husam, whose voice is hoarse from shouting over the noise of battle. \"They decapitated some of our people.\" He and his fellow soldiers found Egyptian, Sudanese and Bangladeshi passports on the bodies of dead Fatah Islam militants, he says. \"Most of them are not from here. They're fanatics from outside who have rallied here.\"\nNothing Good to Say about Fatah Islam\nA few kilometers to the south, a caravan of refugees is leaving the camp behind, moving slowly. Everyone's ID is checked to ensure no militants escape by mingling with the refugees. From neighbors shot while fetching bread to one farmer's economic ruin -- caused by a grenade that killed eleven of his cows -- the refugees have gone through days of horror. Now they are fleeing into a nearby Palestinian camp, where an uncertain future awaits them. Even though it was the Lebanese military that opened fire on the camp, nobody has anything good to say about Fatah Islam.\nMahmud Darwish, an IT student who lives in the camp, also says that the problems were started by foreigners who began moving into the camp one or two years ago. The men, he says, married into Palestinian families and spent lavishly to buy apartments in Nahr al-Bared. A pharmacist reports that the fundamentalist Muslims disclosed their identity increasingly openly in recent months. \"They were impossible to overlook, riding mopeds with their long beards and dressed in ostentatiously chaste clothing,\" he says. As time went by, the fundamentalists became increasingly self-confident. \"When a man cursed in their presence, they surrounded and scolded him,\" the pharmacist says.\nThe Palestinians didn't just stand idly by as Fatah Islam moved in. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Nahr al-Bared tried for months to isolate the fundamentalists. The current intervention by the Lebanese army is -- over and above the suffering it has caused the refugees inside the camp -- unwelcome by the Palestinian powers that be.\nAfter the cease-fire went into effect on Tuesday, the PLO announced it wants to get rid of the radicals itself. The PLO's authority in the camp would be substantially weakened were the Lebanese military to find success where they have not. Most observers, though, have little faith that the PLO would have much chance of victory.\nMeanwhile, the Lebanese forces are considering storming the camp as the Islamic militants have refused an ultimatum to surrender. Some Islamists have allegedly tried to escape -- the Lebanese military announced on Thursday that it had destroyed two small boats full of militants trying to escape into the nearby Mediterranean Sea.\nAt the camp, the soldiers are busy preparing for more fighting. Some, though, are also reflective after the four-day orgy of violence. Spiro, standing next to the wreck of a vehicle that is missing all of its windows, says: \"People sought safety in this bus.\" Large puddles of blood have dried on the pavement below. \"They drove towards us. They could have been militants,\" Spiro says.\nHis troops were the ones who opened fire on the bus -- before retrieving three corpses and several injured from the wreck. \"Terrible, but that's just what war is like.\"\n'Fath Al-Islam' Military Commander: We Are 'Ready To Blow Up Every Place In Lebanon'In an interview with the London daily Al-Hayat, the military commander of the Fath Al-Islam organization, Shihab Al-Qaddour, also known as Abu Hurieira, threatened that if attacks by the Lebanese military against his organization continued, \"all fronts will be opened\" and that Fath Al-Islam would be \"ready to blow up every place in Lebanon.\" He also noted that his organization's activists were prepared for a battle lasting two years or more.\nAl-Qaddour, 36, from the village of Mishmish in the sub-district of Akkar in northern Lebanon, is considered the No. 2 man in Fath Al-Islam, after the leader Shaker Al-'Absi. According to Al-Qaddour, who spent five and a half years in a Syrian prison, he has fought for 21 years in various areas, including Iraq.\nThe following are excerpts from the interview:\n\"We Have Sleeper Cells On Alert In All Palestinian Refuge Camps\"\nDuring the interview, Al-Qaddour told Al-Hayat that the Fath Al-Islam organization \"would respond against the Lebanese military if the attacks on it were to continue,\" and added that \"[our response] will not be limited [solely] to the Palestinian refugee camps or to Beirut, but all fronts will be opened.\" Referring to the battles in Tripoli and the bombings in the neighborhoods of Beirut during the past week, he said: \"This is only the beginning... We are ready to blow up Beirut and every other place in Lebanon.\"\nAl-Qaddour stated that \"in addition to the supporters of the organization, Fath Al-Islam has bases and sleeper cells in all the Palestinian refugee camps in the various regions of Lebanon, and they are on alert [to launch] a harsh response - they await only a sign from us.\" He said, \"Fath Al-Islam's threat to open the fire of hell against Lebanon is a serious one. As long as we are under attack, we will [defend ourselves] by any and all means. The organization has the full capability to bring the battle to every place in Lebanon. We can easily do this...\"\nFath Al-Islam - A Palestinian Organization, Not Al-Qaeda Affiliated\nAl-Qaddour, who spent five and a half years in a Syrian prison, also said in the interview that some accuse the Fath Al-Islam activists of being \"Syrian agents inside Lebanon.\" However, he said, his organization comprises Palestinian activists from various countries, with rich battle experience: \"The Fath Al-Islam organization is Palestinian, and includes 600 to 700 activists in all the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, not only in the Nahr Al-Bared refuge camp. All the activists are on the highest battle alert.\" He added, \"The number of Fath Al-Islam [members who were] killed in the first three days of the battles with the Lebanese military was only 10, and all the killed were Palestinians from Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan. This is in spite of that we expected to have many more killed.\" [1] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn1)\nAl-Qaddour said: \"Many Fath Al-Islam members have very rich battle experience outside Lebanon. I personally have 21 years of experience in fighting in various regions - the most recent of which was Iraq. \"\nAl-Qaddour noted that he was not worried about a possible scenario in which the residents of the Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp rebelled against Fath Al-Islam. He said, \"Many of the members of the Palestinian factions that oppose us politically deviated from their leaders' orders, stood with us, and identified with us when the camp was recently bombed.\"\nAl-Qaddour denied that Fath Al-Islam was affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and added: \"Our organization is an Islamic project aimed at liberating Palestine and Jerusalem. Our fire [will strike] at every obstacle that stands against our achieving our goal.\" He continued, \"If the right to defend our land [Palestine] is stripped from us, the responsibility will be borne by all those who stand in our way and who carry out the American and Jewish plan and the Western [plan] in general.\"\n\"We Are Prepared for a Battle That Will Last Two Years Or More\"\nAl-Qaddour stated that in his organization there were \"people who are prepared for martyrdom and to carry out [such] operations,\" and refused to call them suicide bombers. He added, \"If the noose tightens around our neck, we will not exclude any means [of response].\" Al-Qaddour likewise noted that Fath Al-Islam has shelters and underground fortifications in the Nahr Al-Bared camp, and added: \"We have nothing to lose. We are prepared for a battle that will last two years or more.\"\nOn the warfare methods of Fath Al-Islam, Al-Qaddour said: \"We adopt guerilla warfare, which no army can vanquish as demonstrated in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.\"\nFath Al-Islam is Not Against the Shi'ites and Has Connections With Hizbullah\nAl-Qaddour added, \"We have no intention of attacking UNIFIL in the south [of Lebanon] as long as those forces do not attack us.\" He further noted that his organization had \"connections with Hizbullah and also that it bore no enmity towards Hizbullah, or towards the Shi'ites in Lebanon,\" and that therefore they had no \"intention to carry out operations against the Shi'ites in Lebanon.\" [2] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn2)\nFath Al-Islam Leader: We Have Hundreds of People Ready for Martyrdom\nTwo months before the outbreak of hostilities between the Lebanese army and Fath Al-Islam, Fath Al-Islam leader Shaker Al-'Absi threatened, in an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, to set the region on fire: \"We are now monitoring the movements of the military around the [Nahr Al-Bared] refugee camp. If we sense [that there is about] to be a real attack against us, our reaction will be very harsh, and it will not stop. We have hundreds of people who are willing to martyr themselves [istishhad], who have prepared themselves to strike at the entity state [i.e. Israel], and they are ready to defend [the banner of Islam] 'There is no God but Allah' everywhere in the world.\" Al-'Absi further added that the organization had activists not only in the refuge camps but throughout Lebanon, Palestine, and the surrounding region.\nAl-'Absi, who has spent time in Syrian prison, denied Syrian claims that he had been jailed on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda. He said that he had been arrested for attempting to carry out an operation in the Golan, and that he was accused of possessing weapons and transferring weapons to Palestine. [3] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_edn3)\n[1] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref1) In an Al-Jazeera TV interview on May 25, 2007, PLO spokesman As'ad Abd Al-Rahman defied reports that Fath Al-Islam is a Palestinian organization, asserting that there are no Palestinians nor are the casualties in the battles with the Lebanese Army Palestinian, and hinted that the organization is operated by the Syrian regime.\n[2] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref2) Al-Hayat (London), May 25, 2007 [3] (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD159907#_ednref3) Al-Nahar (Lebanon), March 16, 2007.\nRascal\nRE:\"Fath Al-Islam Leader: We Have Hundreds of People Ready for Martyrdom \"\nWe aim to make them martyrs!!!\nUltra Requete\n05-27-2007, 10:48 AM\nThe enemies of mankind are droping their masks. I wonder what Iraqi shia will tell about their brothers in Lebanon and Iran helping the shia butching AQ and pals.:rolleyes:\nRascal\n05-28-2007, 02:08 AM\nBraindead shia will believe what ever their Iman tells them.Thinking outside the box isn't an option for them unless they are westernized.\nPaparock\n05-29-2007, 05:15 PM\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/\nThe Lebanese Government has given Palestinian Political Groups till mid week to resolve the situation with Fatah Al-Islam. After that point the Lebanese Army will take the situation into their own hands.\nMore Military supplies have been coming in to the Lebanese Army.\nRevised Draft on the UN Tribunal headed for discussion and possible passing next Tuesday - Thursday at the UN.\nFear that Fatah Al-Islam is not letting all the civilians leave the camps - thus using them as human shields, because as one insider noted - they know if all the civilans leave the army will confront them.\nLebanese worldwide react to Hezbollah's comments on the camp being a red line, being seen as coming out against Lebanon and in support of the criminal terrorists, thus questioning is Hezbollah part of the Syrian Master Plan to destabilize Lebanon and then take over\nJumblat accused former powerbroker and neighboring Syria of being behind the fighting in Nahr al-Bared and three bombings on shopping areas in and around Beirut since Sunday.\n\"They want to distract the army from watching the arms smuggled (from Syria) and to obstruct the tribunal,\" he said referring to U.N. plans to create a court to try suspects in the killing of ex-premier Rafik Hariri which has been widely blamed on Syria.\nHe criticized Nasrallah for not condemning Fatah al-Islam, saying the Hizbullah leader has become a \"mere tool\" of the Syrian regime.\nThe parties negotiating a possible solution to the Fatah al-Islam issue are the main Palestinian factions in Lebanon including Fatah, the Islamic group Hamas and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). Naharnet\nPaparock\nIs Lebanon planning on letting Fatah al-Islam forces live to fight another day?\nThey will if the Palestinians have anything to say about it.\nPalestinians Present Plan to End Standoff at Nahr al-BaredWith the Lebanese government demanding the surrender of Islamist militants holed up inside the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp or face an all-out onslaught, Palestinian factions pressed for a negotiated solution to end the week-long standoff between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam extremists.\nMeanwhile, a brief but violent firefight flared early Monday in Nahr al-Bared after militants tried to attack a Lebanese army position outside the camp, state-run National News Agency said.\nIt said several Fatah al-Islam fighters were injured in the clash which broke out at 7:30 a.m. Army troops deployed around Nahr al-Bared fired four shells toward the northern entrance to the camp where the Islamists are besieged.\nThe four-point plan presented by the Palestinian factions to the Lebanese government aimed at a peaceful resolution to the camp fight, Abu Imad Rifai, a representative of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, told the Associated Press on Sunday.\nThe plan calls for a cease-fire, the creation of a Palestinian security force to maintain law and order in the camp, the barring of other armed groups in the camp and the creation of \"a mechanism for the departure\" of Fatah al-Islam from the camp, Rifai said.\nThere was no immediate reaction from the government to the plan, which falls short of its demands for the handover of the militants. Rifai said the government found \"some positive elements\" in the plan but that details on how to deal with the departure of the fighters had to be worked out. \"A final plan will be presented to the government in the next few days,\" he said.\nIt is not known where the militants would go. Syria is one option � Fatah al-Islam's leader Shaker Absi spent years in the country, part of them in prison, before arriving in Nahr al-Bared last year. That has raised accusations among Lebanese security forces that Damascus is using the group to stir up trouble in Lebanon, and they may be reluctant to allow Fatah al-Islam to return there.\nDamascus denies the accusations and says Absi and other Fatah al-Islam leaders are wanted in Syria for suspected terrorist activities. Absi is also wanted in Jordan, where he has been sentenced to death in absentia for involvement in the 2002 killing of an American diplomat in Amman.\nBut Rifai insisted that \"a political solution is the only option.\"\n\"The repercussions of a military solution are much more serious than a political solution,\" Rifai said, in a clear warning that a military assault on Nahr al-Bared would trigger violence in Lebanon's 11 other Palestinian refugee camps.\nFatah al-Islam Vows Not to Turn in Militants\nFatah al-Islam group, which is battling the Lebanese army in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, refused to hand over militants but said it was working with mediators to find an end to the standoff. \"We refuse to hand over any member of Fatah al-Islam,\" spokesman Abu Salim Taha told Agence France Presse.\nLebanese government forces have been besieging the militants in Nahr al-Bared since the group attacked army targets on May 20.\nA three-member delegation of clerics from the Union of Palestinian Scholars met Fatah al-Islam militants in the camp on Sunday.\nEfforts to end the standoff were complicated, however, when the team of mediators came under fire while entering the camp.\nThe government has insisted on the handover of fighters to stand trial over attacks against its armed forces during the bloodiest fighting in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war.\n\"We are still working with the delegation of the Union of Palestinian Scholars in order to find a political solution,\" Taha said.\n\"I don't want to get into the details of the negotiations which are based on finding a political solution.\"\nHe said Fatah al-Islam has been observing a complete ceasefire since Monday night, \"and will continue to observe it for 24 hours in order to allow the entry of aid to the residents of the camp.\"\nPosted on 29 May 2007 @ 13:47 GMT\nPaparock\n06-01-2007, 03:00 PM\nLatest Compilation - AP/AFP/Naharnet - A Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday. Following this, artillery bombardment intensified at Nahr al-Bared around midmorning Friday, with Lebanese troops attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah al-Islam in the northeastern part of the Palestinian refugee camp. A resident from inside the camp said \"Fatah al-Islam positions were overtaken and destroyed in the push.\"\nOn a separate front, members of the mainstream Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist Jund al-Sham group exchanged gunfire in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon. According to the account, a Fatah militant, whose brother had been killed by the Islamists earlier this month, shot at one of Jun al-Sham members he thought was responsible, without hitting him.\nA military judge filed terrorism charges against 20 suspected members of an Islamic militant group fighting Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp, court officials said.\nFatah al-Islam, the source added, \"is one of such local groups. Its members are inspired by al-Qaida ideology, but its attacks are directed by Syrian intelligence officers.\"\nPolice have arrested at least 90 people on charges of affiliation with Fatah al-Islam and were under interrogation.\nThe source said some of them have provided \"priceless information related to terrorist activity.\"\nIn a related development, the source said police also arrested \"two Syrian nationals\" that had with them \"dozens of photographs of Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul Aziz Khoja.\"\n\"They had pictures of him at his apartment's balcony, at the entrance to the building and in so many other locations. It appears they were monitoring his moves in preparation for an attack on him,\" the source added without further elaboration.\nSecurity has been beefed up at major Lebanese cities and towns following outbreak of the clashes with Fatah al-Islam militants in the northern town of Tripoli 11 days ago and the spate of bombings that followed.\nThe group, headed by Palestinian-Jordanian Shaker Absi, has vowed to attack a variety of targets throughout Lebanon if the army maintained the siege of its militants at Nahr al-Bared camp.\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn10406011011.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn104 .jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=3mvIQ41V2RjqC5LEzweMZA--\nLebanese army vehicles move into the the refugee camp while smoke rises over the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn11206011107.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn112 .jpg?x=380&y=261&sig=zaypV6d.7.70XAQUvFnNcg--\nLebanese army vehicles line up during the military operation at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070601/capt.nn10706011024.mideast_lebanon_violence__nn107 .jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=0DUYvDqMqUYMIwBf8RnC1A--\nSmoke rises over the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, June 1, 2007. Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)\nFighting Resumes at Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon\nFriday, June 01, 2007\nBEIRUT, Lebanon � Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon (javascript:siteSearch('Lebanon');).\nThe artillery bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising out of the Nahr el-Bared (javascript:siteSearch('Nahr el-Bared');) camp where Fatah Islam (javascript:siteSearch('Fatah Islam');) militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army. The shelling also ignited fires in the camp that spewed black smoke. The militants have barricaded themselves in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.\nAbout 50 armored carriers, battle tanks and military vehicles from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according to APTN television crew at the scene.\nThere was no confirmation that the army units were making a final push to take over the camp, or were just advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants in pockets. But a significant decrease at one point in the shelling, accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, suggested the troops were already engaging the militants.\nThe bombardment intensified several hours later. Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., a leading television station, said troops were attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah Islam in the northeastern part of the camp in the Samed neighborhood. But Al-Arabiya television said troops seized militant sniper positions.\nTelevision footage showed the movement of T-55 Russian-made tanks, French-made Panhard tanks, M-113 U.S.-built armored personnel carriers and jeeps with 106mm rifles mounted on them. Sandbags were packed on some of the vehicles.\nMilitary officials would not comment on the troop movements and journalists were pushed back further from the camp. But a statement by the army command said troops came under fire from the militants and the army was \"responding with accurate and decisive fire to deter them.\" The statement said the army was at the same time avoiding civilian casualties.\nThe concentrated bombardment began in the morning, with heavy barrages targeting all parts of the camp.\nSporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting.\nA Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday.\nThe death Thursday raised to 32 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed.\nThe army has ringed the Nahr el-Bared camp with hundreds of soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, poised to storm the camp and prevent militants from fleeing. The government has vowed to crush the militants, who have said they will fight till the end.\nThousands of Palestinians have fled the camp, but thousands more are still inside, along with the Fatah Islam fighters.\nOn Thursday, army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman toured the military positions around the Nahr el-Bared camp in the northern city of Tripoli, vowing to track down the militants responsible for killing the soldiers.\nPaparock\n06-02-2007, 03:55 AM\nTRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese tanks and armored vehicles battled their way into the outer neighborhoods of a Palestinian refugee camp Friday in some of the heaviest fighting since violence broke out between the military and al-Qaida-inspired militants nearly two weeks ago.\nThe military demanded the Fatah Islam fighters holed up in the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon surrender and promised to pursue them if they didn't.\nTwo Lebanese soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in Friday's fighting, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to address the media. They said a unit of Fatah Islam militants was destroyed, but gave no casualty count.\nFriday's deaths raised to 34 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed in the 13 days of fighting, but it was unclear whether there were any civilian casualties Friday.\nMost of the camp's 31,000 refugees have fled, many to the nearby Beddawi refugee camp.\nThe army appeared to have limited Friday's advance to neighborhoods on the outer ring of the camp, which militants use for sniper fire against army positions. Nahr el-Bared, like the other 11 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, has been off-limits to Lebanese authorities under a nearly 40-year-old agreement that allowed Palestinians to run their own affairs.\nThe Palestinian representative to Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, said the army would not storm into the camp, where several thousand civilians remain trapped and militants are barricaded in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.\nA soldier at the scene said troops were fighting from building to building. A resident of the camp, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of militant reprisals, said some Fatah Islam positions were overrun or destroyed.\nThe army later issued a statement saying it destroyed positions from which the militants attacked troops and civilians, and \"tightened the ring\" around them, causing many casualties. The statement said other militants had fled deeper inside the camp, taking civilians as \"human shields.\"\n\"What we have decided is to deal with Fatah Islam as a group, a terrorist group taking hostages who are left in the camp,\" said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. He told AP Television News in Beirut that the army may be seeking to isolate the militants.\nCabinet Minister Ahmed Fatfat told Al-Arabiya television the army came under sniper fire early Friday and decided to respond. \"It seems they have destroyed those positions.\"\nThe bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising from the camp throughout the day, and the shelling ignited fires that spewed black smoke.\nThe fighting between the army and the Fatah Islam group erupted in the northern port city of Tripoli and the adjacent Nahr el-Bared camp on May 20. At least 22 soldiers and 17 militants were killed that day � the worst internal violence in Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.\nAfter three days of heavy clashes, the government agreed to a truce to give Palestinian mediators and Islamic clerics time to persuade the militants to surrender. Thousands of residents then fled the camp.\nSeveral hundred militants inside Nahr el-Bared continued to target troops with sniper fire, however, vowing to fight to the death. Political support also has grown for the army to resolve the conflict through military action.\nHowever, limiting the military operation to the camp's perimeter could be an effort to avoid � at least for now � enraging Palestinians in other refugee camps across the country.\nFatah Islam is an offshoot of the pro-Syrian Fatah Uprising, which broke from the mainstream Fatah movement in the early 1980s, Lebanese officials say.\nSome Lebanese security officials consider Fatah Islam a radical Sunni Muslim group with ties to al-Qaida or at least al-Qaida-style militancy and doctrine. Others say it is a front for Syrian military intelligence aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.\nMany Palestinian refugees support the army's moves against the militants, whom they consider alien to the camp's population. Zaki, the Palestinian representative, said after meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora that he hoped the militants would \"surrender to justice.\"\nIn the Beddawi camp, about 500 Palestinians demonstrated after Friday noon prayers, demanding an end to the fighting. A group of mothers staged a sit-in outside a school that has been turned into a refugee center and stopped trucks from delivering relief.\nMohammed Abu Hussein, 26, a computer technician from Nahr el-Bared who fled to Beddawi, said the militants were \"so fanatical, they would rather die than surrender.\"\n\"So the army has no other choice but finish them off,\" the Palestinian said.\nPaparock\nEnglish transcript: Al-Qaida Threatens Lebanon Over Fatah al-Islam\nBy Evan Kohlmann\nOn May 25, 2007, copies of a new video recording were publicly distributed over password-protected Al-Qaida Internet websites after being authenticated by the pre-eminent Al-Fajr Media Center. The seven-minute recording contains a speech by a masked individual identifying himself only as the �military commander of Al-Qaida�s Committee in Al-Shams� (�Greater Syria�) (http://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.pdf). This is the first known occasion that any individual or organization inside of Lebanon has explicitly identified themselves as part of the international Al-Qaida terrorist network. The speaker addresses a message directly to the Patriarch of the Christian Maronite church in Lebanon: \"pull back your dogs from our people, and cease your artillery fire�or else, from today onwards, there will be no safe place for any crusader in Lebanon, and as you strike, we will strike... If you do not stop, we will tear your hearts out with explosives, and surround your every post with our bombs. We will target your entire economy, starting with tourism and ending with all the incoming resources you [received when you] launched this new crusader war... We have ignored you previously, but we give you this final warning that from now on, an ocean of blood will be spilled.�\nClick to view English transcript c/o Globalterroralert.com (http://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.pdf)\nSee also: Fatah al-Islam: Al-Qaida or Not? (http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/05/fatah_alislam_alqaida_or_not_a.php)\nhttp://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0607/qaidashams0607.jpg</IMG>\nhttp://www.beirutspring.com/\nThe Meaning Of Victory (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/05/the-meaning-of-victory/)\nBarring surprises, the Army is headed to a resounding victory against Fateh Al Islam in the Naher Al Bared camp. How did it happen and what will the repercussions be?\nhttp://www.lebarmy.gov.lb/images/wallpapers/1/1.jpg\nThings didn�t start too well. The Army�s initial reaction to the terrorists� provocation was clumsy. Its pride wounded, its only plan (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbeirutspring.com%2Fblog%2F2007%2F 05%2F22%2Fdoes-the-army-have-a-plan%2F&ei=XrdlRs_HMo6KgQKrvbiJCg&usg=AFQjCNERqKGBMtmttwxLzChKsb_k0MUWOw&sig2=cBavgadrxNuN9fwDyDFPzg) was to bomb away at anything that moved in the camp, risking a backlash in public opinion.Thankfully, sanity prevailed later when time was given to the militants to surrender.\nThat was exactly what the Army needed: The Generals went back to their drawing boards, the Government fought the propaganda war, negotiated with factions and asked for extra ammunition. At the same time, Lebanese and Arab aid organizations began addressing the unfolding humanitarian crisis.\nTheir heads cool (http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&C8AD4BA486910038C22572F1001CC085), the Army later managed, with a combination of careful advancement, boots on the ground and air and sea cover to slowly tighten the noose around the necks of the terrorists. The Army also took care of staying on top of the propaganda war by repeatedly exposing the Terrorists� PR tricks.\nBy avoiding to rush into anything stupid, the Army has allowed the movement that could have terrorized the country to implode from within. The militants are reportedly (http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/06/lebanon_militan.php) showing signs of desperation, low morale, and are beginning to surrender.\nA victory will have very large implications.\nThe Americans have had their doubts about the Army�s allegiance. It was very common to read in the western media that �The army is 40% Shiaa who are loyal to Hezbollah.� This is why many countries dragged their feet in supplying it with the weapons it needed to establish its authority on all of our territory. That will now change, as the Army not only ignored Hassan Nassrallah�s red line (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/05/25/nassrallah-warns-against-assaulting-the-palestinian-camp/), but showed contempt to it. You can now expect enthusiastic international endorsements for our men in uniform.\nThe Army will also teach a lesson about counter-insurgency that many can learn from: You don�t have to commit Hama-style massacres to defeat Islamist insurgencies. All you need is the right combination of Power, sophistication, propaganda and popular support.\nFinally, and most importantly, the Army will boost its authority and deter future malicious designs to destabilize this delicate country.\nA lot of rice is waiting to be thrown.\nPaparock\nhttp://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=82817\nLebanese Army claims 'less resistance' at Nahr al-Bared\n�atah al-islam threatens to expand battle 'within the next two days'By Rym Ghazal\nDaily Star staff\nThursday, June 07, 2007\nNAHR AL-BARED, North Lebanon: Heavy bouts of shelling and gunfire alternated with long periods of quiet on Wednesday as the Lebanese Army pounded away at the remaining posts held by Fatah al-Islam militants along the southern part of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.\nThere were no new reports of casualties on Wednesday, keeping the official death toll at 114 people, including 46 soldiers and 38 militants, since fighting broke out on May 20. While an army source would not confirm any new troop injuries, medical sources said at least three wounded soldiers were taken to nearby hospitals on Wednesday.\n\"Our attacks have lessened and are now more targeted, since we have destroyed most of Fatah al-Islam's positions,\" the army source told The Daily Star on Wednesday. \"The militants have decreased their resistance.\"\nDespite the army's reports of success, a senior member of Fatah al-Islam warned the group was ready to expand its attacks beyond Lebanon.\n\"If the army continues to bomb civilians and pursue its inhumane practices ... we will move within the next two days to the second phase of the battle,\" Fatah al-Islam military commander Shahin Shahin told Reuters by telephone from the Nahr al-Bared camp.\n\"We will show them the capabilities of Fatah al-Islam, starting with Lebanon and then moving to the whole of Greater Syria,\" he said, referring to what is now Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.\nFatah al-Islam also launched four mortars at a building used by journalists for broadcasting.\nOne ambulance from the Palestinian Red Cross packed with medicine and vegetables entered the camp on Wednesday to supply the estimated 3,000-5,000 of the camp's original 40,000 inhabitants.\nThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned in a report of the humanitarian situation in the camp, saying that unexploded ordnance was hampering relief activities.\n\"It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris and rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp's roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles,\" said Jordi Raich Curco, the ICRC head in Lebanon.\nIn related developments, security sources said a Lebanese military prosecutor filed \"terrorism charges\" on Wednesday against six militants from Fatah al-Islam who have been detained by the security forces.\nThe accused are alleged to have \"formed armed groups to attack civilians, the authority of the state and its civil and military institutions, and to have carried out terrorist actions which killed or injured military personnel and civilians,\" said the judicial source. If convicted, the militants could face the death sentence.\nThe sources said those in custody are mainly Lebanese and Syrian citizens. The military prosecutor has also launched proceedings in absentia against a Lebanese national in custody in Saudi Arabia on the same charges.\nSince the beginning of clashes, a total of 27 men have been charged by the Lebanese authorities in connection with Fatah al-Islam.\nThe Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported Wednesday that a wounded Fatah al-Islam fighter had been arrested in the Minyeh district of Tripoli while dressed as a woman.\nIn another development, the army discovered a depot containing more than 200 kilograms of explosives during a raid after nightfall Tuesday in the Akkar region of North Lebanon. The explosives were found at the home of a suspected Fatah al-Islam militant who was detained four days ago, the An-Nahar daily said on Wednesday.\nAuthorities also arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda members in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday for possessing weapons and explosives.\nThe three men were arrested at a flat in the Bar Elias village just west of the border with Syria in the Bekaa Valley, a security source said.\nThey also had forged travel and identity documents, computers, maps of Lebanese cities and night-vision equipment. - With agencies, Naharnet\nExplosives experts defuse bomb near Tyre\nMohammed Zaatari\nDaily Star staff\nTYRE: Lebanese Army explosives experts defused a bomb near a public beach in the Southern port city of Tyre Wednesday morning.\nAt about 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, workers at the Tyre Municipality found an empty can of baby-milk powder containing an explosive device wired to a timer, a source told The Daily Star.\n\"The bomb was set to go off at 11:15 a.m.,\" said the source on condition of anonymity.\nTwo kilograms of C4 explosive were found in the can, which had been planted at one of the entrances to Tyre's public beach, the National News Agency reported.\nThe targeted area is visited daily by hundreds of the region's residents for swimming and jogging.\nThe bomb was found about 500 meters from the Rest House beach resort in Tyre and about 1.5 kilometers from the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp.\nTroops sealed off the area, about 80 kilometers south of Beirut, as experts dismantled the bomb.\nUNIFIL deputy spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane rejected claims that the bomb had been planted to target international peacekeepers.\n\"International troops do not visit the location where the bomb was found,\" Bouziane said. \"Lebanese authorities and armed forces are the ones responsible for maintaining security in that region.\"\n\"We have full confidence in the Lebanese armed forces' ability to ensure security,\" Bouziane added.\nTyre is popular with vacationing UN peacekeepers, who are deployed in the zone near the border with Israel to monitor the cease-fire that ended the summer 2006 war with Israel.\nLater in the day, a number of military and security figures inspected the area after army and ISF troops combed the region stretching between Tyre's rest house and nature reserve. The army also conducted patrols and put up checkpoints at the northern and southern entrances to the city.\nLebanon has witnessed a string of bombings in and around Beirut since fighting erupted between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in North Lebanon on May 20.\nA bomb exploded Monday beside an empty bus parked in the northeastern Beirut suburb of Sad al-Bouchrieh, wounding 13 people. - With agencies\nNew Ron\n06-07-2007, 04:35 PM\nNasrallah is afraid, because Nasrallah is a coward! Sending others to do his dirty work! Like that guy in Iraq, Moqtada Sadr! Actually all Terrorists behave the same way, trick thier people into hurting others!\nPaparock\nLebanese Army advances on Fatah al-Islam positions, killing 16\nBy Hani M. Bathish\nDaily Star staff\nSaturday, June 09, 2007\nBEIRUT: The Lebanese Army continued advancing against Fatah al-Islam positions in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Friday, taking over buildings used by Fatah al-Islam snipers and tightening the army's grip on what remains of the militant group's fighters amid heavy and persistent bombardment.\nFierce battles erupted around the camp's Samed center, the Cooperative building and UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools, where the remnants of Fatah al-Islam fighters are holed up. Thick plumes of smoke were seen billowing from these positions as fires engulfed buildings around the area. While the army reported no casualties, an estimated 16 Fatah al-Islam fighters are believed to have fallen on Friday, six of them at the Mhammara front, said a report by the National News Agency.\nThe army briefly stopped bombardment at about noon to allow camp residents to go to Friday prayers. The reduction in the intensity of the bombardment allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in conjunction with the Palestinian Red Crescent, to ferry out 85 camp residents, mostly women, children, the elderly and the infirm.\nVirginia De LaGuardia, an ICRC spokeswoman, told The Daily Star Friday evening seven ambulances managed to enter the camp to evacuate civilians. In addition, humanitarian-aid deliveries were made for the remaining civilians inside the camp.\n\"Today we managed to get in 1,200 liters of water, 1.9 metric tons of canned tuna and 1.6 metric tons of meals-ready-to-eat,\" De LaGuardia said. \"We enter the camp whenever we can. It's always very difficult - there is a lot of rubble and debris, as well as unexploded ordnance. That is why we send ambulances [and] not trucks - because it's difficult to maneuver.\"\nTanks and heavy artillery opened an intensive barrage on militant positions at about 9 a.m. Friday morning, responding to machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade fire from inside the camp targeting army positions in Khan al-Abde to the north of the camp. Artillery fire also targeted militant positions at the northern bank of the Bared River, close to the main road at the center of the camp.\nA senior army source said on condition of anonymity that the army was advancing \"extremely slowly\" and clearing rigged buildings, but troops have not yet penetrated into the heart of the camp and remain on the outskirts. \"We are not storming the camp - we are going building by building.\" Later in the day the southern entrance to the camp also came under fire, as militants tried to infiltrate the area. A mortar round from the camp also landed in the Mhammara heights to the east of the camp.\nMeanwhile, mediation efforts continued as Fathi Yakan, who heads the group of Sunni clerics and politicians known as the Islamic Action Front, met with Palestinian clerics Friday evening and will meet Saturday with Palestinian factions to try to mediate a peaceful end to the clashes.\nThe Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported that Yakan's four-point initiative to bring an end to the fighting includes \"resolving the Fatah al-Islam phenomenon, handing over suspects in the slaying of army soldiers, deporting the remaining Fatah al-Islam members to countries that accept them and establishing a security force in Nahr al-Bared similar to that set up in Ain al-Hilweh.\" The plan has not been conveyed to Fatah al-Islam, but clerics are expected to meet the militants in the coming days.\nCamp resident Wissam Badran told Reuters by telephone Friday from inside Nahr al-Bared that a shell hit a house in which 10 civilians were taking shelter. Badran said he rescued a woman, a man and two children from under the rubble. \"They had lost consciousness. We thought they were dead, but, thank God, they are alive,\" he said. The six others in the building sustained minor injuries.\nIn a statement issued Friday, the army said it is steadily taking control of militant positions in and around the camp with the aim of \"ending this deviant phenomenon\" that has been imposed on Lebanon for the purpose of creating instability and insecurity in the country.\nWhile Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction completely backs the Lebanese government's military approach to the standoff in Nahr al-Bared, Palestinian Premier Ismail Haniyya called on Lebanon Friday to agree to a negotiated end to the siege.\n\"The solution to the Nahr al-Bared problem should be political and not military,\" Haniyya said. \"We need to spare our people, who have suffered for over 60 years, a new exodus.\"\nLebanese authorities have said that based on admissions of Fatah al-Islam members in custody, the militants were planning to target UN peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon. On Thursday, Fatah al-Islam spokesman Shahine Shahine, speaking to AFP, promised to widen the scope of the attacks beyond Nahr al-Bared if the army continues its bombardment. Lebanese authorities have demanded that Fatah al-Islam militants in Nahr al-Bared surrender, particularly those blamed for killing 27 soldiers on the first day of the fighting.\nPaparock\n06-13-2007, 04:16 PM\nLebanese lawmaker killed in Beirut blast\nBEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A member of the Lebanese parliament was killed in an explosion Wednesday outside a Beirut military sports club in what hospital sources said was an assassination.\nLawmaker Walid Eido, known as a foe of Syrian involvement in Lebanon, his son, Khalid, and two of his bodyguards were killed, Lebanese media reports said.\nAt least one other person died and 10 were wounded in the explosion in the seaside neighborhood of Manara, according to Lebanese security sources.\nThe impact of the blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings, while bystanders sustained injuries from the shrapnel. CNN's Brent Sadler witnessed wounded people being carried out of one building.\nThe blast happened near a military sports club and a side street that leads to several restaurants. Sadler said two vehicles were engulfed in flames, and the explosion had all the hallmarks of a bombing attack.\nMany of the off-duty soldiers, still wearing their workout clothes, rushed to the scene trying to calm people down. Video footage also showed Lebanese forces trying to control the crowds.\nAs many as six explosions, many in the capital city, have rocked parts of Lebanon over the past month.\nLast week, a large explosion struck Zouk Mosbeh, a predominantly Christian neighborhood north of Beirut, killing one person and wounding four.\nSadler said he felt the blast during an interview with a shopkeeper. They were discussing when the next bomb could strike Beirut.\n\"The Lebanese man I've known for a long, long time said, 'Look, I think one could happen at any moment,' \" Sadler said. \"He said those very words when that explosion really shook his shop.\"\nRascal\n06-13-2007, 10:00 PM\nIt is time for some targeted killing of Hizbullah and Syrian agents.It seems to be all they understand.\nPaparock\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/lebflag2.gif Wednesday June 13, 2007 DAY 25 Nahr Al-Baled\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.b09fbc2a3b1e46c0a21196d55fe9d88b.correction_m ideast_lebanon_explosion_bei113.jpg?x=243&y=345&sig=FqoayLoDNNXc1P9jkBVjGw--\nFILE ** Lebanese lawmaker Walid Eido is seen in Beirut, Lebanon in this June 17, 2006 file photo. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and three others, local media reported. The lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil, File)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.c5edd83400cf4161afc59b1d15aaee7c.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei112.jpg?x=262&y=345&sig=dFuSC0t5bg6f_WEJl2QpQg--\nLebanese lawmaker Walid Eido is seen at the Parliament in Beirut, Lebanon in this undated 2007 file photo. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and three others, local media reported. The lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil, File)\nMarch 14 MP Walid Eido assassinated in Beirut bombing\nBy Rym Ghazal and Hani M. Bathish\nDaily Star staff\nThursday, June 14, 2007\nBEIRUT: Anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido was killed on Wednesday - along with his eldest son Khaled and eight other people - when a booby-trapped car tore through the politician's convoy near Beirut's seafront. Residents and passersby in Ras beirut flocked to the now-familiar scene of blazing cars, shattered windows and wounded bystanders. The booby-trapped car was on a side street sandwiched between the Madinat al-Malahi amusement park and the Sporting Club beach resort, where Eido frequently swam and played cards.\n\"Oh my God, not another assassination,\" screamed a woman as she ran to the site, followed by others looking for their children and relatives who had been at the amusement park or strolling on the capital's seafront promenade.\nApart from the 65-year-old chairman of Parliament's Defense Committee and his son, the blast also claimed the lives of two bodyguards and six civilians, security sources said.\nPrime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced the attack and declared Thursday a national day of mourning. All official government offices will be closed, along with private and public schools and universities.\n\"All I saw were flames. A car passed - I think it was a Mercedes - then the bomb went off,\" said a dazed Jihad Fahs, manager of Madinat al-Malahi, as he surveyed his badly battered business.\nEleven other people were wounded and rushed to nearby hospitals as several blood-stained bystanders assisted in the rescue operation.\n\"We have to unite and help each other before this country completely rips apart,\" said one of the residents, his hands caked with dried blood after having carried a woman and two young men wounded in a coffee shop near the amusement park.\n\"At first I thought a gas cylinder had exploded,\" said Nour al-Souqi, who works at the park. \"I ran out to check on our staff, and all I saw was fire. Fortunately we were not very busy because of the general situation. It only gets busy at night.\"\nMadinat al-Malahi's cafeteria suffered minor damage in the blast. Khaled Hamed, the brother of the cafeteria's owner, said he was in the back of the cafeteria praying when the bomb detonated.\n\"I was blown back by the pressure of the blast,\" Hamed said. \"When I got up I immediately called 112 and told them a bomb went off. I turned the corner and saw cars on fire.\"\nEido was a member of parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement and one of the most vocal critics of what he repeatedly called \"Syria's relentless interference\" in Lebanon.\n\"It's the same evil fingers and the apparatus of evil that are planting terror in all of Lebanon,\" Hariri said in a televised speech after the bombing.\nHe called on the Arab League to boycott what he called \"a terrorist regime,\" an obvious reference to Syria. \"They do not want Lebanon to rest. They do not want its government to rise or its army to do its job defending order. We will not evacuate Beirut in the face of terror,\" he said.\nHariri said Eido had been \"a powerful voice for freedom, independence and justice for Lebanon,\" adding that his death was a big loss for the Future Movement and added another victim to a list led by Hariri's father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.\nEido was the seventh anti-Syrian figure to be killed since Rafik Hariri and Basil Fuleihan were assassinated in a massive bomb blast in February 2005 - about 1.5 kilometers along the seafront from Wednesday's attack. He was also the third member of the parliamentary majority to be killed, leaving it with 68 MPs in the 128-seat Parliament.\nThe MP was a prominent leader of the mass demonstra-tions that followed Hariri's killing and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005 and the end of three decades of Syrian tutelage over Lebanon.\nIt was the ninth explosion to hit Beirut and its environs since the onset of fighting between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli on May 20 .\nThe last assassination to shake the country was that of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, another prominent anti-Syrian politician and who was gunned down in his car in broad daylight last November.\nSyrian workers from a construction site just a few meters away from the blast were seen being lined up for interrogation by the police, with some of them handcuffed and sitting on the ground.\nSecurity sources said the bomb consisted of about 80 kilograms of TNT and was planted in a car parked near the exit from the resort.\nThe site of the blast is just a couple of hundred meters from a military beach club where President Emile Lahoud regularly swims and which is heavily guarded by the army.\nEido was formerly a member of the Murabitoun, a Sunni militia that was active during Lebanon's 1975-1990 Civil War. A retired judge, he was killed just three days after UN Security Council Resolution 1757 came into effect, mandating the establishment of a hybrid Lebanese-international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination and other similar attacks.\nIn his speech, Siniora asked that the United Nations add Eido's slaying to the list and provide technical assistance for the investigation. He also requested that the Arab League convene an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the complex crisis in Lebanon.\nSpeaker Nabih Berri, Reform and Change parliamentary bloc leader MP Michel Aoun, Hizbullah and Lahoud issued statements late Wednesday decrying the crime.\n\"No one, not individuals or organizations, will be able to turn Lebanon through terrorism and organized crime into a field for chaos subversion and wars,\" the speaker declared. \"No one will be able to shatter this small country big with its martyrs.\"\nAoun expressed outrage at the killing of a \"representative of the people,\" expressing hope that the security forces would apprehend the perpetrators.\n\"What is most important is to uncover the side behind these repeated crimes and bring them to trial,\" the former army commander said. \"Denouncing these crimes is no longer enough while people fall.\"\nLahoud noted that the attack coincided with apparent progress in initiatives and contacts aimed at solving the ongoing power struggle between the government and the opposition, which he said makes it necessary for all Lebanese to unite in order to foil the plans of \"the enemies of Lebanon\" to further undermine security and stability in the country.\n\"If we have failed so far to meet, maybe now the sadness that has befallen Lebanon once again will bring the leaders together to make a national stand to save Lebanon and preserve its unity and protect its from dangers that threaten all of us,\" Lahoud said.\nAs has been the case following previous assassinations, pro-government politicians pointed accusatory fingers at the government of Syria.\nWednesday's attack was part of a campaign being carried out by Damascus to change the balance of power in the Lebanese Parliament, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said.\n\"It is the same serial killer who wants to liquidate the parliamentary majority; it is a physical liquidation by the Syrian regime,\" he said.\nAnother member of the anti-Syrian camp, former President Amin Gemayel, described Eido's assassination as having been \"part of the criminal attacks that have targeted leaders and personalities of the 'Cedar Revolution'\" that ended Syrian domination in Lebanon.\n\"This crime will not deter us ... and what happens today highlights the importance of the international tribunal,\" said Gemayel, father of the industry minister slain in November.\nCondemnations also poured in from outside the country, with the US and French government leading the chorus.\n\"The United States deplores this latest attack in Beirut that led to the death of a respected member of Parliament, Walid Eido, and his son,\" White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.\nFrench Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also deplored the killing.\n\"I condemn with the greatest severity this odious and cowardly crime. Those responsible must be caught and punished,\" he said. \"France and the whole international community stand side-by-side with Lebanon against these repeated attempts at destabilization. More than ever it is time for Lebanese of all confessions to come together and resume political dialogue.\"\nThe rotating presidency of the European Union, currently held by Germany, also voiced outrage at the latest assassination to rattle Beirut.\n\"The presidency condemns in the strongest possible terms this attack, a new attempt to destabilize Lebanon,\" the EU presidency said in a statement released through the German Foreign Ministry.\n\"This is unacceptable and will not succeed,\" the statement added. - With agencies\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.9d6617d7581f40e198002182ee007420.aptopix_mide ast_lebanon_explosion_xhm103.jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=EfZbqErF1w6oUYamtTJkdg--\nA Lebanese soldier gestures in front of burned out cars after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.33d539acb55e46f19e56c4e1ffc0c4f4.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei115.jpg?x=380&y=248&sig=Qs1NTdZvxVBfwNGC15XiCQ--\nCivil defense workers cover bodies in a burnt car after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.637d273d7da44e8db7aabb0bb6e02a5c.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm115.jpg?x=380&y=242&sig=qbvhd2KImMnlXHXVyc_2Qg--\nA Lebanese soldier gestures in front of burned out cars after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.54c7db17b9ad43a199f02583328dfd07.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm114.jpg?x=227&y=345&sig=4onLY38om.QmqOOVyr_kig--\nA Lebanese army officer, inspects the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.4357b37abbd042b78d83a20d40ccef98.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm118.jpg?x=380&y=261&sig=Txu7gnqF0HK6CutNPbWZrQ--\nLebanese civilians, look through a damaged building at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.3f45cb9324e64fa4b761c3258ccce21b.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm112.jpg?x=380&y=264&sig=5jnB1Hs91mpMMqg8c3BbSg--\nLebanese civil defense workers, stand next to a covered dead body in front of a damaged building at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\n[http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.dd522d834baa4a388a522fd3d8cc6cbe.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm113.jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=Sgh0T7wHz8tuBbrqAwP.MQ--\nA Lebanese civil defense worker, covers a dead body at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.7d72ba7188b3485b97beb54587e56a38.mideast_leba non_explosion_xhm111.jpg?x=380&y=257&sig=Q4C2xJOAdWfhdnjM2w_ulw--\nLebanese prosecutor Said Mirza, center fourth from left, arrives to check a dead body which lies on the ground at the scene where a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r1403734385.jpg?x=380&y=246&sig=0m.IG5JNjC580DYFTZ9ZNw--\nA Lebanese civil defence personnel rests next to an unidentified body near the site of an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido was killed with at least seven other people on Wednesday by a blast on Beirut's seafront, security sources said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r1554513101.jpg?x=380&y=293&sig=lObo.NIi4t14Xq2nNof1.w--\nLebanese policemen and officials inspect an unidentified body near the site of an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. A blast in Beirut on Wednesday killed anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, one of his sons and two other people who were with him , security sources said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070613/i/r2061318514.jpg?x=380&y=220&sig=3TH7fcfSQ88vv1PE_Q5WCw--\nLebanese plain clothes policemen inspect the remains of a car after an explosion in Beirut June 13, 2007. A blast in Beirut on Wednesday killed anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, one of his sons and two other people who were with him, security sources said. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen (LEBANON)\nhttp://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070613/capt.b9ef142789444cfbaf93f9a6fb5291c4.mideast_leba non_explosion_bei111.jpg?x=380&y=262&sig=UN7lwWTw3k8uFC6h0rkCrA--\nCivil defense workers and police check the scene after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in Manara, which is in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut, Lebanon Wednesday, June 13, 2007. An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Damascus to be killed in two years in this conflict-ridden country. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)\nNew Ron\n06-14-2007, 03:32 PM\nSyria (and its friends) just does not seem to want to stop its intimidation of Lebanons Future movement ! BTW So everyone knows Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are all Shi ite muslim, simple explanation to why they are such allys ! However recent information has emerged that Iran is providing weapons to Al Qaeda a sunni muslim group,( and sworn enemy of the Shi ite muslims) in order to fight the U.S. in Iraq ! So who can say now, that it is impossible that they are doing the same with Fatah al islam (sunni muslim group with ties to Al Qaeda!) in Lebanon ? Something to ponder about, someday we will know the truth !\nPaparock\nHezbollah Kidnaps Lebanese Policemen (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/15/hezbollah-kidnapps-lebanese-policemen/) | June 15th, 2007 http://beirutspring.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/print/images/printer_famfamfam.gif (http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/06/15/hezbollah-kidnapps-lebanese-policemen/print/)\nhttp://beirutspring.com/beirutspring-images/headers/32.gif\nIs the Party of God testing the waters for a Hamas-style takeover?\nHere’s this curious news I just read on Naharnet (http://www.naharnet.com/):Hizbullah gunmen kidnapped three policemen in south Beirut, stripped them of their weapons, interrogated them and then set them free. The LF site (http://www.lebanese-forces.com/) has more details:\nاوقف مسلحون من حزب الله دورية من قوى الامن الداخلي قوامها ثلاثة عناصر بحجة دخولها الى المربع الامني في بئر العبد واقتادوها الى احد مراكز حزب الله الامنية حيث تم التحقيق معها لمدة ساعة . ولم يتم اطلاقها الا بعد تدخلات سياسية رفيعة المست\nThe question remains: Under which authority Hezbollah thinks it can arrest and interrogate Lebanese men in uniform?\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/lebflag2.gif Friday June 15, 2007\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/fleche-red.gif Clashes renewed on Friday between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam fighters after militants sniper-fired on the troops from buildings in the center of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, LBCI TV reported.\nhttp://web.naharnet.com/images/fleche-red.gif Security officials also said that at least four soldiers were killed and six others wounded in fighting Friday.\nJune 15, 2007\nSyro-Iranian massacre of Lebanese Politicians\nBy Walid Phares\nWith the assassination of Lebanese MP Jebran Tueni in December 2006, months after the murder of political leaders George Hawi and Samir Qassir during the summer, the Syro-Iranian terror war room had opened a bloody hunt against the democratically elected Lebanese Parliament. After the withdrawal of regular Syrian forces from Lebanon in April 2005, Bashar Assad and his allies in Tehran designed a counter offensive (which we described then and later) aiming at crumbling the Cedars Revolution. One of the main components of this strategy was (and remain) to use all intelligence and security assets of Syria and Iran in Lebanon in order to “reduce” the number of deputies who form the anti-Syrian majority in the Parliament. As simple as that: assassinate as many members as needed to flip the quantitative majority in the Legislative Assembly. And when that is done, the Seniora Government collapses and a Hezbollah-led cabinet forms. In addition, if the Terror war kills about 8 legislators, the remnant of the Parliament can elect a new President of the Republic who will move the country under the tutelage of the Assad regime.\nAs incredibly barbaric as it seems in the West, the genocide of the legislators in Lebanon at the hands of the Syrian regime and its allies is very “normal” by Baathist (and certainly by Jihadist) political culture. During the 1980s, Saddam Hussein executed a large segment of his own Party’s national assembly to maintain his regime intact. In the same decade, Hafez Assad eliminated systematically his political adversaries both inside Syria and across Syrian occupied Lebanon to secure his control over the two “sister” countries. So for Bashar to order the assassination of his opponents in Lebanon as of the fall of 2004 to perpetuate his domination of the little Baathist “empire” is not a stunning development: it is the standing procedure in Damascus since 1970.\nAnd to “achieve” these goals, the junta in Syria has a plethora of tools and assets left in Lebanon. First, the vast Syrian intelligence networks still deeply rooted in the small country; second, the powerful Iranian-financed Hezbollah with its lethal security apparatus; third, the Syrian-controlled groups within the Palestinian camps from various ideological backgrounds including Baathists, Marxists, or even Islamist such as Fatah al Islam; fourth the pro-Syrian and Hezbollah sympathizers “inside” the Lebanese Army as well as the units and security services still under the control of General Emile Lahoud; fifth, the client militias and organizations remote-controlled by Syrian intelligence such as the Syrian National-Social Party; and sixth, operatives inserted within political groups gravitating around Damascus such as those of Sleiman Frangieh, Michel Aoun and Talal Arslan. In short, the Syro-Iranian axis has a wide array of security and intelligence assets from which it can select the most appropriate perpetrators for each “take down.” The Assad regime has its “own” Sunni operatives to kill Sunnis, Christians to murder Christians and Druze to eliminate Druze and has the full resources of Hezbollah terror to obstruct the Government of Lebanon and ultimately crumble it.\nThe “reduction” –both physical and political- of the Lebanese Parliamentary majority began as soon as the assembly was elected in the spring of 2005. The Lebanese opposition to Assad and Hezbollah got originally 72 seats out of the 128 members, a comfortable majority to resume the “liberation” of the country from occupation and Terrorism. In December of 2006 a car bomb kills MP Jebran Tueni bringing the majority to 71. Though he is quickly replaced by his father Ghassan, the latter’s old age and unwillingness to pursue the same anti-Terrorist activism is a negative in the big battle. In January 2006 a majority-MP Edmond Naim, dies of old age. The anti-Cedars revolution pressure brings in Pierre Daccache, “neutral” in principle, but essentially close to now Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun. Since, the majority has 71 seats. In December of 2006, majority-MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated by Syrian operatives. The number of dedicated MPs falls to 70. Few weeks ago, Syrian threats compel the Alawi MP from the north to quit the majority, bringing the number to 69. Today’s assassination of Sunni Walid Eido, a fierce opponent to the Syrian regime brings the number of MPs to 68. Four more assassinations and the Parliamentary majority in Lebanon would collapse, bringing back Ahmedinijad and Assad’s Terror power to the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean.\nWhat can be done to stop the legislators’ massacre in Lebanon and its dramatic consequences?\nThe UN Security Council, under resolutions 1559 and 1701 should intervene massively by ordering and overseeing the following steps:\na) Put all remaining 68 MPs under direct international protection. A special international security force should be dispatched to Lebanon, gather the endangered legislators in one or several protected locations and escort them later to perform their constitutional duties.\nb) Ask the Lebanese Government of Mr Seniora to organize the appropriate legislative elections in the districts of Matn and Beirut to replace the assassinated MPs Gemayel and Eido. Dispatch UN observers to oversee these elections.\nc) Ask the Lebanese Parliament to elect a new President during the constitutional period beginning in August and escort the 68 endangered MPs (plus the two newly elected ones) to the location of the Presidential elections and provide security during the voting process.\nBy doing so, the UNSC would be implementing its own resolutions, fulfilling the democratic process in Lebanon and fighting back against Terrorism with the power of the people of Lebanon. For when a new democratically elected President is elected in Lebanon, the road –still very difficult and dangerous- to democracy will be paved.\nDr Walid Phares is the Director of Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, a visiting scholar at the European Foundation for Democracy and the author of the War of Ideas. Dr Phares was one of the architects of UNSCR 1559.\nPaparock\n06-19-2007, 03:22 PM\nThe Lebanese media is filled with news about the Army�s �upcoming victory� against Fateh Al Islam. Was that just a face-saving cover for a pragmatic deal that would end up deporting the fighters and giving back control to the Palestinian factions?\nhttp://www.annahar.com/media/images/Tue_pix/main/p01-01-23036.jpg\nTo many of us Army supporters, we can�t help getting all cheesy when we see pictures like the above (from Annahar (http://www.annahar.com/), H/T AKais (http://beirutbeltway.com/)) and read headlines like �Army To declare victory soon�, but are we being duped? Did the Army really �crush� Fateh Al Islam?\nAljazeera�s fly in the ointment: (http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7A2D4827-A0C6-46CF-812E-DFE312EF9915.htm)\nأفادت مراسلة الجزيرة في لبنان أن مبادرة رابطة علماء فلسطين لإنهاء الاشتباكات في نهر البارد وصلت إلى مراحلها النهائية، ورجحت أن يتم إعلان وقف لإطلاق النار بالمخيم مساء غد.\nوقالت المراسلة إن الاتفاق يتضمن وقفا لإطلاق النار من جانب تنظيم فتح الإسلام وموافقته على ترحيل مقاتليه العرب إلى خارج لبنان وتسليم سلاحه إلى فصيل فلسطيني إسلامي يعتقد أنه الجهاد الإسلامي.\nوأشارت إلى أن الاتفاق يتضمن نشر قوة أمنية فلسطينية مشتركة في المخيم القديم والسماح بدخول خبراء لتفكيك الألغام وإزالتها من المخيم تمهيدا لإعادة النازحين.\nTranslation mine:\nAljazeera�s Lebanon correspondent reported that the initiative of the Palestine�s Association Of Scholars to end the fightings in Naher Al Bared reached its final stages, and it estimates reaching a ceasefire by tomorrow evening.\nThe Correspondent said that the agreement involves a ceasefire from Fateh Al Islam�s part and its agreeing to deport its Arab fighters outside of Lebanon and handing in their weapons to a Palestinian faction thought to be the Islamic Jihad.\nShe pointed out that the agreement also includes the deployment of Palestinian security forces in the old camp and allowing explosives experts to defuse the bombs in the camps before the refugees can come back.\nAlthough this seems short of a complete victory, it is not as bad is it sounds on Aljazeera, which after all, has its strong biases. For example, Instead of writing �handing all the Lebanese terrorist members to the Army�, Aljazeera chose to write �deporting Arab fighters outside of Lebanon.�\nThe Army has still not officially approved the initiative, but at the same time, it didn�t post its usually prompt strong rebuttal of �any solution that does not involve the complete surrender of the militants� on its website.\nAnother question begs to be asked: Will the deported fighters be hosted by countries like Qatar, or will they end up in their country of origin�s legal systems?\nhttp://www.beirutspring.com/\n06-20-2007, 07:42 PM\nhttp://cedarsrevolutionnews.googlepages.com/Wednesday June 20, 2007\nA Lebanese army officer said Wednesday the military was now in full control of the new part of Nahr al-Bared.\n\"All of the buildings in the new part of Nahr al-Bared where the terrorists were dug in have been taken, and one could say fighting has stopped in this area,\" an army officer told AFP.\nLebanese troops earlier on Wednesday were clearing out the remaining pockets of resistance in Nahr al-Bared, Future TV said.\nIt said the army’s artillery continued shelling the southern front, cornering diehard militants in what has been known as the \"old camp,\" a small segment on the southern tip of Nahr al-Bared.\nPaparock\n06-21-2007, 08:28 PM\nhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6228766.stm\nLebanon says a military operation against Islamist fighters based in a Palestinian refugee camp has ended after a month-long battle.\nDefence Minister Elias Murr said all of Fatah al-Islam's positions in the Nahr al-Bared camp had been destroyed.\nThe leaders of the group were now on the run, Mr Murr said.\nMore than 150 people have died at the camp, including at least 20 civilians, in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.\n\"I can notify the Lebanese that the military operation is over,\" Mr Murr told Lebanese TV, saying the army had \"crushed those terrorists\".\n\"What is happening now is some clean-up that the army's heroes are carrying out, and dismantling some mines.\"\nTroops would continue to pursue the leaders and remaining fighter of Fatah al-Islam, Mr Murr said, suggesting that some clashes could still flare up inside the refugee camp.\nNahr al-Bared, near the northern city of Tripoli, was home to 30,000 people before the fighting broke out.\nLarge parts of the camp have been left in ruins after a bitter struggle that began in late May.\nPaparock"
] |
A Lucy Stoner is a married woman who retains …….what? | Her Maiden Surname | [
"Lucy_Stone_League.txt\nLucy Stone League\nThe Lucy Stone League is a women’s rights organization founded in 1921. Its motto is \"A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should hers. My name is my identity and must not be lost.\"http://lucystoneleague.org The League's official website, which uses retro-style graphics. Navigation is by clicking as usual. It was the first group to fight for women to be allowed to keep their maiden name after marriage—and to use it legally.Stannard 1977, the entire Ch. 15 \"The Lucy Stone League\" \n pp. 188-218.\n\nIt was among the first feminist groups to arise from the suffrage movement and gained attention for seeking and preserving women's own-name rights, such as the particular ones which follow in this article.\n\nThe group took its name from Lucy Stone (1818–1893), the first married woman in the United States to carry her birth name through life (she married in 1855). The New York Times called the group the \"Maiden Namers.\" They held their first meetings, debates, and functions at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, including the founding meeting on 17 May 1921. \n\nThe founder of the Lucy Stone League was Ruth Hale, a New York City journalist and critic. The wife of New York World columnist Heywood Broun, Ruth Hale challenged in federal court any government edict that would not recognize a married woman (such as herself) by the name she chose to use. The only one in her household called Mrs. Heywood Broun was the cat. \n\nThe League became so well known that a new term, Lucy Stoner, came into common use, meaning anyone who advocates that a wife be allowed to keep and use her own name. This term was eventually included in dictionaries. \n\nMembers\n\nThe group was open to women and men. Some early members were, in alphabetical order: \n* Franklin Pierce Adams, columnist\n* Heywood Broun, columnist\n* Janet Flanner, Paris correspondent for The New Yorker\n*Zona Gale, Wisconsin-based author and playwright, first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and political-campaigner for women's rights\n* Jane Grant, New York Times reporter, wife of Harold Ross (founder of The New Yorker), and cofounder of The New Yorker\n* Ruth Hale, journalist and publicist\n* Fannie Hurst, author\n* Beulah Livingstone, silent movie publicist\n* Anita Loos, playwright-author\n* Neysa McMein, illustrator\n* Solita Solano, drama critic, editor, and writer\n\nSome of the members often attended the Algonquin Round Table. Since many League members wrote for a living, they could and did write frequently about the group in New York City newspapers.\n\nThere were many well-known women who were Lucy Stoners and kept their names after marriage but were not known to be League members, such as (listed alphabetically) Isadora Duncan (dancer), Amelia Earhart (aviation celebrity), Margaret Mead (anthropologist), Edna St. Vincent Millay (poet), Georgia O'Keeffe (artist), Frances Perkins (first woman appointed to any U.S. cabinet), and Michael Strange (poet, playwright, actress) – aka Blanche Oelrichs – aka the wife of actor John Barrymore. \n\nFirst historical period\n\nThe founding of the League was presented above, in the introduction.\n\nRuth Hale's first battle (begun in 1920) with the government was to get a passport issued to her by the U.S. State Department in her own name – just as for any man. Victory was attained five years later in 1925, by the League, when the first married woman in the United States to receive a passport in her own name was Doris Fleischman, the wife of Edward L. Bernays. \n\nAn earlier victory for the group came in May 1921 when Hale got a real estate deed issued in her birth name rather than Mrs. Heywood Broun. When the time came to transfer the title of the Upper West Side apartment building, Hale refused to go on record as Mrs. Heywood Broun; the papers were changed to Ruth Hale.\n\nThe League pioneered and fought for other married women's rights, in the 1920s U.S., to do each of the following in their own names: to register at a hotel, to have bank accounts and sign checks, to have a telephone account or a store account or an insurance policy or a library card, to register (to vote) and to vote, to get a copyright, and to receive paychecks. These rights may be taken for granted today, but the legal right of a married woman in the U.S. to use her own name (rather than her husband's name) was denied by many officials and courts until a 9 Oct 1972 court decision, as documented in the 1977 book Mrs Man, by Una Stannard. \n\nIn its first incarnation the League was short lived. The group's lawyer, Rose Bres, died in 1927; by 1931 Ruth Hale, who believed that a woman is \"through after forty\", became depressed and then died in 1934. By the early 1930s the Lucy Stone League was inactive. \n\nSecond historical period\n\nThe League was restarted in 1950 by Jane Grant, plus twenty two former members, its first meeting being on 22 Mar 1950 in New York City. Grant promptly won the Census Bureau's agreement that a married woman could use her maiden surname as her official or real name in the census. (The New York Times, 10 Apr 1950). \n\nBut the \"legal stone wall\" that U.S. women ran into with many officials and even in the courts persisted until the U.S. Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment on 22 Mar 1972 (never ratified by the U.S.). This 22 Mar 1972 event, plus the researching of and documentation of past legal cases by women lawyers, led to the above-mentioned 9 Oct 1972 court decision. \n\nSo in the 1950s and 1960s period, prior to 1972, the \"new\" League had to change its approach – it widened its focus to include all discrimination against women in the U.S.; the League became a proto – National Organization for Women (NOW). \n\nThe reborn League operated as a non-political and non-partisan center of research and information on the status of women. It sponsored college scholarships and set up feminist libraries in high schools. It worked for gender equality in legal, economic, educational, and social relationships. http://lucystoneleague.org/history.html The League's official history. To access it from the League's homepage: First click on the tab \"Who are we?\", and then on its button \"LSL History\".\n\nAs of the early 1990s the Lucy Stone League \"still gave nursing scholarships and hosted a combination annual meeting and strawberry festival\" – though the gender equality issues listed in the previous paragraph had been largely taken over by NOW (since 1966) and other women's groups. \n\nThird historical period\n\nA modern version of the League was started in 1997, as follows: By 1997 the activities of the League had ceased and a report was published that \"Alas, the League is no more.\" When he read this report, Morrison Bonpasse, a past president of the League, was \"inspired\" to restart the League, at the same time shifting the focus back to name equality – which was/is not addressed by NOW. This restart eventually became \"the re-launching of the website (lucystoneleague.org) under the direction of a new board and its current president Ms. Cristina Lucia Stasia\".\n\nIn addition, there is a group of women in New York who are still active under the name \"Lucy Stone League\" and this group has been a dues paying affiliate of the International Alliance of Women, for decades. It hosted the IAW Triennial Congress in New York City in 1999."
] | trivia_qa | en | true | [
"2293"
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"Sense_and_Sensibility.txt\nSense and Sensibility\nSense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, and was her first published work when it appeared in 1811 under the pseudonym \"A Lady\". A work of romantic fiction, and a comedy of manners, Sense and Sensibility is set in southwest England, London and Kent between 1792 and 1797, and portrays the life and loves of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. The novel follows the young women to their new home, a meagre cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience love, romance and heartbreak.\n\nTitle\n\nJane Austen wrote the first draft of the novel in the form of a novel-in-letters (epistolary form) sometime around 1795 when she was about 19 years old, and gave it the title Elinor and Marianne. She later changed the form to a narrative and the title to Sense and Sensibility. \"Sense\" in the book means good judgment or prudence, and \"sensibility\" means sensitivity or emotionality. \"Sense\" is identified with the character of Elinor, while \"sensibility\" is identified with the character of Marianne. By changing the title, Austen added \"philosophical depth\" to what began as a sketch of two characters. The title of the book, and that of her next published novel, Pride and Prejudice (1813), may be suggestive of political conflicts of the 1790s. \n\nSource texts\n\nAusten also drew inspiration for Sense and Sensibility from other novels of the 1790s that treated similar themes, including Adam Stevenson's \"Life and Love\" (1785) which he had written about himself and a relationship that wasn't meant to be, Also Jane West's, A Gossip's Story (1796), which features two sisters, one full of rational sense and the other of romantic, emotive sensibility. West’s romantic sister-heroine shares a first name with Austen’s: Marianne. There are further textual similarities, described in a modern edition of West's novel. \n\nCritical views \n\nAusten biographer Claire Tomalin argues that Sense and Sensibility has a \"wobble in its approach\", which developed because Austen, in the course of writing the novel, gradually became less certain about whether sense or sensibility should triumph. Austen characterises Marianne as a sweet lady with attractive qualities: intelligence, musical talent, frankness, and the capacity to love deeply. She also acknowledges that Willoughby, with all his faults, continues to love and, in some measure, appreciate Marianne. For these reasons, some readers find Marianne's ultimate marriage to Colonel Brandon an unsatisfactory ending. \n\nOther interpretations, however, have argued that Austen's intention was not to debate the superior value of either sense or sensibility in good judgment, but rather to demonstrate that both qualities are equally important, but must be in balance.\n\nPlot summary \n\nWhen Mr. Henry Dashwood dies, his house, Norland Park, passes directly to his only son John, the child of his first wife. His second wife, Mrs. Dashwood, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, inherit only a small income. On his deathbed, Mr. Dashwood extracts a promise from his son, that he will take care of his half-sisters; however, John's selfish and greedy wife, Fanny, soon persuades him to renege on the promise. John and Fanny immediately move in as the new owners of Norland, while the Dashwood women are treated as unwelcome guests. Mrs. Dashwood begins looking for somewhere else to live.\n\nIn the meantime, Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars, a pleasant, unassuming, intelligent but reserved young man, visits Norland and soon forms an attachment with Elinor. Fanny disapproves of the match and offends Mrs. Dashwood with the implication that Elinor is motivated by money. Mrs. Dashwood indignantly speeds her search for a new home.\n\nMrs. Dashwood moves her family to Barton Cottage in Devonshire, near the home of her cousin, Sir John Middleton. Their new home is modest; however, they are warmly received by Sir John, and welcomed into local society—meeting his wife, Lady Middleton, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings and his friend, the grave, quiet and gentlemanly Colonel Brandon. It soon becomes apparent that Colonel Brandon is attracted to Marianne, and Mrs. Jennings teases them about it. Marianne is not pleased as she considers the thirty-five-year-old Colonel Brandon an old bachelor, incapable of falling in love or inspiring love in anyone else.\n\nMarianne, out for a walk, gets caught in the rain, slips and sprains her ankle. The dashing, handsome John Willoughby sees the accident and assists her. Marianne quickly comes to admire his good looks and outspoken views on poetry, music, art and love. Mr. Willoughby's attentions are so overt that Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood begin to suspect that the couple are secretly engaged. Elinor cautions Marianne against her unguarded conduct, but Marianne refuses to check her emotions. Unexpectedly, Mr. Willoughby informs the Dashwoods that his aunt is sending him to London on business, indefinitely. Marianne is distraught and abandons herself to her sorrow.\n\nEdward Ferrars then pays a short visit to Barton Cottage but seems unhappy. Elinor fears that he no longer has feelings for her, but feels compelled, by a sense of duty, to protect her family from knowing her heartache. Soon after Edward departs, Anne and Lucy Steele, the vulgar and uneducated cousins of Lady Middleton, come to stay at Barton Park. Lucy informs Elinor of her secret four-year engagement to Edward Ferrars, displaying proofs. Elinor comes to understand Edward's recent behaviour towards her and acquits him of blame. She pities Edward for being held to a loveless engagement by his sense of honour.\n\nAs winter approaches, Elinor and Marianne accompany Mrs. Jennings to London. On arriving, Marianne rashly writes a series of personal letters to Willoughby, which go unanswered. When they finally meet, Mr. Willoughby greets Marianne reluctantly and coldly, to her extreme distress. Soon Marianne receives a curt letter enclosing their former correspondence and love tokens, including a lock of her hair and informing her of his engagement to a young lady with a large fortune. Marianne is devastated, and admits to Elinor that she and Willoughby were never engaged, but she loved him and he led her to believe he loved her. In sympathy for Marianne, and to illuminate Willoughby's true character, Colonel Brandon reveals to Elinor that Willoughby had seduced Brandon's fifteen-year-old ward, Miss Williams, then abandoned her when she became pregnant. Brandon had been in love with her mother, who had been his father's ward and who had been forced into an unhappy marriage to his brother; Marianne strongly reminds him of her.\n\nIn the meantime, the Steele sisters have come to London as guests of John and Fanny Dashwood. Lucy sees her invitation to the Dashwoods' as a personal compliment, rather than what it is, a slight to Elinor. In the false confidence of their popularity, Anne Steele betrays Lucy's secret. As a result, the Misses Steele are turned out of the house, and Edward is ordered to break off the engagement on pain of disinheritance. Edward, refuses to comply and is immediately disinherited in favour of his brother, gaining widespread respect for his conduct, and sympathy from Elinor and Marianne who understand how much he has sacrificed. Colonel Brandon shows his admiration by offering Edward the living of Delaford parsonage.\n\nMrs. Jennings takes Elinor and Marianne to the country to visit her second daughter. In her misery over Willoughby's marriage, Marianne becomes dangerously ill. Willoughby arrives to repent and reveals to Elinor that his love for Marianne was genuine. When his aunt learned of his behaviour towards Miss Williams and disinherited him, he felt he had to marry for money rather than love. But he elicits Elinor's pity because his choice has made him unhappy.\n\nWhen Marianne recovers, Elinor tells her of Willoughby's visit. Marianne comes to see that she could never have been happy with Willoughby's immoral and expansive nature. She comes to value Elinor's conduct in a similar situation and resolves to model herself after Elinor's courage and good sense.\n\nOn learning that Lucy has married 'Mr. Ferrars', Elinor grieves, until Edward arrives and reveals that, after his disinheritance, Lucy jilted him in favour of his now wealthy brother, Robert. Edward and Elinor soon marry, and later Marianne marries Colonel Brandon, having gradually come to love him.\n\nCharacters\n\nMain characters\n\n*Elinor Dashwood — the sensible and reserved eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is 19 years old at the beginning of the book. She becomes attached to Edward Ferrars, the brother-in-law of her elder half-brother, John. Always feeling a keen sense of responsibility to her family and friends, she places their welfare and interests above her own, and suppresses her own strong emotions in a way that leads others to think she is indifferent or cold-hearted.\n*Marianne Dashwood — the romantically inclined and eagerly expressive second daughter of Mr and Mrs Henry Dashwood. She is 16 years old at the beginning of the book. She is the object of the attentions of Colonel Brandon and Mr. Willoughby. She is attracted to young, handsome, romantically spirited Willoughby and does not think much of the older, more reserved Colonel Brandon. Marianne undergoes the most development within the book, learning her sensibilities have been selfish. She decides her conduct should be more like that of her elder sister, Elinor.\n*Edward Ferrars — the elder of Fanny Dashwood's two brothers. He forms an attachment to Elinor Dashwood. Years before meeting the Dashwoods, Ferrars proposed to Lucy Steele, the niece of his tutor. The engagement has been kept secret owing to the expectation that Ferrars' family would object to his marrying Miss Steele. He is disowned by his mother on discovery of the engagement after refusing to give it up.\n*John Willoughby — a philandering nephew of a neighbour of the Middletons, a dashing figure who charms Marianne and shares her artistic and cultural sensibilities. It is generally presumed by many of their mutual acquaintances that he is engaged to marry Marianne (partly due to her own overly familiar actions, i.e., addressing personal letters directly to him).\n*Colonel Brandon — a close friend of Sir John Middleton. He is 35 years old at the beginning of the book. He falls in love with Marianne at first sight, as she reminds him of his father's ward whom he had fallen in love with when he was young. He is prevented from marrying the ward because his father was determined she marry his older brother. He was sent into the military abroad to be away from her, and while gone, the girl suffered numerous misfortunes—partly as a consequence of her unhappy marriage. She finally dies penniless and disgraced, and with a natural (i.e., illegitimate) daughter, who becomes the ward of the Colonel. He is a very honourable friend to the Dashwoods, particularly Elinor, and offers Edward Ferrars a living after Edward is disowned by his mother.\n\nMinor characters\n\n*Henry Dashwood – a wealthy gentleman who dies at the beginning of the story. The terms of his estate — entailment to a male heir — prevent him from leaving anything to his second wife and their children. He asks John, his son by his first wife, to look after (meaning ensure the financial security of) his second wife and their three daughters.\n*Mrs. Dashwood – the second wife of Henry Dashwood, who is left in difficult financial straits by the death of her husband. She is 40 years old at the beginning of the book. Much like her daughter Marianne, she is very emotive and often makes poor decisions based on emotion rather than reason.\n*Margaret Dashwood – the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is thirteen at the beginning of the book. She is also romantic and good-tempered but not expected to be as clever as her sisters when she grows older.\n*John Dashwood – the son of Henry Dashwood by his first wife. He intends to do well by his half-sisters, but he has a keen sense of avarice, and is easily swayed by his wife.\n*Fanny Dashwood – the wife of John Dashwood, and sister to Edward and Robert Ferrars. She is vain, selfish, and snobbish. She spoils her son Harry. She is very harsh to her husband's half-sisters and stepmother, especially since she fears her brother Edward is attached to Elinor.\n*Sir John Middleton – a distant relative of Mrs Dashwood who, after the death of Henry Dashwood, invites her and her three daughters to live in a cottage on his property. Described as a wealthy, sporting man who served in the army with Colonel Brandon, he is very affable and keen to throw frequent parties, picnics, and other social gatherings to bring together the young people of their village. He and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, make a jolly, teasing, and gossipy pair.\n*Lady Middleton – the genteel, but reserved wife of Sir John Middleton, she is quieter than her husband, and is primarily concerned with mothering her four spoiled children.\n*Mrs Jennings – mother to Lady Middleton and Charlotte Palmer. A widow who has married off all her children, she spends most of her time visiting her daughters and their families, especially the Middletons. She and her son-in-law, Sir John Middleton, take an active interest in the romantic affairs of the young people around them and seek to encourage suitable matches, often to the particular chagrin of Elinor and Marianne.\n*Robert Ferrars – the younger brother of Edward Ferrars and Fanny Dashwood, he is most concerned about status, fashion, and his new barouche. He subsequently marries Miss Lucy Steele after Edward is disowned.\n*Mrs. Ferrars – Fanny Dashwood and Edward and Robert Ferrars' mother. A bad-tempered, unsympathetic woman who embodies all the foibles demonstrated in Fanny and Robert's characteristics. She is determined that her sons should marry well.\n*Charlotte Palmer – the daughter of Mrs. Jennings and the younger sister of Lady Middleton, Mrs Palmer is jolly but empty-headed and laughs at inappropriate things, such as her husband's continual rudeness to her and to others.\n*Thomas Palmer – the husband of Charlotte Palmer who is running for a seat in Parliament, but is idle and often rude. He is considerate toward the Dashwood sisters.\n*Lucy Steele – a young, distant relation of Mrs. Jennings, who has for some time been secretly engaged to Edward Ferrars. She assiduously cultivates the friendship with Elinor Dashwood and Mrs John Dashwood. Limited in formal education and financial means, she is nonetheless attractive, clever, manipulative, cunning and scheming.\n*Anne/Nancy Steele – Lucy Steele's elder, socially inept, and less clever sister.\n*Miss Sophia Grey – a wealthy and malicious heiress whom Mr. Willoughby marries to retain his comfortable lifestyle after he is disinherited by his aunt.\n*Lord Morton – the father of Miss Morton.\n*Miss Morton – a wealthy woman whom Mrs. Ferrars wants her eldest son, Edward, and later Robert, to marry.\n*Mr Pratt – an uncle of Lucy Steele and Edward's tutor.\n*Eliza Williams (daughter) – the ward of Col. Brandon, she is about 15 years old and bore an illegitimate child to John Willoughby. She has the same name as her mother.\n*Eliza Williams (mother) – the former love interest of Colonel Brandon. Williams was Brandon's father's ward, and was forced to marry Brandon's older brother. The marriage was an unhappy one, and it is revealed that her daughter was left as Colonel Brandon's ward when he found his lost love dying in a poorhouse.\n*Mrs. Smith – the wealthy aunt of Mr. Willoughby who disowns him for seducing and abandoning the young Eliza Williams, Col. Brandon's ward.\n\nPublication\n\nIn 1811, Thomas Egerton of the Military Library publishing house in London accepted the manuscript for publication in three volumes. Austen paid to have the book published and paid the publisher a commission on sales. The cost of publication was more than a third of Austen's annual household income of £460 (about £15,000 in 2008 currency). She made a profit of £140 (almost £5,000 in 2008 currency) on the first edition, which sold all 750 printed copies by July 1813. A second edition was advertised in October 1813.\n\nAdaptations\n\nThe book has been adapted for film and television a number of times, including a 1981 serial for TV directed by Rodney Bennett; a 1995 movie adapted by Emma Thompson and directed by Ang Lee; a version in Tamil called Kandukondain Kandukondain, released in 2000, starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan; and a 2008 TV series on BBC adapted by Andrew Davies and directed by John Alexander.\n\nSense & Sensibility, the Musical (book and lyrics by Jeffrey Haddow and music by Neal Hampton) received its world premiere by the Denver Center Theatre Company in April 2013 staged by Tony-nominated director Marcia Milgrom Dodge. In 2014, the Utah Shakespeare Festival presented Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan's adaptation of the novel. In 2016, the [http://bedlam.org/ Bedlam theatrical troupe] mounted a well-received minimalist production, adapted by Kate Hamill and directed by Eric Tucker, from a repertory run in 2014. \n\nIn 2013, author Joanna Trollope published her own version of the story, bringing the characters into the present day and providing modern satire.",
"Sense and Sensibility Summary | GradeSaver\nSense and Sensibility study guide contains a ... Elinor and Marianne meet the Middletons ... Representations of Mothers in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility;\nSense and Sensibility Summary | GradeSaver\nSense and Sensibility Summary\nBuy Study Guide\nThe Dashwood family is introduced; Mr. and Mrs. Dashwood and their three daughters live at Norland Park, an estate in Sussex. Unfortunately, Mr. Dashwood's wife and daughters are left with very little when he dies and the estate goes to his son, John Dashwood . John and his wife Fanny (nee Ferrars) have a great deal of money, yet refuse to help his half-sisters and their mother.\nElinor, one of the Dashwood girls, is entirely sensible and prudent; her sister, Marianne, is very emotional and never moderate. Margaret, the youngest sister, is young and good-natured. Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters stay at Norland for a few months, mostly because of the promising friendship developing between Elinor and Edward Ferrars , Fanny's shy, but very kind, brother. Elinor likes Edward, but is not convinced her feelings are mutual; Fanny is especially displeased by their apparent regard, as Edward's mother wants him to marry very well.\nA relative of Mrs. Dashwood's, Sir John Middleton , offers them a cottage at Barton Park in Devonshire; the family must accept, and are sad at leaving their home and having to separate Edward and Elinor. They find Barton Cottage and the countryside around it charming, and Sir John Middleton a very kind and obliging host. His wife, Lady Middleton , is cold and passionless; still, they accept frequent invitations to dinners and parties at Barton Park.\nThe Dashwoods meet Mrs. Jennings , Sir John's mother-in-law, a merry, somewhat vulgar older woman, and Colonel Brandon , a gentleman and a bachelor. The Colonel is soon taken with Marianne, but Marianne objects to Mrs. Jennings attempts to get them together, and to the \"advanced\" age (35) and serious demeanor of the Colonel.\nMarianne falls and twists her ankle while walking; she is lucky enough to be found and carried home by a dashing man named Willoughby. Marianne and Willoughby have a similar romantic temperament, and Marianne is much pleased to find that Willoughby has a passion for art, poetry, and music. Willoughby and Marianne's attachment develops steadily, though Elinor believes that they should be more restrained in showing their regard publicly.\nOne pleasant day, the Middletons, the Dashwoods, and Willoughby are supposed to go on a picnic with the Colonel, but their plans are ditched when Colonel Brandon is forced to leave because of distressing news. Willoughby becomes an even more attentive guest at the cottage, spending a great deal more time there than Allenham with his aunt. Willoughby openly confesses his affections for Marianne and for all of them, and hopes they will always think of him as fondly as he does of them; this leaves Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor convinced that if Marianne and Willoughby are not engaged, they soon will be.\nOne morning, Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor, and Margaret leave the couple, hoping for a proposal; when they return, they find Marianne crying, and Willoughby saying that he must immediately go to London. Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor are completely unsettled by this hasty departure, and Elinor fears that they might have had a falling-out. Marianne is torn up by Willoughby's departure, and Elinor begins to question whether Willoughby's intentions were honorable. But, whether Willoughby and Marianne are engaged remains a mystery, as Marianne will not speak of it.\nEdward comes to visit them at Barton, and is welcomed very warmly as their guest. It is soon apparent that Edward is unhappy, and doesn't show as much affection for Elinor; when they spot a ring he is wearing, with a lock of hair suspiciously similar to Elinor's, even Elinor is baffled. Edward finally forces himself to leave, still seeming distressed.\nSir John and Mrs. Jennings soon introduce Mrs. Jennings' other daughter, Mrs. Palmer , and her husband to the family. Mrs. Palmer says that people in town believe that Willoughby and Marianne will soon be married, which puzzles Elinor, as she knows of no such arrangements herself. Elinor and Marianne meet the Middletons' new guests, the Miss Steeles, apparently cousins; they find Miss Steele to be nothing remarkable, while Lucy is very pretty but not much better company. However, the Miss Steeles instantly gain Lady Middleton's admiration by paying endless attention to her obnoxious children.\nElinor, unfortunately, becomes the preferred companion of Lucy. Lucy inquires of Mrs. Ferrars , which prompts Elinor to ask about her acquaintance with the Ferrars family; Lucy then reveals that she is secretly engaged to Edward. It turns out that Edward and Lucy knew each other while Edward studied with Lucy's uncle, Mr. Pratt, and have been engaged for some years. Although Elinor is first angry about Edward's secrecy, she soon sees that marrying Lucy will be punishment enough, as she is unpolished, manipulative, and jealous of Edward's high regard for Elinor.\nThe Miss Steeles end up staying at Barton Park for two months. Mrs. Jennings invites Marianne and Elinor to spend the winter with her in London. Marianne is determined to go to see Willoughby, and Elinor decides she must go too, because Marianne needs Elinor's polite guidance. They accept the invitation, and leave in January. Once in town, they find Mrs. Jennings' house comfortable, and their company less than ideal; still, they try their best to enjoy it all.\nMarianne anxiously awaits Willoughby's arrival, while Elinor finds her greatest enjoyment in Colonel Brandon's daily visits. Elinor is much disturbed when Colonel Brandon tells her that the engagement between Marianne and Willoughby is widely known throughout town. At a party, Elinor and Marianne see Willoughby; Marianne approaches him, although he avoids Marianne, and his behavior is insulting.\nMarianne angrily writes Willoughby, and receives a reply in which he denies having loved Marianne, and says he hopes he didn't lead her on. Marianne is deeply grieved at being deceived and dumped so coldly; Elinor feels only anger at Willoughby's unpardonable behavior. Marianne then reveals that she and Willoughby were never engaged, and Elinor observes that Marianne should have been more prudent in her affections. Apparently, Willoughby is to marry the wealthy Lady Grey due to his constant need for money.\nColonel Brandon calls after hearing the news, and offers up his knowledge of Willoughby's character to Elinor. Colonel Brandon was once in love with a ward to his family, Eliza, who became a fallen woman and had an illegitimate daughter. Colonel Brandon placed the daughter, Miss Williams , in care after her mother's death. The Colonel learned on the day of the Delaford picnic that she had become pregnant, and was abandoned by Willoughby. Elinor is shocked, though the Colonel sincerely hopes that this will help Marianne feel better about losing Willoughby, since he was not of solid character.\nThe story convinces Marianne of Willoughby's guilt, though it does not ease her mind. Out of sympathy, Marianne also stops avoiding the Colonel's company and becomes more civil to him. Willoughby is soon married, which Marianne is grieved to hear; then, again unfortunately, the Miss Steeles come to stay with the Middletons.\nJohn and Fanny Dashwood arrive, and are introduced to Mrs. Jennings, and to Sir John and Lady Middleton, deeming them worthy company. John reveals to Elinor that Edward is soon to be married to Miss Morton , an orphan with a great deal of money left to her, as per the plans of his mother. At a dinner party given by John and Fanny for their new acquaintance, Mrs. Ferrars is present, along with the entire Barton party. Mrs. Ferrars turns out to be sallow, unpleasant, and uncivil; she slights Elinor, which hurts Marianne deeply, as she is Edward's mother.\nThe Miss Steeles are invited to stay with John and Fanny. But, Mrs. Jennings soon informs them that Miss Steele told Fanny of Lucy and Edward's engagement, and that the Ferrars family threw the Steele girls out in a rage. Marianne is much grieved to hear of the engagement, and cannot believe that Elinor has also kept her knowledge of it a secret for so long. Edward is to be disinherited if he chooses to marry Lucy; unfortunately, Edward is too honorable to reject Lucy, even if he no longer loves her. Financial obstacles to their marriage remain; he must find a position in the church that pays enough to allow them to marry. Much to Elinor's chagrin, the Colonel, although he barely knows Edward, generously offers the small parish at Delaford to him. Elinor is to convey the offer to Edward, though she regrets that it might help the marriage.\nEdward is surprised at the generous offer, since he hardly knows the Colonel. Edward decides to accept the position; they say goodbye, as Elinor is to leave town soon. Much to Elinor's surprise, Robert Ferrars , Edward's selfish, vain, and rather dim brother, is now to marry Miss Morton; he has also received Edward's inheritance and money, and doesn't care about Edward's grim situation.\nIt is April, and the Dashwood girls, the Palmers, and Mrs. Jennings, and Colonel Brandon set out for Cleveland, the Palmer's estate. Marianne is still feeling grief over Willoughby; she soon becomes ill after her walks in the rain, and gets a serious fever. The Palmers leave with her child; Mrs. Jennings, though, helps Elinor nurse Marianne, and insists that Colonel Brandon stay, since he is anxious about Marianne's health. Colonel Brandon soon sets off to get Mrs. Dashwood from Barton when Marianne's illness worsens. At last, Marianne's state improves, right in time for her mother and the Colonel's arrival; but Willoughby makes an unexpected visit.\nElinor is horrified at seeing him; he has come to inquire after Marianne's health and to explain his past actions. Willoughby says he led Marianne on at first out of vanity; he finally began to love her as well, and would have proposed to her, if not for the money.\nBy saying that he also has no regard for his wife, and still loves Marianne, he attempts to gain Elinor's compassion; Elinor's opinion of him is somewhat improved in being assured of his regard for Marianne. Elinor cannot think him a total blackguard since he has been punished for his mistakes, and tells him so; Willoughby leaves with this assurance, lamenting that Marianne is lost to him forever.\nMrs. Dashwood finally arrives, and Elinor assures her that Marianne is out of danger; both Mrs. Dashwood and the Colonel are relieved. Mrs. Dashwood tells Elinor that the Colonel had confessed his love for Marianne during the journey from Barton; Mrs. Dashwood wishes the Colonel and Marianne to be married. Elinor wishes the Colonel well in securing Marianne's affections, but is more pessimistic regarding Marianne's ability to accept the Colonel after disliking him for so long.\nMarianne makes a quick recovery, thanking Colonel Brandon for his help and acting friendly toward him. Marianne finally seems calm and happy as they leave for Barton, which Elinor believes to signal Marianne's recovery from Willoughby. She is also far more mature, keeping herself busy and refusing to let herself languish in her grief.\nWhen Marianne decides to talk about Willoughby, Elinor takes the opportunity to tell her what Willoughby had said at Cleveland, and Marianne takes this very well. Marianne also laments her selfishness toward Elinor, and her lack of civility toward most of their acquaintance. Marianne finally says that she could not have been happy with Willoughby, after hearing of his cruelty toward Miss Williams, and no longer regrets him.\nThe family is stunned when one of their servants returns with news that Edward is married to Lucy, as he just saw them in the village. Elinor knows now that Edward is lost to her forever. Mrs. Dashwood sees how upset Elinor is, and realizes that Elinor felt more for Edward than she ever revealed. One afternoon, Elinor is convinced that the Colonel has arrived at the cottage, but is surprised to find that it is Edward instead. Their meeting is awkward at best; he soon informs them that it is his brother who has been married to Lucy, and not him. Elinor immediately runs from the room, crying out of joy; Edward then senses Elinor's regard for him, and proposes to her that afternoon. Elinor accepts and he gains Mrs. Dashwood's consent to the match.\nEdward admits that any regard he had for Lucy was formed out of idleness and lack of knowledge; he came to regret the engagement soon after it was formed. After leaving London, Edward received a letter from Lucy saying that she had married his brother Robert, and has not seen her since; thus, he was honorably relieved of the engagement. After receiving the letter, he set out for Barton immediately to see Elinor. Edward will still accept the position at Delaford, although he and Elinor again will not have enough money to live on comfortably. The Colonel visits Barton, and he and Edward become good friends.\nEdward then becomes reconciled with his family, although he does not regain his inheritance from Robert. His mother even gives her consent for his marriage to Elinor, however much she is displeased by it; she gives them ten thousand pounds, the interest of which will allow them to live comfortably. Edward and Elinor are married at Barton that fall.\nMrs. Dashwood and her two remaining daughters spend most of their time at Delaford, both to be near Elinor, and out of the hope that Marianne might accept the Colonel. In the two years that have passed, Marianne has become more mature and more grounded; and she does finally change her mind about the Colonel, and accepts his offer of marriage. The Colonel becomes far more cheerful, and soon Marianne grows to love him as much as she ever loved Willoughby. Mrs. Dashwood remains at Barton with Margaret, now fifteen, much to the delight of Sir John, who retains their company. And Elinor and Marianne both live together at Delaford, and remain good friends with each other and each other's husbands.",
"The Moonstone questions??? | Pride and Prejudice Questions ...\nHome Pride and Prejudice Q & A The Moonstone questions ... of Rachel Verinder and Rosanna Spearman. Give examples from the ... for most of the book, ...\nThe Moonstone questions??? | Pride and Prejudice Questions | Q & A | GradeSaver\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:26 PM\n2) The Moonstone stands, in the first place, as a symbol for the exoticness, impenetrability, and dark mysticism of the East—Gabriel remarks that the stone \"seemed unfathomable as the heavens themselves\" and \"shone awfully out of the depths of its own brightness, with a moony gleam, in the dark.\" In the second place, the Moonstone is associated with femininity and even feminine virginity, through its associations with the moon and with pricelessness. The theft of the Moonstone from Rachel Verinder's bedroom by her nearly betrothed, Franklin Blake, can be read as a metaphor for her deflowering.\n3) genre · Victorian novel; sensation novel; detective novel\n5) narrator · The Moonstone features eleven different narrators: an unnamed cousin of John Herncastle; Gabriel Betteredge (steward to Lady Verinder); Miss Clack (Lady Verinder's niece); Mr. Bruff (Lady Verinder's lawyer); Franklin Blake (Lady Verinder's nephew); Ezra Jennings (assistant to Dr. Candy); Sergeant Cuff; Dr. Candy; Sergeant Cuff's investigator; the Captain of the steamboat Bewley Castle; Mr. Murthwaite (traveler to India). Gabriel Betteredge and Franklin Blake narrate more than two sections each. Everyone else narrates one section.\npoint of view · The point of view is first person, according to whoever is narrating. Franklin Blake has solicited all of the characters' first-person narrations and acts as editor. He occasionally steps into a narrative with a footnote to offer a different viewpoint.\ntone · The tone differs according to narrator. Betteredge's narrative has a tone of provincial good humor. Miss Clack's has a tone of self-righteous piety. The tone of the remaining narrators is mainly journalistic.\ntense · Franklin Blake begins to solicit the narratives in May of 1850, so the narrators are writing in 1850 of events that took place in 1848 or 1849. Their narratives are largely in the past tense, slipping into the present tense to describe current interactions with Franklin as editor.\n6)Rachel Verinder\nRachel Verinder stands at the center of The Moonstone's plot, yet never speaks her own narrative. In fact, her character is defined largely by omission—omission of her own story—and her withholding of her knowledge about the theft of The Moonstone. This reticence makes Rachel an alluring heroine, according to the cultural logic by which women in a position of holding back are invested with a particular attractiveness. Aside from this quality, Rachel seems an un-idealized image of a heroine. Collins makes clear that she is slightly unconventional, physically, with small stature and dark features. Rachel challenges Victorian propriety and gender roles by treating men and women alike with a straightforward manner that can be startling in its lack of coyness. Rachel's most important character trait is her unwillingness to tell on the misdeeds of another. Collins is clear on the fact that this never amounts to dishonesty—instead of lying about a delicate subject, Rachel says nothing at all.\nRachel's main conflict in the novel is an internal one: the evidence of her senses, which tell her that Franklin Blake stole her diamond and lied about it, must combat her passionate feelings of love and trust in Franklin. Rachel seems to have a tragic counterpart in the outcast Rosanna Spearman. The two women are kindred in their impassioned natures and love for Franklin Blake.\nSource(s)\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:27 PM\nPoor Rosanna. She's not a major character, but she plays an important role in moving the story forward. Like Rachel, if Rosanna had been more forthright, the mystery would not have been as long and drawn out. If Rosanna had gone to Lady Verinder with the stained nightgown, or even to Franklin himself, instead of hiding it in the quicksand, the mystery would have been solved. But Rosanna's reticence, or unwillingness to speak out, isn't the same as Rachel's. She refuses to speak because she's in love with Franklin Blake.\nThis is actually kind of scandalous: a female servant in love with someone from the upper class? Especially a female servant with a disability? It was practically unheard of during the nineteenth century for any woman to admit that she was in love with a man before he made advances first. It was considered improper. And for a servant girl to admit that she was in love with a social superior? That was just socially wrong.\nOr was it? Collins makes Rosanna a very sympathetic character. She doesn't have a lot going for her – she doesn't have a pretty face, one of her shoulders is deformed, she used to be a thief, and the other servants don't like her. But Collins shows that it's totally natural that she should fall in love with Franklin Blake. She has as much right to fall in love as Rachel has, even though Rosanna has less chance of happiness.\nSource(s)\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:28 PM\nThe Moonstone Narrator:\nWho is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?\nFirst Person (multiple central narrators)\nThe Moonstone is composed of a series of first-person narratives, memos, letters, and journal entries. The bulk of it is told retrospectively, from the points of view of the people involved in the action. Franklin Blake, one of the main characters, is responsible for collecting all the documents, and Gabriel Betteredge, the first narrator, quotes Franklin Blake's explanation on the first page of his narrative:\n'There can be no doubt that this strange family story of ours ought to be told. And I think, Betteredge, Mr. Bruff and I together have hit on the right way of telling it. […] We have certain events to relate, […] and we have certain persons concerned in those events who are capable of relating them. Starting from these plain facts, the idea is that we should all write the story of the Moonstone in turn—as far as our own personal experience extends, and no farther. (1.1.1.7-8)\nSo the first assertion Franklin Blake makes is that the story \"ought to be told.\" He thinks that it's important for future generations of their family to know the truth about the Moonstone. He also thinks that there's a \"right way of telling it.\" Lucky us! We're sitting down to read a story that needs to be told, and we're going to hear it the only \"right way\" that it could be told. Of course, Franklin Blake wants to make sure that the bare facts are told – the reader (his imagined future generations) should be allowed to judge for him or herself. So that puts us in the position of detective – we hear the events just as the characters themselves experienced them, and we know only what they knew at the time.\nSource(s)\nAnswered by jill d #170087\non 3/18/2012 6:29 PM\nRachel is one of the central characters of the novel. You might even think of her as the romantic heroine, since she's the pretty girl that everyone wants to marry. Yet we never hear the story from her point of view. Why is that? Well, for one thing, it would spoil the suspense: she knows from the beginning that Franklin Blake took the Moonstone, although she doesn't know the reason why. And she keeps that knowledge to herself for most of the book, right up until Franklin forces her to speak out.\nThat reticence, or unwillingness to speak out, is one aspect of Rachel's character that is continually brought up. She's not chatty or gossipy like the other girls of her age. She doesn't tend to ask for advice. She is stubbornly secretive. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? On the one hand, it makes her very independent. She doesn't rely on anyone else to give her advice. When she has a difficult decision to make, she takes her time, considers her options, and makes up her mind on her own.\nBeing self-reliant is a good thing, right? Isn't it good that she doesn't tattle-tale on people she likes, even when it means getting in trouble herself? Sure, but up to a point. Think about how much time and trouble would have been saved if she had just confronted Franklin the morning after the diamond was stolen, and said, \"Look, Franklin, I SAW you take it!\" They would have figured out pretty quickly what must have happened, and the novel would have ended about three hundred pages sooner.\nSo Rachel's reticence is partly a plot device: for the story to go forward, it's necessary that Rachel should withhold what she knows. But it's also a comment about gender and femininity. When Gabriel Betteredge first describes her, he compares her to \"other girls of her age,\" saying that \"she judged for herself, as few women of twice her age judge in general\" (1.1.8.19). Betteredge describes this as a \"defect,\" though – it's not a compliment to say that a young woman is \"independent\" during the Victorian period. Mr. Bruff thinks so, too, generally speaking. But in Rachel, he considers it a virtue:\nThis absolute self dependence is a great virtue in a man. In a woman it has the serious drawback of morally separating her from the mass of her sex, and so exposing her to misconstruction by the general opinion. I strongly suspect myself of thinking as the rest of the world think in this matter—except in the case of Rachel Verinder. The self-dependence in her character, was one of its virtues in my estimation. (2.2.1.55)\nMost women, according to Mr. Bruff, should allow themselves to be guided by outside advice, while it's good for men, in general, to think for themselves. He's willing to make an exception for Rachel, though, because he knows that she's intelligent and sensible enough to make good decisions, even without asking advice.\nSo where does that leave us? Most characters in the novel seem to hold the general view that women need guidance from men. But then, Mr. Bruff makes exceptions for women like Lady Verinder and Rachel who don't actually need guidance. It seems that Wilkie Collins might be making fun of the commonly held, sexist belief that women need men's advice to make important decisions. Everyone keeps saying that women need help, but in practice, none of the main female characters actually do.\nSource(s)\nLog In To Your GradeSaver Account\nEmail",
"Character List - cliffsnotes.com\nSarah Woodruff She is an ... Charles Smithson He is a wealthy gentleman and is heir to a minor title. ... represents a type of Victorian character who seems more ...\nCharacter List\nCharacter List\n Bookmark this page Manage My Reading List\nSarah Woodruff She is an educated but impoverished young woman. She is called \"the French Lieutenant's Woman\" or \"Tragedy\" or the \"French lieutenant's whore\" because it is believed that she had an affair with a shipwrecked French sailor. It is also believed that she is half-mad with grief and that she stares out to sea, vainly hoping for the day he will return to her. Because of her reputation she can no longer gain any employment until Mrs. Poulteney hires her as a paid companion. Sarah is a mysterious figure. No one knows much about her, and later we find that much of what people believe about her is untrue.\nCharles Smithson He is a wealthy gentleman and is heir to a minor title. His hobby is collecting fossils and he considers himself to be something of a naturalist. He is an admirer of the controversial Darwin and he is rather pleased with himself that he is one of a minority in the 1860s to hold scientifically advanced ideas, such as the theories espoused by Darwin and others. He is both sensitive and intelligent, but he is unsure of himself. He is bored and dissatisfied with the course his life is taking. His fiancée is Ernestina Freeman, but that relationship is changed when he meets Sarah Woodruff.\nErnestina Freeman Ernestina is Charles' fiancée. She is attractive and clever but also very young and naive. Although she considers herself to be a modern young woman, her attitudes are similar, for the most part, to those of most proper young ladies. She is vacationing in Lyme when the story opens, staying with Aunt Tranter.\nAunt Tranter Ernestina's aunt is a kindly woman whose temperament contrasts greatly with that of the sharp-tongued Mrs. Poulteney. Aunt Tranter's honesty and lack of hypocrisy seem to present a welcome bright spot in the small town governed by the malicious gossip of less charitable souls.\nMrs. Poulteney The vicar convinces the wealthy widow to take in Sarah Woodruff and give her employment. Mrs. Poulteney's main motive in doing so is to show how charitable she is, and it does not stem from any real feelings of compassion for Sarah. Mrs. Poulteney is a stereotype, a conglomerate of all the malicious old villainesses who have appeared in numerous Victorian novels.\nDr. Grogan He is a friendly man whom Charles finds to be a sympathetic listener. Although he feels sorry for Sarah Woodruff, unlike Charles, he cannot take her seriously. He tries to convince Charles that she really is ill. Dr. Grogan, like Aunt Tranter, represents a type of Victorian character who seems more understanding and less hampered by convention than most people. Part of the reason for this is that both of the older people actually belong to the generation before Victoria's, an era somewhat less repressive in certain respects.\nCaptain and Mrs. Talbot Sarah was the governess for the Talbot's children when she met the French lieutenant. Even after she told them of her experience with him, they did not condemn her for it.\nLieutenant Varguennes Caught in a shipwreck, his leg was injured, and Varguennes was nursed at the home of the Talbots, mostly by Sarah. Although he flirted with Sarah, and wished to seduce her, he was married, as she later found out.\nMrs. Fairley She is Mrs. Poulteney's housekeeper and is as unkind as her mistress. She delights in spying on Sarah and reporting her activities to Mrs. Poulteney.\nMillie Mrs. Poulteney's young maid who is befriended by Sarah.\nMary Aunt Tranter's maid whose life is considerably more pleasant than Millie's. She eventually marries Charles' man-servant, Sam Farrow.\nSam Farrow While Sam is often the object of Charles' teasing, he is not merely a humorous figure as was Dickens' Sam Weller. He takes himself seriously and is an ambitious member of the working class. He is determined to wed Mary and make a good life for the two of them.\nSir Robert Charles Smithson's uncle. It is his title that Charles hopes to inherit, although that prospect is altered when Sir Robert marries Mrs. Tomkins, an attractive widow.\nLieutenant de la Roncière and Marie de Morell These are two individuals in a case history given to Charles by Dr. Grogan for him to read. The doctor hopes that reading about how the neurotic young woman convinced the French courts that she had been assaulted and her family sent poison-pen letters by the officer would convince Charles that Sarah possibly had similar intentions regarding him. While Charles conceded that the story might be true, he did not believe it applied to Sarah.\nMr. Freeman He was a haberdasher who became very successful. One sign of his success was that he, a member of the middle class, could have his daughter marry one of the nobility.\nGabriel and Christina Rosseti They were the founders of a school of art called the Pre-Raphaelite school. In their day they were considered as radical as Mr. Freeman was conservative. However, by the time Sarah came to stay with them, their work, while still shocking to some, was coming to be more accepted.\nJohn Fowles He is the bearded man who enters the novel several times as an observer and sometimes as a sort of theatrical director. He comments on the actions of his characters and discusses the relationship between the art of the novel and life.",
"Short Stories: The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by ...\nFull online text of The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle. Other short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle also available ... His name is Armitage ...\nShort Stories: The Adventure Of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle\n< 2 >\n \"My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.\"\n I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis wlth which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.\n \"Good-morning, madam,\" said Holmes cheerily. \"My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are shivering.\"\n \"lt is not cold which makes me shiver,\" said the woman in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.\n \"What, then?\"\n \"It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.\" She raised her veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with restless frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.\n \"You must not fear,\" said he soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm. \"We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see.\"\n \"You know me, then?\"\n \"No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station.\"\n< 3 >\n The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my companion.\n \"There is no mystery, my dear madam,\" said he, smiling. \"The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.\"\n \"Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,\" said she. \"I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. I have no one to turn to -- none, save only one, who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you shall not find me ungrateful.\"\n Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small case-book, which he consulted.\n \"Farintosh,\" said he. \"Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the matter.\"\n< 4 >\n \"Alas!\" replied our visitor, \"the very horror of my situation lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me.\"\n \"I am all attention, madam.\"\n \"My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.\"\n Holmes nodded his head. \"The name is familiar to me,\" said he.\n \"The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man.\n< 5 >\n \"When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable sum of money -- not less than 1000 pounds a year -- and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England my mother died -- she was killed eight years ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.\n \"But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbors, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.\n \"Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gypsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the villagers almost as much as their master.\n< 6 >\n \"You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even as mine has.\"\n \"Your sister is dead, then?\"\n \"She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and offered no objection to the marriage; but wlthin a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event occurred which has deprived me of my only companion.\"\n Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened hls lids now and glanced across at his visitor.\n \"Pray be precise as to details,\" said he.\n \"It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?\"\n< 7 >\n \"Perfectly so.\"\n \"The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door and looked back.\n \"'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle in the dead of the night?'\n \"'Never,' said I.\n \"'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your sleep?'\n \"'Certainly not. But why?'\n \"'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would just ask you whether you had heard it.'\n \"'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in the plantation.'\n \"'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did not hear it also.'\n \"'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.'\n \"'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.\"\n \"Indeed,\" said Holmes. \"Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in at night?\"\n \"Always.\"\n \"I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked.\"\n \"Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.\"\n \"I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not recognized me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died without having recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.\"\n< 9 >\n \"One moment,\" said Holmes, \"are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?\"\n \"That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.\"\n \"Was your sister dressed?\"\n \"No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box.\"\n \"Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the coroner come to?\"\n \"He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her.\"\n \"How about poison?\"\n \"The doctors examined her for it, but without success.\"\n \"What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?\"\n \"It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.\"\n \"Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time?\"\n \"Yes, there are nearly always some there.\"\n< 10 >\n \"Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band -- a speckled band?\"\n \"Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people, perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she used.\"\n Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.\n \"These are very deep waters,\" said he; \"pray go on with your narrative.\"\n \"Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have known for many years, has done me the honor to ask my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage -- Percy Armitage -- the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your advice.\"\n \"You have done wisely,\" said my friend. \"But have you told me all?\"\n \"Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.\"\n \"Why, what do you mean?\"\n For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.\n \"You have been cruelly used,\" said Holmes.\n The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured wrist. \"He is a hard man,\" she said, \"and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.\"\n There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire.\n \"This is a very deep business,\" he said at last. \"There are a thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your stepfather?\"\n \"As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most important business. It is probable that he will be away all day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of the way.\"\n \"Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?\"\n \"By no means.\"\n \"Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?\"\n \"I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to be there in time for your coming.\"\n< 12 >\n \"And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and breakfast?\"\n \"No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you again this afternoon.\" She dropped her thick black veil over her face and glided from the room.\n \"And what do you think of it all, Watson?\" asked Sherlock Holmes, leaning back in his chair.\n \"It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.\"\n \"Dark enough and sinister enough.\"\n \"Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her mysterious end.\"\n \"What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the very peculiar words of the dying woman?\"\n \"I cannot think.\"\n \"When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place, I think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along those lines.\"\n \"But what, then, did the gypsies do?\"\n \"I cannot imagine.\"\n \"I see many objections to any such theory.\"\n \"And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!\"\n< 13 >\n The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.\n \"Which of you is Holmes?\" asked this apparition.\n \"My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,\" said my companion quietly.\n \"I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.\"\n \"Indeed, Doctor,\" said Holmes blandly. \"Pray take a seat.\"\n \"I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?\"\n \"It is a little cold for the time of the year,\" said Holmes.\n \"What has she been saying to you?\" screamed the old man furiously.\n \"But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,\" continued my companion imperturbably.\n \"Ha! You put me off, do you?\" said our new visitor, taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-crop. \"I know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.\"\n My friend smiled.\n< 14 >\n \"Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!\"\n Holmes chuckled heartily. \"Your conversation is most entertaining,\" said he. \"When you go out close the door, for there is a decided draught.\"\n \"I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.\" He stepped swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.\n \"See that you keep yourself out of my grip,\" he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the room.\n \"He seems a very amiable person,\" said Holmes, laughing. \"I am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than his own.\" As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.\n \"Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may help us in this matter.\"\n \nIt was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over with notes and figures.\n \"I have seen the will of the deceased wife,\" said he. \"To determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.\"\n< 15 >\n At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey laries. It was a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed over the meadows\n \"Look there!\" said he.\n A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening mto a grove at the highest point. From amid the branches there jutted out the gray gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.\n \"Stoke Moran?\" said he.\n \"Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,\" remarked the driver.\n \"There is some building going on there,\" said Holmes; \"that is where we are going.\"\n \"There's the village,\" said the driver, pointing to a cluster of roofs some distance to the left; \"but if you want to get to the house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.\"\n \"And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,\" observed Holmes, shading his eyes. \"Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest.\"\n We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to Leatherhead.\n \"I thought it as well,\" said Holmes as we climbed the stile, \"that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as our word.\"\n< 16 >\n Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face which spoke her joy. \"I have been waiting so eagerly for you,\" she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. \"All has turned out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he will be back before evening.\"\n \"We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance,\" said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.\n \"Good heavens!\" she cried, \"he has followed me, then.\"\n \"So it appears.\"\n \"He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What will he say when he returns?\"\n \"He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to examine.\"\n The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the outsides of the windows.\n \"This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?\"\n< 17 >\n \"Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.\"\n \"Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall.\"\n \"There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my room.\"\n \"Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are windows in it, of course?\"\n \"Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass through.\"\n \"As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to go into your room and bar your shutters?\"\n Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window, endeavored in every way to force the shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. \"Hum!\" said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, \"my theory certainly presents some difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter.\"\n A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old and discolored that it may have dated from the original building of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in every detail of the apartment.\n \"Where does that bell communicate with?\" he asked at last pointing to a thick belt-rope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually lying upon the pillow.\n \"It goes to the housekeeper's room.\"\n \"It looks newer than the other things?\"\n \"Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.\"\n \"Your sister asked for it, I suppose?\"\n \"No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we wanted for ourselves.\"\n \"Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this floor.\" He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.\n \"Why, it's a dummy,\" said he.\n \"Won't it ring?\"\n \"No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is.\"\n \"How very absurd! I never noticed that before.\"\n \"Very strange!\" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. \"There are one or two very singular points about this room. For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air!\"\n \"That is also quite modern,\" said the lady.\n \"Done about the same time as the bell-rope?\" remarked Holmes.\n \"Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that time.\"\n \"They seem to have been of a most interesting character -- dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the inner apartment.\"\n Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character an armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest.\n \"What's in here?\" he asked, tapping the safe.\n \"My stepfather's business papers.\"\n \"Oh! you have seen inside, then?\"\n \"Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.\"\n \"There isn't a cat in it, for example?\"\n \"No. What a strange idea!\"\n \"Well, look at this!\" He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.\n \"No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.\"\n \"Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine.\" He squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention.\n \"Thank you. That is quite settled,\" said he, rising and putting his lens in his pocket. \"Hello! Here is something interesting!\"\n The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord.\n \"What do you make of that, Watson?\"\n \"It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why if should be tied.\"\n \"That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.\"\n I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself from his reverie.\n \"It is very essential, Miss Stoner,\" said he, \"that you should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.\"\n \"I shall most certainly do so.\"\n \"The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend upon your compliance.\"\n \"I assure you that I am in your hands.\"\n \"In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your room.\"\n Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.\n \"Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village inn over there?\"\n \"Yes, that is the Crown.\"\n \"Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?\"\n \"Certainly.\"\n< 21 >\n \"You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night.\"\n \"Oh, yes, easily.\"\n \"The rest you will leave in our hands.\"\n \"But what will you do?\"\n \"We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the cause of this noise which has disturbed you.\"\n \"I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,\" said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve.\n \"Perhaps I have.\"\n \"Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's death.\"\n \"I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.\"\n \"You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if she died from some sudden fright.\"\n \"No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.\"\n Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.\n \"Do you know, Watson,\" said Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness, \"I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.\"\n \"Can I be of assistance?\"\n \"Your presence might be invaluable.\"\n \"Then I shall certainly come.\"\n \"It is very kind of you.\"\n \"You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me.\"\n \"No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that you saw all that I did.\"\n \"I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.\"\n \"You saw the ventilator, too?\"\n \"Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat could hardly pass through.\"\n \"I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke Moran.\"\n \"My dear Holmes!\"\n \"Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once that there must be a communication between the two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.\"\n \"But what harm can there be in that?\"\n \"Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does not that strike you?\"\n \"I cannot as yet see any connection.\"\n \"Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?\"\n \"No.\"\n \"It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that before?\"\n \"I cannot say that I have.\"\n \"The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same relative position to the ventilator and to the rope -- or so we may call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.\"\n \"Holmes,\" I cried, \"I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime.\"\n \"Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful.\"\n \nAbout nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us.\n \"That is our signal,\" said Holmes, springing to his feet; \"it comes from the middle window.\"\n As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand.\n< 24 >\n There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness.\n \"My God!\" I whispered; \"did you see it?\"\n Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vise upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh and put his lips to my ear.\n \"It is a nice household,\" he murmured. \"That is the baboon.\"\n I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, after following Holmes's example and slipping off my shoes, I found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to distinguish the words:\n \"The least sound would be fatal to our plans.\"\n I nodded to show that I had heard.\n \"We must sit without light. He would see it through the ventilator.\"\n I nodded again.\n \"Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of the bed, and you in that chair.\"\n< 25 >\n I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.\n Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in darkness.\n How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.\n From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might befall.\n Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound became audible -- a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull.\n \"You see it, Watson?\" he yelled. \"You see it?\"\n But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it had died away into the silence from which it rose.\n< 26 >\n \"What can it mean?\" I gasped.\n \"It means that it is all over,\" Holmes answered. \"And perhaps, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr. Roylott's room.\"\n With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand.\n It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott clad in a long gray dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion.\n \"The band! the speckled band!\" whispered Holmes.\n I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.\n \"It is a swamp adder!\" cried Holmes; \"the deadliest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter and let the county police know what has happened.\"\n As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into the iron safe, which he closed upon it.\n< 27 >\n Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back next day.\n \"I had,\" said he, \"come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data. The presence of the gypsies, and the use of the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt to explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim.",
"John_Bingham,_7th_Earl_of_Lucan.txt\nJohn Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan\nRichard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934; presumed dead), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer suspected of murder who disappeared in 1974. He was born into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family in Marylebone, the eldest son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan by his marriage to Kaitlin Dawson. An evacuee during the Second World War, Lucan returned to attend Eton College, and then from 1953 to 1955 served with the Coldstream Guards in West Germany. He developed a taste for gambling and, skilled at backgammon and bridge, became an early member of the Clermont Club. Although his losses often exceeded his winnings, he left his job at a London-based merchant bank and became a professional gambler. He was known as Lord Bingham from April 1949 until January 1964.\n\nOnce considered for the role of James Bond, Lucan was noted for his expensive tastes; he raced power boats and drove an Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica Duncan, with whom he had three children. When the marriage collapsed late in 1972, he moved out of the family home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street, in London's Belgravia, to a property nearby. A bitter custody battle ensued, which Lucan lost. He began to spy on his wife and record their telephone conversations, apparently obsessed with regaining custody of the children. This fixation, combined with his gambling losses, had a dramatic effect on his life and personal finances.\n\nOn the evening of 7 November 1974, the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death in the basement of the Lucan family home. Lady Lucan was also attacked; she later identified Lucan as her assailant. As the police began their murder investigation, Lucan telephoned his mother, asking her to collect the children, and then drove a borrowed Ford Corsair to a friend's house in Uckfield, East Sussex. Hours later, he left the property and was never seen again. The car was later found abandoned in Newhaven, its interior stained with blood and its boot containing a piece of bandaged lead pipe similar to one found at the crime scene. A warrant for Lucan's arrest was issued a few days later, and in his absence the inquest into Rivett's death named him as her murderer, the last occasion in Britain a coroner's court was allowed to do so.\n\nLucan's fate remains a fascinating mystery for the British public. Since Rivett's murder, hundreds of reported sightings have been made in various countries around the world, although none have been substantiated. Despite a police investigation and huge press interest, Lucan has not been found and is presumed dead; a death certificate was issued in 2016.\n\nEarly life and education\n\nRichard John Bingham was born on 18 December 1934 at 19 Bentinck Street, Marylebone, London, the second child and elder son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan, an Anglo-Irish peer, and his wife Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne Dawson. A blood clot found in her lung forced his mother to remain in a nursing home, so John, as he became known, was initially cared for by the family's nurserymaid. Aged three years, he attended a pre-prep school in Tite Street with his elder sister, Jane, but in 1939, with war approaching, the two were taken to the relative safety of Wales. The following year, joined by their younger siblings, Sally and Hugh, the Lucan children travelled to Toronto, moving shortly thereafter to Mount Kisco, New York. They stayed for five years with multi-millionairess Marcia Brady Tucker; John was enrolled at The Harvey School and spent summer holidays away from his siblings at a summer camp in the Adirondack Mountains. \n\nWhile in the U.S., John and his siblings lived in grandeur and wanted for nothing, but on their return to England in February 1945 they were faced with the stark realities of wartime Britain. Rationing was still in force, their former home at Cheyne Walk had been bombed, and the house at 22 Eaton Square had had its windows blown out. Despite the family's rich ancestry, the 6th Earl and his wife were agnostics and socialists and preferred a more austere existence than that offered by Tucker, an extremely wealthy Christian. For a time, John suffered nightmares and was taken to a psychotherapist. As an adult he remained an agnostic, but ensured his children attended Sunday school, preferring to give them a traditional childhood. \n\nAt Eton College, John developed a taste for gambling. He supplemented his pocket money with income from bookmaking, placing his earnings into a \"secret\" bank account, and regularly left the school's grounds to attend horse races. Although according to his mother his academic record was \"far from creditable\", he became Captain of Roe's House, before leaving in 1953 to undertake his National Service. He became a second lieutenant in his father's regiment, the Coldstream Guards, and was stationed mainly in Krefeld, West Germany. While there, he also became a keen poker player. \n\nCareer\n\nOn leaving the army in 1955, Lucan joined a London-based merchant bank, William Brandt's Sons and Co., on an annual salary of £500 (). In 1960 he met Stephen Raphael, a rich stockbroker who was a skilled backgammon player. They holidayed together in the Bahamas, went water-skiing, and played golf, backgammon and poker. Lucan became a regular gambler and an early member of John Aspinall's Clermont gaming club, located in Berkeley Square. Although he often won at games of skill like bridge and backgammon, he also accumulated huge losses. On one occasion he lost £8,000, or about two-thirds of the money he received annually from various family trusts. On another disastrous night at a casino he lost £10,000. That time his stockbroker uncle, John Bevan, helped him to pay the debt, and Lucan repaid his uncle two years later. \n\nLucan left Brandt's in about 1960, shortly after he had won £26,000 playing chemin de fer. A colleague had been promoted before him, and he protested and then gave up his job, saying \"why should I work in a bank, when I can earn a year's money in one single night at the tables?\" He travelled to the US, where he played golf, raced powerboats, and drove his Aston Martin around the West Coast of the United States. He also visited his elder sister, Jane, and his former guardian, Marcia Tucker. On his return to England he moved out of his parents' home in St John's Wood and into a flat in Park Crescent. \n\nPersonal life\n\nMarriage\n\nLucan met his future wife, Veronica Duncan, early in 1963. She was born in 1937 to Major Charles Moorhouse Duncan and his wife Thelma. Her father had died in a car accident while she was still very young, following which the family had moved to South Africa. Her mother remarried, and when her new step-father became manager of a hotel in Guildford, the family returned to England. Along with her sister, Christina, she was educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester, and after displaying a talent for art she went on to study at an art college in Bournemouth. The two sisters later shared a flat in London, where Veronica worked as a model and later as a secretary. Christina's marriage to the rich William Shand-Kydd introduced her to London high society, and it was at a golf-club function in the country that Veronica and Lucan first met. \n\nNews of their engagement appeared in the Times and Telegraph newspapers on 14 October 1963, and the two were married at Holy Trinity Brompton Church on 20 November. After a high society ceremony attended by, amongst other dignitaries, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the couple honeymooned in Europe, travelling first class on the Orient Express. Lucan's already embattled finances were given a welcome boost by his father, who provided him with a marriage settlement designed to finance a larger family home and any future additions to the Lucan family tree. Lucan repaid some of his creditors and leased number 46 Lower Belgrave Street, Westminster, redecorating it to suit Veronica's tastes. Two months after the wedding, on 21 January 1964, the 6th Earl of Lucan died of a stroke. In addition to a reputed £250,000 inheritance, Lucan acquired his father's titles: Earl of Lucan; Baron Lucan of Castlebar; Baron Lucan of Melcombe Lucan and Baronet Bingham of Castlebar. His wife became the Countess of Lucan. Their first child, Frances, was born on 24 October 1964, and early the next year they employed a nanny, Lillian Jenkins, to look after her. Lucan tried to teach Veronica about gambling and traditional pursuits like hunting, shooting, and fishing. He bought her golf lessons, although she later gave up the sport. \n\nLucan's daily routine consisted of breakfast at 9:00 am, coffee, dealing with the morning's letters, reading the newspapers, and playing the piano. He sometimes jogged in the park and, while he had him, took his Doberman Pinscher for walks. Lunch at the Clermont Club was followed by afternoon games of backgammon. Returning home to change into evening dress, the earl typically spent the remainder of the day at the Clermont, gambling into the early hours, watched sometimes by Veronica. In 1956, while still working at Brandt's, he had written of his desire to have \"£2m in the bank\", claiming that \"motor-cars, yachts, expensive holidays and security for the future would give myself and a lot of other people a lot of pleasure\". Although he was described by his friends as a shy and taciturn man, with his tall stature, \"luxuriant guardsman's moustache\" and masculine pursuits, his exploits made him popular. His profligacy extended to hiring private aircraft to take his friends to the races, asking a car dealer he knew to source an Aston Martin drophead coupé, drinking expensive Russian vodka and racing powerboats. In September 1966 he unsuccessfully screen tested for a part in Woman Times Seven, prompting him to automatically decline a later offer from film producer Cubby Broccoli, to screen test him for the role of James Bond. \n\nAs a professional gambler he was undoubtedly a skilled player, once rated amongst the world's top ten backgammon competitors. He won the St James's Club tournament and was Champion of the West Coast of America. He gained the moniker \"Lucky\" Lucan, but as his losses easily outweighed his winnings, in reality he was anything but lucky. He had interests in thoroughbred horses, although in 1968 he paid more in race entry fees than he received in winnings. Despite some arguments over money, his wife remained largely ignorant of his losses, retaining the use of accounts at Savile Row tailors and various Knightsbridge shops. Following the births of George (b. 1967) and Camilla (b. 1970), she struggled with post-natal depression. Lucan became increasingly involved in her mental well-being and in 1971 took her for treatment at a psychiatric clinic in Hampstead, although she refused to be admitted. Instead, she agreed to home visits from a psychiatrist and a course of anti-depressants. In July 1972 the family holidayed in Monte Carlo but Veronica quickly returned to England, leaving Lucan with their two elder children. The combined pressures of maintaining their finances, paying for Lucan's gambling addiction and Veronica's weakened mental condition took their toll on the marriage; two weeks after a strained family Christmas in 1972, Lucan moved into a small property in Eaton Row. \n\nSeparation\n\nSome months later Lucan moved again, to a larger rented flat in nearby Elizabeth Street. Despite an early attempt by his wife at reconciliation, by that point all Lucan wanted from the marriage was custody of his children. In an effort to demonstrate that Veronica was unfit to look after them, he began to spy on his family (his car was regularly seen parked in Lower Belgrave Street), later employing private investigators to perform the same task. Lucan also canvassed doctors, who explained that his wife had not \"gone mad\", but was suffering from depression and anxiety. Lucan told his friends that nobody would work for Veronica (she sacked the children's long-term nanny, Lillian Jenkins, in December 1972). Of the series of nannies employed in the house, one, 26-year-old Stefanja Sawicka, was told by Veronica that Lucan had hit her with a cane and had, on one occasion, pushed her down the stairs. The countess apparently feared for her safety and told Sawicka not to be surprised \"if he kills me one day.\" \n\nSawicka's time at the Lucan household ended late in March 1973. While with two of the children near Grosvenor Place, she was confronted by Lucan and two private detectives. They told her that the children had been made wards of court and that she must release them into his custody, which she did. Frances was collected from school later in the day. Lady Lucan applied to the court to have the children returned, but concerned about the case's complexity, the judge set a date for the hearing three months ahead, for June 1973. To defend herself against Lucan's claims about her mental state, Veronica booked herself a four-day stay at the Priory Clinic in Roehampton. While it was acknowledged that she still required some psychiatric support, the doctors reported that there was no indication that she was mentally ill. Lucan's case depended upon Veronica being unable to care for the children, but at the hearing, he was instead forced to defend his own behaviour toward her. After several weeks of witnesses and protracted arguments in camera, on the advice of his lawyers he conceded the case. Unimpressed by Lucan's character, Mr Justice Rees awarded custody to Veronica. The earl was allowed access every other weekend. \n\nThus began a bitter dispute between the two, involving many of their friends and Veronica's own sister. Lucan again began to watch his wife's movements. He recorded some of their telephone conversations with a small Sony tape recorder and played excerpts to any friends prepared to listen. He also told them—and his bank manager—that Lady Lucan had been \"spending money like water\". He continued to pay her £40 a week, although he may have cancelled their regular food order with Harrods. He delayed payment to the milkman and—knowing that Veronica was required by the court to employ a live-in nanny—the childcare agency. With no income of her own, Veronica took a part-time job in a local hospital. A temporary nanny, Elizabeth Murphy, was befriended by Lucan, who bought her drinks and asked her for information on his wife. He instructed his detective agency to investigate Murphy, looking for evidence that she was failing in her duty of care to his children. This they found, although he dispensed with the detective agency's services when they presented him with bills amounting to several hundred pounds. Murphy was later hospitalised with cancer. Another temporary nanny, Christabel Martin, reported strange telephone calls to the house, some with heavy breathing and some from a man asking for non-existent people. Following a series of temporary nannies, Sandra Rivett started work in late 1974. \n\nGambling\n\nLosing the court case proved devastating for Lucan. It had cost him an estimated £20,000 and by late 1974 his financial position was dire. As he drank more heavily and started chain-smoking, his friends began to worry. In drunken conversations with some of them, including Aspinall's mother, Lady Osborne, and her son, Lucan discussed murdering his wife. Greville Howard later gave a statement to the police describing how Lucan had talked of how killing his wife might save him from bankruptcy, how her body might be disposed of in the Solent and how he \"would never be caught\". Lucan borrowed £4,000 from his mother and asked Marcia Tucker for a loan of £100,000. Having no luck there, he wrote to Tucker's son, explaining how he wished to \"buy\" his children from Veronica; the money was not forthcoming. He turned to his friends and acquaintances, asking anyone plausible to loan him money to fund his gambling addiction. The financier James Goldsmith guaranteed a £5,000 overdraft for him, which for years remained unpaid. Lucan also applied to the discreet Edgware Trust. On request, he supplied details of his income, which was apparently around £12,000 a year from various family trusts. He was required to provide a surety and received only £3,000 of the £5,000 he asked for. Much to their managers' consternation, his four bank accounts were hugely overdrawn; Coutts, £2,841; Lloyds, £4,379; National Westminster, £1,290; Midland, £5,667. Even though by then he was playing for much lower stakes than had previously been the case, Lucan's gambling remained completely out of control. Ranson (1994) estimates that between September and October 1974 alone, the earl ran up debts of around £50,000. \n\nDespite these problems, from late October 1974 his demeanour appeared to change for the better. His best man, John Wilbraham, remarked that Lucan's apparent obsession over regaining his children had diminished. While having dinner with his mother he cast aside talk of his family problems and turned instead to politics. On 6 November he met his uncle John, apparently in good spirits. Later that day he met 21-year-old Charlotte Andrina Colquhoun, who said that \"he seemed very happy, just his usual self, and there was nothing to suggest that he was worried or depressed\". He also dined at the Clermont with racing driver Graham Hill. At the time, casinos could open only between 2:00 pm and 4:00 am, so Lucan often gambled into the early hours of the morning. He took tablets to deal with his insomnia and therefore usually awoke around lunchtime. On 7 November though, he broke routine and called his solicitor early that morning, and at 10:30 am took a call from Colquhoun. They arranged to eat at the Clermont at about 3:00 pm, but Lucan failed to appear. Colquhoun drove past the Clermont and Ladbroke clubs, and past Elizabeth Street, but could not find his car anywhere. Lucan also failed to arrive for his 1:00 pm lunch appointment with artist Dominic Elwes and banker Daniel Meinertzhagen, again at the Clermont. \n\nAt 4:00 pm Lucan called at a chemist's on Lower Belgrave Street, close to Veronica's home, and asked the pharmacist there to identify a small capsule. It turned out to be Limbitrol 5, a drug for the treatment of anxiety and depression. Lucan had apparently made several similar visits since he separated from his wife, although he never told the pharmacist where he got the drugs. At 4:45 pm he called a friend, literary agent Michael Hicks-Beach, and between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm met with him at his flat on Elizabeth Street. Lucan wanted his help with an article on gambling he had been asked to write for an Oxford University magazine. He drove Hicks-Beach home for about 8:00 pm, not in his Mercedes-Benz, but in \"an old, dark and scruffy Ford\", possibly the Ford Corsair he borrowed from Michael Stoop several weeks earlier. At 8:30 pm he called the Clermont to check on a reservation for dinner with Greville Howard and friends. Howard had called him at 5:15 pm and asked if he wished to come to the theatre, but Lucan had declined and made the alternative suggestion to meet at the Clermont at 11:00 pm. He failed to arrive and did not answer his telephone when called. \n\nMurder\n\nSandra Rivett\n\nSandra Eleanor Rivett was born on 16 September 1945, the third child of Albert and Eunice Hensby. The family moved to Australia when she was two years old, but returned in 1955. Sandra was a popular child, described at school as \"intelligent, although she does not excel academically\". She worked for six months as an apprentice hairdresser before taking a job as a secretary in Croydon. Following a failed romance she became a voluntary patient at a mental hospital near Redhill, Surrey, where she was treated for depression. She became engaged to a builder named John and took a job as a children's nanny for a doctor in Croydon. On 13 March 1964, she gave birth to a boy named Stephen, but, as her relationship with John was failing, she returned home to live with her parents and considered giving the baby up for adoption. Her parents took on the responsibility and adopted him in May 1965. Sandra later worked at an old people's home, before moving to Portsmouth to stay with her elder sister. While there she met Roger Rivett; the two married on 10 June 1967 in Croydon. Roger was serving as a Royal Navy able seaman and later worked as a loader for British Road Services, while Sandra worked part-time at Reedham Orphanage in Purley. In summer 1973 he took a job on an Esso tanker, returning to their flat in Kenley a few months later by which time Sandra was employed by a cigarette company in Croydon. Their marriage collapsed in May 1974 when, suspicious of Sandra's movements while he was away, Roger went to live with his parents. She was by then listed on the books of a Belgravia domestic agency and had been caring for an elderly couple in that district. A few weeks later she began to work for the Lucans. \n\nSandra normally went out with her boyfriend, John Hankins, on Thursday nights, but had decided to change her night off and thus, had seen him the previous day. The two last spoke on the telephone at about 8:00 pm on 7 November. After putting the younger children to bed, at about 8:55 pm she asked Veronica if she would like a cup of tea, before heading downstairs to the basement kitchen to make one. As she entered the room, she was bludgeoned to death with a piece of bandaged lead pipe. Her killer then placed her body into a canvas mailsack. Meanwhile, wondering what had delayed her nanny, Lady Lucan descended from the first floor to see what had happened. She called to Rivett from the top of the basement stairs and was herself attacked. As she screamed for her life, her attacker told her to \"shut up\". Lady Lucan later claimed at that moment to have recognised her husband's voice. The two apparently continued to fight; she bit his fingers, and when he threw her face down to the carpet, managed to turn around and squeeze his testicles, causing him to release his grip on her throat and give up the fight. When she asked where Rivett was, Lucan was at first evasive, but eventually admitted to having killed her. Terrified, Lady Lucan told him she could help him escape if only he would remain at the house for a few days, to allow her injuries to heal. Lucan walked upstairs and sent his daughter to bed, then went into one of the bedrooms. When Veronica entered, to lie on the bed, he told her to put towels down first to avoid staining the bedding. Lucan asked her if she had any barbiturates and went to the bathroom to get a wet towel, supposedly to clean Veronica's face. Lady Lucan realised her husband would be unable to hear her from the bathroom, and made her escape, running outside to a nearby public house, the Plumbers Arms. \n\nLucan may have called at the Chester Square home of Madelaine Florman (mother of one of Frances's school friends) sometime between 10:00 pm and 10:30 pm. Alone in the house, Florman ignored the door, but shortly afterwards she received an incoherent telephone call and put the receiver down. Blood stains, which after forensic examination were found to be a mixture of blood groups A and B, were later discovered on her doorstep. Lucan certainly called his mother between 10:30 pm and 11:00 pm and asked her to collect the children from Lower Belgrave Street. According to the Dowager Countess, he spoke of a \"terrible catastrophe\" at his wife's home. He told her that he had been driving past the house when he saw Veronica fighting with a man, in the basement. He had entered the property and found his wife screaming. The location from which he made this, and possibly the call to Florman, remains unknown. The police forced their way into Lady Lucan's home and discovered Sandra Rivett's body, before his wife was taken by ambulance to St George's Hospital. Lucan drove the Ford Corsair 42 mi to Uckfield, in East Sussex, to visit his friends, the Maxwell-Scotts. Susan Maxwell-Scott's meeting with Lucan was his last confirmed sighting. \n\nInvestigation\n\nBy the time Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson arrived at Lower Belgrave Street early on Friday 8 November, the divisional surgeon had pronounced Sandra Rivett dead and forensic officers and photographers had been called to the property. Other than the front door, which the first two officers on the scene had kicked in, there was no sign of a forced entry. A blood-stained towel was found in Veronica's first-floor bedroom. The area around the top of the basement staircase was heavily blood-stained. A blood-stained lead pipe lay on the floor. Pictures hanging from the staircase walls were askew and a metal banister rail was damaged. At the foot of the stairs, two cups and saucers lay in a pool of blood. Rivett's arm protruded from the canvas sack, which lay in a slowly expanding pool of blood. The light fitting at the bottom of the stairs was missing its bulb; one was noted nearby, on a chair. Blood was also found on various leaves in the adjoining rear garden. \n\nOfficers also searched 5 Eaton Row, into which Lucan had moved early in 1973, and after interviewing his mother (who had called to take the children to her home in St John's Wood), his last address at 72a Elizabeth Street. Nothing untoward was found, although on the bed, a suit and shirt lay alongside a book on Greek shipping millionaires, and Lucan's wallet, car keys, money, driving licence, handkerchief and spectacles were on a bedside table. His passport was in a drawer and his blue Mercedes-Benz parked outside, its engine cold and its battery flat. Ranson then visited Veronica Lucan at St George's Hospital. Although heavily sedated, she was able to describe what had happened to her. A police officer was left to guard her, should her assailant return. Rivett's body was taken to the mortuary, and a search was undertaken of all local basement areas and gardens, skips and open spaces. \n\nAfter removing her corpse from the canvas sack and beginning the post mortem examination, pathologist Keith Simpson told Ranson he was certain that Rivett had been killed before her body was placed in the sack, and that in his opinion the lead pipe found at the scene could be the murder weapon. Her estranged husband, Roger, had an alibi for the night concerned, and was eliminated from the police's enquiries. Other male friends and boyfriends were questioned and discounted as suspects. Her parents confirmed that Sandra had a good working relationship with Lady Lucan, and was extremely fond of the children. Meanwhile, Lucan had yet to make an appearance, and so his description was circulated to police forces across the country. Newspapers and television stations were told only that Lucan was wanted by the police for questioning. \n\nHours earlier, Lucan had again called his mother, at about 12:30 am. He told her that he would be in touch later that day, but declined to speak with the police constable who had accompanied her to her flat; instead, he said he would call the police later that morning. Ranson discovered that Lucan had travelled to Uckfield when he was called by Ian Maxwell-Scott, who told him that Lucan had arrived at his home a few hours after the murder, and spoken with his wife, Susan. While there, the earl had written two letters to his brother-in-law, Bill Shand-Kydd, and posted them to his London address. Maxwell-Scott also called Shand-Kydd at his country house near Leighton Buzzard and told him about the letters, prompting the latter to immediately drive to London to collect them. After reading them, and noting that they were bloodstained, he took them to Ranson. \n\nWhen asked why she did not immediately inform the police of Lucan's presence, Susan Maxwell-Scott said she had not seen any newspapers or television news, or listened to any radio broadcasts that might have warned her of the importance of his visit. Meanwhile, Lucan's children were taken by their aunt, Lady Sarah Gibbs, to her home in Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, where they would remain for several weeks. On the day Veronica Lucan was discharged from hospital, a High Court hearing confirmed that the children could return to live with her. Repeated press intrusions later forced the family to move to a friend's home in Plymouth. \n\nThe Ford Corsair that Lucan had been seen driving and whose details had the previous day been circulated across the country was found on Sunday in Norman Road, Newhaven, about 16 mi from Uckfield. In its boot was a piece of lead pipe covered in surgical tape, and a full bottle of vodka. The car was removed for forensic examination. Later statements from two witnesses suggest that it was parked there sometime between 5:00 am and 8:00 am on the morning of Friday 8 November. Its owner, Michael Stoop, also received a letter from Lucan, delivered to his club, the St James's. However, Stoop threw the envelope away and it was therefore not possible to check its postmark to see where it had been sent from. \n\nRanson suspected a suicide, but a thorough search of Newhaven Downs was judged impossible. A partial search was made, using tracker dogs, although all that was found were the skeletal remains of a judge who had disappeared years earlier. Police divers searched the harbour, and a partial search using infra-red photography was undertaken the following year, to no avail. A warrant for Lucan's arrest, to answer charges of murdering Sandra Rivett, and attempting to murder his wife, was issued on Tuesday 12 November 1974. Descriptions of his appearance, already issued to police forces across the UK, were then issued to Interpol.\n\nForensics\n\nThe forensic examination of the lead pipes found at the murder scene and in the Corsair's boot revealed traces of blood on the pipe from 46 Lower Belgrave Street. This proved to be a mixture of Lady Lucan's (blood group A) and Sandra Rivett's (B) blood. Hair belonging to Veronica Lucan was also found on that pipe, but none belonging to Sandra Rivett. The pipe found inside the car had neither blood nor hair on it. Home Office scientists were unable to prove conclusively that both pipes were cut from the same, longer, piece of piping, although they thought it likely. The tape wrapped around both was similar, but those too could not be conclusively linked. The letters written to Bill Shand-Kydd were stained with blood considered to be from both women. The letter to Michael Stoop had no blood on it, but it was later proven that the paper it was written on had been torn from a writing pad found in the Corsair's boot. \n\nAn examination of the blood stains found inside 46 Lower Belgrave Street demonstrated that Rivett had been attacked in the basement kitchen, while Lady Lucan had been attacked at the top of the basement stairs. The bloodstains found inside the Ford Corsair were of the AB blood group; the report concluded that this might have been a mixture of blood from both women. Hair similar to Lady Lucan's was also found inside the car.\n\nMedia reaction\n\nBy the afternoon of Friday 8 November, the newspapers' early editions carried photographs of the Lucans across their front pages, accompanied by headlines like \"\", and \"\". A meeting that day at the Clermont, between John Aspinall, Daniel Meinertzhagen, Charles Benson, Stephen Raphael, Bill Shand-Kydd and Dominic Elwes, became the cause of much press speculation. Meinertzhagen and Raphael later insisted that the gathering was just a rational discussion between concerned friends, keen to share anything they knew about what had happened, but the relationship between the police and Lucan's social circle was strained; some officers complained that an \"Eton mafia\" worked against them. Susan Maxwell-Scott refused to add to her statement, and when Aspinall's mother, Lady Osborne, was asked if she could help locate Lucan's body, she replied \"The last I heard of him, he was being fed to the tigers at my son's zoo\", prompting the police to search the house and the animal cages there. They searched fourteen country houses and estates, including Holkham Hall and Warwick Castle, to no avail. Amidst concerns expressed by the Labour MP Marcus Lipton that some people were \"being a bit snooty\" with the police, Benson wrote a letter to The Times asking him to either identify those people or \"kindly withdraw his remarks\". To their cost, Private Eye accused James Goldsmith of being at the Clermont meeting, when he was actually in Ireland. Dominic Elwes went to see Lady Lucan in hospital and was reportedly deeply shocked both by her appearance and her statement \"Who's the mad one now?\" Elwes was apparently unhappy at some of the negative press coverage of the countess, and was later ostracised by his friends for his part in an article critical of Lucan, which appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine. He committed suicide in September 1975. \n\nRivett's case made headlines around the world. Within days of the murder, newspapers reported on Veronica Lucan's statement to the police, with claims that she had pretended to collude with her husband to ensure her safety. In January 1975 Veronica gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Express. She also appeared in a murder reconstruction, in the same newspaper, complete with posed photographs taken inside the house. \n\nInquest\n\nThe inquest into Sandra Rivett's death opened on 13 November 1974 and was led by the Coroner for Inner West London, Gavin Thurston. Two witnesses were called to the courtroom, which was packed with reporters; Roger Rivett, who confirmed that he had identified his wife's body, and the pathologist, Keith Simpson, who confirmed that Rivett had died from being hit on the head with a blunt instrument. At Ranson's request, the hearing was then adjourned. Further adjournments were made on 11 December 1974 and 10 March 1975, before a full inquest was scheduled for 16 June 1975. \n\nThe hearing began with the swearing-in of the jury and introductions from various legal representatives, including a lawyer hired for Lucan by his mother. Thurston introduced the jury to the case and explained their duties. He had selected 33 witnesses to be called over the following few days, including Veronica Lucan, who each day wore a dark coat and white headscarf. Thurston questioned her on her relationship with Lucan, her marriage, her financial affairs, her employment of Rivett and what had happened on the night of the attack. The Dowager Countess's QC attempted to ask Lady Lucan about the nature of their relationship, if she hated her husband, but Thurston ruled his line of questioning inadmissible. Woman Detective Constable Sally Blower, who had taken a statement from Frances on 20 November 1974, read the young girl's words to the court. Frances had heard a scream, and a few minutes later had watched as her mother (blood on her face) and father had entered the room. Her mother had then sent her to bed. She later heard her father calling for her mother, asking where she was, and watched as he left the bathroom and walked downstairs. She also described how Sandra Rivett did not normally work on Thursday nights. \n\nThe landlord of \"The Plumbers Arms\" described how Lady Lucan had entered his bar covered \"head to toe in blood\" before she fell into \"a state of shock\". He claimed that she shouted \"Help me, help me, I've just escaped from being murdered\" and \"My children, my children, he's murdered my nanny\", although no name was mentioned. Pathologist Keith Simpson outlined his post mortem examination, concluding that death was caused by \"blunt head injuries\" and \"inhalation of blood\". He confirmed that the lead pipe found at the scene was most likely responsible for Rivett's injuries, although some, to the left eye and mouth, he thought more likely to have been caused by punches from a clenched fist. The last person to confirm seeing Lucan alive, Susan Maxwell-Scott, told the court that the earl looked \"dishevelled\", and his hair \"a little ruffled\". His trousers had a damp patch on the right hip. Lucan had told her that he was walking, or passing by the house when he saw Veronica being attacked by a man. He let himself in but slipped in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs. He told Maxwell-Scott that the attacker ran off, and that Veronica was \"very hysterical\" and accused him of having hired a hitman to kill her. \n\nOnce the hearing had ended, Thurston made a summary of the evidence presented and told the jury their options. At 11:45 am, their foreman announced \"Murder by Lord Lucan\". Lucan became the first member of the House of Lords to be named a murderer since 1760, when Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, was hanged for killing his bailiff. He was also the last person to be committed by a coroner to a Crown Court for unlawful killing; the coroner's power to do so was removed by the Criminal Law Act 1977. \n\nRivett's body, which had been held for several weeks following the murder, was released to her family and cremated at Croydon crematorium on 18 December 1974. A police spokesman cited Lady Lucan's desire not to upset the family as a reason for her non-attendance at the cremation. \n\nLucan's defence\n\nLucan's friends and family were critical of the inquest, which they felt offered a one-sided view of events. His mother told reporters that it did not serve \"any useful purpose at all\". Veronica's sister, Christina, said she felt \"great sadness and sorrow\" at the verdict. Susan Maxwell-Scott continued to press the earl's claims of innocence and claimed to feel \"awfully sorry\" for the countess. However, as Lucan remained absent, his description of \"a traumatic night of unbelievable coincidence\" came only from the letters he authored and the people he spoke with soon after Rivett's murder. While his fingerprints were not found at the scene, his assertions make no provision for the lead pipe discovered in the boot of the Ford Corsair, the claims by some that he discussed murdering his wife, or the lack of a viable suspect for the man he claimed to have seen fighting her. No sign of a forced entry was found, and officers attempting to demonstrate that Lucan could have seen into the basement kitchen, from the street, could only do so by stooping low to the pavement. The basement light was not working, making it even more difficult to see into the room; its lightbulb (which was tested and found to be in working order) was found removed from its holder and left lying on a chair. Furthermore, Lady Lucan claimed not to have entered the basement that night, contradicting the earl's version of events; his wife's account is supported by the forensic examination made of the blood splashes and stains around the property. Some traces of her blood were found in the basement, the rear garden and on the canvas sack used to store Rivett's body, although this may have been due to contamination at the scene. The man Lucan claimed to have seen could not have left through the basement's front door as it was locked, and the rear door led to a walled garden through which no trace of an escape was found. No signs that the man left by the ground level front door were discovered, and no witnesses reported seeing any such person near 46 Lower Belgrave Street. \n\nIn contrast to his defenders, the national press were almost unanimous in their condemnation of Lucan. Their leader-writers ignored the threat of libel and identified him as Rivett's killer. \n\nBankruptcy and estate\n\nAs Lucan's bankruptcy proceeded, in August 1975 his creditors were informed that the missing earl had unsecured debts of £45,000 and preferential liabilities for £1,326. His assets were estimated at £22,632. The family silver was sold in March 1976 for around £30,000. His remaining debts were repaid by the Lucan family trust in the years immediately following his disappearance. His family was granted probate over his estate in 1999, although no death certificate was issued, and his heir, George Bingham, Lord Bingham, was refused permission to take his father's title and seat in the House of Lords. Following the passage of the Presumption of Death Act 2013, Bingham began a new attempt to have his father declared dead, which proved successful in a High Court hearing at the Rolls Building on 3 February 2016. He therefore inherited his father's title, becoming the 8th Earl of Lucan.\n\nUltimate fate and reported sightings\n\nThe last confirmed sighting of Lucan was at about 1:15 am on 8 November 1974 as he exited the driveway of the Maxwell-Scott property, in his friend's Ford Corsair. Since then, his whereabouts and ultimate fate remain a mystery. Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson initially claimed that Lucan had \"done the honourable thing\" and \"fallen on his own sword\", a view publicly repeated by many of Lucan's friends, including John Aspinall, who shortly before his death in 2000 said he believed the earl was guilty of Rivett's murder, and that his body lay \"250 feet under the Channel\". Veronica Lucan believes her husband killed himself \"like the nobleman he was\". \n\nRanson later changed his view, explaining that he considered it more likely that suicide was far from Lucan's thoughts, that a rumoured drowning at sea was implausible and that the earl had moved to southern Africa. Thirty years after the murder, the detective leading a new investigation into Lucan's disappearance told the Telegraph that \"the evidence points towards the fact that Lord Lucan left the country and lived abroad for a number of years.\" Speaking to author John Pearson before she died, Susan Maxwell-Scott suggested that Lucan might have been helped out of the country by shadowy underground financiers, before being judged too great a risk and killed and buried in Switzerland. A similar theory was proposed by advertising executive Jeremy Scott, who was familiar with some of the Clermont Set. \n\nLucan's disappearance has captivated the public's imagination for decades, with thousands of sightings reported across the world. One of the earliest, shortly after the murder, turned out to be a British ex-politician, John Stonehouse, who had attempted to fake his own death. The police travelled to France in June the following year to hunt another lead, to no avail. A sighting in Colombia turned out to be an American businessman. John Miller, a bounty hunter who kidnapped the fugitive train robber Ronnie Biggs, claimed in 1982 to have captured the earl, but was later exposed by the News of the World as a hoaxer. In 2003 a former Scotland Yard detective thought he had tracked the earl to Goa, India, although the man he traced was actually Barry Halpin, a folk singer from St Helens. In 2007, reporters in New Zealand interviewed a homeless British expatriate who neighbours claimed was the missing earl. \n\nMore recently, responding to claims that the two eldest Lucan children were sent to Gabon in the early 1980s so that their father might secretly watch them \"from a distance\", George Bingham denied ever visiting the country. His mother dismissed the newspaper claims of sightings as \"nonsense\", reiterating that in her opinion \"he was not the sort of Englishman to cope abroad\".",
"The French Lieutenant’s Woman Characters | GradeSaver\nThe French Lieutenant's Woman study guide contains a ... Sarah Woodruff. ... Mrs. Talbot is a positive and sympathetic minor character in The French Lieutenant's Woman.\nThe French Lieutenant’s Woman Characters | GradeSaver\nBuy Study Guide\nSarah Woodruff\nSarah is a woman of about twenty-five years old, an ambitious farmer's daughter with a reasonable education which has left her stranded between two classes: the lower class, into which she was born, and the middle class, to which her education pushes her but cannot bring her entirely, since she lacks both breeding and money.\nThe first thing we learn about Sarah - and it is almost all we learn in the opening chapters - is that she has a bad reputation because she has had premarital sex with a marooned French sailor. The other thing we learn about her, from Charles' first impression in Chapter 2, is that she is deeply sad; indeed, Sarah suffers from \"melancholia,\" as the doctor diagnoses her in Chapter 9 (53). We might assume that these two things are related, but in fact, Sarah has always felt lonely and depressed, and she chose her bad reputation - in fact, she lied about having sex with the French lieutenant in order to be ostracized from a society that she never felt at home in.\nHer primary characteristic, when we get to know her better, is her extreme insightfulness and perspicacity. This insight has its downsides: for example, Sarah finds it hard to choose a man to marry, since she can see through all their pretenses. The narrator speculates that had she been born hundreds of years before, \"she would have been either a saint or an emperor's mistress,\" and he makes this bold claim with the reasoning that Sarah combines both \"understanding and emotion\" in a \"fused rare power\" (52). Sarah's sensitivity is partly why Charles is attracted to her, but it also means that she can see through him, and she eventually leaves him because there is a \"formality\" and a \"falsehood\" to the way he interacts with her that prevents there from being true love and intimacy between them (351).\nErnestina is anxious and jealous about all of Charles' past lovers, but she is especially worried that he might have liaised with a \"modern girl\" - and it is to a modern girl that she eventually loses him (64). Sarah is a modern woman - this idea is introduced to us in the infamous Chapter 13. This mainly manifests itself in her desire for freedom at any cost, and a striking independence compared to the coddled Ernestina and her peers. Because she is a modern woman trapped in the Victorian era, Sarah is a little anachronistic. The narrator emphasizes this in some of his description of her - for example, he says that she has a \"computer in her heart\" that allows her to read people very accurately (87). By the end of the novel, she has been able to fully realize her modernity by throwing off society's restraints and living a bohemian lifestyle in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's house.\nIs she the protagonist of the book? The title corroborates this claim - despite her transitory and shadowy presence in the first few chapters, the narrator wants us to think that Sarah Woodruff is indeed the protagonist of the novel. The narrator himself refers to her as \"the protagonist\" in Chapter 54, where she is shown to have more complex desires and to be a more difficult character for the narrator than Charles, whose wants are clear (317). However, we spend a lot less time in Sarah's mind than in Charles', and the novel ends with Charles' new view about life, and leaves Sarah largely unexplained. It's hard for her to be the protagonist when we are constantly reminded that she is an enigma to us, to Charles, and even to the narrator, as he claims in Chapter 54.\nCharles Smithson\nAt thirty-two years old, Charles is the son of a baronet and sole heir to both his father's diminished fortune and his uncle's considerable one (17). He is a member of the upper class by blood and by money, and he has no need to work for his living; he can afford to keep a manservant around him always, and he has endless amounts of free time to spend however he likes. His hobby of choice is dabbling in academia, specifically paleontology. Growing up, Charles spent more time reading books than most young men, and in his uncle's eyes, Charles' interest in libraries is \"sinister\" - it seems bizarre to him that someone should choose books over hunting guns.\nWhen we meet him, Charles is an engaged man of 32, settling down and preparing to start his own family, but we learn early in the novel that he has had a wild youth. After a series of wild adventures during his college years, during which he lost his virginity in questionable circumstances and impulsively tried to take Holy Orders to repent of his sin, Charles spent six months in Paris. During this time, he continued to lead a sordid lifestyle and eventually lost all his faith in God (18). During his twenties, Charles, now a \"healthy agnostic,\" moved into a small apartment in Kensington and spent a lot of time traveling abroad (18). His main occupation during this time was \"toying with ideas,\" and he eventually settling upon paleontology as his academic subject of choice (18-19).\nCharles prefers to think of himself as a \"scientific young man\" (16), but he is \"a born amateur,\" and is not cut out for serious scientific inquiry (42). The narrator refers to him as an \"ungifted scientist\" (45), and also comments that Charles' \"distinguishing trait\" is \"[l]aziness.\" (19) On the other hand, he is a \"quite competent ornithologist and botanist\" who takes some of his scientific pursuits seriously: he certainly dresses up for the role of fossil-collector in Chapter 8 (44).\nCharles is very well educated, and this \"educational privilege\" supplements a naturally inquiring and fairly intelligent mind (39). This tendency to \"ask life too many questions\" sometimes manifests itself in a rather melancholy and overly reflective disposition (16). But at heart, Charles is like a child who has never grown up: he has a schoolboy’s sense of humor, and can be quite childlike when he is around people with whom he is comfortable, like his servant, Sam. Charles likes to show off by making \"labored puns and innuendoes,\" and he has to put on a \"formal outdoor mask\" when he goes out into the world - to meet other scientists, or to spend time with Ernestina (39).\nSelf-doubt plagues Charles, despite his many blessings. He has travelled, he has become engaged, and he has practiced science - and yet he has accomplished very little, as he realizes in Chapter 7 (38). In terms of love, he is even more of an amateur than he is in science: Ernestina worries about his past affairs, but he has \"never really been in love,\" and his heart is \"a place without history\" (64). Charles likes to think that he is \"not like the vast majority of his peers and contemporaries,\" but it is ironic that he never succeeds at being as modern as Sarah does, despite the desire to be forward-thinking and not conventional (107).\nBy the end of the novel, however, Charles' personality has developed significantly. He comes to the important realization that there isn't a 'quick fix' that will make him happy, and that marrying Sarah or answering life's \"riddle\" won't suddenly help him to be fulfilled (366). Instead, he must endure life as best he can - this is a very adult epiphany, and it marks a serious change to his outlook on the world.\nErnestina Freeman\nErnestina is a member of the nouveau riche class: she has no title, and her ancestors were not part of the aristocracy, but her father has plenty of money, and her family can afford to live in style and marry her off to the grandson of a baronet. Her parents are incredibly solicitous and overprotective of her, sending her to Lyme Regis for part of the year to cure her supposed consumption. Ernestina resents these trips, because she finds the seaside town very boring compared to the London parties that she is used to.\nShe is \"irresistible\" to Charles partly because of her pale beauty, but mostly because of her slight deviation from the masses of her pampered, simpering friends - she is a little more willful and coquettish than they are (27). She also is described of having \"more [will] than the age allowed for\" - that is, she is more stubborn and determined than the majority of her peers, who are blandly obedient to their parents and the dictates of society (28). Charles and Ernestina do not have very much in common, deep down, but they like each other because they share \"a sense of self-irony\" and a \"superiority of intelligence\" (29, 68). In fact, this is one of the only traits that stop Ernestina from being merely \"a horrid spoiled child,\" according to the narrator (29). Nevertheless, she is quite child-like and petulant at times - quite the opposite of Sarah Woodruff, with her calm voice and her deep capacity for suffering.\nErnestina's dreams and worries are for the most part mundane, and this is a product of her sheltered life. She believes that she loves Charles, but she expends a lot of worry on speculating about his past loves; she cannot bear the thought that he should have loved \"a tragic French countess\" or someone like that before her (64). She worries that because she is not from aristocratic stock, like Charles is, that he will think less of her (68).\nHer goal in life is to get married and have children, but she is terrified by \"the payment\" that she will have to pay to achieve this: the act of sex (29). In this way she is supposed to represent the typical feminine Victorian view, and this fear of sex puts her in stark contrast to Sarah Woodruff, who epitomizes quite another class of female: 'the fallen woman'.\nErnestina is a 'flatter' character than the others in this novel, because she represents - almost but not quite - a type of girl that was common in her time period. She is very much a product of her environment; Charles asks himself, when he is shocked by her apparent shallowness, \"How could the only child of two rich parents be anything else?\" (107.) In this novel, Ernestina represents convention where Sarah represents modernity; perhaps we can see Sarah's victory over Charles' heart as an allegory for the changing times, and the emergence of the independent 'modern woman' to replace the delicate Victorian lady.\nToward the end of the novel, when Charles breaks off his engagement to her, Ernestina actually shows herself to be surprisingly self-aware. She knows her worse qualities: as she says, \"I know I am innocent. I know I am spoiled. I am not a Helen of Troy or a Cleopatra\" (296). Ernestina also shows a deeply sensitive and compassionate side when she notes that Charles has low self-esteem, and that she intended her \"bridal present\" to him to be some \"[f]aith in himself\" because he deserves to realize how \"generous\" and wise he is (297). In the space of a few pages, Ernestina becomes a much more three-dimensional and sympathetic character, and we understand that she is merely young, with the potential to become a good person. Her love for Charles is deeper than we might have thought before, and we realize that we may have misjudged her and treated her unfairly - she is of course very young, and a product of a very sheltered upbringing.\nMrs. Poulteney\nMrs. Poulteney is the woman who has hired Sarah Woodruff as a companion, on the recommendation of the local vicar. She owns a large house in the town of Lyme Regis, and hates Dirt and Immorality, dealing strictly with the employees who let either of these things enter the house. Her morality is very cliché and not very sincere: her two mantras are \"Civilization is Soap\" and \"Respectability is what does not give me offense\" (31).\nShe gives quite a bit of money to the local church - this, combined with her having taken in Sarah, has given her a reputation for charity. Mrs. Poulteney does not practice charity for charity's sake: she is terrified of Hell, and hopes to do enough good deeds to ensure a place for herself in heaven. The narrator blasts her as \"an epitome of all the most crassly arrogant traits of the ascendant British Empire\" (23). In Chapter 44, the narrator teases us with a vision of Mrs. Poulteney's afterlife, describing how she is first taken to Heaven, and then thrown down into Hell, where she belongs. Although he later admits that this is just Charles' reverie, we certainly get the sense that he is condemning Mrs. Poulteney for her false charity.\nSam Farrow\nSam Farrow is Charles' Cockney manservant, whom we first meet in Chapter 7. He and Charles are quite close - they \"kn[o]w each other rather better than the partners in many a supposedly more intimate menage,\" and the dynamic between them is one of light banter and teasing (37). In Charles' eyes, Sam is someone around whom he can be himself, making ridiculous puns and acting the Don Quixote to Sam's \"Sancho Panza\" (40).\nSam is contrasted with Sam Weller from Dickens' Pickwick Papers. The two share names and jobs but, unlike the cheerful Sam Weller, Sam Farrow \"suffer[s]\" his role as a servant, and really aspires to higher things. He \"fancies himself a Don Juan\" and would like very much to seduce Mary, Mrs. Tranter's maid (67). He demonstrates an interest in horses because such an interest, he thinks, is a \"sign of his social progress,\" and he spends \"most of his wages on keeping in fashion\" (39).\nSam falls in love with Mary, and we learn that he has a tender side to him that appreciates her innocence, and doesn't want to hurt her. He ends up hurting Charles badly for the sake of his marriage to Mary and his future ambitions, but it is also by Sam's action of sending an anonymous tip to Charles' solicitor that Charles and Sarah are brought back together. When we see Sam and Mary after they are married, they seem to be a perfect couple - the domestic married life suits them very well, and we are happy for them, because they are such sympathetic characters.\nMrs. Talbot\nMrs. Talbot is a positive and sympathetic minor character in The French Lieutenant's Woman. She is a young wife and mother for whom Sarah works for some time as a governess before the novel's action begins, and in whose house Sarah meets the infamous French lieutenant.\nMrs. Talbot is described as \"extremely kindhearted\" but \"not very perspicacious,\" in other words, she has very good intentions but is not the most intelligent or intuitive person - in this way, she acts as a foil for Sarah, who is incredibly good at reading people (47). Although Sarah leaves Mrs. Talbot's house more or less in disgrace, Mrs. Talbot is always very kind to her, and even offered her the position again after the Frenchman abandoned Sarah. She is very worried about Sarah's well being; in Chapter 9 we see her lying awake, terrified that Sarah will end up penniless, chased, and starved, like the destitute heroines of the romantic novels that she reads. It is Mrs. Talbot who encourages Sarah to take up a place in Mrs. Poulteney's household.\nAunt Tranter\nErnestina's aunt lives in Lyme Regis, giving Ernestina's parents an excuse to send their daughter to the seaside for a consumptive cure (although Ernestina is perfectly healthy). She is a kind lady, whom \"[n]obody could dislike\" because she is so innocent, caring, and profoundly optimistic (27). She plays the \"flat-footed nurse\" to Ernestina's Juliet; Ernestina resents being sent away from London society to Aunt Tranter's old-fashioned house, and she displays this resentment through undeserved anger toward her aunt. Aunt Tranter is very protective of and loyal toward Ernestina, and although she initially likes Charles, she curses him more strongly than anyone else when he jilts Ernestina.\nMary\nMary works in Mrs. Tranter's household as a maid. Good-natured and good-humored, she is very well liked by Mrs. Tranter and by the rest of the staff. When Ernestina comes to stay, however, Mary is no longer the favorite in the house (at least not in the eyes of Mrs. Tranter, Ernestina's aunt), and so she resents Ernestina's presence. She also envies Ernestina her fashionable dresses from London, and her handsome fiancé - Mary thinks Charles is too good for Ernestina.\nMary is sexually appealing - we first hear of her via Sam, who certainly finds her attractive - and seems to embrace her sexuality in a different way to Ernestina, who desperately shuts out all thoughts of sexual contact, and also to Sarah Woodruff, who is a martyr-like figure. Mary enjoys flirting with the local boys, and their efforts to solicit kisses are \"not...very successfully resisted\" (65). Where Ernestina is delicate and Sarah is sallow, Mary is vibrant and rosy - which makes her, in the eyes of the narrator, \"by far the prettiest\" of the three girls (64).\nShe is also very innocent, and her relationship with Sam Farrow is beautifully tender. It seems by the end of the novel that justice is done when Mary and Sam are climbing the social ladder, and living in a nice house with two beautiful children. Mary is delighted that she is richer than her parents, and that she can afford her own maid - we are happy for her and for Sam.\nDr. Grogan\nAn Irishman and a confirmed \"old bachelor,\" Dr. Grogan is well liked in Lyme Regis. He flirts with Aunt Tranter and tends to Mrs. Poulteney's ills, and is equally skillful at keeping his heart from getting entangled in a love affair and dealing with his patients' different temperaments. He attends the surprise party at the White Lion for Aunt Tranter in Chapter 19.\nIt is Dr. Grogan who first suggests to Charles that Sarah might be trying to hurt herself to inspire pity in the young man, whom she finds attractive. Most of Charles' doubts about Sarah stem from Dr. Grogan, whom he often tries to argue against but is also often persuaded by. When Charles jilts Ernestina, Dr. Grogan is the stern voice of reason, condemning him for having made Ernestina suffer, and encoring Charles to try and become a better person so he can atone for his sins.\nMillie\nMillie is a maid in Mrs. Poulteney's service, whom Sarah saves from being fired. Millie is a ploughman's daughter with ten siblings who all live in bitter poverty. Sarah takes her under her wing while she is living at Mrs. Poulteney's house, and they share a bed.\nMrs. Martha Endicott\nMrs. Endicott is the owner of a hotel in Exeter where Sarah goes to stay in Chapter 36 once she leaves Lyme Regis. Mrs. Endicott is \"rapacious\" and overcharges for her rooms, but conveniently doesn't inquire into her guests' private business, which makes her hotel a good place to hide.\nMr. Freeman\nErnestina's father is a wealthy businessman who has managed to move his family into the upper class of London, despite the fact that he has no connection to nobility, and his only claim to status is wealth. Mr. Freeman is skeptical of Charles' status as a gentleman; he values wealth over aristocratic blood. He is very protective of his daughter, and when Charles jilts Ernestina, Ernestina has to restrain her father from completely demolishing Charles' name and taking him to court.\nSarah (the prostitute)\nSarah is a prostitute whom Charles hires in Chapters 39-40 while he is in London. She bears a vague physical resemblance to Sarah Woodruff, which is why Charles is drawn to her. She has a daughter but no husband, and is selling sex to make ends meet for her and her child.\nThe narrator\nThe author intrudes frequently into the storyline when he makes comments about the act of writing the novel, but he appears just twice in person - firstly in Chapter 55, and then again in Chapter 61. Fowles pokes fun at himself, calling himself \"a very minor figure,\" and using hyperbole to reassure us that he is as \"minimal...as a gamma-ray particle\" (361). The rest of the description in Chapter 61 is not positive, and paints Fowles as merely a \"successful impresario\" or a flashy magician (362). The author has the power to manipulate the time of the narrative, and to decide - to some degree - on the actions of the characters.\nMr. Montague\nMontague is Charles' young solicitor, who accompanies him to the meeting in Chapter 56 with Ernestina's father's solicitors. He is sympathetic toward Charles, but believes that he must accept the punishment for what he has done. Montague encourages Charles to go abroad, and Charles takes him up on this advice at the end of Chapter 56.\nDante Gabriel Rossetti\nRossetti is a famous artist from the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He notices Sarah on the street when she is pregnant with Lalage, and asks if he can paint her. At the end of the novel, Sarah is living in his house and acting as his assistant; she is incredibly grateful to him for offering her a wonderful new life.\nLalage\nLalage is the baby daughter of Charles and Sarah, the product of their first sexual encounter in the Endicott Family Hotel. Sarah conceals the existence of this daughter from Charles until he comes to visit her at her new residence in Rossetti's house.",
"Dracula - The Iron Maiden Commentary\nDracula (1897 ) Song: 'Transylvania' ... , is the initiating point of the novel since someone from England must make ... Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is often ...\nChapter 1: Summary\nThis novel is not told in a straightforward, chronological, omniscient manner, like many nineteenth-century novels. Instead, it is composed of a collage of letters, journal entries and diary jottings, in addition to a portion of a ship's log, various newspaper clippings, and even a \"phonograph diary.\" Since the story is basically a mystery, this technique is highly effective in sustaining suspense, for there are literally dozens of narrative pieces for readers to fit together before they can see the complexity of the novel resolved and the entirety of Stoker's pattern. Stoker most likely borrowed this approach to his novel from Wilkie Collins, who used the same technique in his \"detective\" novel The Woman in White (1860).\nJonathan Harker's journal entries begin on May 3, sometime in the late nineteenth century. The young London lawyer has been traveling by train across Europe and is currently in Budapest, in route to Count Dracula's estate, located somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania—the \"land beyond the forest.\" Harker has been sent by his London law firm to complete the final transactions for a transfer of real estate, which the Count has recently purchased in England, and thus far, Harker is very pleased with his trip. He is favorably impressed with Budapest, and he remarks that already he can tell that he is leaving the Western world behind him and that he is \"entering the East,\" a section of Europe whose peoples and customs will be, for the most part, strange and unfamiliar.\nAt the beginning of his journey, the tenor of his narrative is low-key—that is, Harker records what he contemplates, what he sees, and what he eats (in regard to the latter, he jots off a couple of reminders to himself to obtain certain recipes for his fiancée, Mina Murray).\nAs his journal entries continue, Harker continues to record the details of the exotically spiced meals which he dines on, plus descriptions of the many old castles which he sees perched atop steep hills in the distance. The train dawdles on through the countryside, and Harker continues to describe the colorfully costumed peasants whom he sees; he is especially fascinated by the local garb of the swarthy, rather fierce looking men of the region, for they remind him of bandits, but he says that he has been assured that they are quite harmless.\nAt the eve of twilight, when Harker's train reaches Bistritz, not far from the infamous Borgo Pass, Harker disembarks and checks into the \"delightful ... old fashioned\" Golden Krone Hotel (Count Dracula has instructed him to stay here). Before retiring for the night, Harker reads a note of cordial welcome from Count Dracula, then he records some of the local stories about the Pass, as well as some of the other local beliefs and superstitions. For example, the Borgo Pass marks the entry into Bukovina, and the Pass itself has been the scene of great fires and centuries of massacres, famine, and disease. Coincidentally, Harker's arrival at Bistritz is on the eve of St. George's Day, a night when \"evil things in the world ... have full sway.\" At first, Harker is unconcerned about these local superstitions, but after he witnesses an old peasant woman's fearful awe of the name \"Dracula,\" and after he realizes the extent of her fear for his safety, and after he finally accepts her gift of a rosary to ward off evil spirits, Harker begins to become a bit uneasy about setting off the next day for the Borgo Pass, despite the fact that Dracula's carriage will be waiting for him when he arrives late on the eve of St. George's Day.\nThe morning of the departure does not bode well: A considerable crowd of peasants has gathered around the coach, muttering polyglot words which all seem to be variants of the word vampire; then, almost as if it happens en mass, the crowd makes the sign of the cross and points two fingers at him (a superstitious sign of blessing for a good, safe journey). The coach is off, and in contrast to the rugged road and the feverish haste of the horses, the countryside seems happy, bright, and colorful. But the forest trail, Harker notes, begins to rise ever upward, and soon they begin ascending the lofty, steep terrain of the Carpathian Mountains. The country peasants, as the coach dashes by them, all kneel and cross themselves, and Harker notes that the hills soon pass into a misty and cold gloom. Evening arrives, and soon they are passing beneath ghost-like clouds, as the coach careens alongside late-lying snows. Harker asks to walk, but his request is denied; foot travel is impossible because of the large number of fierce wild dogs in the woods. Meanwhile, the driver lashes his horses onward at an ever faster and more furious speed until at last the coach enters the Borgo Pass.\nThe passengers disembark, the horses neigh and snort violently, and the peasants suddenly begin screaming. Simultaneously, a horse-drawn caleche drives up, and the driver instructs Harker that he will take him to Count Dracula. Once inside the caleche, Harker collapses in the close darkness, feeling like a child, cowering within the eerie loneliness. Glancing at his watch, he notices in alarm that it is midnight. A wild howling commences, the horses strain and rear, and wolves begin to gather from all sides as fine, powdery snow begins to fall. Harker falls asleep, probably from psychological strain and also from physical weariness; when he awakens, the caleche is stopped and the driver is gone. A ring of wolves \"with white teeth and lolling red tongues\" surrounds Harker. He feels \"a sort of paralysis of fear.\" The ring of terror is unbearable; he shouts and beats on the side of the caleche. There seems to be no one around. Then without warning, the driver reappears, signals the wolves to disperse, and he drives onward, ascending again, ever higher, until at last they are in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, the castle of Count Dracula.\n \nChapter 1: Commentary\nFrom what we read in Harker's journal, it is clear that the young lawyer is a very logical, organized sort of man. Clearly, Stoker is setting up his protagonist as a very rational individual; in this way, the horror of the melodrama which will occur later will be encountered by a man who will try to combat it with common sense and logic. As a result, the terror of Stoker's narrative will become heightened and will seem more believable and less excessively hysterical. Had Stoker chosen a nervous, emotional type of man for his hero, his gothic melodrama would have become, or could have become, laughable and ludicrous. This is not the case, however; because of the carefully calculated way in which Stoker indicates and unravels the mystery of Count Dracula, he achieves a mastery over his subject matter that mitigates the raw horror and, instead, intensifies each chapter's sense of anxiety and portentous dread.\nOne of the first devices that Stoker uses to let us know that Harker is sensible and rational (in addition to the fact that he is a lawyer) is by having Harker recall in his journal that he spent quite a bit of time prior to his journey in the British Museum; there, he read as much as he could about the provinces through which he would be traveling (provinces originally occupied by Attila and the Huns); Harker tried his best to locate the exact locality of Castle Dracula, but unfortunately, he was not able to pinpoint the location precisely, because the castle is located in one of the \"wildest and least known portions of Europe.\" Yet even this ominously mysterious fact does not worry Harker unduly; because he is able to use his smattering of German, he is enjoying his adventuresome trip—thus far—and his notes become more minutely descriptive and confessional as he continues; the purpose for recording as much as he can, he says, is so that he can later refresh his memory when he is telling his fiancée, Mina, about the journey.\nOne of the first clues in Harker's journal that suggests to us something about the terror that will soon commence concerns Harker's reaction to Transylvania itself. He notes that \"every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians\"; he also records, again matter-of-factly, the minor annoyance of his having had \"all sorts of queer dreams\" recently; in addition, he heard a \"dog howling all night under [his] window.\" He wonders, rather naively, if perhaps it was the excessive paprika in the chicken casserole which he ate for dinner that could have been responsible for his bad dreams.\n \n \nChapters 2–4: Summary\nDracula's castle is described, like almost everything else, in precise detail. Harker notes the castle's great round arches, the immense iron-studded stone doors, the rattling chains, and the clanking of massive bolts, and he compares the scene with a nightmare. Dracula himself is as mysterious as his castle is. He is an old man and is clean shaven, except for a long white Victorian moustache, and he is clad all in black without \"a single speck of color about him anywhere.\" He speaks in perfect English and welcomes Harker inside, shaking his hand with an ice-cold, vice-like grip. His house, as he guides Harker forward, is seen to be filled with long passageways and heavy doors; finally they come to a room in which a table is laid for dinner, set beside a roaring fire. The Count's greeting is so warm that Harker forgets his fears and gives Dracula the details of the real estate transfer. Dracula explains that, at present, because of gout, he will not be able to make the journey to England himself, but that one of his trusted servants will accompany Harker back to London.\nAfter supper, Harker enjoys a cigar (Dracula does not smoke), and he studies his host: Dracula's face is strong; his high, thin nose is aquiline, and his nostrils seem to arch peculiarly; his shaggy brows almost meet, and his bushy hair seems to curl in profusion. His mouth, thick and white, covers \"sharp white teeth which protrude over the lips.\" His ears are pale and pointed, and his cheeks are firm but extremely thin. His breath is fetid and rank. \"The general effect is one of extraordinary pallor.\"\nBoth of the men hear wolves howling from far off, and Dracula is the first to speak: \"The children of the night,\" he says, \"what music they make!\" Shortly, thereafter, the two men retire, and Harker records a final entry for the day: \"I think strange things which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me.\"\nAs Harker explores the Count's castle the next day, he notices a number of unusual, intriguing things: A meal is already prepared and is ready for him—and no servant is present. The table service is made of gold, the curtains and upholstery are made of costly fabrics, seemingly centuries old, and nowhere is there a mirror. To his joy, however, Harker at last discovers a vast library, and he is in the midst of perusing one of the volumes when the Count appears. Dracula tells Harker that he may go anywhere he wishes in the castle, except where the doors are locked. Then he changes the subject and reveals that he greatly fears his proposed journey to England. He feels that his mastery of the English language is insufficient. In addition, he has grown so accustomed to being a master in his own land that he dreads going to England and suddenly being a nobody. For that reason, he wants Harker to remain in the castle as long as possible in order to perfect Dracula's English pronunciation. Harker immediately agrees to do so, and thus they talk further—first, about inconsequential things, and then Dracula explains about the evil spirits in Transylvania that sometimes hold sway. There is \"hardly a foot of soil\" in all this region, says the Count, \"that has not been enriched by the blood of men, patriots, or invaders.\"\nAfterward, their conversation turns to England, and while it is evident that the Count is concerned that he shall, for the most part, be alone in his new surroundings, he is immensely pleased by the description of his new estate: It is surrounded by high walls, made of heavy stone, is in need of repair, but contains massive, old iron gates; it is surrounded by dense trees, and the only building in the nearby vicinity is a private lunatic asylum. \"I love the shade and the shadow,\" Dracula says; \"I am no longer young; and my heart, through years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth.\"\nThe two men talk throughout the night, and at the coming of dawn, when the cock crows, Dracula leaps up excitedly and excuses himself. Harker feels nothing tangibly amiss, but he confesses in his diary that he feels uneasy; he wishes that he were home and that he had never journeyed to Transylvania.\nNext morning as Harker is shaving, his host's voice startles him, and he cuts himself. Then two unexplainable, horrible things occur. Harker realizes that, first, there is no reflection of Count Dracula in the shaving mirror; and second, when the Count sees Harker's fresh blood trickling from his chin, his eyes blaze up \"with a sudden demoniac fury,\" and he lunges for Harker's throat. Instinctively, Harker touches his crucifix, and Dracula's fury vanishes. He counsels Harker to take care how he cuts himself in this country; then Dracula flings the shaving glass onto the courtyard stones below, where it shatters into a thousand pieces. Dracula vanishes, and Harker ponders about what has happened. He also wonders about the fact that he has never seen the Count eat or drink. Harker then explores the castle farther and finally concludes that no matter how many beautiful vistas which he is able to see from the battlements, the castle is a veritable prison, and he is its prisoner.\nAfter Harker realizes that he is indeed a prisoner in Dracula's castle, he succumbs to panic and feelings of helplessness; momentarily, he believes that he is going mad, but he recovers almost instantly and tries to rationally analyze what he must do to escape and survive. More than anything else, Harker realizes that he will \"need all [his] brains to get through.\" Ironically, since Harker is not a religious man, he is grateful for the crucifix which was given to him; it is \"a comfort and a strength.\"\nA good night's sleep is virtually impossible for Harker, despite the fact that he has placed the crucifix over the head of the bed; thus, he paces throughout the night, looks out of his windows, and by accident, he sees Dracula, on two separate occasions, emerge from his room on the floor below, slither out, head downward, in lizard fashion, with his cloak spread out \"around him like great wings.\" It is shortly afterward that Harker records in his diary that he fears for his sanity; he hopes that he does not go mad. His diary is his only solace; he turns to it \"for repose.\"\nOne of Harker's favorite rooms in the castle is one that he feels was probably a woman's room; romantically, he likes to imagine that in this room \"ladies sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.\" It is during one moonlight night in this room that three women appear before Harker—and whether or not this is a dream, we cannot be sure. Harker's horror, however, is quite real, and that concerns us most. Two of the women are dark, and both of them have vivid, glowing red eyes; the other woman is fair. All have \"brilliant white teeth,\" and all of them cause a burning, sexual desire within Harker. Unexplainably, Harker finds himself allowing the fair woman to bend over him until he can feel her hot breath on his neck. As two sharp teeth touch his neck, and as he closes [his] eyes \"in languorous ecstasy,\" waiting \"with beating heart,\" Count Dracula suddenly sweeps in and orders the women out. But before they go, Harker notices that they grab a small bag with \"some living thing within it\"; with horror, Harker is sure that he hears a low wail, like that \"of a half-smothered child.\" Then he sinks into unconsciousness.\nSignificantly, Harker awakens in his own bed. Perhaps the women and the gruesome bag were only part of a bad dream. Thus he steels himself for others \"who are ... waiting to suck [his] blood.\" Harker waits, and while he does so, he notices gypsies who are driving wagons filled with large, square, empty boxes. Later, he hears the muffled sounds of digging, and again, he sees the Count slither down the side of the castle, lizard-fashion, wearing Harker's clothes and carrying \"the terrible bag.\" A howling dog cries far below in the valley. The horror overcomes Harker; locked in his prison, he sits down and cries.\nIt is then that he hears a woman below, crying out for her child, tearing her hair, beating her breasts, and \"beating her naked hands against the door.\" Within moments, a pack of wolves pour \"like a pent-up dam\" into the courtyard. Then they stream away, \"licking their lips.\"\nHarker has no choice; he must try to encounter Dracula during daylight. Therefore, he crawls out his window and descends, perilously, until he reaches the Count's room. Oddly, it is empty, and it seems \"to have never been used\"; everything is covered with dust, including a \"great heap of gold in one corner.\" Seeing an open door, Harker follows a circular stairway down through dark, tunnel-like passages; with every step, he becomes more aware of a \"deathly, sickly odour, the odour of old earth newly turned.\"\nIn the vaults below, Harker discovers fifty boxes, and in one of them, he finds the Count, apparently asleep, even though his eyes are \"open and strong.\" Horrified, he flees to his room and tries to decide what he must do.\nOn June 29th, he reveals the full extent of his terror. He is terribly afraid; if he had a gun, he would try to kill the Count, but at this point, he believes that the Count is supernatural and that bullets would have no effect on him. Yet when the Count appears, he bids Harker goodbye, assuring him that a carriage will take him to the Borgo Pass and from there, he will be able to return to England.\nLater, Harker opens his door and sees \"the three terrible women licking their lips.\" He throws himself on the floor, imploring heaven to save him until he can escape the following day.\nNot surprisingly, Harker wakes early, scales down the wall, and once more he finds the Count laid out in one of the large wooden boxes. Curiously, the old man looks \"as if his youth [had] been half renewed.\" The reason is clear. He has been renewed by blood. On his lips are thick blotches of fresh blood which trickle from the corners of his mouth and run over his chin and neck. Dracula is gorged with blood, \"like a filthy leech.\" The thought of Harker's assisting this monster to travel to England and satiate his lust on unsuspecting English men and women so horrifies Harker that he seizes a shovel and slashes madly at the Count's \"hateful face.\" The Count's mad eyes so paralyze Harker, however, that the blow only grazes the Count's forehead. Hearing voices, Harker flees to the Count's room, where he hears the boxes below being filled with earth and the covers nailed shut. Then he hears the sound of wheels in the driveway, the crack of whips, and a chorus of gypsies. Now Harker is convinced that he is absolutely alone, a prisoner, and Dracula is off for England to wreak his evil. Yet Harker is still determined to at least try and escape and take some of the gold with him. He is sure that this castle is a nest for the \"devil and his children,\" and he cannot remain in it a moment longer. The precipice which he must confront is steep and high, but he must attempt it at all costs. The last entry in his journal, at this point, is desperate: \"Good-bye, all! Mina!\"\n \nChapters 2–4: Commentary\nThese three chapters set the tone for all subsequent treatments of the Dracula legend. That is, whereas many works based on Count Dracula will alter the story significantly, most of the subsequent treatments of this legend will have some of the incidents found in these chapters. They include (1) an emissary (sometimes the pattern includes unsuspecting travelers) who is in a foreign land to contact the mysterious Count Dracula, who has bought some property in England. The young man, therefore, has come to finalize the arrangements with Dracula. (2) The setting is always someplace in Transylvania, a land sparsely populated and filled with howling wolves. It is also often remote and strange and unfamiliar, with no main roads to enter or depart by. (3) Everything is strange, even the language, which prevents the emissary from communicating with the natives (The natives are always of peasant stock and extremely superstitious and often xenophobic). (4) The representative usually stops in some remote inn, without such modern conveniences as telephones, where a carriage with an inscrutable driver will take him to the Borgo Pass. (5) The peasants will offer him various charms to ward off vampires, a word that strikes fear into the peasants. (6) The Borgo Pass is well known for mysterious happenings and the emissary usually arrives about midnight, a time when evil spirits have free reign in the world. (7) The emissary is met by someone working for the Count and is taken to the Count's castle. (8) The castle is a decaying edifice, located at the top of a tall mountain amid a desolate area, where one can gain access to the castle only by a steep, narrow road. The castle is a landmark, but few people tour the place. (9) Everything is old and musty in the castle. (10) Count Dracula is seen only at nighttime, and the emissary never sees him eat anything even though there is plenty of freshly prepared food. (11) The narrator usually sees Count Dracula performing some act which would be considered supernatural, such as slithering down the sheer precipice of the castle in a \"bat-like\" manner. (12) Often there is the presence of a female vampire (or vampires), who will attempt to seduce the narrator. (13) Usually the emissary is imprisoned in the castle and must effect his own escape.\nOther factors of a lesser nature can be included, factors such as the narrator's explorations of the castle and his discovery of many coffins or boxes of dirt or the proliferation of bats about the castle, the eerie noises, and the mysterious absence of mirrors (since vampires do not cast a reflection in a mirror), and sometimes there are the cries of young babies and the presence of blood at unexpected places. Therefore, the individual writer can utilize as many of the above archetypical patterns as he or she so chooses.\n \n \nChapters 5 & 6: Summary\nThe scene abruptly shifts from Transylvania to London, and the story of Mina Murray (later Mina Harker) and Lucy Westenra is introduced. The story in the following few chapters is presented through a series of letters between Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra, and also through journal entries of various characters, as well as by newspaper articles and even a ship's log. In these chapters we are also introduced to Dr. John Seward whom Lucy describes as \"one of the most resolute men\" she ever saw, \"yet the most calm\"; Arthur Holmwood, whom Lucy chooses to marry; and Quincey P. Morris, a Texan, a friend of Arthur Holmwood; and Dr. Seward, director of a lunatic asylum. All of these characters will figure prominently in the story.\nMina Murray, an assistant \"schoolmistress,\" is engaged to Jonathan Harker. In Mina's letter to her dear friend Lucy, she tells of Jonathan's recent letters from Transylvania which assure her that he is well and will soon be returning home. (These are early letters from Jonathan, of course.) Mina's first letter is dated a few days after Jonathan's arrival at Castle Dracula.\nLucy's reply reveals that she is in love with a Mr. Arthur Holmwood, a \"tall, curly haired man.\" She also mentions a doctor whom she would like Mina to meet. The doctor, John Seward, is \"handsome\" and \"really clever,\" twenty-nine years old, and the administrator of a lunatic asylum. At the conclusion of Lucy's letter, we learn that Mina and Lucy have been friends since childhood and that each depends on the other for happiness.\nIn Lucy's next letter to Mina, Lucy reveals to us that she will be twenty years old in three months. On this particular day (the 24th of May), she has had no less than three marriage proposals, and she is ecstatic. The first proposal was from Dr. Seward, whom she turned down. The second proposal came from the American, Quincey P. Morris. She finds the American to be gallant and romantic, yet she feels that she must turn him down as well. The third proposal came from Arthur Holmwood, whose proposal she accepted.\nFollowing the exchange of letters between Mina and Lucy, we have an excerpt from Dr. Seward's diary (kept on a phonograph) from the 25th of May, the day following his proposal to Lucy. Dr. Seward reveals his depression over Lucy's rejection, but he will resign himself to his vocation. Dr. Seward also mentions, most importantly, his curiosity about one of his patients. This patient's name is R. M. Renfield, who is fifty-nine years old and a man of \"great physical strength.\" Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is \"morbidly excitable\" and has \"periods of gloom ending in some fixed idea\" which the doctor is unable to determine. Seward concludes the entry by stating that he believes Renfield to be potentially dangerous.\nFollowing Seward's entry is a letter from the American, Quincey P. Morris, to Arthur Holmwood, dated May 25th. In the letter, Quincey asks Arthur to drink with him to drown his sorrows over a woman's rejection—and also, he proposes to drink to Arthur's happiness. Quincey also reveals the name of another fellow who will be present, one who also happens to wish to drown his sorrows—Dr. Seward.\nMina's journal of the 24th of July comes from Whitby, a town located in northeast England, on the seacoast; her description of Whitby would pass for one in a travel guide. Of special note is Mina's description of the ruins of Whitby Abbey: Mina says that it is a \"most noble ruin ... full of beautiful and romantic bits,\" and she mentions the legend of a \"white lady\" who is seen in one of the Abbey's windows. She also mentions a large graveyard which lies above the town and has a \"full view of the harbor.\"\nOf the friends whom Mina makes at Whitby, she is most charmed by a \"funny old man\" named Mr. Swales. Mr. Swales is very old, for Mina tells us that his face is \"all gnarled and twisted like the bark of a tree,\" and that Swales brags that he is almost one hundred years old. He is a skeptical person and scoffs at the legend of the \"white lady\" of Whitby Abbey.\nA week later, Mina and Lucy are on the hillside above Whitby talking to old Mr. Swales. Lucy playfully refers to him as the \"Sir Oracle\" of the area. Mina mentions Lucy's robust health and her happy spirits since coming to Whitby. On this day, Mr. Swales refuses to tell Mina and Lucy about a legend which he scoffs at. The legend involves and maintains that many of the graves in the yard are actually empty. This notion is, of course, preposterous to Mr. Swales, and he tells the ladies that they should not believe the silly superstitions of the area.\nMina reports that Lucy and Arthur are preparing for their wedding and that she still hasn't heard from Jonathan for a month; interestingly, the date of this entry is also the date of the last entry that Jonathan Harker made in the journal that he kept in Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania.\nDr. Seward, meanwhile, reports that the case of Renfield is becoming more and more curious. Seward reports that Renfield has developed qualities of selfishness, secrecy, and dubiousness; in addition, Renfield has pets of odd sorts; presently, Renfield's hobby is catching flies, and he has a large number of them. When Seward demands that Renfield get rid of them, Renfield asks for a delay of three days. Two weeks later, Seward reports that Renfield has become interested in spiders and has \"several very big fellows in a box.\" Evidently, Renfield is feeding the flies to the spiders and also munching on the flies himself. About ten days later, Seward reports that the spiders are becoming a great nuisance and that he has ordered Renfield to get rid of them. As Seward is issuing this demand, a fly buzzes into the room and Renfield catches it and \"exultantly\" eats it. Renfield keeps a notebook in which whole pages are filled with masses of numbers, as if it is an account book; we can assume that he is totaling up the number of flies that he has eaten.\nA week later, Seward discovers that Renfield also has a pet sparrow and that Renfield's supply of spiders has diminished; it would seem that Renfield also maintains a supply of flies for the spiders by tempting them with pieces of food. About ten days later, Seward reports that Renfield has \"a whole colony of sparrows\" and that the supply of flies and spiders is almost depleted.\nFawning like a dog, Renfield begs Seward for a nice little kitten which he can \"feed—and feed—and feed.\" Seward refuses Renfield's request, and Renfield immediately becomes hostile and threatening. Seward fears that Renfield is an \"undeveloped homicidal maniac.\" Upon returning to Renfield's cell a few hours later, Seward discovers Renfield in the corner, \"gnawing his fingers.\" Renfield immediately begs for a kitten again. The next day, Renfield is spreading sugar on the window sill, evidently trying to catch flies again. Seward is surprised that the room is empty of birds, and when Renfield is asked where they are, he responds that they have all flown away. Seward is disconcerted, however, when he sees a few feathers and some blood on Renfield's pillow. A few hours later, an attendant tells Seward that Renfield vomited and disgorged a large quantity of feathers. That evening, Seward orders that Renfield be given a strong opiate to make him sleep. Seward decides to classify Renfield as a \"zoöphagous [life eating] maniac.\" Seward defines this phenomenon as a person who tries \"to absorb as many lives as he can,\" one who has laid himself out to achieve it in a cumulative way. Seward is thrilled with the possibility that he might advance this branch of science and, thus, become famous.\nThe novel now shifts back to Mina Murray's journal, July 26th, about a week after Seward's last entry. Mina voices concern about not hearing from Jonathan Harker and also, curiously, about Lucy.\nAdditionally, Mina is confused as to why she hasn't heard from Jonathan because yesterday, Jonathan's employer, Mr. Hawkins, sent her a letter from Jonathan, a letter that was written at Count Dracula's castle. The letter consists of only one line, a statement that he is starting home. Mina notes that this extreme brevity is totally unlike Jonathan.\nMina is also concerned about Lucy because Lucy has once again \"taken to her old habit of walking in her sleep.\" In a late entry of the 6th of August, Mina notes that the fishermen claim that a harsh storm is approaching. Old Mr. Swales tells her that he has never felt closer to death and that he is tired of fighting it. He also senses approaching calamity and doom: \"There is something in that wind that sounds, and looks, and tastes, and smells like death.\" At the end of the entry, she reports sighting a strange ship which old Mr. Swales says is a Russian ship.\n \nChapters 5 & 6: Commentary\nStoker continues with his epistolary style, continuing in the tradition of having two young, naive ladies corresponding about love and life. These innocent girls will very soon become involved in the horror which Dracula brings. Stoker contrasts their innocence with the approaching plague of horror and evil, a typically gothic pattern of narrative; it would not be dramatically effective to have depraved characters confront the evil menace.\nThe setting is a typical one for the gothic novel. We leave the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan city and journey to an isolated city, replete with legends of empty graves, sepulchral old natives, and legends of dead people who haunt huge old houses. Furthermore, any type of ghost story should be set in some place far from civilization, and here at Whitby, where there are rambling old houses, sleepwalking, and graveyards, we have a perfect gothic setting.\nThe story of Renfield foreshadows the social disruption and insanity which will accompany Dracula's descent upon England. This is further symbolized by Renfield's desire for blood and the sucking of fresh blood, which will be Dracula's, or the vampire's, goal. Renfield can be seen as an archetype of \"the predecessor\" (such as John the Baptist) because Renfield prepares us for the imminent arrival of his \"lord\" and \"master,\" Dracula. Stoker will continue to pervert Christian myths throughout the novel. Dracula is a satanic figure, and the horrors of Renfield are maudlin, compared to the greater horror which is Dracula himself.\nLucy's sleepwalking also prefigures the arrival of Count Dracula. As it happens, the day that she begins sleepwalking will closely correspond to the day that Dracula's ship crosses the straits of Gibraltar into Western civilization. And it will be because of her sleepwalking that she will become a member of the \"Un-Dead.\"\nOld Mr. Swales is the archetypal prophetic figure, one who senses and can articulate the approaching doom and horror, yet one whose exhortations and prophesies are ignored or remain misunderstood by the populace.\n \n \nChapters 7 & 8: Summary\nUtilizing the narrative device of a newspaper clipping (dated August 8th), the story of the landing of Count Dracula's ship is presented. The report indicates that the recent storm, one of the worst storms on record, was responsible for the shipwreck of a strange Russian vessel. The article also mentions several observations which indicate the vessel's strange method of navigation; we learn that observers feel that the captain had to be mad because in the midst of the storm the ship's sails were wholly unfurled.\nMany people who witnessed the approach of the strange vessel were gathered on one of Whitby's piers to await the ship's arrival. By the light of a spotlight, witnesses noticed that \"lashed to the helm was a corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro\" as the ship rocked. As the vessel violently ran aground, \"an immense dog sprang up on deck from below,\" jumped from the ship, and ran off. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the man lashed to the wheel (the helm) had a crucifix clutched in his hand. According to a local doctor, the man had been dead for at least two days. Coast Guard officials discovered a bottle in the dead man's pocket, carefully sealed, which contained a roll of paper.\nIn a newspaper article the next day, it is revealed that the ship, a schooner, was a Russian vessel, one from Varna, called the Demeter. The only cargo on board was a \"ballast of silver sand\" and \"a number of great wooden boxes filled with mould.\" It is revealed that the cargo was consigned to a Whitby solicitor, Mr. S. F. Billington, who has claimed the boxes. The bizarre circumstances of the ship's arrival have been the talk about town for the last few days, and there has also been some interest as to the whereabouts of the big dog which jumped ashore on the first night. The dog has disappeared, and some citizens are worried that the dog may be dangerous. Reportedly, a half-breed mastiff was found dead, its throat torn out and its belly split open.\nThe narrative continues with excerpts from the Demeter's log. The log begins on the 6th of July, which would be a week after Jonathan Harker's last entry in his journal. According to the log entries, all is calm aboard the ship for several days. On the 16th of July, however, one crew member is found missing, and the log indicates that all the sailors are downcast and anxious. The next day, the 17th of July, a sailor reports seeing a \"tall, thin man, who was not like any of the crew, come up the companionway, and go along the deck forward and disappear.\" Yet no one, upon inspection of the ship, is to be found.\nFive days later, on the 22nd of July, the ship passes Gibraltar and sails out through the Straits with apparently no further problems. Two days later, however, another man is reported lost, and the remaining men grow panicky and frightened. Five days later, another sailor is missing. On the 30th of July, only the captain, his mate, and two crew members are left. On the 2nd of August, another crew member disappears. At midnight on the next night, the remaining deck hand disappears, and the captain and the mate are the only remaining men aboard. The captain reports that the mate is haggard and close to madness. In a panic, the mate, a Roumanian, hisses, \"It is here.\" The mate thinks that \"it\" is in the hold, perhaps \"in one of the boxes.\" The mate descends into the hold, only to come flying from the hold moments later, screaming in terror, telling the captain, \"He is there. I know the secret now.\" In despair, the mate throws himself overboard, preferring drowning to a confrontation with \"the thing.\" Since the captain feels that it is his duty to remain with the ship, he vows to tie his hands to the wheel and take the ship to port. At this point, the log ends.\nThe log of the Demeter stirs up a great deal of controversy, and most of the townsfolk regard the captain as a hero. The reporter ends his narration by stating that the great dog has not yet been found.\nThe narrative shifts then to Mina's journal (August 8th), the day of the great storm. Lucy is still sleepwalking, and Mina has yet to hear from Jonathan.\nOn the 10th of August, Mina indicates that the burial of the sea captain was on this day and that Lucy is very upset about the events of the last few days. In a shocking revelation, we learn that old Mr. Swales was found dead this morning, near the graveyard, at the seat where Lucy and Mina would often visit with him. According to the doctor, the old man must have \"fallen back in the seat in some sort of fright\" because his neck was broken.\nMina's journal for the 10th of August concludes with the observation that Lucy is happy and seems better in body and in spirit than she has for quite some time. The next entry is a few hours later; at 3 A.M., Mina awakened with a horrible sense of fear and discovered that Lucy's bed was empty. After satisfying herself that Lucy was nowhere to be found inside the house, she threw a heavy shawl about herself and headed outdoors to search for Lucy. While searching, it occurred to Mina that Lucy might have gone to their favorite place, the seat on the hill where old Mr. Swales was found. She looked towards the hill where the seat was located and, under the light of a \"beautiful moon,\" she saw on the seat a half-reclining figure, \"snowy white.\" Above the figure, \"something dark\" was bending over the reclining figure. Mina raced to the spot. When she approached the seat, Mina saw something \"long and black\" bent over the half reclining figure. Mina called to Lucy in fright, and \"the thing raised a head.\" Mina could see \"a white face and red, gleaming eyes.\" By the time Mina reached the seat, the moonlight was so brilliant that Mina could see that Lucy was alone. It appeared that Lucy was merely asleep, but her breathing was hesitant and coming in long, heavy gasps; then Lucy shuddered and covered her throat with her hand. Mina threw her shawl over Lucy to warm her, and Lucy pulled the shawl up about her neck as though she were cold. Mina accounts for the two puncture wounds in Lucy's throat as the result of pin pricks caused when Mina was trying to pin a shawl around Lucy's exposed neck. Mina then escorts Lucy back home and puts her back to bed. Just before falling asleep, Lucy begs Mina not to tell anyone of the incident.\nThat morning (August 11th) Lucy looks better to Mina than she has for weeks. Mina berates herself for wounding Lucy with the safety pin, for again she notices the two little red pin pricks on Lucy's neck, \"and on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood.\" Lucy casually laughs off Mina's concern. The rest of the day is spent happily, and Mina expects a restful night.\nIn her journal entry of the next day, however, Mina indicates that her expectations were wrong. Twice that night Mina discovered that Lucy was awake and trying to leave the room. Yet, the next morning, Lucy was, seemingly, the picture of health to Mina.\nThe 13th of August is a quiet day, yet that night Mina discovers Lucy sitting up in bed in a dazed sleep, \"pointing to the window.\" Mina goes to the window, and in the brilliant moonlight she notices \"a great bat\" flitting about in circles. Evidently the bat is frightened by the sudden appearance of Mina at the window and flies off.\nThe next day at sunset, Mina indicates that she and Lucy spent the day at a favorite spot on the East Cliff, and, at sunset, Lucy made a most unusual remark: \"His red eyes again! They are just the same.\" At the moment when Lucy utters this phrase, Mina notices that Lucy's eyes are directed towards their favorite seat, \"whereon was a dark figure seated alone.\" To Mina, the stranger's eyes appeared for a moment \"like burning flames.\" Later, the two return home and say no more about the incident.\nAfter seeing Lucy to bed that night, Mina decided to go for a short stroll. Coming home in the bright moonlight, she glanced up at their bedroom window and noticed Lucy's head leaning out. Mina thought that Lucy was looking for her, but she was not—Lucy did not even notice Mina. She appeared, in fact, to be fast asleep. Curiously, seated on the window sill next to her was something that looked like a \"good sized bird.\" Running upstairs to the bedroom in a panic, Mina discovered that Lucy was now back in her bed—asleep, but holding her hand to her throat as if chilled. Mina chooses not to awaken her, yet she notices, much to her dismay, that Lucy looks pale and haggard. Mina attributes this to Lucy's fretting about something.\nOn the next day (15th of August), Mina notices that Lucy is \"languid and tired\" and that she slept later than normal. Mina receives a bit of unexpected and shocking news from Mrs. Westenra, Lucy's mother. Mrs. Westenra's doctor has informed her that she has only a few months to live because of a heart condition.\nTwo days later, Mina is despondent. She has had no news from Jonathan yet, and Lucy seems to be growing weaker and weaker by the day. Mina cannot understand Lucy's decline, for she eats well and sleeps well and gets plenty of exercise. Yet at night, Mina has heard her awaken as if gasping for air, and just last night, she found Lucy leaning out of the open window again; Lucy was incredibly weak and her breath came with much difficulty. Inspecting Lucy's throat as she lay asleep, Mina noticed that the puncture wounds had not healed; if anything, they were larger than before and the edges were pale and faintly puckered. \"They were like little white dots with red centers.\"\nIn a letter dated the 17th of August, Mr. S. F. Billington (to whom the boxes from the Demeter were consigned) orders the boxes to be delivered to Carfax, near Purfleet, in London.\nMina's journal (August 18th) records that Lucy is looking better and slept well the last night. Lucy seems to have come to terms with the night when she was found sleepwalking. Lucy spends most of her time thinking of her fiancé, Arthur. Lucy feels that the recent events are like a dream, yet she has a \"vague memory of something long and dark with red eyes ... and something very sweet and very bitter all around, sinking into deep green water.\" Her \"soul seemed to go out from [her] body and float about in the air.\" She tells Mina there was suddenly \"a sort of agonizing feeling.\" And then Mina woke her.\nOn the 19th of August, Mina receives news of Jonathan—he is in a hospital in Budapest. Mina intends to leave the next morning to go to Budapest to be with him; Jonathan apparently has been hospitalized because of brain fever. In a letter from a Sister Agatha, Mina is warned that she should be prepared to spend some time at the hospital, for Jonathan's illness is very serious.\nThe narrative shifts then to Dr. Seward's diary. Renfield, it seems, has had a swift and drastic change in personality. He has periods of excitement, and he acts as if he were a caged animal. He had been respectful, but recently, he has become quite \"haughty.\" He has told Seward that \"the Master is at hand.\" Dr. Seward attributes Renfield's condition to a \"religious mania.\" Renfield's pets (the spiders, flies, and sparrows) are no longer important to him. Later that night, Renfield escapes. Dr. Seward and several attendants follow Renfield to Carfax (the destination of the fifty boxes of earth belonging to Count Dracula). Following him onto the grounds, Seward finds Renfield \"pressed close against the old iron-bound oak door of the chapel,\" apparently talking to someone. Renfield is apparently addressing someone whom he calls \"Master\"; Renfield seems to consider himself a slave. Dr. Seward and the attendants put a restraint on Renfield and return him to his cell. There, Renfield says that he \"shall be patient, Master.\"\n \nChapters 7 & 8: Commentary\nOnce again Stoker relies on clever stylistic devices to add verisimilitude to his story. By using newspaper clippings, the ship's log, the medical journal, excerpts from telegrams and diaries, he builds a cumulative picture of events as though they might really have happened and, thus, he gives greater credence to this improbable story.\nThe ship that was sighted at the end of Chapter 6 has turned out to be the ship which was carrying the loads of dirt from Count Dracula's estate, the cargo that Jonathan Harker saw being loaded on wagons in Transylvania. Apparently, Count Dracula himself is \"residing\" in one of these boxes. The storm, the howling dogs, and the mysterious disappearance of the sailors—all are symbolic of the approaching evil which is represented by Count Dracula. It is clear that Dracula is a harbinger of the natural catastrophes which are occurring. His evil presence is felt by old Mr. Swales, who at his advanced age cannot withstand the horrors represented by the arrival of Dracula and is found dead, murdered to make it seem as though he were killed accidentally. It can be assumed that the mysterious dog that came from the ship was Dracula himself in one of his guises, and that it was responsible for knocking the old man down and causing his death. Many supernatural things, like Mr. Swales's death, are never fully explained by Stoker, leaving all the events surrounded by an aura of superstition and mystery.\nThe calm Victorian life, filled with all of the amenities of life, is being penetrated by everything which Dracula represents, and the disruption is seen mainly in the manner in which he \"penetrates\" a young virgin's (Lucy's) neck, sucking both life and blood from her.\nThe illness of Arthur Holmwood's father (only slightly mentioned), as well as the approaching death of Lucy's mother, seem cabalistically linked to the approach and arrival of Count Dracula, and, thus, by the end of the novel we will see that both Lucy and her mother have become victims of the intruding spectre of horror. Dracula is more than just a vampire, more than just a satanic presence affecting only a few; he is also a symbol of total social disruption and chaos. If not stopped, he will destroy all of Victorian society. Count Dracula's appearance and his satanic presence—his black clothes, his fiery red eyes, and his pale features—are a total contrast to the winsome, innocent, and virginal presence of the two ladies (Lucy and Mina) who represent purity.\nOnce again, Stoker inverts the traditional Christian myth when Renfield anticipates and looks forward to the arrival of his \"lord and master\" in the person of Count Dracula. Stoker, in an interesting choice of phraseology, considers Renfield's behavior at Carfax as though Renfield is experiencing a \"Real Presence,\" as though Dracula were the (perverted) Holy Ghost. The entire scene is a perversion of the Catholic communion, wherein the Real Presence of the Holy Ghost is present each time that the Eucharist is administered.\nIn terms of the narrative structure so far, we don't know why Count Dracula left Transylvania to come to England—rather than go somewhere else, or even why he had to leave his native country. However, in these chapters, we find out that Jonathan Harker did escape, but his method of escape will never be revealed to us; remember that when we last saw him, he was a prisoner in Dracula's castle, surrounded by wolves and supernatural beings. Yet suddenly, without explanation, he appears in Budapest, where he is cared for by nurses.\n \n \nChapters 9 & 10: Summary\nIn a letter from Budapest, Mina tells Lucy that she has arrived safely and that she has found Jonathan Harker greatly changed. He is only a shadow of his former self, and he remembers very little of what has happened to him; he suffered a terrible shock, and his brain has a mental block against whatever caused his present condition.\nSister Agatha, who has attended him, has told Mina that he raved and ranted about dreadful and unspeakable things, so dreadful that she often had \"to cross herself.\" Sister Agatha maintains that \"his fear is of great and horrible things, which no mortal can think of.\" Mina notices a notebook and wonders if she could look through it for some clue as to what happened; Jonathan tells her that he has had brain fever, and he thinks that the cause of the brain fever might be recorded in the notebook. However, he does not ever want to read the contents of the book himself. Thus he gives the journal to Mina and says that if she wants to read it she may, but he never wants to read it lest it cause some horror in their married life.\nMina informs Lucy that she and Jonathan have decided to get married immediately, and, that very afternoon, the marriage ceremony was performed. As a wedding gift, Mina took the notebook, wrapped it, tied it, and sealed it in wax, using her wedding ring as the seal, saying that she would never open it unless it were for his—Jonathan's—sake. After reading her friend's letter, Lucy sends Mina a letter of congratulations, telling her that she herself is feeling quite healthy.\nDr. Seward records in his diary that Renfield has now grown very quiet and often murmurs to himself, \"Now I can wait, now I can wait.\" He does not speak to anyone, even when he is offered a kitten or a full grown cat as a pet. He responds, \"I don't take any stock in cats. I have more to think of now.\"\nThis has happened for three nights; now, Seward plans to arrange a way for Renfield to escape so that they can follow him. At an unexpected moment, however, Renfield escapes. The attendant follows him to Carfax, where he is again pressed against the old chapel door.\nWhen Renfield sees Dr. Seward, he tries to attack him, but is restrained. Renfield grows strangely calm, and Dr. Seward becomes aware that Renfield is staring at something in the moonlit sky. Upon following his gaze, Seward can see nothing, however, but an exceptionally large bat.\nLucy Westenra, (on the 24th of August) records in her diary that she has been dreaming, as she did earlier at Whitby (she is now at Hillingham, another of the houses which her family owns). Also, she notes that her mother's health is declining. On the night of the 25th, she writes that she awoke around midnight to the sound of something scratching and flapping at the window. When she awoke in the morning, she was pale, and her throat pained her severely.\nArthur Holmwood writes to Dr. Seward on the 31st of August, asking him to visit Lucy and examine her. Then, the next day, he telegrams Dr. Seward to inform him that he has been called to his father's bedside, where he wants Dr. Seward to contact him.\nOn the 2nd of September, Dr. Seward writes to Arthur Holmwood that Lucy's health does not conform to any malady that he knows of, and that Lucy is somewhat reluctant to have him examine her completely. Dr. Seward is concerned about her \"somewhat bloodless condition\" because there are no signs of anemia. Lucy complains of difficulty in breathing, lethargic sleep, and dreams that frighten her. Dr. Seward is so concerned that he has sent for his old friend and master, the famous Professor Van Helsing of Amsterdam. The doctor is a profound philosopher, a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day.\nIn a letter of response, Dr. Van Helsing tells Dr. Seward that his affairs will allow him to come immediately, and that he is happy to do Dr. Seward a favor since Dr. Seward once saved his life. Consequently, Dr. Seward is able to write to Arthur Holmwood on the 3rd of September that Dr. Van Helsing has already seen Lucy and that he too is concerned about her condition, yet he has not said what is wrong with Lucy, except that there is no apparent functional cause of her illness. However, Dr. Van Helsing insists that a telegram be sent to him every day in Amsterdam letting him know about Lucy's condition.\nIn his diary, Dr. Seward notes that Renfield is often becoming violent at the stroke of noon and that he often howls like a wolf, disturbing the other patients. Later, the same day, he seems very contented, \"catching flies and eating them.\" He has more sugar now and is reaping quite a harvest of flies, keeping them in a box as he did earlier. He asks for more sugar, which Dr. Seward promises to get for him. At midnight, Dr. Seward records another change in the patient. Visiting Renfield at sunset, he witnesses Renfield trying \"to grab the sun\" just as it sinks; then Renfield sinks to the floor. Rising, Renfield dusts the sugar and crumbs from his ledge, tosses all his flies out the window, and says, \"I'm sick of all that rubbish.\" Dr. Seward wonders if the sun (or the moon) has any influence on Renfield's \"paroxysms of sudden passion.\"\nDr. Seward sends telegrams on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of September to Dr. Van Helsing, the final one being a desperate plea for Dr. Van Helsing to visit Lucy, for her condition has become much worse. Seward then sends a letter to Arthur, telling him that Lucy's condition is worse and that Van Helsing is coming to attend her. Seward cannot tell Lucy's mother about the problem because of the old woman's heart condition.\nIn his diary, Dr. Seward says that when Van Helsing arrived he was admonished to keep everything about this case a secret until they are certain about what is going on. Dr. Seward is anxious to know as much as possible about the case, but Van Helsing thinks that it is too premature to discuss it. When they reach Lucy's room, Dr. Seward is horrified by Lucy's ghastly pale, white face, the prominence of her bones, and her painful breathing. Observing Lucy's condition, Van Helsing frantically realizes that she must be given an immediate blood transfusion or she will die. Dr. Seward is prepared to give blood himself when Arthur suddenly arrives, volunteering that he will give \"the last drop of blood in my body for her.\"\nWhile Dr. Van Helsing is administering the transfer of blood from Arthur to Lucy, he gives Lucy a narcotic to allow her to sleep. After awhile, the transfusion restores color to Lucy's face, while Arthur, meanwhile, grows paler and paler. During the transfusion, the scarf around Lucy's throat falls away, and Dr. Seward notices the red marks on Lucy's throat. Later, Van Helsing asks Seward what he thinks about the marks. As they examine the wounds, they notice that they occur \"just over the external jugular vein ... two punctures, not large, but not wholesome looking.\" There is no sign of disease, and Seward wonders if this is not how the blood is lost. Van Helsing has to leave, and so he orders Seward to stay all night and watch over Lucy. The next morning (September 8th), Seward thinks Lucy looks better. He recalls the conversation of the evening before, when Lucy told him she did not like to go to sleep because \"all that weakness comes to me in sleep.\" However, when Seward promised to stay with her all night, she slept soundly.\nNext day, Dr. Seward had to work all day at the asylum, and that night, the 9th of September, he was extremely exhausted by work and the lack of sleep. Therefore, when Lucy showed him a room next to hers, a room with a sofa, he instinctively stretched out and fell asleep. That night, Lucy recorded in her diary how safe she feels with Dr. Seward sleeping close by.\nDr. Seward records in his diary that early on the morning of September 10th, he was awakened by the gentle hand of Dr. Van Helsing, and together they went to visit Lucy. They found her—horribly white, with shrunken gums, lips pale and blue, and looking as though she were a corpse. Immediately, they realized that another transfusion would be essential. This time, Dr. Seward is the only person available for giving blood, and he does so, \"for the woman he loved.\" Van Helsing reminds Seward that nothing is to be said of this. Again they examine the little punctures in her throat; the wounds now have a \"ragged, exhausted appearance at their edges.\"\nIn the afternoon, Van Helsing is with Lucy when the professor opens a large bundle. He opens it, hands Lucy the contents, and instructs Lucy to wear the flowers around her neck: Lucy, recognizing that \"the flowers\" are common garlic, thinks that he is joking. Van Helsing tells her that he is not joking; he says that the garlic is a special garlic, coming all the way from Haarlem (a town in Holland). Dr. Seward skeptically observes all of this, wondering if Van Helsing is \"working some spell to keep out an evil spirit.\" Van Helsing places other bits of garlic around the room, and when they leave he tells Dr. Seward that he will be able to sleep peacefully tonight since all is well.\n \nChapters 9 & 10: Commentary\nJonathan Harker's journal ended on the 30th of June, and it is still with him in the hospital, sealed and to be opened and transcribed later by Mina. The entire novel, then, is, to a large degree, held together by Harker's journal, and his observations become instrumental in resolving the mystery of Dracula.\nThroughout these two chapters, Lucy's health declines and improves, only to decline again. Constant emphasis is given to the two small wounds on her neck, and the reader must assume, although the author does not state it, that the expansion of the wounds and the decline of Lucy's health is a result of the vampire's repeated bloodsucking.\nIn addition to focusing on bloodsucking, these chapters include other examples of the Vampire-Gothic tradition. There is Renfield, who howls at noon (Dracula's powers are weakest then), yet Renfield is calm at sunset. There is also the presence of bats, as well as other mysterious \"noises.\" Mainly, however, these chapters are concerned with the transfusion of blood into Lucy. Of course, Stoker is playing on the notion of a lover's life's blood. Recall that Arthur declares, \"My life is hers, and I would give the last drop of blood in my body for her.\" The same thing, in a perverted sense, can be said for Lucy's blood, which is given to her \"demon lover,\" the vampire. The same thing is happening when Dr. Seward gives his blood to his beloved Lucy, and finally, in future chapters, Van Helsing, who has learned to love Lucy as a daughter, will gladly give his blood to save her. Each time, Van Helsing points out that the blood is from a strong, powerful, virile young man, yet he is continually vexed as to how the lady's strength disappears. Of note here is the fact that it was dangerous to give such transfusions, because if the blood wasn't of a matching type, it could have possibly killed her. In emergencies, however, any blood is usually given to a patient if a transfusion will, hopefully, save a life.\n \n \nChapters 11–13: Summary\nOn the 12th of September, Lucy is perplexed by the presence of the garlic flowers, but she has such trust in Van Helsing that she is not frightened to fall asleep that night.\nIn Dr. Seward's diary, we learn that he picked up Van Helsing and went to see Lucy the next day. They met Mrs. Westenra in the hall and discovered that she had checked on Lucy, found the room very \"stuffy,\" and, thus, she removed those \"horrible, strong smelling flowers\" from around Lucy's neck and from here and there in the room, and then opened the windows in order for the room to air out. Van Helsing was very restrained in the presence of Mrs. Westenra, but as soon as she had left, Dr. Seward saw Van Helsing break down and begin to \"sob with loud, dry sobs, that seemed to come from the very wracking of his heart.\" He feels that they are \"sore beset\" by some pagan fate. He recovers, and then he rushes to Lucy's room. Lucy is on the verge of death, and Seward knows that she must have another transfusion immediately, or she will die. This time, Van Helsing must be the donor since Seward has given blood to her so recently. Later, Van Helsing gently warns Mrs. Westenra that she must never remove anything from Lucy's room because the \"flowers\" and other objects have medicinal value.\nFour days later, Lucy records that she is feeling much better. Even the bats flapping at her window, the harsh voices, and the distant sounds do not bother her any more.\nAt this point, the story is interrupted with a newspaper article about an \"escaped wolf.\" The article tells about a curious incident a few nights earlier. It seems that when the moon was shining one night, all of the wolves of the zoo began to howl and a \"big grey dog was seen coming close to the cages where the wolves were.\" When the zoo keeper checked the cells at midnight, he found one of the wolves missing. Suddenly the big wolf, Bersicker, returned home, docile and peaceful, except that his head was peppered with broken glass.\nDr. Seward's diary records how, on the 17th of September, he was attacked by Renfield in his office. Renfield grabbed a knife, cut Seward's wrist rather severely, and a puddle of blood formed on the floor; Renfield then began \"licking it up like a dog,\" murmuring over and over to himself, \"The blood is life.\"\nVan Helsing telegraphs Seward, telling him to meet him at Lucy's house that night. The telegram, however, doesn't arrive until almost morning, and Seward leaves immediately for Lucy's—on the 18th of September. On the 17th of September, at nighttime, Lucy records everything she can remember in a memorandum: she was awakened by a flapping at the window and was frightened because no one was in the house; she tried to stay awake and heard something like the howl of a dog, but it was more fierce and frightening. She looked out the window, but could see only a big bat flapping its wings. Disturbed by the noise, her mother came into the room and got into bed with her. The flapping continued, and Lucy tried to calm her mother. Suddenly there was a low howl, broken glass was flying into the room, and in the window was seen \"the head of a great, gaunt, grey wolf.\" Lucy's mother, frightened, clutched at the wreath of garlic and tore it from Lucy's neck in fright. When the wolf drew its head back, there seemed to be a \"whole myriad of little specks ... wheeling and circling around like a pillar of dust.\" Lucy found her mother lying lifeless, and then Lucy lost consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness a short time later, the four household maids came in and were so frightened at the sight of Mrs. Westenra's body that Lucy instructed them to go into the dining room to fetch a glass of wine. Later, when Lucy checked on them, she found them all unconscious, and upon examining the decanter, she discovered that it reeked of laudanum (an opium and alcohol mixture used as a painkiller). Lucy realizes that she is alone in the house, and she wonders where she can hide her memorandum so that someone can find it next day.\nIn his diary (September 18th), Dr. Seward records that he arrives at Lucy's house but isn't admitted inside. A moment later, Van Helsing arrives, and he learns that Seward did not get the telegram instructing him to stay the night. They go to the rear of the house, break in and discover the four servant women's bodies. Running to Lucy's room, they see a horror indescribable to them. Lucy's mother is dead, partly covered with a white sheet. Lucy herself is unconscious, her throat bare, the two white wounds horribly mangled, and Lucy lifeless as a corpse. Before a transfusion can be considered, however, they must warm Lucy.\nThey revive the maids and order them to heat water, towels, and sheets. As they are wondering how to proceed next, since neither of them can give blood at the moment, and the maids are too superstitious to be relied upon, Quincey Morris arrives. He reminds them that he also loved Lucy, and he will give his blood to save her. While the transfusion is taking place, Van Helsing hands Seward a piece of paper that dropped from Lucy's nightgown as they carried her to the bath. Seward reads it and is vexed by its contents. He asks Van Helsing about it. The grim reality confronting them immediately, however, is to get a certificate of death filled out for Mrs. Westenra.\nLater, Quincey questions Dr. Seward about Lucy's illness; he wonders where all of the blood which she received from Arthur, Seward, and Van Helsing has gone. He is reminded of a time \"on the Pampas ... [when] one of those big bats that they call vampires\" attacked one of his prize mares, and the mare had to be shot.\nWhen Lucy awakens late in the afternoon, she feels her breast for the note (which Dr. Van Helsing returned); she finds it and tears it to pieces. That night, Lucy sleeps peacefully, but her mouth \"show[s] pale gums drawn back from the teeth,\" which look sharper and longer than usual.\nThat night (September 19th) Arthur Holmwood arrives to stay with Lucy. Dr. Seward's entry for September 20th notes that he is despondent and depressed. Arthur's father's death, along with the death of Mrs. Westenra, has disheartened him, and, it seems, Lucy's condition is worsening. Arthur, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing take turns looking over her. Van Helsing has placed garlic all around the room, as well as around Lucy's neck, and he has covered the wounds on her neck with a silk handkerchief. Lucy's canine teeth appear longer and sharper than the rest. Around midnight, Seward hears a noise outside Lucy's window, and he sees a great bat flying around. When he checks on Lucy, he discovers that she has removed the garlic from around her neck. Seward also notices that she seems to be fluctuating between two states—when she is conscious, she clutches the flowers close to her neck, but when she is unconscious, she pushes the garlic from her, as though it were abhorrent. At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 20th, when Van Helsing examines Lucy, he is shocked and calls for light. The wounds on Lucy's throat have disappeared. He announces that she will soon be dead. Arthur is awakened so that he can be with her at the end, and when he comes to her, she revives. As Arthur stoops to kiss her, Van Helsing notes that Lucy's teeth seem as though they are about to fasten onto Arthur's throat. He stops Arthur and tells him to simply hold Lucy's hand, for it will comfort her more. Seward again notices that Lucy's teeth look longer and sharper than before, and suddenly Lucy opens her eyes and says to Arthur \"in a soft voluptuous voice\" that Seward has never heard before \"Arthur, Oh my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me.\" As Arthur bends to kiss her, Van Helsing, in a fury of strength, flings Arthur across the room, saying, \"Not for your living soul, and hers!\" He then instructs Arthur to come and kiss her on the forehead, only once. Suddenly, Lucy is dead! And in death, Lucy seems to regain some of the beauty that she had in life. Seward remarks, \"It is the end!\" but Van Helsing replies, \"Not so. It is only the beginning. We can do nothing as yet. Wait and see.\"\nChapter 13 begins with a continuation of Dr. Seward's diary, where we read that arrangements are made for Lucy and her mother to be buried at the same time. Meanwhile, Arthur must return to bury his father. Van Helsing, who is also a lawyer, looks through Lucy's papers and retrieves all those documents which he feels might give him a clue about her death.\nThat night, Seward is confused by Van Helsing's actions. Van Helsing once again takes a handful of wild garlic and places the garlic all around the room and around Lucy's coffin, and then he takes a small gold crucifix and places it over Lucy's mouth. Then he makes an astonishing request to Seward. Tomorrow, he wants Seward to help him cut off Lucy's head, take out her heart, and, as we later learn, stuff her mouth with garlic. They will have to do it after the coffin has been sealed so that Arthur and others will not see the mutilated body. Seward is confused about the need for mutilating the poor girl's body, but Van Helsing tells him to be patient about an explanation; then he reminds him of that moment when Lucy was dying, when she reached up to kiss Arthur. At that moment Lucy gained consciousness enough to thank the good doctor for his actions. He reminds Seward that \"there are strange and terrible days before us.\"\nAfter a good sleep, Van Helsing awakens Seward with perplexing news—someone has stolen the crucifix from Lucy's mouth during the night. Now they must wait to see what happens.\nWhen Arthur returns, he tries to explain his total despair to Seward—he has lost his fiancée, his father, and, now, his fianc�e's mother, all in the matter of just a few days. He looks at Lucy's corpse and doubts that she is really dead. That night, Van Helsing asks Arthur if he can have Lucy's personal papers, assuring him that he will examine them only to determine the cause of Lucy's death. Arthur agrees with Van Helsing's request.\nMina Harker records in her journal (September 22nd) that she and Jonathan are on the train to Exeter. They arrive soon in London and then take a bus to Hyde Park. While strolling about, Mina is alarmed when Jonathan suddenly has another \"nervous fit.\" She follows Jonathan's gaze to discover Jonathan is staring in terror at a \"tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard.\" Jonathan exclaims \"It is the man himself!\" In a few minutes, the man hails a carriage and leaves. Jonathan is convinced that it is Count Dracula. That night, Mina receives a telegram from Van Helsing, who informs her that Mrs. Westenra and Lucy have died.\nThe chapter concludes with an excerpt from the Westminster Gazette (September 25th), three days after the funeral. According to the article, the area surrounding Hampstead Hill, the area where Lucy was buried, has been terrorized by a mysterious woman whom the local children refer to as \"the Bloofer Lady.\"\n \nChapters 11–13: Commentary\nThese chapters include some of the more traditional treatments for handling or warding off the presence of vampires. Van Helsing, who is the only one knowledgeable about demonology and in particular about vampire lore, sends for garlic and hangs Lucy's entire room, especially the windows, with it; then he makes a wreath of garlic to drape around Lucy's neck, and he also places a crucifix around her neck. The garlic and the crucifix are two traditional agents that have become associated with the devices that can be used to ward off vampires.\nIn these chapters, it is clear that evil spirits can accomplish their aims in devious sorts of ways, as attested to by sixteenth-century legends concerning Faust. For example, even though Lucy is locked in her room and protected from the vampire by the profusion of garlic, the evil spirit of the Un-Dead is able to summon a wolf from his cage in a zoo, have him smash in a window, and thereby enable the vampire to enter the room. The smashing of the window and the wolf's horrible and terrifying attempt to enter the room cause Lucy's mother to panic and to rip the garlic away from Lucy's throat, leaving Lucy vulnerable to attack. The evil presence of the vampire manages to \"materialize\" inside Lucy's room, where it drugs the four household maids, thus preventing their aiding Lucy.\nIt is interesting to note that at this point, while we have been using the term \"vampire\" off-handedly, Quincey Morris's discussion of the vampire bat is the first time that the term \"vampire\" has actually been used in the novel. Stoker is careful to point out, or to detail, the lengthening of Lucy's canine teeth so that they resemble the archetypical vampire teeth, the teeth that the vampire uses to suck blood from its victim.\nAs a sidenote, it is interesting to consider that within a week we have witnessed the deaths of four people intimately associated with either Lucy or Mina: Lucy's mother, Mr. Hawkins (Jonathan's employer), and Arthur's father (Lord Godalming) have died (thus causing Arthur Holmwood to inherit the title), and, of course, Lucy herself has died.\nEarly in Chapter 11, when Van Helsing finds out that Lucy's mother took the garlic out of Lucy's room, Van Helsing, for the first time in his life, breaks down, loses his composure, and sobs bitterly. This is a dramatic device, used to indicate the magnitude of the evil which he is facing.\nIn this novel and other similar stories, Van Helsing represents those powers for good combating the powers of evil which are so dimly known and which so few people believe; thus, the deaths and Van Helsing's dejected state illustrate how completely the evil of Dracula has affected society.\nAs we will discover, Lucy is, in fact, the Bloofer Lady. Recall that she died on September 20th, and the first appearance of the Bloofer Lady occurred after Lucy's burial on the 22nd; thus, Lucy has risen from the dead after three days—in a dreadful perversion of the Christian Resurrection.\n \n \nChapters 14–16: Summary\nMina decides to transcribe the journal which Jonathan kept at the Castle Dracula in Transylvania. On the 24th of September, she receives a letter from Dr. Van Helsing asking her if he may discuss Lucy's illness with her. Mina agrees to see him and, that day, Van Helsing arrives. This is the first time that Mina has met Van Helsing, and she gives him Jonathan's journal, which she has finished transcribing. Later that day, Mina receives a note from Van Helsing in which he expresses an intense desire to meet Jonathan. Mina suggests that Van Helsing come for breakfast on the next day.\nFor the first time in several months, Jonathan Harker begins another diary (or journal). In the new journal, he writes that he is sure that Count Dracula has reached London; in fact, it was the Count whom he saw in Hyde Park. That day Jonathan meets Van Helsing, and the two discuss Jonathan's trip to Transylvania. Just before Van Helsing leaves, he notices an article in the local paper, and he becomes visibly shaken.\nDr. Seward also begins keeping a diary again, even though earlier he had resolved never to do so again. In his diary, Seward notes that Renfield is his same old self—that is, Renfield is back to counting flies and spiders. Seward notes that Arthur seems to be doing well and that Quincey Morris is with him. That very day, in fact, Van Helsing shows him the article in the paper concerning the Bloofer Lady. Van Helsing points out that the injuries to the children are similar to Lucy's neck injury; therefore, the incidents have something in common. Seward is skeptical that there is any connection between the injuries, but Van Helsing berates him, asking him, \"Do you not think that there are things that you cannot understand and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?\" Van Helsing continues to urge Seward to believe in things supernatural, to believe in things which, heretofore, he did not believe in. In desperation, Van Helsing finally tells Seward that the marks on the children \"were made by Miss Lucy\" (Chapter 15).\nFor awhile, Seward has to struggle to master his anger against Van Helsing, and he questions the sanity of the good doctor. Van Helsing points out that he knows how difficult it is to believe something horrible, particularly about one so beloved as Lucy, but he offers to prove his accusation that very night.\nThe two men have a mutual acquaintance (Dr. Vincent), who is in charge of one of the children who was injured by the Bloofer Lady. They plan to visit the child and then to visit Lucy's grave.\nThe child is awake when Van Helsing and Seward arrive, and Dr. Vincent removes the bandages from around the child's neck, exposing the puncture wounds, which are identical to those which were on Lucy's throat. Dr. Vincent attributes the marks to some animal, perhaps a bat.\nWhen they leave the hospital, it is already dark, and they go immediately to the cemetery and find the Westenra tomb. They enter the tomb and light a candle. To Seward's dismay, Van Helsing begins to open the coffin. Seward expects a rush of gas from the week-old corpse, but when the coffin is finally opened, they discover it to be empty.\nSeward, despite what he sees, is not convinced; he believes a body-snatcher may have stolen the corpse. The two leave the tomb, and Van Helsing and Seward take up vigils in the cemetery near the Westenra tomb. After some hours, Seward sees \"something like a white streak\" and, then, at the same time, he sees something move near Van Helsing. When he approaches Van Helsing, he discovers that Van Helsing is holding a small child in his arms. Still, this is not proof enough for Seward. They take the child where a policeman will be sure to find it, and they then head home, planning to meet at noontime the next day.\nThe next day (September 27th), they return to the cemetery, and as soon as possible, they reenter the Westenra tomb and reopen the coffin again. To Seward's shock and dismay, there lies the lovely Lucy, \"more radiantly beautiful than ever.\" Still, Seward is not convinced; again, he wonders if someone might not have placed her there, but he cannot understand why she looks so beautiful after being dead an entire week. Van Helsing then tells Seward that a horrible thing must be done: They must cut off Lucy's head, fill her mouth with garlic, and drive a stake through her heart. Yet before doing it, Van Helsing has second thoughts. He feels that he cannot perform the act without Arthur's and Quincey's knowing about it, since they both loved her and gave their blood for her.\nThat night, Van Helsing informs Seward that he intends to watch the Westenra tomb and try to prevent Lucy's prowling about by blocking the tomb's door with garlic and a crucifix. He leaves Seward a set of instructions which he is to follow if something should happen to him.\nThe following night (September 28th) Arthur and Quincey come to Van Helsing's room. After the two are convinced of Van Helsing's good intentions and have his trust, Van Helsing informs them of the things which he intends to do. First, he will open the coffin (which Arthur strongly objects to—until Van Helsing explains that Lucy might be one of the \"Un-Dead\"), then he will perform the necessary \"service.\" Arthur, however, will not consent to any mutilation of Lucy's body. Van Helsing pleads that he must do these things for Lucy's sake, so that her soul will rest peacefully. A few hours later, the four men go to the cemetery. In the tomb, the coffin lid is removed, and they all see that the coffin is empty. Van Helsing asks for Seward's confirmation that the body was in the coffin yesterday; Seward, of course, concurs with Van Helsing. Van Helsing then begins an intricate ceremony: From his bag he removes a \"thin, wafer-like biscuit\" and crumbles it to a fine powder; then, he mixes the crumbs with a doughy substance and begins to roll the material into the crevices between the door jam and the mausoleum door. Van Helsing informs them that he is sealing the tomb so that the \"Un-Dead may not enter.\" He informs them that the wafer was \"the host\" which he brought with him from Amsterdam. The four men hide among some trees near the tomb and begin waiting. Soon, by the light of the moon, the men see a ghostly white figure moving through the cemetery. As it nears them, it becomes all too apparent that the creature is, indeed, Lucy Westenra. According to Seward's diary entry, her \"sweetness was turned to adamantine ... and the purity to voluptuous wantonness.\" The four men surround her before the tomb. Lucy's lips are covered with fresh blood, and her burial gown is stained with blood. Upon learning that she is surrounded, Lucy reacts like a cornered animal. The child which she holds is tossed to the ground, and she moves towards Arthur saying, \"Come, my husband, come.\" Arthur's love turns to hate and disgust, yet he is also petrified with fear. Just as Lucy is about to attack him, Van Helsing repels her with a crucifix. Dashing towards the tomb, she is prevented from entry by the host, which Van Helsing placed earlier around the door. Asking Arthur if he is to proceed with his duty, Arthur responds: \"Do as you will ... There can be no horror ever any more.\" Advancing on the tomb, Van Helsing removes the seal around the door, and immediately, the ghostly body passes through the interstices and vanishes inside. After witnessing this, the men return home for a night's rest.\nThe next night (September 29th), the four men return to the Westenra tomb and perform the necessary ceremonies which destroy the vampire. Arthur himself must drive the stake through his fiancée's heart. Before parting ways that evening, they vow to join together and seek out \"the author of all this our sorrow\" (Count Dracula) and destroy him.\n \nChapters 14–16: Commentary\nIn these chapters, even though we have heard earlier that Jonathan Harker's journal was to be sealed as a bond of faith between Jonathan and Mina, we now discover that Mina has not only read it but transcribed it because Dr. Van Helsing thinks that something in it might provide a clue about the mystery of Lucy's death. Thus, as the novel began with Jonathan Harker's journal and then progressed for many chapters without his narration, now Mina and Harker are again both drawn back into the main story.\nThis novel has set the course for all subsequent vampire lore—for example, the belief that a wooden stake must be driven through the vampire's heart and that the head must be removed and the mouth stuffed with garlic. All of the numerous, subsequent treatments of the vampire legend depend on these factors.\nFurthermore, in Chapter 16, the term nosferatu is used. Stoker tells us that it is an Eastern European term and that it means the \"Un-Dead\"; this is the first time that all of the protagonists are privy to all of the information that Van Helsing has so far withheld. As a point of historical fact, Nosferatu is the title of two German films that deal with the Dracula legend (See the section on Filmography ). Furthermore, the translation of \"nosferatu\" as the \"Un-Dead\" has now become standard usage.\nIt is interesting that the love which Arthur, Quincey, and Seward had for Lucy has been basely transfigured into hate at the sight of Lucy; moreover, it is somewhat surprising that these lusty men are disgusted at the abundant sensuality of Lucy, now that she is a vampire. When she approaches Arthur in her vampire form, it is with a sensual embrace. Instead of arousing passion, however, there is only a feeling of repulsion and disgust. It is clear that in her vampire form, Lucy's carnal aspect is highlighted and emphasized. The ceremony which kills her \"Un-Dead\" self frees her pure spirit from the sinful, carnal nature of her body and is a rite of purification, as symbolized by the sudden return of innocent beauty to her face at the conclusion of the ceremony.\n \n \nChapters 17–19: Summary\nDr. Seward's diary continues sometime later, and he details for us his first meeting with Mina Harker. Mina, he says, will travel with Seward to Seward's asylum, where she will stay as a guest. In her journal, Mina details the discussion which she and Seward had concerning Lucy's death. Mina agrees to type out Seward's diary, which has heretofore been kept on a phonograph. Seward is horror-struck that Mina may discover the true nature of Lucy's death, but Mina, through her persistence, convinces Seward to allow her to listen to the phonograph cylinders. Later, both Seward and Mina express their dismay at the stories which they read in each other's respective diaries.\nThe next day (September 30th), Jonathan arrives, and Seward expresses his admiration for Jonathan's courage. For the first time, Seward realizes that Count Dracula might be next door, at the estate at Carfax. Seward concludes his diary, noting that Renfield has been calm for several days. Seward assumes that Renfield's outbreak was due to Dracula's proximity.\nJonathan Harker discovers from his journey to Whitby that the \"fifty cases of common earth\" which arrived on Dracula's ship have been sent to the old chapel at Carfax. While Jonathan assumes that all fifty cases are still at Carfax, we later learn that Count Dracula has had them sent to various locations in and around London.\nMina is both pleased and inspired by the resolute, determined energy which she now sees in Jonathan; he now seems cured of his illness, full \"of life and hope and determination.\" Later on the 30th, Arthur Holmwood—now referred to as Lord Godalming—and Quincey Morris arrive. Lord Godalming is still physically shaken by the deaths of his father, Mrs. Westenra, and Lucy. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he breaks down and cries like a baby on Mina's breast.\nIn Chapter 18, Dr. Seward notes that Mina Harker wishes to see Renfield. He takes her to Renfield's room, and Renfield, curiously, asks them to wait until he tidies things up. \"His method of tidying was peculiar. He simply swallowed all the flies and spiders in the boxes ...\" Renfield is extremely polite to Mina and seems to respond in a most sane way to her inquiries. Van Helsing arrives and is pleased to discover that all the records—diaries, journals, etc.—are in order and that all those intimate with the Count now are to be presented with the facts surrounding the case.\nMina Harker, in her journal (September 30th), recalls in detail many of the things known about vampires, a subject which prior to this time she has been ignorant of. Van Helsing presents many conclusions about the nosferatu (or the \"Un-Dead\"): (1) They do not die; (2) can be as strong as twenty men; (3) can direct the elements—storms, fog, thunder, etc.; (4) can command the rat, the owl, the bat, the wolf, the fox, and the dog; (5) can grow large or become small at will; (6) can, at times, vanish and \"become unknown\"; and (7) can appear at will in different forms. The problem which the vampire's adversary must overcome is how to deal successfully with all of these obstacles. They all make a pact to work together in order to see how \"the general powers arrayed against us can be controlled and to consider the limitations of the vampire.\" Van Helsing points out that the vampire has been known in all lands all over the world. From the world's information about vampires, it is known that: (1) the vampire cannot die due to the passing of time; (2) the vampire flourishes on the blood of human beings; (3) the vampire grows younger after feeding on blood; (4) its physical strength and vital faculties are refreshed by blood; (5) it cannot survive without blood; (6) it can survive for great lengths of time without any nourishment; (7) it throws no shadow; (8) it makes no reflection in a mirror; (9) it has the strength of many; (10) it can control wild packs of wolves and can become a wolf (as the Count did when his ship arrived at Whitby); (11) the vampire can transform itself into a bat; (12) it can appear in a mist, which it itself can create; (13) the vampire can travel on moonlight rays as elemental dust; (14) it can become so small and transparent that it can pass through the tiniest crevices; and (15) it can see perfectly in the dark. Its limitations are as follows: (1) it cannot enter a household unless it is summoned first; (2) its power ceases at daylight; (3) in whatever form it is in when daylight comes, it will remain in that form until sunset; (4) the vampire must always return to the unhallowed earth of its coffin, which restores its strength (this, of course, is the purpose of the fifty cases of earth); (5) garlic is abhorrent to a vampire; (6) the crucifix, holy water, and holy wafers (the host) are anathemas; (7) it is rendered inactive if a wild rose is placed over it; and (8) death occurs when a wooden stake is driven through the heart, the head cut off, and garlic stuffed in the mouth.\nAs Van Helsing concludes his lecture, Quincey Morris leaves the room, and a shot is heard outside. Morris explains that he saw a bat and fired at it.\nOn October 1st, early in the morning, Dr. Seward records that as they were about to leave the asylum, he received an urgent message from Renfield. The others ask if they may attend the meeting with Renfield, and they are astonished at the brilliance and lucidity of Renfield's plea to be released immediately. His scholarly logic and perfect elocution are that of a totally sane man. His request is denied.\nIn Chapter 19, in his journal, Jonathan Harker records that Seward believes Renfield's erratic behavior to be directly influenced by the immediate proximity of Count Dracula. Later, as they are about to enter Dracula's Carfax residence, Van Helsing distributes objects which will protect each of them from the vampire. The house, they discover, is musty, dusty, and malodorous. They immediately search out the chapel and, to their horror, they can find only twenty-nine of the original fifty boxes of earth. Suddenly, the chapel is filled by a mass of rats.\nTowards noon, Seward records that Van Helsing is deeply fascinated by Renfield. On the same day, Mina feels strange to be left out of Jonathan's confidence, because she has no idea what happened last night, but she does remember that just before falling asleep, she heard unusual sounds and noises outside her window, and she felt as if she were in the grip of a strange lethargy. She thought that she saw a poor man \"with some passionate entreaty on his part\" who wanted inside. She put on her clothes, but she must have fallen asleep or gone into a trance, accompanied by strange dreams. When she awakened she noticed that the window of her bedroom was open, and she was certain that she closed it before she went to sleep.\nThings became confused in her mind, but she recalls seeing two red eyes which alarmed her extremely.\nOn the second of October, she records that she slept but felt very weak that day and asked for an opiate to help her sleep. The chapter closes as Mina feels sleep coming upon her.\n \nChapters 17–19: Commentary\nChapter 17 is the first time in the novel when all of the protagonists are finally together. These six people—Mina, Jonathan, Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Lord Godalming (Arthur), and Quincey Morris—will confront the evil represented by Count Dracula. They must undertake the task by themselves since no authority or outsider would possibly believe their story. These six people, of course, have positive proof of the existence of vampires. In fact, Jonathan feels rejuvenated in health now that he is confronting the evil Count head-on. Stoker is dependent on the tradition that only a few people are privy to information which exposes them to the dangerous forces of the supernatural, thus isolating them from the general populace. This is a standard device of many a thriller and gothic romance.\nChapter 18 is a key chapter of the novel, because for the first time Stoker defines the vampire and its supernatural powers, strengths, and the means by which the vampire can be entrapped. In all subsequent stories concerning vampires or Dracula himself, Stoker's parameters have been used—the garlic, the crucifix, the wooden stake, the holy wafers, etc. This chapter, then, defines the very essence of what constitutes vampire literature. Other authors may vary or slightly redefine these parameters, but the more traditional material concerning vampires is presented here.\nThe later portions of Chapter 19 present us with the first clue, however slight, that Mina Harker is to become the vampire's next victim. It is not by accident that he chooses Mina as his next victim; she is the wife of Jonathan Harker, whom the vampire encountered in Transylvania, and she was the closest friend of his last victim, Lucy Westenra. It is interesting that we are made aware of the Count's visit by the impressionistic writing of Mina herself. For example, she records things in her journal which she does not fully understand or associate with vampirism, but the reader, through dramatic irony, is fully aware of what is transpiring. There is a curious ambiguity presented in this chapter, as to how the vampire gains entrance to Mina's room. Recall that Van Helsing stated that vampires cannot enter a place without first being invited. The reader, at this point, does not have any idea as to how the vampire entered the room, unless it was because of the actions of Mina herself.\n \n \nChapters 20–23: Summary\nJonathan, through his persistent investigations, discovers the whereabouts of twelve more of the boxes of earth: Two groups of six were deposited at two different places in London. Jonathan assumes that it is the Count's plan to scatter the boxes throughout all of London. We should recall that there were twenty-nine boxes in the chapel and, added to the twelve which Jonathan discovered, they have now accounted for forty-one of the original fifty boxes. On the evening of October 2nd, Jonathan receives a note which informs him of the whereabouts of the remaining nine boxes. He also notes that Mina is lethargic and pale, but he puts it out of his mind.\nThat evening, all of the men meet to determine the course of action for retrieving the remaining nine boxes. Once again, Jonathan notes that Mina is very tired and pale.\nDr. Seward notes again that Renfield is remarkably lucid and, what is more, that Renfield seems to be a literate and learned man. Renfield scoffs at the notion of collecting flies and spiders. Later, however, Renfield reverts to his old ways. That night, Seward orders an attendant to stand guard outside Renfield's cell to note any aberrant behavior. Later that night there is a scream from Renfield's cell. Upon rushing to investigate, Seward discovers that Renfield has been seriously hurt—his face has been brutally beaten, there is a pool of blood on the cell floor, and his back is apparently broken.\nSeward knows Renfield himself could not have administered the wounds to his own face—especially with his back broken. Dr. Van Helsing arrives, and they determine that Renfield is slipping fast; thus, they decide to operate immediately. Renfield, realizing that he is dying, tells them in an agony of despair what happened. Apparently, without identifying who it was, he says that he \"came up to the window in the mist ... but he was solid then ... I wouldn't ask him to come in ...\" He maintains that it was \"he\" who used to send the flies and spiders and the rats and dogs, promising that he would give Renfield everything that lives: \"all red blood, with years of life in it.\" Renfield refers to \"him\" as \"Lord and Master.\" Last night, Renfield says, \"he\" slid through the window. Renfield then says that after Mrs. Harker came to see him, he knew she wasn't the same and knew that \"he had been taking the life out of her.\" Renfield tried to attack \"him,\" but he was \"burned,\" and his strength became \"like water.\" Van Helsing realizes that \"he is here and we know his purpose.\"\nThey rush to Mina's door immediately, leaving Renfield, and begin to arm themselves against the vampire. Van Helsing tries to open the door, which is locked, and when they finally break the door down, the sight which greets them is appalling. Jonathan Harker is lying unconscious on the bed and, kneeling on the edge of the bed, is the \"white clad\" Mina. Beside her is a tall thin man, clad in black—Count Dracula himself. His right hand is behind Mina's head, and he is forcing her to suck the blood from a cut in his bare chest. When the Count raises his head to greet them, his eyes are blood-red, his nostrils white, and they see \"white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping mouth, clamped together like those of a wild beast.\" The Count begins to attack them, but is repelled by the sacred wafer which is wielded as a weapon by Van Helsing. The lights go out, and when they come on again they see nothing but a faint vapor escaping under the door. Suddenly, Mina Harker recovers and emits an ear-piercing scream, filled with despair and disgust. Her face is \"ghastly ... from the blood which smeared her lips and cheeks and chin.\" From her throat trickles a thin stream of blood.\nThey have difficulty awakening Jonathan, and soon all traces of the vampire are lost. Mina feels unclean and untouchable. Lord Godalming examines the house and discovers that the Count has apparently destroyed all of their records and that Renfield is dead.\nIn spite of the horror that the story might cause, they ask Mina to recount the entire episode as best she can remember it. She recalls the first time she saw the thin, black clad man with the strange teeth when Lucy was alive, and how he subsequently came to her in her room and placed \"his reeking lips\" upon her throat. Mina would swoon and not know how long Dracula was overpowering her. He told her, \"You are now to me flesh of my flesh when my brain says 'Come,' you shall come.\" With that, he opened his shirt, and with a sharp nail he cut himself across his breast and pressed Mina's mouth to the wound, so that she either had to suffocate or drink the blood.\nIn Chapter 22, Jonathan Harker states that he feels compelled to either write in his journal or go mad after hearing Mina's story. Jonathan wants to stay with his wife, but since it is daylight, he knows that there is no danger to her. They go to Carfax and \"sterilize\" all of the boxes by placing a holy wafer within each of them. They then find a way to enter into the Count's most recent abode in Piccadilly (a prominent London square). Before they leave the asylum, they make sure that Mina is appropriately armed. As Van Helsing touches her forehead with a sacred wafer, Mina lets out a fearful scream because the wafer has seared and burned her forehead. Mina realizes that she is \"unclean\" and pleads with the men to kill her if she becomes a vampire.\nDracula's house in Piccadilly is as malodorous as the one at Carfax. Expecting to find nine boxes of earth, they are astonished to find only eight boxes. They do find keys to all of the other houses belonging to the Count, however, and then Quincey and Lord Godalming go off to destroy the boxes of earth in those houses.\nChapter 23 begins with Van Helsing, Harker, and Seward waiting for the return of Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris. Van Helsing, in an attempt to draw Jonathan's mind from Mina's condition, informs them of his resolution that Dracula must be killed, because, he says, Dracula is expanding his circle of power in order to harm innocent people; he cites Dracula's using Renfield to gain access to Mina. While waiting, they receive a note from Mina informing them that Dracula has left Carfax and is heading south, presumably to spend the evening in one of his other houses.\nLord Godalming and Quincey Morris return with the news that they have \"sterilized\" Dracula's remaining boxes, and Van Helsing suddenly realizes that Dracula will be forced to come to the house at Piccadilly soon. A short time later, they hear a key inserted into the door, and with a gigantic \"panther-like\" leap, Count Dracula enters and eludes their ambush. Through his diabolical quickness, the Count dodges their attempts to kill him, yet with a powerful thrust of a knife, Jonathan manages to rip open the Count's vestments, scattering banknotes and gold. As they corner the Count, he suddenly dodges away from them; then he retrieves a handful of money from the floor and throws himself out a window. As he flees, he taunts the men, reminding them that his revenge has just begun. All of them return to Seward's house, where Mina is awaiting them. Before they retire, Van Helsing prepares Mina's room against the vampire's entry.\nIn Jonathan Harker's journal, early on the morning of the 4th of October, he records how Mina asked him to call Van Helsing in order to hypnotize her. Under hypnosis, Mina is able to enter into the spirit of Dracula, and she becomes aware of flapping sails, the lapping of water, and the creaking of an anchor chain. Van Helsing concludes that Dracula is on board a ship that is now ready to sail. He now understands why Dracula so desperately tried to retrieve the gold coins—he needed ready cash to pay for his passage out of the country. Once again, they all renew their pledge to follow Dracula and destroy him.\n \nChapters 20–23: Commentary\nThe two central incidents of these chapters involve Mina's encounter with Dracula and her coming under his evil influence. Second, these chapters are also concerned with the discovery and \"sterilization\" of the fifty boxes of earth which Dracula brought with him.\nSince we earlier heard that a vampire can only enter an establishment if invited, we are at first surprised that he has been able to enter Mina's room, and we are inclined to wonder if she invited him in. Later, however, we learn that Dracula had used the \"zoöphagous\" patient Renfield to invite Dracula into the house. It is now clear why Stoker has been using the patient in the novel and also why all the principal characters are visitors in Seward's house. Later, Van Helsing uses the fate of Renfield to prove that Dracula is expanding his sphere of influence and is using innocent people to accomplish his aims—therefore, Dracula must be searched out and destroyed.\nIt becomes clear in these chapters that Dracula has some kind of mind control over his victims—that is, he can induce them to open windows, for example, in order to let him enter the home. Evidently Stoker was interested in hypnosis or \"animal magnetism,\" since Van Helsing, through hypnotizing Mina, is able to learn of Dracula's whereabouts. Dracula, too, can hypnotize and, indeed, he is an individual of great personal magnetism. It is in these chapters that we learn that Stoker was, in fact, creating a gothic villain which would be similar to many gothic villains in earlier literature. Among other things, Count Dracula is a member of the corrupt aristocracy. The gothic villain/aristocrat was probably derived from Richardson's novels Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1747), in which the villain's persecution of the innocent maiden dramatized for middle-class audiences the exaggerated nature of the class struggle.\nIt is important for the reader to understand the dramatic and philosophical importance of the villain's aristocratic heritage; if Dracula were a peasant, the story would hardly be as dramatic.\n \n \nChapters 24 & 25: Summary\nVan Helsing thinks that Jonathan Harker should stay in England with his wife, since he now knows that Dracula is returning to Transylvania. Jonathan Harker expresses in his journal how happy Mina is that Dracula is returning to Transylvania, but when Harker looks at the terrible mark on Mina's forehead (a sign of the evil \"infection\" that was caused by Dracula's blood), he is reminded of the reality of the vampire.\nIn her journal Mina Harker records the various reports concerning Dracula's departure. In the investigations, it was discovered that Dracula boarded a ship headed for Varna, a seaport on the Black Sea, near the mouth of the Danube River, the same place he had left from three months earlier. Evidently, Van Helsing has deduced the reason why Dracula came to England: Dracula's own country is so \"barren of people\" that he came to England, a place where life is rich and flourishing; he is now returning to his native soil to escape discovery.\nSeward recalls his fear concerning Mina Harker, and in a short time, Van Helsing confirms his views: Mina is changing. Characteristics of the vampire are beginning to show in her face—that is, her teeth are longer, and her eyes are colder. He now fears that the Count could, by hypnosis, even over long distances, discover their plans, so they must keep Mina ignorant of their plans so that the Count cannot discover their whereabouts through her. They determine how long it will take the ship to reach Varna by sea, and they set a date for their own departure so that they will be in Varna before Count Dracula arrives. Then Mina surprises them by telling them that she should accompany them on the journey, since through hypnotizing her they can discover the whereabouts and intentions of Count Dracula. Everyone agrees with her, so it is settled: Mina will accompany them.\nChapter 25 begins with Dr. Seward's journal, written on the evening of October 11th. While Mina Harker is pleased that they are going to take her with them, she makes them repeat their promise to kill her if she is ever so totally changed into a vampire form that they cannot save her. All of them swear to do so, and Seward is pleased that the word \"euthanasia\" exists, because it euphemistically disguises the nature of her request. Mina makes one seemingly unusual request—in case she has to be killed, she would like to hear the \"burial service\" read to her immediately this very night.\nFour days later, on the 15th of October, the six people arrive at Varna via the Orient Express, and when they arrive, they place Mina under hypnosis, during which she reports that she still senses the lapping of water against the ship. Van Helsing expresses his desire for them to board the ship as soon as it arrives at Varna. If they can board the ship before Dracula's coffin is removed, they will have him trapped, for one of the limitations of vampires is that they cannot cross running water. On the 17th, Jonathan notes in his journal that Van Helsing has secured admittance for the group to board Dracula's ship as soon as it arrives, so that they may more easily carry out the extermination of the vampire.\nA week later, they receive a telegram from London reporting that the ship was sighted at the Dardanelles. Dr. Seward, therefore, assumes that it will arrive the next day. While waiting, Dr. Seward and Van Helsing are concerned about Mina's lethargy and her general state of weakness. They wait for two days and still the ship does not arrive. On the 28th of October they receive a telegram reporting that the ship has arrived at the port of Galatz, a city on the coast, near Varna.\nVan Helsing offers a theory that when Mina was weak, the Count had pulled her spirit to him; now, the Count knows of their presence, as well as their efforts to trap and exterminate him. At present, however, Mina is feeling free and healthy, and she and Van Helsing use their knowledge of criminology to deduce that the Count is a \"criminal type\"—hence, he will act as a criminal, and therefore, his main purpose will be to escape his pursuers.\n \nChapters 24 & 25: Commentary\nIt is only now, this late in the novel, that we learn the real reason why Dracula has come to England: his country is \"barren of people,\" and England is teeming with numbers of new victims. Since Count Dracula brought with him fifty boxes of earth, one can assume that he was intending to stay in England quite some time.\nThe central incident of these chapters is the infection of Mina: She has a mark on her forehead, a sign that she is \"unclean,\" that she is \"infected\" with vampirism. Her teeth have grown noticeably longer and her eyes have grown colder. We are also led to believe, in the course of these chapters, that the pursuers are in perfect control because they remember to arm themselves with all kinds of weapons—even Winchesters for the wolves. In theory, they will be able to track down Dracula's destination as far as Varna. However, in the next chapter, we discover that the Count deliberately misled them, and that instead of Varna, he had his box of earth sent on to Galatz, thus bypassing the awaiting pursuers.\nThe idea of hypnosis is continued throughout these chapters, as well as in the two remaining chapters, in order to track down Dracula, and once again Mina extracts a promise that if she begins to change into a vampire, she wants to be killed. In preparation she has the Church's burial service read to her. The notion of \"euthanasia\" would have been a shocking notion to Victorian readers.\n \n \nChapters 26 & 27: Summary\nOn the 29th day of October, Dr. Seward records that Mina, under hypnosis, can hear and distinguish very little, and that the things which she does hear—such as the lowing of cattle—indicate that Dracula's coffin is now being moved up-river. Jonathan Harker records on October 30th that the captain of the ship which brought Dracula told of the unusual journey which they made from London to Galatz—that is, many of the Roumanians on board ship wanted him to throw the box overboard, but the captain felt obligated to deliver the box to the person to whom it was assigned. We find out, then, that one Immanuel Hildesheim received the box, and that the box was given to a Slovak, Petrof Skinsky. Skinsky was found dead in a churchyard, his throat apparently torn open by some wild animal. On that same day, Mina, having read all of the journal entries, and after consulting maps for waterways and roads, concludes that the Count would have had to take the river to Sereth, which is then joined to the Bristriza, which leads then to the Borgo Pass, where Jonathan Harker stopped at the beginning of the novel. They choose to separate and head for the pass: Van Helsing and Mina by train; Lord Godalming and Jonathan Harker by a steam launch (steamboat); Quincey Morris and Seward by horseback.\nHarker and Godalming, in questioning various captains of other boats along the river, hear of a large launch with a double crew traveling ahead of them. They keep up the pursuit during the first three days of November. Meanwhile, Mina and Van Helsing arrive at Veresti on the 31st of October, where Van Helsing hires a horse and carriage for the last seventy miles of the journey.\nChapter 27 begins with a continuation of Mina Harker's journal. She records that she and Van Helsing traveled all day by carriage on the first of November. She remarks that she thinks the countryside is beautiful, yet the people are \"very, very superstitious.\" In one house where the two of them stop, a woman noticed the red mark on Mina's forehead and crossed herself and pointed two fingers at Mina \"to keep off the evil eye.\" That evening, Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina, and they learn that Dracula is still on board ship. On the 2nd of November, they again travel all day towards the Borgo Pass, hoping to arrive on the morning of the 3rd of November. They arrive at the Borgo Pass, and Van Helsing again hypnotizes Mina.\nThey discover that the Count is still on board ship; after Mina awakens from the trance, she is full of energy and zeal, and she miraculously knows the way towards the Count's castle; she also \"knows\" the location of an unused side road, a road which is unmarked. They choose to take that path. That day Mina sleeps considerably and seems incredibly weak and lethargic. When Van Helsing attempts to hypnotize her again, he discovers that he can no longer do it. He has lost his power to hypnotize.\nThey spend the night in a wild forest east of the Borgo Pass, and Van Helsing builds a fire. Then, using a holy wafer, he places Mina in a protective circle. Later that night, the three female vampires which accosted Jonathan materialize near their campfire and tempt Van Helsing with their teeming sexuality. They also tempt Mina to come with them. The horses evidently die of terror, and Van Helsing's only weapon against the three female vampires is the fire and the holy wafer. At dawn, the sunlight drives away the three female vampires.\nOn the afternoon of the 5th of November, Van Helsing and Mina arrive by foot at Count Dracula's castle. Using a heavy blacksmith's hammer, Van Helsing knocks the castle door off its hinges and enters Dracula's demesnes. Recalling the description in Jonathan's journal, Van Helsing finds his way to the old chapel where Dracula lies during his non-active times. In his search of the old chapel, Van Helsing discovers the three graves of the three female vampires. He performs the purification ritual and puts an end to the female vampires. The female vampires' voluptuous beauty dissolves into dust upon the driving of a stake through their hearts. Van Helsing then finds a large tomb \"more lordly than all the rest,\" upon which is one word: DRACULA. Van Helsing crushes a holy wafer and lays it within the tomb \"and so vanished him from it, Un-Dead, forever.\" Before he leaves the castle, Van Helsing places holy material around the entrance so that the Count can never enter the castle again.\nThe novel ends with a passage from Mina Harker's journal, an entry that begins on the late afternoon of the 6th of November, a date some six months since the novel began. Mina and Van Helsing are on foot, traveling east in the midst of a heavy snowfall. The howling of wolves seems perilously close. On a high mountain road, utilizing his field glasses, Van Helsing notices in the distance a group of men; they seem to be gypsies around a cart. Van Helsing knows instinctively that the cart is carrying a box of un-holy dirt containing the Count and that they must reach the box before sunset, which is quickly approaching. The two men who are riding toward the North, Van Helsing assumes, must be Quincey Morris and Dr. Seward. This would mean that from the other direction, Jonathan and Lord Godalining must not be far away. Simultaneously, the six people converge on the wagon and the gypsies. The sun continues to set.\nJonathan and Lord Godalming stop the gypsies by using their Winchesters, just as Morris and Seward arrive, wielding their guns. With an almost superhuman effort, Jonathan eludes the defenders, leaps upon the cart, and throws the box to the ground. Quincey, wielding his knife, slashes his way through the gypsies and gains access to the box, but not before he is stabbed by one of the gypsies. Regardless of the wounds, Quincey, along with Jonathan, rips the lid from the box. Inside is the dreaded Count Dracula, covered with the un-holy dirt which has been jostled all over him. As the six of them stare into the coffin, Dracula's eyes look toward the setting sun, \"and the look of hate in them turned to triumph.\" Then, at the very last moment of sunlight, Jonathan, wielding a great knife, chops off Count Dracula's head, while Quincey Morris's bowie knife plunges into the Count's heart, \"and almost in the drawing of a breath,\" writes Mina, \"the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from sight.\" Mina notices that even at the moment of death, within such a horrid face and image, she sees a look of peace. The gypsies, seeing the body disintegrate, withdraw in abject fright. Sadly, Quincey Morris has been fatally wounded; before he dies, however, he is able to note that the curse on Mina's forehead is gone. Quincey dies \"a gallant gentleman.\"\nIn a Note attached to the end of the novel (reportedly from Jonathan Harker), we learn that it is seven years later; he and Mina have a son whom they named Quincey. Lord Godalming and Dr. Seward are both happily married. In a final note of irony, Jonathan reports that of all the material of which \"the record\" is made, \"there is hardly one authentic document\"; the only remaining notes are those which have been transcribed on a typewriter: \"Therefore, we could hardly ask anyone ... to accept these as proofs of so wild a story.\"\n \nChapters 26 & 27: Commentary\nThe closing chapters of the novel suggest a type of chase novel, with the \"good guys\" chasing the evil person, who seems to be able to constantly elude them. Even at the end of the novel, it seems as though the Count will escape into the sinking sunset before the \"rituals\" can be performed upon him. Actually, for most readers, the last half of the novel becomes somewhat long and drawn out, but this novel was written at the end of the Victorian period when the reading public expected novels to last a long time. The killing of Dracula, of course, represents the social victory of middle-class morality over the corrupt morality of the aristocracy. The latent virtue of the Count is revealed in Mina's account, however, for as the Count is freed from the influence of the vampire form, his face contains a look of peace.\nThat the events really happened is now questioned by the final Note, which announces that all of the original documents have been lost and what we have read has been no more than the typewritten, transcribed notes of the originals, notes which cannot be used as absolute proof of the horrible things which have transpired.\nIn spite of the flaws of this novel, it has been an unlimited source of stories, plays, novels, and movies, as well as a source for assorted psychological theories. This novel is an example of a type of literature in which the germ, or kernel, idea far transcends the execution.\n \n \nThe American Horror Film and the Influence of German Expressionism\nWhat exactly is a \"horror film,\" or, more specifically, what exactly is horror? In what ways are our expectations different when we go to see a horror film than when we go to see a \"western film\" or a \"science-fiction film\"? What is it that we hope to experience when we go to see a \"horror film\"?\nCertainly, we expect to be \"terrified,\" whatever that may be, or at least we are prepared to be \"frightened\" in some way; we expect the hair to rise on the back of our necks. But what is it that terrifies us, or \"frightens\" us, or, essentially, incites in us a sense of horror? Is it the presence of \"horrible creatures\"—however we may imagine them? Or is it the presence of ghosts, or other kinds of supernatural creatures, that frightens us? Certainly, the supernatural is present in all these experiences, and human beings generally fear the supernatural because things supernatural are considered hostile to human life. The fact that human beings fear the supernatural can be observed every Sunday; priests and ministers, for example, often exhort us to fear God. Yet God, ideally, is not hostile to human life.\nThus, some consideration of what horror is may help us to arrive at some tentative conclusion about the nature of horror. Tentatively, perhaps we can consider what horror does: Horror reaffirms the sacred, or Holy, through a formulaic plot in which human beings encounter the demonic, or Un-Holy. If there are Un-Holy beings, by implication, there are Holy beings. To test this tentative hypothesis, perhaps an application of it to classic horror stories would be helpful.\nThis hypothesis is certainly applicable to Dracula. The Count has a terrifying sense of the demonic about him, suggested superficially by his appearance. Yet religious artifacts such as the cross affect the Count (in fact, it has become a popular cultural cliché that to ward off a vampire, all one has to do is brandish a cross—even if the \"cross\" is no more than crossed forefingers).\nHorror has an interesting history. Essentially, the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft posits the existence of a race of supernatural beings which are hostile to human life, eagerly awaiting their chance to reclaim the earth and rid it of human beings. Lovecraft, especially in such stories as \"The Colour Out of Space,\" \"The Shadow over Innsmouth,\" and \"The Rats in the Walls,\" was perhaps the first Western author to write exclusively in the horror genre, and he quickly learned how to manipulate the intuitive revulsion that human beings have towards tentacled and clawed creatures. And, in addition, Lovecraft's creatures, besides being hideously and abnormally ugly, reek horribly.\nOf course, there are other works of horror which do not precisely conform to the tentative definition of horror, such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Yet what these works posit is that if there is anything demonic or Un-Holy that exists, it consists of those obscure motivations and desires which lurk within the human mind. These works conform to what we can label \"modern horror,\" as opposed to \"classic horror\"\"\nConcerning \"classic horror,\" one of the first great horror films, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), certainly subscribes to the \"modern horror\" genre also. What is ostensibly a tale of insane authority becomes the musings of a madman. In fact, the influence of German Expressionism on Hollywood films of the Thirties and Forties was tremendous. As an art form, Expressionism is generally considered to be best represented by the works of Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Edward Munch. In painting, Expressionistic art is characterized by a sense of imbalance in the pictorial arrangements in order to achieve distortion; the use of oblique angles and sharp curves; a distortion of line and color, where primary colors are generally used in violent contrast; and a subjective vision of the exterior world. Expressionism also usually incorporates the style of grisaille, painting in grey monotone in which objects are often seen only with a suggestion of form and outline without attention to precise detail. The content of Expressionistic art is characterized by its grotesqueness and implausibility. It is a revolt against both Naturalism and Impressionism and has similar counterparts in literature and sculpture.\nThe enormously creative German cinema in the 1920s was influenced, on the one hand, by the theater of Max Reinhardt, an innovative stage director, and, on the other, it was influenced by Expressionistic art. The advances in lighting techniques, pioneered by Reinhardt, coupled with the rise of Expressionism, was of supreme importance to the experimental film-makers in post World War I Germany. Most of the actors in the early Expressionistic films were members of Reinhardt's acting company; later, some of them became film directors themselves.\nThe first great Expressionistic masterpiece in film is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, and directed by Robert Wiene. Janowitz was deeply impressed by the work of Paul Wegener, a member of Reinhardt's acting troupe, who had directed the influential Student of Prague (1913), in collaboration with the Dane Stellan Rye, and The Golem (1915), remade in 1920.\nMany of the Expressionistic film-makers in Germany during the Twenties eventually came to the United States. Caligari screenwriter Carl Mayer did, as well as Conrad Veidt, the actor who played the somnambulist Cesare in Caligari. (Veidt, interestingly enough, was also a member of Reinhardt's acting company.) In addition to these men, the great German film director F. W. Murnau, who directed the first \"vampire\" film, Nosferatu (1922), also went to Hollywood and directed several important films. The innovative Expressionistic cinematographer Karl Freund, who had photographed Wegener's 1920 version of The Golem and Fritz Lang's science-fiction classic, Metropolis (1927), became one of the most in demand cinematographers in Hollywood. Freund was the cinematographer of Dracula (1931), and he also became an accomplished film director. He directed such horror film masterpieces as The Mummy (1932, the first of the series) and Mad Love (1934). Mad Love starred the now famous, late actor Peter Lorre, who achieved stardom with his powerful portrayal of the child murderer in Fritz Lang's M (1931). Fritz Lang, director of Metropolis (1927), was the first scheduled director of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but he was committed to finish an earlier project. The Expressionist Paul Leni, a set designer for Max Reinhardt, came to the United States in 1927 and directed Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs (1928), a silent film produced by Universal Pictures. Leni is important because he single-handedly developed a new genre of the horror film, juxtaposing scenes which utilized carefully designed and lighted sets and uniquely focused cameras against scenes intended as comic interludes. Leni's unique approach was certainly an influence on James Whale, the director of the first two Frankenstein films. Leni's influence can also be found in the work of Whale's art director for the first two Universal Frankenstein pictures—Charles D. Hall, who was the art director for Leni's The Man Who Laughs (1928), The Cat and the Canary (1927), and The Last Warning (1929). Although Leni's output was slight (he died in Hollywood in 1929), he was an important link between the German and American cinemas.\nThus, the influence of German Expressionism on early Hollywood films is profound and readily evident. Most directors truly concerned about film art knew of the German Expressionistic films and learned from them. Upon close examination of the classic horror films of the Thirties, it is discovered that these films are not simply idle \"crowd-pleasers,\" but serious attempts by concerned individuals at producing art.\n \nSelected Filmography\nThe following selected filmography does not attempt to be, nor does it wish to be, exhaustive or complete. Nevertheless, the listing does present the more interesting and noteworthy \"vampire\" films. Every attempt has been made to include those films which possibly can be seen by contemporary audiences.\nUnfortunately, some films have disappeared or have been lost; therefore, no attempt has been made to include those films. In addition, most foreign productions have been excluded. Of the foreign productions, only those films which possibly can be seen by American audiences have been included. The notes and annotations on the films produced by Hammer Studios of Great Britain are dependent largely on A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema 1946–72, by David Pine (London: Gordon Fraser, 1973).\nRating Scale\n* * * * * A film that is a \"must-see\"; both artistically brilliant and influential in the history of cinema.\n* * * * An excellent film, distinguished by its innovation on the genre because of its technical brilliance, yet artistically insubstantial in some way.\n* * * A good film, which, due either to negligence in production or to technical incompetence, resulted in no special distinction; most likely, a work which is exploitive of the genre; nevertheless, a film that is valuable.\n* * Mediocre. Technically competent, nostalgically interesting, yet it carries no special distinction whatsoever.\n* Poor. A film in which, in addition to the producer's irresponsibility, the directorial integrity is in question.\nNosferatu (or, A Symphony of Horror) (1922). * * * * *\nDirected by the acclaimed German Expressionist F. W. Murnau and photographed by the brilliant Fritz Arno Wagner (M), this is one of the most critically acclaimed horror films. Max Schreck's appearance in the film is perhaps one of the most memorable in all of cinema history: Pale and thin, his version of a vampire has a shaved head with two elongated front teeth, sunken cheeks, wide bulging eyes, and fingernails which are extremely long, curved, and pointed like claws. Because Murnau did not have the literary rights to Bram Stoker's Dracula, he changed the setting, altered the plot slightly and changed the vampire's name to Count Orlock. Nosferatu can be considered the first vampire film in much the same way that Stoker's Dracula is the first vampire novel; every subsequent artistic attempt must measure itself against both this film and the novel.\nLondon After Midnight (1927). * * *\nThis silent film was directed by Tod Browning (who would eventually direct Dracula for Universal). It starred Lon Chaney as Inspector Edmund Burke, alias \"Mooney,\" a fake vampire. The story was based on Browning's own novel, entitled The Hypnotist. London After Midnight may be, in fact, the first full-length American vampire film. Murnau's Nosferatu did not reach the United States until 1929, when it was released as Nosferatu, the Vampire. Curiously, Chaney's make-up is similar, though not identical, to Max Schreck's in Nosferatu.\nDracula (1931). * * *\nDirected by the \"Edgar Allan Poe of the Cinema,\" Tod Browning, and photographed by the Expressionist cinematographer Karl Freund, this film is the first vampire sound film and is still one of the most popular vampire films. Its popularity is probably due to Bela Lugosi's Dracula, who, with his authentic Hungarian accent and satanic appearance, captured the popular culture's imagination as an authentic vampire. The script for the film was not based on Stoker's Dracula, however. Instead, it was based on a popular play by John Balderston and Hamilton Deane. Lugosi, in fact, recreated his stage role for the movie. While this original movie is a popular film, it is not a great film. Browning's direction is adequate but not compelling; it does not match the energy of his earlier films—such as The Unholy Three (1925), or The Unknown (1927), which are more lavish and carefully directed; nor does it approach the genuinely grotesque horror of his next film, Freaks (1932). Freund's photography is rather lackluster; his next effort, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), made with Robert Florey, is a more appropriate example of Freund's innovative technique. Still, Dracula, like the novel, has managed to capture the public's imagination ever since its release.\nVampyr (1932). * * * * *\nThis film is one of Carl Theodore Dreyer's best movies, a film which relies on suggested rather than visible horror. It has a remarkably gloomy sense of atmosphere; every shot is as carefully composed as the finest photograph. It is probably one of the most artistically crafted of any vampire film, perhaps of all horror films—with the exception of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922).\nThe Vampire Bat (1933). * *\nA rather run-of-the-mill horror picture which has a superb cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Dwight Frye, who played the role of Renfield in Browning's Dracula, as well as the hunchbacked laboratory assistant of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein (1931). The story takes place in a remote Balkan village, where a \"mad\" doctor tries to conceal his bizarre experiments by creating a vampire \"scare.\"\nThe Mark of the Vampire (1935). * * *\nMade in 1935, but not released until 1972, the film is a re-make by Tod Browning of his earlier silent film London After Midnight. Browning expanded the original story by adding a seductive female ghoul (played by Carol Borland). The movie is memorable because it was the last of Tod Browning's horror films—four years later, in 1939, Browning retired from filmmaking altogether.\nDracula's Daughter (1936). * *\nThis film was directed by Lambert Hillyer for Universal. Hillyer was a prolific director, responsible for directing dozens of \"B-grade\" westerns. The story is based on a short story by Bram Stoker entitled \"Dracula's Ghost,\" which was originally part of Dracula, but extracted just before the novel's release. Thus, one can see how derivative vampire films were becoming. The direction was increasingly hackneyed, and the writers were desperately lacking in inspiration. Universal did the same thing with the Frankenstein series; they produced countless spin-offs of the original, and each subsequent film was representative of uninspired artistic conviction.\nThe Vampire Bat (1940). * *\nIn this film, vampire bats are bred for instruments of revenge by a \"mad\" scientist (Bela Lugosi). A rather uninspired film which exploited both the audience's attraction to vampirism and Lugosi's cult personality.\nSpooks Run Wild (1941). *\nAnother film which exploits the cult of personality surrounding Lugosi; in this case, he plays Nardo, a magician suspected of being a vampire. It is a rather shoddy attempt to adapt the plot of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to a vampire story.\nSon of Dracula (1943). *\nWritten by Curt Siodinak (creator of the original script for The Wolf Man [1941], a true classic of the horror film genre), the premise is hardly original. It is, basically, the plot of Dracula all over again: The son of the Count emigrates to England in search of new victims, except that his name isn't Dracula, but, instead, it is Alucard—Dracula spelled backwards. This kind of comic book gimmick is indicative of the inspiration for this banal film. Moreover, casting Lon Chaney, Jr. an actor capable of eliciting a great deal of sympathy for his (often) confused and misunderstood \"Beastman\" was a serious mistake.\nReturn of the Vampire (1943). *\nThe plot of Dracula again, except adapted to World War II England. Instead of searching for new victims, the screenwriters suggest that the vampire (named Armand Tesla) is in England seeking revenge against those who tried to kill him.\nHouse of Frankenstein (1944). *\nAs the popularity of the Frankenstein series declined, Universal (which produced every American Frankenstein picture until 1948) attempted to capture an audience by tossing into the plot every \"monster\" popular at the time—the Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein, and even the ever-present \"mad\" scientist. A predictably silly and banal film.\nHouse of Dracula (1945). * * *\nDirected by Erle C. Kenton, House of Dracula contains an acting performance by Onslow Stevens (as Dr. Edelmann) which approaches the sublimity of Ernest Thesiger's in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), possibly the best horror film ever made. Edelmann discovers the Frankenstein monster and is prompted to revive it, but is convinced by his beautiful, yet hunchbacked laboratory assistant (played by Jane Adams) to forsake his attempt to revive the monster. Eventually, Edelmann, who has become infected by a vampire's blood, chooses to revive the monster. The material, however, is never quite under control by director Kenton; the film stumbles and plods along at its own unique pace, while the preposterousness of the action proves to be the very reason why the film works. Despite its B-movie status and its illogical plotting, the film is ultimately both humane and moral.\nIsle of the Dead (1945). *\nThis RKO-Radio production, directed by Mark Robson and produced by the phenomenal \"boy wonder\" producer Val Lewton, promises much and produces almost nothing. The story centers around a group of people stranded on an island and menaced by a malevolent force, and the situation seems insolvable. In other words, the plot is as banal as an exhausted horror genre can make it. When plague breaks out among the group, an old peasant woman suspects the presence of \"vorvolakas,\" demons which \"drain all the life and joy from those who want to live.\" Isle of the Dead is essentially a poorly done \"stalk and slash\" movie and has no vampire per se.\nThe Vampire's Ghost (1945). * * *\nA film notable for the script and story by Leigh Brackett (1915–78), one of the best of the American screenwriters (she wrote the script for Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep (1946) along with William Faulkner and Jules Furthman, as well as the screenplay for Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973), among others). The film has a disturbingly oppressive atmosphere and concerns a vampire terrorizing a small African village.\nThe Thing (1945). * *\nThe Thing is memorable for several reasons: As a piece of popular culture trivia (James Arness was \"The Thing\"; as the first science fiction film which utilizes the vampire figure; and as one of the few science fiction films of which critics are fond). Yet, The Thing neither merits the lavish critical acclaim it has received, nor does it truly deserve to be forgotten. The plot of The Thing is stereotypical horror: A group of victims are stranded and isolated in a remote location and are stalked by a hostile presence.\nPlan Nine from Outer Space (1966). *\nA 1-star rating for this film was given reluctantly. The film is so badly done that it must be seen to be believed. Its alternative title gives one a clue to its plot: Grave Robbers from Outer Space. It is Bela Lugosi's last film. In fact, Lugosi died during production of the film, and he was replaced by a look-alike who always kept his cape up around his face so that the audience (presumably) wouldn't know that the actor wasn't Lugosi. Essentially, the plot concerns a group of aliens from outer space who intend to implement \"Plan Nine\"—the revival of corpses which will be used as troops against living human beings.\nThe Horror of Dracula (1957). * * * * *\nThis is the first of Great Britain's Hammer Studios' vampire films, and it is a true classic of the genre. It was directed by Terence Fisher and was written by Jimmy Sangster, who based the film on Stoker's novel. Sangster managed to return the Count to the tradition of the English gothic villain: He is a charming and intelligent aristocrat who transforms his female victims into carnal, lascivious creatures. The death of the Count is similar to the death of the vampire in Murnau's Nosferatu: He is tricked into staying out until daybreak, and then he is exposed to sunlight, which causes him to crumble away into dust. Not only does the villain's demise allow special effects, but it culminates the hero's ritualistic chase of the villain to his castle.\nBlood of the Vampire (1957). * * *\nAn interesting film which revolves around a prison warden who is also a vampire and supplies himself with blood from his prisoners. Prints of this film are rare.\nThe Brides of Dracula (1960). * * * *\nBrides was Hammer's sequel to The Horror of Dracula, and it features the same writer and director as the previous effort. This film also has a climactic chase scene and a sufficiently bombastic demise of the vampire.\nBlack Sunday (1960). * * * *\nBased on a short story by Nikolai Gogol entitled \"The Viy,\" Black Sunday (also known as Revenge of the Vampire) was labeled by critic Carlos Clemens as a \"relentless nightmare,\" and it has been said of cinematographer Ubaldo Terzoni's photography that it was \"the best black and white photography to enhance a horror movie in the past two decades.\" Directed by Mario Bava, the film depicts a witch/vampire's vengeance on the descendants of the people who ritualistically killed her in the seventeenth century. Virtually unknown outside of the horror film, the film stars Barbara Steele, who has become, curiously, a cult figure.\nKiss of the Vampire (1962). * * *\nHammer Studios eventually found it difficult to continue resurrecting the Count, but this film, directed by Don Sharp, features a clever script about a young couple seduced into depravity while on their honeymoon in Bavaria.\nDevils of Darkness (1964). * *\nInteresting only as trivia, this was the first of the British vampire films in a modern setting—that of \"swinging London.\"\nThe Last Man on Earth (1964). * * *\nBased on Richard Matheson's classic science fiction novel I Am Legend, in which the sole survivor of a horrible plague is a man who wanders around in a grim, deserted world and is relentlessly stalked at night by a group of vampires. Shot in black and white, the film is quite unrelenting in its vision of terror. Vincent Price plays the title role. The story was later re-made in the United States (this production was Italian), and it was entitled The Omega Man (1971).\nDracula—Prince of Darkness (1965). * * * *\nDirected by veteran director Terence Fisher, this film is a true gem of the vampire cinema. A group of bored and provincial Victorian couples are stranded in a remote castle, where a lone, devoted follower of the Count murders one of them and uses the victim's blood to resurrect the Count by pouring it over his ashes. Unfortunately, the Count had degenerated into a one-dimensional character: He is just menacing; no longer is he charming or refined or even rapaciously seductive. The Van Helsing figure in the novel is replaced in this film by a priest—Father Sandor, who stalks the vampire to his castle and brings about his demise.\nBilly the Kid vs. Dracula (1966). *\nPerhaps the worst horror film—if one can call it that—ever made, along with Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1965); both were directed by William Beaudine. The most amazing thing about this film is why—and how—it ever got produced.\nThe Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). * * *\nThis is Roman Polanski's much over-praised vampire film, an attempt to parody the genre, a task easily enough accomplished given the trivialized state of the contemporary genre. At least, however, Polanski got the mythology right, but the humor is rather juvenile, and his attempts at eroticism are adolescent.\nA Taste of Blood (1967). * *\nA run-of-the-mill horror film about an American who is infected with the vampire blood of one of his ancestors. Its form is that of the \"stalk and slash\" movie—the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stereotypical formula.\nDracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968). * *\nA Hammer Studios' film in which, as the title implies, the plot is banal and the writer's inspiration is sorely lacking.\nTaste the Blood of Dracula (1970). * * * *\nHammer Studios hired Hungarian-born Peter Sasdy to direct this sequel to 1968's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, using a script by John Elder (Anthony Hinds). Coupled with Arthur Grant's superb photography, Hammer achieved its best effort since 1957's Horror of Dracula. In this picture, the Dracula presence is explicitly associated with the disintegration of the family, coming much closer in spirit to Stoker's novel. Certainly one of the best vampire films Hammer ever made.\nThe Scars of Dracula (1970). *\nProduced immediately after Taste the Blood of Dracula and directed by Roy Ward Baker, this film is one of the most seriously flawed vampire films which Hammer ever attempted. A vicious, unbelievably cruel film.\nCount Yorga, Vampire (1970). * *\nDirected by Bob Kelljan, this production features a vampire in the tradition of the English gothic villain. Courteous and refined, Count Yorga seeks the blood of Southern California teenage girls. Unfortunately, the situations have become stereotyped, and the plot is absolutely predictable.\nDaughters of Darkness (1970). *\nHarry Kumel's film is concerned with the sexuality of vampirism. This film features bisexual female vampires and lots of self-consciously \"arty\" scenes composed of red, black, and white colors. This kind of sophomoric symbolism is indicative of the artistic pretensions of this silly little soft-core film. The film did well, however, when it premiered in the United States in May of 1971.\nHouse of Dark Shadows (1970). *\nAnother of the bumper crop of vampire films made in 1970 which exploits the teenage fascination with Dark Shadows, a gothic soap opera of the late 60s. The vampire in this film and in the TV series was played by Jonathan Frid.\nThe 'Karnstein Trilogy':\nThe Vampire Lovers (1970). * * Directed by Roy Ward Baker\nLust for a Vampire (1970). * * Directed by Jimmy Sangster\nCountess Dracula (1970). * * Directed by Peter Sasdy.\nThese films are based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's short story \"Carmilla\" (1871), a story of vampirism with lesbian overtones. Thus, these films exploit the sexuality of vampirism—specifically, a female vampire whose favorite victims are the daughters of nobility. Most of the action of these films centers around Karnstein castle. All of the films feature wonderfully stylized sets and (self-consciously) \"arty\" photography, creating a rather dream-like atmosphere. The Vampire Lovers, the first of the series, was a huge commercial success, and thus inspired Hammer to produce more of the same. The second film, Lust for a Vampire, is probably the best of the trilogy, although it too exults in lots of free-flowing blood. Countess Dracula features a vampire who bathes in the blood of her victims in order to restore her youth and beauty. All of these films are blatant \"soft-core\" pornography and were extremely popular with American teenage audiences.\nThe Omega Man (1971). *\nA competent film adaptation of Matheson's I Am Legend (see The Last Man on Earth, 1964) starring Charlton Heston in the title role. This film has rather stylized production values, though its symbols—such as that of Heston's crucifixion at the end of the film—is rather blatant and heavy-handed. Nevertheless, a thoroughly competent and delightful film.\nTwins of Evil (1971). * *\nThis film was a further attempt by Hammer Studios to exploit Le Fanu's \"Carmilla,\" with predictable results.\nDracula, A.D. 1972 (1971) * and Dracula Is Dead (1972). *\nBoth of these films were directed by Alan Gibson and scripted by Don Houghton. The second of the above films is a sequel to the first. These films represent Hammer's attempt to set the story of Dracula in modern London. The results are wretched. In both films, Christopher Lee played the vampire while Peter Cushing played the protagonist.\nVampire Circus (1971). * * *\nDirected by Robert Young, this film is one of Hammer's plethora of films during the 1970–71 period which have any merit at all and is well worth seeing.\nThe Return of Count Yorga (1971). * * * *\nWith the aid of Yvonne Wilder on the script, who also plays a featured role in the film as a Cassandra-like mute, Bob Kelljan was able to surpass his mediocre Count Yorga, Vampire and create something close to a classic of the genre—albeit, for the most part, forgotten. With the aid of cinematographer Bill Butler (Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Kelljan was able to create a film with an overpowering sense of menace and pervasive horror. The presence of the vampire is similar to Stoker's—an indication of growing social disruption. Count Yorga and followers completely disrupt an orphanage and pervert all relationships. The ending of the film is one of the best of the vampire cinema. Butler unleashed his visual pyrotechnics; it was filmed in slow motion freeze frame for optimum effect.\nBlacula (1973). * * *\nShakespearian actor William Marshall played the role of the vampire in this picture, which is neither one of the great vampire films nor a \"blackploitation\" film. The film has a spirit of fun which wasn't present in any vampire films of the previous decade.\nScream, Blacula, Scream (1973). * *\nDirector Bob Kelljan was not able to achieve the merits of the original Blacula (directed by William Cram), much less approach the artistry of his best film, The Return of Count Yorga, with this picture.\nAndy Warhol's Dracula (1975). * * * *\nReleased a few months after Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (May, 1974), this film, like its predecessor, evaluates its particular genre, in this case the vampire cinema, and it views it as one which exploits the subliminal psycho-sexual fears of its audience. Of course, the assumption of the film-makers is that these audiences are awaiting some kind of ludicrous confirmation of those subliminal fears through ritual enactment and formulaic plot. Thus, the proceedings of Andy Warhol's Dracula are predictably ludicrous and necessarily silly. They are also, paradoxically, quite disturbing.\nOld Dracula (1975). *\nAn American International release—in the worst sense of that infamous genre. This film, which stars David Niven as the vampire, is a prolonged practical joke at the audience's expense.\nDracula (1979). * *\nDirected by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever), this production attempts to be quite stylized and original. The script is based on a popular Broadway play of the same title, and Frank Langella re-created his stage role for the film. The film focuses on Dracula's seductive charms, and it features him as an archetypal Byronic lover. The premise is not so clever (or original) as the film-makers thought. The plot is predictably stereotyped.\nNosferatu (1979). * *\nThe nature of this film is the natural result when a world-acclaimed artistic director sees fit to give his stamp of approval to a genre which has undergone pop culture trivializing. This is Werner Herzog's re-make (called homage by the director) of Murnau's classic. The film was, predictably, self-consciously \"arty\" and did not transcend the genre to any large degree whatsoever.\nLove at First Bite (1980). * *\nPremise: Dracula is kicked out of his Transylvanian castle by local officials and comes to America, where he falls in love (with a beautiful woman) for the first time in his life. As a Dracula \"spoof,\" it exhibits some degree of comic sophistication, thus rendering the film pleasantly innocuous.",
"\"KATHARINA\" IN \"THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.\"\n\"'Katharina' in 'The Taming of the Shrew.'\" by Mrs ... until he shall have disposed of her naughty sister. ... the 'Taming of the Shrew' in Shakespeare ...\n'Katharina'in'The Taming of the Shrew.'.\nChicago, Ill: Monarch Book Company, 1894. pp. 544-554.\n[Page 544] \n\"KATHARINA\" IN \"THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.\" *\nBy MRS. EMMA PRATT MOTT.\nMRS. EMMA PRATT MOTT.\nThe prelude to this play, \"The Taming of the Shrew,\" is one of the richest, raciest most delectable pieces of humor extant. This play has been called a perfect whirlwind of the oldest, maddest freaks and farces imaginable.\" Let us for a few moments attend to a brief study of the principal characters:\nA rich gentleman of Padua has two daughters, one apparently all that is shrewish, and the other apparently all loveliness. Like other good parents, he of course desired to see them married. Kate, the shrew, must be married anyhow, and Bianca must have a fat estate for a husband, but he wisely denies the hand of the seeming angel to anyone until the seeming shrew shall have been disposed of, which sets the wits of the angelic Bianca's suitors at work to find a suitor for the shrewish Kate. Presently the very genius of whims and self-will appears as the suitor of Kate, in the person of one Petruchio, a rich gentleman of Verona, a friend to one of Bianca's suitors. Meanwhile the son of another rich gentleman of Pisa visits Padua and is brought within the circle of Bianca's attractions. Lucentio sees Bianca, and the first sight is fatal. By a simple though skillful enough intrigue he wins her in the disguise of a tutor to her in classic lore, he being obliged to employ this method because Bianca's father has cut off all open approaches to her until he shall have disposed of her naughty sister. This forms a sort of under plot in the play, the interests turning upon the manner in which Petruchio woos and weds and tames the so-called frightful Kate. Both these girls are affected, their affectation passing for sincerity. Kate puts on the show of what she has not, and Bianca puts off the show of what she has. The one purposely seems worse and the other better than she is. Kate, the shrew, too proud to be vain, will do nothing to gain friends, everything to serve them. Bianca, too vain to be proud, will do everything to gain friends and nothing to serve them. Bianca is fond of admiration and gets it. Kate envies her what she sees, but will not stoop or bend to get it. In a word, Kate is willful, Bianca selfish. The one affects shrewishness before marriage, the other conceals it until after marriage, for they do not so much change their real faces after marriage as to drop the masks which conceal them. We have all known men who were studiously wise, gentle and amiable in appearance, yet mean and selfish apart, and who appeared to be gentle and amiable because of their selfishness. Again we know men who rather study to be rough, rash, reckless and unkind, seemingly from mere disinterestedness, because they were more concerned for the good of others than for their favor, and [Page 545] more willing to do them a kindness than to have it known. The first will caress their friends and then desert them. The second will abuse their friends, and then imperil their lives to serve them. Kate belongs to that class of women who will never allow their husbands to govern them if they can help it, nor ever respect their husbands unless they do govern them; who, unsubdued, will do their worst to plague them, but who once subdued will do their utmost to please them. There seems to be a desire with some women to try to prove their husbands and to know them, whether they be what they call genuine pieces of manhood or not. Petruchio's treatment therefore rather reforms the conduct than the character of his wife, rather brings out the good which she seemed to want than to remove the bad which she seemed to have. After marriage there are no traces of the shrew in her conduct. One writer naively says, her sense of duty in the relation dissipates all her artificial life and straightens her behavior. All the materials of her closing speech are in her heart all the while, but she disdains to let them out, and it is not until Petruchio forces them out that she stands before us in her true character. Still the tender and considerate husband is all the while lurking under his affected willfulness. Some writers think that Petruchio falsifies himself more than Kate does because he has more to falsify. He is himself all truth, yet utters nothing but lies; full of kindness and good-nature, he will put on the garb of a fiend to do the work of a benefactor. \"He will at any time say more and do fewer bad things than any other man in Italy.\" He now proceeds to work out of Kate what seems to others the plainest impossibility by the wildest contradiction. \"Say that she rails; why then I'll tell her plain she sings.\" His outrageous humor reached at once its height when riding with his wife he visits her father, he meets old Vincentio, and requires him to salute her as a beautiful lady.\n\"Tell me, sweet Kate, and tell me truly true,\nHast thou beheld a fresher gentlewoman?\"\nThus do we see, as if by magic, Kate the cursed presently become the most loyal of wives. We have not a grain of pity to spare for Kate, who is better pleased to find a conqueror than to be the conqueror. On the whole it is satisfactory to her to discover that there is at least one man of force and spirit in the world, and to know that he, and no other, has chosen her for his wife; and so Kate transfers all her boldness to the very effrontery of obedience. Behind her delightful sauciness lie warmth and courage at heart. Strange that Shakespeare should have known so long ago that which most people still find so hard to learn. We behold in the great bard's wonderful magic mirrors that his heroines are more perfectly feminine than any woman could have found it in her heart or brain to make them. Woman, as she resembles man, was of less consequence to Shakespeare than woman in herself. Shakespeare says: \"Here woman stands, the modern world stooping at her feet will have to yield some of the reputed exclusiveness of men, but only such traits of it as Imogene, Cordelia, Beatrice or Portia will elect.\" In dealing with married love Shakespeare, ever true to nature, gives it no rhapsodies or flowers of speech. It may be a love that overwhelms a man's whole nature, as with Othello, when he exclaimed after an enforced absence, and looking into his wife's face:\n\"If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy.\"\nOr Brutus, comforting his wife when she desires to know the secret that is oppressing him:\n\"Am I yourself but as it were in sort of limitation,\n To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,\nAnd talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs\nOf your good pleasure? If it be no more,\nPortia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.\"\nand his answer is full of profound, earnest, sad truth: [Page 546] \n\"You are my true and honorable wife,\nAs dear to me as are the ruddy drops\nThat visit my sad heart.\"\nHere is true, consistent, reasonable love. It does not worship the ground she walks upon. It does not desire to kiss the glove she wears. He, the Shakespeare husband lover, despises the ground, and would throw the glove into the fire. But Othello, in that moment of fury, would willingly die, and Brutus would give his life for his wife. This love in married life, as represented by Shakespeare, is the real. It has grown out of companionship and friendship, and passion only plays a super's part, says his lines and departs. \"My husband is my friend,\" is the grandest exclamation of Shakespeare's married love. The great and noble friendship between husband and wife, which, like sun rays, serve to reveal the black and bloody canvas of human history, become fewer and fewer as the progress of the age teaches us the art of a greater selfishness, and teaches us to laugh where once we wept, and never weep at all. Petruchio had the right which was accorded husbands in those days to resort to the English custom of selling wives whenever considered shrews, but the thought never once suggested itself to him, for he loved Katharina, and endeavored to let her see herself in an exaggerated form, and thus become disgusted with such conduct. But as late as April 7, 1832, at Carlisle, England, occurred an example of wife selling. One Mrs. Thompson was eloquently shuffled off at auction, her husband being the auctioneer, and this is his speech:\n\"Gentleman, I have to offer to your notice my wife, Mary Ann Thompson, otherwise Williams, whom I mean to sell to the highest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her wish as well as mine to part forever. She has been to me only a born serpent. I took her for the comfort and the good of my house, but she became my tormenter, a domestic curse. Gentlemen, I speak truth when I say may God deliver us from troublesome wives and frolicsome women. Avoid them as you would a mad-dog, a roaring lion, a loaded pistol, cholera, Mt. Etna, or any other pestilential thing in nature. Now I have told you the dark side of my wife and shown you her faults and failings. I will introduce the bright side and explain her qualifications and goodness. She can read novels and milk cows. She can laugh and weep with the same ease that you take a glass of ale. Indeed, gentlemen, she reminds me of what the poet said of women:\n\"'Heaven gave to women the peculiar grace\nTo laugh, to weep, to cheat the human race.'\n\"She can make butter and scold the maid, and she can sing Moore's melodies, and make her frill and cap. She can not make rum, but she is a good judge of its quality from long experience. I therefore offer her, with all her perfections and imperfections, for the sum of fifty shillings.\"\nIt is marvelous that there could have been found any man with courage and valor enough to buy, but such there was by name Henry Mears, who, after an hour's haggling, offered twenty shillings and a Newfoundland dog. They then parted in perfect good temper, Mears and the shrew and Mr. Thompson and the dog. Petruchio could have exercised his right also to the use of the bridle or brank, which being put upon the offender by order of the magistrate, and fastened with a padlock behind the ear, she is lead in it around the town by an officer to her shame, nor is it taken off until the woman begins to show external signs of humiliation. The character of Petruchio is not so uncommon, and the world is full of Katharinas. Katharina's closing speech is at once elegant, eloquent, poetical and true. It is worth all volumes on household virtues.\nWhat kind of a man is our modern Petruchio? A sensible fellow with practical ideas to suit his wife, who fancies that men are in danger in their turn of losing some of their rights. He is like the majority of young men in this country, well-meaning, industrious, hoping to make a moderate fortune because a good citizen, husband and father, and go through life creditably and honorable. He says: \"What is my wife to [Page 547] be to me and I to my wife?\" Since I began to listen to the story of woman's wrongs and woman's rights, the world is turned topsy-turvy. I am morally sea-sick. 'Tis a state of transition with women, answers this modern American Katharina, with her pale, striking features, a skin like dough, gray, thoughtful eyes, her chest flat, her movements and her whole bearing full of unrest, and these hinting subtly at suppressed powers, and whether she condemn a philosophy or dismiss a lover to arrange her hair, it is done alike with the same careless air of superiority. This modern Kate grows courteously satirical when she talks of her grandmother's days, but one notices that this same charming woman on examining some old ivory miniature grows annoyed to find the features of those last century dames as refined as their own, and the vehicle of as subtle and strong minds. \"Strange,\" says the nineteenth century woman, as she puts them away, \"That these faces could have been content with a life of serfdom–mere housekeepers.\" \"But, Kate,\" says our modern Petruchio, \"men are mulish; these same domestic women are here in the nineteenth century. They won't die out; they won't be weeded out. This domestic woman is a great stumbling block in your modern woman's way. Man treats you precisely as the Chinese would were you a missionary, would receive your new spiritual deity–that is to say, with all politeness, with uplifted hands and drooping eyes of adoration, and then go home and plump on their knees before their own private little gods behind the kitchen door. This same old-fashioned domestic woman lives and moves and has her being in her home! Really, Kate, how long is this transition to last? Whose fault is it that it lasts so long?\" \"Petruchio, as you are one of those men who come in with the mob at the end of a reform, I advise you to shut your ears to the tumult, and attend only to your business.\" \"But how can I shut my ears? The air is fill with the protests of women. Do tell what it is they want. What is it that they do not want? What is it that is needed in the right training of girls that is not needed just as imperatively in the right training of boys? What makes the difference then between the position in the world of young men and young women when we men have always granted, and always will, that neither sex is naturally the superior nor the inferior of the other in essentials?\"\n\"The difference,\" says Katharina, \"lies wholly in the idea that underlies the teaching of each, for from the day the boy chips the shell until he dies he is taught, he breathes it in the air, he learns it by perpetual hard experience, that she is to be taken care of all her days. Nearly every girl in our fashionable boarding schools and in our public schools has the day, when the prince will arrive and carry her off, fixed in her horizon like the light to which the mariner steers. What marriage means, what it implicates of duty to herself, to her husband, and to her possible children, she never thinks, nor is she required to think.\"\n\"It seems strange to me, Kate, that women will submit to live with us men when they are feeling that we are depriving them of their rights, and that man is the enemy of woman's best advancement. If we were told the history of any race which for three thousand years had lived in daily intercourse with another with a chance for the same culture, with the same language, seated side by side in perfect social equality, and which had yet remained in a state of subjection, debarred from rights which they had held to be theirs, we should be apt to decide sharply enough that the rights are not fitted to them by nature, or that their cowardice and hesitation to grasp their rights deserved the serfdom. There have been women soldiers, judges, merchants in every country and in every age, women who were leaders in the state in war or in intrigue, and the readiness with which the ground was ceded to them, the applause with which their slightest merit was welcomed, proved how easily climed was the path they trod, and how accessible to every woman if she had chosen to climb it. It was not altogether the fault of the obdurate rock that it hid for so many years the gifts of manhood from the boy Theseus, but his own flaccid muscles and uncertain will which failed to overturn it. When the hour came to use them, the rock was put aside, the golden sandals and magic sword, which were to make his path easy and clear to him, lay underneath.\"\n\"The transcendental inspiration you men have in guessing why God ever made [Page 548] woman, the knowledge you have of the secret of our power, is appalling. We have been told by our self-appointed advisers how we may become charming, and in what way we are in danger of losing our charms. That we are the last and most perfect work of God, sprung from the rib of Adam, nearest the heart, we are told, and at length after six thousand years of tuition we are flattered with having risen to an equality with man. The efforts to equalize with man's woman's wages, to multiply her opportunities, to claim her interests in the politics of human rights, to secure her alleviating presence in the rude scenes of republicanism, these, Petruchio, are of small consequences to men.\"\n\"You have sprung so many points on me, Kate, I can only hope to see one at a time. I wish I might answer you as a man who honors woman and longs for her noble power in all that man holds dear. Let us look at equal rights first. The assertion that the sexes are equal is true if rightly understood, but the way the word equal is often used it does not covey the exact truth and leads to confusion. When we say that five dollars in gold is equal to five dollars in silver, we do not mean that there is equality of weight, but of value. The statement that Napoleon was equal to Milton is true. An examination of the two brains would show a difference of mental organization so that in some respects one would be found superior to the other, and at the same time inferior in other points, but the value of mental endowments in one would be equal to that of the other. The only kind of equality that can be said to exist between the sexes is that which exists between objects that are unlike. If in addition to what woman can do now, she could compete successfully with men wherein they have the pre-eminence, she would not be his equal, but his superior. There is no danger of this, as God has provided a regular system of compensation, so that when one person covets that he has not with the idea that it is better than that actually possessed, he loses the old in acquiring the new. It is not desirable that husband and wife should stand on different planes, so that the mind of one is so far above the other that there is no point of contact; but if their minds are on the same level, the blending of these diverse characteristics produces a union which can not be readily sundered. If men and women were alike this world would resemble the monotonous plane whereon there is a superabundance of a certain kind of equality. The aggressive and tedious assertions of woman's ability to do this, that or the other work in the world are superfluous, or would be so but for modern myopia. In the outer world of fact, of demonstration, of volition, tangible proofs and causalities and material processes, man is supreme, while in that more subtle sphere where lie spiritual convictions which overtop our actual life, and lead up from grossness to glory, woman is the priestess. Are these two spheres independent of each other? Are they not conjoined indissolubly? It is a mistake, and takes from us men one of our supreme rights, that which places antagonism between the two. There should be between them harmony as sweet as that which moves the concentric rings of Saturn, which I viewed the other night. Untaught by the presence and inspiration of woman, we men would soon become cold, dry petrifactions, constantly obeying the centripetal force of our lives and ending by alluring self. And I take it, without man's firmness and strength, woman, in whom the centrifugal force is stronger, would remain a weak, vacillating creature, without self-poise. Cultivate her intellect and his heart, and the healthy action and reaction consequent upon such a balance of forces, you have the true relationship established between the sexes–the relationship which the Creator pronounced good. Do not misunderstand me, Kate. I say, let woman, if she will, measure the stellar distances, study mechanical principles or the learned professions, make a picture or write a book, and there are women, not a few, true and noble, who have done all this, but let her never for such as these abdicate her own nobler work, neglecting the greater for the less. If a woman has a special gift let her exercise it. If she has a particular mission let her work it out. Few women, though, are of this elect class, just as few men are. But I would have woman never forget that it is not for what they may possibly add to the sum of human knowledge that the world values them primarily. That [Page 549] some man is as likely to do as not. But what women fail to do in their own peculiar sphere, no man can possibly do. Did you ever think, Kate, that woman may be able to do anything that man does in his sphere, if she be trained, but it is inconceivable that man could do a woman's work, essentially that which is most womanly? Before you answer this, let us look at your second point, where you generously and most practically inquire about the maidens by choice and the maidens by necessity. What are they to do, and how are they to live in this world? Just here is where one of the rights of man should be emphasized. There is one hard fact which women are apt to shirk, but which they must after all–that is, that in the pitiless economies of nations, the question is not the worker, but the value of the work. When Rosa Bonheur or Jean Ingelow bring their wares to market, the question of sex does not intrude itself in the matter of payment. If a woman has taken a desk in a counting-room, let her do her duty like a man, expecting no favors because she is a woman. She has no right to stay at home when it rains, and no right to leave before her hour because she can not cross certain places after dark, no right not to expect to be 'blown up' (using the expression which suits us men best) when she makes wrong entries. It is one reason for less wages that woman will not submit to conditions that men have to submit to, because their uncertain future makes them careless and less interested in their work. Once let woman face fate, and not flirt with it, and this question of 'less wages' will emerge from its present muddle. In the matter of wages, as between husband and wife, the husband's wages are not simply payment from the capitalist for his work, but for his wife's also. The money he earns the wife applies to the household and their common wants. The wife in the truest sense is her husband's most important business partner, his partner in a more complete and comprehensive sense than any other he can have. The household is her department of the business of life, as her husband's is the store, the manufactory or the office. If she fail to act constantly upon this principle she is an unfaithful and untrustworthy partner, and is as much to blame as if her husband were to neglect his stock, his shipping, his contract, his client. Why should the husband be expected to manage his part of the business upon sound and correct business principles while his wife-partner is letting hers go at loose ends, with a shiftlessness which, if he should imitate, would ruin them in a year? Now what is the principle upon which every good business man manages his affairs? Why, simply that of sovereignty. He keeps, if he is a sensible man, his stock under lock and key, and extracts a rigid accountability in its use.\"\n\"But,\" says Kate, \"we housekeepers would not dare lock up our butter, eggs or sugar. We could not keep a girl a day if we doled out our stores and held our servants accountable for their use.\"\n\"Suppose a manufacturer of jewelry should reason as you do, Kate. He says, 'I can not keep my help satisfied unless I give them free access to my stock of gold and diamonds. I must throw open my tool drawers, and I must not ask how much material this or that manufactured article has taken to make.' You know that man would have to shut up shop in less than a year. Now I still ask, Kate, is it fair, is it right that while the husband superintends his business himself the wife partner surrenders her responsibility into the hands of ignorant and irresponsible subordinates? Thus conducting the household on purely business principles does not necessarily entail upon you the least participation in the labor of the family. It does not absolutely require your personal presence at the scene of those labors, although the woman who considers it beneath her dignity to go into her kitchen has no more business to undertake to keep house than the master mechanic who is too proud to enter his workshop has to try to carry on a shop. The absolutely essential thing is that yours should be the controlling and directing mind, and that to you everyone in your employ should be held rigorously responsible.\"\n\"I wish,\" says Kate, \"that you would specialize a little. You men in laying down your instructions to us women do it in the most stupendously general way, which we are sometimes tempted to think betrays a condition of mind which lacks experimental knowledge.\" [Page 550] \n\"Well, I readily own up to little experimental knowledge in housekeeping, but I am only suggesting that housekeeping should be conducted on the same principle on which we men conduct business. And first, to specialize, you should tell your servants that employing them at stipulated wages to do certain work their time belongs to you. Tell them distinctly that if you prefer to keep your stores under lock and key it is not because you suspect their integrity, but that you consider it your business as a housekeeper to know what is the cost of living. And secondly, although the plan of keeping a book of family accounts only belongs incidentally to the main subject under discussion, it is so important that I can not refrain from a special mention of it. It is the simplest thing in the world, not taking on an average more than ten minutes a day. For reference in case of a disputed bill it is invaluable, while its influence in keeping down expenses is wonderfully wholesome. It would be just as safe for the merchant to neglect his cash book as for his domestic partner, who undertakes to do her business properly, to neglect her cash book. I believe, Kate, that no higher compliment can a husband pay to his wife than to say, 'She is an excellent manager of my home, finely as she has been educated; she knows everything, and how to direct what should be done, from the private family dinner to a sumptuous entertainment.\"\n\"You may add, if you please, Petruchio, that woman has done nearly everything that has been done in the peaceful arts from the dawn of history up to the present era, as you will have to acknowledge, if you have examined at all intelligently the Woman's Building at this wonderful fair of this wonderful nation. In all the earlier ages woman established the home, built the house, reared the family, provided food, tilled the ground, garnered the crops, provided materials for raiment, spun thread and wove cloth, designed and manufactured clothing, cared for the sick and educated the children. Modern civilization, developing commerce and manufactures and improving agriculture, has diverted the attention of men from fighting and hunting, and given into their hands the task of providing food and raiment and luxuries for the family. Indeed, the history of civilization may be regarded as a history of the transfer of these tasks from the hands of women in the household to the hands of men in the factory, the mill and the shop. And may not the single monotonous occupation to which women are now confined account for that which seems to militate against domestic peace?\"\n\"Why, Kate, the science of domestic economy is one of the noblest arts, the handmaid of domestic and, therefore, national health, riches and welfare, and worthy the highest powers of the most gifted of our women. You re-read the story of Ruth Pinch as given in 'Martin Chuzzlewit.' It is enough to make one in love with cooking and keeping house. The pretty girl does everything with such grace and alertness, her whole soul is so bent on infusing comfort into everything, she is so unselfish, so wise, so unconscious of her wisdom, so good, and knows so little about her goodness, that she is one of the sweetest of Dickens' many lovely, thoroughly human, women. It is a pitiful truth that we may become homeless without being actually houseless, for it does look as though the family or homekeeping was fast becoming a matter of temporary arrangement. Home, once a woman's temple, is now her prison. The sweet, quiet virtues which were once her greatest charm are now the badge of her slavery. Strong to do, she is weak to bear, and while she can nerve herself to perform the most revolting offices of a hospital nurse, and take an active part in the most ghastly operations, she can not live under the comparative monotony of her home life. Duty is not in her vocabulary now. She writes work over where it stood. And, Kate, I fear work means simply excitement and publicity. Is there not danger that not a grace, not a gift will be kept in the maturing shade, that not a violet hides behind its leaves? All the treasure which once used to be kept in sacred shrines are now laid in the shop window for everyone to stare at, and all buy who will. A pretty piping voice, that can sing passably well a drawing-room ballad, hires herself for public display. You hear girls say they are hoping to become another Camilla Urso because they can strike a true note on the violin. Many a girl who can draw [Page 551] well enough for a parlor album plunges into an exhibit, and dreams of fame through her art, and one with the faintest faculty for situation dashes off a novel which is to bring her name very near to that of George Eliot. While I sincerely, deeply sympathize with every reform which tends to afford a fair field for exertion for those women who are forced to select for themselves a trade or profession, I deprecate everything that allures those who possess the inestimable privilege of a home to desert their fittest sphere of action. You will smile, Kate, when I say that the manhood of man must suffer some loss when woman has appropriated a portion of it; for its nobler attributes are created and evoked by the duty and privilege of ministering to her wants, and fortifying and protecting her. I believe woman is a complement, not a substitute, for man. Is it, my Kate, so beneath the glory of a woman to be one whose society is sought with avidity by the opposite sex, whose most ardent champions are men, at whose bidding men are prompt to respond, and in whose companionship men seem to find peculiar happiness? A woman whose husband will think her adorable, it matters little whether her eyes be large or light, small or dark, her features classic or irregular, whether her tongue be eloquent or she be given to silence, she hides within her being that subtle something which emphasizes the fact that men have some rights which women are bound to respect. I can not express it better than to say that, while she is restful, at the same time she coaxes out ambitions which we never dreamed were ours. She seems to have the grace of leisure. She is never too busy. She would inject a little bit of duncehood into our American life–into this restless desire for study. If she be fortunate enough to possess children, she assimilates the spirit of the age and interprets it to them, and in them evolution seems to take strides swift and sure and forward. Should we give small credit to her who has kept holy and watered with the rain of deep feeling this acrid, dusty highway of civilization, and instructed her nature so that it will bring forth beautiful June blossoms?\n \"'Happy he!\nWith such a mother; faith in womankind\nBeats with his blood, and truth in all things high\nComes easy to him, and though he trip and fall,\nHe shall not blind his soul with clay!'\n\"You spoke, Kate, of securing woman's alleviating presence in the rude scenes of republicanism. I suppose you have reference to her participation in politics. History tells us that when the contrast between the sexes has been least marked, the tenderer one does not seem to have gained purity or the physically stronger elevation. The Spartan maids who exercised in public unrobed, did not always, as Plato fondly hoped, wear virtue for a garment. The mothers of the Partheniæs doubtlessly acted from patriotism, but less strong-minded women would have considered their honor paramount. The idea of marriage, of the natural choice of each other by one man and one woman, to unite and form one separate family, seems to be as naturally implanted in the human race as does the idea of language or religion, and if the family is one as the United States government is one, then it would be as absurd to send two representatives to the polls as it would be to send two representatives or ministers to Great Britain to act on their individual responsibilities. So long as a woman elects her own husband, and she can sometimes take her choice out of several candidates, it is her own fault if she is not properly represented.\"\n\"And have American women, whether married or single, any vital share or interest in this grand free government of ours?\" asked Kate.\n\"With all the emphasis of a profound conviction I answer, yes. Such a touching and intimate interest as no women ever had before in any government under the sun, because the principles embodied in it and represented by it have made her what she is, and they alone can make her what she hopes to be. If it be true that the position of woman in society is a sure test of its civilization, then is our America in the van of progress. Nowhere else in the world is the ideal of womanhood so chivalrously [Page 552] worshiped and protected. Nowhere else is she so respected, obeyed and beloved. In three exterior forms of action women excel–talk, manner and dress. It is in talk–yes, in all three that American women take the lead. Great as is your proficiency in the handling of manner and dress, it is by talk alone that you exercise a conquering force. I know that dress and manner are regarded as indispensable auxiliaries, but none except the foolish place them in the front rank of combat, while every woman who merits being counted as a social artist, takes care in using them as but subordinates to her speech. In society our American women are extremely self-poised, reasonable and capable of defending their own opinions and of abetting their desires, and as you talk more and laugh more you lead and dictate more to your brother man. It is to you women that men must go for exhilaration, elevation, brightening and appetizing, and above all, strengthening to do our duty, and contentment while we are doing it. Kate, I do wish that men's rights could be regarded just a little–talked about, sung about, prayed about, and preached about.\"\n\"Men's rights! What do you mean, Petruchio? Men have always had all the rights there were to have, and what more can you cry for?\"\n\"My dear Kate, this is the age of woman worship. Women are angels and men are mostly demons. Our modern literature makes all virtues feminine and all vices masculine. A well-formed, fair-faced, sweet-tempered, gentle-spoken woman, if young and accomplished, is an angel, though her heart may be cold, selfish, incapable of a generous emotion; an angel, though utterly regardless of the misery she ruthlessly inflicts upon others. What with women's journals and women's clubs and women's colleges and women's departments, and women's this and that, we are beginning to fear entire exclusion from the human family. Some one has said that we are in danger of forgetting that 'a woman is a human being first and a woman afterward.' But we have one hope and one consolation, and that is in the motto on the letter-paper of the Woman's Branch of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition, viz.: 'Not things, but men.' We are still recognized as a man and brother. For this I for one am devoutly thankful. I confess to you, Kate, that I have just joined the P. A. S. O. M. T. N. R., which in this age of cabalistic nomenclature, means the 'Protective Association for Securing to Oppressed Men Their Neglected Rights.' I have never liked the 'Taming of the Shrew' in Shakespeare version, and would like to get out an edition of my own. There is something so out of keeping with all reality in it. Whoever knew a man in the better circles of society have his way by any domineering method as against the contrary by his wife? I believe there are cases, such as that of the one-time invincible John L. Sullivan, where man's superior muscular action is put into play to secure him what he is pleased to term his rights. But you know, Kate, that it is not considered good form for a man in the best society to beat his wife. This puts him at a certain disadvantage. If he is not permitted to show his superiority in the sense physical, where then can he show it? There is something so far-fetched in the whole conception of a man's having his way that it seems to me that the play lacks human interest. Perhaps there will be a land some time–\n\"'Where wives will all obedient be,\nAnd men will have their way.'\n\"Meanwhile, Kate, there is another thing that you enjoy, and which seems to be denied to us men, for the most part, at least. I refer to the literary circles all over our land. Of the members of the Chautauqua and kindred circles, what an infinitesimal fraction are men. I know that we have, as a rule, less ability and taste for this sort of thing, but the reason is that we have been repressed for generations. Give us a chance. When you women gather to hear a play of Shakespeare, or to throw additional obscurity on Browning, or see what extravagant panegyric can do for Walt Whitman, men look on with envious eyes. When there are 9 o'clock breakfasts and formal luncheons and coffees and 5 o'clock teas, we men must rest content to stay without the portals. The one persistent and unquestioned right which we seem to [Page 553] have left, is to supply the ducats for the same. You know, Kate, that if you attend the fine literary association, of which you are a bright and particular star, I must meanwhile in my office earn enough to buy the paper and ink with which you write those essays which delight all readers. If you will bear with me, Katharina, I would like to tell you of two or three prominent faults of your sex which injure and restrict our rights as men. The most mischievous and glaring, and the most ruinous, is extravagance. I knew you would look aghast at this, and ask me for an account of the money I spend for tobacco, etc., but you should be charitable toward some of our habits, seeing that we do not interfere with yours.\"\n\"Bless me, Petruchio, what habits have we, I should like to know?\"\n\"A multitude, Kate. I don't know the half. Crochet work, embroidery, painting–tea is milder than tobacco, but your systems are more sensitive. Then there are powders, perfumes, eau-de-cologne, lavender, verbena, heliotrope, and what not, against all of which I have nothing to say, because their odors are nearly equal to that of a fine Havana cigar. I would be glad if this feminine love for color and fragrance was more common among men. But there are curious differences of taste. The peculiar fascination in smoking is not in the taste of the weed, but in the sight of the smoke. It is called the ear of corn which we hold out to induce into harmony the skittish thoughts which are running loose. I understand that knitting is the great feminine narcotic. You will agree with me, Kate, that this habit is not very important in comparison with those vices of character. Is not the use of the weed less objectionable than those systemic habits of envy, avarice, hypocrisy, or the vice of extravagance? Wastefulness has almost become a trait of society. American women, especially, are profuse and lavish in money and dress, in equipage, in furniture, in houses, in entertainments. Perhaps the largeness, the immensity of our land's resources and materials, as well as the wonderful national advance we have already made, tends to cultivate in our people a feeling of profusion and the habit of extravagant display. When fortunes do not arrive by magic, but must be built up painfully, slowly, at the expense of the nerve and sinew, the brain and the heart of the builder, and when a close attention to money-making is rapidly becoming a national badge and is in danger of eating out entirely what is of infinitely more value than wealth, a high national integrity and conscience, and sinking the immaterial and the intellectual in the material and the sensual. It is, then, by you, the women of America, that the men shall have saved to them their rights. Great financial crisises in which colossal schemes burst like bubbles; commercial bankruptcies, in which honorable names are bandied on the lips of common rumor and white reputations are blackened by public suspicion; minds that started in life with pure and honest principles, determined to win fortune by the straight path of rectitude, gradually growing distorted and ending by enthroning gold in the place made vacant by departed virtues; hearts that were once responsive to the fair and beautiful in life and in the universe, that were wont to thrill through and through at a noble deed or fine thought, now pulseless and hard as the nether millstone; souls that once believed in God, Heaven, and good, now worshiping commercial success and its exponent, money, and living and dying with their eager eyes fixed dustward. And yet, if this is to be checked, it must be begun in the home and by its guardian woman.\n\"Another thing, Kate, which you women do, and which I think defraud us of our rights, is your wild chase after, and copying of, European fashions, habits and styles of living. We are accused of being a nation of copyists, and it is more than half true. And why it should be I can not understand. I am thankful, as I look at this wonderful \"Dream City,\" that we are beginning to have an art and a literature our very own. Let us have the fashion, as well, which shall be distinctively American. Not what is sensible or becoming, but what is the fashion, does the American woman buy. Not what she can afford to purchase, but what her neighbors have, is generally the criterion. The aping of aristocratic pretentions has been a much ridiculed weakness of Americans. It is certain that American society needs republicanizing in all its grades. [Page 554] This is another right which men look to women to preserve–the effort to renew society in the natural simplicity of our republican institutions. America has need of you, Kate. Man has need of you. We suffer for the need, as well as for the power, of loving and being loved. This is even greater in man than in woman, hence the chief reason why she almost always controls him. Man craves for the ideal, suffers for the want of it, but he dies not knowing how to get it. I say, Kate, that not even yet has womankind, in spite of her irrepressible longing to utter the clear, free, elevated speech, that shall yet stir the pulses of the world. I can not better tell you what I believe is needed than to close with the words of that true American woman:\n\"'If thou wouldst have happiness, choose neither fame, which doth not long abide, nor power, which stings the hand that wields it; nor gold, which glitters, but never glorifies; but choose thou love, and hold it forever in thy heart of hearts; for love is the purest and the mightiest force in the universe, and once it is thine, all other gifts shall be added unto thee. Love that is passionate, yet reverent, gentle, yet strong, selfish in desiring all, yet generous in giving all, love of man for woman, of woman for man, of parent for child, of friend for friend–when this is born in the soul the desert blossoms of the rose; straightway new wishes, hopes, sweet longings and pure ambitions spring into being like green shoots that lift their tender heads in sunny places, and if the soil be kind they grow stronger and more beautiful as each glad day laughs in the rosy sky.'\"\n[Page 544] \nMrs. Emma Pratt Mott is a native of Michigan. Her parents were Dr. and Mrs. Frank H. Pratt. She was educated in Boston and Elmira, New York. She married the Rev. Henry Elliott Mott, a Presbyterian minister of high standing and ability. Her principal literary works are magazine articles and journalistic work. Her profession is that of a Shakespearean Teacher. In religious faith she is Presbyterian. She is a graceful writer and speaker, a beautiful and accomplished woman, of great popularity as a social and literary leader in every community in which she sojourns. As a devoted and beloved wife, she is a model for the world, and a pillar of strength to her husband in his most noble work. Her present postoffice address is Buffalo, New York.\n[Page 544] \n* The full title of the address as delivered was, \"Katharina\" in \"The 'Taming of the Shrew' or The Rights of Men.\"",
"Downton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our ...\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses. Television drama, ... Belvoir Castle, as a business.\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses - The F-Word\nDownton and Dukedom: The real-life Lady Marys saving our country houses\nTelevision drama, Downton Abbey and recent documentary, The Last Dukes both offer insights into the patriarchal traditions of the often unaccountable ruling class. Beccy Roberts challenges these traditions and discusses the importance of women in sustaining the UK’s country houses\nBeccy Roberts , 6 November 2015\nDownton Abbey recently saw the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) powerless to stop his outspoken eldest daughter Lady Mary, now joint agent of the family estate, and his wife Cora, an American heiress whose dowry saved Downton from ruin years earlier, opening up his home to the public to raise funds.\nCompare this to the documentary The Last Dukes, which was shown the following evening on BBC2, and it seems women don’t only run the show at the fictional Downton; the real Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire was saved by its own Lady Cora, when the 9th Duke of Marlborough married the American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1895, whereas Blair Castle in Scotland was saved by Lady Cowdray gifting a substantial amount of her money to her granddaughter Angela, whose son Iain became the 10th Duke of Atholl in 1957.\nIain left no heirs, resulting in the Dukedom being split between his half-sister Sarah Troughton, who got the castle and the land, and a distant cousin, Bruce Murray, who got the title. Sarah now runs the estate year round with great success. Meanwhile, Bruce, who lives in South Africa, visits once a year to take part in the chivalric ritual of overseeing his own private army. Both Sarah and Bruce are happy with the arrangement, with Bruce unable to imagine running such a complex establishment and Sarah unable to imagine being a Duchess: “I prefer to get on with the business side of things.”\nCould it be that women are better than men at the ‘business side of things’? Are the Dukes only able to don their coronets because their wives have got their thinking caps on? Within the class hierarchy of the UK, a Duke is the highest position a subject can achieve, with only royalty above him. The privilege of a Dukedom can only be bestowed by the monarch, with the last non-royal Duke created way back in the reign of Queen Victoria.\nI would argue patriarchy itself needs to be destroyed so that some of our customs can live on in a way that fits with today’s culture\nThe reluctance of recent monarchs to create Dukes, along with the fact that Dukedoms can only be passed down the male line, is putting this symbol of the chivalric code in danger of becoming extinct. It is the patriarchal nature of this custom that is destroying it and I would argue patriarchy itself needs to be destroyed so that some of our customs can live on in a way that fits with today’s culture.\nThe Last Dukes shows how the Dukedom of Leeds has not survived to see the 21st Century, as Lady Camilla Osbourne was the only child of the 11th Duke of Leeds, and consequently there were no male heirs to carry on the title. Camilla tells director, Michael Waldman, rather matter-of-factly, “ If I’d been born a boy I would have been my father’s heir and 12th Duke of Leeds,” taking off the coronet she adds, “But I wasn’t.”\nJust as Dukedoms have dwindled in number over the years, stately homes have suffered a similar fate. During the 1950s and 1960s, in particular, many country houses were destroyed. Giles Worsley looked at the factors affecting the demise of the country house , noting that although death duties and the two world wars were intrinsic in making the cost of sustaining such houses almost impossible, the loss of power and political influence associated with the stately house also contributed to their downfall. These emblems of aristocratic pride have become wonders of a past time, no longer as influential in society as they were, just as Dukedoms have become less instrumental in the political sphere, the aristocracy proving rather more humorous than effective in the modern world .\nSimilar to how Bruce, the current Duke of Atholl, enjoys his title without the onerous trappings of managing the ancestral seat, Worsley notes how the 11th Duke of Leeds preferred life on the French Riviera, free from responsibility and therefore in 1930 sold Hornby Castle in Yorkshire, which was later demolished. However, Sarah Troughton appears to relish the responsibility that comes with overseeing the Atholl estate and Lady Camilla Osbourne recognises that the family home, the demolished Hornby Castle, even with all its responsibility, would have given her father a much happier life, providing him with a purpose. Could it be that women are more attached to the home that comes with the Dukedom and the men to the title itself? After all, a woman’s place is apparently in the home. Surely, then, we should at least give women the right to make sure that home can survive?\nWomen have not only provided money to save country estates and the male-centred tradition they support, but have also generated money to pay for the upkeep of these country piles. The Last Dukes is definitely not oblivious to the importance of women in sustaining the custom of Dukedom, with one section titled ‘The Determined Duchess’. In this segment, we hear from The Duchess of Rutland, who runs the ancestral seat, Belvoir Castle, as a business. Given a tin of keys for the Castle by her mother-in-law, along with an ominous good luck wish, the Duchess set about commercialising the castle to provide a sufficient income to maintain it. Now estranged from her husband, the Duchess lives in one tower of the castle while the Duke inhabits the other.\nWe do see a different side to the Duchess when she talks of how she felt pressurised by the patriarchal dukedom system to produce a male heir\nThere’s no Rapunzel at Belvoir though; the Duchess, with her perfectly coiffed hair and wedged espadrilles needs no man to rescue her. As Chief Executive, she has a savvy business brain and markets her home primarily to the Asian Wedding scene – a rich pool in the Midlands where Belvoir sits. We hear how she negotiated with the government over inheritance tax so she could reduce the number of days Belvoir opens to the public and focus on weddings and elaborate shooting parties.\nWe see the Duchess visiting two of her employees on the estate and hear how, in order to make the estate more financially sustainable, she restructured the workforce, making many employees redundant. Although the farmer praises the Duchess’ actions, seeing them as necessary for the improvement in the efficiency of the estate, the nervous laughter by both parties proves slightly uncomfortable to watch.\nUnlike Lady Mary in Downton Abbey – who found herself warming to Barrow, the under-butler facing the chop, as he piggy-backed her son George along the gallery – the Duchess of Rutland seems less sympathetic. Indeed, I found myself wondering how many of her servants ended their last day as Barrow ended his at Downton – crying into the fire. We do see a different side to the Duchess when she talks of how she felt pressurised by the patriarchal dukedom system to produce a male heir, but this clearly turned out to be a temporary concern for her because, after three daughters, she had two boys (well one always needs an heir and a spare).\nNot all the Dukes in the programme live in such grand establishments as Belvoir, however. The Duke of St. Albans’ ancestral seat, Bestwood Lodge, is now a Best Western hotel (the idea of charging the public to see inside a stately home perhaps taken to the extreme). The current Duke, now living in a terraced house in London, still displays characteristics of a country squire; he’s disgruntled by the fact his ancient title of Hereditary Grand Falconer no longer gets him his haunch of venison from Richmond Park every year, after the Labour government under Blair did away with the privilege to save money. There might not be a country home to sustain here but the Duchess of St. Albans, once again, stands out as the stronger character of the two. She barely lets the Duke get a word in edgeways and as she presents his ceremonial robes to the camera there is an impression that, although he gets to wear these vestments of power on state occasions, he never gets to ‘wear the trousers’ at home.\nWe need to challenge the rituals restricting women’s influence in the management and ownership of ancestral seats\nAlthough you’ve probably heard of the current Duke of Marlborough due to his list of criminal convictions – which are even longer than the list of titles his fellow Duke of Atholl has trouble remembering – I doubt you’ve heard much of his sister Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill. She is acutely aware of the instability of the country house and recognises that the ability to capitalise on the public’s fascination with such majestic buildings is necessary to sustain the life she and her sibling currently enjoy. This understanding of, and interest in, her ancestral seat comes as no surprise. After all, she descends from the first Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, who famously had a disagreement with the architect John Vanbrugh about the design of the building of Blenheim during the early years of the 18th Century. Churchill had no qualms standing up to her husband’s architect, revealing “I made Mr. Vanbrugh my enemy by the constant disputes I had with him to prevent his extravagance.” As Lady Henrietta confidently glides through the private apartments of Blenheim in the documentary, I almost expect her to break into song:\nNow there was a time when they used to say, That behind every great man there had to be a great woman. But in these times of change, you know that it’s no longer true ….\nBecause, it seems, sisters are doing it for themselves, and wives, come to think of it.\nBlenheim Palace welcomes around 700,000 visitors a year and Downton Abbey reaches an audience of over seven million – nine million at its peak – perhaps indicating the fascination many people have with seeing how the rich live or used to live. I suggest we need to look at the country house in a way that challenges the patriarchal rituals restricting women’s influence in the management and ownership of ancestral seats. If women were able to inherit the title of Duchess, rather than only being able to achieve this status through marriage – as a consequence of connection to a man – there would be a greater opportunity for women to play a more decisive role in the fate of country houses. Would the Duchess of Rutland be managing Belvoir Castle if her husband didn’t still live in one of the towers? Is his presence at the Castle needed to condone his wife’s management of the building?\nAlthough one gets the impression the ‘Determined Duchess’ would not let go of the castle easily if the situation with her husband changed, just as Lady Anne Clifford fought for her rightful inheritance in the 17th Century ; a fter years of struggle in a patriarchal society, Anne’s perseverance paid off and she became the owner of the family estates in Yorkshire. She then remodelled many of the castles, such as Skipton, Brough and Brougham, conserving them for future generations.\nPerhaps we should acknowledge that women could be the key in sustaining these beautiful mementoes to the past and remember that, unlike the Duchess of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, we don’t have a whole load of keys to choose from.\nThe last episode of Downton Abbey will be screened on Sunday (8 November) on ITV1, with catch-up available on ITV Player . The Last Dukes is on BBC iPlayer until 26 November.\n[Image descriptions and credits:\n1. Head and shoulders shot of Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey. Her right hand is under her chin and she has a fond expression that suggests she may be listening to a story from a dear friend or family member. From the ITV website and shared under fair dealing. Credit: ITV/Downton Abbey.\n2. Lady Camilla Osborne, daughter of the late 10th Duke of Leeds, wearing the Duke’s coronet, in her bedroom in London. Image Credit: BBC/Spun Gold TV. Photographer: Grab. Image Copyright: Spun Gold TV.]\nBeccy Roberts is a doctor of architectural history working in the heritage industry. She has recently started her own blog, Working with Anxiety , about mental health issues and begun proofreading and copy-editing for Wordscene . She has also started contributing to Neeach , a social network dedicated to food. All this has given her a taste for writing that she hopes to keep feeding"
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The green coloured melon liqueur, Midori, was originally produced in which country? | JAPAN | [
"Midori_(liqueur).txt\nMidori (liqueur)\nMidori is a sweet, bright-green-coloured, muskmelon-flavored liqueur made by Suntory. It is manufactured in Japan, USA, Mexico, and France, although it was made exclusively in Japan until 1987. Midori is usually 20–21% alcohol by volume. Its name is the Japanese word for \"green\". French-made Midori is sweeter than the original Japanese version.\n\nAs it is extremely sweet, Midori is not usually taken \"straight\"; it is generally used in a mixed drink (i.e., a cocktail), such as a Japanese slipper. It is usually used in a range of long drinks – with lemonade, fresh lemon juice, lime juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice. Sour flavours are often combined with it to balance its sweetness.\n\nHistory\n\nMidori was launched in 1978, with a party held at New York City's legendary Studio 54.[http://www.midori-world.com/product/history.html \"Midori History\"] Midoriworld.com (accessed September 8, 2013)\n\nIn 2013 following consumer research, Suntory reduced the sugar content and began producing Midori with a redesigned label and frosted glass bottle.[http://barmagazine.co.uk/new-look-and-less-sugar-for-midori.html \"New look and less sugar for Midori\"] \"Bar Magazine April 4, 2013\""
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"Top 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur - iCohol.com\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands ... 2. Chartreuse Yellow VEP liqueur ... Most everyone enjoys something flashy and the bright green color of this liqueur is as aesthetically ...\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur - iCohol.com\nTop 10 Liqueur Brands and Best Liqueur\nWhat’s Liqueur?\nLiqueur is an alcoholic beverage that’s usually flavored with assorted flavors. Liqueur is bottled with added sugar. This added sugar is what defines it.\nYou can’t simply go by a spirit being flavored to be classified as a liqueur because many spirts are flavored such as rum, vodka, etc. Like stated above, what really sets a liqueur apart from a spirit is that it contains the added sugar, which spirits do not.\nLiqueurs usually range from 14% to 35%. Desset Wines are not liqueurs, while cordials have become synoumous with liquers.\n1. Arran Gold Cream Liqueur\nWinner of the World’s Best Whisky Liqueur back in 2007 so is deserved of being on this list. The color is a light brown that immediately makes a drinker think of chocolate which would be correct because one’s nose immediately carries that idea through the senses. Smelling of a chocolate milkshake, Arran Gold is great to mix with Whiskey because it is able to envelope the bold taste of the liquor and produce something both tasty and warming. If you try it on the rocks, you’ll realize just how creamy and smooth this treat is, but you’ll also be surprised to taste a hint of malt on the backend. Arran Gold finds a way to make a great Whiskey even smoother with its light body and full taste. Try it in: A glass with or without ice. Simple enough.\n2. Chartreuse Yellow VEP liqueur\nChartreuse is undoubtedly the healthiest liqueur on the list. But don’t think it loses any of its tastiness. Chartreuse is made by French monks who have been working on the brand for over 500 years. Chartreuse is more bold than the others on the list, stepping it up at 42% alcohol by volume. Off the nose, you’ll gather mainly licorice and fennel, but don’t be surprised if you begin picking out one or two of the 130 herbs used for this drink. The only liqueur to use oak castes to age the product, Chartreuse will give your tongue a bit more floral taste, pushing some of its other herbs like sage, saffron and thyme. Chartreuse is a popular liqueur, but understand that this is something you should use sporadically or when you’re dying to impress. At $123 a liter, the VEP is a hefty drink with awesome taste. Cocktails include: April Shower, Yellow Bird and the Torii Toddy\n3. Frangelico\nFirst, can I just say this bottle reminds me of Aunt Jemima Syrup. Anyone else see it? It makes sense since the bottle is supposed to look like a monk in his habit. This Italian liqueur is popular already and I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Frangelico owns a light caramel coloring and is a hazelnut and herb flavored drink. When you open the bottle, wafts of hazelnut, vanilla and cinnamon enter your nose, giving you a dynamic and strong idea of what is to come. The body is more light weight then most liqueurs and also differs in the fact that while its smooth, it doesn’t leave that feeling of cream or syrup on your tongue after a swig. Its flavors sit on the tongue quickly, producing chocolate, hazelnut and spice to your taste buds. Again, the smell is so delicious that you’ll want to keep inhaling this drinks aromas, even while you’re pouring some down your throat. An easy finish, and its easy to see why Frangelico is such a popular liqueur. Here are the cocktails to try: Chocolate Cake Shooter, Friar Tuck #2 and Procrastinator Shot\n4. Tia maria\nTia Maria is a liqueur made from Jamaica that encompasses two of my favorite things: Jamaican Rum and Blue Mountain Coffee. Ok, the Blue Mountain might be a stretch, but it actually is the finest coffee produced in Jamaica. Mix that with a rich Jamaican Rum and you have a thumbs up. The alcohol percentage is at 20% which makes this a great liqueur for adding to coco, coffee or sipping over the rocks. Tia Maria is a smoother blend with a hint of spice that can add a hint of something different to any drink you make it with and since it’s not made with cream, its perfect for those out there watching their caloric intake. Want to try it but not sure how? Here are a few options you can throw together at your next party to introduce everyone to an internationally known liqueur: Dark Indulgence Cocktail, Mike Tyson Cocktail and Ciel Recipe\n5. Midori\nComing from the Japanese word for “green”, Midori is a must-have in any home bar. Its easy to see why this liqueur is popular to begin with. Most everyone enjoys something flashy and the bright green color of this liqueur is as aesthetically pleasing as it is aromatically and tasting wise. Again, a liqueur with a 20% alcohol by volume, its a drink that can easily mixed and added to practically any real liquor. When you open a bottle of Midori, you’ll be hit with the obvious scent of melons; but the smell of bananas and strawberries also follows. Midori on the rocks doesn’t disappoint either, with a slightly more fruity taste than some of the other liqueurs you’ll find on this list. Don’t worry though, Midori isn’t too sweet, but it certainly will ensure that you taste it throughout the entirety of your drink. Cocktails that everyone should try with Midori: Midori Berry Bliss, Carpet Licker and Frozen Midori Sour\n6. Amarula\nYou might not know what Amarula is, but you should. Its best description could be simply this: a thinner and milkshake. I don’t know about you, but I will drink anything that reminds me of ice cream deliciousness. But I’m getting a touch ahead of myself. Lets start with how it smells. This African treat brings one word caramel into play. It smells, looks and tastes like a butterscotch dream, creating a slight layering on the glass and gently coating the tongue with each sip. While it can become a bit sweet, Amarula is a perfect after dinner sipper and can be added to drinks much the same way Baileys Irish Cream can. Amarula is quickly become a favorite for its taste, but you might also enjoy it for its aphrodisiac powers. The drinks to make with it: French Toast, Amarula Dusky Decadence (complicated but worth it) and Elephant Shake\n7. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur\nThis is a liqueur you need to try. It is hard to keep since it produced in small quantities and stores can go weeks without carrying it, but once you get your hands on a bottle of St. Germain, you’ll want to keep tabs on its delivery dates. A liqueur with a medium body, it is like our other liqueurs on the list with a 20% abv, making it great for drinking on the rocks for a great deal of time. Unlike the other liqueurs on this list, its coloring is lighter (and more normal than the green of Midori) with a golden hue. Its smell also differs because it doesn’t hold that punch of spicy or deep flavorfulness, but rather, introduces a citrusy and light aroma to the drinker. You’ll smell flowers and pears and you’ll receive slightly sweet mix with a slight tart. Ultimately an amazing mix. St. Germain Elderflower won’t overpower any cocktail you add it to, but it will bring about a freshness that would be perfect for this summer. Cocktails to try are: The St. Germain Cocktail, Sangria Flora and Cuzco Fizz\n8. Aperol liqueur\nThis Italian liqueur is a good transition here, with an alcohol content of 11%. Aperol is a younger liqueur, only being around since 1919, but its found a way to differentiate itself rather quickly. Aperol looks simple, with a simple bottle and a simple label, but it certainly hold more complex contents. A mix of orange, rhubarb, gentian and other herbs, Aperol finds a way to mix all the above together for something that is surprisingly subtle and delightful. A refreshing liqueur, it is owned in almost every Italian home and is quickly making its way into most of America’s homes as well. Cocktails to try: Aperol Royal, Aperol Betty and Aperol Sour\n9. Domaine de canton ginger liqueur\nThe name holds the main key to this awesomely tasty liqueur. Made in France, Domaine de Canton begins with baby Vietnamese ginger which is then macerated with various herbs. Hand made, it can be difficult to get your hands on a bottle of times due to its small quantities, but along with its awesome bottle…it proves to be a uniqueness you want on hand. Domaine de Canton Ginger also mixes with VSOP Cognac, Grand Champagne, vanilla and orange blossom honey to give it both an inviting and aromatic smell. Pop open the bottle and you’ll be intrigued by its vanilla and citrus smell. The body is medium with 28% abv and yields a golden coloring. On the tongue, you’ll certainly taste the ginger, but its evenly balanced with the subtleness of the cognac and champagne. Cocktails you should try include: El Diablo Martini, Ginger Cosmopolitan and The Gold Rush\n10. Bols Advocaat\nTo understand how this liqueur is different, you need to understand what makes an advocaat different first. Made from eggs, sugar and brandy, Bols Advocaat is a decently simple receipe for a liqueur which proves to be versatile. Because of its simplicity, Bols has created a various array of liqueurs from Bols Watermelon to Bols Strawberry to garshdarn Bols Coconut. Each liqueur has its definitive characteristics. For example, the Bols Banana proves true to its name by pushing the banana taste into your mouth, but also follows up with vanilla and hints of almonds. The color is true to the name as well with its bright yellow liquid sitting in the clear glass bottle. While it would be great to try every one of these, it would be also incredibly difficult. So while you might want to start with some of the more moderate flavors, you have to admit the Bols Parfait Amour looks pretty inviting. Drinks to try for the Bols Banana: Bols Banana & Orange, Banana Banshee and a Banana Colada.\nDiscuss! #Bestliqueur",
"Citrus Pages / Sour oranges\nA friend from a horticultural project in Afghanistan informed me that sour oranges are popular ... (as a pomelo × mandarin hybrid, see Citrus ... 25-30 seeds, fruit ...\nCitrus Pages / Sour oranges\n'Bouquet de fleurs' sour oranges\n� Jorma Koskinen\n \nHistory\nThe sour orange is thought to have originated in the north-eastern parts of India and the neighbouring south-western parts of China and northern Burma. Its cultivation spread slowly westward and reached the Near East at the beginning of the Christian era. The history of the introduction of the sour orange to Europe is very interesting because it consists of two separate stories and strains, a fact which is usually misunderstood.\nArabs had conquered the southern part of Spain by 711 and called it Al-Andalus. They reigned various parts of it until 1492. Arab architects designed beautiful mosques, the most famous of which is the Mesquita in Cordoba. The building was completed in 987 when the famous Patio de los naranjos, the courtyard of oranges also took its final form. The Caliphs of Cordoba were very fond of sour orange trees and ordered them to be planted in the most prominent public spaces in the most important towns of Al-Andalus.\nThis strain of sour orange brought to Spain by Arabs through Northern Africa at the end of the first millenium became the type we today know as the Seville orange, which later became the standard form of sour orange (see Sevillano below). The largest plantations of it still exist around the town of Seville. Arab conquerors also brought the sour orange to the eastern Mediterranean area and the island of Sicily where it is known to have grown in 1002 A.D. \nThe story of the sour orange being brought back by crusaders returning from the Holy Land in the 12th and 13th centuries is also true but of another variety completely. The crusaders brought the Bittersweet orange to the northern Mediterranean countries from where it travelled to Versailles and farther to America (see Bittersweet below). All through the Middle Ages in central and southern Europe citron and sour orange were the only known citrus fruit. Sour orange was considered an important medicinal plant. The fruit was used as a condiment to hide the unpleasant flavour of salted meat and fish (the only known form of preserving). It was also used as a spice and to make marmalade. The flowers were used as a scent. The sweet orange came to Europe during the 15th century and because it could be eaten fresh, it slowly displaced the sour orange. \nUses\nSour oranges are usually not eaten fresh. Their importance lies in the oil that can be extracted from the flowers, leaves, seeds and rind. This oil gives its typical orange-like flavour to spices, sweets, liqueurs etc. Some varieties of sour orange impart their aroma to expensive perfumes, soaps and after-shaves. The oils from sour oranges are used in aromatherapy and many health products. The dried flowers and buds as well as some oils are used in blendings of fine tea. The whole fruit is used to make the orange marmalade the British prefer.\nCertain sour oranges are caramelized whole and eaten as a dessert. The main constituent in the aroma of many soft drinks is sour orange. More detailed information on uses can be found in the description of each variety. In addition to the many food uses what really makes the sour orange important for the whole citrus industry is its suitability for being used as rootstock . Being resistant to many plant diseases and compatible with the majority of commercial citrus types makes it invaluable. \nA friend from a horticultural project in Afghanistan informed me that sour oranges are popular there at meal times. Many people prefer them to lemons and limes and sour orange juice is squeezed on food the same way lemon is used in the Mediterranean. The zest is used to flavour rice. The vesicle segments without seeds and membranes are also eaten fresh. The variety of this sour orange is not known to him but he sent pictures of the tree and fruit and of a meal where it is used. From the pictures it can clearly be seen that it is a sour orange, maybe a bittersweet orange . Pictures on the left by � Muhammad Aziz\nTaste\nThe taste of sour orange varieties and hybrids differ more from each other than is usual in other citrus types. The taste of a standard sour orange is unpalatable to most people and only good for making marmalade. Various sour orange hybrids are too acrid even for marmalade. However, several sour oranges have quite a bit of sugar and some are subacid, which makes them suitable for various food uses. See the descriptions of the individual varieties below. Quite often the taste of orange in food products comes from the sour orange. When sweet oranges are cooked they lose their flavour, especially the juice. Marmalade made of sweet oranges only does not have a strong taste of orange, surprisingly enough. The same is true of sweets, chocolates and liqueurs. But when a few drops of the essence of sour orange is added a strong taste of orange emerges. The alcohol products marketed as orange liqueurs are all made of sour orange. Several varieties are planted for ornamental purposes because of their thick and beautiful foliage as well as their plentiful fruit, which remain on the trees for most of the year. Visiting Spain and other Mediterranean countries one may have thought it peculiar that so many beautiful orange trees full of fruit line the promenades and boulevards. Picking a fruit to taste it one may have been disappointed to find it inedible. Most likely it was one of the several varieties of sour orange.\nVarieties\nMore than 80 cultivated varieties of sour orange are known. About twenty are of commercial importance. Sour oranges are divided into four main groups. The varieties described below are mentioned after each group: \n1. Common sour oranges: Standard sour orange and Sevillano\n2. Bittersweet oranges: \nCitrus aurantium var. amara Engl.\n \n \nSour orange, Common sour orange or Standard sour orange, also known as bitter orange and in food contexts as Seville orange\n, very much resembles the sweet orange. The rind is usually much thicker, rough on the surface and hard to peel. The sour orange is seldom very juicy and often has many seeds. When fully ripe the core at the centre of the segments becomes hollow.\nAn important part of the world production is sold to England, Scotland and South Africa where it is made into marmalade. The orange marmalade preferred by the British is made out of sour oranges only and a marmalade made from sweet oranges is not acceptable. Some sour oranges are often added to regular sweet orange marmalade to improve its flavour. The dried peel of sour orange is used as a spice in baking and confectioneries.\nThe flower of the sour orange \nis the source of Neroli oil (produced by steam distillation) and Neroli absolute (produced by solvent extraction). The flowers yield nectar for honey bees. Neroli petitgrain oil is made from leaves and twigs by steam distillation. Neroli bigarade oil is made from the peel of nearly ripe fruit by cold expression. These oils are widely used in perfumery and cosmetics, and as a flavouring agent in foods, alcoholic and soft drinks. They are also used in aromatherapy. For more information see citrus oils , bittersweet orange and perfumery varieties . Genuine orange flower-water is a by-product of the steam distillation of oils.\nThe thick peel of certain types of sour orange, especially 'Jacmel' in Jamaica, is cut into segments, which are dried in the sun. They are then soaked in pure alcohol in a process called maceration. Later this mixture is distilled and the clear liquid obtained is used for flavouring citrus liqueurs such as Grand Marnier and Cointreau. The dried peel of a sour orange variety from the island of Cura�ao is used in the making of citrus liqueurs Cura�ao and Triple sec. The peel and seeds also\nhave medicinal uses and are used in making soap. \nAll parts of the sour orange can be used. It adapts easily to varying conditions and survives with little or no care. It can stand several degrees of frost for short periods. In proper conditions the tree can attain exceptional longevity. Some trees in Spain are said to be over 600 years old.\nSome cultivated varieties with their country of origin:\nAlgeria: Algerian, Trabout\nCitrus � aurantium 'Sevillano'\n Syn\nCitrus � aurantium 'Real'\nCitrus � aurantium 'Agrio de Espa�a'\n \n \n'Sevillano' is the sour orange variety grown in southern Spain in and around the city of Seville.\nUnlike the 'Bittersweet' (see below) this variety was brought directly to Spain by Arab conquerors in the 10th century from northern Africa via Morocco. This was the original Seville orange and later became known as the standard sour orange. The variety is also known by its Spanish name Real (royal), Agrio de Espa�a (Spanish sour). The tree is attractive, large, vigorous, productive and cold tolerant. It has very few or no thorns. The fruit is seedy, bitter, and acidic, medium size, round, with a slightly depressed apex and a pebbled dark orange rind.\nThis is the principal marmalade variety. It is exported chiefly to England and Scotland for orange marmalade production. The typical bitterness combined with its sour orange characteristics make it an ideal variety for this. The Spanish production area in 2006 was 1120 hectares (2770 acres) and the production around 17 000 metric tons.\n \nSeville orange, Common sour orange, Common bitter orange\n FRA\nBigarade sans �pine, Bigarade d'Espagne\nPhotos\n \n \nThe Bittersweet orange came from the Near East to Europe with the returning crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. The tree is known to have been commercially grown in the Nice area from the year 1322 (as opposed to the ' Sevillano ' above). This is the sour orange that first reached Paris and Versailles and became the favourite of kings and aristocrats or anyone who could afford to build the special greenhouses\ncalled orangerie that were needed for growing them.\nThis was also the first orange to reach the New World with the second voyage of Columbus (1493). It quickly established itself in suitable surroundings like Florida and Paraguay, where the largest cultivated areas still are and where it soon started to grow wild. The tree is large and thorny, the fruit medium size, globose and with a smoother rind texture than the common sour orange. The rind is medium thick and seeds are numerous. The taste is sweet but bitter at the same time. The distinguishing feature is the relative lack of acidity, which makes these varieties almost palatable to some. The two main varieties Bittersweet and Paraguay (Apepu) have acquired slightly different characteristics: Bittersweet has more sugar whereas Paraguay is subacid and therefore sometimes actually tastes sweeter.\nIn its cultivation area the bittersweet orange is used for making marmalade. In the Caribbean islands dried peel is used to aromatize citrus liqueurs. The juice is also used for marinades. The mojo of Cuba is a marinade of half sour orange juice and half oil, spiced with garlic and onions. The leaves and twigs of the bittersweet orange are used to make petitgrain (Paraguay) oil by steam distillation. The peel of the immature fruit is used to obtain bigarade oil by cold expression. These oils are not as highly esteemed as Neroli petitgrain or Neroli bigarade from the common sour orange , but they are largely used in perfumery and in aromatherapy. The most important producer of these is still Paraguay. For more information see citrus oils .\nCultivated varieties: Orlando, Dummet, Bittersweet of Florida and Paraguay (Apepu).\n \nCitrus � aurantium ’Bouquetier group’\n'Bouquet de fleurs'\n'Bouquetier de Nice � fleurs doubles'\n \nCitrus � aurantium ’Bouquet’\nCitrus � aurantium ‘Bouquetier � Grandes Fleurs’\nCitrus � aurantium\n ‘Bouquetier de Nice � Fleurs Doubles’ \nIn Algeria: 'Bouquetier � fruits mous'\n \nThere is some confusion about these perfumery varieties. On the French Riviera and around the town of Grasse as well as in Algeria and Tunisia several sour orange varieties are grown solely for their flowers, which yield a superior quality of Neroli oil that is used in perfumery and aromatherapy.\nThe trees are small, some even dwarfish, and the small fruit are often discarded, although they can be used for making petitgrain and bigarade oils. The flowers of these varieties differ. The flowers of the most highly prized varieties are doubled. The bottom picture shows one of the most valued varieties called the Double-flowered Bouquetier of Nice. The oil obtained from these varieties is more expensive than gold.\nBouquet (Bouquet des fleurs) has small, oval leaves and dense clustered foliage. The fruits are small, moderately pebbled and well-coloured.\nBouquetier � grandes fleurs is the most important perfumery variety. It has very large, simple flowers and large round fruits with very thick rinds. The tree is small and spineless. The fruit makes excellent confections.\nBouquetier de Nice � fleurs doubles has doubled flowers, which develop into double fruits that have a secondary fruit inside the primary. The leaves are very large and broad.\nThe word bouquetier means either a small narrow vase for holding nosegays or a flower-seller, the feminine form bouqueti�re means a flower-girl. Bouquet is a bunch of flowers, among other things. There are several named cultivars, see above. For more information on the oils, see citrus oils .\n ENG\nCitrus � aurantium 'Variegated'\nSyn\nCitrus � aurantium 'Panach�'\nCitrus � aurantium\n \n \nVariegated sour orange has several forms or clones that differ in the degree of variegation. In some trees the variegation only occurs in the leaves; in all leaves in some clones and only in part of the leaves in others.\nIn certain strains only the fruit is variegated but the leaves are not or only partly. Variegated fruit fall into two types: those that are variegated only when immature and those that retain the variegation of the peel colouring also in maturity. A famous example of this kind is 'Virgatum', the Swiss orange, so called because the stripes of the ripe orange resemble the striped trousers of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican. It is rare to find a tree where the fruit and all the leaves are variegated.\nVariegated forms of sour oranges were reported already in the gardens of 16th century Italian palaces.\nVolkamer \nin 1714 and Gallesio in 1839\ndrew and described a sour orange tree with variegated leaves and fruit.\nVariegated varieties grow true from seed.\nENG\nCitrus � aurantium 'Corniculata ' Horned sour orange\n Syn \nCitrus � aurantium 'Cornuto', 'Cornicul�', 'De Grasse', 'Horned'\n \nThe Horned sour orange 'Corniculata' is an old ornamental form of sour orange that was already known to Volkamer as Aranzo Cornuto in his Hesperides from 1708. This variety can sometimes grow digit-like curved extremities that look like small horns. The formation is similar to the way the Fingered citron (Buddha's hand) grows its \"fingers\". In their famous book\nHistoire Naturelle des Orangers published in 1818 Risso and Poiteau described and illustrated this variety as Bigaradier � fruit cornicul�, the \"sour orange with horned fruit\" and in Italian it was called Melangolo a frutto cornuto. This variety was thought to have been lost until a clone of it was found near the town of Grasse in southern France. This variety is now called 'De Grasse'.\nThe tree has a low bushy form of growing and is usually wider than it is tall.\n ENG\nCitrus � aurantium 'Abers Narrow Leaf'\nSyn\n \nAbers Narrow Leaf is an extremely narrow-leaved form of sour orange The tree is small and drooping in habit and the fruit is typical of bitter orange except that the calyx is fleshy. The presumption is that Abers Narrow Leaf originated in Florida, where it received its name, though it may have been an introduction. \nIn appearance it somewhat resembles the Granito and the Willowleaf variety, but is not identical with either one.\nAbers is much used for the extraction of essential oil from its leaves.\nENG\nAbers Narrow Leaf sour orange\nFRA\nCitrus � aurantium 'Willowleaf'\nSyn\nCitrus � aurantium var. salicifolia\n \nIn their famous treatise of 1818 Risso and Poiteau published a picture and a description of a\nBigaradier � feuilles de saule, a\nsour orange with willow-like narrow leaves. This variety is reported to have originated in 18th century Italy.\nWillowleaf is an ornamental sour orange. The tree is moderately dwarfed, of highly symmetrical round-topped form, with dense compact foliage consisting of small, narrow, sharp-pointed, yellowish-green leaves. Fruit is small, round to pyriform, yellowish orange and about one third to half of normal sour orange size. Rind thick and rough. Pulp yellow, sour; few seeds. The juice is very acid and somewhat bitter.\nOnly one clone of Willowleaf has been noted in California and its origin and history are unknown, although it is believed to have been introduced under the botanical variety name salicifolia. It is markedly different from Abers which has sometimes been called Willowleaf.\nWillowleaf forms grow true from seed.\nENG\nCitrus aurantium var. myrtifolia Ker-Gawl.\n \nMyrtle-leaved orange gets its name from the myrtle (Myrtus communis) because its leaves resemble those of the myrtle. The leaves grow densely and the fruit hang on the tree for most of the year, which makes it an attractive ornamental plant. The myrtle-leaved orange\nis grown on the Mediterranean coast of France and in Italy as well as in the citrus zones of the US. The French call it chinois (Chinese). The tree was introduced from China. The Americans call it by its Italian name chinotto.\nThere is an Italian home page for \"chinottofiles\", friends of the chinotto. The Chinotto homepage tells you everything you want to know about this tree, and more. Surprisingly it lists dozens of different kinds of soft drinks and beverages made of chinotto. Presumably most of these are only available in Italy, the promised land of chinotto enthusiasts. The fruit are too sour to be eaten fresh but they are candied whole and eaten as a luxury dessert.\nFour main varieties of chinotto are grown:\nItaly\nThe bergamot is of hybrid origin. It has been suggested that\nit is a hybrid between sour orange (C. aurantium L.) and lemon (C. limon\n(L.) Burm.f.), or a mutation of the latter. Others considered it a hybrid between\nsour orange and lime (C. aurantiifolia (Christm. & Panzer) Swingle). However, in the year 2000 a group of scientists at the University of California found in a study using various types of DNA markers 1 that the bergamot is a cross of Sour orange and limetta Citrus limetta.\nBergamot is only known from cultivation and consists of a limited and well\ndefined number of cultivars. Four groups of bergamot types are recognized: Common group, \nMelarosa group (fruit rather flattened), Torulosa group\n(fruit ridged) and Piccola group (dwarf cultivars).\nOnly cultivars in the Common bergamot group are commercially cultivated for the essential oil and three cultivars are grown:\n'Castagnaro', 'Femminello' and 'Fantastico' (a.k.a. 'Inserto'). Formerly, 'Femminello' and\n'Castagnaro' constituted virtually all commercial plantings in the world, but\nthey have largely been replaced by 'Fantastico', a hybrid of\n'Femminello' and 'Castagnaro'.\n'Femminello' is somewhat less vigorous\nand smaller than 'Castagnaro'. 'Castagnaro' is more upright and vigorous, attaining\na larger size than 'Femminello', but is less fruitful and the oil is less aromatic.Their hybrid 'Fantastico' ('Inserto') is a fairly vigorous tree, that yields well and\nhas only a slight tendency to alternate-bearing, its fruit is medium in size,\naveraging about 130 g with a rough rind texture and pleasant aroma.\nJuice: The juice of the fruit was formerly used to prepare calcium citrate and citric acid, while nowadays it is a\ncomponent of citrus soft drinks.\nPulp: The pulp is used as animal feed and for the extraction of pectins.\nEssential oils: Bergamot is mainly grown for the essential oil present in the peel of its fruit (bergamot oil). Bergamot oil\nis an important component of a toilet water, which was first developed around 1675 in Cologne\n(Germany) by the Italian immigrant Gian Paolo Feminis and sold by the name Aqua Mirabilis. His relatives further developed the industry and brought it to\nseveral other cities. Giovanni Maria Farina launched a new product called Eau de Cologne in 1709 .\nIn 1803 Wilhelm M�hlens bought the rights and introduced a new toilet water called Eau de Cologne 4711 , which was the first industrially produced perfume. The number was the address number assigned to his house. The number later became Glockengasse 26-28 where the \"4711\" house still stands. Bergamot oil soon became a constituent of high quality perfumes and of men's perfumes, such as aftershaves.\nCosmetics: The oil is further used in skin care products (bronzers), soaps, lotions and creams. \nOther uses: Bergamot oil is also a characteristic additive of Earl Grey tea and of tobacco flavourings. In the Castelli\narea south of Rome it is customary to put a bergamot fruit in a cask of Frascati wine to impart its characteristic aroma.\nBergamot oil is also used to flavour confectionery, sweets, marmalades and citrus liqueurs.\nA different oil is obtained\nfrom the leaves (bergamot petitgrain oil), but is only produced to order, mainly for the perfume/after shave industry.\nIn the Mediterranean area flowering is in March-April, fruits are harvestable in December-\nFebruary.\nThe commercial cultivation of Bergamot is limited to the coasts of the Calabria region of Southern Italy where the Ionian Sea and the nearby mountain range protect the coastal areas from cold weather and northerly winds in the winter.\nThe\narea has the highest average annual temperature and the highest number of sunshine hours in Italy and is further\ncharacterized by mild winters, a small difference between day and night temperatures and the absence of frost.\nCultivated varieties: 'Castagnaro', 'Femminello' and 'Fantastico ('Inserto')\nENG\nBergamot, Bergamot orange, Lemon bergamot\nFRA\nCitrus � aurantium 'Smooth Flat Seville '\n Syn \nCitrus � paradisi 'Smooth Seville'\n \nSmooth Flat Seville\nis an old Australian fruit that is thought to have originated as a seedling of unknown parentage and has generally been regarded as either a sour orange or a sweet orange and grapefruit hybrid. Its age and numerous resemblances to Poorman orange , however, suggest that it may be of similar origin and possibly a sister seedling.\nFruit is similar to Poorman in size, form, and flavour, but rind surface is very smooth. Both rind and flesh colour is reddish-orange. Tree and foliage similar to Poorman but tree commonly more vigorous and larger. Younger branches also exhibit dark bark streaks characteristic of Poorman.\nLike Poorman, Smooth Seville has a lower heat requirement for maturity than the grapefruit and hence ripens earlier and serves as a satisfactory substitute.\n ENG\nSmooth Flat Seville, Smooth Seville\nFRA\nL. subf. canaliculata ( Hort. ex Yu.Tanaka ) M.Hiroe\n \nAccording to The Citrus Industry, vol 1:\n\"The Kikudaidai variety is an attractive, somewhat dwarfed ornamental with fruits that have a solid core and are medium-small, subglobose to oblate, yellowish-orange, and characteristically deeply, longitudinally grooved. The origin of this ornamental is unknown.\"\nSome observations made at the UC-Riverside Citrus Variety Collection:\n\"The Kikudaidai was known in Japan as early as 1864 and is still grown in gardens as a curiosity. Its flower forms a very short inflorescence and leaves are rather broad with large petiole wings.\"\n\"A medium-large yellow fruit. Rind is rough similar to rough lemon. Rind of medium thickness, flesh yellow, hollow core, many seeds.\"\nKikudaidai is known as Ju dai dai in Chinese.\nThe variety is also known as 'Consolei' and 'Chrysanthemum'\nENG\n L. f. intermedia ( Hort. ex Tanaka ) M.Hiroe\n \nObservations made on the Yama or Yama-mikan cultivar grown at the UC-Riverside Citrus Variety Collection include:\n\"A large fruit, wide 9.5 cm, height 7.9 cm, similar to Natsudaidai in size, shape & color, oblate to slightly oblique shaped, stem end flat, slightly bumpy, rind 7.8 mm, very hollow center, 25-30 seeds, fruit is acid, low solids, leaves large, acuinate tips, petiole average, large wings on petiole (like grapefruit).\"\n\"Slightly necked, grapefruit-colored fruit; rind 1 cm thick; large oil glands, marked aroma of sweet orange; light orange flesh, tender, juicy, fairly sweet and pleasant; fairly seedy. Large tree. Seems like a hybrid of sweet orange and grapefruit, by the fruit.\"\nYama is known as Shan mi gan in Chinese\n \nYama, Intermediate orange, Yama-mikan sour orange, Mountain citrus\nFRA\nCitrus � aurantium L. var. khatta Bonavia \nCitrus dimorphocarpa Lush.\n \n \nKarna (Khatta) is an old fruit from Maharashtra State, India. It is of unkknown origin but is suspected to be a cross or sour orange and lemon. While the tree and fruit are distinctive, they exhibit characters of both rough lemon and sour orange and there are also characters suggestive of the acid citron.\nThe fruits are typical sour oranges but the flowers are red-tinted like those of the lemon.\nThe commercial importance of karna arises from the fact that it is extensively employed in India as a rootstock, second only to rough lemon.\nThe tree is vigorous, medium to large in size, upright-spreading. Foliage is lemon-like but darker green. New growth is also purple-tinted. Fruit medium to medium large, of variable form but in general round to oval; usually with broad and prominent nipple, Rind moderately thick, firm; surface smooth, warty or ribbed; tightly adherent; color golden yellow to deep orange.\nFlesh color dull orange; coarse-textured, only moderately juicy; flavor acid with faint aroma suggestive of sour orange.\nThe two best-known cultivars are: Khatta and Kabbad.\nThe fruit is also known as: \nKarna nimbu, Karna Khatta, Khatta, Soh-sarkar\nENG\n \nKitchli\nis an old Indian fruit of unknown origin. It somewhat resembles the bittersweet orange though it is smaller, flatter, and rougher in surface texture. It is of commercial importance in South India, principally in the Guntur district. Several clones are recognized, but only that of mildest flavor is propagated commercially\nKitchli has medium adherent to loose skin that is rough and somewhat warty and of medium thickness. The colour is yellowish-orange. The fruit is seedy, the flesh is pale orange-coloured.\nThe flavour pleasant at full maturity, with slightly bitter aftertaste and musky aroma. Prior to maturity flesh is sharply acid. \nThe best-known variety is Guntur.\nENG\nKitchli sour orange, Vadlapudi sour orange, Guntur sour orange\nFRA\n \nNatsudaidai (Natsumikan) is a natural hybrid of pomelo and sour orange.\nThe original seedling tree of this fruit is said to have been found in a garden in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, toward the end of the 17th century and is reported still alive. The value of its late-ripening characteristic was not appreciated until approximately a century later and is reflected in the names most commonly used for it: (natsu means summer) Natsudaidai, summer sour orange and Natsumikan summer orange.\nFruit medium to medium-large (grapefruit size), sometimes with very short collared neck and apex slightly depressed; moderately seedy. Color yellowish-orange. Rind medium-thick; surface coarsely pebbled slightly rough. Segments fairly numerous (12); axis large and semi-hollow at maturity. Flavor acid and refreshing. Late in maturity (summer-maturing in most climates). Holds well on the tree and improves in storage.\nThe Natsudaidai tree is reported to be less cold resistant than the satsuma mandarin in Japan. Heat requirement for fruit maturity somewhat less than that of the grapefruit and comparable with the so-called Poorman orange and Wheeny grapefruit, both of which attain acceptable quality in climates too cool for satisfactory maturity of the grapefruit. Nevertheless, even at full maturity the Natsudaidai remains too acid for some palates.\nNatsudaidai is grown commercially in the Japanese coastal regions of mildest winters in Kumamoto and Ehime prefecture. The rough textured fruit is easy to peel and is commonly eaten fresh. It is currently second in importance only to the satsuma mandarin. It is also used for wide variety of products ranging from marmalades to alcoholic beverages.\nNumerous unnamed clones and selections are grown, some of which exhibit minor differences, but only two derivative varieties—Kawano and Tajima— are propagated commercially. Kawano differs from the common Natsudaidai in the fact that the fruit is less acid (and hence sweeter), matures much earlier, and loses quality if held on the tree after maturity. Tajima is a new and very juicy, late-ripening, high acid variety of much less importance, but considered to be promising.\nThe best-known varieties are: Amanatsu, Beni Amanatsu, Kawano, Tajima and Natsudaidai.\nNatsudaidai is also known as Natsukan, Daidai mikan, Ri ben ku ju, Tajima.\nENG\n L. var. cyathifera Yu. Tanaka\n \nZadaidai is a well-known variety in Japan. The tree is somewhat lacking in vigor, usually dwarfed, round-topped, and nearly thornless, but otherwise similar to the common sour orange except that the leaves are slightly smaller, with petioles more narrowly winged. \n \nFruits globose, about the size of a small orange with yellowish orange rind.\nThe fruit is otherwise round but it is flattened and slightly depressed at both ends. Flesh light to medium orange in color, seedy, juicy and sour.\nZadaidai differs from most other sour orange hybrids due to its relatively thin, loose and tender rind, which peels of easily, almost like a Satsuma. The rind also puffs with age. This has led to the theory that Zadaidai could be a hybrid of mandarin and sour orange\n.\nZadaidai is also known as: Rokugatsu-mikan\nENG\nZadaidai sour orange, Rokugatsu-mikan sour orange\nFRA\n L. subf. sulcata ( Ik.Takah. ) M.Hiroe\n \nSanbokan\n(Sanb�)\nis an old Japanese fruit of unknown origin. It was first described in 1848 and is still popular and grown mainly in the Wakayama Prefecture of Japan. It was early classified as a sour orange hybrid and indeed, molecular analysis has shown it to be a close relative of Nansho-daidai (Citrus taiwanica).\nDue to its popularity and the shape and taste of the fruit is has many names: Sanbokan lemon, Sanbokan Sweet Lemon, Sanbokan grapefruit.\nThis comparatively cold resistant 10 -15 feet tall tree bears large grapefruit-sized obovoid fruit. The prominent collar or neck of the mature fruit is a distinguishing feature. The yellow, coarsely pebbled rind is medium thick, about 1 cm, and easily removed.\nThe flesh is seedy, moderately juicy, sweet and has a good flavour. The leaves are fairly small, slightly winged with a petiole slightly shorter than average.\nThe flavour of Sanbokan is lemon-like but sweeter. It can be used as limes and lemons. The juice tastes somewhat like sweetened lemonade.\nSanbokan is San bao gan in Chinese and Sanboukan in Japanese\nENG\nSanbokan sour orange, Sanbokan Sweet Lemon, Sanbokan grapefruit \nFRA\nCitrus nansh�-daidai\n \nNansho Daidai sour orange (Citrus taiwanica) was found growing semiwild in forests of Taiwan (formerly Formosa, present day Chinese Taipei) especially in the Nan Zhuang (formerly Nansh�) district. Nansho resembles the ordinary Japanese sour orange (Daidai) but has much longer lanceolate leaves (12-15 cm) that are sharply pointed and the yellow fruits are somewhat flattened, slightly necked with a small nipple at the apex. The tree is vigorous, upright-spreading, and very thorny. Flesh is juicy with an acid flavour and bitter aftertaste. Flesh colour is dull yellow.\nRecent molecular studies have shown it to be a close relative of Sanbokan (Citrus sulcata) and as a pomelo-mandarin hybrid studies have placed it at about 60% pomelo - 40% mandarin.\nNansho Daidai is very hardy. It tolerates freezing temperatures well for a certain period without leaf drop or loss of crop the following season. It is reported to have survived temperatures down to 5� F (-15� C). Nansho Daidai is one of the hardiest evergreen citrus trees.\nNansho Daidai is known as Nan zhuang cheng or Nan zhuang dai dai in Chinese and Nanshou daidai in Japanese.\nENG\nTaiwan orange, Nansho Daidai sour orange\nFRA\nBigarade nansh�-da�da�",
"Green_tea.txt\nGreen tea\nGreen tea is made from Camellia sinensis leaves that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation applied when processing Camellia sinensis into oolong tea and black tea. Green tea originated in China, but its production has spread to many countries in Asia.\n\nSeveral varieties of green tea exist, which differ substantially due to growing conditions, horticulture, production processing, and time of harvest.\n\nHistory\n\nTea consumption has its legendary origins in China dating back to more than 4,000 years ago, making it the oldest plant-based tea known. According to legend, green tea was first brewed in 2737 BC during the reign of Emperor Shennong. \n\nA book written by Lu Yu in 600-900 AD (Tang Dynasty), \"Tea Classic\" (), is considered important in green tea history. The Kissa Yojoki (喫茶養生記 Book of Tea), written by Zen priest Eisai in 1191, describes how drinking green tea may affect five vital organs, the shapes of tea plants, flowers and leaves, and how to grow and process tea leaves.\n\nBrewing and serving\n\nSteeping is the process of making a cup of tea; it is also referred to as brewing. In general, two grams of tea per 100 ml of water, or about one teaspoon of green tea per five-ounce (150 ml) cup, should be used. With very high-quality teas like gyokuro, more than this amount of leaf is used, and the leaf is steeped multiple times for short durations.\n\nGreen tea steeping time and temperature vary with a different tea. The hottest steeping temperatures are 81 to water and the longest steeping times two to three minutes. The coolest brewing temperatures are 61 to and the shortest times about 30 seconds. In general, lower-quality green teas are steeped hotter and longer, whereas higher-quality teas are steeped cooler and shorter. Steeping green tea too hot or too long will result in a bitter, astringent brew, regardless of the initial quality, because it will result in the release of an excessive amount of tannins. High-quality green teas can be and usually are steeped multiple times; two or three steepings is typical. The steeping technique also plays a very important role in avoiding the tea developing an overcooked taste. The container in which the tea is steeped or teapot should also be warmed beforehand so that the tea does not immediately cool down. It is common practice for tea leaf to be left in the cup or pot and for hot water to be added as the tea is drunk until the flavor degrades.\n\nResearch and health effects\n\nRegular green tea is 99.9% water, provides 1 Calorie per 100 mL serving, is devoid of significant nutrient content (table) and contains phytochemicals, such as polyphenols and caffeine. Polyphenols found in green tea include epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin gallate, epicatechins and flavanols.\n\nAlthough numerous claims have been made for the health benefits of green tea, human clinical research has not provided conclusive evidence of any effects. In 2011, a panel of scientists published a report on the claims for health effects at the request of the European Commission: in general they found that the claims made for green tea were not supported by sufficient scientific evidence. Although the mean content of flavonoids and catechins in a cup of green tea is higher than that in the same volume of other food and drink items that are traditionally considered to promote health, flavonoids and catechins have no proven biological effect in humans. \n\nCancer\n\nThere is no conclusive evidence that green tea helps to prevent or treat cancer in people. A review of existing studies concluded that while suggestive evidence existed, it did not amount to a clear indication of benefit.\n\nDaily consumption of black tea (but not green tea) has been associated with a significant reduction in death from all cancers. There is limited evidence to suggest that green tea consumption may be associated with a slightly lower risk of esophageal cancer in the Chinese population, a lower risk of lung cancer in women, and a lower risk of oral cancer in Asian people. A 2015 meta-analysis of nine prospective cohort studies concluded that a high amount of green tea consumption may be associated with a lower risk of liver cancer in Asian women. This association was not seen in Asian men or when one cup of green tea was consumed daily. Similarly, another analysis of observational data conducted in 2012 suggested that green tea consumption may have a favorable effect on lung cancer risk. The observed effect was strongest in those who consumed more than seven cups of green tea daily. A 2011 meta-analysis of epidemiological studies found limited evidence that green tea consumption may be associated with a moderately reduced risk of liver cancer in Chinese and Japanese people. \n\nLimited evidence suggests that green tea consumption is not associated with the risk of developing pancreatic cancer or prostate cancer. The link between green tea consumption and stomach cancer risk is unclear due to inconsistent evidence. \n\nGreen tea interferes with the chemotherapy drug bortezomib (Velcade) and other boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitors, and should be avoided by people taking these medications. \n\nCardiovascular disease\n\nDaily consumption of green tea has been associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. In a 2015 meta-analysis of observational studies, an increase in one cup of green tea per day was associated with a 5% lower risk of death from cardiovascular causes. Green tea consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of stroke. A 2013 Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials concluded that green tea consumption for 3–6 months appears to lower systolic and diastolic blood pressures a small amount (about 3 mm Hg each). Additional analyses examining the effects of long-term green tea consumption on blood pressure have reached similar conclusions. \n\nGlycemic control\n\nGreen tea consumption lowers fasting blood sugar but in clinical studies the beverage's effect on hemoglobin A1c and fasting insulin levels was inconsistent. \n\nHyperlipidemia\n\nDrinking green tea or taking green tea supplements decreases the blood concentration of total cholesterol (about 7 mg/dL), LDL cholesterol (about 2 mg/dL), and does not affect the concentration of HDL cholesterol. A 2013 Cochrane review performed a meta-analysis of longer-term randomized controlled trials (>3 months duration) and concluded that green tea consumption lowers total and LDL cholesterol concentrations in the blood.\n\nInflammation\n\nA 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials found that green tea consumption was not significantly associated with lower plasma levels of C-reactive protein levels (a marker of inflammation). \n\nMortality risk\n\nDaily consumption of green tea is significantly associated with a lower risk of death from any cause; an increase of one cup of green tea per day is linked with a 4% lower risk of death from any cause. A separate analysis found an increase of three cups of green tea per day was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause.\n\nWeight loss\n\nThere is no conclusive evidence that green tea aids in weight loss.\n\nToxicity\n\nModerate, regular, and habitual consumption of green tea is safe; however, there are reports of liver toxicity in humans after consuming high doses (10–29 mg/kg/day) of green tea extract dietary supplements. \n\nProduction\n\nGrowing, harvesting and processing\n\nGreen tea is processed and grown in a variety of ways, depending on the type of green tea desired. As a result of these methods, maximum amounts of polyphenols and volatile organic compounds are retained, affecting aroma and taste. The growing conditions can be broken down into two basic types − those grown in the sun and those grown under the shade. The green tea plants are grown in rows that are pruned to produce shoots in a regular manner, and in general are harvested three times per year. The first flush takes place in late April to early May. The second harvest usually takes place from June through July, and the third picking takes place in late July to early August. Sometimes, there will also be the fourth harvest. It is the first flush in the spring that brings the best-quality leaves, with higher prices to match.\n\nGreen tea is processed using either artisanal or modern methods. Sun-drying, basket or charcoal firing, or pan-firing are common artisanal methods. Oven-drying, tumbling, or steaming are common modern methods. Processed green teas, known as aracha are stored under low humidity refrigeration in 30- or 60-kg paper bags at 0 -. This aracha has yet to be refined at this stage, with a final firing taking place before blending, selection and packaging take place. The leaves in this state will be re-fired throughout the year as they are needed, giving the green teas a longer shelf-life and better flavor. The first flush tea of May will readily store in this fashion until the next year's harvest. After this re-drying process, each crude tea will be sifted and graded according to size. Finally, each lot will be blended according to the blending order by the tasters and packed for sale. \n\nProduction by country\n\nImport of Japanese tea\n\nOn 17 June 2011, radioactive cesium of 1,038 becquerels per kilogram was detected at Charles de Gaulle airport in France in tea leaves imported from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which was more than twice as much as the restricted amount of 500 becquerels per kilogram designated by the European Union, and the government of France announced that they rejected the tea leaves, which amounted to 162 kg. The governor of Shizuoka Prefecture Heita Kawakatsu stated that \"there is absolutely no problem when they [people] drink them because it will be diluted to about ten becquerels per kilogram when they steep them even if the leaves have 1,000 becquerels per kilogram,\" which was a consequence of own examinations of the prefecture. Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Renhō stated on 3 June 2011, that \"there are cases in which aracha are sold as furikake [condiments sprinkled on rice] and so on and they are eaten as they are, therefore we think that it is important to inspect tea leaves including aracha from the viewpoint of consumers' safety.\" \n\nGreen tea by country\n\nChina\n\nGreen tea is the most popular form of tea in China. Chinese green teas are made from over 600 different cultivars of the Camellia sinensis plant, giving plenty of variety and regional teas. Chinese green teas are traditionally pan-fired, unlike the Japanese steaming process. Other processes in China include oven-dried and sun-dried. Due to the different production process, Chinese teas are said to have a more \"earthy\" taste than Japanese teas. \n*Zhejiang Province is home to the most famous of all teas, Xi Hu Longjing (西湖龙井), as well as many other high-quality green teas.\n* 龙井 Longjing\n: Maybe the most well-known green tea in China; originates from Hangzhou (杭州), the capital of Zhejiang Province. Longjing in Chinese literally means dragon well. It is pan-fired and has a distinctive flat appearance. The tasteless frying oil is obtained from tea seeds and other plants. There are many fake Longjings on the market and in less-scrupulous tea houses around the country.\n* 景宁惠明茶 Huiming\n: Named after a temple in Zhejiang.\n* 开化龙顶 Kaihua Longding\n: A tea from Kaihua County known as Dragon Mountain.\n* 华顶云雾 Hua Ding\n: A tea from Tiantai County, named after a peak in the Tiantai mountain range.\n* 天目青顶 Qing Ding\n: A tea from Tian Mu, also known as Green Top.\n* 平水珠茶 Gunpowder\n: This popular tea is also known as zhuchá, originates in Zhejiang but is now grown elsewhere in China. This tea is also the quintessential ingredient in brewing Maghrebi mint tea, which is brewed green tea with fresh mint.\n\n*Jiangsu Province\n\n* 洞庭碧螺春 Bi Luo Chun\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Snail Spring, from Dong Ting. As with Longjing, inauthentic Bi Luo Chun is common and most of the tea marketed under this name may, in fact, be grown in Sichuan.\n* 南京雨花茶 Rain Flower\n: A tea from Nanjing.\n* 金坛雀舌 Que She (Tongue of golden altar sparrow)\n: originate in Jin Tan city of Jiangsu Province.\n* 太湖白云 White Cloud\n\n*Fujian Province is known for mountain-grown organic green tea as well as white tea and oolong tea. The coastal mountains provide a perfect growing environment for tea growing. Green tea is picked in spring and summer seasons.\n* 茉莉花茶 Jasmine tea (Mo Li Hua Cha)\n: A tea with added jasmine flowers.\n* 毛峰 Mao Feng tea\n: Meaning \"furry peak\".\n* 翠剑 Cui Jian\n: Meaning \"jade sword\".\n\n*Hubei Province\n* 玉露 \n: A steamed tea also known as Gyokuro (Jade Dew) in Japanese, made in the Japanese style.\n\n*Henan Province\n\n* 信阳毛尖 Xin Yang Mao Jian\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Tip, or Tippy Green.\n\n*Jiangxi Province\n* 珍眉 Chun Mee\n: Meaning \"precious eyebrows\"; from Jiangxi, it is now grown elsewhere.\n* 狗牯 Gou Gu Nao\n: A well-known tea within China and recipient of numerous national awards.\n* 云雾 Yun Wu\n: A tea also known as Cloud and Mist.\n\n*Anhui Province is home to several varieties of tea, including three Chinese famous teas. These are:\n* 大方 Da Fang\n: A tea from Huangshan also known as Big Square suneet.\n* 黄山毛峰 Huangshan Maofeng\n: A Chinese famous tea from Huangshan\n* 六安瓜片 Liuan Leaf\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Melon Seed\n* 猴魁 Hou Kui\n: A Chinese famous tea also known as Monkey tea\n* 屯绿 Tun Lu\n: A tea from Tunxi District.\n* 火青 Huo Qing\n: A tea from Jing County, also known as Fire Green\n* 雾里青 Wuliqing\n: Wuliqing was known since the Song dynasty. Since 2002, Wuliqing is produced again according to the original processing methods by a company called Tianfang (天方). Zhan Luojiu a tea expert and professor at the Anhui Agricultural University who revived its production procedure.\n* Hyson\n: A medium-quality tea from many provinces, an early harvested tea.\n\n*Sichuan Province\n* 竹叶青茶 Zhu Ye Qing \n: Also known as Meng Ding Cui Zhu or Green Bamboo\n* 蒙顶甘露 Meng Ding Gan Lu\n: A yellowish-green tea with sweet after taste.\n* 百美绿茶 Baimei Green Tea\n\n*Shaanxi Province\n* 汉中仙毫 Han Zhong Xian Hao \n: A green tea from the Han Zhong.\n\n Japan\n\n is ubiquitous in Japan and is commonly known simply as . Tea was first used in China, and in 1191, was brought to Japan by Myōan Eisai, a Japanese Buddhist priest who also introduced the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Teas from Japan may be referred to as .\n\nJapanese green teas are mainly made from Yabukita (やぶきた), a cultivar of the camellia sinensis plant. Unlike Chinese green teas which are pan-fired, Japanese green teas are steamed giving them a more \"vegetative\" or \"leafy\" taste. The exception is hōjicha, a Japanese roasted tea. Japanese green teas are categorized by the age of the leaves: young leaves are called sencha and the more mature, larger leaves are called bancha. Types of tea are commonly graded depending on the quality and the parts of the plant used as well as how they are processed. There are large variations in both price and quality within these broad categories, and there are many green teas that fall outside this spectrum. Here shows well-known tea-growing districts in Japan; Shizuoka Prefecture (Shizuoka-cha, the largest yield in Japan), Uji region of Kyoto Prefecture (Uji-cha), region of Fukuoka Prefecture (Yame-cha), Kagoshima Prefecture (Chiran-cha).\n\n* \nThe first and second flushes of green tea made from leaves that are exposed directly to sunlight. This is the most common green tea in Japan. The name describes the method for preparing the beverage.\n\n* \n: Sencha, which, in the processing of the leaves, has been steamed two times longer than usual Sencha, giving it a deeper color and producing a fuller flavor in the beverage.\n* \nGyokuro is a fine and expensive type that differs from Sencha (煎茶) in that it is grown under the shade rather than the full sun for approximately 20 days. The name \"Gyokuro\" translates as \"jade dew\" and refers to the pale green color of the infusion. The shading causes the amino acids (Theanine) and caffeine in the tea leaves to increase, while catechins (the source of bitterness in tea, along with caffeine) decreases, giving rise to a sweet taste. The tea also has a distinct aroma.\n* \nKabusecha is made from the leaves grown in the shade prior to harvest, although not for as long as Gyokuro. It has a more delicate flavor than Sencha. It is sometimes marketed as Gyokuro.\n* \nTamaryokucha has a tangy, berry-like taste, with a long almondy aftertaste and a deep aroma with tones of citrus, grass, and berries. It is also called Guricha.\n* \nLower grade of Sencha harvested as a third- or fourth flush tea between summer and autumn. Aki-Bancha (autumn Bancha) is not made from entire leaves, but from the trimmed unnecessary twigs of the tea plant.\n* \nKamairicha is a pan-fired green tea that does not undergo the usual steam treatments of Japanese tea and does not have the characteristic bitter taste of most Japanese tea.\n* By-product of Sencha or Gyokuro\n\n*\n: A tea made from stems, stalks, and twigs. Kukicha has a mildly nutty, and slightly creamy sweet flavor.\n\n*\n: Mecha is green tea derived from a collection of leaf buds and tips of the early crops. Mecha is harvested in spring and made as rolled leaf teas that are graded somewhere between Gyokuro and Sencha in quality.\n\n*\n: Konacha is the dust and smallest parts after processing Gyokuro or Sencha. It is cheaper than Sencha and usually served at Sushi restaurants. It is also marketed as or Gyokurokocha.\n* Other\n\n*\n: A fine ground tea made from Tencha. It has a very similar cultivation process as Gyokuro. It is expensive and is used primarily in the Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha is also a popular flavor of ice cream and other sweets in Japan.\n\n*\n: Half-finished products used for Matcha production. The name indicates its intended eventual milling into matcha. Because, like gyokuro, it is cultivated in shade, it has a sweet aroma. In its processing, it is not rolled during drying, and tencha, therefore, remains spread out like the original fresh leaf.\n\n*\n: Bancha (sometimes Sencha) and roasted genmai (brown rice) blend. It is often mixed with a small amount of Matcha to make the color better.\n\n*\n: A green tea roasted over charcoal (usually Bancha).\n\n*\n: Half-finished products used for Sencha and Gyokuro production. It contains all parts of the tea plant.\n\n*\n: First flush tea. The name is used for either Sencha or Gyokuro.\n\n*\n: Milled green tea, used just like instant coffee. Another name for this recent style of tea is \"tokeru ocha,\" or \"tea that melts.\"\n\nKorea\n\n*Ujeoncha ()\n\n*Sejakcha ()\n\nOther countries\n\n* Green tea from Ceylon\n* Kahwah\n* New Zealand - Zealong",
"Yogurt.txt\nYogurt\nYogurt, yoghurt, or yoghourt ( or; from ; other spellings listed below) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk.\n\nThe bacteria used to make yogurt are known as \"yogurt cultures\". Fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and characteristic tang. Cow's milk is commonly available worldwide, and, as such, is the milk most commonly used to make yogurt. Milk from water buffalo, goats, ewes, mares, camels, and yaks is also used to produce yogurt where available locally. Milk used may be homogenized or not (milk distributed in many parts of the world is homogenized); both types may be used, with substantially different results.\n\nYogurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus bacteria. In addition, other lactobacilli and bifidobacteria are also sometimes added during or after culturing yogurt. Some countries require yogurt to contain a certain amount of colony-forming units of bacteria; in China, for example, the requirement for the number of lactobacillus bacteria is at least 1 × 106 CFA per gram per milliliter. \nTo produce yogurt, milk is first heated, usually to about 85 °C (185 °F), to denature the milk proteins so that they set together rather than form curds. In some places, such as parts of India and Bangladesh, the milk is boiled. After heating, the milk is allowed to cool to about 45 °C (113 °F). The bacterial culture is mixed in, and a temperature of 45 °C (113 °F) is maintained for four to seven hours to allow fermentation.\n\nEtymology and spelling\n\nThe word is derived from , and is usually related to the verb yoğurmak, \"to knead\", or \"to be curdled or coagulated; to thicken\". It may be related to yoğun, meaning thick or dense. The letter ğ was traditionally rendered as \"gh\" in transliterations of Turkish prior to 1928. In older Turkish, the letter denoted a voiced velar fricative, but this sound is elided between back vowels in modern Turkish, in which the word is pronounced, or.\n\nIn English, there are several variations of the spelling of the word, including yogurt, yoghurt and to a lesser extent yoghourt, yogourt, yaghourt, yahourth, yoghurd, joghourt, and jogourt. In the United Kingdom and Australia, yogurt and yoghurt are both current, yogurt being used by the Australian and British dairy councils, and yoghourt is an uncommon alternative. In the United States, yogurt is the usual spelling and yoghurt a minor variant. In New Zealand, yoghurt is preferred by the New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. In Canada, yogurt is most common among English speakers, although \"yoghurt\" is also used; however, many brands use yogourt instead, since it is an acceptable spelling in both English and French.\n\nHistorically, there have been cases of yogurt being spelled with a \"J\" instead of a \"Y\" (e.g. jogurt and joghurt) due to alternative transliteration methods. However, there has been a decline in these variations in English speaking countries; in certain European countries, on the other hand, it is still commonly spelled with a \"J\". Most people tend to spell in the manner shown on the packaging of the major brands in their country.\n\nWhatever the spelling, the word is usually pronounced with a short o in England and Wales, and with a long o in Scotland, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa.\n\nHistory\n\nAnalysis of the L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus genome indicates that the bacterium may have originated on the surface of a plant. Milk may have become spontaneously and unintentionally exposed to it through contact with plants, or bacteria may have been transferred from the udder of domestic milk-producing animals. \n\nThe origins of yogurt are unknown, but it is thought to have been invented in Mesopotamia around 5000 B.C. \n\nIn ancient Indian records, the combination of yogurt and honey is called \"the food of the gods\". Persian traditions hold that \"Abraham owed his fecundity and longevity to the regular ingestion of yogurt\". \n\nThe cuisine of ancient Greece included a dairy product known as oxygala () which is believed to have been a form of yogurt. Galen (AD 129 – c. 200/c. 216) mentioned that oxygala was consumed with honey, similar to the way thickened Greek yogurt is eaten today.\n\nThe oldest writings mentioning yogurt are attributed to Pliny the Elder, who remarked that certain \"barbarous nations\" knew how \"to thicken the milk into a substance with an agreeable acidity\". The use of yogurt by medieval Turks is recorded in the books Diwan Lughat al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari and Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Has Hajib written in the 11th century. Both texts mention the word \"yogurt\" in different sections and describe its use by nomadic Turks. The earliest yogurts were probably spontaneously fermented by wild bacteria in goat skin bags. \n\nSome accounts suggest that Indian emperor Akbar's cooks would flavor yogurt with mustard seeds and cinnamon. Another early account of a European encounter with yogurt occurs in French clinical history: Francis I suffered from a severe diarrhea which no French doctor could cure. His ally Suleiman the Magnificent sent a doctor, who allegedly cured the patient with yogurt. Being grateful, the French king spread around the information about the food which had cured him.\n\nUntil the 1900s, yogurt was a staple in diets of people in the Russian Empire (and especially Central Asia and the Caucasus), Western Asia, South Eastern Europe/Balkans, Central Europe, and India. Stamen Grigorov (1878–1945), a Bulgarian student of medicine in Geneva, first examined the microflora of the Bulgarian yogurt. In 1905, he described it as consisting of a spherical and a rod-like lactic acid-producing bacteria. In 1907, the rod-like bacterium was called Bacillus bulgaricus (now Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus). The Russian Nobel laureate and biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (also known as Élie Metchnikoff), from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, was influenced by Grigorov's work and hypothesized that regular consumption of yogurt was responsible for the unusually long lifespans of Bulgarian peasants. Believing Lactobacillus to be essential for good health, Mechnikov worked to popularize yogurt as a foodstuff throughout Europe.\n\nIsaac Carasso industrialized the production of yogurt. In 1919, Carasso, who was from Ottoman Salonika, started a small yogurt business in Barcelona, Spain, and named the business Danone (\"little Daniel\") after his son. The brand later expanded to the United States under an Americanized version of the name: Dannon.\n\nYogurt with added fruit jam was patented in 1933 by the Radlická Mlékárna dairy in Prague. \n\nYogurt was introduced to the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century, influenced by Élie Metchnikoff's The Prolongation of Life; Optimistic Studies (1908); it was available in tablet form for those with digestive intolerance and for home culturing. It was popularized by John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where it was used both orally and in enemas, and later by Armenian immigrants Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who started \"Colombo and Sons Creamery\" in Andover, Massachusetts in 1929. Colombo Yogurt was originally delivered around New England in a horse-drawn wagon inscribed with the Armenian word \"madzoon\" which was later changed to \"yogurt\", the Turkish name of the product, as Turkish was the lingua franca between immigrants of the various Near Eastern ethnicities who were the main consumers at that time. Yogurt's popularity in the United States was enhanced in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was presented as a health food. By the late 20th century, yogurt had become a common American food item and Colombo Yogurt was sold in 1993 to General Mills, which discontinued the brand in 2010. \n\nNutrition and health\n\nIn a 100 gram amount providing 97 calories, yogurt (plain Greek yogurt from whole milk) is 81% water, 9% protein, 5% fat and 4% carbohydrates, including 4% sugars (table). As a proportion of the Daily Value (DV), a serving of yogurt is a rich source of vitamin B12 (31% DV) and riboflavin (23% DV), with moderate content of protein, phosphorus and selenium (14 to 19% DV; table).\n\nAlthough yogurt is often associated with probiotics having positive effects on immune, cardiovascular or metabolic health, there is insufficient high-quality clinical evidence to conclude that consuming yogurt lowers risk of diseases or improves health.\n\nLactose-intolerant individuals may tolerate yogurt better than other dairy products due to the conversion of lactose to the sugars glucose and galactose, and the fermentation of lactose to lactic acid carried out by the bacteria present in the yogurt. \n\nVarieties and presentation\n\nDa-hi is a yogurt of the Indian subcontinent, known for its characteristic taste and consistency. The word da-hi seems to be derived from the Sanskrit word dadhi, one of the five elixirs, or panchamrita, often used in Hindu ritual. Dahi also holds cultural symbolism in many homes in the Mithila region of Nepal and Bihar. Yogurt balances the palate across regional cuisines throughout India. In the hot and humid south, yogurt and foods made of yogurt are a staple in order to cool down – yogurt rice is always the last dish of the meal. Also, the vegetarian population of India derives some protein from yogurt (other than lentil and beans). Sweet yogurt (meesti doi or meethi dahi) is common in eastern parts of India, made by fermenting sweetened milk. While cow's milk is considered sacred and is currently the primary ingredient for yogurt, goat and buffalo milk were widely used in the past, and valued for the fat content (see buffalo curd). Butter and cream were made by churning the yogurt/milk.\n\nIn India and Pakistan, it is often used in cosmetics mixed with turmeric and honey. Sour yogurt, is also used as a hair conditioner by women in many parts of India and Pakistan. \nDahi is also known as Mosaru (Kannada), Thayir (Tamil), Thayiru (Malayalam), doi (Assamese, Bengali), dohi (Odia), perugu (Telugu), Qәzana a pәәner (Pashto) and Dhahi or Dhaunro (Sindhi ڏهي، ڌونرو)\n\nRaita is a yogurt-based South Asian/Indian condiment, used as a side dish. The yogurt is seasoned with coriander (cilantro), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. Vegetables such as cucumber and onions are mixed in, and the mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian and Pakistani dishes. Raita is sometimes also referred to as dahi.\n\nDadiah or Dadih is a traditional West Sumatran yogurt made from water buffalo milk, fermented in bamboo tubes. \n\nYogurt is popular in Nepal, where it is served as both an appetizer and dessert. Locally called dahi (दही), it is a part of the Nepali culture, used in local festivals, marriage ceremonies, parties, religious occasions, family gatherings, and so on. The most famous type of Nepalese yogurt is called juju dhau, originating from the city of Bhaktapur.\n\nIn Tibet, yak milk (technically dri milk, as the word yak refers to the male animal) is made into yogurt (and butter and cheese) and consumed.\n\nIn Northern Iran, Mâst Chekide is a variety of kefir yogurt with a distinct sour taste. It is usually mixed with a pesto-like water and fresh herb purée called delal. Yogurt is a side dish to all Iranian meals. The most popular appetizers are spinach or eggplant borani, Mâst-o-Khiâr with cucumber, spring onions and herbs, and Mâst-Musir with wild shallots. In the summertime, yogurt and ice cubes are mixed together with cucumbers, raisins, salt, pepper and onions and topped with some croutons made of Persian traditional bread and served as a cold soup. Ashe-Mâst is a warm yogurt soup with fresh herbs, spinach and lentils. Even the leftover water extracted when straining yogurt is cooked to make a sour cream sauce called kashk, which is usually used as a topping on soups and stews.\n\nMatsoni is a Georgian yogurt popular in the Caucasus and Russia. It is used in a wide variety of Georgian dishes and is believed to have contributed to the high life expectancy and longevity in the country. Dannon used this theory in their 1978 TV advertisement called In Soviet Georgia where shots of elderly Georgian farmers were interspersed with an off-camera announcer intoning, \"In Soviet Georgia, where they eat a lot of yogurt, a lot of people live past 100.\" Matsoni is also popular in Japan under the name Caspian Sea Yogurt (カスピ海ヨーグルト).\n\nTarator and Cacık are popular cold soups made from yogurt, popular during summertime in Albania, Azerbaijan (known as Dogramac), Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. They are made with ayran, cucumbers, dill, salt, olive oil, and optionally garlic and ground walnuts. Tzatziki in Greece and milk salad in Bulgaria are thick yogurt-based salads similar to tarator.\n\nKhyar w Laban (cucumber and yogurt salad) is a popular dish in Lebanon and Syria. Also, a wide variety of local Lebanese and Syrian dishes are cooked with yogurt like \"Kibbi bi Laban\", etc.\n\nRahmjoghurt, a creamy yogurt with much higher fat content (10%) than many yogurts offered in English-speaking countries (Rahm is German for \"cream\"), is available in Germany and other countries.\n\nDovga, a yogurt soup cooked with a variety of herbs and rice is popular in Azerbaijan, often served warm in winter or refreshingly cold in summer.\n\nYogurt made with unhomogenized milk is sometimes called cream-top yogurt; a layer of cream rises to the top.\n\nJameed is yogurt which is salted and dried to preserve it. It is popular in Jordan.\n\nZabadi is the type of yogurt made in Egypt, usually from the milk of the Egyptian water buffalo. It is particularly associated with Ramadan fasting, as it is thought to prevent thirst during all-day fasting. \n\nSweetened and flavored yogurt\n\nTo offset its natural sourness, yogurt is also sold sweetened, flavored or in containers with fruit or fruit jam on the bottom. The two styles of yogurt commonly found in the grocery store are set type yogurt and Swiss style yogurt. Set type yogurt is when the yogurt is packaged with the fruit on the bottom of the cup and the yogurt on top. Swiss style yogurt is when the fruit is blended into the yogurt prior to packaging. \n\nLassi and Moru are common beverages in India. Lassi is milk that is sweetened with sugar commonly, less commonly honey and often combined with fruit pulp to create flavored lassi. Mango lassi is a western favorite, as is coconut lassi. Consistency can vary widely, with urban and commercial lassis being of uniform texture through being processed, whereas rural and rustic lassi has curds in it, and sometimes has malai (cream) added or removed. Moru is a popular South Indian summer drink, meant to keep drinkers hydrated through the hot and humid summers of the South. It is prepared by considerably thinning down yogurt with water, adding salt (for electrolyte balance) and spices, usually green chili peppers, asafoetida, curry leaves and mustard.\n\nLarge amounts of sugar – or other sweeteners for low-calorie yogurts – are often used in commercial yogurt. Some yogurts contain added starch, pectin (found naturally in fruit), and/or gelatin to create thickness and creaminess artificially at lower cost. Gelatin is a meat or fish product, therefore vegetarians should avoid products containing it. This type of yogurt is also marketed under the name Swiss-style, although it is unrelated to the way yogurt is eaten in Switzerland. Some yogurts, often called \"cream line\", are made with whole milk which has not been homogenized so the cream rises to the top. Fruit jam is used instead of raw fruit pieces in fruit yogurts to allow storage for weeks.\n\nIn the UK, Ireland, France and United States, sweetened, flavored yogurt is the most popular type, typically sold in single-serving plastic cups. Common flavors include vanilla, honey, and toffee, and fruit such as strawberry, cherry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, mango and peach. In the early twenty-first century yogurt flavors inspired by desserts, such as chocolate or cheesecake, have been available.\n\nThere is concern about the health effects of sweetened yogurt. The United Kingdom and the United States recommend different maximum amounts of daily sugar intake but in both nations many sweetened yogurts have too much.\n\nConsumers wanting sweetened yogurt are advised to choose yogurt sweetened with sugar substitute and check the contents list to avoid corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, or sugar.\n\nStrained yogurt\n\nStrained yogurt is yogurt which has been strained through a filter, traditionally made of muslin and more recently of paper or cloth. This removes the whey, giving a much thicker consistency and a distinctive slightly tangy taste. Strained yogurt is becoming more popular with those who make yogurt at home, especially if using skimmed milk which results in a thinner consistency. \n\nYogurt that has been strained to filter or remove the whey is known as Labneh in Middle Eastern countries. It has a consistency between that of yogurt and cheese. It is popular for sandwiches in Arab countries. Olive oil, cucumber slices, olives, and various green herbs may be added. It can be thickened further and rolled into balls, preserved in olive oil, and fermented for a few more weeks. It is sometimes used with onions, meat, and nuts as a stuffing for a variety of pies or kibbeh () balls.\n\nSome types of strained yogurts are boiled in open vats first, so that the liquid content is reduced. The popular East Indian dessert, a variation of traditional dahi called mishti dahi, offers a thicker, more custard-like consistency, and is usually sweeter than western yogurts. \n\nStrained yogurt is also enjoyed in Greece and is the main component of tzatziki (from Turkish \"cacık\"), a well-known accompaniment to gyros and souvlaki pita sandwiches: it is a yogurt sauce or dip made with the addition of grated cucumber, olive oil, salt and, optionally, mashed garlic.\n\nSrikhand, a popular dessert in India, is made from strained yogurt, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg and sugar and sometimes fruits such as mango or pineapple.\n\nIn North America and Britain, strained yogurt is commonly called “Greek yogurt”. Strained yogurt is sometimes marketed in North America as \"Greek yogurt\" and in Britain as \"Greek-style yoghurt\". In Britain the name \"Greek\" may only be applied to yogurt made in Greece \n\nBeverages\n\nDugh (\"dawghe\" in Neo-Aramaic), ayran or dhallë is a yogurt-based, salty drink popular in Iran, Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is made by mixing yogurt with water and (sometimes) salt. The same drink is known as doogh in Iran, in Armenia; laban ayran in Syria and Lebanon; shenina in Iraq and Jordan; laban arbil in Iraq; majjiga (Telugu), majjige (Kannada), and moru (Tamil and Malayalam) in South India; namkeen lassi in Punjab and all over Pakistan. A similar drink, doogh, is popular in the Middle East between Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq; it differs from ayran by the addition of herbs, usually mint, and is sometimes carbonated, commonly with carbonated water.\n\nBorhani (or Burhani) is a spicy yogurt drink popular in Bangladesh and parts of Bengal. It is usually served with kacchi biryani at weddings and special feasts. Key ingredients are yogurt blended with mint leaves (mentha), mustard seeds and black rock salt (Kala Namak). Ground roasted cumin, ground white pepper, green chili pepper paste and sugar are often added.\n\nLassi (Hindi: लस्सी, Urdu: لسی) is a yogurt-based beverage originally from the Indian subcontinent that is usually slightly salty or sweet. Lassi is a staple in Punjab. In some parts of the subcontinent, the sweet version may be commercially flavored with rosewater, mango or other fruit juice to create a very different drink. Salty lassi is usually flavored with ground, roasted cumin and red chilies; this salty variation may also use buttermilk, and in India is interchangeably called ghol (Bengal), mattha (North India), \"majjige\" (Karnataka), majjiga (Telangana & Andhra Pradesh), moru (Tamil Nadu and Kerala), Dahi paani Chalha (Odisha), tak (Maharashtra), or chaas (Gujarat). Lassi is very widely drunk in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Mango Lassi is a popular drink at Indian restaurants in US.\n\nIn Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, an unsweetened and unsalted yogurt drink usually called simply jogurt is a popular accompaniment to burek and other baked goods.\n\nSweetened yogurt drinks are the usual form in Europe (including the UK) and the US, containing fruit and added sweeteners. These are typically called \"drinking / drinkable yogurt\", such as Yop and BioBest Smoothie.\n\nAlso available are \"yogurt smoothies\", which contain a higher proportion of fruit and are more like smoothies. In Ecuador, yogurt smoothies flavored with native fruit are served with pan de yuca as a common type of fast food.\n\nAlso in Turkey, yogurt soup or Yayla Çorbası is a popular way of consuming yogurt. The soup is a mix of yogurt, rice, flour and dried mint.\n\nPlant-milk yogurt\n\nA variety of plant-milk yogurts appeared in the 2000s, using soy milk, rice milk, and nut milks such as almond milk and coconut milk. So far the most widely sold variety of plant milk yogurts is soy yogurt. These yogurts are suitable for vegans, people with intolerance to dairy milk, and those who prefer plant milks. \n\nMaking yogurt at home\n\nYogurt is made by heating milk to a temperature that denaturates its proteins (scalding), essential for making yogurt, cooling it to a temperature that will not kill the live microorganisms that turn the milk into yogurt, inoculating certain bacteria (starter culture), usually Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, into the milk, and finally keeping it warm for several hours. The milk may be held at 85 C for a few minutes, or boiled (giving a somewhat different result). It must be cooled to 50 C or somewhat less, typically 40 -. Starter culture must then be mixed in well, and the mixture must be kept undisturbed and warm for several hours, ranging from 5 to 12, with longer fermentation producing a more acid yogurt. The starter culture may be a small amount of live yogurt; dried starter culture is available commercially.\n\nMilk with a higher concentration of solids than normal milk may be used; the higher solids content produces a firmer yogurt. Solids can be increased by adding dried milk. \n\nThe yogurt-making process provides two significant barriers to pathogen growth, heat and acidity (low pH). Both are necessary to ensure a safe product. Acidity alone has been questioned by recent outbreaks of food poisoning by E. coli O157:H7 that is acid-tolerant. E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by pasteurization (heating); the initial heating of the milk kills pathogens as well as denaturing proteins. The microorganisms that turn milk into yogurt can tolerate higher temperatures than most pathogens, so that a suitable temperature not only encourages the formation of yogurt, but inhibits pathogenic microorganisms.\n\nOnce the yogurt has formed it can, if desired, be strained to reduce the whey content and thicken it.",
"Perry.txt\nPerry\nPerry is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, similar to the way cider is made from apples. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in the Three Counties (Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire); it is also made in parts of South Wales and France, especially Normandy and Anjou.\n\nIn more recent years, commercial perry has also been referred to as \"pear cider\", but some organisations (such as CAMRA) do not accept this as a name for the traditional drink. The National Association of Cider Makers, on the other hand, disagrees, insisting that the terms perry and pear cider are interchangeable.Pear cider ruling gives perry a timely boost, The Grocer, 19-05-2007 An over twenty-fold increase of sales of industrially manufactured \"pear cider\" produced from often imported concentrate makes the matter especially contentious.\n\nProduction\n\nFruit\n\nAs with cider apples, special pear cultivars are used to make Perry. Perry pears are thought to be descended from wild hybrids, known as wildings, between the cultivated pear Pyrus communis subsp. communis, brought to northern Europe by the Romans, and the now-rare wild pear Pyrus communis subsp. pyraster. Perry pears are higher in tannin and acid than eating or cooking pears, and are generally smaller.\n\nThe majority of perry pear varieties in the UK originate from the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the west of England. Of these, most originate in parishes around May Hill on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border.[http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup.org.uk/varieties/pears/ Gloucestershire Orchard Group, Pears], accessed 08-12-2009 The standard reference work on these varieties of pear was published in 1963 by the Long Ashton Research Station; since then many varieties have become critically endangered or lost. There were over 100 varieties, known by over 200 local names, in Gloucestershire alone.[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/history2.htm Pears and Perry Making in the UK], accessed 8 December 2009 Perry pears were particularly known for their picturesque names, such as the various Huffcap varieties (Hendre Huffcap, Red Huffcap, Black Huffcap, all having an elliptical shape), those named for the effects of their product (Merrylegs, Mumblehead), pears commemorating an individual (Stinking Bishop, named for the man who first grew it, or Judge Amphlett, named for Assizes court judge Richard Amphlett), or those named for the place they grew (Hartpury Green, Bosbury Scarlet, Bartestree Squash). In the UK the most commonly used variety is the Blakeney Red. Unsuitable for eating, it produces superior perry.\n\nPerry pear trees can live to a great age, and can be fully productive for 250 years. They also grow to a considerable height and can have very large canopies; the largest recorded, a tree at Holme Lacy which still partly survives, covered three quarters of an acre and yielded a crop of 5–7 tons in 1790.Oliver, T. [http://www.theolivers.org.uk/SFPP_Protocol.pdf The Three Counties & Welsh Marches Perry Presidium Protocol] Their size often led to them being planted to provide a windbreak for apple orchards.\n\nTechnique\n\nTraditional perry making is broadly similar to traditional cider making, in that the fruit is picked, crushed, and pressed to extract the juice, which is then fermented using the wild yeasts found on the fruit's skin. The principal differences between perry and cider are that pears must be left for a critical period to mature after picking, and the pomace must be left to stand after initial crushing to lose tannins, a process analogous to wine maceration.Grafton, G. [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/perry.htm Perry Making], accessed 8 December 2009 After initial fermentation, the drink undergoes a secondary malolactic fermentation while maturing.\n\nPerry pears often have higher levels of sugar than cider apples, including unfermentable sugars such as sorbitol, which can give the finished drink a residual sweetness. They also have a very different tannin content to cider apples, with a predominance of astringent over bitter flavours. The presence of sorbitol can also give perry a mild laxative effect.\n\nPerry from Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire made from traditional recipes now forms a European Union Protected Geographical Indication.\n\nHistory\n\nThe earliest known reference to fermented alcoholic drinks being made from pears is found in Pliny, but perry making seems to have become well established in what is today France following the collapse of the Roman empire; references to perry making in its later heartland of England do not appear before the Norman Conquest. In the medieval period, France retained its association with pear growing, and the majority of pears consumed in England were in fact imported from France.\n\nBy the sixteenth and seventeenth century, however, perry making had become well established in the west of England, where the climate and soil was especially suitable for pear cultivation. In the three counties of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire in particular, as well as in Monmouthshire across the Welsh border, it was found that perry pears grew well in conditions where cider apple trees would not. Smaller amounts were also produced in other cider-producing areas such as Somerset. Perry may have grown in popularity after the English Civil War, when the large numbers of soldiers billeted in the Three Counties became acquainted with it,Wilson, C. A. Liquid Nourishment: Potable foods and stimulating drinks, Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p.94 and reached a zenith of popularity during the eighteenth century, when intermittent conflicts with France made the importing of wine difficult.[http://www.rhs.org.uk/RHSWebsite/files/7f/7f2b102c-f4a6-4c27-bfbb-b3b7d235bff1.pdf Keeping It Real], Royal Horticultural Society Many farms and estates had their own orchards, and many varieties of pear developed that were unique to particular parishes or villages.\n\nWhereas perry in England remained an overwhelmingly dry, still drink served from the cask, Normandy perry (poiré) developed a bottle-fermented, sparkling style with a good deal of sweetness.[http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option\ncom_content&taskview&id\n96&Itemid=105 Normandy, World Perry Capital], Welsh Perry & Cider Society, accessed 8 December 2009\n\nModern commercial perries\n\nThe production of traditional perry began to decline during the 20th century, in part due to changing farming practices – perry pears could be difficult and labour-intensive to crop, and orchards took many years to mature. The industry was, however, to a certain degree revived by modern commercial perry making techniques, developed by Francis Showering of the firm Showerings of Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in the creation of their sparkling branded perry Babycham. Babycham, the first mass-produced branded perry, was developed by Showering from application of the Long Ashton Institute's research, and was formerly produced from authentic perry pears, though today it is produced from concentrate, the firm's pear orchards having now been dug up. Aimed at the female drinker at a time when wine was not commonly available in UK pubs, Babycham was sold in miniature Champagne-style bottles; the drink was for many years a strong seller and made a fortune for the Showering family.[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/propertymarket/3334960/Prancing-to-the-tune-of-Babycham.html Prancing to the tune of Babycham], Daily Telegraph Another competing brand of light perry, Lambrini, is manufactured in Liverpool by Halewood International, and marketed under the slogan \"Lambrini Girls Just Wanna Have Fun\". It now dominates the light perry market and has a somewhat downmarket image in Britain.Alan Carr plies his guests with it on his chat show Chatty Man, and remarked that some guests, like The Black Eyed Peas and Samuel L. Jackson, seemed to like it – \"though in Britain you can't give it away.\" (Alan Carr, speaking to Paul O'Grady on O'Gradys Channel Four show 17 November 2009) The Irish drinks company, Cantrell and Cochrane, Plc (C&C), more famous for its Magners and Bulmers ciders, launched a similar light perry, Ritz, in 1986.\n\nLike commercial pale lager and commercial cider, commercial perry is highly standardised, and today often contains large quantities of cereal adjuncts such as corn syrup or invert sugar. It is also generally of lower strength, and sweeter, than traditional perry, and is artificially carbonated to give a sparkling finish. However, unlike traditional perry it is a consistent product: the nature of perry pears means that it is very difficult to produce traditional perry in commercial quantities. Traditional perry was overwhelmingly a drink made on farms for home consumption, or to sell in small quantities either at the farm gate or to local inns.\n\nDecline and revival of traditional perry\n\nBoth English perry making, and the orchards that supplied it, suffered a catastrophic decline in the second half of the 20th century as a result of changing tastes and agricultural practices (in South Gloucestershire alone, an estimated 90% of orchards were lost in the last 75 years).[http://www.southglos.gov.uk/NR/exeres/F0121B68-C8C5-4001-B521-E55500F2A957 South Gloucestershire Council – Orchards] Many pear orchards were also lost to Fire blight in the 1970s and 1980s. As well as the clearing of orchards, the decline of day labouring on farms meant that the manpower to harvest perry pears – as well as its traditional consumers – disappeared. It also lost popularity due to makers turning to dessert or general purpose pears in its manufacture rather than perry pears, resulting in a thin and tasteless product. In the UK prior to 2007, the small amounts of traditional perry still produced were mainly consumed by people living in farming communities.\n\nHowever, perry (often marketed under the name \"pear cider\", below) has in very recent times increased in popularity, with around 2.5 million British consumers purchasing it in one year. In addition, various organisations have been actively seeking out old perry pear trees and orchards and rediscovering lost varieties, many of which now exist only as single trees on isolated farms; for example, the Welsh Cider Society recently rediscovered the old Monmouthshire varieties \"Burgundy\" and the \"Potato Pear\" as well as a number of further types unrecorded up to that point.[http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option\ncom_content&taskview&id\n3&Itemid=4 Welsh Cider Society], accessed 8 December 2009\n\nOne may also find perry concentrated, in a similar style to applejack.\n\n\"Pear cider\"\n\n\"Pear cider\" has in recent years been used as an alternative name for alcoholic drinks containing pear juice, in preference to the term perry . According to the BBC, the term was first used when Brothers Cider, a product industrially made from pear concentrate, rather than the traditional method using perry pears, was sold at Glastonbury Festival in 1995: nobody understood what perry was and were told that it was \"like cider, but made from pears\".\n\nThe use of the term \"pear cider\", instead of perry, is one of the reasons for a new commercial lease of life to a drink that was in decline; in two years sales of the drink increased from £3.4 million to £46 million. The brewers Brothers, Gaymers and Bulmers/Magners now all have their own brands of pear cider, and Tesco and other major supermarkets have increased the number of pear ciders that they sell. The term \"pear cider\" is seen by the manufacturers as being more marketeable to the younger 18–34 demographic and by differentiating their products from previous brands associated with the word perry, such as Babycham and Lambrini that are either associated with the female market or deemed out of fashion by the younger demographic.\n\nCAMRA takes makers like Brothers to task, defining perry and pear cider as quite different drinks, stating that \"pear cider\" as made by the large industrial cidermakers is merely a pear-flavoured drink, or more specifically a cider-style drink flavoured with pear concentrate, whereas \"perry\" should be made by traditional methods from perry pears only. (Brothers, Bulmers and other pear ciders are made from pear concentrate, often imported.) Others, including the industry trade National Association of Cider Makers, maintain that the terms perry and pear cider are interchangeable. Its own rules specify that perry or pear cider may contain no more than 25% apple juice.[http://www.cideruk.com/cider_market/code_of_practice NACM Code of Practice]\n\nOutside England, Wales & Normandy\n\nIn Australia\n\nThe beverage is also becoming increasingly popular in Australia. Small local manufacturers are beginning to appear such as Gypsy Cider, brewed by 2 Brothers Brewery in Melbourne, Henry's of Harcourt (VIC) and LOBO Cider in the Adelaide Hills as well as Paracombe Premium Perry also in the Adelaide Hills. Few traditional European Perry pears are available, it is believed that Moorcroft, Gin, Green Horse & Yellow Huffcap varieties are in Australia. \nEating pears are generally used with differing results in Australia. Australian Food Standards permit up to 25% of apple juice in Perry or Pear cider. The importation of pear ciders from abroad include brands such as Weston's, St Helier, Magners, Rekorderlig and Kopparberg now available. The only true Perry imported comes from Weston's where it also has the European Union Geographical indication protection. Weston's also import an Organic Pear Cider into Australia.\n\nIn Sweden\n\nAs 'Pear cider', the drink is popular in Sweden with brands such as Briska, Kopparberg, Herrljunga Cider, Rekorderlig Cider, and Gravendals being present.\n\nIn the United States\n\nWith hard cider sales on the increase in the American alcoholic beverage market, the production of perry has increased alongside, with many craft cideries making perries (typically called pear cider in the United States) alongside their apple ciders. As the craft beer and cider industries took off in the United States in the 1990s, a few players experimented with perries. One of the first commercially available domestic perries in the US was Ace Cider's Perry Cider, introduced in 1996. Today, even mass market brands, such as MillerCoors' Crispin Hard Cider Company and Boston Beer Company's Angry Orchard, are producing perries.\n\nIn New Zealand\n\nNew Zealand is seeing a surge in the popularity of Pear Cider with Old Mout Cidery, Macs and Monteiths Brewery each producing a pear cider.\n\nIn Japan\n\nJapanese pear cider is called ' Nashi pear's sparkling wine ' or ' Pear Cidre ' (In Japan, Cidre is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from the unfiltered juice of apples. Cider in Japan refers to a soft drink similar to Sprite or lemonade.).\n\nIn Japan, the most commonly used Cidre pear is the Nashi pear. Nashi pear are used for both cider and eating purposes.\n\nPear Cidre can be used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled ciders containing a cider widget, or which are cold-filtered rather than pasteurised.\n\nHigher quality pear cider is sold in champagne-style bottles (cidre bouché). Many pear ciders are sold in corked bottles, but some screw-top bottles exist.",
"www.growingfreedom.yolasite.com\nhybridum, alsike or Swedish ... red and white colour. ... and having pointed rather than rounded flower bracts. The fruit is a globose pink to red compound berry 2 ...\nhttps://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1oXwtTpEDXSZvmwScYW_LGSI-8NmXxnDZrYhzJXH0hHw \nThis link above is to the current plant database I'm working on for the book, its far from done.\n Here is the plant database, some items may be repeated do to different classification families/species etc. I focus on plants able to be grown in USDA zones 4,5,6 but not limited to. As possible pictures will also be added eventually. If you know of something not listed please email me at [email protected] with a full description etc as you see here along with a picture if possible. Thanks\nnote: that this data base is not in any particular order as of yet, also most information has been taken from Wikipedia, I will fix errors etc when possible as well as some of the odd charecters, thanks for your patience.\nMullein\nThe Mulleins genus Verbascum, (also known as velvet plants) are a genus of about 250\nspecies of flowering plants in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). They are native to\nEurope and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.\nThey are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5–3 m\ntall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending\nup a tall flowering stem. Biennial plants will form the rosette the first year, and during\nthe following season is when the stem emerges. The leaves are spirally arranged, often\ndensely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five\nsymmetrical petals; petal colors in different species include yellow (most common),\norange, red-brown, purple, blue or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute\nseeds.\nVarious species have been introduced (and in some case naturalized) in the Americas,\nChicory\nCommon chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a bushy perennial herbaceous plant with blue,\nlavender, or occasionally white flowers. Various varieties are cultivated for salad leaves,\nchicons (blanched buds), or for roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as\na coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock. It lives\nas a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America and Australia,\nwhere it has become naturalized.\n\"Chicory\" is also the common name in the US (and in French) for curly endive (Cichorium\nendivia); these two closely related species are often confused.\nCommon chicory is also known as blue sailors, succory, and coffeeweed. It is also called\ncornflower, although that name is more commonly applied to Centaurea cyanus. Common names\nfor varieties of var. foliosum include endive, radicchio, Belgian endive, French endive,\nred endive, sugarloaf or witloof.\nWhen flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from 30 to 100\ncentimetres (10 to 40 in) tall.\nThe leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed.\nThe flower heads are 2 to 4 centimeters (0.79 to 1.6 in) wide, and bright blue. There are\ntwo rows of involucral bracts - the inner are longer and erect, the outer are shorter and\nspreading. It flowers from July until October.\nThe achenes have no pappus (feathery hairs), but do have toothed scales on top.\nWild chicory leaves are usually bitter. Their bitterness is appreciated in certain\ncuisines, such as in the Liguria and Puglia regions of Italy and also in Catalonia, in\nGreece and in Turkey.[4] In Ligurian cuisine the wild chicory leaves are an ingredient of\npreboggion and in Greek cuisine of horta; in the Puglian region wild chicory leaves are\ncombined with fava bean puree in the traditional local dish Fave e Cicorie Selvatiche.\nBy cooking and discarding the water the bitterness is reduced, after which the chicory\nleaves may be sauteed with garlic, anchovies and other ingredients. In this form the\nresulting greens might be combined with pasta[6] or to accompany meat dishes\nChicory may be cultivated for its leaves, usually eaten raw as salad leaves. Cultivated\nchicory is generally divided into three types of which there are many varieties:[8]\n * Radicchio usually has variegated red or red and green leaves. Some only refer to the\nwhite-veined red leaved type as radicchio. Also known as red endive and red chicory. It has\na bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. It can also be used\nto add color and zest to salads.\n * Sugarloaf looks rather like cos lettuce, with tightly packed leaves.\nWitlof\n * Belgian endive is also known as French endive, witlof in Dutch or witloof in Belgian\nDutch, witloof in the United States[citation needed], chicory in the UK, as witloof in\nAustralia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France and in Wallonia. It has\na small head of cream-colored, bitter leaves. It is grown completely underground or\nindoors in the absence of sunlight in order to prevent the leaves from turning green and\nopening up (etiolation). The plant has to be kept just below the soil surface as it grows,\nonly showing the very tip of the leaves. It is often sold wrapped in blue paper to protect\nit from light and so preserve its pale color and delicate flavor. The smooth, creamy\nwhite leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or\nsimply cut raw. Slightly bitter, the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste. The harder\ninner part of the stem, at the bottom of the head, should be cut out before cooking to\nprevent bitterness. Belgium exports chicon/witloof to over 40 different countries. The\ntechnique for growing blanched endives was accidentally discovered in the 1850s in\nSchaerbeek, Belgium.[9] Endive is cultivated for culinary use by cutting the leaves from\nthe growing plant, then keeping the living stem and root in a dark place. A new bud\ndevelops but without sunlight it is white and lacks the bitterness of the sun-exposed\nfoliage. Today France is the largest producer of endives.\nFlower of Cichorium intybus\nnote two rows of bracts\nIllustration\nAlthough leaf chicory is often called \"endive\", true endive (Cichorium endivia) is a\ndifferent species in the genus.\n[edit] Root chicory\nRoot chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been in cultivation in Europe as a coffee\nsubstitute. The roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive,\nespecially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native), although its use as a\ncoffee additive is also very popular in India, parts of Southeast Asia, South Africa and\nsouthern United States, particularly in New Orleans. It has also been popular as a coffee\nsubstitute in poorer economic areas, and has gained wider popularity during economic crises\nsuch as the Great Depression in the 1930s. Chicory, with sugar beet and rye was used as an\ningredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the \"coffee\ncrisis\" of 1976-79.\nSome beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to their stouts.\nAround 1970 it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar\nto starch. Inulin is mainly found in the plant family Asteraceae as a storage carbohydrate\n(for example Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia etc.). It is used as a sweetener in the food\nindustry with a sweetening power 1⁄10 that of sucrose[10] and is sometimes added to yogurts\nas a prebiotic. Inulin can be converted to fructose and glucose through hydrolysis. Inulin\nis also gaining popularity as a source of soluble dietary fiber.\nChicory root extract is a dietary supplement or food additive produced by mixing dried,\nground, chicory root with water, and removing the insoluble fraction by filtration and\ncentrifugation. Other methods may be used to remove pigments and sugars. Fresh chicory root\ntypically contains, by dry weight, 68% inulin, 14% sucrose, 5% cellulose, 6% protein, 4%\nash, and 3% other compounds. Dried chicory root extract contains, by weight, approximately\n98% inulin and 2% other compounds.[11] Fresh chicory root may contain between 13 and 23%\ninulin, by total weight.[12]\n[edit] Agents responsible for bitterness\nThe bitter substances are primarily the two sesquiterpene lactones Lactucin and\nLactucopicrin. Other ingredients are Aesculetin, Aesculin, Cichoriin, Umbelliferone,\nScopoletin and 6.7-Dihydrocoumarin and further sesquiterpene lactones and their\nglycosides.[13]\nRoot chicory contains volatile oils similar to those found in plants in the related genus\nTanacetum which includes Tansy, and is similarly effective at eliminating intestinal worms.\nAll parts of the plant contain these volatile oils, with the majority of the toxic\ncomponents concentrated in the plant's root.[14]\nChicory is well known for its toxicity to internal parasites. Studies indicate that\ningestion of chicory by farm animals results in reduction of worm burdens,[15][16][17]\nwhich has prompted its widespread use as a forage supplement. Only a few major companies\nare active in research, development, and production of chicory varieties and selections,\nmost in New Zealand.\nChicory (especially the flower) was used as a treatment in Germany, and is recorded in many\nbooks as an ancient German treatment for everyday ailments. It is variously used as a tonic\nand as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinus problems and cuts and bruises.\n(Howard M. 1987). Inulin, the dietary fiber found in Chicory finds application in diabetes\nand constipation.\n This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline\ncitations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (July 2010)\nChicory produces a large volume of palatable and relatively easily digested foliage with a\nhigh protein and mineral content and is suitable for grazing sheep and dairy cattle.\nChicory contains small amounts of condensed tannins (some varieties more than others)\naiding in the conversion of nitrogen to proteins in ruminant digestion. Tannins are also\nrumored[by whom?] to reduce intestinal parasites, however, scientific studies have not\nproved a direct anti-parasite effect. Studies[which?] indicate that the increased\navailability of high quality protein to the animal (perhaps in combination with increased\nlevels of trace minerals) results in a general increase in animal condition that helps in\nreducing worm burdens.\nDevelopment of chicory varieties has taken place mostly in New Zealand, with some use in\nNorth America\n * Puna (Grasslands Puna) – One of the most popular forage varieties, developed in New\nZealand. It is well adapted to different climates, being grown from Alberta, Canada, to New\nMexico and Florida. It is resistant to bolting, which leads to high nutrient levels in the\nleaves in spring. It also has high resistance to grazing.\n * Forage Feast – A variety from France used for human consumption and also for wildlife\nplots.[clarification needed] It is very cold-hardy, and due to use for human consumption it\nis lower in tannins than other forage varieties.\n * Choice – Choice has been bred for high winter and early-spring growth activity, and\nlower amounts of lactucin and lactone, which are believed to taint milk. It is also use for\nseeding deer wildlife plots.\n * Oasis – Bred for increased lactone rates for the forage industry, and for higher\nresistance to fungal diseases like Sclerotinia.[clarification needed]\n * Puna II – More winter-active than most other varieties, which leads to greater\npersistence and longevity.\n * Grouse – A New Zealand variety used as a planting companion for forage brassicas.\nMore prone to early flowering than other varieties, with higher crowns more susceptible to\noverbrowsing.\n * Six Point – A United States variety, very similar to Puna.\n[edit] History\nThe chicory plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace mentions it\nin reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: \"Me pascunt olivae, me\ncichorea, me malvae\" (\"As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance\").[18]\nLord Monboddo describes the plant in 1779[19] as the \"chicoree\", which the French cultivate\nas a pot herb. In the Napoleonic Era in France, chicory frequently appeared as either an\nadulterant in coffee or a coffee substitute.;[20] this practice also became common in the\nUnited States and the United Kingdom, e.g., in England during the Second World War and in\nCamp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence which has been on sale since 1885.\nThe cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval\nmonks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that\nchicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.\nIn the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in\nprisons.[21] By the 1840s, after New York, the port of New Orleans was the second largest\nimporter of coffee.[20] Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union\nnaval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans creating a\nlong-standing tradition.[20]\nChicory is a common ingredient in typical Roman recipes, generally fried with garlic and\nred pepper to add its bitter and spicy flavor to meat or potato dishes. FAO reports that in\n2005, China and the USA were the top producers of lettuce and chicory.[citation needed]\nChicory is also mentioned in certain sericulture (silk-growing) texts. It is said that the\nprimary caretaker of the silkworms, the \"silkworm mother\" should not eat or even touch\nit.[citation needed]\nThe chicory flower is often seen as inspiration for the Romantic concept of the Blue\nFlower. It was also believed to be able to open locked doors, according to European\nfolklore.\n \nClovers\nClover (Trifolium), or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the leguminous\npea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is\nfound in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America\nand Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual,\nbiennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants. The leaves are trifoliate (rarely 5-\nor 7-foliate), with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small\nred, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the\ncalyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus (sweet clover)\nand Medicago (alfalfa or 'calvary clover'). The \"shamrock\" of popular iconography is\nsometimes considered to be young clover. The scientific name derives from the Latin tres,\n\"three\", and folium, \"leaf\", so called from the characteristic form of the leaf, which has\nthree leaflets (trifoliate); hence the popular name trefoil. Clovers are used as food\nplants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species; see list of\nLepidoptera that feed on clovers.\nSeveral species are extensively cultivated as fodder plants. The most widely cultivated\nclovers are white clover Trifolium repens and red clover Trifolium pratense. Clover, either\nsown alone or in mixture with ryegrass, has for a long time formed a staple crop for\nsoiling, for several reasons: it grows freely, shooting up again after repeated mowings; it\nproduces an abundant crop; it is palatable to and nutritious for livestock; it grows in a\ngreat range of soils and climates; and it is appropriate for either pasturage or green\ncomposting.\nIn many areas, particularly on acidic soil, clover is short-lived because of a combination\nof insect pests, diseases and nutrient balance; this is known as \"clover sickness\". When\ncrop rotations are managed so that clover does not recur at intervals shorter than eight\nyears, it grows with much of its pristine vigor.\nClover sickness in more recent times may also be linked to pollinator decline; clovers are\nmost efficiently pollinated by bumblebees, which have declined as a result of agricultural\nintensification.[3] Honeybees can also pollinate clover, and beekeepers are often in heavy\ndemand from farmers with clover pastures. Farmers reap the benefits of increased reseeding\nthat occurs with increased bee activity, which means that future clover yields remain\nabundant. Beekeepers benefit from the clover bloom as clover is one of the main nectar\nsources for honeybees.\nT. repens, white or Dutch clover, is a perennial abundant in meadows and good pastures. The\nflowers are white or pinkish, becoming brown and deflexed as the corolla fades. T.\nhybridum, alsike or Swedish clover, is a perennial which was introduced early in the 19th\ncentury and has now become naturalized in Britain. The flowers are white or rosy, and\nresemble those of the last species. T. medium, meadow or zigzag clover, a perennial with\nstraggling flexuous stems and rose-purple flowers, is of little agricultural value.\nOther South African species are: T. arvense, hare's-foot trefoil; found in fields and dry\npastures, a soft hairy plant with minute white or pale pink flowers and feathery sepals; T.\nfragiferum, orange clover, with hot-grounded, globose, rose-purple heads and swollen\ncalyxes; T. procumbens, hop trefoil, on dry pastures and roadsides, the heads of pale\nyellow flowers suggesting miniature hops; and the somewhat similar T. minus, common in\npastures and roadsides, with smaller heads and small yellow flowers turning dark brown. It\nis a source of high protein.\n[edit] Symbolism and mythology\nShamrock, the traditional Irish symbol coined by Saint Patrick for the Holy Trinity, is\ncommonly associated with clover, though sometimes with Oxalis species, which are also\ntrifoliate (i.e., they have three leaves).\nClovers occasionally have leaves with four leaflets, instead of the usual three. These\nfour-leaf clovers, like other rarities, are considered lucky. Clovers can also have five,\nsix, or more leaves, but these are more rare. The most ever recorded is twenty-one,[4] a\nrecord set in June 2008 by the same man who held the prior record and the current Guinness\nWorld Record of eighteen.[5] Unofficial claims of discovery have ranged as high as\ntwenty-seven.[4]\nA common idiom is \"to be (live) in clover\", meaning to live a carefree life of ease,\ncomfort, or prosperity. This originally referred to the fact that clover is fattening to\ncattle.[6]\nThe cloverleaf interchange is named for the resemblance to the leaves of a (four-leafed)\nclover when viewed from the air.\n \nTypha (pronounced /ˈtaɪfə/) is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous\nflowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere\ndistribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland\nhabitats. These plants are known in British English as bulrush, bullrush, or reedmace,[1]\nin American English as cattail, punks, or corndog grass, in Australia as cumbungi & also\nbulrush, and in New Zealand as raupo. Typha should not be confused with other plants known\nas bulrush, such as some sedges (mostly in Scirpus and related genera).\nTheir rhizomes are edible. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests\nthey were eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago.\nTypha leaves are alternate and mostly basal to a simple, jointless stem that eventually\nbears the flowering spikes. The rhizomes spread horizontally beneath the surface of muddy\nground to start new upright growth, and the spread of Typha is an important part of the\nprocess of open water bodies being converted to vegetated marshland and eventually dry\nland.\nTypha plants are monoecious and bear unisexual, wind-pollinated flowers, developing in\ndense spikes. The numerous male flowers form a narrow spike at the top of the vertical\nstem. Each male (staminate) flower is reduced to a pair of stamens and hairs, and withers\nonce the pollen is shed. The very large numbers of tiny female flowers form a dense,\nsausage-shaped spike on the stem below the male spike — in larger species this can be up to\n30 centimeters (12 in) long and 1 to 4 centimeters (0.39 to 1.6 in) thick. Seeds are\nminute, 0.2 millimeters (0.0079 in) long, and attached to a fine hair. When ripe the heads\ndisintegrate into dense cottony fluff, from which the seeds disperse by wind. Typha is\noften among the first wetland plants to colonize areas of newly exposed wet mud; it also\nspreads by rhizomes, forming dense stands often to the exclusion of other plants.\n[edit] Species\n * Typha angustifolia - Lesser Bulrush, Narrow Leaf Cattail (America) or Jambu (India)\n * Typha domingensis - Bulrush, Southern Cattail (America) or Narrow-leaved Cumbungi\n(Australia)\n * Typha ×glauca (angustifolia × latifolia) - Hybrid or White Cattail\n * Typha latifolia - Common Cattail\n * Typha muelleri - Raupo (New Zealand)\n * Typha orientalis - Broadleaf Cumbungi (Australia) or Raupo (New Zealand)\n * Typha capensis - Cape bulrush\nTypha plants at the edge of a small wetland in Indiana.\nThe most widespread species is Typha latifolia, extending across the entire temperate\nnorthern hemisphere. T. angustifolia is nearly as widespread, but does not extend so far\nnorth; some believe it is introduced and invasive in North America. T. domingensis is a\nmore southerly American and Australian species, extending from the U.S. to South America.\nT. orientalis is widespread in eastern & northern Australia, temperate & tropical Asia, New\nZealand. T. laxmannii, T. minima, and T. shuttleworthii are largely restricted to Asia and\nparts of southern Europe. Typha latifolia has also been recently introduced into fresh\nwater creeks and lakes in Australia where the water is shallow and contains levels of\ndirty, turbid water. It affects the flow of the water and also filters the water and\ncatches floating or submerged items, possibly damming the water flow.\nTypha plants grow along lake margins and in marshes, often in dense colonies, and are\nsometimes considered a weed in managed wetlands. The plant's root systems help prevent\nerosion, and the plants themselves are often home to many insects, birds and amphibians.\n[edit] Uses\nTypha has a wide variety of parts that are edible to humans. The rhizomes, underground\nlateral stems, are a pleasant nutritious and energy-rich food source that when processed\ninto flour contains 266 kcal per 100 g.[2]. They are generally harvested from late autumn\nto early spring. These are starchy, but also fibrous, so the starch must be scraped or\nsucked from the tough fibers. The bases of the leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, in late\nspring when they are young and tender. As the flower spike is developing in early summer,\nit can be broken off and eaten like corn on the cob[clarification needed]. In mid-summer,\nonce the male flowers are mature [3], the pollen can be collected and used as a flour\nsupplement or thickener. Typha has also recently been suggested as a source of\noil.[clarification needed] However, the plant's airborne seeds have also been known to\ncreate skin irritation and can trigger asthma.\nStarch grains have been found on grinding stones widely across Europe from 30,000 BP\nsuggesting that Typha plants were a widely used Upper Paleolithic food.[2]\n[edit] Other uses\nTypha seeds are very small, embedded in down parachutes, and very effectively\nwind-dispersed\nTypha (蒲, gama?) with/without seeds. Seeds used for Futon (布団 or 蒲団, futon?) before cotton\nThe disintegrating heads are used by some birds to line their nests. The downy material was\nalso used by some Native American tribes as tinder for starting fires.\nSome Native American tribes also used Typha down to line moccasins, and for bedding,\ndiapers, baby powder, and papoose boards. One Native American word for Typha meant \"fruit\nfor papoose's bed\". Today some people still use Typha down to stuff clothing items and\npillows.[4] When using Typha for pillow stuffing, dense batting material is used, as the\nfluff may cause a skin reaction similar to urticaria.\nTypha can be dipped in wax then lit as a candle, the stem serving as a wick.\nThe down has been used to fill life vests in the same manner as kapok.[citation needed]\nTypha can be used as a source of ethanol, instead of cereals.[clarification needed] They\nhave the advantage that they do not require much, if any, maintenance.[5]\nOne informal experiment has indicated that Typha is able to remove the poisonous element\narsenic from drinking water. Such a filtration system may be one way to provide cheap water\nfiltration for people in developing nations.[6]\nThe boiled root stocks have been used as a diuretic for increasing urination, or used\nmashing, to make a jelly-like paste for sores, boils, wounds, burns, scabs, inflammations,\nand smallpox pustules.[citation needed]\nTypha orientalis is used to make compostable food packaging.\n \nBurdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae.\nNative to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide.[2]\nPlants of the genus Arctium have dark green leaves that can grow up to 28\" (71 cm) long.\nThey are generally large, coarse and ovate, with the lower ones being heart-shaped. They\nare woolly underneath. The leafstalks are generally hollow. Arctium species generally\nflower from July through to October.\nThe prickly heads of these plants (burrs) are noted for easily catching on to fur and\nclothing (being the inspiration for Velcro[3]), thus providing an excellent mechanism for\nseed dispersal.[2] Burrs cause local irritation and can possibly cause intestinal hairballs\nin pets. However, most animals avoid ingesting these plants.\nA large number of species have been placed in genus Arctium at one time or another, but\nmost of them are now classified in the related genus Cousinia. The precise limits between\nArctium and Cousinia are hard to define; there is an exact correlation between their\nmolecular phylogeny. The burdocks are sometimes confused with the cockleburs (genus\nXanthium) and rhubarb (genus Rheum).\nThe roots of burdock, among other plants, are eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth\n(Hepialus humuli). The plant is used as a food plant by other Lepidoptera including\nBrown-tail, Coleophora paripennella, Coleophora peribenanderi, the Gothic, Lime-speck Pug\nand Scalloped Hazel.\nThe green, above-ground portions may cause contact dermatitis in humans due to the lactones\nthe plant produces.\nUses\n[edit] Food and drink\nThe taproot of young burdock plants can be harvested and eaten as a root vegetable. While\ngenerally out of favour in modern European cuisine, it remains popular in Asia. In Japan,\nA. lappa (Greater burdock) is called \"gobō\" (牛蒡 or ごぼう); in Korea burdock root is called\n\"u-eong\" (우엉) and sold as \"tong u-eong\" (통우엉), or \"whole burdock\". Plants are cultivated\nfor their slender roots, which can grow about 1 meter long and 2 cm across. Burdock root is\nvery crisp and has a sweet, mild, and pungent flavor with a little muddy harshness that\ncan be reduced by soaking julienned or shredded roots in water for five to ten minutes.\nImmature flower stalks may also be harvested in late spring, before flowers appear; their\ntaste resembles that of artichoke, to which the burdock is related. Leaves are also eaten\nin springs in Japan when a plant is young and leaves are soft. Some A. lappa cultivars are\nspecialized in this purpose. A popular Japanese dish is kinpira gobō (金平牛蒡), julienned or\nshredded burdock root and carrot, braised with soy sauce, sugar, mirin and/or sake, and\nsesame oil; another is burdock makizushi (sushi filled with pickled burdock root; the\nburdock root is often artificially coloured orange to resemble a carrot).\nIn the second half of the 20th century, burdock achieved international recognition for its\nculinary use due to the increasing popularity of the macrobiotic diet, which advocates its\nconsumption. It contains a fair amount of dietary fiber (GDF, 6g per 100g), calcium,\npotassium, amino acids,[4] and is low in calories. It contains a polyphenol oxidase,[5]\nwhich cause its darkened surface and muddy harshness by forming tannin-iron complexes.\nBurdock root's harshness harmonizes well with pork in miso soup (tonjiru) and with\nJapanese-style pilaf (takikomi gohan).\nDandelion and burdock is today a soft drink that has long been popular in the United\nKingdom, which has its origins in hedgerow mead commonly drunk in the medieval\nperiod.[citation needed] Burdock is believed to be a galactagogue, a substance that\nincreases lactation, but it is sometimes recommended to be avoided during pregnancy based\non animal studies that show components of burdock to cause uterus stimulation.[6]\nIn parts of the US (notably western New York), burdock stalks are eaten as a substitute for\ncardoon. The stalks are peeled, scrubbed, boiled in salt water, and fried in an egg and\nbreadcrumb batter.\nFolk herbalists consider dried burdock to be a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying\nagent. The seeds of A. lappa are used in traditional Chinese medicine, under the name\nniupangzi (Chinese: 牛蒡子; pinyin: niúpángzi; Some dictionaries list the Chinese as just 牛蒡\nniúbàng.)\nBurdock is a traditional medicinal herb that is used for many ailments. Burdock root oil\nextract, also called Bur oil, is popular in Europe as a scalp treatment applied to improve\nhair strength, shine and body, help reverse scalp conditions such as dandruff, and combat\nhair loss. Modern studies[citation needed] indicate that burdock root oil extract is rich\nin phytosterols and essential fatty acids (including rare long-chain EFAs), the nutrients\nrequired to maintain a healthy scalp and promote natural hair growth. It combines an\nimmediate relieving effect with nutritional support of normal functions of sebaceous glands\nand hair follicles According to some European herbalists, combining burdock root oil with a\nnettle root oil and massaging these two oils into the scalp every day has a greater effect\nthan Bur oil alone.[citation needed]\nBurdock leaves are used by some burn care workers for pain management and to speed healing\ntime in natural burn treatment.[7] Burn care workers hold that it eases dressing changes\nand appears to impede bacterial growth on the wound site and that it also provides a great\nmoisture barrier.\n[edit] French Cloth\nIn the early 1700s, Frenchmen introduced these by the thousands into North America. They\nused it exclusively as a cotton twill. But once the cotton gin was invented, the Frenchmen\nleft, and the burdock spread incredibly quickly.[citation needed] The Frenchmen left during\nthe windy season, and it spread even more. Burdock is considered an invasive species in\nNorth America.\n[edit] Burdock and Velcro\nAfter taking his dog for a walk one day in the early 1940s, George de Mestral, a Swiss\ninventor, became curious about the seeds of the burdock plant that had attached themselves\nto his clothes and to the dog's fur. Under a microscope, he looked closely at the\nhook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals aiding seed\ndispersal, and he realised that the same approach could be used to join other things\ntogether. The result was Velcro.[3]\n[edit] Tolstoy\nThe Russian writer Leo Tolstoy wrote in his journal, in 1896, about a tiny shoot of burdock\nhe saw in a ploughed field, \"black from dust but still alive and red in the center … It\nmakes me want to write. It asserts life to the end, and alone in the midst of the whole\nfield, somehow or other had asserted it.\"\n[edit] Species\n * Arctium lappa : Greater Burdock, Gobō\n * Arctium minus : Lesser Burdock, Burweed, Louse-bur, Button-bur\n o Arctium minus nemorosum (=Arctium vulgare) : Woodland Burdock, Wood Burdock\n * Arctium pubens : Common Burdock\n * Arctium tomentosum : Downy Burdock, Woolly Burdock\n[edit] Safety\nBecause the roots of burdock resemble those of Deadly nightshade (also known as belladonna\nor Atropa belladonna), which is extremely poisonous, it is sometimes cautioned as a safety\nrisk. Given that the plants above ground are readily distinguishable, and chiefly because\ntheir habitats rarely overlap, it is unlikely that the toxic plant's root should be found\nbeneath the foliage of the edible one's. However, positive identification is a necessary\nprecondition to the consumption of any wild plant.\n \nAsparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial[1] plant species in the\ngenus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its allium cousins, onions\nand garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the\nfamily Alliaceae and asparagus in the Asparagaceae. Asparagus officinalis is native to most\nof Europe, northern Africa and western Asia,[2][3][4] and is widely cultivated as a\nvegetable crop.\nAsparagus is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 100–150 centimetres (39–59 in) tall,\nwith stout stems with much-branched feathery foliage. The \"leaves\" are in fact needle-like\ncladodes (modified stems) in the axils of scale leaves; they are 6–32 millimetres (0.24–1.3\nin) long and 1 millimeter (0.039 in) broad, and clustered 4–15 together. The root system is\nadventitious and the root type is fasciculated. The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white\nto yellowish, 4.5–6.5 millimeters (0.18–0.26 in) long, with six tepals partially fused\ntogether at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of 2–3 in the junctions of\nthe branchlets. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants,\nbut sometimes hermaphrodite flowers are found. The fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm\ndiameter, which is poisonous to humans.[5]\nPlants native to the western coasts of Europe (from northern Spain north to Ireland, Great\nBritain, and northwest Germany) are treated as Asparagus officinalis subsp. prostratus\n(Dumort.) Corb., distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only\n30–70 centimeters (12–28 in) high, and shorter cladodes 2–18 millimeters (0.079–0.71 in)\nlong.[2][6] It is treated as a distinct species Asparagus prostratus Dumort by some\nauthors.[7][8]\n[edit] History\nAsparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate\nflavor and diuretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest\nsurviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third century AD De re coquinaria, Book III. It was\ncultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and\ndried the vegetable for use in winter. Asparagus is pictured on an Egyptian frieze dating\nto 3000 B.C. France’s Louis XIV had special greenhouses built for growing it.[9]\nIt lost its popularity in the Middle Ages but returned to favor in the seventeenth\ncentury.[10]\n[edit] Uses\n[edit] Culinary\nThree types of asparagus on a shop display, with white asparagus at the back and green\nasparagus in the middle. The plant at the front is Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, commonly called\nwild asparagus, and sometimes \"Bath Asparagus\".\nOnly young asparagus shoots are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open the shoots\nquickly turn woody and become strongly flavoured.\nAsparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B6,\ncalcium, magnesium and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A,\nvitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron,\nphosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium[citation needed], as well as\nchromium, a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from\nthe bloodstream into cells[citation needed]. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from\nasparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.\nThe shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, typically as an\nappetizer[11] or vegetable side dish. In Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often\nstir-fried. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried\nwith chicken, shrimp, or beef, and also wrapped in bacon. Asparagus may also be quickly\ngrilled over charcoal or hardwood embers. It is also used as an ingredient in some stews\nand soups. In the French style, it is often boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise\nsauce, melted butter or olive oil, Parmesan cheese or mayonnaise. Tall, narrow asparagus\ncooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water. In\nrecent years, almost as a cycle dating back to early culinary habits, asparagus has\nregained its popularity eaten raw as a component of a salad.[12]\nAsparagus can also be pickled and stored for several years. Some brands may label shoots\nprepared this way as \"marinated.\"\nThe bottom portion of asparagus often contains sand and dirt and therefore thorough\ncleaning is generally advised in cooking asparagus.\nGreen asparagus is eaten worldwide, though the availability of imports throughout the year\nhas made it less of a delicacy than it once was.[6] However, in the UK, due to the short\ngrowing season and demand for local produce, asparagus commands a premium and the\n\"asparagus season is a highlight of the foodie calendar.\"[13] In continental northern\nEurope, there is also a strong seasonal following for local white asparagus, nicknamed\n\"white gold\".\nGerman botanical illustration of asparagus\n[edit] Medicinal\nThe second century physician Galen described asparagus as \"cleansing and healing.\"\nNutrition studies have shown that asparagus is a low-calorie source of folate and\npotassium. Its stalks are high in antioxidants. \"Asparagus provides essential nutrients:\nsix spears contain some 135 micrograms (μg) of folate, almost half the adult RDI\n(recommended daily intake), 20 milligrams of potassium,\" notes an article in Reader's\nDigest. Research suggests folate is key in taming homocysteine, a substance implicated in\nheart disease. Folate is also critical for pregnant women, since it protects against neural\ntube defects in babies. Several studies indicate that getting plenty of potassium may\nreduce the loss of calcium from the body.\nParticularly green asparagus is a good source of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body\nproduce and maintain collagen, the major structural protein component of the body's\nconnective tissues.\n\"Asparagus has long been recognized for its medicinal properties,\" wrote D. Onstad, author\nof Whole Foods Companion: A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers and Lovers of\nNatural Foods. \"Asparagus contains substances that act as a diuretic, neutralize ammonia\nthat makes us tired, and protect small blood vessels from rupturing. Its fiber content\nmakes it a laxative too.\" It should be noted, however, that ammonia only \"makes us tired\"\nif we are in end stage liver failure.\n[edit] Cultivation\nGreen asparagus for sale in New York City.\nSee also: List of asparagus diseases\nSince asparagus often originates in maritime habitats, it thrives in soils that are too\nsaline for normal weeds to grow in. Thus a little salt was traditionally used to suppress\nweeds in beds intended for asparagus; this has the disadvantage that the soil cannot be\nused for anything else. Some places are better for growing asparagus than others. The\nfertility of the soil is a large factor. \"Crowns\" are planted in winter, and the first\nshoots appear in spring; the first pickings or \"thinnings\" are known as sprue asparagus.\nSprue have thin stems.[14]\nWhite asparagus, known as spargel, is cultivated by denying the plants light while they are\nbeing grown. Less bitter than the green variety, it is very popular in the Netherlands,\nFrance, Belgium and Germany where 57,000 tonnes (61% of consumer demands) are produced\nannually.[15]\nPurple asparagus differs from its green and white counterparts, having high sugar and low\nfibre levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in Italy and commercialised under\nthe variety name Violetto d'Albenga. Since then, breeding work has continued in countries\nsuch as the United States and New Zealand.[verification needed]\nIn northwestern Europe, the season for asparagus production is short, traditionally\nbeginning on April 23 and ending on Midsummer Day.[16]\n[edit] Companion planting\nAsparagus is a useful companion plant for tomatoes. The tomato plant repels the asparagus\nbeetle, as do several other common companion plants of tomatoes. Meanwhile, asparagus may\nrepel some harmful root nematodes that affect tomato plants.[\n \nAmaranthus, collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately\n60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to\ngold. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely\nrelated genus Celosia.\nAlthough several species are often considered weeds, people around the world value\namaranths as leaf vegetables, cereals, and ornamentals. A traditional food plant in Africa,\namaranth has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural\ndevelopment and support sustainable landcare.[1]\nThe ultimate root of \"amaranth\" is the Greek ἀμάραντος[2] (amarantos) \"unfading\" with the\nGreek word for \"flower\" ἄνθος (anthos) factoring into the word's development as \"amaranth\"\n- the more correct \"amarant\" is an archaic variant.\nSystematics\nAmaranthus shows a wide variety of morphological diversity among and even within certain\nspecies. Although the family (Amaranthaceae) is distinctive, the genus has few\ndistinguishing characters among the 70 species included.[3] This complicates taxonomy and\nAmaranthus has generally been considered among systematists as a “difficult” genus.[4]\nFormerly, Sauer (1955) classified the genus into 2 sub-genera, differentiating only between\nmonoecious and dioecious species: Acnida (L.) Aellen ex K.R. Robertson and Amaranthus.[4]\nAlthough this classification was widely accepted, further infrageneric classification was\n(and still is) needed to differentiate this widely diverse group.\nCurrently, Amaranthus includes 3 recognized sub-genera and 70 species, although species\nnumbers are questionable due to hybridization and species concepts.[5] Infrageneric\nclassification focuses on inflorescence, flower characters and whether a species is\nmonoecious/dioecious, as in the Sauer (1955) suggested classification.[3] A modified\ninfrageneric classification of Amaranthus was published by Mosyakin & Robertson (1996) and\nincludes 3 subgenera: Acnida, Amaranthus and Albersia. The taxonomy is further\ndifferentiated by sections within each of the sub-genera.[6]\n[edit] Uses\nSeveral species are raised for amaranth \"grain\" in Asia and the Americas. This should more\ncorrectly be termed \"pseudograin\" (see below). They are highly edible by gluten intolerant\nindividuals because they are not a member of the grass family and contain no gluten.\nAncient amaranth grains still used to this day include the three species, Amaranthus\ncaudatus, Amaranthus cruentus, and Amaranthus hypochondriacus.[7] Although amaranth was\n(and still is) cultivated on a small scale in parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, India, and\nNepal, there is potential for further cultivation in the U.S and tropical countries and it\nis often referred to as \"the crop of the future.\"[8] It has been proposed as an inexpensive\nnative crop that could be cultivated by indigenous people in rural areas for several\nreasons: 1) it is easily harvested, 2) it produces lots of fruit and thus seeds, which are\nused as grain, 3) it is highly tolerant of arid environments, which are typical of most\nsubtropical and some tropical regions, and 4) its seeds contain large amounts of protein\nand essential amino acids, such as lysine.[9] 5) Amaranthus species are reported to have a\n30% higher protein value than cereals, such as rice, wheat flour, oats, and rye.[10] 6) It\nrequires little fuel to cook. As befits its weedy life history, amaranth grains grow very\nrapidly and their large seedheads can weigh up to 1 kilogram and contain a half-million\nseeds.[11]\nAmaranth was one of the staple foodstuffs of the Incas, and it is known as kiwicha in the\nAndes today. It was also used by the ancient Aztecs, who called it huautli, and other\nNative America peoples in Mexico to prepare ritual drinks and foods. To this day, amaranth\ngrains are toasted much like popcorn or martala and mixed with honey, molasses or chocolate\nto make a treat called alegría (joy in Spanish).\nAmaranth grain is a crop of moderate importance in the Himalaya.\nBecause of its importance as a symbol of indigenous culture, and because it is very\npalatable, easy to cook, and its protein particularly well suited to human nutritional\nneeds, interest in grain amaranth (especially A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus) revived\nin the 1970s. It was recovered in Mexico from wild varieties and is now commercially\ncultivated. It is a popular snack sold in Mexico City and other parts of Mexico, sometimes\nmixed with chocolate or puffed rice, and its use has spread to Europe and parts of North\nAmerica. Amaranth and quinoa are called pseudograins because of their flavor and cooking\nsimilarities to grains. These are dicot plant seeds, and both contain exceptionally\ncomplete protein for plant sources. Besides protein, amaranth grain provides a good source\nof dietary fiber and dietary minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and\nespecially manganese. It has been claimed to be beneficial in preventing greying of\nhair.[citation needed]\nAmaranth species are cultivated and consumed as a leaf vegetable in many parts of the\nworld. There are 4 species of Amaranthus documented as cultivated vegetables in eastern\nAsia: Amaranthus cruentus, Amaranthus blitum, Amaranthus dubius, and Amaranthus\ntricolor.[12]\nIn Indonesia and Malaysia, leaf amaranth is called bayam, while the Tagalogs in the\nPhilippines call the plant kulitis or Callaloo. In Karnataka state in India it is used to\nprepare curries like Hulee, palya, Majjigay-hulee and so on. In Tamilnadu State, it is\ncalled முளைக்கீரை, and is regularly consumed as a favourite dish, where the greens are\nsteamed, and mashed, with light seasoning of salt, red chillis and cumin. It is called\nkeerai masial (கீரை மசியல்). In Andhra Pradesh, India, this leaf is added in preparation of\na popular dal called thotakura pappu తొట కూర పప్పు (Telugu). In Maharashtra, it is called\nas \"Shravani Maath\" (literally माठ grown in month of Shravan) and it is available in both\nred and white colour. In Orissa, it is called as \"Khada saga\", it is used to prepare 'Saga\nBhaja', in which the leaf is fried with chillies and onions.\nRoot of mature amaranth is an excellent vegetable. It is white in colour and is cooked with\ntomatoes or tamarind gravy. It has a milky taste and is alkaline.\nIn China, the leaves and stems are used as a stir-fry vegetable, or in soups, and called\nyin choi (苋菜; pinyin: xiàncài; and variations on this transliteration in various dialects).\nAmaranth greens are believed to help enhance eyesight. In Vietnam, it is called rau dền and\nis used to make soup. There are two species popular as edible vegetable in Vietnam: dền đỏ-\namaranthus tricolor and dền cơm or dền trắng- amaranthus viridis.\nIn East Africa, Amaranth leaf is known in Chewa as Bonongwe, and in Swahili as mchicha. In\nBantu-speaking regions of Uganda it is known as Doodo.[13] It is sometimes recommended by\nsome doctors for people having low red blood cell count. Also known among the Kalenjin as a\ndrought crop (chepkerta). In West Africa such as in Nigeria, it is a common vegetable, and\ngoes with all Nigerian carbohydrate dishes. It is known in Yoruba as efo tete or arowo jeja\n(\"we have money left over for fish\"). In Congo[clarification needed] it is known as lenga\nlenga or biteku teku.[14] In the Caribbean, the leaves are called callaloo and are\nsometimes used in a soup called pepperpot soup.\nIn Greece, Green Amaranth (Amaranthus viridis) is a popular dish and is called vlita or\nvleeta. It's boiled, then served with olive oil and lemon like a salad, usually alongside\nfried fish. Greeks stop harvesting the (usually wild-grown) plant when it starts to bloom\nat the end of August. In Sri Lanka, it is called \"Koora Thampala\". Sri Lankans cook it and\neat it with rice. Fiji Indians call it choraiya bhaji.\n[edit] Dyes\nThe flowers of the 'Hopi Red Dye' amaranth were used by the Hopi (a tribe in the western\nUnited States) as the source of a deep red dye. There is also a synthetic dye that has been\nnamed \"amaranth\" for its similarity in color to the natural amaranth pigments known as\nbetalains. This synthetic dye is also known as Red No. 2 in North America and E123 in the\nEuropean Union.[15]\nThe genus also contains several well-known ornamental plants, such as Amaranthus caudatus\n(love-lies-bleeding), a native of India and a vigorous, hardy annual with dark purplish\nflowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes. Another Indian annual, A. hypochondriacus\n(prince's feather), has deeply veined lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under face, and\ndeep crimson flowers densely packed on erect spikes.\nAmaranths are recorded as food plants for some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species\nincluding the nutmeg moth and various case-bearer moths of the genus Coleophora: C.\namaranthella, C. enchorda (feeds exclusively on Amaranthus), C. immortalis (feeds\nexclusively on Amaranthus), C. lineapulvella and C. versurella (recorded on A. spinosus).\n[edit] Nutritional value\nAmaranth greens, also called Chinese spinach, hinn choy or yin tsoi (simplified Chinese: 苋菜\n; traditional Chinese: 莧菜; pinyin: xiàncài); callaloo, dhantinasoppu (Kannada); తోటకూర\n(Telugu); Rajgira (Marathi); முளைக் கீரை (Tamil), cheera ചീര (Malayalam); bayam\n(Indonesian); phak khom ผักโขม (Thai); tampala, or quelite, (Oriya); Khada Saga, are a\ncommon leaf vegetable throughout the tropics and in many warm temperate regions. It is very\npopular in India. They are a very good source of vitamins including vitamin A, vitamin K,\nvitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin, and folate, and dietary minerals including calcium,\niron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. Because of its\nvaluable nutrition, some farmers grow amaranth today. However their moderately high content\nof oxalic acid can inhibit the absorption of calcium and zinc, and also indicates that they\nshould be eaten with caution under consultation with healthcare providers by people with\nkidney disorders, gout, or rheumatoid arthritis, concerning mineral absorption and\nsupplementation.[citation needed] Reheating cooked amaranth greens is often discouraged,\nparticularly for consumption by small children, as the nitrates in the leaves can be\nconverted to nitrites, similarly to spinach.[citation needed]\nAmaranth seeds, like buckwheat and quinoa, contain protein that is unusually complete for\nplant sources.[16] Most fruits and vegetables do not contain a complete set of amino acids,\nand thus different sources of protein must be used.\nIts seeds have a protein content greater than that of wheat. However, unlike that found in\ntrue grains (i.e. from grass seeds) its protein is not of the problematical type known as\ngluten.[17]\nSeveral studies have shown that like oats, amaranth seed or oil may be of benefit for those\nwith hypertension and cardiovascular disease; regular consumption reduces blood pressure\nand cholesterol levels, while improving antioxidant status and some immune\nparameters.[18][19][20] While the active ingredient in oats appears to be water-soluble\nfiber, amaranth appears to lower cholesterol via its content of plant stanols and squalene.\n[edit] As a weed\nNot all amaranth plants are cultivated. Most of the species from Amaranthus are summer\nannual weeds and are commonly referred to as pigweeds.[21] These species have an extended\nperiod of germination, rapid growth, and high rates of seed production[21] and have been\ncausing problems for farmers since the mid-1990s. This is partially due to the reduction in\ntillage, reduction in herbicidal use and the evolution of herbicidal resistance in several\nspecies where herbicides have been applied more often.[22] The following 9 species of\nAmaranthus are considered invasive and noxious weeds in the U.S and Canada: A. albus, A.\nblitoides, A. hybridus, A. palmeri, A. powellii, A. retroflexus, A. spinosus, A.\ntuberculatus, and A. viridis.[23]\nA new herbicide-resistant strain of Amaranthus palmeri or Palmer amaranth has appeared; it\nis Glyphosate-resistant and so cannot be killed by the widely used Roundup herbicide. Also,\nthis plant can survive in tough conditions. This could be of particular concern to cotton\nfarmers using Roundup Ready cotton.[24] The species Amaranthus palmeri (Palmer amaranth)\ncauses the greatest reduction in soybean yields and has the potential to reduce yields by\n17-68% in field experiments.[21] Palmer amaranth is among the “top five most troublesome\nweeds” in the southeast and has already evolved resistances to dinitroanilines and\nacetolactate synthase inhibitors.[25] This makes the proper identification of Amaranthus\nspecies at the seedling stage essential for agriculturalists. Proper herbicide treatment\nneeds to be applied before the species successfully colonizes in the crop field and causes\nsignificant yield reductions.\n[edit] Beneficial weed\nPigweed can be a beneficial weed, as well as a companion plant, serving as a trap for leaf\nminers and some other pests, as well as sheltering ground beetles (which prey upon insect\npests) and breaking up hard soil for more delicate neighboring plants\n \nOther Names: Common Chickweeds, Star Chickweed, Mouse-ear Chickweed\nChickweeds are an annual herb, widespread in temperate zones, arctic zones, and throughout,\nprobable origin Eurasia. Chickweeds have established themselves all over the world,\npossibly carried on the clothes and shoes of explorers. They are as numerous in species as\nthey are in region. Most are succulent and have white flowers, and all with practically the\nsame edible and medicinal values. They all exhibit a very interesting trait, (they sleep)\ntermed the 'Sleep of Plants,' every night the leaves fold over the tender buds and the new\nshoots.\nThe cultivation of this one is not necessary it is abundant and easy to find. Gather fresh\nedible plant between May and July, as soon as flowers appear, it can be used fresh or be\ndried for later herb use.\nProperties\n Chickweeds are Medicinal and edible, they are very nutritious, high in vitamins and\nminerals, can be added to salads or cooked as a pot herb, tasting somewhat like spinach.\nThe major plant constituents in Chickweed are Ascorbic-acid, Beta-carotene, Calcium,\nCoumarins, Genistein, Gamma-linolenic-acid, Flavonoids, Hentriacontanol, Magnesium, Niacin,\nOleic-acid, Potassium, Riboflavin, Rutin, Selenium, Triterpenoid saponins, Thiamin, and\nZinc. The whole plant is used in alternative medicine as an astringent, carminative,\ndemulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary. A decoction of the\nwhole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative, emmenagogue, galactogogue and\ncirculatory tonic. It is also used to relieve constipation, an infusion of the dried herb\nis used in coughs and hoarseness, and is beneficial in the treatment of kidney complaints.\nas an astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant,\nvulnerary. A decoction of the whole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative,\nemmenagogue, galactogogue and circulatory tonic. It is also used to relieve constipation,\nan infusion of the dried herb is used in coughs and hoarseness, and is beneficial in the\ntreatment of kidney complaints. New research indicates it's use as an effective\nantihistamine. The decoction is also used externally to treat rheumatic pains, wounds and\nulcers. It can be applied as a medicinal poultice and will relieve any kind of roseola and\nis effective wherever there are fragile superficial veins or itching skin conditions.\n \nCurled Dock (Rumex crispus), also known as Curly Dock, Yellow Dock, Sour Dock, Narrow Dock,\nsometimes as \"narrow-leaved dock\" (which properly refers to a variant of Sorrel), and\nambiguously as \"garden patience\", is a perennial flowering plant in the family\nPolygonaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia.\nThe mature plant is a reddish brown colour, and produces a stalk that grows to about 1 m\nhigh. It has smooth leaves shooting off from a large basal rosette, with distinctive waved\nor curled edges. On the stalk flowers and seeds are produced in clusters on branched stems,\nwith the largest cluster being found at the apex. The seeds are shiny, brown and encased in\nthe calyx of the flower that produced them. This casing enables the seeds to float on water\nand get caught in wool and animal fur, and this helps the seeds to spread to new\nlocations.[1] The root-structure is a large, yellow, forking taproot.\nCurled Dock grows in roadsides, all types of fields, and low-maintenance crops. It prefers\nrich, moist and heavy soils.\n[edit] Distribution\nCurled Dock is a widespread naturalised species throughout the temperate world, which has\nbecome a serious invasive species in many areas, including throughout North America,\nsouthern South America, New Zealand and parts of Australia. It spreads through the seeds\ncontaminating crop seeds, and sticking to clothing. It is designated an \"injurious weed\"\nunder the UK Weeds Act 1959.[2] It is often seen in disturbed soils at the edges of\nroadsides, railway beds, and car parks.\n[edit] Uses and toxicity\nIt can be used as a wild leaf vegetable; the young leaves should be boiled in several\nchanges of water to remove as much of the oxalic acid in the leaves as possible, or can be\nadded directly to salads in moderate amounts.[3] Once the plant matures it becomes too\nbitter to consume. Dock leaves are an excellent source of both vitamin A and protein, and\nare rich in iron and potassium. Curly Dock leaves are somewhat tart due to the presence of\nhigh levels of oxalic acid, and although quite palatable, this plant should only be\nconsumed in moderation as it can irritate the urinary tract and increase the risk of\ndeveloping kidney stones.\nThe roots have also been used medicinally as an astringent, tonic, and laxative. Compounds\ncontained in the plant's roots have been clinically verified to bind with heavy metals such\nas lead and arsenic and expel them from the body by stimulating biliary function in the\nliver. The plant is considered a highly effective blood cleanser and is used by herbalists\nto assist the body in eliminating heavy metals and to treat other hepatic disorders\n \nTaraxacum (pronounced /təˈræksəkʉm/) is a large genus of flowering plants in the family\nAsteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale\nand T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide.[1] Both species are edible in their\nentirety.[2] The common name dandelion (pronounced /ˈdændɨlaɪ.ən/ DAN-di-lye-ən, from\nFrench dent-de-lion, meaning lion's tooth) is given to members of the genus, and like other\nmembers of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a\ncomposite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum\nspecies produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without\npollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.[\nDescription\nThe species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted biennial or perennial herbaceous plants, native to\ntemperate areas of the Old World.\nThe leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple and basal, entire or lobed, forming a rosette\nabove the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange colored, and are open in\nthe daytime but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) that\nrises 1–10 cm or more[4] above the leaves and exudes a milky sap (latex) when broken. A\nrosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in\ndiameter and consists entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into a spherical\n\"clocks\"[5] containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to\na pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances.\nThe flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series.\nThe inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to\ndisperse; the outer bracts are always reflexed downward. Some species drop the \"parachute\"\nfrom the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals.\nBetween the pappus and the achene, there is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the\nfruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from\nthe parachute.\nA number of species of Taraxacum are seed dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize\ndisturbed soil, especially the Common dandelion (T. officinale), which has been introduced\nover much of the temperate world. After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head\ndries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex (curve\nbackwards), and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. Finally, the seed-bearing\nparachutes expand and lift out of it. The parachute drops off the achene when it strikes an\nobstacle[citation needed]. After the seed is released, the parachutes lose their feathered\nstructure and take on a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, often called \"dandelion\nsnow\"[citation needed].\nHawksbeard flower heads and ripe seeds are sometimes confused with Dandelions.\nDandelions are so similar to catsears (Hypochaeris) that catsears are also known as \"false\ndandelions\". Both plants carry similar flowers, which form into windborne seeds. However,\ndandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems,\nwhile catsear flowering stems are branched, solid and carry bracts. Both plants have a\nbasal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth\nor glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.\nOther plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and\nhawksbeards (Crepis). These are readily distinguished by branched flowering stems, which\nare usually hairy and bear leaves.\n[edit] Classification\nThe genus is taxonomically complex, with some botanists dividing the group into about 34\nmacrospecies, and about 2000 microspecies;[6] approximately 235 apomictic and polyploid\nmicrospecies have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland.[7] Some botanists take a much\nnarrower view and only accept a total of about 60 species.[6]\n[edit] Selected species\n * Taraxacum albidum, a white-flowering Japanese dandelion.\n * Taraxacum californicum, the endangered California dandelion\n * Taraxacum japonicum, Japanese dandelion. No ring of smallish, downward-turned leaves\nunder the flowerhead.\n * Taraxacum kok-saghyz, Russian dandelion, which produces rubber[8]\n * Taraxacum laevigatum, Red-seeded Dandelion; achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply\ncut throughout length. Inner bracts' tips are hooded.\n o Taraxacum erythrospermum, often considered a variety of Taraxacum\nlaevigatum.[9]\n * Taraxacum officinale (syn. T. officinale subsp. vulgare), Common Dandelion. Found in\nmany forms.\n * 'Amélioré à Coeur Plein' - Yields an abundant crop without taking up much ground, and\ntends to blanch itself naturally, due to its clumping growth habit.\n * 'Broad Leaved' - The leaves are thick and tender and easily blanched. In rich soils\nthey can be up to 60 cm wide. Plants do not go to seed as quickly as French types.\n * 'Vert de Montmagny'- Long dark green leaves, some find them mild enough to be\npalatable without blanching. Vigorous and productive.[10]\n[edit] History\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\nDandelions are thought to have evolved about thirty million years ago in Eurasia;[11] they\nhave been used by humans for food and as a herb for much of recorded history[citation\nneeded]. They were introduced to North America by early European immigrants.\n[edit] Origin of the names\nThe Latin name taraxacum has its origin in medieval Arabic writings on pharamacy. Al-Razi\naround 900 (A.D.) wrote \"the tarashaquq is like chicory\". Ibn Sīnā around 1000 (A.D.) wrote\na book chapter on taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Latin around 1170,\nspelled it tarasacon.[12]\nThe English name dandelion is a corruption of the French dent de lion[13] meaning \"lion's\ntooth\", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The names of the plant have the same\nmeaning in several other European languages, such as the Welsh dant y llew, Italian dente\ndi leone, Catalan dent de lleó, Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão,Norwegian\nLøvetann, Danish Løvetand and German Löwenzahn.\nIn modern French the plant is named pissenlit, (or pisse au lit Fr vernacular).[14]\nLikewise, \"piss-a-bed\" is an English folk-name for this plant,[15] as is piscialletto in\nItalian and the Spanish meacamas.[citation needed] These names refer to the strong diuretic\neffect of the roots of the herb,[15] roasted or raw/fresh. In various north-eastern Italian\ndialects the plant is known as pisacan (\"dog pisses\"), referring to how common they are\nfound at the side of pavements.[16]\nIn France it is also known as Laitue de Chien (Dog's lettuce); Salade de Taupe (Mole's\nsalad or Brown salad), Florin d'Or (Golden florin); Cochet (Cockerel); Fausse Chicorée\n(False Chicory); Couronne de moine (Monk's crown); Baraban.[14]\nIn several European languages the plant, or at least its parachute ball stage, is named\nafter the popular children's pastime of blowing the parachutes off the stalk: Pusteblume\nGerman for \"blowing flower\"), soffione (Italian for \"blowing\"; in some northern Italian\ndialects),[16] dmuchawiec (Polish, derived from the verb \"blow\"), одуванчик (Russian,\nderived from the verb \"blow\").[citation needed]\nIn other languages the plant is named after the white sap found in its stem, e.g. Mlecz\n(derived from the Polish word for \"milk\"), mælkebøtte (Danish for \"milk pot\") kutyatej\n(Hungarian for \"dog milk\"), маслачак (derived from the Serbian word маслац, meaning\n\"butter\").[citation needed] Also the Lithuanian name kiaulpienė can be translated as \"sow\nmilk\"[citation needed], and similarly, in Latvian it is called 'pienene, the word being\nderived from piens - milk[citation needed].\nThe alternative Hungarian name gyermekláncfű (\"child's chain grass\"), refers to the habit\nof children to pick dandelions, remove the flowers, and make links out of the stems by\n\"plugging\" the narrow top end of the stem into the wider bottom end.[citation needed] In\nMacedonian, it's called глуварче, stemming from the word глув, which means deaf, because of\na traditional belief that says that if a dandelion parachute gets in your ear, you might\nbecome deaf. In Turkish the dandelion is called karahindiba meaning \"black\nendive\".[citation needed] While the root flesh is white colored, the outer skin of the root\nis dark brown or black. In Swedish, it is called maskros (\"worm rose\", named after the\nsmall insects (thrips) usually present in the flowers).[17] In Finnish and Estonian, it is\ncalled voikukka and võilill, respectively, meaning \"butter flower\", referring to its\nbuttery colour.[citation needed] In Dutch it is called paardenbloem, meaning\n\"horse-flower\".[citation needed] In Chinese it is called pú gōng yīng (蒲公英), meaning flower\nthat grows in public spaces by the riverside.[citation needed] In Japanese, it is tanpopo (\nタンポポ?).\n[edit] Beneficial but often unappreciated weed\nA tall specimen, at 85 centimetres (33 in)\nThe dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good\ncompanion plant for gardening, but is often thought of solely as \"bad\". It has been\ndescribed as \"a plant for which we once knew the use but we've forgotten it\".[18]\nHomeowners or hired lawn-keepers often control dandelions with herbicides, and\ncounter-efforts against herbicide use can create social friction in residential\nneighborhoods.[19] However, its ability to break up hard earth with its deep tap root,\nbringing up nutrients from below the reach of other plants, makes it a good companion for\nweaker or shallower-rooted crops. It is also known to attract pollinating insects and\nrelease ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen.[20]\n[edit] Culinary use\nDandelion leaves contain abundant amounts of vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamins A,\nC and K, and are good sources of calcium (0.19% net weight), potassium (0.4% net weight)\nand fair amounts of iron and manganese,[21] higher than similar leafy greens such as\nspinach. They contain 15% protein and 73% carbohydrates, 37% of which is fiber (27% of the\nleaves are fiber).[22] The leaves also contain smaller amounts of over two dozen other\nnutrients, and are a significant source of beta carotene (0.03% net weight), lutein and\nzeaxanthin (combined 0.066% net weight).[23] A cup of dandelion leaves contains 112% daily\nrecommendation of vitamin A, 32% of vitamin C, and 535% of vitamin K and 218 mg potassium,\n103 mg calcium, and 1.7 mg of iron. Dandelions are also an excellent source of vitamin H,\nwhich aids weight loss when ingested.[citation needed]\nDandelion flowers contain luteolin, an antioxidant, and have demonstrated antioxidant\nproperties without cytotoxicity.[24][25]\nDandelion contains Caffeic acid, as a secondary plant metabolite, which some studies show\nto exhibit anticarcinogenic properties[26][27] at low doses but carcinogenic properties at\nhigh doses.[28] There have been no known ill effects of caffeic acid in humans.[29][30]\nDandelion leaves and buds have been a part of traditional Mediterranean (especially\nSephardic[31][32][33]) and Asian, most notably Chinese and Korean cuisine.[34][35] In\nCrete, Greece, a variety called Mari (Μαρί), Mariaki (Μαριάκι) or Koproradiko\n(Κοπροράδικο), has its leaves eaten raw or boiled in salads by the locals. Another endemic\nspecies of Crete, which is found only at high altitudes (1000 to 1600 m.) and in fallow\nsites, called pentaramia (πενταράμια) or agrioradiko (αγριοράδικο) and which has been named\nTaraxacum megalorhizon by Prof. Michalis Damanakis of the Botanics Department of the\nUniversity of Crete, has its leaves eaten raw or boiled in salads by the locals.[36]\nThe flower petals, along with other ingredients, are used to make dandelion wine. The\nroasted, ground roots can be used as a caffeine-free dandelion coffee.\n[edit] Medicinal uses\nDandelions, flowers, roots and leaves, have been used for centuries in traditional medicine\n& medicinal teas, most notably for liver detoxification, as a natural diuretic and for\ninflammation reduction[citation needed]. Unlike other diuretics, dandelion leaves contain\npotassium, a mineral that is often lost during increased urination. There is also evidence\nthat this property of dandelion leaves may normalize blood sugar.[37]\nDandelion leaves are believed to have a diuretic effect as they increase salt and water\nexcretion from the kidneys.[38]\n[edit] Bees\nDandelions are important plants for northern hemisphere bees. Not only is their flowering\nused as an indicator that the honey bee season is starting,[citation needed] but they are\nalso an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season.[39] Dandelion pollen is\na common allergen and a common component in bee pollen.[40] This allergen may be commonly\nresponsible for asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and contact dermatitis\nin sensitive individuals.\nDandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera\n(butterflies and moths). See List of Lepidoptera that feed on dandelions. They are also\nused as a source of nectar by the Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), one of\nthe earliest emerging butterflies in the spring.\n[edit] Culture\nFour dandelion flowers are the emblem of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.[41] The\ncitizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festival.\nThe dandelion is the official flower of the University of Rochester and \"Dandelion Yellow\"\nis one of the school's official colors. The Dandelion Yellow is an official University of\nRochester song.[42]\nAt the time of blooming, crowns are made from dandelions by some children and adults.[43]\nOccasionally, Japanese horticulturists grow the dandelions.\n \nPlant height: 10-50 cm tall.\nGrowth habit: erect annual.\nStems: simple to freely branched, leafy, hairless.\nLeaves: mostly alternate, oblanceolate, 2-6 cm long,\nthe lower strongly wavy-margined to almost lobed, with\nlarger end lobe, narrowed to a short stalk. Leaves farther\nup becoming stalkless, with ear-shaped lobes at base.\nBasal leaves few, withering by flowering time.\nFlowers: white, in open clusters on branches, with\n4 petals 3-4 mm long and sepals 1.5-2.2 mm long.\nFlowering time: May-August.\nFruits: pods strongly flattened, oval or heart-shaped,\nshallowly notched, 10-17 mm long, with winged edge all\naround, the notch 1.5-2.5 mm deep. Stalks slender,\nspreading to upcurved, 7-15 mm long. Style almost\nlacking, 0.1-0.2 mm long. Seeds about 2 mm long, not\nedged, wrinkled lengthwise.\nCommon weed on disturbed ground in all parts of MT.\nIntroduced from Europe, now spread across N. America.\nEdible uses:\nYoung leaves of field pennycress were used for food by the Cherokee Indians. Even the young\nleaves have a somewhat bitter flavor and aroma, and has been added in small quantities to\nsalads and other foods. However, this plant is not recommended to use for food because its\ntoxic properties, see below.\nThe plant contains sufficient quantities of glucosinolates to be toxic. During dry periods,\ncattle in western Canada have ingested hay containing high quantities of stinkweed, or\nfield pennycress. Poisoning, death and abortion occurred. Tests of field pennycress showed\nthat the allylthiocyanate (a glucosinolate) content is sufficient to cause sickness and\ndeath in cattle. Fatalities occurred at about 65 mg/kg of body weight. The amount of this\nchemical varies with the stage of maturity of the plant, the highest amount is in the\nseeds. Cattle that ingested hay containing between 25-100% field pennycress were colicky\nand some abortions occurred. Ensiling hay containing field pennycress apparently prevented\nliberation of allylthiocyanate.\nMedicinal uses:\nThe entire plant is anti-inflammatory and acts as a blood tonic and blood purifier. It has\nagents that induces sweating, agents that induces the removal (coughing up) of mucous\nsecretions from the lungs. It is fever-reducing and promotes the well-being of the liver\nand increases the secretion of bile. The seed is a tonic. Both the seed and the young\nshoots are said to be good for the eyes. The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine and are\nconsidered to have an acrid taste and a cooling potency. They are anti-inflammatory and\nfever-reducing, and are used in the treatment of pus in the lungs, renal inflammation,\nappendicitis, seminal and vaginal discharges. Field pennycress was used medicinally by the\nIroquois Indians. They made an infusion of the plant taken for sore throats. Pennycress\nalso has a broad antibacterial activity, effective against the growth of staphylococci and\nstreptococci.\nOther uses:\nSeed of field pennycress might be useful for making biodiesel (it is 36 to 40 percent oil\nby weight) and a nature-based weed killer. The seed oil can be used for lighting.\n \nEpilobium angustifolium, commonly known as Fireweed (mainly in North America), Great\nWillow-herb (Canada)[1], or Rosebay Willowherb (mainly in Britain), is a perennial\nherbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is native throughout the temperate\nNorthern Hemisphere, including large parts of the boreal forests.\nSome botanists distinguish the species from other willowherbs into either of the genera\nChamaenerion or Chamerion, on the basis of its spiral (rather than opposite or whorled)\nleaf arrangement, but this feature (which occurs also to a greater or lesser extent in some\nother willowherbs) is not of marked taxonomic significance.\nTwo subspecies are recognized as valid:\n * Epilobium angustifolium ssp. angustifolium\nThis herb is often abundant in wet calcareous to slightly acidic soils in open fields,\npastures, and particularly burned-over lands; the name Fireweed derives from the species'\nabundance as a coloniser on burnt sites after forest fires. Its tendency to quickly\ncolonize open areas with little competition, such as sites of forest fires and forest\nclearings, makes it a clear example of a pioneer species. Plants grow and flower as long as\nthere is open space and plenty of light, as trees and brush grow larger the plants die out,\nbut the seeds remain viable in the soil seed bank for many years, when a new fire or other\ndisturbance occurs that opens up the ground to light again the seeds germinate. Some areas\nwith heavy seed counts in the soil, after burning, can be covered with pure dense stands of\nthis species and when in flower the landscape is turned into fields of color.\nIn Britain the plant was considered a rare species in the 18th century,[2] and one confined\nto a few locations with damp, gravelly soils. It was mis-identified as Great Hairy\nWillowherb in contemporary floras. The plant's rise from local rarity to widespread weed\nseems to have occurred at the same time as the expansion of the railway network, and the\nassociated soil disturbance. The plant became locally known as bombweed due to its rapid\ncolonization of bomb craters in the second world war.[2]\nFireweed (drawing)\nThe reddish stems of this herbaceous perennial are usually simple, erect, smooth, 0.5–2.5 m\n(1½–8 feet) high with scattered alternate leaves. The leaves are entire, lanceolate, and\npinnately veined. A relative species, Dwarf Fireweed (Epilobium latifolium), grows to\n0.3–0.6 m tall.\nThe radially symmetrical flowers have four magenta to pink petals, 2 to 3 cm in diameter.\nThe styles have four stigmas, which occur in symmetrical terminal racemes.\nThe reddish-brown linear seed capsule splits from the apex. It bears many minute brown\nseeds, about 300 to 400 per capsule and 80,000 per plant. The seeds have silky hairs to aid\nwind dispersal and are very easily spread by the wind, often becoming a weed and a dominant\nspecies on disturbed ground. Once established, the plants also spread extensively by\nunderground roots, an individual plant eventually forming a large patch.\nThe leaves of fireweed are unique in that the leaf veins are circular and do not terminate\non the edges of the leaf, but form circular loops and join together inside the outer leaf\nmargins. This feature makes the plants very easy to identify in all stages of growth. When\nfireweed first emerges in early spring, it can closely resemble several highly toxic\nmembers of the lily family, however, it is easily identified by its unique leaf vein\nstructure.\n[edit] Uses\nThe young shoots were often collected in the spring by Native American people and mixed\nwith other greens. They are best when young and tender; as the plant matures the leaves\nbecome tough and somewhat bitter. The southeast Native Americans use the stems in the\nstage. They are peeled and eaten raw. When properly prepared soon after picking they are a\ngood source of vitamin C and pro-vitamin A. The Dena'ina add fireweed to their dogs' food.\nFireweed is also a medicine of the Upper Inlet Dena'ina, who treat pus-filled boils or cuts\nby placing a piece of the raw stem on the afflicted area. This is said to draw the pus out\nof the cut or boil and prevents a cut with pus in it from healing over too quickly.\nA flowering fireweed plant\nThe root can be roasted after scraping off the outside, but often tastes bitter. To\nmitigate this, the root is collected before the plant flowers and the brown thread in the\nmiddle removed.\nIn Alaska, candies, syrups, jellies, and even ice cream are made from fireweed. Monofloral\nhoney made primarily from fireweed nectar has a distinctive, spiced flavor.\nIn Russia, its leaves were often used as tea substitute and were even exported, known in\nWestern Europe as Kapor tea. Fireweed leaves can undergo fermentation, much like real tea.\nToday, Kapor tea is still occasionally consumed though not commercially important.\n[edit] In habitat restoration\nBecause fireweed can colonize disturbed sites, even following an old oil spill, it is often\nused to reestablish vegetation. It grows in (and is native to) a variety of temperate to\narctic ecosystems. Although it is also grown as an ornamental plant, some may find it too\naggressive in that context.[3]\nPurslane\nPortulaca oleracea (Common Purslane, also known as Verdolaga, Pigweed, Little Hogweed or\nPusley), is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which can reach 40 cm in\nheight. About 40 varieties are currently cultivated.[1] It has an extensive old-world\ndistribution extending from North Africa through the Middle East and the Indian\nSubcontinent to Malesia and Australasia. The species status in the New World is uncertain:\nit is generally considered an exotic weed; however, there is evidence that the species was\nin Crawford Lake deposits (Ontario) in 1430-89 AD, suggesting that it reached North America\nin the pre-Columbian era.[2] It is naturalised elsewhere and in some regions is considered\nan invasive weed. It has smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems and alternate leaves\nclustered at stem joints and ends. The yellow flowers have five regular parts and are up to\n6 mm wide. The flowers appear depending upon rainfall and may occur year round. The flowers\nopen singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. Seeds\nare formed in a tiny pod, which opens when the seeds are ready. Purslane has a taproot with\nfibrous secondary roots and is able to tolerate poor, compacted soils and drought.\nCulinary usage\nA Purslane cultivar grown as a vegetable\nAlthough purslane is considered a weed in the United States, it can be eaten as a leaf\nvegetable. It has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout much of Europe,\nAsia and Mexico.[1][3] The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible. Purslane can be\nused fresh as a salad, stir-fried, or cooked like spinach, and because of its mucilaginous\nquality it is also suitable for soups and stews. Australian Aborigines use the seeds to\nmake seedcakes. Greeks, who call it andrakla (αντράκλα) or glystrida (γλυστρίδα), fry the\nleaves and the stems with feta cheese, tomato, onion, garlic, oregano and olive oil.\nPurslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid in particular[4]) than any\nother leafy vegetable plant. Simopoulos states that Purslane has 0.01 mg/g of\neicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is an extraordinary amount of EPA for land based\nvegetable sources. EPA is an Omega-3 fatty acid normally found mostly in fish, some algae\nand flax seeds.[5] It also contains vitamins (mainly vitamin A, vitamin C, and some vitamin\nB and carotenoids), as well as dietary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and\niron. Also present are two types of betalain alkaloid pigments, the reddish betacyanins\n(visible in the coloration of the stems) and the yellow betaxanthins (noticeable in the\nflowers and in the slight yellowish cast of the leaves). Both of these pigment types are\npotent antioxidants and have been found to have antimutagenic properties in laboratory\nstudies.[6]\n100 grams of fresh purslane leaves (about 1 cup) contain 300 to 400 mg of alpha-linolenic\nacid.[7] One cup of cooked leaves contains 90 mg of calcium, 561 mg of potassium, and more\nthan 2,000 IUs of vitamin A. One half cup of purslane leaves contains as much as 910 mg of\noxalate, a compound implicated in the formation of kidney stones. However, note that many\ncommon vegetables, such as spinach, also can contain high concentrations of oxalates.\nWhen stressed by low availability of water, purslane, which has evolved in hot and dry\nenvironments, switches to photosynthesis using Crassulacean acid metabolism (the CAM\npathway): at night its leaves trap carbon dioxide, which is converted into malic acid (the\nsouring principle of apples), and in the day, the malic acid is converted into glucose.\nWhen harvested in the early morning, the leaves have 10 times the malic acid content as\nwhen harvested in the late afternoon, and thus have a significantly more tangy taste.\n[edit] Medicinal usage\nSeed pods, closed and open, revealing the seeds.\nKnown as Ma Chi Xian (pinyin: translates literally as \"horse tooth amaranth\") in\nTraditional Chinese Medicine, it is used to treat infections or bleeding of the\ngenito-urinary tract as well as dysentery. The fresh herb may also be applied topically to\nrelieve sores and insect or snake bites on the skin.[8] Eating purslane can dramatically\nreduce oral lichen planus.[9]\n[edit] Companion plant\nAs a companion plant, Purslane provides ground cover to create a humid microclimate for\nnearby plants, stabilizing ground moisture. Its deep roots bring up moisture and nutrients\nthat those plants can use, and some, including corn, will \"follow\" purslane roots down\nthrough harder soil than they can penetrate on their own. It is known as a beneficial weed\nin places that don't already grow it as a crop in its own right.\n \nRumex acetosella is a species of sorrel bearing the common names sheep's sorrel, red\nsorrel, sour weed, and field sorrel. The plant and its subspecies are common perennial\nweeds. It has green arrowhead-shaped leaves and red-tinted deeply ridged stems, and it\nsprouts from an aggressive rhizome. The flowers emerge from a tall, upright stem. Female\nflowers are maroon in color.\n[edit] Growth\nThe plant is native to Eurasia but has been introduced to most of the rest of the northern\nhemisphere. In North America it is a common weed in fields, grasslands, and woodlands. It\nfavors moist soil, so it thrives in floodplains and near marshes. It is often one of the\nfirst species to take hold in disturbed areas, such as abandoned mining sites, especially\nif the soil is acidic. Livestock will graze on the plant, but it is not very nutritious and\ncontains oxalates which make the plant toxic if grazed in large amounts.\nR. acetosella is a host plant for Lycaena phlaeas, also known as the American Copper or\nSmall Copper butterfly.\n[edit] Characteristics\nR. acetosella is a perennial herb that has an upright stem that is slender and reddish in\ncolor, and branched at top, reaching a height of 18 inches (0.5 meters). The arrow-shaped\nleaves are simple, slightly more than 1 inch (3 cm) in length, and smooth with a pair of\nhorizontal lobes at base. Flowers from March to November, when yellowish-green flowers\n(male) or reddish (female) flowers develop on separate plants, at the apex of the stem.\nFruits are red achenes.\nSheep's sorrel is widely considered to be a noxious weed, and one that is hard to control\ndue to its spreading rhizome. Blueberry farmers are familiar with the weed, due to its\nability to thrive in the same conditions under which blueberries are cultivated. It is\ncommonly considered by farmers as an Indicator plant of the need for liming.\n[edit] Culinary Uses\nThere are several uses of sheep sorrel in the preparation of food including a garnish, a\ntart flavoring agent and a curdling agent for cheese. The leaves have a lemony, tangy or\nnicely tart flavor. You can put the leaves in a salad.\n[edit] Medicinal uses\n This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline\ncitations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (November 2010)\nSheep Sorrel contains constituents including beta carotene, tartaric acid, oxalates (oxalic\nacid), anthraquinones (chrysophanol, emodin, Rhein), glycosides like hyperoside, the\nquercitin-3d-galactoside.\nIt has a number of purported uses and folk remedies that include treatment for\ninflammation, cancer, diarrhea, scurvy and fever. A tea made from the stem and leaves can\nbe made to act as a diuretic. It also has certain astringent properties and uses. Other\nhistorical uses include that of a vermifuge, as the plant allegedly contains compounds\ntoxic to intestinal parasites (worms).\nThe entire plant, including the root, is used as a cancer treatment,[citation needed] and\nis a primary ingredient in a preparation commonly referred to by the name Essiac.\nWhite Mustard\nWhite mustard (Sinapis alba) is an annual plant of the family Brassicaceae. It is sometimes\nalso referred to as Brassica alba or B hirta . Grown for its seeds, mustard, as fodder crop\nor as a green manure, it is now wide spread worldwide although it probably originated in\nthe Mediterranean region.\n * 4 External links\n[edit] Culinary uses\nThe yellow flowers of the plant produce hairy seed pods, with each pod containing roughly a\nhalf dozen seeds. These seeds are harvested just prior to the pods becoming ripe and\nbursting.\nWhite mustard seeds are hard round seeds, usually around 1 to 1.5 millimetres in\ndiameter[1], with a color ranging from beige or yellow to light brown. They can be used\nwhole for pickling or toasted for use in dishes. When ground and mixed with other\ningredients, a paste or more standard condiment can be produced.\nThe seeds contain sinalbin, which is a thioglycoside responsible for their pungent taste.\nWhite mustard has fewer volatile oils and the flavor is considered to be milder than that\nproduced by black mustard seeds.[citation needed]\nIn Greece, the plant's leaves can be eaten during the winter, before it blooms. Greeks call\nit \"vrouves\" or \"lapsana\".\nThe blooming season of this plant (February-March) is celebrated with the Mustard Festival,\na series of festivities in the Wine Country of California (Napa and Sonoma counties)\n \nWood Sorrel\nCommon Wood-sorrel is a plant from the genus Oxalis, common in most of Europe and parts of\nAsia. The binomial name is Oxalis acetosella, because of its sour taste. In much of its\nrange it is the only member of its genus and hence simply known as \"the\" wood-sorrel.\nThe plant has heart-shaped leaves, folded through the middle, that occur in groups of three\natop a reddish brown stalk. It flowers for a few months during the spring, with small white\nflowers with pink streaks. Red or violet flowers also occur rarely.During the night or when\nit rains both flowers and leaves contract.\nWood sorrel has been eaten by humans for millennia. In Dr. James Duke's \"Handbook of Edible\nWeeds,\" he notes that the Kiowa Indian tribe chewed wood sorrel to alleviate thirst on long\ntrips, that the Potawatomi Indians cooked it with sugar to make a dessert, the Algonquin\nIndians considered it an aphrodisiac, the Cherokee tribe ate wood sorrel to alleviate mouth\nsores and a sore throat, and the Iroquois ate wood sorrel to help with cramps, fever and\nnausea.[1] Wood sorrel, like spinach and broccoli, contains oxalic acid which is considered\nslightly toxic because it interferes with food digestion and the absorption of some trace\nminerals. However, the U.S. National Institutes of Health have determined that the negative\neffects of oxalic acid are generally of little or no nutritional consequence in persons who\neat a variety of foods.[2] An oxalate called \"sal acetosella\" was formerly extracted from\nthe plant, through boiling.\nThe \"Common wood sorrel\" of North America is Oxalis montana, found from New England and\nNova Scotia to Wisconsin and Manitoba and more unambiguously known as Mountain Wood-sorrel.\nIt is similar to the species described above, but the petals are noticeably notched. It is\ncalled sours in the Northeast US.\nThe common wood sorrel is sometimes referred to as a shamrock (due to its three-leaf\nclover-like motif) and given as a gift on St. Patrick's Day.\n \nThe Alismaceae group of plants in general contain acrid juices, on account of which, a\nnumber of species, besides the Water Plantain, have been used as diuretics and\nantiscorbutic.\nSeveral species of Sagittaria, natives of Brazil, are astringent and their expressed juice\nhas been used in making ink.\nThe rhizome of Sagittaria sagittifolia (Linn.), the Arrowhead, Wapatoo, and S. Chinensis\n(Is'-ze-kn) are used respectively by the North American Indians and the Chinese as starchy\nfoods, as are some other species.\nThe Arrowhead is a water plant widely distributed in Europe and Northern Asia, as well as\nNorth America, and abundant in many parts of England, though only naturalized in Scotland.\nThe stem is swollen at the base and throws out creeping stolons or runners, which produce\nglobose winter tubers, 1/2 inch in diameter, composed almost entirely of starch.\nThe leaves are borne on triangular stalks that vary in length with the depth of the water\nin which the plant is growing. They do not lie on the water, like those of the Water Lily,\nbut stand boldly above it. They are large and arrow-shaped and very glossy. The early,\nsubmerged leaves are ribbonlike.\nThe flower-stem rises directly from the root and bears several rings of buds and blossoms,\nthree in each ring or whorl, and each flower composed of three outer sepals and three\nlarge, pure white petals, with a purple blotch at their base. The upper flowers are\nstamen-bearing, the lower ones generally contain the seed vessels only.\nThe root tubers are about the size of a small walnut. They grow just below the surface of\nthe mud. The Chinese and Japanese cultivate the plant for the sake of these tubercles,\nwhich are eaten as an article of wholesome food. Bryant, in Flora Dietetica, writes of\nthem:\n 'I cured some of the bulbs of this plant in the same manner that saloop is cured, when\nthey acquired a sort of pellucidness, and on boiling afterwards, they broke into a\ngelatinous meal and tasted like old peas boiled.'\nThe tubers, it has been stated, may also be eaten in the raw state.\n---Medicinal Action and Uses---Diuretic and antiscorbutic. \nDaylily\nDaylily is the common name of the species, hybrids and cultivars of the genus Hemerocallis\n(pronounced /ˌhɛmɨroʊˈkælɪs/).[1] The flowers of these plants are highly diverse in colour\nand form, often resulting from hybridization by gardening enthusiasts. Thousands of\nregistered cultivars are appreciated and studied by international Hemerocallis\nsocieties.[2] Once considered part of the Liliaceae family, such as Lilium (true lilies),\nthe genus name was given to the family Hemerocallidaceae in later circumscriptions.\nDaylilies are perennial plants. The name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words ἡμέρα\n(hēmera) \"day\" and καλός (kalos) \"beautiful\". The flowers of most species open at sunrise\nand wither at sunset, possibly replaced by another one on the same stem the next day. Some\nspecies are night-blooming. Daylilies are not commonly used as cut flowers for formal\nflower arranging, yet they make good cut flowers otherwise as new flowers continue to open\non cut stems over several days.\nOriginally native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, their large showy flowers have\nmade them popular worldwide. There are over 60,000 registered cultivars. Only a few\ncultivars are scented, scented cultivars are appearing more frequently in northern\nhybridization however. Some cultivars rebloom later in the season, particularly if their\ndeveloping seedpods are removed.\nDaylilies occur as a clump including leaves, the crown, and the roots. The long, often\nlinear lanceolate leaves are grouped into opposite flat fans with leaves arching out to\nboth sides. The crown of a daylily is the small white portion between the leaves and the\nroots, an essential part of the fan. Along the flower stem or scape, small leafy\n\"proliferations\" may form at nodes or in bracts. These proliferations form roots when\nplanted and are the exact clones of the parent plant. Some daylilies show elongated\nwidenings along the roots, made by the plant mostly for water storage and an indication of\ngood health.\nThe flower consists of three petals and three sepals, collectively called tepals, each with\na midrib in the same or in a contrasting color. The centermost section of the flower,\ncalled the throat, has usually a different and contrasting color. There are six (sometimes\nseven) stamens, each with a two-lobed anther. After pollination, the flower forms a pod.\nThe common Daylily has potential to become a noxious weed and is listed as such by the\nWisconsin Department of Natural Resources.[3] While sometimes planted due to their ease of\ngrowth and the fact that they produce a flower, non-clumping varieties of daylily can\nquickly overrun a garden. Once established, it is difficult to remove runner daylilies from\nthe yard.\n[edit] Cultivars\n'Kwanzo' – a triple-flowered triploid cultivar\nDaylilies can be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 11, making them some of the\nmost adaptable landscape plants. Most of the cultivars have been developed within the last\n100 years. The large-flowered clear yellow 'Hyperion', introduced in the 1920s, heralded a\nreturn to gardens of the once-dismissed daylily, and is still widely available. Daylily\nbreeding has been a specialty in the United States, where their heat- and\ndrought-resistance made them garden standbys during the later 20th century. New cultivars\nhave sold for thousands of dollars, but sturdy and prolific introductions soon reach\nreasonable prices.\nThe Tawny Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva), and sweet-scented H. lilioasphodelus (H. flava is\nan illegitimate name), colloquially called Lemon Lily, were early imports from England to\n17th century American gardens and soon established themselves. Tawny Daylily is so widely\ngrowing wild that it is often considered a native wildflower. It is called Roadside or\nRailroad Daylily, and gained the nickname Wash-house or Outhouse Lily because it was\nfrequently planted at such buildings.\nHemerocallis is one of the most hybridized of all garden plants, with registrations of new\nhybrids being made in the thousands each year in the search for new traits. Hybridizers\nhave extended the plant's color range from the yellow, orange, and pale pink of the\nspecies, to vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, near-white, and\nmore. However, a blue daylily is a milestone yet to be reached.\nCommon Tawny Daylily\nOther flower traits that hybridizers develop include height, scent, ruffled edges,\ncontrasting \"eyes\" in the center of the bloom, and an illusion of glitter or \"diamond\ndust.\" Sought-after improvements in foliage include color, variegation, disease resistance,\nand the ability to form large, neat clumps. Hybridizers also seek to make less hardy plants\nhardier in the North by breeding evergreen or semi-evergreen plants with those that become\ndormant. All daylilies are herbaceous perennials – some are evergreen or semi-evergreen\nwhile some go dormant in winter, losing their foliage. Although, there are a number of\nnorthern hybridizers that specialize in the advancements of the dormant daylily.\nA recent trend in hybridizing is to focus on tetraploid plants, with thicker petal\nsubstance and sturdier stems. Until this trend took root, nearly all daylilies were\ndiploid. \"Tets,\" as they are called by aficionados, have double the number of chromosomes\nas a diploid plant.[4] Hemerocallis fulva 'Europa', H. fulva 'Kwanso', H. fulva 'Kwanso\nVariegata,' H. fulva 'Kwanso Kaempfer,' H. fulva var. maculata, H. fulva var. angustifolia\n,and H. fulva 'Flore Pleno' are all triplods that cannot set seed and are reproduced solely\nby underground runners (stolons) and division. Usually referred to as a \"double,\" meaning\nproducing flowers with double the usual number of petals (e.g., daylily 'Double Grapette'),\n'Kwanzo' actually produces triple the usual number of petals.\n[edit] Culinary use\nDried golden needles\nThe flowers of some species are edible and are used in Chinese cuisine. They are sold\n(fresh or dried) in Asian markets as gum jum or golden needles (金针 in Chinese; pinyin:\njīnzhēn) or yellow flower vegetables (黃花菜 in Chinese; pinyin: huánghuācài). They are used\nin hot and sour soup, daylily soup (金針花湯), Buddha's delight, and moo shu pork. The young\ngreen leaves and the tubers of some (but not all[citation needed]) species are also edible.\nThe plant has also been used for medicinal purposes. Care must be used as some species of\nlilies can be toxic.\nStinging nettle or common nettle, Urtica dioica, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant,\nnative to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of\nthe nettle genus Urtica. The plant has many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on its\nleaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles that inject histamine and other\nchemicals that produce a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and other animals.[1]\nThe plant has a long history of use as a medicine and as a food source.\nDescription\nStinging nettle is a dioecious herbaceous perennial, 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) tall in the\nsummer and dying down to the ground in winter. It has widely spreading rhizomes and\nstolons, which are bright yellow as are the roots. The soft green leaves are 3 to 15 cm (1\nto 6 in) long and are borne oppositely on an erect wiry green stem. The leaves have a\nstrongly serrated margin, a cordate base and an acuminate tip with a terminal leaf tooth\nlonger than adjacent laterals. It bears small greenish or brownish numerous flowers in\ndense axillary inflorescences. The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs\nand also bear many stinging hairs (trichomes), whose tips come off when touched,\ntransforming the hair into a needle that will inject several chemicals: acetylcholine,\nhistamine, 5-HT or serotonin, and possibly formic acid.[2][3] This mixture of chemical\ncompounds cause a painful sting or paresthesia from which the species derives its common\nname, as well as the colloquial names burn nettle, burn weed, burn hazel.\n[edit] Taxonomy\nThe taxonomy of stinging nettles has been confused, and older sources are likely to use a\nvariety of systematic names for these plants. Formerly, more species were recognised than\nare now accepted. However, there are at least five clear subspecies, some formerly\nclassified as separate species:\n * U. dioica subsp. dioica (European stinging nettle). Europe, Asia, northern Africa.\n * U. dioica subsp. galeopsifolia (fen nettle or stingless nettle). Europe. (Sometimes\nknown as Urtica galeopsifolia)\n * U. dioica subsp. afghanica. Southwestern and central Asia. (Gazaneh in Iran)\n * U. dioica subsp. gansuensis. Eastern Asia (China).\n * U. dioica subsp. gracilis (Ait.) Selander (American stinging nettle). North America.\n * U. dioica subsp. holosericea (Nutt.) Thorne (hairy nettle). North America.\nOther species names formerly accepted as distinct by some authors but now regarded as\nsynonyms of U. dioica include U. breweri, U. californica, U. cardiophylla, U. lyalli, U.\nmajor, U. procera, U. serra, U. strigosissima, U. trachycarpa, and U. viridis. Other\nvernacular names include tall nettle, slender nettle, California nettle, jaggy nettle,\nburning weed, fire weed and bull nettle (a name shared by Cnidoscolus texanus and Solanum\ncarolinense).\nD. urticaria: close-up of the defensive hairs\nStinging nettles are abundant in northern Europe and much of Asia, usually found in the\ncountryside. It is less gregarious in southern Europe and north Africa, where it is\nrestricted by its need for moist soil. In North America it is widely distributed in Canada\nand the United States, where it is found in every province and state except for Hawaii and\nalso can be found in northernmost Mexico. It grows in abundance in the Pacific Northwest,\nespecially in places where annual rainfall is high. In North America the stinging nettle is\nfar less common than in northern Europe. The European subspecies has been introduced into\nNorth America as well as South America.\nIn the UK stinging nettles have a strong association with human habitation and buildings.\nThe presence of nettles may indicate that a building has been long abandoned. Human and\nanimal waste may be responsible for elevated levels of phosphate and nitrogen in the soil,\nproviding an ideal environment for stinging nettles.\n[edit] Ecology\nThe Nettle Pouch Gall Dasineura urticae on Urtica dioica\nNettles are the exclusive larval food plant for several species of butterfly, such as the\nPeacock Butterfly[4] or the Small Tortoiseshell, and are also eaten by the larvae of some\nmoths including Angle Shades, Buff Ermine, Dot Moth, The Flame, The Gothic, Grey Chi, Grey\nPug, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Mouse Moth, Setaceous Hebrew Character and\nSmall Angle Shades. The roots are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth Hepialus\nhumuli.\nDetail of flowering stinging nettle.\nDetail of immature fruits of stinging nettle.\nAs Old English Stiðe, nettle is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon\nNine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century. Nettle is believed to be a galactagogue[5]\nand a clinical trial has shown that the juice is diuretic in patients with congestive heart\nfailure[citation needed].\nUrtication, or flogging with nettles, is the process of deliberately applying stinging\nnettles to the skin in order to provoke inflammation. An agent thus used is known as a\nrubefacient (something that causes redness). This is done as a folk remedy for rheumatism,\nproviding temporary relief from pain.[citation needed] The counter-irritant action to which\nthis is often attributed can be preserved by the preparation of an alcoholic tincture which\ncan be applied as part of a topical preparation, but not as an infusion, which drastically\nreduces the irritant action.\nExtracts can be used to treat arthritis, anemia, hay fever, kidney problems, and\npain.[citation needed]\nNettle leaf is a herb that has a long tradition of use as an adjuvant remedy in the\ntreatment of arthritis in Germany. Nettle leaf extract contains active compounds that\nreduce TNF-α and other inflammatory cytokines.[6][7] It has been demonstrated that nettle\nleaf lowers TNF-α levels by potently inhibiting the genetic transcription factor that\nactivates TNF-α and IL-1B in the synovial tissue that lines the joint.[8]\nNettle is used in hair shampoos to control dandruff and is said to make hair more glossy,\nwhich is why some farmers include a handful of nettles with cattle feed.[9] It is also\nthought nettles can ease eczema.\nNettle root extracts have been extensively studied in human clinical trials as a treatment\nfor symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). These extracts have been shown to help\nrelieve symptoms compared to placebo both by themselves and when combined with other herbal\nmedicines.[10]\nBecause it contains 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran, certain extracts of the nettle are used\nby bodybuilders in an effort to increase free testosterone by occupying sex-hormone binding\nglobulin[11]\nFresh nettle is used in folk remedies to stop bleeding because of its high Vitamin K\ncontent. Meanwhile, in dry U. dioica, the Vitamin K is practically non-existent and so is\nused as a blood thinner.\nAn extract from the nettle root (Urtica dioica) is used to alleviate symptoms of benign\nprostate enlargement. Nettle leaf extract, on the other hand, is what has been shown to\nreduce the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-B1.\n[edit] Food\nA young red-tinted variety of American stinging nettle.\nStinging nettle has a flavour similar to spinach when cooked and is rich in vitamins A, C,\niron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Young plants were harvested by Native Americans\nand used as a cooked plant in spring when other food plants were scarce.[12] Soaking\nnettles in water or cooking will remove the stinging chemicals from the plant, which allows\nthem to be handled and eaten without incidence of stinging. After Stinging Nettle enters\nits flowering and seed setting stages the leaves develop gritty particles called\n\"cystoliths\", which can irritate the urinary tract. [12] In its peak season, stinging\nnettle contains up to 25% protein, dry weight, which is high for a leafy green\nvegetable.[13] The young leaves are edible and make a very good pot-herb. The leaves are\nalso dried and may then be used to make a tisane, as can also be done with the nettle's\nflowers.\nNettles can be used in a variety of recipes, such as polenta and pesto. Nettle soup is a\ncommon use of the plant, particularly in Northern and Eastern Europe.\nNettles are sometimes used in cheese making, for example in the production of Yarg[14] and\nas a flavouring in varieties of Gouda[15]\nIn Nepal and in Kumaon region of Northern India, Stinging Nettle is known as Shishnu. It's\na very popular cuisine and cooked with Indian spices.\n[edit] Competitive eating\nIn the UK, an annual Stinging Nettle Eating Championship draws thousands of people to\nDorset, where competitors attempt to eat as much of the raw plant as possible. Competitors\nare given 60 cm (20 in) stalks of the plant, from which they strip the leaves and eat them.\nWhoever strips and eats the most stinging nettle leaves in a fixed time is the winner. The\ncompetition dates back to 1986, when two neighbouring farmers attempted to settle a dispute\nabout which had the worst infestation of nettles.[16][17]\n[edit] Drink\nNettle cordial is a soft drink made largely from a refined sugar and water solution\nflavoured with the leaves of the nettle.[citation needed] Historically it has been popular\nin North Western Europe; however, versions of a nettle cordial recipe can be traced back to\nRoman times.[citation needed] It is an aromatic syrup, and when mixed with sparkling water,\nis very refreshing.\nNettle leaves are steeped in a concentrated sugar solution so the flavour is extracted into\nthe sugar solution. The leaves are then removed and a source of citric acid (usually lemon\njuice) is added to help preserve the cordial and add a tart flavour.\nCommercially produced cordials are generally quite concentrated and are usually diluted by\none part cordial to ten parts water – thus a 0.5 litres (0.11 imp gal; 0.13 US gal) bottle\nof cordial would be enough for 5.5 litres (1.2 imp gal; 1.5 US gal) diluted. The high\nconcentration of sugar in nettle cordial gives it a long shelf life.\nThere are also many recipes for alcoholic nettle beer which is a countryside favourite in\nthe British Isles such as these.[18]\n[edit] Nettle sting treatment\nAnti-itch drugs, usually in the form of creams containing antihistaminics or\nhydrocortisone[citation needed] may provide relief from the symptoms of being stung by\nnettles. But due to the combination of chemicals involved other remedies may be required.\nCalamine lotion may be helpful. Many folk remedies exist for treating the itching including\nhorsetail (Equisetopsida spp.), leaf of dock (Rumex spp.), Jewelweed, (Impatiens capensis\nand Impatiens pallida), the underside of a fern (the spores), mud, saliva, or baking soda,\noil and onions, and topical use of milk of magnesia.\n[edit] Influence on language and culture\nUrtica dioica from Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885.\nIn Great Britain the stinging nettle is the only common stinging plant and has found a\nplace in several figures of speech in the English language. Shakespeare's Hotspur urges\nthat \"out of this nettle, danger, we grasp this flower, safety\" (Henry IV, part 1, Act II\nScene 3). The figure of speech \"to grasp the nettle\" probably originated from Aesop's fable\n\"The Boy and the Nettle\".[19] In Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock one of the characters\nquotes Aesop \"Gently touch a nettle and it'll sting you for your pains/Grasp it as a lad of\nmettle and soft as silk remains\". The metaphor may refer to the fact that if a nettle plant\nis grasped firmly rather than brushed against, it does not sting so readily, because the\nhairs are crushed down flat and do not penetrate the skin so easily.[20] In the German\nlanguage, the idiom \"sich in die Nesseln setzen\", or to sit in nettles, means to get into\ntrouble.\n[edit] Textiles\nNettle stems contain a bast fibre that has been traditionally used for the same purposes as\nlinen and is produced by a similar retting process. Unlike cotton, nettles grow easily\nwithout pesticides. The fibres are coarser however.[21]\nIn recent years a German company has started to produce commercial nettle textiles.\nNettles may be used as a dye-stuff, producing yellow from the roots, or yellowish green\nfrom the leaves.[22]\nAs well as the potential for encouraging beneficial insects, nettles have a number of other\nuses in the vegetable garden.\nThe growth of stinging nettle is an indicator that an area has high fertility (especially\nphosphorus) and has been disturbed.[23][24]\nNettles contain a lot of nitrogen and so are used as a compost activator[25] or can be used\nto make a liquid fertiliser which although somewhat low in phosphate is useful in supplying\nmagnesium, sulphur and iron.[26][27] They are also one of the few plants that can tolerate,\nand flourish in, soils rich in poultry droppings.\nRecent experiments have shown that nettles may have some use as a companion plant.[28]\nStinging nettle can be a troubling weed, and mowing can increase plant density.[29] Regular\nand persistent tilling will greatly reduce its numbers, the use of herbicides such as 2,4-D\nand Glyphosate, are effective control measures.\nLamb’s Quarters\n(Chenopodium album)\nChenopodium albumIn most temperate climes the beginning of summer is an odd time for\nforagers, at least for those who forage for food rather than medicine. The bounty of the\nearly spring herb harvest is over, the dandelions, nettles and mustard garlics have grown\ntoo big and old, too tough and stringy or have otherwise become unpalatable. There are some\nedible herbs that will last into the summer, but very few that will actually reach their\nprime at that time. Lambs Quarters is one of those exceptions. When nettles are beginning\nto set seed, Lambs Quarter and its close relative, Good King Henry take over as the wild\nspinach herb par excellence.\nLambs Quarters belong to the family of Chenopodiums, which translates as 'Goosefoot' in\nallusion to the shape of the leaves, which some botanist has fancied to resemble the webbed\nfeet of geese. This family of plants, though humble in appearance, includes such luminaries\nas Quinoa, the fabled grain of the Incas, Epazote, the Mexican bean spice and 'Good King\nHenry', a well-known potherb of the Old World. Lambs Quarters is the most common member of\nthis inconspicuous family, a humble herb that favours waste grounds and other grimy places.\nIt is now considered an invasive weed in many parts of the US. How low it has fallen from\nits once honoured position as a cultivar of the Old World, where it enjoyed some\nconsiderable esteem for its nutritional properties and mild flavour.\nFrom a distance Lambs Quarters always looks dusty, a deceptive trick due to a white powdery\ncoating on the leaves. On closer inspection this powdery stuff proves to be quite a\nremarkable repellent: try washing the herb and you will notice that water simply beads and\nruns off. Thus rinsing it under running water can be a bit of a futile exercise, you have\nto actually submerge the entire herb and swish it around in order to wash it thoroughly.\nLuckily it is not the kind of herb you will often find encrusted with dirt - dirt seems to\nbe removed from the plant's surface in much the same way as the water. However, insidious\ndirt, such as soil pollutants and artificial fertilizers pose a far greater threat. Lambs\nQuarters is a 'purifier herb' and in its effort to cleanse the soil, it absorbs these\npollutants and concentrates them in its leaves. Thus foragers should be weary of patches\nwhere this plant grows in abundance - it could be an indication of soil pollution. At the\nvery least you should investigate what gets dumped in nearby fields or streams. Another\nabnormality to watch for is a reddish hue on the leaves, which indicates that spinach leaf\nminer larvae are squatting in the foliage.\nLambs Quarters can be collected throughout the summer. The plants come up in late spring\nand while tender can be collected whole. As they get older, taller and tougher, restrict\nyour harvest to the tender tops. Flowers and seeds are edible as well, so you can continue\nthe harvest throughout the summer. The herb is best used as a spinach type vegetable in\nbroth or as a green vegetable. Collect plenty if you want to make a meal of it as it\nreduces tremendously when boiled or steamed.\nIt can also be used raw in salads, alone or with other greens. It does contain oxalic acid\nand for this reason it is best not to overdo it, especially when eating the raw herb.\nPeople with kidney problems should avoid this herb since the crystals can irritate the\nkidneys.\nNative Americans used to gather the flowers to dry and grind them into a flour, which can\nbe used as an admixture to other flours. It vaguely resembles buckwheat.\nIn some countries (e.g. Canada, U.S.) this herb is known as 'pigweed' as once upon a time\nit used to be grown as pig feed. In Europe both Chenopodium album and its close relative\n'Good King Henry' used to be cultivated as potherbs.\nCommon Spicebush\n(Lindera benzoin)\nThis 5-20 feet tall, spreading bush is a native member of the laurel family. The bushes are\nusually colonial, spreading by the roots. Crush or scratch the thin, brittle twigs, or any\npart of spicebush to release its lemony-spicy fragrance.\nThe bright green, alternate, toothless, pointy-tipped, stalked leaves are elliptical, 2-6\"\nlong.\nUnlike other shrubs, some of the leaves never get large.\nIn the early spring, before the leaves appear, dense clusters of tiny, yellow flowers in\nthe axils scent the air, attracting early-season insects.\nEach tiny, radially symmetrical flower has cream-colored petals and protruding, yellow,\npollen-bearing stigmas.\nThe leafless spicebush is festooned with tiny yellow flowers in early spring.\nThe spiciest parts are the hard, oval, stalked, scarlet berries, each with one large seed.\nSpiceberries, Unripe and Ripe\nFinely chopped, the ripe berries are a superb seasoning.\nThey grow in clusters, from the leaf axils of the female bushes, in autumn.\nLook for spicebushes in damp, partially shaded, rich woodlands, on mountains' lower slopes,\nin thickets, and along stream banks, throughout the Eastern United States, except the\nnorthernmost regions. Pioneers knew that this was good soil for farms, with moist, fertile\nsoil.\nThe berries, which taste a little like allspice, are an irreplaceable seasoning for me.\nRinse them, pat them dry, and chop them in a blender or spice grinder. If you have neither,\nput them under a towel and crush them with a hammer. Some people remove the seeds, but I\ncrush them along with the rest of the berries.\nSince spiceberries are ripe in apple season, they often find themselves in the same pot. I\nlove compotes with sliced apples, walnuts, orange rind and spiceberries, simmered about 15\nminutes. Spiceberries donít go quite so well with some other later autumn fruits, such as\nautumn olives and persimmons. Wild raisins, on the other hand, get a much-needed zing from\nspiceberries. The seasoning is also wonderful for main courses, and in pastries, like\ncommercial allspice.\nTo store long-range, donít dry the berries. Theyíre too oily, and may go rancid at room\ntemperature. Spread the chopped berries out on a plate or cookie sheet and freeze them,\nthen pack into a freezer container. This way, you can remove small amounts of herb as\nneeded, and your seasoning doesnít stick together. I think 1/2 teaspoon is plenty for a\nrecipe that serves six, but depends on your personal preference.\nCollect the twigs year-round for teas, or use the leaves from mid spring to fall. In one\ncup of water, steep either 1/2 cup of fresh leaves (dried leaves loose their flavor) or\ntwigs, or two tablespoons of chopped berries.\nPioneers called this plant fever bush because a strong bark decoction makes you sweat,\nactivating the immune system and expelling toxins. They used it for typhoid and other\nfevers, and to expel worms. I use a tincture of the leaves, along with wild ginger and\nfield garlic, plus as vitamin C and zinc lozenges, at the first sign of a cold or sore\nthroat, and it sometimes works.\nThe Indians used a spiceberry infusion for coughs, colds, delayed menstruation, croup, and\nmeasles. They used the oil from the berries, externally, for chronic arthritis. Itís also\ngood for flatulence and colic. Spicebush leaf, bark, or berry tea compresses are also good\nfor mild skin irritations, such as rashes, itching, and bruises.\n \nSow thistles (less commonly hare thistles or hare lettuces) are annual herbs in the genus\nSonchus, after their Ancient Greek name. All are characterized by soft, somewhat\nirregularly lobed leaves that clasp the stem and, at least initially, form a basal rosette.\nThe stem contains a milky sap. Flower heads are yellow and range in size from half to one\ninch in diameter; the florets are all of ray type. Sow thistles are common roadside plants,\nand while native to Eurasia and tropical Africa, they are found almost worldwide in\ntemperate regions. Like the true thistles, sow thistles are in the family Asteraceae.\nMature sow thistle stems can range from 30 cm to 2 m (1 to 6 feet) tall, depending upon\nspecies and growing conditions. Colouration ranges from green to purple in older plants.\nSow thistles exude a milky latex when any part of the plant is cut or damaged, and it is\nfrom this fact that the plants obtained the common name, \"sow thistle\", as they were fed to\nlactating sows in the belief that milk production would increase. Sow thistles are known as\n\"milk thistles\" in some regions, although true milk thistles belong to the genus Silybum.\nSow thistles have been used as fodder, particularly for rabbits, hence the other common\nnames of \"hare thistle\" or \"hare lettuce\". They are also edible to humans as a leaf\nvegetable; old leaves and stalks can be bitter but young leaves have a flavour similar to\nlettuce. Going by the name puha or rareke (raraki) it is frequently eaten in New Zealand as\na vegetable, particularly by the native Māori. When cooked it tastes a little similar to\nchard.\nIn many areas sow thistles are considered noxious weeds,[2] as they grow quickly in a wide\nrange of conditions and their wind-borne seeds allow them to spread rapidly. Sonchus\narvensis, the perennial sow thistle, is considered the most economically detrimental, as it\ncan crowd commercial crops, is a heavy consumer of nitrogen in soils, may deplete soil\nwater of land left to fallow, and can regrow and sprout additional plants from its creeping\nroots. However, sow thistles are easily uprooted by hand, and their soft stems present\nlittle resistance to slashing or mowing. Most livestock will readily devour sow thistle in\npreference to grass, and this lettuce-relative is edible and nutritious to humans -- in\nfact this is the meaning of the second part of the Latin name, oleraceus.[1] Attempts at\nweed control by herbicidal use, to the neglect of other methods, may have led to a\nproliferation of this species in some environments.[2]\nSonchus tenerrimus and Sonchus oleraceus infest many crops in Italy, especially in the\nSouthern area of the peninsula. Here they are also considered good taste edible plants and\nthey are cooked with spaghetti.\nIn traditional medicine, the plant has medicinal qualities, having \"nearly the same\nproperties as Dandelion and Succory\"[3].\nSow thistles are common host plants for aphids. Gardeners may consider this a benefit or a\ncurse; aphids may spread from sow thistle to other plants, but alternatively the sow\nthistle can encourage the growth of beneficial predators such as hoverflies. In this regard\nsow thistles make excellent sacrificial plants. Sonchus species are used as food plants by\nthe larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Broad-barred White, Grey Chi, The Nutmeg,\nThe Shark and the tortrix moth Celypha rufana.\nEpazote\nEpazote, Wormseed, Jesuit's Tea, Mexican Tea, Paico or Herba Sancti Mariæ (Dysphania\nambrosioides, formerly Chenopodium ambrosioides) is an herb native to Central America,\nSouth America, and southern Mexico.\nContents\nIt is an annual or short-lived perennial plant, growing to 1.2 m tall, irregularly\nbranched, with oblong-lanceolate leaves up to 12 cm long. The flowers are small and green,\nproduced in a branched panicle at the apex of the stem.\nAs well as in its native areas, it is grown in warm temperate to subtropical areas of\nEurope and the United States (Missouri, New England, Eastern United States),[1] sometimes\nbecoming an invasive weed.\nThe common Spanish name, epazote (sometimes spelled and pronounced ipasote or ypasote), is\nderived from Nahuatl: epazōtl (pronounced [eˈpasoːtɬ]).\n[edit] Usage\n[edit] Culinary uses\nEpazote is used as a leaf vegetable and herb for its pungent flavor. Raw, it has a\nresinous, medicinal pungency, similar to anise, fennel, or even tarragon, but stronger.\nEpazote's fragrance is strong, but difficult to describe. It has been compared to citrus,\npetroleum, savory, mint and camphor.\nAlthough it is traditionally used with black beans for flavor and its carminative\nproperties, it is also sometimes used to flavor other traditional Mexican dishes as well:\nit can be used to season quesadillas and sopes (especially those containing huitlacoche),\nsoups, mole de olla, tamales with cheese and chile, chilaquiles, eggs and potatoes and\nenchiladas.\nEpazote is commonly believed to prevent flatulence caused by eating beans, and is therefore\nused to season them. It is also used in the treatment of amenorrhea,[2] dysmenorrhea,\nmalaria, chorea, hysteria, catarrh, and asthma.[3]\nOil of chenopodium is derived from this plant. It is antihelminthic, that is, it kills\nintestinal worms, and was once listed for this use in the US Pharmacopeia. It is also cited\nas an antispasmodic and abortifacient.\nEpazote essential oil contains ascaridole (up to 70%), limonene, p-cymene, and smaller\namounts of numerous other monoterpenes and monoterpene derivatives (α-pinene, myrcene,\nterpinene, thymol, camphor and trans-isocarveol). Ascaridole (1,4-peroxido-p-menth-2-ene)\nis rather an uncommon constituent of spices; another plant owing much of its character to\nthis monoterpene peroxide is boldo. Ascaridole is toxic and has a pungent, not very\npleasant flavor; in pure form, it is an explosive sensitive to shock. Allegedly, ascaridole\ncontent is lower in epazote from Mexico than in epazote grown in Europe or Asia.\n[edit] Agricultural use\nAn extract of epazote is the active ingredient of the pesticide Requiem.\nGarlic mustard\nGarlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a biennial flowering plant in the Mustard family,\nBrassicaceae. It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, and northwestern Africa,\nfrom Morocco, Iberia and the British Isles, north to northern Scandinavia, and east to\nnorthern India and western China (Xinjiang).[1] In the first year of growth, plants form\nattractive clumps of round shaped, slightly wrinkled leaves, that when crushed smell like\ngarlic. The next year plants flower in spring, producing cross shaped white flowers in\ndense clusters, as the flowering stems bloom they elongate into a spike-like shape. When\nblooming is complete, plants produce upright fruits that release seeds in mid summer.\nPlants are often found growing along the margins of hedgerows, giving rise to the old\nBritish folk name of Jack-by-the-hedge. Other common names include Garlic Root, Hedge\nGarlic, Sauce-alone, Jack-in-the-bush, Penny Hedge and Poor Man's Mustard. The genus name\nAlliaria, \"resembling Allium\", refers to the garlic-like odour of the crushed foliage.\nLawrence Newcomb gives the species name Alliaria officinalis for this plant.\nDescription\nIt is a herbaceous biennial plant (sometimes an annual plant) growing from a deeply\ngrowing, thin, white taproot that is scented like a horse-radish. Plants grow from 30–100\ncm (rarely to 130 cm) tall. The leaves are stalked, triangular to heart-shaped, 10–15 cm\nlong (of which about half being the petiole) and 2–6 cm broad, with a coarsely toothed\nmargin. In biennial specimens, first-year plants appear as a rosette of green leaves close\nto the ground; these rosettes remain green through the winter and develop into mature\nflowering plants the following spring. The flowers are produced in spring and summer in\nbutton-like clusters. Each small flower has four white petals 4–8 mm long and 2–3 mm broad,\narranged in a cross shape. The fruit is an erect, slender, four-sided pod 4 to 5.5 cm long\n[3] , called a silique, green maturing pale grey-brown, containing two rows of small shiny\nblack seeds which are released when the pod splits open. Some plants can flower and\ncomplete their life-cycle in the first year. A single plant can produce hundreds of seeds,\nwhich scatter as much as several meters from the parent plant. Depending upon conditions,\ngarlic mustard flowers either self-fertilize or are cross-pollinated by a variety of\ninsects. Self-fertilized seeds are genetically identical to the parent plant, enhancing its\nability to colonize an area where that genotype is suited to thrive.[4]\nClose-up of Garlic Mustard flowers\nFruits and seeds\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe leaves, flowers and fruit are edible as food for humans, and are best when young. They\nhave a mild flavour of both garlic and mustard, and are used in salads and pesto. They were\nonce used as medicine.[5]\nIn Europe as many as 69 species of insects and 7 species of fungi utilize Garlic Mustard as\na food plant, including the larvae of some Lepidoptera species such as the Garden Carpet\nmoth.\n[edit] As an invasive species\nGarlic mustard was introduced in North America as a culinary herb in the 1860s and is an\ninvasive species in much of North America and is listed as a noxious or restricted plant as\nof 2006 in the US states of Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire,\nOregon, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington.[6] Like most invasive plants, once it has an\nintroduction into a new location, it persists and spreads into undisturbed plant\ncommunities. In many areas of its introduction in Eastern North America, it has become the\ndominant under-story species in woodland and flood plain environments, where eradication is\ndifficult.[7]\nThe insects and fungi that feed on it in its native habitat are not present in North\nAmerica, increasing its seed productivity and allowing it to out-compete native plants. It\nis a possible threat to the West Virginia White Butterfly (Pieris virginiensis) and Mustard\nWhite Butterfly (Pieris oleracea); adult butterflies of both species lay their eggs on\nnative Dentaria or Toothwort plants, but they often confuse garlic mustard plants with\nDentaria and lay their eggs on garlic mustard, because they have similar flowers. The eggs\nand young butterflies cannot live on the garlic mustard, because it has chemicals that are\ntoxic to the larvae and eggs.[8]\nA study published in 2006 concluded that Garlic Mustard produces allelochemicals that harm\nmycorrhizal fungi that many North American plants, including native forest trees, require\nfor optimum growth.[9] Additionally, because White-tailed Deer rarely feed on Garlic\nMustard, large deer populations may help to increase its population densities by consuming\ncompeting native plants. Trampling by browsing deer encourages additional seed growth by\ndisturbing the soil. A complication to the eradication of Garlic Mustard from an area is\nthe longevity of viable seeds in the ground. Seeds contained in the soil can germinate up\nto five years after being produced.[10] Garlic mustard has been classified as\nMagnoliopsida.\nGarlic mustard produces a variety of secondary compounds, including the flavonoid\nisovitexin 6″-O-β-d-glucopyranoside as a feeding deterrent to Pieris napi oleracea[11],\ndefense proteins, glycosides, and glucosinolates that reduce its palatability to\nherbivores. [12][13] Research published in 2007 shows that, in Northeast Forests, garlic\nmustard rosettes increased the rate of native leaf litter decomposition, increasing\nnutrient availability and possibly creating conditions favorable to garlic mustard's own\nspread.\nGinkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese and Japanese 銀杏, pinyin romanization: yín xìng, Hepburn\nromanization: ichō or ginnan), also spelled gingko and known as the Maidenhair Tree, is a\nunique species of tree with no close living relatives. The tree is widely cultivated and\nintroduced, since an early period in human history, and has various uses as a food and\ntraditional medicine.\nGinkgoes are very large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66–115 feet), with\nsome specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet). The tree has an angular crown and long,\nsomewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow\ndamage. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched; the crown becomes\nbroader as the tree ages. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall,\nsometimes within a short space of time (1–15 days). A combination of resistance to disease,\ninsect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos\nlong-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old.\nGinkgo is a relatively shade-intolerant species that (at least in cultivation) grows best\nin environments that are well-watered and well-drained. The species shows a preference for\ndisturbed sites; in the \"semi-wild\" stands at Tian Mu Shan, many specimens are found along\nstream banks, rocky slopes, and cliff edges. Accordingly, Ginkgo retains a prodigious\ncapacity for vegetative growth. It is capable of sprouting from embedded buds near the base\nof the trunk (lignotubers, or basal chi chi) in response to disturbances, such as soil\nerosion. Old individuals are also capable of producing aerial roots (chi chi) on the\nundersides of large branches in response to disturbances such as crown damage; these roots\ncan lead to successful clonal reproduction upon contacting the soil. These strategies are\nevidently important in the persistence of Ginkgo; in a survey of the \"semi-wild\" stands\nremaining in Tian Mu Shan, 40% of the Ginkgo specimens surveyed were multi-stemmed, and few\nsaplings were present.[3]\nTrunk bark\n[edit] Stem\nGinkgo branches grow in length by growth of shoots with regularly spaced leaves, as seen on\nmost trees. From the axils of these leaves, \"spur shoots\" (also known as short shoots)\ndevelop on second-year growth. Short shoots have very short internodes (so they may grow\nonly one or two centimeters in several years) and their leaves are usually unlobed. They\nare short and knobby, and are arranged regularly on the branches except on first-year\ngrowth. Because of the short internodes, leaves appear to be clustered at the tips of short\nshoots, and reproductive structures are formed only on them (see pictures below - seeds and\nleaves are visible on short shoots). In Ginkgos, as in other plants that possess them,\nshort shoots allow the formation of new leaves in the older parts of the crown. After a\nnumber of years, a short shoot may change into a long (ordinary) shoot, or vice versa.\n[edit] Leaves\nThe leaves are unique among seed plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating out into the\nleaf blade, sometimes bifurcating (splitting) but never anastomosing to form a network.[4]\nTwo veins enter the leaf blade at the base and fork repeatedly in two; this is known as\ndichotomous venation. The leaves are usually 5–10 cm (2-4 inches), but sometimes up to 15\ncm (6 inches) long. The old popular name \"Maidenhair tree\" is because the leaves resemble\nsome of the pinnae of the Maidenhair fern Adiantum capillus-veneris.\nLeaves of long shoots are usually notched or lobed, but only from the outer surface,\nbetween the veins. They are borne both on the more rapidly-growing branch tips, where they\nare alternate and spaced out, and also on the short, stubby spur shoots, where they are\nclustered at the tips.\nGinkgos are dioecious, with separate sexes, some trees being female and others being male.\nMale plants produce small pollen cones with sporophylls each bearing two microsporangia\nspirally arranged around a central axis.\nFemale plants do not produce cones. Two ovules are formed at the end of a stalk, and after\npollination, one or both develop into seeds. The seed is 1.5–2 cm long. Its fleshy outer\nlayer (the sarcotesta) is light yellow-brown, soft, and fruit-like. It is attractive in\nappearance, but contains butanoic acid[5] (also known as butyric acid) and smells like\nrancid butter (which contains the same chemical) or feces[6] when fallen. Beneath the\nsarcotesta is the hard sclerotesta (what is normally known as the \"shell\" of the seed) and\na papery endotesta, with the nucellus surrounding the female gametophyte at the center.[7]\nThe fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs via motile sperm, as in cycads, ferns, mosses and\nalgae. The sperm are large (about 250-300 micrometres) and are similar to the sperm of\ncycads, which are slightly larger. Ginkgo sperm were first discovered by the Japanese\nbotanist Sakugoro Hirase in 1896.[8] The sperm have a complex multi-layered structure,\nwhich is a continuous belt of basal bodies that form the base of several thousand flagella\nwhich actually have a cilia-like motion. The flagella/cilia apparatus pulls the body of the\nsperm forwards. The sperm have only a tiny distance to travel to the archegonia, of which\nthere are usually two or three. Two sperm are produced, one of which successfully\nfertilizes the ovule. Although it is widely held that fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs\njust before or after they fall in early autumn,[4][7] embryos ordinarily occur in seeds\njust before and after they drop from the tree.[\n \nThe ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria) is a perennial plant in the carrot family\n(Apiaceae) that grows in shady places. Its name is also sometimes spelled \"ground elder\",\nthough this format invites confusion with elder (Sambucus), a very distantly related genus\nwith visually similar leaves. Ground-elder is also known as herb gerard, bishop's weed,\ngoutweed, and snow-in-the-mountain. It is the type species of the genus Aegopodium.\n[edit] Uses as food and medicine\nThe tender leaves have been used as a spring leaf vegetable, much as spinach was used. It\nhas also been used to treat gout and arthritis. The plant is said to have been introduced\ninto England by the Romans as a food plant and into Northern Europe by monks. It is also\neaten by Chinese and Tibetan monks.\nIt is best picked from when it appears (as early as February in the UK) to just before it\nflowers (May to June). If it is picked after this point it takes on an unusual taste and a\nlaxative effect. However it can be stopped from flowering by pinching out the flowers,\nensuring that the plant remains edible if used more sparingly as a pot herb.[1]\n[edit] Invasive habit\nIn some areas, this plant is considered among the worst of weeds, as it readily spreads\nover large areas of ground by underground rhizomes. It is extremely invasive, and crowds\nout native species. The smallest piece of rhizome left in the ground will quickly form a\nsturdy new plant, followed by many more.\nIf a small plant finds its way into a perennial flower garden it will spread with vigor,\nresist all attempts at eradication, and make continued ornamental gardening there very\ndifficult.\n[edit] Ornamental use\nA variegated form is grown as an ornamental plant, though with the advice to keep it\nisolated.\n[edit] Importance to wildlife\nIt is used as a food plant by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera including dot moth,\ngrey dagger and grey pug.\n \nJapanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica) is a\nlarge, herbaceous perennial plant, native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. In\nNorth America and Europe the species is very successful and has been classified as an\ninvasive species in several countries.\nA member of the family Polygonaceae, Japanese knotweed has hollow stems with distinct\nraised nodes that give it the appearance of bamboo, though it is not closely related. While\nstems may reach a maximum height of 3–4 m each growing season, it is typical to see much\nsmaller plants in places where they sprout through cracks in the pavement or are repeatedly\ncut down. The leaves are broad oval with a truncated base, 7–14 cm long and 5–12 cm broad,\nwith an entire margin. The flowers are small, cream or white, produced in erect racemes\n6–15 cm long in late summer and early autumn.\nClosely related species include giant knotweed (Fallopia sachalinensis, syn. Polygonum\nsachalinense) and Russian vine (Fallopia baldschuanica, syn. Polygonum aubertii, Polygonum\nbaldschuanicum).\nOther English names for Japanese knotweed include fleeceflower, Himalayan fleece vine,\nmonkeyweed, Huzhang (Chinese: 虎杖; pinyin: Hǔzhàng), Hancock's curse, elephant ears, pea\nshooters, donkey rhubarb (although it is not a rhubarb), sally rhubarb, Japanese bamboo,\nAmerican bamboo, and Mexican bamboo (though it is not a bamboo). There are also regional\nnames, and it is sometimes confused with sorrel.\nIn Japanese, the name is itadori (虎杖, イタドリ?).[1]\nOld stems remain in place as new growth appears\nA hedgerow made up of roses and Japanese knotweed in Caersws, Wales in 2010\nErect inflorescence\n[edit] Invasive species\nIn the U.S. and Europe, Japanese knotweed is widely considered an invasive species or\nweed.[2] It is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world's 100 worst\ninvasive species.[3]\nThe invasive root system and strong growth can damage foundations, buildings, flood\ndefences, roads, paving, retaining walls and architectural sites. It can also reduce the\ncapacity of channels in flood defences to carry water.[4]\nIt is a frequent colonizer of temperate riparian ecosystems, roadsides and waste places. It\nforms thick, dense colonies that completely crowd out any other herbaceous species and is\nnow considered one of the worst invasive exotics in parts of the eastern United States. The\nsuccess of the species has been partially attributed to its tolerance of a very wide range\nof soil types, pH and salinity. Its rhizomes can survive temperatures of −35 °C (−31 °F)\nand can extend 7 metres (23 ft) horizontally and 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, making removal by\nexcavation extremely difficult. The plant is also resilient to cutting, vigorously\nre-sprouting from the roots. The most effective method of control is by herbicide\napplication close to the flowering stage in late summer or autumn. In some cases it is\npossible to eradicate Japanese knotweed in one growing season using only herbicides. Trials\nin the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) of British Columbia using sea water sprayed on\nthe foliage have demonstrated promising results, which may prove to be a viable option for\neradication where concerns over herbicide application are too great.[citation needed]\nIt can be found in 39 of the 50 United States[5] and in six provinces in Canada. It is\nlisted as an invasive weed in Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, New York, Alaska, Pennsylvania,\nOregon and Washington state.[6] The species is also common in Europe. In the UK it was made\nillegal to spread Japanese knotweed by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is also\nclassed as \"controlled waste\" in Britain under part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act\n1990. This requires disposal at licensed landfill sites.[7]\nTwo biological pest control agents that show promise in the control of the plant are the\npsyllid Aphalara itadori[8] and a leaf spot fungus from genus Mycosphaerella.[9]\n[edit] Uses\nJapanese knotweed flowers are valued by some beekeepers as an important source of nectar\nfor honeybees, at a time of year when little else is flowering. Japanese knotweed yields a\nmonofloral honey, usually called bamboo honey by northeastern U.S. beekeepers, like a\nmild-flavored version of buckwheat honey (a related plant also in the Polygonaceae).\nThe young stems are edible as a spring vegetable, with a flavor similar to mild rhubarb. In\nsome locations, semi-cultivating Japanese knotweed for food has been used as a means of\ncontrolling knotweed populations that invade sensitive wetland areas and drive out the\nnative vegetation.[10] Some caution should be exercised when consuming this plant because\nit contains oxalic acid, which may aggravate conditions such as rheumatism, arthritis,\ngout, kidney stones or hyperacidity.[11]\nBoth Japanese knotweed and giant knotweed are important concentrated sources of\nresveratrol, replacing grape byproducts. Many large supplement sources of resveratrol now\nuse Japanese knotweed and use its scientific name in the supplement labels. The plant is\nuseful because of its year-round growth and robustness in different climates.[12]\nJapanese knotweed is a concentrated source of emodin, used as a nutritional supplement to\nregulate bowel motility. The roots of Japanese knotweed are used in traditional Chinese and\nJapanese herbal medicines as a natural laxative. The active principle responsible for the\nlaxative effect is emodin, present in its natural form as a complex of its analogs. Emodin\nhas a mild laxative effect in doses of 20 to 50 mg per day.\nMethanol extracts of the roots of Polygonum cuspidatum (Polygonaceae), traditionally used\nin Korea to maintain oral health, were shown to reduce the viability of Streptococcus\nmutans and Streptococcus sobrinus as well as inhibit sucrose-dependent adherence,\nwater-insoluble glucan formation, glycolytic acid production and acid tolerance. The\nauthors suggested that inhibitory effects may be mediated by the presence of alkaloids,\nphenolics and sterol/terpenes in the extract.[13]\nThis antique locomotive at Beekbergen, Netherlands is overgrown by knotweed. A few years\nago, it was knotweed-free\n[edit] Control\nJapanese knotweed has a large underground network of roots (rhizomes). To eradicate the\nplant the roots need to be killed. Picking the right herbicide is essential, as it must\ntravel through the plant and into the root system below. Glyphosate is the best active\ningredient in herbicide for use on Japanese knotweed as it is ’systemic’; it penetrates\nthrough the whole plant and travels to the roots. Glyphosate is available under several\ntrade names - all label the product as a \"weed and grass killer\". Commercial glyphosate\nconcentrates contain approximately 20%-40% glyphosate; the balance is mostly water. Such\nconcentrates need to be diluted in water.\nThe most effective spraying solution contains about 5%-10% glyphosate in water. (To make a\n5% solution from a 40% concentrate mix 1 part concentrate with 7 parts water.) Ready-to-use\nsolutions that contain less than 5% glyphosate are too weak and do not work. A small amount\nof liquid dish-washing detergent can be added to improve wetting of the leaves. If\npossible, both sides of the leaves should be sprayed until they are completely wet. It\ntakes about 3 weeks for most of the plants to die. After 3 weeks, all remaining plants\nshould be sprayed again. This process needs to be repeated until all the plants die.\nTypically this can take 3 years.\nThe US federal government will come and spray Japanese knotweed for no charge in many areas\nunder the Invasive Species Act. Local county extension agencies can be contacted for more\ndetails.\nDigging up the rhizomes is a common solution where the land is to be developed, as this is\nquicker than the use of herbicides, but disposal of the plant material is difficult,\ngoverned by law in the UK, where it is classed as controlled waste.\nMore ecologically friendly means are being tested as an alternative to chemical treatments.\nSoil steaming [14] involves injecting steam into contaminated soil in order to kill\nsubterranean plant parts. Research has also been carried out on 'Mycosphaerella leafspot\nfungus, which devastates knotweed in its native Japan. Research with Mycosphaerella has\nbeen relatively slow, due to its complex life cycle.[15]\nIn the UK, it is an offence under section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981 to\n\"plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild\" any plant listed in Schedule nine, Part II\nto the Act, which includes Japanese knotweed. Over £150m is spent annually on Japanese\nknotweed control, and a decision was taken on 9 March 2010 in the UK to release into the\nwild a Japanese psyllid insect, Aphalara itadori.[16] Its diet is highly specific to\nJapanese knotweed and shows good potential for its control[\nJuneberry, Shadbush, Serviceberry\nAmelanchier (pronounced /æməˈlænʃɪər/ am-ə-LAN-sheer[2]), also known as shadbush,\nserviceberry, sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, shadblow, shadwood, sugarplum, chuckley\npear, and wild-plum, is a genus of about 20 species of shrubs and small deciduous trees in\nthe Rosaceae (Rose family).\nThe genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, growing primarily in\nearly successional habitats. It is most diverse taxonomically in North America, especially\nin the northern United States and in Canada, and is native to every state of the United\nStates except Hawaii. Two species also occur in Asia, and one in Europe. These plants are\nvalued horticulturally, and their fruits are important to wildlife. The systematics\n(taxonomy) of shadbushes has long perplexed botanists, horticulturalists, and others, as\nsuggested by the range in number of species recognized in the genus from 6 to 33 in two\nrecent publications [3][4]. A major source of complexity comes from the occurrence of\napomixis (asexual seed production), polyploidy, and hybridization.[5]\nAmelanchier species grow to 0.2–20 m tall, arborecent or suckering and forming loose\ncolonies or dense clumps to single-stemmed. The bark is gray or less often brown, smooth or\nfissuring in older trees. The leaves are deciduous, cauline, alternate, simple, lanceolate\nto elliptic to orbiculate, 0.5–10 x 0.5–5.5 cm, thin to coriaceous, with surfaces abaxially\nglabrous or densely tomentose at flowering, abaxially glabrous or more or less hairy at\nmaturity. The inflorescences are terminal, with 1–20 flowers, erect or drooping, either in\nclusters of one to four flowers, or in racemes with 4–20 flowers. The flowers have five\nwhite (rarely somewhat pink, yellow, or streaked with red), linear to orbiculate petals,\n2.6–25 mm long, occasionally andropetalous (bearing apical microsporangia adaxially; only\nknown in this genus in A. nantucketensis). The flowers appear in early spring, \"when the\nshad run\" according to tradition (leading to names such as \"shadbush\"). The fruit is a\nberry-like pome, red to purple to nearly black at maturity, 5–15 mm diameter, insipid to\ndelectably sweet, maturing in summer.[5]\nContents\n[edit] Selected species\nFor North American species, the taxonomy follows the forthcoming Flora of North\nAmerica;[5][6] for Asian species the Flora of China;[7] and for European species the Flora\nEuropaea.[8]\n * Amelanchier alnifolia var. alnifolia - Saskatoon serviceberry, alder-leaved shadbush,\nsaskatoon, saskatoon berry, amélanchier à feuilles d'aulne[9]\n * Amelanchier amabilis - Lovely shadbush, amélanchier gracieux [10]\n * Amelanchier arborea - Downy shadbush[11]\n * Amelanchier bartramiana - Mountain shadbush, amélanchier de Bartram [12]\n * Amelanchier canadensis var. canadensis - Eastern shadbush, amélanchier du Canada[13]\n * Amelanchier humilis - Low shadbush, amélanchier bas[14]\n * Amelanchier interior - Wiegand's shadbush, amélanchier de l'intérieur[15]\n * Amelanchier laevis - Smooth shadbush, amélanchier glabre [16]\n * Amelanchier nantucketensis - Nantucket serviceberry\n * Amelanchier ovalis - Snowy Mespilus[17]\n * Amelanchier sanguinea - Red-twigged shadbush, amélanchier sanguin[18]\n * Amelanchier sinica - Chinese Serviceberry[19]\n * Amelanchier spicata - Thicket shadbush, amélanchier en épis[20]\n * Amelanchier utahensis - Utah serviceberry[21]\nSeveral natural hybrids also exist.\n[edit] Etymology\nThe origin of the generic name Amelanchier is probably derived from amalenquièr,\namelanchièr, the Provençal names of the European Amelanchier ovalis. The name serviceberry\ncomes from the similarity of the fruit to the related European Sorbus. Juneberry refers to\nthe fruits of certain species becoming ripe in June. The name saskatoon originated from a\nCree Indian noun misâskwatômina (misāskwatōmina, misaaskwatoomina) for Amelanchier\nalnifolia. The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is named after this plant.\n[edit] Ecology\nAmelanchier are preferred browse for deer and rabbits, and heavy browsing pressure can\nsuppress natural regeneration. Caterpillars of Lepidoptera such as Brimstone Moth,\nBrown-tail, Grey Dagger, Mottled Umber, Rough Prominent, The Satellite, Winter Moth,\nLimenitis arthemis and other herbivorous insects also have a taste for serviceberry. Many\ninsects and diseases that attack orchard trees also affect this genus, in particular trunk\nborers and Gymnosporangium rust. In years when late flowers overlap those of wild roses and\nbrambles, bees may spread bacterial fireblight.\n[edit] Uses and cultivation\nThe fruit of several species are excellent to eat raw, tasting somewhat like a blueberry,\nstrongly accented by the almond-like flavour of the seeds. Fruit is harvested locally for\npies and jams[22]. The saskatoon berry is harvested commercially. The Native American food\npemmican was flavored by shadbush fruits in combination with fat and dried meats, and the\nstems were made into arrow shafts.\nSeveral species are very popular ornamental shrubs, grown for their flowers, bark, and fall\ncolor. All need similar conditions to grow well, requiring good drainage, air circulation\n(to discourage leaf diseases), watering during drought and acceptable soil. Note that\nspecies names are often used interchangeably in the nursery trade. Many A. arborea plants\nthat are offered for sale are actually hybrids, or entirely different species.\nThe wood is brown, hard, close-grained, and heavy. The heartwood is reddish-brown, and the\nsapwood is lighter in color. It can be used for tool handles and fishing rods.\nPropagation is by seed, divisions and grafting. Serviceberries graft so readily that grafts\nwith other genera, such as Crataegus and Sorbus, are often successful.\nGeorge Washington planted specimens on the grounds of Mount Vernon.\nA taxon commonly cited as Amelanchier \"lamarckii\" is very widely cultivated and naturalized\nin Europe, where it was introduced in the 17th century; it is known to be of North American\norigin, probably from eastern Canada. It is not currently known to occur in the wild, and\nis probably of hybrid origin between A. laevis and either A. arborea or A. canadensis; it\nis apomictic and breeds true from seed\n \nThe Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa or Benthamidia kousa), also known as the Japanese Flowering\nDogwood (Yamaboushi (ヤマボウシ?)), is a small deciduous tree 8–12 m tall, native to eastern\nAsia. Like most dogwoods, it has opposite, simple leaves, which are 4–10 cm long.\nThe tree is extremely showy when in bloom, but what appear to be four petaled white flowers\nare actually bracts spread open below the cluster of inconspicuous yellow-green flowers.\nThe blossoms appear is in late spring, weeks after the tree leafs out.\n[edit] Characteristics\nThe kousa dogwood can be distinguished from the closely related Flowering Dogwood (Cornus\nflorida) of eastern North America by its more upright habit, flowering about a month later,\nand having pointed rather than rounded flower bracts.\nThe fruit is a globose pink to red compound berry 2–3 cm diameter, though these berries\ntend to grow larger towards the end of the season and some berry clusters that do not fall\nfrom the tree surpass 4 cm. It is edible, a delicious addition to the tree's ornamental\nvalue.\n * Cornus kousa var. kousa. Leaves 4–7 cm; flower bracts 3–5 cm. Japan.\n * Cornus kousa var. chinensis. Leaves 5–10 cm; flower bracts 4–6 cm. China.\nIt is resistant to the dogwood anthracnose disease, caused by the fungus Discula\ndestructiva, unlike Flowering Dogwood, which is very susceptible and commonly killed by it;\nfor this reason, Kousa Dogwood is being widely planted as an ornamental tree in areas\naffected by the disease. A number of hybrids between Kousa Dogwood and Flowering Dogwood\nhave also been selected for their disease resistance and good flower appearance.\nMulberries\nMorus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous\ntrees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries. They are native to warm temperate and\nsubtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, with the majority of the\nspecies native to Asia.\nThe closely related genus Broussonetia is also commonly known as mulberry, notably the\nPaper Mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera.\nMulberries are swift-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely exceed\n10–15 m (33–49 ft) tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, often lobed, more\noften lobed on juvenile shoots than on mature trees, and serrated on the margin.\nThe fruit is a multiple fruit, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) long. The fruits when immature are\nwhite or green to pale yellow with pink edges. In most species the fruits are red when they\nare ripening, turning dark purple to black and have a sweet flavor. The fruits of the\nwhite-fruited cultivar of the white mulberry are green when young and white when ripe; the\nfruit in this cultivar is also sweet but has a very mild flavor compared with the darker\nvariety.\nThe taxonomy of Morus is complex and disputed. Over 150 species names have been published,\nand although differing sources may cite different selections of accepted names, only 10–16\nare generally cited as being accepted by the vast majority of botanical authorities. Morus\nclassification is even further complicated by widespread hybridisation, wherein the hybrids\nare fertile.\nThe following species are generally accepted:\n * Morus alba L. – White Mulberry (E Asia)\n * Morus australis Poir. – Chinese Mulberry (SE Asia)\n * Morus celtidifolia Kunth (Mexico)\n * Morus mesozygia Stapf – African Mulberry (S and C Africa)\n \n * Morus microphylla – Texas Mulberry (Mexico, Texas (USA))\n * Morus nigra L. – Black Mulberry (SW Asia)\n * Morus rubra L. – Red Mulberry (E N America)\n \nThe following, all from eastern and southern Asia, are additionally accepted by one or more\ntaxonomic lists or studies; synonymy, as given by other lists or studies, is indicated in\nsquare brackets:\n * Morus serrata [M. alba var. serrata], Himalayan mulberry\n * Morus tillaefolia\n * Morus trilobata [M. australis var. trilobata]\n * Morus wittiorum\n \n[edit] Uses and cultivation\nThe ripe fruit is edible and is widely used in pies, tarts, wines, cordials and tea. The\nfruit of the black mulberry, native to southwest Asia, and the red mulberry, native to\neastern North America, have the strongest flavor. The fruit of the white mulberry, an east\nAsian species which is extensively naturalized in urban regions of eastern North America,\nhas a different flavor, sometimes characterized as insipid.[2] The mature plant contains\nsignificant amounts of resveratrol, particularly in stem bark.[3] The fruit and leaves are\nsold in various forms as nutritional supplements. Unripe fruit and green parts of the plant\nhave a white sap that is intoxicating and mildly hallucinogenic.[4]\nBlack, red, and white mulberry are widespread in Northern India, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Syria,\nLebanon, Georgia, Armenia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan, where the tree and the\nfruit are known by the Persian-derived names toot (mulberry) or shahtoot (King's or\n\"superior\" mulberry). Jams and sherbets are often made from the fruit in this region. Black\nmulberry was imported to Britain in the 17th century in the hope that it would be useful in\nthe cultivation of silkworms. It was much used in folk medicine, especially in the\ntreatment of ringworm. Mulberries are also widespread in Greece, particularly in the\nPeloponnese, which in the Middle Ages was known as Morea (Greek: Μωριάς, Morias), deriving\nfrom the Greek word for the tree (Greek: Μουριά, Μouria). Mulberry trees were used for silk\nproduction, which was a major source of wealth for the region.\nMulberry leaves, particularly those of the white mulberry, are ecologically important as\nthe sole food source of the silkworm (Bombyx mori, named after the mulberry genus Morus),\nthe pupa/cocoon of which is used to make silk. Other Lepidoptera larvae also sometimes feed\non the plant including common emerald, lime hawk-moth, and the sycamore.\nMulberries can be grown from seed, and this is often advised as seedling-grown trees are\ngenerally of better shape and health. But they are most often planted from large cuttings\nwhich root readily. The mulberry plants which are allowed to grow tall with a crown height\nof 5 - 6 feet from the ground level having stem girth of 4 -5 inches or more is called tree\nmulberry. They are specially raised with the help of well grown saplings of 8 - 10 months\nold with any of the varieties recommended for rain fed areas like S-13 (for red loamy soil)\nor S-34 (black cotton soil) which are tolerant to draught or soil moisture stress\nconditions. Usually the plantation is raised as block plantation with a spacing of 6 feet x\n6 feet or 8 feet x 8 feet as plant to plant and row to row distance. The plants are usually\npruned once in a year during monsoon (July - August) at a height of 5 - 6 feet from the\nground level and allowed to grow with maximum of 8 - 10 shoots at crown. The leaf is\nharvested 3-4 times in a year by leaf picking method under rain fed or semi-arid conditions\ndepending upon the monsoon. The tree branches pruned during the fall season (after the\nleaves have fallen) are cut and used to make very durable baskets which are used in a lot\nof village jobs related to agriculture and animal husbandry.\n[edit] Anthocyanins from mulberry fruits\nAnthocyanins are pigments which hold potential use as dietary modulators of mechanisms for\nvarious diseases[5][6] and as natural food colorants. Due to increasing demand for natural\nfood colorants, their significance in the food industry is increasing. Anthocyanins are\nresponsible for the attractive colors of fresh plant foods, producing colors such as\norange, red, purple, black, and blue. They are water-soluble and easily extractable.\nA cheap and industrially feasible method to purify anthocyanins from mulberry fruit which\ncould be used as a fabric tanning agent or food colorant of high color value (of above 100)\nhas been established. Scientists found that out of 31 Chinese mulberry cultivars tested,\nthe total anthocyanin yield varied from 148 mg to 2725 mg per liter of fruit juice.[7]\nTotal sugars, total acids, and vitamins remained intact in the residual juice after removal\nof anthocyanins and that the residual juice could be fermented to produce products such as\njuice, wine, and sauce.\nWorldwide, mulberry is grown for its fruit. In traditional and folk medicine, the fruit is\nbelieved to have medicinal properties and is used for making jam, wine, and other food\nproducts. As the genus Morus has been domesticated over thousands of years and constantly\nbeen subjected to heterosis breeding (mainly for improving leaf yield), it is possible to\nhybridize breeds suitable for berry production, thus offering possible industrial use of\nmulberry as a source of anthocyanins for functional foods or food colorants which could\nenhance the overall profitability of sericulture.\nAnthocyanin content depends on climate, area of cultivation, and is particularly higher in\nsunny climates.[8] This finding holds promise for tropical sericulture countries to profit\nfrom industrial anthocyanin production from mulberry through anthocyanin recovery.\nThis offers a challenging task to the mulberry germplasm resources for\n * exploration and collection of fruit yielding mulberry species;\n * their characterization, cataloging, and evaluation for anthocyanin content by using\ntraditional as well as modern means and biotechnology tools;\n * developing an information system about these cultivars or varieties;\n * training and global coordination of genetic stocks;\n * evolving suitable breeding strategies to improve the anthocyanin content in potential\nbreeds by collaboration with various research stations in the field of sericulture, plant\ngenetics, and breeding, biotechnology and pharmacology.\n \nArtemisia vulgaris (mugwort or common wormwood) is one of several species in the genus\nArtemisia which have common names that include the word mugwort. This species is also\noccasionally known as Felon Herb, Chrysanthemum Weed, Wild Wormwood, Old uncle Henry,\nSailor's Tobacco, Naughty Man, Old Man or St. John's Plant (not to be confused with St\nJohn's wort).\nIt is native to temperate Europe, Asia, northern Africa and Alaska and is naturalized in\nNorth America,[1] where some consider it an invasive weed. It is a very common plant\ngrowing on nitrogenous soils, like weedy and uncultivated areas, such as waste places and\nroadsides.\nIt is a tall herbaceous perennial plant growing 1–2 m (rarely 2.5 m) tall, with a woody\nroot. The leaves are 5–20 cm long, dark green, pinnate, with dense white tomentose hairs on\nthe underside. The erect stem often has a red-purplish tinge. The rather small flowers (5\nmm long) are radially symmetrical with many yellow or dark red petals. The narrow and\nnumerous capitula (flower heads) spread out in racemose panicles. It flowers from July to\nSeptember.\nA number of species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) feed on the leaves and flowers;\nsee List of Lepidoptera that feed on Artemisia for details.\nContents\nWiki letter w.svg This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.\n[edit] List of the cultivars\nWiki letter w.svg This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.\n[edit] Etymology\nMugwort is often said to derive from the word \"mug\" since it has been used in flavoring\ndrinks at least since the early Iron Age.[2] However, this may be a folk etymology based on\ncoincidental sounds. Other sources say Mugwort is derived from the old Norse muggi, meaning\n\"marsh\", and Germanic \"wuertz\", meaning \"root\", which refers to its use since ancient times\nto repel insects, especially moths.[3] The Old English word for mugwort is \"mucgwyrt\" where\n\"mucg-\" could be a variation of the Old English word for midge \"mycg\". Wort comes from the\nOld English \"wyrt\" (root/herb/plant) which is related to the Old High Germany \"wurz\" (root)\nand the Old Norse \"urt\" (plant).[4] Mugwort is called chornobylnik in Ukrainian, and has\ngiven its name to the abandoned city of Chernobyl (Chornobyl in Ukrainian). The name\nchornobyl has an interesting history, meaning \"place where mugwort grows\" in the related\nIndo-European languages.[citation needed]\nThere are other species in the genus Artemisia called mugwort:\n * Artemisia douglasiana – Douglas' Mugwort\nMugwort contains thujone, which is toxic in large amounts or under prolonged intake.\nThujone is also present in Thuja plicata (western red cedar), from which the name is\nderived. Pregnant women, in particular, should avoid consuming large amounts of mugwort.\nThe species has a number of recorded historic uses in food, herbal medicine, and as a\nsmoking herb.\n[edit] Middle ages\nIn the Middle Ages, mugwort was used as a magical protective herb. Mugwort was used to\nrepel insects, especially moths, from gardens. Mugwort has also been used from ancient\ntimes as a remedy against fatigue and to protect travelers against evil spirits and wild\nanimals. Roman soldiers put mugwort in their sandals to protect their feet against\nfatigue.[5] Mugwort is one of the nine herbs invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs\nCharm, recorded in the 10th century in the Lacnunga.[6]\n[edit] Witchcraft\nMuch used in witchcraft, mugwort is said to be useful in inducing lucid dreaming and astral\ntravel/astral projection. Consumption of the plant, or a tincture thereof, prior to\nsleeping is said to increase the intensity of dreams, the level of control, and to aid in\nthe recall of dreams upon waking. One common method of ingestion is to smoke the plant.[7]\n[edit] Food\nThe leaves and buds, best picked shortly before the plant flowers in July to September,\nwere used as a bitter flavoring agent to season fat, meat and fish.\nIt has also been used to flavor beer before the introduction of or instead of hops.[8][2]\n[edit] Medicinal\nA mugwort leaf with the pointed leaves characteristic of a mature plant\nThe mugwort plant contains essential oils (such as cineole, or wormwood oil, and thujone),\nflavonoids, triterpenes, and coumarin derivatives. It was also used as an anthelminthic, so\nit is sometimes confused with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). The plant, called nagadamni\nin Sanskrit, is used in Ayurveda for cardiac complaints as well as feelings of unease,\nunwellness and general malaise.[9]\nThe British RCT yielded results that indicate that moxibustion of mugwort was indeed\neffective at increasing the cephalic positioning of fetuses who were in a breech position\nbefore the intervention[citation needed]. In contrast, a Cochrane review in 2005 found that\nmoxibustion may be beneficial in reducing the need for ECV, but stressed a need for\nwell-designed randomised controlled trials to evaluate this usage[10]. Since it also causes\nuterine contractions, it has been used to cause abortion. It also plays a role in Asian\ntraditional medicine as a method of correcting breech presentation. A study of 260 Chinese\nwomen at 33 weeks of pregnancy demonstrated cephalic version within two weeks in 75% of\nfetuses carried by patients who were treated with moxibustion, as opposed to 48% in the\ncontrol group.[11] It has also been shown that acupuncture plus moxibustion slows fetal\nheart rates while increasing fetal movement.[12] Two recent studies of Italian patients\nproduced conflicting results. In the first, involving 226 patients, there was cephalic\npresentation at delivery in 54% of women treated between 33 and 35 weeks with acupuncture\nand moxibustion, vs. 37% in the control group.[13] The second was terminated prematurely\nbecause of poor compliance with treatment, but found no difference between moxibustion and\ncontrol groups.[14]\nIn rats, Mugwort shows efficacy against trichinellosis.[15]\n[edit] China\nThere are several references to the Chinese using mugwort in cuisine. The famous Chinese\npoet Su Shi (苏轼） in the 11th century mentioned it in one of his poems. There are even older\npoems and songs that can be tracked back to 3 BC. Mainly it was called Lou Hao (蒌蒿） in\nMandarin. Mugwort can be prepared as a cold dish or can be stir fried with fresh or smoked\nmeat. The Hakka Taiwanese also use it to make chhú-khak-ké (鼠麹粿, 草仔粿).\nMugwort is used in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in a pulverized and aged\nform called moxa.\n[edit] Germany\nIn Germany, known as Beifuß, it is mainly used to season goose, especially the roast goose\ntraditionally eaten for Christmas. From the German, ancient use of a sprig of mugwort\ninserted into the goose cavity, comes the saying \"goosed\" or \"is goosed\".[citation needed]\n[edit] Korea\nMugwort or Sook is also used in Korea as a common ingredient in rice cakes, teas, soups,\nand pancakes. Known as a blood cleanser, it is believed to have different medicinal\nproperties depending on the region it is collected. In some regions, mugwort thins the\nblood, while in another region, it is proposed to have hallucigenic properties, leading to\nsome bonneted grandmothers passing out from direct skin contact (dermal absorption) with\nthe active chemicals. For this reason, Koreans also wear a silk sleeve when picking mugwort\nplants.\n[edit] Japan\nMugwort or yomogi is used in a number of Japanese dishes, including yōkan, a dessert, or\nkusa mochi, also known as yomogi mochi.\nMugwort rice cakes, or kusa mochi are used for Japanese sweets called Daifuku (which\nliterally translated means 'great luck'). To make these take a small amount of mochi and\nstuff it or wrap it round a filling of fruit or sweetened azuki (red bean) paste.\nTraditional Daifuku can be pale green, white or pale pink and are covered in a fine layer\nof potato starch to prevent sticking.\nIngredients for kusa mochi[16]: Whole-grain sweet brown rice and Japanese mugwort (yomogi)\nherb.\nMugwort is a vital ingredient of kusa mochi (rice cake with mugwort) and hishi mochi\n(lozenge rice cake) which is served at the Doll Festival in March. In addition, the fuzz on\nthe underside of the mugwort leaves is gathered and used in moxibustion. In some regions in\nJapan[17], there is an ancient custom of hanging yomogi and iris leaves together outside\nhomes in order to keep evil spirits away. It is said that evil spirits dislike their smell.\nThe juice is said to be effective at stopping bleeding, lowering fevers and purging the\nstomach of impurities. It can also be boiled and taken to relieve colds and coughs.\n[edit] Allergen\nMugwort pollen is one of main sources of hay fever and allergic asthma, in North Europe,\nNorth America and in parts of Asia.[18][19]. Mugwort pollen generally travels less than\n2,000 meters[20]. The highest concentration of mugwort pollen is generally found between 9\nand 11 am. The Finnish allergy association recommends tearing as method of eradicating\nmugwort[20]. Tearing mugwort is known to lessen the effect of the allergy, since the pollen\nflies only short distance[20]].\nCooking is known to decrease the allergenicity of mugwort.\nOstrich Fern\nThe ostrich fern or shuttlecock fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is a crown-forming,\ncolony-forming fern, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in eastern\nand northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.\nSpore-bearing fertile fronds in early spring\nIt grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out\nlateral stolons to form new crowns. It thus can form dense colonies resistant to\ndestruction by floodwaters.\nThe fronds are dimorphic, with the deciduous green sterile fronds being almost vertical,\n100-170 cm tall and 20-35 cm broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the\ntip, so that they resemble ostrich plumes, hence the name. The fertile fronds are shorter,\n40-60 cm long, brown when ripe, with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled\nover the sporangia; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the\nspores in early spring.\nMatteuccia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species\nincluding Sthenopis auratus.\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe ostrich fern is a popular ornamental plant in gardens. While choosing a place of\nplanting it should be taken into account that these ferns are very expansive and its leaves\noften lose their beauty throughout the summer, especially if not protected from wind and\nhail. The tightly wound immature fronds, called fiddleheads, are also used as a cooked\nvegetable, and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of northeastern North\nAmerica.\nThe plants are also grown in Japan, where the sprouts (\"kogomi\" in Japanese) are a\ndelicacy.\nMatteuccia struthiopteris is the only species in the genus Matteuccia. Some sources include\ntwo Asian species, M. orientalis and M. intermedia, but molecular data shows that M.\nstruthiopteris is more closely related to Onocleopsis and Onoclea (sensitive fern) than it\nis to M. orientalis and M. intermedia, and so the latter should be moved to a genus\nPentarhizidium which contains those two species. [2] Formerly classified as a member of the\nDryopteridaceae, Matteuccia has been reassigned to the new much smaller family Onocleaceae.\n \nAmerican Persimmon\nA persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in\nthe ebony wood family (Ebenaceae). The word Diospyros means \"the fruit of the gods\" in\nancient Greek.[1] As a tree, it is a perennial plant. The word persimmon is derived from\nputchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin, from Powhatan, an Algonquian language (related to\nBlackfoot, Cree and Mohican) of the eastern United States, meaning \"a dry fruit\".[2]\nPersimmons are generally light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in color, and depending on\nthe species, vary in size from 1.5 to 9 cm (0.5 to 4 in) diameter, and may be spherical,\nacorn-, or pumpkin-shaped.[3] The calyx often remains attached to the fruit after\nharvesting, but becomes easier to remove as it ripens. They are high in glucose, with a\nbalanced protein profile, and possess various medicinal and chemical uses.\nLike the tomato, it is not considered a \"common berry\", but is in fact a \"true berry\" by\ndefinition.\nThe shizi (柿子 in Chinese), also known as Japanese Persimmon or kaki (柿) (Diospyros kaki),\nis the most widely cultivated species. These are sweet, slightly tangy fruits with a soft\nto occasionally fibrous texture. This species, native to China, is deciduous, with broad,\nstiff leaves. Cultivation of the fruit extended first to other parts of east Asia, and was\nlater introduced to California and southern Europe in the 1800s, to Brazil in the 1890s[4],\nand numerous cultivars have been selected. It is edible in its crisp firm state, but has\nits best flavor when allowed to rest and soften slightly after harvest. The Japanese\ncultivar 'Hachiya' is a widely grown cultivar. The fruit has a high tannin content which\nmakes the immature fruit astringent and bitter. The tannin levels are reduced as the fruit\nmatures. Persimmons like 'Hachiya' must be completely ripened before consumption. When\nripe, this fruit comprises thick pulpy jelly encased in a waxy thin skinned shell. \"Sharon\nFruit\" (named originally after Sharon plain in Israel) is the trade name for D. kaki fruit\nthat has been artificially ripened with chemicals.[5]\nNanyo City, Yamagata, Japan. October 2005.\nThe Date-plum (Diospyros lotus) is native to southwest Asia and southeast Europe. It was\nknown to the ancient Greeks as \"the fruit of the gods\", or often referred to as \"nature's\ncandy\" i.e. Dios pyros (lit. \"the wheat of Zeus\"), hence the scientific name of the genus.\nIts English name probably derives from Persian Khormaloo خرمالو literally \"Date-Plum\",\nreferring to the taste of this fruit which is reminiscent of both plums and dates. This\nspecies is one candidate for the lotus mentioned in the Odyssey: it was so delicious that\nthose who ate it forgot about returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus with the\nlotus-eaters.[6] The fruit is also known as 'Amlok' or 'Japani Phal' in Pakistan.\nThe American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is native to the eastern United States and is\nhigher in nutrients like vitamin C and calcium than the Japanese Persimmon.[7]\nThe Black Persimmon or Black Sapote (Diospyros digyna) is native to Mexico. Its fruit has\ngreen skin and white flesh, which turns black when ripe.\nThe Mabolo or Velvet-apple (Diospyros discolor) is native to the Philippines. It is bright\nred when ripe. It is also native to China, where it is known as shizi. It is also known as\nKorean Mango.\nThere are many other species of Diospyros that are inedible to humans, and thus have little\nor no commercial value for their fruit.\n[edit] Fruit\nA ripe hachiya persimmon fruit\nCommercially, there are generally two types of persimmon fruit: astringent and\nnon-astringent.\nThe heart-shaped Hachiya is the most common variety of astringent persimmon. Astringent\npersimmons contain very high levels of soluble tannins and are unpalatable (or \"furry\"\ntasting) if eaten before softening. The astringency of tannins is removed through ripening\nby exposure to light over several days, wrapping the fruit in paper (probably because this\nincreases the ethylene concentration of the surrounding air), and/or artificially with\nchemicals such as alcohol and carbon dioxide which change tannin into the insoluble form.\nThis bletting process is sometimes jumpstarted by exposing the fruit to cold or frost which\nhastens cellular wall breakdown. These astringent persimmons can also be prepared for\ncommercial purposes by drying. Tanenashi fruit will occasionally contain a seed or two,\nwhich can be planted and will yield a larger more vertical tree than when merely grafted\nonto the D. virginiana rootstock most commonly used in the U.S. Such seedling trees may\nproduce fruit that bears more seeds, usually 6 to 8 per fruit, and the fruit itself may\nvary slightly from the parent tree. Seedlings are said to be more susceptible to root\nnematodes. Those wanting to obtain native persimmon fruit and seeds might look at the\nreststop on the west side of Interstate 26 about 6 miles south of Columbia, South Carolina\nin the fall. There are several large D. virginiana trees near the exit from the rest stop\nwhich yield abundant seed from which seedlings can be grown and used as rootstock.\nThe non-astringent persimmon is squat like a tomato and is most commonly sold as fuyu.\nNon-astringent persimmons are not actually free of tannins as the term suggests, but rather\nare far less astringent before ripening, and lose more of their tannic quality sooner.\nNon-astringent persimmons may be consumed when still very firm, and remain edible when very\nsoft.\nThere is a third type, less commonly available, the pollination-variant non-astringent\npersimmons. When fully pollinated, the flesh of these fruit is brown inside -known as goma\nin Japan, and the fruit can be eaten firm. These varieties are highly sought after and can\nbe found at specialty markets or farmers markets only[citation needed]. Tsurunoko, sold as\n\"Chocolate persimmon\" for its dark brown flesh, Maru, sold as \"Cinnamon persimmon\" for its\nspicy flavor, and Hyakume, sold as \"Brown sugar\" are the three best known.\nBefore ripening, persimmons usually have a \"chalky\" taste or bitter taste.\nCulinary uses\nPeeled, flattened, and dried persimmons (shibing;柿餅) in a Xi'an market\nPersimmons are eaten fresh, dried, raw, or cooked. When eaten fresh, the skin is usually\ncut/peeled off and the fruit is often cut into quarters or eaten whole like an apple. One\nway to consume very ripe persimmons, which can have the texture of pudding, is to remove\nthe top leaf with a paring knife and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. The flesh ranges\nfrom firm to mushy and the texture is unique. The flesh is very sweet and when firm\npossesses an apple-like crunch. American persimmons are completely inedible until they are\nfully ripe. In China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam after harvesting, 'Hachiya' persimmons are\nprepared using traditional hand-drying techniques, outdoors for two to three weeks. The\nfruit is then further dried by exposure to heat over several days before being shipped to\nmarket. In Japan the dried fruit is called hoshigaki (干し柿), in China it is known as\n\"shi-bing\" (柿饼), in Korea it is known as gotgam (hangul: 곶감), and in Vietnam it is called\nhồng khô. It is eaten as a snack or dessert and used for other culinary purposes.\nKaki preserved in lime water\nIn Korea, dried persimmon fruits are used to make the traditional Korean spicy punch,\nsujeonggwa, while the matured, fermented fruit is used to make a persimmon vinegar called\ngamsikcho (감식초), which is alleged to have a variety of health benefits. The hoshigaki\ntradition traveled to California with Japanese American immigrants.\nIn Taiwan, fruits of astringent varieties are sealed in jars filled with lime water to get\nrid of bitterness. Slightly hardened in the process, they are sold under the name \"crisp\npersimmon\" (cuishi 脆柿) or \"water persimmon\" (shuishizi 水柿子). Preparation time is dependent\nupon temperature (5 to 7 days at 25–28°C). In some areas of Manchuria and Korea, the dried\nleaves of the fruit are used for making tea. The Korean name for this tea is ghamnip cha (감\n잎차).\n干し柿 Hoshigaki, Japanese dried persimmon\nIn the State of Indiana (USA), persimmons are harvested and used in a variety of dessert\ndishes most notably pies. It can be used in cookies, cakes, puddings, salads, curries [2]\nand as a topping for breakfast cereal. Persimmon pudding is a dessert using fresh\npersimmons. An annual persimmon festival, featuring a persimmon pudding contest, is held\nevery September in Mitchell, Indiana. Persimmon pudding is a baked pudding that has the\nconsistency of pumpkin pie but resembles a brownie and is almost always topped with whipped\ncream. Persimmons may be stored at room temperature (20°C) where they will continue to\nripen. In northern China, unripe persimmons are frozen outside during winter to speed up\nthe ripening process.\nThe fruits of some persimmon varieties contain the tannins catechin and gallocatechin,[9]\nas well as the candidate anti-tumor compounds betulinic acid and shibuol.[citation needed]\nUnripened persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak\nacid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum, a 'foodball' or phytobezoar,\nthat can affix with other stomach matter.[10] These phytobezoars are often very hard and\nalmost woody in consistency. More than 85% phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of\nunripened persimmons.[11] Persimmon bezoars (diospyrobezoars) often occur in epidemics in\nregions where the fruit is grown.[12][13][14]. Diospyrobezoars should not be of concern\nwhen consuming moderate quantities of persimmons. One case in medical literature from 2004\nrevealed a 51-year old patient who had eaten a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of unpeeled persimmons\neach day for 40 years.[15][16] Cases have been rare and required surgical removal, but more\nrecently chemical depolymerization by Coca-Cola has been used.[17]\nHorses may develop a taste for the fruit growing on a tree in their pasture and overindulge\nalso, making them quite ill. It is often advised that persimmons should not be eaten on an\nempty stomach.[18]\n[edit] Wood\nAn example of persimmon wood furniture\nThough persimmon trees belong to the same genus as ebony trees, persimmon tree wood has a\nlimited use in the manufacture of objects requiring hard wood. It is hard, but cracks\neasily and is somewhat difficult to process. Persimmon wood is used for paneling in\ntraditional Korean and Japanese furniture.\nIn North America, the lightly colored, fine-grained wood of D. virginiana is used to\nmanufacture billiard cues and textile shuttles. It is also used in the percussion field as\nthe shaft of the Tim Genis Signature Timpani Mallet Collection. Persimmon wood was also\nheavily used in making the highest-quality heads of the golf clubs known as \"woods\" until\nthe golf industry moved primarily to metal woods in the last years of the 20th century. In\nfact, the first metal woods made by TaylorMade, an early pioneer of that club type, were\nbranded as \"Pittsburgh Persimmons\". Persimmon woods are still made, but in far lower\nnumbers than in past decades. Over the last few decades persimmon wood has become popular\namong bow craftsmen, especially in the making of traditional longbows. Persimmon wood is\nused in making a small number of wooden flutes and eating utensils such as wooden spoons\nand cornbread knives (wooden knives that may cut through the bread without scarring the\ndish).\nLike some other plants of the genus Diospyros, older persimmon heartwood is black or dark\nbrown in color, in stark contrast to the sapwood and younger heartwood, which is pale in\ncolor.\n[edit] Trees\nPersimmon Tree\nThe trees of all species have stiff, tumescent leaves, but the female of the D. virginiana\ncan look less turgid than the male because the leaves droop when fruiting, perhaps because\nof the heavier nutrient requirements. They grow swiftly, and are immune to the usual\ndelicacy of trees planted in unpredictable climates. They are one of the last trees to leaf\nout in the spring, and do not flower until well after the leaves have formed, bypassing the\nthreat of blossom loss to frosts. The fruit hangs on the branches long into the winter.\nBecause they grow swiftly and colonize off their root systems, they are ideal for helping\nrecover habitat. A 1–2 year old persimmon tree will be mature enough to bear fruit within\n7–8 years. They hold their own against flooding riverbanks quite well and are listed in\nStormwater Journal's list of water-holding trees.[19]\n \nPineapple Weed\nMatricaria discoidea, commonly known as pineapple weed and disc mayweed is an annual plant\nnative to North America and Northeast Asia but which has become a cosmopolitan weed. It is\nin the family Asteraceae. The flowers exude a chamomile/pineapple aroma when crushed. They\nare edible and have been used in salads (although they may become bitter by the time the\nplant blooms) and to make herbal tea. Pineapple weed has been used for medicinal purposes,\nincluding for relief of gastrointestinal upset, infected sores, fevers, and postpartum\nanemia.\nThe pinnately dissected leaves are sweet-scented when crushed (Fir Island, Washington).\nThe flower head is cone-shaped, composed of dense-packed yellowish-green corollas, and\nlacking ray-florets. The leaves are pinnately dissected and sweet-scented when crushed. The\nplant grows 2 to 16 inches (5.1 to 41 cm) high. Flowerheads are produced from May to\nSeptember.\nThe plant grows well in disturbed areas, especially those with poor, compacted soil. It can\nbe seen blooming on footpaths, roadsides, and similar places in spring and early summer. In\nthe USA, it can be found from central Alaska down to California and all the way to Nova\nScotia.\n[edit] Uses\nPineapple weed flowers used to be gathered for food by children, although most find it too\nbitter to consume raw. The plant, when bruised and rubbed on skin, provides an effective,\nyet temporary insect repellent.\n \nSassafras\nSassafras is a genus of three[1][2] extant and one extinct[3] species of deciduous trees in\nthe family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.[2]\nSassafras trees grow from 9.1–18 m (30–59 ft) tall and spreading 7.6–12 m (25–39 ft)[4] The\ntrunk grows 70–150 cm (28–59 in) in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth,\norange-brown bark. The branching is sympodial. The bark of the mature trunk is thick,\nred-brown, and deeply furrowed. The wood is light, hard, and sometimes brittle. All parts\nof the plants are very fragrant. The species are unusual in having three distinct leaf\npatterns on the same plant, unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three\npronged); rarely the leaves can be five-lobed.[5] They have smooth margins and grow 7–20 cm\nlong by 5–10 cm broad. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous, and produce a\ncitrus-like scent when crushed. The tiny, yellow flowers are five-petaled and bloom in the\nspring; they are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. The fruit are\nblue-black, egg-shaped, 1 cm long, produced on long, red-stalked cups, and mature in late\nsummer.[1] The largest Sassafras tree in the United States is located in Owensboro,\nKentucky, which measures over 100 feet high and 21 feet in circumference.[6][7]\nThe name \"Sassafras,\" applied by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the sixteenth century, is\nsaid to be a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage.\nContents\n * Sassafras albidum (Nuttall) Nees - Sassafras, White Sassafras, Red Sassafras or Silky\nSassafras. Eastern North America, from southernmost Ontario, Canada through the eastern\nUnited States south to central Florida, and west to southern Iowa and eastern Texas.\n * †Sassafras hesperia (Berry) Wolfe & Wehr 1987 - From the Eocene Klondike Mountain\nFormation of Washington and British Columbia[3]\n * Sassafras tzumu (Hemsl.) Hemsl. - Chinese Sassafras or Tzumu. Central and\nsouthwestern China. It differs from S. albidum in the leaves being more frequently\nthree-lobed,[8] the lobes having a tapered acuminate apex (not rounded to weakly acute).\n * Sassafras randaiense (Hayata) Rehd. - Taiwanese Sassafras. Taiwan. Treated by some\nbotanists in a distinct genus as Yushunia randaiensis (Hayata) Kamikoti,[9] though this is\nnot supported by recent genetic evidence which shows Sassafras to be monophyletic.[2]\n[edit] Usage\nS. albidum is a host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail\nSteam distillation of dried root bark produces an essential oil consisting mostly of\nsafrole that once was extensively used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food and for\naromatherapy. The yield of this oil from American sassafras is quite low and great effort\nis needed to produce useful amounts of the root bark.[citation needed] Sassafras extract\nwas a primary ingredient in root beer. Commercial \"sassafras oil\" generally is a by-product\nof camphor production in Asia or comes from related trees in Brazil. Safrole is a precursor\nfor the clandestine manufacture of the drug MDMA (ecstasy), and as such, its transport is\nmonitored internationally.\n[edit] Importance to livestock and wildlife\nSassafras leaves and twigs are consumed by white-tailed deer in both summer and winter. In\nsome areas it is an important deer food.[10] Sassafras leaf browsers include groundhogs,\nMarsh Rabbits, and American Black Bears.[10] Rabbits eat sassafras bark in winter.[10]\nAmerican Beavers will cut sassafras stems.[10] Sassafras fruits are eaten by many species\nof birds including Bobwhite Quail,[10] Eastern Kingbirds, Great Crested Flycatchers,\nPhoebes, Wild Turkeys, Gray Catbirds, Northern Flickers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Downy\nWoodpeckers, thrushes, vireos, and Northern Mockingbirds. Some small mammals also consume\nsassafras fruits.[10]\nFor most of the above mentioned animals, sassafras is not consumed in large enough\nquantities to be important. Carey and Gill rate its value to wildlife as fair, their lowest\nrating.[10]\n[edit] Culinary uses\nThe dried and ground leaves are used to make filé powder, a condiment served with some\ntypes of gumbo.\nThe roots of Sassafras can be steeped to make tea and were used in the flavoring of\ntraditional root beer until being banned for mass production by the FDA. Laboratory animals\nthat were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained large doses of\nsafrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer. In humans liver damage\ncan take years to develop and it may not have obvious signs. Along with commercially\navailable sarsaparilla, sassafras remains an ingredient in use among hobby or microbrew\nenthusiasts.\nIn 1960, the FDA banned the use of sassafras oil and safrole in commercially mass produced\nfoods and drugs based on the animal studies and human case reports.[11] Several years later\nsassafras tea was banned,[11] a ban that lasted until the passage of the Dietary Supplement\nHealth and Education Act in 1994.[12] Sassafras root extracts which do not contain safrole\nor in which the safrole has been removed are permissible, and are still widely used\ncommercially in teas and root beers.\nSassafras tea can also be used as an anticoagulant.\n[edit] Ethnobotanical history\nDuring the establishment of the Virginia Colony, including Jamestown in the seventeenth\ncentury, sassafras was a major export commodity to England. A medicinal root and a wood\nprized for its beauty and durability, sassafras was popular from its first import by Sir\nWalter Raleigh in 1602 until the eighteenth century.[13] There was a brief period of time\nin the early seventeenth century in which sassafras was the second largest export from\nAmerica behind tobacco.\nSassafras was a commodity prized in Europe as a cure for gonorrhea[14] and syphilis.\nWild Strawberry\nDescription: This is a low, colony-forming native perennial plant. A plant typically\nconsists of several trifoliate leaves with long hairy petioles that emerge directly from a\ncentral taproot in the ground. Each leaflet is about 3\" long and 1½\" wide, pale green\nunderneath, coarsely serrated, and obovate or oval in shape. The petioles of the compound\nleaves are green or dull red and about 3\" long. While actively growing, Wild Strawberry\nproduces long hairy runners up to 2' long, which re-root to form plantlets. These runners\nare often dull red as well.\nEach plant can produce one or more clusters of flowers in stalks about 3-4\" long, which\nalso emerge directly from the ground. Each flower is about ¾\" across and consists of 5\nwhite petals. Toward the center, there are about 25 yellow stamens surrounding a small\nblunt cone. The blooming period occurs during late spring or early summer, and lasts about\n1-2 months. There is no noticeable floral scent. Afterwards, small red drupes are produced\nthat are about ½–¾\" long, and shaped like the familiar cultivated strawberry. They are\nsweet and edible. Unlike Fragaria vesca (Hillside Strawberry), the yellow achenes occur in\nsunken pits along the surface of the drupe.\nCultivation: The preference is full or partial sun and moist to slightly dry conditions. A\nrich loamy soil is preferred. Wild Strawberry is a cool-season plant that grows actively\nduring the spring and fall, but becomes dormant after setting fruit during the hot summer\nmonths. It is an easy plant to grow, which will spread to form a loose ground cover. It is\nsubject to foliar disease to a lesser extent than most cultivated strawberries.\nRange & Habitat: Wild Strawberry is occasional to locally common in most areas of Illinois,\nbut it is uncommon or absent in parts of NW and southern Illinois (see Distribution Map).\nHabitats include moist to mesic black soil prairies, openings and edges of woodlands\n(including drier areas), savannas, limestone glades, and areas along railroads. Wild\nStrawberry is able to tolerate [Close-Up of Flower] competition from taller plants because\nit develops early in the spring, and is able to tolerate some shade later in the year. It\noccurs in both degraded and high quality habitats, often not far from woodland areas.\nFaunal Associations: The ecological value of Wild Strawberry to various insects, birds, and\nanimals is high. The flowers attract long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, flies, small\nbutterflies, and skippers. Among these, small bees are the most important pollinator of the\nflowers; this includes such visitors as Little Carpenter bees, Nomadine Cuckoo bees, Mason\nbees, Halictid bees, and Andrenine bees. The caterpillars of several species of moths feed\non the foliage and flowers of Wild Strawberry (see Moth Table). Other insects that feed on\nWild Strawberry include Chactosiphum fragraefolii (Strawberry Aphid), Aphis forbesi\n(Strawberry Root Aphid), and Otiochynchus ovatus (Strawberry Root Weevil). Various upland\ngamebirds, songbirds, and mammals eat the fruit or foliage (see Wildlife Table), including\nsuch prairie-inhabiting species as Tympanuchus cupido (Greater Prairie Chicken) and\nPhasianus colchicus (Ring-Necked Pheasant). These birds and animals help to distribute the\nseeds far and wide. People also nibble on the fruits.\nPhotographic Location: The upper photograph was taken along a roadside near Urbana,\nIllinois, while the lower photograph was taken at Dave Monk's postage stamp prairie in\nChampaign, Illinois.\nComments: This is one of the parent plants for the cultivated hybrid strawberry (the other\nplant being native to Chile). The root system forms a symbiotic relationship with\nendomycorrhizal bacteria.\nThis group of herbaceous (non-woody) plants has a bilaterally symmetrical (2-sided)\n5-petaled flowers, often with bushy stamens forming a \"beard\" inside. Many have tasty,\nedible flowers and leaves, although the yellow violet, which grows in wetlands, may cause\ngastrointestinal distress. Don't eat African \"violets,\" which aren't true violets.\nCommon Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)\nThis is the most common species, with a sterile violet-colored flower that blooms in the\nspring. There are no leaves on the flower stalk. The heart-shaped, shallow-toothed leaves\narise separately from the ground. They're good to eat in springtime, but become tough and\ncoarse in the summer.\nPoisonous dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne) has a similar violet flower, but with a\n\"spur\" behind the flower, and a different leaf. Monkshood (Aconitum uncinatum), also\npoisonous, has a large, helmet-like upper sepal that covers 2 petals\nViolets grow in partially shaded spots in moist woods, and in meadows and gardens. They\nspread by underground rhizomes (which are toxic), creating dense stands of plants.\nWhite Violet Flower\nThe white violet's flowers and leaves are also edible. Note the \"beard\" of fuzzy stamens in\nthe lower petals\nThis hybrid between blue and white species is also quite beautiful and tasty.\nWild Carrot\nDaucus carota (common names include wild carrot, (UK) bird's nest, bishop's lace, and (US)\nQueen Anne's lace) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions\nof Europe, southwest Asia and naturalised to northeast North America and Australia;\ndomesticated carrots are cultivars of a subspecies, Daucus carota subsp. sativus.\nDaucus carota is a variable biennial plant, usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering\nfrom June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then\nbright white and rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon of\nbracts beneath; finally, as they turn to seed, they contract and become concave like a\nbird's nest. The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds.[1]\nVery similar in appearance to the deadly Poison Hemlock, Daucus carota is distinguished by\na mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that\nsmells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in its center.\nSee carrot for the modern cultivated forms of the species.\nContents\n[edit] Uses\nLike the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes\ntoo woody to consume. A teaspoon of crushed seeds has long been used as a form of birth\ncontrol; its use for this purpose was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years\nago.[citation needed] Research conducted on mice has offered a degree of confirmation for\nthis use—it was found that wild carrot disrupts the implantation process, which reinforces\nits reputation as a contraceptive.[2] Chinese studies have also indicated that the seeds\nblock progesterone synthesis, which could explain this effect.[citation needed]\nAs with all herbal remedies and wild food gathering, extra caution should be used,\nespecially since the wild carrot bears close resemblance to a dangerous species Poison\nHemlock. The leaves of the wild carrot can cause phytophotodermatitis, so caution should\nalso be used when handling the plant.\nThe wild carrot, when freshly cut, will draw or change color depending on the color of the\nwater it is in. Note that this effect is only visible on the \"head\" or flower of the plant.\nCarnation also exhibits this effect. This occurrence is a popular science experiment in\nprimary grade school.\n[edit] Beneficial weed\nThis beneficial weed can be used as a companion plant to crops. Like most umbellifers it\nattracts predatory wasps to its small flowers in its native land; however, where it has\nbeen introduced it attracts only very few of such wasps . This species is also documented\nto boost tomato plant production when kept nearby, and it can provide a microclimate of\ncooler, moister air for lettuce, when intercropped with it.\n[edit] Queen Anne's lace\nWild carrot was introduced and naturalised in North America, where it is often known as\n\"Queen Anne's lace\". It is so called because the flower resembles lace; the red flower in\nthe center represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when\nshe was making the lace. The function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is\nto attract insects.\nThe USDA has listed it as a noxious weed [3], and it is considered a serious pest in\npastures. It persists in the soil seed bank for two to five years.\n \n Wineberry\nA member of the Rubus genus (as are raspberries and blackberries, as well as a dozen or so\nother species), the wineberry is native to China and Japan. It was brought to this country\nby way of Europe and sold as an ornamental plant during the later part of the nineteenth\ncentury.\nSince wineberries (Rubusphoenicolasius) are relatively new to the U.S., they've established\nthemselves in the wild only throughout most of the eastern states so far. [EDITOR'S\nNOTE:Western folks can grow their own, though. In case you don't happen to live in an area\nwhere wineberries flourish, you'll be glad to know that it's possible to purchase plants by\nmail from seed companies. One firm that offers the wineberry is Burpee (Dept. TMEN, 300\nPark Avenue, Warminster, Pennsylvania 18991). The folks there will sell you one plant for\n$5.25,_ five for $8.95, and ten for $14.75 . . . plus a $1.00 handling charge per order.\nBurpee advises that the bushes grow best in Zones 5 through 8.J\nLike their raspberry cousins, wineberries produce new canes each year, which then bear\nfruit the following summer. The brambles usually flower sometime between April and June\n(depending upon climate), and their berries ripen approximately two months later.\nWHAT TO LOOK FOR\nFortunately, unlike many of their kin (which often seem to grow best where they're hardest\nto find), R.phoenicolasius appear to possess an affinity for being devoured by hungry\nberry-hunters .. . be cause their telltale eight- to ten-foot-long canes, which are covered\n(all year long) with bright red bristles, are remarkably easy to 'spot. In fact, the\ncolorful little hairs make it o possible for a forager to scout out wineberry patches well\nin advance of harvest time . . . even in the dead of winter, and especially when there's\nsnow on the ground.\nThe foliage of the wineberry plant is distinctive, too. Its silky green leaves (with\nsilvery white undersides) grow in clusters of three, one of which is always noticeably\nlarger than the other two. White (or sometimes pink) blossoms appear in the spring, but\nthey seem pale in comparison with the splendid array of color that develops as the berries\nthemselves ripen.\nGrowing, picking, preparation and cooking advice for these tasty berries, and recipes for\nraspberry...\nThe lowdown on the safest techniques for keeping Canning...\nCanners Come Together\nExperience the camaraderie of community canning....\nGrowing Raspberries and Blackberries\nGrowing raspberries and blackberries is fun and will help you save money on pricey fruits.\nLearn ho...\nOnce the calyx (which houses the tiny immature morsels) opens to expose the fruit to the\nsun, the berries turn from green to yellow to orange, and finally to deep wine red when\nthey're ready for sampling. (Besides having that characteristic coloration, mature berries\nwill be slightly sticky to the touch.) At the height of the picking season, the richlooking\nberries glistening amidst the lush green foliage and scarlet-furred branches make a\nwineberry thicket both a dramatic and an unmistakable sight.\nYOUR PICK\nWhen you're ready to visit the briar patch, arm yourself with plenty of containers . . .\nbecause wineberries tend to grow in abundance. And be sure to wear good thick socks and\nhigh boots for protection against snakes and poison ivy . . . since the tangled clusters of\ncanes are often home to both.\nCarnelian Cherry\nThe European Cornel (Cornus mas) is a species of dogwood native to southern Europe and\nsouthwest Asia. In North America, the plant is known by the common name of Cornelian\nCherry.\nIt is a medium to large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5–12 m tall, with dark\nbrown branches and greenish twigs. The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm broad,\nwith an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin. The flowers are small (5–10 mm\ndiameter), with four yellow petals, produced in clusters of 10–25 together in the late\nwinter, well before the leaves appear. The fruit is an oblong red drupe 2 cm long and 1.5\ncm in diameter, containing a single seed.\nThe fruit is edible, but the unripe fruit is astringent. The fruit only fully ripens after\nit falls from the tree. When ripe, the fruit is dark ruby red. It has an acidic flavour\nwhich is best described as a mixture of cranberry and sour cherry; it is mainly used for\nmaking jam, makes an excellent sauce similar to cranberry sauce when pitted and then boiled\nwith sugar and orange, but also can be eaten dried. In Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fruit is\nused for distilling vodka, while in Albania it is distilled into raki. In Turkey and Iran\nit is eaten with salt as a snack in summer, and traditionally drunk in a cold drink called\nkizilcik sherbeti. Cultivars selected for fruit production in Ukraine have fruit up to 4 cm\nlong. The berries when ripe on the plant bear a resemblance to coffee berries, and ripen in\nmid to late summer.\n[edit] Flowers\nEuropean Cornel flowering\nThe species is also grown as an ornamental plant for its late winter flowers, which open\nearlier than those of forsythia, and, while not as large and vibrant as those of the\nforsythia, the entire plant can be used for a similar effect in the landscape.\n[edit] Wood\nThe wood of C. mas is extremely dense, and unlike the wood of most other woody plant\nspecies, sinks in water. This density makes it valuable for crafting into tool handles,\nparts for machines, etc.[1] Cornus mas was used from the seventh century B.C. onward by\nGreek craftsman to construct spears, javelins and bows, the craftsmen considering it far\nsuperior to any other wood.[2] The wood's association with weaponry was so well known that\nthe Greek name for it was used as a synonym for \"spear\" in poetry during the fourth and\nthird centuries B.C.[2]\nThe red dye used to make fezzes was produced from its bark and tannin is produced from its\nleaves.\nRubus occidentalis is a species of Rubus native to eastern North America. Its common name\nblack raspberry is shared with the closely related western American species Rubus\nleucodermis. Other names occasionally used include wild black raspberry, black caps, black\ncap raspberry, thimbleberry,[1][2] and scotch cap.[3]\nRubus occidentalis is a deciduous shrub growing to 2–3 m tall, with prickly shoots. The\nleaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves strong-growing stems in their first year,\nand three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets. The flowers are distinct in having\nlong, slender sepals 6–8 mm long, more than twice as long as the petals. The round-shaped\nfruit is a 12–15 mm diameter aggregation of drupelets; it is edible, and has a high content\nof anthocyanins and ellagic acid.[4][5]\nBlack raspberries are high in anthocyanins. This has led to their being very useful as\nnatural dyes and, since anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants, to a great deal of interest\nin them for their potential nutraceutical value. Extensive work has been ongoing at Ohio\nState University to evaluate their benefit for cancer treatment in mammalian test\nsystems,[6] and the first clinical trials on patients with esophageal cancer.[7]\nThe black raspberry is also closely related to the red raspberries Rubus idaeus and Rubus\nstrigosus, sharing the distinctively white underside of the leaves and fruit that readily\ndetaches from the carpel, but differing in the ripe fruit being black, and in the stems\nbeing more prickly. The black fruit makes them look like blackberries, though this is only\nsuperficial, with the taste being unique and not like either the red raspberry or the\nblackberry. In much of the Mid-Atlantic United States, black raspberries are simply called\nblackberries, even though they are not.\nAs suggested by the common name, black raspberries usually have very dark purple-black\nfruits, rich in anthocyanin pigments. However, due to occasional mutations in the genes\ncontrolling anthocyanin production, yellow-fruited variants (yellow raspberries) sometimes\noccur, and have been occasionally propagated, especially in home/farm gardens in the\nmidwestern United States (e.g., Ohio). The yellow-fruited variants of the black raspberry\nretain that species' distinctive flavor, different from the similar-appearing pale-fruited\nvariants of cultivated red raspberries (generally the Eurasian Rubus idaeus, but with some\nbeing the North American Rubus strigosus, and other cultivars representing hybrids between\nthese two widespread species).\n[edit] Commercial growing and processing\nA basket of black raspberries\nBlack raspberries (Rubus occidentalis L.) being grown commercially in Korea\nThe center for black raspberry production is in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The main\ncultivar, 'Munger', is grown on about 600 ha (1500 acres). Other cultivars include 'John\nRobertson', 'Allen', 'Jewel', 'Blackhawk', 'Macblack', 'Plum Farmer', 'Dundee', 'Hanover',\nand 'Huron'. The plants are summer tipped by hand, mechanically pruned in winter and then\nmachine harvested. The yields are generally low per acre and this is why the fruits are\noften expensive.\nThe species has been used in the breeding of many Rubus hybrids; those between red and\nblack raspberries are common under the name purple raspberries; 'Brandywine', 'Royalty' and\n'Estate' are examples of purple raspberry cultivars.\nThe berries are typically dried, frozen or made into purées and juices or processed as\ncolorants. Two well known liqueurs predominantly based on black raspberry fruit include\nFrance's Chambord Liqueur Royale de France and South Korea's various manufacturers of\nBokbunja (see Korean alcoholic beverages).\n \nBlack Cherry\nPrunus serotina, commonly called Black Cherry, Wild Black Cherry, Rum Cherry, or Mountain\nBlack Cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. This cherry is native\nto eastern North America: from Eastern Canada through southern Quebec and Ontario; south\nthrough the Eastern United States to Texas and central Florida; with disjunct populations\nin Arizona and New Mexico; and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala.[2][3]\nImmature fruit\n * 6 References\n[edit] Description\nThe Black Cherry is a species in the subgenus Padus with flowers in racemes, and is a\ndeciduous tree growing to 15–30 m tall with a trunk diameter of up to 70–120 cm,\noccasionally more. The leaves are simple, 6–14 cm long, with a serrated margin. The flowers\nare small (10–15 mm diameter), with five white petals and about 20 stamens, and are\nfragrant; there are around 40 flowers on each raceme. The fruit is a drupe, 1 cm diameter,\ngreen to red at first, ripening black; it is usually astringent and bitter when eaten\nfresh, but also somewhat sweet. The fruit is readily eaten by birds.[2][4]\nCloseup of Bark\nA mature Black Cherry can easily be identified in a forest by its very broken, dark grey to\nblack bark, which has the appearance of very thick, burnt potato chips. However, for about\nthe first decade or so of its life, the bark resembles that of a Birch, and is thin and\nstriped. It can also quickly be identified by its long, shiny leaves resembling that of a\nSourwood, and by an almond-like odor when a young twig is scratched and held close to the\nnose.[5][6]\nThere are two subspecies:[7]\n * Prunus serotina subsp. serotina. Canada, United States.\n * Prunus serotina subsp. capuli (Cav.) McVaugh. Mexico, Guatemala.\nThe typical subsp. serotina is sometimes further divided into four varieties, var. serotina\nin the east of the range, var. eximia in Texas, and vars. rufula and virens in Arizona, New\nMexico and Texas.[3]\nBlack Cherry is closely related to the Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), however Chokecherry\nis classified as a shrub or small tree and has smaller and less glossy leaves.\n[edit] Ecology\nThe Black Cherry is a pioneer species. In the Midwest, it is seen growing mostly in old\nfields with other sunlight loving species, such as Black Walnut, Black locust, and\nHackberry. It is a moderately long-lived tree, with ages of up to 258 years known, though\nit is prone to storm damage with branches breaking easily; any decay resulting however only\nprogresses slowly.[2] It is well known to proliferate in the Allegheny National Forest\nregion of northwest Pennsylvania.\nThe Black Cherry is also a host of caterpillars of various Lepidoptera (see List of\nLepidoptera which feed on Prunus). The Eastern tent caterpillar defoliates entire groves\nsome springs.\nBlack knot infection\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe fruit is suitable for making jam, cherry pies and has some use in flavoring liqueurs;\nthey are also a popular flavoring for sodas and used in many ice creams. The black cherry\nis commonly used instead of sweet cherries (Prunus avium) in order to achieve a sharper\ntaste. It is also used in cakes which involve dark chocolate such as a Black Forest gateau\nand as garnishes to drinks like cocktails.[citation needed]\nThe timber is valuable, perhaps the premier cabinetry timber of the U.S., traded as\n\"cherry\". It is known for its strong red color and high price. Its weight per cubic meter\nwhen dried is around 580 kg.[8]\nThe wood is also used for cooking and smoking foods, where it imparts a unique flavor.\nThe foliage, particularly when wilted, contains cyanogenic glycosides which convert to\nhydrogen cyanide if eaten by animals.[4] It is recommended that farmers remove any Black\nCherry trees that fall in a field containing livestock, because the wilted leaves could\npoison the animals. Removal is not always practical though, because Black Cherries often\ngrow in very large numbers on farms, taking advantage of the light brought about by mowing\nand grazing. Entire fencerows can be lined with this poisonous tree, making it difficult to\nmonitor all the branches falling into the grazing area.\nBlack Cherry is locally naturalized in parts of Europe, having escaped from cultivation as\nan ornamental tree.[9]\nP. serotina was widely introduced into Central Europe in the mid 20th century.[10][11] It\nhas acted as an invasive species there, negatively impacting forest community diversity and\nregeneration.[12]\nLike apricots, the seeds of black cherries contain compounds that can be converted into\ncyanide, such as amygdalin.[13][14] These compounds release hydrogen cyanide when the seed\nis ground or minced, which releases enzymes that break down the compounds. These enzymes\ninclude amygdalin beta-glucosidase, prunasin beta-glucosidase and mandelonitrile lyase.[15]\nIn contrast, although the flesh of cherries also contain these compounds, they do not\ncontain the enzymes needed to produce cyanide, so the flesh is safe to eat.\nBlack Birch\nBetula lenta (Sweet Birch, also known as Black Birch, Cherry Birch, Mahogany Birch, or\nSpice Birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from southern Maine\nwest to southernmost Ontario, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.\n[edit] Characteristics and habitat\nIt is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching 20 m tall with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter.\nThe bark is (unlike most birches) rough, dark blackish-brown, cracking into irregular scaly\nplates. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of oil of wintergreen. The leaves are\nalternate, ovate, 5-10 cm long and 4-8 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers\nare wind-pollinated catkins 3-6 cm long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins\nerect. The fruit, maturing in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed\nbetween the catkin bracts.\nBetula lenta was used commercially in the past for production of oil of wintergreen before\nmodern industrial synthesis; the tree's name reflects this scent of the shoots.\nThe sap flows about a month later than maple sap, and much faster. The trees can be tapped\nin a similar fashion, but must be gathered about three times more often. Birch sap can be\nboiled the same as maple sap, but its syrup is stronger (like molasses).\nBetula lenta's leaves serve as food for some lepidopteran caterpillars. See List of\nLepidoptera that feed on birches.\nGrowing in forests throughout eastern North America, this common native tree's cambium (the\ngreen layer under the bark) contains the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory oil of\nwintergreen, which you can smell if you scratch-and-sniff the twigs or bark.\nChew on the delicious twigs like chewing gum (this also alleviates bad breath), or steep\nthem for tea. A strong cup may be the equivalent of 1/4 to 1/2 an aspirin.\nChewing on the twigs tastes great, and it reduces the pain of teething.\nWild Blackberries\nThe blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of\nthe Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate\nfruit, composed of small drupelets. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial\nroots. Blackberries and raspberries are also called caneberries or brambles. It is a\nwidespread, and well known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related\napomictic microspecies native throughout the temperate northern hemisphere and South\nAmerica.[1]\n[edit] Growth and anatomical description\nBlackberries are perennial plants which typically bear biennial stems (\"canes\") from the\nperennial root system.[2]\nIn its first year, a new stem, the primocane, grows vigorously to its full length of 3–6 m\n(in some cases, up to 9 m), arching or trailing along the ground and bearing large\npalmately compound leaves with five or seven leaflets; it does not produce any flowers. In\nits second year, the cane becomes a floricane and the stem does not grow longer, but the\nlateral buds break to produce flowering laterals (which have smaller leaves with three or\nfive leaflets).[2] First and second year shoots usually have numerous short curved very\nsharp prickles. Prickle-free cultivars have been developed. Recently the University of\nArkansas has developed primocane fruiting blackberries that grow and flower on first year\ngrowth much as the primocane-fruiting (also called fall bearing or everbearing) red\nraspberries do.\nUnmanaged mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems, the branches rooting from the\nnode tip on many species when they reach the ground. Vigorous and growing rapidly in woods,\nscrub, hillsides and hedgerows, blackberry shrubs tolerate poor soils, readily colonizing\nwasteland, ditches and vacant lots.[1][3]\nThe flowers are produced in late spring and early summer on short racemes on the tips of\nthe flowering laterals.[2] Each flower is about 2–3 cm in diameter with five white or pale\npink petals.[2]\nThe drupelets only develop around ovules that are fertilized by the male gamete from a\npollen grain. The most likely cause of undeveloped ovules is inadequate pollinator\nvisits.[4] Even a small change in conditions, such as a rainy day or a day too hot for bees\nto work after early morning, can reduce the number of bee visits to the flower, thus\nreducing the quality of the fruit. Incomplete drupelet development can also be a symptom of\nexhausted reserves in the plant's roots, or infection with a virus such as Raspberry bushy\ndwarf virus.\nIn botanical terminology, the fruit is not a berry, but an aggregate fruit of numerous\ndrupelets.\nBlackberry leaves are food for certain caterpillars; some grazing mammals, especially deer,\nare also very fond of the leaves. Caterpillars of the concealer moth Alabonia geoffrella\nhave been found feeding inside dead blackberry shoots.\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nPrimary cultivation takes place in the state of Oregon located in the United States of\nAmerica. Recorded in 1995 and 2006: 6,180 acres (25.0 km2) to 6,900 acres (28 km2) of\nblackberries, producing 42.6 to 41.5 million pounds, making Oregon the leading blackberry\nproducer in the world.[5][6] While Oregon may lead the world in volume of fruit produced,\nSerbia has tremendous acreage and Mexico has had dramatically increasing acreage and may\nsoon lead the world.\nThe soft fruit is popular for use in desserts, jams, seedless jellies and sometimes wine.\nIt is often mixed with apples for pies and crumbles.\nGood nectar producers, blackberry shrubs bearing flowers yield a medium to dark, fruity\nhoney.\nThe blackberry is known to contain polyphenol antioxidants, naturally occurring chemicals\nthat can upregulate certain beneficial metabolic processes in mammals. The astringent\nblackberry root is sometimes used in herbal medicine as a treatment for diarrhea and\ndysentery.[7] The related but smaller dewberry can be distinguished by the white, waxy\ncoating on the fruits, which also usually have fewer drupelets. (Rubus caesius) is in its\nown section (Caesii) within the subgenus Rubus.\nIn some parts of the world, such as in Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the Pacific\nNorthwest region of North America, some blackberry species, particularly Rubus armeniacus\n(syn. R. procerus, 'Himalaya') and Rubus laciniatus ('Evergreen') are naturalised and\nconsidered an invasive species and a serious weed.[1]\nAs there is forensic evidence from the Iron Age Haraldskær Woman that she consumed\nblackberries some 2500 years ago, it is reasonable to conclude that blackberries have been\neaten by humans over thousands of years.\n[edit] Diseases and pests\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\nThe spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii is a serious pest of blackberries. Unlike\nits vinegar fly relatives which are primarily attracted to rotting or fermented fruit, D.\nsuzukii attacks fresh, ripe fruit by laying eggs under the soft skin. The larvae hatch and\ngrow in the fruit, destroying the fruit's commercial value.\n[edit] Commercial cultivars\nNumerous cultivars have been selected for commercial and amateur cultivation in Europe[1]\nand United States.[8] Since the many species form hybrids easily, there are numerous\ncultivars with more than one species in their ancestry.\n'Marion' (marketed as \"marionberry\") is an important cultivar that was selected from\nseedlings from a cross between 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' (commonly called \"olallieberry\")\nberries.[9] It is claimed to \"capture the best attributes of both berries and yields an\naromatic bouquet and an intense blackberry flavor\". The marionberry was introduced by\nGeorge F. Waldo of the USDA-ARS in Corvallis, Oregon in 1956. Adapted to Western Oregon,\nthe marionberry is named after Marion County, Oregon, in which it was tested extensively.\n'Olallie' in turn is a cross between loganberry and youngberry. 'Marion', 'Chehalem' and\n'Olallie' are just three of many trailing blackberry cultivars developed by the United\nStates Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) blackberry\nbreeding program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.\nThe most recent cultivars released from this program are the thornless cultivars 'Black\nDiamond', 'Black Pearl' and 'Nightfall' as well as the very early ripening 'Obsidian' and\n'Metolius'. 'Black Diamond' is now the leading cultivar being planted in the Pacific\nNorthwest. Some of the other cultivars from this program are 'Waldo', 'Siskiyou', 'Black\nButte', 'Kotata', 'Pacific' and 'Cascade'.[10]\nTrailing blackberries are vigorous, crown forming, require a trellis for support, and are\nless cold hardy than the erect or semi-erect blackberries. In addition to the U.S. Pacific\nNorthwest, these types do well in similar climates such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand,\nChile, and the Mediterranean countries.\nSemi-erect, thornless blackberries were first developed at the John Innes Centre in\nNorwich, UK, and subsequently by the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, Maryland. These are crown\nforming, very vigorous, and need a trellis for support. Cultivars include 'Black Satin'\n'Chester Thornless', 'Dirksen Thornless', 'Hull Thornless', 'Loch Ness', 'Loch Tay',\n'Merton Thornless', 'Smoothstem' and 'Triple Crown'. Recently, the cultivar 'Cacanska\nBestrna' (also called 'Cacak Thornless') has been developed in Serbia and has been planted\non many thousands of hectares there.\nThe University of Arkansas has developed cultivars of erect blackberries. These types are\nless vigorous than the semi-erect types and produce new canes from root initials (therefore\nthey spread underground like raspberries). There are thornless and thorny cultivars from\nthis program, including 'Navaho', 'Ouachita', 'Cherokee', 'Apache', 'Arapaho' and 'Kiowa'.\nThey are also responsible for developing the primocane fruiting blackberries such as\n'Prime-Jan' and 'Prime-Jim'.\nIn raspberries, these types are called primocane fruiting, fall fruiting, or everbearing.\n'Prime-Jim' and 'Prime-Jan' were released in 2004 and are the first cultivars of primocane\nfruiting blackberry.[citation needed] They grow much like the other erect cultivars\ndescribed above, however the canes that emerge in the spring, will flower in mid-summer and\nfruit in late summer or fall. The fall crop has its highest quality when it ripens in cool\nmild climate such as in California or the Pacific Northwest.[citation needed]\n'Illini Hardy' a semi-erect thorny cultivar introduced by the University of Illinois is\ncane hardy in zone 5, where traditionally blackberry production has been problematic, since\ncanes often failed to survive the winter.\nThe blackberry tends to be red during its unripe (\"green\") phase, leading to an old\nexpression that \"blackberries are red when they're green\".\nIn various parts of the United States, wild blackberries are sometimes called \"Black-caps\",\na term more commonly used for black raspberries, Rubus occidentalis.\nBlackberry production in Mexico has expanded enormously in the past decade. While once\nbased on the cultivar 'Brazos', an old erect blackberry cultivar developed in Texas in\n1959, the Mexican industry is now dominated by the Brazilian 'Tupy' released in the 1990s.\n'Tupy' has the erect blackberry 'Comanche' and a \"wild Uruguayan blackberry\" as\nparents.[11] Since there are no native blackberries in Uruguay, the suspicion is that the\nwidely grown 'Boysenberry' is the male parent. In order to produce these blackberries in\nregions of Mexico where there is no winter chilling to stimulate flower bud development,\nchemical defoliation and application of growth regulators are used to bring the plants into\nbloom.\n[edit] Nutrients and antioxidant qualities\nBlackberries are notable for their high nutritional contents of dietary fiber, vitamin C,\nvitamin K, folic acid - a B vitamin, and the essential mineral, manganese (table).\nNutrients in raw blackberries[12] Nutrient Value per 100 grams % Daily Value\nEnergy 43 kcal \nFiber, total dietary 5.3 g 21%\nSugars, total 4.9 g \nCalcium, Ca 29 mg 3%\nMagnesium, Mg 20 mg 5%\nManganese, Mn 0.6 mg 32%\nCopper, Cu 0.2 mg 8%\nPotassium, K 162 mg 5%\nSodium, Na 1 mg 0%\nVitamin C, total ascorbic acid 21 mg 35%\nVitamin A, IU 214 IU 4%\nVitamin K, µg 20 µg 25%\nFolic acid, µg 36 µg 9%\nCarotene, beta 128 µg ne\nLutein + zeaxanthin 118 µg ne\nne: Daily Value not established\nBlackberries rank highly among fruits for antioxidant strength, particularly due to their\ndense contents of polyphenolic compounds, such as ellagic acid, tannins, ellagitannins,\nquercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins and cyanidins.[13][14]\nBlackberries have an ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of 5347 per 100 grams,\nincluding them among the top-ranked ORAC fruits. Another report using a different assay for\nassessing antioxidant strength placed blackberry at the top of more than 1000 antioxidant\nfoods consumed in the United States.[15]\n[edit] Nutrient content of seeds\nBlackberries are exceptional among other Rubus berries for their numerous, large seeds not\nalways preferred by consumers. They contain rich amounts of omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid)\nand -6 fats (linoleic acid), protein, dietary fiber, carotenoids, ellagitannins and ellagic\nacid.\n \nBeach Plum\nPrunus maritima (Beach Plum) is a species of plum native to the Atlantic coast of North\nAmerica, from Maine south to Maryland.[1][2] Although sometimes listed as extending to New\nBrunswick, the species is not known from collections there, and does not appear in the most\nauthoritative works on the flora of that Canadian province.[3]\nIt is a deciduous shrub, in its natural sand dune habitat growing 1-2 m high, although it\ncan grow larger, up to 4 m tall, when cultivated in gardens. The leaves are alternate,\nelliptical, 3-7 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a sharply serrated margin. They are colored\ngreen on top and pale below, becoming showy in the autumn. The flowers are 1-1.5 cm\ndiameter, with five white petals and large yellow anthers. The fruit is an edible drupe\n1.5-2 cm diameter in the wild plant.[4][5]\nA plant with rounded leaves, of which only a single specimen has ever been found in the\nwild, has been described as Prunus maritima var. gravesii (Small) G.J.Anderson,[6] though\nits taxonomic status is questionable, and it may be better considered a cultivar Prunus\nmaritima 'Gravesii'.[7] The original plant, found in Connecticut, died in about 2000, but\nit is maintained in cultivation from rooted cuttings.[6]\nThe plant is salt-tolerant and cold-hardy. It prefers the full sun and well-drained soil.\nIt spreads roots by putting out suckers but in coarse soil puts down a tap root. In dunes\nit is often partly buried in drifting sand. It blooms in mid-May and June. The fruit ripens\nin August and early September.\nThe species is endangered in Maine, where it is in serious decline due to commercial\ndevelopment of its beach habitats.[4]\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe species is grown commercially for its fruit to a small extent, used to make jam.[8] It\ncan be eaten out of hand and usually is a sweet snack although it is much smaller in size\nwhen compared to the longer cultivated Asian varieties found in the supermarket. A number\nof cultivars have been selected for larger and better flavored fruit, including 'Eastham',\n'Oceanview', 'Hancock' and 'Squibnocket'\n \nPEACH AND NECTARINE\nThe peach tree (Prunus persica) is a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible\njuicy fruit called a peach. It is a deciduous tree growing to 4–10 m (13–33 ft) tall,\nbelonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It is classified with the\nalmond in the subgenus Amygdalus within the genus Prunus, distinguished from the other\nsubgenera by the corrugated seed shell.\nThe leaves are lanceolate, 7–16 cm (2.8–6.3 in) long, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) broad, pinnately\nveined. The flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or\npaired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals. The fruit has yellow or whitish flesh, a\ndelicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in\ndifferent cultivars. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but\nis fairly firm in some commercial varieties, especially when green. The single, large seed\nis red-brown, oval shaped, approximately 1.3–2 cm long, and is surrounded by a wood-like\nhusk. Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes).\nThe scientific name persica, along with the word \"peach\" itself and its cognates in many\nEuropean languages, derives from an early European belief that peaches were native to\nPersia (now Iran). The modern botanical consensus is that they originate in China, and were\nintroduced to Persia and the Mediterranean region along the Silk Road before Christian\ntimes.[1] Cultivated peaches are divided into clingstones and freestones, depending on\nwhether the flesh sticks to the stone or not; both can have either white or yellow flesh.\nPeaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little acidity, while yellow-fleshed\npeaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies\ngreatly. Both colours often have some red on their skin. Low-acid white-fleshed peaches are\nthe most popular kinds in China, Japan, and neighbouring Asian countries, while Europeans\nand North Americans have historically favoured the acidic, yellow-fleshed kinds.\nContents\nAlthough its botanical name Prunus persica suggests the peach is native to Persia, peaches\nactually originated in China where they have been cultivated since the early days of\nChinese culture. Peaches were mentioned in Chinese writings as far back as the 10th century\nBC and were a favoured fruit of kings and emperors. Recently, the history of cultivation of\npeaches in China has been extensively reviewed citing numerous original manuscripts dating\nback to 1100 BC.[2]\nIts English name derives originally from the Latin Prunus persica, then persica, then\npessica, then pesca, then the French pêche, then peach in Middle English.[citation needed]\nThe peach was brought to India and Western Asia in ancient times.[3] Alexander the Great\nintroduced the fruit into Europe after he conquered the Persians.[3] Then it was brought to\nthe Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and eventually made it to England and\nFrance in the 17th century, where it was a prized, albeit rare, treat.[citation needed]\nThe horticulturist George Minifie supposedly brought the first peaches from England to its\nNorth American colonies in the early 17th century, planting them at his Estate of Buckland\nin Virginia.[4]\nVarious American Indian tribes are credited with spreading the peach tree across the United\nStates, taking seeds along with them and planting as they roved the country.\nAlthough Thomas Jefferson had peach trees at Monticello, United States farmers did not\nbegin commercial production until the 19th century in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia and\nfinally Virginia. California today grows 65% of peaches grown for commercial production in\nthe United States,[5] but the states of Colorado, Michigan, and Washington also grow a\nsignificant amount. Italy, China, India and Greece are major producers of peaches outside\nof the United States.\nIn 2010, a team of researchers at Clemson University, USA, announced they had sequenced the\npeach tree genome (doubled haploid Lovell).[6][7]\n[edit] Cultivation\nWorldwide peach and nectarine output in 2005. The major producer, China, is in green;\nsmaller producers are in yellow; the smallest producers are in red.\nPeach plants grow very well in a fairly limited range, since they have a chilling\nrequirement that tropical areas cannot satisfy, and they are not very cold-hardy. The trees\nthemselves can usually tolerate temperatures to around -26 to -30 °C (-15 to -22 °F),\nalthough the following season's flower buds are usually killed at these temperatures,\nleading to no crop that summer. Flower bud kill begins to occur between -15 and -25 °C (5\nand -13 °F) depending on the cultivar (some are more cold-tolerant than others) and the\ntiming of the cold, with the buds becoming less cold tolerant in late winter.[8] Certain\ncultivars are more tender and others can tolerate a few degrees colder. In addition, a lot\nof summer heat is required to mature the crop, with mean temperatures of the hottest month\nbetween 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F). Another problematic issue in many peach-growing areas\nis spring frost. The trees tend to flower fairly early in spring. The blooms often can be\ndamaged or killed by freezes; typically, if temperatures drop below about −4 °C (24.8 °F),\nmost flowers will be killed. However, if the flowers are not fully open, they can tolerate\na couple of degrees colder.[citation needed]\nImportant historical peach-producing areas are China, Iran, France, and the Mediterranean\ncountries like Italy, Spain and Greece. More recently, the United States (where the three\nlargest-producing states are California, South Carolina,[9] and Georgia[10]), Canada\n(British Columbia), and Australia (the Riverland region) have also become important; peach\ngrowing in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, Canada, was formerly intensive but slowed\nsubstantially in 2008 when the last fruit cannery in Canada was closed by the\nproprietors.[11] Oceanic climate areas like the Pacific Northwest and coastline of North\nWestern Europe are generally not satisfactory for peach-growing due to inadequate summer\nheat, though they are sometimes grown trained against south-facing walls to catch extra\nheat from the sun. Trees grown in a sheltered and south-facing position in the southeast of\nEngland are capable of producing both flowers and a large crop of fruit. In Vietnam, the\nmost famous variety of peach fruit product is grown in Mẫu Sơn commune, Lộc Bình district,\nLạng Sơn province.\nFor home gardeners, semi-dwarf (3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13 ft)) and dwarf (2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to\n9 ft 10 in)) varieties have been developed by grafting desirable cultivars onto dwarfing\nrootstock. Fruit size is not affected. Another mutation is flowering peaches, selected for\nornamental display rather than fruit production.\nDepending on climate and cultivar, peach harvest can occur from late May into August;\nharvest from each tree lasts about a week.\n[edit] Nectarines\nWhite nectarines, whole and cut open\nThe nectarine is a cultivar group of peach that has a smooth skin. Though fuzzy peaches and\nnectarines are regarded commercially as different fruits, with nectarines often erroneously\nbelieved to be a crossbreed between peaches and plums, or a \"peach with a plum skin\", they\nbelong to the same species as peaches. Several genetic studies have concluded in fact that\nnectarines are created due to a recessive gene, whereas a fuzzy peach skin is dominant.[12]\nNectarines have arisen many times from peach trees, often as bud sports.\nAs with peaches, nectarines can be white or yellow, and clingstone or freestone. On\naverage, nectarines are slightly smaller and sweeter than peaches, but with much\noverlap.[12] The lack of skin fuzz can make nectarine skins appear more reddish than those\nof peaches, contributing to the fruit's plum-like appearance. The lack of down on\nnectarines' skin also means their skin is more easily bruised than peaches.\nThe history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention in English is from\n1616,[13] but they had probably been grown much earlier within the native range of the\npeach in central and eastern Asia. Nectarines were introduced into the United States by\nDavid Fairchild of the Department of Agriculture in 1906.[14]\n[edit] Diseases\nMain article: List of peach and nectarine diseases\nThe trees are prone to a disease called leaf curl, which usually does not directly affect\nthe fruit but does reduce the crop yield by partially defoliating the tree. The fruit is\nvery susceptible to brown rot, or a dark reddish spot.\n[edit] Planting\nThe developmental sequence of a nectarine over a 7 1⁄2-month period, from bud formation in\nearly winter to fruit ripening in midsummer (see image page for further information)\nMost peach trees sold by nurseries are named cultivars budded or grafted onto a suitable\nrootstock. It is also possible to grow a tree from either a peach or nectarine seed, but\nthe fruit quality of the resulting tree will be very unpredictable.\nPeaches should be located in full sun, and with good air flow. This allows cold air to flow\naway on frosty nights and keeps the area cool in summer. Peaches are best planted in early\nwinter, as this allows time for the roots to establish and to sustain the new spring\ngrowth. When planting in rows, plant north–south.\nFor optimum growth, peach trees require a constant supply of water. This should be\nincreased shortly before the harvest. The best tasting fruit is produced when the peach is\nwatered throughout the season. Drip irrigation is ideal, with at least one dripper per\ntree. Although it is better to use multiple drippers around the tree, this is not\nnecessary. A quarter of the root being watered is sufficient.\nPeaches have a high nutrient requirement, needing more nitrogen than most other fruit\ntrees. An NPK fertilizer can be applied regularly, and an additional mulch of poultry\nmanure in autumn soon after the harvest will benefit the tree. If the leaves of the peach\nare yellow or small, the tree needs more nitrogen. Blood meal and bone meal, 3–5 kilograms\n(6.6–11 lb) per mature tree, or calcium ammonium nitrate, 0.5–1 kilogram (1.1–2.2 lb), are\nsuitable fertilizers. This also applies if the tree is putting forth little growth.\nIf the full amount of peaches is left, they will be under-sized and lacking in sugar and\nflavour. In dry conditions, extra watering is important. The fruit should be thinned when\nthey have reached 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in diameter, usually about two months after\nflowering. Fresh fruit are best consumed on the day of picking, and do not keep well. They\nare best eaten when the fruit is slightly soft, having aroma, and heated by the sun.\n[edit] Storage\nPeaches should be stored at room temperature and refrigeration should be avoided as this\ncan lessen the taste of the peach. Peaches do not ripen after being picked from the tree,\nso storing for ripening is not necessary.[15]\n[edit] Asian tradition\n This section contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see\nquestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.\nThe Chinese flat peach, also called Paraguaya (Paraguayan)\nPeaches are known in China, Japan, Korea, Laos, and Vietnam not only as a popular fruit but\nfor the many folk tales and traditions associated with it.\nIn China, the peach （Chinese: 桃; pinyin: táo) was said to be consumed by the immortals due\nto its mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. The divinity Yu Huang,\nalso called the Jade Emperor, and his mother Xi Wangmu, also known as Queen Mother of the\nWest, ensured the gods' everlasting existence by feeding them the peaches of immortality.\nThe immortals residing in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant\nbanquet called the Pantao Hui or \"The Feast of Peaches\". The immortals waited six thousand\nyears before gathering for this magnificent feast; the peach tree put forth leaves once\nevery thousand years and it required another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen.\nIvory statues depicting Xi Wangmu's attendants often held three peaches.\nA Chinese Song Dynasty painting of a bird and peach blossom, by Emperor Huizong of Song,\n11th century. The bird resembles and is most likely a type of pigeon. A favourite of many\npigeons are leaves of the plum family (which includes peaches etc).\n. The peach often plays an important part in Chinese tradition and is symbolic of long\nlife. One example is in the peach-gathering story of Zhang Daoling, who some say is the\ntrue founder of Taoism. Elder Zhang Guo, one of the Chinese Eight Immortals, is often\ndepicted carrying a Peach of Immortality. Peach blossoms are highly prized in Chinese\nculture and because they appear before a single leaf has sprouted, the ancient Chinese\nbelieved the peach to possess more vitality than any other tree. When early rulers of China\nvisited their territories they were preceded by sorcerers armed with peach rods to protect\nthem from spectral evils. On the last day of the year local magistrates would cut peach\nwood branches and place them over their doors to protect against evil influences.[16] Peach\nkernels (桃仁 táo rén) are a common ingredient used in Traditional Chinese medicine to dispel\nblood stasis, counter inflammation and reduce allergies.[17]\nIt was in an orchard of flowering peach trees that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took an\noath of brotherhood in the opening chapter of the classic Chinese novel Romance of the\nThree Kingdoms.\nMomotaro, one of Japan's most noble and semi-historical heroes, was born from within an\nenormous peach floating down a stream. Momotaro or \"Peach Boy\" went on to fight evil oni\nand face many adventures.\nIn Korea, peaches have been cultivated from ancient times. According to Samguk Sagi, peach\ntrees were planted during the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, and Sallim gyeongje also\nmentions cultivation skills of peach trees. Peach is seen as the fruit of happiness,\nriches, honours and longevity. It is one of the ten immortal plants and animals, so peach\nappears in many minhwa (folk painting). It is believed that peach and peach trees chase\naway spirits, so peach is not placed on the table for jesa (ancestor veneration) unlike\nother fruits.[18][19]\nA Vietnamese mythic history states that, in the spring of 1789, after marching to Ngọc Hồi\nand then winning a great victory against invaders from the Qing Dynasty of China, the King\nQuang Trung ordered a messenger to gallop to Phú Xuân citadel (Huế nowadays) and deliver a\nflowering peach branch to the Princess Ngọc Hân. This took place on the fifth day of the\nfirst lunar month, two days before the predicted end of the battle. The branch of peach\nflowers that was sent from the North to the Centre of Vietnam was not only a message of\nvictory from the King to his wife, but also the start of a new spring of peace and\nhappiness for all the Vietnamese people. In addition to that, since the land of Nhật Tân\nhad freely given that very branch of peach flowers to the King, it became the loyal garden\nof his dynasty.\nA peach tree is also the context in which Kim Trọng and Thuý Kiều fell in love in The Tale\nof Kieu. And in Vietnam, the blossoming peach flower is the signal of spring. Finally,\npeach bonsai trees are used as decoration during Vietnamese New Year (Tết) in Northern\nVietnam.\n[edit] Nutrition and health\nWiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.\nA medium peach 75 g (2.6 oz), has 30 Cal, 7 g of carbohydrate (6 g sugars and 1 g fibre), 1\ng of protein, 140 mg of potassium, and 8% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin C.[20]\nAs with many other members of the rose family, peach seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides,\nincluding amygdalin (note the subgenus designation: Amygdalus). These substances are\ncapable of decomposing into a sugar molecule and hydrogen cyanide gas. While peach seeds\nare not the most toxic within the rose family, that dubious honour going to the bitter\nalmond, large doses of these chemicals from any source are hazardous to human health.\nPeach allergy or intolerance is a relatively common form of hypersensitivity to proteins\ncontained in peaches and related fruit (almonds). Symptoms range from local symptoms (e.g.\noral allergy syndrome, contact urticaria) to systemic symptoms including anaphylaxis (e.g.\nurticaria, angioedema, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms).[21] Adverse reactions\nare related to the \"freshness\" of the fruit: peeled or canned fruit may be tolerated.\n \nApples\nThe apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose\nfamily (Rosaceae). It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely\nknown of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans.\nThe tree originated in Western Asia, where its wild ancestor, the Alma, is still found\ntoday. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting in a range of desired\ncharacteristics. Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when\ngrown on the same rootstock.[2]\nAt least 55 million tonnes of apples were grown worldwide in 2005, with a value of about\n$10 billion. China produced about 35% of this total.[3] The United States is the\nsecond-leading producer, with more than 7.5% of world production. Iran is third, followed\nby Turkey, Russia, Italy and India.\nIn the wild, apples grow quite readily from seeds. However, like most perennial fruits,\napples are ordinarily propagated asexually by grafting. This is because seedling apples are\nan example of \"extreme heterozygotes\", in that rather than inheriting DNA from their\nparents to create a new apple with those characteristics, they are instead different from\ntheir parents, sometimes radically.[28] Triploids have an additional reproductive barrier\nin that the 3 sets of chromosomes cannot be divided evenly during meiosis, yielding unequal\nsegregation of the chromosomes (aneuploids). Even in the very unusual case when a triploid\nplant can produce a seed (apples are an example), it happens infrequently, and seedlings\nrarely survive.[29] Most new apple cultivars originate as seedlings, which either arise by\nchance or are bred by deliberately crossing cultivars with promising characteristics.[30]\nThe words 'seedling', 'pippin', and 'kernel' in the name of an apple cultivar suggest that\nit originated as a seedling. Apples can also form bud sports (mutations on a single\nbranch). Some bud sports turn out to be improved strains of the parent cultivar. Some\ndiffer sufficiently from the parent tree to be considered new cultivars.[31]\nBreeders can produce more rigid apples through crossing.[32] For example, the Excelsior\nExperiment Station of the University of Minnesota has, since the 1930s, introduced a steady\nprogression of important hardy apples that are widely grown, both commercially and by\nbackyard orchardists, throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its most important introductions\nhave included 'Haralson' (which is the most widely cultivated apple in Minnesota),\n'Wealthy', 'Honeygold', and 'Honeycrisp'.\nApples have been acclimatized in Ecuador at very high altitudes, where they provide crops\ntwice per year because of constant temperate conditions in a whole year.[33]\nApple rootstocks\nRootstocks used to control tree size have been used in apple cultivation for over 2,000\nyears. Dwarfing rootstocks were probably discovered by chance in Asia. Alexander the Great\nsent samples of dwarf apple trees back to his teacher, Aristotle, in Greece. They were\nmaintained at the Lyceum, a center of learning in Greece.\nMost modern apple rootstocks were bred in the 20th century. Much research into the existing\nrootstocks was begun at the East Malling Research Station in Kent, England. Following that\nresearch, Malling worked with the John Innes Institute and Long Ashton to produce a series\nof different rootstocks with disease resistance and a range of different sizes, which have\nbeen used all over the world.\nPollination\nSee also: Fruit tree pollination\nApple tree in flower\nOrchard mason bee on apple bloom, British Columbia, Canada\nApples are self-incompatible; they must cross-pollinate to develop fruit. During the\nflowering each season, apple growers usually provide pollinators to carry the pollen. Honey\nbees are most commonly used. Orchard mason bees are also used as supplemental pollinators\nin commercial orchards. Bumblebee queens are sometimes present in orchards, but not usually\nin enough quantity to be significant pollinators.[31]\nThere are four to seven pollination groups in apples, depending on climate:\n * Group A – Early flowering, May 1 to 3 in England (Gravenstein, Red Astrachan)\n * Group B – May 4 to 7 (Idared, McIntosh)\n * Group C – Mid-season flowering, May 8 to 11 (Granny Smith, Cox's Orange Pippin)\n * Group D – Mid/late season flowering, May 12 to 15 (Golden Delicious, Calville blanc\nd'hiver)\n * Group E – Late flowering, May 16 to 18 (Braeburn, Reinette d'Orléans)\n * Group F – May 19 to 23 (Suntan)\n * Group H – May 24 to 28 (Court-Pendu Gris) (also called Court-Pendu plat)\nOne cultivar can be pollinated by a compatible cultivar from the same group or close (A\nwith A, or A with B, but not A with C or D).[34]\nVarieties are sometimes classed as to the day of peak bloom in the average 30 day blossom\nperiod, with pollinizers selected from varieties within a 6 day overlap period.\nMaturation and harvest\nSee also: Fruit picking and Fruit tree pruning\nCultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the\nsame rootstock. Some cultivars, if left unpruned, will grow very large, which allows them\nto bear much more fruit, but makes harvesting very difficult. Mature trees typically bear\n40–200 kilograms (88–440 lb) of apples each year, though productivity can be close to zero\nin poor years. Apples are harvested using three-point ladders that are designed to fit\namongst the branches. Dwarf trees will bear about 10–80 kilograms (22–180 lb) of fruit per\nyear.[31]\nCommercially, apples can be stored for some months in controlled-atmosphere chambers to\ndelay ethylene-induced onset of ripening. The apples are commonly stored in chambers with\nhigher concentrations of carbon dioxide with high air filtration. This prevents ethylene\nconcentrations from rising to higher amounts and preventing ripening from moving too\nquickly. Ripening continues when the fruit is removed.[35] For home storage, most varieties\nof apple can be held for approximately two weeks when kept at the coolest part of the\nrefrigerator (i.e. below 5°C). Some types, including the Granny Smith and Fuji, have a\nlonger shelf life.[36]\nLeaves with significant insect damage\nMain article: List of apple diseases\nSee also: List of Lepidoptera that feed on apple trees\nThe trees are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial diseases and insect pests.\nMany commercial orchards pursue an aggressive program of chemical sprays to maintain high\nfruit quality, tree health, and high yields. A trend in orchard management is the use of\norganic methods. These use a less aggressive and direct methods of conventional farming.\nInstead of spraying potent chemicals, often shown to be potentially dangerous and\nmaleficent to the tree in the long run, organic methods include encouraging or discouraging\ncertain cycles and pests. To control a specific pest, organic growers might encourage the\nprosperity of its natural predator instead of outright killing it, and with it the natural\nbiochemistry around the tree. Organic apples generally have the same or greater taste than\nconventionally grown apples, with reduced cosmetic appearances.[37]\nA wide range of pests and diseases can affect the plant; three of the more common\ndiseases/pests are mildew, aphids and apple scab.\n * Mildew: which is characterized by light grey powdery patches appearing on the leaves,\nshoots and flowers, normally in spring. The flowers will turn a creamy yellow colour and\nwill not develop correctly. This can be treated in a manner not dissimilar from treating\nBotrytis; eliminating the conditions which caused the disease in the first place and\nburning the infected plants are among the recommended actions to take.[38][38]\nFeeding aphids\n * Aphids: There are five species of aphids commonly found on apples: apple grain aphid,\nrosy apple aphid, apple aphid, spirea aphid and the woolly apple aphid. The aphid species\ncan be identified by their colour, the time of year when they are present and by\ndifferences in the cornicles, which are small paired projections from the rear of\naphids.[38] Aphids feed on foliage using needle-like mouth parts to suck out plant juices.\nWhen present in high numbers, certain species reduce tree growth and vigor.[39]\n * Apple scab: Symptoms of scab are olive-green or brown blotches on the leaves.[40] The\nblotches turn more brown as time progresses, then brown scabs form on the fruit.[38] The\ndiseased leaves will fall early and the fruit will become increasingly covered in scabs -\neventually the fruit skin will crack. Although there are chemicals to treat scab, their use\nmight not be encouraged as they are quite often systematic, which means they are absorbed\nby the tree, and spread throughout the fruit.[40]\nAmong the most serious disease problems are fireblight, a bacterial disease; and\nGymnosporangium rust, and black spot, two fungal diseases.[39]\nYoung apple trees are also prone to mammal pests like mice and deer, which feed on the soft\nbark of the trees, especially in winter.\n \nCeltis occidentalis, commonly known as the Common hackberry, is a medium-size deciduous\ntree native to North America. It is also known as the nettletree, beaverwood, northern\nhackberry, and American hackberry.[1] It is a moderately long-lived[1] hardwood[1] with a\nlight-colored wood, yellowish gray to light brown with yellow streaks.[2]\nThe Common Hackberry is easily distinguished from elms and some other hackberries by its\ncork-like bark with wart-like protuberances. The leaves are distinctly asymmetrical and\ncoarse-textured. It produces small berries that turn orange-red to dark purple in the\nAutumn, often staying on the trees for several months. The Common Hackberry is easily\nconfused with the sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) and is most easily distinguished by range\nand habitat. The Common Hackberry also has wider leaves that are coarser above than the\nsugarberry.\n[edit] Description\nBark\nUsually the Common Hackberry forms a medium sized tree, thirty to fifty feet in height,[1]\nwith a slender trunk; however, it can rise to the height of one hundred and thirty feet, in\nthe best conditions in the southern Mississippi valley area. In the middle states of its\nrange it seldom attains a height of more than sixty feet, and has a handsome round-topped\nhead and pendulous branches. It prefers rich moist soil, but will grow on gravelly or rocky\nhillsides. The roots are fibrous and it grows rapidly.[3] In the western part of its range\nwith less rainfall and poorer soils it normally averages about thirty feet in height, but\nat least one specimen was found at ninety five feet.[1] The maximum age attained by\nhackberry is probably between 150 and 200 years in ideal conditions.[1]\nThe bark is light brown or silvery gray, broken on the surface into thick appressed scales\nand sometimes roughened with excrescenses; pattern is very distinctive. The branchlets are\nslender, light green at first, finally red brown, at length become dark brown tinged with\nred. The winter buds are axillary, ovate, acute, somewhat flattened, one-fourth of an inch\nlong, light brown. Scales enlarge with the growing shoot, the innermost becoming stipules.\nNo terminal bud is formed. The leaves are alternately arranged on stems, ovate to\novate-lanceolate, more or less falcate, two and a half to four inches (102 mm) long, one to\ntwo inches wide, very oblique at the base, serrate, except at the base which is mostly\nentire, acute. Three-nerved, midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud\nconduplicate with slightly involute margins, pale yellow green, downy; when full grown are\nthin, bright green, rough above, paler green beneath. In autumn they turn to a light\nyellow. Petioles slender, slightly grooved, hairy. Stipules varying in form, caducous.\nLeaf\nThe flowers appear in May, soon after the leaves. Polygamo-monœ cious, greenish. Of three\nkinds—staminate, pistillate, perfect; born on slender drooping pedicels. The calyx is light\nyellow green, five-lobed, divided nearly to the base; lobes linear, acute, more or less cut\nat the apex, often tipped with hairs, imbricate in bud.\n * Corolla: Wanting.\nThere are five stamens, which are hypogynous; the filaments are white, smooth, slightly\nflattened and gradually narrowed from base to apex; in the bud incurved, bringing the\nanthers face to face, as flower opens they abruptly straighten; anthers extrorse, oblong,\ntwo-celled; cells opening longitudinally.\n * Pistil: ovary superior, one-celled; style two-lobed; ovules solitary.\n * Fruit: Fleshy drupe, oblong, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, tipped with\nremnants of style, dark purple. Borne on a slender stem; ripens in September and October.\nRemains on branches during winter.[3]\n[edit] Distribution and habitat\nThe Common Hackberry is native to North America from southern Ontario and Quebec, through\nparts of New England, south to North Carolina-(Appalachia), west to northern Oklahoma, and\nnorth to South Dakota. Hackberry's range overlaps with the sugarberry (Celtis laevigata),\nmaking it difficult to establish the exact range of either species in the South. Although\nthere is little actual overlap, in the western part of its range the Common Hackberry is\nsometimes confused with the smaller Netleaf Hackberry (Celtis reticulata), which has a\nsimilar bark. Hackberry grows in many different habitats, although it prefers bottomlands\nand soils high in limestone. Its shade tolerance is greatly dependent on conditions. In\nfavorable conditions its seedlings will persist under a closed canopy, but in less\nfavorable conditions it can be considered shade intolerant.\n[edit] Ecology\nFruits\nHackberry is highly susceptible to fire damage. The leaves are eaten by four gall-producing\ninsects of the Pachypsylla genus, which do not cause serious damage to the tree. A number\nof insects and fungi cause rapid decay of dead branches or roots of the tree.\nThe small berries, hackberries, are eaten by a number of birds and mammals. Most seeds are\ndispersed by animals, but some seeds are also dispersed by water.\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nThe wood is light yellow; heavy, soft, coarse-grained, not strong. Used for fencing and\ncheap furniture. Sp. gr., 0.7287; weight of cu. ft., 45.41 lb (20.60 kg).\nHackberry's wood is soft and rots easily, making the wood undesirable commercially,\nalthough it is occasionally used for furniture or other uses. The berries, although edible,\nare small and out of reach, and are seldom eaten by humans. Hackberry is only occasionally\nused as a street or landscape tree, although its tolerance for urban conditions make it\nwell suited to this role. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is known for the extensive\nuse of Hackberry as a street tree.\n \nThe Eastern Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a species of flowering tree in the hickory\nfamily, Juglandaceae, that is native to eastern North America. It grows mostly in riparian\nzones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern\nFlorida and southwest to central Texas. Isolated wild trees in the Upper Ottawa Valley may\nbe an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.\nThe black walnut is a large deciduous tree attaining heights of 30–40 metres (98–130 ft).\nUnder forest competition it develops a tall, clear bole; the open-grown form has a short\nbole and broad crown. The bark is grey-black and deeply furrowed. The pith of the twigs\ncontains air spaces. The leaves are alternate, 30–60 cm long, odd-pinnate with 15–23\nleaflets, the largest leaflets located in the center, 7–10 cm long and 2–3 cm broad. The\nmale flowers are in drooping catkins 8–10 cm long, the female flowers terminal, in clusters\nof two to five, ripening during the autumn into a fruit (nut) with a brownish-green,\nsemi-fleshy husk and a brown corrugated nut. The whole fruit, including the husk, falls in\nOctober; the seed is relatively small and very hard. The tree tends to crop more heavily in\nalternate years.\nWhile its primary native region is the midwest and east central United States, the black\nwalnut was introduced into Europe in 1629. It is cultivated there and in North America as a\nforest tree for its high quality wood. Nuts are produced more by open-grown trees. Black\nwalnut is more resistant to frost than the Persian walnut (also known as the English\nwalnut), but thrives best in the warmer regions of fertile, lowland soils with a high water\ntable. It is a light-demanding species. The wood is used to make furniture, flooring, and\nrifle stocks, and oil is pressed from the seeds. Nuts are harvested by hand from wild\ntrees. About 65% of the annual wild harvest comes from the U.S. state of Missouri and the\nlargest processing plant is in Stockton, Missouri.[citation needed] The black walnut\nnutmeats are used as an ingredient in food while the hard black walnut shell is used\ncommercially in abrasive cleaning, cosmetics, and oil well drilling and water filtration.\nWhere the range of J. nigra overlaps that of the Texas black walnut J. microcarpa, the two\nspecies sometimes interbreed, producing populations with characteristics intermediate\nbetween the two species.[1]\nContents\nPercentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.\nSource: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/cgi-bin/list_nut_edit.pl\nIn addition to its use as a shade tree, J. nigra can be used for the fruits it produces,\nand for lumber.\nBlack walnut nuts are shelled commercially in the United States. The nutmeats provide a\nrobust, distinctive, natural flavor and crunch as a food ingredient. Popular uses include\nice cream, bakery goods and confections. Consumers include black walnuts in traditional\ntreats, such as cakes, cookies, fudge, and pies during the fall holiday season. The nut’s\nstrong nutritional profile leads to uses in other foods such as salads, fish, pork,\nchicken, vegetables and pasta dishes.\nNutritionally similar to the milder-tasting English walnut, the black walnut kernel is high\nin unsaturated fat and protein. An analysis of nut oil from five named J. nigra cultivars\n(Ogden, Sparrow, Baugh, Carter and Thomas) showed that the most prevalent fatty acid in J.\nnigra oil is linoleic acid (27.80–33.34 g/100g dry kernel), followed (in the same units) by\noleic acid (14.52–24.40), linolenic acid (1.61–3.23), palmitic acid (1.61–2.15), and\nstearic acid (1.07–1.69).[2] The oil from the cultivar Carter had the highest mol percent\nof linoleate (61.6), linolenate (5.97%), and palmitate (3.98%); the oil from the cultivar\nBaugh had the highest mol percent of oleate (42.7%); the oil from the cultivar Ogden has\nthe highest mol percent of stearate (2.98%).\nTapped in spring, the tree yields a sweet sap that can be drunk or concentrated into syrup\nor sugar.[1]\n[edit] Nut processing by hand\nA woman's hands after removing the husks from 500 black walnuts\nThe extraction of the kernel from the fruit of the black walnut is difficult. The thick\nhard shell is tightly bound by tall ridges to a thick husk. The husk is best removed when\ngreen as the nuts taste better if it is removed then.[citation needed] Rolling the nut\nunderfoot on a hard surface such as a driveway is a common method; commercial huskers use a\ncar tire rotating against a metal mesh. Some take a thick plywood board and drill a nut\nsized hole in it (from one to two inches in diameter) and smash the nut through using a\nhammer. The nut goes through and the husk remains behind.\nWhile the flavor of the Juglans nigra kernel is prized, the difficulty in preparing it may\naccount for the wider popularity and availability of the Persian walnut.\n[edit] Dye\nBlack walnut drupes contain juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone), plumbagin (yellow\nquinone pigments), and tannin.[3] The brownish-black dye was used by early settlers to dye\nhair.[4] Extracts of the outer soft part of the drupe are still used as a natural dye for\nhandicrafts.[5] The tannins present in walnuts act as a mordant aiding in the dyeing\nprocess;[6][7] usable as a dark ink or wood stain.[8]\n[edit] Wood\nBlack walnut is highly prized for its dark-colored true heartwood. It is heavy and strong,\nyet easily split and worked. Walnut wood has historically been used for gunstocks,\nfurniture, flooring, paddles, coffins, and a variety of other woodworking products. Due to\nits value, forestry officials often are called on to track down walnut poachers; in 2004,\nDNA testing was used to solve one such poaching case, involving a 55 foot (16m) tree worth\nUS $2500. Black walnut has a density per cubic meter of 660kg (41.2 lb/cubic foot),[9]\nwhich makes it lighter than oak.\n[edit] Pests\nMaggots (larvae of Rhagoletis completa and Rhagoletis suavis) in the husk are common,\nthough more a nuisance than a serious problem for amateurs, who may simply remove the\naffected husk as soon as infestation is noticed. The maggots develop entirely within the\nhusk and thus the quality of the nutmeat is not affected.[10] However, infestations of\nPersian walnuts are undesirable because they make the husk difficult to remove and are\nunsightly. Maggots can be serious for commercial walnut growers, who tend to use chemical\ntreatments to prevent damage to the crop.[11] Some organic controls also exist, such as\nremoving and disposing of infested nuts.[12]\nThe walnut curculio (Conotrachelus retentus) grows to 5 mm long as an adult. The adult\nsucks plant juices through a snout. The eggs are laid in fruits in the spring and summer.\nMany nuts are lost due to damage from the larvae, which burrow through the nut shell.[13]\nThe codling moth (Cydia pomonella) larva eats walnut kernels, as well as apple and pear\nseeds.[14]\nA disease complex known as Thousand cankers disease has been threatening black walnut in\nseveral western states.[15] This disease has recently been discovered in Tennessee and\ncould potentially have devastating effects on the species in the eastern United States.[16]\n[edit] Toxicity\nThe roots, nut husks, and leaves secrete a substance into the soil called juglone that is a\nrespiratory inhibitor to some plants. A number of other plants (most notably white birch)\nare also poisoned by juglone, and should not be planted in close proximity to a black\nwalnut. Horses are susceptible to laminitis from exposure to black walnut wood in bedding.[\n \n(Borago officinalis), also known as a starflower, is an annual herb originating in\nSyria,[1] but naturalized throughout the Mediterranean region, as well as Asia Minor,\nEurope, North Africa, and South America. It grows to a height of 60–100 cm (2.0–3.3 ft),\nand is bristly or hairy all over the stems and leaves; the leaves are alternate, simple,\nand 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in) long. The flowers are complete, perfect with five narrow,\ntriangular-pointed petals. Flowers are most often blue in color, although pink flowers are\nsometimes observed. White flowered types are also cultivated. The flowers arise along\nscorpiod cymes to form large floral displays with multiple flowers blooming simultaneously,\nsuggesting that borage has a high degree of geitonogamy. It has an indeterminate growth\nhabit which may lead to prolific spreading. In milder climates, borage will bloom\ncontinuously for most of the year.\nContents\nTraditionally borage was cultivated for culinary and medicinal uses, although today\ncommercial cultivation is mainly as an oilseed. The seed oil is desired as source of\ngamma-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3, cis 6,9,12-octadecatrienoic acid), for which borage is the\nhighest known plant-based source (17-28%).[2] The seed oil content is between 26-38% and in\naddition to GLA contains the fatty acids palmitic acid (10-11%), stearic acid (3.5-4.5%),\noleic acid (16-20%), linoleic acid (35-38%), eicosenoic acid (3.5-5.5%), erucic acid\n(1.5-3.5%), and nervonic acid (1.5%). The oil is often marketed as \"starflower oil\" or\n\"borage oil\" for uses as a GLA supplement, although healthy adults will typically produce\nample GLA through dietary linoleic acid.\nBorage production does include use as either a fresh vegetable or a dried herb. As a fresh\nvegetable, borage, with a cucumber like taste, is often used in salads or as a garnish.[3]\nThe flower, which contains the non-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid thesinine,[citation needed]\nhas a sweet honey-like taste and as one of the few truly blue-colored edible\nthings,[citation needed] is often used to decorate dessert.[3] It is notable that the\nleaves have been found to contain small amounts (10 ppm of dried herb) of the liver-toxic\npyrrolizidine alkaloids: intermedine, lycopsamine, amabiline and supinine.[citation needed]\nVegetable use of borage is common in Germany, in the Spanish regions of Aragón and Navarra,\nin the Greek island of Crete and in the Italian northern region Liguria. Although often\nused in soups, one of the better known German borage recipes is the Green Sauce (Grüne\nSoße) made in Frankfurt. In Italian Liguria, borage is commonly used as filling of the\ntraditional pasta ravioli and pansoti. The leaves and flowers were originally used in Pimms\nbefore it was replaced by mint. It is used to flavour pickled gherkins in Poland.[citation\nneeded]\nNaturopathic practitioners use borage for regulation of metabolism and the hormonal system,\nand consider it to be a good remedy for PMS and menopause symptoms, such as the hot\nflash.[citation needed] Borage is sometimes indicated to alleviate and heal colds,\nbronchitis, and respiratory infections, and in general for its anti-inflammatory and\nbalsamic properties.[citation needed] The flowers can be prepared in infusion to take\nadvantage of its medicinal properties. The oleic and palmitic acid of borage may also\nconfer a hypocholesterolemic effect.[citation needed]\nBorage is also traditionally used as a garnish in the Pimms Cup cocktail,[3] but is often\nreplaced by cucumber if not available.[citation needed]\n[edit] Companion plant\nBorage is used in companion planting.[4] It is said to protect or nurse legumes, spinach,\nbrassicas, and even strawberries.[5] It is also said to be a good companion plant to\ntomatoes because it confuses the search image of the mother moths of tomato hornworms or\nmanduca looking for a place to lay their eggs.[6] Claims that it improves tomato growth [7]\nand makes them taste better [8] remain unsubstantiated.\n \nHoneysuckles (Lonicera, pronounced /lɒˈnɪsərə/;[1] syn. Caprifolium Mill.) are arching\nshrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere.\nThere are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe and North\nAmerica have only about 20 native species each. Widely known species include Lonicera\npericlymenum (European Honeysuckle or Woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle,\nWhite Honeysuckle, or Chinese Honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens (Coral Honeysuckle,\nTrumpet Honeysuckle, or Woodbine Honeysuckle). Hummingbirds are attracted to these plants.\nThe leaves are opposite, simple oval, 1–10 cm long; most are deciduous but some are\nevergreen. Many of the species have sweetly-scented, bell-shaped flowers that produce a\nsweet, edible nectar. Breaking of the Honeysuckle's stem will release this powerful sweet\nodor. The fruit is a red, blue or black berry containing several seeds; in most species the\nberries are mildly poisonous, but a few (notably Lonicera caerulea) have edible berries.\nThe plant is eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera that\nfeed on honeysuckles.\nThe name Lonicera stems from Adam Lonicer, a Renaissance botanist.\nNasturtiums\nNasturtium (pronounced /næˈstɜrʃⁱəm/)[1] literally \"nose-twister\" or \"nose-tweaker\"), as a\ncommon name, refers to a genus of roughly 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous\nflowering plants in the genus Tropaeolum (pronounced /trɵˈpiː.ələm/,[2] \"trophy\"), one of\nthree genera in the family Tropaeolaceae. It should not be confused with the Watercresses\nof the genus Nasturtium, of the Mustard family. The genus Tropaeolum, native to South and\nCentral America, includes several very popular garden plants, the most commonly grown being\nT. majus, T. peregrinum and T. speciosum. The hardiest species is T. polyphyllum from\nChile, the perennial roots of which can survive underground when air temperatures drop as\nlow as -15°C (5°F).\nThey have showy, often intensely bright flowers (the intense color may pose problems in\nmacrophotography)[citation needed], and rounded, peltate (shield-shaped) leaves with the\npetiole in the center. The flowers have five petals (sometimes more), a three-carpelled\novary, and a funnel-shaped nectar tube in the back.\nTropaeolum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species\nincluding Dot Moth and Garden Carpet. A very common \"pest\" found on Nasturtium in\nparticular is the caterpillar of the Large White (Cabbage White) Butterfly.\nThe Nasturtiums receive their name from the fact that they produce an oil that is similar\nto that produced by Watercress (Nasturtium officinale), from the family Brassicaceae.\nContents\nIn cultivation, most varieties of nasturtiums prefer to be grown in direct or indirect\nsunlight, with a few preferring partial shade.\nThe most common use of the nasturtium plant in cultivation is as an ornamental flower. It\ngrows easily and prolifically, and is a self-seeding annual.\nThe flowers and leaves of the nasturtium plant.\nAll parts of the plant are edible. The flower has most often been consumed, making for an\nespecially ornamental salad ingredient; it has a slightly peppery taste reminiscent of\nwatercress, and is also used in stir fry. The unripe seed pods can be harvested and pickled\nwith hot vinegar, to produce a condiment and garnish, sometimes used in place of capers,\nalthough the taste is strongly peppery. The mashua (T. tuberosum) produces an edible\nunderground tuber that is a major food source in parts of the Andes.\nNasturtiums are also considered widely useful companion plants. They repel a great many\ncucurbit pests, like squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and several caterpillars. They have a\nsimilar range of benefits for brassica plants, especially broccoli and cauliflower. They\nalso attract black fly aphids, and are sometimes planted in the hope of saving crops\nsusceptible to them (as a trap crop). They may also attract beneficial predatory insects.\n[edit] Taxonomy\nTropaeolum was previously placed in the family Tropaeolaceae along with two other genera,\nMagallan and Tropaeastrum. In 2000, a molecular study found Tropaeolum to be paraphyletic\nwith respect to the other two genera, so they were transferred into Tropaeolum.\nTropaeolaceae was thus rendered monogeneric.[\n \nAcca sellowiana is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is\nnative to the highlands of southern Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina.[1]\nCommon names include Feijoa (pronounced /feɪˈʒoʊ.ə/, /feɪˈdʒoʊ.ə/,[2] or /feɪˈhoʊ.ə/[3])\nPineapple Guava and Guavasteen. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1–7 metres (3.3–23\nft) in height. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree and is a\nperennial. The German botanist Otto Karl Berg named Feijoa after João da Silva Feijó, a\nPortuguese botanist born in the colony of Brazil.[citation needed]\nContents\n * 8 External links\n[edit] Fruit\nThe fruit, maturing in autumn, is green, ellipsoid, and about the size of a chicken egg. It\nhas a sweet, aromatic flavor. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear gelatinous\nseed pulp and a firmer, slightly gritty, opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit drops when\nripe and at its fullest flavor, but may be picked from the tree prior to the drop to\nprevent bruising.\nThe fruit pulp resembles the closely related guava, having a gritty texture. The Feijoa\npulp is used in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. Feijoa fruit has a\ndistinctive smell. The aroma is due to the ester methyl benzoate and related compounds that\nexist in the fruit.\nWhole and cut ripe Feijoas\nIt is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that also will grow in the tropics, but\nrequires some winter chilling to fruit and the plant is frost-tolerant.\nIn the northern hemisphere this species has been cultivated as far north as western\nScotland, but under such conditions it does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures\nbelow approximately −9 °C (16 °F) kill the flower buds.\n[edit] Seasonality\nLarge quantities of the fruit are grown in New Zealand, where it is a popular garden tree\nand the fruit commonly is available in season. The New Zealand season runs from March to\nJune.\nHarder varieties are grown for years in Russian region of Buriatia (city Ulan-Ude), with\nwinters up to -40 C.\n[edit] Consumption and uses\nThe fruit usually is eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a\nspoon.[4] The fruit has a juicy sweet seed pulp and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin.\nThe flavour is aromatic and sweet. If the utensils needed to eat it this way are not\navailable, the Feijoa may be torn or bitten in half, and the contents squeezed out and\nconsumed. An alternative method is to bite the end off and then tear the fruit in half\nlength ways, exposing a larger surface with less curvature and using one's teeth to scrape\nthe pulp out closer to the skin. This method results in less waste of the fruit.\nA Feijoa may be used as an interesting addition to a fruit smoothie, and may be used to\nmake Feijoa wine or cider and feijoa infused vodka. It also is possible to buy Feijoa\nyogurt, fruit drinks, jam, ice-cream, and such in New Zealand. The Feijoa also may be\ncooked and used in dishes where one would use stewed fruit. It is a popular ingredient in\nchutney.\nCut over-mature fruit showing browning\nFruit maturity is not always apparent visually as the fruits remain the same shade of green\nuntil they are over-mature or rotting. One usually may sense ripeness, however, by giving\nthe fruit a soft squeeze; a ripe Feijoa will give somewhat like a just-ripe banana.\nGenerally, the fruit is at its optimum ripeness the day it drops from the tree. While still\nhanging it may well prove bitter, however, once fallen, fruit very quickly becomes\nover-ripe, so a daily collection of fallen fruit is advisable during the season.\nWhen the fruits are immature the seed pulp is white and opaque. It becomes clear and\ngelatinous when ripe. Fruits are at their optimum maturity when the seed pulp has turned\ninto a clear jelly with no hint of browning. Once the seed pulp and surrounding flesh start\nto brown, the fruit is over-mature, but still may be eaten. Over-mature but not rotten\nfruits may be used to make a delicious juice very popular in places such as the Colombian\nHighlands.[citation needed]\nThe pink to white flower petals have a delightful flavor, being crisp, moist, and fleshy.\nThey regularly are consumed by birds.\n[edit] Sale and shipping\nRipe fruit is very prone to bruising; maintaining the fruit in good condition for any\nlength of time is not easy. This, along with the short period of optimum ripeness and full\nfavor, probably explains why Feijoas, although delicious, frequently are not exported, and\nwhere grown commercially, often only are sold close to the source of the crop.\nBecause of the relatively short shelf-life, store keepers need to be careful to replace\nolder Feijoas regularly to ensure high quality. In some countries, Feijoas also may be\npurchased at roadside stalls, often at a lower price.\nFeijoas may be cool-stored for approximately a month and still have a few days of shelf\nlife at optimum eating maturity. They also may be frozen for up to one year without a loss\nin quality.\nFeijoa flower\nSome grafted cultivars of Feijoa are self-fertile. Most are not, and require a pollinator.\nSeedlings may or may not be of usable quality, and may or may not be self fertile.\nIn New Zealand, the pollinators of this plant are bees, bumblebees, or medium-sized birds.\nThe latter include such as the Silvereye in the cooler parts of the South Island, the\nblackbird, or the Indian myna farther north, which feed on the sweet, fleshy petals of the\nFeijoa flower.\nIn California, robins, mockingbirds, hummingbirds, starlings, scrub jays, towhees, and grey\nsquirrels feast on the petals and are presumed to be assisting with pollination.[citation\nneeded] Honeybees also visit the flowers.\nIn some areas where the species has been introduced, however, the trees have been\nunproductive due to lack of pollinators. The shrub has very few insect pests.\n \nYucca\nYucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the agave family, Agavaceae. Its 40-50\nspecies are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large\nterminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry (arid)\nparts of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Early reports of\nthe species were confused with the cassava (Manihot esculenta).[2] Consequently, Linnaeus\nmistakenly derived the generic name from the Carib word for the latter, yuca.[3]\nContents\nDistribution of the capsular fruited species in southwest, midwest USA, Mexico's Baja\nCalifornia and Canada. Overview\nThe natural distribution range of the genus Yucca (49 species and 24 subspecies) covers a\nvast area of North and Central America. From Baja California in the west, northwards into\nthe southwestern United States, through the drier central states as far north as Alberta in\nCanada (Yucca glauca ssp. albertana), and moving east along the Gulf of Mexico, and then\nnorth again, through the Atlantic coastal and inland neighbouring states. To the south, the\ngenus is represented throughout Mexico and extends into Guatemala (Yucca guatemalensis).\nYuccas have adapted to an equally vast range of climatic and ecological conditions. They\nare to be found in rocky deserts and badlands, in prairies and grassland, in mountainous\nregions, in light woodland, in coastal sands (Yucca filamentosa), and even in subtropical\nand semi-temperate zones, although these are nearly always arid to semi-arid.\n[edit] Ecology\nYuccas have a very specialized, mutualistic pollination system, being pollinated by yucca\nmoths (family Prodoxidae); the insect purposefully transfers the pollen from the stamens of\none plant to the stigma of another, and at the same time lays an egg in the flower; the\nmoth larva then feeds on some of the developing seeds, always leaving enough seed to\nperpetuate the species. Yucca species are the host plants for the caterpillars of the Yucca\nGiant-Skipper (Megathymus yuccae),[4] Ursine Giant-Skipper (Megathymus ursus),[5] and\nStrecker's Giant-Skipper (Megathymus streckeri).[6]\n[edit] Uses\nYuccas are widely grown as ornamental plants in gardens. Many species of yucca also bear\nedible parts, including fruits, seeds, flowers, flowering stems,[7] and more rarely roots.\nReferences to yucca root as food often stem from confusion with the similarly spelled but\nbotanically unrelated yuca, also called cassava (Manihot esculenta). Roots of soaptree\nyucca (Yucca elata) are high in saponins and are used as a shampoo in Native American\nrituals. Dried yucca leaves and trunk fibers have a low ignition temperature, making the\nplant desirable for use in starting fires via friction.[8]\n[edit] Cultivation\nYucca are widely planted in the western US as a landscape plant. Most species are generally\nheat and cold tolerant, requiring little care and low water. They offer a dramatic accent\nto a landscape design.\nJoshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) are protected by law in some states and should not be wild\ncollected without permit. As a landscape plant, they can be killed by excessive water\nduring their summer dormant phase. For these two reasons they are avoided by landscape\ncontractors.\nThe gooseberry (pronounced /ˈɡʊzbəri/;[1] Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia) is a\nspecies of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and southwestern Asia. It is one of\nseveral similar species in the subgenus Grossularia; for the other related species (e.g.,\nNorth American Gooseberry Ribes hirtellum), see the genus page Ribes.\nAlthough usually placed as a subgenus within Ribes, a few taxonomists treat Grossularia as\na separate genus, although hybrids between gooseberry and blackcurrant (e.g., the\nJostaberry) are possible. The subgenus Grossularia differs somewhat from currants, chiefly\nin their spiny stems, and in that their flowers grow one to three together on short stems,\nnot in racemes.\nGooseberry bushes produce an edible fruit and are grown on both a commercial and domestic\nbasis.\nGrowth habit and physical characteristics\nThe gooseberry is a straggling bush growing to 1–3 metres (3–10 feet) tall, the branches\nbeing thickly set with sharp spines, standing out singly or in diverging tufts of two or\nthree from the bases of the short spurs or lateral leaf shoots. The bell-shaped flowers are\nproduced, singly or in pairs, from the groups of rounded, deeply-crenated 3 or 5 lobed\nleaves. The fruit of wild gooseberries is smaller than in the cultivated varieties, but is\noften of good flavour; it is generally hairy, but in one variety smooth, constituting the\nR. uva-crispa of writers; berries' colour is usually green, but there are red variants and\noccasionally deep purple berries occur.\n[edit] Range\nThe gooseberry is indigenous in Europe and western Asia, growing naturally in alpine\nthickets and rocky woods in the lower country, from France eastward, well into the\nHimalayas and peninsular India.\nCurrant and gooseberry output in 2005\nIn Britain, gooseberry bushes are often found in copses and hedgerows and about old ruins,\nbut the gooseberry has been cultivated for so long that it is difficult to distinguish wild\nbushes from feral ones, or where the gooseberry fits into the native flora of the island.\nCommon as it is now on some of the lower slopes of the Alps of Piedmont and Savoy, it is\nuncertain whether the Romans were acquainted with the gooseberry, though it may possibly be\nalluded to in a vague passage of Pliny the Elder's Natural History; the hot summers of\nItaly, in ancient times as at present, would be unfavourable to its cultivation. Although\ngooseberries are now abundant in Germany and France, it does not appear to have been much\ngrown there in the Middle Ages, though the wild fruit was held in some esteem medicinally\nfor the cooling properties of its acid juice in fevers; while the old English name,\nFea-berry, still surviving in some provincial dialects, indicates that it was similarly\nvalued in Britain, where it was planted in gardens at a comparatively early period.\nWilliam Turner describes the gooseberry in his Herball, written about the middle of the\n16th century, and a few years later it is mentioned in one of Thomas Tusser's quaint rhymes\nas an ordinary object of garden culture. Improved varieties were probably first raised by\nthe skilful gardeners of Holland, whose name for the fruit, Kruisbezie, may have been\neasily corrupted into the present English vernacular word. Towards the end of the 18th\ncentury the gooseberry became a favourite object of cottage-horticulture, especially in\nLancashire, where the working cotton-spinners have raised numerous varieties from seed,\ntheir efforts having been chiefly directed to increasing the size of the fruit.\nRed gooseberries\n[edit] Climate\nOf the many hundred varieties enumerated in recent horticultural works, few perhaps equal\nin flavour some of the older denizens of the fruit-garden, such as the old rough red and\nhairy amber. The climate of the British Isles seems peculiarly adapted to bring the\ngooseberry to perfection,[citation needed] and it may be grown successfully even in the\nmost northern parts of Scotland where it is commonly known as a \"grozet\"; indeed, the\nflavour of the fruit is said to improve with increasing latitude. In Norway (where it's\nnamed \"stikkelsbær\" — or \"prickly berry\"), the bush flourishes in gardens on the west coast\nnearly up to the Arctic circle, and it is found wild as far north as 63°. The dry summers\nof the French and German plains are less suited to it, though it is grown in some hilly\ndistricts with tolerable success. The gooseberry in the south of England will grow well in\ncool situations, and may be sometimes seen in gardens near London flourishing under the\npartial shade of apple trees; but in the north it needs full exposure to the sun to bring\nthe fruit to perfection. It will succeed in almost any soil, but prefers a rich loam or\nblack alluvium, and, though naturally a plant of rather dry places, will do well in moist\nland, if drained.\nIt is also widely found in villages throughout the former Czechoslovakia.\nSectioned gooseberries showing seeds\nThe easiest method of propagating gooseberries is by cuttings rather than raising from\nseed;cuttings planted in the autumn will take root quickly and can begin to bear fruit\nwithin a few years.\nVigorous pruning may be necessary; fruit is produced on lateral spurs and the previous\nyear's shoots, so the 19th-century custom was to trim side branches in the winter, and\nperhaps trim leading shoots at that time or remove their tips in the summer.\nLarge berries can be produced by heavy composting, especially if the majority of the fruit\nis picked off while small to allow room for a few berries to continue to grow. Grafting of\ngooseberry vines onto ornamental golden currants (Ribes aurum) or other Ribes species can\nbe helpful for this purpose. Some 19th- and early 20th-century cultivators produced single\ngooseberries near to two ounces in weight, but, as with many varieties of fruit, larger\nsizes of gooseberry proved to have weaker flavor.\nRibes uva-crispa[2]\n[edit] Pests\nGooseberry bushes are vulnerable to magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata) caterpillars. In\ncultivation, the best method for removing them is to remove the larvae by hand soon after\nthey hatch; its eggs are laid on fallen gooseberry leaves.\nOther potential threats are V-moth (Macaria wauaria) and Gooseberry sawfly (Nematus\nribesii). Nematus reibesii grubs will bury themselves in the ground to pupate; on hatching\ninto adult form, they lay their eggs, which soon hatch into larvae, on the underside of\ngooseberry leaves. 19th-century insecticides against these included tar water, weak\nsolutions of carbolic acid, and powdered hellebore, which worked against magpie moths and\nV-moths as well as gooseberry sawflies. (Foxglove and tobacco infusions were also sometimes\nused.) Careful removal of fallen leaves and tilling of the ground around the plant will\nalso destroy most eggs and chrysalises of these insects.\nPotassium sulfide was known to be an effective treatment for blights and other parasitic\ngrowths, such as American gooseberry mildew.\nNote that like most Ribes, the gooseberry is a potential host for white pine blister rust,\nwhich can cause serious damage to white pines; thus, gooseberry cultivation is illegal in\nsome areas of the U.S.\n[edit] Culinary uses\nGooseberries for sale in Hainan, China\nGooseberries are best known for their use in desserts such as pies, fools and crumbles.\nGooseberries are commonly preserved by drying, storing in sugar syrup, or as jam or pickle.\nGooseberries are used to flavoured drinks such as soda, water or even milk, and are used to\nmake Fruit wine. In India some use gooseberry for acidity problem and stomach ache.\n[edit] Etymology\nThe \"goose\" in \"gooseberry\" has usually been seen as a corruption of either the Dutch word\nKruisbezie or the allied German Krausbeere, or of the earlier forms of the French\ngroseille. Alternatively the word has been connected to the Middle High German krus (curl,\ncrisped), in Latin as grossularia. However, the Oxford English Dictionary takes the obvious\nderivation from goose and berry as probable because \"the grounds on which plants and fruits\nhave received names associating them with animals are so often inexplicable that the\ninappropriateness in the meaning does not necessarily give good grounds for believing that\nthe word is an etymological corruption.\n \nZiziphus zizyphus (from Greek ζίζυφον, zizyfon[1]), commonly called jujube, red date, or\nChinese date, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily\nfor its fruits. Common names in Arabic are nabq, dum, tsal, sadr, zufzuuf (in Morocco) and\nsidr, the last of which also means Ziziphus lotus.[2] In Persian it is called anab or annab\n, a name also used in Lebanon.\nContents\nIts precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation, but is thought\nto be in southern Asia, between Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, northern India, Bangladesh, the\nKorean peninsula, and southern and central China, and also southeastern Europe though more\nlikely introduced there.[3]\n[edit] Growth\nIt is a small deciduous tree or shrub reaching a height of 5–10 m, usually with thorny\nbranches. The leaves are shiny-green, ovate-acute, 2–7-cm wide and 1–3-cm broad, with three\nconspicuous veins at the base, and a finely toothed margin. The flowers are small, 5-mm\nwide, with five inconspicuous yellowish-green petals. The fruit is an edible oval drupe\n1.5–3-cm deep; when immature it is smooth-green, with the consistency and taste of an\napple, maturing brown to purplish-black and eventually wrinkled, looking like a small date.\nThere is a single hard stone similar to an olive stone.[3]\n[edit] Nomenclature\nThe species has a curious nomenclatural history, due to a combination of botanical naming\nregulations, and variations in spelling. It was first described scientifically by Carolus\nLinnaeus as Rhamnus zizyphus, in Species Plantarum in 1753. Later, in 1768, Philip Miller\nconcluded it was sufficiently distinct from Rhamnus to merit separation into a new genus,\nin which he named it Ziziphus jujube, using Linnaeus' species name for the genus but with a\nprobably accidental single letter spelling difference, 'i' for 'y'; for the species name he\nused a different name, as tautonyms (repetition of exactly the same name in the genus and\nspecies) are not permitted in botanical naming. However, because of Miller's slightly\ndifferent spelling, the combination correctly using the earliest species name (from\nLinnaeus) with the new genus, Ziziphus zizyphus, is not a tautonym, and therefore permitted\nas a botanical name; this combination was made by Hermann Karsten in 1882.[3][4]\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nJujube was domesticated in the Indian subcontinent by 9000 BCE.[5] Over 400 cultivars have\nbeen selected.\nThe tree tolerates a wide range of temperatures and rainfall, though it requires hot\nsummers and sufficient water for acceptable fruiting. Unlike most of the other species in\nthe genus, it tolerates fairly cold winters, surviving temperatures down to about −15°C.\nThis enables the jujube to grow in desert habitats, provided there is access to underground\nwater through the summer. Virtually no temperature seems to be too high in summertime.\n[edit] Medicinal use\nThe fruits are used in Chinese and Korean traditional medicine, where they are believed to\nalleviate stress.[citation needed] The jujube-based Australian drink 1-bil avoids making\nspecific stress-related claims, but does suggest drinking 1-bil \"when you feel yourself\nbecoming distressed\".[6]\nZiziphin, a compound in the leaves of the jujube, suppresses the ability to perceive sweet\ntaste in humans.[7] The fruit, being mucilaginous, is very soothing to the throat and\ndecoctions of jujube have often been used in pharmacy to treat sore throats.\nFresh jujube fruits.\n[edit] Culinary use\nDried jujube fruits, which naturally turn red upon drying.\nThe freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or\nwith tea. They are available in either red or black (called hóng zǎo or hēi zǎo,\nrespectively, in Chinese), the latter being smoked to enhance their flavor.[8] In China and\nKorea, a sweetened tea syrup containing jujube fruits is available in glass jars,[9] and\ncanned jujube tea or jujube tea in the form of teabags is also available. Although not\nwidely available, jujube juice[10] and jujube vinegar[11] (called 枣醋 or 红枣醋 in Chinese) are\nalso produced; they are used for making pickles (কুলের আচার) in West Bengal and Bangladesh.\nIn China, a wine made from jujubes, called hong zao jiu (红枣酒) is also produced.[12] Jujubes\nare sometimes preserved by storing in a jar filled with baijiu (Chinese liquor), which\nallows them to be kept fresh for a long time, especially through the winter. Such jujubes\nare called jiu zao (酒枣; literally \"spirited jujube\"). These fruits, often stoned, are also\na significant ingredient in a wide variety of Chinese delicacies. In Korea, jujubes are\ncalled daechu (대추) and are used in teas and samgyetang. It is said to be helpful in aiding\nthe common cold.\nIn Lebanon, the fruit is eaten as snacks or alongside a dessert after a meal.\nIn Persian cuisine, the dried drupes are known as annab, while in neighboring Azerbaijan it\nis commonly eaten as a snack, and are known as innab. In Pakistan, the fruit is eaten both\nfresh and dried, and is known as ber (a generic term for berry).\nIn Tamil-speaking regions, the fruit is called ilanthai pazham (இலந்தை பழம்). In Kannada\nthis fruit is called \"Yelchi Hannu\" and in Telugu it is called \"Regi pandu\". Traditionally,\nthe fruits are dried in the sun and the hard nuts are removed. Then, it is pounded with\ntamarind, red chillies, salt, and jaggery. Small dishes are made from this dough and again\ndried in the sun, and are referred to as ilanthai vadai. In some parts of the Indian state\nof Tamil Nadu, fresh whole ripe fruit is crushed with the above ingredients and dried under\nthe sun to make delicious cakes called ilanthai vadai.[13]\n[edit] Other uses\nThe jujube's sweet smell is said to make teenagers fall in love, and as a result, in the\nHimalaya and Karakoram regions, men take a stem of sweet-smelling jujube flowers with them\nor put it on their hats to attract women.[citation needed]\nIn the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, the jujube was often placed in the newlyweds'\nbedroom as a good luck charm for fertility, along with peanuts, longan, and chestnuts,\npunning on an invocation to \"have an honored child soon\".\nIn Bhutan, the leaves are used as a potpourri to help keep the houses of the inhabitants\nsmelling fresh and clean. It is also said to keep bugs and other insects out of the house\nand free of infestation.\nIn Japan, the natsume has given its name to a style of tea caddy used in the Japanese tea\nceremony.\nIn Korea, the wood is used to make the body of the taepyeongso, a double-reed wind\ninstrument. The wood is also used to make Go bowls.\nIn Vietnam, the jujube fruit is eaten freshly picked from the tree as a snack. It is also\ndried and used in desserts, such as sâm bổ lượng, a cold beverage that includes the dried\njujube, longan, fresh seaweed, barley, and lotus seeds.\nA jujube honey is produced in the middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.\n[edit] Pests and diseases\nWitch's brooms, prevalent in China and Korea, is the main disease affecting jujubes, though\nplantings in North America currently are not affected by any pests or diseases.\n \nCommon Names: Raisin Tree, Japanese Raisin Tree, Kenpo Nashi\nDistant Affinity: Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), Indian Jujube (Z. mauritiana).\nOrigin: The raisin tree is native to moist areas and mountains of China, although\ncultivation spread long ago to Japan, Korea and India. The plant was introduced to the West\nin about 1820.\nAdaptation: The northern limits for winter survival and fruit ripening of the tree has not\nbeen fully determined. It is cold-hardy to about -10° F, and fruits ripen in eastern North\nAmerica at least as far north as southern New York. There is a 28-year old specimen in the\nAsian section of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and another specimen at nearby Huntington\nGardens. Raisin tree plants are not particularly suitable for container culture.\nDESCRIPTION\nGrowth Habit: The raisin tree is deciduous and can grow to a height of 70 feet or more, but\ncultivated specimens typically reach a height of about 30 feet with a singular trunk and a\nrounded head. The lower branches frequently drop off leaving a fairly high crotch. Growth\nrate is moderate, perhaps a foot or two per year, more when young and less when old. Raisin\ntrees are particularly handsome when planted in groups. The deeply fissured bark is\ncounterpointed by gently undulating branches and overlapping leaves\nFoliage: The cordate, glossy green leaves are borne alternately. They are a large (up to\nsix inches in length), rather limp leaf which must be spread out to see its shape.\nFlowers: Racemes of small self-fruitful flowers bloom in late spring. They are cream\ncolored and compensate for their small size by being clustered together in great masses.\nWhere summers are cool, bloom may be delayed even until the end of summer with the result\nthat fruit does not form or ripen.\nFruit: The edible \"raisins\" are not a fruit at all but a short, swollen mature flower stalk\nor peduncle which supports the inedible seed pod. As the pod matures, the peduncle of stem\nattaching it to the cluster swells, becomes knobby and turns a translucent reddish brown. A\npear-like flavor develops as the sugars increase, and the peduncle is ready to eat when it\nfalls to the ground. Although the edible portions are small, close to the size of a raisin,\nthe crop is copious. The brown pod which is actually the fruit is not used.\nCULTURE\nLocation: Although native to partially shaded sites, full sun helps hasten flowering and\nripening. When placed in a southwest corner, the tree provides summer shade and allows\nwinter sun to pass through the bare limbs.\nSoil: The raisin tree tolerates a wide range of soil conditions and thrives in sandy loam.\nIrrigation: Although somewhat tolerant of drought, raisin trees do best with a regular\nsupply of moisture.\nFertilization: Little is known about the fertilization needs of the tree, but a light to\nmoderate fertilizing in mid-spring is probably useful.\nPruning: The tree tends to prune itself, dropping the lower branches as the tree grows.\nPropagation: The seeds have an impermeable seed coat that severely inhibits germination.\nSeveral methods have been employed to get around the problem. The seed coat can be\nscarified by nicking it with a file, or soaking the seed in concentrated sulfuric acid for\ntwo hours. Wash the seed thoroughly with water following the acid soak. The seed can also\nbe soaked in hot tap water (approximately 140° F) for three consecutive days. Others have\nhad some luck with freezing the seed. After treatment, the seed are planted in potting\nsoil, covered with clear plastic wrap and placed in bright light. Seeds should germinate\nwithin a week to a month or more. Plants grown from seed usually bear fruit within 7 - 10\nyears, though bearing within 3 years is possible under good conditions\nThe plant can also be propagated by softwood cuttings taken in late summer, and by root\ncuttings. Little work has been done in the area of grafting.\nPests and diseases: Raisin trees are apparently free of any significant pests and diseases.\nDeer will probably browse the foliage, but the roots do not seem to be attractive to\ngophers.\nHarvest: Raisin tree peduncles do not become tasty until very late in the season. They are\nexcellent to eat out of hand or may be used in anything where raisins are normally used.\nThe bonus with raisin tree \"raisins\" is that they don't have to be dried. They are chopped\nand added to fruitcake in Australia, and in China they are made into a beverage called\n\"tree honey\" that is said to neutralize hangovers.\n \nCommon Names: Hardy Kiwi, Bower Vine, Dessert Kiwi, Cocktail Kiwi, Tara Vine, Yang-tao.\nRelated Species: Chinese Egg Gooseberry (Actinidia coriacea), Kiwifruit (A. deliciosa),\nSuper-hardy Kiwi (A. kolomikta), Red Kiwi (A. melanandra), Silver Vine (A. polygama),\nPurple Kiwi (A. purpurea).\nOrigin: The hardy kiwi is native to northern China, Korea, Siberia and possibly Japan.\nAdaptation: The plants need a long growing season (about 150 frost-free days) which will\nnot be hampered by late winter or early autumn freezes. When fully dormant, they can\nwithstand temperatures to about -25° F (and perhaps a bit lower.) However they must\nacclimate to cold slowly and any sudden plunge in temperature may cause trunk splitting and\nsubsequent damage to the vine. All cultivars need a certain period of winter chilling and\ntheir needs vary, dependent upon cultivar, however, the exact amounts needed has not yet\nbeen established. To date, all cultivars that have been grown in both high chill and low\nchill areas have produced equally well. Late winter freezing temperatures will kill any\nexposed buds. The plants can be successfully grown in large containers.\nDESCRIPTION\nGrowth Habit: In the forests where it is native, it is a climbing vine (liana), sometimes\nclimbing one hundred feet high into trees. In cultivation it is more well-behaved but must\nbe supported by a trellising system. The plant has a more delicate appearance than regular\nkiwifruit.\nFoliage: Leaves are elongated and generally 2 to 5 inches long and attached to the stem on\nred petioles. They are usually serrated and far less leathery and fuzzy than regular\nkiwifruit.\nFlowers: The flowers are about one-half inch in diameter, white to cream colored, somewhat\nfragrant, and produced as singlets to triplets in the leaf axiles. Flowering period extends\nover several weeks from early May to June, depending on climatic conditions. Plants are\ndioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants, thus needing plants of both\nsexes to produce crops. However, self-fruiting females are known to exist.\nFruit: The fruit are generally green, fuzzless, and the size of grapes. Cut open, they look\nmuch like regular kiwifruit with its small black seeds, emerald green color, and typical\nrayed pattern. Although typically green in both the skin and flesh, some cultivars have\nvarious amount of red, either in the skin, flesh or both. Hardy kiwifruits are generally\nsweeter than regular kiwifruit. Sugar levels vary, ranging from 14% (as with kiwifruit) up\nto 29%.\nAdditional differences between cultivars can include perceived aroma of the fruit as well\nas bitterness of the skin. Commercial cultivation has begun for this crop in many regions\nof the United States due to the plants ability to grow in harsher climates than the\nkiwifruit.\nLocation: The vines will tolerate some shade but prefer a sunny location where they can\nramble across some type of trellising system. They should have some protection from strong\nwinds\nSite Preparation: Hardy kiwi plants need a substantial trellis, patio cover, or other\npermanent place to grow upon. For the trellis system, either a single wire or T-bar system\ncan be installed. Both have a 4 inch by 4 inch redwood post of 8 feet. For the T-bar, a 2\ninch by 6 inch crossarm about 4 feet long is bolted in place. Bury the post 2 feet into the\nground and cement in if at all possible. At each end of the system, a cemented deadman\nshould be in place. Run wires across the posts and anchor tautly to the deadman. When using\na patio cover, no extra trellising needs to be in place. Simply run the plant up a corner\npost to the top and allow the plant to then form a spoke work of shoots which would\nresemble an umbrella.\nSoils: Hardy kiwi prefer well-drained, somewhat acid (pH 5 - 6.5) soils. Neutral soils are\nacceptable but the leaves may show nitrogen deficiency when the soils become too basic. The\nplants will not tolerate salty soils.\nIrrigation: Hardy kiwi plants need large volumes of water during the entire growing season\nbut must also be in well-drained soils. Watering regularly in the heat of the summer is a\nmust. Never allow a plant to undergo drought stress. Symptoms of drought stress are\ndrooping leaves, browning of the leaves around the edges, and complete defoliation with\nregrowth of new shoots when the stress is continuous. More plants probably die from water\nrelated problems than any other reason.\nFertilization: Based on work done on the regular kiwifruit, hardy kiwi plants are heavy\nnitrogen feeders which should be applied in abundance during the first half of the growing\nseason. Late season applications of nitrogen will enhance fruit size but are discouraged as\nfruit then tends to store poorly. In basic soils, a citrus and avocado tree fertilizer\nshould be broadcast about the vine and watered in well in early March. Follow up the\ninitial fertilizing by supplemental additions to early summer. In other areas, use a high\nnitrogen fertilizer which contains trace elements unless it is known that the particular\nsoil is deficient in another nutrient. Mulching with manures and/or straws is very\nbeneficial. However, do not put the mulch directly in contact with the vine as crown rot\nwill occur.\nPruning: For best fruit production, pruning in the winter is a must. All pruning techniques\nare usually based on a \"cane replacement\" and differ only based on the trellising method\nused. Kiwi vines need to be supported and this is usually done in one of three ways: single\nwire, 3-5 wire on a T-bar system, or onto a patio cover. In all cases, one stem is trained\nup to a wire at six feet and then allowed to grow along the wire. When growth ends in a\n\"pig-tailing\" of the shoot, it is cut behind the entanglement and new a shoot allowed to\ngrow from a leaf base. After two years multiple shoots will now emerge from the lateral\nmainline. During the growing season, each lateral cane will send out a new shoot about 1/3\nof the way from its own starting point. The next winter, prune off the older cane at the\npoint that it connects with last summers new shoot. This process repeats itself every year.\nPropagation: In areas where the regular kiwifruit will grow, scions of the hardy kiwi may\nbe grafted directly onto kiwifruit rootstock. Otherwise, one must either root their own\nfrom hardwood or greenwood cuttings or buy established plants.\nPests and diseases: Plants are relatively free from problems, possibly due to their lack of\nheavy planting into areas so that pests begin to take a liking to the leaves, trunk, or\nroots. One odd problem is the fact that the trunks have a catnip-like aroma which cats love\nto rub against. When plants are small, this can be a problem as they can rub off any new\nshoots which emerge in the spring. Garden snails can also be a problem on younger\nplantings. Other pests include deer that browse on the leaves and gophers that attack the\nroots. Scale insects can damage if populations build up too extensively. Greenhouse thrips\nmay also damage the fruit.\nHarvest: Ripening depends both on the cultivar grown and local climatic conditions. The\nCordifolia cultivar ripens first in early September while the Anna (Ananasnaja) may need to\nwait until late October/early November before it sweetens to its best. Hardy kiwifruits\ndrop or come off easily when they are ripe. Usually they are picked at the mature-ripe\nstage and allowed to ripen off of the vine as is done with kiwifruit.\nCULTIVARS\nFemales\nMany cultivars are known although no real attempt has been yet made to determine the best\nfor specific climates or regions. The following is a partial listing of cultivars:\n * Ananasnaja (Anna)\n * Seedling selections by Professor Meader\n * 74 Series\nMales\nVarious males are known but no extensive work has been done to determine pollen count or\nviability, flowering times, or vigorousness. If available, pollen from the regular\nkiwifruit works well but the seed resulting is usually sterile.\n \nPAWPAW\nPawpaw (Asimina) is a genus of small clustered trees with large leaves and fruit, native to\nNorth America. The genus includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent.\nThey are understory trees found in well drained deep fertile bottom land and hilly upland\nhabitat. Pawpaw is in the same family (Annonaceae) as the custard-apple, cherimoya,\nsweetsop, ylang-ylang and soursop, and it is the only member of that family not confined to\nthe tropics.\nThe name, also spelled paw paw, paw-paw, and papaw, probably derives from the Spanish\npapaya, perhaps because of the superficial similarity of their fruit. Pawpaw has numerous\nother common names, often very local, such as prairie banana, Indiana (Hoosier) banana,\nWest Virginia banana, Kansas banana, Kentucky banana, Michigan banana, Missouri Banana, the\npoor man's banana, Ozark banana, and Banango.\n[edit] Description\nPawpaws are shrubs or small trees, reaching heights of 2–12 m tall. The northern,\ncold-tolerant common pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is deciduous, while the southern species are\noften evergreen.\nThe leaves are alternate, obovate, entire, 20–35 cm long and 10–15 cm broad.\nThe fetid flowers are produced singly or in clusters of up to eight together; they are\nlarge, 4–6 cm across, perfect, with six sepals and petals (three large outer petals, three\nsmaller inner petals). The petal color varies from white to purple or red-brown.\nThe fruit is a large edible berry, 5–16 cm long and 3–7 cm broad, weighing from 20–500 g,\nwith numerous seeds; it is green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown. It has a flavor\nsomewhat similar to both banana and mango, varying significantly by cultivar, and has more\nprotein than most fruits.\nThe shelf life of the ripe fruit is almost non-existent; it ripens to the point of\nfermentation soon after it is picked. Methods of preservation include dehydration, making\nit into jams or jellies, or pressure canning by using the numerical values for bananas. In\nsouthern West Virginia pawpaws are made into a native version of banana nut cake or fruit\ncake, and baked inside canning jars, the lids heat-sealed to keep the food for at least a\nyear.\n * Bark: Light gray, sometimes blotched with lighter gray spots, sometimes covered with\nsmall excrescences, divided by shallow fissures. Inner bark tough, fibrous. Branchlets\nlight brown, tinged with red, marked by shallow grooves.\n * Wood: Pale, greenish yellow, sapwood lighter; light, soft, coarse-grained and spongy.\nSp. gr., 0.3969; weight of cu ft 24.74 lb.\n * Winter buds: Small, brown, acuminate, hairy.\n * Leaves: Alternate, simple, feather-veined, obovate-lanceolate, ten to twelve inches\nlong, four to five broad, wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute at apex; midrib and primary\nveins prominent. They come out of the bud conduplicate, green, covered with rusty tomentum\nbeneath, hairy above; when full grown are smooth, dark green above, paler beneath. When\ncrushed they have a scent similar to a green bell pepper. In autumn they are a rusty\nyellow, which make spotting pawpaw groves possible from a long distance. Petioles short and\nstout with a prominent adaxial groove. Stipules wanting.\n * Flowers: April, with the leaves. Perfect, solitary, axillary, rich red purple, two\ninches across, borne on stout, hairy peduncles. Ill smelling. The triloba refers to the\nshape of the flower, which is not unlike a tricorner hat.\n * Calyx: Sepals three, valvate in bud, ovate, acuminate, pale green, downy.\n * Corolla: Petals six, in two rows, imbricate in the bud. Inner row acute, erect,\nnectariferous. Outer row broadly ovate, reflexed at maturity. Petals at first are green,\nthen brown, and finally become dull purple and conspicuously veiny.\n * Stamens: Indefinite, densely packed on the globular receptacle. Filaments short;\nanthers extrorse, two-celled, opening longitudinally.\n * Pistils: Several, on the summit of the receptacle, projecting from the mass of\nstamens. Ovary one-celled; stigma sessile; ovules many.\n * Fruit: September, October.[1]\nA red-purple, green, and white flower\nAsimina reticulata\n * Asimina angustifolia Raf. - Slimleaf Pawpaw. Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.\n * Asimina incana (W. Bartram) Exell - Woolly Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\n o Annona incana W. Bartram[2]\n * Asimina obovata (Willd.) Nash - Bigflower Pawpaw. Florida.\n o Annona obovata Willd.[3]\n * Asimina parviflora (Michx.) Dunal - Smallflower Pawpaw. Southern states from Texas to\nVirginia.\n * Asimina pygmea (W. Bartram) Dunal - Dwarf Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\n * Asimina reticulata Shuttlw. ex Chapman - Netted Pawpaw. Florida and Georgia.\n * Asimina tetramera Small - Fourpetal Pawpaw. Florida (Endangered)\n * Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal - Common Pawpaw. Extreme southern Ontario, Canada, and the\neastern United States from New York west to southeast Nebraska, and south to northern\nFlorida and eastern Texas.\n o Annona triloba L.[4]\n[edit] Cultivation and uses\nAsimina triloba is often called prairie banana because of its banana-like creamy texture\nand flavor.\nThe pawpaw is native to shady, rich bottom lands, where it often forms a dense undergrowth\nin the forest. Where it dominates a tract it appears as a thicket of small slender trees,\nwhose great leaves are borne so close together at the ends of the branches, and which cover\neach other so symmetrically, that the effect is to give a peculiar imbricated appearance to\nthe tree.[1]\nAlthough it is a delicious and nutritious fruit[citation needed], it has never been\ncultivated on the scale of apples and peaches, primarily because only frozen fruit will\nstore or ship well. It is also difficult to transplant because of fragile hairy root\ntentacles that tend to break off unless a cluster of moist soil is retained on the root\nmass. Cultivars are propagated by chip budding or whip grafting.\nIn recent years the pawpaw has attracted renewed interest, particularly among organic\ngrowers, as a native fruit which has few to no pests, and which therefore requires no\npesticide use for cultivation. The shipping and storage problem has largely been addressed\nby freezing. Among backyard gardeners it also is gaining in popularity because of the\nappeal of fresh fruit and because it is relatively low maintenance once planted. The pulp\nis used primarily in baked dessert recipes and for juicing fresh pawpaw drink or drink\nmixtures (pawpaw, pineapple, banana, lime, lemon and orange tea mix). The pulp can also be\nmade into a country wine. In many recipes calling for bananas, pawpaw can be used with\nvolumetric equivalency.\nThe commercial growing and harvesting of pawpaws is strong in southeast Ohio. The Ohio\nPawpaw Growers' Association annually sponsors the Ohio Pawpaw Festival at Lake Snowden near\nAlbany, Ohio.\nPawpaw flowers are insect-pollinated, but fruit production is limited since few if any\npollinators are attracted to the flower's faint, or sometimes non-existent scent. Those\ninsects that are attracted are often scavenging fruit flies, carrion flies and beetles.\nBecause of difficult pollination, some[who?] may believe the flowers are self-incompatible.\nCross pollination of at least two different varieties of the plant is recommended. The\nflowers produce an odor similar to that of rotting meat to attract blowflies or carrion\nbeetles for cross pollination.[citation needed] Lack of pollination is the most common\ncause of poor fruiting, and growers resort to hand pollination, spraying fish emulsion, or\nto hanging chicken necks or other meat to attract pollinators. Several species of Asimina\nare larval hosts for the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly.\nThe leaves, twigs, and bark of the tree also contain natural insecticides known as\nacetogenins, which can be used to make an organic pesticide.[5] Pawpaw fruit may be eaten\nby foxes, opossums, squirrels and raccoons. However, pawpaw leaves and twigs are seldom\nbothered by rabbits or deer.[6]\nThis colonial tree has a strong tendency to form colonial thickets if left unchecked. It is\nideal for creating a swift-growing habitat particularly in areas where frequent flooding\ncan threaten erosion. The root systems are capable of holding streambanks steady, and grow\nwell even in cold hollows with little exposure to winter sunlight.[citation needed]\n[edit] History\nThe earliest documentation of pawpaws is in the 1541 report of the de Soto expedition, who\nfound Native Americans cultivating it east of the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark\nExpedition sometimes subsisted on pawpaws during their travels. Chilled pawpaw fruit was a\nfavorite dessert of George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson planted it at Monticello. The\nOhio Pawpaw Growers' Association lobbied for the pawpaw to be the Ohio state native fruit\nin 2006; this was made official in 2009.[\n \nCudrania tricuspidata Bur. ex Lavallee\nMoraceae\nCommon Names: Che, Chinese Che, Chinese Mulberry, Cudrang, Mandarin Melon Berry, Silkworm\nThorn.\nDistant Affinity: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), Jackfruit (A. heterophyllus), Fig (Ficus\nspp.), Mulberry (Morus spp.), African Breadfruit (Treculis africana).\nOrigin: The che is native to many parts of eastern Asia from the Shantung and Kiangson\nProvinces of China to the Nepalese sub-Himalayas. It became naturalized in Japan many years\nago. In China, the leaves of the che serve as a backup food for silkworms when mulberry\nleaves are in short supply. The tree was introduced into England and other parts of Europe\naround 1872, and into the U.S. around 1930.\nAdaptation: The che requires minimal care and has a tolerance of drought and poor soils\nsimilar to that of the related mulberry. It can be grown in most parts of California and\nother parts of the country, withstanding temperatures of -20° F.\nDESCRIPTION\nGrowth Habit: The deciduous trees can eventually grow to about 25 ft. in height, but often\nremains a broad, spreading bush or small tree if not otherwise trained when they are young.\nImmature wood is thorny but loses its thorns as it matures. Female trees are larger and\nmore robust than male trees.\nFoliage: The alternate leaves resemble those of the mulberry, but are smaller and thinner\nand pale yellowish-green in color. The typical form is distinctly trilobate, with the\ncentral lobe sometimes twice as long as the lateral ones, but frequently unlobed leaves of\nvaried outlines are also found on the same plant. As the plant grows, the tendency seems\ntowards larger and entire leaves, with at the most indistinct or irregular lobing. The\ngeneral form of the leaves comprise many variations between oblong and lanceolate. The che\nleafs and blooms late in spring--after apples.\nFlowers: The che is dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants. Appearing\nin June, both types of flowers are green and pea-sized. The male flowers turn yellow as the\npollen ripens and is released, while the wind-pollinated female flowers develop many small\nstigmas over the surface of the immature fruit. Male plants occasionally have a few female\nflowers which will set fruit.\nFruit: Like the related mulberry, the che fruit is not a berry but a collective fruit, in\nappearance somewhat like a round mulberry crossed with a lychee, 1 to 2 inches in diameter.\nThe ripe fruits are an attractive red or maroon-red color with a juicy, rich red flesh\ninside and 3 to 6 small brown seeds per fruit. The flavor is quite unlike the vinous\nquality of better mulberries. While still firm they are almost tasteless, but when fully\nsoft ripe they develop a watermelon-like flavor that can be quite delicious. The sugar\ncontent is similar to that of a ripe fig. In colder areas with early leaf drop the bright\nred fruit are an attractive sight dangling from smooth, leafless branches.\nCULTURE\nLocation: Ches need a warm, sunny location. They should not be planted near sidewalks since\nthe fallen fruit will stain. Like the mulberry, the trees are quite wind-resistant. One\nmethod of planting is to put a male and a female plant in a single site, about 1 ft. apart,\nand prune to a combined volume of approximately 25% male and 75% female.\nSoil: The trees are relatively undemanding, but perform best in a warm, well-drained soil,\nideally a deep loam.\nIrrigation: Although somewhat drought-resistant, ches need to be watered in dry seasons. In\nsummer dry California a deep watering about every two weeks is recommended. If the roots\nbecome too dry during drought, the plant may began to defoliate and the unripe fruit is\nlikely to drop.\nFertilization: An annual application of a balanced fertilizer such as 10:10:10 NPK in late\nspring will maintain satisfactory growth. Nitrogen is the only element likely to be needed\nin California.\nPruning: The trees need regular pruning to control their shape. The branches formed the\nprevious season should be pruned to half their length. The branchlets on the remaining part\nof the branches should also be trimmed about 50%. A summer pruning of the male plant is\nalso necessary when planted in a single site with the female. To grow as a tree, in\naddition to pruning the lateral branches, the leading branch may also need to be staked to\npoint it in a vertical direction. Trees grafted onto Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)\nrootstock tend to be more robust and grow in a more upright fashion.\nPropagation: The che is readily grown from seed, although the plants can take up to 10\nyears to bear. Seeds should be sown as soon as extracted from the fruit. The plants are\noften propagated from softwood cuttings taken in midsummer and treated with rooting\nhormone. The che is also easily grafted to Osage orange rootstock using either a cleft or\nwhip-and-tongue graft.\nPests and Diseases: No pests or diseases have been noted. The ripe fruit is attractive to\nbirds, and deer will browse on both the fruit and foliage.\nHarvest: Ches begin to bear at an early age and mature trees can produce as much as 400\npounds of fruit. The fruits ripen around November in California. Unlike mulberries, the\nripe fruits do not separate easily from the tree and must be individually picked. It is\nimportant that the fruits be thoroughly ripe to be at their best. A darker shade of red\nwith some blackening of the skin is a good indication of full ripeness. The fruit will keep\nfor several days in a refrigerator in a covered dish. The fruits can be eaten out of hand\nor cooked in various ways. Cooking with other fruits that can contribute some tartness\nimproves the taste. Mixing the ripe fruit in a blender and straining out the seeds yields a\nbeautiful and delicious che \"nectar\".\nCommercial Potential: In China and other parts of East Asia the fruit is sometimes found in\nlocal markets, but is relatively unknown commercially elsewhere. The attractive color and\nreasonable shelf life of the che seem to indicate that with a little effort, there could be\na niche for it in farmer's markets and specialty stores. There also appears to be some\ndemand for the fruit in Asian markets. Better selection should further increase the\nmarketing potential of the che. A seedless fruit or one with with a bit of tartness would\nbe a great improvement, as would earlier ripening cultivars that separate readily from the\nbranches.\nGOUMI (Eleagnus multiflora) This fast-growing shrub has many excellent qualities aside from\nits small red fruit called goumi berries. Light, lilac-scented flowers appear in April or\nMay, developing into small fruit that can be eaten raw or cooked. The fruit is astringent\nuntil ripe, but can be made into pies and jams if picked a little early. Goumi berries are\na rich source of vitamins A, C amd E and are under investigation as anti-cancer agents. The\ndeciduous bush can grow in almost any well-drained soil (including by the seaside) and\ntolerates drought and pollution. Fixes nitrogen and can increase fruit yields when\ninterplanted in your orchard. Self fertile. Zones 7-9\nSWEET SCARLET GOUMI (Eleagnus multiflora) Wouldn't you love to have a smallish (4-6ft.)\nshrub that is self-fertile and produces fragrant creamy white flowers in May followed by\ntasty (and nutritious) little red berries the size of small pie cherries? Goumi fruit is\ndelicious fresh, dried, or in a pie or jam. Scarlet Sweet is a Ukrainian variety. This easy\nlittle shrub adapts well to any well-drained site in at least a half-day of sun, and it's\nnot bothered by pests or diseases. In addition, it's actually a nitrogen-fixing plant,\nmeaning it requires little fertilizer and makes a beneficial companion to other nearby\nfruiting plants. Bees love the flowers too! Goumi is also highly valued as a medicinal\nplant for many purposes. Begins bearing young, at 2-3 years. Zones 4-7.\n \n Wolfberry, commercially called goji berry,\nis the common name for the fruit of two very closely related species: Lycium barbarum\n(Chinese: 寧夏枸杞; pinyin: Níngxià gǒuqǐ) and L. chinense (Chinese: 枸杞; pinyin: gǒuqǐ), two\nspecies of boxthorn in the family Solanaceae (which also includes the potato, tomato,\neggplant, deadly nightshade, chili pepper, and tobacco). It is native to southeastern\nEurope and Asia.[1]\nIt is also known as Chinese wolfberry, mede berry, barbary matrimony vine, bocksdorn, Duke\nof Argyll's tea tree, Murali (in India),[2] red medlar, or matrimony vine.[3] Unrelated to\nthe plant's geographic origin, the names Tibetan goji and Himalayan goji are in common use\nin the health food market for products from this plant.\nContents\n This section does not cite any references or sources.\nPlease help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced\nmaterial may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)\nLycium barbarum illustration from Flora von Deutschland, by Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé,\nÖsterreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany.\nWolfberry species are deciduous woody perennial plants, growing 1–3 m high. L. chinense is\ngrown in the south of China and tends to be somewhat shorter, while L. barbarum is grown in\nthe north, primarily in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and tends to be somewhat taller.\n[edit] Leaves and flower\nWolfberry leaves and flower\nWolfberry leaves form on the shoot either in an alternating arrangement or in bundles of up\nto three, each having a shape that is either lanceolate (shaped like a spearhead longer\nthan it is wide) or ovate (egg-like). Leaf dimensions are 7-cm wide by 3.5-cm broad with\nblunted or round tips.\nThe flowers grow in groups of one to three in the leaf axils. The calyx (eventually\nruptured by the growing berry) consists of bell-shaped or tubular sepals forming short,\ntriangular lobes. The corolla are lavender or light purple, 9–14 mm wide with five or six\nlobes shorter than the tube. The stamens are structured with filaments longer than the\nanthers. The anthers are longitudinally dehiscent.\nIn the northern hemisphere, flowering occurs from June through September and berry\nmaturation from August to October, depending on the latitude, altitude, and climate.\n[edit] Fruit\nThese species produce a bright orange-red, ellipsoid berry 1–2-cm deep. The number of seeds\nin each berry varies widely based on cultivar and fruit size, containing anywhere between\n10–60 tiny yellow seeds that are compressed with a curved embryo. The berries ripen from\nJuly to October in the northern hemisphere.\n[edit] Etymology\n\"Wolfberry\" is the most commonly used English name[citation needed], while gǒuqǐ (枸杞) is\nthe Chinese name for the berry producing plant. In Chinese, the berries themselves are\ncalled gǒuqǐzi (枸杞子), with zi meaning \"seed\" or specifically \"berry\". Other common names\nare \"the Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree\"[3] and \"matrimony vine\".[3] Rarely, wolfberry is also\nknown in pharmacological references as Lycii fructus, meaning \"Lycium fruit\" in Latin.\nThe origin of the common name \"wolfberry\" is unknown, perhaps resulting from confusion over\nthe genus name, which resembles \"lycos\", the Greek word for wolf. In the English-speaking\nworld, \"goji berry\" has been used since the early 21st century as a synonym for\n\"wolfberry\". The word \"goji\" is pronunciation of gǒuqǐ in Taiwanese Hokkien, the Mandarin\nname of the plant, developed by those marketing wolfberry products in the West.\nLycium, the genus name, is derived from the ancient southern Anatolian region of Lycia\n(Λυκία).[4] L. chinense was first described by the Scottish botanist Philip Miller in the\neighth edition of his The Gardener's Dictionary, published in 1768.\nIn Japan the plant is known as kuko (クコ) and the fruits are called kuko no mi (クコ の 実) or\nkuko no kajitsu (クコ の 果 実); in Korea the berries are known as gugija (hangul: 구기자; hanja: 枸\n杞子)[13]; in Vietnam the fruit is called \"kỷ tử\" (杞子), \"cẩu kỷ\" (枸杞), \"cẩu kỷ tử\"(枸杞子) but\nthe plant and its leaves are known more popularly as \"củ khởi\"; and in Thailand the plant\nis called găo gèe (เก๋ากี้). In Tibetan the plant is called dretsherma\n(Tibetwolfberryspelling.png), with dre meaning \"ghost\" and tsherma meaning \"thorn\"; and the\nname of the fruit is dretshermǟ dräwu (Wolfberrytibetanname.png), with dräwu meaning\n\"fruit\".[citation needed]\nSince the early 21st century in the United States and other such developed countries, there\nhas been rapidly growing attention for wolfberries for their nutrient value and antioxidant\ncontent, leading to a profusion of consumer products. Such rapid commercial development\nextends from wolfberry having a high ranking among superfruits[5] expected to be part of a\nmulti-billion dollar market by 2011.[6][7]\n[edit] Cultivation\nThe majority of commercially produced wolfberries come from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous\nRegion of north-central China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China,\nwhere they are grown on plantations. In Zhongning County, Ningxia, wolfberry plantations\ntypically range between 100 and 1000 acres (or 500–6000 mu) in area. As of 2005, over 10\nmillion mu have been planted with wolfberries in Ningxia.[8]\nCultivated along the fertile aggradational floodplains of the Yellow River for more than\n600 years, Ningxia wolfberries have earned a reputation throughout Asia for premium quality\nsometimes described commercially as \"red diamonds\".[9] Government releases of annual\nwolfberry production, premium fruit grades, and export are based on yields from Ningxia,\nthe region recognized with\n * The largest annual harvest in China, accounting for 42% (13 million kg, 2001) of the\nnation's total yield of wolfberries, estimated at approximately 33 million kg (72 million\nlb) in 2001.\n * Formation of an industrial association of growers, processors, marketers, and\nscholars of wolfberry cultivation to promote the berry's commercial and export potential.\n * The nation's only source of therapeutic grade (\"superior-grade\") wolfberries used by\npractitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.[10]\nIn addition, commercial volumes of wolfberries grow in the Chinese regions of Inner\nMongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei. When ripe, the oblong, red berries\nare tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the vine into trays to avoid\nspoiling. The fruits are preserved by drying them in full sun on open trays or by\nmechanical dehydration employing a progressively increasing series of heat exposure over 48\nhours.\nWolfberries are celebrated each August in Ningxia with an annual festival coinciding with\nthe berry harvest.[8] Originally held in Ningxia's capital, Yinchuan, the festival has been\nbased since 2000 in Zhongning County, an important center of wolfberry cultivation for the\nregion.[8] As Ningxia's borders merge with three deserts, wolfberries are also planted to\ncontrol erosion and reclaim irrigable soils from desertification.[11]\nChina, the main supplier of wolfberry products in the world, had total exports generating\nUS$120 million in 2004. This production derived from 82,000 hectares farmed nationwide,\nyielding 95,000 tons of wolfberries.[9]\n[edit] Pesticide and fungicide use\nOrganochlorine pesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation to\nmitigate destruction of the delicate berries by insects. Since the early 21st century, high\nlevels of insecticide residues (including fenvalerate, cypermethrin, and acetamiprid) and\nfungicide residues (such as triadimenol and isoprothiolane), have been detected by the\nUnited States Food and Drug Administration in some imported wolfberries and wolfberry\nproducts of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[12][13]\nChina's Green Food Standard, administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's China\nGreen Food Development Center, does permit some amount of pesticide and herbicide\nuse.[14][15][16] Agriculture in the Tibetan plateau (where many \"Himalayan\" or\n\"Tibetan\"-branded berries originate) conventionally uses fertilizers and pesticides, making\norganic claims for berries originating here dubious.[17]\n[edit] United Kingdom\nThe Duke of Argyll introduced the plant into the United Kingdom in the 1730s where it is\nknown as Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree. It was and still is used for hedging, especially in\ncoastal districts. Its red berries are attractive to a wide variety of British birds.[18]\nThe plant continues to grow wild in UK hedgerows. On 15 January 2003, the Department for\nEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a project to improve the regulations\nprotecting traditional countryside hedgerows, and specifically mentioned Duke of Argyll's\nTea Tree as one of the species to be found growing in hedges located in Suffolk Sandlings,\nHadleigh, Bawdsey, near Ipswich, and Walberswick.[19]\nThe wolfberry has been naturalized as an ornamental and edible plant in the UK for nearly\n300 years. On June 18, 2007, the FSA (UK Food Standards Agency) stated that there was a\nsignificant history of the fruit being consumed in Europe before 1997, and has removed it\nfrom the Novel Foods list.[20] It is now legal to sell the wolfberry in the UK as a food as\nreported by the British Food Standards Agency.[21](also see discussion below, Marketing\nclaims under scrutiny in Europe).\n[edit] Importation of mature plants\nImportation of wolfberry plants into the United Kingdom from most countries outside Europe\nis illegal, due to the possibility that as an introduced species they could be vectors of\ndiseases attacking Solanaceae crops, such as potato or tomato.[22]\n[edit] Uses\nDried wolfberries\nWolfberries are almost never found in their fresh form outside of their production regions,\nand are usually sold in open boxes and small packages in dried form. The amount of\ndesiccation varies in wolfberries: some are soft and somewhat tacky in the manner of\nraisins, while others may be very hard.\n[edit] Culinary\nAs a food, dried wolfberries are traditionally cooked before consumption. Dried wolfberries\nare often added to rice congee and almond jelly, as well as used in Chinese tonic soups, in\ncombination with chicken or pork, vegetables, and other herbs such as wild yam, Astragalus\nmembranaceus, Codonopsis pilosula, and licorice root. The berries are also boiled as an\nherbal tea, often along with chrysanthemum flowers and/or red jujubes, or with tea,\nparticularly pu-erh tea,[citation needed] and packaged teas are also available.\nVarious wines containing wolfberries (called gǒuqǐ jiǔ; 枸杞酒) are also produced,[23][24]\nincluding some that are a blend of grape wine and wolfberries.\nAt least one Chinese company also produces wolfberry beer, and New Belgium Brewery makes\ntheir seasonal Springboard ale with wolfberries used as flavoring. Since the early 21st\ncentury, an instant coffee product containing wolfberry extract has been produced in China.\nYoung wolfberry shoots and leaves are also grown commercially as a leaf\nvegetable.photorecipe\nMarketing literature for wolfberry products including several \"goji juices\" suggest that\nwolfberry polysaccharides have extensive biological effects and health benefits, although\nnone of these claims have been supported by peer-reviewed research.\nA May 2008 clinical study published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and\nComplementary Medicine indicated that parametric data, including body weight, did not show\nsignificant differences between subjects receiving Lycium barbarum berry juice and subjects\nreceiving the placebo; the study concluded that subjective measures of health were improved\nand suggested further research in humans was necessary.[25] This study, however, was\nsubject to a variety of criticisms concerning its experimental design and\ninterpretations.[26]\nPublished studies have also reported possible medicinal benefits of Lycium barbarum,\nespecially due to its antioxidant properties,[27] including potential benefits against\ncardiovascular and inflammatory diseases,[28][29] vision-related diseases[30] (such as\nage-related macular degeneration and glaucoma[31]), having neuroprotective properties[32]\nor as an anticancer[33] and immunomodulatory agent.[34]\nWolfberry leaves may be used to make tea,[35] together with Lycium root bark (called\ndìgǔpí; 地 骨 皮 in Chinese), for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A glucopyranoside\n(namely (+)-Lyoniresinol-3α-O-β-d-glucopyranoside) and phenolic amides\n(dihydro-N-caffeoyltyramine, trans-N-feruloyloctopamine, trans-N-caffeoyltyramine and\ncis-N-caffeoyltyramine) isolated from wolfberry root bark have inhibitory activity in vitro\nagainst human pathogenic bacteria and fungi.[36][37]\n[edit] Safety issues\nTwo published case reports described elderly women who experienced increased bleeding,\nexpressed as an elevated INR, after drinking quantities of wolfberry tea.[38][39] Further\nin vitro testing revealed that the tea inhibited warfarin metabolism, providing evidence\nfor possible interaction between warfarin and undefined wolfberry phytochemicals.[38]\nAtropine, a toxic alkaloid found in other members of the Solanaceae family, occurs\nnaturally in wolfberry fruit. The atropine concentrations of berries from China and\nThailand are variable, with a maximum content of 19 ppb, below the likely toxic amount.[40]\n[edit] Nutrient content\nWolfberry contains significant percentages of a day's macronutrient needs – carbohydrates,\nprotein, fat and dietary fiber. About 68% of the mass of dried wolfberries exists as\ncarbohydrate, 12% as protein, and 10% each as fiber and fat, giving a total caloric value\nin a 100 gram serving of 370 (kilo)calories.\n[edit] Micronutrients and phytochemicals\nWolfberries contain many nutrients and phytochemicals including\n * 11 essential and 22 trace dietary minerals\n * 18 amino acids\n * 8 polysaccharides and 6 monosaccharides\n * 5 unsaturated fatty acids, including the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and\nalpha-linolenic acid\n * 5 carotenoids, including beta-carotene and zeaxanthin (below), lutein, lycopene and\ncryptoxanthin, a xanthophyll\n * numerous phenolic pigments (phenols) associated with antioxidant properties\nSelect examples given below are for 100 grams of dried berries.\n * Calcium. Wolfberries contain 112 mg per 100 gram serving, providing about 8-10% of\nthe Dietary Reference Intake (DRI).\n * Potassium. Wolfberries contain 1,132 mg per 100 grams dried fruit, giving about 24%\nof the DRI.\n * Iron. Wolfberries have 9 mg iron per 100 grams (100% DRI).\n * Zinc. 2 mg per 100 grams dried fruit (18% DRI).\n * Selenium. 100 grams of dried wolfberries contain 50 micrograms (91% DRI)\n * Riboflavin (vitamin B2). At 1.3 mg, 100 grams of dried wolfberries provide 100% of\nDRI.\n * Vitamin C. Vitamin C content in dried wolfberries has a wide range (from different\nsources[citation needed]) from 29 mg per 100 grams to as high as 148 mg per 100 grams\n(respectively, 32% and 163% DRI).\nWolfberries also contain numerous phytochemicals for which there are no established DRI\nvalues. Examples:\n * Beta-carotene: 7 mg per 100 grams dried fruit.\n * Zeaxanthin. Reported values for zeaxanthin content in dried wolfberries vary\nconsiderably, from 2.4 mg per 100 grams [41] to 82.4 mg per 100 grams [42] to 200 mg per\n100 grams.[43] The higher values would make wolfberry one of the richest edible plant\nsources known for zeaxanthin content.[44] Up to 77% of total carotenoids present in\nwolfberry exist as zeaxanthin.[45]\n * Polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are a major constituent of wolfberries, representing\nup to 31% of pulp weight.\n[edit] Wolfberry polysaccharides\nOne study[46] published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that:\n * Endogenous lipid peroxidation, and decreased antioxidant activities, as assessed by\nsuperoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total\nantioxidant capacity (TAOC), and immune function were observed in aged mice and restored to\nnormal levels in Lycium polysaccharide-treated groups. Antioxidant activities of Lycium\nbarbarum polysaccharides were found to be comparable with normal antioxidant, vitamin C.\nFurthemore, adding vitamin C to the polysaccharide treatment further increased in vivo\nantioxidant activity of the polysaccharides.",
"Spirits Glossary - Big Red Liquors\nSpirits Glossary; Store Locator; ... Originally referring to wine, ... Liqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, ...\n» Spirits Glossary\nSpirits Glossary\nThe Grape & Food\nSpirits Glossary\nFrom Amarula African Crème to Zaya Rum, you will find almost 1,500 varieties of spirits in Big Red locations. Regardless of whether you are seeking the ultimate $2,000 bottle of Cognac or need an inexpensive Vodka for the punch at a holiday party, you will find it at Big Red Liquors!\nBecause of our enormous purchasing power and solid belief in providing our customers with reasonable prices, you will find many of our spirits priced from 10 to 25% below the competition. These are not just “sale” items, but Big Red’s everyday low prices. Many of our brands come from difficult to locate sources that are not in every corner store and Big Red’s size also allows us to be one of the first in bringing new and exciting brands to market in our area.\nMany Big Red employees are specialists in one or more types of spirits and you will find managers with an incredible depth of knowledge in areas such as Scotch, Bourbon, Cognac, Vodka and others. We are happy to help – it is our passion!\nAbsinthe: A once illegal anise based aperitif drink with an infusion of wormwood, considered by some to be hallucinogenic and dangerous. Brands now available are made without all of the dangerous ingredients.\nAllspice: A ground spice made from an unripe berry with an aroma reminiscent of a cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg blend.\nAmaretto: Almond flavored liqueur.\nAmaretto di Saronno: Italian amaretto produced since 1525. Originally created by a widow as a gift to an artist of the Leonardo da Vinci School of Art.\nAngostura Bitters: Aromatic bitters originating in Angostura, Venezuela; now produced in Trinidad.\nAnisette: A licorice tasting liqueur made from the anise seed.\nAperitif: Originally referring to wine, but now may mean any liquor taken to stimulate the appetite before a meal.\nApricot Brandy: Apricot flavored brandy.\nApplejack: North American name for apple brandy.\nAquavit: Scandinavian grain spirit, usually flavored with caraway and anise.\nArmagnac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the city of Condom, France.\nBenedictine: An herb flavored liqueur produced by the Benedictine monks of France.\nBitters: A non-alcoholic aromatic combination of herbs, fruits, roots, barks, seeds, and flowers steeped in an alcohol base and then aged. (See Peychauds and Angostura.)\nBlack Raspberry Liqueur: A black raspberry flavored liqueur. (See Chambord.)\nBlended straight whiskey: A blend consisting of only straight whiskeys.\nBlended whiskey: A blending of straight whiskeys with either light-bodied whiskeys or with neutral alcohols.\nBlue Curacao: Blue colored Dutch West Indian Curacao orange liqueur. Produced in Holland.\nBottled-in-bond whiskey: At least a 100 proof straight bourbon whiskey that has aged two or more years in a bonded warehouse kept under federal lock and key. All bottled-in-bond whiskey bears a green government stamp.\nBourbon Whiskey: American whiskey made by using at least 51% corn grain mash in a wheat, oats, rye, and barley combination.\nBrandy: A product of the distillation of wine, or fruit in the case of flavored brandies such as peach or cherry. Cognac and Armagnac are special varieties made from grapes grown in specific areas of France.\nCachaca: A Brazilian sugar cane based spirit similar to rum.\nCalvados: French apple brandy from Normandy.\nCampari: An Italian brand of bitter aperitif wine.\nCanadian Whiskey: A light-bodied whiskey balanced so that no one particular mash ingredient is allowed to dominate the flavor.\nChambord: A black raspberry flavored liqueur produced in Burgundy, France.\nChartreuse: Yellow and green herbal liqueurs made only by the Carthusian monks of La Grande Chartreuse, France. Produced since 1605 from a secret recipe consisting of over 100 alpine herbs.\nCoco Lopez: A sweet, syrupy, coconut based drink mixer. Non Alcoholic.\nCoffee Liqueur: Coffee flavored liqueur.\nCognac: A type of brandy that has been distilled from wine made from grapes grown in the area surrounding the cities of Cognac and Jarnac.\nCointreau: A French made, bitter-sweet orange flavored liqueur. Produced by the Cointreau family since 1849.\nCordial: A strong, highly flavored and sweet liquor typically consumed after a meal.\nCorn whiskey: A whiskey made from a mash of at least 80% corn. May or may not be aged.\nCrème: A thick and concentrated infusion of fruit in neutral grain spirits. Commonly made from Cassis, Frambois, but can be from any fruit or nut source.\nCrème de Banana: Banana flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Cacao: A white or brown colored liqueur made from cocoa beans, vanilla and spices.\nCrème de Cassis: A French liqueur made from black currants.\nCrème de Menthe: A red, green, or white colored, peppermint flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Framboise: Raspberry-flavored liqueur.\nCrème de Violette: Violet-flavored liqueur.\nCuracao: Orange-flavored liqueur, produced mainly in France and the Netherlands, but originating from the Caribbean; an orange flavored liqueur made from the peels of oranges grown on the island of Curacao, in the West Indies.\nDigestif: A liquor consumed at or after a meal to aid in digestion.\nDrambuie: A Scotch based, honey flavored liqueur first produced in Skye, Scotland in 1745, now produced in Edinburgh.\nDry Vermouth: French made, herb flavored wine that is used in making drinks such as the Martini and Manhattan.\nDubonnet: A French brand of aperitif wine made from aromatics.\nEverclear: In the United States, Everclear is a brand of grain alcohol (ethanol), available at concentrations of 95% alcohol (190 proof) and 75.5% (151 proof).\nEau de Vie: Eau-de-vie (plural eaux-de-vie) is a French term for a colorless brandy, derived from one or more fruits. Literally translated it means “water of life”.\nFernet Branca: A bitter, aromatic spirit made from over 40 herbs and spices.\nFlips: A combination of eggnog and fizz, made with liqueur, egg, sugar and shaved ice.\nFrangelico: An Italian liqueur made with wild hazelnuts, berries and flowers.\nFrappe: Any mixture of liqueurs over finely crushed ice.\nGalliano: A yellow herb and spice liqueur made in Solaro, Italy.\nGin: A neutral alcohol base flavored with the juniper berry.\nGrain Neutral Spirits: Alcohol distilled from grain at 190 proof. Used in blended whiskeys and for making vodka, gin and other liquors.\nGrand Marnier: A cognac brandy based liqueur flavored with orange.\nGrappa: An Italian brandy distilled from the pulp of grapes used in winemaking.\nGrenadine: A non-alcoholic cherry flavoring used in a variety of drinks such as the Sling or the Shirley Temple.\nIrish whiskey: A whiskey whose flavor is obtained from the malted barley component of its mash, made in Ireland.\nJigger: also called a shot, a small glass used to measure liquor.\nJulep: Originally a sweet syrup, now a family of spirit-based cocktails, flavored and decorated with fresh mint.\nKahlua: A coffee flavored liqueur made in sunny Mexico.\nKirshwasser: Colorless, cherry-flavored eau-de-vie, mainly from France and Switzerland.\nKummel: Colorless Dutch liqueur, flavored with caraway.\nLillet: French herb-flavored liqueur, based on wine and Armagnac.\nLimoncello: A distinctive, premium liqueur made with the juice of fresh lemons from Southern Italy.\nLiqueur: Distilled spirit flavored with such things as fruit, herbs, coffee, nuts, mint and chocolate.\nLondon gin: The driest gin available.\nMadeira: Fortified wine from the Portuguese island of the same name.\nMandarin Napoleon: Belgian, brandy-based liqueur flavored with tangerines.\nMaraschino: Italian, cherry-flavored liqueur – usually colorless, but may be red.\nMelon liqueur: Spirit-based, melon-flavored liqueur, (See Midori).\nMezcal: Spirit similar to tequila made from one of five permissible Agave plants. Most is made in the state of Oaxaca, but it can be produced elsewhere. The worm found in the bottom of the bottle in some brands originated in the 1940’s as a marketing ploy.\nMidori: A green colored, melon flavored liqueur made in Japan.\nMirabelle: Plum eau-de-vie, or colorless brandy.\nMonte Alban: A Mezcal named after an Aztec mountain-top settlement in Oaxaca, Mexico where Mezcal has been produced since the mid 1500’s. True Oaxacan mezcal has an agave cactus worm in each bottle.\nMuddle: To mash or crush ingredients with a spoon or muddler.\nNeat: A term referring to liquor that is consumed undiluted by ice, water or mixers.\nNocello Walnut: Nocello, from the Emeligia-Romagna region of Italy is a walnut flavored liqueur.\nOuzo: An unsweetened anise-flavored liqueur made in Greece since 1888.\nPastis: Anise based aperitif, turns cloudy with water, Often known by the brand names Pernod, Ricard or Mon Pastis.\nPeter Heering Cherry Liqueur: A world renowned cherry flavored liqueur. Produced since 1818 in Copenhagen, Denmark.\nPeychaud Bitters: Originally created in 1830 by Antoine Peychaud in Haiti, now produced in New Orleans by the Sazerac Company.\nPimms: Pimm’s No. 1 is a gin-based liquor made in England from dry gin, liqueur, fruit juices and spices.\nPisco: A Peruvian grape based brandy, often used to make a Pisco Sour.\nPousse-Café: A drink poured in layers to float on top of one another, which gives its name to a narrow, straight-sided stemmed glass.\nPrisonniere: Literally “prisoner”. When an apple or pear is grown inside a bottle which is then filled with either Calvados or Poire William.\nProof: An American system for measuring alcohol content by volume. 80 proof equals 40% alcohol by volume (ABV).\nRickey: A spirit-based cocktail including lemon or lime juice and soda water.\nRoses: A sweetened West Indian lime juice produced in St. Albans, England. Non-Alcoholic.\nRum: Spirit made from the fermentation and distillation of sugar cane. Light, medium, and heavy bodied flavor variations exist as do variations in color when not clear. Often flavored with spices or fruit flavors.\nRye whiskey: Mainly American and Canadian whiskey which must be made from a mash containing at least 51 percent rye.\nSake: Japanese rice wine, may be served warm or chilled.\nSambuca: Italian, anise flavored liqueur often served flaming with coffee beans.\nSchnapps: A peppermint flavored liqueur. Many flavored varieties of peppermint schnapps exist, such as root beer or peach; all have peppermint as the base flavoring.\nScotch Whisky: Blends are a mixture of about 40 percent malt and 60 percent grain whiskey and single malts are 100% from a single distillery.\nSlivovitz: A Croatian version of plum brandy.\nSloe Gin: Liqueur made by steeping sloe berries in gin – previously homemade but now available commercially.\nSour: A spirit-based cocktail containing sugar, and lemon or lime juice.\nSour Mash Whiskey: A broad category of whiskey where a portion of old mash is mixed in with new to help advance the character and smoothness of the flavor.\nStraight Whiskey: A whiskey that is distilled and then aged at least two years without blending.\nStrega: Italian, herb-flavored liqueur made with over 50 botanicals and colored with saffron.\nSugar syrup: A sweetener for cocktails, made by dissolving sugar in boiling water.\nSweet Vermouth: An Italian made, herb flavored wine. Used in making drinks such as Rob Roy’s and Manhattans.\nTequila: Mexican spirit distilled from the blue agave plant, a succulent. Tequila can only be made in the state of Jalisco. Generally available in three categories: Blanco (no wood aging), Reposado and Anejo.\nTia Maria: Popular, Jamaican rum-based coffee liqueur.\nTriple sec: Colorless, orange-flavored liqueur.\nVermouth: Wine-based aperitif flavored with extracts of wormwood – both sweet and dry vermouths are widely used in cocktails.\nVodka: Colorless, grain-based spirit, originally from Russia and Poland. Now made from virtually any grain, many fruits and potatoes as well and available in dozens of flavors.\nWhiskey: Spirit distilled from grain in either Ireland or North America. Corn, rye and barley are all used.\nWhisky: A spirit from Scotland traditionally distilled from grain in the lowlands and barley in the rest of the country. Also known as Scotch Whisky.",
"Culinary Dictionary - A, Food Dictionary, Whats Cooking ...\nToday the term means according to the menu and that which is written down as available on the menu. ... meaning they only have one shell, ... au poivre (pwa-vra) ...\nCulinary Dictionary - A, Food Dictionary, Whats Cooking America\nCulinary Dictionary\nLinda’s Culinary Dictionary – A\nA Dictionary of Cooking, Food, and Beverage Terms\n \nAn outstanding and large culinary dictionary and glossary that includes the definitions and history of cooking, food, and beverage terms.\nPlease click on a letter below to alphabetically search the many food and cooking terms:\n \nA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U-Y Z\n.\na la (ah lah) – It is French for “in the manner of,” “in the style of,” and “according to” In cooking, this phrase designates the style of preparation or a particular garnish. There is no difference between dishes listed as “a la boulangere” and “boulangere.” Many menus drop the “a la” because it is implied.\na la Anglaise (ah-la-an-glaz) – It is a French term for English. It refers to food which has been dipped in beaten egg, and then coated with bread crumbs and cooked in butter and oil.\na la boulangere (boo-lan-jair) – Describes a simple dish of stock, potatoes, and onions. “Boulangere” is French for “baker.” In history in France, many homes did not have an oven, so anything to be baked was taken to a local baker to be cooked in his oven.\na la Broche – Prepared on a skewer over a flame. Also called Brochettes.\na la Carte (KART) – “Carte” was originally a French term for a piece of paper or cardboard and later a bill of fare or menu. Today the term means according to the menu and that which is written down as available on the menu. Refers to meal in which the diner selects individual items, paying for each, rather than taking a complete meal at a fixed price.\na la Creole – Dishes prepared with tomatoes, green peppers and onions as the main ingredients.\na la Diable (ah-la-dee-abla) – “Diable” is French for the devil or satan. The term means food served deviled or in the devil’s style, usually served with a very sharp and hot seasoning.\na la King – Prepared with a Bechamel sauce containing mushrooms, green peppers, and red or pimento peppers.\na la Lyonnaise (ah-la-lee-on-az) – In French the term means with onions or served with Lyonnaise sauce, which is made from onions, white wine, and a meat glaze.\na la Maitre d’Hotel – Prepared with a sauce of lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and drawn butter.\na la Marinera (ah-la-mah-ree-neh-rah) – Common style of cooking in Spanish cuisine, It says that the food is cooked with white wine, onions and sometimes tomatoes.\na la mode (ah lah MODH) – A French word for “in the manner of” or “mode or according to fashion.” Desserts a la mode are served with ice cream. Meats cooked a la mode are braised with vegetables and served with gravy.\na la Nage – A French term that literally means “in the swim” and refers to the fact that a some kind of seafood is “swimming” in a flavorful broth.\na la Plancha (ah-la-plahn-chah) – A Spanish cooking term that refers to the method of cooking grilled on a metal plate or cast-iron skillet that is used for cooking by dry heat.\na la Provencale (prov-on-sal) – Provence is a French maritime province that is famed for its wines and cuisine. The term is used to describe a dish, which uses products, which flourish, in the area of Provence, namely tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olives.\na la Royale – Prepared in the royal style; typically a veloute sauce with truffles, served on poached fish or poultry.\na la Russe – Prepared in the Russian style with sour cream or beetroot or both are added.\n \nababai – Ababai comes from the Caricacae family of fruits, which also contains the Mau Mau, and some forms of papaya. It is considered an exotic fruit in the United States. It is imported from Chile, as Chile is the only country in the world that exports this luscious fruit. Very few countries grow Ababai and then only for their local market. It is a protected fruit in Chile and was only recently available for export.\nFresh off the tree, ababai has a thin skin and looks like a small papaya. It is never eaten fresh due to its high enzyme content. It is first cooked for several minutes and then jarred. Its pale yellow color turns to a brilliant gold after processing. It is one of the few fruits that will not dissolve when cooked. It is superb for sauteing with vegetables, broiling on fish, and grilling on the barbecue (shish kebob). The seeds look like small raisins. The male and female seeds of the fruit cannot be distinguished before planting, and there is also a hermaphrodite seed. Several seeds are planted with the prospect of growing one successful Ababai tree. Ababai trees grow for 7 1/2 to 8 years and only bear fruit for 5 years. The tree is then cut down, recycled, and must be replanted on virgin soil.\n \nabais – A French term that describes puff pastry that has been rolled very thin or sponge cake that has been cut very thin for dessert preparation.\n \nabalone – Abalone are shellfish of the univalve family, meaning they only have one shell, unlike bivalves such as clams that consist of two shells. This edible gastropod belongs to the same family as the sea slug and is related to the snail. Out of its shell, it resembles a large scallop. They are found in United States, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and Indo-Pacific Region. On the Pacific coast, they are found on rocky inter-tidal and sub-tidal areas from Baja California to Alaska, as each species prefers a particular habitat, which appears related to the local sea temperature. They are also called ear shells, or sea ears (as their shape resembles the human ear). Also called Awabi in Japanese cuisine and Loco in South American cuisine. Since the abalone has been over-harvested, it is very expensive when available.\nHistory: Abalone has lived along the Pacific coast of North America for millions of years. Fossilized shells have been found in sediments that are approximately 100 million years old. In more recent times, abalone were important in the economy of all native American peoples who dwelled in California’s coastal areas. Native Americans were using abalone for food, implements, and decoration long before the arrival of Europeans in North America\n \nAbsinthe (AB-sinth) – An anise-flavored liqueur that is made by steeping wormwood and other aromatic herbs (hyssop, lemon balm, and angelica) in alcohol. The drink is distinguished by its dazzling blue-green clarity due to its chlorophyll content. It was traditionally served with water and a cube of sugar; the sugar cube was placed on an “absinthe spoon” and the liquor was drizzled over the sugar into the glass of water. The sugar helped take the bitter edge from the absinthe, and when poured into the water the liquor turned milky white. Absinthe was believed to raise the drinker’s consciousness, insights, and emotional experience to another level altogether. Unfortunately, it also caused terrible hallucinations, permanent neural damage, as seen in the dazed condition of dedicated drinkers, and even its own diseases, known as absinthism, recognized as early as the 1850s. Read my web page on Absinthe Drinks – Learn how to make and drink absinthe.\nHistory: Dr. Pierre Ordinaire as an all-purpose remedy invented Absinthe in 1792. Used as a cure-all for epilepsy, gout, drunkenness, kidney stones, colic, headaches, and worms, it was nicknamed “La Fee Verte” meaning The Green Fairy. In 1797, the heirs of Dr. Ordinaire sold the recipe to Henri-Louis Pernod. Pernod opened the first absinthe distillery in Switzerland and then moved to a larger one in Pontarlier, France in 1805. After the Algerian War (1844-1847), the demand for absinthe rose dramatically. The soldiers had developed a taste for absinthe, as they were given rations of absinthe along with their drinking water as a bacterial deterrent, and began drinking it after the war.\nAt the beginning of the 20th century, the drinking of absinthe was so popular that the cocktail hour in France was called “lheure verte,” meaning the “green hour.” Absinthe was exported to New Orleans and reached the same popularity in the United States. It was a drink considered ladylike and women freely enjoyed it in the coffee houses, where it was commonly served. In New Orleans, as well as in the rest of the United States, it became banned in 1912. Absinthe is still available in other areas of the world where it is not illegal.\n \nAcetomel – A mixture of honey and vinegar that produces sweet-sour syrup. Traditionally used to preserve fruits.\nacidify – To add acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to a culinary preparation to made a dish slightly acid, sour, or piquant.\n \nacidulated water – It is a solution of 5 to 6 parts water to 1 part acid (typically the acid ingredient is lemon juice or vinegar). Since the flesh of certain fruits and vegetables, such as apples and pears, will darken when exposed to air unless used immediately after cutting, they are dropped into an acidulated water to stop this process.\n \naerate (ER-ayt) – Aerate means the same as “sift.” To pass dry ingredients through a fine-mesh sifter so large pieces can be removed. The process also incorporates air to make ingredients like flour, lighter.\n \nafter taste – Taste which returns to the mouth after ingestion of certain foods and beverages.\n \nagar-agar – processed seaweed, grayish white in color and comes in sticks, flakes, granules or powder. It is a vegetarian gelatin. After it is soaked in cold water, it becomes bouncy, resilient, and crisp . It is used mostly for cold oriental dishes that contain chicken, meat, and vegetables. In the old days, before the introduction of gelatin, agar-agar was also used as a thickening agent in making cold jellied dishes. Once soaked in boiling water, it melts into a gelatinous substance. The Chinese use this paste to make their famous delicacy called “bird’s nest soup.” Agar-agar is commonly referred to as Chinese gelatin.\n \nahi (AH-hee) – Ahi tuna is simply yellow fin tuna. It is a term used in Hawaii to describe this variety of tuna, which is distinguished from the other variety of tuna, known as blue fin.\n \naiguillette – Long, thin slices of poultry of fish.\n \naioli (eye-YO-lee) – (French) The French word for garlic is “ail.” Aioli is garlic-flavored mayonnaise made from pounded cloves of garlic, egg yolks, oil, and seasoning. Just before it is served, lemon juice and a little cold water are added. It is served as a sauce for a variety of garnishes and main courses. The Italian for aioli is “aglio,” the Spanish is “ajo” and “allioil.”\nHistory: It is believed to have originated in Provence, France. See “mayonnaise.”\n \nakutaq – Also known as aqutuk, ackutuk, or Eskimo Ice Cream. Not the creamy ice cream as we know it, but a concoction made from reindeer fat or tallow, seal oil, freshly fallen snow or water, fresh berries, and sometimes ground fish. Air is whipped in by hand so that it slowly cools into foam. It is eaten as a desert, a meal, a snack, or a spread. Traditionally it was made for funerals, pot latches, celebrations of a boy’s first hunt, and any other celebration where food is brought. Today it is usually made with Crisco shortening instead of tallow and with raisins and sugar sometimes added\nHistory: Alaska Natives have thrived on this delicacy for thousands of years. The region lived in usually determines what berry is used, and each family usually has their favorite recipe. It is said that your choice of berries used is a lifetime decision. If it okay to eat any flavor made by others, but if you are caught making more than one kind, you will lose all social standing. Learn more about the history and culture of Akuta or Eskimo Ice Cream .\n \nal dente (ahl-DEN-tay) – In Italian the phrase means “to the tooth” and is a term used to describe the correct degree of doneness when cooking pasta, risotto, and vegetables. The food should have a slight resistance (chewy) when biting into it, but should not be soft, overdone, or have a hard center.\n \nal forno (ahl FOHR-noh) – An Italian term to describe a dish that is “oven baked” or “oven roasted.”\n \nall-purpose flour – All-purpose flour is made from a blend of high-gluten hard wheat and low-gluten soft wheat. It is a fine-textured flour milled from the inner part of the wheat kernel and contains neither the germ (the sprouting section) nor the bran (the outer husk). By law, in the United States, all flours not containing wheat germ must have niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin added. Most all-purpose flours are labeled “enriched,” indicating that these nutrients have been\nallspice – The dried, unripe berry of a small tree. It is available ground or in seed form. Allspice can be used in a variety of dishes such as pickles, casseroles, cakes, and puddings. Also known as Jamaica Pepper. It is the fruit of the evergreen pimiento tree. The flavor resembles a blend of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This spice is used in both sweet and savory cooking and can be purchased whole or ground.\n \nalmond (AH-mund, AM-und) – It is the kernel of the fruit of the almond tree that is native of the warmer parts of western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the same group of plants as the rose, plum, cherry, and peach. The seed is rounded at one end and pointed at the other, and covered with a thin brown coat. There are two types of almonds – sweet and bitter. Today, Americans give guests at weddings a bag of sugared almonds (representing children, happiness, romance, good health, and fortune). In Sweden, cinnamon-flavored rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is a Christmas custom (find it and good fortune is yours for a year).\nHistory – Almonds were well know in Greece and Italy long before the Christian era. Explorers ate almonds while traveling the “Silk Road” between Asia and the Mediterranean. Before long, almond trees flourished in the Mediterranean (especially in Spain and Italy). Throughout history, almonds have maintained religious, ethnic, and social significance. The Bible’s “Book of Numbers” tells the story of Aaron’s rod that blossomed and bore almonds, giving the almond the symbolism of divine approval. The Romans showered newlyweds with almonds as a fertility charm. In the mid 1700s, the Franciscan Padres brought almond trees to California from Spain.\nalmond extract – A solution of oil, bitter almonds, and alcohol (approximately 1%) that is used for a flavoring in baking.\nalmond flour – Almond flour or meal is the residue left after almond oil has been extracted from the kernels. It is entirely free from starch and is used in making bread and biscuits for diabetics.\nalmond paste – A mixture of sugar, almonds, and egg whites. Also called marzipan. It is widely used in dessert preparations. Almond paste and marzipan are both made from ground almonds. They differ mainly in their sugar content. Marzipan is made from almond paste and sugar and is used primarily in confections and decorations because it is more moldable and the almond flavor is less pronounced. Almond paste is used in pastries and other baked goods. They are not interchangeable in recipes.\n \namaranth – Amaranth is from the Greek for “never-fading flower” or “everlasting.” It is an annual herb, and therefore not a true grain. It has broad leaves and large flower heads that produce thousands of tiny, protein-rich seeds. There are hundreds of varieties of amaranth. It is grown for its leaves-some varieties are good in salad, some are delicious steamed or stir-fried-and its somewhat peppery seeds. Amaranth can be cooked as a cereal. The seeds are very tiny-looking, a bit like caviar when cooked, and their lack of substance makes them rather unsatisfactory as the base of pilaf-type dishes. Amaranth is most often ground into flour, which has a fairly strong malt-like vegetable taste and is beige in color. It is the only known food that contains between 75% and 87% of total human nutritional requirements.\nAmaranth is used in several cultures in very interesting ways, In Mexico, it is popped and mixed with a sugar solution to make a candy called alegria and the roasted seed is used to create a traditional Mexican drink called atole. People from Peru use fermented amaranth seeds to make chichi (beer). During the carnival festival, women dancers often use the red amaranth flower as rouge, painting their cheeks, and then dancing while carrying bundles of amaranth on their backs.\nHistory: There is evidence that it has been in Central and South America for nearly 8,000 years. Amaranth was a staple in the diet of pre-Columbian Aztecs. Aztec Indians in Mexico grew it alongside maize as the main ingredient in their diets. They thought that it gave them supernatural powers and incorporated it into their religious ceremonies. On religious holidays, Aztec women ground the seed, mixed it with honey or human blood, then shaped it into idols that were eaten ceremoniously, a practice that appalled the conquistadors. After conquering Montezuma in 1519, the Spanish missionaries forbade its use because of its association with human sacrifice.\nIn ancient Greece, amaranth was considered sacred and was used to decorate tombs and images of gods as a symbol of immortality. The early Christian Church also adopted the amaranth as a symbol of immortality.\nBy the middle the 20th century, the cultivation of this grain had declined to the point where it was grown only in small plots in Mexico, the Andean highlands, and in the Himalayan foothills of India and Nepal. It was used to make tortillas even before the cultivation of corn. It remained in obscurity until the 1950’s when its nutritional values were again recognized through scientific development.\n \namaretti (ah-mah-REHT-tee) – An Italian almond macaroon cookie. The Italian word “amaro” means “bitter,” and the literal translation of “amaretti” is “the little bitter ones.” They are called amaretti because they are flavored with bitter almonds.\nHistory: Francesco Moriodo, pastry chef at the court of Savoy, created them in the mid-17th century.\n \namaretto (am-ah-REHT-toh) – An Italian almond flavored liqueur (or cordial) that is made from apricot pits and flavored with almonds and aromatic extracts.\nHistory: It is named after the town of Saronno Italy. It has been produced commercially since the 19th century.\n \nambrosia (am-BROH-zhah) – (1) The name is sometimes applied to certain beverages. (2) A traditional Christmas dish in many Southern homes, where the dessert is served in the best cut-glass bowl from the sideboard. It usually consists of chilled fruit (usually oranges and bananas) mixed with coconut.\nHistory: In Greek mythology, this was a balsamic juice, which served as the “food of the gods” and was said to preserve their immortality, and without this substance, they became weak. Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera, served the Gods Ambrosia and Nectar. One day she tripped and fell so Zeus dismissed her and in the shape of an eagle. A human being who took Ambrosia became strong and immortal, and received additional beauty, strength, and swiftness (becoming in some measure akin to the gods).\n \nAmerican Breakfast – It is an restaurant term that usually consists of eggs, juice, bacon or sausage, toast or hash browns.\n \namuse-bouche (ah-mewz-BOOSH) – Also known as amuse-gueule, amusee, petite amuse, and lagniappe are used interchangeably to describe these tasty morsels. A French term that literally means “mouth amusement.” These are tiny bites of food served before a meal to whet the palate and invigorate the appetite. They are more whimsical than hors d’oeuvres, and smaller than appetizers.\nThe best restaurants offer a tiny serving of something interesting (also known as palate teasers) soon after you sit down, which ideally previews the cooking style of the restaurant. In some restaurants, it is also a way to present something luxurious to favored customers. In the United States we think of them as ‘hors-d’oeuvre’. Customers regard them as tokens of appreciation. In this age of frequently getting less than what is expected, gestures like this make diners feel welcome and can promote customer loyalty.\nHistory: According to the 1992 edition of Dictionnaire Historique de la Langue Francais (Dictionary of the History of the French Language), the term originated in 1946.\n \namuse-gueule – See “amuse-bouche.”\nAnadama Bread (ana-a-dam-a) – It is a specialty yeast bread of the New England States that is made with flour, cornmeal, and molasses.\nHistory: This bread originated in New England. There are a variety of stories or legends on how this bread got its name. According to these many legends, a farmer, fisherman, miner, sailor, or Yankee (depending on what account you read), angry with his wife, Anna, for serving him nothing but cornmeal and molasses, one day adds flour and yeast to his porridge and eats the resulting bread while cursing, “Anna, damn her.”\nAnaheim chile (An-uh-hime) – Mild, long green chile peppers that are named after the area near Los Angeles where they were first cultivated. Also known as Chile Verde (green), Chile Colorado (red) or the California Long Green, the Anaheim Chile is light green in color and slightly bent . It is the most commonly found variety in the United States. Mild, sweet, and slightly bitter in flavor, this chile pepper can be used fresh or roasted and is often available canned. If you buy them fresh, Anaheim Chile peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for one week. Learn all about Chile Peppers (Preparing Fresh Chile Peppers, Roasting Fresh Chile Peppers, Preparing Dried Chile Peppers), Science of Chile Peppers\n \nancho chile peppers (AHN-choh) – A dried deep reddish brown chile pepper about 3 inches wide and 4 inches long with a sweet hot flavor. When fresh they are referred to as poblanos. They look like small bell peppers. Anchos are flat, wrinkled, and heart shaped. They range in color from very dark red to almost black. Anchos are mild to moderately hot and often soaked and ground for use in sauces.\n \nancho powder – It is ground ancho (pablano) chile peppers. In other words, it is a chile powder. Ancho Chili is a dark Smokey chili with a deep rich flavor and mild to medium heat. Their flavor is somewhat sweet and a little raisin like. This pepper is the most commonly used in authentic Mexican cooking and is a staple in red chili and tamales. Ancho Powder is a terrific choice for those who are looking for a “milder” taste in their cooking. Use Ancho Powder just as you would salt or pepper. Sprinkle on pasta, baked potatoes, vegetables, soups, pizza, popcorn and more. Also try it to season chicken, stews, potatoes, vegetables and, of course, Mexican dishes.\n \nanchovy (AN-choh-vee) – Anchovies are tiny silver fish, about three inches long. They swim in large schools where the sea is temperate. In modern Italy, Spain, and Greece, salted anchovies are offered as appetizers. For the rest of the world, they are usually sold as flat or rolled fillets, salted, and packed in oil. The most popular and tasty are the ones in olive oil and salt.\n \nanchovy paste – A paste of pureed anchovies with oil and salt. Available in tubes at most supermarkets and specialty food stores. You can also make your own using a can of anchovy fillets. First wash them in cold water, then mash them with a fork, and add just enough olive oil to make a smooth paste.more\nHistory: Check out Linda Stradley’s web page Anchovy and Anchovy Paste .\nandouille (ahn-doo-ee) – (1) Traditionally, the andouilles from France were made from the large intestines and stomach of the pig (seasoned heavily and smoked). (2) Andouille is also the Cajun smoked sausage so famous nationally today. Made with pork butt, shank, and a small amount of pork fat. This sausage is seasoned with salt, cracked black pepper, and garlic. The andouille is then slowly smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane. True andouille is stuffed into the beef middle casing, which makes the sausage approximately one and a half inches in diameter. When smoked, it becomes very dark to almost black in color. It is not uncommon for the Cajuns to smoke andouille for seven to eight hours at approximately 175 degrees.\nHistory: The finest andouilles in France reportedly come from the Brittany and Normandy areas. It is believed that over half of the Acadian exiles that came to Louisiana in 1755 were originally from these coastal regions. In parts of Germany, where some say andouille originated, the sausage was made with all remaining intestines and casings pulled through a larger casing, seasoned and smoked . It was served thinly sliced as a hors d’oeuvre.\n \nAngel Food Cake – Angel Food Cake is also known as foam-style cake. They are made with a large quantity of egg whites and no shortening or leavening. Angel Food or “angel cake” is thought to be a takeoff of the cornstarch cake and the sponge cake.\nHistory: For a detailed history of the Angel Food Cake, check out Linda Stradley’s History of Cakes .\nAngostura bitters – Named after a town in Venezuela and made in Trinidad from roots, bark, leaves, and alcohol. It is used in small amounts to lend an aromatic and slightly bitter element to mixed drinks. It is best known as the essential ingredient of the popular cocktail called the “Manhattan.”\nHistory: In 1824, a German doctor living in Venezuela mixed this substance to create a tonic for his ailing wife. Legend says that this creation worked as a cure for malaria and other tropical diseases. Sailors swore that it cured seasickness (especially when mixed with rum).\n \nantipasto (ahn-tee-PAH-sto) – The term antipasto, usually translated as “appetizer” in English. It literally means “before the meal” and denotes a relatively light dish designed to stimulate the palate before the service of more substantial courses.\nAntipasti are not essential to the Italian kitchen; a formal Italian dinner without antipasti would not betray the traditions of Italian gastronomy. Today, however, it is difficult to imagine a formal dinner that would not include some dishes classified as antipasto. In the regional Italian kitchen, antipasti are an important element, not on a daily basis, but certainly on holidays and special occasions. Many dishes, served as accompaniments to main courses, are today considered too rich for such use. So, through the years, many of these dishes have been adapted to serve as antipasto. Antipasto takes full advantage of all kinds of different foods not generally regarded as being substantial enough to be served as main courses. The ingredients may be varied, but generally they must all be eaten with a fork.\n \naperitif (ah-pear-uh-TEEF) – A French term for an alcoholic beverage served before a meal as an appetizer to stimulate the appetite. It can be a punch made to complement the meal, but it is usually a white wine, sherry, champagne, or a sparkling wine It can also be non-alcoholic.\n \nappetizer (apy-tizer) – It is a small portion of bite-size food which is served before a main meal as the first course in order to stimulate the appetite. If served before a meal it should be small. They may be hot or cold, plated, or served as finger food. If served at a cocktail party, it is usually called hors d’ oeuvres.\n \napple – Of nearly 8000 varieties known around the world, about 100 are grown in commercial quantity in the U.S., with the top 10 comprising over 90% of the crop. New varieties are still being discovered and cultivated, with the best eventually becoming household words like McIntosh, Delicious, Empire, Rome, Spartan, Cortland, Granny Smith, etc.\nHistory: Check out History and Legend of Apples.\n \napple butter – Apple butter is a kind of jam made of tart apples, boiled in cider until reduced to a very thick smooth paste, to which is added a flavoring of allspice, while cooking. It is then placed in jars and covered tightly.\nHistory: Apple butter was one of the favorite sweets during the colonial and pioneering historical eras of the United States.\n \nApple Charlotte – Apple Charlotte consists of layers of cake or breadcrumbs, sugar, butter, and apples.\nHistory: For a detailed history of the Charlotte Russe, check out Linda Stradley’s History of Cakes .\n \napple cider – Most cider is made from fermented apple juice. Natural cider has nothing added and relies, for fermentation, upon the wild yeast present in the apples. For mass-produced ciders, a yeast culture is added in order to achieve consistency. Although much of today’s cider is produced from apple concentrate, many traditional cider-makers use only cider apples, cultivated specifically for the purpose.\nHistory: When the Romans arrived in England in 55 B.C., they were reported to have found the local Kentish villagers drinking a delicious cider-like beverage made from apples. It has been recorded that the Romans and in particular their leader, Julius Caesar, embraced the pleasant pursuit with enthusiasm! How long the locals had been making this apple drink, prior to the arrival of the Romans, is anybody’s guess.\nIn America, cider was an everyday drink up until the middle of the 19th century. Anytime was considered a good time for drinking in the New England Colonies, and upon rising in the morning, the downing of a mug of cider was considered customary. Most of the early apple crops were made into cider since the apples had not yet been perfected into the sweet, juicy, eating apples of today. By the 1670s, cider was the most abundant and least expensive drink in New England. It quickly took the place of water, which was considered unsafe. During the colonial period, hard cider was the most popular beverage in America and often the measure of a town’s wealth was measured by how many barrels of cider were stored for the winter.\napple juice – It is the juice squeezed from apples. As long as apple juice (fresh cider) remains in its natural state and is not sweetened, preserved, clarified, or otherwise altered, it is apple juice. In sweet cider, fermentation is not permitted at all. See apple cider.\n \napplejack – A brandy made by distilling apple cider. The name is also given to a beverage produced by freezing hard cider.\nHistory: As early as 1698, William Laird began it distill cider for himself and neighbors, producing apple brandy or applejack. Applejack, because of its power, was also know as “jersey Lighting.” In 1780, a descendant of laird began commercial production of applejack and the company still distills it today.\n \napricot – The apricot derives its name from the Latin world “praecox” meaning “precocious.”\nHistory: The apricot has a long history of cultivation, starting in China some 4,000 years ago and traveling along the trade routes to the shores of the Mediterranean. In Iraq and Iran, apricots are served with lamb, and a regional specialty is “kamraddin” (a kind of apricot leather). A drink is made from it to mark the end of a period of religious fasting. The Spanish missionaries introduced the apricot trees to the Santa Clara Valley in California.\n \naquaculture – It is the cultivation of the sea. The term refers specifically to the intensive production of fish and shellfish in a controlled environment for human food. It is an ancient practice in Asia but it has only began approximately 20 years ago in the U.S., but in virtually no time has become one of the fastest growing segments of the United States economy.\noffshore farming – It takes place in deep, navigable waters and involves the use of boats.\nonshore farming – It is done in shallow waters where boats are not necessary.\ntank culture – It is another form of onshore farming. Tanks, usually made of steel and reinforced cement, or fiberglass in a variety of shapes, are used to contain populations of fish in water.\npond culture – It is the most widely used method of fish farming. All catfish farming is pond raised. The farming is done in man-made ponds that are drainable and often incorporate a system of dikes for harvesting.\ntray culture – A tray culture involves the use of a permanent structure for mollusks to attach themselves to. Trays are set underwater in calm bays or estuaries to stimulate the growth of clams, oyster, and other shellfish. Sometimes ropes or strings are hung into the water for mussels and scallops to grow on.\n \narborio rice (ar-BOH-ree-oh) – An Italian short grain rice that was virtually synonymous with risotto for many years. It is the best known of the top-grade varieties of Italian rice. When purchasing arborio rice, the only precaution is to check the label to be sure it is not precooked.\n \nArchitectural Cuisine – Menu items that are stacked for height. Also called Vertical Cuisine.\n \narepas (ah-ray-pay-rah) – Similar to an English muffins but made from precooked corn flour, it is a cornmeal patty or pancake that is considered like bread in other countries. Arepas are popular throughout South America, but especially popular in Colombian and Venezuelan. It is considered the national dish of Venezuela (the local equivalent of an American hamburger). You can find arepas in small restaurants called Areperas. T he most famous arepa is La reina pepiada, made with chopped meat, avocado and cheese. The favorite way to serve them in Venezuela is to split them open, remove some of the steaming moist corn meal, and then stuff them with your favorite ingredients. The arepa is wrapped in a square of slick paper (like butcher paper), and handed to the purchaser to eat standing up. Very few people make arepas at home, choosing to buy them at the store or have them delivered directly to their homes. You can also find arepas all over Miami, Florida (the traditional arepa served in Miami has two cornmeal pancakes with a layer of cheese inside).\nHistory: First made by the Indians of Columbia and Venezuela, an important part of their diet just like corn tortillas were to the Aztecs. For many centuries, it was considered a food for the poor. Today they are considered a comfort food for everyone.\n \naromatic – (1) A vegetable, herb, or spice used to enhance the flavor and fragrance of food and drinks. In classic cooking, a reference to “aromatics” most often means onions, carrot, and celery. (2) It also means spicy, pungent, or having a fragrant aroma.\n \narracheras – The Mexican term for fajitas or skirt steak.\n \narrack (Ah-RAK) – Also called arak. It is an anise-flavored liqueur, often homemade. It is a popular aperitif in the Middle East. It is a distilled from grapes, dates, and other fruits. In its countries of origin, it is included in cooking in some recipes for fish stews.\n \narrowroot – Also called arrowhead. A fine, dry white powdered starch made from a tropical root and exported from the British West Indies. It is named for its curative properties in treating arrow wounds. It makes exceptionally smooth sauces, and is a very good last minute thickener (it can be stirred into a sauce at the last minute without lumping). Arrowroot is slightly stronger in thickening power than cornstarch. However, if the sauce boils for more than a few seconds, the starch breaks down and its thickening power is lost.\n \narroz (AH-roz) – Spanish word for long-grain white rice. This is a main staple in Mexican cooking.\n \narroz con pollo (arros kon POH-yoh) – It is a popular chicken and rice Spanish and Mexican dish that is actually a paella without any shellfish or meat.\n \nartichoke – The artichoke is a perennial in the thistle group of the sunflower family that is native to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. A name shared by three unrelated plants: the globe artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, and Chinese (or Japanese) artichoke. In full growth, the plant spreads to cover an area about six feet in diameter and reaches a height of three to four feet. The part that we eat is actually the plant’s flower bud. If allowed to flower, the blossoms measure up to seven inches in diameter and are a beautiful violet-blue color. The size of the bud depends on where it is located on the plant. Larger artichokes are found on central stems towards the top of the plant, where they receive maximum sunshine. Smaller or “baby” artichokes are found lower down on the plant where they are shaded from the sun by the larger buds above.\nHistory: Check out History of Artichokes .\n \narugula (ah-ROO-guh-lah) – It is also known as rocket, rulola, Italian cress, and roquette. It is a delicate salad green that is related to mustard. When the leaves are young, they are tender and nutty, with a subtle peppery flavor. The leaves look like radish leaves. The white blossoms are also edible. It is used as a salad green, as a garnish, and in combination with other ingredients in sandwiches.\n \n \nasafetida (ah-sah-FEH-teh-dah) – This pungent resinous gum is used widely in Indian vegetarian cooking. Also called stinking gum and devil’s dung because of its unpleasant smell, this seasoning is obtained from the gum of a plant native to Afghanistan, Iran, and northern India. A perennial of the carrot family that grows wild to 12 feet high in natural forests. The whole plant exudes a characteristic smell, described by some as stink. The milky resin comes from both the thick stems and the root and it dries into asafoetida.\nA popular ingredient in Indian vegetarian dishes, it imparts a subtle flavor if used sparingly (the odor does not transmit to cooked food). In the raw state, the resin or the powder has an unpleasant smell. This completely disappears when the spice is added to a variety of fish, vegetable pulse, and pickle ingredients. Also used in the curries and pickles of West and South India. The powdered version is easier to handle. Buy asafoetida in small quantities. The powder resin is usually mixed with flour to provide bulk and is sold in bright yellow plastic tubs.\nHistory: Early record show that Alexander the Great carried this “Stink Finger” west in 4 BC. It was used as a flavoring in the kitchens of ancient Rome.\n \n \nasiago cheese (ah-see-AH-go) – Asiago cheese is a semi-firm Cheese from Italy. Also known as “poor man’s Parmesan cheese.” It is made from whole or part-skim cow’s milk. It comes in small wheels with glossy rinds and is yellow inside with many small holes called “eyes.” Asiago is rich and nutty in flavor and used as a table cheese when young; when matured for 6 months or more it hardens and may be grated.\nHistory: Originally, this cheese was made from ewe’s milk in the village of Asiago in the province of Vicenza.\n \n \nasparagus – The name asparagus comes from the Greek language meaning “sprout” or “shoot,” and it is a member of the lily family. Plants in the lily family are also related to various grasses. In the dialects of 18th and 19th century cookbooks, asparagus was referred to as sparagrass or sparrowgrass. People throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States use fresh Asparagus in their favorite cuisine. In China, Asparagus spears are candied and served as special treats. It is widely popular today as a scrumptious, fresh, healthy vegetable. Learn more about A sparagus .\nHistory: Asparagus cultivation began more than 2,000 years ago in the eastern Mediterranean Region. Greeks and Romans prized asparagus for its unique flavor, texture and, alleged medicinal qualities. They ate it fresh and dried the vegetable to use in winter. In the 16th Century, asparagus gained popularity in France and in England. Asparagus is often called the “Food of Kings.” King Louis XIV of France was so fond of this delicacy that he ordered special greenhouses build so he could enjoy asparagus all year round.\n \n \nau bleu – The French term for the method of preparing fish the instant after it is killed. Used especially for trout, as in “truite au blue,” when the freshly killed fish is plunged into a boiling court bouillon, which turns the skin a metallic blue color.\n \n \nAu (saw) – It is a French term that has the same meaning as “a la” meaning “in the manner of,” “in the style of,” and “according to” In cooking, this phrase designates the style of preparation or a particular garnish.\nau beurre (bur) – Made with or in butter\nau bleu (blo) – Means blue and describes the process where freshly killed fish is plunged into boiling water and poached until the skin of the fish has a bluish tinge.\nau fromage (from-azh) – The term means cheese and means made with or in cheese.\nau gratin (GRAH-tn) – To dress up vegetables, meats, and fish with a layer of bread crumbs and/or grated cheese on top. It is then broiled or baked until a thin brown crust forms.\nau jus (joos) – (1) Is French and has the same meaning as a la and be translated as “in” or “with.” (2) It also describes meat served in its own natural juices, not with gravy.\nAu lait – Contain milk.\nau naturel (nat-tur-el) – Means natural or simple. It refers to foods which are served very simply or which are uncooked.\nau poivre (pwa-vra) – Means pepper, and means cooked with pepper.\n \n \navocado (a-voh-KAH-doh) – The avocado used to be called alligator pear. It is a tropical fruit native to Central America. Today, this fruit is grown in Southern California. Avocados do not ripen on the tree and are rarely found ripe in the markets.",
"Spirits Lexicon | Food & Wine\nSpirits Lexicon ... A grain-based liqueur first distilled in Holland in the late ... A clear brandy distilled from grapes in the wine-producing regions of Peru ...\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nAbsinthe\nAn anise-flavored spirit formerly banned in the United States. It’s flavored with such botanicals as wormwood, green anise and fennel seeds.\nAgave nectar\nA rich, sweet syrup made from the sap of the cactus-like agave plant.\nAllspice dram\nAlso known as pimento dram; a rum-based liqueur infused with Jamaican allspice berries. St. Elizabeth and The Bitter Truth are good brands.\nAmaro\nA bittersweet Italian herbal liqueur often served as an after-dinner drink.\nAngostura bitters\nA brand of concentrated aromatic bitters created in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1824 from a secret combination of herbs and spices.\nAperol\nA low-proof Italian aperitif flavored with bitter orange, rhubarb and gentian.\nApfelkorn\nA low-proof apple schnapps made by blending a wheat-based spirit with sugar and fresh apples.\nApple brandy\nA distilled fermented apple cider that is aged in oak barrels. Most of the brandy is bottled at 80 proof, but bonded apple brandy, which is preferable in cocktails because of its concentrated green-apple flavor, is 100 proof.\nApplejack\nAn American apple brandy that’s blended with neutral spirits.\nApricot brandy\nA sweet brandy-based amber liqueur flavored with apricots.\nAquavit\nA clear, grain- or potato-based Scandinavian spirit flavored with caraway seeds and other botanicals, such as fennel, anise and citrus peel.\nAverna\nA bitter Italian liqueur flavored with herbs and citrus peel.\nBarolo Chinato\nAn Italian digestif made from Nebbiolo-based wine (produced in Piedmont’s Barolo zone) and various herbs and spices, including cardamom, rhubarb and quinine (china).\nBärenjäger\nAn intensely honey-flavored proprietary German liqueur.\nBatavia Arrack\nA clear spirit from Java that is made from fermented sugarcane and red rice.\nBecherovka\nA bittersweet liqueur produced in the Czech Republic from the recipe that pharmacist Josef Becher used to formulate his apothecary bitters in 1807.\nBelle de Brillet\nA French liqueur made by infusing Cognac with macerated ripe Alsatian pears.\nBénédictine\nA brandy-based herbal liqueur derived from a recipe developed by a French monk in 1510.\nBianco vermouth\nAn aromatic, sweet Italian white vermouth traditionally served on the rocks as an aperitif.\nBitters\nA concentrated tincture of bitter and aromatic herbs, roots and spices that adds complexity to drinks. Varieties include orange, grapefruit, rhubarb and aromatic bitters, the best known of which is Angostura, created in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1824. Germany’s Bitter Truth makes bitters in traditional flavors as well as unusual ones like celery and chocolate. Fee Brothers bitters, which come in 12 flavors, have been made in Rochester, New York, for more than 60 years. Peychaud’s bitters have bright anise and cranberry flavors; the recipe dates to 19th-century New Orleans.\nBonal Gentiane-Quina\nA slightly bitter French aperitif wine infused with gentian root and cinchona bark, which contains quinine.\nBonded Whiskey\nA whiskey that’s been produced by a single distillery, distilled during a single season, aged a minimum of four years, bottled at 100 proof and stored in a \"bonded\" warehouse under U.S. government supervision.\nCachaça\nA potent Brazilian spirit distilled from sugarcane juice.\nCalvados\nA cask-aged brandy made in the Normandy region of France from apples and sometimes pears.\nCampari\nA potent, bright red Italian aperitif made from fruit, herbs and spices.\nCane Syrup\nA very sweet, thick syrup made by evaporating the water from sugarcane juice.\nCarpano Antica Formula\nA rich and complex crimson-colored sweet Italian vermouth.\nChartreuse\nA spicy French herbal liqueur made from more than 100 botanicals; green Chartreuse is more potent than the honey-sweetened yellow one.\nCherry Heering\nA Danish brandy-based cherry liqueur.\nCherry Kijafa\nA sweet Danish cherry wine that’s fortified with brandy.\nCocchi Aperitivo Americano\nA low-alcohol, wine-based aperitif infused with citrus, herbs such as gentian and quinine-rich cinchona bark.\nCognac\nAn oak-aged brandy made from grapes grown in France’s Charente region. VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) Cognac must be aged a minimum of four years in French oak barrels.\nCointreau\nA French triple sec that is made by macerating and distilling sun-dried sweet and bitter orange peels.\nCrème de cassis\nA sweet, black currant-flavored liqueur.\nCrème de violette\nA sweet, violet-flavored and -colored liqueur.\nCréole Shrubb\nA potent liqueur made by infusing a blend of Martinican rums with bitter orange peel and pulp and Caribbean spices.\nCuraçao\nA rum-based orange liqueur flavored with Creole spices and bitter orange peels.\nCynar\nA pleasantly bitter Italian liqueur made from 13 herbs and plants, including artichokes.\nDimmi\nA fruity and floral liqueur infused with licorice, vanilla, bitter orange and peach.\nDrambuie\nA whisky-based Scottish liqueur flavored with honey, herbs and spices.\nDubonnet\nA wine-based, quinine-enhanced aperitif that comes in two varieties. The rouge is full-bodied. The drier blanc is a good substitute for dry vermouth.\nEau-de-vie\nA clear, unaged fruit brandy. Classic varieties include framboise (raspberry), poire (pear), abricot (apricot), kirsch (cherry) and mirabelle (plum).\nFernet-Branca\nA potent, bitter Italian digestif made from 27 herbs.\nFee Brothers bitters\nA brand of bitters made in Rochester, New York, for more than 60 years. Classic flavors include orange and peach; grapefruit is a newer flavor.\nGalliano\nA yellow Italian liqueur made with up to 30 herbs, berries and flowers, including licorice, anise and vanilla.\nGenever\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nGenever\nA clear, botanically rich, malted grain-based spirit from Holland. Oude refers to the maltier old-style; lighter, less malty versions are called jonge.\nGrenadine\nA sweet red syrup made from pomegranate juice and sugar (see the Homemade Grenadine recipe ).\nGum Syrup\nA simple syrup that’s been thickened with gum arabic, a natural gum made from the sap of acacia trees.\nHerbsaint\nAn anise-flavored absinthe substitute produced in New Orleans.\nKirsch\nShort for kirschwasser; an unaged brandy or eau-de-vie produced by pot-distilling crushed cherries and their pits.\nKümmel\nA grain-based liqueur first distilled in Holland in the late 1500s. It’s flavored with cumin, caraway and fennel.\nLicor 43\nA citrus-and-vanilla-flavored Spanish liqueur made from a combination of 43 herbs and spices.\nLillet\nA wine-based French aperitif flavored with orange peel and quinine. The lesser-known rouge variety is sweeter than the more widely available blanc.\nLimoncello\nAn intensely flavored Italian liqueur made from lemon peels soaked in neutral spirits, then sweetened with sugar.\nMadeira\nA fortified wine from the island of Madeira, usually named for one of four grape varieties: sercial (the driest), verdelho, bual or malmsey, which are progressively sweeter.\nMaraschino liqueur\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nMaraschino liqueur\nA clear Italian liqueur, the best of which is distilled from sour marasca cherries and their pits, aged in ash barrels, then sweetened with sugar.\nMarsala\nA Sicilian fortified wine; styles include secco (dry), which is often served as an aperitif, and semisecco (semisweet) and dolce (sweet), which are commonly served as dessert wines.\nMead\nA fermented honey-based beverage that is often flavored with herbs, spices or flowers.\nMetaxa\nA greek brandy sweetened with Muscat wine; aged up to 30 years.\nMezcal\nAn agave-based spirit with a smoky flavor that comes from roasting the agave hearts in pits before fermentation. The best mezcal is made in Mexico’s Oaxaca region.\nNavan\nA Cognac infused with black Madagascar vanilla.\nNocino\nAn Italian or Swiss liqueur traditionally made from brandy or grappa, unripe walnuts, sugar and spices.\nNoilly Prat rouge\nA bittersweet red vermouth from the south of France made from a secret mixture of herbs and spices, including saffron, quinine and cloves.\nOrange Bitters\nA concentrated infusion of neutral alcohol, orange peel, herbs and spices such as cardamom\nOrgeat\nA sweet, nonalcoholic syrup made from almonds or almond extract, sugar and rose or orange flower water.\nOverproof Rum\nAlso known as 151-proof rum, a high-octane spirit that’s often used for flaming drinks.\nParfait Amour\nA purple French liqueur flavored with orange, violets and vanilla.\nPastis\nA licorice-flavored French spirit that turns cloudy when mixed with water. It’s similar to absinthe but sweeter and lower in alcohol.\nPernod\nA French producer of a liqueur made from the essential oils of star anise and fennel combined with herbs, spices, sugar and a neutral spirit. Pernod recently rereleased their absinthe, which, like all absinthes, had been banned in the United States since 1912.\nPeychaud’s bitters\nPhoto © Tina Rupp.\nPeychaud’s bitters\nA brand of bitters with bright anise and cranberry flavors; the recipe dates to 19th-century New Orleans.\nPimm’s No. 1\nA gin-based English aperitif often served with ginger beer or lemonade.\nPineau des Charentes\nA low-proof French spirit made by combining unfermented grape juice and young Cognac, then briefly aging in oak.\nPisco\nA clear brandy distilled from grapes in the wine-producing regions of Peru and Chile\nPoire Williams\nA pear eau-de-vie, usually made in Switzerland or the Alsace region of France.\nPommeau de Normandie\nA French aperitif spirit made by adding fresh-pressed apple juice to young Calvados, then aging it in oak.\nPort\nA fortified wine from the Douro region of Portugal. Styles include fruity, young ruby port; richer, nuttier tawny; thick-textured, oak-aged late bottled vintage (LBV); and decadent vintage port, made from the best grapes in the best vintages. Dry white port is often served chilled, as an aperitif.\nPunt e Mes\nA spicy, orange-accented sweet Italian vermouth fortified with bitters.\nRhum agricole\nAn aromatic rum made in the French West Indies from sugarcane juice. When aged from one to six months, it is bottled as white rhum agricole, or rhum blanc; aged for a minimum of three years, it can be sold as aged rhum agricole, or rhum vieux.\nRoot Liqueur\nA sugarcane-distilled liqueur flavored with birch bark, smoked black tea, citrus peels, cloves and other spices. Art in the Age, in Philadelphia, is the main producer.\nRye whiskey\nA primarily rye-based distilled spirit, often blended with corn mash and barley. American straight rye whiskey is produced from a mash of at least 51 percent rye, aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years and diluted with nothing but water.\nSherry\nA fortified wine from Spain’s Jerez region. Varieties include dry styles like fino and manzanilla; nuttier, richer amontillado and oloroso; and viscous sweet Pedro Ximénez (PX) and cream sherry. East India sherry falls between an oloroso and a PX in style.\nShochu\nAn unaged or lightly aged, clear East Asian spirit distilled most commonly from rice, barley, buckwheat and/or a variety of sweet potato.\nSloe gin\nA bittersweet liqueur produced by infusing gin or a neutral spirit with sloe berries and sugar.\nSt. Elizabeth Allspice Dram\nAn Austrian rum-based liqueur infused with Jamaican allspice berries.\nSt-Germain elderflower liqueur\nA French liqueur made by blending macerated elderflower blossoms with eau-de-vie. It has hints of pear, peach and grapefruit zest.\nStrega\nAn Italian liqueur infused with about 70 herbs and spices, including saffron, which gives it a golden yellow color.\nTriple sec\nAn orange-flavored liqueur that is similar to curaçao but not as sweet. Cointreau, created in France in 1875, is the most famous.\nTuaca\nA brandy-based Italian liqueur flavored with vanilla and citrus.\nVelvet Falernum\nA low-alcohol, sugarcane-based liqueur from Barbados flavored with clove, almond and lime.\nVermouth\nAn aromatic fortified wine. The dry variety is used in martinis. sweet vermouth, which is usually red, is often used for Manhattans. Bianco, or blanc, vermouth is an aromatic, sweet white vermouth traditionally served on the rocks.\nZwack\nAn intense Hungarian herbal liqueur produced since 1790 from a secret blend of more than 40 herbs and spices.\nAdvertisement",
"Chicory.txt\nChicory\nCommon chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the dandelion family, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds), or roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock. It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and is now common in North America, China, and Australia, where it has become widely naturalized. [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id2&taxon_id\n200023652 Flora of China, Cichorium intybus Linnaeus, 1753. 菊苣 ju ju ] \n\n\"Chicory\" is also the common name in the United States for curly endive (Cichorium endivia); these two closely related species are often confused. \n\nNames\n\nCommon chicory is also known as blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailors, blue weed, bunk, coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, ragged sailors, succory, wild bachelor's buttons, and wild endive. (Note: \"Cornflower\" is commonly applied to Centaurea cyanus.) Common names for varieties of var. foliosum include endive, radicchio, Belgian endive, French endive, red endive, sugarloaf, and witloof (or witlof).\n\nDescription\n\nWhen flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from tall. The leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed. The flower heads are wide, and usually bright blue, rarely white or pink. Of the two rows of involucral bracts, the inner is longer and erect, the outer is shorter and spreading. It flowers from July until October. The achenes have no pappus (feathery hairs), but do have toothed scales on top. \n\nLeaf chicory\n\nWild\n\nWild chicory leaves usually have a bitter taste. Their bitterness is appreciated in certain cuisines, such as in the Ligurian and Apulian regions of Italy and also in southern part of India along with coffee, in Catalonia, Greece, and Turkey. In Ligurian cuisine, wild chicory leaves are an ingredient of preboggion and in Greek cuisine of horta; in the Apulian region, wild chicory leaves are combined with fava bean puree in the traditional local dish fave e cicorie selvatiche.; in Albania, the leaves are used as a spinach substitute, mainly served simmered and marinated in olive oil, or as ingredient for fillings of byrek.\n\nBy cooking and discarding the water, the bitterness is reduced, after which the chicory leaves may be sautéed with garlic, anchovies, and other ingredients. In this form, the resulting greens might be combined with pasta or accompany meat dishes. \n\nCultivated\n\nChicory may be cultivated for its leaves, usually eaten raw as salad leaves. Cultivated chicory is generally divided into three types, of which there are many varieties: \n\n* Radicchio usually has variegated red or red and green leaves. Some only refer to the white-veined red-leaved type as radicchio, also known as red endive and red chicory. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. It can also be used to add color and zest to salads. It is largely used in Italy in different varieties, the most famous being the ones from Treviso (known as radicchio rosso di Treviso), from Verona (radicchio di Verona), and Chioggia (radicchio di Chioggia), which are classified as an IGP. It is also common in Greece.\n*Sugarloaf looks rather like cos lettuce, with tightly packed leaves. \n\n*Belgian endive, known in Dutch as witloof or witlof (\"white leaf\"), endive or (very rarely) witloof in the United States, indivia in Italy, endivias in Spain, chicory in the UK, as witlof in Australia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France and in Wallonia. It has a small head of cream-coloured, bitter leaves. It is grown completely underground or indoors in the absence of sunlight in order to prevent the leaves from turning green and opening up (etiolation). The plant has to be kept just below the soil surface as it grows, only showing the very tip of the leaves. It is often sold wrapped in blue paper to protect it from light and so preserve its pale colour and delicate flavour. The smooth, creamy white leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or simply cut raw. The tender leaves are slightly bitter; the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste. The harder inner part of the stem at the bottom of the head should be cut out before cooking to prevent bitterness. Belgium exports chicon/witloof to over 40 different countries. The technique for growing blanched endives was accidentally discovered in the 1850s at the Botanical Garden of Brussels in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium. Today France is the largest producer of endive. \n\nThe Catalogna chicory (also known as puntarelle) includes a whole subfamily (some varieties from Belgian endive and some from radicchio) of chicory and used throughout Italy.\n\nAlthough leaf chicory is often called \"endive\", true endive (Cichorium endivia) is a different species in the genus and should not be confused with Belgian endive.\n\nRoot chicory\n\nRoot chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been cultivated in Europe as a coffee substitute. The roots are baked, roasted, ground, and used as an additive, especially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native). As a coffee additive, it is also mixed in Indian filter coffee, and in parts of Southeast Asia, South Africa, and southern United States, particularly in New Orleans. It has been more widely used during economic crises such as the Great Depression in the 1930s and during World War II in Continental Europe. Chicory, with sugar beet and rye, was used as an ingredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the \"East German coffee crisis\" of 1976-79.\n\nSome beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to stouts (commonly expected to have a coffee-like flavour). Others have added it to strong blond Belgian-style ales, to augment the hops, making a witlofbier, from the Dutch name for the plant.\n\nAround 1970, it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar to starch. Inulin is mainly found in the plant family Asteraceae as a storage carbohydrate (for example Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia, yacon, etc.). It is used as a sweetener in the food industry with a sweetening power that of sucrose and is sometimes added to yogurts as a prebiotic. Inulin is also gaining popularity as a source of soluble dietary fiber and functional food. \n\nChicory root extract is a dietary supplement or food additive produced by mixing dried, ground chicory root with water, and removing the insoluble fraction by filtration and centrifugation. Other methods may be used to remove pigments and sugars. It is used as a source of soluble fiber. Fresh chicory root typically contains, by dry weight, 68% inulin, 14% sucrose, 5% cellulose, 6% protein, 4% ash, and 3% other compounds. Dried chicory root extract contains, by weight, about 98% inulin and 2% other compounds. \nFresh chicory root may contain between 13 and 23% inulin, by total weight. \n\nAgents responsible for bitterness \n\nThe bitter substances are primarily the two sesquiterpene lactones lactucin and lactucopicrin. Other ingredients are aesculetin, aesculin, cichoriin, umbelliferone, scopoletin, 6,7-dihydrocoumarin, and further sesquiterpene lactones and their glycosides. \n\nMedicinal use\n\nRoot chicory contains volatile oils similar to those found in plants in the related genus Tanacetum which includes Tansy, and is similarly effective at eliminating intestinal worms. All parts of the plant contain these volatile oils, with the majority of the toxic components concentrated in the plant's root. \n\nChicory is well known for its toxicity to internal parasites. Studies indicate that ingestion of chicory by farm animals results in reduction of worm burdens, which has prompted its widespread use as a forage supplement. Only a few major companies are active in research, development, and production of chicory varieties and selections, most in New Zealand.\n\nChicory (especially the flower), used as a folk medicine in Germany, is recorded in many books as an ancient German treatment for everyday ailments. It is variously used as a tonic and as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinus problems and cuts and bruises. (Howard M. 1987). Chicory contains inulin, which may help humans with weight loss, constipation, improving bowel function and general health. In rats, it may increase calcium absorption and bone mineral density. It also increases absorption of calcium and other minerals in humans. \n\nChicory has demonstrated antihepatotoxic potential in animal studies. \n\nAlternative medicine\n\nChicory has been listed as one of the 38 plants that are used to prepare Bach flower remedies, a kind of alternative medicine. However, according to Cancer Research UK, \"there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, cure or prevent any type of disease, including cancer\". \n\nNative American use\n\nThe Cherokee use an infusion of the root as a tonic for nerves. The Iroquois use a decoction of the roots as a wash and apply a poultice of it to chancres and fever sores. \n\nForage \n\nChicory is highly digestible for ruminants and has a low fiber concentration. Chicory roots are an \"excellent substitute for oats\" for horses due to their protein and fat content. Chicory contains a low quantity of reduced tannins that may increase protein utilization efficiency in ruminants. Some tannins reduce intestinal parasites. (Excessively large quantities of tannins, however, could bind with and precipitate proteins, resulting in low digestibility and nutrient reduction.)\n \nAlthough chicory might have originated in France, Italy, and India, much development of chicory for use with livestock has taken place in New Zealand. \n\nForage chicory varieties\n\n*Puna (Grasslands Puna)\nDeveloped in New Zealand, Grasslands Puna is well adapted to different climates, being grown from Alberta, Canada, to New Mexico and Florida. It is resistant to bolting, which leads to high nutrient levels in the leaves in spring. It also has high resistance to grazing.\n*Forage Feast\nA variety from France used for human consumption and also for wildlife plots. It is very cold-hardy and, being lower in tannins than other forage varieties, is suitable for human consumption.\n*Choice\nChoice has been bred for high winter and early-spring growth activity, and lower amounts of lactucin and lactone, which are believed to taint milk. It is also use for seeding deer wildlife plots.\n*Oasis\nBred for increased lactone rates for the forage industry, and for higher resistance to fungal diseases like Sclerotinia.\n*Puna II\nMore winter-active than most other varieties, which leads to greater persistence and longevity.\n*Grouse\nA New Zealand variety used as a planting companion for forage brassicas. More prone to early flowering than other varieties, with higher crowns more susceptible to overbrowsing.\n*Six Point\nA United States variety, very similar to Puna.\n\nHistory\n\nThe chicory plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: \"Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae\" (\"As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance\"). In 1766, Frederick the Great banned the importation of coffee into Prussia leading to the development of a coffee-substitute by Brunswick innkeeper Christian Gottlieb Förster (died 1801), who gained a concession in 1769/70 to manufacture it in Brunswick and Berlin. By 1795 there were 22 to 24 factories of this type in Brunswick. Lord Monboddo describes the plant in 1779 as the \"chicoree\", which the French cultivated as a pot herb. In Napoleonic Era France, chicory frequently appeared as either an adulterant in coffee, or as a coffee substitute. Chicory was also adopted as a coffee substitute by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, and has become common in the United States. It was also used in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, where Camp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence, has been on sale since 1885.\n\nThe cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval monks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that chicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.\n\nIn the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in prisons.(a) Delaney, John H. \"New York (State). Dept. of Efficiency and Economy Annual Report\". Albany New York, 1915, p. 673. Accessed via Google Books.(b) \"Prison Talk\" website; Kentucky section: http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-173368.html. By the 1840s, the port of New Orleans was the second largest importer of coffee (after New York). Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union naval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans, thereby creating a long-standing tradition.\n\nA common meal in Rome, puntarelle, is made with chicory sprouts. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that Chicory is a native plant of western Asia, North Africa and Europe.\n\nChicory is also mentioned in certain sericulture (silk-growing) texts. It is said that the primary caretaker of the silkworms, the \"silkworm mother\", should not eat or even touch it.\n\nThe chicory flower is often seen as inspiration for the Romantic concept of the Blue Flower (e. g. in German language 'Blauwarte' ≈ 'blue lookout by the wayside'). It could open locked doors, according to European folklore. \n\nInvasive\n\nCichorium intybus has been declared an invasive species in several states in the USA."
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Name the Dick Francis mount that collapsed approaching the finishing line in the 1956 'Grand National'? | Devon Loch | [
"Dick_Francis.txt\nDick Francis\nRichard Stanley \"Dick\" Francis CBE FRSL (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer, whose novels centre on horse racing in England. \n\nAfter wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winning over 350 races and becoming champion jockey of the British National Hunt. He came to further prominence in 1956 as jockey to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, riding her horse Devon Loch when it fell, for unexplained reasons, while close to winning the Grand National. He then retired from the turf and became a professional journalist and novelist.\n\nAll his novels deal with crime in the horse-racing world, some of the criminals being outwardly respectable figures. The stories are narrated by one of the key players, often a jockey, but sometimes a trainer, an owner, a bookie, or someone in a different profession, peripherally linked to racing. This person is always facing great obstacles, often including physical injury, from which he must fight back with determination. More than forty of these novels became international best-sellers.\n\nPersonal life \n\nFrancis was born in Coedcanlas, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Some sources report his birthplace as the inland town of Lawrenny, but at least two of his obituaries stated his birthplace as the coastal town of Tenby. His autobiography says that he was born at his maternal grandparents' farm at Coedcanlas on the estuary of the River Cleddau, roughly a mile north-west of Lawrenny. He was the son of a jockey and stable manager and he grew up in Berkshire, England. He left school at 15 without any qualifications, with the intention of becoming a jockey and became a trainer in 1938. \n\nDuring World War II, Francis volunteered, hoping to join the cavalry. Instead, he served in the Royal Air Force, working as ground crew and later piloting fighter and bomber aircraft, including the Spitfire and Hurricane. He said in an interview that he spent much of his six years in the Air Force in Africa.\n\nIn October 1945, he met Mary Margaret Brenchley (17 June 1924 – 30 September 2000) at a cousin's wedding. In most interviews, they say that it was love at first sight. (Francis has some of his characters fall similarly in love within moments of meeting, as in the novels Flying Finish, Knockdown, and The Edge.) Their families were not entirely happy with their engagement, but Dick and Mary were married in June 1947 in London. She had earned a degree in English and French from London University at the age of 19, was an assistant stage manager, and later worked as a publisher's reader. She also became a pilot, and her experience of flying contributed to many novels, including Flying Finish, Rat Race, and Second Wind. She contracted polio while pregnant with their first child, a plight dramatized to a greater extent in the novel Forfeit, which Francis called one of his favorites. They had two sons, Merrick and Felix (born 1953). \n\nIn the 1980s, Francis and his wife moved to Florida; in 1992, they moved to the Cayman Islands, where Mary died of a heart attack in 2000. In 2006, Francis had a heart bypass operation; in 2007 his right leg was amputated. He died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, survived by both sons. \n\nHorse racing career \n\nAfter leaving the RAF in 1946, Francis became a celebrity in the world of British National Hunt racing. He won over 350 races, becoming champion jockey in the 1953–54 season.\n\nShortly after becoming a professional, he was offered the prestige job of first jockey to Vivian Smith, Lord Bicester. \n\nFrom 1953 to 1957 he was jockey to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. His most famous moment as a jockey came while riding the Queen Mother's horse, Devon Loch, in the 1956 Grand National when the horse inexplicably fell when close to winning the race. Decades later, Francis considered losing that race his greatest regret and called it \"a disaster of massive proportions.\"\n\nFrancis suffered a number of racing injuries, and was hospitalized at the age of 12 when a pony fell on him and broke his jaw and nose. A career featuring broken bones and damaged organs found its way into many novels, whose narrators suffer a variety of damaged bodies. In 1957, after another serious fall, the Queen Mother's adviser, Lord Abergavenny, advised him that she wanted him to retire from racing for her.\n\nContributions to racing \n\nIn 1983, the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in England \"stood at the brink of extinction,\" according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. News reporter Don Clippinger wrote, \"Britain's Jockey Club negotiated a $14 million deal to buy the land and save the race forever. The only problem was that the Jockey Club did not have $14 million, so two prominent racing personalities—Lord Derby and novelist Dick Francis—were selected to raise the money in a worldwide campaign.\" Other philanthropists, including Charles C. Fenwick Jr., who rode Ben Nevis to victory in the 1980 Grand National, and Paul Mellon, a breeder and racing enthusiast, also contributed to save the race.\n\nWriting career \n\nFrancis wrote more than 40 international best-sellers. His first book was his autobiography The Sport of Queens (1957), for which he was offered the aid of a ghostwriter, which he spurned. The book's success led to his becoming the racing correspondent for London's Sunday Express newspaper, and he remained in the job for 16 years.\n\nIn 1962, he published his first thriller, Dead Cert, set in the world of racing. Subsequently he regularly produced a novel a year for the next 38 years, missing only 1998 (during which he published a short-story collection). Although all his books were set against a background of horse racing, his male heroes held a variety of jobs including artist (In the Frame and To the Hilt), private investigator (Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, Under Orders—all starring injured ex-jockey Sid Halley, one of only two heroes used more than once), investigator for the Jockey Club (The Edge), pilot (Rat Race and Flying Finish), wine merchant (Proof) and many others. (The other is Kit Fielding of Break In and Bolt.) All the novels are narrated by the hero, who in the course of the story discovers himself to be more resourceful, brave, tricky, than he had thought, and usually finds a certain salvation for himself as well as bestowing it on others. Details of other people's occupations fascinated Francis, and the reader finds himself or herself immersed in the mechanics of such things as photography, accountancy, the gemstone trade, restaurant service on transcontinental trains—but always in the interests of the plot. Dysfunctional families were a subject which he exploited particularly well (Reflex, a baleful grandmother; Hot Money, a multi-millionaire father and serial ex-husband; Decider, the related co-owners of a racecourse).\n\nA columnist for The Houston Chronicle said that Francis \"writes believable fairy tales for adults—ones in which the actors are better than we are but are believable enough to make us wonder if indeed we could not one day manage to emulate them.\" \n\nMany of Francis' books are featured in volumes of Reader's Digest Condensed Books.\n\nWriting routine \n\nFrancis described a typical year of research and writing to an interviewer in 1989:\n\nIn January, he sits down to write, staring down the barrel of a deadline. \"My publisher comes over in mid-May to collect the manuscript,\" he says, \"and it's got to be done.\"The book's publication takes place in England in September. American publication in past years has been in February, although his next book, Straight, is set to be published in November. Once the manuscript is out of his hands, he takes the summer off, while percolating the plot of his next book. Research on the next book begins in late summer and continues through the autumn, while he's gearing up for his promotional tour for the just-published book. Come January, he sits down to write again.He doesn't like book tours. He is not one for revelations, major life changes, and intimacies with strange interviewers, and he says he gets tired of answering the same questions again and again.He shuns the lecture circuit. He'd prefer to let his novels and his sales volume speak for themselves... And though he doesn't love the act of writing a 2287038nd [sic] [and] could easily retire, he finds himself planning his new book as each summer ends.He says, \"Each one, you think to yourself, 'This is the last one,' but then, by September, you're starting again. If you've got money, and you're just having fun, people think you're a useless character.\"Or, as independently wealthy Tor Kelsey says in The Edge, explaining why he works for a minuscule salary: \"I work... because I like it, I'm not all that bad at what I do, really, and it's useful, and I'm not terribly good at twiddling my thumbs.\"\n\nCollaboration\n\nFrancis collaborated extensively in his fiction with his wife, Mary, until her death, which came as a later surprise to some readers and reviewers. He credited her with being a great researcher for the novels. In 1981, Don Clippinger interviewed the Francises for The Philadelphia Inquirer and wrote, \"When Dick Francis sits down each January to begin writing another of his popular mystery-adventure novels, it is almost a certain bet that his wife, Mary, has developed a new avocation... For instance, in Rat Race, [the protagonist] operated an air-taxi service that specialized in carrying jockeys, trainers and owners to distant race courses. Before that book came out in 1970, Mrs. Francis obtained a pilot's licence and was operating an air-taxi service of her own. Francis' newest novel, Reflex, is built around photography, and sure enough, Mary Francis has become accomplished behind the camera and in the darkroom... And, in their condominium, they have set up the subject of his 20th novel [Twice Shy] - a computer. While he is touring the country, she is working on new computer programs.\" \n\nAccording to journalist Mary Amoroso, \"Mary does much of the research: She went so far as to learn to fly a plane for Flying Finish. She also edits his manuscripts, and serves as sounding board for plot line and character development. Says Francis, 'At least the research keeps her from going out shopping.'\" Francis told interviewers Jean Swanson and Dean James,\n\nFrancis's manager (and co-author of his later books) was his son Felix, who left his post as teacher of A-Level Physics at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire in order to work for his father. Felix was the inspiration behind a leading character, a marksman and physics teacher, in the novel Twice Shy. The older son, Merrick, was a racehorse trainer and later ran his own horse transport business, which inspired the novel Driving Force.\n\nFather and son collaborated on four novels; after Dick's death, Felix carried on to publish novels with his father's name in the title (Dick Francis's Gamble (2011), Dick Francis's Bloodline (2012), Dick Francis's Refusal (2013), Dick Francis's Damage (2014), Front Runner: A Dick Francis Novel (2015)).\n\nAdaptations\n\nHis first novel, Dead Cert, was filmed under the same title in 1974. Directed by Tony Richardson, it starred Scott Antony, Judi Dench and Michael Williams. It was adapted again as Favorit (a Soviet made-for-television movie) in 1976. \n\nFrancis's protagonist Sid Halley was featured in six TV movies made for the program The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing Game (1979-1980), starring Mike Gwilym as Halley and Mick Ford as his partner, Chico Barnes. One of the shows, Odds Against, used a Francis title; the others were created for the program.\n\nThree more TV films of 1989 were adaptations of Bloodsport, In the Frame, and Twice Shy, all starring Ian McShane and featuring protagonist David Cleveland, a name actually used only once by Francis, in the novel Slayride.\n\nHonours\n\nFrancis is the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come To Grief in 1996. Britain's Crime Writers Association awarded him its Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. he was granted another Lifetime Achievement Award . Tufts University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1991. In 1996 he was given the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, the highest honour bestowed by the MWA. In 2000, he was granted the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1983 and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. \n\nAmoroso wrote in 1989, \"And yet he has a keen sense of the evanescence of literary endeavors. 'Whole months of work can be gone in four hours,' he says ruefully. 'People say they can't put my books down, and so they read them in one sitting of four hours.' Francis has been long accustomed to celebrity as a British sports star, but today he is a worldwide phenomenon, having been published in 22 languages. In Australia, he is recognized in restaurants, from his book-jacket picture. He and Mary will see people reading the novels on planes and trains.\"\n\nFrancis was elected in 1999 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. \n\nBibliography",
"1956_Grand_National.txt\n1956 Grand National\nThe 1956 Grand National was the 110th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 24 March 1956.\n\nIt is probably best remembered for Devon Loch's sudden and inexplicable fall on the final straight, just 40 yards from a certain victory. The incident is almost always replayed during television build-up coverage on Grand National day.\n\nOwned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis, the well-fancied Devon Loch held a five-length lead over his nearest challenger, E.S.B., on the run-in to the finishing post, when he suddenly half-jumped into the air and landed in a bellyflop on his stomach, allowing E.S.B. to overtake and win. Although Francis tried to cajole the horse, it was unable to continue.\n\nFinishing order\n\nNon-finishers\n\n \n \n \n\nMedia Coverage and Aftermath\n\nE.S.B.'s jockey Dave Dick said of his unexpected win: \"Devon Loch had me stone cold. I was a terribly lucky winner.\" Devon Loch's owner Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother famously said of the incident: \"Oh, that's racing!\" For jockey Dick Francis, his mount's bizarre collapse on the run-in to victory in the world's most famous steeplechase remained a \"terrible memory, even after all these years.\" Devon Loch's was not the first time a horse had seemed to jump some form of ghost fence on the run in of the National. In 1901, Arthur Nightingall's race was well won on board Grudon when his mount also made to jump a fence that wasn't there. On that occasion the pair recovered and had sufficient time to continue and win the race"
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"The 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport | Sport | The ...\nDick Francis, later to become a ... Who, for example, remembers the winner of Devon Loch's Grand National in 1956? ... When Englishman Jim Peters collapsed moments ...\nThe 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport | Sport | The Observer\nThe 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport\nSunday 5 November 2000\nguardian.co.uk\n1 Devon Loch falls in the 1956 Grand National\nTwo of Devon Loch's most fancied rivals, Must, the favourite, and Early Mist, the winner three years earlier, fell at the first, and with every stride the Queen Mother's horse appeared more dominant. Dick Francis, later to become a best-selling novelist, but on this afternoon Devon Loch's partner, fought to restrain the horse from going on too quickly. As they cleared the last and Francis kicked for home, the cheers for a royal victory thundered around the stands.\n'Never had I felt such power in reserve,' Francis wrote later, 'such confidence in my mount, such calm in my mind.' Then, 55 yards from the line, disaster struck. The horse jumped slightly before collapsing on his stomach, legs thrust out in front and behind. The horse did manage to regain his feet but it was soon clear he could not carry on and ESB galloped past to win.\nNone of the dramatic stories that have secured the Grand National's place in sporting legend has matched the mystifying subsidence of Devon Loch, whose name has become synonymous with sudden and inexplicable falls. Theories abound. That the horse tried to jump a shadow, was distracted by the crowd, had a cramp attack, suffered a blood clot on his hind leg and even that he was destabilised by breaking wind violently after his girth was made too tight at the start. Whatever the truth, it was one of the most sensational moments in sporting history.\n2 Mary Decker trips over Zola Budd at the 1984 Olympics\nMary Decker, the outstanding female middle-distance runner of her generation, had hoped to run both the 1500 and 3,000 metres at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 but withdrew from the 1500 because the events overlapped. So her Olympic hopes were pinned on the longer race, in which her rivals included Zola Budd, the diminutive South African controversially granted British citizenship earlier in the year.\nDecker could have had no idea what a dramatic effect her presence in the 3,000 metre final would have. At the 1,700-metre mark, the two bumped twice in the space of a few strides and Decker, tracking Budd, tripped on the British runner's right leg, her spikes digging deeply into Budd's heel. A dispirited Budd ran on, eventually limping home seventh, but Decker pitched forward onto the infield, her race, and her only hope of a medal, over. Afterwards, a distraught Decker refused to accept Budd's apology.\n3 Nigel Mansell's tyre bursts at the 1986 Australian Grand Prix\nVirtually all Nigel Mansell had to do to win the drivers' championship was to keep going around the Adelaide street circuit. Entering the final race, he led Alain Prost by six points and Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet by seven. Well into the last third of the race, Mansell was second behind Keke Rosberg's McLaren, whose right rear tyre suddenly failed.\nGoodyear technicians tried desperately to inform the other Goodyear teams, including Williams, but as Mansell slipped into sixth gear and took off down the long Jack Brabham straight at close to 200mph his own left rear tire exploded, showering the track with yellow, molten sparks. Prost sped by to win the world title by two points, while Mansell discovered later that if he had crashed into the wall on the straight, rather than expertly manoeuvre his stricken car into the escape road, the race would have been stopped and he would have been world champion.\n4 Don Fox's missed goal kick at the 1968 rugby league Challenge Cup final\nHe had already been named man of the match and now all Don Fox had to do was complete a triumphant afternoon for himself and Wakefield Trinity by knocking over the simplest of goal kicks. It was right in front of the posts and the points would overturn Leeds's 11-10 lead in the game's dying moments. But the Wakefield loose forward toe-poked it wide and sunk to his knees on the sodden Wembley turf. He never played again, nor has he spoken about the incident.\nBut his older brother, Peter, the former Bradford, Featherstone and Great Britain coach, has explained: 'Although everyone else thought Wakefield had won the cup, I was worried because I could see our Don trying to wipe the ball on his jersey. But there wasn't a dry spot in the house. If I could I'd have gone on the field and let him wipe the ball on my shirt.'\n5 Oxford sink in the 1951 Boat Race\nCrews have sunk before and since in the Boat Race, but this was the most remarkable of the calamities because of how soon the Oxford boat slipped beneath the Thames's choppy surface. As it turned out, Oxford's decision to choose the Surrey bank on winning the toss proved disastrous, exposing the crew to the full force of a strong westerly wind while Cambridge made quickly for the cover of the Middlesex bank.\nWater broke over the bows of the Oxford boat in the very first strokes and after a minute, reported the Times, 'it was all too plain to see that they must sink'. They did manage to stay afloat for two and a half minutes, but because they foundered before the end of the Fulham wall, the umpire decreed the race should be re-rowed the following Monday. This time, on a still day, Oxford reached the finish without mishap - 12 lengths behind Cambridge.\n6 Willie Shoemaker finishes too soon at the 1957 Kentucky Derby\nThe most successful jockey in history won four Kentucky Derbies but it is the Derby he didn't win that is as well remembered as his triumphs. Shoemaker held Gallant Man back early on, but eased through the nine-horse field coming into the straight, seeming to have the race at his mercy as he hit the front. But he mistook a trackside pole for the finish, stood up in the stirrups and after Iron Liege swept past him was unable to get going again to peg back the winner, who took the race by a nose.\n'An error like that would have destroyed most men,' said Shoemaker's great rival, Eddie Arcaro, who finished fourth on Bold Ruler. 'Only a guy like Willie could have survived it. He's a tough sonofagun.'\n7 Jim Peters collapses during the 1954 Empire Games marathon\nBritish marathon runner Jim Peters set four world records between 1952 and 1954, lowering it from 2hr 25min 39sec to 2hr 17min 40sec. Victory in the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver seemed a formality, even more so when in the race itself he opened a lead of more than three miles and entered the stadium 20 minutes ahead of his closest rival. But, having run the entire race on a scorching day without drinking any water, he fell repeatedly and then started to crawl on the track.\nHis team-mates, including Roger Bannister, felt powerless to help him, remembering Dorando Pietri's disqualification in the 1908 Olympic marathon after being helped across the line. He was eventually rescued when it became clear he was not going to finish. In the medical centre, he asked if he had won. 'You did very well,' said a nurse.\n8 Jean Van de Velde's final hole disaster at the 1999 open\nJean Van de Velde looked invincible as he stood on the final tee at Carnoustie holding a three-shot lead. A few minutes later, the 33-year-old Frenchman was rolling up his trousers to wade in to Barry Burn where his ball lay under water. That was after his first shot landed on the 17th fairway and his second, having struck a stand and a rock, ended in heavy rough. His third plopped in to the burn, his fourth was a drop, his fifth disappeared in to a bunker, his sixth rolled on to the green and his seventh, a putt from seven feet, found the centre of the hole. Van de Velde then finished last in a three-way play-off for the title with winner Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard.\n9 US sprinters' no-show at the 1972 Olympics\nEddie Hart and Rey Robinson had both been timed at 9.9sec in the US trials and were regarded as the only men capable of beating the great Russian Valery Borzov. All three won their first-round heats in the morning, but there was no sign of Hart or Robinson as the 4.15pm start time approached for the second round.\nTheir coach, Stan Wright, working from an 18-month-old preliminary schedule, thought their races were at 7pm and Robinson was just leaving the village three-quarters of a mile from the track when he saw on an ABC-TV monitor the very heat in which he was supposed to be running. Only the third and least fancied American, Robert Taylor, arrived in time for his heat. He went on to finish second in the final behind Borzov, who won the gold in 10.14sec.\n10 Leeds goalkeeper Gary Sprake throws the ball into his own net\nIf the great Leeds United teams of the late Sixties and early Seventies had a weak leak it was their Welsh international goalkeeper, Gary Sprake, a custodian capable of making a breathtaking save one moment and a slapstick error the next. His attempt to save Peter Houseman's shot in the 1970 FA Cup final, which ended in the net when Sprake dived over the ball, was viewed by millions of television viewers, but the mistake that caused him the greatest embarrassment came in a League match against Liverpool at Anfield on a wet December afternoon in 1967.\nJust before half-time, and with Leeds trailing 1-0 to a Roger Hunt goal, Sprake safely gathered the ball as a Liverpool attack broke down. But as he went to throw the ball out, he seemed to change his mind, and in trying to check his action mid-throw he merely succeeded in releasing the ball behind him and into his own net. The DJ on duty at Anfield that day found the perfect record to play during the half-time interval, Des O'Connor's Careless Hands, a best-selling song at the time. In fact, they charitably played it every time Sprake came back.\nJustifying his selection:\nThis month's 10 were selected by Observer sports writer Jon Henderson. Here he explains his choices:\nFirst and most importantly, these are mishaps - not tragedies. There is no place here for Heysel, Hillsborough, Ayrton Senna's wretched fate or any of the other life-taking events that have cast a sombre shadow over sport. These are incidents that stand as the great counterpoints to sporting success, moments of failure on the grandest scale, where misfortune has intervened to remind us all that even in the truest run race victory cannot be assumed until the finishing post has been passed.\nThe modest compensation for many of these losers is that they have achieved greater fame than those who benefited from their calamities. Who, for example, remembers the winner of Devon Loch's Grand National in 1956? That year, the Queen Mother's horse, within strides of victory, took a dive on to the Aintree turf for a reason that remains a mystery. ESB galloped past to become one of the race's most anonymous winners.\nWhen Englishman Jim Peters collapsed moments from winning the 1954 Empire Games marathon in Vancouver, it was nearly 20 minutes before the next runner arrived in the stadium. He was Scotland's Joe McGhee, who hardly got a mention in the next day's newspapers. Peters, explaining why he kept picking himself up, said: 'I didn't want to disgrace my wife and kiddies.'\nThere have been greater upsets than the defeats of Devon Loch and Jim Peters, but the point of my list is that these are episodes where the possibility of victory - often the near certainty of victory - has been dashed by unforseen disaster. In Devon Loch's case we still don't know what caused it, in Peters' case it was because he had taken distance running to a new level but did not understand the importance of replenishing the body's supply of liquid. You will recall other mishaps not included here, but surely no one can dispute that my choices have all earned their inclusion.",
"Grand Canyon : Arizona : USA : Photo : Video : Info\nThe major geologic exposures in Grand Canyon range in age from the 2 billion year old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230 million year old ...\nGrand Canyon : Arizona : USA : Photo : Video : Info\nGrand Canyon\nSource\nThe Marble Canyon section of the Grand Canyon, from river-level.\nThe Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the United States state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park � one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.\n \nGrand Canyon Skywalk\nMovie Video Clip film\nLongstanding scientific consensus has been that the canyon was created by the Colorado River over a six million year period. The canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile (1.83 km)(6000 feet).[1] Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. The \"canyon started from the west, then another formed from the east, and the two broke through and met as a single majestic rent in the earth some six million years ago. [...] The merger apparently occurred where the river today, coming from the north, bends to the west, in the area known as the Kaibab Arch.\"[2]\nPrior to European emigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon (\"Ongtupqa\" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was Garc�a L�pez de C�rdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.[3] In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made the first recorded journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. Powell referred to the sedimentary rock units exposed in the canyon as \"leaves in a great story book\".\nThe landscape of the Grand Canyon\nGeography\nThe Grand Canyon is a massive rift in the Colorado Plateau that exposes uplifted Proterozoic and Paleozoic strata and is also one of the six distinct physiographic sections of the Colorado Plateau province. The Grand Canyon is unmatched throughout the world for the vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. It is not the deepest canyon in the world � Cotahuasi Canyon (11598 feet or 3535 m) and Colca Canyon (10499 feet or 3200 m), both in Arequipa, Peru, and Hell's Canyon (7,993 feet or2436 m) on the Oregon-Idaho border, are all Longstanding scientific consensus has been that the canyon was created by the Colorado River over a six million year period. The canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile(1.83 km)(6000 feet)[4]. Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. The \"canyon started from the west, then another formed from the east, and the two broke through and met as a single majestic rent in the earth some six million years ago. [...] The merger apparently occurred where the river today, coming from the north, bends to the west, in the area known as the Kaibab Arch.\"[2] l deeper � but Grand Canyon is known for its overwhelming size and its intricate and colourful landscape. Geologically it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geologic history of the North American continent.\nThe Incredible Human Journey By By Alice Roberts from Amazon.co.uk\n\"I am gripped by the central idea that only about 200 families originally emerged out of Africa and between them populated the whole world.\"\nUplift associated with mountain building events later moved these sediments thousands of feet upward and created the Colorado Plateau. The higher elevation has also resulted in greater precipitation in the Colorado River drainage area, but not enough to change the Grand Canyon area from being semi-arid. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau is uneven, and the north-south trending Kaibab Plateau that Grand Canyon bisects is over a thousand feet higher at the North Rim (about 1,000 ft/300 m) than at the South Rim. The fact that the Colorado River flows in a curve around the higher North Rim part of the Kaibab Plateau and closer to the South Rim part of the plateau is also explained by this asymmetry. Ivo Lucchitta of the U.S. Geological Survey first suggested that, as the Colorado River developed before significant erosion of the region, it naturally found its way across or around the Kaibab Uplift by following a \"racetrack\" path to the south of the highest part of the plateau. Almost all runoff from the North Rim (which also gets more rain and snow) flows toward the Grand Canyon, while much of the runoff on the plateau behind the South Rim flows away from the canyon (following the general tilt). The result is deeper and longer tributary washes and canyons on the north side and shorter and steeper side canyons on the south side.\nTemperatures on the North Rim are generally lower than the South Rim because of the greater elevation (averaging 8,000 ft/2,438 m above sea level).[5] Heavy rains are common on both rims during the summer months. Access to the North Rim via the primary route leading to the canyon (State Route 67) is limited during the winter season due to road closures. Views from the North Rim tend to give a better impression of the expanse of the canyon than those from the South Rim.\nGeology\nThe principal consensus among geologists is that the Colorado River basin (of which the Grand Canyon is a part) has developed in the past 40 million years. A recent study places the origins of the canyon beginning some 17 million years ago. Previous estimates had placed the age of the canyon at 5 to 6 million years. The study, which was published in 2008 in the journal Science utilized uranium-lead dating to analyze calcite deposits found on the walls of nine caves throughout the canyon. [6] There is a substantial amount of controversy because this research suggests a such substantial departure from prior widely supported scientific consensus.[7]\nThe result of all this erosion is one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet.\nThe major geologic exposures in Grand Canyon range in age from the 2 billion year old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230 million year old Kaibab Limestone on the Rim. Interestingly, there is a gap of about one billion years between the stratum that is about 500 million years old and the lower level, which is about 1.5 billion years old. That indicates a period of erosion between two periods of deposition.\nMany of the formations were deposited in warm shallow seas, near-shore environments (such as beaches), and swamps as the seashore repeatedly advanced and retreated over the edge of a proto-North America. Major exceptions include the Permian Coconino Sandstone, which most geologists interpret as an aeolian sand dune deposit and several parts of the Supai Group.\nThe great depth of the Grand Canyon and especially the height of its strata (most of which formed below sea level) can be attributed to 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1500 to 3000 m) of uplift of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 65 million years ago (during the Laramide Orogeny). This uplift has steepened the stream gradient of the Colorado River and its tributaries, which in turn has increased their speed and thus their ability to cut through rock (see the elevation summary of the Colorado River for present conditions).\nWeather conditions during the ice ages also increased the amount of water in the Colorado River drainage system. The ancestral Colorado River responded by cutting its channel faster and deeper.\nThe base level and course of the Colorado River (or its ancestral equivalent) changed 5.3 million years ago when the Gulf of California opened and lowered the river's base level (its lowest point). This increased the rate of erosion and cut nearly all of the Grand Canyon's current depth by 1.2 million years ago. The terraced walls of the canyon were created by differential erosion.[8]\nAbout one million years ago, volcanic activity (mostly near the western canyon area) deposited ash and lava over the area, which at times completely obstructed the river. These volcanic rocks are the youngest in the canyon.\nMore Photos soon\nThe Ancestral Puebloans (The Ancient Ones, or Anasazi)\nThe Basketmakers\nEuropean arrival and settlement\nThe Spanish explorers\nIn September 1540, under orders from the conquistador Francisco V�zquez de Coronado to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, along with Hopi guides and a small group of Spanish soldiers, traveled to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon between Desert View and Moran Point. Pablo de Melgrossa, Juan Galeras, and a third soldier descended some one third of the way into the Canyon until they were forced to return because of lack of water. In their report, they noted that some of the rocks in the Canyon were \"bigger than the great tower of Seville.\"[10] It is speculated that their Hopi guides must have been reluctant to lead them to the river, since they must have known routes to the canyon floor. Afterwards, no Europeans visited the Canyon for over two hundred years.\nFathers Francisco Atanasio Dom�nguez and Silvestre V�lez de Escalante were two Spanish Priests who, with a group of Spanish soldiers, explored southern Utah and traveled along the North Rim of the Canyon in Glen and Marble Canyons in search of a route from Santa Fe to California in 1776. They eventually found a crossing at present-day Lees Ferry.\nAlso in 1776, Fray Francisco Garces, a Franciscan missionary, spent a week near Havasupai, unsuccessfully attempting to convert a band of Native Americans. He described the Canyon as \"profound\".[10]\nAmerican exploration\nJames Ohio Pattie, along with a group of American trappers and mountain men, was probably the next European to reach the Canyon in 1826, although there is little documentation to support this.[11] Jacob Hamblin (a Mormon missionary) was sent by Brigham Young in the 1850s to locate easy river crossing sites in the Canyon. Building good relations with local Native Americans and white settlers, he discovered Hope Dog in 1858 and Pierce Ferry (later operated by, and named for, Harrison Pierce) - the only two sites suitable for ferry operation. He also acted as an advisor to John Wesley Powell before his second expedition to the Grand Canyon, acting as a diplomat between Powell and the local native tribes to ensure the safety of his party.\nMore Photos soon\nIn 1857 Edward Fitzgerald Beale superintendent of an expedition to survey a wagon road along the 35th parallel from Fort Defiance to the Colorado river led a small party of men in search of water on the Coconino plateau on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. On September 19th near present day National Canyon they came upon what May Humphreys Stacey described in his journal as \"...a wonderful canyon four thousand feet deep. Everyone (in the party) admitted that he never before saw anything to match or equal this astonishing natural curiosity.\"\nAlso in 1857, the U.S. War Department asked Lieutenant Joseph Ives to lead an expedition to assess the feasibility of an up-river navigation from the Gulf of California. Also in a stern wheeler steamboat \"Explorer\", after two months and 350 miles (560 km) of difficult navigation, his party reached Black Canyon some two months after George Johnson. The \"Explorer\" struck a rock and was abandoned. Ives led his party east into the Canyon � they were the first Europeans to travel the Diamond Creek drainage and traveled eastwards along the South Rim.\nIn 1858, John Strong Newberry became probably the first geologist to visit the Grand Canyon.\nIn 1869, Major John Wesley Powell led the first expedition down the Grand Canyon.\nThe Brown-Stanton River Expedition\nOther expeditions\nSettlers in and near the canyon\nMiners: \"Captain\" John Hance, William W. Bass, Louis Boucher \"The Hermit\", Seth Tanner, Charles Spencer, D. W. \"James\" Mooney\nLees Ferry: John Doyle Lee, Emma Lee French (17th of John Lee's 19 wives), J. S. Emmett, Charles Spencer\nPhantom Ranch: David Rust, Mary Colter\nGrand Canyon Village: Ralph H. Cameron\nFederal protection\nThe federal government administrators who manage park resources face many challenges. These include issues related to the recent reintroduction into the wild of the highly endangered California Condor, air tour overflight noise levels, water rights disputes with various tribal reservations that border the park, and forest fire management. The Grand Canyon National Park superintendent is Steve Martin. Martin was named superintendent on February 5, 2007 to replace retiring superintendent Joe Alston. Martin was previously the National Park Service Deputy Director and superintendent of several other national parks including Denali and Grand Teton.[12] Federal officials started a flood in the Grand Canyon in hopes of restoring its ecosystem on March 5, 2008. The canyon's ecosystem was permanently changed after the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963.[13]\nMore Photos soon\nSouth Rim buildings\nThere are several historical buildings located along the South Rim; most are in Grand Canyon Village.\nBuckey O'Neill Cabin was built during the 1890s by William Owen O'Neill. He built the cabin because of a copper deposit that was nearby. He had several occupations such as miner, judge, politician, author and tour guide. This cabin is the longest continually standing structure in the South Rim. It is currently used as a guest house; booking is required well in advance.\nKolb Studio was built in 1904 by brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb. They were photographers who made a living by photographing visitors walking down the Bright Angel Trail. In 1911, the Kolb brothers filmed their journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers. Emery Kolb showed this movie regularly in his studio until 1976, when he died at the age of 95. Today the building serves as an art gallery and exhibit.\nThe El Tovar Hotel was built in 1905 and is the most luxurious lodging on the South Rim. The hotel consists of 4 stories with a rustic chalet appearance. It was designed by Charles Whittlesley. A gift shop and restaurant are located inside the hotel.\nHopi House was built by Mary Jane Colter in 1905. It is based on structures that were built in an ancient Hopi settlement called Old Oraibi, located on the Third Mesa in eastern Arizona. It served as a residence for the Hopi Indians who sold arts and crafts to visitors in the South Rim.\nVerkamp's Curios was built by John Verkamp in 1905. He sold arts and crafts as well as souvenirs. It is currently run by his descendants and stands next to the Hopi House.\nGrand Canyon Railway Depot was built in 1909 and contains 2 levels. While it is commonly said that this depot building is one of only three log-cabin-style train stations currently standing out of fourteen supposedly ever built in the U.S., this claim has never been verified. This claim originated in a 1985 document written by Gordon Chappell entitled \"Statement on Architectural and Historic Significance\" and is currently repeated, without verification, by newspapers, magazines and on-line articles, including ones appearing on the National Park Service website. The depot is the northern terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway which begins in Williams, Arizona.\nLookout Studio was built in 1914 and is another structure that was designed by Mary Colter. Photography artwork, books, souvenirs, and rock and fossil specimens are sold here. A great view of Bright Angel Trail can be seen here.\nDesert View Watchtower was built in 1932 and is one of Mary Colter's best-known works. Situated at the far eastern end of the South Rim, 27 miles (43 km) from Grand Canyon Village, the tower sits on a 7,400 foot (2,256 m) promontory. It offers one of the few views of the bottom of the Canyon and the Colorado River. It is designed to mimic an Anasazi watchtower though it is larger than existing ones.[14]\nBright Angel Lodge was built of logs and stone in 1935. Mary Colter designed the lodge and it was built by Fred Harvey. Inside the lodge is a small museum honoring Fred Harvey, who played a major role in popularizing the Grand Canyon. In the history room is a fireplace that is made of stone from the South Rim that is layered in the same sequence as in the canyon.\nWeather\nWeather in the Grand Canyon varies according to elevation.\nThe forested rims are high enough to receive winter snowfall, but along the Colorado River in the Inner Gorge, temperatures are similar to those found in Tucson and other low elevation desert locations in Arizona. Conditions in the Grand Canyon region are generally dry, but substantial precipitation occurs twice annually, during seasonal pattern shifts in winter (when Pacific storms usually deliver widespread, moderate rain and high-elevation snow to the region from the west) and in late summer (a phenomenon known as the \"monsoon\", which delivers waves of moisture from the southeast, causing dramatic, localized thunderstorms fueled by the heat of the day).[15] Average annual precipitation on the South Rim is less than 16 inches (35 cm), with 60 inches (132 cm) of snow, the higher North Rim usually receives 27 inches (59 cm) of moisture, with a typical snowfall of 144 inches (317 cm), and Phantom Ranch, far below the Canyon's rims along the Colorado River at 2,500 feet (762 m) gets just 8 inches (17.6 cm) of rain, and snow is a rarity. The weather is different on the north rim and south rim.\nTemperatures vary wildly throughout the year, with summer highs within the Inner Gorge commonly exceeding 100 �F (37.8 �C) and winter minimum temperatures sometimes falling below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-17.8 �C) along the canyon's rims.[15] Visitors are often surprised by these potentially extreme conditions, and this, along with the high altitude of the canyon's rims, can lead to unpleasant side effects such as dehydration, sunburn, and hypothermia. Be prepared for a variety of potential weather conditions when visiting, and keep in mind the Grand Canyon is a rugged natural feature located in a remote area subject to a wide range of environmental hazards.\nWeather conditions can greatly affect hiking and canyon exploration, and visitors should obtain accurate forecasts because of hazards posed by exposure to extreme temperatures, winter storms and late summer monsoons. While the park service posts weather information at gates and visitor centers, this is a rough approximation only, and should not be relied upon for trip planning. For accurate weather in the Canyon, hikers should consult the National Weather Service's NOAA weather radio or the official NWS website.[16]\nMore Photos soon\nAir pollution\nThe Grand Canyon has suffered some problems with air pollution, attributed to the nearby Navajo Generating Station, a coal-burning power plant. In 1991 an agreement was reached with the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, to add air pollution control devices to their smokestacks.[17]\nGrand Canyon tourism\nGrand Canyon National Park is one of the world�s premier natural attractions, attracting about five million visitors per year. Overall, 83% were from the United States: California (12.2%), Arizona (8.9%), Texas (4.8%), Florida (3.4%) and New York (3.2%) represented the top domestic visitors. Seventeen percent of visitors were from outside the United States; the most prominently represented nations were the United Kingdom (3.8%), Canada (3.5%), Japan (2.1%), Germany (1.9%) and The Netherlands (1.2%).[18]\nActivities\nAside from casual sightseeing from the South Rim (averaging 7000 feet (2100 m) above sea level), whitewater rafting, hiking and running are especially popular. The floor of the valley is accessible by foot, muleback, or by boat or raft from upriver. Hiking down to the river and back up to the rim in one day is discouraged by park officials because of the distance, steep and rocky trails, change in elevation, and danger of heat exhaustion from the much higher temperatures at the bottom. Rescues are required annually of unsuccessful rim-to-river-to-rim travellers. Nevertheless, hundreds of fit and experienced hikers complete the trip every year.\nCamping on the North and South Rims is generally restricted to established campgrounds and reservations are highly recommended, especially at the busier South Rim. There is at large camping available along many parts of the North Rim managed by Kaibab National Forest. Keep in mind North Rim campsites are only open seasonally due to road closures from weather and winter snowpack. All overnight camping below the rim requires a backcountry permit from the Backcountry Country Office (BCO). Each year Grand Canyon National Park receives approximately 30,000 requests for backcountry permits. The park issues 13,000 permits, and close to 40,000 people camp overnight.[19] The earliest a permit application is accepted is the first of the month, four months prior to the proposed start month. Applying as soon as allowed will improve your chances of obtaining an overnight backcountry use permit for the dates of your choice. If you are unable to secure a permit from the Grand Canyon Backcountry Office, or you are not comfortable hiking the Canyon on your own you can go with a professional guide.\nThe Coconino Canyon Train is another option for those seeking to take in a more leisurely view of the canyon. It is a 90-minute ride that originates in Grand Canyon National Park at the old Grand Canyon Depot and travels 24 miles through the canyon landscapes. The train is made up of 1923 Pullman cars and runs on tracks built in the 1800s. [20]\nTourists wishing for a more vertical perspective can board helicopters and small airplanes in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (seven miles from the South Rim) for canyon flyovers. Scenic flights are no longer allowed to fly within 1500' of the rim within the national park because of a late 90s crash. The last aerial video footage from below the rim was filmed in 1984. However, some helicopter flights land on the Havasupai and Hualapai Indian Reservations within Grand Canyon (outside of the park boundaries). Recently, the Hualapai Tribe opened the glass-bottomed Grand Canyon Skywalk on their property, Grand Canyon West. The Skywalk has seen mixed reviews since the site is only accessible by driving down a 14-mile (23 km) dirt road, costs a minimum of $85 in total for reservation fees, a tour package and admission to the Skywalk itself and the fact that cameras are not permitted on the Skywalk at any time. The Skywalk is located 242 miles from the South Rim National Park. Many people mistake the west side of the park by Hermit's Rest as the location of the Skywalk.\nViewing the canyon\nLipan Point is a promontory located on the South Rim. This point is located to the east of the Grand Canyon Village along the Desert View Drive. There is a parking lot for visitors who care to drive along with the Canyon's bus service that routinely stops at the point. The trailhead to the Tanner Trail is located just before the parking lot. The view from Lipan Point shows a wide array of rock strata and the Unkar Creek area in the inner canyon.\nPerhaps the most heart-stopping view of the canyon is had from the Toroweap Overlook (Tuweep) situated 3000 vertical feet above the Colorado River, about 50 miles downriver from the South Rim and 70 upriver from the Grand Canyon Skywalk. This region � �One of the most remote in the United States� according to the National Park Service � is reached only by one of three lengthy dirt tracks, that start from St. George, Utah, Colorado City or near Pipe Spring National Monument (both in Arizona). These roads traverse wild, uninhabited land for 97, 62 and 64 miles respectively. A visit to this area can be challenging, but rewarding. The Park Service manages the area for its primitive values and, therefore, improvements and services are minimal.\nMore Photos soon\nGrand Canyon fatalities\nAbout 600 deaths have occurred in the Grand Canyon since the 1870s. Some of these deaths occurred as the result of overly zealous photographic endeavours, some were the result of airplane collisions within the canyon, and some visitors drowned in the Colorado River. Many hikers overestimate their fitness level, become dehydrated and confused, and must be rescued. The Park Service now posts a picture of an attractive and fit young man at several trailheads with the caption \"Every year we rescue hundreds of people from the Canyon. Most of them look like him\", in an attempt to discourage hikers from feats which are beyond their abilities.\nAccording to Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon, 50 fatalities have resulted from falls; 65 deaths were attributable to environmental causes, including heat stroke, cardiac arrest, dehydration, and hypothermia; 7 were caught in flash floods; 79 were drowned in the Colorado River; 242 perished in airplane and helicopter crashes (128 of them in the 1956 disaster mentioned below); 25 died in freak errors and accidents, including lightning strikes and rock falls; 47 committed suicide; and 23 were the victims of homicides.\n1956 air disaster\nIn 1956 the Grand Canyon was the site of the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in the United States at the time.\nOn the morning of June 30, 1956, a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation and a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 departed Los Angeles International Airport within three minutes of one another on eastbound transcontinental flights. Approximately 90 minutes later, the two propeller-driven airliners collided above the canyon while both were flying in unmonitored airspace.\nThe wreckage of both planes fell into the eastern portion of the canyon, on Temple and Chuar buttes, near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. The disaster killed all 128 passengers and crew members aboard both planes.\nThis accident led to the institution of high-altitude flight ways and positive control by en route ground controllers.\nEvacuation\nCanyon tourists and residents of Supai, a town located in the bottom of the canyon, were evacuated from the Supai area on 17 and August 18, 2008[21] due to a break in the earthen Redlands Dam, located upstream of Supai, after a night of heavy rainfall. Evacuees were taken to Peach Springs, Arizona.[22] More heavy rains were expected and a flash flood warning was put into effect, necessitating the evacuation, according to the Grand Canyon National Park Service.[23] The floods were significant enough to attract coverage from international media.[22]\nReferences and Notes",
"Mount_Everest.txt\nMount Everest\nMount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur mountain range in Nepal and Tibet. Its peak is 8848 m above sea level. The international border between China (Tibet Autonomous Region) and Nepal runs across Everest's precise summit point. Its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse, 8516 m; Nuptse, 7855 m and Changtse, 7580 m.\n\nIn 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 29002 ft. The current official height of 8848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese survey in 1975. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, despite George Everest's objections. \n\nMount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes: one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet. While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness, weather, wind as well as significant objective hazards from avalanches and the Khumbu Icefall. As of 2016, there are well over 200 corpses still on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. \n\nThe first recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers. With Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. After the first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7000 m on the North Col, the 1922 expedition pushed the North ridge route up to 8320 m marking the first time a human had climbed above 8000 m. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. The 1924 expedition resulted in the greatest mystery on Everest to this day: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on 8 June but never returned, sparking debate as to whether they were the first to reach the top. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, until Mallory's body was found in 1999 at 8155 m on the North face. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition. The Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960.\n\nWestern discovery\n\nIn 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to determine the location and names of the world's highest mountains. Starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country because of suspicions of political aggression and possible annexation. Several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down.\n\nThe British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas. Conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health.\n\nNonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the Great Trigonometric survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km away. Weather restricted work to the last three months of the year. In November 1847, Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India made several observations from the Sawajpore station located in the eastern end of the Himalayas. Kangchenjunga was then considered the highest peak in the world, and with interest he noted a peak beyond it, about 230 km away. John Armstrong, one of Waugh's officials, also saw the peak from a location farther west and called it peak \"b\". Waugh would later write that the observations indicated that peak \"b\" was higher than Kangchenjunga, but given the great distance of the observations, closer observations were required for verification. The following year, Waugh sent a survey official back to Terai to make closer observations of peak \"b\", but clouds thwarted all attempts.\n\nIn 1849, Waugh dispatched James Nicolson to the area, who made two observations from Jirol, 190 km away. Nicolson then took the largest theodolite and headed east, obtaining over 30 observations from five different locations, with the closest being 174 km from the peak.\n\nNicolson retreated to Patna on the Ganges to perform the necessary calculations based on his observations. His raw data gave an average height of 9200 m for peak \"b\", but this did not consider light refraction, which distorts heights. However, the number clearly indicated that peak \"b\" was higher than Kangchenjunga. Then, Nicolson contracted malaria and was forced to return home without finishing his calculations. Michael Hennessy, one of Waugh's assistants, had begun designating peaks based on Roman numerals, with Kangchenjunga named Peak IX, while peak \"b\" now became known as Peak XV.\n\nIn 1852, stationed at the survey headquarters in Dehradun, Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal, was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak, using trigonometric calculations based on Nicolson's measurements. An official announcement that Peak XV was the highest was delayed for several years as the calculations were repeatedly verified. Waugh began work on Nicolson's data in 1854, and along with his staff spent almost two years working on the calculations, having to deal with the problems of light refraction, barometric pressure, and temperature over the vast distances of the observations. Finally, in March 1856 he announced his findings in a letter to his deputy in Calcutta. Kangchenjunga was declared to be 28156 ft, while Peak XV was given the height of 29002 ft. Waugh concluded that Peak XV was \"most probably the highest in the world\". Peak XV (measured in feet) was calculated to be exactly 29000 ft high, but was publicly declared to be 29002 ft in order to avoid the impression that an exact height of 29000 ft was nothing more than a rounded estimate. Waugh is therefore wittily credited with being \"the first person to put two feet on top of Mount Everest\".\n\nName\n\n \nWhile the survey wanted to preserve local names if possible (e.g. Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri), Waugh argued that he could not find any commonly used local name. Waugh's search for a local name was hampered by Nepal and Tibet's exclusion of foreigners. Many local names existed, including \"Deodungha\" (\"Holy Mountain\") in Darjeeling and the Tibetan \"Chomolungma\", which appeared on a 1733 map published in Paris by the French geographer D'Anville. In the late 19th century, many European cartographers incorrectly believed that a native name for the mountain was Gaurishankar, which is a mountain between Kathmandu and Everest. \n\nWaugh argued that because there were many local names, it would be difficult to favour one name over all others, so he decided that Peak XV should be named after Welsh surveyor Sir George Everest, his predecessor as Surveyor General of India. Everest himself opposed the name suggested by Waugh and told the Royal Geographical Society in 1857 that \"Everest\" could not be written in Hindi nor pronounced by \"the native of India\". Waugh's proposed name prevailed despite the objections, and in 1865, the Royal Geographical Society officially adopted Mount Everest as the name for the highest mountain in the world. The modern pronunciations of Everest ( and) are different from Sir George's pronunciation of his surname (, ). \n\nThe Tibetan name for Mount Everest is (, lit. \"Holy Mother\"), whose official Tibetan pinyin form is Qomolangma. It is also popularly romanised as Chomolungma and (in Wylie) as Jo-mo-glang-ma or Jomo Langma. The official Chinese transcription is whose pinyin form is Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng (\"Chomolungma Peak\"). It is also infrequently simply translated into Chinese as Shèngmǔ Fēng lit. \"Holy Mother Peak\"). In 2002, the Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article making a case against the use of \"Mount Everest\" in English, insisting that the mountain should be referred to as \"Mount Qomolangma\", based on the official form of the local Tibetan name. The article argued that British colonialists did not \"first discover\" the mountain, as it had been known to the Tibetans and mapped by the Chinese as \"Qomolangma\" since at least 1719. \n\nIn the early 1960s, the Nepalese government coined a Nepali name for Mount Everest, Sagarmāthā or Sagar-Matha (सागर-मथ्था), allegedly to supplant the Tibetan name among the locals, a usage which the Nepali government felt was \"not acceptable\".\n\nSurveys\n\nThe 8848 m height given is officially recognised by Nepal and China, although Nepal is planning a new survey. \n\nIn 1856, Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as 29002 ft high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by the Great Trigonometric Survey.\n\nThe elevation of 8848 m was first determined by an Indian survey in 1955, made closer to the mountain, also using theodolites. It was subsequently reaffirmed by a 1975 Chinese measurement of . In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured. In May 1999 an American Everest Expedition, directed by Bradford Washburn, anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of 8850 m, and a snow/ice elevation 1 m higher, were obtained via this device. Although it has not been officially recognised by Nepal, this figure is widely quoted. Geoid uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 surveys.\n\nA detailed photogrammetric map (at a scale of 1:50,000) of the Khumbu region, including the south side of Mount Everest, was made by Erwin Schneider as part of the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, which also attempted Lhotse. An even more detailed topographic map of the Everest area was made in the late 1980s under the direction of Bradford Washburn, using extensive aerial photography.\n\nOn 9 October 2005, after several months of measurement and calculation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announced the height of Everest as with accuracy of ±. They claimed it was the most accurate and precise measurement to date. This height is based on the actual highest point of rock and not on the snow and ice covering it. The Chinese team also measured a snow/ice depth of , which is in agreement with a net elevation of 8848 m. The snow and ice thickness varies over time, making a definitive height of the snow cap impossible to determine.\n\nIt is thought that the plate tectonics of the area are adding to the height and moving the summit northeastwards. Two accounts suggest the rates of change are 4 mm per year (upwards) and 3 to per year (northeastwards), but another account mentions more lateral movement (27 mm), \nand even shrinkage has been suggested. \n\nComparisons\n\nThe summit of Everest is the point at which Earth's surface reaches the greatest distance above sea level. Several other mountains are sometimes claimed as alternative \"tallest mountains on Earth\". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base; it rises over 10200 m when measured from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains 4205 m above sea level.\n\nBy the same measure of base to summit, Denali, in Alaska, formerly known as Mount McKinley, is also taller than Everest. Despite its height above sea level of only 6190 m, Denali sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from 300 to, yielding a height above base in the range of 5300 to; a commonly quoted figure is 5600 m. By comparison, reasonable base elevations for Everest range from 4200 m on the south side to 5200 m on the Tibetan Plateau, yielding a height above base in the range of 3650 to. \n\nThe summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2168 m farther from Earth's centre () than that of Everest (), because Earth bulges at the Equator. This is despite Chimborazo having a peak 6268 m above sea level versus Mount Everest's 8848 m.\n\nGeology\n\nGeologists have subdivided the rocks comprising Mount Everest into three units called formations. Each formation is separated from the other by low-angle faults, called detachments, along which they have been thrust southward over each other. From the summit of Mount Everest to its base these rock units are the Qomolangma Formation, the North Col Formation, and the Rongbuk Formation.\n\nThe Qomolangma Formation, also known as the Jolmo Lungama Formation or the Everest Formation, runs from the summit to the top of the Yellow Band, about above sea level. It consists of grayish to dark gray or white, parallel laminated and bedded, Ordovician limestone inter layered with subordinate beds of recrystallised dolomite with argillaceous laminae and siltstone. Gansser first reported finding microscopic fragments of crinoids in this limestone. Later petrographic analysis of samples of the limestone from near the summit revealed them to be composed of carbonate pellets and finely fragmented remains of trilobites, crinoids, and ostracods. Other samples were so badly sheared and recrystallised that their original constituents could not be determined. A thick, white-weathering thrombolite bed that is 60 m thick comprises the foot of the \"Third Step\", and base of the summit pyramid of Everest. This bed, which crops out starting about 70 m below the summit of Mount Everest, consists of sediments trapped, bound, and cemented by the biofilms of micro-organisms, especially cyanobacteria, in shallow marine waters. The Qomolangma Formation is broken up by several high-angle faults that terminate at the low angle normal fault, the Qomolangma Detachment. This detachment separates it from the underlying Yellow Band. The lower five meters of the Qomolangma Formation overlying this detachment are very highly deformed. \n\nThe bulk of Mount Everest, between , consists of the North Col Formation, of which the Yellow Band forms its upper part between . The Yellow Band consists of intercalated beds of Middle Cambrian diopside-epidote-bearing marble, which weathers a distinctive yellowish brown, and muscovite-biotite phyllite and semischist. Petrographic analysis of marble collected from about found it to consist as much as five percent of the ghosts of recrystallised crinoid ossicles. The upper five meters of the Yellow Band lying adjacent to the Qomolangma Detachment is badly deformed. A 5 – thick fault breccia separates it from the overlying Qomolangma Formation.\n\nThe remainder of the North Col Formation, exposed between on Mount Everest, consists of interlayered and deformed schist, phyllite, and minor marble. Between , the North Col Formation consists chiefly of biotite-quartz phyllite and chlorite-biotite phyllite intercalated with minor amounts of biotite-sericite-quartz schist. Between , the lower part of the North Col Formation consists of biotite-quartz schist intercalated with epidote-quartz schist, biotite-calcite-quartz schist, and thin layers of quartzose marble. These metamorphic rocks appear to be the result of the metamorphism of Middle to Early Cambrian deep sea flysch composed of interbedded, mudstone, shale, clayey sandstone, calcareous sandstone, graywacke, and sandy limestone. The base of the North Col Formation is a regional low-angle normal fault called the \"Lhotse detachment\".\n\nBelow 7,000 m (23,000 ft), the Rongbuk Formation underlies the North Col Formation and forms the base of Mount Everest. It consists of sillimanite-K-feldspar grade schist and gneiss intruded by numerous sills and dikes of leucogranite ranging in thickness from 1 cm to 1,500 m (0.4 in to 4,900 ft). These leucogranites are part of a belt of Late Oligocene–Miocene intrusive rocks known as the Higher Himalayan leucogranite. They formed as the result of partial melting of Paleoproterozoic to Ordovician high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the Higher Himalayan Sequence about 20 to 24 million years ago during the subduction of the Indian Plate. \n\nMount Everest consists of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that have been faulted southward over continental crust composed of Archean granulites of the Indian Plate during the Cenozoic collision of India with Asia.\n \n Current interpretations argue that the Qomolangma and North Col formations consist of marine sediments that accumulated within the continental shelf of the northern, passive continental margin of India prior to its collision with Asia. The Cenozoic collision of India with Asia subsequently deformed and metamorphosed these strata as it thrust them southward and upward. The Rongbuk Formation consists of a sequence of high-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks that were derived from the alteration of high-grade metasedimentary rocks. During the collision of India with Asia, these rocks were thrust downward and to the north as they were overridden by other strata; heated, metamorphosed, and partially melted at depths of over below sea level; and then forced upward to surface by thrusting towards the south between two major detachments. The Himalayas are rising by about 5 mm per year.\n\nFlora and fauna\n\nThere is very little native flora or fauna on Everest. There is a moss that grows at 6480 m on Mount Everest. It may be the highest altitude plant species. An alpine cushion plant called Arenaria is known to grow below in the region. \n\nEuophrys omnisuperstes, a minute black jumping spider, has been found at elevations as high as 6700 m, possibly making it the highest confirmed non-microscopic permanent resident on Earth. It lurks in crevices and may feed on frozen insects that have been blown there by the wind. It should be noted that there is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes. \nBirds, such as the bar-headed goose, have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain, while others, such as the chough, have been spotted as high as the South Col at 7920 m. Yellow-billed choughs have been seen as high as and the aforementioned bar-headed geese migrate over the Himalayas. As early as 1953, George Lowe on the famous expedition of Tenzing and Hillary noted seeing the geese fly over Mount Everest. \n\nYaks are often used to haul gear for Mount Everest climbs; they can haul 100 kg (220 pounds), and have thick fur and big lungs. One common piece of advice for those in the Everest region is to be on higher ground when around yaks and other animals, as they can knock people off the mountain if standing on the downhill edge of a trail. Other animals in the region include the Himalayan tahr which is sometimes eaten by the snow leopard. The Himalayan black bear can be found up to about and the red panda is also in the region. One science expedition found a surprising range of species in the region including a pika that eats its own faeces and ten new species of ants. \n\nEnvironment\n\nIn 2008, a new weather station at about 8000 m altitude (26,246 feet) went online. The station's first data in May 2008 were air temperature , relative humidity 41.3%, atmospheric pressure 382.1 hPa (38.21 kPa), wind direction 262.8°, wind speed 12.8 m/s (28.6 mph, 46.1 km/h), global solar radiation 711.9 watts/m2, solar UVA radiation 30.4 W/m2. The project was orchestrated by Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE), who also placed the Mount Everest webcam in 2011. The weather station is located on the South Col and is solar powered. \n\nOne of the issues facing climbers is the frequent presence of high-speed winds. The peak of Mount Everest extends into the upper troposphere and penetrates the stratosphere, which can expose it to the fast and freezing wind of the jet stream. In February 2004 a wind speed of 175 mph was recorded at the summit and winds over 100 mph are common. These winds can blow climbers off Everest. Climbers typically aim for the 7- to 10-day windows in the spring and fall when the Asian monsoon season is either starting up or ending and the winds are lighter. The air pressure at the summit is about one-third what it is at sea level, and by Bernoulli's principle, the winds can lower the pressure further, causing an additional 14% reduction in oxygen to climbers. The reduction in oxygen availability comes from the reduced overall pressure, not a reduction in the ratio of oxygen to other gases. \n\nIn the summer, the Indian monsoon brings warm wet air from the Indian ocean to Everest's south side. During the winter the West/South-West flowing jet stream shifts south and blows on the peak. \n\nHistory of expeditions\n\nBecause Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, it has attracted considerable attention and climbing attempts. A set of climbing routes has been established over several decades of climbing expeditions to the mountain. Whether the mountain was climbed in ancient times is unknown; it may have been climbed in 1924.\n\nOverview\n\nIt was finally known to have been summited by 1953, but it remained a difficult peak for decades. Despite the effort and attention poured into expeditions, it was only summited by about 200 people by 1987. Everest showed itself to be a difficult place for decades, even for serious attempts by professional climbers and large national expeditions, which were the norm until the commercial era picked up in the 1990s.\n\nBy March 2012, Everest had been climbed 5,656 times with 223 deaths. Although lower mountains can be longer or steeper climbs, Everest is so high the jet stream can hit it. Climbers can be faced with winds beyond 200 mph when the weather shifts. At certain times of the year the jet stream shifts north, providing periods of relative calm at the mountain. Other dangers include blizzards and avalanches.\n\nBy 2013, the Himalayan database recorded 6,871 summits by 4,042 different people. \n\nEarly attempts\n\nIn 1885, Clinton Thomas Dent, president of the Alpine Club, suggested that climbing Mount Everest was possible in his book Above the Snow Line. \n\nThe northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bullock on the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition. It was an exploratory expedition not equipped for a serious attempt to climb the mountain. With Mallory leading (and thus becoming the first European to set foot on Everest's flanks) they climbed the North Col to an altitude of 7005 m. From there, Mallory espied a route to the top, but the party was unprepared for the great task of climbing any further and descended.\n\nThe British returned for a 1922 expedition. George Finch (\"The other George\") climbed using oxygen for the first time. He ascended at a remarkable speed—290 m per hour, and reached an altitude of 8320 m, the first time a human reported to climb higher than 8,000 m. This feat was entirely lost on the British climbing establishment—except for its \"unsporting\" nature. Mallory and Col. Felix Norton made a second unsuccessful attempt. Mallory was faulted for leading a group down from the North Col which got caught in an avalanche. Mallory was pulled down too, but seven native porters were killed.\n\nThe next expedition was in 1924. The initial attempt by Mallory and Geoffrey Bruce was aborted when weather conditions precluded the establishment of Camp VI. The next attempt was that of Norton and Somervell, who climbed without oxygen and in perfect weather, traversing the North Face into the Great Couloir. Norton managed to reach 8550 m, though he ascended only 30 m or so in the last hour. Mallory rustled up oxygen equipment for a last-ditch effort. He chose young Andrew Irvine as his partner.\n\nOn 8 June 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made an attempt on the summit via the North Col/North Ridge/Northeast Ridge route from which they never returned. On 1 May 1999, the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition found Mallory's body on the North Face in a snow basin below and to the west of the traditional site of Camp VI. Controversy has raged in the mountaineering community whether one or both of them reached the summit 29 years before the confirmed ascent (and of course, safe descent) of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.\n\nIn 1933, Lady Houston, a British millionairess, funded the Houston Everest Flight of 1933, which saw a formation of aircraft led by the Marquess of Clydesdale fly over the summit in an effort to deploy the British Union Flag at the top. \n\nEarly expeditions—such as General Charles Bruce's in the 1920s and Hugh Ruttledge's two unsuccessful attempts in 1933 and 1936—tried to make an ascent of the mountain from Tibet, via the north face. Access was closed from the north to western expeditions in 1950, after China asserted control over Tibet. In 1950, Bill Tilman and a small party which included Charles Houston, Oscar Houston and Betsy Cowles undertook an exploratory expedition to Everest through Nepal along the route which has now become the standard approach to Everest from the south.\n\nThe Swiss expedition of 1952, led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, was granted permission to attempt a climb from Nepal. The expedition established a route through the Khumbu ice fall and ascended to the South Col at an elevation of 7986 m. No attempt at an ascent of Everest was ever under consideration in this case. Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about 8595 m on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record. Tenzing's experience was useful when he was hired to be part of the British expedition in 1953. \n\nFirst successful ascent by Tenzing and Hillary\n\nIn 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 100 m of the summit on 26 May 1953, but turned back after running into oxygen problems. As planned, their work in route finding and breaking trail and their caches of extra oxygen were of great aid to the following pair. Two days later, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its second climbing pair, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber from Darjeeling, India. They reached the summit at 11:30 am local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col Route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending.\n\nNews of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, 2 June. Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, Hunt (a Briton) and Hillary (a New Zealander) discovered that they had been promptly knighted in the Order of the British Empire for the ascent. Tenzing, a Nepali sherpa who was a citizen of India, was granted the George Medal by the UK. Hunt was ultimately made a life peer in Britain, while Hillary became a founding member of the Order of New Zealand. \nHillary and Tenzing are also nationally recognised in Nepal, where annual ceremonies in schools and offices celebrate their accomplishment. \n\nThe next successful ascent was on 23 May 1956 by Ernst Schmied and Juerg Marmet. This was followed by Dölf Reist and Hans-Rudolf von Gunten on 24 May 1957. Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960. The first American to climb Everest, Jim Whittaker, joined by Nawang Gombu, reached the summit on 1 May 1963. \n\n1970 disaster\n\nIn 1970 Japanese mountaineers conducted a major expedition, the centerpiece was a large \"siege\" style expedition working on finding a new route up the Southwest face lead by Saburo Matsukata, and another was an attempt to ski Mount Everest. Despite a staff of over one hundred people and a decade of planning work, the expeditions suffered 8 deaths and failed to summit via their planned route. However, Japanese expeditions did enjoy some successes, such as Yuichiro Miura's becoming the first man to ski down Everest from the South Col (he descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries), and an expedition that put four on the summit via the South col route. Miura's exploits became the subject of film, and he went on to become the oldest person to summit Mount Everest in 2003 at age 70 and again in 2013 at the age of 80. \n\nAlso, later in the 1970s the Japanese woman Junko Tabei became the first human female to summit Mount Everest.\n\n1996 disaster\n\nOn 11 May 1996 eight climbers died after several expeditions were caught in a blizzard high up on the mountain. During the entire 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest. These were the highest death tolls for a single event, and for a single season, until the sixteen deaths in the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche. The disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialization of climbing Mount Everest.\n\nJournalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from Outside magazine, was in one of the affected parties, and afterwards published the bestseller Into Thin Air, which related his experience. Anatoli Boukreev, a guide who felt impugned by Krakauer's book, co-authored a rebuttal book called The Climb. The dispute sparked a debate within the climbing community.\n\nIn May 2004, Kent Moore, a physicist, and John L. Semple, a surgeon, both researchers from the University of Toronto, told New Scientist magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on 11 May suggested that freak weather caused oxygen levels to plunge approximately 14%. \n\nOne of the survivors was Beck Weathers, an American client of New Zealand-based guide service Adventure Consultants. Weathers was left for dead about 275 meters (900 feet) from camp 4 at 7950 meters (26085 feet). After spending a night on the mountain, Weathers managed to find his way to camp 4 with massive frostbite and vision impaired due to snow blindness. When he arrived in camp 4, fellow climbers considered his condition terminal and left him in a tent to die overnight. \n\nBefore leaving camp 4 Jon Krakauer heard Weathers calling for help from his tent. Beck's condition had not improved and an immediate descent to a lower elevation was deemed essential. A helicopter rescue was considered but was out of the question; camp 4 was higher than the rated ceiling of any available helicopter and in any case would be extraordinarily dangerous. Eventually a rescue was organized thanks to a Lieutenant Colonel of the Nepal army who conducted the second-highest known helicopter medical evacuation up to that time.\n\nThe storm's impact on climbers on the North Ridge of Mount Everest, where several climbers also died, was detailed in a first-hand account by British filmmaker and writer Matt Dickinson in his book The Other Side of Everest. 16-year-old Mark Pfetzer was on the climb and wrote about it in his account, Within Reach: My Everest Story.\n\nThe 2015 feature film Everest, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, is based on the actual events of this disaster.\n\n2006 mountaineering season\n\nIn 2006 12 people died. One death in particular (see below) triggered an international debate and years of discussion about climbing ethics. The season was also remembered for the rescue of Lincoln Hall who had been left by his climbing team and declared dead, but was later discovered alive and survived being helped off the mountain.\n\nDavid Sharp ethics controversy\n\nThere was an international controversy about the death of a solo British climber David Sharp, who attempted to climb Mount Everest in 2006 but died in his attempt. The story broke out of the mountaineering community into popular media, with a snow-balling series of interviews, allegations, critiques, and peace-making. The question was whether climbers that season had left a man to die, and whether he could have been saved. It seemed to be clear that he had put himself in a very dangerous situationhe was said to have attempted to summit Mount Everest by himself with no Sherpa or guide and fewer oxygen bottles than considered normal. He went with a low-budget Nepali guide firm that only provides support up to Base Camp, after which climbers go as a \"loose group\", offering a high degree of independence. The manager at Sharp's guide support said Sharp did not take enough oxygen for his summit attempt and did not have a Sherpa guide. It is less clear who knew Sharp was in trouble, and if they did know, whether they were qualified or capable of helping him. Double-amputee climber Mark Inglis revealed in an interview with the press on 23 May 2006, that his climbing party, and many others, had passed Sharp, on 15 May, sheltering under a rock overhang 450 m below the summit, without attempting a rescue. Inglis had said 40 people had passed by Sharp, but he was not aware that Turkish climbers had tried to help him despite being in the process of helping an injured woman down (a Turkish woman named Burçak Poçan). There has also been some discussion about Himex in the commentary on Inglis and Sharp. In regards to the Inglis's initial comments, he later revised certain details because he had been interviewed while he was \"...physically and mentally exhausted, and in a lot of pain. He had suffered severe frostbite — he later had five fingertips amputated.\" When they went through Sharp's possession they found a receipt for $7,490USD, believed to be the whole financial cost. Comparatively, most expeditions are between $30 to $100,000USD plus an additional $20,000 in other expenses that range from gear to bonuses. It was estimated on 14 May that Sharp summitted Mount Everest and began his descent down, but 15 May he was in trouble but being passed by climbers on their way up and down. On 15 May 2006 it is believed he was suffering from hypoxia, and was about 1,000 feet from the summit on the North Side route.\n\nSome climbers who left him said that the rescue efforts would have been useless and only have caused more deaths. Beck Weathers of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster said that those who are dying are often left behind, and that he himself had been left for dead twice but was able to keep walking. The Tribune of India quoted someone who described what happened to Sharp as \"the most shameful act in the history of mountaineering\". In addition to David's death, at least nine other climbers perished that year, including multiple Sherpas working for various guiding companies. \n\nMuch of this controversy was captured by the Discovery Channel while filming the television program Everest: Beyond the Limit. A crucial decision affecting the fate of Sharp is shown in the program, where an early returning climber Lebanese adventurer Maxim Chaya is descending from the summit and radios to his base camp manager (Russell Brice) that he has found a frostbitten and unconscious climber in distress. Chaya is unable to identify Sharp, who had chosen to climb solo without any support and so did not identify himself to other climbers. The base camp manager assumes that Sharp is part of a group that has already calculated that they must abandon him, and informs his lone climber that there is no chance of him being able to help Sharp by himself. As Sharp's condition deteriorates through the day and other descending climbers pass him, his opportunities for rescue diminish: his legs and feet curl from frostbite, preventing him from walking; the later descending climbers are lower on oxygen and lack the strength to offer aid; time runs out for any Sherpas to return and rescue him. Most importantly, Sharp's decision to climb without support left him with no margin for recovery.\n\nDavid Sharp's body remained just below the summit on the Chinese side next to another corpse nicknamed \"Green Boots\"; they shared a space in a small rock cave that was an ad hoc tomb for them. Sharp's body was removed from the cave in 2007, according to the BBC, and since 2014, Green Boots has been missing, presumably removed or buried.\n\nLincoln Hall rescue\n\nAs the Sharp debate kicked off, on 26 May 2006 Australian climber Lincoln Hall was found alive, after being declared dead the day before. He was found by a party of four climbers (Dan Mazur, Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne and Jangbu Sherpa) who, giving up their own summit attempt, stayed with Hall and descended with him and a party of 11 Sherpas sent up to carry him down. Hall later fully recovered. Similar actions have been recorded since, including on 21 May 2007, when Canadian climber Meagan McGrath initiated the successful high-altitude rescue of Nepali Usha Bista. Recognizing her heroic rescue, Major Meagan McGrath was selected as a 2011 recipient of the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada Humanitarian Award, which recognises a Canadian who has personally or administratively contributed a significant service or act in the Himalayan Region of Nepal. \n\nAscent statistics up to 2010 season\n\nBy the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals, with 77% of these ascents being accomplished since 2000. The summit was achieved in 7 of the 22 years from 1953 to 1974, and was not missed between 1975 and 2014. In 2007, the record number of 633 ascents was recorded, by 350 climbers and 253 sherpas.\n\nA remarkable illustration of the explosion of popularity of Everest is provided by the numbers of daily ascents. Analysis of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster shows that part of the blame was on the bottleneck caused by the large number of climbers (33 to 36) attempting to summit on the same day; this was considered unusually high at the time. By comparison, on 23 May 2010, the summit of Mount Everest was reached by 169 climbers – more summits in a single day than in the cumulative 31 years from the first successful summit in 1953 through 1983.\n\nThere have been 219 fatalities recorded on Mount Everest from the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition through the end of 2010, a rate of 4.3 fatalities for every 100 summits (this is a general rate, and includes fatalities amongst support climbers, those who turned back before the peak, those who died en route to the peak and those who died while descending from the peak). Of the 219 fatalities, 58 (26.5%) were climbers who had summited but did not complete their descent. Though the rate of fatalities has decreased since the year 2000 (1.4 fatalities for every 100 summits, with 3938 summits since 2000), the significant increase in the total number of climbers still means 54 fatalities since 2000: 33 on the northeast ridge, 17 on the southeast ridge, 2 on southwest face, and 2 on north face.\n\nNearly all attempts at the summit are done using one of the two main routes. The traffic seen by each route varies from year to year. In 2005–07, more than half of all climbers elected to use the more challenging, but cheaper northeast route. In 2008, the northeast route was closed by the Chinese government for the entire climbing season, and the only people able to reach the summit from the north that year were athletes responsible for carrying the Olympic torch for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The route was closed to foreigners once again in 2009 in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile. These closures led to declining interest in the north route, and, in 2010, two-thirds of the climbers reached the summit from the south.\n\n2012 mountaineering season\n\nIn 2012 Montana State University conducted a scientific expedition to Everest. The Everest Education Expedition studied the geology of the Everest massif which includes Everest-Nuptse-Lhotse-Khumbutse, and advanced the state of mineralogy, strain, and predicted rock ages. Of interest was the fossil-bearing limestone that crowns Mount Everest, the nature and impact of ice in the region (such as the icefall), and the overall stratigraphy (including limestone, metamorphic rocks, pelites, and quartzites) \n\nIn 2012 the oldest woman to reach the summit up to that time was achieved by Tamae Watanabe at 73 years old She broke her own record from 2002, when she climbed it at the age of 63. The retired office worker lives at the base of Mount Fuji, and had also climbed many other peaks including Denali, the Eiger, and Lhotse. She climbed with a group of four, and beat a competing 72-year-old woman who was trying for the same record.\n\nThe death of Canadian climber Shriya Shah-Klorfine in 2012 made headlines and fed a debate about whether inexperienced climbers should be climbing Mount Everest. Although she did manage to summit, she did not survive the descent. Francys Arsentiev died on descent in 1998 despite the efforts of her husband and a team from Uzbekistan that ran low of bottled oxygen. In 1979, another woman named Hannelore Schmatz successfully summited, but like the other two, became exhausted and ran out of oxygen despite the efforts of her climbing group to save her. Ray Genet, in her climbing party died also, but the two Sherpas survived. In 1984 Yogendra Bahadur Thapa and Ang Dorje died trying retrieve her corpse. Schmatz remained frozen on the mountain, with her eyes frozen open and hair left to blow in the wind, to the emotional disturbance of later climbers in the 1980s and 1990s.\n\nBetween 1922 and 2012 it is recorded that at least 233 died climbing Mount Everest. With hundreds of climbers on the most popular route on the most popular days, deaths have become almost too routine as many climbers have accepted that some are just not going to make it, even though they are left with a lingering moral question of if they should have done more to save those in trouble.\n\nNational Geographic says that 547 people summited in 2012. Of those that attempted the summit, this was a 57 percent success rate and a higher rate than the year 2000's 24% success rate. The number of summiters has grown also, with National Geographic comparing the 72 summits in 1990, 145 summits in 2000, and the aforementioned 547 summits in 2012.\n\nThe Guinness Book of World Records states that 234 climbers summited in one day in 2012. However, it was one of the deadliest seasons since 1996, with 11 climbers dying on Everest in the spring. \n\n2013 mountaineering season\n\nIn 2013, about 340 permits to climb Everest were granted. Since Tenzing and Hillary climbed in the 1950s, about 4,000 people had climbed Everest in the years leading up to 2013. That year, three climbers were attacked by a mob of 100 Sherpas at 21,000 feet altitude. The event was noted as an aberration in the otherwise decades long spirit of teamwork and friendship on the mountain. Dangers other than the elements are not unknown to climbers; for example, in 2013 11 climbers were murdered by Taliban in their base camp in nearby Pakistan while at the 8000er Nanga Parbat. The brawl had various things said about it and one highlight was that Melissa Arnot helped diffusse the fight between three climbers and a mob of Sherpa's. Arnot was friends with both the climbers and the high-altitude workers, and when the brawl happened she managed to bring a halt to the fighting, then spend the better part of an hour negotiating a truce between the mountaineers. Sherpas are famous for going to extraordinary lengths for climbers, being friendly, and very generous in sharing Everest with visitors to Nepal. In this case a group of three climbers accidentally triggered some resentment that been building and this snow-balled into a full-out mob attack on them which was fortunately averted when cooler thinking prevailed. The Nepal authorities and police investigated and removed three ring-leaders and declared that they would try to protect climbers. In a situation vaugley similar to when Pocahontas saved John Smith, the 29-years young Arnot throw herself between the attackers and the climbers being beaten thus averting their possible murder. One fact worked in favor, was that she figured they would be less likely to strike a lady, and once the conversation could started it was possible resolve what the tangle of misunderstandings and emotions that come together to trigger the crisis. Mountaineers are well aware of the confusion and delirium high altitude can trigger, and the nuttiness of client request can wear on Sherpa's who also may not have had the most clear emotions and insight high on the Lhotse face. Once the conversations started, it was possible to resolve the situation. \n\nIn 2013 a group of Sherpas attacked one climber and attempted to murder him after he returned to camp. Events including swinging an ice pick at him as he climbed the Lhotse face, making physical contact with his climbing partner, verbal threats, the throwing of a knife which impacted but did not penetrate his skin, and other attacks. This was only preliminary, and one part of the attack was described by the climber as \"they told us, \"Now we kill you. Now we kill you.\" One of them threw a big stone into Ueli Steck's face, and he started to bleed. Then they were punching my face, and then kicks and punches and kicks and punches. And stones and so on.\" The climber was upset because he considered himself a friend of the Sherpa community, had built a school for nearly 400 Sherpa children, and also had funded free evacuations via helicopters for Sherpas. The Nepalese government said if climbers were attacked, actions would be taken against the aggressors. Indeed the Nepal tourism officals removed the three ringleaders of the attack from the Mountain and determined that it was misunderstanding that had sorted out, furthermore they pledge to try to insure the safety of climbers. Sherpas are famous for the most part for their climbing skill and good demeanor, with one Everest climber noting \"To a man everyone seems to be absolutely impressed with the Sherpas. Not just their strength on the mountain, which is legendary, but their personalities and their friendliness. They become your friends.” One positive thing to come out of the fight was increased conversations between all the people on the mountain, which help overcome come some of the cultural and language barriers that complicate an already difficult environment. In retrospect on of the main culprits was some ice that came down the mountain after the Sherpa's allowed the three climbers to go above them. On the mountains climbers \"life fast and die young\"; one Sherpa noted how he talked with Marty Schmidt about the situationMarty died with his son just a few months later in Avalanche on K2. The next year 16 Sherpas died when an ice serac fell on them in the Khumbu. \n\nIn 2013 Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person yet to reach the summit, at age 80. Also, a Eurocopter AS350 B3 flown by M. Folini achieved a record breaking rescue at 7800 m, by retrieving fallen climber Sudarshan Gautam between Camps III & IV in Everest's Yellow Band on the morning of 20 May 2013. Gautam has no arms or prosthetics but reached the summit on 20 May 2013.\n\nThe updated 2013 Himalayan database recorded 658 summits, which brought the total number of summits to 6,871 by 4,042 different people. In comparison, it took 41 years after Tenzing and Hillary to achieve the same number of climbs. This is also greater than 2007's 633 summiters. \n\n2014 avalanche and season\n\nOn 18 April 2014, an avalanche hit the area just below the Base Camp 2 at around 0100 UTC (0630 local time) and at an elevation of about 5,900 metres. Sixteen people were killed in the avalanche (all Nepalese guides) and nine more were injured. Sadly, this was not the only tragedy in the region with over 43 killed in the 2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster, and they were not even summiting but rather trekking the Annapurna Circuit.\n\nOne positive outcome of the season was a 13-year-old girl, Malavath Purna, reaching the summit, breaking the record for youngest female. Additionally, one team used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp 2 to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, then reached the Everest summit. This team had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Nepal turned Chinese reluctance into a success for the country, with the executive donating tens of thousands of dollars to local hospitals and achieving a new hybrid aviation/mountaneering stylethey awarded her the Nepalese International Mountaineer of the Year. \n\nOver 100 people summitted Everest from China (Tibet region), and six from Nepal in the 2014 season. This included 72-year old Bill Burke, the Indian teenage girl and a Chinese woman Jing Wang. Another teen girl summiter was Ming Kipa Sherpa who summited with her big sister Lhakpa Sherpa in 2003, and who achieved the most times for woman to the summit of Mount Everest at that time. (see also Santosh Yadav)\n\n2015 avalanche, earthquake, season\n\n2015 was set to be a record breaking season of climbs, with hundreds of permits issued in Nepal and many additional permits in Tibet (China); however, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on 25 April 2015 effectively shut down the Everest climbing season. 2015 was the first time since 1974 with no spring summits, as all climbing teams pulled out after the quakes and avalanche. \nOne of the reasons for this was the high probability (over 50% according to the USGS) of aftershocks. Indeed, just weeks after the first quake, the region was rattled by a 7.3 magnitude quake and there were also many considerable aftershocks. \n\nOn 25 April 2015, an earthquake measuring 7.8 Mw triggered an avalanche that hit Everest Base Camp. 18 bodies were recovered from Mount Everest by the Indian army mountaineering team. The avalanche began on Pumori, moved through the Khumbu Icefall on the southwest side of Mount Everest, and slammed into the South Base Camp. \n\nThe quakes trapped hundreds of climbers above the Khumbu icefall, and they had to be evacuated by helicopter as they ran low on supplies. The quake shifted the route through the icefall making it essentially unpassable to the climbers. Bad weather also made helicopter evacuation difficult. The Everest tragedy was small compared the impact overall on Nepal, with almost 9 thousand dead in Nepal and about 22 thousand injured. In Tibet (China) by 28 April it was identified that at least 25 had died and 117 were injured. By 29 April 2015, the Tibet Mountaineering Association (North/Chinese side) closed Everest and other peaks to climbing, stranding 25 teams and about 300 people on the north side of Everest. On the south side helicopters evacuated 180 people trapped at Camps 1 and 2. \n\nMountain re-opens in August 2015\n\nOn 24 August 2015 Nepal re-opened Everest to tourism including mountain climbers. The only climber permit for the autumn season was awarded to Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki, who had tried four times previously to summit Everest without success. He made his fifth attempt in October, but had to give up just 700 meters from the summit due to \"strong winds and deep snow\". Kurki noted the dangers of climbing Everest, having himself survived being stuck in a freezing snow-hole for two days near the top, which came at the cost of all his finger tips and his thumb, lost to frostbite, which added further difficulty to his climb.\n\nSome sections of the trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp (Nepal) were damaged in the earthquakes earlier in the year and needed repairs to handle trekkers. \n\n2016 season\n\nThe Nepal Department of Tourism said by June 2016 that about 456 people made it to summit of Mount Everest, including 45 women. They noted some good summit windows and on one day, 19 May 2016, 209 made it to the summit. By May 11, 2016 the lines were fixed on the south side of Everest after which several hundred climbers would make it up in the critical weather windows. \n\nOn 11 May 2016 nine Sherpas summited Mount Everest. The next day another six people reached the top. These were the first summitings since 2014, when 106 made it to the top. By 13 May, 42 climbers had reached the summit and by 22 May, good weather had allowed over 400 climbers to reach the summit. However, about 30 climbers developed frostbite or became sick and two climbers died from what was reported as possible altitude sickness. (see fatalities section for additional reports) Among those that had to turn back, was a science expedition attempting to study the link between hypoxia and cognitive decline. Although it did not run its course it did give some clues into the effects of high-altitude acclimatization on human blood.\n\nAdrian Ballinger and Cory Richards were sponsored by Eddie Bauer to do an Everest climb, and they relayed information from the Everest climb using the smartphone software application and service Snapchat. Mount Everest has had a 3G wireless data communication network since 2010. One of the things that was reported by them, was that bottled oxygen was stolen from them and there was some bad behavior up there. The bottled oxygen was there for emergency back-up if they ran into trouble. Cor Richards achieved summiting Mount Everest without oxygen and returned safely, and Adrian made it almost to the top also. Another famous mountaineer, British climber Kenton Cool achieved his 12th Everest summit (the second highest number of Everest summitings for a foreigner after Dave Hahn), and U.S. celebrity mountaineer Melissa Arnot, completed her sixth summit, and achieved her personal goal of climbing Everest without supplementary bottled oxygen. This also turned out to be the most summits for a foreign female (Not Nepali or Chinese), and one of the first U.S. woman to summit and survive without supplementary oxygen. In 1998 Francys Arsentiev had made it to the summit but died during the descent; she went on to become a famous corpse-landmark known as \"Sleeping Beauty\" until she was buried on Everest in 2007 by one of the people that had tried help her. Another woman from the Americas, the Ecuadorian woman Carla Perez also summited Mount Everest in 2016 without supplementary oxygen. Perez and Arnot became the 5 and 6 women to summit Everest without supplementary oxygen as reported by the The Guardian. There is something of an ongoing discussion about the use of extra bottled oxygen in mountaineering. Bottled oxygen is really just the start of slippery slope that goes beyond acclimatization. The elephant in the room is Dexamethasone, which is extremely valuable as a life-saver because it can reduce swelling in the brain if someone comes down with HACE but has nevertheless may have become popular. One climbing magazine called it \"Climbing's Little Helper\" and linked it to several high-altitude mountaineering medical crisis and even fatalities. When American Bill Burke was interviewed for his attempt, he noted how one of his team-members had overdosed on Dex causing a medical evacuation even as in his more recent expedition someone had 25 doses of dex. He also noted it was hard to argue against large supplies of dex, due its life-saving properties against some types of altitude sickness, especially cerebral edema (HACE). An example of a death in which dex was implicated was Dr. Eberhard Schaaf in 2012 on Everest. Schaaf died on descent at the south summit from altitude sickness. It has a good reputation as a life saver, and is commonly given to Everest climbers for its ability to intervene in last desperate moments when altitude sickness sets in. For example, in the 2016 season Robert Gropel said he gave dex to his wife (as reported by the Telegraph) in attempt to save her as they tried to descend Everest. Of course, Dex is just the tip of the iceberg, with the UIAA noting the aforementioned dexamethasone, but also acetazolamide (aka Diamox), amphetamine, and alcohol use; and another noted Diamox (acetazolamide) use among trekkers. Its not really a matter of some authorities being for or against medications, but awareness, as misuse can cause drug interactions and various side effects. In particular it was noted that supplementary oxygen significantly lowers death rate on ultra-high altitude mountain climbing, and is generally not regulated as a drug, whereas the safe use of medications is less understood or even acknowledged in many cases. (See also Effects of high altitude on humans)\n\nMexican-American David Liaño Gonzalez (aka David Liano) summited for the sixth time, promoting a charity and also bringing a Seattle Seahawks fan flag with him to the Everest summit. Another sports team represented at the Everest summit was the Denver Broncos, with their flag unfurled by Kim Hess of Colorado, USA (a state also known for its mountains, \"the Rockies\"). Rounding out U.S. mountaineering was news that a group of soldiers and veterans summited, including some that had been wounded in combat. A British wounded veteran (one-eyed) was also trying to summit but gave up his bid to help some Indian climbers.\n\nAlso the first climbers from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Tunisia reached the summit of Mount Everest. Only two other people from the North Africa region neighbouring Tunisia have summited Everest, one from Algeria and the other from Morocco. The youngest Australian woman to summit Mount Everest became Alyssa Azar, with her story widely reported in Australian and some international news. She returned to Australia safely, but a bittersweet victory for Australia after the loss of an another Australian woman that was also trying to summit that May with her husband. The youngest Japanese woman also summited (and returned alive) at the age of 19. Another woman record breaker in 2016 was the first woman from Thailand to summit Mount Everest, Napassaporn Chumnarnsit, who was even given a meeting with Prime Minister of Thailand for achievement upon her return. The first person with Cystic Fibrosis also summited Mount Everest on their third try. Also, a 61-year old summited with two artificial knees. He had been trying for several years and had lost his Nepali friend Sherpa Nawang Tenzing in the 2015 earthquakes. He was not alone in being grief-stricken, as many climbers connected with Everest mountaineering community lost climbing buddies in two years of disasters. One who narrowly survived the disasters himself climbed this year to bring attention to the disease Lewy Body Dementia which afflicted his dad whom he cared for.\n\nRescues and fatalities\n\nA one-eyed British war veteran rescued a woman from India who was in trouble on her descent. As reported by the BBC, the climber, Leslie Binns, successfully rescued her and tried to save another from her ill-fated eleven-person expedition which suffered three fatalties. About 500 meters from the summit, which he could see with his one eye, he heard a woman screaming for help so he gave up his summit bid to help her down. She had run out of bottled oxygen and was getting frostbitten.\n\nOn 11 May 2016 a Canadian doctor from Calgary died in Tibet, in the Chinese-side base camp. A 25-year old Nepali fixing lines near the Lhotse summit fell, named Phurba Sherpa (note: this name is shared by other well-known Sherpas). A guide company called Arnold Coster Expeditions suffered two fatalities, and third client had to be airlifted out. One was a man from the The Netherlands, and another was a South African born Australian woman. Her husband had tried to save her, but he also ran into trouble and had to be air-lifted out with medical complications. These deaths were very widely reported in international news and triggered some public discussion about Everest mountaineering and tourism.\n\nA Indian expedition from West Bengal suffered a great tragedy, with the single expedition suffering three fatalities and third, a mother of an 11-year old had to be rescued on her way down. At first it was reported one died and two were missing, but later the other two were located and had not survived. One British climber gave up his summit bid to help a Bengali woman that had fallen and was ailing on her descent. She was further evacuated by the Himalayan Rescue Association and airlifted to Kathmandu with bad frostbite injuries. They were part of an eleven-member expedition from India, and eight reached the summit including the woman\n\nThe death toll for Everest climbers rose to 5 in most reports by late May 2016, and with a death of a high-altitude worker on Lhotse face during the season (Everest summiters sometimes need to climb Lhotse face depending on the route), gives a total of 6 known deaths from the Everest massif by the time the season drew to a close. Although not widely reported during May, a climber in Tibet had died on 11 May 2016 which makes it possibly six for Mount Everest and seven for the Everest Massif. The Nepal ministry of tourism said five people died (for the Nepal side).\n\nClimbing\n\nPermits\n\nThere were 334 climbing permits issued in 2014, these were extended for free because of the tragedy that struck. In 2015 there was 357 permits to climb Everest, but the mountain was closed again because of the avalanche and earthquake. Nepal then extended the unused 2014/15 permits until 2019 (Nepali permits cost about 10,000 USD for foreigners). So people who bought a permit in 2014 or 2015 can still use it for an expedition to Everest until 2019 (normally they are only valid for one year). This was an example of hospitality that Nepali's have become famous for; an extension was especially requested by expedition firms (which in turn bring resources into the country due for mountaineering). Nepal is essentially a \"fourth world\" country, one of the poorest non-African countries and the 19th poorest country in the world. Despite this, Nepal has been very welcoming to tourists and a significant tourism industry has been established.\n\nRoutes\n\nMt. Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the north ridge from Tibet, as well as many other less frequently climbed routes. Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently used route. It was the route used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and the first recognised of fifteen routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design as the Chinese border was closed to the western world in the 1950s after the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet.\n\nMost attempts are made during May before the summer monsoon season. As the monsoon season approaches, a change in the jet stream at this time pushes it northward, thereby reducing the average wind speeds high on the mountain. While attempts are sometimes made after the monsoons in September and October, when the jet stream is again temporarily pushed northward, the additional snow deposited by the monsoons and the less stable weather patterns (tail end of the monsoon) makes climbing extremely difficult.\n\nSoutheast ridge\n\nThe ascent via the southeast ridge begins with a trek to Base Camp at 5380 m on the south side of Everest in Nepal. Expeditions usually fly into Lukla (2,860 m) from Kathmandu and pass through Namche Bazaar. Climbers then hike to Base Camp, which usually takes six to eight days, allowing for proper altitude acclimatization in order to prevent altitude sickness. Climbing equipment and supplies are carried by yaks, dzopkyos (yak-cow hybrids) and human porters to Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier. When Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest in 1953, the British expedition that they were part of (over 400 climbers, porters and sherpas at that point) started from the Kathmandu Valley, as there were no roads further east at that time.\n\nClimbers spend a couple of weeks in Base Camp, acclimatizing to the altitude. During that time, Sherpas and some expedition climbers set up ropes and ladders in the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. Seracs, crevasses and shifting blocks of ice make the icefall one of the most dangerous sections of the route. Many climbers and Sherpas have been killed in this section. To reduce the hazard, climbers usually begin their ascent well before dawn, when the freezing temperatures glue ice blocks in place. Above the icefall is Camp I at 6065 m.\n\nFrom Camp I, climbers make their way up the Western Cwm to the base of the Lhotse face, where Camp II or Advanced Base Camp (ABC) is established at 6500 m. The Western Cwm is a flat, gently rising glacial valley, marked by huge lateral crevasses in the centre, which prevent direct access to the upper reaches of the Cwm. Climbers are forced to cross on the far right near the base of Nuptse to a small passageway known as the \"Nuptse corner\". The Western Cwm is also called the \"Valley of Silence\" as the topography of the area generally cuts off wind from the climbing route. The high altitude and a clear, windless day can make the Western Cwm unbearably hot for climbers.\n\nFrom ABC, climbers ascend the Lhotse face on fixed ropes up to Camp III, located on a small ledge at 7470 m. From there, it is another 500 meters to Camp IV on the South Col at 7920 m. From Camp III to Camp IV, climbers are faced with two additional challenges: the Geneva Spur and the Yellow Band. The Geneva Spur is an anvil shaped rib of black rock named by the 1952 Swiss expedition. Fixed ropes assist climbers in scrambling over this snow-covered rock band. The Yellow Band is a section of interlayered marble, phyllite, and semischist, which also requires about 100 meters of rope for traversing it.\n\nOn the South Col, climbers enter the death zone. Climbers typically only have a maximum of two or three days that they can endure at this altitude for making summit bids. Clear weather and low winds are critical factors in deciding whether to make a summit attempt. If weather does not cooperate within these short few days, climbers are forced to descend, many all the way back down to Base Camp.\n\nFrom Camp IV, climbers begin their summit push around midnight with hopes of reaching the summit (still another 1,000 meters above) within 10 to 12 hours. Climbers first reach \"The Balcony\" at 8400 m, a small platform where they can rest and gaze at peaks to the south and east in the early light of dawn. Continuing up the ridge, climbers are then faced with a series of imposing rock steps which usually forces them to the east into waist-deep snow, a serious avalanche hazard. At 8750 m, a small table-sized dome of ice and snow marks the South Summit.\n\nFrom the South Summit, climbers follow the knife-edge southeast ridge along what is known as the \"Cornice traverse\", where snow clings to intermittent rock. This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one down the southwest face, while to the immediate right is the Kangshung Face. At the end of this traverse is an imposing 12 m rock wall, the Hillary Step at 8760 m.\n\nHillary and Tenzing were the first climbers to ascend this step and they did it with primitive ice climbing equipment and ropes. Nowadays, climbers ascend this step using fixed ropes previously set up by Sherpas. Once above the step, it is a comparatively easy climb to the top on moderately angled snow slopes—though the exposure on the ridge is extreme, especially while traversing large cornices of snow. With increasing numbers of people climbing the mountain in recent years, the Step has frequently become a bottleneck, with climbers forced to wait significant amounts of time for their turn on the ropes, leading to problems in getting climbers efficiently up and down the mountain. After the Hillary Step, climbers also must traverse a loose and rocky section that has a large entanglement of fixed ropes that can be troublesome in bad weather. Climbers typically spend less than half an hour at the summit to allow time to descend to Camp IV before darkness sets in, to avoid serious problems with afternoon weather, or because supplemental oxygen tanks run out.\n\nNorth ridge route\n\nThe north ridge route begins from the north side of Everest in Tibet. Expeditions trek to the Rongbuk Glacier, setting up base camp at 5180 m on a gravel plain just below the glacier. To reach Camp II, climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of Changtse at around 6100 m. Camp III (ABC—Advanced Base Camp) is situated below the North Col at . To reach Camp IV on the north col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at 7010 m. From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp V at around 7775 m. The route crosses the North Face in a diagonal climb to the base of the Yellow Band reaching the site of Camp VI at 8230 m. From Camp VI, climbers make their final summit push. Climbers face a treacherous traverse from the base of the First Step: ascending from 8501 to, to the crux of the climb, the Second Step: ascending from 8577 to. (The Second Step includes a climbing aid called the \"Chinese ladder\", a metal ladder placed semi-permanently in 1975 by a party of Chinese climbers. It has been almost continuously in place since, and ladders have been used by virtually all climbers on the route.) Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over: ascending from 8690 to. Once above these steps, the summit pyramid is climbed by a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge along which the top is reached.\n\nSummit\n\nThe routes usually share one spot in common, the summit itself. The summit of Everest has been described as \"the size of a dining room table\". The summit is capped with snow over ice over rock, and the layer of snow varies from year to year. The rock summit is made of Ordovician limestone and is a low-grade metamorphic rock according to Montana State University. (see survey section for more on its height and about the Everest rock summit)\n\nBelow the summit there is an area known as \"rainbow valley\", filled with dead bodies still wearing brightly coloured winter gear. Down to about 8000 meters is an area commonly called the \"death zone\", due to the high danger and low oxygen because of the low pressure.\n\nBelow the summit the mountain slopes downward to the three main sides, or faces, of Mount Everest: the North Face, the South-West Face, and the East/Kangshung Face. \n\nDeath zone\n\nAt the higher regions of Mount Everest, climbers seeking the summit typically spend substantial time within the death zone (altitudes higher than 8000 m), and face significant challenges to survival. Temperatures can dip to very low levels, resulting in frostbite of any body part exposed to the air. Since temperatures are so low, snow is well-frozen in certain areas and death or injury by slipping and falling can occur. High winds at these altitudes on Everest are also a potential threat to climbers.\n\nAnother significant threat to climbers is low atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Everest is about a third of sea level pressure or , resulting in the availability of only about a third as much oxygen to breathe. \n\nDebilitating effects of the death zone are so great that it takes most climbers up to 12 hours to walk the distance of from South Col to the summit. Achieving even this level of performance requires prolonged altitude acclimatization, which takes 40–60 days for a typical expedition. A sea-level dweller exposed to the atmospheric conditions at the altitude above 8500 m without acclimatization would likely lose consciousness within 2 to 3 minutes. \n\nIn May 2007, the Caudwell Xtreme Everest undertook a medical study of oxygen levels in human blood at extreme altitude. Over 200 volunteers climbed to Everest Base Camp where various medical tests were performed to examine blood oxygen levels. A small team also performed tests on the way to the summit. Even at base camp, the low partial pressure of oxygen had direct effect on blood oxygen saturation levels. At sea level, blood oxygen saturation is generally 98–99%. At base camp, blood saturation fell to between 85 and 87%. Blood samples taken at the summit indicated very low oxygen levels in the blood. A side effect of low blood oxygen is a vastly increased breathing rate, often 80–90 breaths per minute as opposed to a more typical 20–30. Exhaustion can occur merely attempting to breathe. \n\nLack of oxygen, exhaustion, extreme cold, and climbing hazards all contribute to the death toll. An injured person who cannot walk is in serious trouble, since rescue by helicopter is generally impractical and carrying the person off the mountain is very risky. People who die during the climb are typically left behind. As of 2006, about 150 bodies had never been recovered. It is not uncommon to find corpses near the standard climbing routes. \n\nA 2008 study noted that the \"death zone\" is indeed where most Everest deaths occur, but also noted that most deaths occur during descent from the summit. A 2014 article in the magazine The Atlantic about deaths on Everest noted that while falling is one of the greatest dangers the DZ presents for all 8000ers, avalanches are a more common cause of death at lower altitudes. However, Everest climbing is more deadly than Base jumping, although some have combined extreme sports and Everest including a beverage company that had someone base-jumping off Everest in a wingsuit (they did survive, though). \n\nDespite this, Everest is safer for climbers than a number of peaks by some measurements, but it depends on the period. Some examples are Kangchenjunga, K2, Annapurna, Nanga Parbat, and the Eiger (especially the nordwand). Mont Blanc has more deaths each year than Everest, with over one hundred dying in a typical year and over eight thousand killed since records were kept. Some factors that affect total mountain lethality include the level of popularity of the mountain, the skill of those climbing, and of course the difficulty of the climb.\n\nAnother health hazard is retinal haemorrhages, which can damage eyesight and cause blindness. Up to a quarter of Everest climbers can experience retinal haemorrhages, and although they usually heal within weeks of returning to lower altitudes, in one case a climber went blind and ended up dying in the death zone.\n\nThe team made a huge effort for the next 12 hours to try to get him down the mountain, but to no avail, as they were not successful getting him down the difficult sections. Even for the able, the Everest North-East ridge is a recognized as a challenge, which is why it is so hard to rescue someone who has become incapacitatedit is beyond their ability to save them in such a difficult spot. One way around this situation was pioneer by two Nepali men in 2013, who had intended to paraglide off the summit, had major problem in that they were forced to go through with the plan either way because they had run out of bottle oxygen and supplies. They successfully launched off the summit and para-glided down to Namche in just 42 minutes, without having to climb down the mountain.\n\nSupplemental oxygen\n\nMost expeditions use oxygen masks and tanks above 8000 m. Everest can be climbed without supplementary oxygen, but only by the most accomplished mountaineers and at increased risk. Humans do not think clearly with low oxygen, and the combination of extreme weather, low temperatures, and steep slopes often requires quick, accurate decisions. While about 95% of climbers who reach the summit use bottled oxygen in order to reach the top, about 5% of climbers have summitted Everest without supplemental oxygen. The death rate is double for those who attempt to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. Travelling above 8,000 feet altitude is a factor in cerebral hypoxia. This decrease of oxygen to the brain can cause dementia and brain damage, as well as a host of other symptoms. One study found that Mount Everest may be the highest an acclimatised human could go, but also found that climbers may suffer permanent neurological damage despite returning to lower altitudes.\n\nThe use of bottled oxygen to ascend Mount Everest has been controversial. It was first used on the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition by George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce who climbed up to 7800 m at a spectacular speed of 1000 vertical feet per hour (vf/h). Pinned down by a fierce storm, they escaped death by breathing oxygen from a jury-rigged set-up during the night. The next day they climbed to 8100 m at 900 vf/h—nearly three times as fast as non-oxygen users. Yet the use of oxygen was considered so unsportsmanlike that none of the rest of the Alpine world recognised this high ascent rate. George Mallory himself described the use of such oxygen as unsportsmanlike, but he later concluded that it would be impossible for him to summit without it and consequently used it on his final attempt in 1924. When Tenzing and Hillary made the first successful summit in 1953, they used bottled oxygen, with the expedition's physiologist Griffith Pugh referring to the oxygen debate as a \"futile controversy\", noting that oxygen \"greatly increases subjective appreciation of the surroundings, which after all is one of the chief reasons for climbing.\" For the next twenty-five years, bottled oxygen was considered standard for any successful summit.\n\nReinhold Messner was the first climber to break the bottled oxygen tradition and in 1978, with Peter Habeler, made the first successful climb without it. In 1980, Messner summited the mountain solo, without supplemental oxygen or any porters or climbing partners, on the more difficult northwest route. Once the climbing community was satisfied that the mountain could be climbed without supplemental oxygen, many purists then took the next logical step of insisting that is how it should be climbed. \n\nThe aftermath of the 1996 disaster further intensified the debate. Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air (1997) expressed the author's personal criticisms of the use of bottled oxygen. Krakauer wrote that the use of bottled oxygen allowed otherwise unqualified climbers to attempt to summit, leading to dangerous situations and more deaths. The disaster was partially caused by the sheer number of climbers (34 on that day) attempting to ascend, causing bottlenecks at the Hillary Step and delaying many climbers, most of whom summitted after the usual 2 pm turnaround time. He proposed banning bottled oxygen except for emergency cases, arguing that this would both decrease the growing pollution on Everest—many bottles have accumulated on its slopes—and keep marginally qualified climbers off the mountain.\n\nThe 1996 disaster also introduced the issue of the guide's role in using bottled oxygen. \nGuide Anatoli Boukreev's decision not to use bottled oxygen was sharply criticised by Jon Krakauer. Boukreev's supporters (who include G. Weston DeWalt, who co-wrote The Climb) state that using bottled oxygen gives a false sense of security. Krakauer and his supporters point out that, without bottled oxygen, Boukreev could not directly help his clients descend. They state that Boukreev said that he was going down with client Martin Adams, but just below the South Summit, Boukreev determined that Adams was doing fine on the descent and so descended at a faster pace, leaving Adams behind. Adams states in The Climb: \"For me, it was business as usual, Anatoli's going by, and I had no problems with that.\"\n\nThe low oxygen can cause a mental fog-like impairment of cognitive abilities described as \"delayed and lethargic thought process, clinically defined as bradypsychia\" even after returning to lower altitudes. In severe cases, climbers can experience hallucinations. Some studies have found that high-altitude climbers, including Everest climbers, experience altered brain structure. The effects of high altitude on the brain, particularly if it can cause permanent brain damage, continue to be studied.\n\nAutumn climbing\n\nAlthough generally less popular than spring, Mount Everest has also been climbed in the autumn (also called the \"post-monsoon season\"). For example, in 2010 Eric Larsen and five Nepali guides summited Everest in the autumn for the first time in ten years. The first mainland British ascent of Mount Everest (Hillary was from New Zealand), led by Chris Bonnington, was an autumn ascent in 1975. The autumn season, when the monsoon ends, is regarded as more dangerous because there is typically a lot of new snow which can be unstable. However, this increased snow can make it more popular with certain winter sports like skiing and snow boarding. Two Japanese summited in October 1973 also. Chris Chandler and Bob Cormack summited Everest in October 1976 as part of the American Bicentennial Everest Expedition that year, the first Americans to make an autumn ascent of Mt. Everest according to the Los Angeles Times. By the 21st century, summer and autumn can be more popular with skiing and snowboard attempts on Mount Everest. During the 1980s, climbing in autumn was actually more popular than in spring. The U.S. astronaut Karl Gordon Henize died in October 1993 on a fall (autumn) expedition conducting an experiment on radiation. The amount of background radiation increases with higher altitudes. \n\nThe mountain has also been climbed in the winter, but that is not popular because of the combination of cold high winds and shorter days. By January the peak is typically battered by 170 mph winds and the average temperature of the summit is around -33 °F (-36 °C).\n\nSelected climbing records\n\nBy the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals. Some notable \"firsts\" by climbers include: \n* 1922 – First climb to 8000 m, by George Finch and Captain Geoffrey Bruce \n* 1952 – First climb to South Col by 1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition\n* 1953 – First ascent, by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on 1953 British Mount Everest expedition\n* 1960 – First reported ascent from the North Ridge by Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China.\n* 1975 – First female ascent, by Junko Tabei (16 May).\n* 1975 - First female ascent from the North Ridge, by Phanthog, deputy head of the second Chinese Everest expedition that sent nine climbers to the summit (27 May). \n* 1978 – First ascent without supplemental oxygen by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler \n* 1980 – First solo ascent, by Reinhold Messner\n* 1980 – First winter ascent, by Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki\n* 1988 – First \"cross-over\" climb by Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese teams which ascended the peak simultaneously from both the North and South sides of the mountain and descended down the other side. The cross-over climb was also the first to be recorded on live broadcast television.\n* 1988 – First descent by paraglider, by Jean-Marc Boivin \n* 1988 – First female ascent without supplemental oxygen by Lydia Bradey \n* 1998 – Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), without supplemental oxygen, by Kazi Sherpa, in 20 hours and 24 minutes. \n* 2000 – First descent by ski by Davo Karničar \n* 2001 – First ascent by a blind climber, Erik Weihenmayer \n* 2001 - Lhakpa Sherpa becomes first Nepali woman to summit Everest and survive. \n* 2004 – Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), with supplemental oxygen, by Pemba Dorje, in 8 hours and 10 minutes. \n* 2006 - Lhakpa Sherpa summits for the 6th time, breaking her own record for most successful female Everest climber. \n* 2007 – Fastest to reach the summit via the northeast ridge, without supplemental oxygen, by Christian Stangl, in 16 hours, 42 minutes. \n* 2010 – Youngest to reach the summit, by Jordan Romero (13-year-old) \n* 2011 - Most times to reach the summit, Apa Sherpa (21 times; 10 May 1990 – 11 May 2011)\n*2013 – Apa Sherpa tied for most times to reach the summit by Phurba Tashi (21 times; 1999–2013)\n* 2013 - Melissa Arnot, American, summits for the 5th time breaking her own record for most successful summits by any non-Sherpa woman. \n\nSummiting with disabilities\n\nSummiting Everest with disabilities such as amputations and diseases has become popular in the 21st century, with stories like that of Sudarshan Gautam, a man with no arms who made it to the top in 2013. A teenager with Down's syndrome made it to Base camp, which has become a substitute for more extreme record-breaking because it carries many of the same thrills including the trip to the Himalayas and rustic scenery. Danger lurks even at base camp though, which was the site where dozens were killed in the 2015 Mount Everest avalanches. Others that have climbed Everest with amputations include Mark Inglis (no legs), Paul Hockey (1 arm only), and Arunima Sinha (1 leg).\n\nEverest and aviation\n\n1988: First climb and glide\n\nOn 26 September 1988, having climbed the mountain via the south-east ridge, Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest, in the process creating the record for the fastest descent of the mountain and the highest paraglider flight. Boivin said: \"I was tired when I reached the top because I had broken much of the trail, and to run at this altitude was quite hard.\" Boivin ran 60 ft from below the summit on 40-degree slopes to launch his paraglider, reaching Camp II at 19400 ft in 12 minutes (some sources say 11 minutes). Boivin would not repeat this feat, as he was killed two years later in 1990, base-jumping off Venezuela's Angel Falls. \n\n1991: Hot air balloon flyover\n\nIn 1991 four men in two balloons achieved the first hot-air balloon flight over Mount Everest. In one balloon was Andy Elson and Eric Jones (cameraman), and in the other balloon Chris Dewhirst and Leo Dickinson (cameraman). Leo went on to write a book about the adventure called Ballooning Over Everest. The hot-air balloons were modified to function at up to 40,000 feet altitude. Reinhold Messner called one of Leo's panoramic views of Everest, captured on the now discontinued Kodak Kodachrome film, the \"best snap on Earth\", according to UK newspaper The Telegraph. Dewhirst has offered to take passengers on a repeat of this feat for 2.6 million USD per passenger.\n\n2005: Pilot summits Everest with helicopter\n\nIn May 2005, pilot Didier Delsalle of France landed a Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest. He needed to land for two minutes to set the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) official record, but he stayed for about four minutes, twice. In this type of landing the rotors stay engaged, which avoids relying on the snow to fully support the aircraft. The flight set rotorcraft world records, for highest of both landing and take-off.\n\nSome press reports suggested that the report of the summit landing was a misunderstanding of a South Col landing, but he had also landed on South Col two days earlier, with this landing and the Everest records confirmed by the FAI. Delsalle also rescued two Japanese climbers at 16000 ft while he was there. One climber noted that the new record meant a better chance of rescue.\n\n2011 Paraglide off summit\n\nIn 2011 two Nepali paraglided from the Everest Summit to Namche in 42 minutes. They had run out of oxygen and supplies, so it was a very fast way off the Mountain. The duo won National Geographic Adventurers of the Year for 2012 for their exploits. After the paraglide they kayaked to the Indian Ocean, and they had made it to the Bay of Bengal by the end of June 2011. One had never climbed, and one had never para-glided, but together they accomplished a ground-breaking feat. By 2013 footage of the flight was shown on the television Nightline. (see also Kayaking for more on this style of activity)\n\n2014: Helicopter assisted ascent\n\nIn 2014 one team used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp 2 to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, then reached the Everest summit. This team had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Ultimately, Chinese reluctance may have been beneficial to Nepalese interests, allowing the government to showcase improved local hospitals and the opportunity for a new hybrid aviation/mountaneering stylewhich sparked conversations about helicopter use in the mountaineering world. Nepal ended up investigating Wang, and she denied the charge but admitted she did fly some support crew over the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 2 using a helicopter. National Geographic noted how a village festooned Wang with honors after she donated 30,000 USD to the town's hospital. Wang won International Mountaineer of the Year Award from the Nepal government in June 2014.\n\n2016: Helicopter business increases\n\nIn 2016 the increased use of helicopters was noted for increased efficiency and for hauling materiel over the deadly Khumbu icefall. In particular it was noted that flights saved icefall porters 80 trips but still increased commercial activity at Everest. After many Nepal died in the icefall in 2014, the government had wanted helicopters to handle more transportation to Camp 1 but this was not possible because of the 2015 deaths and earthquake closing the mountain, so the this was implemented in 2016 (helicopters did prove instrumental in rescuing many people in 2015 though). That summer Bell tested the 412EPI, which conducted a series of tests including hovering at 18,000 feet and flying as high as 20,000 feet altitude near Mount Everest. \n\nFinancial cost of guided climbs\n\nGoing with a \"celebrity guide\", usually a well-known mountaineer typically with decades of climbing experience and perhaps multiple Everest summits, can cost over £100,000 as of 2015. On the other hand, a limited support service, offering only some meals at base camp and bureaucratic overhead like a permit, can be as little as 7,000 USD. There are issues with the management of guiding firms in Nepal, and one Canadian woman was left begging for help when her guide firm, which she had paid perhaps 40,000 dollars to, couldn't stop her from dying in 2012. She ran out of bottled oxygen after climbing for 27 hours straight. Despite decades of concern over inexperienced climbers, neither she nor the guide firm had summited Everest before. The communist-controlled Tibetan/Chinese side does not offer much reprieve from the chaos, with it being described as \"out of control\" due to multiple reports of thefts, threats, etc. By 2015, Nepal was considering requiring that summiters have some experience and wanted to make the mountain safer, and especially increase revenue. One barrier to this is that low-budget firms make money not taking inexperienced climbers to the summit. Those turned away by western firms can often find another firm willing to take them for a pricethat they return home soon after arriving after base camp, or part way up the mountain. Whereas a western firm will convince those they deem incapable to turn back, other firms simply give people the freedom to choose. Mountain managers can be left with difficult choices, sometimes balancing greed with the safety of tourists; as one bureaucrat for the extremely popular Mont Blanc put it, \"Climbing the Mont Blanc is a matter for serious mountaineers. It isn't a trek or a playground to get a mention in the Guinness World Records\" Mount Blanc may be an indicator of how extreme Everest can go, a mountain that dwarfs Everest in popularity and fatalities, with tens of thousands, not hundreds summiting a commensurate increase in fatalities, with over a hundred dying each year. The battle for safety is a struggle there as in the Himalaya's, with another official jokingly noting they want to send Pamela Anderson to rescue tourists (perhaps a nod to her role as a life-guard on the U.S. television show Baywatch).\n\nCommercial climbing\n\nClimbing Mount Everest can be a relatively expensive undertaking for climbers. Climbing gear required to reach the summit may cost in excess of US$8,000, and most climbers also use bottled oxygen, which adds around US$3,000. The permit to enter the Everest area from the south via Nepal costs US$10,000 to US$25,000 per person, depending on the size of the team. The ascent typically starts in one of the two base camps near the mountain, both of which are approximately 100 km from Kathmandu and 300 km from Lhasa (the two nearest cities with major airports); transferring one's equipment from the airport to the base camp may add as much as US$2,000.\n\nBy 2016, most guiding services cost between 35 and almost 200 thousand dollars. However, the services offered vary widely and its \"buyer beware\" when doing deals in Nepal, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the World. Tourism is about 4% of Nepal's economy, but Everest is special in that an Everest porter can make nearly double the nations's average wage in a region in which other sources of income have been slow coming. \n\nBeyond this point, costs may vary widely. It is technically possible to reach the summit with minimal additional expenses, and there are \"budget\" travel agencies which offer logistical support for such trips. However, this is considered difficult and dangerous (as illustrated by the case of David Sharp). Many climbers hire \"full service\" guide companies, which provide a wide spectrum of services, including acquisition of permits, transportation to/from base camp, food, tents, fixed ropes, medical assistance while on the mountain, an experienced mountaineer guide, and even personal porters to carry one's backpack and cook one's meals. The cost of such a guide service may range from $40,000 to $80,000 per person. Since most equipment is moved by Sherpas, clients of full-service guide companies can often keep their backpack weights under 10 kg, or hire a Sherpa to carry their backpack for them. By contrast, climbers attempting less commercialised peaks, like Denali, are often expected to carry backpacks over 30 kg and, occasionally, to tow a sled with 35 kg of gear and food. \n\nAccording to Jon Krakauer, the era of commercialization of Everest started in 1985, when the summit was reached by a guided expedition led by David Breashears that included Richard Bass, a wealthy 55-year-old businessman and an amateur mountain climber with only four years of climbing experience. By the early 1990s, multiple companies were offering guided tours to the mountain. Rob Hall, one of the mountaineers who died in the 1996 disaster, had successfully guided 39 clients to the summit prior to that incident. \n\nThe degree of commercialization of Mount Everest is a frequent subject of criticism. Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, said in a 2003 interview that his late father would have been shocked to discover that rich thrill-seekers with no climbing experience were now routinely reaching the summit:\n\nReinhold Messner concurred in 2004:\n\nHowever, not all opinions on the subject among prominent mountaineers are strictly negative. For example, Edmund Hillary, who went on record saying that he has not liked \"the commercialization of mountaineering, particularly of Mt. Everest\" and claimed that \"Having people pay $65,000 and then be led up the mountain by a couple of experienced guides ... isn't really mountaineering at all\", nevertheless noted that he was pleased by the changes brought to Everest area by the Westerners:\n\nOne of the early guided summiters, Richard Bass (of Seven Summits fame) responded in an interview about Everest climbers and what it took to survive there:\n\nLaw and order struggles\n\nSome climbers have reported life-threatening thefts from supply caches. Vitor Negrete, the first Brazilian to climb Everest without oxygen and part of David Sharp's party, died during his descent, and theft from his high-altitude camp may have contributed. \n\nIn addition to theft, Michael Kodas describes in his book High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed (2008), unethical guides and Sherpas, prostitution and gambling at the Tibet Base Camp, fraud related to the sale of oxygen bottles, and climbers collecting donations under the pretense of removing trash from the mountain. \n\nThe Chinese side of the Everest in Tibet was called \"out of countrol\" after one Canadian had all his gear stolen and was abandoned by his Sherpa. Another sherpa helped him get off the mountain safely and gave him some spare gear. Other climbers have also noted missing oxygen bottles, which can be worth hundreds of dollars each. One of the problems is that there are hundreds of climbers passing by people's tents, although the weather can also damage or even blow people's equipment away.\n\n2014 Sherpa strike\n\nOn 18 April 2014, in one of the worst disasters to ever hit the Everest climbing community up to that time, 16 Sherpas died in Nepal due to the avalanche that swept them off Mount Everest. In response to the tragedy numerous Sherpa climbing guides walked off the job and most climbing companies pulled out in respect for the Sherpa people mourning the loss. Some still wanted to climb but there was really too much controversy to continue that year. One of the issues that was triggered was pre-existing resentment that had been building over unreasonable client requests during climbs. As bad as it was, the death toll was surpassed later that year by the 2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster.\n\nExtreme sports at Mount Everest\n\nMount Everest has been host to other winter sports and adventuring besides mountaineering, including snowboarding, skiing, paragliding, and BASE jumping.\n\nYuichiro Miura became the first man to ski down Everest in the 1970s (he descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries). Stefan Gatt and Marco Siffredi snowboarded Mount Everest in 2001. Other famous Everest skiers include Davo Karničar of Slovenia, who completed a top to south base camp descent in 2000, Hans Kammerlander of Italy in 1996 on the north side, and Kit DesLauriers of the United States in 2006. In 2006 Tomas Olsson planned to ski down the North face, but his anchor broke while he was rappelling down a cliff in the Norton couloir at about 8500 meters, resulting in his death from a two and a half kilometer fall. Also, Marco Siffredi died in 2002 on his second snow-boarding expedition.\n\nVarious types of gliding descents have slowly become more popular, and are noted for their rapid descents to lower camps. In 1986 Steve McKinney led an expedition to Mount Everest, during which he became the first person to fly a hang-glider off the mountain. Frenchman Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest in September 1988, descending in minutes from the south-east ridge to a lower camp. In 2011, two Nepalese made a gliding descent from the Everest summit down in 45 minutes. On 5 May 2013, the beverage company Red Bull sponsored Valery Rozov, who successfully BASE jumped off of the mountain while wearing a wingsuit, setting a record for world's highest BASE jump in the process. \n\nEverest and religion\n\nThe southern part of Mt. Everest is regarded as one of several \"hidden valleys\" of refuge designated by Padmasambhava, a ninth-century \"lotus-born\" Buddhist saint.\n\nNear the base of the north side of Mt. Everest lies Rongbuk Monastery, which has been called the \"sacred threshold to Mount Everest, with the most dramatic views of the world.\" For Sherpas living on the slopes of Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal, Rongbuk Monastery was an important pilgrimage site, accessed in a few days of travel across the Himalaya through Nangpa La. \n\nMiyolangsangma, a Tibetan Buddhist \"Goddess of Inexhaustible Giving\", is believed to have lived at the top of Mt. Everest. According to Sherpa Buddhist monks, Mt. Everest is Miyolangsangma's palace and playground, and all climbers are only partially welcome guests, having arrived without invitation.\n\nThe Sherpa people also believe that Mt. Everest and its flanks are blessed with spiritual energy, and one should show reverence when passing through this sacred landscape. Here, the karmic effects of one's actions are magnified, and impure thoughts are best avoided. \n\nDebris management\n\nFormer long-time Everest guide and climber Apa Sherpa noted the increased amount of items left by expeditions. Apa organised an expedition to remove of rubbish from the lower part of the mountain and another from higher areas. Removal of things from Everest can be quite dangerous, and in one mission two died trying to remove a single corpse, actually increasing the number of dead bodies on Everest.\n\nThe Mount Everest Biogas Project aims to make a bioreactor for converting compost material, especially faeces, into a gas maker. One of the challenges of getting a digester to work near Everest is the cold temperatures which have made it harder to work. The project would install a device at Everest that converts human waste into methane, which can then be used as fuel (for heating, etc.). \n\nNames\n\n*Peak XV (British Empire's Survey)\n*\"The Bastard\" (Hillary) \n*Romanised Tibetan name: \"Chomolongma\". \n*Romanised Chinese name: \"Mount Qomolangma\",\n*Romanised Nepalese name: \"Sagar-Matha\" (Usually Sagarmatha)\n*Old Darjeeling name: \"Deodungha\"\n*Mount Everest\n*Gauri Shankar, in modern times the name a different peak about 30 miles away, but until about 1900 was also sometimes used. \n\nMaps\n\nFile:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|center|thumb|600px|Southern and northern climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. (The names on the photo are links to corresponding pages.)\nrect 58 14 160 49 58 14 160 49 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzo\nrect 200 28 335 52 Makalu\nrect 378 24 566 45 Everest\nrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateau\nrect 250 406 340 427 Rong River\nrect 333 149 409 186 Changtse\nrect 550 284 677 303 Rongbuk Glacier\nrect 478 196 570 218 North Face (Everest)\nrect 237 231 346 267 East Rongbuk Glacier\nrect 314 290 536 309 North Col north ridge route\nrect 531 79 663 105 Lhotse\nrect 582 112 711 130 Nuptse\nrect 603 232 733 254 South Col route\nrect 716 165 839 206 Gyachung Kang\nrect 882 147 967 183 Cho Oyu\nrect 1 1 999 661 \n\ndesc bottom-left\n\nFrom China (Tibet region)\n\nFrom Gokyo Ri\n\nTerrain animation",
"Denali.txt\nDenali\nDenali (also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20310 ft above sea level. At some 18000 ft, the base-to-peak rise is the largest of any mountain situated entirely above sea level. With a topographic prominence of 20156 ft and a topographic isolation of 4629 mi, Denali is the third most prominent and third most isolated peak after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.\n\nThe Koyukon people who inhabit the area around the mountain have referred to the peak as \"Denali\" for centuries. In 1896, a gold prospector named it \"Mount McKinley\" in support of then-presidential candidate William McKinley; that name was the official name recognized by the United States government from 1917 until 2015. In August 2015, following the 1975 lead of the state of Alaska, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the change of the official name of the mountain to Denali. Prior to this, most Alaskans already referred to the mountain as Denali.\n\nIn 1903, James Wickersham recorded the first attempt at climbing Denali, which was unsuccessful. In 1906, Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent, which was later proven to be false. The first verifiable ascent to Denali's summit was achieved on June 7, 1913, by climbers Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum, who went by the South Summit. In 1951, Bradford Washburn pioneered the West Buttress route, considered to be the safest and easiest route, and therefore the most popular currently in use.\n\nOn September 2, 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that the mountain is 20310 ft high, not 20320 ft, as measured in 1952 using photogrammetry.\n\nGeology and features\n\nDenali is a granitic pluton lifted by tectonic pressure from the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate; at the same time, the sedimentary material above and around the mountain was stripped away by erosion. The forces that lifted Denali also cause many deep earthquakes in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Pacific Plate is seismically active beneath Denali, a tectonic region that is known as the \"McKinley cluster\". \n\nDenali has a summit elevation of 20310 ft above sea level, making it the highest peak in North America and the northernmost mountain above 6,000 meters elevation in the world. Measured from base to peak at some 18000 ft, it is also the largest of any mountain entirely above sea level. Denali rises from a sloping plain with elevations from 1000 to, for a base-to-peak height of 17000 to. By comparison, Mount Everest rises from the Tibetan Plateau at a much higher base elevation. Base elevations for Everest range from 13800 ft on the south side to 17100 ft on the Tibetan Plateau, for a base-to-peak height in the range of 12000 to. Denali's base-to-peak height is little more than half the 33500 ft of the volcano Mauna Kea, which lies mostly under water. \n\nLayout of the mountain\n\nDenali has two significant summits: the South Summit is the higher one, while the North Summit has an elevation of 19470 ft and a prominence of approximately 1270 ft. The North Summit is sometimes counted as a separate peak (see e.g., fourteener) and sometimes not; it is rarely climbed, except by those doing routes on the north side of the massif.\n\nFive large glaciers flow off the slopes of the mountain. The Peters Glacier lies on the northwest side of the massif, while the Muldrow Glacier falls from its northeast slopes. Just to the east of the Muldrow, and abutting the eastern side of the massif, is the Traleika Glacier. The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast of the mountain, and the Kahiltna Glacier leads up to the southwest side of the mountain. With a length of 44 mi, the Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range.\n\nNaming\n\nThe Koyukon Athabaskans who inhabit the area around the mountain have for centuries referred to the peak as Dinale or Denali. The name is based on a Koyukon word for \"high\" or \"tall\". During the Russian ownership of Alaska, the common name for the mountain was Bolshaya Gora (, bolshaya Russian for big; gora \n Russian for mountain), which is the Russian translation of Denali.. It was briefly called Densmore's Mountain in the late 1880s and early 1890s after Frank Densmore, an Alaskan prospector who was the first European to reach the base of the mountain. \n\nIn 1896, a gold prospector named it McKinley as political support for then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who became president the following year. The United States formally recognized the name Mount McKinley after President Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act of February 26, 1917. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson declared the north and south peaks of the mountain the \"Churchill Peaks\", in honor of British statesman Winston Churchill. The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975, which was how it is called locally. However, a request in 1975 from the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same at the federal level was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district included McKinley's hometown of Canton. \n\nOn August 30, 2015, just ahead of a presidential visit to Alaska, the Barack Obama administration announced the name Denali would be restored in line with the Alaska Geographic Board's designation. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell issued the order changing the name to Denali on August 28, 2015, effective immediately. Jewell said the change had been \"a long time coming\". The renaming of the mountain received praise from Alaska's senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski,Matthew Smith – [http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/08/31/murkowski-thanks-obama-for-restoring-denali-obama-directs-his-gaze-on-climate-change/ \"Murkowski thanks Obama for restoring Denali\", (video)] Alaska Public Radio, KNOM, Nome, August 31, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-01 who had previously introduced legislation to accomplish the name change,Michael A. Memoli – [http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alaska-mckinley-denali-20150830-story.html \"Mt. McKinley, America's Tallest Peak, is Getting Back its Original Name: Denali\",] Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-1 but it drew criticism from several Ohio politicians, such as Governor John Kasich, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, and Representative Bob Gibbs, who described Obama's action as \"constitutional overreach\" because he said an act of Congress is required to rename the mountain; The Alaska Dispatch News reported that the Secretary of the Interior has authority under federal law to change geographic names when the Board of Geographic Names does not act on a naming request within a \"reasonable\" period of time. Jewell told the Alaska Dispatch News that \"I think any of us would think that 40 years is an unreasonable amount of time.\"\n\nIndigenous names for Denali can be found in seven different Alaskan languages. The names fall into two categories. To the south of the Alaska Range in the Dena'ina and Ahtna languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as \"big mountain\". To the north of the Alaska Range in the Lower Tanana, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Holikachuk, and Deg Xinag languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as \"the high one\", \"the tall one\" (Koyukon, Lower and Middle Tanana, Upper Kuskokwim, Deg Xinag, and Holikachuk), or \"big mountain\" (Ahtna and Dena'ina). Asked about the importance of the mountain and its name, Will Mayo, former president of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, an organization that represents 42 Athabaskan tribes in the Alaskan interior, said “It’s not one homogeneous belief structure around the mountain, but we all agree that we’re all deeply gratified by the acknowledgment of the importance of Denali to Alaska’s people.\"\n\nThe following table lists the Alaskan Athabascan names for Denali.\n\nHistory\n\nThe Koyukon Athabaskans, living in the Yukon, Tanana and Kuskokwim basins, were the first Native Americans with access to the flanks of the mountain. A British naval captain and explorer, George Vancouver, is the first European on record to have sighted Denali, when he noted \"distant stupendous mountains\" while surveying the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet on May 6, 1794. The Russian explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin explored the Tanana and Kuskokwim rivers in 1843 and 1844, and was likely the first European to sight the mountain from the other side.\n\nWilliam Dickey, a New Hampshire-born resident of Seattle, Washington who had been digging for gold in the sands of the Susitna River, wrote, after his returning from Alaska, an account in the New York Sun that appeared on January 24, 1897. His report drew attention with the sentence \"We have no doubt that this peak is the highest in North America, and estimate that it is over 20000 ft high.\" Until then, Mount Logan in Canada's Yukon Territory was believed to be the continent’s highest point. Though later praised for his estimate, Dickey admitted that other prospector parties had also guessed the mountain to be over 20000 ft. \n\nOn November 5, 2012, the United States Mint released a twenty-five cent piece depicting Denali National Park. It is the fifteenth of the America the Beautiful Quarters series. The reverse features a Dall sheep with the peak of Denali in the background. \n\nClimbing history\n\nThe first recorded attempt to climb Denali was by Judge James Wickersham in 1903, via the Peters Glacier and the North Face, now known as the Wickersham Wall. Because of the route's history of avalanche danger, it was not successfully climbed until 1963.\n\nFamed explorer Dr. Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent of the mountain in 1906. His claim was regarded with some suspicion from the start, but was also widely believed. It was later proved false, with some crucial evidence provided by Bradford Washburn when he was sketched on a lower peak.\n\nIn 1910, four area locals – Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagall – known as the Sourdough Expedition, attempted to climb Denali despite a lack of climbing experience. The group spent approximately three months on the mountain. Their purported summit ascent day included carrying a bag of doughnuts each, a thermos of hot chocolate, and a 14-foot (4.2 m) spruce pole. Two of them reached the North Summit, the lower of the two, and erected the pole near the top. According to the group, the time they took to reach the summit was a total of 18 hours. Until the first ascent in 1913, their claims were disbelieved, in part due to false claims they had climbed both summits.\n\nIn 1912, the Parker-Browne expedition nearly reached the summit, turning back within just a few hundred yards of it due to harsh weather. Hours after their ascent, the Great Earthquake of 1912 shattered the glacier they had ascended. \n\nThe first ascent of the main summit of Denali came on June 7, 1913, by a party led by Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens. The first man to reach the summit was Walter Harper, an Alaska Native. Robert Tatum also made the summit. Using the mountain's contemporary name, Tatum later commented, \"The view from the top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!\" They ascended the Muldrow Glacier route pioneered by the earlier expeditions, which is still often climbed today. Stuck confirmed, via binoculars, the presence of a large pole near the North Summit; this report confirmed the Sourdough ascent, and today it is widely believed that the Sourdoughs did succeed on the North Summit. However, the pole was never seen before or since, so there is still some doubt. Stuck also discovered that the Parker-Browne party were only about 200 feet (61 m) of elevation short of the true summit when they turned back.\n\nThe mountain is regularly climbed today; in 2003, around 58% of climbers reached the top. But by 2003, the mountain had claimed the lives of nearly 100 mountaineers over time. The vast majority of climbers use the West Buttress Route, pioneered in 1951 by Bradford Washburn, after an extensive aerial photographic analysis of the mountain. Climbers typically take two to four weeks to ascend Denali.\n\nTimeline\n\n* 1896–1902: Surveys by Robert Muldrow, George Eldridge, Alfred Brooks. \n* 1913: First ascent, by Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum via the Muldrow Glacier route. \n* 1932: Second ascent, by Alfred Lindley, Harry , Grant Pearson, Erling Strom. (Both peaks were climbed.) \n* 1947: Barbara Washburn becomes the first woman to reach the summit while her husband Bradford Washburn becomes the first person to summit twice.\n* 1951: First ascent of the West Buttress Route, led by Bradford Washburn.\n* 1954: First ascent of the very long South Buttress Route.\n* 1959: First ascent of the West Rib, now a popular, mildly technical route to the summit.\n* 1961: First ascent of the Cassin Ridge, named for Riccardo Cassin and the best-known technical route on the mountain. The first ascent team members are: Riccardo Cassin, Luigi Airoldi, Luigi Alippi, Giancarlo Canali, Romano Perego, and Annibale Zucchi. \n\n* 1963: Two teams make first ascents of two different routes on the Wickersham Wall. \n* 1967: First winter ascent, via the West Buttress, by Dave Johnston, Art Davidson and Ray Genet. \n* 1967: Seven members of Joe Wilcox's twelve-man expedition perish, while stranded for ten days near the summit, in what has been described as the worst storm on record. Up to that time, this was the third worst disaster in mountaineering history in terms of lives lost. Before July 1967 only four men had ever perished on Denali. \n* 1970: First solo ascent by Naomi Uemura.\n* 1970: First ascent by an all-female team, led by Grace Hoeman and the later famous American high altitude mountaineer Arlene Blum together with Margaret Clark, Margaret Young, Faye Kerr and Dana Smith Isherwood.\n* 1972: Sylvain Saudan, \"Skier of the Impossible\", skis down the sheer southwest face, conquered for the first time by skier or climber.\n* 1976: First solo ascent of the Cassin Ridge by Charlie Porter, a climb \"ahead of its time\".\n* 1979: First ascent by dog team achieved by Susan Butcher, Ray Genet, Brian Okonek, Joe Redington, Sr., and Robert Stapleton. \n* 1984: Uemura returns to make the first winter solo ascent, but dies after summitting. Tono Križo, František Korl and Blažej Adam from the Slovak Mountaineering Association climb a very direct route to the summit, now known as the Slovak Route, on the south face of the mountain, to the right of the Cassin Ridge.\n* 1988: First successful winter solo ascent. Vern Tejas climbed the West Buttress alone in February and March, summitted successfully, and descended. \n* 1997: First successful ascent up the West Fork of Traleika Glacier up to Karstens Ridge beneath Browne Tower. This path was named the \"Butte Direct\" by the two climbers Jim Wilson and Jim Blow. \n* 2015: On June 24, a survey team led by Blaine Horner places two global positioning receivers on the summit to determine the precise position and elevation of the summit. The summit snow depth is measured at 4.5 meters. The United States National Geodetic Survey later determined the summit elevation to be .\n\nWeather station\n\nThe Japan Alpine Club installed a meteorological station on a ridge near the summit of Denali at an altitude of 18733 ft in 1990. In 1998, this weather station was donated to the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In June 2002, a weather station was placed at the 19000 ft level. This weather station was designed to transmit data in real-time for use by the climbing public and the science community. Since its establishment, annual upgrades to the equipment have been performed with instrumentation custom built for the extreme weather and altitude conditions. This weather station is the third-highest weather station in the world.\n\nThe weather station recorded a temperature of on December 1, 2003. On the previous day of November 30, 2003, a temperature of combined with a wind speed of to produce a North American record windchill of .\n\nEven in July, this weather station has recorded temperatures as low as and windchills as low as .\n\nHistorical record\n\nThe mountain is characterized by extremely cold weather. Temperatures as low as and wind chills as low as have been recorded by an automated weather station located at 18733 ft. According to the National Park Service, in 1932 the -Lindley expedition recovered a self-recording minimum thermometer left near Browne's Tower, at about 15000 ft, on Denali by the Stuck-Karstens party in 1913. The spirit thermometer was calibrated down to , and the lowest recorded temperature was below that point. Harry J. Lek took the thermometer back to Washington, D.C. where it was tested by the United States Weather Bureau and found to be accurate. The lowest temperature that it had recorded was found to be approximately . Another thermometer was placed at the 15000 ft level by the U.S. Army Natick Laboratory, and was there from 1950 to 1969. The coldest temperature recorded during that period was also . \n\nSubpeaks and nearby mountains\n\nBesides the North Summit mentioned above, other features on the massif which are sometimes included as separate peaks are:\n* South Buttress, 15885 ft; mean prominence: 335 ft\n* East Buttress high point, 14730 ft; mean prominence: 380 ft\n* East Buttress, most topographically prominent point, 14650 ft; mean prominence: 600 ft\n* Browne Tower, 14530 ft; mean prominence: 75 ft\n\nNearby peaks include:\n* Mount Foraker\n* Mount Silverthrone\n* Mount Hunter\n* Mount Huntington\n* Mount Dickey\n* The Moose's Tooth\n\nTaxonomic honors\n\n* denaliensis\n** Ceratozetella denaliensis (formerly Cyrtozetes denaliensis Behan-Pelletier, 1985) is a species of moss mite in the family Mycobatidae :sv:Ceratozetella denaliensis\n** Magnoavipes denaliensis Fiorillo et al., 2011 (literally “bird with large feet found in Denali”) is a Magnoavipes ichnospecies of bird footprint from the Upper Cretaceous of Alaska and was a large heron-like bird (as larger than a sandhill crane) with three toes and toe pads. :pt:Magnoavipes denaliensis\n* denali\n** Cosberella denali (Fjellberg, 1985) is a springtail. :sv:Cosberella denali\n** Proclossiana aphirape denali Klots, 1940 is a Boloria butterfly species of the Heliconiinae subfamily of Nymphalidae.\n** Symplecta denali (Alexander, 1955) is a species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. :sv:Symplecta denali\n** Tipula denali Alexander, 1969 is a species of crane fly in the family Tipulidae. :sv:Tipula denali\n* denalii\n** Erigeron denalii A. Nelson, 1945 or Denali fleabane is an Erigeron fleabane species.\n** Papaver denalii Gjaerevoll 1963 is an Papaver species and syn. of Papaver mcconnellii\n* mckinleyensis or mackinleyensis\n** Erebia mackinleyensis (Gunder, 1932) or Mt. McKinley alpine is a butterfly species of the Satyrinae subfamily of Nymphalidae. :fr:Erebia mackinleyensis\n** Oeneis mackinleyensis Dos Passos 1965 or Oeneis mckinleyensis Dos Passos 1949 is a butterfly species of the Satyrinae subfamily of Nymphalidae (syn. of Oeneis bore)\n** Uredo mckinleyensis Cummins 1952 or Uredo mackinleyensis Cummins 1952 is a rust fungus species.",
"Catskill_Mountains.txt\nCatskill Mountains\nThe Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a large area in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York. They are located approximately 100 mi north-northwest of New York City and 40 mi southwest of Albany, starting just west of the Hudson River. The Catskills occupy much or all of five counties (Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster), with some areas falling into the boundaries of southwestern Albany, eastern Broome, northwestern Orange, and southern Otsego counties. Foothills are also found in southeastern Chenango, southern Montgomery, northern Otsego, and western Schenectady counties. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a 700000 acre forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.\n\nGeologically, the Catskills are a mature dissected plateau, a once-flat region subsequently uplifted and eroded into sharp relief by watercourses. The Catskills form the northeastern end of, and highest-elevation portion of, the Allegheny Plateau (also known as the Appalachian Plateau). Although the Catskills are sometimes compared with the Adirondack Mountains further north, the two mountain ranges are not geologically related, as the Adirondacks are a continuation of the Canadian Shield. Similarly, the Shawangunk Ridge, which forms the southeastern edge of the Catskills, is part of the geologically distinct Ridge-and-Valley province, and is a continuation of the same ridge known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania.\n\nClimatically, the Catskills lie within the Allegheny Highlands forests ecoregion.\n\nThe Catskills are well known in American culture, both as the setting for many 19th-century Hudson River School paintings and as the favored destination for urban vacationers from New York City in the mid-20th century. The region's many large resorts gave countless young stand-up comedians an opportunity to hone their craft. In addition, the Catskills have long been a haven for artists, musicians, and writers, especially in and around the towns of Phoenicia and Woodstock, New York.\n\nName\n\nNicolaes Visscher I's 1656 map of New Netherland located the ' at the mouth of Catskill creek. The region to the south is identified as ' (High Lands of the Esopus), a reference to a local band northern Lenape Native Americans who inhabited the banks of the Hudson and hunted in the highlands along the Esopus Creek. \n\nWhile the meaning of the name (\"cat creek\" in Dutch) and the namer (early Dutch explorers) are settled matters, exactly how and why the area is named \"Catskills\" is a mystery. Mountain lions (catamounts) were known to have been in the area when the Dutch arrived in the 17th century.\n\nTheories:\n*The most common, and easiest, explanation is that bobcats were seen near Catskill creek and the present-day village of Catskill, and the name followed from there. However, there is no record of bobcats' ever having been seen in significant numbers on the banks of the Hudson, and the name Catskill does not appear on paper until 1655, more than four decades later.\n* A corruption of ', the Dutch sailors' term for the Indian stockades they saw on the riverbank. According to one Belgian authority, ' occurs in many place names throughout Flanders and has nothing to do with cats and everything to do with fortifications.\n* It was named for Dutch poet Jacob Cats, who was also known for his real estate prowess, profiting from speculation in lands reclaimed from the sea.\n* A ship named The Cat had gone up the Hudson shortly before the name was first used. In nautical slang of the era, cat could also mean a piece of equipment, or a particular type of small vessel, called a \"catboat\".\n* It has also been suggested that it refers to lacrosse, which Dutch visitors had seen the Iroquois natives play. Kat can also refer to a tennis racket, which a lacrosse stick resembles, and the first place the Dutch saw this, further down the river in the present-day Town of Saugerties, they gave the name Kaatsbaan, for \"tennis court\", which is still on maps today.\n* The Mohicans roamed the woods of New England during the 18th century. A Mohican tribe supposedly inhabited the area known as the Catskills today, led by a Mohican chief named Cat.\n\nThe confusion over the exact origins of the name led over the years to variant spellings such as Kaatskill and Kaaterskill, both of which are also still used: the former in the regional magazine Kaatskill Life, the latter as the name of a clove, creek, mountain, town, and waterfall. The supposed Indian name for the range, Onteora (\"land in the sky\"), was actually created by a white man in the mid-19th century to drum up business for a resort. It, too, persists today as the name of a school district and as the name of a Boy Scout summer camp (Onteora Scout Reservation).\n\nThe name Catskills did not come into wide popular use for the mountains until the mid-19th century – in fact, that name was disparaged by purists as too plebeian, too reminiscent of the area's Dutch colonial past, especially since it was used by the local farming population. It may also have been a continuation of the British practice, after taking possession of the colony in the late 17th century, of trying to replace most Dutch Knickerbocker toponyms in present-day New York with their English alternatives. The locals preferred to call the range the Blue Mountains, to harmonize with Vermont's Green Mountains and New Hampshire's White Mountains. It was only after Washington Irving's stories that Catskills won out over Blue Mountains and several other competitors.\n\nLand features\n\nGeography\n\nAt the eastern end of the range, the mountains begin quite dramatically with the Catskill Escarpment rising up suddenly from the Hudson Valley. The western boundary is far less certain, as the mountains gradually decline in height and grade into the rest of the Allegheny Plateau. Nor is there a consensus on where the Catskills end to the north or south, with it being certain only that by the time one reaches either I-88, the Delaware River, or the Shawangunk Ridge that one is no longer in the Catskills.\n\nIn these peripheral regions, whether or not one is in the Catskills seems to be a matter of personal preference, as an old saying in the region seems to suggest: \"When you have two rocks for every dirt, you are in the Catskills\".\n\nMany visitors, including owners of weekend or vacation homes in the region, seem to consider almost anything that is west of the Hudson and sufficiently rural, yet within a short drive of New York City, to be in the Catskills.\n\nThe Poconos, to the immediate southwest in Pennsylvania, are technically a continuation of the Catskills under a different name. The Catskills contain more than 30 peaks above and parts of six important rivers. The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club is an organization whose members have climbed all the peaks in the Catskills over . The highest mountain, Slide Mountain in Ulster County, has an elevation of 4180 ft.\n\nGeology\n\nThe history of the Catskill Mountains is a geologic story come full circle, from erosion, deposition and uplift, back to erosion. The Catskill Mountains are more of a dissected plateau than a series of mountain ranges. The sediments that make up the rocks in the Catskills were deposited when the ancient Acadian Mountains in the east were rising and subsequently eroding. The sediments traveled westward and formed a great delta into the sea that was in the area at that time.\n\nThe escarpment of the Catskill Mountains is near the former (landward) edge of this delta, as the sediments deposited in the northeastern areas along the escarpment were deposited above sea level by moving rivers, and the Acadian Mountains were located roughly where the Taconic Mountains are located today (though significantly larger). The further west one travels, the finer becomes the sediment that was deposited, and thus the rocks change from gravel conglomerates to sandstone and shale. Even further west, these fresh water deposits intermingle with shallow marine sandstone and shale until the end, in deeper water limestone.\n\nThe uplift and erosion of the Acadian Mountains was occurring during the Devonian and early Mississippian period (395 to 325 million years ago). Over that time, thousands of feet of these sediments built up, slowly moving the Devonian seashore further and further west. A meteor impact occurred in the shallow sea approximately 375 mya, creating a 10 km diameter crater. This crater eventually filled with sediments and became Panther Mountain through the process of uplift and erosion.\n\nBy the middle of the Mississippian period, the uplift stopped, and the Acadian Mountains had been eroded so much that sediments no longer flowed across the Catskill Delta.\n\nOver time the sediments were buried by more sediments from other areas, until the original Devonian and Mississippian sediments were deeply buried and slowly became solid rock. Then the entire area experienced uplift, which caused the sedimentary rocks to begin to erode. Today, those upper sedimentary rocks have been completely removed, exposing the Devonian and Mississippian rocks. Today’s Catskills are a result of the continued erosion of these rocks, both by streams and, in the recent past, by glaciers.\n\nSome traces of the most recent sedimentary layers remain for the discerning eye to discover, however. Even along the glacially-scoured eastern escarpment and in the upper Hudson Valley just below it—not to mention the glacial till-dumps and occasional terminal moraines of the southern-facing mountain slopes and valleys of the eastern and central Catskills—fragments of quartzite ranging from bright white, banded orange and tan, to deep red and dark gray are found. Many if not most of these are no more than 6 in thick, have two flat sides and are without inclusions of other native rock, e.g., gray or blue sandstone (\"bluestone\"), most likely indicating the presence of a shallow, wave-beaten sandy delta or beach area at the base of the Acadian ranges in the delta's final stages of sedimentation. That sand layer, mostly free of silt (hence less opaque than older layers formed with higher concentrations of silt and mud under deeper water at more remote reaches of the delta) formed one or more upper layers of the delta. With compression and time, thin layers of sandstone formed of which only the here-mentioned fragments of sandstone remain now though in comparative abundance, if one measures their frequency against those of glacial erratics of similar size and shape which are typically metamorphic in origin (e.g., marble, schist, slate), which most likely originated in the geologically complex region of the Adirondacks to the north. Such sandstones and erratics are frequently found collocated in cairns and other anomalous rock arrangements of the Eastern Catskills.\n\nIn successive Ice Ages, both valley and continental glaciers have widened the valleys and the notches of the Catskills and rounded the mountains. Grooves and scratches in exposed bedrock provides evidence of the great sheets of ice that once traversed through the region. Even today the erosion of the mountains continues, with the region’s rivers and streams deepening and widening the mountains’ valleys and cloves.\n\nRecreation\n\nAquatic sports and recreation\n\nEsopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River, starting at Winnisook Lake on Slide Mountain. It flows across Ulster County to the Hudson River at Saugerties. The Esopus is noted for making an almost 270-degree turn around Panther Mountain, following a buried 6 mi impact crater rim. It is famous for tubing, a sport of rafting down a river in an inner tube. Many tubers begin their trip at Phoenicia, New York and head down the creek towards the Ashokan Reservoir at Olive, New York.\n\nThe Ashokan Reservoir is part of the New York City water supply system, fishing is allowed under permit, but swimming and most other recreational uses are forbidden.\n\nRiver canoeing and kayaking are popular. There are 42 kayakable rapids ranging from class I to V+. \n\nThe Esopus Creek is also famous for its fly fishing, although in recent years it has been plagued by invasive plants. Another great place to fish is Roscoe, New York, also known as trout town USA. Every April 1 people flock there from all over to kick off the start of fly fishing season.\n\nBicycling\n\nRoad and mountain bicycling are popular in the range. Bicycle racing includes The Tour of the Catskills, a three-day road stage race held in Green and Ulster counties each summer, and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham. Other cycling resources include the Catskill Scenic Trail and the Headwaters Trails in Stamford. Several ski centers provide downhill mountain bicycling in the warmer months.\n\nCamping\n\nThe Catskill Mountains have one of the largest and most complex natural areas in the eastern half of the United States. There are about 600000 acre in the Catskill Park, which include many camping locations. Some notable spots to camp in the Catskills are Bear Spring Mountain, Little Pond, Mongaup Pond, and North-South Lake.\n\nHiking\n\nWithin the range is the Catskill Park, comprising over 700000 acre. Catskill Park is part of New York's Forest Preserve. Not all the land is publicly owned; about 60% remains in private hands, but new sections are added frequently. Most of the park and the preserve are within Ulster County, with a significant portion in Greene County, and parts in Sullivan and Delaware counties, too. Many of the trails in public areas are maintained and updated by the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference and the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club. Devil's Path in Greene County is one of the many trails open for hikers.\n\nSkiing\n\nThere are five main downhill ski and snowboard areas in the Catskills: Belleayre Mountain in Highmount, New York (run by the Olympic Regional Development Authority); Hunter Mountain in Hunter, New York (the first ski area to install snowmaking machines in New York); Holiday Mountain Ski and Fun in Monticello, New York; Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, New York; and Windham Mountain in Windham, New York (which, in addition to snow boarding and skiing, is the home of the Adaptive Sports Foundation, which provides the physical and intellectually disabled with lessons on how to ski, snow tube, snowboard, bike ride, and a various amount of other types of sports).\n\nJoppenbergh Mountain, in Rosendale Village, Ulster County, New York, hosted its first ski jumping competition in 1937. Ski jumping was continued on the mountain until February 7, 1971, when the last competition was held.\n\nThe Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center in Tannersville, New York has 22 mi of trails.\n\nStructures\n\nFire towers\n\nThe Catskill Mountains fire towers were constructed to facilitate forest fire prevention and control. 23 fire towers were built in the Catskill Mountains between 1908 and 1950. The fire towers fell out of use by the 1970s as fire spotting from airplanes had become more effective and efficient, so the fire towers were decommissioned; the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower was the last to be taken out of service in 1990. All but five of the towers were dismantled. The five remaining towers have been renovated and opened to the public as observation posts in the Catskill Mountains because of the extraordinary views they provide. The remaining towers are:\n\n*Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station – Town of Hardenburgh, New York – Elevation 3723 ft\n*Hunter Mountain Fire Tower – Town of Hunter, New York – Elevation 4042 ft\n*Overlook Mountain Tower – Town of Woodstock, New York – Elevation 3140 ft\n*Red Hill Fire Tower – Town of Denning, New York – Elevation 2990 ft\n*Tremper Mountain Fire Tower – Town of Shandaken, New York – Elevation 2740 ft\n\nNotable landmarks\n\nThe Catskill Mountain House, built in 1824, was a famous hotel near Palenville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains overlooking the Hudson River Valley. In its prime to the turn of the century, it was visited by United States Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as many other important personages.\n\nShortly after it was completed, the Mountain House became a favorite subject for Washington Irving and artists for the new Hudson River School, most notably artists Thomas Cole and William Henry Bartlett.\n\nTransportation\n\nFrom 1872, the Catskills were served by the Catskill Mountain Branch of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad which was absorbed into the New York Central railroad in 1932. Passenger rail service continued until 1954. Part of the line still exists but now serves only freight. The Delaware and Ulster Railroad is a heritage railroad, based in Arkville, New York, that still runs a scenic part of the track from Highmount to Hubbell Corners, New York for tourist use. The Catskill Mountain Railroad is also a heritage railroad in the Catskills, operating from Kingston, New York up to Highmount, New York.\n\nThe Catskills are accessible by automobile from the east along Interstate 87/New York State Thruway, which runs north-south through the Hudson Valley. To the south and southwest, the Catskills are accessible by a variety of highways, including New York State Route 55, U.S. Route 44, U.S. Route 209, and New York State Route 17 (also known as \"Future I-86\"). Access to the western Catskills is provided by New York State Route 30; and the vaguely defined far-western edge of the region is variously considered to be New York State Route 10 or Interstate 88, though this boundary remains a matter of local preference. New York State Routes 28 and 23A cut east-west through the heart of the Catskills, serving many of the most popular outdoor tourist destinations. New York State Route 23 runs east-west across the Catskills' far-northern section.\n\nThe closest major airports to the Catskill region are Albany International Airport to the north and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh to the south. Smaller airports in the region include the following:\n* Columbia County Airport in Hudson\n* Dutchess County Airport in Poughkeepsie\n* Joseph Y. Resnick Airport in Ellenville\n* Kingston-Ulster Airport\n* Kobelt Airport in Wallkill\n* Randall Airport in \n* Sullivan County International Airport in Monticello\n* Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport\n\nIn popular culture\n\nComics\n\n*In Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables, the animals and other fairy tale characters live on \"The Farm\", an imaginary haven in the NY Catskills.\n\nFilms\n\nThe Hudson Valley Film Commission maintains an updated list of films set in the Hudson Valley / Catskills Region, including: \n(Chronological)\n*WaterFall in the Catskills (1897), the Edison Studio\n*Rip Van Winkle (1921), silent film version of the classic story\n*Having Wonderful Time (1938), Red Skelton's first movie, set in a Catskills hotel\n*My Side of the Mountain (1969), film adaptation of Jean Craighead George's eponymous 1959 novel; a young boy tests his survival skills by living about two years in the Catskill Mountains\n*Woodstock (1970), a documentary about the Woodstock Festival of 1969, filmed at the festival in Bethel, New York\n*Magic (1978), a film starring Anthony Hopkins and set in the Catskills\n*Tootsie (1982), features scenes in the Hurley Mountain Inn located in Ulster County, New York\n*The Gig (1985), directed by Frank D. Gilroy; a character study of amateur musicians who get a gig\n*Dirty Dancing (1987), a hit film set in a Catskills resort in the summer of 1963 (though filmed at Mountain Lake in Virginia and at Lake Lure in North Carolina)\n*Sweet Lorraine (1987), the story of an aging Catskill resort in its last days, filmed at the former Heiden Hotel in South Fallsburg, New York\n*Casper Meets Wendy (1995), Wendy and her aunts run into Casper and his uncles at a resort in the Catskills\n*Heavy (1995), an independent film starring Liv Tyler, Debbie Harry, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Shelley Winters, and Joe Grifasi, filmed partially in the southern Catskills, in Barryville, New York and Highland Lake\n*Manny & Lo (1996)\n*Julian Po (1997), starring Christian Slater and filmed in Fleischmanns\n*A Walk on the Moon (1999), set in Sullivan County, New York, but filmed in Quebec, Canada\n*You Can Count on Me (2000), an award-winning independent film set in the village of Scottsville, in western New York near Rochester, but filmed in the Catskills, in and around Margaretville and Phoenicia\n*Kaaterskill Falls (2001), an award-winning independent film about a young urban couple who befriend a local hitchhiker; it's a mountain country version of Roman Polanski's Polish-language film Knife in the Water (1962), actually filmed in the Catskills\n*Wendigo (2001), filmed in the West Shokan and Phoenicia, New York area\n*The Catskill Chainsaw Redemption (2004), a horror movie\n* Parts of the movie Transamerica (2005), starring Felicity Huffman, were filmed in the town of Callicoon, New York, though in the movie it's referred to as Callicoon, Kentucky\n* The burning train and ferry scenes in War of the Worlds (2005) were filmed in the town of Athens, New York at the foot of the Catskills\n*Four Seasons Documentary (2006), follows the lives of Holocaust survivors in a Borscht Belt colony\n*Stagedoor (2006), a documentary on life at a teen camp\n*99 Geiger Road (2007), a documentary about a bungalow colony of Holocaust survivors \n*The Cake Eaters (2007)\n*Goyband (2008), a romantic comedy involving a musician performing at the opening of the first kosher casino in the Catskills\n*Taking Woodstock (2009), the story of how Elliot Tiber helped bring the Woodstock Festival to Bethel, New York\n*Mary Last Seen (2010), a short on the same theme as Martha Marcy May Marlene (available on the DVD)\n*Stake Land (2010), a vampire/zombie apocalypse film, partially set and filmed in the Catskills\n*Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), a critically acclaimed film about a young woman who escapes from a cult in the Catskills\n*New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (2013) \n*Studio360 (2013) \n\nLiterature\n\n*The Catskills and their inhabitants play an important role in Jean Craighead George's stories, such as My Side of the Mountain (1959)\n*John Gardner's novel Nickel Mountain: A Pastoral Novel (1973) takes place in the Catskill Mountains\n*Washington Irving wrote many famous stories, including \"Rip Van Winkle\" (1819), that take place in the Catskill Mountains\n*The Catskills and their inhabitants play an important role the H. P. Lovecraft stories: \"The Lurking Fear\" (1922) and \"Beyond the Wall of Sleep\" (1919)\n\nMusic\n\nConcerts\n\n*The town of Bethel, New York, located in the Catskills was home to the famous Woodstock Music festival in 1969. The music festival took place from August 15 to August 18, 1969. 32 music acts performed in front of over 500,000 concert-goers. The event was captured in the documentary movie Woodstock (1970).\n\nWorks\n\n*Mercury Rev's song \"Opus 40\", on their album Deserter's Songs (1998), contains the line \"Catskill mansions buried dreams/ I'm alive she cried but I don't know what it means\". The band and their studios are based in the Catskills, and the area is often referred to in interview.\n*Simple Minds filmed their video to \"Alive and Kicking\" (1985) here.\n*The Catskills are mentioned in The Band's song \"Time to Kill\". The Band was also photographed there for their first album, Music from Big Pink, The Band in the Catskills. \n* The Catskills are mentioned in the Kid Rock track \"Low Life\". Contains the line \" I've never hung out in The Catskills, but I been to jail in Nashville\".\n\nStand up comedy\n\n*The many hotels and vacation resorts located in the Catskills are notable in American cultural history for their role in the development of modern stand-up comedy. Comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield and Don Rickles and got their start performing in Catskill Hotel venues. \n\nTelevision\n\n*A Home Box Office miniseries is planned that will dramatize a New York Magazine article on natural gas drillers coming to the region. Richard Russo, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is writing a script for the project.",
"Grand_National.txt\nGrand National\nThe Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over 4 miles 514 yards (6.907 km) with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps.British Racing and Racecourses (ISBN 978-0950139722) by Marion Rose Halpenny – Page 167 It is the most valuable jump race in Europe, with a prize fund of £1 million in 2016.[http://www.aintree.co.uk/news/grand-national-weights/ Grand National Weights | 2011 Grand National | Aintree Racecourse]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.\n\nThe course over which the race is run features much larger fences than those found on conventional National Hunt tracks. Many of these, particularly Becher's Brook, The Chair and the Canal Turn, have become famous in their own right and, combined with the distance of the event, create what has been called \"the ultimate test of horse and rider\". \n\nThe Grand National has been broadcast live on free-to-air terrestrial television in the United Kingdom since 1960. From then until 2012 it was broadcast by the BBC. Between 2013 and 2016 it was shown by Channel 4; the UK broadcasting rights transfer to ITV from 2017. An estimated 500 to 600 million people watch the Grand National in over 140 countries. It has also been broadcast on radio since 1927; BBC Radio held exclusive rights until 2013, however, Talksport also now holds radio commentary rights. The race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year. \n\nThe most recent running of the race, in 2016, was won by Rule The World, ridden by jockey David Mullins for trainer Mouse Morris. The next Grand National is on 8 April 2017.\n\nHistory\n\nFounding and early Nationals (1829–1850)\n\nThe Grand National was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. [http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/history-of-the-grand-national/ History of the Grand National – The Worlds Greatest Jump Race]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829. There is much debate regarding the first official Grand National; most leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree. However, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860s. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \"national\". To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836–1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful. The Duke was ridden by Martin Becher. The fence Becher's Brook is named after him and is where he fell in the next year’s race. \n\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838, leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar. Secondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time. Finally, a committee was formed to better organise the event. These factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National. It was won by rider Jem Mason on the aptly named, Lottery Haywood, Linda. (4 April 2008) [http://www.popular-nostalgia.com/a-big-long-history-of-the-grand-national-258/ A Big Long History of the Grand National]. Popular Nostalgia. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.[http://www.grandnational.org.uk/facts-figures.php Facts & Figures]. Grandnational.org.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.\n\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\n\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart. \n\nWar National Steeplechase (1916–1918)\n\nFor three years during the First World War, while Aintree Racecourse was taken over by the War Office, an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse, a disused course on land now occupied by Gatwick Airport. The first of these races, in 1916, was called the Racecourse Association Steeplechase, and in 1917 and 1918 the race was called the War National Steeplechase. The races at Gatwick are not always recognised as \"Grand Nationals\" and their results are often omitted from winners' lists. \n\nTipperary Tim (1928)\n\nOn the day of the 1928 Grand National, before the race had begun, Tipperary Tim's jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!\" These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. This year's National was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey Tommy Cullinan managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at outside odds of 100/1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers. \n\nSecond World War and the 1950s\n\nAlthough the Grand National was run as normal in 1940 and most other major horse races around the world were able to be held throughout the war, the commandeering of Aintree Racecourse for defence use in 1941 meant no Grand National could be held from 1941 to 1945. \n\nDuring the 1950s the Grand National was dominated by Vincent O'Brien, who trained different winners of the race for three consecutive years between 1953 and 1955. Early Mist secured O'Brien's first victory in 1953; Royal Tan won in 1954, and Quare Times completed the Irish trainer's hat-trick in 1955. \n\nThe running of the 1956 Grand National witnessed one of the chase's most bizarre incidents. Devon Loch, owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, had cleared the final fence in leading position, five lengths clear of E.S.B. Forty yards from what seemed like certain victory, Devon Loch suddenly, and inexplicably, half-jumped into the air and collapsed in a belly-flop on the turf. Despite efforts by jockey Dick Francis, Devon Loch was unable to complete the race, leaving E.S.B. to cross the finishing line first. Responding to the commiserations of E.S.B.’s owner, the Queen Mother famously commented: \"Oh, that's racing!\" \n\nHad Devon Loch completed the race he may have set a new record for the fastest finishing time, which E.S.B. missed by only four-fifths of a second. Many explanations have been offered for Devon Loch's behaviour on the run-in, but the incident remains inexplicable. In modern language, the phrase \"to do a Devon Loch\" is sometimes used to describe a last-minute failure to achieve an expected victory. \n\nFoinavon (1967)\n\nIn the 1967 Grand National, most of the field were hampered or dismounted in a mêlée at the 23rd fence, allowing a rank-outsider, Foinavon, to become a surprise winner at odds of 100/1. A loose horse named Popham Down, who had unseated his rider at the first jump, suddenly veered across the leading group at the 23rd, causing them to either stop, refuse or unseat their riders. Racing journalist Lord Oaksey described the resulting pile-up by saying that Popham Down had \"cut down the leaders like a row of thistles\". Some horses even started running in the wrong direction, back the way they had come. Foinavon, whose owner had such little faith in him that he had travelled to Worcester that day instead, had been lagging some 100 yards behind the leading pack, giving his jockey, John Buckingham, time to steer his mount wide of the havoc and make a clean jump of the fence on the outside. Although 17 jockeys remounted and some made up considerable ground, particularly Josh Gifford on 15/2 favourite Honey End, none had time to catch Foinavon before he crossed the finishing line. The 7th/23rd fence was officially named the 'Foinavon fence' in 1984. \n\n1970s and Red Rum\n\nThe 1970s were mixed years for the Grand National. In 1973, eight years after Mrs. Mirabel Topham announced she was seeking a buyer, the racecourse was finally sold to property developer Bill Davies. Davies tripled the admission prices; consequently, the attendance at the 1975 race, won by L'Escargot, was the smallest in living memory. It was after this that bookmaker Ladbrokes made an offer, signing an agreement with Davies allowing them to manage the Grand National. \n\nDuring this period, Red Rum was breaking all records to become the most successful racehorse in Grand National history. Originally bought as a yearling in 1966 for 400 guineas (£420), he passed through various training yards before being bought for 6,000 guineas (£6,300) by Ginger McCain on behalf of Noel le Mare. Two days after the purchase while trotting the horse on Southport beach, McCain noticed that Red Rum appeared lame. The horse was suffering from pedal osteitis, an inflammatory bone disorder. McCain had witnessed many lame carthorses reconditioned by being galloped in sea-water. He successfully used this treatment on his newly acquired racehorse.\n\nRed Rum became, and remains, the only horse to have won the Grand National three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977. He also finished second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976. In 1973, he was in second place at the last fence, 15 lengths behind champion horse Crisp, who was carrying 23 lbs more. Red Rum made up the ground on the run-in and, two strides from the finishing post, he pipped the tiring Crisp to win by three-quarters of a length in what is arguably the most memorable Grand National of all time. Finishing in 9 minutes 1.9 seconds, Red Rum broke the record for fastest completion time of the National which had previously stood since 1934 by Golden Miller. His record was to stand for the next sixteen years.\n\nBob Champion's National (1981)\n\nTwo years before the 1981 Grand National, jockey Bob Champion had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and given only months to live by doctors. But by 1981 he had recovered and was passed fit to ride in the Grand National. He rode Aldaniti, a horse deprived in its youth and which had only recently recovered from chronic leg problems. Despite a poor start, the pair went on to win four-and-a-half lengths ahead of the much-fancied Spartan Missile, ridden by amateur jockey and 54-year-old grandfather John Thorne. Champion and Aldaniti were instantly propelled to celebrity status, and within two years, their story had been re-created in the film Champions, starring John Hurt. \n\nSeagram's sponsorship (1984–1991)\n\nFrom 1984 to 1991, Seagram sponsored the Grand National. The Canadian distiller provided a solid foundation on which the race's revival could be built, firstly enabling the course to be bought from Davies and to be run and managed by the Jockey Club. It is said that Ivan Straker, Seagram's UK chairman, became interested in the potential opportunity after reading a passionate newspaper article written by journalist Lord Oaksey, who, in his riding days, had come within three-quarters of a length of winning the 1963 National. The last Seagram-sponsored Grand National was in 1991. Coincidentally, the race was won by a horse named Seagram. Martell, then a Seagram subsidiary, took over sponsorship of the Aintree meeting for an initial seven years from 1992, in a £4 million deal.\n\nThe race that never was (1993)\n\nThe result of the 1993 Grand National was declared void after what commentator Peter O'Sullevan called \"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National.\" While under starter's orders a series of incidents occurred which resulted in one jockey being tangled in the starting tape which had failed to rise correctly. A false start was declared, but lack of communication between course officials meant that 30 out of the 39 jockeys did not realise and began to race. Course officials tried to stop the runners by waving red flags, but many jockeys thought that they were protesters (some had invaded the course earlier) and so continued to race. Peter Scudamore only stopped because he saw his trainer, Martin Pipe, waving frantically at him. Seven horses ran the course in its entirety, forcing a void result. The first past the post of the horses that completed was Esha Ness (in the second-fastest time ever), ridden by John White and trained by Jenny Pitman. \n\nThe Monday National (1997)\n\nThe 1997 Grand National was postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \"We'll fight them on the Becher's\", in reference to Winston Churchill's war-time speech.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/grand_national_2002/1795805.stm BBC Sport | Other Sports | Horse Racing | Grand National 2002 | Aintree grabs the headlines]. BBC News (28 March 2002). Retrieved on 11 March 2011. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. \n\nRecent history (2004–present)\n\nRed Rum's trainer Ginger McCain returned to the Grand National in 2004, 31 years after Red Rum's epic run-in defeat of Crisp to secure his first of three wins. McCain's Amberleigh House came home first, ridden by Graham Lee, overtaking Clan Royal on the final straight. Hedgehunter, who would go on to win in 2005, fell at the last while leading. McCain had equalled George Dockeray and Fred Rimell's record feat of training four Grand National winners. \n\nIn 2005 John Smith's took over from Martell as main sponsors of the Grand National and many of the other races at the three-day Aintree meeting for the first time. In 2006 John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\n\nIn 2009, Mon Mome became the longest-priced winner of the National for 42 years when he defied outside odds of 100/1 to win by 12 lengths. The victory was also the first for trainer Venetia Williams, the first female trainer to triumph since Jenny Pitman in 1995. The race was also the first National ride for Liam Treadwell. \n\nIn 2010 the National became the first horse race to be televised in high-definition in the UK. \n\nIn August 2013 Crabbie's was announced as the new sponsor of the Grand National. The three-year deal between the alcoholic ginger beer producer and Aintree saw the race run for a record purse of £1 million in 2014. \n\nIn March 2016 it was announced that Randox Health are to take over from Crabbie's as officials partners of Aintree's three-day festival, the highlight of which is the Grand National. The 2016 National was the last sponsored by Crabbie's.\n \n\nThe course\n\nThe Grand National is run over the National Course at Aintree and consists of two laps of 16 fences, the first 14 of which are jumped twice. Horses completing the race cover a distance of 4 mi, the longest of any National Hunt race in Britain. As part of a review of safety following the 2012 running of the event, from 2013 to 2015 the start was moved 90 yd forward away from the crowds and grandstands, reducing the race distance by 110 yd from the historical 4 mi. The course is also notable for having one of the longest run-ins from the final fence of any steeplechase, at 494 yd.\n\nThe Grand National was designed as a cross-country steeplechase when it was first officially run in 1839. The runners started at a lane on the edge of the racecourse and raced away from the course out over open countryside towards the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The gates, hedges and ditches that they met along the way were flagged to provide them with the obstacles to be jumped along the way with posts and rails erected at the two points where the runners jumped a brook. The runners returned towards the racecourse by running along the edge of the canal before re-entering the course at the opposite end. The runners then ran the length of the racecourse before embarking on a second circuit before finishing in front of the stands. The majority of the race therefore took place not on the actual Aintree Racecourse but instead in the adjoining countryside. That countryside was incorporated into the modern course but commentators still often refer to it as \"the country\".\n\nFences\n\nThere are 16 fences on the National Course topped with spruce from the Lake District. The cores of 12 fences were rebuilt in 2012 and they are now made of a flexible plastic material which is more forgiving compared to the traditional wooden cores. They are still topped with at least 14 in of spruce for the horses to knock off. Some of the jumps carry names from the history of the race. All 16 are jumped on the first lap, but on the final lap the runners bear to the right onto the run-in for home, avoiding The Chair and the Water Jump. The following is a summary of all 16 fences on the course:[http://www.grand-national-guide.co.uk/grand-national-info.php About The Grand National]. Grand-national-guide.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.[http://www.aintree-grand-national.net/grand-national-fences.php Grand National Fences – Beechers Brook – The Chair]. Aintree-grand-national.net. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.[http://grandnational.org.uk/fences.php Course and Fences]. Grandnational.org.uk. Retrieved on 2011-03-11. \n\n;Fence 1 & 17\nHeight: 4 ft\nOften met at great speed, which can lead to several falls, the highest being 12 runners in 1951. The drop on the landing side was reduced after the 2011 Grand National.\n;Fence 2 & 18\nHeight: 4 ft\nPrior to 1888 the first two fences were located approximately halfway between the first to second and second to third jumps. The second became known as The Fan, after a mare who refused the obstacle three years in succession. The name fell out of favour with the relocation of the fences.\n;Fence 3 & 19 – open ditch\nHeight: 4 ft; fronted by a 6 ft ditch \nThe first big test in the race as horses are still adapting to the obstacles.\n;Fence 4 & 20\nHeight: 4 ft\nA testing obstacle that often leads to falls and unseated riders. In 2011 the 20th became the first fence in Grand National history to be bypassed on the final lap, following an equine fatality.\n;Fence 5 & 21\nHeight: 5 ft \nA plain obstacle which precedes the most famous fence on the course. It was bypassed on the final lap for the first time in 2012 so that medics could treat a jockey who fell from his mount on the first lap and had broken a leg.\n;Fence 6 & 22 – Becher's Brook\nHeight: 5 ft, with the landing side 6 in to 10 in lower than the takeoff side \nThe drop at this fence often catches runners by surprise. Becher's has always been a popular vantage point as it can present one of the most spectacular displays of jumping when the horse and rider meet the fence right. Jockeys must sit back in their saddles and use their body weight as ballast to counter the steep drop. It takes its name from Captain Martin Becher who fell there in the first Grand National and took shelter in the small brook running along the landing side of the fence while the remainder of the field thundered over. It is said that Becher later reflected: \"Water tastes disgusting without the benefits of whisky.\" It was bypassed in 2011 along with fence 20 on the final lap, after an equine casualty.\n;Fence 7 & 23 – Foinavon\nHeight: 4 ft \nOne of the smallest on the course, it was named in 1984 after the 1967 winner who avoided a mêlée at the fence to go on and win the race at outside odds of 100/1.\n;Fence 8 & 24 – Canal Turn\nHeight: 5 ft\nNoted for its sharp 90-degree left turn immediately after landing. Before the First World War it was not uncommon for loose horses to continue straight ahead after the jump and end up in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal itself. There was once a ditch before the fence but this was filled in after a mêlée in the 1928 race. It was bypassed for the first time in 2015 on the final lap as vets arrived to treat a horse who fell on the first lap.\n;Fence 9 & 25 – Valentine's\nHeight: 5 ft with a 5 ft brook \nThe fence was originally known as the Second Brook but was renamed after a horse named Valentine was reputed to have jumped the fence hind legs first in 1840. A grandstand was erected alongside the fence in the early part of the 20th century but fell into decline after the Second World War and was torn down in the 1970s.\n;Fence 10 & 26\nHeight: 5 ft\nA plain obstacle that leads the runners alongside the canal towards two ditches.\n;Fence 11 & 27 – open ditch\nHeight: 5 ft, with a 6 ft ditch on the takeoff side\n;Fence 12 & 28 – ditch\nHeight: 5 ft, with a 5 ft ditch on the landing side\n\nThe runners then cross the Melling Road near to the Anchor Bridge, a popular vantage point since the earliest days of the race. This also marks the point where the runners are said to be re-entering the \"racecourse proper\". In the early days of the race it is thought there was an obstacle near this point known as the Table Jump, which may have resembled a bank similar to those still seen at Punchestown in Ireland. In the 1840s the Melling Road was also flanked by hedges and the runners had to jump into the road and then back out of it.\n\n;Fence 13 & 29\nHeight: 4 ft\nA plain obstacle that comes at a point when the runners are usually in a good rhythm and thus rarely causes problems.\n;Fence 14 & 30\nHeight: 4 ft\nThe last fence on the final lap and which has often seen very tired horses fall. Despite some tired runners falling at the 30th and appearing injured, no horse deaths have occurred at the 30th fence to date.\n\nOn the first lap of the race, runners continue around the course to negotiate two fences which are only jumped once:\n\n;Fence 15 – The Chair\nHeight: 5 ft, preceded by a 6 ft (1.83 m) wide ditch\nThis fence is the site of the accident that claimed the only human life in the National's history: in 1862, Joe Wynne fell here and died from his injuries, although a coroner's inquest revealed that the rider was in a gravely weakened condition through consumption. This brought about the ditch on the take-off side of the fence in an effort to slow the horses on approach. The fence was the location where a distance judge sat in the earliest days of the race. On the second circuit he would record the finishing order from his position and declare any horse that had not passed him before the previous runner passed the finishing post as \"distanced\", meaning a non-finisher. The practise was done away with in the 1850s but the monument where the chair stood is still there. The ground on the landing side is six inches higher than on the takeoff side, creating the opposite effect of the drop at Becher's. The fence was originally known as the Monument Jump but The Chair came into more regular use in the 1930s. Today it is one of the most popular jumps on the course for spectators.\n\n;Fence 16 – Water Jump\nHeight: 2 ft\nOriginally a stone wall in the very early Nationals. The Water Jump was one of the most popular jumps on the course, presenting a great jumping spectacle for those in the stands and was always a major feature in the newsreels' coverage of the race. As the newsreels made way for television in the 1960s, so in turn did the Water Jump fall under the shadow of its neighbour, The Chair, in popularity as an obstacle.\n\nOn the final lap, after the 30th fence the remaining runners bear right, avoiding The Chair and Water Jump, to head onto a \"run-in\" to the finishing post. The run-in is not perfectly straight: an \"elbow\" requires jockeys to make a slight right before finding themselves truly on the home straight. It is on this run-in — one of the longest in the United Kingdom at 494 yd— that many potential winners have had victory snatched away, such as Devon Loch in 1956, Crisp in 1973, What's Up Boys in 2002 and Sunnyhillboy in 2012.\n\nRecords\n\nLeading horse:\n* Red Rum – 3 wins (1973, 1974, 1977)\n----\nLeading jockey:\n* George Stevens – 5 wins (Freetrader, 1856; Emblem 1863; Emblematic, 1864; The Colonel, 1869, 1870)\n----\nLeading trainers:\n* George Dockeray – 4 wins (Lottery, 1839; Jerry, 1840; Gaylad, 1842; Miss Mowbray, 1852)\n* Fred Rimell – 4 wins (E.S.B., 1956; Nicolaus Silver, 1961; Gay Trip, 1970; Rag Trade, 1976)\n* Ginger McCain – 4 wins (Red Rum, 1973, 1974, 1977; Amberleigh House, 2004)\n----\nLeading owners:\n* James Octavius Machell – 3 wins (Disturbance, 1873; Reugny, 1874; Regal, 1876)\n* Noel Le Mare – 3 wins (Red Rum, 1973, 1974, 1977)\n* Trevor Hemmings - 3 wins (Hedgehunter, 2005; Ballabriggs, 2011, Many Clouds, 2015)\n----\n* Fastest winning time: Mr. Frisk (1990); 8 minutes 47.8 seconds \n* Oldest winning horse: Peter Simple (1853); aged 15\n* Youngest winning horse: Alcibiade (1865), Regal (1876), Austerlitz (1877), Empress (1880), Lutteur III (1909); all aged five\n* Oldest winning jockey: Dick Saunders (1982); aged 48\n* Youngest winning jockey: Bruce Hobbs (1938); aged 17\n* Longest odds winner: Tipperary Tim (1928), Gregalach (1929), Caughoo (1947), Foinavon (1967), Mon Mome (2009); all 100/1\n* Shortest odds winner: Poethlyn (1919); 11/4 \n* Largest field: 66 runners (1929)\n* Smallest field: 10 runners (1883)\n* Most horses to finish: 23 (1984)\n* Fewest horses to finish: 2 (1928)\n* Most rides in the race: 20 (A. P. McCoy, 1995-2015), (Richard Johnson, 1997-2016)\n* Most rides without winning: 20 (Richard Johnson, 1997-2016)\n\nWinners\n\nThe following table lists the winners of the last ten Grand Nationals:\n\nJockeys\n\nWhen the concept of the Grand National was first envisaged it was designed as a race for gentlemen riders, meaning men who were not paid to compete, and while this was written into the conditions of the early races many of the riders who weighed out for the 1839 race were professionals for hire. Throughout the Victorian era the line between the amateur and professional sportsman existed only in terms of the rider's status, and the engagement of an amateur to ride in the race was rarely considered a handicap to a contender's chances of winning. Many gentleman riders won the race prior to the First World War. \n\nAlthough the number of amateurs remained high between the wars their ability to match their professional counterparts gradually receded. After the Second World War it became rare for any more than four or five amateurs to take part in any given year. The last amateur rider to win the race is Marcus Armytage, who (as of 2016) set the still-standing course record of 8:47.8, when winning on Mr Frisk in 1990. By the 21st century however, openings for amateur riders had become very rare with some years passing with no amateur riders at all taking part. Those that do in the modern era are most usually talented young riders who are often close to turning professional. In the past, such amateur riders would have been joined by army officers, such as David Campbell who won in 1896, and sporting aristocrats, farmers or local huntsmen and point to point riders, who usually opted to ride their own mounts. But all these genres of rider have faded out in the last quarter of a century with no riders of military rank or aristocratic title having taken a mount since 1982.\n\nThe Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made it possible for female jockeys to enter the race. The first female jockey to enter the race was Charlotte Brew on the 200/1 outsider Barony Fort in the 1977 race. The first female jockey to complete the race was Geraldine Rees on Cheers in 1982. The 21st century has not seen a significant increase in female riders but it has seen them gain rides on mounts considered to have a genuine chance of winning. In 2005, Carrie Ford finished fifth on the 8/1 second-favourite Forest Gunner. In 2012, Katie Walsh achieved the best result yet for a female jockey, finishing third on the 8/1 joint-favourite Seabass. In 2015, Nina Carberry became the first female jockey to take a fifth ride in the Grand National, her best placing being seventh in 2010. \n\nProfessionals now hold dominance in the Grand National and better training, dietary habits and protective clothing has ensured that riders' careers last much longer and offer more opportunities to ride in the race. Of the 34 riders who have enjoyed 13 or more rides in the race, 19 had their first ride in the 20th century and 11 had careers that continued into or started in the 21st century. Despite that, the record of 19 rides in the race was set by Tom Olliver back in 1859 and was not equalled until 2014 by A. P. McCoy. Longevity is no guarantee of success, however, as 13 of the 34 never tasted the glory of winning the race. McCoy is the only rider to successfully remove himself from the list after winning at the 15th attempt in 2010. Richard Johnson set a record of 20 failed attempts to win the race from 1997-2016, having finished second twice, but is still competing. The other 12 riders who never won or have not as yet won, having had more than 12 rides in the race are:\n\n* David Casey (1997-2015): finished third once in 15 attempts\n* Jeff King (1964-1980): finished third once in 15 attempts\n* Tom Scudamore (2001-2016): never in first three in 15 attempts\n* Graham Bradley (1983-1999): finished second once in 14 attempts\n* Bill Parvin (1926–1939): finished second once in 14 attempts\n* Robert Thornton (1997–2011): never in first three in 14 attempts\n* Andrew Thornton (1996-2016): never in first three in 14 attempts\n* Chris Grant (1980–1994): finished second thrice in 13 attempts\n* Stan Mellor (1956–1971): finished second once in 13 attempts\n* George Waddington (1861–1882): finished second once in 13 attempts\n* Walter White (1854–1869): finished second once in 13 attempts\n* David Nicholson (1957-1973): never in first three in 13 attempts\n\nPeter Scudamore technically lined up for thirteen Grand Nationals without winning but the last of those was the void race of 1993, which meant that he officially competed in twelve Nationals. \n\nMany other well-known jockeys have failed to win the Grand National. These include champion jockeys such as Terry Biddlecombe, John Francome, Josh Gifford, Stan Mellor, Jonjo O'Neill (who never finished the race) and Fred Rimell. Three jockeys who led over the last fence in the National but lost the race on the run-in ended up as television commentators: Lord Oaksey (on Carrickbeg in 1963), Norman Williamson (on Mely Moss in 2000), and Richard Pitman (on Crisp in 1973). Pitman's son Mark also led over the last fence, only to be pipped at the post when riding Garrison Savannah in 1991.\n\nHorse welfare\n\nFor every 1,000 horses taking part in modern steeplechase races, the number of fatalities is just over four, according to the British Horseracing Authority; research by Anglia Ruskin University states the rate is six per 1,000 horses. However, deaths in the Grand National are higher than the average steeplechase, with six deaths per 439 horses between 2000 and 2010. Due to the high number of injuries and deaths suffered by participating horses, animal rights groups have campaigned to have the race modified or abolished. \n\nOver the years, Aintree officials have worked in conjunction with animal welfare organisations to reduce the severity of some fences and to improve veterinary facilities. In 2008, a new veterinary surgery was constructed in the stable yard which has two large treatment boxes, an X-ray unit, video endoscopy, equine solarium, and sandpit facilities. Further changes in set-up and procedure allow vets to treat horses more rapidly and in better surroundings. Those requiring more specialist care can be transported by specialist horse ambulances, under police escort, to the nearby Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital at the University of Liverpool at Leahurst. A mobile on-course X-ray machine assists in the prompt diagnosis of leg injuries when horses are pulled up, and oxygen and water are available by the final fence and finishing post.[http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/horse-welfare/ Horse Welfare]. Aintree.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011. Five vets remain mobile on the course during the running of the race and can initiate treatment of injured fallers at the fence. Additional vets are stationed at the pull-up area, finishing post, and in the surgery.\n\nSome of the National's most challenging fences have also been modified, while still preserving them as formidable obstacles. After the 1989 Grand National, in which two horses died in incidents at Becher's Brook, Aintree began the most significant of its modifications to the course. The brook on the landing side of Becher's was filled in and, after the 2011 race which also saw an equine fatality at the obstacle, the incline on the landing side was levelled out and the drop on was reduced by between 4 and 5 inches (10–13 cm) to slow the runners. Other fences have also been reduced in height over the years, and the entry requirements for the race have been made stricter. Screening at the Canal Turn now prevents horses being able to see the sharp left turn and encourages jockeys to spread out along the fence, rather than take the tight left-side route. Additionally, work has been carried out to smooth the core post infrastructure of the fences with protective padding to reduce impact upon contact, and the height of the toe-boards on all fences has been increased to 14 in. These orange-coloured boards are positioned at the base of each fence and provide a clear ground line to assist horses in determining the base of the fence.\n\nParts of the course were widened in 2009 to allow runners to bypass fences if required. This was utilised for the first time during the 2011 race as casualties at fences 4 and 6 (Becher's Brook) resulted in marshals diverting the remaining contenders around those fences on the final lap.\n\nWelfare groups have suggested a reduction in the size of the field (currently limited to a maximum of 40 horses) should be implemented. Opponents point to previous unhappy experience with smaller fields such as only 29 runners at the 1954 Grand National, only 31 runners in 1975, and a fatality each at the 1996 and 1999 Nationals despite smaller fields, and the possible ramifications in relation to the speed of such races in addition to recent course modifications (part of the \"speed kills\" argument).\n\nSome within the horseracing community, including those with notable achievements in the Grand National such as Ginger McCain and Bob Champion, have argued that the lowering of fences and the narrowing of ditches, primarily designed to increase horse safety, has had the adverse effect by encouraging the runners to race faster. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Grand National saw a total of 12 horses die (half of which were at Becher's Brook); in the next 20-year period from 1990 to 2010, when modifications to the course were most significant, there were 17 equine fatalities. The 2011 and 2012 races each yielded two deaths, including one each at Becher's Brook. In 2013, when further changes were made to introduce a more flexible fence structure, there were no fatalities in the race itself although two horses died in run-up races over the same course. There have been no equine fatalities in the main Grand National race since 2012, however the animal welfare charity League Against Cruel Sports counts the number of horse deaths over the three-day meeting from the year 2000 to 2013 at 40.\n\nGrand National Legends\n\nIn 2009, the race sponsors John Smith's launched a poll to determine five personalities to be inducted into the inaugural Grand National Legends initiative. The winners were announced on the day of the 2010 Grand National and inscribed on commemorative plaques at Aintree. They were:[http://www.grandnationallegends.com/grand_national_legends.php grandnationallegends.com]\n*Ginger McCain and his record three-time winning horse Red Rum;\n*John Buckingham and Foinavon, the unlikely winners in 1967;\n*Manifesto, who holds the record for most runs in the race, eight including two victories;\n*Jenny Pitman, the first woman to train the winner of the race in 1983; and\n*Sir Peter O'Sullevan, the commentator who called home the winners of fifty Grand Nationals on radio and television from 1947 to 1997.\n\nA panel of experts also selected three additional legends:\n*George Stevens, the record five-time winning rider between 1856–1870;\n*Captain Martin Becher, who played a major part in bringing the National to Liverpool, rode the winner of the first precursor to the National in 1836 and was the first rider to fall into the brook at the sixth fence, which forever took his name after 1839; and\n*Edward Topham, who was assigned the task of framing the weights for the handicap from 1847 and whose descendants played a major role in the race for the next 125 years.\n\nIn 2011, nine additional legends were added:\n*Bob Champion and Aldaniti, the winners of the 1981 Grand National;\n*West Tip, who ran in six consecutive Nationals and won once in 1986;\n*Richard Dunwoody, the jockey who rode West Tip and Miinnehoma to victory and who competed in 14 Grand Nationals, being placed in eight;\n*Brian Fletcher, a jockey who won the race three times (including Red Rum's first victory in 1973, and finished second once and third three times);\n*Vincent O'Brien, who trained three consecutive winners of the race in the 1950s;\n*Tom Olliver, who rode in nineteen Nationals, including seventeen consecutively, and won three times, as well as finishing second three times and third once;\n*Count Karl Kinsky, the first international winner of the race, and at his first attempt, on board the mare Zoedone in 1883;\n*Jack Anthony, three-time winning jockey in 1911, 1915 and 1920; and\n*Peter Bromley, the BBC radio commentator who covered 42 Nationals until his retirement.\n\nJohn Smith's also added five \"people's legends\" who were introduced on Liverpool Day, the first day of the Grand National meeting. The five were: \n*Arthur Ferrie, who worked as a groundsman during the 1970s and 1980s;\n*Edie Roche, a Melling Road resident, who opened her home to jockeys, spectators and members of the media when the course was evacuated following a bomb threat in 1997;\n*Ian Stewart, a fan who had travelled from Coventry every year to watch the race and was attending his fiftieth National in 2010;\n*Police Constable Ken Lawson, who was celebrating thirty-one years of service in the mounted section of Merseyside Police and was set to escort his third National winner in 2010; and\n*Tony Roberts, whose first visit to the National had been in 1948 and who had steadily spread the word to family and friends about the race, regularly bringing a party of up to thirty people to the course.\n\nA public vote announced at the 2012 Grand National saw five more additions to the Legends hall:\n*Fred Winter, who rode two National winners and trained two more;\n*Carl Llewellyn, jockey who won two Nationals including on Party Politics in 1992, and Earth Summit in 1998, the latter being the only horse to have won the Grand National and the Scottish and Welsh Nationals;\n*Fred Rimell, the trainer of four different National winning horses, including Nicolaus Silver, one of only three greys to have ever won the race;\n*Michael Scudamore, rider in sixteen consecutive Grand Nationals from 1951, finishing first in 1959 and also achieving a second and a third place;\n*Tommy Carberry, the jockey who stopped Red Rum's attempt at a third success in 1975 by winning on L'Escargot, also finished second and third before going on to train the winner in 1999.\nThe selection panel also inducted three more competitors:\n*Tommy Pickernell, who rode in seventeen Grand Nationals in the 19th century and won three. He allegedly turned down a substantial bribe during the 1860 race from the second-placed jockey and instead rode on to win;\n*Battleship, the only horse to have won both the Grand National and the American Grand National, and his jockey Bruce Hobbs, who remains the youngest jockey to win the Aintree race;\n*George Dockeray, who alongside Ginger McCain and Fred Rimell trained four National winners, starting with Lottery in the first official Grand National in 1839.[http://www.grandnationallegends.com/the_legends.php John Smith’s Grand National Legends - Age Check]\n\nNotes\n\nFavourites\n\nIn the 70 races of the post-war era (excluding the void race in 1993), the favourite or joint-favourite have only won the race nine times (in 1950, 1960, 1973, 1982, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2008 and 2010), and have failed to complete the course in 37 Nationals. \n\nMares\n\nSince its inception, 13 mares have won the race: \n* Charity (1841)\n* Miss Mowbray (1852)\n* Anatis (1860)\n* Jealousy (1861)\n* Emblem (1863)\n* Emblematic (1864)\n* Casse Tete (1872)\n* Empress (1880)\n* Zoedone (1883)\n* Frigate (1889)\n* Shannon Lass (1902)\n* Sheila's Cottage (1948)\n* Nickel Coin (1951)\n\nGreys\n\nThree greys have won:\n*The Lamb (1868, 1871)\n*Nicolaus Silver (1961)\n*Neptune Collonges (2012)\n\nFemale jockeys\n\nSince 1977, women have ridden in 20 Grand Nationals. Geraldine Rees became the first to complete the course, in 1982. In 2012 Katie Walsh became the first female jockey to earn a placed finish in the race, finishing third.\n\nInternational winners\n\n* Two French-trained horses have won the Grand National: Huntsman (1862) and Cortolvin (1867). Six other winners were bred in France — Alcibiade (1865), Reugny (1874), Lutteur III (1909), Mon Mome (2009), Neptune Collonges (2012), and Pineau De Re (2014).\n* In 1923, Sergeant Murphy became the first U.S.-bred horse to win the race. He is also the joint-second oldest horse to win, at age 13, alongside Why Not (1884). The U.S.-bred Battleship, son of the famous Man o' War, became the first (and so far only) horse to have won both the Grand National (in 1938) and the American Grand National (which he won four years earlier). Both Jay Trump (1965) and Ben Nevis II (1980) won the Maryland Hunt Cup before winning the Grand National.\n* Jockey William Watkinson recorded the first riding success for Australia in 1926. He was killed at Bogside, Scotland, less than three weeks after winning the National.\n* 1991 was the seventh and final year that the Grand National was sponsored by Seagram. Aptly, the race was won by a horse named Seagram, bred in New Zealand. 1997 saw another New Zealand-bred winner in Lord Gyllene.\n\nOther British winners\n\n* The only Welsh-trained horse to win was Kirkland in 1905.\n* Rubstic, trained by John Leadbetter in Roxburghshire, became the first Scottish-trained winner, with victory in 1979.\n\nIrish winners\n\n* Irish-trained horses have enjoyed by far the most success of international participants, with 16 winners since 1900, including six since 1999:\n\nFamous owners\n\nThe 1900 winner Ambush II was owned by HRH Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII. In 1950 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had her first runner in the race in Monaveen, who finished fifth. Six years later she would witness her Devon Loch collapse on the run-in, just yards from a certain victory.\n\nThe favourite for the 1968 race, Different Class, was owned by actor Gregory Peck.\n\nThe 1963 winner Ayala and the 1976 winner Rag Trade were both part-owned by celebrity hairdresser Raymond Bessone.\n\n1994 winner Miinnehoma was owned by comedian Freddie Starr.\n\nWhat A Friend ran in 2011 and 2013 when part-owned by Alex Ferguson, the former manager of Manchester United.",
"Mount Everest | mountain, Asia | Britannica.com\n... became the first person ever to climb Mount Everest ... The last of the great pioneering climbs of the decade was via a new route up the left side of the ...\nMount Everest | mountain, Asia | Britannica.com\nMount Everest\nAlternative Titles: Chomolungma, Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng, Peak XV, Qomolangma Feng, Sagarmatha, Zhumulangma Feng\nRelated Topics\nGerlinde Kaltenbrunner\nMount Everest, Sanskrit and Nepali Sagarmatha, Tibetan Chomolungma, Chinese (Pinyin) Zhumulangma Feng or (Wade-Giles romanization) Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng, also spelled Qomolangma Feng, mountain on the crest of the Great Himalayas of southern Asia that lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China , at 27°59′ N 86°56′ E. Reaching an elevation of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres), Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, the highest point on Earth.\nLike other high peaks in the region, Mount Everest has long been revered by local peoples. Its most common Tibetan name, Chomolungma, means “Goddess Mother of the World” or “Goddess of the Valley.” The Sanskrit name Sagarmatha means literally “Peak of Heaven.” Its identity as the highest point on the Earth’s surface was not recognized, however, until 1852, when the governmental Survey of India established that fact. In 1865 the mountain—previously referred to as Peak XV—was renamed for Sir George Everest , British surveyor general of India from 1830 to 1843.\nThe North Face of Mount Everest, as seen from Tibet (China).\nMaria Stenzel—National Geographic/Getty Images\nPhysical features\nGeology and relief\nThe Himalayan ranges were thrust upward by tectonic action as the Indian-Australian Plate moved northward from the south and was subducted (forced downward) under the Eurasian Plate following the collision of the two plates between about 40 and 50 million years ago. The Himalayas themselves started rising about 25 to 30 million years ago, and the Great Himalayas began to take their present form during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago). Everest and its surrounding peaks are part of a large mountain massif that forms a focal point, or knot, of this tectonic action in the Great Himalayas. Information from global positioning instruments in place on Everest since the late 1990s indicates that the mountain continues to move a few inches to the northeast and rise a fraction of an inch each year.\nThe Mount Everest massif, Himalayas, Nepal.\n© Marta/Fotolia\nMount Pinatubo\nEverest is composed of multiple layers of rock folded back on themselves (nappes). Rock on the lower elevations of the mountain consists of metamorphic schists and gneisses, topped by igneous granites. Higher up are found sedimentary rocks of marine origin (remnants of the ancient floor of the Tethys Sea that closed after the collision of the two plates). Notable is the Yellow Band, a limestone formation that is prominently visible just below the summit pyramid.\nThe barren Southeast, Northeast, and West ridges culminate in the Everest summit; a short distance away is the South Summit, a minor bump on the Southeast Ridge with an elevation of 28,700 feet (8,748 metres). The mountain can be seen directly from its northeastern side, where it rises about 12,000 feet (3,600 metres) above the Plateau of Tibet . The peak of Changtse (24,803 feet [7,560 metres]) rises to the north. Khumbutse (21,867 feet [6,665 metres]), Nuptse (25,791 feet [7,861 metres]), and Lhotse (27,940 feet [8,516 metres]) surround Everest’s base to the west and south.\nEverest is shaped like a three-sided pyramid . The three generally flat planes constituting the sides are called faces, and the line by which two faces join is known as a ridge. The North Face rises above Tibet and is bounded by the North Ridge (which meets the Northeast Ridge) and the West Ridge; key features of this side of the mountain include the Great and Hornbein couloirs (steep gullies) and the North Col at the start of the North Ridge. The Southwest Face rises above Nepal and is bounded by the West Ridge and the Southeast Ridge; notable features on this side include the South Col (at the start of the Southeast Ridge) and the Khumbu Icefall, the latter a jumble of large blocks of ice that has long been a daunting challenge for climbers. The East Face—or Kangshung (Kangxung) Face—also rises above Tibet and is bounded by the Southeast Ridge and the Northeast Ridge.\nMount Everest (left background) towering above the Khumbu Icefall at the mountain’s base, …\nLee Klopfer/Alamy\nBig Radio Burst from Tiny Galaxy\nThe summit of Everest itself is covered by rock-hard snow surmounted by a layer of softer snow that fluctuates annually by some 5–20 feet (1.5–6 metres); the snow level is highest in September, after the monsoon, and lowest in May after having been depleted by the strong northwesterly winter winds. The summit and upper slopes sit so high in the Earth’s atmosphere that the amount of breathable oxygen there is one-third what it is at sea level. Lack of oxygen, powerful winds, and extremely cold temperatures preclude the development of any plant or animal life there.\nDrainage and climate\nAll About Asia\nGlaciers cover the slopes of Everest to its base. Individual glaciers flanking the mountain are the Kangshung Glacier to the east; the East, Central, and West Rongbuk (Rongpu) glaciers to the north and northwest; the Pumori Glacier to the northwest; and the Khumbu Glacier to the west and south, which is fed by the glacier bed of the Western Cwm, an enclosed valley of ice between Everest and the Lhotse-Nuptse Ridge to the south. Glacial action has been the primary force behind the heavy and continuous erosion of Everest and the other high Himalayan peaks.\nFrozen pond on the Khumbu Glacier, near Mount Everest, Himalayas, Nepal.\n© Shawn McCullars\nThe mountain’s drainage pattern radiates to the southwest, north, and east. The Khumbu Glacier melts into the Lobujya (Lobuche) River of Nepal, which flows southward as the Imja River to its confluence with the Dudh Kosi River . In Tibet the Rong River originates from the Pumori and Rongbuk glaciers and the Kama River from the Kangshung Glacier: both flow into the Arun River, which cuts through the Himalayas into Nepal. The Rong, Dudh Kosi, and Kama river valleys form, respectively, the northern, southern, and eastern access routes to the summit.\nBuddhist prayer flags fluttering in front of the Mount Everest massif; in the foreground is the …\nAlan Kearney—Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images\nConnect with Britannica\nFacebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest\nThe climate of Everest is always hostile to living things. The warmest average daytime temperature (in July) is only about −2 °F (−19 °C) on the summit; in January , the coldest month, summit temperatures average −33 °F (−36 °C) and can drop as low as −76 °F (−60 °C). Storms can come up suddenly, and temperatures can plummet unexpectedly. The peak of Everest is so high that it reaches the lower limit of the jet stream , and it can be buffeted by sustained winds of more than 100 miles (160 km) per hour. Precipitation falls as snow during the summer monsoon (late May to mid-September). The risk of frostbite to climbers on Everest is extremely high.\nThe height of Everest\nControversy over the exact elevation of the summit developed because of variations in snow level, gravity deviation, and light refraction. The figure 29,028 feet (8,848 metres), plus or minus a fraction, was established by the Survey of India between 1952 and 1954 and became widely accepted. This value was used by most researchers, mapping agencies, and publishers until 1999.\nAttempts were subsequently made to remeasure the mountain’s height. A Chinese survey in 1975 obtained the figure of 29,029.24 feet (8,848.11 metres), and an Italian survey, using satellite surveying techniques, obtained a value of 29,108 feet (8,872 metres) in 1987, but questions arose about the methods used. In 1992 another Italian survey, using the Global Positioning System ( GPS ) and laser measurement technology, yielded the figure 29,023 feet (8,846 metres) by subtracting from the measured height 6.5 feet (2 metres) of ice and snow on the summit, but the methodology used was again called into question.\nIn 1999 an American survey, sponsored by the (U.S.) National Geographic Society and others, took precise measurements using GPS equipment. Their finding of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres), plus or minus 6.5 feet (2 metres), was accepted by the society and by various specialists in the fields of geodesy and cartography . The Chinese mounted another expedition in 2005 that utilized ice-penetrating radar in conjunction with GPS equipment. The result of this was what the Chinese called a “rock height” of 29,017.12 feet (8,844.43 metres), which, though widely reported in the media, was recognized only by China for the next several years. Nepal in particular disputed the Chinese figure, preferring what was termed the “snow height” of 29,028 feet. In April 2010 China and Nepal agreed to recognize the validity of both figures.\nHuman factors\nEditor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies\nHabitation\nEverest is so tall and its climate so severe that it is incapable of supporting sustained human occupation, but the valleys below the mountain are inhabited by Tibetan-speaking peoples. Notable among these are the Sherpa s, who live in villages at elevations up to about 14,000 feet (4,270 metres) in the Khumbu valley of Nepal and other locations. Traditionally an agricultural people with little cultivable land at their disposal, the Sherpas for years were traders and led a seminomadic lifestyle in their search for pastureland. In summer , livestock was grazed as high as 16,000 feet (4,880 metres), while winter refuge was taken at lower elevations on sheltered ledges and along riverbanks.\nA herders’ shelter in the Mount Everest region of the Himalayas; Lhotse I, just southeast of …\nTed Kerasote/Photo Researchers\nLiving in close proximity to the world’s highest mountains, the Sherpas traditionally treated the Himalayas as sacred—building Buddhist monasteries at their base, placing prayer flags on the slopes, and establishing sanctuaries for the wildlife of the valleys that included musk deer, monal pheasant, and Himalayan partridge. Gods and demons were believed to live in the high peaks, and the Yeti (the so-called Abominable Snowman ) was said to roam the lower slopes. For these reasons, the Sherpas traditionally did not climb the mountains.\nHowever, beginning with the British expeditions of the early 20th century, surveying and portering work became available. Eventually, the respect and pay earned in mountaineering made it attractive to the Sherpas, who, being so well adapted to the high altitudes, were capable of carrying large loads of cargo over long distances. Though Sherpas and other hill people (the name Sherpa came to be applied—erroneously—to all porters) tend to outperform their foreign clients, they typically have played a subordinate role in expeditions; rarely, for example, has one of their names been associated with a pioneering route on Everest. The influx of foreign climbers—and, in far greater numbers, trekkers—has dramatically changed Sherpa life, as their livelihood increasingly has come to depend on these climbing expeditions.\nIndustrial Revolution\nOn the Nepalese side of the international boundary, the mountain and its surrounding valleys lie within Sagarmatha National Park, a 480-square-mile (1,243-square-km) zone established in 1976. In 1979 the park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site . The valleys contain stands of rhododendron and forests of birch and pine, while above the tree line alpine vegetation extends to the feet of the glaciers. Over the years, carelessness and excessive consumption of resources by mountaineers, as well as overgrazing by livestock, have damaged the habitats of snow leopards , lesser pandas , Tibetan bears , and scores of bird species. To counteract past abuses, various reforestation programs have been carried out by local communities and the Nepalese government.\nExpeditions have removed supplies and equipment left by climbers on Everest’s slopes, including hundreds of oxygen containers. A large quantity of the litter of past climbers—tons of items such as tents , cans, crampons, and human waste—has been hauled down from the mountain and recycled or discarded. However, the bodies of most of the more than 280 climbers who have died on Everest (notably on its upper slopes) have not been removed, as they are unreachable or—for those that are accessible—their weight makes carrying them down extremely difficult. Notable in the cleanup endeavour have been the efforts of the Eco Everest Expeditions, the first of which was organized in 2008 to commemorate the death that January of Everest-climbing pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary . Those expeditions also have publicized ecological issues (in particular, concerns about the effects of climate change in the region through observations that the Khumbu Icefall has been melting).\nMountaineering on Everest\nThe human challenge\nMount Everest is difficult to get to and more difficult to climb, even with the great advances made in equipment, transportation , communications, and weather forecasting since the first major expeditions in the 1920s. The mountain itself lies in a highly isolated location. There are no roads in the region on the Nepalese side, and before the 1960s all goods and supplies had to be carried long distances by humans and pack animals. Since then, airstrips built in the Khumbu valley have greatly facilitated transport to the Everest vicinity, although the higher areas have remained accessible only via footpaths. In Tibet there is now a road to the north-side Base Camp.\nClimbers on the Nepali side of Mount Everest.\n© David Keaton/Corbis\nThere are only two brief time periods when the weather on Everest is the most hospitable for an ascent. The best one is in April and May, right before the monsoon . Once the monsoon comes, the snow is too soft and the likelihood of avalanche too great. For a few weeks in September, after the monsoon, weather conditions may also permit an attempt; by October, however, the winter storms begin and persist until March, making climbing then nearly impossible.\nIn addition to the challenges posed by Everest’s location and climate , the effects of high altitudes on the human body are extreme: the region in the Himalayas above about 25,000 feet (7,600 metres) is known as the “death zone.” Climbers at such high altitude have much more rapid breathing and pulse rates (as their bodies try to obtain more oxygen ). In addition, they are not able to digest food well (and often find eating unappealing), they sleep poorly, and they often find their thinking to be confused. These symptoms are manifestations of oxygen deprivation ( hypoxia ) in the body tissues, which makes any effort difficult and can lead to poor decisions being made in an already dangerous environment . Supplemental (bottled) oxygen breathed through a mask can partially alleviate the effects of hypoxia , but it can present an additional problem if a climber becomes used to the oxygen and then runs out while still at high altitude. (See also altitude sickness .)\nTwo other medical conditions can affect climbers at high elevations. High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) occurs when the body responds to the lack of oxygen by increasing blood flow to the brain ; the brain begins to swell, and coma and death may occur. High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a similar condition in which the body circulates additional blood to the lungs ; this blood begins to leak into the air sacs , and death is caused essentially by drowning . The most effective treatment for both conditions is to move the affected person to a lower elevation. It has been found that the drug dexamethasone is a useful emergency first-aid treatment when injected into stricken climbers, allowing them to regain movement (when they might otherwise be incapacitated) and thus descend.\nRoutes and techniques\nThe southern route via the Khumbu Icefall and the South Col is the one most commonly taken by climbers attempting to summit Everest. It is the route used by the 1953 British expedition when New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men known to have reached Everest’s summit. The northern route, attempted unsuccessfully by seven British expeditions in the 1920s and ’30s, is also climbed. It is now generally accepted that the first successful ascent via that approach was made by a Chinese expedition in 1960, with Wang Fuzhou, Qu Yinhua, Liu Lianman, and a Tibetan, Konbu, reaching the summit. The East Face, Everest’s biggest, is rarely climbed. An American team made the first ascent of it in 1983, and Carlos Buhler, Kim Momb, and Lou Reichardt reached the summit.\nMountaineer Apa Sherpa climbing through the Khumbu Icefall en route to his 20th ascent of the …\nPhoto courtesy of www.apasherpa.com\nPerhaps because most of the early climbers on Everest had military backgrounds, the traditional method of ascending it has been called “ siege” climbing. With this technique, a large team of climbers establishes a series of tented camps farther and farther up the mountain’s side. For instance, on the most frequently climbed southern route, the Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier is at an elevation of about 17,600 feet (5,400 metres). The theory is that the climbers ascend higher and higher to establish camps farther up the route, then come down to sleep at night at the camp below the one being established. (Mountain climbers express this in the phrase, “Climb high, sleep low.”) This practice allows climbers to acclimatize to the high altitude. Camps are established along the route about every 1,500 feet (450 metres) of vertical elevation and are given designations of Camp I, Camp II, and so on. Finally, a last camp is set up close enough to the summit (usually about 3,000 feet [900 metres] below) to allow a small group (called the “assault” team) to reach the peak. This was the way the British organized their expeditions; most of the large commercial expeditions continue to use it—except that all paying clients are now given a chance at the summit. Essential to the siege climbing style is the logistical support given to the climbers by the Sherpas.\nAmerican Robert Anderson, leader of the 1988 Everest expedition, follows a fixed rope up a steep …\n© Stephen Venables\nThere had been a feeling among some early 20th-century climbers that ascending with oxygen , support from Sherpas, and a large party was “unsporting” or that it missed the point of mountain climbing. British explorer Eric Shipton expressed the view that these large expeditions caused climbers to lose their sense of the aesthetic of mountain climbing and to focus instead on only achieving the summit. Top mountaineers, disenchanted with the ponderous and predictable nature of these siege climbs, began in the 1970s to bring a more traditional “ Alpine ” style of climbing to the world’s highest peaks; by the 1980s this included even Everest. In this approach, a small party of perhaps three or four climbers goes up and down the mountain as quickly as possible, carrying all needed gear and provisions. This lightweight approach precludes fixing miles of safety ropes and carrying heavy supplemental oxygen. Speed is of the essence. However, at least four weeks still must be spent at and around Base Camp acclimatizing to altitude before the party can consider a summit attempt.\nTents of the Mount Everest Base Camp dotting the background landscape behind a pony, Himalayas, …\n© Shawn McCullars\nEarly expeditions\nReconnaissance of 1921\nIn the 1890s British army officers Sir Francis Younghusband and Charles (C.G.) Bruce, who were stationed in India, met and began discussing the possibility of an expedition to Everest. The officers became involved with two British exploring organizations—the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and the Alpine Club—and these groups became instrumental in fostering interest in exploring the mountain. Bruce and Younghusband sought permission to mount an Everest expedition beginning in the early 1900s, but political tensions and bureaucratic difficulties made it impossible. Though Tibet was closed to Westerners, British officer John (J.B.L.) Noel disguised himself and entered it in 1913; he eventually got within 40 miles (65 km) of Everest and was able to see the summit. His lecture to the RGS in 1919 once again generated interest in Everest, permission to explore it was requested of Tibet, and this was granted in 1920. In 1921 the RGS and the Alpine Club formed the Mount Everest Committee, chaired by Younghusband, to organize and finance the expedition. A party under Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury set out to explore the whole Himalayan range and find a route up Everest. The other members were G.H. Bullock , A.M. Kellas, George Mallory , H. Raeburn, A.F.R. Wollaston, Majors H.T. Morshead and O.E. Wheeler (surveyors), and A.M. Heron (geologist).\nGeorge Mallory (seated, far left) and Guy Bullock (seated, third from the left), planners of the …\nThe Granger Collection, New York\nDuring the summer of 1921 the northern approaches to the mountain were thoroughly explored. On the approach to Everest, Kellas died of heart failure. Because Raeburn also fell ill, the high exploration devolved almost entirely upon Mallory and Bullock. Neither had Himalayan experience, and they were faced with the problem of acclimatization besides the difficulty of the terrain.\nThe first object was to explore the Rongbuk valley. The party ascended the Central Rongbuk Glacier, missing the narrower opening of the eastern branch and the possible line up Everest. They returned eastward for a rest at Kharta Shekar. From there they discovered a pass at 22,000 feet (6,700 metres), the Lhakpa (Lhagba), leading to the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. The saddle north of Everest, despite its forbidding appearance, was climbed on September 24 by Mallory, Bullock, and Wheeler and named the North Col. A bitter wind prevented them from going higher, but Mallory had from there traced a potential route to the summit.\nAttempt of 1922\nMembers of the expedition were Brigadier General C.G. Bruce (leader), Captain J.G. Bruce, C.G. Crawford, G.I. Finch, T.G. Longstaff, Mallory, Captain C.J. Morris, Major Morshead, Edward Norton , T.H. Somervell, Colonel E.I. Strutt, A.W. Wakefield, and John Noel. It was decided that the mountain must be attempted before the onset of the summer monsoon. In the spring, therefore, the baggage was carried by Sherpas across the high, windy Plateau of Tibet.\nSupplies were carried from Base Camp at 16,500 feet (5,030 metres) to an advanced base at Camp III. From there, on May 13, a camp was established on the North Col. With great difficulty a higher camp was set at 25,000 feet (7,620 metres) on the sheltered side of the North Ridge. On the next morning, May 21, Mallory, Norton, and Somervell left Morshead, who was suffering from frostbite, and pushed on through trying windy conditions to 27,000 feet (8,230 metres) near the crest of the Northeast Ridge. On May 25 Finch and Captain Bruce set out from Camp III using oxygen. Finch, a protagonist of oxygen, was justified by the results. The party, with the Gurkha Tejbir Bura, established Camp V at 25,500 feet (7,772 metres). There they were stormbound for a day and two nights, but the next morning Finch and Bruce reached 27,300 feet (8,320 metres) and returned the same day to Camp III. A third attempt during the early monsoon snow ended in disaster. On June 7 Mallory, Crawford, and Somervell, with 14 Sherpas, were crossing the North Col slopes. Nine Sherpas were swept by an avalanche over an ice cliff, and seven were killed. Mallory’s party was carried down 150 feet (45 metres) but not injured.\nAttempt of 1924\nMembers of the expedition were Brigadier General Bruce (leader), Bentley Beetham, Captain Bruce, J. de V. Hazard, Major R.W.G. Hingston, Andrew Irvine, Mallory, Norton, Noel Odell, E.O. Shebbeare (transport), Somervell, and Noel (photographer). Noel devised a novel publicity scheme for financing this trip by buying all film and lecture rights for the expedition, which covered the entire cost of the venture. To generate interest in the climb, he designed a commemorative postcard and stamp; sacks of postcards were then mailed from Base Camp, mostly to schoolchildren who had requested them. This was the first of many Everest public relations ventures.\nOn the climb itself, because of wintry conditions, Camp IV on the North Col was established only on May 22 by a new and steeper though safer route; the party was then forced to descend. General Bruce had to return because of illness, and under Norton Camp IV was reestablished on June 1. At 25,000 feet (7,620 metres), Mallory and Captain Bruce were stopped when the Sherpas became exhausted. On June 4 Norton and Somervell, with three Sherpas, pitched Camp VI at 26,800 feet (8,170 metres); the next day they reached 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). Norton went on to 28,100 feet (8,565 metres), a documented height unsurpassed until 1953. Mallory and Irvine , using oxygen, set out from the North Col on June 6. On June 8 they started for the summit. Odell, who had come up that morning, believed he saw them in early afternoon high up between the mists.\nInitially, Odell claimed to have seen them at what became known as the Second Step (more recently, some have claimed that Odell was describing the Third Step), though later he was less certain exactly where it had been. On the Northeast Ridge there are three “steps”—steep rock barriers—between the elevations of 27,890 and 28,870 feet (8,500 and 8,800 metres) that make the final approach to the summit difficult. The First Step is a limestone vertical barrier about 110 feet (34 metres) high. Above that is a ledge and the Second Step, which is about 160 feet (50 metres) high. (In 1975 a Chinese expedition from the north affixed an aluminum ladder to the step that now makes climbing it much easier.) The Third Step contains another sheer section of rock about 100 feet (30 metres) high that leads to a more gradual slope to the summit. If Odell actually saw Mallory and Irvine at the Third Step at about 12:50 pm, then they would have been some 500 feet (150 metres) below the summit at that point. However, there has long been great uncertainty and considerable debate about all this, especially whether the pair made it to the top that day and if they were ascending or descending the mountain when Odell spotted them. The next morning Odell went up to search and reached Camp VI on June 10, but he found no trace of either man.\nWhen Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he replied with the famous line, “Because it’s there.” The British public had come to admire the determined climber over the course of his three expeditions, and they were shocked by his disappearance. (The fate of Mallory remained a mystery for 75 years; see Finding Mallory and commemorating the historic ascents .)\nAttempt of 1933\nMembers of the expedition were Hugh Ruttledge (leader), Captain E. St. J. Birnie, Lieutenant Colonel H. Boustead, T.A. Brocklebank, Crawford, C.R. Greene, Percy Wyn-Harris, J.L. Longland, W.W. McLean, Shebbeare (transport), Eric Shipton, Francis S. Smythe, Lawrence R. Wager, G. Wood-Johnson, and Lieutenants W.R. Smyth-Windham and E.C. Thompson (wireless).\nHigh winds made it extremely difficult to establish Base Camp in the North Col, but it was finally done on May 1. Its occupants were cut off from the others for several days. On May 22, however, Camp V was placed at 25,700 feet (7,830 metres); again storms set in, retreat was ordered, and V was not reoccupied until the 28th. On the 29th Wyn-Harris, Wager, and Longland pitched Camp VI at 27,400 feet (8,350 metres). On the way down, Longland’s party, caught in a blizzard, had great difficulty.\nOn May 30, while Smythe and Shipton came up to Camp V, Wyn-Harris and Wager set off from Camp VI. A short distance below the crest of the Northeast Ridge, they found Irvine’s ice ax. They reckoned that the Second Step was impossible to ascend and were compelled to follow Norton’s 1924 traverse to the Great Couloir splitting the face below the summit. They crossed the gorge to a height about the same as Norton’s but then had to return. Smythe and Shipton made a final attempt on June 1. Shipton returned to Camp V. Smythe pushed on alone, crossed the couloir, and reached the same height as Wyn-Harris and Wager. On his return the monsoon ended operations.\nAlso in 1933 a series of airplane flights were conducted over Everest—the first occurring on April 3—which permitted the summit and surrounding landscape to be photographed. In 1934 Maurice Wilson, an inexperienced climber who was obsessed with the mountain, died above Camp III attempting to climb Everest alone.\nReconnaissance of 1935\nIn 1935 an expedition led by Shipton was sent to reconnoitre the mountain, explore the western approaches, and discover more about monsoon conditions. Other members were L.V. Bryant, E.G.H. Kempson, M. Spender (surveyor), H.W. Tilman, C. Warren, and E.H.L. Wigram. In late July the party succeeded in putting a camp on the North Col, but dangerous avalanche conditions kept them off the mountain. One more visit was paid to the North Col area in an attempt on Changtse (the north peak). During the reconnaissance Wilson’s body was found and buried; his diary was also recovered.\nAttempts of 1936 and 1938\nMembers of the 1936 expedition were Ruttledge (leader), J.M.L. Gavin, Wyn-Harris, G.N. Humphreys, Kempson, Morris (transport), P.R. Oliver, Shipton, Smyth-Windham (wireless), Smythe, Warren, and Wigram. This expedition had the misfortune of an unusually early monsoon. The route up to the North Col was finished on May 13, but the wind had dropped, and heavy snowfalls almost immediately after the camp was established put an end to climbing the upper part of the mountain. Several later attempts to regain the col failed.\nMembers of the 1938 expedition were Tilman (leader), P. Lloyd, Odell, Oliver, Shipton, Smythe, and Warren. Unlike the two previous parties, some members of this expedition used oxygen . The party arrived early, in view of the experience of 1936, but they were actually too early and had to withdraw, meeting again at Camp III on May 20. The North Col camp was pitched under snowy conditions on May 24. Shortly after, because of dangerous snow, the route was changed and a new one made up the west side of the col. On June 6 Camp V was established. On June 8, in deep snow, Shipton and Smythe with seven Sherpas pitched Camp VI, at 27,200 feet (8,290 metres), but the next day they were stopped above it by deep powder. The same fate befell Tilman and Lloyd, who made their attempt on the 11th. Lloyd benefited from an open-circuit oxygen apparatus that partly allowed him to breathe the outside air. Bad weather compelled a final retreat.\nGolden age of Everest climbs\nReconnaissance of 1951\nAfter 1938, expeditions to Everest were interrupted by World War II and the immediate postwar years. In addition, the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950 precluded using the northern approach. In 1951 permission was received from the Nepalese for a reconnaissance of the mountain from the south. Members of the expedition were Shipton (leader), T.D. Bourdillon, Edmund Hillary, W.H. Murray, H.E. Riddiford, and M.P. Ward. The party marched through the monsoon, reaching Namche Bazar, the chief village of Solu-Khumbu, on September 22. At Khumbu Glacier they found it possible to scale the great icefall seen by Mallory from the west. They were stopped at the top by a huge crevasse but traced a possible line up the Western Cwm (cirque, or valley) to the South Col, the high saddle between Lhotse and Everest.\nSpring attempt of 1952\nExpedition members were E. Wyss Dunant (leader), J.J. Asper, R. Aubert, G. Chevalley, R. Dittert (leader of climbing party), L. Flory, E. Hofstetter, P.C. Bonnant, R. Lambert, A. Roch, A. Lombard (geologist), and A. Zimmermann (botanist). This strong Swiss party first set foot on the Khumbu Icefall on April 26. After considerable difficulty with the route, they overcame the final crevasse by means of a rope bridge. The 4,000-foot (1,220-metre) face of Lhotse, which had to be climbed to reach the South Col, was attempted by a route running beside a long spur of rock christened the Éperon des Genevois. The first party, Lambert, Flory, Aubert, and Tenzing Norgay (sirdar, or leader of the porters), with five Sherpas, tried to reach the col in one day. They were compelled to bivouac quite a distance below it (May 25) and the next day reached the summit of the Éperon, at 26,300 feet (8,016 metres), whence they descended to the col and pitched camp. On May 27 the party (less the five Sherpas) climbed up the Southeast Ridge. They reached approximately 27,200 feet (8,290 metres), and there Lambert and Tenzing bivouacked. The next day they pushed on up the ridge and turned back at approximately 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). Also on May 28 Asper, Chevalley, Dittert, Hofstetter, and Roch reached the South Col, but they were prevented by wind conditions from going higher and descended to the base.\nAutumn attempt of 1952\nMembers of this second Swiss expedition were Chevalley (leader), J. Buzio, G. Gross, Lambert, E. Reiss, A. Spöhel, and Norman Dyhrenfurth (photographer). The party found the icefall easier to climb than in the spring and had brought poles to bridge the great crevasse. Camp IV was occupied on October 20. Higher up, however, they were constantly harassed by bitterly cold winds. On the ice slope below the Éperon one Sherpa was killed, and the party took to the glaciated face of Lhotse on the right. The South Col was reached on November 19, but the summit party climbed only 300 feet (90 metres) higher before being forced to withdraw.\nThe historic ascent of 1953\nMembers of the expedition, which was sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club, were Colonel John Hunt (leader; later Baron Hunt), G.C. Band, Bourdillon, R.C. Evans, A. Gregory, Edmund Hillary , W.G. Lowe, C.W.F. Noyce, M.P. Ward, M.H. Westmacott, Major C.G. Wylie (transport), T. Stobart (cinematographer), and L.G.C. Pugh (physiologist). After three weeks’ training on neighbouring mountains, a route was worked out up the Khumbu Icefall, and it was possible to start ferrying loads of supplies to the Western Cwm head. Two forms of oxygen apparatus, closed- and open-circuit types, were tried. As a result of a reconnaissance of Lhotse in early May, Hunt decided that Bourdillon and Evans, experts on closed-circuit, should make the first attempt from the South Col. Hillary with Tenzing Norgay as sirdar were to follow, using open-circuit and a higher camp.\nRoute of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the summit of Mount Everest, May 1953.\nBased on the map published by the Royal Geograhical Society\nLowe spent nine days, most of them with Ang Nyima Sherpa, working at the lower section of the Lhotse face. On May 17 a camp was pitched on it at 24,000 feet (7,315 metres). The route on the upper part of the face, over the top of the Éperon, was first made by Noyce and Annullu Sherpa on May 21. The next day 13 Sherpas led by Wylie, with Hillary and Tenzing ahead, reached the col and dumped loads. The fine weather continued from May 14 but with high winds. On May 24 the first summit party, with Hunt and two Sherpas in support, reached the col. On the 26th Evans and Bourdillon climbed to the South Summit of Everest, but by then it was too late in the day to go farther. Meanwhile Hunt and Da Namgyal Sherpa left loads for a ridge camp at 27,350 feet (8,335 metres).\nOn the 28th the ridge camp was established at 27,900 feet (8,500 metres) by Hillary, Tenzing, Lowe, Gregory, and Ang Nyima, and Hillary and Tenzing passed the night there. The two set out early on the morning of May 29, reaching the South Summit by 9:00 am. The first challenge on the final approach to the summit of Everest was a fairly level ridge of rock some 400 feet (120 metres) long flanked by an ice “cornice”; to the right was the East (Kangshung) Face, and to the left was the Southwest Face, both sheer drop-offs. The final obstacle, about halfway between the South Summit and the summit of Everest, was a steep spur of rock and ice—now called the Hillary Step. Though it is only about 55 feet (17 metres) high, the formation is difficult to climb because of its extreme pitch and because a mistake would be deadly. Climbers now use fixed ropes to ascend this section, but Hillary and Tenzing had only ice-climbing equipment. First Hillary and then Tenzing tackled the barrier much as one would climb a rock chimney—i.e., they inched up a little at a time with their backs against the rock wall and their feet wedged in a crack between the rock and ice.\nEdmund (later Sir Edmund) Hillary and Tenzing Norgay preparing to depart on their successful summit …\nThe Granger Collection, New York\nThey reached the summit of Everest at 11:30 am. Hillary turned to Tenzing, and the men shook hands; Tenzing then embraced Hillary in a hug. Hillary took photos, and the two searched for but did not find signs that Mallory and Irvine had been to the summit. Tenzing, a Buddhist, made an offering of food for the mountain; Hillary left a crucifix Hunt had given him. The two men ate some sweets and then headed down. They had spent about 15 minutes on the top of the world.\nThey were met on the slopes above the South Col that afternoon by Lowe and Noyce. Hillary is reputed to have said to Lowe, “Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.” By June 2 the whole expedition had reassembled at the Base Camp.\nA correspondent for The Times, James (later Jan) Morris, had hiked up to Camp IV to follow the story more closely and was on hand to cover the event. Worried that other papers might scoop him, Morris wired his story to the paper in code. It reached London in time to appear in the June 2 edition. A headline from another London paper published later that day, “All this, and Everest too!” referred to the fact that Elizabeth II was being crowned on the same day on which the news broke about the success on Everest. After years of privation during and after World War II and the subsequent loss of empire, the effect of the successful Everest ascent was a sensation for the British public. The feat was also celebrated worldwide, but nowhere like in Britain and the Commonwealth, whose climbers had been so closely associated with Everest for more than 30 years. As Walt Unsworth described it in Everest,\nAnd so, the British, as usual, had not only won the last battle but had timed victory in a masterly fashion. Even had it not been announced on Coronation Day it would have made world headlines, but in Britain the linking of the two events was regarded as almost an omen, ordained by the Almighty as a special blessing for the dawn of a New Elizabethan Age. It is doubtful whether any single adventure had ever before received such universal acclaim: Scott’s epic last journey, perhaps, or Stanley’s finding of Livingstone—it was of that order.\nTenzing Norgay (right) and Edmund Hillary showing the kit they wore to the top of Mount Everest, …\nAP\nThe expedition little expected the fanfare that awaited them on their return to Britain. Both Hillary and Hunt were knighted in July (Hunt was later made a life peer), and Tenzing was awarded the George Medal. All members of the expedition were feted at parties and banquets for months, but the spotlight fell mostly on Hillary and Tenzing as the men responsible for one of the defining events of the 20th century.\nEverest- Lhotse, 1956\nIn 1956 the Swiss performed the remarkable feat of getting two ropes up Everest and one up Lhotse , using oxygen. Members of the expedition were A. Eggler (leader), W. Diehl, H. Grimm, H.R. von Gunten, E. Leuthold, F. Luchsinger, J. Marmet, F. Müller, Reiss, A. Reist, and E. Schmied. They followed roughly the British route up the icefall and the Lhotse face. From their Camp VI Reiss and Luchsinger reached the summit of Lhotse on May 18. Camp VI was moved to the South Col, and the summit of Everest was reached from a camp at 27,500 feet (8,380 metres) by Marmet and Schmied (May 23) and Gunten and Reist (May 24).\nAttempts of 1960\nIn 1960 an Indian expedition with Sherpas, led by Brigadier Gyan Singh, attempted to scale Everest from the south. Camp IV was established in the Western Cwm on April 19. Bad weather followed, but a party using oxygen reached the South Col on May 9. On May 24 three members pitched a tent at 27,000 feet (8,230 metres) on the Southeast Ridge but were turned back by wind and weather at about 28,300 feet (8,625 metres). Continued bad weather prevented the second summit party’s leaving the South Col.\nAlso that spring it was reported that a Chinese expedition led by Shi Zhanzhun climbed Everest from the north. By their account they reached the North Col in April, and on May 24 Wang Fuzhou, Qu Yinhua, Liu Lianman, and a Tibetan mountaineer, Konbu, climbed the slab by a human ladder, reaching the top at 4:20 am to place the Chinese flag and a bust of Mao Zedong . The credibility of their account was doubted at the time but later was generally accepted (see below The north approach ).\n(Cuthbert) Wilfrid (Francis) Noyce (Henry Cecil) John Hunt Stephen Venables\nThe U.S. ascent of 1963\nThe first American expedition to Everest was led by the Swiss climber Norman Dyhrenfurth, who selected a team of 19 mountaineers and scientists from throughout the United States and 37 Sherpas. The purpose was twofold: to reach the summit and to carry out scientific research programs in physiology, psychology, glaciology, and meteorology . Of particular interest were the studies on how the climbers changed physiologically and psychologically under extreme stresses at high altitudes where oxygen deprivation was unavoidable. These studies were related to the U.S. space program, and among the 400 sponsors of the expedition were the National Geographic Society , the U.S. State Department , the National Science Foundation , the Office of Naval Research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, the Atomic Energy Commission , and the U.S. Air Force .\nOn February 20 the expedition left Kathmandu , Nepal, for Everest, 180 miles (290 km) away. More than 900 porters carried some 26 tons of food, clothing, equipment, and scientific instruments. Base Camp was established at 17,800 feet (5,425 metres) on Khumbu Glacier on March 20, one month earlier than on any previous expedition. For the next five weeks the team selected a route toward the summit and established and stocked a series of camps up the mountain via the traditional South Col route. They also explored the more difficult and untried West Ridge route. On May 1 James W. Whittaker and Nawang Gombu Sherpa, nephew of Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit despite high winds. On May 22 four other Americans reached the top. Two of them, William F. Unsoeld and Thomas F. Hornbein, made mountaineering history by ascending the West Ridge, which until then had been considered unclimbable. They descended the traditional way, along the Southeast Ridge toward the South Col, thus also accomplishing the first major mountain traverse in the Himalayas. On the descent, Unsoeld and Hornbein, along with Barry C. Bishop and Luther G. Jerstad (who had also reached the summit that day via the South Col), were forced to bivouac in the open at 28,000 feet (8,535 metres). All suffered frostbite, and Bishop and Unsoeld later lost their toes; the two had to be carried out of Base Camp on the backs of Sherpas. On July 8 Dyhrenfurth and all members of the expedition were presented the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal by President John F. Kennedy .\nThe Indian ascent of 1965\nIn 1965 a 21-man Indian expedition, led by Lieutenant Commander M.S. Kohli, succeeded in putting nine men on the summit of Everest. India thus became the fourth country to scale the world’s highest mountain. One of the group, Nawang Gombu, became the first person ever to climb Mount Everest twice, having first accomplished the feat on the U.S. expedition.\nThe 1970s\nThe Southwest Face\nFrom 1966 to 1969 the government of Nepal banned mountaineers from climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas. When the ranges were reopened in 1969, the world’s top mountaineers—following the American example of 1963—set their eyes on new routes to Everest’s summit. With Tibet still closed and only the southern approach available, the obvious challenge was the huge Southwest Face rising from the Western Cwm. The crux of the problem was the Rock Band—a vertical cliff 2,000 feet (600 metres) high starting at about 26,250 feet (8,000 metres). A Japanese reconnaissance expedition reached the foot of the Rock Band in the autumn of 1969 and returned in spring 1970 for a full-scale attempt led by Matsukata Saburō. Failing to make further progress on the Southwest Face, the expedition switched to the easier South Col route, getting the first Japanese climbers, including the renowned Japanese explorer Uemura Naomi, to the summit.\nMount Everest, Himalayas, from Nepal.\n© Michelle Eadie/Fotolia\nExpeditions continued to lay “siege” to the Southwest Face. The most publicized of these climbs was the 1971 International Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth; however, internationalist ideals were savaged by the stresses of high altitude, and the expedition degenerated into rancour between the British and non-British climbers. In the spring of 1972 a European expedition led by the German Karl Herrligkoffer was equally inharmonious.\nThe battle for the Southwest Face continued in a predictable pattern: large teams, supported by Sherpas acting as high-altitude porters, established a succession of camps in the broad, snow-covered couloir leading to the foot of the intractable Rock Band. Success finally came in the autumn of 1975 to a British expedition led by Chris (later Sir Chris) Bonington, who got the full team and its meticulously prepared equipment to Base Camp by the end of August and made the most of the mainly calm weather during the September time window.\nClimbing equipment had changed significantly since 1953. In the mid-1970s rigid box-shaped tents were bolted to aluminum alloy platforms dug into the 45° slope. Smooth-sheathed nylon ropes were affixed to the rock face to make a continuous safety line, which climbers could ascend and descend very efficiently. The 1975 expedition was a smooth operation that utilized a team of 33 Sherpas and was directed by some of the world’s best mountaineers. Unlike previous expeditions, this team explored a deep gully cutting through the left side of the Rock Band, with Paul Braithwaite and Nick Estcourt breaking through to establish Camp VI at about 27,000 feet (8,230 metres). From there Doug Scott and Dougal Haston made a long, bold traverse rightward, eventually gaining the South Summit and continuing over the Hillary Step to the Everest summit, which they reached at 6:00 pm. Rather than risk descending in the dark, they bivouacked in a snow cave close to the South Summit—at 28,750 feet (8,750 metres), this was the highest bivouac in climbing history until Babu Chiri Sherpa bivouacked on the summit itself in 1999. Their oxygen tanks were empty, and they had neither tent nor sleeping bags, but both men survived the ordeal unharmed and returned safely to Camp VI in the morning. Two days later Peter Boardman and Pertemba Sherpa reached the summit, followed by Mick Burke heading for the top in deteriorating weather. Burke never returned; he is presumed to have fallen to his death in the whiteout conditions.\nThe first ascent by a woman\nWhen Scott and Haston reached the summit of Everest in September 1975, they found a metal surveying tripod left the previous spring by a Chinese team—definitive proof of the first uncontested ascent from the north. The Chinese team included a Tibetan woman, Phantog, who reached the summit on May 27. The honours for the first woman to summit Everest, however, belong to the Japanese climber Tabei Junko, who reached the top from the South Col on May 16. She was climbing with the first all-women expedition to Everest (although male Sherpas supported the climb.)\nThe West Ridge direct ascent\nWith the Southwest Face climbed, the next obvious—and harder—challenge was the complete West Ridge direct ascent from Lho Pass (Lho La). Just getting to Lho Pass from Base Camp is a major climb. The West Ridge itself then rises 9,200 feet (2,800 metres) over a distance of 3.5 miles (5.5 km), much of it over difficult rock. In 1979 a Yugoslav team, led by Tone Skarja, made the first ascent, fixing ropes to Camp V at an elevation of about 26,750 feet (8,120 metres), with one rope fixed farther up a steep rock chimney (a crack or gorge large enough to permit a climber to enter). On May 13 Andrej Stremfelj and Jernej Zaplotnik set out from Camp V for the summit. Above the chimney there were two more hard pitches of rock climbing. With no spare rope to fix in place, the climbers realized that they would not be able to descend via these difficult sections. After reaching the summit in midafternoon, they descended by the Hornbein Couloir, bypassing the hardest part of the West Ridge to regain the safety of Camp IV late that evening.\nClimbing without supplemental oxygen\nBeginning in the 1920s and ’30s, the received wisdom had been that an Everest climb needed a team of at least 10 climbers supported by Sherpas and equipped with supplemental oxygen for the final stages. In 1978 that belief was shattered by the Italian (Tyrolean) climber Reinhold Messner and his Austrian climbing partner Peter Habeler . They had already demonstrated on other high Himalayan peaks the art of Alpine-style climbing—moving rapidly, carrying only the barest essentials, and sometimes not even roping together for safety—as opposed to the standard siege style. Another innovation was their use of plastic boots, which were much lighter than the leather equivalent. In 1978 Messner and Habeler attached themselves as a semiautonomous unit to a large German-Austrian expedition led by Oswald Ölz. At 5:30 am on May 8, the two men left their tent at the South Col and started up the summit ridge carrying nothing but ice axes, cameras , and a short rope. The only external assistance was from the Austrians at their top camp, above the South Col, where the two stopped briefly to melt snow for drinking water. (In those days it was still common practice to place a top camp higher than the South Col; nowadays virtually all parties start their final push from the col, some 3,100 feet [950 metres] below the summit). Maintaining a steady ascent rate of about 325 feet (100 metres) per hour, they reached the summit at 1:15 pm. Habeler was terrified of possibly suffering brain damage from the lack of oxygen and made a remarkable descent to the South Col in just one hour. Messner returned later that afternoon. Exhausted—and in Messner’s case snow-blind from having removed his goggles—the two were escorted back down to the Western Cwm the next morning by the Welsh climber Eric Jones.\nMountaineer Reinhold Messner, who pioneered climbing Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen and …\nJohn MacDougall—AFP/Getty Images\nMessner and Habeler had proved that human beings could climb to the top of the world without supplemental oxygen; the German Hans Engl and the Sherpas Ang Dorje and Ang Kami were among several climbers who duplicated this feat in the autumn of 1978. However, for Messner, climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen was not enough: he now wanted to reach the summit completely alone. To do that unroped over the treacherous crevasses of the Western Cwm was considered unthinkable, but it was possible on the less-crevassed northern approach through Tibet; by the late 1970s Tibet was again becoming an option.\nThe north approach\nAfter China occupied Tibet in 1950, permission was denied to any expeditions from noncommunist countries wishing to climb Everest. In 1960 the Chinese army built a road to the Rongbuk Base Camp, then claimed to have made the first ascent of Everest from the north, following the North Col–North Ridge–Northeast Ridge route earlier explored by prewar British expeditions. Many in the West doubted the Chinese assertion, mainly because the official account—which included the claim that Qu Yinhua had scaled the notorious vertical cliff of the Second Step barefoot and which also made constant references to party solidarity and the inspiration of Chairman Mao—was deemed so improbable. Not for the last time, Everest was used as a vehicle for propaganda .\nSince that time, however, people in the West have seen Qu’s feet, mutilated by frostbite, and experts have reexamined the 1960 photos and film—many now believe that Qu, Wang Fuzhou, Liu Lianman, and the Tibetan, Konbu, did indeed reach the summit on May 25, 1960. What none can doubt is the Chinese repeat ascent of 1975 by eight Tibetans (including Phantog) and one Chinese. On that climb the group bolted an aluminium ladder to the Second Step, which has remained there and greatly aided all subsequent ascents on what has become the standard route from the north.\nThe 1980s\nIn 1979 the Chinese authorities announced that noncommunist countries could again begin mounting Everest expeditions through Tibet. Japan was first to do so, with a joint Sino-Japanese expedition led by Watanabe Hyōrikō in the spring of 1980. Half of the 1980 team repeated the Chinese North Ridge–Northeast Ridge route, with Katō Yasuo reaching the summit alone—making him the first person to climb Everest from the south and north. Meanwhile, another team made the first complete ascent of the North Face from the Central Rongbuk Glacier. The upper face is split by the Great Couloir on the left and the Hornbein Couloir (first attained from the West Ridge in 1963) on the right. The 1980 team climbed a lower couloir (the Japanese Couloir) that led directly to the base of the Hornbein Couloir, which was then followed to the top. Shigehiro Tsuneo and Ozaki Takashi ran out of oxygen about four hours below the summit but continued without it, reaching the summit late and bivouacking on the way down. Once again, modern insulated clothing and modern psychological attitudes about what was possible on Everest had allowed climbers to push on in a manner unthinkable to the prewar pioneers.\nFirst solo climb\nReinhold Messner arrived at Rongbuk during the monsoon in July 1980. He spent a month acclimatizing, did one reconnaissance to the North Col to cache supplies there, then set off alone from Advance Base on the East Rongbuk Glacier before dawn on August 18. After a lucky escape from a concealed crevasse into which he had fallen, he reached the North Col, collected his gear, and continued to climb higher up the North Ridge. He then slanted diagonally right, as George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce had done in 1922, traversing a full 1.2 miles (2 km) before stopping to pitch his tent a second time, at 26,900 feet (8,200 metres). On the third day he entered the Great Couloir, continued up it, and achieved what had eluded Edward Norton, Lawrence Wager, Percy Wyn-Harris, and Francis Smythe by climbing rightward out of the couloir, onto the final terraces, and to the summit. Messner later recounted,\nI was in continual agony; I have never in my whole life been so tired as on the summit of Everest that day. I just sat and sat there, oblivious to everything.…I knew I was physically at the end of my tether.\nBack at his tent that night he was too weak even to eat or drink, and the next morning he jettisoned all his survival equipment, committing himself to descending all the way to Advance Base Camp in a single day.\nFurther exploration from Tibet\nMessner’s 1980 solo climb demonstrated just what could be done on the world’s highest mountain. With that same bold spirit, a four-man British team came to Rongbuk in 1982 to attempt the complete Northeast Ridge from Raphu Pass (Raphu La). While he was leading the climb of the first of the three prominent Pinnacles that start at about 26,900 feet (8,200 metres), Dick Renshaw suffered a mild stroke and was invalided home. The expedition leader, Chris Bonington, felt too tired to go back up, and thus it was left to Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker to attempt the final ascent. They were last seen alive between the First Pinnacle and the Second Pinnacle on May 17. Boardman’s body was found 10 years later, sitting in the snow near that point; Tasker has not been found.\nBase Camp for the 1988 ascent of Mount Everest via the East (Kangshung) Face, Tibet; prayer flags …\n© Stephen Venables\nIn 1981 a large American team made the first-ever attempt on Everest’s gigantic East Face from Kangshung Glacier. Avalanche risk thwarted the attempt, but the team returned in autumn of 1983 to attempt again the massive central buttress of the face. This produced some spectacularly hard climbing, led by George Lowe . Above the buttress, the route followed a broad spur of snow and ice to reach the Southeast Ridge just below the South Summit. Carlos Buhler, Lou Reichardt, and Kim Momb reached the Everest summit on October 8, followed the next day by Jay Cassell, Lowe, and Dan Reid.\nIn 1984 the first Australians to attempt Everest chose a new route up the North Face, climbing through the huge central snowfield, dubbed “White Limbo,” to gain the Great Couloir. Then, like Messner in 1980, the Australians cut out right, with Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer reaching the summit at sunset before making a difficult descent in the dark.\nThe most remarkable achievement of this era was the 1986 ascent by the Swiss climbers Jean Troillet and Erhard Loretan. Like Messner, they snatched a clear-weather window toward the end of the monsoon for a lightning dash up and down the mountain. Unlike Messner, they did not even carry a tent and sleeping bags. Climbing by night, resting during the comparative warmth of the day, they took just 41.5 hours to climb the Japanese and Hornbein couloirs up the North Face; then, sliding most of the way on their backsides, they descended in about 4.5 hours.\nDevelopments in Nepal\nWhile the most dazzling deeds were being done on the Tibetan side of Everest, there was still much activity in Nepal during the 1980s, with the boldest pioneering expeditions coming from eastern European countries. For dogged teamwork, nothing has surpassed the first winter ascent of Everest. Completed in 1980 by a team of phenomenally rugged Polish climbers, this ascent was led by Andrzej Zawada; expedition members Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki reached the summit on February 17. To crown this success, Zawada then led a spring expedition to make the first ascent of the South Pillar (left of the South Col), getting Andrzej Czok and Jerzy Kukuczka to the summit. Kukuczka, like Messner, would eventually climb all of the world’s 26,250-foot (8,000-metre) peaks, nearly all by difficult new routes.\nSeveral teams attempted to repeat the Yugoslav West Ridge direct route without success, until a Bulgarian team did so in 1984. The first Bulgarian to reach the summit, Christo Prodanov, climbed without supplemental oxygen, was forced to bivouac overnight during the descent, and died—one of four summiteers who climbed without oxygen in the 1980s and failed to return.\nThe first Soviet expedition to Everest, in 1982, climbed a new route up the left-hand buttress of the Southwest Face, involving harder climbing than the original 1975 route. Led by Evgeny Tamm, the expedition was highly successful, putting 11 Soviet climbers on the summit.\nThe end of an era\nThe last of the great pioneering climbs of the decade was via a new route up the left side of the East Face to the South Col. Led by American Robert Anderson, it included just four climbers who had no Sherpa support and used no supplemental oxygen. British climber Stephen Venables was the only member of this expedition to reach the summit, on May 12, 1988. After a harrowing descent, during which Venables was forced to bivouac overnight without a tent, all four members of the team made it back to the Base Camp.\nDuring the same period, more than 250 members of the “Asian Friendship Expedition” from China , Nepal, and Japan staged a simultaneous traverse of the mountain from north and south, which was recorded live on television. Also in 1988 the Sherpas Sungdare and Ang Rita both made their fifth summit of the mountain. That autumn the ace French climber, Marc Boivin, made the first paragliding descent from the summit; New Zealander Russell Brice and Briton Harry Taylor climbed the infamous Pinnacles on the Northeast Ridge; and four Czech climbers disappeared in a storm after making an Alpine-style climb of the Southwest Face without supplemental oxygen. The following year five Poles were lost in an avalanche on the West Ridge.\nThe increasing activity on Everest in 1988 foreshadowed what was to come. At the start of the spring season that year, fewer than 200 individuals had summited Everest. However, by the 2003 season, a half century after the historic climb by Hillary and Tenzing, that number exceeded 1,200, and more than 200 climbers had summited Everest two or more times. Both statistics grew dramatically in the succeeding decade, particularly the proportion of climbers with multiple ascents; by the end of the 2013 climbing season, the tally of successful ascents of the mountain was approaching 7,000, and some 2,750 had climbed it more than once.\nSince 1990\nCommercialism and tragedy\nIn the 1950s and ’60s the expense of mounting an expedition to Everest was so great and the number of climbers familiar with the Himalayas so few that there were many years in which no team attempted the mountain. By the 1970s expeditions had become more common, but Nepal was still issuing only two or three permits per year. In the 1980s permits became available for both the pre- and post- monsoon seasons and for routes via China as well as Nepal , and the total number of expeditions increased to about 10 per year. During the 1990s it became normal for there to be at least 10 expeditions per season on each side of the mountain, and those numbers continued to increase after 2000.\nAustralian climber Lincoln Hall on Mount Everest in May 1996, a survivor of the deadly events on …\nJamie McGuinness—Project-Himalaya.com/AP\nOne of the most successful operators, New Zealander Rob Hall, had led teams up the South Col route to the summit in 1990 and in 1992, ’93, and ’94. On May 10, 1996, his group and several other teams were caught at the summit in a bad afternoon storm. Hall and his American client, Doug Hansen, both died at the South Summit. An American guide from a separate commercial expedition, Scott Fischer, also died, along with several other climbers, including three Indians, on the Northeast Ridge. Although the deaths in the late 1980s had gone almost unnoticed, those from the 1996 storm were reported instantly over the Internet and generated massive press coverage and disaster literature. In all, 12 climbers died in that year’s pre-monsoon season, and an additional 3 died after the monsoon. The 1996 disaster may have caught the world’s attention, but it did nothing to decrease the lure of Everest. If anything, commercial traffic increased dramatically, despite the obvious message that no guide can guarantee a climber’s safety at such great heights. Indeed, after 2000 the number of climbers making it to the top of Everest continued to rise, reaching a peak of some 630 in 2007 and exceeding 650 in 2013.\nIt became increasingly common for several expeditions to be operating simultaneously on the mountain and for dozens of climbers to reach the summit on a single day; on May 23, 2001, nearly 90 accomplished the feat, and in succeeding years daily totals typically approached or exceeded that number during the peak of the May climbing season. An unprecedented 234 climbers made it to the top on May 19, 2012. Such large throngs of climbers inevitably created traffic jams in some of the narrower passages. One of the more notorious of those instances was on the record day, May 19, 2012, when the climbers became dangerously backed up at the Hillary Step. Four people died then, prompting expedition leaders to better coordinate their final ascent attempts with each other.\nSouthern (Hillary-Tenzing) summit route up Mount Everest showing the location of the April 18, …\nPhoto: Lee Klopfer/Alamy Art: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.\nOver the years, considerable improvements in climbing gear and equipment, technology (including mobile wireless availability on the mountain), and expedition planning have improved the safety of those climbing Everest. However, the region remains a highly dangerous place where tragedy can strike at any time. Two notable examples occurred almost exactly a year apart. On April 18, 2014, an avalanche struck a group of Sherpas who were carrying supplies through the Khumbu Icefall. A total of 16 died (13 confirmed; 3 missing and presumed killed), making it the deadliest single day in Everest climbing history to that date. On April 25, 2015, however, a massive earthquake in central Nepal triggered avalanches on Everest, one of which swept through Base Camp, killing or injuring dozens of climbers and workers there. The known death toll on the mountain was 19—which included one climber who died after being evacuated to a hospital—surpassing the total from the previous year. In addition, the route through the Khumbu Icefall was severely damaged, stranding dozens of climbers at Camps I and II above the icefall, who then had to be rescued by helicopter.\nClimbers walking to a helicopter landing site prior to evacuation from Mount Everest Base Camp, …\nPhurba Tenjing Sherpa—Reuters/Landov\nThe 2014 disaster put an end to the Nepalese-side climbing season, after the Sherpas decided that they would not climb. One Chinese woman did reach the summit after being helicoptered to and from Camp II, and some 125 climbers made it to the top from the north (Chinese) side. Soon after the 2015 Nepalese-side avalanche, Chinese officials announced that the climbing season on the north side was canceled. For a time, there was some discussion of trying to repair the damaged route through the icefall, but it was deemed not possible, thus effectively ending climbing on the south side also for that year’s spring season. The icefall route was repaired during the summer, and the Nepalese government issued a climbing permit to a Japanese mountaineer. In September he made a solo summit attempt before turning back at an elevation of about 26,740 feet (8,150 metres). As a result, 2015 was the first year in more than four decades that not one person had reached the top of Everest.\nExtraordinary feats\nIn pure mountaineering terms, the big achievements of the 1990s were the first winter ascent of the Southwest Face in 1993 (by a Japanese team led by Yagihara Kuniaki), the first complete ascent of the Northeast Ridge in 1995 (by another Japanese team led by Kanzaki Tadao), and the first ascent of the North-Northeast Couloir in 1996 (by a Russian team led by Sergei Antipin). Most of the activity, however, became concentrated on the two “normal” routes via the South Col and North Col; there the majority of expeditions were commercial operations, with clients paying for (generally) efficient logistics , satellite weather forecasts, the use of a copious amount of fixed ropes, and an increasingly savvy Sherpa workforce.\nMeanwhile, a few individuals continued to achieve astounding new feats. In 1990 Tim Macartney-Snape traveled on foot all the way from sea level in the Bay of Bengal to the summit of Everest, without supplemental oxygen. Goran Kropp took this a step further in 1996 by bicycling all the way from his native Sweden before ascending Everest; he then cycled home. In 2001 the first blind person, American Erik Weihenmayer, summited Everest; he was an experienced climber who had already scaled peaks such as Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska and Kilimanjaro in eastern Africa before his climb of Everest.\nBlind American climber Erik Weihenmayer on his successful summit ascent of Mount Everest in 2001.\n© Didrik Johnck/Corbis\nFor sheer physiological prowess, however, few could match the Sherpas: in 1999 Babu Chiri climbed the southern route from Base Camp to summit in 16 hours 56 minutes. However, this accomplishment was surpassed by two Sherpas in 2003— Pemba Dorje and Lakpa Gelu, with Lakpa summiting in just 10 hours 56 minutes. Not to be outdone, Pemba returned the next year and reached the top in 8 hours 10 minutes. Perhaps as remarkable were the achievements of Apa Sherpa . In 2000 he reached the summit for a record 11th time, and he continued to break his own mark in succeeding years. Beginning in 2008, Apa’s summit climbs were undertaken as a member of the Eco Everest Expeditions; he recorded his 21st ascent on May 11, 2011. Apa’s total was matched by another Sherpa, Phurba Tashi, in 2013.\nMountaineer Apa Sherpa on the summit of Mount Everest, 2009.\nMingma Sherpa\nThe record for the youngest person to reach the summit has been set several times since the advent of commercial Everest climbs. For some time it remained at 16 years after Nepal banned climbing by those younger than that age. However, at the time, China imposed no such restrictions, and in 2003 Ming Kipa Sherpa, a 15-year-old Nepalese girl, reached the summit from the Tibetan side. Her record was eclipsed in 2010 when American Jordan Romero, 13, reached the top—again from the north side—on May 22. Romero’s accomplishment was made all the more notable because it was the sixth of the seven continental high points he had reached.\nBeginning in the early 2000s, the record for the oldest person to ascend Everest alternated between two men, Japanese Miura Yūichirō and Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherchan. Miura—a former extreme skier who gained notoriety for skiing down the South Col in 1970 (the subject of an Academy Award -winning 1975 documentary, The Man Who Skied Down Everest)—set the standard at age 70, when he reached the top on May 22, 2003. On May 26, 2008, when he was 75, he made a second successful ascent, but Sherchan, age 76 and a former soldier, had summited the day before, on May 25, to claim the record. Miura regained the honour on May 23, 2013, at the age of 80. The oldest woman to reach the summit was another Japanese climber, Watanabe Tamae, who set the record twice: first on May 16, 2002, at age 63, and again on May 19, 2012, at age 73.\nSome of the most-remarkable of the “stunts” attempted since 1990 have been unusual descents. In 1996 Italian Hans Kammerlander made a one-day ascent and descent of the north side, the latter partly accomplished on skis. In 1999 Pierre Tardivel managed to ski down from the South Summit. The first complete uninterrupted ski descent from the summit was by Slovenian Davo Karničar in 2000, upstaged a year later by the French extreme sportsman Marco Siffredi with his even more-challenging snowboard descent of the North Face.\nFinding Mallory and commemorating historic ascents\nTwo notable Everest events bracketed the turn of the 21st century. In the spring of 1999, 75 years after George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had disappeared climbing Everest, an expedition led by American Eric Simonson set out to learn their fate. On May 1 members of the team found Mallory’s body lying on a scree terrace below the Yellow Band at about 26,700 feet (8,140 metres). It was determined that Mallory had died during or immediately after a bad fall: he had skull and compound leg fractures, and bruising was still visible on the preserved torso—probably caused by a rope that was still tied around his waist. The team could not determine if the body was the same one found by a Chinese climber in 1975 or if that one had been the body of Irvine. It was clear, however, that both Mallory and Irvine had been involved in a serious fall that broke the rope which undoubtedly joined them. Personal effects found on Mallory included his goggles, altimeter , and a pocketknife, but not the camera he is thought to have taken with him when he left for the summit. It had been hoped that the film from it (if it could be developed) might have revealed more about the climb, especially if the pair had reached the summit.\nThe 50th anniversary of Tenzing and Hillary’s historic ascent was widely observed in 2003. Commemoration of the event had actually begun the previous May, when second-generation summiteers—Hillary’s son Peter and Barry Bishop ’s son Brent—scaled the peak (the younger Hillary speaking to his father in New Zealand from the top via satellite phone); Tenzing’s son, Jamling Norgay, also participated in the expedition but did not make the final summit climb. In the spring of 2003 scores of climbers were able to reach the top of Everest before the May 29 anniversary date. Celebrations were held in several locations worldwide on the day itself, including one in Kathmandu where hundreds of past summit climbers joined Hillary and other members of the 1953 expedition.\nSeveral milestone anniversaries were observed in 2013. A variety of events were tied to remembering the 60th anniversary of Tenzing and Hillary’s climb, including summiting of Everest by hundreds of climbers and treks by others on and around its lower slopes. The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) hosted a special lecture on May 29 that included Peter Hillary, Jamling Tenzing, and Jan Morris—the latter being the last surviving member of the 1953 expedition. In March the RGS also hosted a 25th-anniversary reunion of members from the 1988 East Face expedition. Several members of the first U.S. ascent (1963), including James Whittaker and Norman Dyhrenfurth, gathered in San Francisco in February for an observance of the 50th anniversary of that expedition. In addition, the 80th anniversary of the first airplane flight over the mountain was remembered during the year.",
"Nanga_Parbat.txt\nNanga Parbat\nNanga Parbat (literally, Naked Mountain ; Urdu: ) is the ninth highest mountain in the world at 8126 m above sea level. It is the western anchor of the Himalayas around which the Indus river skirts into the plains of Pakistan. It is located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan and is locally known as 'Deo Mir' ('देओ मीर')('Deo' meaning 'huge') ('mir' meaning 'mountain'). \n\nNanga Parbat is one of the eight-thousanders, with a summit elevation of 8126 m. An immense, dramatic peak rising far above its surrounding terrain, Nanga Parbat is also a notoriously difficult climb. Numerous mountaineering deaths in the mid and early 20th century lent it the nickname \"killer mountain\".\n\nLocation\n\nNanga Parbat forms the western anchor of the Himalayan Range and is the westernmost eight-thousander. It lies just south of the Indus River in the Diamer District of Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan. Not far to the north is the western end of the Karakoram range.\n\nNotable features\n\nNanga Parbat has tremendous vertical relief over local terrain in all directions.\n\nTo the south, Nanga Parbat boasts what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world: the Rupal Face rises 4600 m above its base. To the north, the complex, somewhat more gently sloped Rakhiot Flank rises 7000 m from the Indus River valley to the summit in just 25 km, one of the 10 greatest elevation gains in so short a distance on Earth.\n\nNanga Parbat is one of only two peaks on Earth that rank in the top twenty of both the highest mountains in the world, and the most prominent peaks in the world, ranking ninth and fourteenth respectively. The other is Mount Everest, which is first on both lists. It is also the second most prominent peak of the Himalayas, after Mount Everest. The key col for Nanga Parbat is Zoji La in Kashmir, which connects it to higher peaks in the remaining Himalaya-Karakoram range. \n\nNanga Parbat along with Namcha Barwa on the Tibetan Plateau mark the west and east ends of the Himalayas.\n\nLayout of the mountain\n\nThe core of Nanga Parbat is a long ridge trending southwest–northeast. The ridge is an enormous bulk of ice and rock. It has three faces, Diamir face, Rakhiot and Rupal. The southwestern portion of this main ridge is known as the Mazeno Wall, and has a number of subsidiary peaks. In the other direction, the main ridge arcs northeast at Rakhiot Peak (7,070 m / 23,196 ft). The south/southeast side of the mountain is dominated by the massive Rupal Face, noted above. The north/northwest side of the mountain, leading to the Indus, is more complex. It is split into the Diamir (west) face and the Rakhiot (north) face by a long ridge. There are a number of subsidiary summits, including North Peak (7,816 m / 25,643 ft) some 3 km north of the main summit. Near the base of the Rupal Face is a beautiful glacial lake called Latbo, above a seasonal shepherds' village of the same name.\n\nClimbing history\n\nEarly attempts\n\nClimbing attempts started very early on Nanga Parbat. In 1895 Albert F. Mummery led an expedition to the peak, and reached almost 6,100 m (20,000 ft) on the Diamir (West) Face, but Mummery and two Gurkha companions later died reconnoitering the Rakhiot Face.\n\nIn the 1930s, Nanga Parbat became the focus of German interest in the Himalayas. The German mountaineers were unable to attempt Mount Everest, as only the British had access to Tibet. Initially German efforts focused on Kanchenjunga, to which Paul Bauer led two expeditions in 1930 and 1931, but with its long ridges and steep faces Kanchenjunga was more difficult than Everest and neither expedition made much progress. K2 was known to be harder still, and its remoteness meant that even reaching its base would be a major undertaking. Nanga Parbat was therefore the highest mountain accessible to Germans and also deemed reasonably possible by climbers at the time. \n\nThe first German expedition to Nanga Parbat was led by Willy Merkl in 1932. It is sometimes referred to as a German-American expedition, as the eight climbers included Rand Herron, an American, and Fritz Wiessner, who would become an American citizen the following year. While the team were all strong climbers, none had Himalayan experience, and poor planning (particularly an inadequate number of porters), coupled with bad weather, prevented the team progressing far beyond the Rakhiot Peak northeast of the Nanga Parbat summit, reached by Peter Aschenbrenner and Herbert Kunigk, but they did establish the feasibility of a route via Rakhiot Peak and the main ridge. \n\nMerkl led another expedition in 1934, which was better prepared and financed with the full backing of the new Nazi government. Early in the expedition Alfred Drexel died, probably of high altitude pulmonary edema. The Tyrolean climbers Peter Aschenbrenner and Erwin Schneider reached an estimated height of (7,895 m / 25,900 ft) on July 6, but were forced to return because of worsening weather. On July 7 they and 14 others were trapped by a ferocious storm at 7,480 m (24,540 ft). During the desperate retreat that followed, three famous German mountaineers, Uli Wieland, Willo Welzenbach and Merkl himself, and six Sherpas died of exhaustion, exposure and altitude sickness, and several more suffered severe frostbite. The last survivor to reach safety, Ang Tsering, did so having spent seven days battling through the storm. It has been said that the disaster, \"for sheer protracted agony, has no parallel in climbing annals.\" \n\nIn 1937, Karl Wien led another expedition to the mountain, following the same route as Merkl's expeditions had done. Progress was made, but more slowly than before due to heavy snowfall. Some time around the 14th of June seven Germans and nine Sherpas, almost the entire team, were at Camp IV below Rakhiot Peak when it was overwhelmed by an avalanche. All sixteen men died instantly. \n\nThe Germans returned in 1938 led by Paul Bauer, but the expedition was plagued by bad weather, and Bauer, mindful of the previous disasters, ordered the party down before the Silver Saddle, halfway between Rakhiot Peak and Nanga Parbat summit, was reached. The following year a small four man expedition, including Heinrich Harrer, explored the Diamir Face with the aim of finding an easier route. They concluded that the face was a viable route, but the Second World War intervened and the four men were interned in Pakistan . Harrer's escape and subsequent travels became the subject of his book Seven Years in Tibet.\n\nFirst ascent\n\nNanga Parbat was first climbed, via the Rakhiot Flank (East Ridge), on July 3, 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl, a member of a German-Austrian team. The expedition was organized by the half-brother of Willy Merkl, Karl Herrligkoffer from Munich, while the expedition leader was Peter Aschenbrenner from Innsbruck, who had participated in the 1932 and 1934 attempts. By the time of this expedition, 31 people had already died on the mountain. \n\nThe final push for the summit was dramatic: Buhl continued alone for the final 1300 meters, after his companions had turned back. Under the influence of the drugs pervitin (based on the stimulant methamphetamine used by soldiers during World War II), padutin, and tea from coca leaves, he reached the summit dangerously late, at 7 p.m., the climbing harder and more time-consuming than he had anticipated. His descent was slowed when he lost a crampon. Caught by darkness, he was forced to bivouac standing upright on a narrow ledge, holding a small handhold with one hand. Exhausted, he dozed occasionally, but managed to maintain his balance. He was also very fortunate to have a calm night, so he was not subjected to wind chill. He finally reached his high camp at 7 p.m. the next day, 40 hours after setting out. The ascent was made without oxygen, and Buhl is the only man to have made the first ascent of an 8000 m peak alone.\n\nSubsequent attempts and ascents\n\nThe second ascent of Nanga Parbat was via the Diamir Face, in 1962, by Germans Toni Kinshofer, Siegfried \"Siegi\" Löw, and A. Mannhardt. The route is now the \"standard route\" on the mountain. The Kinshofer route does not ascend the middle of the Diamir Face, which is threatened by avalanches from massive hanging glaciers. Instead it climbs a buttress on the left side of the face.\n\nIn 1970 the brothers Günther and Reinhold Messner made the third ascent of the mountain and the first ascent of the Rupal Face. They were unable to descend by their original route, and instead descended by the Diamir Face, making the first traverse of the mountain. Unfortunately Günther was killed in an avalanche on the Diamir Face. (Messner's account of this incident has been disputed. In 2005 Günther's remains were found on the Diamir Face.)\n\nIn 1971 Ivan Fiala and Michael Orolin summited Nanga Parbat via Buhl's 1953 route while other expedition members climbed the SE peak (7,600 m / 24,925 ft) above the Silbersattel and the foresummit (7,850 m / 25,760 ft) above the Bazhin Gap.\n\nIn 1976 a team of four made the sixth summit via a new route on the Rupal Face (second ascent on this face), then named the Schell route after the Austrian team leader. The line had been plotted by Karl Herrligkoffer on a previous unsuccessful attempt.\n\nIn 1978 Reinhold Messner returned to the Diamir Face and achieved the first completely solo ascent (i.e. always solo above Base Camp) of an 8,000 m peak.\n\nIn 1984 the French climber Lilliane Barrard became the first woman to climb Nanga Parbat, along with her husband Maurice Barrard.\n\nIn 1985, Jerzy Kukuczka, Zygmunt Heinrich, Slawomir Lobodzinski (all Polish) and Carlos Carsolio (Mexico) climbed a bold line up the Southeast Pillar (or Polish Spur) on the right-hand side of the Rupal Face, reaching the summit July 13. It was Kukuczka's 9th 8000m summit. \n\nAlso in 1985, a Polish women's team climbed the peak via the 1962 German Diamir Face route. Wanda Rutkiewicz, Krystyna Palmowska and Anna Czerwinska reached the summit on July 15.\n\n\"Modern\" superalpinism was brought to Nanga Parbat in 1988 with an unsuccessful attempt or two on the Rupal Face by Barry Blanchard, Mark Twight, Ward Robinson and Kevin Doyle. \n\n2005 saw a resurgence of lightweight, alpine-style attempts on the Rupal Face:\n\n*In August 2005, Pakistani military helicopters rescued Slovenian mountaineer Tomaž Humar, who was stuck under a narrow ice ledge at 5,900 m (19,400 ft) for six days. It is believed to be one of the few successful rescues carried out at such high altitude. \n*In September 2005, Vince Anderson and Steve House did an extremely lightweight, fast ascent of a new, direct route on the face, earning high praise from the climbing community. \n\nOn July 17 or 18, 2006, José Antonio Delgado from Venezuela died a few days after reaching the summit, where he was caught by bad weather for six days and was unable to make his way down. He is the only Venezuelan climber, and one of few Latin Americans, to have reached the summit of five eight-thousanders.[http://www.nangaparbat2006.explorart.com/ NANGA PARBAT 2006] Part of the expedition and the rescue efforts at base camp were captured on video, as Delgado was the subject of a pilot for a mountaineering television series. Explorart Films, the production company, later developed the project into a feature documentary film called Beyond the Summit, which was scheduled to be released in South America in January 2008.[http://www.masalladelacumbre.com/ Mas Alla de la Cumbre - Beyond the Summit]\n\nOn July 15, 2008, Italian alpinist Karl Unterkircher fell into a crevasse during an attempt to open a new route to the top with Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer. Unterkircher died, but Kehrer and Nones were rescued by the Pakistani army. \n\nOn July 12, 2009, after reaching the summit, South Korean climber Go Mi-Young fell off a cliff on the descent in bad weather in her race to be the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. \n\nOn July 15, 2012 Scottish mountaineers Sandy Allan and Rick Allen made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat via the 10 km-long Mazeno Ridge, and in April 2013 were awarded the Piolet d'Or for their achievement. \n\nWinter climbing\n\nNanga Parbat was first successfully climbed in winter on 26 February 2016, by a team consisting of Ali Sadpara, Alex Txikon and Simone Moro. \n\nPrevious attempts:\n* 1988/89 - Polish 12-member expedition KW Zakopane under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka. They first attempted the Rupal Face and then the Diamir Face. On the Messner route, Maciej Berbeka, Piotr Konopka and Andrzej Osika reached an altitude of about 6500-6800m. \n* 1990/91 - Polish-English expedition under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka reached the height of 6600m on the Messner route, and then Andrzej Osika and John Tinker by the Schell route up the Rupal Face reached a height of 6600m. \n* 1991/92 - Polish expedition KW Zakopane under the leadership of Maciej Berbeka from the Rupal valley. This light, bold attack in alpine style on the Schell route reached the height of 7000m. \n* 1992/93 - French expedition Eric Monier and Monique Loscos - Schell route on the Rupal Face. They came to BC on December 20. Eric reached 6500m on January 9 and on January 13 the expedition was abandoned.\n* 1996/97 - two expeditions: \n** Polish expedition led by Andrzej Zawada from the Diamir valley, Kinshofer route. During the summit attempt by the team of Zbigniew Trzmiel and Krzysztof Pankiewicz, Trzmiel reached a height of 7800m. The assault was interrupted because of frostbite. After descending to the base camp, both climbers were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital.\n** British expedition led by Victor Saunders, taking the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face. Victor Saunders, Dane Rafael Jensen and Pakistani Ghulam Hassan reached the height of 6000m. \n* 1997/98 - Polish expedition led by Andrzej Zawada from the Diamir valley, Kinshofer route. Expedition reached the height of 6800 m, encountered an unusually heavy snowfall. A falling stone broke Ryszard Pawłowski's leg. \n* 2004/05 - Austrian expedition by brothers Wolfgang and Gerfried Göschl via the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face reached the height of 6500m. \n* 2006/07 - Polish HiMountain expedition on the Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition led by Krzysztof Wielicki, with Jan Szulc, Artur Hajzer, Dariusz Załuski, Jacek Jawień, Jacek Berbeka, Przemysław Łoziński, and Robert Szymczak reached a height of 7000m. \n* 2007/08 - Italian Simone La Terra started climbing solo at the beginning of December, reaching a height of 6000m.\n* 2008/09 - Polish expedition on the Diamir side. Jacek Teler (leader) and Jarosław Żurawski. Deep snow prevented them from hauling their equipment to the base of the Face, forcing the base camp to be placed five kilometres earlier. Camp I set at an altitude of 5400m. \n* 2010/11 - two expeditions:\n** Sergei Nikolayevich Cygankow in a solo expedition on the Kinshofer route on the Diamir Face reached the 6000m. He contracted pulmonary edema and ended the expedition.\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz and Marek Klonowski - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Kinshofer route on the Diamir side reached 5100m. \n* 2011/12 - three expeditions:\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz, Marek Klonowski and \"Krzaq\" - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Kinshofer route on the Diamir side reached 5500m. \n** Denis Urubko and Simone Moro first Diamir side on the Kinshofer route, and then by Messner route in year 2000 reached a height of 6800m. \n* 2012/13 - four expeditions:\n** Frenchman Joël Wischnewski solo on the Rupal Face in an alpine style. He was lost in February and his body was found in September at an altitude of about 6100m. He went missing after February 6 and was probably hit by an avalanche. \n** Italy's Daniele Nardi and French Elisabeth Revol - Mummery Rib on the Diamir reached the height of 6450m. \n** Hungarian-American expedition: David Klein, Zoltan Acs and Ian Overton. Zoltan has suffered frostbite while reaching the base and did not participate in the further ascent. David and Ian reached the height of about 5400m on the Diamir Face.\n** Tomasz Mackiewicz and Marek Klonowski - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Schell route on the Rupal Face. Marek Klonowski reached a height of 6600m. February 7, 2013 Tomasz Mackiewicz in a lone attack reached a height of 7400m. \n* 2013/14 - four expeditions:\n** Italian Simone Moro, Germany David Göttler and Italy Emilio Previtali - Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition cooperated with Polish expedition. David Göttler, on February 28, set Camp IV at about 7000m. On March 1, together with Tomasz Mackiewicz reached an altitude of about 7200m. On the same day David and Simone decided to end the expedition. \n** Tomasz Mackiewicz, Marek Klonowski, Jacek Teler, Paweł Dunaj, Michał Obrycki, Michał Dzikowski - Polish expedition \"Justice for All - Nanga Dream\" by Schell route on the Rupal Face. Expedition cooperated with Italian-German expedition. March 1, Tomasz Mackiewicz and David Göttler reached an altitude of about 7200m. On March 8, at a height of about 5000m, Paweł Dunaj and Michał Obrycki were hit by an avalanche. Both were roughed up and suffered fractures. The rescue operation was successful.\n** German Ralf Dujmovits on the Diamir Face, by Reinhold Messner route in 1978 (as a filmmaker this expedition Pole Dariusz Załuski - he had no plan of summit attack). December 30 both came at 5500m. On January 2, because of the serac threat, Dujmovits decided to abandon the expedition. \n** Italy's Daniele Nardi. Solo expedition from the Diamir side on Mummery Rib. Italy set Camp I at 4900 and reached an altitude of about 5450m. On March 1 he decided to end the expedition.\n* 2014/15 - five expeditions:\n** Pole Tomasz Mackiewicz and Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol - Nanga Parbat Winter Expedition 2014/2015. The north-west Diamir Face, unfinished route by Messner-Hanspeter 2000. They reached 7800m. \n** Italian Daniele Nardi planning the trip solo summit Mummery Rib on the Diamir Face, accompanied by Roberto Delle Monache (photographer) and Federico Santinii (filmmaker)\n** A 4-member Russian expedition - Nikolay Totmjanin, Sergei Kondraszkin, Valery Szamało, Victor Smith - Schell route on the Rupal Face. They reached 7150m. \n** A 3-person expedition Iran - Reza Bahador, Iraj Maani and Mahmoud Hashemi\n* 2015/16 - five expeditions:\n** Nanga Light 2015/16 with Tomasz, Elisabeth Revol and Arsalan Ahmed Ansari. On January 22, Mackiewicz and Revol reached 7500m, but they were forced to cancel their attempt for the summit due to excessive cold. \n** Nanga Stegu Revolution 2015/16 with Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech. After an accident Bielecki's injuries after a fall, forced the team down.\n** \"Nanga Dream - Justice for All\" - under the lead of Marek Klonowski with Paweł Dunaj, Paweł Witkowski, Tomasz Dziobkowski, Michał Dzikowski, Paweł Kudła, Piotr Tomza and Karim Hayat and Safdar Karim. As of 19.01.2016 still at around 7000m, trying to reach the summit.[http://off.sport.pl/off/1,111379,19497118,nanga-parbat-bielecki-i-czech-w-drodze-do-domu-mackiewicz.html#TRrelSST]\n** International team consisting of Alex Txikon, Daniele Nardi and Ali Sadpara.\n** Italian team consisting of Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger.\n** The two above mentioned teams (with the exception of Daniele Nardi) joined their efforts and on 26 February 2016 Simone Moro, Alex Txikon and Ali Sadpara reached the summit, marking the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, while Tamara Lunger stopped a short way under the summit due to nausea and extreme cold,giving an interview to Noor abbas Qureshi, she told that she tried her best, but her health didn't allowed her to touch the summit.\n\nTaliban attack\n\nOn June 23, 2013, about 15 extremist militants wearing Gilgit Scouts uniforms shot to death ten foreign climbers (one Lithuanian, three Ukrainians, two Slovakians, two Chinese, one Chinese-American and one Nepali) and one Pakistani guide at Base Camp. Another foreign victim was injured. The attack occurred at around 1AM and was claimed by a local branch of the Taliban. (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan). \n\nReferences in popular culture\n\nBooks \n\nIn the first chapter of Mistress of Mistresses, by E.R. Eddison, the narrator compares his now deceased compatriot, Lessingham, to Nanga Parbat in a descriptive passage:\n\n\"I remember, years later, his describing to me the effect of the sudden view you get of Nanga Parbat from one of those Kashmir valleys; you have been riding for hours among quiet richly wooded scenery, winding up along the side of some kind of gorge, with nothing very big to look at, just lush, leafy, pussy-cat country of steep hillsides and waterfalls; then suddenly you come round a corner where the view opens up the valley, and you are almost struck senseless by the blinding splendour of that vast face of ice-hung precipices and soaring ridges, sixteen thousand feet from top to toe, filling a whole quarter of the heavens at a distance of, I suppose, only a dozen miles. And now, whenever I call to mind my first sight of Lessingham in that little daleside church so many years ago, I think of Nanga Parbat.\" (Mistress of Mistresses, 1935, p.2-3)\n\nJonathan Neale wrote a book about the 1934 climbing season on Nanga Parbat called Tigers of the Snow. He interviewed many old Sherpas, including Ang Tsering, the last man off Nanga Parbat alive in 1934. The book attempts to narrate what went wrong on the expedition, set against mountaineering history of the early twentieth century, the background of German politics in the 1930s, and the hardship and passion of life in the Sherpa valleys. \n\nMovies \n\nNanga Parbat is a movie by Joseph Vilsmaier about the 1970 expedition of brothers Günther Messner and Reinhold Messner. the film was managed by the CEO of nanga parbat adventure:Mr Liver Khan ], \n\nDonald Shebib's 1986 film The Climb covers the story of Hermann Buhl making the first ascent. \nSeven Years in Tibet features Nanga parbat.\n\nHans Ertl's 1953 documentary Nanga Parbat. \n\nComics \n\nNanda Parbat is a fictional city in the DC Comics universe, patterned after the fictional Shangri-La and the real Nanga Parbat in Pakistan.\n\nNearby peaks\n\n* Rakhiot Peak\n* Chongra Peak\n* Mazeno Peak\n* Rupal Peak\n* Laila Peak (Rupal Valley)\n* Shaigiri",
"History - Grand National\nGrand National History. The Grand ... Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was ... RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put ...\nHistory\nHistory\nIt is illegal for anyone aged under 18 to gamble\nGrand National History\nThe Grand National at Aintree has been a British sporting institution since 1839, when a horse called Lottery won the inaugural running and Captain Becher parted company with his horse at a now world famous brook.\nIn those days, the horses had to jump a stone wall, cross a stretch of ploughed land and finish over two hurdles. The race was then known as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.\nThe course was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829.\nThere is actually much debate regarding the first official Grand National; some leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree.\nHowever, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \"national�. To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836�1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838 leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar.\nSecondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time.\nFinally, a committee was formed to better organise the event.\nThese factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National.\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart.\nThe Grand National has produced a colourful array of stories throughout its illustrious past. Here are our favourites, including some famous video clips:\nRed Rum\nIt was over 40 years ago now that Red Rum recorded the first of the three victories in the Grand National that earned him pride of place in the record books forever. He still remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times and, as that statistic suggests, the great horse was a phenomenon.\nBred to be a sprinter, Red Rum went on to win the gruelling four-and-a-half mile chase in 1973, 1974 and 1977, as well as finishing second on his other two starts, to become the greatest Grand National performer ever. All of this was achieved after overcoming the debilitating bone disease pedalosteitis, which should have rendered him unraceable. However, fate stepped in: Red Rum was at probably the only yard in the country where the training took place on a beach. The sea water, into which trainer Donald �Ginger� McCain banished Red Rum after viewing the hobbling horse, worked an amazing transformation.\nOn 31 March, 1973, he started 9/1 favourite for his first Grand National. However, by the time the runners had reached the Chair the giant Australian chaser, Crisp, who was shouldering top weight of 12st (a weight that is now forbidden in the National), had built up a massive lead and appeared unstoppable with four fences to go. But, conceding 23lb to Red Rum, his stamina started to wane and he slowly began to falter at the famous Elbow after being more than 15 lengths in front of his rival at the last. Red Rum gradually wore Crisp down, getting up on the line to beat him by three-quarters of a length in a then record time of 9 min 1.9 sec, knocking nearly 20 seconds off Golden Miller's previous best under 12st 2lb in 1934 - this new record would stand for the next 16 years. You can watch this incredible race and finish here:\nRed Rum was never better than in the 1973/74 season when he won four more races before collecting his second Grand National, this time carrying the maximum weight of 12st. Giving 1lb to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, L'Escargot, Red Rum started third favourite at 11/1, racing off a mark nearly two stone higher than for his 1973 victory. He was the first to achieve the double since Reynoldstown in 1936. Only three weeks later, Red Rum won the Scottish Grand National as the 11/8 favourite under 11st 13lb.\nIt was then presumed that, having reached a zenith, Red Rum's talent would gradually decline in keeping with the rolling years. Between the autumn of 1974 and the spring of 1976, he ran in 18 chases, winning twice and being placed seven times. But he also gallantly failed to resist first L'Escargot and then Rag Trade in the 1975 and 1976 Grand National's.\nThe 1976/77 season began dismally. After an initial small win at Carlisle, Red Rum appeared totally lacklustre in his next four races, and even McCain began to think that he might have \"gone\".\nA foul winter had waterlogged the Southport sands, making them useless for training purposes, but Red Rum finally showed something like his old sparkle in his prep race for the 1977 Grand National, the Greenall Whitley Chase at Haydock. Worries about the now 12-year-old gelding's unwonted bulk abated when, in his last gallop before Aintree, he dazzled McCain and assorted members of the press who had gathered to watch.\nRidden by Tommy Stack, as he had been in 1976, Red Rum tackled his fifth Grand National in 1977. In the lead from the eighth last, Red Rum appeared momentarily to have a challenger in Churchtown Boy, but the latter's mistake at the third last compared with Red Rum's foot-perfect agility soon settled things in Rummy�s favour. The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening as he led up the long run-in, winning by 25 lengths under 11st 8lb and you can watch the historic race below:\nIn 1976, Red Rum had given Eyecatcher 17lb and beat her by eight lengths; in 1977, he gave her 21lb and a 31-length beating, rating an improvement at the age of 12 of two stone. The treble, five years in the making, had been achieved.\nThe celebrations in Southport which received the three-time Grand National winner home were long and rapturous. But the greatest Aintree horse of all time was not yet finished. Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was being trained for a sixth attempt at the great race.\nHe had run well all season, amassing two seconds and a fourth under mighty weights in his five races. But, after his customary pre-National work-out on the day before the big race, Red Rum pulled up lame. The problem proved to be a hairline fracture and the horse had to be retired.\nRetired, that is, from the realm of racing. But Red Rum's career as a celebrity continued - a role to which he was as well-adapted as to tackling the Aintree fences. He thrived as the centre of attention, as anyone who saw the 1977 episode of Sports Personality of the Year Awards can testify. Hearing the voice of Tommy Stack, who was speaking from his hospital bed with a broken pelvis, Red Rum immediately pricked his ears, displaying the great intelligence and showmanship so evident in the horse throughout his life. He went on to lead the parade in many Grand Nationals.\nRed Rum died on Wednesday, October 18, 1995 and was buried by the winning post on Aintree's Grand National course. His grave is marked by an engraved stone listing his Grand National record, and a life-size bronze commemorates this legendary competitor, along with a race staged at the Grand National meeting, the Red Rum Chase, named in the great horse's memory.\nAldaniti\nThere was hardly a dry eye among the crowd when Aldaniti won the Grand National in 1981. It was a victory for both courage and determination in the face of adversity.\nIn late 1979, Bob Champion, the successful jockey, was told that he had cancer and only months to live, while Aldaniti had almost been retired because of leg trouble. Against all the odds, the gallant partnership held on to beat Spartan Missile, ridden by John Thorne, a 54-year-old grandfather and amateur rider.\nThe winner's true-life story inspired the 1983 film Champions, starring John Hurt. Aldaniti died at the age of 27 in March, 1997. Bob Champion made a full recovery and, with the help of Aldaniti, has raised millions of pounds for cancer research.\nAldaniti's name was a jumble from the names of four grandchildren of his breeder, Tommy Barron: ALastair and DAvid Cook plus NIcola and TImothy Barron.\nThe Pitmans\nThe Pitman family has a special association with the Grand National. In 1983, Jenny Pitman became the first woman to train a winner of the race when Corbiere beat Greasepaint. She followed up this victory in 1995 with Royal Athlete who succeeded at the long odds of 40/1, but experienced heartbreak when Esha Ness \"won\" the 1993 void race.\nMark, her son, must have gone through similar emotions when he was caught in the dying strides by Seagram whilst riding Garrison Savannah in 1991, also trained by his mother. Garrison Savannah was bidding for an historic double � and to emulate the great Golden Miller � having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier.\nYears earlier, Richard Pitman, then-husband to Jenny and Mark's father, was caught even closer to the winning post by Red Rum, the Aintree specialist, when he partnered the gallant top weight Crisp in 1973.\nMrs Pitman was awarded an OBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List and in the same year fought a successful battle against cancer. She has now retired from training as, for the time being, has her son Mark who carried on the family tradition for a while (he trained Smarty to finish second in 2001 when only four horses completed the course in terrible conditions, and sixth in 2004).\nJenny Pitman was also one of the first batch of inductees to the Grand National Legends (the Hall of Fame-style initiative that was established in 2010), along with Red Rum and his trainer, Ginger McCain.\nWatch Corbiere win the 1983 Grand National ahead of Greasepaint:\nDevon Loch\nThe 1956 National is remembered more for the defeat of Devon Loch than for the victory of ESB. Owned by Her Majesty The Queen Mother, Devon Loch had the race won when he inexplicably gave a half-leap just 50 yards from the finish, sprawling and almost unseating Dick Francis, the unfortunate jockey, and leaving the crowd stunned. Afterwards, The Queen Mother famously said \"That's racing\".\nDebate still rages as to why the incident happened - according to some reports, Devon Loch suffered a cramp in the hindquarters and this caused the collapse. However, other reports claim that a shadow thrown by the water jump (which horses only jump on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have confused Devon Loch into thinking another leap was required and - unsure as to whether he should or not - he half-jumped and collapsed. Reports that the horse had suffered a heart attack were dismissed, as Devon Loch recovered far too quickly for that to have been the case.\nWhatever the truth, the incident so puzzled Francis that he became a thriller writer, inventing mysteries himself and over the decades Francis learned to be as philosophical. As did his wife Mary who once said that had he won the Grand National there would have been no bestselling autobiography and no thrillers.\n\"As I said in my autobiography, an ambulance came by and the driver said, �Jump in the back!� I was never more pleased to get away from all the people who were rushing towards me. What happened? I�ve thought about it time and time again...I remember jumping the last fence and I could hear the crescendo of cheering building up in the stands. There were 500,000 people there that day. They were all cheering for the Queen Mother. She was there and the Queen was there and Princess Margaret was there.\" Francis is quoted as saying.\n\"I never thought about it at the time but I heard them cheering and I just rode to the finish. I was winning easily. I didn�t have to pick up my stick or anything like that. I�ve looked at the newsreel time and again and as the horse approaches the water jump � which this time round he didn�t need to cross � you can see him prick up his ears and gallop past it. As he pricked up its ears � Christ! � his hindquarters refused to act and down he went on to his belly. How I didn�t fall off him I don�t know.\"\nDevon Loch is a metaphor now used in modern day sports and otherwise to explain the sudden, last-minute failure of teams or a sportsman to complete an expected victory, e.g. \"United can only hope Arsenal do a Devon Loch.\"\nDick Francis died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, by which time he had written 40 international best-sellers.\nWatch Devon Loch sprawl on the run-in to the 1956 Grand National, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and allowing ESB to claim an unlikely success:\nDevon Loch spread-eagled on the run-in at the 1956 Grand National\nFoinavon\nFoinavon sensationally won the 1967 National in bizarre circumstances. At the smallest fence on the second circuit, the 23rd, the riderless Popham Down cut right across the course causing a pile-up that almost brought the entire field to a standstill. John Buckingham, Foinavon's jockey, was able to steer his mount wide of the melee and thus won on the 100/1 outsider.\nThe Aintree executive named the fence in honour of the horse - fence 7 or 23 (depending on the circuit), at 4ft 6in, one of the smallest jumps on the course, is situated between the more daunting Becher's Brook and the Canal Turn.\nFoinavon has sometimes been likened to a slow plodding carthorse, but records show that his 1967 winning time was one of the fastest in this gruelling race. Equally, this so called no-hoper had taken part in some top class races before attempting the Grand National and he had finished fourth in a King George and took part in a Gold Cup at Cheltenham, so perhaps his odds of 100/1 may have been a bit generous (although the Tote SP was 444/1). Nevertheless, his owner was so unenthusiastic about his chances that he was not even at Aintree for the great race.\nBuckingham said later that at the time he did not realise that they were the only pair to jump the fence at the first attempt but he just kept going. Although some 17 horses remounted and finished the race the distance Foinavon had \"stolen\" at the obstacle meant that he led over the final seven fences to go on to collect his prize, 15 lengths clear of the fast-closing favourite, Honey End, and Red Alligator, who went on to win in 1968.\nFoinavon did also run in the following year's Grand National but fell or was brought down at the water jump.\nFoinavon was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by the much superior Arkle - both were named after Scottish mountains. She also owned Last Suspect who won the 1985 Grand National.\nWatch the 1967 Grand National, courtesy of British Path� (scroll to around 1 minutes, 20 seconds to see all the drama unfold):\nThe commentary of Michael O'Hehir of the carnage at the 23rd fence ranks among the most famous in the history of BBC televised sport and is often shown when BBC Sport puts together nostalgic montages of great sporting moments. O'Hehir received particular respect from his peers for the speed and unflustered coolness with which he identified Foinavon as the horse emerging from the m�l�e. O'Hehir later said in an interview that it was precisely the unfamiliarity of Foinavon's colours that made him so instantly recognisable during the race. O'Hehir visited the weighing room before the race, as is the custom of many National commentators, to familiarise himself more clearly with the colours of the silks but found himself completely stumped when looking at the black with red and yellow braces being worn by John Buckingham. Eventually O'Hehir had to ask Buckingham who his mount was. A confused O'Hehir said that his racecard showed two-tone green quarters, as worn by the rider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier, but Buckingham explained that the owner felt green to be unlucky and so had registered new colours for the National.\nThe \"Iron\" Duke of Alburquerque\nBeltr�n Alfonso Osorio y D�ez de Rivera, known as the \"Iron\" Duke of Albuquerque (1918-1994), surely ranks as the worst jockey in horse-racing history. After receiving a film of the Grand National as a gift for his eighth birthday, the Duke became obsessed with it: \"I said then that I would win that race one day,\" he later recalled. He nearly died trying.\nThis magnificently barking mad Spanish aristocrat and amateur jockey entered the Grand National seven times with impressively consistent results. Generally he would start with the others, gallop briefly and then wake up in the Royal Liverpool Infirmary (where apparently he always booked a private room when he rode in the race). Each year, Sir Peter O'Sullevan would gravely intone: \"And the Duke of Albuquerque's gone\".\nOn his first attempt in 1952, he fell from his horse at the sixth fence, nearly broke his neck and woke up later in hospital with a cracked vertebra. His next try was in 1963, when he fell from his horse yet again, this time at the fourth fence. Undeterred, he returned in 1965 but again fell from his horse after it collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.\nHis ineptitude was so apparent that in 1963 bookies even offered odds of 66/1 - against him even finishing the race atop his horse!\nHe returned in 1973 when his stirrup broke, although he clung on for eight fences before being sent into inevitable orbit.\nIn 1974, after having sixteen screws removed from a leg he had broken after falling in another race, he also fell while training for the Grand National and broke his collarbone. Nevertheless, he then competed in a plaster cast, this time actually managing to finish the race for the only time in his splendid career, but only in eighth (and last) place aboard Nereo: \"I sat like a sack of potatoes and gave the horse no help\" he said after the race.\nOne anecdote from this race is that he barged into Ron Barry at the second Canal Turn; Barry said \"What the f*** are you doing?\" to which he replied: \"My dear chap I haven't a clue...I've never got this far before!\"\nIn 1976, he sustained his most serious injuries after being trampled in a race by several other horses. He suffered seven broken ribs, several fractured vertebrae, a broken wrist and thigh, and a major concussion, and was in a coma for two days. After recovering he announced, at the age of 57, that he planned to race yet again. Race organisers wisely revoked his license \"for his own safety\".\nThough the Iron Duke never won the Grand National, he certainly broke more bones than any other jockey in attempting to do so.\nNotable Dates In Grand National History\n1837: THE DUKE wins the first Great Liverpool Steeplechase at Maghull, some three miles from the present site of Aintree racecourse.\n1839: Aintree becomes the new home for the event, with LOTTERY carrying off the prize and Captain Martin Becher christening the now-famous brook as he crawls in for safety after a fall.\n1847: MATTHEW records the first Irish-trained victory on the day the race is officially named the Grand National.\n1887: GAMECOCK wins the National at 20-1 and follows up by winning the Champion Chase over the big fences the very next day.\n1897: MANIFESTO, the 6-1 favourite, records the first of his two wins in the race. He ran eight times up to the age of 16, also finishing third three times and fourth once.\n1907: Jockey Alf Newey brings EREMON home in front, despite riding without stirrups from the second fence.\n1927: Ted Leader rides SPRIG to a popular victory in the first Grand National to be covered by a BBC radio commentary.\n1928: On the day of the race, before it had begun, TIPPERARY TIM'S jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!�. These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. It was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey, Tommy Cullinan, managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at odds of 100-1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers.\n1934: The legendary GOLDEN MILLER becomes the only horse ever to win the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, carrying 12st 2lb to victory in record time.\nIn the 1934 Grand National, Golden Miller set a new course record of 9 min 20.4s. That win was in the middle of five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup victories\n1947: CAUGHOO beats 56 opponents at a mist-shrouded Aintree and is then accused of only going round once.\n1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, looking certain to give The Queen Mother victory when clear on the run-in, suddenly sprawl flat on the ground yards from the winning post, allowing ESB to win.\n1967: The year of the horrific pile-up at the 23rd. John Buckingham and complete outsider FOINAVON avoid the melee and gallop on to a 100-1 win.\n1974: Grand National character the Duke of Alburquerque completes the course for the one and only time in numerous attempts on NEREO, despite breaking his collarbone only a week before the race.\n1977: The incomparable RED RUM rewrites the record books with his historic third victory. 'Rummy' had five runs, with three wins and two seconds, from the age of eight to 12.\n1979: RUBSTIC makes history by becoming the first Scottish-trained winner. His homecoming party was heralded by a piper leading him back to the hamlet of Denholm, Roxburghshire.\n1981: ALDANITI, nursed back from career-threatening injury three times, wins a fairytale National ridden by Bob Champion, who fought, and beat, cancer.\n1982: Dick Saunders, at the age of 48, becomes the oldest winning jockey on GRITTAR. Geraldine Rees becomes the first woman to complete the course, riding the leg-weary CHEERS.\n1983: Years of doubt about the Grand National's future are ended when the Jockey Club, helped by public donations, buys the course. CORBIERE's victory ensures Jenny Pitman goes into the history books as the first woman to train the winner.\n1987: Jim Joel becomes the oldest winning owner at 92. He is on his way back from South Africa when MAORI VENTURE wins a thrilling race from The Tsarevich.\n1993: The darkest day in the history of the National. There is chaos after a second false start as 30 out of the 39 jockeys began the race despite a false start being called, leading to a void result for the seven horses who finished. John White passes the post first on the Jenny Pitman-trained ESHA NESS, only to discover the race has been declared void.\nThe 1993 Grand National - the race that never was. Racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan described it as \"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National\"\n1994: MIINNEHOMA, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, gives multiple champion trainer Martin Pipe his first National victory, and 51-year-old grandmother Rosemary Henderson completes the course on her own horse FIDDLERS PIKE, who finishes fifth.\n1995: Jenny Pitman, the first lady of Aintree, gains her second success - two years after her first - with ROYAL ATHLETE.\n1997: The National has to be postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the IRA. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \"We'll fight them on the Becher's\", in reference to Winston Churchill's famous war-time speech. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. The rearranged race was won in spectacular style by 14/1 shot LORD GYLLENE.\nA mass evacuation of Aintree racecourse took place on Saturday 5 April 1997\n1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey team Tommy and Paul Carberry combine to land a first Irish win for 24 years with BOBBYJO.\n2000: Ted and 20-year-old Ruby Walsh emulate the feat of their compatriots 12 months previously as PAPILLON lands a gamble, backed from a morning 33-1 into 10-1 before taking the prize.\n2001: RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put in clear rounds in a race run in atrocious conditions, though all horses return unscathed.\n2003: MONTY'S PASS lands a massive gamble, with owner Mike Fuller netting close to �1million from ante-post bets. The horse is backed from 40-1 into 16-1 and romps home.\n2004: Ginger McCain, veteran trainer of Red Rum, enjoys an emotional victory as 12-year-old AMBERLEIGH HOUSE lands the spoils, having been third in 2003.\n2005: HEDGEHUNTER becomes the first horse since Corbiere in 1983 to carry more than 11st to victory in the great race, romping clear in great style under Ruby Walsh to slam Royal Auclair by 14 lengths. John Smith�s take over from Martell as the main sponsor.\n2006: John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\n2008: COMPLY OR DIE allows David Pipe to join his legendary father, Martin, in the record books as a National-winning trainer in just his second season. The race also carries record prize money of �800,000.\n2009: MON MOME becomes the biggest-priced winner since Foinavon when powering home at 100-1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell, who was having his first ride in the race.\n2010: DON'T PUSH IT, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus, provides perennial champion jockey Tony McCoy with his first success at the 15th attempt. McCoy went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award that year � the first person from the world of horse racing to do so. The 2010 renewal was also the first horse race to be televised in HD in the UK.\n2011: Another emotional victory as BALLABRIGGS� success on a sweltering day at Aintree allows Donald McCain to join his legendary father, Ginger, who trained both Red Rum and Amberleigh House, in the Grand National record books.\n2012: One of the closest finishes in the race�s illustrious history sees NEPTUNE COLLOGNES beat Sunyhillboy by a nose, giving Paul Nicholls his first Grand National success. Katie Walsh achieves the highest finishing position by a lady jockey by claiming third place on Seabass, trained by her father Ted.\n2013: Legendary showjumper Harvey Smith and his wife Sue send out 66-1 AURORAS ENCORE to cause a shock in a race in which only two of the forty runners fell on the first circuit. Fellow trainer Evan Williams has to settle for a place for the fifth time in as many years.\n2014: Part time trainer, Dr Richard Newland, landed the first ever �1 million renewal of the race, courtesy of PINEAU DE RE. William�s amazing run continued with Alvarado fourth for the Welsh handler.\n2015: Incredibly, another place for Williams with Alvarado fourth again behind MANY CLOUDS, who made a mockery of the trends as an eight year old carrying 11st 9lbs to land another victory in the race for Trevor Hemmings.\n© Where To Bet Ltd 2004-16 (contact us: [email protected])",
"History - Grand National\nGrand National History. The Grand National at Aintree has been a British ... Notable Dates In Grand National ... 1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, ...\nHistory\nHistory\nIt is illegal for anyone aged under 18 to gamble\nGrand National History\nThe Grand National at Aintree has been a British sporting institution since 1839, when a horse called Lottery won the inaugural running and Captain Becher parted company with his horse at a now world famous brook.\nIn those days, the horses had to jump a stone wall, cross a stretch of ploughed land and finish over two hurdles. The race was then known as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.\nThe course was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829.\nThere is actually much debate regarding the first official Grand National; some leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree.\nHowever, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as \"national�. To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836�1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.\nIn 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838 leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar.\nSecondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time.\nFinally, a committee was formed to better organise the event.\nThese factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National.\nBy the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in 1843 after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.\nLater in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart.\nThe Grand National has produced a colourful array of stories throughout its illustrious past. Here are our favourites, including some famous video clips:\nRed Rum\nIt was over 40 years ago now that Red Rum recorded the first of the three victories in the Grand National that earned him pride of place in the record books forever. He still remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times and, as that statistic suggests, the great horse was a phenomenon.\nBred to be a sprinter, Red Rum went on to win the gruelling four-and-a-half mile chase in 1973, 1974 and 1977, as well as finishing second on his other two starts, to become the greatest Grand National performer ever. All of this was achieved after overcoming the debilitating bone disease pedalosteitis, which should have rendered him unraceable. However, fate stepped in: Red Rum was at probably the only yard in the country where the training took place on a beach. The sea water, into which trainer Donald �Ginger� McCain banished Red Rum after viewing the hobbling horse, worked an amazing transformation.\nOn 31 March, 1973, he started 9/1 favourite for his first Grand National. However, by the time the runners had reached the Chair the giant Australian chaser, Crisp, who was shouldering top weight of 12st (a weight that is now forbidden in the National), had built up a massive lead and appeared unstoppable with four fences to go. But, conceding 23lb to Red Rum, his stamina started to wane and he slowly began to falter at the famous Elbow after being more than 15 lengths in front of his rival at the last. Red Rum gradually wore Crisp down, getting up on the line to beat him by three-quarters of a length in a then record time of 9 min 1.9 sec, knocking nearly 20 seconds off Golden Miller's previous best under 12st 2lb in 1934 - this new record would stand for the next 16 years. You can watch this incredible race and finish here:\nRed Rum was never better than in the 1973/74 season when he won four more races before collecting his second Grand National, this time carrying the maximum weight of 12st. Giving 1lb to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, L'Escargot, Red Rum started third favourite at 11/1, racing off a mark nearly two stone higher than for his 1973 victory. He was the first to achieve the double since Reynoldstown in 1936. Only three weeks later, Red Rum won the Scottish Grand National as the 11/8 favourite under 11st 13lb.\nIt was then presumed that, having reached a zenith, Red Rum's talent would gradually decline in keeping with the rolling years. Between the autumn of 1974 and the spring of 1976, he ran in 18 chases, winning twice and being placed seven times. But he also gallantly failed to resist first L'Escargot and then Rag Trade in the 1975 and 1976 Grand National's.\nThe 1976/77 season began dismally. After an initial small win at Carlisle, Red Rum appeared totally lacklustre in his next four races, and even McCain began to think that he might have \"gone\".\nA foul winter had waterlogged the Southport sands, making them useless for training purposes, but Red Rum finally showed something like his old sparkle in his prep race for the 1977 Grand National, the Greenall Whitley Chase at Haydock. Worries about the now 12-year-old gelding's unwonted bulk abated when, in his last gallop before Aintree, he dazzled McCain and assorted members of the press who had gathered to watch.\nRidden by Tommy Stack, as he had been in 1976, Red Rum tackled his fifth Grand National in 1977. In the lead from the eighth last, Red Rum appeared momentarily to have a challenger in Churchtown Boy, but the latter's mistake at the third last compared with Red Rum's foot-perfect agility soon settled things in Rummy�s favour. The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening as he led up the long run-in, winning by 25 lengths under 11st 8lb and you can watch the historic race below:\nIn 1976, Red Rum had given Eyecatcher 17lb and beat her by eight lengths; in 1977, he gave her 21lb and a 31-length beating, rating an improvement at the age of 12 of two stone. The treble, five years in the making, had been achieved.\nThe celebrations in Southport which received the three-time Grand National winner home were long and rapturous. But the greatest Aintree horse of all time was not yet finished. Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was being trained for a sixth attempt at the great race.\nHe had run well all season, amassing two seconds and a fourth under mighty weights in his five races. But, after his customary pre-National work-out on the day before the big race, Red Rum pulled up lame. The problem proved to be a hairline fracture and the horse had to be retired.\nRetired, that is, from the realm of racing. But Red Rum's career as a celebrity continued - a role to which he was as well-adapted as to tackling the Aintree fences. He thrived as the centre of attention, as anyone who saw the 1977 episode of Sports Personality of the Year Awards can testify. Hearing the voice of Tommy Stack, who was speaking from his hospital bed with a broken pelvis, Red Rum immediately pricked his ears, displaying the great intelligence and showmanship so evident in the horse throughout his life. He went on to lead the parade in many Grand Nationals.\nRed Rum died on Wednesday, October 18, 1995 and was buried by the winning post on Aintree's Grand National course. His grave is marked by an engraved stone listing his Grand National record, and a life-size bronze commemorates this legendary competitor, along with a race staged at the Grand National meeting, the Red Rum Chase, named in the great horse's memory.\nAldaniti\nThere was hardly a dry eye among the crowd when Aldaniti won the Grand National in 1981. It was a victory for both courage and determination in the face of adversity.\nIn late 1979, Bob Champion, the successful jockey, was told that he had cancer and only months to live, while Aldaniti had almost been retired because of leg trouble. Against all the odds, the gallant partnership held on to beat Spartan Missile, ridden by John Thorne, a 54-year-old grandfather and amateur rider.\nThe winner's true-life story inspired the 1983 film Champions, starring John Hurt. Aldaniti died at the age of 27 in March, 1997. Bob Champion made a full recovery and, with the help of Aldaniti, has raised millions of pounds for cancer research.\nAldaniti's name was a jumble from the names of four grandchildren of his breeder, Tommy Barron: ALastair and DAvid Cook plus NIcola and TImothy Barron.\nThe Pitmans\nThe Pitman family has a special association with the Grand National. In 1983, Jenny Pitman became the first woman to train a winner of the race when Corbiere beat Greasepaint. She followed up this victory in 1995 with Royal Athlete who succeeded at the long odds of 40/1, but experienced heartbreak when Esha Ness \"won\" the 1993 void race.\nMark, her son, must have gone through similar emotions when he was caught in the dying strides by Seagram whilst riding Garrison Savannah in 1991, also trained by his mother. Garrison Savannah was bidding for an historic double � and to emulate the great Golden Miller � having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier.\nYears earlier, Richard Pitman, then-husband to Jenny and Mark's father, was caught even closer to the winning post by Red Rum, the Aintree specialist, when he partnered the gallant top weight Crisp in 1973.\nMrs Pitman was awarded an OBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List and in the same year fought a successful battle against cancer. She has now retired from training as, for the time being, has her son Mark who carried on the family tradition for a while (he trained Smarty to finish second in 2001 when only four horses completed the course in terrible conditions, and sixth in 2004).\nJenny Pitman was also one of the first batch of inductees to the Grand National Legends (the Hall of Fame-style initiative that was established in 2010), along with Red Rum and his trainer, Ginger McCain.\nWatch Corbiere win the 1983 Grand National ahead of Greasepaint:\nDevon Loch\nThe 1956 National is remembered more for the defeat of Devon Loch than for the victory of ESB. Owned by Her Majesty The Queen Mother, Devon Loch had the race won when he inexplicably gave a half-leap just 50 yards from the finish, sprawling and almost unseating Dick Francis, the unfortunate jockey, and leaving the crowd stunned. Afterwards, The Queen Mother famously said \"That's racing\".\nDebate still rages as to why the incident happened - according to some reports, Devon Loch suffered a cramp in the hindquarters and this caused the collapse. However, other reports claim that a shadow thrown by the water jump (which horses only jump on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have confused Devon Loch into thinking another leap was required and - unsure as to whether he should or not - he half-jumped and collapsed. Reports that the horse had suffered a heart attack were dismissed, as Devon Loch recovered far too quickly for that to have been the case.\nWhatever the truth, the incident so puzzled Francis that he became a thriller writer, inventing mysteries himself and over the decades Francis learned to be as philosophical. As did his wife Mary who once said that had he won the Grand National there would have been no bestselling autobiography and no thrillers.\n\"As I said in my autobiography, an ambulance came by and the driver said, �Jump in the back!� I was never more pleased to get away from all the people who were rushing towards me. What happened? I�ve thought about it time and time again...I remember jumping the last fence and I could hear the crescendo of cheering building up in the stands. There were 500,000 people there that day. They were all cheering for the Queen Mother. She was there and the Queen was there and Princess Margaret was there.\" Francis is quoted as saying.\n\"I never thought about it at the time but I heard them cheering and I just rode to the finish. I was winning easily. I didn�t have to pick up my stick or anything like that. I�ve looked at the newsreel time and again and as the horse approaches the water jump � which this time round he didn�t need to cross � you can see him prick up his ears and gallop past it. As he pricked up its ears � Christ! � his hindquarters refused to act and down he went on to his belly. How I didn�t fall off him I don�t know.\"\nDevon Loch is a metaphor now used in modern day sports and otherwise to explain the sudden, last-minute failure of teams or a sportsman to complete an expected victory, e.g. \"United can only hope Arsenal do a Devon Loch.\"\nDick Francis died of natural causes on 14 February 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, by which time he had written 40 international best-sellers.\nWatch Devon Loch sprawl on the run-in to the 1956 Grand National, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and allowing ESB to claim an unlikely success:\nDevon Loch spread-eagled on the run-in at the 1956 Grand National\nFoinavon\nFoinavon sensationally won the 1967 National in bizarre circumstances. At the smallest fence on the second circuit, the 23rd, the riderless Popham Down cut right across the course causing a pile-up that almost brought the entire field to a standstill. John Buckingham, Foinavon's jockey, was able to steer his mount wide of the melee and thus won on the 100/1 outsider.\nThe Aintree executive named the fence in honour of the horse - fence 7 or 23 (depending on the circuit), at 4ft 6in, one of the smallest jumps on the course, is situated between the more daunting Becher's Brook and the Canal Turn.\nFoinavon has sometimes been likened to a slow plodding carthorse, but records show that his 1967 winning time was one of the fastest in this gruelling race. Equally, this so called no-hoper had taken part in some top class races before attempting the Grand National and he had finished fourth in a King George and took part in a Gold Cup at Cheltenham, so perhaps his odds of 100/1 may have been a bit generous (although the Tote SP was 444/1). Nevertheless, his owner was so unenthusiastic about his chances that he was not even at Aintree for the great race.\nBuckingham said later that at the time he did not realise that they were the only pair to jump the fence at the first attempt but he just kept going. Although some 17 horses remounted and finished the race the distance Foinavon had \"stolen\" at the obstacle meant that he led over the final seven fences to go on to collect his prize, 15 lengths clear of the fast-closing favourite, Honey End, and Red Alligator, who went on to win in 1968.\nFoinavon did also run in the following year's Grand National but fell or was brought down at the water jump.\nFoinavon was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by the much superior Arkle - both were named after Scottish mountains. She also owned Last Suspect who won the 1985 Grand National.\nWatch the 1967 Grand National, courtesy of British Path� (scroll to around 1 minutes, 20 seconds to see all the drama unfold):\nThe commentary of Michael O'Hehir of the carnage at the 23rd fence ranks among the most famous in the history of BBC televised sport and is often shown when BBC Sport puts together nostalgic montages of great sporting moments. O'Hehir received particular respect from his peers for the speed and unflustered coolness with which he identified Foinavon as the horse emerging from the m�l�e. O'Hehir later said in an interview that it was precisely the unfamiliarity of Foinavon's colours that made him so instantly recognisable during the race. O'Hehir visited the weighing room before the race, as is the custom of many National commentators, to familiarise himself more clearly with the colours of the silks but found himself completely stumped when looking at the black with red and yellow braces being worn by John Buckingham. Eventually O'Hehir had to ask Buckingham who his mount was. A confused O'Hehir said that his racecard showed two-tone green quarters, as worn by the rider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier, but Buckingham explained that the owner felt green to be unlucky and so had registered new colours for the National.\nThe \"Iron\" Duke of Alburquerque\nBeltr�n Alfonso Osorio y D�ez de Rivera, known as the \"Iron\" Duke of Albuquerque (1918-1994), surely ranks as the worst jockey in horse-racing history. After receiving a film of the Grand National as a gift for his eighth birthday, the Duke became obsessed with it: \"I said then that I would win that race one day,\" he later recalled. He nearly died trying.\nThis magnificently barking mad Spanish aristocrat and amateur jockey entered the Grand National seven times with impressively consistent results. Generally he would start with the others, gallop briefly and then wake up in the Royal Liverpool Infirmary (where apparently he always booked a private room when he rode in the race). Each year, Sir Peter O'Sullevan would gravely intone: \"And the Duke of Albuquerque's gone\".\nOn his first attempt in 1952, he fell from his horse at the sixth fence, nearly broke his neck and woke up later in hospital with a cracked vertebra. His next try was in 1963, when he fell from his horse yet again, this time at the fourth fence. Undeterred, he returned in 1965 but again fell from his horse after it collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.\nHis ineptitude was so apparent that in 1963 bookies even offered odds of 66/1 - against him even finishing the race atop his horse!\nHe returned in 1973 when his stirrup broke, although he clung on for eight fences before being sent into inevitable orbit.\nIn 1974, after having sixteen screws removed from a leg he had broken after falling in another race, he also fell while training for the Grand National and broke his collarbone. Nevertheless, he then competed in a plaster cast, this time actually managing to finish the race for the only time in his splendid career, but only in eighth (and last) place aboard Nereo: \"I sat like a sack of potatoes and gave the horse no help\" he said after the race.\nOne anecdote from this race is that he barged into Ron Barry at the second Canal Turn; Barry said \"What the f*** are you doing?\" to which he replied: \"My dear chap I haven't a clue...I've never got this far before!\"\nIn 1976, he sustained his most serious injuries after being trampled in a race by several other horses. He suffered seven broken ribs, several fractured vertebrae, a broken wrist and thigh, and a major concussion, and was in a coma for two days. After recovering he announced, at the age of 57, that he planned to race yet again. Race organisers wisely revoked his license \"for his own safety\".\nThough the Iron Duke never won the Grand National, he certainly broke more bones than any other jockey in attempting to do so.\nNotable Dates In Grand National History\n1837: THE DUKE wins the first Great Liverpool Steeplechase at Maghull, some three miles from the present site of Aintree racecourse.\n1839: Aintree becomes the new home for the event, with LOTTERY carrying off the prize and Captain Martin Becher christening the now-famous brook as he crawls in for safety after a fall.\n1847: MATTHEW records the first Irish-trained victory on the day the race is officially named the Grand National.\n1887: GAMECOCK wins the National at 20-1 and follows up by winning the Champion Chase over the big fences the very next day.\n1897: MANIFESTO, the 6-1 favourite, records the first of his two wins in the race. He ran eight times up to the age of 16, also finishing third three times and fourth once.\n1907: Jockey Alf Newey brings EREMON home in front, despite riding without stirrups from the second fence.\n1927: Ted Leader rides SPRIG to a popular victory in the first Grand National to be covered by a BBC radio commentary.\n1928: On the day of the race, before it had begun, TIPPERARY TIM'S jockey William Dutton heard a friend call out to him: \"Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!�. These words turned out to be true, as 41 of the 42 starters fell during the race. It was run during misty weather conditions with the going very heavy. As the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit, Easter Hero fell, causing a pile-up from which only seven horses emerged with seated jockeys. By the penultimate fence this number had reduced to three, with Great Span looking most likely to win ahead of Billy Barton and Tipperary Tim. Great Span's saddle then slipped, leaving Billy Barton in the lead until he too then fell. Although Billy Barton's jockey, Tommy Cullinan, managed to remount and complete the race, it was Tipperary Tim who came in first at odds of 100-1. With only two riders completing the course, this remains a record for the fewest number of finishers.\n1934: The legendary GOLDEN MILLER becomes the only horse ever to win the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, carrying 12st 2lb to victory in record time.\nIn the 1934 Grand National, Golden Miller set a new course record of 9 min 20.4s. That win was in the middle of five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup victories\n1947: CAUGHOO beats 56 opponents at a mist-shrouded Aintree and is then accused of only going round once.\n1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, looking certain to give The Queen Mother victory when clear on the run-in, suddenly sprawl flat on the ground yards from the winning post, allowing ESB to win.\n1967: The year of the horrific pile-up at the 23rd. John Buckingham and complete outsider FOINAVON avoid the melee and gallop on to a 100-1 win.\n1974: Grand National character the Duke of Alburquerque completes the course for the one and only time in numerous attempts on NEREO, despite breaking his collarbone only a week before the race.\n1977: The incomparable RED RUM rewrites the record books with his historic third victory. 'Rummy' had five runs, with three wins and two seconds, from the age of eight to 12.\n1979: RUBSTIC makes history by becoming the first Scottish-trained winner. His homecoming party was heralded by a piper leading him back to the hamlet of Denholm, Roxburghshire.\n1981: ALDANITI, nursed back from career-threatening injury three times, wins a fairytale National ridden by Bob Champion, who fought, and beat, cancer.\n1982: Dick Saunders, at the age of 48, becomes the oldest winning jockey on GRITTAR. Geraldine Rees becomes the first woman to complete the course, riding the leg-weary CHEERS.\n1983: Years of doubt about the Grand National's future are ended when the Jockey Club, helped by public donations, buys the course. CORBIERE's victory ensures Jenny Pitman goes into the history books as the first woman to train the winner.\n1987: Jim Joel becomes the oldest winning owner at 92. He is on his way back from South Africa when MAORI VENTURE wins a thrilling race from The Tsarevich.\n1993: The darkest day in the history of the National. There is chaos after a second false start as 30 out of the 39 jockeys began the race despite a false start being called, leading to a void result for the seven horses who finished. John White passes the post first on the Jenny Pitman-trained ESHA NESS, only to discover the race has been declared void.\nThe 1993 Grand National - the race that never was. Racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan described it as \"the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National\"\n1994: MIINNEHOMA, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, gives multiple champion trainer Martin Pipe his first National victory, and 51-year-old grandmother Rosemary Henderson completes the course on her own horse FIDDLERS PIKE, who finishes fifth.\n1995: Jenny Pitman, the first lady of Aintree, gains her second success - two years after her first - with ROYAL ATHLETE.\n1997: The National has to be postponed after two coded bomb threats were received from the IRA. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel, and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds, leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded. This prompted tabloid headlines such as \"We'll fight them on the Becher's\", in reference to Winston Churchill's famous war-time speech. The race was run 48 hours later on the Monday, with the meeting organisers offering 20,000 tickets with free admission. The rearranged race was won in spectacular style by 14/1 shot LORD GYLLENE.\nA mass evacuation of Aintree racecourse took place on Saturday 5 April 1997\n1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey team Tommy and Paul Carberry combine to land a first Irish win for 24 years with BOBBYJO.\n2000: Ted and 20-year-old Ruby Walsh emulate the feat of their compatriots 12 months previously as PAPILLON lands a gamble, backed from a morning 33-1 into 10-1 before taking the prize.\n2001: RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put in clear rounds in a race run in atrocious conditions, though all horses return unscathed.\n2003: MONTY'S PASS lands a massive gamble, with owner Mike Fuller netting close to �1million from ante-post bets. The horse is backed from 40-1 into 16-1 and romps home.\n2004: Ginger McCain, veteran trainer of Red Rum, enjoys an emotional victory as 12-year-old AMBERLEIGH HOUSE lands the spoils, having been third in 2003.\n2005: HEDGEHUNTER becomes the first horse since Corbiere in 1983 to carry more than 11st to victory in the great race, romping clear in great style under Ruby Walsh to slam Royal Auclair by 14 lengths. John Smith�s take over from Martell as the main sponsor.\n2006: John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.\n2008: COMPLY OR DIE allows David Pipe to join his legendary father, Martin, in the record books as a National-winning trainer in just his second season. The race also carries record prize money of �800,000.\n2009: MON MOME becomes the biggest-priced winner since Foinavon when powering home at 100-1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell, who was having his first ride in the race.\n2010: DON'T PUSH IT, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus, provides perennial champion jockey Tony McCoy with his first success at the 15th attempt. McCoy went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award that year � the first person from the world of horse racing to do so. The 2010 renewal was also the first horse race to be televised in HD in the UK.\n2011: Another emotional victory as BALLABRIGGS� success on a sweltering day at Aintree allows Donald McCain to join his legendary father, Ginger, who trained both Red Rum and Amberleigh House, in the Grand National record books.\n2012: One of the closest finishes in the race�s illustrious history sees NEPTUNE COLLOGNES beat Sunyhillboy by a nose, giving Paul Nicholls his first Grand National success. Katie Walsh achieves the highest finishing position by a lady jockey by claiming third place on Seabass, trained by her father Ted.\n2013: Legendary showjumper Harvey Smith and his wife Sue send out 66-1 AURORAS ENCORE to cause a shock in a race in which only two of the forty runners fell on the first circuit. Fellow trainer Evan Williams has to settle for a place for the fifth time in as many years.\n2014: Part time trainer, Dr Richard Newland, landed the first ever �1 million renewal of the race, courtesy of PINEAU DE RE. William�s amazing run continued with Alvarado fourth for the Welsh handler.\n2015: Incredibly, another place for Williams with Alvarado fourth again behind MANY CLOUDS, who made a mockery of the trends as an eight year old carrying 11st 9lbs to land another victory in the race for Trevor Hemmings.\n© Where To Bet Ltd 2004-16 (contact us: [email protected])"
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"Articles described as ""Treen"" are made from which material?" | Wood | [
"Hardwood.txt\nHardwood\nHardwood is wood from dicot angiosperm trees. The term may also be used for the trees from which the wood is derived; these are usually broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood contrasts with softwood (which is from gymnosperm trees). \n\nHardwood should not be confused with the term \"heartwood\", which can be from hardwood or softwood.\n\nCharacteristics\n\nHardwoods are produced by angiosperm trees that reproduce by flowers, and have broad leaves. Many species are deciduous. Those of temperate regions lose their leaves every autumn as temperatures fall and are dormant in the winter, but those of tropical regions may shed their leaves in response to seasonal or sporadic periods of drought. Hardwood from deciduous species, such as oak, normally shows annual growth rings, but these may be absent in some tropical hardwoods.\n\nHardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods and are often much slower growing as a result. The dominant feature separating \"hardwoods\" from softwoods is the presence of pores, or vessels. The vessels may show considerable variation in size, shape of perforation plates (simple, scalariform, reticulate, foraminate), and structure of cell wall, such as spiral thickenings.\n\nAs the name suggests, the wood from these trees is generally harder than that of softwoods, but there are significant exceptions. In both groups there is an enormous variation in actual wood hardness, with the range in density in hardwoods completely including that of softwoods; some hardwoods (e.g., balsa) are softer than most softwoods, while yew is an example of a \"hard\" softwood.\n\nApplications\n\nHardwoods are employed in a large range of applications, including fuel, tools, construction, boat building, furniture making, musical instruments, flooring, cooking, barrels, and manufacture of charcoal. Solid hardwood joinery tends to be expensive compared to softwood. In the past, tropical hardwoods were easily available, but the supply of some species, such as Burma teak and mahogany, is now becoming scarce due to over-exploitation. Cheaper \"hardwood\" doors, for instance, now consist of a thin veneer bonded to a core of softwood, plywood or medium-density fibreboard (MDF). Hardwoods may be used in a variety of objects, but are most frequently seen in furniture or musical instruments because of their density which adds to durability, appearance, and performance. Different species of hardwood lend themselves to different end uses or construction processes. This is due to the variety of characteristics apparent in different timbers, including density, grain, pore size, growth and fibre pattern, flexibility and ability to be steam bent. For example, the interlocked grain of elm wood (Ulmus spp.) makes it suitable for the making of chair seats where the driving in of legs and other components can cause splitting in other woods.\n\nCooking \n\nThere is a correlation between density and calories/volume. This makes the denser hardwoods like oak, cherry, and apple more suited for camp fires, cooking fires, and smoking meat, as they tend to burn hotter and longer than softwoods like pine or cedar whose low-density construction and highly-flammable sap make them burn quickly and without producing quite as much heat."
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"Unobtainium - TV Tropes\n... the Trope Namer is the mineral sought by the mining company in Avatar. ... in the film, the unobtainium functions as a Mineral ... The Star Trek 2009 movie has ...\nUnobtainium - TV Tropes\nUnobtainium\nYou need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account\nShare\nThe Spice must flow... damn, wrong franchise .\n\"Is Unobtainium very hard to obtain?\"\n— Peter Griffin, Family Guy\nUnobtainium is the exotic material that is needed to make the Applied Phlebotinum of a story work. Without it, all your nifty machines and plot-enabling gadgets quit functioning.\nSome forms of unobtainium are based on real physics, but beyond the current scope of human engineering, such as room-temperature superconductors\n; they would revolutionize just about every form of technology, but they are not in and of themselves dangerous or based on some exotic physics-bending principle. Unobtainium is engineering jargon for, \"a material that would be perfect for our purposes, if we could get it, which we can't.\" Sometimes an object that actually exists, or existed at one time, becomes unobtainium because it's unavailable now.\nOthers are more fantastic \"high-grade\" unobtainium, such as antimatter , which would be a revolutionary way of storing huge amounts of energy, if it didn't violentlynote as in, 1*10^-9 grams = tactical nuclear weapon yield undergo mutual annihilation with any conventional matter it comes into contact with, including air molecules and the walls of whatever you're trying to store the damn stuff in.\nThe most common varieties of unobtainium in fiction sit somewhere in the middle, like materials so resistant to heat and/or damage as to be Nigh Invulnerable compared to other, similar substances. Materials such as mithril , adamantium, and orichalcum (and all variant spellings thereof) are the fantasy version . Thunderbolt Iron is especially popular in fiction (and has some basis in reality � until furnaces were invented, it was the best source of refined iron).\nMuch mad science uses unobtainium, such as chemicals with impossible properties , universal solvents that can dissolve anything in the blink of an eye, super-explosives that make nitroglycerin look like a weak cough, and plenty of other funny-colored solutions . Following this would be medical and/or chemical wish-fulfillers; Classical real-world alchemy casually referred to carmot, the base substance of the Philosopher's Stone, and Azoth, either the \"universal medicine\" or \"universal solvent\". The ancient Greek writer Plato referred to \"orichalcum\" (Greek for \"mountain bronze\") in his description of Atlantis .\nIn Science Fiction , it will usually take one of three flavors: whatever stuff makes Faster-Than-Light Travel possible, closely followed by the stuff that can mess with gravity (if they're not one and the same ), and finally, the stuff they make Humongous Mecha and Alien spacecraft out of, which is why they tend to be effectively immune from earthly weapons or environmental damage.\nFor Willing Suspension of Disbelief , authors may pick out something actively being researched within the scientific community at the time of writing and run with it . Naturally, this risks dating the work when Science Marches On and today's \"super technology\" buzzword becomes the next generation's comic-book junk science . The current favorite in hard sci-fi is Helium-3\n� believed by many to be the fuel of choice for those nifty fusion reactors that should be perfected any time now . Theoretically, it's a safe large-scale energy source with few environmental side effects . But more importantly, though, there's extremely little of it on Earth; on the Moon, it's Not Rare Over There — which would provide a good reason to go there .\nThough a long time after the Trope Maker , the Trope Namer is the mineral sought by the mining company in Avatar note The term \"Unobtanium\" has been in use by engineers for far longer to describe any hypothetical material with currently- or then-impossible properties..\nSee Also: Minovsky Physics when the Unobtainium has well-thought-out properties that are strictly adhered to, and its opposite, Green Rocks , when it can do anything and everything the plot demands.\n open/close all folders \n Anime & Manga \nIn Neon Genesis Evangelion they have a special liquid called LCL which has several useful properties. One is its ability to conduct electrical signals, useful for electrically conducting nerve impulses between an Evangelion pilot and his/her Evangelion. But more amazing is its property that it can hold vast amounts of dissolved oxygen at concentrations high enough that once it has filled the lungs, a human can directly breath the oxygen present in it (handy thing when you have to fill a bio-mecha cockpit with this stuff and have the pilot be completely submerged in it). It's actually the blood of the Angel Lilith, which adds all sorts of retroactive squick when you realize they've been \"breathing\" it the whole time.\nOrichalcum (or a variant spelling) is a metal with magical properties that makes appearances in several anime, including Slayers .\nDigimon as a whole has the Chrome Digizoid metal ( also spelled ChronDigizoid). It's characterized as a highly sought after super-metal (with a silly name) of any colour which is very strong and cannot be damaged, except by other samples of it; in addition to being mined in some Digimon canons, a small number of Digimon species are either made of/plated in it (e.g. MetalEtemon) or wield weapons made of it (e.g. Zudomon, who killed the aforementioned MetalEtemon in Digimon Adventure ). The only time it's been referenced in the anime itself was briefly in the aforementioned Digimon Adventure incident between Zudomon and MetalEtemon, and then only mentioned offhand to give Zudomon, a lower-level Digimon, a way to revenge-kill MetalEtemon; as such, most mentions of the substance occur in the broader source material . According to said source material, there exist several varieties with different properties denoted by specific colours: Blue, which provides high speed (as seen on UlforceV-dramon ); Red, which provides even higher defence (e.g. Sleipmon ); Gold, which increases a Digimon's offensive power (e.g. Shoutmon DX ); and the vaguely described Black (e.g. Craniummon ) and Obsidian (e.g. KaiserLeomon ).\nThe entire Gundam franchise uses unobtanium to various degrees.\nIt is played straight and subverted in the very first series of all, Mobile Suit Gundam . Early on the Lunar Titanium Alloy used by the RX-78 Gundam is effectively indestructible to conventional fire, the oversized machineguns and bazookas used by mobile suits shaking it, but otherwise causing very little damage. This changed near the end of the series, when Zeon mobile suits gain beam weaponry technology, and we discover that beam weaponry trumps EVERYTHING in terms of armor. For the entire Universal Century timeline afterwords, combat becomes based around avoiding getting hit, since any significant hit at all is instantly fatal, regardless of armor. Even the large shields mobile suits carry generally only suffer one impact before getting blown away completely. Unless the shield in question has anti-beam coating, which itself is quite rare and still doesn't provide complete protection.\nMobile Suit Gundam Wing plays the trope straight, and has the alloy Gundanium, which is incredibly tough, nearly immutable, heat-resistant, electrically neutral, and a natural radar damper. The \"rare, hard-to-find\" part comes from the fact that it can only be manufactured in space and the fact that at the start of the show, only six people in the world know how to make it. You might be surprised to learn that this has some basis in real-world science , as the crystalline structures that form as liquid metal solidifies can be very different in microgravity. The odds of creating an alloy with all the aforementioned properties remain fairly small, however.\nThe Cosmic Era Expanded Universe has its own unobtainium in the form of the beam-resistant alloy the Gerbera Straight was forged out of. Only one person in the entire Earth Sphere knows its composition and how to forge it.\nMazinger Z :\nThe show took the \"ridiculously high strength/density ratio\" thing to a whole new level when Japanium is alloyed into Super Alloy Z. The titular robot, built from the stuff, stands 18 meters tall, yet weighs a meager 20 tons. In one episode, Dr. Hell managed to steal a supply of the stuff and build his own robot with Super Alloy Z armor, but he wasn't able to completely cover it with the stuff. Eventually, the heroes found out which part of it wasn't made of it, and was able to Attack Its Weak Point to destroy it. Great Mazinger and Venus A are built from the same stuff. And Mazinkaiser.\nUFO Robo Grendizer gives two examples: Gren, an alien metal Grendizer itself is built with. Since it can not be found on Earth, when Grendizer gets damaged, Alloy Z is used to repair it; and Vegatron, a highly radioactive material only can be mined from planet Vega. The Vegans used it to create powerful weapons, but its overexploitation led to the planet becoming highly unstable.\nSuper Alloy Z Alpha from the Mazinkaiser OVAs is several orders of magnitude more strong; it takes whithout a scratch the impact of two weapons of the original Mazinger and even is able to withstand swimming in hot lava.\nLevistone from Kyouran Kazoku Nikki , a material which makes things hover when electricity runs through it.\nCode Geass has Sakuradite, previously found and said to be the \"Philosopher's Stone\" in medieval times, and found in large amounts in Japan. It's now valued as a superconductor, being liquid in room temperature. It also explodes rather easily...\nVarious evolution-inducing stones aside, in one episode of Pok�mon Team Rocket had a mecha composed of \"polished unobtainium\", which made it immune to Psychic attacks.\nDone with a twist in Castle in the Sky where the Levistone (a Grade A Unobtainium ) is a well-known mineral (and the name of the material is Etherium instead of Levistone), commonly found in rocks — however, it rapidly decays when exposed to air and thus serves no practical purpose. The movie's Precursors knew how to refine it and fashion it into durable crystals, with many amazing properties. This technology has been lost and the world's nations will now stop at nothing to lay their hands on the few remaining samples.\nThe Vision of Escaflowne has 2 of these.\nOne of them is actually called Levistone here. It is heated to decrease its levitation (allowing one to control the height of an airship).\nThe other (and more often referred to) is Drag Energist. It gives life to dragons and sits in their chest cavity where their heart would normally be. It is mined from places where there's lots of dead dragons or from a dragon that is hunted and killed. This mineral is usually pink and it directly creates electrical energy (just makes electricity out of thin air, no input required) needed to power mechs and other machinery. It also undergoes \"resonance\" (what seems to more accurately be nuclear fission) if too many are placed together in the same area. In one of the last episodes, an atomic bomb is built using this same principle with this material.\nSeastone, apparently \"a solidified form of the sea\". Contact with it will weaken Devil Fruit users, and drain them of their abilities . It's also apparently harder than diamond.\nAdam, a super-strong type of wood.\nDon Krieg's armour was made of Wootz steel, a real-world type of unobtanium (see below).\nVizorium is both the Unobtainium that makes warp-drive possible, and the central plot driver of the Dirty Pair Movie Project Eden.\nGEMs in Mai-Otome give Otome their robes (and thus, most of their powers). The Coral and Pearl GEMs used by students are artificially created, but the knowledge of how to create Meister GEMs was lost, making them extremely valuable.\nOutlaw Star has dragonite, used for Faster-Than-Light Travel (and accidental Pok�mon references ).\nLupin III has used several different examples of this trope.\nGoemon Ishikawa XIII has a katana with a blade made either from a meteor (the manga series) or from a rare alloy that only his clan knows the secrets to making ( Lupin III: Dragon of Doom , Lupin III: Episode 0: First Contact ).\nLupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine has Alexanderite. A gemstone that changes from red to blue, depending on the light.\nThe crossover special, Lupin III vs. Detective Conan , features a brand new mineral discovered in Vespania that allows a brief moment of stealth.\nIn Claymore swords are made from a rare ore which makes them indestructible. The near-impossibility of getting said ore and the ease at which the Claymore's organization is able to get the ore to make new swords becomes a big supporting evidence of a major plot point quite far into the story.\nIn Dragon Ball Z , Supreme Kai summons a block of \"Kachin\", the hardest metal in the universe, to show just how awesome the Z Sword is. It consequently breaks to release Supreme Kai's predecessor from 15 generations ago and the metal is never heard of again.\n Comic Books \nMarvel Universe :\nNaturally, the setting has adamantium (in multiple flavors; see below), but it also has other \"magic metals\" like vibranium (of which there are two varieties, Wakandan [which absorbs kinetic energy/sound/vibrations] and Antarctic [atypically emits vibrations that cause other metals near it to liquefy]), Uru (an enchantable material, the same metal of which from Thor's hammer was forged), promethium (a magical metal found only in Otherplace/Limbo, which can be used as an energy source, despite it being a real chemical element with real properties), and netheranium (the material of Damien Hellstrom's trident). The best example, though, would have to be the infamous \"unstable molecules\" used to make so many heroes' and villains' costumes.\nAnd Captain America 's unobtainable unobtainium shield — completely indestructible, but also a handwavy one-off item. A number of stories suggest that Cap's shield is an otherwise impossible vibrainium/adamantium alloy reinforced by American righteousness (as opposed to ''self''-righteousness ). Since the guy making it fell asleep during the forging process, we'll never know. The \"vibranium/adamantium alloy\" thing is due to a misprint in one of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe issues. His shield was made from a unique alloy of iron, Wakandan vibranium, and some unknown contaminant. When the metallurgist who had made it tried recreating the alloy (while Cap was frozen), the closest he could come up with is what's known as (true) adamantium, which is slightly weaker than the alloy in Cap's shield!\nSpeaking of, adamantium comes in a few flavors. True Adamantium is the nearly-indestructible metal alloy that's bonded to the bones and claws of Wolverine . There's also Secondary Adamantium, which is a lot cheaper to make but is still quite strong. Carbonadium (the stuff covering Omega Red's tentacles ) is what the Soviets came up with when they tried to create true adamantium ; it's about as strong as secondary adamantium, but is more malleable... and radioactive. Also, in the Ultimate Marvel universe, adamantium can block telepathy.\nA metal native to the Breakworld in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run adversely affected Kitty Pryde when she phased through it, to the point where she ended up stranded inside a ten-mile long bullet of the stuff when she phased it through the Earth , and wasn't able to control her powers after Magneto rescued her.\nIn an early Marvel/DC crossover featuring the X-Men and the New Teen Titans, the villain Darkseid keeps both teams shackled, and states that Kitty Pryde's shackles are made of a rare metal with molecules so tightly packed, not even she can phase through them.\nThe DCU has its own varieties of unobtainium:\nIn the Silver Age DCU, Krypton became a gold mine of unobtainium. Any item, living or not, that originated there would become indestructible under a yellow sun. Kryptonite was also formed by the explosion of Krypton (with various varieties in the Silver and Bronze Ages).\nPromethium is the DCU's equivalent of adamantium, a super hard metal that superstrong superheroes have a tough time damaging (it was used to create Cyborg 's body), and Nth Metal, or \"transuranic iron ore,\" was the key to Thanagarian technology (as seen frequently in Justice League ). Irritatingly , promethium is a real metal (element 61), one with no stable isotopes and no special structural properties. DC's promethium comes in two flavors. \"Raw\" promethium can be used as an energy source or a mutagen . When alloyed with titanium and vanadium, it forms a near-invulnerable metal.\nIn the video game Batman: Vengeance , there's a substance called \"prometheum,\" which shares its name with DC's metal, but it's a chemical formula that's used for keeping people cryogenically preserved, but bursts into flame very easily .\nThe first version of the Legion of Super-Heroes used \"inertron\" for this purpose, an invulnerable metal.\nThe pre- Crisis DCU also featured the invulnerable metals \"Supermanium\" (a metal once created by Superman) and \"Amazonium\" (the metal Wonder Woman 's bracelets were made from), both invulnerable metals akin to inertron.\nRadion is incredibly rare. It's also very special because it is the Kryptonite Factor of the New Gods . Even Darkseid can be truly and permanently killed by Radion poisoning and a Radion bullet — fired by Batman of all people — to the shoulder is the first part of Darkseid's Rasputinian Death in Final Crisis .\nStellarium is a very rare and special mineral that has the incredible ability to stabilize planets, prolonging their inevitable destruction. Green Lantern Tomar-Re tried to use a bit of stellarium to save Krypton, but was delayed. In Omega Men , the conflict over the Vega system is due to Vega being one of the only places where stellarium can be mined.\nTintin :\nThe adventure Tintin The Shooting Star revolves around a mission to retrieve a sample of unobtainium (dubbed \"Phostlite\") from a fallen meteorite. The only obvious property of the stuff is making mushrooms grow really fast. And other plants. And animals, like butterflies and spiders. Fortunately, germs don't seem to be included.\nIn Tintin Destination Moon , Professor Calculus has invented a new substance — calculon — which can \"resist even the highest temperatures\", with which to make the nuclear fission motor for the rocket.\nEpiphyte in The Metabarons , the original source of the Castaka family wealth. It is an oil with anti-gravity properties.\nChaos Emeralds in Sonic the Hedgehog went from Kryptonite Is Everywhere to Unobtainium during the \"Order From Chaos\" storyline. Prior to the story, Mobius had hundreds of Chaos Emeralds and if the story needed one, poof, there ya go. However, when A.D.A.M. drew every Chaos Emerald in the solar system to Mobius, Turbo Tails and Super Shadow (the ones who were forced to bring them there) realize how dangerous that was and shove them all into the Zone of Silence. Feist, the being remaining there, became a god when he harnessed their power to remake the Zone and condensed all of those emeralds into only seven. Like their video game counterparts, they're used for either Super Mode activation or powering up super weapons. Like rewriting your reality.\nBombastium from the Disney Duck Comics Universe is believed by a Brutopian secret agent (hinted to actually be his country's prime minister, since he is a caricature of Nikolas Khrouchtchev and seems to be able to command the Brutopian navy) to be an all-mighty unobtainium. It is a pink substance that's so rare that the world's whole quantity of bombastium looks like an ice cream ball. (Literally. The world's whole reserves of bombastium are a pink ball stuck inside a big ice cube.) Since Scrooge was pushed into buying the thing, the Brutopian dignitary chases him all around the world, trying to buy and later to steal the bombastium. When he finally gets hold on the ball, it is discovered that its only power is to make ice cream: one tiny bit of bombastic in a barrel of water transforms into a barrel of ice cream, each time of a different savor, and the Brutopian � who doesn't like ice cream � angrily gives the ball back to Scrooge.\n Films � Animation \nQuantonium in Monsters vs. Aliens . The Big Bad needs it to power his cloning machine so he can execute the Alien Invasion . The only known supply is absorbed into the body of Susan Murphy, who then suffers from some interesting side effects .\n Films � Live-Action \nCentral to the plot of Black Lighting (Chernaya Molniya) is a mystery space element that powers the flying car. The Corrupt Corporate Executive spends the entire movie trying to get his hands on it.\nAvatar refers to it by name . The movie features a mineral called unobtainium, although, in the film, the unobtainium functions as a Mineral MacGuffin ; it's described as a room temperature superconductor\nthat makes space travel more affordable, but never really expanded on apart from that. On the website wiki\nsome of the other uses make it apply to this trope better. According to the guide , it's called \"unobtainium\" because this is a tongue-in-cheek designation for all high-temperature superconductor materials, called so by Earth scientists when they gave up on reliably synthesizing them. Cartoon Network's Mad series lampoon of Avatar lampshades and mocks the name by calling it \"Stupidnameium\".\nThe Core lampshaded this, calling their Unobtainium Unobtainium (\"Its real name is thirty-seven syllables long \") which turned heat and pressure into electrical energy. Perfect for a journey through the Earth's molten core. Extremely practical, as all you had to do was to randomly cut supply wires and casually weld them to the substance in question, and you had an energy source that rivaled a nuclear reactor.note There are actually Real Life substances that turn pressure into electricity, known as Piezoelectric substances, although they wouldn't work on such a large scale. One example is quartz crystals (including the one that goes \"tick\" in your wristwatch). Piezoelectric materials work by flexing, seeing as how the energy has to come from somewhere. This means your core-ship would generate lots of lovely electricity in the process of crumpling into a ball. If a Real Life metallurgist with a sense of humor actually managed to make something that worked as in the movie, they might be sorely tempted to call it \"unobtainium\" or \"impossibilium\" or something like that.\nMetallic tritium serves this function in Spider-Man 2 . Doctor Octopus has to make a Deal with the Devil (requiring him to beat the protagonist) in order to get some. Strangely enough, the way he's going to use the tritium is a scaled-down version of one way physicists are trying to develop fusion power called \"inertial confinement\". The idea is the same, vaporize an amount of an element with lasers in an attempt to create a miniature sun, only the scale and elements used are different. For more information, this writer's original reference is \"Kaku, Michio PhD. Physics of the Impossible. Doubleday Publishing, 2008. Pages 43-45.\"\nParodied in the fifties B-movie homage The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra with Atmosphereum, a super-powerful and poorly-defined element capable of operating spacecraft, resurrecting evil skeletons, and delivering actual advances in the field of science.\nFluid Karma in Southland Tales . A compound found by drilling in the ocean that apparently can be used to generate electric power. Also, acts as a drug working somewhat like a Green Rock .\nStar Trek :\nThe Star Trek 2009 movie has red matter, which can make black holes on cue.\nStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home also has an unobtainium in the form of Transparent Aluminum, which allows Scotty to create a giant aquarium in the shuttle to transport a breeding pair of whales back to 24th century Earth. Significantly, the material is known to Scotty, :who then helped the inventor create it in an ethically challenging time loop. It should be noted that recent advances in materials science actually have created a form of transparent steel, at least in the lab.note Transparent aluminium oxide is a real-world material starting to see commercial use, primarily as an alternative to Gorilla Glass called Sapphire Glass (sapphires are aluminium oxide crystals with trace amounts of, usually, iron, giving them a blue color).\nIn Outlander , after establishing that Viking swords aren't strong enough to injure the Moorwen, Kainan salvages some hull metal from his crashed starship, and gives this to the local blacksmith to forge some stronger swords.\nTurbinium from the original Total Recall (1990) , which is being mined on Mars against the local rebels' wishes and keeps Cohaagen's regime running, as his superiors on Earth give him carte blanche as long as their supply remains constant.\nIn District 9 , the unnamed nanofluid is found in prawn technology in extremely small amounts, and is apparently quite precious. It has the power to activate the aliens' ship as well as transform a human into a prawn.\nIn Iron Man 2 , the element which powers Stark's Arc Reactor is palladium (which is a real element, and not this trope) before he synthesizes a better substitute (which is).\nIn 21 Jump Street , there is also a substance called Unobtainium, which apparently \"has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor — carry the �2′ — changing its atomic isotoner into a radioactive spider.\" Or, you know, this thing doesn't exist and the character speaking was just stoned out of his mind.\nThe spaceship in Galaxy Quest runs on beryllium, a natural but rare element. When the only beryllium sphere on board breaks under stress, the crew sets out to obtain a replacement sphere from a nearby planet. They eventually succeed but the distraction caused by this side quest enables the Big Bad to seize their ship.\nAdamantium in X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes from meteors. Specifically, sacred African meteors, making it this continuity's answer to Vibranium. Thus completing the transformation begun in the Ultimate Avengers films.\n Literature \nCavorite from H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon .\nPlattnerite from Stephen Baxter 's The Time Machine sequel, The Time Ships, is an indeterminate, glowing green mineral that allows time travel. It's name and description are a Shout-Out to a character and material found in other Wells stories.\nWells also had a previously undiscovered element present in the titular comet in The Day of the Comet.\nTom Swift had Tomasite. A super plastic, a 1 inch layer of it was better than a foot of lead at shielding a nuclear reactor.\nHarry Harrison 's 1973 Golden Age SF spoof novel, Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers features Cheddite (a fuel created from cheese). In another scene the heroes' 747 jet is turned into a spacecraft by means of windows armored with armolite, vacuum insulation with insulite, fuel tanks filled with combustite, guns firing pellets of destructite, batteries replaced with capacitite and a space-warp drive powered by warpite.\nIn the Spaceforce universe, ships' hyperdrives are powered by a crystal called garrium which is found on only a few planets in the known galaxy. It is so valuable that entire planetary economies are based on scooping up tiny fragments of it in tonnes of dust.\nMelange, also called spice, in the Dune novels, extends life and grants limited prescience, allowing Faster-Than-Light Travel . And it tastes like cinnamon . Oh, and there are other uses. If it seems like something that would be extremely valuable and important, that's because it is. It's generally thought to be an Alternate Company Equivalent to oil in the way that it drives the greater economy and is controlled by warlike tribes.\nThe German SF/pulp series Perry Rhodan has over the course of its history collected a fair bit of unobtainium in various forms.\nClassic examples are Ynkelonium, a metallic element that does not react with antimatter and can to an extent prevent such reactions from occurring in its immediate vicinity, and Luurs-Metal, which always maintains a constant temperature of about 3.4 degrees Celsius. Both materials occur naturally in the universe and cannot be synthesized.\nThat's only two of the many examples, the series frequently introducing new and exotic materials, practically whenever a new alien species is encountered. The wiki for the series alone consists of at least 150 entries for exotic materials and is by no means complete.\nLarry Niven 's Ringworld has a few examples:\nScrith, the material used to make the titular megastructure. It is nearly frictionless, blocks almost all radiation (including 40% of neutrinos, which would take about a light-year thickness of lead) and has a tensile strength on the same order of magnitude as the strong nuclear force.\nThe unnamed substance the Puppeteers make General Products hulls out of. They're actually massive molecules big enough to live in.\nand durasteel\n(which itself is an alloy of carvanium, lommite, carbon, meleenium, neutronium, and zersium)... Well, let's say there are lots of interesting materials and substances in the Star Wars EU. Special mention goes to cortosis\n, which is lightsaber-resistant. Or in its purest form actually causes lightsabers to short out. Cortosis doesn't have a monopoly on the lightsaber-resisting properties: phrik, beskar(Mandalorian Iron), ultrachrome, and songsteel also boast that property, Mandalorian Iron and phrik are said to be even stronger to near Adamantium-like degrees, with a container made of phrik actually managing to stay intact after being on Alderaan when the planet was destroyed. Cortosis's ability to short out a lightsaber blade on contact, however, is unique to it alone.\nThe Uplift Series by David Brin has a material of the name unobtainium.\nThe hyperdrive of Kevin J. Anderson's The Saga of Seven Suns is fuelled by \"ekti,\" described as \"an allotropic isotope of hydrogen.\"\nAtium and Lerasium from the Mistborn books, atium is only mined in one place, it's extremely rare, and incredibly powerful, because it allows an allomancer to see a few moments into the future, effectively making them nearly invincible in combat. While only a few nuggets of Lerasium appear to exist and anyone who ingests Lerasium will instantaneously become a mistborn. All of the properties of Atium and Lerasium are ultimately justified by them being made from the bodies of gods.\nIn Wax And Wayne , Atium and Lerasium are no more due to some shuffling in the godly domain, but on the other hand, there's aluminum, which is allomantically neutral, thus providing justification for wearing a Tinfoil Hat , and is rare enough that it's worth more than gold. (See the Real Life folder. Despite being one of the most common metals in the earth's crust, before refining processes were perfected it was immensely valuable)\nJohn Ringo 's Looking Glass series is so named for the instantaneous transmission portals which were created by what were originally thought to be Higgs bosons. That identification was later corrected, and they were renamed Looking Glass Bosons . The looking glasses of the first book take a secondary role however, after the series takes off into space in a ship powered by a Black Box of alien origin, and when the ship is destroyed in the third book, it is entirely remade by an alien race the ship just saved. This leads to the fourth book where the captain of the ship discovers he is missing a large number of alien made spare parts and lampshades all of this saying, \"And now I have to call SpaceCom and explain to them that we're non-mission-capable until a couple of tons of Unobtainium parts and tools get found!\"\nJohn Ringo 's Legacy of the Aldenata series has an alien race able to produce materials with physical properties that the Earth scientists consider flatly impossible. It turns out that they do this by mentally altering the probability of chemical reactions, such that extremely unlikely reactions occur consistently enough to form new compounds that the Earth scientists and engineers cannot replicate.\nPractically every book in the old Danny Dunn children's sci-fi series starts out with the discovery of a new form of Unobtainium. Usually because Danny or a friend of his spilled something in the lab.\nTanglestone from the Elizabeth Bear book, Undertow, was only found on the planet named Greene's World, and allowed instant data and material transportation across many light years from the colonies to Earth.\nIn Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series, there's living metal, which can only be gotten by one character, because it grows on her hand due to an accident involving fire and a staff with a metal top. Later she can make it faster by putting some in a jar and adding some of her blood to it, but she is still the only person who can make it, and thus the only one with consistent access to it.\nRudyard Kipling 's story The Night Mail has airships lifted by \"Fleury's gas\" energized by \"Fleury's ray.\" The lifting power of the gas can apparently be rapidly adjusted, and is so great that airships are made rigid enough to achieve speeds of two hundred miles per hour without straining the hull or engines. (No real-world airshipnote a lighter-than-air vessel, as distinct from an airplane, many of which have stall speeds above 100 mph has ever reached one hundred.)\nIn Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged , industrialist Henry Rearden is introduced as a protagonist by way of his invention of \"Rearden Metal,\" a somewhat vaguely-described alloy of steel and copper which is much stronger and cheaper to produce than industrial-grade steel.\nIt even started out the same way Unobtainium usually starts: as an engineers joke. Rearden was originally trying to design fantastic bridges; once he discovered that it was impossible with regular metal, he set out to make his own .\nNeal Stephenson 's The Baroque Cycle gives us the Solomonic gold, and Stephenson also goes into a long digression on wootz steel, which is actually real and pretty damn awesome to boot.\nNeal Stephenson 's Anathem has a material called New Matter that has drastically different properties than regular matter. It is explicitly stated that it is an alternative chemistry created by rearranging subatomic particles. This is based on Real Life physics with Exotic Matter.\nE. E. �Doc� Smith 's Skylark Series features several nonexistent wonder-metals, including Arenak\nfor super-tough armor, and Metal X which can convert matter completely into energy when exposed to X-rays.\nHumanity's escape from the doomed planet earth in When Worlds Collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer is finally made possible when tides from the approaching planet tear open the earth, revealing the previously hypothetical wonder-metal needed for nuclear-powered space travel.\nWil McCarthy's Queendom of Sol series has quantum dots, which can imitate the properties of ordinary matter as well as manifesting exotic attributes like perfect reflectivity and frictionlessness. He also wrote a non-fiction novel called Hacking Matter that talks about the real-world possibility of using them. So, unobtainium today, but maybe not tomorrow.\nDiscworld subverts this trope with octiron, a fantastic metal that's really only useful as a substitute for spherical worlds' compass magnets (it points to the Hub). Played straight with sapient pearwood, which is to blame for the Luggage's animation and magical properties.\nNeal Asher's The Polity series has Chainglass, a material made from silicon chain molecules that can be made near-indestructible and sharp enough to slice through steel with ease. Chainglass is used instead of metal and plastic in most applications. It also made the inventor the richest man in the galaxy.\nUrim in L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero's Daughter trilogy. Warrior angels wear it. It can hold the Water of Life. A gauntlet made of Urim allows the wielding of the Staff of Decay without harm.\nThe Sten series has Anti-Matter Two, the only energy source capable of generating enough power to run hyperspace engines and make interstellar travel feasible. In all the Universe there is only a single source of AM2, and only the Eternal Emperor knows where it is.\nIn Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Heaven , common coal have rare \"slow\" and \"fast\" coal that slow or speed up time inside it. The Big Bad had hundreds of young girl slaves move hands over small pieces of coal and pick out those specific coal pieces.\nAnimorphs made a brief mention of ramonite, the metal that makes up most spacecraft and gives it its properties of stretching open doorways and opaquing/clearing the viewports.\nIn Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler, the US hatches a military plan requiring ultra-rare byzanium. The only known deposit, on a remote Russian Arctic island, had been mined out in the early 20th century, and the entire output shipped out on an ocean liner to the United States. Guess which one.\nPhlogiston in The Extraordinaires . It is a semi-magical substance that allows Time Machines and other Steam Punk -ish gadgets beyond the realm of Edwardian science to function. Control of the supply of phlogiston is a powerful bargaining chip.\nValyrian steel in A Song of Ice and Fire , which is possibly an Expy of Damascus steel. It is a magical alloy created in old Valyria, and Valyrian steel weapons are far superior to weapons made of ordinary steel. The secret of creating Valyrian steel was lost when Valyria fell, but especially skilled blacksmiths can reforge swords from existing Valyrian steel.\nA few Robert Heinlein stories reference \"Shipstones\". These are, basically, very very very good batteries. They're not actually unobtainable, as the Shipstone Corporation will be happy to lease (not sell) you one, but good luck getting one from any other source since their method of construction is secret and disassembling one to see how it works either gets you a non-working mess (if you're lucky) or dead (they tend to explode if taken apart).\nIn H.P. Lovecraft 's \"In the Walls of Eryx,\" the \"crystals\" on Venus are super high-energy sources for humans, though they have some strange psychic/religious value to the native Venusians.\nPeter and the Starcatchers reimagined pixie dust as \"starstuff\", a mysterious substance that falls to earth every so often like a meteorite, and can be used to grant people the power of flight as well as heal and stop the aging process. A secret society known as the Starcatchers exists to guard its power from those who would seek to use it towards selfish ends. In the first book, a large quantity of it is accidentally released on an uncharted island, turning fish into mermaids, a bird into Tinker Bell, and the title character into a boy who can fly indefinitely and will never age.\n Live-Action TV \nDoctor Who :\nDalek cases are made of Dalekanium, which makes them Immune to Bullets , although recent episodes showed that they now use a Deflector Shields variant to vaporize bullets before they even reach the case. Dalekanium is often called \"bonded polycarbide\" when they want it to sound less silly. Which basically means plastic, specifically Kevlar.\nVarious episodes have featured a group of people in a confined space looking for Unobtainium when suddenly they get attacked by the alien of the week . Dark Matter has been used as the unobtainium more than once and has several different uses and effects depending on what episode you see, from use as transport between dimensions to regular spaceship fuel to turning people into bloodthirsty monsters.\nStargate-verse :\nIn Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis , naquahdah is material the Gate is made of. Also, naquadah-enhanced nukes are used to Blow Stuff Up. This is demonstrated magnificently in the season 3 finale of Stargate Atlantis . Naquadah is also a powerful source of energy (naquadah reactors).\nIts evil twin is naquadriah, which can also be used to Blow Stuff Up, but is radioactive, \"unstable\" and has a track record of blowing up its users. Naquadriah also indirectly plays the Unobtainium role in Stargate Universe as the only known power source that can support a wormhole between the Milky Way and Destiny. Only problem is that it takes a planet full of the stuff to do it, and that planet tends to blow up in the process.\nThe iris on Earth's Stargate is made of a trinium-titanium alloy.\nHuman-form Replicators apparently need neutronium (which is a real thing\n, but a bit exotic in that it can only have stable existence in a neutron star).\nAlso ZPMs could be seen as a sort of unobtainium given that no-one knows how to make them and they're needed to run all the Ancient technology in the series (as well as providing a convenient bit of Tim Taylor Technology to the human ships).\nThe whole of Star Trek is liberally sprinkled with various types and grades of unobtainium.\nThe original (and most frequently recurring) example is dilithium, used in the reactor core of warp drives as a control medium because lithium's properties were well-known , but there are many others.\nCorbomite, which doesn't actually exist; it was an Ass Pull by James T. Kirk to bluff an enemy — which means that Trek pulled a Lampshade Hanging on their own tendency to invent vaguely-magical substances in one of its earliest episodes.\nNeutronium. Essentially this is used any time something's made of a material that the crew's weapons won't be able to penetrate. This is a real substance: a type of \"degenerate matter\" composed entirely of neutrons, thought to be what neutron stars are made of — but since even a thimbleful would weigh millions of tons, its usefulness as a material is rather limited. Astrophysicists rarely if ever use the word \"neutronium\" for this stuff, preferring terms like neutron-degenerate matter, and that that neutron star matter would not be stable without the extreme pressures of a neutron star in the first place anyway, i.e. it would instantly explode producing extremely intense neutron radiation.\nDuranium, Tritanium, Baakonite\nLatinum, a valuable liquid metal, used as a form of hard currency due to its rarity and the fact that replicator technology cannot recreate it.\nTrilithium, less stable than dilithium, but equally magical.\nKeiyurium, a Shout-Out to the original Dirty Pair .\nVerterium Cortenide, a compound of two non-existent substances, used in the warp coils themselves.\nArcherite, another Ass Pull, this time by the Andorian Shran when explaining to another alien commander what he was doing in their territory.\nTransparent aluminum exists now. See here\nAluminum Oxynitride is a ceramic, however. Transparent aluminum metal remains unobtainium.\nCortenide, which comprises Data's skull with duranium, as he describes to a Klingon warrior who almost knocked himself out headbutting him.\nTrellium-D formed a major Mineral MacGuffin for the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise , which has the ability to negate the random anomalies that existed in the Expanse. Interestingly, there appeared to be a sub-science developed around the item, with a method of synthesizing the stuff.\nAt one point in Star Trek: Voyager when aliens try to kidnap Paris for the weapons research that has been implanted in his brain, Janeway mentions that they packed the shuttle he was captured in with fulmorite explosives.\nBoth versions of Battlestar Galactica relied on a fictional element called \"tylium\" to power their FTL drives.\nPower Rangers :\nIn Power Rangers Time Force , Trizirium Crystals are an very powerful energy source that originally won't be discovered about 200 years from 2001, because of the battles between the Time Force Rangers and Ransik, as well as Bio-Lab trying to reverse-engineer the future tech the early discovery nearly sucked the world into time vortices in the \"End of Time\" three-part finale.\nPower Rangers RPM has flux overthrusters needed to handle advanced zord control stuff. The first one was lost in the wastelands after the plane it was installed in was shot down. The second...well, it's lucky that that's when the bad guys sent a bot capable of Power Copying .\nThe jumpgates and jumpdrives of Babylon 5 relied on an exotic and extremely rare mineral called Quantium-40 to function.\nIn Knight Rider (the original series), KITT was built out of a material called either Tri-Helical MBS (commonly referred to as a \"Molecular-Bonded Shell\") or Plasteel 1000, which rendered the car almost indestructible.\nIn the TV series of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids , it's revealed that an element Wayne named \"Szalinskium\" is at the core of all his impossible inventions. In another episode it's revealed that he obtained it from the space alien Arnox.\nIn a two-part episode of the Lynda Carter TV adaptation of Wonder Woman , we learn that her indestructable bullet-deflecting bracelets are made of \"Feminum.\" (This is in contrast with the Comic Book canon, which at the time held that her bracelets were made of \"Amazonium.\")\nIn The Amazing Extraordinary Friends , the X insignia is specifically stated to be made of unobtanium, which is how it bestows all manner of superpowers on Captain X.\n Myths & Religion \nThe oldest example would be Orichalcum (Orichalc, orichalcos) which is part of the Atlantis myth - Plato describes it as somewhat reddish, shiny, and hard, and usable both as armor and art. Conspiracy buffs identify it with an alloy of gold and copper from South America that does, in fact, have these properties.\nAdamant, which has a legendary hardness dating back centuries, being an older name for diamond. Unfortunately, it also shares a name with an adjective, and so tends to be saddled with suffixes. Look for Adamantine, or for that Sci-Fi twist, Adamantium.\nThe entire premise of ancient and medieval Alchemy was based on the pseudo-scientific search for Unobtainium (\"philosopher's stone\" or \"quintessence\"), usually described as a material which would catalyze the manufacture of gold from base metals.\n Newspaper Comics \nDilbert , comic, Dogbert claims to have discovered one he calls Dogbertium, with \"mysterious\" properties, including only existing when nobody asks him any questions.\n Pinballs \nThe Red Matter in Stern Pinball 's Star Trek ; getting enough of it creates a Black Hole, which awards a mystery prize.\nUnobtainium is one of the playfield targets in Avatar .\n Tabletop Games \nShadowrun , true to its fantasy-scifi-blend form, borrows from myths for its Unobtainium , such as orichalcum, an alloy of copper, gold, silver, and mercury that couldn't even begin to exist if there wasn't magic in the world.\nWarhammer 40,000 :\nAlmost every race has a form of this, from the psychic wraith bone to the ubiquitous armour plate the humans use on tanks, adamantium. Adamantium's properties are never really explained, though, in the books, it seems to suffer from a mineral variation of The Worf Effect (\"How could they cut through X many feet of adamantium that easily?!\"). The technology levels in the setting also cause some rather strange applications for the unobtainium, such as adamantium bayonets fitted to the lasguns of the Imperial Guard .\nAdamantium when it first appeared in Warhammer 40,000 , could only be created in orbital plasma refineries and once set it was essentially indestructible. Plasteel was what Terminators were mostly made out of (Dreadnoughts had significant amounts of Adamantium, but most vehicles weren't made of the stuff - heck no real mention of what material they were made out of at all. Even the Land Raiders were mostly titanium-bonded ceramite when it was first discussed what they were made out of). Once Adamantium became ubiquitous through the Imperium, that's when the stuff got Worfed.\nAnother Worf Effect example is the material used in Space Marine power armour, Ceramite (often such examples involve either cutting blades, or melta/heat weapons as ceramite is reckoned to be extremely resistant to heat). This also happens a lot with human building materials in that universe, all of which have odd but recognizable names and are supposedly better than what we have now, but which can be reduced to rubble in the first bombardment.\nPromethium is some kind of super fuel (or a generic term for any fuel), which is used in everything from their warmachines and flamethrowers, and can be harvested from gas planets, some kinds of ice, and in mineral form.\nIn Warhammer (fantasy setting of 40000), glowing green \"warpstone\" is used to create mutations, enhance magical powers, bring the dead to life, and as an energy source for powerful technology. In the Skaven rat-men society, it is even used as currency. Warpstone is considered rare, and is mined and collected by nearly all factions in the Warhammer setting. The Warhammer world also has a moon composed entirely of warpstone, Morrslieb, which rains warpstone meteor showers on occasion.\nIn it's sequel Warhammer: Age of Sigmar we have Sigmarite, a metal ore mined at great cost from Mallus, the Old World's core. It's mainly used in the weapons, armor and equipment of the Stormcast Eternals and it's rumored that Ghal Maraz, Sigmar's hammer, it's made of it. This reinforces the fan theory that Sigmarite it's just gromril, also called meteoric iron. A metal used extensively by the dwarves and the Empire in their magic weapons and heavy armors.\nDungeons & Dragons :\nThe game mithril, adamantine, orichalchum, AND the Philosopher's Stone. Unobtainium overload... and that's the tip of the iceberg.\nEberron has Dragonshards, Khyber Dragonshards, Siberys Dragonshards, Star Metal, Baatorian Steel, Residuum, Arcanite, Byeshk, Ironwood, Bronzewood, Densewood, Soarwood & Riedran Crysteel. Unobtainium overload indeed.\nRed steel, cinnabril, and related substances from the \"Red Steel\" region of Mystara .\nBloodsilver from the Birthright setting.\nExalted\nThe five magical materials, Orichalcum, Moonsilver, Starmetal, some variants of Jade and Soulsteel. All of these are extremely difficult to obtain and work: Orichalcum only forms when gold touches magma and has to be worked in a lava flow while sunlight streams onto the forge, Moonsilver only forms in the Wyld, where reality is breaking down, Starmetal is made from dead gods and, while working it is theoretically as simple as iron, Fate conspires to make the manufacturing process go wrong in ten thousand little ways, Soulsteel is made from ore from the Labyrinth (under the Underworld) and ghosts, Jade requires hazardous chemicals to work and is used as a currency, admittedly an extremely high-value one . There is even an Unobtainium version of Jade - in rare and unrepeatable alchemical accidents Jade (most normally a mixture of white and green Jade) can be turned into Yellow Jade which is possibly the most coveted magical material out there.\nWith the release of the Alchemical sourcebook, there now exists a sixth basic magical material as well: Adamant. It is extremely rare in the main world of Creation, and only slightly more commonly found in the machine-body world of the Primordial Autochthon. To quote the sourcebook, \"Adamant is composed of super-dense, electric-blue diamonds that form in yard-long rod-like masses with smaller crystals growing off larger ones. They can be found in areas that are under enormous pressure and are scorchingly hot. Mining for adamant is impossible without protective gear, even for Exalts, and special tools must be used to cut the crystalline rods free so that they can be taken back to a city and refined into useable forms.\" Though it is a crystal, rather than a metal or stone like the other materials, it is used in the forging of magic weapons and armor in an identical way to the others.\nSolars. One of the reasons that Solar technology is unsustainable by anybody else is due to their Wyld Shaping powers. When Solars need a material with properties relevant to the artifact or Magitek they are building, they just go out into the Wyld and conjure it up, regardless of how impossible its existence would otherwise be.\nMage: The Awakening :\nThe \"Perfected Metals\". They have numerous extremely useful properties (perfected iron, for example, is practically indestructible, capable of cutting through diamond when properly sharpened, and can bend like rubber before returning to its original shape, with absolutely no metal fatigue), and can be used to create all manner of useful alloys (such as the anti-magic \"thaumium\"). There are only seven of them (only alchemical metals can be perfected), and it takes powerful magic to perfect them and alloy them. Perfecting is also a very expensive process, since it requires only naturally formed samples of metal (rather than transmuted or conjured) and only 10% of the mass yields perfected metal, with the rest being completely lost (hence, you perfect 100 grams of metal and only get 10 grams of perfected metal, with the remainder destroyed).\nApeiron, a material that can only be produced by some archmasters and appears to be some sort of Platonic ideal: it has whatever physical properties are best for the situation at hand. This is actually an example of an author being extremely informed; in a philosophical debate in ancient Greece philosophers argued over which Element was the foundation of all existence. The winner of the debate proposed 'Apeiron' over any of the traditional four elements, describing it as 'undifferentiated stuff' that could concentrate into different configurations to form anything.\nAs well as the lanthanum used in jump drive technology, Traveller features so many varieties of unobtainium that the latest edition lampshades it by including \"unobtainium\" as a trade good.\nGhost Rock, which burns twice as long and twice as hot as coal, is used for all the weird high tech stuff from Deadlands and somehow stopped the collapse of the Confederacy. Oh, and it looks like coal that has had tortured human faces into it, and it moans faintly when burned.\nThe various essential elements from GURPS : Magic as well as orichalcum and adamantium in Fantasy and hyperdense matter in Ultra-Tech.\nAlthough it's a tabletop war game rather than a tabletop RPG, Steve Jackson Games' OGRE features combat units protected by Biphase Carbide armor. This makes them tough enough to withstand anything short of a direct hit from a nuclear weapon.\nTalislanta has a number of forms of Unobtainium, some based on historical alchemy and others made up for the setting, and fairly thorough rules for crafting and utilizing them.\nIn the boardgame Nexus Ops (originally by Avalon Hill, recently re-released by Fantasy Flight Games), the corporations fight for control of a mineral called Rubium. Nothing more is known about it from the manual, but it seems that some indigenous species on the planet it is mined on are linked to the mineral in some way as there is a creature called the \"Rubium Dragon\" which is also the most powerful unit in the game.\n Toys \nThe Transformers franchise is a pretty good place to mine for Unobtainium.\nEnergon being the most frequent and the best example: Transformers need it to live, but too much unstable Energon radiation can cause shorting out. It's also highly volatile when stored in most environments (and likely to explode if dropped or fired upon), and other properties too bizarre and diverse to list. Other Unobtainium-like materials include...\nElectrum — a real substance, actually, but given fictional properties.\nFurmanite — Obscure, used only in one Botcon-exclusive comic.\nNucleon (Though used as an Energon substitute, it causes bizarre reactions in a Transformer's \"biology\", most notably the loss of transformation ability.)\nCybertonium (Never thoroughly explained, though it breaks down more rapidly in Earth's atmosphere than other Cybertronian minerals. Loss of this substance is serious for Transformers built on Cybertron. Like Energon, it can also be processed and stored in cubes.)\nDestronium\nBIONICLE 's Matoran world has protodermis (often shortened to just \"proto\" by the fans), which admittedly isn't really rare because it makes up everything in that world: the water is made of liquid proto, rocks and metal ore are solid proto, and proto even makes up the organic tissues of living beings. Truer examples of Unobtainium that really are hard to obtain include a super-hard variant of metal protodermis called \"protosteel\" and \"energized protodermis\": an un-synthesizable liquid that either unpredictably transforms anything it touches or destroys it. Oh, and it turns out energized proto is alive, too.\nAnother world, Bara Magna, has its own Unobtainium called Exsidian, though unlike protodermis it doesn't have any special properties beyond better resistance to wear and tear.\n Video Games \nDragon Rage has Zeenium which is some sort of magical element.\nEVE Online has a player economy built around mining for a rather long list of made up materials. And the rarer types are very hard to get. Bonus points for using \"Tritanium\", which is the most sought after element in high security space. However, most of the asteroids that refined minerals come from are made up of either real-world minerals (such as veldspar and gneiss) or slightly renamed versions of real minerals (like hemorphite and hedbergite).\nIt's implied that the mined and refined materials actually are all real-world elements and minerals. Civilization has fallen and re-built itself, so they've picked up new names and places in the technology tree. Salvaged wormhole materials are a straight example, though.\nExcelsior Phase One Lysandia : Many powerful weapons and armor are forged from Eramel, which, oddly, is only mined in a tower.\nMultiple kinds of unobtainium are mentioned in the background information of the Halo series:\nAn \"unknown alloy\" (read as: the writers couldn't think of a cool name) used to make the shields of the Hunters and the armor plating of Covenant warships.\nThe impressively resistant construction material used to make the Halos and other non- Hard Light Forerunner structures, described as being incredibly dense and accurately carved to the molecule. The author of this article from Gamasutra\n, a PhD., goes to the trouble of calculating just how much unobtainium would be needed to build the Halo , plus other stats you never knew you wanted to know.\nBlamite, the explosive crystalline material used primarily to make Needler ammunition, which can only be found on one moon orbiting the Elite homeworld.\nThe ammo for the Covenant Carbine is an unnamed toxic and radioactive compound mined from several locations within Covenant space.\nCity of Heroes :\nVarious one-off missions in the MMORPG have the player retrieve various Mac Guffins , including one actually called Inobtainium. Fittingly enough, it's an alloy of Yeahritium and Nosuchium.\nPlayed more straight in the game is Impervium, a metal found as a rare form of salvage (Enchanted Impervium is one of the most valuable drops), which the Vanguard soldiers are said in their profiles to be armored with.\nOrichalcum shows up too, also as a salvage material for crafting.\nMega Man :\nA recurring element in the series is a metal called \"Ceratanium\" (in the original Japanese, simply \"Ceramic Titanium\"). Its exact properties are unknown, but it seems to be involved in making all the Mega Mans' armor, and in Mega Man Zero 4, where you can collect parts and get the engineer to make body armor out of them, the Ceratanium is found once in a fixed spot each stage and goes exactly once into each piece of body armor you can make.\nThere's also officially \"Bassnium,\" the power supply Wily says he used to make Bass, which is a bit silly. In the Japanese version, it has the much less silly-sounding name \"Fortenium\". However, since Wily himself discovered the element while designing Bass/Forte, it's not out of character for him to give it a silly name just to match his robot.\nAs well as the metal given the Fan Nickname \"Mettanium\", used to make the Met/Mettaurs/Methats that are so iconic in the series. One fan explanation for it not being used in every robot Wily makes is the fact that it's Unobtainium — or at least rare enough that only small objects can be created with it at a time.\nOrichalcum, seen elsewhere in this article, also turned up in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis as a power source for the machines of Atlantis and potentially other machines as well. Which is why Indy had to stop the Nazis from getting to it first.\nOrichalcum also shows up in these various titles (usually used to make gift jewelry).\nThey also feature Mystrle and Mythic Ore — used to give tools semi-magical properties.\nAnd plain ol' Mythril in Harvest Moon's spin-off titled Rune Factory.\nCommand & Conquer and its sequels feature Tiberium , a plant-like but crystalline xenoforming agent (in growth patterns and behaviour — it leeches various elements out of anything it touches, and makes more of itself) but which is actually a crystalline substance of extraterrestrial origin, as a harvestable resource and Global Currency - it often leeches the most valuable minerals out of an area, making them far easier to mine than would be economically feasible. Its name derives from where it was first encountered — the impact site of the meteor that carried it to Earth at the Tiber River — ergo, it was called Tiberium.note The Brotherhood of Nod would like you to note that the quoted name origin was part of a faked discovery story created for anti-Nod propaganda. The true discoverer of Tiberium, the Benevolent and Mighty Kane, named the substance in honour of Tiberius Caesar, but GDI propagandists insisted on altering every detail of the story. It's also terribly, terribly toxic, potentially radioactive (depending on what it leeches or assimilates), never stops growing (by the time of the second game, non-hovering watercraft are completely unusable because waterways are universally choked with Tiberium) and generally so dangerous that it explodes violently if processed improperly or stored in large enough quantities. Certain materials are more resistant to being turned into it, but all of them degrade eventually. With flesh, crystallization happens almost instantly. Nevermind the fact there's blue (canonical) and red/orange (semi-canonical) variants that are Made of Explodium — as if the green stuff didn't explode enough to begin with. With a bit of SCIENCE, you can turn tiberium (or tiberium-related substances, such as tiberium veins) into a chemical weapon that puts some of the deadliest stuff today to shame, or an explosive that makes a heavy-duty fuel air bomb look like a firecracker. Makes a lot more fictional sense if you know that C&C was itself based on the RTS game Dune II , which had you harvesting spice out of the ground.\nCleria, Emelas, etc. in the Ys series.\nStarCraft , likewise, had \"minerals\" of an unspecified type and \"Vespene Gas\" (which you require more of , by the way), which each of the playable races uses in a different way to produce its various units and buildings. Neosteel, the material of Terran construction, is another example. Also, the Khaydarin Crystals.\nXCOM :\nThe first two games of the series ( UFO and TFTD ) have Elerium, an element that formed in yellow crystals and had an atomic number of 115. By the third game , Elerium could be mined on Mars and extrasolar colonies. Elerium's in-game role was probably inspired by claims\nmade about element-115 in the 1980s by a UFO enthusiast with the splendidly appropriate name of Bob Lazar. Sadly, when someone eventually got around to synthesising the stuff they called it Ununpentium\ninstead, and it also appears that Lazar was talking through his hat.\nThe second game reveals that Elerium-115 becomes inert if submerged in salt-water for too long, and since the second game is subtitled Terror from the Deep, that's a bit of a problem. The new source of power is Zrbite - apparently, an artificial material created through molecular manipulation. Following the victory in TFTD, however, the aliens' Molecular Manipulation network collapses, and all remaining Zrbite becomes inert. It maintains its Unobtainium status, however, and Inert Zrbite is later used to build FTL-drive engines (with Elerium-115 as fuel).\nXCOM: Enemy Unknown also features Elerium, again used as a power source. Unfortunately, you can't synthesize it, and the only way to get it is looting it off the aliens. In-game, the heads of your R&D and engineering teams state that with a few years of focused research they could make both the Alien Alloys and the Elerium Generator commercially viable, but that there is no time for that big a project before the aliens are defeated.\nIn Xenonauts , just like in X-Com, you can salvage the alien fuel source, Alenium, which cannot be reproduced terrestrially. Incidentally, even before attempting to use it as .a power source, Xenonaut scientists decided they made for even better missile warheads, giving your interceptors an early shot in the arm in terms of firepower.\nKingdom Hearts :\nThe first game requires the player to collect various exotic metals and crystals such as mythril, orichalcum, lightning stones, power crystals, and serenity gems in order to create items, eventually including the most powerful weapon in the game.\nExtra points goes to Orichalcum+ in Kingdom Hearts 2 , which not only is like Orichalcum but better, but is in so few quantities that you just barely have enough to craft the only item which requires it: Ultima Weapon .\nMinecraft :\nRedstone, a nice little powder that can conduct electricity and can be used to open doors, power minecarts, make music, ect. Although it actually is very common when mining deep enough. The unminable bedrock is sometimes referred to as Unobtanium. This is probably the most accurate use of the name, since, without the use of cheats, you cannot obtain it.\nEmeralds. Although they can be traded for with villagers, trying to mine them isn't as easy. They rarely spawn and are only found in mountain biomes, scattered in random single block veins. Good luck. However, there are more emerald veins per chunk than diamond veins and occur at much higher levels, making them much more common in caves.\nWorld of Warcraft has frightening amounts of Unobtainium.\nStarting out around the time the player starts mining Mithril ore, proceeding through Truesilver, Arcanite, Fel Iron, Adamantium and finally Khorium and Eternium. To quote a recent Penny Arcade post on the subject, \"What's next? Awesomite?\"\nThere's also the equally-mundane Titanium, its enchanted cousin Titansteel, and the more fantastic Saronite. This contains or possibly is entirely the blood of the Eldritch Abomination Yog-Saron, God of Death, drives people who mine it mad, and naturally forms into the shape of skulls when smelted. And which for some inexplicable reason, people decided to make armor out of and wear. Yeah, sticking that on your head couldn't possibly go bad.\nWorld of Warcraft is also littered with mundanely-named minerals that possess properties far greater than their real-life counterparts .\nEngineers, Jewelcrafers, and Blacksmiths use Thorium (a radioactive metal used in some reactors as a replacement for uranium and of which powdered form has been known to spontaneously combust in the air... dust which would be prolific around any thorium mining, smelting or forging site... and causing liver damage if absorbed in the body pre-combustion) and later on Cobalt (which gives off toxic, arsenic containing fumes when smelted, is an active nutrient for bacteria, is the third highest rated metal for causing contact dermatitis, and can lead to cardiomyopathy or cobalt poisoning if too much is absorbed into the body from breathing or consuming cobalt dust or powder... which would be produced, as with thorium, by the mining, smelting, and forging process). And while these are real elements, the apparent ease and safety with which they can be mined, smelted, and forged adds an Unobtanium aspect to them. And we won't even start on mercury being as harmless as water in the Deepholm zone, with one quest even requiring you swim in a lake of it. Considering the average character's Power Level is way Over Nine Thousand by the time they get to Deepholm, plain old mercury shouldn't be a problem.\nAll of that aside, a plot version exists called Kaja'mite. A rare mineral only found on two islands that we know of, its presence gave the goblins super-intelligence. When supplies ran out, their intellects gradually went into decline and they spread out across the world as traders in hopes of finding new sources.\nFurther expansions added obsidium, elementium, truegold, ghost iron, kyparite, trillium, living steel and lightning steel.\nMass Effect :\nElement Zero or \"eezo\" is responsible for all of the technology in-game, as it has the ability to manipulate mass , which makes it valuable for propulsion systems, projectile weapons, kinetic force fields, artificial gravity, and a powerful, convenient method of Faster-Than-Light Travel . Indeed, \"eezo\" is a key element of virtually every advanced galactic technology.\n\" Biotics \" are individuals who were exposed to Element Zero in utero and manifested biotic abilities (the power to manipulate dark energy) as a result. Those who don't manifest are often born normally with few complications, but unfortunately there also exist some who develop fatal cancers and rarely make it to term. Other problems faced by Human biotics is that because they are still part of the first generation, many were wired with older models of Biotic amps before humanity really knew what they were doing. While the L3 amps are stable, those wired with the L2 models experience some serious side effects , everything from nosebleeds , to occasional migraine headaches, to full-on insanity.\nAnother use for Element Zero, commonly used by criminals is to refine it into a drug called \"Red Sand\", so named after the first drugs were developed from Eezo found on Mars. It's like cocaine, but it gives you limited biotic powers. Oh, and it's highly addictive, and addicts who can't pay for their habit are sometimes sold into slavery.\nThe Final Fantasy series is also known to have various forms of Unobtainium, such as orichalcum or adamantite. In fact, every RPG ever made by Square Enix has something like that, often in the same relation as the Kingdom Hearts example.\nFinal Fantasy Tactics A2 lives this trope to the full! Not only has it scores of metallic unobtainium, but also plenty of both osseous (bones) and dendritious (wood).\nThe Crusader games has two.\nDi-corellium, a mineral that is apparently better for use in nuclear reactors than plutonium—to the point that it almost became a metaphor for petroleum, and at the very least for energy crises in general, what with the increasing scarcity of it and power shortages on Earth because of it—and of which vast quantities, about half of all known reserves, are on the moon.\nPolonium — yes, '' that\n' polonium — an element than in real life is unstable, highly radioactive, and extremely toxic, is used as... body armor.\nMetroid Prime :\nThe games feature Phazon, which is a highly-mutagenic, violently unstable, sentient mineral. Being a bit more specific, there is an incredibly resistant metal made from it known as Phazite.\nIn addition, visor scans can identify the chemical properties of certain structures. When you see names such as \"Talloric Alloy\" and \"Bendenzium\" in the description of a destructible obstacle, it is usually an indication as to which weapon you will need to use to proceed.\nDwarf Fortress has a rather extensive simulation of real-world geology and metallurgy, including creating simple alloys such as bronze and electrum.\nIt also has Adamantine, an incredibly rare ore that can be processed into various forms that allow it to be used in almost any type of construction imaginable — weapons, armour, tools, clothing, furniture, building material... about the only things you can't make out of it (well, without modding ) are beds and food. It also happens to be both as light as styrofoam, be more resistant than any steel manageable, and being sharpenable enough that you can drop a knife on a stone floor and it'll be embedded to the hilt. Naturally, you can buy out a whole caravan with just one implement made from it. Be careful, though - if the vein is hollow, you're going to get a visit from the Circus .\nThere's also slade\n, which can't be dug out. Even if you could, it's horrendously heavy (we're talking core of the sun heavy), so the potential uses for it are very limited — not that it matters, as the game won't let you use it even if you somehow get some out of the wallsnote Makes for terrific catapult ammo, at least. You're not thinking about this, though, because if you've even seen slade, you've got other problems to worry about .\nNow the developer is planning for game worlds to each have their own unique unobtainium with each one making some rare materials with randomly generated properties. When he first tried it out, he expected metals but ended up getting cursed mist.\nThe Myst series has the artificial stones nara and deretheni. There is also a tawny stone found on Riven , used for ornamental purposes.\nThe X-Universe has Nividiumnote popularly thought to be a pun on Nvidia, but Word of God states otherwise, a rare material found in asteroids. Mining it seems to cause the ire of the hostile Kha'ak , whose ships use small amounts of nividium in their hull. Otherwise, it doesn't have many uses and its main value seems to come entirely from its rarity. However, X Rebirth states that Nividium is merely the Teladi's name for Platinum, and goes on to describe its usage as a catalyst in chemical reactions and as a heirloom for Teladi.\nSpice in Spore , as a reference to Dune . It can be used for anything - it's a food, dietary supplement, fuel source, cleaning product, narcotic...\nRatchet & Clank 's Raritanium\nzig-zags this a bit. In the first game , there's only one piece of it in the entire game, but then you can mine for it in Going Commando or get it by shooting enemies down in space. Then Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked have no important appearance of it (some wrench upgrades are stated to contain Raritanium in the latter). Then Tools of Destruction and Into the Nexus have it and it's used to upgrade your weapons, but it's... well, rare, and you won't be upgrading too much... until Challenge Mode , where you'll probably be drowning in the stuff. A Crack in Time only mentions the ore in the Argorian Battleplex's \"Raritanium Cup\" tournament. In the meantime, All 4 One , Full Frontal Assault , Into the Nexus, and R&C 2016 all have the Warmonger, a rocket launcher whose rockets are stated to be tipped with Raritanium.\nThe Null Fragments in zOMG! , when in use, were like this. These little purple gems could be used to make anything you could think of, from tattoos, to figurines, to feather boas, to the armor of an alien species, to... you get the idea.\nThe browser game Skyrates includes Unobtainium (in fact, portrayed as Green Rocks ) as a trade good, and is also used in role play and player discussion as a reasoning for hard to explain occurrences, jokingly or otherwise.\nA little-known RTS called Submarine Titans has \"Corium-296\"... which appears to suggest that it is an extremely heavy element. Corium is very important to achieving the advanced technologies in the game, but is not naturally found on Earth: the enormous comet that forced humanity under the seas was made of the stuff, and small deposits (fragments of the comet) are found all over the place. note \"Corium\" is actually a nuclear industry moniker for the molten goop that forms when the entire reactor core melts and its materials mix together and start interacting with the surrounding materials\nIn The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass , you need the three pure metals (each corresponding to one of the creator godesses) to create a blade that turns the titular hourglass into the Phantom Sword. It's required by the plot, since the Phantom sword is the only thing that can hurt Bellum . The names of the Pure Metals are derived from their color: Crimsonine, Azurine, and Aquanine.\nPsitanium from Psychonauts . High grade unobtainium — a meteorite that grants anything alive psychic powers and is the plot device for any number of absurd things in the game.\nIn Golden Sun , there are nine forgeable materials: in increasing order of power, Tear Stone, Star Dust, Sylph Feather, Dragon Skin, Salamander Tail, Golem Core, Mythril Silver, Dark Matter and Orihalcon.\nMaster of Orion :\nMaster of Orion 2 has Xentronium. It cannot be invented by the player and must instead be plundered from the Antarans, either by capturing and reverse engineering one of their warships or by defeating the Orion Guardian (both very difficult to pull off, and each only gives you a ~30% chance of acquiring the technology). If you're successful, you're rewarded with the best armor plating in existence (Xentronium edges out the best player-researchable armor by a 5:4 factor).\nThe MOO series also contains many other substances such as Tritanium, Zortrium, Uridium and Adamantium. Due to the way research works, any of these can be Unobtainium in a given game.\nSnoopy vs. The Red Baron for the Playstation Portable does this bald-facedly. In order to make a superweapon called the Doodlebug, the Red Baron needs, what else? \"Unobtainium.\" Subtle.\nHalf-Life series\nHalf-Life 's Xenium: if you focus a particle beam on a pure crystal, it can rip through dimensions. And it can't be found on Earth but is an essential component to human-made teleporters.\nHalf-Life 2 Or that blue-ish metal Combine tech is made of. Whatever it is, it can't be scratched by anti-tank rocket impacts and reflects tau particle beams. Also, dark energy\nwas the universe's scientific Unobtainium just like in real life — until the Combine came; the Citadel's central reactor is an inexhaustible supply of the stuff. It is used to generate plasma made of exotic matter which is the basis of all Combine tech.\nThe instruction manual for Supreme Commander 2 explicitly mentions that the humongous mecha King Kriptor is unobtainium-armored .\nRuneScape features many odd metals, including Mithril and Adamantite. It also features \"Runite\" as a metal. Then there's the \"Dragon\" metal, which unlike the others, cannot be mined anywhere, nor can it be forged. Weapons made of Dragon metal can be obtained through drops, but not made.\nIn Original War a recently discovered material known as Siberite, or Alaskite, depending on timeline, is an efficient energy source, can be used as a nuclear weapon and can power up a time machine.\nAustralium in the backstory of Team Fortress 2 , a material so powerful and versatile that it has granted the rather dim-witted Australians global technological supremacy. Shipped in bars marked with a picture of a man fighting a kangaroo. It also has the side effect of causing Testosterone Poisoning to those who handle it, turning anyone using into ridiculously manly Boisterous Bruisers with Badass Mustaches and Carpets Of Virility . Even the women. It's also usable as rocket fuel. Disclaimer: we didn't say it was good rocket fuel. The Life Extenders used by certain characters also run on the stuff.\nThe Phantasy Star series has laconia, a metal similar to silver in appearance that is found on the planet Dezoris; it is often refined and crafted into some of the best gear available in the series.\nSam & Max approach a mine tunnel in Beyond the Alley of the Dolls: \"Maybe there's gold down this tunnel! Or rare deposits of Cantgetium!\"\nADAM from BioShock is produced only by a specific variety of deep sea slugs and has the power to rewrite a human's entire genome in minutes, and even transfer memories from one individual to another to some extent.\nThe Perils of Akumos offers us naxonite and peryolitium, which are particularly hard to find considering that you're supposed to be near mines of them.\nIn The Elder Scrolls , various types of unobtainium are used for armor and weapons.\nAs seen in Morrowind , the confusingly named ebony and glass are volcanic minerals. Daedric armor is forged from magicked ebony.\nIn the Shivering Isles expansion to Oblivion the smiths in New Sheoth can forge armor and weapons from amber and madness ore. (Lord only knows what the latter comes from.)\nSkyrim reveals that orcish and elven armor are partially forged from orichalcum and quicksilver, respectively.\nDwarven metal is an interesting case, as it's unobtainium In-Universe : in-game books in Skyrim reveal that mages, smiths, and scholars have tried for years to imitate its properties, with no success. Apparently the Dwemer were just that advanced in metallurgy. The only reliable source is recycled scrap metal from Dwemer ruins.\nSkyrim allows elite smiths to forge armor from dragon scales and bones. The modding community has seen fit to add dragonbone weapons as well. And Bethesda themselves later added dragonbone weapons when they released the Dawnguard DLC.\nThe first 2009 episode of The Colbert Report 's Show Within a Show Tek Jansen has the Big Bad enslaving some tiny doughboy aliens to mine Scarcerarium .\nDuck Dodgers in the 24�th Century : Duck Dodgers went to Planet X to find Illudium Phosdex, the Shaving Cream Atom, in his classic '50s adventure.\nSpiral Zone has Neutron-90, the rare material that the Zone Riders' uniforms are made from; it protects the soldiers from the Spiral Zone's Mind Control effect. At the beginning of the series, there's only enough of it to make five suits. Later, enough Neutron-90 is discovered to make two additional uniforms, and so Sixth Rangers Ned Tucker and Ben Davis are able to join the team.\nPhineas and Ferb :\nIn \"Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo\", Phineas and Ferb need a wood and steel fusing tool, which apparently won't be invented for 20 years.\nIn \"Vanessassary Roughness\", the element \"Pizzazium Infinionite\" is described as (maybe) having wondrous properties that could be used in the future to power generically-futuristic technology.\nIn Teen Titans , the thief Red X used a suit that was powered by Xenothium, which was only described as being unstable and crazy dangerous, but was capable of insane things, such as creating explosive projectiles, shields, metallic bands and all kinds of crazy shizz. (Apparently, the stuff is so dangerous that even respectable superheroes like Robin aren't allowed to buy it; he had to get it from the black market.)\nChlorine trifluoride\nis the real-world stuff. Derek Lowe has a nightmarish description at his blog.\nFrom that article: \"It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic (combusts spontaneously) with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, and asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively.\"\nThere is a pure Nightmare Fuel -level rumor that the Germans produced as much as 30 tons of the stuff to use as an incendiary weapon and rocket fuel during the World War II , but put it into the storage after it became clear that the war is going nowhere � and then it simply disappeared somewhere...\nPandemonium was in fact an early name for the transuranic metal americium, which is highly radioactive. It was called such because it was extremely difficult to separate from the element curium which was originally called delirium.\nGreek Fire - Accounts say it was a combination of volatile chemicals in liquid form that, when launched, would burn on and be ignited by water. There are several possible candidates for its original formula, or possibly formulae, but the exact details are lost to history.\nCarbon nanotubes have immensely useful electronic, optical, and mechanical properties, including a strength-to-weight ratio vastly superior to any building material currently in use. Sadly, as of 2010, even poor grade nanotubes go for about $100/gram. Guess that space elevator will have to wait a few more years. The biggest problem with them at the moment is to avoid cumulative weakening, as at the moment the more nanotubes you stock together, the more the nanoscopic faults accumulate, until their strength is all but gone. Still, many scientists are confident that they'll have long and durable nanotube strings in a couple of years.\nMountain biker slang for a bike made of a rare or expensive material is also 'unobtainium'.\nIn the late 70's Silicon Valley, there were two popular materials for solving otherwise intractable engineering problems, very specifically: Unobtainium-12 and Expensium-6. Neither was in the Grainger's or Thomas catalog.",
"Forests Are for Kids: Stuff We Get From Trees!\nWe get a lot more from trees ... Did you know that trees provide us with more than 5,000 products that people use every day? ... Turpentine is the most widely used ...\nForests Are for Kids: Stuff We Get From Trees!\nWe get a lot more from trees\nthan wood and paper!\nDid you know that trees provide us with more than 5,000 products that people use every day? It's true! From photographic film to paints and from toothpaste to tires, tree-based chemicals and other wood by-products are all around us.\nResin:\nWood resin is one of many tree-based chemicals. In nature, resin is the goop that forms a protective coating around a plant wound. It creates a hard coating that microorganisms and insects can't penetrate. People gather the resin of pine trees and use it in many ways. We've even classified resin into three categories: hard resins, oleoresins, and gum resins.\nRosin is the most important of the hard resins. It is used in paint, varnishes, and in soapmaking. Rosin also is used to make the bows of stringed instruments sticky so they produce more beautiful music. And rosin is used by ballplayers to give them a better grip on balls and bats.\nTurpentine is the most widely used oleoresin. It is a solvent -- meaning that it dissolves other substances -- that is used in paint, varnish, waterproofing, and shoe polish.\nGum Resins are used to make other chemical products.\nWaiter! There's a tree in my Twinkie®!\nThere are tree-based chemicals in many of our food and beverage products! Some of these chemicals are used as flavorings, while others keep the ingredients in food from separating. There's even a tree-based chemical that makes bubble gum chewier!\nCellulose, the material that makes up the walls of tree cells, is used as a food thickener in such tasty treats as snack food, milk shakes, ice cream, cake frosting, and pancake syrup!\nCellulose also is an important ingredient in non-edible products such as eyeglass frames, steering wheels, hairbrush handles, cellophane, and photographic film!\nYou're surrounded!\nThat's right! You're surrounded by stuff that comes from trees. How many different tree products can you see from where you're sitting right now? WOOD You Believe thousands? Click here to find more!",
"Giz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\nNot the hardest, or the most resistant to deformation. Just.. ... What's the Strongest Material Known to Man? John Herrman. 10/26/10 2:40pm. Filed to: ...\nGiz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\nGiz Explains: What's the Strongest Material Known to Man?\nAdamantite! Rearden Metal! Uru! Durasteel! Dalekanium! Unobtanium! Thousands of fictional characters have fought and died for these equally fictional super-materials. So what is the real-life strongest substance on our puny, sun-warmed planet?\nAdvertisement\nMankind's pursuit of the \"strongest\" material hasn't exctly been a concerted, organized effort, but it figures into history in incredibly profound ways. Hell, anyone who's played Age of Empires or Civilization—or read a book—knows that historians name entire eras after materials. The Iron (and steel) Age followed the Bronze Age, which followed the Copper Age. Materials got stronger, and humanity advanced. The two were hugely correlated.\nIt's been a while since we've had a good ol' material-based epoch. Too long! So let's find the next one. Goodbye Age of Computers, hello Age of ________.\nTo say that a material is \"strong\" describes so many different things that it can end up meaning nothing. A piece of chalk is stronger than a piece of string cheese in one way, but not another. Spiderweb may be stronger than steel in a particular test, but it's still a bendy, silky mess. So what do we mean when we talk about strength?\nMark Hersam, Professor of Materials Science (and Chemistry) at Northwestern University, has an answer. Well, a few answers: \"Typically when people talk about strength, they're talking about the amount of stress that needs to be applied before fracture. It's possible they could also be referring to how quickly it deforms.\" It's also possible that they could be talking about compressive strength, which is a measure of how easy it is for a material to get crushed. You could even be referring to impact strength, which is a material's ability to sustain a sudden smack. Arg! Make up your minds, people!\nAdvertisement\nFortunately, the 20/20 hindsight of history can guide us forward. Remember our ages? Iron, steel, copper, bronze—these are materials that we make things out of, be they structures or instruments. Hard things. Tough things: swords or trucks or skyscrapers or bridges. We're looking for hardness, yield strength—that's resistance to deformation, like denting or stretching—and tensile strength, which basically refers to bending. A material of world champion strength would be an optimum hybrid of these two qualities.\nTungsten carbide is phenomenally hard and has great yield strength, but is worryingly brittle when smashed or bent. Osmium alloys follow that same trend: extremely hard, but shatterable and lacking in true tensile strength. Diamonds are harder than either, but nearly impossible to work with or use in practical products and very, very rare. (Ever heard of a molded diamond? A diamond fighter jet? Right.)\nTitanium alloys can be flexible and boast high tensile strength, but aren't as hard as steel alloys. Amorphous alloys like Liquidmetal, Apple's new squeeze, are among the strongest materials all-around, with respectable hardness, huge tensile strength and resistance to fatigue—though it's not superlative in any way. Every metal has its weaknesses, is what I'm saying.\nThe real super-materials, well, they don't quite exist yet. But we're getting closer. You've probably heard a lot about graphene in the last few weeks , after a couple of scientists won Nobel Prizes for their work with the material. You've probably heard that it's hard. (200x harder than steel.) That it's flexible. That it conducts electricity, and happens to be transparent. What you've probably heard, in a nutshell, is that it's awesome. It has immediate and obvious applications in electronics, and Andre Geim, one of the recipients of the prize, went so far as to tell the AP, \"[Graphene] has all the potential to change your life in the same way that plastics did.\"\nGraphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the Hell Is It? Graphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the Hell Is It? Graphene Just Won Two Guys the Nobel. So What the…\nToday, two professors won the Nobel prize for physics \"for groundbreaking experiments… Read more Read more\nThe test that two years ago led to the declaration of graphene as the world's strongest material was a test of a one-atom-thick sheet of the stuff. Had the experiment taken place on a (theoretical) larger scale, the numbers would scale up favorably. An inch-thick block of material with graphene's properties would be virtually indestructible. Thing is, such a sheet can't exist.\nAdvertisement\nSponsored\n\"The property [of strength] is nominally independent of the geometry, but the problem is that the application definitely depends on the geometry,\" says Hersam. And what he means, in English, is that while graphene in amazingly strong, this strength can't easily be adapted to real, useful applications. Graphene is by definition a sheet of carbon atoms, bonded in a particular way, but always one atom thick. If you try to stack these sheets together, they can bond, but not well. Stacked graphene is called flake graphite—pencil lead, basically. And you can't build a bridge or a gun or a satellite out of pencil lead.\nBut wait! All is not lost for graphene. Not nearly. \"Graphene has to be incorporated into some matrix—a polymer, or a metal,\" says Hersamin. Basically, in order for it to be used in the real world, the stuff needs to become a component of something else. The trick will be maintaining its outstanding mechanical properties while it's dispersed inside another material.\nAdvertisement\nThis, he says, is an open question. Everybody's excited about graphene, but nobody's building graphene smartphones—yet. \"If you can stitch the graphene into a plastic or into a metal in such a way that the load of the plastic or metal would transfer to the graphene, so that the graphene in reenforcing the bulk of the material,\" then you'd might have yourself a super-material.\nCarbon nanotubes have long been held to have similar potential, but progress hasn't been great. You'll see carbon-nanotube gear at the top echelons of some sports, but it's a luxury, and its benefits—particularly when it comes to strength—aren't exactly huge. In order to get the nanotubes to bond with other materials, the bonding within the nanotubes themselves has to be compromised somewhat. It's a bit of a Catch-22, and graphene is every bit as vulnerable to the same fate; because nanotubes, to put it crudely, are just rolled-up sheets of graphene.\nSome worry that graphene will suffer this same fate: a lonely material unable to find a suitable matrix-mate for years, the promise of its youth spread thin over time as enthusiasm for its charms wanes... But for now, the mood is optimistic. Some researchers, Hersam says, already believe they've come up with a way to stitch the graphene into a matrix without drastically changing its mechanical properties, but their thesis is new, and so far untested. It does seem to be the case, though, that the two-dimensionally arranged carbon atoms in graphene will be more forgiving than nanotubes, as far as material scientists are concerned.\nAdvertisement\nThe take-away is that graphene gear will never be possible, but something that is approximately like graphene may one day be used to build all kinds of things. And even then, it'll be difficult to say that it's the strongest material in the world. Its carbon-cousin, diamonds, may still be harder; certain metals may have slightly higher tensile strength. It might not claim a single record, or make for a great title for an era (The Graphene Composite 1.0 Age?), but it'll be strong. Not the hardest, or the most resistant to deformation. Just.. really strong.\nGear from Kinja Deals",
"Tine_(structural).txt\nTine (structural)\nTines or prongs or teeth are parallel or branching spikes forming parts of a tool or natural object. They are used to spear, hook, move or otherwise act on other objects. They may be made of metal, wood, bone or other hard, strong material.\n\nThe number of tines (also written tynes) on tools varies widely – a pitchfork may have just two, a garden fork may have four, and a rake or harrow many. Tines may be blunt, such as those on a fork used as an eating utensil; or sharp, as on a pitchfork; or even barbed, as on a trident. The terms \"tine\" and \"prong\" are mostly interchangeable. A tooth of a comb is a tine.\n\nTines and prongs occur in nature—for example, forming the branched bony antlers of deer or the forked horns of pronghorn antelopes. The term \"tine\" is also used for mountains, such as the fictional Silvertine in The Lord of the Rings.\n\nIn chaos theory (physics, non-linear dynamics), the branches of a bifurcation diagram are called tines and subtines.",
"Railroad_tie.txt\nRailroad tie\nA railroad tie/railway tie/crosstie (North America) or railway sleeper (British Isles and Australasia) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge.\n\nRailroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but pre-stressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. \n\nUp to 3,000 ties are used per mile of railroad track in the US, 2,640 per mile (30 per 60 ft rail) on main lines in the UK. Rails in the US may be fastened to the tie by a railroad spike; iron/steel baseplates screwed to the tie and secured to the rail by a proprietary fastening system such as a Vossloh or Pandrol are commonly used in Europe.\n\nTypes\n\nStone block\n\nThe type of railroad tie used on the predecessors of the first true railway (Liverpool and Manchester Railway) consisted of a pair of stone blocks laid into the ground, with the chairs holding the rails fixed to those blocks. One advantage of this method of construction was that it allowed horses to tread the middle path without the risk of tripping. In railway use with ever heavier locomotives, it was found that it was hard to maintain the correct gauge. The stone blocks were in any case unsuitable on soft ground, such as at Chat Moss, where timber ties had to be used. Bi-block ties with a tie rod are somewhat similar.\n\nWooden\n\nHistorically wooden rail ties were made by hewing with an axe, called axe ties or sawn to achieve at least two flat sides.\nA variety of softwood and hardwoods timbers are used as ties, oak, jarrah and karri being popular hardwoods, although increasingly difficult to obtain, especially from sustainable sources. Some lines use softwoods, including Douglas fir; while they have the advantage of accepting treatment more readily, they are more susceptible to wear but are cheaper, lighter (and therefore easier to handle) and more readily available. Softwood is treated, while creosote is the most common preservative for railway ties, but more effective preservatives are also sometimes used such as pentachlorophenol, chromated copper arsenate and a few other preservatives. Sometimes non-toxic preservatives are used, such as copper azole or micronized copper. New boron-based wood preserving technology is being employed by major US railroads in a dual treatment process in order to extend the life of wood ties in wet areas. Some timbers (such as sal, mora, jarrah or azobé) are durable enough that they can be used untreated. \n\nProblems with wooden ties include rot, splitting, insect infestation, plate-cutting, also known as chair shuffle in the UK (abrasive damage to the tie caused by lateral motion of the tie plate) and spike-pull (where the spike is gradually loosened from the tie). For more information on wooden ties the Railway Tie Association maintains a comprehensive website devoted to wood tie research and statistics.\n\nWooden ties can, of course, catch fire; as they age they develop cracks that allow sparks to lodge so that they catch fire more easily.\n\nConcrete\n\nConcrete ties are cheaper and easier to obtain than timber and better able to carry higher axle-weights and sustain higher speeds. Their greater weight ensures improved retention of track geometry, especially when installed with continuous-welded rail. Concrete ties have a longer service life and require less maintenance than timber due to their greater weight, which helps them remain in the correct position longer. Concrete ties need to be installed on a well-prepared subgrade with an adequate depth on free-draining ballast to perform well. Concrete ties amplify wheel noise, so wooden ties are often used in densely populated areas.\n\nOn the highest categories of line in the UK (those with the highest speeds and tonnages), pre-stressed concrete ties are the only ones permitted by Network Rail standards.\n\nMost European railways also now use concrete bearers in switches and crossing layouts due to the longer life and lower cost of concrete bearers compared to timber, which is increasingly difficult and expensive to source in sufficient quantities and quality.\n\nSteel\n\nSteel ties are formed from pressed steel and are trough-shaped in section. The ends of the tie are shaped to form a \"spade\" which increases the lateral resistance of the tie. Housings to accommodate the fastening system are welded to the upper surface of the tie. Steel ties are now in widespread use on secondary or lower-speed lines in the UK where they have been found to be economical to install due their ability to be installed on the existing ballast bed. Steel ties are lighter in weight than concrete and able to stack in compact bundles unlike timber. Steel ties can be installed onto the existing ballast, unlike concrete ties which require a full depth of new ballast. Steel ties are 100% recyclable and require up to 60% less ballast than concrete ties and up to 45% less than wood ties.\n\nHistorically, steel ties have suffered from poor design and increased traffic loads over their normally long service life. These aged and often obsolete designs limited load and speed capacity but can still be found in many locations globally and performing adequately despite decades of service. There are great numbers of steel ties with over 50 years of service and in some cases they can and have been rehabilitated and continue to perform well. Steel ties were also used in specialty situations, such as the Hejaz Railway in the Arabian Peninsula, which had an ongoing problem with Bedouins who would steal wooden ties for campfires. \n\nModern steel ties handle heavy loads, have a proven record of performance in signalized track, and handle adverse track conditions. Of high importance to railroad companies is the fact that steel ties are more economical to install in new construction than creosote-treated wood ties and concrete ties. Steel ties are utilized in nearly all sectors of the worldwide railroad systems including heavy-haul, class 1s, regional, shortlines, mining, electrified passenger lines (OHLE) and all manner of industries. Notably, steel ties (bearers) have proven themselves over the last few decades to be advantageous in turnouts (switches) and provide the solution to the ever-growing problem of long timber ties for such use.\n\nWhen insulated to prevent conduction through the ties, steel ties may be used with track circuit based train detection and track integrity systems. Without insulation, steel ties may only be used on lines without block signaling and level crossings or on lines that use other forms of train detection such as axle counters.\n\nHybrid plastics/Composite plastics\n\nIn more recent times, a number of companies are selling composite railroad ties manufactured from recycled plastic resins, and recycled rubber. Manufacturers claim a service life longer than wooden ties with an expected lifetime in the range of 30–80 years, that the ties are impervious to rot and insect attack, and that they can be modified with a special relief on the bottom to provide additional lateral stability. In some main track applications the hybrid plastic tie has a recessed design to be completely surrounded by ballast.\n\nAside from the environmental benefits of using recycled material, plastic ties usually replace timber ties soaked in creosote, the latter being a toxic chemical, and are themselves recyclable. Hybrid plastic railroad ties and composite ties are used in other rail applications such as underground mining operations, industrial zones, humid environments and densely populated areas. Hybrid railroad ties are also used to be partly exchanged with rotten wooden ties, which will result in continuous track stiffness. Hybrid plastic ties and composite ties also offer benefits on bridges and viaducts, because they lead to better distribution of forces and reduction of vibrations into respectively bridge girders or the ballast. This is due to better damping properties of hybrid plastic ties and composite ties, which will decrease the intensity of vibrations as well as the sound production. \n\nIn 2009, Network Rail announced that they were to begin replacing wooden ties with recycled plastic ones made by I-Plas ltd of Halifax, West Yorkshire; but then I-Plas went into insolvency in October 2012. \n\nThe Cable TV series Factory Made has a segment on the manufacture of plastic ties. \n\nIn 2012, New Zealand ordered a trial batch of \"EcoTrax\" brand recycled composite ties from Axion for use on turnouts and bridges, but then Axion filed for bankruptcy in December 2015. These ties are developed by Dr. Nosker at Rutgers University. \n\nIn 2014 the KLP Hybrid Plastic Tie, by Lankhorst Engineered Products of Sneek, Netherlands, won the Privatbahn Magazin Innovation Award in the category Track and Infrastructure. \n \n\nFiberglass \n\nTies may also be made from fiberglass. \n\nNon-conventional tie forms\n\nY-shaped ties\n\nAn unusual form of tie is the Y-shaped tie, first developed in 1983. Compared to conventional ties the volume of ballast required is reduced due to the load-spreading characteristics of the Y-tie. Noise levels are high but the resistance to track movement is very good. For curves the three-point contact of a Y steel tie means that an exact geometric fit cannot be observed with a fixed attachment point.\n\nThe cross section of the ties is an I-beam. \n\nAs of 2006 less than 1,000 km of Y-tie track had been built, of which approximately 90-percent is in Germany. \n\nTwin ties\n\nThe ZSX Twin tie is manufactured by Leonhard Moll Betonwerke GmbH & Co KG and is a pair of two pre-stressed concrete ties longitudinally connected by four steel rods. The design is said to be suitable for track with sharp curves, track subject to temperature stress such as that operated by trains with eddy brakes, bridges and as transition track between traditional track and slab track or bridges. \n\nWide ties\n\nConcrete monoblock ties have also been produced in a wider form (e.g. 57 cm) such that there is no ballast between the ties; this wide tie increases lateral resistance and reduces ballast pressure. The system has been used in Germany where wide ties have also been used in conjunction with the GETRAC A3 ballastless track systems. \n\nBi-block ties\n\nBi-block (or twinblock) ties consist of two concrete rail supports joined by a steel bar. Advantages include increased lateral resistance and lower weight than monobloc concrete ties, as well as elimination of damage from torsional forces on the ties center due the more flexible steel connections. This tie type is in common use in France, and are used on the high-speed TGV lines. Bi-block ties are also used in ballastless track systems.\n\nFrame ties\n\nFrame ties (German: Rahmenschwelle) comprise both lateral and longitudinal members in a single monolithic concrete casting. This system is in use in Austria; in the Austrian system the track is fastened at the four corners of the frame, and is also supported midway along the frame. Adjacent frame ties are butted close to each other. Advantages of this system over conventional cross increased support of track. In addition, construction methods used for this type of track are similar to those used for conventional track. \n\nLadder track\n\nIn ladder track the ties are laid parallel to the rails and are several meters long. The structure is similar to Brunel's baulk track; these longitudinal ties can be used with ballast, or with elastomer supports on a solid non-ballasted support.\n\nFastening rails to railroad ties\n\nVarious methods exist for fixing the rail to the railroad ties. Historically spikes gave way to cast iron chairs fixed to the tie, more recently springs (such as Pandrol clips) are used to fix the rail to the tie chair.\n\nOther uses\n\nIn recent years, wooden railroad ties have also become popular for gardening and landscaping, both in creating retaining walls and raised-bed gardens, and sometimes for building steps as well. Traditionally, the ties sold for this purpose are decommissioned ties taken from rail lines when replaced with new ties, and their lifespan is often limited due to rot. Some entrepreneurs sell new ties. Due to the presence of wood preservatives such as coal tar, creosote or salts of heavy metals, railroad ties introduce an extra element of soil pollution into gardens and are avoided by many property owners. In the UK, new oak beams of the same size as standard railroad ties, but not treated with dangerous chemicals, are now available specifically for garden construction. They are about twice the price of the recycled product. In some places, railroad ties have been used in the construction of homes, particularly among those with lower incomes, especially near railroad tracks, including railroad employees. They are also used as cribbing for docks and boathouses.\n\nThe Spanish artist Agustín Ibarrola has used recycled ties from Renfe in several projects.\n\nIn Germany, use of wooden railroad ties as building material (namely in gardens, houses and in all places where regular contact to human skin would be likely, in all areas frequented by children and in all areas associated with the production or handling of food in any way) has been prohibited by law since 1991 because they pose a significant risk to health and environment. From 1991 to 2002, this was regulated by the Teerölverordnung (Carbolineum By-law), and since 2002 has been regulated by the Chemikalien-Verbotsverordnung (Chemicals Prohibition By-law), §1 and Annex, Parts 10 and 17. \n\nBallastless track\n\nBallastless track is designed such that no underlying ballast is required. The first such tracks were mountain railways (like Pilatus Railway, built in 1889) with rails attached directly to the mountain rock. From the late 1960s onwards, German, British, Swiss and Japanese railways experimented with alternatives to the traditional railroad tie in search of solutions with higher accuracy and longevity, and lowered maintenance costs. \n\nThis gave rise to the ballastless railway track, especially in tunnels, high-speed railway lines and on lines with high train frequency, which have high stress imposed on trackage. Paved concrete track has the rail fastened directly to a concrete slab, about half a meter thick, without ties. A similar but less expensive alternative is to accurately position concrete ties and then pour a concrete slab between and around them; this method is called \"cast-in precast sleeper track\". \n\nThese systems offer the advantage of superior stability and almost complete absence of deformation. Ballastless track systems incur significantly lower maintenance costs compared to ballasted track. Due to the absence of any ballast, damage by flying ballast is eliminated, something that occurs at speeds in excess of 250 km/h (150 mph). It is also useful for existing railroad tunnels; as slab track is of shallower construction than ballasted track, it may provide the extra overhead clearances necessary for converting a line to overhead electrification, or for the passage of larger trains. \n\nBuilding a slab track is more expensive than building traditional ballasted track, which has slowed its introduction outside of high-speed rail lines. These layouts are not easy to modify after they are installed, and the curing time of the concrete makes it difficult to convert an existing, busy railway line to a ballastless setup.\n\nSlab track can also be significantly louder and cause more vibration than traditional ballasted track. While this is in some part attributable to slab track's decreased sound absorption qualities, a more significant factor is that slab track typically uses softer rail fasteners to provide vertical compliance similar to ballasted track; these can lead to more noise, as they permit the rail to vibrate over a greater length.\n\nWhere it is critical to reduce noise and vibration, the concrete slab can be supported upon soft resilient bearings. This configuration, called \"floating slab track\", is expensive and requires more depth or height, but can reduce noise and vibration by around 80%. Alternatively, the rail can be supported along its length by an elastic material; when combined with a smaller rail section, this can provide a significant noise reduction over traditional ballasted track.",
"The Victorian Armchair - The Arts and Crafts Home\nSheraton illustrated and listed many types common in the late 18th Century including ... BERGERE. An armchair with cane ... Cotton cloth of varying grades first made ...\nThe Arts & Crafts Home\nVery large and fine easy library armchair, by Howard and Sons\nHeight 0.870, Width 0.870, Depth 1.030\nPrice SOLD (VA4)\nFine easy library armchair, by Howard & Sons\nHeight 0.830, Width 0.670, Depth 0.970\nPrice SOLD (VA3)\nFine and large Edwardian wing library armchair, with Mahogany legs.\nHeight 1.180, Width 0.840, Depth 0.840\nPrice £1150.00 (VA2)\nFine and large Victorian easy chair, by Howard and Sons.\nHeight 0.810, width 0.820, Depth 1.020\nPrice £1450.00 (VA1)\nPRICING\nThe price for an original Victorian armchair, fully renovated and re-upholstered starts at £850.00 (includes VAT and excludes fabric 7m and delivery).\nThe price for an orginal Victorian sofa, fully renovated and re-upholstered starts at £1400.00 (includes VAR and excludes fabric 13m and delivery).\nWe can replicate any arm-chair or sofa you have, and can upholster in any of our extensive range of fabrics , or we can use your own choice of fabric. Please email for prices.\n \nRANGE OF REPLICA VICTORIAN ARMCHAIRS AND SOFAS\nEach sofa and armchair are made to order, and the sizes listed can be adapted for clients specifications. We can adapt the height width and depth of any of our armchairs and sofas, and we are able to match any existing armchair or sofa you may wish to copy.\nWe can email larger images and further details upon request email .\n \n(HOW TO UPHOLSTER, RECOVER & REPAIR TRADITIONAL AND MODERN CHAIRS, SOFAS, OTTOMANS & STOOLS)\nTOOLS\nMagnetic tacking hammer\nThis is the most basic of all upholstery tools. There are two main types.\n1 A hammer with a plain 12 mm diameter head at one end, and an 8 mm diameter magnetized cabriole head at the other. The cabriole head is smaller and is used in places which are difficult to locate with the larger head. The un-magnetized head is also useful for nailing.\n2 A hammer with a magnetized head at one end and a tack removing claw at the other end. Care should be taken not to damage the fabric when using this claw.\nTacks are still traditionally held in the mouth for convenience. The beginner may be put off by the danger of swallowing one, but this risk is minimized if only about six are held at one time and they are stored beneath the tongue, to be brought forward as required. Each tack can be withdrawn directly from the mouth on to the magnetized end of the hammer provided the tack is turned by the tongue so that the head faces outwards from the mouth. Accuracy in placing comes with practice.\nStaple gun\nThis is used by manufacturers for speeding up production. It is not necessary for the home upholsterer. Guns are obtainable either air powered from a compressor, or they can be plugged in to the normal electricity mains.\nTape\nA flexible 2 m metal tape is required for general upholstery work. One which is graduated in both metric and imperial units will be useful in helping the reader to convert from one system to the other. The reader should accustom himself to think directly in metric rather than convert continuously between the scales. A straight wooden rule is more convenient for cutting fabric on a flat table.\nPincers\nA pair of pincers is required for extracting nails and staples when stripping a frame.\nShears\nA pair of shears is necessary to cut out fabric and for general upholstery work. Heavy duty shears for cutting fabric are usually 300 mm long but a pair 250 mm is suitable for both operations. It is worth investing in a pair with a good brand name.\nBench or trestles\nA bench, or a pair of trestles, is required to support the work at a height suitable for easy working, usually about 700 from the ground. The bench size should be about 750 mm square, and the trestles about 750 mm by 200 mm. A padded roll is often tacked round the perimeter of the trestles to prevent damaging the work.\nMallet and ripping chisel\nThe ripping chisel is used for extracting tacks. Although there arc many types available, an ordinary screwdriver with a plastic or wooden flat-topped handle will serve the purpose adequately. A mallet should always be used with the chisel to prevent damaging the handle. Hold the blade on the edge of the tack head and hit the chisel handle with the mallet. A few blows may be required before the tack is lifted. The tack should be ripped out in the direction of the grain to avoid splitting the timber.\nStaple extractor\nBecause of the ease with which staples can be put into a frame, there are usually more of them to extract than if tacks had been used. There arc many tools available for extracting staples. The one illustrated is one of the more successful types. It works by prizing the staple up with one of the end points. A final twist pulls the staple free.\nWebbing stretcher\nThis is used for stretching webbing tightly on a scat or back. There are several types available. If the stretcher is needed infrequently, a plain block of wood can be used. The webbing is wound around the block which is then levered against the frame to strain the webbing. Other specially made stretchers have grooved edges which fit against the rail to prevent the stretcher from slipping. One type uses a metal lever to hold the webbing, while the bat type has a slot through which the webbing is held by means of a peg. Another type has a series of spikes at one end by which the webbing is held. The disadvantage of the latter is that webbing is wasted due to the damage caused by the spikes.\nNeedles\nThere are four basic types of needle required by the upholsterer.\n1 Regulator. This is used to even stuffing. It should not be used over a fabric because holes may result. Skewers are safer for this purpose as they produce smaller holes, but care needs to be taken. The flattened end of the regulator can be used for moving stuffing beneath a fabric where a hand can not reach. The needles come in different lengths, but one 250 mm long should be adequate.\n2 Skewers. These are not only used for regulating, but also for temporarily holding material in position before slip stitching. They are also used when making a spring edge for attaching the scrim to the edge wire prior to sewing.\n3 Straight stitching needle. This is used for stitching edges, and for threading buttons through the upholstery. Both ends of the needle are pointed.\nA bayonet needle is similar, but is triangular in section down one third of its length. The purpose of this needle is to cut through stuffing which a stitching needle cannot penetrate. It can be obtained in different lengths, but one stitching needle about 300 mm long is satisfactory for most purposes.\n4 Circular needle. This is semi-circular and is used when the stitching needle is not practical, such as for sewing hessian around a spring unit. This needle is about 100 mm long, but smaller ones used for slip stitching are about 50 mm long.\nA spring needle is bayonet pointed, and is used, as its name implies, for sewing hour glass springs to webbing. This, too, is used for sewing through stuffing which an ordinary circular needle cannot penetrate.\nButton making machine\nThis machine converts a two-piece metal mould and a disc of fabric into a button. The top half of the mould forms the shape of the button and the lower half contains the fixing. This may be by a metal loop, a cloth tuft or a spike.\nA peddle operated machine can be used more efficiently than a hand machine. The object of both types is to bring the moulds together, trapping the fabric between them. Automatic electric machines are being used increasingly in factories.\nButtons can be obtained in different sizes, ranging from small ones suitable for deep buttoning work, to the larger ones of which very few arc needed for each job.\nLoose seat machine\nThis is used in mass production to simplify the upholstering of dining chair type loose seats. The machine consists essentially of a jig to hold the frame, and a rain to compress the stuffing.\nThe cover is placed upside down in the machine, followed by the stuffing, and then the base which, if necessary, has been previously covered with webbing and hessian. The ram, which usually works by compressed air, is brought down. This presses the frame on to the stuffing. All that is now required is to tack or staple the overhanging cover to the frame.\nCushion filling machine\nThis machine was common when spring interior cushions were used. Now the use of dacron in cushions has created again a demand for the machine. It can be worked manually by handles or it can be air or electrically powered. The cushion is placed in the machine and the lid is closed. The sides of the cushion are compressed by the machine and the cover is slipped over the mouth of the machine. A ram then forces the cushion forward into the cover. The filling of the cushion is completed by hand.\nElectrical cutters\nSpecial cutters can be obtained to cut anything from flexible foams to layers of fabrics. There are two main types of electrical cutter.\n1 The straight knife which operates by the oscillation of a vertical blade, and can cut greater thicknesses than the round knife but is slightly slower.\n2 The round knife which cuts by the rotation of a circular cutting wheel, is usually fitted with an automatic knife sharpener.\nMATERIALS\nTacks\nThere arc two types of tack: 1 improved and 2 fine. Improved tacks are stouter, and are used where greater holding power is necessary, such as for tacking webbing and hessian. Fine tacks are used mainly on fabric.\nBoth types of tack can be obtained in a variety of sizes, from 6 mm which are used on thin plywood facings, to 15 mm which are used on webbing, and where many thicknesses of material are to be penetrated. Rail thickness should be taken into account when choosing tack sizes, because too large a tack may split a narrow rail.\nGimp pins\nThese are obtainable in different colours to match a fabric. They arc 12 mm long and are cut with a small head to be inconspicuous in use. They are used for fixing cover along the edge of a show wood frame, such as may be found at the top of a chair leg. They arc also used for fixing gimp in place.\nNails\n1 No-sag nails These are used for fixing serpentine spring clips to the frame. They are 21 mm long and are serrated down their length to prevent them loosening in use.\n2 Clout nails These are 25 mm long and are much thicker than no-sag nails. They are blue, have serrations down their length and are used mainly for fixing spring units to the frame.\nTwines\nThese are made mainly from flax and hemp, but synthetic twines are gaining popularity for certain purposes where a greater strength is needed such as for fixing buttons.\n1 Stitching twine was originally used for stitching roll edges but it can be used wherever a thin but strong twine is required such as for fixing buttons.\n2 Spring twine is thicker and stronger than stitching twine. Its original use was for sewing loose springs to webbing but is now used more widely.\n3 Laid cord is not frequently used. It is a thick cord for lashing springs together to form an integral unit. It is made by laying the fibres side by side to prevent the cord from stretching.\n4 Piping cord is used in making upholstery with self-piped seams. The cord is attached to strips of the fabric, which is then sewn to the main fabric panel. See CHAPTER 7 page 48. Piping cord is made from synthetic fibres, cotton and compressed paper, in different diameters and with different stiffness ratios for different types of fabric.\nWebbing\nThis is used as a platform to support hour glass springs and other fillings. It is not being used as widely as in the past owing to new springing systems which are available.\nThere are two main types of webbing.\n1 Brown webbing which is made from jute in a plain weave and can be obtained in rolls of different widths.\n2 Black and white webbing which is more expensive but is of better quality. It is made from flax, woven with a twill weave.\nHessian\nThis is a loosely woven jute cloth used for covering springs, loose stuffings and webbing. It is also used for making flies (which are extension pieces, sewn to a fabric, and are hidden inside the upholstery, therefore saving material). Hessians are available in different weights, the heavier hessians being known as tarpaulins.\nWhen fitting hessian, keep warp and weft lines straight, as with a fabric. Hessian can be cut in a straight line by withdrawing a thread and cutting along this line. All hessian edges should be turned over for tacking, unless neatness is of more importance than strength, in which case they should be folded in.\nScrim\nThis is also made from jute. It is similar to hessian except that it has a more open weave and the threads are flat in cross section as opposed to the hessian's round threads. It is generally lighter than hessian. It is used for covering the first stuffing through which a stitched edge is sewn. Keeping the lines straight on the scrim aids the stitching of a straight edge because one thread can be followed as a guide for the line of stitching.\nCalico\nThis is a light, bleached cotton fabric. Strips of calico are used for attaching foam to a frame and as a base cover for upholstery. It is also used for covering upholstery prior to fitting the fabric, as described under Sewing a spring edge.\nRubber webbing\nThis is a form of springing, as opposed to the webbing previously mentioned. It consists of a core of rubber sandwiched between two layers of rayon cord which have been cut on the bias (diagonally). When the webbing is stretched, the cords control the amount of elongation in the webbing and, as the cords draw closer together, the webbing retains its strength. By varying the internal arrangements of cords, rubber and the angle of cut, it is possible to alter the characteristics of webbing.\nAll-rubber webbings are also available but, as they have no woven reinforcement, they do not retain their strength when stretched. They give a greater deflection of the cushion than reinforced webbing.\nDifferent webbings have different characteristics. By selecting the appropriate type, the required degree of resilience can be obtained. The depth of spring can be determined by:\n(a) controlling the initial tension on the webbing\n(b) using a specified width of webbing\n(c) adapting the spacing of the webbing to conform with the loading on specific points.\nThe type and thickness of the cushion should conform with the characteristics of the base.\nFitting rubber webbing\nThere is wide scope for individual ingenuity when applying webbing to produce seats and backs which can be adapted anthropometrically to the user. Webbing which is applied from front to back on a seat has the advantage that the width, and therefore the weight of the sitter, is distributed across all the straps by the cushion. The cushion is also free to rise and fall between the sides of the frame without being tilted inwards around the sitter.\nDisadvantages of this method are that a soft front edge can not be obtained, and the support given by the webbing is no greater at the points of maximum load than in less loaded areas.\nWebbing stretched from side to side can be given a soft front edge; and as the zone of heaviest load occupies the rear half of the seat, increased support can be incorporated in this area, by giving the straps greater initial tension or by using wider or more closely spaced straps. Where additional support is needed the straps can be run in both directions.\nFitting straps on the back can be treated in a similar manner. Loads encountered here are less than on a seat. When the webbing is placed from side to side it is possible to provide firmness for the lumbar region and the head rest while retaining greater softness in other parts of the back. Concave backs can be made by using cross webs in low tension, pulled into shape by verticals under higher tension.\nWebbing can be obtained in a continuous roll and can be applied by direct tacking or stapling. It should not be turned over at the ends. There are many types of clips available for attaching webbing to both wooden and metal frames. These clips are responsible, to a greater extent, for the successful introduction of the webbing because they simplify its application. The neatest and most popular clip is the one which fits into a grooved rail and ensures equal tension on all straps.\nRubber platforms\nThese area variation to rubber webbing. They are made from a synthetic rubber, and provide the newest form of springing system. They can be obtained in different sizes, and are attached to the frame at four points. The platform is fitted under a tension of between 8 to 15% in order to function correctly. This percentage has to be worked out when calculating the size of platform required.\nSpring systems\n1 Loose hour-glass springs. This is a traditional type of spring which was used in all sprung upholstery before 1920. Its use is associated with traditional hand stitched work which is very expensive in labour. The springs are double cone in form and are made from\ncopper-plated wire. The springs arc coiled and knotted at both ends by machine.\n2 Patent spring units. These arc assembled units, available for seats, backs and arms. They have a flexible wire mesh surface into which conical springs are threaded. The mesh may have a framing of rigid wire. The single cone springs arc riveted to steel laths at the base of the spring. Some units arc fitted with tension springs which arc fixed at intervals between the cone springs and arc attached to steel strips between the laths. Tension springs provide added comfort to the unit.\nDouble spring units arc not very popular, but they give added luxury to a seat. The base layer of springs is similar to the single spring unit, but the upper layer contains hour glass springs which may or may not be covered in calico or hessian pockets to muffle any spring noise.\n3 Tension springs. These are suitable for seats and backs where the design does not allow for a full spring unit. Although rubber webbing is a strong competitor to tension springs, they are still being widely used. The plain metal spring is used where they are to be covered by upholstery, but when they arc exposed or in contact with a cushion, they can be obtained with a PVC or woven fabric covering. They arc supplied in 1-22 to 2-03 mm SWG (14 to 18 gauge) wire, and in a variety of lengths. They are fitted under slight tension, usually between 35 mm to 50 mm and 45 mm length. The tension on these springs has an opposite mechanical action to the compression which coil springs undergo. Tension springs are fitted by direct nailing, hooking around nails, fixing to metal plates and by nailing them into a groove.\n4 Serpentine or 'o-sag' springs Serpentine springs can be supplied cut to length, in a continuous roll or made up into units. A thicker gauge spring should be used on the seat than on a back. They do not exist as a spring until they arc uncoiled and fixed to the frame. They are constantly trying to return to their original circular form which gives them a permanent arc.\nFive springs fixed from front to back or bottom to top, are normally used in chair seats and backs. They arc fixed to the frame by means of special clips of which there is a variety for different applications. Connecting links can be used to join the springs together so that they perform as a single unit. If connecting links are not available, the springs should be tied together with a thick twine across the centre of the springs.\n5 Pullmalex suspension unit This is another recent springing system which is suitable for seats and backs. It consists of a Hexolator, a wire platform cross gridded with twisted kraft paper centre ropes, which is fastened to the frame by tension springs. They are quick and easy to fix by means of anchors which are attached to the tension springs. Only thin upholstering is required over this spring.\nFlexible foams\nThe manufacture of latex foam\nNatural latex, containing the rubber molecule polyisoprene, is obtained from the rubber tree, and once was the only source of rubber. Today, synthetic rubber, styrene butadiene latex, is usually blended with natural latex to extract the best properties of both types of foam.\nNatural latex is obtained as a juice from the hevea brasiliensis, the rubber tree which is cultivated in Malaysia, Indonesia, Ceylon, West Africa and Brazil. After extracting the latex by tapping the tree, ammonia is added to the latex to prevent it from drying. The latex is concentrated by extracting water, which accounts for about 65% of the liquid tapped from the tree. The latex is shipped to the site where it is to be manufactured. Ammonia is extracted by blowing air through the latex. There arc two main processes of manufacture.\nThe first process mechanically foams the latex before its poured into the moulds. Various chemicals are dispersed in water and are then mixed with the latex. The most important of these chemicals is sulphur, a yellow solid, which, later in the process with the action of heat, brings about the change known as vulcanization or curing. The sulphur causes the latex molecules to crosslink, which prevents the latex from becoming soft and loosing its shape during hot weather, and going hard in cold weather. Other chemicals mixed in are soap which helps with the foaming, and anti-oxidants which protect against oxygen in the air. The mixture is then allowed to mature under controlled time_and temperature.\nAfter maturing, foaming takes place. Foaming is continuous, by passing the mixture with air through a mixing head. The action through the rotor causes the air to be uniformly mixed with the foam. Various degrees of firmness can be produced at this stage. The foam passes through a hose to where an operator fills the moulds. Gelling or solidification of the foam in the mould is brought about by two additives, zinc oxide and sodium silicofluoride, which are added after frothing the foam. It is during gelling that the air bubbles are interconnected.\nThe moulds pass through a steam chamber for 25 minutes, which causes the sulphur to vulcanize the rubber. The foam cushion is extracted from the mould, washed, dried and inspected.\nAn alternative method of foaming is by chemical means. The latex compound is foamed by oxygen which is extracted from the chemical hydrogen peroxide. A calculated quantity of hydrogen peroxide and a catalyst (a substance which helps the chemical reaction to occur without undergoing change itself) are stirred into the latex compound, and this is immediately poured into a mould. Decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide with subsequent foaming of the latex compound takes place after the mould is closed. Freezing, gelling by carbon dioxide gas, and vulcanization are carried out as before.\nCavity design in latexfoam\nLatex foam can be obtained either plain or with cavities. Solid foam contains much rubber which serves no useful purpose. Large communicating cavities are included to increase the comfort of a cushion. This is because when sitting on a solid sheet of latex, air is driven out and it eventually feels hard. In cavity cushion, the weight is taken by the walls of the cavities, causing them to flex slightly. Cavities are made by building plugs into the lid of the mould. The design and layout of cavities control the hardness of the foam, and it is possible to provide different hardnesses in different parts of a foam block.\nTypes of latex foam\nThere are five main types of moulding, each group of which covers a range of standard products. Special mouldings can be produced when the quantity ordered justifies the making of a mould. When this is uneconomic handbuilding is used.\n1 Non-reversible units These have a smooth surface with the underside showing the cavities. There is a wide range of mouldings which are used for fixed upholstery work.\n2 Reversible units Made from two non-reversible units which are bonded together with the cavities on the inside. They are used for loose cushions. A wide range of standard mouldings are available.\n3 Cavity sheet Made in sheets up to 1800 mm by 1400 mm and from 25 mm to 100 mm in thickness. They are available with various degrees of firmness and are used mainly for handbuilding.\n4 Plain sheet in sheet sizes up to 1800 mm by 1400 mm and from 12 mm to 30 mm in thickness. They are available in various degrees of firmness, and are used for covering arm pads, dining chairs, bar seating and handbuilding.\nPolyether foams\nThese are open cell flexible polyurethane ether foams as opposed to the polyurethane ester foams which are not used in similar flexible form in upholstery. Polyether is cheaper in price than latex foam, and is available in various thicknesses and densities, including densities lower than can be obtained in latex. It is therefore possible to choose a suitable foam for almost any requirement. The density is controlled by the chemicals which are mixed when making the foam. Fire retardent grades of foam are also available.\nThe main defect of polyether is that it offers a high initial resistance to deformation, although once a certain load has been reached this property disappears. This is known as hysteresis, and can be described as giving a sudden sinking feeling. These foams have been modified to such a degree that this property is no longer so noticeable. The chemicals carbon dioxide and urethane polymer are reacted together no further vulcanizing is then needed as with latex, because after foaming, the polyether sets into its final form. There are two ways by which polyether can be made:\n1 Prepolymer The ingredients react together before foaming begins. This allows greater control to be kept over the process, which ensures that the polyether will contain the required properties.\n2 One-shot In this case, mixing and foaming take place simultaneously.\nBonded chip foam\nThis is made from reprocessed waste polyether foam which is cut into small granules. The polyether chips are mixed in a preditermined ratio with a precatalysed polyurethane resin in an extruding machine. The resin crosslinks under pressure and sometimes heat, and the chipfoam emerges the same shape as the die at the head of the extruder.\nChipfoam is available from 2 mm in thickness. The thinner layers are rotary cut from a cylinder of chipfoam, in which the cylinder is peeled to give a continuous length of chipfoam. It is available in many grades, giving densities up to ten times greater than is possible in polyether foam.\nChipfoam is used in better quality upholstery as a base layer, over which a softer padding material is fitted. It can be used to advantage, together with a moulded rubber edge profile, over a seat spring.\nRubber profiles\nThese are made from latex and chipfoam and are available with different shaped cross sections for every possible roll and edge application. They can be glued to foam or tacked directly to a frame.\nFibre\nLoose fibre is not used much now in upholstery owing to the time and skill involved in its correct use. Different types are available, each being characterised by colour. Coir fibre, also known as ginger fibre, is obtained from the coconut husk, and is the most resilient type. It is shipped from Ceylon in bales which are broken open, and the fibre is teased to separate the fibres. A dust extraction system removes any remaining husk and the shorter fibres which add to the bulk but not to the quality of the fibre.\nAlgerian grass, often called black and green fibre, is obtained from the Algerian palm tree and is the next best quality of fibre.\nFibre pads are more convenient to use than loose fibre. These are made by needling a predetermined quantity on to a hessian backing.\nCurled hair\nThis is used as little as fibre for the reasons stated above. It is more resilient than fibre and is much softer to the touch. Hair is usually obtained as a mixture of horse, cattle and hog hair, the proportions depending on price. Horse hair is obtained from the mane and tail and is of better quality than cattle hair which, in turn, is better than hog hair.\nThe hair is first washed, and a proportion is dyed black. After mixing, the hair is spun into rope, and a curl is set in by steaming or boiling the rope. Heating also sterilizes the hair. After drying, the ropes are stored to allow them to mature. When required, the rope is untwisted and teased, or it is needled on to hessian to make hair pads.\nRubberized hair\nThis is obtained in sheets of varying densities. It is made by bonding curled hair with rubber latex which is then compressed to the required thickness and density.\nFelt\nBest quality felt is made from cotton linters which are obtained from the waste of the cotton plant after the cotton fibres have been extracted. These linters are pressed into an even layer. Felts can also be made out of rag flock made from processed rags, but this product is not as resilient as cotton felt. To conform to British Standards, the rags need to contain So to 60% wool. Felt is used over fibre and hair to prevent fibres from working through the covering fabric.\nPolyester fibrefill\nThis is a recently developed cushion filling material, made in terylene and dacron, which has contributed enormously to the comfort of seating. It is available as a bonded batting, in which the sheets are lightly bonded with acrylic resin on each side, making the material more compact and easier to handle. Unbonded batting is also available, in which the fibrefill is carded and folded into layers, which are then sandwiched between a loosely woven cheese-cloth.\nThe fibre has good bulking power, and cushions filled with the material are characterised by a full appearance. The fibre is very soft and recovers well from compression. This is due to a new three dimensional spiral crimp, or a saw-tooth type crimp, which is given to each fibre.\nFibrefill can be used by itself in a cushion or in combination with any type offoam which will blend with the fibre. When a core of foam is being used, cut the foam about the same size as the cushion cover, and wrap the required number of layers around the cushion. If unbonded batting is being used, stitch the cheese-cloth together along three sides for a neater appearance of the cushion. Keep the unsewn edge to the front of the cushion. Bonded batting can be lightly glued to the foam. If a 100% fibrefill cushion is required, use the unbonded batting and fold it to about 25%, longer and wider than the cushion size. Use about 370 gm/m2 (4.4 oz per sq ft) in a seat cushion, and 1220 gm/m2 (4 oz per sq ft) in a back cushion.\nKapok\nThis is a vegetable filling material obtained from the seed pods of the kapok tree. It is used in cushions as a cheap substitute for feathers and down. The fibre comes from Java and the Dutch East Indies where it is washed, graded, and compressed into bales for shipping. When it arrives in this country, it is reprocessed by drawing by suction through a hopper, in which the kapok is beaten by arms revolving on an axis. This separates seeds and sand, and expands the kapok into its fluffy and light form. Kapok is extremely light because of the porous nature of the fibre, but in spite of this, water does not penetrate it very easily. Because of this property it is used as a filling for upholstery in ships, and lifesaving equipment.\nFeathers and down\nThese are still used extensively in the more expensive traditional upholstery. Down obtained from the cider duck is more expensive than feathers but is rarely used by itself. Feathers are normally mixed m to give extra weight and to lower the cost. Down contains no large quills and has a much greater filling capacity than feathers.\nFeathers arc obtained mainly from poultry, much of which is imported from China. Cheaper grades of feathers arc chopped to prevent there being felt through the fabric.\nFeathers and down arc weighed, and then filled by vacuum through a hose into waxed calico cases which prevent the quills from penetrating the fabric. The cases are often divided into three or four separate pockets to spread the filling equally throughout the cushion. The case should be slightly larger than the cushion cover into which it is to fit.\nCastors\nThese are a necessary fitting for upholstery, and much scientific experiment has gone into perfecting different types. The ball type is very popular because its patented design ensures almost frictionless and silent mobility.\nCastors can be provided with different wheels for various floor surfaces, and there are different methods of fixing them to metal and wood frames. There are two main methods. The first is by a screw plate, and the second is with a socket fixing, where the socket fits into a drilled hole in the frame, and the peg of the castor can be pushed into the socket.\nGlides can be fitted to light furniture which does not need wheeling about. They can be fitted by hammering on directly, or by means of a socket.\nUPHOLSTERY FABRICS\nTraditionally, the upholstery fabric market has been predominantly based on a number of fabric types, including moquettes, velvets, tapestries and brocades. Recently there has been a strong move towards the woollen Scandinavian boucle type of fabric. Acrylic velvets are also being exploited, due to their brightness and the clarity of colouration that they can be given, also to their warmth, softness to touch, durability and easy cleaning properties. The trend has particularly moved away from moquettes.\nThe choice of fabric is a major factor influencing the success or failure of any job. A well chosen cover can transform a mediocre design into something attractive, but a badly chosen cover can make even a well upholstered chair appear drab. Certain covers which may suit certain styles of upholstery may be unsuitable if used on other designs. A cover should be chosen which fits in with surrounding materials, considering texture, pattern and colour. The amount of wear that is likely to take place must also be taken into account when buying the fabric.\nWoven fabrics\n1Bedford cord A fabric with ribs running in the direction of the warp. It is made in a plain or twill weave, and can only be obtained in single colours.\n2 Brocade A finely woven jacquard fabric with a mufti-colour pattern. Originally it was a heavy silk fabric with elaborate pattern, made with silver or gold thread. It is made by floating extra coloured threads on the back of a plainly woven ground cloth, which are brought to the surface when required. Brocades are made from cotton, wool, silk and manmade fibres, and have a firm and smooth hard wearing surface.\n3 Brocatelle This is similar to brocade, but the heavily figured pattern is raised above the weft backing.\n4 Corduroy A cut pile fabric with ribs running in the warp direction. The weft yarns float on the surface at intervals which are then cut, brushed, and singed to form the pile. It is a hard wearing fabric, made from cotton and man-made fibres, and is in the medium to high price range.\nS Chintz A closely woven printed cotton fabric in a plain weave and with a glazed surface.\n6 Crash A heavy, rough textured, plain woven fabric made from jute, flax, hemp and cotton.\n7 Cretonne Similar to chintz but without the glazing.\n8 Damask Similar to brocade, but it is flatter and is reversible. It was originally made in Damascus from where it takes its name.\n9 Denim A hard wearing coarse cotton twill fabric of low cost.\n10 Genoa velvet A heavy velvet with a multi-coloured figured pile on a smooth ground. It is a very expensive fabric.\n11 Moquette A fabric having a pile which is cut, uncut or in a combination of both.\nCut moquettes are made by weaving two fabrics face to face, the pile being formed between, by interlacing both fabrics simultaneously with warp threads. The pile is then cut by a knife which travels between the fabrics. Another method of weaving is by lifting the warp threads over wires which are inserted in place of the weft. The pile is cut by the wires as it is withdrawn. Uncut moquettes are made with two warps, one of which forms the pile. Wires are inserted in place of the weft, but unlike those used above, they have no cutting edge. After weaving, the wires are withdrawn, leaving a pile in the form of loops. Moquettes having a combination of cut and uncut pile use cutting blade wires and plain wires. They are extremely hard wearing, can be obtained in many designs in both man-made and natural fibres but are generally very expensive.\n12 Plush A fabric having a longer but less dense pile than velvet. It is in the medium to high price range.\n13 Repp A plain woven fabric with ribs in the direction of the weft. It is a very hard wearing fabric, in the medium price range.\n14 Sateen A fabric in which the weft float over the surface of the warp forming a smooth surface. It can be made without twill lines. The weave is also known as welt satin, and is in the medium price range.\n15 Satin A fabric in which the warp float over the surface of the weft, forming a smooth surface. This weave is also known as warp sateen.\n16 Tapestry A jacquard figured fabric made from part or all wool, with coarse yarns which can be made\nin a variety of weaves. It can be obtained in many colours and is very expensive.\n17 Terry velvet An uncut loop pile velvet which is woven over wires similar to the uncut moquette. It is very highly priced.\n18 Ti-need A simple twill weave fabric with a smooth, hard-wearing surface. It is usually made from all wool, but other fibres are also used. Due to its simple weave, the fabric is reasonably priced.\n19 Velour A warp pile fabric with a very short pile.\n20 Velvet Produced with a double warp, one of which forms the pile. The ground warp is woven with weft yarns through which the pile is woven. A wire with a cutting blade is inserted between the pile warp to form loops, which are cut as the wire is extracted. Velvets are also made in a similar way to cut moquettes, by weaving two fabrics face to face with the pile between, which is sliced through the middle to separate them. It is very highly priced.\n21 Velveteen A weft pile fabric. It is woven with floating weft yarns which are cut after applying a paste to the back of the fabric to fix the yarns, so they do not move during cutting.\nKnitted fabrics\nThese arc used in woven fabric applications. They arc also for covering plastics chair shells because their stretch properties are well suited to fitting around the double curvature shapes associated with these types of chair.\nThey are liable to damage by loop pulling and laddering, which do not occur so frequently with woven covers. Damage is usually caused during sewing and fitting of the cover. Laddering can be caused by piercing the fabric with sewing needle, tacks and staples. The fabric can also be damaged if too rigid a seam is used for sewing, in which case the fabric might be torn by the thread when it is being stretched during upholstering or use. Foam or rubber backing a fabric lessens the chance of laddering.\n1 Warp knitted fabrics These can be woven to give an appearance of either ordinary woven cloth or weft knits which are described below. They can be produced faster than woven fabrics, and are used in competition with them. They can be made with raised or unraised loops and can be made ladder resistant (a disadvantage associated with weft knits). They are woven mainly from continuous filament yarns, and different types of surface texture can be produced with either an open or closed structure. Knitting styles vary with different machines, the difference between machines being based on the number of needles and the thickness of yarn which is used. Warp knits are so called because threads run along the length of the fabric.\n2 Weft knitted fabrics These fabrics have more stretch than warp knitted fabrics. The fabric is made up of interlocking loops of yarn. The loops are formed across the fabric with a single thread. There are three basic types of weft knitted fabrics used in upholstery: single jersey, double jersey and interlock, all of which can be knitted with variations. The former is a plain knitted fabric, and is very prone to laddering. Double jersey has a rib structure, and is so called because the stitches which lie in two planes tend to come together to form a double fabric. Interlock is also a double rib fabric, but it has interlocking cross yarns which prevent the fabric from damaging easily.\nCoated fabrics\nRexine made from nitrocellulose was the first plastic coated fabric to be used, but has now been superseded by other plastics.\nPolyvinyl chloride PVC fabrics have good abrasion resistance and are easily cleaned. This makes them suitable for both contract and domestic upholstery.\nThe properties of a coated fabric depend on the backing fabric, the type, content and thickness of the coating material, the adhesion between and the method of application of the coating to the fabric, and the decoration of the surface. Many types of backing fabric are used for strengthening the coating surface. The cheapest fabrics have no backing, and tear more easily than backed fabrics. Vynide has a woven backing fabric having good abrasion and flexing properties. Other PVC materials have knitted fabric backings to give the fabrics greater stretch properties, making upholstering easier. Expanded and unexpanded PVC are used in making coatings. Ambla and Cirrus are expanded fabrics which are softer and warmer than plain PVC fabrics. They are made by incorporating a blowing agent which expands the mixture to give a thin layer of foam with an integral skin of solid PVC. A plasticiser is added to PVC to give the fabric certain properties. The type and quantity used affects abrasion resistance and general flexibility.\nPVC fabrics can be obtained in many colours. The amount and type of pigment used affects the light stability of the fabric. There are two methods of making the coated fabric, both of which use PVC as a plastisol (paste). The doctor knife method is the process usually used, in which the paste is spread on the fabric by means of a roller and a doctor knife, which control the thickness deposited as the fabric moves between them on a conveyor. The fabric then passes through a heated oven at i6o to i7o°C to gell the coating. An embossing roller imprints the pattern on the surface, and the fabric is rolled.\nA second method, dip coating, involves passing the base fabric through an impregnating bath containing the paste. Excess paste is removed by rollers. Heating and embossing is carried out as above.\nPolyurethane\nThese fabrics are more like leather than other synthetics. They are usually applied in a thinner coating than PVC. Like PVC, they are air permeable, have good stain and abrasion resistance, and are easy to clean and upholster with. They can be finished with a matt or gloss `wet look'. Glossy fabrics usually contain a two-component finish, and the fabrics are tested to ensure that they will not delaminate through bad adhesion of the two dissimilar coatings. Certain of these fabrics also tend to be sticky.\nFabrics are divided into two groups governed by the method of coating.\n1 Direct coating involves spreading the polyurethane as a viscous liquid directly on the base fabric by means of rollers. A thicker and less stretchy fabric is formed by this method.\n2 Transfer coating is more suitable for lighter coatings, and is applied to knitted fabrics. The coating is applied to a release paper, and is partially dried. The film is then transferred and bonded to the backing. The release paper is usually made from a strong kraft paper, which is coated with release agent to release readily the coating from the paper, and also a resin (polyurethane in this case). The paper can be plain or embossed, depending on the surface requirements for the fabric. The paper acts as a carrier to transport the resin coating on to the fabric backing, after which it is peeled off and can be used again. The general fabric properties depend on the effectiveness of the coating process, and the adhesion and thickness of the coating. This process is also used with PVC.\nWelding of PVC\nThe sewing of PVC can be avoided in mass production by using a radio frequency heating welding machine. This machine can form quilting patterns if suitable jigs are made, and it can make a seam much faster than a sewing machine. Power output, welding time and depth of sink of the welding blades are the machine's variables, which need to be carefully regulated according to the fabric in order to produce good welds.\nThe average weld strength of backed PVC is 42% of the fabric strength. Thoughtful designing is needed to ensure that the seam will not be highly stressed.\nHides\nAfter a long absence from modern domestic upholstery, leather is once again in demand as a covering material.\nCow hides of about 3.3 sq in (45 sq ft) arc obtained in irregular shapes. They can be squared for easier planning of cutting, but this raises the price of the hide Hides arc bought as whole or half hides. The outer side is called the grain side, and the inner side is the flesh side. Leather crushes easily, so it should be rolled neatly with the grain on the outside to prevent this.\nJoins can be made on hides by skiving pieces together. This is done by cutting the pieces to be joined at an angle so that there is greater surface contact, and then gluing them together.\nThe warble fly is the major cause of imperfections on a hide, but barbed wire and bramble scratches also cause surface markings. The holes heal on the animal to form scars which do not affect the strength of the leather. Certain blemishes add to the natural effect, while others need to be buffed out.\nHides are first washed, then left to soak in pits containing lime and sodium sulphide. This aids removal of hair. The hides are split into layers, the top layer being used for best upholstery leather, and the bottom or flesh split being used for suede leather. The leather is dc-limed, and is passed to the currier in the rough tanned condition. The rough hides are sorted into groups, based on their ultimate use. They are then soaked in water and allowed to equalise in moisture content with the surroundings.\nSkiving leather\nThe hides are shaved on the underside to give them a level substance (thickness) before they enter the drum house where tanning is continued by introducing oil into the leather in the form of an emulsion. The hides pass from drum to drum, alternating between cleaning and re-tanning by specially prepared warm liquors. Chemicals are added to guard against rotting.\nThe hides enter the setting-out machine, which contains rubber rollers between which the hides pass, extracting most of the moisture from the hides. They are transferred to the stretching shop, where they arc stretched to facilitate drying. It is not the aim of stretching to make them larger in area. They are dried under controlled relative humidity and temperature to ensure uniform drying throughout their substance.\nThe hides are now in the russet state. Those for use in upholstery are re-sorted before staining. Those selected as buffed antique hides are sent to the buffing shop, those for printing to the printing shop, and those for natural fall gain hides arc left unfinished.\nStained hides are sprayed with aniline dyes. The colour is rubbed into the grain, the surplus is wiped off, and the hides arc dried in an oven. Hides which are unsuitable for a natural grain finish, owing to blemishes, are embossed with an artificial grain. They are then placed in a revolving drum for several hours to produce a crushed effect.\nThe full grain hide has an undisturbed surface, all natural grain and blemishes being left intact.\nA buffed antique finish is given to hides which are unsuitable for other finishing treatments, owing to bad surface markings. The blemishes are removed from the surface of the hide by a machine containing cylinders which arc covered with carborundum paper. The hide is then embossed and finished in a similar way to the full grain hide. This type of hide is the cheapest upholstery hide produced.\nTrimmings\nSelf-piping or ruche is often used as an alternative to having plain seams along cushion borders, etc.\n1 Self piping consists of piping made from the same material as the covering fabric.\n2 Ruche can be obtained in shades to match most covers. One edge of the ruche is suitable for sewing into the seams of the fabric. There are three main types of ruche.\n(i) Cut ruche consisting of a continuous closely woven thread, with a cut pile surface.\n(ii) Loop ruche which is similar, but its pile is not cut.\n(iii) Rope ruche which is made in the form of rope, with decorative threads on the surface.\n3 Braid and gimp is a decorative band of material which is glued or gimp pinned along the edge of upholstery, particularly where the cover finishes against a show-wood frame.\n4 Upholstery nails are used as an alternative to slip stitching to finish a job. They are hammered in to the frame at regular intervals, after folding in the raw edge of the material. They are commonly used on plastics coated fabrics which are difficult to sew by hand. Nails can be obtained with a brass or antique finish, or in colours to match a fabric.\n5 Fringe is gimp-pinned or sewn around the perimeter of upholstered furniture as an added decoration. It consists of loose, twisted threads which hang from a length of braid. It can also be obtained with tassels.\nCare and cleaning of fabrics\nAll upholstery should be cleaned regularly with a vacuum cleaner or a soft brush to prevent dust from settling in the fabric.\nWhen fixed upholstery covers require cleaning, which should not be too infrequently, a special dry foam upholstery cleaner can be bought, which cleans the fabric without damaging the underneath padding.\nMost loose fabrics can be taken off and washed by hand or in a washing machine. Fabrics react differently to washing and heat, so the recommended washing and ironing instructions should be followed. If no washing instructions have been given with the fabric, it is safer to consult a dry-cleaner. Plastics coated fabrics need only to be wiped over with a damp, soapy cloth, followed by a dry duster, in order to keep them looking like new. Polishes should not be used on these fabrics.\nMan-made fibres\nThese are being used in an ever-increasing quantity for upholstery fabrics. Although wool is still one of the better fibres, its high price is restricting its use, and man-made fibres are necessary to provide wool equivalents at lower cost. Man-made fibres also offer properties which are not available in natural fibres. Each fibre has its own characteristics, and by blending natural and man-made fibres, many desirable properties can be incorporated into a fabric. For instance, the addition of a coarse denier, long staple rayon to wool will increase its strength and abrasion resistance.\nYarns made from man-made fibres can be produced with a lustrous or matt finish, and with different forms of texture, giving different grades of strength and abrasion resistance.\nAll man-made fibres are produced by taking a fibre-forming substance (a polymer), converting it into liquid form, forcing the liquid through a `spinneret' having very fine holes, and causing the streams of liquid to solidify as fibres. This process is carried out in different ways, depending on the chemical nature of the fibre.\nMan-made fibres are available in two forms: continuous filament and staple filament yarn. Continuous filament yarn contains from one to one hundred or more individual filaments. The thickness of the yarn is indicated by the denier. Continuous filament yarns are produced from is denier to 2000 denim.\nStaple fibre is obtained by cutting a thick rope of filaments (a tour) into fibres of the required length. 25 mm to 200 mm (1 in. to 8 in.) fibres can be made depending on the spinning system to be employed.\nTEXTILE TERMS\n1 Boucle yarn A decorative yarn having loops or knots at regular intervals, and made from two or more threads which are twisted together.\n2 Bulked yarn A textured yarn, consisting of a crimped or folded yarn which gives bulk, softness and warmth to a fabric. It is made from man-made fibres to resemble wool. Bulking changes the original Fibre properties.\n3 Catalyst A substance which is added to speed up a chemical reaction, without taking part in the reaction itself.\n4 Crimp The waviness of a fibre. It is found naturally in wool, but it can be inserted permanently into man-made fibres by heat setting. It is used in textured yarns to give bulk.\n5 Denier The term applied to filament man-made fibres and silk, and is the measure of thickness of a yarn. The denier is the weight in grammes of 9000 metres of yarn.\n6 End, The term given to individual warp threads.\n7 Filament A continuous fibre, obtained after melt spinning a man-made fibre mixture. Filaments arc naturally obtained in silk.\n8 Picks The term given to individual weft threads. The number of picks per centimetre (inch) depends on the yarn count and the closeness of the weave.\n9 Plain weave The simplest but closest method of weaving.\n10 Selvedge Provided along the edges of a fabric to give a firm and strong edge. The selvedge is made by including extra end warp yarns which are either of the same or different but stronger material.\n11 Staple Short fibres. A man-made fibre filament can be cut into short lengths to form staple fibres. Natural fibres are obtained in staple form.\n12 Stretch yarn A textured yarn which is made to give a fabric elasticity. It is similar to a bulked yarn but has more stretch.\n13 Tex A metric system of yarn numbering which, it is hoped, will supersede and rationalise all other methods. It measures the weight in grammes of zooo metres of fibres and natural or man-made yarns. Different units are used within the system militex = milligrammes per kilometre kilotex = kilogrammes per kilometre decitex = decigrammes per kilometre.\n14 Twill weave This weave produces diagonal lines across the surface of a fabric.\n15 Warp The threads which run along the length of a fabric.\n16 Weft These threads run across the fabric at right angles to the warp.\n17 Yarn count A measure of yarn thickness. It is calculated by an indirect method of measurement, usually based on the pound unit. This method measures length per unit weight as opposed to the direct method which measures weight per unit length. In the indirect method, the coarser yarns have lower numbers, but by the direct method, the coarser the yarn, the higher is the number. The denier and tex systems work by the direct method.\nWeaving\nAll woven fabrics are produced on a loom. The basic principle of weaving involves holding the warp yarns under tension, and interlacing with weft yarns. The weft yarns are held in shuttles which are sent across the warp threads as required, after raising the chosen warp ends.\nJacquard loom\nThis loom allows complex repeat patterns to be woven. The pattern of the fabric is transferred to rectangular cards by means of punched holes. Each line of picks uses one card. There are as many cards as there are picks in each repeat pattern. The cards are laced together and fitted in a belt on the loom. Needles are fitted to the loom which come into contact with the cards. Where holes have been punched in the cards, the needles enter, which causes the associated warp threads to be raised. After the weft yarn has been inserted, the needles withdraw and the next card comes into place to restart the cycle. Another type of loom uses a long strip of thick paper instead of individual cards.\nThe martindale abrasion machine\nThis is considered to be the most reliable machine for determining the abrasion resistance of the majority of woven fabrics. Fabrics having certain textured yarns and those with long piles are unsuitable for testing. This test is understood by the average consumer, and salesmen often talk about fabrics having a particular number of rubs.\nTests need to be carried out under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity, and an average is found from the results of a number of tests. A figure of 3S,ooo rubs is considered to be the minimum acceptable number for domestic upholstery fabrics, but results of over 40,000 rubs arc necessary for hard wearing fabrics suitable for contract use.\nSpecimens arc cut into 36 mm diameter discs, and are clamped into the abrading head over 3 mm thickness of foam. Four specimens are simultaneously. Specimens should be examined at certain stages to note any change, which can be assessed as follows:\n1 The partial exposure of backing structure.\n2 Removal of pile from a pile fabric, exposing the backing.\n3 Breaking of the threads.\n4 Removal of nap from the surface.\n5 Rate ofweight loss. Specimens should be weighed every 1000 rubs.\n6 Pilling This is the forming of small balls of fluff on the surface.\n7 Testing to destruction. This is not as useful a test as when the fabric is tested for earlier deterioration.\nSTRIPPING AND REPAIRING THE FRAME\nThe cover and materials should be stripped in reverse order to the upholstering. The usual sequence is to remove the base cover, followed by the outside back, outside arms, seat, inside back, and inside arms. It is important to remember the order in which the frame was upholstered, and also where trimmings have been used on the cover. The piece of furniture being stripped should always be in a suitable position for working.\nThese positions should be used for upholstering as well as stripping. If certain parts arc not being recovered, or the cover is to be replaced after repair to the frame, it is important not to damage the fabric. This can be prevented by resting the covered frame on some cloth or padding, placed on the floor and on the bench.\nIf the inside springing and padding are in good condition, it might be possible to leave them on the job, if the upholsterer is sure that by doing so, it does not impede the fixing of the new cover. If the padding has been flattened, a layer of felt placed over the old padding will help to build up its resilience again.\nThe old cover should be saved so that the pieces can be used as patterns for cutting the new cover. Extra cover should be allowed in places where it can be seen that cover has been trimmed from the original piece. Hessian flies should also be fitted where they are thought to be necessary.\nThe frame can be altered for modernisation of the design. If this is done, the old cover must not be used for patterns, but new measurements need to be taken around the frame after fitting the padding.\nTools required for frame repairs\n1 Brace and bit This is used for drilling out broken dowels, and for drilling new dowel holes. It is also used for drilling castor holes. The brace can be used with screwdriver bits.\n2 Hand drill Required for drilling screw pilot holes. These prevent splitting the timber, and also make screwing easier. A countersink bit is also required.\n3 Screwdrivers These are required if screwdriver bits for the brace are not available.\n4 Tenon saw This s used for cutting rails to length, for cutting corner blocks, and for cutting off old dowels before re-drilling the holes.\n5 Sash crams At least two are necessary to ensure correct setting of a glued joint. If none is available, a length of joined wire can be used with which to improvise. The cramp action of tightening a joint will occur when, with the aid of a lever, thee wire is twisted.\n6 Rasp This is used to chamfer the sharp edge of a rail where there is a danger that the edge will cut through the padding, and make a hole in the fabric. It is necessary to round the inside of rails where rubber webbing is to be fitted, and the edge over which a roll is to be stitched.\n7 Bevel This tool is useful for measuring angles, such as when marking out corner blocks.\nMaterials\n1 Timber This should be straight and close grained, with a medium degree of hardness, and free from knots which reduce its strength. The timber should be able to retain tacks, but it should not be too hard to make their insertion difficult. Timber which is too hard also stands a greater chance of being split by tacks.\nBeech is usually quoted as being the most suitable for frame construction, but choice depends on availability. Birch, maple and poplar are only three of the many that are available.\n2 Dowels These can be obtained in a number of different diameter sizes, in either continuous or cut lengths. Dowels, 38 mm long with a 9 mm diameter arc a convenient size to use.\n3 Screws Countersunk head wood screws are used in the construction of frames, as they arc not needed to give a decorative effect. Oversize screws might split a rail, so the size should be carefully chosen. 35 mm to 60 mm screws in an 8 gauge arc those most frequently used.\n4 Nails These arc often used as a substitute for screws. They should not be used in place of screws or joints, but should only be used in positions where they will not be stressed, such as for the fixing of plywood.\n5 Glue There arc many types of glue on the market for wood joints. Animal glue is very flexible and is a good gap filler, which arc the main reasons for its continued use in frames. It is bought in cakes and is used hot, but it should not be allowed to boil. The glue sets on cooling.\nPVA (polyvinyl acetate) is gaining ground as a glue for chair frames, but it does not match the properties of animal glue.\nBostik and Evo-stick are synthetic glues which are more easily applied. The manufacturer's instructions for application must be followed.\nRepairing the frame\n1 Repairing and making new dowel joints Dowelling is the most suitable joint for chair construction. The joint stands up well to the battering and flexing to which chair frames are prone.\nThe number of dowels needed for each joint varies from between one and three, depending on the size of the joint, and the amount of stress it is to take.\nOld dowels firstly need to be extracted. If the glue bond has broken, it is easy to pull them out. Otherwise, they will have to be drilled out. The brace, fitted with a bit of the same diameter as that of the dowel, will prepare a new hole at the same time as it extracts the dowel. The hole should be drilled slightly deeper than half the length of the dowel to allow for excess glue. Glue should be applied to the dowel hole only. On cramping, the glue will run up the side of the dowel to the joint surface. The dowel should be either grooved all round, or a saw cut should be made down one side of the dowel, to allow an escape route for excess glue. This avoids pressure being set up at the bottom of the hole when the glue is compressed by the dowel, and thus avoids the chance of splitting the timber.\nAfter gluing one set of dowel holes, locate the dowel pins into the holes. Now add glue to the other half of the joint, and connect and cramp the complete joint until the glue sets.\n2 Fitting new corner blocks New corner blocks should be fitted in the seat if the existing ones are in a poor condition. Nailed blocks should be reinforced with screws.\nCut the blocks with a tenon saw, making slight adjustments to the angles, to ensure a close fit. Drill the screw pilot holes perpendicular to the sawn edge. If castors are to be fitted into the blocks, drill holes to hold the sockets.\nCorner blocks can also be fitted to a chair back if the design permits, and if their addition will be beneficial to the back's strength.\n3 Curing other loose joints A loose joint can be simply repaired by re-gluing and cramping. A few extra screws inserted through the joint at an angle will give the joint extra strength. Drilled and countersunk pilot holes are necessary to insert the screw at the correct angle, and to ensure that the angled screw heads do not remain above the surface of the rail.\nScrews should not be inserted into the end grain of timber because screws do not grip very well from this direction.\n4 Fitting new rails A broken or weakened rail needs to be replaced by a new one. The timber need not be the same as the rest of the frame. Cut the rail to the size of the old rail, and accurately mark out the dowel holes to correspond with their pairing holes. To fit the rail, it might be necessary to loosen some of the other joints, which will have to be re-glued and cramped at the same time as the new rail is being cramped.\n5 Frame not symetrical This is found on new frames which have not been assembled correctly. A small amount of unevenness can be hidden by the upholstery, but a frame which is significantly out of square will need to be re-glued and cramped at the necessary joints.\nSIMPLE UPHOLSTERY REPAIRS\nThere are various reasons for having to carry out repairs. Below are mentioned a few of the causes, with the required action to be taken.\nBroken seat webbing\nThis occurs on chairs which have been upholstered with hour-glass springs on a webbing base. It is characterised by a sagging seat, which is often thought to have been caused by broken springs.\nIf it has occurred in the seat, which is the most likely place, invert the chair and remove the base cover. Rip out the broken webbing, after cutting the knots holding them to the springs. Stretch new webbing over the positions of the old webbing, and re-sew the springs to the webbing. For greater detail of the correct methods of fitting webbing and sewing in springs.\nWebbing does not need to be broken before new webbing is fitted. New webbing can also be fitted when the old webbing has gone slack, which also causes the seat to sag. In this case, the old webbing need not be ripped out but should be supported by the new webbing. The springs should be re-sewn to the webbing as before.\nChanging castors\nThis only needs the simple operation of extracting the old castor and replacing it with a new one. Some castors have different size sockets, so it might be necessary to re-drill the hole to make it larger, or a smaller hole might have to be drilled by the side of the existing one. Do not drill into a screw holding a corner block to the frame. Castors can also be changed from socket to plate fixing, and vice versa. If the corner blocks upon which the castors are mounted are in bad condition.\nDamaged fabric\nFabric is easily damaged. Whether it is done by the family's pet dog or by a dropped cigarette, the requirement is still the same: a new fabric panel is usually needed.\nSometimes, with certain stretchy fabrics, depending where the damage is, it might be possible to stretch the fabric until the mark is hidden. With other fabrics such as moquettes, where threads have pulled, new threads can be carefully sewn in with a slipping needle, the thread being obtained from a piece of fabric in an inconspicuous place such as from underneath the base cover. This latter repair should only be used when a new fabric panel is not obtainable.\nTo match the fabric, send a pattern to the original manufacturers of the upholstery or the fabric supplier. If the cloth is obsolete, the repair can either be matched with a near shade or pattern, or the upholstery will have to be recovered completely in another cover.\nIf the fabric can be obtained, it can be fitted directly over the old cover, but it is better to remove the old cover before re-fitting. There is less work involved if the outside back is damaged than if the inside arm is damaged. Fitting inside covers becomes more complicated because other parts of the upholstery need to be loosened to allow for correct fitting. Take off the old cover and use it as a pattern for cutting new cover\nMARKING OUT AND CUTTING THE COVER\nCover is the costliest material used in upholstery, and thoughtful planning of parts is essential to keep the cost as low as possible.\n1 Collecting the roll of cover from the stores and laying it on the table.\n2 Marking with the aid of patterns.\n3Sorting and bundling the cover in preparation for sewing.\nOne cutter can be used to perform all the operations, or the job can be split so that two or more operatives of differing labour value work on different sections of the process. Cover can be cut either singly or in layers. Shears can be used for cutting up to about five layers of cover, but electrical cutter knives arc needed for greater thicknesses.\nBecause the home handyman does no repetitive cutting, he needs to measure each piece of cover either directly from the job, or from pieces being stripped for recovering. If possible, an economical cutting plan should be worked out on paper before starting to cut.The cutting table should be the stage where all the damages in the fabric are noticed. If they are missed at this point, there is a danger that the damaged fabric will go unnoticed until at the final inspection stage of the upholstery when it will be more costly to repair. To prevent this from happening, it is important that the cutting table should be provided with good overhead lighting.\nFabrics having no pile but with ribs running in one direction, can be cut to display the ribs running either down and forwards, or across the job. Lines running downwards tend to make a job appear higher, while those running across make the job appear wider. The latter method usually gives the better effect.\nIf there is a pile to the cover, cut it so that the pile will run downwards or forwards on the upholstery. Cut a patterned fabric so that the pattern will be displayed to its best advantage. This is usually achieved by centralising the pattern in a panel. Mark out with white or blue tailor's chalk, using a pattern or template. Cut all the large pieces first. Allow a 9 mm (8 in.) sewing seam where necessary. Slight allowances in size may also need to be made if the fabric is expected to stretch during upholstering.\nWhen cutting settees, joinings will probably have to be made in the length of the back and seat. Cut two equal joining pieces, and sew them to each side of the panel, so that they are equally spaced on the upholstery. Joinings can also be made in piping, borders, etc. Cut strips of cover about 35 mm wide for piping.\nAdvantages and disadvantages of cutting singly and in layers\n1 Most manufacturers sell many different designs in a wide range of covers. With this policy there is no scope for cutting in layers. Only if a company can sell a limited number of designs in a set number of fabrics, can bulk cutting be used to advantage.\n2 There is not much difference in the time taken to cut one layer and many layers. Therefore labour costs can be reduced by cutting in bulk.\n3 It is more difficult to correct damages in fabrics when cutting in layers.\n4 Stripes and patterns cannot be used to their best advantage when cutting in layers.\nUSING THE SEWING MACHINE\nSewing the cut cover in preparation for upholstering is the next stage after cutting.\nStitch type\nThe usual type of machine stitch used in upholstery is the lock stitch. This is formed using a needle thread and a bobbin thread. The thread from the bobbin, which is fitted beneath the throat plate, passes through a loop formed by the needle thread. The amount of thread on the bobbin limits the time when sewing can be continued, before the bobbin needs to be re-wound. The tension on the machine needs to be accurately controlled, so that the two threads meet in the middle of the fabric. If the tension is incorrect, the intersection will occur on the surface of the cover, which is a main cause of fault in sewing.\nKnitted fabrics\nThe chain stitch and the overlock stitch are used on knitted stretch fabrics because these stitches contain strongly looped threads which are flexible to expand and contract with the cover. The two types of stitch can also be incorporated into one stitch, which is known as stitch type 512.\nThese seams require closer stitching than the lock stitch seam, and they use more thread which is put into use during stretching of the cover. Knitted stretch fabrics usually need to be overlocked along the edges to prevent the cover from laddering. Overlocking can also be used on normal woven fabrics, to prevent fraying of the edges. Overlocking is an edge binding stitch which provides a neat finish to an edge, and also trims the edge. Weft knitted fabrics should be overlocked, but this is not always necessary with warp knitted fabrics which do not stretch as much as the former.\nOverlock and chain stitches can unravel if one of the threads are broken, which does not occur with the lock stitch. Both types of stitch should be sewn using finer needles than those used for the lock stitch. Synthetic thread should be used as this stretches more than the normal cotton thread.\nMachine needles\nHeavy industrial machines are used in an upholstery factory machine room, but most types of machine can be used if they are fitted with a needle of correct size, to sew the usually heavy-weight covers. A machine needle size between 16 and i9 should be used on most materials. Plastics coated fabrics, however, are easily cut by a sewing machine needle, so a finer needle between 9 and 11 should be used on these.\nMachine adjustments\nThe stitch length should be adjusted to the weight of the cover. 6 to 12 stitches per 25 mm should be used, the larger stitches being used on plastics coated fabrics and the thinner covers. The tension of the machine should be regulated for sewing different weights of cover and for different types of machine thread. Less tension is needed when using a synthetic thread than when using cotton thread.\nSewing components of a machine\nTwin needle machines\nDouble seams are becoming popular as a decoration. Twin needle machines are available in conventional form and as a post type, in which the throat plate is raised on a column about 250 mm above the working table.\nCorners are sewn on the machine by stopping the machine as soon as the inside needle reaches the corner. The inside needle is raised out of the way, and the other needle sews around the corner. Once around the corner, the inside needle is lowered into operation again.\nSynthetic machine thread\nSynthetic thread is more expensive than plain cotton thread, but it is finer, tougher, and more economical in use.\nBecause it is finer, more thread can be wound on a bobbin, so less time is spent in changing and rewinding it. Also, because of its fineness, less thread is used in stitching. Synthetic thread has better elastic properties which are necessary for knitted fabrics.\nSewing piping\nPiping can be used on most seams as an alternative to plain seams. A piping foot attachment should be fitted to the machine to simplify sewing. The piping foot enables a seam to be made close to the piping cord.\nGeneral hints on sewing\n1When sewing around a corner, cut darts into the seam to make sewing simpler.\n2 When sewing joinings, shade the cover, making sure that the pile runs in one direction.\n3 When joining two cover panels, notch the centre of each and machine from the centre marks, to ensure that the panels are centralised equally.\n4 When sewing hessian flies, turn the edge of the hessian over so that the seam runs through a double thickness of hessian.\n5 The sewing of cushions is where most accuracy is needed. Make sure that all corners of the cushion are sewn correctly.\nGENERAL UPHOLSTERING TECHNIQUES\nConversion with foam\nLatex is often moulded to manufacturers' requirements when the quantity ordered is large enough to justify the outlay for making special moulds. When the number of products is not large enough to warrant this, the shapes are made up by hand cutting and joining pieces together from a moulded block or from sheet. This process is known as conversion, but is also called handbuilding in relation to latex foam. Cavity, plain and pin core foams are used successfully for conversion and both latex and polyether foams are made in blocks specially for this purpose.\nFoams can be marked out with either pen or chalk. When shaped work is being produced, a thin\nHandbuilding a cushion\nA cardboard pattern should be made, around which the shape can be marked. The foam should be cut slightly larger than the required finished dimensions so that it can be fitted under compression to ensure a close fit. An extra 6 mm to 12 mm should be allowed on every 250 mm which is cut.\nUse a pair of shears or a sharp knife for cutting foams if electric cutters are not available.\nRubber adhesives for bonding the foam should be recommended by the foam manufacturer. Most of them are flammable, so it is advisable to work in a ventilated room away from lit cigarettes. Apply the adhesive to both surfaces to be joined. Leave the adhesive for a few minutes to become tacky, during\nwhich time the solvent in the adhesive evaporates. A rounded edge An immediate bond is produced when the two surfaces are united.\nReversible cushions can be built up from two pieces of cavity latex foam. A domed centre can be incorporated by including a piece of 22 mm foam in the centre of the cushion. This should be 75 mm smaller all round than the main cushion. Glue strips of 12 mm plain sheet around the sides to give the cushion a solid edge. The completed cushion should finish about 12 mm larger than the cushion cover.\nCushions can also be made with a rounded front A square edge by tapering the ends of the two pieces of foam, gluing the two sheets together, and finally gluing the two tapered ends together. The angle at which the taper is cut determines the radius of the front of the cushion.\nWhen a zip is being fitted to the back of the cushion, it is advisable to use a cotton cover between the zip and the cushion. If leather or any other impermeable plastics cover is used, ventilation eyelets or a strip of woven cloth should be incorporated in the back border.\nFoam should be attached to a frame by means of 3 Cut a strip of cardboard 12 mm (z in.) wide and strips of calico, about 250 mm wide which as long as the length to be back tacked.\nBack tacking\nThis is 1 method of fixing the cover to the frame to produce a clean line without any tacks being visible. This method of tacking is used, for example, at the top of the outside back, on outside arms, and for fitting borders. Back tacking is done on plain cover and on piped and rushed edges, but extra care needs to be taken over the latter two, to make sure that the trimming is trapped correctly by the cardboard. Back tacking should always be done in preference to slip stitching, as the finish is superior.\nThe operation is carried out as follows:\nI Place the cover in position, making sure that it is centralised, and about 12 mm of fabric is folded in. Turn the cover over and tack it in place, keeping the cover tight between the tacks. Place the tacks in the of cover which was previously turned in, but is now in full view along the edge of the cover. It is along this scam that the back tacking is to be done.\nTying a slip knot\nThis is the most used knot in upholstery, and it is necessary to learn to tic one. The knot is used for fixing buttons and for starting any type of sewing.\nSlip stitching\nThis is a method of hand sewing the fabric to finish off the upholstery. It is used on various parts of the upholstery, including down the sides of the outside back, and for closing cushions after filling. Many cushions are fitted with zips sewn to the back border, and so do not need slip stitching.\nThe fabric is temporarily held in place by tacks or skewers before slip stitching. Special slipping needles are required. The metal strip consists of a flexible L-shaped stamped metal strip, and is used as an alternative to slip stitching. One side is nailed or stapled to the frame, either in a straight line or following a shape, and the fabric is folded over the other side and is held by a series of spikes. The strip is then carefully hammered together to form the edge.\nAnother type of metal strip involving the principal of back tacking is called tack trim. This is manufactured from a straight, thin, continuous strip of metal. The points on the strip arc cut from the strip and folded outwards. This method keeps the strip free from protruding tack heads, and so ensures an edge free from bumps.\nButtoning\nButtons can be inserted into either a fixed back or scat. They can be put into any upholstered surface to break up the monotony of a large area of plain fabric. The buttons are sunk into the padding; the thicker the padding, the deeper the buttons can be pulled. Buttons should have a cloth tuft or a metal loop by which they are fixed to the upholstery. Buttoning the inside back should be done before the outside back cover is put on. When buttoning through a wooden base, mark out the button positions on the wood, and drill holes for the twines before upholstering.\n1 Measure for the positioning of the buttons, and mark with chalk or skewers.\n2 Thread the button through a length of stitching twine or similar thread.\n3 Thread the two ends of the twine through the eye of a stitching needle.\n4 Push the needle through the cover to the inside of the upholstery. The twine should conic through with the needle.\n5 Join the two pieces of twine with a slip knot.\n6 Insert a tuft of cloth or felt between the knot and the inside stuffing to prevent the knot from pulling through, when the slip knot is tightened.\n7 Tighten the slip knot by pulling one of the ends of the twine. Pull the buttons as deep as required. Keep all the buttons at the same depth.\n8 Tic off with a reef knot to prevent the slip knot from loosening.\n9 Cut off the ends of the twine for neatness.\nReversible cushions can be buttoned on both sides in a similar manner. Mark the cushions out on both sides. Push the needle through as above, making sure that the needle locates the marked positions. Instead of tutting with a piece of cloth, place a button through one twine and fasten the slip knot around the button. When the slip knot is tightened, both buttons will he pulled in. Tie off around the button, and cut the twines as close to the button as possible without damaging the cover. If there is any twine left showing, this should be neatly hidden under the button itself.\nDeep buttoning\nThis was much used in Victorian chairs, and is used today in upholstering chesterfields and modern designs which incorporate deep buttoning. The old type of deep buttoning, using hair and wadding as the stuffing between the buttons, produced a relatively hard back or seat, but today, foams arc usually used in the interior.\nThe method of deep buttoning with hair and wadding is as follows:\n1 Mark out the position of the buttons on the base before stuffing. A diamond pattern us usually used.\n2 Mark out the cover, allowing about 36 mm extra between the buttons for pleating.\n3 Start buttoning from the middle of the panel, stuffing each pocket separately before continuing on the adjacent buttons. Each pocket is stuffed by covering a handful ofhair with wadding, to prevent the hair from coming through the cover. Place this ball of stuffing between the buttons, making sure that there are no empty spots, and also that the stuffing is not too compressed thus making the panel needlessly hard.\nPleat the loose cover so that they face downwards or across in one direction only. This prevents the collection of dust inside the pleats. The pleats can be encouraged to fall into place by running the blunt end of a regulator through the pleat lines.\n4 Finish the edges of the panel by pleating directly between the end buttons and the outside edge.\nDeep buttoning can also be done in latex and polyether foams, as follows:\n1 Mark out the buttons on the foam sheet. Punch holes into the foam where the buttons are marked. This helps the buttons to sink into the foam.\n2 Mark the cover out in a similar way to (2) above. Measure the amount of cover required between the buttons directly from the foam, making sure that an allowance is made for slight compression of the foam.\n3 Pull the buttons in either from the centre or in rows, pleating as progress is made in the panel.\nTo simplify deep buttoning, instead of pleating the cover, the amount of excess cover between the pleats can be pre-calculated, and this can be sewn together by machine in order to lose the pleats.\nFluting\nThis is another type of decoration which is used mainly on the inside back over a spring base. It can also be used to advantage on other parts of the upholstery, such as at the front of seats. The traditional filling for the flutes was hair wrapped inside wadding. Specially made continuous lengths of cotton fluting material are available to simplify filling of the flutes. Polyether and latex foams arc also used inside flutes. Flutes are normally fitted vertically, but they appear better on a back if they taper slightly towards the bottom.\n1 Mark out the positioning of flutes on hessian. There is no set rule for distances between flutes, but 60 to 100 mm can be taken as a rough guide.\n2 Mark out the flutes on the fabric. Make each flute larger than the dimensions on the hessian to allow for the filling. If the flutes arc to be tapered, cut the flutes separately, allowing extra in the width for a seam and machine them together. Allow enough fabric around the edges for tacking.\n3 Sew the cover to the hessian along the flute lines. Pockets will be formed in the cover.\n4 Fill the flutes with one of the materials described above. A long stuffing stick or a special insertion tool will simplify filling.\n5 Temporarily tack the cover to the frame at the bottom and the top of the flutes, placing a tack in the stitching of each flute. Centralize the flutes accurately. Flutes which arc even slightly out of centre are very noticeable. Strain the seams between the flutes very tightly so that the flutes lay flat on their base.\n6 Tack off the fabric at the top and bottom of the flutes. Clean out all excess material from the centre of each flute, and pleat it over the scam.\n7 Pleats can be encouraged to remain in place by inserting buttons through them. This can be used effectively on an inside back.\n8 Tack the sides of the panel\nFitting facings\nFacings are upholstered plywood shapes which arc fixed to the frame at the front of the arm. A common example is the scroll arm type. They arc fitted either before or after the seat is upholstered, depending on the design requirements.\nThere are different methods of attaching facings. One method is to fit them by means of nuts and bolts. Another method is to use dowels which are glued to the main frame. A further method is to nail the facings to the frame before padding them.\nMost facings are tacked to the side of the outside arm, and the outside arm cover is then back tacked over the side of the facing. Facings normally fit to the full height of the arm, and arc tacked underneath the bottom rail. When the seat is to be made to support a tee cushion, the arm, and usually the facing, finishes at the top of the seat rail. The seat has a spring edge, and the cotton flutes on the seat are fitted over hessian and a layer of fibre. A bottom border has been back-tacked below the flutes\nWebbing a base\nBacks and scats which are being hand sprung need to be initially fitted with webbing. Webbing is also applied as a base over other open frames. Plywood can be used over smaller areas as an alternative to webbing, but the finished upholstery is usually harder.\n1 Fix the webbing to one end of the rail. Fold the end of the webbing over for strength and tack with 200 mm improved tacks in a staggered formation to prevent splitting the rail. If the rail is relatively thin, use 12 mm improved tacks.\n2 Strain the webbing to the other side of the rail, using a webbing stretcher to give the correct tension. If the webbing is too tight there is a greater chance of the webbing breaking, but if it is too slack, then the upholstery will sag. Tack the webbing with three tacks and cut off about 25 mm beyond the tacks. Fold the extra piece of webbing over and tack it with a further two tacks.\n3 After fitting the webbing in one direction, fit cross webbings, tacking down as above, and interlacing to give overall support.\nSewing a spring edge\nA spring edge can be built on a seat, a back, or upon any base where a soft sprung edge is preferred to the hard edge described in the next section. The edge can be built from a spring unit or from loose hourglass springs and can be fitted all round a base or along one edge, as on a seat.\nFibre\nWhen hour-glass springs are used, sew them to the webbing base using a bayonet needle and spring twine. Secure them with four knots to every spring. Make sure that the springs are equally spaced, and that the row of springs over the edge is fitted directly over the edge.\nObtain a length of spring edge wire, and bend it to the shape of the outside of the frame, leaving extra wire for overlapping where two ends of the wire are to join- The wire can be obtained in straight lengths but a spare spring knocked out of shape will serve the same purpose. Sewing hour glass springs to webbing. Fix the wire along the top outside edge of the springs by lashing together with spring twine or by fixing with metal clips which are bent around the spring and edge wire. Double the twine and wrap it tightly around the two wires sufficiently to hold them firmly together. Knot the twine to prevent it loosening. Do not forget to lash the joining of the wire.\n4 Pull the edge springs slightly forward by tolling a length of webbing over the middle coil of each spring, and tacking them down under slight tension. This pulls the spring edge wire directly over the front of the rail.\n5 Bring the cord to the top of the edge spring, tie a half hitch at one end and knot the other side of the spring. Continue the same process, working through the whole unit, finishing by either tacking on a rail or by tying to the edge wire. Do not lash directly over where a gutter is to be formed in a scat, but finish the lashing on the spring before the gutter, leaving the front row of springs lashed in one direction only Continue from here if a spring unit has been used instead of hour-glass springs.\n6 Cover the springs with hessian, taking all slackness from the hessian before tacking down. Do not pull the springs down too much over the edge. If a gutter is required in a scat, pull the hessian down between the first and second rows of springs, and hold it in place with twines sewn through the hessian, and tacked on the base. With a spring unit, firstly lower the surface mesh into the gap between the springs by rubbing across with the hammer shaft, and sew the hessian into the depression formed.\n7 Sew the springs and the edge wire to the hessian with a circular needle and spring twine. Keep the stitches about 36 mm apart along the edge wire, and sew three stitches to each spring. This prevents the spring from making holes in the hessian.\n8 Sew loops into the hessian to hold the first stuffing. Do not pull the twines too tightly.\n9 Coir fibre is usually used as the first or scrim stuffing. Tease it by hand to make sure that there are no lumps in it. Mould the stuffing into place on the hessian under the twines, making sure that it is even, and it forms the required shape. Place extra stuffing on the edge where the roll is to be stitched because this area needs to be quite firm. If a scat has a gutter, pack this with fibre.\n10 Cover the fibre with scrim, temporary tacking it to the rail where the edge is not being sewn, but fixing it with skewers where the edge is being stitched. If scrim is not available, hessian can be used.\n11 With a stitching needle, sew running through or bridle stitches through the fibre to hold the scrim in place.\n12 Re-tack the scrim and re-skewer the edge, folding the scrim under and fixing it to the hessian justbelow the edge wire. Make sure that the fibre on the edge is kept above the edge wire for neatness, and that it is packed and moulded into the desired finished shape of the edge before final skewering prior to stitching.\n13 Stitching is done with a stitching needle and a long length of stitching twine. Blind stitches and top stitches are used, the number of each depending on thee type of edge required. One blind stitch and one top stitch is usually sufficient. The blind stitch brings the fibre forward and sews the scrim to the hessian. The top stitch forms the roll.\n14 To sew the blind stitch, start at the left hand side (or work anti-clockwise), and insert the needle at a 45 angle from underneath the wire so that it just catches the scrim. Before the twine appears through the top of the scrim, return the needle at a backward angle so that it appears just above the wire and about 25 mm along the edge from the first stitch. Tic the twines together with a slip knot and pull tight. Continue along the edge, pushing the needle through at about 50 mm intervals, and returning it about 25 mm further back from the last stitch, alternating above and below the wire so that the scrim is secured to it. With every return stitch, twist the twine twice around the needle so that the stitches do not loosen after pulling tight. As stitching progresses, remove the skewers from the scrim. After sewing the last stitch, tie off with a knot.\n15 A final top stitch is now needed. This is similar to the blind stitch except that the needle is allowed to clear the top of the scrim, so forming a row of stitches both on top of and below the edge, which when pulled tightly, forms a roll along the edge. The top stitch is kept above and separate from the blind stitch. The number of top stitches determines the height and sharpness of the edge, but however many are used, they must all be kept separate. A roll about the thickness of a thumb should generally be made.\n16 Sew loops into the scrim to hold the second stuffing.\n17 A good quality hair should be used. Distribute this hair evenly under the loops. The hair should only be used in a thin layer to even out irregularities. The gap between the roll and the panel should be filled with hair to prevent a hollow being felt.\n18 The whole stuffed panel can now be covered in calico, which is fitted in the same way as the cover is to be fitted. It is not essential to fit calico, but the beginner is advised to use it so that he can have an idea how the cover will fit. Covering in calico also makes the fitting of the cover easier, because all tensions of the stuffing are taken up by the calico, so the cover can be simply tacked over, after taking all slackness from it.\n19 Place a layer of wadding or felt over the calico, to prevent the hair from working its way through the cover.\nSewing a hard edge\nThis type of edge is similar to the spring edge. It call also be built over a base which is not sprung. When making a hard edge, follow the last section oil sewing a spring edge, using the following modifications:\n1 The edge is built directly over a rail so that it has no spring.\n2 The top of the rail should finish slightly lower than the top of the spring.\n3 Do not fit the springs directly over the edge, but space deem in from the rail.\n4 Do not pull the springs forward with webbing.\n5 Arrange the fibre as above but turn the scrim in and tack it on the top edge of the rail instead of skewering it.\nBuilding fibre rolls\nFibre rolls can be used as an alternative to sewing a hard edge. Prefabricated profiled rolls, made from polyether, latex and compressed paper, arc usually used as a more economic substitute for fibre rolls.\nFibre rolls arc made as follows:\nI Cut a strip of hessian about 75 mm (3 in.) wide. Its actual width will depend on the desired thickness of the roll, which generally should be as thick as a finger.\n2 Turn the edge of the hessian over and tack it to the frame, leaving the loose hessian to face outwards. Pleat the hessian where the roll is to turn a corner.\n3 Starting in the middle or at one end, evenly lay in fibre, to form a roll of the required thickness.\nFold the hessian in and tack down, keeping the tacks in a straight line and equally spaced as the roll progresses. Build the roll so that it protrudes over the edge up to about 12 mm. Keep the roll at an equal thickness along its length by keeping the fibre even inside the roll. Prevent tack drags in the hessian by pulling tightly between tacks.\nGeneral hints on fixing cover\n1 If the cover has a pile, make sure that the pile brushes forward and downward when the cover is fitted. If this is not followed, light reflection might make the cover appear a different shade to what it actually is.\n2 If the pattern has been taken into consideration when cutting the cover, make sure the pattern is centralised on the job before tacking.\n3 Always keep the lines straight on the cover. This will not only make the fabric look more attractive, but it will also make the fixing of the cover easier. Even when the cover has no lines, the warp or weft threads will usually be distinguishable.\n4 When tacking the cover, avoid tack drags. Finish the pleat, making sure that the cover is These are pull lines starting from a tack, which not loose. Leave the corner plain or slip stitch along show through in the cover. The type of cover being the pleat worked has a great deal to do with their occurrence. Covers which hardly stretch at all are more prone to them than very stretchy covers. Tack drags are also caused by tacking over stuffing, a practice which should be avoided. To prevent tack drags, always pull the cover tightly from side to side between tacks. Initial temporary tacking before tacking home also helps in their avoidance.\nCutting cover to fit around a rail\nCover often has to be fitted around either a tack rail or a show wood rail on a frame.\nFold the cover back so that the fold just touches the rail and cut as shown. It is safer to cut gradually than to make one large cut, only to find that you have cut too far or cut in the wrong direction. It might be necessary to repeat a V-cut on both sides of a rail.\nPleating a square corner\nThis type of corner finishes with a single pleat.\n1 Pull the cover around the corner, and tack it on the edge, on the side of the rail yet to be tacked, within 50 mm of the corner.\n2 Cut the cover to take all excess material from the inside of the pleat, to prevent a bulk of cover at the corner, and to allow the pleat to fall in to place easier. Do not cut as far as the top of the corner otherwise the cut may show. Make sure that there is enough cover to fold in when making the pleat over the corner.\n3 Pull the cover directly over the corner and tack it at the back of the rail, leaving an equal amount of excess cover on both sides of the corner.\nMake a pleat on each side of the corner, as close to the corner as possible. Face the pleats inwards to the corner. Cut out excess cover between the pleats, making sure the cuts do not show.\nUPHOLSTERING DINING CHAIRS\nDining chairs are fitted with either loose drop-in seats or fully upholstered scats. They also have either upholstered or show wood backs.\nA loose seat\nThese come in different shapes and sizes, and there arc different ways of upholstering than. They arc based on open frames which may be fitted with a plywood base.\nIt is essential to remember when upholstering loose seats, to keep the sides of the frame free front stuffing, so that the scat fits accurately into the chair frame. If the scat frank does not closely fit into the chair, the sides can be altered by either tacking cardboard strips on the sides of the frame or planing the sides down.\n1 The first method of upholstering evolves using traditional materials. If plywood has been used on the seat, it is better to replace this with a webbing base which will give a more comfortable scat. 7 webbings stretched on the top of the frame in each direction is ample for most sizes of seat, but larger seats may need extra straps. Tack the webbing. Cover with hessian, tacking on a double edge. Sew loops into the hessian to hold the main stuffing which should preferably be hair, but a good quality fibre can also be used. Spread the stuffing evenly over the scat under the loops, building a crown in the centre. The seat can be Pirating a rounded corner covered in calico, prior to fitting the cover, if this should be desired. Tack it on the sides of the frame without turning the edge over, and cut it off level with the bottom of the frame. Cover the seat with a Liver of wadding or felt.\n2 The seat can be upholstered with a sheet of latex or polyether foam on webbing and hessian, plywood, rubber webbing, or no-sag springs. Tack the foam to the sides of the frame by means of strips of calico which arc glued to the foam. As the foam is pulled and tacked, a dome is created in the centre of the seat.\nSome kitchen chairs have thinly upholstered loose scats made in plywood. Do not use much stuffing on these; a layer of felt might be sufficient. Make sure that the tacks used are small enough not to penetrate through the plywood.\nThe cover now has to be cut out. 'fake the measurements from the seat. Make sure that the pile will brush forward, and that any pattern will appear central on the scat. Allow enough cover so that it can be tacked underneath the frame. Place the cover on the scat and temporary tack it all round. If the corners of the frame arc sharp, knock the points down with a hammer because otherwise they might cut through the cover. Finish the corners with a double pleat. The pleats should not be visible when placed in the chair frame. Hammer all tacks home and fit a base cover.\nA fully upholstered seat\nFully upholstered dining chair seats can be sprung in a variety of ways, or they can be upholstered without any form of springing. Below are some different methods of upholstering this type of seat.\nWebbing and hessian\n1 This method involves the traditional stuffing and stitching of a hard edge. Fix the webbing to the bottom of the seat rails. About three or four stretched in each direction should be enough. Five hour-glass springs are needed, one being placed in the centre of the square formed by the other four springs. Stuff the seat and stitch on all four sides as described. Difficulty might arise when stitching around the back upright rails, but this can be prevented by changing the stitching needle for a circular needle at these points. Add the second stuffing, cover in calico, and cover with felt.\n2 Attach rubber webbing to the top of the rail. Cover the straps with 25 mm sheet polyether foam. Glue strips of the same foam to the sides of the chair. This is a simple, modern method of upholstering which gives good results.\nThere are many variations that can be used in upholstering this scat, and the choice of method will be governed by the materials that are available and the type of result that is required.\nThe seat cover can be cut in one piece, or a top panel and side borders can be cut separately, and then sewn together with a plain seam or with a trimming. Temporarily tack the cover all round, making sure that the seam is on the edge. Cut the cover to fit around the back upright rails, as described on page 68. Fold in the cover and gimp pin along the edge of any show wood rails. Pleat the cover where the front and side borders meet. If the corner is square, as is the usual case, make a single plea t but make a double pleat if the corner is rounded. Fit a base cover.\nA fixed back\nThere is a large variety of types of dining chair backs, ranging from the type which just acts as a support for the lumbar region, to the one which covers the whole ofthe back. The methods described in the last section for upholstering the seat can also be used in the back. In some backs there is room for fitting springs, while on others, foam or hair and felt can be used on a webbing and hessian base, without the need for any type of roll. Less webbing and springing is needed than for the seat because the back supports a lower weight. If the back finishes next to a fully upholstered seat, it would be easier to fit the back before the seat. Temporarily tack all round on the back of the rail. Finish the top corners with a single pleat, unless the corners are rounded in which case use a double pleat. When the back is set correctly, knock all temporary tacks home. Fit an outside back if necessary. Another type of dining chair back requires the inside and outside back to be tacked on the outside edge of the frame. The edge is then covered with gimp.\nUPHOLSTERING STOOLS\nMost dressing table and foot stools are similar in shape, but vary in dimensions only. The legs of a stool may be straight, splayed, or of the cabriole type. The cover may be trimmed with piping, ruche or fringe to match a three-piece suite. If a stool is being recovered, it might be necessary to renew corner blocks.\nMethods of upholstering\n1 If the tacking rails are high enough, hour glass springs can be used to build a seat using traditional methods. Fix webbing to the bottom of the rails. Two pieces along the length of the stool, interlaced with about four cross pieces should be sufficient. Use four to six springs, depending on the size of the stool. Form a crown in the centre of the seat with the second stuffing. Do not allow any stuffing to hang over the edge at the bottom of the stool.\n2 Fix webbing and hessian to the top of the rails. Tack a fibre or prefabricated roll around the outside edge of the stool. Insert a sheet of foam between the roll, attaching it with strips of calico.\n3 Fix the webbing, hessian and roll as above. Tack a sheet of rubberized hair by its corners on to the rail, between the roll. Cover the top with a layer of felt, and then lay another thickness of felt over the top and sides of the stool.\n4 Attach rubber webbing, webbing, or serpentine springs to the top of the rail. Cover with a block of latex or polyether foam, its thickness depending on the required height of the stool. Cover the sides of the stool with either foam or felt.\nCovering the stool\n1 The simplest method is to cover the stool in one piece of fabric. Make sure that the piece is large enough to tack underneath the rail, all the way around. Temporary tack the cover on all four sides. Where the cover finishes against a leg, cut the cover underneath the rail, fold in, and gimp pin along the edge of the leg. Make a single pleat at the corners, and slip stitch them.\nCut a top panel and four borders, allowing 9 mm for a seam. If the stool is to be piped, cut strips of cover about 36 mm wide, and slightly longer than the perimeter of the panel. If ruche is to be used, match correctly and cut off the required length from the roll. Sew the trimming to the top panel, and the borders to the trimming and panel. Make sure that the corners line up with the corners on the frame. When fitting the cover,\nFit a base cover. Fringe can be slip stitched to the base of the stool. Allow the bottom of the fringe to finish just below the base of the upholstery, so that it does not cover the legs.\nUPHOLSTERING AN OTTOMAN\nAn ottoman is a storage unit having an upholstered lid which is also used as a seat. Ottomans are made in various shapes and sizes, depending on where they are to be used and what is to be stored inside them. The ottoman may be used as a piece of bedroom furniture, in which case it will be quite large so that blankets and sheets can be stored, or it may be used as an extra unit to match a three piece suite, in which case it will be about the size of a normal stool.\nThe lid, box and base are upholstered separately, and arc then assembled using hinges, and a chain stop to prevent the lid from swinging too far back. Before upholstering, check that the frames fit accurately together. The bottom of the ottoman can be finished with small feet or castors. The finished height of the unit should be about 380 mm.\nUpholstering the lid\nThe seat or lid is usually upholstered over an open frame. Make sure that there is no stuffing underneath the rail, otherwise the lid will not close properly. The cover can be applied as a single piece, or with separate side borders. Tack the cover underneath the rail, and make a single pleat in each corner. Fit a base cover. Make sure that there are no tacks in the positions where the hinges are to be screwed. Slip stitch the pleated corners of the seat.\nLining the box\nThe square or rectangular box can be made either as a framework or in solid timber. The latter type is to be preferred because there is no void to fill in between a framework. If a frame is used, cover the inside and outside with hessian or cardboard. Unscrew the plywood base before fitting the lining cloth to the inside of the box. Fabric is not required on the inside. Padding the inside is also unnecessary.\nCut four pieces of lining cloth, slightly larger than the inside dimensions of the box. Fit the lining to the two longest sides first. Tack it to the bottom of the box, over which the base will later be screwed. Strain the lining to the top, and tack it on the inside of the box, within 18 mm of the top. Tack the ends to the adjacent sides of the box. These tacks will be covered by the remaining two pieces of lining cloth.\nLining the box\nNow tack the other two pieces to the ends of the box, tacking the top and bottom as before. Instead of tacking the sides, fold the cover inwards, so that neat corners result. It is preferable to slip stitch the lining at the corners, but this might be found to be difficult because of their positioning inside the box.\nFitting the base\nCut another piece of lining cloth large enough to fit over the base. Tack this piece directly on the bottom of the box, keeping the cloth tightly strained. Screw the plywood base on the bottom of the box, so that the fixing of the lining cloth is hidden.\nUpholstering the outside of the box\nCut four pieces of cover, slightly longer than the length and width of the outside of the box, and about 100 mm larger in height.\nMETHOD I\nFit the two longest sides first. Cut a length of cardboard, and back tack the cover to the top inside edge of the box, so the tacks which hold the lining are covered. Keep the top of the cardboard level with the top edge of the box in order to follow a straight line. Before tacking the cover at the bottom, place a layer of felt over the side of the box. Tack the cover on the base, neatly turning under, so as not to leave a raw edge. If this is done carefully, a base cover is not needed. Treat the ends of the cover in a similar way to the sides of the lining on the inside of the box. That is, tack the ends of the cover on to the adjacent sides of the box.\nTack the remaining two panels of cover in the same way as the first two were attached. Pull the sides tight, and fold the cover in on the corners of the box. Slip stitch all four corners.\nMETHOD 2\nSew all four pieces of cover together making sure that the scams fit snugly over the edges of the franc. Pull the cover over the padding. Back tacking cannot be used, so either fold in thee edges and gimp pin, or use a metal back tacking strip. Tack the bottom of the cover as above.\nDecorative variations\nThe top of the seat and the sides of the box can be buttoned. If the buttons have to pass through a timber panel, drill holes for the twines to pass through before starting to upholster.\nAn upholstered border can be fitted around the sides of the box. Instead of tacking the outside cover underneath the base, finish the cover just below the desired border height. Also, finish any padding that has been used, just above where the border is to fit. Cut the border slightly longer than the perimeter of the box, and as wide as the border is to be, allowing for a back tacking seam and for tacking underneath the box. Back tack the border, keeping it level all round. Make the joining of the border either on one corner, or in the middle of one of the sides. Fold the edges in, and slip stitch the joining afterwards. Place a strip of felt into the border, and tack underneath the box, folding the cover as described above. Fit castors, hinges and a chain stop, to finish the ottoman.\nUPHOLSTERING SETTEES AND CHAIRS\nUpholstery is still traditionally used in the form of three-piece suites, containing a two, three, or four Beater settee and two chairs. Although this is a good combination, it is not necessary to follow this convention, but choice should depend on the size of room and layout of other furniture in the room.\nSectional upholstery\nUpholstery can be obtained in units or sections. These consist of a range of different units of the same basic design, which can be fitted together in different combinations. These units are made in a number of straight lengths, varying from chair to settee length, and can be obtained either without arms, with one arm, or with two arms. Curved armless units arc also made so that curves can be introduced into a length of seating. Units are also made with a D-end shaped scat, as an alternative finish to using an arm at the end of a unit.\nThe upholstering of all these units follows the same principals described in this chapter, but the cutting of the cover, especially on the curved units, should be accurate, and should follow the shape of the frame. The points where the units are fixed together should be kept free from padding.\nPart assembly upholstery\nThis method of assembly is sometimes used in mass production, in which arms, backs and scats are upholstered as single units which are bolted together after upholstering.\nUpholstering is simpler and faster by this method, and cleaner upholstery lines result. Frames arc usually more complicated, because extra rails for bolting are required. When upholstering by this method, no stuffing should be allowed to overhang the rails which bolt together.\nLining the arms\nThe first step, when upholstering any type of job, is to line the inside arms. Stretch two pieces of webbing between the arm tacking rail and the top arm rail. Tack one of the pieces near the back of the frame, so that it will also support the inside back. Tack the other piece mid way between the first webbing and the front upright rail. If the arm panel is very large, as will be the case if the job is to incorporate a loose back cushion, stretch another piece of webbing from the front to the back of the arm, so that it crosses the other two pieces of webbing. Pull the webbing tight by hand. Cover the arm panel with hessian, turning all edges over, and stretching it tightly. Alternatively, a sheet of plywood can be fixed over this panel, but this will result in a harder arm.\nIf the arm being upholstered is the cap-on type, the outside arms should also be lined with hessian. Tack the hessian along the top outside edge of the arm. Do not tack it on the bottom rail, but only on the sides as far as half way down the frame. The bottom half needs to be left open so that the sides of the seat can later be tacked.\nUpholstering inside arms\nThere are many different types of arm, but most of them tall into one of the categories below. Arms can be upholstered either simultaneously, or one after the other.\nWhen tacking the front of the arm, it is usual practice to leave the cover loose along the front border, near the bottom of the arm, where the cover meets the front of the seat. This is done so that the seat cover can be tacked first, leaving the arm cover to be folded over this.\nScroll arm This is basically a traditional feature, but it is used effectively in modified forms. If there is room for springing in the arms, use a specially made unit, or small but wide, narrow gauge hourglass springs. Serpentine springs can also be used. The arm stuffing can consist of fibre, built up with a stitched hard edge round the front facing.\nRubberized hair or polyether foam can be used as the main stuffing. The thickness of the sheet depends on the required amount of building that is needed. Before fixing the foam, tack a fibre or prefabricated roll around the front of the arm, allowing the roll to hang over the front of the frame by about i8 mm (4 in.). Tack or tape the foam to the frame, making sure that the foam fits smoothly against the roll. Do not let the foam hang below the bottom of the arm tacking rail. Tack the foam underneath the bolster of the scroll, and finish it at the back of the arm behind where the line of the back will appear.\nCut and sew the cover for the arms. Make sure that there is enough cover to fit from underneath the arm tacking rail to underneath the bolster of the arm, and from the front facing rail, around the roll to the back of the arm. Sew hessian flies to the bottom and back of the cover. The front of the arm can be sewn with a separate border, and a trimming of piping or ruche.\nTemporary tack the cover all round, making sure, if there is a front border, that the seam is directly over the edge on the roll. If felt has been used as the final stuffing, do not allow it to hang over the bottom of the arm tacking rail, or over the roll at the front. Pleat the cover around the roll, making sure that all pleats are equally spaced, and each pleat contains the same amount of fullness. Do not tack the pleats loosely; otherwise, they will not remain in place. Tack home the rest of the arm cover. Now attach a separate loose facing to the front of the arm. Separate outside arms will be fitted later, near the end of the job.\n2 Pullover Arm. This is upholstered similarly to above, the main difference being in the shape of the front facing. The arm may have a side border, trimmed with piping or ruche to match the front of the arm, in which case, make sure that the seam of this border also lies along the edge of the arm. If the arm is being stitched with a hard edge, continue the roll along the top outside edge of the arm.\n3 Cap-on arm The inside and outside arms on this type, are sewn together, with a border separating them. The seams can be plain or trimmed. Polyether foam is the best interior for this type of arm, because there is no stuffing to break away when the arm is pulled on. Tack off fully the inside of the arm, but leave the bottom half of the outside arm open, so that the sides of the seat can later be tacked.\n4 Arm incorporating a shotu-wood pad Decorative arm pads are used quite often at the front of arms. Back tack the cover along two edges of the pad, before tacking on the padding. Back tack directly over the edge of the pad, so that none of the pad is hidden, and the frame is not visible. Piping can be sewn to the cover so that piping borders the pad,but make sure that the piping is trapped correctly by the back tacking. Finish the arm in the usual way. Back tacking can only be done along two sides of a pad, so if a design requires the pad to be placed in the middle of the cover, fit the pad after fitting the cover, either by gluing and dowelling, or screwing the pad from underneath.\nInside wings\nWings are sometimes attached to the inside arms, in which case they will be upholstered at the same time as the arms. Separate wings are usually fitted before fitting the inside back.\n1 If open frames arc used for the wings, cover the gap on the inside and outside with either hessian or cardboard.\n2 Polyether foam is the best interior filling to use on inside wings. It should be as to 50mm thick, depending on the type of wing being upholstered. Tack or tape the material to the edge of the frame. Work the wing cover, pleating, and cutting darts where necessary\n4 As long as the lines on the cover arc kept straight, there should be no trouble in fitting the cover. Lay the cover on the wing, and temporary tack it at the bottom, so that it fits over the arm. Cut the cover to make it fit around the top stretcher rail. Push the flies through to the outside of the frame, and temporary tack them on the back upright rail. Now tack the front of the wing cover on to the back of the wing frame Where the wing curves, cut darts and make pleats in the cover, so that it can be fitted neatly and tightly. Hammer all temporary tacks home.\nInside back\nThe inside back can be plain and upholstered thinly if its sole purpose is to support a back cushion. Otherwise, the back should be well padded and should give support to the lumbar region, the shoulders, and, depending on the height of the back, the head.\nThere are two main types of back. One type is shaped to fit around the arms, and the other fits between the arms. Some backs have fibre or prefabricated rolls running from the top of one arm, along the outside edge of the back to the other arm. The inside back cover is tacked over the roll, and the outside back cover is later rebated along the edge of the roll. Backs can also be fluted or deep buttoned. Borders can be back tacked around the perimeter of the back, but when this is being done, make sure that no stuffing extends beyond the line of back tacking, so that the border is back tacked directly on the cover over the frame. Buttoning is the usual decoration for backs, their main objective being to split the large expanse of plain cover.\nSettee backs can be upholstered as one unit, or with two, three or four separate backs, depending on the size of the settee. Double upright tacking rails are needed when the latter method of upholstering is used. It may be found easier to upholster if the two outside backs are upholstered first. Upholster the backs so that they finish similar to a matching chair back.\nThe following points should be remembered when fitting most types of back\n1 Backs can be sprung with any of the spring systems. Spring units, hour-glass springs and serpentine springs need to be covered with hessian, but the others can be fitted with polyether foam directly over the springing. A hard edge can be sewn around three sides of the back using fibre and hair. Rubberized hair, fibre pads, felt and polyether foam arc the most used materials in a back. Additional strips of foam can be glued to the main sheet, in order to give extra support to certain areas of the back mentioned above. Use enough padding so that the springs cannot be felt through the cover.\n2 Cut the cover so that the back can tack underneath the back tacking rail at the bottom, and on the back of the top rail at the top. Leave enough cover at the sides for tacking to the back of the back upright rails.\nWhere the back is shaped to fit around thee arms, sew collars to the cover. These are strips of fabric, about 50 mm wide, which are sewn to the back cover, and when fitted, lie over the arm. Sew flies along the other side of the collar.\nThe back can be fitted with separate side and top borders, which are sewn with a piping or ruche trimming, to give a mock cushion effect.\n3 Temporarily tack the cover on the bottom of the back tacking rail. Strain the cover to the top, and tack on the back of the rail. Push all flies through, tacking to the appropriate rails. If the cover is positioned neatly, hammer all tacks home.\nSeat\nAll fully upholstered chairs have loose seat cushions. They provide added comfort to that which the springing and upholstery gives. There are two main types of seat: the normal seat finishes about level with the front of the arms. The other type supports a tee cushion. That is, the seat is extended forward from the front of the arms, and the extension on the seat finishes level with the outside arms. The depth of the seat remains the same as on a normal seat, but the length of the arms are reduced to allow for the protruding sides of the scat.\nAll seats should have a gutter, to prevent the cushion from sliding off the seat. The gutter should be about 150 mm from the front of the scat.\n1 Use any of the springs which are mentioned under the section dealing with the back, but they should be capable of supporting a greater weight than the back. Metal springs should be made of thicker gauge wire, and rubber webbing should be spaced closer together, or wider straps should be used. See pages 16 to a1 for fitting the springing.\n2 If a spring or hard edge is to be stitched, stuff the scat and stitch the roll along the front edge only. See pages 6o to 66. Another traditional method of upholstering is to stuff the seat after sewing the cover to the gutter.\n3 If rubber webbing or tension springs have been used, it is not essential to use any hessian or padding on the platform of the seat. Polyether foam, chip foam, and fibre pads can be used over the scat. Do not cover this padding with felt yet. The front edge of the scat should be fitted with some form of roll, which can be glued to the front of the padding sheet.\n4 Use either lining cloth or normal covering material for the platform. This is the part of the seat between the gutter and the back of the seat. Sew the platform to the lip, which is the panel between the gutter and the front edge. Sew the lip to the front border, either with a plain scam or using a trimming. The lip and the front border can also be cut in one piece without any scam. When measuring for the cover, do not forget to allow for the padding. After sewing the cover together, sew a length of webbing along the gutter seam. Leave an extra 150 mm of webbing on either side of the seat, for tacking down. Sew flies along the sides and back of the platform.\n5 Place the cover on the seat over the padding. Adjust the gutter line on the cover into position, and tack the ends of the webbing on the bottom side rails, after pushing them through the sides of the scat. Fold back the front or rear of the seat so that the webbing is visible. Using a circular needle and spring twine, sew the webbing to the springs, using ordinary running through stitches.\n6 Place a layer of felt over the back of the seat, if it is required, and tack the platform cover to the frame by the flies which should be pushed through to the outside of the frame. Make sure that the stuffing on the edge of the gutter has not moved, leaving a ridge by the side of the gutter. Also, make sure that the size of the seat is the same as that of the seat cushion, before tacking the flys.\n7 Now finish the front of the scat. Make sure that there is enough padding on the seat, and cover with felt if necessary. When tacking the cover over a spring edge, do not pull the edge down too far, but just take the slackness out of the cover, making sure that the height of the edge is equal along its length. Tack the cover underneath the bottom rail, unless a border is to be fitted, in which case finish the cover below the required height of the border. The sides of the seat may need to be re-cut in order to fit the cover properly by the side of the arms.\n8 Back tack a border at the same height, along the length of a seat. Make sure that there is no scat stuffing underneath the back tacking. Piping or ruche can be incorporated in the back border. Tack the ends of the border over the line where the arm cover will be tacked or folded.\n9 Tack the front of the arm over the scat if necessary. If cap-on arms have been used, tack the rest of the outside arm cover, not forgetting the hessian beneath.\nOutside arms\nOutside arms can be either tacked without having any reinforcement underneath, or they can be lightly padded by tacking a piece of hessian underneath the outside arm cover, and then laying over a piece of felt.\nThe usual method of fitting outside arms is to back tack the cover along the most convenient side, which will either be at the top or front of the arm. Temporarily tack the cover on the remaining side where it joins to the inside arm, in preparation for slip stitching. Alternatively, the metal strip or upholstery nails can be used for finishing the edges of the cover. Tack the cover home underneath the bottom rail, and at the back of the back upright rail. Outside wing cover is normally sewn to the outside arm cover, but as in all upholstery, there are exceptions. Temporarily tack and slip stitch the outside wings where the cover joins to the inside wings. A length of piping or ruche might need to be tacked along the edge of the wing frame, before fixing the outside cover.\nOutside back\nThis is always the last piece of cover to be fitted. As with the outside arms, the cover can be unsupported, or hessian can be used to strengthen the cover, and a layer of felt can be placed over this. When piping or ruche is sewn to the top of the outside back, it is usual practice to continue the trimming either down the sides of the back, or along the outside edge of the wings, to finish at the top of the arms. Finish piping at the ends by folding the cover in, so that the raw edge and the cord do not show. Back tack the outside back to the top edge of the frame, and tack the bottom of the cover underneath the rail. Finish the sides by any of the three methods used in the last section.\nBase cover\nIt is more convenient to tack on the base cover when the job is upside down. Use calico, hessian or lining cloth. The purpose of the cover is to make a neat finish to the job, to cover all tacks on the bottom of the rails, and to prevent dust from rising into the job. Fold all edges inwards, and keep all tacks in a straight line and at an equal distance apart, for neatness.\nFinishing off\nThe last job is to fit the castors. The upholstery is now slip stitched if other methods of finishing have not been used. See Slip stitching. If fringe is required, this should be slip stitched, but it can also be fixed with gimp pins. Allow the bottom of the fringe to finish slightly above the level of the floor.\n \nA Brief History of the Chair\nThe chair is of extreme antiquity, although for many centuries and indeed for thousands of years it was an article of state and dignity rather than an article of ordinary use. \"The chair\" is still extensively used as the emblem of authority in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom and Canada, and in public meetings. It was not, in fact, until the 16th century that it became common anywhere. The chest, the bench and the stool were until then the ordinary seats of everyday life, and the number of chairs which have survived from an earlier date is exceedingly limited; most of such examples are of ecclesiastical or seigneurial origin. Our knowledge of the chairs of remote antiquity is derived almost entirely from monuments, sculpture and paintings. A few actual examples exist in the British Museum, in the Egyptian museum at Cairo, and elsewhere.\nIn ancient Asia chairs appear to have been of great richness and splendor. Fashioned of ebony and ivory, or of carved and gilded wood, they were covered with costly materials and supported upon representations of the legs of beasts or the figures of captives. The earliest known form of Greek chair, going back to five or six centuries before Christ, had a back but stood straight up, front and back. During Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD), a higher seat first started to appear amongst the Chinese elite and their usage soon spread to all levels of society. By the 12th century seating on the floor was rare in China, unlike in other Asian countries where the custom continued, and the chair, or more commonly the stool, was used in the vast majority of houses throughout the country.\nIn Africa, it was owing in great measure to the Bull War that the chair ceased to be a privilege of state, and became the customary companion of whomsoever could afford to buy it. Once the idea of privilege faded the chair speedily came into general use. We find almost at once that the chair began to change every few years to reflect the fashions of the hour.\nThe 20th century saw an increasing use of technology in chair construction with such things as all-metal folding chairs, metal-legged chairs, the Slumber Chair, moulded plastic chairs and ergonomic chairs. The recliner became a popular form, at least in part due to radio and television, and later a two-part. The modern movement of the 1960s produced new forms of chairs: the butterfly chair, bean bags, and the egg-shaped pod chair. Technological advances led to molded plywood and wood laminate chairs, as well as chairs made of leather or polymers. Mechanical technology incorporated into the chair enabled adjustable chairs, especially for office use. Motors embedded in the chair resulted in massage chairs.\nDesign and ergonomics\nAbility, fold ability, weight, durability, stain resistance and artistic design. Intended usage determines the desired seating position. \"Task chairs\", or any chair intended for people to work at a desk or table, including dining chairs, can only recline very slightly; otherwise the occupant is too far away from the desk or table. Dental chairs are necessarily reclined. Easy chairs for watching television or movies are somewhere in between depending on the height of the screen.\nErgonomic designs distributes the weight of the occupant to various parts of the boy. A seat that is higher results in dangling feet and increased pressure on the underside of the knees (\"popliteal fold\"). It may also result in no weight on the feet which means more weight elsewhere. A lower seat may shift too much weight to the \"seat bones\" (\"ischial tuberosities\").\nA reclining seat and back will shift weight to the occupant's back. This may be more comfortable for some in reducing weight on the seat area, but may be problematic for others who have bad backs. In general, if the occupant is suppose to sit for a long time, weight needs to be taken off the seat area and thus \"easy\" chairs intended for long periods of sitting are generally at least slightly reclined. However, reclining may not be suitable for chairs intended for work or eating at table.\nThe back of the chair will support some of the weight of the occupant, reducing the weight on other parts of the body. In general, backrests come in three heights: Lower back backrests support only the lumbar region. Shoulder height backrests support the entire back and shoulders. Headrests support the head as well and are important in vehicles for preventing \"whiplash\" neck injuries in rear-end collisions where the head is jerked back suddenly. Reclining chairs typically have at least shoulder height backrests to shift weight to the shoulders instead of just the lower back.\nSome chairs have foot rests. A stool or other simple chair may have a simple straight or curved bar near the bottom for the sitter to place his/her feet on.\nA kneeling chair adds an additional body part, the knees, to support the weight of the body. A sit-stand chair distributes most of the weight of the occupant to the feet.\nMany chairs are padded or have cushions. Padding can be on the seat of the chair only, on the seat and back, or also on any arm rests and/or foot rest the chair may have. Padding will not shift the weight to different parts of the body (unless the chair is so soft that the shape is altered). However, padding does distribute the weight by increasing the area of contact between the chair and the body. A hard wood chair feels hard because the contact point between the occupant and the chair is small. The same body weight over a smaller area means greater pressure on that area. Spreading the area reduces the pressure at any given point. In lieu of padding, flexible materials, such as wicker, may be used instead with similar effects of distributing the weight. Since most of the body weight is supported in the back of the seat, padding there should be firmer than the front of the seat which only has the weight of the legs to support. Chairs that have padding that is the same density front and back will feel soft in the back area and hard to the underside of the knees.\nThere may be cases where padding is not desirable. For example, in chairs that are intended primarily for outdoor use. Where padding is not desirable, contouring may be used instead. A contoured seat pan attempts to distribute weight without padding. By matching the shape of the occupant's buttocks, weight is distributed and maximum pressure is reduced.\nActual chair dimensions are determined by measurements of the human body or anthropometric measurements. Individuals may be measured for a custom chair. Anthropometric statistics may be gathered for mass produced chairs. The two most relevant anthropometric measurement for chair design is the popliteal height and buttock popliteal length.\nFor someone seated, the popliteal height is the distance from the underside of the foot to the underside of the thigh at the knees. It is sometimes called the \"stool height\". (The term \"sitting height\" is reserved for the height to the top of the head when seated.) For American men, the median popliteal height is 16.3 inches and for American women it is 15.0 inches. The popliteal height, after adjusting for heels, clothing and other issues is used to determine the height of the chair seat. Mass produced chairs are typically 17 inches high.\nFor someone seated, the buttock popliteal length is the horizontal distance from the back most part of the buttocks to the back of the lower leg. This anthropometric measurement is used to determine the seat depth. Mass produced chairs are typically 38-43 cm deep.\nAdditional anthropometric measurements may be relevant to designing a chair. Hip breadth is used for chair width and armrest width. Elbow rest height is used to determine the height of the armrests. The buttock-knee length is used to determine \"leg room\" between rows of chairs. \"Seat pitch\" is the distance between rows of seats. In some airplanes and stadiums the seat pitch is so small that sometimes there is insufficient leg room for the average person.\nFor adjustable chairs, such as an office chair, the aforementioned principles are applied in adjusting the chair to the individual occupant.\nArmrests\nArmrests should support the forearm and not the sensitive elbow area. Hence in some chair designs, the armrest is not continuous to the chair back, but is missing in the elbow area.\nA couch, bench, or other arrangement of seats next to each other may have arm rest at the sides and/or arm rests in between. The latter may be provided for comfort, but also for privacy e.g. in public transport and other public places, and to prevent lying on the bench. Arm rests reduce both desired and undesired proximity. A loveseat in particular, has no arm rest in between.\n \nA GLOSSARY & DICTIONARY OF TRADITIONAL UPHOLSTERY TERMS\nAIGRETTE\nFrench, a tuft of feathers, usually of the egret, osprey or ostrich, used as a finial on a four poster bed, springing from the cups in each corner.\nARRAS\nA type of tapestry, named after the town in Artois famed for making. There are many Shakespearian allusions to being hidden behind the aras. The name became a generic term for all woven wall hangings.\nASH COLOUR\nThe colour of ash, i.e. silver grey. Noted in Tudor inventories.\nAXMINSTER CARPETS\nPile carpets made in the Axminster, Devon factory, established in 1755 by Thomas Whitty. Whitty won three Society of Arts competitions in 1757, 1758 and 1759 and often wove carpets (e.g. Saltram, Devon) to designs by Robert Adam. He published an autobiography in 1790.\nBACK STOOL\nA side chair, often having an upholstered back.\nBAIZE\nA heavy woollen cloth, raised and napped on both sides. In use for covering tables (especially those for billiards) and doors to servant's quarters. Differed from bays which is light, whereas baize is thick and heavy. Dr. Johnson defined it as 'A kind of coarse open cloth stuff, having a long nap, sometimes found on one side
'\nBAUDEKIN\nA rich silk woven with gold, now called brocade. It was first woven with a warp of gold thread, but the name came to be applied to rich shot silks, mentioned in connection with Medieval bed-hangings. Name said to have derived from Baldacco, the Italian form of Baghdad.\nBAYES\nCoarse open woollen stuff, having along nap, woven in England from the 16th Century, of worsted warp and woollen weft.\nBED\nA framework with mattress and coverings to sleep on. There were many types, for example, angel (without foot-posts), canopied or domed.. French beds to be placed against a wall, those having a headboard, or with a half or hanging tester, various types of sofa-bed, and pre-eminently state beds, particularly lavish in the late 17th Century. Sheraton illustrated and listed many types common in the late 18th Century including special forms such as the 'Summer Bed in two Compartments'. There are also good examples of press bedsteads which were built into cabinets to outwardly resemble a chest of drawers or clothes press. A 'feather bed', however was a mattress filled with feathers.\nBED CARPET\nA carpet fitted around 3 sides of the base of a bed. There are splendid neo-classical examples.\nBED TICK\nA case containing feathers, stuffed to form a bed.\nBALLADINE\nA coarse raw silk, which Levant and Turkey merchants called white silk.\nBERGAMO\nA coarse tapestry or wall-hanging, perhaps first produced in Bergamo, Italy. Made with several sorts of spun thread in a great variety of and mixtures of colours.\nBERGERE\nAn armchair with cane-work sides, back and seat with either the seat upholstered or using loose cushions. The French word bergere describes an easy-chair. They were illustrated by Mayhew and Ince in 'the Universal System'. Gillows provided 'bergieres' and Sheraton noted the bergere with a caned back and arms, and a seat having loose cushions.\nBERLIN WORK\nCanvas embroidery worked in a worsted yarn by copying patterns printed onto squared paper. A popular German production, exported widely in the 1840's.\nBINDING\nSheraton noted 'Amongst upholsterers is applied to the various kinds of narrow laces used to strengthen and ornament the edges of any curtains, drapery, or bed furniture. Bindings for tickings are about three-forths of an inch broad. Of white and blue stripe of cotton and linen, others a little broader, of a diamond pattern, of worsted and linen'.\nThe principle bindings are as follows:\nBindings of silk ribands, various silk and worsted ditto.\nSilk covered laces, of various colours, 1 inch and upwards broad.\nSilk guard lace, a silk quality.\n'And at present there is introduced from France, very recently, a sort of black velvet binding, which having not yet seen, I can give no account of it, but may o some future occasion' Sheraton'\nBLANKET\nA white woollen cloth used for bed covers and heavy clothing. Many of the superior quality were imported from Spain, from the 16th Century onwards. Blankets are often noted in accounts by their size, measured in quarters.\nBLINDS\nA fabric, usually, on rollers, to be set at windows and raised or lowered, by cords, as needed, as protection against the sun. Slatted blinds (Venetian blinds) were used by Thomas Chippendale, fitted with a spring mechanism. Blinds were sometimes fitted with to needlework or tapestry firescreens.\nBOLSTER\nA long round bed pillow. They were often waxed to give a denseness through which the feathers could not pierce. Also used in this form as cushions at the ends of 18th Century sofa-seats.\nBOMBAZINE\nA cloth made of silk warp and worsted weft in a twill weave. Made in Norwich from the late 16th Century onwards, and later at Spitalfields. Woven grey, the bombazine was dyed in various colours.\nBONEGRACE\nThe narrow curtains at the back corners of a bed closing gaps between the main curtains and exposing the posts or headboard.\nBONE LACE\nMade by twisting bobbins of gold, silver, silk and linen threads above a pattern marked with pins. The bobbins were originally made of bone, hence bone lace.\nBOOK PILLOW\nA padded pillow to support and protect a book binding when the book was being read.\nBRAID\nA woven braid, used to edge fabric, or to contrast it against another piece\nBRANCHED\nA pattern in the pile of, particularly, velvet. Also used to describe the use of branches of a plant or tree as motifs for embroidery.\nBROADCLOTH\nMade of carded wool in plain weave and fulled, after weaving on a wide loom.\nBROCADE\nMade of gold, silver or silk, raised and enriched with flowers, foliage and other ornaments.\nBROCATELLE\nMade particularly in Italy (Venice) with a linen weft strengthening silk, in imitation of furniture-damask, with large foliate patterns, much used for wall-hangings.\nBUCKRAM\nA coarse cloth made of hemp, gummed, calendered and dyed several colours. It was used in the linings which required stiffness.\nBUTTONS AND LOOPS\nFound at the corners of bed valances and used to join the sides of the ends. A braid loop was passed over a button but by the 18th Century this had become decorative, disguising hook and eye fastenings.\nCADDOW\nA rough woollen covering.\nCAFFA\nCoarse taffeta, of silk which may have originally been woven in Caffa, a town on the Crimea coast.\nCAFFART DAMASK\nFrench, 'in imitation of the real, having woof of hair, coarse silk, thread, wool or cotton. Some have the warp of silk and the woof of thread, others are all wool' Sheraton\nCAFFOY\nA type of woollen velvet, originally a rich silk, but subsequently made in India, and at Norwich, of cotton and worsted wool respectively.\nCALICO\nCotton cloth of varying grades first made in India. The name is taken from that of Calicut, the first place at which the Portuguese landed when they discovered the Indian trade.\nCALIMANCO\nA worsted stuff with a fine glass, woven on the loom of various patterns and endless range of colours, manufactured particularly in Norwich. Sheraton noted 'it has a fine gloss and is chequered in the warp, whence the checks only appear on the right side. Some calimancos are quite plain, others have broad stripes, adorned with flowers, some with broad stripes quite plain and others watered'\nCAMBRIC\nA fine white linen of a plan weave, often used, in dyed form for curtain linings.\nCAMLET\nWoven in many widths, lengths and qualities and colours from wool, silk, linen and goat's hair and given different finishes, appearing as figured, water and waved. Used for bed hangings, cushions etc.\nCANOPY\nAn architectural term for a projection. Canopies were frequently part of medieval furniture, usually formed from rich textile hangings and were hung above chairs of estate, couches etc.\nCANTOONS\nA narrow curtain at the front corners of a bed closing gaps between the main curtains and enclosing the posts or headboard.\nCANVAS\nA clear unbleached cloth of hemp or flax used for working needlepoint embroidery, and in coarse form for ship sails. Used for window blinds, when usually dyed green, and for various clothing and upholstery linings and bases.\nCARDING\nThe process of combing out imperfections in used stuffings so they could be re-used, with a proportion of new material added.\nCARTRIDGE PAPER\nA strong lining paper used to make covers for furniture and line walls under fabric. It was also used as a wallpaper and coloured with distemper.\nCELURE\nPart of the bed-hangings as mentioned in inventories, the back pillow behind the bed, usually made of textile. Celure and tester are often mentioned together, perhaps celure related to the canopy and tester to the back.\nCHALONS\nAn upholstery material related to Dormix, and could be rich, incorporating silk, and even gold. It was figured on a draw-loom.\nCHANGEABLE\nAn obsolete term applied to taffeta, where the warp and weft in different colours changed the appearance giving a 'changeable' affect.\nCHENEY\nA worsted material which may derive from the French 'chalne', meaning warp. Related to harateen and moreen, often dyed red, green, blue, purple or yellow, and sometimes watered.\nCHIMNEY BLIND/BOARD\nAlternatively a canvas roller blind or a painted fabric covered board to close up a chimney opening in the summer.\nCHINTZ\nA word derived from 'chitta' meaning 'spotted cloth'. Often a glazed cotton printed with vegetable colours with wood and other blocks, produced originally in India.\nCLOAK PIN\nA brass, threaded pin, often gilt, round which the draw lines of window curtains were formed.\nCLOTH OF ESTATE\nA roof piece, called a ceeler, with valances around it, and a back piece called a tester. Some cloths of estate had a matching chair, footstool or cushions. Others made of silk with armorial embroidery, the cloth of estate projected from the wall above the sovereign.\nCLOTH OF GOLD/SILVER\nA tissue of gold or silver threads interwoven with silk or wool. Used for fine bed hangings and clothes denoting status and luxury. Silver gilt and silver thread were imported into England from Venice and are referred to in accounts as 'Venice Gold' and 'Venice Silver'.\nCLOTH, STAINED\nHanging of linen, hemp or wool, decorated with biblical or mythological figure subjects by means of water-colours, distemper etc.\nCORDWAIN\nLeather prepared from goatskin, named after Cordoba in Spain. A cordwainer worked in Cordovan leather, usually being a member of the Cordwainers Company.\nCOTTON\nThe white fibrous substance which covers the seeds of the cotton plant, used for making cloth and thread. Confusingly the term was used from the 16th Century onwards for a woollen fabric manufactured in Lancashire and Wales.\nCOUCHING\nStitching a thick thread to the surface of material by means of a fine thread.\nCOUNTERPOINT\nA decorative bed covering frequently incorporating motifs featured on other parts of the bed. 'Diamond or Brussels coverlets, together with quilts, blankets may be purchased at Mr Carpenter's, Ironmonger Lane, Cheapside, who was kind enough to furnish me with this account of counterpanes' Sheraton.\nCRANKET\nA mattress with a checked linen ticking, filled with horsehair.\nCRETONNE\nOriginally woven with a hempen warp and a linen weft, this strong plain weave cotton cloth was produced in many colours and printed by various processes.\nCREWEL\nA two ply worsted yarn suitable for embroidery and knitting used particularly in the creation of curtains in the 17th and 18th Centuries.\nCUP\nA finial on the top of a bed post, cup-shaped, often covered with fabric, and from which feathers might be displayed.\nCUPBOARD CLOTH\nWhen dressing a cupboard with plates or 'objets' it was customary to place them on a cupboard cloth, also known as a frieze cloth.\nCURTAIN\nSuspended cloth, used as a screen round beds, at windows, occasionally in front of paintings.\nCURTAIN ROD\nA wood or metal rod upon which curtain rings are threaded.\nCUSHION\nA fabric bag or case of varying shape filled with feathers or another soft material.\nDIAS\nRaised platform, deriving from canopy.\nDAMASK\nA silk figured fabric with its name derived from Damascus, from which its manufacture spread throughout Europe. Used for bed-hangings and furniture covering, woven in England at Norwich and Spitalfields. Damask should be made of dressed silks, both in warp and woof. 'Damask is also a kind of wrought linen made in Flanders, and in some parts of England, so called because of its large flowers which resemble real damask. This kind is chiefly used for table service, but the Syrian damask, for all its kinds of dress' Sheraton\nDAMASK LEATHER\nA stamped glazed leather, often used as a table cover, as a protective cover for library tables.\nDIMITY\nA stout cotton cloth, woven with raised stripes and fancy figures, used undyed for beds and hangings.\nDORCER\nMediaeval term for a hanging suspended upon the lower part of a wall to protect the backs of those seated from the coldness of the wall.\nDORNIX\nA cloth of linen warp and woollen weft, bought to Norwich in the 16th Century by Flemish weavers. The range and pattern varied considerably.\nDOWLASS\nA type of strong coarse calico.\nDRAB\nAn undyed cloth of grey-beige colour.\nDRAPERY\nSheraton stated 'the dressy part of beds and window curtains, and is suspended to the tester of the former, and the lath of the latter
in upholstery work there seems to be no article in that branch more eagerly sought after. It has already been turned into so many shapes that it has become quite a difficult task to produce anything novel.'\nDROP TESTER\nThe part of the press bed acting as a tester.\nDRUGGET\nA stuff, all of wool, or half-wool half-silk or linen, used originally for wearing apparel, now implies a material protecting carpets or table surfaces, made from wool and linen.\nDUCAPE\nA stout silk fabric which is often corded and watered.\nDURANCE\nA glazed worsted cloth of plain weave, finer than tammy, used to back chairs.\nEMBOSSING\nA raised pattern on leather, cloth or metal which stood out in relief.\nEMBROIDERY\nThe application of decorative needlework to the surface of a textile fabric, usually with needle and thread by hand, but also by machine.\nFERRET\nA tape, ribbon or binding made of cotton or silk\nFILLING\nThe material used for stuffing upholstered furniture, such as hair or flock.\nFLANNEL\nA loose textured woollen stuff, used to line leather chair covers. It was bleached in sulphur fumes to improve its whiteness.\nFLEDGE\nA material with herringbone effect in the weave.\nFLOCK\nTufts and sprigs of wool or cotton waste used to stuff mattresses, also used in powdered form, sprinkled on an adhesive ground for flock wallpaper.\nFLOOR CLOTH\nA canvas floor covering, painted with formal or abstract patterns to resemble tiles, marble etc.\nFLORENTINE STITCH\nAlso called bargello, or Hungarian point, Irish stitch and flame stitch. The upright stitches work wool in rows on canvas resembling shaded zig-zag patterns.\nFOOTBOARD\nThe padded or upholstered end of a bedstead, rising above the level of the mattress.\nFRENCH MATTRESS\nMade from a mixture of wool and hair, in equal amounts.\nFRINGE\nAn ornamental bordering of threads and silk, cotton etc., either loose or formed into tassels or twists. The pendants from the head of a fringe are called hangers. Knotted fringes were made as a pastime by ladies, but the quantities needed by upholsterers saw to their commercial availability.\nFULLING\nScouring and pressing of woollen goods to rid them of grease and from into a felted mass.\nFUSTIAN\nA coarse twilled cotton cloth used for bed hangings and clothing, made principally at Norwich, but also imported from Milan and Naples.\nGALLOON\nA tape or ribbon, frequently woven of thick gold or silver thread, and used to form patterns on bed valances etc..\nGINGHAM\nA cloth of pure cotton woven with dyed yarns in stripes and checks, often used for making slip-covers.\nGIRTH WEB\nStrips of woven flax or hemp used to support the stuffing of upholstered chairs.\nGOBELINS\nA family of French dyers, who in the 16th Century added tapestry weaving to their activities.\nGROSGRAIN\nA plain weave textile wherein the weft yarns are heavier than the warps to give a corded effect.\nGROS-POINT\nA form of cross stitch embroidery carried out on wool on squared canvas.\nHARATEEN\nA worsted furnishing fabric made at Norwich, used for furnishing and upholstery prior to 1750. It could be patterned between hot copper rollers and was usually dyed yellow, green, red, crimson or blue. Closely related to moreen.\nHESSIAN\nA coarse hempen cloth, used for packing and upholstery linings.\nHOLLAND\nA linen fabric, used for bed linen and linings, first made in Holland.\nHOOKS AND EYES\nSmall varnished metal fastenings to join fabric panels together. Often use don slip covers etc.\nHORSE HAIR\nA form of covering for furniture woven from the manes and tails of horses, with a linen or cotton warp. Could be made in plain, chequered or coloured varieties. Used in making haircloth for covering dining and library chairs.\nINGRAIN CARPET\nA non-pile reversible carpet made in Kidderminster, and Cumbria and Scotland. The carpet was woven in narrow strips, ranging from 18 to 36 inches wide from a wool that was dyed with fast colours.\nKERSEY\nA cheap, coarse woollen cloth of twill weave. It was good at resisting water and was in demand for clothing.\nKIDDERMINSTER STUFFS\nDiamond and chevron patterned worsted cloths made in Worcestershire.\nLAMBREQUIN\nFrench, a valance or pelmet.\nLAMPAS\nIndian painted and resist-dyed fabrics, usually made of silk with metallic threads.\nLAWN\nA type of fine linen resembling cambric.\nLINE\nA twisted cord, usually of silk, used over pulleys to draw up or part curtains, threaded through rings sewn into the back of the fabric and then tensioned by fastening to a cloak pin.\nLINEN\nA cloth of many grades and weaves from flax fibres.\nLINSEY-WOOLSEY\nA coarse cloth of linen warp and woollen weft, first made at Linsey in Suffolk. Cheap, and often used in servant's quarters for bed hangings.\nLIVERY\nUsed on ceremonial occasions, by staff of royalty and nobility.\nLUSTRING\nA light crisp plain silk having a high lustre.\nLYON\nThe most important silk-weaving centre in France in the 18th Century.\nMADDER\nA red vegetable dye used for dyeing wool, silk and cotton, made from a plant found in Asia Minor.\nMANCHESTER VELVET\nA common velvet made in all colours in Manchester in the 18th Century.\nMANTUA\nA silk of plain weave, heavier than taffeta\nMATTED SEAT\nFormed from rushes.\nMATTRESS\nA case of canvas or other coarse material stuffed with hair, flock, straw or the like. Used as a bed or a support for one.\nMERCER\nDealer in fabrics, ranging from costly silks and velvets to those of simple style.\nMOCKADO\nA wool velvet derived from moquette, imported from Anatolia, warp of linen, and pile of extra weft of wool.\nMOHAIR\nCloth made from the hair of the Angora goat.\nMOIRE\nCloth with a lustrous finish to give a watered figure.\nMOREEN\nA woollen material, sometimes mixed with cotton, used as an upholstery material in the 17th and 18th Centuries.\nMOROCCO LEATHER\nOriginally applied to red goatskin leather produced in North Africa, later made in Levant and Turkey. Crushed morocco had the grain flattened by planning to produce a mosaic of highly polished high parts and dull veinings.\nMURREY\nA dull purple red colour often used to describe velvet.\nMUSLIN\nA fine cotton textile imported originally from Africa.\nNAILS\nUsed in various forms and sizes to fasten upholstered coverings to a wooden frame. Could be bullion nails, described by pattern and weight.\nNEEDLEWORK\nA general term for patterns worked by hand with silk and a needle.\nNORWICH STUFFS\nWorsted goods made in East Anglia and marketed in Norwich.\nOLIVE\nAn oval covered button, shaped as an olive used for fastening upholstery.\nOS\nCurtain rings of various sizes, usually of brass, sometime gilded.\nOSTRICH FEATHER\nUsed particularly for the plumes on state beds, and as a motif in Elizabethan embroidery.\nPALL\nCloth, usually black, purple or white velvet, spread over a coffin, hearse or tomb.\nPALLIASE\nA small mattress, usually stuffed with straw.\nPANEL\nStrips of fabric applied over other fabrics, usually comprising of contrasting colours, e.g. yellow on black.\nPARAGON\nA coarse worsted cloth, sometimes watered, often used for window curtains.\nPASSEMENTIERE\nNarrow braids, formed by twisting threads, and including as a class laces, fringes, galloon, gimp, etc.\nPELMET\nA three sided textile 'case' fixed at the head of a window to hide rods, rings and the tops of curtains. Often mounted on buckram and trimmed with fringes.\nPELMET BOARD\nA long rectangular board with various box-wood pulleys inserted. Draw lines would pass over these to raise or lower curtains, and be tensioned with cloak pins when the curtain was raised.\nPENNYSTONE\nA coarse woollen cloth made firstly at Penistone in the West Riding of Yorkshire.\nPERFUME BAG\nAmbergris, musk, civet and other powders were used in bags among clothes and fabrics, or as a perfume to impart an attractive odour to fustian, leather etc. Also known as 'sweetbag'.\nPERPETUANA\nA woollen fabric, made by combing and carding wool mixed in a twill weave. Its popularity was threatened in the 17th Century by the use of imported calicos.\nPERSIAN\nA thin plain silk imported in the late 17th Century by the East India Company.\nPETIT-POINT\nA form of embroidery worked, usually, in tent stitch on a fine squared canvas.\nPILLOW\nA support for the head in reclining or sleeping. A case made of linen was stuffed with feathers or other soft material.\nPILLOWBEARE\nA pillow case, usually of white cotton or linen.\nPINTADO\nOriginally block-printed cotton cloth, but akin to chintz. Imported into England in great quantities from the mid 17th Century as quilts, curtains and cupboard cloths.\nPLAID\nA plain woven twill with a pattern of intersecting strips in both warp and weft. 'Scotch Plaid' in mentioned in inventories and used for blankets, hangings, ribbons etc.\nPLEAT\nForming a shape in material by stitching and folding. Common forms are 'box pleat' and the 'organ pleat.\nPLUMBETS\nSmall lead weights incorporated into the linings of curtains to assist their correct hang.\nPLUSH\nA wool velvet made in several colours, and used in furnishings, altar frontals etc.\nPOMELL\nA finial of ovoid form on the uprights of upholstered furniture. Usually of gilt wood or copper, or covered with velvet or damask.\nPORTIERE\nA door curtain, used to ward off draughts and made 'en suite' to other curtains in a room.\nPORTUGAL MAT\nA distinctive form of rush matting often used in the 17th Century in bed chambers.\nQUILT\nA bed coverlet with soft material (wool, feathers) between two pieces of cloth. Quilting was a method of keeping this wadding in place by stitching through the layers to form a pattern in a diamond, chequered or other geometric shape.\nRATTINET\nA thin woollen stuff, similar to shalloon used for lining curtains.\nRAYNES\nA linen of fine quality used in the 17th Century for sheets. Took its name from Rennes, where it was originally made.\nRIPPING\nTearing apart or unseaming of upholstery, done frequently to form curtains into a new fashion by using the available fabric.\nRUGG\nA coarse woollen coverlet for beds. 'Irish ruggs' are mentioned in inventories.\nRUSSETT\nA coarse woollen cloth, also a brown colour.\nRUSSIAN LEATHER\nA distinctive leather or hide, originating in Russia. Very resistant to water, has a diced grain produced with a plaque of copper or wood whilst the leather is damp.\nSAD\nDenoting a dull or neutral colour.\nSARCENET\nA thin transparent silk, having originally been woven by the Saracens.\nSATIN\nA smooth shiny silk made with the warp threads much finer and more numerous to the square inch as to conceal the weft. Many brocaded satins are really two-coloured damasks.\nSAY\nA thin woollen stuff of twill weave, used for linings.\nSCRIM\nA thin canvas used for lining and covering the wooden frame of a chair.\nSELVEDGE\nThe edge of a piece of material woven so the weft threads do not unravel.\nSERGE\nA twilled cloth having a worsted warp and a woollen weft. It was cheap and hard-wearing, used for curtains and valances.\nSHAGG\nA cloth having a velvet nap on one side, usually of worsted but sometimes of silk.\nSHAGREEN\nUntanned leather, often dyed green and used to cover small items. It is the skin of rays and dogfish.\nSHALLOON\nA twilled worsted cloth, often glazed or hot-pressed, used for curtains and linings.\nSILK\nCloth woven from filaments reeled from the cocoons of silk worms.\nSILKWOMAN\nA specialist in spinning and dyeing silk.\nSLIP-COVER\nA covering for furniture, particularly tables and chairs, made of leather, gingham or serge to protect for light and dust.\nSLEEVE\nA fabric covering to protect bed-posts and enhance their appearance.\nSPARVER\nA bed curtain.\nSPIKES\nUsed in particular at the top of bed-posts in order that the tester could be located thereon.\nSPITALFIELDS\nThe centre of the London silk weaving industry. Many Huguenot weavers settled there in the earl 18th Century.\nSPRING UPHOLSTERY\nCoiled metal springs to support upholstery came into use from 1828.\nSQUAB\nA removable stuffed cushion.\nSTAY\nA metal rod attached to a wooden frame and working over a toothed ratchet to tallow the back of a settee to be adjusted.\nSTUFF\nA general term for worsted cloths, but used to describe textiles of all kinds.\nSTUFF-OVER\nUsed when the wooden frame of a chair or settee is completely covered with upholstery.\nSTUMPWORK\nA from of embroidery, padded as to be in relief, used as a covering for boxes, looking glass frames etc.\nSWAG DRAPERY\nA draping of fabric across the top of a window in place of a valance or pelmet.\nSWISSED\nA term used in relation to calico implying the process of pressed to increase flexibility.\nTABBY\nA plain silk, often with a watered or waved finish.\nTAFFETA\nA plain woven silk with the weft threads thicker than the warp ones. Made in all colours, checked flowered or with patterns. Used for bed canopies, window curtains etc.\nTAMMY\nA lightweight worsted fabric, of an 'open' weave, often glazed. Coloured tammy was mush used for bed and curtains.\nTAPESTRY\nA thick hand-woven fabric, usually of wool with pictorial or geometric designs formed by the weft threads.\nTASSEL\nCut cords or threads gathered into a tight bunch at the top by a decorative braid, or passed through a pierced wooden ball, covered with the same fabric.\nTICKING\nA linen twill. The best came from Flanders used for the making of bags to enclose feathers.\nTISSUE\nA rich fabric having tow sets of warp threads, much used with silver and gold threads, as bed hangings and coronation robes.\nTRAVERSE CURTAIN\nUsed to divide parts of a room or to screen alcoves etc.\nTUFTED\nThe stitched and buttoning techniques used by upholsterers to stabilize the fillings of chairs, sofas etc.\nTURKEY WORK\nA woollen pile fabric made to imitate Turkish carpets and used for upholstery seats, and as floor and table carpets. Worked on a loom, mounted with hemp warp threads, to which the coloured yarns were tied by hand.\nTWILL\nTextile fabrics in which weft threads pass alternately over one warp thread, and under two or more to produce diagonal lines.\nUTRECHT VELVET\nA stout velvet made with a linen warp and weft, with pile of goats hair. Made in solid colours or striped.\nUMBRELLO\nA sun shade fixed above a window, used in the neo-classical period 1760-90.\nVALANCE\nA drapery hanging at the tester or base of a bed, often stiffened with buckram.\nVELVET\nA pile fabric of silk, wool or cotton fibres. The best was imported from Genoa. The pile is produced by adding to the usual warp and weft threads an additional row of warp yarns. These are woven into the surface of the cloth and passed over wires on the surface. For a loop pile these wires are drawn out. For velvet or other cut pile a knife is passed along a groove at the top of each wire to cut the pile before the wire is withdrawn.\nWARP\nThreads which are stretched lengthwise or vertically, in a loom, to be crossed, horizontally by the weft.\nWATERING\nA waved or watered effect on fabric, achieved by means of a press having heated metal rollers.\nWEBBING\nNarrow bands of hemp or jute. These are interlaced and secured by tacks to the underside of a chair frame, forming a strong base for the springs or stuffing.\nWEFT\nThreads which are stretched from side to side, or horizontally, on a loom, to be crossed vertically by the warp.\nWILTON\nSmall town in Wiltshire known for carpet weaving, with a short thick pile.\nWINDOW CLOTH\nAn absorbent cloth fitted into window embrasures in the winter to absorb moisture and protect from draughts through ill-fitting frames.\nWORSTED\nA woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun from long staple wool combed so that its fibres lie parallel.",
"1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works\n... This is a sub-section of 1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers Automatic Telephone and ... 6 CAMMELL LAIRD AND ... The largest vessel, the Leviathan, ...\n1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works - Graces Guide\nGrace's Guide\nBritish Industrial History\nGrace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 121,941 pages of information and 183,433 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.\n1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works\nFrom Graces Guide\nNote: This is a sub-section of 1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers\nContents\nAutomatic Telephone and Electric Co\nThis firm is the largest telephone engineering and manufacturing organization in the British Commonwealth. It is a member of a group of companies whose combined capital approaches £30,000,000. It employs approximately 10,000 persons of both sexes, has upwards of 750,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and has an annual turnover in excess of £6,000,000.\nThe company was formed in 1912 and its main products are Strowger automatic telephone exchange apparatus and line transmission equipment for public service. The principal customers are the large state and privately owned telephone administrations throughout the world and include the British post office, the South African, Australian, and Indian governments, the Anglo-Portuguese Telephone Company, etc. Their requirements are generally provided on the basis of long-term bulk supply agreements. Other products sold extensively at home and abroad to electrical power administrations, municipalities, railways, and the like are electromatic road signals, supervisory remote indication and control equipment for power networks, etc., rythmatic ripple control equipment for street lighting and other electrical load control requirements and mine signalling equipment.\nAlthough established less than forty years ago, the company has pioneered a number of developments including the director system, which enabled automatic telephony to be applied to the complex requirements of London and other metropolitan areas; the 32A selector (British post office type 2,000) which effected immense improvement in the speed and efficiency of Strowger automatic telephony and brought about important economies in operation; the first all-electric totalisator for race courses; the first vehicle-actuated road signals in Europe; and as an aid to the navigational requirements of the R.A.F. during the recent world war, the distant reading compass which rendered possible such bombing raids as those on the Mohne and Eder dams.\nThese and many other equally outstanding electrical developments of the past thirty-five years have resulted from intensive research carried out in the company's extensive and well equipped laboratories. To keep abreast of scientific research generally and ahead of customers' probable requirements, the company employs a large staff of specialists in many subjects including acoustics, thermionics, electronics, piezo-electric and photo-electric phenomena and transmission theory, apart from metallurgists and chemists whose efforts are directed towards ensuring that all products will perform satisfactorily in service over long periods under all climatic conditions. In conjunction with its well-known associated company, British Insulated Callender's Cables, Ltd., the company also maintains an important radio research unit - British Telecommunications Research, Ltd., at Taplow, Bucks, where a variety of problems are investigated independently for the ultimate benefit of the parent organizations.\nWholly owned subsidiary companies include Elexcel, Ltd., Liverpool, manufacturers of a range of electric domestic appliances; Hivac, Ltd., Harrow, manufacturers of miniature and midget thermionic valves for deaf aids, etc.; Pioneer Manufacturing Company, Ltd., which produces loud-speaking master stations and substations for office and works intercommunication telephone systems; and Communication Systems, Ltd., which has been established with branch and maintenance depots in all parts of Great Britain to market, on simple rental terms, the private automatic telephone exchanges and intercommunication telephone equipment manufactured both by the parent company and its subsidiaries, and also the public address sound equipment manufactured by Radio Gramophone Development Company, Ltd., Bridgnorth, an associate company.\nExploitation of the company's products in the Dominions and several foreign countries is carried out through a number of associated sales companies controlled by the company's export department, London, and elsewhere abroad through a large number of agents and representatives. In addition to the main plant at Strowger Works, the company owns other manufacturing units at Fazakerley and Speke, Liverpool, where the production of important subsidiary products and components is effectively concentrated. Visitors to the main factory at Strowger Works, although invariably impressed by its size, are mainly intrigued by the variety and number of processes carried on and by the skilful dexterity of the operatives in the spacious machine and assembly departments. Modern production control methods obtain throughout the organization and with the exception of a few components, the company relies entirely upon its own resources for the conversion of raw materials through every stage to the finished product.\nBOWATER'S MERSEY PAPER MILLS, LTD., ELLESMERE PORT\nBowater Paper Corporation\nThis company is one of the major units of the Bowater Organization, whose activities throughout the world are widely known. The organization owns timber limits and pulp mills in Newfoundland, Sweden, and Norway; a large newsprint mill and associated activities in Newfoundland; and in England four paper mills, a clay mine, and conversion units.\nThe Ellesmere Port mill was built in 1930, and extended to double its capacity four years later; it was originally designed to make newsprint on all four machines, with a capacity of 125,000 tons per annum, but one machine was converted during the 1939-45 war for the manufacture of speciality products and now alternates between newsprint and toilet tissue. The raw materials are wood pulp and a small amount of china clay, which are unloaded from ocean going ships at the private wharf-1,100 feet long and 80 feet wide—on the Manchester Ship Canal. Fireless locomotives bring the wood pulp to overhead Goliath travelling cranes of 80-foot span for stacking. The pulp then passes into the breaker house where it is disintegrated in water to form a fluid mass called \"stuff\". China clay, previously mixed with water in a reinforced concrete building, is added and after refining the stuff is then pumped to the paper machine through a meter, which automatically controls the quantity passed; the stuff is diluted to a consistency of per cent fibre to 991 per cent water, as it passes through screens to prevent knots of fibres passing on to the paper machines. The four paper machines are 300 feet long and 20 feet wide and are housed in a machine room 96 feet by 450 feet. An endless woven wire cloth 90 feet long receives the stuff from the screens, the upper portion, supported on rollers, acting as a table on which the paper is formed. A considerable quantity of the water is removed, and the paper is brought by the wire to the suction press rolls, after which it passes to drying cylinders which are 5 feet in diameter and supplied with steam at 10 lb. per sq. in. Cotton, or asbestos and cotton, \"felts\" convey the paper through the double bank of dryers, where hot air is blown on the felts and removed through a hood above the dryers by eight fans having a total capacity of 320,000 cu. ft. of air per min. A surface is imparted to the paper by finishing calenders, consisting of five chilled iron rolls, after which the paper is wound on to steel shells 14 inches in diameter. Special electrical interlock drives maintain the set relationship of the speeds of the various parts of the machine. The paper is reeled up into reels weighing approximately 2 tons and is then, in the case of newsprint, passed to a supercalender consisting of ten rolls running at a maximum speed of imparted to ft. per min., where a further degree of finish is to the sheet. From the supercalender the reels pass to the final stage, slitting and winding on to the cores required by the press rooms. On the winder any breaks in the sheet are joined, to ensure a continuous web being available on each reel. The finished reels are usually about 36 inches in diameter and 66-70 inches long, and are passed from the winder over weighing platforms to the packing room. The two reel stores are each 80 feet wide and 558 feet long, with a capacity for 6,000 tons of paper.\nPractically all the power used on the site is produced from five Babcock and Wilcox boilers with a capacity of 60,000 lb. per hour, working at 350 lb. per sq. in. One 6,000 kW. and one 9,000 kW. turbo-alternator of the pass-out type are installed, that generate three-phase alternating current at 3,300 volts and 50 cycles per second frequency, which is used for all motors except those rated lower than 100 h.p., in which case the voltage is transformed to 440 volts; for lighting purposes the current is transformed to 110 volts single-phase. Three boreholes 700 feet deep supply fresh water, which is treated in a large softening plant. Elaborate means of fire prevention are installed, most buildings being fitted with sprinklers and some with drenchers. In the coal yard a coal-handling plant and transporter deals with the 2,000 tons consumed each week.\nBRITISH ENKA, LTD., AINTREE, LIVERPOOL\nBritish Enka Artificial Silk Co\nThe firm of British Enka, Ltd., was formed in 1926 for the preparation of rayon yarns by the viscose process, in collaboration with the Algemeene Kunstzijde Unie N.V. of Holland, which assisted at the outset in the provision of technical information and various secret processes. The factory is located at Aintree and covers an area of approximately sixty acres, of which twenty-six acres are covered by buildings.\nThe process consists of converting cellulose, obtained in the form of sheets of wood pulp from Canada and Scandinavia, into continuous threads of rayon yarn by the viscose process discovered by two English chemists, Cross and Bevan, in 1892. The cellulose sheets are first soaked in a solution of caustic soda of mercerising strength (approximately 18 per cent) at room temperature. After soaking a predetermined time, the sheets are pressed free of the excess caustic soda to a controlled press weight.\nThe alkali-cellulose sheets are then shredded in machines to yield a light fluffy form of sodium cellulose, known as white crumbs, and these white crumbs are stored in boxes, under controlled temperature conditions, for periods varying from three to four days depending upon the subsequent use of the product. After the ripening or ageing period, the white crumbs are treated with carbon bisulphide to yield cellulose xanthate, known as yellow crumbs. These yellow crumbs are soluble in caustic soda and the resulting solution is known as viscose. There is a serious fire and explosion hazard in this operation as carbon bisulphide is highly inflammable, and smoking is, therefore, strictly prohibited in this part of the works.\nThe solution of cellulose is ripened in large tanks for a period of approximately three days until it is ready for spinning, when the viscose liquid is moved by compressed air pressure from the viscose storage room to the spinning room, after a series of severe filtrations to remove particles of dirt. The solution is then pressed through fine jets, or spinerettes, having holes of approximately mm. in diameter, into a solution of hot dilute sulphuric acid where continuous threads of rayon, or cellulose, are produced. The threads are collected in a centrifugal pot rotating at 6,000 r.p.m., known as the \"Topham box\", which not only serves to collect the yarn in package form but at the same time twists all the parallel threads produced from one spinerette into a compact thread with a twist of 2+ turns per inch.\nDuring the spinning operation there is some emission of hydrogen sulphide gas and carbon bisulphide vapour, and it is essential to have efficient ventilation systems to remove these products immediately on their formation so as to prevent eye trouble or sickness to the spinning operatives; the gases are passed through scrubbing units to purify them before being liberated into the air. In the spinning department all the air displaced by the ventilation of the spinning machines has to be replaced by air drawn into the room, heated and humidified to a humidity of 85 per cent to promote good spinning conditions.\nThe rate of corrosion on the spinning machines, owing to the use of caustic soda solutions, strong acid solutions, and the amount of humid acid vapours, is extremely high and necessitates a constant rota of overhaul in the room.\nAfter spinning, the acid cakes are stored in humidity chambers and are given identification marks indicating the different types of yarn. Then follows the process of bleaching by various chemical solutions in order to remove the acid, dissolved salts, dirt, and unwanted metals, etc. After bleaching, the yarn is dried in either stationary or continuous ovens, taking from four to twelve days depending upon the use to which the yarn will be subsequently put. After drying the yarn has a moisture content of approximately 4 per cent and it is necessary to store the yarn in a conditioning room to acquire a uniform moisture content of 11 per cent, which is standard for rayon yarns.\nAt this stage the yarn is sorted and examined for any faults which might cause trouble in subsequent processes. The cakes of yarn are then packed in cases, or wound into various forms of packages such as cones, cheeses, or bobbins, and despatched to customers. To a great extent the yarn is delivered in Great Britain by the company's own fleet of transport vehicles and the company has sales organizations, either as branch offices or agencies, in the main textile areas of England and Scotland.\nThe normal textile yarns are made in various thicknesses or diameters (known as deniers) and these are supplied to textile firms of various kinds in the country. The firm has also now developed a very extensive export trade as direct yarn sales, in addition to the large percentage of the product which is shipped as an indirect export in the form of piece goods.\nThe firm is concerned only in the production of yarn and not in the production of any fabrics, although the yarns which are produced find application in almost every outlet in the textile trade. It also operates its own process of dyeing yarn and has so far produced a range of approximately two hundred shades.\nThe process is highly technical and is under constant control by chemists and engineers; all the principal technical officers and management officers live either on the works site or within fifteen minutes' journey.\nThe steam and power for the works is supplied by a very modern power station which is now in course of erection; an interesting application of some of the electric power so generated consists of variable high frequency from 100 to 125 cycles for motor speeds of 6,000 to 7,200 r.p.m. by means of mercury arc rectifiers. The company obtains its own water from four wells which are sunk to depths of about 500 feet, the weekly consumption of water being about 11,000,000 gallons.\nThe company employs 2,300 people and has up-to-date training and induction schemes with a flourishing sports and social club. There is a pension scheme for the staff and a modified one for all the employees, and a modern works hospital is now in course of completion.\nA large percentage of the employees consists of engineering staff engaged on maintenance work as, owing to the process being of a chemical nature, many serious corrosion problems are encountered and, in addition to the usual machine shop, a permanent staff is carried of electricians, leadburners, builders, joiners, painters, heating and ventilating engineers, and chemical plumbers. The process is divided into three groups, (a) chemical, (b) mechanical with male workers, and (c) textile with female workers.\nThe company is a member of the British Rayon Federation and of the National Employers' Association of Rayon Yarn Producers, and active joint consultative machinery has been in operation for some years between the producers and the trades unions. A very healthy works council is in operation and has been functioning for twenty-one years.\nBRITISH INSULATED CALLENDER'S CABLES, LTD., PRESCOT WORKS\nBICC\nThe Prescot factory has grown rapidly and continuously since it was first established in 1891, and it is now the largest of the company's five main works. The factory forms a complete unit, having its own copper and aluminium mills, wire-drawing and cable-making plant, and accessories of every kind, and almost all of its output is manufactured from the raw material. Its activities are not confined to cable-making, though that is its principal output, for it produces copper and aluminium sheets, rods, wires, and sections, has its own iron and brass foundries, and makes an immense variety of cable accessories, electric resistance welding machines, magnetic moulding machines, fittings of every kind for overhead line work, both power and traction, electricity meters and paper pinions.\nThe works are equipped with railway sidings throughout and extensive use is made of battery trucks for the transport of material between departments. Battery tractors are m use for heavy loads.\nThe Prescot factory covers more than 176 acres and employs some 9,200 persons and, as already mentioned, its principal output is paper insulated cables and their accessories. In the refinery, the blister copper, as received from the mines of Rhodesia, is charged into furnaces where it is refined and poured into moulds for use in the rolling mills and extruding shops. The bar used in rolling is approximately square in section and pointed at the ends to facilitate entry into the rolls of the mill. These bars, technically known as wire-bars, weigh approximately 250 lb. Larger sizes, known as trolley bars, are used for trolley wires and railway conductors, where long lengths of large diameters are required.\nAfter the bars have been heated to bright red, they are rolled first in a three-high mill to a size suitable for the intermediate rolls, where they are passed twice; the rod then goes on to the finishing rolls, where it has a maximum of nine passes and is reduced to what is technically known as black rod, usually I-inch diameter if intended for wire drawing. The whole operation is performed in one heat and takes about one minute. The rods are coiled on an automatic or semi-automatic winder and stacked on the floor to cool.\nThere are three rod mills at Prescot. The largest is of the latest continuous type with oil-fired, reheating furnaces. It is complete with hydraulic charging machines, automatic bar-handling devices, repeaters for the rolls, and automatic winding gear. The mills are electrically driven. The black rod is next pickled to remove rolling mill scale, and, after washing, passes to the heavy wire-drawing shop, where it is drawn to size on automatic machines. After leaving the automatics, the wire is annealed. At this stage it is undesirable to spoil its surface or lose any of the copper in annealing, so the process is carried out in furnaces from which air is excluded. The wire passes in and out through a water seal, on a continuous chain carrier, and emerges clean and bright as it entered, entirely free from oxides. Wire to be reduced to smaller sizes passes to another shop where it is drawn down through diamond dies. These are expensive but extremely enduring and retain their accuracy in a high degree, turning out large quantities of wire to gauge before they have to be lapped out again for larger sizes. There is in the wire mill a diamond plant equipped with the most modern machines. Not all the copper which comes from the rod mill is used in cable manufacture. Much of it is drawn to sizes suitable for silk, cotton, or enamel covering, or flattened into strips for armature, field, and transformer windings, or made into overhead conductors for electric railways, trolley wires, telegraph and telephone line wires, and copper fuse wires. The extruding shop is complete with powerful hydraulic presses and reheating furnaces, pickling plant, etc.; the processes of the rod and wire mills are repeated there, with suitable modifications. Cylindrical copper billets, raised to a bright red heat, are extruded through special dies in a variety of shapes in straight lengths or coils as required. They are then pickled and drawn on powerful mechanical draw benches to dead sizes. Some sections, however, are not drawn but extruded to exact size and cut into short lengths—an economical and accurate method of producing articles such as controller fingers. This process has important electrical and mechanical advantages, as compared with production in the foundry. The strength of an aluminium strand, which is produced similarly to copper, can be raised by reinforcing it with a steel core. This is the practice adopted for the electricity Grid schemes, and Prescot has supplied a very large quantity of steel-cored aluminium strand for this purpose. Large quantities of copper wire are sent to the Helsby and Leigh works and elsewhere for use in rubber or bitumen cables, lighting wires, flexible cords, etc. Wire for use in cables with a vulcanized insulation has, of course, to be tinned. The bare wire is mounted on a swift in a tub of slightly acid water to remove any traces of oxide, and thence passes progressively through a cleaning wipe, a bath of flux, and the molten tin. On emerging through a wiper which removes excess tin it is then cooled and taken off on to a reel, being untouched by hand during the process. In the power cables department the first process is that of stranding in which a number of individual wires are laid up to form the desired size of conductor. The copper strand or cable core then passes to the insulating section where successive lappings of paper are applied until the appropriate thickness of insulation is built up. The cores are then laid up with the usual filling and additional lappings of paper overall, if required. Drying and compounding follows, and in this process a skeleton drum containing the cable is placed in a vacuum tank for the removal of all possible moisture, after which the tank is flooded with insulating compound and pressure applied until the paper is thoroughly impregnated. The cable is then passed through a lead press where it receives a sheathing of lead and is wound on to a wooden drum. The many lead presses at Prescot are of various sizes suitable for covering large multicore cables or small house wires. The smaller presses are also used for extruding resin-cored solder, lead strip, lead seals and glazing sections, all regular articles of manufacture. After lead sheathing the cable is ready for testing. The test house is a large building 240 feet long with ample floor space for handling drums, and three tanks into which the drums are lowered for their specified time under water. Both sides of the building are occupied by operators' rooms, test bays, and galleries so that cables can be lifted straight out of the tanks and transferred to the test bays with the greatest convenience. Routine testing covers copper resistance, insulation resistance, capacity, and the standard pressure test. When the testing has been completed, the drum of cable is ready to be lagged up and despatched, unless it has to be armoured, in which case it goes to the adjacent armouring department, a still larger building, equipped with machines for both wire and tape armouring. Here the cable receives its protective coverings of compound jute and steel. A final test is required after armouring, so the cable returns to the test house once more, to be pressure tested again, after which it is ready for despatch. Adjacent to the armouring department is a building laid out as a complete cable factory, where stranded copper enters at one end and the finished lead covered cable leaves at the other. This building is remarkable for its proportions, 520 feet long by 105 feet wide, with three cranes spanning the entire width. In addition to roof lights, both sides of the building are glazed to give the maximum of natural lighting, the windows being the largest of their kind ever made in this country.\nBROWN, BIBBY AND GREGORY, LTD., SPEKE\nBrown, Bibby and Gregory\nThe Speke factories were designed and built in 1938, and the two main buildings measure 145 feet by 968 feet and 300 feet respectively. They are of unique design in that construction is by a series of concrete frames built as central arches with side wing abutments, making possible vast areas of clear working space. The machine room, without one single pillar, measures 90 feet by 968 feet. Steam, electrical, water, and gas services are carried throughout the factory in service tunnels beneath the floor. The part of the factory containing the printing departments is air conditioned. About seven hundred and fifty people are employed upon the printing and manufacture of labels, cartons, wrappers, and bags.\nCAMMELL LAIRD AND COMPANY, LTD.\nCammell, Laird and Co\nThe company was founded more than a hundred years ago and since that time approximately 1,200 ships have been built. The firm were pioneers in the application of iron to shipbuilding, their first iron vessel having been built in 1829; they were also the pioneers of steel shipbuilding, having built in 1858 the first steel paddle vessel the Ma Robert in which Dr. Livingstone carried out his work on the Zambesi.\nIn 1838 they built the first screw steamer to cross the Atlantic, which was the Robert F. Stockton. The works cover an area of 114 acres with a river frontage of 3,100 feet. There are ten building berths, ranging up to 1,100 feet in length, which are provided with overhead cranes and the latest devices for handling materials. There are also seven graving docks, the largest of which is 860 feet long, and a fitting out basin of 15 acres water area. The entrance to this basin is 140 feet wide and is closed by a sliding pontoon. There is a fixed crane to lift 100 tons, and a floating crane which will lift 200 tons and can be brought speedily alongside any vessel in the basin where heavy armament, machinery or boilers are to be shipped. The works are equipped for the use of electric power and for compressed air and hydraulic power; a very large installation of low-pressure electric mains is also installed for electric welding in all departments.\nThe gross tonnage which can be produced annually is over 100,000 tons and the engineering works are capable of producing machinery and boilers equivalent to over 450,000 h.p. At present there are approximately 10,000 employees, who are engaged on ships of all descriptions which constitute a full programme for the next two to three years. The most notable ships built by the company include the 34,000-ton passenger liner Mauretania, the 35,000-ton battleship Prince of Wales, the great 22,000-ton aircraft carrier Ark Royal, and the 35,000-ton battleship Rodney. The Mauretania is the largest mercantile vessel ever built in England and in herself forms a striking tribute to the capabilities of the company. The company's shipbuilding contribution to the 1939-45 war effort was unsurpassed throughout the country. In addition to a large number of small craft, the company built for the Admiralty no fewer than eighty-six ships, including one battleship and two aircraft carriers, and they also carried out major repair work on many others. Many merchant ships were also docked and repaired during the six years of war.\nCLARENCE DOCK POWER STATION\nClarence Dock Power Station\nFour years before the first electricity bill of 1882, Liverpool had installed one arc lamp. In 1883 the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, Ltd., was formed, and this resulted in the operation of four small generating stations twelve years later. In the same year, the corporation bought the company and it continued as a municipally owned undertaking until, in 1948, it was taken over by the British Electricity Authority. Clarence Dock Power Station was inaugurated in 1928, when a special committee was formed to make plans for the new power station. Mr. P. J. Robinson, who was at that time the city electrical engineer, developed and put into execution the plan for building the new station on the bed of a dock. The site was practicable in every way: the sandstone rock formed a perfect foundation, the site was near an inexhaustible supply of water, and that half of the dock which was not needed for the buildings of the actual power station was available for coal storage and, furthermore, could be flooded to tide level and thus give a much greater storage capacity for fuel by limiting the risk of spontaneous combustion. In 1929 the work started on this power station, and two years later the first 50,000 kW. turbo-alternator was in commission. A year later, a second and similar set was in operation, and by 1938 two more sets of the same capacity had been added, bringing the total installed capacity to 200,000 kW. A further 50,000 kW. was in operation by the end of 1942. At present, a further set of the same capacity is being installed, and a seventh, of at least the same capacity as each of the others, is planned. Clarence dock is a coal-fired station, having seventeen boilers divided between three boiler houses. In the latest, No. 3, the boilers are fired by pulverized fuel. Although the station is built in a dock, it is not possible to discharge sea-borne coal directly on the site. It is discharged from ships at Bramley Moore Dock, which lies approximately half-a-mile north of the station. Half the coal supplies are sea-borne. All fuel, whether sea-borne or rail-borne, actually arrives at the coal stockyard by rail, where it is handled by direct gravity discharge into silos delivering on to belt conveyors or by crane into the partly flooded stockyard, and thence as required to the conveyors. There are three level-luffing cranes which adequately cope with the routine handling. Pulverizing is carried out in \"Babcock and Wilcox, E56\" type horizontal grinding mills. Coal consumption during the winter months is 2,700 tons per day. Stoker boilers consume 10 tons of coal per hour and pulverized-fuel boilers consume 16 tons per hour on full load. The station is now operated by the Merseyside and North Wales Division of the British Electricity Authority, the divisional controller being Mr. A. R. Cooper.\nCUNARD WHITE STAR, LTD.\nCunard White Star\nThe story of the development of the North Atlantic \"Ferry\" during the steamship era is at the same time the story of the Cunard White Star undertaking, for Samuel Cunard was one of the first to grasp the possibilities of steam on the North Atlantic. Cunard, who came from Halifax, Nova Scotia, formulated a plan in 1830 to substitute a regular steamship mail service in place of the more or less obsolete sailing ships which were both irregular and uncertain. Eight years later, after the Great Western had crossed the Atlantic from Bristol to New York in 134 days, the Government invited bids for a speedier and more regular carrier. Cunard immediately sailed for England, and together with Robert Napier, a Clyde shipbuilder, and one of the foremost marine engineers of the day, George Burns of Glasgow, and David McIver of Liverpool, two of the ablest men in the shipping trade, perfected plans which were accepted by the Admiralty. The contract called for a fortnightly service between Liverpool, Halifax, and Boston, with four ships. The first vessel built for the Cunard Line was the Britannia, which sailed out of Liverpool on 4th July 1840. She was a vessel 207 feet long, 34-foot beam, carrying 115 passengers, and 225 tons of cargo.\nIn the first forty years of the company's existence, noteworthy links in the chain of development were the Persia (1856), the first iron Cunarder; the Scotia (1862), 3,871 tons, the largest steamer in the world at that time; the Servia (1881), 7,392 tons, the first steel Atlantic Cunarder-larger and faster than any other ship then in commission; and the Aurania (1883), the first liner fitted with suites of rooms. Other epoch-making ships followed in rapid succession, among them the Lusitania and the famous first Mauretania of 1907. The next milestone was the Aquitania (45,650 tons). Scarcely had she taken her place in the company's service in 1914 when war was declared.\nAfter the Armistice the company embarked upon an extensive building programme to replace war losses - thirteen vessels amounting to 214,000 tons were ordered - while opportunity was taken to convert all existing ships from coal to oil fuel burning. In May 1934, the Cunard Company merged with the White Star Line, so linking two great companies. The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, or the White Star Line, as it was best known on the Atlantic, was inaugurated by T. H. Ismay in 1869. Throughout its seventy-five years the company contributed much to the progressive design of the North Atlantic liner. Their first ship, the Oceanic of 1871 was the first steamship on the Atlantic with passenger accommodation amidships. One of the largest motor ships in the world was built for the White Star Line in 1930. The Britannic, as she was named, and her sister ship Georgic were the last additions to the White Star fleet at the time of the merger with the Cunard Line in 1934. Meantime the great liner \"534\" was being constructed for the Cunard Line at John Brown's Yard at Clydebank. Work was begun in December 1930, but construction was suspended for twenty-eight months. Her launching and christening by H.M. Queen Mary came a few months after the merger, on 26th September 1934, when the ship was named Queen Mary. In May 1936, she started on her maiden voyage to New York, an event of world-wide interest. In the summer of 1939 the new Mauretania entered the service, and in September 1939, with the outbreak of war, the fleet was quickly requisitioned for war service. Over 4,400,000 troops were carried, and a total distance of 5,360,000 miles was steamed from September 1939 until the end of 1945.\nIn addition to these achievements, the company managed, on behalf of the Ministry of War Transport, thirty-nine other ships, of a gross tonnage totalling 347,456 and handled over 11,000,000 tons of cargo. Five new liners have been completed in the company's post-war building programme and a sixth, a cargo liner, is now under construction. Of the five ships now in service, the 34,000-ton Caronia, largest liner built in the world since the war ended, launched by H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth, made her maiden voyage on 4th January 1949. The Caronia, specially designed for cruising as well as for service on the North Atlantic, marks a new milestone in the Cunard history and in that of passenger liners. The Media and Parthia, each of 13,350 tons gross, with accommodation for 250 passengers and capacity for 7,000 tons of cargo incorporate striking modern features: a single mast and well raked stem characterize these sister ships, with their extensive sports decks and air-conditioned public rooms. The other two vessels are cargo liners, named Asia and Arabia, each with capacity for over 9,000 tons of cargo. They have extensive refrigerated space and embody the most modern developments in cargo ship design. Of the remainder of the fleet, the two famous \"Queen\" liners have resumed normal service on the North Atlantic, and so also has the Mauretania. The Aquitania and Ascania have reopened the company's Canadian passenger service, in which they are to be joined by the Franconia following her reconditioning on the Clyde. The Scythia and Samaria are also engaged on Canadian service and are doing good work carrying displaced persons from the Continent. The Britannic is now back on the Liverpool—Cobh—New York service, after her complete reconditioning after war service. The Britannic. The Britannic is unique in appearance among North Atlantic liners: two squat funnels in association with two lofty well-raked masts contribute to her distinctive profile with its shapely cruiser stern and straight stem. She was built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, in 1930, to carry 1,550 passengers, but during the war, acting as a troopship, she carried double that number, and eventually she was carrying close on 5,000 troops each voyage. By the end of the war she had carried more than 180,000 service personnel and steamed 367,000 miles. During her reconditioning after war service, many improvements and alterations were made, notably, the installation of an improved system of ventilation, the sprinkler system throughout every deck, and the most modern smoke detector apparatus in the cargo spaces, whilst passenger and crew accommodation was redesigned and rebuilt. Accommodation for first and tourist class passengers is spread over six decks, and practically the whole of the covered promenade deck, nearly 400 feet in length, is given over to public rooms, which include a cocktail lounge, long gallery, main lounge adaptable as a cinema, library, smoking room, and gymnasium. High in the ship on the main deck is the tourist smoking room, whilst on A deck there are two lounges for tourist passengers. Staterooms in both classes set a high standard, ranging from first-class suite rooms to well-fitted tourist rooms, many of them with private showers. Shops and beauty parlours in both classes, a large indoor swimming pool served by a special lift, children's playrooms, and extensive deck spaces for exercise and relaxation, are but some of the Britannic's features. With an overall length of 712 feet and a gross tonnage of 27,666, she has nine decks and four cargo holds forward and four aft of the machinery spaces. A number of 'tween deck spaces are insulated, amounting in all to 85,000 cubic feet. The refrigerating plant is located in the forward end of the auxiliary engine room and consists of two large horizontal twin compressor carbon-dioxide machines each directly coupled to a variable speed electric motor of 75 b.h.p. The main propelling machinery consists of two Harland Burmeister and Wain double-acting, four-stroke, ten-cylinder Diesel engines each capable of developing 10,000 b.h.p. at 100 r.p.m. The cylinders have a diameter of 33 inches and a piston stroke of 63 inches. Crankshafts are each made in two symmetrical five-throw sections bolted together. Separate Diesel engines drive the three-stage air injection compressors. Vapour extractors on Harland and Wolff system are fitted to both main engines as well as to the auxiliaries. Each main engine has its own multi-tubular fresh water cooler with 4,000 square feet of cooling surface. Although the forced-lubrication and piston cooling services of both the main engines are independent, suitable cross connexions are provided. So far as the main engine oil cooling arrangements are concerned each engine has two multi-tubular oil coolers, each with 1,400 square feet of cooling surface. The outfit of pumps includes two motor driven cylindrical fresh water cooling pumps each with a capacity of 350 tons per hour, four sea-water cooling pumps of 450 tons capacity per hour, four cylindrical main forced-lubrication pumps and two main bilge pumps of Drysdale type. The four main engine air injection compressors are each driven by separate Diesel engines developing 850 b.h.p. In addition to supplying injection air to the main engines, compressed air is also supplied for starting and manoeuvring purposes, the air being stored in four large receivers. These engines have fresh water cooling of jackets and covers, and oil cooled pistons. Electric power is utilized throughout the ship on an elaborate scale, current being supplied by four Diesel-driven generators. Each generator has a capacity of 500 kW. at 160 r.p.m., the Diesel engines all having six cylinders 500 mm. in diameter by 750 mm. stroke. The engines are four-stroke, air-injection, trunk piston type. Steam for hotel services is supplied by an auxiliary boiler installation consisting of two single-ended Scotch boilers, designed for a working pressure of 150 lb. per sq. in., burning oil under natural draught.\nTHE DISTILLERS COMPANY (BIOCHEMICALS), LTD., SPEKE\nDistillers Co (Biochemicals)\nThe identification and naming of penicillin by Fleming in 1929 and its subsequent development by Florey and his co-workers are landmarks in the medical history of our times. Perhaps no less interesting, particularly to those associated with large-scale manufacturing processes, is the development of an entirely new industry, the manufacture of antibiotics, a class of therapeutic substances of which penicillin is an important member. The works and laboratories of The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd., at Speke, known locally as \"the penicillin factory\", contain plant and apparatus specially designed to encourage and control the growth of the common mould penicillium which, in the course of its natural processes, forms penicillin. The staff required to deal with this process includes engineers, mechanical and electrical; chemists; bacteriologists; physiologists; mycologists; botanists; pharmacists; in addition to the tradesmen and technicians engaged in maintenance) servicing, and development work.\nThe factory now covers an area of seventeen acres and comprises twenty-two major blocks of buildings. A modern boiler house contains five boilers capable of steaming at 50,000 lb. per hour and supplying superheated steam. at 150 lb. per sq. in. pressure. Steam is provided for the sterilization of the fermentation plant, including the preparation of many thousands of gallons of sterile broth per week, for the operation of distillation and recovery units in the purification of penicillin; and for general factory heating, hot water supplies, and canteen services. The fermentation block contains all the large-scale fermentation vessels and broth sterilization plant; the technical offices; and an extensive group of laboratories giving facilities not only for plant control, but also for development and research. Eight bacteriological laboratories are assigned to the preparation of cultures, the maintenance of plant sterility, and the assay of penicillin at all stages of manufacture. Seven analytical laboratories control the use of raw materials and reagents. A technical library and reference room is also included in this section.\nThe recovery block contains the whole of the extraction plant including:— (a) rotary filters for the filtration of fermented broth, and mycelium disposal plant; (b) the continuous broth extraction unit where penicillin is extracted from the broth by organic solvents in stainless steel equipment; (c) distillation units, both batch and continuous, suitable for the recovery and purification of a wide range of solvents; (d) evaporation and concentration plant, including centrifuges and extractors, together with a large variety of stainless steel and glass-lined reaction vessels.\nAnother block includes filling and drying equipment, including the sterile area; a cold store capable of hoding several hundred thousand million units of penicillin; bottle-washing department; and cloakrooms for employees. A large central compressor households four air compressors capable of delivering over half-a-million cubic feet of free air per hour to the fermentation process; two large refrigeration plants, each comprising several individual units, to provide refrigeration for chilled water services throughout the factory, and for the unique high vacuum units installed in the compressor house. All these machines are fully equipped with automatic controls.\nThe animal house is completely isolated from the rest of the buildings, and the animals are protected as though in an isolation hospital. This department contains breeding rooms and testing rooms. Sterilized air at controlled temperature and humidity is circulated throughout the building. The selection of test strains of animals is of major importance and all the animals are descendants of twenty-two rabbits and one hundred and twenty mice which were flown from Montreal. These animals are used to test the purity of every batch of penicillin before it is passed for human administration. The drug is given to the animals in exactly the same way as to human beings; if they show any evidence of toxic effect or rise in temperature the whole batch of penicillin is rejected.\nA well-equipped physiological laboratory is attached to the animal house and all the tests are carried out by qualified physiologists approved by the Medical Research Council and licensed by the Home Office. In addition to the process buildings described above, the factory is equipped with a large engineering workshop where major repairs may be carried out and plant, designed by the company's development staff, fabricated.\nA modern welfare building and gatehouse is situated at the east entrance, with first-aid and rest rooms. In recent months the company has acquired additional commodious premises adjoining the original factory. These premises already house the packing and despatch departments and will eventually be fully employed in coping with the company's expanding activities. These extensions also include a large canteen in which many of the company's staff social functions are held. The deep fermentation process for the manufacture of penicillin at Speke is divided into several stages: submerged fermentation, removal of mycelium and extraction of penicillin from the broth, solvent purification and formation of the salts of penicillin, freezing and high vacuum drying, crystallization, filling, packing, testing, and storage. Fermentation is carried out in a battery of large mild-steel fermenters. Broth for fermentation is prepared from corn steep liquor and added substances, diluted to the correct strength with water and carefully adjusted to optimum acidity.\nCorn steep liquor is a by-product of the starch industry, it is rich in soluble organic nutrients and is a powerful stimulant to the growth of the mould. The prepared broth is sterilized by superheated steam under high pressure and, after cooling in a totally enclosed cooler, is charged to the fermenters. The fermenters and all connecting pipes are previously sterilized by steam. Many forms of bacterial infection can completely destroy the power of the mould to produce penicillin or can destroy the penicillin in the liquid broth after it has been formed there by the mould. Scrupulous care must, therefore, be taken to ensure that only a pure culture of the mould comes into contact with the broth up to the time when the penicillin is extracted. The mould in present use is a form of the original mould treated with X-rays to produce a mutant giving a high yield of penicillin. The culture is first grown in a test tube under the most carefully controlled bacteriological conditions, and is allowed to multiply in larger and larger glass containers in special incubators, until it is finally transferred from the laboratory to seed tanks where the plant culture is grown. When the sterilized broth is transferred to the fermenter, the seed culture is also transferred and fermentation commences. Moulds of this type usually grow on the surface of damp decaying organic matter, indicating their need for the presence of air to maintain their metabolism, and, in order to carry out successful fermentation in a deep fermenter filled with thousands of gallons of broth, immense quantities of air must be passed through the liquid. The sterilization of air in such quantities is a major problem, and most elaborate equipment is installed to scrub the air and treat it with suitable reagents before use. The fermentation cycle lasts several days, and during this time the temperature of the broth must be carefully controlled by circulating cooling water in the fermenter jacket. Carbon dioxide is formed as a by-product during fermentation, and must be continuously exhausted from the system to maintain the proper conditions in the vessel. Precise technical control is needed to follow the course of fermentation hour by hour, and to determine when the maximum concentration of penicillin has been reached. At the end of fermentation, the fermenter contains liquid broth, in which is floating a large quantity of spongy mycelium, and dissolved in this large quantity of broth is a comparatively small amount of penicillin. The broth is then pumped to a novel type of rotary filter from which the mycelium is removed as a continuous felt. The rough-filtered broth is pre-treated with a filter aid at controlled conditions of temperature and acidity, after which it is filtered through a filter press to give a clear broth. It is then fed continuously to a high-speed mixing tank where organic solvent and more acid are added.\nFrom this tank the mixed liquids are run to a decanter where the spent broth separates and is discharged. The solution of penicillin in organic solvent is then clarified. The next stage is the conversion of the penicillin to a crude salt by agitation with aqueous alkali. After separation the aqueous salt solution is passed forward for further treatment while the organic solvent is sent to recovery stills for distillation and purification. The crude salt solution passes forward through a series of solvent-solvent extractions, the first of which is performed in a high-speed centrifugal separator. The fraction containing the penicillin is next passed through a series of alkali extractors where the solution of the salt of penicillin is obtained. This solution is subjected to further purification treatment and concentration until the required potency is produced.\nIt is then ready for passage through a \"Seitz\" type biological plate-and-frame filter of stainless steel construction which removes any bacteria and pyrogens (fever producing substances) that may be present in the solution. The final filtration is carried out in a sterile area, and the filtrate is received in a sterilized stainless steel container known as the \"final bulk container\".\nAt this stage, the solution is ready to be dehydrated before being filled, in powder or crystalline form, into the final sales container. All operations from this point onwards, until the penicillin powder is sealed in vials, are carried out in a sterile area. This sterile area consists of a group of rooms which are totally enclosed, the only entrance being through a surgical dressing room. No person is allowed to enter the sterile area without taking all the precautions normally practised before entering a hospital operating theatre, including washing with antiseptic soap and the donning of sterilized shoes, clothing, hoods, and surgical gloves. The whole of the ceilings and walls are glass-lined, and the floors are finished in impervious terrazzo. The area is fed with sterilized air, exactly controlled with regard to temperature and humidity, and a slight positive pressure is maintained in order that no contaminated air can enter through the lock which admits the operators.\nIn every room numerous high-powered, ultra-violet lights are arranged in the ceilings so that all the surfaces of rooms and equipment are continuously subjected to ultra-violet sterilization. In solution penicillin is so unstable to heat that dehydration must be accomplished in the freezing state. The solution of penicillin is, therefore, frozen and the ice evaporated directly without going through the liquid phase. This is accomplished by the use of high vacuum diffusion pumps. The drying equipment consists of two batteries of vacuum chambers. After the trays of frozen penicillin solution are placed in the chambers, the system is evacuated down to about three hundred microns within five minutes by means of single-stage mechanical pumps of the oil-sealed rotary type. These \"roughing\" mechanical vacuum pumps are tied in by a common manifold to all the dryers. After this rough evacuation, the drying chambers are connected to the high-vacuum manifold serving the diffusion pumps. These, designed to reduce the pressure further until dehydration is accomplished, exert a pull of about 10 tons on the dryer doors. Each dryer is equipped with a \"McLeod\" gauge to measure the extremely low vacua which are obtained. Vapours leaving the high-vacuum manifold go through a pair of cold traps or low-temperature condensers in parallel. These are jacketed steel cylindrical chambers set at an angle, provided with revolving scrapers and refrigerated with ammonia to about —80 to —90 deg. F. Ice that collects on the walls is scraped off and falls into an ice receiver at the same temperature. These cold condensers relieve the strain on the diffusion pumps. Eleven sets of diffusion pumps take care of the two batteries of dryers. The diffusion pumps consist of 4-inch diameter units of a multi-jet design and built of welded steel. Chlorinated hydrocarbons, having a lower vapour pressure than mercury, are used as the pumping fluid, and are condensed on the walls of the pumps and re-used. These diffusion pumps discharge to oil-sealed, rotary high-vacuum pumps which compress the exhausted gas to atmospheric pressure and discharge it, thus enabling the diffusion pumps to take hold. An important feature of the backing-up pumps is the oil purification system that continuously recirculates all sealing oil to remove condensed water and other contamination. Otherwise, these would flash back into the system and raise the fore-pressure to a point where the diffusion pumps could not operate. The penicillin salt is allowed to remain in the vacuum chambers until the moisture has been reduced to the specified content. This is readily accomplished in a few hours, after which the trays of dehydrated penicillin are removed. The penicillin is then passed through ball mills which reduce it to a fine powder. This is then placed in automatic filling machines which fill it in accurately, measured amounts into the final sales container. Sterilized vacuum-dried rubber stoppers are then inserted as quickly as possible in another room of the sterile area. An aluminium cover is machine-seamed over the rubber stopper, and the bottles are then ready for normal handling. The process described produces amorphous penicillin. This material is very hygroscopic and loses its activity on heating to even moderate temperatures. The crystalline form of penicillin has the advantage of being far less hygroscopic and it will withstand heating to boiling point for considerable periods.\nAt Speke, amorphous penicillin is converted to the crystalline form by precipitation from an organic solvent. Amorphous penicillin is dissolved in the solvent and its solubility reduced by other solvent additions. At a critical point almost colourless crystals of penicillin form in the liquor and are filtered off, washed, and dried. All this work is done in the sterile area under stringent aseptic conditions. The bulk material, either amorphous or crystalline, is sampled and has to undergo stringent laboratory tests for purity, sterility, absence of toxic material, and any other tests before it is filled into its final containers. Most of the material is dispensed into small glass vials by a battery of filling machines. The amounts delivered into these vials range from about 60 milligrammes for the smaller sizes of crystalline penicillin to 600 milligrammes for a 1,000,000-unit dose of amorphous penicillin. For the final testing, sample bottles are withdrawn from every tray, and the remaining bottles are placed in metal strong boxes which are sealed and placed in cold store. The first and most important test is the determination of the quantity of penicillin in each bottle. A further important test is the determination of sterility to ensure that no contaminating bacteria or other microorganisms are present in the material. In addition, two very significant physiological tests must be carried out. To ensure that the purification as carried out is satisfactory, known quantities of the penicillin are injected into rabbits and mice. In the case of the rabbits, a given dose is injected into the marginal vein of the ear, and the rabbit's temperature is carefully recorded over a period of several hours. A rise in temperature of more than 0.6 deg. C. is sufficient to reject the material as unsuitable for human injection. A corresponding dose is injected into the tails of a specified number of mice. All the mice should remain unaffected if the penicillin is free from toxic substances. Penicillin is used exclusively by physicians, veterinarians, and dentists, in hospitals and in general practice. The avenue for the distribution of penicillin is, therefore, through the drug trade - Seven well-known British drug manufacturers, specializing in the manufacture and marketing of products for the use of the medical and allied professions, have been appointed as the distributors of the penicillin manufactured by The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd. All these firms are engaged in the home and export trade and are thus able to make penicillin available in the world's markets. By this rationalization of distribution The Distillers Company (Biochemicals), Ltd., is able to concentrate its activities on the production of penicillin. The various pharmaceutical forms (lozenges, ointments, suspensions for injection, etc.) in which penicillin is prepared for various uses in medicine are manufactured by the initial distributors using the penicillin manufactured at Speke as an ingredient.\nDUNLOP RUBBER COMPANY, LTD., SPEKE\nDunlop Rubber Co\nThe Speke factory of the Dunlop Rubber Company is situated nine miles southwards from the centre of Liverpool, in close proximity to the Speke Airport, and was built in 1937-38 for the manufacture of aircraft under the government pre-war scheme of shadow factories. From 1938 to 1945 Blenheim and Halifax aircraft were assembled under the direction of Rootes Securities, Ltd., who operated the factory on behalf of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. At the end of 1944, the government departments concerned decided to discontinue the production of Halifax bombers, and the Dunlop Rubber Company was invited to survey the premises with a view to taking over. This they did in relation to the existing demands for its war-time products and the probable post-war expansion of its normal trade. The premises were officially taken over on the 1st August 1945 and so the Speke aircraft factory became the first of the great government factories to be transferred to private enterprise. The site, which is one hundred and one acres in extent, with buildings covering an area of 1,400,000 sq. ft., immediately became the centre of considerable engineering activity, as the plans for the conversion to the manufacture of rubber products on a large scale required the complete conversion of the existing services, while certain services such as steam, high-pressure air, and hydraulic power, were virtually non-existent. Considerable work was also put in hand for the preparation of the installation of rubber manufacturing plant for which orders were being placed in the meantime.\nThe boiler house, which was erected for hot water space-heating, was converted and an additional boiler installed to give a total of 150,000 lb. of steam. per hour at 200 lb. per sq. in. pressure. Forty-four thousand feet of piping from 6 to 12 inches in diameter had to be installed to distribute the steam to process plant. Hydraulic services have been installed to give 1,500 gallons per minute at 350 lb. per sq. in., 240 gallons per minute at 1,100 lb. per sq. in., and 300 gallons at 2,240 lb. per sq. in. The low-pressure air supply has been increased from an existing 3,750 cu. ft. per min, installation to 6,350 cu. ft. per min. High-pressure air compressors have been installed to give 1,560 cu. ft. per min. at 325 ib. per sq. in.\nThe electric supply system had to be completely rearranged and increased in capacity from a maximum installed transformer capacity of 8,400 kVA. at 400 volts to a maximum installed capacity of 16,900 kVA., which includes 4,500 kVA. supply at 5,000 volts and 2,000 kW. D.C. at 500 volts with a 250-volt balancer system incorporated. In all, motors totalling 28,000 h.p. have been connected to the system. The water supply to the factory has been augmented to give 75,000 gal. per hr. by the sinking of a bore-well 36 inches in diameter and 400 feet deep. Circulating pumps are provided in the pump house for distributing water to all parts of the factory. For the installation of production plant which weighed over 5,000 tons, approximately 30,000 cubic yards of soil have been removed and 10,000 cubic yards of concrete used for machine foundations, etc. The main building is 1,440 feet long and 600 feet wide and is arranged for straight line production of giant tyres, passenger car tyres, and cycle tyres, with inner tubes for each type. The production of rubber footwear, and golf and tennis balls is also carried on in this building; conveyor and transmission belting is manufactured in a separate building with 80,000 sq. ft. of floor space. A further building is devoted to the manufacture of precision rubber mouldings. This factory provides an excellent example of the conversion of a war-time plant into a modern rubber producing unit employing approximately six thousand five hundred people.\nELDER DEMPSTER LINES, LTD., (SHIPOWNERS), LIVERPOOL\nElder Dempster Lines\nThe history of the company goes back ninety-six years, to 1852, when Macgregor Laird formed the African Steam Ship Company, which was incorporated by Royal Charter in that year, and had offices in Mincing Lane, London. The fleet consisted of five vessels with sail and steam propulsion, and they ranged from 250 tons to 1,000 tons deadweight. All had some accommodation for first-class passengers, and their names were indicative of Laird's belief in, and hopes for, the trade, namely, Forerunner, Northern Lights, Faith, Hope, and Charity. The Liverpool agents for the company were Messrs. W. and H. Laird, the partners being William Laird and Hamilton Laird, brothers of Macgregor Laird. Among the staff were two young Scots—Alexander Elder and John Dempster. In 1875, Liverpool became the company's permanent home port. Alexander Elder had been appointed superintendent engineer of the African Steam Ship Company, resigning from the company in 1866.\nAt the end of 1868 some Glasgow businessmen asked John Dempster to act as Liverpool agent for a new shipping company, which they were forming to trade to West Africa. Dempster agreed and invited Alexander Elder to come into partnership with him, and they formed the firm of Elder Dempster and Company to be the Liverpool representatives of the new Glasgow shipping company called the British and African Steam Navigation Company. Three ships Bonny, Roquelle, and Congo, each of about 1,300 gross tons, were built to maintain a monthly service between Glasgow, Liverpool, London, and West Africa. The two companies flourished.\nIn 1875 a young man - Alfred Lewis Jones (afterwards Sir Alfred Jones) - set up a shipping and insurance broking office and chartering some small sailing vessels he began trading with West Africa and was so successful that the already established companies became alarmed and induced him to become a junior partner.\nIn 1880 Alexander Elder and John Dempster retired from Elder Dempster and Company, but both continued as directors of the British and African Steam Navigation Company (of which Elder and Company were now managers) until 1900.\nIn 1884 Jones, now the controlling partner of Elder Dempster and Company, introduced the banana to the British man in the street, and he did everything possible to popularize the fruit and make a market for it.\nIn 1889 the first ship's refrigerator in the West African trade was installed, and in addition Jones was mainly responsible for the development of the Canary and West Indian banana trades. Alfred Jones turned his attention to other routes and took over the Dominion Line's trade between the Bristol Channel and Canada. Another company also taken over was the Canadian Beaver Line in 1898, then in financial straits.\nIn 1903 Elder's Canadian fleet was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. In 1898 he formed the Elder Dempster Shipping Company, Ltd., and opened up a trade between England and the Gulf of Mexico, one of the ships put on this service being the cargo and cattle steamer Monmouth, 7,900 gross tons. By the end of the nineteenth century, Jones had acquired control of the African Steam Ship Company, which Elder Dempster and Company had managed since 1890. In 1900 he purchased the British and African Steam Navigation Company, which Elder Dempster and Company had managed almost since its inception in 1869.\nIn 1901 he was created Sir Alfred Jones, K.C.M.G., for his services to the Colonial Empire. At the beginning of the present century Elder Dempster and Company were in a very strong financial position and held a virtual monopoly of the West African trade and their other interests were widespread. The policy of building new and better ships was followed and in 1903 the company inaugurated their \"express service\" to the Gold Coast for the fortune hunters in the gold-mining boom. Sir Alfred Jones died in 1909. When he joined Elder Dempster and Company in 1879, the firm controlled twenty-one ships of which the largest was 2,000 tons; at the time of his death the company was controlling a fleet of one hundred and nine vessels.\nOn Sir Alfred's death, the Elder Dempster interests were bought by Sir Owen Phillips (afterwards Lord Kylsant) and Lord Pirrie, and the concern was converted into a limited liability company under the title of Elder Dempster and Company, Ltd.\nWhen the 1914-18 war broke out, the fleets controlled by the company comprised one hundred and one steamers, but by the time hostilities ceased only fifty-eight remained afloat. Many of the company's finest and best-known ships were sunk and a great number of the firm's seamen lost their lives.\nAt the end of the war replacement of lost tonnage was under way, the first post-war mail ship being the twin-screw motorship Aba, 7,937 gross tons, completed in 1918, built for the Glen Line and purchased by Elder Dempster in 1920. The Aba was converted into a hospital ship during the 1939-45 war and although she suffered from enemy action, she came through and was sold in 1947. Elder Dempster and Company was one of the first firms to adopt the motorship, the Aba being the first large passenger motor liner in the world to be placed in commission. Three other twin-screw mail motorships followed in the 'twenties - Adda, Accra, and Apapa - and were lost in the 1939-45 war.\nAfter the slump and various vicissitudes, the firm Elder Dempster Lines, Ltd., was incorporated and registered in August 1932. In 1937 the twin-screw mail motorship Abosso was put into service and was lost in the 1939-45 war with great loss of life.\nIn 1939, the fleet comprised forty-four steamers and motorships apart from three smaller river motorships and a host of small craft owned by subsidiary companies in West Africa. Twenty-five of these vessels were lost, including the four mail boats, during the war. During its history, Elder Dempster Lines, Ltd., has seen the abolition of the slave trade (which Macgregor Laird worked hard to achieve) and the development of West Africa from the \"White Man's Grave\" into an area with a large flourishing trade and industry. Since the end of the war, the company has added to the fleet six motor cargo vessels with small passenger accommodation, and two motor passenger liners—Accra and Apapa, also a number of small craft for service on the West Coast of Africa.\nENGLISH ELECTRIC COMPANY, LTD., AND D. NAPIER AND SON, LTD.\nEnglish Electric Co\nThe English Electric Company was formed in 1918 by the amalgamation of several old-established engineering firms which were pioneers in their respective spheres and whose activities were associated with the earliest days of electrical engineering. These firms included Dick Kerr and Company, Preston, with long and varied experience in electric traction work of all kinds, including the earliest tramway and railway electrifications. Before electric traction was introduced, this company specialized in the laying and equipment of tramways. It built steam locomotives for hauling street tramcars and constructed the first section of the endless-cable tramway system in Edinburgh.\nIn 1887 Dick Kerr and Company built the first electric conduit tramway line in the world, from Gravesend to Northfleet, and in 1902 carried out the first main line railway electrification in this country, between Liverpool and Southport on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, including the provision of all power-house and substation plant.\nSiemens Brothers Dynamo Works, Ltd., Stafford, whose manufactures covered a wide range of general electrical machinery of high repute throughout the world. Willans and Robinson, Ltd., Rugby, whose business originated in the manufacture of high-speed reciprocating steam engines for marine propulsion and later for electric power generation and developed to embrace steam turbines and Diesel engines. The Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company, Bradford, which specialized in the smaller classes of rotating electrical machines, with particular reference to the requirements of the textile industry.\nIn 1942 the English Electric Company acquired D. Napier and Son, Ltd., famous for its automobile and aeronautical engineering, with its works at Acton and Liverpool. Since the war the English Electric Company have occupied about three-quarters of the Liverpool works as it became available from D. Napier and Son owing to the scaling down of production of aero-engines.\nIn 1946 the company purchased Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd., with its subsidiaries the Marconi International Code Company, Ltd., Marconi Instruments, Ltd., and the Marconi International Marine Communication Company, Ltd. The Marconi works are at Chelmsford and St. Albans.\nThe manufacturing scope of all these works has been steadily developed to cover a wide field of engineering activities, and the \"English Electric\" group of companies, employing 35,000 people, can now provide:— Complete large-scale electricity supply systems with generators driven by steam turbines, water turbines, or Diesel engines; the equipment for complete railway electrification schemes including rectifier substations, electric and Diesel-electric locomotives and motor-coach stock; traction motors and control equipment for tramcars and trolley-buses; steam-turbine, Diesel-engine, and gas-turbine equipments for ship propulsion, Diesel-electric and turbo-electric generating sets and motors for ships' auxiliaries; aircraft, gas-turbine aero-engines, aeronautical research and testing plant, and aircraft electrical equipment; all classes of industrial electrical equipment; domestic and allied electrical appliances; radio, radar, and television equipment; high-voltage mercury-arc rectifiers for supplying radio transmitters; electronic apparatus and testing instruments for aiding marine navigation and for medical and industrial applications.\nThe Nelson research laboratories, at Stafford, with separate sections devoted to high power, high voltage, chemistry, insulation, general physics, vacuum physics, electrical phenomena, radiology, electronics, and metallurgy, serve the whole organization. Further laboratories on a separate site near Stafford specialize in the construction and investigation of machines used in nuclear physics research.\nThe Marconi company has extensive research laboratories of its own near Chelmsford and the Napier company conducts its own research on gas turbines and other engines in the laboratories at the Acton works. The Liverpool works of over 1,000,000 sq. ft. was built in 1940-41 for the production of the Napier \"Sabre\" engine which had been developed at the Acton works. At the end of the war, when aero-engine production was scaled down, the English Electric Company expanded its activities on standardized high-production lines of manufacture to occupy about three-quarters of the total area which became available from D. Napier and Son, whilst the Napier company continued to operate the remainder. This visit will have particular interest when it is borne in mind that none of the work now being done at the Liverpool works by either D. Napier and Son or the English Electric Company was carried out in Liverpool before or during the war and that over 6,000 people now are employed at these works.\nNapier Works, Liverpool. During the course of the visit to the works the Napier products that will be seen will include the following:— (a) A sectioned \"Sabre\" engine. The \"Sabre\" is a twenty-four-cylinder, sleeve-valve, liquid-cooled aero-engine, first produced in 1937. The engine was manufactured in large quantities during the 1939-45 war and took an important and distinguished part in the fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force, particularly in the defence of London against the V.1 flying bomb. The \"Sabre VA\" continues to give excellent service in the Royal Air Force. The \"Sabre VII\" is the latest of the series and possesses performance features hitherto unsurpassed by any piston engine. The total cylinder capacity of 2,238 cu. in. (36 litres) gives a maximum of 3,055 b.h.p.; the engine weight is 2,540 lb. Thus the figures, 0.83 lb. per b.h.p. weight/power ratio, and 84 b.h.p. per litre, are factors in the performance of one of the most advanced piston engines in the world. The maximum power of the engine in combat conditions is obtained at a boost of 174 lb. per sq. in. at 3,850 r.p.m. Water methanol injection is employed for this high duty. The two-speed supercharger gives maximum power altitudes of 3,250 feet and 13,000 feet, and at 30,000 feet the output is 1,400 b.h.p. (b) A sectioned Napier gas-turbine \"Naiad\" aero-engine. The \"Naiad\" was the first gas-turbine aero-engine to be designed by the Napier company. The b.h.p. of the engine is 1,500 and, with a jet thrust of 240 lb., gives the e.b.h.p. of 1,590. The frontal area of 4.27 sq. ft. is notably small, and a distinctive feature of the design layout is the use of the ducted propeller spinner. This arrangement gives the straight-through airflow through the engine and reduces the interference of the propeller blades to a minimum. Important features of the design are the twelve-stage axial compressor, the two-stage turbine, and the propeller reduction gear layout. Other particulars of the engine are: maximum diameter, 28 inches; length, 8 ft. 6 in.; weight, 1,095 lb.; and r.p.m., 18,250. (c) Exhaust turbo-supercharger for Diesel engines. The Napier turbo-blower has been introduced in response to a growing demand from Diesel engine manufacturers and users for a greater power from a given engine size. The blower is a turbine-driven, centrifugal air-compressor designed for pressure-charging traction, marine, and stationary Diesel engines. By correct matching to the Diesel engine, a power increase of 50 per cent of the naturally aspirated output, accompanied by an improvement in specific fuel consumption of 3 to 5 per cent, can readily be obtained with a boost pressure of 5 lb. per sq. in., where engine design provides for the higher mean effective pressure resulting from a higher boost pressure. With the addition of an air cooler a power increase of 100 per cent or more can be obtained. For this condition, the existing blower is capable of operation at pressure ratios up to 2 (15 lb. per sq. in.).\nEnglish Electric Works, Liverpool. The English Electric Works at Liverpool has been laid out as a group of five self-contained units, consisting of the switchgear, transformer, domestic, small motor, and fuse gear works. At the switchgear works, 400 and 3,300 volt air-break type switchgear for power station auxiliary and industrial use, 11 kV. vertical isolation type switchgear, mining type explosion proof oil immersed switchgear, 3,300 volts, will be seen. Amongst the important switchgear contracts in hand are those for the power stations at Clarence Dock, West Ham, Age Croft, St. Helens, Ipswich, Delhi, Pretoria, and Cape Town; for a new fertilizer factory for the Indian Government; and for use in the production of oils, etc., from ground nuts. Some of the features which were incorporated in the company's switchgear for use on mine-sweepers, and are therefore of proved reliability, are embodied in the post-war equipment. Provision has been made at Liverpool for testing switchgear up to 100,000 volts on pressure test and up to 20,000 amps for overload calibration test, but type testing for short-circuit capacity is carried out at the Nelson Research Laboratories, Stafford.\nThe transformer works manufacture transformers up to 250 kVA., which are used generally for outdoor distribution purposes all over the world. In providing modern facilities for testing, particular care has been taken with precautions for safety and also for speed of handling. Some of the important contracts in hand cover small transformers for X-ray equipment, distribution transformers for the British Electricity Authority in all areas, and for Australia, South Africa, India, and Iraq. The welding and fabrication of the tanks and details for transformers and for switchgear are carried out in the adjoining fabrication works. The domestic works' present products include refrigerators, cookers, and washing machines. The refrigerator unit fitted to all \"English Electric\" refrigerators is of the hermetically sealed type, there being no screwed fittings and bolted flanges. All joints are made by seam and arc welding and brazing or, in the case of the motor terminals, by specially designed synthetic rubber glands. The refrigerant used is \"Freon-12\", and a supply of this and of special refrigerator oil are sealed within the unit. The compressor is of the reciprocating type, directly coupled to a * h.p. split-phase, induction motor and spring suspended. The plant for the manufacture of refrigerators is highly specialized; the processes of pressing and welding the cabinet and the food compartment; pickling, degreasing, bonderizing, and enamelling on continuous conveyors; and dehydrating and testing the sealed unit are of particular interest. The small motor works are laid out for the production of fractional horse-power motors of a standard type. The motors embody die-cast stators, rotors, and end plates, which are all made in the Napier die-casting works. The fuse gear works are a self-contained works entirely devoted to the manufacture of high rupturing capacity cartridge fuses and associated equipment. The English Electric Company were pioneers in the development of high rupturing capacity fuses which are today used on all types of electrical circuits, in power stations, for collieries, and down to the domestic sphere.\nThe works were transferred from Stafford during the early months of 1947 and have been in full production for nearly two years. Examples of complete equipment from the wide range manufactured will be seen during the tour of the works. English Electric Works, Preston.\nIn 1938 the Preston works were making rolling stock for electric railways and tramways, vehicles for road passenger transport, and domestic electrical appliances. On the threat of war, they were organized for the production of aircraft, and in the same year the first contract was received from the Air Ministry for the manufacture of \"Hampden\" bombers. Later contracts were placed for making \"Halifax\" four-engined bombers and \"Vampire\" jet-propelled fighters. During the war over 3,000 bombers, mostly \"Halifaxes\", were built at Preston. In order to provide this output of aircraft, the works area was greatly increased, resulting in a total of nearly 2,000,000 sq. ft., including the final assembly and flight sheds at Samlesbury. The manufacture of essential domestic appliances, such as electric cooking equipment for canteens, also continued during the war.\nAt the end of the war, Preston works resumed its traction and domestic appliance activities, while continuing to make aircraft on a peace-time basis. The products now include electric and Diesel-electric locomotives for all services; electric and Diesel-electric motor-coach stock; Diesel-electric railcars; traction motors and control equipment for railways, tramways, and trolley-buses; Diesel engines for traction, marine, and industrial use; aircraft; and domestic electrical appliances. The manufacture within the one works of the rolling stock, electrical traction equipment, and Diesel engines, facilitates the co-ordination in design and construction of all the components concerned in the production of complete units for electric and Diesel-electric traction.\nHOWARD FORD AND COMPANY, LTD.\nHoward Ford and Co\nThe hosiery industry has long been established in the British Isles, its centres being the Midlands and Scotland. By 1919, the fine-gauge section, devoted to women's stockings, was meeting strong competition from circular knit imports from America and fully-fashioned from the Continent. Howard Ford and Company, Ltd., was founded by the late Mr. Howard Ford in 1922 as hosiery factors, to buy from home and overseas suppliers and distribute direct to retailers from warehouses in Liverpool and London. By 1924 \"Bear Brand\" was established as a leading make. The Churchill silk duties of 1925 led to the building of the first factory in Woolton in 1926, devoted to the manufacture of \"Bear Brand\" circular knit stockings. In 1929 the space was doubled and a large plant of 42-gauge fully-fashioned machines was installed. In July 1931 the present main building, consisting of four long floors 400 feet by 60 feet, was built to house an entirely new plant of 45-gauge machines. By this time \"Bear Brand\" was established as the largest production unit for fine-gauge hose in Britain. The combined output of circular and fully-fashioned hose was approximately 20,000 dozens per week made up of pure silk and rayon styles. The ever-increasing popularity of the fashioned stocking called for still further equipment, and in 1935 the present No. 3 knitting room was added, together with four finishing floors. At this time also, Howard Ford and Company, Ltd., introduced the first 54-gauge stockings.\nBefore all the new machinery required could be installed war broke out, and stocking production, which was regarded as a luxury, was very severely restricted, only a small portion of the plant remaining in production and only rayon being available.\nFrom 1939 to 1945, all available space was turned over to war production and large quantities of R.A.F. dinghies, Mae West life jackets, and various items of clothing were manufactured. In addition, some of the larger rooms were used for the manufacture and testing of anti-aircraft balloons. At the conclusion of hostilities, the original 42-gauge fully-fashioned plant was replaced by new 51-gauge machines, and the first 54-gauge machines were replaced by new models. To house the new 51-gauge machines, additional width had to be added to what will be No. 4 knitting room. The first five of the English built \"Bentley Cotton\" 51-gauge machines are already installed and working up to production, and first deliveries of \"Reading\" machines have been made and these are now being erected. In addition, delivery is expected very shortly of \"Leiberknecht\" machines. When the 51-gauge fully-fashioned plant is completed, it will be the finest post-war textile unit in the United Kingdom. The post-war machines are considerably more efficient and advanced than the pre-war type of machine as considerable developments have taken place in America; these machines are specially designed to produce nylon, particularly of fine deniers. The new 54-gauge \"Wildman Machines\" are already in use. This new equipment programme is designed to take care of an ever-growing export trade. The flow of production, methods of finishing, and ancillary processes have been replatmed. Part of the finishing operations are done in the firm's two additional factories at Corwen, North Wales, and the Head Office Building, School Lane, Liverpool.\nThe firm was the first in the fine-gauge trade to take export seriously, and by June 1946 they had commenced shipping pure silk hose, and they were the first to send British nylons overseas. There is a demand for these nylons in all parts of the world, and the production for many months ahead is booked up. The prospects for 54-gauge and 51-gauge hose are good and will be satisfied as soon as the new equipment is in steady production. The Woolton plant, although one of the largest and newest mills in the country, is, so far as possible, always kept up to date. Electric power for the mill is available either from the main supply or Diesel plant. Steam for the dye house and processing is supplied by Lancashire boilers arranged for fuel-oil or coal, according to the fuel supply position.\nFORSTER'S GLASS COMPANY, LTD., ATLAS WORKS, ST. HELENS\nForsters Glass Co\nThe firm was founded as a private business in the year 1900 by the late Alderman John Forster, O.B.E., J.P., incorporated as a private limited company in 1905, and converted into a public company under its present style in 1919, under the joint managing directorship of Mr. Walter Forster and the late Mr. W. A. Forster. The undertaking has now grown into one of the largest glass bottle manufacturing concerns in the kingdom. During the forty-nine years of the firm's existence, the technique of bottle manufacture has been revolutionized, the old hand-blown or semi-automatic methods of production having been replaced by fully automatic machine production.\nIn 1900 one small glass tank furnace sufficed for the firm's needs, but today many large tank furnaces are available, each capable of supplying some 60 tons of glass per day, and the manufacturing capacity of the works runs to hundreds of millions of bottles and jars per annum. The production is continuous for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with output only ceasing for three days at Christmas. To enable this, shift employees work a five-day week, on the \"four shift\" system. The glass tank furnaces are of the \"cross flame\" regenerative type, and are fired by producer gas. Each furnace is provided with subsidiary oil firing which can be put into operation during periods when the producer gas flues are being cleaned, thus catering for continuous working at the machines.\nProducer gas for the furnaces is supplied from a bank of \"Morgan\" producers assisted by a number of \"Chapman\" producers. Steam for the gas producers is supplied by an installation of five boilers of the Lancashire type.\nTwo types of glass are melted in the tank furnaces, namely, \"amber\" and \"colourless\". The raw materials for these (mainly, sand, limestone, and soda ash) are mixed in large \"Smith\" type mixers, and then transported to the various furnaces by hoppers which are conveyed by an electrically operated overhead runway equipped with four electric travelling cranes. Many tons of \"batch\" has to be weighed, mixed, and transported each day. The \"batch\" is fed into the furnaces by automatic filling device of various types or by hand shovelling. A glass tank furnace is in two parts: the larger or \"melting end\" where the batch mixture is converted into molten glass and a smaller or \"refining\" end where the molten glass is cooled somewhat and conditioned. The molten glass passes from the refining end, down channels from 6 feet to 14 feet in length, known as \"feeders\", and is extruded and supplied to the automatic machines to be transformed into bottles or jars. The \"feeders\" are fired by town gas. The bottle machines are of various types, mainly two-table \"O'Neill\" machines carrying six or eight moulds, and one-table \"Mitchell\" machines also carrying six or eight moulds. Each machine is capable of producing from 30,000 to 60,000 bottles or jars per day according to the size of the ware being produced. The hot bottles after production are cooled down slowly and evenly to eradicate strain in specially constructed \"lehrs\" fired by town gas and provided with slow moving wire mesh conveyor belts. The bottles emerge from the lehrs cold and free from strain and are then sorted, subjected to various tests and packed for delivery. Bottle machines are operated either by electric motor or compressed air, and all blowing is performed by compressed air. A department complete with air compressors of the most modern type copes with this demand. Large engineering shops provide for the production of the multifarious types and sizes of moulds required, and for the repair and reconditioning of bottle machines, whilst all mould castings are made in a small foundry on the premises.\nWM. P. HARTLEY, LTD.\nHartley's\nThis jam preserving business was started by Wm. P. Hartley in Colne. He moved to Bootle in 1874, and in 1886 the factory at Aintree was built. The business was extended to London in 1900 and during the last war a factory was opened in Hereford. Side by side with the construction of the Aintree works, Sir William Hartley erected a model village for his work people; this was, in many respects, the beginning of the garden village movement which was later developed at Port Sunlight and Bournville. Sir William also was one of the pioneers of profit sharing, and in 1892 he commenced the distribution of an annual bonus to the work people, the practice being continued up to the present day. The firm became a public limited company in 1936, and the high quality of the product and the welfare of the employees have been maintained in the tradition established by the founder. The company's constant aim has been to maintain the confidence of the public by manufacturing the best possible article and selling it at a fair price. The original formulae of the founder still represent jam at its best, but the years have seen progressive improvements in processing methods, machinery, and management technique. The company believes strongly that a first-class quality product is best produced by constant attention to the modernization of plant, by continual efforts to improve organization and technique -and by a happy, keen, and contented staff.\nIn addition to jams and marmalade, fruit jellies, bottled fruit, candied peel, and canned vegetables are also produced, canned peas being a speciality. The pea canning section was opened by Lord Derby in June 1933. The majority of the peas used are grown under contract in the Ormskirk and outlying districts of Lancashire. The growers make successive sowings so that a regular supply of ripe peas is available throughout the season. The peas are canned within two hours of harvesting. The continuous process commences with the pod, and the peas emerge canned and cooked without having been touched by hand. During the season two hundred and fifty thousand cans a day are handled. The company at present employs approximately two thousand people at its factories, and this is increased to about three thousand during the fruit seasons.\nALFRED HOLT AND COMPANY\nAlfred Holt and Co\nThe founder of the company was an engineer, trained at the Edge Hill Works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 1852 Alfred Holt purchased the Dumbarton Youth with the intention of proving that a cargo-carrying steamship was a practicable proposition. This ship was a three masted sailing ship, fitted with two direct-acting engines with a total of 44 h.p. On taking her over, a part of the bargain was found to be a quantity of blue paint, which was applied with great effect to the lofty smoke-stack amidships. Such was the accidental beginning of the name \"Blue Funnel\". The unusual names of later ships, taken from Greek mythology, are difficult to pronounce, and this has no doubt led to the Blue Funnel ships being less well-known individually.\nIn 1854 Mr. Holt started building the first of a number of ships, but in 1864 all but one were sold to the West Indian and Pacific Steamship Company. In 1865 Alfred Holt, and his brother formed the Ocean Steam Ship Company for the China trade. Alfred Holt used the experience he had gained with the earlier ships to design a ship which he considered would carry sufficient coal to China and back via Mauritius, and yet have space remaining for a profitable cargo. His confidence was fully justified, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 made possible a further improvement in the cargo space available. The fleet continued to expand in response to the growing Far Eastern trade and strong connexions were built up in China, Malaya, Java and Australia.\nIn 1902 a limited company was formed but no other change was made in its constitution or methods of management. In 1902 control was acquired of the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company, which brought the combined fleet to fifty-five ships with a gross tonnage of 259,002.\nIn 1915 the Indra Line was purchased, thereby obtaining an entry into the New York— Far Eastern trade, and in 1917 four ships were added as a result of the purchase of the Knight Line.\nIn 1935 the Glen Line was acquired but this line has retained its individual characteristics including the red funnels. At the outbreak of the 1939-45 war, the combined fleets consisted of fifty-five steamships and thirty-three motor-ships with a gross registered tonnage of 709,408. Of these, forty-four vessels were lost by enemy action and two vessels were sold to the government.\nSince the war, replacements have been made by the purchase of three standard-type ships from the government, six \"Victory\" ships from the U.S. Government, and eight \"Sams\", already operating under Holt's management. The post-war building programme consists of twenty-two vessels grouped in three classes:— \"Anchises\" Class consisting of fourteen single-screw motorvessels of 8,300 gross registered tons, capable of sixteen knots, and carrying twelve passengers. Of these ten have been delivered, and a further two launched. \"Peleus\" Class consisting of four single-screw turbine, oil fired, of 10,250 gross registered tons, capable of eighteen knots, and carrying twenty-nine passengers. Of these one has been delivered, and a further one launched. \"Helenus\" Class consisting of four vessels similar to the \"Peleus\" class but with considerable refrigerated space for the Australian trade. Of these one has been launched. From its inception in 1852 to the present day, the company has been in the forefront of all development in ship construction and ship propulsion. The standard of construction has been independent of that demanded by the classification societies and, in the whole history of the company, no vessel has ever been lost by stress of weather.\nBetween 1925 and 1948 all new construction consisted of motor-vessels apart from two ships fitted with Scott-Still engines. The \"Peleus\" and \"Helenus\" classes, however, are steamers and have the largest horse-power ever developed on a single screw. The Clytoneus, which members of the Institution will have the opportunity of visiting, was built at Dundee by the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and was launched on 9th April 1948 by the Lady Provost of Dundee. It was delivered in August 1948 and was the seventh vessel of the \"Anchises\" class to come into service. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 7th September 1948. The Diesel engines are of the two-stroke, double-acting, coverless type, built by Messrs. John G. Kincaid and Company, Ltd., of Greenock, and develop 6,800 b.h.p. at 116 r.p.m., with a maximum of 7,300 b.h.p. This is the second ship to bear the name Clytoneus; her predecessor, a motor-vessel of 6,600 gross registered tons, was built in 1930 by Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., of Greenock, and was burnt out in 1941, after an aerial attack north-west of Ireland when she was homeward bound, unescorted, from the Netherlands East Indies.\nIMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD., GENERAL CHEMICALS DIVISION, MERSEYSIDE WORKS\nICI\nThe main works and research laboratories of the General Chemicals Division of I.C.I., Ltd., are located on Merseyside, some in Widnes on the north bank of the River Mersey, and others in Runcorn on the south bank. A number of the works in Widnes were built in the early part of the nineteenth century, and in 1890 were merged into the United Alkali Company, Ltd.\nOn the formation of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., in 1927, the works of the United Alkali Company in Widnes, and the Castner-Kellner Alkali Company in Runcorn, which at that time was a subsidiary company of Messrs. Brunner Mond and Company, Ltd., of Northwich, became the Merseyside works of the General Chemicals Division of I.C.I., Ltd. The works of the Chemical and Metallurgical Corporation, Ltd., on the Runcorn side of the river, were acquired at a later date.\nA large variety of chemicals are manufactured in these various works, the majority of which are derived from the three primary products, namely, sulphuric acid, caustic soda, and chlorine. Associated with these works are power stations for the production of the electricity required for electrolytic manufacturing processes, and for general works purposes. Only limited sections of the works can be inspected in detail during the course of a one-day visit, and a selection has been made of those sections likely to prove of the greatest interest to mechanical engineers.\nOn the Runcorn side of the river a visit will be paid to the carbide plant in the Castner-Kellner works. Carbide, which is manufactured from lime and coke, is required for the production of acetylene for use in the manufacture of chlorinated solvents and other chemicals. The present furnace is supplied with 6,000 kW. of electrical energy obtained from the power station in the Castner-Kellner works. In the same works a large extension to the power station is of considerable interest. Heavy piling for the new boiler house has been carried out in close proximity to the existing operating power station. The extension involves the installation of powdered-fuel fired boilers working at 625 lb. per sq. in., each having a capacity of 200,000 lb. per hr. of steam, and of 22,000 kW. turbo-generators.\nA visit will also be paid to the Wigg West works to inspect a modern, sulphur-burning, contact, sulphuric acid plant, which was built during the war period. On the Widnes side of the river a visit to the research laboratories should be of considerable interest, where there is ample evidence of the service given by the engineer and physicist to chemical research. Well-equipped workshops, for all principal crafts, are available for the fabrication of laboratory and semi-technical scale plant and equipment. The metallurgical laboratory is equipped with modern tensile and compression testing machines and also a \"Talysurf\" surface measuring meter. There is also a 30 kVA. high-frequency induction furnace operating at 500,000 cycles per second. The research department is well served in all branches of modern spectrometry with instruments covering the visible, ultra-violet, infra-red, and X-ray ranges.\nThe equipment of the physics laboratory includes an electron microscope and mass spectrometer, the second of which was constructed entirely on the premises. Time will also be available for a visit to the West Bank power station, where there is an interesting installation of La Mont boilers, working at 625 lb. per sq. in., and each producing 75,000 lb. per hr. of steam.\nW. AND R. JACOB AND COMPANY (LIVERPOOL), LTD.\nW. and R. Jacob and Co\nThe company was founded in 1851 in Waterford, Ireland, and shortly afterwards moved to the present factory in Dublin. As the English trade expanded towards the end of the last century the need for a second factory in England became apparent, and the present premises at Aintree were opened in 1914. When the Irish Free State was formed in 1921 the organization was split up into two separate companies. The Aintree factory, which originally consisted of one block, was gradually expanded and now comprises three main manufacturing blocks and an office block, comprising 30 acres, and 400,000 square feet of roof. Approximately 1,500 employees are engaged in manufacturing alone; 75 per cent of whom are women. With one or two exceptions the manufacturing and packing processes are all carried out on the ground floor, raw materials entering the factory at one end and finished goods leaving at the other. In addition the company has various stock depots situated over the country, which are supplied with goods direct from the factory by the company's own long-distance motor fleet. Biscuit manufacturing plant has progressed considerably since the hand processing and peat ovens of the last century, and at Aintree the latest continuous cutting machines coupled to band-plant gas ovens can be seen. The factory is still in the course of being re-equipped and interesting comparisons can be made between some of the older plants and the latest ovens.\nIn addition to baking equipment, there is a considerable range of sandwiching and chocolate machinery to be seen. The factory has its own engineering shop and the majority of its staff are engaged in normal routine maintenance work which includes the maintenance of buildings. The shop is, however, capable of tackling major repair work as well as carrying out innovations and improvements to existing plant. The company manufactures all types of biscuits, both sweet and plain, in addition to cakes, but it is most renowned for its plain lines, particularly the famous cream cracker biscuit which was first introduced by Jacob and Company. At the present time a high percentage of output is reserved for the export market, although the company has, for a number of years, possessed a steady export trade.\nLEVER BROTHERS, PORT SUNLIGHT, LTD.\nLever Brothers\nPort Sunlight factory and village were founded in 1888 by Mr. William Lever (later Lord Leverhulme), and the factory is now the largest soap manufacturing unit in the Unilever organization.\nIn addition to the Port Sunlight factory, which covers an area of 156 acres, the adjacent Bromborough Port Industrial Estate includes the Bromborough Dock - the largest privately owned dock in the country - the Stork Margarine Works, and Price's, Ltd. - which are two Unilever companies—the hardening plant for treatment of oils, and several third party concerns such as Brotherton's, Fawcett Preston, Commercial Solvents, and more recently arrived companies such as Latham and Company and Cantie Switches. In addition, the estate includes a 16,000 kW. power station operating in parallel with the national grid. Plant is already on order for the establishment of a new oil mill adjacent to the Bromborough Dock and work on the erection will commence shortly.\nThe main Port Sunlight factory includes in its activities soap-making, oil-milling, cattle food manufacture, glycerine refining, and printing.\nOil Mills. Raw material for the oil mills is received at the Bromborough dock, where extensive handling and storage equipment is installed. This material is taken to the Port Sunlight mills on the company's internal rail system. Two independent plants are installed at the seed crushing mill:— (a) an \"Albion\", or cage-press, system which is used normally to process palm kernels, and (b) a two-stage system comprising \"Krupp\" low-pressure expellers followed by \"Rose, Downs and Thompson\" high-pressure, duplex expellers. The filtered oil is pumped to tanks in the factory or despatched to the Stork Margarine Works (or elsewhere) by tank wagon.\nBatches of material such as oil cake, grain, vitamins, etc., are mixed in the compound mill, ground and then either packed as meals or formed into nuts or other shapes. The mechanical handling and storage equipment and the travelling scales are features of interest in this department.\nSoap-making. The selection of a suitable blend of fatty materials is important in the production of good quality soap. The fats to be used are mixed, treated if necessary with bleaching earth, and pumped to the pan-rooms with approximately the correct amount of alkaline solution for complete saponification, which is completed by boiling with steam. Processes known as graining, washing, and fitting then follow and the \"neat\" soap, containing about 63 per cent of fatty matter, is obtained. This is then cooled, cut and stamped in the production of household bar and similar soaps, or used for the manufacture of other soap products.\nSoap Flakes. Soap is fed to the chilling rolls of driers, and converted into ribbons which are fed into the warm-air zones of the continuous-band driers. After storage in silos, the soap ribbons are fed to multiple-roll mills, cutters on the last roll of which are arranged so as to produce diamond shape flakes.\nToilet Soap. The soap is dried as described for soap flakes and, after storage, is weighed automatically into mixers where perfume, etc., is added. The mixture is then homogenized and extruded into bars which are cut into billets, cooled, stamped, and packed.\nSoap Powder. Soap base and other ingredients are charged into pressure vessels, agitated mechanically and heated to a temperature above atmospheric boiling point. The mixture is forced by compressed air into nozzles where it atomizes at the point of release. The process is essentially spray cooling, the net evaporation being small. The powder falls on to a travelling band and is fed to a pneumatic conveying, grading, and weathering system. Unduly coarse powder is rejected and the remainder is collected in a cyclone and passes to the packing machines.\nScouring Powders. Quartzite obtained from the company's North Wales quarry is calcined in continuous producer-gas fired furnaces, reduced by a jaw-crusher and tube mill, and then screened to remove oversize particles. The resultant material is mixed with soap powder and conveyed to the section where it is packed by a pneumatic system. The manufacture and filling of canisters can be seen in this section.\nLiquid Soapless Detergents. This is a recently added department where solutions of the ingredients are mixed, filtered, and run to the bottle packing sections. Semi-automatic vacuum fillers are used, the capping and labelling being done by hand.\nCrude Glycerine Recovery. The spent lyes received from the soaperies are purified by a precipitation treatment and then evaporated. This evaporation is in two stages, first to about 40 per cent glycerol in quadruple effect, and then to about 83 per cent in single effect. A double effect plant is available as stand-by.\nGlycerine Refining. Crude glycerine is distilled in \"Van Ruymbeke\" stills under vacuum, and the vapours are fractionally condensed, the bulk of the glycerine being separated as product in the series of air condensers, and practically all the rest in the stripping towers.\nPrinting. The printing department covers approximately five acres, and it prints the cartons, wrappers, invoices, etc., required for Port Sunlight and other Unilever companies.\nResearch Laboratories. Research work is carried out at Port Sunlight for the whole of the Unilever organization and employs about one hundred and forty qualified personnel.\nEngineering Organization. The engineering side of the firm is an important section and, in view of the wide field to be covered, is organized into mechanical, power, and civil engineering departments.\nPort Sunlight Village. The garden village consists of about eight-hundred and sixty houses, all owned by the company. Particular reference may be made to the Lady Lever art gallery which contains a large collection of painting, furniture, and ceramics of all periods, but concentrates on the British schools.\nLEYLAND MOTORS, LTD., LEYLAND\nLeyland Motors\nLeyland Motors, Ltd., was founded in 1896 and can be looked upon as one of the pioneers of the commercial motor transport industry. The company's earliest activities were connected with the production of steam-propelled lawn mowers, and its introduction to commercial transport was through the medium of steam-propelled vehicles; the manufacture of these was so successful that in 1897 the firm was awarded the first prize in the Crewe trials. The site of the present works is related to the earliest building in which the company was founded. Rapid expansion took place, particularly with the introduction of the internal combustion engine, and by the year 1906 the company was well established in the field of commercial vehicle transport, and it now ranks as the largest commercial vehicle manufacturing concern in this country and probably the second largest in the world in its particular class. Not only has the company concentrated on the production of chassis to meet varied requirements, but it has been for some considerable time responsible for making vehicles complete with bodywork. Further, it has extensive foundries, both ferrous and non-ferrous, within the Leyland group of factories and at Leeds. Both the 1914-18 and the 1939-45 wars saw the whole of the productive activity concentrated on military equipment. In 1914-18 the principal product was the 3-ton military load-carrying vehicle, particularly for the R.A.F., and in 1939-45, owing to the extensive facilities then available, armoured fighting vehicles became of primary importance; components were manufactured for practically every production form of armoured fighting vehicle; complete vehicles were assembled of the \"Covenanter\", \"Churchill\", and \"Cromwell\" types and, finally, the company was responsible for the design and group production requirements of the famous \"Comet\". Research and development have always been to the fore; since 1930 considerable work has been done on the compression ignition engine, and since 1931 on hydraulic torque converters of the fully automatic type. At all times the company has sponsored a fresh approach to the problem of commercial transport and has developed many special vehicles, particularly for use on projects overseas.\nOne of the subsidiary works, at Chorley, some five miles from the Leyland headquarters, is devoted entirely to the manufacture of spare parts for the many designs of vehicles delivered in the course of years.\nOverseas requirements have resulted in the build-up of a net-work of main depots and agencies in all the principal cities in the Commonwealth. In Canada, where there are extensive premises, a Canadian company has been registered for the handling and part manufacture of its products.\nAt the present time the company has an issued capital of £2,300,000, and its total assets are approximately £7,500,000; employees total upwards of 9,000 and its properties extend to over 300 acres.\nSince the cessation of hostilities, engines with an output approximating to a total of 11 million horse-power have been turned out from the main engine shop.\nThe size of commercial vehicles manufactured ranges from 7-tons up to 15-tons payload capacity for home use, and there is a modified range, based on these vehicles, for use in overseas territories. On the passenger side, the double-deck bus, 56-seater capacity, with all-metal body, accounts for most of the output, although chassis are produced for carrying single-deck bodies. Active development work has been sponsored in connexion with chassisless vehicles of the stressed-skin type, and these are now about to go into production. Additionally, engines are modified for use as industrial units and marine engines; representative examples of the full range of products will be on exhibition outside the assembly hall during the course of the visit.\nTHE LIVERPOOL OBSERVATORY AND TIDAL INSTITUTE\nLiverpool Observatory\nThe supply of reliable tidal predictions and the accumulation of knowledge of the tides is a matter of far-reaching importance to all interested in shipping. Elementary methods of prediction in vogue a hundred years ago are not sufficient for modern conditions of navigation, and continuous research in the problems of analysis and prediction is necessary. It was this need which led to the founding of the Tidal Institute at the University of Liverpool in the year 1919, by Mr. Charles Booth and Sir Alfred Booth, with Professor Proudman as Director, and Dr. A. T. Doodson as Secretary (now Director). Since that time the subject has been revolutionized, and the accuracy of predictions has been greatly increased. The value of the work of the Tidal Institute is recognized throughout the world and its methods have been freely adopted. As a research institution it is unique. In other countries tidal work is done by government departments, and research on the subject takes a second place to routine activities. The Tidal Institute is primarily a research institute, but it provides tidal predictions as a means of income, and in those predictions it embodies all that has been discovered. It has very close relations with the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, with great benefit to the subject, for in that way practical problems are brought to its notice and its research finds practical outlets. The Institute possesses two tide-predicting machines and it has devoted much time to the study of the design and performance of such machines. These have interesting mechanical features and the problems of design are exceptional. Gear ratios of very great accuracy have to be used and the computation of these has been reduced to a fine art. Throughout its existence it has been brought into consultation by manufacturers and has supervised the design and construction on behalf of foreign governments. Its knowledge and experience are thus unrivalled and as a continuous interest is taken in improving the designs it is not surprising that the services of the Institute are required for every machine purchased by foreign governments. (The only machines not made in this country are two in number, one in the United States, and the other in Germany.) The Institute also designs and constructs apparatus for deep-sea experiments required for fundamental research.\nAt the present time the Tidal Institute is responsible for most of the tidal predictions for ports in the British Commonwealth; Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Colonies all send their problems for investigation and are provided with predictions.\nIn recent years the Institute has also been interested in hydraulic problems, such as those associated with the effects of barrages and harbour improvements on the tides. These problems are of increasing importance. The theory of tides, of course, is regarded as a mystery by most people. Abstruse mathematical problems have been studied in relation to tides in simple basins and oceans, all with a view to understanding the processes by which tides are propagated, and some of the results have been embodied in the Admiralty \"Manual of Tides\", which may claim to be the most comprehensive treatise on the subject within the limitations of the elementary mathematics utilized. It also deals briefly with the subject of the effects of wind on the sea. The last-named subject is one of increasing importance, and the Institute has been outstanding in research on it. Quite recently a large memoir has been prepared on storm-surges in the Thames estuary, and remarkable success has been obtained in calculating the observed effects from the meteorological data. Many years of work are embodied in that report, but the Institute has continually in view the possibility of issuing daily forecasts of such effects for all the important ports in the country. This would be a great boon to all concerned.\nMANESTY MACHINES, LTD., SPEKE\nManesty Machines\nThe firm of Manesty Machines, Ltd., are makers of tablet compressing machines, mixers, granulators, coating pans, drug mills, rouge compact presses, and automatic water stills.\nThe business was originated in 1905 by Alderman Edwin Thompson, J.P. (a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool), as a division of Thompson and Capper Wholesale, Ltd., Manufacturing Chemists. At that time there were very few tablet machines in this country, but the business gradually developed and, in 1935, it was found necessary to separate the pharmaceutical machinery side from that of the manufacturing chemists, and a new company, known as Manesty Machines, Ltd., was formed. In 1937 new works were opened at Speke, Liverpool. In 1946 Messrs. John Holroyd and Company, Ltd., machine tool makers and gear specialists, of Milnrow, near Rochdale, obtained a controlling interest in the company; in 1948 Alderman Edwin Thompson disposed of his interests and the company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Messrs. John Holroyd and Company, Ltd.\nLarger premises at Evans Road, Speke, were occupied in January 1949. Most of the tablet machines are now made at Milnrow, but a few models are made at Speke, where punches and dies for all types of tablet machines, and a large range of automatic water stills are also made. The works are not very large - about one acre in extent - but over 50 per cent of the output at present is being exported. Both the tablet machines and automatic water stills have found their way into almost every industry; the tablet machines are used for foundry chemicals, powder metallurgy, self-lubricating bearings, ceramics, plastics, confectionery, catalysts and fertilizers, in addition to medicinal tablets. The automatic water stills are used wherever high quality distilled water is required, and one at least is usually found in most works laboratories; they are included in anodizing plant, for electrolysis, for use with electric batteries, in addition to very extensive use in the pharmaceutical, veterinary, and cosmetic fields. In addition to machining, hardening, and assembly shops the company has an experimental department, under the control of a chemist, where customers' materials are processed and tested on compressing machines. In this department it will be possible for visitors to see the entire process of tablet making, from the mixing of the powders to the final tablet.\nMECCANO, LTD.\nMeccano\nThe business now carried on by Meccano, Ltd., was originally started in 1901 in a small room equipped with a few hand presses, a lathe or two, and a small gas engine. The present factory, which dates from 1913, consists of spacious well-lighted workshops covering nearly five acres, with every department except one on the ground floor. Nearly three thousand hands are employed in the production of \"Meccano\" outfits, \"Hornby\" clockwork and electric trains, \"Dinky\" toys, and \"Dinky\" builder outfits. Of special interest is the rail-making plant in the press department, where standard sheets of tinplate are transformed into rails by passing them through rotary guillotines and quadruple action presses, which, in a single operation, produce rails of Vignoles section at the rate of forty to fifty per minute, while a moving belt carried the rails clear of the presses for the purpose of curving, then to assembling and packing. Other interesting units are the Wright high-speed dieing machines, which are used particularly for blanking operations. With a double tool, these machines can produce two hundred thousand 54-inch strips in an eight-and-a-half-hour day, a striking contrast to the output of one thousand two hundred strips from a hand-fed power press working at normal speed. Using a multiple tool, the machine can produce as many as one million washers per day. The making of sprocket chain can be seen in the machine department. The chain-making machines work with a coil of fine steel wire which is rolled straight as it enters the machine. Short lengths of wire are sheared off, shaped into links, and connected up with the preceding links at a speed of one hundred and sixty per minute. Much of the material from the press department is transferred to the barrelling department, where it is \"tumbled\" in suitable media for the removal of burrs, and partial cleaning. Final cleaning is carried out by modern methods, utilizing vaporized trichlorethylene in specially constructed tanks. The parts are then enamelled by the latest type of paint spraying apparatus. They are spring clipped on to frames drawn by endless chains through two spraying booths, are then transferred to carriers which travel through the drying oven, and finally are delivered at the starting point after being subjected for two hours to a temperature of 180 deg. F. There are also three automatic multi-spindle spraying machines which, after being hand-fed, automatically spins the part within the range of three or four \"pistols\", where they receive an even and complete coating of colour. An average of about one hundred and twenty thousand pieces are sprayed every day in this department. The die-casting section is noteworthy for the production of Dinky toys and parts for Hornby-Dublo trains, and consists of Madison Kipp, Riwo, E.M.B., and M.55A machines of Diecast Machines, Ltd. The casting speeds vary from two hundred shots per hour on the E.M.B. to six hundred per hour on the M.55A machines.\nIt is interesting to note the introduction of the roto-finish method of deburring the castings. The parts are loaded into the compartments and tumbled at a speed of twenty-five revolutions per minute for periods up to four hours thus eliminating the necessity for hand trimming.\nA feature of the electrical department, where transformers and locomotive motors are wound and assembled, is the equipment provided for the routine testing of transformers for both standard and non-standard supplies. The test gear includes apparatus for flash testing up to 5,000 volts; a performance test panel, where any likely combination of circuit arrangements can be preselected; and a frequency changer for providing a single-phase supply of any voltage up to 250 at any frequency between 25 and 100 cycles per second. A point of interest is the inclusion of radio suppression devices on all electric locomotives.\nPractically the whole of the operations in the factory are carried out on line assembly methods, and conveyors are used for every possible purpose. An extensive system of overhead monorail conveyers facilitates \"feeding\" the various departments and carries away the finished products. Rapid internal transport is attained by the use of electric trucks.\nMERSEY DOCKS AND HARBOUR BOARD\nMersey Docks and Harbour Board\nDredging. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board control and administer the Dock Estate at Liverpool and Birkenhead, which has a total area of 2,108 acres, exclusive of foreshore. The water area of the enclosed docks is over 650 acres and the lineal quayage slightly over 38 miles. The Board are also responsible for the dredging work in the sea channels in Liverpool Bay, forming the approaches to the River Mersey. Improvement and maintenance work in connexion with these channels is under the control of the engineer's department and is carried out by self-propelled, twin-screw, hopper, sand-pump dredgers. Four vessels are at present engaged on this work, having a total aggregate hopper capacity of 20,500 tons of sand. These vessels work at various sites in the sea channels and also in the River Mersey on Pluckington Bank, adjacent to the Brunswick Dock entrance. The quantity of material dealt with varies, but is in the order of eight to ten million tons per annum. The largest vessel, the Leviathan, has a hopper capacity of 10,000 tons, the other vessels have a hopper capacity of 3,500 tons and both load themselves in about one hour through side suction pipes, from a maximum depth of about 65 feet below the water line. In addition to the sand-pump dredgers, nine self-propelled grab hopper dredgers are employed upon the removal of the silt which accumulates in the enclosed docks system. The latest additions to this fleet comprise two vessels having a hopper capacity of 1,350 tons of silt, each equipped with three grab cranes, whilst a smaller vessel for special work has a hopper capacity of 330 tons of silt and is equipped with one grab crane. These three vessels are of interest in that they are powered by Diesel-electric machinery—the circuit being on the controlled constant current system—which is available for either or both propelling and deck machinery. Four bucket ladder dredgers with their attendant self-propelled steam hopper barges for carrying the spoil are also employed on work at the various dock entrances and for new constructional work. Seven self-propelled floating cranes are available for work of general cargo handling and other work in connexion with the dock estate. These cranes vary in capacity from 200 to 25 tons.\nGladstone Dock. The Gladstone System of Docks comprises (a) A river entrance lock 1,070 feet long and 130 feet wide, divided into two compartments having sills 20 feet below bay datum, which will enable the largest ships to go in and out on every single tide of the year, while ordinary sized ships, having a draught of, say, 28 feet, can enter and leave at any time, except for a very small number of hours each side of low water on spring tides. (b) A connecting lock, 645 feet long and 90 feet wide, divided into two compartments between the adjoining dock systems and the Gladstone docks. This lock was very badly damaged by enemy action during the War and has now been repaired at a cost of about L195,000. (c) A vestibule or turning dock called the Gladstone Dock, having a water area of about twenty-five acres, entered from the river by the entrance lock, and from the adjoining dock systems by the connecting lock, and having single-storey sheds on the north and west quays. (d) A branch dock called the Gladstone Branch Dock No. 1, 400 feet wide, with quays 1,491 feet and 1,217 feet long, opening out of the vestibule dock and having treble storey reinforced concrete sheds on the north and south sides. (e) A branch dock called the Gladstone Branch Dock No. 2, 400 feet wide, with quays 1,264 feet and 1,233 feet long, also opening out of the vestibule dock and having treble storey reinforced concrete sheds on the north and south sides. The sheds and quays of the docks are equipped with electric cranes and other appliances for the rapid handling of goods. (f) A dry dock called the Gladstone Graving Dock, 1,050 ft. 4 in. long with an entrance 120 feet wide. Vessels using the graving dock are supported on keel blocks which extend over the full length of the floor and bilge blocks operated by mechanical means. In order that the graving dock may be rapidly cleared of water, powerful pumping machinery has been installed, consisting of five sets of centrifugal pumps with discharge pipes 54 inches in diameter, each pump being driven direct by a vertical four-cylinder, two-cycle, Diesel oil-engine, running ordinarily at 180 r.p.m., and capable of developing 1,000 h.p., the total power thus being 5,000 h.p. These pumps can empty the whole contents of the dock, about 44 million gallons with the level of 28 feet in the body of the dock, in two and a half hours, or at the rate of 1,300 tons per minute. The graving dock was opened in 1913 and the remainder of the system in 1927. Amongst the vessels regularly using these docks are those of the Canadian Pacific Steamships, Ltd., trading to Canada, United States Lines to U.S.A., and Alfred Holt and Company, from the Far East and to Australia and New Zealand.\nPort Radar Station. An aerial of some 15 feet aperture and weighing 3 tons is provided at the top of an 80-foot ferro-concrete tower. This aerial, continuously rotating at 10 r.p.m., provides a narrow beam of 0.7 deg. The aerial has been designed to withstand wind velocities of up to 100 m.p.h. and large changes of temperature without distortion. The turning gear is mounted in a completely closed room at the top of the tower so that routine inspection and maintenance may be carried out without difficulty. A three-centimetre transmitter and receiver unit is mounted in the radar room in the building adjacent to the foot of the tower and the frame-work containing these also contains all the master timing circuits and control gear. In the same room is housed the display console containing six plan-position indicators. One of these displays shows a small general view of the whole of Liverpool Bay and four more show large-scale true plan views of particular sectors of the approach channels, so that a large-scale mosaic is built up. The sixth also shows a large-scale plan display but the region which it covers can be varied at the will of the operator to cover any desired part of the Liverpool Bay. In all cases the large-scale displays are to the same scale to facilitate cross-reference. They are all true plan shape to aid recognition, and each has in front of it a reproduction of the chart by means of which the positions of buoys may be checked, and it also shows a standard grid superimposed on it so that the position of any echo may be read off directly as a grid reference. The display console also contains a set of controls by means of which the whole installation can be switched on and off and operated. Throughout the equipment, high-grade components, run well within their rating, have been employed so as to achieve the highest possible standard of reliability. Considerable thought has also been given to maintenance facilities. Each major unit contains a built-in meter which can be plugged in to any of the sub-units and switched on. This allows the meter to be connected rapidly to a large number of check points within the circuit. If the unit is working correctly, the meter should show a standard indication of 100 per cent; in this way a faulty unit is very rapidly located. A complete set of spare sub-units is carried at the radar station so that, in the event of a failure, the faulty unit can be rapidly withdrawn, a new unit plugged in in its place and the equipment put back into operation immediately; the faulty unit is then serviced at leisure. In the case of the display console, each one of the six displays is mounted in a frame-work which wheels into the console on rail guides and a complete spare display unit is carried at the station, so that this can be wheeled in complete if a replacement is necessary.\nThe performance characteristics are set forth below:—\nWave length . 3 centimetres\nHorizontal beam width . 0.7 deg.\nVertical beam width . 5 deg.\nSide lobes in horizontal plane . 24 db down\nRepetition rate . 1,000 cycles per sec.\nLarge-scale display scale . 2 inches to 1 nautical mile\nSmall-scale display scale . 1 inch to 1 nautical mile\nDisplay accuracy . 1 per cent in range by 4 deg. in bearing\nRange of scan . 20 miles\nLiverpool was the first port in the world to utilize radar on a full-scale basis for the purpose of assisting vessels in and out of the port, and a radar of extremely high discrimination is required to provide supervision of its approaches. The length and narrowness of the channel demands a high bearing discrimination, and also a very large display scale, and the ability to handle large volumes of traffic also means that the equipment must be easy to use; if a reliable service is to be provided every precaution must be taken to achieve the maximum freedom from breakdown.\nSince radar rays penetrate both dark and fog, the installation is unaffected by conditions of visibility and greatly assists the smooth running of the port, enabling it to remain open under conditions which might otherwise necessitate a shut-down.\nFor example, in foggy weather in November 1948, among the ships which were given information by radio-telephony from the port radar station was the 13,500-ton Cunard White Star liner Parthia, which, after leaving for New York the previous day, had been fog-bound overnight in the Crosby Channel. In addition, four inward-bound ships, the Northumberland from Brisbane with 7,500 tons of cargo, the Cetus from Archangel, the Southern Island from Skutskar, and the Fort Buffalo from Swansea, proceeded up-river with radar assistance, while the Isle of Man steamers King Orry, outward-bound, and the Mona's Queen, inward from Douglas, were also given guidance.\nMILNERS SAFE COMPANY, LTD., PHOENIX WORKS, SPEKE\nMilners Safe Co\nThe firm of Thomas Milner dates back to 1830. In the year 1874, a public company was formed which took over the old factory building at Smithdown Lane, Liverpool, and opened further branches in Manchester and London.\nLord Ritchie of Dundee was the first chairman and, upon becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer, his cousin, Sir James Ritchie, who in 1903 became Lord Mayor of London, succeeded him as chairman. His grandson, Sir James E. T. Ritchie, Bart., is the present chairman.\nFor nearly three-quarters of a century the activities of the company were confined to the manufacture of steel safes, strong rooms, strong-room doors, and safe deposits; the company has installed security equipment of this kind in banks of national and international renown.\nIn the early part of the century, the company extended its activities into the field of light steel works and office equipment, and these products, including small cash boxes, vertical filing cabinets, office desks, and double floor steel shelving for works stores, together with steel safes, are being exported to all parts of the world.\nIn 1937, the Liverpool corporation took over the old works under the housing development scheme, and a completely new factory, the Phoenix works, covering fifteen acres, was built on the Liverpool corporation new trading estate at Speke.\nThe present factory was completed in 1939, and its activities were immediately turned to day and night production and the testing of many thousands of armoured fighting vehicles. The reconversion to normal production has been undertaken in conjunction with the redesign and development of all the firm's products. The actual factory area is nine acres. The main factory building has seven main shops, four of which are serviced with overhead cranes, the capacity of which ranges from 71 to 25 tons. The annex buildings comprise a well-equipped tool room, a heat treatment and testing department, and a foundry equipped for iron and non-ferrous castings. The welfare of all employees is considered, canteen welfare, sports and social facilities being available for all workers. In 1944, the company bought over and absorbed the old-established firm of Whitfield Safe Company, Birmingham, and thus added a lighter type of fire-resisting safe to its already extensive range of products.\nNATIONAL COAL BOARD, NORTH-WESTERN DIVISION, SUTTON MANOR COLLIERY\nSutton Manor Colliery\nSutton Manor Colliery is one of the seventy-three collieries of the north-western division of the National Coal Board, which at present produce some 14,000,000 tons of coal per annum. It is situated in a pleasant stretch of country in south-west Lancashire, a few miles south of St. Helens and due east of Liverpool. This area is a developing one as far as the north-western coalfield is concerned and, as the older collieries to the north, in the direction of Wigan, eventually die out, it is the intention of the board to develop the large reserves of coal available in the district south of St. Helens. These reserves are deep and will involve the sinking of some new shafts, one of which is planned for the neighbouring Bold colliery, which is to be entirely reorganized and developed for an ultimate output rising to 6,000 tons per day, employing \"horizon mining\" methods as practised on the continent, including Koepe winding. This project is being carried out in close collaboration with the British Electricity Authority's proposed new St. Helens power station on an adjacent site for the direct conveyance of fuel from the colliery to the boiler house. The present Sutton Manor Colliery which, pre-vesting date, was closely associated with the Richard Evans group, is a fairly old one and it is hoped to reorganize and develop it on more modern lines although not perhaps on the same scale as the future Bold colliery. This will involve deepening the existing shafts and driving underground tunnels for locomotive haulage. It employs more than 1,300 men underground and on the surface, and produces round about 7,000 tons of coal a week, contributing its full quota to the tonnage raised in the No. 3 (St. Helens) area, which comprises ten collieries. It has a full meals canteen and pithead baths, and there is a colliery institute providing the usual recreational amenities. There are two pits, each with a pair of steam-driven compound horizontal winding engines. On the surface there are two screening plants, one for each of the two main winding shafts, where coal is cleaned and prepared in various sizes at the rate of 350 tons an hour. Slack is sent on a travelling belt to an adjacent washery where the dirt is cleaned from the coal and the fuel is sized into commercial products. The discard from the washery and screening plant is taken away by an aerial ropeway. Steam and electrical power is at present generated at the colliery using low-grade fuel, and an electrical connexion exists with the Area Electricity Board's network. Both electricity and compressed air are used underground, the surface compressor units and also the 600,000 cu. ft. per min. mine ventilating fan being steam driven. An area testing station for colliery winding ropes, and also for compressed-air-driven coal cutter and conveyor turbines is situated on the colliery premises. In order to prove that the seams of coal available in the area south of St. Helens exist at workable depths a programme of deep boring is being undertaken and samples of the underlying strata are brought to the surface for examination and depths recorded. One of these boreholes is situated at Tan House Lane, Burtonwood. This borehole was drilled by the percussive method by a mobile machine to a depth of 823 feet, the diameter being 9.68 inches to 409 feet and 7.87 inches to 823 feet. This percussive method, which gives chippings, was adopted because the stratum was already known to a depth of 1,800 feet. After the percussive drilling, the present rig was built and rotary drilling with a diamond bit was done to a depth to date of 3,230 feet, the diameter being reduced by stages until this is now 4.57 inches giving a 3.5-inch core. The bit cuts out the core, which is held by a spring in a core barrel about 10 feet long. The hole is cased with steel casing as and when required to prevent the sides from collapsing, and after each length of casing has been inserted it becomes necessary to reduce the diameter of the hole. To act as a protection to the walls of the hole below the casing, mud is circulated through the hole via the drilling rods and the core barrel, up the hole back to the surface on the outside of the rods. The mud, which is Bentonite, a proprietary product consisting mostly of \"fuller's earth\" forms a wall on the uncased sides of the hole.\nWILLIAM NEILL AND SON (ST. HELENS), LTD.\nWilliam Neill and Son\nThe business was first started on the present site by William Neill in 1872 and for a period of some twenty-five or thirty years it held an important place in the production of iron castings and the manufacture of plant for the chemical and coal industries, which were then rapidly developing in the south-west Lancashire area.\nThe business passed out of the Neill family and became a private company in 1907, and in 1933 it was reconstructed and taken over by the present management. During the last sixteen years it has been quadrupled in size and it now covers an area of approximately seven acres.\nThe works are divided into two sections, one for plate fabrication, tank and chemical plant manufacture, and the other for the fabrication of structural steel framed buildings, bridge work, etc. The plate shop comprises two bays, each 580 feet long, and two subsidiary bays 130 feet long, with template shop, stores buildings, canteens, etc. The structural shop comprises two bays, one 310 feet long and the other 190 feet long, with template shop and machine shop.\nAll the buildings are equipped with overhead electric cranes varying in lifting capacity from 2 tons to 30 tons, there being fourteen in all, and the stock yards are controlled by six electrically operated derrick cranes, with jibs varying from 75 feet to 110 feet long. The shops are equipped with modern machines for the manufacture of storage tanks, chemical plant, and structural work, and two machines of special interest (just installed) may be mentioned: —\n(a) The special gas burning equipment for plate edge preparation capable of performing simultaneously nine burning operations; and,\n(b) The \"Fusarc\" automatic electric welding machine capable of welding (at one setting) vessels 34 feet long and varying in diameter from 2 feet to 14 feet.\nThe company's products cover a very wide range and include general chemical plant comprising electrically welded and riveted vessels of all types, petroleum refining plant including fractionating towers, heat exchangers, condensers, bulk oil-storage tanks up to 150 feet in diameter, coal preparation plant including washer boxes, flotation machines, screens, filters, etc., vegetable oil refining plant such as deodorizers, bleachers, etc., underground battery driven locomotives of 7-ton and 10-ton capacity, chemical lead work, structural steelwork and bridge work.\nThe 1938 defence programme saw the company in the forefront with its patented design of electrically welded underground petroleum storage tanks. Hundreds of these tanks, each of more than one million gallons capacity, were erected, both in this country and the Middle East.\nPrefabricated units of small ships, barges, pontoons for the Mulberry harbour, lift platforms for aircraft carriers, and a host of diverse war materials have taken shape in the assembly shops.\nAnother product turned out in vast quantities was an ingenious design of bolted petroleum storage tank made from light gauge material; this design of tank was used extensively on the second front, and was so successful that it is still in demand by oil companies for field use abroad.\nPILKINGTON BROTHERS, LTD., ST. HELENS\nPilkington\nThe firm of Pilkington Brothers, Ltd., was established in 1826 at St. Helens for the manufacture of crown glass; the site was chosen because of the availability of indigenous raw materials, and the proximity to a canal and a coastal port.\nAfter the establishment of the crown glass industry, developments included the cylinder blown and cylinder drawn processes, which finally gave place to the modern flat drawn method, in which a ribbon of flat glass is drawn vertically upward from a bath of molten glass.\nConcurrently with these developments, the manufacture of rolled, cathedral and figured rolled, and wired glasses, previously made by the ladle process gave place to the continuous rolled method of manufacture.\nThis gradual, but constant, development, notable since the beginning of the present century, but particularly so during the last twenty-five years, covers now almost wholly mechanized methods of manufacture.\nThe industry calls not only for the necessary production plant and administrative staff, but also for many ancillary activities. These include service and maintenance departments and a self-contained timber yard, in addition to a completely equipped research laboratory, and personnel and welfare departments. The internal works transport system uses twenty works locomotives running over fifty miles of single line siding which deal with an incoming traffic alone amounting to nearly 1,000,000 tons per year. The amount of material despatched - almost wholly glass - averages over 320,000 tons a year, in which a modern fleet of over one hundred and thirty road vehicles plays an important part.\nOver twenty-five thousand different commodities have to be provided for the production of the glass and the maintenance of the works. These range from materials arriving in train loads to small registered postal packets containing industrial diamonds and platinum-rhodium thermocouple wires. The electricity generated and purchased in a year is equal to that consumed for lighting by the households in a city the size of Nottingham, and the yearly consumption of coal is equal to the total domestic rations of 200,000 households. The amount of timber consumed annually for packing cases is equivalent to 80,000 trees of the size normally felled in Eastern Canada or Sweden.\nThe comprehensive welfare arrangements of the firm include the recreation club, which covers full winter and summer pastimes and sports on the social and recreational side; a pension and staff superannuation scheme; a holidays with pay scheme; and completely equipped works canteens.\nA full-time education officer, who is in close touch with the local education authorities, operates a staff training scheme.\nSafety officers, accident prevention committees, and protective clothing assist in keeping down the hazards of the industry. A full-time medical officer has charge of a complete surgical unit which includes an operating theatre, a dispensary, an X-ray outfit, and a twenty-four hour nursing service. A radiography unit was installed in 1941 and a rehabilitation centre includes a gymnasium and physiotherapy room. Further necessary treatment, in the form of light work of a restorative character, is carried out in a well-equipped workshop.\nGlass melting tanks are the method adopted for the continuous melting of the raw materials—chiefly sand, soda-ash, limestone, and dolomite. Such tanks can be as large as 120 feet long by 30 feet wide and 5 feet deep, and may contain up to 1,200 tons of molten glass. The raw materials are mixed in the right proportions and fed into one end of the tank; after melting, the resulting molten glass is refined, cooled, and drawn off at the other end.\nFor modern constructional glasses, drawing and rolling are the chief processes employed—drawing for the production of flat drawn sheet glass, and rolling for the production of rough cast plate, wired, plain, and patterned glasses, such as cathedral and figured rolled glasses.\nThe processes to be seen cover the manufacture of polished plate glass, which, in the first instance, is rolled in the form of a ribbon, both surfaces of which are subsequently ground and polished. This process will be seen during the visit.\nPlate glass was first introduced into this country in 1615, being made by the \"blown\" process. It was not until 1773, when the British Cast Plate Glass Company came into being at Ravenhead, St. Helens, that plate glass was made in England by the process of rolling. By 1789 mechanical methods began to appear for the grinding and polishing of the surfaces of the glass. In 1901 the firm purchased the Ravenhead Plate Glass Company, where the manufacture of polished plate glass was continued until 1917, when the factory was turned over to the manufacture of other types of glass.\nAn entirely new polished plate glass works was erected in St. Helens in 1876, and it was there that, in 1902, the first mechanically operated lehr for the annealing of plate glass was developed.\nThe original method consisted of pouring the contents of a special clay pot on to a cast-iron casting table and then rolling out like pastry. After annealing, the sheets of glass were ground, smoothed, and then polished on circular tables 22 feet in diameter (later displaced by 36-foot tables), the abrasives for grinding and smoothing being sand in water, and for polishing wet rouge under felt-covered pads.\nA radical departure from this method consisted of pouring the contents of the clay pot between two rollers from which the molten glass issued in the form of a ribbon; this process is still in operation for the manufacture of polished plate glass of special thicknesses and sizes, the grinding and polishing being carried out by the table method.\nThese methods continued until early 1923 when a continuous method of grinding and polishing, which superseded the disk method for standard thicknesses and widths of glass, was perfected. These machines were approximately 650 feet long.\nThe production of polished plate glass was then made direct from the melting tank. The ribbon of rough rolled glass is passed between twin sets of grinding and smoothing heads, both surfaces being machined simultaneously.\nPolished plate glass can be made in a variety of thicknesses from 2.6 mm. up to 14 inches thick, the thinner substances being required for special purposes, and for the manufacture of laminated glasses for motor-cars, the thicker substances being used for ships' port holes, etc.\nThe uses of polished plate glass are not wholly constructional. By means of tinting or surface treatment, such as silvering, embossing, stippling, sandblasting, brilliant cutting, or by a combination of some of these methods, a wide range of decorative effects can be obtained. By additional thermal treatments, glass, plain or decorated, can be \"toughened\" to acquire the properties of strength and harmless fragmentation, characteristic of safety glass and \"armourplate\".\n\"SHELL\" REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, LTD.\nShell\nThornton Research Centre. The Thornton Research Centre is a recent addition to the research facilities of the world-wide \"Shell\" group. An aero-engine laboratory was built in 1940 and, during the war, was operated as the Ministry of Aircraft Production fuel and oil research laboratory. Since those days, there has been a steady expansion both in buildings and in the scope of the work carried out, and there have evolved laboratories of almost 750,000 square feet of floor space, integrated and controlled as one unit and manned by a staff of about nine hundred. The centre has the Stanlow refineries and oil docks on the north-west, with the new \"Shell\" Chemical Plant and the first units of the large Middle East Crude Refinery on the west.\nThe research carried out at the centre is largely applicational and covers a wide range of petroleum products. It can be divided into two main groups: the first group comprises the engine testing and mechanical rig work, together with the physical chemistry necessarily associated with applicational research on fuels and lubricants. The second consists of purely chemical research concerned with the development and utilization of new chemicals and by-products from the refinery processes.\nThornton Research Centre is particularly well equipped for the former type of work, having a wide range of modern engine types at its disposal. There are, in fact, about eighty engines installed, ranging from small two-stroke, motor-cycle engines, to large medium-speed, marine Diesels. Numerous rigs, large and small, are also used for studying gear and bearing lubrication, cylinder wear, gas-turbine combustion, fuel spray characteristics, oil and fuel inflammability, the behaviour of fuels and lubricants at extremes of temperature and pressure, as well as the functioning of lubricants in some of the many industrial applications.\nIt is often remarked that burning coal and oil fuel is wasteful of valuable chemicals. In this connexion, the production of chemicals in the form of detergents, surface coatings, solvents, agricultural chemicals, and plasticizers is a comparatively new, but rapidly expanding, industry. Thornton is actively engaged in synthesizing some of these materials from petroleum—in some cases from those products which would otherwise be burnt as fuel. An extensive pilot plant section is used for the production of experimental quantities on a technical scale.\nA number of sections specializing in analysis, photography, X-ray examination, and spectroscopy are used by chemists and engineers alike. There is also a metallurgical section which deals with many \"field\" problems arising from the use of petroleum; in certain instances, alloys highly resistant to attack have been developed. There is a large central workshop and two smaller ones.\nThe devising of suitable instrumentation for the many branches of science covered by the research programme is in the hands of an applied physics section. Controlling instruments for pilot plants and for long duration tests, and electronic equipment for studying the combustion process in internal combustion engines, all come within the scope of this section.\nStanlow Refinery. The Stanlow refinery of the \"Shell\" Refining and Marketing Company, Ltd., is situated adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal, some four miles from its entrance. Its location provides easy access for ocean-going and coastal tankers, while convenient rail and road facilities are available for distribution of the products of the refinery.\nMotor spirit, aviation spirit, kerosene, Diesel and fuel oils, bitumen and lubricating oils are manufactured or blended and distributed direct to customers, or to the depots of Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., in bulk or package. Export and coastal deliveries can be made via the Manchester Ship Canal, or by road or rail transhipment from Ellesmere Port, Birkenhead, or Liverpool.\nThe construction of the refinery and the associated installation for the storage, blending, and distribution of products was commenced in 1923. The original site of fifty acres was extended in 1938 and 1940, and the refinery now covers an area of approximately twelve hundred acres, divided into two main sections.\nIn the northern section, fronting the ship canal, are plants for the manufacture and refining of bitumen, special benzine distillates, high-grade lubricating oils, aviation benzine, and synthetic detergents. In the southern section a series of plants for the production of petroleum chemicals has recently been completed by \"Shell\" Chemical Manufacturing Company, Ltd., and the construction of a large modern refinery has been commenced by \"Shell\" Refining and Marketing Company, Ltd. This latter refinery will process imported crude petroleum, primarily for the manufacture of motor spirits, Diesel oils and fuel oils.\nThe various feedstocks and products are stored in vertical cylindrical tanks of steel construction and of capacities up to two-and-a-half million gallons. Total storage capacity amounts to nearly two hundred million gallons.\nModern water-tube boilers provide the large quantity of steam required. Oil and gas fuels, electricity, cooling and process water, compressed air, and chemicals are also used in large quantities.\nThe plants are specially designed, and constructed mainly of steel. Direct-fired tubular heaters and tubular heat exchangers, condensers, and coolers are used together with a wide variety of electrically and steam operated pumps. Temperatures, pressures, flows, etc., are in general controlled by automatic instruments of various kinds.\nLarge laboratories control the quality of products, and a special department carries out technological investigation and development of operating processes.\nSupervision of refinery operations is carried out by plant chemists, and operatives receive special training in process work.\nA large engineering force is required for constructional, maintenance, and repair work, and the engineering workshops are well equipped with modern machines. Much of the material handled consists of steel pipe and valves of large diameter.\nService departments include materials stores, and transport. Canteens and medical and welfare services are provided. There are special sections for training staff and operatives. Special precautions are taken against fire risks. The company has its own fire brigade and special fire-fighting equipment is provided in all parts of the refinery.\nApproximately 3,700 people, including clerical and laboratory staffs, are employed. Sports grounds are provided by the company and there are facilities for recreational and social activities.\nPetroleum products of all kinds play an important part in Britain's recovery programme and the Stanlow refinery is operated to maximum capacity. In this connexion, the reduction of non-operation time by efficient engineering maintenance and well-planned and rapid repair and overhaul of plant is a vital necessity.\nJOHN SUMMERS AND SONS, LTD., HAWARDEN BRIDGE STEELWORKS, SHOTTON\nJohn Summers and Sons\nThe firm of John Summers and Sons, Ltd., was founded in Stalybridge in 1851 for the manufacture of clog irons; the following year a nail making machine was acquired to produce nails for fastening the clog irons to the clogs, and in 1860 puddling furnaces, a steam hammer, and the first sheet rolling mill were installed for the production of the necessary raw materials. A galvanizing plant was installed for making galvanized-steel corrugated roofing sheets, the first galvanized sheet being produced in 1894. In 1895, the site at Shotton was acquired, and one year later the new plant, which comprised six sheet mills driven by a steam engine, with galvanizing and finishing equipment, started work.\nThe rapid development continued, and at present the Hawarden Bridge steelworks cover two-hundred and fifty acres, with a further seven-hundred and fifty acres available for development. There are nearly six thousand employees at this works alone, and more than 8,000 tons of steel sheets leave the works each week. There are two steelworks, No. 1 having nine 50-ton furnaces, and No. 2, eight 70-ton furnaces. The slabbing mill, installed in 1939 is driven by a three-cylinder simple steam engine, and the hot strip mill, installed in the same year, has eight stands of rolls, each driven by an electric motor of about 3,000 h.p. The cold tandem mill reduces the thickness of the steel still further, after it has left the hot strip mill; its output is supplemented by the reversing mill - the latest to be installed at Hawarden Bridge and capable of rolling strip 72 inches wide - which is driven by a 2,500 h.p. electric motor.\nFor many years sheets have been manufactured in this country from sheet bars; the bar is cut to the required width of sheet, and rolled out to the ordered length and thickness by passing the sheared steel, piled in thicknesses, through a number of individual hand mills. Before the advent of the strip mill, certain improvements were made at Shotton to reduce the manual labour, and at the same time to increase the output and improve the quality of the product. Finally, a three-high mill (a mill having three rolls instead of the usual two) was installed, which, by its greater precision and more robust construction, improved the quality of the product.\nStrip rolling has entirely revolutionized the manufacture of steel sheets, by making it possible to produce in one length of strip the desired finished gauge. To make this possible, the quality and weight of the raw material, and the size and design of the mills have undergone a radical change; instead of a sheet bar, a slab is produced in thicknesses varying from 34 to 6 inches, and in length, from 51- to 15+ feet. The slabs are then heated in continuous furnaces, prior to rolling on the hot strip mill which consists of a series of mills in tandem, each mill containing four rolls. The thinnest gauge obtainable on the average hot strip mill is sixteen gauge, and for finer gauges it is necessary to put the strip through a further, cold-rolling, process. For ease in handling, the strip is coiled after leaving the hot mill, and, before proceeding to the second rolling, it is subjected to a continuous pickling operation so as to remove the oxide coating which is present when the strip leaves the hot mill.\nAfter the cold reduction process, the strip is trimmed and cut to size, and then transferred to the annealing department, where it receives heat treatment to remove the stresses set up by the cold reduction process, and to obtain the correct structure in the steel to meet the various uses demanded by respective customers. The strips are then passed to the final processes, such as cold rolling, levelling, etc., as required. They are then inspected, coated with oil to prevent rust and deterioration, and packed ready for dispatch. The best grades of steel are delivered, as far as possible, by the company's own fleet of lorries to ensure that they are received in good condition.\nThe uses to which steel sheets can be put have greatly increased during past years. The motor-car industry has been responsible for much of this development, but apart from that particular market, large quantities of sheets are used for the manufacture of a diversity of products ranging from steel toys to steel houses, and including all manner of household equipment. During the 1939-45 war, there was a further expansion in the use of steel sheets: the continuous strip mill contributed two million tons of sheet steel to the war effort, that was utilized in products ranging from \"Anderson\" shelters to bomb fins.\nVAN DEN BERGHS AND JURGENS, LTD., STORK MARGARINE WORKS, BROMBOROUGH PORT\nVan den Berghs\nThe Stork Margarine Works at Bromborough, the largest margarine-producing unit in the world, was erected in 1918 by Lever Brothers, Ltd., and produced margarine under the name of Planters Foods, Ltd. It occupies a site of about twenty-two acres close to the River Mersey, and is connected by a private railway system with the Port Sunlight works.\nIn 1930, following the amalgamation of Lever Brothers, Ltd., with the Margarine Union, the \"Planters\" installation was completely scrapped and replaced by a modern up-to-date margarine plant including a new oil refinery for treating edible oils.\nAdditional plant and equipment was installed up to the outbreak of war in 1939, to enable production to keep pace with increasing demand, and since the cessation of hostilities a policy of gradual but steady replacement of plant by more modern machines has been followed, particularly in the packing department.\nJust over a year ago, an additional plant came into production for the manufacture and packing of domestic cooking fat on the most modern lines.\nA development department is actively engaged at Bromborough, and new methods of production and new machines evolved here are being introduced into Unilever margarine factories in all parts of the world.\nPower Services. The boiler plant comprises eight, 8 ft. 6 in. diameter by 30 feet Lancashire boilers fitted with Hodgkinson coking stokers and downtake superheaters. The installation includes a 448 feet by 9 feet tube \"Green's\" economizer, and motor-driven induced-draught fans.\nFeed water is softened by the high-temperature soda-ash process, and de-aerated on a \"Hick Hargreaves\" plant. Approximately 6,000,000 lb. of steam at 150 lb. per sq. in. and 585 deg. F. are generated per week.\nAs refrigeration plays an important part in the manufacture of margarine, four \"Atlas\" ammonia compressor units are prominent in the separate building housing the power plant. These each comprise twin-opposed, double-acting, ammonia compressors driven by a horizontal, tandem, compound-condensing steam engine. Steam is passed out at 20 lb. per sq. in. between the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders for factory water-heating and space-heating purposes. Final exhaust is condensed in jet condenser \"Edwards\" air pump units with natural draught cooling.\nThe compressors, two large and two smaller, have an installed refrigerating capacity of 1,200 tons under standard (5-86 deg. F.) conditions.\nTwo similar ammonia condensers of the atmospheric interlaced coil type are installed, having a total cooling surface of 16,500 sq. ft.\nElectricity is purchased from Lever Brothers' central power station and received at 6,600 volts. Normal consumption for all purposes is about 125,000 kW.-hr. per week at 400 volts, 3 phase, 50 cycles, A.C.\nThe main source of water supply is an artesian well. A 14-inch diameter bore-hole, 376 feet deep, yields about 30,000 gallons per hour of a total hardness of 40 grains per gallon. Water is purchased from the local water board for drinking and direct process.\nOil Refinery. Crude oil is received in 10-ton rail and road tank-wagons, and pumped to storage tanks aggregating 700 tons capacity.\nThe refinery equipment comprises 30-ton neutralizer bleachers and \"Johnson\" filter presses of the plate-and-frame type with hydraulic tightening gear. Twenty-two-ton deodorizers are installed, each complete with fat separator and splash-plate type, counter-current, barometric condenser. Vacuum is maintained by air ejector equipment.\nRefined oil storage capacity aggregates approximately 900 tons, all tanks being fitted with \"Gravimeter\" contents gauges.\nDairy. Reconstituted milk is pasteurized on the high-temperature, short-time principle, thermostatically controlled, using a stainless steel paraflow apparatus. The pasteurized milk is inoculated and soured in 650-gallon ripening tanks having pendulum grid heating-cooling coils. As the dairy is situated on the top floor, the treated milk can be run by gravity to the churns to be blended with the refined edible oils.\nMargarine Process. The refined oils are blended in 30 cwt.capacity, jacketed, weigh-tanks and pumped to attemperating tanks for gravity flow to ten belt-driven churns. In these an emulsion is churned from the oil and milk phases, and pumped to four direct-expansion, 7.87 feet diameter, ammonia cooling drums each of 44 tons per hour capacity.\nThe flake margarine, which is formed on the drums and scraped off, is then triple-rolled on three \"Multiplex\" machines fitted with porphyry rollers. Each machine discharges on to alternate stainless steel clad kneading tables rotating at approximately 1-I r.p.m., with beaters revolving at 60 r.p.m. The product is transported between the various sets of rollers and the kneading tables on odourless white rubber belts, and between machines in aluminium containers of 3 tons capacity which are moved by battery driven electric elevating trucks. The aluminium containers are discharged into hoppers by specially designed electric elevating and tipping hoists, each of 5 tons capacity.\nAfter a resting period, the semi-finished margarine is kneaded under vacuum in direct-driven mixing machines of the \"Werner Pfleiderer\" type, each having a capacity of about 8 tons per hour. The product is then tipped into small containers and stored in a cool store in readiness for detail packing.\nBulk packing is done in three \"Johnson\" bulk extruding machines producing 28 lb. or 56 lb. blocks at a rate of about 4 tons per hour each.\nDetail Packing. Over 85 per cent of the margarine produced at Bromborough is wrapped in the familiar 1/2 lb. packet, and for this duty thirty-four moulding, weighing, and wrapping machines are installed. Twenty-six of these modern, British-made, \"Forgrove\" units are capable of producing ninety-two ready wrapped packets per minute.\nA machine recently devised at Bromborough packs the wrapped 1/2 lb. pieces into fiberite cases. It is hoped to take a farther step towards the complete mechanization of this department by installing additional machines in accordance with the prototype.\nAuxiliary Departments. These include can ice-making plant by Lightfoot Refrigeration Company (capacity 20 cwt. per hour); wagon-washing plant, including special tipper and sterilizing cabinets for both large and small aluminium containers; box-making department for assembling and repairing both wood and fiberite cases; control and research laboratories; special moisture testing and salt-testing laboratories.\nWelfare. Modern well-equipped surgeries for males and females are provided, with a fully qualified nurse constantly on duty, while a medical officer is in attendance all day.\nOveralls and clogs are provided for all workers, and the overalls are laundered on the premises. Changing rooms with auxiliary drying rooms and shower-baths are available, also a large airy canteen where meals are served at very low prices.\nWell laid-out playing fields with a good pavilion are adjacent to the factory, and they cater for both outdoor and indoor recreation.\nTHE VULCAN FOUNDRY, LTD., NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS\nVulcan Foundry\nThe Vulcan Foundry, builders of all types of locomotives, was founded in 1830 by Robert Stephenson in collaboration with Charles Tayleur, a Liverpool engineer. At that time Robert Stephenson was already managing a locomotive works in Newcastle upon Tyne but, finding it difficult to transport locomotives from his Newcastle factory to Lancashire for use on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, he decided to go into partnership with Charles Tayleur with a view to building engines on the spot.\nThe first locomotive to be built at Vulcan was produced for the North Union Railway and was named \"Tayleur\"; it was followed shortly afterwards by three more for the Warrington and Newton Railway which was opened in 1931.\nIn 1847 the Vulcan Foundry acquired the Bank Quay Foundry in Warrington; this resulted in interesting subsidiary activities including the manufacture of components for the Conway Bridge and Menai Straits Tubular Bridge, and the construction of the first iron sea-going vessel.\nA long standing connexion with India commenced in 1852 when eight 2-4-0 passenger locomotives were exported for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway; these inaugurated the service on the first public railway in India from Bombay to Thana.\nIn 1871 the first locomotive to run in Japan was built at Vulcan, and locomotives of every description have been produced for railways all over the world, including engines and tenders weighing as much as 200 tons in working order.\nDuring both world wars, the Vulcan Works were fully engaged on armament work and during the 1939-45 war the main items of production were tanks, torpedoes, gun mechanisms, etc. In 1943, however, production reverted to locomotives and 390 \"Austerity\" 2-8-0 type engines and tenders were built for the War Department. Since then the \"Liberation\" locomotive has been designed and built for the continent together with many other locomotives for home and overseas railways.\nThe works at Newton-le-Willows occupy an area of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, fourteen of which are covered by buildings. All the main shops, with the exception of the iron and non-ferrous foundries, the pattern and woodworking shops, and the Diesel erecting shop, are under one roof.\nThe boiler shop has a floor area of over 78,000 square feet and is served by sixteen overhead travelling cranes of varying capacities. The locomotive erecting shop covers 29,500 square feet and has two lines of erecting pits which can accommodate eighteen sets of engine frames.\nThe Diesel section has recently been greatly expanded and a complete new Diesel erecting shop has been constructed since 1946. Both industrial Diesel mechanical shunting locomotives and mechanical parts for the most powerful electric and Diesel electric motive power are produced in this department.\nResearch activities are centralized in a modern laboratory which contains sections for chemical analysis, mechanical testing, sand testing, radiography, and metallurgy.\nThe works at Newton-le-Willows employ up to 3,500 operatives and have capacity for the production of four large locomotive engines and tenders per week. In addition the company have, as subsidiaries, the locomotive building firm of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, Ltd., with works at Darlington and Newcastle upon Tyne.\nSee Also",
"Iron and steel - Introduction to their science, properties ...\nWhich countries produce the world's ... process developed by Sir Henry Bessemer in the 1850s. Open-hearth process (also called the regenerative open hearth): ...\nIron and steel - Introduction to their science, properties, uses\nIron and steel\nTweet\nby Chris Woodford . Last updated: July 14, 2016.\nThink of the greatest structures of the 19th century—the Eiffel Tower, the Capitol, the Statue of Liberty—and you'll be thinking of iron. The fourth most common element in Earth's crust, iron has been in widespread use now for about 6000 years. Hugely versatile, and one of the strongest and cheapest metals , it became an important building block of the Industrial Revolution, but it's also an essential element in plant and animal life. Combined with varying (but tiny) amounts of carbon, iron makes a much stronger material called steel, used in a huge range of human-made objects, from cutlery to warships , skyscrapers, and space rockets. Let's take a closer look at these two superb materials and find out what makes them so popular!\nPhoto: The world's first cast-iron bridge, after which the village of Ironbridge in Shropshire, England was named. It was built across the River Severn by Abraham Darby III in 1779 using some 384 tons of iron. You can read more about its history and construction on the official Ironbridge website. Photo by Jason Smith courtesy of Wikimedia Commons .\nWhat is iron like?\nPhoto: A sample of iron from a meteorite (next to a pen for scale). From the mineral collection of Brigham Young University Department of Geology, Provo, Utah. Photograph by Andrew Silver courtesy of US Geological Survey Photographic Library .\nYou might think of iron as a hard, strong metal tough enough to support bridges and buildings , but that's not pure iron. What you're thinking of is alloys of iron combined with carbon and other elements. Pure iron is a different matter altogether. Consider its physical properties (how it behaves by itself) and its chemical properties (how it combines and reacts with other elements and compounds).\nPhysical properties\nPure iron is a silvery-white metal that's easy to work and shape and it's just soft enough to cut through (with quite a bit of difficulty) using a knife. You can hammer iron into sheets and draw it into wires. Like most metals, iron conducts electricity and heat very well and it's very easy to magnetize .\nChemical properties\nThe reason we so rarely see pure iron is that it combines readily with oxygen. Indeed, iron's major drawback as a construction material is that it reacts with moist air (in a process called corrosion) to form the flaky, reddish-brown oxide we call rust. Iron reacts in lots of other ways too—with elements ranging from carbon, sulfur, and silicon to halogens such as chlorine.\nBroadly, iron's compounds can be divided into two groups known as ferrous and ferric (the old names) or iron (II) and iron (III); you can always substitute \"iron(II)\" for \"ferrous\" and \"iron(III)\" for \"ferric\" in compound names.\nIn iron (II) compounds, iron has a valency (chemical combining ability) of +2. Examples include iron(II) oxide (FeO), a pigment (coloring chemical); iron (II) chloride (FeCl2), used in medicine as \"tincture of iron\"; and an important dyeing chemical called iron (II) sulfate (FeSO4).\nIn iron (III) compounds, iron's valency is +3. Examples include iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3), used as the magnetic material in things like cassette tapes and computer hard drives and also as a paint pigment; and iron (III) chloride (FeCl3), used to manufacture many industrial chemicals.\nSometimes iron (II) and iron (III) are present in the same compound. A paint pigment called Prussian blue is actually a complex compound of iron (II), iron (III), and cyanide with the chemical formula Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3.\nPhoto: Iron in action: Chances are you're using magnetic iron (III) oxide right this minute in your computer's hard drive.\nWhere does iron come from?\nPhoto: Iron is essential for a healthy diet. That's why it's packed into many breakfast cereals. A 100g portion of these cornflakes provides 14.0mg of iron—enough to meet a typical person's needs for one day. This amount of iron is called your recommended daily average or RDA. Here's a great little experiment from Scientific American to extract the iron from your cornflakes .\nIron is the second most common metal in Earth's crust, after aluminum , but because it reacts so readily with oxygen it's never mined in its pure form (though meteorites are occasionally discovered that contain samples of pure iron). Like aluminum, most iron \"locked\" inside Earth exists in the form of oxides (compounds of iron and oxygen). Iron oxides exist in seven main ores (raw, rocky minerals mined from Earth):\nHematite (the most plentiful)\nSiderite\nTaconite (a combination of hematite and magnetite).\nDifferent ores contain different amounts of iron. Hematite and magnetite have about 70 percent iron, limonite has about 60 percent, pyrite and siderite have 50 percent, while taconite has only 30 percent. Using a combination of both deep mining (under the ground) and opencast mining (on the surface), the world produces approximately 1000 million tons of iron ore each year, with China responsible for just over half of it.\nWhich countries produce the world's iron? Chart shows estimated figures for pig iron for 2015. In the United States, four companies currently produce pig iron in 11 different locations. Source: US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016.\nTypes of iron\nPure iron is too soft and reactive to be of much real use, so most of the \"iron\" we tend to use for everyday purposes is actually in the form of iron alloys : iron mixed with other elements (especially carbon) to make stronger, more resilient forms of the metal including steel. Broadly speaking, steel is an alloy of iron that contains up to about 2 percent carbon, while other forms of iron contain about 2–4 percent carbon. In fact, there are thousands of different kinds of iron and steel, all containing slightly different amounts of other alloying elements.\nPig iron\nBasic raw iron is called pig iron because it's produced in the form of chunky molded blocks known as pigs. Pig iron is made by heating an iron ore (rich in iron oxide) in a blast furnace: an enormous industrial fireplace, shaped like a cylinder, into which huge drafts of hot air are introduced in regular \"blasts\". Blast furnaces are often spectacularly huge: some are 30–60m (100–200ft) high, hold dozens of trucks worth of raw materials, and often operate continuously for years at a time without being switched off or cooled down. Inside the furnace, the iron ore reacts chemically with coke (a carbon-rich form of coal) and limestone. The coke \"steals\" the oxygen from the iron oxide (in a chemical process called reduction), leaving behind a relatively pure liquid iron, while the limestone helps to remove the other parts of the rocky ore (including clay, sand, and small stones), which form a waste slurry known as slag. The iron made in a blast furnace is an alloy containing about 90–95 percent iron, 3–4 percent carbon, and traces of other elements such as silicon, manganese, and phosphorus, depending on the ore used. Pig iron is much harder than 100 percent pure iron, but still too weak for most everyday purposes.\nCast iron\nCast iron is simply liquid iron that has been cast: poured into a mold and allowed to cool and harden to form a finished structural shape, such as a pipe, a gear , or a big girder for an iron bridge . Pig iron is actually a very basic form of cast iron, but it's molded only very crudely because it's typically melted down to make steel. The high carbon content of cast iron (the same as pig iron—roughly 3–4 percent) makes it extremely hard and brittle: large crystals of carbon embedded in cast iron stop the crystals of iron from moving about. Cast iron has two big drawbacks: first, because it's hard and brittle, it's virtually impossible to shape, even when heated; second, it rusts relatively easily. It's worth noting that there are actually several different types of cast iron, including white and gray cast irons (named for the coloring of the finished product caused by the way the carbon inside it behaves).\nPhoto: One of the world's most famous iron buildings, the Capitol in Washington, DC has a dome made of 8,909,200 pounds of cast iron! Photo by courtesy of The Architect of the Capitol .\nWrought iron\nCast iron assumes its finished shape the moment the liquid iron alloy cools down in the mold. Wrought iron is a very different material made by mixing liquid iron with some slag. The result is an iron alloy with a much lower carbon content. Wrought iron is softer than cast iron and much less tough, so you can heat it up to shape it relatively easily, and it's also much less prone to rusting. However, relatively little wrought iron is now produced commercially, since most of the objects originally produced from it are now made from steel, which is both cheaper and generally of more consistent quality. Wrought iron is what people used to use before they really mastered making steel in large quantities in the mid-19th century.\nTypes of steel\nStrictly speaking, steel is just another type of iron alloy, but it has a much lower carbon content than cast and wrought iron and other metals are often added to give it extra properties. Steel is such an amazingly useful material that we tend to talk about it as though it were a metal in its own right—a kind of sleeker, more modern \"son of iron\" that's taken over the family firm! It's important to remember two things, however. First, steel is still essentially (and overwhelmingly) made from iron. Second, there are literally thousands of different types of steel, many of them precisely designed by materials scientists to perform a particular job under very exacting conditions. When we talk about \"steel\", we usually mean \"steels\"; broadly speaking, steels fall into four groups: carbon steels, alloy steels, tool steels, and stainless steels. These names can be confusing, because all alloy steels contain carbon (as do all other steels), all carbon steels are also alloys, and both tool steels and stainless steels are alloys too.\nCarbon steels\nThe vast majority of steel produced each day (around 80–90 percent) is what we call carbon steel, though it contains only a tiny amount of carbon—sometimes much less than 1 percent. In other words, carbon steel is just basic, ordinary steel. Steels with about 1–2 percent carbon are called (not surprisingly) high-carbon steels and, like cast-iron, they tend to be hard and brittle; steels with less than 1 percent carbon are known as low-carbon steels and like wrought iron, are softer and easier to shape. A huge range of different everyday items are made carbon steels, from car bodies and warship hulls to steel cans and engine parts.\nAlloy steels\nAs well as iron and carbon, alloy steels contain one or more other elements, such as chromium , copper , manganese, nickel , silicon, or vanadium. In alloy steels, it's these extra elements that make the difference and provide some important additional feature or improved property compared to ordinary carbon steels. Alloy steels are generally stronger, harder, tougher, and more durable than carbon steels.\nTool steels\nTool steels are especially hard alloy steels used to make tools, dies, and machine parts. They're made from iron and carbon with added elements such as nickel, molybdenum, or tungsten to give extra hardness and resistance to wear. Tool steels are also toughened up by a process called tempering, in which steel is first heated to a high temperature, then cooled very quickly, then heated again to a lower temperature.\nStainless steels\nThe steel you probably see most often is stainless steel—used in household cutlery, scissors, and medical instruments. Stainless steels contain a high proportion of chromium and nickel , are very resistant to corrosion and other chemical reactions, and are easy to clean, polish, and sterilize.\nMaking steel\nThere are three main stages involved in making a steel product. First, you make the steel from iron. Second, you treat the steel to improve its properties (perhaps by tempering it or plating it with another metal). Finally, you roll or otherwise shape the steel into the finished product.\nMaking steel from iron\nMost steel is made from pig iron (remember: that's an iron alloy containing up to 4 percent carbon) by one of several different processes designed to remove some of the carbon and (optionally) substitute one or more other elements. The three main steelmaking processes are:\nBasic oxygen process (BOP): The steel is made in a giant egg-shaped container, open at the top, called a basic oxygen furnace, which is similar to an ordinary blast furnace, only it can rotate to one side to pour off the finished metal. The air draft used in a blast furnace is replaced with an injection of pure oxygen through a pipe called a lance. The basic idea is based on the Bessemer process developed by Sir Henry Bessemer in the 1850s.\nOpen-hearth process (also called the regenerative open hearth): A bit like a giant fireplace in which pig iron, scrap steel, and iron ore are burned with limestone until they fuse together. More pig iron is added, the unwanted carbon combines with oxygen, the impurities are removed as slag and the iron turns to molten steel. Skilled workers sample the steel and continue the process until the iron has exactly the right carbon content to make a particular type of steel.\nElectric-furnace process: You don't cook your dinner with an open fire, so why make steel in such a primitive way? That's the thinking behind the electric furnace, which uses electric arcs (effectively giant sparks) to melt pig iron or scrap steel. Since they're much more controllable, electric furnaces are generally used to make higher-specification alloy, carbon, and tool steels.\nPhoto: Making steel for weaponry with the three-ton electric arc furnace at Rock Island Arsenal. Photo by Tony Lopez courtesy of Defense Imagery.\nWhich countries produce the world's raw steel? Approximately 1.65 billion metric tons of steel are made worldwide each year. This chart shows estimated worldwide raw steel production figures for 2015. In the United States, there were 110 \"minimill\" steel plants in operation at the start of 2016 (down from 113 a year earlier) making a total of about 110 million tons of steel (slightly down from 114 million tons in 2015). Indiana (27 percent), Ohio (13 percent), Michigan (6 percent), and Pennsylvania (5 percent) together produce about half of all US steel. Source: US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016.\nMaking steel products\nLiquid steel made by one of these processes is cast into huge bars called ingots, each of which weighs anything from a couple of tons (in typical steel plants) to hundreds of tons (in really big plants making giant steel objects). The ingots are rolled and pressed to make three types of basic steel \"building blocks\" known as blooms (giant bars with square ends), slabs (blooms with rectangular ends), and billets (longer than blooms but with smaller square ends).\nThese blocks are then shaped and worked to make all kinds of final steel products. The basic shaping process usually involves hot rolling (for example, reheating blooms and then rolling them over and over again to make them thinner). Girders are made by rolling steel then forcing it through dies or milling machines to make such things as beams for buildings and railroad tracks. Rollers that are very close together can be used to squeeze steel into extremely thin sheets. Pipes are made by wrapping sheets round into circles then forcing the two edges together so they fuse under pressure where they join.\nShaped steel can be further treated in all kinds of ways. For example, \"tins\" for food containers (which are mostly steel) are made by electroplating steel sheets with molten tin using the process of electrolysis (the reverse of the electro-chemical process that happens in batteries ). Steel that needs to be especially resistant to weathering can be galvanized (dipped into a hot bath of molten zinc so it acquires an overall protective coating).\nWhy is one type of iron and steel harder or softer than another?\nIn all this discussion of iron and steel, you'll have noticed that different types behave almost like completely different materials under different conditions. What makes one form of iron or steel different from another? Why are some very hard and brittle while others are relatively soft and malleable (easy to work)? Peer at the internal structure of iron or steel under an electron microscope and you'll see that the answer largely boils down to how much carbon the iron contains and how it's distributed. Iron and steel consist of grains made of different kinds of iron and carbon, some of which are hard, while others are soft. When the harder kinds predominate, you get a hard and brittle material; when there are more softer kinds in between, the material can bend and flex so you can work and shape it more easily.\n?\nThe compounds inside iron and steel include some or all of the following:\nFerrite: Relatively pure iron with tiny amounts of carbon that is soft and easy to shape. Gives iron its magnetic property.\nCementite (iron carbide): Iron with much more carbon (and sometimes other elements) that is very hard and brittle. Essentially behaves like a ceramic material.\nGraphite: Pure carbon crystals, which make iron alloys hard and brittle.\nPearlite: A mixture made of alternate layers of ferrite and cementite that looks like mother of pearl under a microscope (hence the name \"pearlite\").\nAustenite: An alloy of iron and carbon present in steel heated to high temperatures.\nMartensite: Similar to ferrite but much harder.\nDifferent types of iron and steel contain different amounts of these ingredients arranged in varying crystalline structures. Making iron alloys or steel by one method or another will change the relative amounts of the ingredients, altering its properties. Treating steel in different ways after it's made changes its physical properties by altering its internal crystalline structure. For example, heat-treating steel changes austenite inside it into martensite, making its internal structure very much harder. Hammering and rolling steel breaks up crystals of graphite and other impurities lurking inside it, closes up any gaps that could lead to weaknesses, and generally produces a more regular crystalline structure.\nWhat is steel used for?\nSteel is one of the most versatile materials, used in everything from jet engines to surgical instruments and from table knives to machine tools. Major consumers of steel include the automobile and shipbuilding industries, the construction industry, producers of food cans, and manufacturers of electrical appliances.\nPhoto: The inner steel skeleton of a building under construction. Many buildings are \"quietly\" supported by a secret inner structure like this that becomes invisible once they're complete.\nA brief history of iron and steel\n4000 BCE: Iron is first used for ornaments and decoration, probably in the Middle East.\n2500 BCE: Iron is used on a large scale for the first time by the Hittites, in a region now occupied by Turkey and Syria.\n1200 BCE: Wrought iron (similar to steel) is developed.\n1000 BCE: Iron Age begins: iron is widely used for making tools and weapons in many parts of the world.\n200 BCE: Cast-iron objects are produced in China.\n300BCE–400CE: First steel furnaces used in Africa, India, and China.\n500–1000 CE: Blacksmiths make many important iron goods including weapons, plows, and horseshoes.\n700: An efficient iron-making furnace called the Catalan forge is developed in Spain.\n1200–1500: Blast furnaces powered by waterwheels become popular.\n1709: Abraham Darby first uses coke (a type of coal) to make pig iron in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire in England's Midlands. His grandson, Abraham Darby III, uses cast iron to make a famous iron bridge at a place now called \"Ironbridge,\" widely considered the heart of the English Industrial Revolution.\n1856: Henry Bessemer announces his invention of the Bessemer converter, a basic oxygen furnace that can convert iron to steel in very large, commercial quantities.\n1861: The brothers William and Frederick Siemens develop the open-hearth furnace\n1879: William Siemens invents the electric furnace.\n1954: Modern basic oxygen process is invented.\nMetals\nOn other websites\nUSGS Minerals Information: Iron and steel : Current statistics and other information about US and worldwide iron and steel production.\nAmerican Iron and Steel Institute : Leading US trade organization. Website contains some simple background information about how we use steel today.\nAssociation for Iron & Steel Technology : Quite detailed background, though some sections of the site are for members only.\nBooks\nGeneral books for older readers\nDreams of Iron and Steel by Deborah Cadbury. HarperCollins, 2004. Surveys seven \"wonders of the modern world\" made possible by iron and steel technology, including the Panama Canal, the London sewers, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Hoover Dam.\nStuff Matters by Mark Miodownik. Penguin, 2014. A friendly introduction to essential everyday materials. Steel is covering in Chapter 1, \"Indomitable.\"",
"Beer Stein Article – “Metal Arts Glossary”\n... white metallic element used chiefly in alloys such as Britannia Metal. ... Britannia Metal — A silver-white alloy composed largely of tin ... mainly found on ...\nBeer Stein Article � �Metal Arts Glossary�\nMetal Arts Glossary*\nCompiled by Stephen L. Smith\nAcanthus � An herbaceous plant whose stylized leaves have been a common ornamental motif in eastern European decorative arts.\nAjoure � Areas of silver in which the background or designs have been entirely cut out of the metal, creating openwork decoration. Also called �pierced� work.\nAlloy � A substance composed of two or more metals intimately united, usually intermixed when molten.\nAlpacca � German silver or nickel silver, synonymous trade names; an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc.\nAnnealing � Reheating silver to keep it malleable while it is being worked.\nAntimony � A natural metal; a brittle, lustrous, white metallic element used chiefly in alloys such as Britannia Metal.\nApocryphal � Classical term for a fake piece.\nArmorial(s) � Coat(s) of Arms engraved on the vessel. The direction of the line or pattern of the engraving indicates the color in the original Arms.\nAssayer � The person who determines and verifies the amount of gold or silver in an alloyed vessel. All Russian drinking vessels normally have an assay mark stamped on them in addition to other required marks.\nAssay Mark � The mark stamped into the vessel indicating the assay test was performed and approved.\nBaluster � A shape (e.g., of old measures) in which the curved outline broadens above the foot and narrows towards the neck.\nBase Metal � An alloy or metal of comparatively low value to which a coating or plating is normally applied.\nBiedermeier � A style fashionable c. 1820-1850 in Austria and Germany.\nBismuth � A brittle natural metal used in alloys to strengthen a softer metal.\nBleeding � The technical term applied to pieces of silver-plate where the copper base is exposed, especially Old Sheffield, Plate.\nBodenrosette (Pewter) � A quality mark usually found on the base of a holloware vessel in Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, Eastern France and Germany.\nBrass � An alloy of copper and zinc.\nBright-cut Engraving � A form of engraving popular towards the end of the 18th century, which burnishes one side of the cut while picking out the silver with a beveled edge on the other side.\nBritannia Metal � A silver-white alloy composed largely of tin hardened with copper and antimony. Closely akin to pewter, but differing in the higher proportion of tin. The addition of antimony and the omission of lead results in a more silvery appearance than pewter. It often also contains a small quantity of zinc and bismuth. A common proportion is 140 parts of tin, three of copper and ten of antimony. Popular as a base for silver-plating.\nBritannia Standard � Silver of this standard is 95.8 percent pure, with 4.2 percent alloy. The Britannia standard replaced the sterling standard in England in 1697 and remained in mandatory use there until 1720.\nBronze � An alloy consisting chiefly of copper and tin.\nBurin � A pointed steel cutting tool used in engraving or in cutting stone.\nButler�s Finish � Satin finish produced by a revolving wheel of wire which makes many tiny scratches, giving the article a dull appearance.\nBurnishing � Essentially a polishing process in which the rounded edges and point of a metal blade set in a wooden handle are used to compact and smooth the surface of a formed silver object, or to brighten the dull surface of cast silver.\nCaryatid � Female figure used as a support, as in architecture, or in a handle.\nCasting � A method of shaping an object by melting the metal and pouring it into a specially prepared mold. On cooling, the metal retains the shape of the mold.\nCast Chasing � An ancient method of producing small parts, such as feet, handles or finials. An exact model of the required part is made in a soft material, from which an impression is taken in two halves, forming a mold when clamped together, into which molten silver can be poured.\nChasing � The decoration of silver by the use of punches, removing no silver in the process.\nChinoiserie � Decoration in the Chinese style, popular throughout Europe, particularly France: (1) Embossing with Chinese figures in the Dutch style; (2) Linear decoration in flat chasing, exclusive to England, c. 1680-1690 (referred to as Chinoiserie throughout, all else being �in the Chinese style�); (3) Repousse Rococo decoration using Chinese motifs, mainly found on objects concerned with tea, c. 1750.\nCloissone � Enameling by melting the frit into areas defined by wire soldered to the surface being decorated.\nCoin � By 1830, COIN, PURE COIN, DOLLAR, STANDARD, PREMIUM or the letters C or D were used to indicate 900/1000 parts of silver. (Some lesser amounts such as .800 were also considered coin).\nCopper � One of the true metals, mostly used in an alloy for vessels, but sometimes found lined with tin.\nC-scroll � Usually applied to the shape of a handle in the form of the letter C; also called �single scroll�.\nCut Card Work � Flat sections of very thin silver, cut out to a simple pattern such as foliage, and soldered on to the surface of the object to be decorated. Brass cut card work is sometimes found on pewter steins.\nDate � The date included in the maker�s mark in many countries either indicates the date of the legislation under which the piece was marked, or it records the date of the master�s entry into a guild. Sometimes, however, succeeding generations of a family continued to use the earlier dates of their ancestor�s admission, as if to say �Established since...�. The date does not show the year in which the piece was made. Pewter was generally not marked with date letters in the same way as silver pieces were marked (Scandinavia is an exception).\nDolphin � The sea dolphin used as a sculptured or carved motif. Very popular in Flanders (Belgium) and Denmark.\nDouble-scroll � A sinuous line of S-shape, or composed of reverse curves, used frequently in the design of handles.\nDrum � The section of the vessel between the lid and the base; the main body of a vessel.\nEdelzinn � Display pewter cast in relief; used since the 19th century to describe German and French relief pewter of the 16th and 17th centuries.\nElectroplating � The application of a pure silver coating to otherwise finished articles, by the process of electrolysis. Perfected by Elkington Co., c. 1840.\nElectrotype � A copy of an art object produced by electroplating a wax impression. Used in the nineteenth century to reproduce antique objects.\nEmbossing � Similar to repousse in appearance, but used mainly to create relief designs achieved in one action, such as those impressed by a shaped metal die.\nEnglisch Zinn (Pewter) � Metal purified to English standards, or using English tin. See also �Feinzinn�.\nEngraving � Line decoration cut by hand into the surface from the front. Used since primitive times, skill and delicacy of touch are of extreme importance. Now often mistakenly called �etching�.\nEPC � Electroplate on copper.\nEPBM � Electroplate on Britannia metal.\nEPNS � Electroplate on nickel silver.\nEPWM � Electroplate on white metal.\nEtching � Surface decoration bitten-in with acid, producing a different type bite than engraving.\nCopper stein, 1700s; pewter stein, early 1700s; silver plated pass cup with bone handles, late 1800s.\nFaux � Literally false, or fake as in �faux-cut card work around the base.� See also �Apocryphal�.\nFeinzinn � High quality pewter.\nFiligree � Fine silver, gold or silver-gilt wires twisted and built up in curvilinear designs kept in place with solder applied at points of contact.\nFinial � Topmost feature of a piece, or centering the lid of a measure or flagon. Usually cast and often figural.\nFlat Chasing � Chasing in very low relief worked from the front, pushing the metal aside in line drawing, giving a less sharply defined, but much more positive, outline than engraving. Always visible from the back.\nFluting � A surface decoration composed of a series of parallel, usually vertical, concave channels. Derived from classical architecture, fluting was used to ornament the shafts of columns and pilasters.\nFrit � A mixture of previously made glass ground into a powder and mixed with oxides and oil to give enamel its glass base. Used in a paste form in Cloissone.\nFusion � An act or operation of melting, as in the fusion of metals. Usually accomplished by the application of intense heat.\nGadrooning � A surface decoration composed of a series of parallel, smooth, rounded ridges juxtaposed vertically, or sometimes set diagonally or in a swirling pattern. In appearance, gadrooning is the opposite of fluting.\nGerman Silver � A silver-white alloy consisting principally of copper, zinc and nickel. During World War I, this name was dropped by many in favor of the term nickel silver.\nGilding � The application of a gold color to silver either: (1) by melting gold with mercury and painting it onto the surface with a brush, before removing the mercury by evaporation under heat, causing the two metals to fuse; (2) by soaking a linen rag in a solution of chloride of gold, burning it and rubbing the ashes onto the silver, which adhere; or (3) by modem electrolysis.\nGold Plating � The covering of an article with gold by electrolysis.\nGrotesques � Fanciful and intricate designs loosely incorporating human figures, sphinxes, animals, foliage, etc., derived in the 16th century from Roman originals.\nHallmark � Used for both silver and pewter vessels. See �Maker�s Mark�.\nHolloware � A general term for articles in the form of hollow vessels, such as mugs, steins, flagons, ewers, teapots, coffeepots, bowls and pitchers.\nHousemark � On pewter, a non-heraldic device stamped or engraved to signify ownership.\nKnop � An abrupt widening in the middle of the stem of a chalice or cup, usually global or egg-shaped.\nLimoges � Enamel painted on metal, covering the surface.\nMartele � The French term for �hammered�, used to describe the decorative effect of the honeycomb-patterned facets left on an object by the planishing hammer. This surface was favored in the second half of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries by silversmiths who wanted to emphasize the impression of handwork.\nMaker�s Mark � The maker�s touchmark that acknowledges responsibility for his work. Usually in the form of a cartouche bearing initials or name. In English-speaking countries, it is called a Hallmark. See also �Date�.\nMatting � A decorative effect created by impressing the surface of the silver article with the point of a tool cut with one of a variety of hatched designs or a series of fine dots. The technique is used to break up the shiny surface of an object by providing contrasting matted areas.\nNickel Silver � An alloy of nickel, copper and zinc.\nNiello � A black alloy of silver, copper, lead and sulphur used to fill in engraving, giving an inlaid effect after being fired and polished. Used from early times, especially with Russian vessels.\nN.S. � Nickel silver.\nO.E.W.S. � Old English Wine Standard; pre-Imperial capacity, pre-1826.\nOrmolu � Literally, �ground gold�. Ground gold leaf used as a gilt pigment. Also, brass made to look like gold.\nParcel Gilt � An object that has been partially gilded.\nPatina � Soft luster caused by tiny scratches and oxidation that come with daily use and age.\nPewter � An alloy of tin and copper or any alloy of the low-melting-point metals, including tin, lead, bismuth and antimony. The higher the tin content and the lower the lead content, the better the pewter.\nPierced Work � see �Ajoure�.\nPit Marks � Minute holes usually found on pewter, lead or other soft metal borders (edges).\nPlanishing � The use of a hammer with a smooth, slightly convex head to remove the marks left on an object by the raising process. This is a finishing, not a shaping, technique.\nPlate � Used in England and on the Continent when referring to articles made of precious metals. Used in the United States to mean electro-silverplate.\nPique-a-jour � Translucent enamel without a metal backing, enclosed within metal frames, giving a stained glass or jewel-like effect.\nPricking � Tiny dots struck in the surface of a vessel to give detail to an engraved pattern or to render dates, initials and occasionally coats of arms and longer inscriptions.\nPseudo Hallmarks � Devices used to suggest English hallmarks, but never registered.\nQuality Marks (Pewter) � Several of the marks which indicated the quality of the pewter in the vessel. These included the Rose and Crown, the Angel Mark, an X sometimes crowned, and others, depending on the country (see �Bodenrosette�) and the decade. All quite confusing but an interesting field of study.\nRepousse � A method of making patterns or pictures in relief by pushing out the surface of the metal from behind.\nRolled Plate (R.P.) � See �Sheffield Plate�.\nSheffield Plate � True Sheffield Plate was produced by fusing, with intense heat, a thin sheet of silver to one or both sides of a thick sheet of copper. The composite metal was then rolled down to the proper thickness for fabrication. Invented by Thomas Boulsover about 1743, it was rampant by the 1760s throughout England and Europe. Most frequently called Old �Sheffield Plate� to distinguish it from electroplate.\nSilverplate � A base metal, usually either Britannia, nickel silver or copper, coated with a layer of pure silver by electroplating.\nSkirt Base � Chiefly on flagons and tankards, flaring outward to raise the body from table level.\nSoldering � The method by which separately-made silver parts are joined together, using an alloy that will melt at a lower temperature than silver, thereby melting when applied to hot silver during soldering. A hard alloy of silver and zinc is now generally used.\nSpinning � The production of hollow wares on a spinning lathe by means of forcing a disc of rotating silver, Britannia or other metal up around a previously hand-turned hardwood head, with a long-handled steel-headed tool, until it has taken its likeness. Known since ancient times, but popular since the early 19th century. Used in later Old Sheffield Plate vessels which are seamless.\nStamping � The mechanical production (since c. 1820) of ready-made parts in quantity, complete with their decoration, by the use of hard steel dies cut in reverse to the required pattern. Stamped borders, strapwork, etc., used from the 16th century, were hand-hammered from the back, also using hand-cut dies.\nSterling Silver � 925/1000 fine, with 75/1000 of added metal, usually copper, to give it strength and stiffness. This is the standard set by the United States Government in the Stamping Act of 1906, and any article stamped �sterling� is supposed to be of assured quality.\nTouchmark � an impressed mark; see �Maker�s Mark�.\nTown Mark � The mark assigned to a city and applied as a quasi-hallmark to denote the location of manufacture, usually a coat of arms, devise or seal of the city.\nTulip-shape � Baluster-shaped; usually applied to the shape of English mugs and tankards of the 1700s and 1800s.\nVerification Marks (Pewter) � Found on both British and French vessels. The stamped marks indicate the vessel(s) so stamped hold(s) the amount of liquid marked on the vessel; e.g., �pint�.\nVermeil � Gold-plating process developed in France in the mid-1700s. France banned production of vermeil early in the 19th century because the process involved the use of mercury. Present-day vermeil is produced by a safe electrolytic process.\nWhite Metal � An alloy usually containing two or more of the following elements: tin, copper, lead, antimony and bismuth. The color depends on whether lead or tin predominates. The more tin the whiter the color.\nWrigglework � Zigzag engraving, achieved by moving the burin in a rocking movement; or a roulette, or wheel, with a finely-crimped edge. Popular in the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, especially on pewter.\n__________",
"Tire.txt\nTire\nA tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped vehicle component that covers the wheel's rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, provide traction between the vehicle and the road while providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock.\n\nThe materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, the first versions of tires were simply bands of metal fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Early rubber tires were solid (not pneumatic). Today, the majority of tires are pneumatic inflatable structures, comprising a doughnut-shaped body of cords and wires encased in rubber and generally filled with compressed air to form an inflatable cushion. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are still used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber (or other polymer) tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers, and wheelbarrows.\n\nEtymology and spelling\n\nHistorically, the spelling was \"tire\" and is of French origin, which comes from the word tirer, to pull. The reason for this naming is that originally \"tire\" referred to iron hoops or thick wires bound to carriage wheels. In French blacksmithing the word for a drawn iron rod is a tirer, or pull. The same word was often used for any metal drawing or rolling process. In an article in the London Magazine/Intelligencer of 1853 \"The Utility of Broad Wheels,\" the author explains that the common practice was to bend two rods, called \"tires\", into hoops and bind them to the wheel, but it is preferable to use an iron band, called a \"broad wheel\" rather than the rods, because as the rods wear they bite into the wheel. Another early mention of a tire in English is in The Scots Magazine, Volume 15 By James Boswell (1753).\n\nAnother etymology of \"tire\" is provided by Online Etymology Dictionary, essentially that the word is a short form of \"attire,\" and that a wheel with a tire is a dressed wheel. Some other etymologists may share this view.\n\nThe spelling tyre does not appear until the 1840s when the English began shrink fitting railway car wheels with malleable iron. Nevertheless, traditional publishers continued using tire. The Times newspaper in Britain was still using tire as late as 1905. The spelling tyre, however, began to be commonly used in the 19th century for pneumatic tires in the UK. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica states that \"[t]he spelling 'tyre' is not now accepted by the best English authorities, and is unrecognized in the US\", while Fowler's Modern English Usage of 1926 says that \"there is nothing to be said for 'tyre', which is etymologically wrong, as well as needlessly divergent from our own [sc. British] older & the present American usage\". However, over the course of the 20th century tyre became established as the standard British spelling.\n\nHistory\n\nThe earliest tires were bands of leather, then iron, (later steel), placed on wooden wheels, used on carts and wagons. The tire would be heated in a forge fire, placed over the wheel and quenched, causing the metal to contract and fit tightly on the wheel. A skilled worker, known as a wheelwright, carried out this work. The outer ring served to \"tie\" the wheel segments together for use, providing also a wear-resistant surface to the perimeter of the wheel. The word \"tire\" thus emerged as a variant spelling to refer to the metal bands used to tie wheels.\n\nThe first patent for what appears to be a standard pneumatic tire appeared in 1847 lodged by the Scots inventor Robert William Thomson. However, this never went into production. The first practical pneumatic tire was made in 1888Dunlop believed he first thought of the pneumatic tire about October 1887 for his son Johnnie's tricycle, in May Street, Belfast by Scots-born John Boyd Dunlop, proprietor of one of Ireland's most prosperous veterinary practices. It was an effort to prevent the headaches his 10-year-old son was given by jarring while riding on rough pavements. His doctor, John, later Sir John Fagan, had prescribed cycling as an exercise for the boy and, a regular visitor, Fagan participated in the development of the first pneumatic schemes. In Dunlop's tire patent specification dated 31 October 1888 his interest is only in its use in cycles and light vehicles. In September 1890 he was made aware of an earlier development but the company kept the information to itself.Sir Arthur Du Cros, Bt, Wheels of Fortune, a salute to pioneers, Chapman & Hall, London 1938\n\nIn 1892 Dunlop's patent was declared invalid because of prior art by forgotten fellow Scot Robert William Thomson of London (patents London 1845, France 1846, USA 1847), although Dunlop is credited with \"realizing rubber could withstand the wear and tear of being a tire while retaining its resilience\". John Boyd Dunlop and Harvey du Cros together worked through the ensuing considerable difficulties. They employed inventor Charles Kingston Welch and also acquired other rights and patents which allowed them some limited protection of their Pneumatic Tyre business's position. Pneumatic Tyre would become Dunlop Rubber and Dunlop Tyres. The development of this technology hinged on myriad engineering advances.\n\nThe vulcanization of natural rubber which he patented in 1844 is credited to Charles Goodyear and Robert William Thomson.\n\nSynthetic rubbers were invented in the laboratories of Bayer in the 1920s.\n\nIn 1946, Michelin developed the radial tire method of construction. Michelin had bought the bankrupt Citroën automobile company in 1934, so it was able to fit this new technology immediately. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this technology quickly spread throughout Europe and Asia. In the U.S., the outdated bias-ply tire construction persisted, with market share of 87% as late as 1967. Delay was caused by tire and automobile manufacturers in America \"concerned about transition costs.\" In 1968, Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine, acknowledged the superiority of radial construction, setting off a rapid decline in Michelin's competitor technology. Even in the U.S., the radial tire now has a market share of 100%.\n\nToday, over 1 billion tires are produced annually in over 400 tire factories, see List of tire companies.\n\nWheel support\n\nThere are two aspects to how pneumatic tires support the rim of the wheel on which they are mounted. First, tension in the cords pull on the bead uniformly around the wheel, except where it is reduced above the contact patch. Second, the bead transfers that net force to the rim.\n\nAir pressure, via the ply cords, exerts tensile force on the entire bead surrounding the wheel rim on which the tire is mounted, pulling outward in a 360 degree pattern. Thus the bead must have high tensile strength. With no force applied to the outer tread, the bead is pulled equally in all directions, thus no additional net force is applied to the tire bead and wheel rim. However, when the tread is pushed inward on one side, this releases some pressure on the corresponding sidewall ply pulling on the bead. Yet the sidewall ply on the other side continues to pull the bead in the opposite direction. Thus the still fully tensioned sidewall ply pulls the tire bead and wheel rim in the direction opposite to the tread displacement and matching the total force applied to push the tread inward.\n\nThis sidewall ply to bead tension support was a big reason for older cross-ply cord tire construction using the materials available in the early 19th century. The cross-ply cord arrangement orients the cords to more directly support the bead & wheel rim (like a sling: bead to cord and around below the tread back to the opposite bead, both ways, thus crossing plies of cords). \nHowever, with improved combinations of cord, bead, rim materials and manufacturing techniques, combined with ongoing focus and research on tire efficiency and durability, it became both feasible and desirable to manufacture radial-ply cord tires, which, for many applications (despite higher costs), outperform and more than outlast (reliable-usual-service-life/cost ratio) similar cross-ply cord tire designs by (a) facilitating a flatter contact pattern with more evenly distributed pressure on the momentarily stationary area of contact between tread & ground and (b) lower operating costs over time: due to reduced tire temperature, decreased rolling resistance, lower puncture rates, greater longevity, etc. \n\nManufacturing\n\nPneumatic tires are manufactured in about 450 tire factories around the world. Over one billion tires are manufactured annually, making the tire industry a major consumer of natural rubber. It is estimated that by 2015, 1.72 billion tires are expected to be sold globally.[http://www.prweb.com/releases/tires_OEM/replacement_tire/prweb4545704.htm Global Tire Shipments to Reach 1.7 Billion Units by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc] Tire production starts with bulk raw materials such as rubber, carbon black, and chemicals and produces numerous specialized components that are assembled and cured. Many kinds of rubber are used, the most common being styrene-butadiene copolymer. The article Tire manufacturing describes the components assembled to make a tire, the various materials used, the manufacturing processes and machinery, and the overall business model.\n\nIn 2004, $80 billion of tires were sold worldwide,[http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-295707/Global-tire-industry-hits-80.html Global tire industry hits $80 billion. | Goliath Business News] in 2010 it was $140 billion (approximately 34% growth adjusting for inflation).\n\nThe top five tire manufacturing companies by revenue are Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, and Pirelli.[http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Market-Report/research-report-on-worlds-top-50-tire-enterprises,-2010-2011-454329.asp Research Report on World's Top 50 Tire Enterprises, 2010-2011 Market Research Report - 02 December 2010]\n\nMaterials\n\nThe materials of modern pneumatic tires can be divided into two groups, the cords that make up the ply and the elastomer which encases them.\n\nCords\n\nThe cords, which form the ply and bead and provide the tensile strength necessary to contain the inflation pressure, can be composed of steel, natural fibers such as cotton or silk, or synthetic fibers such as nylon or kevlar.\n\nElastomer\n\nThe elastomer, which forms the tread and encases the cords to protect them from abrasion and hold them in place, is\na key component of pneumatic tire design. It can be composed of various\ncomposites of rubber material – the most common being styrene-butadiene\ncopolymer - with other chemical compound such as silica and carbon black.\n\nRolling Resistance \n\nOptimizing rolling resistance in the elastomer material is a key challenge for reducing fuel consumption in the transportation sector. It is estimated that passenger vehicles consume approximately 5~15% of its fuel to overcome rolling resistance, while the estimate is understood to be higher for heavy trucks. However, there is a trade-off between rolling resistance and wet traction and grip: while low rolling resistance can be achieved by reducing the viscoelastic properties of the rubber compound (low tangent (δ)), it comes at the cost of wet traction and grip, which requires hysteresis and energy dissipation (high tangent (δ)). A low tangent (δ) value at 60 °C is used as an indicator of low rolling resistance, while a high tangent (δ) value at 0 °C is used as an indicator of high wet traction. Designing an elastomer material that can achieve both high wet traction and low rolling resistance is key in achieving safety and fuel efficiency in the transportation sector.\n\nThe most common elastomer material used today is a styrene-butadiene copolymer. It combines butadiene, which is a highly rubbery polymer (Tg -100 °C) that has low hysteresis and thus offers good rolling resistance, with styrene, which is a highly glass polymer (Tg \n 100 °C) that has high hysteresis and thus offers good wet grip properties in addition to wear resistance. Therefore, the ratio the two polymers in the styrene-butadiene\ncopolymer is considered key in determining the glass transition temperature of the material, which is correlated to its grip and resistance properties. \n\nMaterials science research efforts are underway to improve such properties of elastomers. For instance, this involves modifying the microstructure of the copolymer (for instance, using solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) to control the addition of vinyl butadiene units) as well as the macrostructure of the polymer (such as the width of molecular weight distribution (MWD)). Current investigation also involves looking at the functionalization of the elastomer through the addition of filler materials such as silica and carbon black, as well as testing other nano-fillers such as nanocellulose crystals, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. \n\nTrialkoxymercaptoalkyl-silanes are a particularly interesting class of silane bonding agents because of the advantages they afford in reducing both rolling resistance and the emission of volatile substances. \n\nComponents\n\nA tire carcass is composed of several parts: the tread, bead, sidewall, shoulder, and ply.\n\nTread\n\nThe tread is the part of the tire that comes in contact with the road surface. The portion that is in contact with the road at a given instant in time is the contact patch. The tread is a thick rubber, or rubber/composite compound formulated to provide an appropriate level of traction that does not wear away too quickly. The tread pattern is characterized by the geometrical shape of the grooves, lugs, voids and sipes. Grooves run circumferentially around the tire, and are needed to channel away water. Lugs are that portion of the tread design that contacts the road surface. Voids are spaces between lugs that allow the lugs to flex and evacuate water. Tread patterns feature non-symmetrical (or non-uniform) lug sizes circumferentially to minimize noise levels at discrete frequencies. Sipes are valleys cut across the tire, usually perpendicular to the grooves, which allow the water from the grooves to escape to the sides in an effort to prevent hydroplaning.\n\nTreads are often designed to meet specific product marketing positions. High performance tires have small void ratios to provide more rubber in contact with the road for higher traction, but may be compounded with softer rubber that provides better traction, but wears quickly. Mud and snow (M&S) tires are designed with higher void ratios to channel away rain and mud, while providing better gripping performance.\n\nTread lug\n\nTread lugs provide the contact surface necessary to provide traction. As the tread lug enters the road contact area, or footprint, it is compressed. As it rotates through the footprint it is deformed circumferentially. As it exits the footprint, it recovers to its original shape. During the deformation and recovery cycle the tire exerts variable forces into the vehicle. These forces are described as Force Variation. \n\nTread void\n\nTread voids provide space for the lug to flex and deform as it enters and exits the footprint. Voids also provide channels for rainwater, mud, and snow to be channeled away from the footprint. The void ratio is the void area of the tire divided by the entire tread area. Low void areas have high contact area and therefore higher traction on clean, dry pavement.\n\nRain groove\n\nThe rain groove is a design element of the tread pattern specifically arranged to channel water away from the footprint. Rain grooves are circumferential in most truck tires. Many high performance passenger tires feature rain grooves that are angled from the center toward the sides of the tire. Some tire manufacturers claim that their tread pattern is designed to actively pump water out from under the tire by the action of the tread flexing. This results in a smoother ride in different types of weather.\n\nSipe\n\nTread lugs often feature small narrow voids, or sipes, that improve the flexibility of the lug to deform as it traverses the footprint area. This reduces shear stress in the lug and reduces heat build up. Testing of identical siped and unsiped tires showed measurable improvements in snow traction and ice braking performance, however diminishing and extending braking distances on wet and dry pavement by a few feet on siped tires. Off-road tire enthusiasts have been siping tires for years for greater traction, as many manufacturers now offer already siped off-road-tires.\n\nWear bar\n\nWear bars (or wear indicators) are raised features located at the bottom of the tread grooves that indicate the tire has reached its wear limit. When the tread lugs are worn to the point that the wear bars connect across the lugs, the tires are fully worn and should be taken out of service. Most wear bars indicate a remaining tread depth of and are deemed \"worn out\" at that point. \n\nBead\n\nThe bead is the part of the tire that contacts the rim on the wheel. The bead is typically reinforced with steel wire and compounded of high strength, low flexibility rubber. The bead seats tightly against the two rims on the wheel to ensure that a tubeless tire holds air without leakage. The bead fit is tight to ensure the tire does not shift circumferentially as the wheel rotates. The width of the rim in relationship to the tire is a factor in the handling characteristics of an automobile, because the rim supports the tire's profile.\n\nSidewall\n\nThe sidewall is that part of the tire that bridges between the tread and bead. The sidewall is largely rubber but reinforced with fabric or steel cords that provide for tensile strength and flexibility. The sidewall contains air pressure and transmits the torque applied by the drive axle to the tread to create traction but supports little of the weight of the vehicle, as is clear from the total collapse of the tire when punctured. Sidewalls are molded with manufacturer-specific detail, government mandated warning labels, and other consumer information, and sometimes decorative ornamentation, like whitewalls.\n\nShoulder\n\nThe shoulder is that part of the tire at the edge of the tread as it makes transition to the sidewall.\n\nPly\n\nPlies are layers of relatively inextensible cords embedded in the rubber to hold its shape by preventing the rubber from stretching in response to the internal pressure. The orientations of the plies play a large role in the performance of the tire and is one of the main ways that tires are categorized.\n\nAssociated components\n\nSeveral additional components may be required in addition to just the tire to form a functional wheel.\n\nWheel\n\nTires are mounted onto wheels that most often have integral rims on their outer edges to hold the tire. Automotive wheels are typically made from pressed and welded steel, or a composite of lightweight metal alloys, such as aluminum or magnesium. These alloy wheels may be either cast or forged. The mounted tire and wheel assembly is then bolted to the vehicle's hub. A decorative hubcap and trim ring may be placed over the wheel.\n\nRim\n\nThe beads of the tire are held on the rim, or the \"outer edge\" of a wheel. These outer edges are shaped to obtain a proper shape on each side, having a radially cylindrical inclined inner wall on which the tire can be mounted. The wheel's rim must be of the proper design and type to hold the bead of the appropriately sized tire. Tires are mounted on the wheel by forcing its beads into the channel formed by the wheel's inner and outer rims. \n\nInner tube\n\nMost bicycle tires, many motorcycle tires, and many tires for large vehicles such as buses, heavy trucks, and tractors are designed for use with inner tubes. Inner tubes are torus-shaped balloons made from an impermeable material, such as soft, elastic synthetic rubber, to prevent air leakage. The inner tubes are inserted into the tire and inflated to retain air pressure.\n\nLarge inner tubes, which are large inflatable toruses, can be re-used for other purposes, such as swimming and rafting (see swim ring), tubing (recreation), sledding, and skitching. Purpose-built inflatable toruses are also manufactured for these uses, offering choice of colors, fabric covering, handles, decks, and other accessories, and eliminating the protruding valve stem.\n\nValve stem\n\nThe valve stem is a tube made of metal or rubber, through which the tire is inflated, with a check valve, typically a Schrader valve on automobiles and most bicycle tires, or a Presta valve on high-performance bicycles. Valve stems usually protrude through the wheel for easy access. They mount directly to the rim, in the case of tubeless tires, or are an integral part of the inner tube. The rubber in valve stems eventually degrades, and, in the case of tubeless tires, replacement of the valve stem at regular intervals or with tire replacement reduces the chance of failure. Some may notice that their valve stem is all metal with a nut retaining it (as opposed to the typical rubber stem with brass threads). Most modern passenger vehicles are now required to have a tire pressure monitoring system which usually consists of a valve stem attached to an electronic module. The module is hidden inside and is only visible when the tire has been removed from the wheel.\n\nConstruction types\n\nBias\n\nBias tire (or cross ply) construction utilizes body ply cords that extend diagonally from bead to bead, usually at angles in the range of 30 to 40 degrees, with successive plies laid at opposing angles forming a crisscross pattern to which the tread is applied. The design allows the entire tire body to flex easily, providing the main advantage of this construction, a smooth ride on rough surfaces. This cushioning characteristic also causes the major disadvantages of a bias tire: increased rolling resistance and less control and traction at higher speeds. This outdated technology is still made in limited quantities to supply collector vehicles. It is possible to fit older cars with modern tires, if historical authenticity is not paramount.\n\nBelted bias\n\nA belted bias tire starts with two or more bias-plies to which stabilizer belts are bonded directly beneath the tread. This construction provides smoother ride that is similar to the bias tire, while lessening rolling resistance because the belts increase tread stiffness. The design was introduced by Armstrong, while Goodyear made it popular with the \"Polyglas\" trademark tire featuring a polyester carcass with belts of fiberglass. The \"belted\" tire starts two main plies of polyester, rayon, or nylon annealed as in conventional tires, and then placed on top are circumferential belts at different angles that improve performance compared to non-belted bias tires. The belts may be fiberglass or steel. \nThis technology was a temporary, not invented here stop-gap, introduced by U.S. manufacturers to forestall the radial tire.\n\nRadial\n\nRadial tire construction utilizes body ply cords extending from the beads and across the tread so that the cords are laid at approximately right angles to the centerline of the tread, and parallel to each other, as well as stabilizer belts directly beneath the tread. The belts may be cord or steel. The advantages of this construction include longer tread life, better steering control, and lower rolling resistance. Disadvantages of the radial tire include a harder ride at low speeds on rough roads and in the context of off-roading, decreased \"self-cleaning\" ability and lower grip ability at low speeds. Following the 1968 Consumer Reports announcement of their superiority, radials began an inexorable climb in new car market share, reaching 100% in the 1980s.\n\nSolid\n\nMany tires used in industrial and commercial applications are non-pneumatic, and are manufactured from solid rubber and plastic compounds via molding operations. Solid tires include those used for lawn mowers, skateboards, golf carts, scooters, and many types of light industrial vehicles, carts, and trailers. One of the most common applications for solid tires is for material handling equipment (forklifts). Such tires are installed by means of a hydraulic tire press.\n\nMetal\n\nSemi-pneumatic\n\nSemi-pneumatic tires have a hollow center, but they are not pressurized. They are light-weight, low-cost, puncture proof, and provide cushioning. These tires often come as a complete assembly with the wheel and even integral ball bearings. They are used on lawn mowers, wheelchairs, and wheelbarrows. They can also be rugged, typically used in industrial applications, and are designed to not pull off their rim under use.\n\nTires that are hollow but are not pressurized have also been designed for automotive use, such as the Tweel (a portmanteau of tire and wheel), which is an experimental tire design being developed at Michelin. The outer casing is rubber as in ordinary radial tires, but the interior has special compressible polyurethane springs to contribute to a comfortable ride. Besides the impossibility of going flat, the tires are intended to combine the comfort offered by higher-profile tires (with tall sidewalls) with the resistance to cornering forces offered by low profile tires. They have not yet been delivered for broad market use.\n\nAirless\n\nSpecifications\n\nTire pressure monitoring system\n\nTire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are electronic systems that monitor the tire pressures on individual wheels on a vehicle, and alert the driver when the pressure goes below a warning limit. There are several types of designs to monitor tire pressure. Some actually measure the air pressure, and some make indirect measurements, such as gauging when the relative size of the tire changes due to lower air pressure.\n\nInflation pressure\n\nTires are specified by the vehicle manufacturer with a recommended inflation pressure, which permits safe operation within the specified load rating and vehicle loading. Most tires are stamped with a maximum pressure rating. For passenger vehicles and light trucks, the tires should be inflated to what the vehicle manufacturer recommends, which is usually located on a decal just inside the driver's door or in the vehicle owners handbook. Tires should not generally be inflated to the pressure on the sidewall; this is the maximum pressure, rather than the recommended pressure. \n\nInflated tires naturally lose pressure over time. Not all tire-to-rim seals, valve-stem-to-rim seals, and valve seals themselves are perfect. Furthermore, tires are not completely impermeable to air, and so lose pressure over time naturally due to diffusion of molecules through the rubber. Some drivers and stores inflate tires with nitrogen (typically at 95% purity), instead of atmospheric air, which is already 78% nitrogen, in an attempt to keep the tires at the proper inflation pressure longer. The effectiveness of the use of nitrogen vs. air as a means to reduce the rate of pressure loss is baseless, and has been shown to be a bogus marketing gimmick. One study noted a difference (from an initial pressure of 30 psi) for air-filled vs. nitrogen-filled tires. The test showed an average loss of 2.2 for the nitrogen filled tires compared to 3.5 for the air filled tires. However, the statistical significance of the test was not given as no t-test nor p values were reported. And they do note that the loss in both the nitrogen filled tires and the air filled tires mean that tire pressures should be checked regularly.\n\nThe tire contact patch is readily changed by both over-and-under inflation. Over-inflation may increase the wear on the center contact patch, and under-inflation will cause a concave tread, resulting in less center contact, though the overall contact patch will still be larger. Most modern tires will wear evenly at high tire pressures, but will degrade prematurely if underinflated. An increased tire pressure may decrease rolling resistance, and may also result in shorter stopping distances If tire pressure is too low, the tire contact patch is greatly increased. This increases rolling resistance, tire flexing, and friction between the road and tire. Under-inflation can lead to tire overheating, premature tread wear, and tread separation in severe cases. \n\nLoad rating\n\nTires are specified by the manufacturer with a maximum load rating. Loads exceeding the rating can result in unsafe conditions that can lead to steering instability and even rupture. For a table of load ratings, see tire code.\n\nSpeed rating\n\nThe speed rating denotes the maximum speed at which a tire is designed to be operated. For passenger vehicles these ratings range from 160 to. For a table of speed ratings, see tire code.\n\nService rating\n\nTires (especially in the U.S.) are often given service ratings, mainly used on bus and truck tires. Some ratings are for long haul, and some for stop-start multi-drop type work. Tires designed to run 500 mi or more per day carrying heavy loads require special specifications.\n\nTreadwear rating\n\nThe treadwear rating or treadwear grade is how long the tire manufacturers expect the tire to last. A Course Monitoring Tire (the standard tire that a test tire will be compared to) has a rating of \"100\". If a manufacturer assigns a treadwear rating of 200 to a new tire, they are indicating that they expect the new tire to have a useful lifespan that is 200% of the life of a Course Monitoring Tire. The \"test tires\" are all manufacturer-dependent. Brand A's rating of 500 is not necessarily going to offer drivers the same mileage rating as Brand B's tire of the same rating. The testing is non-regulated and can vary greatly. Treadwear ratings are only useful for comparing Brand A's entire lineup against itself.\nTread wear, also known as tire wear, is caused by friction between the tire and the road surface. Government legal standards prescribe the minimum allowable tread depth for safe operation.\n\nRotation\n\nTires may exhibit irregular wear patterns once installed on a vehicle and partially worn. Front-wheel drive vehicles tend to wear the front tires at a greater rate compared to the rear tires. Tire rotation is moving the tires to different car positions, such as front-to-rear, in order to even out the wear, with the objective of extending the life of the tire.\n\nWheel alignment\n\nWhen mounted on the vehicle, the wheel and tire may not be perfectly aligned to the direction of travel, and therefore may exhibit irregular wear. If the discrepancy in alignment is large, then the irregular wear will become substantial if left uncorrected.\n\nWheel alignment is the procedure for checking and correcting this condition through adjustment of camber, caster and toe angles. The adjustment of the angles should be done as per the OEM specifications.\n\nRetread\n\nTires that are fully worn can be re-manufactured to replace the worn tread. This is known as retreading or recapping, a process of buffing away the worn tread and applying a new tread. Retreading is economical for truck tires because the cost of replacing the tread is less than the price of a new tire. Retreading passenger tires is less economical because the cost of retreading is high compared to the price of new cheap tires, but favorable compared to high-end brands.\n\nWorn tires can be retreaded by two methods, the mold or hot cure method and the pre-cure or cold one. The mold cure method involves the application of raw rubber on the previously buffed and prepared casing, which is later cured in matrices. During the curing period, vulcanization takes place and the raw rubber bonds to the casing, taking the tread shape of the matrix. On the other hand, the pre-cure method involves the application of a ready-made tread band on the buffed and prepared casing, which later is cured in an autoclave so that vulcanization can occur.\n\nDuring the retreading process, retread technicians must ensure the casing is in the best condition possible to minimize the possibility of a casing failure. Casings with problems such as capped tread, tread separation, irreparable cuts, corroded belts or sidewall damage, or any run-flat or skidded tires, will be rejected.\n\nIn most situations, retread tires can be driven under the same conditions and at the same speeds as new tires with no loss in safety or comfort. The percentage of retread failures should be about the same as for new tire failures, but many drivers, including truckers, are guilty of not maintaining proper air pressure on a regular basis, and, if a tire is abused (overloaded, under inflated, or mismatched to the other tire on a set of duals), then that tire (new or recapped) will fail. \n\nMany commercial trucking companies put retreads only on trailers, using only new tires on their steering and drive wheels. This procedure increases the driver's chance of maintaining control in case of problems with a retreaded tire.\n\nPerformance characteristics\n\nThe interaction of a tire with the pavement is a very complex phenomenon. Many of the details are modeled in Pacejka's Magic Formula. Some are explained below.\n\nBalance\n\nWhen a wheel and tire rotate, they exert a centrifugal force on the axle that depends on the location of their center of mass and the orientation of their moment of inertia. This is referred to as balance, imbalance, or unbalance. Tires are checked at the point of manufacture for excessive static imbalance and dynamic imbalance using automatic tire balance machines. Tires are checked again in the auto assembly plant or tire retail shop after mounting the tire to the wheel. Assemblies that exhibit excessive imbalance are corrected by applying balance weights to the wheels to counteract the tire/wheel imbalance.\n\nTo facilitate proper balancing, most high performance tire manufacturers place red and yellow marks on the sidewalls to enable the best possible match-mounting of the tire/wheel assembly. There are two methods of match-mounting high performance tire to wheel assemblies using these red (uniformity) or yellow (weight) marks.[http://www.yokohamatire.com/utmatch.asp Yokohama]\n\nCamber thrust\n\nCamber thrust and camber force are the force generated perpendicular to the direction of travel of a rolling tire due to its camber angle and finite contact patch.\n\nCentrifugal growth\n\nA tire rotating at higher speeds tends to develop a larger diameter, due to centrifugal forces that force the tread rubber away from the axis of rotation. This may cause speedometer error. As the tire diameter grows, the tire width decreases. This centrifugal growth can cause rubbing of the tire against the vehicle at high speeds. Motorcycle tires are often designed with reinforcements aimed at minimizing centrifugal growth.\n\nCircle of forces\n\nThe circle of forces, traction circle, friction circle, or friction ellipse is a useful way to think about the dynamic interaction between a vehicle's tire and the road surface.\n\nContact patch\n\nThe contact patch, or footprint, of the tire, is the area of the tread that is in contact with the road surface. This area transmits forces between the tire and the road via friction. The length-to-width ratio of the contact patch affects steering and cornering behavior.\n\nCornering force\n\nCornering force or side force is the lateral (i.e. parallel to the road surface) force produced by a vehicle tire during cornering.\n\nDry traction\n\nDry traction is measure of the tire's ability to deliver traction, or grip, under dry conditions. Dry traction is a function of the tackiness of the rubber compound.\n\nForce variation\n\nThe tire tread and sidewall elements undergo deformation and recovery as they enter and exit the footprint. Since the rubber is elastomeric, it is deformed during this cycle. As the rubber deforms and recovers, it imparts cyclical forces into the vehicle. These variations are collectively referred to as tire uniformity. Tire uniformity is characterized by radial force variation (RFV), lateral force variation (LFV) and tangential force variation. Radial and lateral force variation is measured on a force variation machine at the end of the manufacturing process. Tires outside the specified limits for RFV and LFV are rejected. Geometric parameters, including radial runout, lateral runout, and sidewall bulge, are measured using a tire uniformity machine at the tire factory at the end of the manufacturing process as a quality check. In the late 1990s, Hunter Engineering introduced the GSP9700 Road Force balancer, which is equipped with a load roller similar to the force variation machine used at the factory to grade tire uniformity. This machine can find the best position for the tire on a given wheel so that the over-all assembly is as round as possible.\n\nLoad sensitivity\n\nLoad sensitivity is the behaviour of tires under load. Conventional pneumatic tires do not behave as classical friction theory would suggest. Namely, the load sensitivity of most real tires in their typical operating range is such that the coefficient of friction decreases as the vertical load, Fz, increases.\n\nPneumatic trail\n\nPneumatic trail of a tire is the trail-like effect generated by compliant tires rolling on a hard surface and subject to side loads, as in a turn. More technically, it is the distance that the resultant force of side-slip occurs behind the geometric center of the contact patch.\n\nRelaxation length\n\nRelaxation length is the delay between when a slip angle is introduced and when the cornering force reaches its steady-state value.\n\nRolling resistance\n\nRolling resistance is the resistance to rolling caused by deformation of the tire in contact with the road surface. As the tire rolls, tread enters the contact area and is deformed flat to conform to the roadway. The energy required to make the deformation depends on the inflation pressure, rotating speed, and numerous physical properties of the tire structure, such as spring force and stiffness. Tire makers seek lower rolling resistance tire constructions to improve fuel economy in cars and especially trucks, where rolling resistance accounts for a high proportion of fuel consumption.\n\nPneumatic tires also have a much lower rolling resistance than solid tires. Because the internal air pressure acts in all directions, a pneumatic tire is able to \"absorb\" bumps in the road as it rolls over them without experiencing a reaction force opposite to the direction of travel, as is the case with a solid (or foam-filled) tire. The difference between the rolling resistance of a pneumatic and solid tire is easily felt when propelling wheelchairs or baby buggies fitted with either type so long as the terrain has a significant roughness in relation to the wheel diameter.\n\nSelf aligning torque\n\nSelf-aligning torque, also known as the aligning torque, SAT or Mz, is the torque that a tire creates as it rolls along that tends to steer it, i.e. rotate it around its vertical axis.\n\nSlip angle\n\nSlip angle or sideslip angle is the angle between a rolling wheel's actual direction of travel and the direction towards which it is pointing (i.e., the angle of the vector sum of wheel translational velocity v_x and sideslip velocity v_y).\n\nSpring rate\n\nVertical stiffness, or spring rate, is the ratio of vertical force to vertical deflection of the tire, and it contributes to the overall suspension performance of the vehicle. In general, spring rate increases with inflation pressure. \n\nStopping distance\n\nPerformance-oriented tires have a tread pattern and rubber compounds designed to grip the road surface, and so usually have a slightly shorter stopping distance. However, specific braking tests are necessary for data beyond generalizations.\n\nWork load\n\nThe work load of a tire is monitored so that it is not put under undue stress, which may lead to its premature failure. Work load is measured in Ton Kilometer Per Hour (TKPH). The measurement's appellation and units are the same. The recent shortage and increasing cost of tires for heavy equipment has made TKPH an important parameter in tire selection and equipment maintenance for the mining industry. For this reason, manufacturers of tires for large earth-moving and mining vehicles assign TKPH ratings to their tires based on their size, construction, tread type, and rubber compound. The rating is based on the weight and speed that the tire can handle without overheating and causing it to deteriorate prematurely. The equivalent measure used in the United States is Ton Mile Per Hour (TMPH).\n\nTread wear\n\nThere are several types of abnormal tread wear. Poor wheel alignment can cause excessive wear of the innermost or outermost ribs. Gravel roads, rocky terrain, and other rough terrain causes accelerated wear. Over-inflation above the sidewall maximum can cause excessive wear to the center of the tread. Modern tires have steel belts built in to prevent this. Under-inflation causes excessive wear to the outer ribs. Unbalanced wheels can cause uneven tire wear, as the rotation may not be perfectly circular. Tire manufacturers and car companies have mutually established standards for tread wear testing that include measurement parameters for tread loss profile, lug count, and heel-toe wear. See also Work load above.\n\nWet traction\n\nWet traction is the tire's traction, or grip, under wet conditions. Wet traction is improved by the tread design's ability to channel water out of the tire footprint and reduce hydroplaning. However, tires with a circular cross-section, such as those found on racing bicycles, when properly inflated have a sufficiently small footprint to not be susceptible to hydroplaning. For such tires, it is observed that fully slick tires will give superior traction on both wet and dry pavement. \n\nMarkings\n\nDOT code\n\nIn the United States, the DOT Code is an alphanumeric character sequence molded into the sidewall of the tire for purposes of tire identification. The DOT Code is mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. \nThe DOT Code is useful in identifying tires in a product recall.\n\nThe DOT Code begins with the letters \"DOT\" followed by a plant code (two numbers or letters) that identifies where it was manufactured. The last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. A three-digit code was used for tires manufactured before 2000. For example, 178 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 8th year of the decade. In this case it means 1988. For tires manufactured in the 1990s, the same code holds true, but there is a little triangle (Δ) after the DOT code. Thus, a tire manufactured in the 17th week of 1998 would have the code 178Δ. In 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code. Same rules apply, so for example, 3003 means the tire was manufactured in the 30th week of 2003.\n\nOther numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion.\n\nE-mark\n\nAll tires sold for road use in Europe after July 1997 must carry an E-mark. The mark itself is either an upper case \"E\" or lower case \"e\" – followed by a number in a circle or rectangle, followed by a further number. An (upper case) \"E\" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of ECE regulation 30. A (lower case) \"e\" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of Directive 92/23/EEC. The number in the circle or rectangle denotes the country code of the government that granted the type approval. The last number outside the circle or rectangle is the number of the type approval certificate issued for that particular tire size and type.\n\nMold serial number\n\nTire manufacturers usually embed a mold serial number into the sidewall area of the mold, so that the tire, once molded, can be traced back to the mold of original manufacturer.\n\nSize Codes\n\nAutomobile tires are described by an alphanumeric code, which is generally molded into the sidewall of the tire. This code specifies the dimensions of the tire, and some of its key limitations, such as load-bearing ability, and maximum speed. Sometimes the inner sidewall contains information not included on the outer sidewall, and vice versa.\n\nThe code has grown in complexity over the years, as is evident from the mix of metric and English units, and ad-hoc extensions to lettering and numbering schemes. New automotive tires frequently have ratings for traction, treadwear, and temperature resistance (collectively known as The Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) ratings).\n\nMost tires sizes are given using the ISO Metric sizing system. However, some pickup trucks and SUVs use the Light Truck Numeric or Light Truck High Flotation system.\n\nVehicle applications\n\nTires are classified into several standard types, based on the type of vehicle they serve. Since the manufacturing process, raw materials, and equipment vary according to the tire type, it is common for tire factories to specialize in one or more tire types. In most markets, factories that manufacture passenger and light truck radial tires are separate and distinct from those that make aircraft or off-the-road (OTR) tires.\n\nPassenger vehicles and light truck\n\nHigh performance\n\nHigh performance tires are designed for use at higher speeds, and more often, a more \"sporty\" driving style. They feature a softer rubber compound for improved traction, especially on high speed cornering. The trade off of this softer rubber is shorter tread life.\n\nHigh performance street tires sometimes sacrifice wet weather handling by having shallower water channels to provide more actual rubber tread surface area for dry weather performance. The ability to provide a high level of performance on both wet and dry pavement varies widely among manufacturers, and even among tire models of the same manufacturer. This is an area of active research and development, as well as marketing.\n\nMud and snow\n\nMud and Snow, (or M+S, or M&S), is a designation applied rather arbitrarily by manufacturers for all-season and winter tires designed to provide improved performance under low temperature conditions, compared to summer tires. The tread compound is usually softer than that used in tires for summer conditions, thus providing better grip on ice and snow, but wears more quickly at higher temperatures. Tires may have well above average numbers of sipes in the tread pattern to grip the ice. There are no traction performance requirements which such a tire has to meet; M&S relates to the percentage of tread void area.\n\nDedicated winter tires will bear the \"Mountain/Snowflake Pictograph\" if designated as a winter/snow tire by the American Society for Testing & Materials. Winter tires will typically also carry the designation MS, M&S, or the words MUD AND SNOW (but see All-season tires, below).\n\nSome winter tires are fabricated to allow the optional insertion of metal studs (consisting of a tungsten carbide or other hard material pin embedded in a base of a softer metal) for additional traction on icy roads. \n\nThe use of studs is restricted in some countries due to the increased road wear that they cause, with the notable exception of most Nordic and North American jurisdictions, where they are commonly used in colder areas during the winter season. Norway has implemented fees for using studded tires in some urban areas, and there are a few streets in some of the major cities in Sweden where studs are not allowed. In America, studs are typically never used on heavier vehicles (except for some emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks.), but stud tires for heavy vehicles are commonplace in Scandinavia. \nIce resurfacers also use studded tires.\nThe upper tier classes of ice racing and rallying mandates the vehicles be equipped with studded tires.\n\nOther winter tires rely on factors other than studding for traction on ice, e.g. highly porous or hydrophilic rubber that adheres to the wet film on the ice surface. The best stud-less winter tires offer grip close to that of studded tires during most winter conditions, with the notable exception of blank or polished ice, where they cannot match the performance of studded tires. The reason for this is that stud-less winter tires rely on unevenness in the ice surface for their sipes to grab, while studs cut into even the most polished ice surface (and in the process also make it uneven).\n\nStudded tires are also used on bicycles, and the grip advantage on ice is similar to that from using traction sand, with the difference that there is no risk of blank spots when using studded tires. Quality tire manufacturers use studs with hard center pins also for bicycle tires, and just like their automobile counterparts, those studs will continue to protrude from the tire even after many years of usage on bare pavement. There are also low-quality studded bicycle tires being sold that have studs that lack the hard-metal center pin (there is still a center pin, but it is not made of hard metal). Such studs can wear out within a few weeks of cycling on dry pavement.\n\nSome jurisdictions may require snow tires or tire chains on vehicles driven in certain areas during extreme weather conditions.\n\nMud tires are specialty tires with large, chunky tread patterns designed to bite into muddy surfaces. The large, open design also allows mud to clear quickly from between the lugs. Mud terrain tires also tend to be wider than other tires, to spread the weight of the vehicle over a greater area to prevent the vehicle from sinking too deeply into the mud. However, in reasonable amounts of mud and snow, tires should be thinner. Being thinner, the tire will have more pressure on the road surface, thus allowing the tires to penetrate the snow layer and grip harder snow or road surface beneath. This does not compensate when the snow is too deep for such penetration, where the vehicle will sink into the snow and plough the snow in front and eventually pack it beneath it until the wheels no longer have traction. In this case, wider tires are preferred, as they have a larger contact patch and are better able to 'float' on top of the mud or snow.\n\nAll season\n\nThe All Season tire classification is a compromise between one developed for use on dry and wet roads during summer and one developed for use under winter conditions. The type of rubber and the tread pattern best suited for use under summer conditions cannot, for technical reasons, give good performance on snow and ice. The all-season tire is a compromise, and is neither an excellent summer tire nor an excellent winter tire. They have, however, become ubiquitous as original and replacement equipment on automobiles marketed in the United States, due to their convenience and their adequate performance in most situations. Even so, in other parts of the world, like Germany, it is common to have a designated tire set for winter and summer. All-Season tires are also marked for mud and snow the same as winter tires but rarely with a snowflake. Owing to the compromise with performance during summer, winter performance is usually poorer than a winter tire.\n\nAll-terrain\n\nAll-terrain tires are typically used on SUVs and light trucks. These tires often have stiffer sidewalls for greater resistance against puncture when traveling off-road, the tread pattern offers wider spacing than all-season tires to remove mud from the tread. Many tires in the all-terrain category are designed primarily for on-road use, particularly all-terrain tires that are originally sold with the vehicle.\n\nSpare\n\nSome vehicles carry a spare tire, already mounted on a wheel, to be used in the event of flat tire or blowout. Minispare, or \"space-saver spare\" tires are smaller than normal tires to save on trunk/boot space, gas mileage, weight, and cost. Minispares have a short life expectancy and a low speed rating, often below 60 mph.\n\nLight trailer\n\nDomestic Trailers (including camping trailers) for use on public highways often have different tires than those seen on cars. Often they are bias ply rather than radial tires, and they often don't have as aggressive a tread pattern as standard road tires. They are not built for high traction in most cases, because in most cases it is not vital that trailer tires have as good a traction as that of the vehicle towing the trailer.\n\nRun-flat\n\nSeveral innovative designs have been introduced that permit tires to run safely with no air for a limited range at a limited speed. These tires typically feature strong, load-supporting sidewalls. An infamous example of an alternate run-flat technology has plastic load-bearing inserts attached to the rim instead of the reinforced sidewalls.\n\nA disadvantage is that many run-flat tires cannot be repaired if a puncture occurs. This is due to manufacturer's informing the automotive industry that the state in which the sidewall is in cannot be determined due to the compacted sidewall of rubber. Some brands may permit one repair to a run flat tire, while others do not allow any.\n\nHeavy duty truck\n\nHeavy duty tires are also referred to as Truck/Bus tires. These are the tire sizes used on vehicles such as commercial freight trucks, dump trucks, and passenger buses. Truck tires are sub-categorized into specialties according to vehicle position such as steering, drive axle, and trailer. Each type is designed with the reinforcements, material compounds, and tread patterns that best optimize the tire performance. A relatively new concept is the use of \"Super Singles\" or Wide Singles. Generally in a dual configuration, there are 2 tires per position, each between 275 mm-295 mm wide. The Super Single replaces these with a single tire, usually 455 mm wide. This allows for less tread to be contacting the ground and also eliminates 2 sidewalls per position. Along with the weight savings of about 200 lb per axle, this enables vehicles using these to improve fuel economy.\n\nOff-the-road\n\nOff-the-road (OTR) tires include all tires not running on the common roads, such as fitted on construction vehicles(wheel loaders, backhoes, graders, trenchers), on airplanes, on mining vehicles, on forestry machinery. OTR tires can be of either bias or radial construction although the industry is trending toward increasing use of radial. Bias OTR tires are built with a large number of reinforcing plies to withstand severe service conditions and high loads.\n\nDramatically increasing commodity prices has led to shortages of new tires. As a consequence, multimillion-dollar trucks can be idled for lack of tires, costing mines millions of dollars in lost productivity. This has led to a stronger effort to recycle old OTR tires. As of 2008, a new OTR tire can cost up to $50,000; retread tires are sold at half the price of new tires, and last 80% as long. Retreading an OTR tire is labor-intensive. First, the retreading technician must place the old tire in a buffing machine to remove what remains of the old tread; \"skiving\" follows this, which is the removal, by hand, of material the buffing misses. Next, the technician must inspect the tire, repairing defects. Lastly, the technician fills holes in the tire with rubber, applies a cement gum adhesive, and places the tire on a machine that will apply a new tread. \n\nAgricultural and off-road flotation tires\n\nThe agricultural tire classification includes tires used on farm vehicles, typically tractors and specialty vehicles like harvesters. Driven wheels have very deep, widely spaced lugs to allow the tire to grip soil easily.\n\nFor off-road driving in a passenger vehicle, such as in mud, sand, or deep snow, high flotation tires are typically used. Flotation tires are not the same as M+S tires, as they are designed for low speeds and full-time off road use rather than muddy and snow-covered roads. Flotation tires also help traction in swampy environments and where soil compaction is a concern, featuring large footprints at low inflation pressures to spread out the area where the rubber meets the ground. Knobby tires are particularly useful where the ground consists of loose particles that can be displaced by the knobs. Although the low pressure improves traction in many types of terrain, adjustments may need to be made for hard surfaces like paved and unpaved roads. Vehicles that use flotation tires for rock climbing are susceptible to flat tires in which the tire pops off the rim, breaking the \"bead.\"\n\nRacing\n\nRacing tires are highly specialized according to vehicle and race track conditions. This classification includes tires for drag racing, Auto-x, drifting, Time Attack, Road Racing – as well as the large-market race tires for Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, V8 Supercars, WRC, MotoGP and the like. Tires are specially engineered for specific race tracks according to surface conditions, cornering loads, and track temperature. Racing tires often are engineered to minimum weight targets, so tires for a 500 mi race may run only 100 mi before a tire change. Some tire makers invest heavily in race tire development as part of the company's marketing strategy and a means of advertising to attract customers.\nRacing tires used on tarmac stages are called slick. When the road is wet a driver will use intermediary slicks and when the road is dry the soft slicks are used. \nRacing tires often are not legal for normal highway use.\n\nIndustrial\n\nThe Industrial tire classification is a bit of a catch-all category and includes pneumatic and non-pneumatic tires for specialty industrial and construction equipment such as skid loaders and fork lift trucks.\n\nBicycle\n\nThis classification includes all forms of bicycle tires, including road racing tires, mountain bike tires, snow tires, and tubular tires, used also with other human-powered vehicles (see :Category:Human-powered vehicles).\n\nAircraft\n\nAircraft tires are designed to withstand extremely heavy loads for short durations. The number of tires required for aircraft increases with the weight of the plane (because the weight of the airplane has to be distributed better). Aircraft tire tread patterns are designed to facilitate stability in high crosswind conditions, to channel water away to prevent hydroplaning, and for braking effect.\n\nAircraft tires are usually inflated with nitrogen to minimize expansion and contraction from extreme changes in ambient temperature and pressure experienced during flight. Dry nitrogen expands at the same rate as other dry atmospheric gases (normal air is about 80% nitrogen), but common compressed air sources may contain moisture, which increases the expansion rate with temperature. Aircraft tires generally operate at high pressures, up to 200 psi for airliners, and even higher for business jets. Tests of airline aircraft tires have shown that they are able to sustain pressures of maximum 800 psi before bursting. During the test the tires have to be filled with water, instead of helium or nitrogen, which is the common content of aircraft tires, to prevent the test room being blown apart by the energy when the tire bursts.\n\nAircraft tires also include fusible plugs (which are assembled on the inside of the wheels), designed to melt at a certain temperature. Tires often overheat if maximum braking is applied during an aborted takeoff or an emergency landing. The fuses provide a safer failure mode that prevents tire explosions by deflating in a controlled manner, thus minimizing damage to aircraft and objects in the surrounding environment.\n\nThe requirement that an inert gas, such as nitrogen, be used instead of air for inflation of tires on certain transport category airplanes was prompted by at least three cases in which the oxygen in air-filled tires combined with volatile gases given off by a severely overheated tire and exploded upon reaching autoignition temperature. The use of an inert gas for tire inflation will eliminate the possibility of a tire explosion. \n\nMotorcycle\n\nThere are many different types of motorcycle tires:\nSport Touring – these tires are generally not used for high cornering loads, but for long straights, good for riding across the country.\n\nSport Street – these tires are for aggressive street riders that spend most of their time carving corners on public roadways. These tires do not have a long life, but in turn have better traction in high speed cornering. Street and sport street tires have good traction even when cold, but when warmed too much, can actually lose traction as their internal temperature increases.\n\nTrack or Slick – these tires are for track days or races. They have more of a triangular form, which in turn gives a larger contact patch while leaned over. These tires are not recommended for the street by manufacturers, and are known to have a shorter life on the street. Due to the triangulation of the tire, there will be less contact patch in the center, causing the tire to develop a flat spot quicker when used to ride on straightaways for long periods of time and have no tread so they lose almost all grip in wet conditions. Racing slicks are also made of a harder rubber compound and do not provide as much traction as street tires until warmed to a higher internal temperature than street tires normally operate at. Most street riding will not put a sufficient amount of friction on the tire to maintain the optimal tire temperature, especially in colder climates and in spring and fall.\n\nSound and vibration characteristics\n\nThe design of treads and the interaction of specific tire types with the roadway surface type produces considerable effect upon sound levels or noise pollution emanating from moving vehicles. These sound intensities increase with higher vehicle speeds. The acoustic intensity produced varies considerably depending on the tire tread design and the road surface type. There is a study \"under development\" that aims predict the interior noise due to the vibrations of a rolling tire structurally transmitted to the hub of a vehicle\". \n\nRegulatory bodies\n\nDOT\n\nThe United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is the U.S. governmental body authorized by the U.S. Congress to establish and regulate transportation safety in the United States of America.\n\nNHTSA\n\nThe National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a U.S. government body within the Department of Transportation tasked with regulating automotive safety in the United States.\n\nUTQG\n\nThe Uniform Tire Quality Grading System (UTQG), is a system for comparing the performance of tires, established by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration according to the Code of Federal Regulations 49 CFR 575.104. The UTQG regulation requires labeling of tires for tread wear, traction, and temperature.\n\nT&RA\n\nThe Tire and Rim Association (T&RA) is a voluntary U.S. standards organization to promote the interchangeability of tires and rim and allied parts. Of particular interest, they published key tire dimension standards, key rim contour dimension standards, key tire valve dimension standards, and load / inflation standards.\n\nETRTO\n\nThe European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) is the European standards organisation \"to establish engineering dimensions, load/pressure characteristics and operating guidelines\" . \nfor tires, rims and valves. It is analogous to T&RA.\n\nJATMA\n\nThe Japanese Automobile Tire Manufacturers Association (JATMA) is the Japanese standards organization for tires, rims and valves. It is analogous to T&RA and ETRTO.\n\nTREAD Act\n\nThe Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act (TREAD Act) is a United States federal law that sets standards for testing and the reporting of information related to products involved with transportation such as cars and tires.\n\nRFID tags\n\nRadio Frequency IDentification tags (RFID) are passive transponders affixed to the inside of the tire for purposes of automatic identification. Tags are encoded with various types of manufacturing data, including the manufacturer's name, location of manufacture, tire type, manufacturing date, and in some cases test data. RFID transponders can remotely read this data automatically. RFID tags are used by auto assemblers to identify tires at the point of assembly to the vehicle. Fleet operators utilize RFID as part of tire maintenance operations.\n\nCCC (China Compulsory Certification) is a mandatory certification system concerning product safety in China that went into effect in August 2002. Before CCC, there were two certification systems in China: CCIB and CCEE. With China's entrance into the WTO, these two systems were unified into the CCC certification system. After the termination of a one-year grace period in August 2003, the system became compulsory.The CCC certification system is operated by the State General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA).\n\nSafety\n\nProper vehicle safety requires specific attention to inflation pressure, tread depth, and general condition of the tires. Over-inflated tires run the risk of explosive decompression (they may pop). On the other hand, under-inflated tires have a higher rolling resistance and suffer from overheating and rapid tread wear particularly on the edges of the tread. As tire tread decreases, there is more traction between the tire and the road resulting in better grip. However, there is an increased risk of hydroplaning, so as the tire wears the performance in the dry generally improves, but gets worse in the wet. Tires worn down past their safety margins and into the casing run the very real risk of rupturing. Also, certain combinations of cross ply and radial tires on different wheels of the same vehicle can lead to vehicle instability, and may also be illegal. Vehicle and tire manufacturers provide owners' manuals with instructions on how to check and maintain tires.\n\nA controversy began in 2000 regarding unusually high tire failures on some Ford vehicles. This resulted in the recall of the tires in question.\n\nFlat\n\nA flat tire occurs when a tire deflates. This can occur as a result of normal wear-and-tear, a leak, or more serious damage. A tire that has lost sufficient pressure will impair the stability of the vehicle and may damage the tire further if it is driven in this condition. The tire should be changed and/or repaired before it becomes completely flat. Continuing to drive a vehicle with a flat tire will damage the tire beyond repair, possibly damage the rim and vehicle, and put the occupants and other vehicles in danger. A flat tire or low-pressure tire should be considered an emergency situation, requiring immediate attention. Some tires, known as \"run-flat tires\", have either extremely stiff sidewalls or a resilient filler to allow driving a limited distance while flat, usually at reduced speed, without permanent damage or hazard.\n\nA modern radial tire may not be visibly distorted even with dangerously low inflation pressure. (This is especially true of tires with a low aspect ratio, sometimes known as \"low profile\" tires.) Thus maintenance of adequate tire pressure can have important safety implications despite the fact that most car owners neglect it. Tire designers have tried to make new tires fail-safe so that the failure of the operator to maintain the tire pressure won't cause a major safety concern, but there are limitations on this.\n\nBubble\n\nTire bubbles, also referred to as bulges / bumps / protrusions / carbuncles, occur when the sidewall of the tire has failed, resulting in a protrusion. Causes of bubbles include having an impact at high speed, over inflation, or poor tire construction/manufacturing. It is generally recommended to replace the tire since the probability of tire failure has increased. They can occur on the inner or outer sidewall.\n\nHydroplaning (or aquaplaning)\n\nHydroplaning, also known as aquaplaning, is the condition where a layer of water builds up between the tire and road surface. Hydroplaning occurs when the tread pattern cannot channel away enough water at an adequate rate to ensure a semi-dry footprint area. When hydroplaning occurs, the tire effectively \"floats\" above the road surface on a cushion of water – and loses traction, braking and steering, creating a very unsafe driving condition. When hydroplaning occurs, there is considerably less responsiveness of the steering wheel. The correction of this unsafe condition is to gradually reduce speed, by merely lifting off the accelerator/gas pedal.\n\nHydroplaning becomes more prevalent with wider tires (because of the lower weight per contact area) and especially at higher speeds; it is of virtually no concern to bicycle tires under normal riding conditions largely because of the lower speeds. The chance of car hydroplaning is also minimal at bicycle speeds as the weight per contact area of car tires is not much lower if any than bicycle tires.\n\nDangers of aged tires\n\nResearch and tests show that as tires age, they begin to dry out and become potentially dangerous, even if unused. Aged tires may appear to have similar properties to newly manufactured tires, but rubber degrades over time, and once the vehicle is traveling at high speeds (i.e. on a freeway) the tread could peel off, leading to severe loss of control. In tropical climates, tires degrade sooner than in temperate climates, and more care should be taken in these climates to ensure that tires do not fail. Also, tires on seldom-used trailers are at the greatest risk of age-failure, but some tires are built to withstand idleness, usually with nylon reinforcement.\n\nMany automakers recommend replacing tires after six years, and several tire manufacturers (Bridgestone, Michelin) have called for tires to be removed from service 10 years after the date of manufacture. However, an investigative report by Brian Ross on ABC's 20/20 news magazine found that many major retailers such as Goodyear, Wal-Mart, and Sears were selling tires that had been produced six or more years ago. Currently, no law for aged tires exists in the United States. \n\nScrap tires and environmental issues\n\nOnce tires are discarded, they are considered scrap tires. Scrap tires are often re-used for things from bumper car barriers to weights to hold down tarps. Some facilities are permitted to recycle scrap tires through chipping, and processing into new products, or selling the material to licensed power plants for fuel. Some tires may also be retreaded for re-use. One group did \"a study to evaluate the possibility of using scrap tires as a crash cushion system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the material properties of used tires and recycled tire-derived materials for use in low-cost, reusable crash cushions\". \n\nAn interesting use, developed over 30 years back but not yet universally used, is to process scrap tires as raw material for roads. The process is removing the metal, granulating the rubber and then a chemical process where it is mixed with other usual materials for macadamised roads. The resulting roads have proved to have better waterproofing, more resilent resulting in a smoother ride and also longer tire life. Several countries (for example, South Korea) have regulations requiring its use, but most do not.\n\nAmericans generate about 285 million scrap tires per year. Many states have regulations as to the number of scrap tires that can be held on site, due to concerns with dumping, fire hazards, and mosquitoes. In the past, millions of tires have been discarded into open fields. This creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes, since the tires often hold water inside and remain warm enough for mosquito breeding. Mosquitoes create a nuisance and may increase the likelihood of spreading disease. It also creates a fire danger, since such a large tire pile is a lot of fuel. Some tire fires have burned for months, since water does not adequately penetrate or cool the burning tires. Tires have been known to liquefy, releasing hydrocarbons and other contaminants to the ground and even ground water, under extreme heat and temperatures from a fire. The black smoke from a tire fire causes air pollution and is a hazard to down wind properties.\n\nThe use of scrap tire chips for landscaping has become controversial, due to the leaching of metals and other contaminants from the tire pieces. Zinc is concentrated (up to 2% by weight) to levels high enough to be highly toxic to aquatic life and plants. Of particular concern is evidence that some of the compounds that leach from tires into water, contain hormone disruptors and cause liver lesions. \n\nAsymmetric tire\n\nAn asymmetric tire is a kind of specific stabilization method used in cars.\n\nTire tread\n\nAn asymmetric tire may refer to a tire whose tread pattern does not form in line symmetry or point symmetry vis-à-vis its central line, thus having a distinct inside and outside edge. They may be mounted on either side of the vehicle. Since the tread pattern of many ordinary tires do not form symmetry in relation to design or pattern noise, the method of mounting tires is specially prescribed. This type of tires is used in many cases to promote tire performance, braking performance, and turning performance, since tread contact changes according to the change in alignment during travel.\n\nTires may also be directional, where the tread pattern favors operation in one direction. This usually takes the form of v-shaped grooves that help to disperse water from the center to the edge of the tread. Symmetric directional tires can be used on both sides, but once mounted on a rim cannot be moved to the other side, since the tread pattern will be in the wrong direction. This restricts tire rotation. Some directional tires are also asymmetric, in which case there will be specific left and right-handed versions.\n\nStabilizing belts\n\nAn asymmetric tire may refer to a passenger car radial tire in which asymmetric structure stabilizing belts are built. Generally the stabilizing belts give a self-aligning torque when a motor vehicle is running straight ahead as well as when it is cornering. However, the sidewalls of the radial tire are so flexible that there will be a delay in the lateral reaction between the tread of the tire and the rim of its wheel as the vehicle is being steered positively. The lateral force will be transmitted from the front wheel to the rear of the vehicle, which will tend to be steered off course. Whereas the asymmetric belts bring a gradual change in the lateral displacement of the tire tread corresponding to the rim while the cornering load grows. The progressive change will harden the sidewalls to produce an immediate response to steering, which results in safer driving.\n\nOther uses\n\nTires are not desired at landfills, due to their large volumes and 75% void space, which quickly consumes valuable space. Because of this, people have found other uses for old tires.\n\nRubber tires are likely to contain some traces of heavy metals or other serious pollutants, but these are tightly bonded within the actual rubber compound they are unlikely to be hazardous unless the tire structure is seriously damaged by fire or strong chemicals.\n\nBuilding elements\n\nTires filled with earth have been used as garden containers house foundations, bullet-proof walls and to prevent soil erosion in flood plains \n\nTire swing\n\nOld tires are sometimes converted into a swing for play. The innovative use allows for an easy way to find a purpose for an existing old tire not suitable for road use. \n\nExercise equipment\n\nUsed tires are employed as exercise equipment for athletic programs such as American football. One classic conditioning drill that hones players' speed and agility is the \"Tire Run\" where tires are laid out side by side, with each tire on the left a few inches ahead of the tire on the right in a zigzag pattern. Athletes then run through the tire pattern by stepping in the center of each tire. The drill forces athletes to lift their feet above the ground higher than normal to avoid tripping. \n\nRecycling\n\nTires can be recycled into, among other things, the hot melt asphalt, typically as crumb rubber modifier—recycled asphalt pavement (CRM—RAP), and as an aggregate in portland cement concrete Tires can also be recycled into other tires. Tires have also been cut up and used in garden beds as rubber mulch to hold in the water and to prevent weeds from growing. There are some \"green\" buildings that are being made both private and public buildings that are made from old tires.\n\nTire Pyrolysis\n\nThe tire pyrolysis method for recycling used tires is a technique which heats whole or shredded tires in a reactor vessel containing an oxygen-free atmosphere and a heat source. In the reactor the rubber is softened after which the rubber polymers continuously break down into smaller molecules."
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